Off to the ArmadilloCon

In an hour or so Judy and I will be on the road to Austin for the ArmadilloCon, a dandy regional SF convention. I'll be on a few panels, we'll get to see some friends, and we'll have lunch with our son, so it should be a good weekend. Maybe I'll even find a few books in the dealers' room. The only thing that worries me is filling the car's tank with gasoline. It's going to cost close to fifty buck for a fill-up, and gas prices don't seem to be moderating in the least. I miss the Good Old Days.

It's Not too Late to Sign Up!

5th Annual Texas Bigfoot Conference: "The 5th Annual Texas Bigfoot Conference

Hosted by: The Texas Bigfoot Research Center

The conference will be held in Jefferson, Texas Saturday, October 15, 10:00 am and Sunday, October 16, 2005, 10 am at the
Jefferson High School in the commons area.
1 Bulldog Dr
Jefferson, Texas
75657"

And don't miss my next Sheriff Dan Rhodes novel, A Mammoth Murder, coming next April from St. Martin's. Yes, it features a Bigfoot Conference.

Spam

Hard to believe that a little blog, er, magazine like mine is suddenly getting spam comments from people advertising websites, consumer goods, and so on. I plan to delete these comments when I can, but if I happen to miss one, you should all know well enough that I don't endorse anything these spammers send out. I'll keep on deleting unless it becomes too burdensome. If that happens, I might have to disable the comments section, which I'd hate to do. We'll see how it goes.

Update: I just got a spam comment to this post. Geez.

Update #2: Another one. This is getting ridiculous.

Nolan Ryan Again

Here's another Nolan Ryan item. This was the last All Sports Banquet I attended as an instructor at Alvin Community College, and it was a good one. Nolan turned out to be a personable and entertaining speaker. Nobody took up my tickets that night. Wonder how they'd do on eBay?

This Truly Hoovers

From Ed Gorman and Friends: "Sayonara"

It's by Richard Wheeler. Just read it.

The Kinkster on the Campaign Trail

The New Yorker: Fact: "But I'm also sick of people asking me if this is a joke. God damn it, I am serious. And they're going to see that I am, eventually.” He paused, then added, “People are always misunderstanding each other. You can never think you have the last word on any human heart.”"

The above lines are the key quote from a long New Yorker article on Kinky Friedman and his campaign for governor of Texas. Whether you like the Kinkster's books or whether you plan to vote for him early and often, the whole thing's well worth reading. Just click the link. Thanks to the Bookslut for the tip.

The Nolan Ryan Foundation

There are actually two statues of Nolan Ryan in Alvin, Texas. One is in front of the City Hall. The one in the picture at the left is in front of the Nolan Ryan Center on the Campus of Alvin Community College. The Center is home to the college's Department of Continuing Education, a couple of classrooms, a large meeting room, offices, and the Nolan Ryan Foundation, which includes the Nolan Ryan Museum. It's not the Baseball Hall of Fame, but it's a great exhibit nevertheless, at least if you're a fan of Nolan Ryan. It has videos, uniforms, baseballs, bats, all that great stuff. There are a few more photos of the building and grounds here. The next time you're in Alvin, check it out. For that matter, give me a call, and I'll go with you.

And Don't You Forget It!

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Mom's Protest Riles Gun-Toting Neighbor: "CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - A man fired a shotgun into the air as about 60 anti-war protesters held a religious service on the road to President Bush's ranch.

Sheriff's deputies and Secret Service agents in the area of the demonstration site Sunday rushed to the home of Larry Mattlage after the shots were fired but did not arrest him.

``I ain't threatening nobody, and I ain't pointing a gun at nobody,'' Mattlage said. ``This is Texas.''"

Set Your TiVo now!

andPOP | Britney to Give Birth on Live TV?

They're Everywhere!

NBC 4 - News - Gator-Like Reptile Continues To Elude Authorities

Even Los Angeles!

And I Thought My Books Took up a Lot of Room

AP Wire | 08/13/2005 | North Dakota man is undisputed Edsel King:

BEULAH, N.D. - It's widely considered the most hideous and over-hyped vehicle ever to hit the highway, but the Edsel couldn't be more magnificent to Leroy Walker.

From its horsecollar grill to its spaceship-like tailfins and scads of gadgets like a push-button gear selector on the steering wheel, the Edsel is a car to be coveted, Walker says.

'The highway gets a little sweeter when you're driving an Edsel,' he said. 'There isn't a soul on the road who doesn't smile and wave at you.'"
.....

"At last count, Walker had 226 Edsels scattered throughout his 37-acre compound in Mercer County. The disarranged parking is by design."

The Thrilling Detective

The Thrilling Detective Web Site

Via Sara Weinman's blog, I learned that the new issue of Thrilling Detective is on-line. Looks like a great line-up this time, and there's a cool Black Lizard cover, so click the link and have a look.

I'm Shocked -- Shocked! -- to Hear This

'I haven't read a book in my life', says Posh - People - Entertainment: "Former Spice Girl singer Victoria Beckham, the wife of England soccer captain David, has confessed she has never read a book.

Despite struggling for a hit record for some time, Victoria Beckham said she never had a spare moment to leaf through anything more challenging than fashion magazines.

The Sunday Mirror newspaper revealed the shock admission after seeing a forthcoming edition of high society magazine Chic.

The confession is all the more startling given that it would appear to include her own autobiography, Learning to Fly, and that of her husband, My Side.

'I haven't read a book in my life. I haven't got enough time. I prefer to listen to music, although I do love fashion magazines,' she was quoted as saying."

Baseball Cards

For those of you who'd like to take a look at a few of my baseball cards, you can find them here.

A New Name!

You may have noticed that the former blog has a new name. It is no longer a blog. It is now a magazine. Why? Here's why: Jean Schmidt has recently been elected to congress from Ohio. According to Whistleblower Research Bureau Chief Fearless Ferrett, she's already working on the "Blogger Reform Act of 2006," which will require bloggers to be held criminally liable for all lies published on their blogsites.

Now I don't know Fearless Ferrett, so this may all be hogwash. It probably is. But why take chances? I've always thought that "magazine publisher" was a more impressive title than "blogger," so now I'm a magazine publisher. The magazine will be a lot like the former blog, in fact identical, except maybe with a few more lies. As always, I think you for your support.

Another Great Stark House Double

I can't say enough good things about Stark House. Greg Shepard, the publisher, is reprinting some great old books that you can't find easily. And sometimes when you can find them, they've very expensive. But here you get two novels in one volume for under twenty bucks.

But wait! There's more! Along with two Day Keene novels under one cover, the edition pictured to the left also has an introduction by Ed Gorman. Is that a bargain, or what?

I've mentioned my affection for Day Keene's work before, and it happens that I read My Flesh is Sweet only last summer (comments are here). I haven't read Framed in Guilt in years (I think it's a Graphic pb, but I'm too lazy to look), but I remember that it's an excellent example of Keene's storytelling abilities. Ed says that "it's in some ways [Keene's] best Cornell Woolrich 'alcoholic dread' book." So you know you need a copy. Get one soon.

Baseball as America

Yesterday Judy and I drove to Houston to see the baseball exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was great for an old baseball fan like me, though Judy was probably bored out of her mind. I got all misty and sentimental while looking at such things as the original handwritten (OK, hand-printed) manuscript for "Take Me out to the Ball Game," the contract that sent Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees, a handwritten letter from Ruth to a young polio patient, the bat with which Hank Aaron hit his 714th home run, and many, many other things. I'll probably never get to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is the permanent residence of most of the items, so I'd been wanting to see this exhibit all summer. I'm sorry it took me so long to get there, but I'm glad I went before the closing. Looking at an original Honus Wagner tobacco card made me want to get out my own baseball cards and thumb through them again. I'll probably do that sometime this weekend, and if I do, I'll post some more photos. I don't have a Wagner card. I can't afford one.

Yet Another Day in Paradise

HoustonChronicle.com - Smoldering fire at BP plant near Alvin snuffed out:
By THAYER EVANS
Chronicle Correspondent

ALVIN - A stubborn fire that erupted Wednesday night at BP's Chocolate Bayou plant was finally snuffed out early this morning.

Two rotating four-person crews battled the small fire, which begain with an injury-free explosion in a plastics manufacturing unit at the plant.

Officials said the remaining chemicals will be purged out of the affected unit and burned off later.

Wednesday's explosion occurred about 9:40 p.m. in the plant's Olefin 2 unit, which produces plastic feed stock, including ethylene and polypropylene.

The 2,400-acre plant site, which operates under the name of BP subsidiary Innovene, is in a largely isolated area off FM 2004, about 15 miles from Alvin in Brazoria County."

Happy Birthday, Arlene Dahl!

Yesterday was the birthday of Rhonda Fleming, one of the stars of Slightly Scarlet. Today is the birthday of the other star, Arlene Dahl, another of Hollywood's great redheads. I wish there was a Dahl website as nice as the one Ms. Fleming has, but the link I'm using has at least some information and a few photos. As far as I'm concerned, Hollywood would be hard pressed to remake this movie with two actresses as glamorous as Fleming and Dahl. OK, they could start with Nicole Kidman. And then . . . .

Just Another Day on the Chemical Coast

HoustonChronicle.com - BP reports fire, explosion, leak, shut down, all within 24 hours: "Blast at BP plant shakes Alvin area
No injuries are reported at Chocolate Bayou
By MIKE GLENN, JENNIFER RADCLIFFE and DINA CAPPIELLO
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Fire crews were still battling a blaze at BP's Chocolate Bayou plant early this morning after an explosion in a plastics manufacturing unit shook the Alvin area Wednesday night.

No injuries were reported in the 9:40 p.m. blast, which was the second incident to occur at one of BP's Gulf Coast facilities in less than 24 hours. Early Wednesday, a unit at BP's Texas City refinery sprung a leak, sending nearby residents indoors for the second time in less than two weeks and causing the company to shut down parts of the plant for inspection.

At the Chocolate Bayou plant, which operates under the name of BP subsidiary Innovene, there was no risk to residents of exposure to toxic chemicals, BP spokesman Hugh Depland said late Wednesday."