Saturday, January 14, 2012

Libraries On TV And In The Movies

Libraries On TV And In The Movies

Free Today for Kindle

Amazon.com: The Great Detectives (From Vidocq to Sam Spade) eBook: William S. Shepard: Kindle Store: "The Great Detectives, From Vidocq to Sam Spade," enhances your mystery reading pleasure by showing how the great writers of detective stories invented and polished their craft. These four essays trace the birth and evolution of the detective story, from its origins in the early nineteenth century to the great American masters, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

Doris Day Update

DISCOVERING DORIS: Hollywood showbiz icon Doris Day received last night the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s ‘Career Achievement Award’ – now she also has another distinction to her name, that of being the oldest living person to ever reach the ‘Top 150′ on the American Billboard Music Chart.

At 87 years old, Ms. Day has now officially surpassed George Burns and her dear friend crooner Tony Bennett following the December 2011 release of her US album, “My Heart.” Both performers held the honor at 84 and 85 years of age, respectively.

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

Amazon.com: The Killing Of Emma Gross eBook: Damien Seaman: Kindle Store: Based on the true story of notorious serial killer Peter Kurten and the unsolved murder of Dusseldorf prostitute Emma Gross…

Dusseldorf, 1st March 1929, the dying days of the Weimar Republic. A prostitute is found dead in a cheap hotel room, brutally murdered. But her death is soon forgotten as the city's police hunt a maniac attacking innocent women and children. A killer the press has dubbed the Dusseldorf Ripper.

Detective Thomas Klein's career is going nowhere until he gets a tip-off leading to the Ripper's arrest. But the killer's confession to the hooker's murder is full of holes, and Klein soon comes to believe this is one murder the killer didn't commit. Motivated by spite, ambition, or maybe even a long-buried sense of justice, finding out who really killed Emma Gross becomes Klein's obsession.


Particularly when the evidence begins to point closer to home…

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

This is free for now. Great book. Go for it!

Amazon.com: The Walk eBook: Lee Goldberg: Kindle Store: It's one minute after the Big One. Marty Slack, a TV network executive, crawls out from under his Mercedes, parked outside what once was a downtown Los Angeles warehouse, the location for a new TV show. Downtown LA is in ruins. The sky is thick with black smoke. His cell phone is dead. The freeways are rubble. The airport is demolished. Buildings lay across streets like fallen trees. It will be days before help can arrive.

Marty has been expecting this day all his life. He's prepared. In his car are a pair of sturdy walking shoes and a backpack of food, water, and supplies. He knows there is only one thing he can do ... that he must do: get home to his wife Beth, go back to their gated community on the far edge of the San Fernando Valley.

All he has to do is walk. But he will quickly learn that it's not that easy. His dangerous, unpredictable journey home will take him through the different worlds of what was once Los Angeles. Wildfires rage out of control. Flood waters burst through collapsed dams. Natural gas explosions consume neighborhoods. Sinkholes swallow entire buildings. After-shocks rip apart the ground. Looters rampage through the streets.

There's no power. No running water. No order.

A Review of Interest (to Me, Anyway)

Dead on the Island

Song of the Day

'Butt slasher' Update

Interpol: 'Butt slasher' suspect arrested in Peru - WTOP.com: Interpol says the man suspected of slashing women's behinds while they were shopping in Fairfax County stores has been captured in Peru.

Let Freedom Ring

Court finds state violated Bigfoot's right to free speech

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Waugh said officers dispatched to the scene found three women fighting and using a baseball bat and hot grease as weapons.

Today's Vintage Ad

Hat tip to Art Scott.

6 Insane Batman Villains You Won't See in the Movies

6 Insane Batman Villains You Won't See in the Movies

Yes, Disease-Ridden Bushmeat WBAGNFARB

Among the cargo moving through Bush IAH: Disease-ridden bushmeat

Today's Cartoon

The Other CoastLink

PaperBack


Floyd Miller, Just So Far, Popular Library, 1957




The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace

'Twilight' saga may continue after fifth film, Lions Gate CEO says - latimes.com: Asked whether the franchise would continue in some form for Lions Gate, he added, "It's hard for me to imagine a movie that does $700 million-plus doesn't have ongoing value. It's an amazing franchise that they have done a great job of maintaining with absolutely no deterioration. So the simple answer is 'Boy I hope so.'"

One person close to the acquisition deal but not authorized to speak publicly suggested that because Lions Gate, unlike Summit, has a television production unit, it could adapt "Twilight" for the small screen.

The Brains of the Outfit

msnbc.com: Officials at Cairo's international airport confiscated 420 pounds of frozen cow brains Friday from three Sudanese travelers who planned to sell them to Egyptian restaurants, authorities said.

An airport official said it was the fourth time this week that customs officers there had foiled an attempt to smuggle cow brains into the country, . . .

