Shamus Nominations -- Congratulations to All!

PRIVATE EYE WRITERS OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES 2006 SHAMUS AWARDS NOMINEES

The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) is proud to announce the nominees for the 25^th annual Shamus Awards, given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. The 2006 awards cover works published in 2005.

PWA was founded in 1981 by Robert J. Randisi to recognize the private eye genre and its writers. Previous Shamus winners include Lawrence Block, Ken Bruen, Harlan Coben, Max Allan Collins, Robert Crais, Brendan DuBois, Loren D. Estleman, Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, Sue Grafton, James W. Hall, Steve Hamilton, Jeremiah Healy, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, John Lutz, Bill Pronzini, S.J. Rozan, Sandra Scoppettone and Don Winslow. The awards will be presented on Sept. 29, 2006, at PWA’s 25^th Anniversary Banquet in Madison, WI, during the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention.

Shamus Awards 2006 Nominees (for works published in 2005)

Best Hardcover

Oblivion by Peter Abrahams (Wm. Morrow), featuring Nick Petrov.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown), featuring Mickey Haller.

The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais (Doubleday), featuring Elvis Cole.

In A Teapot by Terence Faherty (Crum Creek Press), featuring Scott Elliot.

The Man with the Iron-On Badge by Lee Goldberg (Five Star), featuring Harvey Mapes.

Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown), featuring Easy Rawlins.

Best Paperback Original

Falling Down by David Cole (Avon), featuring Laura Winslow.

The James Deans by Reed Farrell Coleman (Plume), featuring Moe Prager.

Deadlocked by Joel Goldman (Pinnacle), featuring Lou Mason.

Cordite Wine by Richard Helms (Back Alley Books), featuring Eamon Gold.

A Killing Rain by PJ Parrish (Pinnacle), featuring Louis Kincaid.

Best First Novel

Blood Ties by Lori G. Armstrong (Medallion), featuring Julie Collins.

Still River by Harry Hunsicker (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur), featuring Lee Henry Oswald.

The Devil’s Right Hand by J. D. Rhoades (St. Martin's Minotaur), featuring Jack Keller.

Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure (Mysterious Press – Warner), featuring Calla Gentry.

Best Short Story

“Oh, What a Tangled Lanyard We Weave” by Parnell Hall. Murder Most Crafty (Berkley), featuring Stanley Hastings.

“Two Birds with One Stone” by Jeremiah Healy. Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2005, featuring John Francis Cuddy.

“The Big Road” by Steve Hockensmith. Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May 2005, featuring Larry Erie.

“A Death in Ueno” by Michael Wiecek. Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, March 2005 featuring Masakazu Sakonju.

“The Breaks” by Timothy Williams. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2005 featuring Charlie Raines.

-30-

Bogart News

New York Daily News - Breaking News: "NYC renames block after Humphrey Bogart

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Upper West Side brownstone where Humphrey Bogart grew up has long ago been turned into public housing. But the block, like Paris, will always be his.

Scores of fans stood in the drizzle Saturday as the city unveiled a plaque renaming the short stretch in front of 245 W. 103rd St. as Humphrey Bogart Place.

'Bogie would have never believed it,' said the actress Lauren Bacall, who was married to Bogart from 1945 until his death in 1957. She said the day was an emotional one, and her time with Bogart too short."

Even Sheriff Dan Rhodes is More Efficient than This

houstonpress.com | News | CSI: New Caney: "They do things differently up in New Caney, which is a small town in the woods of east Montgomery County. Take, for instance, their methods for identifying dead bodies.

Most coroners -- if confronted with a corpse who obviously has a wallet in his pants pocket -- would check that wallet for what investigators call 'clues' as to the victim's identity.

They don't mess with such high-falutin' detective work in New Caney, where the slogan seems to be 'We'll get the right ID -- eventually.'"

Catch-22, Iraq Style

This is one of the most interesting articles I've read on the Iraq War, a topic not often addressed here.

How Iraq became greater Islington - Sunday Times - Times Online: "[Rory Stewart] arrived in southern Iraq in the autumn of 2003, six months after the invasion, and spent more than a year as local governor, overseeing the local 'rebuilding' of the community. The dissonance between the aspirations of his bosses in Baghdad and the situation on the ground is staggering. When he could not even leave his compound as it was under siege from mortar attack, he was sent memos ordering him to set up 'gender awareness workshops' in remote marshland villages. Vacuum-packed $1m 'bricks' arrived so fast that he ran out of ideas about how to spend them. While his region drowned in blood, he was drowning in memos laden with 'David Brent jargon' or ordering him to seek out three rival glaziers to gain quotes to replace a window."

Bring Me the Head of Philip K. Dick

According to The New York Times, Philip K. Dick's head is missing. You probably have to register to read the article, and it's certainly worth reading, but here's the gist of it:

Last year an admiring doctoral student and evident computer whiz, David Hanson, built a life-size facsimile of Mr. Dick, using the latest artificial intelligence technology, robotics and a skinlike substance he calls "frubber."
. . . . . . .

. . . Warner Independent Pictures, which on July 7 is releasing the film, an experimental, animated thriller directed by Richard Linklater, had intended to send the robot on a promotional tour to promote the film.

That is, until its head went missing.

. . . Mr. Hanson, the robot maker . . . left the head on an America West flight from Dallas to Las Vegas in December.
. . . . . . . .

"They woke me up, I got my laptop from under my seat, and being dazed, I just forgot that I had the robot in there," said Mr. Hanson, referring to the head in a black, American Tourister roller bag, left in the overhead compartment.

After landing in San Francisco, he notified the airline, whose officials apparently found the head in Las Vegas, packed it in a box and sent it on the next flight to San Francisco. Mysteriously, it never arrived.

The Competitive Eating Circuit

Until this morning, I'd never heard of "the competitive eating circuit." Now I've read about it twice, first on Andy Jaysnovitch's blog, and now in the article below. Coincidence? Or is someone trying to tell me something?

ABC News: Man Gobbles Down 22 Hot Dogs in 12 Minutes: "CRANBURY, N.J. Jun 23, 2006 (AP)— With sweat pouring down his face, a 42-year-old courier from Moonachie methodically gobbled 22 hot dogs in 12 minutes Friday to win a regional hot-eating competition and a slot at Nathan's Famous Fourth of July eating contest in Coney Island, N.Y.

Pat Philbin, known in the competitive eating circuit as 'Pat from Moonachie,' beat 12 veterans and newcomers to competitive eating to be crowned the New Jersey Turnpike Regional Hot-Dog Eating Champion at a highway rest area."

Who Knew?

onegoodmove: Sunday Bloody Sunday: "George Bush performing U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday in the just released video version."

EQMM PSA

ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE PUBLISHES SPECIAL NEW ORLEANS ISSUE IN SUPPORT OF HURRICANE RECOVERY

A special New Orleans-themed issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, featuring the Big Easy’s native writers and artists, is slated for shipment to newsstands in early September, following the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating landfall.

Headlining the issue, which bears a November publication date, is fiction celebrating New Orleans’ rich ethnic and cultural diversity. Short stories by crime-fiction pros John Edward Ames, O’Neil De Noux, Tony Dunbar, Tony Fennelly, Barbara Hambly, Greg Herren, Edward D. Hoch, Dick Lochte, William Dylan Powell, Sarah Shankman, and Julie Smith span more than a century and a half of the Crescent City’s history, from pre-Civil War days to the post-Katrina present.

This is New Orleans depicted by New Orleanians: Ten of the issue’s authors, including poetry contributor James Sallis, hail from the beleaguered city. Several lost homes or property in the storm.

The work of other notable New Orleans writers is discussed in a book review column by Jon L. Breen, focusing exclusively on the region’s mystery writing.

Capturing the vibrancy of New Orleans for cover and interior illustrations are artists Jenny Kahn, David Sullivan, and Herbert Kearney, all of whom also call the city home.

EQMM’s publisher, Dell Magazines, has donated all advertising for this special hurricane-recovery issue to organizations with rebuilding or relief efforts ongoing in the areas affected by Katrina. Participating organizations are Bridge House, the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, Covenant House, Habitat for Humanity, Reader to Reader, Inc., Save the Children, and the Volunteers of America. For those wishing to make donations over the Internet, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’s web site, www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm, provides links to all of the participating charities.

For retail sales information, please contact Bill McCollough at bmccollough@i-cmg.com (phone: 212-686-7188 ext. 2343).

To order single copies of the November 2006 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine please visit our web site at www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm, or call toll free (1-800-220-7443).

No, that's not the cover of the New Orleans issue. It's just a cover I like.

NASCAR Romance Update

MercuryNews.com | 06/21/2006 | Harlequin hits the racetrack: "NASCAR ROMANCES A HIT WITH FANS

Let's just say ``In the Groove'' is a racy novel.

Sarah is a former kindergarten teacher forced to take a job driving the bus of jet-setting and, predictably, super-sexy NASCAR driver Lance. She's unimpressed with his fame but, according to the back cover, ``whenever he comes near her she turns hot as race fuel.''

And, of course, the spark plugs fly."

There's much more at the link. Check it out.

The Aggies Strike Again

NBC 6 News - Local Headlines: "Texas A&M University is in another skirmish over the use of the famous 12th Man trademark. Yahoo is using references to the 12th man on its world cup soccer fan page.

University spokesman Lane Stephenson says A&M sent a letter to Yahoo asking it stop using it, and hopes the company acts accordingly.

In May, A&M reached an agreement with the Seattle Seahawks allowing that team to use 12th Man for a one-time payment of 100- thousand dollars and 75-hundred dollars a year."

I Used to Try this Line. It Never Worked.

New York Daily News - Home - Go ahead, live a little!: "Go ahead, live a little!

Or a lot. A study of N.Y. women
finds it's virtue - not vice - you'll regret.

By MARK ELLWOOD

LUST FOR LIFE: Ladies who've lived it up, like Ivana Trump...and Cher, should have no regrets.

Have that extra cookie. Sleep with him on the first date. Call in sick, even if it's for a sample sale.

You won't regret any of it, says a new study; rather it's salads, celibacy and soldiering through the flu that will bring you down.

The report - by Ivy League professors - claims that when you hit 80 and look back on life, it's your virtues, not your vices, that you'll resent.

Good girls are full of regret; bad girls have nothing but great memories."

The Folks at the Concise Oxford Dictionary Have too Much "Time" on their Hands

Oxford dictionary: 'Time' is top noun: "For those who think the world is obsessed with 'time,' an Oxford dictionary added support to the theory Thursday in announcing that the word is the most often used noun in the English language."

Today, Pottstown. Tomorrow, the World!

Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/22/2006 | Prowling alligator nabbed in Pottstown: "Prowling alligator nabbed in Pottstown. The four-feet reptile, spotted by a mail carrier, was probably a pet.
By Bonnie L. Cook
Inquirer Staff Writer

Bobby Kish often hears the click of animal feet on macadam when he delivers morning newspapers in the Pottstown area. Typically, he'll turn just in time to see the back end of a fox or a deer.

But at 5 a.m. Monday, the sound was distinctively different. Kish, who had gotten out of his truck to retrieve a misthrown paper, was walking between two parked cars when he saw a 4-foot alligator."

Richard S. Prather

Thanks to Steve Lewis at Mystery*File for this link to a great Richard S. Prather site. Check it out right now.

Red -- Jack Ketchum

James Reasoner reviewed this book the other day, and he liked it quite a bit. I remembered that I'd had the book around for years but never read it. I took it off the shelf and discovered that it's a British paperback from 1995. Red is more a novella than a novel, and in his later comment on it, James says that there's an additional story in the Leisure Books edition. That makes his copy a bigger bargain than mine, which is filled out by a couple of chapters from another Jack Ketchum novel. But no matter which copy of the book you get, you're getting a bargain because this is one of those "they don't write 'em like that" any more books, as hard, fast, and tough as the old Gold Medals that I like so much.

As James says, the story's a simple one. Geezer's dog is killed by three young guys who do it because they think they can get away with it. They prove to be incorrect. Ketchum's spare style is note-perfect for the story that, for me, falters only once. (But not at the plot development James balked at. I thought that one was perfectly logical.) I've been a fan of Ketchum's work since I read Off Season, many and many a year ago. If you haven't read that one, I recommend it. But for now, get a copy of Red for some solid entertainment. My only regret is that I didn't read it a lot sooner.

eBay Item of the Day

Ever wanted to be a superhero in a best-selling graphic novel? Now's your chance.

William Smith

Walter Satterthwait led me to this site thanks to a discussion of the movie version of Darker than Amber. Some good stuff here if you remember Laredo or for that matter any of the movies Smith was in. Especially interesting is the discussion of the fight scene in the movie, which is condensed on the Rod Taylor site.

Robert B. Parker

I just listened to Beth Foxwell's interview with Robert B. Parker on WEBR in Fairfax, VA. It was a great interview, and I learned quite a bit about Parker that I hadn't known before. Maybe everyone else did, but it was new to me. For example, though Parker's the right age (73), I hadn't thought of him as having read the pulps when he was growing up. He did, though. I like him even better now. If the interview's ever published, I'd like to get a copy of it. You can listen to it here.

Father's Day

I thought I might get this, but it didn't happen.

Heard Any Good Stories Lately?

Escape Pod: "Escape Pod is a weekly podcast bringing you fun short science fiction and fantasy. You can listen at your computer, on any MP3 player, or subscribe to receive each episode. We pay our authors, but we’re always free to listen."

Another site worth checking out. Free, but you can contribute by PayPal if you'd like to. Thanks to Boing-Boing for the link.

