Saturday, July 05, 2014

Reform School Girl

I've been collecting paperbacks since for a long time.  More than 45 years.  During that time I've had a lot of things on my want list, but it kept getting shorter and shorter.  One book that's been there almost from the beginning is Diversey Romance Novel #1, Reform School Girl.  

At first I didn't realize how scarce it was, but as years of digging through dusty used-book stores went by, I realized I wasn't likely ever to see a copy.  It was the one book I wanted that I was never likely to own.  Unless I wanted to bite the bullet and buy a copy from a dealer.  

This year several things came together.  I'm a notoriously hard person to buy gifts for.  An anniversary passed and a birthday loomed.  The book became available.  So I talked with Judy for a few days, using all my persuasive wiles.  George Kelley  enabled me behind the scenes.  Things worked out, and today the book arrived.  It's now in my greedy little paws.  That's a scan of it on the left.  It will go on the shelf right next to Junkie.  

Will I stop buying books now?  Of course not.  There are still a couple of the elusive Harry Whittington titles out there.  I won't give up the hunt.

Paris Hilton Update

Stars in stripes! Celebrities celebrate the 4th of July  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Free for Kindle For a Limited Time

Amazon.com: My Name is Harley and This is My Story eBook: Harley Barley: Kindle Store: A look at the life of a Corgi named Harley Doodle Barley, born on the 4th of July. He travels and capers around with his Mom and Dad and shares his story with full color photographs.
JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM: 

TIPS FOR RESEARCHING HISTORICAL NOVELS
 

By Ellen Mansoor Collier, Author of the Jazz Age Mystery Trilogy

             FLAPPERS, FLASKS And FOUL PLAY, BATHING BEAUTIES, BOOZE And BULLETS, and GOLD DIGGERS, GAMBLERS And GUNS 

          Researching historical novels can be both exciting and exhausting: exciting because you never know when you might uncover fascinating facts and tidbits that you can use in your novel, but also exhausting because there’s the chance of “overkill” (especially in a mystery). You don’t want your novel to sound like a history book, but you do want it to be realistic and accurate. Often it’s hard to let go of research since interesting new information may suddenly surface on the next page. Give yourself a deadline so you can stop researching and start writing.

As a journalist, I prefer reality-based stories because I feel like I’m learning something new while I’m reading and researching. However, don’t limit yourself to Internet research: I dug up old newspapers, magazines, postcards, photographs, yearbooks, store catalogs, even menus to get a feel for the era. If possible, try to visit the area and locate buildings and places that can serve as backdrops for different scenes, or even inspire new ideas.

           At first, I used to go overboard doing research, like a typical journalist: At the Rosenberg library, I pored over endless copies of The Galveston Daily News, reading old stories and looking for headlines to fit each chapter. I pulled out original lay-outs of trolley car lines to make sure the trolley stops and routes were accurate. Sadly, many of the landmarks mentioned in my novels are gone so I spent hours looking for old photographs, including ones of mob-owned speakeasies like the Turf Club and the Hollywood Dinner Club. Finally, after much time and frustration, I realized that readers mainly want a sense of the time and place—they don’t need a blow-by-blow description or blueprint of actual places or events.    

           To give your readers a backstory or introduction, you may want to include a short preface, as I did in my “Jazz Age” historical mystery series, set during Prohibition in 1920s Galveston, Texas. While researching FLAPPERS, I was intrigued when I found out that Al Capone tried to muscle in on Galveston’s gangs. I included this fun fact in the preface to show the powerful reach and reputation of Galveston’s gangsters, little known outside of Texas.

I enjoyed watching old silent movies, period dramas and documentaries, especially noir films featuring gangsters and mobsters, noting the settings (furniture, lamps, clothing, music, etc.) and jotted down expressions and bits of conversation.  When writing dialogue, be careful not to use too much slang because it can sound corny and outdated. (I admit, I’m guilty of overusing “Jazz Age” sayings so I included a glossary of slang in the back of my novels.)

While researching BATHING BEAUTIES, I was delighted to find old news clips of the actual parade down Seawall Boulevard with the pretty contestants twirling and posing for the cameras—many standing precariously in open cars!  I studied the infamous yard-long black-and-white photographs of the bathing beauties lined up by the Seawall, but was careful not to use their real names since several were involved in some dangerous deeds (in my novel, of course).

          Since I write about real people (and gangsters), I have to be careful not to write anything too offensive or incriminating since much of the information was undocumented.  A disclaimer can usually cover the bases and prove sufficient.

         In GOLD DIGGERS And GAMBLERS, my main villain was an actual mobster named Johnny Jack Nounes, who headed the Downtown Gang in Galveston.  Little was known of his personality and shenanigans other than he was a flamboyant, reckless con man who once partnered with Al Capone’s right-hand henchman, Frank Nitti. So I played up that fact, creating a larger-than-life persona for the brazen gang leader. Much of the ending takes place at the Galveston Yacht Club that I  created, based on old photographs of actual yacht clubs in similar locales. The booze drop occurs at the actual spot called Rum Row off the coast, where rum-runners and bootleggers liked to deposit their contraband cargo.
   
         To save time, you can always ask a local librarian or historian to help confirm or track down certain facts, as well as provide additional data and materials. Newspaperarchives.com is a vital research tool, although the old print can be hard to read. Good luck!

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Texas Rancher Discovers $2M Marijuana Growing Operation on His Land 

25 Famous People You Would Never Recognize Out of Context

25 Famous People You Would Never Recognize Out of Context

Song of the Day

Big Joe Turner - Honey Hush - YouTube:

Top 10 Worst Giant Movie Monsters

Top 10 Worst Giant Movie Monsters 

Today's Vintage Ad


Western Fictioneers: Remembering Jory Sherman

Western Fictioneers: Remembering Jory Sherman

6 Legendary Lost Treasures That Are Still Up for Grabs

6 Legendary Lost Treasures That Are Still Up for Grabs

PaperBack



Thomas N. Scortia, Earthwreck, Gold Medal, 1974

Forgotten Hits: 50 Years Ago Plus Saturday Surveys

Forgotten Hits: 4th of July Weekend

I Miss the Old Days

19 Times "A Hard Day's Night" Was One Of The Most Joyful Movies Ever Made

FINALISTS: 2014 Chesley Awards

FINALISTS: 2014 Chesley Awards 

Vengeance in his heart, Florida man attacks alligator

Vengeance in his heart, Florida man attacks alligator 

7 Taboos From A 17th Century Coffeehouse

7 Taboos From A 17th Century Coffeehouse

Shep Comes Home

1948 SHEP COMES HOME TRAILER ROBERT LOWERY - YouTube:

Friday, July 04, 2014

Thomas Jefferson's Version of the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson's Version of the Declaration of Independence

Kaboom! 10 Facts About Firecrackers That Will Blow You Away

Kaboom! 10 Facts About Firecrackers That Will Blow You Away 

Or Maybe You Will

31 Products You Won't Believe You Can Actually Buy At Walmart

Song of the Day

Elton Britt: There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere - YouTube:

Some Forgotten History

The Statue of Liberty: In the summer of 1876, Philadelphia
 was teeming with tourists. Over the course of the season, 10 million people from 35 countries poured into Fairmount Park to take in the sights at the first-ever World’s Fair in America. Visitors marveled at working elevators, electric lights, and a live walrus. American Indians stood on display, living cultural exhibits for fairgoers to gawk at. The programming changed daily; prizefights, races, and parades were all used to lure day-trippers. On Delaware-Maryland-Virginia Day, there was even a jousting match. But one spectacle drew extra attention- a gigantic disembodied arm that towered four stories above the fairground.

10 Recent Archaeological Finds That Shed Light On Our Past

10 Recent Archaeological Finds That Shed Light On Our Past

The First Fourth Of July Celebration (in 1777)

The First Fourth Of July Celebration (in 1777) 

Today's Vintage Ad


10 Fascinating Stories About The Founding Fathers

10 Fascinating Stories About The Founding Fathers

A Fourth of July Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Kevin's Corner: FFB Review: "Red, White, And Blue Murder: A Sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery" by Bill Crider

PaperBack



Harry Whittington, Slay Ride for a Lady, Handi-Book, 1950

Archaeology Update

Prehistoric bones found in Spain are ancestors of Neanderthals

Constitutional convention voting history

Constitutional convention voting history: Where to see original voting record of the convention.: William Jackson, secretary to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, recorded the convention delegates’ votes in neat columns, alongside the “questions” (or resolutions) that prompted their votes. Here’s one page; the National Archives has digitized six other pages. (While it’s not part of this record, you can see the page that records the final vote for ratification elsewhere on the NARA site.)

