In December 1933, in the depths of the Depression, an ad appeared in the Canton Respository offering $10 to 75 needy families. The pseudonymous benefactor, “Mr. B. Virdot,” read the letters the people of Canton, Ohio sent him answering the ad and he sent them the checks ($10 in those days is nearly equivalent to $70 today). Fast forward 80 years and Ted Gup, a reporter, discovers a suitcase full of letters. Gup finds these are the letters sent to “B. Virdot” who in reality was his grandfather. After reading the letters and contacting relatives of the people who wrote the letters, Ted Gup has written a perfect book for the Season of Giving: A Secret Gift: How One Man’s Kindness–and a Trove of Letters–Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression. The letters will touch your heart. GRADE: A

Love And Other Drugs skates very close to the rim of mawkishness. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a talented drug representative. While pretending to be an intern, Gyllenhaal witnesses a breast exam of a patient with Stage One Parkinson’s disease (played by Anne Hathaway). Of course, he falls in love. But Love And Other Drugs has pretensions to be more than just another predictable romantic comedy. Gyllenhaal has to make a Decision. The much more talented Oliver Platt is on hand to mentor Gyllenhaal on the sales techniques of moving prescription drugs. Josh Gad is funny as Gyllenhaal’s geeky younger brother. George Segal and Jill Clayburgh (in probably her last movie role) are Gyllenhaal’s parents. Love And Other Drugs has a fine cast and aspirations of Higher Things. The group we went with found the serious side of the movie troubling. They wanted to laugh, but they had to contend with a movie that made them think. GRADE: B

I’ve received plenty of email from out-of-town friends who were worried that Diane and I might be buried by the recent snowstorm that descended on Western New York. Yes, some communities found themselves under three feet of snow in a couple of hours. We were the stars of THE WEATHER CHANNEL for a few days as waist-deep snow clogged streets and sidewalks. Schools closed (but not mine). The NY State Thruway turned into a 10-mile parking lot because the Thruway Authority workers continued to allow motorists on to the Thruway even though traffic was stalled and there was NO WHERE TO EXIT! The Thruway became gridlocked with hundreds of cars and trucks running out of gas and stalling out. Some folks were stranded in their cars for 20 hours. Fortunately, the snow bands that dumped all that snow kept south of Buffalo. We live in a northern suburb and received ZERO snow. Yes, I can see my green lawn when I look out my window. Next week, we’re supposed to be hit by a general snowfall in the two to four inch range. Thank you for your concern, but this is just winter in Buffalo. We’re used to it.

We have about a 100 CDs of Christmas music (Diane is a big fan) so why do we need any more? Well, Annie Lennox, half of the Eurythmics, is one of our favorite singers. Her unique voice and flare for the unusual produces some very enjoyable music. A Christmas Cornucopia mixes standards like “Silent Night” with some songs that were new to us like “Angels From the Realms of Glory” and “In the Bleak Midwinter.” If you’re looking for a blend of familiar and not so familiar Christmas songs, listen to A Christmas Cornucopia. It might just be what you’re looking for during the Holiday Season. GRADE: B
SET LIST:
1. Angels From The Realms Of Glory 4:00
2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 3:32
3. See Amid The Winter’s Snow 3:30
4. Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant 3:37
5. The First Noel 4:40
6. Lullay Lullay (Coventry Carol) 3:12
7. The Holly And The Ivy 3:37
8. In The Bleak Midwinter 3:31
9. As Joseph Was A Walking 3:59
10. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem 3:33
11. Silent Night 3:48
12. Universal Child 4:14

Haffner Press has done it again! A couple months ago, they published Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore’s fabulous Detour to Otherness. Now, the Haffner Press has brought out the first installment of Henry Kuttner’s out-of-print pulp stories. This massive 712 page tome collects his work from pulp magazines that specialized in the weird, supernatural, horror, and science fiction genres. TERROR IN THE HOUSE is the first volume in a set collecting Kuttner’s earliest stories, most of which have never been reprinted. If you’re a Henry Kuttner fan, this is a must-buy! If you haven’t read any of Henry Kuttner’s wonderful stories, TERROR IN THE HOUSE is the perfect place to start. I can’t wait for Haffner Press to bring out the rest of these Kuttner volumes!
Table of Contents
Preface by Richard Matheson
Introduction by Garyn G. Roberts, Ph.D.
The Graveyard Rats, Weird Tales Mar ’36
Bamboo Death, Thrilling Mystery Jun ’36
The Devil Rides, Thrilling Mystery Sep ’36
The Secret of Kralitz, Weird Tales Oct ’36
Power of the Snake, Thrilling Mystery Nov ’36
Coffins for Six, Thrilling Mystery Dec ’36
It Walks by Night, Weird Tales Dec ’36
Laughter of the Dead, Thrilling Mystery Dec ’36
The Eater of Souls, Weird Tales Jan ’37
Terror in the House, Thrilling Mystery Jan ’37
The Faceless Fiend, Thrilling Mystery Jan ’37
The Dweller in the Tomb, Thrilling Mystery Feb ’37
I, the Vampire, Weird Tales Feb ’37
Nightmare Woman, Thrilling Mystery Mar ’37
The Salem Horror, Weird Tales May ’37
My Brother, The Ghoul, Thrilling Mystery Jun ’37
I Am the Wolf, Thrilling Mystery Jul ’37
The Jest of Droom-Avista, Weird Tales Aug ’37
Four Frightful Men, Thrilling Mystery Sep ’37
When the Earth Lived, Thrilling Wonder Stories Oct ’37
Terror on the Stage, Thrilling Mystery Sep ’37
Lord of the Lions, Thrilling Mystery Nov ’37
The Bloodless Peril, Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec ’37
Invasion from the Fourth Dimension, Thrilling Mystery Jan ’38
Messer Orsini’s Hands, Spicy Mystery Jan ’38
Worlds’ End, Weird Tales Feb ’38
The Graveyard Curse, Spicy Mystery Mar ’38
The Unresting Dead, Thrilling Mystery Mar ’38
The Shadow on the Screen, Weird Tales Mar ’38
Hell’s Archangel, Spicy Mystery Apr ’38
My Name Is Death, Spicy Mystery May ’38
Devil’s Masquerade, Mystery Tales Jun ’38
The Dark Heritage, Marvel Science Stories Aug ’38
Dictator of the Americas, Marvel Science Stories Aug ’38
The Disinherited, Astounding Science Fiction Aug ’38
Hands Across the Void, Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec ’38
The Frog, Strange Stories Feb ’39
The Invaders, Strange Stories Feb ’39
The Bells of Horror, Strange Stories Apr ’39
Beyond Annihilation, Thrilling Wonder Stories Apr ’39

