Saturday, April 04, 2015

Robert Burns Jr., R. I. P.

Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Robert Burns Jr. dies in crash, age 64: Robert Burns Jr. — drummer for the legendary Souther rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd — died on Friday night when his car left a dark road and plowed into a tree.

FINALISTS: 2015 Hugo Award

FINALISTS: 2015 Hugo Award

I Miss the Old Days

My grandmother always had irises in her yard, and there were a few around our house when I was a kid, too.  They always remind me of this time of year and of my grandmother's yard.  Many years ago someone gave me and Judy some bulbs that I planted in a front bed.  Now and then they even produce a couple of flowers.  That's all, just one or two.  Sometimes nothing at all.  Maybe the winters have to get cold for the bulbs to put out growth.  Anyway, this year I had a couple of blooms.  If I had my grandmother's green thumb, maybe I'd have a lot more.

A Brash Idea Becomes a Publishing Company

A Brash Idea Becomes a Publishing Company

The Things We Do for Love

Man ejaculated into colleague's coffee because he fancied her   

Hat tip to Kevin Tipple.

Song of the Day

This Land Is Your Land - YouTube:

The Weird Week in Review

The Weird Week in Review 

Today's Vintage Ad


9 Celebrity #TBT Photos You May Have Missed This Week

9 Celebrity #TBT Photos You May Have Missed This Week

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Leslie Charteris, The Happy Hangman, Hodder, 1963

Soon to Be Featured on Jerry House's "Bad Joke Wednesday"

17 Short, Clean Jokes

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

Ranking the Superman Movies

Soon to Be a Disney Live-Action Movie

Mice sing many different, complex songs, study finds

The Crime of Our Lives -- Lawrence Block

As I sat down to write this, it occurred to me that I've probably written more on this blog about Lawrence Block's work than about that of any other writer.  I've told more than once about my discovery of his novels, so I won't repeat that story yet another time.  I've also written a little bit about his nonfiction, which I first encountered in the column that he wrote for Writers Digest for a number of years.  Those columns were filled with great advice for writers, and they were collected in a book called Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, which everybody should read.  It's not just for writers.

The Crime of Our Lives is another collection of Block's nonfiction, mostly reminiscences about authors he's known and read, but also including a good bit about himself and his career and his writing.  I'd read many of these pieces before when they were published in Mystery Scene or as introductions to the work of other writers, but it's great to have them all in one place, and reading them again is just as pleasurable as reading them the first time.  

Block talks about sixteen writers here, all of them now deceased.  He gives his reasons for not talking about living writers, and they're good ones.  He also tells why he doesn't do book reviews, and there are good reasons for that, too.  

It's impossible to pick favorites from the essays here.  One day I might think it's the one on Ross Thomas, and the next I might think it's the one on Robert B. Parker.  And then it would be a different one next week.  I have to admit that one reason I'm partial to all of these is that Block's opinions often closely mirror my own.  His favorite Fredric Brown book, for example, is also my own favorite, The Wench Is Dead.  In fact, I just wrote an introduction to that book, myself, a new limited edition from Centipede Press.  One of his main points about Robert B. Parker is one I make almost every time I speak to a writing group.  And so on.  It's all great stuff.  There's even a previously unpublished essay on Joseph Conrad, and it's excellent.  Besides all this, the anecdotes about Block's time at the Scott Meredith Agency are pure gold.

So naturally The Crime of Our Lives is highly recommended.  Essential, really, if you're interested in crime fiction or the writing life.  And I can promise you one thing.  After reading this book, you're never going to feel the same way again when you see a rerun of I Love Lucy.

Friday, April 03, 2015

Happy Passover to those who celebrate it

Passover 2015, The Unleavened Basics: Dates, Facts And History Of Pesach

Maybe It's Just Me, . .

. . .  but the combination of the name of this pulp and its cover picture just makes me vaguely uneasy.

Chupacabra Update

Man Late To Work Because Of Chupacabra

Midnight Crossroad -- Charlaine Harris

At this point in her career, Charlaine Harris can write pretty much what she wants to write, however she wants to write it, which makes me suspect that this book was one that she really wanted to write and had fun writing.  Maybe that's why I liked it so much.  

The setting is a small town named Midnight, located in West Texas.  A very small town, with very few inhabitants.  Some of those inhabitants might be familiar to readers of Harris's other novels, but some of them are entirely new.  All of them have come to Midnight to get away from something or somewhere, and all of them have secrets.  One of them is missing, and we learn later that she's been murdered.

So the book is a mystery novel.  But if you're longing for the woo-woo factor, there are plenty of supernatural elements to be found.  There's a vampire, a psychic, a witch, a shapeshifter, and some we can't be sure about.  I have a feeling we'll find out more in the sequel, which comes out in May.  There's also a cat, Mr. Snuggly.  He has a secret, too.

