Saturday, May 10, 2014

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

Amazon.com: Omega Blue eBook: Mel Odom: Kindle Store: Set in the future a step past tomorrow, in a United States that's bleak and hard and crime runs rampant in the streets, there's only on team to call on. Omega Blue, the FBI's premiere hardcases take down crime too big or too dangerous for the average law enforcement agencies.

Tracking down a group of organ jackals dealing in the Red Market (organ harvesting), Slade Wilson goes head-to-head with an Asian gang sporting exo-skeletons and fighting to keep a secret agenda hidden from prying eyes. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, driven to succeed, Wilson and his team of specialists keep the pedal to the metal as they race toward doomsday.

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

Days of Wine and Roquefort (CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY): Avery Aames: 9780425255551: Amazon.com: Books:  Cheese Shop owner Charlotte Bessette's life seems quieter than ever with her fiancé out of town and her cousin Matthew and his children out of the house. But before she can put up her feet and enjoy a glass of chardonnay, Matthew asks her to play host to Noelle Adams, a bright sommelier visiting to help grow business for the local winery.

An affable wine aficionado, Noelle is paired well with the cheese expert Charlotte--but something seems to be troubling the secretive houseguest, and Charlotte's life is upended when she finds the sparkling woman dead. Between Noelle's hotheaded ex,  the cagey owners of the winery, its jaded manager, and a wily reporter, Charlotte has her pick of suspects, but she needs to act fast--this is a mystery that only gets more dangerous with age.

Free for Kindle For a Limited Time

Amazon.com: MANDARIN PLAID (Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series) eBook: SJ Rozan: Kindle Store

I Wanted to Believe!

7 Creepy Mysteries With Really Dumb Explanations (Pt. 3)

Song of the Day

Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love - YouTube:

25 Movie Cameos by the Authors of the Original Books

25 Movie Cameos by the Authors of the Original Books 

Today's Vintage Ad


5 Writing Tips: Max Brooks

5 Writing Tips: Max Brooks

I Miss the Old Days

Forgotten Hits: The Saturday Surveys (May 10th)

PaperBack



Gene L. Coon, Meahwhile, Back at the Front, Bantam, 1962

Should College Libraries Have Napping Stations?

Should College Libraries Have Napping Stations?

Alvin, Texas, Inexplicably Not Included

Top 10 Most Beautiful Cities of the World

The 100 Best “B Movies” of All Time

The 100 Best “B Movies” of All Time 

Link via mental_floss.

The History of the Camera, Illustrated

Vintage Cameras Infographic -  Spanning 150 years, Ramos’s fetching illustration takes in the most sought after photographic devices between 1835 to 1981, highlighting just how far we’ve come since first needing subjects to stand still for the best part of a day to know where we now no longer need film and can snap megapixels in milliseconds.

Gobs and Gals

1952 GOBS AND GALS TRAILER GEORGE AND BERT BERNARD - YouTube:

Friday, May 09, 2014

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

Amazon.com: Monster Man (Fight Card) eBook: Jack Tunney, Jason Chirevas, Paul Bishop: Kindle Store:  Albuquerque, 1947 

A fighter on the rise despite a growing illness, Ben Harman is on-track for a heavyweight title shot until one disastrous night in New Mexico ends his chance at glory, and his pro career, in one overhand right. 

Mamaroneck, 1953 

Along with Pete – his manager and fellow refugee from Chicago’s St. Vincent’s Asylum for Boys – Ben lands north of New York City in the harbor town of Mamaroneck. This will be the latest underground boxing hot spot to fall victim to Pete and Ben’s scam. The scam is simple – it keeps Pete and Ben ahead of what happened in Albuquerque and, hopefully, ahead of the acromegaly twisting and weakening Ben’s body by the punch. Move and scam, move and scam, has always been their plan. 

Then Ben meets Vicky, a fallen Hollywood day player able to see past Ben’s monstrous exterior to the man inside. As their romance grows, Ben and Vicky threaten to derail the perfect meal ticket Pete’s concocted, and Vicky’s connection to the man running Mamaroneck’s illegal fights – and the secret they share – puts everyone in danger. 

