Thrilling Days of Yesteryear : "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be." -- Peter DeVries Some enterprising soul discovered that on this site one could locate copies of the scripts from those old-time radio programs sponsored by the likes of Camel and Lucky Strike; for example, you can download (in .pdf form) scripts from The Jack Benny Program, The Abbott & Costello Show, Blondie, Richard Diamond, etc. (A few of the scripts won’t download properly due to missing pages, but I worked around that problem.) To me, the most interesting find was a cache of scripts of The Jimmy Durante Show from 1948-50; there are only three shows available from that period so the scripts are an amazing discovery (there are also a handful of scripts from The Durante-Moore Show as well).
This is a pretty interesting discovery, all right!
Monday, September 13, 2004
Hardluck Stories
Hardluck Stories: "Over There" by Gary Warren Niebuhr
The new issue of hardluckstories is on-line and it's well worth your time. I'm happy to say that a friend name Gary Warren Niebuhr has a good story in this issue, which was edited by Al Guthrie, author of Two-Way Split.
The new issue of hardluckstories is on-line and it's well worth your time. I'm happy to say that a friend name Gary Warren Niebuhr has a good story in this issue, which was edited by Al Guthrie, author of Two-Way Split.
New York Post Online Edition: postopinion
New York Post Online Edition: postopinion: "September 13, 2004 -- FOR me, it's a sign of summer's end as cer tain as leaves chang ing colors: Teary-eyed freshmen turning up at my office to complain about their English placement-test results. How is it possible, they want to know, that they got A's in English classes throughout high school, took honors English courses as seniors . . . and still managed to fail an entry-level college exam that requires them only to analyze a few short reading passages and write a rudimentary narrative essay?"
Sounds like I wrote it myself. I remember all too well hearing exactly the same story many, many times.
Sounds like I wrote it myself. I remember all too well hearing exactly the same story many, many times.
Armadillo
Armadillo: "At this point, I knocked off for a quick dinner, and rejoined the con at 7:00 for a panel on 'Movies That Should be Remade'. In addition to the aforementioned Klaw and Finn (sounds like an animal act), Bill Crider, one of the elder statesmen, and Howard Waldrop joined in this panel. This panel was probably more serious than you might have thought, because the participants were very knowledgeable and had very good assessment of what worked (and couldn't work again) and what didn't work (and could never be made to work) in some classic and not-so-classic movies."
Someone sent me this review of Armadillocon, which confirms my worst fears. "Elder statesman," indeed. Well, at least he didn't say, "Old fart."
Someone sent me this review of Armadillocon, which confirms my worst fears. "Elder statesman," indeed. Well, at least he didn't say, "Old fart."
Sunday, September 12, 2004
New Template
I decided to update my template, and this is how it came out. I like it well enough to go with it. Besides, I'm afraid to try to change it again.
94Country WKKJ - The Best Country Around - Chillicothe, Ohio
94Country WKKJ - The Best Country Around - Chillicothe, Ohio: "Smash hit 1970s American TV show Happy Days is set to return for a one-off special later this year.
The two hour reunion Happy Days 30, which will feature original cast members including Henry Winkler and Ron Howard, is being filmed to mark the 30th anniversary of the program's first episode in 1974."
Being an old geezer, I think of Happy Days as a fairly recent TV series.
The two hour reunion Happy Days 30, which will feature original cast members including Henry Winkler and Ron Howard, is being filmed to mark the 30th anniversary of the program's first episode in 1974."
Being an old geezer, I think of Happy Days as a fairly recent TV series.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
DAW Books
Did you ever buy a book just for the introduction? Let me tell you how pathetic I am. I bought DAW Books' 30th Anniversary Fantasy for the ten pages of introductory material by Elizabeth Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert. Sure, I could have stood at the dealer's table and read the intro, because it's almost a certainty that I won't read any of the stories, but I wanted to have it in case I felt the need to read it again.
DAW books in the 1970s were as important to me as Donald A. Wollheim's line of Ace Doubles was in the 1950s. The distinctive DAW spines and cover artwork made them stand out, and I could almost always depend on them to provide just the kind of reading I was looking for. I didn't buy the first one or two. In fact, the first one I remember buying is Dinosaur Beach by Keith Laumer (and, yes, I still have it; surely you aren't surprised).
In a way this leads me back to that generational thing I was talking about the other day. I've come to the conclusion that I don't much like change. There aren't any Ace Doubles anymore, and I've pretty much managed to accept that. But even DAW Books have changed. It's not just the spines and the logo. The books themselves are different. They look different, and they have different content. Don Wollheim is long dead, and the line is slanted toward a generation of readers who are not the same at all as the ones in the 1970s, except for the few of us old dinosaurs who are still hanging around, waiting for extinction.
And another thing I don't like is being a dinosaur, especially that extinction thing. The secret of all old men, I suppose, is that on the inside we don't feel old at all. We think we haven't changed, but we can see that the world is changing all around us. I go out to the college these days and see the kids walking around, and I don't think I'm much different from them. Meanwhile they're looking at me and thinking, Isn't it nice that the old gentleman can get around without a walker. I wonder if he was able to drive himself to the campus. Getting old sucks, folks, in more ways than one.
DAW books in the 1970s were as important to me as Donald A. Wollheim's line of Ace Doubles was in the 1950s. The distinctive DAW spines and cover artwork made them stand out, and I could almost always depend on them to provide just the kind of reading I was looking for. I didn't buy the first one or two. In fact, the first one I remember buying is Dinosaur Beach by Keith Laumer (and, yes, I still have it; surely you aren't surprised).
In a way this leads me back to that generational thing I was talking about the other day. I've come to the conclusion that I don't much like change. There aren't any Ace Doubles anymore, and I've pretty much managed to accept that. But even DAW Books have changed. It's not just the spines and the logo. The books themselves are different. They look different, and they have different content. Don Wollheim is long dead, and the line is slanted toward a generation of readers who are not the same at all as the ones in the 1970s, except for the few of us old dinosaurs who are still hanging around, waiting for extinction.
And another thing I don't like is being a dinosaur, especially that extinction thing. The secret of all old men, I suppose, is that on the inside we don't feel old at all. We think we haven't changed, but we can see that the world is changing all around us. I go out to the college these days and see the kids walking around, and I don't think I'm much different from them. Meanwhile they're looking at me and thinking, Isn't it nice that the old gentleman can get around without a walker. I wonder if he was able to drive himself to the campus. Getting old sucks, folks, in more ways than one.
deathbeeper.com
deathbeeper.com What the...?
Emails you when a celebrity or sports figure dies. Free. Simple. Easy. Fun. No bull.
I haven't signed up for the service, but I was interested in seeing some of the obits listed. For example, I didn't know Joe Barry had died. I remember his 1961 hit version of "I'm a Fool to Care" quite well. A fine song.
Emails you when a celebrity or sports figure dies. Free. Simple. Easy. Fun. No bull.
I haven't signed up for the service, but I was interested in seeing some of the obits listed. For example, I didn't know Joe Barry had died. I remember his 1961 hit version of "I'm a Fool to Care" quite well. A fine song.
National Museum of Funeral History
National Museum of Funeral History
Great stuff. Check out the fantasy coffins and the Hall of Fame. And I think it's great that they sponsor a golf tournament.
Great stuff. Check out the fantasy coffins and the Hall of Fame. And I think it's great that they sponsor a golf tournament.
Me Gotta Go Now
Me Gotta Go Now
Cap'n Bob's Army
These three icons of the TV West stopped by with a message for Cap’n Bob Napier. The message is: “Hey! How about blogging some of your toy soldiers for the rest of the world to enjoy?”
Dave Lewis over at Megottagonow is trying to encourage Cap'n Bob Napier to start blogging about his toy soldier collection. You can visit Dave's blog by clicking the link above and find out just what "toy soldiers" means. You can also comment if you'd like to get the Cap'n invovled in blogging.
Cap'n Bob's Army
These three icons of the TV West stopped by with a message for Cap’n Bob Napier. The message is: “Hey! How about blogging some of your toy soldiers for the rest of the world to enjoy?”
Dave Lewis over at Megottagonow is trying to encourage Cap'n Bob Napier to start blogging about his toy soldier collection. You can visit Dave's blog by clicking the link above and find out just what "toy soldiers" means. You can also comment if you'd like to get the Cap'n invovled in blogging.
Friday, September 10, 2004
Scotsman.com News - Latest News - Ancient Gold Penny 'Could Sell for ?150,000'
Scotsman.com News - Latest News - Ancient Gold Penny 'Could Sell for ?150,000': "Ancient Gold Penny 'Could Sell for ?150,000'
A pure gold English penny, hailed as the most important find of its type for a century, could fetch up to ?150,000 at auction, it emerged today.
The coin, which dates back around 1,200 years, was stumbled upon by a man walking along the banks of the River Ivel in Bedfordshire."
What I want to know is, why don't I ever stumble across something like that?
A pure gold English penny, hailed as the most important find of its type for a century, could fetch up to ?150,000 at auction, it emerged today.
The coin, which dates back around 1,200 years, was stumbled upon by a man walking along the banks of the River Ivel in Bedfordshire."
What I want to know is, why don't I ever stumble across something like that?
Shakespeare in quarto: view the British Library's digital copies online
Shakespeare in quarto: view the British Library's digital copies online On this site you will find the British Library’s 93 copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare printed in quarto before the theatres were closed in 1642.
For the English majors among you. I was one once.
For the English majors among you. I was one once.
Ed's Place
Ed's Place: "A good number of the over-fifty writers--my peer group--will tell you in whispers that they don't like much of today's crime fiction. Some of this is said jealously, of course, but most of it I think is simply the changing of generations. The things writers my age venerate are not to be found in the young writers of today. And why should they be? They think differently from us, write diferently, market differently and are more attractive to publishers and booksellers alike because they're going to be around a lot longer than we are--and are thus worth investing money and time in."
What Ed Gorman is saying here is that he (and I and guys like us) have become old farts. And I guess he's right. It's certainly true enough that I don't care for any of the contemporary music I hear these days, not even country music. When I listen to Internet radio or buy a CD, it's something from an era long past, something from a time when the contemporary singers weren't even born. Give me some George Jones tunes from the old days, like "She Thinks I Still Care" or "The Window Up Above." Give me Elvis singing "Mystery Train." Or the Clovers, the Drifters, the Cadillacs.
And when it comes to crime novels, give me Gold Medal. It's not that I don't like some of today's books. I read a good many of them, actually. But I don't admire them the way younger people do. I prefer the Good Old Stuff. Like the one I mentioned yesterday, River Girl. I think it's terrific, but the fact is that probably no editor today would buy it. It lacks the amped-up action, the "social siginificance," the outrageous premise that readers these days seem to crave. It's just good writing, smooth pacing, and masterful storytelling.
So you can grab the latest bestseller if you want to. Me, I'll put on a Slim Whitman CD and read another book by Charles Williams.
What Ed Gorman is saying here is that he (and I and guys like us) have become old farts. And I guess he's right. It's certainly true enough that I don't care for any of the contemporary music I hear these days, not even country music. When I listen to Internet radio or buy a CD, it's something from an era long past, something from a time when the contemporary singers weren't even born. Give me some George Jones tunes from the old days, like "She Thinks I Still Care" or "The Window Up Above." Give me Elvis singing "Mystery Train." Or the Clovers, the Drifters, the Cadillacs.
And when it comes to crime novels, give me Gold Medal. It's not that I don't like some of today's books. I read a good many of them, actually. But I don't admire them the way younger people do. I prefer the Good Old Stuff. Like the one I mentioned yesterday, River Girl. I think it's terrific, but the fact is that probably no editor today would buy it. It lacks the amped-up action, the "social siginificance," the outrageous premise that readers these days seem to crave. It's just good writing, smooth pacing, and masterful storytelling.
So you can grab the latest bestseller if you want to. Me, I'll put on a Slim Whitman CD and read another book by Charles Williams.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
eBay Woes
I have this eBay habit. I buy and sell (buying more than selling of course), and over the last several years I've had pretty good luck all around.
But not long ago I bought an old SF magazine from one of those dealers who has a long list of "rules" for buyers. If you win an auction and he hasn't heard from you in three days, he's going to turn you in as a deadbeat. And if you haven't paid in ten days, you're scum, and he's going to turn you in. And so on.
Well, I responded as soon as I got notification that I'd won. But I never heard from the dealer.
So I wrote him daily for about a week. Finally he responded and told me the amount of postage due. I paid him by PayPal as soon as I got his e-mail.
More time passed. A lot more. But today I got a magazine in the mail.
It's the wrong magazine.
So I e-mailed him immediately. Guess what? No response so far. Why am I not surprised?
But not long ago I bought an old SF magazine from one of those dealers who has a long list of "rules" for buyers. If you win an auction and he hasn't heard from you in three days, he's going to turn you in as a deadbeat. And if you haven't paid in ten days, you're scum, and he's going to turn you in. And so on.
Well, I responded as soon as I got notification that I'd won. But I never heard from the dealer.
So I wrote him daily for about a week. Finally he responded and told me the amount of postage due. I paid him by PayPal as soon as I got his e-mail.
More time passed. A lot more. But today I got a magazine in the mail.
It's the wrong magazine.
So I e-mailed him immediately. Guess what? No response so far. Why am I not surprised?
Charles Williams
Last night I was thinking about which Gold Medal writer to talk about for the next issue of MysteryFile, and I settled on Charles Williams. Just a few minutes with River Girl reminded me of why I like Williams' writing so much. It's not fancy, but it's smooth as the surface of one of those swampy lakes he describes so well, and he can really tell a story. He's right up there with the best of the Gold Medal writers. In fact, didn't John D. MacDonald say that Williams was "the best of us all"? I seem to remember having read something like that. But, as the old song says, I don't remember where or when.
Mystery*File Again
For those of you who don't read the comments or who prefer a clickable link, you can find out all about Steve Lewis's Mystery*File right here.
OK, some of you are snickering about what a moron I am. "Can't even make a link," you're saying between snickers. Well, it's not my fault. Steve assures me that it's his server and that the link will be working Real Soon Now.
UPDATE: The link seems to be working now. Give it a click.
OK, some of you are snickering about what a moron I am. "Can't even make a link," you're saying between snickers. Well, it's not my fault. Steve assures me that it's his server and that the link will be working Real Soon Now.
UPDATE: The link seems to be working now. Give it a click.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
From Blogger
I've made several posts today, but not a one of them has shown up on the blog. Here's what blogger has to say:
Hi there,
We apologize for the problems you have been experiencing with Blogger. We
had a simultaneous failure across multiple machines responsible for the
publishing of Blog*Spot blogs, but this issue has now been fixed. To
prevent this type of outage in the future, we are performing a full system
audit to ensure that proper redundancies are in place.
Sincerely,
Blogger Support
Now I'll try posting this to see if the issue really has been fixed.
Hi there,
We apologize for the problems you have been experiencing with Blogger. We
had a simultaneous failure across multiple machines responsible for the
publishing of Blog*Spot blogs, but this issue has now been fixed. To
prevent this type of outage in the future, we are performing a full system
audit to ensure that proper redundancies are in place.
Sincerely,
Blogger Support
Now I'll try posting this to see if the issue really has been fixed.
Me Gotta Go Now
Me Gotta Go Now
Dave Lewis has started a blog, and today he has some comments on Zatoichi. Check him out.
Dave Lewis has started a blog, and today he has some comments on Zatoichi. Check him out.
Mystery*File
The latest issue of Steve Lewis's Mystery*File is available now, and it's probably the best one yet. Reviews and articles by Vince Keenan, Ed Gorman, me, Ed Lynskey, and many others. Great stuff, and if you're not a subscriber, you should be. You can get in touch with Steve via e-mail at stevelewis62@cox.net.
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