Monday, May 30, 2011

MEMORIAL DAY 2011

While some consider this the (unofficial) start to Summer, let us not forget the true purpose of setting aside this day: to remember those who valiantly served and defended their country, whether they are still amongst us or not.

Personally, I like to think of Memorial Day as not just a time to honor those who did or currently serve in the various military forces, but as a time to remember those who serve(d) their fellow man in other areas; especially within the emergency services: police, fire fighting, medical, etc.

A lot more will be said about specific members of those groups as we approach this fall and the tenth anniversary of the cowardly attacks of September 11, 2001.

Yet my point is that there are so many people that we have to thank and remember who helped make this country what it is today, but a lot of them get left by the wayside because we are either too busy with the more fun stuff to do on a holiday weekend or don't want to be reminded of the more violent times in our history.

Or perhaps some do not care to be reminded of their loss. That is a sentiment I can relate to.

Basically, what it comes down to is proving once again that the old adage is true.
If you love and enjoy your freedoms, thank the veterans who helped protect them for you.

The above was a public service message of The Free Choice E-zine.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

SUNDAY FUNNIES: HERE SHE IS...

Hello everyone. Your Free Choice E-zine Editor-In-Chief Lee Houston, Junior here.
Since this is the Memorial Day weekend here in the United States, everyone else has the holiday weekend off.
So I'm the only one hanging around the office taking care of things.
Geez... it's lonely at the top.
Anyway, since it's just me, I thought I would present something for just us guys.
In case any of you gentlemen missed it, reposted below are the ladies of the 2011 Miss Airport Security Calendar!





I know. It's difficult to pick a favorite with all these lovely ladies to look at, but personally, I lean towards the more pleasant weather months (April to September) myself.
Anyway, thanks to contributor Roger Stegman for the scans, although where he got them from I have no idea.
I just reposted them here because I liked the gag.
Have a great week everybody.
Please remember those who are no longer with us and be back here next weekend for more Sunday Funnies!
lthjr.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: MAY 22-28, 2011

This is Memorial Day weekend here in the United States, whereupon we pause to honor those who have fought for, defended, and at times died on behalf of their country.

Amongst events around the world this past week...
*Civil unrest continues in Syria, Libya, and Yemen while similar events have begun to take place in Morocco. NATO forces are still maintaining a presence in Libya.
*As a sign of improvement since the removal of former President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has permanently reopened a border crossing at the Gaza strip. However, some analysts see this a mixed blessing, between relieving crowded conditions while increasing the possibility of terrorist attacks against Israel.
*United States President Barack Obama and his wife concluded a diplomatic visit to Great Britain this week and then went on to attend the current G8 summit.
*22 year old Australian University undergraduate student Amelia Fraser-McKelvie has solved the mystery of the universe's "missing" mass, hiding within the filaments of galaxies.
*May has been a bad tornado month for the middle United States. Some cities have been declared federal disaster areas.

IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS...
*The last episode of the syndicated Oprah Winfrey Show aired May 25th.
*The Tree of Life won the Palme d'Or award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
*Scotty McCreery won the 10th season of American Idol while Hines Ward won the 12th Dancing With The Stars competition.
*Sadly, actor Jeff Conway has past away after losing the battle against his personal addictions.

IN SPORTS...
*The 2011 competition for professional hockey's Stanley Cup will be between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks.

For more news at any time, either scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen or visit any reputable news source.

THE PUZZLE CORNER: MAY 28, 2011

It's a holiday weekend here in the United States, but that doesn't mean our brains should take it completely easy.

THE LETTER SHUFFLE
Since it is the Memorial Day weekend, whereupon we remember those who fought (and in some cases, died) for their country, how many words can you spell with the letters in MEMORIAL?

LOONY LYRICS
What popular song has the words that have been misheard by some as: There's a bathroom on the right.

We'll reveal all next weekend. But for now, let's peek into THE ANSWERS BOX and discover the results from the May 21st Puzzle Corner.

