Saturday, September 20, 2014

Polly Bergen, R. I. P.

LA Times: Emmy-winning actress and singer Polly Bergen, who in a long career played the terrorized wife in the original “Cape Fear” and the first woman president in “Kisses for My President,” died Saturday, according to her publicist. She was 84.

26 Ladies' Home Journal Predictions for 2001 (from 1901)

Fact Check: 26 Ladies' Home Journal Predictions for 2001 (from 1901)

Song of the Day

Your Wildest Dreams The Moody Blues.wmv - YouTube:

Atlantis Inexplicably Not Included

Once-Majestic Cities That Sank Beneath The Ocean

Today's Vintage Ad


The Weird Week in Review

The Weird Week in Review 

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Report: Brothers attack each other in fight over stolen okra 

PaperBack



Stella Hampton, Dark Quarters, Fabian, 1957

Comic Strip of the Day

Link

Forgotten Hits: The Saturday Surveys (September 20th)

Forgotten Hits: The Saturday Surveys (September 20th)

Archaeology Update

Ancient Egyptian Woman With 70 Hair Extensions Discovered 

I Want to Believe!

The truth is out there... over Portsmouth! Silver disc-like UFO spotted moving over city as the Met Office say it ISN'T a cloud  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Croc Update (Three Stooges Edition)

'Lucky for me when we went underwater I saw him and poked his eye': Hunter tells of his amazing escape from the jaws of a crocodile as the beast dragged him under for a 'death roll'

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

News-JournalOnline.com: A Flagler County woman is accused of drinking for nine hours and threatening her stepson with his pellet gun when he tried to prevent her from polishing off his liquor.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Or Maybe You Did

15 Words You Didn't Realize Were Named After People

Angus Lennie, R. I. P.

Telegraph: Angus Lennie, who has died aged 84, was a comedian turned actor best known for his portrayal of a British airman in the classic wartime action film The Great Escape (1963); he became a household name playing Shughie McFee, the Scottish motel chef in the television soap Crossroads. 

As the Hollywood star Steve McQueen’s “cooler” companion in The Great Escape, Lennie’s character, Flying Officer Archibald (“the Mole”) Ives, met a shocking end when he was machine-gunned after walking despondently to the perimeter wire of Stalag Luft III in broad daylight as if in a daze and clambering up it.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Living Simply in a Dumpster

Friday, September 19, 2014

New Collection from Terrill Lee Lankford

JAFO: Be on the lookout!

Pirate speech origins

As already mentioned by Art Scott: Pirate speech origins in West Country English via Robert Newton, aka Long John Silver


7 Weird Things That Happened Today In History

7 Weird Things That Happened Today In History

9 Female Pirates You Should Know

9 Female Pirates You Should Know 

I Want to Believe!

16 Cryptids That Might (Or Might Not) Exist

Song of the Day

The Beatles I Feel Fine (2009 Stereo Remaster) - YouTube:

This Year's Ig Nobel Prizes Have Been Awarded

Ig Nobel Winner: Using Pork to Stop Nosebleeds: This year's winners honored Thursday at Harvard University by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine included a team of researchers who wondered if owning a cat was bad for your mental health; Japanese scientists who tested whether banana peels are really as slippery as cartoons would have us believe; and Norwegian biologists who tested whether reindeer on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard were frightened by humans dressed to resemble polar bears.

Today's Vintage Ad


Forgotten Hits: 50 Years Ago This Weekend

Forgotten Hits: 50 Years Ago This Weekend

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Michigan couple’s threesome goes awry, results in meat-flinging choke attack

PaperBack



Avon Fantasy Reader #17, 1951

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Bat-wielding woman in her underwear storms elementary school 

5 Little-Known Pirate Stories

5 Little-Known Pirate Stories

11 Rules From an Actual Pirate Code

11 Rules From an Actual Pirate Code 

How to Celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day

How to Celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day 

Avast, Mateys!

