StanleyWheeler

 I realize not everyone is a fan of Shakespeare's Hamlet , but everyone is entitled to their opinion--even a wrong one. So, if you don't find that message above highly amusing, you'll need to read the play or the posts I've done about adaptations of the play--and then read the play. If you would rather watch it, I can recommend both Brannagh's and Mel Gibson's. The former if you have 4 hours and the latter if you only have two hours to dedicate to the task. I do have the version with David Tennant, but I haven't been able to get into it yet. We went out last night. The plan was to get barbequed pork ribs at a local place. When we got there, it was closed for the big party in town celebrating Byzantium Days. So we drove to the party and saw the trailer of savory meats behind the fence, but decided the venue was too crowded to turn around and park and walk a mile to get in and order. There was also the risk that they might be sold out. Unwilling to return to X...

Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. –Mark Twain Nothing in particular causes me to combine flamethrowers and a quote about arguing with stupid people. I do, however, note that Twain is right. I once commented in a class reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that you can't win an argument with stupid people because they can't see that they're beat. They can't make the connections rational argument requires. If they can't make the connections, logic has no power over them, and what they believe can never be refuted. I spend most of this week researching and writing--lots of the former and little of the latter. Nevertheless, I am almost half way through the short story I plan to submit. The problem is that research is addictive. Every new fact discovered leads to more questions and the pursuit of additional details to add verisimilitude to the story, or at least not to demonstrate that one is a...

                                      Battle of Dresden, by Thomas Charles Naudet Was it the battle of Dresden that set the stage for the apocalyptic clash at Leipzig where the supernatural beast made it's appearance? Did the clash of cannon over the two-day battle raise the monster from the depths? I won't know until I write the story, but I have my suspicions. In the meantime, here's some information about the battle of Dresden: Fun Fact: The Battle of Dresden August 1813. The summer armistice has ended. Austrian has joined Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Great Britain against France. The Army of Bohemia, consisting of 230,000 Russians and Austrians under the command of Prince Schwarzenberg, accompanied by the Tsar and the King of Prussia, advanced on the capital of Saxony, whose King was a firm supporter of Napoleon. Gouvion St. Cyr's XIV Corps was the only French force near Dresden. The ...

  Before I get to my review of Tim Powers' Declare , I must report on the weekend doings. Comedienne got baptized on Saturday and asked me to do the honors while her other grandpa performed the confirmation. I got to reacquaint myself with some old friends at the baptismal venue and served at the later celebration by daubing burger dough onto the grill so Lawtwister could pressure, interrogate, and flip  them until they were ready to spill their deliciousness to hungry consumers. I found it a complete success. The lone fly in the ointment of the outstanding weekend was the gray plague that affected Les Freres Corses et Mere. As a result of the quarantine, we didn't get to visit, haul off couch and bed, or assist in the hanging of the wall poster from the cover of Accidental Pirates .  We did, however, get to attend the dance extravaganza in which Former President participated. Hers was the best group, I must say. For reward we had ice cream. Now - to the review: "An...

   The unboxing continues at Xanadu. It's nothing like the Battle of the Pyramids pictured above, except for the chaotic nature of the job. I unloaded three boxes in the garage and another three in the basement. I'm finding books and filling the bookcases that surround me in my writing den. I do read and resort to them from time to time when I'm looking for something specific, or just to spark my imagination. It feels good to have the familiar covers gather round again. Fun Fact: In 1131, Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, was on his deathbed. He summoned his 26 year old daughter Melisende. He had taken religious vows and become a monk, hoping to secure a seat in the eternal palace above.  Although Melisende's husband Fulk had taken her on the understanding that he would succeed Baldwin as king, Baldwin announced that Melisende and Fulk would rule together, along with the young Baldwin (III) as soon as he was old enough. Baldwin died and the couple were crowned in the Churc...

  Fun Fact: Acre and Jaffa in 1125 were the most important ports for the Crusaders. Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, visited Acre in May and awarded a charter to Domenico Michiel, Doge of Venice, to establish a Venetian colony at Tyre. Baldwin was endeavoring to establish overseas connections to call on for military support. The witnesses to the charter included Hugh of Payns, founding master of the Knights Templar. Hugh was from France and by 1119 had settled in Jerusalem. At that time, the area around Christ's tomb was a meeting place for pilgrim soldiers seeking service in the crusader states. Hugh and many others decided that they would devote themselves to a strict communal life, devoting themselves to poverty, chastity, and obedience to the patriarch of Jerusalem to keep the roads safe and protect the pilgrims to Jerusalem. Hugh appealed to every fighting man to join the order for a life of service to the Lord. Baldwin leased apartments at Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount to ...

 The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) directed by Nathan Juran, stars Kerwin Mathews as Sinbad, Kathryn Grant as Princess Parisa, and Torin Thatcher as Sokurah the Sorcerer. Don't forget Richard Eyer as the Genie. After watching the Golden Voyage of Sinbad and The Eye of the Tiger, I knew there was another old Sinbad movie I remembered watching as a kid. I knew there was one with a kid as a genie and a cyclops fighting a dragon - this was it. Above is the picture of the genie and the princess inside his lamp. The sorcerer did an Alice in Wonderland number on her while she was sleeping, shrinking her to a few inches in height. Sinbad is especially bummed by deal as they were to be married the next day. Conveniently for Sokurah the sorcerer, he knows how to change Parisa back to normal size but he requires a piece of shell from a roc (mythical two-headed bird of the giant variety), which can only be found on the island of the cyclops--and where the magic lamp with the genie is. Sokurah wa...