UPI.com: Bronx Zoo: Name a cockroach for your Valentine
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
21 Photos Of The First Bad Blizzard Of 2016
21 Photos Of The First Bad Blizzard Of 2016 Best Appreciated From Indoors
Meanwhile, down here in the swamplands it's a beautiful sunshiny day, and (I'm not making this up) two guys in the neighborhood are mowing their lawns.
Meanwhile, down here in the swamplands it's a beautiful sunshiny day, and (I'm not making this up) two guys in the neighborhood are mowing their lawns.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
A smashing idea: Customers pay to destroy furniture at new business: “You can rent a room, either ten minutes or fifteen, and destroy the contents of the room,” Baker explained. “Whatever I put in there, you can destroy it, either with golf clubs, baseball bats, lead pipes, sledgehammers and whatever else I can think of that I’m going to bring up here.”
Friday, January 22, 2016
New Sax Rohmer from Stark House Press!
STARK HOUSE PRESS: The Yellow Claw / The Golden Scorpion
978-1-933586-81-6
Rohmer created Fu Manchu and other superb villains. In these two mysteries, we are introduced to Gaston Max, a Parisian detective and a master of disguise, hot in the pursuit of two criminal masterminds who seek to undermine the very fabric of British society. Introduction by William Patrick Maynard. Due November 2015.
How Wile E. Coyote Explains The World
How Wile E. Coyote Explains The World: By any sane reckoning, Chuck Jones, the animation director who created Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, is one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived.
Link via Neatorama.
Link via Neatorama.
End of the World Literature – Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
End of the World Literature – Post-Apocalyptic Fiction on AbeBooks: Things can always be worse and you can rely on novelists to put that phrase into cold, hard words on the page. Noah’s ark and the flood that wiped Earth clean of wicked mankind is an early example of post-apocalyptic writing but the modern genre of end of the world literature can be traced back two centuries to Mary Shelley’s The Last Man published in 1826.
FFB: At the End of a Dull Day -- Massimo Carlotto (Translated from the Italian by Antony Shugaar)
At the End of a Dull Day is a fairly recent book, only a couple of years old, at least in the U.S. I would never have known about it if Dave Zeltserman hadn't raved about it on Facebook, so I owe him one. The book is the sequel to The Goodbye Kiss, which I haven't read. Since events of that book, eleven years in the past, in which he was, among other things a terrorist, a killer, and a bank robber, the narrator, Giorgio Pellegrini, has led what for him is a sedate life. He owns a restaurant, and his major criminal activity is the sex trade. But don't let that fool you. Pellegrini would be right at home in the pages of a Jim Thompson novel. He's a thoroughly detestable psychopath. He dominates and degrades women, including his wife. He treats the women in his sex ring as nothing more than disposable objects. All he needs is one little push to set him back on his old path.
The push is provided by his supposed friend and lawyer, a politician named Sante Brianese, who cheats him in a business deal. Pellegrini believes he's owed 2 million Euros, and he's going to get it, one way one another. However, when he pushes Brianese, the politician pushes back twice as hard. Or even more. Things look bad for Pelligrini, but then he decides that “The time had come to remember who I once was, what I’d done to get ahead. I’d shot my best friend in the head, I’d betrayed, cheated, raped, robbed, and eliminated anyone who got in the way of my reaching my objective.” And now he's ready to do it again.
He does.
A lot of people have called this book "noir." It doesn't fit my definition of that term, but it might fit yours. It's dark, for sure. It has moments of humor, but it's not going to make anybody laugh out loud. It moves fast, and it's a bit over 180 pages long, just about the length of an old Gold Medal. Come to think of it, it's sort of like a Gold Medal novel for the new millennium. I've already ordered a copy of The Goodbye Kiss.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
RIP: David G. Hartwell (1941-2016)
RIP: David G. Hartwell (1941-2016): Scott Edelman and John Scalzi are confirming that longtime science fiction editor and fan David G. Hartwell passed away following a massive brain bleed. Hartwell was most recently an editor at Tor Books. He was also the editor of numerous anthologies, including The Science Fiction Century, Space Opera Renaissance, and the Year’s Best SF and Year’s Best Fantasy series. He was also the publisher of The New York Review of Science Fiction.
Design for Dying -- Renee Patrick
Ruby, it seems, has been "borrowing" clothes from Paramount's wardrobe department, which is where Head works. She's not yet well known at all, but she's smart, and she's interested in the case. There's also a handsome police detective who's working on the case and who's not entirely averse to have Lillian and Edith help him out.
Author Patrick (the writing duo of Rosemarie and Vince Kennan) gives a good many Hollywood stars cameo roles, my favorite being Barbara Stanwyck. We get plenty of glitz and glamour, snappy patter, clothes talk, and in-jokes. I'm sure I missed a few of the jokes, but the ones I got made me grin.
And speaking of in-jokes, I might be the only person who reads this book, including the authors, who knows the true significance of the reference to Don the Beachcomber. You see, Don the Beachcomber was from my hometown of Mexia, Texas. So was Les Baxter, but he's not mentioned. Neither is Cindy Walker one of the greatest songwriters in country music history. I'll bet "You Don't Know Me" has sold more records for more artists than just about any country song. Mexia had more famous folks than just Anna Nicole Smith. But I digress.
