Saturday, June 28, 2014
Jory Sherman, R. I. P.
Jory Sherman's son posted on Facebook today that Jory has passed away. He'd been ill for a long time, so while this isn't unexpected news, it's still very sad. He was a fine writer and a fine person. I was lucky enough to have met him a couple of times and to have read several of his hundreds of books. He'll be greatly missed.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Mary Rodgers, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Mary Rodgers, the daughter of Broadway legend Richard Rodgers who became a successful playwright on her own, has died. She was 83.
Rodgers — who also wrote the children’s book “Freaky Friday” — died Thursday at her Manhattan home, her son, Alec Guettel, announced.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Rodgers — who also wrote the children’s book “Freaky Friday” — died Thursday at her Manhattan home, her son, Alec Guettel, announced.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Bobby Womack, R. I. P.
Bobby Womack, singer with brave 2nd act, dies: Bobby Womack, the colorful and highly influential R&B singer/songwriter revered by artists ranging from the Rolling Stones to Damon Albarn, has died. He was 70.
Photos: 2014 Gator Rescue Tournament
Photos: 2014 Gator Rescue Tournament
This might be behind a paywall. And it's a slideshow. But for some of us (well, maybe only one of us) it's totally worth it.
This might be behind a paywall. And it's a slideshow. But for some of us (well, maybe only one of us) it's totally worth it.
FFB: Double Your Pleasure: The Ace SF Double -- James A. Corrick
I've been a fan of the Ace Doubles ever since I saw one for the first time. In those days the cover price was 35 cents, and you got two novels back-to-back. How could you go wrong? You couldn't. Well, I couldn't. I know that there are those who hold some of the books in this series in disdain, but I'm not one of them. I enjoyed every one I read back in the old days, and I'd probably enjoy them again if I read them now. Over the years I picked them up when I saw them, and when the Internet made just about everything available with the click of a mouse, I decided I wanted all of the D-series, if not all the Doubles, and that explains why there are check marks by a lot of the titles in this little (86 pp) book. 
Not that the list of all the titles in the series is all you get. There's a short buy very good introduction by Donald A. Wollheim, the series editor, which is followed by James A. Corrick's 8-page history. Even if you know most of it already, it's always fun to read about it again. I was looking through the book the other day, and I ran across a couple of the later titles that I decided I need to order. That's the danger of a book like this. And the fun of it, too.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Howard Baker, R. I. P.
The Washington Post: Former senator Howard H. Baker Jr. of Tennessee, who framed the central question of the Watergate scandal when he asked “what did the president know and when did he know it?” and framed portraits of history with his ever-present camera while Senate majority leader and White House chief of staff, died June 26 at his home in Huntsville, Tenn. He was 88.
The Fever -- Megan Abbott
If you're looking for a light-hearted coming-of-age story, The Fever isn't the book for you. It's a dark and twisted tale that gets into the cruelty and downright brutality that lies just under the surface of what it's like for a high-school girl to grow up these days. Maybe it was always like this, but I can identify more easily with the two male characters in the book, Tom Nash, the father of Deenie, who's more central to the story, and Eli, Deenie's brother. Both Tom and Eli are puzzled outsiders in Deenie's world, and neither one is truly aware of what's going on in Deenie's life, though they have an inkling.
One of Deenie's two best friends has a terrible seizure in class. Then the other one does. Before long, other girls are suffering. The parents are frantic. They want to know what's happening, and they seize on any number of explanations (all of them wrong). What's really going on is both more ordinary and more frightening than anything they've thought of. Sex (far more casual than it was in my day), rivalries, love, body image, friendships, secrets, and all the other concerns that teens have had through the years are in play here in a scary and elegantly written novel that will keep you reading (and guessing) well into the evening.
While the main characters are teens, there are plenty of adults around, and this isn't a YA novel in the sense that you might usually think of the term. But it's a novel that teens will probably understand all too well.
Four Books Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Amazon.com: A Small Sacrifice: A Shamus Nominated Nick Forte Mystery (Nick Forte Mysteries Book 1) eBook: by Dana King: Kindle StoreThis is one of Dana King's four freebies. The other three can be found here, here, and here. You'd be crazy not to get all four.
Los Angeles Leads the Way
Los Angeles Times: The smell of fried chicken and melting chocolate wafts out of the soon-to-open Chocochicken and has taken over the corner of 11th Street and Grand Avenue downtown. That distinct sweet and savory aroma is the restaurant's signature dish, the chocolate fried chicken.
Terry Richards, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: The British actor who most famously appeared as the sword-swinging Cairo Swordsman in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' died on June 14. His legacy includes roles in more than 100 TV and silver-screen productions, including appearances in nine James Bond films.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
The Getaway Car -- Donald E. Westlake
I've been a fan of Donald E. Westlake's fiction almost since he began to write. I didn't read the early mid-century erotica or his first few novels under his own name, but I was right there starting around 1965 when he published The Fugitive Pigeon, at which point I went back and read all the earlier ones. I picked up the Richard Stark books about that time, too, and of course kept up with those as they appeared afterward. I read his novels as by Tucker Coe and Samuel Holt, and other things, too. So you could say that I'm a fan, and I'm very happy to have this new collection.The Getaway Car is all nonfiction. Some of it you may have read before, as it's stuff like introductions to books or essays that appeared over the years in various places, but some of it appears here for the first time (letters, snippets of autobiography). It's all fascinating, because Westlake couldn't write anything that wasn't even if he tried. It's hard to say what my favorites are, but the autobiographical material is great. And I love the essay on Peter Rabe and the comments on Rex Stout, because I'm so much in agreement with most of what he says. His short appreciation of Lawrence Block is terrific, as are his conversations with is pen names. What the heck, it's all terrific. And did I mention fascinating? Indeed I did. Let me put it this way. You need this book. You're going to love it. Trust me on this. Little in-joke there, but I'm not kidding. This is essential reading.
