I fell for the oldest trick in the flamers' handbook!

Yesterday I'd been all upset and bewildered because a victim of the loss mit company I used to work for had said stupid things about one of my posts (after having praised a similar post of mine just the day before.)

So I got a private email from that person today, pointing out what I should have realized if I'd looked properly. *Her* id had one "n" in her name, a doppelganger posing as her had two "n"s.

So that makes more sense than that this womoan should suddenly turn on me.

Meantime, the two ex-employes of A2S are still on my case. Although one hopes they'll stop now as they've been exposed as liars. I had posted yesterday that one of them had been sending me profanity-laced private emails. Today she denied it. So of course I did a screencapture of my inbox, which shows her name on the messages (with their profanity-laced titles) and posted it, which proves she's a liar.

So what next, I wonder. Will this loon have the grace to go away? Probably not.

More Thoughts on the.... Unbright....

I've been giving more thought to the loons at this scam website.... four of 'em are busting my chops and no one defends me... can I possibly be in the wrong and they be in the right?

And I just don't see it.

First...no defenders. Well, that's not surprising. Only 1 out of 100 visitors to a web forum actually posts there. There can be thousands of people thinking I make a lot of sense who just don't bother to post. So that doesn't concern me.

So...the four people busting my chops. What are they busting my chops *for*? For "telling them what to do." Which is not the case at all! The first time it happened, a few months ago, somebody posted the boss's home address and I just said, "Hey, that's a bad idea. You could get sued." Now,sure, I didn't provide links to the proof that it was true, and the bright bulb in question came back and said "It's a matter of public record, I found it on the web."

Doesn't matter, IMHO. By making it available on this scam website, *that* was invasion of privacy.

It was perfectly obvious to me...but then, I read "News of the Weird" and newspapers in general, and know that lawyers will sue anyone for anything, and make gazillions of dollars doing it. And apparenlty these bright bulbs at this scam site don't know that.

Anyway, I stopped posting, as the loons stopped posting addresses.

Then,three days ago, the company is shut down...leaving a lot of employees without paychecks...and apparently these dim bulbs had been working without paychecks for 2 months!

So, all I do is say something innocuous, and "I hope this guy goes to jail." Which indeed is what I hope. And that's it.

And then, the guy who had posted the address before, whom I'd advised not to do it because he could get sued, says, "Why are you even posting here. Go away."

Now, this doesn't bother me too much. I say, "Sure, my work here is done with this company closing its doors." Then I notice I have a private PM from another ex-employee, ordering me to stop posting and swearing at me.

So, of course, I don't appreciate this and of course I have to post something.

As luck would have it, within a few minutes of this, I see a link to a report at the Wallstreet Journal about bloggers and forum posters being sued, successfully, even though what they've said about people or companies is perfectly true! But because the company doing the suing has big pockets, and the schmuck doing the posting has little pockets, the big company always wins.

So I very respectfully say, "I had posted advice earlier about people not posting people's addresses here, and the OP got angry with me. Well, here's proof about what I say, so it's just friendy advice to tone down the rhetoric."

And then of course the two ex-employees - who had first come to this scam site to post *good things* about the company because they'd been "made to do so, and who are now threatening violence against the boss - are all over me for "telling them what to do."

So, that's fine. These two guys aren't too bright and I put them in their place with no problem.

Then two of the victms get on my case for "telling people what to do." And they demand to know why I even post there if I'm not a victim or an ex-worker of this company.

And I'm not going to reveal that I am an ex-worker at this company, because if the boss is reading that site, and decides to go after the loons posting threatening messages, I don't want him coming after me. Because from my reading I know that he may be guilty as sin, but some lawyer will take his case against that website for "causing him trouble."

So anyway, at this point I throw up my hands. I'm being excoriated because I'm "telling people what to do", saying I "don't like" what they're posting, and chastising people like they've never been chastised since hteir mom did it to them when they wer six years old.

And I'm looking at what they're saying and I'm just stunned.

I never once said, "Don't post this because I don't like it." All I've *ever* said is, "Look, just a friendly piece of advice. I've read where you can get sued saying stuff like this."

So, going over it again and again, I still have to come to the conlusion that I"ve done nothing wrong. I haven't "ordered" anyone to stop doing something, I've just pointed out the common sense consequences of their actions.

So, I've come to the conclusion that I am indeed without blame, and this handful of individuals on the scam site just aren't too bright.

And I can only reiterate my hope that the boss does decide to sue them for making terroristic threats and invasion of privacy.

However, I do admit I don't think that will happen.... he's in so much trouble right now that it isn't even funny....and I don't feel sorry for him at all...

Why do people resent getting advice?

That loss mitigation company I used to work for had a thread at one of those "acam watch" sites, and I would post there occasionally. I didn't "tell my story" - that I'd used to work for the company, knew it was a scam, and quit, I didn't think I'd need to.

So someone on this thread posts the home address of the boss. I respond by saying they shouldn't do that, they could get sued. (Because, you know, they could.)

But instead of saying "Thanks for the advice," it's "Who the hell are you to tell us what to do."

So a few days ago, the business closed its doors, and I dared to say, "I'm glad, I hope the guy goes to jail."

Then, I get a private email from an ex-employee of the company, who very rudely tells me to stop posting. Apparently still upset over that previous incident. Well, if someone orders me to do something in such a rude fashion, obviously I'm not going to do it.

But I've really got nothing to add to what I've already said in my "farewell post", so what can I say? Well, I see a Wall Street Journal article pointing out that bloggers, and forum posters are getting sued for "invasion of privacy" and "defamation of character," and someone had reposted my ex-bosses address just a few days ago (and also made terroristic threats against him) so I advise people to tone down the rhetoric, and I share the link to the article so they know I'm not being a busybody, I've got actual solid proof that people are being sued and *losing* for doing what they're doing!

And everyone just got so upset, accusing me of acting like a "mother" and "telling people what to do" and I just don't understand that reaction. I'm trying to save people from losing what little money they have left in a law suit, and I'm getting dumped on!

Apparently the anger is because I've never told them my connection to this company, and apparently if you've never been scammed by this company, you don't have the right to give some common sense advice.

And I'm like, gee.

These people remind me so much of my former boss. As I posted yesterday, I gave him some much needed advice that, had he heeded it, might have gone a little way towards preventing the debacle that his company became. And instead of considering it on its merits, he dismissed it. (As I know because that was the standard line he sent to *everyone* who complained and wanted their money back, and I was cc-ed on those emails!)

I just don't understand it. It's not like I plop myself down on a bench, overhear a conversation between two total strangers, butt in and start handing out advice. I can see anger ther, of course.

But on a message board, where I have posted nothing but sympathetic posts, to be reacted to with such fury over a post merely meant to prevent people from getting sued....

I have to admit it....human nature being what it is.... I now hope that my former boss *does* sue these people for posting his address online, *and* for making physical threats against him - for they have done so.

I'm not going to forward the URL to him - I used to have his email address but I think that's cancelled now along with his website...but I surely do hope he comes across it on his own. He must know about the thread - he'd sent a couple of "ringers" there to post praise for his company (and now these same ringers are whining because the company is through and they haven't been paid - and they're the ones attacking me, plus a victim of the company who also doesn't like the fact that I give advice....)

I just don't understand it.

Too bad I don't believe in God....otherwise I'd pray every night that they get their comeuppance.

As it is I must just vent my anger and bewilderment by posting here.

Egomaniacal people....

I read a blog...the name of which I will not divulge (since I'm going to be critical of it and the guy whom I'm referring to is so psycho he might sue me for character defamation if I mentioned his name!).

Anyway, the guy is a former actor who still lives in Hollywood, and is successful in a new career. Unlike probably everyone else on his street, he works at home.

So, today he blogs that construction people came in yesterday and demolished the house next to his. And now they're going to start constructing a new house on that lot.

And this guy is just soooooooo upset about this! How dare they demolish that house and cause his own house to shake so badly! And when they start building the new house there's going to be the noise of ....whatever construction noises this guy expects...and he's so angry at the inconsiderateness of the people having this done, and when they finally move into the house, he is going to go over and visit them and tell them how inconsiderate they were to have this new house built!

And I'm thinking to myself while I'm reading this... do you have any idea how childish and vindictive you sound? Do you realize that these construction people, not to mention the people having the house built, probably assume that all their neighbors work and so won't be in their houses to be "annoyed" by all the noise and vibration.

But he works at home, so it's annoying him, so they have no right to be doing it! And he seems to have every intention of calling up the construction people every day and whining about the noise, and when the new folks move in, he's going to apparently rip them a new one, because they're "rich, entitled snobs" who dared have a new house built!

There are more than a few people like this, unfortunately. And no matter how you try to make it clear to them that they're being childish, they just don't get it.

Several months ago I used to work for a new loss mitigation company, and I blogged about it occasionally, because the boss was such a jerk. Initially, we had got along well. He hired me as a copywriter, for $1,000 a month. And he put me on the mailing list for all the emails he sent. (I still don't know why he did it...but he did it.)

So, the company has started, and someone writes in complaining that they sent in all their paperwork and nothing happened, and they were going to sue,etc. And my boss sends them a very nasty letter, saying "Okay, we're terminating your contract, and we've got lawyers" and this and that.

And I, thinking we had this good rapport, emailed him and told him that that was a very bad tone to take with people. He was dealing with people under tremendous stress, and for them to receive a letter like the one he sent, couched in such vicious and contemptous phrases, might send someone off the deep end, and it's be him or his company that they'd come after.

Well, he didn't appreciate this advice. I guess he thought a $1,000 a month copywriter had no business telling a $100,000 a month CEO how to run his business. (Never mind the fact that in the past I'd been secretary to quite a few CEOs, and I knew professional behavior when I saw it, and when I didn't see it.)

After that he was barely civil to me, and eventually I quit. Before I did so, however, I could see that the business was riding for a fall, as I was cc-ed on all sorts of commicaes from people trying to find *other* people who'd worked on so-and-so's loan modification. (Indeed, I wonder if this idiot CEO had everyone in the whole company cc-ed on these emails that should have been private between individuals.) But if what I suspect is correct, everyone working there must have known since day one how incompetently it was run...yet they continued to work there.

Anyway, that loss mitigation company has been put out of business today, and is being sued by the state for failing to pay taxes on wages, etc. It had hundreds of complaints from clients who never got any service, and dozens of employees (who worked in the call center getting contracts from poor schmucks) are filing lawsuits because they hadn't been paid.

And I'm just laughing. Back when we'd been on good terms, the CEO had told me he was opening up his business in an effort to "cock a snook" at his former business partners who had eased him out of their partnership because they didn't think his business model was any good. And he was going to show them!

And, gee, that business model worked out pretty well, didn't it?

Meantime, hundreds of desperate people who thought this company was going to help them save their homes have lost the money they paid to this company in advance, and they've lost their homes, and for that, I hope this CEO goes to jail. At the very least, I hope he's held up to ridicule and never gets to run another business in his life. (Unfortunately, CEOs are like politicians. They run one business into the ground, and prove their incompetence, but there's always some friend to come along and say, sure, we'll give you this high paying position. See what you can do here.)

But frankly, I think this guy is criminally liable, or at the very least criminally negligent, and responsible for a lot of people lsoing their houses, and I hope he goes to jail!

War of the Worlds - reenacted by Bunnies

pretty funny

http://www.angryalien.com/1005/wowbuns.asp

Photo Essay: Flight 93 Memorial

I was driving toward Erie, PA on the turnpike a couple of days ago, and not being familiar with the roaf, didn't realize that it bypasses Pittsburgh all together. I thought it would be like MPLS, where you have to drive straight through the city to get to the other side. And I hadn't wanted to do that during 5 pm Friday night traffic, so I stopped off in a little town called Somerset, PA for the night.

While buying groceries for the night, a man in line told me I was very close - nine miles or so - to the Flight 93 memorial. I decided I'd better go see it.

http://volcanoseven.com/HaveLaptopWillTravel/Flight93/Flight93.html

Matt Jefferies: Star Trek Designer

(Limited Edition Enterprise, sculpted by Matt Jefferies. .)

