Writing about Garr the Cunning (yes, the story is still in the works) was a good opportunity to refresh my caveman pulp readings.
Manly Wade Wellman’s Hok the Mighty, of course, and Burrough’s Cave Girl and assorted Pellucidar titles, but also a a few books that had so far slipped under my radar.
I was particularly pleased – and vaguely disappointed – discovering Dian of the Lost Land, a lost world novel first published in the 1920s, and variously reprinted, most famously in the April 1949 issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries, with a cover by Lawrence Sterne Stevens that certainly sold a few extra copies. Continue reading
Category Archives: Media
A little mythology
Back when I was a kid in school, I loved ancient history and yes, mythology – and probably that’s where my earlier interest in fantasy and adventure stories came form.
The Odyssey is still one of my favorite stories, and myths are still a great source for story inspiration. And so, despite the fact that I have not a moment to catch my breath, I decided to start another online course – on Youtube, this time.
Here’s the preview…
Who needs sleeping anyway?
Ida Pfeiffer
When I was but a little child, I had already a strong desire to see the world. Whenever I met a travelling-carriage, I would stop involuntarily, and gaze after it until it had disappeared; I used even to envy the postilion, for I thought he also must have accomplished the whole long journey.
I must thank my friend Angelo Benuzzi for introducing me to the remarkable Ida Laura Pfeiffer.
Born in 1797, Ida was an Austrian merchant’s daughter, and as noted in the opening quote, she had a great curiosity for the world and a yearning for travel – the fact that, contrary to the customs of the time, she was given “a boy’s education” probably had something to do with her desire to travel.
She had been in Palestine with her father when she was five, but she started to travel seriously much later, when she was 45. Continue reading
Summer movie
The Virgin Queen (1955)
Bette Davis,once again.
This is the Third Bette Davis Blogathon, set up by IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD, and as usual I invite you to check out the link to find a lot of other blog posts about one of Hollywood’s most iconic actresses of all time.
Once you’re done, come back here, because we are about to meet Bette Davis in her portrayal of The Virgin Queen. Continue reading
Bombshell (2017)
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, Alexandra Dean’s documentary about actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr, is very sad, very painful, and yet beautiful.
But as a friend commented a few minutes ago, so was Lamarr herself.
There is this myth, of beauty being a damnation more than a blessing, and Hedy Lamarr’s story seems to play the myth out beat by beat, mercilessly.
Notorious for her nude scene and her filmed orgasm as a sixteen-years-old in Austria, Lamarr came to Hollywood as part of the contingent of refugees from Germany and Europe, fleeing the encroaching power of the Nazi Reich.
Louis B. Meyer was eagerly waiting for them, offering below par salary and strenuous filming conditions. Continue reading
Karavansara 