Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Art Scott sends the review in the photo, along with the following note: "Browsing through old volumes of Records in Review, I ran across the attached review from High Fidelity, 1961. A.F. is the distinguished critic/musicologist Alfred Frankenstein. Aniara may be old news to '60s scifi veterans, but it was new to me. The librettist certainly had the opera basics down pat: ludicrous plot, ridiculous characters, everybody dies in the end."

If you click on the image, it should be readable.

Infinity and Science Fiction Adventures

In a comment on the post below, Ed Gorman mentions a famous Emsh cover for Infinity. That sent me to my shelves and then to the scanner. I got a little carried away, and now I've created a slide show that will give you a look at the complete run of the Larry Shaw-edited issues of both Infinity and Science Fiction Adventures. If you want to see them, click here. Seeing them, you might well wonder how anybody could resist buying them. I know I couldn't. Compared to these covers, aren't most of today's digest covers, well, boring? Not that there are many digests around to compare these to, more's the pity.

Science Fiction for the Holidays

Not exactly a seasonal cover here, but the first issue of Infinity has a story that really bowled me over when I was a kid. It's "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke, and it went on to become a classic in the field. If you've read much SF at all, I'm sure you've read it.

POD Update

Next little thing 2007 - An ATM for books - December 1, 2006

Buying a book could become as easy as buying a pack of gum. After several years in development, the Espresso - a $50,000 vending machine with a conceivably infinite library - is nearly consumer-ready and will debut in ten to 25 libraries and bookstores in 2007. The New York Public Library is scheduled to receive its machine in February.

The company behind the Espresso is called On Demand Books, founded by legendary book editor Jason Epstein, 78, and Dane Neller, 56, but the technology was developed six years ago by Jeff Marsh, who is a technology advisor for New York City-based ODB (ondemandbooks.com).

The machine can print, align, mill, glue and bind two books simultaneously in less than seven minutes, including full-color laminated covers. It prints in any language and will even accommodate right-to-left texts by putting the spine on the right. The upper page limit is 550 pages, though by tweaking the page thickness and type size, you could get a copy of War and Peace (albeit tough to read) if you wanted.

100 Impressions in about 4 Minutes

So why didn't Letterman have this guy on his show during Impressionist Week? (Link via Neatorama.)

Strangest Photos of 2006

They had me at the first one.

Another Hard Man Interview

Al Guthrie interviews Ed Leach, Harry's loving father, over at the Hard Man blog.

Beautiful Babes in The Big Sleep

Jaime Weinman's interesting take on The Big Sleep, with clips:

Something Old, Nothing New: The Babes of The Big Sleep

I asserted in a previous post that Howard Hawks's movie version of The Big Sleep "comes off as Hawks's excuse to feature as many beautiful women as possible." With the help of easily-embeddable video (the godsend for the lazy entertainment blogger), I don't have to limit this to a simple assertion. Here are some examples of why the real subjects of The Big Sleep is a) beautiful women and b) the surprising tendency of said beautiful women to be attracted to Humphrey Bogart.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Janes in Jail [Not Starring Sybil Danning]

Mugshots at this link.

SEVIER COUNTY (WATE) -- A former inmate at the Sevier County Jail says she was brutally assaulted by five other inmates.

Sheriff's officials say Megan Hudson, Vandy Morin, Krystal Kawalski, Michelle May Gunter and Kandi Lee Arwood assaulted a woman inside the cell they were sharing.

The victim says she was sleeping on a mat on the floor of the overcrowded jail when the five women sexually assaulted her.

"I'm freaking out. I don't know what's going on. I'm trying to fight, scream, I couldn't because I'm gagged, trying to get loose," the alleged victim says. She was serving a 40 day sentence for shoplifting. That's a misdemeanor crime. "I was there to pay my debt to society. For someone to take it upon theirself to hurt me, physically hurt me, scar me for the rest of my life...I'll never get over this or forget it."

The five women have now been separated. All are charged with rape. But sheriff's officials say they do not believe the assault was sexual in nature. They say the women thought the victim was hiding drugs on her body. They wanted the drugs.

Croc Update

This is a long article, but it's well worth reading. There's also a small picture of some kids playing with a croc.

ABC News: Tourists Cozy Up to Crocodiles in Africa

PAGA, Ghana, Dec. 20, 2006 — There is something strange going on in the small village of Paga in northern Ghana in West Africa. It appears to defy the laws of nature, and certainly the laws of fear.

Most of the outside world is unaware of the special but bizarre relationship that exists here between humans and crocodiles, animals that anyone with an ounce of common sense would run from.

But the people of Paga swim joyfully and wash clothes in the same village pond that 110 crocs use as their home — and their dining room.

No one seems to know how long the crocodiles have lived in the pond, or how they got to this land-locked area. But Yahaya Ahasan, the head crocodile keeper, told ABC News that no one from the village has ever been harmed by the crocs. That's extraordinary, considering that crocodiles are notoriously nasty if you get in their way, or if you resemble food.

But Ahasan said the crocs don't feel threatened by humans here. "We believe that they are the souls of relatives of this town," he said. "They are sacred animals, so we don't hate them, we don't kill them, we don't harm them."

Crimespot

Let me join in the praise around the blogoverse for Graham Powell's Crimespot, which should be included in everyone's bookmarks. If you haven't checked it out before, now's the time.

Rock On

Philadelphia Daily News | 12/22/2006 | Jam session sparked Black Sabbath reunion with ex-singer Ronnie James Dio

CLEVELAND - What began as fondly jamming to the post-Ozzy Osbourne Black Sabbath tracks "Heaven and Hell" and "The Mob Rules" during Sabbath's Ozzfest 2005 soundchecks eventually led to a reunion with ex-singer Ronnie James Dio, according to bassist Geezer Butler.

/>"We just thought it was a bit of a shame that we can't play those songs again," he tells Billboard.com. "And then earlier this year [Sabbath guitarist] Tony Iommi went to see Dio. They wrote a couple of songs together and it just went from there."

Not only will an upcoming Dio-era Sabbath anthology feature three new songs ("Shadow of the Wind," "Devil Cries" and "Ear in the Wall"), but, as previously reported, a world tour is planned for 2007 as Heaven And Hell.

Will the Persecution Never End?

E Canada Now - Breaking News » Paris Hilton Taking Acting Classes

Earlier this week, Paris was branded a dumb blonde by Joan Rivers.

The sharp-tongued comedienne wrote a letter to her university alumni appealing for donations to her old sorority and bitchily used Paris and fellow blonde Jessica Simpson as examples of stupid young women.

According to reports, Joan wrote to Barnard alumni: “We must support women who have a sense of confidence and self-worth.

“Where have all the smart girls gone? That is a hard question to answer in an age where Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton pass as intellectuals.”

The Must-See Movie for 2007!

Jeff Meyerson strikes again!

E Canada Now - Breaking News » Paris Hilton Taking Acting Classes

Los Angeles (eCanadaNow) - Paris Hilton has been attending acting classes to prepare for her latest film.

The hotel heiress - who starred in horror movie ‘House of Wax’ and has had a string of cameos including parts in ‘Zoolander’ – wants to prove her critics wrong with her latest movie ‘The Hottie and the Nottie’.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: “Paris has been going to acting classes in Beverly Hills. She arrived looking very serious with a script clamped under her arm.”

The new film, directed by Tom Putnam, is about a woman who refuses to marry her long-term boyfriend until he finds a suitor for her ugly friend.

10 Best Movie Beat-Downs

10 best movie beat-downs - MOVIE OPINIONS - MSNBC.com

The earliest boxing films featured managers, promoters and mobsters manipulating fighters who were struggling to make ends meet. When those fighters did manage to find success, they often did so at the expense of their souls. Later films focused more on the underdog and his or her achievement against incredible odds. Regardless of the narrative purpose, boxing matches are often exceptionally brutal, exaggerating every aspect of the fight game except for maybe defense.

So put up your gloves and cover your face. Here are the most brutal, gory and tragic fights the sweet science has to offer in the theatrical ring.

Will the Persecution Never End? (Anna NIcole Smith Edition)

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

iWon News - Paternity Test Ordered for Smith's Baby

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith was ordered Thursday to bring her infant daughter to California for paternity tests sought by a former boyfriend who claims he is the father of the child, the man's publicist said in a statement. "Los Angeles Superior Court has ruled today that Anna Nicole Smith and 3-month-old baby daughter Dannielynn are ordered to submit to paternity testing," read the statement from Luck Media & Marketing Inc. Smith's ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, welcomed the ruling. "Christmas has come early, and I thank God that I will soon have the opportunity to prove that I am the father ... and eventually hold her in my arms," Birkhead said in the statement. Smith's attorney, Ron Rale, would not deny or confirm the ruling.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Rash -- Pete Hautman

A lot of the best writing around these days is in YA novels. If you don't believe me, read one. Try Nancy Werlin, for example, or Pete Hautman.

Bruce Taylor might not have a high opinion of Steve Stilwell's movie IQ, but surely he'd never argue with him about writers. It was Steve who told me several years ago about Hautman's first YA novel, Mr. Was, a wonderful book. And last year Hautman won the National Book Award for Godless.

Hautman's also the author of a number of fine, funny adult crime novels. I don't know how that career's been going, but I get the impression that the books haven't sold as well as they should have. Doesn't matter, I guess, in one way, since the YA career's going so well.

Rash is Hautman's latest. It's set a toward the end of this century, in the USSA (the United Safer States of America), where no one takes a risk, where anything that might endanger you or someone else has been outlawed, where you can go to prison for dropping an apricot on the ground if someone slips on it. Bo Marsten is from a family of criminals. Both his father and his brother are in the pen, and Bo seems highly likely to join them.

Sure enough, he does, and the book becomes something different from what you might have been expecting. It's sort of a cross between The Longest Yard and Holes, but it's really nothing like that. It also doesn't offer a lot of easy answers. Plus it has laughs. No wonder Hautman keeps on winning awards and piling up the readers. Check it out.

Watch 101 Christmas Classics for Free

The Christmas Spot - Watch 101 Classic Christmas Videos Online - Fanpop

Ah Christmas. The tree, the stockings, the mistletoe and - of course - the holiday television programming.

Some of my fondest Christmas memories were spent in front a of television watching such classics as the animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or one of the myriad versions of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'.

So without further ado, I am presenting you with my big, big list of holiday specials. I've tried to categorize the list into subsections to make it a little more bearable and consumable. The list is in no particular order, though the first section, 'essentials', are (in my humble opinion) the cream of the crop. I should also note that I've only included programs for which I was able to find online videos so you'll notice some glaring omissions (like 'A Christmas Story' and 'Miracle on 34th Street).

In any event, here's wishing you a great Christmas. Now sit back and dig into some of the best Christmas content on the web...

I've Changed My Mind about the Sky Yacht . . .

. . . this is what I want for Christmas.