Saturday, August 01, 2015
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
THERE ARE ALIENS BEHIND URANUS, MR. PRESIDENT, Emerson LaSalle - Amazon.com: This is a NOVELLA from pulp, sci-fi master Emerson LaSalle and includes the short story "Harry Truman vs The Aliens" which acts as a prologue.It is the atomic age of sci-fi in the rip-roaring 1950s!
WARNING: This work of fiction contains plenty of SEX and VIOLENCE.
I Miss the Old Days
Kids used to cuddle alligators at this wacky LA zoo: One of the most novel and interesting sights in the world. Most stupendous aggregation ever exhibited.
Link via The Presurfer.
Link via The Presurfer.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Roddy Piper, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Legendary wrestling champion "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has died at the age of 61, World Wrestling Entertainment has confirmed.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Lynn Anderson, R. I. P.
'Rose Garden' singer Lynn Anderson dies at 67: Country singer Lynn Anderson, best known for her classic recording “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” died Thursday night of a heart attack at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Phoenix Breaking News, Weather, Sport: ODESSA, TX (KOSA/CNN) – Witnesses say three people performed an exorcism at a public park in Texas on Thursday morning.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
He don't want no ricochet romance: Texas man shot after bullet richocets off armadillo
And where is the proofreader?
And where is the proofreader?
So It's Come to This
Everything Is Problematic, University Explains: The University of New Hampshire has a “Bias-Free Language Guide.” As the document assures its readers, it “is not meant to represent absolute requirements of language use.” (Universities have tried imposing absolute requirements of language use, only to be struck down on First Amendment grounds.) So the guide should be understood not as an attempt at censorship, which would be illegal, but as a cutting-edge statement of p.c. language norms. It indicates that the list of terms that can give offense has grown quite long indeed.
I For One Welcome Or New Scaly Reptilian Overlords
ALLIGATORS USE TOOLS TO HUNT BIRDS - YouTube: Alligators Use Tools to Hunt Birds. Alligators and crocodiles are believed to lure in birds with the aid of sticks which they balance on their snouts. The birds are attracted to the sticks for use in their nest, so this behavior is witnessed significantly more often during the breeding season. This is the first time tool use has ever been documented in any reptile.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
The Magical Illustration of Arthur Rackham
The Magical Illustration of Arthur Rackham: Arthur Rackham was an illustrator in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born in London in 1867. He began studying at the Lambeth School of Art at the age of 18, and soon found his passion and calling. The first of Rackham's illustrations to be published in a book were in 1893, in The Dolly Dialogues. Rackham never looked back. From that first publication, illustration was his career until the day he died at age 72, of cancer.
Forgotten Books: The Card Turner -- Louis Sachar
This post first appeared on the blog on July 27, 2010.Everyone told Louis Sachar that he shouldn't write a YA novel about bridge. His agent, his wife, and his publisher all warned against it. He did it anyway because he loved bridge and because he'd like to see young people learn the game. I don't know that the book will achieve that purpose, but I liked it a lot. In fact, although it's over 300 pages, I read it in one sitting.
It's the story of Alton Richards, who's hired one summer to be his uncle's cardturner. His uncle is a great bridge player, but he's gone blind. That's no obstacle to his playing in one way, since he can remember all the cards without having to see them. He just needs someone to handle them. That's Alton's job.
Alton knows nothing about the game, so that gives Sachar a chance to explain things to the reader. But he warns you every time something technical is coming up and even puts a whale in the middle of the page so you can skip it if you want to. (I didn't skip.) Things move along about as you'd expect until suddenly there's a big twist that I won't reveal. I know I wasn't expecting it, though maybe I should have been.
Besides being a bridge novel, this is a coming-of-age story, and I'm a sucker for those. It's also very funny at times, and I'm a sucker for that, too. I bought the book for Judy, who loves bridge, but I'm glad I read it, myself. Great fun.
