King Dork -- Frank Portman

King Dork is hilarious, but it's kind of hard to describe. The narrator, Tom Henderson, the King Dork of the title, professes to hate The Catcher in the Rye, but his tale has a lot in common with Holden Caulfield's, at least in its narration. Both Holden and Tom tend to digress quite a bit, and the digressions and the narrative voices are what make the books so entertaining.

Tom is a high-school loner, just trying to survive among the psychotic "normal" students. He's still trying to adjust to the death of his cop father six years earlier, too, and when he discovers a stash of old books that belonged to his dad (including Catcher), he starts to investigate his death. There's a secret code, lots of research, and all kinds of connections to the present. Along the way, there's also lots of casual sex, drinking, and drug use. High school sure wasn't like this when I was a kid. Or maybe it was and I just missed out.

I did wonder about a few things. Though the book's supposedly set a few years ago, you'd think it was set much earlier. Nobody has a cell phone. When Tom's in the hospital, he has to go out into the hallway and use a pay phone to make a call, irritating all the other patients who are waiting to use it. Tom and Sam do their research in a library, using the microfilm machine. Retro in the extreme. Music plays a big part in the book (Frank Portman's a musician, the leader of The Mr. T Experience), but there's hardly a mention of anything after the '80s. Instead we get allusions to Trout Mask Replica, the Kinks, and plenty of others from that era.

But who cares? It's fun reading all the way, there's a mystery to solve, and there's even some closing advice for teenage boys (get in a band). Check it out.

A Thesaurus as Big as a Brontosaurus

After a 44-year labour of love, world’s biggest thesaurus is born - Times Online: "Dr Johnson famously took nine years to write his dictionary, but the biggest thesaurus in the world will be published this autumn after a labour of love spanning five decades.

Work on the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1965. The mammoth enterprise has survived fire and funding problems and has had to be constantly updated to incorporate new words.

With 800,000 meanings for 600,000 words organised into more than 230,000 categories and subcategories, the thesaurus is twice the size of Roget’s version."

My Phone Doesn't Even Have a Camera

Want to know the bus schedule in Taipei? Or how to make authentic Gujarati vegetarian meals?

100 Awesome iPhone Apps for Culture Snobs | Online College Tips - Online Colleges

Erik Estrada is The Man

Erik Estrada talks child porn with Len & Bob - Sports Pros(e): "After botching the lyrics to 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' in front of 40,042 people at Monday night's Cubs game, the Bella Vista, Ark. pitchman celebrated his 60th birthday by telling broadcasters Len Kasper and Bob Brenly during the seventh-inning interview, 'I've seen my fair share of child pornography and I want to do something about it.'

Estrada went on to praise a certain part of porn star Ron Jeremy's anatomy."

A Virtual Convention?

Mystery Fanfare: A Virtual Convention: PP WebCon: "The Poisoned Pen at the forefront of so many things in the mystery world will be hosting a The World's First Virtual Convention on October 24. Yes, virtual.

Poisoned Pen Press and The Poisoned Pen mystery bookstore of Scottsdale AZ will host the first major virtual mystery convention online, PP Web Con. 'Top mystery and crime writers from all over the world will meet and mix with readers and others online in a virtual convention center on October 24th, 2009.' PP Web Con's blog is blank now, but it promises to list all the latest news about the convention's planned events and attendees."

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

reason.com: By conventional wisdom, El Paso, Texas should be one of the scariest cities in America. In 2007, the city's poverty rate was a shade over 27 percent, more than twice the national average. Median household income was $35,600, well below the national average of $48,000. El Paso is three-quarters Hispanic, and more than a quarter of its residents are foreign-born. Given that it's nearly impossiblefor low-skilled immigrants to work in the United States legitimately, it's safe to say that a significant percentage of El Paso's foreign-born population is living here illegally.

