Category: historical value
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Characters from books to screen: good, bad, misguided
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About 30 minutes into the first Lord of the Rings movie, I was ticked off, and spent the next three hours fuming. Now, for that movie my problem wasn’t with the casting – except for the ridiculous choice of actress to play Lady Arwen – but with the many, many…
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When life mirrors my books!
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My hubby, along with a number of people I know, isn’t a particular fan of vegetables. He’ll eat them under sufferance because he knows they’re good for him, and because I won’t let him eat just meat, potatoes and gravy all the time. So I can only imagine his reaction…
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The Lost Ark, a real-life treasure hunt
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If you were going to bring back the early adventure epics to the big screen, what better story than a roguish professor and archeologist searching for the greatest lost treasure in history? The Ark of the Covenant was the most important artifact of biblical times – the repository of God’s…
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Fantasy jobs: Treasure hunter for the British Museum
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In 1998 I, my hubby and my in-laws got to pretend we were Indiana Jones for a few hours. Hubby & I had driven down to Florida to join his parents for a week at a family condo in Clearwater, and in the news before we left I saw a…
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The End of a Train Era
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In Egypt, there were miles of sand, which refused to remain pleasantly flat. It made the tracks undulate so much that it gave our train a pronounced sway – so much so that at times it felt like the car holding our cabin was going to tip right over. There…
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Curses! It’s a Mummy!
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Death will come on swift wings to whomsoever opens this chest.“It’s the curse! It’s the curse! Beware of the curse!” Beni.“Stupid, superstitious bastard.” Daniels.The Mummy, 1999 “CARNARVON’S DEATH SPREADS THEORIES ABOUT VENGEANCE; In Egypt, England, France and Here, Occultists Advance Stories of Angered Gods.LONDON, April 5.—Genuine regret is expressed here…
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Inspired by Ancient Mythology
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Along with the eerie literature and movies that were big influences for me as a child and early story-teller (Edgar Allan Poe, The Twilight Zone, etc.), I also grew up on what I loosely call ‘sword-and-sandal’ movies. Officially, the term ‘sword-and-sandal’ refers to a popular genre of Italian knock-off movies…
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Dark, Crumbling and Intense
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“Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave…” Victor Frankenstein Another year gone – it’s hard to believe that we’re now twenty-six years past the qualms of New Year’s Eve 1999. After what I hope was a lovely holiday…
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Murder & Mayhem at Christmas
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Are the usual Christmas movies so sugary-sweet they set your teeth on edge? All beautifully-decorated-homes that seem to clean themselves, and perfect family meals that appear out of decorating-magazine kitchens? Then take a ‘stab’ at Christmas-themed murder mysteries, or the raft of holiday suspense and horror movies. Sometimes I’m in…
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Guilty holiday pleasures
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Holiday madness and excess already getting to you? It may be time to shut off the phone, lock the door and indulge in some guilty pleasure time. What’s your guilty holiday pleasure? Do you secretly binge on Hallmark movies? Stash and eat festive chocolates? Lock yourself into the bathroom for…