COVE LAKE SOAP WORKS

My daughter and her husband are putting a hobby to work for them and just opened an Etsy store for their handmade, all natural soaps.

Cove Lake Soap Works* offers a variety of soaps to meet every need. The soaps are produced in small batches to maintain quality, using molds they made themselves and are cut to shape with a cutter they designed.  The soaps are vegetarian and Vegan friendly; no animal products and are used.  Their ingredients are provided by reputable suppliers of high quality and renewable resources.

We have been using their soaps for a while now, testing quite a few for Christina and Walt, and we love them!  (In fact, neither Kitty nor I want to leave the shower.)  These artisan-created soaps stand high above any commercial soaps we have tried.

Because of the handmade process, the soaps can vary slightly in weight, from 5.0 to 5.5 ounces.  Each bar is generous (3.25" x 2.75" x 11/16") and will last a long time.  Soaps currently available on Etsy are:

• Lavender/French Green Clay (antibacterial, antifungal, and exfoliating with a silky feel to the lather and antioxidant properties
• Tomato (provides minerals, vitamins, and silkiness to the skin; has a big bubbly lather)
• Peppermint (peppermint and orange essential oils with dried peppermint flakes gives this soap an invigorating scent and an exfoliating texture)
• Pine Tar (I scoffed at this until I tried it, and WOW!  It provided a strong outdoorsy scent and a generous lather.  This may not be for everyone, but I love it.)
• Lavender & Bentonite (bentonite clay contains minerals that are beneficial to the skin and remove toxins and impurities from the skin; the strong lavender smell instills calmness and relaxation)
• Grapefruit Calendula (a citrusy soap that is long lasting and gentle on the skin; the calendula is known for its anti-inflammatory and soothing benefits)
• Simple Vegan Soap (unscented soap made with olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, castor oil, distilled water, and lye)

They are working on other types of soaps, so expect the offerings to change as new batches are made.  They will also fill custom orders, making a unique soap on request.

Check out Cove Lake Soap Works on Etsy.  After you use their soaps, you'll probably want to buy some to use as gifts.  They are that good.

__________

*Why the name Cove Lake Soap Works?  Simple.  They live overlooking the Chesapeake where Cove Lake runs into the Bay.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Blogging has been erratic lately.  Mea culpa.  A combination of things, including a stubborn computer.  Things should get better.

BABY, LET'S GET STINKIN' SOBER

David Majerowicz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke_RvlsUaqY

INCOMING

• Thomas Bailey Aldrich, editor-in-chief, The Young Folks Library.  A collection of ten anthologies published in 1938. These were the first half of a twenty-volume set first published in 1902.  I was able to pick up nine of the ten volumes:  The Animal Story Book (edited by Ernest Thompson-Seton), The Book of Adventure (edited by Nathan Haskell Dole), A Book of Brave Deeds (edited by John T. Trowbridge), A Book of Famous Fairy Tales (edited by Roswell M. Field), A Book of Famous Myths and Legends (edited by Thomas J. Shahan), The Merry Maker (edited by Joel Chandler Harris; the title page gives this subtitle:  Funny Leaves for the Younger Branches by BARON KRAKEMSIDES OF BIRSTENOUDELAFEN), Stories of School and College Days (edited by Kirk Munro & Mary Hartwell Catherwood), The Story Teller (edited by Charles Eliot Norton), and Tales of Fantasy (edited by Tudor Jenks).   [As a matter of interest, the volume unavailable to me was Famous Explorers, edited by Edwin Erle Sparks.  For a list of all twenty of the original 1902 set, go here:  http://www.librarything.com/series/Young%20Folks'%20Library]
• [anonymously edited], Charmed Destinies.  Collection of three short novels -- romantic fantasies by Mercedes Lackey, "Rachel Lee" (Susan Civil-Brown & Cristian Brown), and Catherine Asaro -- published as an introduction to Harlequin's forthcoming (January 2004) line of romantic fantasies, Luna Books.
• "Marc Brellen" (Bruce Freshman), Crossbearers.  Horror.  The scum of New York are being murdered in the name of God; in the name of God, this has to be stopped.
• Sharon Green, Competitions.  Fantasy, Book Two of The Blending series.
• Peter Haining, editor, Ghost Tour:  An Armchair Journey Through the Supernatural and The Monster Makers:  Creators and Creations of Fantasy and Horror.  Horror anthologies with 15 and 18 stories (many familiar), respectively.
• "James Rollins" (James Czajkowski), Altar of Eden.  Thriller.  A modern twist on The Island of Dr. Moreau, with terrorists.

IKO IKO

The Dixie Cups.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQFYddXhU3U

OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: FOUR STAR PLAYHOUSE -- "THE MASQUERADE"

Happy Mardi Gras!

Here's a Mardi Gras episode of Four Star Playhouse from April 15, 1954, featuring Ida Lupino.

Four Star Playhouse was an anthology series that ran for 131 episodes from 1952 to 1956 and featured Ida Lupino, David Niven, Dick Powell, and Charles Boyer in rotating episodes.

In addition to Lupino, this episode's cast includes John Bryant (the "Marlboro Man" in 1950s and 1960s ads) as Lupino's fiancé and Carleton G. Young (the voice of Ellery Queen on the radio program) as Lupino's homicidal ex-husband.

Roy Kellino directed this episode (and 47 others in the series).  Kellino was at one time a business partner with actor James Mason and Kellino's first wife, Pamela, later married Mason.  Kellino's second wife was actress Barbara Billingsly.

"The Masquerade" was scripted by Frederick Brady and Thelma Robinson from a story by Charles Beaumont and Leonard Pruyn.  Brady was a prolific writer for television during the 1950s with over 100 credits.  Robinson was probably best know for writing some of the Maisie films, starring Ann Sothern.  Beaumont, of course, was a well respected script and short story writer; a number of his scripts were written with Richard Matheson.  This was Pruyn's only scriptwriting credit; he is probably best known for the SF novel World Without Women, co-written with Day Keene.

So, laissez les bon temp rouler.  Or, more fittingly, laissez le suspense rouler!

https://archive.org/details/FourStarPlayhouseMasquerade

GOVERNOR AL SMITH FOR PRESIDENT

It's Presidents Day, so let's celebrate with the Carolina Night Hawks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDOVtc_g0tw

INCOMING

• [Anonymously edited], Path Into the Unknown:  The Best of Soviet Science Fiction.  SF collection with eight stories.  No translators indicated.  This is often wrongly credited to Judith Merril, who wrote the introduction to the 1968 paperback edition.
• "Taylor Brady" (Donna Ball & Shannon Harper), Westward Winds.  Western Oops.  Historical novel.  Book Four in the Kincaids series.
• W. F. Bragg, Shotgun Gap.  Western.  Originally published as Ride On, Cowboy!
• Mildred Down Broxon, Too Long a Sacrifice.  Fantasy.
• Maggie Bruce, editor, Murder Most Crafty.  Mystery anthology.  Fifteen stories about different crafts, each with its very own craft project included.  Despite some very good authors represented here, I am afraid that the anthology will be a might bit twee.
• "Tobias Cole"  (Cameron Judd), The Guardian:  Derailers.  Western, evidently meant to be the first of a series; I don't know if the series ever reached book two.
• Troy Denning, The Twilight Giants, Book III:  The Titan of Twilight.  Gaming (Forgotten Realms) tie-in novel.
• "Jonathan Gash" (John Grant), The Judas Pair.  A Lovejoy mystery.
• Caroline Graham, Death in Disguise.  An Inspector Barnaby Mystery.
• Peter Haining, editor, Tales from the Rogues' Gallery.  Horror anthology with 28 stories.
• Caroline Hart, Letter from Home.  Mystery set in small town Oklahoma in 1944.
• "Jack Higgins" (Harry Petterson), Passage By Night.  Thriller originally published as by "Hugh Marlowe."
• Hammond Innes, The Blue Ice and The Survivors.  Thrillers.
• Staley Krause & Stewart Wieck, editors, Death and Damnation.  Gaming (Wraith) tie-in anthology with a dozen stories.
• Mike McCray, The Black Berets 33:  The Black Palm.  Men's action adventure novel.
• Christopher Moore, Sacre Bleu:  A Comedy D'Art.  Wackiness from a master.
• Andre Norton, Steel Magic.  YA fantasy.
• Jason Pinter, The Darkness.  Thriller.
• Tim Powers, Last Call.  Fantasy.
• Michael Resnick, The Doctor and the Kid.  Weird western.
• Jessica Amanda Salmonson, The Swordswoman.  Fantasy.
• Curt Siomak, The Third Ear.  SF/horror.  The author, brother of film director Robert Siodmak, wrote the classic weird suspense novel Donovan's Brain, as well as many of the old Universal Studios horror flicks (The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Son of Dracula, etc.).
• Whitley Strieber, The Day After Tomorrow.  Movie tie-in novel.
• Maryrose Wood, with The Duchess of Northumberland, The Poison Diaries.  YA mystery-ish novel.  I picked this one up because the heroine's name is Jessamine, although a much better name would be Jessamyn, a far more beautiful name, indicating exquisite beauty, grace, and charm such that is found in my own daughter, Jessamyn.  I digress.  The "co-author" (she supplied the concept) is the wife of the twelfth Duke of Northumberland and has created the famous Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle.  She knows her poisons so don't get her mad at  you.

