Wednesday, December 07, 2011
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
My Way News: British police have arrested a man after a parent's finger was bitten off during a fight before a school's Nativity play.
Hat tip to Steve Stilwell.
Harry Morgan, R. I. P.
Harry Morgan, 'M*A*S*H*' Star, Dies at 96 - The Hollywood Reporter: Harry Morgan, who was best known for his long-running portrayal of the fatherly Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H*, died at his Los Angeles home Wednesday morning at 96 years old. Morgan won an Emmy in 1980 for his performance as the unflappable medic.
A veteran of more than 50 years in films and TV, Morgan starred or co-starred in 11 TV series. He was an appealing Everyman whose calm manner and wry delivery were widely popular. In M*A*S*H*, his steady ways and wry humor tempered the more high-keyed natures of his co-star’s characters, Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John. He went on to co-star in its spin-off, AfterMASH (1984-85).
A veteran of more than 50 years in films and TV, Morgan starred or co-starred in 11 TV series. He was an appealing Everyman whose calm manner and wry delivery were widely popular. In M*A*S*H*, his steady ways and wry humor tempered the more high-keyed natures of his co-star’s characters, Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John. He went on to co-star in its spin-off, AfterMASH (1984-85).
12 Days of Bookmas Day 5
Play to win free books! Go here for an explanation of the contest and for a list of the many blogs where clues can be found.
Clues and question for Day 5 by Jessica Alvarez:
Day 5: Q- What was the first book Jessica A found for Harlequin Historical? And the first book she found for Love Inspired?
My clues: 1. She still loved Peter even though he didn't remain a boy forever and refused to use Grecian Formula. 2. The young horse knew it would spring eternal.
Virginia Leads the Way
Slate Magazine: It seems that since 1986, a Virginia law has barred schools from opening before Labor Day because it’s bad for the amusement park industry.
AbeBooks' Most Expensive Sales in November 2011
AbeBooks: If he were alive today Karl Heinrich Marx would probably have something to say after learning that AbeBooks had sold a very rare copy of Das Kapital, in three volumes, for $51,739.
Uh-Oh
My post on Dark City inspired Walter Satterthwait to alert me to the fact that Alex Proyas is filming Paradise Lost. And Rufus Sewell is in it. Casey Affleck is playing Gabriel. It's in 3-D. No word on whether the actors will be speaking Milton's glorious iambic pentameter, but I certainly hope so.
Retro SF Art
Dobie Gray, R. I. P.
The Hollywood Reporter: Singer and songwriter Dobie Gray, who had a top 5 hit in 1973 with the song “Drift Away,” has died. The news came on the evening of Dec. 6 via his official website, although no cause of death was listed.
Barbara Orbison, R. I. P.
USATODAY.com: Barbara Orbison, the widow of rock 'n' roll pioneer Roy Orbison, has died in Los Angeles. She was 60.
Hat tip to Scott Cupp.
12-7-41
Attack on Pearl Harbor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The attack on Pearl Harbor (called Hawaii Operation or Operation AI[6][7] by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters (Operation Z in planning)[8] and the Battle of Pearl Harbor[9]) was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Great concept, great list of contributors. Check it out.Amazon.com: Tales From The Fathomless Abyss eBook: Mike Resnick, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, Mel Odom, J.M. McDermott, Brad Torgersen, Philip Athans: Kindle Store: Combine six of the finest fantasy authors working in the genre today: Mike Resnick & Brad R. Torgersen, Jay Lake, Mel Odom, J.M. McDermott, and Cat Rambo, and mix in veteran editor and New York Times best-selling author Philip Athans, and what comes out is the Fathomless Abyss: a wild new fantasy world where the laws of physics only work against you, there’s no way out, and time means nothing.
This is the world of the Fathomless Abyss, a bottomless pit that opens who-knows-when onto who-knows-where, just long enough for new people from a thousand different worlds and a million different times to fall in and join the fight for survival in place where the slightest misstep means an everlasting fall into eternity.
Tales from the Fathomless Abyss features six new short stories, and it’s only the beginning. From here, each author will branch out to spin a series of new books sharing this impossible, explosive, infinite setting.
