Gator Update

I'm sure I blogged about this guy's original arrest, but I'm too lazy to look for the post.  I live in Brazoria County, where the first offense occurred.

No tiger in his tank, but about that alligator ... - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger: "OAK RIDGE, Tenn. —
Oak Ridge Police Officer Lewis Ridenour has sent out an internal-department memo giving his fellow officers a heads-up regarding an arrest he has made.
[. . . .]

Turns out that when a state trooper in Brazoria County, Texas, pulled over Johnson's car for a traffic offense, he saw a six-foot 'gator in the back seat. According to Texas news articles, the alligator was crawling around in the car, its mouth was not taped, and it was not bound. And that's only the half of it."

Operation Kid Brother

Gregory Mcdonald, R. I. P.

Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind: Gregory McDonald, R.I.P.: "Gregory McDonald, best known as the author of the FLETCH novels, died on September 7 in Giles County, TN. He was 71. Edward Champion confirmed the news tonight with the Giles County Ambulance Service."

Mcdonald was a guest at the first Bouchercon I attended in Washington, D. C., back in 1980.  The first two Fletch books had a big impact on me.  I'd never read anything quite like them.  I thought the later novels in the series not as good, but that might have been just me.  I also liked the Flynn novels that came a long a bit later, as well as a couple of others.  I'm sorry to hear that Mcdonald is gone.

Croc Update (Flat Dogs Edition)

Guard crocs on duty - Local News - Cairns, QLD, Australia: "GUARD crocodiles may be the answer for a reptile farm almost at snapping point after the repeated theft of valuable skins and skulls. 

The move to put the 'flat dogs' on patrol at night comes after a spate of crocodile skin and artefact burglaries from the Daintree to Gordonvale.

Cairns Crocodile Farm is considering the extreme measure after three recent break-ins where 1m long stuffed skull from a 6m croc, two expensive skins, about a dozen skulls, a stuffed 1.5m croc, leather handbags and computer equipment has been stolen in the past month."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

San Antonio missions may join Grand Canyon, pyramids on world heritage list |
News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News
| Latest News: "SAN ANTONIO – The Grand Canyon is on the list. So are Stonehenge and the pyramids at Giza.

Soon, San Antonio hopes to add its five 18th-century Spanish missions – including the Alamo – to UNESCO's list of world heritage sites.

This year, the missions were added to the World Heritage Centre's 'tentative list' from the United States for possible addition to the 878 properties worldwide that the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says form 'the global cultural and natural heritage that have universal value.'"

These Guys are Almost as Good as Sheriff Rhodes

WEMB.com - AM 1420 WEMB: "UC Sheriff Kent Harris and Deputy Frank Rogers have charged a South Carolina man for transporting 29 cases of 'moonshine' into Unicoi County. Shown on wemb.com in the back of the pickup truck stopped at mile-marker 55, Sheriff Harris displays the `shine which he says was flavored with peach, grape, strawberry and blackberry."

20 Greatest Sci-Fi TV Shows

At least according to Entertainment Weekly.

At Least He'd be a Cheap Date

Fond du Lac man downs 23,000 Big Macs since 1972 | fdlreporter.com | Fond du Lac Reporter: "FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — A 54-year-old Fond du Lac man says his obsessive-compulsive disorder drove him to eat 23,000 Big Macs in 36 years.

Fifty-four-year-old Don Gorske says he hit the milestone last month, continuing a pleasurable obsession that began May 17, 1972 when he got his first car."

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.

How Robert A. Heinlein Dealt with his Fan Mail

I don't have this problem, but I like Heinlein's solution. 

Link via Boing Boing.

One Small Step for a Publisher . . .

Mills and Boon bodice rippers get naughty with new porn titles
| Mail Online: "Mills and Boon, publisher of best-selling, bodice-ripping romances, is to publish its first pornographic book.

Its racy new range of Spice titles, already on sale in America, will feature 'sex for enjoyment' and even include bondage and threesomes."

Mouse Update

Bronze Age mouse offers clues to royal shipwreck - life - 04 September 2008 - New Scientist: "REMAINS of a long dead house mouse have been found in the wreck of a Bronze Age royal ship. That makes it the earliest rodent stowaway ever recorded, and proof of how house mice spread around the world.

Archaeologist Thomas Cucchi of the University of Durham, UK, identified a fragment of a mouse jaw in sediment from a ship that sank 3500 years ago off the coast of Turkey."

Sunrise in Alvin (9/6/08)

Gator (or Possibly Croc) Update (Mistaken Identity Edition)

Local News: Family Catches Six Foot Lizard in Yard | lizard, family, foot :: "It was a Labor Day the Nelson family probably won't forget; an evening outside with the kids that turned frightening when a 6-foot lizard showed up in their Grants Pass home.

It started when Ryan Nelson, the father, went to bring his young kids in for a bath. On the way back into the house he caught something moving out of the corner of his eye.

'I heard a noise. I thought it was cats at first. And I looked and it's a-what I thought was-an alligator at first,' says Nelson."

Or maybe not:
Man Finds, Captures Six-Foot Lizard: "A man has discovered a six-foot long lizard in his backyard in Grants Pass, Oregon. The man, Ryan Nelson, said he thought at first that the Nile monitor lizard was a crocodile. The Nile monitor has the ability to kill pets and cause human injury."

