There’s a long history of art forgery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_forgery

Predators have forward facing eyes; prey animals usually have eyes that are wider apart. We have forward facing eyes, so predators look more ‘human.’

Tell your friend to seek help.

There’s a saying in therapy. If someone is sad all the time they have to learn to get mad, and if they are mad all the time they have to learn to be sad.

May I suggest more stable and mature role models.

Morticia and Gomez.

[off topic]

The Thin Man movies. Classic Hollywood B+W with a pair of adults having a great time solving a murder mystery.

No screens for two hours before bed.

I’d put ‘The Expanse’ at the head of the line

Poul did a throwaway story that I’d love to see expanded into a series.

A group of time travelers from 4,000 AD travel back to Renaissance Italy. They run into an evil baron and his henchmen, including one very learned monk. A little torture and the Italians have their own time machine. They set up a base in 10,000 BC and raid across time. They know that the Time Patrol can only use things in the historical record, so as long as they keep a low profile they’ll never get caught.

I always try to go by publication.

Someone put it this way [they were talking specifically about the Conan stories]. If you meet someone and get to chatting you don’t tell your story in chronological order. Maybe the first story you tell is about what happened at work, or your most recent vacation. After you’ve known them a while you talk about grade school.

That’s my opinion.

Here are some old school paperback writers you might not have heard of. I present them in no particular order, just off the top of my head. I found them all on wire racks in drug stores, lo these many years ago…

Robert Beck aka Iceberg Slim. If you ever wondered why there were so many rappers with ‘Ice’ in their name, it’s because Iceberg Slim was the author most widely read in the US prison system. I particularly liked ‘Trick Baby’ the story of a Black conman who could pass for White.

Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark. The other most widely read prion writer. Stark’s ‘The Hunter’ has been filmed about a dozen times. His crooks are unemotional professionals.

Tanith Lee. The Goddess-empress of the hot read. ‘Night’s Master’ has Satan as the hero. Every night he flies from his palace to seduce and/or terrorize mankind.

Enjoy.

The meanings of words changes over time

‘War Of The Wing-Men’ is a good one to start with.

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

iirc, it was in "War Of The Wing Men’ where a princess has been traveling through the galaxy looking for a human male to sire her child. She ends up picking a fat, boorish space trader over the hero-type because the trader actually knows how to get things done.

I think Dick was writing to be read in a particular time and place. Take Dashiell Hammett. ‘Red Harvest’ works a century later. there are some references that are dated [wearing a red tie] but overall you can give the novel to a modern person without a great deal of explanation needed. ‘The Thin Man’ requires a ton of annotation to be understood.

imho.

What boggles my mind is that there have been about fifty movies based on Philip K. Dick and zero based on Poul Anderson.

Anderson has galactic empires, roguish heroes, dozens of alien species, strong females, etc etc.

I just read an old [1940s?] mystery where the culprit records himself on a new fangled phonograph record and then uses that to cover his crime. His employees know he’s in the habit of locking his door and playing loud music/talking to himself while he works, so no one suspects locks the door to his office. Later they all swear he was at work when the murder occurred.

Los Angeles is considered the Movie Capital of the World.

Checkmate, liberal!

[offtopic?]

Debbie’s password is “PlutoGoofyMickeyMinnieDaffyBugsThorLosAngles”

She was told that the password needed seven characters and a capital.

True story.

I use EZ Pass. I got a letter from them telling me they had taken 46 cents out of my account. The cost of the stamp on the letter was 48 cents.