Five Things I Think I Think (February, 2026)

Monday, February 9, 2026 Bob Byrne Comments 5 comments

What? It’s been TWO WHOLE WEEKS since I told you what I’ve been thinking about?

Well, we certainly can’t have that now, can we? I start with a bit of snark, and finish with a mini-rant. But hey, Ohio thinks a foot+ of snow, and consistently negative wind chills, is perfectly acceptable. So, I’m doing some grumpy old man this Winter.

1 – READING IS FUNDAMENTAL

We are not nearly the reading culture we were in the past. Online has massively increased ‘watching’ bite-sized content. Which is rarely as intellectually as fulfilling as reading. Or even watching en entire movie.

And I happen to believe the messed-up state of the world is in part attributable to the decrease in intelligence (ignorance runs rampant) resulting from video being as filling as cotton candy and replacing reading (somebody scrolling tik-tok for three hours a day is not learning the way someone reading a half hour a day is).

You don’t have to read Shakespeare, or bios of physicists, or Wuthering Heights. There’s plenty of ‘more accessible’ non-fiction. And while there’s a lot of garbage fiction out there, the choices are endless.

When you read (I’m including audiobooks), you learn new words, and contexts. Your imagination and your comprehension grows. We are a dumbed-down society. And in large part, that’s due to reading becoming a secondary activity to temporary, vacuous, visual stimulation. Doomscrolling.

Reading fills my day. I am now current on Dungeon Crawler Carl, which is a pretty impressive series. Looking forward to the new book this year. I’ve been catching up on Clive Cussler’s Isaac Bell, and The Oregon Files, series’ (written by continuators, as he’s dead) via audiobook. I re-read The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia, about the Mob during Prohibition. And as you’ll see below, I revisited Red Dwarf. And I’m re-reading Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, the BBC radio play of which I listen to EVERY day.

And I believe my mind is soaking in things while I read/listen. Maybe I’ll go on a Civil War jaunt, or get back into Sherlock Holmes, or finish my slooow re-read of First Things First. I just read what I want to. But I know I’m smarter than I would be if I didn’t read regularly.

Reading is Fundamental (RIF) started sixty-ish years ago, and it’s more true than ever before these days.

2 – CASTLE PERILOUS IS…OK

I mentioned back in December that I bought the first eight books by John DeChancie, during the Annual Audible sale (I will have to rejoin Audible for this year’s sale. Read on). I have listened to the first five books. The premise is that there is a magical castle, ruled by Lord Incarnadine. There are 144,000 doors/aspects that lead to parallel universes. Guests find their way to the Castle, and some stay. There’s a regular cast of characters. Adventures are had, and villains frequently try to take it over.

It’s a good series, but for me, not great. I like some of the contemporary references; eighties and nineties technology was itself a different world. The characters are likable, though most are human or human-like. Snowclaw is like a white-furred version of Kelsey Grammer’s Hank McCoy/Beast, in the X-Men movies.

I’m on a break, but I’ll get back to the next book. They’re more like background listening than most audiobooks I do. They’re okay. They just don’t grab me like lots of stuff does. This type of whimsical never really pulled me in.

3 – GRIM DAWN IS A WINNER

I talked about Grim Dawn in my last Five Things. Since then. I competed the base game. I’m waiting for the kinda expensive DLC expansions to go on sale. I absolutely want to play more.

Clicking over and reading that snippet would be useful. I’ll wait…Okay, you’re back. After I finished Grim Dawn, I tried a little more of Titan Quest II. And I restarted Diablo 3 and finished the first two acts.

With all the hours of Diablo 1, 2, and Titan Quest 1 that I played, I outgrew point-and-click games like that; Which later came to be known as Action RPGs. They felt repetitive and pointless. Maybe I wanted more story as RPG evolved.

As much as I love TQI, TQII simply hasn’t pull me in. I’m not invested in the story. And Normal setting is too hard. I’d rather not dumb it down to Easy. The Unreal engine is slick and pretty, but the game has lost the charm of the TQI engine. Which Grim Dawn uses. I went early access to support the developers, and because I loved I. But I’m barely playing this so far.

D3 has the Diablo lore, and it looks terrific, with endless amounts of loot. But I feel like it’s nothing but point and click. I could almost play with my eyes closed.

I’m not exactly sure what Grim Dawn has that they don’t, but I looked forward to each session, and I wanted more as soon as I finished the main quest. I even went off on a couple side quests. I’ve got the two expansions (I’m not into arena battlers) on my Steam wish list, ready to pounce on.

I liked The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsig, but I quit somewhere in Act III. Grim Dawn reminds me more of Van Helsig than it does TQ2 or D3. But I was invested to the end. And even a little beyond.

Grim Dawn II is a long-term project, but I hope they don’t abandon the engine, like TQ2 did. I recommend Grim Dawn for your ARPG fun.

4 – RED DWARF IS HITCHHIKER-ESQUE

Since I’m not into the popular Red Dwarf British TV show, I’m not as well-versed as I am in most stuff I write about. But I read the two novelizations many years ago, and I was a fan. Created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor (thus the name, Grant Naylor), it first aired in 1988 and there was a new installment in 2020.

As with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy BBC TV series, I couldn’t get into the cheesy visual quality. I’ve read it got better over the years, but I’m not interested (just as graphical advances didn’t make the Hitchhiker’s movie good).

Each man wrote a separate ‘third’ novel, with different story lines. I’ve not read those.