Design for Dying is a delightful book and would be even if it hadn't mentioned Don the Beachcomber. Lillian Frost is a wonderful first-person narrator, and Edith Head is an excellent semi-armchair detective. I predict big things for this series, and I'm looking forward the Lillian Frost's second adventure, even though this one won't be published until April. Be on the lookout for it. It's one not to miss.
“Report from Baker Street” (by Steve Steinbock)
“Report from Baker Street” (by Steve Steinbock) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: Steve Steinbock is well known to EQMM readers. He has been the magazine’s regular book reviewer since 2011 (relieved twice a year by longtime EQMM reviewer Jon L. Breen). In EQMM’s March/April 2010 double issue he debuted as a fiction writer with the story “Cleaning Up.” Most of his literary output to date, however, has been in the critical field. In addition to his regular EQMM column, he has written a variety of articles and conducted several interviews for our magazine. Steve is also an editor of note. His latest project is the recently released The Future is Ours: 31 Tales of the Fantastic by Edward D. Hoch (Wildside Press, TPB $14.99, HC $29.95), which contains science fiction, horror, and alternate history stories by one of the most important contributors in EQMM’s history. Steve’s introduction to the book completes a volume all Ed Hoch fans will want to have.—Janet Hutchings
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
The bleak world of Peanuts
Vox: Peanuts, in other words, is one of the single greatest works of art of the 20th century.
10 Gorilla Guys
10 Gorilla Guys: Hollywood loves gorillas. They are mysterious and scary, yet close enough to human for an actor to play one. Many actors and special effects pros have portrayed gorillas at one time or another in movies such as Gorillas in the Mist or the Planet of the Apes series, but some became particularly known for being "the guy in the gorilla suit." At first, the only requirement for a star gorilla was that one own a gorilla suit. As the competition heated up, these guys had to bring something special to their roles.
Dallas Taylor, R. I. P.
LA Times: Dallas Taylor was the drummer with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He played at Woodstock and appeared on seven top-selling albums. After his music career ended he became an addiction counselor specializing in interventions and in reuniting alcoholics and addicts with their families.
Noreen Corcoran, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Noreen Corcoran, who grew up before television viewers in the 1950s and 60s as a teenager during five seasons of the sitcom “Bachelor Father,” died on Friday in Van Nuys, Calif. She was 72.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Overlooked TV: Sherlock Holmes
Ronald Howard looks a great deal like his father, and he's an excellent Holmes, whom he portrays as a young, almost lighthearted, man, excited about science and acutely observant of little details, as you'd expect. Crawford is a favorite of mine as Watson, who's no dope here. He's a bit serious, amazed at Holmes' methods (as who isn't?), and able to provide a bit of muscle when needed. Archie Duncan is Inspector Lestrade, and he's the comedy relief. He's good at it, too.
The show was filmed on a sound stage in France with a budget of about a buck-fifty per episode, but it does a good bit with what it has. Most episodes aren't based on Doyle's stories, though some are. Most of them use pretty simple crimes, but they're still fun. If you watch the embedded episode, you'll see that the first half is the meeting of Holmes and Watson from A Study in Scarlet, while the second half is the crime and solution (such as it is). I'm enjoying these shows, and I recommend them whether you're a Holmes fan or not.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Dale Griffin, R. I. P.
Mott the Hoople Drummer Dale Griffin Dies at 67: Drummer Terence Dale “Buffin” Griffin, a founding member of Mott the Hoople, has passed away at the age of 67 following a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Glenn Frey, R. I. P.
Glenn Frey, Eagles co-founder and SoCal country-rock pioneer, dead at 67: LOS ANGELES — Glenn Frey, the singer and guitarist who co-founded the Eagles and enjoyed a second wind as a solo artist and television actor, has died, the band confirmed Monday on its website. He was 67.
Gary Loizzo, R. I. P.
Gary Loizzo, American Breed Singer and Engineer of Hit Records by Styx, Dies: Gary Loizzo, who had a Top 10 hit in 1967 with “Bend Me, Shape Me” as the lead singer of the American Breed, died on Saturday (Jan. 16). In addition to his recording career, he owned Pumpkin Studios, where he engineered many hit albums by Styx, and had also been Styx’s live soundman for many years.
Alvin, Texas, Inexplicably Included!
The Most Underrated Places in Texas Located in Alvin, Texas this little gem is a perfect way to enjoy a day outside or even shopping for grocery's.
Apostrophe also inexplicably included. Hat tip to Seepy Benton.
Apostrophe also inexplicably included. Hat tip to Seepy Benton.
The Godfather Update
Consequence of Sound: This month HBO is airing a never-before-seen seven-and-a-half hour version of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. The Godfather Epic, as its aptly titled, consists of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II cut together chronologically with additional footage left out of the theatrical screenings.
Peggy Anderson, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Peggy Anderson, who never wanted to become a nurse, like her mother, but wrote a best-selling book to correct stereotypes about the profession, died on Sunday in Philadelphia. She was 77.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Ted Marchibroda, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Ted Marchibroda, who coached the Baltimore Colts to three consecutive N.F.L. division championships in the 1970s and later installed a high-powered no-huddle offense that helped propel the Buffalo Bills to four straight Super Bowl games, died on Saturday in Weems, Va. He was 84.
Texas Led the Way
The Guy Who Pushed a Peanut Up Pikes Peak—With His Nose: The Texan accepted a $500 wager from a friend that he couldn't complete the task within 22 days.
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