Saturday, January 26, 2013
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
www.wftv.com: A brawl broke out after a 16-year-old boy had his hands, feet and mouth duct-taped, and then he was glued to a chair, said Volusia County authorities.
Here's the Plot for My Next Big Alligator Thriller
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com: At least once a day, Robert Mackey and Paul Trucchio would pray to "the alligator god" that a human head, the only evidence of the brutal murder they committed, would be devoured by a reptile in the Everglades, two witnesses told jurors Thursday.
Friday, January 25, 2013
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
OH|News, Weather, Sports: Police say a 21-year-old woman tried to run over her instructor with her car after she failed her driving test.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
UPI.com: Police in South Carolina said they arrested a woman accused of choking a man when he attempted to pull more blanket on top of himself.
Forgotten Books: The Best from Manhunt -- Scott & Sidney Meredith, Editors
Manhunt was the premier hardboiled digest of the '50s and'60s, and whether the stories included in this collection are really the best would be up to you to determine. Maybe they are. Maybe the stories here are "13 of the toughest crime short stories ever written." And maybe Scott and Sidney Meredith really did edit the collection. I don't know. Their names are attached to the introduction, so it's possible. At any rate, the material reproduced here should give you a good idea of the book and its contents. You can't go wrong with it; even if it's not "the best," it's plenty good.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Hmmmmmmmm
Total Boox: Total Boox is building a new platform for ebook distribution and consumption. A reader does not have to purchase a book upfront. He downloads the book into his tablet device, and pays for the portion he actually reads, when he reads it.
Here's the Plot for Your Next Big Clerical Thriller
phillyburbs.com:A former Pennsylvania pastor awaiting trial in the 1999 death of his first wife was convicted Tuesday in the 2008 death of his second wife.
James Bond Update
Adele confirmed to perform ‘Skyfall’ live at the Oscars: It is also rumored that all six Bonds - Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig – will appear together for the first time ever at the ceremony to mark the movie franchise’s 50 years.
Elegant Editions: Rizzoli’s Art Books
Elegant Editions: Rizzoli’s Art Books on AbeBooks: The name Rizzoli carries considerable weight in the world of publishing. The company began in Italy when a young entrepreneur named Angelo Rizzoli purchased four magazines. He eventually built a global media empire called RCS MediaGroup. But there is one particularly fascinating company within this mega-corporation and that’s Rizzoli Publishing, which is responsible for some of the most beautiful and well-designed art books around today.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Double Game -- Dan Fesperman
The plot isn't easy to summarize, but I'll give it a shot. Bill Cage is a former newspaperman, now a PR flack. When he was young, he read widely and deeply in the spy fiction field, and his father, an American diplomat was a collector of first editions (Cage, too, collects them). Cage hasn't read any spy fiction in the last 20 years, but the books he loves and remembers are the same ones that I was reading at about the same time Cage was. The good stuff. Fleming, Deighton, Ambler, Greene, Hamilton, and on and on (there's a nice appendix that lists the books in the library of Cage's father).
Thing get started when Cage gets a mysterious note that welcomes him to The Double Game. He's easily sucked in, and the game is of course espionage. There's an old secret that even the CIA has never quite come up with an answer to, and someone's using Cage to find out. Cage returns to Europe, where he grew up, and is put through his paces in many of the cities he's familiar with both from spy fiction and because he lived in them as a boy. The clues he gets are all based on books he's read, and many familiar novels are quoted or referred to. For added fun, one of the characters is a book scout, and several bookstores get visited. Real characters you older folks will be familiar with from newspaper stories about the Cold War are mixed in with the fictional ones.
As it turns out, there are a lot of secrets besides the big one. Cage is reunited with the woman he'd loved as a teen. Is she on his side? His father is clearly keeping things from him. So is everyone else he meets.
A twisty plot, neat settings, books (lots of books), rekindled romance, fathers and sons, slimy characters, tradecraft, danger, and all the other ingredients. The story's also told in a fluid, engaging style. Thoroughly enjoyable.
What A Difference Four Years Makes
What A Difference Four Years Makes: Definitive proof that technology is ruining the world.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Bob Engemann, R. I. P.
Entertainer Bob Engemann dies Sunday at age 77: Bob Engemann had a smooth voice and eyes that melted female hearts from half a concert hall away. The tight harmonies he sang with fellow artists Jim Pike and Tony Butala were the things young love was made of from the earliest days of the 1960s. Through the decades Engemann went on to do many other things, but music remained one of the loves of his life.
Engemann died at 1:30 a.m. Sunday at the age of 77. He had heart surgery recently and contracted pneumonia.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Now it's the urn attack!
Joel Perez allegedly broke urn full of ashes over man's head: Man charged in urn attack
Joel Perez allegedly broke urn full of ashes over man's head: Man charged in urn attack
Overlooked Movies: The Blob
When the movie opens, their necking in the local lover's lane is interrupted by the fall of a meteor. Steve wants to go look for it. Meanwhile a farmer has poked at the fallen object with a stick, breaking it open and allowint the little blob to emerge. Before he knows it, the blob has attached itself to him. Steve and Aneta arrive in time to take the man to the local doctor and then go back to see if there's anything else at the site. When they get back to the doctor's house, the blog has pretty much inhaled everything and everybody, growing bigger all the time.
Steve and Aneta try to warn the town, but nobody believes their crazy story. Then we get a series of blob attacks. Finally, after the blob has scarfed up a theater full of kids, people believe. Too bad that Steve, Aneta, and a couple of others are trapped in a building that's being ingested by the blob. Do they escape? I ain't telling.
I thought this was great when I saw it, and it's still fun. Seeing McQueen jump into his dandy convertible is worth the price of admission all by itself. And then there's the title tune, which I can still sing even after 55 years. "Beware of the blob, it creeps and leaps . . . ."
Monday, January 21, 2013
Michael Winner, R. I. P.
Michael Winner, 'Death Wish' and 'The Mechanic' director, dead at 77 - NY Daily News: "Death Wish" director Michael Winner, a British filmmaker, restaurant critic and bon vivant, has died at the age of 77.
Winner's wife Geraldine said he died Monday at his London home after an illness.
Winner's 30 movies included three "Death Wish" films starring the late Charles Bronson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Winner's wife Geraldine said he died Monday at his London home after an illness.
Winner's 30 movies included three "Death Wish" films starring the late Charles Bronson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Super Bowl
So has anybody else named this year's Super Bowl The Bro Bowl? If not, I want to get that name trademarked or something.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, though the act predated the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by 15 years.
17 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes You Never Hear
17 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes You Never Hear
Sunday, January 20, 2013
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
www.wsbtv.com: A fan was stabbed in the neck after the NFC Championship Game outside of the Georgia Dome on Sunday night.
Stan Musial, R. I. P.
Baseball Great Stan Musial Dies at 92 - NYTimes.com: Stan Musial, one of baseball’s greatest hitters and a revered figure in the storied history of the St. Louis Cardinals — the player they called Stan the Man — died Saturday. He was 92.Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
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