When we were living in Southern Maryland, we made of a point of attending the World Folk Music Association's annual concerts, many of which were organized to pay tribute to various performers such as Odetta, Tommy Makem, Tom Paxton, and Tom Rowe. We are too far away to attend the one scheduled for this October 29 -- "Remembering Oscar Brand" -- which will feature Christine Lavin, The Limelighters, Josh White, Jr., Carolyn Hester, David Buskin, and many others. If you happen to be in the DC area you should try to catch this wonderful show.
Oscar Brand (1920-2016) had a career that spanned more than seven decades. He released almost 100 albums and wrote over 300 songs. His weekly radio show, Oscar Brand's Folksong Festival, began in 1945 and ran for more than 70 years, making it the longest running radio show with a continuous host. He performed with Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, The Weavers, Jean Ritchie, and Pete Seeger, among many others. Brand was one of the organizers of the Newport Folk Festival and was on the board of the Children's Television Network (an unsubstantiated rumor has it that the character of Oscar the Grouch was named for Brand). He also was an author, penning books on folk music, various short stories and collaborating on at least three musicals.
Many of Brand's albums honored the various military services. Many others recorded bawdy songs for prosperity. So be warned, some of the songs may be NSFW.
Glory Flying Regulations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN1hW5fmwj4&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=48
The Shucking of the Corn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LCuppj5OkU&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=51
Subdivision Nine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTlR0q_w6Ss&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=50
For Jefferson and Liberty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9C-P2tMmk&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=67
(Here's one my late mother-in-law used to sing, the first line only. Just as well because it has been said that every song she tried to sin sounded like "The Donkey Serenade")
Charlotte the Harlot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjwaXz4QOig&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=20
And the Erie was Rising
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c5mP_W83II&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=94
I Learned About Flying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs-ziNC0fq8&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=99
(Here's one that I find myself humming at the most inappropriate times)
The Bastard King of England
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d71vtSKetUE
Ballad of Anzio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f75jtJIl3Q&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=76
The Ocean Waves May Roll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFGbc-PlHiA&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=84
The Old Soldiers of the King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKrbyv2RzJE&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=77
The Duchess and the Student
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-WCak_MVt0&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=65
Grant, Grant, Grant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drcr30HFAe8&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=42
When I First Come to This Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N59Yj9-FjJE&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=36
I Used to Work in Chicago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoyKhiS4law&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=37
The Flying Fortress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Eg_sc5DXc&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=38
We Ain't Going to Sea No More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP55KEXdZgk&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=41
Dinky Die
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldWWJ8EmPT0&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=29
Jenny Jenkins (with Jean Ritchie0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AXAD-BBq40&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=18
Ten Little Fishermen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvb6z8sG7sA&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=5
The Chandler's Wife
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJZ_rBbPs64&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMzg9tS5Gbvs-9IZ7rGC6Jt8&index=32
Thursday, August 31, 2017
THE LUCKY STRIKE PROGRAM STARRING JACK BENNY: THE BEAVERS DO THE SHOW
There have been many great comedians but, for my money, Jack Benny was one of the greatest.
From April 23, 1950, the Boys of Beverly Hills Beavers are putting on a play at the school auditorium. Jack, as treasurer, plans to attend...and the fun begins.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AaliJV4wOU
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: DIFFERENT DRUM
The Stone Ponys with Linda Ronstadt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhtnB6kSCyA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhtnB6kSCyA
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY
Actually, today is Bad Jokes Wednesday. Here are a few groaners for your amusement/punishment.
- You can't plant flowers if you haven't botany.
- 3.14% of all sailors are pi-rates.
- So why do we have to pay for air at a gas station? We never used to. I guess it's inflation.
- Why don't ants get sick? Because they have anty-bodies.
- There was a recent earthquake and people blamed fracking but it was just the Earth's fault.
- My brother tried viewing the eclipse through a colander but he just ended up with eye strain.
- I have a friend who squats on the floor, puts his arms around his legs and leans forward...because that's just how he rolls.
- Seven: "I can't even..." Eight: "That's odd."
- I've held onto my pet rock for years because of its sedimental value.
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CEILI!
I'm a day late with this one. The computer was acting up. I overslept. The dog ate my homework. I had to fold laundry. I had to foil an ISIS attack. My time was taken up curing cancer. Whatever excuse works. None of which detracts from the fact that Ceili is now 21! A legal adult! What happened to the time?
Catherine Delaney Dowd was born at Georgetown University Hospital in the early hours of the morning. Our first grandchild and as cute as can be. She was serene that day, just taking it all in -- this wonderful world that she had just entered. She was happy to be here, happy just to be -- just as we were to have her.
I thought it would be great to shorten her middle name and call her Laney (Elaine, a favorite cousin of mine had recently died) but her parents outvoted me. They combined her first two names and called her Caylee. Over the years, the spelling has changed to Kaylee and probably a dozen other variations until it became Ceili, a name for an Irish dance but pronounced the same. That's the spelling I'm sticking with. Today, she more often than not goes by Catherine, but I'm old and I'm her grandfather so she has to put up with whatever I call her.
She lost her father to a heart attack when she was nine and he was thirty-one, so things have not always been easy for her. Nonetheless she came out on the other as a child and person we are p[roud of.
Ceili was a beautiful child and remains a beautiful woman. Our smiling, giggling, wiggling little girl has grown up to become a brave and outspoken defender of human rights. Discrimination against minorities, women, the LGBT community, or other marginalized peoples offends her and she lets her opinion be known. (Let's not mention Trump.) Her parents did something right there, aided by both sets of grandparents and her extended circle of loved ones.
Ceili lets me hug her and does not get too upset because I never learned to un-hug.
Ceili is also a fangirl. She is a walking encyclopedia on Tolkien, Game of Thrones, anime, movies, and television.
She fixes our computer and programs our television -- all without remarking on what Luddites her grandparents are.
She has brightened out days. She has given us smiles and love. She makes our world a better place.
Now she is fully and legally an adult. I can tell because several of her friends across the country sent her bottles of wine yesterday.
Twenty-one.
Wow.
And it will keep getting better from here.
We love you.
Catherine Delaney Dowd was born at Georgetown University Hospital in the early hours of the morning. Our first grandchild and as cute as can be. She was serene that day, just taking it all in -- this wonderful world that she had just entered. She was happy to be here, happy just to be -- just as we were to have her.
I thought it would be great to shorten her middle name and call her Laney (Elaine, a favorite cousin of mine had recently died) but her parents outvoted me. They combined her first two names and called her Caylee. Over the years, the spelling has changed to Kaylee and probably a dozen other variations until it became Ceili, a name for an Irish dance but pronounced the same. That's the spelling I'm sticking with. Today, she more often than not goes by Catherine, but I'm old and I'm her grandfather so she has to put up with whatever I call her.
She lost her father to a heart attack when she was nine and he was thirty-one, so things have not always been easy for her. Nonetheless she came out on the other as a child and person we are p[roud of.
Ceili was a beautiful child and remains a beautiful woman. Our smiling, giggling, wiggling little girl has grown up to become a brave and outspoken defender of human rights. Discrimination against minorities, women, the LGBT community, or other marginalized peoples offends her and she lets her opinion be known. (Let's not mention Trump.) Her parents did something right there, aided by both sets of grandparents and her extended circle of loved ones.
Ceili lets me hug her and does not get too upset because I never learned to un-hug.
Ceili is also a fangirl. She is a walking encyclopedia on Tolkien, Game of Thrones, anime, movies, and television.
She fixes our computer and programs our television -- all without remarking on what Luddites her grandparents are.
She has brightened out days. She has given us smiles and love. She makes our world a better place.
Now she is fully and legally an adult. I can tell because several of her friends across the country sent her bottles of wine yesterday.
Twenty-one.
Wow.
And it will keep getting better from here.
We love you.
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: LOVELESS LOVE
W. C. Handy, "The Father of the Blues," sings his classic song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XYdJuCDsAo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XYdJuCDsAo
OVERLOOKED MOVIE: THE SPECKLED BAND (1931)
How about a little bit of Sherlock with Raymond Massey as the world's first consulting detective? Athole Stewart plays Watson. Lyn Harding, Angela Badderly, and Nancy Price are also featured. The story was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb, who would win an Oscar seven years later for Pygmalion, and was directed by Jack Raymond (Sorrell and Son, The Mysterious Mr. Reeder).
This one is a bit strange. The only copy I could find online was this one -- cut from 90 to 50 minutes. The quality of the film is poor because the copyright had expired and copies were made and copies of the copies were made. This particular copy is probably third generation, or more, and it shows it. Nonetheless, it's an interesting film.
There's some good acting here but, having been made so close to the silent era, at times exagerrated silent film gestures are evident.
The adaptation takes some liberties with the original Conan Doyle story, but we will forgive that.
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/details/SpeckledBand
This one is a bit strange. The only copy I could find online was this one -- cut from 90 to 50 minutes. The quality of the film is poor because the copyright had expired and copies were made and copies of the copies were made. This particular copy is probably third generation, or more, and it shows it. Nonetheless, it's an interesting film.
There's some good acting here but, having been made so close to the silent era, at times exagerrated silent film gestures are evident.
The adaptation takes some liberties with the original Conan Doyle story, but we will forgive that.
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/details/SpeckledBand
Monday, August 28, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: COVER OF THE ROLLING STONE
Dr. Hook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ux3-a9RE1Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ux3-a9RE1Q
INCOMING
- John Joseph Adams, editor, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. SF anthology with 22 stories, one original, by a great line-up: Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Mary Rickert, Jonathan Lethem, George R. R. Martin, Topbias S. Buckell, Jack McDevitt, Cory Doctorow, James Van Pelt, Catherine Wells, Jerry Oltion, Gene Wolfe, Nancy Kress, Elizabeth Bear, Octavia E. Butler, Carol Emshwiller, Neal Barrett, Jr., Dale Bailey, David Gregg, and John Langan.
- Lee Child, Tripwire. A Jack Reacher thriller. "Jack Reacher's anonymity in Key West is shattered by the appearance of a private investigator who's come to town looking for him. But only hours after his arrival, the stranger is murdered. Retracing the PI's cold trail back to New York City, Reacher is compelled to find oput who was looking for him an why. He never expected the reasons to be so personal, so dangerous, and so very twisted."
- Martin H. Greenberg & Larry Segriff, editors, Far Frontiers. SF anthology. "Thirteen of today's top authors blaze new pathways to worlds beyond imagination from: a civilization of humans living in a Dyson sphere to who the idea of living on a planet is pure mythology...to an ancient man so obsessed with an alien legend that he will risk ship and crew in the Void in the hopes of proving it true...to the story of the last free segments of 'humanity,' forced to retreat to the very edge of the galaxy in the hope of finding a way to save themselves when they is nowhere left to run..."
- Yunte Huang, Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History. Nonfiction. A look at Earl Derr Biggers' famous sleuth, the real-life Hawaiian cop Chang Apana who inspired the character, and the historical atmosphere of a territorial Hawaii, and the cultural impact Charlie Chan has had. It even has an appendix listing Charlie Chanisms.
- "Simon Lawrence" (R. Karl Largent), The Pond. Horror novel. "Clayborn, Alabama, was a sleepy southern town that seemed to be free from the problems of the modern world. Crime was nonexistent, the people were friendly, and the local company kept the town prosperous. To all appearances, Clayborn was the perfect place for a family to live. That was what Taylor Fredricks thought -- until his teenage son came to him with a tale of murder and mutilated corpses, a tale so unbelievable it couldn't be true. But before long, Fredricks discovered his son had stumbled onto a conspiracy of greed and corruption that lay hidden beneath the town's serene surface. For the people of Clayborn had a secret so evil that its revelation would destroy the town and everyone in it."
- David Lindsay, A Voyage to Arcturus. Classic fantasy novel. "The book is not allegory but vision. Lindsay's imaginary. often drawn from music, is burning and impressive. He uses words violently and cares nothing for grace....But what emerges after sympathetic reading is...a sense of the remarkable profundity and coherence of the vision. The message is uncompromiosing in its purity. The achievement of the book exactly balances the ambition of its intention. This, surely, is rare." -- London Times.
- Brad Ricca, Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster -- The Creators of Superman. Biography of the two young men who created one of the world's most recognized icon on a kitchen table in Cleveland and how fame and fortune slipped from their grasp.
- Norman Spinrad, Greenhouse Summer. SF eco-thriller. "About a hundred years from now, pollution, overpopulation, and ecological disasters have left the rich nations still rich, and the poor nations -- the Lands of the Lost -- slowly strangling in drought and pollution. New York City is below sea level, surrounded by a seawall. The climate of Paris is much like the twentieth-century climate of long-drowned New Orleans. And Siberia, Golden Siberia, is the cropland of the world...But it may be all coming to a terrible end: a scientist has predicted Condition Venus, the sudden greenhouse downfall of the entire planet -- but she can't say when. So now the attention of the world is focused for a week on a UN conference on the Environment in Paris, where all hell is about to break loose."
Sunday, August 27, 2017
ELMER KELTON & LUCIA ST. CLAIR ROBSON AT THE NATIONAL 2006 BOOK FESTIVAL
Elmer Kelton's peers named him the greatest western writer of all time. Eight of his novels have won the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, three of his novels received the Western Heritage Award from The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, he received the Owen Wister Award, as well as the first Lone Star Award, for Lifetime achievement.
New York Times best-selling author Lucia St. Clair Robson has garnered two Spur Awards and has been nominated for a third. Her novel Ride the Wind has been named one of the 100 best westerns of the twentieth century.
Here's what happened when the two got together. The discussion lasted a bit over thirty minutes; it's broken up here in roughly ten minute segments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juVDVhD6SQw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMDaE8Ec_BE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfJUvqr5mYE
New York Times best-selling author Lucia St. Clair Robson has garnered two Spur Awards and has been nominated for a third. Her novel Ride the Wind has been named one of the 100 best westerns of the twentieth century.
Here's what happened when the two got together. The discussion lasted a bit over thirty minutes; it's broken up here in roughly ten minute segments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juVDVhD6SQw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMDaE8Ec_BE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfJUvqr5mYE
HYMN TIME
Written in 1963 by Sidney Carter with music adapted from the shaker hymn "Simple Gifts," few have done it better than Tommy Makem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWeucieUPKU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWeucieUPKU
Saturday, August 26, 2017
SUGARFOOT #992 (MAY-JULY 1959)
Sing along!
"Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, easy lopin', cattle ropin' Sugarfoot,
Carefree as the tumbleweeds, ajoggin' along with a heart full of song
And a rifle and a volume of the law.
"Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, never underestimate a Sugarfoot,
Once you got his dander up, ain't no one who's quicker on the draw.
"You'll find him on the side of law and order,
From the Mexicali border, to the rolling hills of Arkansaw
"Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, easy lopin' cattle ropin' Sugarfoot,
Ridin' down to cattle town, a-joggin' along with a heart full of song
A rifle and a volume of the law."
Tom Brewster, a.k.a. Sugarfoot, rides along "The Stallion Trail" and enters a "Law Trap."
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/stream/SugarfootComic0992/Four_Color_0992_-_Sugarfoot_TV_#page/n0/mode/2up
"Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, easy lopin', cattle ropin' Sugarfoot,
Carefree as the tumbleweeds, ajoggin' along with a heart full of song
And a rifle and a volume of the law.
"Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, never underestimate a Sugarfoot,
Once you got his dander up, ain't no one who's quicker on the draw.
"You'll find him on the side of law and order,
From the Mexicali border, to the rolling hills of Arkansaw
"Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, easy lopin' cattle ropin' Sugarfoot,
Ridin' down to cattle town, a-joggin' along with a heart full of song
A rifle and a volume of the law."
Tom Brewster, a.k.a. Sugarfoot, rides along "The Stallion Trail" and enters a "Law Trap."
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/stream/SugarfootComic0992/Four_Color_0992_-_Sugarfoot_TV_#page/n0/mode/2up
Friday, August 25, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
This was the Billboard #1 song the week I was married. It held the top place for six weeks -- longer than any other song that year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrcwRt6J32o
FORGOTTEN BOOK APOLOGY
Oops, I did it again! I had planned for a Forgotten Books post for today, but fate intervened. You see, I was reading my choice for this week while waiting to give the Kangaroo a ride home. I had planned to finish the book last night and write up my post this morning but, when I went to buckle the Kangaroo into his car seat, I placed the book on the roof of the car while I bent done to do some serious buckling. Then I hopped behind the wheel and drove the six miles to his house, forgetting about the book. **sigh** I'll see if I can pick up another copy of the book (No, I won't say what it is; I prefer you to let your imagine run amok, but I will say it was a good 'un).
So that's my excuse, my story, my alibi, my explanation. Sorry. #senilitysucks #atleastIdidn'tbucklethebookintothecarseatandleavethechildontheroof
All is not lost, however. Rather than have you go away disappointed, here's the comic book adaptation of George Pal's film adaptation of Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie's classic SF disaster novel When Worlds Collide.
https://archive.org/details/motion-picture-comics-110
Thursday, August 24, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: DEEP PURPLE
Not the rock group but the Sixties song by April Stevens and Nino Tempo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCv3Uw2dvNg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCv3Uw2dvNg
SUSPENSE: ORDEAL AT DONNER PASS
From November 2, 1953, an episode of Suspense starring Edmond O'Brien. This episode was produced and directed by Elliot Lewis and written by Arthur Ross.
Hungry, anyone/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBF5OOniyJo
Hungry, anyone/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBF5OOniyJo
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: RED HEADED WOMAN
Rockabilly great Sonny Burgess passed away on August 18. He was 88. It never bothered him that he made as big as Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis -- he just enjoyed playing. Rest in peace.
From 1956.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOnOWLhuT80
From 1956.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOnOWLhuT80
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY
(The following was deleted from Wikipedia -- really.)
From COW TIPPING
Tip #1
The worst kind of cow tipping is on wild cows. Wild cows are hard to find, however are wildly unpredictable .[sic] You never know what a wild cow's defenses are. They may spit blood, or even venomous toxins into your eyes in order to disable you. Once disabled, they may try to eat your internal organs.
Tip #2
If you succeed in tipping a cow only partway, such that only one of its feet is still on the ground, you have created lean beef. Such a feat is well done. Naturally, being outside, the cow is unstable. When it falls over, it becomes ground beef.
From COW TIPPING
Tip #1
The worst kind of cow tipping is on wild cows. Wild cows are hard to find, however are wildly unpredictable .[sic] You never know what a wild cow's defenses are. They may spit blood, or even venomous toxins into your eyes in order to disable you. Once disabled, they may try to eat your internal organs.
Tip #2
If you succeed in tipping a cow only partway, such that only one of its feet is still on the ground, you have created lean beef. Such a feat is well done. Naturally, being outside, the cow is unstable. When it falls over, it becomes ground beef.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: HOW DO YOU DO IT
From 1963, a bit of the Merseybeat from Gerry and the Pacemakers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HpcjpVkDrI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HpcjpVkDrI
OVERLOOKED OATER: BILLY THE KID'S FIGHTING PALS (1941)
Cowboy star Bob Steele played Billy the Kid in half a dozen Poverty Row westerns from P.R.C. in 1940 and 1941. At the same time he also played Tucson Smith, one of Republic's Three Mesquiteers (20 pictures from 1940 to 1943). Buster Crabbe took over Steele's Billy the Kid character beginning in 1942.
