Saturday, October 20, 2012
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Life on Mars? Scientists hope to find it by decoding Martian DNA: If he can build a machine to find it, the next steps would be to decode its DNA, beam it back to Earth, put those genetic instructions into a cell and then boot up a Martian life form in a biosecure lab.
Seven Psychopaths
Oh, and it's also about a pair of dognappers, a gangster who really loves his little doggie, a psychopath who shows up in answer to a "psychopath wanted" ad, a serial killer called The Jack of Diamonds, and a few other things I'm probably forgetting. You can see the cast list on the poster to the left. That might sell you right there.
Let me add that the movie is very funny, incredibly violent, and even more meta than I've made it sound. I think I can safely guarantee that it's not like anything else you're going to find in your local cineplex this month. Or ever. Check it out.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Roland Dirge's Lenore -- Swirlies
Lenore is, well, I guess you'd call her a zombie. She's a little undead girl with several odd companions, and she goes around wreaking havoc without really intending to. For example, you'd never want to invite her to your birfday party, not after reading the first adventure in this book, because hardly anyone who was alive when it started is that way when it ends. Lenore has fun, but the live kids don't. I wasn't aware of Lenore until I received this new book for review, but it turns out that she has quite a following on YouTube, so you can click here for an example of Lenore in animated form. That will give you a good idea of the quirky art and stories you'll encounter in the book. You'll also meet her vampire companion, Ragamuffin, who's not like any other vampire you've seen, I'm pretty sure.
Quirky? Yes. Macabre? Yes. Totally weird? Absolutely. I had a great time with Swirlies.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Brockton, MA - The Enterprise: A man reportedly angry about how much it cost to fill up his Ford Mustang raced from the Hess station on Main Street in Brockton, spun his car in circles and collided with a minivan at about 9:45 a.m. Friday.
Slater Martin, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Slater Martin, the Hall of Fame guard whose playmaking and defensive brilliance helped take the Minneapolis Lakers to four N.B.A. championship in the league’s first decade, died Thursday in Houston. He was 86.
Wanna Buy a Spitfire?
Fox News: Burma has signed a deal with a British aviation enthusiast to allow the excavation of a World War II treasure: dozens of Spitfire fighter planes buried by the British almost 70 years ago.
Aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall discovered the locations of the aircraft after years of searching. The planes are believed to be in good condition, since they were reportedly packed in crates and hidden by British forces to keep them out of the hands of invading Japanese.
Aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall discovered the locations of the aircraft after years of searching. The planes are believed to be in good condition, since they were reportedly packed in crates and hidden by British forces to keep them out of the hands of invading Japanese.
You Can Help
Fill The Shelves: $5,000 of books headed to kids so far! And new libraries with empty shelves...
Interview With A Man Who Saw Lincoln Shot
Interview With A Man Who Saw Lincoln Shot: Samuel J. Seymour, the last surviving attendant at Ford's Theater the night of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, shares his story on “I've Got a Secret” back in 1956.
Forgotten Books: Frontier Lawyer -- Lawrence L. Blaine
Who the heck is Lawrence L. Blaine? I can't provide a definitive answer. One site I looked at credits the book to Robert Silverberg. Another says it's a collaboration between Silverberg and Eleazar Lipsky. I tend to believe the latter, since Lipsky was an assistant D.A. in New York and also legal counsel to the MWA for many years. Lipsky was a well-known writer in his own right, having had Hollywood success with Kiss of Death (based on his 100-page manuscript) and The People Against O'Hara (based on his novel). He wrote a number of others, too.So why this collaboration with Silverberg (if that's what it was)? And why did it get published in paperback with a generic cover that has nothing to do with the contents? Good questions, I think, but I have no answers for them.
It's a very entertaining book. It's a western, a mystery, and a courtroom drama all in one. A woman is murdered, and, as the cover tells you, "the son of the territory's richest and most powerful man" is accused. Jake Kilgore, assisted by Clem Erskine, a young man who's newly arrived in town to serve as Kilgore's clerk is hired. All the evidence points to the guilt of Kilgore's client, but Kilgore, a man with a big ego, is sure he can avoid a conviction. There's a lot more going on than Kilgore knows about, however: old secrets, a family that shows there's no fun in dysfunction, powerful forces that align to get a conviction. And someone's leaking information to the sheriff, each piece of it more damaging than the one before.
My guess would be that the book was intended as the first in a series. If that's true, however, the series was not to be. This standalone is worth looking for if you're interested in a western that's a good bit different from most you're likely to find.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Houston trumps Dallas.
Houston - News: Houston police are looking for the man who made a determined effort to home-invade a northside house this month, only to flee when the 13-year-old-girl inside tried to stab him with a butcher knife.
Houston - News: Houston police are looking for the man who made a determined effort to home-invade a northside house this month, only to flee when the 13-year-old-girl inside tried to stab him with a butcher knife.
Sheriff Rhodes Update
The next Sheriff Dan Rhodes novel, Compound Murder, will be out in August of 2013. I've just been offered a contract for two more novels, which would see the sheriff into 2015. At my age it's a little scary to look that far ahead, I'm glad he keeps getting reelected.
However, he's not welcome in the Texas Prison System. Books are often given to prisoners, but the books are always checked first to see if they're appropriate. I learned today that Of All Sad Words is unacceptable. Those of you who have read it (all of you, I'm sure) will recall that one of the plot elements is bootleg whiskey, and there's a description of a still. Since the book gives a little information about the making of illegal alcohol, it's been deemed inappropriate for the prisoners to read. I can understand why, and I'm glad to learn that they'd never be able to figure out on their own how to make anything with alcohol in it.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly,Vol. 1: Gerald So: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Editor Gerald So collects the first year of fifty-two poems originally published on The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly website (2011-12). Featuring Nyla Alisia, R.A. Allen, Margaret Anderson, Michael A. Arnzen, Randall Avilez, Jack Bates, Alec Cizak, Robert Cooperman, Ray Daniel, Michael Chacko Daniels, Cassandra de Alba, C.J. Edwards, John M. Floyd, Kent Gowran, Bruce Harris, Clarinda Harriss, Chad Haskins, Kathleen Hellen, Kyle Hemmings, Paul Hostovsky, Peter Ivey, Dorothy James, Tonia Kalouria, Susan Kelley, Ian Khadan, Rauan Klassnik, Lola Koundakjian, Dennis Mahagin, Catfish McDaris, Trevor Nelson, Brett Peruzzi, Thomas Pluck, David S. Pointer, Kimberly Poitevin, William Dylan Powell, Charles Rammelkamp, Keith Rawson, Stephen D. Rogers, Nancy Scott, Jackie Sheeler, Hal Sirowitz, Duane Spurlock, Jay Stringer, and Ray Succre.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Dallas father's pride after daughter, 21, shoots dead intruder
Though why she shot him after he was dead remains a puzzle.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Though why she shot him after he was dead remains a puzzle.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Eddie Yost, R. I. P.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Sylvia Kristel, R. I. P.
Fox News: Actress Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch star of the hit 1970s erotic movie "Emmanuelle," has died of cancer at age 60.
Her agent, Features Creative Management, said in a statement Thursday that Kristel died in her sleep Wednesday night. Kristel, a model who turned to acting in the 1970s, had been fighting cancer for several years.
I Miss the Old Days
A Turn of the Page for Newsweek: After 80 years in print, the newsmagazine adopts an all-digital format.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Now Available for Kindle!
One Dead Dean - A Carl Burns Mystery (The Carl Burns Mysteries): Bill Crider: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Hartley Gorman College, in Pecan City, Texas, is hardly a bastion of serious scholarship. The little Baptist school is more interested in shielding its students from the evil influence of The World, The Flesh, and The Devil than in turning out future Nobelists. But its staff, by and large, is worthy of a more demanding institution; they are victims of a glutted market in Ph.D.s and they do the best they can. So it is they who are most upset at Dean Elmore's "secret plan" to award credit hours for "undirected study" by "independent scholars"—in plain words, to turn the school into a diploma mill. Which may be why Dean Elmore, shortly after unveiling his plan, is found bludgeoned to death at his desk. It is certainly why, at his funeral, there is not a wet eye in the house.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
It Figures
BBC News - Creativity 'closely entwined with mental illness': Creativity is often part of a mental illness, with writers particularly susceptible, according to a study of more than a million people.
Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan -- Robin Maxwell
After the frame story there's a lot of setup, as we learn about Jane. She has an American father who teaches at Cambridge. Which is good because he's able to pull a lot of strings and get Jane into the medical program. No women are allowed, technically, and Jane won't be allowed to graduate even if she completes her studies.
Before she gets very far, the attractive Ral Conrath shows up with an offer Jane and her father can't refuse. He'll be their guide in Africa as they search for the "missing link."
Things pick up a lot when they arrive in Africa. There's action and adventure aplenty, and while I won't tell you any more about the plot, I'll say that it does involve some traditional Burroughs tropes.
While the book was written with the full consent, cooperation, and approval of the Burroughs estate and heirs, I don't know how true fans will react. I read the Tarzan novels long ago and haven't tried them again. I loved them at the time, but I'm not a scholar or obsessive fan. I saw many movies with Johnny Weismuller, Gordon Scott, Lex Barker, and Jock Mahoney. But that's as far as it goes.
That being said, I enjoyed the book. It's well written and clever and entertaining. There's plenty of room for a sequel, as you can imagine. I suppose of Maxwell wants to, she can retell all the tales from this new perspective. Check it out.
Bigfoot Update
Mail Online: A U.S. venture plans to use a remote-controlled 'stealth' airship to hunt for signs of Bigfoot in the mountains of California.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
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AbeBooks: Akashic Noir series
AbeBooks: Akashic Noir series: There's been a murder at a Mumbai spice market, the corpse's fingers sunset-stained with turmeric and saffron. A grisly discovery on a Copenhagen beach sends Danish police scurrying for answers. A woman with eyes like warnings and a terrible secret walks into a Pittsburgh P.I.'s office and won't be denied... If you love the grit, grime and sultry sweat of a good piece of noir fiction, the Akashic Noir series is for you. Akashic Books is an independent publisher based in Brooklyn, and begun by musician Johnny Temple, the former bassist for long-running post-hardcore band Girls Against Boys. Temple founded Akashic Books in 1996, with the goal of publishing shining writing stars who might otherwise go overlooked, particularly in the arenas of urban literary fiction and political non-fiction.
Overlooked Movies: The Long Kiss Goodnight
Okay, you guys know me. I'm the one who likes Cutthroat Island. So naturally I love this one, too. Could it be that I'm a Geena Davis fan? Yes. Yes, it could.The plot is one of my favorites from the Gold Medal days: the amnesia plot. Davis plays Samantha Caine, your average everyday suburban housewife who has no idea who she really is. She's hired a private-eye (Samuel L. Jackson) to find the answer, but before he uncovers anything, she has an auto accident and her memory starts to return. She has some skills that the average everyday suburban housewife doesn't have. That's because she's really a former CIA assassin.
Jackson finds some clues, more of Davis' memory returns, and people are trying to kill her. The movie really races along. Will the baddies kill Davis and Jackson? Will Davis ever return to her suburban homelife? Hey, you can't expect me to tell you, but I'll bet you already know. Getting there is all the fun, however, and it's plenty of fun for me. Explosions, car crashes, you name it. The critics didn't like it, as I recall, which is yet another reason I'm not a movie critic. I think it's great.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Castles in Space - Michael Dirda
The American Scholar: Castles in Space - Michael Dirda: The other day, while roaming through the book-sale room at a local library, I spotted eight or nine issues of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. All of them were from the early 1960s, with the muted, matte covers of that era, most of them with illustrations by the late Ed Emsh (whose wife, Carol Emshwiller, is one of the greatest living writers of fantasy and sf). Each digest originally cost 40 cents, but now—50 years later—they were only a quarter apiece, and I bought them all.
Read the rest (especially the final paragraph) at the link.
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
Read the rest (especially the final paragraph) at the link.
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
Free Today for Kindle
The Affair of the Wooden Boy (A Mina and James Stark Investigation): Ian Doyle: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: In Drummond, James Stark and his pretty wife Mina run a discreet inquiry agency and are used to laying their lives on the line to see that justice and the truth prevail. The city is rife with dark creatures, great monsters and men who are beasts, and fantastical foes live in the shadows, waiting for victims. When a puppet knocks on their door in the dead of night claiming to be a real boy who has had his body stolen through black arts, James takes up his pistol and sets out to balance the scales. Mina accompanies her husband as they investigate the dangerous affair of the wooden boy.
Currently Free on Smashwords
Smashwords — Collision — A book by Alison Nussbaum: Short story by bank robber turned writer, Al Nussbaum which originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. This is the first in a series of previously published and unpublished manuscripts planned for release.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Houston Chronicle: A North Texas woman has been charged with retaliation for allegedly posting an undercover police officer's photo on Facebook and identifying him by his job.
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Tarzan: King of the Bookshelves on AbeBooks
Tarzan: King of the Bookshelves on AbeBooks: Tarzan remains one of the most recognizable characters in storytelling – a genuine cultural icon. He has appeared in books and comics, and his adventures have been broadcast on radio, television and cinema (80 plus movies). Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creation first appeared in an issue of the pulp publication All-Story Magazine in October 1912 and a book version followed two years later.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Craft brewers try new tactic in pitch to change state alcohol... | www.statesman.com: For a few dollars, customers can buy an empty pint glass at East Austin’s Hops & Grain brewery, but the year-old business cannot legally sell any of the beer it makes to fill the glass. So, the company gives away its product for free.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
North Lake College students panic at sound of gunfire | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth: What Culton didn't know was that the gunfire was all part of a planned drill.
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