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Post by dem bones on Sept 7, 2017 12:10:38 GMT
There's recentish concert footage of Roky on youtube and he looks well and happy after decades of illness and abuse, so that's very pleasing. I understand that he had a Nick Lowe moment* and got a cheque for a large amount after one of his toons ended up on a movie soundtrack, which gives us all hope. And was no more than Roky deserved after the private hell of the seventies and eighties he seems to have gone through. Yeah, it's good to know Roky finally had some luck. Would not be the least surprised if Colin Newman made more from Alone turning up in Silence of The Lambs (likewise The Fall's Hip Priest) than he has from entire Wire/ solo project royalties combined. If I remember, Mick Jones was working under a car when a mate told him Levi's had picked up Should Or Stay Or Should I Go for a commercial which did his bank balance no harm. And Marco Pirroni's biggest break wasn't the Ants, it was writing the b-side to Sinead O'Connor's cover of Nothing Compares 2 U. Trust me. I won't. I ... I don't like to talk about it . Maybe later on a more relevant thread - if such an abomination exists.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 7, 2017 12:30:22 GMT
Best way to get anyone interested in digging deeper into a subject is to mention the big names that everyone knows as a hook, and then signpost them to lesser-known but perhaps 'better' names. 'Better' as in more distinct voices, something a bit unusual, something off the beaten track. Without wanting to get into pointless arguments about 'good' and 'bad', it's perhaps a useful rule of thumb that the more general something is, the more appeal it has simply because it has less to turn people off. Which is one hell of a skill or knack to have. I remember Charles Shaar Murray writing about heavy metal once, and he stated that he found one band indistinguishable from another as he listened to very little and heard only the basic form in each band, whereas a fan who listened to lots of metal could tell the nuances. He likened it to apples - he didn't like them much so an apple is an apple when he ate it, whereas someone who ate a lot of apples would be able to tell one variety from another easily. He was being snobby about metal at the time, but his basic point is sound. As for my point - I've forgotten what it was... Roky Erickson - now there's a horror rocker of wonderfulness: the 1980 album on CBS is one of my faves, even thirty three years after picking it up. 'Creature With The Atom Brain' - now there's a classic toon... What is "heavy metal"? Is it a popular beat combo?
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 9, 2017 11:59:30 GMT
I received Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter 32 yesterday. As usual, I skimmed over it first. The best news is that the Newsletter is being renamed as Ghosts & Scholars with issue 34.
The cover of "Ting-a-Ling-a-Ling" by Daniel McGachey is very strange. If you turn it upside down, the cracked watch-face in the eye-socket of the skull (which is something I have never said before) has a trompe l'oeil effect. The hands of the watch form a silhouette of Bugs Bunny leaning on a beer keg!
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Post by ropardoe on Sept 9, 2017 12:52:38 GMT
I received Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter 32 yesterday. As usual, I skimmed over it first. The best news is that the Newsletter is being renamed as Ghosts & Scholars with issue 34. The cover of "Ting-a-Ling-a-Ling" by Daniel McGachey is very strange. If you turn it upside down, the cracked watch-face in the eye-socket of the skull (which is something I have never said before) has a trompe l'oeil effect. The hands of the watch form a silhouette of Bugs Bunny leaning on a beer keg! I ought to warn people that Michael, being a contributor, had his copy sent out in the initial bundle. The rest are going out over the next week or ten days, as my tendonitis allows. So don't panic if you're expecting a copy and it doesn't arrive for several days. Since Dan McGachey is here, he can no doubt comment on the Bugs Bunny question! I don't quite see it myself, but perhaps it's intended as a secret message for us all! We know from the Illuminatus! that Bugs Bunny is deeply significant in such circles.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 9, 2017 12:55:18 GMT
I received Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter 32 yesterday. As usual, I skimmed over it first. The best news is that the Newsletter is being renamed as Ghosts & Scholars with issue 34. The cover of "Ting-a-Ling-a-Ling" by Daniel McGachey is very strange. If you turn it upside down, the cracked watch-face in the eye-socket of the skull (which is something I have never said before) has a trompe l'oeil effect. The hands of the watch form a silhouette of Bugs Bunny leaning on a beer keg! I ought to warn people that Michael, being a contributor, had his copy sent out in the initial bundle. The rest are going out over the next week or ten days, as my tendonitis allows. So don't panic if you're expecting a copy and it doesn't arrive for several days. Since Dan McGachey is here, he can no doubt comment on the Bugs Bunny question! I don't quite see it myself, but perhaps it's intended as a secret message for us all! We know from the Illuminatus! that Bugs Bunny is deeply significant in such circles. It's the first thing I saw when I took the booklet out of the envelope.
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Post by helrunar on Sept 9, 2017 13:44:53 GMT
That sounds quite timely, Ro. I hope you are able to pace yourself. Tendonitis is a nasty beast.
I pre-ordered this massive new collection of the letters exchanged by H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith back sometime in early July. The book was "published" in early August. No sign of my copy yet. It's from an outfit called Hippocampus Press and there seems to be one lone individual who does everything in their office plus taking copies at a slow pace to the post office....at this point, I'm figuring if there's no sign of it by the beginning of October, maybe I should forward a copy of my receipt and make sure mine didn't get lost in the shuffle.
I hope you are having a lovely weekend.
cheers, H.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Sept 12, 2017 18:01:31 GMT
The cover of "Ting-a-Ling-a-Ling" by Daniel McGachey is very strange. That was what I was aiming for. If you turn it upside down, the cracked watch-face in the eye-socket of the skull (which is something I have never said before) has a trompe l'oeil effect. The hands of the watch form a silhouette of Bugs Bunny leaning on a beer keg! That, however, was not. The only significance of the placement of the hands is that they are poised on the number after 12... and I don't mean 1... However, as, after some squinting, I can no longer not see this, I will say that, for copyright reasons, the bunny is not called Bugs, he's called Tom. And the beer keg is, in fact, a chest or casket of the type used to store precious stones, gold, silver and the like. In short, it depicts The Treasure of Rabbit Thomas. Bet you wish you hadn't mentioned it now...
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Post by ropardoe on Sept 13, 2017 9:02:29 GMT
The cover of "Ting-a-Ling-a-Ling" by Daniel McGachey is very strange. That was what I was aiming for. If you turn it upside down, the cracked watch-face in the eye-socket of the skull (which is something I have never said before) has a trompe l'oeil effect. The hands of the watch form a silhouette of Bugs Bunny leaning on a beer keg! That, however, was not. The only significance of the placement of the hands is that they are poised on the number after 12... and I don't mean 1... However, as, after some squinting, I can no longer not see this, I will say that, for copyright reasons, the bunny is not called Bugs, he's called Tom. And the beer keg is, in fact, a chest or casket of the type used to store precious stones, gold, silver and the like. In short, it depicts The Treasure of Rabbit Thomas. Bet you wish you hadn't mentioned it now... Aarrghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! And does this also tie in with the intensely horrible face of crumpled lettuce which you mentioned on the M.R. James Appreciation Facebook page recently?
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Post by dem bones on Sept 13, 2017 13:44:20 GMT
Rosemary Pardoe (ed.) - Ghosts & Scholars M R James Newsletter # 32 (Haunted Library, Sept. 2017) Rosemary Pardoe, Untitled collage Rosemary Pardoe - Editorial Rosemary Pardoe & Rick Kennett - News The Ghost Story: Folk Lore & The Literary Tale (an interview with M. R. James from The Morning Post, 1923)
Jamesian Notes & Queries: Rosemary Pardoe - Christopher Lee on M. R. James Peter Bell - The Stele Rosemary Pardoe - Fritz Leiber's A Bit Of The Dark World
Reviews Peter Bell - Patrick J. Murphy's Medieval Studies & The Ghosts Of M. R. James (Penn State Uni Press, 2017) David Harris - Paul Finch [ed.]'s Terror Tales Of Cornwall (Telos, 2017) Rosemary Pardoe - Robert C. Poyton's - Remnants: Fenland Horrors & Hauntings (Innsmouth Gold, 2017)
Letters: Michael Connolly, C. E. WardDaniel McGachey - Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling (Haunted Library Special Booklet, Sept. 2017) Daniel McGachey Preface: Some Personalia About Dr. Lawrence
Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling
Afterword: Dr. Lawrence: An Informal Portrait A Note On The AuthorMany thanks, Ro, and well done Lurkio. Reviews of both to follow ASAP. ****** Ro, it doesn't shed any new light on the C. Lee-MRJ 'connection,' but this reads like an earlier version of Sir Christopher's contribution to The M. R. James Book Of The Supernatural. And another for the file: Christopher Lee, Preface, Richard Dalby (ed.) - Mammoth Book Of Ghosts Stories 2, Robinson, 1991. Have checked his Introduction/ Afterword to Haining's The Hollywood Nightmare[/i] (1970) and The Ghouls (1971) and his Preface to Mary Danby's Realms Of Darkness (1985) but no mention of a personal acquaintance with MRJ in these. Same story with his contributions to the Michel Parry-edited The Great Villains/ Christopher Lee's Omnibus Of Evil[/i] and Archives Of Evil in its many guises.
