People have been loving — and loving to hate — the tricolored candy for more than a century. Vox’s piece, Candy corn: Halloween’s most contentious sweet, explained, gives you the rundown and history of this, one of my top five all-time favorite candy treats (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are far and away the front-runner with a few others like Twix and Whatchamacallit in there for good measure – straight up chocolate bars are in their own category). And just to keep things even, here’s Atlas Obscura on the subject.
Author: CaptainJaq
I am a father as well as a world traveling, dog loving, scuba diving, book collecting, writer - currently residing somewhere in Eastern Europe. His words have been spoken by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and Robin Hood, been read by David Copperfield, and criticized by his 7th grade English teacher. He'd like to thank the members of the Academy, although he doesn't know why. In his spare time, he's a university professor and a kick-ass uncle.
A Day in Spain spent Mainly on the Plane – Aga-Boom in Barcelona October 2018
The theme for my weekend getaway with Aga-Boom was “Late.”
Here’s how it all went down: Continue reading “A Day in Spain spent Mainly on the Plane – Aga-Boom in Barcelona October 2018”
Everything you need to know about Lithuania? Except Kaunas :)
Here’s a wonderful look at Lithuania, something a little more than the “G Spot” of Europe. Sure, he doesn’t mention Kaunas, but it’s still pretty cool! #SALTIBARSCIAI
100 Best Horror Novels And Stories : NPR
Who doesn’t like to be scared?
Okay, sure, lots of people don’t. But in case you’re not one of them, NPR has once again taken an informal and completely non-scientific poll to find the 100 Best Horror Novels And Stories. Naturally, they did it this year, 2018, since it marks the 200th anniversary of the original publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Continue reading “100 Best Horror Novels And Stories : NPR”
Glidin’ High | David Magazine
This month I’m writing about non-powered flight which reaches out to touch the edge of space!
Source: Glidin’ High | David Magazine
Little-Known Punctuation Marks for National Punctuation Day | Mental Floss
Because sometimes periods, commas, colons, semi-colons, dashes, hyphens, apostrophes, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks, brackets, parentheses, braces, and ellipses won’t do, here’s a list of Little-Known Punctuation Marks for National Punctuation Day thanks to Mental FlossMental Floss!
The Earthly Messenger
A while ago, I particpated in the Kickstarter to get this statue cast and in place.
And now there’s a live webcam going so you can see it anytime.
In case your day needs a little Bowie.
And Yet…
I used to know the killer.
This is not a line I ever thought I’d type outside of a mystery novel, or one that I would ever utter in a straight forward, non-ironic literal way. But, as of September 10, 2018, it’s now a part of who I am and what I know. Continue reading “And Yet…”
On Women and Speculative Fiction
So oftentimes I will read something I like and want to share it here on the blog. For whatever reason the mind kicks in and says “this is something which should be preserved.” So I file it away and eventually, I write up my thoughts about the link and then I set it to post. Continue reading “On Women and Speculative Fiction”
Who Are the Forgotten Greats of Science Fiction? | Tor.com
Who Are the Forgotten Greats of Science Fiction?
Tor.com blogger James Davis Nicoll asks this question and while I’m familiar and widely read in some of these folks, there are also a bunch I don’t know and a few I’ve never heard of. So here’s another set of books and authors to go on my reading list.
Same Faces New Chairs | David Magazine
Jewish Federation is Rebranded as Jewish Nevada and Now Includes Northern Nevada and the Jewish Community Center.
In other words, I’m writing about the Las Vegas Jewish community!
MARIE SEVERIN Dead at 89 | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture
Marie Severin, who was one of the rare female artists at Marvel from the Silver Age onward, as well as an Eisner Hall of Fame member, has died at age 89. Over at 13th dimension they have a great tribute, with links to some of her past work.
A Survey of Some of the Best Science Fiction Ever Published (Thanks to Judy-Lynn Del Rey) | Tor.com
Reading a collection of short fiction from any given author is always a mixed bag. Same goes for an anthology of works by different authors centered around a certain theme or category. You might like some and some, well, they round out the collection.
But when you have a “Best of” collection, especially one curated by another well known writer or editor, well then, that’s a great way to start a good library. And that’s what Tor.com talks about in this article featuring A Survey of Some of the Best Science Fiction Ever Published (Thanks to Judy-Lynn Del Rey). While I’ve read some of these, and own several, a bunch more are going on my wish list.
Photos of Abandoned Russia – The Atlantic
“For years, photographers have traveled across Russia finding and photographing intriguing ghost towns, empty Soviet factories, toppling houses, and crumbling churches.”
For me, though, it’s really more about just finding cool, funky, unique places to spark the imagination and speculate on what kind of stories could be set there.
Card Sharp: flashback to when Comic Creators delivered some ace playing card art for Childline – downthetubes.net
“Back in 2001, 65 of the world’s leading comic book artists illustrated a deck of playing cards to raise money for the British charity Childline, as part of the 2001 Comics Festival in Bristol.”
I had no idea about this, but as it combines my love of comics and my love of playing cards, I felt it was something I needed to let others know about. The whole story, Card Sharp: flashback to when Comic Creators delivered some ace playing card art for Childline, along with images of all the cards, is here courtesy of downthetubes.net and it’s great. It’s been 17 years since this happened and needs to happen again.