Harris takes a leisurely approach to the story, introducing the town in a prologue, setting the stage carefully.  Then we meet the residents and get to know them.  As I said, all of them have secrets, and we learn a few of them but certainly not all.  The personalities are distinct and, to me, fascinating.  I believe I read that Midnight Crossroad was the first book of a trilogy.  There's material here for a good many more books than that should Harris choose to write them.

I recall from reviews when the hardcover came out that some people were put off by the pace of this novel.  Maybe they were expecting the literary equivalent of a Mad Max movie.  This isn't it.  This is a well-written, warm, funny, engrossing story of a quite strange community in which mysteries are uncovered and secrets are revealed carefully, layer by layer, until the final revelation at the end of the book.   That's not to say there's no action and suspense.  Those elements are present, too, very much so.  I enjoyed every page of it.

The long, strange history of the laugh track

The long, strange history of the laugh track 

Song of the Day

Politics n Texas - YouTube:

Well, That's, Like, Just Your Opinion, Dude

10 Widely Hated Language Mistakes That Aren't Mistakes At All 

Today's Vintage Ad


I'm Sure You'll All Agree

Flavorwire: 10 Vastly Underrated Sherlock Holmes Movies

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James T. Farrell, French Girls Are Vicious, Panther, 1958

I've Read all but #10

10 Captivating Short Stories Everyone Should Read  

Link via Boing Boing.

Or Maybe You Did

14 Iconic Movie Scenes You Never Knew Were Stolen

17 Poets’ Quotes About Poetry

17 Poets’ Quotes About Poetry

FFB: Shadow Knight's Mate -- Jay Brandon

This isn't a forgotten book, since it was published only last year.  I should more properly call it an overlooked book.  Or have you read it?  Anyway, Judy and I both became fans of Jay Brandon's work with his first book, Deadbolt, having met him at an MWA meeting in Houston a couple of years after we moved here.  We read most, if not all, of his books after that one, and this one is very different from any of the others.

There's this secret society, see, known as The Circle, and they've been operating behind the scenes in the U. S. for a couple of centuries influencing the government and the country very subtly, through suggestions and not actions.  Nobody knows about them, not even the people they influence.  They're not allowed to become famous, and they don't hold public office.  Most of them have special talents and abilities, and they're spotted and trained early.  Now someone has discovered the secret, and The Circle and the country are under attack.

Jack Driscoll, a member of The Circle and a former video game designer, seems to be a particular focus of the attacks, as people all over the world are impersonating him.  With the assistance (or is it?) of Arden, a frighteningly smart young woman, Jack races all over the world to find answers to his questions and to discover who's attacking The Circle.  

This is a smart international thriller with a slight SF element that races right along.  I suspect there'll be a sequel, and I'll be in line to read it.

Thursday, April 02, 2015

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

Gunfire Ridge (Bodie Kendrick - Bounty Hunter Book 4) - Kindle edition by Wayne D. Dundee. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.  For the bounty on their heads and for the sake of personal vengeance, Bodie Kendrick is finally closing in on the notorious McLory brothers. Their trail has led him far from his normal stomping grounds down in the Southwest and brought him to the remote Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. 
The danger awaiting him when he at last faces the McLorys is bad enough. 
But, in addition to that, he’s also under threat from members of the fiercely determined Cardiff clan who are hot on his trail in order to deliver some vengeance of their own. 
And then there’s the pretty gal he’s become responsible for since she risked her neck to try and help him. 
Not to mention the renegade Indians who’ve begun raising hell throughout the territory directly in their path …

Everything converges and then erupts into a violent climax on the powder smoke-shrouded heights of Gunfire Ridge! 

Another gritty, action-packed adventure from Peacemaker Award-winning author Wayne D. Dundee.

16 Famous Authors’ Tips for Writing Better Poetry

16 Famous Authors’ Tips for Writing Better Poetry 

Song of the Day

Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens Streets of Bakersfield - YouTube:

6 Cats Who Made a Mark on the Silver Screen

6 Cats Who Made a Mark on the Silver Screen

Today's Vintage Ad


First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Woman charged with attacking deputies with crucifix

She couldn't find her ceramic chicken.

PaperBack



Frank Yerby, The Golden Hawk, Panther, 1958

Alvin, Texas, Included

How Houston's Neighborhoods Got Their Names 

I Miss the Old Days

Marianne Faithfull & Mick Jagger: 37 Pictures of the Grooviest Couple of the 1960s

‘Chowchilla’ California kidnapper wins initial parole approval

‘Chowchilla’ California kidnapper wins initial parole approva

A Free Library Made Out of Books

A Free Library Made Out of Books Could Be Coming to the Bay Area

I Want to Believe!

