Wednesday, September 07, 2011
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
NJ.com: The victim said, "You should've just gone around us - my dog was peeing," the scooter-rider began screaming and swinging her scooter at the dog owner, reports said.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Lassiter: A Novel (9780553806748): Paul Levine: Books: Eighteen years ago, Jake Lassiter crossed paths with a teenage runaway who disappeared into South Florida’s sex trade. Now he retraces her steps and runs head-on into a conspiracy of Miami’s rich and powerful who would do anything to keep the past as dark as night and silent as the grave. In this tale of redemption and revenge, Edgar-nominated author Paul Levine delivers his most powerful thriller yet.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Pair claim they can make ammonia to fuel cars for just 20 cents per liter: John Fleming of SilverEagles Energy and Tim Maxwell from Texas Tech University, say they have developed a way to make ammonia that is cheap enough so that it could be used as fuel for cars. If their claims turn out to be true, many consumers might consider switching over because ammonia, when burned in an engine, emits nothing but nitrogen and water vapor out the tailpipe. And if that’s not enough incentive, they claim they can make the ammonia for just 20 cents a liter (approximately 75 cents a gallon).
Link via Boing Boing.
Wardell Quezergue, R. I. P.
'Creole Beethoven' Wardell Quezergue dies | wwltv.com New Orleans: New Orleans musician and band leader Wardell Quezergue, a man known locally as the Creole Beethoven, has died. He was 81.
Quezerque’s imprint on local music scene looms large, arranging “Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups, “Mona Lisa” by Aaron Neville, Professor Longhair’s “Iko Iko” and “Big Chief” and Earl King’s “Trick Bag.”
In 1992, he produced Dr. John’s Grammy award-winning “Goin' Back to New Orleans.”
Quezerque’s imprint on local music scene looms large, arranging “Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups, “Mona Lisa” by Aaron Neville, Professor Longhair’s “Iko Iko” and “Big Chief” and Earl King’s “Trick Bag.”
In 1992, he produced Dr. John’s Grammy award-winning “Goin' Back to New Orleans.”
Don't Try This at Home
Shopper arrested with live lobsters in shorts: A man in southern Mississippi is accused of trying to walk out of a D'Iberville grocery store without paying for food items he'd stuffed into his cargo shorts including live lobsters.
Hat tip to Art Scott.
Here's the Plot for Your Next Suitcase Thriller
Bronx woman admits stuffing her dead roommate in suitcase - but says she did nothing wrong: "It's like a bad Samsonite commercial," a law-enforcement source said.
Hat tip to Art Scott.
AbeBooks' Top 10 Most Expensive Sales in August 2011
AbeBooks' Top 10 Most Expensive Sales in August 2011: August's top sales on AbeBooks includes several household names. Ian Fleming and his sixth James Bond novel, Dr. No, appears alongside P.D. James and her first Adam Dalgliesh novel, Cover Her Face. Edward Gorey also slides onto the top 10 with his 15-work collection of strangely dark writing and illustration, Amphigorey.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: The Complete, Annotated Whose Body? (9781461060444): Dorothy L. Sayers, Bill Peschel: Books: "The Complete, Annotated Whose Body" contains:
More than 500 notes on England's personalities, aristocracy, politics, religion, history, society, and literature.
Three maps of London showing locations important to the novel.
Essays about England in the 1920s, such as anti-Semitism, Argentine banks and notorious criminals.
Timelines of the life of Dorothy L. Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey's cases.
"The Complete, Annotated Whose Body" contains more than 40,000 words of commentary on Sayers' novel and her world, helping readers to deepen their understanding and enjoyment of one of mystery's great detectives.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
The Proofreaders' Page and other Uncollected Items by Fredric Brown in Literature & Fiction: A collection of columns by world-famous mystery and science fiction author, Fredric Brown, looking at all aspects of proof-reading from obscure rules of grammar and punctuation to tips on the best way to lay out a book. A must for any budding author who wishes to publish their own book and needs some tips on how to avoid the most common mistakes. Also includes several other rare and uncollected items by Fredric Brown including a mystery short story ("Fatal Facsimile") that hasn't been reprinted since it was first published 49 years ago; 24 humorous advice columns by the intrepid Colonel Cluck; a selection of Brown's early attempts at poetry; and much, much more!
