Shrinking Violet invites us to apply our X-ray vision:
It’s not visible in the photo, but the bag that Casper is resting on contains a copy of This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Photos of your felines (or whatever you’ve got!) resting on genre works (we’ll take your word for it!) are welcome. Send to mikeglyer (at) cs (dot) com
(1) TODAY’S 40,000. [Item by Anne Marble.] A little Warhammer news… The official Warhammer Official X.com account just posted “In regards to female Custodians, there have always been female Custodians, since the first of the Ten Thousand were created.”
(It was in response to (this question in a longer thread.)
It’s fascinating to read the responses to this. Many fans are demanding they show them where this is shown in the lore. They are debating the official account.
Fans like these make me think, “Don’t make me have to feel sympathetic toward Games Workshop!”
From what I understand, this probably is retconning. But Warhammer is no stranger to retconning. They’re famous for retconning.
Angry fans are declaring that Games Workshop is going to kill the existing fanbase over this. They’ve accused them of “gaslighting” the fans. They are crying about “woke.” Some are claiming that they are returning the merchandise they were just about to buy all because of this. (Sure…)
People are predicting this is the “end” of Games Workshop. (They’ve been predicting this ever since 3D printing made it easier for people to make their own models.) Some are even blaming this stance on the fact that Vanguard and Group and BlackRock are now among the investors in Games Workshop.
But these are also the types of fans who do a lot of gatekeeping. If a fan has a different opinion, they call that fan a “tourist.” One dude was calling the people behind official lore “tourists.”
According to an older post by one of their well-known writers (Aaron Dembski-Bowden), this bit of lore was up for discussion years ago. But a “former IP overlord” said the characters couldn’t be women because the minis had already been produced, and they were all male.
The lore does say there are no known women Space Marines — and there are various theories about why. But Space Marines are also so altered that they are very different from what some would consider a stereotypical man. From what I have read, the Space Marines are sterile and asexual and chemically castrated.
Some people have been collecting screencaps of the responses. Also here. Here’s a selection:
The Fandom.com definition of a Warhammer 40k Custodian says Custodians are part of the Adeptus Custodes — the elite altered bodyguards of the Emperor. In comparison, the famous Space Marines the defenders of all humanity. And the Custodians are more powerful than them.
Also, while there is a lot of lore about the Space Marines, there is less lore about the Custodians.
For another perspective, I found some women fans who were upset because they thought it was badly done — and some who believed it was pandering to them. But most of the opposition seems to come from guys who use “woke” a lot. Some want to contact the Warhammer Community Outreach Manager about the change. Does that mean they are asking for the manager?
Disclaimer: I’m not a Warhammer player. However, I’ve been fascinated by the gaming system ever since I ran across a Warhammer Fantasy book called Warhammer City. I found Warhammer 40K even more fascinating because it’s so over-the-top. (It’s supposed to be.) So I ended up buying some of their novels.
(2) DON BLYLY MEDICAL UPDATE. Bookseller Don Blyly’s celebration of Uncle Hugo’s fiftieth anniversary was followed by a trip to the hospital, but he’s back at work already as he explained in his latest How’s Business? newsletter.
The week of the 50th Anniversary Sale was “interesting”. For many years I heard the warnings about chest pains, and for many years I’ve had chest pains, but not quite like the medical advice described them. Often, the pain seemed to be between my ribs, more often on the left side, but I didn’t think the pains were accurately reporting on where the problem was located. And often I would let out a couple of large burps or farts and the chest pains would completely go away, so it seemed like the pains were not related to my heart.
On the Monday after the anniversary I had a different kind of chest pain, a kind of pressure in the center of my chest, and it did not go away (but became somewhat less) after a couple of belches, and I started worrying a bit. But Ecko had a doggie dental appointment Wednesday morning to have a tooth pulled that it had taken a month to set up, so I thought I’d get through that first if my pain didn’t get any worse. My chest pain stayed about the same through Wednesday, and Ecko got through the extraction and was ordered to only have soft food for 2 weeks. Thursday morning my chest pain was worse, so I went over with the staff of the store what to do if I had to go to the emergency room. Just before noon the order of new t-shirts and sweatshirts arrived, a couple of weeks earlier than expected, and I wrote the check to the shirt guy. Before I could start unpacking the 5 large cases of shirts, the pain became so bad that I decided to drive Ecko home, made arrangements for my son to pick her up at home after he got off work, and drove to the Abbott-Northwestern emergency room.
It seems that one of the arteries in my heart was 99% blocked, and they quickly put in a stent. The other arteries were partially blocked, but not enough to justify any more stents. Swallowing a fist full of pills every day for the rest of my life is supposed to clear the other arteries and prevent a repeat of the heart attack. After a couple of days they ran an echo-cardiogram to determine how much my heart had been damaged. The doctor who interpreted the results told me that my heart was functioning at 45-50%. I said that I didn’t feel that bad. She said that nobody’s heart functions at 100% according to the standard used for the test–a perfectly healthy heart functions at 55% on the test, and that I would be back to 55% within a couple of months. So, no permanent damage, but I’m supposed to take it easy for a while.
About 48 hours after the stent was installed I got out of the hospital, and about an hour later got to the store to see how things were going. A LOT of mail orders had come in while I was in the hospital, and Jon had pulled all the books and put them in piles so that I wouldn’t have to run all over the store finding them to process the orders. And a lot of boxes of new books had arrived. It took several days to get through all of that, and even longer to get through all the e-mails that had piled up. But for several days I mostly sat in front of the computer and didn’t even think about going to the basement.
The hospital has been dribbling out the bills to the insurance company, and the insurance company has been letting me know how much I’m responsible for. So far, the hospital has billed over $110,000, and so far I’m only responsible for $200….
(3) TUNES FROM THE TARDIS. [Item by Daniel Dern.] Not surprisingly given (some of) what I watch/listen to on YouTube, the YouTube Music app on my phone (which I’m not sure I’ve previously used, certainly not recently or muchly) burped up this (below) amusing item. I’m not enough of a Whovian to appreciate all the references, but enjoyed it natheless, and no doubt some of you more so. (And it turned out to be part of a playlist, which rabbit hole I timesinkedly explored, and will share my faves here, in days to come.) Doctor Who playlist.
