Thursday, March 26, 2009

Son of the Invisible Man

I never saw the spoof movie Amazon Women of the Moon, but this 3 minute clip, of the Invisible Man, is rather amusing.



I don't want to give it away...

Stars Ed Begley, Jr. as Griffin. All of Griffin....

The Annotated Atlas Shrugged

I've started a new blog, in which I'll be sharing the symbolism of Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged.

Written in 1957, it is rather prophetic today. The only problem is the intellectuals (and the wealthy) are being forced out of today's world, and there's nowhere for them to go... as the blight is world-wide... something that Ayn Rand didn't foresee. (I'm sure she never dreamed that the American government, and American big business, would ever sell our patrimony out from under us to other countries - from road upkeep to the very ports where we receive shipments of food, et al.)

Anyway, for those who want to know, Who Is John Galt?

http://johngaltandthefountainhead.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Because you can never have too many websites...

Many years ago I saw an episode of Roger Moore's The Saint entitled "The Fiction Makers", and it's been in the back of my mind to write a novel featuring the titles that were used in that episode, in particular "Volcano Seven." I love the sound of that.

Well, I've had the domain name Volcano Seven for a long time, but haven't properly advertised it yet. So, on the front page of that site, are links to all my other sites!

To follow the links below, go to this page first: VolcanoSeven.com


Volcano Seven - a tribute to The Fiction Makers episode
Kindle Kindlings - reviews of Kindle boooks
Who is John Galt? - do we need a John Galt and Atlas Shrugged today?

The Thunder Child - my sf webzine
Two Such People - my Avengers fan fiction
Sand Rock Sentinel - 1950s SF movie fiction and real news, combined!

Ghost Guns Virginia - travel in Virginia
Have Laptop, Will Travel - travel around the USA. A trip I hope to take beginning in March.
The Fountainhead Blog - a blog to drive people to my Who Is John Galt? site

Winged Victory - women in aviation
Plane Language - aviation vocabulary, history, etc.
You Fly Girl Blog - aviation webzine blog
Freedom Seat Reviews - Exclusive for hte Kindle. Books and articles on aviation

Michael Goorjian - actor fan site
Hellfire Hall - actor fan site, for Peter Wyngarde
Conrad Veidt - actor fan site
The Clive Francis Files - actor fan site

Who Is John Galt? bumper stickers


I have two "Who is John Galt?" bumper stickers for sale.

$3.99 each, via paypal. Send $3.99 to Barbara@thethunderchild.com, and your bumper sticker will be heading its way to you within three days. (Your address is sent to me via Paypal).

Who is John Galt?

He is the mysterious character in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, in which "the people of the mind" go on strike.

Who are the people of the mind? People -- black, white, red, brown -- who value education and knowledge and go out and produce.... rather than people - of all races, creeds and colors - who'd rather sit on their behinds and let the "government" take care of them.



Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Ultimate Guide to James Bond Unused Movie Music

Matt Monroe sings From Russia With Love



Anthony Newley co-wrote the theme music for Goldfinger. Here he is singing it. It's a much more low-key effort than Shirley Basseys, and doesn't have the three note horns at the beginning, but I actually quite like it.




Johnny Cash submitted a song to the producers of Thunderball, but they elected not to use it.




Blondie submitted For Your Eyes Only, but eventually SHeena Eeston sang a different theme song.



The Living Daylights, by a-ha

The same music as the movie, but with a different mix. John Barry and a-ha "did not collaborate well." Barry's mix was used in the movie.



Ace of Base demo for Goldeneye



A Pleasant Drive in St. Petersburg, from Goldeneye. The tank chase, replaced in the film, but available on the soundtrack.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Thinking of taking fish oil capsules as a supplement?

In a health related post, I share with you an email my sister sent:

I have been feeling ill all week due to an overdose of fish oil.

To make a long story short, I read a book called "A Magnificent Mind at Any Age". It is very interesting and the doctor recommends taking a fish oil supplement to maintain a healthy mind. Fish oil is supposed to be good for you because it contains Omega three fatty acids.

