James Reasoner made me buy this when we were at the World Fantasy Convention. The dealer kindly put it in a plain brown bag for me.
James also made me buy a copy of Young and Innocent by "Edwin West," and he tried to talk me into buying Find the Feathered Serpent a Winston SF juvenile by Evan Hunter. I resisted the latter, thanks to the $165 price tag.But, as always, I digress. Queer Pulp is the kind of book I can't resist, being a scholarly sort. The subtitle of the book is "Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback." It's a history of the way gay and lesbian sexuality was presented in mass-market paperbacks, with plenty of covers, including dozens I've never seen, like Hot Pants Homo, Lavender Love Rumble, and so on. Classics all. There's some legit stuff included, too, of course. Other Voices, Other Rooms; End as a Man; The City and the Pillar. It was all enough to make me lament once again that I didn't pick up all those softcore books back in the days when I could've bought them for a quarter or less. Well, you can't buy 'em all, I guess. At least you can buy this book and look at the covers and relish the titles. Check it out.
The Writer's Almanac from American Public Media: "It's the birthday of the novelist and short-story writer Mary Gaitskill, (books by this author) born in Lexington Kentucky (1954). She had a difficult childhood. Her parents moved around a lot, and she never felt like she fit in anywhere. When she was 15, she was kicked out of boarding school. A psychiatrist recommended that her parents have her committed to a mental hospital. She ran away from home, but her parents tracked her down and had her hospitalized anyway. She was released after two months, and at the age of 16 she took off to San Francisco to live on her own."
There's an excerpt from Gaitskill's new novel in Murdaland, reason enough right there for you to get a copy if you haven't already.
Kurt Vonnegut: "American author noted for his pessimistic and satirical novels, best known for SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE (1969), which was based on his experiences in Dresden, Germany, where he was a prisoner-of-war at the destruction of the town in 1945. Vonnegut uses fantasy and science fiction to examine the horrors and absurdities of 20th century civilization. His constant concern about the effects of technology on humanity has led some critics to consider him a science fiction writer, but the author himself has rejected this label."
Back in the '70s I read Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, and probably others that aren't coming to mind. I taught a couple of those in my American Novels class. Great stuff. I hope Vonnegut sticks around for a long time.
I read on Jayme Lee Blaschke's blog that Jack Williamson has died. Williamson was truly one of the greats, a giant in the SF field, and I regret his passing. He published stories in nine different decades, beginning in 1928, and I can't even start to tell you all the ones I've read and enjoyed. Let me just name a few things that really hit me: The Legion of Space, Darker than You Think, With Folded Hands. All quite different, all top shelf. I was lucky enough to meet Williamson at an AggieCon about 25 years ago and tell him how much I'd enjoyed his work. The world is a poorer place without him in it.
Oscar-Winning Actor Jack Palance Dies - New York Times: "Jack Palance, a coal miner’s son who spent most of a long Hollywood career playing memorable heavies in movies like “Shane” and “Sudden Fear,” only to win an Academy Award at 70 for a self-parodying comic performance in “City Slickers,” died yesterday at his home in Montecito, Calif."
When I was a kid and saw Shane for the first time, I was impressed by a lot of things: the Tetons, Alan Ladd, and Jean Arthur come to mind. But most of all I was impressed by Jack Palance. It's probably the first movie I ever saw him in, and he exuded malevolence. The scene where he goads the homesteader into the gunfight was a shocker to me, and the final shoot-out with Alan Ladd stuck with me for many years. I'm glad Palance finally won his Oscar for City Slickers.
The Bunburyist: "The fall 2006 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection has been published, which is part 1 of a two-part issue on Victorian detective fiction. Articles focus on Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Wilkie Collins, Revelations of a Lady Detective (attributed to W.S. Hayward), Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Machen, Edgar Allan Poe, and 'the detective fiction of female adolescent violence.' The issue's table of contents and more information about the journal may be found here."
