Saturday, April 20, 2013

E. L. Konigsburg: R.I.P.

Mystery Fanfare: E. L. Konigsburg: R.I.P.

Who Knows What Evil Lurks On Blu-ray?

Who Knows What Evil Lurks On Blu-ray? THE SHADOW KNOWS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Song of the Day

Brenda Lee - Sweet Nothings - YouTube:

The 25 Books Every Kid Should Have on Their Bookshelf

The 25 Books Every Kid Should Have on Their Bookshelf

Today's Vintage Ad


An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Bill for compulsory science fiction in West Virginia schools

10 Incredible Repurposed Train Stations

10 Incredible Repurposed Train Stations

PaperBack



Samm Sinclair Baker, Murder Very Dry, Graphic, 1956

Was He or Wasn't He?

Whether he was or not, I went to his funeral.

The Last Veteran of the Civil War

So All those Buffalo Wings I've Eaten Won't Help?

Roboticists discover the secret of insect flight, and it's not wings

What Boston Was Like After The Marathon Bombing Suspect Was Captured

What Boston Was Like After The Marathon Bombing Suspect Was Captured

No Comment Department

Sexy Underwear & Lingerie For Men

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Sharky's Machine

'Sharky's Machine' movie [02] - movie trailer-TV commercial (1981) - YouTube:

The Raiders of Atlantis

THE RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS (1983) Trailer - YouTube:

Friday, April 19, 2013

FIGHT CARD MMA!

BISH'S BEAT: FIGHT CARD MMA!

Al Neuharth, R. I. P.

USA TODAY founder Al Neuharth dies at 89: Allen H. Neuharth, the newspaper visionary and former Gannett chairman who founded USA TODAY, helped create a museum dedicated to news and became one of the industry's most influential and sometimes controversial figures, died Friday at his home in Cocoa Beach, Fla. He was 89.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Plague of Unexplained Hairballs Is Strange Mystery for Texas Campus

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson, who says that Unexplained Hairballs WBAGNFARB.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Suspected snake thief shows charm in mug after Waco, Texas shoplift

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest


Okay, sure, I'll admit it.  I don't usually tout books like this one.  But The Art of the Croods is different.  It has foreword by Nicolas Cage!  So how could I resist?  It's a short foreword, but there is it.  Besides, Cage voices Grug, the star of the film.  Well, maybe not the star to some of you, but a huge role, nevertheless.  The art in this coffee-table book is gorgeous, and if you liked the movie, you might want to grab this.

Amazon.com: The Art of the Croods (9781781164112): Noela Hueso: Books: The Croods takes us back to the beginning, to a previously undiscovered era known as the Croodacious - a time when Mother Nature was still experimenting and the flora and fauna we know today hadn't evolved yet. Trying to find their evolutionary niche are The Croods, a family who must adapt to survive after their cave home is destroyed.


The Art of The Croods traces the evolution of the comedy adventure movie with over 400 pieces of concept art, character sketches, storyboards and digital paintings, along with interviews with the key animation talent.

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest

Amazon.com: Black Pulp (9781484135716): Walter Mosley, Christopher Chambers, Michael Gonzales, Gar Anthony Haywood, Ron Fortier, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Phillips, Mel Odom, Tommy Hancock, D. Alan Lewis, Derrick Ferguson, Kimberly Richardson, Charles R. Saunders: Books: From Today's Best Authors and up and coming writers comes BLACK PULP from Pro Se Productions! BLACK PULP is a collection of stories featuring characters of African origin, or descent, in stories that run the gamut of genre fiction! A concept developed by noted crime novelist Gary Phillips, BLACK PULP brings bestselling authors Walter Mosley and Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Phillips, Charles R. Saunders, Derrick Ferguson, D. Alan Lewis, Christopher Chambers, Mel Odom, Kimberly Richardson, Ron Fortier, Michael A. Gonzales, Gar Anthony Haywood, and Tommy Hancock together to craft adventure tales, mysteries, and more, all with black characters at the forefront!

Connie Francis Not Included

10 Women We Can’t Believe Aren’t in the Rock Hall of Fame

Song of the Day

Connie Francis - Stupid Cupid - YouTube:

Free for Kindle for a Limited Time

The Rocks Below: Nigel P Bird: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: The Rocks Below is a tale suitable for adults, young adults and older children. It contains a subtle yet powerful message relating to environmental issues. Fusing elements of crime fiction, science fiction and adventure stories, this is a book that entertains and stimulates thought in one exciting read.

Today's Vintage Ad


5 Real-Life Stories of Twins Creepier Than Any Horror Movie

5 Real-Life Stories of Twins Creepier Than Any Horror Movie

What's the Real Origin of "OK"?

What's the Real Origin of "OK"? 

PaperBack



Browning Norton & Charles A. Landolf, I Prefer Murder, Graphic, 1956


Arthur Ellis Awards Nominees

Mystery Fanfare: Arthur Ellis Awards Nominees

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Brooklyn brother and sister busted after fighting over toilet paper: Wipeout! 2 busted in toilet-roll brawl

Hat tip to Art Scott

Or Maybe You Will

8 Characters You Won't Believe Are Based on Real People 

The Librarian

1556 - The Librarian

Your Own Publishing Empire?

If you live near Norman, Oklahoma, Mel Odom will tell you how to make it happen at the Third Annual Writing Workshop sponsored by the Oklahoma Writing Federation.

I Miss the Old Days

Best Figure: 1931 Photoplay Magazine: Judging the "Best Figure in Hollywood," 1931

Uh-Oh

'Weird Science' Remake Planned With R-Rated Script From '21 Jump Street' Writer

AbeBooks: Riddled with Gilt

Poems by W.B. YeatsAbeBooks: Riddled with Gilt: Gilding is an age old art which consists of applying gold in powder or thin sheet (gold leaf) form to an object - in this case, a book's pages or even cover boards. 

The gold in gold leaf has typically been mixed or alloyed with other metals such as silver or copper. But there are other options, and not all that glitters is gold. Some cheaper editions simply have gold-colored paint, which can dull quickly, while at the other end of the spectrum are firms like Easton Press, who still accent editions in genuine 22kt gold.

Forgotten Books: The Graveyard Shift -- Harry Patterson

I'm cheating again, since no book by this writer is really out of print or forgotten.  But it's forgotten as being by Harry Patterson because all the recent reprints give the author's name as Jack Higgins.  It's a case of the pen name becoming more famous than the real one, so the switch was made.

This is an early book by Patterson/Higgins, and it shows.  He still hasn't developed the easily recognized style of his middle period books (my favorites), but you can see that he's working in the right direction.  The main character is Nick Miller, a cop, but one who's rich, who plays piano, who owns great cars, who has refined tastes.  Naturally at least one of the older men on the force doesn't like him in the least and tries to show him up by doing something on his own. Big mistake.

Ben Garvald has just been released from prison.  Money from his last robbery has never been found. His former sister-in-law goes to the police and claims that Garvald might try to harm her sister, Bella, who's divorced Garvald and married to a gangster and nightclub owner, who happens to have been Garvald's partner.  Miller eventually catches up to Garvald, who nicks Miller's car and escapes.  He's later found shot to death.  Miller has to find the killer, and there are plenty of suspects.

Miller's an abrasive character and takes a little getting used to.  He's thoroughly hardboiled, and he'll do whatever it takes.

I always enjoy Patterson/Higgins' books, as I've said any number of times on this blog. This one's not one of the better ones, but it has its moments.  Cheap copies abound on the 'Net.

Fighting Mad

1939 JAMES NEWILL DAVE O'BRIEN TRAILER - YouTube:

Thursday, April 18, 2013

The 60 Greatest Title Songs of All Time

Supreme Themes: The 60 Greatest Title Songs of All Time

Hat tip to Todd Mason.

