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.
“The Play’s The Thing”—SHAKESPEARE AND HATHAWAY
No, we’re not talking about William Shakespeare, or his wife, Anne Hathaway—not exactly, anyway. This is about Luella “Lu” Shakespeare (Jo Joyner) and Frank Hathaway (Mark Benton), stars of the delightful BBC British detective/comedy series, “Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators.”
Throwback Thursday: “They’re Coming To Get You, Barbara”—Horror Movie Quotes
Ah, scary flicks…no surprise that I love the genre. (What does that say about me?) Here are a few lines from some of my favorites.
Myths And Legends: The Ohio State Reformatory
If you saw the excellent film, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, or the political thriller, AIR FORCE ONE, then you’ve had a glimpse inside the Ohio State Reformatory, located in Mansfield, OH. But you likely didn’t know that this former prison is considered to be one of the most haunted places in America.
Throwback Thursday: Films About Writers—HUMOR ME
I can’t say that the 2018 comedy, HUMOR ME, did poorly at the box office. That’s because it did almost NO box office. It just sort of came and went, and we all missed it…and that’s a shame, as it definitely is funny, and at times even poignant.
One And Done…Again
Oh man, this month promised Madness, did it not? But for my bride and I, it turned into March Sadness! Our two beloved basketball teams, the Iowa Hawkeyes and the San Diego State University Aztecs, both qualified for the Big Dance, aka the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. So far, so good. Then, both were disqualified…on the first full day of the tournament!
Throwback Thursday: Sally Forth With Don Quixote In THE 22ND GEAR
My sci-fi/comedy BICYCLING “trilogy” became a foursome when I wrote BACK ON THE BIKE PATH in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. But back in 2018 I rewrote and revised the crap out of the third book in the series.
Spirit Of 76: The Good And The Bad (Not Ugly) Of Aging
Yeah, I turned 76 last week, and to tell the truth, approaching that number kind of weirded me out. Not sure why; maybe inching closer to 80 (eee-yoo!) had something to do with it. Whatever. I’ve never been one to subscribe to the “76 is the new 56” mode of thinking, so for a while there it was kind of a bummer.
Throwback Thursday: A Ginormous Hoax—The Cardiff Giant
“There’s a sucker born every minute,” someone once declared. No, it wasn’t P.T. Barnum, the great showman, as many believe. But Barnum did have a role to play in the story of the Cardiff Giant—the greatest hoax of the nineteenth century.
Ghostly Rankings: The GHOSTBUSTERS Films
A while back, when I ranked the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World films, I mentioned that it was not a matter of Worst to First, given that I did not think any of them sucked. Good to Great was more like it. The same thing holds true for the four Ghostbusters movies.
Throwback Thursday: Inconceivable—A STAR WARS Film That Flopped?
I don’t get it; I just don’t. SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, the second spinoff after ROGUE ONE, has been around over a month—long enough for it to be considered a box office bomb. Jacqueline and I totally enjoyed the film, and from what I learned, so did critics and audiences alike.
Latest Release
