Saturday, December 21, 2013
Ned Vizzini, R. I. P.
latimes.com: Author and television writer Ned Vizzini, who achieved fame at a young age but also wrote openly about his struggles with depression, took his own life Thursday in Brooklyn, said a spokeswoman for the chief medical examiner of New York. He was 32.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Friday, December 20, 2013
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee. . .
NBC4 Washington: According to court documents, Lawrence was trying to hang a projection TV in his Accokeek home when he became angry that his wife didn't know where the screws to hang it were. He allegedly grabbed a can of Lysol and sprayed his wife in the face every time she spoke.
Big Sale!
12 months of EQMM's digital edition for $12.99? It's a steal!
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Magazine Subscription on Web, iPad, iPhone, Android, Tablet device, Windows 8 from Magzter - Digital Magazine Store
The Science Of Comic Strips
The Science Of Comic Strips: OUR BRAINS RECOGNIZE THEM AS A DISTINCT, AND COMPLEX, "VISUAL LANGUAGE."
Forgotten Books: The Quest -- Nelson DeMille
I suspect that not many people have read Nelson DeMille's original version of The Quest. I have, and I still have the copy I bought back in 1975. It's a Manor book, and I don't think it got great distribution when it was published. As far as I can tell, there are no copies available for sale on the Internet.So I don't blame DeMille for deciding to cash in on it by rewriting it. I've linked to a PW article about the new version, and you might want to read the whole thing. I found it very interesting to read bout what DeMille decided to change in the revision, aside from doubling its length. I haven't read that one, and I probably won't. All I can say is that the older book was a lot better than the cop books DeMille was writing at the time. I might read it again one of these days.
DeMille’s Newest Quest a Success: In 1975, when Nelson DeMille was in his early 30s, he published his first full-length novel, The Quest, with Manor Books. The book hinges on one of history’s most enduring secrets: the location of Christ’s cup from the Last Supper, the Holy Grail.
The search for the Holy Grail “has universal appeal in Western culture,” said DeMille. The continuing fascination with the Holy Grail was proven once again when DeMille’s revamping of the novel, released on September 17, debuted at #5 on PW’s adult hardcover fiction list and last week was in the seventh spot, with total sales of just under 42,000 copies at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Yet, DeMille was motivated to dust off a book he wrote nearly 40 years ago by more than the evergreen allure of the Holy Grail.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Al Goldstein, R. I. P.
The New York Observer: Al Goldstein was a much more complicated man than the “crude, obese pornographer” character he himself helped create. He was a passionate defender of the First Amendment, and not just out of self-interest—he deeply understood how important it was to America’s greatness and viewed its defense as the height of patriotism.
Free houses for writers
Free houses for writers - Boing Boing: Writeahouse is a Detroit-based charity that trains people in carpentry and related trades by having them renovate houses, then gives the houses to writers (novelists, journalists, poets), encouraging them to relocate to Detroit. Applications open in spring 2014. Writers are given a house that is 80 percent renovated, and are responsible for finishing the work and paying insurance and taxes. After two years, they are given the deed to the house, with the stipulation that if they sell the house within five years, Writeahouse gets the right to buy it back at an independently appraised value.
Elvis!
The Biggest-selling Christmas Album of All Time
There's an interesting comment in the article about Elvis' version of "White Christmas," which was exactly like the version by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters. Deezen says that the Drifters version was played only on black radio stations for decades. Maybe so, but it was on the jukeboxes in Mexia, Texas, when it was originally released.
There's an interesting comment in the article about Elvis' version of "White Christmas," which was exactly like the version by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters. Deezen says that the Drifters version was played only on black radio stations for decades. Maybe so, but it was on the jukeboxes in Mexia, Texas, when it was originally released.
Ummmmm -- Larks
39 Dishes from the First Christmas Menu, Published in 1660: In a section titled “A bill of fare for Christmas Day and how to set the meat in order,” May suggests 39 dishes split over two courses, plus oysters, oranges, lemons, and jellies for dessert.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
New McSweeney's: Hitchcock v Bradbury!
New McSweeney's: Hitchcock v Bradbury!: Daniel from McSweeney's writes, "At stake in the latest McSweeney's is nothing less than a celestial duel between Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury. Culled from old anthologies edited by Hitchcock and Bradbury, McSweeney's 45 includes stories by Franz Kafka, Roald Dahl, Josephine W. Johnson, and John Steinbeck, among others. Paired alongside these stories is new work from Brian Evenson, China Miéville, Benjamin Percy, and E. Lily Yu. Also featured is a letter from Boing Boing's own, Cory Doctorow.
The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace
440 lb virgin sends lover to ER during his first time: Welcome to the new TLC series “Sex Sent Me to the ER,” premiering Dec. 28.
Blackie's Girls' Annuals
AbeBooks: Blackie's Girls' Annuals: Before status updates, endless text messages and video-on-demand, young girls entertained themselves by reading Blackie's Girls' Annuals. Published by Blackie and Son, these annuals from the 1920s and 1930s offered short stories accompanied by memorable illustrations.
Ronnie Biggs, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Ronnie Biggs, a carpenter and petty crook who became an international celebrity for his role in one of Britain’s most famous crimes, the Great Train Robbery of 1963, and for the decades he spent afterward eluding a worldwide manhunt by Scotland Yard, died on Wednesday in London, according to his publicists. He was 84.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Uh-Oh or OK?
The Original Django, Franco Nero, Wants Back In The Saddle With DJANGO LIVES!
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Pimpage: An Occasional Feature in Which I call Attention to Books of Interest
Amazon.com: The Dead Man Vol 6: Colder than Hell, Evil to Burn, and Streets of Blood eBook: Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin, Lisa Klink, Anthony Neil Smith, Barry Napier: Kindle Store After dying in a freak accident, Matt Cahill inexplicably “wakes up” three months later with the disturbing ability to see things—terrible things—that others cannot. Drafted as a warrior in the battle between good and evil, Matt will stop at nothing to destroy the malevolent Mr. Dark. In The Dead Man Volume 6, a trio of sinister new stories tracks the reluctant hero on his nightmarish quest.Matt is trapped on a traffic-choked interstate in a hellacious blizzard that’s Colder Than Hell…chasing an escaped psycho killer while battling a mutant virus so virulent and horrific that it even terrifies Mr. Dark…
A crippled Matt, badly injured in a bloody bus crash, is in a race against time across a blasted desert hell to prevent a massacre that will give Mr. Dark terrifying new powers and plenty of Evil to Burn.
Matt is tormented by puzzling nightmares that draw him to a town that is covered in Streets of Blood by a dark force, one more powerful than Mr. Dark, that is driving people to commit insane acts of unimaginable violence.
No Comment Department
Book Deals: Week of December 16, 2013: Agent William Clark at William Clark Associates sold North American rights to The Annotated Big Sleep, edited by Owen Hill (author of The Chandler Apartments), Anthony Rizzuto (a bookseller/professor), and Pamela Jackson (co-editor of The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick). Edward Kastenmeier at Vintage acquired the book, which is an annotated, illustrated edition of Raymond Chandler’s celebrated noir novel. Clark said the book will draw on “the wealth of archival, biographical, social, and literary” background material available on Chandler’s classic, in order to “bring new life” to it.
Hat tip to Fred Zackel.
Hat tip to Fred Zackel.
Gator Update (Fair Exchange Edition)
Alligator, beer trade leads to citation: Man's attempt to trade an alligator for beer falls flat, wildlife officials say
I Miss the Old Days
1871 Treaty hinged on Americans agreeing not to split infinitives: If you think that you're a stickler for grammar, consider the position of the British regarding the 1871 Treaty of Washington. According to a literary historian, the British government refused to sign a treaty with the Americans if the treaty contained a single split infinitive.
As Punishment, the Arresting Officer Will Have His Mouth Washed Out With It
The Raw Story: Authorities have dropped charges against a New York pair who spent nearly a month in jail after tests confirmed two kilograms of cocaine were, in fact, soap.
Overlooked Movies -- The Mouse that Roared
The plot is simple. The tiny (almost microscopic) Duchy of Grand Fenwick is facing bankruptcy, so why not declare war on the United States, lose, and get a bunch of foreign aid? Why not, indeed? Except that the Duchy wins the war, and the U. S. is conquered. Complications ensue.
I thought it was hilarious. It's not as slapsticky as Carry On, Nurse, though at times it comes close. I was amazed at the performances of Peter Sellers (three roles), of whom I'm sure I'd never heard before. And while I'd seen Milton Berle in drag on TV (a stunt that never failed to reduce my mother to tears of laughter), I'd never seen anybody pull it off like Sellers. It's just masterful, and so funny I probably laughed as much as my mother did at Uncle Miltie. And he's great in the other two roles, too. And then there's Jean Seberg. She's lovely and lively, and it's sad to see her here and think of her ending.
I've never read the novel that the movie is based on, but I have a copy here somewhere. I think I'll read it one of these days.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Ray Price, R. I. P.
Fox News: Good friends like Willie Nelson and Merle haggard got more credit for their contrary ways and trend-setting ideas, but it was Ray Price who set the precedent for change in country music more than a decade earlier.
Price passed away Monday at his Texas home, having long outlasted most of his country music contemporaries and the prognosis doctors gave him when they discovered his pancreatic cancer in 2011. He was 87.
Price passed away Monday at his Texas home, having long outlasted most of his country music contemporaries and the prognosis doctors gave him when they discovered his pancreatic cancer in 2011. He was 87.
Janet Dailey, R. I. P.
ABC News: Romance writer Janet Dailey, whose books have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide, has died at her southwest Missouri home. She was 69.
The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace
Betabeat: Just Give Up on Your Dreams Now Because ‘Rich Kids of Instagram’ Is Becoming a Novel
Neanderthal Update
AFP: Neanderthals cared for elder, burial site shows: An old Neanderthal man who could barely walk and had lost his teeth was cared for by fellow cave people and then painstakingly buried after he died, researchers said Monday.
The latest findings are based on 13 years of research at an excavation site in central France, adding new evidence to the argument that cavemen were actually a sophisticated lot.
The latest findings are based on 13 years of research at an excavation site in central France, adding new evidence to the argument that cavemen were actually a sophisticated lot.
Celebrate Philip K. Dick’s 85th Birthday With Mindbending Art From His Paperback Novels
Celebrate Philip K. Dick’s 85th Birthday With Mindbending Art From His Paperback Novels
Warning: Scans are of novels in pretty sad shape.
Warning: Scans are of novels in pretty sad shape.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Video: Sewer fishing is the newest rage for some anglers: According to Kevin Naegeli, a 15-year-old Texas resident who believes he is the pioneer of sewer fishing, to sewer fish you need some line, some bait and some patience.
The secret origins of nerd, dork, and other things you've been called
Well, not you, but people you know.
The secret origins of nerd, dork, and other things you've been called
The secret origins of nerd, dork, and other things you've been called
New Poem at The 5-2
The 5-2 | Crime Poetry Weekly, Annual Ebooks - Gerald So, Editor: Paul Hostovsky
STEALING BAND-AIDS FROM HOSPITALS
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Joan Fontaine, R. I. P.
Joan Fontaine, Oscar-winning actress, dies at 96 | Inside Movies | EW.com: Joan Fontaine, the Oscar-winning actress who was one of the last remaining links to Hollywood’s golden age of the 1930s and ’40s, has died at age 96, her assistant confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
In her most famous films — Rebecca, for which she was Oscar-nominated, and Suspicion, for which she won — Fontaine came across as appealingly passive-aggressive. She could seem radiantly shy, believably insecure, gazing into the middle distance with a hesitancy that drew you immediately to her side. Yet she fashioned a movie career out of willpower and, quite possibly, large reservoirs of spite.
In her most famous films — Rebecca, for which she was Oscar-nominated, and Suspicion, for which she won — Fontaine came across as appealingly passive-aggressive. She could seem radiantly shy, believably insecure, gazing into the middle distance with a hesitancy that drew you immediately to her side. Yet she fashioned a movie career out of willpower and, quite possibly, large reservoirs of spite.
George Rodrigue, R. I. P.
NPR: George Rodrigue, the artist who transformed the image of Louisiana's loup-garou into a pop art icon, died on Saturday after a battle with cancer.
Rodrigue took the legend of the Cajun werewolf and transformed it into instantly recognizable portraits of a quizzical blue dog framed by different landscapes.
Rodrigue took the legend of the Cajun werewolf and transformed it into instantly recognizable portraits of a quizzical blue dog framed by different landscapes.
Tom Laughlin, R. I. P.
EW.com: Actor and activist Tom Laughlin, best known for the Billy Jack films, died last week at age 82, his family announced Sunday.
In addition to that series of films — which kicked off with 1967′s The Born Losers — Laughlin also mounted three failed bids to become the president, starting in 1992. There were four Billy Jack films in all, and Laughlin co-produced and starred in all of them alongside his wife, Delores Taylor, to whom he’s been married since 1954.
In addition to that series of films — which kicked off with 1967′s The Born Losers — Laughlin also mounted three failed bids to become the president, starting in 1992. There were four Billy Jack films in all, and Laughlin co-produced and starred in all of them alongside his wife, Delores Taylor, to whom he’s been married since 1954.
Peter O'Toole, R. I. P.
'Lawrence of Arabia' star Peter O'Toole dead at 81: Peter O'Toole, the charismatic actor who achieved instant stardom as Lawrence of Arabia and was nominated eight times for an Academy Award, has died, his agent said Sunday. He was 81.
99 Cent Sale!
Amazon.com: West of the Big River: The Artist eBook: Jackson Lowry: Kindle Store: Before he was a world-famous Western artist, Charles M. "Charlie" Russell was a horse wrangler on a ranch in Montana during the worst winter in that state's history. The danger of freezing to death while riding for the brand isn't the only threat Russell has to face, however. A ruthless band of rustlers is sweeping the range of cattle, and a beautiful but trouble-making rancher's daughter complicates Russell's life even more. He'll need more than his artistic ability to survive this deadly winter! THE ARTIST is the latest volume in the popular West of the Big River series from the Western Fictioneers. Acclaimed author Jackson Lowry spins as entertaining a tale as any of those from Charlie Russell himself in this superb new historical novel.
PaperBack
How many of the party-goers can you name?
Update: In case you can't name any of them, or only a few, here's the key, thanks to Art Scott.
Audrey Totter, R. I. P.
The Hollywood Reporter: Audrey Totter, the blond starlet who made her mark in such 1940s film noir classics as Lady in the Lake, The Set-Up and High Wall, has died. She was 95.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee. . .
CBS Miami: According to a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest report last month’s employee of the month at a Deerfield Beach Wal-Mart store on South Military Trail had her car shot up by a co-worker who was angry after she won the award.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)