Category:
Science Fiction

Queen of Blood

Possibly not the movie that Dennis Hopper lists first on his resume....

Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 05, 2008 - Comments (7)
Category: Horror, Movies, Science Fiction, 1960s

Di Filippo & Woodring Book Signing

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I'll be away in Seattle from Friday October 10 through Monday October 13, attending the launch party of my new novel, Cosmocopia. But I've stacked up four posts in the queue, all new FOLLIES OF THE MAD MEN. Enjoy!

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 09, 2008 - Comments (5)
Category: Literature, Books, Science Fiction, Travel, Weird Universe, Paul

The 10th Victim

This article in today's NEW YORK TIMES tells us about "Street Wars," a game played in urban environments by players determined to "kill" each other. Several precedents for this game are cited in the article, but the writer misses the most important and primal one: A 1953 story by famed and beloved SF writer Robert Sheckley, titled "The Seventh Victim."

The story was later filmed as THE 10TH VICTIM. Its most famous scene: Ursula Andress using guns concealed in her bra, as seen in the second clip below.



Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 27, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Explosives, Games, Roleplayers and Re-enactors, Geeks, Nerds and Pointdexters, Guns, Literature, Science Fiction, Movies, Sexuality, Sex Symbols, War, Weapons, 1950s, 1960s, Women, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

Life Imitates Cheesy Science Fiction Film

As we learn in this article from today's New York Times, conditions in hurricane-wracked Galveston, Texas, have begun to approach the scenario depicted in the latest remake of I AM LEGEND.

As crews hacked away at downed trees and replaced blown-out transformers and cut lines, state and local officials contended with a plethora of other problems, among them a tiger on the loose.

James D. Yarbrough, the Galveston County judge, said a pet tiger, well known to locals, had escaped during the storm and was wandering the ruins of houses on Bolivar Peninsula. “I understand he’s hungry, so we are staying away from him,” Mr. Yarbrough said.


You'll see Will Smith's similar encounter at approximately the one-minute mark in the trailer below.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 17, 2008 - Comments (13)
Category: Animals, Armageddon and Apocalypses, Death, Disasters, Guns, Movies, Nature, Pets, Dogs, Science Fiction, Actors

Contortionists

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I started thinking about contortionists again when I happened upon a feature on them in an old issue of Life. In my novel Spondulix I had a character who was an "enter-ologist," a great term I found in Ricky Jay's wonderful history of sideshows and freaks, Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women. Enter-ologists get into impossible places, rather than escape from impossible places.

In any case, a short search of the web turned up lots of online contortionist info, including the Contortion Home Page, which is where I found this pic of April Tatro. That's her in the video below as well.



Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 12, 2008 - Comments (7)
Category: Body Modifications, Entertainment, Human Marvels, Literature, Books, Science Fiction, Performance Art

World D

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Here's another strange book I purchased but have not yet read. The real author is Joseph K. Heydon, using the pen-name of Hal Trevarthen. Time has swallowed up all details related to Heydon and his book, leaving us only with the text itself.


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Here's the description from the amazingly ugly dustjacket.


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Here's the title page, followed by a sample of the actual bafflegab inside.


image Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 11, 2008 - Comments (11)
Category: Aliens, Eccentrics, Government, Inventions, Literature, Books, Science Fiction, Writers, Nature, New Age, Paranormal, Pop Culture, Science, Psychology, Self-help Schemes, Foreign Customs, 1930s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

The Split Atom

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Collecting weird books is one of my hobbies. And I'm not alone, as you can see from this site.

Surely the novel depicted here, which I purchased a month ago at an SF convention, is museum-worthy. Amazingly in this day and age, I can't find any info about it or its author online. Thankfully, the previous owner xeroxed a page about the author and left it inside the book for me to reproduce here.


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I can hardly wait to sit down with this one!

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 22, 2008 - Comments (9)
Category: Eccentrics, Futurism, Literature, Books, Science Fiction, War, Weapons, 1940s

Cornman

When every legitimate superhero property has finally been brought to the screen, perhaps we'll see a remake of CORNMAN.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 20, 2008 - Comments (12)
Category: Food, Humor, Parody, Movies, Science Fiction, Superheroes

Atragon

Recently I watched the 1963 Japanese SF flick ATRAGON. I knew I was in true weirdo territory when the undersea empire of Mu turned out to be ruled by Cyndi Lauper.

Not really, but check out the gal in the pink wig in this trailer for the film.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Aug 16, 2008 - Comments (10)
Category: Boats, Explosives, Fashion, Hair Styling, Inventions, Movies, Science Fiction, 1960s

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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