Cool Podcast News

Criminal Brief: The Mystery Short Story Web Log Project: "If Christie isn’t your thing, I’ve got news of something new at the Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine websites. Both magazines have begun posting podcasts of short stories. The AHMM site is offering Will Ludwigsen’s “In Search Of”, read by actor and playwright Daniel John Kelley. It’s a fun, unique story, and one of the few to succeed at being told from second-person. Over at the EQMM website you can listen to editor Janet Hutchings introducing a full cast recording of “The Myna Birds”, adapted from a 1956 story by Ellery Queen.

Each month AHMM and EQMM will be posting news stories. Stay tuned."

Crystal Lee Sutton, R. I. P.

Crystal Lee Sutton, the Real-Life ‘Norma Rae,’ Is Dead at 68 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com: "Crystal Lee Sutton, the union organizer whose real-life stand on her worktable at a textile factory in North Carolina in 1973 was the inspiration for the Academy Award-winning movie “Norma Rae,” died Friday in Burlington, N.C. She was 68."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Paul Burke, R. I. P.

Emmy-nominated 'Naked City' actor Paul Burke dies: "Paul Burke, who was twice nominated for an Emmy for his role as Det. Adam Flint in the gritty crime hit 'Naked City,' died Sunday. He was 83.

Burke, who had leukemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, died with wife Lyn at his side at his home in Palm Springs, family spokeswoman Daniela Ryan said.

Burke was featured in dozens of TV series in his four-decade career, including prominent parts on '12 O'Clock High' and 'Dynasty.'"

Hat tip to John Hall.

Patrick Swayze, R. I. P.

Patrick Swayze Dies of Pancreatic Cancer at 57 - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment - FOXNews.com: "Patrick Swayze died after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Swayze's publicist Annett Wolf says the 57-year-old 'Dirty Dancing' actor died Monday with family at his side. He came forward about his illness last spring, but continued working as he underwent treatments."

The Top 10 White Trash Heroes of Cinema

The Top 10 White Trash Heroes of Cinema | SPIKE: "Redneck and 'white trash' culture tends to get a bad rap by the snootier elements of our culture. Maybe you think that hicks and hillbillies don’t know nothin’ ‘bout nothin’, but you couldn't be further from the truth. Sometimes we need to look to the trailer parks for succor, refuge, and justice."

The Gift of Murder Update

Kris Neri blogs about The Gift of Murder today at Femmes Fatales. Check it out.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Rising menace in Texas. | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/13/2009: "Something crazy is spreading across Texas, and it may be so destructive that one day it will make Texans actually miss the hated fire ant.

Crazy ants, so named because they move in all directions rather than in a straight line, first surfaced in Houston seven years ago and had previously been confirmed in 14 southeast Texas counties as far north as Huntsville.

Now the ants have been seen beyond the Houston area, with sightings in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley."

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

By which I mean that the state doesn't lead the way. It's four cities on the list are near the bottom, and two are on the bottom.

Full List: America's Most Stressful Cities - Forbes.com: "Sinking property values, high unemployment and prices, and poor environments add to the pressure felt by residents in these metros."

Nasty, Brutish, and Long -- Ira Rosofsky

The subtitle is Adventures in Old Age and Eldercare. The author, Ira Rosofsky, is "a psychologist who travels around to nursing homes and talks to sad, confused, and, occasionally, happy old people." There's no privacy in a nursing home, and not much dignity, either. No one wants to be in one, but lots of people are. As Rosofsky says, ten years from now, it'll be the depression babies. Twenty years from now, the Boomers. "Will the Beatles songbook replace the Glenn Miller sing-along? Will I nod off in my wheelchair in the face of an endless YouTube loop?"

Depressed yet? There's more. Plenty of loss and suffering. Death and dementia. Loneliness. All those things we hate to think about.

Luckily Rosofsky has a sense of humor and great humanity. The book's not nearly as depressing as it could have been. And we all need to know this stuff. How should you choose a nursing home? What about those even more final decisions, the ones that come at the very end.

If you have elderly parents, you should read this book. If you've getting along yourself, you should read this book. It won't cheer you up, but it'll be good for you.

7 Things Romantic Comedies Taught Us About Women

7 Things Romantic Comedies Taught Us About Women - Asylum.com: "Study closely the ways of women so that you too may be able to achieve love the way only Ralph Fiennes can in the span of 93 minutes."

10 Things Romantic Comedies Have Taught Us about Men

Romantic Comedies Have A Lot to Teach Us About Men | The Frisky: "[T]he 10 oh-so-realistic things that romcoms have taught us about men."

Gator Update (TSA Edition)

Baby alligator among items seized by TSA - UPI.com: "Transportation Security Administration says it has seized 123,189 items from passengers at three New York-area airports, including a baby alligator."

The Time Machine

Jim Carroll, R. I. P.

Jim Carroll, Poet and Punk Rocker Who Wrote ‘The Basketball Diaries’, Dies at 60 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com: "Jim Carroll, the poet and punk rocker in the outlaw tradition of Rimbaud and Burroughs who chronicled his wild youth in “The Basketball Diaries,” died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 60."

