Saturday, March 23, 2013
Joe Weider, R. I. P.
latimes.com: Joe Weider, who made millions from a fitness empire and mentored a young Austrian bodybuilder who went on to become a major movie star and governor of California, has died.
Weider, 93, passed away Saturday of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles, according to a news release. The multimillion-dollar publishing empire he built included Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Shape, and Men’s Fitness magazines.
Weider, 93, passed away Saturday of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles, according to a news release. The multimillion-dollar publishing empire he built included Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Shape, and Men’s Fitness magazines.
Derek Watkins, R. I. P.
BBC News: Derek Watkins, the British trumpet player who played on every James Bond film soundtrack from Dr No to Skyfall, has died aged 68.
Free Today for Kindle
Amazon.com: Glimpses: The Best Short Stories of Rick Hautala eBook: Rick Hautala, Joe Morey, Glenn Chadbourne: Kindle Store: One of 2012’s HWA Lifetime Achievement Award Winners, Rick Hautala has a writing career that spans more than three decades. From Moondeath, his first novel published in 1980, to the republication of his best-selling novel The White Room (DRP, 2012) and his forthcoming “Little Brothers” novella Indian Summer (CD Publications, 2012), his novels and short stories have entertained millions of readers around the world. Now comes Glimpses, a career-spanning “best of” collection that brings together twenty-four stories, including eight from each of Rick’s critically-acclaimed collections Bedbugs and Occasional Demons, and eight previously uncollected stories.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Chinua Achebe, R. I. P.
Agent: Author Chinua Achebe dies at 82: Chinua Achebe, the internationally celebrated Nigerian author, statesman and dissident who gave literary birth to modern Africa with Things Fall Apart and continued for decades to rewrite and reclaim the history of his native country, has died. He was 82.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Girl, 7, brought into pepper-spray fight: "You know what to do, baby. Spray it!", Delaina Garling allegedly told her daughter.
Forgotten Book: I'll Find You -- Richard Himmel
What did I learn? For one thing, the Gold Medal pattern was set from the very beginning. I'll Find You has just about everything that the later books from this publisher had. The first-person narrator, Johnny Maguire, is a self-proclaimed punk, a night-school lawyer whose attitudes toward women are primitive at best: "OK, so she might have fought. It would have been good that way. Maybe that's what she wanted. Maybe she wanted to get messed up a little bit. Maybe that's the way it was good for her." He says this about a woman he's fallen for, hard. She's the first woman he's ever loved, though of course he's had plenty of sex. Sex is big in the GM line.
As soon as Maguire falls for the woman, she disappears, an apparent suicide. Maguire doesn't think she's dead and decides to find her. Hence the book's title. And he does find her. That's when things get complicated. Gangsters are involved, and there's a murder, but this isn't really a crime novel. In its own twisted way, it's a love story in the Gold Medal vein, with the emphasis on speed, with lots of raw emotion, with plenty of melodrama. And a really great final scene and line, very much in keeping with the character of Johnny Maguire.
Himmel had something going for him, and it's not a big surprise that the book was such a hit. My guess is that he didn't plan to make Maguire a series character. He wasn't cut out to be one. The book sold so many millions, however, that bringing him back must have proved irresistible. In one of the sequels, Maguire is even an investigator for the State Department. I guess I'll have to read another one to see how this came about.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Rick Hautala, R. I. P.
RIP Rick Hautala | Rick Hautala: It is with heavy heart that I post the news that Rick died earlier this afternoon at age 64 from an apparent heart attack. I have no details at this time, as I just found out via postings on Facebook. I will provide more information as soon as I have it.
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
Free Today for Kindle
That Damned Coyote Hill: Heath Lowrance: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: He came to set vengeance down upon the heads of the wicked--but the strange town of Coyote Hill had its own kind of unearthly retribution. From Heath Lowrance, author of the cult novel The Bastard Hand, comes a weird Western tale of revenge, violence, and supernatural evil.
From Minotaur Books and PWA
We are accepting submissions for the Minotaur Books/PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Competition. To be eligible you must have never published a private eye novel before. Spread the word!
For guidelines and an entry form, send an SASE to:
PWA Competition
Thomas Dunne Books
St. Martin’s Press
175 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10010
The deadline to send your manuscript to a judge is July 1st.
For guidelines and an entry form, send an SASE to:
PWA Competition
Thomas Dunne Books
St. Martin’s Press
175 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10010
The deadline to send your manuscript to a judge is July 1st.