SIGIRIYA

From the always worthwhile TYWKIWDBI blog.

I'm always amazed and astounded by the ingenuity of man.  This beautiful place hit me straight in the happy bone.

http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2015/02/sigiriya.html

HYMN TIME

Norman Treigle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMaCbROaOYY

MY LADY'S A WILD FLYING DOVE

Tom Paxton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGxgIucBXjU

Happy Valentiine's Day, Kitty!

TRUE-TO-LIFE ROMANCES #18 (JULY 1953)

It's Valentine's Day!  Celebrate responsibly!  For those who do not want to celebrate responsibly, would you be my valentine?

Anyway, it's time to post a romance comic book, one that's sure to tug the strings of your little tween heart.

And, for $8.98 you can get his and hers "Jail-Jamas," showing that the two of you are prisoners of love.

So sidle up to your computer with your loved one with some chocolate dipped strawsberries,  a nice wine, some soft music in the background and enjoy.

http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=56866

I APOLOGIZE

Billy Eckstine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFVFkVyQGNQ

FORGOTTEN BOOK: MURGUNSTRUMM AND OTHERS

Murgunstrumm and Others by Hugh B. Cave (1977)

When August Derleth died in 1971, many people were concerned that his publishing imprint Arkham House would die with him.  Three of them from Chapel Hill, North Caroline -- Karl Edward Wagner, David Drake, and Jim Groce -- formed Carcosa House in 1973 to continue the tradition of rescuing stories from the pulps.  All their books were edited by Wagner.  The first, Worse Things Waiting by Manly Wade Wellman (1973), was a massive collection of stories from Weird Tales and other pulps.  This volume set the high production standard that made Carcosa House books stand out.  Their second book was Far Lands, Other Days by E. Hoffman Price (1975).  Their third was the book (and, unfortunately, the last) was Lonely Vigils, again by Manly Wade Wellman (1981).  A fifth book, Cave's Death Stalks the Night, had been announced but was cancelled when illustrator Lee Brown Coye suffered a major stroke and was unable to continue work on the book.  (Death Stalks the Night was eventually published by Fedogan & Bremer in 1995)  Other planned projects. including collections by Leigh Brackett, H. Warner Munn, and Jack Williamson, died aborning.
(Currently, Hafner Press is doing an admirable job bringing the pulp works of Brackett and Williamson into print; one hopes someone will do the same for H. Warner Munn.)

During its short life, Carcosa House was one of the major small presses in the field and won a special 1976 World Fantasy Award for non-professional work.  Yes, many of these small presses are works of love by the publishers and exist on shoestring finances.

Mugunstrumm and Others is a beautiful book, printed on 70-pound Warren's Old Style and typeset in 10-point Journal Roman.  It's just a pleasure to hold and to read.  Its 576 pages contains 26 stories first published from 1931 to 1943, with one additional story from 1966, and another from 1975.  Lee Brown Coye provided 36 full page illustrations.

The stories:

