Saturday, December 05, 2009

Happy Birthday, Little Richard!

Little Richard: "Richard Wayne Penniman was born December 5, 1932 one of twelve children. His father Charles 'Bud' Penniman was a Seventh Day Adventist preacher who sold moonshine on the side. Richard grew up on a dirt street in an impoverished section of Macon, Georgia. Music was everywhere. Street vendors and evangelist who paraded down his block would sing as loud as they could, whether selling vegetables or religion, to get attention of folks inside. All the neighborhood sang freely as well, improvising on spiritual songs to keep them company as they worked. Some gospel singers, particularly Marion Williams of the Clara Ward singers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Mahalia Jackson had a profound influence on Richard."

The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME

Full List - The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME - TIME: "'First, I apologize. I know I left some of your favorite shows off this list. How do I know that? Because I left some of my favorite shows off this list. The happy and unfortunate fact is that there are far more than 100 great shows, and more created every year. Lists are incredibly important: they are how we define what matters to us, what we want entertainment and art to do, what we expect of our culture.'
—TIME TV critic James Poniewozik"

Wisconsin Leads the Way

Superior man confronts pipeline crew, arrested for trespassing on his own land - WITI: "A northwestern Wisconsin man who confronted a work crew building a pipeline across his land is arrested for trespassing on his own property."

Hat tip to John Hall.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Legislature tries to draw tan line for teenagers: "State Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, wants to put new limits on teenagers using tanning salons, and he's right to do so. There's no medical need for teens under 18 to tan, and the potential for long-range health problems is real.

Solomons' House Bill 1310 would bar anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed without a doctor's note and a parent present. That would both broaden and simplify current law, which requires anyone under 16 to have a parent at the salon while they are tanning, and anyone under 13 to get a doctor's note."

Yet Another Re-Imagining

The Hollywood Reporter | Heat Vision: 'Nutcracker' being reimagined as an action-adventure: "New Line has picked up a pitch from Darren Lemke, the writer behind the studio’s Bryan Singer project “Jack the Giant Killer,” that reimagines the classic tale of “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” as an action-adventure movie."

New Story at BEAT to a PULP

BEAT to a PULP :: Charlie and Stevie Do a Repo :: Kieran Shea

Ticket to Ride -- Ed Gorman

Those of us who were around in 1965 will never forget those days. I always think of the Pete Seeger song "Wasn't that a Time?" And Ed Gorman captures it so well in Ticket to Ride that it's almost like taking a trip back there in a time machine. That alone is enough to make the book worth reading, but of course you always get a lot more in a book by Gorman.

This is part of the Sam McCain series, and if you haven't read it, you're missing one of the finest series of mystery novels around. Period. I can't understand why they're not selling ten times as many copies as the stuff I see on the bestseller list.

Okay, that's not true. I can, and I'll tell you why. (1) The books don't offer you a mile-a-minute chase through exotic settings around the world. They're set in the small city of Black River Falls, where people have lived together and known each other since their school days. (2) They don't have larger-than-live villains with names like The Homicidalist. All the people are ordinary folks, just like you and me and our neighbors, human beings with flaws and good points who sometimes make some really bad decisions. (3) There's no larger-than-life hero, either. McCain's no cryptologist with a Ph.D. in Arcania. He's just a guy with problems of his own. (4) What happens in the books won't shake the world from Peking to the Kremlin to Washington. It will shake the town of Black River Falls, though, and it will shake the people there. It will shake you if you read the book. What happens to the people in the book will matter to you. (5) The book's not 500 pages long. It's longer than a classic Gold Medal, I suppose, but it's lean and streamlined. And the writing is so good that you'll wish you could do as well.

Okay, I haven't even said anything specific about the book, and I don't think I will. You should just read it, and if you haven't read the other books in the series, read them, too. They're funny, they're heartbreaking, they're good mysteries. Find out what you've been missing. You'll thank me later.

California Leads the Way

Giving tourists a look at gang culture -- latimes.com: "A group of civic activists, united by faith and a belief that the poor economy in the interior of Los Angeles is a social injustice, is preparing to offer bus tours of some of the grittiest pockets of the city, including decayed public housing, sites of deadly shootouts and streets ravaged by racial unrest.

After a VIP preview last weekend, L.A. Gang Tours expects to open to the public in January, giving tourists a look at the cradle of the nation's gang culture -- the birthplace of many of the city's gangs, including Crips and Bloods, Florencia 13 and 18th Street."

Uh-Oh

It appears that our heating unit stopped working sometime during the night. As it's 28 degrees outside, we sort of need heat.

No Comment Department

BBC News - Library ban for 'pungent body odour' man: "Library officials in Leicestershire have banned a regular reader from their building following complaints about his 'pungent' body odour.

The council said they were forced to act as visitors left Wigston Library when Stuart Penman, 27, arrived.

Staff said they have advised him about his personal hygiene, but it had not improved after a year."

The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy

Friday, December 04, 2009

Liam Clancy, R. I. P.

The Associated Press: Irish folk pioneer Liam Clancy dies in Cork at 74: "Irish balladeer Liam Clancy, last of the Clancy Brothers troupe whose feisty, boozy songs of old Ireland struck a sentimental chord worldwide, died Friday in a Cork hospital. He was 74.

Clancy died in his hospital bed flanked by his wife Kim and daughters Siobhan and Fiona, his manager and family said. He suffered for years against incurable pulmonary fibrosis, the same lung-destroying disease that claimed one of his older singing brothers, Bobby, in 2002."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Update: 'Tracks' found in area where 'Bigfoot-type' creature spotted | WOAI.COM: San Antonio News: "Experts are now investigating reported sightings of a large, hairy, 'Bigfoot-type' creature on the West Side."

Um, "experts"? Why wasn't I asked?

Yet Another List I'm Not On

Holiday Books - Notable Crime Books of 2009 - List - NYTimes.com

Steven Seagal Leads the Way

'Steven Seagal Lawman' breaks A&E record: "It's been a pretty good Nielsen week for A&E.

The network's new original series 'Steven Seagal Lawman' premiered Wednesday with two back-to-back episodes and a record-breaking 3.5 million total viewers and 2.0 million viewers in adults 18-49, making it the most-watched original series launch in A&E's history in all key demos."

Next Year: Dave White?

Jack Nicholson - Nicholson And Devito To Join New Jersey Hall Of Fame - Contactmusic News: "JACK NICHOLSON and DANNY DEVITO have landed a hometown honour - the Hollywood actors are the latest additions to the New Jersey Hall of Fame."

No Comment Department

Woman killed sister over hair straighteners | Herald Sun: "A SYDNEY woman has admitted killing her 18-year-old sister in a fight over a pair of hair straighteners."

Tastes Like . . . Whoa, Nellie!

Cluck of a find: Chicken filled with cocaine - wtop.com: "A close inspection by Customs and Border Protection officers at Dulles International Airport turned up something unexpected. Inside a fully-cooked chicken they found cocaine with an estimated street value of $4,300."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

At least he didn't waste the money.

Houston man could go to prison for eBay hot tub scam | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "A Houston man who pretended to sell hot tubs on eBay but instead took $191,000 from 46 customers and spent it on expensive cigars, trips and strip clubs pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday."

Partners in Crime

Janet Rudolph asked me to do a guest blog at Mystery Fanfare about writing with a partner. I sent her my contribution a few minutes ago, and it's already up on the blog! Check it out.

Snow?

Yes, snow. Falling in Alvin, Texas. Good grief.

Top 10 Most-Watched TV Shows of the Decade

Top 10 most-watched shows of the decade: "A list of the most-watched TV episodes of the decade reads like an exercise in nostalgia. Only one telecast aired after 2006. With the increasingly fractured TV universe, we probably won't see a list quite like this again."

The Top 10 Creepiest Fast Food Mascots

The Top 10 Creepiest Fast Food Mascots - Legendary Ads - Fanpop

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.

Taser Update

Deputies shock 'out of control' 10-year-old child with Taser - San Jose Mercury News: "Colorado sheriff's deputies shocked an 'out of control' 10-year-old child with a Taser and arrested him.

Pueblo Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Teschner said Wednesday that the boy was not hurt when deputies took action Monday after arriving at his foster home, where he was reportedly destroying property."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Wanted Poster For Accused Lotto Ticket Thief

Now They Can Stop Doing Those Annoying Ads

The Buzz Log - From Cave to Castle - Yahoo! Buzz: "There's rags to riches and then there's rags to mega-riches. Two brothers from Hungary definitely fall into the second category.

Until recently, Geza and Zslot Peladi lived in a cave near Budapest. Completely destitute, the two cave-brothers earned money by gathering scrap metal and selling candy they found on the street. That all changed the moment they heard that they stood to inherit a substantial portion of their maternal grandmother's $6.6 billion fortune. (That's billion, with a 'B.')"

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.

Forgotten Books: THE TOOTH AND THE NAIL -- Bill S. Ballinger

In his best novels, two of which are included in the volume pictured here, Bill S. Ballinger used the technique of telling what appear to be two different stories in alternating chapters of first- and third-person narration. Eventually the stories intersect in a way that's almost certain to surprise the reader.

In The Tooth and the Nail, the first person chapters are told by Luis Montana, aka Lewis Mountain, a magician. I'm a sucker for stories about magicians, but that's just one reason I like this novel. The third-person chapters are about a murder trial, and and gimmick is that the reader doesn't know who's on trial of who the victim was. Much less what this has to do with Lewis Mountain.

I'd say more, but just about anything I added would be giving away too much and take away the fun of discovery. Best I keep quiet. All I'll say is that the volume I have also contains Portrait in Smoke, which some people (Al Guthrie, maybe) like better than the one I prefer. My own previous comments are here. If you spot this double volume, you should grab it and read it and see for yourself. Maybe you'll hate it, maybe you'll like it. Check it out.

Bullets or Ballots

Thursday, December 03, 2009

A Meme

Evan Lewis, over at Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and The Wild West tagged me with this one: "What are your five favorite internet stores (other than Amazon)?"

Actually, I don't think I can come up with five unless we count Abebooks and Half.com, both of which I use mainly for buying out-of-print books. I buy running shoes at Holabird Sports. I buy some gear from Sports Depot, too. Electronics stuff, I get from Fry's now and then. That's about it for me. I use Amazon more than anywhere else.

Stay off His Lawn!

PhillyBurbs.com: �Naked man accused of threatening to kill cops: "A naked Lower Southampton man stood in his front yard threatening to kill five police officers Wednesday, police said. He is now in Bucks County prison in lieu of $1 million cash bail."

Another List I'm Not On

100 Notable Books of 2009 - The New York Times

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

I'm Holding On To My Signed Copy

The Associated Press: Rare 1st Poe book could fetch record at NY auction: "When a teenage Edgar Allan Poe moved to Boston to find work in 1827, he was eager to launch his literary career, re-establish his roots in the city of his birth and distance himself from his foster father in Richmond, Va.

The result was his first book, 'Tamerlane and Other Poems,' virtually unnoticed when published but now one of the world's rarest and most sought-after texts.

Experts at Christie's auction house say it could sell for a record price for American literature.

'This is known as the black tulip of U.S. literature,' said Francis Wahlgren, head of books and manuscripts at Christie's in New York, which expects to get from $500,000 to $700,000 for the book on Friday. To the best of Wahlgren's recollection, the record is $250,000 for a copy of 'Tamerlane' sold at auction nearly two decades ago."

Hat tip to Scott Cupp.

10 Worst SF Movies of the Decade

AMC - Blogs - SciFi Scanner - John Scalzi - The Ten Worst SciFi Blockbusters of the '00s

I've seen two, and I liked them.

The Game's Afoot!

Sherlock Holmes and a new twist in game narrative | Technology | guardian.co.uk: "To lead up to the release of Guy Ritchie's idiosyncratic Sherlock Holmes interpretation, Warner Bros has commissioned a fascinating co-operative experience entitled 221B. Accessed via Facebook Connect, it's a sort of Myst-style graphical adventure, in which players must solve a series of crimes by reading witness reports, analysing evidence, interrogating suspects and occasionally chasing shadowy ne'er-do-wells through alleyways in Flash minigames.

The really clever bit is that when you sign-up, you select whether you want to play as Holmes or Watson, then nominate a friend to take on the other role – both players need to work together as they'll receive different clue elements; Watson isn't privy to the crime scene data while Holmes doesn't have the stomach for interrogations."

Houston's 8 Ugliest Buildings

Architecture Gone Awry: Houston's 8 Ugliest Buildings - Houston News - Hair Balls

Link via Mike McGruff.

The Secret Bowling Alley

Nick Carr: The Secret Bowling Alley: "A hidden Prohibition-era bowling alley?"

Nice photos at the link.

Fools for Scandal

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Headline of the Day

Bra-Mask Could Save Your Life | Elena Bodnar

Hat tip to Seepy Benton.

The Story With No Name Continues!

Frequent commenter Cap'n Bob Napier spins the latest part of the yarn.

The Cap'n's Blog: The Story With No Name, Chapter 18

Walter Satterthwait Tells Me That This . . .

. . . is the best fight scene of all time!

Another Giveaway!

Women of Mystery: Giveaway: The Gift of Murder: "As promised, to ease your holiday travail and add to its delights, we are giving away 3 copies of the Wolfmont Publishing anthology to benefit Toys for Tots. THE GIFT OF MURDER is packed with wintry holiday crime, and is available in hardcopy or e-book formats at The Digital Bookshop."

Houston PD Crime Lab in Big Trouble. Again.

Mistakes by emloyees at HPD lab leads to review of cases - 12/01/09 - Houston News - abc13.com: "There was a major announcement this morning from the Houston Police Department. It could lead to a review of six years worth of cases.

A stunning review by a consulting firm found that in at least 53 percent of cases that consultants looked at, the fingerprint lab at the Houston Police Department made mistakes. That discovery has led to an internal affairs investigation.

In a press conference held today, the department announced plans to review every major case from the last six years. That means every murder, every rape, every robbery, every violent attack, to make sure there aren't suspects who got away despite the evidence."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Texas woman burned with pie during fight - KIAH: "A pecan pie fight on Thanksgiving led to a woman suffering burns and her brother facing assault allegations."

The World's Most Dangerous Roads

The photos are enough to cause me to have nightmares.

The world's most extreme and dangerous roads | Simonseeks

Link via Neatorama.

Life on Mars Update

Nasa: compelling evidence of life on Mars - Telegraph: "A research team at Johnson Space Centre in Houston has been re-examining a meteorite that hit Antarctica 13,000 years ago, and found the most compelling evidence yet that the planet once harboured bacterial life.

The team says that microscopic crystals found in the rock are almost certainly fossilised bacteria that have many characteristics in common with bacteria found on Earth."

Another List I'm Not On

Texas Reads: Top Texas Books of the Year, 2009

Crime School

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

New Issue of Thuglit Now On-Line

Click here.

Bob Keane, R. I. P.

The Associated Press: Del-Fi Records founder Bob Keane dies in LA at 87: "Del-Fi Records founder Bob Keane, who discovered rocker Ritchie Valens, has died in Los Angeles at age 87.
[. . . .]
In 1958, he discovered the 17-year-old Valens at a small concert and invited him to record in his home studio.

Their brief association led to Valens' hits 'Come On, Let's Go,' 'Donna' and 'La Bamba.'"

Hat tip to Scott Cupp.

Another List I'm Not On

Yahoo! Year in Review 2009 - Top 10 Searches

Taser Update

The Associated Press: Ark. officer who used stun gun on girl, 10, fired: "The police officer in a small Arkansas town who used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl has been fired for violating department policy — not for using the Taser itself but for failing to use the camera attached to it, according to the town's mayor."

Hat tip to John Duke.

Sleuths and Spurs

It's been six years since this article was published in January Magazine, and I'd almost forgotten about it until today when Larry Sweazy mentioned that he occasionally directed people to it. So I thought I'd link it just in case there were some of you who hadn't read it and might be interested. And Larry's guest blogging about cross-genre mysteries over at Meritorious Mysteries today if you'd like to take a look.

Here's the Plot of Your Next Prison Break Novel

Search goes on for escapee, answers | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "As Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr. remained on the lam this morning, authorities were also searching for answers as to how a supposedly-disabled, incarcerated felon in a wheelchair managed to get a gun, hijack a van with two Texas Department of Criminal Justice guards and then disappear into the morning.

Authorities said the inmate's plan unfolded about 5:45 a.m Monday as the guards left the Estelle Unit in Huntsville on their way to the Stiles Unit in Beaumont. Comeaux sprang into action and pulled a gun and fired a warning shot as they reached Highway 105 in Conroe.

The 49-year-old inmate then forced the two correctional officers transporting him to drive to Baytown, where he handcuffed the guards and took a 12-gauge shotgun and two semiautomatic pistols from them."

And the Winner Is . . . .

Bad Sex for Jonathan Littell | theBookseller.com: "Jonathan Littell has beaten stiff competition from Philip Roth, Nick Cave and Paul Theroux to the Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award for his novel The Kindly Ones (Chatto).

The awards were announced yesterday evening (30th November) at the In & Out Club in London, where the accolade was awarded by actor Charles Dance and accepted by Littell's editor on his behalf."

Hat tips to Jeff Meyerson and Toby O'B.

Cory Doctorow on the Future of Bookselling

Some half-formed thoughts on one future for bookselling - Boing Boing

Here's the article Doctorow refers to in his first sentence.

Aw, Mom, Gimme a Break

Police: Son Robs Mom's Restaurant - ClickonDetroit.com- msnbc.com: "Dearborn Heights police said a Wendy’s restaurant manager turned a would-be thief in when she realized it was her own son who was trying to rob the place."

Bess Lomax Hawes, R. I. P.

Bess Lomax Hawes, Co-Writer of ‘M.T.A.’ Song, Dies at 88 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com: "Bess Lomax Hawes, a folklorist, teacher and singer who helped write “M.T.A.,” an enduring folk ditty about an unfortunate subway commuter that became a hit for the Kingston Trio in 1959, died on Friday in Portland, Ore. She was 88 and lived in Portland."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Everything, Including the Kitchen Sink

News of the Weird: Carry-on items confiscated include nunchucks, baby alligator - The York Daily Record: "Thousands of airline passengers continue to attempt to bring prohibited carry-on items on board. The New York Post reported in September that the Transportation Security Administration had confiscated 123,000 items so far this year from just the three main airports serving New York City. Included were 43 explosives, 1,600 knives, a 10-point deer antler, several fire extinguishers, a tree branch, nunchucks, a grill, a baby alligator, 'unwashed adult toys,' a gassed-up chain saw and a kitchen sink."

Crime by Night

Monday, November 30, 2009

A Dilbert Post for Crime Writers to Read

Scott Adams Blog: It's Getting Harder to Be a Criminal 11/30/2009

Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life

Why is it that the nation that put a man on the moon can't produce a plastic bag that will keep a newspaper dry?

Not that it matters much anymore. Today's Houston Chronicle was about the thickness of a Hershey bar. Soon it'll be so thin it'll disappear.

Mr. Monk in Trouble -- Lee Goldberg

In 1962 there was a train robbery in Trouble, California. The stolen gold was never recovered. Now there's been a murder in Trouble's museum dedicated to the railroad and the gold-mining era. Monk is called in to help solve the murder, but naturally he has to solve the old case, too. Crimes must be solved. Things must be symmetrical.

As usual in the Monk books, there are plenty of other crimes along the way. Not as usual, however, is that many of them are solved not by the current Mr. Monk but by a man who lived in Trouble during the gold rush days, an assayer named Artemis Monk, who has all the same quirks as the present-day Monk, including the ability to solve crimes. The current Monk's assistant, Natalie, reads all about the previous Monk in a book written by his assistant.

(Digression: One of the stories she reads has already appeared in EQMM, and I mention it in my column on short stories in Mystery Scene. You do read my column in Mystery Scene, don't you?)


One of the stories in the book Natalie reads turns out to be crucial to finding the stolen gold and to uncovering the killer of the museum guard.

The relationship between Monk and Natalie has always been as interesting to me as the mystery plots in these novels, and it takes a new and intriguing turn in this installment. I'm looking forward to seeing what develops in future books.

Mr. Monk in Trouble is another fine, hilarious entry in Lee Goldberg's series, and I read it with a smile on my face, except for the times I laughed out loud. I recommend it to fans of the TV series, and to anybody else. And I would say that even if a certain blogger that we all know and love (namely me) weren't tuckerized in the book. In fact, you'll run across many familiar names of crime and western writers if you read Mr. Monk in Trouble, and there are some other in-jokes that I won't spoil for you. Check it out.

I'll Be on Blog Talk Radio on December 9

When and where Murder, She Writes is aired: For this special event, we are broadcasting on live from 7 to 8:00 p.m. Central time on the main channel of Blog Talk Radio. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/murdershewrites

The show will then be replayed twelve hours later that same day. Each show will be archived for listening 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The archives are also available for MP3 downloads.

Out of the Gutter Magazine #6

It's the "Sexploitation Issue." You can pre-order it at the link.

Out of the Gutter Magazine: "The ONLY pulp magazine in print is caught with its pants down"

Pat Novak, For Hire

Old Time Radio Fan :: Series :: Pat Novak, For Hire

This is a favorite series of a lot of people. Jack Webb is great in it. Check out an episode or two for some of the wackiest similes in radio.

Walmart: I Love You Flash Stories

Patti Abbott's flash story challenge produced a lot of stories. Links to most, if not all, of them appear on Patti's blog, linked below.

pattinase: WALMART: I LOVE YOU

Cry Danger

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Win a Book!


Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Welcome our Guest Blogger Barb Goffman!: "And if you’re feeling lucky, maybe you can win a copy here. Everyone who comments below (before midnight tonight) with a funny story about their own cooking mishap—I can’t be the only one with a pie story, especially with this being the Sunday after Thanksgiving—will have their names thrown in a hat. I’ll mail one signed copy to the winner."

Go to the link to make your comments. Maybe you'll win a good book for Christmas. Even better, buy copies for yourself and all your friends. All profits go to Toys for Tots.

But the Moon Never Beams . . . .

Vietnamese man dug up wife's corpse 'so he could hug her' - Telegraph: "The 55-year-old man from a small town in the central province of Quang Nam opened up his wife's grave in 2004, moulded clay around the remains to give the figure of a woman, put clothes on her and then placed her in his bed, Vietnamnet.vn said.

The man, Le Van, told the website that after his wife died in 2003 he slept on top of her grave, but about 20 months later he worried about rain, wind and cold, so he decided to dig a tunnel into the grave 'to sleep with her'."

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

Here's the Plot of Your Next Gruesome Novel

The Associated Press: 10,000 E. African albinos in hiding after killings: "The mistaken belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa's albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set."

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

A Cruise To Die For

New York Leads the Way

Fifth Ave "Peep Show" Window Display Draws Crowds - WPIX: "Forget the candy cane carousels; a new kind of window display has jaws dropping down Fifth Avenue.

Female clothing line XOXO is drawing crowds this holiday season, thanks to its new, 'live' window display. Creative director and designer Carol Powley, calls her living mannequins 'window theater.'

The encasement depicts a young woman's apartment, where two attractive models try on clothes, flip through magazines and paint each other's nails. After dark, they change into evening wear, and spend hours primping and polishing for a night out on the town. Did we mention this is all in front of gawking crowds?"

The Butler Didn't Do It

Police: murderous moose a suspect in Swedish death - Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009 | 8:27 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun: "Swedish police say they've cleared a man who was arrested for allegedly murdering his wife after deciding the culprit was most likely a moose.

Police spokesman Ulf Karlsson says 'the improbable has become probable' in the puzzling death last year of 63-year old Agneta Westlund. She was found dead after an evening stroll in the forest."

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

Broadway Is My Beat

Another old radio show with great intros is Broadway is My Beat. Listen to a few minutes of just about any show at the link, and you'll hear some of the best mood-setting purple prose around.

Broadway Is My Beat - Free Shows - Listen Now!

Dead and Buried