Time is running out. With only so many punches left in his distorting hands, Ben Harman will have to decide how to use them – as a monster or as a man.

Because Thoroughness Counts

Woman accused of running over fiance twice

10 Brilliant Quotes

10 Brilliant Quotes 

Song of the Day

Rusty & Doug Kershaw - Diggy Liggy Lo - YouTube:

Comic Strip of the Day

Link

Neanderthal Update

6 Recently Discovered Facts About Neanderthals

Today's Vintage Ad


Top 10 Cities To Meet Men Who Still Live With Their Parents

Top 10 Cities To Meet Men Who Still Live With Their Parents

Definitely No Comment Department

Are women nagging husbands to death? Research shows henpecked men twice as likely to die young

PaperBack



Dan Britain (Don Pendleton), The Godmakers, Pinnacle, 1970

And Keep Off Her Lawn!

Upset with neighbors, St. Johns woman bulldozes their mobile home  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

May 9, 1933: Helen Keller’s Scorching Letter to the Nazis

May 9, 1933: Helen Keller’s Scorching Letter to the Nazis about Book-Burning, Censorship, and the Inextinguishable Freedom of Ideas

Will the Persecution Never End?

Paris Hilton's Dog House Is Probably Nicer Than Your Own Home

2014 Locus Awards Finalists

2014 Locus Awards Finalists

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Glass bong is shattered; angry teen reacts by smearing mom's car with yogurt

Beautiful Vintage Annuals for Children

Blackie's Childrens Annual 1923AbeBooks: Beautiful Vintage Annuals for Children: In the late 1800s, children's stories were published in periodicals and distributed weekly or monthly to readers. To further capitalize on their market, publishing houses put together annuals filled with the best stories, illustrations and games from the year. The book was released for Christmas, and marketed as the perfect gift (both entertaining and educational) for children. The annuals were generally distributed in Britain and its colonies such as Canada and Australia, although sometimes also in the United States.

A Forgotten Collection

A Man Called Spade

10 overlooked novels: how many have you read?

10 overlooked novels: how many have you read?

Vintage Treasures: Science Fiction of the 30′s edited by Damon Knight

Vintage Treasures: Science Fiction of the 30′s edited by Damon Knight

FFM: Scream Factory, Spring 1993, Special "Dark Suspense" Issue

Have I mentioned that I miss the old days?  

Sure, these days are great, and you can find all kinds of information on the Internet, but back in 1993, before the 'Net was like it is today, the real thrill was to go to the mailbox and find a copy of a great magazine, settle down in an easy chair with a good reading lamp, and page through some outstanding articles.  

Just take a look at the cover articles in this issue of Scream Factory, for example.  But that's just the tip of the iceberg.  Feast your peepers on the ToC.  It's almost too much too take in.  And these aren't skimpy little articles and reviews we're looking at.  The issue comes in at 128 oversize (8-1/2 X 11) pages of small print.  Nonfiction, stories, reviews, interviews, and it's all great stuff.  You can tell that by looking at the writers.  They don't print 'em like this anymore.  Or if they do, I don't see 'em.

I thought I'd given all my periodicals to the Cushing Library at Texas A&M, but I ran across this one the other day when going through some material on a hard-to-reach shelf.  I'm glad I found it and selfishly happy to have it still in my possession.

The Case of the Howling Dog

1934 CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG TRAILER WARREN WILLIAM - YouTube:

Thursday, May 08, 2014

Who Says Hollywood Is Out of Ideas?

Chris Hemsworth linked with Lethal Weapon reboot

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

Amazon.com: Fu-Manchu - President Fu-Manchu eBook: Sax Rohmer: Books: Fu-Manchu journeys to the United States for the first time, and is the power behind a "League of Good Americans" candidate for the presidency. From Niagara Falls to the catacombs of NY's Chinatown, Nayland Smith and federal agent Mark Hepburn seek to stop the Devil Doctor and his plan to assassinate a presidential candidate--30 years before The Manchurian Candidate! 

 BONUS FEATURE: This volume includes the first of three "lost adventures of Nayland Smith". "The Blue Monkey," follows Smith and Petrie as they become embroiled in a murder investigation in Dartmoor. It appeared in Rohmer's 1920 book of short fiction, The Haunting of Low Fennel, and has only previously been included with the Fu-Manchu stories in France and Belgium.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Houston Authorities Searching For ‘Serial Defecator’

I don't think Serial Defecator WBAGNFARB.

Top 10 Western Movie Gunfights

Top 10 Western Movie Gunfights - YouTube:

Song of the Day

Randy & The Rainbows - Denise. (Best Quality) - YouTube:

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Mom tells cops to jail her 42-year-old son after 'drunken rampage' 

Or Maybe You Did

The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About the Making Of Flash Gordon

Gator Update (Political Ad Edition)

Tea-Party Candidate Wrestles Alligator in New Ad 

Today's Vintage Ad


Gene Wolfe: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Gene Wolfe: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing   

Link via SF Signal.

I Miss the Old Days

Thrilling Vintage Movie Posters

PaperBack



Ted White, Phoenix Prime, Lancer, 1969

DIGITAL-EDITION SALE

DIGITAL-EDITION SALE: From now through Monday 5/12, enjoy 50% off a one-year digital subscription to EQMM or AHMM, as part of Magzter‘s Mother’s Day Sale!

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

This Vine Of A Teen Catching His Own 40 Yard Pass Is Amazing  

Manvel, Texas, is about 6 miles from Alvin.

5 Interesting Stories That Involve Pat Sajak

5 Interesting Stories That Involve Pat Sajak 

Have These People Never Seen a '50s SF Movie?

Lab Creates Life With 'Alien' DNA: It's alive! Scientists say that they have created the first living organism with synthetic DNA unlike that of any life that has ever existed on Earth.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

12 Weird Prehistoric Creatures That Will Make You Glad You're Alive Today

12 Weird Prehistoric Creatures That Will Make You Glad You're Alive Today

Lee Marshall, R. I. P.

Voice Of Tony The Tiger Dies At 64: Lee Marshall, one of the men behind the low-timbered voice of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger, has died at age 64. 

Marshall, who first voiced the character’s signature catchphrase “They’re grrrrrreat!” in 1999, died April 26 at Santa Monica Hospital in California, according to the Los Angeles Times. The voice actor's son told the outlet that the cause of death was esophageal cancer.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

I Miss the Old Days

The concept cars that helped shape the future  

Link via The Presurfer.

Until They Sail

UNTIL THEY SAIL (Original Theatrical Trailer) - YouTube:

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Who Says Hollywood Is Out of Ideas?

New 'Flintstones' Movie in the Works at Warner Bros. 

Farley Mowat, R. I. P.

Canadian author Farley Mowat dies at 92: Mowat wrote some 40 books, many based on his own adventures and travels. Among his best-known works are Never Cry Wolf, a fictional narrative about Mowat living among wolves in sub-arctic Canada, Lost in the Barrens, which follows a Cree Indian boy and a Canadian orphan's adventures in the Arctic.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Things Have Changed Since I Was a Youth

Students post ad for hit man in order to avoid taking finals: According to an advertisement posted on the classifieds website, two female UGA students requested a hit man to run them over with a car. They explicitly said they did not want to die, just simply be “injured enough to get out of taking our finals here at UGA.”

John Green Update

How A Nerd-Hero Writer Became The Breakout Star Of This Summer's Most Unlikely Blockbuster

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

Tequila Sunset: Sam Hawken: 9781846688546: Amazon.com: Books:  Shortlisted for the Golden Dagger Award 2013.

Praise for Tequila Sunset:

"Haunting . . . recalls the best of James M. Cain."—The Financial Times

"A fascinating, tense, and engaging read that draws you into the lives of the characters with consummate ease until you reluctantly turn that final page."—Crimesquad