Author: Mark Perigard

Writer. Editor. Survivor. Half-man, half-metal.

My Year of Music

On By Mark PerigardIn LifeLeave a comment

When I was in the second grade, I had one violin lesson.

The teacher humiliated me, and I never went back.

So ended my “brilliant” music career.

Now, with the hindsight of an adult, I know the teacher didn’t mean to embarrass me.

He was just trying to show me proper technique, but I felt singled out and shamed in front of my classmates.

Part of me always wondered, though, what I would have been like – what I would have gained – if I had stuck with the lessons.

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Beware the Fury of the Doll Man! Oh, Stop Laughing

On By Mark PerigardIn ComicsLeave a comment

Can we all agree that in the pantheon of super-powers, super-shrinkage is the absolute worst?

More useless than the ability to control a skateboard with your mind. (R.I.P., X-Statix’s El Guapo.)

Lousier than the ability to spew slugs. (Hello, X-Men’s Maggott.)

Super-powers, intrinsic to their nature, are supposed to give you an edge in the unending battle of good vs. evil.

Super-shrinkage makes you susceptible to perils the average person takes for granted: the family cat, an open grate, a stray spider.

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How Leonard Nimoy Saved ‘Star Trek: The Animated Series’ from Becoming One of the Greatest Debacles in TV History

On By Mark PerigardIn TV2 Comments

On its 50th anniversary, “Star Trek: The Animated Series” is finally getting some well-deserved love.

For many years, the Saturday morning series that premiered Sept. 8, 1973, has often been disparaged, if not outright ignored.

And it almost was a mess that very well could have torpedoed “Star Trek” forever, were it not for star Leonard Nimoy.

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How Hateful Can One Man Be?

On By Mark PerigardIn Politics1 Comment

Meatball Ron is doing it again.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, America’s Republican fascist frontrunner, has instituted educational guidelines in his toilet of a state that require educators to talk about the “personal benefit” of slavery to the enslaved.

When pressed by reporters, DeSantis sputtered, “They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life.”

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Florida: America’s Fascist Future

On By Mark PerigardIn Politics2 Comments

If you ever wonder what this country will look like if Republicans win the White House in 2024, look no further than Florida.

Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, the “Sunshine State” has earned a new nickname: “The Hate State.”

DeSantis, trying to pave the way for his own presidential run and backed by a Republican supermajority that knows no shame, has passed a series of measures more befitting a banana republic.

He’s banned abortion, books, and health care for trans people.

He even approved a bill in which health care workers can now refuse care to patients whose lives violate their beliefs.

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