Lots more photos at the link.
Saturday, May 02, 2015
Gator Update (Ed-U-Gator Mural Edition)
Lots more photos at the link.
Ruth Rendell, R. I. P.
Author Ruth Rendell dies aged 85: She wrote more than 60 novels in a career spanning 50 years, her best-known creation being Inspector Wexford, which was turned into a highly successful TV series.
Friday, May 01, 2015
New Podcast at EQMM
PodOmatic | Best Free Podcasts: Marilyn Todd is known to historical mystery fans primarily for her series of novels and stories set in Ancient Rome, starring wine merchant Claudia Seferius, and for a second series set in Ancient Greece, starring High Priestess Iliona. But she often tackles more modern historical periods in her short stories. “The Wickedest Town in the West” (EQMM June 2013), which was one of the winners of the 2013 EQMM Readers Awards, is read here by actor Mandie Davis (cosmiccarousel@ymail.com).
Ben E. King, R. I. P.
WTOP: Now, legendary musician Ben E. King has died at age 76, according to the BBC.
King began with the 1950s group The Drifters, before turning solo with the hit “Stand By Me.”
FFB: War of the Giant Apes -- Alexander Blade
Yes, I know this is a magazine and not a book. It's Fantastic Adventures (April 1949), and "War of the Giant Apes" is a novelette. And this is all totally James Reasoner's fault. I've been eyeing this cover on eBay for a couple of years, ever since I was on the last "Apes" panel at ArmadilloCon, but I've resisted buying it. Then James put the cover on his blog and reminded me in the comments that the only pulps you regret are the ones you don't buy.
Then, to make matters worse, he e-mailed me and said he'd bought a copy of the pulp. Well, that did it. I had to have one, too, and soon enough, I did. One commenter on James' blog says that this cover is about the worst of the year on Fantastic Adventures, and maybe it is. I love it, though. As for the story, . . .
. . . . it's terrible. Alexander Blade is a house name, and as far as I know, nobody knows who used it for this story. Whoever it was would probably prefer to remain anonymous, and I don't blame him.
Mars, see, is inhabited by giant apes. They're 50 feet tall. An Earth scientist has created a thought-control machine. That's it on the back of the truck there in the cover illustration. So naturally there's nothing for it but to go to Mars, grab an ape by controlling its thoughts, and bring it back to Earth for the grand tour. The air on Mars is too thin for a man to breathe for very long, but for giant apes? No problem. Back on earth, does the giant ape have any trouble breathing the rich air or coping with the gravity? Not in the least. Of if so, it's never mentioned. The mind-controlled tour begins, but Things Are Not As They Seem.
[MANY SPOILERS AHEAD] It's all a plot by the Martians, see? They have no mechanical abilities to speak of, but they have superior mental powers. The giant ape is actually in full control of the minds of everyone on Earth. Well, except for the mind of Our Hero, Dan Moran, who, for some reason (the plot), the ape has allowed to be an independent operator. During the year of the tour, the Powers That Be on Earth have been constructing a fleet of giant spaceships (they're much faster at building stuff than we are in the present, obviously) with which to attack and conquer Mars. Of course this is all part of the Mogar's plan (Mogar is the ape, by the way). When the ships reach Mars, the apes will take them and fly them back to Earth and take over. Just how apes that are 50 feet tall are going to fly ships designed by men isn't covered in detail. Mogar tells Moran all this before finally taking over his mind. Earth is doomed!
But wait! Maybe not! "For [Dan] knew something. Something that even the mighty brain of Mogar had failed to grasp. And it was the only chance . . . ."
I can say no more. But I'm sure you can guess that the Earth is saved. I'd tell you how, but I don't want to ruin things for you. Just keep Slim Whitman in mind.
And did I mention that there's a sappy romance? Well, there is.
So, yes, it's terrible. Still . . . a giant ape! I'd have loved it when I was 8 years old, and it's hard to resist even now. Times were indeed simpler then, and so was a lot of SF. Not for long, though. The Magazine of Fantasy came along in the fall of that year, and Galaxy showed up in 1950. Those two digests both published stories that were miles away from this one and had a huge impact on the SF field.
Still . . . a giant ape! You can't go wrong with a giant ape, no matter how bad the story is. I'm sure my friends Mark Finn and Rick Klaw would agree.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
10 Crazy Facts About Willie Nelson
Mental Floss: As he was born close to midnight, there are varying accounts as to whether Willie Nelson’s true birth date is April 29, 1933 or April 30, 1933. What’s not in dispute is that Nelson is by far one of the world’s most accomplished musicians—and not just in the country music world. Nelson’s talents transcend genre, and go far beyond music. Here are 10 things you might not know about the legendary outlaw country singer
The Gun that Won the Western
The Gun that Won the Western: How the 1892 Winchester made its way from the frontier to the silver screen.
First It was the Thin Mints Melee
And now it's the parking spot pummeling!
CBS New York: A 49-year-old woman was looking for a place to park Sunday when she saw a man standing in the middle of a space, apparently holding the spot. She ended up parking elsewhere, but as the victim walked past that group to get to the mall entrance, a verbal exchange ensued and escalated into a full blown physical pummeling
CBS New York: A 49-year-old woman was looking for a place to park Sunday when she saw a man standing in the middle of a space, apparently holding the spot. She ended up parking elsewhere, but as the victim walked past that group to get to the mall entrance, a verbal exchange ensued and escalated into a full blown physical pummeling
Betsy von Furstenberg, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Betsy von Furstenberg, a glamorous German-born baroness who made her debut in the movies and on the Broadway stage in the early 1950s as a teenager and later reinvented herself as a television actress, writer and philanthropist, died on April 21 at her home in Manhattan. She was 83.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Forgotten Music: 50 Excellent International Pop Songs From the 1960s
Flavorwire: 50 Excellent International Pop Songs From the 1960s
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Edgar Winners
Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce the winners of the 2015 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2014. The Edgar® Awards were presented to the winners at our 69th Gala Banquet, April 29, 2015 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.
BEST NOVEL
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman (W.W. Norton)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)
BEST FACT CRIME
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
by William J. Mann (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe
by J.W. Ocker (W.W. Norton – Countryman Press)
BEST SHORT STORY
"What Do You Do?” – Rogues by Gillian Flynn
(Penguin Random House Publishing – Bantam Books)
BEST JUVENILE
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
(Clarion Books – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
BEST YOUNG ADULT
The Art of Secrets by James Klise (Algonquin Young Readers)
BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Episode 1” – Happy Valley, Teleplay by Sally Wainwright (Netflix)
ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"Getaway Girl" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine By Zoë Z. Dean (Dell Magazines)
GRAND MASTER
Lois Duncan
James Ellroy
RAVEN AWARDS
Ruth & Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
Kathryn Kennison, Magna Cum Murder
ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Charles Ardai, Editor & Founder, Hard Case Crime
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Tuesday, April 28, 2015)
The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey (Minotaur Books)
BEST NOVEL
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman (W.W. Norton)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)
BEST FACT CRIME
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
by William J. Mann (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe
by J.W. Ocker (W.W. Norton – Countryman Press)
BEST SHORT STORY
"What Do You Do?” – Rogues by Gillian Flynn
(Penguin Random House Publishing – Bantam Books)
BEST JUVENILE
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
(Clarion Books – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
BEST YOUNG ADULT
The Art of Secrets by James Klise (Algonquin Young Readers)
BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Episode 1” – Happy Valley, Teleplay by Sally Wainwright (Netflix)
ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"Getaway Girl" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine By Zoë Z. Dean (Dell Magazines)
GRAND MASTER
Lois Duncan
James Ellroy
RAVEN AWARDS
Ruth & Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
Kathryn Kennison, Magna Cum Murder
ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Charles Ardai, Editor & Founder, Hard Case Crime
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Tuesday, April 28, 2015)
The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey (Minotaur Books)
First It was the Thin Mints Melee
And now it's the doorbell issue!
Man, 82, arrested after allegedly grabbing neighbor's neck in dispute over doorbell issue
Man, 82, arrested after allegedly grabbing neighbor's neck in dispute over doorbell issue
First It was the Thin Mints Melee
NY Daily News: Woman sets gas pump on fire in Israel after driver doesn't give her cigarette
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Jean Nidetch, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: PARKLAND, Fla. — Jean Nidetch, a New York housewife who tackled her own obesity, then shared her guiding principles with others in meetings that became known as Weight Watchers, the most widely known company of its kind, died Wednesday. She was 91.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Don Mankiewicz, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Don Mankiewicz, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a member of the family dynasty that produced film classics like “Citizen Kane,” “All About Eve” and his own “I Want to Live!,” a weepy death-house drama starring Susan Hayward as a woman wrongfully accused of murder, died on Saturday at his home in Monrovia, Calif. He was 93.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Jack Ely, R. I. P.
