NYTimes.com: Marvin Miller, an economist and labor leader who became one of the most important figures in baseball history by building the major league players union into a force that revolutionized the game, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
+Vengeance+Is+His+(Ninja+Master+%231)+Warner0081.jpg)
+Vengeance+Is+His+(Ninja+Master+%231)+Warner082.jpg)
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Black Friday: Brawl breaks out over panties at Victoria's Secret - and it's all caught on video: An all-out melee erupted at the lingerie giant inside a California shopping mall as customers were let in to commence Black Friday shopping.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Best Novellas: Literature's Middle Child
AbeBooks:: Poor novellas. They are the middle-child, the Jan Brady of the book world – too short to be novels, too long to be short stories. Overlooked in many lists of excellent literature, novellas just don't get their due, and some readers might not even realize that some of their most beloved stories were novellas. Lacking the compact one-two punch of a short story and the delicious, slowly-unfolding anticipation in a novel, it might be easy to dismiss the novella as a bland middle ground. But that would be a mistake. Sometimes a novella is just the thing.
Overlooked Movies: Wake Me When It's Over
The plot is pretty complicated. Dick Shawn is a schnook. When anything can go wrong for him, it will. Because of a complicated series of events, he appears to have served only one day in the military in WWII (The Big One), though he served much longer and spent two years in a prison camp. As a result of the mistake, he's drafted again and sent to a Japanese island in the middle of nowhere. A wild and crazy Ernie Kovacs is the commanding officer, which tells you a bit about how things are there. There are 100 Americans stationed on the island, and they have little to occupy their time. The Japanese who live there don't like the Americans and in fact still have a shrine to a downed Japanese plane.
The cast is great and has a lot of fun with the concept. Don Knotts has another great military comedy turn (the first is in No Time for Sergeants), and Kovacs is Kovacs. The plot, as I said, is complicated, but the schnookish Shawn finally turns his life around. Just thinking about this one makes me want to pull out the book again. Or maybe the movie's on Netflix. I checked. No such luck.
Monday, November 26, 2012
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
The Poksu Conspiracy (Post Cold War Political Thriller): Chester D. Campbell: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: The Cold War has ended, but a reliable report reveals a plot that could throw the Far East into turmoil. Burke Hill, clandestine director for a Washington PR firm that's a CIA spinoff, is tasked to find the truth about a secret agreement for Israel to help South Korea develop nuclear weapons. The new Seoul government wants all U.S, troops to leave. A bomb decimates the North Korean leadership in Pyongyang, and Hill finds a diligent Seoul Metropolitan Police detective investigating a series of murders he believes are targeted at civilian leaders who favor close cooperation with America. Captain Yun Yu-sop identifies a ruthless Korean assassin who targets anyone who stands in the way, including Yun and Burke Hill.
Earl 'Speedo' Carroll, R. I. P.
Earl 'Speedo' Carroll, beloved singer of New York-style vocal harmony in the 1950s, dies at 75 - NY Daily News: Earl "Speedo" Carroll, one of the most colorful and beloved singers of New York-style vocal harmony in the 1950s, died Sunday at a city nursing home. He was 75.
He had been in failing health for the past year, suffering from diabetes, a stroke and other ailments.
Carroll, who became a custodian at Public School 87 on the upper West Side in the 1980s, was known in the music world for more than five decades as one of the lead singers of the Cadillacs.
Their 1950s hits included "Gloria," "You Are," "Wishing Well," "My Girlfriend," "Peek-a-Boo" and one perennial holiday favorite, a jive version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
He had been in failing health for the past year, suffering from diabetes, a stroke and other ailments.
Carroll, who became a custodian at Public School 87 on the upper West Side in the 1980s, was known in the music world for more than five decades as one of the lead singers of the Cadillacs.
Their 1950s hits included "Gloria," "You Are," "Wishing Well," "My Girlfriend," "Peek-a-Boo" and one perennial holiday favorite, a jive version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Giant Gator Head Artwork
Giant Gator Head Artwork Draws Attention Along Alligator Alley
Photo at the link.
