My contribution, below, first appeared here, for the hugely successful Monster Awareness Month, brought to you by the fab Monster Awareness Team, Mark Deniz, Orrin Grey, K. V. Taylor, Harry Markov, Robert Hood, and Sharon Ring. Stay tuned for Zombie Awareness Month in May, 2011. Review of Mothra vs. Godzilla Release date: 1964, Toho Co., Ltd.Filmed in TohoscopeTomoyuki Tayaka and Sanezumi Fujimoto, ProducersIshiro Honda, DirectorWritten by Shinichi Sekizawa This film is the fourth in the Godzilla series and the last in which Godzilla is willingly malevolent. Mothra appears for the second time here after her 1961debut in her own film, Mothra.… Read More
Arrived today in Prague for a four-day stay – my second trip as ‘just spouse’ and this time with an accompanying teenager. Prague is a lovely city, a completely chaotic mix of old world, new world – complete with KFC, TGIF, and the same high-priced stores you see in any major European city – and the lingering remains of dreadful East bloc architecture on the outskirts of the city. Walking through the generous pedestrian zones, Gothic figures stared down from buildings on nearly every corner in addition to gold-filigreed ornaments and lots and lots of cobblestones. Note to self – do not wear your chucks to cities with lots… Read More
Colin Harvey talks about his novel, Winter Song. We are sitting in the main lounge of the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford. It’s Easter Sunday, and we’re right in the middle of Eastercon. Writers and outlandishly dressed fans walk by us on their way to assorted panels and events. In reality, though, we’re not even in our own solar system. Instead, we are traipsing across a beautiful but stark landscape on a planet about the size of Mars that is descending into global winter. The planet is called Isheimur. It looks a lot like Iceland. Colin recalls that the inspiration… Read More
Only three days into our visit from the Trained Goldsby Bunnies, Nelly and Lila, I already have my first battle scar, a four-inch scratch on my arm. Luckily, we also own a cat, Ramses, commonly known as ‘Miezie’ or ‘Hey, you, cat’, so instead of having to admit that I was mauled by the rabbit equivalent of Hello Kitty, I can tell everyone my vicious cat attacked me. Who needs chainsaws? These bunnies, cleverly disguised with cotton tails and twitchy bunny noses, are out for blood. At least Nelly is. Lila just aims her floppy ears at me like two… Read More
Yes, we are. Welcome. I do lots of things in the kitchen. Writing, cooking, even seed planting. At the moment there are at least 20 seed packets scattered across the kitchen table. Today I’ve planted baby corn (in giant pots, an experiment that has a high potential to go bad), round yellow zucchini, Italian Borlotto beans, ipomoea ‘Hazelwood Blues’ and fed about a dozen cutworms to the blackbirds while weeding. I’ve also made pudding to go with the compote made from rhubarb fresh from the garden and I’ve just put the potato salad in the refrigerator to go with the… Read More
