Beverly Garland, versatile actress in film and TV, dies at 82 - Los Angeles Times: "Beverly Garland, whose long and varied acting career ranged from B-movie cult stardom in the 1950s portraying gutsy characters in movies such as 'Not of This Earth' and 'It Conquered the World' to playing Fred MacMurray's wife on the sitcom 'My Three Sons,' has died. She was 82.
Garland, who also was an involved owner of her namesake hotel in North Hollywood, died Friday evening after a lengthy illness at her Hollywood Hills home, said son-in-law Packy Smith."
Secret Garden: Massive Secret Mustang Junkyard Found In Rhode Island Forest: "Imagine a secret junkyard frozen in time somewhere around the 70's with every bit of vintage hardware stretching for hundreds of acres. Classic Mustangs, Camaros, Cadillacs, Hemis; you name it, it's here. But not for long: The law man's saying to crush 'em."
I had to see this one since it's about the music I grew up with and have listened to for well over 50 years now. It was okay, but I'd hoped it would be better. The problems start with the story. Either there's not one or there are too many of them. Take your pick. You might think it would be the story of Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), and it is, but only in a way. The first hour is mostly about him and his record company, Chess, and Muddy Waters. Leonard's brother, Phil, is pretty much forgotten in the movie. But Howlin' Wolf (Eamonn Walker) and Little Walter (Chistopher Short) play big roles. Then Etta James (Beyonce Knowles) comes along and takes over the movie. Did I forget Chuck Berry (Mos Def)? He's in there too, though not for long. The movie tries to do too much and comes over more as a series of anecdotes than a coherent story.
Another problem is anachronisms. Or maybe just the mixing up of the timeline. Elvis in the army when the Beach Boys had a hit with "Surfin' U.S.A." and when Chuck Berry went to jail the first time? I don't think so. There's way too much of that kind of thing in the movie for an Old Guy who remembers those times. It's only a movie, I know, but that stuff aggravates me. And we don't even find out how a song called "Ida Red" became "Maybelline."
Nothing wrong with the performances, though. Everybody's good, even the players in minor roles. Mos Def does the best he can with Chuck Berry, but nobody could really capture him. I didn't think Mos Def's duck walk was all that good. The movie makes it seem that Berry's career was pretty much over at the point of the first arrest. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
And the soundtrack is great. Beyonce is the standout with her version of Etta James' tunes, and she gets by far the most screen time for her singing (maybe because she's executive producer of the movie). My suggestion, however, after having listened to the double CD soundtrack is that you seek out the original recordings. They're even better.
This all reminds me that Steve Mertz was working on a crime novel about Muddy Waters and Little Walter. I even read a bit of it. Somebody should publish it. Now's the time.
The Ghosts of 'Studio One' - WSJ.com: "Network television was fresh out of the box in 1948, the year of Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan and a series called 'Studio One' that put on a new play every week. Back then virtually all TV broadcasts were live -- videotape had yet to be invented -- and if you forgot a line or tripped over a shoelace, your blunder instantaneously went out over the airwaves and into the homes of millions of Americans. Quite a lot of early TV was filmed for archival purposes, but only a handful of these films, known as 'kinescopes,' have made it onto DVD. Now Koch Vision, working in tandem with the Archive of American Television, has released a six-disc set called 'Studio One Anthology' that contains kinescopes of 17 'Studio One' plays (actually, 16 plays and an opera, Gian Carlo Menotti's 'The Medium') that were telecast between 1948 and 1956. None has been shown on TV since originally airing on CBS, and this is the first time that any of the plays have been transferred to DVD. They offer a startlingly vivid glimpse of what commercial TV was like in its precocious, promising childhood."
A tall, hooded man snatched the alligator from a tank at Pet World near Sunbury, stuffed it into a white bag and fled the store Wednesday night. The thief ran out of the Upper Augusta Township shop clutching the bag around 7 p.m., with the worker close on his heels.
The suspect pulled the reptile from the bag and tossed it in a nearby yard on Green Street, where the employee was able to capture the alligator."
iWon News - Pinup Bettie Page hospitalized after heart attack: "LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bettie Page, a 1950s pinup known for her raven-haired bangs and saucy come-hither looks, was hospitalized in intensive care after suffering a heart attack, her agent said Friday.
'She's critically ill,' Mark Roesler of CMG Worldwide told The Associated Press.
He said the 85-year-old had been hospitalized for the last three weeks with pneumonia and was about to be released when she had the heart attack Tuesday. Page was transferred to another hospital in Los Angeles and remained in intensive care Friday."
PARIS TINKERS- New York Post: "Paris Hilton wants to play Tinkerbell - not her pet Chihuahua, but the famed fairy from 'Peter Pan.' A source tells us the celebutard is lobbying for the title role in Disney's live-action version of 'Tinkerbell,' in which the pixie finally gets a chance at life as a real girl."
A madman walks through a quiet English village, killing its inhabitants. A woman who escapes him sees something that she thinks no one else does: a second man who kills the first, making it appear to be a suicide. Before long, the second man is looking for her.
There's plenty more going on, too. The second man has a controller. There's a big real estate deal that involves the village. Plots within plots, crosses and doublecrosses, and nothing is quite what it seems to be. Did the madman have a purpose? Who was his real target? Or was there a target at all?
Julia Trent, the survivor, joins forces with a troubled newspaperman, Craig Walker, whose father was one of the shooting victims, and they try to find their way through the maze of mysteries before they're killed. It's all told at a breakneck clip with short chapters that help keep the pages turning. This one hits the market in January, and I predict big sales.
Lost city of 'cloud people' found in Peru - Telegraph: "The settlement covers some 12 acres and is perched on a mountainside in the remote Jamalca district of Utcubamba province in the northern jungles of Peru's Amazon.
The buildings found on the Pachallama peak are in remarkably good condition, estimated to be over 1,000 years old and comprised of the traditional round stone houses built by the Chachapoya, the 'Cloud Forest People'.
The area is completely overgrown with the jungle now covering much of the settlement but explorers found the walls of the buildings and rock paintings on a cliff face."
Some of the series books that came along in the '70s were a lot more entertaining than people generally think. I've mentioned The Destroyer here before, along with Warren Murphy's Razoni and Jackson series. The Hardman books by Ralph Dennis that I mentioned last week, and which had quite an influence on Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard novels, would be another example. And then there's The Inquisitor.
His name is Francis Xavier Killy. He's a lay brother of the Militia Christi working for the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Rome. Unbound by vows of celibacy and fears of comman man, he's tough, aggressive, and a master of highly original deadly arts. Part saint, part sinner, he dares to hesitate before he kills.
There were, I believe, six books in this series, and I recommend all six. They're all a lot of fun and all are different from any other action series that came along. And in case you didn't know already, "Simon Quinn" is a pseudonym used by Martin Cruz Smith before he became the bestselling writer that he is today. If you haven't read these novels, check 'em out.
The Education of a Pulp Writer: BEAT to a PULP Link: "Ok folks, here’s a sneak peek at BEAT to a PULP. Only the home page and the guidelines page are available until the entire site goes live December 15th. Our new email address for submissions is given on the guidelines page. We are looking forward to hearing from you."
No matter. Karaoke has landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, just in time for the holiday season. Now you can clear security, step up to the microphone and belt out your travel frustrations by singing the Beatles' Nowhere Man or Help! Or, if you're not such a Grinch, you can croon Home for the Holidays or Sentimental Journey."
John Carpenter's cult 1988 film is getting the remake treatment from Universal and studio-based Strike Entertainment, which are in negotiations to acquire the film rights with rights holder Les Mougins."
But instead of landing a birdie or eagle, he scored a bogie when he became food for a bigger male that had already staked the watering hole as his territory.
The result was a four-legged gator going into the pond, and a three-legged one coming out."
The one that didn't get away yields long-lost ring - Yahoo! News: "BUNA, Texas – The one that didn't get away held an unlikely surprise for a Texas man. The blue-stoned class ring of Joe Richardson, engraved with his name, turned up inside an 8-pound bass 21 years after he lost it while fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn.
'My first reaction was — you gotta be kidding,' he said Wednesday.
The fisherman who discovered the tarnished ring inside his catch contacted Richardson on Nov. 28 in Buna, about 100 miles northeast of Houston, after tracking him down with help from the Internet."
Vince Keenan sort of tagged me with this one here are the rules:
1. List the authors you read in 2008 who were new to you, regardless of the year of publication.
2. Bold (mine are in italics) the ones that were debuts (first novel, published in 2008).
3. Tag some people. (I don't do this.)
Here's my list (fiction only): Ancient Shores, Jack McDevitt Big City, Bad Blood, Sean Chercover The Broken Body, Floyd Mahannah How the Dead Live, Derek Raymond Sin Pit, Paul S. Meskil Frenzy, James O. Causey Crimson Orgy, Austin Williams Million Dollar Murder, Thomas Black The Sword-Edged Blonde, Alex Bledsoe The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss Twilight, Stephenie Meyer The Somnambulist, Jonathan Barnes Johnny Guitar, Roy Chanslor Peeps, Scott Westerfeld The Great Stink, Clare Clark A Dog among Diplomats, Jeff Englert Tiger Heart, Peter David Head Wounds, Chris Knopf The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch Skin and Bones, Tom Bale Ratcatcher, James McGee West on 66, James Cobb
Husband: Wife shot during sex - UPI.com: "URBANA, Ohio, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An Ohio man who claimed that he accidentally shot his wife while they were having sex has been jailed for violating a protection order."
The Story Behind Hollywood Studio Logos - Neatorama: "You see these opening logos every time you go to the movies, but have you ever wondered who is the boy on the moon in the DreamWorks logo? Or which mountain inspired the Paramount logo? Or who was the Columbia Torch Lady?"
I enjoyed reading these stories and seeing the older logos.
FBI agents stage sting to snare corrupt Ill. cops - Yahoo! News: "CHICAGO – Duffel bags stuffed with cocaine were delivered by plane to an out-of-the-way suburban airport while two sheriff's officers provided security. A police officer stood by to guard the cash and keep out the riffraff at a poker game where $100,000 changed hands. And a drug dealer was told squad cars marked 'sheriff' and 'sheriff's police' might be available on a 'freelance' basis to provide protection for his deliveries.
Such tales of law enforcement gone awry emerged in court papers Tuesday as federal prosecutors unveiled a series of elaborate sting operations aimed at officers who hired out to ride shotgun for drug deals and other criminal activities."
Sepinwall on TV: 'According to Jim' goes on (and on and on and on and on and on...) - TV and FILM - NJ.com: "'According to Jim' has already run for seven seasons. Among the classic sitcoms it's had a longer run than: 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' 'The Odd Couple,' 'Taxi,' 'The Honeymooners,' 'The Bob Newhart Show,' 'Golden Girls,' 'Sanford & Son' and 'I Love Lucy.' If it makes it to the end of this season, it will have been on as long as 'The Cosby Show,' and produced more episodes than 'Seinfeld.'"
www.dcexaminer.com >> Yeas & Nays - Reid: We won't smell the tourists anymore: "The Capitol Visitors Center, which opened this morning, may have tripled its original budget and fallen years behind schedule, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a silver lining for members of Congress: tourists won't offend them with their B.O. anymore.
'My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway,' said Reid in his remarks. 'In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true.'"
The Tango Blast, a violent, drug-dealing gang born in the Texas prison system, is growing in popularity and could change the Dallas landscape because it rejects old notions of prison gang exclusivity and lifelong commitments.
Authorities say the trendy look and loose rules of the Tango Blast are proving irresistible to kids. Tangos can maintain affiliations with gangs they joined outside prison, a hybrid approach to membership that allows them to plant tentacles in many of Dallas' established Hispanic neighborhood gangs."
Complaints pour in over 'Lapland' park (From Dorset Echo): "Tensions reached a peak when furious parents allegedly confronted ‘elves’ in a ‘gingerbread house’ and Father Christmas was punched in his grotto, according to angry customers."
iWon News - Man says God ordered him to ram vehicle at 100 mph: "SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A man who rammed his truck into a woman's vehicle on a highway early Friday told authorities he crashed into her while going more than 100 mph because God told him 'she needed to be taken off the road.'"
Will they never run out of ways to merchandise Elvis? I think not. What they've done this time is to take some of his most famous Christmas solos and make them into duets with female country singers like Wynona Judd, Leann Rimes, Martina McBride, and a bunch of others. Since Elvis' original Christmas album has been a favorite of mine for more than 50 years, I had to give this one a listen. It's okay. Besides adding the singers, the instrumentation has been updated and augmented, so the songs have a bit of a different sound. I liked them the old way, and I prefer the solo renditions, but if you've never heard an Elvis Christmas song before, you'd probably like these.
Since this is an album of duets, it's a little odd that the "bonus tracks" are solos, but that's what they are. The songs are ones Elvis fans have all heard before, but with slightly different instrumentation. Not bad at all. Sort of gets me in the holiday mood.
The explanation comes after more than five decades of literary and theological debate over whether Lewis devised the fantasies with a pattern in mind or created characters and events at random.
It is put forward by Reverend Dr Michael Ward, in his book Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of CS Lewis."
The highest water levels in more than 20 years paralysed services. Elderly residents were carried to high ground and some people took to the piazzas in inflatable dinghies."
globeandmail.com: SOCIAL STUDIES: "It is now dreary December, the month when many intelligent people feel the urge to curl up with a good book. A few of them can even be found reading books the rest of the year, carrying them around wherever they go, if you can imagine. And there are even greater levels of book passion."
Paris Hilton: I've finished my second album | In the studio, Music, Music Biz | Hollywood Insider | EW.com: "Paris Hilton may not be dating a rocker anymore, but she still has music on her mind. The celebutante caught up with EW.com backstage at last week's American Music Awards and told us that she has finished her second album, featuring production by Mike Green (Paramore, the Matches), and is deciding what to do next, now that she’s no longer at Warner Bros. Records. “I wrote all the songs,” Hilton beamed."
The 1983 film, an adaptation of Jean Shepard's memoir of a boy in the 1940s, was set in Indiana but largely filmed in Ohio. The movie starred Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker, a young boy determined to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas."
Cry Me A River: The 20 Most Heartbreaking Songs Of All Time! - Rock's Backpages: "For the last month Rock's Backpages has offered up a slew of sobworthy classics from all walks of pop. Country, soul, AOR, dance: you name the genre, we've scoured it for heartbreak greats. So get yer handkerchiefs ready... here's our tearjerking Top 20 , from the Everly Brothers to George Jones via Lorraine Ellison and Little Feat. --Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages"
Thanks to Doc Quatermass for this link. For what it's worth, I absolutely agree with #1, a classic of the first water.
Essay - The Well-Tended Bookshelf - NYTimes.com: "Nicholson Baker, who wrote an entire book protesting the “weeding” of books and periodicals from American libraries, still mourns the collection of science fiction paperbacks he discarded in his youth."
Just Who Are You Calling Old? - washingtonpost.com: "Icould barely contain my shock when I read the offhand comment that George Artz, a longtime Democratic operative and former press secretary to Mayor Edward I. Koch, recently made to The Washington Post: He said that Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) would make a great replacement for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because Lowey 'is in her 70s, and her health is so-so, so she would be the perfect interim pick to serve out the term.'
I've got news for Artz: In a town of power geezers, the 71-year old Lowey is a spring chicken. Sure, we have a 47-year-old president-elect. But it doesn't hurt to be well past the standard retirement age when you're traversing the halls of the Capitol."
See what the poster says? Well, nasty, savage, and brutal barely begin to describe this movie. You can throw in violent, blood, gory, and sadistic, and there are probably still some adjectives lacking.
The story opens only a short time after the end of the move's predecessor, House of 1000 Corpses, which I haven't seen. A misshapen hulk drags a corpse through a wooded area. A guy is asleep with the corpse of what once was a woman. Two living women sleep peacefully. Then the sheriff and his deputies arrive to "do the Lord's work." A bloody shoot-out ensues. Some members of the Firefly family are killed. Mom is captured. Otis and Baby escape, get in touch with dad, and then things really get hellish. Even the sheriff who wants to do the Lord's work changes until by the end of the film, he's no better than the Fireflys.
Not that the Fireflys don't have a sense of humor. They take their nicknames from Marx Brother movies, after all. On the other hand, they get their laughs from killing people, which isn't funny at all. They kill because they can and because they like to. It's what they do.
If you didn't know better, you'd swear The Devil's Rejects was made around 1977. It's a perfect re-creation of the exploitation films from that era (The Hills Have Eyes comes to mind). If you like that sort of thing, you'll like this one.
Will Asimov’s Foundation saga be Lord of the Rings in space? - SFFMedia: "New Line founders Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne are developing an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's 1951 novel Foundation, the first in Asimov’s classic space opera saga. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Shaye said, “our idea is to renew the worldwide audience’s appetite for the story” but he added that it is a complex novel, 'this is not a script you can knock out in six months.' Shaye and Lynne plan to adapt the first book, but if the first Foundation movie is successful, aim to create an entire new Foundation movie trilogy just as New Line did with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings." [. . . . ]
The End of Eternity tells the story of a ruling class, the Eternals, who can manipulate time and alter history to prevent disasters or remove people they believe will challenge the status quo. One of the time travellers breaks a cardinal rule by falling in love with a woman from another time period.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Unveiled today, the third annual "IBM Next Five in Five" is a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years.
Beverly Garland, versatile actress in film and TV, dies at 82 - Los Angeles Times: "Beverly Garland, whose long and varied acting career ranged from B-movie cult stardom in the 1950s portraying gutsy characters in movies such as 'Not of This Earth' and 'It Conquered the World' to playing Fred MacMurray's wife on the sitcom 'My Three Sons,' has died. She was 82.