Return of The Mystery Circus

The Mystery Circus: By clowns, for clowns.: "This is the third, and for now, final, incarnation of the Mystery Circus. Really, I lose track of these things."

Revamped yet again, the Mystery Circus returns, this time in blog format. Check it out.

But is the World Ready?

Britney Spears wants to set up her own magazine - about herself.

The 'Toxic' singer - who announced her plans during an interview on US TV show 'Today' - thinks it will help set the record straight about her marriage to Kevin Federline.

She said: "You know what? I need to create my own magazine. I need to come up with my own thing and say the real deal."

Retro Pulp Tales:

So I'm here at the Sofitel Hotel in Houston. The MWA workshop is over, and I've been reading some of the stories from the anthology I mentioned in the post below. Wow. Joe Lansdale has really put together a terrific anthology. It opens with James Reasoner's "Devil Wings over France: a 'Dead-Stick' Mallory Story." This is all action, all the time, and it's like something ripped from the pages of Daredevil Aces. It's followed by Chet Williamson's "From the Back Pages, a story made up of letters from various pulp letter columns (the columns are all real even if the letters aren't) and a short excerpt from a story for Terror Tales. Great stuff. Then we get "Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong" by F. Paul Wilson. I heard Wilson read this at ConDFW in February, and I've been wanting to read it myself ever since. A wonderful story with a great title. James Reasoner's title is a great one too. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the stories, even mine. I hope this book gets a mass market edition. It deserves one.

Yet Another Way for You to Spend Money Wisely

Lansdale, Retro Pulp Tales: Subterranean Press: "These stories are all pulp-inspired, hoping to capture the story-telling ability and fast pace of tales from 30, 40, 50 years ago and more. In Retro Pulp Tales, the hunt for a serial killer plays out in a pulp-magazine letters column (Chet Williamson), mishaps haunt a helicopter crash simulator (Stephen Gallagher), and a real-life 'Gidget' sees things in space alien terms (Melissa Mia Hall). Other contributors include Norman Partridge, Tim Lebbon, Kim Newman, F. Paul Wilson, Alex Irvine, Bill Crider, Gary Phillips, and James Reasoner."

Hey, Bigfoot Lives in Texas, Too!

Bigfoot is bigger than life at museum - Science - MSNBC.com: "POCATELLO, Idaho - The director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History says it won't matter whether Bigfoot is farce or fact when a new exhibit opens Friday.

Linda Deck, who is also curator of the Bigfoot exhibit, said the museum is taking a neutral position and simply displaying artifacts that involve the legendary creature that some say lives secretly in the Northwest.

'As human beings we make sense of our world in a variety of different ways,' Deck told the Idaho State Journal. 'We've got our myths, legends and beliefs and a very scientific way of knowing about our world, too, where we make hypotheses and test things and learn and change what we think.'"

New On-Line SF Zine

According to editor William Sanders, "This magazine had its origins in a discussion among some of us disgruntled bastards concerning the present rather discouraging state of speculative fiction; and in particular the timidity and conservatism that seemed to be taking hold in the editorial offices of the SF magazines. Several of us had recently had the experience of having perfectly valid stories bounce merely because they were too 'dark', too unconventional — or, most disturbingly of all, too likely to offend somebody. (Particularly the Jeebus Nazis or the Sons of the Prophet; everybody on both sides of the Atlantic seemed to be afraid of pissing them off — with one possible exception, and none of us could write Danish.)"

Sounds interesting, and the stories are by authors whose names you should recognize (including Janis Ian). It's free, but you can contribute through PayPal if you'd like to help. Check it out.

The Swan of Avon

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — "How beauteous mankind is!" For lovers of William Shakespeare, memorizing one of Hamlet's soliloquies or recalling whether The Tempest is a romance or a tragedy just got easier.

Web search leader Google Wednesday launched a site devoted entirely to the Bard, that allows U.S. users to browse through the full texts of his 37 plays. Readers can even plug in words, such as "to be or not to be" from Hamlet, and immediately be taken to that part of the play.

Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats

Judy and I will be in Houston this weekend for the annual workshop of MWA's Southwest Chapter. Blogging will most likely be light to nothing at all, but check the blogroll for some other places to visit. I've just added Jan Burke's fine blog, "Is This Thing On," so have a look.

The Hackman Blues -- Ken Bruen

You knew that Gene Hackman was the first choice to star as Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch, didn't you? And that he was the sixth choice to play Popeye Doyle in The French Connection? So if you knew, why am I bringing this up? Because

• if Hackman had played Mike Brady, The Hackman Blues would never have been written
• one character in The Hackman Blues fancies that he looks like Gene Hackman and loves to watch Hackman's movies
• another character in The Hackman Blues is named Brady
• I don't think items two and three could possibly be accidental
• I wanted to make a list

I offer all that (free of charge!) to future grad students planning to do theses on the novels of Ken Bruen.

As for the book itself, it's a terrific story of a kidnapping gone spectacularly wrong (read it as a companion piece to Rilke on Black). Tony (not Mike) Brady and a couple of buddies do the job. At first, kidnapping's not their intent, but someone mentions how easily the job they're going could be turned into a big payday for all of them. Boy, are they mistaken. Best you read the book to find out why. It's short, fast, and hardboiled, a Gold Medal book for the new noir. Check it out.

Bob Dylan on XM

Bob Dylan Theme-Time Radio
Playlist 6/14/06
Theme: Fathers

Jimmie Rodgers, Daddy and Home
Shep and the Limelites, Daddy’s Home
Everly Brothers, That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine
Bobby “Blue” Bland, Dust Got in Daddy’s Eyes
Julie London, Daddy
John Hiatt, Your Dad Did
Charlie Sheen comments on his dad (what’s with Bob’s obsession with Charlie Sheen?)
Sons of the Pioneers, My Daddy (Great comment on Bob Nolan. Who knew that Dylan was a huge fan?)
The Winstons, Color Him Father
Leroy Carr, Papa’s on the Housetop
Jack Rhodes and His Lhonde Star, Mama Loves Papa (but Papa Loves Women)
The Temptations, Papa Was a Rolling Stone
Lowell Fulsom, Father Time
The Swan Silvertones, Father Alone
Elvis Costello talks about his father
Ross McManus (Elvis’s Dad), Patsy’s Girl
Hank Williams, My Son Calls Another Man Daddy
Ward Cleaver reads Beaver’s essay on his father

Happy Birthday, Gene Barry!

Eighty-seven years old today. Bat Masterson. Burke's Law. Even Our Miss Brooks. But most memorably to me, the original War of the Worlds (he has a cameo in the remake), a movie that scared me to death when I was a little shaver.

Superman: The Movie

Done in 30 seconds. With bunnies.

In Case You Were Wondering . . .

. . . these guys count so you don't have to. Thanks to Yes But No But Yes for the link.

The Number Of Fucks In Deadwood: "HBO's series Deadwood had a reputation for salty dialogue even before the first episode aired. It was nearly impossible, they said, to keep count of the number of f-words spoken during each program. We took it as a challenge."

Arrrgggghhhhhh!

Guardian Unlimited Film | News | In brief: Eminem guns for new film role: "After his successful acting debut in 8 Mile in 2002, Eminem is heading back to the silver screen. The US rapper is planning to play a bounty hunter in Have Gun, Will Travel, a modern-day adaptation of a 1950s western TV series about a gunfighter for hire. The film could be set in the rapper's hometown of Detroit and Eminem could contribute to the soundtrack."

Happy Birthday, Dorothy L Sayers!

Dorothy L Sayers: "Dorothy Leigh Sayers was born at Oxford on 13th June 1893, the only child of the Rev. Henry Sayers, of Anglo-Irish descent. Her father was at the time headmaster of Christ Church Cathedral School, and she was born in the headmaster's house. She was brought up at Bluntisham Rectory, Cambridgeshire, and went to the Godolphin School, Salisbury, where she won a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford. In 1915 she graduated with first class honours in modern languages. Disliking the routine and seclusion of academic life she joined Blackwell's, the Oxford publishers, worked with her Oxford friend Eric Whelpton at L'Ecole des Roches in Normandy, and from 1922 until 1931 served as copywriter at the London advertising firm of Bensons.

In 1923 she published her first novel, Whose Body, which introduced Lord Peter Wimsey, her hero for fourteen volumes of novels and short stories. She also wrote four other novels in collaboration and two serial stories for broadcasting. Writing full time she rose to be the doyen of crime writers and in due course president of the Detection Club. Her work, carefully researched and widely varied, included poetry, the editing of collections with her erudite introductions on the genre, and the translating of the Tristan of Thomas from mediaeval French. She admired E C Bentley and G K Chesterton and numbered among her friends T S Eliot, Charles Williams and C S Lewis."

Good News for Bogart Fans

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Humphrey Bogart: The Signature Collection Volume 2 for 12th September 2006. Highlighting this collection which honours one of the most popular movie actors of all time is a deluxe new 3-Disc Special Edition of The Maltese Falcon, featuring a newly-remastered edition of the 1941 John Huston masterpiece starring Bogart as Dashiell Hammett’s definitive Sam Spade. This new deluxe set is loaded with hours of bonuses including the 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon and the 1936 film, Satan Met a Lady, commentary by Bogart biographer Eric Lax, a recently recovered additional scene as well as vintage Warner “Night at the Movies” features.

Also contained in the collection are four more Bogart classics making their DVD debuts -- Across the Pacific, Action in the North Atlantic, All Through the Night and Passage to Marseille. Each film has been restored from the original camera negatives and has been digitally remastered, with each title enhanced with entertaining features.

Thanks to Jaime Weinman for the tip.

One by One Our Precious Freedoms are Being Taken Away

Ore. Man With 3 Gators Feels Unwelcome: SouthFlorida.com: "TUALATIN, Ore. -- They may not be soft and cuddly, but James 'Bugs' Brown said his three alligators are beloved pets. He said the gators -- Chomper, Hisser and Snapper -- are like family. And he'd rather move than cave to the pressure from the city to get rid of them.

Brown has lived in the city for 26 years and his oldest alligator has been with him since 1985. But recent concerns from a neighbor prompted the City of Tualatin to push Brown to say 'see ya later' to his pets. "

This Never Happened Where I Used to Work

Who said that Brits aren't wild and crazy?

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Tyne | Probe into 'naked civil servants': "Civil servants on Tyneside are under investigation amid allegations staff romped around naked in offices and had sex in toilets.
...........................

The agency said it was investigating claims that staff leapt naked from filing cabinets, had sex in office toilets, held break-dancing competitions during working hours and fought in a reception area.

Good News?

I've just heard that the paperback rights to A Mammoth Murder have been sold and that I got a nice little bump in the advance from the pb publisher. I should be happy about that, right? And I am, I guess. The problem is that the paperback publisher is Worldwide, and Worldwide no longer distributes books to stores. You can only get them in boxes of Breeze. No, wait, that's those colorful towels. You can only get Worldwide paperbacks if you're a member of their subscription service. That doesn't seem like a great way to build an audience. (See post below.) At any rate, what you should do is buy a hardback copy right now. Either that or join Worldwide's subscription program. You can't go wrong!

Deadwood: Season Three

This post should be called "How Not to Build an Audience."

I watched the third season opener of Deadwood last night. Even with the introductory clips, it took me a while to get into the show again, and I was still unclear about what was going on for a few minutes after that. So I started wondering, what if someone who'd heard about the show but never watched decided to tune in for the first time? I think that person would be completely baffled, maybe so baffled that he'd turn off the TV set or lose interest and switch channels, never to watch again. It's not an easy show in the first place, and coming in now would be like picking up War and Peace and starting to read about 2/3 of the way into the book.

That being said, as a fan of the show I enjoyed the episode, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out over the season. Since HBO has decided not to renew the series but to have a couple of two-hour movies next year instead, I'm hoping some of the story lines will be resolved over the coming weeks.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse -- Lee Goldberg

I've never seen an episode of Monk, so why would I be reading a novel based on that particular TV series? Because it was written by Lee Goldberg, and I've enjoyed several of Lee's other novels, including those based on Diagnosis Murder.

I expected this book to be funny, well-plotted, and generally solid all-around entertainment, and I wasn't disappointed. As the cover of the book tells you (if you're unfamiliar with the TV series), Monk is obsessive, compulsive, and a detective. He has real problems, but luckily he also has Natalie Teeger, the narrator of the novel, who takes care of him. In fact, as the book opens, he's moving into Natalie's house while his is being fumigated.

A lot of the book's humor arises from Monk's attempts to adjust to living away from his own environment, and the whole plot is generated because Natalie's young daughter is upset by the death of a firehouse dog. Monk declares he'll find the killer, and the book is off to the races. I had a lot of fun reading this, and if you're in the mood for a couple of hours of pure entertainment, you probably would, too.

You Know You Like to Watch

Paris Hilton's music video.

No Comment

Deputy fired for allegedly going topless

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

	This photo provided Friday, June 9, 2006. by the Garland County Sheriff's Office in Hot Springs, Ark., shows Dawn Rene Roberson, 38, of Royal, Ark. Roberson was fired Wednesday from the Garland County sheriff's office and charged with misdemeanors for allegedly going topless at a campground at Lake Ouachita. (AP Photo/Garland County Sheriff's Office)

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- A sheriff's deputy who is accused of going topless at a campground has been fired and charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.

Dawn Rene Roberson, 38, of Royal, was fired Wednesday after she turned herself in on the misdemeanor charges.

According to incident reports, a marine patrol deputy and a park ranger told a topless Roberson to cover up in separate encounters Sunday.

Later, authorities received a complaint that a woman without a top was in view of children.

