Saturday, August 11, 2012
Carlo Rambaldi, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Carlo Rambaldi, a special-effects virtuoso who won two Academy Awards for his work on Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and a special achievement award from the Motion Picture Academy for John Guillermin’s 1976 remake of “King Kong,” died Friday in southern Italy. He was 86.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
literary jukebox
literary jukebox: Daily quote from a favorite book, thematically matched with a song.
Peru Update
FRANCE 24: Archeologists in Peru plan to use a US-made drone to survey ancient Andean ruins, in the latest civilian application of the unmanned aerial vehicles used to hunt militants in the world's war zones.
The device, which can fit in a backpack, is due to be tested later this month at the ruins of the 16th-century Spanish colonial town Mawchu Llacta, some 13,450 feet (4,100 meters) above sea level.
The device, which can fit in a backpack, is due to be tested later this month at the ruins of the 16th-century Spanish colonial town Mawchu Llacta, some 13,450 feet (4,100 meters) above sea level.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Free Today for Kindle
Buck Fever (Blanco County Mysteries): Ben Rehder: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Blanco County, Texas: It's the week before deer hunting season, as close to a statewide holiday as you get in Texas, and the locals are getting restless. Game Warden John Marlin has his hands full with poaching complaints coming in faster than he can write out-of-season tickets. Then a call of a different sort comes in. A man dressed up in some sort of deer costume has been shot at the Circle S ranch, and witnesses are reporting a massive wild-eyed buck prancing about the pasture in a lovesick frenzy. Marlin's seen a lot in his years, but this is wilder than he could have imagined: the man in the deer suit is a good friend, and the whacked-out whitetail isn't exactly a stranger either. It's the beginning of a mad, frantic weekend in Blanco County, one that will see a few more men shot, an invasion by Colombians with more than hunting on their minds, and damn near the end of Marlin's life. Ben Rehder serves it all up with a huge helping of humor in this debut comic mystery that will firmly establish him as the funniest crime writer in Texas.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Second Hand Goods (Nick Kepler): Jim Winter: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Cleveland PI Nick Kepler returns, but he's trying to leave. A routine skip trace entangles Kepler in a stolen car ring and attracts the attention of a beautiful Russian woman, who may or may not be the mistress of one or more Russian crime lords. And all Nick wants to do is go on vacation.
Free Today for Kindle
Hot Wire: Gary Carson: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Emma Martin jacks cars for an uneasy alliance of California rednecks and Mexican drug dealers who ship hot cars to South America, smuggling heroin and cocaine back into the country with the profits. Night after night, Emma cruises the Bay Area looking for cars on their target list.
Until one night, she steals the wrong car and plunges into the heart of an international conspiracy.
Emma's just a kid in over her head, but try telling that to the police, the feds, and the gang of vicious narco-traffickers who are all after a piece of her.
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