PW Loves Murder Among the Owls: A Sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery

Book detail - Review - Murder Among the Owls: A Sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery: "In Crider's deadpan 14th Dan Rhodes mystery (after 2006'sA Mammoth Murder), the appearance of a black cat at the sheriff's backdoor is a harbinger of bad news about its owner, Helen Harris, a community fixture and Old Women's Literary Society (OWLS) member. When Rhodes goes looking for Helen, he finds her dead on her kitchen floor, apparently from a tumble while changing a lightbulb. But the escaped housecat, which Helen never let outside, leads him to believe that her death was no accident but a cold-blooded murder. Helen's death sends shock waves rippling through the tight-knit community of Clearview, Tex., and Rhodes's investigation reveals how love among the Geritol set can be just as fraught as it is for the young. His shrewd handling of entertaining suspects-including a trailer park Don Juan Leo Thorpe and Helen's grieving lover-crackles with wickedly wry wit. Rhodes's laconic, laid-back detecting style-a cross between Tom Selleck and Willie Nelson-makes for top-notch down-home crime solving.(Jan.)"

You can bet Kirkus will hate it, though.

Will the Persecution Never End? (A Continuing Series)

My effusive thanks to George Kelley for this link. It's an excellent article. Really. No kidding. Read it.

The Trash Princess by Kay S. Hymowitz, City Journal Autumn 2006: "The Trash Princess
Kay S. Hymowitz

Why Americans love to hate Paris Hilton

Maybe 500 channels and an epidemic of bloggerhea mean that Americans have less of a common culture, but we all still share . . . Paris Hilton. The naughty blond heiress is, like, wallpapering our brains. Even if you don’t read the tabloids, you can’t escape her. There’s a (topless) Vanity Fair cover, a Barbara Walters interview, a best-selling single, a CD, a jewelry line, a best-selling book, a nightclub chain. Madame Tussaud has immortalized her in its wax museum. She can command $100,000 just to show up at a restaurant or club opening for an hour. She is among the top Googled people in the United States. And don’t think you can just get on a plane, go to (say) Auckland, and live Paris-free. In 2005, she was among the most popular search topics in New Zealand—not to mention Germany, Japan, and Australia. She is also a huge lure in Mexico, Turkey, France, and Sweden (so much for the enlightened sexuality of the Scandinavians). Who could top her in the fame department? Liberal commentators have dubbed estate-tax repeal “the Paris Hilton tax cut,” and the term has stuck. Madonna never had a piece of federal legislation named after her."

I Take No Responsibility for This

In fact, it's the kind of thing I would never link unless Jeff Meyerson insisted.

Demolition is Live

Check out stories from:

Russell D. MacLean
David White
John Weagly
Jordan Harper
David Terrenoire
Patti Abbott
Chris Everheart
Colin C. Conway
and a new Crip and Henrietta story from Tim Wohlforth

http://www.demolitionmag.com

Thanks for all your support.


--
Bryon Quertermous
http://bryonquertermous.blogspot.com
http://www.bryonquertermous.com

The Proposition

Call this an Australian western. It's visually stunning. I've never see the Australian Outback photographed like this. It's also incredibly violent. There were times when I almost had to turn away. Lots of dirt and filth, and more flies that I've ever seen in a movie before.

Here's the deal: an outlaw family, led by Danny Huston as Arthur Burns, lives according to the principle laid down by The Misfit in Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find." You remember. "No pleasure but meanness." The opening credits reveal what they've done to another family of three, and it's not pretty.

Then comes the opening scene, an intensely kinetic gun battle in which Mikey Burns (the slow one) and his brother Charlie are captured. They've left the gang, for whatever reason, and now they're in big trouble. Captain Stanley (great performance by Ray Winstone, but then all the performances are good) makes Charlie a proposition: kill Arthur, and Charlie and Mikey will be pardoned. What happens after that is best left to you to discover. As mentioned above, some it might be tough to take if you're a wimp like me.

The movie deals with some of the same things American westerns do, like the attempt to "civilize" an unsuspecting country, often using methods as terrible as those the outlaws themselves resort to.

And then there's the problem of the aboriginals. This is the only movie I've ever seen that begins with a warning that "some scenes may be offensive to aboriginal peoples." The methods used against them are certainly as brutal as those employed by the Burns gang.

Check it out and see what you think. There don't seem to be any easy answers, and the movie never compromises the moral ambiguity it presents.

Young and Innocent

This is the other book that James Reasoner made me buy at the World Fantasy Convention.

I'm Surprised this Doesn't Happen More Often

The Sun: BORAT star Sacha Baron Cohen was beaten up by a passer-by after he tried to play a prank as his alter ego.

He approached the man and said: “I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with it.”

But the bystander didn’t see the joke. He took one look at Cohen and punched him in the face.

The funnyman — known for his Borat catchphrase “Jagshemash!” — yelled for help but was slugged again and again.

Will the Persecution Never End?

I'm going to spare you the photo. You'll have to click the link to see it.

The Sun: HOTEL heiress PARIS HILTON treated her male fans to a rear-ly lovely display yesterday, when she flashed her pants.

The cheeky star showed off her taupe-coloured underwear while filming a commercial in downtown Los Angeles.

And it's one in the eye for her arch-nemeis LINDSAY LOHAN, who is famous for going commando.

Franklin W. Dixon

Thanks to George Kelley for the link. Check out the whole article. Very interesting stuff.

Buffalo News - Daughter remembers a Hardy writer: "LEWISTON - Local author Norah A. Perez is the daughter of one of Canada's most famous writers.

Under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon - one of the most recognized names in authorship - her father, Leslie McFarlane was responsible for the 'Hardy Boys' series.

McFarlane wrote the first 21 'Hardy Boys' books from 1927 to 1947, but never received any royalties or fan mail from the popular series, his daughter said."

Grouper

Here's a site with scenes from Sony movies and TV shows. Including a few from the Three Stooges.

TV's Top Moustaches?

I report, you decide.

The Next Voice You Hear . . .

. . , and the one after that, will probably belong to this guy if you see a lot of movie trailers.

Will the Persecution Never End? (See 3rd Paragraph)

Kevin Federline threatens to sell honeymoon sex tapes unless Britney meets his demands: "London, Nov 12: Pop singer Britney Spears' estranged hubby Kevin Federline has reportedly threatened to go public with the couples honeymoon sex tapes if she fails to make a hefty payout to him and hand custody of their two sons.

Britney fears the raunchy footage will destroy her wholesome image unless she caves in to his demands for a $16million payoff and custody of their children Sean Preston, one, and Jayden James, eight weeks.

She is worried she will become infamous like Paris Hilton —whose home-made sex video, was put on the internet by her ex and became one of the world's most popular sites."

Queer Pulp -- Susan Stryker

James Reasoner made me buy this when we were at the World Fantasy Convention. The dealer kindly put it in a plain brown bag for me.

James also made me buy a copy of Young and Innocent by "Edwin West," and he tried to talk me into buying Find the Feathered Serpent a Winston SF juvenile by Evan Hunter. I resisted the latter, thanks to the $165 price tag.

But, as always, I digress. Queer Pulp is the kind of book I can't resist, being a scholarly sort. The subtitle of the book is "Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback." It's a history of the way gay and lesbian sexuality was presented in mass-market paperbacks, with plenty of covers, including dozens I've never seen, like Hot Pants Homo, Lavender Love Rumble, and so on. Classics all. There's some legit stuff included, too, of course. Other Voices, Other Rooms; End as a Man; The City and the Pillar. It was all enough to make me lament once again that I didn't pick up all those softcore books back in the days when I could've bought them for a quarter or less. Well, you can't buy 'em all, I guess. At least you can buy this book and look at the covers and relish the titles. Check it out.

Happy Birthday, Mary Gaitskill!

The Writer's Almanac from American Public Media: "It's the birthday of the novelist and short-story writer Mary Gaitskill, (books by this author) born in Lexington Kentucky (1954). She had a difficult childhood. Her parents moved around a lot, and she never felt like she fit in anywhere. When she was 15, she was kicked out of boarding school. A psychiatrist recommended that her parents have her committed to a mental hospital. She ran away from home, but her parents tracked her down and had her hospitalized anyway. She was released after two months, and at the age of 16 she took off to San Francisco to live on her own."

There's an excerpt from Gaitskill's new novel in Murdaland, reason enough right there for you to get a copy if you haven't already.

Happy Birthday, Kurt Vonnegut!

Kurt Vonnegut: "American author noted for his pessimistic and satirical novels, best known for SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE (1969), which was based on his experiences in Dresden, Germany, where he was a prisoner-of-war at the destruction of the town in 1945. Vonnegut uses fantasy and science fiction to examine the horrors and absurdities of 20th century civilization. His constant concern about the effects of technology on humanity has led some critics to consider him a science fiction writer, but the author himself has rejected this label."

Back in the '70s I read Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, and probably others that aren't coming to mind. I taught a couple of those in my American Novels class. Great stuff. I hope Vonnegut sticks around for a long time.

Jack Williamson, R. I. P.

I read on Jayme Lee Blaschke's blog that Jack Williamson has died. Williamson was truly one of the greats, a giant in the SF field, and I regret his passing. He published stories in nine different decades, beginning in 1928, and I can't even start to tell you all the ones I've read and enjoyed. Let me just name a few things that really hit me: The Legion of Space, Darker than You Think, With Folded Hands. All quite different, all top shelf. I was lucky enough to meet Williamson at an AggieCon about 25 years ago and tell him how much I'd enjoyed his work. The world is a poorer place without him in it.

Jack Palance, R. I. P.

Oscar-Winning Actor Jack Palance Dies - New York Times: "Jack Palance, a coal miner’s son who spent most of a long Hollywood career playing memorable heavies in movies like “Shane” and “Sudden Fear,” only to win an Academy Award at 70 for a self-parodying comic performance in “City Slickers,” died yesterday at his home in Montecito, Calif."

When I was a kid and saw Shane for the first time, I was impressed by a lot of things: the Tetons, Alan Ladd, and Jean Arthur come to mind. But most of all I was impressed by Jack Palance. It's probably the first movie I ever saw him in, and he exuded malevolence. The scene where he goads the homesteader into the gunfight was a shocker to me, and the final shoot-out with Alan Ladd stuck with me for many years. I'm glad Palance finally won his Oscar for City Slickers.

The Fall Issue of Clues

The Bunburyist: "The fall 2006 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection has been published, which is part 1 of a two-part issue on Victorian detective fiction. Articles focus on Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Wilkie Collins, Revelations of a Lady Detective (attributed to W.S. Hayward), Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Machen, Edgar Allan Poe, and 'the detective fiction of female adolescent violence.' The issue's table of contents and more information about the journal may be found here."

It Pays to Know Magic

Thief tricked by David Copperfield pleads guilty - CNN.com: "WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- One of three teenagers charged with attempting to rob illusionist David Copperfield as he left a performance has pleaded guilty.

Terrance Riley, 17, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for three counts of robbery with a weapon and one count of attempted robbery. He will be housed with other inmates under the age of 21.

Circuit Judge Edward Garrison also ordered Riley to testify against his two co-defendants, his brother Dwayne Riley, 18, and Markeith Jones, 17.

Copperfield, 50, and two female assistants were walking from the Kravis Center to their tour bus when they were approached by the teens April 23. The assistants handed over money and a cellphone, but the illusionist turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing, although he was carrying his passport, wallet and cell phone.

'He said in depositions that he had things on him, but it wasn't difficult to make it seem like there was nothing there,' prosecutor Sherri Collins said."

Yet Another Way to Waste Your Time

Banjo Jones over at the Brazosport News has informed me about dotcomedy.com, a new source of comedy videos for you lucky folks with broadband. Tenacious D. Leave it to Beaver. All kinds of other stuff. Check it out.

Hundred Dollar Baby -- Robert B. Parker

April Kyle, whom Spenser has rescued a couple of times before, turns up again, and she's got another problem. Only Spenser can help her because he's the last hero left, the smartest man anybody's ever met, etc.

Seems April's opened her own whorehouse, and someone's trying to shake her down. Spenser and Hawk take care of a couple of punks easily, but things get messier. Finally there's a murder. Nothing is what it seems. Everybody's lying.

So what's new? Nothing much, actually. If you've read the last ten or twenty Spenser books, you know what to expect: Pearl the Wonder Dog, gratuitous "Arlo and Janis" references, Spenser saying, "We'd be fools not to" at least once, Spenser and Susan discussing the psychological aspects of the case, lots and lots of snappy dialog and donut eating. Etc.

And you know what? I don't care. I enjoyed every minute of it. I always do. If you're as easy as I am, check it out. Otherwise, forget it.

JJ Solari Checks In

This morning JJ Solari added a comment to this post. Here's what he had to say: "i been readin' again the whopping three maybe four comments since my last remarks here and of course this is all very thrilling. I am shooting for a fan base of ten. the book is done, the illustrations are done and now it has to jump through ten million government hoops so that everyone will be safe from harm and then i will print ten copies because I am totally optimistic I can with effort sell that many. i have read a lot of funny books. every funny book ever written. and this one will be the funniest. which is not too hard because so far all the funny books have not been very funny."

