Saturday, November 20, 2010
William Self, R. I. P.
No Comment Department
Weird Western Double Update
WEBB'S WEIRD WILD WEST: WESTERN TALES OF HORROR, includes twelve startling stories--Henry James avenges his brother, Jesse, Robert E. Howard's serpent people are a modern gang, Satan flies a Zeppelin, and hobos liberate a zebra from a stolen train, among others. As Roger Zelazny said: "Don Webb can write straight tales or he can go out to the fringe, where the cutting edge hasn't even cut yet."
JUDAS PAYNE: A WEIRD WESTERN, by Michael Hemmingson. Judas Payne was the devil's spawn, a product of rape, a half-white, half-Indian outcast who was loved only by his pretty half-sister, Evangeline. When his father finds them naked in the barn, he takes out one of his son's eyes. Judas runs for his life, and meets up with a number of colorful characters out there in the "Weird Wild West."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Peekaboo
The prototype uses an ultra-short high-intensity burst of laser light to illuminate a scene.
The device constructs a basic image of its surroundings - including objects hidden around the corner - by collecting the tiny amounts of light that bounce around the scene."
Peru Update
The music, powerfully haunting and droning, could have been used in religious ceremonies, the scientists say. The team reported their analysis November 17 at the Second Pan-American/Iberian Meeting on Acoustics in Cancun, Mexico."
Friday, November 19, 2010
Croc Update (Makes Perfect Sense to Me Edition)
Why Isn't Our Children Learning?
The Turkey Had it Coming
Your Tax Dollars at Work
The paper made only passing reference to the scenario's designation of pot growers as terrorist villians."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Holland leads a fleet of 16 state-of-the-art helicopters that make up the aviation assets used by the Texas DPS to fight Mexican drug cartels.
In recent years, the cartels have become bolder and more ruthless.
[. . . .]
To combat the cartels, the Texas Department of Public Safety is launching a counterinsurgency."
Forgotten Books: SUPERNATURAL SLEUTHS -- Martin H. Greenberg & Chales G. Waugh, Eds.
Surely everybody likes a little change of pace now and then, so I thought it was time for a book of stories with offbeat detectives. The ones in this book deal not just with the supernatural, as the title implies, but also with some pretty mundane things. Mundane, that is, if you're living in the future.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
He Should Have Stuck to Keeping Kids off His Lawn
Aiken County sheriff's deputies told The Aiken Standard the man left the store on a riding lawnmower Thursday morning but didn't get far before he was arrested.
Capt. Troy Elwell says Ricky New has been charged with assault and battery, first degree and armed robbery.
Investigators say the suspect beat a store clerk with a stick during the robbery. New was being held at the Aiken County jail. It wasn't yet known if he has an attorney."
Radioactive Rabbit 2: The Sequel
Radioactive mouse droppings have been found in the same area where radioactive rabbit droppings were found earlier this month. About 60 mouse traps have been set, but the two mice caught so far have not been contaminated."
Here's the Plot for Your Next Historical Thriller
Norse sagas suggest the Vikings discovered the Americas centuries before Columbus and the latest data seems to support the hypothesis that they may have brought American Indians back with them to northern Europe."
New Blog of Note
The Won't Like Lou When He's Mad
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Mystery Writers of America Announces 2011 Grand Master And Raven Awards
Mystery Writers of America Announces Sara Paretsky as 2011 Grand Master And Raven Awards November 18, 2010 - New York, NY – Sara Paretsky has been named the 2011 Grand Master by Mystery Writers of America (MWA). MWA's Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality. Ms. Paretsky will be presented with her award at The Edgar Awards Banquet, which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City on Thursday, April 28, 2011. When told of being named Grand Master, Paretsky said, “I'm so glad to win this. I'm glad to have this for my very own." |
Hmmmmmmm
Does this Mean There'll be a Role for Crocosaurus?
The show about the comic-book web-slinger is being directed by innovator Julie Taymor and features music by U2's Bono and The Edge."
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Don't Dance on His Lawn!
Stay off His Lawn!
The suspect struck for the twelfth time Friday at the Bank of America at 4480 Coffee Road in Bakersfield after pulling off 10 earlier robberies in San Diego County and one in Riverside County, according to FBI special agent Darrell Foxworth in San Diego."
Harry Potter Update
Uh-Oh
Top Suspense Group
As creator and acclaimed author Dave Zeltserman explains, “Every member of our group has made his or her mark on genre fiction, whether it's noir, crime, mystery, thriller, horror or Westerns, and in some cases, several of these genres.
“Authors include Max Allan Collins, Bill Crider, Ed Gorman, Vicki Hendricks, Harry Shannon and myself,” Zeltserman notes.
Zeltserman has spoken before about the difficulty readers have in searching for sites that offer seasoned professionals making some of their finest material available at affordable prices. Not only will readers get the books, but many of the books will contain extra material, such as the writer’s commentary on the book that has been purchased or the addition of a free short story.
“Readers will appreciate a reliable inexpensive site that continuously delivers some of the best in contemporary genre fiction,” said Top Suspense Group member and multi-award winning author, Max Allan Collins.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Vanity, Vanity, All Is Vanity
No Comment Department
Croc Update (Conjoined Edition)
[. . . .]
When it hatches, wildlife keeper Clay Mitchell said there was a possibility it could hold conjoined twins."
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Archaeology Update
Unearthed beneath modern developments in Luxor, they will go on show to the public in a huge open-air museum in February 2011.
The latest remarkable discovery came when jubilant Egyptian archaeologists found the 12 sphinxes along a road linked to an already discovered ceremonial route known as the Sphinx Alley."
America's Cleanest Cities
Round, Round, Get Around, They Get Around
"Exploding Escargot" Would Be a Good Name for a Rock Band
I Am a Camera
A New York University photography professor is going one further by implanting a camera in the back of his head."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
When Tamales are Outlawed . . . .
Rock On
Researchers at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland gave volunteers personality tests, then observed how they broke it down to different types of music. Then they analyzed their moves using motion-capture technology. Here's what they found:"
Tycho Brahe Update
The tomb of Brahe was opened today (Nov. 15) at the Church of Our Lady Before Týn (also known as Týn Church) in Prague by an international team of Danish and Czech archaeologists, doctors, chemists and medical anthropologists. The researchers hope to use DNA testing and other modern medical diagnostic tools to learn as much as possible about Brahe's medical history and life.
The condition of Brahe's remains, which have been undisturbed for 109 years, is unknown, researchers said."
You Never Know What You Might Find
Pulp Writer Contest
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Run, Run, as Fast as You Can . . .
Here's the Plot for Your Next Caper Thriller
The scientists have conceived of a 'spacetime cloak' which manipulates light and, in essence, conceals whole events from a viewer."
Monday, November 15, 2010
No Comment Department
The 'superfantastic' twist to 'National Opt-Out Day': If you feel the screenings are humiliating, let the government share your embarrassment (pun intended) by wearing a kilt. And if you're, ahem, ballsy enough, join the protest wearing it like a true Scotsman, sans underpants."
The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace
The two phrases are among the Top Words of 2010, according to the Global Language Monitor, which analyzes trends in word usage with an emphasis on global English."
Another Reason to Avoid Tats
The Shadow Scholar
I work at an online company that generates tens of thousands of dollars a month by creating original essays based on specific instructions provided by cheating students. I've worked there full time since 2004. On any day of the academic year, I am working on upward of 20 assignments."
I Have a Few Ideas about Who We Should Send
The Walking Dead -- Episode 3
Black Dog Books Update from Tom Roberts
With an introduction by Spur Award winner Bill Pronzini
And an afterword by Ed Hulse
All the excitement of frontier life‹and in contrast, the bleak, violent,
powerful nightmare side of the Western myth‹come alive in this collection by
acclaimed author Norbert Davis (1909-1949), deftly combining memorable
characters, plot twists, gunplay and humor into unique tales of the American
West. The author's eight best Westerns are reprinted here for the first time
since their original magazine appearances, including, "A Gunsmoke Case for
Major Cain," the basis for the 1941 film "Hands Across the Rockies."
"Any reader who has enjoyed Norbert Davis's mystery and detective fiction
should find these Western tales equally satisfying."‹Bill Pronzini
http://www.blackdogbooks.net/
Tom Roberts
Publisher
Black Dog Books
1115 Pine Meadows Ct.
Normal, IL 61761-5432
No Comment Department
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Sunday, November 14, 2010
No Comment Department
I Grow Old, I Grow Old
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City
But that was when his troubles really began.
Two Kansas City police officers, mistaking the van’s backfires for gunshots, began firing at it."
The Mayberry/Star Trek Connection
This Entire Article Is Recommended
The fight escalated after the wife hid all of the vehicle keys in her pocket. When Newell exited the shed, he pushed his wife into the woods, held her down and threatened “to throw a bucket of urine on her” if she did not return the keys, the report said."