Thief tricked by David Copperfield pleads guilty - CNN.com: "WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- One of three teenagers charged with attempting to rob illusionist David Copperfield as he left a performance has pleaded guilty.Terrance Riley, 17, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for three counts of robbery with a weapon and one count of attempted robbery. He will be housed with other inmates under the age of 21.Circuit Judge Edward Garrison also ordered Riley to testify against his two co-defendants, his brother Dwayne Riley, 18, and Markeith Jones, 17.Copperfield, 50, and two female assistants were walking from the Kravis Center to their tour bus when they were approached by the teens April 23. The assistants handed over money and a cellphone, but the illusionist turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing, although he was carrying his passport, wallet and cell phone.'He said in depositions that he had things on him, but it wasn't difficult to make it seem like there was nothing there,' prosecutor Sherri Collins said."
Banjo Jones over at the Brazosport News has informed me about dotcomedy.com, a new source of comedy videos for you lucky folks with broadband. Tenacious D. Leave it to Beaver. All kinds of other stuff. Check it out.
April Kyle, whom Spenser has rescued a couple of times before, turns up again, and she's got another problem. Only Spenser can help her because he's the last hero left, the smartest man anybody's ever met, etc.
Seems April's opened her own whorehouse, and someone's trying to shake her down. Spenser and Hawk take care of a couple of punks easily, but things get messier. Finally there's a murder. Nothing is what it seems. Everybody's lying.
So what's new? Nothing much, actually. If you've read the last ten or twenty Spenser books, you know what to expect: Pearl the Wonder Dog, gratuitous "Arlo and Janis" references, Spenser saying, "We'd be fools not to" at least once, Spenser and Susan discussing the psychological aspects of the case, lots and lots of snappy dialog and donut eating. Etc.
And you know what? I don't care. I enjoyed every minute of it. I always do. If you're as easy as I am, check it out. Otherwise, forget it.
This morning JJ Solari added a comment to this post. Here's what he had to say: "i been readin' again the whopping three maybe four comments since my last remarks here and of course this is all very thrilling. I am shooting for a fan base of ten. the book is done, the illustrations are done and now it has to jump through ten million government hoops so that everyone will be safe from harm and then i will print ten copies because I am totally optimistic I can with effort sell that many. i have read a lot of funny books. every funny book ever written. and this one will be the funniest. which is not too hard because so far all the funny books have not been very funny."Solari is the author of the incredible "No Class Chick," which appeared in Easyriders. I think his fan base might exceed his expectations, and I'm looking forward to the book.
Anna Nicole Smith discharged from hospital - CNN.com: "NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith has been discharged from the hospital where she spent a week receiving treatment for pneumonia, an attorney for the reality TV star said Tuesday.Physicians at Doctors Hospital released the 38-year-old former Playboy Playmate on Monday after determining that her collapsed lung had stabilized, attorney Wayne Munroe told The Associated Press.Smith, who checked into the hospital October 30 with pain in her side, was staying at the same facility in September when she gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn, and where her adult son died while visiting her three days later.'I think it takes quite some time to recover from a collapsed lung, and you have to keep up the breathing exercises for some time,' Munroe said. 'But she's shown a high threshold for pain, having been through so much recently.'After leaving the hospital, Smith returned to the waterfront home that has been the subject an ownership dispute between her and a South Carolina businessman, Munroe said. G. Ben Thompson has said that Smith has not honored an agreement to pay the mortgage. He is seeking her eviction from the gated mansion known as 'Horizons.'"
Living Single: Shanna Moakler Article on Stuffmagazine.com: "2006 has been a bad year to be a husband. Don't believe us? Check out this list of gorgeous girls who have untied the knot since last December. We're even throwing in some tips about how to land these newly-single beauties on the rebound. "
Ed Bradley of '60 Minutes' Dead at 65 - Forbes.com: "Ed Bradley, the award-winning television journalist who broke racial barriers at CBS News and created a distinctive, powerful body of work during his 26 years on '60 Minutes,' died Thursday. He was 65."
I've been watching him on 60 Minutes for 25 years. Hard to believe he's gone.
Then you probably can hardly wait for the movie.
Video: Rocket man injured firing firework from his bottom | News | This is London: "A soldier is in hospital with severe internal injuries after trying to launch a powerful firework rocket from his backside."
Maxim has the annotated list. I've seen ten of them. I'm sure some of you have seen them all.
Ed Gorman adds this comment: "I'm not a conspiracy of any kind buff but I do believe that Pat Tillman was murdered by his fellows because he spoke up so openly about what a bullshit war this is." New York Post Online Edition: News: "'Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman, damn it!' the NFL star shouted, again and again.The latest inquiry into Tillman's death by friendly fire should end next month; authorities have said they intend to release to the public only a synopsis of their report. But The Associated Press has combed through the results of 2 1/4 years of investigations - reviewed thousands of pages of internal Army documents, interviewed dozens of people familiar with the case - and uncovered some startling findings."
IOL: OK 2 use SMS lingo in exams: "Wellington - New Zealand high school students will be allowed to use text-speak - the second language teenagers have developed for cellphone messages - in exams, according to news reports on Thursday.The move has divided students and educators amid concerns that it could damage the English language, The Press in Christchurch reported.It said that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority was still encouraging students to use proper English in exam papers but would give credit if an answer written in text-speak 'clearly shows the required understanding'."
The Sun Online - Bizarre online: Paris' parents love her sex vid: "PARIS HILTON's mum and dad are dead proud of her daughter's sex video.That's according to a new biography by Jerry Oppenheimer.Jerry claims that while researching his book House of Hilton he found out that Paris' parents, Rick and Kathy, were not fazed when One Night In Paris was leaked on the internet.He said: 'I have family sources telling me that Rick and Kathy Hilton are proud of everything Paris has done, including the X-rated video that launched her to this international stardom and infamy and fame.'It is a bizarre family. Behind the scenes her parents were not opposed to the video because that totally launched her.'"
She's 70 today. Hard for me to believe. As a child of the "folk revival" that began with the Kingston Trio in 1958, I still think of all these people as being in their 20s. For that matter I still think of myself as being in my 20s. Talk about denial!Swingin' Chicks of the '60s: Along with Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, she was in one of the biggest, and most durable, folk groups in music history. Addressing their impact, writer John Court wrote this on the back of Movin', their '63 album with "Puff, the Magic Dragon" on it: "While they are already this country's signally important popularizers of folk music, their serious interpretations of folk classics command the respect of the idiom's most inveterate critics." One other way they had an impact on the '60s was to propel the career of a struggling young folkie. Peter, Paul and Mary were discovered in '61 by Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan's manager. In '63 they helped Dylan get some early fame by bringing his "Blowin' in the Wind" to #1 on the charts and "Don't Think Twice" to #9. And you've gotta admit her group's heart was always in the right place throughout their long career: You name the benefit, they probably appeared for it, including the famous '63 March on Washington in which Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I have a dream speech."
I'm probably the only person who came home from the World Fantasy Convention to find a gator lying in wait for him. But then when Cap'n Bob Napier has your mailing address, you never know what might show up. Thanks, Cap'n, for the new addition to my interior decorations.
The fall issue of Helix is on-line. Fiction by Terry Bisson and Jay Lake, among others. Lots of other good stuff. Check it out.
Bigfoot studies render professor an outcast - Science - MSNBC.com: "POCATELLO, Idaho - Jeffrey Meldrum holds a Ph.D. in anatomical sciences and is a tenured professor of anatomy at Idaho State University.He is also one of the world’s foremost authorities on Bigfoot, the mythical smelly ape-man of the Northwest woods. And Meldrum firmly believes the lumbering, shaggy brute exists.That makes him an outcast — a solitary, Sasquatch-like figure himself — on the 12,700-student campus, where many scientists are embarrassed by what they call Meldrum’s “pseudo-academic” pursuits and have called on the university to review his work with an eye toward revoking his tenure. One physics professor, D.P. Wells, wonders whether Meldrum plans to research Santa Claus, too."
I'm going to be represented by a dead woman in the Texas legislature. 8 of 51 precincts - 16 percent Glenda Dawson, GOP (i) 9,578 - 63 percent Anthony Dinovo, Dem 5,631 - 37 percentGlenda Dawson passed away a few months ago. What do these results tell us about the intelligence of the average voter? State rep. Dennis Bonnen campaigned for her, so maybe that's why she won.
Camera-shy croc snaps tourist | NEWS.com.au: "A BELGIAN tourist tried to take a snap of crocodile in North Queensland, but the croc snapped first.Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) spokesman Mark Read says the 24-year-old male tourist splashed water to 'attract a crocodile' to photograph it at Cape Tribulation, about 350km north of Cairns, today.'It wasn't a good idea,' Dr Reid said.A 2m crocodile 'rapidly emerged' from the water and bit the tourist on the knee.He was given first aid by a local before being taken to Mossman Hospital – almost 300km away – for further treatment."
What hath Bram Stoker wrought? Is Dracula the single most influential book on writing today? When I look at all the vampire novels on the stands (and there must be dozens of new ones every month, if not more), I think it must be.Bram Stoker - Biography and Works: "Abraham 'Bram' Stoker (1847-1912), Irish writer, best known for his vampire novel Dracula(1897).Bram Stoker was born near Dublin on November 8, 1847, the third of seven children. An unidentified illness kept him virtually bedridden until age seven. Although he remained shy and bookish, in his adolescence Bram Stoker was anything but sickly. Perhaps to make amends for his earlier frailty, he was by this time developing into a fine athlete. At Trinity College, Dublin, he would conquer his shyness and be named University Athlete."
Okay, this is a cozy. So much for my street cred. The truth is, however, that I read a lot of different kinds of books, including books that have recipes in the back, like this one. What we have here is a fine small-town mystery with interesting characters, plenty of secrets, and murders. Phyllis Newsom, a retired teacher, is the main character. After her husband's death she converted their big old house into a boarding house for women, and she now shares it with three other retired teachers, including one who's quite old. Two of the women, Phyllis and Carolyn, are intensely competitive when it comes to cooking up peach dishes for the annual festival in Weatherford, Texas. This year things get a little tense when two men die, one while Phyllis and her friends are picking peaches and another during the judging of the contest. Phyllis's son is a deputy sheriff, so Phyllis gets to keep up with the investigation, and when one of her friends looks like the leading suspect, Phyllis decides she'll have to solve the murders herself. And she does, with the assistance of Sam Fletcher, a male boarder who's just moved in to complicate life in the formerly all-woman boarding house.Great small-town atmosphere, entertaining characters, humor, and even recipes. How could you go wrong? Check it out.
Once again, Jeff Meyerson provides us with the latest news.iWon News - Smith Discharged From Bahamas Hospital: "NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith has been discharged from the hospital where she spent a week receiving treatment for pneumonia, an attorney for the reality TV star said Tuesday.Physicians at Doctors Hospital released the 38-year-old former Playboy Playmate on Monday after determining that her collapsed lung had stabilized, attorney Wayne Munroe told The Associated Press."
Okay, so maybe this guy was right.WFTV.com - News - Bibles In Man's Pocket Stop Bullet: "JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 54-year-old Orange Park man credits two Gideons Bibles in his shirt pocket for saving his life when they stopped a bullet.The man tells police that two men he didn't recognize ambushed him with a rifle as he carried bags to a trash bin. The two men fled in opposite directions and have not been arrested.The man's name is being withheld because his attackers are still at large.Other than a red mark and a pain in his chest, he wasn't injured."
Duct tape no magical cure for warts, study finds - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Duct tape does not work any better than doing nothing to cure warts in schoolchildren, Dutch researchers reported on Monday in a study that contradicts a popular theory about an easy way to get rid of the unattractive lumps."
Photos at the link.local6.com - Slideshow: "Workers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center were forced to review the rulesbook Monday after photos of three space workers snoozing on the job were released on a Web site."
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas Southwest: "SAN ANTONIO – Gov. Rick Perry, after a God and country sermon attended by dozens of political candidates Sunday, said that he agreed with the minister that non-Christians will be condemned to hell.'In my faith, that's what it says, and I'm a believer of that,' the governor said."
I've posted a review of a new Joe R. Lansdale story over at Nasty, Brutish, and Short. Check it out.
Size matters for makers of Aussie "Wonderjock" - Yahoo! News: "SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters Life!) - Size really does count, just ask Australian underwear maker AussieBum which has just launched the 'Wonderjock' for men who want to look bigger.Since the launch seven days ago, AussieBum says it has sold 50,000 pairs of 'Wonderjock', mostly on its Web site www.aussiebum.com and a handful of stores around the world.'The design of the underwear, separates and lifts. The fabric cup protrudes everything out in front instead of down towards the ground,' said 'Wonderjock' designer Sean Ashby."
Over at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, Ivan mentions Abbott and Costello and their routines, including of course the most famous of all, "Who's on First." And then I see this Police Squad clip on Jaime Weinman's paying gig. It's no wonder I'm confused most of the time.
Some of you were wondering about manuscripts left behind by Mickey Spillane. Al Collins spills the beans over at The Rap Sheet. Check it out.
Part of the fun, maybe most of the fun, of attending conventions (for me, at least) is getting to talk to people, including those you haven't seen in a while. Bob Vardeman used to come to the AggieCon back in the early '80s, and he and I became acquainted because we were both authors of Nick Carter books. I forget which ones he wrote, though I have a few of them around here somewhere. You can go to his webpage and find them listed. Anyway, I discovered that Bob has launched into a new career: movie star. If you clicked the link, you learned that he's been in three movies, and judging from the titles, they're very classy productions. He doesn't just appear in the movies, however. He also writes the novelizations. I don't know whether to order the book or put the movie in my Netflix queue. Or both.
Photos at link.panopticist: Bill Laimbeer Was a Sleestak: "Bill Laimbeer Was a SleestakNo, seriously: Bill Laimbeer, the widely loathed giant who played center for the Detroit Pistons from 1982 to 1993, appeared as a Sleestak in at least one episode of the cheesy '70s show Land of the Lost, a program that terrorized a generation of young kids on Saturday mornings. I discovered the Laimbeer connection on my own a couple of years ago, when I watched a two-episode LotL videotape I had bought during a bout of nostalgia. This obscure bit of trivia is, I admit, probably only of interest to North Americans born between about 1963 and 1973 who remember the nightmares caused by those hissing, rubber-suited monsters."
WFTV.com - News - Firefighters Called To Blaze At Gatorland In Orlando: "ORLANDO, Fla. -- The fire is nearly out at Gatorland in Orlando.Orange County emergency officials got a report shortly before dawn of smoke and flames at the 110-acre theme park and preserve. A spokeswoman said the fire seemed to be in a building that houses administrative offices and a gift shop.The building is at the front of the park and does not appear to be a threat to the reptiles.No injuries have been reported.The cause of the fire is not yet known. Gatorland will be closed Monday."
This was a great convention. Of course the fact that it was held in Texas and honored Robert E. Howard had something to do with that. I encountered Howard first in an issue of Fantastic Universe, and even though the story was one of those pastiches by L. Sprague de Camp and Bjorn Nyberg, I knew it was something special. I read all the REH stories I could find after that.The con followed its theme very well, and there were a number of panels devoted to Howard and his work. Glenn Lord was here, and I saw the interview with him (excellent) as well as three panels about Howard, all of which were top-notch. The other panels I attended were also good, and my own panel on 19th Century Heroes was well attended and a lot of fun. One woman came up to the panelists when it was over and said, "This was the best panel I've been to at this convention." The guy who sat and slept and snored through the whole thing probably agreed with her.The book bag was the best I've received at any convention, ever. I'll be using it a lot in the years to come. The books inside weren't bad, either, but the prize was Cross Plains Universe. I'm really pleased to be in this one with some fine writers, some of whom are well known and some of whom should be. Maybe this book will help make them better known.It's always a pleasure to spend some time with people like James Reasoner, whom I see all too seldom, Joe Lansdale, Scott Cupp, Henry Melton, Willie Siros, Jayme Blaschke, Neal Barrett, and others. They should have this convention in Texas every year.
I got only two videos, but they're good ones. Scroll down to watch.
Paris stirs pity in author | NEWS.com.au Entertainment: "SOME love her. Others hate her. Paris Hilton's latest biographer, who spent more than a year studying the world's most famous 'celebutante,' says he just feels sorry for her.Hilton, whose great-grandfather, Conrad, started the global Hilton Hotel empire, was catapulted to international fame in 2003 when a home video of her having sex with a former boyfriend was plastered all over the Internet.Coupled with a popular reality television show called The Simple Life, Hilton used the publicity to build a multimillion-dollar celebrity juggernaut. The wannabe star's outrageous behaviour and skimpy clothing scored her headlines and magazine covers around the world.Biographer Jerry Oppenheimer, author of House of Hilton - From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege, said Hilton, 25, has made herself into the IT girl of this decade, attracting scores of copycat fans.But he said her partying and rich-girl antics - including a recent arrest for drunken driving - have irritated many others. Dislike of her is so strong that she recently topped a survey as the female star most people would like to see slain in a horror film.She also reportedly has won a place in the 2007 Guinness World Records as 'the most overrated celebrity,' and helped personify a new word, 'celebutante,' a blend of 'celebrity' and 'debutante' meaning an attention seeker better known for misbehaving than for talent."
From Ed: "Back in business again. Will be posting most if not all nights. Subjects will be defined by whim--whatever interests me on a given day. Will do my best to avoid politics. Lots of other sites cover that gnarly subject better than I do.--Ed"
News from Hard Case:
More than 50 years ago, the great, tormented pulp writer Cornell Woolrich (author of "Rear Window," among many other classics) wrote a novel called FRIGHT. The book was never published under his real name. He put it out under a pseudonym, "George Hopley"; a hardcover edition appeared in 1950, a paperback in 1952. The book hasn't been published since. Today, copies of the paperback sometimes sell for more than $100, copies of the hardcover for several hundred dollars.
We'll be publishing the first new edition of this book in half a century -- and the first ever under Woolrich's name -- next summer. As of today, you can get a first look at the book on our Web site, www.hardcasecrime.com. And that's the reason I'm writing -- it's really worth a look. The cover was painted for us by an artist who is new to our line, Arthur Suydam, and his work is truly breathtaking. You can also find a sample chapter and some information about the book -- but first and foremost, I thought you'd want to see the cover.
And if you do like that cover, you may be interested to know that Arthur Suydam is hard at work on another cover for us as we speak. This one is for a brand new book by the late Mickey Spillane. It's called DEAD STREET, and it's the last crime novel Mickey ever wrote. (He has some other unpublished work as well, including a final Mike Hammer private eye novel, but no other straight crime fiction.) We'll have more to say about DEAD STREET soon -- probably around the same time Arthur finishes painting the cover . . . .
James Reasoner made me buy this when we were at the World Fantasy Convention. The dealer kindly put it in a plain brown bag for me.
