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Articles by Daniel Best
Open Forum: This year, let’s avoid lying and liars
Knowing and living “the truth” promotes freedom for individuals and society. The opposite of the truth is the lie. Lies shatter lives and societies. As psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, M.D., concluded after decades studying human evil, it all boils down to "lies and lying" (People of the Lie, 1983). This insight echoes ancient wisdom: in Genesis, humanity's fall begins with the serpent — the "Father of Lies" — deceiving first Eve then Adam.
The Perils of Non-Fiction and Censorship
Anyone who writes non-fiction will tell you that it comes with it’s own, unique, set of issues. No matter the topic, no matter how much research you do or how educated you are, someone will always take issue with what you write. I know I have taken issue with some non-fiction and will continue to do so. The reasons are many, but most of them come down to personal viewpoints. I’ve been on the end of cancelling and censorship. Oddly enough, I have Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to blame for that.
Move Thirty Seven
1. Madness Someone once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It’s a simple idea, but as is usually the case with simple ideas that are good, beneath its surface lies a profound truth about human nature: unconsciously, we are often guilty of clinging desperately to the familiar, even when it no longer serves us. This cognitive dissonance exists for good reason.
Louise Lovely: Return to the Stage: The Last Warning
Today Louise Lovely is best remembered as Australia's first Hollywood star of the silent era. But as DANIEL BEST discovers in his new biography of the actress, the bulk of her career was spent on the stage in Australia, New Zealand, America and Canada. The following is an extract from Daniel's new book Louise Lovely: Australia’s First Hollywood Star. In 1927, Louise accepted an offer from the E.J. Carroll company to appear on stage again.
THE WAY OF WATER
Daniel Best · Follow 21 min read · -- “Be water, my friend.” Bruce Lee’s famous quote wasn’t mere philosophical musing — it was a profound observation on nature’s most adaptable element. Water possesses an almost magical quality: it has no fixed shape, yet it can take any form. Pour it into a glass, it becomes the glass. Place it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Release it into a river, it flows endlessly, finding paths where none seemed to exist. Water is the ultimate shapeshifter.
Redesigning the C’bean’s Development Framework
Caribbean countries are at an inflection point. On one hand, the region is facing enormous challenges from the effects of climate change to volatile pricing of commodities to limited fiscal and skills capacity, just to name a few. On the other hand, opportunities for development are numerous. Where there are hurdles like increasingly stronger tropical storms, there are new opportunities to retrofit the region’s infrastructure to be more resilient.
Time to Thrive: Redesigning the Caribbean’s Development Framework
By Daniel Best and Wazim Mowla CARIBBEAN countries are at an inflection point. On one hand, the region is facing enormous challenges, from the effects of climate change to volatile pricing of commodities to limited fiscal and skills capacity, just to name a few. On the other hand, opportunities for development are numerous. Where there are hurdles like increasingly stronger tropical storms, there are new opportunities to retrofit the region’s infrastructure to be more resilient.
The Classic Horror Film Board-Horror In Adelaide (South Australia) Cinema!
I have, in my possession, many, many scrapbooks and information about Adelaide cinema. Unfortunately, not all of this information could make it into my book, so I'm going to post as much as possible onto my new Substack forum. Here's the first and second entries, showing the Dark Shadows films and how, where and when, they were shown in Adelaide, South Australia.
The Classic Horror Film Board-Terror Down Under: A History of Horror Film in Australia, 1897–1973
Is out now! It took a while, but, hopefully, people will find the wait worth it. I did have to edit it down to half it's original length, but that's just left me another couple of books in the works. Out at any decent and indecent bookstores, the usual on-line suspects and via McFarland! And, just for fun, attached is a bookmark that you can print out and use for the book itself! (No, not the picture of me holding my copy of the book, you get the drift). Very keen to hear people's thoughts on it.
The Classic Horror Film Board-London After Midnight - Screened In 1981
You read that right. I've been asked about this since my article in Monster #15 where I mentioned that I did, indeed, see London After Midnight in 1981. Here's the story behind it. In the early 1980s where I grew up (Elizabeth, South Australia) a guy used to screen movies at the local theatre during the winter months. He was an elderly, retired, cinema buff who used to work as a projectionist for various chains in Adelaide; Hoyts, Wests, Olympia and the like.
Comparison of patient responses to telehealth satisfaction surveys in rural and urban populations in Queensland
RESEARCH ARTICLE Previous Next Online Early Edwin Phillip Greenup A * and Daniel Best A + Author Affiliations - Author Affiliations A Clinical Excellence Queensland, Queensland Health, Brisbane, Level 2, 15 Butterfield Street, Herston, Qld 4006, Australia. Australian Health Review - https://doi.org/10.1071/AH23116 Submitted: 8 June 2023 Accepted: 9 August 2023 Published online: 28 August 2023 © 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA.
Jack Kirby and The Art Of Theft
For years I've been covering the very sensitive and thorny issue of the theft of Jack Kirby's artwork on my blog. I say sensitive and thorny because when the issue is brought up, quite a few collectors and dealers will do their best to shut it down. Because bringing this to light also brings to light both the underground and overground selling, trading and dealing in stolen art that has been going on for decades now. And the people who've engaged in these practices don't like being exposed.
“When I am working for Marvel, I am loyal to Marvel.” - John Byrne Under Oath
In the coming weeks we’ll be looking at some older, classic (if you’ll excuse the term) court cases involving comic book creators and their creations.First off the rack will be the Marv Wolfman vs Marvel Enterprises case of the late 1990s/early 2000s.In short Marv brought suit against Marvel, Toy Biz, Time Warner, New Line Cinema and Teevee Tunes claiming ownership of the characters Blade, Deacon Frost, Nova and the supporting casts of each.As part of the suit Wolfman was claiming at least...
The World vs Todd McFarlane: Part Six
The World vs Todd McFarlane A lot of Todd McFarlane's woes revolved around this guy. Part Six: Todd Gives Neil Gaiman The Right Royal Run Around (I had intended to give this series a little rest, but people appear more than interested in finding out what happens next, so, well, as the great 20th century philosopher N. Holder once sang, here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun) By 1998 Neil probably wished he'd simply hung up.
"One Little Grope," 14 Years Later
The Taki Soma situation has reared his head once more, with people questioning the suitability of Charles Brownstein to be heading up the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund. I wrote the words below back in 2006, and I feel that they're still valid now. Nothing of note happened back in 2006, but the world has changed in the fourteen years since, some for the better and some for the worse. What is a constant is that powerful men still appear to be able to get away with whatever they want to.
Original Art Stories: Miller vs Varley - Frank Miller's Art Collection
More documents have landed in the what's rapidly becoming a nasty battle between Frank Miller and his ex-wife, colourist Lynn Varley (read here for a recap). Without getting into the nastier details of the dispute, it can be broken down to the following; 1] Miller and Varley agreed to separate and split their art collection. As part of the settlement ($1,320,000 to Varley from Miller), sales of art from either side to third parties was subject to a series of rules.
A Study Quantifying the Hand-to-Face Contact Rate and Its Potential Application to Predicting Respiratory Tract Infection
INTRODUCTION It is thought that a substantial portion of human respiratory tract infections are transmitted via contaminated hand contact with the mouth, eyes, and/or nostrils, with subsequent transport to target tissue sites in the oro- and nasopharyngeal region. Aside from rhinovirus infection, which has been shown to occur following contact of the nasal and conjunctival mucosa with fingertips seeded with virus,( 1 ) the evidence for the hand contact route is indirect albeit substantial.
March, 1964 - When The Beatles Ruled Adelaide
1964. It’s been reported many times since how over 200,000 people lined Anzac Highway from the airport to the CBD, all gathered in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the Fab Three Everyone knows the story of when the Beatles touched down in Adelaide, South Australia, on July 12, [i]. 30,000 people gathered at the Town Hall when they appeared on the balcony and waved[ii]. The reception was incredible and left a lasting impression.
Copper-catalyzed borylative coupling of vinylazaarenes and N-Boc imines
a EaStCHEM, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, The King's Buildings, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh, UK
FBI Files on Dino Paul Crocetti aka Dean Martin
To Whom It May Concern: This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records: Any and all files relating to Dino Paul Crocetti, aka Dean Martin (June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995), American singer, actor, comedian, and film producer. Martin's death was widely reported and is a matter of pubhlic record. I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest.
In Their Own Words: Who Created The Fantastic Four? Stan & Jack Speak!
Be warned - read this, take note and learn the easy way - we've learnt this lesson the hard way. As people who read this stuff on some form of a regular basis might be aware we're off to New York in just over a month. Three weeks in New York, one week in San Fransisco. The key, for us anyway, is booking some decent accommodation, so we decided that, as we're going to be in New York for three weeks solid, that we'd go for a serviced apartment over a hotel room.
'Morning Of The Magician': Swamp Thing meets Jesus Christ - The Lost Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing #88 will always remain the one Swamp Thing story that DC never wanted anyone to see.The year was 1989 and writer/artist Rick Veitch was in charge of Swamp Thing, then one of DC Comics’ hottest properties, mainly due to the exposure that Alan Moore had given the title over the past few years.In his first major storyline, Veitch had Swamp Thing going backwards in time, meeting up with historical DC characters, and historical characters in history.The storyline had been mapped out in...
BATMAN: Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle Speak Out
NORM BREYFOGLE AND ALAN GRANT SPEAK OUT The 1980s were very good to Batman in general. A number of highly talented artists and writers all worked on the title, one of DC’s flagships. Towards the end of the ‘80s Batmania exploded with the release of Tim Burton’s first Batman movie, the self titled gothic blockbuster starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. The success of the movie helped establish the comic book as one of the most read of the decade.
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