Whodoesit?

I'm a reader by heart, have been my whole life. In the past I mostly read non-fiction. I grew up around fiction, but it never really spoke to me. Over the last few years, however, I've become much more interested in fiction, literature and genre fiction alike. I've read a little sci-fi, a little fantasy, some classics, and even a little southern gothic.

My main recent interest, though, has been mysteries. Given many of my other interests, such as Batman and detective shows, this should have been a given, but some reason, I'd never really tried them. Oh, sure, I'd read through and greatly enjoyed all the Sherlock Holmes short stories, and read though most of the Encyclopedia Brown series as a child, but had never given anything else much of a glance. That changed about 2 years ago.

At that time, for some reason, I decided to try some Agatha Christie. The first story I read was "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", and after that I has hooked. Thanks to library book sales and used bookstores, I quickly acquired a large library. After reading through much of her work I decided to branch out and try other authors. Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series became another favorite, as did Earl Derr Bigger's Charlie Chan books. Currently, I'm reading a wide variety of authors, like G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown series), Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Whimsy), Dashiell Hammett (Sam Spade), and John Dickson Carr (Dr. Gideon Fell).

My enjoyment of mysteries has also enabled me to springboard into other genres, such as action/espionage (Ian Fleming, Alistair MacLean, Don Pendleton, etc.) and sci-fi/fantasy (C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, Madeleine L'Engle, Jack Finney, Asimov, Tolkien, Clarke, etc.) I've also dabbled in older influences to these, such as Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.

So what is it about mysteries I find so appealing? Certainly the puzzle aspect of trying to solve the case while reading has an intellectual appeal, but in truth I'm usually too busy reading the story to try to figure it out. I think it's mainly the overall tone that goes into them. The characters are fascinating, the plots draw you in, and since I usually prefer reading mysteries older than the 1960's, the settings are full of period detail, and it adds to atmosphere. Though mystery may not be the most "literary" of genres, I'd have to say that is the most fun to read.

What genres does everyone else enjoy? Please feel free to post in the comments!

I wish x were out...

If you're like me, you've probably wondered over the years, "Why isn't x available?" For some reason, be it rights issues, expense, corporate ignorance, or just plain bad luck, many worthy books, albums, movies/TV shows, video games and toys which ideally should be readily available are not. Everyone probably has their own list of they want to see out again, and I am no exception. Here's some of my current list:

Movies/TV Shows/DVD:

1. Batman (1966 TV series) - This is the big one. My favorite TV show ever. Rumored for some sort of a home video release ever since Batman (1989), but still nothing as of yet. Currently tied-up in huge legal issues between FOX (owner of the show), WB (owner of the characters), and the estate of William Dozier, the show's producer. Due to this, it is extremely unlikely it will ever see a release on any home format. Same goes for its companion show, The Green Hornet.

2. Sailor Moon - Considering its extreme popularity when it was out, and the relative obscurity of so much other anime that IS available, it's amazing (and practically criminal) that Sailor Moon currently isn't licensed in the US in any format, be it DVD, TV, books, toys, what have you. Toei is currently investigating relaunching Sailor Moon worldwide, so there may be new news on this front soon. For now, though, it is still unavailable.

Books/Comic books:

1. Ripley's Believe or Not! - Yes, there are several books published each year by Ripley's. Yes, many of them bear the name Ripley's Believe or Not! or some variation thereof. No, none of them really stick to the old formula or have the same magic. New Ripley's books use photography instead of drawings, and the content is more "extreme" and less historical. An anthology reissue series of the original newspaper comics and the prose pieces written for the books, kind of like what they are doing for Peanuts and Dick Tracy, would be a great idea. An equally great idea would be to reissue the Gold Key Ripley's comic books (True Ghost Stories, True War Stories, etc.).

2. The Works of Edsger Dijkstra - I'm somewhat of a CS nerd, and I enjoy reading the classics in the field. There was probably no more interesting and polarizing figure in the early days of Computer Science then Edsger Dijkstra, and that's why it makes me sad that so little of his work is available in print. Much of it is available online at the E. W. Dijkstra Archive, but his work really deserves a nice book series with corrections, updates, and commentary, similar to Donald Knuth's "Selected Papers" series. Many of his other earlier works, such as A Discipline of Programming and Structured Programming, are also either out of print or prohibitively expensive, and could also use lower-price reissues.