So basically, I like the two novels. I like the audiobooks of them, read by Chris Barrie, who played Arnold Rimmer on TV. He also did abridged audiobooks/radio plays of the two novels, for BBC Radio. I just listened to those, which prompted this entry.

Barrie is excellent voicing the books. I’ve listened to the audiobooks a couple times. And I liked the radio series.

There’s also an audio collection of the TV soundtracks for episodes I-VIII. Presumably heavily abridged. I haven’t heard them.

Many readers of this post are more familiar with Red Dwarf than I am. I think it’s fair to say that any Douglas Adams fan, will enjoy it. It’s a bit more crass, but the same type of sci-fi humor. I find the It’s a Wonderful Life tie-in amusing.

Red Dwarf is a mining ship, with one living human let (Dave Lister), his annoying hologram former roommate (Arnold Rimmer), and a mutated cat-human. Things happen. Lots of things.

Cat is played by Danny John-Jules. You may have read here that I am a huge fan of Death in Paradise. Jules is Officer Dwayne Meyers, and a key part of the show. I should check out a few Red Dwarf episodes to see him as Cat.

5 – THERE ARE TOO MANY SUBSCRIPTIONS

Grumpy old man shaking his cane here. I grew up before TBS helped revolutionize TV as the first ‘super station.’ Cable grew and grew, and I complained about paying lots of money for a slew of channels I never watched.

I ‘pulled’ the plug with a Roku box. Which evolved into a Roku Smart TV. And to watch the shows I wanted to watch, I ended up subbing to a bunch of apps, that cost me more than monthly cable used to. I finally decided enough this year.

I have the complete Columbo, and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, on a bunch of DVDs. Psych is the one show I couldn’t do without (showing on Peacock, and Prime), so I bought that set. And then I canceled Paramount+. And Peacock. I bought a $20 antenna that picked up my local channels, and a few more. And now I am mulling letting go of Prime, and Hulu+ Live. Just watching what I can, for free (Tubi is a really useful, as is Pluto. Plus Roku Live is free).

And continuing the money-saving trend, I canceled Audible, and Kindle Unlimited. I’m getting lots of audiobooks free through my library, via Libby. And I re-listen to Audible titles I already own.

I switched home WiFi, cutting my bill by more than half.

If I cut Hulu TV (almost $100/month), I’ll have to sort through what I’m legit missing. I might actually have to sit down and watch a show right when it airs each week, like the cavemen did!

But I finally got tired of needing three or four apps and subs to watch football, or hockey. Streaming TV hasn’t been an improvement (or savings) from cable. Not this way, at least. Monthly savings are currently just under $100. Hulu TV would make a big impact if I let that go.

Prior Things I Think I Think

Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.

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K. Jespersen

1 month ago

1. You’re making librarians and language teachers nod about several points

2. Glad you found it OK, and good-not-great. I wondered if that was going to happen when you said you bought it from Audible. Castle Perilous, like Xanth, appears designed to best be enjoyed by reading it aloud to oneself. There are both clevernesses presented in sound and clevernesses presented in visual perusal of the word in it. Though, if the whimsy is not your preference, why continue with it?

5. Too many stream subscriptions, yes, even more so given the bundling that has the problem of– once again– making us pay in addition for what we do not want. Worse, now, is the trend that BritBox has most recently jumped upon, wherein the service has now attracted enough subscribers who have signed up in good faith, that it can proceed to add more advertisements and now lock privileges and content behind a new tier of membership with a greater fee. And let not software subscriptions be discussed, lest your comment section turn blue.

Bob Byrne

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Reply to K. Jespersen

I read quite a few Xanth books back in the day. Same thing – good, not great. And Craig Shaw Gardner, and Bimbos of the Death Sun. Etc.

I probably like whimsical in small doses. So, I’ll dole out the Perilous books over the next few years.

I did find the Live TV feature on Roku, and Pluto streaming, have lots of shows I will watch. There’s even a Britbox channel on Roku that does Death in Paradise. So maybe my new future won’t be everything I wan to watch, but I can find stuff I will watch, and that’s enough.

I am on a mini-Columbo kick again. That show often comes back into my rotation. Peter Falk was just SO good!

Reply to Bob Byrne

Columbo!! Yes, that’s a truly great series. The character’s methods and affectations are so effective in real life that I’ve seen several defense attorneys adopt them in the courtroom. Falk acted that role tremendously. “One more thing–”

When I want television comfort food, it usually comes down to “Columbo,” “Murder She Wrote,” or “KnightRider.”

John Bullard

Your praise of Columbo finally got me to start watching the shows, Bob. Stop.making.me.spend.money!!!!

Reply to John Bullard

C’mon, man. How have you not seen Columbo over the years??? That is an American TV institution!!

I grew up watching The Rockford Files with my dad. Columbo came a little later.

And being a Columbo fan made me appreciate the influence it had on Monk, which is also an All Time favorite. Peter Falk was just so good in Columbo. He wasn’t even second choice, and then he turned it down when they wanted to do a series. We almost missed out on the whole thing. Shudder.

You can watch Columbo free (with commercials), at least. There’s a streaming channel that’s part of Roku Live TV, and also Tubi. Not sure where else. 24/7 Columbo. What a wonderful thing!!!!!

And being a Columbo fan led me to watching The In-Laws .
OMG, that movie is pure gold. Trope for so many movies and tv episodes.