J. Michael Shearer's Passing Thoughts

A Slow Month

2026-09-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Perhaps for good reason, though.

Kinda messed up my ankle again. Same one I sprained back in high school and have been dinging up on a fairly regular basis over the course of the thirty years since. I went into the urgent care that my health insurance will cover like I probably should have done for the sunburn I got at the class reunion a couple months back now and got some x-rays. Fortunately, I still haven’t broken the damn thing, in spite of everything I’ve put it through. So I’ve had a brace on it for the last few weeks.

I’ve been busy with a few things in the meantime, though. I did get one video done just before I did whatever I did to my foot. It was a JM Tries video that did surprisingly well, considering that I completely forgot to promote it at the time. I’ve still got way too many of those I want to get to, I think.

I also managed to get some art done, some of which is up on my DeviantArt page now. That’s another thing I’ve got a bit much of to work on, but I suppose that’s a good thing, I guess.

And while I was working on all this, I came across some old stuff I’ve been considering reposting for quite a long time now. Might be worth it, just for a laugh or two in between the new stuff.

Of course, there’s quite a lot of new writing and video stuff I kind of need and want to get on with, too. Arranging my time in such a way to make all that happen has not been easy lately, but that may be changing soon. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, of course, but I’d like to think there’s at least a chance for once.

So that’s pretty much where I am and where I am right now. There are a few other things I’m working on right now, but like I was just saying, I don’t want to get ahead of myself just yet.

But anyway, this should cover it for now. See you soon.

Talkie Time: Borg Syndrome

2026-09-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

I’ve been meaning to get to something like this for longer than one might think, and I still think it’s something I’ll wind up regretting.

At the same time, I suspect I probably would have regretted not doing it just as much, so either way, no winning. Probably for the best that I decided to regret the thing I did rather than the thing I didn’t.

But anyway, I figured I’d have another go at doing an audio-only thing, since it had been awhile since I’d done something like it. I’d had this idea around the first of the year and only just now got to it, but that’s been so many of my ideas. On the back burner for ages before I get to them.

With that in mind, here’s the link to the episode on SoundCloud, before I forget.

Turns out, I got the title of the episode of Enterprise wrong in my own episode here, but I was going from memory. The actual episode title is Regeneration. Not sure how important that is, but I figured I may as well get the correction out there.

As I was saying in the episode, I originally used the term in an article I wrote in perhaps 2008 or 2009, back when a website called That Guy With The Glasses had a community blog section where I was doing a series called Looking Back. The specific entry was about a show I enjoyed in college called Mummies Alive! It started off strong but really dropped off by the end of its one season because it seemed to lose the plot. I still rather enjoyed it for a lot of reasons that I might get into if I ever get around to revisiting that article. I’ve even been known to reference it on occasion, when the need arises.

The Trek reviewer I mentioned is someone that I’ve mentioned here before: Unlimited Lives. I’ve enjoyed his work for almost as long as he’s been doing reviews. I don’t know if any of this will be of any use or interest to him, but I figure getting it out as far ahead of that particular episode’s review as I can might be smart either way, since he’s on season two of Enterprise now.

And since that’s all the more I can think to say about this episode of Talkie Time, I’m going to wrap it up with a random shoutout for a Twitch streamer I rather enjoy called Many Sharp Teeth. She started off as a horror game streamer, and I think she still does a fair amount of that, but does more variety now. She’s also doing a partner push right now, I believe, so any views would be appreciated.

With that, I’ll see you next time!

That Companion Piece…

2026-08-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

You know, for the last Coffee Time video I did.

I’d meant to get to this sooner, but I’ve been feeling more unwell than usual lately. Before I get to at least some of the reasons for that, I’d better embed the video in question:

While that’s there for anyone who wants it, part of the reason I forgot about this for as long as I did and why I’ve been having some of the health issues I’ve been having lately is because I wound up getting a little toasty at the class reunion I talked about in the video, and I don’t mean drunk, I mean sunburned:

There’s gotta be long-term effects to winding up like that, especially at my age. Worse yet, I probably could have prevented at least some of it with this fancy hat I got a couple years ago:

There are a few other things I need to get on with now that I’m mostly recovered. Getting some of the other health stuff sorted is one of them, but that’s in the works.

Another is that voice bit I talked about. I’ll see what I can do about that soon. I’ll try to keep the delay on it to a minimum because, well, for now, “because” will have to do.

There’s also some fiction I’ve been trying for years to at least get another chapter of out, but that’s also for another time.

For now, though, I’d better just wrap this up and get to work on some of it. Until then, see you soon.

Rethinking Again

2026-07-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

It seems like I’ve been doing that a lot lately.