3. Game Over - The definitive history of Nintendo. Goes into more detail about the business end of Nintendo, including the various lawsuits between Nintendo and Tengen, Universal, etc. than you imagined was possible. The current edition is about 10 years old at this point, and it has been out-of-print for about 8 of those years. Since Nintendo's story has changed so dramatically during this time, a new expanded edition only makes sense. Video game history/culture books in general have a very spotty record of staying in print, and there are many more that could stand some sort of reissue (Power-up, Phoenix: The Rise and Fall of Home Videogames, etc.)

Music -

1. Bloodless Pharaohs - Brian Setzer's first band. In contrast to his later work with the Stray Cats and The Brian Setzer Orchestra, this band featured very little of Brian's flashy, rockabilly-influenced guitar work. Instead, it had a dark, moody, electric-piano-driven new wave sound. Their lone CD release (a mixture of demos and live tracks) was forced off the market by a lawsuit from Brian Setzer himself. A new CD/digital release, with the tracks that didn't make onto the first one, would be a no-brainer.

2. Oingo Boingo: Good For Your Soul - Oingo Boingo's second album. Inexplicably out-of-print in the US. Needs a new release, at least for completeness.

3. The Smiths: Thank Your Lucky Stars - A bootleg taken from the same tour as Rank, but generally considered to be better, due to a more satisfying tracklisting and improved audio quality. Deserves a legitimate release.

Video Games -

1. Mega Man Mania - A compilation of the 5 original GameBoy Mega Man games with bonus features. Originally announced as a Game Boy Advance release in 2003 to accompany Mega Man Anniversary Collection (for Mega Man's 15th anniversary), it was delayed multiple times until it was finally cancelled. Your blogger even sold off his original copies of those games in anticipation of this release. (The last time I'll ever do that...) Since Mega Man Zero Collection was just released for DS, it's the perfect time for a new expanded DS release of Mega Man Mania, with Mega Man Xtreme and Mega Man Xtreme 2 added.

2. Virtual Console for DSI - The release of Mega Man Mania would be a moot point if Nintendo would finally release some sort of Virtual Console on DSI. There are hundreds of worthy games on Game Boy/Color/Advance, Game Gear, Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket/Color, Wonderswan/Color, and other portable systems that deserve new life. Nintendo needs to make a robust Virtual Console a central feature in the newly-announced 3DS.

Toys -

1. M.A.S.K. - A 1985-1988 Kenner toy line, based around transforming vehicles and masks with powers. Probably the biggest 1980's toy property not to have a proper revival. The only M.A.S.K.-related item to be released in the US in the past several years (not counting novelty t-shirts) is the G.I Joe Specialist Trakker figure, an homage to Matt Trakker, M.A.S.K.'s leader. A full-on revival, with classic-styled but newly sculpted toys (ala G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary), DVD releases of the original shows, and anthology releases of the comics would be a big hit.

2. Sky Commanders - A later (1987) toy series, inspired by M.A.S.K. and also made by Kenner. Figures and vehicles w/ built-in zip lines. Much less well known, but no less awesome. It needs to come out again, just so people can see how great it was.

I'll post more of my wish list later. I'd love to hear your wish lists, so please feel free to post them in the comments.

Hello, World!

Hey Hey!

My name is Ed, and this is my blog. I plan to write about what I like, and I like classic video games, vintage animation, toys, comic strips, comic books, music, classic TV, movies, genre literature, science/CS/math, religion/philosophy, gadgets, and junk food. I'll cover all of these, but I'm not going to limit myself to these, so you never know what you might find here.

Specifically, I really like lavish reissues, so expect to see a lot here about box sets, anthologies, and the like.

Please feel free you let me know what you like/don't like and to offer suggestions. I'm here to (hopefully) entertain and inform.

Have a good day, and God bless.

Ed