Go buy my dad's book, BARSTOW BONES!

My dad, in addition to being a pretty great dad, is also a pretty great writer. His latest book, Barstow Bones, is a pulse-pounding mystery set in the Barstow of the 1980s. It's a time and a place I know well, and in addition to writing a compelling mystery I think my dad has really captured the era and setting. Perhaps I'm a tad biased by my dad being my dad and all, but I think this book is terrific and I'd suggest that you buy a few dozen copies immediately. (And hey, you don't have to just take my word for it that my old man's got the goods. Publisher's Weekly described the book as having "real depth" and said the plot was "smooth paced.")

You can click on over to the official website to learn more about the book and buy yourself a copy in paperback or as a Kindle edition. And if you want to meet the author, my dad will be signing on Saturday, June 8th at Gatsby Books in Long Beach, alongside Barbara Ann Eknoian (Chances Are) and Nancy L. Mary (Catnal Academy: On the Trail of an Academic Predator.)

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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The really big stained glass crab at Baltimore-Washington International Airport

This handsome fellow is a 500-pound stained glass crab on display at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. In 1984 the state of Maryland commissioned Baltimore artist Jackie Leatherbury Douglass and her husband John to create a tourist attraction celebrating the Chesapeake blue crab, and the Douglass' spent a reported 5,500 hours assembling this unforgettable display. After John Waters and The Wire, this guy has my vote as the third greatest thing that ever came out of Baltimore.

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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The Full Scale Millennium Falcon Project

The Full Scale Millennium Falcon Project is just what it sounds like. A group of Star Wars fanatics is planning to recreate a full-size replica on the Millennium Falcon, exact in every detail. (Well, other than the ability to make the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs, presumably.)

You'll be amazed to see just how far they've gone toward making this thing a reality. This isn't a corporation doing this, it's not a new prop for a theme park someplace. These are just geeks, on a mission from God. And as unlikely as it sounds, I suspect they may actually get this done. May the force be with them!

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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Protect yourself with ELDER SIGN

Are you forever plagued by nightmarish visions of the ancient Flying Polyps? Ask your doctor what the Elder Sign can do for you.

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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LABYRINTH's Hoggle restored... sort of!

A while back, we explored the tragic fate that befell the original Hoggle puppet used in Jim Henson's classic 1980s fantasy picture, Labyrinth. (Briefly, poor Hoggle ended up a decaying horror on display at Alabama's Unclaimed Baggage Center.)

Well, good news! Hoggle has been restored to his former glory... sort of. Doll maker Gary Sowatzka spent several months restoring the puppet, and Hoggle is now... Well, he doesn't look exactly like the Hoggle we all know and love, but he has an actual face again and he is now about 80% less horrifying.

The restoration was apparently undertaken by the good folks at the Unclaimed Baggage Center, and Hoggle is now once again on display there. Labyrinth dorks everywhere owe them a debt of gratitude. We'll sleep a little more soundly tonight, knowing that poor Hoggle's nose isn't falling off anymore.

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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Shatner vs Gorn rematch in the new TREK video game ad!

William Shatner and the classic Star Trek baddie the Gorn have a rematch in the new ad for the video game based on JJ Abrams' upcoming Star Trek reboot sequel thing. (I was most definitely not a fan of Abrams' 2009 reboot movie, but this new ad almost makes up for Abrams blowing up Vulcan. Almost.)

Shatner celebrated his 82nd(!) birthday this weekend. We neglected to mark the occasion here at Monsters and Rockets, but in hopes of making up for this terrible lapse, here's 45 installments of our former regular feature, Shatner Sunday.  

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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The last surviving Geocities site?

It seems Geocities is not completely dead. The Slacker Film Guide website is still online, sporting a Geocities url. I sort of feel like I just found the last dodo or something.

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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BRAZIL: A burlesque musical tribute

Those scamps at EvilOlivE 3000 Studios return with another unlikely burlesque tribute to a cinema classic: Terry Gilliam's 1986 dystopic masterpiece, Brazil.

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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The ghosts of Google Street View

Artist Paolo Cirio takes the images of random people photographed on Google Street View and then uses wheatpaste posters to recreate those images in the real world. The results are intriguing to see online, but I suppose they must be rather confusing when you're driving by. (Especially if you were the subject of the original photo. Imaging going for a stroll in your neighborhood, only to encounter yourself going for a stroll in your neighborhood!)

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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The bear sleeping bag (that is, a sleeping bag that looks like a bear, not a sleeping bag for bears)

Hey, campers! What could be more cozy than snoozing under the stars in a sleeping bag that makes it look like you've been swallowed by a big freaking bear?

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.

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