Randy | February 2, 2011
I have always loved olives. Black, green, pit in or stuffed with all kinds of goodies, marinated in the Gods know what, or breaded and deep fried – you name it. Imagine my surprise to learn that my olive passion isn’t shared by everyone! Way back in my university days, my sister was dating a […]
Randy | January 19, 2011
I’ve always been a fan of Robert W. Service, he known best by the world for such great works of frontier poetry as The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee. Service said, “The only society I like is that which is rough and tough – and the tougher the better. That’s […]
Randy | January 17, 2011
In the course of my research for the Skrælingibók, I have turned up a number of excellently rendered documentaries, one of which I’m presenting here for your viewing pleasure. Made in 2004, the 40 minute documentary Vikings: Journey to New Worlds was directed by Mark Fafard, co-written by Mark Fafard and Jonathan Hock. My thanks […]
Randy | January 8, 2011
A thousand years ago, Viking expeditions out of Greenland made incursions into North America. Much of what we know of this time comes down to us from a pair of Icelandic Sagas that were written two hundred years after the events they describe, supplemented by archaeological examination of the failed Vinland settlement at L’Anse aux […]
Randy | January 5, 2011
Among the most famous folk stories ever written down are those that involve the people who live in the remote Polish town of Helm (sometimes spelled “Chelm”). Famous or not, there will still be some of you who have never heard of the place, let alone its impressive inhabitants, so I’m about to fix that. […]
Randy | January 4, 2011
In another one of those moments of serendipity I’m famous for, a few days ago I discovered Aston, an Australian group that does incredible covers of pop songs using traditional classical instruments. This is NO circus trick! Not only are they unbelievably talented, they’re hot by every definition of the term, and make it obvious […]
Randy | January 3, 2011
Mrs. LFM and I first heard of the movie called 2012 in a conversation with actor Stephen McHattie at his cottage. I asked him what he was working on lately and he said his latest project was that one. Knowing the range of roles he takes on, and the quality of portrayal he’s capable of, […]
Randy | December 28, 2010
Jim Keating posted a link today that leads to a Blog called Golden Age Comic Book Stories, specifically its 21 December 2010 post featuring cover art drawn by Ed Emshwiller for assorted Christmas issues of Galaxy Magazine and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction published between 1951 and 1961.
Diana | December 23, 2010
I’ve been following the saga of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, with great interest. I support this kind of uncovering of government secrets. I think it will go a long way to helping keep people honest, a rarity in government. Wikileaks does not post rumors, hearsay, opinions, just “classified, censored or otherwise restricted material […]
Randy | December 19, 2010
Where Mrs. LFM and I call home, a lot of people live inside of antiques. Many of the houses hereabouts have passed their first century which makes them slightly older than me. One of the houses we are professionally involved with protecting from the Dread Prophet Murphy is a massive pile atop a hill in […]