Saturday, June 26, 2010
Literacy Site
If you have time today, scroll down until you come to the little box on the right, just under the "Search this Blog" feature, and click on the link to the Literacy Site. Or better yet, just click right here. You can help give some books to people who need them.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Cop Killer's Police Escort Spurs Outrage: "Many in the Dallas Police Department are outraged that a dozen on-duty officers were called to escort the funeral procession of a cop killer – the son of Dallas Police Chief David Brown.
David Brown, Jr. was buried Friday in Pleasant Grove, five days after he shot and killed two people including a Lancaster police officer . Brown Jr. was killed by Lancaster police returning fire.
Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm explained as his funeral procession headed down Highway 75 it apparently ran into congestion from an accident. Motorists were weaving in and out of the procession so someone on the DPD command staff ordered a police escort."
David Brown, Jr. was buried Friday in Pleasant Grove, five days after he shot and killed two people including a Lancaster police officer . Brown Jr. was killed by Lancaster police returning fire.
Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm explained as his funeral procession headed down Highway 75 it apparently ran into congestion from an accident. Motorists were weaving in and out of the procession so someone on the DPD command staff ordered a police escort."
Blue-Eyed Devil -- Robert B. Parker
Blue-Eyed Devil is the fourth, and I suppose the last, Robert B. Parker western about Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The two gunmen have returned to the town of Appaloosa, where their fictional careers began. They were the law there then, but now the town has grown. There's a police chief with a 12-man force. Amos Callico, the chief, has a nice little protection racket going, and he's politically ambitious. Virgil and Hitch don't like him. All the plot elements are familiar. The powerful rancher with a wayward son. Renegade Apaches. A hired gunman. Parker mixes them all together with Callico in a meandering story that could have used some editing. There's a bit too much repetition even though the book is more the length of a novella than a novel. But who cares? Not me. I enjoy reading pages of Parker's patented dialogue, even if I've heard it all before. I'm really going to miss his three or four new books a year.
I love the cover of this one, by the way. Hitch and Cole riding off into the sunset. Very appropriate.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Stay Off His Lawn. Really.
Neighbor calls alleged actions of thong-wearing man 'harassment' - Off the Beat with Will Greenlee: "A man told a deputy his thong wearing, 57-year-old neighbor repeatedly bent over, and that he saw a portion of the gray-haired man's genitalia.
The alleged incident happened Wednesday at an address in the 18400 block of Southeast Federal Highway just north of the Palm Beach County line. The 56-year-old victim and several family members, including five children, were gathering at a home, according to a recently released Martin County Sheriff's Office report.
'While (the victim) was outside with the children he could see the suspect . . . on his back deck,' the report states. 'According to (the victim) when the suspect turned to face away from him and the children he was wearing a thong type bathing suit and bent over fully several times.'"
The alleged incident happened Wednesday at an address in the 18400 block of Southeast Federal Highway just north of the Palm Beach County line. The 56-year-old victim and several family members, including five children, were gathering at a home, according to a recently released Martin County Sheriff's Office report.
'While (the victim) was outside with the children he could see the suspect . . . on his back deck,' the report states. 'According to (the victim) when the suspect turned to face away from him and the children he was wearing a thong type bathing suit and bent over fully several times.'"
No Comment Department
The Associated Press: Police: Vuvuzela noise drives an American nuts: "German police say an American got so fed up with the constant mosquito-like droning from his neighbors' vuvuzela plastic horns that he threatened to kill them with an ax.
Police in the Bavarian city of Weiden said Friday the 45-year-old man confronted his neighbors during Thursday's Netherlands-Cameroon World Cup game wielding the ax."
Police in the Bavarian city of Weiden said Friday the 45-year-old man confronted his neighbors during Thursday's Netherlands-Cameroon World Cup game wielding the ax."
Forgotten Music
Kent Kotal saw my post on instrumental hits and sent me a link to his great website. I've done a little exploring, and this is the kind of place an old guy like me could spend weeks enjoying. Here's a link to the homepage, and here's the one relevant to my post.
Take a look. It's a fine place to visit, and if you're into the really old stuff, you'll love it. Trust me.
Finders Keepers
Pet waste removal worker finds $58 in dog poop EarthLink - Top News: "This is why your mother says to wash your hands after handling money: A St. Louis worker found $58 — packed in dog poop. Steve Wilson works for DoodyCalls Pet Waste Removal. On a recent call, he noticed money sticking out from doggie doo. Wilson wasn't sure what to do, but eventually pulled out the bills, sanitized them, placed them in a plastic zip-locked bag and returned them to the customer. It turned out to be $58."
Hat tip to St. Louis Sandy.
Hobbit Update
Peter Jackson in talks to direct 'Hobbit' movies: "It looks like Peter Jackson might direct the two 'Hobbit' movies after all.
Jackson is in negotiations to helm the films, which were left without a captain after Guillermo del Toro parted ways on May 30. Obstacles to a deal remain, including agreeing on a schedule that will allow Jackson to fast-track the films for release in 2012 and 2013, but insiders are cautiously optimistic that a pact can be worked out."
Jackson is in negotiations to helm the films, which were left without a captain after Guillermo del Toro parted ways on May 30. Obstacles to a deal remain, including agreeing on a schedule that will allow Jackson to fast-track the films for release in 2012 and 2013, but insiders are cautiously optimistic that a pact can be worked out."
Forgotten Books: MARACAIBO -- Stirling Silliphant
Stirling Silliphant is probably better known for his TV and movie work than for his novels, of which Maracaibo was the first (1954). He created the Naked City TV series and wrote many episodes of Route 66. He was an admirer of John D. MacDonald and wrote the script for the TV movie Travis McGee, based on The Empty Copper Sea. (How successful the movie is, well, that's another question.) His movie scripts include Charly, Marlowe, and The Poseidon Adventure. And of course you all remember the movie mentioned on the cover of today's Forgotten Book, starring Rock Hudson and June Allyson. Oh, wait. You say you don't remember it? That could be because the movie actually starred Cornell Wilde and Jean Wallace. There's probably a good story there, but I have no idea what it is.
Maracaibo is a very 1950s novel. The reviewers called it "An exciting and fast-paced novel," "off-beat adventure," and "a thrilling story." One said that into this novel Silliphant "has squeezed enough excitement for a thousand pages." I doubt that any current reader would agree. Mostly, the book's a love story about two women, one of them a Pulitzer prize-winning poet, the other, a former prostitute, in love with the same guy, a manly adventurer named Vic, whose job is putting out oil-field fires.
The book's very timely in a way, though, thanks to Vic's job. He's hired to put out a fire in Lake Maracaibo, where the burning well is tapped into the "world's largest oil deposit." And a hurricane is on the way. If the fire's not stopped, it could easily be carried ashore by a hurricane and destroy Maracaibo itself.
While most of the novel is taken up with the love story, and written in that very '50s way, the climax is almost worth the wait. Several attempts to extinguish the fire fail. Vic's going to have to dive and blow it up. The hurricane arrives.
Not a great book, but interesting for a few parallels to current times. I don't really recommend it, but I do recommend some other Forgotten Books by Silliphant, the John Locke adventures Steel Tiger, Bronze Bell, and Silver Star. Those are well worth looking for.
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