Back Door to Hell

You can read Juri Nummelin's post on this movie here.

Hitchcock's 50 Most Memorable Moments

Hitchcock's 50 most memorable moments - Times Online: "Sir Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar, but is generally accepted as the best British film director of all time. Here our film critics have a stab at choosing his 50 most memorable cinematic moments. Click highlighted text to watch video, and tell us if you agree at the foot of this article."

Top 10 TV Pilots

Lost, 24 and The Shield among the Top 10 TV pilots | NEWS.com.au Entertainment: "THEY say you never forget your first. The US TV Guide magazine's senior writer Damian Holbrook lists the Top 10 television pilots and the reasons why we will always remember them."

Paris Hilton Update (Paragon of Virtue Edition)

PARIS HILTON - HILTON: 'DON'T PICK ON THE JONAS BROTHERS': "[Paris] Hilton has become the latest celebrity to speak out on behalf of the pop trio [the Jonas Brothers] - insisting she totally supports the brothers' decision not to have sex before marriage.

She tells Usweekly.com, 'Don't pick on them. That's (their virginity) something cool for a kid to keep, so don't pick on them for that.

'I think that they're all really good kids and that they're definitely our next generation of kids and they're all really good so I think that's awesome.'"

More Wedding Photos!

Just what you wanted to see!  For those who can't get enough of this sort of thing, click here.

How Long Has it Been Since You Had a Bacon-Infused Old-Fashoned?

Well, that's too long.  You can get the recipe for making one (and see an instructional video) here.

The 25 Funniest Videos on the Web

The 25 Funniest Videos on the Web : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily: "As a compendium to the current issue, RollingStone.com presents the “25 Funniest Videos on the Web,” a collection of the most hilarious and outrageous Internet video creations currently available on this series of tubes. Click below for classics like “Fat Kid on a Rollercoaster,” “Dramatic Lemur” and of course, the above Bill O’Reilly freak out megamix."

Hat tip to Mike McGruff.

Back Home Again

The big wedding is over, and today Judy and I will take the Happy Couple to the airport for their return trip to San Francisco.  We're really going to miss them, of course, but the wedding was great and we'll have lots of good memories to consider until we see Angela and Tom again.

Eventually I'll have pictures, but for now you'll just have to imagine how nice things were.  

Listen to the Epigonion

Listen here.

Ancient Greece Musical Instrument Epigonion Heard Again Thanks To Astra Project | Technology | Sky News: "The sound of the Epigonion, a wooden string instrument similiar to a modern-day harp, has been recreated by ASTRA (Ancient instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application) project.

The modelling process needs extreme amounts of computing power which means it would take about four hours for a computer to reproduce a sound lasting 30 seconds.

But through the use of high-spec technology ASTRA have produced a performance of one of the oldest known musical scores dating back to the Middle Ages."

Lake Placid 2

Swan Peak -- James Lee Burke

When you read a novel by James Lee Burke, you can be sure that the writing will be eloquent, the plotting will be all over the map, and the narration will switch between first and third person. It switches a lot in Swan Peak, and I'll tell you why that bothers me. It makes me wonder who's telling the story. I have no problem accepting a novel narrated in first person, but when the switches some fast and furious, I ask myself what's going on. Is Dave Robicheaux telling the story? It seems clear that he knows all the things in those sections, but there's simply no possible way he could know the things we're told in the third-person parts, not unless he's become omniscient. This probably doesn't bother anybody else, but it does bother me, and it has since Burke began doing it. Why doesn't he just switch to third person for the whole book?

In Swan Peak, Robicheaux, his wife, Molly, and Clete Purcel are in Montana on vacation. They don't get much R&R, as they're soon involved with multiple murders, people from their pasts (surprising how many of them turn up in Montana), TV preachers, escaped convicts, vengeful prison guards, and all kinds of things too numerous to mention. The book's long (400 pages), and there's a lot going on. Lots of violence, and plenty of Robicheaux's ruminations on the life he and Clete lead. It's all tied up in the end, I guess. I sort of lost track. Fine descriptive writing, as always. If you like Burke, you'll like this one. I don't know if it would be a good starting place for someone reading him for the first time, though.

Daredevils of the Red Circle (A Classic Reprint)

OK, here's the set-up for this highly regarded Republic serial: An escaped convict named Harry Crowel (he prefers to be called by his prison number, 39013, pronounced Thirty-nine-Oh-thirteen) sets out to ruin Horace Granville (Miles Mander) by destroying all his holdings and properties. Charles (Ming the Merciless) Middleton plays 39013, who, by wearing a really good mask is posing as Granville.

The real Granville is being held captive in a prison cell in the basement of his own home, and the cell is an exact replica of the one 39013 was in when he was imprisoned. Don't ask me how 39013 was able to build this cell in Granvilles basement or how he was able to honeycomb the house with secret passages without anybody knowing. He just did it, the same way he arranged to have the garage fitted out with pipes that pump poison gas.

No one suspects the impersonation because 39013 never lets anyone near him. Granville has supposedly had a stroke, so 39013, taking advantage of Granville's supposedly weakened condition, can meet people only if they are separated from him by a glass wall. He speaks to them over a microphone. 39013 of course looks and sounds just like Granville, and he never slips up because, as he tells Granville, as long as he wears the mask he speaks in Granville's voice. When he removes the mask, he looks and sounds just like Charles Middleton.