One report said a grandmother complained that the topless woman became "loud and disorderly" after she told the woman to cover up. Another camper told authorities the woman became belligerent when confronted.

Horror Stars on Radio

The Datajunkie has a ton of old radio shows for download. Stars are Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and others. Check it out.

Off on a Jaunt

Judy and I will be visiting her mother this weekend. Blogging will be mostly nonexistent for the next couple of days. Visit some of the fine blogs on the right while I'm gone, and check back in here on Monday. See you then.

Great Pretenders -- Karen Schoemer

I couldn't resist a book of interviews with some of the stars of '50s pop music. Included are chapters on Frankie Laine, Pat Boone, Patti Page, Connie Francis, Tommy Sands, Georgia Gibbs, and Fabian. But the book's not really about them. It's about the author and her attempt to somehow connect with her mother through the music and stars that her mother knew.

Schoemer was for a long time a music critic who wrote about rock. For her, music wasn't worthwhile if it wasn't out there on the cutting edge. She knew she wasn't supposed to like anything recorded by the likes of, say, Pat Boone. But she did. One thing she discovered in writing this book, she says, is that it's all right to like bad music.

I don't think she really gets it, though. She still speaks disdainfully of "Mule Train" and calls it "a silly song." Well, sure it is. That's the point. What someone who wasn't there can never seem to understand is that people knew at the time that "Mule Train" was silly but that it was also a lot of fun. I was just a little tyke when it came out, but it had a beat and a melody that I could sing along with, and it was something that my parents and I could laugh about and joke about. It was a pleasure that a kid could share with adults. We all knew it was silly. Who cared? What's wrong with songs that have energy, melody, harmony? Are those such bad things? And if they can make you smile, what's wrong with that?

I'm not sure Schoemer gets it about "cover records," either. Sure, sure, you've heard it a thousand times: Pat Boone covered Little Richard and Fats Domino and got rich. He cleaned up the lyrics and put white shoes on them. Schoemer does mention that this didn't happen just to black artists. Country records got covered and spiffed up for the pop market, too. Guy Mitchell did it all the time, as did many others. But the cover record was a common thing. Everybody covered everybody. In the '40s and '50s there might be three or four versions of the same song on the charts every week. It wasn't about race. It was about money. Or so it seemed to me. I lived in a part of the country (Texas) where the radio stations played both versions of "Tutti Frutti," and nobody thought anything of it. I have a bunch of Little Richard 45s in a box in my closet, but I don't own any of the Pat Boone covers. I heard both and made my choice.

That's not to say I don't like Pat Boone's records from the '50s. I like some of them a lot. I think it's a big mistake that he and Connie Francis aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were part of the experience for everybody who grew up then.

But I digress. Schoemer finds that she likes most of the performers she talks to, some more than others. Her chapter on Tommy Sands is a heartbreaker. If you're an Old Guy like more, or just a Young Whippersnapper who'd like to learn something about those old 45s in your parents' closets, Great Pretenders is the book for you.

Robert E. Howard Days

Brownwood Bulletin: "Cross Plains welcoming fans of Robert E. Howard

By Gene Deason — Brownwood Bulletin

CROSS PLAINS — Cross Plains is the destination of dozens of Robert E. Howard enthusiasts this week as over 150 people have registered for three days of events celebrating the fantasy fiction author.

Era Lee Hanke, president of Cross Plains Project Pride, said many those who have registered to attend the annual celebration of the Conan creator will come from 20 states, the District of Columbia and four foreign countries.

“We have such interesting people come to this event every year,” Hanke said Tuesday. “You see them enough times that we feel like we know them. It’s so good to see them every year.”

The schedule calls for a series of discussions on Howard’s literature and the potential work he appeared poised to create in various fields. The screening of movies dealing with Howard and his life will also be offered, along with displays of Howard memorabilia.

On Saturday, Cross Plains will host its eighth annual Barbarian Festival downtown with exhibits and games throughout the day.

While Project Pride hosts the Howard celebration each year, it has partnered with the Robert E. Howard United Press Association in co-hosting this year’s activities. The amateur press association founded in 1972 is dedicated to the study and discussion of Howard and his writings.

Increased interest in the event was expected because this year in the 100th anniversary of Howard’s birth, and planning for it began almost as soon as last year’s program was over.

Featured as guests of honor at this year’s event will be Glenn Lord and Roy Thomas, two of the world’s top authorities on Howard and this literary genre."

Gator Update

United Press International - NewsTrack - Student escapes from gator-infested canal:

MIAMI, June 7 (UPI) -- A Miami college student managed to escape an alligator-infested canal after a large truck ran him off the road.

Eddie Melendez, 21, told the Miami Herald he was headed home from Tampa on Alligator Alley when he found his 1993 Honda sailing into the canal.

'I skidded across the median and four lanes. I tried to use my emergency brakes and everything. I broke the fence and went into the canal. The next thing I know, I feel water through my legs,' he told the newspaper.

Though legally blind without his glasses, which flew off in the crash, Melendez managed to climb back up to the road where he was spotted by a passing trucker who called police.

When police arrived on the scene, they found four alligators lazily circling Melendez' car.

Melendez suffered only minor injuries in the Tuesday morning crash. He went to work at Wendy's later in the day."

It's a Bitter Little World -- Charles Pappas

It's a Bitter Little World is a great little book. It's a collection, as the title plainly states, of "the smartest toughest mastiest quotes from film noir." It's organized by topic and then by decade within each topic. Some of the topics are "The Dicks and the Desperate," and "The Dames and the Mugs." You get the idea, right?

This is the kind of book that you sit down with to browse a little and then find yourself unable to stop reading. You'll find some great stuff here, but I'll resist the urge to quote everything in the book. A couple of samples won't hurt, though. Some are familiar, some aren't.

From The Phenix City Story:
Sid: What's he got that I haven't?
Elly: I don't know. I never went to kindergarten with you.

And from one that's always a favorite, The Maltese Falcon:
Wilmer: Keep on riding me. They're gonna be picking iron out of your liver.
Sam Spade: The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.

There's a nice introductory essay, and some entertaining appendices. My favorite is the one where celebrities give quotations from films that were never made. One example from Gary Hart, who titles his film The Last Free Election in America:
Gore: These are desperate men and they will stop at nothing.
Kerry: Now you tell me.

You should definitely check this one out.

Bob Dylan on XM

Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio on XM
June 7, 2006
Theme: Jail, the Slammer, the Graybar Hotel, etc.
Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues
Magic Sam, 21 Days in Jail
Bessie Smith, Send Me to the ‘lectric Chair
Warren Storm, The Prisoner’s Song
The Pretenders, Back on the Chain Gang
Andre Williams, Jail Bait
Cannon’s Jug Stompers, Prison Wall Blues
Kenny Layne and his Bulldogs, Columbus Stockade Blues
Joe Simon, Nine Pound Steel
Jimmy Patton, Okie’s in the Pokie
John Prine, Christmas in Prison
Sir Douglas Quintet, In the Jailhouse Now
Mississippi Sheiks, Jail Bird Love Song
Wanda Jackson, There’s a Riot Going On
Merle Haggard, Sing Me Back Home
Hurricane Harry, The Last Meal

Happy Birthday, Harry Crews!

