StanleyWheeler

  Artwork by Cedar Sanderson from interior of Space Cowboys 6: Fission Chips . It may even go with my story, "Love under a Purple Sky." There's something about the idea of the cowboy that persists in the imagination of humanity. It's a romantic notion nurtured not only in the fertile imagination but in the heart. I've often said that the western is a uniquely American genre set on the vast canvas of the the plains, prairies, deserts, canyons, and mountains of America. However, the vision of the cowhand, sheriff, drifter, and outlaw transcends the geography and lifestyle that birthed it. The dream can't be restrained and has taken to the stars. Climb aboard and touch your spurs to ride that lofty ambition. Sic itur ad astra. Space Cowboys 6: Fission Chips is out and topping the list in new sci-fi anthologies. ______________ I went on a quest this week. I didn't expect to go on a quest. I expected to make a quick trip to a gas station so that I could...

    I watched this 1952 black and white movie staring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford during my workout sessions on the M5 over a few days or a week. It was directed by Vincent Sherman and features Alexander Scourby as Max Fabian, Howard Wendell as Anderson, Steve Geray as Wittol, Torin Thatcher as Marplon the inspector, Juanita Moore as Dominique, and Valerie Bettis as Veronica. Rita plays a nightclub dancer/singer who's married to Steve Emory's (Ford) brother. Except she isn't married anymore as brother Emory has turned up with pennies on his eyes. Meanwhile, Ford is on his way from the States in response to a letter his brother wrote him on the say day he allegedly committed suicide. Ford begins his own investigation. He learns things weren't great between Rita and his brother. at one point, the gentleman in the picture above tells him something like, "When a man is married to a goddess, he must expect other men to worship her." Although he isn't getting t...

 It's a tragic tale of youthful exuberance and avarice tainted by overconfidence unburdened with the requisite competence. It was the beginning of the quest for the Mysterious Cauldron within the Cursed Ruins. Our two young heroes were to find the cauldron and fill a flask from its contents. A substantial reward awaited them at the completion of the task. They won't be collecting that reward any time soon. Les Freres Corses may have learned something from the adventure. We'll see what happens next time. Charo Lefevre or Le Favor, or something similar to that--I never got to see the spelling--teamed up with Gratell the budding wizard. Outfitted with swords, a shield, rope, and other supplies, along with 3 magic spells, the adventures passed from the village through the dark forest to the cursed ruins without incident. In order to avoid being swallowed by the treacherous mud and quicksand-like dangers of the pale green marsh, they used their rope to lasso and draw down the la...

  Steve A. Douglas  His Omnibus Bill defeated, Henry Clay left Washington, but the "steam engine in britches" Stephen A. Douglas would attempt to collect the pieces of the failed bill. He concluded that combining the various provisions into one bill had united the opponents of the various measures instead of securing friends on the specific issues. He declared he would get California statehood passed as well as the bill for New Mexico. He would depend on constant off-record negotiations and, something which Clay had lacked, presidential support. Douglas introduced the California bill on August 1, but soon realized he would have to deal with the Texas issue first. August 5, he and James Pierce (who's incompetence had pierced the heart of the Omnibus bill) presented a bill giving Texas the shape it has today. Texas received more land that it would've under the Omnibus, but it it would receive $10 million from the Federal Government in 5% stock -- which was more than eno...