Author: Karlo Yeager Rodríguez

After Seeing “Captain America: Civil War” I’m Left Wondering Why All the Love?

Full disclosure: I went to go see "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" back when it came out and enjoyed it quite a bit. I was a leery of making Hydra a shadow government since I felt it let all the air out of the balloon regarding the movie's thesis on government power and the politics of fear. However, the other elements outshone that critique. Not so with "Civil War". I found myself having a hard time caring about the characters. The movie felt overlong and bloated as a result. For me, the movie's climactic moment should have been the airport fight, with a quick winding down as the sides become more entrenched and then carry things over to a future film. Also, the characters seem to approach every problem as something to blast or punch. I know: it's a superhero film, but the Avengers are doing triple duty as spies, diplomats and special...

Balticon 50 is Coming. . .

Within the first year of living in the Baltimore area, I became a member of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. I joined because of the space, which I've described as a cathedral dedicated to science fiction, and the ancillary activities. Their claim to fame, and what pays the bills, is Balticon. Confession time: I'm not a big fan of conventions. In part, I think it has to do with lack of conventions in Puerto Rico (it's become a bigger thing since I've left), as well as the demands of being in a public space with large numbers of people. Also, I am a bad fan--too finicky, perhaps. For instance, I like the idea of a show like Star Trek existing than the actual show (in all its incarnations), but rarely watch it. The same goes for most of the touchstones of being a sci-fi or fantasy fan. All that said, however, I'm excited...

An Unforeseen Obsession: Page Views

I've been following the metrics for my story's page views in Nature Magazine. It has become a bit of an obsession as I have been somewhat overjoyed to see the page views continue to climb as time passes. There is a two-day gap between the metrics displayed and any given day, but I can't help but continue to be surprised at the exposure my story, "Choices, In Sequential Order" has gotten....