Saturday, June 30, 2012
Free for Kindle Today
Amazon.com: The Screwball King Murder eBook: Kin Platt: Kindle Store: Big, brash, good-looking Hondo Kenyon is one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ best pitchers, a southpaw screwballer with the necessary skills and fastball to keep the opposition from tearing his head off, and the team is counting on the ex-small town Pennsylvania boy for help in their pennant run. On the other hand, Kenyon rates as a screwball in more ways than one. He has a long track record as a scoring jock with the ladies and his antics on or off the field are flamboyant and daffy, executed with lunatic fervor, sometimes funny of bordering on the ludicrous, always certain of coverage by the media.
Friday, June 29, 2012
San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate
By the time you read this, Judy and I will be on the way to San Francisco to see Angela and Tom. The blog will continue as (un)usual, with the daily stuff pretty much scheduled to appear in the right order and at the standard times. I think. Maybe there will be some glitches. I've also scheduled some other stuff, and maybe I'll work in a few photos from the trip. The cat isn't happy about our leaving, but the cat-sitter will keep him in food, water, and catnip. I won't have a lot of computer access, so I probably won't respond to many comments or e-mails for a week or so. I hope everybody has a great 4th of July, and I'll be back a few days after that.
In Other Works: Lesser-known Titles from Famous Authors
ABEBooks: Some authors, such as To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee, are legitimately literary one-hit wonders, in the truest sense of the word, and never publish another book. But even in the case of successful and prolific authors, it's generally true that one or two of their books get most of the attention, while others fade into comparative obscurity. In some cases, that may be for good reason - perhaps a writer blows his whole stake on one excellent book, and spends the rest of his career chasing the dream of another like the first. But oftentimes, word of mouth and bestseller lists help to fan the flames for one title, while others, still deserving of attention, languish.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Mail Online: A woman in Houston, Texas, was arrested and jailed for 12 hours after she held up a make-shift sign to warn drivers about a speed trap.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Forgotten Books: The Blue Dahlia -- Raymond Chandler
Some people might argue with the blurb on the back cover of this book. I for one don't think it's Raymond Chandler's masterpiece, but it's a script that was made into a fairly entertaining movie. This Popular Library paperback reprints the hardcover edition and contains all the good stuff, including the brief memoir by John Houseman, who apparently owned the only copy of the script, an editorial note by Matthew J. Bruccoli that notes some interesting things about the screenplay (Chandler was apparently pretty careless about the plotting), an afterword by Bruccoli about Chandler and Hollywood, and a brief appendix. In the middle of the book are some B&W photos, one of Chandler and the others of the lobby cards for the film.Probably all you Chandler fans have a copy of this one already, but for the curious among you, there are fairly cheap copies available on the Internet.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Doris Singleton Isaacs, R. I. P.
Chicago Tribune: Actress and comedienne Doris Singleton Isaacs, who recurred on "I Love Lucy" as Lucy's near-sighted neighbor and sometimes nemesis Carolyn Appleby, died Tuesday. She was 92. Singleton guested in a large number of both comedies and dramas during her 30-plus career in television. After performing as a featured dancer with the American Ballet Theater in her teens, the Brooklyn-born Dorthea Singleton began in showbiz as a vocalist with Art Jarrett's orchestra in the late 1930s. Her distinctive voice led to a career in radio, where she was an actress on "The Whistler" and other shows during WWII, performing at times with the likes of George Burns & Gracie Allens, Bob Hope and Jack Benny.
Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: A Box of Pandoras eBook: Steve Brewer: Kindle Store: A BOX OF PANDORAS is a hilarious new mystery from veteran author Steve Brewer, introducing small-town busybody Loretta Kimball and a wacky cast of characters.When Loretta learns her favorite actor is coming to New Mexico for a film festival, she couldn't be more excited. Loretta's claim to fame is that she's the long-time president of the International Michael Girard Fan Club, and she never passes up a chance to see Mr. Girard in person.
The festival is in trendy Santa Fe, which is practically a different planet from rural New Mexico towns like Pandora, where Loretta lives, so she expects a certain amount of weirdness when she and her husband, Harley, attend. And she is determined not to let her lifelong nemesis, Mitzi Tyner, ruin the festival for her.
Then murder strikes the film festival, and suspicion is cast upon Mr. Girard. Loretta is thrown into the midst of a media circus while she snoops around, endangering her own life while trying to uncover the killer.