A while back, I wrote a draft about taking stock of things, mostly intending it to be about what I had on my shelves for JM Tries videos. Before I got around to actually doing any more than that with it, I figured I could make it about life in general.

I do have a bit much on hand for JM Tries, of course, but I have some IRL stuff I may as well add to that in and make a Coffee Time video out of the whole thing, using that draft as the basis. It will take some modification, of course, but it’s doable.

But first, there’s a JM Tries video I’ve been putting off that I can finally get to. There were a few things that needed to fall into place first and now that they seem to have, I may as well get on with this.

So until then, I’ll see you soon.

Happy Fourth Of July, I Guess…

2026-07-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Just missed it.

I’m not sure that’s worth a hell of a lot right now. It really doesn’t mean so much for me, but it’s been awhile since I’ve put out a “holiday” message like this and I’ve been meaning to get more content out here, so I may as well do this.

But this is all I’ve got for now. So I guess I’ll see you next time.

A Few Recent Things

2026-06-28T08:30:00.000-05:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these.

Of course, there hasn’t been much need lately, either. Posts like this are generally promotional, after all, and I haven’t done much that’s needed promoting lately, which is as much my fault as anyone’s.

With that in mind, I may as well do a little roundup piece to cover a few things that could maybe use a little attention.

First off is this bit on politics that took longer than I had intended because it’s something I usually avoid even when I don’t have other things going on.

There are also a few YouTube videos I’ve done lately, most notably some JM Tries videos on some odd root beer and tropical fruit juice. There’s also a Coffee Time that’s mostly just personal thoughts for now. Those last two were relatively new when I did the first draft of this.

That’s about all I’ve got for now. As I usually say at this point in these things, there’s always more on the way, soon as I can get to it. See you then.

Cult Of The Lich

2026-06-20T08:30:00.000-05:00

Generally speaking, I try to avoid politics and current events here and on YouTube because that’s not what I want these spaces to be about, for the most part.

I’m making a bit of an exception in this case, though, because I’ve started to realize something about the guy we’ve got in the White House here in the US. I’m not going to call Ol’ Donnie Boy the president because I’m not sure he ever really was that. Like it or not, he’s in charge of the country for now. How much longer he’ll be there, or how much longer the country will be, is hard to say. But that’s an entirely different discussion for another time and place.

The thing I’ve started to realize here is that if this were a horror movie of some sort we were in, a good many of us would probably just be starting to figure out that our nation has been taken over by a cult and its leader has been possessed by a spirit or a demon of some sort, most likely a lich.

I would hope that we’ve all seen the endless worship and the increasingly odd behavior that there’s good cause for leaving alone, as it’s almost certainly caused, in part, at least, by medical issues in real life.

If, on the other hand, this were a TV show, movie, or video game, this would be the part where the big bad enters a dormant or partly dormant state before going through a violent, gory transformation brought on by the entity they’d been possessed by. At the very least, I’m thinking that’s something along the lines of Dukat at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, or maybe the Lich from either the original Final Fantasy or Secret of Mana, though the main baddie from Howard the Duck might be the best bet.

Now, if there are any heroes coming or if we can save ourselves, it’s hard to say. One can hope, of course, but I had hoped we had learned our lesson last time we were here.

Maybe Not…

2026-05-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

So I’m still using those old laptops after all.

For the time being, anyway, if only because I haven’t yet found sufficient time or energy to work out a better means of doing what I do. As I’m sure I’ve said multiple times before, I’m also sure there are better ways of doing what I do, but I haven’t had the spoons to find them, as the youngsters these days might put it. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get to that one of these days. I’m just not sure when that day will be.

But since I had the unit I use to optimize images up, I figured I may as well take a minute to write something on it as well, since I had a little time while I was at it. But other than that, I’ve got some stuff coming that I need to get on with, so I’m going to wrap this up and get on with it. By the time you see this, in fact, there’s a good chance some of the other stuff may have come up already.

Either way, see you soon.

Trying To Remember

2026-05-08T09:00:00.001-05:00

More why I stopped than why I started.

Getting started with all this and keeping with it over most of the years I’ve been doing it has seemed easy enough for the longest time. I had plenty of ideas to work with and finding the time and energy to do something wasn’t much of a problem most of the time.

Now, though? Finding the time and motivation just isn’t as easy as it used to be. Still got plenty of ideas to work with. Just not as much time or energy lately.

And that’s just for keeping things where they are. As much as I enjoy doing all this for fun, I also often find myself wondering just how far I can go with all this if I really do start putting a little more effort into it.

That means making and/or finding time for things like learning to edit videos or getting better at art, or even finally putting more time into writing again.

At the same time, I still need money to keep my bills paid and fund all this. Right now, that means keeping my day job. The good news is that it does keep everything paid for, if only just barely. The bad news is that it hasn’t been as easy to do even as much as I want to or as I had been lately, let alone get anywhere with it.

That may be the worst part of it. Even as I find myself struggling to continue, at least, I keep finding evidence that I might actually be getting somewhere with all this even if and when I think I’m not. I keep getting new subscribers on YouTube. People have been liking my art liking my art on deviantArt, even if I don’t know why. Hell, I suspect people even read these things when I manage to get them posted.

In short, I’m getting noticed more now, which is a good thing, I suppose; kind of what I wanted. I’m just not sure if it’s what I wanted right now.

I think the point I’m aiming for here, if there is one, is that there a few things I could use a break from right now, and I’m not sure how to go about making that happen in an appropriate way. What that means for the future, I’m not sure. I’ll try to let people know when I get that sorted.

Not A Good Month

2026-04-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

This has been the kind of month that makes me glad I don’t do this for a living.

If this was my actual job, there’s a good chance I’d be out of work because of how light on content I’ve been lately. I think I’ve put a couple things on my dA page recently, but that’s about it. Still got all the other stuff I wanted to do before, and some new stuff as well now, too.

Seems like it’s been a little rough at my day job, too. Not entirely sure why, either. For my part, I’ve been having a hell of a time keeping my shit together lately. That would be bad enough all on its own if it weren’t for that every time it seems like I’ve just about got it back together again it falls right back apart on me.

What I really need right now is time to get myself together, or at least to come up with a plan of some sort for how I’m going to do that. Right now, I’m not even really sure where to begin with any of that.

As always, it’s not completely for lack of ideas. I’ve got a few. I just need a little time to get them together so I can figure out what to do with them and what’s even workable.

And either way, I could still use a little rest. Not sure when I’ll be able to make that happen, but I’ll see what I can do.

Bad Ideas: Expired Canned Soup

2026-03-11T08:30:00.001-05:00

Hopefully, this is the only one of these I’ll do.

So, I’d had these cans of soup that had been in my cupboard for a really long time, right? Like, long enough that they’d been expired since 2018. Long enough that a smart person would’ve just thrown them away a long time ago.

Seems I’m not a smart person, though, because I’ve been using them, slowly but surely over the last couple years. Finished the last one the night I wrote the draft for this. I’m really hoping I live to regret the decision. As I was working, the regret was already setting in.

Wish me luck.

Saying Words

2026-03-05T23:00:00.002-06:00

Much as I would prefer to have these be about things, it might be awhile before they are again.

For now, I’m just going to do a few shorter things when I can, just to get back in the habit of it. I’ve got at least one somewhat longer piece I had intended to have out already, but like I was saying in the previous post, I’ve had a lot going on, and it’s fallen by the wayside. Might have to fix that sometime soon.

Might also need a new keyboard for my new computer already, too. Turns out I’ve already had a couple keys on the cheap-ass one that came with it get stuck and at least partly unstuck in the few months I’ve had it. Thing is, since this is build with Win11 and that dumbass Copilot thing, it’s got that stupid little button on there for it. Were it not for that, I’d at least try to use one of the other keyboards I already have on hand and not worry about it. Now I’m looking at options.

Otherwise, I’m just saying words again. I think I’ll stop here for now and get on with other stuff.

(Ed. Note: This post may contain AI-inserted links that the author did not choose or control. -- JMS)

Heads On Fire

2026-03-05T22:00:00.001-06:00

It’s been longer than I’d thought since I’ve put one of these up.

Had a few things going on, though, and not all have gone well. That may well be a story for another time and place, if it happens at all, though.

Everything that’s been going on lately has left me feeling exhausted lately, to the point where I feel like I’m on the verge of the sort of disaster like the one in this episode of Plainly Difficult that just happened to come up when I was working on this.

As I’m always saying, I’ve still got a ton of stuff to work with, and I’ll do what I can to get to it as soon as I can. It may still be awhile yet because I feel like my head is on fire, as well as a few other unpleasant things, and I’m not sure what to do about it or when things might improve.

With that in mind, I’m going to wrap this up here and get on with a few other things. See you then.

An Old Favorite Web Comic

2026-02-19T00:30:00.001-06:00

Got to talking Trek in the chat for one of the streams I watch recently, and an old web comic I rather enjoyed came up.

The actual topic at hand was the recent Lower Decks spinoff, which I’m still kind of on the fence about trying to find and watch, specifically the character Moopsy that showed up in one episode. The first few times people mentioned it, I thought they were referring to a character from a web comic called Chief O’Brien At Work, which had a story line where the chief had this imaginary friend with a similar name.