(4) PAYING IT FORWARD. Gabino Iglesias shares some wisdom about anthologies in an X.com thread that starts here. Some excerpts follow:
(5) HIGH-PRICED DETECTIVE. From Newser we learn a “Handwritten Sherlock Holmes Draft Could Fetch $1.2M”
A rare, handwritten manuscript of the Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is up for sale this June at Sotheby’s, and it’s expected to fetch up to $1.2 million, breaking past sales records of his works. It’s the only handwritten copy of Conan Doyle’s second novel in existence, Smithsonian Magazine reports, and how this particular work was commissioned comes with a fun bit of history. According to CNN, the story begins in 1889 with Conan Doyle having dinner in London with JM Stoddart (an editor of US literary magazine Lippincott’s Monthly) and fellow author Oscar Wilde.
When Stoddart asked what the writers were working on, Conan Doyle committed to publishing a second Sherlock Holmes novel for the magazine, while Wilde said he’d submit his work in progress, The Picture of Dorian Gray. “It’s hard to think of two contemporary authors who might be less similar than Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde,” Sotheby’s book specialist Selby Kiffer tells CNN. “And yet there they are at a dinner table together and talking about what they’re currently working on.”…
(6) SENDAK EXHIBITION IN LA. The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles will host “Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak” from April 18-September 1.
Wild Things Are Happening is comprised of more than 150 sketches, storyboards, and paintings by Sendak drawn from the collection of The Maurice Sendak Foundation. Presented alongside landmark pictures for Sendak’s own books will be examples of artwork he created for such celebrated publications as The Bat-Poet by Randall Jarrell, A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss, the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik, and Zlateh the Goat by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Designs for many of Sendak’s opera, theater, film, and television productions are also featured. His impact on the broader world of the performing arts is illuminated through his collaboration and friendship with directors, composers, playwrights, and visual artists, such as Carroll Ballard, Frank Corsaro, Spike Jonze, Tony Kushner, and Twyla Tharp. The exhibition will also highlight Sendak’s love of Mozart and the way the composer’s life and work influenced not only Sendak’s designs for Mozart’s operas, such as The Magic Flute, but also key books including Outside Over There and Dear Mili. As Sendak stated, “I love opera beyond anything, and Mozart beyond anything.”
This groundbreaking exhibition also adds new depth to audiences’ understanding of Sendak’s life—as a child of Jewish immigrants, a lover of music, someone with close personal relationships—and how it dovetailed with his creative work, which drew inspiration from writers ranging from William Shakespeare to Herman Melville. From portraits that he made of loved ones to archival photographs of family members to toys he designed as a young adult, the exhibition brings Sendak and his work to life in three dimensions….
(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.
[Written by Cat Eldridge.]
Born April 15, 1933 — Elizabeth Montgomery. (Died 1995.) The beauty of these Birthdays is that I can decide that one series that a performer did is enough to be worthy of a write-up. So it is with Elizabeth Montgomery and her ever-so-twinkly role as the good witch Samantha Stephens on the Bewitched series.
I loved that series and still do. Bewitched is one of those series that the Suck Fairy keeps smiling every time she comes near it. Obviously she too has very fond memories of it.
Sol Saks in interviews said that the Forties film I Married a Witch based on Thorne Smith’s partially-written novel The Passionate Witch, and John Van Druten’s Broadway play Bell, Book and Candle, adapted into a 1958 film of the same name, were his inspirations for the pilot episode. These films were properties of Columbia Pictures, which also owned Screen Gems, the company that would produce Bewitched.
Bell, Book and Candle is the prime story source as that has the good witch Gillian Holroyd, played by Kim Novak, casting a love spell on Shep Henderson as played James Stewart to have a fling with him but she genuinely falls for him.
Bewitched debuted sixty years ago this Autumn. It would run on ABC eight seasons, for two hundred and fifty episodes.
Let’s discuss the other cast of Bewitched. Dick York was Darrin Stephens, her husband and I thought that he was a perfect comic foil for her. Dick Sargent would replace the ailing York for the final three seasons. It’s been too long since I’ve seen the series but I think I remember his chemistry with her being a little less smooth.
So the next major cast member was Agnes Moorehead as Endora, Samantha’s mother. She worked fine in her role which was that she disapproved of her daughter’s decision to marry a mortal. She often times casts spells on Darrin for her own amusement, but mostly to try to drive Darrin away from Samantha. (It didn’t work. At all.) Despite that, she is the most frequent houseguest and one of the most loyal members of Samantha’s family who dotes on her grandchildren, Tabitha and Adam.
Then there’s his boss, Larry White, who was played by David Tate, and he was well cast in that role, and many crucial scenes took place at the Madison Avenue advertising agency McMann and Tate where Darrin worked.
So that brings us to Elizabeth Montgomery. She began her performing career in the the Fifties with a role on her father’s Robert Montgomery Presents television series. She’d also be a member of his summer theater company.
She turned out to be very popular and was kept busy performing consistently from there on. She’d have two genre roles prior to Bewitched, the first being as Lillie Clarke on One Step Beyond in “The Death Waltz” and, because everyone seemingly has to be in at least an episode of it, on The Twilight Zone as Woman in “Two”. The only other actor here is Charles Bronson as, oh guess, Man. It’s a piece of pure SF by Montgomery Pittman who also wrote the scripts for “The Grave” and “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank”.
So now we come to her in Bewitched, and the role that she was perfect for. It’s hard to write her up here without noting sexism of the time as her beauty was definitely the attraction for many of the viewers as opposed to her talent according to some of the news articles at the time. Or so said the critics.
But talented she was, displaying a deft comedic touch that I’ve seen in few female performers since her as she never overplayed her role, something that would’ve been oh so easy to do. She was Samantha Stephens, the very long-lived witch who defied witchery tradition and married a mortal.
Do note that it openly depicted them sleeping together and sexually attracted to each other. No separate beds here.
The first episode, “I Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha” was filmed a short while after she gave birth to her first child.
She was intelligent, not reserved and depicted as more than a match for anyone who might get in her way. Unusual for a female character of that time.