The Official site for International Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19

FFB Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Kevin's Corner: FFB Review--- "A Vampire Named Fred" by Bill Crider

Vintage Treasures: Cemetery World by Clifford D. Simak

 Vintage Treasures: Cemetery World by Clifford D. Simak

Vintage Treasures: Night Fear by Frank Belknap Long

Vintage Treasures: Night Fear by Frank Belknap Long

Forgotten Books: Nightmares and Geezenstacks --Fredric Brown


Fredric Brown wrote SF and crime fiction. He wrote long and he wrote short and he wrote very short.  This collection has 48 stories in it, so some of them are of the very short variety.  As you can see from the ToC below, some of them are from SF magazines, some are from crime-fiction magazines, and some are from "men's magazines."  The most famous story in the group is probably "The Geezenstacks," a horror story from Weird Tales with a strange and ambiguous ending.  This one was adapted for an episode of Tales from the Darkside in the 1980s.  

Some of the stories are very slight, not much more than jokes, some of which ("Cat Burglar") are vulgar jokes.  Many of them have the snappy surprise endings that Brown could do as well as anyone and better than most.  Some, like "The End," are just clever showing off.  But they're all fun.  It's an entertaining collection that shows off all sides of Fredric Brown, and it's too bad that he's a mostly forgotten writer.

Contents (lifted from Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections)
· Nasty · vi Playboy Apr ’59
· Abominable · vi Dude Mar ’60; Portfolio, gp
· Rebound [“The Power”] · vi Galaxy Apr ’60
· Nightmare in Gray · vi Dude May ’61; Five Nightmares, gp
· Nightmare in Green · vi *
· Nightmare in White · vi *
· Nightmare in Blue · vi Dude May ’61; Five Nightmares, gp
· Nightmare in Yellow · vi Dude May ’61; Five Nightmares, gp
· Nightmare in Red · vi Dude May ’61; Five Nightmares, gp
· Unfortunately · vi F&SF Oct ’58
· Granny’s Birthday · vi AHMM Jun ’60
· Cat Burglar · vi *
· The House · vi Fantastic Aug ’60
· Second Chance · vi *
· Great Lost Discoveries I - Invisibility · vi Gent Feb ’61
· Great Lost Discoveries II - Invulnerability · vi Gent Feb ’61
· Great Lost Discoveries III - Immortality · vi Gent Feb ’61
· Dead Letter [“The Letter”] · vi EQMM Jul ’55; Killers Three, gp
· Recessional · vi Dude Mar ’60; Portfolio, gp
· Hobbyist · vi Playboy May ’61
· The Ring of Hans Carvel · vi *; retold and somewhat modernized from the works of Rabelais.
· Vengeance Fleet [“Vengeance, Unlimited”] · vi Super Science Stories Jul ’50
· Rope Trick · vi Adam May ’59
· Fatal Error [“The Perfect Crime”] · vi EQMM Jun ’55; Killers Three, gp
· The Short Happy Lives of Eustace Weaver I, II, & III [“Of Time and Eustace Weaver”] · ss EQMM Jun ’61
· Expedition · vi F&SF Feb ’57
· Bright Beard · vi *
· Jaycee · vi *; this story is given as being from F&SF 1955 in The Best of Fredric Brown and from F&SF Oct ’58 in bibliographies, but has not been found in F&SF.
· Contact [“Earthmen Bearing Gifts”] · vi Galaxy Jun ’60
· Horse Race · vi *
· Death on the Mountain · vi *
· Bear Possibility · vi Dude Mar ’60; Portfolio, gp
· Not Yet the End · vi Captain Future Win ’41
· Fish Story · vi *
· Three Little Owls (A Fable) · vi *
· Runaround [“Starvation”] · ss Astounding Sep ’42
· Murder in Ten Easy Lessons [“Ten Tickets to Hades”] · ss Ten Detective Aces May ’45
· Dark Interlude · Fredric Brown & Mack Reynolds · ss Galaxy Jan ’51
· Entity Trap [“From These Ashes”] · ss Amazing Aug ’50
· The Little Lamb · ss Manhunt Aug ’53
· Me and Flapjack and the Martians · Fredric Brown & Mack Reynolds · ss Astounding Dec ’52
· The Joke [“If Looks Could Kill”] · ss Detective Tales Oct ’48
· Cartoonist [“Garrigan’s Bems”] · Fredric Brown & Mack Reynolds · ss       Planet Stories May ’51
· The Geezenstacks · ss Weird Tales Sep ’43
· The End [“Nightmare in Time”] · vi Dude May ’61; Five Nightmares, gp