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Post by ropardoe on Sept 13, 2017 17:40:06 GMT
Thanks for the listing, Kev. Just to be picky, Peter Bell's article is called "The Stele", not "The Steele"! That's nothing like as bad as my mistake in the issue, where I say that the still living Jack Adrian is "late".
And thanks for the useful Christopher Lee notes.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 14, 2017 7:11:35 GMT
Thanks for the listing, Kev. Just to be picky, Peter Bell's article is called "The Stele", not "The Steele"! That's nothing like as bad as my mistake in the issue, where I say that the still living Jack Adrian is "late". Seen and fixed. Even as I typing I made a mental note. 'Thats S-t-e-l-e not S-T-E-E-L-E as in Pete. Old habits die hard. Am always tripping up on this, but 'Jack Adrian' is Christopher Chowder LOWDER is 'James Montague,' author of Worms (?), a 'when invertebrates attack' classic set on the fens which may or may not include the odd Jamesian flourish (seem to remember it did, but .... my mind. Enough said). Back to reading.
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Post by ropardoe on Sept 14, 2017 8:42:00 GMT
Thanks for the listing, Kev. Just to be picky, Peter Bell's article is called "The Stele", not "The Steele"! That's nothing like as bad as my mistake in the issue, where I say that the still living Jack Adrian is "late". Seen and fixed. Even as I typing I made a mental note. 'Thats S-t-e-l-e not S-T-E-E-L-E as in Pete. Old habits die hard. Am always tripping up on this, but 'Jack Adrian' is Christopher Chowder is 'James Montague,' author of Worms, a 'when invertebrates attack' classic set on the fens which may or may not include the odd Jamesian flourish (seem to remember it did, but .... my mind. Enough said). Back to reading. I was absolutely sure that I'd heard that Jack Adrian had died, which is why I put "late". When I checked and discovered I was wrong, it was quite a shock. Another example of the Mandela Effect, I suppose.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 14, 2017 12:28:02 GMT
Seen and fixed. Even as I typing I made a mental note. 'Thats S-t-e-l-e not S-T-E-E-L-E as in Pete. Old habits die hard. Am always tripping up on this, but 'Jack Adrian' is Christopher Chowder is 'James Montague,' author of Worms, a 'when invertebrates attack' classic set on the fens which may or may not include the odd Jamesian flourish (seem to remember it did, but .... my mind. Enough said). Back to reading. I was absolutely sure that I'd heard that Jack Adrian had died, which is why I put "late". When I checked and discovered I was wrong, it was quite a shock. Another example of the Mandela Effect, I suppose. I thought Jack Adrian was dead too.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 14, 2017 12:30:05 GMT
That was what I was aiming for. That, however, was not. The only significance of the placement of the hands is that they are poised on the number after 12... and I don't mean 1... However, as, after some squinting, I can no longer not see this, I will say that, for copyright reasons, the bunny is not called Bugs, he's called Tom. And the beer keg is, in fact, a chest or casket of the type used to store precious stones, gold, silver and the like. In short, it depicts The Treasure of Rabbit Thomas. Bet you wish you hadn't mentioned it now... Aarrghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! And does this also tie in with the intensely horrible face of crumpled lettuce which you mentioned on the M.R. James Appreciation Facebook page recently? I was right about Bugs Bunny all along. And Dem's put it online.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Sept 14, 2017 12:44:34 GMT
I was right about Bugs Bunny all along. And Dem's put it online. Well if it's online it must be true...
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