Saturday, November 19, 2016
Friday, November 18, 2016
Sharon Jones, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Sharon Jones, the soul singer and powerful voice of the band the Dap-Kings, died on Friday of pancreatic cancer that had been in remission but returned last year. She was 60.
Dr. Denton Cooley, R. I. P.
Dr. Denton Cooley, pioneer of heart transplants, dies at 96: HOUSTON - Dr. Denton Cooley, a Houston native and a pioneer of heart transplants, died Friday. He was 96.
Lisa Lynn Masters, R. I. P.
AOL Entertainment: Lisa Lynn Masters, a model and veteran television actress who had appeared on Ugly Betty, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and most recently Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, has died while on a model assignment in Peru. She was 52.
Mentor Williams, R. I. P.
Rolling Stone: Mentor Williams, the award-winning writer of "Drift Away," the easygoing pop classic recorded by Dobie Gray in 1973, died Wednesday morning, according to the Taos News. A longtime resident of Taos, New Mexico, Williams was the younger brother of songwriter-actor Paul Williams and was preceded in death by brother John Williams, a distinguished NASA engineer. He was 70.
Rakotzbrücke Devil's Bridge
Rakotzbrücke Devil's Bridge: This jaw-dropping 19th-century bridge uses its reflection to form a perfect circle.
FFB: Hard-Boiled -- Bill Pronzini and Jack Adrian, editors
Hard-Boiled is an excellent anthology. You can see why just by looking at the table of contents down below. Most of the writers are probably well known to fans of hard-boiled fiction, so you know what a treat the stories are. A good many of them haven't been reprinted often, so it was especially good to be reading them for the first time. There were a couple of writers I wasn't familiar with (James Hannah and William Cole) and one I knew under another name (Michael Kerr, who's also Robert Hoskins, a name I was familiar with from science fiction).The introduction to the volume is excellent, as are all the introductions to the stories, whether by Pronzini or Adrian. This is a book that anyone interested in the history of crime-fiction fan should own, and since it's from Oxford University Press, it's probably still in print. It's over 500 pages, but the stories are so much fun that I read it in a couple of days. You can't go wrong with this one.
UPDATE: Some people (including one of the editors) have mentioned in the comments that the book isn't in print and that there's no e-edtion. But the Oxford University Press site is selling the book at this link, and they mention that an e-edition is available. I don't know if you can actually get the book if you order it, but it might be worth a try.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Scorched Face
By Dashiell Hammett
Round Trip
By W. R. Burnett
Mistral
By Raoul Whitfield
Backwash
By Frederick Nebel
Trouble-Chaser
By Paul Cain
Fruit Tramp
By Daniel Mainwaring
Brush Fire
By James M. Cain
Human Interest Stuff
By Brett Halliday
Waiting for Rusty
By William Cole
I'll Be Waiting
By Raymond Chandler
Marijuana and a Pistol
By Chester Himes
Who Said I Was Dead?
By Norbert Davis
Nor Iron Bars
By John D. MacDonald
Dock Walloper
By Benjamin Appel
Three-Ten to Yuma
By Elmore Leonard
The Bobby-Soxer
By Jonathan Craig
Black Pudding
By David Goodis
Guilt-Edged Blonde
By Ross Macdonald
Mama's Boy
By David Alexander
The Screen Test of Mike Hammer
By Mickey Spillane
Home
By Gil Brewer
So Pale, So Cold, So Fair
By Leigh Brackett
A Piece of Ground
By Helen Nielsen
The Merry, Merry Christmas
By Evan Hunter
Forever After
By Jim Thompson
The Old Pro
By H. A. DeRosso
The Saturday Night Deaths
By Michael Kerr
Graveyard Shift
By James M. Reasoner
Deadhead Coming Down
By Margaret Maron
To Florida
By Robert Sampson
It's a Hard World
By Andrew Vachss
Junior Jackson's Parable
By James Hannah
Bonding
By Faye Kellerman
Gravy Train
By James Ellroy
Batman's Helpers
By Lawrence Block
The Long Silence After
By Ed Gorman
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Mexico City’s New Day of the Dead Parade
Mexico City’s New Day of the Dead Parade is Based on a James Bond Film: There was only one problem: the tradition depicted in the movie was completely made up. There are many traditions across Mexico that are associated with Day of the Dead, but a parade through downtown Mexico City has never been one of them.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Melvin Laird, R. I. P.
Ex-Pentagon chief Melvin Laird dies, architect of ‘Vietnamization’ policy: Melvin Laird, who as defense secretary under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973 helped extricate U.S. forces from the morass of the Vietnam War in a policy he dubbed “Vietnamization,” has died at age 94.
Who Are the Literary Brat Pack
Who Are the Literary Brat Pack - Meet Authors Donna Tartt, Jay McInerney, and Bret Easton Ellis: A generation of readers loved them. Critics largely despised them. And for a time, they were celebrated for their youth as much as their work. But they also helped change the course of American literature—and looked great doing it. "I think we made fiction fun again," says McInerney.
The World's Oldest Restaurant
Sobrino de Botin In a world where a restaurant existing for as long as a decade qualifies as a small miracle, Spain's Sobrino de Botin, which has been serving for over 200 years, is almost unbelievable.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Mose Allison, R. I. P.
Rolling Stone: Influential blues and jazz pianist Mose Allison, whose songs were covered by an array of rock veterans, died Tuesday at the age of 89 of natural causes. Allison's daughter, Amy, confirmed the musician's death to Rolling Stone.
Holly Dunn, R. I. P.
Billboard: Country singer Holly Dunn, a San Antonio native who had several hits in the 1980s and '90s, including 1986's "Daddy's Hands," about her minister father, has died. She was 59.
Jerry Dumas, R. I. P.
Greenwich’s Jerry Dumas, comic artist extraordinaire, dies at 86 - GreenwichTime: Jerry Dumas, a story-teller in words and pictures who reached millions of readers through his adept observations of the foibles and flaws of human nature, died Saturday at his home in Greenwich from neuroendocrine cancer.
He was 86.
His spare drawings and punchy quips for “Beetle Bailey” helped make it the second most popular comic strip in the world. His handiwork extended far beyond the funny pages: as a writer, poet, raconteur, painter, athlete and essayist, Dumas reached the pinnacle of success in a number of fields.
Hat tip to Steven Levine.
He was 86.
His spare drawings and punchy quips for “Beetle Bailey” helped make it the second most popular comic strip in the world. His handiwork extended far beyond the funny pages: as a writer, poet, raconteur, painter, athlete and essayist, Dumas reached the pinnacle of success in a number of fields.
Hat tip to Steven Levine.
How a Wine and Cocaine Cocktail became Coca Cola
How a Wine and Cocaine Cocktail became Coca Cola: But lesser known is the story about how Coca Cola originates from an alcoholic drink based on cocaine and wine, Bordeaux wine to be specific– a particular combination which made for a distinctly more toxic beverage, known as Coca Wine. During the second half of the 19th century, everyone was drinking the stuff.
Claire Labine, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Claire Labine, a nine-time Daytime Emmy Award winner whose dramatic plots and cliffhanger climaxes kept millions of television viewers returning day after day to “Ryan’s Hope,” “General Hospital,” “Love of Life” and other soap operas, died on Friday at her home in Somers, Conn. She was 82.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Overlooked Movies: Martin & Lewis At War with the Army
When I was 8 or 9 years old, I was already a fan of comedy teams. I liked Abbott and Costello, and and I was fond of the Three Stooges. Then I saw a movie called My Friend Irma, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis became my favorites. I especially liked Jerry. He was skinny and goofy-looking and a klutz. I could identify all too easily. So naturally I went to see At War with the Army, which I thought was the very soul of sophisticated wit. Watching it again the other day, I decided that I might've been wrong, but some of it's still funny to me, and I still love "The Navy Gets the Gravy and the Army Gets the Beans."The idea is that Dean and Jerry are in the Army during WWII. Dean is a sergeant, and Jerry is, of course, a private. They were friends and partners in civilian life, but now Dean is a bully and treats Jerry terribly. There's no reason for this at all, unless it's Dean's frustration with being stuck behind a desk when he wants to be in Europe, fighting.
The movie's based on a play, and the first half is very stage-bound. Some of the stuff is funny, and the jokes even reminded me a little of Catch-22. Unfortunately, Jerry makes a jaw-droppingly tone deaf joke about concentration camps. It might have gotten by in 1950, but it's really a flop now.
The second half of the movie opens things out, and if you've ever wanted to see Jerry Lewis in drag, this is your chance. I'll bet this part cracked me up in the old days.
Dean and Jerry do a few bits together, and the best one is their impersonation of Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Both of them are dead on target.
I'm not 8 or 9 years old anymore, and I don't laugh at the same things now that I did when I was young, but I still got some amusement from this movie. I'm not sure anyone else would, though.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Tom Neyman, R. I. P.
Fandom powered by Wikia: In 1966 Neyman took part in Warren's production of Manos: The Hands of Fate, playing the role of The Master. His daughter Jackie Neyman Jones played the role of Debbie. Neyman was also responsible for the set design on the film as well, and built the rigging that Reynolds used to portray Torgo as a saytr.
Hat tip to Deb.
Hat tip to Deb.
Gwen Ifill, R. I. P.
abc7ny.com: Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and co-anchor of PBS' "NewsHour" with Judy Woodruff, died on Monday of cancer, the network said.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
State Capitals Trivia: Why is Lansing the Capital of Michigan?
State Capitals Trivia: Why is Lansing the Capital of Michigan?: Lots of states have placed their capital city in their largest metropolitan area (Denver, Colorado) or in a place of strategic importance (Juneau, Alaska, is closest to the U.S. mainland). Others are a little more mystifying. Here’s why a lot of the less logically-placed state capitals are where they are.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
The Strange Perils of Running a Novelty Item Empire
The Strange Perils of Running a Novelty Item Empire: Handerpants, underwear for your hands! The internet's favorite horse head mask! The librarian action figure with “Amazing Shushing Action!”
Lupita Tovar, R. I. P.
Houston Chronicle: Mexican screen siren Lupita Tovar has died at the age of 106.
The actress starred in the 1931 Spanish-language version of “Dracula,” which was filmed simultaneously with the popular English-speaking version with Bela Lugosi.
Leon Russell, R. I. P.
The Independent: American musician and songwriter Leon Russell has died at the age of 74.
The artist, who is best known for the songs "Shine a Light" and "A Song for You" died in Nashville on Sunday.
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