Don Grady, R. I. P.
TMZ.com: Don Grady -- who played one of the sons on the TV classic, "My Three Sons" -- has died at the age of 68 ... this according to one of his co-stars.
Overlooked Music: Born at the Right Time -- The Kingston Trio
This is a quite recent release, but I figure you've all overlooked it and that it deserved a little publicity. It's the latest CD by the current version of The Kingston Trio, which now includes no members of the original group. The name is still owned by Bob Shane, the last surviving member, and he's still heavily involved with the business of the KT. So it's not surprising that he makes a guest appearance on the CD. The song's called "Every Inch of the Way," and it's one of many good ones. In fact, while I have several favorites, I don't think there's a weak song in the batch. (Okay, I admit that "Turkish Delight from the Dardanelles" is a 56-second throwaway.)The sound isn't the same as the original group's, but that's fine. This is three different guys, and they're all excellent singers and musicians with their own ideas and their own sound. It's a good one, too.
As for my favorites on the CD, one would be "Blackleg Miner," which would have fit on to any of the original group's albums, where it would've been sung by Dave Guard. I like "Barrett's Privateers" just as much, though I suppose that if it had been on the albums of the early years, they'd have had to blot out the "god damn" with some strums. "La Migra" is a powerful number, just right for the Time to Think album of nearly 50 years ago. Lots of other goodies here, and if you were a fan of the KT in those long-ago days, you should give this one a try.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Out of the Gutter Update
NEWEST NEWS
NEWEST FLASH FICTION
MOST POPULAR OPINION
Coming July 2: Court Merrigan's Bareknuckles Pulp Dept. launches with a new story from Les Edgerton!
Free Today for Kindle Today & Tomorrow
Amazon.com: Felony Fists (Fight Card) eBook: Jack Tunney, Mel Odom, Paul Bishop: Kindle Store: Los Angeles 1954Patrick “Felony” Flynn has been fighting all his life. Learning the “sweet science” from Father Tim the fighting priest at St. Vincent’s, the Chicago orphanage where Pat and his older brother Mickey were raised, Pat has battled his way around the world – first with the Navy and now with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Legendary LAPD chief William Parker is on a rampage to clean up both the department and the city. His elite crew of detectives known as The Hat Squad is his blunt instrument – dedicated, honest, and fearless. Promotion from patrol to detective is Pat’s goal, but he also yearns to be one of the elite.
And his fists are going to give him the chance.
Bill Lindsay, R. I. P.
Bill Lindsay, A Tenor On The Corner of Doo Wop Heaven Passes (video) |: Bill Lindsay’s . . . musical roots began as a little boy in Birmingham, Alabama where he won a radio talent show at the age of 6 where he sang. When he moved to the Bronx, NY at the age of 16, he became a music star at Morris High School, a school that turned out singing talent after talent with the likes of Dean Barlow and the Crickets, Lillian Leach and the Mellows, The Limelighters, The Wrens, The Chords and so many others. Bill was trained in classical music while at Morris H.S.
Time to Sign Up for That Twitter Account
Fox News: If there's something you'd like to say to aliens, now's your chance. The Wow! signal, a mysterious radio transmission detected in 1977 that may or may not have come from extraterrestrials, is finally getting a response from humanity. Anyone can contribute his or her two cents — or 140 characters, to be exact — to the cosmic reply via Twitter.
Vintage Camping & Hiking Books
Vintage Camping & Hiking Books: During the Industrial Revolution, people flocked from the countryside to the cities to seek work and wealth. As urban areas expanded, city folk began to hanker for the countryside their fathers and grandfathers had left behind, and camping as a form of leisure was born.But it wasn’t as simple as that. At the end of the 19th century, public transport was limited, camping equipment was rudimentary and not everyone was convinced that camping was actually fun.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Orange UK: A US pensioner has been arrested for threatening to shoot a neighbour for breaking wind outside of his home.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Nora Ephron, R. I. P.
Screenwriter and director Nora Ephron has died, according to a report from the Washington Post. The news first arrived earlier this evening by way of a eulogy from close friend Liz Smith on wowOwow. “I won’t say, ‘Rest in peace, Nora’ — I will just ask ’What the hell will we do without you?’” the columnist wrote. According to several reports, the 71-year-old Silkwood and When Harry Met Sally… writer had been “gravely ill” for some time. The Washington Post confirmed “[Ephron] died of complications from the blood disorder myelodysplasia, with which she was diagnosed six years ago.”
Yikes
The electricity has been off in a lot of Alvin for an hour and a half or so. We have a generator that takes care of our house, so we're cool and comfy. Lots of folks must be getting worried, though. It's still 98 degrees outside. Worst of all, there's no cable. Not that I'm bothered by that.
Update: Power restored after about two hours. Much rejoicing around town, I'm sure.
A Kickstarter Project of Possible Interest
GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE II: THE LUXURY WARS - A NOVEL by Victor Gischler — Kickstarter: If this Kickstarter project is successful, the result will be the eBook Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse II: The Luxury Wars. After "the fall" the only enclaves of civilization are a chain of Go-Go clubs called Joey Armageddon's Sassy A-Go-Go. But when the clubs are overrun by violent mobs, civilization takes a giant step backwards. Now, the people with the guns and the food hold up behind walls and fences. But soon the warlords of this new dark age long for luxuries of the past. Sure they can brew up some bathtub gin for their martinis, but just where the heck do you get a jar of olives? Did you ever wake up in the morning and think "I would kill for a cup of coffee"? Well, in this post-apocalyptic world, those words are meant literally, and a person could get rich providing luxury items to those who can afford it. But beware! Risking your neck on luxury scavenger hunts doesn't always turn out well for those involved.
Free for Kindle for Next 5 Days
Amazon.com: PULP INK eBook: Eric Beetner, Chris F. Holm, Matthew C. Funk, Richard Godwin, Reed Farrel Coleman, Allan Guthrie, Hilary Davidson, Gary Phillips, Nigel Bird, Chris Rhatigan: Kindle Store: PULP INK is the bizarre, chaotic side of crime fiction. From an ass-kicking surfer on acid to an idiot savant hitboy, these tales are dark, funny, action-packed and told with all the gleeful insanity of a Tarantino flick.You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll roll into the fetal position and beg for mercy.
So sit back. Pour yourself a cup of joe, crack a beer, tie off – whatever you need to get comfortable – and get ready for a dose after dose of pulp action.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Palo Alto Woman Struck With Milkshake, Loses $2,000: Woman threw her alligator purse filled with cash at a Range Rover filled with teens.
Read All About It!
The Dead Man: The Story Behind "The Midnight Special": Emmy-award winning writer Phoef Sutton's THE DEAD MAN #12: THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, his wickedly funny and scary addition to the series, is out today... and it's the perfect way to end our "first season" of short novels. It's also Phoef's first published novel since his acclaimed ALWAYS SIX O'CLOCK back in 1999...and a real departure from his previous work.
So we asked him about the book...and his writing career.
So we asked him about the book...and his writing career.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Midnight Special (Dead Man #12) eBook: Phoef Sutton, Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin: Kindle Store: DINNER AT THE BROOKLYN MORGUE is more than just a seventies zombie flick. It’s also a cursed movie. A trail of violence and murder has followed the film’s re-release across the country and Matt Cahill is determined to find out why...and put an end to the madness. His quest takes him to L.A., where he infiltrates the inner circle of the Tarantino-like director who’s behind the rediscovery of this piece of cinematic horror and is either a tool of Mr. Dark…or the evil entity’s most formidable enemy. The truth comes out in a night of unmitigated terror that will either put an end to Mr. Dark’s reign of evil…or mark a blood-soaked new beginning…
Free Today for Kindle
Amazon.com: Granny Smith Investigates eBook: G. M. Dobbs: Kindle Store: “It’s Miss Marple on steroids.”
A brutal murder in a small Welsh village and the police are stuck without a clue. With no motive and no real suspect the investigation soon grinds to a halt. Enter Mary Alice Smith, otherwise known as Granny Smith, the rock music loving, pipe smoking, chaos causing amateur sleuth with a difference.
Granny has a talent for mayhem and soon those talents are put to good use as our intrepid pensioner starts the unravel the case, which finds her provoking Chief Inspector Miskin as she comes up against a full scale police investigation, proving that you’re never too old to make a nuisance of yourself and that sixty three is actually the new twenty three.
Murder's never been so much fun.
A brutal murder in a small Welsh village and the police are stuck without a clue. With no motive and no real suspect the investigation soon grinds to a halt. Enter Mary Alice Smith, otherwise known as Granny Smith, the rock music loving, pipe smoking, chaos causing amateur sleuth with a difference.Granny has a talent for mayhem and soon those talents are put to good use as our intrepid pensioner starts the unravel the case, which finds her provoking Chief Inspector Miskin as she comes up against a full scale police investigation, proving that you’re never too old to make a nuisance of yourself and that sixty three is actually the new twenty three.
Murder's never been so much fun.
Archaeology Update
Yahoo! News: Archaeologists in Greece's second-largest city have uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was the city's main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago.
Overlooked Movies -- The Thing with Two Heads
I'm not going to kid you. This is a pretty bad movie, but if you're in the right mood, it'll crack you up. You get Rosie Grier a football player who couldn't act playing a condemned man (he's innocent) and you get Ray Milland as the very rich bigot who get his head attached to Grier's body (don't ask). Milland was at one time a respected and very good actor. During the last three decades of his career, however, he was reduced to taking work in mostly not very good, truly low-budget exploitation films like this one. He's still a pro, and he still does a good job, but he's about the only one.Not that it matters. Nobody watches movies like this for good acting. You watch for the cheesiness of it all, and this is the pure cheddar. Snappy patter (some of it not bad), action (endless chase scenes), cheap special effects, and incredible plotting. It's all here, and you can't look away. Give it a try and see if you don't believe me.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Welcome To Wolf Creek
Western Fictioneers: WELCOME TO WOLF CREEK: It’s time to let the cat out of the bag.We stalwart guardians of literary excellence here at Western Fictioneers have been cooking up a secret for readers, for months now. We’ve dropped a hint here and there, but given few real details. Now we are unveiling our project, and there is no more need for our members to keep mum.
Read the whole post at the link and visit the Wolf Creek website here.
Will the Persecution Never End?
Paris Hilton Is A DJ Now: Spoiler alert: she's not very good. Here's a clip from her first set in Brazil, where she was booed as soon as she got on stage.
The Perfume for Book Lovers
Steidl: Paper Passion fragrance by Geza Schoen, Gerhard Steidl, and Wallpaper* magazine, with packaging by Karl Lagerfeld and Steidl.
“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.”
Karl Lagerfeld
“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.”
Karl Lagerfeld
Hey, It Could Happen
Sheriff says KKK costume a stupid mistake | www.wsbtv.com: Garrison said he and a friend were dressed as characters from a scene in the movie "Blazing Saddles" and that he has never espoused any of the KKK's beliefs.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Kickstarter Project of Interest
Beat L.A. by FourStory — Kickstarter: Bicycle Cop Dave and Brand & Reese are two distinct, yet connected webcomics that first ran on FourStory.org, a site that initially began as a way to look at issues of housing, transportation and development. More, writers from various backgrounds write on a myriad of interesting and informative topics ranging from the aforementioned issues to sustainability, justice, the economy, arts, media, politics and even ongoing fictional pieces.
No Comment Department
Unplugged JFK Metal Detector Leads to Evacuation and Delays: “The truth is, this is the failure of the most basic level of diligence,” a law-enforcement source told the New York Post. “How can you expect the public to feel confident of the mission of the TSA if they don’t even know if the lights are turned on?”
Two planes had to be called back from the runway while hundreds of passengers were rescreened in Terminal 7 of one of the nation’s busiest airports — all because of an unplugged power cord that went unnoticed by a TSA screener, the Post reported.
Two planes had to be called back from the runway while hundreds of passengers were rescreened in Terminal 7 of one of the nation’s busiest airports — all because of an unplugged power cord that went unnoticed by a TSA screener, the Post reported.
PaperBack
Evangeline Walton, The Island of the Mighty (aka The Virgin and the Swine), Ballantine, 1969
Cosway Bindings
AbeBooks: Cosway Bindings: Ever seen a book with a Cosway binding? Here are a handful of rare and collectible books offered for sale by AbeBooks sellers featuring these stunning bindings. Cosway bindings are traditional leather bindings with miniature paintings inset into the covers. These beautiful bindings are named after Richard Cosway, the acclaimed English miniaturist portrait painter from the Regency era.
Win Some Great OTR Shows
Check out this blog post for details.
Thrilling Days of Yesteryear: “This case has more angles than a six-pointed star…”
Thrilling Days of Yesteryear: “This case has more angles than a six-pointed star…”
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