#read his name in the first intro of 1899 and was like

[the-body-remembers]

honestly just want to drop these lovely pictures of Andreas and his partner Jasmin at the 1899 premiere into the tag because I want to gush over how absolutely cute they are

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 27 May 1954

A single song week, but it's an odd song, which is cool, and it seems to fit with the nostalgic vibe of Billy Cotton's song last week. Because this song is nothing if not a throwback - are we having a bit of a 1920s nostalgia moment, here?

The Gang That Sang Heart of My Heart - Max Bygraves (peaked at No. 7)

Max Bygraves has already graced us with Cowpuncher's Cantata. He was a comedian, and that song was lightly comedic, and so is this one, but it's a strange, 1950s sort of comedy that isn't actively offensive, but doesn't read quite like comedy today. It just feels corny, in a slightly charming way.

It's got a very weird title, to my eyes. A quick check tells me that it's a reference to a famous 1899 barbershop quartet standard called The Story of the Rose, which is often referred to by its chorus' first line which is - you guessed it - "Heart of my heart". The song itself was often used in singing Valentines. The more you know.

We don't hear it straight away, but instead get a slightly jazzy intro straight out of the 1920s, harking back to an age of barbershop singing. It actually feels a lot like something Randy Newman might come up with today, a sort of campy, vintage cabaret feel. I really hope that was the spirit this was done in - it makes it so much better, if you assume that nobody involved was taking the throwback style too seriously.

Lyrically, it's simple, and as nostalgic as its tune is. Max thinks back to his youth, in what sounds like a very odd kind of street gang who stood around on street cornners. Excelt, "we were rough and ready guys / But oh how we could harmonise". It's the weirdest, least expected rhyme we've had yet, and I love it!

The whole song's about how this song they used to sing "brings back a memory" and how everything in the past was better, including the spurious claim that "friends were dearer then". He's sure that if he heard the song again, he'd get all emotional - and then the spoken word section begins, with an arch "Let me hear that barbershop quartet. Ready, fellas?"

Amazingly, an actual barbershop quartet then comes in to sing the chorus, except it's peppered with inane observations from Max, none of them delivered particularly convincing, from "It's my favourite" and "Wonderful, isn't it?", to the more impenetrable "Keep it humble boys". They're all just very lame, and amusing and irritating to me in equal measure. I can't decide if they're the worst of the funniest thing ever, they're that bad.

We break only for a dad joke, as Max suggests that "I'll just sing this part solo - so low you can't hear me". Groanworthy, truly, though he does then at least go for a solo, so it's not completely gratuitous.

Still, I can't exactly be sad when he cuts himself off with a spoken "Everybody sing!", which brings the backing singers back for a rousing final chorus. It's a nice moment, though again, it feels like it could be from a Randy Newman song. I'm imagining Mike from Monsters Inc singing this song, and it does improve it quite a bit.

Well, that was a trip. Not necessarily a good one, but it certainly wasn't boring. I'm not sure if people bought this and took it seriously, but it's a lot more fun if you don't. And with that, I think I have to name it as my favourite. So...

Favourite song of the bunch - all together now! - The Gang That Sang Heart of My Heart

[the-awkward-outlaw]

A New Adventure - Pt. 3

Introducing Arthur to movies

Masterlist 

Read on AO3 

Having a cowboy transported from 1899 isn’t easy. After only being around him for one night, he seems to be partially in shock the next morning from everything he’s experienced so far. 

You get up earlier than usual in order to show him around the house so he can entertain himself while you’re at work. 

You tell him not to go outside for anything. You promise him in a while you’ll introduce him to the rest of the world, but for now he needs to take it slow. He’s more than happy to listen to your advice. 

You’re about to show him around the house when he stops you and says he doesn’t even know your name. You tell him and he smiles. “Glad to put a name to my guardian angel,” he says. You try your best to hide your blush. 

You show him where food is stored so he can feed himself with some snacks while you’re at work. He says he’s fine with what’s in his satchel. 

After serving up two bowls of cereal, he tells you he likes them, but you can’t tell if he’s being honest or just being nice. 

Arthur sits on the couch when you tell him as you try to find something for him to watch to keep him occupied while you’re at work. You tell him you’ll try to get off early, but to not hope. 

You don’t want to introduce Arthur to anything too plot heavy or CGI heavy. In the end, you find a show on Netflix that runs over events of history in America from the early 1800’s to the early 2000’s. Figuring this would be a perfect show to help him learn what’s happened in the past 120 years, you flip it on.

Arthur’s immediately shocked by the moving pictures on your screen. It’s just the intro scene, the narrator stating what the first episode will cover with some minor graphics rolling across the screen. You explain it’s just like the tent in Valentine with the moving pictures, only far more advanced. 

After Arthur’s initial fright, he starts focusing on the TV, listening and watching. You sigh and hope it’ll suffice while you’re at work. 

You try not to laugh at the confused look on his face, but you can tell he’s drawn into the show. 

While he watches his show, you bring out your makeup and a pocket mirror. His eyes abandon the screen to watch you apply your makeup.

“I don’t remember the last time I seen a lady wear makeup. Maybe the bar gals in Valentine.” 

You laugh. “Yeah, well in order to look professional and presentable, I have to wear makeup, Arthur.” 

He doesn’t understand why and thinks it makes you look less genuine and real, an opinion you secretly agree with him on. You tell him to look at it less like makeup and more like war paint. He doesn’t seem to understand that either and you decide not to go further into it. 

Once you’re dressed and ready for work, you pause and look at him. You wish there was a way to look in on him or have some way to contact him should he need anything. In the end, you do your best to explain how the TV remote works so if his show runs out of episodes, he can turn on something else. He says he remembers what you showed him but you don’t believe him. 

He comforts you a little by telling you if he runs out of something to watch and can’t figure out the remote, he’s more than happy to raid your bookshelf and find something. 

You remind him one last time not to go outside and to not answer the door if someone knocks. You’re glad your dog is there to keep him company. She’s clearly in love with him as she settles onto his lap. 

Just before closing the front door behind you, you look one last time at Arthur. He’s left his hat off as he watches the screen. You hope he’ll be fine. You decide on your way to work, you’ll pick up one of those cheap disposable cell phones and try to teach him how to use it. 

This is going to be a long day at work, you tell yourself. 

Once you get home, you find Arthur passed out on the couch. You’re not surprised, the poor man’s been through hell and back with his gang, not to mention his illness must be taking a significant toll. 

The TV’s been turned off and you’re happy to see the house is in order. Arthur’s been respectful and hasn’t moved any of your things, not even food from the fridge or cabinets despite you inviting him to help himself. 

You get dinner going (spiced chicken with herb-roasted potatoes). He walks into the kitchen and greets you, thanking you again for the hospitality. You can practically hear him groan from the smell of the food cooking. You ask him if he’s eaten anything.

“Not really,” he admits. He tells you he ate a few things from his satchel but felt bad about taking any of your food since you’ve been so kind to him. 

You show him how to operate the stove and the oven, trying to encourage him to feed himself when you’re gone. You tell him he has to eat regularly in order to keep his strength up and that it’ll only help him get better that much quicker. 

He blushes at how much you’re fussing over him and he gives you an odd smile before hiding his eyes beneath his hat.

[jessiewre]

Day 22

Sun 26th Jan 💜

It’s been a year to the day since we lost Nanny. That’s mad isn’t it. Miss that legend.

Woke up at about 5am because we’d gone to bed too early, but managed to power through and stay in bed till 7am. Phil got up and continued researching his new obsession - a half marathon near Kilimanjaro - and I joined him at 8:30am for Spanish omelette breakfast included in our 25$ a night room. Good deal that init. People say that in London you’re never further than like 5 meters away from a rat. Well thats like me and good deals, there’s always one close by for me to sniff out. Maybe I’m more like one of those pigs and the deals are truffles.

I digress...

The hostel manager was now wearing a chefs coat and I realised he was now the chef. What a multi-talented chap he was. I threw him into a frenzy by asking for salt, pepper, ketchup and chilli sauce, and eventually went into the kitchen myself to assist.

The ketchup was in a huge bucket bottle in the fridge and he gracefully glugged it out into a plastic squeezey bottle that he couldn’t find the lid for. Yum.

Shout out to Stella and Helen who will surely boke at that description of keptchup.

We got bodas to the Woman’s Centre for the recommended walking tour starting at 10am - but there was a big bike race on believe it or not, and so road blocks meant we had to walk the last kilometre. Phil was loving the bike race, I could see his legs twitching like he was imagining himself on a bike that moment, but I soon snapped him back to reality by power-walking ahead to avoid us being super late to the walk.

The sky was rapidly turning a dark shade of grey but Phil assured me that the weather report he’d checked stated that there would be no rain until midday or later.

You may be able to sense where this is going.

We arrived at the Centre and sat in the sofa area for the introduction, and the exact moment the woman began to talk and tell us about the community, the rain began to thunder on the metal roof and no one could hear a word she said. After 10 minutes, the intro finished and the rain actually calmed down a little, but then it went totally crazy again and me and Phil looked at each other like...hmm should we just not do this walking tour.

Another English girl there was thinking the same thing and the 3 of us decided to ditch the tour and head back the next day, while the 3 older people and a young American woman went off in the torrential rain with umbrellas. Umbrella’s are all good and well but I couldn’t see another soul on the streets so I seriously doubted how good a community walking tour would be in this weather. We chatted to the English girl, Esther, and she was ending a weeks work doing research for the Princes Trust who she works for. In a nutshell, she creates programmes for local groups in different countries to integrate technology into their lives to improve their prospects and quality of life. Really interesting! Phil mentioned that she should hang at our hostel later if she wanted as we were planning on trying out the bowling alley on site, and she was really up for that, especially considering she was in Kigali on her own and it was her last night.

The rain eventually calmed down enough for us to jump on a boda and we decided that considering the rain, it would be appropriate to visit the Genocide Museum at this point. We knew we were going to visit it at some point so made sense to be inside during the rain.

We were really hungry though and didn’t want to rush through the museum, so thankfully there was a cafe on site where we had a vege burger and vege panini, both with chips. We decided we’d try and lay off the chips for a while after that meal, it was the chip that broke the camels back.

The Rwandan Genocide museum was a harrowing and necessary visit.

The below information is upsetting, I’ll warn you now.

genocide

noun

noun: genocide; plural noun: genocides

1. the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.

To briefly summarise, the problems began when the country was ‘colonised’ - or should we say if we’re being honest, when the country was invaded against its will. The Germans were first in 1899 then the Belgians in 1916 and then the Belgian’s decided to split the country into three different groups. Ultimately this created a sort of competition between the groups of people that had never existed before and this was what they say sparked the issues in the country. Fast forward to 1994, and the genocide officially began, over a period of 100 days - neighbours were murdering neighbours, friends were murdering friends. Relatives even betrayed each other. By turning people against each other, the ringleaders were able to sit back and watch the killings happen for them.

Being in the country now, its very difficult to imagine it happening, as it feels vibrant, friendly and safe. But the images in the museum leave you under no illusions. People were mindlessly slaughtered, no one was spared - children, pregnant women and men. It was absolutely mind-blowingly horrendous.

The museum talks a lot about how the international community sat back and let it happen, like Rwanda was on another planet that no one cared about. There is obviously a lot of pain from that which was difficult to read about.

But there were also a number of people who put themselves on the line by hiding people in their houses and gardens, saving many lives. Unfortunately, there were not enough of those people and over a million people were killed. They are still uncovering mass graves today.

There were videos playing with interviews from survivors talking about the guilt they feel from being the only member of their family who survived. But incredibly, they spoke about forgiveness and said they would like to forgive the perpetrators if they were willing to ask for forgiveness. They spoke about moving forward with only peace in mind, as this was what would move Rwanda forward in a peaceful way. By seeking revenge, the violence and pain would continue, they said. It’s unbelievable to hear that from someone who watched their innocent young siblings and mother murdered by machete in front of their very eyes. You can’t even imagine what this person has gone through.

One of the most difficult parts of the museum was The Children’s Room. This section had beautiful photos of child victims printed in large portraits displayed around the room, with a small plaque underneath each one with bullet points of information about the child, like:

Name

Age

Favourite Snack

Best Friend


Then the final point for every child was

Cause of death

The descriptions here were detailed and distressing.

Obviously there is a huge amount of detail missing from this account of the genocide and I urge you to have a read about it if you have time and are interested.

We left there after a few hours taking it all in and went to find the Inema Art gallery, as we’d read about it being a really cool artists space that has had a lot of international interest.

It was different to what I expected, as there wasn’t actually a lot of pieces in there - more like a few extremely large pieces, each priced around $5000. So obviously, we bought two and headed off.

Well anyway, some of the artists were there stood near their art in smart clothes and were hoping for a super rich muzungu coming in and buying everything. That was not going to be us, so we thanked them and headed to the cafe for a little coffee.

Not before I asked them if there were any female artists there.

One guy said No, the women in Rwanda seem to stick to the craft-making and THEN he said that even though many are good at art, he thinks they are lacking in passion.

I said Hmm perhaps you means Confidence, not passion.

He was like Oh yeah, maybe that.

Yeah MAYBE THAT mate.

We boda’d back to the hostel and Phil donned up in his gear for a run. Just before heading off, he finally booked himself a spot onto the Kilimanjaro half marathon in Moshi, Tanzania on 1st March. FFS. Better get practicing on my excited supportive girlfriend look then.

Meanwhile I sat in the hostel garden watching videos on how to use Procreate on the iPad. Suddenly realised Phil had been gone AGES and then he rocked up having run like 10 MILES and then said Oh also, I may have tripped over and potentially broken my toe.

He’d taken out his phone to check the map and ended up kicking a bit of metal sticking out of the group, and then he’d fallen over and made a few new cracks on his phone screen (to join the 5 that were already there).

Wicked.

Phil had a quick shower and change while hobbling around on his bad foot (I hear broken toes are brilliant for half marathons), and Esther arrived at the hostel, so we went searching for a restaurant open on a Sunday. After a few fails, we eventually stumbled across a place called Afrika Bite and negotiated the 10k per person meaty Rwandan platter down to 5k each for a vegetarian version for all of us. It was so good! Garlic potatoes, peanut sauce, rice, vegetables, fried banana, salad, plus some ‘fish fingers’ ordered as an extra. Such a welcome relief to eat something local and delicious. Shout out to those who are reading this blog mainly for the food descriptions.

We went back to the hostel to play in East Africa’s 2nd bowling alley (the only other one is in Nairobi!) and Esther made sure she mentioned she had a ‘bad neck’. That would explain her unbelievably bad scoring thats for sure. Ok now to be fair, Phil the physio also advised that she use the heaviest ball available which turned out to be truly awful advise and after a stagnant run of about 2 points in 6 goes, she tried a really light ball - and actually hit some pins! Go Esther.

Can I also mention that this bowling alley had a system where a bloke hidden at the end would organise the pins and reset them for us manually using a kind of lever system. He always managed to move his hands out of the way before the ball struck the pins of course.

Esther headed back to her hotel and we ended up playing basketball on the two hoops game with Desire the manager. Our quick game of ‘How many can you score in 1 minute’ managed to take over our lives for over an hour. My record was 23, Phil’s 24 (he’s taller init) and Desire managed 33 (well, he works there so ya know). Was addictive and super fun and I got the impression Desire will spend the next year working on his pb.

[musicgoon]

Recommended Reading

Providing A Freshly Curated, Weekly Link List on Christianity & Culture.

Find my weekly recommended reading with the RR tag. Dedicated link posts with personal commentary can be found through the link tag. Real-time news and article sharing happens on Twitter and my Facebook page.

I love seeing new things on the Internet and reading and your comments, so please keep in touch. And to get all of my articles, exclusive insight, and more from my many projects, subscribe to my newsletter.

In a recent partnership, on Fridays I plan to contribute a curated link column specifically for SOLA Network readers. I hope to highlight articles related to Asian American issues and blog posts written by Asian American authors. You can read my first roundup from last Friday on their website.

Christianity

Make ‘Christian’ Engagement with the Arts More . . . Christian

Discipling Kids Is a Long Game of Small Interactions

Sexual Abuse in Student Ministry

Why Your Sermon Needs More Tension—Especially in the Intro

Never Forget: You Need What Your Kids Need

What Advice Would You Give Newly Married John Piper?

Murder By Any Other Name: Introducing Fourth-Term Abortion

How to Teach Children to Deal with Bullying

Intimacy with Christ Is for Men and Women

How Your Mind Fuels Your Joy: Q&A on the Life of the Mind

Glenn Harrington: Be Truthful, Not Original

God Will Provide the Ability You Need

Girl, Follow Jesus

9 Exceptional Works of Worship Architecture in the United States

4 Ways Writing Helps Me as a Pastor

Faithful Parenting Is Successful Parenting

Church: There Is Something Wrong If We Are Not Reminded Of Our Mortality And Jesus Resurrection

The Benefits of Honoring Singleness

How To Discipline a Pastor

God Set His Sermons on Fire: Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981)

How Not to Be Desperate

Ask Ligonier with Stephen Nichols

Jonathan Edwards and His Support of Slavery: A Lament

Russell Moore on Encouragement for Parents

7 Questions For Meaningful Conversation With Believers

Where Are All the Single Pastors?

What Is Baptism?

How to Fill Roles in Your Ministry Team

Melodies of Sin and Salvation: Why Modern Worship Music Needs a More Holistic View of Salvation

One-on-One with Russell Jeung on Emerging Adults in the Church

Cheapening the Western Musical Tradition: Some Thoughts Inspired by Theodore Gioia and Andy Crouch

Four Ways to Fight Sexual Sin

What Millennials Really Think About Evangelism

The Value of Praying Parents: A Teen’s Perspective

Don’t Fall for This Misconception about Singleness

The Missing Relationship in the Church

Real Men Read their Bibles

He Sold All His Pearls for One

Reflections on Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

Expository Preaching and Christo-Promise

Christotelic Preaching: A Plea for Hermeneutical Integrity and Missional Passion

Editorial: Preaching the Glory of Christ from a “Whole Bible”

How Do We Explain Talking Donkeys and Burning Bushes?

Sam Allberry on Myths About Singleness

How to Be More Public with Your Faith

Honoring God in the Pulpit

Jesus, God, a.k.a., the Name

5 Reasons We Don’t Disciple

Episode 77: On Living Close to your Church

Go to church — even when you don’t feel like it

13 Glorious Truths About Who We Are in Christ

Living Blessedly Unto God: Why Every Believer Needs Systematic Theology

Culture

Lilly Singh Conquered YouTube -- Now She's Taking On Hollywood

The Japanese House: Good at Falling

Jeremy Lin on Adjusting to Toronto, D-League Experiences, and Kobe Bryant’s Disrespect

The colorful design trend aiming to soothe these anxious times

VOTD: See the Marvel Cinematic Universe Without Visual Effects

"Honoring the sacrifices they made for our nation is long overdue."

How Jack White’s Love for the Number Three Shows Up in Various Aesthetic and Musical Aspects of His Career

Weezer Joins Jimmy Fallon and The Roots for a Classroom Instruments Cover of a-ha’s ‘Take On Me’

Carly Rae Jepsen Talks With Zane Lowe

RIAA Release Annual Report for 2018

Why Teachers Need Plot, Emotion and Story

Two ASB seniors removed from office

18 Essential Japanese Restaurants to Try in the South Bay

The Music Teacher Who Travels the World for Free As a Mystery Shopper

Hayley Williams Joins Kacey Musgraves on Stage

Steve Carell pops out of a box, scares the ever-loving shit out of Jenna Fischer

Young People Left Behind in China’s Snowbound Rust Belt

Opinion: Anti Social Social Club’s soaring popularity

Empowered by #MeToo, a new generation fights sexual abuse in South Korea's schools

Exclusive: Disney+ Marvel Shows Will Be Set in the Past, Present and Future of the MCU; Will Tackle A Variety of Genres

LeBron and Co. Can’t Get Into Playoff Mode—but Neither Can Anyone Else

Weezer Is Still Making This Difficult for Themselves

Is the podcast hosting business ready for a shakeup? (You can credit/blame data-hungry advertisers)

An Amusing Animation About Martin Luther the Rebel

VOTD: How Did Popcorn Become the Staple Movie Theater Snack?

The concerns and challenges of being a U.S. teen: What the data show

Opinion: The arts are just as important as sports

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: U.K Modules, Chernobyl game, Max Brand

Comic Books (Paint Monk): Nothing could be as close to garbage as the fare served up by the creative team on Age of Conan: Belit, so it was with some trepidation that I purchased the first issue of Age of Conan: Valeria, hoping that Marvel’s next outing might be worth reading. It wasn’t. Just like Tini Howard and Kate Niemczyk massacred the beloved She-Pirate Belit in their five-issue debacle, it looks as if the team of Meredith Finch and Aneke have sharpened the butcher knives and prepped the industrial freezer for another helping of a chopped up and bloodied Hyborian heroine.

D&D (Skulls in the Stars):  We start today with another of the UK-produced modules, which tend to have a very different flavor and welcome quirkiness when compared to their US counterparts. The fact that this module is written by Graeme Morris is a good sign: Morris was an author or co-author of many excellent modules from the TSR UK office, including Beyond the Crystal Cave, which I’ve written about before!

Fiction (Walker’s Retreat): And if you don’t think there’s something to it, go to Amazon and search for “Deus Vult In Space”. Jon’s book isn’t the only one that comes up. Mine does also. This is not just the return of the Pulps, but their full restoration. Read the old stuff and you’ll see the very Christianity on display, but not explicit as having a Templar as the hero. All of the morality, the conflict, the temptations, and so on are built off of a robust and thriving Christianity assumed as the norm for Civilization.

Gaming (Niche Gamer): Here’s a rundown on the game:

April 26th, 1:23 a.m. Ukrainian time, 1986. The day on which the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe happened and the lives of 350,000 people changed forever. At the time you were just a young, passionate, naive physicist working at the facility. And like many, you’ve lost what was most dear to you—a loved one. 30 years later you’re still struggling with the demons of the past. So, to finally put them to rest, you return to what’s now called the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Science Fiction (Jeffro’s Space Gaming Blog): The SF Reconquista– “While I could see how Burroughs would come up with some of the Red Martians technology, their airships seem like a logical leap from the airplanes and blimps of 1912, I was blown away by the fact that Mars had a factory to produce its oxygen.”

Cinema (Rawle Nyanzi): We often hear about how video games are an art form and about how its revenues exceed Hollywood’s, yet film and television remain the undisputed king and queen of the entertainment landscape. Video games get attention, but not the kind of broad mainstream attention that films get. “Making a video game about something” does not have the same cultural shine as “making a film about something.”

Fiction (Jon Mollison): Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good practical tale of near-future speculation as much as the next guy.  It’s a fine niche of fantasy and one everyone should soak in from time to time.  For all his giftsas a story-teller, Campbell’s true strength – like Hugo Gernsback – was in marketing.  He sold the line that probable tech and engineering spec and the men who deal in both are smarter than the average bear, and technically smart science-fiction was a step up, and that you were a smart fella, you’d prefer the smart stories.

Pulp Fiction (Wasteland and Sky): However, since learning about how the

Max Brand’s Western Magazine Vol. 7, No. 4 (Sept., 1953). Cover by H. W. Scott

pulps were buried and hidden from those who might want to read them I have gone the gamut with adventure fiction. From the fantastic such as Doc Smith and Robert E. Howard to detective fiction such as Carroll John Daly and Mickey Spillane to now westerns with ol’ Louis and a firebrand known as Frederick Faust, also known as Max Brand, I have tried whatever I could get my hands on. And they have more in common than you think!

Writing (Amatopia): Motivation. Passion. Feeling like it. “I’m not in the mood.”

No, I’m not talking about sex. I’m talking about writing.

Lately, I’ve been knocked out of my typical writing schedule and have had difficulty getting back into it. I chalked it up to being tired or stressed out or needing sleep.

All of those things are true. But if you want something enough, you get after it.

Fiction (Pulp Archivist): After their harrowing escape from the giants and First Born of Jotunheim, Joash and the Elonite warriors wait off-shore for a message from the wandering Lod, whose visions may hold the key to understanding the sudden moves of the Nephilim and their children. But the First Born are still hunting for the Elonites with all their servants. Now Joash must evade the roving patrols of giant pterodactyls, vampiric Gibborim, and even fleets of pirates as the Lord of the Elonites waits for a message that may never come.

Gaming (Gaming While Conservative): A not-so-wise man once said, “Meta-gaming is not just an easier way to play, it’s the smart way to play,” and he’s not just fat and stupid and ugly and has an enormous penis, he’s also me. I said that. Being the contemplative and intelligent sort of guy who prefers Real D&D to today’s Ersatz D&D, something about that line stuck in my old man turkey gizzard craw, and I think I know what it is.

Poul Anderson (DMR Books): Lin Carter once described Poul Anderson as being obsessed with the “Northern Thing”.  A well known and loved author of fantasy and science fiction, the American author had an amazing knack for crafting epic stories that often pulled much from Norse legends and mythology. In this article, I will focus on discussing one of Anderson’s Norse tales that I have found to be most inspiring, namely, The Broken Sword. (The second part of this article will cover Hrolf Kraki’s Saga and “The Tale of Hauk.”)

Horror Fiction (Too Much Horror Fiction): You asked for it, you got it! Beginning later in 2019, Valancourt Books will be releasing another five titles in their mind-blowing reprint series of vintage paperback horror novels, featured in my and Grady Hendrix‘s Stoker-winning Paperbacks from Hell (Quirk Books, 2017). For complete info, read Valancourt’s blogpost about it. Of course, Grady and I will be doing intros again, and we will keep original art as much as possible. You can see the list of titles there features some true horror rarities… and now they can be yours!

Fiction (Glorious Trash): This time an American journalist who moonlights for the CIA is captured in Moscow. His name is Lee Daniels and the authors pad some of the pages with cutovers to his plight; this is another hallmark of previous volumes but Daniels seems to get a lot more attention. Unfortunately I found his story, which has him shuffled around this or that Russian sanitarium and grilled by this or that Russian flunkie, to be a bit tiresome.

Fiction (Tellers of Weird Tales): You don’t ordinarily see the names Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) together in one place, but they’re in Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (1944), Hemingway near the end of the section called “Tales of Terror,” Lovecraft at the very end of “Tales of the Supernatural.” They’re also in Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie A. Fiedler (1960, 1966). Lovecraft is barely mentioned in that book. Hemingway gets a little more space. If Fiedler was right, both fit within the mainstream of American literature.

Sensor Sweep: U.K Modules, Chernobyl game, Max Brand published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[sardoniqueen101]

How She Was Saved (Chapter 1)

Everyone has memories, good and bad, that they will never forget. And Violet Rose was no exception to that rule, if anything a possible paragon.

She would never forget the day she started running with the gang, it wasn’t something easily forgettable. Violet was born to a Native American mother, and a mixed father, who had a African-American mother and Caucasian father. The relationship wasn’t traditional, therefore many people looked down upon it. Her father was light enough to appear white, but everyone knew the truth, he faced threats everyday because of his “impurity”.

One day, a mob came after an incident at a store. Violet was with her father, apparently he was being disrespectful to the white store owner, something that wasn’t tolerated in the Deep South. Once they had returned home, her father ordered them to gather their things, and leave.

But, Violet’s father didn’t come with them, it was the last time she had seen him. News spread, her father was murdered in their home only about an hour after she and her mother fled.

Violet’s mother did her best to shield her from the violence, moving back into the village and teaching her things to help her in the future.

By age 6, Violet had been without her father for two years, and she had learned and memorized the properties of all the plants within a ten-mile radius. By age 8, Violet had become skilled with a bow and arrow, and would soon become good with a knife.

Sadly, another tradegy would befall her, because one day, soldiers would ravage the community, leaving nothing but blood and fire in its wake.

Violet’s mother told her to run and hide, but she didn’t want to leave her mother behind. Violet rode off on her horse as she was instructed but doubled back to the village after the noise seemed to quiet down.

When she returned, there was nothing but smoke and ashes. Bodies were everywhere, blood was everywhere. It was an image no young child should have to see.

Violet searched for her mother, and when she found her, she cried. It was all she could do, no matter no hard she shook her, or called for her, her mother simply wouldn’t wake up.

There was nothing left for Violet, she took the only thing that she had of her mother that hadn’t burned, a locket her mother had worn, containing a picture of her family. With the locket on her neck, and the satchel and saddle on her horse, Violet climbed onto her horse. She took one last look at her home, and began to ride.

Violet eventually managed to find her way to civilization, claiming to have ran away from home. In the town, she grew up rather quickly, learning lessons that many people couldn’t be trusted, and that a lot of men were bad men. She had to get by with what she had, and most of the time that involved robbing people blind, and getting away before anyone noticed.

Everything changed when the young girl tried to rob an older man, perhaps in his 40s. When she swiped him, she got caught, and she ran as fast as she could.

But she was stopped by two older boys. The one with darker hair had tried to grab her and by miracle she managed to kick him in the groin and continue. However, the older boy was more careful, and when he tackled her down, she stayed down.

When she was allowed to get back up, Violet was in tears. She was scared of what the men might do. Would they take her to the law to be hanged? Would they do something worst?

But no, she was told to return what she stole, a watch belonging to the man. The men looked her up and down, a girl about age 10 of average height, and skinny enough to appear as if she hadn’t eaten in a week.

“When’s the last time you ate?” The man whom she stole the watch asked.

Violet looked up with tears in her eyes, “About a week.”

After that, the man offered Violet a hand. She wasn’t sure if she should trust it, but something about him seemed trustworthy. And he himself didn’t seem to be a lawman of any type. So when he offered his hand, she cautiously took it. The man would later introduce himself as Hosea Matthews.

The boy whom she kicked, as she learned, was named John. And the boy who had tackled her was Arthur. Although she and John were roughly the same age, Arthur was quite older.

They bought her back to camp, and introduced her to a man named Dutch Van der Linde, who she learned was the leader of the group. Together, they all taught her how to survive.

Hosea and Dutch taught her how to smooth talk her way in and out of situations. In this way, she was able to get herself outta trouble and get away with a lot more.

Violet’s father had began teaching her and her mother how to read before he died, but unfortunately his death put a stop to it, as her mother had no knowledge to continue educating her. Hosea and Dutch finished Violet’s lessons, and by the time she was reading, it developed into a passion.

And when Violet saw the boys with their guns, she wanted to learn too. Guns had taken away most of her life, she refused to let that happen again.

By the time she was 13, Violet was learning to use a rifle, and she enjoyed every minute of it, although she still preferred using her bow to hunt. Setting up bottles for target practice, Violet was able to learn how to use a hand gun as well. And Hosea gave her the pleasure of learning to fish.

And although she was learning all of these things, she had never been in any real action, and so on days she wasn’t gathering or hunting for the gang, she did chores, learning from Bessie, Susan Grimshaw, and Annabelle.

And as the gang began to grow, Violet found herself having a family again, a feeling she strongly enjoyed. When Tilly Jackson was found and brought into the gang, she was happy to have another girl her own age.

Violet eventually got to go with Arthur and John, who came to be like brothers, on a job to rob a homestead. She had been begging to go with them for awhile now.

And so, after a few days of begging, pleading, and puppy-dog eyeing, she was allowed to go. Violet had dressed like house maid, offering a discreet way to go into the house to scope everything out.

The job didn’t exactly go as planned that night, and Violet had gotten into her first shootout. (John just couldn’t stay quiet) And to Arthur’s surprise, she did pretty damn well. Violet had understood no hesitation in shooting before getting shot. And although it ended in a shootout, the tale ended up being pretty good.

This is how Violet lived her life for years, a family, a home. Sure it wasn’t traditional, but it was a home where Violet felt loved. But all good things must come to an end.

And at 24-years old, in 1899, Violet Rose would learn this lesson, as her life began to change around her.

ALRIGHT SOOOO THAT VIOLET’S INTRO!!! Tell me what you all think! This is the first time I’ve tried writing fan fiction that I’ve had my own OC be apart of the gang. I am officially opening this as a Red Dead Depemption 2 blog, although it kinda already is😂 And yeah Violet does like Javier as I’ve said in a previous post but I figured I’d focus on her own story of how she got into the gang first.