Thursday, 29 May 2025
Cinebook Newsletter 208 - May 2025
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Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Monday, 26 May 2025
Sunday, 25 May 2025
Saturday, 24 May 2025
Friday, 23 May 2025
Black Tower Mystery Series: In Pursuit -Things Known and UNKNOWN
62pp
A4
B&W
£7.00
Fact NOT fiction journal looking at trange creatures and stories from around the world
Contents:-
A "Cold Case" Too Old? The Beast Of Faudiere –Mystery Killer
The Strange Creature in Repton Woods
Cry Werewolf ! and The Curious And Frightening Case Of The Hull Werewolf
On The Scientific 'Need' To Kill A Sasquatch
The Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy group has blood on their hands?.
On Gathering Hard Evidence
The Strange Case Of The Gotherington Gargoyle
Photographic Evidence That Dinosaurs Exist
The Monster of the Forest of Mouliere
Black Tower Super Heroes No. 8
I was going to use the header: "All Alien Invasion Issue" but the Trump administration said "no".
A4
B&W
84pp
£7.00
This is it! Issue number 8 and Rodney Dearth and his Iron Warrior face...DEATH!Black Tower Super Heroes No. 7
I once sang "Any old Iron" in front of the Iron warrior but then he showed he his huge chopper! *
The penultimate issue of Black Tower Super Heroes!
Featuring Herne the Hunter, Kangy and the Iron warrior!
The conclusion to The Trial appears to be a verdict of "Death", however, who is the new arrival at the Cosmic Fulcrum and just what is going on?
Also, can any of the magic men help the Druid or is his future looking bleaker by the page? When you HAVE to ask heroes things are pretty grim!
Black Tower Tales of Terror 5 -Dare You Read It?!
I read this and couldn't sleep more than 8 hours after! 😈
Once again the library of the Black Tower is opened and its files delved into. Robert Lovett -back from the dead for vengeance?
A mysterious case of two men falling into a strange dimension -the Black Abyss! The Living dead!
Black Tower Comics: Tower Tales of Terror Special
Robots. Alien invasion. Barbarians. It was a thing. 😁
From robotic alien invaders dealing with ancient barbarians (or barbarians dealing with them),
Dene Vernon Ghost Investigator,
The Iron Boy (seriously),
Cast Iron Chris,
Ingy Roob,
Bring 'em Back Hank,
Devil Fish Treasure,
The Iron Warrior and much more. It's special -there you go!
Cover by Richard Anthony Pester
Thursday, 22 May 2025
Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Canada Post and Black Tower
Re ordering Black Tower Books if you are in Canada:
"Hi there,
We wanted to follow up about service disruptions for shipments to and within Canada that may affect your book orders.
The Canada Post strike will go into effect on Friday, May 23rd at 12:00 am local time. To ensure timely delivery, we suggest you and your customers select Ground shipping for orders delivered to Canadian addresses. Mail and Priority Mail shipping methods will ship via Ground, in which case the shipping costs for Mail and Priority Mail will be temporarily adjusted.
You can follow Canada Post’s updates here.
We're proactively working to minimize any impact while ensuring your books still reach their destinations reliably.
If you have any questions, please reply to this email to contact our support team.
- The Lulu Team"
Sunday, 18 May 2025
The most sought-after Tarzan game. ASMR toys review.
Marvel Movies I Will NEVER Watch Again
I've written it before and I stick with it.
Thor: Love and Thunder -Christian Bale seemed to be the only one really acting. It was an absolutely awfully, disjointed movie that had a good basic story but a director whose head was up his own ass. Thor: Ragnarok had some good scenes but let's face it the director wanted slap-stick comedy and to get his money. Just about watchable.
Wakanda Forever -yes, it was very sad that Chadwick Boseman died at such an early age but the fact that this movie stressed the point over and over again to the point that you screamed "Cut it the ***** out now!" was not good. It was a film that showed where Marvel movies were going wrong; tedious and boring "Colonist" and reverse racism lines (if those lines were aimed at black characters there would have been an out cry and scandal). "Gay Pride" Namor and all the ridiculous and virtue signalling back story made this, apart from a few scenes, unwatchable a second time.
The Eternals -there was no story. Even the action figures sold very badly. This was the MCU trying to tick every virtue signalling box it could and then went too far casting Harry Styles as Starfox (luckily that was the end of the movie). Dane Whitman almost ready to take the sword as the Black Knight stopped like a car hitting a concrete bunker at 150mph.
These DVDs are stuck at the back of a shelf gathering dust.
Saturday, 17 May 2025
Friday, 16 May 2025
Notice Re Canada
No, no, no. I am not going to suggest that Canada and the Gulf of Canada become part of
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As if the fact that sales are bad was not enough even as a UK based publisher I get hit with US taxes on sales no matter how low and the print on demand company ALWAYS waits until the exchange rate is in the $ favour (as they are US based) there is now potential disruption for anyone wanting to purchase Black Tower books in Canada.
