. . . and now it's the Moped Dispute!
Man, 22, shot in groin area after moped dispute
Saturday, September 14, 2013
In the Time of Green Blimps -- Henry Melton
In Star Time, Earth's technology is knocked out by a star's going supernova. The current book is set 100 years in the future of that time, and technology is coming back on two fronts, the genetic and the mechanical. So you get sentient blimps. Airship fans should love this, as a major plot thread is set on one of the blimps. What I liked best about it was the story of blimps going rogue, necessitating wild blimp roundups.
Another plot thread has to do with Samuel Bolls, a young man whose plan is to make it big in this future's version of YouTube. (The technology of the Internet is much improved.) A war begins between the green technology powers (Australia leads the way) and the mechanical techonology powers, which are discovering space travel. It's not a pretty war, and as usual with wars it doesn't end well for some of the characters.
This is an engrossing installment in an ambitious series. If you haven't gotten on board yet, this would be a good one to start with.
+Space+Platform+Pocket+Books+1953+1.JPG)
+Space+Platform+Pocket+Books+1953.JPG)
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
. . . and now it's the chair attack!
Man Faces Assault Charges For Chair Attack At San Francisco Main Library
Man Faces Assault Charges For Chair Attack At San Francisco Main Library
Lansdales at Murder by the Book
Friday, September 13, 2013
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Amazon.com: Hell Up in Houston (A Jack Laramie Beat) eBook: Garnett Elliott: Kindle Store: Houston has been called "a sprawling city of astronauts and cowboys, in the middle of a swamp." And now Jack Laramie, rural-wandering PI, is headed up that way after his faithless Desoto blows its radiator. Jack's got a bit of a past with the city, in the form of a Cajun PI named Lameaux--a guy who mixes his "investigations" with organized vice. So Jack decides to lay low, holing up in a swanky downtown hotel called the Fulton. It's a splurge after sleeping in an old horse trailer night after night, but Jack figures he deserves a break. Until the Fulton's grizzled house detective shows up with a proposition ... Jack's way out of his league this time around, and when he discovers a blackmailing scheme involving a famous industrialist, he finds himself bumping gun-barrels with the Federal Government. Survival's going to require throwing the PI code out the window. And some quick thinking.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
WFLA-TV News Channel 8: Pasco deputies arrested a woman after she used a stun gun on her daughter in an argument about house cleaning, deputies said.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Ray Dolby, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Ray Dolby, an American inventor and audio pioneer who founded Dolby Laboratories, has died at the age of 80.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Forgotten Books: Wild Wild Westerners -- Tom Weaver
It would be hard for me to pick a favorite, but if forced to do so, I might settle for Andrew Fenady's memories of creating The Rebel, writing the theme song, working with Nick Adams, and so on. Or maybe Paul Picerni's wild tales of working on The Scalphunters. Shelley Winters! Wow. But there are lot of others, all well worth your time. June Lockhart talks about her many guest appearances on western TV shows. Richard Kline remembers Charles Starrett. Robert Colbert tells how he became a third Maverick brother. And on and on. There's a long interview with Fess Parker, and his summary of his proposed movie about Davy Crockett after he survived the battle of the Alamo is great stuff. There's a lot more.
The interviews collected here all appeared in Boyd Magers' Western Clippings magazine. I'm not familiar with it, but I think I should be.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Amazon.com: The Accidental Spy eBook: J. R. Lindermuth, Dave Field, Laura Givens: Kindle Store: Dandy Dan McCracken is a rogue wandering around eastern Pennsylvania during the American Revolution. Wounded and on the run from the law, he's rescued and nursed to health by the lovely ward of Benedict Arnold's procurement officer. When the girl's husband returns from the front, McCracken falls in with British spies. He switches sides again as a result of love and becomes a hero, not through choice but circumstance.
Paris Hilton Update
Mail Online: Just how much did you pack? Paris Hilton wears THREE different outfits as she show-hops at New York Fashion Week
Hat tip to John Duke.
Hat tip to John Duke.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Amazon.com: Little Mexico: An Original Sin City Novel eBook: Cathie John, John Celestri, Cathie Celestri: Kindle Store: Barry Award Finalist: 2001 Best Paperback Original Mystery In the premier gambling hot spot before Las Vegas, a determined woman struggles against the major mob families to hold on to her glamorous casino.
Newport, Kentucky of the 1940s and 1950s (aka Little Mexico), is the illegal gambling capital of the United States, years before Las Vegas is a twinkle in Bugsy Siegel’s eye; and where the long battle between the independent casino operators of Newport and the major crime families of Cleveland, New York, and Chicago created the prototype for the mobster-run Las Vegas gambling industry of the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin Rat Pack Era. But before that glamorous Las Vegas could exist, the rules were hammered out and written in blood on the streets of Newport.
Skirmishes -- Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Also on hand are Captain Jonathan Cooper and his ship the Ivorie. Cooper and his crew have been catapulted 5000 years into the future (Boss' era), and they still have hopes of somehow finding their way back home. Cooper and the crew also provide the space battles, of which there are several.
So there's wreck diving, space battling, and even a bit of romance here. Throw in plenty of suspense and several plot twists, and you have adventure SF in the old tradition. At the end of the novel there are still some things that haven't been resolved, so we can look forward to more stories set in Rusch's Diving Universe.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
7 Against Chaos -- Harlan Ellison
7 Against Chaos seemed to me to be a throwback to the kind of action/adventure fiction of the '50s. Something or someone is attacking Earth from the distant past. It's up to a mysterious hooded figure, acting at the direction of he Crisis Computers, to gather his team of heroes to fight back. The heroes are an odd and interesting assortment. There's an insect man, Tantalus; Mourna, a large woman whose hands have been replaced by metal claws; Lady Ayleen, who has the power to be a sort of flamethrower; Urr, a robot; Hoorn, a man (and burglar) without a face; and Kenrus, a great but slightly odd scientist. Naturally each of these heroes is at a critical moment when picked up for the mission, so those minor crises have to be resolved before they can move on to the larger one.
That's enough plot summary. Let's just say that it's one adventure after another (with heroes dying along the way) until the final encounter with a deadly and scaly adversary occurs. The ending has something to do with the paradox of changing history, and it seems to me that it points clearly to a sequel. But maybe not.
Entertaining story, high adventure, dandy art. I had a lot of fun with this one.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Drunk at Kodiak airport loses control of pants along with his temper: Alaska State Troopers are calling it an intentional mooning.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Amazon.com: Blade of Dishonor Part 1: The War Comes Home eBook: Thomas Pluck: Kindle Store: A centuries-old battle between ninja and samurai over a stolen sword... enter 'Rage Cage' Reeves!
Part ONE of a two-fisted trilogy...
Okay, This Is Really Weird
"Dancing Queen!" Is The Most Horrifying And Amazing Thing You Will See Today
Scroll down all the way for the video.
Scroll down all the way for the video.
Special Price Reduction for a Limited Time!
Amazon.com: The Hungry (The Sheriff Penny Miller Series 1) eBook: Steven Booth, Harry Shannon, Joe McKinney, Steve Hockensmith: Kindle Store: Sheriff Penny Miller of Flat Rock, Nevada, is the kind of woman who will do whatever it takes to protect those she is sworn to serve, even when that includes a murderous biker, her wimpy ex-husband, a unit of incompetent National Guardsmen, and the scientist responsible for releasing the undead upon an unsuspecting world. If you're one of the tens of thousands of people who read the free short story ‘Jailbreak,’ this is your opportunity to find out what happens after that terrifying first night of the zombie apocalypse. And those of you encountering The Hungry for the first time? You are in for the ride of your life. Aim for the head!
New Publishing Company Open for Submissions
Rough Edges: New Publishing Company Open for Submissions
Welcome to PRAIRIE ROSE PUBLICATIONS, a new publishing company for WOMEN AUTHORS ONLY!
This Sounds Perefectly Reasonable to Me
News from The Associated Press: BLOGGER CALLS 911 OVER PHONE USE AT FILM SCREENING
Archaeology Update
Rare golden treasure found in Jerusalem: Two bundles containing 36 gold coins from Byzantine era, gold and silver jewelry, gold medallion with menorah uncovered during Hebrew University excavations at foot of Temple Mount
Overlooked Movies: Clue
The big publicity gimmick for the release was that the movie had three endings. If you saw it in one theater, you saw one of them. A nearby theater showed another. And so on. I don't remember which ending I saw, but by the time the movie ended, I didn't much care. It just didn't work for me. Apparently it worked for some people, however. Here's a really long article that explains what a wonderful movie it is: "Something Terrible Has Happened Here": The Crazy Story Of How "Clue" Went From Forgotten Flop To Cult Triumph.
And if you're really interested, here's even more about it: Movie Trivia: Clue.
As you can see, this must be a case of "it's not you; it's me." Which is fine. Just don't ask me to watch the movie again so I can really appreciate it. For me, once was enough.
Monday, September 09, 2013
Uh-Oh
The Atlantic Wire: Man Booker Prize winners Margaret Atwood and Howard Jacobsen, have bravely committed themselves to writing contemporary versions of Shakespeare's plays, in honor of the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death. Jacobsen will rework The Merchant of Venice and Atwood will take on The Taming of the Shrew as part of project put together by Penguin Random House's Hogarth imprint.
.jpg)
Inside the world's largest cave
Inside the world's largest cave: It's big enough to hold towering jungles, white sandy beaches, its own weather system and animals that can't be found anywhere else in the world.
Stonehenge Update
Stonehenge was built on solstice axis, dig confirms: English Heritage excavations show site has nothing to do with sun worshipping, and find evidence circle was once complete
New Poem at The 5-2
The 5-2 | Crime Poetry Weekly, Annual Ebooks - Gerald So, Editor: Tiffany Washington
DAY 7
Sunday, September 08, 2013
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Amazon.com: ILLEGAL eBook: Paul Levine: Kindle Store: A down-and-out L.A. lawyer with nothing to lose... A beautiful Mexican woman who disappears crossing the border...
And the powerful and corrupt rancher who would destroy them both.
Haunted by a personal tragedy and wanted by the cops, lawyer Jimmy (Royal) Payne wants to skip town. That's when he crosses paths with 12-year-old Tino Perez, newly arrived from Mexico, looking for his mother Marisol, who went missing after crossing the border with a vicious coyote.
Before long, the cynical lawyer and the savvy kid are bonding and tracing Marisol's path, battling predators on both sides of the border. Most dangerous of all is Simeon Rutledge, a wealthy rancher, and the biggest employer of farm workers in California. Just why is Rutledge willing to kill Payne to keep Marisol under wraps?
It's a story of human trafficking and sex slavery, a mother's love for her son, and the redemption of a man intent on escaping his past. From the shadows of migrant stash houses to the fertile fields of the San Joaquin Valley, 'Illegal' delivers a searing mix of live-wire prose, shattering violence, and rich characterization. Set against larger social issues, this is a masterful tale from one of the most skillful practitioners of the modern thriller.
In Australia, It's Drugs and Crocs
Assets seized in Hobart drug raids: About 50 officers using drug dog teams raided another six houses in Hobart's northern suburbs on Thursday, seizing cannabis plants, a crossbow and a one-metre freshwater crocodile.
'Uncle Tom's Cabin' Update
'Uncle Tom's Cabin' Inspired By Fugitive Slave, Professor Says: A Clemson University professor is convinced that Harriet Beecher Stowe might not have written "Uncle Tom's Cabin" if it were not for a fugitive South Carolina slave she harbored for a night before starting the history-making novel.
Arkansas Update
Teacher uniforms? School district now requiring staff to wear underwear and shoes
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)