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Supernatural Suspense Storybundle

Supernatural Suspense Storybundle – Clive Barker & 9 More! | Crossroad Press Publishing:   It's a geat deal... Readers pay what they want (At least $3) and get five books.  If they pay $12 they get TEN books - the five bonus books on this one include works like Clive Barker's Weaveworld and Brian Hodge's Nightlife... there will be another bonus book announced...

Gator Update (U. S. Marine Edition)

U.S. Marine helps bag record alligator   

Photo at the link.

Hat tip to Steve Stilwell.

Men determined to kill Bigfoot

Men determined to kill Bigfoot: The TV show Killing Bigfoot from Gryphon Productions premieres Friday, October 17th on Destination America.

Video preview at the link.

A Gentleman and a Scholar by Linda Landrigan, editor, AHMM

A Gentleman and a Scholar | Trace Evidence: I was delighted to learn recently of the publication of Mysteries Unlocked: Essays in Honor of Douglas G. Greene, edited by Curtis Evans. It collects 24 original essays (and reprints two classics) in honor of the 70th birthday of mystery scholar and publisher Doug Greene.

Seepy Benton Take Note

New York Post: A dog-eating anaconda in French Guiana was relocated by a snake-wrangling math teacher who went toe to toe with the massive, 17-foot beast after it feasted on his friend’s pooch.  

Hat tip to Art Scott, who mentions that Snake-Wrangling Math Teachers WBAGNFARB.

Pop-Tarts Turn 50

Pop-Tarts Turn 50 

One by One Our Precious Freedoms Are Being Taken Away

Oklahoma City man arrested for washing himself with mayonnaise in public fountain

Song of the Day

George Hamilton IV - Abilene - YouTube:

Panama?

USA is 12th, Panama 1st, in global well-being poll

Today's Vintage Ad


For Some Reason I Was Thinking of this Poem Today

Scots Wha Hae by Robert Burns 

I Want to Believe!

But could it be a Jurassic croc?

Siberia: 150-Million-Year-Old 'Jurassic Crocodile' Discovered - But is it Fake?

PaperBack



Connie Nelson, Lady of Leisure, & Toni Stevens, Never Let Me Go, Midwood, 1965

George Hamilton IV, R. I. P.

George Hamilton IV, 50-year Opry star, dies at age 77: NASHVILLE — George Hamilton IV, the 50-year Grand Ole Opry star known as the International Ambassador of Country Music, died Wednesday at a Nashville hospital. Hamilton was 77 and had suffered a heart attack Saturday.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Police called over Hot Pockets dispute 

Much More Effective than a Gub

Cops say man used banana to rob store 

The Future Of The Future Of Books

The Future Of The Future Of Books

My Blog Inexplicably Not Included

9 Strange and Wonderful Niche Blogs 

Yet Another List I'm Not On

Fiction Long List Announced for National Book Awards   

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

How to Keep Your Cat, c. 1470

How to Keep Your Cat, c. 1470

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

So It's Come to This

And once again Texas leads the way.

Neighbor calls cops, child services on Texas mom for letting son play outside 

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Read at Your Own Risk

Short story by Plan 9 from Outer Space auteur Ed Wood, Jr.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

And keep off her lawn!