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is the third movie (and novel) of Stieg Larsson’s MILLENNIUM series. I thought the novel was the weakest book in the trilogy. The first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, although deeply flawed, was the best book. The Girl Who Played With Fire was a so-so middle book in the series. Part of the problem with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is that goth hacker Lisbeth Salander spends half the movie in a hospital bed and most of the second half sitting in a court room. That makes for a very static movie (and novel). But I loved Noomi Rapace’s performance in all three movies playing Salander. Although she looks like one of Drongo’s Bad Girls, Salander captures a spirit of independence and strength that seldom shows itself in Hollywood movies or conventional novels. She’s a character I wish Stieg Larsson had lived to write his planned 10 book series about. Unfortunately, we only have these three books and three movies. Let’s enjoy them. GRADE: B

If you’re a fan of Sixties music, you’ll enjoy Mayer Hawthorne’s A Strange Arrangment. Mayer Hawthorne has created a faux-Motown CD with songs that are clever imitations of his favorite song-writers: Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson, Mike Terry, Barry White, Smokey Robinson and Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Edward Holland, Jr. It’s a fun CD to listen to. GRADE: A-
SET LIST
1. Prelude 0:26
2. A Strange Arrangement 4:16
3. Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out 2:30
4. Maybe So, Maybe No 2:58
5. Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’ 3:03
6. I Wish It Would Rain 3:57
7. Make Her Mine 2:41
8. One Track Mind 2:06
9. The Ills 2:49
10. Shiny & New 3:00
11. Let Me Know 3:03
12. Green Eyed Love

Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS was praised by both critics and audiences when it debuted in 1927 Berlin, but when it was edited for distribution by Channing Pollock (who hated the film) great chunks of the movie were removed which substantially changed the storyline. That version of METROPOLIS had visual style, but the film proved a critical and box office disappointment in the United States. With the introduction of sound, METROPOLIS was nearly forgotten and surviving prints of the film began to corrode and decay. When METROPOLIS showed up on VHS and DVD the results were disappointing. A great portion of METROPOLIS, as much a quarter of the film or more, has been lost forever, but this Kino Blu-ray release is the best version of the film available. The previously cut footage that still exists has been restored, gaps in the film have been bridged by stills and explanatory title cards, the film has been digitally restored, and the soundtrack is the Gottfried Huppertz original created for the film’s 1927 Berlin debut played by the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra of Berlin. You shouldn’t miss seeing this legendary movie! GRADE: A

More pulp fiction artwork! This time it’s not on a DVD but in a nifty hardcover that you can buy for around $10! Gary Lovisi has assembled some fabulous pulp covers. I’ve seen the classic Sin Street, but the eye-popping Atomic Blonde was new to me. Plenty of Midwood and Monarch artwork is displayed in grand style. Who could fail to be stunned by the cover on Satan Was My Pimp? This book would make a great stocking stuffer for some avid pulp fans! Thanks go to James Reasoner who first blogged about Bad Girls Need Love Too on http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/

I’ve just finished correcting over 100 research papers. In the past, my hand would be cramped from all the writing (some student papers have tons of mistakes!). However, this time my hand has been spared the normal pain and stiffness of repetitive writing by the Avery eGEL red pen I used. In the past, I’ve used BIC ball point pens and Sharpies. But this year, I discovered the Avery eGEL pen. What a difference! The gel ink is formulated to produce an ultra smooth writing experience, so your hand glides easily across the page. The transparent barrel lets you monitor the ink level, and a contoured grip rests comfortably against your fingers. The Avery eGEL enhances the writing experience with its intelligent design. This is the best ball point pen I’ve ever used! Try one out. You’ll love it!