TRIVIA TIME
During Interleague play in Major League Baseball,
01. The Subway Series features the New York Mets against the New York Yankees.
02. The Citrus Series features the Florida Marlins against the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays.
03. The El Series features the Chicago Cubs against the Chicago White Sox, and
04. The Texas Shootout features the Houston Astros against the Texas Rangers.


THE LETTER SHUFFLE
01. Mural, Joins = Journalism
02. Stain, Mural = Naturalism

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

PULP ARK 2011, A COMPLETE REPORT>PART 5


Quite a crowd, huh?

Sunday, May 15th was the final day of Pulp Ark 2011, and as had become our want each morning, we wound up partaking of the continental breakfast at the hotel together.
There were only two panels that day.
Ron Fortier moderated a panel featuring the members of the Pulp Factory who were present and the convention to discuss why the current/new interest in pulp, followed by Art Sippo discussing his work featuring Doc Savage's German counterpart Sun'Koh.
Unfortunately, I do not have photos of those two events because I stayed at the Pro Se table meeting fans and signing authographs, as well as collecting a few from the people I knew as a fan before officially becoming a professionally published author.
Then the Pulp Ark Players presented the final act to the original production "The Case of the Bloody Pulp".
As previously mentioned, all the panels were recorded by Ric Croxton and Art Sippo of The Book Cave and can be found at http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/.

The last hurrah, Sunday night.


Then sadly, we all started to say our goodbyes and part company.
But while most went off by Sunday night, there were a few stragglers who did not have a flight until Monday morning, so we had one last hurrah at the local outlet of a fast food franchise.
Pictured, starting at the left, are Ron Fortier, Ken Janssens, his fiance Christina O'Connor, Nancy Hansen, and myself.
The return trip Monday was a real hassle, but that is soley the fault of Delta Airlines, and not anyone connected with Pulp Ark.


Bobby Nash

Now, to close out my report, I would like to post a few photos I took over the course of the convention that were not germaine to the first four installments of this thread.

Overall, it was an interesting experience for my first convention appearance as a professional/guest and not in attendance as a fan.
I like to think I was on my best behavior the whole time, but in the end the all I can say for sure is that I at least tried to be.
It was hard to control my excitement. I think I used up a decade's worth of adrenaline in one weekend, getting to meet a lot of people who before then I only knew by their work.
Each night I was always tired but too excited to sleep.



 

Talking shop.


Yet this was also an opportunity for people who rarely got the chance to meet in person to just kick back and relax and catch up on things.
Here on the left you can see Ric Croxton, Ron Fortier, and Robert Kennedy doing just that.






 



Here I am with author Derrick Ferguson.
Despite the hat, I'm the short one.


Author Nancy Hansen got to meet artist Daulton Carpenter, who illustrated her story "Masquerra and the Storm Lord" for Fantasy and Fear # 2.
She did buy the art at the auction Saturday night, but as of this posting, has yet to receive it.








The Domino Lady

Besides the debut of the mysterious Pulptress, another femme fatale of the Pulp world, The Domino Lady, was at Pulp Ark over the convention weekend.














 


But in the end, out of all the memories I have of the first Pulp Ark convention, the photo on the left represents the one I treasure most.
I first 'met' Ken Janssens over the Internet when I was editing for the umpteenth start up company that never got off the ground that I somehow always wound up working for.
Despite how good his work was, for Ken had submitted a comic book script for the first Sherringford Bell story "Studying Scarlett". The prose version wound up in the second issue of Pro Se Press' Fantasy and Fear magazine that I had the honor of editing.
While things didn't work out for either of us at the start up, Ken was nice enough to recommend me to Pro Se. I auditioned, and as they say, the rest is history.
Ken and his fiance Christina O'Connor came all the way from CANADA to attend the convention, thus not only making this his first professional appearance in America, but his first professional appearance anywhere.
They are also two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.
For me, just getting to say hello and thank you to him in person was more than I could ever hope for.
I'm greatly looking forward to seeing them and everyone else again at PULP ARK TWO in 2012!


Thus ends the Pulp Ark 2011 report. I would also like to thank Tommy Hancock and Fuller Bumpers for not only originating and inviting me to the convention, but for starting Pro Se Press and giving me a chance to express myself as an author in the pulp world.

PULP ARK 2011, A COMPLETE REPORT>PART 4

May 14, 2011.
Saturday night in Batesville, Arkansas saw the inaugrual Pulp Ark convention continue with the first annual Pulp Ark awards.

Art Sippo

Art Sippo accepted the Life Time Achievement award on behalf of Tom and Ginger Johnson.
Adam Lance Garcia won for Best Pulp Revival with his book Green Lama Unbound; while Gregg Taylor won Best Book for his novel: Tales of the Red Panda: The Android Assassins. That novel also won Best Pulp Cover for artist Anthony Perkins.





Rob Davis, left and Ron Fortier

Ron Fortier won Best Pulp Comic for his Boston Bombers graphic novel.
Meanwhile, Phil Bledsoe won Best Short Story for "The Mountain Goats of Madness".










Barry Reese

Barry Reese won Best Author of the Year and accepted the award on behalf of Anthony Castrillo for Best Interior Art for The Rook, Volume 5.










Tommy Hancock


Tommy Hancock accepted on behalf of Fuller Bumpers and himself the Best Pulp Magazine award for Pro Se Press' Masked Gun Mystery; where Ken Janssens' Aloha McCoy; Hugh Monn, Private Detective by yours truly, and other features got their start.
Tommy also won the Best New Pulp Writer of the Year award and did his best to keep from getting emotional.
Derrick Ferguson taped the awards ceremony and posted it on YouTube, so you can see for yourself whether or not Tommy succeeded in his quest.







The Pulptress
 Now some of you might be wondering who the mysterious lady in the red and white stripes is.
This unknown femme fatale is The Pulptress, and can be seen throughout pulp web sites, as well as having her own page on Facebook.

There was also an art auction that night. The audio of that event can be found within episode 127 of The Book Cave at http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/ but unfortunately I cannot show you the pictures of what I bought because as of May 25, 2011 it has yet to arrive.
In any event, Day 2 ended, most of us wound up retiring for the night at the same hotel, so it was quite a while before any of us did call it a night since we all hung out and just talked for a while.

In the next installment of this report, we reach the final day of the convention, and afterwards, I'll post photos I took during my sojourn to Arkansas that were not germaine to the main report but are still interesting.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

PULP ARK 2011>A COMPLETE REPORT PART 3

As my complete report on my experiences at the inaugral Pulp Ark Convention in Batesville, Arkansas continues...
Day 2 started with the contential breakfast at the hotel where most of us convention goers wound up staying. The fact that a lot of us were under one roof when not on "duty" wasn't planned, but we certainly took the opportunity to kick back, relax, and just chat with one another whenever possible.
The morning at the convention started off with special guest Wayne Shriver, who could only attend that Saturday due to other commitments, holding a panel explaining "Everything you ever wanted to know about Doc Savage, but were afraid to ask". This was followed by the main reason those of the Pro Se Press staff who were able to attend came: our first official panel as a collective group of writers.
Persoanlly, I think it went off without a hitch, although I will never have what is called a good "radio" voice.
Since I was getting ready for the panel that I actually participated in, I'm afraid I don't have any photos of these events, although other people to take pictures. Anything I was unable to get a picture of you can find on Facebook and other websites.
Then I and the rest of the Pro Se people stayed at the company table, greeting fans and signing autographs until it was time to take a late lunch, so I was unable to attend artist Rob Davis' panel on how to illustrate pulp stories.
But before you get too concerned that this is going to turn out to be an all text report, the afternoon and evening turned out to be a different story.

The Pulp Ark Players (and if the company had a more formal name, I am unaware of it) presented Act 2 of "The Case of the Bloody Pulp".
This photo was taken from the Pro Se table while the performance was in progress, so you can see Ric Croxton of The Book Cave watching the show in the foreground, with Rob Davis taking a picture of the act in the far right background.
The players in the middle are Tommy Hancock (red shirt), Shannon O'Cain, and Brian Coltharp (black shirt).



How to write Modern Pulp Panel

Then I attended the class panel on how to write modern/new pulp because even though I have been and will continue to be published, that doesn't mean I know everything.
Pictured are (left to right) Van Allen Plexico, Robert Kennedy. Art Sippo, Barry Reese, and Bobby Nash. The panel was moderated by Ron Fortier, but unfortunately he got cut out of the frame. Sorry Ron.





Ric Croxton (left), Tommy Hancock

Next Tommy Hancock conducted a discussion about how to blend real life history into pulp stories, but as you can see by the photo on the left, Ric Croxton was preparing to record the panel when I took this image.









The Super-heroes in pulp panel

Then to further my education, I stayed for the Super-heroes in pulp panel, because after I finish prepping the HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE collection for Pro Se Press; I will be doing a super-hero project of my own that I have had since high school that has finally found a publisher and will be out sometime in 2012.
Pictured, from left to right, are Ric Croxton recording Bobby Nash, Van Allen Plexico, and Wayne Reinagel discussing the matter at hand. I sincerely hope I didn't get on anyone's nerves with all my questions, but there are some instances where ignorance is not bliss.

In any event, considering the big evening that lay ahead with the first annual Pulp Ark awards and the art auction, I think I will stop here, and continue coverage in the next installment.
The recodings of the Pulp Ark panels and other pulp related events can be found at The Book Cave at
http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/

Monday, May 23, 2011

PULP ARK 2011: A COMPLETE REPORT>PART 2

As we continue our look back at the very first Pulp Ark Convention held in Batesville, Arkansas the weekend of May 13-15....
The first panel, Friday afternoon

The very first panel of the convention was a gathering of those behind the All Pulp website, a place on the Internet where fans can find out the latest on everything happening in the world of New Pulp.
The site can be found at http://www.allpulp.blogspot.com/
Pictured, from left to right as the panel began, is author Barry Reese, Airship 27 co-founder and writer Ron Fortier, author Derrick Ferguson, convention co-founder Tommy Hancock, and author Bobby Nash.
Amongst the news events released were:
*One of Airship 27's forthcoming releases, Challenger Storm by Don Gates, will feature art by legendary artist Michael William Kaluata!
*Barry Reese's The Rook series will now be published by Pro Se Press, starting with Volume 6.
*Late arrival Van Allen Plexico will be concluding his current Sentinels trilogy "Stellarax", will be released this summer.
*Derrick Ferguson's first Fortune McCall collection will be out this fall from Pro Se Press.
*Author Bobby Nash is so prolific, he has something coming out practically ever time he blinks.
*Tommy Hancock will be writing episodes of "Hunt and Peck" for Red Panda.
Van Allen Plexico (far right at table) finally arrives as
The Book Cave (lower right hand corner) records
the conversation.

Also that night, scenes from current pulp adventures were performed like old time radio dramas, but unfortunately none of my photos of that event came out in a good enough quality to post here despite trying to tweak it with the Irfanview program.

As previously stated in Part 1 of this report, Ric Croxton and Art Sippo recorded ALL the panels for broadcast on their Book Cave, which can be found at http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/




Another thing that happened that I personally do not have any photos of, but can be read about via the various posts on Facebook and the websites/blogs of the individual attendees, a lot of people who were able to attend the first Pulp Ark Convention wound up staying at the same motel!
It wasn't planned that way, but was certainly nice to just be able to kick back each night after the day's events were over and just hang out and relax with everybody.
The only other thing I must note at this point is to apologize to Pulp Ark and Pro Se co-founder Fuller Bumpers. The guy was kept so busy seeing to things along with his friend and business partner Tommy Hancock that I was never able to get him to stand still long enough to pose for a picture. Others might have, but I wasn't so lucky.

Well, I think the conclusion of Day One is a nice place to end this installment.
Stay tuned for more on The 2011 Pulp Ark convention.

PULP ARK 2011: A COMPLETE REPORT>PART 1

Well, I honestly intended to post this a lot sooner than now, but better late than never.
The first annual Pulp Ark convention was held May 13-15, 2011. Representatives from Airship 27, Moonstone, and other noted pulp creators converged in Batesville, Arkansas; the second oldest city within that state.
Event founder Tommy Hancock, a driving force within the New Pulp movement, also invited those who could attend from his own company, Pro Se Productions.
The Cinnamon Stick, the host site for Pulp Ark 1.