The Billy the Kid of the P.R.C. films was not a ravening psychopath. Instead he was a misunderstood hero on the run from zealous lawmen. His pals were Fuzzy (Al St. John) and Jeff (Carleton Young). The three of them are riding to the town of Paradise when they witness the murder of a marshal. Too late to stop the murder or to catch whoever did it, Fuzzy rides into town pretending to be the dead man and finds the town being ruled by a viscous gang. Naturally, where there is lawlessness, it's up to billy, Fuzzy, and Jeff to put a stop to it.
Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals also features Phyllis Adair, Curley Dresden, Edward Pell, Sr., and Julio Rivero. Sam Newfield (The Terror of Tiny Town, Dead Men Walk, The Monster Maker) directed the film under the name "Sherman Scott." The script was by George H. Plympton (Zombies of Mora Tau, Atom Man Vs. Superman, Congo Bill, and more than 300 others).
The plot of Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals has been used a gazillion times but that didn't stop kids of three-quarters of a century ago from enjoying the film and Bob Steele is always fun to watch.
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/details/BillyTheKidsFightingPals
The Billy the Kid of the P.R.C. films was not a ravening psychopath. Instead he was a misunderstood hero on the run from zealous lawmen. His pals were Fuzzy (Al St. John) and Jeff (Carleton Young). The three of them are riding to the town of Paradise when they witness the murder of a marshal. Too late to stop the murder or to catch whoever did it, Fuzzy rides into town pretending to be the dead man and finds the town being ruled by a viscous gang. Naturally, where there is lawlessness, it's up to billy, Fuzzy, and Jeff to put a stop to it.
Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals also features Phyllis Adair, Curley Dresden, Edward Pell, Sr., and Julio Rivero. Sam Newfield (The Terror of Tiny Town, Dead Men Walk, The Monster Maker) directed the film under the name "Sherman Scott." The script was by George H. Plympton (Zombies of Mora Tau, Atom Man Vs. Superman, Congo Bill, and more than 300 others).
The plot of Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals has been used a gazillion times but that didn't stop kids of three-quarters of a century ago from enjoying the film and Bob Steele is always fun to watch.
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/details/BillyTheKidsFightingPals
Monday, August 21, 2017
A TASTE OF DOSTIEFSKY
R.I.P., Brian W. Aldiss.
https://archive.org/details/Mindwebs_230/Mindwebs-780428_ATasteOfDostiefsky.mp3
https://archive.org/details/Mindwebs_230/Mindwebs-780428_ATasteOfDostiefsky.mp3
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: ROCK A BYE YOUR BABY WITH A DIXIE MELODY
Rest in Peace, Jerry Lewis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4zHrgDzEZo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4zHrgDzEZo
NO INCOMING THIS WEEK
I am falling down on my book buying, but rather than have you wail about my faults let me make your Monday a bit more cheerful with this classic story by Ellis Parker Butler, "Pigs Is Pigs."
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/stream/pigsispigs00unkngoog#page/n0/mode/2up
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/stream/pigsispigs00unkngoog#page/n0/mode/2up
Sunday, August 20, 2017
DICK GREGORY ON CIVIL RIGHTS
Dick Gregory passed away yesterday at age 84. Gregory was a popular comedian who became a civil rights activist and a critic of the Vietnam War. Gregory's activism expanded to economic reform, women's rights, anti-drug activities, politics, environmental issues, food industry criticism. Through it all, his sense of humor gave him a platform to influence generations of of Americans.
Here he is performing in 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNNHpNXokK0
Rest in peace, Dick.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: TIMOTHY
One of the all-time great cannibalism songs. Here's The Buoys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqDu5LBT8_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqDu5LBT8_Y
WONDERLAND COMICS #8 (DECEMBER-JANUARY 1945-1946)
Times were simpler then, at least in Comicbookland.
Wonderland Comics ran for nine issue from Summer 1945 to April 1947. Each issue led off with an adventure of Alex in Wonderland about a little boy who has been "dropped into Wonderland, the fabulous make-believe land of the nursery rhyme characters." These characters are not behaving like they are supposed to -- at least according to the nursery rhymes -- so it's up to Alex and his friend Macaw (a top hat wearing bird) to set things straight. In this issue, the problem is with Little Boy Blue, who would rather belt out a number on his horn than sleep in the hay.
The rest of this issue is crammed with funny animal stories. I use the word "funny" advisedly.
"Hoppy Hare" decides to become an inventor and invents a portable victory garden (actually a tonic that grows vegetables instead of hair when applied to the scalp). What could go wrong?
Nip and Tuck (Nip is a boy who somehow resembles Sluggo and Tuck is a girl who resembles a cross between Nancy and Little Eva) have an adventure in the worlds of Never-Never in "The Land Above the Sky," where they meet cloud and lightning people who are being threatened by flying fish. Nothing strange here, folks.
"Muffy and Duffy" are two bears. Muffy's house is being overrun with mice and he's at his wit's end. Duffy suggests that he get a cat. Problem not solved.
"Ella Funt" has a one-page story ending in a stale joke.
"The Boy Pirate," with the aid of his talking animal friends, helps Ponce de Leon find the Fountain of Youth. A bit off-putting for modern readers when The Boy Pirate vows to help the "old Ponce.'
'Chirpy and Cheery" are two birds. Cheery likes to be the early bird who gets the worm, while Chirpy prefers caterpillars. On this morning their food has grown huge and threaten to eat them! SPOILER: It was all a dream. Nonetheless, Chirpy vows to eat only birdseed from now on.
Willie is a young boy who wants to be a hero but all his attempts at heroism fail. Then one day he rescues a small bird from a carrion. The bird he rescues turns into a beautiful fairy princess who, in turn, turns Willie into "Wishing Willie," with the power to make his wishes come true. Willie is careless wioth his wishes but in the end he promises to do better in further issues (of which there would be only one and I don't think Wishing Willie appeared in it).
For the final story we have "Pussy Willow," a two-pager about belling the cat. Ho-hum.
Seventy years ago funny animals were quite popular in comic books. So, yes, times were simpler then in Comicbookland.
See for yourself:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=69415&b=i
Friday, August 18, 2017
FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE BARON IN FRANCE
The Baron in France by John Creasey writing as "Anthony Morton" (1953)
British writer John Creasey (1908-1973) was one of the most prolific and popular writers of the mid-twentieth century. He produced over 600 books under 28 pseudonyms, sometimes publishing as many as 17 novels in a year.
Creasey toiled seven years trying to break into publishing while gathering a large number of rejection slips. He published his first book in 1930 and his first mystery novel in 1932. Creasey was not by any means a great writer, but he was a competent and fast writer.* Some of his books were very good. I am partial to his Commander Gideon novels (as "J. J. Marric") and I also like his Inspector (later Commander) Roger West series. Many of his other series are certainly readable; I've read about forty of his novels and enjoyed them all, and have about twenty more lurking around the house somewhere.
Creasey wrote 47 books (published from 1937 to 1979) about "The Baron,"** a sophisticated, Robin Hood-like jewel thief who reformed and under his true name, John Mannering, now owns and operates Quinn's in London -- an exclusive antiques store that that does much trading in precious gems. Of course no one knows that Mannering was The Baron, although several -- including police officers -- suspect it. As The Baron, Mannering is a master of disguise and a daring athlete with a large knowledge of the criminal arts. A number of Creasey's earlier books were slightly revised and updated for a US audience.
The Baron in France starts with a daring burglary in a London flat. The thief gets the fabulous Gramercy jewels but is interrupted by the owner, jewelry dealer Bernard Dale. The thief shoots and kills Dale and attempted to kill Dale's 12-year-old daughter. Circumstances point to Dale's junior partner Tony Bennett, who is arrested, tried, and sentenced to hang. Mannering is convinced Dale is innocent but is stymied in trying to find the real murderer until ten days before Bennett's execution date when Dale's ex-wife shows up at Mannering's door.
Stella, the ex-wife, is remarried and living in France. She overheard a conversation between her brother-in-law and his father, indicating that the father now had possession of the stolen jewels. Stella's father-in-law is the wealthy Comte de Chalon, a monomaniac collector of stolen art and gems. With time running out for Tony Bennett, Mannering travels to France to see if the Comte actually has the jewels and, if so, to discover where he had got them; the person who sold the jewels to the Comte was the one most likely to be the real murderer.
Ah, but the best-laid plans...There's another murder and Mannering is framed as the killer. Mannering's wife is kidnapped. An attempt is made on Mannering's life. Worse, Mannering gets nowhere in solving the mystery.
The Baron in France is a fast read, a mere 190 pages. The pace does not let up. On the negative side, there are a lot of awkward sentences and a few nonsensical sentences. The plot is ridiculous and Mannering, despite his daring and his athleticism, galumphs idiotically through the story. Some characters are well-drawn while others are mere pasteboard. Worse yet, the killer exposed at the end was basically revealed in the book's jacket copy. Final grade has to be either a C or a C+.
Nonetheless, I'll continue to read Creasey's minor works such as his The Baron series. It's a guilty pleasure.
* There's an apocryphal story about Creasey, who knew next to nothing about the American West, starting one of his western novels with a "coyote soaring overhead." No one has been able to find such a passage among Creasey's 30 westerns, so it either never happened or a sharp-eyed editor caught the flub in manuscript. Either way, it didn't stop Creasey from claiming the tale was true..
** In the US editions, the first eight titles gave Mannering the title "Blue Mask" instead of The Baron. By the ninth volume this seemed sort of silly.
British writer John Creasey (1908-1973) was one of the most prolific and popular writers of the mid-twentieth century. He produced over 600 books under 28 pseudonyms, sometimes publishing as many as 17 novels in a year.
Creasey toiled seven years trying to break into publishing while gathering a large number of rejection slips. He published his first book in 1930 and his first mystery novel in 1932. Creasey was not by any means a great writer, but he was a competent and fast writer.* Some of his books were very good. I am partial to his Commander Gideon novels (as "J. J. Marric") and I also like his Inspector (later Commander) Roger West series. Many of his other series are certainly readable; I've read about forty of his novels and enjoyed them all, and have about twenty more lurking around the house somewhere.
Creasey wrote 47 books (published from 1937 to 1979) about "The Baron,"** a sophisticated, Robin Hood-like jewel thief who reformed and under his true name, John Mannering, now owns and operates Quinn's in London -- an exclusive antiques store that that does much trading in precious gems. Of course no one knows that Mannering was The Baron, although several -- including police officers -- suspect it. As The Baron, Mannering is a master of disguise and a daring athlete with a large knowledge of the criminal arts. A number of Creasey's earlier books were slightly revised and updated for a US audience.
The Baron in France starts with a daring burglary in a London flat. The thief gets the fabulous Gramercy jewels but is interrupted by the owner, jewelry dealer Bernard Dale. The thief shoots and kills Dale and attempted to kill Dale's 12-year-old daughter. Circumstances point to Dale's junior partner Tony Bennett, who is arrested, tried, and sentenced to hang. Mannering is convinced Dale is innocent but is stymied in trying to find the real murderer until ten days before Bennett's execution date when Dale's ex-wife shows up at Mannering's door.
Stella, the ex-wife, is remarried and living in France. She overheard a conversation between her brother-in-law and his father, indicating that the father now had possession of the stolen jewels. Stella's father-in-law is the wealthy Comte de Chalon, a monomaniac collector of stolen art and gems. With time running out for Tony Bennett, Mannering travels to France to see if the Comte actually has the jewels and, if so, to discover where he had got them; the person who sold the jewels to the Comte was the one most likely to be the real murderer.
Ah, but the best-laid plans...There's another murder and Mannering is framed as the killer. Mannering's wife is kidnapped. An attempt is made on Mannering's life. Worse, Mannering gets nowhere in solving the mystery.
The Baron in France is a fast read, a mere 190 pages. The pace does not let up. On the negative side, there are a lot of awkward sentences and a few nonsensical sentences. The plot is ridiculous and Mannering, despite his daring and his athleticism, galumphs idiotically through the story. Some characters are well-drawn while others are mere pasteboard. Worse yet, the killer exposed at the end was basically revealed in the book's jacket copy. Final grade has to be either a C or a C+.
Nonetheless, I'll continue to read Creasey's minor works such as his The Baron series. It's a guilty pleasure.
* There's an apocryphal story about Creasey, who knew next to nothing about the American West, starting one of his western novels with a "coyote soaring overhead." No one has been able to find such a passage among Creasey's 30 westerns, so it either never happened or a sharp-eyed editor caught the flub in manuscript. Either way, it didn't stop Creasey from claiming the tale was true..
** In the US editions, the first eight titles gave Mannering the title "Blue Mask" instead of The Baron. By the ninth volume this seemed sort of silly.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: LITTLE TOWN FLIRT
Let's travel back to 1962 with Dell Shannon and an echo chamber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQLQp8drUf4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQLQp8drUf4
THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER: THE MAN THE INSECTS HATED
The Mysterious Traveler was an anthology series on the Mutual Network from December 5, 1943 to September 16, 1953. A mixture of mystery, suspense, science fiction and horror, the show was narrated by the titular character, played by Maurice Tarplin. Created and written by Robert Arthur and David Kogan, the show produced almost 400 episodes. Sadly, only about 75 episodes survive. The show did spawn a magazine and a one-shot comic book, as well as two similar shows, The Sealed Book and The Strange Dr. Weird.
With the lonely whistle of a train in the background, The Mysterious Traveler would begin his weekly introduction: "This is The Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the strange and terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill you a little. So settle back, get a good grip on your nerves and be comfortable -- if you can!"
The episode linked below first aired on October 7, 1944. In a crumbling mansion deep in a Louisiana bayou, Professor John Hanson has perfect Formula 397 -- a powerful insecticide. Unfortunately for the professor, the insects are not happy about his success.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir6Rw82dYN0
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: GOTTA GET A HOLD OF MYSELF
From 1966, some people who called themselves The Zombies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtyROCysfN0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtyROCysfN0
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSAMYN!
It doesn't seem that long ago when she was a smiling, laughing, curly-haired, blonde toddler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTL-fwRsEdc
It's been a while since she has turned around. She now has two amazing daughters who are themselves about to turn around.
Time passes by too quickly. What does not pass and what does not diminish is our love for her. We are proud of who she is. No matter how often she turns around, she will always be our sweet, loving Jessamyn.
Enjoy your day, my darling, as we have enjoyed your continuing presence in our lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTL-fwRsEdc
It's been a while since she has turned around. She now has two amazing daughters who are themselves about to turn around.
Time passes by too quickly. What does not pass and what does not diminish is our love for her. We are proud of who she is. No matter how often she turns around, she will always be our sweet, loving Jessamyn.
Enjoy your day, my darling, as we have enjoyed your continuing presence in our lives.
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: TURN ME LOOSE
Teen idol Fabian practices his lip syncing chops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qacdlN7UqWs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qacdlN7UqWs
OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: CHECKMATE
A decade before The Streets of San Francisco, television viewers got a different look at those streets through the eyes Don Corey and Jed Sills (Anthony George and Doug McClure), who operated Checkmate, Inc., a detective agency which specialized in stopping crimes before they happened. They were aided by consultant (and former Oxford professor) Dr. Carl Hyatt (Sebastian Cabot). Checkmate, Inc. had its offices in Corey's elegant apartment.
The show was created by mystery and suspense writer Eric Ambler. Produced by Jamco, Jack Benny's production company, Checkmate aired on CBS from September 17, 1960 to June 20, 1962 -- a total of 90 episodes. The show was a critical success but during its second season it was slotted against NBC's popular The Perry Como Show. As Checkmate's rating fell so did its chances for a third season; it was replaced by the fish-out-of-water series The Beverly Hillbillies. (Interestingly enough, Donna Douglas -- Ellie May in The Beverly Hillbillies -- appeared in four 1961 episodes of Checkmate as Barbara Simmons (A girlfriend? An assistant? A secretary? Who knows? I haven't seen those episodes and "Waiting for Jocko" has only a four-person cast.)
"Waiting for Jocko" aired on October 21, 1961. It was directed by don taylor from a script by Juarez Roberts. A young John Williams wrote the theme music for the series. Guest star Jeff Chandler plays a "constitutional psychopathic inferior" (Dr. Hyatt's words) who was denied parole based on Hyatt's professional testimony. When he is finally released, Chandler's character holds Hyatt captive, planning to blow him up on his (Hyatt's) birthday at the exact hour and minute of Hyatt's birth. (We did mention "psychopathic," didn't we?)
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d7HGEl07Xc
The show was created by mystery and suspense writer Eric Ambler. Produced by Jamco, Jack Benny's production company, Checkmate aired on CBS from September 17, 1960 to June 20, 1962 -- a total of 90 episodes. The show was a critical success but during its second season it was slotted against NBC's popular The Perry Como Show. As Checkmate's rating fell so did its chances for a third season; it was replaced by the fish-out-of-water series The Beverly Hillbillies. (Interestingly enough, Donna Douglas -- Ellie May in The Beverly Hillbillies -- appeared in four 1961 episodes of Checkmate as Barbara Simmons (A girlfriend? An assistant? A secretary? Who knows? I haven't seen those episodes and "Waiting for Jocko" has only a four-person cast.)
"Waiting for Jocko" aired on October 21, 1961. It was directed by don taylor from a script by Juarez Roberts. A young John Williams wrote the theme music for the series. Guest star Jeff Chandler plays a "constitutional psychopathic inferior" (Dr. Hyatt's words) who was denied parole based on Hyatt's professional testimony. When he is finally released, Chandler's character holds Hyatt captive, planning to blow him up on his (Hyatt's) birthday at the exact hour and minute of Hyatt's birth. (We did mention "psychopathic," didn't we?)
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d7HGEl07Xc
Monday, August 14, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: FISH HEADS
Last night at Jessamyn's birthday party, she and Christina started singing this song for some reason I can't explain. My children are weird.
Here's Barnes and Barnes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn73Wtem0No
Here's Barnes and Barnes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn73Wtem0No
INCOMING
- Ace Atkins, Dark End of the Street. A Nick Travers mystery, the third in the series. "Former pro football player-turned-college professor Nick Travers came of age in a smoky New Orleans bar -- an he owes a monumental debt to its owners, Jo Jo and Loretta, who took him under their wings. Now Loretta wants Nick to locate her missing brother, the legendary singer Clyde James, who vanished in the sixties after his wife and a band member were murdered. The Dixie mafia, a blonde bombshell grifter, and an Elvis-worshipping hitman are suddenly interested in the soul man as well, and Nick can't help wondering why. The answer lies somewhere in Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, where casino money, dirty politics, and old secrets bubble up to the surface of the New South." I love that this paperback has a quote from Robert B. Parker: "Ace Atkins can really write." Atkins, of course has continued the Spenser series after Parker's death.
- Jemiah Jefferson, Fiend. Vampire novel. "In nineteenth-century Italy, young Orfeo Ricari teeters on the brink of adulthood. His new tutor instructs him in literature and poetry during the day and guides him in the world of sensual pleasure at night. But a journey to Paris will teach young Orfeo much more. For in Paris he will become a vampire. Told in his own words. this is the story of the life, death, rebirth and education of a vampire. No one else could properly describe the shadowy existence, the endless hunger, the heightened senses or the amazing power of the undead. No one else could recount the passing of the years and the slow realization of what it mean to grasp immortality, to live on innocent blood, to be a...FIEND" We are into Anne Rice territory here, folks. And the Oxford comma be damned!
- "J. R. Roberts" (Robert Randisi), The Gunsmith #65: Showdown in Rio Malo. "Clint Adams' old pal Joe Bags has gone and got himself elected sheriff of Rio Malo, a town trying to turn respectable. But when the killing starts, Joe learns that there's more to being sheriff than pinning on a tin star. Suddenly the whole town's turned yellow. And the only ones with any guts are three misfits who sign on as deputies -- one of them's still wet behind the ears, another old enough to be his granddad, and the third;s just too damn pretty for her own good...But the Gunsmith figures that any help is better than none, as Rio Malo gets ready to explode into a dusty hell of blood and bullets..." Randisi's productivity and the quality of his work is amazing.
- Sam Siciliano, The White Worm. A "Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes," the fourth of (now) five by Siciliano. "A journey to Whitby heralds the start of a new case for SHERLOCK HOLMES and Dr. Henry Vernier. Their client is in love, but a mysterious letter has warned him of the dangers of the romance. The object of his affection is said to be under a thousand-year-old druidic curse, doomed to take the form of a giant snake. Locals speak of a green glow in the woods at night, and a white apparition amongst the trees. Is there sorcery at work, or is a human hand behind the terrors of Diana's Grove?" This is part of a series of both new and old adventures of Sherlock Holmes by various authors published by Titan Books. Siciliano used Bram Stoker's The Lair of the White Worm as a springboard for this book. (Two of his earlier Sherlock Holmes books were inspired by other books -- one by The Phantom of the Opera, the other by Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.)
- Gore Vidal writing as "Cameron Kay," Thieves Fall Out. Crime thriller first published as a Gold Medal original in 1953, a time when the author found himself short of enough cash to keep him in champagne. To solve this problem, Vidal churned out four mysteries: three under the "Edgar Box" pseudonym and this one as by "Cameron Kay." (Cameron Kay was the name of Vidal's great-uncle -- his mother's uncle -- and a former attorney general in Texas.) Vidal didn't think much of the book and didn't want it republished. Three years after Vidal's death, his agent gave Hardcase Crime permission to reprint the book. What was it they said about the best laid plans? I really don't know if this one is as bad as is claimed, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, if only because one of my favorite books is Vidal's first novel, Williwaw.
Sunday, August 13, 2017
ARTHUR C.CLARKE'S SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
From 1995, futurist and renowned science fiction writer chooses his own "seven wonders of the world." Fascinating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNWL855ibMA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNWL855ibMA
Saturday, August 12, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: WOLVERTINE MOUNTAIN
Most people are familiar with Claude King's 1962 hit version of this song. Less are familiar with this one sung by the man who wrote it, Merle Kilgore. Kilgore also explains how the song came about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TehoxDrN9Tw
TIM HOLT #36 (JUNE-JULY 1953)
Tim Holt, a youthful and athletic movie cowboy, was a good choice to have his own comic book. Holt at one time had the fastest draw of any movie cowboy; he could draw his revolver in five frames of film, or just over one-sixth of a second. He appeared in several major movies (The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Stagecoach, The Magnificent Ambersons, Stella Dallas, and My Darling Clemintine) but was more comfortable in B movies. An expert rider, Holt eventually left the motion picture industry (except for rare instances) to own a rodeo. He also had a dude ranch, was a home builder, a television host, and a radio executive.
From Boyd Magers' Comic Book Cowboys website: "Just as Tim Holt's RKO post-war westerns were a cut above the other product of the day, so too were his ME (Magazine enterprises) comic books, every one of them drawn by prolific artist Frank Boole (born 1924) who got better as he went along. Many stories were penned by Gardner Fox who became a fixture at DC."
Tim Holt #1 (actually numbered A-1 #14) appeared in April 1948. (The A-1 numbering continued for another two issues; the fourth issue was tagged #4 and regular numbering was used in subsequent issues.) In issue #20, Tim Holt took on the persona of Red Mask, who soon became more and more popular as a "western quasi-superhero." As Red Mask began taking over the storylines, Tim's original sidekick Chito faded away. By issue #42 (June-July 1954) the title of the comic book became Red Mask, which lasted thirteen issues, ending in #54.
In issue #36, Tim has to have a shooting contest with Redmask*. How can he do that without revealing that the two are the same man?
In "Death Ride of the Iron Horse," Redmask risks his life to save a train from destruction.
And, "when a posse corners Redmask and a dozen bullets rip him apart -- whose is the grim, scarlet figure that comes riding across the plains to avenge 'The Killing of Redmask!"
Also, in "No Law in Little Bend," Marshal Rex Fury is acting oddly and letting lawlessness rule the town. Turns out that owlhoots have changed his personality using "a special sorta drug, sumpthin' like marijuana. It's drunk with coffee most times. Taken in small steady doses, like you've been gettin' it, it makes fer lethargy. Thuh user doesn't give a hand about what's happenin' about him..." Now knowing what has been happening, Fury comes back as The Ghost Rider to catch the bad guys. (This Ghost Rider, although he pretends to be supernatural, is not the later Marvel Comics Ghost Rider, who is.)
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=69398
* In this issue Redmask id one word instead of two. don't know why.
From Boyd Magers' Comic Book Cowboys website: "Just as Tim Holt's RKO post-war westerns were a cut above the other product of the day, so too were his ME (Magazine enterprises) comic books, every one of them drawn by prolific artist Frank Boole (born 1924) who got better as he went along. Many stories were penned by Gardner Fox who became a fixture at DC."
Tim Holt #1 (actually numbered A-1 #14) appeared in April 1948. (The A-1 numbering continued for another two issues; the fourth issue was tagged #4 and regular numbering was used in subsequent issues.) In issue #20, Tim Holt took on the persona of Red Mask, who soon became more and more popular as a "western quasi-superhero." As Red Mask began taking over the storylines, Tim's original sidekick Chito faded away. By issue #42 (June-July 1954) the title of the comic book became Red Mask, which lasted thirteen issues, ending in #54.
In issue #36, Tim has to have a shooting contest with Redmask*. How can he do that without revealing that the two are the same man?
In "Death Ride of the Iron Horse," Redmask risks his life to save a train from destruction.
And, "when a posse corners Redmask and a dozen bullets rip him apart -- whose is the grim, scarlet figure that comes riding across the plains to avenge 'The Killing of Redmask!"
Also, in "No Law in Little Bend," Marshal Rex Fury is acting oddly and letting lawlessness rule the town. Turns out that owlhoots have changed his personality using "a special sorta drug, sumpthin' like marijuana. It's drunk with coffee most times. Taken in small steady doses, like you've been gettin' it, it makes fer lethargy. Thuh user doesn't give a hand about what's happenin' about him..." Now knowing what has been happening, Fury comes back as The Ghost Rider to catch the bad guys. (This Ghost Rider, although he pretends to be supernatural, is not the later Marvel Comics Ghost Rider, who is.)
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=69398
* In this issue Redmask id one word instead of two. don't know why.
Friday, August 11, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: MAMA DIDN'T RAISE NO FOOLS
Sugar Pie Desanto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsc8lfpzAUg&list=PL407E816CAD591DE8&index=96
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsc8lfpzAUg&list=PL407E816CAD591DE8&index=96
NO FORGOTTEN BOOK TODAY
My reading week has been spent on Stephen King's massive 1100-plus page It, so I did not get around to picking and reading a "forgotten" book.
Rather than let you go away empty-handed, here's a brief poem by Robin Robertson -- "Trumpeter Swan."
https://archive.org/details/audio_poetry_112_2006
Rather than let you go away empty-handed, here's a brief poem by Robin Robertson -- "Trumpeter Swan."
https://archive.org/details/audio_poetry_112_2006
Thursday, August 10, 2017
THE ADVENTURES OF THE FALCON: THE CASE OF THE NEIGHBOR'S NIGHTMARE
To understand the convoluted history of the The Falcon, one must go back to Leslie Charteris' famous character The Saint, that daring rogue and adventurer who first appeared on the printed page in 1928. In 1938, The Saint made the leap to films with Louis Hayward playing the character; one year later Haywood was replaced by George Sanders for the second film. The series with Sanders proved to be a great success, but the studio was having difficulties with Charteris, who was apparently upset with some of the liberties RKO had taken with the character. Soon, Charteris and his character parted ways with the studio and RKO set about finding a replacement character for a new "Saint-like" series. They settled on Gay Stanhope Falcon, the protagonist of a single story, "Gay Falcon," published by Michael Arlen in 1940. The studio bought the rights to the story and the character and went on their merry way.
Like the Saint, The Falcon was an adventurer who gets caught up in murder. To play The Falcon, the studio hire George Sanders, the actor who had played The Saint. Gay Stanhope Falcon's name was changed to Gay Lawrence and -- as far as I can tell -- no reference was ever given as to why the character was nicknamed The Falcon. (Need I mention that this was back in the days when the name Gay had only heterosexual overtones?) Charteris, of course, fumed and threatened to sue. (He also took the time to pan the new series in a "meta" bit in one of his novels.) The Falcon movie series eventually ran to sixteen films, and when Sanders dropped out of the role his real-life brother Tom Conroy took over as Gay Lawrence's brother Tom Lawrence.
But there was another, earlier, literary Falcon -- Mike Waring, nicknamed "The Falcon," who first saw print in 1936's The Falcon's Prey by "Drexel Drake" (Charles H. Huff). Waring appeared in two further novels and a short story. To confused matters, this Falcon appeared in a short series of movies and, later, a short-lived television series starring Charles McGraw. (One can assume that RKO bought the right's to Arlen's character rather than Drake's character because they did not want another repeat of an author complaining about the treatment of his series character.)
Anyway, when the Blue Network premiered The Falcon on April 10, 1943, it was the Drexel Drake character who was featured. The similarity between the two Falcons (and with The Saint) was not coincidental; most listeners apparently felt RKO film character and the radio character were the same guy but with a name change. (A view that the radio show did nothing to dispel.) The Adventure of the Falcon ran until November 27, 1954, moving from the Blue Network, to NBC, to Mutual. Waring was at times an adventurer, a private eye, an insurance investigator, and an Army intelligence officer. In both films series and in the radio series, The Falcon was basically whoever the writers and producers wanted him to be. His job description may change but his character -- the wily adventurer with a dash of derring-do and a dab of humor -- does not: a Saint clone.
