BILL RYAN
@faceyouhate.bsky.social
Pinned
Two Per Cent of Nothing at All
On "The High Window" by Raymond Chandler, and "Jerzy" by Jerome Charyn
billryan64.substack.com
My new Reading Project post for paid subscribers is up. In this one, I go long -- long enough to get your money's worth! -- on Raymond Chandler's THE HIGH WINDOW, and on Chandler, and Jerome Charyn's JERZY, a novel about Jerzy Kosinski!
billryan64.substack.com/p/two-per-ce...
billryan64.substack.com/p/two-per-ce...
Bacon, velveeta, something called London Pub Sauce I found in our pantry, on parnesan/garlic/basil buttered wheat toast. This would have been my masterpiece if we'd had better bread in the house.
November 26, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Bacon, velveeta, something called London Pub Sauce I found in our pantry, on parnesan/garlic/basil buttered wheat toast. This would have been my masterpiece if we'd had better bread in the house.
music, she is mysterious to me
A jazz band hears Nirvana’s Heart Shaped Box for the first time, then covers it.
Jazz Band Covers Nirvana On The Spot (Ft. Ulysses Owens Jr.)
youtu.be
November 26, 2025 at 2:31 PM
music, she is mysterious to me
Reposted by BILL RYAN
A jazz band hears Nirvana’s Heart Shaped Box for the first time, then covers it.
Jazz Band Covers Nirvana On The Spot (Ft. Ulysses Owens Jr.)
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 9:52 PM
A jazz band hears Nirvana’s Heart Shaped Box for the first time, then covers it.
we used to be a country
November 25, 2025 at 4:09 PM
we used to be a country
I'm slightly embarrassed to say that there is enough nerd in me that when Kathryn and I joined two of my brothers & one of my sisters-in-law to see FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING the first time, after we went home & my brother cooked up a batch of something very like this, - the French toast & + potatoes.
Denny's Bilbo's Breakfast Feast (2013-2014): Part of the promotional menu for "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", this platter featured honeycake French toast slices drizzled in honey, a massive sausage, hash browns, and eggs scrambled with cheddar, spinach and mushrooms
November 24, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I'm slightly embarrassed to say that there is enough nerd in me that when Kathryn and I joined two of my brothers & one of my sisters-in-law to see FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING the first time, after we went home & my brother cooked up a batch of something very like this, - the French toast & + potatoes.
i think a good movie would be one that's about a cop who is part robot. another good one would be about a ghost who's also a dad.
November 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
i think a good movie would be one that's about a cop who is part robot. another good one would be about a ghost who's also a dad.
god how I hate the internet and its denizens
The Canongate response to Sarah Doyle re her poem about Laika (another piece in the Sunday Times today) has merely reminded me how badly Canongate treated Dan Rhodes.
I was the other poet in the Len Pennie row: here’s my story
Sarah Doyle’s poem Laika won high praise but when she queried similarities to it with the poem Good Girl she was caught up in a storm of accusation, denial and online vitriol
www.thetimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:37 PM
god how I hate the internet and its denizens
The two books to be covered in my next FREE TO ALL Reading Project post have been announced. And no, I haven't started reading it yet, and I will have nothing to report before the post goes up, some time after Thanksgiving. Details within!
billryan64.substack.com/p/a-very-str...
billryan64.substack.com/p/a-very-str...
A Very Strange Pairing of Books Will Be Covered in the Next Free Post
Which two books? Well I'll tell you.
billryan64.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
The two books to be covered in my next FREE TO ALL Reading Project post have been announced. And no, I haven't started reading it yet, and I will have nothing to report before the post goes up, some time after Thanksgiving. Details within!
billryan64.substack.com/p/a-very-str...
billryan64.substack.com/p/a-very-str...
Reposted by BILL RYAN
Let's scroll through Roku's horror section and see what they have. Ah, yes, West Side Story, with its famous Jets vs the Sharks vs Jason and Freddy story.
November 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Let's scroll through Roku's horror section and see what they have. Ah, yes, West Side Story, with its famous Jets vs the Sharks vs Jason and Freddy story.
A movie that takes place where you’re from.
November 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
A movie that takes place where you’re from.
"How much better can you eat?" those six words express one of the key elements of all crime fiction and film as succinctly, and even poetically, as anyone ever has
November 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
"How much better can you eat?" those six words express one of the key elements of all crime fiction and film as succinctly, and even poetically, as anyone ever has
probably "I'd like to become the first insect politician"
if you were gonna get a tramp stamp of a line from a horror movie what would you get?
