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Alternative History: Christ was buried in Japan

28/2/2014

Yes, it's the Grave of Christ in Japan. Apparently Jesus went there on a gap year while he was young and liked it so much he returned later, eventually dying of natural causes at the age of 106. (By which time he had married and had three daughters.) As for that awkward crucifixion thing, that was his younger brother Isukiri (a well known traditional Jewish name).

And it is all true, Japanese archeologists found the story in some ancient religious texts - the Takenouchi Documents - in the 1930s although they were subsequently lost during WWII. The grave also includes a lock of the Virgin Mary's hair and one of Isukiri's ears.

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Getting a book deal! How hard can that be?

16/2/2014

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It was my great pleasure on Thursday to introduce the author Polly James at the launch of her new book Diary of an Unsmug Married at Jarrolds in Norwich. It's an excellent book - a cross between The Thick of It and the work of Posy Simmonds. Polly is to be congratulated on the book - and on getting a book deal with a major publisher - however it was by no means plain sailing. For example, before settling with her current agent, there were three earlier literary agents in the frame who all effectively self-combusted.

To paraphrase Lady Bracknell: "To lose one agent may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose three looks like carelessness!" And then there were the fights with the publishers' marketing department - some felt there was too much politics in the book, whereras others felt there was not enough politics. Getting a book deal! That's the easy part, it's once you've got the deal that life becomes complicated.

(Our pictures feature me talking to Polly and Polly busy signing books at the launch.)

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Neat Inspirational Video

10/2/2014

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THE GAP by Ira Glass from Daniel Sax on Vimeo.

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Stranger than Fiction Department: Major Thomas Weir

9/2/2014

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Interesting story cropped up in the Daily Mail (originally reported in Fortean Times) about the Scottish necromancer Major Thomas Weir. Executed (along with his sister Grizel) in Edinburgh in 1670 for alleged witchcraft, bestiality and incest (I say allegedas they were convicted on their own voluntary confessions and there is a distinct possibility they were both barking mad) it now appears that part of the Weirs' house (illustrated) was subsequently incorporated into the foundations of what is now a Quaker Meeting House. (Actually it appears to be the toilets of the newer Quaker building.)

You can find a good account of the Weirs' life and times here Thomas Weir although what I find interesting is this also echoes fictional stories. The story of Weir has been proposed as an influence on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. The 2000 novel The Fanatic by James Robertson features Weir as a character and uses the events surrounding him as a central aspect of the novel's narrative and themes. And The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by HP Lovecraft also has an ancient necromancer's property lurking beneath a modern building.

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Love Gory Horror?

2/2/2014

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Weird Tales, Folklore, Urban Myths, History & Geek Culture

Here to inform and entertain you with tales of folklore, urban myths, history, geek culture and the weird. "Fun and high strangeness" is how one reader described it. May contain sarcasm.

Curated by Reuters correspondent and barrister turned writer, podcaster, editor, award-winning tech journalist and sometime werewolf hunter Charles Christian. The site also has links to Charles Christian's books and latest reviews plus his Weird Tales Radio Show.

Charles was born a 'chime child' with a caul – according to legend a caul-shrouded chime-child can't drown at sea but can see and talk to ghosts and fairy folk without fear of coming to harm – superpowers he's so far never needed to employ.

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