Your fall into the Fathomless Abyss begins here.
This is the world of the Fathomless Abyss, a bottomless pit that opens who-knows-when onto who-knows-where, just long enough for new people from a thousand different worlds and a million different times to fall in and join the fight for survival in place where the slightest misstep means an everlasting fall into eternity.
Tales from the Fathomless Abyss features six new short stories, and it’s only the beginning. From here, each author will branch out to spin a series of new books sharing this impossible, explosive, infinite setting.
Your fall into the Fathomless Abyss begins here.
12 Days of Bookmas -- Day 4 #bookmas
Play to win free books! Go here for an explanation of the contest and for a list of the many blogs where clues can be found.
Day 4 (Posted December 6, 2011 - Lauren) :
When I first started out in the publishing world, I interned at two different companies. My first internship was a bold introduction to commercial publishing where I learned my first two valuable lessons in publishing: 1. Publishing is about art and money, but rarely only one or the other. All books are art. All books need to make money. The best, most successful books are those that blend these elements well. 2. Just because I wouldn’t personally read a book for pleasure doesn’t mean there isn’t a healthy audience of those who would.
My second internship was where I fell in love with publishing and learned the ropes as completely as I could. I find that I still learn things—daily.
At which companies did I complete these two internships?
My clues: The first company is in the bag ; the second one is a giveaway.
Fast Five
Fast Five, in case you don't know, stars both Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, the artist formerly known as The Rock. After Judy and I watched this movie, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning testosterone residue out of the DVD player and off the TV screen. It was worth it, though, because this movie has everything you could possibly want except gratuitous nudity.Let's start with the script. It makes absolutely no sense at all. But who cares, right? Does anybody actually watch a movie like this because of the script? Of course not. You watch if for fast cars, explosions, lots of shooting, goofy stunts, and guys who stand around and bulge their muscles at each other. And that's what you get.
Now, about those stunts. Does anybody watch a movie like this for realistic action sequences. Of course not. You watch it for stuff that clearly impossible anywhere outside of the imagination of a screenwriter desperate to come up with something even more preposterous than he did the last time he wrote an action movie. Stuff you can laugh at rather than believe in. And that's what you get.
As for acting, we already know nobody watches movies like this for the acting. If they did, Laurence Olivier might have become an action star. What you want is snappy patter in something more or less resembling English. And that's what you get, except for the snappy patter in something more or less resembling other languages.
Bromance? You got it. Romance? A little. Happy ending (except for the guy with the "I Am Going to Get Killed" sign hanging around his neck)? You got it.
In other words, highly recommended.
Not Such a Wonderful Life
he Washington Post: “My life has never been wonderful,” she offered quietly. “Maybe when I was a child, but not after age 15.”
Paging Dan Brown
The Sun |News: AN artist claims to have cracked a 500-year-old mystery of the Mona Lisa after spotting secret images hidden in the famous painting.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
CBS Baltimore: According to a police report, the unidentified victim says she and Nicholson had gotten into an argument “because [Nicholson] was not taking care of her cat.”
Criminal Geniuses of the Day
Houston News: . . . these two geniuses swiped the digital camera on which these photos were taken (along with a laptop, TV, and a Wii) and then pawned it in Houston. Unfortunately for these two brainboxes, they forgot to delete the candid headshots they took with the camera before they hocked it.
Overlooked Movies -- Dark City
I was lucky enough to see Dark City in the theater when it first opened. I loved it. I thought at the time that it was the best P. K. Dick movie around, even if it wasn't based on a P. K. Dick story. Apparently not many people agreed with me, as the movie wasn't a hit. I thought it would be, which proves once again that my powers of prediction are negligible.The story opens in the way of so many paperback originals that I can't count them. A man wakes up with no memory of who he is or how he came to be where he is (in a bathtub). He has blood on him, and, sure enough, there's a dead body nearby. And then things get really weird. No one knows what's real and what's not real because The Strangers are implanting people with false memories. Perception and reality are twisted so that it seems as if nobody really knows what's going on.
Nice performances from Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly. Nice visuals, too, in a dark way.
If you like SF/crime mash-ups and you haven't seen this one, you've missed a real treat.