The three day convention was held at The Cinnamon Stick, who also offered fine food and coffees to their patrons.
Joe Gentile setting up the Moonstone table.

While the event did not start until Noon on Friday, May 13, guests began setting up the night before and that morning in preparation for the convention. I attended with my friend, cohort, and fellow writer Nancy A. Hansen, whose first book Fortune's Pawn, will be coming out soon from Pro Se via Amazon!
All of Pro Se's magazines are still available from lulu.com; but all the books the company releases from this point forward will be available from Amazon.com


While such conventions were old hat for the other guests, it was the first professional appearance for everyone from Pro Se Productions that could attend. A lot of us were acquaintances, if not outright friends, with each other through the Internet, this was the first time those who could make it would meet face to face.
Ron Fortier of Airship 27.

Although I will be the first to admit that I was nervous as heck, it was an exciting time that I would not have missed for anything in the universe.
Here, while waiting for the convention to open to the general public, I found myself in a battle of dueling cameras with Ron Fortier.
If he ever posts the results from his camera at that moment, you will see me and Nancy aiming our cameras at him.
Personally, since we outnumbered him 2 to 1, I think we won that duel, but a winner was never officially declared.






I hope this doesn't sound too self serving, but everyone there has worked long and hard to be where they are today not only within the New Pulp movement itself, but within the literature end of the entertainment industry in general.
I have created and written two series for Pro Se, the first of which, Hugh Monn, Private Detective, you can see represented at left with its proud creator.
A collection of all the short stories I wrote for the character will be out some time soon, but unfortunately I do not have an exact release date at this time.
While the first two stories, "Dineena's Dilemma" and "Shortages", have already been published once within the first two issues of Pro Se's Masked Gun Mystery, I have gone back over both stories, as well as the six that have yet to be published because of the company's switch from magazines to books; to make them more of an overall narrative within the forthcoming collection.
The magazines are still available from lulu.com, so when the book comes out via Amazon, you can compare the two if interested in seeing how the writing/editing process works.

"On with the show this is it!"

But now the shameless plug(s) end as we approach the Noon hour and the doors open for Pulp Fans young and old.
I unfortunately do not have attendance numbers for the three days, but there WILL be a Pulp Ark TWO in 2012!



Ric Croxton and Art Sippo of THE BOOK CAVE

Besides the local Arkansas papers, Facebook, and everyone's individual blogs and websites, there was outside media coverage of the event.
Here you can see Ric Croxton (on the left) and Doctor Art Sippo of The Book Cave, who recorded all the panels held during the convention and other interviews for their podcasts at http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/





Scene from "The Case of the Bloody Pulp", Act 1.
Amongst all the panels and other events held during Pulp Ark was the presentation of an original play entitled "The Case of the Bloody Pulp", a three act production split across the convention weekend.
The cast included local performers Shannon O'Cain, Brian Coltharp, David Jones (no known relation to the Monkee or the gentleman who performs under the name David Bowie), Tanya McClure, and Bo Elrod, along with play writer/director Tommy Hancock and his son Alexander.



Christina O'Connor and Ken Janssens

As already stated, this was the first professional appearance for all the Pro Se staff who were able to attend the convention.
But the one that is nearest and dearest to my heart is Ken Janssens.
Thanks to Ken, I managed to get a chance to audition for Pro Se, and the rest as they say is history.
It should be noted though that Pulp Ark 1 was not only Ken's first professional appearance, but his first convention as a professional anywhere, because he and his fiance Christina came all the way from CANADA to attend.

Well, I fully intend to do a complete report, but technology is telling me that I am almost out of space in this post.
So stay tuned for part two of the Pulp Ark wrap up!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

SUNDAY FUNNIES: MORE FORE THOUGHTS ON GOLF

Hello Everybody! Autumn the Puppy here. Thought I would post a new photo of myself this weekend. Please let me know what you think of it.
Meanwhile, back on April 10th's installment of The Sunday Funnies, I presented some fore thoughts on golf.
That column got such good reviews (especially from the ladies) that I'd thought I'd post some more fore thoughts on golf.
Ready?