[Click on the photos to see larger version]

Matt Jefferies (August 12, 1921 - July 21, 2003) is the designer of the most famous starship in the world, the USS Enterprise.

http://www.mattjefferies.com/

According to the Wikipedia:
Jefferies' father was chief engineer at a power plant in Virginia. He had a younger brother named John who worked with him as his chief draftsman. He served in Europe in World War II, and was part of the aircrew on B-17, B-24, B-25 bombers, and had four years as a flight test engineer.

He was a member of the Aviation Space Writers' Association and one of the original members of the American Aviation Historical Society. Jefferies restored and flew period airplanes as a hobby. He owned a Waco YOC aircraft and stored it at an airfield in California for many years. His Waco, NC17740, c/n 4279, built 1935, is now owned by the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society and is displayed at the Virginia Aviation Museum, Richmond, Virginia.

Jefferies' father was chief engineer at a power plant in Virginia. He had a younger brother named John who worked with him as his chief draftsman. He served in Europe in World War II, was inside of B-17, B-24, B-25 bombers and had four years as a flight test engineer. He was a member of the Aviation Space Writers' Association and one of the original members of the American Aviation Historical Society. Jefferies restored and flew period airplanes as a hobby. He owned a Waco YOC aircraft and stored it at an airfield in California for many years. His Waco, NC17740, c/n 4279, built 1935, is now owned by the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society and is displayed at the Virginia Aviation Museum, Richmond, Virginia.

The Waco

Jefferies's brother wrote a biography of him called Beyond the Clouds. Does not dwell a lot on his Star Trek work, however.


Jefferies Aviation Illustrators

The book is available from Amazon...

Young Star Trek

The first Star Trek TV series was of course constrained by the special effects capabilties of the 1960s.

Nevertheless, it really irritates the heck out of me to see Star Trek shows that are supposed to occur before the events in Star Trek, have better technology than Star Trek had. I'm not talking about the special effects, I'm talking about the actual technology used.

To that end, nothing in this first Star Trek movie (let alone in Enterprise) should look technologically more advanced than the first Star Trek!

I was really disappointed with Enterprise in that regard. Spock was the very first Vulcan on a starship, so where the heck did that female Vulcan come in? (And although I liked Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap, didn't care for him as Archer.)

How did the Federation actually come about - that's a movie I'd like to see. I mean, does it look like a space federation will ever come about, based on what's happening with our space program today? I don't think so - the only ones actually going to do anything in space are the Chinese!

The best laid plans of mice and men

I had intended to leave on my drive around America on May 1. But, someone whom I do freelance work for had said they were sending me a case (or at least a couple of bottles) of a drink called StarPower - all natural, made from Star Fruit. (Carambola). And I received an "official" communicae from the post office saying that it was going to arrive Monday. So, I decide to postpone my trip to Monday.

Mail comes - no StarPower.

So, heck with it, I'm a pepsi drinker anyway.

So I drove up to Richmond, and it was raining, but that's okay, as I've got books to read.

I check in to the Econolodge on the "hotel strip" beside the airport. Not sure if that was a mistake or not, as it seems to be inhabited by people who live here because they can't afford to rent apartments. Not that I care about that, much, I just want it to be quiet tonight when I'm trying to sleep. The door seems quite secure, so I'm not worried about intrusions. The safety of my car is another issue, but we're not in a residential area, and the people who live here (if that is indeed the case) will hardly ruin their "nest" by robbing someone's car.

But I went over to the Virginia Aviation Museum...and it now closed on Mondays. So that was annoying.

Too much rain to drive into Richmond and walk around some Civil War sites, so I"m staying at the motel, and will do some reading.

But it's annoying.

Robbie the Robot and Star Trek in commercials

1981 Charmin Commercial - Robbit



Star Trek - Beam me up, Scotty!

Jacoby Ellsbury biography on Kindle

Last night, Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury endeared himself to a whole nation of fans when he stole home off of Andy Pettite.

Jacoby first rose to national baseball prominence during the last month of the 2007 season, when he helped the Red Sox get to the World Series and win it. His 2008 season was also excellent, although he platooned with Coco Crisp for much of the year.

After a slow start, batting wise, to 2009, Jacoby has started to hit, and his steal of home - a straight steal, not a suicide squeeze, was his tenth of the year.

Say goodbye to Geocities...

I was with Geocities from the very beginning...back when, when you signed up you could choose your neighborhood, from Hollywood to Paris to New York City, etc., and then they were bought out by Yahoo, and now the free service is coming to an end.

I have a pay service there now, as well as 5 or 6 free sites. I confess I had stopped using my free sites a long time ago, as they put ads on them that were pretty obtrusive, but still, I'd better go in now and download all my data.

Meantime, they don't make it clear but it *seems* that the Yahoo Webhosting Services - the one you have to pay for - is going to remain, which is a good thing because I've got a lot of stuff there, too...

This comes on the heels of AOL, just a few months ago, discontinuing *their* service with no warning at all. Lots of people lost websites to that!

I guess the era of companies being able to make money on free website hosting is gone... I wonder if they're paving the way for taxation of websites?

Now this is my kind of woman

Bill Murray hit a golf shot which went very wide, and hit a woman on the temple. (She lives on the golf course.)

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-murraysteeshot&prov=ap&type=lgns

She was not badly hurt - she went to the doctor for stitches, that was it.

And all she asked Murray for was an autographed copy of Caddyshack.

Considering that in today's litigious society she could probably have sued Murray for being a lousy golfer, I was very impressed at her humble request.

You go, girl!

May issue of Freedom Seat Reviews

For those who have a Kindle, check out Freedom Seat Reviews.

http://volcanoseven.com/FreedomSeatReviews/


Book reviews and articles about women in aviation.

Three issues are now available, March, April and May. (Yes, even though May is 14 days away!)

Starlog Magazine rides off into the sunset...

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/04/starlog-magazin.html

I must say I didn't think this could happen. I would have thought Starlog was more popular now than ever!

But I guess print magazines are being driven out of business by the prevalence of Internet info....

TOo bad.

Kuan Yin... a kindly lady

This is a pretty spectacular video:




DANCE OF 1000 HANDS
There is an awesome dance, called the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, which is making the rounds across the net. Considering the tight coordination required,their accomplishment is nothing short of amazing, even if they were not all deaf. Yes, you read correctly. All 21 of the dancers are complete deaf-mutes. Relying only on signals from trainers at the four corners of the stage, these extraordinary dancers deliver a visual spectacle that is at once intricate and stirring.

Its first major international debut was in Athens at the closing ceremonies for the 2004 Paralympics. But it had long been in the repertoire of the Chinese Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe and had traveled to more than 40 countries.

It's lead dancer is 29 year old Tai Lihua, who has a BA from the Hubei Fine Arts Institute. The video was recorded in Beijing during the Spring Festival this year.

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/

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.

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.

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.

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

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.)

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

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.

Mary Poppins - 45th year anniversary

I'm quite fond of Mary Poppins, but not so fond that, if I'd purchased the 40th Anniversary edition 5 years ago, I'd now shell out a third as much money to get the 45th anniversary edition. (At least I don't have to buy the Gold Edition.)

However, since I don't have that 40th anniversary edition, I'm thinking I will get this one. It's a 2-disc set, with a ton of extras (but, of course, missing a couple of extras from the 40th edition):

Backstage Disney

* Disney on Broadway (All New to DVD)

- "Mary Poppins from Page to Stage": The story of Mary Poppins from book to Broadway as the creative team and cast prepare to take the long running show on tour. A very well-done documentary on the stage production of "Mary Poppins," detailing almost every aspect of the production that began in London. Especially interesting is how P.L. Travers did not want any "Americans" involved in the stage production, as she was truly not happy with what Disney did with her books. This feature takes you all over the globe: interviews with the 2 leads are held in NYC at Sardi's restaurant; an interview with one of the Sherman Brothers is filmed in Beverly Hills; interviews with the stage productions composers George Stiles & Anthony Drewe are held in England (they did a fantastic job of blending their compositions seamlessly with the Sherman Brothers' songs from the film). You'll also hear from Bob Crowley, the scenic and costume designer, detailing how he came up with the sets (inspired by the book's illustrations) and changes he made for the touring production.

- "Step in Time": The Broadway cast of Mary Poppins performs the number "Step in Time" from the show. This is a nice glimpse into the stage production. Although it doesn't quite have the pizzazz of the filmed number (what a tough act to follow), the choreography, sets, and costumes work together to create a fantastic production. Especially effective is the use of costumes and make-up to create the illusion of the chimney sweeps are in black and white, making Mary Poppins in her red dress stand out even more.

- Step in Time - Downloadable MP3 featuring the Broadway cast of Mary Poppins singing "Step in Time," featuring Ashley Brown as Mary Poppins and Gavin Lee as Bert.

- Video Intro By Scenic & Costume Designer, Bob Crowley

- Bob Crowley's Design Galleries: Concept art, costume designs, set designs and set models for the Broadway musical

* Audio Commentary: with stars Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Karen Dotrice and songwriter Richard Sherman. There are a few archival comments included from Walt Disney and others. Fantastic track that really adds to the enjoyment of the film. Especially interesting is the "Feed the Birds" number, where Sherman talks about Mary Poppins instilling social responsibility into the children by planting the idea of feeding the birds with tuppence, thus setting off the important string of events at the end of the film.

* Poppins Pop-Up Fun Facts: View fun-filled facts about the creation of the movie during viewing. Mirrors some of the information from the commentary track, but still enjoyable to learn some of the behind-the-scenes info as you are watching the movie.

* "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The Making of Mary Poppins": The definitive behind-the- scenes look at how this unique and beloved film came into being.

* Movie Magic: A look at the special effect techniques used to bring the magical world of Mary Poppins to life.

* The Gala World Premiere: Footage from the Red Carpet. What a feast this is; a few different rolls of film (mixing bw and color) have been edited together to recreate as much as possible of this magical evening. See Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Wynn, Cesar Romero, and so many more classic stars. Even Walt & his wife are on hand (it even appears that Walt is gently chastising the costumed Mickey character at one point).

* Dick Van Dyke Make-Up Test for his role of the elder Mr. Dawes. On the commentary track, Karen Dotrice (Jane Banks) admits that during filming, she was not told that Dick Van Dyke was playing the elder Mr. Dawes. She thought it was just some old smelly man who was close to death!

* Trailers, Ads and More from the Original Release and Reissue of the Film

* Mary Poppins Still Art Galleries

Music & More

* Disney's Song Selection: Sing along to "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and any of the film's other memorable songs as the lyrics pop up on screen. Each song can be selected separately or while watching the film.

* Magical Musical Reunion: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and songwriter Richard Sherman reminisce about making Mary Poppins and the music that makes it so special.

* A Musical Journey with Richard Sherman: A delightful magical journey through some of the film's locations with co-composer Richard Sherman, who reveals surprising secrets about the music of Mary Poppins along the way.

* Bonus Short: "The Cat That Looked at a King": Live action and animation based on a chapter from P.L. Travers' sequel "Mary Poppins Opens the Door." Julie Andrews hosts this short done in the style of the whimsical chalk drawings from the movie "Mary Poppins." Vocal talents of Sarah Ferguson, Tracey Ullman, and David Ogden Stiers.

* Deleted Song: "Chimpanzoo": A reconstruction of a song that did not appear in the movie using original storyboard and concept art, accompanied by a new rendition of the song performed by co- composer Richard Sherman.

Specs: Video is original aspect ration of 1:66:1, and audio is 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound with French & Spanish language tracks & subtitles.

Nevertheless, it is annoying. I know that companies have to make money, and the only way to do that is to have a catalog full of offerings that someone will buy, but to re-issue a movie every 5 years? Seems kind of greedy! (I wonder what they'll do for the 50th anniversary edition?)

I've also heard, from someone who should know about these things, that many companies today deliberately play down the quality of the transfers they put out on DVD, because they want the BlueRay editions to look that much better - which I also think is dirty pool!

Anyway, if you haven't yet gotten your copy of Mary Poppins, choose one of the trio below. (Well, you can choose more if you certainly like...)

Tom Corbett Space Cadet newspaper comic strip

<<<< September 2, 1951

http://allthingsger.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-come-across-lot-of-intriguing-or.html

If you follow the link above, you'll be able to see some of the comic strips.

Kaaaaaahhhhhhhhhnnnnnn!

(With Cyd Charisse)

Actor Ricardo Montalban - who played Kahn on the original Star Trek episode Space Seed, and in the second Star Trek movie - the one that saved the movie franchise, as far as I'm concerned, after the debacle of the first movie - The Wrath of Kahn, died today also.

He was 88.

He starred as Mr. Rourke in Fantasy Island, the TV series, as well as the movies Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, and Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, in SF and fantasy roles, in addition to a long and illustrious career in dramatic roles.

And thanks to YouTube:

Patrick McGoohan has died

"I am not a number! I am a free man!"


Patrick McGoohan interviewed about The Prisonerin 1977, by Warner Troyer.


From the guardian.co.uk

"Patrick McGoohan, the Emmy award-winning actor who created and starred in 1960s TV show The Prisoner, has died at the age of 80.

The actor's son-in-law, film producer Cleve Landsberg, said today that McGoohan had died yesterday in Los Angeles after a short illness.

McGoohan was best known as the title character Number Six in surreal drama The Prisoner, which aired on ITV in the UK. He played a former spy who is held captive in a small village and constantly tries to escape.

He also won two Emmys for detective drama Columbo, playing different characters, with the first coming in 1974 and the other 16 years later.

More recently, McGoohan appeared as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart.

McGoohan, who was born in New York but raised in England and Ireland, came to screen prominence in ITV's early 1960s drama series Danger Man, in which he played a secret agent.

He was also considered for the lead role in the first James Bond movie, Dr No, before Sean Connery was cast.

However, it was The Prisoner, which aired originally on ITV between 1967 and 1968, with which he was chiefly associated, writing some of the episodes himself under a different name.

His character, Number Six, spent the entire time attempting to escape from a prison - which was disguised as a holiday camp - and trying to find out the identity of his captor, the elusive Number One. He repeatedly declared: "I am not a number - I am a free man!"

In 2000, McGoohan reprised his most famous role in an episode of The Simpsons. His last acting job came in 2002, voicing a character in animation Treasure Planet.

ITV is currently remaking The Prisoner in conjunction with American cable channel AMC.It is due to air later this year.

McGoohan's other film acting credits include Ice Station Zebra, Escape from Alcatraz, Scanners and A Time to Kill".

Don't lie to me...

There's a new TV series coming down the pike soon, called "Lie to Me."

It's premise is, apparently, that the geniuses concerned (a British actor in the lead, the obligatory woman, and a couple of other guys) can tell if somebody's lying.

What a weak premise to base a show on!

But everyone's trying to copy the success of these "gimmick" shows, like Numbers and Crimal Minds. I see that Christian Slater's show, My Own Worst Enemy, seems to have already disappeared...

World of Warcraft Leveling Guides

It's been a while since I've played online games, but I'd been hearing so much about World of Warcraft that I decided to give it a try.

And... it is fun!

Unfortunately it is also time consuming... and time isn't what I've got!

Nevertheless, I've decided to get involved in it as far as to be able to recommend various guides and items to others.

So, this is the first item I'll be talking about: Zygor In-Game Alliance & Horde World Of Warcraft 1-80 Leveling Guides.

This is what they promise - and deliver - according to people I've talked to:

-The Exact Alliance And Horde Leveling Paths Other People, Just Like You, Have Used -To Level Their Characters To Level 80 In Under 7 Days /Played Time
-How To Quickly Level Any Character Class Easily And Efficiently Using These In-Game Guides
-The ONLY Extremely Detailed In-Game Leveling Guides ... No Other Guide Even Comes Close To Matching This Level Of Detail
-The Key To Unlocking Your Full WoW Leveling Potential So You Can Blaze Through Levels. It's Like You Have a Leveling Guru Sitting Next To You At All Times!
-How To Subtract DAYS Off Of Your Level 80 /Played Time So You Can Spend Your Time Doing Other Fun Activies, Such As Raids, Instances, or PvP

The author of these guides is John Cook - who'se been playing the game since the beta stage, so you know he knows what he's talking about.

What makes it different from others - there's an Alliance Leveling Guide and a Horde Leveling Guide.

$50 for the entire package - less expensive than the other guides (Joana, Team iDemise, Brian Kopp) but delivers more.

(The site where you purchase these guides also has a members area (well, they all do, don't they) where you can go and talk to fellow players, get tips and just hang out.)

So check it out. The URL again is:
Zygor In-Game Alliance & Horde World Of Warcraft 1-80 Leveling Guides.

For those of you who don't know what World of Warcraft is, I borrow the first two paragraphs from Wikipedia:

a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). It is Blizzard Entertainment's fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994. World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001. The game was released on November 23, 2004, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.

The first expansion set of the game, The Burning Crusade, was released on January 16, 2007. The second expansion set, Wrath of the Lich King, was released on November 13, 2008.

With more than 11.5 million monthly subscribers, World of Warcraft is currently the world's largest MMORPG in those terms, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG.[10] In April 2008, World of Warcraft was estimated to hold 62% of the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) market.

Generate your own electricity.... free!

I don't really buy into man-made global warming...

Oh, I believe mankind is polluting the planet to an incredible degree, but I also beleive there's no way to stop it. While the US is being forced to cut back on everything it does... it's not like developing countries are going to stop developing - they *want* to be where we are - and if that means cutting down rainforests, driving animals to extinction, and so on, they're going to do it!

But, I am interested in saving money, so I've been scoping out various ways to save on home heating and cooling bills, and have found one here that looks pretty interesting: Earth 4 Energy.

It's an ebook, and videos (a great help) that shows you how to build your own solar and windpowered systems for your home - and if you generate "too much" energy - you can even sell the excess to the power companies. Now I like the sound of that.

$49.97 for the whole thing, and it cost $200 to build the system.... not bad to save that much in energy costs in a year.

Now if only that guy with the water-powered car engine can get that thing going!

So if this sounds interesting to ya...check it out!

Dinosaurs Walk Into New York City

"Walk With Dinosaurs" - a stage show - made its debut in New York City in July, 2008. It looks pretty cool!



Walking With Dinosaurs - the Live Show



http://www.dinosaurlive.com/

Dwarf legs don't move!

I've spent the last couple of weeks and a hundred bucks or so accumulating some Lego stuff- dwarfs, trolls, knights, blocks - to make some sets to animate a scene from my script of the Terry Pratchett book Thud! I call it The Summoning Dark and it'll make a great movie, if I do say so myself.

Well, the legs of the trolls move, and the legs of the knights (who I'd be using as Watchmen) move, but the legs of the Dwarfs dont' move - so how the heck am I supposed to animate them walking? Can't be done!

So I'm pretty annoyed right now, and have put that project on hold.

I'm debating whether to do a different scene, which could just be dwarfs sitting around talking - but it's a static scene, not the kind of thing to generate as much interest as the original scene I'd wanted to do. It's a scene where if you haven't read the book, or seen the rest of the movie, you wouldn't grasp the importance and power of it.

Well, I'll see if my mood improves in a week or two - I might do it...

IN any event, my 13 year old nephew will be getting a huge package of legos for Christmas next year!

Terry Farrell returns to acting

Terry Farrell - Jadzia Dax on Deep Space Nine - is returning to acting after a several year hiatus to start a family (with her husband, Brian Baker, aka The Sprint Guy).

Read about it here, and keep the second and third weeks of February free, if you're anywhere near Hershey, Pennsylvania.


http://thethunderchild.com/Theatre/TerryFarrell.html

Friday, January 2, 2008

Well, what can SF fans listen to today on BBC Radio 7?

The Voice of God, pt 4 of 5
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jwl8
Southern Australia has been devastated by an earthquake, and now Sam and Joshua have discovered that there is a spy on the base.

Pattern Recognition, pt 4 of 5
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007k208
In search of more clues to the footage, Cayce tracks down the menacing Baranov.

The Last Flight

In another couple of hours, as I write this, the Science Ficton channel is going to be showing The Last Flight, in their Twilight Zone marathon. It's one of my favorite episodes, not the least because it stars Kenneth Haigh.

Haigh, a British actor, came over to the States for a couple of years, in 1959/1960, to try his hand at American TV. (He had come over the pond to star in the American debut of Look Back in Anger, the play, on Broadway.)

Anyway, I love this episode. He also starred in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, called Banquo's Chair. A rather small part in that one, he plays a young man who murdered his Aunt. John Williams plays a lawyer who has hired an old woman to play the ghost of the murdered Aunt, in an effort to get Haigh's character to confess. And Haigh's character does indeed get freaked out and confesses. After he's led away, there's a knock on the door and an old woman shows up - the actress who'd been hired to play the ghost. She'd gotten lost on the way and just arrived... fade out on John William's reaction...
Kenneth Haigh today

It's like trying to take down a bomber with a peashooter

But it's all we got.

Just tuned in to the last 15 minutes of the current Twilight Zone episode at the Sci Fi Channel. As usual, for a holiday, they'showing marathons, and also as usual, it's the Twilight Zone.

Unlike usually, or unusually I suppose I should say, the TV guide on my TV (I"ve got satellite) is no help. It tells me that I"m watching Twilight Zone, but doesn't give the title. Most annoying.

Anyway, a police officer and a woman are being terrorized by something out in the dark. All kinds of stilted dialog - you know right away Rod Serling wrote this episode. At the end, the woman runs...and of course she falls. Anytime in a 1950s tv series - heck, probably even up to the 80s, anytime a woman runs she will inevitably fall so that the man can arrive and protect her from whatever it is she's runnng from (or allow her to be captured so the man can rescue her).

Then, we see this giant spaceman, 40 stories taller than they are. Just standing there, not making any threatening moves.

The cop says all he's got is a gun, and that trying to take down the alien with it is "like trying to take down a bomber with a peashooter, but it's all we've got."

And so he starts shooting with this "peashooter" - at an alien that's doing nothing more than standing still, making no threatening moves, but fortunately it's not an alien but a balloon, and so it crumples.

Then they find a teeny tiny flying saucer, and fortunatley the two aliens inside speak English as they beg to be able to return home, as the Earth people aren't frightened.

To put it bluntly, not one of TZ's better episodes.

Anyway, starred Mark Richman, an actor with a recognizable face, but I couldn't place the name to it until the end. Took me slightly less time with Hazel Court, although she did look a bit more aged than in The Raven (Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson) which is the onl thing I've ever seen her in.

Most of the Twilight Zone episodes are a lot of fun. Several of 'em have "morals" or "messages" that could be well-considered today, but I must say that Rod Serling's dialog does run a little stilted and/or ...grandileloquent isn't the word I'm looking for but the proper word is escaping me for some reason...pompous? It takes great actors to be able to say those lines with a straight face, or convincingly.

Just c hecked the IMDB, and found that this episode, filmed in the 5th season, 1964, was the last episode of Twilight Zone to be filmed. The last episode to be aired was The Bewitchin Pool.

NCIS Fan Fiction

I don't watch a lot of new TV... for various and sundry reasons, but I typically catch up with them during holidays like 4th of July, News Years Eve, Christmas, etc., when every channel has a marathon going on.

I think it was this 4th of July that I first saw NCIS (Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Sasha Alexander, Cote De Pablo, Sean Murphy), in a marathon, and liked it. And, for the past two months, as I've been struggling with depression regarding those %^&$%^&* adsense people, when I didn't feel like doing any work, I'd write instead.

So a lot of my fiction is at fanfiction.net. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) NCIS is one of the most popular targets of fan fiction, with 20 stories or so added every day, so my excellent offerings get buried. So, I decided to start a blog for my fanfiction, called The People Out There, which is the title of one of my stories, and will share material there.

http://thepeopleoutthere.blogspot.com/

And I also created a fan video, a little story of how Cait and Gibbs got together.

Science fiction at BBC Radio 7, Dec 29

Well, one of my many new year's resolutions is to post in this blog without missing a single day of 2009.

I've also got some new plans for coordinating this blog with its companion webzine, The Thunder Child, so stay tuned for those.

And as always, please support this site by purchasing items through my Ebay links. (If the wealth hasn't been spread your way, find what you need on Ebay.) I invented that slogan, and I like it!

So what's on BBC 7 digital radio for today, Monday, December 29, which will in turn be available to listen to for the next 7 days. (Not to mention, rebroadcast probably two months from now, so if you miss something, dn't despair.)

Doctor Who: The Commentaries. The Doctor Who cast and crew discuss the Christmas special, The Next Doctor.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g6ddk

The Voice of God, by Simon Bovey, is being broadcast again. Unnatural earthquakes in Australia signal disaster for the world. In addition to a great script, I really love the music in this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jwkl

Saturday's offerings are still avaialable, of course.

There's Space Hacks, about two journalists who live in a spaceship (Pauline Collins voice as the computer, Mother) trying to do as little work as possible for their employer, a great big mean ol' alien.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007k2lp

A two hour installment of His Dark Materials: Northern Lights (what the movie The Golden Compass was based on.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2106

Hordes of the Things: A JRR Tolkien parody
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0089b37

So be there or be a large, rectulanguar thing.

New blogs for 2009

November and December are particularly bad months for the weight-challenged. It's so easy to gain weight, and very hard to lose weight, during this season.

I've started a new blog which will help people lose weight.

Check it out at:

http://minisculeweightlossguide.blogspot.com/

Yeehaw!

I've been struggling with depression for the last couple of weeks... not clinical depression, I hasten to add, just general depression because of the way Google Adsense screwed me over, and the fact that I has having no luck at all with Ebay, which is what I'd replaced Adsense with.

Well, today, just got an alert that I'd earned $9.91.

I don't know what for - Ebay's reporting system is not as sophisticated as Adsense, but sometime in the last few days someone went through one of my Ebay ads to buy something, and whatever it was was expensive enough to get me a $9.91 payout.

So I've got a long way to go to replace the lost income stream from Adsense, but at least this shows that there's the possibility of making some real money here. The most a single click from Adsense ever netted me was $2.00, or slightly less, and here I got $9.91.

So my enthusiasm is renewed and I'll get back to work at the first of the new year.

So easily is depression lifted!

Status

Well...I haven't been posting here much lately.

Truth to tell, I'm still struggling with depression. As I posted a month or so ago, after three years of hard work to gradually bring my webzines (the thunder child and you fly girl) to a point where my Google Adsense ads were actually making me money, with every expectation that that income would continue to increase exponentially, Adsense cancelled my account, without warning or explanation.

I wasn't breaking TOS - and even if I was, couldn't they have sent me an email? Hey - you're doing this, which is a violation of TOS. Stop doing it in 24 hours or we'll cancel your account. And then I could have fixed...whatever it was.

But no. Instead I try to access my account and am told it's disabled. I search and search and find an email address where I can send an email asking to be reinstated. So I send this email, pointing out that I don't know why my account was disabled and to please explain. And I get no answer.

So my revenue stream is gone. Three years of hard work. Gone.

I replaced the Adsense ads with Ebay ads, which I actually had high hopes of, because it was the same thing where you could specifically target science fiction books, tvs or movies in the ads that would show up. But it's been a total waste of time. No money generated at all.

So I've got a couch stacked high with books, movies and TV shows I'd been intending to review, articles I'd intended to write, etc. etc.,and I just can't muster up the energy to do anything.

Then of course there's the state of the economy and the country and the world these days, which isn't doing my mood any good, either.

Beverly Garland at Williamsburg Film Festival

Beverly Garland was at the Williamsburg Film Festival in 2006 or so, and I videoed her as she introduced the screening of Not of this Earth, and then took questions afterwards.

Umfortunately, I had a brand new video camera and for some reason I decided I wanted her full body view instead of just her head and torso, so I turned the camera on its side. So of course she's sideways in 1/2 of the first video and all of the second, and I apologize for that.

However, she's fun, she's vivacious, and so I think you'll be able to enjoy anyway.

Here's the Intro to Not Of This Earth:


Part 2 of Beverly, Not of This Earth...all sideways

Beverly Garland has died

I first saw her in person a couple of years ago, when she appeared at the Williamsburg Film Festival. I have a bit of video of her... unfortnately I was using a new digital camera and didnt' realize that if you held the camera sideways, the video would come out sideways...

I'm tempted to share it anyway...

Nevertheless, here is her obit.

Beverly Garland, versatile actress in film and TV, dies at 82

In a career spanning more than 50 years, she moved from B-movie cult stardom to scores of roles in television, notably on 'My Three Sons.' She also operated a namesake hotel in North Hollywood.
By Dennis McLellan
11:19 AM PST, December 6, 2008
Beverly Garland, whose long and varied acting career ranged from B-movie cult stardom in the 1950s portraying gutsy characters in movies such as "Not of This Earth" and "It Conquered the World" to playing Fred MacMurray's wife on the sitcom "My Three Sons," has died. She was 82.

Garland, who also was an involved owner of her namesake hotel in North Hollywood, died Friday evening after a lengthy illness at her Hollywood Hills home, said son-in-law Packy Smith.

In a more-than-50-year career that began with her film debut in a supporting role in the 1950 film noir classic "D.O.A.," Garland appeared in about 40 films and scores of television shows.

She was once called "one of the finest actresses in this windblown theater" by former Times TV critic Cecil Smith and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1955 for her performance as a leukemia patient in the pilot of the medical drama "Medic."

"Not only was she a terrific actress, she was one of those special gals who was fun to work with," said Mike Connors, who appeared with Garland in director Roger Corman's low-budget 1955 film "Swamp Women" and later worked with her when she made guest appearances on his TV detective series "Mannix."


"She had a great sense of humor, she was very thoughtful and had a great laugh," Connors said. "You couldn't help but laugh with her when she laughed."

Despite her reputation for doing heavy drama -- including playing a suicidal alcoholic in a "Dr. Kildare" episode -- Garland showed her lighter side playing Bing Crosby's wife in the short-lived situation comedy "The Bing Crosby Show" in the mid-'60s.

She returned to comedy in "My Three Sons" as the second wife of MacMurray's widower Steve Douglas during the last three seasons of the popular series that aired from 1960 to 1972.

"The only thing that bothers me is that everybody loves this character so much," Garland told The Times in 1969. "I don't remember anybody loving me all that much."

Garland also played her fair share of mothers in TV series. She was Stephanie Zimbalist's in the 1980s in "Remington Steele," Kate Jackson's in the 1980s in "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and Teri Hatcher's in the 1990s in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." She also had recurring roles in the TV shows "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," "7th Heaven" and the ABC soap opera "Port Charles."

Early in her career, Garland played undercover New York police officer Casey Jones in the 1957-59 syndicated series "Decoy," reportedly the first American TV police series built around a female protagonist. Garland's big-screen credits included roles in films such as "The Joker Is Wild" (1957), "Pretty Poison" (1968), "Where the Red Fern Grows" (1974) and "Airport 1975" (1974).

But her starring roles in low-budget exploitation films in the '50s such as "The Alligator People" gave her an enduring cult status.

For Corman, she starred in five films in the 1950s: "Gunslinger," "It Conquered the World," "Naked Paradise," "Not of This Earth" and "Swamp Women."

"Part of what made her a favorite of B-movie fans was that she was seldom a shrinking violet in her movies," Tom Weaver, a science fiction and fantasy film expert, told The Times. "In fact, she was just the opposite."

In "It Conquered the World," "she grabs a rifle and goes gunning for the monster in its own lair. In 'The Alligator People,' she chases an alligator man into the swamp, and so on," he said.

"She didn't play the demure, reserved heroines very well," Weaver said.

Garland acknowledged that in a 1985 interview with Weaver for Fangoria magazine.

"I never considered myself very much of a passive kind of actress," she said. "I was never very comfortable in love scenes, never comfortable playing a sweet, lovable lady."

She was born Beverly Fessenden in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Oct. 17, 1926, and grew up in Glendale, where she studied acting in high school and began working in little theater, which she continued after the family moved to Phoenix. She became Beverly Garland when she married actor Richard Garland; they were divorced in 1953 after less than four years of marriage. An earlier, brief marriage to Bob Campbell when she was 18 also ended in divorce.

In 1960, she married real estate developer Fillmore Crank, a widower with two children, Cathleen and Fillmore Jr. They had two more children, Carrington Goodman and James Crank.

In 1972, the couple built their mission-style hotel in North Hollywood, now called Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn. They also built a hotel in Sacramento that bore Garland's name in the '80s but later sold it.

Garland, whose husband died in 1999, remained involved in running the North Hollywood hotel.

She was the honorary mayor of North Hollywood and served on the boards of the California Tourism Corp. and the Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Garland is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Plans for a memorial service are pending.

Forry Ackerman has died...

Read tributes to Forry at various message boards:
http://scarletstreet.yuku.com/topic/6109/t/Farewell-Forry.html

and
http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/20552/t/Forrest-J-Ackerman.html


From the AP wire...

Sci-fi's grand old man, Forrest J Ackerman, dies

By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer John Rogers, Associated Press Writer - 10 mins ago

LOS ANGELES - Forrest J Ackerman, the sometime actor, literary agent, magazine editor and full-time bon vivant who discovered author Ray Bradbury and was widely credited with coining the term "sci-fi," has died. He was 92.

Ackerman died Thursday of heart failure at his Los Angeles home, said Kevin Burns, head of Prometheus Entertainment and a trustee of Ackerman's estate.

Although only marginally known to readers of mainstream literature, Ackerman was legendary in science-fiction circles as the founding editor of the pulp magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. He was also the owner of a huge private collection of science-fiction movie and literary memorabilia that for years filled every nook and cranny of a hillside mansion overlooking Los Angeles.

"He became the Pied Piper, the spiritual leader, of everything science fiction, fantasy and horror," Burns said Friday.

Every Saturday morning that he was home, Ackerman would open up the house to anyone who wanted to view his treasures. He sold some pieces and gave others away when he moved to a smaller house in 2002, but he continued to let people visit him every Saturday for as long as his health permitted.

"My wife used to say, 'How can you let strangers into our home?' But what's the point of having a collection like this if you can't let people enjoy it?" an exuberant Ackerman told The Associated Press as he conducted a spirited tour of the mansion on his 85th birthday.

His collection once included more than 50,000 books, thousands of science-fiction magazines and such items as Bela Lugosi's cape from the 1931 film "Dracula."

His greatest achievement, however, was likely discovering Bradbury, author of the literary classics "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles." Ackerman had placed a flyer in a Los Angeles bookstore for a science-fiction club he was founding and a teenage Bradbury showed up.

Later, Ackerman gave Bradbury the money to start his own science-fiction magazine, Futuria Fantasia, and paid the author's way to New York for an authors meeting that Bradbury said helped launch his career.

"I hadn't published yet, and I met a lot of these people who encouraged me and helped me get my career started, and that was all because of Forry Ackerman," the author told the AP in 2005.

Later, as a literary agent, Ackerman represented Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and numerous other science-fiction writers.

He said the term "sci-fi" came to him in 1954 when he was listening to a car radio and heard an announcer mention the word "hi-fi."

"My dear wife said, 'Forget it, Forry, it will never catch on,'" he recalled.

Soon he was using it in Famous Monsters of Filmland, the magazine he helped found in 1958 and edited for 25 years.

Ackerman himself appeared in numerous films over the years, usually in bit parts. His credits include "Queen of Blood," "Dracula vs. Frankenstein," "Amazon Women on the Moon," "Vampirella," "Transylvania Twist," "The Howling" and the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. More recently, he appeared in 2007's "The Dead Undead" and 2006's "The Boneyard Collection."

Ackerman returned briefly to Famous Monsters of Filmland in the 1990s, but he quickly fell out with the publisher over creative differences. He sued and was awarded a judgment of more than $375,000.

Forrest James Ackerman was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 1916. He fell in love with science-fiction, he once said, when he was 9 years old and saw a magazine called Amazing Stories. He would hold onto that publication for the rest of his life.

Ackerman, who had no children, was preceded in death by his wife, Wendayne.

What's on Radio, December 3

Today, and for the next seven days at the BBC 7 digital radio website, you can listen to:

Before the Screaming Begins, episode 2
Alien abductee Tom Harris is removed to protective custody. Wally K Daly's sci-fi trilogy stars James Laurenson

Out of the Silent Planet Episode 7
Ransom journeys into the mountains to find Augray's Tower and views, through a Malacandrian telescope, his own planet the Earth.

The website isnt' as easy to navigate as it once was...so I'm providing the links in a different manner.