Happy Anniversary

September marked the 7th anniversary of the Dark Forces Book Group. From the very humble beginnings when Peggy and I were the only ones there to Regina being our first new member to the present where we are going strong with our very own blog, this group shows no sign of ending any time soon.

For the curious our first book selection was Tim Powers' Anubis Gates.

The most popular authors:

• Joe R. Lansdale 4 selections (The Bottoms, Bumper Crop, High Cotton, Lost Echoes)
• Alan Moore 4 selections (From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2, V For Vendetta)
• Neil Gaiman 3 selections (American Gods, Good Omens, Sandman: Doll's House)
• Philip Pullman 3 selections (The Amber Spyglass, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife)
• Jeff Vandermeer 3 selections (City of Saints & Madmen, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, Veniss Underground)

Next month's Stir of Echoes makes the third Richard Matheson selection (Hell House, I Am Legend)

Of the 84 selections, we've read nine graphic novels, nine 19th century publications, and two anthologies.

Thanks to everyone who has participated over the past seven years. It's been a blast and I look forward to our next anniversary.

When Was the Term "Hard-Boiled" First Applied to Fiction?

The figurative use of hard-boiled probably dates back to as early as 1885, when the phrase "hard-boiled egg" seems to have been used as an epithet for someone who didn't readily part with money.
Continued....

Thanks to Bill Crider for pointing out this info from The Straight Dope.

Miss Moneypenny To Flirt No More

Sad news...

Bond star Lois Maxwell dies at 80
Actress Lois Maxwell, who starred as Miss Moneypenny in a string of James Bond movies, has died aged 80.

Maxwell starred alongside Sir Sean Connery in Bond's first movie outing, Dr No, in 1962.

Continued...

For All You Black Folks Out There. . .

I can imagine myself eating a bowl of Captain Crunch and watching this on KTBC some Saturday afternoon a long time ago. This is a classic promo from Nature Boy Ric Flair (aka Naitch, Slick Ric, or just The Dirtiest Player in the Game).

A 21st-Century Story in a 1940s Style

To whet our appetites for the Ultimate Bladerunner DVD set, Wired has posted this interview with Ridley Scott on their website.

Wired: You started working on this movie more than 25 years ago. How does it feel to be talking about it again?

Scott: It never went away, so I'm used to it. It kept reemerging, and that's when I realized that it had really unusual staying power. It's all very well to say, "Well, I knew it had." But I didn't, really, at the time. I knew I'd done a pretty interesting movie, but it was so unusual that the majority of people were taken aback. They simply didn't get it. Or, I think, better to say that they were enormously distracted by the environment.

Wired: What do you mean by that?

Scott: I was touching on possibilities like replication. It's now quite commonplace, but 25 years ago they were barely discussing it in the corridors of power. Now, the film is not really about that at all, it's simply leveraging that possibility into one of those detective film-noir kinds of stories. People were familiar with that kind of
character, but not with the world I was cooking up. I wanted to call it San Angeles, and somebody said, "I don't get it." I said, "You know, San Francisco and Los Angeles." It's bizarre: People only think about what's under their noses until it comes and kicks them in the ass.

Wired: How did you decide to tell a 21st-century story in a 1940s style?

Scott: Well, people want a comfortable preconception about what they're seeing. It's a bit like 20 years of Westerns and, now, 45 years of cop movies. People are comfortable with the roles. Even though every nook and cranny has been explored, they'll still sit through endless variations on cops and bad guys, right? In this instance, I was doing a cop and a different bad guy. And to justify the creation of the bad guy, i.e., replication, it had to be in the future.

The rest of the interview is worth your time, as well.

And is it me, or does Ridley Scott look like Philip K. Dick in the accompanying picture?

Go read.

Major League Baseball Urns and Caskets

I'm a HUGE baseball fan and even I wouldn't do this.

Major League Baseball Line of Urns and Caskets

For many baseball fans, rooting for that special team was a lifelong commitment. That is the inspiration behind Eternal Image’s extraordinary line of urns and caskets, each individually reflecting one of the 30 Major League Baseball teams.

Initially only eight teams will be available: St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies. Twelve more teams will be added to the line in late 2007 with the balance of 10 teams added in 2008.

Forthcoming titles

At our September meeting, the titles for November and December were decided.

Our current schedule:

October 10: Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson
November 14: Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
December 12: The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant






















As always, we meet at 7 PM at the Flight Path. Visit the Dark Forces home for more info.

Kink! The Musical

The things I uncover while doing research...

"Everybody's got a little kink!"

What is Kink!, you ask? Everything you could ask for in a musical tribute to the 1950's pinup legend Bettie Page, that's what!

My grandfather is portrayed by Tom Edwards. Sadly there are no images of him as Irving Klaw.

Calvin and Hobbes Parody

Sadly, this probably isn't far from the truth...

An unreal tale of Bible reality

Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn't literal

The community college instructor says the school sided with students offended by his explanation of Adam and Eve.

By MEGAN HAWKINS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

September 22, 2007

A community college instructor in Red Oak claims he was fired after he told his students that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted.

Continued...

I had some pithy statements to add, but I decided the story pretty much spoke for itself.

(Thanks to Ken Huey for the link.)

Someone's Gonna Get Fired

Normally, I decry the publication of special "gift editions" of books already long available in paperback. But every once in awhile, someone gets it dead right, creating an actual work of art that enhances the book. Of course, they will be immediately fired for getting it right.

Take a look at that beeeeyoutiful copy of Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Look at those rounded edges and gilt-edged pages. Look at the shiny, shiny gold on the cover. There's even a red ribbon marker to hold your place. It's brilliant, people!

The book arrives in stores this fall, just in time for Christmas. Moore is in the process of writing a new book, so he won't be touring. But he will sign copies that you can pre-order from Books, Inc. in California.

The Death of Abraham Lincoln

From the Whitest Kids You Know.



Personally, I'd go back in time just to see this version of Hamlet.

'Smiley Face' Turns 25 :-)

Digital 'Smiley Face' Turns 25

By DANIEL LOVERING
Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- It was a serious contribution to the electronic lexicon. :-) Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes - a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis - as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message.

continued...

Who would have thought that something so simple would revolutionize communication?

Margie Hart and the war effort

"I'm helping the Allies win the war, every time I unhook my brassiere" -- dancer Margie Hart, who tried to donate 4,000 of her pinups, in a Life magazine article

I'd love to say it came from my own research, but I found the quote in Kelly DiNardo's forthcoming Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique. I am reviewing the book for The Austin Chronicle.

The Intruders

At our August meeting, Peggy gave me a copy of Michael Marshall's new book, The Intruders. Years ago,as Michael Marshall Smith, he wrote Spares, a tight little sf novel I liked a lot about people being bred for their organs. More recently, he dropped the Smith from his name and began writing thrillers (The Straw Men, Blood of Angels) that tend to feature sf or horror elements.

The Intruders is a decent little bus ride book. I won't claim any more for it than that. Jack Whalen is an ex-cop who became a writer almost by accident. He's lucked into a nice life in the Pacific Northwest until one day, a cab driver calls him on his wife's cell phone. Fearing trouble, he heads to Seattle and it looks as though she's dropped off the face of the earth--her office is unaware of the meeting she said she was going to be attending and she never checked into the hotel she said she'd be in. Then Jack's wife appears back home acting like nothing has happened. Only she's changed in subtle ways that only her longtime husband would notice. At the same time, a little girl walks off the beach away from her mother, being led forward like a puppet on a string as she inexorably makes her way towards Seattle. And Jack is contacted by a man he hasn't seen since high school who wants his expertise to investigate a recent double murder.
In classic thriller style, Smith accelerates the plot with short chapters and by bouncing back and forth between Jack's first person perspective and third person of a few of the other characters as he slowly pulls the threads together for the climax.

As I said, Marshall has tended to use sf and horror tropes to liven up his thrillers. In this case, the concept that people are living their rational lives while all around them the shadowy "real" world is just out of focus, which is a classic horror idea, and the secret ruthless organization that knows what is really going on and that should be avoided at all costs, which has roots in both horror and sf. Marshall is a very good writer and he is able to load all of this up with a nice sense of dread for Whalen and the other characters in the novels. But as I was reading, I did feel as though I'd read a lot of books just like this. And very recently. For example, Bryan Smith's Deathbringer a recent release from Leisure Horror (Oh, shut up) had a similar idea at its core. There's probably nothing in The Intruders anyone in our group would find all that new, either. So I can't recommend grabbing The Intruders in hardback, but if someone is nice enough to offer you a free copy, well then you should certainly take it.

King Kung Fu Trailer

He came from China! He knew karate!

A Chinese gorilla who knew karate? 70s cinema at its finest!

Not surprisingly, I was sent a review copy of the recently released DVD. As soon as I get around to more than chuckling at the trailer, I'll write a full review. In the mean time, enjoy!

My Fantastic Fest 3 blog

I am contributing a blog about Fantastic Fest 3 over at RevolutionSF, where I will be writing reviews of the festival films and other happenings.

From the FF3 site:

Fantastic Fest is a week-long festival featuring the best in new science-fiction, fantasy, horror, animation, crime, Asian, and all around badass cinema. The event was created to offer exposure to genre films which are often overlooked by the traditional festival circuit. We strive to offer acquisition, media and exhibition opportunities for undistributed films as well as to spotlight upcoming genre theatrical releases and give audiences a chance to see 35mm prints of repertory classics.

Until the festival starts on Sept. 20, I'm previewing the Festival.

Hoegbotton & Sons Book Sale

Long time Dark Forces favorite Jeff Vandermeer (City of Saints & Madmen, Veniss Underground, and The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases) and his wife Ann are hosting a mammoth book sale from their own private collection. The sale actually started yesterday, but plenty of great things are still available.

Movie Call

My friend Tom is having a movie call at his house this Saturday night at 8:00. How is works is thus: we turn on a really *bad* science fiction movie (this weekend's will be ZOMBIES OF MARA TAU; previous entries include QUATERMASS AND THE PIT and HOMICIDAL) and make like Joel, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, yelling sarcastic comments at the screen and, in addition, looking for the Five Things Every Cheesy 1950s Sci-Fi Movie Must Have (TM). There will also be drinks and snack food aplenty.

Let me know if you're interested, and I'll provide the where.

Writer convicted of murder he described in novel

Polish author jailed over killing he used as plot

• Pole orchestrated murder of suspected love rival
  
• Police stumped until they read gruesome thriller

Ian Traynor in Warsaw
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian

A Polish pulp fiction writer was sentenced to 25 years in jail yesterday for his role in a grisly case of abduction, torture and murder, a crime that he then used for the plot of a bestselling thriller.

Continued...

Interestingly enough I encountered this article from March 24, 2006 along with a plea to free author Krystian Bala.

Polish Author Tortured by Police and Imprisoned

On September 5th, 2005 Polish writer, philosopher and traveler Krystian Bala was kidnapped and physically abused by the Polish Police and held in custody for three days in a Wroclaw jail. He is presently in prison once again while police continue a murder investigation based on his writings from his controversial fictional book "Amok".

Continued...

In retrospect, O. J. got off very easy. Especially after penning If I Did It, where he practically admits to murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

Cartoon Modern

One of last year's best books was Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation. It's a lot like Art Out of Time, perfect for endless browsing. And I'm happy to see that Amad Amidi has put up a blog for the book that is full of cool development art.

I really hope that Cartoon Modern (both the book and website) leads to DVD collections of the animation it tantalizingly describes, just like Art out of Time seems to be encouraging collections of its obscure comics, like as the Fletcher Platt book Rick reviewed a while ago and Fantagraphics' collection of Gene Deitch' Terrible Thompson newspaper strip.

Check out United Productions Of America's Academy Award-winning Gerald McBoing-Boing (1951) for an example of the "modern" style.

Yet another shameless plug and a book suggestion

My review of The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet is in the current Austin Chronicle.

The first two pieces, written separately by co-editors Kelly Link – "Travels With the Snow Queen," a nonlinear tale of forbidden love – and Gavin J. Grant – his insightful nonfiction exploration "Scotch: An Essay Into a Drink" – quickly establish the tenor both in quality and content for this stunning anthology. Excellent and unconventional pieces abound:

Continued...

This would be an excellent book for us to read. What do y'all think?

Salvage-1

At our last meeting, I was telling Paul (Miles) and Peggy about this TV-movie I saw as a kid. I couldn't recall the name but Andy Griffith lead a salvage mission to the moon to recover NASA stuff left behind. The plan was to sell it back on Earth. The movie spawned a short-lived TV series. They both looked at me like I was crazy (not an unusual occurrence) and said they never heard of it.

Well, I'm not crazy (at least not in this regard). The show was Salvage-1. It ran for 18 episodes in 1979. I remember loving the pilot movie but the series where they went on various salvage missions was at best so-so.

WSFA Small Press Award finalists

I got an email today from Sam Scheiner, the Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award Administrator, informing me that Paul Miles and I were finalists in the Short Form category for our story "A Penny A Word," which originally appeared last year in the World Fantasy Award nominated Cross Plains Universe. We didn't win. But it's always nice to be recognized for your work.