Yet Another List I'm Not On

The 100 Most Influential People in the World

Why Every Texan Knows Exactly Where West, Texas Is

Why Every Texan Knows Exactly Where West, Texas Is

Nine ‘80s Sword-and-Sorcery Flicks that Need Modern TV Series

Nine ‘80s Sword-and-Sorcery Flicks that Need Modern TV Series

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

All The Reasons We Leave Earth for Dead in Science Fiction

All The Reasons We Leave Earth for Dead in Science Fiction

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

The First Book of Space Travel

The First Book of Space Travel: How a Female Author and Illustrator Got Kids into Science in 1953

Song of the Day

Dolly Parton - Jolene (High Quality) sound - YouTube:

The Absolute Worst Poems by Celebrities

The Absolute Worst Poems by Celebrities 

Today's Vintage Ad


First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Cop in slow McDonald's line accused of aiming gun at customer ahead of him

Your Favorite Poets’ Favorite Books of Poetry

Your Favorite Poets’ Favorite Books of Poetry

And You Thought You Were Obsessive

One Man's Obsessive Mission to Draw Every Building in New York

11 of the Most Unusual Elevators

11 of the Most Unusual Elevators

Link via mental_floss.

PaperBack



Stuart Brock (Louis Trimble), Killer's Choice, Graphic 1956

Esquire's 75 Books Every Man Should Read

Esquire's 75 Books Every Man Should Read 

Hat tip to George Kelley.

ARE TRAVIS MCGEE AND JOHN D. MACDONALD STILL RELEVANT?

ARE TRAVIS MCGEE AND JOHN D. MACDONALD STILL RELEVANT?

21 Books Written by and About Women That Every Man Should Read

21 Books Written by and About Women That Every Man Should Read

The 1949 Renovation of the White House

I wrote a short story with this setting. One reviewer of the anthology it appeared in didn't believe that the renovation could've have happened the way I described it.

The 1949 Renovation of the White House

Edie McClurg Has Been In Every TV Show And Movie You Ever Loved

Edie McClurg Has Been In Every TV Show And Movie You Ever Loved

Gator Update (Front Porch Edition)

Couple Greeted by 12-Foot Alligator on Front Porch

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.


The best (and worst) monsters of film and TV

The best (and worst) monsters of film and TV

Naturally it's an annoying slideshow.

Coelacanth Update

BBC News - 'Living fossil' coelacanth genome sequenced

I Dood It

I DOOD IT TRAILER 1943 RED SKELTON - YouTube:

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Most Incredible Fantasy Maps You've Ever Seen

The Most Incredible Fantasy Maps You've Ever Seen

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Police say dead groundhog, grouse tossed into western Pa. bar by unsatisfied customers

12 Phrases That Are Never a Good Sign For a Hero's Survival

12 Phrases That Are Never a Good Sign For a Hero's Survival

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

A Selection of Fascinating E-book Innovations From the Past Year

A Selection of Fascinating E-book Innovations From the Past Year 

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Florida woman arrested for violently yanking ex-boyfriend’s penis

Doing the Dishes

Yesterday, for no reason at all that I can determine, I started thinking about washing dishes.  I used to do it all the time.

I didn't work my way through college (The University of Texas at Austin), but I did earn most of my meals by washing dishes at a boarding house run by Mrs. A. B. Cryer.  I never knew her first name and never called her anything but Mrs. Cryer, and I never knew her husband's name, either.  He was Mr. Cryer.  You'd think I might have been curious, considering that my actual name and initals make me Mr. A. B. Crider.  There's a nice little similarity and rhyme going on there.  But in those days, I wasn't even curious.  Surely I heard his wife refer to him by name once or twice.  Alfred?  I don't remember.

I was a little curious about Mr. Cryer's job, if not about his name.  I never knew what the job was, exactly, but I saw him on campus all the time.  Before eight o'clock in the mornings, as students began heading into the buildings for the first class of the day, Mr. Cryer could be seen standing by one of the front doors to Sutton Hall, which I always thought of as the history building.  He'd be greeting the students as if he were an official representative of the Department of History, although I think he was on the janitorial staff.

But I digress.  Back to the boarding house.  A good friend of mine, Bob Tyus (or the Big T as we sometimes called him) got a job as the head waiter at Mrs. Cryer's.  He didn't do any waiting, however.  He was more like the greeter, and it was his job to know everyone who ate there.  If you hadn't paid for your meals (I believe the price was $36 a month for lunch and dinner; no dinner on Saturdays, and no meals on Sundays), you weren't seated.  If you got past Bob, he might point you to a table, or he might hold you in the entrance way if the tables were all full, which wasn't unusual.  Bob's the one who told me and my roommate, Walter Funk, that there were some openings for dishwashers.  Wash dishes for an hour, get a free meal.  Simple as that.  Seemed like a good deal, so Walter and I became dishwashers.

The dishwashing room was in  the back of the house.  There were three connected metal sinks lined up in front of the windows.  The first sink was for washing, the second was for rinsing, and the third was for sterilizing.  Usually two people worked the sinks, sometimes three.  We really needed three at the peak times, but it didn't always work out that way.

The dishes and utensils were stacked on a counter beside the first sink, and the dishwasher was supposed to take a dish, wash it, and put into a basket that sat in the rinse water.  When the basket was full, the second man would shake it around a little, take it out of the rinse water, and put it in the sterilizing sink. That one had a fire under it and the water was often close to boiling.  After a little while, the guy would take the basket out, tilt it to drain off the water, wait a few minutes, dry the plates, and then stack them on a table behind him.  The utensils were passed along the same way.

When the house was crowed, some of those steps got short shrift.  The dishwasher might take a whole stack of plates into the sink, swish them round, and transfer the stack to the rinse.  Nobody ever got sick, though, as far as I know.

I can still picture and hear a waiter named Enrique, who was from Argentina.  He'd come back into the room yelling "Spoons!  I need spoons!"  We were always in a rush.

The person who stacked the plates on the counter before they got washed was known to everyone as "Sister." I don't know her name, but she was the sister of one of the cooks, Lela.  Sister would scrape the food off the plates into a big garbage can, except for the good scraps, which she kept "for my puppy."  When the garbage can was full, we dishwashers would haul it outside and bring in an empty one.

On our shift, Walter and I would occasionally sing, beautifully of course.  We sang the John H. Reagan High School alma mater (Walter was a grad) and other great tunes.  We sometimes got to sing as many as two before Mrs. Cryer came back to tell us that the "boys" were complaining and that we'd have to stop.

Mrs. Cryer was often the victim of pranks.  About once a month she'd wander through the rooms were her boys were eating, saying, "There's a phone call for Dick Stroker. Is Dick Stroker here?"  Once someone made a really nice sign for the front yard: "Cryer's Boarding House. You can't beat our meat!"  It stayed for several days.  It didn't take much to entertain college kids in those days.

Sometimes I'd wash, and sometimes I'd rinse and scald.  By the time I went home in the spring, I'd have the worst case of dishpan hands you can imagine.  They were red and chapped and cracked.  Mrs. Cryer probably used cheap detergent.  One year I tried using rubber gloves, but the sink was deep, and the soapy water would slosh over the tops of the gloves and stay in them for the whole hour of washing.  That wasn't good for my dishpan hands at all, so the gloves got discarded.

I don't remember much about the food, other than that there were a few things I refused to eat.  That was okay.  As a dishwasher, I had kitchen privileges, so I could make myself a peanut butter sandwich.  And there were always mashed potatoes at every meal. I could eat those.  Another privilege of the dishwashers was extra desserts.  I liked the cobbler.

And that's what I have to say about doing the dishes.

Song of the Day

The Coasters - Along Came Jones - YouTube:

The True Stories Behind 11 Famous Sideshow Performers

The True Stories Behind 11 Famous Sideshow Performers

George Beverly Shea, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: George Beverly Shea, who escaped a life of toil in an insurance office to become a Grammy-winning gospel singer — and who was known in particular for his long association with the Rev. Billy Graham — died on Tuesday in Asheville, N.C. He was 104.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Today's Vintage Ad


5 Ways Your Brain is Tricking You Into Being Miserable

5 Ways Your Brain is Tricking You Into Being Miserable

Don’t Change a Thing: 8 Inventions That Never Needed Updating

Don’t Change a Thing: 8 Inventions That Never Needed Updating

PaperBack



James Duff, Who Dies There?, Graphic, 1956




Patti Abbott review and interview.

Patti Abbott review and interview.

Soon We'll Have No Rights Left at All

Chicago Man Arrested For Trying To Sell Alligator On Craigslist

And all These Years I've Thought It Was a Gator

Katy Perry and a crocodile pop-up at Lacoste Live

1993 Vs. 2013

1993 Vs. 2013: Side by side photos will remind you just how awesome our technology has gotten in only 20 years. 

T. S. Eliot's Iconic Vintage Verses About Cats

T. S. Eliot's Iconic Vintage Verses About Cats, Illustrated and Signed by Edward Gorey

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Columbus, Ga. teen accused of shooting, injuring parents when they insisted he do his chores and not look up Bible verse for friend

Why People Love the POST

NYPOST.com: Weiner’s poll rising

Black sitcoms that went down hill

Black sitcoms that went down hill

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

James Bond’s alternative name revealed

James Bond’s alternative name revealed: A newly unearthed manuscript for Ian Fleming’s 1952 draft of the first Bond novel, ‘Casino Royale’, reveals the surprising moniker.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Man threatens to shoot Lower Macungie neighbor over driveway work

Whistling in the Dark

Whistling in the Dark (1941) trailer - YouTube:

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

James Bond's Solo mission

James Bond's Solo mission: William Boyd reveals new book title 

Hat tip to Fred Blosser.

'I'm looking for the Bible... who's the author?'

'I'm looking for the Bible... who's the author?' And other witless (but hilarious) questions customers ask in bookshops 

Richard LeParmentier, R. I. P.

Richard LeParmentier Dead -- Darth Vader Force-Choke Victim In Star Wars Dies At 66 | TMZ.com: Richard LeParmentier -- the Empire goon who was famously Force-choked by Darth Vader in "Star Wars" -- has died at 66, TMZ has confirmed. 

LeParmentier appeared in more than 50 films and TV shows, but he'll be best remembered as Admiral Motti, commander of the Death Star who mocks Vader's "sorcerer's ways" and "sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion."

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest

Love-Haight: Spectre of Justice: Reagan Hill, Jean Rabe, Mel Odom, Kevin Ward: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Set in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, the urban fantasy serialized novel follows the law practice of Thomas Brock and Evelyn Love. The duo crusades for the rights of "OTs" . . . Other Than Humans, and their clients include ghosts, gargoyles, vampires, and things they've yet to put a name to. The danger and intrigue is as thick as the mist that teases the Golden Gate Bridge. 

From Spectre of Justice: The "OTs," as they were often called, tended to cluster in cities, and Thomas was well aware there were a good number of them in San Francisco, where some say true magic was born and laid heaviest in the land. OTs: Other-Than-Human, like his client Holder, who was a ghoul, an undead creature normally associated with graveyards and considered a corpse-eater.

Pat Summerall, R. I. P.

NFL broadcaster, local icon Pat Summerall dies at age 82 | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - SportsDayDFW: Employing a signature succinct staccato style that was brief and to the point, Pat Summerall grew into the pre-eminent network NFL voice for a generation of television viewers. Summerall has died at age 82. 

He worked a record 16 Super Bowls on network television, the first five as an analyst. He worked for CBS from 1961 to 1993. He moved with the NFL from CBS to Fox in 1994. He retired after the 2002 season.

The Last Bookshop

The Last Bookshop: Short Film About The Power Of Reading (VIDEO)

Hat tip to George Kelley.

Song of the Day

The Drifters "Fools Fall In Love" - YouTube:

Podcast of Interest

DBT #0150: Kate Stine - Mystery Scene Magazine 

Today's Vintage Ad


The Most Ridiculous Claims Used to Challenge Classic Novels

The Most Ridiculous Claims Used to Challenge Classic Novels 

Another View of the Adverb


I'm glad you like adverbs — I adore them; they are the only qualifications I really much respect. 

PaperBack



Dean Evans (George Krull), This Kill is Mine (No Slightest Whisper), Graphic, 1956

The 8 Essential Eyepatches in Science Fiction

The 8 Essential Eyepatches in Science Fiction

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

These Were the Most Challenged Books of 2012

These Were the Most Challenged Books of 2012

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

10 Previously Great Movies That Have Dated Horribly

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

Joe Lansdale Appreciation Day . . .

. .  . was yesterday, but the various blog posts are linked here.

Literature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts

Star Man's Son by Andre NortonLiterature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts | AbeBooks' Reading Copy: This is a unique reading list – these books were all written by librarians and most of them were recommended to us by librarians. If any profession is well qualified to write books then librarians truly fit the bill.