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Dallas/Fort Worth: The winners of the Texas State Fair's 2011 Seventh Annual Big Tex Choice fried food awards are:
Best Taste: Buffalo chicken flapjacks
Most Creative: Fried bubblegum
Best Taste: Buffalo chicken flapjacks
Most Creative: Fried bubblegum
Highly Recommended by Judy (as are the other books in this series)
Rhys Bowen: In 1933, Georgie, the mystery world’s favorite penniless heiress, escapes to the French Riviera after Her Majesty the Queen sends her there on a mission to recover her stolen snuff box.
Lady Georgie is honored to be trusted by the Queen—and even more honored when she meets Coco Chanel and is asked to model her latest clothing line. But when a necklace belonging to the Queen is stolen on the catwalk, Georgie not only has to find two priceless items—she also has an unsolved murder on her hands and has to keep an eye on her love interest, Darcy O’Mara, who has been acting awfully suspicious throughout Georgie’s ordeal.
Texas Wildfires Update
Yahoo! News: State officials say more than 1,000 homes have burned in at least 57 wildfires in Texas over the past week.
Speaking Tuesday at a news conference near one of the fire-ravaged areas, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said more than 100,000 acres have burned in rain-starved Texas.
Speaking Tuesday at a news conference near one of the fire-ravaged areas, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said more than 100,000 acres have burned in rain-starved Texas.
PaperBack
Jayne Mansfield & Mickey Hargity, Jayne Mansfield's Wild, Wild World, Holloway House, 1963
A Blog You'll Want to Follow
To the Batpoles!: A few episodes of Batman a Day as seen through the eyes of Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri.
New Discussion at Top Suspense Group
Top Suspense Group: INSIDE TOP SUSPENSE: Your Favorite Character: This week on INSIDE TOP SUSPENSE we’re talking about our Favorite Characters from a suspense, thriller, mystery, or horror novel. (Excluding our own.) Who’s yours? Why? What makes them so memorable? Hope you’ll join the conversation.
Forgotten Films: Mister Buddwing
Evan Hunter's novel was called Buddwing, without the "Mister." I read it before I saw the movie, and in fact I can remember buying the paperback and exactly what the cover looked like. It has one of my favorites plots, the one where the main character wakes up with total amnesia. There's no murder, though, just a guy trying to figure out who and what he is.The guy is James Garner, and the place he wanders around in is Manhattan. If you want to see the city in black and white in the middle '60s, the movie's worth a look for that alone. And notice the the women he becomes a bit involved with in wanderings. Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Katherine Ross, and Angela Lasbury (Jessica Fletcher was never like this!).
The movie's a bit disjointed, but it's worth watching for the setting and the performances. The book is better, another of Hunter's big bestsellers before Ed McBain took over, but watch the movie if you get a chance. It shows up on TCM now and then.
Monday, September 05, 2011
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
And it's only 99 cents!
Five years ago John Coburn watched as his father was gunned down by a masked man. Tortured by the fact that the killer was never caught, Coburn fights the feelings of failure that haunt his every waking moment.
Now, history has repeated itself. When his best friend Felix is murdered after agreeing to protect a witness, John Coburn dives in to catch the killer before the police and FBI. Battling official law enforcement and his own demons, Coburn turns over every lead, rattles every cage, and stretches his own moral code to the breaking point. As he digs deeper into a mystery that involves team of thieves, corrupt businessmen, and a mafia kingpin with a price on his head, Coburn realizes that revenge has a cost he cannot calculate.
If he fails, can he live with another ghost?
If he succeeds, can he live with the consequences?
Rocket in My Pocket -- Max Décharné
If you grew up when I did or if you're at all interested in the history of rock, you'll get a bang out of A Rocket in my Pocket, which is not so much a hipster's guide (as the cover blurb calls it) as a history of a great time for American music. Hundreds of people who wanted to be Elvis Presley were recording at major labels and in tiny studios all over the country. Very few of them met with any success, but the music they made is as raw and vital today as it ever was. (Listen to Rockabilly Roadtrip on XM if you don't believe it.)Max Décharné writes about the music with appreciation and enthusiasm, and it's great stuff. You'll read about Elvis, Wanda Jackson, Charlie Feathers, and dozens more, even Arlie Duff, who was my favorite DJ when I was in college in Austin long ago. Rockabilly is an essential part of American music, and this book is a great starting point if you want to learn about it. It's also a great trip back in time for those of us who came of age during the rockabilly era. It's out in October, and it's highly recommended.
First the Gators Were Everywhere; Now . . .