Well I went to GNC and talked to the clerk about fish oil capsules. They recommend you take a 300 milligram fish oil supplement three times a day or one 900 milligram fish oil supplement once a day. I bought the 900 milligram capsules. I took one capsule Tuesday morning and almost immediately became queasy and felt queasy on and off all week until yesterday. So queasy (on the verge of throwing up) that all I wanted to do was lay on the couch for long stretches at a time and not move.

Using online research I found out there are side affects to the supplements - fish breath, queasiness and diaria being just a few, and that it takes time for your body to get used to taking fish oil supplements and you should start out with a low dose. The clerk didn't mention any of this when I bought the stuff.

Also I learned that you can get Omega three fatty acids from eating walnuts, pecans and kiwifruit , as well as Salmon and Albacore tuna. Husband and I already eat Salmon occasionally, and Son likes tuna fish sandwiches and tuna casserole. - so I have decided forget about the fish oil supplements but to just eat more salmon, tuna, kiwi and pecans.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Undersea Science Fiction Books

In compiling my catalog of SF works offered for sale on Kindle, which you can find here (thethunderchild.com/KindleKindlings.html">) I'm coming across some that take place under the oceans, featuring merpeople, or aliens who prefer an aquatic environment, etc. Since there are so few of these books, I'm going to share them here.



Seabird

Thursday, March 05, 2009

The Lonely God: fantasy stories of Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is known for her detective stories - for Hercule Poirot and Miss Marpe and the longest running play of all time, The Mousetrap (which I personally have seen over a dozen times, in the West End, as well as in amateur productions here in the States).

However she also wrote horror and fantasy short stories.

I came across an intersting one called The Lonely God, in The Harlequin Tea Set collection, which I think inspired at least a bit of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods, but I'll get to that last of all.

First I'll set the scene:

I've never cared for horror stories of any kind, so I haven't read any of her short stories..at least, I stopped as soon as I figured out they were horror. We're not talking blood, guts and gore horror, more like psychological horror. But I just don't like 'em.

I like her fantasy stories somewhat better, in particular the Harley Quin stories. Harley Quin is a visitor from "beyond the grave" who shows up when people need life-and-death help. Somewhat nebbishy Mr. Satterwaite, travelling around England for whatever reason, usually meets Quin, who drops a hint or suggest this or that...and Satterwaite ends up either saving someone's life, or, one one occasion, just failing to do so.

I've read every Agatha Christie novel - for many years I owned them all before it was necessary to pare back my library - but although I thought I'd read all her anthologies as well, turns out I'd never read The Harlequin Tea Set until today.

Of the 9 stories included, only one, The Spanish Chest, is a Poirot story - the rest are mysteries or suspense stories. (And of course The Harlequin Tea Set, a Harley Quin story, not one of the better ones in the series, in my opinion.)

Anyway, so I'm reading The Lonely God:

He stood on a shelf in the British Museum, alone and forlorn amongst a company of obviously more important deities. Ranged round the four walls, these greater personages all seemed to display an overwhelming sense of their own superiority. The pedestal of eaach was duly inscribed with the land and race that had been proud to possess him. There was no doubt of their position; they were divinities of importance and recognized as such.

Only the little god in the corner was aloof and remote from their company. Roughly hewn out of grey stone, his features almost totally obliterated by time and exposure, he sat there in isolation, his elbows on his knees, and his head buried in his hands, a lonely little god in a strange country.


One man who visits the British museum becomes fascinated by this little god, and soon a lonely woman comes in...the god arranges it so they both fall in love, but of course, once they have love they have no need of him anymore, so they never return to the museum and he's all alone again...

This is part (a very small part, be advised) of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods. In his novel, Pratchett points out that a god remains a god ony when he has worshippers. Should he be forgotten, he fades away, until he's no more than a voice on the wind...

So, tbe story resonated with me, and I wonder if Pratchett, whose English after all, had read that Chrisite story and it had set him one of the many threads with which he weaved my favorite Pratchett novel. (I love Small Gods.)

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Kindle Kindlings

I've started doing a bit of work with Kindle... I've got a page for science fiction books on Kindle, and I've started a website for Kindle reviews.

KindleKindlins.com: Review Site

http://thethunderchild.com/KindleKindlings.html: Commercial site, for Kindle science fiction books