I like a good series character in my crime fiction, and no one has offered us more of these than Block, and they cover a range of styles.
Matthew Scudder (16 novels) is a private eye in NYC, whose best friend is a hardened criminal. The novels vary i[…]

To read the story, click here; to read about our ‘hauntography’ project, click here.
“See that space between the panels? That’s what comics aficionados have named “The Gutter!” And despite its unceremonious title, the […]

Another round of the Top 40 singles as seen through the lens of Twitter (previous instalment here). Rules: I take (roughly) the most recent substantive comment about each track, searching for title first then artist. The result? A snapshot of what th[…]

Frost/Nixon (is it the only film with a slash in the middle of it?) is a play made into a film. That much everyone knows. But as part of this transition, the film took the central cast from the play and put them on screen. And we are used to Michael […]

Hello, my query is this. Lately I have been doing a lot of cooking using no additional oil or fat in the pan apart from the skin of the meat I’m choosing. The obvious question = why is this a new and exciting thing to me, given it’s bleed[…]

I didn’t write about The Wrestler when it came out because, as good as the film was, I couldn’t quite get a (Kurt) angle on it. I toyed with the discussion about Mickey Rourke’s chances of an Oscar, and then thought better of it. Be[…]

We resurrect I Was A Goblin to bring you a link to this visionary post: “Personal Branding is a Real Life RPG”.
“Every person on this planet is playing the same game as you – the game of life. We are the ones who realize this […]

Putting the sin into sin drums…
Knock On Wood is one of those party staples which ended up representing a whole scene. You can understand why. Not just because it is a consummate disco record, with its infectious opening like a tube train whoos[…]

I happened to just now read one of his, The Cosmic Rape, which prompted me to write about him next. This short 1958 novel is about a hivemind entity making first contact with humanity. It has taken over two galaxies and is working its way through its[…]

Surveillance is the second proper film by Jennifer Lynch, who previous made the film Boxing Helena – which was not about Boxing. Appropriately one could think of plenty of films which could more appropriately be called Surveillance*. Whilst a f[…]