True Crime

SLING WORDS: Jennifer Schuett: Hero: "Take a close look at this police artist sketch. That's what this blog post is all about. For the first time in my life, I'm using something I clipped from the newspaper without gaining permission. I'm doing this because I didn't see the photo posted on The Houston Chronicle website where I checked after reading the article in the September 11, 2009, edition."

I urge you to click the link and read the entire post and maybe even link it on your own blog if you have one.

When They Say "No Fishing," . . .

. . . they mean it.
Hat tip to Jeremy Lynch.

Hippo kills poaching soldier in DR Congo park - Yahoo! News: "A hippopotamus killed a member of Democratic Republic of Congo government forces at Virunga National Park while he was fishing illegally, a local environmental NGO said Saturday."

How I Met Your Mother as Noir

Hat tip to Toby O'Brien.

New Story on BEAT to a PULP

BEAT to a PULP :: Cedar Mountain :: George Miller, Jr.

Folk Tales

Fairy tales have ancient origin - Telegraph: "They have been told as bedtime stories by generations of parents, but fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood may be even older than was previously thought."

An interesting article and excerpts don't do it justice. If you like this kind of thing, read all of it. I think "fairy tales" is the wrong name, by the way.

Bad Karma -- Dave Zeltserman

Bill Shannon, a Boston cop in Bad Thoughts, gets put through the wringer. After those terrible events, he left Boston and moves to Boulder, Colorado, where he sets up shop as a private-eye while trying to develop some of his latent powers (such as having out-of-body experiences). He and his ex-wife live happily together, and things are going well until Shannon takes on a case that begins with the brutal double murder of a couple of college students. During the course of his investigation, Shannon takes on another case [SPOILER ALERT -- the two cases turn out to be connected -- END OF SPOILER ALERT] that involves a strange religious cult and Russian mobsters. Really bad Russian mobsters. Shannon has shaken off many of the effects of his experiences in Bad Thoughts, but he's still a damaged character, which makes him interesting company. And if you like the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, you'll find some fun in Shannon's banter with a couple of other characters. Finally, there's a nice nod to Fast Lane, Zeltserman's earlier novel set in Colorado.

The violence in this book is more subdued than that in Bad Thoughts, but it's certainly there. The story is also a pretty straightforward p.i. tale, though not without some horror and New Age elements, which once again proves Zeltserman's versatility (he's doing noir novels and Nero Wolfe pastiches in EQMM, among other things). If you haven't read Zeltserman's work, it's time to start. He's making quite a name for himself these days.

Still More Amazing Stories

Here's the inside back cover of the November 1954 Amazing Stories, more of the great SF Book Club advertising. I don't know if you can read the summaries, but again I love the marketing. The old "sense of wonder." Can't beat it.

As for some other stories in the issue, "Sell it to Satan" by Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe) is an amusing little fantasy that mixes a few mythologies, good for a smile. An okay story. So is "Two's a Crowd" by John Toland, a variation on the "duplicating machine" story. Ah, the attitudes of the '50s.

John Jakes contributes "The Revenge of Edwin Mudd," about a guy who invents a way to talk back to people on TV. Literally. I don't think it would work out the way it does in the story, certainly not today, but it's fun to think about.

And if you've ever wondered what would happen if all the dogs on earth died, you can read Frank Herbert's The Gone Dogs. Some of them get cloned elsewhere, with predictable results.

Atlantis the Lost Continent

Where in the World is Bill Crider?

I'm here. It's a big weekend in the old hometown. Homecoming. It's been 50 years since I graduated from high school. Yes, that's right. And get off my damn lawn!

When I was attending high school, I was at the 1958 homecoming. The 50-year class that was honored had graduated in 1908. I was amazed that any of them were still alive, much less ambulatory.

My perspective has since changed.

I could tell all the high school kids I see that they're going to be amazed at how quickly the next 50 years of their lives will pass, but they wouldn't listen. I know I didn't when I was told the same thing, but it's the truth. Why, I wouldn't be surprised to look over my shoulder and see A. Gilbert Smith, the high school principal, or maybe Miss Minnie Ruth Smith, my typing teacher. They'd be ghosts, though, since both are long dead, and they wouldn't recognize the old geezer standing in the hallway about where his locker used to be so long ago.

I scheduled some posts for the blog, and I hope they've shown up. Something like that would have been considered science fiction fifty years ago. Fifty years. I still can't believe it. I have a funny feeling that I don't have fifty more.

More Amazing Stories

This is the back cover of the November 1954 Amazing Stories, a great ad for the SF Book Club. Every story in The Omnibus of Science Fiction is better than the ones in the issue, and so are those in the F&SF anthology. I love the marketing approach. They don't market SF that way these days. It's far too adult for that. I think we've lost something in the transition, but I'm probably alone in that opinion.

The worst story in the issue, hands down, has to be "Lorelei of Chaos" by Ross Winterbotham. It's bad at every level. I suspect the fiction in fanzines of the time was better. I like the title, though.

"Never Let the Left Hand" by W. Nicholas Earl (whoever that might have been) is interesting. It's a bit of an experimental piece, New Wave long before anybody knew what that was. Not good, mind you, but interesting.

Robert Bloch's "Grandma Goes to Mars" is also interesting, but mainly for how times have changed. The way the 63-year-old grandma is portrayed would never fly today. For one thing, her age would have to be changed to 83, or maybe even 93. Today's Cougars would be so insulted that they'd burn copies of the magazine. Aside from that the story's one joke is telegraphed so early that even a 12-year-old would see the punchline coming.

Amazing Stories, November 1954

I've mentioned before, I'm sure, my youthful tendency to read the low-rent SF magazines. While I very much enjoyed the stories in F&SF, Galaxy, and Astounding, my real affection was for the stuff in Amazing, Fantastic, Original Science Fiction Stories, Imagination, and Imaginative Tales. So the other day I pulled this mag off the shelf to see how the stories held up.

Big mistake. While I still love the cover, I have to admit that the stories are pretty dreadful. Most of them would never see print today. Maybe all of them. The lack of sophistication, the wretched science, the poor writing would all doom them. I can see why a naive kid in East Texas 55 years ago would love them, but not now.

"Blessed Are the Murderous" is still fairly entertaining. It's narrated by a post-apocalyptic teenage boy (great hook for me back in '54), and while it's a brutal story, it has a good bit of humor, not that the narrator realizes it. It's the old Huck Finn approach, with the reader seeing things a lot differently from the way he does. Okay, it's not The Road, but you know what? It has a lot of the same themes. I'm glad I re-read this one. Note: I have no idea who was behind the Ivar Jorgensen pseudonym this tie.

The "challenging new fiction" is a laughter. The earth is being invaded, this time by aliens who look just like us but who are different on the inside. They have, for example, two brains, one of which is located where we have an appendix. The rest of the story is equally goofy, with an invasion of privacy that reminds me of nothing so much as current airport security.

Blackbeard the Pirate

Gator Update (Drugs Edition -- Again!)

Sentencing today for crew that grew marijuana in a warehouse guarded by an alligator - cleveland.com: "The two couples arrested when deputies raided a warehouse on Grand Avenue October 21 — and found an alligator guarding a massive marijuana-growing operation — will be sentenced at 11:30 a.m. today."

As I've said more than once here, what is it about drug dealers and gators? Photos at the link.

Thinking about Your Holiday Giving Yet?

Wolfmont: "The Gift of Murder: An Anthology of Winter Holiday Crime Stories to Benefit Toys for Tots

In case you didn't know, Wolfmont has, for the last three years, published anthologies of short crime fiction, with the theme of crimes around the winter holiday season. By the sale of those books, we have been able to donate a total of over $6,600 to the Toys for Tots Foundation."

My story alone is worth the price of the book. Okay, probably not, but it's for a good cause. Check it out.

Stark House Does It Again

Stark House has come up with another great twofer, this time a couple of novels by W. R. Burnett: Iron Man and It's Always Four O'Clock. And I know I keep saying this again and again, but only because it's true: the introduction alone is worth the price of the book. David Laurence Wilson knew Burnett, and he has some great material. He also provides insightful commentary on Burnett's career and writing. It's an invaluable essay.

The book will be published in November, but you might want to go ahead and order it now. Just click the link that begins this post.

The Last Lullaby

I hope I have this genesis right: Max Allan Collins' short story "A Matter of Principal," about his hit man character, Quarry, was the basis for a short film directed by Jeffrey Goodman with a screenplay by Collins. Collins' novel The Last Quarry is also based on the short story. And Goodman based his longer film The Last Lullaby on the novel and the story with Collins contributing to the screenplay. Okay, that's about as close as I can come. If you want to read more, check out Collins' afterword to The Last Quarry.

Now about the movie. I loved it. Tom Sizemore may have his off-screen problems, and it's a little ironic, I suppose to see him rescuing a young woman from an abuser, but he's perfect as the retired hit man (named Price in this movie version). In fact, if somebody wants to make a Mike Hammer movie, Sizemore would be the man to cast. I think he'd be the best Hammer ever.

Price rescues a young woman from her kidnappers, then demands a ransom from her father for himself. The father decides to hire Price for a little job, and Price finds himself becoming interested in the intended victim. After that, even more complications ensue. I won't spell them out. If you've read the novel, you won't be too surprised. If you haven't, you might be. This movie's hardboiled to the core, and the violence, when it comes, is sharp and effective. The opening shoot-out is one of the best I've seen in a while.

Great photography, excellent score. If this is a low-budget film, you'd never know it from the look. Or from the acting. The whole cast is fine, and Sasha Alexander is super. She and Sizemore should get a lot of acclaim, though maybe not because apparently the movie went direct to DVD. Believe me, it's a lot better than nine-tenths or what's showing in your local mall shoeboxes. Rent it and see if you agree.

Forgotten Books: MURDER IN THE NAVY -- Richard Marsten

There's no getting around it: We have to start with the blurb, which is a great joke, at least to us, because we know that Evan Hunter, in addition to being a few other people, is also Richard Marsten. I don't know if it was his idea to blurb his own book or if someone at Gold Medal came up with it, but I like it.

In the opening chapter of the novel, a naval enlisted man kills a nurse. We see the events from the point of view of the killer, as we do in several chapters later on, but we don't know his name. The captain of the destroyer on which the murder occurs appoints a board of inquiry, and the FBI is called in. The leader of FBI duo just wants to get things over with, and so does the captain. When the killer strikes again, the blame for the first crime is pinned on the victim, who's judged a suicide. Everybody's happy except Chuck Masters, who's on the board. Nobody wants Masters to investigate further, but he does, of course.

There are plenty of familiar elements here, but Marsten handles them all expertly. The conclusion is typically '50s ("you poor girl"), but, hey, the book was written in the '50s. What would you expect? And if you want "superb suspense," Marsten's your man. Would Evan Hunter lie to you?

Growing Up with Your Favourite Fictional Characters

Growing up with your favourite fictional characters | Books | guardian.co.uk: "It was time to introduce some much needed objectivity into the project. What if I were to compile an anthology of literary characters – a male and a female example for each year from birth to death – with a quote for each from the novels pertinent to that age? It may even be possible, when the quotes are read in sequence, to view the different characters as a single life. And so, in a desperate attempt at legitimacy, I've set up a blog called Three Score & Ten which I'll be updating weekly with a pair of different examples for each year."

Hat tip to Scott Cupp.

Raising Arizona

The Yike Bike

An electric bike with a ten-mile range. At the end of the ride, you can fold it up and put it in the carrying bag. There's video at the link, which comes via Mike McGruff.

Bigfoot Update

Some wonder if mysterious image in picture is Big Foot - WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY |: "Conspiracy theorist have tried to prove the possibility of aliens, sea monsters, and even shape shifters, now there is a mystery Jefferson County. Kenny Mahoney, born and raised in Fairdale, snapped a picture of what some people are calling Big Foot.

His hunting camera, which is operated by a motion detector, normally picks up rabbits, deer and turkeys, but on September 1 around 2:15 p.m. it picked up a strange image that looks like some sort of large black creature, one Mahoney estimates taller than he.

'It looked like it had the outline of a head, and like gorilla type shoulders, and then the arms crossed is what it looks like to me,' said Mahoney."

Photo at the link, which was provided by Jeff Meyerson.

Invention of the Week

Underwear-stealing monkeys defeated with Cactus | Metro.co.uk: "An entrepreneur has come up with a way to foil monkeys who steal underwear from washing lines."

Would "Underwear-Stealing Monkeys" be a good name for a rock band?

Creature-Tossing Update

My Way News - Man allegedly flings jellyfish on people at beach: "A 41-year-old man faces charges after witness said he pretended to drown and then allegedly began to throw jellyfish at beachgoers. According to a sheriff's office report, Keith Edward Marriott caused 'concern for his safety' when he repeatedly submerged himself and floated back to the top of the water and he was also 'loud and disruptive.'

He then started throwing the sea creatures."

Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

It's About Time

Ananova - Paris Hilton - the new Oscar Wilde?: "Paris Hilton is to make a surprise appearance in the latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

The hotel heiress's line: 'Dress cute wherever you go, life is too short to blend in', will stand alongside words from the likes of Wilde and Shakespeare."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Wild in the Streets

She Must Have Been Really Attractive

wfaa.com: "Ohio police said a suspect in a robbery was arrested when he returned to the home about two hours later to ask the victim out on a date. Police say 20-year-old Stephfon Bennett of Columbus was among three men who robbed a couple late Sunday."

Link via Mike McGruff.

So Just Relax

Risk of death from shark attack small - UPI.com: "People have a greater chance of dying from a bee sting or eating peanuts than they do from being attacked by a shark, a Texas scientist said.

'When you consider all of the millions of people in the water all over the world at any given moment, the number of shark attacks is really extremely minute,' said Andre Landry, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University."

Gator Update (TV Proves Its Worth Edition)

Allentown Alligator: Alligator, captured in Allentown -- themorningcall.com: "Allentown police and animal control officers captured a 5 1/2 - to 6- foot-long alligator that had been sunning itself on a bank of the Jordan Creek in Allentown.
[. . . .]
Mould said one officer stood ready with a shotgun, but essentially officers used tactics they've seen on Discovery Channel."

Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction

Rick Robinson takes a look. Every crime fiction fan should own this book.

Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction � The Broken Bullhorn

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Justice Is Served

No Charges For Bandit in Gorilla Suit: "A woman wanted for stealing a styrofoam banana from a Wisconsin gas station while wearing a gorilla suit will not be charged.

Police in Fond du Lac said that the 24-year-old suspect walked into a Kwik Trip store on May 20 wearing the hairy suit, yanked the $50 display banana and walked out. The theft was caught on surveillance tape."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Haven't We All Done This?

Trapped girls updated Facebook instead of calling police - Telegraph: "Police in Australia have voiced their concern about the growing use of social networking sites after two young girls who were trapped in a drainage well system updated their Facebook profiles instead of calling the emergency services for help."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

A Brief Report on the First Edmond Hamilton Day Celebration

REHupa � Blog Archive � Edmond Hamilton Day: "Saturday, July 18 was the day for the first Edmond Hamilton Day held in Kinsman, Ohio. Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977) was a colleague of Robert E. Howard, appearing in Weird Tales from 1936-1948 with 76 stories."

More at the link.

Croc and Archaeology Update

Cuba discovers giant crocodile remains: "The remains of a giant crocodile believed to be more than 20 million years old were discovered in central Cuba.

The discovery was made in the Zaza Dam area of Sancti Spiritus province."

Kasey Lansdale Update

The official website. Check it out.

Johnny Dangerously

New Column

Geek with (lots of) Books, Scott Cupp's latest.

What to Carry on Your Next Evening Out

Designer weapons.

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

The Edgar Allan Poe Digital Collection: "This digital archive was launched to accompany the 2009 Poe Bicentennial exhibition, “From Out That Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Edgar Allan Poe,” a joint venture of the Ransom Center and the Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. The digital collection incorporates images of all Poe manuscripts and letters at the Ransom Center with a selection of related archival materials, two books by Poe annotated by the author, sheet music based on his poems, and portraits from the Ransom Center collections. Poe’s manuscripts and letters are linked to transcriptions on the website of the Poe Society of Baltimore."

Link via The Bunburyist.

Save that Fat

Stanford scientists turn liposuction leftovers into embryonic-like stem cells - San Jose Mercury News: "In medicine's version of winning the daily double, Stanford University researchers took ordinary fat cells and transformed them into what are effectively embryonic stem cells — those versatile cellular building blocks that can morph into a variety of tissues.

Scientists warn it's too soon to use excess fat to cure disease. But in theory, it would allow people to grow personalized replacement parts for ailing organs."

For Your Afternoon Snacking Pleasure

The World's Largest Gummy Bear: A 5 pound gummi bear!: "The World's Largest Gummy Bear is the lion of the candy world. There is no candy more magnificent or more powerful. This five-pound beast is the equivalent of 1,400 regular sized gummy bears and packs a whopping 12,600 calories."

The Old Man and the Sea

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor |
Splitting an Order
by Ted Kooser: "It was on this day in 1952 that Ernest Hemingway (books by this author) came out with his last novel, The Old Man and the Sea."

My grandmother subscribed to Life Magazine. Since she lived only a few blocks from us, we visited her several times a week, and I always read her copies of Life. Or looked at the pictures, since that's mostly what Life contained, or so it seemed to me. But one issue in 1952 was different. It had a really long story in it, "The Old Man and the Sea." I can still remember what some of the illustrations for the story looked like (and if it didn't have illustrations, don't tell me; I remember illustrations, so, by golly, there were illustrations). I was only eleven at the time, and I'm sure I didn't get all the important symbolism and stuff, but I read the story. I'd heard of Hemingway, but I'd never read anything by him. I thought it was pretty good. It was years before I read anything by him again, but the next thing was "Big Two-Hearted River." After that, I was a real fan.

Who You Callin' "Elderly"?

Elderly woman leads high speed chase on I-90: "An elderly woman led Montana Highway Patrol officers on a hair-raising, high-speed chase along Interstate 94 from Pompey's Pillar to Lockwood Monday afternoon.

Olive Nightingale, a 65-year-old from Park Hills, Mo., was driving west on I-94 when Montana Highway Patrol Officer Justin R. Kirchheck spotted her at 1 p.m. He clocked her white, 2007 Pontiac GT at 111 mph."

Hat tip to Richard Wheeler.

Top 5 Menu Items Most Likely to Contain Parasites

Top 5 Menu Items Most Likely to Contain Parasites - MSN Encarta

Only one of these is likely to threaten me.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.

I Don't Know Much about Art . . . .

3 News > Odd News > Story > Losers complain about winning 'rubbish' artwork: "Artists are outraged at a piece of art which has won a Waikato award and $15,000, the controversial piece is a pile of discarded wrapping and scraps from other entries.

The piece, 'Collateral', which won the Waikato National Contemporary Art Award, was entered by Berlin-based Dane Mitchell, who won $15,000 for his effort - or lack of.

Mitchell wrote a message to Waikato Museum art gallery staff asking them to collect the discarded wrapping of other entries and tip it on the floor. That was his entry, the Waikato Times reported."

Dune

First the Giant Rat, and Now This

Turtle thought to be extinct spotted in Myanmar - Yahoo! Singapore News: "The rare Arakan forest turtle, once though to be extinct, has been rediscovered in a remote forest in Myanmar, boosting chances of saving the reptile after hunting almost destroyed its population, researchers said Monday.

Texas researcher Steven Platt and staff from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society discovered five of the brown-and-tan-spotted turtles in May during a survey of wildlife in the Rakhine Yoma Elephant Sanctuary."

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats � The Broken Bullhorn

Rick Robinson reviews some of my favorite T. S. Eliot works.

Hard Case Crime Update and Drawing

Friends,

As the heat of summer crests and recedes, we're entering another torrid season: Hard Case Crime's biggest fall season ever. Over the next four months, we've got four original novels coming out (the most we've ever published back-to-back). They are:

* LOSERS LIVE LONGER by Russell Atwood (in stores now!)
* HONEY IN HIS MOUTH by Lester Dent
* QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE by Max Allan Collins
* THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES by Jonny Porkpie

The last two won't be in stores till Halloween and Thanksgiving, respectively -- but if you'd like to get your hands on a copy of one of them earlier than that, you'll be glad to hear that we're going to be giving away a dozen free ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) of each.

The drawing's a little different this time, though. In the interest of trying out new ways to spread the word about Hard Case Crime, this particular drawing involves the Internet service Twitter. (Don't have a Twitter account yet? You can create one for free at www.twitter.com. It takes maybe 30 seconds.)

Here's what you need to do to be entered in the drawing:

STEP 1: Using Twitter, post a message telling all the people who follow you about Hard Case Crime. You can say whatever you like (even "I'm just doing this to enter a drawing!"), but please include the address of our Web site -- www.HardCaseCrime.com -- in your post, so that your friends can see what we're all about. (And if you want to post something that makes them tempted to pick up one of our books for themselves, such as naming your favorite book in the series or telling them what you like about Hard Case Crime, we certainly won't object.) If enough of you post on the same day, "Hard Case Crime" might even become one of the "popular topics" listed at the bottom of Twitter's home page, and who knows how many people might discover us then...

STEP 2: Send an e-mail to drawing@hardcasecrime.com, letting us know what your user name on Twitter is, so we can go to your page and see that you've completed Step 1. Also let us know which book you'd prefer to receive -- QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE or THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES -- and the name and address to which you'd like the book mailed if your entry is selected.

At 5PM (New York time) on September 30 we'll randomly select a dozen people who requested QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE and another dozen who requested THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES, and will mail them each the free book they chose.

Sound like something you'd like to try? Then go ahead and make that Twitter post -- and let us know about it before September 30.

Oh, and if you're not sure which of QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE or THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES you'd prefer? You can find a sample chapter from each at our Web site (again, it's www.HardCaseCrime.com).

And while you're there, you might enjoy seeing the cover (and a sample chapter) of the latest new book we've added to the site: NOBODY'S ANGEL by Shamus Award finalist Jack Clark. This was his first novel, and he never published it professionally -- he was working as a cabdriver in Chicago at the time, and what he did was print up 500 copies of the book himself and sell them one by one to his fares when they got in his cab. Other than those 500 copies, hand-sold by the author well over a decade ago, the book has never seen the light of day...and it should have, since it's an amazing, beautifully written, heartbreaking book -- truly some of the finest pure noir storytelling I've seen in ages. We're very excited to be bringing this book to stores for the first time ever in 2010 -- and if you visit our Web site, you can get a taste of it today...

Best,
Charles
----------
Charles Ardai
Editor, Hard Case Crime

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The Giant Rat of Papua

Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea | Environment | The Guardian: "A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea.

A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world."

Link via Tim Byrd at Under an Outlaw Moon.

The Tedious and the Terrible

Paste Presents the Slowest Movies Of All Time, Pt. 1: The Tedious and Terrible :: List of the Day :: Paste: "For our examination of the best and worst in slow cinema, we’ve decided to take our time. Today we’ll roll examine the tedious and the terrible. Tomorrow we’ll unveil slow films worth your time—the meditative and the marvelous."

I Plan to Run a Few Photos of My Cats

Urlesque Announces A Day Without Cats on 9.9.09 (Video) - Urlesque - Internet Trends, Viral Videos, Memes and Web Culture: "After getting inspired by our friends at Asylum, Urlesque is organizing a web-wide ban on cat-related coverage on 9.9.09 -- A Day Without Cats on the Internet."

Be Prepared

Scouts to no longer bring penknives on camping trips - Telegraph: "Scouts will now be a little worse prepared after they were banned from carrying their traditional penknives due to the fears of those in charge of health and safety.

New advice published in Scouting, the official in-house magazine, says neither Scouts nor their parents should bring penknives to camp except in 'specific' situations."

This is in England, but can the U. S. be far behind?

Revenge of the Nerds

I Can See It Now: Me & Bacall in The Big Sleep

Yoostar lets anyone act opposite Hepburn, Brando - USATODAY.com: "You ought to be in pictures, eh? Yoostar might provide your first big break at stardom — at least in your living room or out in cyberspace. This portable movie studio is like karaoke for the movies, featuring real actors and clips from actual movies."

Hat tip to Steve Stilwell, who thinks this idea is evil.

Get Your Advance Tickets Now

Broadway Buzz | Madonna to Make Movie Musical About Socialite Simpson | Broadway.com: "Pop icon Madonna is prepping to direct a movie musical based on the life of Wallis Simpson, the American socialite who took Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, as her third husband. The pop icon is pursuing Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and British star David Tennant (TV’s Dr. Who) for the leading roles, according to The Sun."

Hat tip to Steve Stilwell.

Love at First Sight

Proof that women's chests really are a man's 'first fixation'
| Mail Online: "Women have long complained that their faces are often the last thing men look at – and now a scientific study has proved them right.

Researchers found that virtually half – 47 per cent – of men first glance at a woman’s chest. A third of the so-called ‘first fixations’ are on the waist and hips, while fewer than
20 per cent look at the face."

Too Bad

Naked Cowboy Drops Bid to Become NYC Mayor - ABC News: "The Naked Cowboy of Times Square says he's dropping out of the race for mayor of New York City."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Dispatcher Charged w/Burning Boyfriend Cop's Home: "A dispatcher in Burnet is charged with arson after fire damaged her lawman boyfriend's home hours after they broke up."

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai

New Story at BEAT to a PULP

BEAT to a PULP :: Insatiable :: Hilary Davidson

Alchol Might Have Been Involved

Bremerton Men Accused of Getting Naked and Loud : Local news : Kitsap Sun: "Police were called to Mountain View Drive early Friday to investigate reports of intoxicated men urinating on cars.

While officers were en route, the men allegedly got undressed.

Witnesses said one was completely naked, one wasn’t wearing any pants and they couldn’t see the third man because the other two were on top of him, they said. The witnesses said they heard somebody yell “return of the Jedi” while the three were naked and entwined."

I Think This Kid Will Go a Long Way

China schoolgirl aspires to be 'corrupt official':state media - Yahoo! News: "A six-year-old girl has become a media darling in China on her first day of school by expressing her aspiration to become a 'corrupt official' when she grows up, state media said Friday.
[. . . .]
'When I grow up I want to be an official,' said the girl, whose face was blurred to protect her identity.

'What kind of official?' the interviewer asked.

'A corrupt official because corrupt officials have a lot of things,' she replied."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

A Really Cold Case

New York’s Coldest Case - A Murder Trail 400 Years Old - NYTimes.com: "It was on Sept. 6, 1609 — 400 years ago Sunday — when this, the first recorded murder in what became metropolitan New York, was committed. Colman was killed only four days after the first Dutch and English sailors arrived.

“There’s a reason it’s still a cold case,” said Detective Michael J. Palladino, president of the city detectives’ union, mulling the scant evidence that remains today."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Unschooling

From home schooling to 'unschooling' -- baltimoresun.com: "Unschooling incorporates every facet of a child's life into the education process, allowing a child to follow his passions and learn at his own pace, year-round. And it assumes that an outing at the park - or even hours spent playing a video game - can be just as valuable a teaching resource as Hooked on Phonics."

Why do I get the feeling my parents would never have gone for this?

No More Pencils, No More Books . . . .

A library without the books - The Boston Globe: "This year, after having amassed a collection of more than 20,000 books, officials at the pristine campus about 90 minutes west of Boston have decided the 144-year-old school no longer needs a traditional library. The academy’s administrators have decided to discard all their books and have given away half of what stocked their sprawling stacks - the classics, novels, poetry, biographies, tomes on every subject from the humanities to the sciences. The future, they believe, is digital."

Croc Update (Contraception Edition)

BBC NEWS | Health | Contraception myths 'widespread': "Contraceptive myths have been around for thousands of years.

Ancient methods have varied from crocodile dung and honey before sex, to sea sponges and beeswax after.

Perhaps the most intoxicating was alcohol made from stewed beaver's testicles."

Red Dawn

Keith Waterhouse, R. I. P.

Keith Waterhouse dies - Telegraph: "Keith Waterhouse, the author, journalist and playwright has died aged 80.

Mr Waterhouse died ''quietly in his sleep'' on Friday, a family spokeswoman said.

Waterhouse, whose works include Billy Liar and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, was at his home in London when he passed away.

He also was a journalist who helped create the satirical 1960s TV series 'That Was the Week That Was' and wrote a long-running column in the Daily Mail.

Mr Waterhouse frequently railed against declining standards of English. He founded the Association for the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe, which attacked poor punctuation on shopkeepers' signs."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Best Mom Ever

Montana mom pleads guilty, drove son to break-ins - Yahoo! News: "A Montana woman charged with driving around her 16-year-old son and six others while they broke into cars in April has changed her plea.
[. . . .]
Court records say Dilley drove a group of teens around while they stole more than $3,600 worth of items from vehicles. Dilley's husband called police the next morning after finding a pile of items in his back yard that he suspected had been stolen, including a set of golf clubs and power tools."

Another Forgotten Book

Rick Robinson over at The Broken Bullhorn has a post on a book that few people will remember, but you'll probably want a copy after you read the review. Take a look.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Cities Ranked by Dependency on Fast Food - Digital City - Local Lifestyle and Entertainment News: "To point out America's unhealthy love affair with fat-laden meals, the September issue of Men's Health ranked 100 cities that are the most dependent on fast food restaurants.


Arlington, Tex. is ranked #1, followed by: Anchorage, Alaska; Charlotte, N.C.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Raleigh, N.C.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Fremont, Calif.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Lexington, Ky. and Wichita, Kan. The city that ranked 100th, or fared best on the list as the city least dependent on fast food, was Buffalo, N.Y."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

National Punctuation Day Contest

� National Punctuation Day Contest�—�Behind the Grammar: "Send an ode to your favorite punctuation mark to punctuation@quickanddirtytips.com. The week of the 24th, we’ll feature the best entries as the tip-of-day in the Grammar Girl e-mail newsletter, and one entry may be chosen to be the Grammar Girl podcast on September 24. Subscribe to the Grammar Girl newsletter at the QDT website and the podcast at iTunes.

Entries shorter than 200 words will be considered for the newsletter.

600- to 700-word entries will be considered for the podcast.

Multiple entries are allowed, and “ode” is just a guideline. As long as the piece is about punctuation, it can take any form. Please do not send attachments. Paste your text or image into the body of the e-mail."

As If We Didn't Know

Men lose their minds speaking to pretty women - Telegraph: "The research shows men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests designed to measure brain function than those who chat to someone they do not find attractive."

Eternal Sunshine . . . .

In Future, Science Could Erase Traumatic Memories : NPR: "Scientists are beginning to understand why fearful memories are so persistent in the brain, and how they can be erased."

It's Official

81 years on, Winnie-the-Pooh is back in the first official sequel to AA Milne classics | Mail Online: "The first authorised Winnie-the-Pooh sequel since AA Milne laid down his pen more than 80 years ago is ready to hit the shelves, bringing Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and the melancholic donkey Eeyore, to a new century of readers."

50 Things That Are Being Killed by the Internet

50 things that are being killed by the internet - Telegraph: "The internet has wrought huge changes on our lives – both positive and negative – in the fifteen years since its use became widespread."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

'Trash' dance celebrates everyday labor as art: "Freeman is driving in unison with three other trucks while music plays. And he's not exactly retrieving trash: He's rehearsing for one of Austin's most unusual dance performances.

Freeman is one of 25 employees of the city's Solid Waste Services Department who have volunteered for 'The Trash Project,' Orr's latest creative venture using nondancers and their movements as the basis of a choreographed performance. It's all part of an effort to celebrate the artistry in everyday work, and it will be staged on the weekend following Labor Day."

Gator Update (Interview Edition)

JEFF EDELSTEIN: Interview with an alligator - The Trentonian Opinion: Serving Trenton and surrounding communities. (trentonian.com): "The following is the exclusive, unedited interview [Jeff Edelstein] conducted yesterday with the Stacy Park Alligator."

John Wilkes Booth in Texas?

Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. | Texas Co-op Power: "According to most historical accounts, John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, perished shortly after being shot inside a burning barn in Virginia nearly 150 years ago. But tales of a man resembling Booth pop up in Glen Rose, Texas, and later in Granbury, starting five years after the April 14, 1865, assassination of the president."

Forgotten Books: THE MCBAIN BRIEF -- Ed McBain

Okay, here's the problem. In the intro to this collection of short stories, Ed McBain says that only one of them was previously published under the McBain name, and that was as a reprint. But the book gives no publishing information. We don't learn when or where or under what names the stories were originally published. I read the paperback, so maybe the info's in the hardcover edition. I would hope so.

The first and last stories in this book are also the first and last stories in McBain's more recent collection, Learning to Kill. Some of the others appear there, too. "Kiss Me, Dudley," for example. (When I was a kid, I thought this parody of Spillane was hilarious. Now, not so much.) But there are other stories that aren't in Learning to Kill ("Skin Flick," for one), and they all illustrate McBain's strengths as a story teller. If you have one collection, there's really no need to own both, but I'm glad I do.

Repo Man

Here's the Plot of Your Next Redneck Noir Novel

Fire chief shot by cop in Ark. court over tickets - Yahoo! News: "It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps.

The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court."

BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Naked man jumps off fourth plinth: "A naked man has thrown himself off the fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

The man had earlier thrown down a pair of inflatable sex dolls before stripping and hurling himself into the safety net which surrounds the plinth.

He also took a live chicken on to the plinth which had to be rescued by security staff after the man, who called himself Gunter, ran away."

Out of the Past

� A 1001 MIDNIGHTS review: JAMES HADLEY CHASE - No Orchids for Miss Blandish.: "A 1001 MIDNIGHTS Review by Bill Crider"