Colorado woman accused of shooting neighbor dead over RV septic tank hookup

Awesome Vintage Posters from 15 Magicians

Awesome Vintage Posters from 15 Magicians 

Song of the Day

Debbie Gibson - Only In My Dreams (1987) - YouTube:

Richard III Update (Yes, Another One)

Forensic analysis: Richard III died in battle after two blows to his bare head

Today's Vintage Ad


First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Baker in court for head-butting £27,000 sausage roll machine when it stopped working properly

Emily Warren Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge

Emily Warren Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge: . . . few know the real story and history behind this American marvel. Even fewer know who truly was in charge of overseeing its construction and completion – Emily Warren Roebling, the world’s first female field engineer.

“Wrestling with the ‘S’ Word” (by Jim Allyn)

“Wrestling with the ‘S’ Word” (by Jim Allyn) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN

PaperBack



Frank O'Rourke, Warbonnet Law (The Gun), Bantam, 1949

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Seattle police respond to report of cake assault : "The cake was described as a lemon cake, yellow in color and circular and costs exactly $5.19."

They Want to Believe!

Our Lady of the Little Green Men: If mainstream religions leave you cold, why not spice things up by throwing a few UFOs in the mix? Here’s a look at some “religions” that draw inspiration from extraterrestrials. 

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Is that really Billy the Kid? HPD sketch artist IDs gunslinger: Famed HPD sketch artist Lois Gibson has been asked to solve a new mystery. Could this really be a picture of Billy The Kid?

The Doubleday Crime Club

The Doubleday Crime Club: Dastardly Deeds, Detectives, and Dames

I Miss the Old Days

The '60s at 50: Thursday, September 17, 1964: 'Goldfinger'

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

This Is Exactly Why We Need 911

Man accused of calling 911 to complain about not having refrigerator

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Florida man chokes wife over lack of fried chicken leftovers

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Thoughtful

France factory sends widow rope with which husband hanged himself  

Hat tip to Fred Zackel.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

'There was blood everywhere': Country club wedding in upstate New York ends in a savage brawl involving 100 guests

Oops

Chainsaw accidentally ignites gigantic modern art bunny  

Hat tip to Art Scott, who points out that Gigantic Modern Art Bunny WBAGNFARB.

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

The Daymakers: Damien Broderick and John Boston got together and picked the 11 short stories of SF that they wanted to see brought back for modern readers to enjoy. The list of authors is impressive: A. Bertram Chandler, Brian Aldiss, Peter Hawkins, Edward Mackin, John Kippax, E.C. Tubb, John Brunner, Wallace West, Michael Moorcock, Mervyn Peake and Thomas Burnett Swann. The stories are, too.

It's About Time

WKRP In Cincinnati Is Finally Getting Its Amazing Music Restored For DVD

Artist Turns Vintage Library Of Congress Photos Into Awesomely Creepy GIFs

Artist Turns Vintage Library Of Congress Photos Into Awesomely Creepy GIFs

Song of the Day

JOHNNY RIVERS - Secret Agent Man 1966 - YouTube:

‘Antikythera Mechanism’ Update

Divers return to shipwreck where the ancient ‘Antikythera Mechanism’ was found

Today's Vintage Ad


Alvin, Texas, Not Included

Do you know the richest city in your state?


Richard E. Geis, The Saturday Night Party, Beacon, 1967

10 Weird TV Show Ideas That The Networks Keep Trying Over And Over

10 Weird TV Show Ideas That The Networks Keep Trying Over And Over

My Home Not Included

Sleep in the Homes of These 8 Literary Legends: And now you can book a room to find your own inspiration in one of several literary listings available on Airbnb. The rentals were once the apartments, writing studios and educational institutions of icons, including Charles Dickens, James Joyce and John Steinbeck.

Croc Update (Pictures of the Day Edition)

Pictures of the day: 15 September 2014   

Hat tip to Mav Skye.

15 Memorable ABC Movies of the Week

15 Memorable ABC Movies of the Week 

10 Best-Kept Secrets of Sci-Fi Cinema

10 Best-Kept Secrets of Sci-Fi Cinema  

Link via SF Signal.

Overlooked TV: Tales of the Gold Monkey

Tales of the Gold Monkey was on for only one season, but it was a good one.  Maybe.  The thing is, you give me a show set in the South Seas in the late '30s, a seedy bar, some slow-turning ceiling fans, spies, plenty of action, a one-eyed Jack Russell terrier wearing an eye patch, a hero who flies a Graumman Goose, a Dragon Lady clone, and several other choice ingredients -- well, I'm pretty much guaranteed to like it.

The episode I remember best is the pilot, which is sort of the origin story sinced it explains where the title of the show came from.  Jake Cutter (Stephen Collins) and others are looking for the mythical gold monkey.  Jake's helped out by his pal Corky, an alcoholic mechanic, and Jack, the aforementioned one-eyed dog.  Jack once had a false eye, a valuable opal that Jake lost in a poker game.  (Jack is still resentful.)  Roddy McDowell seems to be having a great time playing "Bon Chance" Louie, the owner of the Gold Monkey bar, and there really is a monkey sitting in the place.  It's found at the end of the pilot episode, but as with the Maltese Falcon, it's not what it was thought to be.

The series wasn't shot on location, and some of the sets are a little cheesy, but it was a lot of fun.  Most people must not have gotten the same kick from it that I did, since it lasted only one season. 

Tales of the Gold Monkey - Opening Credits

Tales of the Gold Monkey - Opening Credits - YouTube:

Monday, September 15, 2014

Fight Card Update

BISH'S BEAT: FIGHT CARD UPDATE ~ SEPTEMBER 2014: We have a special treat for this month’s Fight Card release. Fight Card: Bareknuckle Barbarian features a one-two punch of stories featuring Robert ‘Bob” E. Howard himself as the two-fisted hero of his own pulp tales.

A Podcast of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Two stories, one of them the notorious "Raining Willie" by Bill Crider | Crime City Central

Alvin, Texas, Not Included

20 Most Dangerous Cities in Texas 

15 Delightfully Quirky Town Slogans

15 Delightfully Quirky Town Slogans

Song of the Day

Nancy Sinatra - Hook and Ladder - YouTube:

Riiiiiight

NSA says it has lost its non-redacted UFO files

Today's Vintage Ad


The Trap of Solid Gold Is Back

Check it out here: The Trap of Solid Gold: Three Years Later...

Derelict Dolls WBAGNFARB

10 Weirdest Islands

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Police: Woman chokes husband after he refuses to buy her hat 

Remembering Clifton Adams

Remembering Clifton Adams, an Oklahoma author all but lost to history  

Hat tip to Lawrence Block.  

PaperBack



Tony Crechales, King Sex for President, Brandon House, 1968

5 Old-Timey Movies Way Too Disturbing for Modern Theaters

5 Old-Timey Movies Way Too Disturbing for Modern Theaters

Listen to Leonard Cohen’s New Album

Stop What You’re Doing, and Listen to Leonard Cohen’s New Album

Noircon Update

SOCIETY HILL PLAYHOUSE - 507 SOUTH 8TH STREET -   PHILADELPHIA PA. 19147
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOIRCON PROGRAM SET

NOIRCON 2014 , a biennial tribute to all things noir from literature to film to art and poetry, will take place from October 30 thru November 2, 2014. This conference is produced and headquartered at Society Hill Playhouse.
Program includes panels on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, parties, movie showings, an awards banquet on the banks of the Delaware, Thursday evening at MOCA, the Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art, and a Sunday visit to Philadelphia’s Port Richmond Books.  Farley Books of New Hope will be on site at the Playhouse throughout the weekend , the official book seller for NOIRCON.

Among the featured guests are Fuminori Nakamura of Tokyo, Japan, who will receive the David Goodis Award for excellence in writing. Nakamura has won many prizes for his novels including Japan’s most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize . Two of his books have been translated into English, The Thief and Evil and the Mask, both published by Soho Press. Tom Nolan, of the Wall Street Journal will do a one on one interview with this outstanding young writer on Saturday. 

Bronwen Hruska, Soho Publishing, is being recognized as an outstanding publisher in the crime fiction with the Jay and Deen Kogan award, last given to Otto Penzler of Mysterious Books.  She has led the way in translation publishing and opened many doors for women in the field.

Eddie Muller, called the CZAR of Noir, will accept the Anne Friedberg Award for contribution to Noir Education and Preservation, as well as introduce a special showing of the film, THE PROWLER, (written by 

NOIRCON 2014 – Page 2

Dalton Trumbo and first released in 1951) at 1PM Thursday, October 30 at The International House  A novelist from San Francisco, many of his books relate to and examine Film Noir.

Scheduled panels include: The Black Dahlia, Jewish Noir, Existential Noir, The Politics of Noir, A Ross MacDonald Examination, Veering Off the Highway: How Springsteen’s Music Shapes Crime Fiction and Three Minutes of Terror, when every attending writer gets three minutes to share his work or ideas. Among the program participants are: Joseph Samuel Starnes, William Lashner, Joan Schenker, Stuart Neville, Jean Cash, Jonathan Woods, Robert Polito, Vicki Hendricks, Steve Hodel, Carole Mallory, Sigrid Sarda, Buffy Hastings, Jeff Wong, Duane Swierczynski, Tom Nolan, Alan Gordon, Megan Abbott and keynote speaker, Eric Miles Williamson.

Dr. Louis Boxer and Deen Kogan, director of Society Hill Playhouse, co-chair NOIRCON 2014.  For further information call 215-923-0210 or check the website: www.noircon.com

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Rabid bat attacks, bites Oregon man jamming on guitar

New Poem at the Five-Two

The Five-Two: Catherine Wald "Eve Shrugged"

Just Hoping for a Try-Out, I'm Sure

5-foot alligator makes its way onto minor league field

Sunday, September 14, 2014

I Miss the Old Days

1988, Year of Crackpots and Fools

Sunday Crocodilian

Sunday Crocodilian - Crocodylus palustris Edition

Will the Persecution Never End?

Paris Hilton stuns in tight cut-out dress in NYC... as her family deny 'any involvement in Costa Rican drug bust'  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Quote Investigator

If You Can’t Say Something Good About Someone, Sit Right Here by Me 

Comic Strip of the Day


Song of the Day

The Four Preps - Swing Down Chariot (Original 45 Version) - YouTube:

The Story of the Real-Life Whale That Inspired Moby-Dick

Mocha Dick: The Story of the Real-Life Whale That Inspired Moby-Dick, Illustrated 

Today's Vintage Ad


10 Famous People Who Make Horrible Art

10 Famous People Who Make Horrible Art

PaperBack



Vivian Crockett, Messalina, Berkley, 1955

How Crossword Puzzles Are Made

How Crossword Puzzles Are Made 

The Stories Behind 10 Johnny Cash Songs

The Stories Behind 10 Johnny Cash Songs 

Maritime Archaeology Update

Arctic Shipwreck Found After 170 Years, Solving "Great Mystery": One of the most famous ships lost in the 19th century has been located in the Arctic, the Canadian government announced Tuesday, prompting Prime Minister Stephen Harper to declare that "one of Canada's greatest mysteries" has been solved.

Denny Miller, R. I. P.

LA Times: Denny Miller, a noted UCLA basketball player in the 1950s who dropped the sport to play the title role in the 1959 movie "Tarzan the Ape Man" and went on to appear in "Wagon Train" and numerous other TV shows, died Tuesday at home in Las Vegas. He was 80.

Theodore J. Flicker, R. I. P.

Theodore J. Flicker, Creator of TV's 'Barney Miller,' Dies at 84: Theodore J. Flicker, a veteran TV writer and director who co-created the ABC sitcom Barney Miller, died Friday in his Santa Fe home. He was 84.

Barbara Flicker, Theodore's wife of 48 years, told The Hollywood Reporter that her husband had suffered from hypersensitivity pneumonitis, known colloquially as "hot tub lung," and she believes that his years of working with clay as a sculptor led to the infliction. He had been treating the condition with steroids.

11 Ready-to-Digest Tidbits About the TV Dinner

11 Ready-to-Digest Tidbits About the TV Dinner