Who Is the Atomic Spud?

The Atomic Spud (a.k.a. "James") is a thirty-something mechanical engineer working in the nuclear industry. Although raised in southern California, he was educated in Utah and, after receiving his M.S. in mechanical engineering, accepted a job offer in Idaho. He and his family have since become very fond of Idaho and only return to California to visit family. He is also a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; i.e., the "Mormon" or "LDS" church. James served two years as a full time missionary in Veracruz, Mexico between 1998 and 2000.

The fact that James works in the nuclear field in a state that's famous for its potatoes made the handle "The Atomic Spud" obvious. It was only after he gave his blog that name that he discovered the existence of a rock band named "Atomic Spuds". This blog has come to consist mostly of political opinions, book and movie reviews, and the occasional odd quote, fact, or tidbit that James found interesting.

James is an avid reader of science fiction, politics, and history and is always reading at least two books at any given time. Unfortunately, he has a habit of reading at a speaker's-pace and of rereading key passages. This means he reads books at a slower rate than he buys them. With regards to music, he prefers movie scores, the occasional country album, and They Might Be Giants. Although he loves movies from all eras, most of the films he watches were made before the mid-1960s. He rarely watches more modern movies unless they're based on science fiction or fantasy. His Netflix membership is one of the best purchases he ever made.

James has been told that he's 'a child of his era... assuming that era was the 1950s'. You'll probably notice this in the overall theme of this blog.

You can email James at TheAtomicSpud@gmail.com.