But about that cover, which appears to show a guy asleep in a train station. What does that have to do with bridge? Or this book? Nothing whatsoever, as far as I can tell. Sachar's a big-time bestselling writer, though, and he must have had cover approval. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I just don't get it. Read the book and see if you can figure it out. And let me know if you do.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Buddy Emmons, R. I. P.
Rolling Stone: Musician Buddy Emmons, widely regarded as the world's foremost steel guitarist, hailed for his unique playing style and innovations with regard to tuning, has died at age 78.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Uh-Oh
Mental Floss: According to Deadline, “disparate half-sisters Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy band together in order to survive the dystopic streets of Philadelphia and unravel a conspiracy that stretches far beyond anything they have ever imagined—all while trying not to kill each other in the process.”
From Sarah Weinman
Copies of Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 1950s are shipping this week (in advance of the September 1 publication date) and in tandem is the launch of the 2-volume set's companion website! Here is what you'll find there:
- An introductory essay, by [Sarah Weinman], to the two-volume set and the website
- A listing of notable suspense novels by women published between 1940 - 1975
- A chronology of film adaptations of the eight novels included in the set
- A photo gallery of book covers and movie posters
- biographical information on the authors and related links
- My tour schedule for the fall, which includes a kickoff event at Mysterious Bookshop on September 9 and events in October & November in Boston, DC, Raleigh, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, & Milwaukee featuring a bevy of special guests
- And last but most certainly not least, specially commissioned appreciations for each of the novels by eight of our most notable, commercially successful, and critically acclaimed crime novelists right now.
“A Long Time Ago in an Emirate Far, Far Away . . .” (by Josh Pachter)
“A Long Time Ago in an Emirate Far, Far Away . . .” (by Josh Pachter) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN The author of more than four dozen published short stories and numerous translations, Josh Pachter has long been a valued contributor to EQMM. His stories typically have interesting settings, a result of his wide-ranging travels. In this post, he talks about the genesis of a series of stories he wrote for EQMM and AHMM several decades ago, featuring Mahboob Chaudri, a policeman in Bahrain. In addition to providing a look at how a fine series took shape, Josh’s post provides a fascinating glimpse of a country little known to many in the U.S. This month a collection of the Chaudri stories was released by Wildside in a print edition entitled The Tree of Life and as an e-book entitled The Mahboob Chaudri Mystery Megapack. Both editions are available from Amazon and from the publisher’s Web site.—Janet Hutchings
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Peg Lynch, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Ms. Lynch, who wrote nearly 11,000 scripts for radio and television without the benefit of a writer’s room committee (or even a co-writer), was a pioneering woman in broadcast entertainment. As a creator of original characters and a performer of her own written work — every bit of it live! — she might be said to have created the mold that decades later produced the likes of Tina Fey and Amy Schumer.
Overlooked Movies: The Librarian: Quest for the Spear
Last night there were several original movies on TV. HBO had the classy and well-reviewed Peter Sellers biopic. The Hallmark Channel had a comforting middlebrow fantasy called The Five People You Meet in Heaven with Jon Voigt. And TNT had the cheesy Da Vinci Code/Raiders of the Lost Ark rip-off, The Librarian: Quest for the Spear. Anyone who knows me will know immediately that I went for the cheesey rip-off.
And I even watched all of it, though I was thinking all the time, "This is what we've come to. Starting with National Treasure, and now this, every movie made for the next ten years will be the same." And I was also thinking, "What a piece of crap."
But, as I said, I watched it.
There's no need to summarize the plot, since it makes very little (if any) sense. I kept watching mainly, I think, in hopes to see the rest of Kelly Hu's Serpent Brotherhood tattoo. (Ms. Hu, by the way, was seriously under-used in the movie. She was great in her few scenes.)
There's no need to comment on the special effects. I've already said, "cheesey." That about covers it. If you could, for even a second or two, have believed that the stars (Noah Wyle and Sonya Walger, who has the best line in the movie) were walking over an actual bridge anywhere near an actual waterfall in one of the big scenes, you might have bought into the movie. But you couldn't believe it. Not even for a second or two.
There was one point, however, at which I was willing to suspend my disbelief. Almost. The big martial-arts scene at the movie's climax features some of the lamest fighting I've seen since Diana Rigg turned in her leather suit. But even at that, to see Bob Newhart as a martial artist was worth sitting through the other two hours of the movie. Almost.
Actually, if you can overlook the ridiculous plot and the cheesey effects, the cast is pretty good. Wyle is appealing as a geeky librarian, and Walger is aces as his hardboiled protector. I've mentioned Kelly Hu. Newhart is fine, as always. Jane Curtin has a small but entertaining role. Poor Kyle MacLachlan, though, must have needed the money. Desperately. Or maybe he just enjoyed being pure Virginia ham.
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kiss two hours good-bye.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Ann Rule, R. I. P.
The Washington Post: SEATTLE — True-crime writer Ann Rule, who wrote more than 30 books, including a profile of her former co-worker, serial killer Ted Bundy, has died at age 83.
Feeling Safer Now?
And of course Texas leads the way!
CBS Dallas / Fort Worth: GRAPEVINE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – Police have arrested a man who never had a ticket but allegedly got through security at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and boarded a plane.
CBS Dallas / Fort Worth: GRAPEVINE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – Police have arrested a man who never had a ticket but allegedly got through security at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and boarded a plane.
The Sinister Shadow -- Will Murray
As I mentioned last Friday, I prepared myself for reading The Sinister Shadow by first giving myself a refresher course in the history of The Shadow by reading Will Murray's nonfiction book on the subject, The Duende History of The Shadow Magazine. That was a wise move on my part because in The Sinister Shadow, Murray brings in a lot of Shadow material that I wouldn't otherwise have been aware of. In fact, I'd have missed the significance of the book's last line if I hadn't prepared myself. Devotees of The Shadow will catch it, of course, with no trouble.In The Sinister Shadow, Doc Savage and The Shadow are after a criminal mastermind known as The Undertaker. They're not teamed up at first, but they both have the same goal. The setting is the early 1930s, so The Shadow isn't quite as well known as he would become. The cops aren't even sure, in fact, whether he's real or just a voice on the radio.
As I've mentioned before, Murray captures Lester Dent's style perfectly, and in the chapters involving The Shadow, he proves equally adept at channeling Walter B. Gibson. There's everything you could be hoping for here, I think: the known associates (not including Margo Lane, who wasn't part of the pulp Shadow stories for a long time), the twin .45s, the laugh, the almost supernatural abilities (not including the power to cloud men's minds, which was a radio thing).
The Sinister Shadow is based in part on an outline and some chapters written by Lester Dent, but I suspect that most of it is the work of Murray. It's nonstop fun with plenty of action, as Doc and his associates interact with the characters from the world of The Shadow and vice-versa. Fans of both series will love this one.
WESTERN FICTIONEERS CONVENTION 2015!
Western Fictioneers: WESTERN FICTIONEERS CONVENTION 2015!: Pack your saddlebags and shine up your boots for the first ever WESTERN FICTIONEERS CONVENTION! We’ll be rendezvousing near beautiful historic St. Louis, Missouri––the Gateway to the West––on October 30, 31, and November 1, 2015. Many WF members will be meeting each other for the first time and we have crammed as many fascinating workshops, panels and meet-and-greets as two and a half days will possibly hold!
10 Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed In Famous Crime Films
There are some spoilers in these.
10 Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed In Famous Crime Films
Update: Art Scott points out in his comment that one of these is flat-out wrong. Please take a minute to read his comment.
10 Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed In Famous Crime Films
Update: Art Scott points out in his comment that one of these is flat-out wrong. Please take a minute to read his comment.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Jeff Rice, R. I. P.
Demons haunted ‘Night Stalker’ creator Jeff Rice: Rice, who a close friend says suffered from severe depression throughout much of his adult life, died July 1 in Las Vegas. He was 71. In an eerie tribute to the mysteries that surrounded his fiction and life in Las Vegas, the cause and manner of death is pending the results of a toxicology test by the Clark County coroner’s office.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)