Jim's Tumbled Upon

Movies, books, writing, programming, DIY, and more

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Review of Backrooms

* * * B It’s been a while since I went to the cinema. The last film I saw on the big screen was Iron Lung, an independent film by YouTuber Markaplier. This time, we went to Backrooms, which is based on a YouTube web series. I had intended to see Project Hail Mary, but didn’t get around to it, so I’ll be watching that one on VOD. Backrooms is a weird psychological thriller starring Chiwetal…

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Movies in 2025 Sucked

For years, I wrote reviews of all the movies I watched, and considered myself an avid film buff. Last year, I posted a series review of Dept Q. What happened? I found myself just not caring. This is partly due to some pretty terrible stuff going on in my life, but also definitely due to the lackluster quality of films last year. I’m going to offer quick reviewlets of every film I watched last…

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Dracula in Modern English on Kindle

Dracula in Modern English is now complete, and you can read it here for free. It’s also available for Kindle at minimal cost on the Amazon website. A paperback is in the works.

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Dracula Chapter XXV Added

I just added a new chapter to Dracula in Modern English. I hope to finish soon. When it’s done, I plan to publish a cheap Kindle edition as well as a paperback edition on Amazon. Enjoy!

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Series Review: Dept Q

* * * * A Dept Q is a British mystery series on Netflix. Matthew “Ozymandius” Goode stars as Carl Morke, a detective who, along with his partner, James Hardy, survives being shot. When he returns to duty, he is given a newly created job to investigate cold cases. Morke is joined by Akram, a Syrian IT specialist who has a secret past. Akram selects the case of a prosecutor, Merrit Lingard, who,…

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Fixing a Fiscar Pole Saw

My telescoping Fiscar pole saw collapsing on me, so I tried to tighten the knob that stops it from sliding. The screw was rusty, and snapped right off. Here’s a picture of the joint afterward: A quick trip to home depot, and I found a matching carriage bolt and a wing nut. Here’s the fixed joint, with the broken off knob in the background: Fix things instead of throwing them away has become a…

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Dracula - Two New Chapters

I finally returned to work on my modern English adaptation of Dracula, with two more chapters completed. Only three more chapters remain. When complete, I intend to publish it as a low cost ($3) kindle book and as a paperback available on Amazon. The two new chapters have been added to the free edition here: Dracula in Modern English.

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Dracula Chapter 12 Added

This and the previous 3 chapters have been added to the page Dracula in Modern English. Chapter XXII – The Power of the Eucharist It was six-thirty in the morning when Jonathan and Mina went to meet the others in the study and to have something to eat. Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward agreed that if they did not eat, they could not work their best. God knew their best would be required this day.…

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And Even More Drucula

The story comes to a boil. Enjoy. Chapter XXI – What Happened to Renfield When Jack got to Renfield’s room, he found him lying on the floor on his left side in a glittering pool of blood. When Jack went to move him, it became at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries. There was none of the unity of purpose between the parts of the body which marks even lethargic sanity.…

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Even More Dracula

I finished adapting the 20th chapter today. Enjoy. Chapter XX – New Clues Jonathan found Thomas Snelling in his house at Bethnal Green, but unfortunately the man was not in a condition to remember anything. The very prospect of beer which Jonathan’s expected coming had opened to him had proven too much, and he had begun too early on his expected debauchery. Jonathan learned from his wife, who…

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Dracula Chapter XIX – Rats, Boxes, and Dreams

Jonathan went with the search party with an easy mind. He’d never seen Mina so absolutely strong and well. He was so glad that she had consented to hold back and let the men do the work. Somehow, he dreaded that she was involved with the fearful business at all. Now that her work was done, and due to her energy, brains, and foresight, the whole story was put together in such a way that every…

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Traditional Masculinity is not Toxic

Brandie Weikle of the CBC asks “Should parents of boys set aside the topic of toxic masculinity?” and answers “This author thinks so”. A good start. What more does she have to say? As a feminist, Ruth Whippman said she found the #MeToo movement energizing and validating. “It was like, finally, women had a voice. We were allowed to call out this kind of bad behaviour that we all knew about and we…

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The Silver Key in Modern English

adapted by James Beltonfrom the short story by H.P. Lovecraft When Randolph Carter was thirty, he lost the key to the gate of dreams. Until that time, he had made up for the boredom of life with nightly excursions to strange and ancient cities beyond space, and lovely, unbelievable garden lands across ethereal seas. But as middle age hardened upon him, he felt these liberties slipping away…

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Cool Air in Modern English

adapted by James Beltonfrom the short story by H.P. Lovecraft You ask me why I am afraid of a draft of cool air, why I shiver more than others upon entering a cold room, and seem nauseated and repelled when the chill of evening creeps through the heat of a mild autumn day. There are those who say I respond to cold as others do to a bad odour, and I am the last to deny that impression. I will…

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The Haunter of the Dark

a modern English adaptation by James Beltonbased on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft I have seen the dark universe yawningWhere black planets roll without aim—Where they roll in their horror unheeded,Without knowledge or luster or name.—Nemesis. Investigators hesitate to challenge the belief that Robert Blake was killed by lightning or by nervous shock caused by an electrical discharge. True,…

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The Shadow Over Innsmouth

a modern English adaptation by James Beltonof the short story by H.P. LOVECRAFT Unspeakable monstrousness over-hung the crumbling, stench-cursed town of Innsmouth, and folks there had somehow got out of the idea of dying… Preface During the winter of 1927-28 Federal government officials made a strange and secret investigation of the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth. The public first…

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Dagon

a modern English adaptation by James Beltonbased on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft I am writing this under mental strain, since by tonight I shall be dead. Penniless, and at the end of my supply of the drug which alone makes life endurable, I can’t bear this torture any longer, and will cast myself from my garret window into the squalid street below. Do not think that I am a weakling or a…