Saturday, December 01, 2012

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Shooting instructor kills two in France over noisy party

I Miss the Old Days

NPR: Say It Ain't So, Joe: Bazooka Bubble Gum Is Killing Its Tiny Comics

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.

Charles E. Fritch, RIP

Rough Edges: Charles E. Fritch, RIP

Free Through Wednesday

Breakfast at Madeline's (A Jacob Burns Mystery)
I read this in its original edition, and I recommend it.  Good stuff.

Breakfast at Madeline's (A Jacob Burns Mystery): Matt Witten: Amazon.com: Books: Greetings, potential readers! Breakfast at Madeline's was previously published by Signet and received the Malice Domestic Award. The Library Journal called Breakfast at Madeline's "the perfect antidote for a rainy day." 

Synopsis:  Jacob Burns - husband, father, and frustrated writer - has finally sold a screenplay. To a major Hollywood studio, no less. But success isn't all it's cracked up to be. Now he has writer's block and spends his days drinking coffee at his favorite cafe, Madeline's. That is, until one warm autumn morning when Donald Penn, an eccentric Madeline's regular, hands Jacob a key and drops dead at his feet. Soon Jacob's home is burglarized is burglarized and his family threatened, and he becomes involved in a puzzling mystery that exposes him to some of the finest families in Saratoga Springs, New York - and some of the worst in human behavior.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . . .

Deputies: Mail carrier poisoned husband's tuna fish sandwich, tried to kill him 

Song of the Day

Mama Cass - Dream A Little Dream Of Me (with lyrics) - YouTube:

Here's Some Video of that Giant Gator Head

Sentinel.com: Nobody has ever tried to float a 100-foot-long head of an alligator through downtown Fort Lauderdale and down the Intracoastal Waterway. That's going to change Sunday.

Today's Vintage Ad


First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Student stabbed in back during sex act by one-night stand

In Case You Were Wondering

How Did 6 Feet Become the Standard Grave Depth?

I Miss the Old Days

ENCAPSULATING THE PAST: Corden Porter time capsule from 1979 opened 

James Reasoner Interview

Lowestoft Chronicle | Issue 12: A Conversation with James Reasoner

PaperBack



Marvin H. Albert, A Very Special Favor, Dell, 1965

Math: Is There Anything It Can't Do?

Roger Williams: Founding father's mystery code cracked after 250 years: Researchers unlock religious writings of Rhode Island founder after centuries

Or Maybe You Did

8 Famous Mascots Whose Names You Didn't Know

I Miss the Old Days

Into Space with Ace Brave 

Robotic Fish WBAGNFARB

Mail Online: Meet Robocod, the latest weapon in Homeland Security's increasingly high-tech underwater arsenal, a robotic fish designed to safeguard the coastline of America and bring justice to the deep.

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

Yet Another List I'm Not On

100 Notable Books of 2012 

Not on this one, either: 25 Notable Books Unfairly Overlooked by ‘The New York Times’

Uh-Oh

'King Kong' Producer Eyeing Spider-Man's Broadway Lair

Artifacts of a Music Career, Gone With the Storm's Roar

Artifacts of a Music Career, Gone With the Storm's Roar

If You Won, You'd Do Better

5 Sad Winning Lottery Stories To Make Powerball Losers Feel Better

The Party

The Party - 1968 - Peter Sellers - trailer - YouTube:

Friday, November 30, 2012

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

L.I. Couple Allegedly Assaulted By Pizzeria Workers After Complaining About Slices 

Uh-Oh

Carrie Underwood will play Maria in NBC's 'Sound of Music' remake

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Police: 2 men beaten with toilet plunger in Flint

Free Today for Kindle

No Game for a Dame (Maggie Sullivan mysteries)No Game for a Dame (Maggie Sullivan mysteries): M. Ruth Myers: Amazon.com: Kindle Store

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

Top Ten Television Detectives: The television detectives who are on this list are ones that have in some way blazed a new path for their archetype.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Man Stabbed Victim Who Ate Turkey Leftovers 

Song of the Day

Reunion: Life is a Rock (Joey Levine, 1974) - Complete Lyrics In Video - YouTube:

All Righty, Then

North Korea Has Found a Secret Unicorn Lair

The 13 worst tourism traps in the world

The 13 worst tourism traps in the world

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Oh, I guess this could.

Giant remote-controlled robot is built in Japan

Hat tip to Rich Prosch.

Today's Vintage Ad


Once Again Texas Leads the Way

The Dallas Morning News: The longest serving judge on Texas’ highest criminal court has a warrant out for his arrest, issued by an Austin municipal court judge, for failure to pay a 2008 speeding ticket, the American-Statesman has found.

Swedish Mystery/Espionage Paperbacks

Retrospace: Vintage Reads #43: Swedish Mystery/Espionage Paperbacks

PaperBack



Paul Monash, Hellbound, Avon, 1955

I'll Just Take the Bus

21 Insane Hanging Bridges

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Dallas gym caters only to obese people

Awesome Storyboards from 15 of Your Favorite Films

Awesome Storyboards from 15 of Your Favorite Films

Paging Victor Frankenstein

Canadian scientists create a functioning, virtual brain

Gator Update (Kardashian Edition)

Kourtney Kardashian stroked an alligator 

5 Awesome Vigilantes Who Solved Crimes Better than the Cops

5 Awesome Vigilantes Who Solved Crimes Better than the Cops

Or Maybe You Do

25 Things You May Not Know About 'The Evil Dead' 

Forgotten Books: The Mystery Lover's Companion -- Art Bourgeau

This is one of several reference books I own.  The author, Art Bourgeau, owned a great bookstore in Philadelphia, Whodunit?  In fact, he may very well still own it.  Somebody does.  Bourgeau is also an author of several crime novels, including The Elvis Murders, and maybe someone will do a "forgotten books" post on one of them if someone hasn't already.  

A few years ago, Duane Swierczynski wrote a nice article about Bourgeau and his bookstore.  Here's a link.

But, as usual, I digress.  I was going to say something about The Mystery Lover's Companion, which I like quite a bit.  It's succinct.  In it, Bourgeau rates over 2500 crime novels (that's according to the cover; I haven't counted) from one to five daggers.  He also includes a sentence or two about that book and about the author.  For a quick reference, you can't beat it.  There are four sections: "The American Mystery," "The English Mystery," "The Thriller," and "The Police Procedural."   

Copies are available on the Internet for very little.  If you like reference books and don't have this one, check it out.

Summer of '42

Summer of '42 1971 theatrical trailer - YouTube:

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Here's the Plot for Your Next Big Clancy-esque Thriller

The Seattle Times: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to supervise construction of a five-story underground facility for an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) complex, oddly named "Site 911," at an Israeli Air Force base near Tel Aviv.

Hat tip to Bill Peschel.

Wayne Dundee Interview

Belly Up to the Bar with Wayne Dundee

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Suspects wanted in West Seattle ukulele attack 

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest

The Girl and the Genie
Disclaimer: I am not E. M. Lilly.  E. M. Lilly isn't from Texas.  I don't think you could guess the author from the style of this book, but it might be fun to try.

The Girl and the Genie: E. M. Lilly: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Emily Mignon’s love life is a disaster, and she’s not at all happy about it! When she finds a genie and is granted nine wishes, she’s determined to use one of them to find her one true love. But the genie warns her that any wish for romance always ends disastrously. Emily, not to be denied, will try to find a loophole to this rule. 

The Girl and the Genie is a fun, exciting and charming mix of paranormal romance and urban fantasy, that will leave you rooting for Emily, the genie, and a fat little English Bulldog named Winston. 

E. M. Lilly is the nom de plume of an award-winning mystery author.

Song of the Day

The Spiders - Bells In My Heart (1955).wmv - YouTube:

5 Moments in Sauce History That Changed The Way We Eat

5 Moments in Sauce History That Changed The Way We Eat 

No Comment Department

Rolling Stones are older than U.S. Supreme Court, on average 

Hat tip to Fred Zackel.

Today's Vintage Ad


Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories and Good News vs. Bad News

Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories and Good News vs. Bad News

I Found a Penny the Other Day

From Renoir to Warhol: The Craziest and Most Lucrative Thrift Store Art Finds 

PaperBack



Wade Miller (Bob Wade & Bill Miller), Kiss Her Goodbye, Signet, 1959

But What about Alvin, Texas?

Study ranks America's best and worst cities for good-looking people

Hat tip to good-looking Jeff Meyerson.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Texas telescope spots biggest black hole ever observed 

What Would Boris Karloff Read?

What Would Boris Karloff Read?

8 Amazing Drowned Buildings

8 Amazing Drowned Buildings

I Yam What I Yam: The Story of Popeye

I Yam What I Yam: The Story of Popeye 

Or Maybe You Did

100 Things You Didn't Know About Lord of the Rings

Forgotten Music -- Art Mooney

Art Mooney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Art Mooney (4 February 1911, Brooklyn, New York– 1993, Florida) was an American popular bandleader. His biggest hits were "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Baby Face" in 1948 and "Nuttin' For Christmas," with Barry Gordon, in 1955. His fourth million selling song "Honey Babe" (1955) was used in the motion picture, "Battle Cry," having reached the Top 10 in the United States.[1] He also made a very popular 1948 recording of "Bluebird of Happiness", but it could not compete with Jan Peerce's best-selling 1945 version. Mooney's name, as well as his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was prominently featured in the motion picture The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.
Art Mooney - I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover (1948) - YouTube:

Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil Official Trailer #1 - Charlton Heston Movie (1958) HD - YouTube:

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

. . . and now it's the ironing board assault.

Cops: Missing Sex Toy Triggered Domestic Assault

Giving New Meaning to the old Stiff Arm

Marshall Suggests Some NFLers Use Viagra To Gain An Edge On The Field 

Extra, Extra!: Noir City

Extra, Extra!: Noir City

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest

Grave Digger Blues
Mad Max crossed with the Weimar Republic?  Alligators?  How can you possibly go wrong.

Grave Digger Blues: Jesse Sublett: Amazon.com: Kindle Store (Or get the iPad Deluxe editionNew, upgraded edition, with photos and graphics. Not your average eBook, this surreal post-apocalyptic crime novel is hot-wired with over 100 haunting and sexy photos and graphics. The narrative is hypnotic, hardboiled, feverish, and funny. Welcome to the USA in the near future, the last summer before the end of the world. A right wing Republican coup and terrorist strikes have decimated the social infrastructure. The digital world is 90 percent gone. Only a handful of elites have cell phones, and making a call on someone's land line can cost plenty. The power grid is shot. Our guides to this blasted world are Hank Zzybnx, a damaged war vet, private eye and hit man, haunted by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, and The Blues Cat, a jazz musician on an endless series of one-nighters, beloved by strange women, shadowed every step the muscle men of his nemesis, Big Clyde. Grizzly bears and alligators have invaded the cities. Weird epidemics ravage the land. Crime is rampant. Nightlife in bars like the Morgue, however, is booming. Envision Mad Max crossed with the Weimar Republic, to the tune of Mack the Knife played by Tom Waits. The Blues Cat, tired of roaming, yearns for the one thing he can never have--a quiet life and a loving wife. Hank searches for clues to his fragmented past. He rarely sleeps, and never dreams.

Song of the Day

The Lawrence Welk Show: Ghost Riders In The Sky - YouTube:

Five Noir Lessons from Charles Williams

Five Noir Lessons from Charles Williams by Ray Banks

“Going Postal: The Particular Pleasures of Workplace Murders”

“Going Postal: The Particular Pleasures of Workplace Murders” (by Meredith Anthony) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN

Today's Vintage Ad


Mickey Baker, R. I. P.

Mickey Baker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Mickey Baker, also known as Mickey "Guitar" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012)[1] was an American guitarist. He is widely held to be a critical force in the bridging of rhythm and blues and rock and roll, along with Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, and Chuck Berry.[2]

25 great closing lines in films

25 great closing lines in films 

Warning: Slideshow and lots of spoilers

PaperBack



Wade Barker (Ric Meyers), The Skin Swindle (Ninja Master #7), Warner Books, 1983

9 More Gorgeous European Libraries

9 More Gorgeous European Libraries 

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, . . .

Watch the First Superman Cartoon, from 1941: The Man of Steel made it to the big screen in 1941, in the first of 17 shorts that would screen through 1943. Open Culture alerts us that Warner Brothers has posted eight beautifully restored versions of these films for free viewing.

Hat tip to Walter Satterthwait.

36 Reasons Why We Love Bookstores

36 Reasons Why We Love Bookstores

I Miss the Old Days

Retrospace: Ads #57: Audio Equipment

Pictures of Famous Writers and Their Pets

Adorable Pictures of Famous Writers and Their Pets

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Police: Missing corn dog led to man killing roommate

Hat tip to Fred Zackel.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

 Serious Eats: Texas State Fair: 15 Crazy Fried Foods We're Still Digesting

Warning: Slideshow

Ride Lonesome

Ride Lonesome (1959) trailer - YouTube:

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

He Stayed Off Her Lawn

Rich, lonely woman Betty Harris, who died aged 95, leaves $12.5 million estate to neighbour 

Stephen Fry Celebrates 125th Anniversary Of Sherlock Holmes As First Edition Copy Of 'A Study In Scarlet' Goes On Display

Stephen Fry Celebrates 125th Anniversary Of Sherlock Holmes As First Edition Copy Of 'A Study In Scarlet' Goes On Display

Hat tip to George Kelley.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Two alligators, a pole dancer and pot at Olympia area shooting scene

Hat tip to Vince Keenan.

An interview with Ted Lee, stepson of Gil Brewer

An interview with Ted Lee, stepson of Gil Brewer | Prologue Books

Marvin Miller, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Marvin Miller, an economist and labor leader who became one of the most important figures in baseball history by building the major league players union into a force that revolutionized the game, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Song of the Day

Wade Flemons - "Here I stand" - YouTube:

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Stuart man charged with aggravated assault with knife, chain saw 

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

a Chron.com blog: For monster hunters in general, in Bigfoot hunters in particular, there’s big news in the Bigfoot world: A Texas scientist says she has sequenced Bigfoot DNA.

Uh-Oh

BBC News - Risk of robot uprising wiping out human race to be studied

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Today's Vintage Ad


I Miss the Old Days

Fantastic ’70s Illustrations of Futuristic Space Colonies

PaperBack



Wade Barker (Ric Meyers), Vengeance is His (Ninja Master #1), Warner Books, 1981

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Gang of female burglars busted in Sarasota

10 Great Literary Late Bloomers

10 Great Literary Late Bloomers

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Black Friday: Brawl breaks out over panties at Victoria's Secret - and it's all caught on video: An all-out melee erupted at the lingerie giant inside a California shopping mall as customers were let in to commence Black Friday shopping.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Movie rejection letter

Movie rejection letter

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Does Texas Have an Answer to Sky-High Tuition?

The Best Novellas: Literature's Middle Child

The Time Machine by H.G. WellsAbeBooks:: Poor novellas. They are the middle-child, the Jan Brady of the book world – too short to be novels, too long to be short stories. Overlooked in many lists of excellent literature, novellas just don't get their due, and some readers might not even realize that some of their most beloved stories were novellas. Lacking the compact one-two punch of a short story and the delicious, slowly-unfolding anticipation in a novel, it might be easy to dismiss the novella as a bland middle ground. But that would be a mistake. Sometimes a novella is just the thing.

Overlooked Movies: Wake Me When It's Over

Ah, the military comedy.  Once a staple, not hard to find.  Here's a good one that's both a forgotten movie and an even better forgotten book (which I've read twice and may read again).   Both book and movie had a big influence on my life because the division of people into schnooks and yulds seemed to me to explain so much about my own personality.

The plot is pretty complicated.  Dick Shawn is a schnook.  When anything can go wrong for him, it will.  Because of a complicated series of events, he appears to have served only one day in the military in WWII (The Big One), though he served much longer and spent two years in a prison camp.  As a result of the mistake, he's drafted again and sent to a Japanese island in the middle of nowhere.  A wild and crazy Ernie Kovacs is the commanding officer, which tells you a bit about how things are there.  There are 100 Americans stationed on the island, and they have little to occupy their time.  The Japanese who live there don't like the Americans and in fact still have a shrine to a downed Japanese plane.  

The cast is great and has a lot of fun with the concept.  Don Knotts has another great military comedy turn (the first is in No Time for Sergeants), and Kovacs is Kovacs.  The plot, as I said, is complicated, but the schnookish Shawn finally turns his life around.  Just thinking about this one makes me want to pull out the book again. Or maybe the movie's on Netflix.  I checked.  No such luck.

Monday, November 26, 2012

I've Got a Secret

Belgian discovers his wife used to be a man after 19 years

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest

The Poksu Conspiracy (Post Cold War Political Thriller)The Poksu Conspiracy (Post Cold War Political Thriller): Chester D. Campbell: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: The Cold War has ended, but a reliable report reveals a plot that could throw the Far East into turmoil. Burke Hill, clandestine director for a Washington PR firm that's a CIA spinoff, is tasked to find the truth about a secret agreement for Israel to help South Korea develop nuclear weapons. The new Seoul government wants all U.S, troops to leave. A bomb decimates the North Korean leadership in Pyongyang, and Hill finds a diligent Seoul Metropolitan Police detective investigating a series of murders he believes are targeted at civilian leaders who favor close cooperation with America. Captain Yun Yu-sop identifies a ruthless Korean assassin who targets anyone who stands in the way, including Yun and Burke Hill.

Song of the Day

John Lennon - Watching The Wheels - YouTube:

Top 10 Bar Drinks

Top 10 Bar Drinks

Earl 'Speedo' Carroll, R. I. P.

Earl 'Speedo' Carroll, beloved singer of New York-style vocal harmony in the 1950s, dies at 75 - NY Daily News: Earl "Speedo" Carroll, one of the most colorful and beloved singers of New York-style vocal harmony in the 1950s, died Sunday at a city nursing home. He was 75. 

He had been in failing health for the past year, suffering from diabetes, a stroke and other ailments. 

Carroll, who became a custodian at Public School 87 on the upper West Side in the 1980s, was known in the music world for more than five decades as one of the lead singers of the Cadillacs. 

Their 1950s hits included "Gloria," "You Are," "Wishing Well," "My Girlfriend," "Peek-a-Boo" and one perennial holiday favorite, a jive version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Today's Vintage Ad


Typewriters: an illustrated guide and a debt of thanks

Typewriters: an illustrated guide and a debt of thanks

Which Bond Villain Plan Would Have Worked?

Which Bond Villain Plan Would Have Worked? 

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .

Woman faces battery charge after tossing cat, stabbing man

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

PaperBack



Richard Hubbard, The Owl and the Pussycat, Avon, 1970

Paris Hilton Update

Paris Hilton takes the plunge in see-through mini-dress on date with her Spanish model boyfriend

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Giant Gator Head Artwork

Giant Gator Head Artwork Draws Attention Along Alligator Alley

Photo at the link.
Hat tip to Mel Odom.

15 Famous People Who’ve Spent Time in Jail

15 Famous People Who’ve Spent Time in Jail

Antikythera Mechanism Update

Ancient 'computer' yielding some secrets

Great Site for Handgun Fans

Rare, Antique & Beautiful Firearms

The Saddest Comedies Ever Made

The Saddest Comedies Ever Made

Dallas

Dallas (1950) trailer - YouTube:

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

The 5 Most Impressive Things Built by One Obsessive Person

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Texas secession bumper stickers abound after 2012 petitions

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

The Daily: In an effort to increase membership, a number of U.S. churches — including the Church of Christ congregation in this rural village 30 miles north of Columbus — are offering an unconventional public service: Concealed weapons training.

Free for Kindle for a Limited Time

BEAT to a PULP: Round Two: Larry D. Sweazy, Vin Packer, Bill Pronzini, Dave Zeltserman, Bill Crider, Charles Ardai, Ed Gorman, David Cranmer, Matthew P. Mayo, Sophie Littlefield: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Smoke 'em if you got 'em, then set your jaw and steel your stance, 'cause BEAT to a PULP: Round Two is here! It's all meat, no filler in this red-raw-and-oozing collection of twenty-nine tales of pure pulp action. You'll find aliens, gangsters, drifters, mountain men, private dicks, gun molls, loners, misfits, drunks, thugs, booze-hounds, and more, all brawling in the pages of Round Two. And that's just for starters.

Song of the Day

Marv Johnson - I Love The Way You Love - YouTube:

Bargain of the Season

Body Count: The Joe Hannibal Case Files, Vol. I (A Joe Hannibal Mystery)Body Count: The Joe Hannibal Case Files, Vol. I (A Joe Hannibal Mystery): Wayne D. Dundee: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Special introductory price! In February 2013, the price will go up to $2.99.

And Keep Off His Lawn!

KTXL FOX40: A Sacramento senior citizen, fearing another burglary at his house, held someone at bay with a homemade bow and arrow until police arrived.

Bigfoot Update

Is this picture proof that Bigfoot exists? Vermont man claims the mysterious monster is the ape-like creature but wildlife officials say it's just an owl 

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Today's Vintage Ad


Art Scott Take Note

Fascinating Photos of Vinyl Aficionados With Their Collections

Why Not?

Slate Magazine: Why Are Bigfoot Rumors So Persistent?

PaperBack



Irving Shulman, The Flesh Is Real (The Square Trap), Popular Library, 1955

Victor Mature, the First Hollywood Hunk

Victor Mature, the First Hollywood Hunk 

I Miss the Old Days

Amusing Vintage Photographs of Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons

The third one is especially good.

10 of the Greatest ‘Life’ Magazine Covers of All Time

10 of the Greatest ‘Life’ Magazine Covers of All Time

London's hidden architecture

London's hidden architecture – in pictures 

Warning: Slideshow

Start Packing

Bugarach, French Hamlet, Attracts Believers As Mayan Apocalypse Looms: The small French village of Bugarach, which sits in a particularly scenic and empty corner of the Pyrenees, is becoming a prominent attraction thanks to the calculations of New Agers and UFO chasers, who have concluded that the hamlet will be the only town saved from the destruction that will end the world on December 21 according to the Mayan calendar.

Or Maybe Not

15 Forgotten TV Shows Of The '90s

Whispering Smith

Whispering Smith (1948) trailer - YouTube: