Category: Fresh News

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Summer of Narnia 2025

The time comes once again for the Cobalt Jade Summer of Narnia. Essays, pictures, Narnia ephemera, and much more! ( The picture above, done in a midcentury linocut style that was used heavily for children’s books, seems to be depict Lucy succumbing to her moment of temptation in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader and …

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Passing Obsessions 5-24

Fluffy Summer supplement insert for The Chicago Times contains a list of books generated by ChatGPT, and only two of them are real! Among them, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s (writer of Daisy Jones and the Six) fake novel The Collector’s Piece, about “a reclusive art collector and the journalist determined to uncover the truth behind his …

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Monty Python and the Holy Grail Turns 50: Some Reflections

Wow, I feel old! Fifty years has passed since this cheeky film was released in 1975. It’s hard to explain, now, the effect this movie had on late Baby Boomer and Gen X geeks. It wasn’t apparent at the time of its release, which I remember was quick and quiet and certainly didn’t stick around …

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Farewell to Tolkien March (and April)

All good things must come to an end, so does my two-month journey into all things Middle-earth. Like these guys are doing, I’m moving on to other shores. (It’s a still from a little-aired 1993 Finnish TV version of LOTR. I’m guessing, counterclockwise from the fat left, the characters are Boromir, who looks appropriately dopey …

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Tolkien March Extended into April

… because I’ve been having that much fun, that’s why. Below, Saruman of the Many Colors, by Harold Jog. Known in some circles as “Saruman shows his Gay Pride.”

It’s Tolkien March!

This month I’ll be concentrating on writer J.R.R. Tolkien, with an emphasis on Middle-Earth. Essays, articles, artwork, and more!

Passing Obsessions 1-28

Popeye, along with many other creative works, enters public domain in the US this year. Vast online library of cookbooks, including advertising pamphlets, dating from way back to the 1800s. Want to play or watch Rugby games in the Pacific Northwest? Confused about Laurel K. Hamilton, her many loves, and her series of naughty paranormal …

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2025 Reading Challenge

This year I’m going to go back with 12 choices, to challenge myself.   2. Animal house: A book about animals in any way. Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?,  Frans de Waal Natural history book about animal intelligence. 5. Breaking Ground: A book about exploration or discovery, fiction or nonfiction. …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 1/7/25: Best of Twittersnips 2024 (Magic Spells)

Selection of my favorite Twittersnip magic spells of the year 2024, chosen from my X feed.   2024 Magic Spells (Best of) Amphibian Trailblazer: The mage can lay down an invisible trail for others to follow over both land and water. Claws of the Peacock: Curse that makes a character overly concerned with their attractiveness …

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Passing Obsessions 12-24

This oddball Christmas special from the 1980s. Many more oddball, lost, and forgotten Christmas specials from decades past. All you ever wanted to know about old Christmas tree lights. Let’s start drooling over the explosion of Betelgeuse when the supernova comes. It might be a new Star of Bethlehem!