Saturday, December 13, 2014

Cartoon of the Day

Link

The unlikely post-Hollywood careers of 16 retired child actors

The unlikely post-Hollywood careers of 16 retired child actors

Song of the Day

GEORGIA SATELLITES - Keep Your Hands To Yourself - YouTube:

The Weird Week in Review

The Weird Week in Review 

Today's Vintage Ad


Oops

Buildings evacuated after marriage proposal flop  

Hat tip to Art Scott.

Forgotten Hits: The Saturday Surveys ( 12 - 13 )

Forgotten Hits: The Saturday Surveys ( 12 - 13 )

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Wenzell Brown, Pirson Girl, Pyramid, 1959

The All Time Top-Selling Christmas Albums In The United States

The All Time Top-Selling Christmas Albums In The United States 

Who Said It: Nicolas Cage Or Nicolas Cage

Who Said It: Nicolas Cage Or Nicolas Cage

Anjelica Huston: By the Book

Anjelica Huston: By the Book

Hilarious Might Be an Overstatement

Hemingway Stories Brought To Life In Hilarious 15-Second Videos

Celebrate Responsibly

It's Tic Tac Toe Day

Friday, December 12, 2014

Yet Another List I'm Not On

Amazon’s best-selling books of 2014 led by ‘The Invention of Wings’

This Kind of Proves the Point of a Post Below

Largo man injured in 'accidental' overnight shooting: A Largo man was hospitalized overnight after being shot in what authorities said was a game between two men pointing loaded guns at each other.

Brain Scans Reveal What Dogs Really Think of Us

Brain Scans Reveal What Dogs Really Think of Us   

Link via Neatorama.

Song of the Day

Down By the Station~The Four Preps - YouTube:

9 Celebrity #TBT Photos You May Have Missed This Week

9 Celebrity #TBT Photos You May Have Missed This Week

Today's Vintage Ad


Forgotten Hits: 50 Years Ago This Weekend

Forgotten Hits: 50 Years Ago This Weekend

This Can't Be Right

Scientists Find Evidence That Men Are Idiots

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Vincent E. Burns, Female Convict, Pyramid, 1952

MWA 2015 Grand Master, Raven, & Ellery Queen Awards

Mystery Fanfare: MWA 2015 Grand Master, Raven, & Ellery Queen Awards

Top 10 Things to Love About Letterman’s Top Ten Lists

Letterman Top Ten: A statistical analysis of 30 years of Top Ten Lists from David Letterman. Why so many Regis jokes?

A Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Kevin's Corner: FFB Review: "Too Late To Die: A Sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery" by Bill Crider

Bid Early and Often

Collection of 60 Classic Cars Left Untouched in France for 50 Years to Be Auctioned

No, not the Leader of the Rock Group

Paul Revere's time capsule unearthed in Boston

The 20 best British science fiction films

The 20 best British science fiction films – in pictures   

Link via SF Signal.

A Forgotten Magazine

Ted White's Fantastic

Link via SF Signal.

FFB: The Compleat Traveller in Black -- John Brunner

Way back in the early '70s I read an Ace Science Fiction Special called The Traveller in Black by John Brunner.  It's presented as a novel, but it's really a fix-up book, composed of four previously putlished novellas.  A long time afterward I came across the paperback shown on the left, The Compleat Traveller in Black, so naturally I bought it.  It has one additional story, so it was worth it.  All the  the stories have the same main character and the same theme, and they work well as a novel.

The Traveller is a man with many names but a single nature.  He carries a staff of light, and his job is, simply put, to bring order out of chaos.  It's a lot more complicated than that, of course.  He's involved in changing the world of magic into a world of reason, and his method is to grant people's wishes:  "As you wish, so be it."  If the expression "be careful what you wish for" ever applied, it's in this book.  You can be sure that almost always the result is going to be surprising and not at all what the wisher had hoped for and expected.  Each story begins with some short examples, parables maybe, of granted wishes before moving on to larger concerns.

