Saturday, July 16, 2016
Casa Loma – Toronto, Canada
Atlas Obscura: Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a Canadian soldier and financier, gained immense wealth from founding the Toronto Electric Light Company in 1883, which brought electricity to the streetlights of Canada’s largest city. Business boomed – soon he was the chairman of 21 companies, owned railroads, generated electricity from Niagara Falls, and was knighted for his military service.
I've visited here, and if you've seen the X-Men movies, you've seen the exterior and some of the interior.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Facsimile Editions
AbeBooks: Facsimile Editions: Have you ever really wanted a rare book for your collection but the price is too high? Why not go for a facsimile edition? A facsimile edition is when a publisher recreates, with perfect detail, a particular publication. These editions are usually published in limited quantity and can be a fantastic option for collectors who wish to own memorable and beautiful books but cannot stretch to the original edition.
Hector Babenco, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Hector Babenco, the Argentine-born Brazilian director whose low-budget 1985 film, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” became an unlikely hit that challenged conventions of masculinity and stunned the Hollywood establishment, died on Wednesday in São Paulo. He was 70.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
FFB: The Neddiad -- Daniel Pinkwater
Summertime is rerun time, USA. Here's one from December 28, 2008.I'm a big fan of the works of Daniel Pinkwater. His books are supposedly for kids, but that doesn't matter to me. I read 'em anyway, and I'm rarely disappointed. Among my favorites: The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, Lizard Music, Slaves of Spiegel, and Alan Mendelson, Boy from Mars. These aren't like anyone else's books for kids, or for anybody.
But I was going to write about The Neddiad. Ned Wentworthstein is the narrator, and the setting is the late 1940s. Ned's father has made a fortune in the shoelace business, and one day he decides more or less on a whim to move the family from Chicago to Los Angeles, mainly so he and Ned can eat in the Brown Derby.
So the adventure begins. It involves travel on the Super Chief, a visit to the Grand Canyon, meeting movie star Aaron Finn and his son, travelling with the ghost of a bellboy, going to military school, a circus, and more. Along the way, Ned is given a sacred turtle by an Indian shaman named Melvin, who's everywhere. There's an evil minion with the wonderful name of Sandor Eucalyptus and a girl named Iggy. There's even a cameo appearance by the Fat Men from Space. And more, much more. I may not be nine years old anymore, but I laughed a lot. Maybe it's not for everybody, it it sure works for me.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
How a Portuguese-to-English Phrasebook Became a Cult Comedy Sensation
How a Portuguese-to-English Phrasebook Became a Cult Comedy Sensation: It is presumed that Carolino wrote the book through the aid of a Portuguese-to-French dictionary and a French-to-English dictionary, using the former for an initial translation of a word or phrase from Portuguese, and the latter to convert it from French into English. The result, of course, is a mishmash of cloudy gibberish.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Shakespeare: Actor. Playwright. Social Climber
Shakespeare: Actor. Playwright. Social Climber: Only a few scraps of new material relating to Shakespeare in his lifetime have surfaced over the past century. But now, a researcher has uncovered nearly a dozen previously unknown records that shed clearer light on another much-discussed side of the man: the social climber.
Ford Set the Bar High
Ford Set the Bar High: Director John Ford left behind large shoes to fill after filming the first and finest portrayal of America’s legendary Buffalo Soldier troops.
New Story at Beat to a Pulp
BTAP Webzine | George R. Johnson | A Well-Ordered Life?
This story is by the late Randy Johnson, whom some of you will remember for his blog and his comments on other blogs.
This story is by the late Randy Johnson, whom some of you will remember for his blog and his comments on other blogs.
All-American Ghosts
All-American Ghosts: Everyone says they don’t believe in ghosts. If that’s so, then we’d like know why so many people go to see haunted houses like these ones…but we’re afraid to ask.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
I'm Sure You'll All Agree
Bad to the Bone: The Worst Children in Literature: Children can be innocent, inquisitive and the embodiment of hope. But those characteristics make for boring stories. Sometimes authors enjoy creating a fictional child that is just plain nasty. Draco Malfoy might be a bigot and a bully, but he’s rarely dull and is a vital ingredient in the Harry Potter novels. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would not be such a tasty read without greedy Augustus Gloop, bratty Violet Beauregarde and the spoiled Veruca Salthttp.
Overlooked Movies: Talladega Nights:The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Summertime is rerun time, USA. This review originally appeared in different form in January of 2007.Yes, the new year begins in typical fashion. While you were watching Volver (or maybe Pan's Labyrinth) without subtitles and taking notes in Spanish, I was watching Talladega Nights. And, yes, I laughed. Quite a bit, in fact. When it comes to movies, I have no taste and no shame.
I'm not a big Will Farrell fan, and in fact I thought his cameo really brought down The Wedding Crashers. I've never seen Elf. (Update: Now I have.) I did like his George Bush impression, though, and I liked parts of Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy. And I liked Talladega Nights, too, in spite of the fact that none of the movie takes place at night. Maybe somebody just liked the title.
I figure about half this movie must have been improvised, but that's fine. Farrell, John C. Riley, and Sacha Baron Cohen are good at that sort of thing. There are no real characters, just caricatures, with Cohen's flamboyantly gay NASCAR driver leading the way. The story is the typical bio-pic arc, with the rise, the fall, and the return to glory, but it's just there to hang some outrageous gags on. I didn't care. I still thought it was funny. Sometime when you're in a goofy mood, check it out.
Monday, July 11, 2016
First It Was the Thin Mint Melee
Crazed Uber Passenger Attacks Driver Following a dispute with her Uber driver, a Florida woman allegedly bit and scratched the victim’s arm before attempting to flatten all of the vehicle’s tires with a 10-inch kitchen knife, police charge.
WWI tunnels by US troops are rediscovered in France
Daily Mail Online: Stunning network of intricately carved WWI tunnels are rediscovered by an amateur explorer who has revealed more than 250 designs etched into the quarry walls by US troops
The Trap of Solid Gold: "Labor Supply"
The Trap of Solid Gold: "Labor Supply": John D MacDonald’s relatively brief interest in writing science fiction began and ended in the earliest years of his career. If we focus on the stories that appeared in the science fiction pulps and digests of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s we can spot his entry point in February of 1948 (“Cosmetics”) followed by nine more stories that year. The following two years saw the publication of 30 science fiction tales before tailing off in 1951 (seven) and 1952 (two). By 1953 he could manage only one story, his last in the digests, before ending the relationship altogether. And although he continued to write science fiction sporadically throughout the balance of his career, he never returned to the magazines that concentrated on this form of fiction.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
A List I'm On
We are pleased to announce this year's nominees for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The winners will be announced at MidAmeriCon II, this year's Worldcon, in Kansas City, MO on August 20. The Sidewise Awards have been presented annually since 1995 to recognize excellence in alternate historical fiction. This year's panel of judges was made up of Stephen Baxter, Karen Hellekson, Matt Mitrovich, Jim Rittenhouse, Kurt Sidaway, and Steven H Silver.
Short Form
Short Form
- Eneasz Brodski, “Red Legacy,” Asimov’s, 2/15
- Eric Cline, “Elizabethtown,” Galaxy’s Edge 17
- Bill Crider, “It Doesn't Matter Anymore,” Tales from the Otherverse, Rough Edges Press
- Rev Dicerto, “Losing Amelia,” Deco Punk: The Spirit of the Age, Pink Narcissus Press
- Ken Poyner, “The Last of Time,” Daily SF, 11/05/15
- James Reasoner, “The Hero of Deadwood,” Tales from the Otherverse, Rough Edges Press
Long Form
- Julie Mayhew, The Big Lie, Hot Key Books
- Tony Schumacher, The British Lion, William Morrow
- Harry Turtledove, Joe Steele, Roc
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were conceived in late 1995 to honor the best allohistorical genre publications of the year. The first awards were announced in summer 1996 and honored works from 1995. The award takes its name from Murray Leinster's 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time," in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with their analogs from other timelines.
For more information, contact Steven H Silver at shsilver@sfsite.com or go to http://www.uchronia.net/
The only library in the world that operates in two countries at once
The U.S.-Canada Border Runs Through This Tiny Library: Meet the only library in the world that operates in two countries at once.
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