Reptilicus

New Issue of Astonishing Adventures Now On-Line

You can buy the print edition at Amazon, or you can read it for free right here. The cool website is here.

Jukebox Update

A couple of new jukebox selections on the right. Well, not new, but new to the blog. Crime-related, too.

Batman = Hamlet

Alas, poor Robin | Gainesville.com | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, FL: "Fleming, a Ph.D. fellow in the University of Florida's English department, is writing a paper on the topic, and said the common themes shared by the two 'traumatized heroes' are what really draw crowds to theaters 70 years after the Batman character was created."

Yes, but is his Life Worth Living Now?

Cut-It-Out: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance: "When it comes to cutting costs, consumers always look at the big stuff. Postponing that vacation. Keeping your car a few more years. Nixing the addition on the house.

But it's often the little things that can make an even bigger difference. For instance, Joseph Montanaro, a certified financial planner for USAA Financial Planning Services, says he saved $130 a month just by kicking his daily Dr Pepper habit. That's a savings of $1,560 over a year."

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Texas approves major new wind power project (AP) | Yahoo! Green: "AUSTIN, Texas - Texas, headquarters of America's oil industry, is about to stake a fortune on wind power.

In what experts say is the biggest investment in the clean and renewable energy in U.S. history, utility officials in the Lone Star State gave preliminary approval Thursday to a $4.9 billion plan to build new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from gusty West Texas to urban areas like Dallas.

'People think about oil wells and football in Texas, but in 10 years they'll look back and say this was a brilliant thing to do,' said Patrick Woodson, vice president of E.On Climate & Renewables North America, which has about 1,200 megawatts of wind projects already in use or on the drawing board in Texas."

That's Right, Sugar Land

5,000 gallons of molasses in Sugar Land | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "SUGAR LAND, Texas — A sticky mess has been cleaned up after an overturned tanker truck poured 5,000 gallons of molasses onto a major Texas highway.

Drivers heading to Sugar Land were rerouted Thursday after the afternoon accident shut down Texas 6 at Southwest Freeway for eight hours.

The Houston Chronicle reports City of Sugar Land spokeswoman Pat Pollicoff said the road reopened around midnight Thursday because of the coating of 'healthy, all natural molasses.' The spilled molasses was supposed to be used in cattle food."

I've Been Kindled

I got an e-mail yesterday from someone who told me he was reading A Mammoth Murder in a Kindle edition. I didn't even know it was available that way.

The Little Professor Reviews . . .

. . . The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection. Click here.

Forgotten Books: RAFFERTY: WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME -- W. Glenn Duncan

I don't know much about W. Glenn Duncan except that he wrote a dandy private-eye series set in Dallas, Texas, while he was living in Australia.  The Rafferty books were published in the late 1980s by Gold Medal, and I think of them as throwbacks to the kind of p.i. books GM was doing in the '50s, except influenced as much by Robert B. Parker as by Spillane.



All the Rafferty books are entertaining.  I just picked this one because I ran across a copy the other day.  As you can see on the cover, Rafferty has a double caseload.  He's used as a pawn in a murder plot, and he's looking for the guy who tricked him.  At the same time, he's trying to help out a geezer who wants to keep some kids off his lawn.  Really.  (Okay, there's more to it than that, but I like the image.)  





Rafferty has an on-going relationship with a woman named Helen, who's much more interesting than, say, Susan Silverman.  He also has a psycho sidekick named Cowboy.  Even better, Cowboy has a psycho sidekick, his wife, Mimi, who stand about four feet tall.   Here's how Mimi's introduced on page 112:  

The 9mm Beretta she'd been concealing behind her hat went into a holster on her right hip. . . .

Mimi nodded and opened her jacket.  She had an Uzi slung under her right arm. . . .

Mimi giggled and scratched her forearms where the throwing knife sheaths chafed her skin.

You don't want to mess with Mimi.  But you do want to read these books, right?  I get the feeling that Harry Hunsicker's Lee Henry Oswald is Rafferty's direct descendant, though much more modern.  If you haven't read Hunsicker, try him, too.

The Amazing Transparent Man

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Mysteries: Why Is Houston So Much More Attractive Than NYC?: "Manhattan residents often find themselves dreaming of the paradise that is Houston, Texas. The cars; the affordable barbecue; the murders. It's a working man's promised land. But why must some people have the bad fortune to get stuck in NYC, while others live the dream by breaking free and making their way to the sweltering heart of Texas? Luckily there's a Harvard economist to explain exactly how Houston came to be so much better than New York!"

Hat tip to Mike McGruff.

The Good Humor Man

John Hall e-mailed to let me know that The Good Humor Man is scheduled to run at 6:00 A. M. Eastern Time on TCM, Monday, July 21. It's a great favorite of mine, and I have some comments on it here. I still have my VHS tape, but I'm going to get the movie on the DVR for sure.

And You Damn Kids Keep off my Lawn!

Why women smile on old age (and men just scowl) | Mail Online: "It will come as no surprise to all those wives who have watched greying husbands mutter into their cornflakes.

Old men are grumpier than old women.

A study of nearly 10,000 over-55s revealed that gender is the most important factor in deciding their quality of life."

Space Race Update

Griffin: China Could Beat US in Moon Race | Universe Today: "More bad news for NASA: even their administrator thinks China could beat the US to the Moon. Speaking with the BBC today, Michael Griffin shared his views about the Chinese space aspirations, pointing out that the super-state could, if they wanted to, send a manned mission to the lunar surface within a decade. NASA's return mission to the Moon is planned to launch, at the earliest, in 2020, so this news is bound to knock the wind out of the US space agency's hopes to continue where it left off in 1972…"

The Worst Movie Endings

Every one of these is a spoiler, so don't read 'em unless you already know the endings.

The End II: the worst movie endings ever, from Grease to Blade Runner - Times Online: "Last week, our Top 20 film endings prompted a huge response from readers. Now, Times critics present the 20 worst endings in film. From the absurd to the underwhelming, these are the closing scenes that have ruined memorable films."

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D

Let's get this out of the way: I loved it. I'm a sucker for 3-D movies, and if I'd seen this one when I was 12 years old, I'd have stayed right there in the theater and watched it again. Everybody knows the story. The twist this time is that Jules Verne's book isn't a novel. It's nonfiction. So a scientist and his nephew go looking for proof of that. They hook up with a hot mountain guide along the way, fall immense distances without harm, deal with monsters and such, and seem to be having a great time. Sure, the "science" makes no sense. Who cares? This isn't a documentary. Give your inner kid a treat and check it out.

Happy Birthday, Erle Stanley Gardner!

Writer's Almanac: It's the birthday of writer Erle Stanley Gardner, (books by this author) born in Malden, Massachusetts (1889). As a teenager, Gardner was arrested for promoting an illegal boxing match. While he was trying to keep himself out of jail, he became fascinated with the law and got a job as a typist in a law office. He taught himself the law while he worked and thent took the bar three years later and passed. After a stint working for a sales agency, he opened up a law office in Ventura, California, in 1921 and became famous there for his ironclad defenses. Because defending poor people is not the best way to make money, Gardner augmented his income by writing stories for pulp magazines—and he was quite successful at it. In 1933, Gardner wrote a full-length novel called The Case of the Velvet Claws, which was turned down by several publishers. It was finally bought by a publisher who suggested Gardner take the main character, a brilliant lawyer, and write a series of books about him.

Invisible Invaders

Another List I'm Not On

ABC News: Day of Reckoning? Super Rich Tax Cheats Outed: "Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme."

The Goot Is Loose!

Look Out, New York Ladies: The Goot Is Loose! | The New York Observer: "About two years ago, Steve Guttenberg walked into the showbiz haunt Crustacean on Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

“I walked in and the maitre d’ made a big deal for me,” said Mr. Guttenberg. The Goot—as he’s known to his friends—appreciated the show. To hear him tell it, eating in public in Los Angeles is a dangerous business for an actor whose last box office hit was Three Men and a Baby in 1987."

Gwinnett Daily Post | Scattered, smothered, covered and hitched

Superb slideshow at the link!

Gwinnett Daily Post | Scattered, smothered, covered and hitched: "DACULA - As the famous twang of Hank Williams Jr. blasted from an SUV stereo Friday afternoon, about 30 folks socialized, sipped soda and puffed on cigarettes.

No, this wasn't a Fourth of July backyard barbecue. It was the run-up to a wedding.

In a Waffle House parking lot."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

The Associated Press: NASA to workers: Go boldly (in cup) for science: "WASHINGTON (AP) — The No. 1 need right now for some of the builders of the nation's next spaceship: Lots of No. 1.

Space program contractor Hamilton Sundstrand is seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of its work on the new Orion space capsule that would eventually take astronauts to the moon, according to an internal memo posted on the Web site Nasawatch.com.

The need is voluminous: 30 liters a day, which translates into nearly 8 gallons. Even on weekends."

Victor Gischler Speaks

Anthony Neil Smith Speaks

Little Shop of Horrors

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Radar shows large, fast, unexplained object | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "FORT WORTH, Texas — An enormous aircraft without transponders traveling up to 2,100 mph — at one time zooming toward President Bush's Crawford ranch — is similar to the mysterious object dozens reported seeing, according to radar documents examined by a group that studies unidentified flying objects.

'This shows ample evidence of UFO activity,' said Kenneth Cherry, Texas director of the Mutual UFO Network, which has been studying phenomenon earlier this year in Stephenville and Dublin, about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth. 'They were turning at angles not possible by military aircraft.'"

A Signing

I just got back from Houston's Murder by the Book, where I attended a signing by Victor Gischler (Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse) and Antony Neil Smith (Yellow Medicine). They make a great comedy team, and everybody had a fine time. I taped the opening statements by both, and I'll post them tomorrow.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Denton pizza employee: Surprised to see dad when wig falls off robber | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News: "A Denton pizza worker said she was surprised when a fellow employee overpowered a would-be robber -- and even more surprised by who the bad guy turned out to be.
*****
Whe she saw the face behind the wig and dark glasses, 'I dropped the money,' Ms. Martinez said. 'I said, 'Don't hit him again! That's my dad!' And he said, 'What's he doing here?' and I said, 'I don't know!' '"

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

Will the Persecution Never End?

Hilton Blogs to Fight Fake Headlines - AOL News: "The socialite heiress turned reality-actress-musician is lashing out against all of the tabloid media rumors constantly being levied against her, saying on her MySpace blog that she is 'blown away by more lies that are going around.' She takes particular aim at the New York Post's Page Six column, saying: 'I'm sick of Page Six and other gossip sites printing completely false stories.'"

Thanks to John Duke for the link.

No Comment Department

Have Sex While You Sleep | LiveScience: "If you think it’s impossible to have sex while you sleep, think again, according to a new study.

There are at least 11 different sex-related sleep disorders, collectively referred to as “sexsomnia” or “sleepsex,” that affect people who are otherwise psychologically healthy—causing them to unknowingly engage in various sexual activities during the night."

Thanks to Doc Quatermass for the link. I believe he's taking a nap right now.

Texas History for Sale

Auction will offer chance to own piece of Texas history | Top Stories | Star-Telegram.com: "For lovers of Texas history, it doesn’t get much better than an artifact linked to the Battle of the Alamo.

And this weekend in San Antonio, a sword that is believed to have belonged to a defender in the legendary battle, along with scores of other historical items, will be part of the Frontier Times Auction."

The Kingdom

I watched this expecting a lot of explosions and a lot of shooting. I wasn't disappointed. The surprise was that the movie was more thoughtful than I'd supposed it would be. Don't get me wrong. It's not a philosophical meditation (things blow up real good), but it does have something to say.

Here's the plot: Terrorists strike an American compound in Saudi Arabia. An FBI forensics team is give five days to investigate. Will they find those responsible? (That's a rhetorical question, of course.)

The story moves so fast that there's not a lot of time for character development, but the actors make the best of the time they have, each one adding a little touch to make us see an individual instead of a type. I enjoyed it.

Okay, This is Really Scary

Celebrity Apes.

Link via Test Pattern.

Another List That Alvin, Texas, Isn't On

100 best places to live.

Hell Night

Gator/Croc Update (Poster Edition)

Check this one out.

Thanks to Beth Foxwell for the link.

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I'm all for making the ISS into an interplanetary spaceship.

Can Science Explain ABBA?

ABBA songs have staying power - The Boston Globe: "It only takes a single exposure, and in an instant, your whole day can change. The infection is rapid and feels potentially unending. One minute you're minding your own business and the next you find that you can't stop thinking, humming, or singing 'Dancing Queen.'

'Friday night and the lights are low. . .'

No matter what you try, you can't shake it. In fact, once you start thinking about ABBA, you're a goner. Next thing you know, you've moved to this: 'If you change your mind/ I'm the first in line. . .'"

100 Years of Ian Fleming

A very cool interactive timeline.

News from the Hard Case Crime Crew

Hard Case Crime editor Charles Ardai has announced a new pulp series titled THE ADVENTURES OF GABRIEL HUNT. Starting in May 2009, the new series will have a novel amonth, all by Gabriel Hunt. Well, they'll be published under that name, but they'll be ghostwritten. Maybe by people we know. Glen Orbik will provide the covers. “These books are for anyone who grew up reading H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs or watching Harrison Ford wield his bullwhip at the movies," Ardai says. “We’re talking classic adventure fiction, complete with horses, snakes, shovels, pickaxes, torches, traps, bottomless pits, barroom brawls, jungles, jewels, and just about everything else that’s ever made your heart beat faster.” You can see a cover here at Hunt’s website and sign up for future mailings.

Roller Boogie

I Don't Want to Be the Only Blogger . . .

. . . in the known blogosphere who doesn't remind you that this is going live on July 15. So consider yourselves reminded.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Texas leads nation in abstinence education funding | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "AUSTIN — Texas spent a nation-high $17 million last year for abstinence education programs that continue to stir debate about whether classes promoting virginity before marriage work in public schools.

Federal statistics in June showed that 52.9 percent of Texas students in ninth through 12th grades had sexual intercourse, compared with 47.8 nationally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that Texas youths are less likely to use condoms."

More Bananas

Another issue from the old days. This one has a cover devoted to a TV show that I never watched.

Thrilling Awards

The International Thriller Writers group has announced its awards for 2008. The list can be found here. Congratulations to the winners and nominees.

Gator & Croc Update (Glaring Differences Edition)

LiveScience.com: Life's Little Mysteries - What's the Difference Between Alligators and Crocodiles?: "Coming face to face with a crocodile or an alligator, you'd likely see a mouth full of serrated teeth that would likely scare the bejeezus out of you.

Upon closer inspection, not recommended out in the wild, you'd spot glaring differences."

Savage Streets

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Fort Worth dad deploying to country that took his son | Top Stories | Star-Telegram.com: "FORT WORTH — In a few days, Francisco Martinez will land in Iraq.

He is one of tens of thousands of men and women who, with various motivations, enlisted in the armed forces, knowing that they’d someday end up there. . . .

When Martinez steps off the airplane, he will be in the country that took his only son, a 20-year-old skateboarder and budding graphic artist whose loss is felt every single day of his father’s life."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

I think this place must have been inspired by a Republic serial.

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas/Southwest: "A hidden door in a structure in Red Oak led officers to an underground marijuana operation and more than 150 flourishing plants.

Ellis County Sheriff's deputies say it appears 46-year-old Dwayne Nielsen had a sophisticated hydroponics farm. . . .

KTVT television reports officers searched a detached garage and found a bookcase that hid a secret door.

Capt. Danny Williams says deputies located a key, which released a magnet behind the door that opened to a stairwell leading to underground rooms."

Devlish New Tunes on the Jukebox

Check 'em out over on the right.

Croc Update ('Cage of Death' Edition)

Probably not my next vacation stop, but still. . . .

FOXNews.com - Theme Park's 'Cage of Death' Drops Tourists Into Crocodile Tank - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News: "A new Australian theme park hopes to lure tourists into their 'Cage of Death' for a close encounter with an 18-foot crocodile, the Northern Territory News reported.

Just 1.6 inches of acrylic will separate thrill seekers from the jaws of Choppa – a saltwater crocodile.

Brave tourists will climb into a clear box before being lowered into Choppa's lair.

They will then spend 15 minutes inside the 9-foot-high cage and watch Choppa, who lost both front feet while fighting other crocodiles, trying to take a bite out of them."

Flash Gordon

Roger Ebert on the Films of our Lives

Roger Ebert's Journal is always worth a read for me, but this entry really hit home. And the story about Marcello Mastroianni that follows is a real classic.

Caiman Update

The original post is here.

Search for caiman in Fremont suspended - Inside Bay Area: "FREMONT — Sgt. John Dauzat has a fishing pole and he's ready to hook into the catch of a lifetime.

But unless someone again reports seeing his target — a 3-foot-long caiman spotted this week at the Fremont Park Golf and Practice Center — he won't get a chance to reel it in.

A day after announcing that he'd likely use a fishing pole and half a chicken breast to catch the reptile, Dauzat, who heads the Tri-City Animal Control, called off all efforts Thursday amid hoards of onlookers and a reported third sighting of a caiman at a different body of water earlier in the week."

I Know I Shouldn't Post This. . .

. . . but if I don't, people will keep sending me this link. My advice: do not click on it.

Hat tip to Boing Boing.

Paging John Steed

Unbreakable Fighting Umbrella Splits Watermelons, Defends Presidents | Gadget Lab from Wired.com: "The entourage of the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has an unusual secret weapon. Her security team defends the head of the government with umbrellas. Not ordinary umbrellas, but unbreakable fighting umbrellas."

Thanks to Doc Quatermass for the link (where you can see a video if you'd like to).

And So I Think I'll Travel On to . . . .

News from The Associated Press: "AVALON, Calif. (AP) -- It seems even 22 miles of open ocean might not be keeping gangs off Catalina Island, a mist-shrouded outpost of Los Angeles County best known for its Hollywood history and crystal-clear harbors.

Deputies on the isle say a fledgling gang called the Brown Pride Locos has gotten a foothold among the beaches, coves and tourist shops. A stabbing, burglaries and graffiti are being blamed on the gang, and deputies last month surprised teenagers practicing moves with knives on a dark bluff above Avalon's crescent-shaped bay."

Shakespeare Update

William Shakespeare folio worth �15m recovered 10 years after being stolen - Times Online: "An edition of Shakespeare’s first folio stolen 10 years ago has been recovered after a British man took it into an American library to have it valued.

The folio, printed in 1623 and valued at up to 15million pounds, was among a number of valuable books and manuscripts taken from the Durham University Library in December 1998."

Gator Update (Wrestling Edition)

Local News: Florida man wrestles alligators at fair | florida, fair, alligators : TheTelegraph: "JERSEYVILLE - One brave alligator wrestler has ventured from the Florida swamps to astound Jersey County Fair audiences with his nationally recognized reptile-handling skills.

Kachunga is an all-American 'bushman,' decked out in khaki and sporting an Indiana Jones-style hat with alligator teeth around the hatband. He is 35 years old, hails from Tampa and, when he isn't wrestling a 300-pound American alligator, goes by the name of Bert Lucas."

Oops!

Police answer call of family fight, find marital bliss instead | thestarpress.com | The Star Press: "NEW CASTLE — A report of a family fight Wednesday afternoon in New Castle didn't turn out to be what police expected.
Advertisement

A nine-year-old girl called 911 after she awoke from a nap and heard her mother screaming. She went to her mother's bedroom and thought her mother was being attacked.

Turns out, her parents were just enjoying marital relations."

The 20 Best Movie Endings

The End: the best movie endings ever, from E.T. to Casablanca - Times Online: "Is it E.T. leaving in a spaceship or Butch and Sundance going down in a hail of bullets? Here Times critics choose their Top 20 film endings. But be warned: it does contain spoilers."

From Richard Helms

The Back Alley Webzine, the online home to hardboiled and noir fiction which snagged two Derringer Awards this year, has a new issue going live tomorrow, Friday July 11!

This is great lineup, featuring Derringer Award winner Patricia Abbott, Shamus and Anthony Award nominee Jack Bludis, Spinetingler Award winner Chris F. Holm, acclaimed breakout Scottish author Tony Black, and a newcomer with a very strong voice named Greg Lee.

In addition, we will continue with our ongoing serialization of Frank Norris's nineteenth century noir novel McTEAGUE, and will feature a eulogy to Norris written by W. D. Howells.

Keep an eye peeled in September for our All-Canada Issue!

You can catch all the action at www.backalleywebzine.com , beginning tomorrow!

Richard Helms
The Back Alley Webzine
www.backalleywebzine.com

Forgotten Books: DEATH TOUR -- David J. Michael

This 1979 novel is a classic of the "alligators in the sewers" genre. Sample dialog:

"I guess there are some down there."

"Alligators? In the sewers?"

"In the old pipe sections," she said. "Not in the plant. Down under."

"Alligators?" I repeated, like a halfwit. "In the pipes?"

"I guess people flush them down the toilet," she said.

Naturally the intrepid investigative team of five college students who call themselves Five Star can't resist seeing for themselves, and who can blame them? Do they find gators? Oh, yeah. But they find other things, too, things that are much, much worse. Do all five emerge from the underground? Of course not. And that's all I'm going to tell you. If you want more, you'll just have to find your own copy of Death Tour. I have three or four copies, myself.

Kronos

Gator Update (Mythical Beast Edition)

KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Biologist Searching For Thousand Pound Gator Nicknamed 'Goliath' In Wood County: "A wildlife biologist is searching a private lake in southern Wood county for a reported 16 foot long giant alligator. KLTV 7's Bob Hallmark has more on a community that's a little nervous over an unwelcome resident.
Cruising under the calm waters is not a mythical beast.

But then again, an alligator that has been named Goliath is nothing to shake a stick at.

'They consider it to be 12 to 16 feet long, the gentleman saying it's close to 16 has seen a lot of alligators,' said Mark McDonald, the wildlife biologist searching for Goliath."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

MyFox Dallas | Commissioner Defends Position That 'Black Hole' is Racist Term: "Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is sticking to his comments that the term 'black hole,' which a colleague used, is racist.Price also says language such as 'angel food cake' and 'devil's food cake' are also racially insensitive."

This is an update of this post.  Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker are reportedly changing the packaging of their cake mixes even now.

Art Garfunkel 's Library

Art Garfunkel - Official Website: "Since the 1960's, Art Garfunkel has been a voracious reader. We are pleased to present a listing of every book Art has read over the last 40 years. To view a list of Art Garfunkel's favorite books, go to Favorites. This book list has been divided into several pages to allow easy downloading."

Link via Boing Boing.

Gator Update (Bay Area Edition)

Thanks to Angela Crider for the link.

Alligator-like creature spotted in a pond at Fremont golf course - San Jose Mercury News: "Talk about a water hazard.

A creature that looked like an alligator but could be a caiman has been spotted in a large pond beyond the third green of the Fremont Park Golf Center.

'It's larger than anything that should be out there,' said Ken Powell, general manager of the golf course. 'Turtles don't create wakes that big.'"

Art vs. Life

Mobster caught playing mobster in film | Metro.co.uk: "A real-life mobster in Italy has been arrested after he was spotted playing a Godfather-style killer in a Mafia movie."

Why Everyone Loves Abba

Abba - the music: why everyone loves Abba - Telegraph Abba - the music: why everyone loves Abba - Telegraph: "Twenty-six years after Abba hung up their white cowboy boots and pink hotpants and retired, their songs are more popular than ever.

Every year about three million Abba CDs are sold, and the stage musical based on their songs, Mamma Mia!, has been a smash hit worldwide. Today, the release of the movie of the musical, starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosman, will no doubt give another boost to Abba-mania."

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

Sherlock Holmes Update

Downey Jr. set for 'Sherlock Holmes' - Entertainment News, Front Page, Media - Variety: "In what will be his first job since the blockbuster 'Iron Man,' Robert Downey Jr. is set to star in 'Sherlock Holmes,' the drama that Guy Ritchie will direct for Warner Bros.

Downey committed to the pic, which begins shooting in October, after Ritchie turned in a polish of the latest version of the script, written by Anthony Peckham."

Historic Photos of Chicago Crime: the Capone Era -- John Russick

This stunning coffee-table book of B&W photographs of Chicago's Capone era has some great shots.  I think my favorite is the one of the Birger Gang, a cheerful group of bootleggers posed on and around a car and holding a wide variety of firearms, including pistols, rifles, and Tommy guns, though there are many others of equal interest.  Gangsters, both alive and dead (the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is of course represented), cops, molls (Hymie Weiss' widow looks pretty happy about things), Feds, old buildings, sporting events.  All of them are captured in fine and sometimes surprising detail.  There's just enough text by John Russick, from Chicago's History Museum, to let you know what each picture's about, but for the most part the photos speak for themselves.  This kind of book is wonderful for browsing, and it's the kind of thing you'll find yourself returning to often.

Gator Update (Hardware Shopping Edition)

Officers capture 6-foot gator at Williamsville near Lowe's: "Law enforcement officials had quite an aggressive suspect on their hands last week after a six-foot alligator was spotted in a field near Lowe's.

A motorist called the police department and reported seeing the alligator last Wednesday afternoon about 4 p.m., in a field north of Frog Level Road near the bypass or Veterans Drive."

As Dave Barry would say, Frog Level Road would be a good name for a rock band.

Frankenstein Created Woman

Crystal Skull Update (Another One)

Crystal skulls: Fact or Fiction? | HoumaToday.com | The Courier | Houma, LA: "WASHINGTON - Some mysteries are such fun you almost don't want to know the truth. That may help explain why people are fascinated with crystal skulls.

Happy to share the spotlight with the latest Indiana Jones movie, the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History is putting its crystal skull on display starting Thursday."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Houston man gets 35 years in killing over foot odor | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "A Houston man was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Tuesday after prosecutors said he fatally stabbed his roommate during an argument about foot odor."

Crystal Skull Update

Art of deception: Crystal skulls in British, US museums were fakes - Yahoo! News: "PARIS (AFP) - How about this for the next instalment of the Indy franchise: 'Indiana Jones and the Dodgy Antiques Dealer'?

Less than three months after the Quai Branly Museum in Paris discovered that a crystal skull once proclaimed as a mystical Aztec masterpiece was a fake, it is now the turn of the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution to find they were victims of skull-duggery.

Scientists from those two prestigious institutions on Wednesday said their crystal skulls were cut, honed and polished by tools of the industrial age, not by Mesoamerican craftsmen of yore."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

In ignorance, maybe. You'd have to read the article to decide.

Dallas City Hall Blog | The Dallas Morning News: "A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens wants to supplant oil with wind - USATODAY.com: "SWEETWATER, Texas — Get ready, America, T. Boone Pickens is coming to your living room.

The legendary Texas oilman, corporate raider, shareholder-rights crusader, philanthropist and deep-pocketed moneyman for conservative politicians and causes, wants to drive the USA's political and economic agenda."

Blimp Update

'Blimp on steroids' designed to fly through remote skies: "A Calgary company is spearheading development of a new aircraft, filled with helium and powered by four rotors, which will be used to move materials in remote areas including the Canadian North.

SkyHook International announced Tuesday that it will build the Jess Heavy Lifter (JHL-40) in conjunction with aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co."

Great illustration at link.

A Fine Night for Dying -- Jack Higgins

Back in 1966, I bought an Avon paperback called Passage by Night by Hugh Marlowe. I thought maybe it was by the movie guy, but it wasn't. It was by the same guy who's written as Jack Higgins, Harry Patterson, James Graham, Martin Fallon, and maybe others. At the time I bought the book, I never would have guessed that 42 years later, I'd still be reading books by the author.

As it happens, A Fine Night for Dying was published only a few years after Passage by Night, but it only in Britain. It didn't appear in the U. S. until last year. It's one of a series of books that feature Paul Chavasse, a hardboiled British spy. Fawcett published a few of them in the '70s, but not this one for some reason.

It's good stuff, with one of Higgins' enigmatic villains, a former priest who's now working for the commies and is involved with smuggling people into England from France. Chevasse gets into the act, and there's lots of shooting, plenty of explosions, and action all the time. Higgins tells the story in his usual economical prose, and I always admire his ability to sketch a scene or a character in only a few words.

I haven't read many of Higgins' books from the last twenty years, but his earlier ones continue to entertain me. I've read some of the several times, and they never let me down.

The Cyclops

Gator Update (Eggs and Drugs Edition)

Fort Myers man accused of taking 'gator eggs in Collier : Lee : Naples Daily News: "Clemons was arrested and charged with possession of 133 American alligator eggs and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia."

Diana Rigg: the Spirith of Emma Peel Lives On

Diana Rigg: her story - Telegraph Diana Rigg: her story - Telegraph: "Dame Diana Rigg may be 70 this month but she still drives a Mercedes sports car, smokes 20 a day and swears by a bottle of Merlot before bedtime. The spirit of Emma Peel lives on, finds Nigel Farndale."

This Looks Like a Case for Sheriff Rhodes

The Associated Press: Ala. police nab Mercedes-climbing goat: "CAPSHAW, Ala. (AP) — The goat was arrested, the Mercedes-Benz was assaulted and the dog came along for the ride."

Superman

The Scariest Thing You'll Read Today

Washington Times - Politics, Breaking News, US and World News - "Want some torture with your peanuts?" by Aviation Security: "A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser�. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.

This bracelet would:

• take the place of an airline boarding pass

• contain personal information about the traveler

• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage

• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to as, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and that it would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line?"

Happy Birthday, Pinetop Perkins!

Pinetop is 95 today.  He still sits in occasionally with the Cornell Hurd Band, for which my son does the sound work.  Or at least he was sitting in with them a couple of years ago because that's when Judy and I heard him play.  He even has a MySpace page.

Happy Birthday, Robert A. Heinlein!

From Writer's Almanac: "It's the birthday of Robert Heinlein, born in Butler, Missouri (1907). He wrote more than 50 novels and many collections of short stories. Heinlein is best known for his novel Stranger in a Strange Land, about a boy born during the first manned mission to Mars.

He called his books 'speculative fiction' rather than 'science fiction.' He was trying to write about events that could actually happen, taking into consideration the natural laws of the universe."

You Might Be a Redneck If . . . .

Mudhole photo at link.

Reunited couple's nuptials highlights 13th annual Redneck Games in Dublin: "EAST DUBLIN --

The redneck couple made it official Saturday.

Rawni and Rob, aka 'Robo,' tied the knot.

A judge from Perry handled the nuptials before offering to read the newlyweds their rights.

Rob tossed his bride's Dixie flag garter belt into a crowd of clinking beer cans. The pair had their first dance to 'Hold My Beer,' performed live by Lance Stinson Band. Then they dove into the mudhole, hand in hand."

The Fall of the House of Usher

Croc Update (Doll Edition)

TDS - News: "CLEVELAND (AP) — The Emmy-winning daughter of the late 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin is getting her own doll.

The 10-inch Bindi Irwin doll sports khakis, puffy pigtails and hiking boots, and comes with binoculars, a camera and other outback gear, as well as a cockatoo, wombat and python. [What? No croc?]

A talking version of the Bindi doll uses such phrases as, 'Crikey! Let's go help wildlife,' and 'You can make the world a better place.'"

Thanks to Doc Quatermass for the link.

Archaeological Update

Ancient royal burial ground found in Egypt: report - Yahoo! News: "CAIRO (AFP) - Archaeologists have uncovered ancient wooden coffins in what appears to be a royal burial ground near the necropolis of Abydos in southern Egypt, the state-run MENA news agency reported on Saturday.

The agency said that the discovery, made by a team from the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities, could be dated back to the Old Kingdom (3,000 B.C.) -- the golden age of pyramid building in ancient times."

Thomas M. Disch, R. I. P.

This was reported on the fictionmags yahoo group. No real details yet on the death of this fine SF writer other than that he took his own life. Very sad.

Send Your Name to the Moon

When I was a kid, reading the SF digests and Ace Doubles, I believed there'd be a colony on the moon by now. I thought for sure I'd get to vacation there. Well, it's not gonna happen, so I'm sending my name, instead.

Send Your Name to the Moon: "Sign up to send your name to the moon. Names will be collected and placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its historic mission bringing NASA back to the moon. You will also receive a certificate showcasing your support of the mission.

The deadline is July 25, 2008 for the submission of names.

LRO's objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology."

Eastern Promises

I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie, but I was a little disappointed.  A midwife (Naomi Watts) gets involved with a baby she helps deliver when the mother dies.  The mother leaves behind a diary written in Russian, and Watts's uncle (who's Russian) refuses to translate it.  Watts takes it to a restaurant where the kindly owner agrees to do the job.  I knew instantly that the kindly owner was the typical cliched mob godfather.  He plays the violin (not very well) and seems to be a sweet old man, but he's really a cold-blooded killer and gangster.  His son is the typical nutty incompetent.  The movie plays out pretty much as I expected it to, but I won't tell you what else I knew instantly lest I spoil things for you.  I liked Viggo Mortensen's performance, and while Judy no doubt appreciated the frontal nudity of the bathhouse beat-down, she found the movie too violent for her tastes (she won't be reading Savage Night; see below).  While I thought the movie was okay, I wouldn't recommend that you see it immediately (which is what someone recommended to me).  



Have I used my weekly allotment of parentheses yet?

Peru Update

BBC NEWS | Americas | Ancient Peruvian tomb unearthed: "Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient tomb in northern Peru that could throw light on the pre-Columbian Moche Indian culture.

The tomb in Ucupe, 670km (416 miles) from the capital Lima, contained well-preserved human remains along with jewellery and ceramics."

Savage Night

If you read the papers or watch the news, you know there are bad people out there, people who'll kill you and not think twice about it. That's the kind of people Al Guthrie's writing about in Savage Night. It begins with a horrific scene and then builds from there, but to the people involved in all the violence (and believe me, there's a lot) it's just business as usual.

The plot has to do with revenge, one family striking back at another because, well, that's what you do. Somebody screws you around, you kill them, or somebody close to them. Guthrie tells it in a straightforward style but not in a straightforward way. There are lots of flashbacks and tricks with time, and there are plenty of twists and turns so that you'll never be quite sure what's coming next (or at least I wasn't).

And the horrible thing about all this is that it's also funny, in a dark and gruesome way, of course, but funny nevertheless. I found myself horrified and laughing at the same time. You might want to look away, but I doubt that you'll be able to. Potent stuff.

The Terror