I should also mention that down in the basement with the cell there's a Rube Goldberg device on which glass balls filled with poison gas are balanced. If 39013 doesn't return to the room regularly and refill the counter-balancing bottle with water, the balls will fall to the floor and break, killing Granville with the deadly gas.

So much for the set-up. One of the first properties that 39013 destroys is the Granville Amusement Center (Granville owns a little of everything, including a radium mine, which apparently is pretty much like a gold mine). The fire that consumes the amusement center takes the life of the younger brother of Gene Townley (Charles Quigley), one of the Daredevils. Townley and the other two daredevils, Tiny Dawson (Bruce Bennett, aka Herman Brix) and Bert Knowles (David Sharpe), sign on with Granville (in reality, 39013) to put a stop to 39013's depredations. The escaped con hires them so as not to arouse suspicion. Then, of course, he immediately sets out to get rid of them, and we're off to the races.

But let's stop for a moment to talk about Bruce Bennett. He was an Olympic shot-putter, and as Herman Brix, he starred in one of my favorite serials, Hawk of the Wilderness. After he got tired of the athletic roles, he took acting lessons, became Bennett, and had a long career in movies, including a role in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. According to the IMDb, he's still alive. If that's true, he'd be 99 years old.

David Sharpe was a U.S. tumbling champion who started out in movies in 1923. He did mostly stunt work, but he was one of the Rangebusters in that Monogram series. He was the stunt double for just about everybody in Hollywood at one time or another. His last credit was as a stunt driver in 1978. Fifty-five years isn't a bad career in any field.

Charles Middleton will always be Ming the Merciless to many of us. It's sad to look at his career as outlined on the IMDb and see all the "uncredited" parts he took, or, even sadder, the movies that say "scenes deleted." But he managed to hang around for a long time.

Carole Landis is one of the sad stories of Hollywood. She was beautiful, and she could act, but she never really got much of a chance. She was only about 19 or 20 when she made this serial, and ten years later she was dead of an overdose of sleeping pills. She could have livened up the serial considerably, but she's barely used at all.

Miles Mander, as all you fans of Philip Marlowe will recall, played Mr. Grayle in Murder, My Sweet.

Charles Quigley didn't do much of note either before or after this serial. Unless you want to count a minor role in Mexican Spitfire Out West.

The butler, Snowflake, is played by Fred "Snowflake" Toones, who played the same Stepin Fetchit type of character in tons of movies for 20 years. He was often uncredited and often billed as Snowflake. You can imagine the kind of humor he was involved in.

And now back to our story. Oh, what the heck. You know the story. 39013 plots to destroy stuff, and the Daredevils foil the plots. There's a fistfight in every episode, of course, with lots of climbing around gas plants, electric plants, and oil rigs. David Sharpe does some tumbling stuff in most of the fights. The cliffhangers are OK, with the one in the first chapter being the most memorable. It has Quigley racing through a tunnel only yards in front of a wall of water that seems certain to overtake him.

The weakness are those of most serials. Like, why did 39013 put that gas pipe in the garage in the first place? And, when the Daredevils investigate, why does someone say, "That valve comes from the gas plant down the road. Let's go there an check it out," instead of, "Why don't we trace that pipe and see where it goes?" (Because if they'd done that, of course, they'd have found the tunnels, which would have led them to 39013 and ended the serial.)

And of course anybody over the age of five will figure out the identity of the mysterious figure who's helping out the Daredevils, though I defy anyone of any age to figure out how the MF is getting the information that's passed along.

Then there's Chapter 11, a total cheat, since it's nothing but padding to make the whole thing 12 chapters long. All Chapter 11 does is repeat scenes from earlier episodes. But that's why remotes have the "fast forward" feature.

The good stuff? Well, the score is a dandy, the stunts are good, the fistfights are well-choreographed, and all three leads seem to be having a good time. I wouldn't put this one in the same class with some of my favorites, like Captain Marvel and all the Rocketman serials, but it's still worth watching. I'd give it three stars.

The AFI Top 100 Movies... In 5 Words Each

The AFI Top 100 Movies... In 5 Words Each - The Spill.com Movie Community: "Because the only way to truly enjoy cinema classics is to reduce them to hollow shells of what they used to be.

The rules are simple: 5 words each, no more, no less. Think of them as 'movie captions.'

Be forewarned, some SPOILERS lie ahead:"

Another Happy Couple 9/6/08

Lake Placid

Angela and Tom Neary 9/6/08

Bigfoot Update

Scientists Interested In Large Footprint Discovery - Nashville News Story - WSMV Nashville: "Harold Jackson is an amateur archaeologist who enjoys collecting arrowheads and other Native American artifacts. But the most extraordinary find of his life came on his property near the Caney Fork River.
For months he stepped on a rock near his house that caught his eye. Finally, he brought the unusual rock home and cleaned it up. After all of the mud was removed, a remarkable discovery was revealed.

'I don't know anything about archaeology or anything, but if you look at it, it's a footprint. No animal footprint looks like that. Now, if it's a Native American, an Indian, then he was a big Indian,' said Jackson. '(The print) is about 11 inches wide and about 15 inches long.'

Jackson said the fossilized print clearly shows the heel and all five toes."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

And the winner is. . . .

Chicken Fried Bacon? State Fair of Texas reveals winning fried foods |
News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News
| Cooking tips | Food | Dallas Morning News: "Nothing says State Fair like fried cooking, and nothing says Texas like chicken fried steak. Glen Kusak’s chicken fried bacon combined both, winning him the best taste award Monday at the fourth annual Big Tex Choice Awards."

Mouthful of Bullets Closing Down

From BJ Bourg:

My parish took a beating from Hurricane Gustav and there is a lot to do before we get back to normal. I was already behind with MFOB because of my two jobs, and this will just put things out of reach for me, so I'm forced to close MFOB indefinitely. If things settle down at some point in the far away future, I may go back to publishing it, but, as for now, I have no choice but to shut it down. 

You Gotta Wonder Who Voted

Eighties Voted The Coolest Decade, A Survey Has Found | UK News | Sky News: "It may have been dominated with perms, yuppies and shoulder pads but the 1980s has been voted coolest decade of the past 50 years, according to a survey."

The Rehearsal

The wedding rehearsal was yesterday afternoon, and it went all right.   The wedding will be outside, so it was hot.  I hope nobody passes out.  I'll be encased in a tux, myself.

Judy says she's going to cry a lot and will need to wear waterproof mascara.  I might need to carry a tissue, for that matter.   I don't know what the rules are about fathers of the bride and cameras, but I'll be taking pictures unless Judy nudges me.

Meanwhile Ike is whirling away out in the Gulf, and it's anybody's guess what that will mean for next week.  It's the little uncertainties that make life so much fun.

Alligator

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

MyFox Dallas | Armed Man in Wheelchair Steals Condoms, Energy Drinks: "A man in a wheelchair robbed a Dallas 7-Eleven on Tuesday night, police said.

The incident happened at Park Lane and Fair Oaks Avenue, where the man armed himself with a knife and a baseball bat to rob the store, police said."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Great photo of grape at link.

Arlington Woman Finds Virgin Mary On Grape - Food News Story - KXAS | Dallas: "ARLINGTON, Texas -- An Arlington woman said she has discovered a grape that bears a figure resembling the Virgin Mary.

Becky Ginn, 24, says she is a Baptist.

'I thought this stuff just happened to Catholics?' she said. 'Mom and I had a laugh about it at first, seeing as how we're Baptists and all and we generally don't expect to see holy people popping up in our foodstuffs.'"

Musical Taste and Personality Type

Click the link and scroll down to see where you fit in.

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Music tastes link to personality: "Musical tastes and personality type are closely related, according to a study of more than 36,000 people from around the world.

The research, which was carried out by Professor Adrian North of Heriot-Watt University, is said to be the largest such study ever undertaken.

It suggested classical music fans were shy, while heavy metal aficionados were gentle and at ease with themselves."

Rings (A Classic Reprint)

In this somewhat blurry photo are two cereal premiums from my lost youth. On the right is my Lone Ranger Silver Saddle ring. It has a gold saddle, so maybe I have the name wrong, but the ring itself is silver. On the left is one that, I'm ashamed to admit, I can't recall the name of. Part of the name is "signal ring," I'm almost sure. The curved part you can see at the bottom of the ring held a small battery, and you could use the ring (that's the original bulb) to send Morse code, or at least that was the theory. You might be able to make out the scales of justice on the left hand side of the ring. Maybe that's a clue. I think the ring might be connected to Captain Midnight, but I'm not at all sure. Any help?

Late-breaking news. I should've looked on eBay before posting. Here's the signal ring, which might not have been a premium after all. And here's the Lone Ranger Saddle Ring (no silver; I guess I was thinking of the great horse by that name). I don't have the filmstrip with mine.

Wherever You Go, There You Are

Splash Page � ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ Creator Talks Upcoming Comics In Our Exclusive Interview: "He was a surgeon, a rock star, a comic book hero, and he came from the ’80s. But enough about Rick Springfield. Buckaroo Banzai, the charismatic character from 1984’s cult favorite “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension”
(starring future Robocop, Peter Weller), achieved the above — plus he practiced physics, raced cars, roughed-up aliens…all while donning Perry Ellis and Armani threads! Before you get all nerd-stalgic about the sequel that never was (read about “Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League” here), Moonstone Books has come in for the save, releasing brand-new comic-book stories about our favorite hipster adventurer."

Forgotten Books: ARIZONA KISS -- Ray Ring

"I didn't set out to kill anyone. All I wanted was a good story, which is all a journalist ever wants, but I should have seen it was going bad."

So begins Arizona Kiss, a powerful noir story about an investigative reporter named Macky, who gets involved with the wrong woman. It's all downhill from there, as you might guess. The woman, Alice Malone, gives Macky the scoop on a prominent judge who's involved in dog-fighting. She says she wants Macky to do a story and expose the judge, but things aren't always what they seem in books like this one. Lots of violence involving both animals and humans, so weak stomachs take warning. If you can take it, this is one of those books that will stick with you for a long time.

Piranha

The Ross Sisters

Cap'n Bob insisted that I post this.

Coming from Stark House

 In October, two more fine novels from Holding, plus a short story and Greg Shepard's introduction.  Check it out.

The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Scott Lynch

Every time I go to ArmadilloCon or AggieCon, I come home with a big fat fantasy novel or two. This time, one was The Lies of Locke Lamora, which is the first in a proposed series of seven. Since this one is over 700 pages long, I'm sure I'll never read all of them.

Locke Lemora is the leader of a group of conpersons who call themselves the Gentleman Bastards. They live in Camorr, a city a lot like Venice in the late middle ages, though a lot different, too. We don't know where Camorr is, but there's clearly a backstory, as it seems to rest on the remnants of a much older and far more advanced civilization.

Who the Gentleman Bastards are and how they became the GBs is a tale intertwined with another long adventure in the current volume. Lamora and the other Bastards are engaged in conning a duke out of a good portion of his fortune, but things intefere. Things like the Gray King, who's killing off members of the criminal profession and who's clearly got bad things in mind for Lamora. Just how bad, we discover as we move along.

There's plenty of action, a thick thread of violence running throughout, mystery, and a few surprises, some of them unpleasant. I have the second book in the series, but I'm not sure when (or if) I'll get to it. We'll see.

Austin Bound

Judy and I will be leaving for Austin in about half an hour. Our little girl (age 39) is getting married. Took her a while to find someone satisfactory, but I'm sure she's made a good choice. The odd thing about this, as all you older parents know, is that I remember all the details of her birth all those years ago: the call from Judy that it was time for me to get her to the hospital (I was working spring registration in UT's Gregory Gym), the waiting room (I read File on a Missing Redhead, a Gold Medal by Lou Cameron), seeing Angela for the first time (she was blonde, and I thought she must be the wrong kid), taking her home to 711 W. 32nd wrapped in a little yellow blanket. Seems like only yesterday. Now she's middle-aged and getting married. Time flies when you're having fun.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

NEWS RADIO 590 KLBJ - Breaking News Headlines and Video from 590 KLBJ: "An Austin cabbie is charged with robbing one of his customer, for not tipping him. Sharon Hernandez Daro says Tuesday afternoon her 10 minute ride to the UT campus felt like hours because the driver - Whyte Awala - she claims was very rude to her."

That's Better than I Could Do

Elephants show flair for arithmetic - Times Online: "The elephant's memory is legendary, but in a large, grey surprise to science the mighty Asian elephant turns out to have a distinct flair for maths as well

Under carefully controlled experimental conditions — essentially comprising a large cage and two buckets of assorted fruit — one elephant at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo managed to get its sums right 87 per cent of the time. A slightly less gifted pachyderm across the country in Kyoto scored a still respectable 69 per cent."

Girls Town

Caiman Update (Body Disposal Edition)

Rio drug gang fed rivals to caimans - Yahoo! News UK: "RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro police found two caimans in a raid on one of the city's slums on Wednesday, saying the crocodile-like reptiles were used by drug traffickers to intimidate their enemies and dispose of bodies."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Tutoring incentives offered to students at Eastside high school: "Former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd thinks he has found a way to make learning more enticing for some Austin students: pay them cold, hard cash."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Gather 'round, kitties, for a tale from Uncle John: "So why does the Austin Humane Society pet adoption center at 124 W. Anderson Lane have a program where children read to the cats?"

The X-Files, Economics Edition: A Guest Post - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

The X-Files, Economics Edition: A Guest Post - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog: "We’re still in the early data-collecting stages of our project; but in doing so we’ve come across an intriguing pattern. The figure below plots total U.F.O. sightings in the U.S. for each state (per 10,000 residents) between 1997 and 2007 against total Bigfoot sightings in each state (per 10,000 residents) for the same period."

Easily explained by my story in the volume to the right. Check it out.

Love Is Blind in the Outback

Wanted: 'beauty-disadvantaged' sheilas for desperate Outback men - Times Online: "The mayor of an Australian Outback town has infuriated local women by calling for “beauty-disadvantaged” females to move to his community to relieve the dire shortage of mates for resident men.

John Molony, from Mount Isa in northern Queensland, said the lack of young, single females meant that local men - predominantly miners and cowboys - were not as fussy as they might be when it came to love. Men heavily outnumber single women in the mining town, which has a population of almost 25,000 and hosts Australia’s biggest rodeo."

I'll Be Using Babel Fish on These

Dead Sea Scrolls to be displayed on Internet: "Scientists using American space technology have started a huge project to digitally photograph the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known version of the Hebrew Bible, and post it on the Internet for all to see, Israeli authorities said Wednesday.

High-tech cameras using infrared photography are being used to uncover sections of the 2,000-year-old scrolls that have faded over the centuries and become indecipherable, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said.

The project is expected to take about five years and the goal is to make the scrolls accessible to scientists and the general public, Antiquities Authority official Pnina Shor said."

The Most Interesting Man in the World

Have you seen those Dos Equis ads? Is it just me, or does that guy seem like a complete dork? Or maybe that's the point.

The Navy vs. the Night Monsters

New Issue of Thug Lit is On-line

You can get there from here.

Jerry Reed, R. I. P.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

iWon News - Singer-actor Jerry Reed dies at the age of 71: "NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like 'Smokey and the Bandit,' has died of complications from emphysema at 71.

His longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, no relation to the star, said Reed died early Monday.

'He's one of the greatest entertainers in the world. That's the way I feel about him,' Moore-Reed said.

Reed was a gifted guitarist who later became a songwriter, singer and actor."

Bad boys,bad boys whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do?

Undercover Officer Resigns After Posting Online Sex Ads - Seminole County News Story - WFTV Orlando: "OVIEDO, Fla. -- An Oviedo police officer who posted naked pictures of himself online has resigned.

The photos were next to graphic ads for sex.

Investigators told Channel 9 that they did not know anything about the sex ads online until they received a tip. The pictures of undercover agent Scott Woodlee were posted on Craigslist. He posted several dozen naked pictures on the site advertising sex with men and women."

Free Stories

Dave Zelserman is offering a free anthology (pdf format) of seven of his stories from places like EQMM, AHMM, and others. Click here to go to his blog and get the link for the download.

So Long, Neighbor.

'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' won't be shown on many PBS channels starting Monday -- chicagotribune.com: "Seven years have passed since new episodes of 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' were taped and five since the show's iconic, sweater-clad host died.

But news that, starting Monday, 'Mister Rogers' will disappear from the schedules of many PBS stations—including WTTW-Ch. 11 in Chicago, as well as stations in Los Angeles and apparently New York—has legions of parents and other fans lamenting what they see as a timeless show's end.

They are wondering, as Mr. Rogers himself might say: What do you do with the mad that you feel?"

Ah-Ha!

Study Links Gene Variant in Men to Marital Discord - washingtonpost.com: "Men are more likely to be devoted and loyal husbands when they lack a particular variant of a gene that influences brain activity, researchers announced yesterday -- the first time that science has shown a direct link between a man's genes and his aptitude for monogamy.

The finding is striking because it not only links the gene variant -- which is present in two of every five men -- with the risk of marital discord and divorce, but also appears to predict whether women involved with these men are likely to say their partners are emotionally close and available, or distant and disagreeable. The presence of the gene variant, or allele, also seems predictive of whether men get married or live with women without getting married."

Archaeological Update

In Afghanistan, French archaeologists uncover ancient city: "CHESHM-E-SHAFA, AFGHANISTAN — Centuries-old shards of pottery mingle with spent ammunition rounds on a wind-swept mountainside in northern Afghanistan where French archaeologists believe they have found a vast ancient city.

For years, villagers have dug in the baked earth on the heights of Cheshm-e-Shafa for pottery and coins to sell to antiques smugglers. Tracts of the site that locals call the City of Infidels look like a battleground, scarred by craters.

But now tribesmen dig angular trenches and preserve fragile walls, working as laborers on an excavation atop a promontory. To the north and east lies an undulating landscape of barren red-tinted rock that was once the ancient kingdom of Bactria; to the south a verdant valley that leads to the famed Buddhist ruins at Bamian."

High School Confidential

High School Confidential

Sigh . . . .

Moving Beyond 'Catcher' On School Reading Lists : NPR: "Weekend Edition Saturday, August 30, 2008 � The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's beloved novel, once banned and full of frank four-letter words, will continue to be assigned to high school reading lists this year.

But Anne Trubek, a professor of English at Oberlin College, argues that it's time to update Salinger's coming-of-age tale.

'It was published in 1951 and it's not so contemporary anymore,' Trubek tells Scott Simon. 'I think that most American teenagers will find it rather tame and sort of laughable the things that were once considered so controversial.'"

The 50 Greatest Arts Aideos on YouTube

The 50 greatest arts videos on YouTube | Technology | The Observer: "YouTube is best known for its offbeat videos that become viral sensations. But among its millions of clips is a treasure trove of rare and fascinating arts footage, lovingly posted by fans. Ajesh Patalay selects 50 of the best - Joy Division's TV debut, readings by Jack Kerouac, a Marlene Dietrich screen test, Madonna's first performance... and much more."

Happy Birthday, ERB!

"It's the birthday of one of the most popular pulp fiction writers in American history, Edgar Rice Burroughs, (books by this author) born in Chicago (1875). He had read Darwin's book Descent of Man back in 1899, and he was fascinated by the idea that human beings were related to apes. He began to wonder what might happen if a child from an excessively noble, well-bred family were somehow left in the jungle to be raised by apes. The result was his story 'Tarzan of the Apes,' which filled an entire issue of All-Story magazine in October of 1912."

10 Geeky Movies to Raise Your Kids On | Geekdad from Wired.com

10 Geeky Movies to Raise Your Kids On | Geekdad from Wired.com: "In our never-ending quest to provide you the tools and knowledge to raise your kids in your own geeky image, we present you with a list of 10 geeky movies to raise your kids with. This is a starter list, and by no means comprehensive. It also skews towards the younger set because we have to lay the proper geeky foundation."

Bibliochaise, the Librarian’s Chair

Bibliochaise, the Librarian’s Chair � Coolest Gadgets: "If you read a lot of books and your house is full of them, then the Bibliochaise is an extremely useful item, and a good asset for your living room. The Bibliochaise is a different kind of chair, designed for people who love to read and want to keep their favourite books close at hand."

Hat top to Doc Quatermass.

Gator Update (Guts Edition)

Got gator guts? Send 'em to scientist | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY: "Attention alligator hunters: A Florida Tech scientist wants your gator guts -- on ice.

He's looking for more evidence to prove local alligators chow down almost exclusively on two South American catfish: the sailfin and hoplo.

Gators gobble up these two suckers as their staple diet with unknown consequences, he suspects.

'Freeze the stomach, and give us a call. All we really need to know is how big the gator was and where it was caught,' said Jon Shenker, a fishery biologist at Florida Tech.

Shenker and/or his students will come and pick up the gator guts, if hunters keep them on ice."

Hell Comes to Frogtown

Money-Making Opportunity of the Month

Mst3k: Join Mystery Science Theater 3000 And Get Paid: "Now's your chance to become part of the movie-watching people (or robots) over at Mystery Science Theater 3000. The MST3K bunch have launched an iRiffs channel on their site, allowing you to submit your own commentary over terrible movies for the gang to judge. If they think your commentary track is funny enough, you could make the big bucks."

Gator Update (Colorado Edition)

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Not your typical animal rescue: 'Gator' found along road: "GLENWOOD SPRINGS - At Colorado Animal Rescue in Glenwood Springs, director Leslie Rockey says they have a number of furry four-legged friends who have been rescued.
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'Over 40 dogs, about 65 cats, 8 bunnies,' said Rockey.

The newest resident, however, is a first. His name is Montgomery, and he's a 38-inch alligator who was found wandering along a highway near the Western Slope town of Parachute."

Mexia, Texas, 1953

My hometown has always been on the cutting edge, as you can see from this column in the local paper back on March 13, 1953. Already fielding a soccer team, and if you look long enough, you can find the name of one of the players. Yes, that's right, me. Hard to believe. This was one of my few athletic endeavors, but nobody can say I wasn't ahead of my time. And just in case you were wondering what was showing at the local theaters on that day, well, I've thrown some movie listings in for good measure.

New Blog on the Block

Check out Rafe McGregor's blog if you'd like some posts on classic detection (Christie, Holmes) and a few other things.

Sexpionage!

Socks away! Roald Dahl’s wartime sex raids - Times Online: "He is known to the world as the author of bestselling children’s books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. Yet before he became a successful writer, Roald Dahl had a very different reputation – as the sexiest British spy in America.

A ribald portrait of Dahl’s second world war years as an undercover agent attached to the British embassy in Washington emerges from the pages of a new biography that credits the writer with a very special talent for the Anglo-American special relationship.

“Girls just fell at Roald’s feet,” declares Antoinette Marsh Haskell, the daughter of Dahl’s closest American friend. “I think he slept with everybody on the east and west coasts that [was worth] more than $50,000 a year.”"

Gator Update (Long Island Edition)

Alligator captured at LI creek -- amNY.com: "A Long Island man out fishing made an unusual catch on Saturday _ an alligator that had latched onto his fishing lure.

The reptile had been seen before at the creek in recent weeks and Ron Settino, 63, of Franklin Square, said he had been looking to capture it. He got his chance, reeling the creature in while another fisherman grabbed the 33-inch-long animal."

Killer Kowalski, R. I. P.

Thanks to Cap'n Bob Napier for the link.

Ring Posts: Remembering Killer Kowalski - Ring Posts is a Baltimore Sun blog about wrestling - baltimoresun.com: "When I first started watching pro wrestling as a first-grader in the early 1970s, there were various types of bad guys (we didn’t call them heels back then). There were black-hat wearing cowboys, flamboyant pretty boys, post-World War II German and Japanese wrestlers and an assortment of rugged-looking guys with snarling faces.

But there was only one Killer Kowalski.

Walter Kowalski, who died yesterday at 81 from the effects of a massive heart attack, portrayed one of wrestling’s all-time great villains during a career that spanned 30 years."

Hurricanes and Weddings

Hurricane Gustav is churning around in the Gulf of Mexico, and I worry about what's going to happen to Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf coast. If New Orleans goes under again, can it possibly come back a second time? Robert Skinner, mystery writer friend, finally got out of his FEMA trailer and back into his house last December. And now this. How much can people take?

Here in Alvin, big things are happening. Judy and I will be going to Austin on Thursday. Not because of the hurricane, however. Our daughter, Angela, is getting married there on Saturday. I'm not too sure about being the father of the bride. Speaking in front of large crowds doesn't bother me at all, but the idea of walking down the aisle with my daughter on my arm scares me a lot. I'm too old and emotional for that kind of thing. One of the groomsmen is in New Orleans. Will he be at the wedding? I have my doubts. This should be an interesting experience for all concerned.

Blast-Off Girls

Will the Persecution Never End?

<em>Paris</em> Screenings Pulled :: Hollywood Elsewhere: "Some kind of intense drama is happening with Toronto Film Festival screenings of Adria Petty's Paris, Not France, a documentary about Paris Hilton. Two out of three public screenings have been cancelled, and both press screenings have also been jettisoned."

Coming Soon to a Cover Near You

E-Commerce News: Technology: Esquire to Put Digital Moving Pix on Mag Cover: "To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Esquire magazine, the publication's editors plan to release 100,000 copies of its October 2008 edition with a cover made of electronic paper.

E Ink, an electronic paper developer, has taken the technology it used in devices such as the Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Latest News about Amazon.com Kindle and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Latest News about Sony eReader to develop a version of the technology for use on the Esquire cover.

The resulting cover, hitting newsstands in September, will feature words and images that scroll across the flexible electronic page. In addition, the inside cover will offer readers their first e-paper advertisement, with automaker Ford pitching its new Flex vehicle in a double-page ad."

Hat tip to Gerard Saylor.

Happy Birthday, Kitty Wells!

89 today.

Hari Puttar Update

Bollywood producers defend 'Hari Puttar' film: "The makers of Bollywood film 'Hari Puttar,' which has prompted a lawsuit by Hollywood studio Warner Bros, say the flick has nothing in common with the Harry Potter movie series.

The Hollywood studio, which owns the rights to the boy wizard movies, has taken the Indian producers to court over the film's title, which it says sounds like Harry Potter.

'Our film bears no resemblance to the Hollywood film Harry Potter and it is a completely different story,' said Munish Purii, chief operating officer of Mumbai-based production house Mirchi Movies Ltd, late on Friday."

Top 5 Gadgets that Could Get You Arrested

Some of you probably already own a couple of these.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

A Review

I don't mention reviews often, but this one over at Gravetapping pretty much gets to the heart of what I try to do in the Sheriff Rhodes books. I couldn't have put it better myself.

Gravetapping: RED, WHITE, AND BLUE MURDER by Bill Crider: "Red, White, and Blue Murder is the first of Bill Crider’s novels I have read and it was better than I imagined. It is a unique blend of whodunit and American style hardboiled—probably something like 75% of the former, and 25% of the later. The whodunit part is the comfortable setting, the townspeople—pestering, conniving, kind, and likable. It is a place the reader would love to visit, and in a literary manner, it is a place you have been before, but not for a very long time."

Mike Ripley's Latest Column Posted at Shots Magazine

Click here. Great stuff, as always.

Summer Issue of PWG is Now On-Line

Crimedog One: PLOTS WITH GUNS GIVES YOU AN ATOMIC WEDGIE: "Blistering skin, hurricane warnings, and melted ice cream all over the concrete. Despite the sun and the waves, summer can be ugly, too. Sublimely ugly. Just like the eight new stories in the Summer 2008 issue of PLOTS WITH GUNS, now live online.

Some sick tales ready to bust out like they were left in a car with the windows rolled up on a hot-as-balls afternoon: Tony Black, Kyle Minor, Jedidiah Ayres, Kent Gowran, Glenn Gray, Mark Joseph Kiewlak, Fred Snyder, and Garnett Elliot. Yeah, smells funky, right?"

Memoir Update

News from The Associated Press: "WOBURN, Mass. (AP) -- An author who fabricated a best-selling memoir about surviving the Holocaust by living with wolves asked a judge Thursday to affirm a $32.4 million jury award in her favor.

Misha Defonseca said her publisher is too late to try to overturn the 2001 verdict the author and her ghost writer won in a fight over the book's profits."

Zodiac Update

cbs13.com - Zodiac Killer's Identity And Weapon Uncovered?: "Reporting Kris Pickel
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― The Zodiac Killer attacked at least eight people, terrorizing the Bay Area and taunting police in the 60's and 70's. Thursday, the FBI confirmed to CBS13 they are now running laboratory tests on some items that may link a suspect to the killer.

The evidence was given to the FBI by a Pollock Pines man who also claims he recently found the disguise worn by the Zodiac Killer during one of his attacks."

Gator Update (Zombie Edition)

Interesting (but graphic) video promo.

Blogging Texas

Will Howard has created TEXAS BLOG NOTES, which "is a storage place for the e-book Texas Historical and Literary Blogs - 2008, and a place for further notes or discussion of blogs of meaningful contribution to quality life, understanding, and literature of Texas. My blog is included in the list (which has links), along with many others on many Texas topics (literature, history, art, and so on). Some great stuff. Take a look.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Identity Theft: WHH Ranch Company Uses Shredded Checks As Package Cushioning: "A Texas cannery has been using shredded checks from the local bank as packing materials for the past twenty years. The WHH Ranch Company claims that Michelle McBride of Kansas is the only customer to ever complain about the checks, which plainly displayed routing and account numbers for hospitals, medicare, schools, businesses, and personal accounts."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Angry telemarketer calls back, berates man after he hangs up: "AUSTIN, TX (NBC) - Randall Whited got quite a surprise when he recently hung up on a telemarketer.

The telemarketer called the Austin, Texas resident back and unleashed a tirade of verbal abuse.

'If you don't want to get contacted if somebody wins, then don't put your name in it. That was just such a girl thing to do. Wimp,' the telemarketer yelled."

You Can't Get a Burger at the Bug Bistro

globeandmail.com: How to eat fried worms: "HALIFAX — It's the kind of revelation that would have Howard Hughes turning in his grave: The average sleeper ingests four insects a night.

But Mary MacDonald, who offered up this surprising fact, has quite the opposite reaction.

'People have been eating insects for a very long time,' says Ms. MacDonald, a naturalist who works with the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. 'You're already eating bugs, and they're a great source of protein. So why not try them?'"

Forgotten Books: BRIDGE OF BIRDS -- Barry Hughart

Bridge of Birds is likely to have been overlooked by mystery readers because it's a fantasy novel set in "an Ancient China that never was." But it's a lot more than that. It's also an adventure, a quest, and a mystery. Its narrator, Number 10 Ox, is the Watson to Master Li's Holmes. Li is a master of deduction, albeit with "a slight flaw in his character."

Love, death, myth, monsters, mayhem (lots), and wonderful writing all combine to make this book, for me, unforgettable. I was reminded of it recently because I received an e-mail from Subterranean Press, which is about to release an omnibus volume that will include all three novels about Master Li and Number 10 Ox (Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen). While the latter two aren't quite as wonderful as the first, they're still well worth your time.

Godzilla vs. Megalon