Some new Astounding Pulps

Some really nice Astounding came my way, just love reading these awesome issues from March, July Aug , Nov, Dec, 1940 and Jan. 1941.  Some excellent stories from Heinlein's If this Goes On, to Slan by A E van Vogt ( with a drawing by Schneeman).  I have only gotten though the March 1940 issue with the conclusion to the Heinlein story which was excellent.  It also has what I thought was the best story in the mag Chapter from the Beginning by Alexander M Phillips a story of early man and a later evolution of same, hunting him.  Excellent tale of possible historical cross-over of the species, very cool. 

Seems that according to Fictionmags excellent site that he did work for Top Notch in 1936, some Shortstories in the 40's, probably more Astounding than is listed. The Wiki mentions work for Amazing, Wonder and Unknown.  It also mentions his being a president of the Phily SF society.  I thought the tale was very good, but, me, I just am a sucker for this kind of yarn. 

Some really nice art here from The Stars look Down drawn W A Koll, whom I don't know much. Nice work though

And one of my favorite guys illustrating pulps Edd Cartier.  Pulpartists says he went to Pratt and studied under Harold Scott ( who influenced a lot of pulp artists and was a very prolific one himself)  and William James ( who was an art director at Street and Smith) gave him his start at S and S.  He went on to do over 800 illo's for The Shadow mag. 

Another Cartier, he did say that he likes to put humor in his work and he does come across and does a nice light job of it.

Some more nice illos's...

 
Possibly some of the most excellent reading you can get in a pulp magazine, plus some of the better pulp drawings in one mag.  You really got you 20 cents worth of entertainment back in the day!  You can't exactly end without mentioning  John Campbell the editor who made it all happen, and had a real lively letters section too!  Wonderful stuff!

Wisconsin Foodie 2 Nettles and Pasta Pesto!

Right, the above is Pasto D'urtaica which is to say Pasto with Stinging Neddles.  Yup, thats the stuff when you touch it gives you a hell of an itch.  It grows in our yard like a weed, I pick the new growth off the top with gloves and yank the rest of it out of our garden.  It comes  back like a vengence.  To make this dish, I blanch the whole bunch in a  pasta pot for a few minutes and the stingers go away.  Let cool and remove the stems.  Blend it in a food processor, with about 3 cloves garlic, olive oil, fresh basil, chives and oregano, till smooth.  Add Parmasean cheese to blender.  We added popcorn cauliflower, cut into small pieces and roasted with some olive oil, turning frequently in a large pan and finish in a 400 degree oven to caramelize,  tossing well, add the Pesto and any kind of pasta you may wish, we added Cellentani, awesome, and stir until combined.  Free, fresh food out of the yard!  Google the Stinging Neddles if you don't know what they are, I bet you have some too!  To die for,  really excellent stuff!  Ya, gotta love the Italians for thinking this up!  And my wife, CBJ, did her take on it, with the fresh herbs and the roasted cauliflower.   

Interesting Pulp magazine uses...

Here is a really unique item I ran across in The Richmond Bookstore, Richmond, VA and a cool story to go with it.

OK, its a purse, it has two clapboard images to it, the back was a bra ad or something.  It has the strap, clasp, and sides that made it about 3 inches wide inside and really looked professionally done, never seen one of these things before.  I really like the idea of including the dice with the Gambling Lady cover!  Bob the owner of the store and a buddy of mine tells me that when he was at one pulp show or another and I think it was the one in New Jersey that a guy came up to him and was interested in romance pulps which Bob had a bunch of, but not with him.  So the guy buys what he has, tells him about using them for woman's handbags, and he never hears from him again.  Well Bob shops everything from Fleas to backyard sales and right in Richmond, runs across 2 of these things, at a yard sale, the other one wasn't a pulp cover, but had the same 7 x10 image from another mag.  He couldn't remember if this was one of the pulps he sold to the guy in New Jersey, and Fiction Mags does not have it in that site either.  There are 3 or so Gambling Lady titles, one by Frank Gruber no less, but not this cover.  The cover image looks to me like it should be the 1950's, but the 10 cent price tag seems of question for a 50's pulp.  So it could be a composite image, even if it is its a nice one. And, no I did not buy it, if anyone wants it, its still there I would think. 

Old school, now New school

OK, As you can tell my old school ways have transformed into a much more easy to handle form of music.  Sampling is so much easier to do with the iPod Touch, and instant email, maps and a ton of music on the road, where I spend all my time.  Also I became a part of the portable hard-drive gang, with this preloaded rock and roll bonanza , all 1.5 terra bites of it.  About, what? 35 years of continuous listening?  Who would have thunk?  And for all those who know of these things, yes, the song Thunk by The Jefferson Airplane/Starship is on there!  So, the Decemberists, Springsteen's Waiting on a dream, Dylan's Tempest, Charlie Musselwhite, David Bowie's Hunky Dory, and Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, are going on shuffle for a good 8 hours or so!  Nice to plug in in my dash on the semi and cruise on down the road!  Yeah, I love it, gotta get some wireless speakers and use it at the house too!  Oh, it came as a very nice gift from my wife ( the iPod) and the hard-drive from my good friend Mike, nice when things work out like that!