Saturday, May 18, 2013

Ken Venturi, R. I. P.

Yahoo! Sports: Ken Venturi, winner of the 1964 U.S. Open and a longtime commentator for CBS, has died at the age of 82.

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

Amazon.com: To Beat the Devil - A Mick Murphy Key West Mystery eBook: Michael Haskins: Kindle Store: With Mick Murphy recovering from near death, his black-ops friend Norm Burke assists him on his quest to kill Russian mobster Alexei, the man Murphy holds responsible for Tita's death. Almost close to goat, Murphy gets Alexei's journal from a Mexican drug lord and it leads him back to Key West where he must choose between his quest and savings the lives of innocent people caught up in a terrorist plot.A plot that involves terrorists, Iranians, government agents and makes Murphy, Norm and all involved question their ideas on conspiracy theories.

Song of the Day

Timi Yuro Make The World Go Away - YouTube:

The Amazing Tardigrade

The Amazing Tardigrade- The Toughest Known Creature on Earth and Beyond

The 50 Greatest Movie Villains of All Time

The 50 Greatest Movie Villains of All Time 

Today's Vintage Ads

5 Insane Trends from Vintage Cigarette Ads

10 Greatest Alternative Pyramids From Around The World

10 Greatest Alternative Pyramids From Around The World

PaperBack



Carl Shannon, Lady, That's My Skull, Phantom Books (Australia), no date

Albert Seedman, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Albert Seedman, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives in the early 1970s who became something of a celebrity as the savvy, cigar-chomping personification of the tough-guy cop while modernizing a tradition-bound force, died on Friday in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 94.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

List Fails without Ivy College

7 TV Show Colleges You Wish Actually Existed

Beatles Update

Paul McCartney: Yoko Ono didn’t break up the Beatles: Despite decades of feuding, Sir Paul McCartney has recently come to Ono’s defense to set the record straight.

All the Doc Savage Links You'll Ever Need

ThePulp.Net | Doc Savage

Link via Laurie's Wild West.

I Found a Penny the Other Day

Danish teenager makes rare Viking-era find with metal detector: Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins.

Take A Look At This Awesome Houdini Scrapbook

Take A Look At This Awesome Houdini Scrapbook

Hitler's Madman

1943 JOHN CARRADINE WWII TRAILER - YouTube:

Friday, May 17, 2013

A Kickstarter Project of Interest

Rogue Lawman - Pilot Western by Peter Lefevre — Kickstarter

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Texas man builds fake graveyard to keep homeless off property 

If OJ Gets Out of the Slammer, She Can Help Him Find the Real Killers

Police Officer Shoots Self In The Leg, Causes Search For Non-Existent Gunman

The Mystery of the Immaculately Conceived Baby Anteater

Yahoo! News: Staffers at a zoological conservation center in Greenwich, Conn., are very confused — as are the rest of us — because their female giant anteater, Armani, has managed to conceive a baby, apparently without the presence of a male anteater.

Hat tip to Art Scott, who says that Immaculately Conceived Anteater WBAGNFARB.

Song of the Day

Fats Waller - Your Feet's Too Big - YouTube:

ABBA’s ‘Gold,’ Ranked From Gleeful to Glum

ABBA’s ‘Gold,’ Ranked From Gleeful to Glum

Ray Bradbury's Favorite Bookshop

Ray Bradbury's Favorite Bookshop

Today's Vintage Ads

Retrospace: Ads #67: 1981

Paris Hilton Update

‘The Bling Ring’ Made Paris Hilton Cry

Who Knew?

Granny Smith Apples are Named After a Real Granny Smith

Perhaps You've Been Wondering

Why Do Students Dissect Frogs?

PaperBack



Jack Pearl, Garrison's Gorillas, Dell, 1967

Here's the Plot for Your Next Star-Studded Thriller

$1 Million Chopard Burglary in Cannes

I Miss the Old Days

21 Defining Moments Of 1966

Paris Hilton Update

Paris Hilton: Sofia Coppola shot parts of 'The Bling Ring' at my house

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

10 Magnificent But Little-Known Structures

10 Magnificent But Little-Known Structures

Okay

15 Books You Should Definitely Not Read in Your 20s 

11 Strange Movie Job Titles—Explained!

11 Strange Movie Job Titles—Explained!

Bigfoot Update

Hunt for Bigfoot in northern New Mexico after thermal imaging reveals 7-foot tall figure stalking mountainous woods

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Woman bit off part of another woman's ear, cops say

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Forgotten Books: The Yggyssey -- Daniel Pinkwater

Go ahead, say it: "He's cheating again. The Iggyssey isn't forgotten by any means."  You're right, of course, but the question is, have you read it?  It's a sequel to The Neddiad, which I discussed here, and it's more of the same, Daniel Pinkwater doing whatever it is that he does and making it look easy.  It's like watching Ricky Jay.  What he does looks easy, but could you do it?  How is it possible?  Best not to try to figure it out.  Just enjoy it.

The plot? Well, you can see it there in the subtitle: "How Iggy Wondered What Happened to all the Ghosts and Where They Went, and Went There."  See, Iggy, whose name is Yggdrasil, lives in a haunted hotel in Hollywood in the early '50s.  (You'd know all this if you'd read The Neddiad, which you certainly should have.)  All the top ghosts are there.  As the book drifts along, the ghosts begin to drift away, and Yggy and her friends Neddy and Seamus go to an alternate reality to find them in the city of Old New Hackensack.  The second half of the book is a road trip, in the course of which the trio makes a new friend and encounters witches and other odd folks.  Okay, let's face it.  It's not so much a plot as a series of incidents, but they're great incidents.  In what other book are kids going to run into Fats Waller and sing along to "Your Feet's Too Big"? 

This is supposedly a kids' book.  How many kids are going to get the W. C. Fields reference in the name of the city where the ghosts are going?  How many of them are going to get the Fats Waller reference?  Yggy's favorite ghost is the ghost of a rabbit.  In Old New Hackensack, the rabbit has become six feet tall and is walking around with a man named Elwood.  Would any kid you know that that one?  The book is full of things like that, which means that even a guy my age is going to get most of the jokes.

Here's a warning for you.  Many, many loving descriptions of food and eating are scattered throughout the book.  Don't read it when you're hungry.  But do read it, or read any of Daniel Pinkwater's books if you want to see a real magician at work (or play).


The Whole Truth

The Whole Truth (1958) trailer - YouTube:

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Damn!

A well-mannered win: Texas ranks super low in swearing

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Lindsay Hunter on Her Favorite Short Story

Lindsay Hunter on Her Favorite Short Story

Seepy Benton Needs to Try this on His Students

Electric shocks to the brain may help humans solve math problems faster

12 Of The Most Incredible Pre-CGI Special Effects In Movies

12 Of The Most Incredible Pre-CGI Special Effects In Movies

Song of the Day

ONE TIN SOLDIER / THE ORIGINAL CASTE - YouTube:

But Then You Knew That Already

Barns Are Painted Red Because of the Physics of Dying Stars

Today's Vintage Ad


5 Easy Fixes to Complex Problems You Won't Believe Worked

5 Easy Fixes to Complex Problems You Won't Believe Worked

I Miss the Old Days

A Nation of Wimps

PaperBack



Hugh Greene, editor, Further Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Crooked Counties, Penguin, 1974

Minoan civilisation Update

DNA suggests new theory on origin of Minoan civilisation

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Alligators coming out of hiding all over Houston 

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

NH Man Arrested For Squirting Sun Tan Lotion On Woman After Road Rage Incident

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Fascinating Photos of the Models Who Inspired Famous Artworks

Fascinating Photos of the Models Who Inspired Famous Artworks

I Miss the Old Days

School Library Posters

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Police say man sets fire to neighbor's yard over grass dispute

12 Memorable Portrayals Of Dracula

12 Memorable Portrayals Of Dracula

Paging Josh Randall

Armed Bounty Hunters Storm Fancy Miami Beach Gym (Video): Amazingly, it was all legal under Florida law where bounty hunters have more legal rights than the police.

The 13 Rules for Creating a Prestige TV Drama

The 13 Rules for Creating a Prestige TV Drama

Some photos NSFW.

Swordsman of Siena

Swordsman of Siena (1962) trailer) - YouTube: