Iridium Eye ends its hiatus!

Hello, everyone.

I thought I would give you a quick reminder that I have more than just one blog. There’s another page of mine that delves into reviewing indie films, international cinema, short films, anime, non-mainstream animation, documentaries, and other obscure movies called Iridium Eye. I hadn’t posted on there in months, but I now have three reviews up today on that page. If you’re sick of whatever Hollywood has been spoon feeding you, then I suggest you check out that blog. Interestingly enough, Iridium Eye is my most-viewed blog of all time.

Feel free to check it out.

This week I have reviews involving movies from Senegal, the DRC, and Uruguay up there.

http://iridiumeye.wordpress.com

On Worldliness (A Confession)

As you may or may not know, I haven’t been posting a lot recently on most of my blogs.

I’ve been incredibly busy with my jobs, living in a new town, and really working on my fiction projects. Besides the various life issues, I have to be honest with everyone.

I came to the realization that worldliness was a big flaw of mine.

Sure, something’s wrong when people focus way too much on celebrities and useless things. I’m sure we can all agree with that. However, my case was more peculiar.

Some of you know that I cannot stand so many forms of mainstream media. Movies, music, books, etc. I became immersed in indie movies, obscure anime, and other lesser-known things. I realized that I became worldly, but just through another avenue. This had to stop and I realized how much focusing too much on unimportant things for the longest time. I’ve been a fan of different things, and I’ve been hindered.

Seriously, I could still name-drop random bands on Tooth & Nail records over it’s history as a record label, yet I only recently knew who some local politicians are in my hometown.

I can tell you every aspect of Kimba the White Lion that a very certain movie shamelessly stole from, yet I didn’t know all the aspects of African history and what was stolen during the Scramble in that continent.

I could probably still remember all the characters in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (one of my favorite games growing up) and even mentioning which comic or game series they’re from, yet I didn’t take the DIY ethic seriously enough to make my OWN characters until the past 4 years of my life.

This was a ball and chain around my brain. I was captured and didn’t even know it.

Look, I’m not a role model or a guardian angel. I’ve screwed up multiple times. I don’t understand why some people would want to look up to me.

I apologize if this aspect of me rubbed off on anyone. However, I do not apologize for my hiatus across most of my blogs. For those that do like my content on here and elsewhere, then please be patient before I feel like I can do other things like my music, videography, and film reviews on my other blogs.

Although, you can check out my fiction blog as I serialize Gateway to the Empyrean. Just sayin’. Hahaha!

Okay, now back to being serious.

I had to make important changes in my life like researching various things in my own free time, creating more of my own stories, and cutting out anything that has distracted me. This partially means less movies and anime to watch for me. This means reading more nonfiction (the legit kinds). This means creating more than what I consume. Don’t get me started on how I feel about various fandoms and how those involve are squandering their potential for greatness. As much as I could point fingers at some people, I don’t want to focus on that. I blame only myself for not believing in me, having so much self-hate for most of my life, and for finding distractions to fill a void.

For the few of you that follow this or any of my blogs and read this. Thank you.

I need to become a better person. I need to do more important things in my life.

-Curtis

One Year Later…(Or my first Wednesday NOT having to write or film anything)

This was a bit of fresh air for me.

I can’t believe that after one year of writing and filming my Katauta 52 videos, I completed my challenge. I’d like to thank anyone that has followed this year-long challenge.

So what do I do next?

That’s a good question.

I know what I want to do next for the Ospreyshire project, but I’m keeping that under wraps.

For my other projects, I want to release some of my written works that I’ve worked on for four years and to write more reviews fro the various movies and anime I watch.

Hopefully, things go well here.

Brotherhood of the World Award! (or There’s a joke involving X-Men, Doom Patrol, or Fullmetal Alchemist in here somewhere.)

I was nominated again so soon! This time, it’s the Brotherhood of the World Award. I would like to thank Chizurue for nominating me. She reviews anime, manga, and books on her blogs such as Of Midnight Ravings and Mnemosyne.

Here’s how the award works:

-Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
-Answer the questions sent to you.
-Nominate around ten bloggers.
-Create your set of questions for your nominees.
-List the rules and display the Brotherhood of the World logo in your post.

Without further ado, I’m going to answer the questions used during Chizurue’s post.

Briefly explain your blogging style (where your favorite blogging spot/tools – as in, on the couch using your smartphone or something).

For starters, I blog using my phone or my desktop. I’d say it’s 50/50 depending on which blog I’m using and what kind of content I’m posting.

I all my blogs I tend to write like how I talk or what I believe, but in different ways. When it comes to some kinds of content, I just let something like a video or song speak for itself before I explain things briefly.

