Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan Are Related To Each Other?!? (No, Really!)

When I first read Philip Jose Farmer's Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (a "biography" of Doc, based on the 181 pulp novels by "Kenneth Robeson"/Lester Dent) in 1975, there was a chapter and family tree linking Doc to "cousins" like Sherlock Holmes, Fu Manchu (the family "black sheep" ?), Philip Marlowe, The Shadow, Captain Nemo and James Bond 007, among others.






Farmer had originally posited this idea in his similar "fictional biography", 1972's Tarzan Alive (yes, Tarzan, AKA Lord Greystoke, is a member). In a nutshell, a meteor crashed in Wold Newton, England, in 1795, and its radiation somehow affected the people and their eventual descendants genetically. The descendants of the people of Wold Newton (according to Farmer) developed various above-average intellect and skills and the drive to do good (or evil) deeds.


Here's Farmer discussing how he "met" the real Tarzan when doing research for Tarzan Alive :








It's a goofy idea, but a fun one. Farmer himself wrote some short stories & novels such as 1976's The Adventures of the Peerless Peer, which teamed up Holmes & Tarzan (here called "Lord Greystoke" to keep the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate licenseholders happy) in 1916 Africa, and 1991's Escape To Loki, a WWI-set "prequel" to the Doc Savage novels, in which he continued to link all these characters to each other.



PJF fan and writer Win Scott Eckert took it upon himself to expand upon Farmer's "family tree" of fictional adventure characters and began a site devoted to the "Wold Newton Universe", which you can find here . Well, Eckert published a collection of essays by him, Farmer & others in 2005 called Myths For The Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe, which I just got via the library & will start reading ASAP.


In addition to the aformentioned characters, Eckert, Farmer & others link other fictional icons (like Zorro, Charlie Chan and even Henry Higgins -!- from Pygmalion/My Fair Lady) to said "family". Looks like a good read. Can I find 'em or what? -Ed

Related links: The Secret History of the Wold Newton Universe ; The Lester Dent Museum ; The Official Tarzan Web Site

The Stamford Advocate Touts The Kurzweil

Actually they just reprinted last week's Greenwich Time article. But anything that helps get the word out is okay by me! -Ed

Greenwich Time Covers The Kurzweil 3000!

You can find the article here . Many thanks to Kate Petrov! -Ed

Coming To Greenwich Library July 23rd: Free TV

Well, it's kinda free. Courtesy of AOL, the In2TV site offers episodes of various classic television shows (and Godzilla movies!) with about 2 minutes of commericials. But considering some of these programs are either not being shown or are otherwise unavailable on DVD, In2TV is a great source for catching shows like The Adventures of Superman, F Troop , I Spy and (choke) Gilligan's Island . There are also animated cartoons and some really obscure stuff as well.

Below is an episode of F Troop in its entirety (appx. 25 minutes):

On Wednesday, July 23 at 11 a.m., I'll be giving a session in the Technology Training Center on how people can download and enjoy In2TV. It'll be open to the public and staff.

Remember when I mentioned the obscure stuff that IN2TV carries? Here's an episode of the (deservedly) short-lived 1966-67 Girl From U.N.C.L.E. (fifty minutes):

(And for equal time, here's an installment of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with some surprising guest stars from 1964. Here's a hint: two of the said guest stars went on to co-star together in a still-popular science fiction series that began in 1966 and spawned several films and spin-offs.)

-Ed

(And in case you thought I was kidding about Godzilla, click here . )

July Is Disability Pride Month

(Above: Last year's Disability Pride Parade in Michigan.)

Kathi Wolfe notes that this month is Disability Pride Month and that those with disabilitiies have something to celebrate, namely the ADA Amendments Act. Read all about it here .

-Ed

William S. Burroughs Meets Joy Division

(Joy Division , with Ian Curtis , second from right . Click on the picture to learn more about the band.)

Writer Jon Savage has an interesting article on the literary influences of the late Ian Curtis (1956-1980), the creative force behind the legendary band Joy Division at the Guardian . Among Curtis' heroes (which included J.G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick ) was William S. Burroughs and the two actually got to meet. Very briefly.


(William S. Burroughs .)

The whole sad tale is recounted here . Curtis died in 1980 and his life was recently the focus of a very good film, Control , released last year, that may interest people. -Ed

Jack Kerouac: King Of The Beats

From Google Video. A 72 minute podcast of a documentary on the author of On The Road . Enjoy. -Ed