danlamb23

• Germany invaded Yugoslavia in early 1941.

• Initially, Italian troops were aided by Croat and Bosnian collaborators.

• See the films Defiance, Hannibal Rising, and Miracle at St. Anna for examples of collaborators in World War II.

• Friction between Communists and monarchists weakened the resistance movement.

• German troops took over in 1943.

• Non-Communist Croats collaborated with the Germans against the Serbian Communists.

• The Germans recruited two SS divisions composed of Muslim Yugoslavs. They fought against Christian Yugoslavs.

• In 1943 the Allies (the United States and Britain) backed Marshal Tito’s Communist partisans. Tito’s group became stronger in 1944. His was the only partisan Army to liberate their own country without the help of Allied troops. The Yugoslav partisans were able to keep the Red Army out of the country.

• Tito thrived after the War, just as Chairman Mao grew in power after successfully resisting the Japanese in China.


Sources:

Dear and Foot. The Oxford Companion to World War II.
Dunnigan, James F. The World War II Bookshelf.
Fawcett, Bill. How to Lose WWII.

“They were after me, Bobby. I know it.”

The President sat in his brother’s office, sobbing.

“Jesus Christ. What am I going to do without Jackie?”

The Attorney General reached for the telephone. “You need to put this behind you, big brother.” He keyed the extension for his secretary. “Doris? Get me Marilyn Monroe.”

A South Bay writers’ group, The Southwest Manuscripters, turned me on to a fine group of people called The Blustering Gales from the Southwest, a scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars.

I joined the Gales in 1995. I talked with Paula Salo, our Sterndale, at a meeting of the Manuscripters, and she encouraged me to join the Gales. I had met Paula in 1987 at the Sherlockon II convention in Torrance, along with science fiction writer and Sherlockian Mel Gilden, and obtained a signed copy of his novel, The Return of Captain Conquer. I became a fan of Gilden through the science fiction radio talk show Hour 25, which aired on KPFK FM. I began listening to Hour 25 in 1985. This is how I discovered the amazing voice of the late Sherlockian and Gales member, Mike Hodel. Mike was a key member of the Gales, although I was unaware of the connection when I first started listening to Mike and Mel on the radio.

I continued to listen to Hour 25, even though the show rotated hosts ever faster than O.J. Simpson changes his orange jailhouse jumpsuits. You may recognize some of these names: Mike Hodel, Mel Gilden, Harlan Ellison (who renamed the show Mike Hodel’s Hour 25 after Mike passed away), J. Michael Straszinski (of Babylon Five fame), Larry DiTillio (a designer of Call of Cthulhu roleplaying games and writer for the Ghostbusters animated series), Arthur Byron Cover (owner of the Dangerous Visions science fiction book store), and Steven Barnes.

Hour 25 is now on the Internet, and the man who keeps it alive is Warren James. Thanks to the Gales, I got to appear on a panel with Mr. James as well as Poul Anderson. I also acted in a radio play with James and his wife, Suzanne Gibson. I was honored to play their butler in a production of William Gillette’s play, Sherlock Holmes. As I once told our Diaboli, Carol Sperling, I had always wanted to meet Suzanne since hearing Warren devote each weekly episode of Hour 25 to her. He would end the show like this: “For Suzanne, with a quote from the film Time After Time: ‘Every age is the same. It is only love that makes any of them bearable.’” After hearing Warren sign off like this week after week, I realized that Suzanne must me a memorable woman. After meeting them, I have found that Warren and Suzanne are indeed an extraordinary couple.

Tonight, I tip my Deerstalker to the better half of that couple, Suzanne Gibson. Suzanne, I drain my mug in your honor.

Did you ever really love me?
I think these words, and wonder…
Am I being fair to you?
Perhaps the better question is:
Did I ever really love you?

Does love require the convergence of bodies?
If so, then we loved each other intermittently, like seasons
Spring became passion
Summer became love
And Fall has withered into indifference

Does love require the convergence of souls?
If so, then we loved each other three times per day or more
Love was transmitted through the air
And transported from our throats to our ears
With the cold efficiency of microchips

Love buzzed in my ear courtesy of a blinking Bluetooth:
The name now seems so apt
My teeth are blue from missing you

Does love require the convergence of cultures?
If so, then we loved in ebbs and flows
Like waves crashing upon distant shores
Or a pulsing circuit
Connecting and then breaking, over and over

My heart is like that circuit now
Breaking, yes, but also buzzing with unanswered questions
And aching with doubt and possibility

Did we ever really love each other?
Will we ever really love again?
Is love like a current that we tap in to
Or a well that we draw from?
Has the current been breached
The reservoir of electricity damaged beyond repair?
Has the well run dry
Its stone walls drying in the sun?

Have we burned the forest of love?
Salted the earth so it will never grow again?
Did you ever really love me?
Did I ever really love you?
These questions sear my heart
And burn my soul
Forever.

Music to Create By

(A Review of Lindsey Buckingham’s CD Seeds We Sow)

By Dan Lambert

When I experience writer’s block, I turn to certain activities to help me reconnect with my subconscious mind. One of these activities is listening to the music of Lindsey Buckingham. Buckingham is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for the band Fleetwood Mac, but he has also recorded six solo albums. In the early 1990s, I was working toward a Master of Arts in English. Sometimes, as I was working on my term papers, I felt discouraged. Buckingham’s solo album Out of the Cradle featured three very upbeat, positive songs: “Countdown,” “Turn it On,” and “You Do Or You Don’t.” These tracks always put me in a positive, energetic mood. My writer’s block would melt away, and I would happily keep myself glued to the computer.

These are happy times for Lindsey Buckingham fans such as me. Why? Because Buckingham has gifted us with three solo albums in six years, which beats his speed record tremendously. His first solo album, Law and Order, was released in 1981. Go Insane followed in the mid-1980s, and Out of the Cradle came out in the early-1990s. In 2006, Buckingham gave us Under the Skin, which focused a bit too much on acoustic guitar playing for my taste. 2008 gave us Gift of Screws, which focused more on electric guitar work. This year, we have Seeds We Sow, which is a nice mix of acoustic and electric work. Buckingham says this is his best solo work yet. Stevie Nicks, Buckingham’s former lover and current Fleetwood Mac band mate, has also praised the album.

Buckingham’s lyrics are suitably thoughtful and literary for listening to while one writes. The title Out of the Cradle is from a Walt Whitman poem. The title Gift of Screws is from an Emily Dickinson poem. The title track from Seeds We Sow, a meditation on the positive and negative karma that results from our decisions, features the lyric: “Young things, pretty things are dying / In the penny arcade of Edgar Allen Poe.” Is this a reference to the music business, or show business in general? I can’t help but think of Lindsey Lohan or Britney Spears when I hear this lyric.

I like the songs in which Buckingham experiments with extreme alto and falsetto vocals. Seeds We Sow recalls his earlier album Go Insane, because many of the tracks on both albums feature such experimentation (but still not enough for me: Buckingham excels when he engages in such auditory magic). Buckingham is a genius with the guitar, but critics forget that he is also a vocal virtuoso who likes to experiment with his voice as if it were any other musical instrument. When the single “Big Love” (from Fleetwood Mac’s album Tango in the Night) rose to the top of the charts, David Letterman joked that Stevie Nicks must have been responsible for the alternating alto-falsetto “love grunts” that characterized the song’s signature sound. In fact, the “love grunts” were not only Buckingham’s idea, but Buckingham’s voice.

Buckingham experiments with vocals on Seeds We Sow (more than he did on Under the Skin, but less than he did on Gift of Screws). On Seeds We Sow, Buckingham walks the line between acoustic and electric guitar songs. I happen to prefer the latter. Buckingham once characterized the end of “Countdown” as “a screaming guitar solo.” I like his screaming solos. One track from Seeds We Sow, “Gone Too Far,” features a tasty solo and wonderful vocal styling. This track harkens back to bouncy, catchy Fleetwood Mac tunes such as “Hold Me.”
Going back to Gift of Screws, the best three tracks from that album are “Wait For You,” “The Right Place to Fade,” and the title track. All three tracks showcase Buckingham’s instrumental and vocal talents. On Seeds We Sow, I especially like “When She Comes Down.” It reminds me of “D.W. Suite” from the Go Insane album (Buckingham’s tribute to Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson). While I am on the subject of Gift of Screws, I will ask you to go back and listen to the lyrics of “Underground” from that album. You will learn why Buckingham decided to break ranks with Warner Brothers and release this latest album on his own. Buckingham has always been true to his own music, to the exclusion of the desires of the Corporate Masters (whose control over the music industry seems to be slipping, thanks to the Internet).
“When She Comes Down” is also a fun track because of the ambiguous nature of its lyrics. Is it about Gaia (the Greek earth goddess)? Is it about the Virgin Mary? Is it about Stevie Nicks? (Just kidding!)

If you buy Seeds We Sow, I highly recommend that you also buy the three “B-Sides” that are available for download from Amazon.com. These are: “Sleeping Around the Corner,” “End of Time (acoustic version),” and “Seeds We Sow (electric version).” “Sleeping Around the Corner” is a joyously-catchy song with the same kind of infectious hook as “Holiday Road.” (the theme song of the film National Lampoon’s Vacation.) The lyrics are sexy and romantic, with suggestive lines such as: “We made sweet love over and over / she said oh sweet darling I’m your little red rover.” That last line is a reference to “Red Rover,” a song from Fleetwood Mac’s Say You Will album. “End of Time” is a touching and poignant song about healing emotional wounds, and the acoustic version emphasizes the song’s emotional impact. The electric version of “Seeds We Sow” is a faster version of the song that reminds me of the best sonic treats from the Go Insane album (such as “I Want You.”)

If you don’t know any of these album or song titles, never fear: they are all available online through Amazon.com and Itunes.com. If you have never heard Lindsey Buckingham’s music, you are in for a treat. I am grateful for my creative muses, and Mr. Buckingham is one of them.

My answer is "Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac, for many reasons. It is a romantic song that features flawless harmonies and Lindsey Buckingham's inspired guitar work. The song also reminds me of the 1980s, which I think of as a more innocent era.

On Monday, May 16th, 2011, I was part of a panel presentation hosted by The Southwest Manuscripters. I decided to address the topic of “writing problems I have known.” This is a topic that any writer will wax eloquent about. After all, part of the writing process is confronting and overcoming problems. At the risk of trotting out a well-used cliché, the Chinese word for “problem” is also the Chinese word for “opportunity.” Every problem is a potential opportunity to improve your writing. Here are my “Top Six”: the most serious writing problems I have encountered. This article is not about solutions; it is about identifying the problems. I will leave it to you to solve these problems in your own way.

Show, Don’t Tell. Professional writers remind new writers that they should describe their characters through their actions. In the film Back to the Future, we get to see main character Marty McFly’s messy bedroom, rather than being told that he is a messy guy.

Research. Stephen King once called a doctor to ask him if a grown man could swallow a cat. He made this phone call in the name of research. If we do not thoroughly research our writing, an observant reader is going to catch our mistakes. Too many mistakes take the reader out of the fictional world you worked so hard to create.

Description. How much description should we write? In Victorian times, very few middle-class readers were able to travel to other countries. This is why there is so much place description in Victorian novels. Nowadays, your reader may already know what Paris, France or London, England looks like. Still, it is important that we describe the people and places that populate our writing. But how much description is too much?

Character versus Plot. Stories and novels can generally be divided into two types: character-driven and plot-driven. It is a good idea to strike a balance between your characters and your plot. Readers may come away from your book with memories of a unique character or a clever plot, but you should include healthy doses of both.

Avoiding Clichés. A few years ago, I was watching the Academy Awards broadcast with a friend from China. After the show, I asked her what she thought of it.

“Americans really like to use the word ‘amazing,’” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She pointed out that almost every Oscar recipient used the adjective “amazing” in their acceptance speeches. I rewound my DVR to watch the show again, and she was right. Winning actors, directors, and producers all used the word “amazing.” “This is an amazing award.” “This is an amazing night.” “This is an amazing experience.” The word “amazing” has become an overused form of written and verbal communication. In other words, it has become a cliché. Try to purge your own writing of clichés, and you will improve your work.

Dialogue and Dialogue Tags. About twenty years ago, science fiction author Harlan Ellison held a writing contest as part of his radio show, Mike Hodel’s Hour 25. Nobody won. In fact, only one story was deemed publishable by Ellison and the other contest judges. Ellison invited the author to be a guest on Hour 25. Ellison and three other professional writers critiqued the young man’s story on the air.

I remember Ellison’s most humorous criticism. The story involves asteroid miners. An excerpt goes like this: “’Move that drill over here!’ the foreman barked.” Ellison correctly pointed out that it is impossible for a man to bark that sentence. “Why not just use ‘the foreman said?’” Ellison suggested. Be careful not to let your characters bark, purr, cough, wheeze, or choke their dialogue. You want to draw attention to the dialogue, not the dialogue tags. “He said” and “she said” will do nicely.

Writing problems will always be with us, but with every writing problem comes a new opportunity to improve our work. A group such as The Southwest Manuscripters gives us the opportunity to share our writing problems with others. More importantly, the group gives us an opportunity to share solutions.

As a member of the Blustering Gales from the South-West, a scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars Sherlock Holmes club, I am saddened to learn of the passing of Mary Jane Craycroft. Mary Jane was an educator, writer, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She hosted our Sherlockian holiday parties every December. She was a founding member of the Gales. I did not join the club until the 1990s, but I understand the club's other founding members met each other because they were students in Mary Jane's class on the literature of science fiction. I know I speak for countless others when I say how much I will miss Mary Jane.

That's Mary Jane in red, at Loscon, in the center of this photo:

Daniel M. Pinkwater’s Not-So-Great Detective: Sherlockian Humor in Young Adult Literature

By Dan Lambert

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes has invaded the American psyche. Doyle’s canon is so memorable that it has inspired everything from images of Mickey Mouse in a Deerstalker to quips of “no shit, Sherlock!”
Happily, Doyle’s great detective has also invaded the minds of American authors. Holmes-inspired characters litter the shelves of American libraries. They are enjoyed by readers whose only previous knowledge of Doyle’s Great Detective comes from viewing Basil Rathbone’s portrayals on the late, late show.
One of the most affectionate of these literary nods to Conan Doyle comes from Daniel Manus Pinkwater, whose children’s and young adult novels have achieved cult status. Pinkwater’s novel Lizard Music typifies his eccentric brand of children’s fiction. In a cross between the Harry Potter series, the cartoon South Park and Robert Anton Wilson’s Illuminatus! trilogy, the young protagonist uncovers a clan of inter-dimensional, lizard-like creatures.
Pinkwater saves his Holmesian characters for his Snarkout Boys novels, which consist of 1982’s The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, and 1984’s The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror. Noted Southern California Sherlockians Mike Hodel and Mel Gilden were so taken by Lizard Music and the Snarkout Boys novels that they repeatedly recommended them on their weekly radio show, Hour 25.
One web site devoted to Daniel Manus Pinkwater states that “trying to adequately describe [him] is a task that many have attempted, and few have succeeded in doing.” What we do know is that Pinkwater was born on November 15, 1941, in Memphis, Tennessee. He lives in Hudson County, New York, with his wife, Jill (who is also an author) and his dog, Lulu (who is probably not an author).
The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death introduces us to the books’ narrator, Walter Galt. Walter is a student at Genghis Khan High School, in the town of Baconburg. Walter is an expert Snarker, meaning he is adept at sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night, and meeting his friends at the town’s all-night movie house. The theater is called the Snark, giving the ancient art of Snarking its name.
Walter’s friend, Winston Bongo, believes that he invented the practice of Snarking Out. Winston is also a student at Genghis Khan High School in Baconburg.
Walter and Winston soon meet another Snarker, a blonde-haired girl named Rat. Rat, whose real name is Bentley Saunders Harrison Matthews, is a student at George Armstrong Custer High School in Baconburg.
The plot of The Avocado of Death involves the kidnapping of Flipping Hades Terwilliger, Rat’s uncle, by one Wallace Nussbaum, Pinkwater’s latter-day version of Professor Moriarty. Rat describes Nussbaum as an “international criminal of the most dangerous kind” and “Sigerson’s archenemy.”
The Snarkout Boys are soon on Nussbaum’s trail, and are joined by Osgood Sigerson (the world’s greatest detective) and his companion and biographer, Dr. Ormond Sacker. When Walter first sees Sigerson (Pinkwater’s version of Holmes) and Sacker (Pinkwater’s version of Watson) at the local eatery, the Hasty Tasty, he describes them as follows: (Avocado 73). Later in the story, Walter describes Dr. Sacker in more detail: (Avocado 109).
Albeit a brilliant detective, Sigerson has his shortcomings. First, he tends to bore his fellow investigators with tales of seemingly insignificant trivia: (Avocado 114).
Second, Sigerson tends to dilly-dally during his investigations, rather than acting quickly to solve his cases: (Avocado 122).
The Snarkout Boys are up against Wallace Nussbaum again in the second book, The Baconburg Horror. After rescuing Rat’s uncle, the Boys find that Nussbaum has escaped from Devil’s Island, which has been re-opened by the French government for the sole purpose of housing Nussbaum. Nussbaum has somehow released a werewolf into the town of Baconburg, which stalks the streets and leaves bad, hipster poetry everywhere.
Once again, the Boys are joined by Sigerson and Sacker in their battle to thwart Nussbaum. In this book, Sigerson demonstrates another shortcoming: He tends to ignore people who give him valuable clues. In one scene, a holy man, the Honorable Lama Lumpo Smythe-Finkel gives Sigerson a clue in the form of a poem: (Baconburg 101).
To his credit, a few pages later, Sigerson finally comes to his senses and recognizes the value of the Lama’s clue. We then, however, see that Dr. Sacker has his own shortcomings: He does not always carry out the Great Detective’s directives in the manner in which they were intended. To wit,… (Baconburg 104).
So, with the help of Sigerson and Sacker, the Boys once again defeat the Napoleon of Crime (and I don’t mean the pastry), Wallace Nussbaum. Pinkwater continues to write, and hopefully someday will turn the Snarkout Boys saga into a trilogy. Pinkwater’s books are great fun for children and adults alike. I can’t help but imagine that Arthur Conan Doyle, in some celestial library, is reading about Sigerson, Sacker, and Nussbaum, and having a good chuckle.

