Saturday, February 24, 2007
Shell Scott Speaks
Check Out These Covers
Another List You'll Really Think is Nuts
The Tomb Raider beauty, a 31-year-old mum of three, came four places above her actor lover Brad Pitt.
Elvis Presley was second, ahead of Marilyn Monroe. Video game heroine Lara Croft, played on screen by Angelina, was sixth.
Jolie’s former girlfriend Jenny Shimziu tells the programme, the 100 Greatest Sex Symbols: “I don’t think there’s one person that would say no to Angelina, in bed or just having a cup of coffee with her.”
The ten greatest sex symbols were: Angelina; Elvis; Marilyn Monroe; Beyonce; Brad; Lara Croft; George Clooney; Kylie Minogue; Johnny Depp and Scarlett Johansson."
You Gotta Love Used Books
MCDONOUGH, Ga. - Rhiannon Barnes may be the luckiest 15-month-old ever. Or maybe her baby sitter is the fortunate one. While playing with a thrift store book bought earlier in the day for 25 cents, Rhiannon uncovered $1,300 in cash stuck between the pages. Her baby sitter Sheila Laughridge said she only bought the book at Rhiannon's insistence and was surprised when the toddler found a brown paper bag full of $100s, $50s, $20s and $10s.
Laughridge took the money, which dated as far back as the 1960s, to a local bank, where she received only $300 in exchange because most of the bills were in pieces. The rest of the tattered money was sent to the U.S. treasury department.
Rhiannon's mother, Shirley Barnes, joked that she's considering using her daughter's new found talent more.
"What I want to do is put pieces of paper with number on them out on the table and have her pick them so that maybe we can win the lottery," she said.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Okay, I Might Go
Warner Bros. is aiming to make comic-book geeks around the world pee their pants. They have hired a team of writers to script a live-action feature film which will include most of DC Comics superhero line-up: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, and more.
Kiernan and Michele Mulroney have been hired to write a big screen Justice League of America movie. You might recognize their names, because they’re the hot Hollywood scribes of the month (they wrote a draft of the Kiefer Sutherland’s Mirrors which starts shooting in May).
ConDFW
Assuming the hotel has wireless Internet access, I might work in a little blogging. My first panel is at 6:00 this evening, and in fact, here's my whole schedule:
Friday 6 pm Panel Room 1 (Sunflower – Main Programming)
What Does It Take to Be a Writer?
Hosted by Robert Asprin, Stephen K.Z. Brust, Bill Crider and Martha Wells
So you want to be a writer? That’s easy! Oh, you want to be a SUCCESSFUL writer. That’s a different story. Industry pros try to define what they think makes a writer more likely to thrive. Who knows, they might even be right.
Saturday 10 am Panel Room 1 (Sunflower – Main Programming)
Little Readers, Huge Imaginations: Writing for Children
Hosted by Emma Bull, Rachel Caine, Bill Crider, Beverly Hale, and Rie Sheridan.
Industry pros discuss the state of the children’s fiction market. What is the market looking for? What are the most common mistakes and missteps? What has been done to death? And how can you be a part of children’s fiction in a post-Harry Potter world?
Saturday 1 pm Reading Room (Live Oak)
The author will be reading.
Saturday 4 pm Panel Room 3 (Mesquite)
How the West was Written: Western Fiction Today
Hosted by C. Dean Andersson, Bill Crider, Scott Cupp and Thomas W. Knowles
Is it time to take the western out back and put the old paint out of her misery? Or is there a way to revitalize and capitalize on this most American of genres?
Industry pros explore the ends and out of the 21st century western.
I don't usually do readings, so that should be interesting.
You Damned Kids Better Stay off his Lawn!
One of the tourists -- a retired U.S. serviceman whom officials estimated was in his 70s -- allegedly put Warner Segura in a headlock and broke his clavicle after the 20-year-old and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus Wednesday, said Luis Hernandez, the police chief of Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose."
No Comment Department
If it proves true, the discovery, which will be revealed at a press conference in New York Monday, could shake up the Christian world as one of the most significant archeological finds in history.
The coffins which, according to the filmmakers held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene will be displayed for the first timeon Monday in New York.
Jointly produced by Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and Oscar winning director James Cameron, the film tells the exciting and tortuous story of the archeological discovery."
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Uh Oh
The 60-year-old star hopes his fourth movie featuring the Vietnam veteran will follow the success of Rocky Balboa.
Sly said: “It’ll be Rambo reaching old age and dealing with that and a new threat.
“He won’t be outrunning helicopters and dropping napalm. It’s more of an emotional journey.”"
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
So It's Come to This
The Web giant confirmed Wednesday that it will launch a video project before the end of this quarter that will feature a journalist-cum-crooner who will sing the news."
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
.Big News from Ed Gorman
Now that's something to look forward to!
Attention, Banjo Jones
The Herald-Mail ONLINE: "ANNAPOLIS - Washington County Sheriff's deputy Matthew Bragunier figures that he sees, at least once a day, fake bull genitals flopping from the hitches of pickup trucks.
They're only a toy, but they're also unpleasant to look at, said Bragunier, worried what his 2-year-old girl might think someday.
'My daughter's going to see this,' he said. 'She's going to ask what this is. I don't want to be put in that spot. I don't think I ever want to be in that spot.'
Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Washington/Allegany, agreed.
This week, he filed a bill for Maryland to ban the toys and others like them.
The bill prohibits any 'model, sign, sticker or other item' that shows uncovered human or animal genitals, as well as human buttocks or female breasts, from motor vehicles.
Myers sees his bill as a legislative public service."
$20 Lust (Cinderella Sims) -- Lawrence Block
Since James Reasoner reviewed the new Hard Case Crime edition of one of Lawrence Block's old softcore novels (Lucky at Cards), I thought I'd chime in. The Original Nightstand book was reprinted in hardcover by Subterranean Press a couple of years ago. I like the paperback cover better, but that's just me.
The book, by whatever name, is certainly a crime novel. In the Afterword, Block says, "I set out with the intention of writing a Gold Medal-type crime novel, and somewhere along the way I decided it wasn't good enough and finished it up as a sex novel."
The narrator, Ted Lindsay, loses his wife and goes downhill fast. He quits his job as a reporter and moves to New York to forget. He takes a job as a waiter in a greasy spoon and just lives one day to the next until he sees a woman named Cindy, Cinderella Sims. He knows she's the one, and he meets her. That's when things get complicated because Cindy has a past, and quite a past it is, involving killers and counterfeiters and lots of money. She wants Ted's help, and he's glad to give it, even though it means they're going to have to to some Very Bad Things.
There's lots of sex along the way. It's nothing special now, but it would have seemed plenty hot back in 1960. After all, as Block says, the book was written "to be read with one hand." The book isn't very long, and it would be a lot shorter if the sex were removed.
When all's said and done, I think Block was right. The book's not Gold Medal material. But it comes close enough to be a lot of fun to read, even now. Check it out.
Meanwhile, I guess I'll read Lucky at Cards.
Anna rNicole Smith Update
New York Daily News - Home - Anna rage vs. mom: "Two weeks after her death, Anna Nicole Smith's voice filled a stunned courtroom yesterday as the former centerfold ranted against her despised mother, whom she sneeringly called 'mommy dearest.'
The shocking tape was introduced in an unruly Florida courtroom battle where Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, is vying for the right to bury her daughter.
Lawyers for Smith's companion Howard K. Stern played the tape in an effort to prevent Arthur from getting Smith's body.
Her voice dripping with venom, Smith declared her disdain for the woman she called 'mommy dearest.'
'You want to hear all the things she did to me? You want to hear all the things she let my father do to me, or my brother do to me? Or my sister?' Smith said, glaring at the camera. 'All the beatings and the whippin's and the rape? That's my mother. That's my mom!' she snarled."
Least Deserving of the Oscar?
The romantic comedy, which won seven Oscars in 1999 - including best actress for Gwyneth Paltrow - was voted top Oscar turkey in a poll by MSN Movies.
It was was followed by the 2002 musical Chicago, and the 1997 epic Titanic.
Golden oldie Top Hat was voted the film most deserving of a best picture win, despite it losing out to Mutiny on the Bounty in 1936.
Paltrow was also voted the actress least deserving of her award for Shakespeare in Love, just ahead of Halle Berry's turn in dark romantic drama Monster's Ball.
Berry's over-emotional speech following her 2002 win - during which she referred to herself as the 'vessel through which this blessing might flow' - also earned her the worst speech award."
If You Want to See Something Really Scary . . .
George Takei owns Tim Hardaway
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Gender Genie
I tried this with a passage picked at random from A Bond with Death, one of my mysteries with a female protagonist. The Gender Genie believed it had been written by a female, by a very high percentage.
Link via The Little Professor.
Playboy's 25 Sexiest Celebrities
The Sun Online - Bizarre online: Scarlett tops Playboy poll: "SCARLETT JOHANSSON has topped Playboy's annual 25 Sexiest Celebrities list.
The curvaceous actress was named clear favourite by HUGH HEFNERS' adult magazine, seeing off competition from ANGELINA JOLIE, BEYONCE KNOWLES and PAMELA ANDERSON.
The magazine writes: 'Scarlett Johansson is the apex of beauty and sensuality - from her porcelain skin to her fully feminine figure to her mysterious charisma, which is at once palpable and indefinable.'
While Playboy make it clear that Scarlett is their No1 babe, the other 24 hotties are listed in no particular order.
Names to make it onto the list include JENNIFER LOPEZ, PARIS HILTON and Sin City star JESSICA ALBA."
I'll Wait for the DVD
And possibly one of the longest and most extensive independent fan films is taking shape in Kane County.
Written and directed by Darren Crawford, “Star Wars: Forgotten Realm” could be coming to public access television and the Internet by 2009.
The Yorkville man and his crew have been shooting scenes at a Waubonsee Community College studio since early 2006.
Crawford, an operations crew chief at Batavia’s Fermilab, hopes to wrap up filming of live actors this year and spend next year creating digital environments and backgrounds for his characters.
“I’ve been a Star Wars fan since 1977. It came out on my (10th) birthday,” said Crawford, who began writing his script in early 2005."
Lies, Damned Lies, and . . .
Then again, it rarely is."
Monday, February 19, 2007
The Song is You -- Megan Abbott
Anna Nicole Smith Update
Photos recently appeared in a Bahamas newspaper showing Immigration Minister Shane Gibson on a bed with Smith - both fully clothed - and embracing her.
'I want to apologize to all persons who may in any way have been offended by anything that I have said, done, or perceived to have said or done,' Gibson said on state TV Sunday night. 'To the extent that my beloved country has in any way suffered ... I want to apologize to the Bahamian people as a whole.'
However, Gibson, who fast-tracked Smith's application for residency, denied any wrongdoing and said he did not have a sexual relationship with Smith."
The Top 100 Rated Vanity License Plates
Link via Neatorama.
The Unhappy Fates of Playboy Playmates
Automobile accidents, drug overdoses, homicides, a plane crash — all have claimed the lives of Playmates. The cause of Smith's death is still unclear.
'It's sad how many girls we've lost,' said Peter Gowland, who photographed a number of centerfolds for Playboy in the 1950s and 60s with the help of his wife.
In 1968, Gowland photographed Paige Young. In 1974, she was dead of a drug overdose.
Jayne Mansfield, another Playmate he photographed, died in a car crash in 1967 at 34.
'It's a curse to be beautiful,' Gowland said."
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Akeelah and the Bee
Akeelah's a student in South L.A. She has the ability to spell just about anything and to be a fine student, but she hides her talent because she doesn't want the other kids to tease her. Then she wins the school's first spelling bee, and things start to change for her. She has a chance to be the national champ, but she's the underdog, competing against the kids from Beverly Hills in the next contest.
There are problems at home, too. And her coach is a guy who appears rude and arrogant. Will Akeela beat the odds and become the national spelling champ? You know I'm not going to tell. Just watch the movie. It has a fine cast, and Keke Plamer's especially good as Akeelah. The story's going to make you feel good because it's one of those that shows the world not the way it is but the way we'd all like for it to be. Could this movie ever happen? As Jake Barnes says at the end of The Sun Also Rises, "Isn't it pretty to think so." check it out.
No Comment Department
(Not safe for work or for those who fear being sent to Gitmo.)
Anna Nicole Smith Update: "Or Very, Very Close to That"
iWon News - Anna Nicole Smith Embalming Completed: "DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The body of starlet Anna Nicole Smith was embalmed Saturday, under a court order issued a day earlier.
Two embalmers finished the job around noon, according to Joshua Perper, the Broward County medical examiner. They promised not to discuss, write about, photograph or draw the body.
'They did an excellent job, and the body will be ready for viewing with no problem,' Perper said. 'In other words, she's basically looking like she looked in life or very, very close to that.'"
There's a Mystery Afoot
With Va. Landfill Find, There's a Mystery Afoot - washingtonpost.com: "When the foot turned up at the Spotsylvania County landfill, the first thought was that someone had committed a brutal crime. Deputies began sorting through mounds of trash in a somber search for body parts.
Now, the foot is a phenomenon.
The hairless eight-inch appendage with five longish toes isn't human after all. But no one knows yet what species -- known or undiscovered -- it is. And that has led to some wild conjecture.
Spotsylvania sheriff's officials have said the foot may have come from an 'ape-like species,' leaving Bigfoot believers across the country wondering if there may finally be proof of the creatures' existence. Others think it might not be from any primate, saying it resembles a bear's skinned hind paw.
'Discoveries like the foot in the landfill quickens the heartbeat of every Bigfoot researcher, but all of us realize it probably won't be that easy,' read a message on the Virginia Bigfoot Research Organization blog. 'Stay tuned!'"