Saturday, February 07, 2015

Comic Strip of the Day


The Most Common* Job In Every State

The Most Common* Job In Every State

Song of the Day

Brenda Lee - Johnny One Time (Stereo) - 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

PaperBack

Andrew J. Offutt, Sword of the Gael, Zebra, 1975

I Want to Believe!

'Bigfoot' Filmed by Tampa Canoeist

Want to Help Save Some Forgotten Books?

Kickstarting a new life for out-of-print sf classics

Stewart Stern, R. I. P.

NY Daily News: LOS ANGELES — Screenwriter and two-time Academy Award nominee Stewart Stern, who's best known for writing the screenplay for Nicholas Ray's "Rebel Without a Cause," has died. He was 92.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Don Covay, R. I. P.

Don Covay: Don Covay, a singer and songwriter whose rhythm-and-blues compositions — among them “Pony Time,” “Chain of Fools” and “Mercy, Mercy” — became hits for a variety of performers and standards of rock ’n’ roll and soul music, died on Jan. 31 in a hospital in Valley Stream, N.Y., not far from his home in Queens. He was 78.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Here's the Plot for Your Next Prison Break Comedy

Mass breakout from Brazilian jail after female inmates in fantasy police costumes seduce prison wardens 

Texas Led the Way

The Strange Tale of Texas’ All-Female Supreme Court

Friday, February 06, 2015

EQMM's January Podcast

PodOmatic | Best Free Podcasts: Terrie Farley Moran launched a new mystery series at novel length in 2014 with Berkley Prime Crime (see Well Read, Then Dead). Prior to that she had already established herself as a short-story writer, shortlisted twice for Best American Mystery Stories. Her first short story for EQMM was August 2012’s “Fontaine House.” Here she is with a reading of it recorded at the 2014 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention.

Lizabeth Scott, R. I. P.

LA Times: Actress Lizabeth Scott, who played the bad girl in numerous hard-boiled film noir releases of the 1940s and '50s, died Jan. 31 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 92.

Does Your Local Park Have a Tree That Has Orbited The Moon?

Does Your Local Park Have a Tree That Has Orbited The Moon?

Song of the Day

Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer (Audio) - YouTube:

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Man sprayed liquid manure through letterbox in six-year grudge over dog fouling

Today's Vintage Ad


The most iconic movies filmed in each state

The most iconic movies filmed in each state 

The 5 Craziest True Stories That Ever Played Out in Court

The 5 Craziest True Stories That Ever Played Out in Court

PaperBack



Charles Nuetzel, Queen of Blood, Greenleaf, 1966

10 Surprising Facts About The Writing Lives of Great Authors

10 Surprising Facts About The Writing Lives of Great Authors

Maybe You Didn't, but I Did

10 Important American Writers You Never Learned About in School

Ian Ballantine Made Paperbacks Required Reading For Americans

Ian Ballantine Made Paperbacks Required Reading For Americans

Martin Gilbert, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill, who also wrote histories of many of the signal events of the 20th century, including both world wars, the Holocaust and the Middle East conflict, died on Tuesday in London. He was 78.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Vintage Treasures: Starshine by Theodore Sturgeon

Vintage Treasures: Starshine by Theodore Sturgeon

FFB: A Badge for a Badman -- Brian Wynne (Brian Garfield)

I'm a big admirer of much of Brian Garfield's work, but until now I'd never read a book written under his "Brain Wynne" pen name.  If this one's typical, I'd say I haven't missed much.  Garfield is on record as disparaging one of my favorite western movies, Rio Bravo, but I'd like to think that has nothing to do with my not caring for this book.  I'd like to think that, but I can't guarantee, so take what I say with a large helping of salt.

As you can see this is "A 'Marshal Jeremy Six' Novel," which means it's part of a series.  In this one, Six finds himself in this situation: He's arrested the Cleve Mariner after killing his father when the two tried to rob the bank.  Ma Mariner vows that she'll have Six's guts for garters and gathers her outlaw gang to go into town and free her son.  Hmmmm.  Sounds like a plot I've heard somewhere before.  

Unlike in that familiar story, however, Six doesn't keep Cleve in the calaboose.  He decides to take him to another jail in another town.  This doesn't work out as Six had hoped.  Ma gets the gang after him, and Cleve proves more resourceful that you might think.  Meanwhile, Wes, a relative of the Mariner clan, comes into town, looking to give up his life as a fast gun and settle down.  Not only is he a member of the clan, but he knows Six from the old days (so does Cleve, for that matter).  He's wound up in Six's town purely by coincidence.  Anyway, he's the Bad Man who gets the badge and who . . . I'll leave it to you to find out.  

I wish I could recommend this book, as several friends have liked others of this series.  Maybe I'll read another one someday, but I doubt it.

Thursday, February 05, 2015

Kasey Lansdale Interview

Kasey Lansdale Talks Recording New 'Lady Anthem' & More at Johnny Cash's Studio

Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

Clocks Are Too Precise (and People Don't Know What to Do About It)

Song of the Day

Crazy Elephant - "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" ( Stereo ) - YouTube:

The Digest Enthusiast


Some of you are going to want this, I know.  Just look at the ToC below, and you'll see why I say that.  If you have any interest at all in digest-size magazines, you'll have to have it.  There's a website set up with a nice gallery of digest covers, and there will soon be a forum there for discussion of digests.  Check it out.

The Digest Enthusiast Book One

Interviews:
Phyllis Galde, Editor and Publisher of Fate magazine
Gordon Van Gelder, Editor and Publisher of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Matthew Turcotte, Archie Digest Library collector

Articles:
Digest 911: Protective Sleeves by D. Blake Werts
Galaxy Science Fiction: The H.L. Gold Years by Larry Johnson
In Defense of Digests by Rob Imes
The Big Story by Charlie Jacobs
Myron Fass, Foto-rama & His Other Digests by Tom Brinkmann

Reviews:
Fate #725 by Rudolph Schmidt
Coronet June 1950 by David Burnette
Fate Trading Cards by Rudolph Schmidt
Paperback Parade #85 by Rudolph Schmidt

Fiction:
A Darker Night by Joe Wehrle, Jr.
The Presidential Collection by Lesann Berry
A Foul Breath of Fresh Air by Richard Krauss

Artwork:
Joe Wehrle, Jr. (cover)
Michael Neno
Bob Vojtko (gag cartoons)

Print Edition: $5.99 from CreateSpace or Amazon.com

Kindle Edition: $1.99 from Amazon.com

Today's Vintage Ad


Why Do Cats Love Boxes So Much?

Why Do Cats Love Boxes So Much?

PaperBack



Homer Hatten, Westport Landing, Gold Medal, 1951

I Remember It Well

What The World Was Like The Last Time Harper Lee Published A Book

Or Maybe You Do

10 Prolific Writers Whose Names You Don't Actually Know 

Mary Healy, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Mary Healy, an actress and singer who with Peter Lind Hayes formed a husband-and-wife comedy team on television variety shows and sitcoms in the 1950s and ’60s and portrayed their suburban life on radio broadcasts from New Rochelle, N.Y., died on Tuesday in Calabasas, Calif. She was 96.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

10 Most Valuable Collectables of Their Kind

10 Most Valuable Collectables of Their Kind

I Want to Believe!

Bigfoot in Yellowstone National Park? 

The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series: Figures of Earth by James Branch Cabell

he Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series: Figures of Earth by James Branch Cabell

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

The Title Alone Is Worth an Emmy

‘Cheerleader Death Squad’ Gets CW Pilot Order 

Confederate submarine's hull again revealed

After 150 years, Confederate submarine's hull again revealed: Has the mystery of Confederate submarine that sank Union ship then vanished finally been solved after 15 years of research?

Song of the Day

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) - YouTube:

10 Reasons Babe Ruth Is Still Awesome

10 Reasons Babe Ruth Is Still Awesome 

Today's Vintage Ad


“A Brash Idea Becomes a Publishing Company” (by Lee Goldberg)

“A Brash Idea Becomes a Publishing Company” (by Lee Goldberg) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN

Gator Update (Super Bowl Dinner Edition)

News-JournalOnline.com: A DeBary man chose the wrong menu item for a Super Bowl meal when he decided to kill five small alligators for a gator tail dinner, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said Monday.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

PaperBack



Jordan Park (C. M. Kornbluth), Half, Lion Books, 1953

30 Most Creative Large Scale Street Art Murals

30 Most Creative Large Scale Street Art Murals  

Link via Neatorama.

Loki Unavailable for Comment

Iceland to build first temple to Norse gods since Viking age 

Will the Persecution Never End?

Diving into the worst-rated movies on IMDb

What Price Immortality? In Yana, the Touch of Undying by Michael Shea

What Price Immortality? In Yana, the Touch of Undying by Michael Shea

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Soon We'll Have No Personal Freedoms Left at All

Woman with kangaroo asked to leave McDonald's  

Hat tip to Gerard Saylor.

