Police called to South Euclid Taco Bell due to dispute over 'Fire' or 'Mild' sauce
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
He Should Have Used a Gub
Man wearing leopard print robe and Crocs used a hairbrush to rob McDonald’s
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
UT establishes the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting | Arts & Culture: Two worthy sports writers will be selected this year as the inaugural winners of the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting. The fact that the award named after the legendary Fort Worth sports writer known for bleeding TCU purple is based at the University of Texas doesn’t make it Dead Solid Perfect, but maybe that’s Life Its Ownself.
Hat tip to Art Scott.
Hat tip to Art Scott.
I Want to Believe!
Idaho woman blames Bigfoot for crashing MOSCOW, Idaho - An Idaho woman claimed her Wednesday crash into a deer on Highway 95 caused by Bigfoot.
Books for Sale: Marv Lachman
Mystery Fanfare: Books for Sale: Marv Lachman: Mystery Readers Journal columnist Marv Lachman is selling many of the books (about 5,000) from his 60 years of mystery collecting. This includes Hardcovers, Paperbacks (many of which are paperback originals), Sherlockiana, Short Story Anthologies, Reference works, and Biographies. If interested, please get in touch with Marv at the following e-mail address (copy and omit spaces)
Museum of Vampires and Legendary Creatures
Atlas Obscura: The macabre collection of Jacques Sirgent, an expert scholar on the undead and all of their trappings.
I Miss the Old Days
Smoking Banana Peels Is the Greatest Drug Hoax of All Time: They called it mellow yellow.
Fran Lebowitz: By the Book
Fran Lebowitz: By the Book: I’ve read all the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout. He wrote many of them, but not enough for Fran.
Lola Albright, R. I. P.
Hollywood Reporter: Lola Albright, the charming actress with the smoky voice who sang and starred on TV's Peter Gunn and was spurned by the back-stabbing Kirk Douglas in the classic 1949 boxing drama Champion, has died. She was 92.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Another Cool Interview with Me
PAUL BISHOP ~ WRITER: ALLIGATOR MAN—BILL CRIDER: This is another interview where full disclosure is required. Bill Crider and I have been friends since our early days of mystery fandom and fanzines. We both broke into professional fiction writing in the mid-eighties, both in (different) men’s adventure series paperbacks published under pseudonyms. Since those days, we’ve continued our friendship through years of publishing successes under our own names, mystery conventions, tales of recreational running, and shared collecting obsessions...
Dangerous to Know -- Renee Patrick
But the smuggling case is a minor problem. The main case has to do with a pianist named Jens Lohse, who's disappeared. Marlene Dietrich asks Head to try to find him, and Head enlists Frost. The case becomes complicated with gangsters, Nazis, and more real-life Hollywood personalities than you can shake a stick at. Lillian's love life gets more complicated, too.
The book is just plain fun to read, especially if you love movies and old Hollywood. Patrick doesn't skimp on research, and the book's packed with details that ring absolutely true because they are. Since both Frost and Head are at the beginnings of their careers, I hope we can look forward to many years of sequels to come.
Forgotten Hits: March 24th
Forgotten Hits: March 24th: "I Think We're Alone Now" begins its fifth week at #1 on The WLS Silver Dollar Survey ...
FFB: Homicide Trinity -- Rex Stout
When people ask me who my favorite writers are, I often forget to mention Rex Stout. So let me say it right here: Stout is one of my favorite writers. When I discovered his work 50 years or so ago, I immediately tracked down every book in the Nero Wolfe series up to that point and then read the new ones as they appeared. I even helped John McAleer a little bit with some research on his bio of Stout. That doesn't put me in the class with my friends Steve Stilwell and Art Scott, who have read the entire series so many times that I've lost count. They're the experts as far as I'm concerned.In my current situation, I find rereading old favorites is a comfort, so I naturally picked up a Nero Wolfe book. This one is a collection of three novellas, "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo," "Death of a Demon," and "Counterfeit Murder." In the first, a woman is murdered in Wolfe's own office with one of Wolfe's ties. He is not happy. In the second, a woman brings a revolver to the office and tells Wolfe she's not going to kill her husband with it. And in the third, a landlady tell Wolfe that she wants him to make the cops "eat dirt."
All three stories are told by one of my favorite narrators, Archie Goodwin, and all three work in some of the usual details about Wolfe's brownstone, its inhabitants, and Wolfe's habits and prejudices. All three are resolved at the usual gathering of suspects in Wolfe's office. Wolfe doesn't always have a lot to go on, and sometimes no evidence at all, but the results are, as always, satisfactory.
You can't to wrong with Stout, Goodwin, and Nero Wolfe.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee
Brawl between 2 women at Waffle House in Auburn caught on video: Payne said the fight started after one worker asked another to move so she could wash dishes.
John "Sib" Hashian, R. I. P.
CBS News: NASHVILLE, Tenn. --John “Sib” Hashian, former drummer for the arena rock band Boston, died on board a rock cruise ship Wednesday. He was 67.
How Big Can a Land Animal Get?
How Big Can a Land Animal Get?: King Kong’s biggest enemy isn’t humans—it’s the laws of physics
The Strange Fate of Taco Bell's Taco-Making Machine
Mental Floss: As the fast-service food industry continues to look toward automation to streamline order processing and minimize the role human employees play behind the counter, it’s interesting to note that the seasoned beef peddlers at Taco Bell were well ahead of the curve. In the 1990s, the company developed and installed the Taco-Matic, a giant machine that could assemble their classic taco in mere seconds.
I Found a Penny in the Walmart Parking Lot Last Week
Crusader Shipwreck, Likely From the Siege of Acre, Discovered: The boat in the Bay of Haifa included ceramics and a stash of gold coins
Forgotten Hits: March 23rd
Forgotten Hits: March 23rd: The highest debut this week (and for the year so far) belongs to The Monkees as their brand new single, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" premiers in the #32 spot. "Sunday For Tea" by Peter and Gordon bows at #70 and The Spencer Davis Group have a new single at #75 that will go on to become a classic rock staple … "I'm A Man", will be recorded by numerous artists over the years.
Kong: Skull Island
My friend Max Allan Collins walked out of Kong: Skull Island after 50 minutes. I stayed and had a good time. To quote Binx Bolling in Walker Percy's The Moviegoer, “The fact is I am quite happy in a movie, even a bad movie." Not that I thought this was a bad movie, just not a very good one if you're looking for a good script or depth of character. If you're looking for some spectacular action, though, you'll find you're in the right place.
At the end of the Vietnam conflict, John Goodman leads an expedition to Skull Island to prove that what he saw there in 1946 was real. He has a military escort led by Samuel L. Jackson. Both groups offer lots of diversity and hastily sketched characters. Tom Hiddleston is the guide, and Brie Larson is the photographer. They look great but are pretty much ciphers. John C. Reilly is the American who's been trapped on the island since WWII. He steals the movie, except for Kong, who's an awesome presence.
The movie takes a while to get started, but then it delivers the goods: action, CGI monsters, human conflicts, and Kong. Did I mention that Kong was awesome? I went on "3D Discount Day." I got my money's worth.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Dallas Green, R. I. P.
Houston Chronicle: PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dallas Green, the tough-talking manager who guided the Philadelphia Phillies to their first World Series championship, died Wednesday. He was 82.
Forgotten Hits: March 22nd
Forgotten Hits: March 22nd: "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley moves from #58 to #41, a jump of 17 places, "Tell Me To My Face" by Keith climbs from #73 to #54, a move of 19 places, "Don’t You Care" by The Buckinghams jumps from #95 to #65, a leap of thirty places, "Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got" by Jimmy Ruffin (brother of Temptations vocalist David Ruffin) climbs from #89 to #66 (that's a 23 point move), "At The Zoo" by Simon and Garfunkel climbs twenty spots from #88 to #68 and "On A Carousel" by The Hollies makes a 17 point leap from #90 to #73.
Chemo #4
If everything is on schedule, I should be sitting in the Mayes Clinic at M.D. Anderson, waiting for the blood draw that precedes my visit with the oncologist. That visit precedes chemo treatment #4, and after that one, only two more to go. So far I'm doing pretty well, and I hope that continues. As always, prayers, good thoughts, good karma, and cash in small bills (but large amounts) will be appreciated. Some of the cash seems to have gotten lost on its way to me last time, but they other things got through and did me good.
Chuck Barris, R. I. P.
'Gong Show' Host Was 87: He also produced 'The Dating Game' and 'The Newlywed Game,' shadowed Dick Clark for a year and wrote 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' and the pop song "Palisades Park."
As Is His Constitutional Right
Houston Chronicle: SAN ANTONIO — A man dropped his pants at the Alamo on Saturday then rode a stick pony and swung a rubber chicken, and it almost got him arrested.
Bonus FFB on Wednesday: The Machine in Ward Eleven -- Charles Willeford
I've had a copy of the Belmont edition of this book for well over forty years, but I'd never read it. Then I picked up the 2001 reissue by No Exit Press and decided I'd give it a go. The covers on the two editions are the same, but the No Exit copy is a trade paperback. Three stories here feature a main character named J.C. Blake, the title story, "Selected Incidents," and "Jake's Journal." The first and last are first person accounts; the second is related to a listener by a Hollywood producer. The stories don't appear in chronological order, with the third one being set at the earliest time. However, it's not clear if this is the same Blake, as it seems unlikely that it could be. Trust me on this. The first and third Blake stories deal with forms of madness, and in "The Machine . . . ." Blake is in the madhouse and not likely to be leaving.
"Just Like on Television" is a very funny police interrogation. "A Letter to A.A." is a criticism (maybe) of how getting sober might not work out for anyone involved with the alcoholic. "The Alectryomancer" has to do with fortune telling and the powers of the mind. The stories are told in Willeford's spare style, and while the collection's not on a par with most of Willeford's novels, it's worth a look.
ToC:
"The Machine in Ward Eleven"
"Selected Incidents"
"A Letter to A.A. (Almost Anybody)"
"Jake's Journal"
"Just Like on Television"
"The Alectryomancer"
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Hap and Leonard - The Young Adventures of Hap and Leonard
Hap and Leonard - The Young Adventures of Hap and Leonard: In the River of the Dead (Chapter 1): Journey back in time to witness one of Hap and Leonard’s young adventures in this never-before-seen story by Joe R. Lansdale, “In the River of the Dead”. Sign up today to receive weekly chapters in your inbox.
Overlooked Movies -- Song of Old Wyoming
There's no trailer available for this available, but you can watch the whole movie on YouTube if you want to. That's what I did. Why? Well, if you look at the bottom left of the poster, you'll see the reason. The actor is billed as Al LaRue, and you might be familiar with the outfit. He plays The Cheyenne Kid, and while the nominal star is Eddie Dean, who sings the songs and gets the girl, it's LaRue who steals the picture with that black outfit and his bullwhip. This was the first of three movies LaRue made with Dean He wears the outfit in two, but uses the whip again in only one. After that he graduated to his own series, where he was, of course, known as Lash LaRue.The plot of Song of Old Wyoming won't win any prizes for originality. The crooked town banker wants the ranch belonging to Ma Conway, who's not going to give it up. She believes that if Wyoming can just become a state, all her troubles will be over. Eddie Dean rides for her, and he doesn't wear guns. He's in love with her adopted daughter, Vicky. The banker hires The Cheyenne Kid to get help get hold of the property, and he goes to work for Ma. Vicky engages in some serious flirting with the Kid, and Dean doesn't like it a bit, even though the Kid saves his life when one of the baddies draws on him. Dean and the Kid have a pretty good fist fight before it's all over. The Kid is easily rustling all of Ma's cattle, but at the end he (of course) comes to his senses. Dean straps on his pistols, with which (surprise!) he's darn good, and the final gunfight is on, with the Kid on the side of the ranch. Would you believe that Ma had a son who disappeared when he was young? And would you believe that . . . well, far be it from me to spoil any surprises.
There's not a lot of singing in the movie, and the print I saw wasn't a good one, but it's fun to see Dean and LaRue in the same film, especially knowing what it's going to mean for LaRue's career. If you like the B-westerns of the '40s, check it out.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Robert B Silvers, R. I. P.
The Guardian: Revered New York Review of Books editor Robert B Silvers, who served as founding editor of the magazine for more than 53 years, died on Monday morning.
The Soak -- Patrick E. McLean
Hobb is sixty and maybe past his prime in the "heavy heist" game. When the book opens, he is coming out of a coma in a rest home. He has some barely healed bullet wounds and has been beaten to a pulp and left behind a trash bin. We don't know what's happened, but we do know he wants out of the rest home. And then we find out that he's a stone killer.He escapes the rest home and goes on the run. Pursuing him are the cops and a rogue FBI agent. You might think, "Gee, not another rogue FBI agent." Well, trust me, you've never met a rogue FBI agent like this one.
Part Two of the book is the flashback section in which we find out what happens. A computer-savvy kid finds Hobbs and proposes the biggest armored car heist in U.S. history. I'm not going to spoil the fun by going any further into the plot than that, but you know the drill: Things don't always go as planned.
The Soak is as hard-boiled as they come. Anyone can die at any time. The pacing never lets up. The prose is terse and sharp. There are no good guys, although you'll find yourself rooting for Hobbs. This is a good one. Check it out.
I Found a Penny in the Walmart Parking Lot Last Week
Found: A Treasure Trove of Candy Wrappers Dating Back to the Depression: They were hidden in a circulation chamber in an old Chicago theater.
It's Spring!
[in Just-]
BY E. E. CUMMINGS
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
BY E. E. CUMMINGS
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Jimmy Breslin, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Jimmy Breslin — the cigar-chomping, hard-nosed newspaperman who won the Pulitzer Prize for his Daily News’ columns championing ordinary New Yorkers — died Sunday morning. He was 88.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Bernie Wrightson, R.I.P.
Bernie Wrightson, R.I.P.: The very popular comic artist and illustrator Bernie Wrightson passed away yesterday after a long battle with brain cancer.
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