Saturday, December 13, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
This Kind of Proves the Point of a Post Below
Largo man injured in 'accidental' overnight shooting: A Largo man was hospitalized overnight after being shot in what authorities said was a game between two men pointing loaded guns at each other.
FFB: The Compleat Traveller in Black -- John Brunner
Way back in the early '70s I read an Ace Science Fiction Special called The Traveller in Black by John Brunner. It's presented as a novel, but it's really a fix-up book, composed of four previously putlished novellas. A long time afterward I came across the paperback shown on the left, The Compleat Traveller in Black, so naturally I bought it. It has one additional story, so it was worth it. All the the stories have the same main character and the same theme, and they work well as a novel.The Traveller is a man with many names but a single nature. He carries a staff of light, and his job is, simply put, to bring order out of chaos. It's a lot more complicated than that, of course. He's involved in changing the world of magic into a world of reason, and his method is to grant people's wishes: "As you wish, so be it." If the expression "be careful what you wish for" ever applied, it's in this book. You can be sure that almost always the result is going to be surprising and not at all what the wisher had hoped for and expected. Each story begins with some short examples, parables maybe, of granted wishes before moving on to larger concerns.
John Brunner was one of the greats of 20th century SF, though he's almost forgotten now. He began with space operas and then wrote such classics as The Squares of the City, Stand on Zanzibar, and The Sheep Look Up. The stories about The Traveller represent some of his very few ventures into fantas. I found them wonderful when I first read them, and reading them again was a treat. They're beautifully written and clearly the work of a powerful imagination. They might not be for everyone. They're not the heroic fantasy or Howard or the sweeping high fantasy of Tolkein (though that's closer than Howard). If you enjoy a well-written and different kind of tale, you should give these a try.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Contest -- Enter Now! Time's Running Out!
Win a Kindle Voyage Loaded with Brash Books - Brash Books: We’re giving away two new Kindle Voyages pre-loaded with all of our first thirty Brash releases — everything from Tom Kakonis’ powerhouse thriller TREASURE COAST to the first five novels in Jack Lynch’s Edgar & Shamus Award honored BRAGG series. All you have to do to win is post a review of one of our books on Amazon, or on your blog, or on your Facebook page, and send us the link at brashbooks@gmail.com…or tweet it with the hashtag #brashbooks. The winner will be chosen at random Dec. 15th.
Such a Deal! 14 Books for $2.99!
Amazon.com: Realms of Wonder: A Fourteen-Novel eBook Bundle of Science Fiction and Fantasy eBook: Aaron Rosenberg, Craig Shaw Gardner, Jo Graham, Charles L. Grant, Kathryn Ptacek, John DeFilippis, Al Sarrantonio, Melissa Scott, Chet Williamson, David Niall Wilson: Kindle Store: Realms of Wonder: A Fourteen-Novel eBook Bundle of Science Fiction and Fantasy
A Contest of Interest (To Me, Anyway)
Only days left to win a copy of "Shadows on a Maine Christmas" by Lea Wait
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
Also to win a copy of "The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo" by Sparkle
Abbey
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And to win a copy of "Death of a Christmas Caterer" by Lee Hollis
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And a copy of "Dying for a Dude" by Cindy Sample
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And only days left to win a copy of 2 books from Brash Books-"Blanch on the
Lam" by Barbara Neely & "Outrage at Blanco" by Bill Crider
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And lastly, to win a copy of "Voices From Beyond" by Simon R. Green
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
Also to win a copy of "The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo" by Sparkle
Abbey
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And to win a copy of "Death of a Christmas Caterer" by Lee Hollis
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And a copy of "Dying for a Dude" by Cindy Sample
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And only days left to win a copy of 2 books from Brash Books-"Blanch on the
Lam" by Barbara Neely & "Outrage at Blanco" by Bill Crider
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
And lastly, to win a copy of "Voices From Beyond" by Simon R. Green
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Toys in the Attic
Mary Ann Mobley, R. I. P.
TMZ.com: Mary Ann Mobley -- one of the first Miss America winners to make it big in show business -- died on Tuesday in Beverly Hills after a long battle with breast cancer.
Tuesday, December 09, 2014
Overlooked Movies: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Directed by Sam Pekinpah, this movie opens looking for all the world as if it's going to be a traditional western, but as the scene ends, we see that we're in modern times. That's the first surprise. Another might be that the lead is played by Warren Oates, who was thought of mostly as a character actor at the time. Here, he's a piano player in a bar in Mexico. He gets the opportunity to earn big money to bring the head of Alfredo Garcia to El Jefe, whose daughter has been impregnated by Alfredo. So Oates and his pregnant girlfriend set out to get the head. Garcia is already dead and buried, so the head's not going to be that hard to get, or it wouldn't be if others weren't after it as well. Oates finds the body first, but bad things happen, after which Oates, maddened and enraged, goes on a killing spree unlike almost any other. The usual Peckinpah blood and guts and slo-mo deaths abound. Oates and the head, with which he holds one-sided conversations, go on a road trip. Oates spreads destruction like a crazed avenger, and in the end [SPOILER ALERT] everybody dies [END SPOILER ALERT].
Heads roll, go on road trips, take a shower. Critics hated this movie on its release, as do a lot of people now. Others find it an allegorical dark comedy that's a modern classic. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
Monday, December 08, 2014
Ken Weatherwax, R. I. P.
The Hollywood Reporter: Ken Weatherwax, who played the pudgy son Pugsley on the 1960s ABC sitcom The Addams Family, has died. He was 59.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee
How things went wrong at a Saskatoon Tim Hortons: Two men are facing mischief charges after a sandwich order gone wrong led to a snake-throwing confrontation at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Saskatoon.
The Detectives’ Lunch Club
The Detectives’ Lunch Club: Once a month, in an exclusive Philadelphia dining room, the greatest minds in criminal justice gather to crack the nation's coldest cases.
Sunday, December 07, 2014
Ralph H. Baer, R. I. P.
Examiner.com: The father of video games, Ralph H. Baer, has passed away at age 92. He came to rest in his New Hampshire home on the night of Saturday, Dec. 6 according sources close to him and a Facebook post by video game historian Leonard Herman, a friend of Baer.
Rudolph's TV Special Turns 50
'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' turns 50: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" premiered on television December 6, 1964, and is now one of the holiday season's perennial favorites. The story of the reindeer who saves Christmas is beloved among children and adults alike.
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, which is observed annually on December 7, is to remember and honor all those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. On August 23, 1994, United States Congress, by Pub.L. 103–308, designated December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.[1] National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is also referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day. It is a tradition to fly the Flag of the United States at half-staff until sunset in honor of dead patriots.[2]
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