The link above goes to the web page, but there’s also a Tumblr for it. I went for the website because there’s merch for it there that’s easier to get to.

I rather enjoyed this comic while it was ongoing because, well, there’s something way too familiar about it. It’s sort of an IYKYK sort of thing, really.

Just thought I’d do this as a quick way of getting word of an old favorite out there for folks who might want to see it.

February Already

2026-02-11T08:30:00.001-06:00

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

It seems like the year only just started and we’re already six weeks into it. Guess I’ve been busier with stuff than I realized, but then, I usually am, I suppose. Always so much to do.

I hope the rest of the year doesn’t go by this quickly. I’d like a chance to enjoy some of it for more than ten seconds if I could. Only time will tell, I guess.

Picture Post: Roller Clown

2026-02-07T08:30:00.002-06:00

This is one of a couple of these I had ideas for over the holidays and didn’t really get to until now.

This is also essentially what I was trying to get on that old laptop for. I’m hoping it was all worth it in the end.

So, to the topic of this post. I remember this being one of my favorite toys when I was very young:

It’s cropped up a few times over the years and it was usually fun to see. When my mom was doing some housecleaning over the holidays this year and had it out again, I had a flash of inspiration. Not entirely sure why. Must be a reason, though.

But, like I said above, this was one of my favorites as a little kid. By now, this may well have been donated to someplace so some other little guy can enjoy slapping him around. Hopefully, this will bring others as much much glee in some sense as it did me.

See you soon.

Companion Piece For Coffee Time: Mistaken

2026-02-05T20:00:00.001-06:00

I’m pretty sure I left a few things out of that last Coffee Time video that I’d wanted to talk about, so I’ll try to get to them here.

First things first, though, here’s the video itself:

The term I was looking for at the end there was production value. I don’t really have much of that in… any of what I do, really. I’m hoping to change that to some degree going forward, since I may very well have a little more free time on my hands for the foreseeable future.

Figuring out what I want to do and how might take a minute, and while I work on that, I’m sure the PC I’m on now will suffice for my needs at present.

The laptops I’ve got at present are not exactly cut out for that sort of work anyway. The one that prompted all this to begin with is running Windows XP, which ended its life cycle in 2014, I believe. In addition, the battery on that particular unit is shot and the display needs to be replaced. The other one I have is badged for Windows 7, runs Windows 10, and is slow as hell most of the time. Those are just the issues I know about, of course. There are almost certainly more that I have no idea how to find, let alone fix.

One suggestion I got when I mentioned some of this in a stream chat I was in after I’d resolved the power issue with the XP unit was installing Linux on one of the laptops. While it’s a nice enough idea, it doesn’t really resolve any of the other issues the devices have. On top of that, I’m really not technically proficient enough to do something like that, and I’m not in a situation where I’d need a multi-system setup even if I was, nor do I see that changing any time soon.

Far as getting the hard drive from the XP one pulled, I might try myself once I get what I think I want off it, but if I cant, I might see what Best Buy can do for me. As for the Windows 10 one, I might just have Best Buy back it up to an external drive and pull the internal one before recycling I as well.

While I’m working on all this, I’ll probably be looking at YouTube channels like LGR and 8-Bit Guy to see if they might have insights, too.

I also did manage to get my list of ideas written and put up on my fridge. I’ve got a copy made for my laundry bag, too, for just in case.

So that’s where I am with all of this. Things are moving forward at least a little bit. Hopefully, anyway. Only time will tell how all this really works out.

See you soon.

MiSTing: Yellow Submarine

2026-01-28T08:30:00.001-06:00

So, here’s something I haven’t done it awhile. I’m reposting an old MiSTing I found in the archived files from Web Site Number Nine. Unfortunately, it’s not the Digimon stuff I’d been doing before, but it is one I could have sworn I had put up here before. Thought I had it in my other files, but I guess not.

I think this may have been one of the ones that inspired me to start using a partner character for my own main, as well as the “bandwidth wasters” theme based on the Turner Classic Movies One Reel Wonders theme. This was a short one trying to “sell” supposedly legal alternatives to various sorts of uppers without saying what exactly they were selling, instead relying more on stoner lingo and slang than anything to make sales.

The host segments were meant as something of a parody of a parody of the commercials for International Correspondence School that Sally Struthers was famous for in the mid- to late 1980s. It’s one of those things that stuck with those of us who saw them as kids and teens back then.

I’m doing this as one big piece because it’s too short to break up.

