Fred Gwynne left a wonderfully goofy literary legacy. And now that I know about it, I’m definitely going to have get some for Monki’s library!
Source: The Man Behind Herman Munster Wrote Some Puntastic Children’s Books – Atlas Obscura
Category: Reviews
Cinema’s greatest scene: ‘Casablanca’ and ‘La Marseillaise’
Casablanca is widely remembered as one of the greatest films of all time, coming in at #2 on the AFI’s top 100 list and similarly regarded by many other critics. You can quibble with its exact rank, but it’s at least undeniable how iconic Casablanca remains. Even now, more than 70 years after its 1942 release, few movies have ever produced as many enduring quotes. Continue reading “Cinema’s greatest scene: ‘Casablanca’ and ‘La Marseillaise’”
Roll the d20 for damage…
So I just read this book – Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons by Michael Witwer and my initial thought was that it “Makes me long to find my dice and get a campaign up and running…”
This got me thinking about D&D and role-playing and creative endeavors and all that stuff.
May the Fourth Be With You: Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans
Palette-Swap Ninja, whom I have never heard of before, is a parody band who focus on geek culture. This year, in honor of the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope and the 50th Anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band they did what anyone would naturally do — mashed up the two.
That’s right, it’s Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans! #PLSDSP Continue reading “May the Fourth Be With You: Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans”
TNBBC’s The Next Best Book Blog: The 2017 David Bowie Reading Challenge
Okay, I know I said I’m going to be doing the PopSugar book challenge, and I’m sticking to that, but then I came across this reading challenge and I just had to share it.
I don’t know how far I’ll get with this one, but I like it too much to not at least add it to my own personal reading challenges of the year. Once you take a look at the (admittedly huge) list, I’ve gone ahead and made a PDF of it for your very own tracking purposes. Let’s see how many songs you can get through – I’m gonna start with Ziggy Stardust and work my from there!
Women Who Pretended to Be Men to Publish Scifi Books
“In 1980, science fiction writer and editor Ben Bova told a group of women writers, ‘Neither as writers nor as readers have you raised the level of science fiction a notch. Women have written a lot of books about dragons and unicorns, but damned few about future worlds in which adult problems are addressed’.”
In Women Who Pretended to Be Men to Publish Scifi Books, we get a nice list of the varied and fascinating female authors who, in order to not alienate male readers, had to pretend (at least on paper) to be men.
As the soon to be father of a daughter, and as a science fiction lover, I find this despicable in a number of ways. So please, read the article. Then click over to Amazon or, better yet, hit up your local book store. Do yourself a favor and grab some books for summer reading. You can thank me later.
Green Eggs, Ham And Metaphysics: Teaching Hard Ideas With Children’s Books | WBEZ
I love this! Sure, most of us know we can use these books to teach bigger concepts. I’m sure the authors knew it, too. But having it all codified and with lesson plans makes it so much easier!
Stories that are great for learning to read can teach all kinds of things — from philosophy to financial literacy.
Source: Green Eggs, Ham And Metaphysics: Teaching Hard Ideas With Children’s Books | WBEZ
Review: Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood – The Good, The Bad, and the Scary
Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood – The Good, The Bad, and the Scary by Jill Smokler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
To start with, I’m not a mother. I’m not even a parent…yet. But my wife and I listened to this book in the hopes of gleaning some advance knowledge or get a humorous look at what’s to come. In this, we were kinda disappointed.
Continue reading “Review: Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood – The Good, The Bad, and the Scary”
Review: Atlanta Burns
Atlanta Burns by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have a problem here. I have long been a fan of Terrible Minds, the website/blog of Chuck Wendig. His blogs and books about writing are usually spot on and I have long recommended him to my writing students. Then I read this book. Continue reading “Review: Atlanta Burns”
Styx
My niece Riley just made her first film. I think it’s awesome. There’s some wonderful raw talent here.
I am so looking forward to seeing whatever she does next!
Review: Keller’s Fedora, Difficult Men, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and others
So here’s the deal: I’m slacking on my book reviews. Not that I haven’t been reading (or listening) to lots of books – in fact, I’m one book ahead where I need to be to complete my 70 book Goodreads challenge.
But I’ve bean bad about doing weekly reviews of individual books so I’m giving myself a break and allowing for Short Book Reviews of an assembled grouping. Without further ado, then, here’s the latest batch of books. Continue reading “Review: Keller’s Fedora, Difficult Men, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and others”
Reviews: Spiders and Dreams and Rocket Ships
Medusa’s Web by Tim Powers
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Okay, so I’m a Tim Powers fan. I will read everything the man writes and eagerly anticipate the next one. That said, this isn’t the book to start with. The plot, as Powersian as ever, involves a brother and sister who stand to inherit the home which belonged to a relative who raised them after their parents passed away some years earlier. The house has connections (literal and figurative) to the golden years of Hollywood and, like all of Powers’ books of the last couple of decades, involves real life figures and events weaved into an intricately plotted web of fantasy and magic.
Continue reading “Reviews: Spiders and Dreams and Rocket Ships”
Superheroes on World Screens
So a little while back I wrote a nice Short reviews
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Interestingly, I’d never actually read this book. I knew the story, of course. Everyone knows the story. The story is about Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell ringer at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and how Esmerelda, the young gypsy, is the only person who is nice to him and so he falls in love with her. And while that is what it’s about, it’s also about so much more… And so much less.
Continue reading “Short reviews”
Awesome Vending Machine Sells Random Books for $2
“Just a few months ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Toronto and strolled right into The Monkey’s Paw, an “antiquarian shop specializing in uncommon books and paper artifacts from the age of print.” Upon entering, I was immediately drawn to this beautiful, vintage-looking vending machine. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it sold random books for only $2. Named the “Biblio-Mat,” it’s the world’s first randomizing vending machine for old books.The Biblio-Mat was built by Craig Small for The Monkey’s Paw. According to the owners, “The machine was conceived as an artful alternative to the ubiquitous and often ignored discount sidewalk bin. When a customer puts coins into it, the Biblio-Mat dramatically whirrs and vibrates as the machine is set in motion. The ring of an old telephone bell enhances the thrill when the customer’s mystery book is delivered with a satisfying clunk into the receptacle below.” Watch the video below to see it in action!”
Source: Awesome Vending Machine Sells Random Books for $2 – My Modern Met
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 