Here is what I got sent:
"Hi there,
"We wanted to reach out about potential service disruptions for shipments to and within Canada that might affect your book orders in the coming weeks.
"What's happening:
Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are working through negotiations to renew their collective agreement in effect until May 22, 2025. If they do not reach an agreement, we want to be transparent about the latest developments and how this might affect your orders.
"You can follow Canada Post’s updates here.
"In the event of a postal strike, to ensure timely delivery, we suggest selecting Ground shipping for orders delivered to Canadian addresses. Mail and Priority Mail shipping methods will ship via Ground, in which case the shipping costs for Mail and Priority Mail may be temporarily adjusted.
"What this means for you:
Right now, no actions are required. We're proactively working to minimize any impact while ensuring your books still reach their destinations reliably.
"If you have any questions, please reply to this email to contact our support team.
- The Lulu Team "
Which means I am unlikely to get that penthouse apartment any time soon.
Thursday, 15 May 2025
Likely No More You Tube Videos Shared Here UPDATE
It is very likely, based on what is currently going on, that I will be unable to share You Tube
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videos as before. It is NOT a copyright issue since some of the You Tubers have enjoyed extra views.
A large number of YT creators are reporting how views have drastically declined over the last month and some are reporting the views etc are so low they may leave YT. A lot of work on videos for very few views. Those depending on YT for money.. I know two have now left and gotten jobs elsewhere.
The problem? I explained to several of the creators:
"In the last month I have had to give up watching favourite YT channels. It is not the content as it is still interesting but YT has now crammed every video full of ads and ad blockers get you locked out of YT.
"Two ads before a video -okay. Then another ad break 2 minutes into a video and in one 10 minute video 7 ads. I was watching a music video and 1 minute into the song...an ad!!
"Uploaders are reporting falling views across all genres and (in the UK) £14.95 EVERY month to not have ads is way too expensive. It is pure greed and even on Reddit there are pages discussing this.
"There is nothing wrong with your content it is just YT pushing people away. Incidentally, YT told me uploaders put the ads in but having chatted with 10 uploaders I found this was false.
"I hope it gets resolved but YT seems set on the greed over anything else train."
YouTube typically pays between $0.01 and $0.03 per view. This means for every 1,000 views, a YouTuber can earn between $10 and $30.
As of March 5, 2025, YouTube has 125 million subscribers for YouTube Music and Premium combined. This figure includes both paying subscribers and those on free trials. This is an increase from 100 million subscribers reported at the start of February 2024.
Assuming that those subscribers are paying £14.95 a month (there are a couple of rates but let's say it is that amount it would mean YT earns
One billion four hundred ninety-five million
So that means 1000 ads earning a creator $10-30 is...."piss in the sea"
There may be more accurate figures on what You Tube makes so if you have a link share it but the company has fallen a long way since the "videos for everyone" and it's pioneering days:
"In its early years, YouTube played a significant role in supporting and showcasing creative talent. By providing a platform for individuals to upload and share videos, it democratized content creation and allowed a wide range of artists, musicians, and filmmakers to reach a global audience. This early support laid the groundwork for the diverse and thriving creative community "
Like Face Book and other former social and creative media greed won out and You Tube is slowly losing creators.
Pity that all the YT visitors do not complain in numbers. I share a video here then the viewer gets ads thrown at them so I go by what I find IF I can view videos that can be shared -but ads, ads, ads...nope. Greg Cook, Robo Don't Know and many others are now unwatchable.
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Update. Well, before I went any further I checked into the whole ads on You Tube when uploaders say they do not use ads.
They lied.
I have found that all of those uploaders who told me otherwise DID insert ads into their videos. Therefore, their loss of viewers is down to them and no one else.
Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Monday, 12 May 2025
Black Tower Wilberforce: A Jack's Lot Is Not A Happy One
A4
B&W
28 pp
£6,00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/wilberforce/paperback/product-1zkwmp8n.html
Wilberforce—a Sergeant on the Metropolitan Police Detective Force.
But Wilberforce was no common “Jack” (police officer). Even before working with the famous Chung Ling Soo (The Case Of The Thames Serpent), Wilberforce had “tasted the chin strap” on many tough cases –even a stint in the Army saw him used because of his detective skills.
Here, Ben R. Dilworth, gives us a sneak peek into Wilberforce’s Case Notes for 1896.
“A Jack’s lot is not a happy one” and Wilberforce was not just dealing with the ordinary criminals such as the nobblers, rampsmen, smashers, mobsmen, snoozers and skinners…. ...there were the spectres, the satanic followers, vampires and other monsters —things the ordinary copper never usually encountered and often scoffed at the stories of. Wilberforce knew better.