ABE DANCER & CALEB RAND - The Complete Package

"It was late autumn, and Ben Finch was hunting for meat along the uninhabited snowline of the eastern Ozarks. He was checking his trapline, alert for a deer. His eyes were relaxed as they scanned the fresh, lightly drifting snow, then suddenly sharp,when a figure appeared stark against the drift of pure whiteness."
So opens Abe Dancer's first Black Horse Western 'IRONHEAD' first published in 2001.
Not his first western though for the writer Carl Bernard first appeared with 'GLASS LAW' by Caleb Rand.
Both Abe Dancer and Caleb Rand are anagrams of Carl Bernard.
The western novels by this author stand out for the stunning covers that he supplies. They have the look of watercolour sketches and are, probably, the work of his illustrator wife Raphilena. Therefore, the covers fit the books.
Both writers have an easy style of writing that keeps the reader interested - and those styles bear a lot of similarity but that is not a detraction. I say that because the cover pictures are easy on the eye and the words seem to reflect that.
Whichever way you look at Abe Dancer and Caleb Rand deliver a complete package.
Descriptively, these books give a good sense of time and place.
The first book that I read was 'BLOOD LEGS' by Caleb Rand (2004) who introduced me to Dan and Will Glass who first appeared in 'Glass Law' 'Blood Legs' was a simple story of two men riding into town after a long trail drive who get caught up in a gunfight and wind up in the cells after being mistaken for members of the notorious Blood Legs gang. How they get away and clear their names was quite involving but enough for me to buy the book and many more besides.
The book pictured is 'WILD MEDDOW' by Caleb Rand and will be published by Robert Hale Ltd's Black Horse Western banner at the end of February.
Grab a copy if you can.

ST. KILDA FOOTBALL CLUB

OK - no jokes about the badge.
If I have a sporting passion then it is Aussie Rules Football.
In particular 'The Saints'.
The good thing about Aussie Rules is that there are no rules - well, some but not many.
The game is played on an oval with two goal posts at each end. The goal is made up of four poles. If the ball passes between the outside pairs of post the player scores a point. And six points if the ball goes through the middle posts.
So if the scoreboard reads 2.2.14 it means 2 points plus 12 points = total of 14 points.
That's the game in simple terms and all you really need to know.

St. Kilda Football Club, as such was not formed until 1876 and became one of the founding teams of the Victoria Football Association in 1877. They played at a ground known as 'Alpaca Paddock' near what is now the St.Kilda Bowling Club and St.Kilda railway station.
When they were formed many of the players came from the South Yarra Football Club that had disbanded the year before. Later they amalgamated with Prahan. Their early years were frought with problems both internally and on the pitch. It was a downhill slide to 1879 when they failed to turn up for a game against Essendon. They were relegated to the junior leagues.
But you can't keep a good team down and they returned to the Seniors in 1886.
There were rumblings amongst the powers that be that the VFA was overcrowded with teams which upset some of the top teams. So a breakaway league was formed in 1896 and St.Kilda became the eighth team in the Victoria Football League. Their opening match was against Collingwood.
Team results were good to middling and it would not be until 1913 that they reached their first Grand Final only to be beaten by Fitroy - a team that the Saints had already beaten twice.
They would have to wait until 1966 for their first Premier.
St.Kilda have always been up and down but fair dues more up but just been pipped at the post.
In 1964 they moved from the Junction Oval to Moorabin Oval a good move for the following year they topped the league - a Minor Premiership where the team finishes top after the home and away rounds. They repeated this in 1997 and 2009.
Nor are they short of the silver by winning the 1996 Ansett Australia Cup; 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup and the 2008 National Australia Bank Cup - all played for in pre-season matches.
The biggest win was back in 2005 when they beat Brisbane Bears by 139 points.
One of the best kickers of the ball was Tony Lockett who played for St.Kilda between 1983 and 1994. In total he scored 898 goals of which he scored 132 in 1992. Of that 132 he scored 15 in one match against Sydney Swans a team that he would later join.
Today he still holds those club records.
Probably the best goal scorer next to Geelong's Gary Ablett.

In 1990 the VFL became the Australian Football League and over the years have added teams from all the Australian states like Fremantle, Adelaide and West Coast Eagles.
West Coast became the first team from outside Victoria to win the Premier.
And there are plenty of teams out there like Hawthorn and Essendon - and the Essendon Bombers had a great player in Michael Long.
But for me The Saints go marching on and despite the ups and downs of the game give value for money.

THAT KIND OF GIRL - 1963

THAT KIND OF GIRL was a 1963 black and white movie directed by Gerry O'Hara that was made over a period of three weeks and cost just £23,000 to make.
Just released on to DVD by the British Film Institute.

The story is quite simple with Margaret-Rose Keil playing the part of an Austrian au pair Eva who is a Brigette Bardot look a like - all blonde beehive and a figure. She lives with a middle class family who find her delightful but fear that men will be after her for only one thing.
Librarian, Max meets Eva while handing out leaflets for a CND Ban The Bomb march. They meet up again at a jazz club where Eva tries to teach him how to twist. All this is watched by a predator, Elliot, who is old enough to be her father. Elliot gets to her first by getting her drunk and taking her to a strip club.
Despite her dalliance with Elliot she joins Max on the Ban The Bomb march and they share a kiss and cuddle at a stop off at the village hall - but that's all.
However, Eva - who is not dressed for a long march - decides to go home and misses the bus. Not to worry though as University student Keith comes along in his sports car and gives her a lift.
Keith is having problems with his girlfriend, Janet. Her parents have ruled out any chance of them getting married. So he takes time out with Eva who gives him a little comfort and joy.
Seeing the two of them together, Elliot, gets all uptight and jealous. On her way home she is attacked by Elliot who runs away when the local bobby on the beat (this is an old film remember) disturbs him. Taken to the local police station Eva is too shocked and scared to name her assailant to the sensitive WPC - who suggests that she gets a medical check up. Eva is sent to a 'Special Clinic'.
Meanwhile, a guilty Keith confesses all to girlfriend Janet who, determined to keep her man, decides that it is time to give him what he wants. Not the easiest of scenes as it is quite tense and cold.
Whoops! In no time at all she discovers that she is pregnant - but....
Meanwhile, jealous Elliot is maintaining a barrage of indecent and threatening calls at Eva who finally tells the police all. They tap the phone and Elliot is caught red handed (those were the days).
Back to the but....
This was a B-movie that was shown in the cinemas back in the early sixties but it contained a 'public information' message. This was about promiscurity and VD (venereal disease) or STDs in today's language.
Eva gets it from Elliot and possibly passes it on to Max by kissing and Keith through sex. In turn there was the possibility that it could be passed on by touching like it was contagious and could affect Janet's baby.
Cue one scene at the 'Special Clinic' where the statistics and what could happen to you are explained at great length.
It was meant to shock - but it jars against the storyline as there was enough in the film as Max and Keith are brought in to the clinic. Talk about sledgehammers cracking nuts.
Certainly, 'That Kind Of Girl' is one of the better examples of that kind of film. Of one thing that I was certain about was that Eva was not that kind of a girl.

You might want to back track to my take on 'The Yellow Teddy Bears'. A cautionary tale of similar ilk.

OPEN RANGE: A New Short Story

The Open Range blog (http://jacksopenrange.blogspot.com) features an interesting short story titled 'A Hard Day's Night'.

Friday's Forgotten Book: YOUNG LOVE by Johannes Allen.

"Today I am nineteen, and the story I am going to tell began two years ago.....Were there any excuses for my behaviour, or am I just plain bad?"

That is the question posed by the young heroine, Helen, of this Danish novel.
Written in 1958 and published by the Hogarth Press and released as a paperback by Pan Books in 1960 this novel went through at least 16 printings in paperback alone.
Although, set in Denmark the action and the themes of this novel could take place in any country and at any time. All the themes are there - coming of age, teenage angst, sexual encounters all set against the disintegrating family life. A holiday romance that goes sour when Helen's boyfriend takes up with her friend. The next encounter is with a boy with ambitions for his band only his plans do not include Helen.
Each encounter knocks her esteem and each time she blames herself and her parents just do not want to know. The only true confident she has is her parent's maid, Nelly, who tries to keep Helen positive.
This novel is written, according to Helen, in the style of those stars who have written their biographies in their sixties. A comment that made me smile because in today's world it would be 'celebrity biographies'.

The novel was written by Johannes Allen (1916-1973) who, the fifties and sixties, wrote and directed many Danish movies. He also wrote several short stories and novels.
'Young Love' is a very insightful novel and given the age of Helen and that Johannes Allen was a 42 year old man at the time this was written it is an incredible piece of writing.

Considered a 'classic' at the time it is a shame that it is hardly recalled today. The themes along with the writing are ageless.

IRON EYES by Rory Black

Iron Eyes is not your usual western hero.
"The man had a haunting face that hid beneath long, limp, black hair. He wore a battered, weather-proof coat favoured by long riders and road agents which almost reached his spurs. With each stride the sound of bullets clinking together in his deep pockets filled the room.
This was no normal man. This was an evil spirit who had yet to die and seek refuge in Hell."
This is the legendary bounty hunter known simply as Iron Eyes.
I asked Black Horse Western author Michael D.George, who writes as Rory Black, how he created the character of Iron Eyes. There was this blood spattered saloon and suddenly Iron Eyes was there.
And when you read that opening chapter you get that feeling that no one else but Iron Eyes could have wreaked all that havoc.
Iron Eyes made his first appearance back in 1999 and 10 years on is still plying his trade as a bounty hunter in the 12th book 'Iron Eyes Makes War'.
A journey that has involved Iron Eyes in the events at the OK Corral and taken on Mexican bandits all within his stride. A character that has grown along the way.
I'm not sure why this spectral character with his scarred up face and emaciated figure proves to be so fascinating. It would be easy to say that there is something there that harks back to the days of The Piccadilly Cowboys but then there are elements of the 'traditional' western there as well. And another ingredient that I just can't put my finger on - just that something that says that there is a new 'Iron Eyes' book and I've got to get it.
Rory Black's Iron Eyes novels are published by Robert Hale Ltd's Black Horse Western brand.
"As Iron Eyes spurred his mount, the long black hair beat up and down upon his collar.
It was like the flapping of bat's wings."

Reviews of the third and twelfth books in the series -'Spurs Of The Spectre' and 'Iron Eyes Makes War' - can be found on the blog Western Fiction Review (there is a link on the side panel).

PEEPING TOM - 1960

In 1960 this film killed the career of respected film director, Michael Powell. It was described as 'sick' and 'nasty'. Yet just over a decade later and through the efforts of Martin Scorcese the film has become a work of 'genius' and receiving the critical acclaim that it should have done in the first place.
'Peeping Tom' has been described as the British 'Psycho' and comparisons made.

What makes 'Peeping Tom' different to other movies is that the protagonist is a serial killer. Everything that you see is through his eyes and the lens of his camera. In turn that makes the audience to this film - the voyeur (another term for peeping tom).

Mark Lewis, played by Carl Boehm, is a solitary man. He lives in his late father's house and pretends that he is a tenant like the downstairs tenant Helen (Anna Massey) and her ailing mother. Helen builds a close relationship with Mark who shows her home movies that his father had taken. These movies are not of the happy family variety but of Mark's father abusing him by striking fear into him. Dr Lewis is investigating the psychology of fear on his own son.
Dr Lewis and the young Mark are played by the uncreditted Michael Powell and his own son Columba.
As an adult Mark is part of a film crew and has ambitions to become a film maker in his own right. He is never without a camera and explains, to anyone who asks, that he is making a documentary.
Then one of the actresses on the film he is working on is murdered and the police get involved.
But the scene for the whole movie is set right at the beginning. Tension mounts as Mark, carrying a concealed camera, meets a prostitute and the camera follows her into her house where she is murdered. The opening credits roll as he sits back and watches his new home movie.

Carl Boehm is excellent as Mark Lewis, a role that makes Hannibal Lecter seem docile.
Get a copy of the DVD to see what I mean.
Cinema in the Sixties were moving in all sorts of directions and somehow Leo Marks' script managed to combine 'kitchen sink' with the thriller and horror genres. Yet the movie virtually disappeared after it received bad reviews. However, due to the efforts of Martin Scorcese 'Peeping Tom' reached a wider audience in the US but not in Britain where the film was made.