Banana skin slip stops steak knife stabbing
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Cleve Duncan, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Cleve Duncan, whose smooth lead voice made the Penguins’s “Earth Angel” into one of the most memorable and romantic songs of early rock ‘n’ roll, died this week at the age of 77.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Major Harris, R. I. P.
Major Harris dies at 65: Major Harris, a former member of the "Philadelphia sound" soul group the Delfonics and singer of the 1975 hit Love Won't Let Me Wait, has died.
What the Cat Saw -- Carolyn Hart
If you're one of those people who believes looking into a cat's mind would show you a big blur, this book is not for you. The cat involved, Jugs, is just an ordinary cat, but ordinary cats see more than you think. Nela Farley isn't ordinary. She can look into cats' eyes and sometimes read their thoughts.Nela loses her job as an investigative reporter, and her fiance is killed in Afghanistan. She goes to a small town in Oklahoma to work at her sister's job while her sister takes a week's vacation. Nela will have a free room in an apartment owned by her sister's boss, who's just died in an accident. Nela will also be taking care of Jugs.
When she arrives, she looks into Jugs' eyes and gets a message. The death of the woman who'd lived in the apartment wasn't an accident, after all. The cat doesn't tell Nela who did it, so she begins investigating the big corporation for which her sister works. She uncovers lots of unsavory goings on, and she gets some help from a local reporter who looks like Van Johnson. (Raise your hand if you remember Van Johnson. Okay, now you can lower it.)
Clever and witty, as usual with Hart, this book is a fine start to a new series.
Friday, November 09, 2012
Gun Machine -- Warren Ellis
In this one, John Tallow, a New York cop, and his partner are sent to a domestic disturbance that goes bad. Really, really bad. In the course of the investigation, the cops find a room that's filled with guns. Hundreds of guns. And, as it turns out, each appears to be tied to an unsolved crime.
So the CSI investigators get involved. These are not CSI types like you might see on TV. These are some strange people. So is John Tallow, for that matter. He's already somewhat odd, and his partner's death doesn't help things any. But he's the one stuck with the investigation. What it leads to is a conspiracy of long standing and a killer like nobody else in fiction. I'm not giving anything away here. We meet him fairly early on. We meet some other odd folks along the way, too.
If you're looking for another Crooked Little Vein, this isn't it. If you're looking for a police procedural like no other, you've found it.
200 Years of the Brothers Grimm
Tales That Live Forever: 200 Years of the Brothers Grimm: On December 20, 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a book called Children's and Household Tales (Kinder- und Hausmerchen in German) and helped popularize one of the most enduring aspects of Western popular culture – the fairy tale.
Bad Monkeys -- Matt Ruff
I'm not saying you forgot this book. I forgot it. I bought it not long after it came out a few years ago, and somehow it got stuck into the wrong stack. Imagine that. Hard to believe, I know. Anyway, I was rummaging around the other day and ran across it. I wonder how I forgot about this? I thought, and then I decided it was past time to read it.
The first thing I noticed about this book when I bought it was the odd shape. It's tall and skinny. I don't think I own another one in this format.
The book itself is pretty odd, too. It's dedicated "To Phil," and the influence of Philip K. Dick is obvious throughout, in big things and small. The small things include the special weapon used by The Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons (or "bad monkeys," as they're nicknamed). The description of the weapon matches the picture on the cover of the Dell edition of The Zap Gun, and once that phrases is even used in the book.
The large things are too numerous to mention, but you'll pick up on them easily, probably even more of them than I did. Well, I'll mention just one. Philip K. Dick had a twin who died shortly after her birth Her name was Jane Charlotte, which happens to be the name of the main character in Bad Monkeys, and we never learn her last name. She does, however, have a brother named Phil. (Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is, however, purely coincidental.)
Jane Charlotte is the unreliable narrator of most of Bad Monkeys. She works for the department I mentioned above, and if you ever thought you were being watched, filmed, or listened to, now you know who was doing all that stuff. The eyes and ears are everywhere. The department is devoted to stamping out Evil. As it turns out, there's also The Troop, which is devoted to stamping out Good.
Or maybe not. Maybe it's all in Jane's mind, considering how many drugs she's ingested. And considering other things. No use to say more about this other than that reality shifts and changes quite a bit. The book has apparently been a big seller, and you know enough by now to decide if you'd like to read it. I had a great time.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
We Are The Hanged Man: Douglas Lindsay: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: When the latest hit reality TV show, Britain's Got Justice, needs an expert police panellist, DCI Robert Jericho's boss thrusts him into the media spotlight, knowing full well that Jericho has been desperate to avoid the limelight since his wife's unexplained disappearance ten years ago. With the press now hounding his every move, there's nowhere to hide.
Meanwhile, a killer, newly released from prison, resumes the bone-chilling handiwork for which he was locked away thirty years earlier.
Sinister tarot cards turn up on Jericho's desk, each one more grotesque than its predecessor. As he investigates a series of seemingly unrelated deaths, he becomes aware that a noose is gradually tightening around his throat.
Someone is setting him up for a neck-breaking fall.
Free Today for Kindle
Fireproof: Gerard Brennan: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Hell hath no fury for Mike Rocks. He's fireproof; an anomaly caused by a slip-up in afterlife bureaucracy. Lucifer bundles him off as an embarrassing problem with a mission to introduce Satanism to Northern Ireland. And while he's at it, Mike can exact revenge on the men who took his life.
FIREPROOF is equal parts crime fiction, dark urban fantasy and black comedy. For fans of Colin Bateman, Charlie Huston and Duane Swierczynski.
"scintillating, hilarious, surreal … a total blast" Ken Bruen, author of HEADSTONE
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Houston - News: Brother named Billy Wayne in old truck rams brother in slighty newer tow truck in fight over trailer. If that's not East Texas, we don't know what is.
Carmen Basilio, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Carmen Basilio, the welterweight and middleweight boxing champion of the 1950s who fought two brutal bouts with Sugar Ray Robinson, winning his middleweight title and then losing it to him, died on Wednesday in Rochester. Basilio, who lived in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, was 85.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Myrecordjournal.com: Woods was able to get the crowbar away from him and threw it, breaking a sliding glass door at the residence, Walerysiak said. She then got into the vehicle, drove it onto the lawn and through several of the neighbors’ backyards in pursuit of Raye, Walerysiak said.
Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.
Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.
Paleontology Update
The Australian: PALEONTOLOGISTS say they have found small blades in a South African cave proving that man was an advanced thinker making stone tools 71,000 years ago - millennia earlier than thought.
The find suggests early humans from Africa had a capacity for complex thought and weapons production that gave them a distinct evolutionary advantage over Neanderthals, say the authors of a study published in Nature.
The find suggests early humans from Africa had a capacity for complex thought and weapons production that gave them a distinct evolutionary advantage over Neanderthals, say the authors of a study published in Nature.
Uh-Oh or OK?
Vulture: David Yates, the director of the last four Harry Potter films, has finally committed to his next project — and we’re told it will be a big-screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan at Warner Bros. Pictures.
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Darrell Royal, R. I. P.
ESPN: Darrell K Royal, the former Texas football coach known as much for his folksy, simplistic approach to life as for his creative wishbone offenses and two outright national championships, has died. He was 88.
Organize? Who Does That?
People Of The Bookshelf | The Global Mail: Alpha by subject ... or by dinner party seating rules? Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks on a shelving obsession.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
AbeBooks’ Most Expensive Sales in September 2012
AbeBooks’ Most Expensive Sales in September 2012: Once again the top 10 most expensive sales on AbeBooks has produced a combination of antiquarian rarities and sought after 20th century first editions including one of the most contentious books of the modern age, The Satanic Verses.
Mac Ahlberg, R. I. P.
Variety: Swedish-born cinematographer and director Mac Ahlberg, who worked in both low-budget genre films and high-budget studio fare such as "Beverly Hills Cop III," died on Oct. 26 of complications from congestive heart failure in Cupra Maritima, Italy. He was 81.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Elliott Carter, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Elliott Carter, the American composer whose kaleidoscopic, rigorously organized works established him as one of the most important and enduring voices in contemporary music, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 103 and had continued to compose into his 11th decade, completing his last piece in August.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Overlooked Movies: Get the Gringo
Gibson plays one of those good bad guys, who's just a little off center. Maybe a lot off center. He's stolen a lot of money, but the getaway goes wrong and he winds up in a Mexican prison. The arresting cops steal his loot. Now, this movie requires plenty of suspension of disbelief, and you might think that begins with the prison. Nope. The prison is based on an actual Tijuana prison, El Pueblito. The prison is an incredible place, now closed. The climax of the movie is based on the last day of that prison, which was like a small city. The inmates lived there with their families and had constructed homes and businesses. Bribery and corruption were everywhere. It's all in the movie.
Gibson wants his money back, but that's the least of his worries. People in the prison are trying to kill him, the warden needs a liver transplant, and (you can start suspending your disbelief now) there's a kid living in the prison who's a match. Gibson and the kid bond, and Mel, being a good bad guy is going to help him.
There's more, much more, and maybe not all of it's in the trailer. I got a huge kick out of this movie. Maybe people just can't put aside their feelings about Gibson as a person and go see Gibson the actor. Too bad, because if he'd made this in the '80s, it would've been huge.
Monday, November 05, 2012
The Hiding Pace -- David Bell
Twenty-five years later, Janet still remembers that day, though she can't remember perfectly. The man convicted of the crime is out on parole. Another man shows up in town and claims to be Justin. Janet's childhood friend, Michael, who was at the playground that day, is also back in town. Janet's teenage daughter is doing her own investigation of what happened that day.
And what did happen? You'll have to read the novel to find out, but I can tell you that it's not what everybody thinks (but you knew that already, didn't you). Everyone has secrets, some of them deeper and darker than others, and nothing is what it seemed to be.
A neat combination of mystery and psychological suspense. Check it out.
Milt Campbell, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Milt Campbell, an outstanding all-around athlete who was the first African-American to become an Olympic decathlon champion, died on Friday at his home in Gainesville, Ga. He was 78.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Han Suyin, R. I. P.
The Raw Story: Renowned Chinese-born writer Han Suyin, whose autobiographical novel was turned into the popular American film “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing”, has died in Lausanne, Switzerland, Chinese and Swiss media said Sunday. She was 95.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
And, of course, once again . . . .
Shoe-throwing incident at Austin strip club leads to assault charge
Shoe-throwing incident at Austin strip club leads to assault charge
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
And of course Banana Attack WBAGNFARB.
Woman successful in banana attack appeal
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Woman successful in banana attack appeal
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
One of the Most Amazing Sites on the Internet
Pick a month. Pick a year. See the cover of every comic book on the stands that month. No joke. It's all at the link: Mike's Amazing World of Comics
Experiemental Chemist Arrested
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com: His bud called it a "science project" inspired by a History Channel show, according to the report.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
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