Saturday, April 11, 2015
You Know You Can't Wait
Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre: When a fracking mishap accidentally rips apart the earth’s crust, the resulting hole opens up a gaping underground water way to a vast and mysterious ocean somewhere deep below. Instantly, giant prehistoric sharks begin wending their way upward toward a murky bog in the heart of the Arkansas Bayou. Unfortunately, for a group of female prisoners on a work detail in the swamp, the deadly sharks attack without warning – pinning a hapless group of intended victims in a small deserted cabin in the heart of the wetlands. Death may be the only means of escape! Trailer at the link.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Settling for Second Best
Yahoo News: DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say someone who attempted to steal a truck parked outside a Des Moines home instead took a bag of dog poop.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Phoenix Press: Depression Era Pulp
Phoenix Press: Depression Era Pulp on AbeBooks: New York’s Phoenix Press was a publisher of mysteries, westerns, and other light fiction in the 1930s and 1940s. We were alerted to this company’s literary history by a loyal AbeBooks customer called Paul Rollinson, who encouraged us to feature Phoenix’s fantastic Depression-era pulp, if only for the amazing dust jackets. Phoenix was one of many lending-library publishers of the era, and fought to rise above the others of its ilk to make a name for itself in the tough economic climate.
FFB: I'm Owen Harrison Harding -- James Whitfield Ellison
Now and then I read a book that I think is truly forgotten. I think that while I'm reading it, that I'm the only person in the world who's reading it. Such a book is I'm Owen Harrison Harding by James Whitfield Ellison. It was published in 1957, and as the cover makes it clear, the publisher was hoping to get some of the audience that The Catcher in the Rye appealed to. I don't know if the ploy worked, but the two books do have certain similarities. Owen is 16 and trying to figure out life. His first person narration is a little like Holden Caulfield's. That's about it, though.The setting of the novel is a long way from Pencey Prep and New York city. The whole book takes place in Fleming (standing in for Lansing), Michigan, and it covers a lot more time than Catcher, a full school year and most of a summer. The situations that Owen finds himself in are different from those Holden has to deal with. Owen's mother is dying, and his father has a serious drinking problem. His brother's in the army, serving in the Pacific Theater. (The time period covers the last year or so of WWII.) Owen has several friends, and he hangs out with them a lot. He develops an interest in a girl who's two years older than he is.
I found a lot to like in this book, but then I'm a sucker for a coming-of-age story. Owen's father owns a bookstore, but there's only one extended scene there. It's so well done that I wished for more. My favorite part of it is that one of Owen's pals always slips into the back of the store to read Jack Woodford books. Some of you can appreciate the joke. And the concluding chapter of the novel, set on the day and the night when the end of the war is announced was great. I liked it so much that I'm going to read it again. It's a great picture of a long-lost time when feelings were very different. But then it was a very different world.
The author, James Whitfield Ellison, might be unknown to most of us, but he had a long career in both fiction and nonfiction. He was still active, or at least was until recently, doing novelizations of movies like Akeela and the Bee and The Panic Room.
Thursday, April 09, 2015
Ivan Doig, R. I. P.
Acclaimed author Ivan Doig dies: Ivan Doig, the award-winning author of 16 books who wrote so passionately about his native Montana, has died. He was 75.
Richard Dysart, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: LOS ANGELES -- Richard Dysart, a veteran stage and screen actor who played senior partner Leland McKenzie in the long-running TV courtroom drama "L.A. Law," has died after a long illness. He was 86.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Soon We'll Have No Personal Freedoms Left
And naturally Texas leads the way.
Texas man’s custom license plate revoked by DMV
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Texas man’s custom license plate revoked by DMV
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
A Very Nice Post on Sheriff Dan Rhodes
Not to mention a chance to win a signed book. Please leave a comment on the post so I won't be embarrassed by a lack of interest.
Book 1 with Sheriff Dan Rhodes: Too Late to Die by Bill Crider by Edward A. Grainger
Book 1 with Sheriff Dan Rhodes: Too Late to Die by Bill Crider by Edward A. Grainger
Salman Rushdie Accidentally Reveals What He Thinks Of Classic Books
Salman Rushdie Accidentally Reveals What He Thinks Of Classic Books: The author didn’t really love To Kill A Mockingbird.
Wednesday, April 08, 2015
Bargain of the Century: 20 Mystery Novels for Kindle $2.99
Ray Charles, R. I. P.
Ray Charles, leader of singing group who backed Perry Como, dies at 96: Ray Charles, an American musician, songwriter, composer, conductor, arranger and leader of the Ray Charles Singers, died Monday at home in Beverly Hills. He was 96 (and was not the soul singer of the same name, who died in 2004).
Geoffrey Lewis, R. I. P.
Variety: Actor Geoffrey Lewis, who appeared in several Clint Eastwood movies and made guest appearances on dozens of TV shows in the ’60s through ’80s, died Tuesday in Woodland Hills, Calif. of natural causes, according to a family friend. He was 79. The character actor, who often appeared in Westerns, was the father of actress Juliette Lewis.
Tuesday, April 07, 2015
Croc Update (Gift for Mom Edition)
The Local: Customs officers at Dusseldorf airport found a stuffed Nile crocodile in a suitcase on Tuesday, after stopping a man passing through the 'nothing to declare' section.
Stan Freberg, R. I. P.
Hollywood Reporter: Stan Freberg, whose freewheeling comic career in advertising garnered him worldwide acclaim and whose satirical entertainments abounded on TV, the radio and on records, has died. He was 88.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
And soon we'll have no personal freedoms left.
Overgrown lawn gets Texas man thrown in jail
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Overgrown lawn gets Texas man thrown in jail
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Julie Wilson, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Julie Wilson, the revered nightclub performer and actress widely regarded as the queen of cabaret, died on Sunday in Manhattan. She was 90.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
James Best, R. I. P.
The Charlotte Observer The Charlotte Observer: James Best, whose prolific career included 83 movies and 600 TV shows but is best remembered for his role as Rosco P. Coltrane, the bumbling sheriff of Hazzard, died Monday night in Hickory.
Overlooked Movies -- Nadine
How could a movie miss if it starred Kim Basinger, Jeff Bridges, and Rip Torn, and was written and directed by Robert Benton? I don't know, but it did. At least with the critics. Not with me, though. After all, I've already mentioned how much I enjoyed Kim Basinger in Blind Date, and she's just as much fun in this one, in a completely different kind of role. She's Nadine, estranged wife of Vernon (Jeff Bridges) and she's slightly pregnant with his child. She's also made some photos for photographer Raymond Escobar (Jerry Stiller), who assures her that he knows Hugh Hefner.
Nadine, a little sorry she ever listened to Escobar, goes to his studio to get the photos back. While she's there, Escobar gets a knife in the back, and Nadine gets a packet of papers. Not her photos, however. They're plans for a big highway development, and they're what got Escobar killed. Complications ensue.
This movie might not be great, but I laughed a lot. Besides another fine comedy turn by Basinger, Bridges and Rip Torn are super, and Gwen Verdon matches them. Luckily Jerry Stiller dies early (I'm not a fan). If this one ever shows up on your cable channels, check it out.
Monday, April 06, 2015
14 Books for $2.99. You Cannot Go Wrong
A Stampede of Westerns: Fourteen Novels, Novellas & Story Collections of the West & Weird West - Kindle edition by Bill Crider, Bill Pronzini, Jack Ketchum, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Champlin, Steven Savile. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. A Time for Hanging - Bill Crider
Border Fever - Bill Pronzini
Grave Secrets - Tom Piccirilli
Hallowed Ground - Steven Savile & David Niall Wilson
I, Joauqin - Melvin Litton
Kitt Peak (A Thomas Mullis Mystery) - Al Sarrantonio
Long Horn, Big Shaggy - Steve Vernon
Mr. St. John - Loren D. Estleman
Mugs Birdsong's Crime Academy - Richard Wheeler
Summer of the Sioux - Tim Champlin
The Crossings - Jack Ketchum
The Magic Wagon - Joe R. Lansdale
The Accomplice - Marcus Pelegrimas
Twisted Tumbleweed Tales - Paul Wargelin
Ralph Sharon, R. I. P.
The Washington Post: Ralph Sharon, a British-born jazz pianist who spent four decades as Tony Bennett’s accompanist and who discovered the singer’s signature tune, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” died March 31 at his home in Boulder, Colo. He was 91.
First It was the Thin Mints Melee
And once again Texas leads the way.
Man pepper sprayed after stabbing woman in buttocks with pitchfork
Man pepper sprayed after stabbing woman in buttocks with pitchfork
Jenny Wallenda, R. I. P.
AOL.com: Jenny Wallenda, 87, the matriarch of the famous family of high-flying circus performers, died late Saturday at her home in Sarasota, Florida, according to family members.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tom Towles, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: The Chicago-born actor's most memorable roles included Otis in "Henry: Portraits of a Serial Killer" and Harry Cooper in the remake of "Night of the Living Dead."
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Sunday, April 05, 2015
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
KXAN.com: AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new Guinness World Record was established at Saturday’s Mighty Texas Dog Walk. At 307 lbs., the largest furball on record was created in a giant “fur-o-sphere” at the 17th annual event on Auditorium Shores. Dog walkers, groomers and even passersby contributed enough dog hair to shatter the previous record of 201 lbs. The previous record was established in 2012 at the same event.
I Want to Believe!
This Scientist Says He Keeps Finding Aliens in the Stratosphere: It's not easy convincing the world you've found aliens. But that's what one British professor says he's done, over and over again. His latest proof, he tells me, is his strongest yet. Should we take him seriously?
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