The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC) was nothing if not prompt. The meeting began precisely at 7:00 with a slap of a palm to the podium. The first of six speakers welcomed us. I quickly lost track of who was what. It takes a big bureaucracy to put on an Olympics. First, we were
The start of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo has reminded me of my own Olympic moment. In 1984, I was living in Anaheim, CA when the Summer Olympics came to Los Angeles. This was not only a chance to see some of the world’s greatest athletes, it also provided a way to give back to
So what did you think of Richard Branson’s foray into space? To recap, on Sunday, July 11, 2021, Sir Richard Branson, pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, and employees Beth Moses, Colin Bennett, and Sirisha Bandla boarded SpaceShipTwo, a winged plane with a single rocket motor that Branson’s company Virgin Galactic has been developing for the past twenty
How strange am I? Now you can see for yourself. I’ve written 19 short stories over the past several years, eight of which have been published on the Bewildering Stories website (http://bewilderingstories.com/). To keep busy during the quarantine, I put them all together into a book that’s now available on Amazon.com. The book comes in two flavors —
Today is another Presidential inauguration. These are always nostalgic for me because, as I posted four years ago, they remind me of the time I was in an inaugural parade. It was in January 1969, and at another turbulent time for our nation, although for an entirely different reason. Richard Nixon was the President-elect taking
Based on a true event, this story is included in my book Stories Short and Strange, available at Amazon.com in paperback (https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Short-Strange-Bob-Welbaum/dp/B0874PCH2G/ref=sr_1_1?) and Kindle download (https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Short-Strange-Bob-Welbaum-ebook/dp/B0876GGCMG/ref=sr_1_6?), and on this website. When an object disappears from a toddler, what’s the most logical explanation? The Earring — An Original Story An earring was missing. The young mother
This original story appears in my book Stories: Short and Strange, available on this website and at Amazon.com in both paperback (https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Short-Strange-Bob-Welbaum/dp/B0874PCH2G/ref=sr_1_1?) and download editions (https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Short-Strange-Bob-Welbaum-ebook/dp/B0876GGCMG/ref=sr_1_14?). A Second Chance at History Jerome had felt fear before, but this was different. Much different. The man on his right disappeared from his peripheral vision with a scream.
This is as close as I can come to a good Halloween story. It was originally published at BewilderingStories.com in Issue 612, and was an Editors’ Choice in the 2015 First Quarterly Review. It’s also included in my book Stories Short and Strange, available on this website and Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bob+welbaum&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss). By the
Normally I don’t discuss politics here, and I didn’t watch last night’s Presidential Debate. I usually don’t watch speeches, either. I monitor a half-dozen news feeds, and I figure if anything important happens, I’ll learn about it that way. But what these news sources have told me today has caused an assessment of our current
How strange am I? Now you can see for yourself. I’ve written 19 short stories over the past several years, eight of which have been published on the Bewildering Stories website (http://bewilderingstories.com/). To keep busy during the quarantine, I put them all together into a book that’s now available on Amazon.com. The book comes in two flavors —