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book trailer video spotlighting gary fry s chapbook due to be published may 2nd 2011 enjoy gratitude must be extended to mark west for putting this together for me over the last couple of days an absolutely sterling effort for more details of how to purchase this chapbook please go to spectralpress wordpress com 0 000000 0 000000 3 comments japan earthquake aid auction posted in events news with tags charity auction japan earthquake johnny mains occasionally horrific blog on march 17 2011 by simonmarshalljones we ve all seen the footage of the recent magnitude 9 0 earthquake of the northeastern coast of japan and the ruin and utter devastation that it caused to both human and animal life at times like these one is forcefully reminded that despite being the so called dominant species on this ol blue planet of ours with all our sophisticated technology and science we humans are still nothing compared to the might of mother nature we often feel helpless in the face of such overwhelming catastrophes however some people just like johnny mains for instance decide to do whatever they can to help the affected people of japan in however small a way so mr mains has set up an auction with some choice goodies you can bid on the money going to charity to help with the efforts being made to get japan back on its feet every penny that can be sent japan s way is a penny more than they had and will bring recovery about just that little bit sooner there are eleven lots including one of the last remaining copies of back from the dead published by noose and gibbet publishing and signed by 8 of the contributors a letter from herbert van thal the editor of the pan book of horror stories back in the day to one of the authors appearing in one of the anthologies these are very scarce items so bid now to get your hands on a piece of publishing history a rare italian film poster for peeping tom signed by columba powell son of the director michael powell and who also played the young mark lewis in the film that would look good on any wall a signed rare nel hardback copy of james herbert s the spear a book which apparently landed him in court a case which he lost a first pan books paperback edition of the executioners by john d macdonald that has been signed by director martin scorcese who directed cape fear based on the book also a signed hardback copy of spectral author gary mcmahon s rain dogs which was published by humdrumming press there are plenty more desirable items just go over to johnny s occasionally horrific blog to find out what they are their starting prices and how to go about bidding let s see just how much can be raised 0 000000 0 000000 3 comments and now showing on the other channel posted in news with tags abolisher of roses details gary fry preorder availability spectral press volume ii on march 14 2011 by simonmarshalljones you can find details of the next spectral press publication gary s fry s abolisher of roses which is available for preorder from today but numbers are limited the chapbook itself will be published the first week of may which will be upon us sooner than you think for all the gen go to http spectralpress wordpress com now get to it 0 000000 0 000000 leave a comment another blast from the past posted in nostalgia with tags anime marine boy memories nostagia on march 11 2011 by simonmarshalljones my good friend nick williams reminded me the other day just after publishing my blog about the mysterious cities of gold and ulysses 31 of another anime that figured a great deal in my childhood and i was actually a child when i first saw this series marine boy this was actually one of the very first anime to be dubbed into english for the us australian and uk markets although i think astroboy took the distinction of being the first anime to be shown in britain and was one of the few anime to be produced in colour the history of the 78 episode series reading the wikipedia entry with the usual proviso that wiki isn t entirely the most accurate fount of knowledge is convoluted to say the least starting off as dolphin prince 3 b w episodes then metamorphosing into hang on marine kid 13 colour episodes and finally into the marine bo y 78 colour episodes that people of my generation know and love it didn t really take off until seven arts distribution in the us got hold of it it was first broadcast in the uk in 1967 68 and from the very moment i clapped eyes on it i was hooked i was four or five years old when it was shown on bbc tv and it was everything a young boy could possibly want a boy who just by chewing special gum could swim indefinitely underwater and who used an amzing boomerang to destroy ships and underwater craft plus a beautiful mermaid creature called neptina as his companion and a dolphin splasher who appeared to understand his every word but the biggest draw for me was the theme tune it is singularly the most recognisable theme somg for people of my generation every time i hear it it sends shivers up and down my spine as well as propelling me back along the years to the time when i was a young lad trying to cope with being newly diagnosed as a diabetic and facing a lifetime of injections non sugary foods and having to test for my bloodsugar levels which involved testing urine in those days not the spohisticated blood glucose monitors we have now it instantly reminds me of the kindly district nurse who used to come every day to administer my insulin and who finally taught my mum and dad how to inject me it was also around that time or just after that i started school in fact i can remember my very first day in infant school which was 43 years ago in subsequent years i ve made sporadic attempts to locate episodes on vhs or dvd and i have now learnt that a complete set of all 78 episodes is available for 49 99 so once i am flush or i find a generous benefactor i ll be acquiring this slice of nostalgia once more i ll be a five year old boy sitting transfixed in front of the tv and watching the adventures a boy who can breathe underwater a white dolphin and a girl with a fishtail instead of legs 0 000000 0 000000 2 comments rewriting the classics good idea bad idea posted in general musings with tags classics evolution of language general musings personal opinon re envisioning reimagining language rewriting on march 10 2011 by simonmarshalljones johnny mains posed a question to me yesterday whether it was a good idea or otherwise to take an old classic story and rewrite it to suit modern sensibilities johnny has himself rewritten a few horror classics in his time bringing them into the harsh light of the 21st century however most people s immediate reaction would be i suspect a resoundingly loud no and perhaps a few years ago i too would have fallen into that camp now i find myself myself wondering if it is such a bad thing after all i would venture to say that such acts of updating stories have been done ever since the very first story was set down on bark papyrus paper hollywood does it all the time taking a universally acknowledged classic and bringing it up to date without taking away the essential core of the tale it clearly does this to make it fit in with the way the world is now to make it relevant to today s people so they ll actually want to see it after all it costs money to make a film and naturally the producers want to see their investment returned the important thing is that the heart of the story itself is retained in other words whatever trappings it s clothed in the story is still recognisable some people complain about messing with the source material so to speak but most seem to accept the idea of reimagining a story in visual terms to suit present times a good director screenwriter will pick up on the essential ingredients that made the story so well regarded in the first place and develop its themes and subtexts in such a way that modern day audiences will immediately recognise what s going on beneath the surface society and the people in it despite changes in mores fashions and lifestyles remains fairly constant although the mindset of a member of a previous society may present something of a problem to delineate properly however people are generally the same regardless of era by transplanting it to now the story is made more accessible and readable some would even argue that by updating it filmgoers are encouraged to go and read the original story so in that sense one can fully justifiably say that it s a good thing conversely others would say that it s taking the story out of its correct context and that perhaps the strength of the original narrative comes from its being placed within the milieu in which the writer placed it ie his her own times that may be true to a certain extent but like i pointed out above humans were more or less the same then as they are now the only advantage i can see is that we have more sophisticated technology sophisticated in this context meaning more complex and able to do things faster add in the fact that i am not that interested in for instance period dramas although my wife enjoys them and it might be that modern reinterpretations will allow me to enjoy the classic story without all the trappings of bygone times although i am immensely interested in history literature however is a different matter i would wager that people are much less forgiving if an author rewrites a classic story for some people i guess literature is much more precious in terms of cultural value but is this really so none of the writers whose work eventually attained the status of classic ever had that in mind when they sat down to write their books most if not all of them wrote because they had a burning desire to do just that write and the stories they wrote then certainly in terms of themes and plotlines are the same in some respects as those that are written now but and let s be honest here the way some of the classics have been written present obstacles to some people i am one of those who loves how the english language has evolved over the centuries and i find immense enjoyment from reading old stories how the language flows the use of broader vocabularies or words that are no longer extant or the use of classical references or words in latin or ancient greek writing is much more streamlined and concise these days frippery and wordiness being frowned upon it s no wonder then that there are those who think reading the classics is either difficult or boring the richness of the english language escapes a lot of people these days and i guess this is where rewriting the classics comes in to a certain extent i am neither for nor against them per se nor do i see them as inherently pointless language does evolve as do societies and there will always be people who see the past as being irrelevant to them in particular and to everything else in general and that attitude i think speaks of a failure of the teachers of history in our schools to engage their students with the subject properly in that case i suppose that rewriting the classics serves a distinct purpose ie bringing the classics to the attention of modern audiences and perhaps getting them interested in researching further i tend to go for the originals anyway but that s me not everyone is motivated by language and writing in the way i am in a broader context however i can t say for certain whether this amounts to a good thing or not that s for each individual to decide would i publish such a story within the pages of spectral doubtful although a story based on inspired by a classic might receive consideration for the most part however although i don t see any harm in re envisioning the classics and hauling them into the present century it s just not my thing in general although to be fair i have read such stories and some of them have been highly entertaining and clever what do you think what is your stance on such literary endeavours do you think they re a good thing or a bad thing let s get some debate going 0 000000 0 000000 3 comments blasts from the past posted in general musings nostalgia with tags animation anime battle of the planets mysterious cities of gold nostalgia ulysses 31 on march 9 2011 by simonmarshalljones during my enforced rest over the last few months see previous blog entry for details to keep myself from total boredom and the creeping onset of ennui i indulged in watching something that i have been fascinated with since childhood animated films and serials back then i went through the stages of watching series such as scooby doo hong kong phooey the pink panther all the warner bros cartoon shorts the slightly obscure depatie freleng version of dr doolittle does anyone actually remember that the various charlie brown shows and the full length classic disney movies then i progressed onto longer films like watership down ralph bakshi s lord of the rings which perhaps oddly i absolutely love despite its very obvious flaws the same director s fritz the cat and fire and ice the strange and surreal fantastic planet original title le planete sauvage and an obcure little porn cartoon called jungleburger classic dialogue the villainess says at the end so what if i have six tits add into the mix other obscure gems which i ve completely forgotten plus later in my twenties my discovery of anime and i must have seen thousands of cartoons and suchlike however during that brief restful sojourn i revisited a couple of series for which i have a particularly fond attachment the mysterious cities of gold and ulysses 31 both of these were french japanese co productions and both were screened over here in the eighties okay i admit i was in my early twenties when i watched these shows programmes that were resolutely aimed at younger teens but to be quite frank i didn t care the two shows exhibited a modicum of imagination severely lacking in mainstream british and american productions of the time a fact which inspired me to watch them in the first place i would avidly sit down every week and be glued to the tv set to follow the respective character s adventures the mysterious cities of gold was a 39 episode adventure series set against an historical background the spanish conquest of south america and the avaricious search for gold and it didn t stint on the cruelty exhibited by the conquistadores towards the natives in the greedy search for the yellow metal the plot mainly centres around three children esteban zia and tau and their search for the fabled seven cities of gold located somewhere in the impenetrable jungle the show contrasts rather sharply the reasons for the search the children want to find family or solve the mystery of who they are and their place in the world while the adults accompanying or chasing them only want the wealth that will inevitably follow on from finding a city completely made from gold it paints western culture as avaricious superficial and greedy not as inaccurate a picture as all t...