Monday, December 05, 2011
Darrell K. Sweet, R. I. P.
Darrell K. Sweet, 1934-2011 | Tor.com: It is with tremendous sadness that I report that Darrell K. Sweet passed away this morning. Since the mid 1970s, Darrell’s illustrations defined many of fantasy’s most beloved series—including Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time—among literally thousands of genre book covers. An avid history buff, Darrell also spent much of his time painting frontiersmen and the American West. His paintings evoked the classic storytelling narration of the Golden Age illustrators. A Sweet cover promised an adventure to be had.�
Buy My Book!
Amazon.com: The Nighttime is the Righttime eBook: Bill Crider: Kindle Store: The Nighttime is the Right Time is a collection of short fiction from the author of the popular Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. In these 11 previously published tales, we meet a detective who also happens to be a werewolf; investigate two separate missing-animal cases; tag along with series characters Carl Burns (the amateur-sleuth English teacher) and Dan Rhodes; watch Elvis Presley hunting a vampire; and check out a handful of other interesting puzzles. Crider is a very smooth writer: his prose is always lively, and his characters are always fun to hang around with. (His fans will notice that a couple of the stories here are much harder-edged than usual; he can be quite dark, when he wants to be.) A must read for fans of mystery, and darker fantasy tales. There will even be a few stories for fans of a certain Jack MacLane, whose work Bill Crider is intimately familiar with...
James Gunn's Ad Astra! |
AboutSF: The Center for the Study of Science Fiction (CSSF), in association with the University of Kansas, announces the launch of James Gunn’s Ad Astra, an online resource for authors, scholars and all those who are interested in speculative fiction at http://adastra.ku.edu/.
Link via SF Signal.
NASA Update
NASA: NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the "habitable zone," the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.
12 Days of Bookmas -- Day 3 #bookmas
Play to win free books! Go here for an explanation of the contest and for a list of the many blogs where clues can be found.
Today's Question: What piece did Kim have to memorize in her 10th grade English class and who wrote it? And what author did Kim do her 11th-grade presentation on and what’s the title of that author's most famous work?
My clues: You're dreaming if you think the answers have anything to do with going house to house and singing Christmas songs.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
BBC News: A woman was shot with an electric stun gun, bound and gagged and then buried alive in a box after her partner got "bored" with her, a jury has been told.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Officers Arrest Woman on 5-Yr-Old Truancy Warrant: The 22-year-old mother of two was arrested for failure to attend school back in 2006.
And Stay off Her Damn Lawn!
Mail Online: A 69-year-old Palm Springs woman has been arrested after allegedly trying to cut off her husband's penis with a pair of scissors.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Buy My Book!
Amazon.com: Just Before Dark eBook: Jack MacLane: Kindle Store: It’s just an old junkyard, a place where Lane Hamner loved to play among the rusty old car bodies. But you never know what you might find in a junkyard, especially when your uncle isn’t the kindly old gentleman you think he is. He’s actually the kind of man who would put someone into a car that’s about to be run through the crusher, just to get rid of him.Frank Castella isn’t so easy to get rid of, however. When his spirit takes over the junkyard, bent on revenge, a lot of people are going to die, and Frank isn’t going to make it easy on them.
The Nero Award
The Nero Award is presented each year to an author for the best American Mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories. It is presented at the Black Orchid Banquet, traditionally held on the first Saturday in December in New York City. The "Nero" is considered one of the premier awards granted to authors of crime fiction.
This year, the winner is Louise Penny for Bury Your Dead (Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group). Her award was presented by Jane K. Cleland, chair of the Wolfe Pack's literary awards.
The Black Orchid Novella Award is presented jointly by The Wolfe Pack andAlfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine to celebrate the Novella format popularized by Rex Stout. This year's winner is James Lincoln Warren for "Inner Fire."
To learn more, visit www.nerowolfe.org or send mail toWerowance@nerowolfe.org.
This year, the winner is Louise Penny for Bury Your Dead (Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group). Her award was presented by Jane K. Cleland, chair of the Wolfe Pack's literary awards.
The Black Orchid Novella Award is presented jointly by The Wolfe Pack andAlfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine to celebrate the Novella format popularized by Rex Stout. This year's winner is James Lincoln Warren for "Inner Fire."
About the Wolfe Pack
The Wolfe Pack, founded in 1977, is a forum to discuss, explore, and enjoy the 72 Nero Wolfe books and novellas written by Rex Stout. The organization promotes fellowship and extends friendship to those who enjoy these great literary works of mystery through a series of events, book discussions, and a journal devoted to the study of the genius detective, Nero Wolfe, and his intrepid assistant, Archie Goodwin. The organization has more than 500 members worldwide.To learn more, visit www.nerowolfe.org or send mail toWerowance@nerowolfe.org.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Local news: EVERETT -- Police believe an Everett woman bought plastic sheets, bleach and garbage bags before attacking her husband with a Sawzall power tool in October.
Jeff Meyerson Can
How many short stories can you read in one year? Can you read a story a day for one year?
Check it out and take the challenge.
No Comment Department
French company opening headquarters in Sugar Land will do away with inter-office email | abc13.com: CEO Thierry Breton says email is pollution plain and simple and he hasn't sent an email in the last 3 years. He says only 10 percent of company messages workers receive everyday are useful, and 18 percent of employee email is spam.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Buy My Book!
Amazon.com: Rest in Peace eBook: Jack MacLane: Kindle Store: Danny West knew that something was wrong from the first day his folks moved into the rundown house next to the creepy graveyard. The neighborhood kids would never come over to play. At night, he saw weird shadows prowling around the crumbling tombstones, and heard strange gurgling sounds. But his parents wouldn’t listen to him. They said he had a good imagination…Then bad things started to happen. Terrible, gruesome things that even scared his dad. There was something in the graveyard. Something in the graveyard. Something that no kid could ever have imagined. Something that should have been left alone to Rest In Peace.
Bill Tapia, R. I. P.
TODAY.com: Ukulele player Bill Tapia, believed to be the oldest performing musician in the world, died on Friday at the age of 103, his official website said.
Honolulu-born Tapia, who played with the likes of Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby, died in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, the website said.
Honolulu-born Tapia, who played with the likes of Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby, died in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, the website said.
Gator Update (Snappy Edition)
Don't you get snappy with me! | The Sun |News: REPTILE handler Stuart Parker has some workmates who will really bite your arm off.
But the wildlife expert has no problems getting up close with Nelson the alligator, and even insists he's totally safe to be around.
But the wildlife expert has no problems getting up close with Nelson the alligator, and even insists he's totally safe to be around.
Excellent photo at the link.
Feeling Safer Now?
NY Daily News: An 85-year-old Long Island grandmother says she plans to sue the TSA after a humiliating strip search on Tuesday by agents at JFK Airport.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Times They Have a-Changéd
BBC News - Why are US teenagers driving less?: Recent research suggests many young Americans prefer to spend their money and time chatting to their friends online, as opposed to the more traditional pastime of cruising around in cars.
Friday, December 02, 2011
Bill McKinney, R. I. P.
People.com: Deliverance actor Bill McKinney died Thursday from cancer of the esophagus, according to his Facebook page.
McKinney, who was 80 when he passed away, was best known for his role as a twisted mountain man who assaulted Ned Beatty's character in 1972's Deliverance. During the scene – which Entertainment Weekly calls "one of the most unsettling scenes ever put on film" – McKinney's character orders his victim to "squeal like a pig."
McKinney, who was 80 when he passed away, was best known for his role as a twisted mountain man who assaulted Ned Beatty's character in 1972's Deliverance. During the scene – which Entertainment Weekly calls "one of the most unsettling scenes ever put on film" – McKinney's character orders his victim to "squeal like a pig."
P. K. Dick Update
BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Great Lives, Series 26, Philip K Dick: Actor Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon; The Queen; Midnight in Paris) explores the life of Philip K. Dick with Matthew Parris, and explains why he had such a big influence on his recent production of Hamlet.
Buy My Book!
Amazon.com: Just Before Dark eBook: Jack MacLane: Kindle Store: It’s just an old junkyard, a place where Lane Hamner loved to play among the rusty old car bodies. But you never know what you might find in a junkyard, especially when your uncle isn’t the kindly old gentleman you think he is. He’s actually the kind of man who would put someone into a car that’s about to be run through the crusher, just to get rid of him.Frank Castella isn’t so easy to get rid of, however. When his spirit takes over the junkyard, bent on revenge, a lot of people are going to die, and Frank isn’t going to make it easy on them.
Alan Sues, R. I. P.
Alan Sues - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Alan Sues (March 7, 1926 – December 1, 2011) was an American comic actor best known for his performances as part of the ensemble on the 1968–1973 television program Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Sues' on-screen persona was campy, outrageous and contained verbal slapstick; typical of his humor was a skit that found him following a pair of whiskey-drinking cowboys to a Wild West bar and requesting a frozen daiquiri.[1] Sues' recurring characters on the program included Big Al the Sportscaster and Uncle Al the Kiddie's Pal.[1] He also parodied castmate JoAnne Worley when she left the show, appearing in drag.
Hat tip to News from Me.
12 Days of Bookmas -- Day 2 #bookmas
Play to win free books! Go here for an explanation of the contest and for a list of the many blogs where clues can be found.
Clue for Day 2 (posted noon December 2 and written by Jessica Alvarez):
Day 2: Q-What was the first romance Jessica A ever read?
Here's my clue: What do you offer for someone's thoughts? Try your level best to answer.
Texas' Criminal Geniuses Lead the Way
abc13.com: A federal judge in Houston has issued prison sentences to two of four people who pleaded guilty to robbing a Houston bank and bragging about it on Facebook.
The Never-ending Stories: Arthurian Literature
AbeBooks: The Never-ending Stories: Arthurian Literature: There are few genres with as much staying power as Arthurian literature. It began around 830 (but Arthur may have been mentioned by a Welsh poet even earlier than that) and these classic tales are still going strong today. King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Merlin the wizard, Mordred, Morgan le Fay, Lancelot, Tristan, Galahad, Gawain and the knights of the round table have legendary status in literature.
Hundreds of books and millions of words have been written about these people and their trials and tribulations, and that’s just the fiction. The Arthurian ball started rolling when a monk wrote Historia Brittonum for a Welsh king. This early history book of England and Wales mentions Arthur, and then Geoffrey of Monmouth took the stories and added his own flourishes in Historia Regum Britanniae around 1136.
It was then a free for all with anyone who could write (and not many could) retelling these stories. The strange thing is that these stories about a Welsh-English warrior king, his wife, his knights and a wizard became an international bestseller. The stories were picked up and retold in France, Germany and Scandinavia and beyond.
Hundreds of books and millions of words have been written about these people and their trials and tribulations, and that’s just the fiction. The Arthurian ball started rolling when a monk wrote Historia Brittonum for a Welsh king. This early history book of England and Wales mentions Arthur, and then Geoffrey of Monmouth took the stories and added his own flourishes in Historia Regum Britanniae around 1136.
It was then a free for all with anyone who could write (and not many could) retelling these stories. The strange thing is that these stories about a Welsh-English warrior king, his wife, his knights and a wizard became an international bestseller. The stories were picked up and retold in France, Germany and Scandinavia and beyond.
Lots more at the link.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Houston News: Some of the bags contained a total of 40 discarded syringes, some of which still contained meth residue. Another bag contained sheets of uncut counterfeit $100 bills. And a third had the weirdest surprise -- a hate pumpkin.
Forgotten Books: The End of Summer: Science Fiction of the Fifties -- Edited by Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini
Yes, I can here the grumbling already. This one surely isn't forgotten, you're saying. Well, that's because you're geezers. I have a feeling that SF readers under 40 haven't even heard of this book, which I consider an essential anthology. Out of print since 1979, I think. If there's a more recent version, maybe someone will let us know in the comments.The thesis here is that while SF's Golden Age might have been the '30s and '40s, the genre came of age in the '50s. The stories in this volume are offered in evidence. Malzberg's introduction claims that "The level of short-story writing during the decade . . . has never been equalled. . . ." You can judge for yourself.
You'll notice that it's an Analog book and that Ben Bova is the series editor, and six of the ten stories here are from Campbe