Going to be closing this blog

Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep up with ths blog, so I'm going to be closing it and posting on my other blog, which I will be updating regularly. Thanks for signing up for this one, and if you feel so inclined, you a can keep following HERE

Thanks Again and hope to interacting with you in the future.

Peace,

Sean

Mindjacker is now available as an e-book

My first crime thriller novel, MINDJACKER is now available as an ebook HERE

Irish Crime novelist and journalist Declan Burke posted a Q & A he did with me on his blog on June 26th HERE

Dec's novel THE BIG-O and the follow up CRIME ALWAYS PAYS are excellent reads, and his blog is a must read for any author.

MINDJACKER will be available in the APPLE bookstore and in print in July!

The Snake River Canyon Jump

September 8, 1974: Evel Knieval was a celebrity of the highest order and when he attempted to jump the Snake River Canyon in his skycyle everyone watched. It was my indoctrination to the "media spectacle".

If you never saw it, click here

Evil survived the jump with only minor injuries. Evel made the ultimate jump to the afterlife on November 30, 2007.

BUDDY CAN YOU SPARE......A ROCK

1975: Gary Dahl established Rock Bottom Productions, a company that sold the rocks for $3.95 each. The stones were imported from Rosarito Beach in Baja California and arrived swaddled in packing material and nestled in a small cardboard box, with air holes for the rock to breathe.

A thirty-two page official training manual was included, with instructions on how to properly raise and care for the Pet Rock. The instruction manual was full of gags, puns and jokes. It contained several commands that could be taught, like "sit" and "stay".

The fad lasted about six months and ended after the Christmas season of December 1975. I never owned one.

Currently Reading:"Dead Yard" (Adrian McKinty) & "Divorcing Jack" (Colin Bateman)

Song of the Day on the Commute: "Mistral Wind (live version)" (Heart)

Completed Novel: MINDJACKER, Crime Thriller

Current WIP: SISSY MURPHY, Crime Thriller

More Than A Feeling, for BOSTON

1976: Boston's debut album blew me away. I was 11 and again staying over my Granparent's double-decker in Boston. The houses were close together and some older kids lived next door. I heard this playing and listened from the window. Later that day, I asked one of the kids what they were listening to. They told it was a new group called Boston. The next day my Grandmother took me on the subway to downtown boston and bought it for me.

The lead guitarist, Tom Scholz, an MIT grad, actually created the effects devices that gave his playing it's signature sound.

Sadly, the lead singer Brad Delp killed himself in 2007.

I 100% think Boston belongs in the Music Hall of Fame.

Currently Reading: "Dead Yard" (Adrian McKinty) & "Divorcing Jack" (Colin Bateman)

Song of the Day on the Commute: "Girl From A Pawn Shop" (live version) (Black Crowes)

Completed Novel: MINDJACKER, Crime Thriller

Current WIP: SISSY MURPHY, Crime Thriller

LANCE KERWIN: 70's TEEN IDOL

Lance Kerwin was a household name in the 1970's. Most everyone knows him from the "Salem's Lot" mini-series. He was the poster boy for teens who dealt with issues of the times. The titles themselves say a lot obout what kind of movies they were: "James at Fifteen", "Children of Divorce", "The Boy who Drank too Much", you get the picture.

Lance was also in one of my top 5 favorite 1970's made-for-tv movies of all time, "THE DEATH OF RITCHIE". This movie will be the topic of another post, as will the other 4 favorites. So, stay tuned!

THE 45 RPM INSERT THINGY

Legend has it that when I went to visit my Grandmother even though I was only 2 1/2 years old in 1968, I would run right to her portable record player, rifle though her collection of old 45's and grab "Big John" by Jimmy Dean. I would snap the 45 RPM insert in, push the record onto the post, and push the lever to initiate the process that would drop the record onto the turnatable. My first spoken word was "light" because there was a little orange LED on the record player and I would point to it and say "light". Music has and always will be a huge part of my life, and it all started with the 45 RPM insert.

