Thunderbirds Are Go!

A new feature - I'll be reviewing an episode of a Gerry and Sylvia Anderson TV series a day, starting with Thunderbirds are Go.

Anderson had some real bizarre shows, for example Secret Service and Joe 90 that are kind of hard to watch, but Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet... not to mention Stingray! Good stuff!

OT: McGee's Musings, New NCIS Fan fiction

http://thepeopleoutthere.blogspot.com/2009/02/mcgees-musings-month-in-life-of-thom-e.html

is the link to my NCIS fan fiction blog. My first story there was called The People Out There, and was science fiction in nature, as aliens transpose the bodies of Mark Harmon with Agent Gibbs. This new story, Blue Water, White Death, will also turn out to be science fiction, eventually.

Other than that, what's going on with me today? Not much. I did some freelance writing for a company "off elance", and looks like they're not going to pay me, and that's got me rather upset. If I don't get paid by the end of tonight, I know I've been gypped, and I can deal with that. But until it happens, I'm just not in the mood to do anything except watch TV and eat chocolate...

The Illustrated Bradbury

Those of you who live in California are fortunate enough to go see a one-man show called The Illustrated Bradbury, if you so wish. It opened last night (Feb 21) and will run until March 8, 2009.

Ray Bradbury himself was there the opening night, introducing the show and signing his books afterwards.

(I'm in Virginia and so did not and cannot see it, but I've read a review of it. This person thought the first act dragged but that the second act absolutely made up for it, with a long monologue by the Fire Captain in Farhenheit 451 which is "as potent and relevant today ad when he wrote it in 1953".)

http://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles/shows/the-illustrated-bradbury_150452/


http://www.fremontcentretheatre.com/


Synopsis from website:
Back in 1951, Ray Bradbury wrote a book called The Illustrated Man, in which the titular character possessed tattoos which came to animated life and depicted stories of the past and future. Actor Tobias Andersen uses the character as an inspiration for his non-tattooed solo performance piece The Illustrated Bradbury in which he depicts nine tales derived from different volumes by the fantasy master and Pulitzer Prize honoree Bradbury.

The storylines unfolded include ones about: a man who seeks to destroy every machine that intrudes upon his life; men of the present day encountering a prehistoric monster from the ocean depths; a woman who stubbornly faces down Death himself; a chicken with a remarkable gift foretelling the future; and much more.

Time to think about an Electric Bike

Electric bikes have come a long way. It used to be that everyone knew you were riding one - there'd be this clunky thing attached to the frame (the motor).

http://www.electricbikee.com/

However, these days, the most sophisticated bikes look just like.. bikes. The motor - or the powerplant, anyway! is concealed within the frame of the bike, and the batteries that power it are tastefully hidden in an over the wheel pannier, for example.

An electric bike is not just for "lazy" bikers. You still have to pedal! It's when you come to some daunting hill, you need fear it no more. Start pedaling, and the motor will help you out.

And should the battery die on you (as current batteries do at about the 70 mile mark) you can still pedal yourself home.

There's a website that discusses all the new electric bikes, scooters and (soon to come) motorcycles on the market. Whatever you think about the green movement, electric bikes make a lot of sense.

Read up on 'em.

http://www.electricbikee.com/

Conjure Wife

Wow, I haven't posted here in a long time... had no idea I'd been so dilatory.

Well, I've had a lot of projects on the burner.

http://conjurewife.blogspot.com/

I've started a blog on magic called Conjure Wife. I like that title, for all that it's the title of a Fritz Leiber novelette about a man who discovers he's married to a real live witch. It's been made into a movie a couple of times - including one starring one of my favorite actors, Peter Wyngarde, called Night of the Eagle/Burn Witch Burn. (Had they just called it Conjure Wife, it might actually have drawn an audience!)

Also, they're remaking the film for a 2010 debut...I don't hold out much hope that it will be any good... I really really dislike modern films with their insistence on blood, guts and gore...and the fact that many people actually rate their approval of such films by how much gore it actually has, is very frightening.

Anyway, the blog will deal with a history of magic, and magicians, with an emphasis on female magicians, and also with any other esoterica, for example magicians on stamps, magicians on TV, and so on.

So please check it out.