abc7ny.com: Connie Hawkins, basketball's dazzling New York playground legend who soared and swooped his way to the Hall of Fame, has died at 75.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Saturday, October 07, 2017
I Miss the Old Days
The Hollywood Living Legend: Look at the Beauty of Young Angela Lansbury From Between the 1940s and 1950s: Born 1925 to an upper-middle-class family in Regents Park, central London, British-American-Irish actress Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury has appeared in theatre, television and film, as well as a producer, voice actress, singer, and songwriter. Her career has spanned seven decades, much of it in the United States, and her work has attracted international attention.
Friday, October 06, 2017
Ralphie May, R. I. P.
Deadline: Tributes are pouring in for Ralphie May, the popular comedian who died today at 45. The majority of reactions are coming from members of the tightknit stand-up community, who are using phrases such as “funny and sweet,” “one of the nicest and kindest out there” and “realest dude I’ve ever met.”
An Oldie but a Goodie
bare•bones e-zine: You Gotta Read These: Fifteen Paperbacks You Might Have Missed by Bill Crider: Now and then, this blog will run highlights from the golden days of The Scream Factory and bare•bones. We'll also be running pieces that were written for bare•bones but never published. Today, we're proud to "reprint" Bill Crider's list of 15 crime paperbacks you may not know about. Good luck hunting them down.
Forgotten Hits: October 6th
Forgotten Hits: October 6th: The Hollies have TWO new records on the chart this week … that's because they've switched record labels … so Epic Records, their new label, is pushing "King Midas In Reverse", which premiers at #67 and Imperial Records, their OLD record label, is still trying to make money off their catalog by releasing a remake of the old Doris Troy hit "Just One Look", which debuts at #80. It's working … those are the top two debuts on the chart this week!
Survey and some tunes to play included.
Survey and some tunes to play included.
Forgotten Magazine: Fantastic Science Fiction, July, 1960
Here's the story about why I'm reporting on this magazine. A friend (the former college president here) and I were talking about a round-robin story we'd read in an SF magazine in the '50s. We thought it was in either Amazing or Fantastic, but we we looked through all our digests and couldn't find it. That's because it was published in 1960, which I discovered by asking the knowledgeable folks on Fictionmags. So now that I had the info on the right magazine, I could reread the story. So I did.
Both my friend and I remembered this story as being wonderful. I think that must have been because of the novelty of it. Neither of us had ever read a round-robin story before. I don't believe I've read one since. I no longer think the story's wonderful. I'm not even sure I understand it. The only part I remembered on the reread was the one written by Robert Sheckley. I'm not sure why that is. I'm also not sure what to say about the story, so I'll just let you read what the magazine's editorial director (Norman M. Thursday, October 05, 2017
Update on the Rafferty Series from Bill Duncan
Things have been moving--the first three Rafferty books are now available on your e-reader of choice from Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play and Barnes and Noble. The next three will follow in November 2017. The covers for these are being designed as we speak.
I'm just finalising the launch date for the brand new Rafferty story, FALSE GODS, but it will definitely be before the end of the year.
If you, or anyone else, wants to stay in touch with the next releases, and get a free copy of the first two Rafferty books, I've set up a website which lets you do both. www.raffertypi.com
I've been keeping Dad up to date with the progress and he's been blown away with the interest, both now and also from years ago. I think back when he was writing, publishers only worked on sales numbers, not specific fan feedback. From him, thank you for your part in spreading the news about Rafferty.
I'm just finalising the launch date for the brand new Rafferty story, FALSE GODS, but it will definitely be before the end of the year.
If you, or anyone else, wants to stay in touch with the next releases, and get a free copy of the first two Rafferty books, I've set up a website which lets you do both. www.raffertypi.com
I've been keeping Dad up to date with the progress and he's been blown away with the interest, both now and also from years ago. I think back when he was writing, publishers only worked on sales numbers, not specific fan feedback. From him, thank you for your part in spreading the news about Rafferty.
I Miss the Old Days
Layered Curly Hair: The Favorite Hairstyle of Women From the 1960s: The 1960s was not just beehive, coiffure, big hairstyles, these photos show another interesting hairdo of women in this era: The layered curly hair.
I Miss the Old Days
Red Dresses: The Gorgeous Costume For Women in the 1950s: Not overstate to say that '50s women fashion is just like a bright summer's day. Dresses with glamorous shapes, colorful prints that made women more attractive, especially with red dresses.
Arthur Janov, R. I. P.
LA Times: Arthur Janov, a psychotherapist whose "primal therapy" had celebrities screaming to release their childhood traumas and spawned a best-selling book in the 1970s, has died. He was 93.
Hat tip to Deb.
Hat tip to Deb.
Kazuo Ishiguro wins the Nobel prize in literature
The Guardian: The English author Kazuo Ishiguro has been named winner of the 2017 Nobel prize in literature, praised by the Swedish Academy for his “novels of great emotional force”, which it said had “uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”.
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Jack Good, R. I. P.
The Guardian: If anyone could be said to have invented the way pop music is presented on television, it was Jack Good, a short-haired, bespectacled Oxford graduate, who created the fast-paced shows Six-Five Special for the BBC, Oh Boy! for ITV, and the equally influential Shindig! for a US network. Good, who has died aged 86, encouraged the audience to become part of the spectacle in a style that became a vital element of Ready Steady Go! and Top of the Pops.
Stark House Has Another Winner
Pardon the pun above. Stark House is reprinting two James McKimmey books that are both winners, although the word appears in the title of only one of them.I wrote the intro for a previous McKimmey volume that includes Cornered! and The Long Ride, two fine novels. The two in this new collected in this new volume are just as good and maybe even better. There's no new intro, but there's Allan Guthrie's great interview with McKimmey. This one comes out in December, and it's highly recommended.
Solly Hemus, R. I. P.
Houston Chronicle: Former Cardinals player and manager Solly Hemus, the last big-league manager alive who had managed in the 1950s, died at age 94 on Monday in Houston. He had been in ill health.
I Miss the Old Days
The Fry Street Fair: A Look Back On The Annual Event of Denton, Texas in the Early 1980s: Discontinued in 2007, the Fry Street Fair was an annual event held near the University of North Texas campus and featured live music performances. It was first held in 1979, but was shut down due to costs and security concerns. Attendance reached 20,000 in its peak year.
Chemo #4 Update
There's good news and bad news. The good news is that I've been cleared for Toronto, so Bouchercon is a go. The bad news is that the chemo doesn't appear to be working. PSA count is way up, so the third time isn't the charm. I'll be getting some tests in a few weeks, and maybe I'll know more then. As it is, it doesn't appear that they can find the magic bullet. Not even the semi-magic bullet. They'll keep trying.
Bonus FFB for Wednesday: King Buff -- Ellis Christian Lenz
King Buff is another book from my childhood that I found while rummaging through some shelves. Like the one from last week, it's been read and reread so many times that the cover is gone. I found a cover on the internet, though, so I do have that picture. The book is a history of the buffalo in the U.S. and how it was hunted to near extinction. The author isn't critical of anyone. He's just telling the story.
Tuesday, October 03, 2017
Chemo #4
By the time you read this I'll be on my way to M.D. Anderson for chemo #4 of the current series. I'm hoping it's working, but I'm not confident. I suppose there'll be testing after this infusion to check up on my progress if any. The previous infusions were stopped after #4, which adds to my apprehension. Also, I'm not sure if I updated the blog on my current situation. The steroid I've been taking since the first infusion back in January has pushed my blood sugar too high. I'm now officially diabetic, so I'm taking a drug called Metformin for that condition. I might get an indication of how its working today, or I might not. I resent that a drug I'm taking has caused me to have a condition I didn't previously have and that I now have to take yet another drug for that new condition. But I'll keep on smiling. If the doctor approves, I'll be going to Bouchercon next week, so cross your fingers for me.
Tom Paley, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Tom Paley, a Bronx-born singer, guitarist and banjo player who helped spearhead an old-time music revival in the 1950s and ’60s as a founding member of the string band the New Lost City Ramblers, died on Saturday in Brighton, England. He was 89.
Overlooked Movies -- The Purple Mask
How I overlooked this movie in the '50s, I'll never know. It's the kind of thing I would ordinarily go out of my way to see. Maybe it didn't play in my hometown. It's yet another riff on the Scarlet Pimpernel, and it's a pretty good one. As you can see in the poster on the left, the cast is dandy, and the movie's in Cinemascope and Technicolor. I don't think it's a spoiler to reveal that the face behind the purple mask belongs to Tony Curtis, who doesn't wear it often, anyway. Curtis plays Rene de Traviere, who appears to be quite the fop (Curtis has fun with these scenes) but who's really an expert fencer. There's no trailer online, but the clip shows that Curtis isn't bad in the role if you care to check it out.The Purple Mask is on the side of the royalists in Napoleon's France, and he gets involved in a plan to rescue the uncle of the lovely Laurette de Latour from Napoleon's dungeons. Instead, he's imprisoned with the uncle, and so is Laurette, but it's all part of the Mask's clever plan. Curtis gets a big kick out of the part, showing by his tone and facial expressions that he's miles ahead of everybody else when it comes to plotting and counter-plotting.
The movie ends with a sword fight at the guillotine between Curtis and Brisquet (Dan O'Herlihy), a deadly fencer. I'm not telling how it turns out.
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. It's nothing special, but the cast and the production values make it worth a look.
Monday, October 02, 2017
Digby Diehl, R. I. P.
New York Times: Digby Diehl, a journalist and author who collaborated on celebrity autobiographies with Esther Williams, Natalie Cole, Patti LuPone and more, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 76.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tom Petty, R. I. P.
Legendary rock musician Tom Petty dead at 66: Legendary rock musician Tom Petty died Monday at the age of 66, CBS News reports.
Petty reportedly suffered full cardiac arrest as his Malibu home Sunday. Petty, who fronted the band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is known for producing rock hits including “American Girl,” “Free Fallin’” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”
UPDATE: Citing a source, Variety reported at 1:30 p.m. PT that Petty had died. However, the LAPD has clarified that a statement ‘inadvertently provided’ incorrect information to media sources.
Update to the Update: In a statement, Dimitriades said Petty “died peacefully at 8:40 pm PST, surrounded by he family, bandmates and friends.”
Petty reportedly suffered full cardiac arrest as his Malibu home Sunday. Petty, who fronted the band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is known for producing rock hits including “American Girl,” “Free Fallin’” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”
UPDATE: Citing a source, Variety reported at 1:30 p.m. PT that Petty had died. However, the LAPD has clarified that a statement ‘inadvertently provided’ incorrect information to media sources.
Update to the Update: In a statement, Dimitriades said Petty “died peacefully at 8:40 pm PST, surrounded by he family, bandmates and friends.”
The Long Count -- J. M. Gulvin
There are other deaths, and John Q., operating more like a p.i. than a Ranger, crisscrosses a lot of East Texas in his pursuit of answers. One place his investigation takes him is Trinity Hospital, where Isaac's twin brother, Ishmael, was confined. The hospital, which has burned, was an asylum for the criminally insane. After the fire, Ishamel goes missing. Developments like this give the novel a gothic air, and in fact the book, with is massive use of coincidence, seemed to me a kind of throwback to the pulp era of story telling. This is, by the way, a compliment.
The Long Count is well-paced and a lot of fun, and I suspect that it and its sequels will find quite an appreciate audience.
Why British DJs From the '60s and '70s Kept Their Best Records Secret
Why British DJs From the '60s and '70s Kept Their Best Records Secret: The art of the “cover-up” once led an obscure Marvin Gaye record to be misidentified for decades.
I Miss the Old Days
15 Vintage Photographs That Show Teenage Bedrooms From Between the Late 1960s and 1970s: Remember when true loyalty meant rolling up a ball of blu-tack and applying it to four corners of your favourite poster? When you could show your mates how cool and hip you were with your impressive collection of Athena posters? There was a time when our bedroom walls marked out our true tastes and also helped cover up some pretty minging wallpaper.
Forgotten Hits: October 2nd
Forgotten Hits: October 2nd: "The Letter" by The Box Tops holds on to the #1 spot on the chart for the third consecutive week. "Never My Love" by The Association holds at #2 and retains its bullet. In fact, the Top Six Records this week are unchanged from the week before.
SuperChart included.
SuperChart included.
Visit a Famously Haunted Texas Hotel in October
Mental Floss: Seguin, Texas, is a surprisingly popular destination for ghost hunters. The 27,000-person town located 35 miles outside of San Antonio has been featured on several ghost-hunting TV shows, thanks to the presence of the Magnolia Hotel, a spooky historic inn that’s reportedly home to at least 13 restless spirits—at least according to its owner.
Sunday, October 01, 2017
S.I. Newhouse Jr., R. I. P.
The New York Times: S.I. Newhouse Jr., who as the owner of The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest and other magazines wielded vast influence over American culture, fashion and social taste, died on Sunday at his home, a family spokesman said. He was 89.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Jennifer Egan: By the Book
Jennifer Egan: By the Book: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Visit From the Goon Squad” and the forthcoming “Manhattan Beach” reads only what she craves: “If I try to read a book I’m not hungry for, I won’t enjoy it.”
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