Harry Crews was born on this day in 1935. He's written some great books. was the first one I read was The Gospel Singer. It was a Dell (I think) paperback that didn't look that much different from any of the others on the newsstand, but boy, it was. Check out A Feast of Snakes or Car. They won't be like anything else you've read lately.

Billy Preston, R. I. P.

'Fifth Beatle' Billy Preston dies at 59: "Washington - Grammy-winner Billy Preston, often described as the fifth Beatle for his work as a keyboardist with the group, died Tuesday at age 59 in Scottsdale, Arizona, media reports said. Preston collaborated with the Liverpool rockers on the albums Let it Be, Abbey Road and the White Album, but also worked with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan, to name a few. He was signed by Apple records in the 1960s and followed up his collaborations with a string of solo hits, including the Grammy- winning Outta Space, as well as Will It Go Round In Circles, Nothing From Nothing and Space Race. Preston died in a hospital in Scottsdale after falling into a coma on November 21, from which he would never emerge, after medical complications that included kidney failure."

World Fantasy Convention Anthology

This year's World Fantasy Convention (November 2-5, Austin, make your plans now) will be devoted mostly to honoring Robert E. Howard on the centennial of his birth. In conjunction with the convention, there'll be an anthology of stories inspired by Howard and his work. It will be edited by Scott Cupp and Joe Lansdale, and it's going to be a must-have item. It doesn't have a title yet, but here's the line-up:

Dean Andersson - Slim and Swede and the Damned Dead Horse
Neal Barrett, Jr. - The Heart
Jayme Blaschke - Prince Koindrindra Escapes
Lillian Stewart Carl - The Diamonds of Golconda
Bill Crider and Charlotte Laughlin - The Heart of Ahriman
Scott Cupp - One Fang
Brad Denton - The King Comes to Texas
Mark Finn – A Whim of Circumstance
Melissa Mia Hall – The Sea of Grass on the Day of Wings
Rick Klaw and Paul Miles - A Penny a Word
Ardath Mayhar - The Pillar in the Mist
Michael Moorcock - The Roaming Forest
Chris Nakashima-Brown - The Bunker of the Tikriti
Lawrence Person – The Toughest Jew in the West
James Reasoner - Wolves of the Mountain
Jessica Reisman – Two Hearts in Zamora
Carrie Richerson - The Warrior and the King
Chris Roberson - The Jewel of Leystall
Howard Waldrop - Thin, On the Ground
Livia Washburn - Boomtown Bandits
Gene Wolfe – Six From Atlantis

Admit it. You know you want a copy right now.

A couple of corrections from Scott Cupp, from his comment below: "While the book will premiere at the World Fantasy Convention it is actually a joint publication of FACT and Monkeybrain and is not officially associated with the WFC. Also, I misspelled Jessica Reisman's name and story title. It is 'Two Hearts in Zamora.'"

I've made the spelling and title corrections in the listing.

For Shame

Vince Keenan had never seen The Great Escape? That is indeed a shame-faced admission. But check out the whole podcast about chick flicks and guy movies for a good discussion and some fun.

Shame-Faced: "Guy movies. Chick flicks. Everybody knows what the staples of each type are. And everybody knows which ones they haven’t seen.

In installment two of the Shame-Faced podcast, Rosemarie and I delve into what makes a movie work for each gender. We also finally get around to watching a classic chick flick (Dirty Dancing) and guy movie (The Great Escape) that both of us somehow missed."

Blazing Adventures Magazine

Via Tribe's Blog, I've learned about Blazing Adventures Magazine, which will be a paying market (it won't pay much, though) and "bringing back the good ol' style of writing that was made popular by the Pulp." This should be fun to read when the first issue arrives. You can check out the guidelines here.

Butch and the Kid

There's a long story about what happened because I own a copy of the first printing of William Goldman's screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The short version is that it got me the job of editing a book called Mass Market Publishing in America, my first big credit. So I have a natural affeciton for both the screenplay and the movie itself, which is supposed to be available on DVD in an "ultimate collector's edition" on June 6. There are quite a few special features, including interviews with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, but the one I'd be most interested in hearing is the one with Goldman.

In a time when anybody makes western movies, it's nice to know that one of the better ones has been given a new lease on life. (In a burst of nostalgia, I just recalled a song: "My Baby Loves the Western Movies" by the Olympics. I guess nobody except us old guys can even remember the days when song like that made sense. Well, maybe it didn't make sense even then, but it was kind of catchy.)

Someone told me the other day that Steve McQueen was the first choice to play the Sundance Kid but that problems with billing couldn't be worked out. So the part went to Robert Redford. If that's a true story, Redford's probably glad those problems arose.

Henry Melton

I've known Henry Melton for a good while, having met him and talked to him at regional SF conventions like AggieCon and ArmadilloCon. He has a entertaining blog, and he's published several SF stories (mostly in Analog, and most recently in this year's March issue). You can read some of them here, for free. Now he has a novel available as a PDF download. It costs a mere $2.99, and you pay with PayPal. I downloaded my copy today, and I'll be reading it soon. Scott Cupp recommended it to me, and I always trust Scott. You might want to give it a try, too. It's called Emperor Dad, and the pay-and-download site is here. Sure, I'm pimpin' for a friend. After all, what better use for a blog?

Earl Kemp's Latest e-Zine

You can find it here. Some wonderful stuff, as always, including a report on the latest Mission Hills Paperback Show. A number of articles on Hustler, too, with one by Todd Mason, an occasional commenter here.

More on Bob Dylan on XM

This guy gives a lot more than my measley little playlist. He's got a complete transcript of the baseball-themed show.

The Beachwood Reporter: "Bob Dylan Plays Ball
By Don Jacobson

We're getting to know the inscrutable Bob Dylan a little better each week as his Theme Time Radio Hour continues through its first month on XM Satellite Radio. Not that he gives us any heart-to-heart, Oprah-style public soul-searching, and that's probably a good thing, all told. I'm really past the point of caring about that anyway - whatever I may discover now about how he thinks isn't going to change my life like it may have 30 years ago. In fact, it could probably only lower him in my estimation, and God knows I need to hang on to whatever tattered bits of idealism I have left from my so-called youth."

Alligators are Everywhere

Black and Decker Alligator Lopper: Ultimate “Man’s Tool” @ Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech: "By Michael Tate
Guest Contributor, RealTechNews

Nothing really brings satisfaction like actual work and when it’s outside work, thats all the better. And outside yard work…well, men need power tools. (Mmmm yes tools, must have tools.)

And the more bizarre the tool, the better. (it’s a guy thing) Black and Decker has another power tool destined for greatness, a POWER pruning tool. It can eat through a four inch branch in mere seconds. Behold the Alligator Lopper."

Old News: Navy SEALS. Today's News: NASCAR

NASCAR Publishing Romance Novels... | The Huffington Post: "Strange bedfellows, indeed. Or maybe not. If it's true that opposites attract, then a licensing agreement between Harlequin Romance novels and NASCAR Inc., should be a marriage made in heaven. The first offspring of this new union, a racetrack romance entitled In the Groove by Pamela Britton, goes on sale Tuesday -- just a few weeks before the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19. Two other NASCAR-themed love stories will be published this year: On the Edge by Britton in September and A NASCAR Holiday by Kimberly Raye, Roxanne St. Claire and Debra Webb in November. At least 17 more, by various authors, are planned for 2007.

'It's a partnership between two extremely brand-loyal groups,' says Kerry Tharp of NASCAR. 'We're trying to reach out and do more to appeal to our female fan base.'"

Picard Gone Mad

Jeff Meyerson says I should blog this. Blame him.

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra wasn't quite what I expected. I thought it would be a parody of bad '50s SF movies, and maybe it was, but it was something else, too. It seemed to me that what the moviemakers wanted to do was to create a movie that wasn't so much a parody but a movie exactly like the ones I saw as a kid. It's fairly successful, except for a few lines that are a little too knowing, when we're sure that the cast, which for the most part plays things absolutely straight, is in on the joke (the skeleton clearly is).

The movie was filmed at Bronson Canyon, where a lot of those '50s movies were made, including The Brain from Planet Arous, a definite influence on this one. But then so were all the others filmed there, like Robot Monster, It Conquered the World, and on and on. The aliens are right out of Plan Nine from Outer Space, and so are their costumes. The direction is pretty much Ed Wood. Close-ups are too close, scenes go on a little too long, the actors are overly hammy.

This kind of thing will either work for you or not. It worked for me, but Judy left the room about halfway through the movie. I don't think it worked for her. You'll have to check it out and judge for yourself.

Ah, the Dangers of Self Publishing

"This novel case concerns whether the court properly admitted into evidence The Birth of a Criminal, a published book by defendant Astante Kahari that describes the exact counterfeit check scheme for which Kahari was found guilty."

Probably even Lee Goldberg hadn't thought of this as a disadvantage of self-publishing.

Bob Dylan on XM

Chron.com | The silly side of Dylan comes out:
By DAVID BAUDER
Associated Press

"Coming from the radio speakers, Bob Dylan sounds as craggy and weather-beaten as he looks — and quite playful, too.

As he reached his 65th birthday May 24, the rock 'n' roll poet was carving out a new role as a part-time radio disc jockey.

His weekly Theme Time Radio Hour airs 9 a.m. CDT Wednesdays on XM Satellite Radio, with Dylan as both curator and narrator. (It's available eight times throughout the week.)

Much like his concerts, Dylan's radio shows are a journey through 20th-century musical Americana, the sort of thing he would have heard growing up in Minnesota with a transistor radio hidden under his pillow when he went to bed."

The Norman Rockwell Code Trailer

For All You Writers Out There

I Deny Responsibility!

New York Daily News - Home - Rush & Molloy: It's official! Anna's in the family way: "We [Rush & Molloy] were the first to tell you on May 3 that the former Playmate might be with child. On Monday, her lawyer, Howard K. Stern, was still denying it. But after the baby's father, Larry Birkhead, came clean to us yesterday, Smith posted a video clip on www.annanicole.com in which - while floating on a raft in a pool - she acknowledged she's expecting."

Killing Time -- Donald E. Westlake

Here's what Anthony Boucher said: "A considerable novel in the best Hammett tradition . . . uncompromisingly hard, admirably told." I couldn't have put it better myself.

I'll add, however, that the book is obviously Westlake's riff on Red Harvest. It's about a private-eye named Tim Smith ("I many be chunky, but I can move fast when I have to." Sound like any p.i. you might have read about?). Smith lives in a small town in New York where he's decided that the best thing for him to do is to go along to get along. He has the dirt on everyone, and it's all in his files, but he's not turning anybody in. He likes the town just the way it is. If there's corruption, that's fine with him, as long as things run smoothly and well.

Then a reform group targets his town, and Smith becomes the target of a killer. What will he do about that, and whose side will he take now? I'm not going to spoil things for you, but I will say that this is a fine example of a novel that's both hardboiled and noir. I first read it more than 40 years ago, and I still remembered the ending.

Robert Sterling, R. I. P.

He'll always be George Kirby, "that sporty spirit," to me. I hope he's having a chat with Cosmo G. Topper even now.

1940s TV Star Robert Sterling Dies at 88 - Forbes.com: "Robert Sterling, the handsome star of 1940s movies who appeared with his wife Anne Jeffreys in the television series 'Topper,' died Tuesday at his Brentwood home. He was 88.

Sterling died of natural causes following a decade-long battle with shingles, said his son, Jeffrey. His wife and other close relatives were at his bedside.

Although he appeared in dozens of movies, Sterling was best known for the 1953-1956 TV series 'Topper,' based on the Thorne Smith novel, and the 1937 film starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. "

Bob Dylan on XM

I have no idea why I started doing this. I have no idea why I keep on doing it. But here it is again.

Bob Dylan on XM Radio
May 31, 2006
Theme: Coffee

Ink Spots, Java Jive
Jerry Irby, A Cup of Coffee and a Cigarette
Frank Sinatra, The Coffee Song
Squeeze, Black Coffee in Bed
Otis Redding, Cigarettes and Coffee
Curtis Gordon, Caffeine and Nicotine
Lefty Frizzell, Cigarettes and Coffee Blues
Lightnin’ Hopkins, Coffee Blues
Scatman Carothers, Keep that Coffee Hot
The Larks, Coffee, Cigarettes, and Tears
Bobby Darin, Black Coffee
Sexmith and Kerr, Raindrops in my Coffee
Blur, Coffee and TV
Ella Mae Morse, Forty Cups of Coffee
The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee

Anoter Reason I'll Never Sell a Million

Thanks to Ed Gorman for the tip on this article.

NYO - News Story 3: " If You Build It, They Will Come—Hot in Publishing: Platforms!

By Sheelah Kolhatkar

There was a time when an author’s elegant prose style or compelling subject matter was the primary concern of an acquiring editor at a publishing house. As the era of visual media encroached, an author’s age and looks also became important. But increasingly, publishers are looking for something more: writers who will not only churn out a few hundred pages of text, but also come prepared to be active players in the publicity process. Writers with a “platform.”"

Snatch

I'm sure you're all familiar with Joe Bob Briggs' theory of the right way to make a sequel: you make the same movie again. Snatch, while not a sequel, follows that theory. It's Guy Ritchie's follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and it's pretty much the same movie, or at least the same plots, but with different characters. Instead of two shotguns, we have a diamond as the McGuffin.