Archaeology Update

Iron Age warriors point to glories of Gaul

Overlooked Movies -- Swashbuckler

Let me say right away that while it's no Cuttthroat Island, Swashbuckler is nevertheless fun.  Robert Shaw as "Red Ned" seems to be having a great time, as does the rest of the cast.  And it's a great cast, including James Earl Jones as a pirate, along with Geoffrey (UnCola) Holder as his pal.  Peter Boyle is the nutty and wicked island governor, and you also get Beau Bridges and Genevieve Bujold. Plus others.  One of the stars is the Golden Hind, a replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, which serves as Red Ned's ship in the movie.  It gets a little silly at times, but it has pretty much everything you could ask for in a pirate movie: sword fighting, sea battles, scheming governors, knife-throwing, romance, great stunts, you name it.  I saw this one on the big screen and later on TV.  It holds up pretty well if you like pirate movies, which I do.  Check it out.

Swashbuckler

SWASHBUCKLER Trailer - YouTube:

Monday, April 15, 2013

Pulitzer Prize Fiction 2013

Pulitzer Prize Fiction 2013: 'Orphan Master's Son' By Adam Johnson

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

And keep off her lawn!

84-year-old woman confesses to murder plot against attorney from jail 

Shakespeare Update

Was Shakespeare a Humble Schoolmaster During His ‘Lost Years’?

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest

Wolf Creek: The Taylor County War: Ford Fargo, Troy D Smith, James Reasoner, Clay More, Matthew Pizzolato, Douglas Hirt, Chuck Tyrell: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Welcome to Wolf Creek. 

Here you will find many of your favorite authors, working together as Ford Fargo to weave a complex and textured series of Old West adventures like no one has ever seen. Each author writes from the perspective of his or her own unique character, blended together into a single novel. 

An innocent field trip goes horribly awry when Wolf Creek’s headmaster, Marcus Sublette, and his pupils find themselves in the crossfire of a range war. Ambitious rancher Andrew Rogers will stop at nothing to eliminate his rivals and initiate his broader, nefarious plans –and he has a small army of hired guns to prove it. Can the cowboys of the T-Bar-B, and the lawmen of Wolf Creek, stand in his way, or will the prairie be soaked in blood?

You -- Austin Grossman

Remember text-based computer games? How about Role Playing Games?  I'm a little old for most of that, but I do have an old copy of Zork and one of Leather Goddesses of Phobos around here somewhere.  Maybe even Leisure Suit Larry.  But You is about hardcore gamers, four of them: Russell, Simon, Lisa, and Darren, three of whom go on to make gaming (or making games) their lives.  Russell takes the more conventional path, but eventually he finds himself at Darren's company, Black Arts, looking for a job.  Simon, the most brilliant of them all, is long dead.

Russell gets the job, but soon afterward Darren leaves to set up another company, taking most of the best people with him.  To keep Black Arts going, Russell, Lisa, and the others who are left will have to develop a great game. But there's a mysterious glitch.  Russell travels through generations of the game trying to find it and its meaning, not to mention the meaning of his own life.

Flashbacks in the novel tell the story of the four friends as they grow up.  It feels right to me, as if Grossman has really captured what it was like to be young and nerdy and brilliant in the '80s.  There's a fine computer camp episode, for example.

Gamers and brilliant nerds are probably going to love this book.  An old geezer like me can only sit on the sidelines and look on in wonder.  And maybe learn something.  Check it out.

This Is a Great Story

Meet THE Kid In THE Jackie Robinson Photo

Song of the Day

Sailcat - Motorcycle mama - YouTube:

The Writer's Technique in Thirteen Theses

The Writer's Technique in Thirteen Theses: Walter Benjamin's Timeless Advice on Writing

Today's Vintage Ad


World’s first meteorite-aged wine launched

World’s first meteorite-aged wine launched

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

PaperBack



James Reach, Late Last Night, Graphic, 1956

New Poem at The 5-2

The 5-2 : Crime Poetry Weekly: Matthew Wilson

Guess These Famous Novels By Their Second Lines

Guess These Famous Novels By Their Second Lines

I got 11, and I didn't have to guess.

Here's the Plot for Your Next Big Cozy Gardening Mystery

Turmoil at the Roosevelt Island Garden Club

NOMINEES for the third annual (2013) Peacemaker Awards


Western Fictioneers (WF) is pleased to announce the NOMINEES for the third annual (2013) Peacemaker Awards

** Nominees are in no particular order.

The Lifetime Achievement Peacemaker will be presented to Robert Vaughan


2013 BEST WESTERN NOVEL:

City of Rocks (Five Star Publishing — Cengage) by Michael Zimmer

Unbroke Horses (Goldminds Publishing, LLC) by D.B. Jackson 

Apache Lawman (AmazonEncore) by Phil Dunlap

Wide Open (Berkley Publishing Group) by Larry Bjornson 


2013 BEST WESTERN SHORT STORY:

“Christmas Comes to Freedom Hill” (Christmas Campfire Companion — Port Yonder Press) by Troy Smith

“Christmas For Evangeline”  (Slay Bells and Six Guns — WF ) by C. Courtney Joyner

 “Keepers of Camelot” (Slay Bells and Six Guns — WF) by Cheryl Pierson 

“The Toys” (Slay Bells and Six Guns — WF) by James J. Griffin

“Adeline” (Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT — Goombah Gumbo Press ) by Wayne Dundee


2013 BEST WESTERN FIRST NOVEL:

High Stakes (Musa Publishing) by Chad Strong

Wide Open (Berkley Publishing Group) by Larry Bjornson

Red Lands Outlaw, the Ballad of Henry Starr (AWOC.com Publishing) by Phil Truman  

Last Stand At Bitter Creek (Western Trail Blazer) by Tom Rizzo

Sipping Whiskey in a Shallow Grave (Sunbury Press) by Mark Mitten

The 5-2 : Crime Poetry Weekly: Jerry House


You can hear Jerry House read his poem at this link, and he has a few words to say about it, too.  I liked it because it made me smile about the way we watch TV, knowing that what we watch isn't real but pretending that it is.  Knowing that not only is it unreal but that it's essentially pretty goofy even though it pretends to be showing us how the cops really work.  And I liked the way the the ridiculous nature of the show is played up in the poem even as the narrator admits that he watched obsessively.  We won't get fooled again, he says.  Oh, yeah?

Jerry House

CRIMINAL FOOLISHNESS

We won't get fooled again.
That's what you told me
Over and over and over
For ten seasons.
Ten long seasons.

For ten seasons
I watched you:
Bend the law,
Twist the law,
Break the law,
All the while defecating on acceptable police procedure,
And occasionally shooting suspects we knew
(and you knew)
Were guilty.
For ten seasons
I watched your female colleagues
In low-cut, cleavage-bearing tops --
The professional attire
Of your special universe.

For ten years
I saw it all:
Speed's dead.
Marisol's dead.
Delko got it in the head
(and got it on with Calleigh).
Ryan got it in the eye.
I saw it all.
Ten seasons' worth:
Your quiet fury.
Your pissing contests --
Testosterone v. testosterone --
Mano a mano --
With the scum of the earth
(or, at least, Miami).
For ten years I knew
The scum would always lose.

Delko left and Jesse came
And Jesse left and Delko came back.
Alexx left and Tara came,
But she was no good so
It's Tom's turn at bat.
Kyle showed up,
Then went to jail,
Then went into the service --
Yeah, he was stuck
In a storyline without a purpose.

So what was the crime?
My watching?
Or, you being there
For ten long years,
Stoic, unchanging,
Always staring downward?

And now,
After ten years,
You put your sunglasses on
And glide smoothly off-camera.
And now,
At last,
I know
You can't get fooled again.




A Southern Yankee

A Southern Yankee (Original Theatrical Trailer) - YouTube:

Sunday, April 14, 2013

O Brave New World

THE DAILY STAR: A new “digital public library” set to launch this month aims to provide an alternative to Google for those looking for U.S. cultural information online. 

Visitors will be able to view letters penned by George Washington, a copy of the Declaration of Independence in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson, and ambrotype and daguerreotype images of Abraham Lincoln. 

The Digital Public Library of America site, dp.la, will launch April 18 with more than 2 million objects – including digital renderings of photos, books, manuscripts and other items from places such as the Smithsonian Institution, along with museums, libraries and historical institutions around the country.