Or Maybe You Did

45 Things You Definitely Didn’t Know About The Founding Fathers

10 of Ben Franklin’s Lesser-Known Feats of Awesomeness

10 of Ben Franklin’s Lesser-Known Feats of Awesomeness 

The Editor As Author: Donald A. Wollheim’s The Secret of the Ninth Planet

The Editor As Author: Donald A. Wollheim’s The Secret of the Ninth Planet

FFB: The Reader's Guide to Barsoom and Amtor -- David G. Van Arnam & Others

This is a book, if indeed it is a book (the fact that it's loose sheets might argue against that), that few of you will ever have seen or even heard of.  

Here's the description of it from a seller on Abebooks: Book Description: [New York: Richard A. Lupoff, 1963. Large octavo, pp. [1-2] [1-2] 3 [4: blank] 5-11 [12: blank] [1-2] 13-38 [1- 4] 39-84, folding chart of Barsoom, 2 plates, one an illustration by Roy G. Krenkel, the other an illustration by Al Williamson, loose sheets as issued. First edition. 500 copies printed, this issue being one of 200 copies with limitation statement on verso of title leaf numbered and signed by David G. Van Arnam. Contains an introduction by Donald A. Wollheim, a preface, afterword and essay by Lupoff, two essays by van Arnam, and one by Larry Ivie. 

My copy is #20 of the 200 signed and numbered ones, but it's sadly lacking the folding chart of Barsoom, but it does have the plates by Krenkel and Williamson.  I suppose it's more of a curiosity now than anything else, but it's the kind of fan scholarship that I enjoy, so naturally I like having things like this around the house.


Have a Glorious 4th!

July 4th - Holidays - HISTORY.com:  Variously known as the Fourth of July and Independence Day, July 4th has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83). In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.

1776

1776 (1972) trailer - YouTube:

Thursday, July 03, 2014

I Wanted to Believe!

Two-headed alligator in Tampa likely a hoax  

Annoying auto-start video.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Fresno man accused of attacking neighbor with pitchfork

5 Novels for 99 Cents for a Limited Time

Killer Femmes: 5 Irresistible Crime Novels From Around The World - Kindle edition by Libby Fischer Hellmann, Christine Kling, Sujata Massey, Zoe Sharp, Julie Smith. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.  Who can resist 5 suspenseful crime novels set in exotic settings ... all written by award-winning, best-selling authors ... and best of all, the complete set, valued at $17.95, is only 99¢ (for a limited time)? We couldn't either, so we created the Killer Femmes Boxed Set. Between us, we've written over 60 novels and have been nominated for (and even won) numerous awards, including the Edgar, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Macavity, the Barry, the Lovey, and the CWA Dagger.

Killer Femmes presents:
Easy Innocence by Libby Fischer Hellmann
Cross Current by Christine Kling
The Flower Master by Sujata Massey
Killer Instinct by Zoë Sharp
Louisiana Hotshot by Julie Smith

Paging the Meyersons!

Stay In This Brooklyn 'Jail' For Just One Dollar A Night!

Song of the Day

Bobby Hamilton - Crazy Eyes for You (1958) - YouTube:

Australia’s seven weirdest hotels

Australia’s seven weirdest hotels

I'd love to stay in #1.

Today's Vintage Ad


14 Beautiful Independent Bookshops In London

14 Beautiful Independent Bookshops In London

PaperBack



John Denton, Chain Gang Love Slave, Intimate Edition, 1962

America’s Vanishing Historic Movie Theaters

Stefanie Klavens’ Celluloid Dreams: America’s Vanishing Historic Movie Theaters

I Miss the Old Days

CNN.com: Summer rewind: Looking back at 1964

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Wedding fashions from 1800s to today featured in new Texas exhibition  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Lost for 60 years, ring turns up in dry Texas lake 

Louis Zamperini, R. I. P.

NBC Southern California: Louis Zamperini, a member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic track and field team who survived repeated torture for two years as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II, died Wednesday from pneumonia at the age of 97, his family announced.

I Want to Believe!

The Surprisingly Strong Case for Colonizing Venus

And One Was Beautiful

1940 AND ONE WAS BEAUTIFUL TRAILER LARAINE DAY - YouTube:

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Spatula, Grill Brush Used To Defend Against Sword Attack

Free for Kindle For a Limited Time

L.A. Late @ Night: 5 Noir & Mystery Tales from the Dark Streets of Los Angeles - Kindle edition by Paul D. Marks. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.: A collection of 5 stories from the dark Streets of Los Angeles by Shamus Award-Winning author Paul D. Marks. 

Four of the stories in this collection are and have been available on Amazon Kindle as single/individual stories. Only the title story, L.A. Late @ Night, is not available as an individual story on Amazon. All five have been previously published in various print magazines and anthologies. But if you like Paul's writing and gritty stories set in L.A., you get 5 for the price of 3 here.