"The Case of the Neighbor's Nightmare" was aired on February 4, 1951. Michael Waring -- played by Les Damon, the fourth actor to take the radio role -- meets up with a man who thinks he's a lady killer and Waring must make sure he doesn't become one. Brought to you by Kraft Foods.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrPtd_3hvKw
Like the Saint, The Falcon was an adventurer who gets caught up in murder. To play The Falcon, the studio hire George Sanders, the actor who had played The Saint. Gay Stanhope Falcon's name was changed to Gay Lawrence and -- as far as I can tell -- no reference was ever given as to why the character was nicknamed The Falcon. (Need I mention that this was back in the days when the name Gay had only heterosexual overtones?) Charteris, of course, fumed and threatened to sue. (He also took the time to pan the new series in a "meta" bit in one of his novels.) The Falcon movie series eventually ran to sixteen films, and when Sanders dropped out of the role his real-life brother Tom Conroy took over as Gay Lawrence's brother Tom Lawrence.
But there was another, earlier, literary Falcon -- Mike Waring, nicknamed "The Falcon," who first saw print in 1936's The Falcon's Prey by "Drexel Drake" (Charles H. Huff). Waring appeared in two further novels and a short story. To confused matters, this Falcon appeared in a short series of movies and, later, a short-lived television series starring Charles McGraw. (One can assume that RKO bought the right's to Arlen's character rather than Drake's character because they did not want another repeat of an author complaining about the treatment of his series character.)
Anyway, when the Blue Network premiered The Falcon on April 10, 1943, it was the Drexel Drake character who was featured. The similarity between the two Falcons (and with The Saint) was not coincidental; most listeners apparently felt RKO film character and the radio character were the same guy but with a name change. (A view that the radio show did nothing to dispel.) The Adventure of the Falcon ran until November 27, 1954, moving from the Blue Network, to NBC, to Mutual. Waring was at times an adventurer, a private eye, an insurance investigator, and an Army intelligence officer. In both films series and in the radio series, The Falcon was basically whoever the writers and producers wanted him to be. His job description may change but his character -- the wily adventurer with a dash of derring-do and a dab of humor -- does not: a Saint clone.
"The Case of the Neighbor's Nightmare" was aired on February 4, 1951. Michael Waring -- played by Les Damon, the fourth actor to take the radio role -- meets up with a man who thinks he's a lady killer and Waring must make sure he doesn't become one. Brought to you by Kraft Foods.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrPtd_3hvKw
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: GENTLE ON MY MIND
R.I.P. Glen Campbell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETkzK9pXMio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETkzK9pXMio
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY
So there were these three women who died in an automobile accident and all three show up at Heaven at the same time, where St. Peter met them at the gate.
"Welcome to Heaven!" St. Peter said. "Now, before you enter, understand that we have only one firm rule here in Heaven: Don't step on the turtles!"
Somewhat surprised at this admonishment, the three women enter Heaven and see turtles everywhere...billions of billions of turtles covering most of the ground! There were so many turtles that one of the women immediately (and accidentally) stepped on one.
There was a sudden clap of thunder and a flash of lightning and St. Peter reappeared before the three. In one hand he had a chain and in the other he held the hand of the ugliest man any of the women had ever seen. He chained the poor offending woman to the ugly man, saying, "Because you stepped on a turtle, you will be chained to this man for eternity!" Then -- poof -- he vanished, as did the woman and the ugly man.
The remaining two women were stunned. For an entire day they moved carefully around Heaven, taking care not to step on any turtles. But, you guessed it, one of them eventually stepped on a turtle. St. peter immediately appeared with the clap of thunder and flash of lightning, with a chain and a very ugly man. If the first man was the ugliest they had ever seen, this guy was uglier to the tenth power. He chained the second woman to the truly ugly man, saying, "Because you stepped on a turtle, you will be chained to his man for eternity!" Suddenly, the third woman was left alone.
She took a deep breath and vowed never to step on a turtle. Over the weeks and months she traveled carefully over Heaven, never stepping on a turtle. Except for the strain of trying not to step on a turtle, she found Heaven to be more delightful than she had imagined. Finally, after a full year, St. peter appeared before her. With him was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen; compared to this man Adonis would have been a leper. St. Peter chained the woman to this absolute hunk of maleness and, without a word, vanished.
The woman was amazed and (truth to be told) very grateful. "Wow," she said, 'What did I do to deserved this?"
The man said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I stepped on a turtle."
"Welcome to Heaven!" St. Peter said. "Now, before you enter, understand that we have only one firm rule here in Heaven: Don't step on the turtles!"
Somewhat surprised at this admonishment, the three women enter Heaven and see turtles everywhere...billions of billions of turtles covering most of the ground! There were so many turtles that one of the women immediately (and accidentally) stepped on one.
There was a sudden clap of thunder and a flash of lightning and St. Peter reappeared before the three. In one hand he had a chain and in the other he held the hand of the ugliest man any of the women had ever seen. He chained the poor offending woman to the ugly man, saying, "Because you stepped on a turtle, you will be chained to this man for eternity!" Then -- poof -- he vanished, as did the woman and the ugly man.
The remaining two women were stunned. For an entire day they moved carefully around Heaven, taking care not to step on any turtles. But, you guessed it, one of them eventually stepped on a turtle. St. peter immediately appeared with the clap of thunder and flash of lightning, with a chain and a very ugly man. If the first man was the ugliest they had ever seen, this guy was uglier to the tenth power. He chained the second woman to the truly ugly man, saying, "Because you stepped on a turtle, you will be chained to his man for eternity!" Suddenly, the third woman was left alone.
She took a deep breath and vowed never to step on a turtle. Over the weeks and months she traveled carefully over Heaven, never stepping on a turtle. Except for the strain of trying not to step on a turtle, she found Heaven to be more delightful than she had imagined. Finally, after a full year, St. peter appeared before her. With him was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen; compared to this man Adonis would have been a leper. St. Peter chained the woman to this absolute hunk of maleness and, without a word, vanished.
The woman was amazed and (truth to be told) very grateful. "Wow," she said, 'What did I do to deserved this?"
The man said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I stepped on a turtle."
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: LIL' RED RIDING HOOD
Sham the Sham and the Pharaohs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwNP9HOFvwQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwNP9HOFvwQ
OVERLOOKED FILM: RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL (1937)
Murder...
A missing archaeologist...
A lost city...
A priceless treasure...
An Indian cult...
A hint of the supernatural...
The Whistling Skull...
And the Three Mesquiteers!
All this, plus lots of action intermixed with humor, as Stony, Tucson, and Lullaby (Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, and Max Terhune) help pretty Betty Marsh (Mary Russell) search for her missing uncle while facing off baddies Rutledge (Roger Williams) and Otah (stuntman extraordinaire Yakima Canutt).
Directed by Mack Wright from a script by Oliver Drake and John Rathmell, Riders of the Whistling Skull is one of the best "Poverty Row" oaters of the 1930s.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6679ck4K10U
A missing archaeologist...
A lost city...
A priceless treasure...
An Indian cult...
A hint of the supernatural...
The Whistling Skull...
And the Three Mesquiteers!
All this, plus lots of action intermixed with humor, as Stony, Tucson, and Lullaby (Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, and Max Terhune) help pretty Betty Marsh (Mary Russell) search for her missing uncle while facing off baddies Rutledge (Roger Williams) and Otah (stuntman extraordinaire Yakima Canutt).
Directed by Mack Wright from a script by Oliver Drake and John Rathmell, Riders of the Whistling Skull is one of the best "Poverty Row" oaters of the 1930s.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6679ck4K10U
Monday, August 7, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: MOODY RIVER
Chase Webster with his original version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VRwVrk1EmU&index=7&list=PLOE6T-_vwZvPVf4ZdV6eNvE_s0bjTOLEY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VRwVrk1EmU&index=7&list=PLOE6T-_vwZvPVf4ZdV6eNvE_s0bjTOLEY
INCOMING
- "Philip DeGrave" (William DeAndrea), Keep the Baby, Faith. Mystery novel. "Harry Ross is a mild-mannered TV listings editor for a great metropolitan newspaper. He makes a decent living, and has a terrific apartment, but aside from that, his life is less than super. Harry is lonely and bored and wants a little adventure in his life, a little romance. When a childhood friend of his sister's shows up outside his building one night, very rich and extremely pregnant, and asks for help, Harry's wish begins to come true in spades. Before he knows it, Harry is tangled up in a tussle over the will of a man who is not yet dead, gets involved with a society blonde with a secret past (and a husband), acts as unwilling host to two dramatic but mysteriously inefficient murders, fights for his own life, and falls in love. Pressed by an unorthodox police lieutenant, dogged by a ruthless killer, hiding things from the newspaper that employs him, and nagged by his mother, Harry sets a trap designed to learn who is -- and who is not -- doing what to whom, and why." Philip Degrave is one of the cutest pseudonyms since "Sue Demin," and DeAndrea was one heck of a novelist taken much too soon.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
THE INSIDE STORY ON "I, LIBERTINE"
This is the story of a book that didn't exist, then it did.
Long John Nebel was the host of a popular radio talk show host from the mid-1950s until his death in 1978. The all-night show included as many "way out" topics that could fit into the time space (ufos, witchcraft, conspiracy theories, mind control, voodoo, Fortean phenomena, and so on), as well as interviews with a wide selection of guests, including comedian and flying saucer skeptic Jackie Gleason, SF writers Lester del Rey and Frederik Pohl, and magician James Randi.
Jean Shepherd was a radio and television personality and well-known writer, perhaps best known for the perennial television favorite A Christmas Story.
Ian Ballantine was an influential paperback publisher. In 1939, he began the distribution of Penguin Books in American. In 1945, he one of those who began Bantam Books and served as its first president from 1945 to 1952. He and his wife started Ballantine Books, which became one of the earliest major publishers of original science fiction books.
Theodore Sturgeon was...well, Theodore Sturgeon. A damned fine writer.
And this is the story of how I, Libertine came to be.
From 1968:
https://archive.org/details/JEANSHEPHERDTHESTORYOFILIBERTINELONGJOHNNEBEL
Long John Nebel was the host of a popular radio talk show host from the mid-1950s until his death in 1978. The all-night show included as many "way out" topics that could fit into the time space (ufos, witchcraft, conspiracy theories, mind control, voodoo, Fortean phenomena, and so on), as well as interviews with a wide selection of guests, including comedian and flying saucer skeptic Jackie Gleason, SF writers Lester del Rey and Frederik Pohl, and magician James Randi.
Jean Shepherd was a radio and television personality and well-known writer, perhaps best known for the perennial television favorite A Christmas Story.
Ian Ballantine was an influential paperback publisher. In 1939, he began the distribution of Penguin Books in American. In 1945, he one of those who began Bantam Books and served as its first president from 1945 to 1952. He and his wife started Ballantine Books, which became one of the earliest major publishers of original science fiction books.
Theodore Sturgeon was...well, Theodore Sturgeon. A damned fine writer.
And this is the story of how I, Libertine came to be.
From 1968:
https://archive.org/details/JEANSHEPHERDTHESTORYOFILIBERTINELONGJOHNNEBEL
HYMN TIME
The Boston Children's Choir and The Chicago Children's Choir. Just lovely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyyZg6BAnaA&index=10&list=PLJ3X0XM_SmvPutsT59kVxNHE1Y9B8kcR-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyyZg6BAnaA&index=10&list=PLJ3X0XM_SmvPutsT59kVxNHE1Y9B8kcR-
Saturday, August 5, 2017
CAT-MAN COMICS #14 (OCTOBER 1942)
The original Cat-Man (as opposed to the Johnny-come-lately DC character) was David Merryweather, an orphan raised by a she-tiger in Burma. As an adult, he returned to America, donned a costume, became Cat-Man, and enlisted in the army. The extremely agile Merryweather is disgustingly rich, an expert in unarmed combat, and has super hearing, super sight, super smell, and super healing; he's also a pretty nifty escape artist. His first two outings (in the last two issues of Crash Comics in 1940) were successful enough to earn him his own comic book, Cat-Man Comics, in 1941. There, he was joined by his orphaned niece, 11-year-old Katie Conn, who becomes his sidekick Kitten. Kitten matured rapidly to fill out her costume.
Cat-Man Comics lasted for 32 issues. Cat-Man and Kitten languished in comic book limbo for years until they were revived by AC Comics, first, and Dynamite Comics, second.
In issue #14, Cat-Man and a (still pre-pubescent) Kitten are on a passenger plane that is hijacked by Nazis. Big mistake.
Filling out the issue are:
Cat-Man Comics lasted for 32 issues. Cat-Man and Kitten languished in comic book limbo for years until they were revived by AC Comics, first, and Dynamite Comics, second.
In issue #14, Cat-Man and a (still pre-pubescent) Kitten are on a passenger plane that is hijacked by Nazis. Big mistake.
Filling out the issue are:
- an adventure with the Deacon (a two-fisted, collar-wearing, mighty champion of democracy) and his young sidekick Mickey
- an adventure of Rag-Man (who wears a suit of rags made from the clothes of evil-doers) and his dialect-talking black assistant Tiny
- a tale of the Little Leaders (Kitten and Mickey from the above crime-fighting teams) as they battle -- you guessed it! -- Nazis
- and speaking of Nazis, Blackout (the head of a secret underground society in Naziland), Takes the battle to the Nazis home turf
- air ace the Phantom Falcon battles Nazis in the skies over war-torn France
- air aces also come from the enemy side and Baron von Tug vows revenge after he is defeated and his hand crushed in battle ( it's amputated and replaced with a vulture's claw "with talons like steel"); the newly-christened Vulture's Claw sneaks into America to wreak havoc but doesn't count on FBI agent Craig Williams, a.k.a. The Hood
- and two "true personal adventures" -- "Rip van Winkle Tried to Kill me!" and "Wolves Nearly Got Me!"
Please note that, despite the cover illustration, Cat-Man, Kitten, and all the various heroes and super-heroes in this issue are fighting Nazis, not the Japanese. At least in this issue.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=69381
Friday, August 4, 2017
FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE PLANT
The Plant, Book One: Zenith Rising by Stephen King (2000)
The time is 1981. Zenith is a small, struggling paperback publishing house that publishes books of questionable merit, none of which would ever make it to a bestseller list. Zenith is about as low as you can go in the publishing field without hitting the purely pornographic, Nazi apologist, or terrorist instruction manual demographic. Its offices take up one quarter of the fifth floor of a run-down building. The only employees are the managing editor, four editors (three male and one female) who serve mainly as slush-pile readers, a Stepin Fetchit-talking janitor who also runs the male room, and a part-time receptionist. Zenith stays barely afloat with a blood and guts action series, a poorly written line of bodice-busters, and a series about various insects feasting on humanity.
Even an organization as low as Zenith is, would-be writers -- almost all of questionable merit -- send in their manuscripts with the naive assurance that their works are truly special and important. Some of these wanna-bes are certifiable.
One such writer is Carlos Detweiller, who has submitted a screed titled True Tales of Demon Infestations, a "scary and all true" manuscript which includes recipes for potions (which can be edited out if Zenith feels they are too dangerous). Detweiller is willing to sell rights except movie rights, which he will write himself. Editor John Kenyon makes the mistake of considering the manuscript which turns out to have some very authentic photographs of a human sacrifice. Zenith informs the authorities who, upon investigating, see the so-called victim appearing to be very alive (he isn't) and moving about. Detweiller is incensed and begins to send Kenyon illiterate, rambling threatening letters.
Another editor, Bill Gelb, found himself the target of another would-be writer, Major General Anthony R. Hecksler (ret.), who did not take kindly to having his book Twenty Psychic Garden Flowers rejected by a man he described as the "designated Jew." Hecksler's campaign of threats against Gelb and Zenith eventually got him locked up in an insane asylum.
What with psychotic authors and marginal profits, Zenith also finds itself under the gun from their corporate owners, who are threatening to close the publishing house if it does not soon release a best-seller.
The Kenyon gets a letter and a small gift from a supposed admiring reader. The gift is a small plant. The sender's last name on the letter is Solrac -- Carlos spelled backwards. Kenyon thros the plant into his waste basket, where it is later retrieved by the janitor, who places it in his office. And we're off and running.
The plant starts growing. Its true growth can be seen only by a few people and is invisible to any one else. Each person going near the plant smells something different, something pleasant and meaningful to that person alone, a scent from their childhood, for example. The plant is also psychic and telepathic -- the staff at Zenith soon become a gestalt, a linked family. They begin to perform better at their jobs. They are brimming with positive ideas. The plant appears to be a godsent rather than a Detweiller-send.
Zenith's two wackiest rejected authors begin plotting to kill their hated editors. Each is plotting on his own but have a vague telepathic understanding that the other is out there, somewhere. General Hecksler has escaped from the asylum, murdering several orderlies while doing so. Detweiller has been psychically causing fatal accidents for those who have slighted him. The General breaks into a crematorium, kills two workers, and then supposedly immolates himself in the crematoriums oven, allowing him to stalk the Zenith offices without suspicion. Each acting on their own, Detweiller and the General break into the Zenith offices and hide, waiting for their victims to show up at work. In the meantime the plant is growing ever larger but has not yet tasted blood.
The history of this little-known book by Stephen King is worth mentioning. The Plant began as a series of chapbooks that King wrote and published through his own publishing house Philtrum Press and sent out as gifts to friends instead of Christmas cards in 1982, 1983, and 1983, after which the project was aborted. (King evidently saw The Little Shop of Horrors at that time and felt his serial novel might seem too derivative.) The booklets soon became collector's items, demanding high prices as more and more of his fans learned of them. In 2000, as an experiment in alternative publishing, King began releasing the story on-line, available to anyone and asking each reader to contribute a dollar per episode; if the response was below 75%, King would discontinue the project. (King had already had great success with his first e-Book, Riding the Bullet, and would soon try releasing original stories in audio format.) After six episodes, reader participation fell and King closed the project. Those six episodes, 270 pages, formed this book, which remains available online in a pdf. King may or may not eventually get back to the story.
Because The Plant began as a small, non-commercial project for King, he had a lot of fun with it, planting Easter eggs, Tuckerisms, and inside jokes. The janitor, for example, is named Riddley Walker, the title of a well-known book by Russell Hoban which won the John W. Cambell award in 1980. Not content with that, the full name is Riddley Pearson Walker, a slight misspelling of suspense writer Ridley Pearson. The character comes from the southern town of Blackwater; Blackwater is the name of a series of six books by the late horror writer Michael McDowell, whom King once described as "the finest writer of paperback originals in America today." (Interestingly, King's wife Tabitha would later complete an unfinished novel by McDowell.) A list of plane crash victims (the plane was brought down through Detweiller's black arts) included someone named Dallas Mayr; Mayr is a WHA Grand Master and the author of numerous suspense/horror thrillers under the name "Jack Ketchum." These little sly nods are scattered throughout the book and there are probably many that I missed.
While The Plant may be Stephen King at his most playful, it still has all the ingredients that make King so readable: a disparate set of characters finely honed, a sense of otherness that slowly displaces reality, an urgency that grows unrelentingly, a strong sense of time and place, the mix of humor and honesty, and a narrative that hooks you and doesn't let go.
Some day.perhaps, King will get back to this story so we can learn the final fate of Zenith Publishing and its employees. Until then, this book remains a solid, interesting read.
Check it out.
http://club-stephenking.fr/file/the-plant/ThePlant_volume1_%20-_Zenith_%20Rising__1-6.pdf
The time is 1981. Zenith is a small, struggling paperback publishing house that publishes books of questionable merit, none of which would ever make it to a bestseller list. Zenith is about as low as you can go in the publishing field without hitting the purely pornographic, Nazi apologist, or terrorist instruction manual demographic. Its offices take up one quarter of the fifth floor of a run-down building. The only employees are the managing editor, four editors (three male and one female) who serve mainly as slush-pile readers, a Stepin Fetchit-talking janitor who also runs the male room, and a part-time receptionist. Zenith stays barely afloat with a blood and guts action series, a poorly written line of bodice-busters, and a series about various insects feasting on humanity.
Even an organization as low as Zenith is, would-be writers -- almost all of questionable merit -- send in their manuscripts with the naive assurance that their works are truly special and important. Some of these wanna-bes are certifiable.
One such writer is Carlos Detweiller, who has submitted a screed titled True Tales of Demon Infestations, a "scary and all true" manuscript which includes recipes for potions (which can be edited out if Zenith feels they are too dangerous). Detweiller is willing to sell rights except movie rights, which he will write himself. Editor John Kenyon makes the mistake of considering the manuscript which turns out to have some very authentic photographs of a human sacrifice. Zenith informs the authorities who, upon investigating, see the so-called victim appearing to be very alive (he isn't) and moving about. Detweiller is incensed and begins to send Kenyon illiterate, rambling threatening letters.
Another editor, Bill Gelb, found himself the target of another would-be writer, Major General Anthony R. Hecksler (ret.), who did not take kindly to having his book Twenty Psychic Garden Flowers rejected by a man he described as the "designated Jew." Hecksler's campaign of threats against Gelb and Zenith eventually got him locked up in an insane asylum.
What with psychotic authors and marginal profits, Zenith also finds itself under the gun from their corporate owners, who are threatening to close the publishing house if it does not soon release a best-seller.
The Kenyon gets a letter and a small gift from a supposed admiring reader. The gift is a small plant. The sender's last name on the letter is Solrac -- Carlos spelled backwards. Kenyon thros the plant into his waste basket, where it is later retrieved by the janitor, who places it in his office. And we're off and running.
The plant starts growing. Its true growth can be seen only by a few people and is invisible to any one else. Each person going near the plant smells something different, something pleasant and meaningful to that person alone, a scent from their childhood, for example. The plant is also psychic and telepathic -- the staff at Zenith soon become a gestalt, a linked family. They begin to perform better at their jobs. They are brimming with positive ideas. The plant appears to be a godsent rather than a Detweiller-send.
Zenith's two wackiest rejected authors begin plotting to kill their hated editors. Each is plotting on his own but have a vague telepathic understanding that the other is out there, somewhere. General Hecksler has escaped from the asylum, murdering several orderlies while doing so. Detweiller has been psychically causing fatal accidents for those who have slighted him. The General breaks into a crematorium, kills two workers, and then supposedly immolates himself in the crematoriums oven, allowing him to stalk the Zenith offices without suspicion. Each acting on their own, Detweiller and the General break into the Zenith offices and hide, waiting for their victims to show up at work. In the meantime the plant is growing ever larger but has not yet tasted blood.
The history of this little-known book by Stephen King is worth mentioning. The Plant began as a series of chapbooks that King wrote and published through his own publishing house Philtrum Press and sent out as gifts to friends instead of Christmas cards in 1982, 1983, and 1983, after which the project was aborted. (King evidently saw The Little Shop of Horrors at that time and felt his serial novel might seem too derivative.) The booklets soon became collector's items, demanding high prices as more and more of his fans learned of them. In 2000, as an experiment in alternative publishing, King began releasing the story on-line, available to anyone and asking each reader to contribute a dollar per episode; if the response was below 75%, King would discontinue the project. (King had already had great success with his first e-Book, Riding the Bullet, and would soon try releasing original stories in audio format.) After six episodes, reader participation fell and King closed the project. Those six episodes, 270 pages, formed this book, which remains available online in a pdf. King may or may not eventually get back to the story.
Because The Plant began as a small, non-commercial project for King, he had a lot of fun with it, planting Easter eggs, Tuckerisms, and inside jokes. The janitor, for example, is named Riddley Walker, the title of a well-known book by Russell Hoban which won the John W. Cambell award in 1980. Not content with that, the full name is Riddley Pearson Walker, a slight misspelling of suspense writer Ridley Pearson. The character comes from the southern town of Blackwater; Blackwater is the name of a series of six books by the late horror writer Michael McDowell, whom King once described as "the finest writer of paperback originals in America today." (Interestingly, King's wife Tabitha would later complete an unfinished novel by McDowell.) A list of plane crash victims (the plane was brought down through Detweiller's black arts) included someone named Dallas Mayr; Mayr is a WHA Grand Master and the author of numerous suspense/horror thrillers under the name "Jack Ketchum." These little sly nods are scattered throughout the book and there are probably many that I missed.
While The Plant may be Stephen King at his most playful, it still has all the ingredients that make King so readable: a disparate set of characters finely honed, a sense of otherness that slowly displaces reality, an urgency that grows unrelentingly, a strong sense of time and place, the mix of humor and honesty, and a narrative that hooks you and doesn't let go.
Some day.perhaps, King will get back to this story so we can learn the final fate of Zenith Publishing and its employees. Until then, this book remains a solid, interesting read.
Check it out.
http://club-stephenking.fr/file/the-plant/ThePlant_volume1_%20-_Zenith_%20Rising__1-6.pdf
Thursday, August 3, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: MUSKRAT RAMBLE
From 1926, Edward "Kid" Ory, the influential New Orleans jazz trombonist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLaFT7GB34s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLaFT7GB34s
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF MICHAEL SHAYNE: THE CASE OF THE BAYOU MONSTER
"...a face that was almost human. It was covered in hair and there were two great claws with blood on them..."
It looks like everybody's favorite redhead private eye may have bit off more than he could chew when he is hired by an imperious woman in a case that involves half a million bucks and a deadly werewolf. If Shayne isn't spooked by that, he should be.
From November 6, 1948, an episode directed by Bill Russo, written by Bob Wright, and starring Jeff Chandler as...
MICHAEL SHAYNE!
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iANIvHvC554
It looks like everybody's favorite redhead private eye may have bit off more than he could chew when he is hired by an imperious woman in a case that involves half a million bucks and a deadly werewolf. If Shayne isn't spooked by that, he should be.
From November 6, 1948, an episode directed by Bill Russo, written by Bob Wright, and starring Jeff Chandler as...
MICHAEL SHAYNE!
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iANIvHvC554
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE
Meatloaf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR9j36UMVu4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR9j36UMVu4
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY
Kim Jong Un has decreed that North Korea will now have a new system of measurement. The litre is now called the dear litre.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: TO THE AISLE
A classic from The Five Satins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHkrOJyvio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHkrOJyvio
FORGOTTEN FILM: RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (1925)
Silent movie mega-star Tom Mix stars in this adaptation of Zane Grey's novel as Texas Ranger Jim Carson. Warner Oland, a future Charlie Chan, plays the evil lawyer Lew Walters. Carson's sister Milly (Beatrice Burnham) and her husband Frank Erne (Arthur Morrison) are living a hard scrabble life after their move out west with their young daughter Bess. Walters and his henchmen are about to be kicked out of town and, since Walters is obsessed with Milly, he kidnaps her and Bess, wounding Frank in the process. Before Frank dies, he tells Jim Carson what has happened. Jim dedicates his life to finding his sister and niece. Walters, learning of Frank's death, forces Milly to marry him and hires the head of an outlaw gang to take young Bess away. Milly searches through the wilderness for her daughter and dies without finding her.
After years of searching, Jim Carson -- now known as Jim Lassiter -- learns of Milly's death. Walters has also changed his name -- he is now known as Judge Dyer (but is still as crooked). Carson/Lassiter joins up with rancher Jane Witherstein (Mabel Ballin) in her struggle against a band of rustlers known as the Riders of the Purple Sage.
Will Tom Mix find his niece? Will he and Jane be able to rid the country of the feared Riders of the Purple Sage? Will Lew Walters/Judge dyer finally get his comeuppance? You'll just have to watch this to find out. Or, you can probably guess the answers to those questions.
Riders of the Purple Sage was directed by Lynn Reynolds, who directed 81 films -- mostly westerns -- before shooting himself at age 35 after an argument with his wife. Edfrid Bingham, who adapted Grey's novel for this film, appears to have had a less tragic life (little is known about him), having written 37 scenarios from 1916 through 1927; he died in 1930 at age 59.
A good story, decent acting, great scenery, and plenty of action...Saddle up, partners, and enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aogO0I8zvvU
After years of searching, Jim Carson -- now known as Jim Lassiter -- learns of Milly's death. Walters has also changed his name -- he is now known as Judge Dyer (but is still as crooked). Carson/Lassiter joins up with rancher Jane Witherstein (Mabel Ballin) in her struggle against a band of rustlers known as the Riders of the Purple Sage.
Will Tom Mix find his niece? Will he and Jane be able to rid the country of the feared Riders of the Purple Sage? Will Lew Walters/Judge dyer finally get his comeuppance? You'll just have to watch this to find out. Or, you can probably guess the answers to those questions.
Riders of the Purple Sage was directed by Lynn Reynolds, who directed 81 films -- mostly westerns -- before shooting himself at age 35 after an argument with his wife. Edfrid Bingham, who adapted Grey's novel for this film, appears to have had a less tragic life (little is known about him), having written 37 scenarios from 1916 through 1927; he died in 1930 at age 59.
A good story, decent acting, great scenery, and plenty of action...Saddle up, partners, and enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aogO0I8zvvU