Ospreyshire: I do my best to talk about my creative project under this moniker. This is my main blog as one could guess. I show as much content that I create on here like my year-long Katauta 52 Project or my stories behind my songs/poems on here. Things couldn’t just be a bout me, so I do my best to cross-promote people like other people on ZAP Records (the indie label I’m affiliated with), nominating others for awards, and the occasional post about some real-life friends of mine doing great things.

Autumn Peal Media: I don’t talk that much on my blog. I just let my video projects and photography speak for themselves on there. Just don’t expect me to be all that vocal on there.

C. M. B. Bell Fiction: This is different since I deal with my original stories on there. I try to have a conversational style of dialogue while also adding some more poetic narration. My fiction writing style tends to use atypical protagonists, referencing social issues, having diverse casts, and making plots for things or characters I’ve never seen before. I also enjoy satirizing tropes and cliches whenever I can. Most of the stuff on there is micro fiction or my Hollandus Landing cell phone novel. Stay tuned for more content on there though.

Iridium Eye Reviews: This blog allowed me to be more overt in my honesty as I review some obscure media and anime. I wanted to have a mix of formal things such as researching concepts for fun facts while also having a bit of humor. There are times where I drop some uncomfortable truths if I disagree with the majority consensus or mention some controversial elements depending on what I review. I felt like I’ve become more assertive as a person after making this blog March of last year.

How do you manage your blogging time including blog reading time?

Good question. I do read some articles when I have some free time or checking some things out on my breaks if I’m at work when it comes to blog reading time. Some days, I can read several articles while other days I barely have any time given my variable schedule, so I just go with the flow. However, I make an effort to catch up when I can and I’ll intentionally read bloggers’ older/archived posts besides just their newest ones.

Blogging time? Most of this has gone to this page and Iridium Eye. The Ospreyshire page is straightforward and I don’t have to post that much, but most of my time is spent writing poems and filming for the Katauta 52 Project. Iridium Eye takes longer with reviews, finding a picture with it, researching things, and scheduling 3 reviews per Saturday with some cases a whole month in advance.

Who is your most read author?

I haven’t read as much as I used to. As far as books read per author, then I would say Ted Dekker. I read a bunch of his books years ago, but I haven’t read his newer fiction books. As far as more recent authors are concerned, I would say either Winona LaDuke or Rev. William J. Barber II. Both are nonfiction authors who talk about the history and concerns from the American Indigenous and African-American communities respectively. Both were really insightful and I really like how they get real on those issues, are well researched, they know what they’re talking about, and they do not make race a partisan issue which is a huge godsend to me.

How did you come up with your blog name?

I’m sure I’ve answered a question like that when it comes to the Ospreyshire moniker, but I’ll talk about how I got the names for my other blogs.

Autumn Peal Media: I was born in October, so I was certainly an Autumn baby. Peal is an uncommon word that I thought would sound cool and it’s a wordplay with something else, too.

Iridium Eye: Iridium is one of the rarest and most precious metals. This rarity aspect plays on the fact that most of the content I cover is lesser-known. The eye refers to the critical I that I use whenever I review indie films, foreign films, anime, non-mainstream Western animation, short films, and documentaries.

What keeps you blogging?

It is a platform for my creative outlets across the board and it has helped me to have a voice when I’ve been bullied into silence in my past. I’m able to be more honest and assertive online and real life. There’s also a goal I have for using bigger projects to give them a place to be posted online such as books, albums, and video projects.

Thank you! I hereby nominate the following bloggers…

Shokamoka
Ra’ahe
The Things I’ve Seen
Brandon Knoll
B. (Aphorisms)
Blog Posts From the Edge
Angie Trafford
Bloom Reviews
Emily Curry
Milly Schmidt

Here are my questions for my nominees:

1. What was a post that you created that made you feel better as a blogger?

2. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

3. What improvements could you make on your blog? How can you improve as a blogger?

4. How has blogging changed/improved you as a person and in your real life interactions?

5. If you can visit any country that you’ve never been to, where would you visit, which tourist spots would you check out, and why?

 

 

So I made some improvements to my film/documentary/anime review blog known as Iridium Eye…

Hello, everyone.

As some of my followers may or may not know, I have more blogs besides this one. Sure, it is my main one where I focus on my spoken word/music project, but I have additional interests you know.

That other blog is Iridium Eye. My new slogan if you will, is “Reviewing the best movies and series you’ve never heard of.”

This is a little review blog where I post things every Saturday. If you’re looking for a  place that’s all about the latest mainstream movies, this isn’t for you. I focus on media that’s lesser known to the mainstream zeitgeist.

I now made a menu of all my archived reviews from past to present. Everything is even in alphanumerical order from numbers to A to Z as redundant as it sounds. At the time of this post, I have written 135 articles critiquing things like indie movies, documentaries, anime, and short films.

Not everyone has checked it out since it’s inception in March 2017, but I would really encourage my followers and even some new faces to check it out. Iridium Eye has been cathartic for me and it helped me become more assertive even in real life.

“What stuff have you reviewed before?” You may ask.

Good question, and I’ll make some statements that might match your tastes in film and/or animation.

Do you like some quality foreign films?
I’ve talked about movies such as Before Your Eyes, Ringu, Mother of Mine, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (the original) to name a few.

Do you like some well-made documentaries?
I’ve reviewed docs like Danielson: A Family Movie, I Am Not Your Negro, Bananas!*, This Is Not a Film, and many more.

Do you like anime?
I’ve critiqued movies and series such as Cyborg 009: Call of Justice, The Ghost in the Shell: Arise prequels, Haibane Renmei, and Kino’s Journey to name a few.

Do you want to see Western animated films outside of the iron grip of companies like Disney, Dreamworks, or Illumination?
I’ve certainly highlighted lesser-known animated films such as The Secret of Kells, Ernest & Celestine, Fantastic Planet, and Song of the Sea for example.

Are you into old-school stuff?
I’ve discussed things such as Yojimbo, Kimba the White Lion, and Key the Metal Idol.

Feel free to check out Iridium Eye if you want to discover movies and series you might enjoy. If you know some of that stuff, then that’s awesome. Follow that blog as well, if you please.

Blogger Recognition Award? Oh, wow!

It’s been a while, but I was recently nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award by Brittney over at Brittney’s Blog. She’s an up and coming blogger who covers subjects like anime and her own life experiences. Feel free to check out her blog. Thank you so much, Brittney!

In order for me to move forward with this award, I have to follow these rules:

1.Say thanks to who nominated you and leave a link back to that persons blog.
2.Give the story or history of your blog.
3.Give two or more pieces of advice for new bloggers.
4.Nominate 10 other bloggers and link their blogs.

Now without further ado, here we go!

1. The story of my blogs:

Ospreyshire: I used to be active in the music scene, but I took a long hiatus. Not only that, but I wanted to to something new. I’ve loved poetry and experimental art, so I wanted to incorporate those elements into a new project. Thus, Ospreyshire was born. My little spoken word/avant-garde/anti-pop project.

Autumn Peal Media: This was a way for me to show off my photography and videography in a blogging format. Even though it’s currently on hiatus, I have several articles showing my works on there like a portfolio. Granted, I’ve been making videos for years via Vimeo, but I didn’t want it to be the only site where people can watch my stuff.

C. M. B. Bell Fiction: I’ve been writing for years, but this was me finally getting off my butt and finally posting stuff on there. I felt like my friends never knew about my fictional projects, so I needed to get some of my works out there. I’m also working hard to finally get my books to the world. I’ve written 15 books over the past 4 years, but I never showed anyone, so I needed a platform where I can post them once they get published. It’s mainly short stories and chapters from my Hollandus Landing cell phone novel so far, but expect more this year.

Iridium Eye Reviews: This blog has been a labor of love since I started it last March. I wanted a platform where I can talk about movies and anime that not many people were talking about. I actually have a film background and I wanted to show my knowledge on various aspects of film and animation. For years, I wanted to post reviews online, but I was scared to post my opinions on there. Better late than never, I guess. As some of you may know, I got sick of so many mainstream movies out there getting all the attention. At the same time, my affinity for indie movies, documentaries, anime, foreign films, and short films was rekindled, so I wanted to share my unorthodox thoughts on the media that doesn’t get much attention from reviewer circles or bloggers.

2. Advice for new bloggers

I don’t know how many people will take this to heart, but here’s some words I hope people can follow.

-Be honest and researched in your opinions.

-Don’t just follow the crowd. Be original by carving your own identity.

-Get connected with other bloggers. It’s a community, not a competition.

-Not everyone will have the same opinion as you. If you do have a different opinion, don’t be a troll or try to be contrarian for controversy’s sake.

I guess that’s it for now.

3. Nominations!

I nominate the following blogs…

Ani-dotes
The Zone of Nerders
Raistlin0903
Elle Nguyen
Canadian Globe Trotter
Jenn
Fractured Faith Blog
The Otaku Judge
Jeannette Jonic
Mechanical Anime Reviews

Thanks and have a great day!

-Curtis