First, sorry to have been absent for so long here. As you can imagine, it's been a busy month. Maybe 2022 will have more consistent blogging. We'll see. It all depends on what interesting stuff I find.
Second, this post is going up earlier than usual. Normally I would post on Fridays but I am posting a day early due to the long holiday weekend. Hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season.
Now onto the links of interest:
This is the time of year when Christmas movies are everywhere on television. I suppose that's why I found this article about two entertainment writers trying to pitch a Christmas movie so fascinating.
This time of year the soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas is on repeat at our house. Here's the story about how jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi became involved in the project. Added bonus: Christmas Time Is Here sung by three members of the original choir.
How to give your Amazon Echo a Santa Claus voice. Plus other fun things to say to Alexa.
Season 2 of Alex Rider is now available to stream and is just as good as the first season in my opinion. Here are some secrets of writing the series from creator Anthony Horowitz.
I somehow missed this story when it was first published earlier this year: Why it is nearly impossible to own an original Bob Ross painting. It actually makes a lot of sense.
A new TV series focusing on the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie is in the works. I am intrigued. Related: why Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time.
Writers, take note: one of the most famous short stories in all of literature was written in one day.
There may not be baseball news right now due to the lockout but that doesn't necessarily mean we don't have baseball-related items to discuss. For example, places to go in every state and Ontario on your baseball road trip.
Joe Posnanski ruminates on ten players (plus Pete Rose) that aren't in the Hall of Fame.
I love lists like this: the 100 best baseball books of all time. There are quite a few great titles on this list.
An appreciation of Mel Brooks' and Buck Henry's classic spy spoof Get Smart. Speaking of Mel Brooks, he has just published his memoir and talks at length about love and losing close friends.
Spy gadgets might seem like the stuff of James Bond but Q Branch is based on an actual department within the British Secret Service.
Take a tour through Winston Churchill's secret World War II bunker.
Ethel Lina White inspired no less than Alfred Hitchcock. Now some are working to restore her literary legacy.
Take a peek at the literary puzzle so difficult that only four people have successfully solved it.