Currently Reading: "Dead Yard" (Adrian McKinty) & "Divorcing Jack" (Colin Bateman)

Song of the Day on the Commute: "Jesus Christ Pose" (Soundgarden)

Completed Novel: MINDJACKER, Crime Thriller

Current WIP: SISSY MURPHY, Crime Thriller

R.I.P Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper passed away over the weekend. He co-starred with Peter Fonda in EASY RIDER, which came out in 1969, but I didn't see it until around 1976, on TV. I loved it and it is still one of my all-time fav's.

Baseball Killed The Disco Star?

July 12, 1979: I was 14, loved Rock-n-Roll and hated disco.

"Disco Demolition Night" was a promotional event that took place at Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was held during a twi-night doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. During the peak of the event, rowdy fans stormed the field, and a near riot broke out. The event is regarded as the culmination of a (well deserved) backlash against disco music that had an effect on the decline of disco.

I can remember thinking that The Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart were the ultimate turncoats when "Emotional Rescue" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" came out on the radio.

The Argo Merchant Oil Spill

December 1976: I was 12. Before the latest oil problems in the Gulf, and the Exxon Valdez, the Argo Merchant disaster was my first exposure to envirnmental catastrophe.

The Argo Merchant was a Liberian-registered oil tanker that ran aground southeast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, on 15 December 1976. Six days later, on December 21st, the shipwreck broke apart, causing one of the largest oil spills in history.

I cannot for the life of me understand what the wahoo's in Cape Cod are fighting putting up a wind farm in Nantucket sound. Another case of NIMBY elitism.

Gary Gilmore Execution

January 17, 1977: I was 12. Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad for murdering two people during a robbery. He demanded the death penalty and got what he asked for. His last words: "Lets Do It" Wondering if a Nike Ad Man was wathching that day. This was my first exposure to the death penalty and it was a big media story. The pre and post coverage was on all the news stations. Have to remember that back then, there was only CBS, ABC, and NBC. The whole thing disturbed me and I remember thinking about it long after it was over. I also remember all of the protesters, which is commonplace today, picketing outside the prison.

Now This Was Youth Adventure!

Before there was "Stand by Me"(excellent movie), there was "Bless the Beasts and Children" It came out in 1971, and was based on the excellent novel by Glendon Swarthout. I saw it when I was about 12, and it was so influential. Someone needs to remake this movie, but I think the animal rights activist would have huge problems with it. It was, dark, funny, emotional, sad, and dealt with real issues that kids, parents, and society were dealing with at the time, without sugarcoating it.

The Carpenters sang the title song. A fact not many people know is that a track that was played at times during the movie, before it was "Nadia's Theme" or "The young and the Restless" theme, it was called "Cotton's Theme" named after the character Cotton, played by Barry Robbins, who tragically died of AIDS in 1986. If you have never read the novel, or seen the movie, you do not know what you are missing.

Burnt Offerings

Burnt Offerings was a movie that scrared the living... out of me. I was 12 when I saw it, alone. It wasn't so much the movie that petrified me, but the "evil chauffeur", pictured above. Many nightmares followed. The ending was pretty spooky as well. Did anyone have the same experience?

The Fonz and the Chicken Stand Jump

September 23, 1975. Happy Days was on Tuesday nights. You never missed it. I was in fourth grade when I got my first exposure to the "cliffhanger". The Fonz was going to jump over a record 14 garbage cans, to get his cool back. This was huge, the fonz needed his cool. It ended up being a two part episode, with part one ending just before he makes the jump. We had to wait an agonizing wee to see what happened. Would he make it? Would he live? There was no internet to leak the results back then. I have to believe part two was the most watched show on TV that night. The Fonz did make it, but crashed into Arnold's chicken stand. I still remember Pat Morita doing his recap, with a drumstick serving as a throttle.

Alpha Centauri

Lost in Space was a show that I watched religously. Dr. Smith was the ultimate scoundrel- the kind you love to hate. I always wondered when Major West was going to give him a well deserved beat down. But then again, Don never made a move on Judy, who was obviously, interested. Jonathan Harris, Billy Mumy, and the Robot were the perfect team, and I ate it up, every single episode.

How could you not love a character who could chew out the Robot, with the eloquance of a Shakespearean actor? What was your favorite episode?