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Robin Shantz

@bloginhood.bsky.social

360 followers 140 following 1.5K posts

Blogger and podcaster babbling about science fiction, fantasy, and all points in between. High school teacher. Former reporter. Occasional volunteer Santa Claus. bloginhood.com https://invadersfromplanet3.libsyn.com/

invadersfromplanet3.libsyn.com

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Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 6h

Back to books: I'm now halfway through - and deeply enjoying - @joeabercrombie.com's The Devils.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 6h

6/6

The Alternates - My intro to @pattonoswalt.bsky.social's Minor Threats universe and it didn't disappoint. The notion of superheroes going to group therapy feels like it would be as much at home in Mystery Men or The Tick as in Watchmen or Wildcards, pulling-off the story with humour and grace.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 6h

5/

Godzilla Here There Be Dragons II: Sons of Giants - A worthy next chapter in the story of a centuries-old conspiracy around the Big Guy.

Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theatre: Godzilla vs the Great Gatsby - A love letter to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A bit choppy, but fun.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 6h

4/

Kill Shakespeare: Romeo vs. Juliet - Another installment in the gonzo yet intense mashup of war in the Shakespeare universe. Definitely worth putting at the top of your TBR pile.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 6h

3/

William of Newbury - A delightfully weird little book, supposedly based on the life of a medieval ghostbusting monk, except illustrated with animals playing the human roles. The story was entertaining, but I would have liked the dialogue to have been richer.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 8h

2/

...which is a problem with pitting superheroes whose powers have been built up to epic levels against vicious, but ultimately mortal/destructible foes. One has to depower the heroes to make a fight of it.

Marvel Secret Wars Warzones: 1872 - Entertaining enough for a quick read.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 8h

Thread:

I've been gorging on graphic novels for the past couple of weeks:

Alien: Paradiso - An adequate addition to the franchise's comic book universe, but not a memorable one.

Aliens vs. Avengers - Suitably dark for an Aliens book, but the Marvel heroes seem under-powered...

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Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 10h

Kubrick's "A Clockwork Black and White"

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 10h

They key to Sheila's affections? Mascara.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 10h

Arguments got Doris all wound-up.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

I may have to post this on the door of my classroom.

BkkGreg @bkkgreg.bsky.social · 2d

Gonna keep this handy for when my son says he doesn't like school.

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Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Hard to believe that the WTF podcast has finally come to an end. Thanks, @marcmaron.bsky.social, from all of us Whatthefuckonauts and Whatthefuckoids, for the laughs, tears, and perspectives.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Sales department's fleshing-out a deal.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Polite call the morning after boning.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Bare-bones approach to customer service.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Call centre's down to skeleton staff.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle, but I keep trying to convey this exact message to my students every day.

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 26d

Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading.

Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.

Just. Keep. Reading.

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

@alicefraser.bsky.social I was just listening to the most recent episode of @realmsunknown.bsky.social and, wow, I'm sorry that publisher put you through that nightmare. Here's hoping things will be better when you write your next book.

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Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Autumn leaves distill sunlight into a golden liquor to intoxicate the forest below.

Reposted by Robin Shantz

Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 1d

When Hollywood Does Canada: The Devil's Brigade
A fun movie that most historians and veterans feel isn't historically accurate.
The worst thing it did was completely ignoring the most-decorated member of the Devil's Brigade, Tommy Prince.

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Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 1d

Which makes it even more Bond-appropriate.

M: "007, you'll infiltrate the operations of American tech industrialist Phileas Nethersmear. We've received disturbing reports he's obtained a copy of License Expired."
Bond: "Surely not!"
M: "Indeed. And the fate of Western democracy may be at stake."

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 2d

Sorry, *James* Bond.
Argh!

Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 2d

Also, in books, the wonderful anthology License Expired: The Unauthorized Jamed Bond, edited by @madelineashby.bsky.social & @davidnickle.bsky.social. It was produced when the copyright on the Bond novels expired in Canada. Lots of subversive stories, a couple with a speculative fiction bent.

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Robin Shantz @bloginhood.bsky.social · 2d

On the reboot side, Jaws as a reboot of Beowulf, the 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica, and Coppola's take on Dracula.

For pure fanfic: Monty Python's The Holy Grail, the Lego Batman movie, and the brilliant comic series Kill Shakespeare written by Del Col & McCreery and drawn by Belanger.

Reposted by Robin Shantz

History Daily - This Many Years Ago @thismanyyearsago.bsky.social · 2d

718 years ago, on the 13th of October 1307, King Philip IV of France had hundreds of Knights Templar arrested on charges of heresy, to which most later confessed under torture. This event is one of the possible origins for the Friday the 13th superstition. #otd #history 🗃️

Templars being burned at the stake, illustration from an anonymous German chronicle, Von der Schöpfung der Welt bis 1384

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