Walter Dean Myers, R. I. P.

Flavorwire: According to School Library Journal, Walter Dean Myers, the prolific and influential author known best for writing books for children, has passed away at the age of 76.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Cops: Spurned Woman Pulled Knife On Man: Victim, 25, said that 56-year-old Floridian "wanted to have sex"

Maybe They're Not So Easy

10 Easy Questions We Still Don't Know The Answer To

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Woman charged after attempting to bite police officer on the crotch

Fourth of July SALE – .99 Selected eBooks! 20% off Print

Fourth of July SALE – .99 Selected eBooks! 20% off Print | Crossroad Press Publishing: Dead on the Island – by Bill Crider – A Truman Smith Mystery - PI Truman Smith has become a loner after failing to find his sister Jan during a recent search of Galveston Island. He jogs on the Seawall, plays with his cat, and reads lots of Faulkner books. He is pulled from his self-imposed retirement when his old high school football buddy Dino asks him to find a young girl named Sharon. As Tru begins his investigation, dead bodies begin to appear and Tru himself is attacked. His search for Sharon takes him to all sorts of interesting places on and near the Island. Bill Crider spins a good mystery tale in a wonderful setting with interesting characters and enough plot twists to keep readers guessing until the last few chapters.

Song of the Day

Earl Lewis & the Channels - Do What Lovers Do - YouTube:

Monochromatic Book Covers: A Slice of Color

The Link by Philip MacDonaldAbeBooks: Monochromatic Book Covers: A Slice of Color: A monochromatic color scheme is black, white plus all hues and saturations of a single color. It often lends to clean, elegant and eye catching art, and it's particularly loved by the publishing world. The most famous monochromatic book cover is George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four. The British first edition was published in both red and green (and no-one is really sure which one came first), and today they are both very collectible.

Celebrate Independence Day With a Story

Celebrate Independence Day With a Story | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN

Today's Vintage Ad


I'd Grin,Too

Artist Emin's messy bed sells for $4.4 million: Emin, who has mined her tumultuous personal life for some of her best-known works, attended the auction and grinned when the hammer came down.

Gator Update (Insert Your Own Quarter Pounder or Texas Joke Edition)

Alligator causes ruckus at Houston-area McDonald’s 

PaperBack



Albert L. Quandt, Baby Sitter, Original Novels, 1952

Soon to Be a SyFy Movie?

Mail Online: Beware snake island! Forbidden rock off the coast of Brazil is home to world’s deadliest serpent - and its venom MELTS human flesh  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

I Wanted to Believe!

Study Reveals Biological Identities of Bigfoot, Yeti, Bolstering Case Against Them

Hat tip to Walter Satterthwait.

Where Are the Hardest Places to Live in the U.S.?

Where Are the Hardest Places to Live in the U.S.?  

My county ranks 508 out of 3135.  How about yours?

Ummmmm. Bacon.

Rice Krispie Treat Hamburger with Bacon and Peanut Butter

Hot Stuff

Ghost Peppers

Early Bob Dylan recordings surface in his old Manhattan studio

Early Bob Dylan recordings surface in his old Manhattan studio   

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

29 Reasons Reading Will Actually Ruin Your Life

29 Reasons Reading Will Actually Ruin Your Life

The Golden Blade

1953 THE GOLDEN BLADE TRAILER ROCK HUDSON - YouTube:

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Bob Hastings, R. I. P.

Former 'General Hospital' Actor Bob Hastings Has Died at age 89, Brother of 'As the World Turns' Star Don Hastings  Bob Hastings died on Monday, according to Serial Scoop. He was 89.

Soap opera fans remember Hastings best for his role as Capt. Burt Ramsey on ABC's General Hospital from 1979-1986. He also appeared in The Edge of Night and Kitty Foyle.

Hastings other popular television roles included Captain Binghamton's yes-man Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter on McHale's Navy and Tommy Kelsey on All in the Family.

Paul Mazursky, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Paul Mazursky, an innovative director and screenwriter who satirized and sympathized with America’s panorama of social upheavals in the late 1960s and ’70s in films that included “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,” “Blume in Love” and “An Unmarried Woman,” died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 84.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Boynton man argues with girlfriend over women's rights, punches her rabbit

Or Maybe You Did

14 things you don't know about James M. Cain  

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.

I Want to Believe!

ancient america: The persistent academic argument concerning early voyages to the New World ends with an examination of the cartographic evidence. Maps that have been preserved in the collections of such distinguished archives as the Louvre (in Paris), the British Museum, and the Library of Congress are sufficient to prove that ancient seafarers as far back as the Roman Empire engaged in regular voyages to Ancient America.

Check Out the Latest Issue of Thrilling Detective

Those '70s Shows The Decade the Private Eye Film Came of Age  

The "And More" mentioned on the cover is a timeline of the private-eye film.  Good stuff.

I've read all four articles, since they cover four movies I've seen and liked. (The controversial Robert Altman version of The Long Goodbye is one that I had to sort of forget the original source to watch, though.)  Great articles, highly recommended.

The most haunted places in America

Get scared at the most haunted places in America

Song of the Day

Patsy Montana - I Wanna Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart - (ORIGINAL) - (1935). - YouTube:

Today's Vintage Ad


8 Sensational Female Murderers from History

8 Sensational Female Murderers from History

PaperBack



John Russell Fearn, Conquest of the Amazon, Orbit, 1976

It's Almost July 4, and Our Precious Freedoms Are Taken Away One by One

Police cracking down on subway acrobats

10 Most Iconic American Cars

10 Most Iconic American Cars

Archaeology Update

Wooden Chariots Unearthed At 4000-Year-Old Burial Site In Georgia

This Sounds . . . Terrible

The Liquid Diet: It’s 5:30 somewhere and this slutty sipper with a bacon straw, is just begging to be slurped down in all of it’s burger glory.

Soon to Be a Gilligan's Island Sequel?

Fox News: An island off the coast of Sao Paolo, Brazil, is home to one of the deadliest snakes on Earth—and there are a lot of them. Some believe there's a golden lancehead viper for every square meter of Ilha de Queimada Grande, or as many as 4,000 of them, Smithsonian reports; others say there are five per square meter, the Wall Street Journal notes.  

Hat tip to Art Scott!

I Want to Believe!

2-headed alligator causing a stir after photo goes viral on web: "We have serious questions about the validity of the situation," Morse said, referring to the photo on Arnold's Tumbler blog.

Photo at the link.

Frank Cashen, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Frank Cashen, the sportswriter turned baseball executive who built pennant-winning teams with the Baltimore Orioles and then transformed the Mets from perennial losers to the World Series champions of 1986, died on Monday at a hospital near his home in Easton, Md. He was 88.   

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Nancy Garden, R. I. P.

Telegraph: Nancy Garden, the pioneering American author of young adult fiction, has died aged 76. 

Garden wrote a large number of books for young people but is best known for her 1982 novel Annie on my Mind, about a romantic relationship between two teenage girls in New York C

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Overlooked Movies: Reign of Fire

Here's another one that I like that hardly anyone else does.  Sure, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it has dragons, so who cares?  How many post-apocalyptic movies where the apocalypse is brought about by dragons do you ever get to see?  One.  And this is it.

Besides, it has Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey as the leads.  Dragons, Bale, McConaughey, post-apocalyptic England -- shut up and take my money!

See, what happened was that when Bale was a little kid, a construction crew in London woke up a hibernating dragon.  It seems that the dragons were what wiped out the dinosaurs, and with nothing left to feed on, the dragons went into hibernation, just waiting for some more protein to come along.  After the dragon wakes up, we jump forward 20 years.  Humanity as just about been wiped out, but small groups are hanging on.  Bale leads one of the groups, and a dragon has just wiped out their crops when up rides Matthew McConaughey and his posse, looking like fugitives from a Road Warrior movie.  Matt and Chris clash over how to proceed, and a lot of people die.  After that, Matt goes after the male dragon.  It seems there's only one, and after he dies, it's all over for the dragons.  Matt knows the secret to the dragons' vulnerability, and Chris knows where the lair is, having been there when it was uncovered.  There's some more dragon fighting and [SPOILER ALERT] not everyone survives, but the dragon is killed [END SPOILER ALERT].  

If you like dragons, as who doesn't, you can't go wrong here.  Kidding aside, Bale and McConaughey both give strong performances, and you're not going to see McConaughey bald too often.  Don't pass up your chance.

Reign of Fire

Reign of Fire (trailer) - YouTube:

Monday, June 30, 2014

Dagger Award Winners

The Rap Sheet: Slinging Daggers Left and Right

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Utah man to jail after fight over pew space

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Man has heart ripped from chest and eaten after fight about noodles

Tequila Sunset -- Sam Hawken

Sam Hawken might live near Baltimore, but he's writing the Texas border like he's been living there all his life.  Tequila Sunset is his second novel (The Dead Women of Juarez was his first), and it's terrific.  You think the American version of The Bridge is real?  Check out Hawken's books and see what the real thing is.

This one revolves around three characters, Flip Morales, Cristina Salas, and Matías Segura.  Morales is a prisoner just released from unfriendly confines of the TDCJ, where he's been dependent on the Azetcas gang for protection.  The Aztecas are very, very bad people, responsible for countless murders and kidnappings.  Now that Flip is outside, he owes them a favor.  Salas is an El Paso cop with a special needs son.  El Paso is the safest city in the U. S.  Segura is a tough cop with the Policía Federal Ministerial.  He's working directly across the Rio Grande from El Paso in Ciudad Juárez, one of the most dangerous places on earth.

When you begin reading Tequila Sunset, you know the stories of these three will be intertwined, and you're right.  But just exactly what happens is something you don't know for a while.  There's a lot of burtal stuff in the novel, and you might think it would be unremittingly grim.  It's not.  There's always a little bit of hope, though I have to warn you [SPOILER ALERT!] that not everyone's going to survive.  That would be too much to expect. [END SPOILER ALERT]

Hawken's books have been much more successful in England than here, it appears, both having been nominated for Dagger awards.  If you want to find out why, pick one up and read it.  You'll catch on.

Frank M. Robinson, R. I. P.

Locus Online News: Author, editor, and pulp magazine scholar Frank M. Robinson, 87, died June 30, 2014. Robinson lived in San Francisco and had suffered from health problems in recent years.

Billy Porterfield, R. I. P.

Billy Porterfield, Writer - Home: Billy Porterfield, the legendary Texas journalist and award-winning author, has died after a hard-fought battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

List Fails Without Mr. Conklin

Best Fictional School Principals 

Song of the Day

The Jamies - Summertime, Summertime - YouTube:

Or Maybe You Did

43 Inconceivable Facts About "The Princess Bride" You Probably Never Knew

Today's Vintage Ad


Johnny Cash Leads the Way

Johnny Cash, Joseph Stalin, & The Great Morse Code Crack: Johnny Cash became the very first American to hear of the death of the Soviet supreme leader.

10 Ancient Archaeological Mysteries That We May Never Solve

10 Ancient Archaeological Mysteries That We May Never Solve 

PaperBack



Andre Norton, Uncharted Stars, Ace, 1969

Literature Gets a Boost

Meet the 'alt lit' writers giving literature a boost: With their texts, tweets and Tumblr blogs, alt lit stars such as Steve Roggenbuck are bringing poetry to a new audience

I Want to Believe!

Virginian Shares 'Bigfoot' Photograph 

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Mother, Daughter Arrested After Tulsa Man Attacked With Bottle

11 Texan Phrases The Rest Of The Country Should Adopt

11 Texan Phrases The Rest Of The Country Should Adopt

Alvin, Texas, Inexplicably Not Included

Best American Cities for Food (Annoying slideshow)

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Forty Little Mothers

1940 FORTY LITTLE MOTHERS TRAILER EDDIE CANTOR - YouTube:

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Latest Getting Away with Murder Now Online

GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER # 92 JULY 2014

9 Unbelievable Stories of People Overlooked By History

9 Unbelievable Stories of People Overlooked By History

Song of the Day

LINDA RONSTADT ~ We Need A Lot More Of Jesus ~ - YouTube:

Meshach Taylor, R. I. P.

NY Daily News: Emmy-nominated actor Meshach Taylor passed away Saturday night after a long battle with cancer.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Croc Update (Jumping Edition)

19 Jumping Crocodiles That Should Be Shooting Hoops

Today's Vintage Ad


27 Responses to the Question “What is Art?”

27 Responses to the Question “What is Art?” 

Baron Wolman’s Unseen Photos of Woodstock Concertgoers

Baron Wolman’s Unseen Photos of Woodstock Concertgoers

PaperBack



Edward E. "Doc" Smith, Subspace Explorers, Ace, 1965

And So It Begins

For The First Time, Chimpanzees Are Making A Fashion Statement -- Sticking Blades Of Grass In Their Ears

Paul Bishop Podcast Interview

BISH'S BEAT: YOU'LL TELL ME NO LIES!

Well, Maybe Not You

10 Classic Cons You'd Still Fall For 

I Miss the Old Days

The 23 Most '80s Covers Of People Magazine

Whistling In Dixie

Whistling In Dixie - (Original Trailer) - YouTube: