Friday, November 03, 2017

Film Classics being Preserved inside a Nuclear Bunker

Casablanca & other American Film Classics being Preserved inside a Nuclear Bunker

Song of the Day

Today's Vintage Ad


The Most Insane Restaurants Around the World

The Most Insane Restaurants Around the World

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Erle Stanley Gardner, The D. A. Holds a Candle, Pocket Books, 1945

The never-before-published truth behind Francis the Talking Mule.

Rustled for Hollywood: The never-before-published truth behind Francis the Talking Mule.

FFB: Kiss Me, Satan -- Victor Gischler (writer), Juan Ferreyra (artist)

Kiss Me, Satan is a graphic novel by Victor Gischler, who's never afraid to go way over the top, but only in a good way.  I read the five issues as collected into one volume, which includes a bonus sketchbook and notes by the artist, Juan Ferreyra.  

As you can see by the cover of the first episode (on the left), New Orleans is a werewolf town.  Sure, there are plenty of other supernatural creatures around, but the werewolves run the place.  Cassian Steele is the Don of the werewolf mafia that runs all the rackets, but he has a big problem.  His son and heir has just been born without the mark of the werewolf.  An old witch knows his secret, and she's on the run with her three "daughters."  Steele wants them killed, so he puts a bounty on them that attracts all the bad creatures in town.

A well-dressed cherub explains the problem to Barnabus Black, the one demon cast out from heaven who wants to get back.  When there's a problem like Steele, Black is the go-to guy.  Or demon.  He has to protect the witches, or at least one of them.  The result is a series of encounters and chases that would make a great movie and that are rendered expertly by Ferreyra.  That art is great throughout, by the way, a perfect match for Gischler's wild story.  Vampires in French maid outfits?  Nuns with machine guns? Eyeball removal with a kitchen knife?  Seemingly unbeatable wizards?  You got 'em, along with one incredible transformation scene for a climax.

Reading this was a lot of fun, and I looked around for a continuation but didn't find one.  Too bad.  This would have made a great continuing series for the long haul

Thursday, November 02, 2017

I Miss the Old Days

Amazing Vintage Photographs Document the Iconic Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967

Song of the Day

The Peak Hour Commute Seen Through the Eyes of a Mystery Writer

“Rock ’n Rail: Take the Quiz, or, The Peak Hour Commute Seen Through the Eyes of a Mystery Writer” (by V.S. Kemanis) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: V.S. Kemanis has had a varied career in the law and the arts. As an attorney, she has been a criminal prosecutor, a civil litigator, and the supervising editor of decisions for an appellate court. Her short fiction has appeared in EQMM and elsewhere and was collected most recently in 2017’s highly praised Love and Crime: Stories. She is also the author of the Dana Hargrove legal mysteries, a series described by reviewer Jon L. Breen as “a law buff’s delight.” Recently retired from the practice of law, the author expects to have more time for her fiction, and has a new Hargrove novel due for release in January. But as we see in this post, the daily grind of commuting to a day job is never entirely unproductive time for a writer.—Janet Hutchings

Today's Vintage Ad


As Is His Constitutional Right

Man pulls gun on McDonald's employee after being denied Egg McMuffin   

Hat tip to John Duke.

Creature From the Green Lagoon

Creature From the Green Lagoon: Caddo Lake is being consumed by the world’s most monstrous weed. Herbicides, kitchen strainers, and even blowtorches have failed to stop it. Now a local band of volunteers is making a last-ditch effort to save these treasured wetlands. 

Long, but interesting.  And it has some great photos.

New Story at Beat to a Pulp

BTAP Webzine | Richard Prosch | Nothing to Push Against

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Michael Innes, Murder is an Art (One Man Show), Avon, 1959

Keith Wilder, R. I. P.

Boing Boing: Keith Wilder, singer for 70s funk powerhouse Heatwave, died on Sunday at age 65. "From Heatwave is your heart," Wilder once said. "If your music is where your heart is, and you put your whole heart into, it will come out the way your heart is as a person and a human being... We kept our music in a vein that also was a pure, clear picture and representation of what we were like, and what we were about. And we kept our music that way... We just kept it real and kept it pure."  

Hat tip to Deb.

Charles Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Charles Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The first mention of a sound film version of victor Hugo's classic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame can be traced back to a 1932 news item in the Hollywood reporter, stating that John Huston was writing a treatment of the story for the screen, to star Boris Karloff. MGM executive Irving Thalberg first presented the idea to Charles Laughton in 1934. In 1937, MGM considered making the film with Peter Lorre in the title role. RKO studios made the final decision to make the film in 1939.

World Fantasy Convention

In a little while I'll be leaving for the  World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio.  I had blood work done yesterday to check my red and white cell count, and the doctor said the levels were okay.  So she cleared me to go.  I'm flying instead of driving because I've been fatigued since the last chemo.  The doctor told me that there was a reason for that, as they'd increased the dosage for last week's treatment.  That's why they were checking the blood counts.  I'll be flying back on Monday, but until them I might be keeping a low profile.  The usual features have been scheduled, and there will be few other posts scheduled, too.  Until I'm back, however, things will likely be sparse.  Or if I'm tired and stay in the room a lot, I'll post more.  

Forgotten Hits: November 2nd

Forgotten Hits: November 2nd  

Some interesting Beach Boys and 4 Seasons history today.

Welcome Back

Presumed Extinct, the Rare 'Golden Wonder' Salamander Reappears After 42 Years

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Yes, It's Yet Another Interview with Me!

Author Interview with Bill Crider – Book 'Em Book Club

Dina Merrill, R. I. P.

Actress Dina Merrill, last surviving child of M.M. Post, dies: Dina Merrill, an actress, artist and the last surviving child of Marjorie Merriweather Post, died Monday at the East Hampton, N.Y., home where she had lived for more than six decades. She was 93.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

25 Words That Don’t Mean What They Used To

25 Words That Don’t Mean What They Used To

Song of the Day

Or Maybe You Did

10 Things You Didn't Know about the Movie "Major League"

Today's Vintage Ad


I Miss the Old Days

36 Retro Snapshots That Capture Teenagers Posing With Their TVs in the 1950s

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Ruth Fenisong, Death is a Lovely Lady, Popular Library, 1949

Boris Karloff in Frankenstein

Boris Karloff in Frankenstein: In 1930, Universal Studios lost $2.2 million in revenue. The studio, reeling and on the verge of potential bankruptcy, had thrown the dice and produced Dracula, starring a Hungarian actor named Bela Lugosi, in 1931. Dracula proved to be the studio's salvation, earning a $700,000 profit (Universal's biggest money-maker in '31). Buoyed by the studio's Dracula success, Carl Laemmle Jr., the head of of production, immediately ordered more horror films. This was to be a turning point in Hollywood history.

Old-Fashioned Horror Books

Old-Fashioned Horror Books - AbeBooks.com: We've delved deep into our vault and dusted off a selection of stories designed to chill the reader to the bone. These books were all published before 1960 - some of them forgotten, many out-of-print - illustrate how authors and publishers tried to scare people in the days before JFK, The Beatles and everything else that came with the Swinging Sixties. You will find ghosts, monsters, witches, the undead, general strange happenings and a diverse range of supernatural elements in this selection.

Forgotten Hits: November 1st, 1967

Forgotten Hits: November 1st, 1967: We've got some big movers on the lower half of the chart this week …  

Lots of songs to play today.

Bonus FFB for Wednesday: Touchfeather -- Jimmy Sangster

Jimmy Sangster was an amazing writer.  He was one of the best screenwriters for Hammer's horror movies, and he was all over U.S. TV in the '70s (check out his IMDb entry).  He also wrote novels, several of which I read and enjoyed, including two about a spy named Katy Touchfeather.

When Touchfeather's boyfriend is killed, it's revealed to her by the head of a super-secret British spy agency that he was murdered.  She's offered a chance to work for the same agency, as she already has the perfect cover, as she's a stewardess ('60s parlance).  Aftr attending spy school, she'll be able to work for any airline at any time and fly over the world on assignment.

The big assignment in this case is to prevent a scientist from passing along secrets to the enemy.  Touchfeather makes a rookie mistake and falls for him.  It's clear to her that he's innocent, and later the plane they're on is highjacked.  He's taken prisoner and the others on the plane are freed.  Later he's reported dead, and Touchfeather is kidnapped and tortured by the bad guys for information.  She escapes and is sent to California to find out what really happened to the scientist.  Danger and more adventure ensue.

This book is a true product of the Swinging '60s, and Brash Books is bringing it back into print in January, complete with a trigger warning at the beginning.  Times and attitudes have changed that much.  I read this book in a Berkley edition long ago and enjoyed it.  I enjoyed reading it again, too.  Touchfeather's breezy narration carries the story right along, and while she makes mistakes, she's efficient and tough when it counts.  

Brash will be bringing all Sangster's novels back into print, and that means a lot of entertainment for readers in a new era.  Check 'em out.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

8 Historic Accounts of Werewolves

8 Historic Accounts of Werewolves 

Song of the Day

Zombies in the Real World

Zombies in the Real World: With flesh-eating monsters devouring everything from Jane Austen to Louisville, Kentucky, it seems like dead is the new living.

Today's Vintage Ad


When Halloween Was All Tricks and No Treats

When Halloween Was All Tricks and No Treats: Nineteenth-century urbanization unleashed the nation’s anarchic spirits, turning holiday mischief into mayhem

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Rufus King, Holiday Homicide, Dell, 1943

A Halloween tradition here at the blog is the annual link to my zombie story

Boppin' at the High School Hop

Ray Bradbury's "The October Country" Turns Sixty

Ray Bradbury's "The October Country" Turns Sixty: Where the Hills Are Fog and the Rivers Are Mist

Overlooked Movies: Raffles (!930)

There have been a lot of versions of this movie made, but the one I saw was the one from 1930 with Ronald Colman and Kay Francis and their matching haircuts.  There's no trailer, I'm sorry to say.

One thing this movie reminded me of was how much plot the moviemakers could get into a 90-minute film.  Colman is, of course, Raffles, the amateur cracksman, and he's decided to retire from his life of crime.  Unfortunately his great friend, Bunny, owes a huge gambling debt, and only Raffles can save him.  It will take a daring theft of the famous Melrose Necklace to do so, however, and the job is greatly complicated when a gang of thieves decides to steal the necklace.   It's further complicated by the fact that a Scotland Yard inspector finds out about the gang's plans and shows up at the Melrose estate to foil them.

There are some nice twists in the plot, and it's all carried forward with wit and good humor.  Colman is excellent, as usual, and so is Kay Francis as the love interest.  There's much here that is old-fashioned, and I doubt that very many people under 50 or 60 would get as much fun from it as I did.  I liked it a lot.


Monday, October 30, 2017

Dennis Banks, R. I. P.

New York Times: Dennis J. Banks, the militant Chippewa who founded the American Indian Movement in 1968 and led often-violent insurrections to protest the treatment of Native Americans and the nation’s history of injustices against its indigenous peoples, died on Sunday night at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He was 80.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

You Thought TV Couldn't Get Any Worse. You Were Wrong.

‘Jersey Shore’: MTV Comeback w ‘Floribama Shore’ From SallyAnn Salsano 

Western Musings: Bill Crider Interview

Western Musings: Bill Crider Interview

Cold War Noir: 10 Novels That Defined an Anxious Era

Cold War Noir: 10 Novels That Defined an Anxious Era 

Song of the Day

Fats Domino's Infectious Rhythms Set a Nation in Motion

Fats Domino's Infectious Rhythms Set a Nation in Motion: This Rock ’n’ Roll maverick was a true New Orleans original

Today's Vintage Ad


I Miss the Old Days

Red Style: One of the Favorite Fashion Trend of Classic Beauties

PaperBack



Brett Halliday (Davis Dresser), Marked for Murder, Dell, 1951

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

Jim Thompson's Best Books

Uh-0h

Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man’ Series Adaptation in the Works at Hulu

Forgotten Hits: October 30th

Forgotten Hits: October 30th  

SuperCharts, a lot of info, and some cute photos of Paul McCartney.

The Secret Lives of Vampires

Burials Unearthed in Poland Open the Casket on The Secret Lives of Vampires: What people actually did to prevent the dead from rising again was very different than what Hollywood would have you think

Sunday, October 29, 2017

The Homemaker Who Helped Solve One of Geometry's Oldest Puzzles

The Homemaker Who Helped Solve One of Geometry's Oldest Puzzles

Song of the Day

I Miss the Old Days

45 Color Snapshots That Document Everyday Life of New York City in the Late 1950s 

Today's Vintage Ad


Video profile of the world's fastest talker

Video profile of the world's fastest talker 

PaperBack



Lewis Dixon, Wild Girl, Cameo Books

10 Famous People Who Were Afraid They'd Be Buried Alive

10 Famous People Who Were Afraid They'd Be Buried Alive

Woman finds her niche as ‘alligator whisperer’

Woman finds her niche as ‘alligator whisperer’