Saturday, June 14, 2014
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee
New York Post: A machete wielding madman stabbed three men outside of a Brooklyn catering hall, cops said.
Jimmy Scott, R. I. P.
Jimmy Scott, US jazz singer and Twin Peaks star, dies aged 88: Jimmy Scott, the US jazz singer whose haunting contralto voice won him acclaim over the course of more than seven decades, has died at the age of 88.
Available Again -- The Healer's Road by James Reasoner and Livia J. Washburn
Available Again -- The Healer's Road by James Reasoner and Livia J. Washburn: For more than thirty years, bestselling authors James Reasoner and Livia J. Washburn have chronicled the story of America in their award-winning historical novels. THE HEALER'S ROAD is one of their greatest sagas, the sweeping story of a family dedicated to the practice of medicine and caught up in the violence and heartbreak of America's bloodiest war.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Free for Kindle For a Limited Time
Amazon.com: The Lizard's Ardent Uniform (Veridical Dreams Book 1) eBook: Patti Abbott, Evan V. Corder, Hilary Davidson, Garnett Elliott, Chris F. Holm, Terrie Farley Moran, Steve Weddle, Kyle J. Knapp, David Cranmer: Kindle Store: The Lizard's Ardent Uniform and Other Stories (Veridical Dreams Vol. I) takes you on several voyages into every day nightmares, bizarre detours, and hellish worlds. Enlisting the talents of authors Chris F. Holm (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine), Terrie Farley Moran (Well Read, Then Dead), Patti Abbott (Home Invasion), Evan V. Corder, Steve Weddle (Needle: A Magazine of Noir), Hilary Davidson (The Damage Done), and Garnett Elliott (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine), thought-provoking fragments from the dream journals of Kyle J. Knapp (writer and poet of Pluvial Gardens and Celebrations in the Ossuary, who passed away in 2013 at the age of twenty-three) are fleshed out into seven stirring tales of crime, science fiction, literary, and fantasy. Edited and with an introduction by BEAT to a PULP's David Cranmer.
Crocodile Ice Cream -- Ummmmm!
Crocodile Ice Cream Snapped Up: And Sweet Spot's Artisan Ice Cream uses crocodile eggs instead of hen eggs together with the more usual ingredients of milk, cream, sugar and flavourings to make the ice-cream. According to Sweet Spot staff, crocodile eggs are 80 percent yolk and much more nutritious than chicken’s eggs, making it a healthier choice for their ice-cream.
Just Your Typical Bachelor Party
KRQE News 13: ELEPHANT BUTTE, N.M. (KRQE) – A lot of crazy things can happen at bachelor parties, but one party at Elephant Butte Lake could make history.
Will the Persecution Never End?
Mail Online: Paris Hilton throws herself on Usher after bumping into him in New York... but he's not quite as excited
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
AbeBooks: Forgotten Memoirs: Life is Never Ordinary: Many memoirs, highly rated at the time of publication, slip into obscurity and fade away. You can find them gathering dust in the corners of secondhand bookshops. But many of these books are worth dusting off. This trip around memoirs from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s includes a few famous names such as poet Cecil Day Lewis, author Gavin Maxwell, publisher Stanley Unwin and French crooner Maurice Chevalier. However, the majority of authors on this list will be unfamiliar to most people.
FFB: Men Without Bones -- Gerald Kersh
And speaking of style, I mentioned Kersh's style in another FFB post. All the stories in this collection are written in a style that would probably be thought of by most readers today as antiquated. It was probably a bit old-fashioned even when the stories originally appeared. However, it's not as rococo as the style in The Secret Masters. The style was fine by me. I can adjust to styles from different eras. I know some people can't, though.
If you're of a mind to, you can download the collection at munseys.com.
Here's the complete Toc:
Men Without Bones
The Shady Life of Annibal
The Ape and the Mystery
The Oxoxoco Bottle
Thicker than Water
The Madwoman
The Terrible Ride of Colonel Tessier
The Dancing Doll
The Hack
Ladies or Clothes
In a Room Without Walls
Clock Without Hands
The Epistle of Simple Simon
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Ruby Dee, R. I. P.
News from The Associated Press: Ruby Dee, an acclaimed actress and civil rights activist whose versatile career spanned stage, radio television and film, has died at age 91, according to her daughter.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee
CBS New York: Naked Man In Wheelchair Charged In Attack On Fellow Nursing Home Patient
Here's the Plot for Your Next Cold War-Era Thriller
Mail Online: One single switch was all that stood between the U.S. and nuclear disaster: How the U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped two ARMED hydrogen bombs on North Carolina in 1961
Jurassic Park Update
How Industrial Light and Magic changed the movies (VIDEO).: Jurassic Park Was Almost Made Without CGI. Here’s What It Would Have Looked Like.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Free for Kindle For a Limited Time
Amazon.com: Russian Roulette (Dev Haskell - Private Investigator Book 1) eBook: Mike Faricy: Books: Russian Roulette is the FIRST novel in the highly entertaining Dev Haskell Private Investigator mystery series. Bestselling author Mike Faricy kicks off his mystery series with this humorous, suspenseful tale of intrigue, rank ineptitude, and one night-stands.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Possible Interest
The Adventures of Sailor Tom Sharkey (Fight Card): Mark Finn: 9781499379129: Amazon.com: Books He was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers to enter the legendary squared circle during the Golden Age of Boxing. Standing a mere 5’ 8”, Sailor Tom Sharkey was one of boxing’s most feared sluggers; Gentleman Jim Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Kid McCoy, and Jim Jeffries all agreed he was their fiercest opponent and gave them their toughest fights. A colorful boxer both in the ring and out, he retired in 1904 after several legendary and controversial failed attempts to win the championship belt. That’s the story you know. But it’s not the end of Sharkey’s story. Not by a long shot! In the tradition of Robert E. Howard’s humorous sailor Steve Costigan boxing tales, this action-packed collection of rowdy, bawdy burlesque feature Sailor Tom Sharkey after he hung up his professional gloves.
Martha Hyer, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Martha Hyer, an Oscar-nominated movie actress who starred alongside Humphrey Bogart, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine in the 1950s and 1960s, died on May 31 at her home in Santa Fe, N.M. She was 89.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
SHAMUS 2014 NOMINATIONS
SHAMUS 2014 NOMINATIONS: The Private Eye Writers of America announce the finalists for the Shamus Award for works published in 2013.
Bob Welch, R. I. P.
Bob Welch, winner of 1990 AL Cy Young, passes away at 57 | The Strike Zone - SI.com: On Tuesday afternoon, the Oakland Athletics shocked the baseball world by announcing the sudden death of former AL Cy Young winner Bob Welch. According to the team, Welch passed away due to a heart attack on Monday night at the age of 57.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
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I Miss the Old Days
Flavorwire: ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Gremlins’ at 30: A Requiem for the Special Effects-Heavy Comedy
Collectible Exhibition Catalogs
AbeBooks: Guggenheim to the Tate: Collectible Exhibition Catalogs: The world’s greatest galleries and art museums support their major exhibitions by publishing beautifully illustrated catalogs that serve two purposes – they are a lingering reminder for visitors and an object of beauty for anyone’s bookshelf.
Mona Freeman, R. I. P.
The Washington Post: Mona Freeman, a film star of the 1940s and ’50s who often played the spunky, wholesome girl next door but longed for roles as “wildcats, brazen women, the menacing side of the triangle,” died May 23 at her home in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 87.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Overlooked Movies: What About Bob?
This is another of the movies that either Judy and I can refer to in passing and make the other one smile. Bill Murray plays Bob, a psychiatric patient, and Richard Dreyfuss plays the Doctor Leo Marvin who's going to treat him. After only one session, Bob feels that Leo is helping him, so he follows Leo and his family on vacation. By this time, the viewers have noticed what no one in the movie seems to realize: Bob is much better adjusted than Leo, whose problems with Bob become progressively worse. Everyone likes Bob, especially the members of Leo's family, who don't relate very well to Leo. Who could? He's a clinical egomaniac, mainly concerned about his new book and his reputation.
Bob goes along blithely unaware that Leo hates him and is doing terrible things to him. Bob thinks they're just accidents. Every time Leo tries to get rid of them, the tricks backfire, and Leo becomes worse. Bob just gets better. When Leo's sister falls for Bob, it's the final blow. Leo decides to kill Bob. Let's just say that even that doesn't work. Bob uses methods in Leo's own book to escape.
Dreyfuss and Murray are both hilarious in this. It's like Inspector Clouseau and Chief Inspector Dreyfus (!) all over again. Maybe this movie's not to everyone's taste, but it makes me laugh a lot.
Monday, June 09, 2014
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Possible Interest
Iron Head and Other Stories (Fight Card): Jory Sherman, Carl Yonder, Paul Bishop, Jeremy L.C. Jones: 9781500135737: Amazon.com: Books Fight Card Presents: Iron Head & Other Stories is the first in a series of charity anthologies from the Fight Card authors cooperative – a writers community featuring many of today’s finest fictioneers, including Jory Sherman, Ryan McFadden, Mark Finn, Troy D. Smith, Ed Greenwood, Jack Badelaire, James Scott Bell, James Hopwood, Bowie V. Ibarra, and Matthew Pizzolato. Compiled by Paul Bishop and Jeremy L. C. Jones, 100% of the proceeds from these anthologies will go directly to an author-in-need (in this case, revered western writer Jory Sherman) or a literacy charity. Words on paper are the life blood of a writer. The writers in this volume were willing to bleed in order to give a transfusion to one of their own – and then continue to bleed to give a transfusion to literacy charities in support of that most precious of commodities ... readers. They are true fighters, every one ...
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