NY seeks stop to wild hogs; may ban captive hunts - Yahoo! News: Feral swine are breeding in three counties in central New York, according to a federal study done last year with funding from New York's Invasive Species Council. The wild population statewide is likely in the hundreds , said Gordon Batcheller, head of the state Department of Environmental Conservation's Bureau of Wildlife.That's small compared with Texas, where biologists estimate the feral hog population at around 2 million, but Batcheller said any number is bad because they're certain to multiply. Damage becomes more noticeable when the population reaches the thousands and the hogs stake out home territories rather than wandering widely.
Hat tip to Seepy Benton.
Labor Day
U.S. DOL - The History of Labor Day: The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Apocalypse Now
While to the east of us Lee is flooding the countryside, Texas is burning. Wildfires all over the state, and some are out of control. The one near Bastrop is supposedly 10 miles long at this point and is about to be joined by another fire. The high winds coming from Lee are whipping the fires, of course. Parts of Interstate 45 north of Houston were closed earlier because of heavy smoke from other fires. All this is on top of all the other weather-related catastrophes this year, including the never-ending drought in Texas, where lakes and wells are going dry. I'm pretty sure the Four Horsemen are saddling up.
Update: The fire near Bastrop is now 16 miles long. At least 300 homes damaged or destroyed. So far.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Got an Amazon U. K. account? Great book, huge bargain!Slammer eBook: Allan Guthrie: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store: A dark, psychological thriller set in a Scottish prison.
Young prison officer, Nicholas Glass, is finding the stresses of his new job increasingly hard to handle. Bullied and abused by inmates and colleagues alike, each day is getting longer than the one before. When a group of cons uses outside help to threaten his wife and daughter, he agrees to do them a "favour". But as their threats escalate, and one favour leads to another, he grows ever closer to breaking point.
‘Ed Gein, The Musical
An offbeat approach to story of La Crosse-born killer: “Ed Gein, The Musical” is a 92-minute musical/comedy/horror movie filmed in Wisconsin and based on the notorious killer and grave robber from Plainfield, Wis. Though he conducted his gory crime spree while living in Plainfield, Gein was born in La Crosse.
Paul Lindsay,: R.I.P.
Mystery Fanfare: Paul Lindsay: R.I.P.: Paul Lindsay, the former Detroit-based FBI agent and author of seven novels under both his own name and the pseudonym Noah Boyd (The Bricklayer, Agent X), “died peacefully Thursday night at a Boston hospital of pneumonia with his family by his side. He was 68.”
A Killer's Essence -- Dave Zeltserman
Stan Green's a New York City cop with more problems than most. His supervisor doesn't like him, his wife's divorced him and remarried, his kids are slipping away from him, his current romance isn't going so well, and now he's on the hunt for a serial killer. Zachary Lynch, because of a traumatic brain injury, can't bear to look at people because he sees not their faces but their true essences. He's the only witness to one of the serial killer's murders, and while he can identify him if he confronts him, he can't recognize him from a picture.
As interesting as the police procedural is in this novel, the relationship between Green and Lynch is even more interesting. Lynch can see things in Green that Green doesn't want to acknowledge about himself.
There's a lot going on in this novel, but Zeltserman meshes everything skilfully while moving the story along like a rocket, and he wraps everything up in under 250 pages. Mark this one up as another big hit in Zeltserman's current winning streak and be sure to check it out when it becomes available next month. You'll be glad you did.
And Keep Off His Lawn!
CBS News: Alan Moore has yet to play his first game, but he's already in the record books.
Suiting up for Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama, Moore - who's 61 - is the oldest player in college football history.
Suiting up for Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama, Moore - who's 61 - is the oldest player in college football history.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Gizmodo: The deadliest state to work in? Texas, with 456 fatalities. The safest? New Hampshire, with only 5. West Virginia won the explosion death contest, with 34—likely from all that coal mining, which is extremely dangerous and explosion-prone.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
khou.com Houston: Rogers was named Pound-for-Pound the World’s Strongest Man.
Saturday, September 03, 2011
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Make Mine a Mystery II: A Reader's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction (Genreflecting Advisory Series) (9781598845891): Gary Warren Niebuhr: Books: In this follow-up and companion to the author's previous title, Make Mine a Mystery: A Reader's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction, renowned expert on the mystery and detective genre Gary Warren Niebuhr brings readers' advisors and librarians a new resource guide that categorizes and describes recently published mystery novels.
Make Mine a Mystery II examines works by prominent established authors and includes books from new writers not in the previous edition. Organizing some 700 titles in popular mystery series, the books within are divided into the broader types—amateur, public, and private detective. Each of the selections within these groups is further categorized by the type of protagonist: classic, eccentric, lone wolf, police, lawyer, and so on. The author even notes whether each detective is of the "hardboiled," "softboiled" (cozy), or traditional type, enabling users to easily identify read-alikes for mystery fans. This book will be especially helpful for collection development specialists seeking to create a balanced collection of titles.
Christmas with the Dead Update
(re)search my Trash: An Interview with Terrill Lee Lankford, Director of Christmas with the Dead
Laurie McAllister, R. I. P.
latimes.com: Laurie Hoyt, who called herself Laurie McAllister when she hoisted the bass in L.A. bands the Runaways and the Orchids, died Aug. 25 in Eugene, Ore., according to her mother, Lavonne Hoyt. She said McAllister’s death was the result of asthma.
Born June 26, 1957, Laurie was the last in an illustrious line of foxy bass players to pass through the Runaways, the legendary all-girl band depicted in the 2010 movie "The Runaways." She joined guitarists-vocalists Joan Jett and Lita Ford and drummer Sandy West in 1978 and performed with the band live, but the Runaways broke up several months later. “Best job ever,” it said on McAllister’s Facebook profile, regarding her Runaways days.
Born June 26, 1957, Laurie was the last in an illustrious line of foxy bass players to pass through the Runaways, the legendary all-girl band depicted in the 2010 movie "The Runaways." She joined guitarists-vocalists Joan Jett and Lita Ford and drummer Sandy West in 1978 and performed with the band live, but the Runaways broke up several months later. “Best job ever,” it said on McAllister’s Facebook profile, regarding her Runaways days.
Friday, September 02, 2011
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Twice As Deadly eBook: Livia J Washburn: Kindle Store: Laura Bailey is a young woman struggling to establish herself as a private detective following the death of her father, a veteran PI who established the agency where she works. Set in a vividly depicted Dallas during the 1980s, the two novellas collected in this volume are action-packed private eye stories by one of the top authors in the genre, L.J. Washburn, the creator of the iconic PI character Lucas Hallam.
"Ancient and Deadly" originally appeared in THE BLACK MOON, published by Lynx Books. This is the first publication of "Deadly Performance".
Includes a new afterword by the author.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Only 99 cents!
Amazon.com: Toxicity eBook: Libby Fischer Hellmann: Kindle Store: Ten years before EASY INNOCENCE, PI Georgia Davis was a police officer on the force in a Chicago suburb. And while homicides are rare on the North Shore, three bodies turn up in quick succession—all of them dumped in waste disposal dumpsters or landfills. The investigations into the murders test the mettle and professionalism of a combined police task force. Along the way, they also test the strength of Georgia’s relationship with one of the detectives working the case. While Georgia, her detective boyfriend Matt, and his sometime partner John Stone pit their skills against those of an inventive killer, the daughter of a real estate mogul-- who just happens to have her eye on Matt -- complicates matters. A dark police procedural and thriller, TOXICITY is a prequel to the Georgia Davis PI series (EASY INNOCENCE and DOUBLEBACK).
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
And it's only 99 cents!Amazon.com: Little Girl Gone (A Logan Harper Thriller) eBook: Brett Battles: Kindle Store: For fans of Lee Child, John Gilstrap, and Barry Eisler comes a new thriller from Brett Battles, the Barry Award-winning author of the Jonathan Quinn series...
Logan Harper isn't looking for redemption. He just wants to live in peace and forget his troubled past. But one morning his quiet life is upended when he interrupts the attempted murder of his father’s best friend Tooney.
The next thing he knows, Logan is on his way to Los Angeles, searching for Tooney’s missing granddaughter and uncovering a sinister plot connected not only to Tooney’s Burmese past, but also to the boardrooms of corporate America.
As the odds stack up against him, Logan must fall back on old skills from the life he'd rather forget. He’s made a promise, and the only way to fulfill it is to bring the girl home alive.
The Great Chinese Pastime
latimes.com: In an international twist in the Dodgers' ownership saga, Frank McCourt has been offered $1.2 billion to sell the team to a group indirectly financed by the government of China.
Crackdown!
Newton man will serve 10 days in jail for overdue library materials: A Newton man will serve 10 days in jail for failing to return materials to the library. Twenty-eight-year old Christopher Allen Anspach was arrested for failing to return nearly $800 in library materials.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Airman Online: For 50 years, West has given basic trainees at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, their first military haircut. Since he chose the barber’s clippers over teaching and mortician’s school at the age of 19, he estimates he’s cut the hair of between 1.3 and 1.5 million trainees.
Jim Winter's Road Rules Cyber Road Trip
Just What The Heck Is A Chest Of St. Jakob?
When I originally sketched the story that became Road Rules, I needed what the great Alfred Hitchcock called “the MacGuffin,” the object that causes all the trouble. The MacGuffin is a time-honored tradition in thrillers, crime fiction, mysteries, and the odd comedy. Hitchcock, who coined the phrase, once said you didn’t really even need to know what it was until you almost finished the film.
You can see a classic example of this in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. In that movie, one of the best of the Roger Moore films, Bond is chasing a control device for Britain’s submarine-based nuclear arsenal across the Mediterranean, leading to a climactic showdown with the KGB and one of the best lines in a Bond movie: “Détente, General. I don’t have it. You don’t have it.” The thing is, EON Productions had absolutely no idea what Roger Moore was going to toss over the side of a cliff until right before principle photography began. And yet it fit smoothly into the story.
I needed a MacGuffin for Road Rules. I knew early on that the Cadillac would be involved. But a little research revealed that a 1962 Cadillac Coupe deVille would not really warrant the chaos I planned to create. Even making it the limo of a reputed mobster like Sam Giancana or Carlo Gambino wouldn’t help. But what did Cleveland have that could cause so much havoc?
It had St. Stanislaus, the large Catholic Church in the heart of Slavic Village. Which meant Cleveland had a bishop. In fact, at the time I started working on Road Rules, Bishop Anthony Pilla was plotting his retirement, which meant Cleveland would soon get a new bishop. If the bishop had a flair for the theatrical, it might involve a holy relic coming to Cleveland. Given that Cleveland still has a very large Polish community, whose epicenter was St. Stanislaus.
Of course, I didn’t want to misuse St. Stanislaus. Plus a four-hour trip to Cleveland to shoot photos and bug the priests was not really feasible. So I created St. Jakob’s. And since we needed a St. Jakob, I created one, St. Jakob of Danzig. Couple that with a bored Sunday afternoon watching The History Channel, and I was able to see a special on holy relics of the Catholic Church, including the bones of various saints. One in particular, those of Saint Nicholas (Yes, the original Santa Claus), stuck out for me. So, throw the bones in an ornate chest, send it to Cleveland so a new bishop can make a big splash with his new flock, throw in one shady insurance adjuster to steal it, and we’re off to the races.
A race down I-77 to South Carolina, but off to the races just the same.
You can buy a copy at Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.
The Best Guides to Book Collecting
Shelf Help: The Best Guides to Book Collecting on AbeBooks: At times, even the most knowledgeable collector must seek help in identifying a specific edition or completing their collection. And then there is the legion of people who love books but are baffled by the jargon of the rare book industry.
This selection of key reference books is designed to help beginners and perhaps some advanced collectors too. When it comes to learning about rare books, it is necessary to read more books. We have also included a couple of books that shed a little light on the rare book world itself and give some context to all the terminology.
This selection of key reference books is designed to help beginners and perhaps some advanced collectors too. When it comes to learning about rare books, it is necessary to read more books. We have also included a couple of books that shed a little light on the rare book world itself and give some context to all the terminology.
Forgotten Books: The Man Who Was Thursday -- G. K. Chesterton
This is another one of those books that's not really forgotten. It's just neglected, I think, by crime-fiction readers. It's hard to describe, much less summarize. And, yes, the cover of the edition pictured here does have something to do with the plot.The story opens with a discussion between Gregory and Syme, who discuss the nature of poetry. Gregory is an anarchist, and he believes that poetry is about revolt, whereas Syme insists that order is all and that the railroad timetable is man's most poetical creation. Later Gregory invites Syme for a drink. The table they're sitting at suddenly descends underground to the secret meeting place of an anarchist council, and then it gets weird. Each member of the council has taken the name of a day of the week, hence the book's title (which I love, by the way). It turns out that Syme is a policeman, and he gets himself elected head of the council.
Lots of action follows: sword fights, balloon escapes, chases on horseback, elephantback escapes, and more. What's revealed about the council and its members is best not mentioned here. You need to find that out for yourself.
Christian allegory, metaphysics, adventure, fantasy, action, and more. This book has it all. Not for everybody, I suspect, but check it out and give it a chance.
Thursday, September 01, 2011
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: First In, Last Out: Three Tom Gregory Stories eBook: Gerald So: Kindle Store: Collected for the first time, three stories of ex-Marine sniper Tom Gregory. Includes work originally published in SHOTS: CRIME & THRILLER EZINE UK and D.Z. ALLEN'S MUZZLE FLASH.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Tractor Girl eBook: James Reasoner: Kindle Store: Small-time crook Nick Paulson was pulled back from the brink of death by a blond goddess on an old red tractor. Wounded in an attempted mob execution, Nick thinks that the Texas farm where he finds himself recuperating from his injuries will be a good place to hide out from the men who want to kill him. But what he discovers there might turn out to be even more dangerous . . .
TRACTOR GIRL is a brand-new hardboiled crime novel in the classic mold of the 1950s Gold Medals from legendary yarnspinner James Reasoner, author of TEXAS WIND, DUST DEVILS, and DIAMONDBACK. Set in rural Texas in the early Fifties, filled with lust, obsession, greed, and violence and told at a breakneck pace, TRACTOR GIRL is redneck noir at its finest.
Never before published, 36,000 words.
A Birthday
While we were in Austin last weekend, we celebrated our son's birthday a little early (it was yesterday). And we got a surprise. He was trying to read the back of a DVD pack and couldn't. Judy pulled out a pair of old magnifying glasses she'd bought years ago and handed them to him. He was amazed to discover how easily he could read the words and how clear they were. It was a little of a shock to us to me and Judy to realize that he's starting to get far-sighted. How can that happen to someone who's so young? Well, maybe 41 isn't that young, after all, come to think of it. Happy birthday, Allen!
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Pearl on Fire eBook: Jerry Buck: Kindle Store: Newspaper obituary writer Sean Ellen Cox is one step away from her own gravestone for knowing too much—or too little. An artist friend hinted at his terror to her at his studio only hours before his murder, but the killer believes he told her everything. She knows nothing only that the artist mysteriously linked her to pearls—and wanted to paint like a Vermeer maiden.
She is aided, and sometimes undermined, by two detective lovers. Sean battles disbelief, treachery, fading loyalty, and scheming liaisons to a discovery that leaves her astonished—and humbly pleased. She is surrounded by people reluctant to reveal their own secrets, but all come unraveled on the way to a perilous climax—and surprising twist.
Jerry Buck was an Associated Press special writer and magazine writer in New York and Los Angeles. He is the author of two published novels and of two on Kindle. Plus numerous obituaries of the famous and infamous.
You Won't Be Surprised to Learn that Alcohol Was Involved
West Virginia News and Sports -: Tennessee police said they got a shock on Saturday when they discovered a wild raccoon in the car of a Parkersburg man arrested for streaking at a NASCAR event.
Ned Kelly Update
Bones of bush icon Ned Kelly identified | Reuters: Australian authorities have identified the remains of bushranger Ned Kelly, 131 years after the iconic outcast was hanged for murder and his body buried in the yard of a Melbourne gaol.
But mystery remains over the location of Kelly's skull, which was last thought to have sat on the desk of a Victorian state police detective in 1929.
But mystery remains over the location of Kelly's skull, which was last thought to have sat on the desk of a Victorian state police detective in 1929.
Free Richard Stark E-Book!
Amazon.com: The Score (Parker Novels) eBook: Richard Stark, John Banville: Kindle Store: You probably haven’t ever noticed them. But they’ve noticed you. They notice everything. That’s their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers’ work habits, the positions of the security guards. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They’re thieves. Heisters, to be precise. They’re pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. If you’re planning a job, you want him in. Tough, smart, hardworking, and relentlessly focused on his trade, he is the heister’s heister, the robber’s robber, the heavy’s heavy. You don’t want to cross him, and you don’t want to get in his way, because he’ll stop at nothing to get what he’s after.Parker, the ruthless antihero of Richard Stark’s eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hardboiled noir.
Life Imitates "Art"
Missouri City homeowners fed up with feral hogs destroying their yards | abc13.com: One man is fed up with the feral hogs on his property. He says right now there's nothing he can do about it. He's frustrated and he's not alone. He lives near Watts and Sienna Parkway in Missouri City.
That homeowner says he had to redo all his landscaping, but it's a frustrating situation for many people because the hogs just keep coming back.
Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know about Naming Storms
Irene, Jose, Katia: A storm by any other name ... - CNN.com: In another time, Tropical Storm Katia, which was barreling across the Atlantic early Wednesday, would have been called Katrina.
That's because the National Hurricane Center uses a roster of names it repeats every six years.
That's because the National Hurricane Center uses a roster of names it repeats every six years.
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