Shipping

So, I am curious about the boat. Nevermind about the woman; she's dressed in perfectly normal clothes. I have no idea how that spot got on the picture. Nonetheless, if anyone would like an unexpurgated version of the image, I'd be happy to comply. It's from August, 1977.

About the boat, then. How old is it? Did it have to be towed to get the shot, or is there a photographer hanging on the tippy-tip of the bow to take the picture.  I'm sure some fish-eye lens is involved.  What sort of boat is it?  I'm guessing a sloop, but what do I know?

How old is the boat; I mean, how old is it at the time the picture was taken, 45 years ago.  We may be certain that the woman on the boat, Barbara Corser, is at least 63, or a few months shy, given the legal age of models.  So, young enough to still be sailing.  Would she need to be a sailor to some degree to get this shot, so she could jump up and lend a hand if something unexpected happened?  Or is the sea calm enough that there's no real danger here.  Judging by the small whitecap on the right, the Beaufort scale calls it a gentle breeze, as crests begin to break.

Anybody want to make a guess at the coastline in the background.  It won't look like that any more.

I swear, whenever I see the word "shipping" now, I think someone is going to talk about the word that ends in "-ship."

Adventure Fiction

Looking around for something that might raise an eyebrow.  This article is from the self-same Sep 1981 issue of Heavy Metal.

It's fascinating that a footprint for these people can be easily found on Wikipedia.  Charles Platt seems to have produced a wide variety and considerable amount of content, but not one single thing listed drifts remotely into my radar.  Judging from the article, he seems to be something of a flake, seems to resist the moving forward of technology and in general doesn't seem to be much liked.  Of course, Wikipedia can be very, very misleading.  The cryonics thing, though ... just hm.  He's still alive.

I post this for its obvious D&D connection, especially that it's a voice in 1981 not connected to the Dragon Magazine.

Infantry Men! Infantry Men!

Perhaps this is more your style.

Juan Gimenez was responsible for the "Harry Canyon" segment of the 1981 film, Heavy Metal.  He had a long history with science fiction and European comic magazines throughout the 1980s in particular.  He passed away in April, 2020, from complications due to Covid.

This story was published in the Sept 1981 issue of Heavy Metal magazine, the issue hyping the just released film on the front cover.  Enjoy.  Once again, this goes to establishing my early mindset as a D&D player.  I was 17 when this came out.  Feel free to scream at me in the comments about how I'm breaking copyright laws (though I'm actually not).  After all, I'll be the only person on the internet doing so.

The Pragmatist

I have a new scanner ... and I have a lot of very, very old magazines.  On occasion, and perhaps often as I get started with my new toy, I'm going to throw out anything that looks interesting regardless of the content's association with D&D.  All of it is going to be plagiarised, just as everything else on the internet.  Some of these things were intrinsic to my development as a boy.

This image is from June, 1977.  Never mind the source.  I was 13.