Again, I had no trouble at all following the plotlines, and I'm finding the accents easier to understand. I even understood Brad Pitt some of the time, probably better than some of the other characters in the movie.

There's plenty of razzle-dazzle and quite a few laughs. I enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday, Clint Walker!

Clint Walker is 79 years old today. I was lucky enough to see a lot the reruns of Cheyenne before Time-Warner pulled the Goodlife Channel off our cable. I think there might have been something in his contract requiring him to remove his shirt about once an episode. I remember watching these shows and enjoying them when I was a kid, and I liked them just as much the second time around. Part of the fun was in seeing which WB contract player would be guest-starring, but Walker's the one who carried the show. He did a great job of it, too. Clint has a dandy website here.

Major Disaster at Chez Crider

Bookshelf collapse. Luckily I wasn't in the office when it happened, or I'd now be buried under hundreds of paperbacks, or maybe just cold-cocked by the shelves. How the computer survived, I don't know, but it did. This may slow things down around here for a while. First, I'll have to go through those stages of denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance.

Life is Good

houstonpress.com | News | Gator Aid: "All over southeast Texas, alligators are back. They're in soccer fields and parking lots, garages and swimming pools, oil refineries and prison yards; they're in mobile homes, day care centers and laundry rooms; they're under the porch, on the tarmac of the airport and inside the employees' dedicated smoking area; they're probably at this moment a mile from where you're reading this. Years of protection under the Endangered Species Act have helped alligators reclaim local marshland, even if it becomes putting green. They'll settle in a pinch for the 17th-hole water hazard."

How Dan Brown Stole THE DA VINCI CODE

Click here to read the whole letter to the editor.

"Upon seeing The Da Vinci Code this weekend, I can finally empathize with all the protesters I saw in front of the theater. My objection to the movie isn’t rooted in religious beliefs or even moral disagreements, but rather the disrespectful mockery of the world’s oldest and most famous story. Star Wars is both a literary and cinematic treasure, and Dan Brown’s recent atrocity is nothing more than blatant plagiarism of Lucas’ timeless creation.

The likeness goes far past incidental similarities and can be more aptly described as a rip-off. For starters, look at the characters. The Da Vinci Code features a faceless antagonist referred to as “teacher,” much like the part of the emperor in Star Wars. This 'teacher' controls the actions of the Bishop Aringarosa (Darth Vader) as well as Silas (Darth Maul); both of which are sith-like pawns in his ultimate plan to find the Holy Grail.

The Heinlein Prize

Thanks to Allan Rast for reminding me of this. For more info on the prize itself, click here.

Chron.com | (BW) Inaugural $500,000 Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization Honors Dr. Peter H. Diamandis: "HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2006--Trustees of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust announced today that the first-ever Heinlein Prize will go to Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. The Heinlein Prize was founded to reward individuals for making practical contributions to the commercialization of space. Dr. Diamandis will be honored at a dinner and award ceremony on July 7, 2006 at the St. Regis Hotel in Houston, Texas and receive $500,000, a gold Heinlein Medallion, the Lady Vivamus Sword (as described in Heinlein's book Glory Road) and a Laureate's Diploma."

They Probably Don't Have a Copy of my Book

Chron.com | UT exhibit takes a serious look at Bigfoot: "SAN ANTONIO - Sure, there's the Bigfoot conference in the East Texas town of Jefferson each October, and that's where a permanent Bigfoot museum is envisioned.

But here at the University of Texas at San Antonio's Institute of Texan Cultures, an exhibit and lecture series called 'Bigfoot in Texas?' is lending long-sought credibility to a scientific inquiry that has struggled to gain academic respect.

Viewed by many scholars as a figment of folklore, for others Bigfoot is an elusive creature hiding in the damp woods of East Texas, where scores of sightings have been logged over the years.

Giant footprint casts, photographs, videos and other artifacts are offered as evidence in the exhibit, which opened April 8 and ends July 30. Items and information including eyewitness accounts were provided by the Texas Bigfoot Research Center and other private investigators who pounced on the institute's invitation to assemble the displays."

Mystery*File Update

There's a bunch of new stuff up at Mystery*File, including this:

MYSTERY*FILE ON-LINE: "Readers Forum. In the past 30 days, interesting email messages have been received from Bob Wade, who commented on the recent material posted here on Wade Miller; from Frank Wakely on Dorothy Uhnak and a conjecture on where her most well-known character Christie Opara got her name; and from Ed Gorman, who points out that as a sub-genre, not all gothic romances were trash."

Memorial Day

Memorial Day: "In 1865, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the village of Waterloo, NY, mentioned at a social gathering that honor should be shown to the patriotic dead of the Civil War by decorating their graves.

In the Spring of 1866, he again mentioned this subject to General John B. Murray, Seneca County Clerk. General Murray embraced the idea and a committee was formulated to plan a day devoted to honoring the dead.
Townspeople adopted the idea wholeheartedly. Wreaths, crosses and bouquets were made for each veteran's grave. The village was decorated with flags at half mast and draped with evergreen boughs and mourning black streamers.

On May 5, 1866, civic societies joined the procession to the three existing cemeteries and were led by veterans marching to martial music. At each cemetery there were impressive and lengthy services including speeches by General Murray and a local clergyman. The ceremonies were repeated on May 5, 1867.

The first official recognition of Memorial Day as such was issued by General John A. Logan, first commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. This was General Order No. 11 establishing 'Decoration Day' as it was then known. The date of the order was May 5, 1868, exactly two years after Waterloo's first observance. That year Waterloo joined other communities in the nation by having their ceremony on May 30."

I wonder What this Means for Batman and Robin

United Press International - NewsTrack - New look for some superheroes: "NEW YORK, May 28 (UPI) -- Comic book superheroes have always been a diverse lot, at least in costume and special abilities -- but, now some are going to be different in other ways.

At DC Comics, for example, The New York Times reports, diversity in the $500 million comic book business includes some new heroes with familiar names.

There's a new Batwoman, who now will be a lesbian socialite by night and a crime fighter later at night. And Blue Beetle, who's been changed into a Mexican teenager with a magical scarab."

10 Worst Movie Blockbusters of All Time?

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for this one.

10 Worst Blockbusters of All Time: "It was this thought that inspired us to look back at the history of the blockbuster and reminisce about how we’ve all wasted our money in years past. In ranking the worst blockbusters of all time, each Pajiba staffer nominated 15 films from the pool of 343 with a (non-adjusted) gross of $100 million or more domestically; then we combined our votes with box-office grosses and the overall critical success of those films (as measured by the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer) to create our list. "

Happy Birthday, Ian Fleming!

Ian Fleming was born on this day in 1908. I discovered the James Bond novels when I was in college and for several years thereafter I read spy novels by the truckload. Good ones, bad ones, indifferent ones. I loved them all.