Saturday, May 09, 2015
Johnny Gimble, R. I. P.
Famed Country Fiddler Johnny Gimble Dies at 89: Renowned fiddler Johnny Gimble, who gained fame for his backup work with country stars from Merle Haggard to Carrie Underwood, has died.
Friday, May 08, 2015
No Comment Department
Spenser and Travis McGee: The Trafalgar Square Bomber - Kindle edition by Bill Rayburn. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.: Two great American fictional characters, Spenser and Travis McGee literally bump into each other coming out of a hotel in central London, moments from the famed Trafalgar Square. They are both travelling alone, both semi-retired and pushing 70. At the very busy Charing Cross underground station a couple of blocks away, four bombs explode at ten second intervals. Hundreds are killed. Terrorism has revisited one of its favorite cities.
Spenser and McGee get involved...
Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
The West’s Forgotten Scout
The West’s Forgotten Scout: The true story of the hero of Beecher Island, “Comanche Jack” Stilwell.
Any relationship to our occasional commenter, I wonder?
Any relationship to our occasional commenter, I wonder?
Guy Carawan, R. I. P.
BBC News: Guy Carawan, whose rendition of We Shall Overcome became an anthem of the US civil rights movement, has died at the age of 87.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
First It was the Thin Mints Melee
And keep off her lawn!
WeAreCentralPA.com: A Clearfield County woman is in jail for allegedly attacking a man's private parts with screwdriver.
WeAreCentralPA.com: A Clearfield County woman is in jail for allegedly attacking a man's private parts with screwdriver.
Pelican Books: A Flock of Non-Fiction
Pelican Books: A Flock of Non-Fiction on AbeBooks: It’s clear that when it comes to publishing, Penguin Books have the right idea and are on top of their game. Just check out their famously beloved vintage paperback covers, or their fantastic series like the Great Food Series, or their brilliant designers like Coralie Bickford-Smith. Penguin always seems to keep the publishing world on its toes, bringing out more beautiful and unique books all the time. From the very beginning, when they set out to make books affordable and attractive, Penguin's finger has been on the pulse of the reader.
FFB: Yearbook -- David Marlow
Yes, it's another coming of age novel, and this one's right in my wheelhouse, set in the late 1950s. It doesn't really dwell much on the time period, but the scenes set in high school are pretty much on the money, especially the opening one.It seems that a lot of these coming of age books focus on a character who's a little bit of an outsider. In this case it's Guy Fowler, a very small guy, but smart. He becomes the buddy of the high-school football hero, Corky Henderson, who's naturally dating the most popular girl in school, a cheerleader named Ro-Anne. And then there's Amy Silversteen, brainy but unbeautiful, who becomes Guy's friend. Things change for all of them over the course of the novel, and not necessarily for the better. Some grow and adjust better than others, as is always the case. Bad things happen to some of them, too, and there's a concluding chapter set at a high-school reunion that allows us to see them a few years down the road.
I always get a kick out of books like this, and while I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as some of the others I've read, I'm glad I happened to run across it at a library sale and pick it up. It was a nice find.
The book was published in 1977, and David Marlow is still writing, and you can read about him at his website.
Thursday, May 07, 2015
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
America's Oldest Living Veteran Still Alive, Still Drinking Whiskey: America’s oldest living veteran—who, if I may speak freely, I truly love—just threw himself a “Mighty Fine at 109” party replete with burgers, cake and whiskey.
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Small-Press Lineup: Brash Books
Impressive mugshots included: Small-Press Lineup: Brash Books : The Booklist Reader
Errol Brown, R. I. P.
Flavorwire: Errol Brown, the frontman of Hot Chocolate, died in his Bahamas home after a battle with liver cancer, at 71 years old.
Jim Wright, R. I. P.
Former House Speaker Jim Wright dies at 92: Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Jim Wright, a Texas Democrat known for hardball politics, has died at the age of 92, the Texas Democratic Party said.
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Gator Update (Price Hike Alert)
Alligator—the Other, Other White Meat: Prices rise as TV shows, foodies boost popularity of unusual entree
Hat tip to George Kelley.
Hat tip to George Kelley.
Eaten Alive:Tobe Hooper's alligator horror movie
Eaten Alive: the bizarre true story behind Tobe Hooper's alligator horror movie: In 1977, the director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre made an insane horror film based on the true story of 'alligator killer' Joe Ball. But how true was it?
Nominees for the 2015 Anthony Awards
Bouchercon 2015
We’re pleased to announce the nominees for the 2015 Anthony Awards:
Best Novel
Lamentation - Joe Clifford [Oceanview]
The Secret Place - Tana French [Hodder & Stoughton/Viking]
After I'm Gone - Laura Lippman [William Morrow]
The Long Way Home - Louise Penny [Minotaur]
Truth Be Told - Hank Phillippi Ryan [Forge]
Best First Novel
Blessed Are the Dead - Kristi Belcamino [Witness Impulse]
Ice Shear - M.P. Cooley [William Morrow]
Invisible City - Julia Dahl [Minotaur]
The Life We Bury - Allen Eskens [Seventh Street]
The Black Hour - Lori Rader-Day [Seventh Street]
Best Paperback Original
Stay With Me - Alison Gaylin [Harper]
The Killer Next Door - Alex Marwood [Penguin]
The Day She Died - Catriona McPherson [Midnight Ink]
World of Trouble - Ben H. Winters [Quirk]
No Stone Unturned - James W. Ziskin [Seventh Street]
Best Critical or Non-Fiction Work
The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis - Charles Brownson [McFarland]
Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice - Kate Clark Flora [New Horizon]
Dru's Book Musings - Dru Ann Love [http://drusbookmusing.com]
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe - J.W. Ocker [Countryman]
Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey - Hank Phillippi Ryan, ed. [Henery]
Best Short Story
"Honeymoon Sweet" Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014 - Craig Faustus Buck [Down & Out]
"The Shadow Knows" Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays - Barb Goffman [Wildside]
"Howling at the Moon" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - Paul D. Marks [Dell]
"Of Dogs & Deceit" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - John Shepphird [Dell]
"The Odds Are Against Us" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - Art Taylor [Dell]
Best Anthology or Collection
FaceOff - David Baldacci, ed. [Simon & Schuster]
Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014 - Dana Cameron, ed. [Down & Out]
Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen - Joe Clifford, ed. [Gutter]
In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon - Laurie R. King & Leslie S. Klinger, eds. [Pegasus Crime]
Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Love, Lust, and Longing - Karen Pullen, ed. [Wildside]
Nominees were selected by attendees of 2014 Bouchercon in Long Beach and registrants of 2015 Bouchercon in Raleigh. Awards will be determined by Bouchercon attendees in Raleigh, October 8-11.
We’re pleased to announce the nominees for the 2015 Anthony Awards:
Best Novel
Lamentation - Joe Clifford [Oceanview]
The Secret Place - Tana French [Hodder & Stoughton/Viking]
After I'm Gone - Laura Lippman [William Morrow]
The Long Way Home - Louise Penny [Minotaur]
Truth Be Told - Hank Phillippi Ryan [Forge]
Best First Novel
Blessed Are the Dead - Kristi Belcamino [Witness Impulse]
Ice Shear - M.P. Cooley [William Morrow]
Invisible City - Julia Dahl [Minotaur]
The Life We Bury - Allen Eskens [Seventh Street]
The Black Hour - Lori Rader-Day [Seventh Street]
Best Paperback Original
Stay With Me - Alison Gaylin [Harper]
The Killer Next Door - Alex Marwood [Penguin]
The Day She Died - Catriona McPherson [Midnight Ink]
World of Trouble - Ben H. Winters [Quirk]
No Stone Unturned - James W. Ziskin [Seventh Street]
Best Critical or Non-Fiction Work
The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis - Charles Brownson [McFarland]
Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice - Kate Clark Flora [New Horizon]
Dru's Book Musings - Dru Ann Love [http://drusbookmusing.com]
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe - J.W. Ocker [Countryman]
Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey - Hank Phillippi Ryan, ed. [Henery]
Best Short Story
"Honeymoon Sweet" Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014 - Craig Faustus Buck [Down & Out]
"The Shadow Knows" Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays - Barb Goffman [Wildside]
"Howling at the Moon" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - Paul D. Marks [Dell]
"Of Dogs & Deceit" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - John Shepphird [Dell]
"The Odds Are Against Us" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov 2014 - Art Taylor [Dell]
Best Anthology or Collection
FaceOff - David Baldacci, ed. [Simon & Schuster]
Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014 - Dana Cameron, ed. [Down & Out]
Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen - Joe Clifford, ed. [Gutter]
In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon - Laurie R. King & Leslie S. Klinger, eds. [Pegasus Crime]
Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Love, Lust, and Longing - Karen Pullen, ed. [Wildside]
Nominees were selected by attendees of 2014 Bouchercon in Long Beach and registrants of 2015 Bouchercon in Raleigh. Awards will be determined by Bouchercon attendees in Raleigh, October 8-11.
Michael Blake, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Michael Blake, who had been washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant when an old friend, Kevin Costner, asked him to adapt his own novel into a screenplay, which became the Oscar-winning script for the Oscar-winning western epic “Dances With Wolves,” died on Saturday in Tucson. He was 69.
Hat tip to Jeff Meherson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meherson.
Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo - Holidays - HISTORY.com: Cinco de Mayo—or the fifth of May—commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). A relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations. Cinco de Mayo traditions include parades, mariachi music performances and street festivals in cities and towns across Mexico and the United States.
Overlooked Movies -- Runaway Train
This is another of those movies in which the people in authority over criminals are worse than the criminals themselves, but that's not the heart of the film. The first part is a prison-break movie with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts escaping from stir and a brutal warden. After they're out, they hike across a lot of frozen tundra in Alaska and finally get on a train consisting for four engines and hide in the toilet compartment. This part of the movie's very good in itself, but we're just getting to the real reason for the film. The train's engineer has a heart attack. He gets off the train, setting the brakes but not the throttle. The brakes eventually burn away, and there's where we get the runaway train. There are, as you might imagine, problems. What about other trains on the track? What about curves in the icy winter with the train going at top speed and no way to slow down and no one to slow it down even if the brakes worked? What about human conflicts?
Especially human conflicts because while this is a great action movie, it's really about Voight and Roberts, both of whom are really, really good. In fact, in watching this you might be wondering, "What happened to Eric Roberts?" He was a fine actor in this, with an Oscar nomination, and the next thing you know he's making direct-to-VHS movies. I was teaching in the prison units near Alvin occasionally when this movie came out, and Roberts was perfection. He would've fit into the general population of any unit where I taught.
It turns out there's one other person on the train, Rebecca deMornay, and she's also very good. So is John P. Ryan as the brutal prison warden. And Edward Bunker has a nice part as Voight's brother.
This is an action movie with some heart (and even a brain), fine acting, plenty of suspense, and a great climactic scene. Check it out.
Monday, May 04, 2015
Antiques Swap -- Barbara Allan (Barbara Collins & Max Allan Collins
The husband is always the first suspect in a case like this, especially when a neighbor has seen him going into the house just before the murder and leaving soon afterward, but the husband has such a good alibi that even a sleeping (literally) lawyer can get him released from jail. So it's up to Brandy and Vivian to go into action once more and save the local police from another embarrassing situation. They uncover some interesting things about the husband and wife (A wife swapping club! In Iowa!) and before long they're up to their ears in trouble again.
As usual in this series, you get more than the story. You also get antiquing tips and recipes (Fried butter!), not to mention lots of laughs. If you're ever in a down mood, this books in this series will pick you up, and if you're feeling fine, they'll make you feel even better. Check 'em out.
May the Fourth Be With You
Speaking of being a sentimentalist, as I was earlier, I was reminded today that Judy and the kids and I saw Star Wars the day it opened in Brownwood, Texas, all those years ago. Not long afterward we were in Abilene, walking around in a mall, when I noticed that someone had Star Wars T-shirts on sale. Judy didn't want one, but Angela, Allen, and I did. You know where this is headed, right? Sure enough, I still have mine, the original from 1977, and there it is in the photo, still looking good.
Sweeping the Driveway
It will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that I, like Rick Blaine, one of my favorite movie characters, am a sentimentalist. I'm only somewhat kidding when I say here, as I often do, that I miss the old days. I mean, I know that the times when I grew up weren't great for everyone and that many people were treated shamefully for a lot of different reasons, but I was blissfully unaware of most of this for a long time. I don't miss their old days. I miss mine.
What does that have to do with sweeping the driveway, you ask? Well, a couple of things. Most people have to rake leaves and sweep them off driveways in the fall. Not me. I have a giant magnolia tree, and magnolias shed leaves in the early spring. Lots and lots of them. I've never liked the magnolia tree because of this annoying characteristic, but Judy loved it. She refused to let me have it trimmed, and so it's grown from a bush to its current size. Now that she's gone, I could do what I want to with that tree, but I can't bring myself to do a thing. I'll never touch it. This shows exactly how hardboiled I am.
That's not all, though. As I was sweeping, I realized that I was using the push broom that Judy's father used to sweep his little grocery store in Thornton, Texas. I don't remember when he retired, but it was somewhere in the middle '70s. 1976, maybe, and here I am using that same broom. He'd used it for many years before that. Maybe you can't tell in the photo, but the handle of the broom was originally red. It still is near the bottom, but for about 2/3 of the way up, the paint has been worn away by years of hands sweeping with that broom. I could buy a nice new one, but will I? Of course not. That's not how a sentimentalist operates.
What does that have to do with sweeping the driveway, you ask? Well, a couple of things. Most people have to rake leaves and sweep them off driveways in the fall. Not me. I have a giant magnolia tree, and magnolias shed leaves in the early spring. Lots and lots of them. I've never liked the magnolia tree because of this annoying characteristic, but Judy loved it. She refused to let me have it trimmed, and so it's grown from a bush to its current size. Now that she's gone, I could do what I want to with that tree, but I can't bring myself to do a thing. I'll never touch it. This shows exactly how hardboiled I am.That's not all, though. As I was sweeping, I realized that I was using the push broom that Judy's father used to sweep his little grocery store in Thornton, Texas. I don't remember when he retired, but it was somewhere in the middle '70s. 1976, maybe, and here I am using that same broom. He'd used it for many years before that. Maybe you can't tell in the photo, but the handle of the broom was originally red. It still is near the bottom, but for about 2/3 of the way up, the paint has been worn away by years of hands sweeping with that broom. I could buy a nice new one, but will I? Of course not. That's not how a sentimentalist operates.
New Poem at the Five-Two
The Five-Two: Elizabeth Lash: STAR WARS: DARK FORCES RE-AWAKEN (FOR A 7TH TIME)
Sunday, May 03, 2015
Grace Lee Whitney, R. I. P.
NBC News.com: Grace Lee Whitney, 85, the futuristic-clipboard-bearing Yeoman Janice Rand on the original series of "Star Trek," died this weekend in the town of Coarsegold, California, her family confirmed. No cause of death was reported.
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Enamored (Lucien Caye Private Eye Novel Book 2) - Kindle edition by O'Neil De Noux. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. She crossed Canal Street from the neutral ground, walked right past me and I watched her come and go, both views unforgettable. I’m not kidding. A woman can do that on occasion, sear an indelible image in a man’s mind. She was the woman in gray. That’s how I thought of her the following days as she popped in and out of my mind, tapping me on the shoulder over coffee, whispering in my ear, “I was real.” I didn’t obsess over her image. It just came and went, more like a photograph than a motion picture, although she had moved quite nicely. She remained a snapshot, the woman in gray, until a week later when she stepped from the darkness beneath the balcony of my building shortly after midnight, on a sultry Thursday night –
Thus begins the most elusive case in New Orleans private eye Lucien Caye’s career, a case of lust and murder, a case that will baffle him, intrigue him, make him fall in love – three times. The case of a desirable woman enamored of a undesirable man defies understanding, yet the human heart rarely listens to the human brain. A smart guy like Lucien should know better, but his mind has trouble controlling his libido, much less his heart.
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Amazon.com: Carnosaur Weekend (Knightly and Cole Book 1) eBook: Garnett Elliott: Kindle Store: It’s a dirty job ... Policing the timelines has always been dangerous, but the brave agents of Continuity Inc. have arguably the most important job in human history. Protecting human history.
Newly promoted agent Kyler Knightly teams up with his uncle, Damon Cole, to stop unscrupulous developers from exploiting the Late Cretaceous. A luxury subdivision smack-dab in the middle of dinosaur country threatens not only the present, but super-rich homeowners looking for the ultimate getaway.
CARNOSAUR WEEKEND includes the original Kyler Knightly story “The Zygma Gambit,” inspired by the dream journals of Kyle J. Knapp, and a sci-fi short story “The Worms of Terpsichore,” all together totaling nearly 16K words.
Maya Plisetskaya, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: MOSCOW — Maya Plisetskaya, one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century and virtually the embodiment of the Bolshoi Theater for decades, died on Saturday in Munich. She was 89.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
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