I Want to Believe!
Mystery object in lake on Saturn’s moon Titan intrigues scientists: Scientists are investigating a mystery object that appeared for a moment and then vanished again from a giant lake on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee
Billings, Montana: A 52-year-old Billings woman accused of slashing her husband's face because he urinated on the bathroom floor was charged Tuesday with felony assault.
Eli Wallach, R. I. P.
Eli Wallach, Multifaceted Actor, Dies at 98 - NYTimes.com: Eli Wallach, who was one of his generation’s most prominent and prolific character actors in film, onstage and on television for more than 60 years, died on Tuesday. He was 98.Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Paul Bishop on The Adventures of Sailor Tom Sharkey
The Adventures of Sailor Tom Sharkey: WHEN MEL ODOM and I created the Fight Card series, the template for our stories were Robert E. Howard’s tales of Sailor Steve Costigan – lovable, hard-fisted, and innocent, semipro pugilist who regularly squared-off against dastardly villains in exotic ports of call alongside his pugnacious dog, Mike.
Codex Seraphinianus - The World's Weirdest Book
Overlooked Movies -- Year of the Comet
Okay, so here's another one that nobody likes but me. The script is by William Goldman, who has a deft hand with this kind of thing. It's the sort of adventure comedy that was done so well in Charade or It Takes a Thief, but without Cary Grant. Tim Daly is okay, but he's no Cary. On the other hand, you couldn't ask for anyone better then Penelope Ann Miller as the woman he falls for as the adventure takes us from the Scottish Highlands to the French Riviera. She falls for him, too. (I hope this isn't a spoiler.) They're chasing after a huge bottle of wine from the year of the comet (1811). It's worth its weight in gold. Or maybe more. The villainous Louis Jourdan, who's like Dr. Arcane come out of the swamp, is after it, too, and so are others. Naturally, however, the wine is just a mcguffin. There's more at stake, as we know from the start. We just don't know what it is.
This movie has just about everything: great scenery, attractive actors, action, some very funny lines. But I have to admit that there's something missing. I think it's the direction. The pacing is just . . . off somehow. I don't mind, though. It's worth watching just for Jourdan and Miller. Check it out sometime when you're in the right mood, and you might find yourself enjoying it.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Mabon 'Teenie' Hodges, R. I. P.
The Commercial Appeal: He was known as “Teenie,” but in the annals of soul and R&B history he was a giant: a million-selling songwriter, a genre-defining guitarist, and the creative and emotional anchor of the vaunted studio group Hi Rhythm.
Here's the Plot for Your Next BabysitterThriller
4-year-old girl helps solve Washington home invasion that her babysitter was IN on: 'They got it all back because of me being the superhero': Girl, 4, helps solve Washington state home invasion...that her babysitter was IN on
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
And now: New-rochelle-bar-arrests: A half-dozen people were arrested early Sunday morning on North Avenue after allegedly starting an alcohol-fueled fracas.
Steve Rossi, R. I. P.
Yahoo News: LAS VEGAS (AP) — Steve Rossi, one half of the prolific comedy duo Allen & Rossi, which became a favorite of "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other TV variety shows, died Sunday at age 82.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Father, daughter chase alleged thieves, get rammed by robbers' truck: A vigilante father-daughter duo chased down a truck full of alleged thieves they caught tearing out of their driveway.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Free for Kindle For a Limited Time
Amazon.com: Tropical Warning: An Original Serge Storms Story and Other Debris eBook: Tim Dorsey: Kindle Store A quirky new collection by New York Times bestselling author Tim Dorsey. In the tradition of Pineapple Grenade and The Riptide Ultra-Glide, a peculiar new volume of odds and ends from the world of everyone's favorite Florida psychopath—Serge Storms!Among the flotsam and jetsam of Dorsey's twisted universe:
A never-before-published Serge Storms short story that places the iconic antihero in one of Florida's oldest (and most remote) little towns.
A classic travel feature in London's The Guardian detailing how you can explore Florida's most offbeat hidden corners like a true native. It seems Serge's reputation has spread across the pond!
An exclusive teaser chapter from January 2014's Tiger Shrimp Tango, the next installment in the never-ending adventures of Serge Storms.
Jimmy C. Newman, R. I. P.
Jimmy Yves Newman, known to Grand Ole Opry fans as Jimmy C. Newman, died June 21. He was 86, and suffered from cancer.
For more than 50 years, Newman was a mainstay on the Opry, where he performed rollicking, Cajun-inflected songs such as Alligator Man and Bayou Talk. He added the "C" to his stage name in the early 1960s, saying that it stood for "Cajun," and he took pride in his designation as the first Cajun artist to join the Opry. His first Top 10 country hit, Cry, Cry, Darling, came 60 years ago, in the summer of 1954.
For more than 50 years, Newman was a mainstay on the Opry, where he performed rollicking, Cajun-inflected songs such as Alligator Man and Bayou Talk. He added the "C" to his stage name in the early 1960s, saying that it stood for "Cajun," and he took pride in his designation as the first Cajun artist to join the Opry. His first Top 10 country hit, Cry, Cry, Darling, came 60 years ago, in the summer of 1954.
Black Humor Books: Catch 22 & Other Grim Jokes
AbeBooks: Black Humor Books: Catch 22 & Other Grim Jokes: Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was published in June 1961 just as the American involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating. You have probably read Catch-22 (and if you haven’t then you are missing out). This book is one of the blackest examples of black humor, also known as black comedy or dark humor, but there are many more novels written in the same vein.
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