• Mugunstrumm (Strange Tales, January 1933)
• The Watcher in the Green Room (Weird Tales, September 1933)
• The Prophecy (Black Book Detective Magazine, October 1934)
• The Strange Death of Ivan Gromleigh (Spicy Mystery Stories, March 1937, under the pseudonym "Justin Case")
• The Affair of the Clutching Hand (Ghost Stories, May 1931)
• The Strange Case of No. 7 (Ghost Stories, January 1931)
• The Isle of Dark Magic (Weird Tales, August 1934)
• The Whisperers (Spicy Mystery Stories, April 1942, under the pseudonym "Justin Case")
• Horror in Wax (Thrilling Mysteries, April 1935)
• Prey of the Nightborn (Spicy Mystery Stories, September 1936. under the pseudonym "Justin Case")
• Maxon's Mistress (Black Book Detective Magazine, February 1935)
• Dead Man's Belt (Weird Tales, May 1933)
• Boomerang (Argosy, June 10, 1939)
• The Crawling Curse (Weird Tales, June 1933)
• Purr of a Cat (Spicy Mystery Stories, March 1942, under the pseudonym "Justin Case")
• Tomorrow Is Forever (Adventure, September 1943)
• The Ghoul Gallery (Weird Tales, June 1932)
• The Cult of the White Ape (Weird Tales, February 1933)
• The Brotherhood of Blood (Weird Tales, May 1932)
• The Door of Doom (Strange Tales, May 1932)
• The Death Watch (Weird Tales, June/July 1939)
• The Caverns of Time (Spicy Mystery Stories, May 1942, under the pseudonym "Justin Case")
• Many Happy Returns (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, April 1966)
• Ladies in Waiting (Whispers, June 1975)
• The Grisly Death (Black Book Detective Magazine, August 1934)
• Stragella (Strange Tales, June 1932)

Great literature?  For the most part, no.  (Although "Murgunstrumm" and "Stragella" rise far above m any of the other stories.)  These are stories pounded out of typewriter at a rapid pace to both meet the market's ravenous demands and to put food on the table.  Cave probably wrote over a thousand stories for the pulps and the slicks.  His hallmark -- as opposed to many who wandered through the pulp jungle -- was fast-paced readability in a time when political correctness did not exist.

If, like me, you enjoy those moldering pulps and the enjoyment they brought, Murgunstrumm and Others is a wonderful getaway island.

SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Delta Goodrem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Ft1ZHAWzc

BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY

I think it's interesting that "cologne" rhymes with "alone." -- Demetri Martin

SUSSUDIO

Phil Collins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0qBaBb1Y-U

FORGOTTEN FILM: THE WHITE GORILLA (1945)

Ray "Crash" Corrigan (the go-to gorilla suit guy for B movies, Tucson Smith of The Three Mesquiteers, and owner of the famous Corriganville film ranch) does triple duty in this lower-than-low budget movie:  he's the hero (Steve Collins), the title character (Konga...I did say the go-to gorilla suit guy, didn't I?), and the narrator.  Lorraine Miller (B-movie beauty who was the pride of Flint, Michigan, and one-time roommate of Donna Reed) provides the eye candy.  The rest of the cast includes George J. Lewis (Don Alejandro from Disney's Zorro), Francis Ford (a well-used character actor and director John Ford's brother), Budd Buster (who sometimes acted under the name "Bud Buster" and often as "uncredited"), and Charles King (who, as a teenager, supposedly appeared in Birth of a Nation and went on to a long career as a B-movie western baddie).  The rest of the cast (including one-time Tarzan Frank Merrill) were just archive footage from the 1927 serial Perils of the Jungle (I did say lower-than-low budget movie, didn't I?).

So you've this misunderstood white gorilla who is ostracized by the rest of his tribe, all of whom are black gorillas.  Eventually the white gorilla fights the leader of the black gorillas in a battle that will determine the fate of Africa.  Wait...what?  That doesn't make any sense.

And that, in a nutshell is the movie.

And what also doesn't make much sense is the promotion that billed this movie as featuring "Ray Corrigan, Lorraine Miller and an All Star Cast."

Written and directed by Harry L. Fraser and produced by Fraser & Merrick Pictures (thee company's only production, by the way), this is the flick that gave bad movies a good name.

Enjoy.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039987/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

And for your edification, here's the nineteen minutes of surviving footage from Perils of the Jungle, the film that did so much to pad out The White Gorilla:

https://archive.org/details/PerilsOfTheJungleSurvivingFootage

I WANT TO BE SEDUCED

Leon Redbone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bOjrl9Qxzg

INCOMING

• Ted Bell, Phantom.  Spy-guy thriller featuring Alex Hawke.
• "Edgar Black" (Robert Silverberg), Sir Winston Churchill.  Biography.
• Holly Black, The Good Neighbors, Book One:  Kin.  Graphic novel; art by Ted Naifeh.
• Jacqueline Carey, Kushniel's Justice, Kushniel's Mercy, and Kushniel's Scion, three fantasy novels in Kushniel's Legacy series; also, Naamah's Kiss, also a fantasy.
• R. Chetwynd-Hayes, The Grange.  Horror novel.
• Lee Child, Die Trying and Tripwire.  Jack Reacher thrillers.
• Harlan Ellison, Harlan Ellison's Phoenix Without Ashes. Graphic novel; art by Alan Robinson.
• David Hagberg, Abyss.  A Kirk McGarvey thriller.  An attempt to cause a nuclear meltdown leads to a plot against NOAA.
• Stephen Hunter, Hot Springs.  Thriller bringing Earl Swagger to 1940s Arkansas.
• Eric Van Lustbader, The Veil of a Thousand Years.  Fantasy, sequel to The Ring of Five Dragons.
• Jo Nesbo, The Redbreast.  ARC.  A Harry Hole mystery translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.
• George Pelecanos, The Cut.  ARC.  The first Spero Lucas crime thriller.
• Robert Sheckley, Time Limit.  The fifth and final book about Stephen Dain, international detective.
• "Con Steffanson" (Ron Goulart), Laverne and Shirley #3:  Gold Rush.  Television tie-in novel.
• Peter Straub, In the Night Room.  Horror.
• "Charles Todd" (Carolyn and Charles Todd) A Pale Horse.  ARC.  An Inspector Rutledge historical mystery.
• "Peter Tremayne" (Peter Berresford Ellis"), Swamp.  Horror novel.  Originally published with an exclamation point: Swamp!
• Joan D. Vinge, 47 Ronin.  Movie tie-in novel of a perfectly bad Keanu Reeves flick.

I AM THE PEOPLE, THE MOB

Carl Sandburg's poem, read by Roy Trumbull.

https://archive.org/details/Mob_Sandburg

HYMN TIME

Jim and Jesse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaKnnbtb37E

GOODY GOODY

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADwEUhQg-0A

CAPTAIN EASY #12 (APRIL 1948)

(First off, there's an ad on the inside front cover for an army surplus for an "all-over rain-cover," which looks suspiciously like a plastic bag.  You know, the ones you warn kids not to play with or else they may suffocate.  I suspect this company did not get a lot of repeat business.)

Captain Easy was a soldier of fortune, introduced by Roy Crane as a secondary character in Wash Tubbs, and who then graduated to his own comic strip four years later in 1933.  The strip was discontinued in 1988 after a 55-year run.

As the strip progressed, detailing first Easy's mysterious early years, the tough Southern adventurer and his pal Wash Tubbs began having contemporary adventures.

Eight issues of the Captain Easy comic book were published by Visual Editions from October 1947 to September 1949, numbered issues 10 to 17.

In this issue, reprinted from 1939 strips and most likely done by Crane's one-time assistant Les Turner, Easy and Wash Tubbs are sent to the South Seas isle of Hippa-Hula, where all the native women are said to remain young and beautiful their entire lives; our heroes are expected to retrieve the secret of how this was done.  The two meet up with murder, treachery, a smoldering volcano, a strange religion, and a secret rite.  And girls, lots and lots of beautiful girls.  We're treated to a lot of great artwork, with plenty of comic strip GGA and interesting background layouts.

Fun.

http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=56788

RIVER IN THE RAIN

My favorite recent television is the one from Android which features Roger Miller's "Oo De Lally" ("Robin Hood and Little John").  It put me in the mood for more Roger Miller.  This one's from his Tony-winning musical, Big River.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nZNwR2maas

FORGOTTEN BOOK: GOLD RUSH

Laverne and Shirley #3:  Gold Rush by "Con Steffanson" (Ron Goulart) 1976

With apologies for the lateness of today's FFB, let's get right into it.

America's favorite beer bottle cappers are back in this third and final tie-in by a pseudonymous Ron Goulart.  As with many of Goulart's books from this period, this one is a fast, brief read -- 26 chapters in less than 140 pages.

I assume everyone is familiar with the television show, so I don't have to give too much background.  Suffice it to say that we're back in 1950s Milwaukee (where the most expensive restaurant is named Chez Bourgeois) and Shirley is getting tired of being ignored by on-again, off-again boyfriend Carmine Ragusa.  So when rock star Rip Roarer (who was once Andy Donelli, a boy who had a crush on Shirley in eleventh grade algebra) is in town for an upcoming concert, Shirley agrees  to go out with him.

Rip/Andy happens to own a small family island complete with run-down mansion.  Now that he's made it big, rip intends to fix up the place and use it as a retreat.  The island had belonged to his grandfather, a reputed bootlegger during the Twenties.  According to legend, grandpa converted his ill-gained millions into gold bullion and hid it somewhere on Bonecrack Island (ominous name, right?).  According to Rip, the island and the mansion had been thoroughly searched a number of times, but no gold had been found.

So why are mysterious people warning Rip and Shirley not to go to the island?  And why was Shirley almost crushed by falling objects?  Twice.

The suspects are many as Carmine, Squiggy, and Lenny rush to save Laverne and Shirley:  Rip's odd (and oddly dysfunctional) bandmates, Rip's many cousins, the mansion's elderly caretakers (who are harboring a secret), an incompetent thug (who keeps getting blackballed from the Syndicate), and his uncle (a has-been gangster).

A simplistic story, befitting the television show from which it sprang but with many of Goulart's enjoyable trademarks -- quick jumps, quirky characters, outlandish situations, sly references, and even slyer humor.  Not nearly as enjoyable as the author's science fiction, mystery, or pulp novels, but watered-down Goulart can still be fun for his fans.

And, yes, I'm a fan.

LOOKIN FOR A HOME

From 1969, Al Kooper (whose 71st birthday is today) and Shuggie Otis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE-ZC63WgLw

ASK IT BASKET

Here's an old-time big money radio quiz program.  How much big money?  Well, the winner scored $25, second place got $10, and third place got $5.  Fourth place?  Well, there's only four contestants so that guy or gal was a clear-cut loser.  But wait!  The clear-cut loser still had a chance to score semi-big:  he got four extra questions to answer for a dollar for each correct answer.  A possible total of $44 in prizes!  Woot!  A 1939 "Woot!"  (That translates to a couple of ba-jillinion-zillion dollars in modern cash, I think.*)

Hosted by Jim McWilliams ("radio's original question and answer man"), Ask It Basket would tke four audience members to be contestants and give them increasingly harder questions.  A simple format that, with some variations, has passed the test of time.

Can you match wits with the four contestants from September 21, 1939?  Give it a try.  You could win $25.****  Or not.

http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/quiz/ask-it-basket

*Math has never been my strong point.**

**Neither has economics.***

***Come to think of it, I have no strong points.  Dang!

****That's $25 in pure imaginary, of course.

DON'T TOUCH MY TOMATOES

Josephine Baker.  How do you say double-entendre in French?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Y7_J3U-_I

BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY

This is my 2015th post.  It also happens to be the year 2015.  Coincidence?   Hmmm.
Anyway, on to the bad joke:


A man is going ice fishing.  As he drills his first hole, he hears a booming voice from above saying, "THERE'S NO FISH THERE."

He drills another hole as the voice from above says, "STOP DRILLING!  THERE'S NO FISH THERE."

Being persistent, he starts a third hole as the voice thunders, "I SAID, THERE'S NO FISH THERE!"

Humbly and meekly, the ice fisher looks up and says, "Is that you, God?"

The voice replies, "NO.  I'M THE RINK MANAGER!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIN!

It is hard to believe that only thirteen years and one day ago that we did not have our granddaughter Erin in our lives.  She's smart, talented, witty, beautiful, artistic, musical, kind and sympathetic, all wrapped in a bundle of wonderful.  In January, she was the seventh grade Student of the Month in her school.  She does Kitty's nails, turning each into animals freehand; she also does the Kangaroo's nails but he'll put a stop to it when he gets older.  Our old dog Declan bounces like a puppy when she comes in.  You know those bumper stickers that say, "Ask Me About My Grandchildren"?  Well, you don't have to ask me.  I'll tell you anyway about all five.  In detail.  And today I'm telling you about Erin the Awesome. We love her and are lucky to have her in our lives.

With children and grandchildren time flies by so quickly that you want to grab each moment and cling to it forever.  We're somewhere in the middle of this song and, before you know it, we'll be near the end.  Here's Harry Belafonte:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTL-fwRsEdc

OVERLOOKED FILM: THE RANGE FEUD (1931)

The Range Feud was John Wayne's first big western success but he had to play second lead to cowboy star Buck Jones.  The year before, after three years of uncredited roles, Wayne had starred in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail, which was a success.  (Walsh, BTW, was the one who changed the star's name from Marion Morrison to John Wayne for that flick.)

Clint Turner (Wayne) and John Walton (Ed Le Saint, The Lemon Drop Kid, Destry Rides Again) are feuding ranchers, each accusing the other of cattle rustling.  After Walton is found dead, Turner is arrested.  Turner's best friend, Sheriff Buck Gordon (Jones) has to find the real murderer before Turner's scheduled hanging.  Susan Fleming (Million Dollar Legs, He Learned About Women, and soon to become Mrs. Harpo Marx) plays the love interest as Judy Walton, the dead rancher's daughter.  Our old friend Glen Strange has an uncredited role as Cowhand Slim.

Directed by D, Ross Lederman (Texas Cyclone, Tarzan's Revenge), The Range Feud had the story and dialogue credited to Milton Krims (Anthony Adverse, Confession of a Nazi Spy, Prince of Foxes) with continuity by George Plympton (who has over 300 writing credits from 1912 to 1966 at IMDb).  Not credited was the popular western writer W. C. Tuttle, from whose story "The Red Head from Sun Dog" this film was based; when the movie was remade in 1934 as The Red Rider (also starring Buck Jones, but with John Wayne's renamed character played by Grant Withers) Tuttle received story credit.

Enjoy.

https://archive.org/details/TheRangeFeud1931-BuckJonesAndJohnWayne

MEXICAN PULP PAPERBACKS

Here's a neat look at some cover art for Mexican pulp paperbacks:

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-freakish-fantasy-art-of-mexican-pulp-paperbacks/

GROUNDHOG

'Tis the day!  Here's the Watson family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbxoNcwi0AY

INCOMING

Happy Groundhog Day!

• "Lynn Abercrombie" (Walter Sorrels), Blind Fear.  A Cold Case Thriller.
• Kelley Armstrong, Men of the Underworld.  Collection of four supernatural romance stories.
• Stephen Vincent Benet, The Stephen Vincent Benet Pocket Book.  Collection of 18 stories and 33 poems, edited by Robert van Gelder.  A pretty beat-up first paperback edition (1946) culled from 1942's Selected Works of Stephen Vincent Benet.  I'm a sucker for his stories.
• Martin Caidin, Fork-Tailed Devil:  The P 38.  Non-fiction.  The story the World War II fighter plane and its pilots.
• Douglas Clegg, The Vampiricon:  The Priest of Blood.  Horror.  The first in a trilogy.
• Martin Gardner, Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science.  A classic book on pseudoscience, themed "a study in human gullibility."  This is the 1957 expanded and revised second edition of the 1952 book In the Name of Science.  
• "Linda Grant" (Linda V. Wilson) - A Woman's Place.  A Catherine Sayler mystery.
• Laurell K. Hamilton, A Caress of Twilight.  A romantic fantasy featuring L.A. private eye Meredith Gentry
• Robert S. Johnson, with Martin Caidin, Thunderbolt!  Non-fiction,  Biography of a World War II fighter pilot and the story of the 56th Fighter Group.
• Daniel Keyes, The Asylum Prophecies.  Thriller.
• Harold Q. Masur, The Legacy Lenders.  A Scott Jordan mystery.
• "Jack McKinney" (Brian Daley & James Lucerno), Robotech #7 Southern Cross/#8 Metal Fire/#9 The Final Nightmare.  Television tie-in omnibus containing three novels from the series.
• Thomas M. Reid, The Sapphire Cescent.  Gaming (Forgotten Realms) tie-in novel, the first in The Scions of Arrabar Trilogy.
• Candace Robb, The Kings' Bishop.  An Owen Archer medieval mystery.
• Harry Stein, Infinity's Child.  Medical thriller.
• Aimee & David Thurlo, Enemy Way.  An Ella Clan mystery.
• F. Paul Wilson, The LaNague Chronicles.  Libertarian SF omnibus of three novels, slightly rearranged: An Enemy of the State, Healer, and Wheels within Wheels. 
• John Zakour, The Blue-Haired Bombshell.  Humorous SF novel featuring Zachary Nixon Johnson, the last freelance PI on Earth.  This is the fifth in the series, the first three being co-written with Lawrence Ganem.

THE DAFFODILS

By William Wordsworth, read by Yunte Huang.

https://archive.org/details/HuangDaffodils

HYMN TIME

"When the Gates Swing Open" -- Clara Ward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Q6OLuIkyQ