Saturday, December 01, 2012
Free Through Wednesday
I read this in its original edition, and I recommend it. Good stuff.
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.
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.
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
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.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Friday, November 30, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hat tip to Bill Peschel.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
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 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.
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But What about Alvin, Texas?
Study ranks America's best and worst cities for good-looking people
Hat tip to good-looking Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to good-looking Jeff Meyerson.
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:
Art Mooney - I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover (1948) - YouTube:
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
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 edition) New, 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.
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]
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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.
Hat tip to Walter Satterthwait.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
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.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
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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.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Best Novellas: Literature's Middle Child
AbeBooks:: 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
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
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
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.
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."
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."
Giant Gator Head Artwork
Giant Gator Head Artwork Draws Attention Along Alligator Alley
Photo at the link.
Hat tip to Mel Odom.
Photo at the link.
Hat tip to Mel Odom.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
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
Bargain of the Season
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.
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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.
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