The Concrete Tomb of Hradzka

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK

review by David Hines
rating: **1/2


I'm not as big a fan of PITCH BLACK as many seem to be. The original film was okay, but nothing to drive me wild; it was a decent little movie with some good bits, vaulted into cult status by virtue of an excellent performance by Vin Diesel. Now Diesel's back as Richard B. Riddick -- murderer, thief, and all-around bad guy -- in a movie that sees Riddick saving the universe from guys who are rather worse. Not because Riddick has lofty humanitarian goals, or because he's vowed to thwart the villains' plans, but because the bad guys 1) have pissed him off and 2) are in his way.
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I was surprised when I first read this essay in The Howard Collector. Howard had sent it in a letter to a few friends, including cat-lover H.P. Lovecraft. I would not have expected that the creator of Conan would write an essay on cats -- but it is precisely the kind of essay on cats that the creator of Conan would write.

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For more about Howard, see The Robert E. Howard United Press Association. His death, alas, was not as easy as the little black cat's.

The inimitable James Lileks has a new Institute of Official Cheer site up: Stagworld, where men's magazines of the fifties and sixties are resurrected to... to... to wreak horror on your brain. Good lord. Example:

For those who don’t like fast-paced tales of espionage, there’s the promise of "Swastika Slave Girls in Argentina’s No-Escape Brothel Camp," another tidy compilation of must-have features. You got your girls. You got your slave girls. You got your swastika slave girls. You got your swastika slave girls in a camp. A brothel camp. A no-escape brothel camp.

1. Go to Fanfiction.net/Search.

2. Search >>> story by summary, Filter >>> Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean and enter your first name in the search field.

3. Post the best (or worst) summaries that pop up.

I thought rather smugly that fandom's overwhelmingly female demographic ensured that I certainly would not find my own name in the summary of a Mary Sue. Unless it was also, say, a David Bowie songfic.

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