Redemption: Trackdown -- James Reasoner

The third book in James Reasoner's series about a Kansas town called Redemption is just as good as the earlier books.  In the course of a wild shoot-out following a bank robbery, the leader of the outlaw gang kidnaps Eden, the wife of Marshal Bill Harvey.  This gives Harvey a powerful incentive to catch up with the gang, as if the bank robbery weren't enough already.

While the posse is hunting the outlaws, Bill's deputy, Mordecai, is dealing with a serious problem in the town: spousal abuse.  It's interesting to see how the people in old west reacted to this crime.  Since the families of two of the town's most powerful men are involved, the situation becomes tricky and dangerous.  

Eden Harvey is in a perilous situation, and it's not just because she's been kidnapped.  The gang leader has a very jealous female companion who's just looking for an excuse to kill Eden.  Any little excuse will do.

Reasoner intercuts all these story lines for maximum suspense, and brings it all home with two big confrontations at the novel's close.  It's another expert job, so check it out.

Nick Pollotta, R. I. P.

SF Site News: Author Nick Pollotta (b.1954) died on April 13. Pollotta has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Pollotta’s novels included Bureau 13, Illegal Aliens, and That Darn Squid God, as well as numerous other humorous novels. In addition, he wrote adventure novels under the house names James Axler and Don Pendleton. His “Satellite Night” series was written under the name Jack Hopkins.

The Rap Sheet: You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play

The Rap Sheet: You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play: As announced earlier in the week, The Rap Sheet is holding a simple competition to give away four free copies of Linda Barnes’ new standalone novel, The Perfect Ghost (Minotaur).

Or Maybe You Did

8 Movie Pseudonyms You May Have Not Known

Free for Kindle for a Limited Time

MAKING STORY: TWENTY-ONE WRITERS ON HOW THEY PLOT (TWENTY-ONE WRITERS #1) (THE TWENTY-ONE WRITERS PROJECT): Bill Crider, Meredith Cole, Jeremy Duns, Brett Battles, Cara Black, Lisa Brackmann, Rachel Brady, Rebecca Cantrell, Jeffrey Cohen, Timothy Hallinan: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: It's often said that everyone has a book inside him or her -- but how do you plot it? In MAKING STORY, edited by the Edgar- and Macavity-nominated author Timothy Hallinan, twenty-one novelists--who have written more than 100 books among them and sold hundreds of thousands of copies--talk about how they go about turning an idea into a plot, and a plot into a book. MAKING STORY offers practical, experience-based advice from people who have repeatedly sat down to write a good book and succeeded in doing just that. The writers who will help you to create your story are Michael Stanley, Kelli Stanley, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Jeffrey Siger, Zoe Sharp, Stephen Jay Schwartz, Mike Orenduff, Debbi Mack, Wendy Hornsby, Gar Anthony Haywood, Timothy Hallinan, Leighton Gage, Jeremy Duns, Bill Crider, Meredith Cole, Jeffrey Cohen, Rebecca Cantrell, Rachel Brady, Lisa Brackmann, Cara Black, and Brett Battles. This is an indispensable book for aspiring authors and the first in a series, each focusing on a different writing challenge.

Today's Vintage Ad


For Those of you Who Have Been Wondering . . .

. . . about the thin mints melee, like Art Scott, let my tell you how it all began.  Back on February 21, 2011, I saw this article about the original thin mints melee.  I liked the phrase so much that I couldn't resist using it again.  And again.  And, well, you know.  Since I can never let go of a good phrase, I'll probably use it several more times.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Historic honor: Houston touted as the next great American city 

PaperBack



Harrison Wade, So Lovely to Kill, Graphic, 1956




8 Abandoned Antarctic Whaling Stations and Bases

8 Abandoned Antarctic Whaling Stations and Bases that are Still Amazing

Here's the Plot for Your Next SF Thriller

Life on Earth… but not as we know it: Never mind aliens in outer space. Some scientists believe we may be sharing the planet with 'weird' lifeforms that are so different from our own they're invisible to us

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Actress who portrayed Pippi Longstocking arrested on suspicion of assault over pizza

Hat tip to Art Scott.

Gator Update (Efron Edition)

Zac Efron Wrestling An Alligator

Watch The Birdie

Watch The Birdie (Original Theatrical Trailer) - YouTube: