Saturday, February 04, 2017
Friday, February 03, 2017
Gator Update (Texas Leading the Way Edition)
Daily Mail Online: Animal lover quits her job as a dental nurse and sets up her own business CATCHING wild alligators - saying they're not scary just 'misunderstood'
FFB: Beneath a Panamanian Moon -- David Terrenoire
The cover plainly says "A Mystery," but this isn't a mystery novel. Yes, there is a mystery, but this is a balls-to-the wall spy novel, with plenty of humor and a great setting.John Harper has retired from the spy game, and all he wants to do is play piano in clubs and for parties in D.C., while having a great time with the women (he's irresistible). Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for the reader, he's forced back into the game. It seems that something strange is going on in Panama and that there just happens to be a need there for a piano player. Not far from Panama City in an abandoned resort, someone is training people for something big. Who's getting trained, and what's the something big? That's what Harper's to find out, and he does, but not until after many deaths, explosions, narrow escapes, chases, and pursuits. All with lots of snappy patter, great characters, and romance.
Along with the action, there's a wonderfully executed setting. You'll learn something about the history of the relations between the U.S., too, and Panama and about life in Panama City. Terrific entertainment all the way.
Thursday, February 02, 2017
Happy Birthday to Old Fred Williams
I mentioned one of my old friends the other day, and today I'm wishing a happy birthday to another one, Fred Williams (that's him on the left; he looks just the same now), who happens to be a couple of year older than I am. I don't know exactly when Fred and I became good friends, but it was probably around 1955 when we were both attending the meetings of the Methodist Youth Fellowship on Sunday evenings. It wasn't that we were extremely religious guys. There were other attractions.After MYF and church every week, a bunch of us Methodists would pile in cars and drive to The Lake, which was our name for the Fort Parker State Park. The attraction of The Lake was the clubhouse, which had and inside dance floor and a dance pavilion. You can see a bit of the pavilion in the photo. It had a wall on three sides, and a speaker hung over the center of it. The speaker was wired to the world's greatest jukebox, or that's what I thought it was.
I wasn't much of a dancer. Fred was a lot better, but he wasn't much more aggressive with the girls than I was. So we spent a good bit of time sitting on the wall, watching other people dance, listening to the small lake waves lapping on the shore while the Platters sang "Twilight Time," and talking. We both liked to read, we both liked rock 'n' roll, and we both felt a little sheepish about sitting on that wall.
Another thing we discovered was that we both liked to play a domino game called 42. So did a couple of others in the group, Bob Tyus, whom I've already written a little about, and Richard Perkins. We played a lot of 42 at The Lake after that, although not on Sunday nights. We'd go out there on other nights and play 42 in the room you entered to get to the dance floor of the clubhouse, which is where we'd hang out on Sunday evenings when the weather was too cold to go outside. There was one small table just right for 42 in the entrance room, and the people who ran the little snack bar in there had dominoes we could use. Those Sunday nights and the 42 games were some of the best times of my life.
Fred and I did get dates now and then, and I've written about how he and a girl he was dating got me a blind date with Judy. If Fred had never done anything else for me, I'd be in his debt forever just for that.
Fred and Bob and I bonded even more when we discovered the Kingston Trio. We loved the sound of that group, and like thousands of other kids at that time, we bought guitars, learned three chords, and started picking and singing together. We weren't much good and either the picking or the singing (Fred was the best), but we had a great time. We even performed a few times for local civic clubs. Our comedy act was great even if our singing and playing weren't.
When Fred went off to college, we wrote regularly, and he came home often. When I went to UT to grad school, Fred was already there, on his way to getting his doctorate in management. He and his cousin Paul used to come over to Judy's and my apartment on Sunday afternoons to watch the Dallas Cowboys and drink Mai Tais. After we got our degrees and went our separate ways, we stayed in touch through old-fashioned letters, and now we're emailing almost daily. We don't see each other in person often, but I think we're as close as ever. One of the things that makes me happy is that friendships like ours can endure for a lifetime. Happy birthday, Fred!
Wednesday, February 01, 2017
Bonus FFB on Wednesday: Wake Up to Murder -- Day Keene
Stark House is bringing out a great Day Keene triple-decker. You couldn't buy even one of the original editions of the three books included here for the price of this volume, and if you did, you'd miss out on David Laurence Wilson's introduction. It's mostly about Joy House, and if you're interested in paperbacks of the '50s, it's a must read. Wilson's re-edited the original manuscript for this volume, so that's another big bonus.I read Wake Up to Murder because I have a copy of the original edition that I've never read. It's a bit fragile, so I was glad to have this new copy. The story's about an ordinary guy, Jim Charters, who has an okay job, lives in an okay house in an okay neighborhood, and is married to a beautiful woman. He drinks too much now and then, and when he's fired on his birthday (which his wife seems to have forgotten), he goes out and ties one on. He wakes up in bed with no memory of the night before and a woman who (and this surprised me) is very much alive. Plus there's an envelope with $10,000 in it.
So what does someone want Charters to do for the money? And how did he get it? When he drinks, he talks too much, so he probably shot off his mouth about something, but what? And to whom? Did he say something about the woman that he'd just visited in the Death House? Why would anybody care about her? Even more complications ensue, and soon Charters is on the run, accused of murder, and his wife has been kidnapped. It's just one thing after another until it's all wrapped up.
Wake Up to Murder is one of those paperbacks that seems to have been aimed at Gold Medal and just missed. That means it's still very well done, and it's worth reading just for the descriptions of the Sunshine Coast of Florida in the early 1950s. Keene's excellent on the details. Great stuff.
Chemo #2
I'm at M.D. Anderson today to get the second chemo infusion. I had a couple of bad days from the side-effects after the first one, but they weren't awful. I hope this round doesn't get any worse. Your support means a lot to me, and any prayers, good thoughts, and good karma are much appreciated.
A Pistoleer Goes Semi Auto
A Pistoleer Goes Semi Auto: Frank James started riding the outlaw trail in the 1860s, armed with percussion revolvers, and ended up in the 20th century, packing a 1903 Hammerless Colt.
PaperBack
Ellery Queen (Daniel Nathan [Frederic Dannay] and Emanuel Benjamin Lepofsky [Manfred Bennington Lee]), The American Gun Mystery, Dell, 1943
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
John Wetton, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Asia co-founder and lead singer John Wetton died Tuesday morning after losing his battle to colon cancer. He was 67.
Wetton first grew to fame in the early 1970’s when he became part of rock groups King Crimson, Roxy Music and Uriah Heep.
Real-Life Horror Movie Locations
Real-Life Horror Movie Locations: Looking for a theme for your next road trip? How about “Places Where My Favorite Horror Films Were Shot”? If that appeals to you, here are a few scary spots you’ll want to add to your agenda.
Overlooked Movies -- The Spanish Main
Let's get the obvious out of the way first: Paul Henreid is no Errol Flynn. Oh, he tries hard and grins a lot, but he doesn't have the same panache. When it comes to buckling a swash, Flynn can't be topped. But that doesn't mean The Spanish Main isn't a lot of fun, because it is. Henreid is Laruent van Horn, a Dutchman who's turned pirate because he's been wronged by the corrupt Spanish governor (Walter Slezak) and thrown in prison. He escapes, and turns pirate. Now he's known as The Barracuda, and he's the terror of the Spanish Main. When he captures a ship on which the beautiful Francesca (Maureen O'Hara) is sailing, he's also going after the escort ship. She begs him not to and marries him to prevent it, although she's on her way to marry the corrupt governor, whom she's never seen.
You can probably figure out the rest. O'Hara and Henreid are really in love, though they won't admit it (that would be too easy). There are betrayals and imprisonments and sword fights, and all ends just as you'd want it to.
The Technicolor makes the picture wonderful to look at, as does Maureen O'Hara. Walter Slezak steals every scene he's in by being both comic and menacing at the same time. The only reason he doesn't steal the whole picture is that Binnie Barnes, as Anne Bonney, does a good job of stealing all her scenes, too. She's terrific.
One of my reasons for watching this movie was that Fritz Leiber (the father of the renowned SF writer of the same name) has a role as a priest. You can see him in the crummy clip (there's no trailer available) provided below.
The movie's a lot of fun, and the writers are obviously channeling Sabatini. Not up to the Flynn pirate movies, but well worth a look.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
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