This afternoon Judy and drove down to Galveston to see Simply Ballroom. It's a show that has overtones of Dancing with the Stars and American Idol. With Debbie Reynolds thrown in for good measure. Nine couples, all dance champions from around the world, do the quick step, foxtrot, waltz, and so on. Reynolds is the host, and two Idol finalists provide some vocals. I've never seen a single episode of Idol, but the two are Kimberley Locke and Anthony Fedorov from season four.
It's a lot of fun to watch the dancers, who are all young and full of a lot more energy than I remember having when I was their age. It was kind of nice to see Debbie Reynolds, a native Texan, and her monologs were amusing. She even sang "Tammy," and did a fine job of it, too.
Why did we go to this show? Because Judy loves ballroom dancing. She's tried for years to get me interested in signing up for classes, but I have the dancing ability of a brick. It's a lost cause, so the least I could do was take her to see this. It was the first sort of "normal" outing we've had in a very long time, and we both enjoyed it.
Crimson Orgy is both the title of the novel and the title of the movie that the characters in the book are making. The setting is Florida, c. 1965, and one of the nice things about the book is that we learn a good bit about how low-budget exploitation films were made back in those days. The industry started with nudies, very popular in the south, until Herschel Gordon Lewis changed the game with Blood Feast.
Gene Hoffman and Shel Meyer want to get in on a good thing, so they're making Crimson Orgy, a movie now available only in grainy bootleg VHS copies because the original footage has disappeared. We learn this in the prologue, in which we also learn that a member of the crew died in mysterious circumstance during the filming. What really happened on the shoot? No one knows. Those who might know have either disappeared or kept silent.
But now we have the whole story in the novel. There's a lot more going on than is even hinted in the prologue. If ever the phrase "troubled production" was justified, this is the time. No spoilers here, though. You'll have to get the book if you want to find out all the problems.
Is there gore? Yes, both real and the movie kind. Is there sex? Sure. Humor? Yes, believe it or not. If you're interested in exploitation movies or just some entertaining reading, check it out.
Mystery of Alligator Movement Solved | LiveScience: "Instead of swishing fins, feet or flippers, alligators surprisingly move their lungs around inside their body to dive, surface and roll in water.This newly discovered strategy may be one that many animals have been employing for millennia to maneuver and avoid creating ripples in the water — helping them sneak toward prey or away from predators.Up until now, it was a mystery as to how gators 'manage to maneuver so gracefully without the fins and flippers used by fish, seals and other adept swimmers,' said researcher C.G. Farmer, a biologist at the University of Utah at Salt Lake City."
Thanks to Todd Mason for the link.MTV Green-Lights Paris Hilton Reality Show - 3/13/2008 9:30:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable: "MTV is saying, 'That's hot,' to Paris Hilton: The network green-lit a 10-episode series starring the socialite to run during the fourth quarter.Paris Hilton's My New BFF (working title) will star Hilton on a hunt for a new best friend and will be paired with online voting site ParisBFF.com, which launched Thursday. The network planned to announce the series in a press conference in Santa Monica, Calif., Thursday night."
I've read and enjoyed three of James Patrick Hunt's previous books, which should surprise nobody since he writes the kind of books I like to read: lean, fast, unpretentious, well-plotted stories peopled with vivid characters. [The fact that one (very) minor character is named "Crider" has absolutely nothing to do with my enjoyment of the book, by the way.]
This one's about a kidnapping. Nothing new there, but the procedural details, the city of St. Lewis, the feelings of the people involved all seen real and just right. There's humor, too. Not too much, but just enough to keep things balanced. If you've never tried Hunt's work before, this might be a good place to start. You'll probably want to go back and try some of the others, too. I seem to have missed one, and I'm looking for it right now.
Mystery shrouds discovery of woman's ice-packed body - Examiner.com: "NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Map, News) - Police thought they were handling a routine drug bust at a ritzy hotel until they opened a large container and found a woman's body preserved on a bed of dry ice.In the days since the macabre discovery, the tale has only gotten more bizarre."
Cap'n Bob didn't win.Date with Scarlett sells for $40,100 on eBay - Access Hollywood - msnbc.com: "LOS ANGELES - Scarlett Johansson put herself on the auction block — and it paid off well for the actress and the Oxfam relief organization.The eBay auction, which was for charity, closed with a winning bid of $40,100 by a lucky bidder who lives in England, Page Six reports. The winner will get to accompany the star to the premiere of her upcoming film, “He’s Just Not That Into You.”"
Hopkins' Lecter inspired by tarantula, crocodile - 13 Mar 2008 - NZ Herald: Entertainment News, Reviews and Gossip from New Zealand and around the World: "Sir Anthony Hopkins has revealed to Jim Carrey he based his most famous character Hannibal Lecter on a tarantula and a crocodile.The screen legend - who won an Oscar for his portrayal of the cannibalistic serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs - revealed his animal inspiration to Jim Carrey."
The Smart Goggles that could make lost keys, mobile phones or iPod a thing of the past | the Daily Mail: "Those frustratingly frantic searches for mislaid car keys or mobile phones could soon be a thing of the past.Japanese scientists have invented a pair of intelligent glasses that remembers where people last saw their keys, handbag, iPod or mobile phone."
Lafayette, Indiana Weather, News, Sports and Entertainment WLFI.com News Channel 18, Its News Where You Live: Pet store owner accused of posing as veterinarian: "HIGHLAND, Ind. (AP) - Indiana Department of Natural Resources investigators say a Highland pet store owner posed as a veterinarian and allowed a 9-foot alligator to roam the store after hours.Reptile Emporium owner Brian Robenhorst has been charged with practicing veterinary medicine without a license and theft. He's scheduled to appear in court Monday for an initial hearing."
What's the Beef? Making the Grade At Meat Judging - WSJ.com: "GREELEY, Colo. -- It was cold, at 38 degrees, and noisy enough to require earplugs when Jace Hollenbeck approached the bloody competition floor. Tired from a week of 12-hour practices, he awaited the opening whistle with trepidation.When the whistle blew, Mr. Hollenbeck says, he steadied himself for competition by remembering his coach's words of the night before: 'We didn't come here to lose.'Intercollegiate meat-judging competitions have become a serious pursuit with more at stake than the trophies that go to winners of categories like lamb carcasses and pork butts. WSJ's Justin Scheck reports.Then something happened that could help clinch the victory: He noticed the hardbone."
The Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) : What's This All About?: "The Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) is dedicated to a more perfectly spelling union.This March through May, we, sworn members of TEAL, will be taking a road trip around the country to stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language. We do not blame, nor chastise, the authors of these typos. It is natural for mistakes to occur; everybody will slip now and again. But slowly the once-unassailable foundations of spelling are crumbling, and the time has come for the crisis to be addressed."
Know who Tommy Westphall is? If you do, you might be interested in this exploration of a multiverse almost as complicated as the one created by Michael Moorcock. Link via Neatorama.Tommy Westphall - A Multiverse Explored: "Tommy Westphall's Mind explores the most elaborate television crossover universe in the history of the medium!"
So who's Thomas Black? I know nothing more about him than that he wrote this book narrated by private-eye Al Delaney. The book was published in hardcover by Rinehart and went through at least two printings in paperback from Bantam (my copy is of the second). After that, as far as I know, Black and Delaney disappeared. Maybe Black is a pen name. I looked on the Thrilling Detective website and found no trace of either him or Delaney, but maybe I wasn't careful enough.
Anyway, what about the book? Well, it sure has a complicated plot. Al Delaney works for a big detective agency, and he's called in when one of their clients, a bakery, wants to find out about four dead mice found in the dough. From there we get into an old crime, a dead man, a currently planned caper, and lots of tangled relationships. And a San Quentin Quail. That's what Delaney calls her, and this part of the book might make some readers these days a big squeamish. The SSQ is about fourteen, but she has a lot of appeal to adult men. And she's sexually active. She even appeals to Delaney. She's murdered fairly early on, and it's her murder that drives him through the rest of the plot. When it's finally all wrapped up, you might be like me, with your jaw dropped to the floor, or you might just go with it.
I liked the narration, and I even liked the complexity for a while. Then it all got away from me and veered over into the too-hard-to-believe. I'd read another book by black, though, if there was one.
My Way News - Sheriff Threatens Reporters With Jail: "SAN DIEGO, Texas (AP) - When the Duval County sheriff said he would lock up reporters from local newspapers if they kept 'interfering' in his business, no one took the threat lightly.For 20 years, Sheriff Santiago Barrera Jr. had done what he pleased with no challenges to his reign. He decided who sat in his jail and when they were released. Sometimes it was before a judge got involved and other times it was after.'I brought the sheriff's department from nothing to what it is right now,' said the 67-year-old Barrera."
Top Stories - Vandals Trash Alligator Farm: "ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- Investigators are looking for three people caught on tape vandalizing the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.The director of the farm says the vandalism happened sometime Tuesday between 11 p.m. and midnight.Surveillance video shows three people, possibly boys in their late teens, entering the farm."
Update: They caught 'em.
Yes, I'd like to renew this, please... - Yahoo! News: "HELSINKI (Reuters) - A Finnish library-goer apparently thought 'better late than never' and quietly returned a book on loan for more than 100 years to a library in Vantaa, in southern Finland.The library had long since lost track of the loan but welcomed back to its collections the bound copy of a 1902 volume of Vartija, an active religious monthly periodical at the time.'We are unclear when exactly it was borrowed and who returned it. There weren't any documents with it,' librarian Minna Saastamoinen told Reuters.'There is an old note attached to the book which says there is a fine of 10 pennies a week for late returns,' she added.The library sticker inside the cover, and the old-fashioned handwriting on it, showed the book was last officially loaned out at the beginning of the last century, she said."
Today I read in an unimpeachable source that until 1989, Oscar presenters had always opened the envelope and said, "And the winner is . . . ." In that year, however, someone pointed out that calling one of the nominees a winner implied that the others were, well, losers. So from that day forward, Oscar presenters have said, "And the Oscar goes to . . . ." Of course, as we all know, it's an honor just to be nominated.
Henry and Mary Ann Melton have been traveling again, and they stopped for Mary Ann to get some nice gator photos. Check 'em out.
This afternoon Judy and drove down to Galveston to see Simply Ballroom. It's a show that has overtones of Dancing with the Stars and American Idol. With Debbie Reynolds thrown in for good measure. Nine couples, all dance champions from around the world, do the quick step, foxtrot, waltz, and so on. Reynolds is the host, and two Idol finalists provide some vocals. I've never seen a single episode of Idol, but the two are Kimberley Locke and Anthony Fedorov from season four.
