Texas students' photos altered in yearbooks - USATODAY.com: "MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — School officials say they are appalled by altered photos — including heads on different bodies — in hundreds of McKinney High School yearbooks delivered this week.
Besides the head and body switching, some necks were stretched, one girl's arm was missing, and another girl's head was placed on what appeared to be a nude body, with the chest blurred.
A spokeswoman for Minnesota-based Lifetouch National School Studios Inc. said the alterations were 'an unfortunate lapse in judgment' by an employee but didn't believe it was malicious."
Monday, May 19, 2008
Why Does Minnesota Hate Texas?
Will the Persecution Never End?
Paris Hilton looks at wedding venues with Benji Madden | Celebrity News | Now Magazine: "Paris Hilton has been visiting churches in London – sparking speculation she’s about to wed boyfriend Benji Madden.
The pair have been dating less than 3 months but have already spoken publicly of their desire to settle down.
Paris is thought to be keen on having a ceremony just like the late Princess Diana's - so she’s been looking at historical churches while she's been in town promoting her new perfume CanCan, reports the Daily Star.
But the socialte, 27, isn’t having much luck. St Paul’s Cathedral is out because her father doesn't have an OBE. And St Bride’s church is believed to have turned her down because of her wild reputation."
Old Folkies Still Score
The Associated Press: Loni Anderson marries folk singer Bob Flick: "LOS ANGELES (AP) — Loni Anderson was married Saturday to Bob Flick, a founding member of the 1960s folk group The Brothers Four.
The ceremony was attended by friends and family, including son Quinton Reynolds, who walked the 'WKRP in Cincinnati' and 'Nurses' star down the aisle. Reynolds is Anderson's son with Burt Reynolds, whom she divorced in 1993."
Winter's Bone -- Daniel Woodrell
Daniel Woodrell says he writes "country noir." This book is plenty country, but it's not noir by my definition. Of course, we all know that different people have different definitions of that word. To paraphrase an old joke about economists, if you laid all the people with definitions of noir end to end, they'd all point in different directions. But I digress. I'll tell you at the end of this why the book's not noir, but it's a huge spoiler. Consider yourself warned.
The story here is about a 16-year-old woman named Ree Dolly. Her father has a court appearance coming up, but no one can find him. That's bad, because he's put up his house and land to cover part of his bond. Ree either has to find him or prove he's dead to save the property. And she needs to save it because she has to have it to take care of her two brothers and her mentally incompetent mother. To Ree and to the Ozark folks in her part of the country, kin is everything. Blood trumps all.
I said the book wasn't noir, but it's sure hardboiled. Ree's odyssey is brutal, but she's tough (and tough-minded) enough to take it. It's all told in the kind of colloquial but still poetic language that works well for this kind of tale. It's not exactly a crime novel. More of a backwoods story, and Woodrell knows the people he's writing about intimately. Great stuff. And the book's short, always a selling point for me. Shorter maybe than a Robert B. Parker novel.
Now for the huge SPOILER explaining why the book's not noir. I'll drop down a few spaces before answering.
SPOILER: Winter's Bone isn't noir because it has a more or less happy ending. Fairy dust is dancing in the air. It's even set up for a sequel with Ree working for a bailbondsman. I can see it now: Stephanie Plum in the Ozarks. Okay, surely not. Whatever happens to Ree, it's going to be a lot different from anything Stephanie Plum might enounter. I, for one, will be interested to see just what it is.
A Gallery of Vietnam Zippos
Vietnam Zippos: "Vietnam War Zippos represent a varied and popular category for collectors for military memorabilia collectors as well as for Zippo fans. There are Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard Vietnam Zippos, as well as Zippos for the RVN, Australian and other services. A subset of Vietnam War Navy Zippos are Riverine or so-called Brown-Water Navy Zippos."
Hat tip to Test Pattern.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Department of Irony
The Charleston Gazette - News - ID theft protection firm sued�: "For a time, the ads were everywhere on TV and radio, the ones with the head of a security company brazenly challenging would-be thieves to try to steal his identity.
Richard Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock Inc., was so confident in his company's ability to protect his identity that he publicly revealed his Social Security number: 457-55-5462.
But according to a new class-action lawsuit filed last week in Jackson County, LifeLock's identity theft protection services were so inept that Davis' personal information was stolen repeatedly.
'While LifeLock has only publicly acknowledged that Davis' identity was compromised on one occasion, there are more than 20 driver's licenses that have been fraudulently obtained [using his personal information],' the suit states."
Gator Update (Sinkhole Edition)
Daisetta sinkhole becomes private pool for 7-foot gator | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "DAISETTA _ Workers standing on the rim of a giant sinkhole that formed last week in this Liberty County town gasp and point as the water inside the cavity starts to ripple.