I have over the years rewatched many of the episodes, and they do hold up rather well provided you like Sixties comedy. I think this along with such shows as My Favorite Martian and The Munsters are some of the finest comic genre work done.
(8) COMICS SECTION.
(9) JEOPARDY! [Item by David Goldfarb.] This is a little belated, but I thought you might like to hear about SFF or genre-adjacent clues on last Thursday’s Jeopardy! episode.
In the first round:
Unreal Estate, $800:
The English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh is where this animal lover has his medical practice
Alison Betts tried “What is James Herriot?” but it was Brian Hardzinski who had the correct response, “Who is Doctor Dolittle?”
Abbreviated Television, $400:
In the ‘90s we had “ST: DS9”
Brian: “What is Star Trek: Deep Space 9?”
$800:
Don’t space out (or do) with “FAM”
Triple stumper, nobody made the attempt. This was Apple TV+’s alternate history space show, “For All Mankind”.
“T.P.”, $400:
Kyle MacLachlan was the clean-cut FBI agent investigating a murder in the very strange title town of this series
Returning champion Lee Wilkins gave us, “What is Twin Peaks?”
Unreal Estate, $400:
On his third voyage, this man travels to the flying island of Laputa, where the people are so lost in thought they notice little else
Alison: “Who is Gulliver?”
Double Jeopardy round:
Some Timely Words, $1200:
This 6-letter word means to go back in fictional time & rewrite the past of a character or narrative for a new work
Brian: “What is retcon?”
Final Jeopardy: Space Shuttles
2 space shuttles were named for craft commanded by this man, who died far from home in 1779
Lee: “Who is ?” — no answer.
Brian: “Who is Cook?” Correct. The vessels: Discovery and Endeavour.
Alison: “Who is Cook?” She was the game’s winner.
(10) MAS ECLIPSES. “Meet The Country About To Have Three Solar Eclipses In Three Years” – Forbes arranges the introduction.
What if your country suddenly had three major solar eclipses in three years? As the world’s attention fades from Monday’s “Great American Eclipse,” there’s a realization that there’s not another one in the U.S. until 2033. So where is the next eclipse?
It’s in Spain. Then Spain again, and again.
A few years ago, Argentina and Chile staged two total solar eclipses—one a glorious sight and another a rain-affected, COVID-affected event—but it’s another Spanish-speaking country that is about to take the eclipse baton….
(11) USE THE FORCE. The Guardian’s Harry Cliff submits “The big idea: are we about to discover a new force of nature?”
… There are four forces that we already know about. Gravity governs the grandest scales, marshalling the planets in their orbits and shaping the evolution of the universe as a whole. Electromagnetic force gives rise to a vast range of phenomena, from the magnetic field of the Earth to radio waves, visible light and X-rays, while also holding atoms, molecules and, by extension, the physical world together. Deep within the atomic nucleus, two further forces emerge: the vice-like “strong force”, which binds atomic nuclei, and the “weak force”, which among other things causes radioactive decay and enables the nuclear reactions that power the sun and the stars.
Studying these forces has transformed our understanding of nature and generated revolutionary new technologies. Work on electromagnetism in the 19th century gave us the electric dynamo and radio broadcasts, the discovery of the strong and weak forces in the 1930s led to nuclear energy and atomic bombs, while understanding gravity has made it possible to put astronauts on the moon and to develop GPS satellites that can tell us our location anywhere on Earth to within a few metres. Uncovering a fifth force would be one hell of a prize.
Hints that physicists may be on the brink of making such a breakthrough have been accumulating over the past decade. The first tranche of evidence comes from particle physics experiments here on Earth, the results of which appear to conflict with our current best theory of fundamental particles, the standard model.
Notwithstanding its rather uninspiring name, the standard model is one of humankind’s greatest intellectual achievements, the closest we have come to a theory of everything, and has passed almost every experimental test thrown at it with flying colours. So far at least.
However, the BaBar experiment in California, the Belle experiment in Japan and the LHCb experiment at Cern have all spied exotic fundamental particles known as “beauty quarks” behaving in ways that go against the predictions of the standard model. Meanwhile, just outside Chicago, Fermilab’s Muon g–2 experiment has been busily studying another type of fundamental particle called a muon, finding that it emits a slightly stronger magnetic field than expected.
The most exciting explanations for these anomalies involve hitherto unknown forces of nature that subtly alter the way beauty quarks transform into other particles or mess with the muon’s magnetism. …
(12) SF2 CONCATENATION SUMMER SEASON EDITION. [Item by Jonathan Cowie.] SF² Concatenation has just posted its seasonal edition of news, articles and reviews. A couple of the articles may be of interest to those attending the Glasgow Worldcon later this summer….
v34(3) 2024.4.15 — New Columns & Articles for the Summer 2024
v34(3) 2024.4.15 — Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Reviews
v34(3) 2023.4.15 — Non-Fiction SF & Science Fact Book Reviews
(13) VIDEO OF THE DAY. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] I have a feeling in my water (never a good sign) that this might be based on a Blake Crouch novel…? I have to confess I have a shameful weakness for Blake Crouch and have read four or five of his novels. They are light reads, more thrillery, but most have a decided SF riff which are great fun (if careful not to look at plot too closely). Anyway, see what you think…
A man is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Amid the mind-bending landscape of lives he could’ve lived, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from a most terrifying foe: himself.
[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Anne Marble, Kathy Sullivan, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Daniel Dern, David Goldfarb, Lise Andreasen, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Cat Eldridge.]
[Introduction: Melanie Stormm continues her humorous series of posts about the misdirected emails she’s been getting. Stormm is a multiracial writer who writes fiction, poetry, and audio theatre. Her novella, Last Poet of Wyrld’s End is available through Candlemark & Gleam. She is currently the editor at the SPECk, a monthly publication on speculative poetry by the SFPA.]
THE BOXING GLOVES MYSTERY
Hello, All! Melanie here.
When we last left our heroes, Tryxy the demon and his bandmate #bestkitten were booked to play a show at Paul Revere Preschool & Craft Brewery in Boston. There were threats of Cthulhu cultists, talent abductions, misguided GPS directions, and even a ghoul attack, but DemonKitty put on a great show regardless! The band is starting to go places, which Tryxy’s always wished for.
