Monthly Archives: January 2021

A Song That Feels Like Warm Summer Days

I am of an age where, when I hear the name Stan Getz, the famous jazz saxophonist, I think immediately of the exchange in That Thing You Do! in which while the Wonders are interviewed at KJZZ, a jazz radio station in southern California, Skitch Patterson begins to talk excitedly about the music that reallyContinue reading “A Song That Feels Like Warm Summer Days”

A Puzzling Absence in the Frasier POP!s

This week, Funko announced POP! figures based on beloved 1990s sitcom Frasier. A Funko POP! figure, for those three people whom I envy for having successfully avoided them for the past decade, is a vinyl figure of a pop-culture icon (celebrity, comic books, film, musician, etc.) that stands about 3 3/4″ tall, has a weirdlyContinue reading “A Puzzling Absence in the Frasier POP!s”

Thoughts on Mars Attacks Red Sonja

I had a bunch of unread comic books piling up, so yesterday afternoon I sorted through them, decided that some of them were never going to get read and put them in a box for recycling, then picked through the rest to read something. I wanted to read Lavie Tidhar and Paul McCaffrey’s Adler, butContinue reading “Thoughts on Mars Attacks Red Sonja”

An Abandoned Church

Yesterday morning I had to run an errand in downtown York. The local Democratic Party office offered a virtual inauguration package — a party bag of two bottles of sparkling cider, plastic glasses, buttons, flags, and other stuff — with a donation, and I thought that sounded cool, so I ordered one, which necessitated aContinue reading “An Abandoned Church”

Remaking an Ebook Cover

When I was in college, I read Jean Airey’s legendary novella, The Doctor and the Enterprise. Written in the 1970s, it was a crossover between Star Trek (near the end of the Five Year Mission) and Doctor Who (between “The Deadly Assassin” and “The Face of Evil”). The text had been uploaded by Airey toContinue reading “Remaking an Ebook Cover”

Doctor Who: The Knight, the Fool, and the Dead

Steve Cole’s novel The Knight, the Fool, and the Dead, the first book in BBC Books’ Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious project, was in my shipment this week. I knew from reviewers that the book was short — maybe more novella length (ie., under 45k) than a full novel. I don’t think I was preparedContinue reading “Doctor Who: The Knight, the Fool, and the Dead”

A Camera Tower

Wednesday afternoon, domestic insurrectionists, incited by the president in a false belief that the 2020 election was illegitimate, seized the Capitol building in an act of terror and an attempted coup. I am not ready to write about that yet. I had deadlines to get through this week — especially on Wednesday — and IContinue reading “A Camera Tower”

Early January

I’m working out of Diamond’s offices this week — publishing deadlines. I happened to walk through the lobby area yesterday, and what did I find? A Christmas tree. Even though there’s only a small staff — less than twenty most days — on site, even though almost no one would see it, they still putContinue reading “Early January”