CoastConFan Blog

PROPPING UP THE MYTHS – PALEOBABBLE STYLE

2012-01-22T14:46:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite sites is one called Paleobabble. It is generally comprised of actual scientists and experts debunking hoaxes and pop culture twaddle. The 21 January 2012 post on Paleobabble leads to an article talking about the 2012 Mayan Apocalypse belief.

As I read the article, I was surprised to find that H. P.Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos is given some credit in anthropological circles for the pop Maya Apocalypse genre. The following is part of a fascinating interview by Maggie Koeroth-Baker interviewing anthropologist John Hoopes.

Propnomicon prop creature

Here is an excerpt: “Also, the most recent research I’ve been doing, and I haven’t published on this yet, but I’m finding links between the work of H.P. Lovecraft and influence of that on 2012. Michael Coe was a huge Lovecraft fan, even. I’m working on a manuscript on that right now. But Lovecraft is at the root of a lot of the ideas here, like the cycles of destruction, for instance. That’s not Mayan, that’s Lovecraft. Lovecraft himself had a lot of skepticism and felt that spiritualism was appropriate for fiction but didn’t believe any of it in everyday reality, and he kind of used his fiction as a way to mock those beliefs a little. But now that’s being used as reality.”

Brendon Lenzi bottle

I really urge you to read the article in full and follow the links. I was surprised at how powerful the diverse influences as Age of Aquarius hippies, horror fiction (H. P. Lovecraft), Aldous Huxley, and others in archeo-mythology and pseudo-archeology.

Its funny how this feedback loop exists between fiction writers and pop culture “facts”. Who knows, the props featured on such sites as Propnomicon and the like, may eventually be enshrined as fact in a few centuries, or maybe even sooner.

Florian Mellies desk of horrors

Happy New Year 2011 - 2012

2011-12-31T21:56:00.000-06:00

I've been a little under the weather recently, but I am starting out the new year with a new post. Happy New Year to all the folks on line.

Run! Here Come the Firemen!

2011-12-05T21:49:00.000-06:00

A 21^st century electronic Fahrenheit 451 slowly becomes reality.

Let’s get this straight, I think that e-books are a good thing and frankly, I think Project Gutenberg is an absolutely wonderful treasure trove of copyright free books. Electronic format books are here to stay and they have some great contributions to make to society.

However, the publishing industry has found that e-books are cheaper than paper and by golly you are going to have them, whether you want them or not. The main problem I have with e-books is their plasticity and vulnerability of flash editing. I am reminded of the book, Brave New World, with political leaders constantly changing positions and making people believe it’s always been that way. With present and emerging technology e-book burnings are just a click away – eat your hearts out 20^th century dictators, using old fashioned bonfires.

Reading has always been revolutionary and magical. Johannes Gutenberg didn’t invent the printing press and not even moveable type in the 15th century, but he did make printing books and easier to use. The drop in book prices over the next century allowed well-to-do literate people to own books and then even upper middle class folks to have books. This all trickled down over the centuries to the Victorian dime novels and pennydreadfuls that allowed even the poor access to books (let’s not get into literary quality here).

Recently, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction author extraordinaire was bullied into letting his publisher get e-book rights on Fahrenheit 451, despite his reservations. Now, Ray Bradbury is no neoluddite, (neither am I), in fact he has been a champion of thoughtful technology, that which liberates and doesn’t enslave. Technology is supposed to enhance our lives and take the drudgery of living, rather than living to appease technology. I have been reading Bradbury’s writings all my life and his works have given me endless hours of enjoyment. It’s not surprising that a good deal of science fiction holds up with time when the old adage, “it’s not good science fiction, unless it’s good fiction first”.

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about a government outlawing the written word and destroying all books to political ends. Written in 1953, it seemed a stretch of a dystopian novel to some readers, but as the years progressed, it seemed more feasible. In the late 1970s, the dictator Pol Pot of Cambodia went as far as making ownership of calendars, alarm clocks or being literate a death sentence for such counterrevolutionary activities. Read about or see the movie, The Killing Fields for details.

Like myself, Ray Bradbury loves real books; the ones you can hold, ones you can smell, ones that don’t plug in and above all, cannot be altered electronically from afar by faceless members of the nanny state. Conspiracy theory? Maybe not, but who watches the watchers? All I know is that it is harder to run down and edit ten thousand books paper books in ten thousand undocumented places than to push a few buttons and modify or delete electronic books.