John Brunner was one of the greats of 20th century SF, though he's almost forgotten now.  He began with space operas and then wrote such classics as The Squares of the City, Stand on Zanzibar, and The Sheep Look Up.  The stories about The Traveller represent some of his very few ventures into fantas.  I found them wonderful when I first read them, and reading them again was a treat.  They're beautifully written and clearly the work of a powerful imagination.  They might not be for everyone.  They're not the heroic fantasy or Howard or the sweeping high fantasy of Tolkein (though that's closer than Howard).  If you enjoy a well-written and different kind of tale, you should give these a try.


Thursday, December 11, 2014

Contest -- Enter Now! Time's Running Out!

Win a Kindle Voyage Loaded with Brash Books - Brash Books: We’re giving away two new Kindle Voyages pre-loaded with all of our first thirty Brash releases — everything from Tom Kakonis’ powerhouse thriller TREASURE COAST to the first five novels in Jack Lynch’s Edgar & Shamus Award honored BRAGG series. All you have to do to win is post a review of one of our books on Amazon, or on your blog, or on your Facebook page, and send us the link at brashbooks@gmail.com…or tweet it with the hashtag ‪#‎brashbooks‬. The winner will be chosen at random Dec. 15th.

You Can't Go Wrong

Gravetapping: Stark House Half Price Sale

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Man acquitted in bad haircut spat

Such a Deal! 14 Books for $2.99!

Amazon.com: Realms of Wonder: A Fourteen-Novel eBook Bundle of Science Fiction and Fantasy eBook: Aaron Rosenberg, Craig Shaw Gardner, Jo Graham, Charles L. Grant, Kathryn Ptacek, John DeFilippis, Al Sarrantonio, Melissa Scott, Chet Williamson, David Niall Wilson: Kindle Store: Realms of Wonder: A Fourteen-Novel eBook Bundle of Science Fiction and Fantasy 

A Contest of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Only days left to win a copy of "Shadows on a Maine Christmas" by Lea Wait
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/06/shadows-on-a-maine-christmas-by-lea-wait/

Also to win a copy of "The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo" by Sparkle
Abbey
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/06/the-girl-with-the-dachshund-tattoo-a-pampered-pets-mystery-by-sparkle-abbey/

And to win a copy of "Death of a Christmas Caterer" by Lee Hollis
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/06/death-of-a-christmas-caterer-by-lee-hollis/

And a copy of "Dying for a Dude" by Cindy Sample
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/06/dying-for-a-dude-by-cindy-sample/

And only days left to win a copy of 2 books from Brash Books-"Blanch on the
Lam" by Barbara Neely & "Outrage at Blanco" by Bill Crider
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/06/brash-books-mysteries-from-the-past/

And lastly, to win a copy of "Voices From Beyond" by Simon R. Green
http://kingsriverlife.com/12/06/voices-from-beyond-by-simon-r-green/

6 Famous Musicians Who Wrote Jingles for TV Commercials

6 Famous Musicians Who Wrote Jingles for TV Commercials 

Song of the Day

Little Richard - I feel pretty (from West Side Story) - YouTube:

The Strangest And Most Beautiful Calculators Humanity Has Ever Created

The Strangest And Most Beautiful Calculators Humanity Has Ever Created

Today's Vintage Ad


51 Of The Most Beautiful Sentences In Literature

51 Of The Most Beautiful Sentences In Literature

Well, Duh

Crocodiles are Just Adorable

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Malcolm Maxwell, The Other Side of Love, Beacon, 1963

10 Amazing Ways Forensics May Tell Us Whodunnit

10 Amazing Ways Forensics May Tell Us Whodunnit

Or Maybe You Haven't

15 of Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating People You May Have Forgotten

How Many Have You Seen?

The Most-Watched YouTube Videos Ever

19 Secrets of UPS Drivers

19 Secrets of UPS Drivers 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Ohio woman throws hot chocolate at estranged husband  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Cartoon of the Day

Link.

Fewer than half of readers finished bestselling novels

Fewer than half of readers finished bestselling novels

Song of the Day

"Tennessee Stud".. Eddy Arnold 1959 (The Good Version) - YouTube:

10 Wonderful Cars And Their Strange Qualities - Listverse

10 Wonderful Cars And Their Strange Qualities

Here's the Plot for Your Next Family Wire-Fraud Thriller

Family Rescued on a Sinking Boat in Galveston are Now Running from the FBI

Today's Vintage Ad

The Short Stories Behind 10 Famous Films

The Short Stories Behind 10 Famous Films

“How to Become a Part-time Part-Time Mystery Writer in 25 Easy Steps” (by Dennis McFadden)

“How to Become a Part-time Part-Time Mystery Writer in 25 Easy Steps” (by Dennis McFadden) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN

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Fay Adams, Appointment in Paris, Gold Medal, 1952

Toys in the Attic

When we moved here in 1983, we bought a bunch of boxes of stuff from our home in Brownwood.  I put them in the attic, where they've remained untouched until now.  Yesterday my son was here, and he went up there to go through some of the boxes.  He found his Shogun Warriors (you can see them over there to the left), his Hot Wheels, and his Micronauts.  He found his Evel Kenievel Stunt Cycle action figure.  He found his Battlestar Galactica lunch box.  All this stuff was in much better shape than we thought it would be. But he's bummed because he didn't find his Star Wars figures.  Who can blame him?

I Want to Believe!

Big Bang May Have Created a Mirror Universe Where Time Runs Backwards 

Croc Update (Shark Edition)

9 Insane Animal Scenes You Won't Believe Aren't Photoshopped 

Mary Ann Mobley, R. I. P.

TMZ.com: Mary Ann Mobley -- one of the first Miss America winners to make it big in show business -- died on Tuesday in Beverly Hills after a long battle with breast cancer.

Free Story Wednesday: The Last Ride - David Hardy

Rough Edges: Free Story Wednesday: The Last Ride - David Hardy

Thongor of Lemuria – Part One by Lin Carter

Thongor of Lemuria – Part One by Lin Carter

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

THE EXECUTIONER is Back!

Brian Drake At Large!: THE EXECUTIONER is Back!

Decision Time: Best Crime Covers of 2014

The Rap Sheet: Decision Time: Best Crime Covers of 2014

29 True Crime Books Every Armchair Detective Should Read

29 True Crime Books Every Armchair Detective Should Read

Song of the Day

Bobby Sherman - Little Woman (1969) - YouTube:

10 of The Most Counter-Intuitive Psychology Findings Ever Published

10 of The Most Counter-Intuitive Psychology Findings Ever Published

Today's Vintage Ad


PaperBack



Nancy Morgan, City of Women, Gold Medal, 1955



First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Twin punches sister during fight over 'boyfriend and a sex toy'

Travis McGee: Hard-boiled Detective with a Dystopian Sci-Fi Imagination

Travis McGee: Hard-boiled Detective with a Dystopian Sci-Fi Imagination

I Miss the Old Days

Rare Photos Of Audrey Hepburn Remind Us Why She's Still A Style Icon

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes – The Science Fictional Solar Pons

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes – The Science Fictional Solar Pons

Ten Of The Worst TV Show Spin Off Series

Ten Of The Worst TV Show Spin Off Series

Some Forgotten Films

Sax Rohmer at Towers of London

Overlooked Movies: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Directed by Sam Pekinpah, this movie opens looking for all the world as if it's going to be a traditional western, but as the scene ends, we see that we're in modern times.  That's the first surprise.  Another might be that the lead is played by Warren Oates, who was thought of mostly as a character actor at the time.  Here, he's a piano player in a bar in Mexico.  He gets the opportunity to earn big money to bring the head of Alfredo Garcia to El Jefe, whose daughter has been impregnated by Alfredo.  So Oates and his pregnant girlfriend set out to get the head.  
Garcia is already dead and buried, so the head's not going to be that hard to get, or it wouldn't be if others weren't after it as well.  Oates finds the body first, but bad things happen, after which Oates, maddened and enraged, goes on a killing spree unlike almost any other.  The usual Peckinpah blood and guts and slo-mo deaths abound.  Oates and the head, with which he holds one-sided conversations, go on a road trip.  Oates spreads destruction like a crazed avenger, and in the end [SPOILER ALERT] everybody dies [END SPOILER ALERT].

Heads roll, go on road trips, take a shower.  Critics hated this movie on its release, as do a lot of people now.  Others find it an allegorical dark comedy that's a modern classic.  You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia - YouTube:

Monday, December 08, 2014

Ken Weatherwax, R. I. P.

The Hollywood Reporter: Ken Weatherwax, who played the pudgy son Pugsley on the 1960s ABC sitcom The Addams Family, has died. He was 59.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

How things went wrong at a Saskatoon Tim Hortons: Two men are facing mischief charges after a sandwich order gone wrong led to a snake-throwing confrontation at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Saskatoon.

The Detectives’ Lunch Club

The Detectives’ Lunch Club: Once a month, in an exclusive Philadelphia dining room, the greatest minds in criminal justice gather to crack the nation's coldest cases.

Song of the Day

Wilson Pickett - In the Midnight Hour - YouTube:

A Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Gravetapping: "The Empty Manger" by Bill Crider

Today's Vintage Ad


'Star Trek': The Unexpected Afterlife of the Doomed First Crew

'Star Trek': The Unexpected Afterlife of the Doomed First Crew

PaperBack



Greg Randolph, Sex Goddess, Playtime, 1962

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

7 of the Finest Apocalyptic Novels

I Miss the Old Days

The 1981 Holiday Gift Guide

10 Comic Book Characters Who Began as Offensive Stereotypes

10 Comic Book Characters Who Began as Offensive Stereotypes

(Not Quite) Eaten Alive

Eaten Alive Viewers Outraged Man Wasn’t Actually Eaten Alive

New Poem at the Five-Two

The Five-Two: Robert Cooperman: REPRIEVE

Snap One Up

Want to Buy a Crocodile? One Could Be Yours for Just $1,100 

Sunday, December 07, 2014

Nero Award and Black Orchid Novella Award 2014

Mystery Fanfare: Nero Award and Black Orchid Novella Award 2014

Ralph H. Baer, R. I. P.

Examiner.com: The father of video games, Ralph H. Baer, has passed away at age 92. He came to rest in his New Hampshire home on the night of Saturday, Dec. 6 according sources close to him and a Facebook post by video game historian Leonard Herman, a friend of Baer.

10 Secrets Behind Harry Houdini's Greatest Illusions

10 Secrets Behind Harry Houdini's Greatest Illusions

Song of the Day

Movin On To Glory / Hank Snow - YouTube:

10 Priceless Works Of Art Rescued By The Monuments Men

10 Priceless Works Of Art Rescued By The Monuments Men

Today's Vintage Ad


Yet Another List I'm Not On

8 Things That Are More Ancient Than They Appear 

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Cecil St. Laurent, The Affairs of Caroline Cherie, Dell

Dino Update

Two New North American Dinosaur Species Discovered 

Gator Update (Optical Illusion Edition)

Mind-Boggling Optical Illusion Graffiti Looks Like It Floats In Mid-Air

Rudolph's TV Special Turns 50

'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' turns 50: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" premiered on television December 6, 1964, and is now one of the holiday season's perennial favorites. The story of the reindeer who saves Christmas is beloved among children and adults alike.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, which is observed annually on December 7, is to remember and honor all those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. On August 23, 1994, United States Congress, by Pub.L. 103–308, designated December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.[1] National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is also referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day. It is a tradition to fly the Flag of the United States at half-staff until sunset in honor of dead patriots.[2]