'Louie Louie' singer Jack Ely dies at 71: Jack Ely was original member of the Kingsmen, a band formed in 1959 that mostly performed cover versions of songs. Four years later, the group recorded Louie Louie at a studio in its home city of Portland. According to lore, it cost $36.
Gator Update (Reptile Death Match Edition)
Reptile death match: Biologists took daily X-ray images of a Burmese python after it swallowed an alligator to show the digestion process
Pythons increase their metabolic rate by 40 times after eating and many of their organs increase in size to cope
After three days the alligator's soft tissue has been digested by powerful enzymes and acid leaving bone and skin
By day seven the entire alligator had been digested away, leaving little trace, and the snake's gut returned to normal
Pythons increase their metabolic rate by 40 times after eating and many of their organs increase in size to cope
After three days the alligator's soft tissue has been digested by powerful enzymes and acid leaving bone and skin
By day seven the entire alligator had been digested away, leaving little trace, and the snake's gut returned to normal
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Andrew Lesnie, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Andrew Lesnie, the Oscar-winning cinematographer whose career included all of the fabled "Lord of the Rings" films and "The Hobbit," died suddenly on Monday, according to the The Hollywood Reporter. He was 59.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Suzanne Crough, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Suzanne Crough, who portrayed Tracy Partridge on "The Partridge Family," died Monday at 52, TMZ reports.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Legend of Caleb York -- Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins
So you didn't know that Mickey Spillane wrote western novels? Well, he didn't. What he did, back in the late '50s, was write a screenplay for his pal John Wayne's Batjac productions. For reasons we don't need to get into here (having nothing to do with the screenplay itself), it was never produced. It was among the papers turned over to Max Allan Collins at Spillane's death, and Collins has brought it into print as a novelization of the script. He was the right person to do this for a number of reasons, the main two being that he's got the Spillane vibe down pat and that he's done hundreds (okay, maybe not that many, but close) of novelizations in the past. He knows the territory.The Legend of Caleb York is the Good Old Stuff. The villains are villainous, the good guy is fast on the draw, the women are beautiful, and what I call "The James Reasoner Rule" is followed (always have a role for Gabby Hayes). A blind rancher with a beautiful daughter is one of the last holdouts against a greedy sheriff who wants to buy up all the land around the town of Trinidad, New Mexico. If he can't buy it, then he'll do whatever it takes to get it. The blind rancher decides it's time to bring in a hired killer to take care of the sheriff, so he sends off a wire to have someone arrange it.
It's about this time that a Mysterious Stranger arrives in town. He dresses like a dude, but he's mighty handy with a gun, and he beats up two of the sheriff's men before he's been there more than a few minutes. Within a few more minutes, he has to kill them. This doesn't endear him to the sheriff. He refuses to tell anyone his name, and he insists he's only passing through town and knows nothing of the situation there.
How all this plays out would've made a fine starring vehicle for John Wayne or Randolph Scott or any of several western stars of the era when it was written as a screenplay. It's a bit more graphically violent in its current form that it would've been then, so those scenes would have been toned down. If you're a fan of the traditional western, or if you're just looking for some good reading, look no further. The Legend of Caleb York delivers, and then some. It has it all.
DISCLAIMER: This book is dedicated to me, but that has absolutely nothing to do with this review. I've been reviewing books by Collins, by Collins and Spillane, and by Collins and Collins for years now, and I've always enjoyed them. I enjoyed this one, too, just as much as I would have if it had been dedicated to someone else. Not that I'm not pleased and honored to see my name in it. I certainly am.
David Ogilvy’s 1982 memo “How to Write”
Boing Boing: "How to Write" was a memo from ad man David Ogilvy, which he sent to everyone who worked for him in 1981.
Overlooked Movies: Falling Down
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Falling Down premiered in 1993. Maybe it's just me, but it seems as if it might have been made last week. Michael Douglas plays William Foster. He'ss divorced and he's lost his job. On the day depicted in the movie, he just wants to get to his daughter's birthday party, but the world conspires against him. Trapped in traffic, he leaves his car and starts to walk. At each encounter he has, his frustration builds and his reactions become more extreme. First he gets a baseball bat, then a knife, then guns. And he uses all of them against the people he encounters: convenience store owners, gangbangers, ordinary jerks, neo-nazis, fast-food jerks, and others. His violent reactions escalate as his walk continues. If you think this is all exaggerated, well, maybe so. But have you been keeping up with the "First it was the thin mints melee . . . ." meme on this blog?
Robert Duvall plays Pendergrast, a cop on his last day on the job. He's sort of the other side of the coin here. He's calm and rational, even though he has as many reasons to crack as Foster does. He's even caught in the same traffic jam. He's also the one who realizes that all the crime reports coming in can be connected to one man, so he goes after him. The final confrontation between the two is ironic and right out of current headlines. I won't say why, but if you've seen the movie, you might remember what happens.
If you watched the trailer I embedded, you saw the question Douglas asks of Duvall at the end: "I'm the bad guy?" Yes, he is, but what this movie made me realize is that so am I. I have to admit that I could easily identify with the character and his reactions. I just haven't acted on my worst impulses, but (and maybe I'm just a terrible person) I find it a little hard not to cheer Foster on. Looking at Facebook these days, I see a lot of people who seem to have as much rage and frustration inside them as Foster does. I hope they don't get a bag of guns.
Falling Down doesn't get much ink these days, but it's a movie with a lot to say about the times we live in.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Jayne Meadows, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Jayne Meadows Allen, a versatile early television actress who was nominated for three Emmy Awards and perhaps best known as a panelist on “I’ve Got a Secret,” died Sunday at her home in Encino, Calif. She was 95.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
William Price Fox, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: William Price Fox, a novelist and humorist who plumbed his South Carolina roots for the colorful characters in his work, earning fans in the upper echelons of American literary life if not necessarily over a wide range of the nation’s readers, died on April 19 at his home in Washington. He was 89.
Canary -- Duane Swierczynski
Sarie Holland is an abstemious college honors student. Her dad is a drug counselor, and she has a nosy kid brother. She's just an ordinary kid, though smarter than most, and not smart enough to avoid one big mistake. Leaving a party, she drives a cute boy, D., to "pick up a book." What he's picking up isn't a book, and Sarie finds herself in the clutches of a cop named Wildey after D leaves drugs in her car and flees. Wildey threatens Sarie with jail if she doesn't turn informant for him. She thinks she can do one job and get free of him. Little does she know.Let's stop here. If you didn't read this article, you should read it now. When I talked to Duane not long ago, he said he hadn't read the article, but his book pretty much follows the pattern laid out in it. And if you think it's implausible that teenager would be turned into an informant by the cops, then here's a recent article that will change your mind. (Update on the recent article is here.)
Now back to our regularly scheduled review. Complications ensue. People die. Sarie's nosy brother starts to wonder what's going on with his sister. Some very bad people take an interest in Sarie and her activities. And how do you keep up a college career and take exams when you're being a CI for some cop? That's not all that's going on in Canary, but if you've read any of Swierczynski's previous books, you know that he can juggle a lot of plots without dropping one.
Part of the book is told by Sarie in the form of journal entries addressed to her dead mother. Part is in third person. The parts work together and are perfectly integrated into a smooth whole. There's some of Swierczynski's wild humor and wild action, and it's all good.
The book would seem to be set up for a sequel, but at the moment there isn't one planned. I'm hoping to see one eventually, though because Sarie's a great character and the book is great fun. Check it out.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Ummmmmmm. Tater Tots.
7online.com: Police say a would-be burglar got sidetracked by snacks and a comfy place to snooze, heating up some tater tots and taking a nap on the sofa of the house he broke into.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Meet Amazon’s first customer
Meet Amazon’s first customer: Not many people spend $27.95 and get a building named after them.
Sid Tepper, R. I. P.
LA Times: Songwriter Sid Tepper, who co-wrote more than 40 songs specifically for Elvis Presley plus hundreds of others performed by Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Dean Martin, Eartha Kitt, Perry Como, Jeff Beck and many more, died Friday at his home in Miami Beach. He was 96.
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