Spider-Man Far From Home-An Honest Review

By Zackary Richards

NO SPOILERS

The first question any review reader wants to know is, should they see it?

The answer is yes. It’s clever, funny at times and has a number of plot twists that will keep you interested.

But there are a number of flaws.

The first hour is basically a travelogue. Peter and his classmates bounce around Europe and it's there we meet Mysterio. Nick Fury tells Peter that Mysterio is from an alternate Earth and has fought the Elementals before and Spiderman is needed to help him

Okay.

In the second hour another villain appears.  And here’s where things get a little wonky. 

For one the writers can’t seem to figure out how strong Spiderman is. In one scene, the bad guy is beating the crap out of Spiderman. And this new baddie doesn’t have super strength. In the next scene, Pete receives a blow that would have staggered, if not permanently crippled the Hulk, yet Pete pretty much walks it off.

Another area the writers can’t seem to figure out is Pete’s Spider-sense.   One moment it is keeping him alive against overwhelming forces, yet in several other dangerous scenes, it seemed to have stepped out for a smoke.

Then there is the choice of costumes. At the beginning of the film, Pete still has the armored one from Infinity War but fights the Elementals with the cloth one.

And what is with Aunt May?!! Pete’s not even sixteen and she’s fine with him fighting super-powered beings. There is a reason the military doesn’t allow kids to fight in wars. And I raised teenagers and there is no way in hell I’d allow my fifteen-year-old, albeit superpowered, kid, out of the house to fight superpowered monsters.

But I get it, It’s entertainment, not a documentary. And as entertainment, it does a fine job but it’s the two after movie trailers that I have the most trouble with. I’m taking a guess here, but I believe this is the last Spiderman movie SONY will allow Marvel/Disney to make. And so Marvel/ Disney jacked up the Spiderman series cannon so badly during that first trailer that SONY will find it damn near impossible to reinstate the Peter Parker/Spiderman character as a friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

And the second one is incomprehensible! Nick Fury-Aliens-holographs-shape shifters? WTF!!

Still, if you’re a fan of the Marvel movies, go see it. You’ll have fun.

  

How to Create Fans for Your Stories

 By Zackary Richards

First, if you think that by simply writing a book will automatically garner you a publishing contract, you are mistaken. It no longer works that way, if ever it did.

The first step when it comes to getting a publishing contract is to prove to potential publishers that you can write well enough to create a fan base. Meaning there are people out there who are willing to spend money to read your work

And you’re not going to be able to do this until you can write well and can take criticism. I suggest you join a writers group. This way you can have a group of people who can critique your work and help you improve it.

Do not attempt to publish before you are ready. How will you know when you are ready? You are ready when you value constructive criticism more than praise. AND when you can tear your story apart and start from scratch or make major changes knowing you’ll be able to do that.

Once you can do that write a short story and upload it to Amazon Kindle. Charge .99 cents and at the end of your story leave an email address for readers to comment on what they liked and what they did not like.

Or create a blog and give the stories to anyone willing to leave you their email address and tell you what they liked or disliked.

In both cases you’ll start building a list of readers who are telling you exactly how to make your books better and attract even more readers.

Once you have about one thousand readers or so, start writing your full-sized book (around 300 pages) once done then start shopping around for an agent or publisher.

Start the letter with I presently have over 1000 constant readers of my short stories and am looking for an (Agent or Publisher) to secure me a book contract.

And that my friend is how you get a book contract.

Now what about those stories about some kid or old lady who writes their first book, and are instantly published and it sells millions of copies?

Those people are astounding lucky.

It happens. Just like winning the lottery. And the odds are the same.

If you want to know more then read my book “The Best Book on How To Write, Publish and Market Your Novel into a Best Seller” Here’s the link https://www.amazon.com/Write-Publish-Market-Novel-Bestseller-ebook/dp/B00EHYIMCI/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=Zackary+Richards&qid=1558813453&s=books&sr=1-13

Lottery or Bitcoin: Odds of Becoming Rich

First of all, there is really no way to calculate the odds of becoming rich either way BUT one does have an advantage over the other.

Most lotteries are based on KENO, a casino game that has a far larger house edge than any other game. Which mean the odds of you winning is considerably less than any other casino game. This is why Powerball and the like often go for weeks with no winner. And of course, the average lottery player spends more money on lottery tickets than they ever make back in winnings.

But they’re an easy sell because of the possibility that you MIGHT win, or as the New York Lottery slogan states. “Hey, you never know.”

And that is true to a certain extent. My daughter went to school with a girl whose parents won the lottery and they were able to quit their jobs and live the life they wanted because of it.

So the question you might want to ask yourself before playing is. “Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do you?”

 And strangely, sometimes you do! I had a run of scratch-offs that totaled over $2500 dollars. And it all started with a five dollar scratch-off.  Did I take the money and run? you might ask.

Well, the way I looked at it was, Can the 2500 dollars make a significant change in my life? Will it pay off my mortgage? Pay off my car? Put my daughters through college?

The answer of course was no. It might provide for a nice vacation, but I’m not married and presently not seeing anyone and taking a vacation alone isn’t something I think I’d enjoy.

So I bought more lottery tickets with the winnings and it soon became apparent that my winning streak had come to an end. When my winnings dropped to 20 dollars, I quit and bought a pizza.

 Now here is where The lottery and Bitcoin differ.

Once you lose with a lottery ticket. That’s it. You toss the ticket and get on with your life.

Bitcoin is a bit different.

Oh yes, you can lose a great part of your investment in a very short period of time.

BUT…

If you wait long enough, you may very well get your money back and considerably more.

Here’s how it works.

You set up an account at Coinbase.com  *Note that there is an extensive setup procedure, requiring a smartphone, a driver’s license, a photo ID and a bank account all necessary to prevent hacking. But once you’re in it’s a simple to buy Bitcoin. You simply transfer the amount of Bitcoin you want to buy from your bank and Coinbase converts it to Bitcoin. When you want out you simply transfer it back.

No muss, no fuss.IF you want a look, here's the link
https://www.coinbase.com/join/5a2f10d233daf700e8ea8a14

Here’s what you need to know. You can buy pieces of bitcoin for as little as $10 each. Which is around the price of an average lottery ticket. So what I do is whenever I think about buying a lottery ticket I use that money to buy Bitcoin.

Here’s an average scenario.

Say Bitcoin is selling for 5,000 dollars each.  You buy 100 dollars’ worth.

The next day it drops to 3,000 dollars. Oh shit! Money down the drain!

You swear you’ll never buy Bitcoin again!

Months pass. You forget about the hundred dollars. Then one day you notice a post that says Bitcoin is on the move. Thinking you might get your hundred dollars back, you search for your access code to Coinbase and check your account.

That one-hundred dollars is now one-hundred and sixty dollars. Just as you’re about to transfer that money back into your bank account you pause and look to see just how much Bitcoin is worth that day. Then see that it’s gone from the low three-thousands to the high seven-thousands in just over one week!

 If you had put that original hundred dollars into a bank account for the same amount of time, it would now be worth about one-hundred dollars and sixty CENTS.

 Do you take the Bitcoin money and run, or do you throw another hundred into the pot?

Keep in mind, just over a year ago Bitcoin reached 20 thousand dollars before free-falling to the low three-thousands.

Here’s a word of warning, so pay attention.

What Bitcoin does is allow purchases to be made without a middle-man. For example, Amazon pays VISA hundreds of millions of dollars in fees each year. With Bitcoin, there are no transaction fees. You simply take your Bitcoin purchase amount from your account or alt-coin “wallet” and place it in theirs.

Transaction complete.

Take a moment to think about how many businesses want no-fee transactions.

Answer? ALL OF THEM.

As for me, I ignore the doom and gloom nay-sayers. The so-called experts. It’s a crap shoot. All investments are. The reason I invest in Bitcoin is because businesses want it and are spending a lot of money to make it work.

Remember the first rule of business. Find out what people with money want, get it and sell it to them at a profit.

 So that’s it. The next time you think about buying a lottery ticket, consider Bitcoin. The odds are a lot better.

Game of Thrones Review Season 8 Premier

Game of Thrones Review Season 8 Premier

Quite the Disappointment

Like all Game of Thrones fans, I was anxiously awaiting the Season 8 Premier. TV cranked up, HBO on, snacks at the ready and recliner chair in perfect position.

On comes the stirring and majestic theme music…

But wait…

It sounds a bit different. Less majestic, less powerful, less resounding.

This is a kinder, gentler, more compassionate version.

Scooby says, “Rut-row!”

It seems my greatest fears have been realized. I’ll explain.

The series has surpassed the George R.R. Martin Novels. Therefore, what we are seeing now is not a screenplay of the original work, but instead new stories written by the GOT team. Meaning Hollywood.

And that is what’s going to ruin it.

The premier was predominately a snore. Lots of shots of soldiers marching, Jon and Daenerys glazing lovingly into each other’s eyes. Sensa making snotty comments and the main characters getting together with a lot of “How’s it going and how have you been?”

There was one good line. When Sensa asks “What do Dragon’s eat? Daenerys replies, “Whatever they want.”

Good one!

So, let’s start with who will win the Throne.

In my opinion, Jon Snow, without a doubt. Here’s why.

When Sam tells John, he is the rightful heir and that Daenerys killed his father and brother. (This is not a spoiler; you already knew this) Jon says he too has killed those who were disloyal. But then Sam says, ‘But you also spared some too.’ This makes Jon more compassionate and therefore in Hollywood’s eyes, the most deserving.

Hold on there, little buddy!

Jon was killed for the very same reason by the very same type of people he’s come to protect now. And of course, he’s dead.

 But, you say, he was resurrected by the Red Witch and so he’s good to go.

Resurrected by the most evil and vile creature in the series. Remember what she had Daddy do to his loving little girl?

 Generally, when some horrific creature restores your life, there’s always some evil payback involved.

I’m waiting…

Since Jon is dead, why didn’t he turn into a Whyte Walker? He’s clearly a zombie. Can he even be killed?

 And what about Daenerys, the mother of Dragons, The Kaleesi?

Well now that Jon can ride a dragon, what do we need her for? She only came from being made a slave to a queen and leader of the largest army in the Seven Kingdoms.

 True, but she’s not as compassionate and forgiving as Jon, so she clearly can’t rule the seven Kingdoms.

Because in Hollywood, compassion and empathy outweighs any other factor.

I could be wrong. But I doubt it.

However, the GOT team has certainly earned a ‘wait and see’ judging by the spectacular work they’ve done so far and I’ll continue to watch till the end.