Category Archives: Skiffy

Lovecraft Beer Premieres 1/19

Posted on by

Lovecraft honey aleNaragansett Beer will release its Lovecraft Honey Ale on January 19 — birthday of that other genius of horror, Edgar Allan Poe.

The Lovecraft Honey Ale was inspired by the Space Mead consumed by winged Byakhee as protection from “interstellar space travel” in Lovecraft’s “The Festival”.

It is the first in a four-part series of beers honoring Providence’s most famous native son.

“We’re celebrating our 125th anniversary here and this is kind of an extension of what we’ve been trying to do at the brewery, bringing back this great brand through a historical lens and local authenticity,” says Narragansett Beer President Mark Hellendrung. “One of our ‘Gansett Girls is actually a librarian and she had this idea, knowing that Lovecraft’s birthday was in 1890, the same year our brewery was founded.”

The next beer in Narragansett’s Lovecraft series will be an “Innsmouth” old ale, which will be released in April. Its container will have artwork by Jason Eckhardt, an artist and employee at The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society.

Next time you’re building that bheer can tower to the Moon be sure to include some Lovecraft-themed empties!

Feghoot Winners Posted

Posted on by

The victors in the Washington Post’s feghoot contest were published in the Style Invitational column on December 24. As you know, Bob –

A little story that ends in an elaborate pun: It’s sometimes called a feghoot, named for a series of sci-fi tales by the pseudonymous Grendel Briarton, “Through Time and Space With Ferdinand Feghoot.”

Honestly, the four top finishers did nothing for me, but I liked several of the honorable mentions. For example —

Humphrey Bogart had several rather odd hobbies; one of them was collecting miniatures of Greek mythological characters. One day he was talking about his collection with fellow movie star Ray Milland. “You know, Broderick Crawford has always greatly admired them,” Milland said. “Yes, I know,” answered Bogie. “Tell you what: Give my wee gods to Brod, Ray.” (Mae Scanlan, Washington)

And, given the nature of the beast, it is only right to quote this runner-up as well:

If John Dryden were alive today and having lunch at McDonald’s, he would never order a hamburger: He believed that a bun is the lowest form of wheat. (Gary Crockett)

[Thanks to Martin Morse Wooster for the story.]

A Little Knight Cap

Posted on by

Sir Patrick Stewart is unaccountably overcome by the ordeal of wearing a talking Christmas hat.

To paraphrase Chekov in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: “They put things on our heads to control our minds!”

[Thanks to Martin Morse Wooster for the link.]

We Interrupt This Christmas

Posted on by

As I touch down at home at the end of Christmas Day, ballasted by pumpkin pie and carrying a stack of gifts, I can offer File 770 readers two more digital souvenirs of the holiday.

First is Gahan Wilson’s F&SF cover for Harlan Ellison’s 1969 story “Santa Claus vs. S.P.I.D.E.R.” — the link goes to Google Books’ multi-page excerpt (via Steven E. de Souza).

Ellison Santa Claus Gahan Wilson

Then, James H. Burns’ affords us the opportunity to see the cast of Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera lip-synch Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” something they did because every year Mariah Carey is in the audience with her mother, seeing her mom’s favorite show once again. (The video was directed by cast member Jeremy Stolle.)

“Thanks to the good folks at Playbill.com,” says Burns. “This is actualy kind of joyous, and, inherently, a neat, behind the scenes look at a Broadway show!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3agf5wlakY

A Star Wars Christmas

Posted on by

Check out this Star Wars-themed Christmas light display in Newark, CA, rocking the neighborhood with nine tunes from the movies.

I built all the props using wood, metal, acrylic and corrugated plastic. I am a music/teacher director for a living (COVA Conservatory in Oakland and Centerville Presbyterian Church in Fremont), hence the massive instruments! If you look closely (especially during the Cantina song) the instruments are playing the real notes! …The guitar is 17′, the piano is 19′ and the drums are standard. About 12,500 channels running around 100,000 lights.

There once was a manager in my office whose radical frontyard Christmas light display repeatedly won the city of Burbank’s top award. He was a piker next to this Star Wars fan! Could his lights be seen for miles? No. Did he need to make sure his lights didn’t shine into airline flight paths? No. Did he raise thousands for charity? No – the donations he sought were to pay his own power bill. The owner of the Newark display says due to LED technology the power bill is only $100 a month. He uses his light show to attract donations to a church food program.

Craig Ferguson’s Relative Dimensions in Time and Space

Posted on by

By James H. Burns: There’s even more genre musical fun in this opening from Friday’s last broadcast of Craig Ferguson’s late night CBS talk show. (Throughout the evening, Ferguson had a Tardis on his desk, and the night before, mentioned he would love to be on Doctor Who, but was afraid he’d ruin it…) Perhaps oddly, I also found this musical montage, and ensemble, moving: Ultimately, what choice do we all have, but to keep “banging on?”

(We’d mention the multiplicity of star-turns, but then that might t ruin half the fun!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IryWHhBiH0Q

Colbert Farewell Number Doesn’t Bomb

Posted on by

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUy1-JakJtE

George Lucas, Sir Patrick Stewart, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Elijah Wood, J.J. Abrams and Smaug represented sf and fantasy in the musical finale of The Colbert Report , coming to an end so its host can replace Letterman on CBS.

An army of celebrities emerged from the wings to join Colbert in singing “We’ll Meet Again,” beginning with his Comedy Central colleague Jon Stewart, then Willie Nelson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Henry Kissinger and dozens of others — the full array of cameo appearances is listed here.

James Franco, Andy Cohen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Elijah Wood, Henry Kissinger, Mike Huckabee, Bob Costas, Tim Meadows.

James Franco, Andy Cohen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Elijah Wood, Henry Kissinger, Mike Huckabee, Bob Costas, Tim Meadows.

Others of genre interest for one reason or another, scientist Francis Collins, economist Paul Krugman, an astronaut on the International Space Station and Marvel Comics’ Joe Quesada.

Even “We’ll Meet Again” is an sf reference — it’s the song played at the end of Dr. Strangelove while the nukes are going off.