STAR WARS EPISODE ONE DRINKING GAME

By Dan Lambert

Pop in the DVD of Episode One. Take a drink of your favorite beverage every time…

In General

A character addresses another character as “Master.”
Someone tries to explain the Midiclorians and doesn’t do a very good job of it.
Something looks A LOT like computer animation.
Something appears on screen for the apparent sole purpose of selling a toy or action figure.
A droid/ship/prop changes shape like in the Transformers cartoon for no good reason.
A set or prop looks like it was stolen from DUNE.
Take TWO drinks every time a set or prop looks like it was stolen from KRULL.

Jedi Council

Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) appears to be reading from cue cards.
A Jedi Council member reminds you of a Muppet or a Sid and Marty Croft character.
Yoda looks drunk and/or stoned out of his mind.

Neimoidians (Trade Federation)

Their dialogue doesn’t match their moving lips.
One of them bows to someone.
One of them nervously wrings his hands.
They call each other names or insult each other’s intelligence. (“Are you brain dead?”)

Queen Amidala

She refers to residents of Naboo as “her people.”
She gives someone a snotty look.

Jar Jar

He does something clumsy.
He says something you don’t understand.
He sounds like Roger Rabbit or does something Roger would do.

Anakin

He refers to Podracing out of context. (“This is just like Podracing!”)
He does or says something precocious.

Qui-Gon Jinn

He says he is trusting in the Force or being guided by the Force.
Take TWO drinks every time he tells someone ELSE to trust in the Force.
He tells Obi-Wan to do something boring. (“Wait in the ship until I return.”)

Obi-Wan

He sounds like Alec Guiness.
Take TWO drinks every time he tries to sound like Alec Guiness but doesn’t.

Battle Droids

One gets cut in half by a lightsaber.
One stands still for the apparent sole purpose of getting cut in half by a lightsaber.