Porn study had to be scrapped after researchers failed to find ANY 20-something males who hadn't watched it
Hat tip to Art Scott.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Frank Page, R. I. P.
WDEF News 12: The man who introduced a then-unknown Elvis Presley to worldwide audiences through his work with the Louisiana Hayride — the state's version of the heralded Grand Ole Opry — has died.
Veteran radio broadcaster Frank Page died late Wednesday after succumbing to a severe respiratory infection while hospitalized at WK Pierremont Health Center in Shreveport. He was 87.
Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
Veteran radio broadcaster Frank Page died late Wednesday after succumbing to a severe respiratory infection while hospitalized at WK Pierremont Health Center in Shreveport. He was 87.
Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
John Wilkinson, R. I. P.
Herald-Dispatch Nation/World: AP Coverage: Rhythm guitar player John Wilkinson, who performed with Elvis Presley more than a thousand times, has died at his home in southwest Missouri. He was 67.
Subterranean Magazine Now Available as Free Downloads
Subterranean Magazine Now Available as Free Downloads — Subterranean Press: The two most recent issues of Subterranean, Fall 2012 and Winter 2013, are now avaialbe as free downloads in Mobi and Epub formats, with no DRM, naturally. Might we suggest you give Maria Dahvana Headley's stunner "Game" a try. Or, from the Winter 2013 issue, Walter Jon Williams' long (31,000 words) alternate history novella, "The Boolean Gate". You can look for each and every issue of the mag from here on out as a free download.
Dang
BBC News: The White House has rejected a petition to build a Death Star - a huge battle-station armed with a superlaser as seen in the Star Wars films.
In a playful response, a senior US government official said the Obama administration "does not support blowing up planets".
Hat tip to Richard Prosch.
In a playful response, a senior US government official said the Obama administration "does not support blowing up planets".
Hat tip to Richard Prosch.
Saddle Up With the Best Horse Fiction
AbeBooks: Saddle Up With the Best Horse Fiction: Horse fiction is one of literature’s deepest genres and yet it is often dismissed as lacking in substance. Let’s start with Black Beauty by Anna Sewell – you have all heard of this novel from 1877, but are you with familiar with the book’s impact on animal welfare?
Friday, January 11, 2013
Out Now! Lit Noir Magazine 8
Out Now! Lit Noir Magazine 8 | PAUL D. BRAZILL: The 8th issue of Jack Lehman‘s Lit Noir Magazine is out now and includes my story The Man Behind The Curtain.
And at the moment it’s FREE for your Kindle!
Free Today for Kindle
The Box and Other Odd Stories: Steven Torres: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: From award-winning author, Steven Torres:
13 Stories, 60,000 words, Countless Oddities...
The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace
British schools told to scrap 'i before e' - UPI.com: "The i before e rule is not worth teaching," it said. "It applies only to words in which the ie or ei stands for a clear ee sound. Unless this is known, words such as sufficient and veil look like exceptions. There are so few words where the ei spelling for the ee sounds follows the letter c that it is easier to learn the specific words."
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Forgotten Magazines: The Original Science Fiction Stories (11/55) & Double-Action Detective and Mystery Stories (3/59)
What I discovered after reading the stories that the cover illustrates is that it seems (to me) to fit better with the Calvin M. Knox (Robert Silverberg) story in the later magazine than with the Simak tale in the earlier one.
Now about that Simak tale. "Full Cycle" reads to me like an excerpt from a novel. It's about a reorganization of society that takes place after some event involving nomies and stuffys, but we never learn what that event is or who those two groups are. If it is indeed part of a novel, it's one I haven't read (or don't remember; maybe someone who's reading this does). The protagonist is a history professor who's let go by the university because there's no need for him anymore. No more money, no more students. He believes there must be a need for someone like him in the brave new world of tribal nomads, but it takes him a while to find out what it is. The story's told in Simak's typical low-key style, one I admire greatly.The Silverberg story is about book collectors, and it has some amusing comments about them. Someone's killing the owners of the extremely rare ("four copies in this country") Doomsday Book. The gimmick in the story is old hat by now, but it probably seemed fresher when the story was published. That doesn't really matter; it's the stuff about book collectors that makes the story fun.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
. . . and now it's the jealousy-fueled attack!
61-year-old Florida woman tortured ex-husband with cattle prod, dragged him behind truck in jealousy-fueled attack
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
61-year-old Florida woman tortured ex-husband with cattle prod, dragged him behind truck in jealousy-fueled attack
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Evan S. Connell, R. I. P.
KansasCity.com: Evan S. Connell, the Kansas City native who did more than any writer to shape the city’s literary image, died Wednesday at his home in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 88.
No Comment Department
KOMU.com | Columbia, MO |: Boyson, who lives in Davenport, Iowa, had been searching for his sister for nearly six decades. He asked an 8-year-old neighbor, Eddie Hanzlin, to look online for Billadeau. Within a week, the child found her on Facebook by using her maiden name.
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Readers of this Blog Will Not Be Surprised
NBC Bay Area: Alligator Used to Guard Bay Area Pot: Cops
Gator, named Mr. Teeth, was found in a bedroom of a Castro Valley home during a probation check
Hat tip to Art Scott.
Nice photo of Mr. Teeth at the link.
Hat tip to Art Scott.
Nice photo of Mr. Teeth at the link.
2013's Most Undeserving Razzie Nominees
2013's Most Undeserving Razzie Nominees:
Key quotation: Nope. You don't get to nominate Nicolas Cage for being Nicolas Cage. As with the Piranha 3DD nom, his inclusion here is baffling. This is an actor who has elevated his complete lack of restraint to an art. We know that Cage can act, but he chooses to give us this eyeball-straining gonzo shit instead. That's a legitimate (and courageous) choice. Surely someone can't be the worst when he's also the undisputed best at what he does.
Key quotation: Nope. You don't get to nominate Nicolas Cage for being Nicolas Cage. As with the Piranha 3DD nom, his inclusion here is baffling. This is an actor who has elevated his complete lack of restraint to an art. We know that Cage can act, but he chooses to give us this eyeball-straining gonzo shit instead. That's a legitimate (and courageous) choice. Surely someone can't be the worst when he's also the undisputed best at what he does.
And So It Goes
Boing Boing: Hasbro announced it is holding an election to oust one of Monopoly's existing game pieces and replacing it with a new one.
Ned Wertimer, R. I. P.
The Jeffersons' Star Dies at Age 89: Ned Wertimer, who appeared on 11 seasons of "The Jeffersons" as Ralph The Doorman, is dead at age 89. The actor's manager Brad Lemack confirmed to The Huffington Post Tuesday that Wertimer died on Jan. 2 following health complications at the Sherman Village Health Care Center in California.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Richard Ben Cramer, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Richard Ben Cramer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the author of “What It Takes,” a prodigious account of the 1988 presidential election that has been widely hailed as among the finest books about American politics ever written, died on Monday night in Baltimore. He was 62.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Masquerade of Leonard Zinberg (Ed Lacy)
The Masquerade of Leonard Zinberg, the Communist Who Was Also the 1950s Crime Novelist Ed Lacy – Tablet Magazine: Stranger Than Pulp Fiction
Crime writer Ed Lacy died 45 years ago. Few knew he was also a New Yorker contributor and communist darling.
Link via Mystery*File.
Link via Mystery*File.
Sammy Johns, R. I. P.
Writer of ‘Chevy Van’ dies at 66 Sammy Johns’ song about a chance encounter with a girl sat on the shelves of a record company for nearly two years before it was released in 1975.
That song, “Chevy Van,” went on to sell 3 million copies and was called “The Song of the Seventies” by Rolling Stone magazine. It reached No. 5 on the charts in the United States and Canada.
Johns, who was born in Charlotte but spent most of his life in Gaston County, died Friday at Gaston Memorial Hospital. He was 66.
That song, “Chevy Van,” went on to sell 3 million copies and was called “The Song of the Seventies” by Rolling Stone magazine. It reached No. 5 on the charts in the United States and Canada.
Johns, who was born in Charlotte but spent most of his life in Gaston County, died Friday at Gaston Memorial Hospital. He was 66.
Overlooked Movies: Some Came Running
Dave Hirsch, the formerly promising writer, is played by Frank Sinatra, just out of the army and returning to his hometown, where his brother is a successful businessman. On the bus, he meets Ginnie, a not-so-classy young woman who falls for him. She sticks around the old hometown, too, though Frank supposedly falls for Martha Heyer, the local schoolmarm.
Frank meets a heavy-drinking professional gambler, Bama, played by Dean Martin, and the two become roomies. They do pretty well on the gambling circuit, too. Meanwhile, a gangster from Chicago has followed Ginnie to town and isn't happy with her infatuation with Frank.
The things I remember best from my first viewing of this movie are the performances of Shirley Maclaine and Dean Martin. At the time I was a bit worried about Martin (I cared about such things) because recently his partnership with Jerry Lewis had ended, and I wondered if Martin was going to be able to make it on his own. This movie convinced me that he would. He was great. Maclaine was nominated for an Oscar. She claimed it was because Sinatra insisted that they change the ending of the movie. Maybe so. There's a great carnival scene, too.
Some of the '50s attitudes towards women captured here might be a offensive to today's viewer, but I suspect nobody thought a thing about them when the movie played in 1958.
Monday, January 07, 2013
David R. Ellis, R. I. P.
Deadline.com: Director David R. Ellis has died in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Snakes On A Plane helmer passed away suddenly early this morning Los Angeles-time, Deadline has learned. Ellis was 60 years old.
Hat tip to Vince Keenan.
Hat tip to Vince Keenan.
Sol Yurick, R. I. P.
WNYC: Writer Sol Yurick died this weekend from complications from lung cancer, according to his only daughter Susanna Yurick.
Yurick is best-known for the novel The Warriors, which combined a Greek story with a fictional account of gang wars in New York City. The book inspired a cult movie by the same name, released in 1979. Some of his other books include The Bag and Confession.
Yurick is best-known for the novel The Warriors, which combined a Greek story with a fictional account of gang wars in New York City. The book inspired a cult movie by the same name, released in 1979. Some of his other books include The Bag and Confession.
Happy National Nicolas Cage Day!
Happy National Nicolas Cage Day!: January 7th is that magical time of year when we celebrate the birth of America's greatest actor.
Archaeology Update
Yahoo! News Maktoob: Iraqi archaeologists have found 66 gold coins that are at least 1,400 years old, officials said on Monday, adding that they hope to put them on display in Baghdad's National Museum.
The artefacts, which date back to the Sassanid era that extended from 225 BC to 640 AD, will be sent for laboratory tests in order to confirm their authenticity.
The artefacts, which date back to the Sassanid era that extended from 225 BC to 640 AD, will be sent for laboratory tests in order to confirm their authenticity.
How Many Times Have You Seen This Plot?
The Raw Story: Austrian police have made an appeal to the public for help over a tourist thought to be German languishing in the country for the past seven weeks who has lost his memory and has no identification papers.
All police know is that the man arrived in the German town of Lindau on Lake Constance by train on November 19 wearing hiking gear, went to the tourist office and walked over the border to nearby Bregenz.
All police know is that the man arrived in the German town of Lindau on Lake Constance by train on November 19 wearing hiking gear, went to the tourist office and walked over the border to nearby Bregenz.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
The Dirty Streets of Heaven -- Tad Williams
Bobby Dollar, the narrator, is an angel. He has an earthly body and gets to live on earth and enjoy earthly pleasures as an advocate, an angel who debates with demons for the fate of the souls of the departed in Bobby's area (somewhere south of San Francisco, in the fictional city of Saint Judas) along with other advocates. Then something odd happens. A soul disappears.
That's not all. There's a maguffin, and some powerful demons believe Bobby has it. Bobby's just an ordinary angel, and the things coming after him are considerably beyond his powers and experience.
Throw in visits to what I suppose we could call heaven, a beautiful demon called the Countess of the Cold Hands for some hot angel/ demon hanky-panky, and a description of the vast bureaucracy that Bobby works for. That's a lot, but there's more. Bobby begins to suspect that even heaven might not be perfect. No one's ever seen the Highest. Does he even exist? What about all the other earthly religions? Do they have angel analogues? And there's that angel trainee that Bobby's friend Sam has been saddled with. What about him?
By now you probably have a pretty good idea about whether this is your kind of book. If you're familiar with current fantasy trends, you know that it's only the first of a trilogy and that a lot of questions will go unanswered at the end. I liked it enough to consider reading the following books, though I did find it too long. Some of the chase scenes went on for quite a while. I guess all that's expected in a fantasy. I prefer the leaner stuff, but, as I said, I'm willing to give the next one in this series a look.
Gloria Pall, R. I. P.
Gloria Pall dies at 85; Voluptua character deemed too sexy for TV - latimes.com: Fans dubbed the statuesque Pall "Eyeful Tower" and "Miss Cleavage" for her shapely figure and plunging necklines. Her steamy on-camera poses and flirtatious comments soon earned her another moniker: "Corruptua."
Just seven weeks after it first aired, amid mounting pressure from religious and PTA groups and lackluster commercial sponsorship, the station abruptly canceled the show.
Pall, who went on to become a Los Angeles real estate agent, died Dec. 30 of heart failure at a Burbank hospital, her son, Jefferson Kane, said. She was 85.
Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.
Just seven weeks after it first aired, amid mounting pressure from religious and PTA groups and lackluster commercial sponsorship, the station abruptly canceled the show.
Pall, who went on to become a Los Angeles real estate agent, died Dec. 30 of heart failure at a Burbank hospital, her son, Jefferson Kane, said. She was 85.
Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.
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