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.
Women’s Basketball In The…1970s?!
One of my favorite—yet little known—inspirational sports movies is the 2009 drama, THE MIGHTY MACS. This true story factors strongly into this post, though for the moment I’ll put it on the back burner.
You Do NOT Want To Go On This European Cruise
The source material for the 2023 horror film, THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, is a chapter titled “The Captain’s Log” from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, DRACULA. That should be enough to keep you from boarding the vessel. I mean, who would want Transylvania’s most famous vampire as a shipmate?
In Memoriam…Jacqueline Sirota
Jacqueline was my world, my everything. The bravest person I’d ever known, she battled and beat the demon cancer many times during our 3+ decades together.
A Cult Classic…Maybe
In a previous post I mentioned that the “guilt” in guilty pleasures comes from worrying about what others might think about one’s tastes, maybe seeing you as a real lowbrow, or an eccentric. In the case of the 1983 sword & planet movie, KRULL, that actually happened.
A Very SPECIAL Special Effects Collection
The late, great Ray Harryhausen was an animator and special effects creator, well known for his development of stop motion model animation (known as Dynamation). The largest body of his work was done during the 1950s-1970s. He retired after his efforts on the 1981 gem, CLASH OF THE TITANS.
Yea Verily, The Month Of March Bringeth Madness
“Et tu, Brute?” For sure, March did not turn out to be the best of months for Julius Caesar. But for those of us who love college basketball, this month is “…the most wonderful time of the year.” That, of course, is because the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments are upon us.
An Iowa Basketball Story
My bride, Jacqueline, is a Hawkeye through and through. After we met in the early ’90s we would fly back to Cedar Rapids once or twice a year to visit her parents, Carol and Jack Benzinger. On a visit in the early 2000s Jack took me to a basketball game at the University of Iowa…a WOMEN’S basketball game, to be exact, featuring the Lady Hawkeyes. And that’s where this story begins.
78 Is Just A Number
Yeah, but later this week (March 6, to be exact) it becomes more than a number to me. It marks how many years I’ve been on this plane of existence since the day I was deposited here by the Mother Ship. HOLY CRAP, 78?!? I thought only old people achieved that number. Oh, wait…
The Not-So-Itsy-Bitsy Spider…
Of the all the numerous 1950s sci-fi/horror/“big bug” movies, TARANTULA (1955) stands out as one of the best. Its director, Jack Arnold, was among the leading filmmakers of the era, with hits such as IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953), CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954), and THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957).
My Second-Oldest Book
I don’t recall exactly when THE YEAR THE YANKEEES LOST THE PENNANT, published in 1954, came into the Sirota household. Maybe I picked it up at a library sale…a possibility, as back then I haunted the West Farms Branch (in The Bronx) of the New York Public Library. Still, the Yankees were MY team, so why would I want to read a book about them losing?
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