November 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM
probably "I'd like to become the first insect politician"
Today is also the great Boris Karloff's birthday, which is the excuse I'm going with for reposting my piece from 2021 for @ebertvoices.bsky.social on the horror films of Val Lewton!
www.rogerebert.com/features/dea...
www.rogerebert.com/features/dea...
Death is Good: The Horror Films of Val Lewton | Features | Roger Ebert
Bill Ryan celebrates the nine horror films that Val Lewton produced for RKO between 1942 and 1946, like The Seventh Victim and Cat People.
www.rogerebert.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Today is also the great Boris Karloff's birthday, which is the excuse I'm going with for reposting my piece from 2021 for @ebertvoices.bsky.social on the horror films of Val Lewton!
www.rogerebert.com/features/dea...
www.rogerebert.com/features/dea...
"Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no fan of phony-baloneys."
November 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
"Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no fan of phony-baloneys."
Reposted by BILL RYAN
Checked my kindle copy. It’s chapter 34.
November 23, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Checked my kindle copy. It’s chapter 34.
this person's really turning the very idea of making a top 5 list seem positively absurd!
My top five top fives:
1. TOP FIVE NAFF SATAN REFERENCES IN 'LONGLEGS'
2. TOP FIVE MISUSES OF CAPITAL LETTERS ON LISTS
3. TOP FIVE SCARY DOLLS THAT WILL HAUNT YOUR DREAMS
4. TOP FIVE NUMBERS FOR LISTS
1. TOP FIVE NAFF SATAN REFERENCES IN 'LONGLEGS'
2. TOP FIVE MISUSES OF CAPITAL LETTERS ON LISTS
3. TOP FIVE SCARY DOLLS THAT WILL HAUNT YOUR DREAMS
4. TOP FIVE NUMBERS FOR LISTS
No! Wrong!
1. THE THING
2. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
3. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
4. PRINCE OF DARKNESS
5. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
1. THE THING
2. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
3. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
4. PRINCE OF DARKNESS
5. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
November 23, 2025 at 1:20 PM
this person's really turning the very idea of making a top 5 list seem positively absurd!
On this, the 104th birthday of Rodney Dangerfield, let us remember this immortal, deeply compassionate passage from his friend Norm Macdonald's book BASED ON A TRUE STORY.
November 23, 2025 at 1:15 PM
On this, the 104th birthday of Rodney Dangerfield, let us remember this immortal, deeply compassionate passage from his friend Norm Macdonald's book BASED ON A TRUE STORY.
No! Wrong!
1. THE THING
2. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
3. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
4. PRINCE OF DARKNESS
5. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
1. THE THING
2. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
3. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
4. PRINCE OF DARKNESS
5. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
John Carpenter top 5 ranking:
1. Prince of Darkness
2. The Thing
3. Christine
4. Big Trouble in Little China
5. In the Mouth of Madness
1. Prince of Darkness
2. The Thing
3. Christine
4. Big Trouble in Little China
5. In the Mouth of Madness
November 23, 2025 at 11:52 AM
No! Wrong!
1. THE THING
2. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
3. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
4. PRINCE OF DARKNESS
5. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
1. THE THING
2. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
3. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
4. PRINCE OF DARKNESS
5. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
Reposted by BILL RYAN
i'm obsessed with this Kliban
November 22, 2025 at 10:42 PM
i'm obsessed with this Kliban
Reposted by BILL RYAN
Reposted by BILL RYAN
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:22 AM
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
In my top 5 Scorsese, and absolutely one of De Niro's greatest performances. taken for granted because of how unflashy it is but he is truly amazing in that movie
November 22, 2025 at 7:13 PM
In my top 5 Scorsese, and absolutely one of De Niro's greatest performances. taken for granted because of how unflashy it is but he is truly amazing in that movie
Reposted by BILL RYAN
More of this is available as well if you pay to subscribe!
November 22, 2025 at 1:54 PM
More of this is available as well if you pay to subscribe!
Reposted by BILL RYAN
🧵 We are, in fact, doing the thing again for @onesimplewish.bsky.social. In 2024, the kind people of this community put the money cannon on blast to help grant $75K in wishes for children in foster care. Toys, tech, a suit for job interviews. Here we go again! 👇
www.onesimplewish.org/giving/megwa...
www.onesimplewish.org/giving/megwa...
November 21, 2025 at 4:54 PM
🧵 We are, in fact, doing the thing again for @onesimplewish.bsky.social. In 2024, the kind people of this community put the money cannon on blast to help grant $75K in wishes for children in foster care. Toys, tech, a suit for job interviews. Here we go again! 👇
www.onesimplewish.org/giving/megwa...
www.onesimplewish.org/giving/megwa...
The book we're all waiting for.
November 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The book we're all waiting for.