Murder in the Maghreb — Guy Toussaint: Deviant Art & The Poetry of Murder, Alexander Milton’s unfinished dissertation in service of his PhD candidacy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was unfinished precisely because he disappeared, presumably in the Sahara, in 1973. It was in that year Mr. Milton traveled to Morocco to complete…

Above the Law (1988), Hard to Kill (1990), and Executive Decision (1996) — Before Steven Seagal was a creepy fat man hobnobbing with dictatorial warlords, he made some pretty good action movies. Particularly in the first few years of his career, you could even say really good action movies. What was notable about Seagal was that he had legit martial arts experience, seemingly…

All Graduate Record Examination (GRE) procedures, as deemed by Educational Testing Services (ETS), were observed in the drafting of the following. Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) 45 Minutes — Present Your Perspective on an Issue Question: A person who knowingly commits a crime has broken the social contract and should not…

A Surpassing Version of Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson — Murder by Decree is not an original Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes story, but it manages to capture the characters far better than many other more direct reproductions. This is in large part due to the quality of acting; Christopher Plummer is a revelation as Holmes; his performance had me…

Terminal Island (1973); Island of Death (1976); The Island of the Fishmen (1979) — This past month, my Combat Culture blog Fight Pizza focused its attentions on the cinematic setting of a “Death Island.” You can also check out the youtube playlist and new Fight Pizza letterboxd. Terminal Island (1973) WHERE WE DUMP OUR HUMAN GARBAGE! Terminal Island starts with a rip-off Johnny Cash theme song and a rip-off Pam Grier protagonist, but…

A Handy Info-Packet — Howdy Partner! Nice to make your acquaintance! You’re probably none too happy to be reading this pamphlet, but always remember that a warm salutation can make any day brighter. Smile! Did you know it takes more muscles to frown than to smile? Your face is in a more relaxed postures…

The Fight Pizza Preview and Diary for RIZIN 33 — What follows are the Event Preview and As-it-happened Diary for the Japanese Mixed Martial Arts show Rizin 33 that occurred on New Year’s Eve 2021. Both posts originally appeared on the combat culture blog Fight Pizza. The Preview This may be my last live RIZIN event. I’m leaving Japan in a few…

Memories of a Saigon Holiday — F is off to Australia for a cousin’s wedding and the New Year, but has decided to stay in Saigon for Christmas day. His excitement is rather endearing. He tells me about his last Christmas alone in Sydney and how miserable he was in his squalid room, dreaming of Asia…

a hard-boiled selection from the novella — What follows is an excerpt from my novella “The True Story of Yu Fen.” Briefly, it’s about a girl involved with the Falun Gong religious movement and her “true story.” This bit covers journalist Zhang Jié as he visits a provincial town to investigate a murder related to the group. …