Banned Books Week: The Opus Dei Rating System
The most fascinating bit of the list of Opus Dei-rated books that Vault linked yesterday in the comments to a previous post is, to me, the rating system.
That goes as follows…
And of course when you find such a list, the first thing is, you go and check if your favorite books are in there… Continue reading
Tits & Sand: Captain Sindbad, 1963
OK, let me get this straight – we are about to talk about a Tits & Sand movie shot in Munich, Germany, featuring the guy that played Zorro as Sinbad.
I am sure that it can get weirder than this, but still…
There are three men before whom a woman need have no shame: her husband, her doctor and her magician.
Captain Sindbad, produced in 1963 by the King Brothers, is a strange affair, an odd assortment of mismatched pieces: we get Guy Williams, that had played Zorro in a Disney-produced series, Pedro Armendariz, a class act that has a lot of fun as the bad guy El Kerim, and German actress and singer Heidi Bruhl, that in the same year represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest. TV mainstay Abraham Sofaer rounds up the cast as the dotty magician Galgo, complete with pointy hat and star-spangled coat. Continue reading
Banned Books Week
And I just found out that today is the start of the Banned Books Week (BBW).
From the initiative’s web page:
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.
And I thought, why not? Continue reading
Weekend with Lane & Jesperson
I have known Lisa Tuttle mostly as half of the writers’ duo that wrote Windhaven – the other half being George R.R. Martin.
Feeling that reading something of hers alone was long overdue, I got me two recent works by Tuttle in my last book haul.
One is a folk horror thing that I’m saving for the forthcoming days of mist and rain, while the other, called The Curious Affair of the Somnambulist & the Psychic Thief is, believe it or not, a mock-Holmesian novel.
And quite a fun romp, based on the first 100 pages I read so far. Continue reading
Learn about art and crimes
A quick heads up.
The Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime online course I took two years back is available again, and it might be the sort of thing some of you out there might like.
The course is held by the University of Glasgow through Coursera.
It lasts three weeks, it’s free and it starts on October the first.
I might even take it again – it was very useful for my writing, and the topic is a lot of fun.
(Almost) One Year of Patreon
In two months it will be one year I am on Patreon, having launched my profile in November 2017.
A celebration is in order, especially considering I was told it would not work, and instead it did.
So, here’s a few items that are lined up for my Patrons.
I’ll expand on each one in the next days and weeks, but for the time being…
Loose Ends, part 1 – the caveman fantasy novella and the first Pelerine story will come in October and November, and they will be Patreon Exclusives.
The stories went on the backburner for a number of reasons, but now they are being polished and set straight.
Loose Ends, part 2 – the final Asteria novella and the final chapter of AMARNA, that will come in October and November too, and that my 5 Bucks Brigade supporters will get for free, and will otherwise be distributed as usual via Amazon. Once again, real-life problems caused me to put these two projects on hold, but they are ready to get going again.
The Karavansara Open Bar – I am experimenting with Discord, and the thing seems to work fine, and is supported by Patreon. Starting in October, I’d like to set up chats with my patrons on a regular basis.
A BUSCAFUSCO Christmas – in December, I’ll hit my patrons with a pack of Belbo Valley mysteries: Saints & Witches in English for my English supporters, and the first two Buscafusco novellas in Italian for my Italian supporters.
An as yet unnamed non-fiction book – history, supernatural, science, weirdness…? Nazis on Mars? Dinosaurs in the Hollow Earth?
Who knows? I think it’s high time for me to hit my Patrons with some non-fiction, and what better opportunity than the first anniversary?
And possibly more.
Much more.
So, watch this space and if you think it proper, spread the news.
I’ll keep you posted.
Oh, and if you have any suggestion about other perks, please use the comments.
Karavansara 