I've watched a few more games since the last golf post, and I still think it's a beautiful waste of a great walk on a luscious yard just to chase around a little white ball. But I have to wonder why more players seem to have difficulty hitting the ball over water instead of sand? After all, if you lose that little white ball in the water, it's a lot harder to retrieve, so you'd think players would take better care trying to hit the ball over water unless you can avoid the water at all. I know about water. I love to drink it, but I hate getting baths! It takes my fur forever to dry!

When a golfer gets mad, I can understand throwing the club away, although I don't think the tool is to blame. But when you do throw your club, why not throw it forward instead of behind you? That way you can pick it up on your way to the ball.

Billy is complaining to Bobby about his day of golf. "I've got kicked off the course for reaching 69."
"Really? Why would you kick you off for that?" asked Bobby.
"I don't know," replied Billy. "I never knew a golf cart could go that fast."

If you lose more than four balls on any given hole, for safety reasons, let your partner drive the golf cart.

But it's not just me who finds the game strange. Look at some of these quotes on golf from famous people I dug up.

* "He who has the fastest golf cart never had a bad lie" - Micky Mantle

* "Tee your ball high. Air offers less resistance than dirt." - Jack Nicklaus

* "The best wood in most amateur players' bags is the pencil." - Chi Chi Rodriguez

* "If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball." - Jack Lemon.

But no matter where I look, I STILL cannot figure out just what one of those golf animals looks like, why you Humans are hunting it only in specific areas, or why you think one little white ball is going to hurt it. I think you'd have a better chance using one of those clubs.

In any event, that's all the room I have for this weekend. Have a great week and be back next weekend for more Sunday Funnies!-AtP.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: MAY 15-21, 2011

Amongst events that have happened around the world this past week...

*Civil unrest continues within Libya and Syria as other countries keep a close eye on the Middle East situation. NATO is continuing a military presence in Libya.
*United States President Barack Obama had a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss options for that country to achieve peaceful accords with its neighbors.
*Queen Elizabeth II is in the middle of the first official visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch in recorded history.
*Dominique Strauss-Kahn of the International Monetary Fund is being held in New York City on suspicion of rape, awaiting trial. He has resigned his position with the IMF because of the current legal proceedings.
*Citizens in Louisiana and Mississippi are still keeping a wary eye on the flooding situation there, although it has lessened to the lower halves of the two states bordering the Gulf of Mexico.
*The Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced a setback to their recovery plans for the Fukushima nuclear crisis after discovering that the status of the first nuclear reactor at the power plant is actually in worse condition that originally thought. Company president Masataka Shimizu has resigned after the TEPCO reported over a three million yen lost for the past quarter, with at least that much predicted for the next.
*Pope Benedict the XVI made the first Papal 'phone' call to outer space, talking to the crews of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (on its final mission) and the International Space Station Saturday morning, Vatican time.
*The first solar powered airplane, Solar Impulse, successfully completed a test flight from Switzerland to the Brussels International Airport May 15.
*Friday marked the 55th anniversary of the first hydrogen bomb test. The airborne missile was dropped upon the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, and photos from the event can be seen at http://www.life.com/


IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS...
*Sony has started restoring the PlayStation Network after the PlayStation 3's online service was disabled due to hacker attacks.
*Former wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage has passed away following a car accident.
*The Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada has closed its doors after 59 years in business.
*Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted to fathering a love child while being married to Maria Shriver.

For more news at any time, scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen or visit any reputable news source.

THE PUZZLE CORNER: MAY 21, 2011

Another weekend is upon us, and puzzle fans know what that means!

TRIVIA TIME
The first round of Interleague play is underway within Major League Baseball's 2011 season here in America, and some of the matchups have interesting nicknames. Do you know what teams are playing against each other based upon those nicknames?
01. The Subway Series
02. The Citrus Series
03. The El Series
04. The Texas Shootout.

THE LETTER SHUFFLE
A ten letter word can be formed by using the letters in the two five letter words listed. Do you know what they are?
01. Mural, Joins
02. Stain, Mural

We'll reveal all next weekend. But for now, let's peek into THE ANSWERS BOX, and see the results from May 14's Puzzle Corner.

COMMON BONDS
01. {Battleship, the Seattle Mariners} Milton Bradley
02. {The Toronto Blue Jays, LuAnn DeGroot} Aaron Hill
03. {The answers to groups 1 and 2} Both are real life baseball players who have namesakes elsewhere.

BEFORE AND AFTER
An "Aquatic mathematics instrument" is a WATER SLIDE RULE.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

OUR APOLOGIES

While The Free Choice E-zine has every intention of running a full report on the recent Pulp Ark 2011 convention attended by our esteemed Editor-In-Chief, unfortunately we have run into a few unscheduled delays on the matter.
The return trip from Arkansas to home was a nightmare and an adventure worthy of the original Mission: Impossible television series, but the fault for that lies squarely upon the shoulders of Delta Airlines.
Meanwhile, personal and professional commitments have kept him from devoting the full time and attention the matter deserves to complete the article at the moment.
The Free Choice E-zine itself IS on schedule, and our regular weekend features (The Puzzle Corner, The Week In Review, and The Sunday Funnies) will appear on time.
But the Pulp Ark report has been delayed until next week.
Again, our most sincerest apologies.

Monday, May 16, 2011

SUNDAY FUNNIES: THE ROYAL WEDDING

Hello Everybody. Autumn the Puppy here!

Believe it or not, I was sent some very interesting photos of the recent Royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton!
I don't know where the person who sent them to me got them from, but as far as I have been able to ascertain, these are genuine images and have not been altered in any way.

As you can see by the top photo, members of the Royal Family are watching the newlyweds passby on the way to their weekend getaway as husband and wife.



But in the middle photo, something must have happened, for there is a clear and obvious reaction by almost everyone by the time the last photo was taken, although you must admire the "stiff upper lip" expression on the face of Queen Elizabeth on the far left.
Modesty forbids me from commenting further on the possibilities of what must have happened, although I'm sure it passed in time.

Well, that's it for this weekend. Have a great week and be back in seven days for more Sunday Funnies!-AtP

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: MAY 8-14, 2011


My apologies for the lateness of this post. It has been a heck of a time at the 2011 Pulp Ark convention and when I got back to the motel room (late) Saturday night, I needed more sleep than I thought. I thought I would only be going down for a short nap, but I slept straight through until my alarm Sunday morning.
But now, without further adieu...

Amongst events happening around the world this past week were:
*Residents of Louisiana and Mississippi are watching and waiting to see how bad potential flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers might be. Flood gates have been opened along the rivers to attempt easing the situation.
*The civil unrest in the Middle East continues. Yemen is on the verge of joining Libya and Syria as serious hotbeds of "contention".
*The flood waters along the Mississippi River have crested in Tennessee, although states further south are still nervously watching the river rise.
*Astronomers are excitedly watching the skies this month over the impending conjunctions of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter; followed shortly by Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Then on the last three days of this month, the waning moon will sweep past all four planets in the morning sky.
*The Microsoft Corporation has bought Skype for $8.5 US Billion Dollars.

IN SPORTS…
*For those who may have missed our updated post on the subject last weekend, Magic Kingdom won the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby.
*The first round of Interleague play in the 2011 Major League Baseball season begins this coming weekend.

IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS…
*Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger have separated after 25 years of marriage.
*The last original episode of the syndicated Oprah Winfrey Show is scheduled to air May 25th.

 For more news at any time, either scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature below, or visit any reputable news source.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

PULP ARK 2011: AN INTERIM REPORT

Unfortunately, I have found being a guest at a convention a lot more time consuming than I first thought it would be.
Therefore, instead of blogging about Day 2 (Saturday) and the grand finale today, I will be posting a more complete report later this week with lots of pictures after I fly back home Monday and rest up a little.
Meanwhile, you can find out more about this exciting weekend at www.allpulp.blogspot.com, Facebook, and the websites of the authors mentioned in my Day 1 post.

But I can honestly say it was the most exciting time I have ever had in my life and I look forward to doing it again next year, which will probably be how long it takes me to rest up from this one!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

THE PUZZLE CORNER: MAY 14, 2011


While our Editor-In-Chief is away at Pulp Ark, that doesn’t mean we get to rest upon our laurels. L

COMMON BONDS
What, if anything, do the following groups have in common?
01. {Battleship, the Seattle Mariners}
02. {The Toronto Blue Jays, LuAnn DeGroot}
03. {The answer to groups 1 and 2}

BEFORE AND AFTER
Two terms with a common word between them have been combined to make a new item. Do you know what it is?

“This could be considered an aquatic mathematics instrument.”

We’ll reveal all next weekend. But for now, let’s peek inside THE ANSWERS BOX, for the results of the May 1 Puzzle Corner.
01.  The Dark Knight = Batman
02.  The Man of Steel = Superman
03.  The Emerald Guardian =Green Lantern
04.  Jade Jaws = The Hulk
05.  The Wall Crawler = Spider-man
06.  The Sentinel of Liberty = Captain America
07.  Goldilocks = Thor

COMMON BONDS
All have been or are featured within movies within the next 12 months.

PULP ARK 2011: DAY ONE

I am here in beautiful Batesville, Arkansas; nestled at the foot of the Ozark Mountains, enjoying my first convention as a professional writer/editor.
Ric Croxton and Art Sippo of The Book Cave podcasts at www.thebookcave.libsyn.com

It is an extreme honor not only to meet the fans, but also my fellow creators within the new pulp field face to face for the first time.The weather and the people are both nice and for the debut of such a prestigious event, things been swell at Pulp Ark.
I am tired, but in a positive way, over everything going on.
So without further ado, I would like to share a few photos with you.
Ron Fortier of Airship 27 and I wound up in a camera duel .
Joe Gentiele of Moonstone Productions
A lot of us are meeting for the first time face to face, because Pulp Ark 2011 was our very first convention as professional authors!
So this photo pretty much sums up the spirit of the convention. That is Ken Janssens (Aloha McCoy, Sherringford Bell, The Cerberus Clan) and me, but the hat fit a lot better before my last haircut.
Ken and his fiancée Christina came all the way from CANADA to attend the convention! Thus Pulp Ark was not only his first professional convention, but his first American appearance as well!

Authors Barry Reese (left) and Derrick Fergerson

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

OUR UPCOMING AGENDA: PULP ARK

This weekend, May 13-15, amongst our regular weekend features:
*The Puzzle Corner
*The Week In Review, and
*The Sunday Funnies
Our esteemed Editor-In-Chief will be in Batesville, Arkanas attending the PULP ARK convention within his capacity as a professional writer/editor.
Lee Houston, Junior will be blogging about the event as time permits here.
Hope you enjoy the posts.


Sunday, May 8, 2011

SUNDAY FUNNIES: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 2011

Hello Everybody.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
We even has a special pink toned font to celebrate today.
Although not an official Federal holiday here in the United States, Mothers Day was established by Congress in 1908 at the urging of Anna Jarvis.
For the historians in the audience, today is also the observance of Victory in Europe Day, whereupon the Axis/Nazi forces unconditionally surrendered to the Allies/good guys in 1945, but I'm here to talk about dear ol' mom.
I was just a freshly weened puppy when I was shipped off to the local pet store, but we keep in touch. Mom and I howl at each other through the "Twilight Bark" (a 101 Dalmatians reference for anyone who has read the book by Dodie Smith) every once in a while to make sure our noses are cold and our fur's clean.
But anyway, before this goes off on an emotional tangent I would prefer not to go down, let's hear some good Mother's Day related jokes.


What did the mother bee ask the cranky baby bee to do?
Beehave.


What did the baby porcupine ask the cactus?
Are you my mother?


What? Did you think I was going to insult someone's mother?
Silly Humans.
In any event, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
*hoooowwwwlllll...., bark woof arf Mom!*
AtP.