El Paso also has some of the laxer gun control policies of any non-Texan big city in the country, mostly due to gun-friendly state law. And famously, El Paso sits just over the Rio Grande from one of the most violent cities in the western hemisphere, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, home to a staggering 2,500 homicides in the last 18 months alone. A city of illegal immigrants with easy access to guns, just across the river from a metropolis ripped apart by brutal drug war violence. Should be a bloodbath, right?

Here's the surprise: There were just 18 murders in El Paso last year, in a city of 736,000 people. To compare, Baltimore, with 637,000 residents, had 234 killings. In fact, since the beginning of 2008, there were nearly as many El Pasoans murdered while visiting Juarez (20) than there were murdered in their home town (23).

El Paso is among the safest big cities in America.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Texas Man Survives Being Stung More Than 250 Times by Bees | AMOG - Alpha Males of the Group: "Harold Braun, aged 74, has miraculously survived being stung more than 250 times in an attack by bees while he mowed the lawn in his Waco, Texas backyard. The poor man was hospitalized after he ran over an area covered by a rubber mat and the movement agitated a hive of nearby bees. Paramedics pulled more than 150 stingers from his body and the hospital staff removed another 100 or so."

Looks Just Like Him To Me

Family Sees Image Of Michael Jackson In Tree Stump - cbs13.com: "A Stockton family says the image of Michael Jackson appeared on his tree stump the day the King of Pop died.

Like the 'Virgin Grilled Mary' or 'Cheesus,' the family thinks they've got an unusual spiritual image staring right at them from their own front yard. Felix Garcia has lived in the house for 22 years, and has never noticed the apparent image in his birch tree stump."

The City but not the Stars

US manned space flight in doubt 40 years after moon walk: "US ambitions to send astronauts back to the moon as a prelude to missions to Mars have been put in doubt by budgetary constraints 40 years after man's triumphant landing on Earth's nearest neighbor."

Sort of makes me long for the '50s again, when I was reading Amazing and Fantastic and Imaginative Tales and there was never any doubt that we'd be going to the stars Real Soon Now. Reality bites.

Capricorn 3

Russian spacecraft landed on moon hours before Americans - Telegraph: "n July 1969, the telescopes at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, in Cheshire, were tracking the Americans' Eagle Lander carrying astronauts towards the moon's surface.

Sir Bernard Lovell, the astronomer, was among the team listening to transmissions coming from the area of space and began tracking the unmanned Soviet spacecraft Luna 15, which was trying to collect samples of lunar soil and rock and then return to Earth before the US mission.

The recordings from Jodrell's Lovell radio telescope, which were hidden in archives until researchers found them, show the Russian craft orbited the Moon and crash-landed onto its surface at 15:50 on July 21 – just a few hours before the Americans lifted off."

Westworld

Tarzan Update

Tarzan swings into Paris | GlobalPost: "PARIS — Edgar Rice Burroughs never visited Africa but he created one of the continent’s most enduring myths: Tarzan.

In his story about the aristocratic orphan boy raised by apes in the jungle, Burroughs painted a picture of a jungle Africa, teeming with tigers that do not exist in the real Africa, and populating the continent with “savages [who] danced in frantic ecstasy”.

Now Tarzan is on show at one of Paris' most popular museums, which has dedicated its summer exhibition to the ape man."

Happy Birthday, Bikini Swimsuits!

This Day in History 1946: Bikini introduced: "On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed 'bikini,' inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week."

Also on this day in history, Elvis Presley recorded "That's All Right, Mama," his first commercial release and one of the all-time greats.

Thats All Right - Elvis Presley

New Stories at Darkest before the Dawn

Darkest Before the Dawn

Up

Roger Ebert recommends seeing Up in 2-D, but I went to the 3-D version, anyway. It's a wonderful movie, and I'm sure it plays just as well either way, though maybe the colors are better without the glasses.

I can understand why Up is being sold as a kids' movie. That's where the money is. But it's more for geezers than kids. The poster to the left gives you a pretty good idea of the importance of the characters, except that the house has a bigger part than the poster indicates.

Edward Asner is the voice of Carl Fredricksen, an old guy who's just lost his wife, Eileen. The sequence that begins the film tells of how the two met, and then there's a terrific silent bit that fills in all you need to know about the rest of their life together.

Like Rick Blaine, I'm a sentimentalist. I know that's a character flaw, but I blame my grandmother Brodnax, who often read "The Wreck of the Hesperus" and "The Babes in the Wood" to me when I was at an impressionable age. At any rate, it's possible that I shed a manly tear during Up's silent moments, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Carl had once promised Eileen that they'd travel to South America to a plateau straight out of the Lost World, just as their hero, Captain Muntz had done. Real life intervened, and they never got there. Now Carl's alone, and he's been declared a public menace. He's about to be carted off to The Home. But he doesn't go. He sets out on one last great adventure, thanks to zillions of balloons. A kid tags along accidentally, and when they land on the plateau, the adventures begin in earnest. I'll say no more about those, not wanting to spoil the fun. But I have to admit that the adventures aren't the main reason I liked the film. It was Carl's story that got to me. He might be an animation, but he was as real as any character I've seen in a movie in years.

And then there are the dogs. They're great, particularly the one that adopts Carl. The dog tells a great joke about a squirrel, one that Dave Barry would appreciate.

This movie, along with Gran Torino, proves that you can make good movies about geezers and the people will flock to them. The filmmakers might have to disguise the fact that their movies are about geezers, as Up does, but that's okay as long as the films get made. I loved Up, and while it might not be your cuppa, you should give it a try just to see.

This Is Why James Bond Never Married

MI6 chief blows his cover as wife's Facebook account reveals family holidays, showbiz friends and links to David Irving | Mail Online: "The new head of MI6 has been left exposed by a major personal security breach after his wife published intimate photographs and family details on the Facebook website.

Sir John Sawers is due to take over as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in November, putting him in charge of all Britain's spying operations abroad.

But his wife's entries on the social networking site have exposed potentially compromising details about where they live and work, who their friends are and where they spend their holidays."

Gator Update (Minnesota Edition)

Alligator Spoils Eagan Barbeque | keyc.tv: "And finally tonight: A Minnesota family's Fourth of July backyard barbecue drew an interesting guest this weekend... A 3-foot alligator.Linda Savage was walking in her yard in Eagan when spotted the gator in a pond.At first, her family didn't quite believe her.But then everyone got a closer look and saw for themselves.Police were called to take care of the alligator."

The Big Country

New Story at BEAT to a PULP

BEAT to a PULP :: Artifacts :: Gerald So

New Jersey Leads the Way

Mother, daughter arrested in Hamden- The New Haven Register - Serving Greater New Haven, CT: "An apparent road rage incident in the center lane of Whitney Avenue near Thornton Street led to the arrest of two women Thursday night.

Capt. Ronald Smith said that police responded to a fight in progress at 7:45 p.m. Police learned that a car operated by Rebecca Huelsman, 19, of 210 Wolcott S., Apt. 3A, New Haven, allegedly rammed another motor vehicle. The vehicle that was struck was occupied by a husband and wife and their two children, ages 6 and 2.

According to Smith, Huelsman allegedly threw a milk shake into the family’s vehicle and then pulled the front passenger, the wife, out of the vehicle by her hair. Huelsman then allegedly punched the woman several times in the face causing injuries, Smith said. The woman, whose name is not being released, was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital by ambulance. The husband and children were not injured."

I Blame Nicolas Cage

INSIDE WASHINGTON: Archives' many missing items - Yahoo! News: "National Archives visitors know they'll find the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the main building's magnificent rotunda in Washington. But they won't find the patent file for the Wright Brothers' Flying Machine or the maps for the first atomic bomb missions anywhere in the Archives inventory.

Many historical items the Archives once possessed are missing, . . . ."

On This July 4, Pause to Remember the NASA Chimps

Nasa chimps earn Florida comforts after taking a punishing step for Mankind - Times Online: "“When the astronauts came back from their space missions they received ticker-tape parades and were rightfully considered heroes. But the chimps were forgotten and relegated along with their descendants to biomedical research laboratories,” Jen Feuerstein, the sanctuary director, said.

As America marks the 40th anniversary of man’s first footsteps on the Moon, Marty and friends rely solely on charity to support their retirement. Nasa and the US Government have never donated a penny towards Save the Chimps’ annual $4 million (�2.5 million) budget. But astronauts have — among them Bob Crippen, 71, who piloted the first orbital test flight of the space shuttle in 1981, commanded three subsequent shuttle missions and served as a director of Nasa’s shuttle programme in the 1990s."

Pulp Cover of the Day

Link

America's Strangest Monument?

American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse: "The strangest monument in America looms over a barren knoll in northeastern Georgia. Five massive slabs of polished granite rise out of the earth in a star pattern. The rocks are each 16 feet tall, with four of them weighing more than 20 tons apiece. Together they support a 25,000-pound capstone. Approaching the edifice, it's hard not to think immediately of England's Stonehenge or possibly the ominous monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Built in 1980, these pale gray rocks are quietly awaiting the end of the world as we know it.

Called the Georgia Guidestones, the monument is a mystery—nobody knows exactly who commissioned it or why. The only clues to its origin are on a nearby plaque on the ground—which gives the dimensions and explains a series of intricate notches and holes that correspond to the movements of the sun and stars—and the 'guides' themselves, directives carved into the rocks."

It's Independence Day!

Here's What You Should Read Today

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Brazil Leads the Way

Guards nab pigeon smuggling cell phone into Brazilian prison -- Newsday.com: "Prison guards foiled a new attempt to smuggle a cell phone into a Brazilian prison by carrier pigeon — this one wearing a tiny backpack — and said Friday that the practice is becoming almost commonplace."

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

Paging Mongo

Two Mexican Midget Wrestlers Killed by Fake Prostitutes - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com: "Mexican authorities say two professional wrestlers found dead in a low-rent hotel in the capital may have been drugged to death by female robbers.

Autopsies are being performed on the two midget wrestlers, one of whom went by the name 'La Parkita' — or 'Little Death' — and wore a skeleton costume in the ring. The other was known as 'Espectrito Jr.'"

Hat tip to Art Scott.

Really, Now, They Gotta be Kidding

Boborci. Kurtzman. Kane. VIEWMASTER. Movie. -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.: "FRINGE writer/co-producer Brad Caleb Kane is developing a VIEWMASTER movie for DreamWorks."

Colorado Leads the Way

Colorado company offers banana coffins : 24 Hour Breaking News : The Buffalo News: "Casket makers catering to natural burials have offered biodegradable coffins made of such materials as recycled newspapers or cardboard. Ecoffins USA, based in Montrose, Colo., is selling caskets made of banana sheaves.

They take six months to two years to biodegrade."

Link via Jake Murdock.

Jaws 6 -- The Swamp

Bull sharks take to Louisiana swamp - WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |: "HENDERSON, LA (WAFB) - Bass, catfish, and perch make for a great fish fry down on the bayou, but lately, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has found sharks in inland waters of the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp.

Most people have a preconceived notion that sharks are found in the ocean. While that's certainly true, sharks are also being found among the beautiful cypress trees in the waters of the Atchafalaya. 'Well, I guess this is a swamp, shark that lives in the swamp,' said Mike Walker with Wildlife and Fisheries. 'You could call it a swamp shark.'"

Maybe a Distinctive Style Isn't Such a Good Thing

Dear Garry. I've decided to end it all: The full stop that trapped a killer | Mail Online: "A veteran of more than 300 investigations into crimes ranging from extortion to murder, Olsson is one of the leading experts in a still emerging field known as 'forensic linguistics'.

His skill lies in identifying a suspect's 'linguistic fingerprint' - the distinctive use of language which makes each of us unique, whether we are writing letters, emails or mobile phone texts.

Thanks to Olsson and his colleaues and their work, police no longer have to depend on a crooked 'c' or a missing 'm' on a suspect's typewriter to establish whether they have written an incriminating document.

Even in today's high-tech culture, when villains use seemingly identical computers and mobiles in pursuit of their crimes, these modern-day Sherlock Holmeses can still track them down - simply through their choice of words, spacing and punctuation."

Deadly Dames -- Edited by Gary Lovisi

From its beautiful Maguire cover to entertaining contents, this anthology is a hardboiled treat. The title tells you all you need to know about the stories, and a deadlier bunch of women you probably haven't met in a while. So I've read the stories by Ed Gorman, Wayne Dundee (a new Joe Hannibal), Vin Packer, Pearce Hansen, Gary Lovisi, and C. J. Henderson, and I can tell you that you shouldn't expect the women in the stories to be all the same. Sure, they're deadly, but in different ways. The spy in Henderson's story is a femme fatale for sure, but not exactly in the Cain sense. Others are fatal in their own ways. It's a lot of fun to see how the writers work things out and how the different styles lead to stories of all kinds, from the all-action-all-the-time story by Henderson to the hardboiled Dundee to the contemplative Gorman. If you like noir, you'll find it here, but there's plenty more besides. Check it out.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

TVNEWSDAY - Leno Wins Right To Web Name For His New Show: "Television host Jay Leno has won control of a Web address using the name of his new show.

The U.N.'s World Intellectual Property Organization says current owner Guadalupe Zambrano of Katy, Texas, will have to transfer the domain name — thejaylenoshow.com — to the comedian.

The agency says Zambrano failed to demonstrate he had a legitimate reason for registering the address five years ago while Leno was still hosting 'The Tonight Show.'"

Banjo Jones, Take Note

Three new dinosaurs found in western Queensland | The Courier-Mail: "A VICIOUS meat-eating dinosaur, bigger, faster and more terrifying than velociraptor made famous in Jurassic Park, once roamed the plains of Queensland.

The bones of Australovenator Wintonensis, nicknamed 'Banjo' by paleantologists, are among the remains of three new species found in the outback near Winton."

Forgotten Books: PAGODA -- James Atlee Phillips

If you think The Green Wound, a Gold Medal book also issued as The Green Wound Contract, was the first of Philip Atlee's books about Joe Gall, you're wrong by 12 or 13 years. The first one was Pagoda, published in hardback by Macmillan in 1951 and in paperback by Bantam in 1952. Obviously this one was intended as a standalone book, and technically it's not part of the series. It's not even told in first person like the rest of the Gall books. But Gall's the same hardboiled guy, and Atlee writes about him very well, no matter how he's handling the narration.  There's the same terse style, the same swift flow of the story.


As you can see from the back cover, this is Joe Gall's backstory.  It's set in Burma, and Gall's a flyer.  If you've read the series books, you no doubt recall Gall's many references to flying over "the hump" in Burma.  Here's the story of some of those experiences.  Atlee does the setting very well indeed, as he did in all the Gall books.  If you liked the series, you'll like Pagoda.  If you like good hardboiled writing, you'll probably like Pagoda.  Dated?  Sure, in the same way that Hammett and Chandler are dated, which is to say only in the details.  Check it out.

Soylent Green

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Biological 'Fountain Of Youth' Found In New World Bat Caves: "ScienceDaily (July 1, 2009) — Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human history—significantly longer lifespans. The discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, shows that proper protein folding over time in long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice."

The 50 Greatest Trailers of All Time

The 50 Greatest Trailers of All Time - Lists - News - IFC.com

Hat tip to Todd Mason.

Another List I'm not On

SI.com - The Fortunate 50: "Is the slumping economy finally affecting America's premier athletes? For the sixth consecutive year, Sports Illustrated has compiled a list of the 50 top-earning American athletes in salary, winnings, endorsements and appearance fees. And for the first time, the average earnings of those on the list fell -- down $1.5 million per athlete to $23.6 million.

That falloff is mostly due to lower earnings for No. 1 Tiger Woods and No. 2 Phil Mickelson, both of whom saw their on-course income shrink while also losing key endorsement deals. This year's list features 22 basketball players (a record nine who earned more than $20 million), 14 major leaguers, nine football players, three golfers and two NASCAR drivers."

This Time, Ohio Leads the Way

VIDEO: Perry police chief, officer kiss repeatedly while transporting prisoner - Canton, OH - CantonRep.com: "She massages his neck and body. She kisses his neck repeatedly. They kiss.

She tugs at his shirt sleeve with her teeth. He caresses her right cheek.

They smile.

Officer Janine England rests her head on the shoulder of her boss, then-Police Chief Tim Escola, as they travel together in the front seat of a police cruiser June 2. They went to the Cincinnati area to bring a burglary suspect back to Stark County."

I, for One, Welcome our New Myrmidon Overlords

Slashdot News Story | Ant Mega-Colony Covers the World: "A mega colony of one family of ants has spread all over the world. Previous mega colonies in California, Europe and Japan have been shown to be in fact one global colony."

Rules for Vampires

In vampire world, the rules keep changing - USATODAY.com: "On HBO's True Blood (Sundays, 9 ET/PT), Lafayette asked vampire sheriff Eric to turn him. And Twilight found Bella Swan begging immortal beloved Edward Cullen to make her a vampire.

Before folks swear off sunlight, they should know the basics, which would be easier if the rules didn't change in every film, book and TV show.

USA TODAY offers a guide to life (and after)."

The First Review Is In. . .

. . . and it's not good. Thanks to Jeff Segal for the link.

Early Review for CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON RAGIN' ROCK SHOW...: "Ever since we first mentioned that Universal had changed their musical based on the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON into a 'RAGIN' ROCK SHOW' (details here), Fango readers have been wondering how it would all play out."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

iWon News - Cops zap pastor protesting traffic stop at church: "WEBSTER, Texas (AP) - Police in Texas said they used a Taser on a pastor and pepper spray on his congregants after the man interfered with a traffic stop in the church parking lot. Police said the traffic stop Wednesday morning involved a member of the Iglesia Profetica Peniel church in its parking lot in Webster, southeast of Houston.

The department's incident report says Officer Raymond Berryman tried to calm 42-year-old Jose Elias Moran and arrest him, but he pushed the officer, entered the church and returned with 40 other congregants.

The family said Moran did not touch the officer. Moran's son Miguel said 30 witnesses saw the police officer turn aggressive and repeatedly kick the church door."

Webster is 12 miles from Alvin and is next door to NASA. Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

Gator Update

Liberty man makes mud sculptures along Line Creek | Community News | News | Sun Tribune: "His latest sculpture, two weeks in the making, is an approximately 25 foot crocodile, which now lays curled up in a half circle guarding the little bridge across the creek; a talisman made of sediment with orange peel eyes and stone teeth soaking up the shade."

Great photo at the link.

Gator Update (Storm Drain Edition)

Wayward Gator Causes Commotion in Mauriceville | KBMT ABC 12 - News, Weather and Sports - Beaumont - Port Arthur, TX Beaumont - Port Arthur, Texas | Local News Top Stories: "Passersby of the Market Basket on Hwy 62 in Mauriceville got quite a show Wednesday afternoon. Gary Saurage of Gator Country began working to remove an alligator that took up residence under a storm drain.

'This will be the hardest one yet,' said Saurage. 'But we are definitely going to get him.'

Gary Saurage owns Gator Country in Beaumont. He was called because he contracts as a gator catcher for the state. He says he has received more calls to remove gators this year than in the past, partially because of Hurricane Ike. He says the storm pushed salt and oil onshore, moving the gators a little bit northward. He says since April he has been called to remove 67 alligators from drains, ditches and other places near humans."

But Was It Worth the Trouble?

Two Centuries On, a Cryptologist Cracks a Presidential Code - WSJ.com: "The cipher finally met its match in Lawren Smithline, a 36-year-old mathematician. Dr. Smithline has a Ph.D. in mathematics and now works professionally with cryptology, or code-breaking, at the Center for Communications Research in Princeton, N.J., a division of the Institute for Defense Analyses."

I'm disappointed. I thought Seepy Benton would crack the code first.

Calamity Jane

Buy a House, Get a Lizard

Amenity: giant lizards | HeraldTribune.com | Sarasota Florida | Southwest Florida's Information Leader: "If you're looking for a silver lining to the home-foreclosure story -- and who isn't? -- the good news is that 8-foot-long Nile monitor lizards are taking over our abandoned properties. What, if anything, real estate agents will be able to make of this news is another matter.

'For sale: Like-new 3/2 Cape Coral home on canal with boat dock. Amenities include walk-in closets, granite countertops and family of razor-toothed dragons that will swallow your dog as deftly as you would gulp down a California roll.'

No one knows exactly where these giant lizards came from, though the Nile is high on the list of suspects."

Hat tip to Steve Stilwell.

Harve Presnell, R. I. P.

The Associated Press: Actor Harve Presnell dies of cancer at 75: "Harve Presnell, whose booming baritone graced such Broadway musicals as 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown' and 'Annie,' has died at age 75.

The actor died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., said Gregg Klein, Presnell's agent.

Although he was best known for his roles in musical theater, Presnell also is remembered as William H. Macy's father-in-law in the Coen brothers' 1996 film 'Fargo.'"

Joe Bowman, R. I. P.

Renowned Houston marksman, showman dies | Death Notices | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Joe Bowman, a Houston bootmaker turned shooting expert whose marksmanship drew the attention of some of the Hollywood stars he had revered, including Roy Rogers and John Wayne, died Monday. Houston’s world-famous “Straight Shooter” was 84.

“My dad was revered around the world as a Western shooting expert in the vein of Roy Rogers,” said his son, Mark M. Bowman II. “He loved an era of bygone days and lived by that code.

“We lost a part of Houston’s heritage and a great guardian of Texas culture and history this week.”"

Karl Malden, R. I. P.

Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dies at 97 - Los Angeles Times: "Karl Malden, one of Hollywood's strongest and most versatile supporting actors, who won an Oscar playing his Broadway-originated role as Mitch in 'A Streetcar Named Desire,' died today. He was 97.

Malden starred in the 1970s TV series 'The Streets of San Francisco' and was the longtime American Express traveler's-check spokesman, warning travelers to not leave home without it. He died of natural causes at his home in Brentwood, said his daughter Mila Doerner."

Rick Klaw's Interview with Joe Lansdale

SA Current - ARTS: Crazy sort of folk: "“[The Hap and Leonard stories] are crazy sort of folk tales mixed with reality, but it’s always the social and cultural issues and the two characters that drive the series.”
— Joe R. Lansdale"

Here's Your Big Chance

Home: "Cheerios� is searching for the next great children's book author. It could be you!

Just enter your original children's book story by July 15, 2009."

Texas Doesn't Lead the Way!

State-by-state list of obesity rates, rankings - Yahoo! Asia News: "State-by-state list of obesity rates, each state's obesity ranking in the nation and the percentage point change from the previous report, according to the Trust for America's Health"

More info here.

Top 10 Prison Breaks

10 Best Prison Breaks

Education? Who Needs It?

DON'T GET THAT COLLEGE DEGREE! - New York Post: "The four-year college degree has come to cost too much and prove too little. It's now a bad deal for the average student, family, employer, professor and taxpayer.

A student who secures a degree is increasingly unlikely to make up its cost, despite higher pay, and the employer who requires a degree puts faith in a system whose standards are slipping. Too many professors who are bound to degree teaching can't truly profess; they don't proclaim loudly the things they know but instead whisper them to a chosen few, whom they must then accommodate with inflated grades. Worst of all, bright citizens spend their lives not knowing the things they ought to know, because they've been granted liberal-arts degrees for something far short of a liberal-arts education."

Badman's Territory