Saturday, July 18, 2015

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Man uses flame thrower to set motel on fire: Walter Neal Thompson,29, tried to rent a room at Overlook Inn but was turned away because he did not have proper identification.

Damage Done -- Amanda Panitch

Damage Done is a YA mystery novel that proves to me how much has changed since I was a YA.  Back in those days of the early Pleistocene, this book would have been considered not fit for YA consumption, involving as it does mass murder and other equally unsavory activities.  

Lucy Black, the book's narrator, might seem on the outside to be a normal high school student, but she's most certainly not.  Her real name is Julia Vann, and she's living as someone else because her parents have elected to leave her hometown and change their names because of a mass murder in the school band hall.  One of those who was shot was Julia/Lucy's brother.  He shot himself.  Only Julia walked out of the band hall.

So far the story seems rather straightforward, but after this, all bets are off.  Amanda Panitch reveals secrets a bit at a time.  You're never quite sure what will happen next, but you're bound to keep reading to find out.  I can't say anymore about it because that would spoil things.  All I can say is that if Jim Thompson ever wrote a YA novel, this might be something like what he'd write.  The ending leaves room for a sequel.  That would be quite a trick to pull off.

15 Fragrances Inspired by Literature

15 Fragrances Inspired by Literature 

Song of the Day

The Diamonds - she say - YouTube:

I Miss the Old Days

A Visual Diary of Gorgeous Technicolor Films 

Today's Vintage Ad


But Wait, There’s More: 15 Classic 'As Seen On TV' Products

But Wait, There’s More: 15 Classic 'As Seen On TV' Products 

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Harlan Ellison, The Deadly Streets, Digit, 1958

Aubrey Morris, R. I. P.

BBC News: British actor Aubrey Morris, best known for playing probation officer Mr Deltoid in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, has died aged 89. He also had roles in cult horror film The Wicker Man, Lisztomania and Woody Allen comedy Love and Death during his five decade career.

The Weird Week in Review

The Weird Week in Review

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

Best Film Characters of All Time

Has the Persecution Ended?

6 Stupid Celebrities Who Are Secretly Business Geniuses 

The Man With No Name, my role model for life

The Man With No Name, my role model for life

Friday, July 17, 2015

Dead Good Reader Awards

Mystery Fanfare: DEAD GOOD READER AWARDS

Free for Kindle for a Limited Time

Dutch Curridge - Kindle edition by Tim Bryant. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.  Part TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and part UGETSU, Bryant's DUTCH CURRIDGE examines the life of early 1950s Fort Worth from the bottom up.

Dave Somerville, R. I. P.

 EW.com: Dave Somerville, cofounder of rock & roll group The Diamonds, died Tuesday. He was 81. Someville died from cancer in Santa Barbara, California, according to a statement.

Beatles covers No. 1s

Beatles covers No. 1s: The three strange Lennon-McCartney hits that weren’t recorded by Lennon and McCartney, and what they tell us about the secret to recording a smash.

Song of the Day

Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High (original 1966 promo) - YouTube:

Or Maybe You Do

15 Things You Might Not Know About 'Don Quixote'

Today's Vintage Ad


5 Weird Overshadowed Creations Of Famous People

5 Weird Overshadowed Creations Of Famous People

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Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, W. H. Allen, 1950

I Miss the Old Days

Definitive Proof That The '70s Were The Pinnacle Of Men's Fashion

Paleontology Update

Cooyoo discovery is the catch of the year for paleontologists

Sue Grafton Interview

Sue Grafton: By the Book - NYTimes.com

Dino Update

Meet ‘new’ raptor dinosaur Zhenyuanlong suni — a ‘fluffy feathered poodle from hell’: Scientists have unearthed a spectacularly preserved, nearly complete fossil in northeastern China of a feathered dinosaur with wings like those of a bird, although they doubt the strange creature could fly.

FFB: John Flagg -- The Persian Cat

Time for a confession.  I've owned John Flagg's The Persian Cat and all his other Gold Medal Books for well over 40 years, and I've never read a one of them.  I have no excuse.  I just never got around to it.  When Stark House came out with a new edition in mass-market paperback size to help kick off its Black Gat imprint, however, I figured that the time had come to see what I'd been missing.  A very entertaining book, as it turns out.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm sure, the Gold Medal pattern was set early. The Persian Cat  was the first GM fiction title, and it's got everything you could want in a paperback original from the '50s: first-person narration by a cynical tough-guy protagonist (Gil Denby), great local color in an exotic location (in this case Teheran, as it was spelled in those days), a twisting plot, sex (two beautiful women who find Denby irresistible), conflicting loyalties, some violence, and a cast of colorful characters.  The ending is a bit of a letdown, but I'm not complaining.

Flagg (really John Gearon) has a smooth style, and the pacing is swift.  I'm giong to have to take a look at some of his other GM titles one of these days.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

2015 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

Mystery Fanfare: 2015 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

In That Case, Officer, You Are Free to Go

Boing Boing: The Chandler Arizona police department explained that one of its police officers barged into a naked woman's home without her permission and handcuffed her because the woman was "trying to agitate" him.

The Trap of Solid Gold: “When You Retire… Will This Happen to You?”

The Trap of Solid Gold: “When You Retire… Will This Happen to You?”

10 Of The Most Fascinating Thieves Of All Time

10 Of The Most Fascinating Thieves Of All Time

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Porn vow husband allegedly attacked by furious girlfriend after he broke promise not to watch online sex

Song of the Day

The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want - SomRochedo - YouTube:

The strange tale of stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst

The strange tale of stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst


First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Springfield Township man accused of bashing neighbors' windows, throwing meat-wrapped brick 

Today's Vintage Ad


I For One Welcome Our New Mechanical Overlords

Uh-oh, a robot just passed the self-awareness test

PaperBack



Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Beasts of Tarzan, W. H. Allen, 1950

I Miss the Old Days

Vintage Adverts of Happy Homemakers  

Link via Neatorama.

I've Contributed a Story to this Project

Sherlock Holmes world record attempt: 60 authors to unite for the largest ever collection of Sherlock Holmes stories

Vintage Treasures: The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins and 25 Other Ghost Stories

Vintage Treasures: The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins and 25 Other Ghost Stories

The Omnibus Volumes of Murray Leinster

The Omnibus Volumes of Murray Leinster

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

MIND MELD: How Do You Choose Your Next Read?

Frequent commenter and the brains behind Tip the Wink, Rick Robinson, is part of this.  Check it out.  
MIND MELD: How Do You Choose Your Next Read?

Hap and Leonard Update

Christina Hendricks Joins the Cast of SundanceTV’s ‘Hap and Leonard’ 

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Man 'poured hot sauce on his girlfriend and tried to put her in the oven'

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

West Delray man arrested for allegedly spraying elderly couple with water hose 

First It was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

. . .  and now it's the Clamato Calamity!  NY Daily News: Clamato calamity! Montana bartender shot, dog killed after irate customer served Clamato instead of tomato juice, cops say

Song of the Day

The Vogues-You're The One (Stereo) - YouTube:

Stage Name Origins

Stage Name Origins 

Today's Vintage Ad


I Miss the Old Days

London’s Lost Department Store of the Swinging Sixties

Helping Out Tom Piccirilli's Family

My Little Corner: Apex Books - Helping Out Tom Piccirilli's Family: Apex Books has posted that from now until the end of the month if you purchase any of Tom Piccirilli's work that they've published on their site all proceeds will be donated to Tom's wife Michele Scalise and their family to help with the medical bills.  They've also published links to Tom's work that listed at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  While the big guys aren't donating all the profits, the sales will help his family.  You can check out the post here.

PaperBack



Carter Brown, The Silken Nightmare, Signet, 1963

Mildred Wirt Benson Was One of The Most Interesting YA Writers of All Time

Nancy Drew ghostwriter and journalist Mildred Wirt Benson: The Original Ghostwriter Behind Nancy Drew Was One of The Most Interesting YA Writers of All Time

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Archie Is a Punk Rocker Now in Crossover ‘Archie’/Ramones Comic

A Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Kevin's Corner: Review: "I Am A Roving Gambler: Two Stories Of The West" by Bill Crider

Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau

Silent film legend F.W. Murnau’s head has been stolen

I Would Love to Take this Ride

Hammetschwand Elevator

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

In That Case, Ma'm, You Are Free to Go

South Carolina woman jailed after telling restaurant that ‘Jesus’ would pay her tab

Gator Update (Florida Man Edition)

Florida Man Arrested for Having Sex with an Alligator   

Hat tip to an Anonymous pal.  I hope this is a hoax.

In That Case, Ma'm, You Are Free to Go

Woman Blames Obama For Counterfeiting Money: “I don’t give a ****, all these other b****** get to print money, so I can too,” she reportedly told police when she was arrested.

He Has My Vote

Let this 93-year-old voice Admiral Ackbar in the new “Star Wars”   

Hat tip to Art Scott.

Soon the Brits Will Have No Rights Left at All

Artist arrested on suspicion of 'abstracting electricity' to charge iPhone on London Overground train

5 Real Supervillain Attacks on America That History Forgot

5 Real Supervillain Attacks on America That History Forgot 

Song of the Day

The Fiestas - Mr.Dillon,Mr.Dillon (1961) - YouTube:

15 Things Kids These Days Will Never Understand

15 Things Kids These Days Will Never Understand 

Today's Vintage Ad


I For One Welcome Our New Formicidae Overlords

Some Intriguing New Hints About What Ant Consciousness Is Really Like

Today's Legal News

Crystal Lake-Cary, IL Patch: A Crystal Lake lawyer mocked the size of a client’s penis and challenged him to a duel, according to a complaint filed by the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission.

PaperBack



James M. Cain, The Moth, Signet, 1950

11 Times When “Fake Shemps” Replaced Real Actors

11 Times When “Fake Shemps” Replaced Real Actors 

Link via Neatorama.

Portraits of 31 Famous Bond Girls Then and Now

Portraits of 31 Famous Bond Girls Then and Now  

Link via Neatorama.

Interview with Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block: A Suspenseful Life: Interview with Lawrence Block

Dream On

'Sharknado' writer dreams of a Broadway musical version 

Or Maybe You Do

15 Things You Might Not Know About 'Stranger in a Strange Land'

Overlooked Movies -- Rumor Has It

This review original appeared on December 9, 2005.

Being in the mood for light entertainment, Judy and I went to see Rumor Has It this afternoon. The audience looked about like what you'd expect: a bunch of old ginks who'd all seen The Graduate 40 years or so ago and wanted to see what this new riff on it was like. I think they all went away happy, or at least smiling.

Kevin Costner is fine, and I'm glad to see that he appears to have given up being the savior of various post-apocalyptic worlds, Shirley MacLaine is just about perfect as the even older Mrs. Robinson, and Jennifer Anniston does a good job of playing the confused young woman who might nor might not be the daughter of Benjamin Braddock (or Beau Burroughs, or whoever). I have to admit that I do find it a little hard to belive that it's never occurred to her Sarah Huttinger character that her birth occurred a little too soon after her parents' marriage. Kids wonder about stuff like that, don't they?

This isn't the kind of movie that's going to change anybody's life or make anyone's "Ten Best" list, but it's fun and it's nostalgic for those of us who remember seeing The Graduate on the big screen in its first release. There are lots worse things you could spend your money on.

Rumor Has It

Rumor Has It - trailer - YouTube:

Monday, July 13, 2015

Michael Masser, R. I. P.

The New York Times: Michael Masser, a stockbroker-turned-composer whose lush melodies were recorded by Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Roberta Flack and many other star vocalists, died on Thursday at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 74.

Oops

Officials Not Sure How Prisoner Got Sawed In Half, With Organs Missing  

Hat tip to Mike Stamm.

It's About Time

Rambo 'to fight Isis in Last Blood', Sylvester Stallone confirms  

Hat tip to Mike Stamm.

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Wife arrested after fight with husband over Confederate flag

The Digest Enthusiast Book Two

Maybe you recall my comments about the excellent Digest Enthusiast Book One, but if you don't, you can read them here.  This issue is just as good, if not better.  Interviews, articles, reviews, stories, you just can't go wrong. I highly recommend it.  You can get it in paperback or for the Kindle (links below).

Interviews:
Gary Lovisi: Gryphon Books, Paperback Parade, Sherlock Holmes
Steve Darnall: Nostalgia Digest, Those Were the Days, Radio’s Golden Age
Robert Lopresti: Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, Mike Shayne

Articles:
Borderline (James Dean & Vampira, L. Ron Hubbard) by Tom Brinkmann
Astounding Trading Cards
The Mysterious Traveler Magazine (Robert Arthur and David Kogan) 
The Italian Mister No Digest Comics by Joe Wehrle, Jr.
H.L Gold’s Beyond Fantasy Fiction by Joe Wehrle, Jr.
Australia’s Action and Leisure Pulp Crime Digests by Gary Lovisi
Archie Comics Digests By the Numbers by Matthew Turcotte

Reviews:
Monster! #15 edited by Timothy Paxton & Steve Fenton
Shanks on Crime by Robert Lopresti
Pulp Crime Digests by Gary Lovisi
Asimov's July 2015 edited by Sheila Williams
Big Fiction #7 edited by Heather Jacobs
Dead Weight by Frank Kane 
Paperback Parade #88 edited by Gary Lovisi
Analog #1000 edited by Trevor Quachri

Fiction:
"Passenger for the Night Train" by Joe Wehrle, Jr.
"Sweet and Sour" by D.D. Ploog
"Painesville" by Richard Krauss
"In the Fight for His Life" by John Kuharik

Artwork:
Joe Wehrle, Jr. (cover & illustrations)
Brad Foster (gag cartoon) 
Andrew Goldfarb (illustrations)
Michael Neno (illustrations)
D.D. Ploog (photo art) 
Bob Vojtko (gag cartoons)

Also includes:
Editor's Notes
Beyond Fantasy Fiction contents
Mysterious Traveler contents and the original sources of its reprints
Robert Lopresti bibliography
Social media round-up
Opening Lines

Print version includes nearly 100 cover images.
Kindle version includes over 50 cover images.

152 pages, 5.5" x 8.5" digest

Print $8.99 Digital $2.99

These Are America's 10 Worst States To Live In According to Science

These Are America's 10 Worst States To Live In   

Link via Neatorama.

Song of the Day

Nat Stuckey "Plastic Saddle" - YouTube:

Or Maybe You Do

11 Things You Might Not Know About 'The Monkees'

Today's Vintage Ad


Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback - July 13th, 1965

Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback - July 13th, 1965

First It was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

. . .  So I suppose the Dildo Battering was inevitable:  Cops Arrest Woman, 58, For Battering Female Domestic Partner With Dildo 

PaperBack



Jonathan Craig, So Young, So Wicked, Gold Medal, 1957

The Surprising Story of Famed JFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader

The Surprising Story of Famed JFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader (and Why You've Never Heard of Him)  

This story isn't surprising to me at all.  In fact, it's familiar to me, and I've certainly heard of Vaughn Meader and listened to his recordings. That's because I'm Old.

This Article Misspells the Name of My Hometown

Unless they've corrected it by now: The German POWs Who Lived, Worked, and Loved in Texas

I Miss the Old Days

I want the Hotter Dog.

Retrospace: Vintage Scan #36: Parade (March 21, 1971)

New Poem at the Five-Two

The Five-Two: Vera Salter: MY SUMMER VACATION

Scirbe Award Winners

Mystery Fanfare: SCRIBE AWARDS

Vintage Treasures: The Green Girl by Jack Williamson

Vintage Treasures: The Green Girl by Jack Williamson

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Randy Johnson, R. I. P.

It’s Been Fun | Not The Baseball Pitcher  

I knew Randy only as an Internet friend, but I always enjoyed his review of books, movies, and TV shows.  He never seemed so far down that he'd leave us like this, and I'm very sad to reblog what appears to be his final post.  The world was a better place with Randy in it, and I'm sorry if he's gone, as appears to be the case.

Brooklyn Leads the Way

Bicycle-riding teens groping women in Brooklyn 

Ernie Maresca, R. I. P.

Ernie Maresca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Ernest Peter "Ernie" Maresca (August 21, 1938 – July 8, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and record company executive, best known for writing or co-writing some of Dion's biggest hits.[1] 

He was born in the Bronx, New York, and began singing and writing in a doo-wop group, the Regents, who later had a hit with "Barbara Ann". His song "No One Knows" came to the attention of Dion DiMucci, who recorded it successfully with the Belmonts on Laurie Records, the record reaching #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart in 1958. Maresca then began songwriting full-time, writing "Runaround Sue" with Dion (that recording artist's only number one hit), and then other big hits with and for him including "The Wanderer," "Lovers Who Wander" and "Donna the Prima Donna".[1]

Now If Only Bill Watterson and Gary Larson Would Follow Suit . . . .

Pulitzer Prize-Winning "Bloom County" Set To Return With New Comics 

10 Things You Should Know About the U.S. Postal Service

10 Things You Should Know About the U.S. Postal Service 

Song of the Day

Della Reese - Sermonette - YouTube:

The Enchanted Highway

The Enchanted Highway  

Link via Messy Nessy.

Today's Vintage Ad


Failed Mongol Armada Wreck Discovered off Japanese Coast

IFLScience: It was the largest armada the world had ever seen, and would only be surpassed 700 years later when the Allies invaded Europe during the Normandy landings. The Mongol leader Kublai Khan sent two massive fleets during the 13th Century – of up to 4,000 ships each – to try to invade Japan. Both attempts were thwarted and destroyed by severe weather, with the ships and the men they carried laid to rest off the coast of Japan.

A Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Gravetapping: COMPOUND MURDER by Bill Crider

PaperBack



Charlotte Braeme, Her Faithful Heart, The Arthur Westbrook Company, no date

When America’s Librarians Went to War

When America’s Librarians Went to War

Or Maybe You Have

The 10 Best Short Story Collections You've Never Read

2015 Thriller Awards

Sweet Freedom: 2015 Thriller Awards

I Wish They'd Had These When I Was There

Sleep in a Transparent Capsule High Above Peru's Sacred Valley

Australia Is So Lucky

A giant ‘Nicolas Cage in a Cage’ is about to descend on Australia  

Hat tip to Deb!

The Collections of Tanith Lee

The Collections of Tanith Lee