I Miss the Old Days
I'm well aware that the world I grew up in wasn't the idyllic place I sometimes remember it as, but at least we never to worry about things like this: Maryland school district outlaws hugging, homemade food, pushing kids on swings
Soon to Be a SyFy Movie of the Week (The Croc Will Be 70ft, However)
'Costa Croc' goes on the run: Police hunt 7ft alligator terrorising popular Spanish tourist destination: 'Costa Croc' goes on the run: Police hunt 7ft alligator terrorising popular Spanish tourist destination
Police erect sign warning tourists of 'grave danger' from fugitive crocodile
Creature has been spotted close to lake in Mijas near Marbella
Tourists - including Brits - ignore police warnings to avoid reptile
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Police erect sign warning tourists of 'grave danger' from fugitive crocodile
Creature has been spotted close to lake in Mijas near Marbella
Tourists - including Brits - ignore police warnings to avoid reptile
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Their Long National Nightmare is Over
'Marmageddon' over as New Zealand spread returns: Supermarkets began selling Marmite again Wednesday for the first time since March 2012, when supplies ran out.
Hat tip to Art Scott.
Hat tip to Art Scott.
The Madness of Mental Illness, Explored Through Books
The Madness of Mental Illness, Explored Through Books: There’s a line I love from the short story Eleonora by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s about madness. And who better than the macabre mind who brought us such gibbering, eye-shivering tales of horror as The Telltale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum to weigh in on the subject of insanity? The quote goes like this: “Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.”
I take that to mean, coarsely translated – “maybe the reason so many brilliant people go a bit off their heads is because insanity is only one step past genius.”
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Fran Warren, R. I. P.
Variety: Fran Warren, the singer and thesp who appeared in 1952’s “Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd” and whose 1947 recording of “A Sunday Kind of Love” became one of the biggest hits of the Big Band Era, died of natural causes at her Brookfield, Conn., home on March 4. She was 87.
Harry Reems, R. I. P.
Variety: Harry Reems, adult film star famous for his role in “Deep Throat,” died Tuesday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer at a Salt Lake City Veterans hospital. He was 65.
James Herbert, R. I. P.
James Herbert Dead: Horror Author Dies At 69: He was a "Grand Master" of horror and rats were one of his specialties.
British horror writer James Herbert, whose best-selling spine-tinglers included "The Rats" and "The Fog," has died at age 69.
Herbert's publisher, Pan Macmillan, said he died Wednesday at his home in Sussex, southern England. It did not disclose the cause.
British horror writer James Herbert, whose best-selling spine-tinglers included "The Rats" and "The Fog," has died at age 69.
Herbert's publisher, Pan Macmillan, said he died Wednesday at his home in Sussex, southern England. It did not disclose the cause.
Henry Bromell, R. I. P.
'Homeland' writer-producer Bromell dies at 66: The 66-year-old Bromell was "an immensely talented and prolific" writer and producer, Showtime said in a statement. His other TV credits included "Northern Exposure," ''Chicago Hope," ''Rubicon" and "Brotherhood."
Fangs Out -- David Freed
You don't have to have read too many crime novels to know that things aren't going to be so easy. Almost as soon as Logan starts poking around, things get rough and complicated. The complications include Logan's personal life, as he's trying to get back together with his ex-wife. And they include Logan himself, as he appears to be his own worst enemy, unable to resist being a smartass with everyone involved in the case. And his ex-wife, too. This isn't something that anyone finds to be an endearing quality. Logan is trying to the teachings of the Buddha, but it seems to be a losing battle.
Freed has a smooth and readable style, and he handles the flying and action scenes well. There's a cat, too. Check it out.
Today's Vintage Ads
These were in mainstream magazines in the '50s. Now they're barely safe for work.
The Racy, Creepy Microsheen Shoe Polish Ads
The Racy, Creepy Microsheen Shoe Polish Ads
It's the birthday of dime novelist Ned Buntline
The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor: It's the birthday of dime novelist Ned Buntline (books by this author), born Edward Zane Carroll Judson in Stamford, New York (1813) — probably, but not certainly, on this day. As a boy, he got in a fight with his father and ran away to sea. He started out as a cabin boy, but as a teenager he rescued the drowning crew of a boat, and President Van Buren was so impressed that he appointed the young man a midshipman, a low rank of officer.
After a few years at sea, he decided to take up writing sensational adventure stories. He took his pseudonym, Ned Buntline, from the "buntline" knot that went at the foot of a square sail. He started out writing about gangs and violence in New York, then he took a trip out West, and realized that it was the ideal setting for the type of stories he wanted to tell.
After a few years at sea, he decided to take up writing sensational adventure stories. He took his pseudonym, Ned Buntline, from the "buntline" knot that went at the foot of a square sail. He started out writing about gangs and violence in New York, then he took a trip out West, and realized that it was the ideal setting for the type of stories he wanted to tell.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Uh-oh
Silver Pictures to Remake 1981 Post-Apocalyptic Classic 'Escape From New York'
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Them that Refuse it are Few
Hat tip to John Duke.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
. . . and once again Texas leads the way. The mug shot's worth a look, too.
khou.com Houston: Police have arrested a woman for digging another woman's eye out of the socket during an altercation.
khou.com Houston: Police have arrested a woman for digging another woman's eye out of the socket during an altercation.
The Strand Magazine 2012 Critics Awards Nominees
The Rap Sheet: The Strand Magazine today announced the nominees for its 2012 Critics Awards, in two categories.
Croc Update (Hitchhike Edition)
Australia: Huge hitchhiking crocodile needs a bigger ride
Photo at the link.
And Hitchhiking Crocodile WBAGNFARB.
Photo at the link.
And Hitchhiking Crocodile WBAGNFARB.
Just a Gentle Reminder
Amazon.com: The Texas Capitol Murders eBook: Bill Crider: Kindle Store: The classic novel of Texas politics and murder, available for the first time in more than 20 years! It's the end of the '80s. The Texas capitol building is being remodeled, and there's a body dumped in the trash. There's a witness who needs to be eliminated, and there's a slightly strange governor who wants the Texas Rangers called in. Political intrigue, murder, romance, and humor with a Texas twang.
Bobbie Smith, R. I. P.
Bobbie Smith dies at 76; singer with the Spinners - latimes.com: Along with Henry Fambrough, Smith was one of the group's two remaining original members still performing with the band. His tenor voice was out in front on a number of the Spinners' biggest Atlantic Records hits in the '70s, including "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love," "I'll Be Around," "Games People Play" and the 1974 Dionne Warwick duet "Then Came You."
Overlooked Movies: Big Jim McLain
Big Jim McLain was made in 1952, back when Joe McCarthy was stirring things up. There were, he said, dirty commies hiding under every bed. It was a time of paranoia and fear. Luckily we've moved way beyond that kind of thing.
Anyway, John Wayne and his partner, played by James Arness, are FBI guys investigating commie activity in Hawaii for the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. The commies are led by Alan Napier, and they're bad clean through. Arness is the real commie-hater in the movie. They make him really angry, and he loves to pound them to a pulp. [SPOILER ALERT] When they kill him (accidentally), Wayne vows revenge. He gets it, too, rounding up all the commies and getting them arrested. Here's the clincher. They escape prison by pleading the Fifth. I guess Napier reformed, since he went on to become Batman's butler. [END OF SPOILER ALERT]
Since the movie was filmed in Hawaii, it's too bad that it's in black and white, though the photography's great. There's some romance, naturally, with John Wayne and Nancy Olson. While there's one big brawl of the kind that we expect in a John Wayne movie, but there's not as much action as you might think.
I've read that in some countries the movie was re-titled Marijuana, and that the commies, with artful dubbing, were turned into drug dealers. I'll bet that movie would be as much fun as the original, if not more.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Uh-Oh
'Hogan's Heroes' Movie In Works After Rights Won Back By Creators: After a three-year battle waged to determine ownership of sequel and separated rights on the CBS sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, creators Albert S. Ruddy and the late Bernard Fein have been granted all rights. Ruddy will work with Fein’s estate to develop a feature film ensemble comedy using the show’s clever WWII German POW camp premise.
Frank Thornton, R. I. P.
seattlepi.com: British actor Frank Thornton — best known as Captain Peacock in the long-running television comedy "Are You Being Served?" — has died at age 92, his agent said Monday.
The actor is best remembered by British audiences for his comic role in the innuendo-laden hit sitcom, which ran from the 1970s to 1985. He played a mustachioed, pompous floor manager who oversaw his fellow shop workers in a department store.
The actor is best remembered by British audiences for his comic role in the innuendo-laden hit sitcom, which ran from the 1970s to 1985. He played a mustachioed, pompous floor manager who oversaw his fellow shop workers in a department store.
Sometimes You Get Away with It
FBI: Thieves Identified in 1990 Art Heist From Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - ABC News: The statute of limitations has since run out on the theft and officials have said naming the suspects would be "imprudent," given the continuing effort to recover the art work. DesLauriers said the announcement today, on the 23rd anniversary of the heist, was intended to increase public awareness, possibly leading to the artwork being found.
Free Today for Kindle
Amazon.com: The Wildman eBook: Rick Hautala: Kindle Store: From New York Times bestselling author, Rick Hautala, comes a taut suspense thriller set in the dark woods of Maine. Jeff Cameron is going back to Camp Tapiola on Lake Onwego to meet several old friends and reminisce about their childhood experiences at camp. But not all of their childhood memories are good. For thirty-five years lingering images of their friend Jimmy Foster’s lifeless body being pulled from the lake has disturbed Jeff’s peace of mind. Was Jimmy Foster's death an accident or murder? The authorities had said Jimmy’s death was an accidental drowning, but Jeff had always believed there was more to the story. Why after all these years did his old friend arrange this reunion? And why can’t Jeff escape the feeling that his friend has a hidden agenda. What is this reunion is really about? And another question remains... who is The Wildman?
Skynet Is Here. . .
. . . Sarah Connor in hiding.
RoboEarth Cloud Engine ready for use: For the past few years, a consortium of six European research institutes has been collaborating on a project known as RoboEarth. Essentially a “worldwide web for robots,” the idea is that it will allow robots to access a shared online database of each others’ software, thus allowing them to learn how to perform new tasks from one another. The first phase of the project, Rapyuta: The RoboEarth Cloud Engine, is now up and running.
Hat tip to Walter Satterthwait.
RoboEarth Cloud Engine ready for use: For the past few years, a consortium of six European research institutes has been collaborating on a project known as RoboEarth. Essentially a “worldwide web for robots,” the idea is that it will allow robots to access a shared online database of each others’ software, thus allowing them to learn how to perform new tasks from one another. The first phase of the project, Rapyuta: The RoboEarth Cloud Engine, is now up and running.
Hat tip to Walter Satterthwait.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
The Drifter Detective (A Jack Laramie Beat): Garnett Elliott: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Jack Laramie, grandson of the legendary US Marshal Cash Laramie, is a tough-as-nails WWII vet roaming the modern West. He lives out of a horse trailer hitched to the back of a DeSoto, searching out PI gigs to keep him afloat.
With his car limping along, Jack barely makes it to the sleepy town of Clyde, Texas, where he stops at a garage. While waiting for repairs, he accepts a job from the sheriff, pulling surveillance on a local oilman allegedly running liquor to Indian reservations in Oklahoma. When Jack runs afoul of several locals and becomes dangerously close to the oilman’s hot-to-trot wife, he wonders if the money is worth his life.
Garnett Elliott writes in the best hardboiled tradition of the masters and turns out a tour-de-force novelette, clocking in at a trim, fighting 9k words. Take a chance on this new series ... and experience a Jack Laramie beat.
With his car limping along, Jack barely makes it to the sleepy town of Clyde, Texas, where he stops at a garage. While waiting for repairs, he accepts a job from the sheriff, pulling surveillance on a local oilman allegedly running liquor to Indian reservations in Oklahoma. When Jack runs afoul of several locals and becomes dangerously close to the oilman’s hot-to-trot wife, he wonders if the money is worth his life.
Garnett Elliott writes in the best hardboiled tradition of the masters and turns out a tour-de-force novelette, clocking in at a trim, fighting 9k words. Take a chance on this new series ... and experience a Jack Laramie beat.
I Have a Nice Picture of Some Poker-Playing Dogs in My Stately Home
AFP: A painting hanging in a British stately home has been confirmed as a self-portrait by Rembrandt worth tens of millions of dollars, the National Trust heritage body announced on Friday.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
ADELINE: Wayne D. Dundee: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: For over half a century, the Orphan Train program took abandoned children from the squalor and dangers of overcrowded eastern cities and transported them to new lives in the rural West.
Some went to loving, welcoming homes the way it was meant to be. Others ended up as little more than slave labor to the hard demands of farm or ranch life.
And then there was the fate that awaited Adeline …
Free for Kindle for Two Days Only
Shooter's Cross (Rancho Diablo): Colby Jackson, Bill Crider, Mel Odom, James Reasoner: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: CURSED LAND
Army Scout Sam Blaylock rode into the small Texas town of Shooter's Cross looking for deserters, not trouble.
While up in the mountains, he discovered a wilderness plagued by nature and haunted by superstition, but one that he thought he could tame with his experience and strong back.
He didn't know he was going to have to kill to keep the home he planned for his family, but he didn't let that stop him. Sam had been looking for a home for his family for years. That search had been interrupted by the Civil War.
Now Sam is putting down roots, and not even the Devil himself can stand in the way.
Army Scout Sam Blaylock rode into the small Texas town of Shooter's Cross looking for deserters, not trouble. While up in the mountains, he discovered a wilderness plagued by nature and haunted by superstition, but one that he thought he could tame with his experience and strong back.
He didn't know he was going to have to kill to keep the home he planned for his family, but he didn't let that stop him. Sam had been looking for a home for his family for years. That search had been interrupted by the Civil War.
Now Sam is putting down roots, and not even the Devil himself can stand in the way.
The End of the Hangup
The Atlantic: Why the physical form of smartphones and the unreliable operation of cellular networks has made hanging up the telephone impossible.
The Adventures of St. Patrick
The Adventures of St. Patrick: Slave, traveler, evangelist, abolitionist, and saint. A scant 400 years after Jesus' birth, the priest known as Patrick took the Great Commission seriously, to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth by converting the frightening barbarians of that scary outpost known as Ireland. Dates and details of Patrick's life are somewhat ambiguous since written records from fifth-century Ireland are scarce. A lot of what we know comes from what little Patrick himself wrote, or from biographies written long after his time.
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