This gig was made possible by Arnold Rolfson, an A&R rep whose selfishness makes Writer X want to protect her BFF Tryxy’s feelings with violence.
But here’s the twist, last week Tod Boadkins, Writer X’s boyfriend, promised her a “special romantic present” if she could refrain from violence for a whole week. And guess what? She did it! A surprising success, indeed.
I didn’t think she’d make it. Since she’s been working hard to lose weight, X has been punchier than usual. I don’t blame her. Nothing fuels the temper like eating fewer carbs.
Without further ado…
Subject: TOURIST SEASON!!!!!!
Dear Gladys,
I don’t know how I’m supposed to focus on being the next big epic fantasy writer of all time when spring tourist season is already upon us!!!!
Sure, New Hampshire is a rugged and beautiful land of pristine lakes, angry sasquatches, vengeful ski slopes, and haunted antiques, but why do people from the state-south-of-us-that-shall-not-be-named insist on coming up here and MASS-ing everything up????
It all started when we got back from Boston last week. I needed to focus on next moves for getting DemonKitty out to the world. I also discovered I gained three pounds from when I accidentally drank a guzzler mug full of movie theater butter.
Nothing makes me focus like a good power walk in a new location so I started going down to Tatoskok lake to walk the new paved path on the shore line.
I was getting on some speed when I passed the cabins and that’s when I met that gosh darn kangaroo!!!!!! Don’t you hate it when Franklin Park Zoo lets its animals out on vacation???? Some of those animals are used to being in the spotlight and they have no idea how to interface with the rest of us mere mortals!!!!
Anyhoo, this kangaroo hops out of the larger cabin with a margarita in his paw and starts sucking it through a straw and watching me as I went by with a bored, amused expression on his face.
I was just a couple feet away when he says, “That’s a lot of pink for someone no one wants to look at. Spandex isn’t everyone’s friend.”
It took a second for me to understand him because of his accent and then another whole second for me to realize HE WAQS TALKING TO ME!!!!!
Now Gladys, I bet you probably think that all kangaroos have Australian accents but that’s just an example of stereotyping a species. This kangaroo definitely sounded like he was from the bronx.
I was so upset, I couldn’t concentrate, but I also couldn’t clobber him because I promised my boyfrriend, award nominated fantasy writer Tod Boadkins, that I wouldn’t get violent for a whole week and I still had two days to go thanks to a minor setback with a loud cellphone talker in the library.
But I went the next morning hoping for some peace and quiet so that I could create a masterplan for DemonKitty and it was like that kangaroo was waiting at the door watching for me to come!!!!!
“Nice hair curlers. Goes with your huffy puffy look. In fact, that’s what I’ll call ya. Liddle miss Huffy Puffy. How ya doin Miss Huffy Puffy?”
I stopped and shook my fist at him but without the ability to follow it up, it only made him double over laughing at me. You should never get into a bare knuckle fist fight with a kangaroo for obvious reasons, everyone knows that.
Fortunately for me, my week is up!!!! And I woke up to this text message from my boyfriend.
As soon as I figure out how to get my foot out of this tub of diaper wipes, I’m going to run downstairs and open it!!!!!! Everyone knows you shouldn’t attempt going down a set of stairs with a tub of diaper wipes on your foot.
Safety first, Galdsy!!!!!!!!
xox,
X
Subject: SWEET REVENGE!!!!!!!
Dear Gladys,
Well, I know my boyfriend loves me!!!! Because when I finally got my foot free of those diaper wipes I opened up my special present and found these beauties waiting for me!!!!
How did he know I needed a pair of hot pink boxing gloves?????? It’s like he’s psychic or something, but I know he isn’t because he doesn’t have a certificate like I do.
I instantly texted him and let him know I got his gift and that I was going to put them to immediate use!!!!!
As soon as I finish lacing these up, I’m off to Tatoskok Lake. Let’s see if that bully kangaroo can back up his mouth!!!!!!
This will get me all fired up for our DemonKitty band meeting this evening!!!
xox,
X
Subject: THaT sliPpPEry KAGNAROO!!!!!
Dear Gladys,
it’s been several days since I’ve got my brand new boxing gloves and I haven’t even been able to use them!!!!
Anyhoo, I’m sure you’re dying to know how my writing is going. I’ll have you know I’ve been writing haiku. I’m a well rounded writer. Not everyone can write haiku, you need five syllables, then seven syllables, then five syllables. Even I came to the art accidentally. My first one I wrote this morning when I discovered a haiku hidden in my shopping list. Most of my haiku are “found poetry.” Here’s the one I wrote this morning.
Fat Free Half And Half
Low Calorie Rice Cakes
Vat of Rocky Road
We have had a few productive meetings about DemonKitty’s future. They’ve been booked for a music festival, but what Tryxy and #bestkitten want to do is figure out how we can get more gigs both in and out of New Hampshire using the music festival booking as a way of proving they’re an in-demand band.
First, we decided we needed a way of letting people know that they’re even playing the music festival. Or any show at all. Other than flyers.
Then, we realized that probably we should focus on making people know that the band exists. We came to the conclusion that we need an OFFICIAL DEMONKITTY WEBSITE. After all, this isn’t just a hobby anymore. DemonKitty are professionals!!!!!!!
The only problem is the webdesigner costs real money and so far DemonKitty has only been paid in t-shirts and soggy, unseasoned curly fries so we’re working with a very low budget.
BUT LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS STUPID KANGAROO!!!!!
Whenever I have my boxing gloves on, I can’t find him!!!!! The first time I went with my gloves, he came out, sucked on his margarita and watched me coming toward him.
“Would you look who’s here? It’s liddle miss huffy puffy. How you doing liddle miss huffy puffy?” And then I got close enough and he saw I was laced and ready to go with a boxing glove on each fist!!!!
“Ah shit,” he said. And then he hopped into his cabin and locked the door!!!!!
No matter what I do, if I don’t have my boxing gloves on, he’s picks on me. If I do have my boxing gloves on, he runs into his house!!!!!
I’ve taken to stashing the gloves in a few different locations so that I can whip them out real fast and lay some hurtin’ on that kanga!!!!!!
In the meanwhile, my boyfriend has been acting very strange since I opened my present. He keeps asking me what my answer is and if the present he gave me gives me any thoughts about us. ???? I keep telling him that I’m very thankful for the present but I am completely focused on the kangaroo right now!!!!!!
I don’t know why he’s upset, I use them every day!!!!!!
xox,
X
Subject: WEBSITE DESIGN!!!!!!
Dear Gladys,
We figured out what to do about the website budget!!!!! I found a free webbuilder service called crappy.web!!!!! At crappy.web, you can design your own professional looking website without having to pay someone who actually knows what they’re doing!!!!!!! I’m going to build demonkitty’s website!!!!!!
Also: i snuck out to the lake last night and while that evil kangaroo was busy partying on his back deck with a couple of sloths and an extremely loud life coach, I slid my boxing gloves into his bushes!!!!!
Just wait til morning!!!!!!
xox,
X
Subject: WHY IS MY BOYFRIEND SO MAD?????
Dear Gladys,
I can’t believe I’m writing you this email from Lake Tatoskok in the middle of the night. My boyfriend, award nominated fantasy writer Tod Boadkins, got SUPER upset tonight when I came home without my boxing gloves.
At first I thought he was angry that I’m planning to fight that kangaroo, but when he found out the kangaroo calls me Liddle Miss Huffy Puffy, he completely agreed that that kangaroo needs to get clocked!!!!
But he was angry that I left them in the bushes especially since the boxing gloves were “so expensive.” I told him that I would replace the boxing gloves if they went missing and that didn’t console him AT ALL.
So now I’m out here at the lake and the lake monster is making super loud growly noises that keeps creeping me out and I’m digging around in the bushes looking for my gloves because my boyfriend said, “It’s not the gloves, it’s what’s inside the gloves!”
I’m pretty sure I just stepped in wet poison ivy.
Okay I’ve got ‘em!!!! I’m just going to dig one hand around inside and…
oh, there’s something in there.
it’s kinda small and hard.
and cirvular.
It’s a ring. With a white metal band and a pink stone.
Gladys, why would there be a ring with a pink stone in my boxing gloves. Why would my boyfriend, award nominated fantasy writer Tod Boadkins, give me a ring???
…OH MY GOD!!!!!
xox,
X
sent from my iPhone
The Tolkien Society Awards 2024 winners were announced April 13.
BEST ARTWORK
BEST ARTICLE
BEST BOOK
BEST ONLINE CONTENT
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD
The Writers Guild of America announced the 2024 Writers Guild Award winners at a ceremony on April 14.
Here are the winners of genre interest:
TELEVISION
New Series: “The Last of Us,” written by Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Craig Mazin, Bo Shim;
Animation: “Carl Carlson Rides Again” (The Simpsons), Written by Loni Steele Sosthand; Fox
Children’s Episodic, Long Form And Specials: “Romance Dawn” (One Piece), written by Matt Owens & Steven Maeda;
The complete list of winners follows the jump.
Continue reading(1) PROBABLY SOMETHING. I would use Patrick Morris Miller’s entire verse as the title if it wouldn’t break Jetpack. Here are the lyrics he posted in comments.
Something quite fannish,
Something quite slannish,
Something for everyone,
A pixel scroll tonight!from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Consuite
(2) TAFF NEWS. Taffluorescence 4, downloadable from the link, has the latest on the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund: (1) a two-vote correction to the TAFF results reported a couple weeks ago, (2) winner Sarah Gulde’s basic itinterary, and (3) financial information.
(3) QUANTUM SHORTS WINNERS. The winners of the Quantum Shorts flash fiction contest have been announced. The stories can be read at the links.
First Prize
Runner-Up
People’s Choice Prize
The two stories were selected for the competition’s top honors by Quantum Shorts judges Chad Orzel, George Musser, Ingrid Jendrzejewski, José Ignacio Latorre, Ken Liu, Leonardo Benini and Tania De Rozario from a shortlist of ten quantum-inspired stories. The winner receives $1500, and the runner-up gets $1000.
The People’s Choice Prize was chosen by a public poll on the shortlist, and includes $500.
In addition to the shortlist award, certificate and digital subscription to Scientific American that is awarded to all the finalists, the three winners will receive cash awards and an engraved trophy.
(4) FOR XUYA COMPLETISTS. “The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard” at Laura’s Library.
…The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard is one of the Best Series finalists for the 2024 Hugo Awards. As this point, there are two novels and 33 pieces of short fiction (4 novellas, 13 novelettes, and 16 short stories). Since the main connection between them is the setting, they can pretty much be read independently and in any order. Take a look at the author’s webpage about the series for suggestions on where to start and background information….
(5) WRITER BEWARE. Jeanne Veillette Bowerman explains “How a Book Really Becomes a Movie” in a guest post at Writer Beware. Here the introduction.
… The filmmaking industry baffles many—even those working in it. The reality is, there is no single way to get a film made. There are quite literally as many ways to break in as there are writers who’ve successfully done so, making scams harder to identify.
Sadly, when someone proactively reaches out to you, you have to assume it’s fake until you can prove otherwise. With scams abounding, the burden of proof has shifted. Due diligence has never been more important.
Let’s go through the traditional paths first, then I’ll share an unusual story to demonstrate how varied this process can be….
(6) IF YOU LIKE SCIENCE IN YOUR SF. AND ROMANCE. [Item by Ersatz Culture.] The Bookseller had an article about an upcoming romance novel that has a plot element that might be relevant to File 770: “Rights – Corvus snaps up Rose McGee’s STEM rom-com Talk Data to Me”.
Corvus has snapped up Rose McGee’s “delightful” STEM rom-com, Talk Data to Me…
“Physicists Dr Erin Monaghan and Dr Ethan Meyer are bitter rivals,” the synopsis says. “They are each at the forefront of their opposing fields and competing for everything: grant money, lab time, government backing. But fate has lined up a meet-cute on the pages of sci-fi magazine Galactica. Erin’s short story and Ethan’s illustrations are paired for publication, and when they meet online as their alter egos ‘Aaron Forster’ and ‘Bannister’, sparks fly.”
(7) HOMEMADE WHO. “Watch: The Doctor Who movie being filmed in Cardiff” at Nation Cymru.
A Doctor Who fan feature film described as a ‘passionate tribute to the classic ’70s and ’80s series’ is being filmed in Cardiff using local amateur actors and crew.
The movie titled ‘Dr Who meets The Scorpion’ is to be released as a non-profit film on YouTube purely for the pleasure of the fans to watch.
As of last month – 45 minutes of the 70 minute feature film is already in the can.
Now the makers of the movie have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds needed to complete filming…. [Dr Who meets the Scorpion at Greenlit]
…Are there any copyright implications in making something like this and how would you circumnavigate them?
There are literally hundreds of Dr Who fan films out there on Youtube. As well as Star Trek, Star Wars, James Bonds fan films. As long as you don’t try to make money out of something like Doctor Who that belongs to the BBC there has never been a problem. If you put it out on Youtube for free purely for the enjoyment of the fans then I don’t think the BBC is concerned. I’m not trying to compete with the BBC series and wouldn’t want to. How could we on our tiny budget? We’re trying to give a flavour of the 70s/80s series with a bit of the Peter Cushing Dalek movies thrown in as well. It’s my homage to the days of the classic series where the ingenuity of the designers faced with a tight budget produced some iconic sets and monsters out of nothing. Just like I’m having to do! That’s always been the charm of the classic series for me.
What is the plotline of Dr Who meets The Scorpion without giving away spoilers obviously?
The Doctor bumps into Jennie in a deserted warehouse at night, both there to find out more about the mysterious Scorpion company. They start to unravel a fiendish plot by the arch villain Scorpion and his right hand man Taylor which takes them from Earth to a planet far, far away! Thrills, spills, monsters, peril and adventure await them…and we couldn’t resist including the iconic Daleks as well!…
(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.
[Written by Cat Eldridge.]
Born April 14, 1925 — Rod Steiger. (Died 2002.) Let’s start with Rod Steiger’s best-known genre role as Carl in The Illustrated Man. The film is based off of three short stories from Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man released first seventy-three years ago, “The Veldt”, “The Long Rain” and “The Last Night of the World” with all three having been published elsewhere previously.
Need I say that I madly, deeply love this collection? I have it as an audiobook from Audible with the narrator being Scott Brick who does the Philip Marlowe series.
Steiger gives his usual commanding performance though I do think he was a bit much at times. Hostile and violent, it’s hard to feel any sympathy for him. That of course is the role. And setting aside the role, there’s that illustrated body. I wasn’t sure if it was his body that got illustrated or not until I actually found the image below which indicates that indeed he got inked before every filming session. Cool.
Let’s not forget the other two principal actors, Claire Bloom and Robert Drives, who put on magnificent performances as well. It was nominated for a Hugo at Heicon ’70.
He had several genre roles after that, all interesting.
A decade after this film, he’s in The Amityville Horror as Father Francis ‘Frank’ Delaney, a rather great role.
He’s Dr. Phillip Lloyd in The Kindred. Hey, it has a tentacled baby in it. Need I say more?
In Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! he is a United States Army General who did not trust the Martians, and advised nuclear warfare against them, an action which that is not allowed by President Dale.
He sank his teeth, no I couldn’t resist into his next role as Dr. Van Helsing, leader of Van Helsing’s Institute of Vienna in Modern Vampires (also known as Revenant).
Finally he’s in an Arnold Schwarzenegger film, End of Days, a horror film about a young woman who is chosen to bear the Antichrist. He’s Father Kovac here.
(9) COMICS SECTION.
(10) ALSO KNOWN AS. Rich Horton has put together a “Pseudonyms Quiz” for readers of Strange at Ecbatan.
…Most of these questions are about writers, but there are some from the film world, one singer, and one more politically-oriented individual. I’ll have answers in a couple of days. If you wish, leave your guess in the comments….
I got 11 out of 16, greatly aided by the hints that Horton sprinkled along the way. Not bad, but I expect to hear from Filers who have run the table.
(11) ADD ONE TO THE BUCKET LIST. “Deadpool & Wolverine Getting ‘Intentionally Crude’ Popcorn Bucket Kevin Feige Reveals” – story at Comicbook.com.
…While the folks behind the Dune: Part Two bucket (probably) didn’t intend for people to view it in a lewd way, Marvel Studios has decided to take the idea and run with it for Deadpool & Wolverine. Kevin Feige took the stage at CinemaCon today during Disney’s presentation and revealed the movie will have an intentionally risqué popcorn bucket.
“Deadpool & Wolverine is getting a popcorn bucket which will be intentionally crude and lewd. #CinemaCon,” ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis shared on Twitter while attending the presentation…
(12) GRADE INFLATION. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] This Variety article about movies presented at industry-insider CinemaCon is packed with information on upcoming releases. But it’s hard to take their overall conclusions too seriously since none of the companies’ slates received a grade below a B-. “CinemaCon Winners and Losers: ‘Gladiator 2,’ ‘Wicked,’ ‘Deadpool 3’”.
Hollywood decamped for Las Vegas this week for CinemaCon, looking to reassure movie theater owners and executives that they had what it takes to keep audiences flocking to cinemas through 2024 and beyond. And despite odes to the magic of the big screen experience, there was a whiff of desperation in the artificially-oxygenated, cigarette-perfumed air of Caesars Palace, where the annual exhibition trade show takes place.
That’s because the box office hasn’t recaptured its pre-pandemic stride — studios estimate that roughly 15% to 20% of frequent moviegoers have yet to resume their old entertainment habits now that COVID has dissipated. Plus, the labor strikes that consumed the media industry for much of the previous year as actors and writers hit the picket lines resulted in production delays that left theaters with fewer movies to hawk on their marquees….
….After four days filled with hours-long pitches to tease blockbuster hopefuls and big gambles, Variety has assessed the studio presentations that may have missed the mark or could just salvage the struggling box office….
(13) STIFFED AGAIN. In Morecambe & Wise’s 1980 Christmas Special, Peter Cushing makes another attempt to get the money he’s owed for appearing in the M&W show in the early 70’s
(14) VIDEO OF THE DAY. Jim Benson’s TV Time Machine investigates “What Happened to the Rod Serling’s Night Gallery Paintings?”
What happened to the Night Gallery paintings? Night Gallery co-author Jim Benson reveals the strange and sometimes sad fate of these classic, and valuable, TV artifacts. The fate of the Night Gallery paintings has always been shrouded in mystery–until now!
[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Ersatz Culture, Kathy Sullivan, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Patrick Morris Miller.]
The finalists for the 2024 Colorado Book Awards have been announced. Awards are presented in 16 categories by Colorado Humanities to celebrate the accomplishments of Colorado’s outstanding authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers.
The winners will be announced on June 21, 2024.
Works of genre interest include —
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY
SHORT STORY
ANTHOLOGY
YOUNG ADULT
JUVENILE LITERATURE
Left Coast Crime 2024 announced the Lefty Awards winners at a ceremony in Seattle, WA on April 13.
Best Humorous Mystery Novel
Best Historical Mystery Novel for books set before 1970 (The Bill Gottfried Memorial)
Best Debut Mystery Novel
Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories)
(1) MURDERBOT THEMES. Martha Wells has posted the text of the “Jack Williamson Lecture 2024” she delivered on April 12 in Portales, NM. Here are the opening paragraphs:
I’ve always been drawn to non-human characters, both as a reader and a writer. I’ve been writing them for most of my career. From Kade Carrion, the daughter of the Queen of Air and Darkness, in my first novel The Element of Fire, through the post-human Krismen in City of Bones, to my ant-lion-lizard-dragon-bee people in the Books of the Raksura series. But Murderbot was my first machine intelligence.
There are a lot of people who viewed All Systems Red as a cute robot story. Which was very weird to me, since I thought I was writing a story about slavery and personhood and bodily autonomy. But humans have always been really good at ignoring things we don’t want to pay attention to. Which is also a theme in the Murderbot series.
(Here’s an aside. (I do asides a lot, because Murderbot’s way of thinking was based on my own brain, except my attention span is a lot more limited.) One of the major publication reviews for Artificial Condition wondered why Murderbot was so wary of humans considering they were all so nice to it. That was also the novella where one of the characters was a ComfortUnit, which Murderbot called a sexbot, but I don’t know, maybe that was too subtle. So I’m not exaggerating about the way some readers ignore the fact that it was a story about enslaved people.)…
(2) ALL ABOARD THE TARDIS. The actor is making the jump from the Star Wars universe to the Whoniverse: “Varada Sethu to join Doctor Who in role as second companion” reports the Guardian.
Varada Sethu will join Doctor Who as one of the Doctor’s two companions for Ncuti Gatwa’s second series in the role, it has been confirmed.
She will appear onscreen in 2025, alongside the former Coronation Street actor Millie Gibson after speculation over her character Ruby Sunday’s future on the sci-fi show.
Sethu, who recently appeared in the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor, said it was an honour to be part of the long-running BBC series.
She said: “I feel like the luckiest person in the world. It is such an honour to be a part of the Whoniverse, and I’m so grateful to the whole Doctor Who family – because that is what they are – for welcoming me with open arms and making me feel so at home.
(3) POTUS PACKS A PUNCH. “‘Captain America: Brave New World’: Harrison Ford’s POTUS Wants Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson To Rebuild The Avengers In First Look At CinemaCon” says Deadline.
…Fanboys will have to wait until San Diego Comic Con to see footage from Marvel Studios‘ 2025 release Captain America: Brave New World, but exhibitors do not. On Thursday during Disney‘s closing CinemaCon session, the studio showed off the new Anthony Mackie movie that picks up after the events of the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In that series, Sam Wilson takes over the shield left behind by the late Steve Rogers (Chris Evans)….
… In the clip, Harrison Ford’s POTUS wants Sam Wilson to rebuild the Avengers. He’s impressed what the hero did down in Mexico. However, Wilson wonders what happens if they disagree on how to manage the new team. Next scene: Ford is making a presentation to a room full of authorities. However, a couple of people in the crowd become possessed — Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley and a general — and turn on the crowd, in particular Ford’s character. A la Air Force One, he’s a tough POTUS and punches the military guy in the face….
(4) SUNDAY MORNING TRANSPORT. “I Am Not the One Who Gets Left Behind” by Eric Smith is a free read at Sunday Morning Transport to inspire new subscriptions.
When I can smell my wife’s apple cinnamon French toast, I know the monsters are outside.
I peer out of our third-floor window to the darkened street below, and for a second, just a second, I can almost taste it again, but I know it’s all a lie. A trick. I lost my sense of smell after hitting my head in a car accident years ago. I’ve made it too long, and they’re not gonna get me….
(5) FARSCAPE WINS THE LONG GAME. “Farscape’s Ben Browder, Rockne O’Bannon on Series Legacy, Revival Ideas” at Syfy Wire.
…It’s taken a quarter of a century for Farscape to achieve the respect and appreciation that it boasts today. At launch, Sci Fi the channel was still growing so if you didn’t have basic cable TV that carried the network, there was no other way to access the series. But for those who had access and loved unique sci-fi storytelling, Farscape was like discovering a tingly aura morph.
Brian Henson told SYFY WIRE that it’s been such a singular experience to watch the series go from niche audience, to convention darling and now well-respected series by both critics and audiences.
“It’s so interesting because we live in an industry where I’ve heard year after year after year, that you know you have a hit after the opening night. In my company, that has been 100% not true,” Henson laughed. “Well, I guess the first Muppet Movie was a hit on the first night. But other than that, everything grew on people because what we do is always very original. And that means nobody knows what to expect which always takes longer to find a fan base. And the fan base of Farscape just gets bigger and bigger.”…
(6) ESCAPE FROM OZ…TO GLENDALE. “The Oz Escape Experience” arrives in Glendale, CA on October 26, 2024. Tickets at the link. Learn when it’s coming to other locations, or about the company’s other experiences, at Questo: Play & Explore Fun Tours by Local Storytellers.
The magical world of Oz arrives to the streets of your city in the form of an outdoor escape room-style experience.
You will use your phone to follow hidden clues, solve witty puzzles and complete fun challenges as you walk around the city.
Follow the story of the iconic team of misfits trying to escape from Oz before the witch has her way! The event is entirely based on the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel by L. Frank Baum.
You can play at your own pace or against the clock to compete with friends or hundreds of other teams parading their fantastic costumes (wearing costumes is optional at the event).
(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.
[Written by Cat Eldridge.]
Born April 13, 1950 — Ron Perlman, 74. Hellboy of course as we all well know. I was surprised that the Hellboy movie wasn’t nominated for a Hugo but Hellboy II: The Golden Army was at Anticipation. Both are excellent in different ways.
Ron Perlman was in my opinion the perfect performer to be Hellboy. Not only did he have the physicality to pull off the role but he had the presence to pull off that role even though he was under Harbour’s makeup prosthetics to the point that he had to express himself by overcoming the limitations that those prosthetics placed upon his natural facial expressions. And he did that magnificently.
Of course his voice was a major aspect of it. That deep, resonating voice. Perfect for a demon that liked a lot of cats. He used that voice later when there were two Hellboy animated films and a short, all quite well done.
Everything about him worked here. The outfit, the gun, the cigar, his backstory. Yes, I know it all came from Mike Mignola but getting it to the screen that way was amazing, it really was. And I have read all of the all Hellboy stories up to the last decade when it stopped really being interesting though I did keep reading the Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. series as I think that really fantastic.
The movie was likewise fantastic as I thought it was just perfect with everything being stellar. Well almost. I wasn’t thrilled by the Tom Manning character but I’m fairly sure that I wasn’t supposed to be. So I can’t count how many times I’ve seen it, at least a half dozen now.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army was excellent though a quieter film if that’s the right word for it. The absolute highlight here is the spectacular Goblin Market. I’ve not looked to see but is this based off a particular Mignola graphic novel?
So now for other genre work. I’m only including that where he’s in makeup as I’ll be including images of him in each of those makeups.
He was in The Island of Doctor Moreau film of the same name as the story by H. G. Wells. His character was a juicy role indeed, the Sayer of the Law, a blind sheep/goat/human hybrid who is the priest figure among the hybrids.
He’s Deiter Rheinhart, a pureblood vampire and a member of the Bloodpack, a group of vampires specially trained by the House of Damaskinos to hunt Blade in Blade II. Need I say he comes to a bad end?
He’s the Reman Viceroy in Star Trek: Nemesis. Reman Viceroy was the title of Romulan Praetor Shinzon’s Reman adviser, Vkruk.
And of course, there’s the beloved by many Vincent in the Beauty and the Beast series. Loved the series, wasn’t at all fond of the way that they wrapped it up.
(8) COMICS SECTION.
(9) STRANGE OLD WORLD. “Star Trek: Scotty played by Scottish actor for first time” enthuses BBC News.
For the first time in almost 60 years Star Trek character Scotty is being played by a Scottish actor.
Previously the role has been filled by Canadian actor James Doohan and Englishman Simon Pegg.
Now Scottish actor Martin Quinn is portraying a younger version of the character in the prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Martin jokingly told BBC Scotland News, “We are rebranding him, he’s from Paisley now.”
(10) CREATURE COMFORTS RIDES AGAIN. “Claymation Magic: Aardman Teams with the BBC on ‘Things We Love’” – Animation World Network tells where the dialog comes from.
… Creature Comforts is a wonderfully inventive adult stop-motion comedy mockumentary franchise created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations. It originated with Park and Aardman’s hilarious, Oscar-winning 1989 animated short film of the same name, which matched animated zoo animals with voices of people talking about their homes, making it appear as if the animals were being interviewed about their living conditions. The film later became the basis of a series of television advertisements for electricity boards in the United Kingdom, and in 2003, a television series in the same style was released.
“Things We Love is similar in that there was no script, so you don’t know exactly where you’re going with the short until you start to interview people,” shares Webber. “We got some lovely warmth, comedy, and natural conversation. We started with only a few questions and then let the conversation go where it wanted to go, keeping an ear out for possible animated scenarios or animals that would be a good fit for conveying what’s being said and who’s saying it.”
Aardman has created six short films in total for the BBC’s Things We Love campaign, transforming the interviewees into Claymation animals, from pigeons to hamsters. …The sixth and final short – which centers on an older and younger brother as mice – [was released] Saturday, April 6.
You can watch all the released shorts here.
Here’s an earlier one about pigeons.
Mice Watching TV is the latest:
[Thanks to Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Robin Anne Reid, Lise Andreasen, Kathy Sullivan, Steven French, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day OGH.]
Review by Denise Kitashima Dutton: I’m always game for dark chocolate. Plus, I’m a sucker for hazelnuts (aka filbert, a name I absolutely love) in any form. So hello, combination of the two! Ghirardelli blends their premium chocolate with nicely minced nuts to create a bar that’s going onto my list of favorite candies.
This chocolate is chewy at room temperature. It’s a nice chewiness, without the waxy feel some lesser chocolate bars have. Substantial scattering of diced hazelnuts give each bite a bit of crunch to go along with that chew. (Note: putting the bar in the fridge gives it a snap that makes it easy to parse out equal squares, and gives the nuts extra crispness.) Ghirardelli makes no mention of the percentage of cacao in this bar, but as it’s in their “Intense Dark” line and the chocolate has a lovely deep color, I’d guess it’s over 70%. Could be wrong in that, though.
Each bar gives you eight 1×1″ squares, which makes parceling out individual nibbles very easy. Y’know, if you’re the kind that can stop at one square. The website says this bar is perfect for sharing, but screw that. It’s too yummy; before you know it, it’s gone.
Pairs well with wine, coffee, a nice oolong, or champagne. If you can stand to share, add squares of this bar to a charcuterie board. It’d make incredible s’mores, especially if you swap your graham crackers with shortbread or solid slices of angel food cake. What? With chocolate this good, you’ll want to head for the good stuff just to keep up.
Denise Kitashima Dutton has been a reviewer since 2003, and hopes to get the hang of things any moment now. She believes that bluegrass is not hell in music form, and that beer is better when it’s a nitro pour. Besides GMR, you can find her at Atomic Fan Girl, Movie-Blogger.com, or at that end seat at the bar, multi-tasking with her Kindle.