"My roscoe sneezed 'kerchee! kerchee!'"

A medley of eclectic interests in mysteries, science fiction and art

chosen by Andi Shechter & Stu Shiffman

NEW! T-Shirts from Stu, check out the two designs now available: "I Love a History Mystery" & "The Game is Afoot!"

Cool Stuff

MYSTERY

Crime Writers of Canada - Canadian national organization of mystery writers whose annual awards, the Arthur Ellis, is named for the nom de "guerre" of the official government hangman in days gone by.
The ClueLass Homepage - A major foci of mystery & crime fiction links.
Lia Matera's web page - She was a lovely bruschetta at LCC7. See what the mysterious and talented Ms. Matera is up to now!
Aileen Schumacher's Home Page. Andi is working as a publicist for the multi-talented Aileen, who is an engineer and mystery author with three mystery novels out from WriteWay: Engineered for Murder, Framework for Death which was nominated for an Anthony for best novel and 1999's Affirmative Reaction.

Keith Snyder's Home Page. Andi also does publicity for this funny and talented musician/composer and writer, whose most recent mystery Trouble Comes Back is available from Walker Books. His first two, Show Control and Coffin's Got the Dead Guy On the Inside are equally terrific and funny.
Dana Stabenow, creator of the Kate Shugak series set in Alaska. Dana is really cool, sez Stu and Andi, and so are her books!
United Kingdom Police & Forensic Web
The Saint, the engaging rogue of Leslie Chateris. A terrific site.
The Rumpole Home Page, pretty much self-explanatory!
Carolyn Wheat Home Page, her own page. Carolyn is author of the Cass Jameson series, a favorite of Andi's.
Homicide: Life on the Street, an excellent fansite devoted to what they call "the Best Damn Show on Television." I agree - and too bad the final episode was broadcast 5/21/99. But at least we can catch the earlier shows on Court TV, and the movie will be finished soon. Too bad there wasn't more cool Homicide merchandise!
Ellery Queen Home Page, devoted to the eponymous detective/mystery writer character created by cousins Manfred Lee and Frederic Dannay (Manford Lapofsky and Daniel Nathan).
Nero Wolfe Home Page, devoted to Rex Stout's detective character (a Mycroft Holmes-like figure) and his assistant Archie Goodwin.
The Continental Op Home Page, devoted to Dashiell Hammett's first great detective character ("Continental" is obviously based on Pinkerton's, for whom Hammett worked for many years).
MysteryGuide.com is a fascinating website designed by Joyce Park devoted to mystery fiction, complete with a review database, interviews, and much else.
Molly Brown, British author of a variety of historical mysteries (Invitation to a Funeral and others), a recent Cracker novel, and science fiction, has a very interesting website - particularly for those interested in the historical mystery. Since Stu's a sucker for the better examples of this sub-genre... (BTW, the novel is very good)
Lizzie Borden Unlocked, devoted to the notable 19th Century murder case.

A TANGLED SKEIN - SHERLOCKIAN PAGES

See Stu's "Adventure of the Red Jester" for a Sherlockian crossover with Wild Wild West, Sound of the Baskervilles White Paper Number 1, on the "Battle of Maiwand", and Sound of the Baskervilles White Paper Number 2, on the "Contents of an Ancient British Barrow".

Articles Stu wrote for CollectingChannel.com Toys MicroChannel:
Imaginary Destinations, Part IV: Baker Street - The Elementary Toys of Sherlock Holmes

Christmas is afoot in Baker Street: Toys of the Blue Carbuncle?

Imaginary Destinations, Part IX: The Lost World of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Cast iron History: The Afghanistan Bank - a 19th Century bank with roots in the Second Afghan War.

San Francisco Bay Area Sherlockian Societies , at Lafter Hall on Dartmoor by the Bay. All the latest poop and links for the Bay Area Sherlockians. Administered by Jim Ferreira (Old Frankland).

The Doge of St. Louis , experience it and know the truth.
WelcomeHolmes , Nashville Scholars of the Three Pipe Problem of Nashville's discussion list
Metropolitan Police Home Page, yeah, it's Scotland Yard and the homeboys of Inspectors Lestrade, Gregson and Hopkins.
"This agency stands flat-footed upon the ground, and there it shall remain. The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply." - Sherlock Holmes in "The Sussex Vampire"
"...observation of trifles." - "Boscombe Valley Mystery"
A Study in Scarlet, some deep background about Lucy Ferrier's fate.
"You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive." - Study in Scarlet. Some interesting material about the Great Game and modern Afghanistan. Check out Stu's Sound of the Baskervilles White Paper Number 1, on the "Battle of Maiwand", where Watson was wounded and rescued by Murray.
"...immense knowledge of sensational literature..." - Study in Scarlet
Solar Pons, for devotees of the Praed Street sleuth, August Derleth's sherlockian pastiches.
The Moriarty Family Crest of scientific achievement? A Moriarty Galaxy Quest of titanic proportions?
Bee-yootiful downtown Moriarty
Curious contents of an ancient British barrow - could it have been in Sussex? Could General Augustus H. Pitt-Rivers have been involved in the excavation? Gaslight archaeology adventures passed along by Stephen Davies.

Could Dr. Watson and/or Sherlock Holmes have come to San Francisco during the Belle Epoque? Is this Baghdad-on-the-Golden Gate an evil Barbary Coast and focus of eldritch horror beyond time and space?
Whatever happened to the legacy of the family of Sir Henry Baskerville? Is the Baskerville coat of arms still cursed? - and what about that gigantic hound? A dire menace. . .
So you say you want a Revolution? Prominent Anarchists and Left-Libertarians, trying to make a World Turned Upside Down. See "Adventure of the Golden Pince-nez", in which ex-revolutionist Professor Coram is tracked down by his betrayed wife Anna. Go Reds! Smash State! "Leftists are in their right minds."
Jack the Ripper As the Threat of Outcast London - Robert F. Haggard Who was the real Ripper? Why do people still find this so fascinating over a century later? Why was he described wearing a deerstalker (just my question)?
Voyage to see what's on the Bottom! The Subworld site is devoted to a Victorian Connecticut submarine engineer and inventor, Simon Lake, who might have designed the Bruce Partington Plans. (The website devoted to the sunken Victorian British submersible, the Resurgum, seems to not always be unavailable, but sometimes this might be the next best thing)
Mort Gerberg's Cartoon Library: "Watson Doesn't Understand Me"
Piltdown Hoax - Myth or Menace? Was the Literary Agent, Arthur Conan Doyle, a viable suspect or just another red herring among the Piltdown Men? Quite a bone of contention!

Optical toys: Magic lanterns & Stereoscopes - Article by Stu Shiffman at CollectingChannel.com.

HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENT

The Bureau Of Missing Socks
Frostbite Falls Page: Rocky & Bullwinkle's Home Page - Charles Ulrich, editor of the Frostbite Falls Far-Flung Flyer, maintains this unofficial website devoted to the fractured world of Jay Ward cartoons.
The Unofficial Beany and Cecil Page
Cartoon Network The cable channel for the real Man or Woman.
Page o' Pinky and the Brain. "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
Wallace and Gromit's Home Pages: those magnificent British clayboys by Nick Park are home here within the Aardman Productions website.
Flying Karamazov Brothers: Juglito Ergo Sum. There's more to the theatre than repetition. There's more to the theatre than repetition. ...But not much...
The Junior Ganymede Club Book, devoted to P.G.Wodehouse fandom. I've gotten more and more interested in Wodehouse this past year, and his humor and use of language have gotten me through some absurd situations of my own. There is a new local club of The Wodehouse Society still trying to start up here in Seattle, The Angler's Rest, and I'll post URLs pointing to it soon. Yes, we will get this club up and running! (I set up a website for the October 1999 TWS Gone to Texas convention to be put on by the Drone Rangers, and left it up for historical reference)
Gilbert and Sullivan Archive Home Page: I am the very model of a modern webster-general...
Caroline's Due South Page, a very interesting page on a recently cancelled kooky TV series about a RCMP constable in Chicagoland.
The SlugWeb - a peek is recommended.
Mentos FAQ , the history and true weirdness of these TV ads.
Ninavision - a hypertext comic strip collection devoted to the world of Nina Paley.
Nina Paley's own website.
Story & Art
Winsor McCay & "Little Nemo in Slumberland"
George Carlin's Own Page, full of much good stuff by and about this iconoclastic comedian.
Barbara's Tales of the Wooden Spoon, full of many True Facts about Urban Legends and other phenomena.
Madonna Inn, in San Luis Obispo, is Andi's nomination for weirdest architecture in California (more than that Mystery House, muses Stu?).

Imaginary Destinations: Kokonino County of George Herriman's Krazy Kat - Article by Stu Shiffman at CollectingChannel.com.
Imaginary Destinations, Part VI: Walt Kelly's Okefenokee Swamp - Article by Stu Shiffman at CollectingChannel.com.

Collecting Happy Hooligan Toys: In Search of the Vibrant Vagrant - Article by Stu Shiffman at CollectingChannel.com.

WEIRD HISTORY

See Stu's "Herzltown, and environs", from the 1946 Fyodor's Guide to the Australian Confederacy for a slightly warped look into the circa 1940's western Australia State of Sion (established by Territorial-Zionists in the teens and twenties). Plan your trip now! Disembark from your dirigible at the Rothschild Tower's zeppelin mast. Stroll through Zangwill Park, have Viennese pastries at Cafe Lebowitz, and visit the Gallipoli Memorial.

The Blackadder FAQ page, Desperately necessary information for the funniest series in weird history.
Sup's Blackadder Page, An excellent focus for Blackadder historical research with plenty of nifty links.
The Flashman Page, dedicated to the adventures of the Victorian rogue Harry Flashman, also more fully covered at the Flashman Papers and "Royal Flashman Society of Upper Canada" websites.
Wild Wild West home page, James West and Artemus Gordon help defend the Old West against the machinations of Dr. Miguelito Loveless and other would-be sagebrush Caesars. See my "Adventure of the Red Jester" for a Sherlockian crossover. I wonder if they ever ran into F-Troop?
Uchronia Alternate History List, Robert Schmunk maintains this very useful resource for those interested in divergent or alternative history. There is also the latest information about the Sidewise in Time Award (Stu is a judge!).

Rocket Ranger, the classic 1987 Cinemaware computer game where you try to keep the Nazis from winning World War II. Very much in the Rocketeer mode!
Alternate History Travel Guides
Recommended Reading List for Castle Falkenstein, a diverse bibliography for the fascinating role-playing game set in a steampunkish alternate Victorian Europe full of Elves and High Magick. Castle Falkenstein is published by R. Talsorian.
Phil Masters' Steampunk Links Page - "Steampunk" (a la "cyberpunk") is the term for retrofitted Victorian science fiction and alternative history. The Difference Engine by Gibson & Sterling is a quintessential example.
The Two Georges Annotated - a interesting concordance to references in the alternate history novel by Richard Dreyfus & Harry Turtledove.

MAD MONKS AND ENGLISHMEN - A Scenario for 23rd Parallel's Luther Arkwright Role Playing Game by Peter Brown. Based on The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, a graphic novel by Bryan Talbot.
Emperor Norton, a figure out of San Francisco history and legend.
C.S. Forester Society, not-so- weird-history perhaps. Maintained by William Carpenter, who is also a Portland OR area Sherlockian. For those with a maritime, historical or literary interest. Look for links to material on Patrick O'Brian's lovely Aubrey & Maturin series.
The Camelot Project, for most of your Arthurian needs.
S.P.Q.R. Blues, A Virtual Mystery Novel, inspired somewhat by the Lindsay Davis series.
The Detective and the Toga, a website devoted to all ancient Roman historical mysteries.
Xena, a fan page devoted to the eccentric historical adventure series. Stu thinks she's nifty! Who cares if it and "Hercules" are both ahistorical as heck and just plain goofy.

ICE SKATING

Figure Skating Page - Everything you want to know...

ARCHAEOLOGY

"A Future for Washington's Past" - Washington's Archaeology Week
Archaeological sites on the World Wide Web
ArchNet, WWW Virtual Library - Archaeology, at the University of Connecticut. Go Huskies!
Archaeology Magazine, a beautiful magazine, an offical publication of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Dinosaur Information on the World Wide Web, an excellent resource.
Prehistoric Monsters website. A source for The Lost World of Arthur Conan Doyle?
Center for the Study of the First Americans website. Hear the call of the Mammoth's Trumpet!

HOT STUFF

Mo Hotta Mo Betta catalog of spicy sauces.
The Chile-head's Home Page -a great spicy resource.
The Cajun & Creole Page terrific!.
The Gumbo Pages all about New Orleans & Acadiana.
Chile Pepper Magazine, a terrific magazine about all spicy cuisines.
Fiery Foods, interesting site with information of the Fiery Foods trade shows and other events of interest.
The Firegirl Page Absolutely everything about hot chiles!.

SCIENCE FICTION & MISCELLANEOUS

Mark Bourne, a fine fellow and science fiction author in Portland, Oregon. We met Mark initially when he attended the Clarion West science fiction writers workshop a few years ago. A mutual interest in hamster art clinched the friendship (we think). His faithful spouse Elizabeth, a talented digital artist, has a mighty fine website too! *cheeble*
My cousin Hank Shiffman's "Disordered Thoughts" page. Hank is a fiend in human-like disguise, of course, but you'll enjoy his breezy musings. A very well-designed website, as it should be since Hank worked at Silicon Graphics, and now is involved in one of those Silicon Valley start-ups.
My cousin Michael Liebmann is another cousin with a website of interest.
Jewish Science Fiction - Jews in Spaaaace?
Patrick Nielsen Hayden's home page. Patrick is a senior editor at TOR books, and an old friend (as is his wife Teresa). They are very cool folks, with entirely too many interests and things to say about them.
Lucy Huntzinger's home page. This is a fascinating dailyjournal/diary site, full of Lucy's special point of view. It includes links to other similar sites.
The Turtle Moves, a guide to Terry Pratchett's Discworld fantasy humor series.
The Lost Museum of Sciences, a nifty virtual resource, but hard to explain.
Time Travel Literature, an article by John Flynn.
TAFF Winners and Publications: TAFF is the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, which exchanges science fiction fans for visits between Europe and North America. Stu won in 1981.
Suncon 1977 worldcon in Miami Beach at the Fontainebleu Hotel-- logo by Stu. We had shirts made up by Perdita Boardman for the committee with the logo, and a dealer in the huckster room was selling plagarized shirts. We had to demand that he cease selling these bootlegs.
cover of Shos-in Gazette by Stu.
Happy Face Sherlock pin in the Classical Specialties site.
Installment one of the TAFF report of my 1981 trip.
see mention of me in this chapter of Peter Roberts' report on his 1977 trip.
fan terms includes the definition of "Roscoe."
Mimosa 12 cover by Stu., reveals the Secrets of the Corfluvians!
Cool site on Seattle art.
The Offical Kate Wolf Website
A Different Kind of Bigfoot Web Page.-- Kyle's site is thoughtful, skeptical, and thought provoking. Plenty of good links too!
HB Magazine at www.halebopp.com, a fascinating site on the comet, with many amazing photos and articles (see astronomer Alan Hale's comments on the TV movie Asteroid and the notorious suicides at Rancho Santa Fe involving the Higher Source cult).

Imaginary Destinations, Part I: Barsoom, the Mars of Edgar Rice Burroughs; and Imaginary Destinations, Part III: H. P. Lovecraft's Sunken R'lyeh - Articles by Stu for CollectingChannel.com.

Stu & Andi's Roscoe Page

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