Harper Lee Update

Harper Lee Will Publish ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Sequel in July

Song of the Day

Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away (1957) - YouTube:

Or Maybe Not

Michelangelo bronzes discovered

Today's Vintage Ad


"Ow" Isn't the Word I Use

Shouting 'ow' helps people cope with pain by interfering with brain messages

PaperBack



Thomas Burnett Swann, The Weirwoods, Ace, 1968

Night of the Lepus

Dozens of Dog-Sized Jackrabbits Swarm Development in North Dakota  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

JDM on Starting the Travis McGee Series

JDM on Starting the Travis McGee Series

A Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Books Are For Squares: Reprint I Read: "Outrage at Blanco" by Bill Crider

The Day the Music Died

Forgotten Hits: 56 Years Ago Today

Happy Birthday, Robert McGinnis!

 The greatest paperback cover artist of them all.

Overlooked Movies: My Little Chickadee

A rerun from 2011.

Mae West and W. C. Fields are fading from the American consciousness, I think. For most people under 50, or maybe under 60, these two stars are, I suspect either unknown or forgotten. If I'm right, that's too bad.

Both the actors were past their prime when My Little Chickadee was made, but to me it's still a very funny movie. West plays Flower Belle, a woman who's run out of town and can't return until she's respectable, i. e., married. She meets Cuthbert J. Twillie (Fields) on the train, and he proves more than willing to marry her to help her attain her goal. For West it's to be a marriage in name only, so a lot of the movie's humor comes from Fields' attempts to consummate the relationship. No one but Fields would woo a woman by admiring her hand and saying, "What symmetrical digits."

West slinks and flirts, Fields flounders, and the double entendres come thick and fast. There's even a Masked Bandit! I saw this movie more than 50 years ago, and I laughed for weeks about it. I still get a goofy grin when I think about certain scenes and lines of dialogue. You can watch the trailer in the post above, and if you think that's funny, then you'd like the movie. If not, time to rent The Hangover again.

"My Little Chickadee"

"My Little Chickadee" Trailer 1940 - YouTube:

Monday, February 02, 2015

New Poem at the Five-Two

The Five-Two: Mike Wilson: RAMSEY

The Fifth Marx Brother

The Fifth Marx Brother

Song of the Day

"The Thrill Is Gone" BB King - YouTube:

Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback - February 2nd, 1965

Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback - February 2nd, 1965

Today's Vintage Ad


10 Recent Discoveries That Explain Prehistoric Questions

10 Recent Discoveries That Explain Prehistoric Questions 

PaperBack



Carl Randall,  Life, Loves and Meat Loaf, Brandon, 1967

Kelly Link Interview

Kelly Link: By the Book 

Paper Books Will Never Die

Paper Books Will Never Die

Vintage Treasures: Vulcan’s Hammer by Philip K. Dick/ The Skynappers by John Brunner

Vintage Treasures: Vulcan’s Hammer by Philip K. Dick/ The Skynappers by John Brunner

Happy Groundhog Day!

Where Did Groundhog Day Come From?

​9 Roman Gods Who Weren't Just Rip Offs Of Greek Gods

​9 Roman Gods Who Weren't Just Rip Offs Of Greek Gods

Sunday, February 01, 2015

"Tried" Sounds Ominous

Ocala man tried to circumcise his nephew with kitchen knife

Comic Strip of the Day

Link

Why Do We Call Weights "Bells"?

Dumbbells, Barbells, Kettlebells—Why Do We Call Weights "Bells"? 

Song of the Day

Manhattan Spiritual By Reg Owen Orchestra - YouTube:

Ten Products With Unfortunate Names

Ten Products With Unfortunate Names And What Those Names Actually Mean

Today's Vintage Ad


All That Remains: A Haunting Gallery of Extinct Animals in Paris

All That Remains: A Haunting Gallery of Extinct Animals in Paris 

PaperBack



Van Wyck Mason, Sulu Sea Murders, Century Mystery, 1945

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Texas boy suspended after bringing 'ring of power' to school   

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Fall River man faces firearms charges after he allegedly shoots up cars parked in cleared parking spaces 

Zardoz is #6

50 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 1970s

Dino Update

Telegraph: A new dinosaur which had an extraordinarily long neck has been discovered in China and named the ‘Dragon of Qijiang.’