Swords, Specters, & Stuff
Welcome to My World
I started this blog in January 2012 for one simple reason: I love to write. I named it “Swords, Specters, & Stuff” because I especially love to write about writing, about books and movies in my favorite genres, about authors that mean a great deal to me. But there’s more to it than that, which is why I included “Stuff” in the title. It is “Stuff” that gives me carte blanche to write about anything, which is why you’ll see stories about special trips to Cooperstown, Sedona, and other places; about getting older; about baseball; about the otherworldly way in which I met my soul mate; about the loss of good friends, and so much more. Enjoy! And feel free to leave a comment.
Throwback Thursday—Myths And Legends: The Jersey Devil
Did a woman named Deborah Leeds give birth to a spawn of Satan in 1735? According to the folklore of the forested Pine Barrens region in the southern part of what is now New Jersey, she sure as heck did. Here is one possible scenario about the creation of the legend that is known as the JERSEY DEVIL.
Ball Of Confusion: Some Things Never Change
“Fear in the air, tension everywhere.” Does that sound like commentary on the current condition of the country, if not the world? The line comes from the hit single, “Ball of Confusion,” released in 1970 by the Motown super group, The Temptations—one of my all-time favorite groups. And it is hardly the only line in the song that it sadly relevant over five decades later.
Throwback Thursday: One More Inspirational Baseball Movie That You Probably Missed
The 2019 drama, BOTTOM OF THE 9TH, initially drew me in for two reasons. First, it’s a baseball movie, and if I haven’t seen every single one ever made, I’m pretty close. Second, much of it takes place in The Bronx, where I spent the first 21 years of my life. But ultimately, this powerful tale of redemption kept me engrossed from beginning to end.
A Beloved Film Series Has Ended
Although the final film in one of the most enduring and endearing movie franchises, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, hit the silver screen this past summer, I did not watch it till earlier this month. Why not? Maybe I wanted to prolong the inevitable…
Throwback Thursday: Columbo Would Have Loved Vera
She’s old; she’s short; she’s disheveled; she’s irascible. She’s also brilliant. She’s Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, head of the Major Crimes unit of the (fictional) Northumberland & City Police.
What?! No Post This Week?!
I guess this will have to serve as a “short & sweet” post. It is definitely not for lack of ambition, although as a retired old fart (I prefer young fart), you might think I have all the time in the world on my hands. Nope…
Throwback Thursday: Report From The Quarantine Cave 2.0
It wasn’t exactly a fun time back in 2020, when this post first ran. But it WAS memorable.
Former Favorite Film Franchise Flops Fatally
Wow, that’s a lot of “Fs,” just like there are lots of “Fs” (unnecessary F-bombs) in the fourth Expendables film (presented as Expend4bles). This one, sadly, should bury the once-popular franchise, which bombed big-time at the box office, got the lowest score of the series on Rotten Tomatoes, and the poorest grade from audiences.
Throwback Thursday: Dual Guilty Pleasures Depict Nasty Alien Invaders
I don’t usually write about multiple Guilty Pleasures in one post. But the sci-fi/action films, BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (2011) and BATTLESHIP (2012) have much in common, so this seemed to make perfect sense.
How A Serious Sword & Planet Novel Turned Funny
Back in the day—the “day” being the 1970s and ’80s—I emulated my two muses, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard, with a spate of novels in genres such as Lost Worlds, Sword & Sorcery, and—of course—Sword & Planet. My five-book Reglathium series—which has long since evolved into my four-book Maldrinium series—was typical of the latter. But surprise, I wrote another Sword & Planet novel back then that went unpublished—at least, not in its original form.
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