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.
Too Many Giants Spoil The Brew
The 2013 fantasy-adventure film, JACK THE GIANT SLAYER, is based on a nearly 300-year-old British fairytale titled, THE STORY OF JACK SPRIGGINS AND THE ENCHANTED BEAN. We all know it better as JACK AND THE BEANSTALK.
Guilty Pleasures: THE MEG
Okay, just to clarify, THE MEG is a borderline Guilty Pleasure by virtue of its so-so reviews (one reviewer said, “…neither good enough, or bad enough”), though it did do well at the box office, and a sequel is planned. Whatever; I would’ve enjoyed this creature feature no matter what.
Graboids Never Say Die
That title is a double entendre, don’t you know? In the first place, the giant worm-things known as graboids are back on the small screen in TREMORS: SHRIEKER ISLAND (2020), the seventh film in the long-running Tremors franchise. And second, when a graboid dies a really gross creature called a shrieker emerges from its carcass to carry on the lineage.
The Last Voyage Of The SS SULTANA
Imagine that you’re a Union soldier imprisoned by the Confederacy during the Civil War. When the war ends you and your fellow prisoners are freed, and you’re finally going home! But you never make it there. Why? Because your northward journey up the Mississippi River is aboard the ill-fated SS SULTANA.
A Galactic Rest Stop…In Wyoming?
In my comedy/science fiction series, bicyclist Jack Miller enters numerous worlds through “gates” along the cosmic tunnel known as the Ultimate Bike Path. It could be Earth’s past or future, otherworldly dimensions, even the pages of literature, among many others. While the majority of Jack’s adventures are wild and crazy, I often temper them with an occasional serious “statement” chapter, for want of a better word.
Disasters: Great For Bringing Estranged Couples Together
Recently, while watching the Gerard Butler-fueled disaster film, GREENLAND, it occurred to me that a lot of couples with troubled marriages/relationships have been brought together by their harrowing experiences in movies of this genre. Weird. Here are just a few examples.
Can You Take A Bath In Bath?
MCDONALD & DODDS, a BritBox original series, is a crime drama set in the city of Bath, about ninety-odd miles from London. The quirky show—not a comedy, but hardly as intense as SILENT WITNESS or VERA—highlights the trials and tribulations of women—specifically Black women—and seniors in the good-ol’-boy world of law enforcement.
A Perfect Ending To A Beloved Film Series…Or Not
The renowned director, James Cameron, was hardly a blip on the Hollywood radar screen in 1984 when he pitched his screenplay for a science fiction/action movie called THE TERMINATOR. Fortunately the film got done, he got to direct it, Arnold Schwarzenegger landed the perfect role for him at the time (lots of muscle, little dialogue), and the rest is history.
Will The TITANIC Really Sail Again?
Last month I watched the much-honored 1997 film, TITANIC, for the first time in many years. It reminded me that I had heard a replica of the doomed ship was under construction and would sail the same route, from Southampton in England to New York City, possibly in 2022. Was this true?
“I’m The King Of The World!”—Well-Known Movie Lines That Were Ad-Libbed
Film actors and actresses—especially the most creative ones—will deviate from a script more often than you’d think. Some of the most iconic movie lines were improvised. Here are a few of them.
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