Saturday, October 27, 2012
Frankenstorm
Since moving here to Alvin, Texas, we've gone through two hurricanes and any number of tropical storms. It's no fun. My sympathies to every one in the path of Sandy. Batten down the hatches, stay warm and dry, and don't lose your Internet connections!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Here's the Plot for Your Next Big National Treasure Thriller
Historical treasures missing from National Archives - CBS News: Precious historical artifacts like the Wright Brothers airplane patent, the bombing maps for the nuclear attack on Japan, the original eyewitness radio report of the Hindenburg disaster and photos taken by the astronauts on the moon are just some of the items stolen from our National Archives.
My Handwriting Not Included
7 Undeciphered Writing Systems: Scholars at Oxford University recently asked for help from the public in deciphering an ancient writing system. They plan to release high quality images of clay tablets covered in Proto-Elamite, a script used over 5000 years ago in what is now Iran. One reason the tablets have been so hard to decode is that they are full of mistakes, making it hard to find patterns. They hope that crowdsourcing will uncover some leads. In the meantime, here are 7 other scripts you might try your hand at deciphering.
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Literary Halloween Costumes
AbeBooks: Literary Halloween Costumes: Halloween, for me, comes with a small amount of trepidation. I love the candy, the festive atmosphere, and the parties, but the costumes are always a problem. I struggle for inspiration. A good Halloween costume should be instantly recognizable, yet relatively easy to make. And this is where books can help. Literature contains hundreds of famous characters that are ideal for Halloween from horror and non-horror genres. Distinct characters, period costumes and props are your best bet.
Jacques Barzun, R. I. P.
NYT: Jacques Barzun, Historian and: Jacques Barzun, the distinguished historian, essayist, cultural gadfly and educator who helped establish the modern discipline of cultural history and came to see the West as sliding toward decadence, died Thursday night in San Antonio, where he lived. He was 104.
His death was announced by Arthur Krystal, Barzun's friend and the executor of his estate. Mr. Barzun was a man of boundless curiosity, monumental productivity and manifold interests, encompassing both Berlioz and baseball.
It was a life of the mind first cultivated more than a century ago in a childhood home outside Paris that became an avant-garde salon.
Mr. Barzun stood beside Sidney Hook, Daniel Bell and Lionel Trilling as among the mid-20th century's most wide-ranging scholars, all of whom tried to reconcile the achievements of European culture and philosophy with the demands and tastes of American intellectual and cultural life.
His death was announced by Arthur Krystal, Barzun's friend and the executor of his estate. Mr. Barzun was a man of boundless curiosity, monumental productivity and manifold interests, encompassing both Berlioz and baseball.
It was a life of the mind first cultivated more than a century ago in a childhood home outside Paris that became an avant-garde salon.
Mr. Barzun stood beside Sidney Hook, Daniel Bell and Lionel Trilling as among the mid-20th century's most wide-ranging scholars, all of whom tried to reconcile the achievements of European culture and philosophy with the demands and tastes of American intellectual and cultural life.
Forgotten Books: The Good Old Stuff and More Good Old Stuff -- John D. MacDonald
As MacDonald says in his foreword to the first volume, when Martin H. Greenberg and Francis M. Nevins came to him with the idea of these collections, he wasn't thrilled with the idea of resurrecting his old pulp stories. However, Nevins, Greenberg, and Walter and Jane Shine persisted, getting copies of hundreds of MacDonald's stories and reading all of them. They narrowed the selections down to thirty, and MacDonald decided that it wouldn't pain him too much to see twenty-seven of them back in print.
He didn't let well enough alone, however. He updated some of the stories, changing car models, adjusting monetary matters, and so on. I wish he hadn't, but at least I'm glad that he left some of the stories as they were. In the foreword to the second volume, MacDonald says that he got "scores of letters" saying he shouldn't have made the changes. He didn't agree, and he explains why. They're his stories, so who am I to argue? Maybe he knew he'd be a forgotten writer because now his updatings are about as far out of date as the original stories were when the collections were published.
Each volume gives the name of the magazines where the stories were originally published, along with the titles used. However, in these editions MacDonald's original titles have been restored to head up the stories.
John D. MacDonald was my first real collecting interest, and he's still one of my all-time favorites. If you haven't read him, these books (cheap copies widely available at the usual Internet outlets) would be a good place to begin. If you like the stories, move on to the novels. You have a real treat waiting for you.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Archaeology Update
The Raw Story: Scientists in Canada have unearthed the first fossils of a feathered dinosaur ever found in the Americas, the journal Science reported on Thursday.
The 75 million year old fossil specimens, uncovered in the badlands of Alberta, Canada, include remains of a juvenile and two adult ostrich-like creatures known as ornithomimids.
The 75 million year old fossil specimens, uncovered in the badlands of Alberta, Canada, include remains of a juvenile and two adult ostrich-like creatures known as ornithomimids.
Bill Dees, R. I. P.
KHOZ Local News: Singer, songwriter and entertainer Bill Dees of Forsyth died Wednesday night at a nursing facility in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor this summer.
Dees is best known for his collaborations with Roy Orbison, including co-writing the international hit songs "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "It's Over." Dees also wrote songs that such legendary musicians as Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Glen Campbell and others recorded.
Dees is best known for his collaborations with Roy Orbison, including co-writing the international hit songs "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "It's Over." Dees also wrote songs that such legendary musicians as Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Glen Campbell and others recorded.
Forgotten Music
I didn't get around to doing a "Forgotten Music" post today, but I actually do a little with forgotten music nearly every day about this time on my Twitter feed (I'm @macavityabc) and my Facebook page. Today there are birthday greetings to Helen Reddy and Jeanne Black, among others, and a few of the top songs of 1961. Check it out.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
This never happened when Richard Dawson was the host.
Man’s ear bitten off by his son-in-law during family feud
Man’s ear bitten off by his son-in-law during family feud
Physicists' Inbox Immediately Flooded with Ad for Size Enhancers
Geekosystem: Physicists Invent (Tiny) Working Tractor Beam
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Mirror Online: Boy walking his pet OWL in town centre is set upon by gang armed with silly string
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Vampire Slayer Murdered in Key West - Mick Murphy Short Stories (Mick Murphy Key West Mysteries): Michael Haskins: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Short stories about Mick Murphy's adventures in Key West, with his usual eclectic cast of friends and enemies. The stories appear in the order they were written and include the Shamus nominated Vampire Slayer Murdered in Key West. There is a footnote after each story, giving a little history of how it was written or some other interesting fact.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
GOLDEN GATE GLOVES (FIGHT CARD): Jack Tunney,Robert Evans,Mel Odom,Paul Bishop: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: San Francisco 1951
Conall O’Quinn grew up at St. Vincent’s Asylum For Boys, a Chicago orphanage where he learned the sweet science of boxing from Father Tim, the battling priest. After a stint in the Army, Conall finds work on the docks of San Francisco – a place where his fists make him the dock champion. Soon, however, he gets on the bad side of a union boss and is set up for a dock side brawl designed to knockout his fighting career. When Conall comes out on top, things go from bad to worse when he is framed for the docks going up in flames.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
. . . and then came the Hot Sauce Tantram . . .
. . . and now it's the Trailer Park Fracas: Three Corpus Christi brothers and an unrelated man spent the weekend in the Nueces County Jail after a trailer park donnybrook involving a gun, a baseball bat, and an assault of a police officer.
. . . and now it's the Trailer Park Fracas: Three Corpus Christi brothers and an unrelated man spent the weekend in the Nueces County Jail after a trailer park donnybrook involving a gun, a baseball bat, and an assault of a police officer.
Overlooked Movies: The Endless Summer
Once upon a time, long ago, in a town called Austin, Judy and I were a couple of young whippersnappers. I'd read about this movie and wanted to see it. We lived near the campus of The University of Texas, where I was a grad student and where Judy worked in the Computations Center. The movie was showing in a new theater in what we thought of as far south Austin on a street called Ben White Boulevard. We had no idea where that even was. We had to get out a city map (in those ancient days, maps were on fiendlishly folded paper; they were easy to unfold but not so easy to refold). We located the theater and planned our trip as if we were going to another planet.
We found the theater in a little shopping mall and saw the film. I loved the idea of the movie, that if you had enough money, you could travel around the world and follow the summer. That way the summer would never end. I thought the movie was beautifully shot and some of the surfing sequences were really exciting. Judy, on the other hand, hated the movie and was bored stiff. She referred to it as "the endless movie." If you mention it to her now, she'd probably say the same thing. One thing's for sure, though. She's never forgotten it. I'm not sure if she's ever forgiven me for taking her to see it.
Now, Ben White Boulevard is a major highway. The theater closed long ago. The last time I checked, it was a place where people could go and play laser tag.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Surprising News?
NYTimes.com: In a digital world where many younger readers feel increasingly comfortable downloading novels and textbooks onto their computers or e-readers, a majority of Americans from the ages of 16 through 29 still frequent libraries.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Six-guns and Slay Bells: A Creepy Cowboy Christmas: Western Fictioneers,Robert J. Randisi,James Reasoner,Troy D. Smith,Larry D. Sweazy,L.J. (Livia J.) Washburn,C Courtney Joyner,Chuck Tyrell,Matthew P. Mayo,Douglas Hirt,Clay More,Cheryl Pierson,James J. Griffin,Christine Matthews,Jerry Guin,Charlie Steel: 9781478189169: Amazon.com: Books: Put on your Santa hat and saddle up for this collection of creepy Christmas stories from the Western Fictioneers, the world's only organization of professional authors devoted solely to Western fiction. 'Tis the season for ghosts, vampires, monsters, aliens, and other bizarre creatures to make these Old West holiday tales truly special. Legendary Western author Robert J. Randisi spins the spectral yarn of "Sheriff Santa and the Ghost of Two Gun Jim". Peacemaker and Spur Award winning author Troy D. Smith takes the reader on a murderous Christmas journey to "Bitter Mountain". New York Times bestseller and Peacemaker Award winner James Reasoner writes about a strange encounter on the Staked Plains in "Presents for One and All". Larry D. Sweazy, two-time winner of the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western fiction, tells the story of an epic battle between good and evil in "The Longest Night". An isolated stagecoach station under siege by Apaches is the setting of Cheryl Pierson's "The Keepers of Camelot", a tale of rebirth and redemption. These and many other stories by some of today's top writers in the Western field make SIX-GUNS AND SLAY BELLS the most unusual Western Christmas anthology ever published.
The Black Box -- Michael Connelly
Connelly is celebrating the 20 years by having Bosch work on a cold case, one that started during the L. A. riots of 1992. A woman was murdered, and because of the confusion and turmoil of the time, her case was never given any attention. Just another random victim of the riots. Now, given only the very slenderest of leads, Bosch is following it up, and before long he's sure that the victim wasn't random at all. She was killed deliberately and for a reason.
One of the pleasures of the Bosch series is the attention to procedure, and there's plenty of that here as Bosch follows the leads and pieces things together and looks for the "black box," the one key thing that will make everything fall into place. But that's never all there is. Once again, Bosch is in conflict with his bosses. He's being investigated by Internal Affairs (or whatever it's called now). He's having relationship problems.
I had fun seeing a couple of people I know (Steve Stilwell, Larry Gandle) tuckerized in this one. All in all, another highly satisfactory outing for everybody's favorite cop. Check it out.
Russell Means, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Russell C. Means, the charismatic Oglala Sioux who helped revive the warrior image of the American Indian in the 1970s with guerrilla-tactic protests that called attention to the nation’s history of injustices against its indigenous peoples, died on Monday at his ranch in Porcupine, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was 72.
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Historic Werewolves
Historic Werewolves: The idea of a person turning into a dangerous animal has been part of folklore ever since folklore was invented. It’s quite popular today, at least in fiction, since the transformation makes a great special effect. But there have been real people in various parts of the world who went down in history as practitioners or victims of lycanthropy. In other words, werewolves.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
They Must Have Big Skunks up there in PA
WTOP.com: Police say a costumed 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot outside a western Pennsylvania home during a Halloween party by a relative who thought she was a skunk.
Theater owners decide: Go digital or go dark
Omaha.com: After 50 years and three generations, the Blodgett family of Central City, Neb., soon may screen their last picture show at the State Theatre.
It's not that they don't want to pop the popcorn and load the film projector anymore. It's because soon there will be no film to load.
It's not that they don't want to pop the popcorn and load the film projector anymore. It's because soon there will be no film to load.
And Keep Off Her Lawn!
Mad granny begs for chance to fight in cage match: Khandace Cossitt, a 56-year-old grandmother from Sandston, says she deserves a shot at fighting a man in a cage match.
One of her neighborhood boys invited her to a recent cage match and she went. “That’s a fight?” she scoffed. “You call that a fight?”
One of her neighborhood boys invited her to a recent cage match and she went. “That’s a fight?” she scoffed. “You call that a fight?”
George McGovern, R. I. P.
Mail Online: George S. McGovern, a proud liberal who argued fervently against the Vietnam War as a senator from South Dakota and suffered one of the most crushing defeats in presidential election history against Richard Nixon in 1972, died before dawn Sunday. He was 90.
It's Good to be the King
Ancient Egypt City Aligned With Sun on King's Birthday | LiveScience: The Egyptian city of Alexandria, home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, may have been built to align with the rising sun on the day of Alexander the Great's birth, a new study finds.
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