Police looking for man they said slashed grocery store employee who accused him of stealing Fruity Pebbles
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Saturday, April 02, 2016
I Miss the Old Days
The amphibious car that LBJ used to prank people: 1960s
The Amphicar
"The fastest car on the water and the fastest boat on the road."
I saw one of these drive into Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) in Austin when I was an undergraduate at UT in the very early '60s. I have no idea if LBJ was behind the wheel.
I saw one of these drive into Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) in Austin when I was an undergraduate at UT in the very early '60s. I have no idea if LBJ was behind the wheel.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
11alive.com: When you think about what you'll be doing when you get into your 90s, most of you probably hope to be relaxing and enjoying retirement.
But not one 91-year-old man in Dickinson. He's patrolling the streets, getting to know neighbors and keeping the city safe.
Ronnie Corbett, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Ronnie Corbett, the diminutive comedian who teamed with Ronnie Barker to delight audiences for almost two decades on the hit BBC comedy show “The Two Ronnies,” died on Thursday. He was 85.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Frank De Felitta, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Frank De Felitta, who wrote “Audrey Rose,” a best-selling horror novel about reincarnation, because, he said, he suspected that his own son might be channeling a dead pianist, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 94.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Friday, April 01, 2016
Gary Warren Niebuhr Retires
Gary Warren Niebuhr Retires: Greendale Public Library Director Gary Warren Niebuhr announced his retirement after 36 years of public service and today is his last day. (not kidding though Gary is often hysterically funny so it’s the perfect day for his last day)
Those of you who know Gary (and even those who don't) will enjoy this.
Those of you who know Gary (and even those who don't) will enjoy this.
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Ariel (Classic Crime Library Book 16) - Kindle edition by Lawrence Block. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. “Originally marketed as "occult horror", Ariel is neither. It's a story of the madness that lies just under the surface, and what it takes to bring it out; the need to give evil a face and a name. Who better to scapegoat for unexplainable tragedies than the one who is Different? Ariel is adopted, and looks slightly unusual. Her unstable mother never fails to assume the worst, almost deliberately misreading the girl's ordinary teenage perceptiveness and need for privacy. By the book's end, almost everyone believes that Ariel is a monster -- including Ariel herself.
Literature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts
Literature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts: This is a unique reading list - these books were all written by librarians and most of them were recommended to us by librarians. If any profession is well qualified to write books then librarians truly fit the bill.
It's April Fools' Day!
April Fools' Day: Origin and History: April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.
FFB: Horrible Beginnings, Steven H. Silver and Martin H. Greenberg, editors
Here we go again, with another anthology I bought mainly for the introductions to the stories rather than for the stories themselves. The other one was Wondrous Beginnings, which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I have to say that Wondrous Beginnings is a much better title than Horrible Beginnings. The anthology is a collection of the first horror stories by noted writers, true, but the editors should've done better by them. I've tried to come up with an alternate title without success. Maybe you can think of one.The idea here is the same as it was Wondrous Beginnings, with the writers introducing their first published horror stories and telling how they broke into print. Some of the writers had been published before, but not in the horror fiction field, but most of them became professional writers with their first horror sales. This time, two of the intros are written by others because the writers were dead when the anthology was put together. Fred Pohl does fine by Henry Kuttner, and Stefan R. Diemianowicz also well with Robert Bloch's intro. It's too bad the writers weren't around to tell their own stories, though, because I'm sure they'd have been more personal and therefore more interesting.
Thomas Monteleone provides the longest intro this time around, and it even includes footnotes. And this time it's Tanith Lee whose intro is longer than the story, which has only 100 words. A couple of the writers here started out with novels and wrote short stories only after becoming well-known writers, which was almost the case with me. Some of the introductions are more detailed and personal than others, but they're all fascinating.
One thing I noticed was that several of the writers submitted without success to Twilight Zone before finally making that big first sale. I'm not in the book, but I'm one of the writers who tried TZ a time or two without success. One of those stories was eventually published as a collaboration with Joe Lansdale in Black Cat, a Canadian semi-prozine, and reprinted years later in a collection of Joe's worst stories (or something like that; I can't remember the title of the book).
I'd read a number of these stories before, and there are a couple of others I want to read Real Soon Now, but this is for sure another book in which the introductions are worth the price.
Horrible Beginnings -- Table of Contents
Robert Bloch, Lilies, 1934
Henry Kuttner, The Graveyard Rats, 1936
Ramsey Campbell, The Church in High Street, 1962
Tanith Lee, Eustace, 1968
Ed Bryant, They Come Only in Dreams, 1970
F. Paul Wilson, The Cleaning Machine, 1971
Thomas Monteleone, Agony in the Garden, 1973
Neil Gaiman, The Case of Four and Twenty Blackbirds, 1984
Yvonne Navarro, Surprise Fall, 1984
Kim Newman, Dreamers, 1984
Poppy Z. Brite, Optional Music for Voice and Piano, 1985
Gary A. Braunbeck, Amymone's Footsteps, 1986
Rick Hautala, Colt .24, 1987
Elizabeth Hand, Prince of Flowers, 1988
Kathe Koja, Distances, 1988
P.N. Elrod, The Wind Breathes Cold, 1992
Matt Costello, Deep Sleep, 1992
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Remembering the day Fabio got goosed at Busch Gardens - Daily Press
Remembering the day Fabio got goosed at Busch Gardens: The date was March 30, 1999. One day later and the newspaper stories would have run on April Fool's Day. People across the country would have dismissed it as a hoax.
The Persecution Has Ended (at least in Las Vegas)
11 Things Las Vegas Has Banned for Some Reason: 5. PARIS HILTON
Getty Images
Following her 2010 arrest for cocaine possession, the famous-for-being-famous heiress was banned from both of Las Vegas’s Wynn Hotels by the owner, Steve Wynn. The controversial billionaire, who also banned Lil Wayne from the same hotels, eventually recanted and allowed Paris to party at his hotel clubs again a few months ago.
Archaeology Update
Rare example of lost language found on stone hidden 2500 years ago: This could change our understanding of the mysterious Etruscan civilization in Italy.
Shannon Bolin, R. I. P.
New York Times: Shannon Bolin, an actress and singer best remembered as Meg Boyd, the loyal and heartsick wife who was left behind in the original Broadway production of “Damn Yankees” as well as the subsequent movie adaptation, died on Friday in Manhattan. She was 99.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Maggie Blye, R. I. P.
Hollywood Reporter: Maggie Blye, the blond Houston actress who supported such action films as Hombre, Hard Times and the original The Italian Job, has died. She was 73.
ONE WORLD | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN
ONE WORLD | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: “The outstanding development of last year’s Prize Contest,” wrote EQMM editor Frederic Dannay in his introduction to our magazine’s August 1948 “All Nations” issue, “was the unexpectedly large number of stories sent in from foreign countries and their remarkable range of geographical representation. Manuscripts were submitted from Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Union of South Africa, Algeria, Southern Rhodesia, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Portugal. This united effort on the part of detective-story writers proved that while we still have a long way to go politically, the planet Earth is truly One World detective-storywise.”
The Morbid Anatomy Museum.
The Grotesque 100-Year Old Wax Figures on Display in Brooklyn: The Morbid Anatomy Museum, a 4,200-square-foot space that dominates an unassuming street corner of south Brooklyn, contains a secret. The museum is well known for its lectures on any manner of curious topics, its popular taxidermy workshops, and its research library. But until May 30th, it is also the home to what is quite possibly the largest and widest ranging wax anatomical collection on view in the country, "House of Wax".
Maybe Jeff Meyerson will send us a report.
Maybe Jeff Meyerson will send us a report.
Paging Sheriff Dan Rhodes
Guess how much money this sherriff’s department spends on cowboy hats: “We do it because we’re trying to catch up. Every law enforcement agency in the area has a hat and we don’t. Now we have a hat,” Sheriff Doc Holladay explained to KATV.
Texas Gator Squad Back in Action
Texas Gator Squad called to Pearland to capture alligator: Residents had allegedly been feeding, and even touching, the alligator, making her feel more welcome, which is not proper alligator safety etiquette.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Patty Duke, R. I. P.
abc7ny.com: Patty Duke, who won an Oscar as a teen for "The Miracle Worker" and maintained a long and successful career throughout her life, has died at the age of 69.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Trap of Solid Gold: "Common Denominator"
The Trap of Solid Gold: "Common Denominator": John D MacDonald’s science fiction received little if any critical attention during his lifetime. Besides the book reviews of his three sf novels -- almost all of which appeared in science fiction magazines -- and Martin H. Greenberg’s introduction to his 1978 short story collection Other Times, Other Worlds, I’m not aware of any serious attempt by anyone to come to terms with the body of this material.
I'm Sure You'll All Agree
Superhero Movies, Ranked: Thus far, 2016 is the year of the superhero. Deadpool and Batman v. Superman both shattered the box office, proving that audiences can’t get enough of costumes and powers. But what’s the best superhero movie of all time? And what’s the worst? Here’s our ranking of all 109 superhero movies to date.
James Noble, R. I. P.
The New York Times: James Noble, the actor best known for his role as the absent-minded governor on the hit 1980s sitcom “Benson,” died on Monday at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut. He was 94.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
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, March 28, 2016
Family Reunion
The top photo was taken of me, my sister (Francelle), and my brother (Bob) at the family reunion last weekend in Pt. Enterprise, Texas. The other photo was taken a few years prior to that, in a time and place as impossible to return to now as Hector's Troy or Arthur's England, except in a picture, a story, or a dream.
The Donner Party Story You Might Not Know
How the Donner Party Inspired the Invention of Condensed Milk
One thing I learned at the family reunion is that I'm related to descendants of members of the Donner Party.
One thing I learned at the family reunion is that I'm related to descendants of members of the Donner Party.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Kasey Lansdale Update: I Want to Believe!
The Investigations Continue: Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot Premiere March 31: Tennessee: The team is heading back to Tennessee with their sights on the bright lights of Nashville. They attend a sasquatch-based festival – Squatchytonk – and meet with country music singer Kasey Lansdale. Kasey accompanies the team out into the forest hoping to serenade some country-music-loving bigfoots.
Family Reunion
I'm back from the reunion, but I'll be out most of the day on Monday because I have to take my daughter to the airport. Normal blogging should resume on Tuesday. Assuming there is such a thing as normal blogging.This picture of my younger brother and me was taken at the family reunion. We were on the porch of an old house (built around the turn of the 20th century) that has been moved from our hometown to a nearby state park.
First It Was the Thin Mint Melee
Daily Mail Online: Marauding parents in Easter Egg hunt rampage: Out-of-control adults push children to the ground, steal their buckets and leave one four-year-old 'bloody' at chaotic free event
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Jim Harrison, R. I. P.
‘Legends of the Fall’ author Jim Harrison dead at 78: Jim Harrison, considered one of the great writers in contemporary American fiction and author of the novella Legends of the Fall, has died at age 78 at his home in Patagonia, Arizona.
Novelists concocted elaborate fake histories for mysterious caves in Virginia.
Atlas Obscura: A cave is a perfect mystery: dark, dangerous, and filled with pristine evidence. The caves underneath western Virginia attest to million-year geological transformations, but they also harbor intrigue on a human scale. The discovery of these subterranean wonders in the 1800s spawned a genre of local lore and popular fiction–call it “the romance of the cave”–in which crystal caverns became theaters for passion and politics.
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