The first thing visible is a long snout. Then the creature begins to undulate through the water, with its muscular tail and back forming two humps, before vanishing beneath the surface as quickly as it appeared.
Sightings of a 7-foot alligator, although rare, have been reported since shortly after May 8 when the ground collapsed a block from the high school and fire station."
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
35-year sentence for HIV-positive spitter worries some | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News: "Prosecutors convinced a Dallas County jury this week that HIV-positive saliva should be considered a deadly weapon.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and countless doctors say no one has ever contracted the virus from spit.
And that's why several AIDS advocacy groups and many individuals contend that the 35-year sentence Willie Campbell received Wednesday for spitting into the mouth and eye of a Dallas police officer was excessive."
Dead Heat -- Dick Francis and Felix Francis
This book marks the first time Dick Francis has shared author credit on one of his novels, though it's widely known that both his wife and son aided in his research on earlier books.
I've been reading Francis's novels for 40 years or so now, and I don't think I've missed a one. I've also never failed to enjoy one, this latest is no exception. Max Moreton is a chef, but he's like all the other Francis heroes: competent, smart, brave, and in plenty of danger. When food poisoning afflicts many of the diners at a catered party Moreton gets the blame, but he knows he's not at fault. He starts looking into things, and soon he's got all kinds of trouble. And, of course, like all Francis heroes, he suffers plenty of physical hardship before arriving at all the answers.
Francis's straighforward style still reads as easily as ever, his characters are just as engaging, and the story moves along as fast as one of the horses that Francis used to ride. I recommend this one.
CSI: Croatia
Woman found after 42 years | The Daily Telegraph: "POLICE broke into a flat to check who lived there 42 years after its owner was reported missing - and found the mummified remains of the woman sitting in front of her TV.
Croatian police say Hedviga Golik, who was born in 1924, had apparently made herself a cuppa and sat down to watch her black-and-white television before she died.
Officers believe that would have been in 1966, when she was last seen by neighbours. They said one day she seemed to have just disappeared and they thought she had moved to the capital Zagreb."
Sheriff Dan Rhodes, Take Note
The Associated Press: Alabama sheriffs feed inmates on $1.75 a day: "BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Back in the day of chain gangs, Alabama passed a law that gave sheriffs $1.75 a day to feed each prisoner in their jails, and the sheriffs got to pocket anything that was left over. More than 80 years later, most Alabama counties still operate under this system, with the same $1.75-a-day allowance, and some sheriffs are actually making money on top of their salaries."
Hey, Kids, Let's Go to the Penis Museum!
Male organ on show at museum ( pics) - New Zealand's source for oddstuff - strange, weird & bizarre news on Stuff.co.nz: "Sigurdur Hjartarson is missing a human penis. But he's not worried: four men have promised to donate theirs to him when they die.
Hjartarson is founder and owner of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which offers visitors from around the world a close-up look at the long and the short of the male reproductive organ."
Thanks to Doc Quatermass for the link.
Iron Man
You already know all you need to know about this one. Robert Downey is having fun. Gwyneth Paltrow is a great redhead. Stuff blows up all over the place. The Iron Man suit is cool. And you should stay past the end credits for a scene that will tell you something about the sequel. Judy and I both had a good time.
School Daze
This is your big chance to see what I looked like on my first day of school. I'm guest blogging over on the Writers Plot, and there's even a photo. Check it out.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Fourth jewelry heist in month nets $1.4 million for armed robbers | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "A roving band of armed jewelry thieves targeting traveling salesmen struck again Thursday, marking the fourth such violent robbery in the Houston area within the past three weeks, authorities said.
The latest heist happened about 1:30 p.m. on Thursday when three masked men followed the victim into a Waffle House restaurant on Westheimer near Hayes, officials said.
'They pistol-whipped the salesman and took his merchandise,' said Special Agent Shauna Dunlap, with the Houston FBI office."
Gator Update (Ride 'em, Gatorboy, Edition)
Deputy bitten by alligator - Tampa Bays Local News: "DELTONA, Fla. (AP) — A Volusia County sheriff's deputy is hospitalized in serious but stable condition after being bitten by an 8-foot-long alligator he was trying to subdue in a parking lot.
Authorities say Deputy Keith Baughman responded to a call late Thursday about an alligator roaming around the Deltona apartment complex. Witnesses say the deputy put a towel over the gator's head, jumped onto its back and tried to grab its snout.
One witness says the alligator “went crazy,” throwing off Baughman and biting him on the leg."
Once Again, . . . Oops.
Did a 13yo buy hookers with dad's credit card? - New Zealand's source for oddstuff - strange, weird & bizarre news on Stuff.co.nz: "A widely published story that a 13-year-old has been convicted of fraud after stealing his dad's credit card and ordering two prostitutes from an escort agency may be a hoax.
The original story said Ralph Hardy used the card to take his friends on a $US30,000 spending spree that ended with them playing Halo on an Xbox with prostitutes in a Texas motel, according to a Money.co.uk report.
However police from the county where the alleged incident was supposedly took place say the story doesn't stack up."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Garland man finds fossil of mosasaur in Duck Creek | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News: "Charles Amyx had seen fossils in museums, but he didn't buy into the notion that dinosaurs ever existed.
'How can these be 3 million years old?' he asked, citing his belief that the world is much younger.
But the 62-year-old school bus driver has no doubt that the mosasaur bones he unearthed in the river bottom behind his Garland home are something special. Members of the Dallas Paleontological Society agree."
Oakley Hall, R. I. P.
Oakley Hall, 87, Novelist Attuned to the Old West, Is Dead - New York Times: "Oakley Hall, the author of the novels “Warlock” and “The Downhill Racers” and a literary heir to fellow California writers like Wallace Stegner, died Monday at his home in Nevada City, Calif. He was 87 and lived in Nevada City, Squaw Valley and San Francisco."
Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.
Update: Here's a personal remembrance from David Laurence Wilson, whose name you may have seen on a few introductions in Stark House volumes:
"Oakley was a good guy, with a distinctive voice that I will hear
until the end of my own years. I knew him for almost forty years,
more than two-thirds of my life, ever since my first week of college,
when I won a lottery and was admitted into one of his writing
classes. He turned me from a Biological Sciences Major to whatever
it is that I am now. I wasn't part of the UCI Writing Program, since
I was an undergraduate, but I was editor of the newspaper at the
school, and Managing Editor for the literary magazine. In his own
undergrad days Oakley was at San Diego State, in a class with Sid
Fleischman and Bob Wade and Bill Miller, who wrote under the name
"Wade Miller". San Diego had never had it's own Private Eye
character but "Wade Miller" gave it one, followed by Sid Fleischman
and then Oakley, with his first effort, Murder City. Like a lot of
writers, Oakley was particularly known for one novel, Warlock, but he
had a lot more affection for that effort that many other novelists so
afflicted. He'll be missed by a lot of writers whose horizons were
expanded by this fine teacher."
David Laurence Wilson
The Night Remembers -- Ed Gorman
Here's a forgotten book that's not entirely forgotten. It's back in print from Ramble House.
Jack Walsh is a former cop who now manages an apartment house and does a little sleuthing. He's in his 60s and is dating a younger woman who has some serious problems of her own. The wife of his former partner keeps showing up at his office, trying to prove she can be a part of his life, maybe even become his partner in the agency. But those are the least of his problems. A prospective client shows up, Mrs. Pennyfeather, the wife of a man Walsh sent to prison when he was a cop. She wants him to prove that her husband, who's just been released, was innocent to begin with. Walsh refuses, but he finds himself drawn into a new case when a woman is murdered in the Pennyfeathers' back yard. What he uncovers is about as dark as it gets.
The Night Remembers was originally published in 1991, and it proves that Ed Gorman has been very good for a long time. But then you knew that. He gives us real people with real problems, trapped by their pasts and trying to deal with the present as best they can. Pick this one up from Ramble House if you haven't read it already. But don't read it when you're depressed.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Kids' novelist Rick Riordan on the brink of something big | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "In April, children's book publisher Scholastic, the company that brought Harry Potter to America, flew San Antonio author Rick Riordan to Bologna, Italy. There, Riordan's job was to help explain The 39 Clues — a forthcoming multiplatform series for children incorporating books, collectible cards, video games and $100,000 in prize money — to international publishing executives.
The 39 Clues is important to Scholastic since it represents the publisher's first serious attempt to replicate Harry Potter sales. Riordan (with a long 'i,' like 'fire') was hired to write The Maze of Bones, the first in the 10-book series, and to create the overall storyline."
Happy Birthday, Katherine Anne Porter
Today is the birthday of a famous Texas-born writer, Katherine Anne Porter. I've blogged about my meeting with her before. (See here, here, here, and here.) In at least one of those posts, I told the story of how Charlotte Laughlin took a photo of Miss Porter's coffin, which she kept in a closet in her apartment. I don't recall that I've published that photo, however, so here it is.
Gator Update (Immortality Edition)
Metro - Alligator immortalized: "The most famous resident of Okefenokee Swamp Park in Waycross, Ga. — an alligator that attracted the stares of tourists for decades — will soon be immortalized nearly a year after his death.
The skeleton of Oscar is being assembled and will be put on display like a museum dinosaur. The four-metre, 450-kilogram alligator had roamed the swamp from the time the park opened in 1946."
Robert McGinnis Comes to DVD
The Robert McGinnis DVD won't be available until July, but you can pre-order it here. You can also see the trailer, which is great.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
If I taught junior high, I might have to be drunk to go to work, too. Thanks to Doc Quatermass for the link.
"RICHARDSON, Texas (AP) -- A substitute teacher suspected of being drunk in a suburban Dallas middle school class was too intoxicated to complete a sobriety test and was arrested, authorities said.
Thomas Brownlee, 56, was in a classroom Tuesday with students and another staff member for about 20 minutes, Richardson school district spokesman Tim Clark said. Another teacher suspected Brownlee was drunk and told a police officer at Parkhill Junior High."
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Thanks to Art Scott for the link.
Ants swarm over Houston area, fouling electronics: "In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.
The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as 'crazy rasberry ants' — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and 'rasberry' after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.
'They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere,' said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off her patio and scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. 'There's just thousands and thousands of them. If you've seen a car racing, that's how they are. They're going fast, fast, fast. They're crazy.'"
At First I Thought They'd Hurtled "Thriller" into Deep Space
The Raw Story | Jacksons Thriller among cultural treasures: "The best-selling pop album on planet Earth and a disc sent hurtling into deep space are among recordings the Library of Congress will preserve for their cultural significance.
Twenty-five selections were added to the National Recording Registry on Wednesday, part of the library's attempt to save America's aural history by archiving recordings deemed 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.'
The inductees range from Michael Jackson's 1982 all-time-bestseller 'Thriller' and jazz artist Herbie Hancock's 1973 fusion smash 'Headhunters' to the 1977 record of Earth sounds that flew aboard the spacecraft Voyager in the event alien life forms encountered the craft. Other recordings added to the registry include works by Roy Orbison, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Kitty Wells and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles."
Update: Todd Mason provides the registry link in a comment, but it's worth including here.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Disney to set up advertising research center in Austin | Statesman Business Blog: "The Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC and ESPN, plans to set up a research center in Austin to figure out why people choose certain television shows, and to test their reaction to practices such as the integration of products into programs and how they watch programs on cell phones."
We're from the Government, and . . .
. . . we're here to mellow you out.
Caught Without Care | Some Detainees Are Drugged For Deportation (washingtonpost.com): "The U.S. government has injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will to keep them sedated during the trip back to their home country, according to medical records, internal documents and interviews with people who have been drugged."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Thanks to James Reasoner for the link.
Man uses gun for backscratcher, shoots himself | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News: "A Fort Worth man trying to scratch an itch on his back used a revolver and accidentally shot himself.
Jorge Espinal, 44, was drinking beer and playing poker around 3 a.m. Sunday in his home in the 3500 block of Montague Street, when he got up from the table and walked into another room, said Fort Worth police Lt. Kenneth Dean.
“He told officers he had an itch on his back and grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of, which was a revolver,” Lt. Dean said. “The gun went off.'"
Python Update
Great photo at the link, for which thanks go out to Jeff Meyerson.
FOXNews.com - Giant Pythons Could Spread Quickly Across South - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News: "As if killer bees and kudzu weren't enough, the southern United States may soon have another invasive species to contend with — giant Burmese pythons capable of swallowing deer and alligators whole.
Approximately 30,000 of the big snakes, which can reach 30 feet and 200 pounds, already live wild in Florida's Everglades, thanks to thick-headed pet owners who've released them into the swamps when they've grown too large to keep at home."
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Got 10 Bucks You Don't Need?
SomethingStore.com: Surprise Yourself at The Something Store: "SomethingStore is a fun new website that operates simply: We will send you something, an item selected randomly among many things from our inventory, for $10 (free shipping) and you will find out what your something is when you receive it."
I Need These Stamps
Dracula sinks his teeth into Royal Mail history - Times Online: "HE may appear in the guise of the undead but Christopher Lee will make history next month by being among the first living non-royals to be portrayed on a British stamp.
The 85-year-old actor will appear as Dracula on a set of commemorative stamps next month marking the 50th anniversary of the Hammer horror and Carry On films."
Tiny stamp photos at link, for which we thank Doc Quatermass.
INDIANA JONES MR POTATO HEAD TATERS OF THE LOST ARK
Fedora tip to Doc Quatermass.
INDIANA JONES MR POTATO HEAD TATERS OF THE LOST ARK: "Unearth this silly spud toy from its packaging and use your imagination to create all sorts of wacky looks fashioned after the famous action hero. Complete with bullwhip and gold-colored idol in hand, this silly character can sport his jacket and fedora."
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