Saturday, November 16, 2013
Pimpage: An Occasional Feature in Which I call Attention to Books of Interest
Amazon.com: A Potion to Die For: A Magic Potion Mystery eBook: Heather Blake: Kindle Store TROUBLE IS BREWING…As the owner of Little Shop of Potions, a magic potion shop specializing in love potions, Carly Bell Hartwell finds her product more in demand than ever. A local soothsayer has predicted that a couple in town will soon divorce—and now it seems every married person in Hitching Post, Alabama, wants a little extra matrimonial magic to make sure they stay hitched.
But when Carly finds a dead man in her shop, clutching one of her potion bottles, she goes from most popular potion person to public enemy number one. In no time the murder investigation becomes a witch hunt—literally! Now Carly is going to need to brew up some serious sleuthing skills to clear her name and find the real killer—before the whole town becomes convinced her potions really are to die for!
Are You Ready to Ragnarok?
IBTimes UK: Just a year after the Mayans wrongly predicted the world would end, Nordic mythology has foretold the End of Days with a Viking Apocalypse.
The countdown to Ragnarok has begun, with just 99 days until the world ends on 22 February next year, Norse experts have said.
The countdown to Ragnarok has begun, with just 99 days until the world ends on 22 February next year, Norse experts have said.
Friday, November 15, 2013
William Weaver, R. I. P.
ABC News: William Weaver, one of the world's most honored and widely read translators who helped introduce English-language readers to the works of Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino and many other Italian writers, has died.
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
25 More Great American Indie Bookstores to Support This Holiday Season
Glad to see Kayo and the Brazos Bookstore this time, but still no Murder by the Book.
25 More Great American Indie Bookstores to Support This Holiday Season
25 More Great American Indie Bookstores to Support This Holiday Season
Forgotten Books: His Brother's Wife -- Clay Stuart (Harry Whittington)
Perhaps you've said to yourself at one time or another, "I know Crider's crazy, but how crazy is he?" Well, here's one example. The other day I was cruising eBay, and I ran across this book. The price was $3.95, and there were no bidders. It was an unread copy. Now I have a copy of this book already. It was given to me years ago by Harry Whittington, who wrote it as "Clay Stuart." I'd never read it, but there is was on the shelf. I didn't need another one. Still, here's one for $3.95, and nobody wants it. Could I let it just go, unloved and unwanted? No, of course I couldn't. So I bid $3.95, fully expecting someone to overbid me and save me the money. Nobody did, so it was mine. I figured that must be a sign that I should read it, which I did almost as soon as it arrived.
The plot's a familiar one. There are two brothers, one of whom leaves the old homestead to seek his fortune, though he remains half owner. He returns to find that his brother is now married and a drunk who's let the place run down to almost nothing. Whit, the returning brother, decides to save the farm and falls for his brother's wife, who's been sleeping with the mortgage holder so she and her husband can stay on the farm when he forecloses. Living there also are the old family retainer and his sexy daughter. And then there's Whit's fiancee who shows up so Whit can rape her. That's right. I guess you have to remember that this is 1964 and the sympathetic protagonist can do that kind of thing, especially in a Beacon book. And of course it turns out that the fiancee loves it, so maybe that made it more acceptable 50 years ago. I have a feeling scenes like this one were fairly common in books of this type. This being 2013, however, it's repugnant any way you look at it. I wouldn't expect anybody to want to read the book, knowing ahead of time what was going to happen.
There's enough plot in this book for an another 100 pages, but Whittington wraps it all up (way too easily and quickly) in 154. As is typical of Whittington's work, the hackneyed plot becomes compulsively readable in his hands, but that one scene is so off-putting that I can't recommend the book.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Marvin Paige, R. I. P.
Variety: Marvin Paige, who cast movies including “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” two Woody Allen films and shows including “General Hospital,” worked as a celebrity handler and owned an extensive Hollywood archive, died Wednesday in Los Angeles of injuries sustained in a car crash in Laurel Canyon last month. He was in his 80s.
Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee. . .
New York News: Authorities say a western New York man has been charged with harassment for repeatedly firing an unloaded Civil War cannon at the homes of his neighbors.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Shirley Mitchell, R. I. P.
'I Love Lucy' Actress Dies At 94: Shirley Mitchell, the comedic actress who played Marion Strong -- Lucy Ricardo's friend with the cackling laugh -- on "I Love Lucy," has died, The Hollywood Reporter reports. She was 94.
I remember her best as Leila Ransome on The Great Gildersleeve on radio. Unfortunately her radio roles aren't mentioned in the obituary.
I remember her best as Leila Ransome on The Great Gildersleeve on radio. Unfortunately her radio roles aren't mentioned in the obituary.
Pimpage: An Occasional Feature in Which I call Attention to Books of Interest
Amazon.com: Punching Paradise (Fight Card) eBook: Jack Tunney, Nik Korpon, Paul Bishop: Kindle Store: Baltimore, 2013 ... Christopher 'Neckbone' Martin is nothing if not a proud fighter. He'll take a fix if it gives him some extra scratch to help fund the thespian ambitions of his much younger girlfriend, Allison, or buy a six-pack for his ex-con best friend, Rollo. But there isn't a man or a reason that'll knock him down if he doesn't want to go down - and he makes sure everyone knows it. When Neckbone loses his temper and knocks another fighter down early, he inadvertently throws a young boy into the crosshairs of Bill Stokes, a scheming promoter and aspiring gangster. Now, with everything on the line, Neckbone is in the fight of his life against mobsters, killers, bruisers, and the toughest opponent of all - himself ...
Punching Paradise is the first novel in the Fight Card spin-off brand Fight Card Now, featuring contemporary, two-fisted, fight tales with a punch.
Archaeology Update
Archaeologists uncover secrets of Portus, once gateway to Rome: British archeologists digging near Rome have built up an accurate picture of Portus, the once-mighty port that could host 350 ships at a time and kept the ravenous capital of the Roman empire supplied with grain, wine, oil, slaves and luxuries from around the world.
Big Cat Update
Big cats’ oldest ancestor Panthera blytheae discovered in Tibetan Himalayas: Scientists have found in the Tibetan Himalayas the fossil skull of the oldest known big cat, the precursor to all modern lions, tigers and leopards, pushing back the fossil record of these animals by at least 2m years and lending weight to the idea that they evolved in Asia, rather than Africa, where the previous oldest fossil was found.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee. . .
NY Daily News: Police say Manuella Lopez was angry over a missing phone at the DeWitt Clinton Houses and set a pile of clothes ablaze Friday, causing four additional victims, including an infant, to be treated for minor injuries.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
From My E-Mail Spam Folder
Hi User,
Who writes these things? Do they think that any literate person would fall for this ploy? Maybe I should volunteer to teach a little English to these people. I think I could improve their success rate. And don't call me a user.
We discover a multiple illegal attempts on your mail account from a different IP locations,mobile device or other location you've never used before.
Who writes these things? Do they think that any literate person would fall for this ploy? Maybe I should volunteer to teach a little English to these people. I think I could improve their success rate. And don't call me a user.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Former Stripper at Jack Ruby's Nightclub, Tammi True, Will Derobe Again at 75
Hat tip to Harry Hunsicker.
Hat tip to Harry Hunsicker.
The Fatal Funnel Cake -- Livia J. Washburn
One year my father even took the family to see Sally Rand's show, and I got to see her do her famous fan dance. It was undoubtedly cleaned up a bit for the family trade, but at least I can say I witnessed it. I can still remember the barker's call: "It's a little naughty, but it's all right!"
Later on, the high school band went to the fair each year and played on the stage located at the feet of Big Tex. Some famous performers appeared on that stage, and the one I remember best is Hank Thompson, who played and sang "Squaws Along the Yukon" with his Brazos Valley Boys. It was great to wander the midway, and if I was lucky, I could even persuade a girl to walk along with me.
So what does all this nostalgia have to do with The Fatal Funnel Cake? Well, the book's setting is the State Fair of Texas. I've enjoyed all the books in this series, so the fact that this one is set at the Fair was just the icing on the cake. So to speak.
Phyllis Newsom along with Sam, Eve, and Carolyn, her friends from Phyllis' boarding house, go to the Fair for a couple of reasons: to enter some cooking contests (even Sam) and to sit in the audience of celebrity chef Joye Jameson's cooking show. When Phyllis wins the blue ribbon for funnel cake, she's invited on the show, and [SPOILER ALERT] one bite of the funnel cake and Joye Jameson's a goner.
There are suspects galore, and of course Phyllis gets involved in solving the murder (as she always does) even though she's warned off by the big city cops.
Gratuitous Paris Hilton moment: Eve says, "Some people are famous just for being famous. Like that girl whose family owns all the hotels." I say, "Will the persecution never end?"
But I have to admit that I agree with this comment by Sam: "You know, Funnel Cake Nostradamus would be a good name for a rock band."
Earlier this year I did a post on one of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novels in which a guest on a radio show is murdered during a live broadcast, so it was doubly fun to read this story and see how things have changed yet remain the same. Washburn gives a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stuff about TV shows, just as Stout did with radio shows.
There are also a good many recipes, and you know you'll want to try Sam's Texas-Style Spam Sushi. Check it out.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee. . .
. . . and now it's the Spatula Assault, which, of course WBAGNFARB.
Man arrested after assault with spatula
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Man arrested after assault with spatula
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Covers Galore
Lynn Munroe's George Ziel checklist has been updated. If you haven't looked at the original covers, there are hundreds of them, so that's the place to start. The update has fifty more. Check 'em out.
Overlooked Movies: All of Me
All of Me is one I've always regarded as the best example of Martin's gift for physical comedy. He's a miracle of coordination, as you know if you've ever watched (or maybe just heard) him play the banjo or perform magic tricks. This movie gives him plenty of opportunity to show off what he can do when his body (or half of it) is taken over by a woman (Lily Tomlin). If you've never seen the movie, the trailer will give you an idea, but only an idea. The scene where the takeover happens for the first time is a classic and worth the price of the movie. There are lots of body-switch movies, but this is the one of the few that I really like.
The goofy plot (how Tomlin gets into Martin's body, and why it gets in any body) is typical of these things, but it doesn't really matter. You know it's all going to work out in the end. It's a comedy, after all. Just go along for the ride and watch Martin at work. Pure fun.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Martin Cruz Smith Reveals a Twist in His Tale
NYTimes.com: Author of the 1981 blockbuster “Gorky Park” and many acclaimed books since, Mr. Smith writes about people who uncover and keep secrets. But for 18 years, he has had a secret of his own.
In 1995, he received a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. But he kept it hidden, not only from the public, but from his publisher and editors.
In 1995, he received a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. But he kept it hidden, not only from the public, but from his publisher and editors.
Pimpage: An Occasional Feature in Which I call Attention to Books of Interest
Amazon.com: Vampire Siege at Rio Muerto eBook: John M. Whalen: Kindle Store: “Hunting monsters is my business.” A wealthy New Mexican ranchero hires Monster Hunter Mordecai Slate to track down the vampire who ravished his daughter. Don Pedro Sanchez wants Slate to bring him back alive, so he can have the pleasure of driving in the stake himself. Slate travels from Socorro to Las Cruces where he finds his prey, Kord Manion, and comes up with an unusual way to transport him back north. Kord’s brother, Dax, and his gang of vampire outlaws follow in pursuit, half a day behind. During the chase, Slate stops to rescue a girl in trouble and tries to get her out of harm’s way. His journey leads him to a desert ghost town called Rio Muerto, where he will face his greatest challenge in the ultimate battle between good and evil.
New Poem at The 5-2
The 5-2 | Crime Poetry Weekly, Annual Ebooks - Gerald So, Editor: David S. Pointer
WET WIND DISTRIBUTION
Sunday, November 10, 2013
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee. . .
Rump shaker sought: An Orangeburg woman and her mother reported a man they said was shaking his groove thing at them.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
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