Solari is the author of the incredible "No Class Chick," which appeared in Easyriders. I think his fan base might exceed his expectations, and I'm looking forward to the book.

Anna Nicole Smith Update

Anna Nicole Smith discharged from hospital - CNN.com: "NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith has been discharged from the hospital where she spent a week receiving treatment for pneumonia, an attorney for the reality TV star said Tuesday.

Physicians at Doctors Hospital released the 38-year-old former Playboy Playmate on Monday after determining that her collapsed lung had stabilized, attorney Wayne Munroe told The Associated Press.

Smith, who checked into the hospital October 30 with pain in her side, was staying at the same facility in September when she gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn, and where her adult son died while visiting her three days later.

'I think it takes quite some time to recover from a collapsed lung, and you have to keep up the breathing exercises for some time,' Munroe said. 'But she's shown a high threshold for pain, having been through so much recently.'

After leaving the hospital, Smith returned to the waterfront home that has been the subject an ownership dispute between her and a South Carolina businessman, Munroe said. G. Ben Thompson has said that Smith has not honored an agreement to pay the mortgage. He is seeking her eviction from the gated mansion known as 'Horizons.'"

Just Forget It. You Don't Have a Chance.

Living Single: Shanna Moakler Article on Stuffmagazine.com: "2006 has been a bad year to be a husband. Don't believe us? Check out this list of gorgeous girls who have untied the knot since last December. We're even throwing in some tips about how to land these newly-single beauties on the rebound. "

Ed Bradley, R. I. P.

Ed Bradley of '60 Minutes' Dead at 65 - Forbes.com: "Ed Bradley, the award-winning television journalist who broke racial barriers at CBS News and created a distinctive, powerful body of work during his 26 years on '60 Minutes,' died Thursday. He was 65."

I've been watching him on 60 Minutes for 25 years. Hard to believe he's gone.

Love The Lockhorns?

Then you probably can hardly wait for the movie.

Darwin Award Candidate (with Video)

Video: Rocket man injured firing firework from his bottom | News | This is London: "A soldier is in hospital with severe internal injuries after trying to launch a powerful firework rocket from his backside."

13 Best Worst Movies

Maxim has the annotated list. I've seen ten of them. I'm sure some of you have seen them all.

Scary, Sad, Awful. Just Read It.

Ed Gorman adds this comment: "I'm not a conspiracy of any kind buff but I do believe that Pat Tillman was murdered by his fellows because he spoke up so openly about what a bullshit war this is."

New York Post Online Edition: News: "'Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman, damn it!' the NFL star shouted, again and again.

The latest inquiry into Tillman's death by friendly fire should end next month; authorities have said they intend to release to the public only a synopsis of their report. But The Associated Press has combed through the results of 2 1/4 years of investigations - reviewed thousands of pages of internal Army documents, interviewed dozens of people familiar with the case - and uncovered some startling findings."

So It's Come to This

IOL: OK 2 use SMS lingo in exams: "Wellington - New Zealand high school students will be allowed to use text-speak - the second language teenagers have developed for cellphone messages - in exams, according to news reports on Thursday.

The move has divided students and educators amid concerns that it could damage the English language, The Press in Christchurch reported.

It said that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority was still encouraging students to use proper English in exam papers but would give credit if an answer written in text-speak 'clearly shows the required understanding'."

How to Make Your Parents Proud

The Sun Online - Bizarre online: Paris' parents love her sex vid: "PARIS HILTON's mum and dad are dead proud of her daughter's sex video.

That's according to a new biography by Jerry Oppenheimer.

Jerry claims that while researching his book House of Hilton he found out that Paris' parents, Rick and Kathy, were not fazed when One Night In Paris was leaked on the internet.

He said: 'I have family sources telling me that Rick and Kathy Hilton are proud of everything Paris has done, including the X-rated video that launched her to this international stardom and infamy and fame.

'It is a bizarre family. Behind the scenes her parents were not opposed to the video because that totally launched her.'"

Happy Birthday, Mary Travers!

She's 70 today. Hard for me to believe. As a child of the "folk revival" that began with the Kingston Trio in 1958, I still think of all these people as being in their 20s. For that matter I still think of myself as being in my 20s. Talk about denial!

Swingin' Chicks of the '60s: Along with Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, she was in one of the biggest, and most durable, folk groups in music history. Addressing their impact, writer John Court wrote this on the back of Movin', their '63 album with "Puff, the Magic Dragon" on it: "While they are already this country's signally important popularizers of folk music, their serious interpretations of folk classics command the respect of the idiom's most inveterate critics." One other way they had an impact on the '60s was to propel the career of a struggling young folkie. Peter, Paul and Mary were discovered in '61 by Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan's manager. In '63 they helped Dylan get some early fame by bringing his "Blowin' in the Wind" to #1 on the charts and "Don't Think Twice" to #9. And you've gotta admit her group's heart was always in the right place throughout their long career: You name the benefit, they probably appeared for it, including the famous '63 March on Washington in which Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I have a dream speech."

Gator Update

I'm probably the only person who came home from the World Fantasy Convention to find a gator lying in wait for him. But then when Cap'n Bob Napier has your mailing address, you never know what might show up. Thanks, Cap'n, for the new addition to my interior decorations.

New Helix On-Line

The fall issue of Helix is on-line. Fiction by Terry Bisson and Jay Lake, among others. Lots of other good stuff. Check it out.

He Should Be Plugging My Book

Bigfoot studies render professor an outcast - Science - MSNBC.com: "POCATELLO, Idaho - Jeffrey Meldrum holds a Ph.D. in anatomical sciences and is a tenured professor of anatomy at Idaho State University.

He is also one of the world’s foremost authorities on Bigfoot, the mythical smelly ape-man of the Northwest woods. And Meldrum firmly believes the lumbering, shaggy brute exists.

That makes him an outcast — a solitary, Sasquatch-like figure himself — on the 12,700-student campus, where many scientists are embarrassed by what they call Meldrum’s “pseudo-academic” pursuits and have called on the university to review his work with an eye toward revoking his tenure. One physics professor, D.P. Wells, wonders whether Meldrum plans to research Santa Claus, too."

Texas, My Texas

I'm going to be represented by a dead woman in the Texas legislature.

8 of 51 precincts - 16 percent
Glenda Dawson, GOP (i) 9,578 - 63 percent
Anthony Dinovo, Dem 5,631 - 37 percent

Glenda Dawson passed away a few months ago. What do these results tell us about the intelligence of the average voter? State rep. Dennis Bonnen campaigned for her, so maybe that's why she won.

Croc Update

Camera-shy croc snaps tourist | NEWS.com.au: "A BELGIAN tourist tried to take a snap of crocodile in North Queensland, but the croc snapped first.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) spokesman Mark Read says the 24-year-old male tourist splashed water to 'attract a crocodile' to photograph it at Cape Tribulation, about 350km north of Cairns, today.

'It wasn't a good idea,' Dr Reid said.

A 2m crocodile 'rapidly emerged' from the water and bit the tourist on the knee.

He was given first aid by a local before being taken to Mossman Hospital – almost 300km away – for further treatment."

Happy Birthday, Bram Stoker

What hath Bram Stoker wrought? Is Dracula the single most influential book on writing today? When I look at all the vampire novels on the stands (and there must be dozens of new ones every month, if not more), I think it must be.

Bram Stoker - Biography and Works: "Abraham 'Bram' Stoker (1847-1912), Irish writer, best known for his vampire novel Dracula(1897).

Bram Stoker was born near Dublin on November 8, 1847, the third of seven children. An unidentified illness kept him virtually bedridden until age seven. Although he remained shy and bookish, in his adolescence Bram Stoker was anything but sickly. Perhaps to make amends for his earlier frailty, he was by this time developing into a fine athlete. At Trinity College, Dublin, he would conquer his shyness and be named University Athlete."

A Peach of a Murder -- Livia J. Washburn

Okay, this is a cozy. So much for my street cred. The truth is, however, that I read a lot of different kinds of books, including books that have recipes in the back, like this one.

What we have here is a fine small-town mystery with interesting characters, plenty of secrets, and murders. Phyllis Newsom, a retired teacher, is the main character. After her husband's death she converted their big old house into a boarding house for women, and she now shares it with three other retired teachers, including one who's quite old.

Two of the women, Phyllis and Carolyn, are intensely competitive when it comes to cooking up peach dishes for the annual festival in Weatherford, Texas. This year things get a little tense when two men die, one while Phyllis and her friends are picking peaches and another during the judging of the contest.

Phyllis's son is a deputy sheriff, so Phyllis gets to keep up with the investigation, and when one of her friends looks like the leading suspect, Phyllis decides she'll have to solve the murders herself. And she does, with the assistance of Sam Fletcher, a male boarder who's just moved in to complicate life in the formerly all-woman boarding house.

Great small-town atmosphere, entertaining characters, humor, and even recipes. How could you go wrong? Check it out.

Anna Nicole Smith Update

Once again, Jeff Meyerson provides us with the latest news.

iWon News - Smith Discharged From Bahamas Hospital: "NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith has been discharged from the hospital where she spent a week receiving treatment for pneumonia, an attorney for the reality TV star said Tuesday.

Physicians at Doctors Hospital released the 38-year-old former Playboy Playmate on Monday after determining that her collapsed lung had stabilized, attorney Wayne Munroe told The Associated Press."

Bibles Stop Bullet

Okay, so maybe this guy was right.

WFTV.com - News - Bibles In Man's Pocket Stop Bullet: "JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 54-year-old Orange Park man credits two Gideons Bibles in his shirt pocket for saving his life when they stopped a bullet.

The man tells police that two men he didn't recognize ambushed him with a rifle as he carried bags to a trash bin. The two men fled in opposite directions and have not been arrested.

The man's name is being withheld because his attackers are still at large.

Other than a red mark and a pain in his chest, he wasn't injured."

For Those Who Forgot To Set the TiVo

Kirstie Alley in a bikini on Oprah's show.

Dang

Duct tape no magical cure for warts, study finds - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Duct tape does not work any better than doing nothing to cure warts in schoolchildren, Dutch researchers reported on Monday in a study that contradicts a popular theory about an easy way to get rid of the unattractive lumps."

Homer Simpson Takes Over at NASA

Photos at the link.

local6.com - Slideshow: "Workers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center were forced to review the rulesbook Monday after photos of three space workers snoozing on the job were released on a Web site."

Texas, My Texas

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas Southwest: "SAN ANTONIO – Gov. Rick Perry, after a God and country sermon attended by dozens of political candidates Sunday, said that he agreed with the minister that non-Christians will be condemned to hell.

'In my faith, that's what it says, and I'm a believer of that,' the governor said."

A Review

I've posted a review of a new Joe R. Lansdale story over at Nasty, Brutish, and Short. Check it out.

No Comment Department

Size matters for makers of Aussie "Wonderjock" - Yahoo! News: "SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters Life!) - Size really does count, just ask Australian underwear maker AussieBum which has just launched the 'Wonderjock' for men who want to look bigger.

Since the launch seven days ago, AussieBum says it has sold 50,000 pairs of 'Wonderjock', mostly on its Web site www.aussiebum.com and a handful of stores around the world.

'The design of the underwear, separates and lifts. The fabric cup protrudes everything out in front instead of down towards the ground,' said 'Wonderjock' designer Sean Ashby."

Who's on Twice

Over at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, Ivan mentions Abbott and Costello and their routines, including of course the most famous of all, "Who's on First." And then I see this Police Squad clip on Jaime Weinman's paying gig. It's no wonder I'm confused most of the time.

More on Spillane, Hammer, and Hard Case

Some of you were wondering about manuscripts left behind by Mickey Spillane. Al Collins spills the beans over at The Rap Sheet. Check it out.

More About the World Fantasy Convention

Part of the fun, maybe most of the fun, of attending conventions (for me, at least) is getting to talk to people, including those you haven't seen in a while. Bob Vardeman used to come to the AggieCon back in the early '80s, and he and I became acquainted because we were both authors of Nick Carter books. I forget which ones he wrote, though I have a few of them around here somewhere. You can go to his webpage and find them listed. Anyway, I discovered that Bob has launched into a new career: movie star. If you clicked the link, you learned that he's been in three movies, and judging from the titles, they're very classy productions. He doesn't just appear in the movies, however. He also writes the novelizations. I don't know whether to order the book or put the movie in my Netflix queue. Or both.

Land of the Lost Update

Photos at link.

panopticist: Bill Laimbeer Was a Sleestak: "Bill Laimbeer Was a Sleestak

No, seriously: Bill Laimbeer, the widely loathed giant who played center for the Detroit Pistons from 1982 to 1993, appeared as a Sleestak in at least one episode of the cheesy '70s show Land of the Lost, a program that terrorized a generation of young kids on Saturday mornings. I discovered the Laimbeer connection on my own a couple of years ago, when I watched a two-episode LotL videotape I had bought during a bout of nostalgia. This obscure bit of trivia is, I admit, probably only of interest to North Americans born between about 1963 and 1973 who remember the nightmares caused by those hissing, rubber-suited monsters."

Gator Update

WFTV.com - News - Firefighters Called To Blaze At Gatorland In Orlando: "ORLANDO, Fla. -- The fire is nearly out at Gatorland in Orlando.

Orange County emergency officials got a report shortly before dawn of smoke and flames at the 110-acre theme park and preserve. A spokeswoman said the fire seemed to be in a building that houses administrative offices and a gift shop.

The building is at the front of the park and does not appear to be a threat to the reptiles.

No injuries have been reported.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. Gatorland will be closed Monday."

World Fantasy Con Update

This was a great convention. Of course the fact that it was held in Texas and honored Robert E. Howard had something to do with that. I encountered Howard first in an issue of Fantastic Universe, and even though the story was one of those pastiches by L. Sprague de Camp and Bjorn Nyberg, I knew it was something special. I read all the REH stories I could find after that.

The con followed its theme very well, and there were a number of panels devoted to Howard and his work. Glenn Lord was here, and I saw the interview with him (excellent) as well as three panels about Howard, all of which were top-notch. The other panels I attended were also good, and my own panel on 19th Century Heroes was well attended and a lot of fun. One woman came up to the panelists when it was over and said, "This was the best panel I've been to at this convention." The guy who sat and slept and snored through the whole thing probably agreed with her.

The book bag was the best I've received at any convention, ever. I'll be using it a lot in the years to come. The books inside weren't bad, either, but the prize was Cross Plains Universe. I'm really pleased to be in this one with some fine writers, some of whom are well known and some of whom should be. Maybe this book will help make them better known.

It's always a pleasure to spend some time with people like James Reasoner, whom I see all too seldom, Joe Lansdale, Scott Cupp, Henry Melton, Willie Siros, Jayme Blaschke, Neal Barrett, and others. They should have this convention in Texas every year.

I got only two videos, but they're good ones. Scroll down to watch.

Will the Persecution Never End? (A Continuing Series)

Paris stirs pity in author | NEWS.com.au Entertainment: "SOME love her. Others hate her. Paris Hilton's latest biographer, who spent more than a year studying the world's most famous 'celebutante,' says he just feels sorry for her.
Hilton, whose great-grandfather, Conrad, started the global Hilton Hotel empire, was catapulted to international fame in 2003 when a home video of her having sex with a former boyfriend was plastered all over the Internet.

Coupled with a popular reality television show called The Simple Life, Hilton used the publicity to build a multimillion-dollar celebrity juggernaut. The wannabe star's outrageous behaviour and skimpy clothing scored her headlines and magazine covers around the world.

Biographer Jerry Oppenheimer, author of House of Hilton - From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege, said Hilton, 25, has made herself into the IT girl of this decade, attracting scores of copycat fans.

But he said her partying and rich-girl antics - including a recent arrest for drunken driving - have irritated many others. Dislike of her is so strong that she recently topped a survey as the female star most people would like to see slain in a horror film.

She also reportedly has won a place in the 2007 Guinness World Records as 'the most overrated celebrity,' and helped personify a new word, 'celebutante,' a blend of 'celebrity' and 'debutante' meaning an attention seeker better known for misbehaving than for talent."

James Reasoner

A Pair of Lansdales

.Ed Gorman's Back!

From Ed: "Back in business again. Will be posting most if not all nights. Subjects will be defined by whim--whatever interests me on a given day. Will do my best to avoid politics. Lots of other sites cover that gnarly subject better than I do.--Ed"

Hard Case Crime Update

News from Hard Case:

More than 50 years ago, the great, tormented pulp writer Cornell Woolrich (author of "Rear Window," among many other classics) wrote a novel called FRIGHT. The book was never published under his real name. He put it out under a pseudonym, "George Hopley"; a hardcover edition appeared in 1950, a paperback in 1952. The book hasn't been published since. Today, copies of the paperback sometimes sell for more than $100, copies of the hardcover for several hundred dollars.

We'll be publishing the first new edition of this book in half a century -- and the first ever under Woolrich's name -- next summer. As of today, you can get a first look at the book on our Web site, www.hardcasecrime.com. And that's the reason I'm writing -- it's really worth a look. The cover was painted for us by an artist who is new to our line, Arthur Suydam, and his work is truly breathtaking. You can also find a sample chapter and some information about the book -- but first and foremost, I thought you'd want to see the cover.

And if you do like that cover, you may be interested to know that Arthur Suydam is hard at work on another cover for us as we speak. This one is for a brand new book by the late Mickey Spillane. It's called DEAD STREET, and it's the last crime novel Mickey ever wrote. (He has some other unpublished work as well, including a final Mike Hammer private eye novel, but no other straight crime fiction.) We'll have more to say about DEAD STREET soon -- probably around the same time Arthur finishes painting the cover . . . .

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

AP Wire | 11/04/2006 | Some Texas schools switching from textbooks to e-books: "DALLAS - If voters approve school bond packages in Lancaster and Forney, those districts will become the latest Texas schools to begin replacing traditional hardbound textbooks with electronic versions.

The Plano and Irving school districts have already introduced e-books into some of their classrooms, and the Midland school district is moving away from old-fashioned textbooks entirely, said Anita Givens of the Texas Education Agency.

'In some classrooms, teachers give students traditional textbooks to keep at home, and they use online books or other resources at school,' Givens said.

Forney schools are planning the most complete overhaul, with a school bond package that would provide $11.8 million for laptops for students. The plan is to have most students using only electronic textbooks within two years, school officials said.

If that happens, Forney would probably be the first school district in Texas to use e-books in every classroom from fifth grade on up, Givens said."

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Cameras Show Army Recruiters Misleading Students - AOL News: "An ABC News undercover investigation showed Army recruiters telling students that the war in Iraq was over, in an effort to get them to enlist."

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Cameras Show Army Recruiters Misleading Students - AOL News: "An ABC News undercover investigation showed Army recruiters telling students that the war in Iraq was over, in an effort to get them to enlist."

New York, New York

Typo in state's drunken driving law changes its meaning - Newsday.com: "ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Drinking a shot of beer in New York could get you arrested for drunken driving. At least that's the way the New York law reads.

Lawmakers this year approved a bill that sets the standard for driving while intoxicated at 0.18 grams of alcohol in a person's blood.

A person's body might produce that much alcohol naturally, said Ed Fiandach, a DWI lawyer in Rochester.

Instead of using grams, the law should have used blood alcohol content as a measure.

'It was a typo,' said Assemblyman David Gantt, D-Rochester, who heads the Assembly Transportation Committee that approved the bill before it went to the Legislature. 'If you go through our laws, mistakes are made all the time. We're human beings.'"

I'm Cautiously Optimistic

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | 'Brilliant' Bond seduces critics: "Daniel Craig's performance as James Bond has been hailed as 'terrific' and 'simply brilliant' in early reviews of his 007 debut in Casino Royale.

The first verdicts on Craig - who was a controversial choice to play the spy - have been gushing.

The Daily Mirror said he was seen 'oozing the kind of edgy menace that recalls Sean Connery at his best'.

And the Daily Telegraph wrote that he 'steps with full assuredness into Sean Connery's old handmade shoes'."

Want to be Minuteman?

Texas Virtual Neighborhood Border Watch Program: "As part of the Virtual Neighborhood Border Watch Program, the State of Texas has been testing video surveillance cameras in different environments along the 1240 miles of Texas/Mexico border using the internet to transmit the images. The last stage of the test is to stress the system by providing public access to numerous surveillance cameras.

Thank you for helping test this important capability."

World Fantasy Con Update

So far, the video uploads aren't working out. I have no idea why, but I don't have but a couple anyway.

My biggest surprise of the con came yesterday when I was talking to Neal Barrett, Jayme Blaschke, and Peter Beagle. Beagle's the author of The Last Unicorn, one of the finest fantasy novels of the last century, and not exactly the person I'd think would be interested in some of the stuff that I like. So when he started talking about how much he loved Gold Medal Books and how his youthful reading was of guys like David Goodis and John D. MacDonald, I was a little taken aback. But of course it was great to meet another fan of the Good Old Stuff.

Last night was the mass signing, and all the contributors to Cross Plains Universe sat in a group. I've never signed so many books before. One contributor said, "I hope I get to have one more signing like that before I die." Of course all Joe Lansdale's signings are like that, so he took it in stride.

Set the TiVo

Kirstie Alley Gets Bikini-Ready for Oprah | Kirstie Alley : People.com: "Kirstie Alley is due to pose in her bikini on Monday's Oprah Winfrey Show, almost a year to the day after she first promised Winfrey she would. "

Hooray for Hollywood

IGN: When De Niro Met Fiddy: "November 2, 2006 - Robert De Niro and 50 Cent? It's a match seemingly made in heaven, right? The pair are getting set to star together in a new police thriller called New Orleans."

A Year Without Harry Potter Is Like a Year Without Money

CBC NEWS: There was no Harry Potter book this year — and that cost Indigo Books & Music Inc. dearly.

Total sales for Canada's largest bookstore chain fell 2.4 per cent to $182.2 million in the fiscal second quarter, largely because there was no Harry Potter book to sell. And a quarterly profit last year turned into a $1-million loss.

Happy Birthday, Daniel Boone!

American West - DANIEL BOONE: "More than any other man, Daniel Boone was responsible for the exploration and settlement of Kentucky. His grandfather came from England to America in 1717. His father was a weaver and blacksmith, and he raised livestock in the country near Reading, Pennsylvania. Daniel was born there on November 2, 1734.

If Daniel Boone was destined to become a man of the wild, an explorer of unmapped spaces, his boyhood was the perfect preparation. He came to know the friendly Indians in the forests, and early he was marking the habits of wild things and bringing them down with a crude whittled spear. When he was twelve his father gave him a rifle, and his career as a huntsman began."

I Was Going to Comment on This, but I Forgot What I Wanted to Say

News in Science - Forgetful? Virus may be eating your brain - 24/10/2006: "Forget where you left your glasses? Did those keys go missing again? A virus may be to blame.

Viruses that cause a range of ills from the common cold to polio may be able to infect the brain and cause steady damage, a team at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota reports.

'Our study suggests that virus-induced memory loss could accumulate over the lifetime of an individual and eventually lead to clinical cognitive memory deficits,' says Dr Charles Howe, who reports the findings in the latest issue of the journal Neurobiology of Disease. "

Anna Nicole Smith Update

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson, always on the ball.

iWon News - Anna Nicole Smith Had Pain in Her Side: "NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith was suffering from pain in her side when she checked into the hospital where doctors diagnosed a case of pneumonia, her attorney said Wednesday.

The 38-year-old former Playboy Playmate arrived Monday at Doctors Hospital, the same medical center where she gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, on Sept. 7. Her 20-year-old son died three days later while visiting his mother and sister.

'The impression I got is they took her in because her ribs were hurting, and then they discovered she had pneumonia,' attorney Wayne Munroe told The Associated Press.

Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, said in a statement to the TV show 'Entertainment Tonight' that Smith underwent a procedure Tuesday to drain fluid from a lung that had partially collapsed."

William Styron, R. I. P.

One of the very first books I read in grad school, in a contemporary novels course, was Lie Down in Darkness. (That it was actually sort of contemporary tells you how long ago I was in grad school.) That title has stuck with me through the years as appropriate to Styron's life, for some reason.

Novelist William Styron Dead at 81 - Forbes.com: "William Styron, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist whose explorations of the darkest corners of the human mind and experience were charged by his own near-suicidal demons, died Wednesday in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. He was 81."

Top 10 Lesbian Vampire Flicks

AfterEllen.com - Top 10 Lesbian Vampire Flicks: "According to Andrea Weiss, author of Vampires and Violets: Lesbians in Film, “outside of male pornography, the lesbian vampire is the most persistent lesbian image in the history of the cinema.” So turn down the lights, ladies, and settle in for some Gothic gloom this Halloween season. It's time to pay homage to our fair forebear (and the lesbian vampire is always irresistibly hot) by running down 10 of the best lesbian vampire flicks out there."

Is This Asinine or What?

There's no evidence on these guys, but you still have to trash your bottle of water before you go through security.

UK 'air plot:' Brothers released - CNN.com: "LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two brothers charged in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners have been released after a British court ruled there was insufficient evidence to warrant a trial.

Westminster Magistrate's Court confirmed that the case of Umair Hussain, 25, and Mehran Hussain 23, was discharged due to 'insufficient information evidence.'

The two faced charges of failing to disclose information about the suspected role of their brother Nabeel Hussain, 22, one of 11 people charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism in the plot."

We're Here

Judy and I arrived in Austin around 1:00 this afternoon. We had lunch with our son, Allen, and spent some time at his house. We're now ensconced in the Renaissance Hotel in the Arboretum on Highway 183. Programming for the convention doesn't begin until tomorrow, so we'll sit around and read the paper and the books we brought along. Maybe we'll visit a restaurant later for dinner. I'll probably call my sister and see if she wants to drive out to join us.

This is the same hotel where the Bouchercon was held a few years ago when I was Fan Guest of Honor. I was hoping I'd get the same nice suite I had then. No such luck.

World Fantasy Convention

Judy and I are about to toddle off to Austin for the World Fantasy Convention. This year, Robert E. Howard will be honored. All the attendees will be receiving a copy of Cross Plains Universe. If the book eventually sells to mass market paperback, then everyone can read some of the great stories between the covers, but for now you'll have to be content with looking at the cover here or checking out the table of contents here.

I'll probably do a little blogging at the convention, but I don't know many fantasy writers, so there might not be video. Except that, for you Dirty Old Men (and you know who you are), I'll try to have a video of Kasey Lansdale, who, I believe is the opening act for Ray Price this weekend. Soon she'll be a chart-topper, but I'll always remember her as the kid who lost out to a ferret in the Miss AggieCon contest.

Gator Update

PensacolaNewsJournal.com: "FREDERIC, Mich. (AP) -- Your money or your ... alligator? Police say an armed man went to the home of a drug dealer to collect on a debt. When the dealer couldn't pay, the collector made off with the dealer's 18-inch-long pet alligator.

'I think he was going to hold (the gator) for ransom, or something,' Crawford County Sheriff Kirk Wakefield told the Traverse City Record-Eagle for a story Tuesday. 'It's really weird.'

The alleged gator-napping arose from a Sept. 25 drug bust at a house west of Frederic, a rural village 200 miles north of Detroit, Wakefield said.

Police confiscated a cache of drugs, including marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine and Ecstasy pills, plus $900 in cash and two handguns.



'Apparently the guys we took this from owed somebody for what we took,' Wakefield said. 'That somebody hired this guy to go get that money.'"

Grave Descend -- John Lange

Twenty years ago I wrote a short essay on John Lange's Easy Go for 1001 Midnights. I said something like "The critics don't like Lange much, but this is a very entertaining book."

When I wrote that, I also mentioned that Lange was actually a pen name. That's not mentioned anywhere on the Hard Case Crime book I just read, however, so I won't mention it, either.

So what's Grave Descend like? It's like those great old paperbacks they don't write any more. Short (my guess: 50K words), and it gets the job done. The setting's Jamaica. MacGregor is a diver living more or less hand-to-mouth. He's hired to do a seemingly straightforward job, except that everybody who talks to him has a different story, and there are all sorts of little things that bother him. He's right to be bothered. There's more plot in this book than in most of the doorstop-sized thrillers published today. Not much character development. Hardly any, in fact, but there's action, color, movement to spare. Sharks. Femme fatales. Smart cops. Spear guns. And crocodiles, a huge plus here at Chez Crider. Pure paperback storytelling and fine local color, too. There's even this quotation from Samuel Johnson: "Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young." What's not to like? Check it out.

Anna Nicole Smith Update

Thanks to the ever-alert Jeff Meyerson for the link.

FOXNews.com - Anna Nicole Smith Treated for Pneumonia, May Have Dyed Baby's Hair - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment: "NASSAU, Bahamas — Anna Nicole Smith has been hospitalized with pneumonia at the same medical center in the Bahamas where her 20-year-old son died under mysterious circumstances in September, an attorney for the reality TV star said Tuesday.

Smith, whose son died while visiting her in the hospital three days after she gave birth to a daughter, was being treated at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, attorney Wayne Munroe said.

'She has a slight case of pneumonia,' Munroe told The Associated Press. 'We've had a sudden change of weather here due to a cold snap.'

Click here for more Anna Nicole Smith headlines

Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel died in her hospital room hours after arriving in the Bahamas, where his mother had moved during her pregnancy. The results of official toxicology tests and a police investigation into his death have not been released.

Meanwhile, an attorney said she believes that Smith dyes her new daughter's hair.

The model, who usually sports platinum blonde hair, may have dyed her infant daughter's locks to make it appear the father is Smith's current companion, Debra Opri, lawyer for Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead, said Monday."

I've Known this All Along

ContactMusic.com: Socialite PARIS HILTON insists her sultry image is all an act and that she would rather eat than have sex. Although the STARS ARE BLIND singer became famous after a sex tape she filmed with former boyfriend RICK SOLOMON was released on the internet in 2003, she says she doesn't deserve her racy reputation. She tells Seventeen magazine, "People shouldn't judge me and assume that's how I am. "I get in so many fights with guys who are like, 'In public, you are the sexiest sex symbol, but you're not sexual at all at home.' "I'm like, 'Whatever, shut up. I don't wanna be.' I'd rather watch a movie or LOST, or like, eat."

Why I Haven't Seen Saw (and probably won't see Saw)

BBC News: Staff at a UK cinema have had to call emergency services three times in one night because of a spate of people passing out during horror film Saw III.

One woman was taken to hospital and two other adults were treated by medics after fainting in Stevenage, Herts.

And in a separate case, a man collapsed at a cinema in Peterborough, Cambs, "due to the film's content".

"If you know you're squeamish, don't go," warned a spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service.

"This is obviously a blood-thirsty film. Some of the scenes are fairly horrific," Matthew Ware told the BBC News website.

Victorian Ghost Stories

Here are some Victorian ghost stories you can read at your computer. Or print 'em up and read 'em while you're passing out the candy tonight.

Link via The Little Professor, who has a bunch of other great Halloween links, too.

Gator Update

downgrade-for-alligators - Latest News Reports -From TBO.com Blogs: "WEST PALM BEACH - State wildlife officials are recommending that alligators be downgraded from species of special concern to game within five years.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also is ruling that homeowners be allowed to kill nuisance alligators on their property or hire a trapper to do so.

The commission will consider the recommendations at its December meeting.

Officials say the suggestions were made through input from an online survey and partially because the alligator population has topped one million, not because there have been three fatal alligator attacks in Florida since May.

Lake Worth trapper Rick Kramer says many of his colleagues don’t support the new recommendations.

He says it may lead to people getting hurt and injured alligators."

Top 10 Segments from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror

IGN: Top 10 Segments from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror: "Top 10 Segments from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror

We look back at the best Simpsons Halloween segments!

by Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson & Brian Zoromski

October 30, 2006 - As we don our Halloween costumes and prepare for All Hallow's Eve, here at IGN TV we're taking a look back at one of our favorite show's annual Halloween specials, The Simpsons' 'Treehouse of Horror.' While the episodes haven't actually aired on or before Halloween for seven years (FOX's airing of the World Series has pushed the 'Treehouse' episodes to November since 2000), the 'Treehouse of Horror' eps are always some of our favorite Halloween specials.

Each 'Treehouse of Horror' episode is split into three segments -- ranging from great, to OK, to not as memorable. We took a look through the 48 'Treehouse' segments from the past 16 installments of the seasonal special and picked out our favorite ten segments. There were many great segments to choose from, so if we missed your favorite moment from The Simpsons' 'Treehouse of Horror,' let us know and we'll include it in an edition of the IGN TV Mailbag."

Long-lost Jim Thompson Script

The Rap Sheet: A Hell of a Find: "Wow, a very long-lost Jim Thompson film treatment called Lunatic at Large? And plans to finally produce a movie from the script that renowned director Stanley Kubrick failed to use before his death in 1999? Where do I get in line for tickets?"

And from the New York Times: Despite its title, “Lunatic at Large” is not a horror story. It’s a dark and surprising mystery of sorts, in which the greatest puzzle is who, among several plausible candidates, is the true escapee from a nearby mental hospital. Mr. Clarke, the screenwriter, said that the recovered treatment (a prose narrative dramatizing an idea by Mr. Kubrick) was a “gem” but also “pretty basic,” and that he expanded it a bit, adding a new subplot, among other things, to make the solution less obvious. Mr. Clarke’s experience consists mostly of writing for British television, so he prepared for his new task by rereading Mr. Thompson and studying old Bogart films.

Gator Update -- Halloween Costume Edition

Click here.

Link via Dave Barry.

Steve Irwin Elementary?

Jayme Lynn Blaschke's daughter Calista wants the new school in her neighborhood to be named Steve Irwin Elementary. Here's a little Steve Irwin video, since I can't pass up a chance to mention the Crocodile Hunter.

Happy Halloween!

And it's Kinky Friedman's birthday, too. Now that's scary.

Officer Naughty

Thanks to John Duke for the tip. Those who demand photographic proof, click here.

BADGE BABE PARIS By LEELA de KRETSER - New York Post Online Edition: Seven: "October 29, 2006 -- Life imitates, er, art?

Paparazzi princess Paris Hilton shows she might actually have some imagination by showing off an ingenious Halloween costume as LAPD cop 'Officer Naughty' outside her Beverly Hills home.

The blond bubblehead mocked her recent DWI run-in with the law (inset) and strutted out wearing a busty, blue police outfit, complete with a holster on her tiny hips and a 'Naughty' name tag.

This time, however, the cuffs were off Hilton's wrists - a far cry from last month when she was busted for driving while intoxicated and dragged into a Hollywood precinct."

More From Harry Whittington

Again from The Mystery Writer's Handbook:

"The lowest advance I've been paid for a paperback original was $625. May writers regularly accept $500 less the agent's 10 per cent. In three years, beginning in November 1950, I sold and had published thirty-two novels. Counting foreign reprint rights, I've earned at least $1000 on each one and several times that on a few."

The 1000 Greatest Films?

You'll need plenty of time to peruse this list. You'll need even more time to watch all the films.

Astounding/Analog Covers

Here's a site with all the covers for Astounding and Analog, from the beginning to the present. Check it out.

Link via boing boing.

Today on "It's a Mystery"

From Beth Foxwell:

Monday's guest on "It's a Mystery" is Maggie Barbieri, whose lively debut
mystery is Murder 101, in which the body of a student turns up in the
trunk of a professor at a small Catholic college. Barbieri's work is
filled with bon mots such as "[o]ur school has an unwritten motto: 'Keep
your alumnae close and your rich alumnae closer.'"

Also, in honor of Halloween, I'll be broadcasting a radio production of
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart."

"It's a Mystery" is Webcast at 11 AM ET on Mondays at
http://www.fcac.org/webr

So I Guess We'd Have to Call the Trick a Success

Scary trick turns deadly: "South Coffeyville, Oklahoma - A man died after his head slammed into the side of a trailer as he bungee jumped out of a tree to frighten passengers on a Halloween-themed hay ride, authorities said.

Several hundred people were attending the Trail of Spooks Hay Rack Ride on Saturday night when Frank Kester was fatally injured.

'The cable that kept him suspended snapped,' said Kassie Johnson, who was on the ride when the accident occurred. 'At first I thought it was just a dummy falling out of the tree. The trailer bumped up in the air when he hit. Then everyone started screaming.'"

This Guy Would Have Known Better . . .

. . . if he'd read this book.

al.com: NewsFlash - Gun blast ignites fireworks shop: "LAC DU FLAMBEAU, Wis. (AP) — A man attempting to rob a fireworks shop fired his shotgun, igniting fireworks and starting a blaze that destroyed the business, authorities said.

No injuries were reported at North American Fireworks, the Vilas County Sheriff's Department said in a statement Saturday. A 20-year-old man was being held in jail after being tracked to a home about 10 miles away.

The owner told deputies a male entered the business Friday wearing a ski mask and armed with a shotgun. He fired indoors, and a shot apparently ignited fireworks, authorities said."

Adjust 'em Boyo

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Should I stay or should I go now?: "You've played the biggest stadiums, you've had Bob Dylan, Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy coming backstage to pay tribute. Rolling Stone magazine says your records are in the top 10 of all time. So where do you go now?

Terry Chimes, drummer with the Clash, literally turned his back on rock and roll - and became a chiropractor in Essex. His stage appearances are now limited to motivational seminars for doctors.

So how did he get from playing in a band to the treatment table?

'I felt it was time to completely change - and over the time I'd been a musician, I'd already become a non-drinking, non-smoking, non-drug-taking vegetarian who does yoga.'"

Bloodlines -- Jason Starr & Maggie Estep, Editors

Bloodlines: a Horse Racing Anthology isn't exactly all crime fiction, though some of it surely is. With contributors like Estep and Starr, along with Ken Bruen, Joe R. Lansdale, Lee Child, Daniel Woodrell, Scott Phillips, Charlie Stella, Laura Lippman, among others, it's a must-have item. I have a longer comment on the Lansdale story here. Check it out.

Set Your TiVo now!

MySA.com: KENS 5: Sports: "Multi-hyphenate (heiress-singer-actress-reality show personality, etc.) Paris Hilton will kick off Monday's Minnesota-New England game by picking up a football helmet and saying the 'Are you ready for some football?' line in the broadcast's computer-animated 'Transformation' segment. According to the Boston Herald, Hilton was four hours late to film her segment but 'Transformation' co-creator Kurt Mattilla said 'She definitely spent the most time of anyone we've filmed making sure she looked good and she spent a lot of time rehearsing how to pick up the helmet.'"

Harry Houdini, Spy

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

iWon News - Book Paints Escape-Artist Houdini As Spy: "NEW YORK (AP) - Eighty years after his death, the name Harry Houdini remains synonymous with escape under the most dire circumstances. But Houdini, the immigrants' son whose death-defying career made him one of the world's biggest stars, was more than a mere entertainer.

A new biography of the legendary performer suggests that Houdini worked as a spy for Scotland Yard, monitored Russian anarchists and chased counterfeiters for the U.S. Secret Service - all before he was possibly murdered."