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Classic Rock Sunday — RIP Jani Lane

In Classic Rock Sunday by Scott0 Comments

Warrant frontman Jani Lane was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel Thursday, August 11 at age 47. While Warrant was never one of my favorite bands of the “hair metal” era, they banged out some solid songs that still hold up today. I know Jani wasn’t a big fan of the whole “Cherry Pie” thing, but I guess nobody …

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John Jos. Miller’s CREATURE FEATURE

In JohnJosMiller by JohnJosMiller10 Comments

PULP COVER FRIDAY PRESENTS FRANK R. PAUL Since everyone seemed enthusiastic about the covers from last week, which were mostly the work of Frank R. Paul, I thought I’d shine the Cheese Magnet spotlight on him this time around. I’ve featured his work several times already, but have tried to come up with all new images for this installment. Paul …

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John Jos. Miller’s CREATURE FEATURE

In JohnJosMiller by JohnJosMiller13 Comments

PULP COVER FRIDAY PRESENTS SCIENCE FICTION (WHAT ELSE?) It took awhile, but 1939 saw the debut of a science fiction magazine called SCIENCE FICTION. You’d think they would have thought of that title a little earlier. Apparently it lasted only until 1941, for a total of 12 issues, but appearances are deceiving. The publisher had another zine imaginatively called FUTURE …

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John Jos. Miller’s CREATURE FEATURE

In Books, JohnJosMiller by JohnJosMiller4 Comments

Book Review #4: A SWING, A MISS, AND A PULLED GROIN Here’s the follow-up Heinlein review as promised, to a novel originally entitled SIXTH COLUMN (magazine publication as a serial in Astounding: January to March 1941 as by Anson MacDonald) and also THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (in hardback by Gnome Press in 1949 and in paperback by Signet in 1951). …

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Classic Rock Sunday: Meat Loaf

In Classic Rock Sunday by Tanzi1 Comment

In the late 1960s a fat kid named Marvin Aday (known as Meat Loaf to his friends) started singing and playing rock and roll. After some touring as the opening act for some big name rockers Mr. Loaf won a part in a West Coast production of Hair and began carving out a niche as a stage actor who could …

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John Jos. Miller’s CREATURE FEATURE

In JohnJosMiller by JohnJosMiller4 Comments

PULP COVER FRIDAY PRESENTS THE BEST OF THE REPRINT ZINES By the time the mid-1940s rolled along, sf & fan had been around long enough to accumulate an impressive back list of short stories, many of which were unfamiliar to the then current crop of readers. Some of the current magazines featured reprints on a regular basis (mostly, I suspect, …

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Psychomania (1973)

In Movies by Scott1 Comment

Man, how cool would it be if you were a totally badass biker and you discovered you could kill yourself, only to return from the grave as an even more badass biker? Psychomania takes a stab at this premise, except the bikers are less like badasses and more like all the nerdy guys you know named Todd if those Todds …

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John Jos. Miller’s CREATURE FEATURES

In Books, JohnJosMiller by JohnJosMiller9 Comments

Book Review #3: HEINLEIN REASSESSED While my Cheese Magnet colleagues are still off disporting themselves in San Diego, I am back behind the keyboard from my expedition and will soon have a report on the mysterious Dragonhuahua, as soon as photos get sorted out. In the meantime, here’s a book review to keep you happy, the third in my continuing …

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John Jos. Miller’s CREATURE FEATURE

In Books, JohnJosMiller by JohnJosMiller3 Comments

PULP COVER FRIDAY: ADVENTURE! Hello. I’m not here right now, but thanks to miraculous 21th century technology I am able to pen (or type) these words in the past and forward them to you through time so that you can magically read them while I am in another state undertaking the dangerous quest of the Dragonhuahua. Hopefully I will survive …

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John Jos. Miller’s CREATURE FEATURE

In JohnJosMiller by JohnJosMiller4 Comments

PULP COVER FRIDAY: MORE ARACHNOCENTRIC FUN! One last look at the mind-bending covers of the Spider magazine, which chronicled the adventures of yet another man about town criminal-hunting vigilante. Only this one (as a glance at the covers will tell you) is border-line crazy. And I’m probably understating that. As you see, their rich luridness continued for another two years …

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The Joy of Easy Listening

In Listen by Tanzi1 Comment

Anyone who’s spent time looking for vinyl in thrift stores knows the ratio of good to crap is pretty poor. For every James Brown or Queen record there seems to be hundreds of Burl Ives or Percy Faith or shitty Firestone Christmas albums. Any self respecting hip music lover knows this stuff is all garbage, right? Schmaltzy elevator music for …