Saturday, July 02, 2011

The Serial Killer's Daugher --Heywood Gould

I've mentioned my fondness for the books of Heywood Gould before (here and here). It's another wild and entertaining ride that's hard to put down.

College senior Peter Vogel is attracted to Hannah Seeley, a girl in one of his classes. She doesn't appear interested in him, but one day she says she'll have sex with him if he'll write her papers. It's an offer he can't refuse. Little does he know what he's getting into.

First, Hannah disappears. Peter goes to Houston and gets a job. Hannah turns up. That's when things get wild and crazy. People die. Someone's trying to kill Hannah, and Peter, too, since he's with her. They go on the road to California, but they can't escape their tormentors. Peter discovers he's a lot better at violence than he thought, and that's about all I should say. Best that you find out what happens for yourself. It's funny, it's gruesome, it's a great road trip. I've accumulated a couple more of Gould's books to read sooner or later. I can't seem to resist them. You should give this one a try.

It's Not too Esoteric for Seepy Benton

U. mathematician wins Italy’s top science award | The Salt Lake Tribune: "Christopher Hacon’s exploration of how polynomial equations help scientists describe objects in multiple dimensions may be too esoteric for most people to grasp. But it has earned the University of Utah mathematics professor numerous scholarly awards, including his promotion last year to distinguished professor."

Today's Vintage Ad

What's So Dumb about #6?

13 Dumb Fears That Are Not Made-Up

PaperBack


Will F. Jenkins, Dallas, Gold Medal, 1950

Jenkins was better known under his pen name of Murray Leinster.





Cracking Down

And it's about time.

Today's Western Movie Poster

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

The Associated Press: "housands of people came from miles around Wednesday to see and honor a legend in the flesh — the white buffalo born in a thunderstorm on a northeast Texas ranch.

The rare white buffalo calf, regarded as sacred by Lakota Sioux tradition, was honored with Native American prayers, religious songs and the solemn smoking of a pipe in a special naming and dedication ceremony at the Lakota Ranch in Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas."

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

NBC Dallas-Fort Worth: "The Arlington Police Department is in the first part of its experiment in using unmanned aircraft to assist in law enforcement.

The department has been testing and evaluating two battery-operated, remote-controlled aircraft over a small, restricted airspace near Lake Arlington Dam, away from populated areas."

Cinderella

7/2

Friday, July 01, 2011

An Excerpt from a Wonderful New Novel

Check it out. If you don't register, all you can read is the blurbs, but those are pretty nice ones from two great guys.

Original crime stories, exclusive excerpts, blog posts, giveaways | CriminalElement.com

Road Trip

Judy and I are leaving to visit her hometown for its annual homecoming. I'm not sure I'll have any Internet access at all, but don't worry. The blog will continue with updates already scheduled. Have a nice weekend, everybody.

No Comment Department

AOL: "A baboon is on the loose in New Jersey."

Mike Ripley's Latest "Getting Away With Murder"

GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER

Today's Vintage Ad

Guys Just Wanna Have Fun

abc13.com: "Police asked why he ran and the suspect replied he felt like 'messing with the officers.'"

PaperBack


Yankee King of the Islands, Lancer, 1963

As you can see from the back cover info, this is a collection of "fabulous true adventures." Leave out the "true" and accept the "fabulous" in the original sense, and it might be right. All the "articles" are from Atlas Magazine publications.


And Keep Off Her Lawn!

iWon News: "Pennsylvania police say an 89-year-old woman used her cane to dent the car of two people who stole her friend's purse, and authorities were able to track down the getaway car based in part on the cane's imprint."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

I'm in Favor

Oxford Comma Still Alive and Well | ThirdAge: "The 'Oxford comma' is still alive and well, calming some people's fears that the university had revised its rules governing the use of the serial comma."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Fabulous Faber and Faber

AbeBooks: Fabulous Faber and Faber: Eliot to Ishiguro: "Faber and Faber has been publishing fabulous books since the days of King George V. There was only one Faber – Geoffrey, who took on the firm from its original incarnation as Faber and Gwyer. The second Faber is there purely for the sake of appearance.

Faber and Faber will always be associated with the poet T.S. Eliot, who quit life as a bean counter in Lloyds Bank to work for the publisher. Faber’s first Eliot book was Poems 1909-1925. In some respects, Eliot’s behind-the-scenes work as a publisher is just as important as his own writing. Aside from the author of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Faber and Faber were (and always has been) deeply committed to poetry and its stable of poets during the Eliot era included Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Walter de la Mare."

Today's Western Movie Poster

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Houston Chronicle: "Joanne Ayoube dutifully worked for a month as a physical therapy intern at a Sugar Land hospital, filling out medical records and working with patients beginning in April, prosecutors said.

Four weeks into her 'internship,' Ayoube checked one of her patients with dementia, 95-year-old Jack Fine, out of the hospital. The two went to his home, and she moved in, an arrangement that allegedly netted Ayoube tens of thousands of dollars.

It was a lot of cash for a resourceful 30-year-old woman who had no credentials, documentation or authorization to work in the hospital, authorities said Thursday after Ayoube was charged with bilking Fine out of $65,000."

Gator Update (Android/TAG Heur Edition)


This Android phone from TAG Heuer combines Alligator skin, titanium

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

Paris Hilton Update

TMZ.com: "The knife-wielding man who tried to break into Paris Hilton's L.A. home was just sentenced to 2 years in state prison, TMZ has learned."

Forgotten Books: Hunt the Killer -- Day Keene

When it comes to man-on-the-run novels, Day Keene was right up there with his friend Harry Whittington. The day Charlie White gets out of prison after four years, his wife's not waiting for him outside. A beautiful Cuban woman is, however, and she tells Charlie that not only is he safe but that he has $48,000 in a Cuban bank just waiting for him. Which would be a pretty good deal, except that someone kills the woman while she's in Charlie's arms and tries to kill Charlie, too.

Charlie lives, but he's the fall guy for the murder. He thinks his only hope is to get back to his wife and prove that he's not the killer. The manhunt is on all over Florida, and Charlie's just one step ahead of the cops and others out to get him. You know it's all going to work out in the end, but the fun is in seeing how Keene manages to work it all out. You might not remember this book for a month, but you'll remember how you were glued to it while you were reading. Luckily Stark House is coming out with a triple-decker Keene volume in the fall, and this novel is one of the three. Check it out.

Fantasia

Thursday, June 30, 2011

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

Amazon.com: Bearing Northeast (9780980225396): Henry Melton: Books: "The unexplained cylinder falling out of the sky was the perfect excuse to take a vacation when sixteen year old Seth Parmer and his older sister Biz found their Fresno lives upended by an unexpected layoff. WIth Seth's twitter buddies following along on his phone, a GPS tracking signal leads them across the continent toward a secret project in the vacant lands of mid Labrador. What they find there will not only forge a new global destiny for the unique town that they discover, but set a new course for their relationship with each other."

Now's Your Chance

If You've Always Wanted To Hunt a Live Human, Here's Your Willing Prey

Hat tip to Art Scott, who observes that this is "seriously strange stuff."

Cue Samuel L. Jackson

- Yahoo! News: "An Oregon man got a big surprise on a commercial flight from Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska, when he was stung by a scorpion while sitting in his plane seat."

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

News from The Associated Press: "A southeastern Pennsylvania woman is accused of beating her 9-year-old grandson and blasting him in the face with a garden hose because he ate too much bacon."

Look Into My Eyes

Raw Replay: "Three Florida high school students are dead after being hypnotized by their school principal in Sarasota County, one in a car accident and two by suicide. Principal George Kenney is believed to have hypnotized up to 75 people, including students, members of the school staff and their children."

Today's Vintage Ad

Y'all Come!

Bill Crider: The Wild Hog Murders - Page 1 - Calendar - Houston - Houston Press: "Sheriff Dan Rhodes is a popular guy. Well, at least with readers of the series of mystery books by novelist Bill Criderthat feature the down-home officer of the law. The convicts, crooks and cretins Rhodes arrests, not so much. The sheriff is wrestling with pigs and thieves in The Wild Hog Murders, the 18th Dan Rhodes mystery. Set in a small town in Texas that’s overrun with feral hogs, Murders mixes angry hunters, a couple of wannabe badass bikers who are more ass than bad, and a talk show host with big aspirations. Needless to say, it ain’t pretty.

Crider won’t have to come far for this reading and signing session; he lives in Alvin. 6:30 p.m. Murder by the Book, 2342 Bissonnet. For information, call 713-524-8597 or visit www.murderbooks.com. Free.
Tue., July 5, 6:30 p.m., 2011"

Feeling Safer Now?

CBS New York: "Investigators say Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, a Nigerian, boarded Virgin America Flight 415 to Los Angeles without a valid passport or identification, using an expired boarding pass for a flight the day before that belonged to someone else."

San Francisco Leads the Way

The Raw Story: "San Francisco is the greenest city in North America, followed by Vancouver and New York, according to the latest survey of green-city rankings."

PaperBack


Philip Jose Farmer, Flesh, Beacon, 1960





No Comment Department

Hollywood Auction Ends Myth of Zaftig Marilyn: Virginia Postrel - Bloomberg: "The pattern she noticed was real. At my request, Urban took waist measurements on garments worn by 16 different stars, from Mary Pickford in 1929 (20 inches) to Barbra Streisand in 1969 (24 inches). The thickest waist she found was Mae West’s 26 inches in “Myra Breckinridge,” when the actress was 77 years old."

And Keep off her Grass!

The Local: "Police in Brandenburg who discovered a large plot of cannabis called on the neighbouring house only to find an 84-year-old woman who had been feeding her rabbits with the plants."

Today's Western Movie Poster

Vintage Magazines & Newspapers

Vintage Magazines & Newspapers: Jeeves to D-Day on AbeBooks: "Newspapers and magazines are disposable. Today's newspapers are tomorrow's fish and chips paper. However, they also record history. Let a few years pass by and these old newspapers and magazines can offer fascinating insights into important events and significant people from different eras. They also represent history in another regard - as digital and electronic media becomes more prevalent, newspapers and magazines themselves may well become artefacts of the past one day."

I Give Up

Last night during a break during the last inning of the baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros, one of the post-game guys was inviting us to watch him and someone else discuss the game. He said we could "join he and myself" for the discussion.

Morning Joe

POLITICO.com: "Host Joe Scarborough hoped to prevent the comment from being broadcast, saying, “Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing? I can’t believe… don’t do that. Did we delay that?”"

50 Beach Reads That Won’t Melt Your Brain

50 Beach Reads That Won’t Melt Your Brain

Forgotten Music -- Jimmie Rodgers

Since I did the pop Jimmie Rodgers last time, I thought it was only right to do The Singing Brakeman this time. This is another singer I discovered when I was a kid, though not many other people I knew cared for anybody this country. I guess he seemed old-fashioned even then, but not to me.

Rodgers, originally a brakeman on the New Orleans and Southeastern Railroad, had only a short recording career because he'd contracted TB. He died a couple of days after his last recording session, during which he'd had to lie on a cot between songs to recover. You can see a little of this being used in a Clint Eastwood movie called Honky Tonk Man.

Here's a song he wrote about his condition. Some nice photos in the video, too.

Before I discovered Rodgers, this song was a big hit for Webb Pierce. The Soggy Bottom Boys also have a version in Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? Rodgers didn't write this one, but I like it anyway.

Rodgers influenced a lot of singers who came along later. Merle Haggard did a double album of Rodgers' songs in the late '60s. I have it, in fact, and listened to it many times long ago. Here's one of my favorites from the album, the cover of which is shown in the video.

This is the last song Rodgers recorded before he died. He was only 35 years old.


Pinocchio

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

New Story by Rich Prosch

The Dead Hand

Biggest Disappointment of the Campaign So Far

The Raw Story: "US Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Wednesday she has no plans to stoop to a 'mud-wrestling fight' between her and fellow arch-conservative Sarah Palin."

Yikes!

Body found in public pool 2 days after victim drowned

James & Livia Strike Again

Rough Edges: Two More E-Books

Baby, That Is Rock 'n ' Roll!

Wah Wahtusi

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Road rage involved bowl of oatmeal, pistol: "A grand jury will decide whether charges should be filed in a road rage case that involved one man tossing a bowl of oatmeal at another man who had pulled a pistol, Texas City police said."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Seepy Benton Will Probably Flock There

NYTimes.com: "For everyone who finds mathematics incomprehensible, boring, pointless, or all of the above, Glen Whitney wants to prove you wrong.

He believes that tens of thousands of visitors will flock to his Museum of Mathematics, to open in Manhattan next year, and leave invigorated about geometry, numbers and many more mathematical notions."

Today's Vintage Ad

Why Women Are Better at Everything

Why Women Are Better at Everything – TIME Healthland: "Recently in the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch columnist David Weidner noted that women 'do almost everything better' than men — from politics to corporate management to investing.

Weidner cites a new study by Barclays Wealth and Ledbury Research, which found that women were more likely than men to make money in the market, mostly because they didn't take as many risks. And why are they risk-averse? Because they're not as overconfident as men, the study found."

PaperBack


Karl Edward Wagner, Darkness Weaves, Powell, 1970





Alligators Love Marshmallows

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.


It's Official

Bill Crider: book signing and discussion at Murder by the Book, Houston

Today's Western Movie Poster

Take the Money and Run

You can click here to see a couple of promos for Paul Bishop's new TV series. Check it out.

20 Best Biographies for Women in Business

20 Best Biographies for Women in Business

Oops

Houston Chronicle: "A new 385-foot-long steel pedestrian bridge is too long by 2 inches, forcing officials to delay installation of the span across a Michigan river."

The top 10 worst owners in MLB history

The top 10 worst owners in MLB history - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN

Dumbo

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A Question for the Legal Eagles

Earlier today I published a letter written by William Lindsay Gresham. In the comments, someone said that the contents of the letter belonged to Gresham's heirs rather than the owner of the letter. I thought that copyright material, such as that in a letter, created between 1923 and 1962 (as Gresham's letter was) was now in public domain. Just to be on the safe side, I took down the post. Anybody know for sure about the public domain status? Thanks.

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

Amazon.com: Remaindered eBook: Lee Goldberg: Kindle Store: "'REMAINDERED is brilliant! Hilarious, suspenseful, with booksigning sequences that induce PTSD... bravo!' Barry Eisler, bestselling author of 'Hard Rain.'

'REMAINDERED is terrific,' Ken Levine, Emmy-award winning writer/producer of 'M*A*S*H' and 'Cheers.'

Product Description
A Top Suspense Short Story by Lee
Goldberg

Kevin Dangler is a once-famous author desperate to regain his lost glory while traveling the back-roads of middle America, selling remaindered, fifth-editions of his first book out of the trunk of his car. When he meets a woman who loves his work, he believes she might be his salvation...or perhaps his nightmare.

This story was an Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award finalist and has previously appeared in the anthologies 'Three Ways to Die' and 'Top Suspense.'

BONUS FEATURE: The story contains a link to a free, streaming video of the acclaimed movie version of 'Remaindered,' written & directed by Lee Goldberg."

Macavity Award Nominations

Mystery Fanfare: Macavity Award Nominations

Full list at the link; congrats to all the nominees.

Book Giveaway

Adventures In Writing: Book Giveaway

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

Amazon.com: Driving Hell's Highway eBook: Gary Lovisi: Kindle Store: "He had no past and no future, only the long open road ahead of him. What would he find there, other than danger and violence? Sometimes a shred of memory, dark and fearful, gave him a hint of what he'd once been. Now he was just a loner. Darkness shrouded his heart and mind. With a trunkful of guns and a tankful of gas, he was Driving Hell's Highway! Hard-boiled crime in the 1950s paperback tradition."

An Interview with Your Favorite Blogger

Aimee and David Thurlo have been kind enough to post an interview with me about The Wild Hog Murders. Check it out!

Duct Tape -- So Many Uses

Duct tape may help stop infection spread - UPI.com: "A simple roll of duct tape may offer an inexpensive way to help reduce the spread of infections in U.S. hospitals, researchers suggest.

The infection prevention team at the Trinity Medical Center in the Quad Cities on the Iowa/Illinois border say they created a 'Red Box' safe zone -- a 3-foot square of red duct tape extending from the threshold of the door of patients who have infections -- to facilitate communication with patients in isolation or with 'contact precautions.'"

Margaret Tyzack, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: "Margaret Tyzack, a stalwart British actress who won myriad awards for her stage performances, including a Tony, but who was best known in the United States for her roles in the public television series “The Forsyte Saga” and “I, Claudius,” died on Saturday in London. She was 79."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Elaine Stewart, R. I. P.

iWon News - `Brigadoon' star Elaine Stewart dies at 81: "Elaine Stewart, a leading lady in a series of films in the 1950s, including 'Brigadoon,' and star of the 1970s game shows 'Gambit' and 'High Rollers,' has died. She was 81."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Today's Vintage Ad

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Houston Chronicle: "A driver who hit a pedestrian along Interstate 45 in southeast Houston early this morning didn’t stop even though the victim smashed through his windshield and landed in the front passenger seat, officials said."

Talk About Timely!

Copters expected to cash in on law allowing hog shootings

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

7 accused of beating fellow Kansas jail inmate over suspected theft of honey bun

PaperBack


Bud Clifton (David Stacton), Muscle Boy, Ace, 1958





Where Have all the Fireflies Gone?

Houston Chronicle: "Charming bugs people miss
Many wonder why fireflies are now a rare sight
"

Bigfoot Update

3 News: "The moviemaker who captivated the world with the Blair Witch Project is now on the hunt for Bigfoot.

Director Eduardo Sanchez has been hired by Haxan Films executives to create a new movie about the mythical forest monster."

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

Amazon.com: Two-Way Split eBook: Allan Guthrie: Kindle Store: "Winner of the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

Robin Greaves is an armed robber whose professionalism is put to the test when he discovers his wife has been sleeping with a fellow gang member. Robin plans the ultimate revenge, but things go from bad to worse when the gang bungles a post office robbery, leaving carnage in their wake. Suddenly they are stalked by the police, sleazy private eyes, and a cold-blooded killer who may be the only one not looking for a cut of the money.

A lean and muscular crime thriller with a seriously twisted dark side, TWO-WAY SPLIT is an explosive introduction to the raw talent of Allan Guthrie."

Today's Western Movie Poster

10 Most Masterful Movie Scores of All Time

10 Most Masterful Movie Scores of All Time

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Father smashed wine bottle over diner's head for complaining that his baby would not stop crying

For Only $25

They're almost there, folks. Thanks to all who've kicked in! If you haven't, there's still time for you to get your CD.

Cornell Hurd Band CD Opportunity by Judy Julian � Backers — Kickstarter: "This CD when released...plus an emailed mp3 of a single track from the CD...plus undying gratitude...ALL CDS WILL BE SIGNED."

The First One Is the Best

Unreality - Rare Bruce Lee Photos

Link via Neatorama.

Forgotten Films: Peter Pan

I realize that some people frown on "the Disney version" of any classic tale. Not me, though. I love 'em all, probably because I saw many of them in the theater when I was a kid. This one must have come out when I was 11.

I also have the book of the Disney version that my sister gave me for Christmas in 1952. It's right over there on the shelf. I must have read it six or seven times. Maybe more. It ain't Barrie, but to me at the time it was wonderful. The movie still is. The scene where Peter and the Darling children fly out of the house and over London thrilled me when I was a kid, and it still does. Captain Hook and Smee make me laugh just as hard now as they ever did. In fact, I think Hook is one of the great movie villains of the comic sort. And then there's the croc. Could this be where it all began? I don't know, but that croc is 100% wonderful. Tink's not bad, either.

This movie was such a big deal with me that I wrote a short story that was mightily influenced by it. It's one of my favorites, though it's one that very few people have read. It's "What a Croc!," and it's in a book called Urban Nightmares, edited by Jo Sherman and published by Baen in 1997.

Peter Pan

Monday, June 27, 2011

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

THE PULP FACTORY: DAMBALLA: "From the heart of Africa to the streets of Harlem, a new hero is born sworn to support and protect Americans of all races and creeds; he is Damballa and he strikes from the shadows. When the reigning black heavy weight boxing champion of the world agrees to defend his crown against a German fighter representing Hitler’s Nazis regime, the ring becomes the stage for a greater political contest. The Nazis’ agenda is to humble the American champion and prove the superiority of their pure-blood Aryan heritage. To achieve this end, they employ an unscrupulous scientist capable of transforming their warrior into a superhuman killing machine.

Can the mysterious Damballa unravel their insidious plot before it is too late to save a brave and noble man? Airship 27 Productions and Cornerstone Book Publishers are proud to introduce pulpdom’s first ever 1930s African-American pulp hero as created by the acclaimed author, Charles Saunders."

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

Amazon.com: Kill Me Again eBook: Paul Bishop: Books: "“Throughout the story, what seems obvious is contradicted in labyrinthine ways in this complicated, compelling thriller.” – Publishers Weekly

“Bishop not only writes with humor and wit, but with keen insights into flawed heroes and deadly killers.” – Faye Kellerman"

I'm Booking My Flight to Florida

You Can Fly Like James Bond In "Thunderball" For The Low, Low Price Of $249: "Dave Tuxbury works at a place in the Florida Keys where you can strap on a jetpack like the one Sean Connery used in 'Thunderball' and, with the help of 30-foot hoses that use seawater as a propellant, fly like a mechanized falcon. They say it's the only place in the country where one can do this."

Hat tip to Art Scott.
Video at the link.

World's Worst Phone Company?

My vote goes to Century Link. It's a long story.

Note to Self: Don't Use Anal Thermometer

Taking the temperature of dinosaurs

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention


Amazon.com: The Hunted eBook: James Reasoner: Kindle Store: "After the war, a lone Confederate soldier and onetime gunslinger emerges from a Yankee prison camp and faces a harsh frontier winter, outlaws, state police, and Indians in a quest to find his six children."

Buy My Book!

Amazon.com: Keepers of the Beast eBook: Jack MacLane, Neil Jackson: Kindle Store: "Something strange is stirring in Bayou City. Screams in the night. Mutilated animals. The murder of a college student. Barry Shannon wants to know why, and he he wants to know what's happening in the strange house on the edge of town, the one everyone avoids. He should have let well enough alone because it was better never to have found . . . the Keepers of the Beast."

Today's Vintage Ad

Me, Me, Me

You might have noticed that I've been plugging my own books lately. I should have been doing more of that all along, but somehow my intention of becoming the bestselling writer on the planet keeps getting sidetracked.

Anyway, today I'm starting the big publicity blitz for The Wild Hog Murders, the latest Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery, which is hitting the streets on July 5.

You can pre-order it here if you like Amazon, or if you want to support an independent bookseller, Murder by the Book in Houston will have signed copies available on July 6. Even better, you could drop by the store at 6:30 P. M. on July 5 and get your copy signed in person. Such a deal!

Alice Playten, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: "Alice Playten, a versatile character actress and musical comedy voice whose piping wail earned her comparisons to a baby Ethel Merman, died on Saturday in Manhattan. She was 63 and lived in Manhattan.

The cause was heart failure following a lifelong battle with juvenile diabetes, complicated by pancreatic cancer, said her husband, Joshua White.

Ms. Playten was a two-time Obie winner, for the satirical revue “National Lampoon’s Lemmings” and “First Lady Suite,” the Michael John LaChiusa chamber musical, in which she played Mamie Eisenhower. She was called “a comic genius” by Marilyn Stasio in her New York Post review of the Mark O’Donnell comedy “That’s It, Folks!”"

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

PaperBack


Joseph Hilton, Beyond Mombasa, Avon, 1957




Interview and Book Giveaway

Tense Moments: The Monday Interview (and a book giveaway contest) -- David Cranmer

No Comment Department

Ex-ER doctor Clifford Scheiner's porn, erotica collection includes 350,000 books, films and photos

Hat tip to Art Scott.

That's Greeks -- with an "R"

Homer to Plato: Boris Johnson on the ten greatest ancient Greeks

Today's Western Movie Poster

The 20 Most Amazing Tree Houses in the World

The 20 Most Amazing Tree Houses in the World

A Nice Surprise

The Tennessean: "Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer Dickey Lee started getting unexplained royalty checks in the mail recently for 'Memphis Beat,' a Jerry Lee Lewis cut he co-wrote 50 years ago.

Then he got a call from BMI last month asking him to fly to Los Angeles and receive an award for the song. Come to find out, “Memphis Beat” was rerecorded by fellow Nashville resident Keb’ Mo’ and was being used as the theme song on TNT’s show of the same name.

Lee never knew."

Headline of the Day

Woman Arrested After Allegedly Spraying Deputies With Breast Milk

Who Knew?

Hacked IRL: Breakfast Food Revelations

Stage Door

Sunday, June 26, 2011

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

Amazon.com: Tough As Leather - The Noah Milano Collection eBook: Jochem Van der Steen: Kindle Store: "This Noah Milano short story collection features introductions by fan favorite authors like Les Roberts, Jeremiah Healey, Ace Atkins, Sean Chercover and Mark Coggins. Read how the son of a mobster tries to make an honest living as a security specialist but time and time finds out it's not easy to keep your hands clean when you're dealing with the most evil bastards of L.A."

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention


Amazon.com: Mending Fences eBook: Livia Reasoner: Kindle Store: "Mending Fences takes readers to the frontier town of Zephyr, Texas, where a young romance writer falls for a character she might have invented - a handsome cowboy who stirs her deepest longings."

Buy My Book!

Amazon.com: Just Before Dark eBook: Jack MacLane: Kindle Store: "It’s just an old junkyard, a place where Lane Hamner loved to play among the rusty old car bodies. But you never know what you might find in a junkyard, especially when your uncle isn’t the kindly old gentleman you think he is. He’s actually the kind of man who would put someone into a car that’s about to be run through the crusher, just to get rid of him.

Frank Castella isn’t so easy to get rid of, however. When his spirit takes over the junkyard, bent on revenge, a lot of people are going to die, and Frank isn’t going to make it easy on them."

Billy the Kid Photo Update

CNN.com: "A 130-year-old photo, billed as the only authenticated picture of legendary outlaw Billy the Kid, sold for $2.3 million at a Denver auction Saturday night."

Feeling Safer Now?

Elderly woman asked to remove adult diaper during TSA search | mother, search, adult - Northwest Florida Daily News: "Jean Weber of Destin filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia.

Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search."

Link via Boing Boing.

Today's Vintage Ad

Uh-Oh

Stupidity Is Contagious; Your Brain as Band Scout | Week in Ideas - WSJ.com: "Stupidity Is Contagious"

PaperBack


William Irish (Cornell Woolrich), Strangler's Serenade, Popular Library, 1952






Gator Update (Texas Edition)

Officials investigate if gator was shot legally - Local - SunHerald.com: "When it gets hot, Texans start seeing flying saucers, goat-men and the mythical flying monster, El Chupacabras.

This year’s weird animal story has arrived right on schedule: The Giant Cow-Eating Alligator."

If You Wrote This as a Novel, No One Would Believe It

Rape suspect has twisted history - Times Union

Gator Update (Ochocinco Edition)

Ochocinco To Try (Not Lose) His Hand Alligator Wrestling - Sports News Story - WBAL Baltimore: "Ochocinco announced the latest endeavor in his sideshow offseason while practicing with the University of Cincinnati on Friday: alligator wrestling.
'Don't laugh, like I am serious and you'll see it,' Ochocinco said. 'And I am living life.'"

Locus Awards Winners

Science Fiction Awards Watch � Blog Archive � Locus Awards Winners: "Locus Awards Winners"

All winners at the link, which is via SF Signal.

Today's Western Movie Poster

Another Dangerous Criminal Is Off the Streets

Infamous 'Moustache' graffiti bandit is unmasked - and he's clean-shaven!: "The infamous 'Moustache' graffiti bandit has been unmasked - and he's clean-shaven.

Cops busted Joseph Patrick Waldo, 26, this week for writing the word 'moustache' in cursive on the upper lip of people pictured in subway advertisements across the city, police said."


Hat tip to Art Scott.

You'd Cross It, Of Course

Atlas Obscura: "Known as keshwa chaca, this is the only remaining example of the Incan handwoven bridges once common in the Incan road system. Made of woven grass, the bridge spans 118 feet and hangs 220 feet above the canyon's rushing river."

You Were a Member, Right?

It’s a Steal! How Columbia House Made Money Giving Away Music

7 Deadliest Arrow Poisons on Earth

7 Deadliest Arrow Poisons on Earth

Roberta