OK, I went a little overboard in the depiction of possible abuse, but now that the horror show of our program is over, read a book, it’s the literate thing to do. Read the about Bradbury in a story by BBC News, 30 Nov 2011

SKULL WATCHES, Part Two

2011-11-30T21:43:00.000-06:00

I covered the ultimate skull watch in SKULL WATCHES Part One and here is the second part of the two part series.

Originally, watches were the preserve of the rich and powerful showing off their control of time in a portable setting. The skull shape remained as an unusual case along with cross-shaped watch for four hundred years. The bun shape persevered over the centuries and became more flattened to the shape we are familiar with as the venerable pocket watch.

Germany and Switzerland became important watch making centers, although France also began to make watches along with England. The Swiss watchmakers seemed to have a propensity for unusual shaped cases such as Isaac Pernard and apprentice to Jacques Sermand, both known for their skull watches in the 1600s.

By the Victorian Era there was a new vogue for the outrageous and the antique. Watch makers in the middle and late 19^th century made skull watches for wealthy collectors, but with fully modern (by the standards of the day) movements. The rising middle class of the Industrial Era saw more people with more disposable income and lesser expensive skull watches were collected by the well to do.

This 18k gold skull watch dates to 1810 and had diamonds for teeth and eyes. The enameled skull opens up to reveal the watch face and there is a small glass port under the skull to watch the movement operate. This watch sold recently for $18,000.

By the early 20^th century, old world watchmakers were making copies of skull watches for collectors. Even now, there are a few watch makers producing quality sterling skull watches such as the one to the right vs the plethora of cheap Chinese-made skull watches out of plated base material and quartz movements.

Those of you who enjoy Steampunk or a bit of Cthonian dress up have enjoyed this two part trip into exotic time pieces and this sterling horologic cranium. I am sure all of us have wanted a goodie or two for Christmas like this. It's a no-brainer.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T08:47:00.001-06:00

On Thanksgiving I shall be off to the old homestead for a dinner of turducken, which is an enigma wrapped in a mystery and covered in special conundrum sauce with a sprinkle of obscurity on top. Served on a riddle, warm. Yum. Happy holidays to you all.

My sincerest apologies to Winston Churchill.

SKULL WATCHES Part One

2011-11-20T11:04:00.000-06:00

When I was a youngster in the 1960s, two watches I really wanted to see or own were the so-called Nuremburg Egg (actually a misnomer) and the Seaton Watch (see below). The Nuremburg Egg was the earliest portable clocks made. Along side that, I wanted a skull watch. Not just any Victorian skull watch, which are expensive but available, I wanted the Seaton Watch. I always set my sights high.

The Seaton Watch was made for Mary Queen of Scots in the late 1500s by Moyant A. Bolis circa the late 1500s and given by the Queen to Mary to Mary Setoun, one of her Maids of Honor. It wasn’t actually made to be worn around the neck, being fairly heavy, but was fully portable and could be suspended by the chain on a table, prie-dieu or altar. It also has a leather form-fitting case to cover the watch when not in use.

The silver skull watch was a memento mori to remind the viewer of the transient nature of Earthy time. The watch had only an hour hand and could be viewed by opening the jaw, which exposed the face of the watch. The time was marked audibly by a small bell, which was struck on the hour. The best overall write-up of this rare watch was in Godey’s Lady’s Book, March 1850, which was a major woman’s fashion book of the era. Rather than rehash the very detailed description from a difficult to find, 160 year old source, I have simply placed it on the blog:

This singular watch is illustrated the same size as the original, in (Charles John) Smith's "Historical and Literary Curiosities (consisting of curiosities, consisting of facsimiles of original documents);" (1847) and, from the description there appended, we extract the following account of it:

"On the forehead of the skull is the figure of Death, with his scythe and sand-glass. He stands between a palace on one hand and a cottage on the other, with his toes applied equally to the door of each; and around this is the legend from Horace, 'Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres.' On the opposite, or posterior part of the skull, is a representation of Time devouring all things. He also has a scythe: and near him is the serpent with its tail in its mouth, being an emblem of eternity. This is surrounded by another legend from Horace – ' Tempus edax rerum tuque invidiosa vetustas.' The upper part of the skull is divided into two compartments: on one are represented our first parents in the Garden of Eden, attended by some of the animals, with the motto, ' Peccando perditionem miseriam aeternam posteris meruere.' The opposite compartment is filled with the subject of the salvation of lost man by the crucifixion of our Saviour, who is represented as suffering between the two thieves, whilst the Marys are in adoration below: the motto to this is ' Sic justitiae satisfecit, mortem superavit, salutem comparavit.' Running below these compartments, on both sides, there is an open-work of about an inch in width, to permit the sound to come more fully when the watch strikes. This is formed of emblems belonging to the crucifixion – scourges, of various kinds; ,:words; the flagon and cup of the eucharist; the cross; pincers; lantern used in the garden; spears, of different kinds, and one with the sponge on its point; thongs; ladder; the coat without a seam, and the dice that were thrown for it; the hammer and nails, and the crown of thorns. Under all these is the motto, 'Scala caeli ad gloriam via.'

"The watch is opened by reversing the skull, and placing the upper part of it in the hollow of the hand, and then lifting the under jaw, which rises on a hinge. Inside, on the plate, which may thus be called the lid, is a representation of the Holy Family in the stable, with the infant Jesus laid in the manger, and angels ministering to him; in the upper part, an angel is seen descending, with a scroll, on which is written ' Gloria excelsis Deo, et in terra, pax, hominibus bona volu.' In the distance are the shepherds, with their flocks; and one of the men is in the act of performing on a cornemuse.

The works of the watch occupy the position of the brains in the skull itself; the dial-plate being on a flat where the roof of the mouth and the parts behind it, under the base of the brain, are to be found in the real subject. The dial-plate is of silver, and is fixed within a golden circle, richly carved in a scroll pattern. The hours are marked in large Roman letters; and within them is the figure of Saturn devouring his children, with this relative legend round the outer rim of the flat, ' Sicut meis sic et omnibus idem.' Lifting up the body of the works on the hinges by which they are attached, they are found to be wonderfully entire. There is no date; but the maker's name, with the place of manufacture, ' Moyse, Blois,' are distinctly engraven. Blois is the place where it is believed that. watches were first made; and this suggests the probability of the opinion that the watch was expressly ordered by Queen Mary, at Blois, when she went there with her husband, the dauphin, previous to his death.

The watch appears to have been originally constructed with catgut, instead of chain, which it now has, which must have been a more modern addition. It is now in perfect order, and performs wonderfully well, though it requires to be wound up within twenty-six hours to keep it going with tolerable accuracy. A large silver bell, of very musical sound, fills the entire hollow of the. skull, and receives the works within it when the watch is shut. A small hammer, set in motion by a separate escapement, strikes the hours on it.

"This very curious relic must have then intended to occupy a stationary place on a prie-dieu, or small altar, in a private oratory; for its weight is much too great to have admitted of its being carried in any way attached to the person."

“This watch is in the possession of Sir T. D. Lauder family, of Grange and Fountain Hall, Bart, who inherited it through the Setoun family, from which they are descended; it having been given by Queen Mary to Mary Setoun, of the house of Wintoun, one of the four Marys, Maids of Honor to the Scottish Queen.”

UPDATE: This homological wonder has been traveling throughout the world visiting such museums as the Taft Museum of Art, The Walters Museum, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, and the British Museum. I don’t know its present whereabouts, however.

Sadly, the original movement has been modified some 250 plus years ago with the added minute hand, however the face is original in this 400 year old watch. I never got a Nuremburg Egg nor the Seaton Watch, but I’m not giving up hope.

You can download a copyright free edition of Smith’s Historical and Literary Curiosities here. Although skull watches are not part of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, they are a great prop for the RPG. Stay tuned for the second part of Skull Watches, which I will post later on.

Sneaky Guns III: Small and Sneaky Derringers

2011-11-09T20:38:00.001-06:00

They may be small and sneaky, but they bite.

When you think of small, sneaky guns you think of derringers generally. They are compact, concealable, but deadly. The genre of diminutive handguns is named after a rather latecomer in the sneaky gun business. Henry Deringer produced single shot flintlock and later, percussion pistols from the middle 1820s to the Civil War. The name and guns of Deringer were imitated by copycats and a whole grouping of compact guns became known as derringers by collectors down to the present day.*

The need for practical small pocket pistols was met with flintlock pistols, sometimes called gentleman’s pistols and could be carried in the capacious pockets of men’s clothing from the 1720s onward. One of the most popular was a tiny copy of a “Queen Anne” pistol. These had screw off barrels that allowed loading from the breech and generally had no integral ramrod.

These small guns meant for a single shot with little capability of hasty reload. The only alternative was to make guns with multiple barrels such as a double barrel pistol much like a shotgun or a pepperbox style gun. Percussion guns allowed small copies of full size revolvers but in a tiny caliber such as the Remington-Rider Pocket pistol.

The short barrels of derringers precluded accuracy beyond the distance of a card table and heavy black powder loads couldn’t fully burn completely. They compensated by having a larger caliber than you would expect in such small gun, trading off mass of projectile vs speed of projectile.

Metallic cartridges, starting with pinfires and later with the venerable .22 rimfire (1857) opened up the possibility of rapid reloading. You could make small rimfires and that functioned like full-sized guns. The downside is that the caliber was also reduced. The post-Civil War era opened up to a bewildering variety of derringers and mechanisms. The uniting feature was their small, concealable size.

After the original Deringer, the Remington Double Derringer is the most recognizable with its double barrel. Over 150,000 were made from 1966 to 1935 in .41 caliber short. Interestingly Remington also made the Remington Zig-Zag Derringer, Remington Vest Pocket Pistol as well as some very small solid frame revolvers that are nearly derringer sized.

Other companies designed derringers or bought up patents to make them. For example the Moore’s #1 (1860 to 1865), later became National (1865 to 1870). Colt bought the design and made them as the Colt derringer from 1870 to 1890. This gun also could be turned around and used as a small knuckle duster (double sneaky). Also check out the William W. Marston three-barrel derringer, one model had a snap out minibayonet (sneakier yet).

By the 1880s small copies of full-sized pistols began to supplant derringers. Many were cheaply made and collectors often called “Suicide Specials” due to their cheap manufacture. With few gun purchasing laws, inexpensive and badly made guns could be bought for a dollar and change over the counter and by mail.

By the early 20^th century, highly compact automatics in .22 and .25 pretty much ended the rule of derringers. They were not only small, but very quick to reload and much more rapid fire.

In my opinion, the ultimate modern 20^th century sneaky gun is the Walter PPK introduced in 1931 and you just can’t beat the styling. This ends my sneaky gun trilogy post. See my other Sneaky Gun posts previously: Sneaky Guns I: GunCanes and Sneaky Guns Part II - Combinations

*note that original Deringers have one r and the generic name for the group is lower case with two r's.

The Logical Zombie

2011-11-04T19:01:00.000-06:00

An investigation into zombies of all kinds.

Being of a logical and scientific bent, zombies have intrigued me simply because they break a lot of rules, especially in film portrayal. Zombies tap into that primal fear of the dead and especially of the recently dead returning. Ghosts fill a certain amount of the genre of returning dead, but zombies really bite into the role.

One way that archeologists measure a culture is by their treatment of the dead and by the amount and types of grave goods. In Paleolithic times, grave goods were minimalistic and there was an edge of appeasing spirits and keeping the vengeful dead in their graves along with equipping the dearly departed into the happy hunting ground. Sometimes keeping them in their place is accomplished by big rocks or a deep burial. Apparently ancient man was pretty worried about returning dead.

Of course a lot of veneration of the dead along with appeasement meant not only a nice burial service and lots of grave goods, but then follow up services and maybe a nice monument or tomb. They could get pretty elaborate by the Neolithic era. Much later tombs got as big as to be listed as two of the seven wonders of the ancient world: The Great Pyramid of Egypt and the Tomb of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor (now Turkey).

Zombies are a specific kind of returning dead and quite corporeal. Whereas ghosts and spirits could ruin your day by moaning and issuing curses, zombies returned in the flesh, generally decaying and smelling somewhat. You don’t want them at your family picnic.

Classic Caribbean zombies are the result of a magician or sorceress, bruja/brujo & etc capturing a spirit and forcing them back into their body to the do the will of the necromancer. Basically, these island zombies were slaves and bound to their masters to do whatever zombies do best which might be a bit of manual labor as long as dexterity is not needed. Classic Caribbean zombies stop being zombified when the necromancer is done with them or if released/destroyed by another person or power.

In a sense, the standard Egyptian mummy is a kind of zombie because it is here because of a powerful will (sometimes their own), a curse or a necromancer has raised them. There are lots of typical mummy movies around, so you get the gist.

Now we get to “modern” zombies. Generally, these are the Zombie Holocaust type, where not specific zombies are animated by the will of a necromancer or a curse, but a pandemic of zombification, where whole populations are zombified. Plague of one sort or another, either from space, mad scientists or incompetent government experiments or crazy corporation experiments gone wrong.

Plagues zombies may have been killed by the same plague that zombified them or just animated by the zombifuying virus. These zombies differ completely from classical zombies in that they have the power, via zombie plague or virus, to infect others and create new zombies. Generally, nobody controls plague zombies and they wreak great havoc by infecting others and being pretty hard to stop. Just one bite can make a new convert to zombiedom in just a few hours if the virus is virulent.

These new plague zombies often to seem to crave living flesh, human generally and some types even prefer brains for a snack. They generally feel no pain, have no sentient capabilities although some might have vestige memories. Generally plague zombies are slow, clumsy, and not very strong. But they are persistent and appear in great masses. They also seem to hibernate for long periods and seem to be able to smell living persons at a good distance. They are attracted to sounds and can hunt in packs.

Although pretty much immune to bullets in the body in general and even dismemberment, a blow to the head or bullet to the head destroys the zombies. Fire seems to work pretty well, although in some movies, each and every cell is a living zombie and will move to the attack. At that point, things are pretty grim for the living.

Now to the logical part: Classic zombies seem to be a moving corpse and fall apart pretty well, although the brain shot may not work with them. They seem to be as limited as an animated rotting corpse under the will of a necromancer. So obviously classic zombies have a limited time to get their work done until they fall apart or decay.

Plague zombies seem to be actual parasite organisms inhabiting the dead and moving them around to their will, as limited as the wishes of a zombie virus might be. Clearly, there has to be a kind of half-life with these zombie plague hosts. If classic zombies are magic, plague zombies are scientific and should fall under some biological rules for organisms. They use neurons to move muscles and electro chemical energy is required from somewhere. Admittedly they have a very slow metabolism and so don’t need as much energy as a living person, but they indeed inhabit human bodies and using their mechanisms to get around, so a few rules must exist.

There must be a life cycle on these zombified humans, and even given super low metabolisms and the ability to cannibalize their own cells (live humans do that too) to keep up a modicum of energy, they have to run out of juice sometime. I just don’t see zombies staggering around malls for hundreds of years like it is an after Christmas sale. Clearly, if you want to use zombies in your game, you need some basic rules, be they classic zombies or plague zombies. All organisms have a life cycle, even zombies.

There are a few categories of non-zombie zombioids out there: Dr. Who spinoff Torchwood has the Miracle Day episodes, where people just don’t die. They are not mindless zombies, just a kind of undead. If you have not watched these episodes, they are a very mindful pondering on living forever. Secondly there are self-zombies in the sense of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cool Air, a short story where somebody has willed themselves to live on and have preserved their body from decay. I guess they are a class of undead, uh unliving, whatever.

Here are some real science zombies that occur in nature:

http://www.livescience.com/14064-zombie-ant-fungus-parasite.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/science/23parasite.html?_r=1

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/09/how-a-brain-manipulating-virus-turns-caterpillars-into-zombies.ars

If you like my logical zombie article see also my blog article about the classic wolfman.

Halloween Cheer and H. P. Lovecraft

2011-10-31T08:16:00.002-06:00

Original work by Jared Hindman

For this Halloween I have decided to make a post two of H. P. Lovecraft’s works: “Rats in the Walls” and “The Statement of Randolph Carter” in a variety of formats from video and audio to e text formats. Rats in the Walls and The Statement of Randolph Carter are both about the unseen, concurrent, and mercifully unrevealed. The rats and far worse are never seen while the creatures of other dimensions are all around us and without external help, never seen either. Lovecraft said, "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents".

One of the great linchpins of the Mythos is the co-relationship of the other horrible dimensions with ours along with the great ancient evils that preexist our own world and will exist afterward. For Lovecraft, the overlay of human rationality is just a defensive mechanism we have created to mask the true terrors all around us. To see more, one would require a Tillinghast Resonator.

Rats in the Walls by the Vancouver Film School on Youtube

Tiger Lilies with Alexander Hacke perform their take of Rats in the Walls on their Mountains of Madness tour 2005

The Statement of Randolph Carter Dramatic Reading

For those of you who like the electronic portability of e texts:

Download rats in the walls electronic text version http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/fiction/rw.asp

Download The Statement of Randolph Carter electronic text version

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/fiction/src.asp

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Call of Cthulhu RPG, but Speakeasy, Brother

2011-10-27T19:54:00.000-06:00

Here is a little bit of background for those of you who are playing Call of Cthulhu in the 1920s. A major meeting place for illicit activities were places where illegal substances could be imbibed. I’m not talking about drug dens, but ... bars. Beer and liquor was made illegal by national prohibition (in the U.S. October 1919 to December 1933) although some states such as Mississippi had prohibition from 1908 to 1964. The 18^th Amendment and the Volstead Act, the same year pretty much put selling liquor out of business, legally in the whole of the United States.

Needless to say, where there is a will, there’s a drink and bootleggers began to manufacture, import, distribute, and sell illegal alcohol drinks in semi-secret locations all over the country. Real bottle and bond liquor was sold with dangerous rotgut and moonshine of dubious origin and manufacture to anybody who was willing to pay for the stuff. Illegal bars, speakeasies, sprang up all over. Organized crime flourished and millions were to be made. Of course, gang wars also sprang up as well all the inherent vices associated with gangs. Graft and corruption was rampant: from just looking the other way and payoffs to fixing elections and murder. Millions were made and lost and gang warfare paralyzed cities for a decade.

Speakeasies were a place where the affluent could drink with low-lifes, if they had the price of a drink. Many illicit deals were made in speakeasies and the incessant smuggling involved with alcohol meant that other items might be smuggled as well. Speakeasies might also host gambling and possibly drugs as well as worse vices as millionaires and petty overdressed thugs mingled. Information could also be disseminated or picked up in speakeasies and illicit clubs.

I have added a short list of some of the most popular cocktail drinks of the Roaring 20s for a bid of added authenticity to the article. Cocktails, which had been around since the 1820s became even more popular as the sweet and strong flavorings in cocktails could mask inferior liquor and even some of the terrible rotgut manufactured in basements might be sellable with lots of flavoring mixed in. This list is mostly of highly popular prohibition mixed drinks, which are seldom made now, 90 years later. This list (in no particular order) is by no means exhaustive or definitive but I have included some links that will help you with your 1920s liquid quest for authenticity for period speakeasy drinking.

French 75

In a cocktail shaker, add and shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz French cognac (later gin was substituted)
1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz simple sugar syrup
Strain into highball glass full of cracked ice and top off with chilled champagne.

Mary Pickford
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz white rum
1 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
Strain into chilled cocktail glass and drop in a maraschino cherry.

Colony Cocktail
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
2 tsp maraschino
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Sidecar
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/4 oz cognac
1/2 oz triple sec liqueur
3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Strain into chilled, sugar-rimmed cocktail glass

Bacardi Cocktail
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz light rum
1 /2 oz lime juice
3 dashes grenadine
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Old Fashioned
2 oz. Whiskey or Bourbon, a splash of simple syrup, bitters, and Soda. Fill glass with ice, add simple syrup, bitters, liquor, and soda, garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

Barbary Coast
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
3/4 oz blended scotch
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz crème de cacao
3/4 oz heavy cream
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Sidecar
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/4 oz cognac
1/2 oz triple sec liqueur

3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Strain into chilled, sugar-rimmed cocktail glass

Rob Roy

1½ oz. Blended Scotch Whiskey

¼ oz. White Vermouth
¼ oz. Red Vermouth
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Maraschino Cherry

Manhattan

There are a few variations in this drink: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_%28cocktail%29

Stinger

There are several variations of this drink: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_%28cocktail%29

High Ball

Actually a series of drinks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highball

Martini Cocktail

A huge variation of martini cocktails are listed, so here are some links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_%28cocktail%29

Brass Monkey

1 shot Bacardi rum

1 shot vodka

2½ shots Freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 shot simple syrup

White Lady

2 ounces gin

½ ounces triple sec liqueur

½ ounce lemon juice

1 egg white

Anyway, you get the gist: sweet syrup and liqueurs and a wild mix of liquors. If minions and cultists don’t get you, the bad hooch will. Knock three times and tell ‘em CoastConFan sent you.

Try also http://prohibitioneracocktails.blogspot.com/