50 Facts About the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Posted on by

In honor of the mission to put the first man on the moon’s 50th anniversary, Mental Floss posted 50 Facts About the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.  Here are three of my favorites…

3. THE APOLLO 11 ASTRONAUTS WERE ODDLY CALM DURING LIFTOFF.
The average resting heart rate of an adult human is somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm), depending on the individual’s age, size, heart conditions, and other factors. Throw a little excitement into the mix and one’s heart is likely to beat much faster. Yet the Apollo 11 astronauts, whose heart rates were monitored throughout the expedition, remained surprisingly normal. At liftoff, Armstrong was the most excited of the bunch with a rate of 110 bpm. Collins, meanwhile, was clocked at 99, while a clearly calm Aldrin logged a rate of just 88 bpm.

32. ARMSTRONG AND ALDRIN HAD TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO LOCK THEMSELVES OUT OF THE MODULE.
If their heart rates were any indication, Armstrong and Aldrin were pretty calm, cool, and collected when they landed on the Moon. And it’s a good thing: Had they been overwhelmed by the cosmic wonder of it all, they could have easily locked themselves out of their lunar module, as Eagle’s door had no outer handle.

45. ARMSTRONG, ALDRIN, AND COLLINS WERE QUARANTINED FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS UPON THEIR RETURN TO EARTH.
On July 24, the Apollo 11 crew reentered Earth’s atmosphere and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean after more than a week in space. In order to ensure the men hadn’t brought back any sort of weird Moon diseases or other microbes, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were quickly placed into a mobile quarantine unit, which was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. They were released from quarantine on August 10, 1969.

Trigger Mortis: A Zombie Western by Derec Donovan!

Posted on by

Trigger Mortis is a 64 page Zombie Western Hardcover Graphic Novel from Derec Donovan that’s on Kickstarter now.  I jumped on board and I thought it would appeal to some of our readers.  Here’s the synopsis…

EXCLUSIVE to Kickstarter! Trigger Mortis is a 64 page Hardcover thrill-ride combining the action and human drama of Spaghetti Westerns, and the tension and horror of Zombie films.

1876: on the eve of Colorado gaining statehood, rancher Sarah Mc’Clintock has hired a pair of Pinkertons to protect her family’s ranch from the ever present threat of Cattle Rustlers.

She soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between her old flame, Deputy Dylan Hawkes, and mysterious Gunhand Seamus O’Donnell.

Until a zombie plague comes crashing to Earth, spreading like wildfire and threatening the unsuspecting citizens.

Can the living band together to defend the town of Devil’s Lantern from the army of the walking dead?

*Trigger Mortis is intended for Mature Audiences.

The 10 Best Vampire Movies

Posted on by

ComingSoon posted their choice for The 10 Best Vampire Movies.  I’ve only seen four of the ten (Dracula; Nosferatu; The Lost Boys and What We Do in the Shadows), but my Top Ten Vampire Movies would be (in alphabetical order)

  • 30 Days of Night
  • Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
  • Blade 2
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula
  • Dracula
  • Dusk til Dawn
  • Interview with a Vampire
  • Near Dark
  • Salem’s Lot
  • What We Do in the Shadows

And while we’re at it, I’d also suggest the following vampire tv series:

  • The Passage
  • The Strain

Bela Lugosi in “Arsenic and Old Lace”!

Posted on by

Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my all-time favorite movie comedies.  Made in 1944, Arsenic and Old Lace was directed by Frank Capra and starred Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Peter Lorre, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair and John Alexander.

Arsenic and Old Lace got its start on Broadway running from January 1941 to June 1944.  The popular play starred Josephine Hull, Jean Adair and Boris Karloff.  When it was time to make the movie, the play’s producers wouldn’t give Karloff the time off fearing that losing him would hurt the play’s attendance.  Raymond Massey took over Karloff’s part for the film.

Although Massey did an excellent job, I’d have loved to have seen Karloff in the movie.

Another thing I’d have loved to have seen is Bela Lugosi in the stage play of Arsenic and Old Lace.  As you can see from the ad above, Lugosi played the part originated by Karloff (and later Masey) when the show went on the road!

Source: Barnabas Collins.

The Last Good Guy by T. Jefferson Parker

Posted on by

Coming on August 13th from T. Jefferson Parker is The Last Good Guy.

In this electrifying new thriller from three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestseller T. Jefferson Parker, Private Investigator Roland Ford hunts for a missing teenager and uncovers a dark conspiracy in his most personal case yet.

When hired by a beautiful and enigmatic woman to find her missing younger sister, private investigator Roland Ford immediately senses that the case is not what it seems. He is soon swept up in a web of lies and secrets as he searches for the teenager, and even his new client cannot be trusted. His investigation leads him to a secretive charter school, skinhead thugs, a cadre of American Nazis hidden in a desert compound, an arch-conservative celebrity evangelist–and, finally, to the girl herself. The Last Good Guy is Ford’s most challenging case to date, one that will leave him questioning everything he thought he knew about decency, honesty, and the battle between good and evil…if it doesn’t kill him first.

Love that title and T. Jefferson always delivers.  The Last Good Guy is on my to-buy list.  If it makes yours, then click here.

Trouble is What I Do by Walter Mosley

Posted on by

Walter Mosley is coming back with a new Leonid McGill yarn.  Trouble is What I Do is such a classic title.  Here’s the synopsis…

From innovative bestselling novelist Walter Mosley comes the return of the beloved Leonid McGill detective series featuring a morally ambiguous P.I. who solves crimes and whose victims are society’s most downtrodden.

Leonid McGill’s spent a lifetime building up his reputation in the New York investigative scene. His seemingly infallible instinct and inside knowledge of the crime world make him the ideal man to help when Phillip Worry comes knocking.

Phillip “Catfish” Worry is a 92-year-old Mississippi bluesman who needs Leonid’s help with a simple task: deliver a letter revealing the black lineage of a wealthy heiress and her corrupt father. Unsurprisingly, the opportunity to do a simple favor while shocking the prevailing elite is too much for Leonid to resist.

But when a famed and feared assassin puts a hit on Catfish, Leonid has no choice but to confront the ghost of his own felonious past. Working to protect his client, and his own family, Leonid must reach the heiress on the eve of her wedding before her powerful father kills those who hold their family’s secret.

Joined by a team of young and tough aspiring investigators, Leonid must gain the trust of wary socialites, outsmart vengeful thugs, and, above all, serve the truth– no matter the cost.

Trouble is What I Do is available for pre-order now.   Deal me in.

Dark Duet: Two Noir Novellas by Eric Beetner

Posted on by

I just put in my order for Dark Duet: Two Noir Novellas by Eric Beetner.

For the first time in print two novellas in the pulp paperback tradition of fast and no-punches-pulled noir.

In White Hot Pistol Jacy needs to get out of town and away from her stepfather, Brian. The only one she can turn to is her estranged brother, Nash. But getting away won’t be easy. Throw in a bag of cash, dark family secrets and a town cop who doesn’t want them to leave–who also happens to be the very man they’re trying to escape–and you’ve got a pulpy ride down the dark alleys of Noir. First time in paperback.

In Blood on Their Hands Garret and his friends get more than they bargained for with a teenage prank gone wrong. Now killers are after them and the one man who could help them can never know. Friendships will be tested and these young men will see what they’re really made of and if they’ll even make it out of their teen years alive. It’s a violent coming-of-age story and pulp fiction at its action-packed best. Never before published.

If this sounds like something you’d dig, here’s your shovel.

Did You Know John Carpenter Was Set to Direct “Creature from the Black Lagoon” Remake?

Posted on by

At one point a few years ago, John Carpenter was scheduled to direct a remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  In preparation for the film, Rick Baker was brought on board to re-design the Creature based on Milicent Patrick’s original work for the 1954 film.  Although Carpenter’s update was never made, he does have several of the models on display in his home.