Dearest 'Rolling Stone,' What Were You Thinking?!?

Dearest 'Rolling Stone,' What Were You Thinking?!?

Today's Western Movie Poster

Six Actors Who Actually Look Like the Famous People They Portrayed | The Six Pack | Screen | Philadelphia Weekly

Six Actors Who Actually Look Like the Famous People They Portrayed

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

10 Actors Who Didn’t Break Out Until Middle Age

10 Actors Who Didn’t Break Out Until Middle Age

Well, Duh

Man armed with sledgehammer shot to death

In Case You Were Wondering, . . .

Salon.com: Many people assume that if you want e-books, you’ve got to buy them from Amazon or another online retailer. They’re wrong about that. You most certainly can purchase e-books from your local independent bookstore. I’ve done it myself several times since I made my resolution to avoid buying them from Amazon if at all possible. Two of my favorite New York booksellers — Greenlight Books in Brooklyn and McNally Jackson in Manhattan — participate in the Google e-books program. You can visit their websites, find the book you want and purchase it through Google, which gives the bookstore a cut. The prices are comparable and the Google Books app works as well as the Kindle one.

The Stranger

Friday, January 13, 2012

Uh-Oh

Deadline.com: A&E said today that it is in early development on Bates Motel, a drama series that serves as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s horror classic Psycho. Bates Motel, from Universal TV and writer Anthony Cipriano, will delve into how Norman Bates’ dark, twisted backstory from childhood through his teen years and will chronicle how his mother, Norma, and her lover damaged Norman, helping shape the most well-known serial killing motel owner in history.

No Comment Department

NBC San Diego: Turns out those airport security checkpoints aren't just for your safety, they are also a source of funds for the Transportation Security Administration.

Travelers left behind $409,085.56 in loose change in 2010. Not only did they ditch their pennies, dimes and quarters at the checkpoints, but they also left behind foreign currency.

Doodles

150-Year-Old Cartoons By Queen Victoria: The 19th century British monarch was quite a talented doodler. Here are sketches by Queen Victoria, only recently released to the public, of Her Royal Highness' family.

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

Amazon.com: Wee Rockets eBook: Gerard Brennan: Kindle Store: WEE ROCKETS is a gritty, urban morality tale; a wake-up call for society. It follows a gang of fourteen-year-old hoods as they rampage through West Belfast, fearless and forever upping the ante in their anti-social crimes. They mug pensioners to pay for the cider, cigarettes and sweets they hope will ease them through so many long, aimless days of summer. Their actions send shockwaves through an already damaged post-Troubles society that has yet to build a relationship with a new ‘catholic-friendly’ police force.

Stephen McVeigh, a local Gaelic football ‘star’ and concerned resident has had enough. He wants the kind of justice the Provos dealt in their heyday and he believes he’s the man to fill that void.

With rat-like instincts, Joe Phillips has realised that his luck can’t hold out much longer. He wants to relinquish his post as the leader of the Wee Rockets. But as Stephen McVeigh closes in with his ham-fisted investigation has Joe left it too late to change his ways? Without his loyal gang to back him up, Joe’s just a vulnerable fourteen-year-old kid from a broken home with nobody to turn to.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

The Raw Story: A 46-year-old woman in Mountain View, California has been accused of biting two children in a local bookstore.

Song of the Day

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

McDonald’s beatdown duo in tequila-fueled lovers' spat after attack

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Reginald Hill, R. I. P.

guardian.co.uk: The writer Reginald Hill, who created the Yorkshire detective duo Andrew Dalziel and Peter Pascoe, has died aged 75.

Hill charted the ups and downs of his two contrasting sleuths in more than 20 novels published over four decades after his debut, A Clubbable Woman (1970) alongside a substantial body of other crime fiction and thrillers. He won the Crime Writers Association's Golden Dagger in 1990 for Bones and Silence, and the Diamond Dagger for the series as a whole in 1995.

Today's Vintage Ad

Hat tip to Art Scott.

Gator Update

As regular readers of this blog know, gators are a favorite watch-animal for U. S. drug dealers. Now the Italians are getting to the act, but this guy didn't quite get it right.

Italian Drug Dealer Guarded Stash With 'mini Alligator'

Yours, Maybe . . . .

15 Big Ways The Internet Is Changing Our Brain

10 Amazing Shakespeare Events Around the World

10 Amazing Shakespeare Events Around the World

No Comment Department

Woman says her fake penis got her fired: A northeastern Pennsylvania woman is suing a South Jersey-based maker of frozen treats and other snack foods, claiming that she was wrongfully fired because she wore a prosthetic penis to work.

Bad Movie Sequels

Failed Sequels Without Their Stars

PaperBack


Charles Runyon, The Anatomy of Violence, Ace, 1960




Gator Update (Must-See TV Edition)

The Herald News: The show is sort of like the alligator version of “Cops” where regular people, spooked by the presence of an alligator on their property, call the Gator Boys for help.

Strange Writing Rituals Of Famous Authors

Strange Writing Rituals Of Famous Authors

Or Maybe Not

15 Fad Books You Probably Forgot About

Who Knew?

Top 10 Uses Of Vodka

Today's Western Movie Poster

9 Ridiculous Cooking Myths You Probably Believe

9 Ridiculous Cooking Myths You Probably Believe

If There's Any Justice, He'll Win

Man fights to keep pet croc

Here's the Plot for Your Next Academic Cozy

Oxford don Dr Devinder Singh quizzed over the death of professor Steven Rawlings

Spooky Superstitions for Friday the 13th

Spooky Superstitions for Friday the 13th

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

87th Precinct for Sale

You can't go wrong here!

Amazon.com Gold Box: New Deals. Every Day.: 90% Off on Ed McBain's "87th Precinct Series," $0.99 Each

Master crime novelist Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" is one of the longest-running crime series ever published and helped McBain earn the Mystery Writers of America's "Grand Master Award" for lifetime achievement. Today only, 35 Kindle Books from the series are just $0.99 each
.

Forgotten Books: The Vortex Blasters and other stories from Modern Masterpieces of Science Fiction -- Edited by Sam Moskowitz

You'd have to read the entire title of this one to figure out that it's an abridgment of a much longer book. There's nothing at all on the copyright page to clue you in, other than that the original copyright is 1965, whereas this edition was published in 1968. The ToC or this one shows that you'd be getting a heck of a bargain for your 60 cents. Some very famous stories here, including one of my Leiber favorites and one of Edmond Hamilton's best, too. But you'd be a lot better off with the full book. Fairly cheap copies are available on the 'Net. Here's a link to the NESFA Press edition. There's a lot missing, including that long introduction, which, no matter what you think of Moskowitz, is bound to be valuable. I've put the NESFA description and the original ToC below.

Modern Masterpieces of Science Fiction is an excellent historical introduction to the field, including some of the best stories of the 1940s and 1950s. It includes a long historical and critical essay by Moskowitz. (See also Masterpieces of Science Fiction, a collection of historical, pre 1940, SF.)
  • Introduction by Sam Moskowitz
  • "The Vortex Blasters" by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.
  • "Night" by John W. Campbell
  • "A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster
  • "Requiem" by Edmond Hamilton
  • "With Folded Hands..." by jack Williamson
  • "Adaptation" by John Wyndham
  • "The Witness" by Eric Frank Russell
  • "The Command" by L. Sprague de Camp
  • "Kindness" by Lester del Rey
  • "...We Also Walk Dogs" by Robert A. Heinlein
  • "The Enchanted Village" by A. E. van Vogt
  • "Liar" by Isaac Asimov
  • "Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon
  • "Huddling Place" by Clifford D. Simak
  • "Coming Attraction" by Fritz Leiber
  • "Doorway into Time" by C. L. Moore
  • "We Guard the Black Planet!" by henry Kuttner
  • "The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton" by Robert Bloch
  • "Wake for the Living" by Ray Bradbury
  • "Before Eden" by Arthur C. Clarke
  • "Mother" by Philip Jose Farmer

The Five Man Army

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Get Your Application In Early

Director of Retail Operations - The Museum of Sex, US - New York, New York | Job Postings from Coroflot.com: The Museum of Sex is seeking a design-oriented, motivated, senior-level retail store manager for the operations of their flagship store on 5th Avenue. This is a chance to develop a thoughtful, high-quality sexually related retail concept that is informed by scholarship and intellectual leadership. The right candidate will have an opportunity to redesign and implement the retail offering of one of New York City’s most unique cultural institutions. A refined aesthetic sensibility and ability to create high quality, provocative retail experiences across the categories of food, design, fashion, art and literature across luxury and mass market products is a must.

Want to See Another Photo of Me?

Rough Edges: Just a Couple of Guys on Top of a Mountain

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

Free today! Only 99 cents otherwise.

Amazon.com: With Love And Squalor eBook: Nigel Bird: Kindle Store: When ‘An Arm And A Leg’ was published by Crimespree Magazine in January 2010, we were to witness Nigel Bird’s debut as a crime-writer. Soon afterwards, the story was chosen by Maxim Jakubowski for the Mammoth Best British Crime Stories 8.

Since then, Bird has been the winner of the Watery Grave Invitational competition, won the Things I’d Rather Be Doing fairytale crime competition and been nominated for the Best Story Online in the Spinetingler awards for 2011.

‘With Love And Squalor’ is his 3rd collection of stories. In it, we see the range of his talents, a spread of individual pieces which combine to provide readers with a powerful and emotional experience that they aren’t likely to forget in a hurry.

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

Read it free if you're an Amazon Prime member!

Amazon.com: Stairway to the Bottom - A Mick Murphy Key West Mystery eBook: Michael Haskins: Kindle Store: After finding the murdered female killer from the Cold War time, Mick Murphy faces off with a hit man for Whitey Bulger who has escaped from witness protection to collect Bulger's hidden millions. At the same time, retired Cold War agents come to Key West looking for someone that walked off with more than $20 million in diamonds and they think the missing hit man is their guy. Murphy thinks the situation is funny as he meets and talks to the agents, but dislikes the hit man even though Padre Thomas has given him absolution. It's not long before his buddy Norm shows up with CIA agents looking for the diamonds. They are soon followed by the British, French, Israeli and Russian spy agencies. Everyone assumes Murphy can lead them to the Cold War agent, while Murphy tries helplessly to explain the man they are looking for is a Boston gangster. On the water, snorkeling a t the reef with Tita, Norm and a female CIA agent everything in Murphy's world begins to unravel. As both those looking for the hit man and those looking for the diamonds collide,Murphy's world changes forever.

Song of the Day

Get a Rope!

South Carolina Woman Jailed For Having Messy Yard

Today's Vintage Ad

Hat tip to Art Scott.

Days of Future Passed

Some predictions do come true . . . and some don't.

Raymond Chandler & Alfred Hitchcock Update

Raymond Chandler Hated Alfred Hitchcock: Letter Reveals A Battle Of Wits

Hat tip to George Kelley.

10 Best On-Screen Punches

10 Best On-Screen Punches

Jerry Lee Lewis Update

Cajun Pawn Stars uncovers lost Jerry Lee Lewis recording from 1952

PaperBack


John Cunningham, Wait Till Dark, Gold Medal, 1963




10 Radical Books That Changed the World

10 Radical Books That Changed the World

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Des Moines police officer assaulted with toy monkey

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Western Fictioneers

James Reasoner & Bill Crider, WWA convention, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1992

Top Ten Ancient Unusual Weapons

Top Ten Ancient Unusual Weapons

Today's Western Movie Poster

Croc Update (Meeting the Pope Edition)

National Post: A rare Cuban crocodile met a bemused Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican on Wednesday, as Rome’s Bio Park zoo celebrated its centenary with the eco-friendly pontiff.

Photo at the link.

The 10 Best Protest Books of All Time

The 10 Best Protest Books of All Time

Noooooooooooooooooo!

wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth: Dublin Dr Pepper is no more.

The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company has sold its rights to produce the iconic beverage in a settlement over a long-running feud.

The plant opened more than a century ago, filling containers with Dr Pepper made with pure cane sugar. But the oldest Dr Pepper bottler in the world has now produced its final "pick me up."

The development is cutting deep, stripping the very identity of this small Erath County town 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

James Bond Update

The Hollywood Reporter: Bond girls and directors of the 007 films appeared at the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, as part of an announcement that all 22 James Bond films will be released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray this year. The boxed set will include more than 130 hours of bonus material.

Paging George Kelley!

The Buffalo News: Those are the telltale signs, according to one of Italy's most esteemed art conservators, that a painting depicting a fallen Jesus in Mary's arms and flanked by two angels -- stashed under a couch for 25 years outside Rochester and now owned by a City of Tonawanda man -- might be a genuine Michelangelo.

10 Violent Women

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

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

Read it for free if you're a member of Amazon Prime or buy it for a mere 99 cents.

Amazon.com: BEAT to a PULP: A Rip Through Time eBook: Garnett Elliott, Chad Eagleton, Chris F. Holm, Charles A. Gramlich, David Cranmer: Kindle Store: A Rip Through Time follows the time-cop's travels in a series of five short stories written by several of today's top pulp writers. Chris F. Holm opens the collection with the fast-paced "The Dame, the Doctor and the Device." Charles A. Gramlich's "Battles, Broadswords, and Bad Girls" and Garnett Elliott's "Chaos in the Stream" breath new life into the time travel story. Bringing the saga to a gripping conclusion in "Darkling in the Eternal Space" is Chad Eagleton, who then takes it a step further with a mesmerizing coda, "The Final Painting of Hawley Exton." And for all the time-traveling enthusiasts, Ron Scheer provides an insightful essay, "Are We Then Yet," which explores the mechanics of time travel in popular fiction.

Not Me. I Can Quit Any Time I Want To.

The Independent: Internet addiction has for the first time been linked with changes in the brain similar to those seen in people addicted to alcohol, cocaine and cannabis. In a groundbreaking study, researchers used MRI scanners to reveal abnormalities in the brains of adolescents who spent many hours on the internet, to the detriment of their social and personal lives. The finding could throw light on other behavioural problems and lead to the development of new approaches to treatment, researchers said.

Crackhead Genius of the Day

Woman Seeking Crack Cocaine Calls Police After Drug Dealer Sells Her Sugar Instead

Say It Ain't So!

Fast food could be damaging your brain

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

Amazon.com: Wally Wood: The Complete Galaxy Illustrations (9781613771846): Roger Hill, Wally Wood: Books: Wally Wood's career in comics is legendary among the annals of comic's history. He rocketed to fame working on Will Eisner's The Spirit newspaper strip and became one of the most talented artists working for EC Comics during the 1950s. Wood also became a star of EC's satire comic, Mad, which went on to even greater success as a magazine, allowing the artist to apply his amazing talents in a broader spectrum. When the comic's industry fell on lean times during the mid 1950s, Wood segued into the field of science fiction pulp illustration, providing over 200 beautiful drawings and several color cover paintings for the digest magazines, particularly Galaxy. Wood left behind a legacy of great art, much of which has never been reprinted. This book will feature them all. Long time Wally Wood historian Roger Hill has spent the past twenty years pulling together the history of Wood's involvement with the pulp digests and tracking down original art for this project. Over half of the images have been pulled from the originals or from Wood's personal file copies, allowing Wood fans the finest possible reproduction!

The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace

Superconductor: Mahler, Interrupted: The Avery Fisher Hall audience, ripped in an untimely fashion from Mahler's complicated sound-world, reacted with "seething rage." Someone shouted "Thousand dollar fine."

This was followed by cries of 'Get out!' and 'Kick him out!.' Some people started clapping rhythmically but the hall was quieted down. House security did not intervene or remove the offender.

Egad

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: $100,000

10 Great Silent Sequences in Sound Movies

10 Great Silent Sequences in Sound Movies

Song of the Day

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

Great book, great writer. Check it out. You can read more right here about how the ebook came to be published.

Amazon.com: Hard City eBook: Clark Howard: Kindle Store: Hard City was Howard's most personal novel. The semi-autobiographical novel features Richie, a young boy from a troubled family, who lives on the streets of 1940s Chicago at age 12 while sleeping in a bowling alley every night. Eventually, Richie's love of reading is key to Richie's surviving, and eventually leaving, the street life.

Writing about Hard City in a new Author's Preface for the publication of Hard City as an ebook, Howard writes, "Because much of it is based on my life as a wayward boy on the mean streets of Chicago's lower West Side, a life frequently fueled by truancy, petty thievery, gang membership, and other disreputable behavior, I had, as a respectable adult, left those bleak days far behind and buried them deep in my memory. The things I had done back then, the life I had experienced, as well as vivid recollections of my mother's drug addiction and my father's incarceration in federal prison and subsequent disappearance, had all melded together into some dark recess of my mind and, I thought, been locked away forever."

11 Most Unhelpful Self-Help Books

11 Most Unhelpful Self-Help Books

Today's Vintage Ad

Hat tip to Art Scott.

If You Dare . . . .

Read Some of the Meanest Book Reviews of the Year

The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace

The Raw Story: The calculator used by the Virginia Tech student killer is up for sale on the Internet along with a lock of hair snipped from notorious assassin Charles Manson and letters from several serial killers.

The market for buying grisly souvenirs linked to infamous crimes is growing in the United States, with a half-dozen websites sharing what is dubbed the “murderabilia” industry.

And Keep Off His Lawn!

John Castle, Leveraged Buyout King, Breaks Waiter's Finger For Bad Service

PaperBack


Milton Rogers, Born Reckless, Avon, 1959




The 8 Best Career Movies Of All Time

The 8 Best Career Movies Of All Time

Recommended Reading

SONS OF SPADE: Hardboiled Collective: Truman Smith series by Bill Crider

Espionage & Action Paperbacks

Retrospace: Cover Gallery #14: Espionage & Action Paperbacks

Today's Western Movie Poster

And Keep Off Their Damn Lawns!

Over-65s are frequent binge drinkers: U.S. study

New Year's Resolution Reading List: 9 Books on Reading and Writing

New Year's Resolution Reading List: 9 The Atlantic: As far as New Year's resolutions go, hardly anything does one's mental, spiritual, and creative health more good than resolving to read more and write better. Today's reading list addresses these parallel aspirations. And since the number of books written about reading and writing likely far exceeds the reading capacity of a single human lifetime, this omnibus couldn't be—shouldn't be—an exhaustive list. It is, instead, a collection of timeless texts bound to radically improve your relationship with the written word, from whichever side of the equation you approach it.

The 9 Most Badass Last Words Ever Uttered: Part 2

The 9 Most Badass Last Words Ever Uttered: Part 2

Yet Another List I'm Not On

The Best Blogs of 2011 - TIME

Big Business Girl

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Flash Fiction Challenge: Free eBooks

Out of bullets, throw the gun | Pablo D'Stair versus Crime/Noir Flash Fiction: …what we have here is a contest pitting author Pablo D’Stair (they say the owl was a baker’s daughter: four existential noirs) against an assortment of the very best Crime/Noir flash fiction authors on the contemporary scene.

Take a look through the site for more information, or just jump to the collections right here:

Collection “A”

Collection “B”

The Contest is now active. Voting is open from December 29th until January 31st

Podcast about Pablo D'Stair's Flash Fiction Challenge

Episode #58 - Crime Noir Flash Fiction Challenge with Pablo D'Stair | Booked.: Booked starts off talking about the crime noir flash fiction throw down that Pablo D’Stair has cookin’. Then, we actually got Pablo to come on and talk to us a bit about the contest and his thoughts about flash fiction in general. After we wrap up with Pablo, we finished off the episode talking about a few more things.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

CBS Cleveland: A dispute over whether a terminally ill woman should have been given tea and toast or an orange apparently upset her husband so much that he shot and killed two of the woman’s sisters and his own son before killing himself, a sheriff said Tuesday.

At Last!

Police Academy remake confirmed

Hat tip to Fred Zackel.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

The Guardian: In 2010, the police gave close to 300,000 "Class C misdemeanour" tickets to children as young as six in Texas for offences in and out of school, which result in fines, community service and even prison time. What was once handled with a telling-off by the teacher or a call to parents can now result in arrest and a record that may cost a young person a place in college or a job years later.

Link via Boing Boing.

Andy Carey, R. I. P.

Andy Carey, 80, 3rd baseman for Yankee juggernaut in 1950s -: Andy Carey, third baseman for the New York Yankees dynasty of the 1950s that won four straight American League pennants and two World Series, has died at 80.

Yes, It's True. I'm Everywhere.

And you can read more about me right here: Timothy Hallinan - The Blog Cabin

None of them Made by Seepy Benton

6 Small Math Errors That Caused Huge Disasters

Bram Stoker Awards Event 2012

Bram Stoker Awards Event 2012: The Horror Writers Association has chosen two long-time icons of the genre to receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year. The award, given in recognition of the recipient's overall body of work, will go to Rick Hautala and to Joe R. Lansdale.

Karen Lansdale will be receiving the Richard Layman award for her contributions to the genre.

Song of the Day

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

Great series, highly recommended!

Amazon.com: The Original Sam McCain Mysteries (The Sam McCain Mysteries) eBook: Ed Gorman: Kindle Store: The Original Sam McCain Mysteries is the author’s revised and preferred combined edition of his first two Sam McCain mysteries, The Day The Music Died and Wake Up Little Susie, both of which are now also available individually as e-books and trade paperbacks. Each book includes a new introduction from Ed Gorman, as well as the author’s preferred and revised text, and has been completely reformatted for Kindle.

Yet Another List I'm Not On

10 Legendary Bad Boys of Literature

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Cops: Incensed By Judge Judy, Florida Woman, 62, Attacks Husband, 65, With Hammer

Today's Vintage Ad

Hat tip to Art Scott.

No Wonder I'm So Chipper

Mail Online: I don't believe it! We're NOT a nation of Victor Meldrews... because the older we get the HAPPIER we are, study reveals

A mature brain is better equipped to see the sunny side of life, research suggests

Psychologists say people focus on more positive events as they move from middle to old age

And Keep Off Her Lawn!

Woman, 73, forced to rob bank with ankle bomb

Even Better than the Thin Mints Melee. . . .

The 30 Best Taco-Related Crimes Ever

I'm Everywhere!

I have a Short, Sharp Interview right here: You Would Say That, Wouldn't You?

PaperBack

Jim Bishop and Richard H. Hoffman, M. D., The Girl in Poison Cottage, Gold Medal, 1953






Looking for Work?

Northwest Florida Daily News: Wanted: Somebody who has excellent customer service skills, is comfortable working with children, and enjoys working in a “fast-paced environment.”

You better be fast — you’ll be catching and holding alligators. With luck, the gators won’t be catching you.

That’s the job Fudpucker’s in Destin is trying to fill: alligator handler at its Gator Beach attraction.

10 Stubborn Body Myths That Just Won't Die, Debunked by Science

10 Stubborn Body Myths That Just Won't Die, Debunked by Science

How to Drive to Improve Traffic for Others

Lifehacker: How to Drive to Improve Traffic for Others

Today's Western Movie Poster

The 25 Worst Haircuts In Sports History

The 25 Worst Haircuts In Sports History

Edwardian First Editions

AbeBooks: Edwardian First Editions: The Edwardian era began with Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 and stretched until 1910 when Edward VII died. A mere nine years hardly constitutes anything worthwhile but it was a period of immense change and memorable literature.

First editions from this era are plentiful and easy to find. First editions, complete with dust jackets, from this era are scarce and more expensive.

Texas Doesn't Lead the Way

The best- and worst-run cities in America

5 Absurd Solutions to Huge Problems (That Actually Worked)

5 Absurd Solutions to Huge Problems (That Actually Worked)

Denise Darcel, R. I. P.

BBC News: Denise Darcel, the French-born actress who starred opposite Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper in 1954 movie Vera Cruz, has died aged 87.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Overlooked Movies -- The Big Town

This one's based on a novel by Clark Howard, so you know it had good source material. Matt Dillon plays the kid who comes to the big city (Chicago) to show 'em how the game of craps is played. Tommy Lee Jones is gonna show him how small-time he really is. If this reminds you of The Cincinnati Kid or The Hustler, that's probably intended, but it's more than a knock-off, and it throws a few curves along the way.

Some nice performances, and I know some of you are thinking that I'm recommending this only because of Diane Lane's great work as a stripper with a heart that's hardly golden. I'm not, but that's one excellent reason to watch. There's also a great soundtrack, and this is another movie that I left only to go directly to a store to buy a cassette of the music.

The Big Town didn't do particularly well during its run in theaters, as far as I know, and it pretty much disappeared afterward, so it's another one that nobody likes buy me. So be warned before you rush out to find a DVD. If there even is one.

The Big Town

Monday, January 09, 2012

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

If you like westerns in the old pulp style, this one's for you Good stuff!

Amazon.com: Riding the Pulp Trail eBook: Paul S. Powers, Laurie Powers: Kindle Store: Most fans of Western fiction know Paul S. Powers as one of the foundation authors of the famous pulp magazine of the 1930s and 1940s, Wild West Weekly. Now, here for the first time, are twelve Paul Powers stories written in the years after Wild West Weekly stopped publication. Six of these stories were published in magazines such as Exciting Western, Thrilling Western, The Rio Kid Western and Thrilling Ranch Stories. The other six are brand new stories - never before published - that were discovered in 2009. Altogether they make for an outstanding collection of western stories that represent the glory years of the Western short story and the best of Powers’ prolific pulp Western career.

Sounds Promising

Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.: TNT just sent out a press release announcing the greenlighting of a pilot for LA Noir, a passion project from Darabont. He’ll direct the pilot from his script, which has nothing to do with the video game. Instead it’s based on John Buntin’s book LA Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City and will focus on the LAPD’s battle with the West Coast Mob in the ‘40s.

A Little Quiz that you Baseball Fans Will Ace

Name Baseball's 90 Percent Club: Famously, no baseball player has made the Hall of Fame with 100 percent of the Baseball Writers Association of America vote. But 27 players have come close by getting more than 90 percent. Can you name the members of the Hall of Fame's 90 percent club in 10 minutes? Last names are fine

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

Amazon.com: Moonlight Mayhem (Moon Mystery Series) eBook: Helen Haught Fanick: Kindle Store: Maggie Flynn’s simple country wedding in West Virginia’s enchanting Canaan Valley is everything her aunts hoped for, and Andrea Flynn and Kathleen Williamson are looking forward to a joyful weekend celebration. Murder is the last thing on anyone’s mind, but when one guest has multiple enemies present, it becomes a reality. Poison in a late-night cup of tea proves fatal, and it’s obvious that plenty of family members and their friends have reason to want the victim dead.

The 7 Stupidest Alibis in the History of Crime |

The 7 Stupidest Alibis in the History of Crime

Announcing Favorite Kills from Top Suspense

Top Suspense Group: Announcing Favorite Kills from Top Suspense: In our second anthology, FAVORITE KILLS, we've collected our very best short stories. All major prize winning tales and personal favorites, each one a knock-out punch of suspense.

FAVORITE KILLS will be released as an ebook for the Kindle and Nook on March 15th, but we're providing a limited number of review copies now.

Song of the Day

Well, That Explains It

This Is The Third Time A Man Dressed Like A Woman And Chained Himself Up Near Her Local Walgreens: "He stated 'cause he came to Walgreens to get his wife a drink, and being dressed like a woman is hard to just walk into the store. So he chained up/restrained himself to build himself up to going into the store dressed like a woman to get his wife a drink."

Today's Vintage Ad

The 6 Most Reckless Uses of Radioactive Material

The 6 Most Reckless Uses of Radioactive Material

Strangely Compelling Photographs of Abandoned Sofas in Suburbia

Strangely Compelling Photographs of Abandoned Sofas in Suburbia

PaperBack


Q. Patrick, The Girl on the Gallows, Gold Medal, 1954



I Knew They Were Going to Publish This

Psychic powers: How thought premonitions and telepathy are more common than we think

Yet Another List I'm Not On

The 50 Coolest Books Ever

Today's Western Movie Poster

Archaeology Update

Herald Scotland: THE discovery of a Stone Age temple on Orkney looks set to rewrite the archeological records of ancient Britain with evidence emerging it was built centuries before Stonehenge.

The 10 Bestselling Comic Book Issues of the Past Decade

The 10 Bestselling Comic Book Issues of the Past Decade

Gator Update (Law

Gator Hunter Troy Landry sues over catch-phrases | KATC.com | Acadiana-Lafayette, Louisiana: Alligator hunter and The History Channel's "Swamp People" star, Troy Landry, has filed a lawsuit against three companies accusing the companies of profiting from his phrases Choot Em, Tree Shaka, Tree Breaka, and Mudda Fricka. The federal lawsuit claims Halpern Import Company, National Cap and Sportswear, Inc., and Ripple Junction Design Co. are selling his trademark expressions on t-shirts and caps.

He Swears It Was Some Other Guy with the Same Name

Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop arrested

Hat tip to Art Scott.

Slave Girls

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Keith Little, R. I. P.

President of Navajo Code Talkers Association dies - Yahoo! News: Keith Little envisioned a place that would house the stories of the Navajo Code Talkers and where people could learn more about the famed World War II group who used their native language as a weapon.

His family now hopes to carry out his dream of a museum in Arizona that also will hold wartime memorabilia and serve as a haven for veterans. Little, one of the most recognizable of the remaining Code Talkers, died of melanoma Tuesday night at a Fort Defiance hospital, said his wife, Nellie. He was 87.

Paris Hilton Update

Paris Hilton: Paris Hilton has just reduced the price of her 1920s Hollywood Hills home from $20,000 a month to $16,000 a month, and she’s ready to rent it out.

Free Through January 10

Amazon.com: Hilda's Big Day Out: A Short Story eBook: Allan Guthrie: Kindle Store: A short story about a tough little dog, and three bonus stories.

HILDA'S BIG DAY OUT was commissioned by the Sunday Mail as its seasonal short story. It's a tale of violence, abduction, and pilchards, told from the perspective of a Dandie Dinmont terrier called Hilda, who's whisked away from a deserted Edinburgh beach by a skinny stranger on New Year's Day.
(word count: 2640; 10/11 Kindle pages)

Also included are three bonus stories

Croc Update (Bungee Edition)

Bungee cord snaps above crocodile-infested waters

Free (for now) in the Kindle Store

Very funny book, great deal. Go for it!
Amazon.com: My Gun Has Bullets (Charlie Willis) eBook: Lee Goldberg: Kindle Store

Get a Rope!

11alive.com: Thirteen-year-old Jack Persyn was at Chess Club before the start of classes at Lanier Middle School in Gwinnett County when he discovered an inch-and-a-half long knife in a bag he brought to school. The military style bag was given to him as a Christmas gift from his aunt, who bought it at a yard sale.

The disciplinary report written by administrators at Lanier Middle states that the 8th grader "accidentally" brought the knife to school and that he "immediately self-reported" the weapon to his teacher.

Still, Jack was punished with four days of in-school suspension.

Song of the Day

Today's Vintage Ad

Frederica Maas, R. I. P.

GUPI.com: Frederica Sagor Maas, a feisty screenwriter from Hollywood's silent-movie era, died in California this week at the age of 111.

Maas, who lived in San Diego, wrote for bygone stars such as Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Norma Scherer and Betty Grable.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

The Raw Story: It’s official: 2011 was the driest year on record in Texas, according to the National Weather Service. It was also the second-hottest ever.

That won’t surprise Texans who lived through a year in which wildfires roared through the Lone Star State, cattle went thirsty and many Fourth of July fireworks shows were canceled.

The weather service said the average rainfall in Texas in 2011 was 14.89 inches. The previous record of 14.99 inches of average rainfall was set in 1917.

PaperBack


Mel Heimer, The Girl in Murder Flat, Gold Medal, 1955




11 Tech and Science Breakthroughs of the 2000s

11 Tech and Science Breakthroughs of the 2000s

Paging Warren Oates

Five severed heads found in northern Mexican city

Or Maybe You Did

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Joan of Arc

Today's Western Movie Poster

10 Great Movies Streaming Free on YouTube

10 Great Movies Streaming Free on YouTube

Now You Know Where the Blame Lies

Mail Online: How the Romans invented the text message...and the origins of some of the most common words and phrases

10 Old Toys That Made Sense In Their Era (And Nowhere Else)

10 Old Toys That Made Sense In Their Era (And Nowhere Else)

And Keep Off His Lawn!

BBC News: An 84-year-old retired boxer who punched a mugger as he tried to rob him at knifepoint in Cambridge has been praised for his bravery by police.

Peter Sandy was approached by a man wielding what police said was a "commando-style" knife, who demanded he hand over his money.

The man ran off empty-handed after Mr Sandy "floored" him with a left hook.

Get Mean