New Scientist: BURSTS of radio waves flashing across the sky seem to follow a mathematical pattern. If the pattern is real, either some strange celestial physics is going on, or the bursts are artificial, produced by human – or alien – technology.

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

New EQMM Podcast

PodOmatic | Best Free Podcasts: Join us this month for a story by Ellery Queen, founder of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and one of the best selling mystery writers of all time. "The Adventure of 'The Two-Headed Dog'" was collected in the 1934 volume The Adventures of Ellery Queen. The story is read by Mark Lagasse.

Paging Stephen King

'Miracle dog' rises from grave following failed 'mercy killing'

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

UPI.com: Woman choked with bra defends herself with ceramic chicken

Cynthia Lennon, R. I. P.

Flavorwire: Cynthia Powell Lennon, the first wife of The Beatles‘ John Lennon, has died from cancer at her home in Spain, reports the BBC.

I Found a Penny Last Week

A Couple Have Won £1 Million On The Lottery Two Years After Winning £1 Million On The Lottery 

If You Dare . . .

Take the Robert Durst Tour of Texas

Song of the Day

Five Man Electrical Band - Signs (1971) - YouTube:

10 Mysteries Resolved By Unbelievable Surprise Twists

10 Mysteries Resolved By Unbelievable Surprise Twists

Today's Vintage Ad


“RULE #1: PLEASE IGNORE ANY RULES FOUND BELOW” (by John Morgan Wilson)

“RULE #1: PLEASE IGNORE ANY RULES FOUND BELOW” (by John Morgan Wilson) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN

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Ross Lockridge, Jr., Raintree County, Pan, 1958

The Little Professor Reviews Dan Simmons' The Fifth Heart

The Little Professor: The Fifth Heart

I Miss the Old Days

Retrospace: Catalogs #37: Sears 1974 Women's Fashion

The 100 Bestselling Used Books Since 2000 on AbeBooks

The 100 Bestselling Used Books Since 2000 on AbeBooks

The Five-Two: 30 Days of The Five-Two (2015)

The Five-Two: 30 Days of The Five-Two (2015): For the fifth consecutive year, I'm joining the celebration with a blog tour. For my tours, I don't ask to guest-post on your blogs. Instead, I invite you to post about poetry. If you don't have a blog, email your entry to G_SO at YAHOO dot COM and you'll be my guest here at The Five-Two.

Robert Z'Dar, R. I. P.

Cult actor Robert Z'Dar dies in Pensacola: Actor Robert Z'Dar, the massive man with the gigantic chin best known for the cult film series "Maniac Cop," died Monday night in Pensacola after being hospitalized when he came to town to appear at Pensacon, according to his long-time manager and friend Jim Decker.

Gary Dahl, R. I. P.

Gary Dahl, Inventor of the Pet Rock, Dies at 78: It was a craze to rival the Hula-Hoop, and even less explicable. For a mere three dollars and 95 cents, a consumer could buy ... a rock — a plain, ordinary, egg-shaped rock of the kind one could dig up in almost any backyard.

Wrong About Wright

Wrong About Wright: Judging from what we’ve been told in history books, when the Wright Brothers invented powered flight, they were rewarded with parades, medals, and headlines. But that’s a lie. The truth is, the U.S. government insisted that one of the greatest technological achievements of all time simply hadn’t happened. Here’s the true story.

It's April Fool's Day!

Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes Of All Time

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Revisiting the First 'Trial of the Century'

Revisiting the First 'Trial of the Century,' 215 Years Later 

Latest Getting Away with Murder Now Online

GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER #101 APRIL 2015

This Is Exactly Why We Have 911

Man calls 911 to report he was overcharged on his bar tab  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

In Case You Were Wondering

What's the Real Origin of "OK"?

Song of the Day

Kinky Friedman - We Reserve The Right to Refuse Service to You - YouTube:

A Review of Interest

Kevin's Corner: Review: "Li’l Tom and the Pussyfoot Detective Bureau: The Case of the Parrots Desaparecidos" by Angela Crider Neary

Today's Vintage Ad


I'm Sure You'll All Agree

The Top 10 Henry James Novels

George Kelley is the James expert.  We'll see what he has to say.

PaperBack



Barbara Cartland, The Pan Book of Charm, Pan, 1965

Hugh Glass: One of Early America's Greatest Tales of Survival

Hugh Glass: One of Early America's Greatest Tales of Survival 

I Miss the Old Days

Beautiful Vintage Stewardess Uniforms

7 Amazing Roles That James Caan Rejected

7 Amazing Roles That James Caan Rejected

Some Forgotten TV Shows

15 TV Shows That Were Canceled After Only One Episode  

Link via Neatorama.

Overlooked Movies: Red Eye

This review appeared in slightly different form on August 27, 2005, just after I saw the movie in the theater.  It seems mostly forgotten now, which makes it a fine candidate for an Overlooked Movies feature.

Vince Keenan is one of the few people I know (besides me and Rosemarie, his wife) who openly admits a liking for Joe and the Volcano. So when he recommends a movie, I pay attention. The other day he recommended Red Eye, so I figured it was worth a look (and not because it starred Rachel McAdams, so stop saying that).

Some of the movie's real horrors have nothing to do with the plot and everything to do with the extreme hassle that air travel has become. As readers of this blog know, I don't approve with those hassles and think they're stupid and ridiculous.  But I don't mind mentioning it again.

As for the plot, the less said about it, the better. You don't want to know too much going in, or that would spoil the fun. Let's just say that if you thought you've had bad seatmates on an airplane before, you're lucky you didn't have Cillian Murphy sitting beside you. Sure there are lots of holes in the plot, but only a picky person would even mention them. So I won't. Just go along for the ride, so to speak, and enjoy yourself.

Rachel McAdams does a fine job here as the woman in jeopardy who's better equipped to deal with things than you might think at first, and Cillian Murphy is smoothly ruthless. These two characters have to carry the movie, and McAdams and Murphy are more than up to it.

I don't know if Wes Craven of Nightmare on Elm Street fame has directed a thriller of this kind before, but he's certainly good at it. Check it out.

Red Eye

'Red Eye' Trailer HD - YouTube:

Monday, March 30, 2015

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Woman accused of stabbing Akron boyfriend because he ate all their salsa

Editorial guidelines from Spicy Detective magazine, 1935

Editorial guidelines from Spicy Detective magazine, 1935

Bushwhackers, Desperadoes, and a Damsel in Distress

Bushwhackers, Desperadoes, and a Damsel in Distress: “Lone Star Fury” by James Reasoner by Edward A. Grainger

Al Capone's Hobby: Songwriting

Al Capone's Hobby: Songwriting

Song of the Day

Cherry Poppin' Daddies - "Zoot Suit Riot" (original video) - YouTube:

Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback: March 30th, 1965

Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback: March 30th, 1965

Today's Vintage Ad


10 Wild Lawmen Of The Old West

10 Wild Lawmen Of The Old West

PaperBack



Charlotte Jay, The Man Who Walked Away, Fontana, 1962

16 Times Nic Cage's Range Of Emotion Was Astounding

16 Times Nic Cage's Range Of Emotion Was Astounding

Listen To Some Of The Most Commonly Used Sound-Effects In Cinema

Listen To Some Of The Most Commonly Used Sound-Effects In Cinema

New Poem at the Five-Two

The Five-Two: Ron Hayes: A CONTEMPLATION ON KILLING

The Ultimate Way to Witness the Northern Lights

The Ultimate Way to Witness the Northern Lights  

Slideshow, but not annoying.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Gene Saks, R. I. P.

Actor/Director Gene Saks Dies at 93 - Playbill.com: Six-time Tony Award nominee Gene Saks, a comic actor who made a memorable splash in the role of the desperately unfunny children's TV host Leo "Chuckles The Chipmunk" Herman in the 1962 Broadway comedy A Thousand Clowns and who went on to a major directing career as the interpreter of playwright Neil Simon on stage and screen, died March 28 at age 93.  

Hat tipt o Jeff Meyerson.

11 Facts That Prove Seahorses Are Among The Most Fascinating Fish In The Sea

11 Facts That Prove Seahorses Are Among The Most Fascinating Fish In The Sea

Song of the Day

Jo Stafford Whispering Hope - YouTube:

Secret Libraries of Chicago

Secret Libraries of Chicago

Today's Vintage Ad


10 Prison Escapees Who Eluded Capture For Decades

10 Prison Escapees Who Eluded Capture For Decades

PaperBack



John O'Hara, Pal Joe, Dell 10-Cent Book #24

22 Of The Most Important Photographs In The World

22 Of The Most Important Photographs In The World

9 Facts that Tell the True Story of Johnny Appleseed

9 Facts that Tell the True Story of Johnny Appleseed

In Case You Were Wondering

Science explains why hipsters grow beards: The answer, according to The University of Western Australia researchers, is because men are feeling under pressure from other men and are attempting to look aggressive by being more flamboyant with their whiskers.

Vintage Treasures: Cities edited by Peter Crowther

Vintage Treasures: Cities edited by Peter Crowther