+++++++ ####### ********* @@@@@@@@ $$$$$$$

Title: Yellow Submarine.
Original Author: Unknown
MiSTing Author: Jesse Shearer, email: ambasosor_lardo@hotmail.com
Era: None/nonstandard
Category: Ad

[Setting: the same theater as the Digidefenders MiSTings, set up to look 
like the commercials for the correspondence school Sally Struthers used to 
advertise.  JESSE stands behind the snack counter, looking half wired.]

JESSE: Do you like needlessly wasting other people's bandwith simply to 
satisfy your own impish whims?  Of course.  We all do.  That's why I'm 
bringing you this little half-reel wonder.  It's a painfully familiar email 
spam called Yellow Submarine.  It's about...  Well, you'll recognise it when 
you see it.  And by the way, this presentation has been brought to you by 
Mr. Fat Guy's Happy Happy Hallucinogenic Tea.  Drink up and enjoy the show!

[JESSE enters theater and takes seat near center of row]

>Subj:Yellow Submarine.

JESSE:[singing] We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine...  We 
all live in a yellow submarine...

>Date:1/26/03 8:12:53 PM Central Standard Time
>From:chercurl@hotmail.com
>To:douglasmc@aol.com
>Sent from the Internet (Details)
>
>
>
>Renegade Botanicals...Offering
>  The World's Finest, Most Potent,    Legal Toke 'n' Toot Alternatives!

JESSE: That are sure to leave you tokin' and tootin' all day!

>
>********************************************
>HARD ECONOMY CUSTOMER APPRECIATION EVENT:

JESSE: Get the word "economy" out of there, and that's exactly the kind of 
customers they appreciate, if you get my drift.

>
>2 for 1 or 20% off; on all "Smoka" Products. ( Only for a limited time!!! )
>********************************************
>
>For Your Absolutely Legal Delight & Pleasuring!  The BEST EVER!!

JESSE: Yeah, right.  That's what you've said in the other three million of 
these, too.

>(You must be 21 Years of age)

JESSE: But what about those of us who are older than that?

>        SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
>
>SWEET TREAT MENU:

JESSE: Cookies, candy, chocolate, sugar...

>
>1.) CHEN CHEN HERBA:

JESSE:[train whistle] Whoo whoo!

>                 Very mellow, uplifting and happy; just a few draws of 
> >Sensitive Smoke. Clean, loose-leaf; Roll it or bowl it!! (pipe included) 
> >2oz...$75.00

JESSE: Well, at least you get the pipe with it.

>
>2.) TONGA TAI BRICK:  Solid amalgamation of high-ratio; 
>strike->alchemized,(brickened & kiffened)

JESSE: So how do you bricken and kiffen something, anyway?

>                               exoticas. Indeed a Sensitive/Responsive 
>pipe->smoking substance.

JESSE: Oh sure.

>             Just a pinch Smokes a long, long way.  A most significant 
>remedy.

JESSE: For what?

>                    Absolutely a depressive/regressive!!! (pipe included) 
>2oz.brick...$115.00
>

JESSE: Oh, yeah.  Really on the cheap there.

>3.) TONGA TAI HAPPY DROPS:

JESSE: Hey, that sounds alot like *my* product!

>                     A breakthrough!!! Liquid Toke for the non-smoker. 
>Under >the tongue or in juice.  70+ servings. 2oz. dropper bottle...$115.00

JESSE: Shouldn't this be more expensive than the solid form?

>
>4.) LASCIVIOUS EROTOMANIA APHRODISIA DROPS:

JESSE: Boing!

>                                        Promotes both physical & 
>psychological >Desire & Uninhibitedness. For men & women!!!

JESSE: Now there's my kind of product!

>                                                Under the tongue or in 
>juice.  >45+ servings. 1 oz. dropper bottle...$90.00
>
>5.) HARMONY SNOOT:

JESSE: Well, hey, if Harmony's getting uppity, maybe I should give her some 
of the previous product.

>            An inhalant powder originally designed to help end cocaine and 
> >methamphetamine dependencies.

JESSE: The hell...?  How did these people get ahold of it, then?

>                                 Very psychologically uplifting, very 
>mood->enhancing, very multi-level (body-mind-spirit) energizing. 
>Non-invasive!!! Just >a little row is all you need...3 dry oz. bottle (well 
>over 600 servings) >(includes glass snooter)...$85.00

JESSE: And you don't even need a prescription, folks!

>
>           ************************************
>
>6.) OOH LA LA...INTRO OFFER...

JESSE: Directly from France!

>                                       Everything Above for...$210.00
>                 (Reg. Price...$480.00)
>                     ************************************

JESSE: Start *seeing* stars!

>TO ORDER/MORE INFO please call 1 (719) 661-3442 during normal business 
>hours.

JESSE: Meaning between the hours of midnight and two in the morning, 
Phillipines time.

>All orders shipped next day via; U.S. Priority Mail.

JESSE:[Culligan commercial] Hey, Postal Inspector Man!

>                                 Please add $7.00 S & H to all orders. All 
> >credit cards accepted. Thank you for your wonderful attention!!!!

JESSE:[hums circus music]

>God Bless...

JESSE:[Spammer] ...any idiot dumb enough to fall for this line.

>
>           ************************************
>
>
>
>
>
>
>___________________________________________________
>
>PLEASE NOTE: Your e mail address has been generated by an opt-in or an 
> >affiliate structured address program. If you have received this message 
>in >error or wish to be removed from this list; please

JESSE:[Spammer] ...buy our stuff anyway.  Then we can talk about removing 
you from our lists.  Maybe.

>          click on the unsubscribe option or call the number listed to be 
> >removed.

JESSE: Right after we trick you into ordering our most expensive product.

>                     We do not condone any Spam

JESSE: Not even the famous pork product?

>                          We thank you for your kind attention and wish you 
>a >splendid day!

JESSE: Yeah, right.

>
>___________________________________________________
>
>To be removed from future mailings click Reply, type Remove as your Subject 
> >and click Send

JESSE:[Spammer] This will confirm that you have an active email address for 
us to spam.

>
>
>qzax czv

JESSE: And it's over.
[JESSE exits theater.]

[Lobby, same getup as the opening segment]
JESSE: Did that sufficiently waste the bandwith promised?  I know I'll live 
to regret it, but hey, it was fun.  Thanks for taking the ten minutes to 
read this.  Oh, and one more thing. [sets a tea service on the counter] This 
production was brought to you by Mr. Fat Guy's Happy Happy Hallucinagenic 
Tea.  This tea is produced from the finest moldy teabags, cultured in dirty 
paper cups filled with used facial tissue and stored in my friend Bill's 
furnace room. [pours a mugfull] Guaranteed to bring about the most bizzare 
hallucinations you've ever had.  Enjoy! [takes a sip, tenses up, and then 
collapses]
[Fade to credits]

{{Credits.  Music: Mega Man ROBO Voice by Joe Redifer}}

[Starring]
Jesse Shearer as JESSE (himself)

[Music]
"Yellow Submarine" perfomed by the Beatles
"Mega Man ROBO Voice" based on music from Capcom's Mega Man 2 and remixed by 
Joe Redifer

[Website]
Overclocked Remix Unofficial Game Music Arrangement Community
        http://remix.overclocked.org/index.php

[General]
That correspondence school Sally Struthers used to advertise copyright 
itself
Mystery Science Theater concept copyright Best Brains
This version by Jesse Shearer, email: ambasosor_lardo@hotmail.com
Spam (the pork product) produced by Hormel
Culligan Water Treatment copyright Culligan Co.
Mega Man Copyright Capcom
Digimon copyright Bandai
Digidefenders by Phantom 1
The email copyright its sender

Stringer:
>We do not condone any Spam

+++++++ ####### ********* @@@@@@@@ $$$$$$$

I remember doing another one of these kind of like this that actually said what some of the actual plants and things were that they were selling and mentioned what they were supposed to do. I can’t remember if I did that one when I was still using the official Best Brains characters or if it was later on with my original character seen here.

The bit at the end is based on something that I actually did once in college. The part of it I remember the clearest is that I’d saved a bunch of old tea bags in a paper cup I’d brought back to my dorm room from one of the campus food service locations, and after having left it sit on the window sill for a few days, I made what could very easily been the fatal mistake of making a mug tea with it and drinking it. Now, fortunately for me, at least, I’m still here to tell the story. Had some messed up dreams from doing it, and that alone is enough to make me recommend against doing such a thing, let alone the fact that it could have gone so much worse than it actually did in so many ways. Needless to say, it’s a “don’t do this at home or anywhere else” sort of thing.

What inspired me to do this instead of some of the other stuff I mentioned in my previous post is that one of the streamers I watch does a lot of VRChat on her stream, and she’s got a Renamon model she uses sometimes now. That got me to thinking about how I should maybe get back to these, and what better to start with than one of the ones that shows that my OC really did need a partner, kind of like the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who?

But I think this is where I’m going to wrap this up for now. I’m sure I’ll have something else up before too much longer. Until then, see you soon.

Coming Back Around

2026-01-20T18:30:00.002-06:00

Now that I’ve got a few things more or less sorted out and squared away in some sense, I should really start trying to figure out what to do from here.

I know some of the “extra” time I think I’ll have coming up will be used to hold on to the recovery I’ve made from what I’ve been doing the last couple months. I’ve made some good progress on that front, but having reason to at least hold onto that progress will be a real help. Having some ideas for that will really help.

Fortunately, I do have some ideas on that front. I’ve got some videos I just need to get on with, of course. I might just do that once I get this written and posted. I’ve also got some writing projects I need to get finished, and getting on those will hopefully keep me focused on staying a little healthier, too

I’ve also been meaning to learn how to do more with video than I lave been for quite some time. As it stands, pretty much all the audio and video I put up online is just single long-take stuff that goes up uncut and unprocessed beyond what YouTube does with video when it gets uploaded. I remember somebody from one of the Discord servers I’m in recommended a free or low-cost video rendering suite at some point, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to make proper note of it at the time.

There’s also the matter of doing gaming stuff online, as well. I’ve been doing written stuff for the entire time I’ve had a blog, and I’ve wanted to move to video for that for almost as long. The thing there is that I’m only mostly sure of where I left the capture device I more or less inherited from my brother when he finished whichever degree it was he needed it for. On top of that, I’m not sure how compatible it might be with the systems I’ve got or my current computer. Plus, there’s a matter of what consoles I’ve got and what games I have for them. All that’s going to take some digging to get sorted out.

One thing that might be a little easier to do is find something to goof around with while I sort the rest of it out. I have the Nintendo Classics collections for the NES, SNES and Game Boy on my Switch that have a few titles in them that I really should have a shot at and share thoughts on in some form or another, so there’s that.

But I think that’s where I’m going to leave all this for now. No point n “faffing about”, as some people I follow might put it.

See you soon.

Welcome To 2026

2026-01-08T20:30:00.001-06:00

Already eight days into the new year and I haven’t said anything about it yet.

I’m not surprised, though. I’ve had about a million things going on since before my birthday last year and it hasn’t really slowed down much since. Good news is, I at least think I might actually be getting somewhere with some of it. Not sure how much, but any little bit helps, I suppose.

Like I was saying in that end-of year post on New Year’s Eve, I think my health is getting a little better, slowly but surely. Been doing a little physical therapy for my back and legs, which had been giving me trouble, and it seems to have helped. Just gotta keep up with that once what my insurance covers ends in a couple weeks.

That’s let me get a few things done I haven’t in awhile. Got some cleaning done in places that really needed it, which is a good thing. I’m hoping to get a little more done soon, too. With any luck, that will be a continuing trend.

Hopefully, I’ll also be able to get on with a few other things I’ve been letting pile up for awhile, too. There’s a whole stack of videos I’ve been meaning to make for quite some time that maybe I’ll finally get to. I’ve got some art I can say the same of, and some writing projects as well.

Now, how long all of that will take, I’m not sure. I’ve got more health stuff than just the therapy to take care of, plus a day job and other offline issues as well. And all that’s going on with all the other crap going on in the world right now, which could also get in the way. Provided that none of that gets in the way, and that I don’t do anything stupid that might prevent my finishing more of these little projects, there’s plenty in the pipeline.

For now, though, I have a couple things to finish before coming back and maybe getting on with some other stuff. Just thought I’d take a minute to write this while I was taking a break for dinner. But it’s time to wrap this up and finish off what I was working on before.

Until next time!

Happy New Years, I Guess…

2025-12-31T08:30:00.001-06:00

So, here we are at the end of 2025.

Seemed like it would never get here. Hell, this year seemed like it was about five at once with all the crap that went on, and I don’t just mean in general.

I mean, sure, there was all the shit that happened in the world at large, with the wildfires that happened in California to start the year off and our old-new-old president again shortly thereafter. There’s plenty of other awful shit like that that I’m sure I’m not thinking of right now.

I’ve also learned at least one hard personal lesson along the way that I might get into a bit more later. But that’ll have to wait for another time, too. It’s getting a little late as I write this and I should have been in bed a while ago.

There have been a few good things along the way as well, I suppose. Not as many as I’d hoped for, and it seems they’re harder to think of than I’d like. I got to the west coast to visit my brother and sister-in-law; I got a new computer; and I think my health is getting better again, just to name a few.

So yeah, it’s been a long, hard year, with a few good things along the way. Hopefully, 2026 will be better than 2025. Here’s to hoping, at least.

Text Play: Lufia and the Fortress of Doom (Taito, 1993, SNES) Issue #011: How It Always Seems To End

2025-12-29T01:00:00.001-06:00

Bad news, folks. I’m going to have to officially abandon another run of this game, much as I would rather not.

This was not really my intent after letting it sit since the middle of July. Unfortunately, things came up over the last almost six months since then, and I really haven’t had much chance to do a proper job of getting back to it until just last night. A big part of it was that the ceiling in the room I usually do that sort of gaming in had been out because of water damage since the end of July and it didn’t get fixed until sometime in October, and I still had other things I had to work out between then and now.

But the long and short of it is, when I sat back down to pick up where I’d left off the last time I’d tried to do something with this, the game glitched out on me and wiped my file again. The bad news is that I’m going to have to start all over again if I want to continue, which could take awhile, and I’m not really in the mood for that. The good news is that at leas I wasn’t damn near at the end of the game like I was the last time this happened.

I think the reason this keeps happening is that I got a messed up cart when I got my copy of the game back when I got it in like 2010 or whenever that was. But then, by then, my only option was second hand. Which is not to say that such things are always unreliable or anything, just that these things do happen with used items, especially as they age

As to what’s next, I’m going to have to think for a bit. I have plenty of options available, as always. Some are ones I’ve been meaning to get back to; others are ones I’ve wanted to give first shots here. I’ll make a post about it when I figure something out. Hopefully, that won’t be too long.

Until then, stay safe, have fun, keep gaming, and DFTBA!

A Little Messing About: December 15, 2025

2025-12-15T08:30:00.002-06:00

Not sure how long I’ll leave this up.

For now, I’m just messing around with some of the “wonderful new features” that Google says I’m a good fit for, based on my content. I’m not sure what I think of that. I’m not inclined to think it’s a particularly good thing, but may as well give it a go, just to see how what this so-called “AI” automation does compared to what comes out of the ugly lump of flesh on my own shoulders.

To be honest, most of the time, I think I’d rather trust the piece of meat between my own ears, for as often as it’s been unintentionally smashed into things. After all, I’ve been doing this whole writing thing for he better part of thirty years now, and I think I’m not only a little better at finding my own links and such now, but will continue to be for another thirty.

It’s kind of like this post I saw on Mastodon recently. The gist was that George Clooney’s an actor who can do a decent job of playing a surgeon on television but if he were to go into an actual operating room and try to do a real surgery like a real surgeon, the patient’s fucked because Clooney’s not an actual surgeon and doesn’t know a damned thing about operating on people. The last line of the post was that it was really about LLMs.

I’m still going to be dumb enough to give these things a shot every once in a while, just to see what happens. I’ve always figured it was worth it to learn about these things, after all. Still probably better off just finding what I’m looking for myself rather than just trusting the machines to do it for me, though.

But for now, let’s see where this goes.

An Early Christmas Post

2025-12-14T08:30:00.001-06:00

Since I haven’t gotten anything out lately and I’m not sure if I’ll get anything up in time otherwise.

Between being busy with work and a few health issues and a couple other things, I haven’t really been up to doing much writing or doing any audio or video stuff lately, which really hasn’t done me any favors on that front. Kind of hard to keep an audience without new content on a somewhat consistent basis, after all.

The good news is, I do have a few projects to work on, either to get started on or get back to. I’ve got a few photo blogs to get sorted, at least, for the former; the Lufia text play for the latter, and I’ll have to put some thought into if I want to continue from where I left off or restart. Things happened that were at least a little bit beyond my control on that front, which is why I’ve not done anything with it in a couple months. I’ll try to get on with at least some of these things before too long.

But like I was saying in the headline and above the jump, this is also an early Christmas post, just in case I don’t manage to get anything up in time for that. The way things are going, I may not. If I don’t, I hope everybody has a good one.

Until next time, Happy Holidays. See you soon.

A Turkey Day Ramble

2025-11-26T22:00:00.001-06:00

I’ve got a new audio bit out. Link below the jump.

It’s not the best Thanksgiving episode, but here it is all the same.

Now that the living room in my apartment is all fixed, I’ll try to get back to the gaming stuff I’ve been meaning to. I think I’ll try to get back to Lufia first, because I still want to finish it.

In not-so-great gaming news, I might be in the market for a Switch 2 sooner than I thought because I’d hoped that my apartment would be fixed sooner than it was, and in the meantime, the built-in battery in my Switch went completely dead because I’d just left everything unplugged on account of just being too lazy and forgetful to get it plugged back in once I realized how long repairs were going to take.

Fortunately, the car stuff turned out to not be as bad as I thought it was going to be. Was still worth getting it looked into, just in case.

I’ve also started physical therapy because my back has been giving me trouble lately. I think it’s helping some, but it’s hard to say since I’m only a couple sessions in so far. We’ll have to see how all that works out going forward and if I can keep it up after I’m done with the course.

But that pretty much wraps all this up for now. I’ll see you all soon.

Happy Thanksgiving.