The Random Musings and Writings of Brandon

Since the War of Choice that the United States and Isreal started against Iraq approximately one month ago, I have attempted to put words together to express my feelings on the war. Yet, as much mental processes that I have put into attempting to put some words down on virtual paper... I didn't feel I had a hook. For, I am not an expert. Not on Iraq. Not on the economy. Not on the contingencies that any hostile actions in this region would ultimately bring.  Yet, I am also not unintelligent. For certain, I am aware of the limitations of my knowledge and my expertise. However, I also am able to listen and read and otherwise make myself more knowledgeable from people who are expert in areas where I am not. So, when our newest Secretary of Homeland Security, former Senator from Oklahoma Markwayne Mullins stated during his confirmation hearing that " I’m not going to be the smartest guy in any room I walk into, " I realized that was the hook. That our government is being run ...

With Babymetal being featured on "Kasuka na Hana" by Tatsuya Kitani (the Opening theme for Season 2 of the Anime Hell's Paradise: Jigokaraku)... I figured it would be a fun project to rank all of Babymetal's collaborations thus far. However, there is one major problem with this: Because Babymetal are the three vocalists for the greater Team Babymetal... and they largely do not contribute to the lyrics/composition of the songs - one could argue that every Babymetal song is - in fact - a collaboration. However, that seems like a morass I do not want to fall into. So, to make it easier on myself - I will only be ranking songs where either Babymetal is a featured artist OR Babymetal is featuring another artist. There will be one exception to this nomenclature (which will be explained when we get there). So, let's get to the criteria for ranking: 1) How collaborative is the collaboration. For example, if Babymetal is being featured - but only Su-Metal is on the recordi...

Author Arthur Koestler - born in Budapest, schooled in Vienna - was a communist in the 1930s (even visiting the Soviet Union) who became disillusioned of the Communist Party in 1938. Arthur was captured and imprisoned in Francisco Franco's Fascist Spain in 1938 - being sentenced to death. He was saved from that ultimate fate by Great Britain - moving to Paris (where he presumably wrote the majority of the book I am about to discuss). Arrested again by Fascist forces in France during World War Two due to his political views, he was again released and went to Great Britain. The Book - Darkness at Noon - was released by Macmillan in May of 1941. (The biography above was cribbed from my copy of the tome published sometime in or after 1989).  Koestler himself states in the prologue of the book the following: The characters of this book are fictitious. The historical circumstances which determined their actions are real. The life of the man N.S. Rubashov is the synthesis of the lives of ...

This post was supposed to be written on February 14th. St. Valentine's Day. A Day associated with love and hearts and chocolates. Also, a day which is among the many in my life that is blemished by circumstances.  In 2023, while I was at work, my wife started texting me... with increasing frequency. She was feeling unwell and felt she needed to go to the hospital. She soon called emergency services to bring her to the hospital while I got a hold of my boss so that I could enable my extraction from work. Later that day, we were informed that Dawn had ovarian cancer. Of course, it would be ludicrous of me to feel this day is forever tainted due to this one tragic event. After all, with that type of attitude, nearly every day would just be a sad and empty chasm of remorse - for on most days, something bad has happened in your life at some point. Yet, obviously, certain circumstances do stand out for obvious and evident reason. However, while my plan was to write and publish this missi...

It has been a while since I last wrote... largely because I really didn't want to talk about politics. But, given the state of the world... given everything that is happening in the world and certainly in the United States, given the state of the Epstein files (from lies being uncovered from Howard Lutnick to foreign politicians stepping down to the potential downfall of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (who is NOT even in the Epstein files)... given the state of the complete overreach of the Department of Homeland Security and the complete lack of complying with the law... given the unraveling of the rationale for the search warrant for the election files in Fulton County Georgia (which was proffered by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of MISSOURI)... And yet, I still don't want to talk about these political situations. Instead, let's talk about the Super Bowl's musical acts and that of TPUSA's "All American Half-Time Show." But...

The other day at work, I was sitting eating lunch (some chicken wings and fries if you must know), attempting to play all the NY Times Games I could before having to go back to actual work. Minding my own business. When besides me, a very loud woman started conversing with some others. Now, I normally make all attempts to block out conversations of others because they are not relevant to me. I heard her talking about Minneapolis and ICE and why they are up in Minneapolis (it's the fraud and the Somalians) and how Renee Good and Alex Pretti would not have died if they had only minded their own business. Then, this lady made a "joke." She stated a question: "How do you think ICE is doing in Minneapolis?" She then followed by answering her own questions: "I think they are doing a Pretti Good job." I cringed, of course, because that is a horrible joke about two people who were slain at the hands of federal officials. However, it got worse. She then attempt...