Hat tip to Mel Odom.
Photo at the link.
Hat tip to Mel Odom.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
The Daily: In an effort to increase membership, a number of U.S. churches — including the Church of Christ congregation in this rural village 30 miles north of Columbus — are offering an unconventional public service: Concealed weapons training.
Free for Kindle for a Limited Time
Bargain of the Season
Body Count: The Joe Hannibal Case Files, Vol. I (A Joe Hannibal Mystery): Wayne D. Dundee: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Special introductory price! In February 2013, the price will go up to $2.99.
And Keep Off His Lawn!
KTXL FOX40: A Sacramento senior citizen, fearing another burglary at his house, held someone at bay with a homemade bow and arrow until police arrived.
+Pop+Lib055.jpg)
Start Packing
Bugarach, French Hamlet, Attracts Believers As Mayan Apocalypse Looms: The small French village of Bugarach, which sits in a particularly scenic and empty corner of the Pyrenees, is becoming a prominent attraction thanks to the calculations of New Agers and UFO chasers, who have concluded that the hamlet will be the only town saved from the destruction that will end the world on December 21 according to the Mayan calendar.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
I read the original hardback edition of this one years ago, and I'm happy to recommend this new eBook edition. Good stuff!
Blood Red Sun: Stephen Mertz: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Japan is at the brink of surrender. It is the eve of the Emperor's announcement of his country's acceptance of the Allied terms of surrender. But a core of fanatical extremists in the Emperor's military, descended from the legendary Samurai warriors of feudal Japan—and other, more shadowy factions of power shrouded in the mysteries of this ancient society—vow never to surrender. The overthrow of the Emperor is only the first step in their insane scheme.
Sergeant John Ballard is a battle-hardened commando. The best the army's got when it comes to fighting dirty. Years of surviving on the edge are starting to eat away at him but Ballard can't stop now. General Douglas MacArthur himself has just handed Ballard what may be the most impossible mission of the war.
Keiko Tamura is a young Japanese woman, gutsy, independent; the blood of the Samurai flows in her veins. Educated in America before the war, she is willing to risk her life to end the military madness that has brought her country to ruin.
Unlikely allies thrown together, these two alone stand in the way of one final, sinister, far-reaching plot with millions of American and Japanese lives at stake.
Boxer 'Macho' Camacho, R. I. P.
SFGate: Former championship boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho died Saturday at the hospital in Puerto Rico where he has been unconscious since he was shot in the face in an attack in his hometown.
+Croc+NEL076.jpg)
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Houston - News: A Katy father and his adult son and daughter have all been charged with bank robbery, and police believe that the family team might have knocked over as many as six other banks in Oregon and Texas.
Larry Hagman, R. I. P.
Larry Hagman dead: J.R. Ewing was a business cheat, faithless husband and bottomless well of corruption. Yet with his sparkling grin, Larry Hagman masterfully created the charmingly loathsome oil baron — and coaxed forth a Texas-size gusher of ratings — on television's long-running and hugely successful nighttime soap, "Dallas."
Although he first gained fame as nice guy Capt. Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy "I Dream of Jeannie," Hagman earned his greatest stardom with J.R. The CBS serial drama about the Ewing family and those in their orbit aired from April 1978 to May 1991, and broke viewing records with its "Who shot J.R.?" 1980 cliffhanger that left unclear if Hagman's character was dead.
Although he first gained fame as nice guy Capt. Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy "I Dream of Jeannie," Hagman earned his greatest stardom with J.R. The CBS serial drama about the Ewing family and those in their orbit aired from April 1978 to May 1991, and broke viewing records with its "Who shot J.R.?" 1980 cliffhanger that left unclear if Hagman's character was dead.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Frank Sinatra in a Blender -- Matthew McBride
When you're looking for something that's out of the mainstream, a little bit bizarre, grisly, violent, shocking, and sometimes even funny, you can count on New Pulp Press. Matthew McBride's Frank Sinatra in a Blender delivers on all counts.Nick Valentine is a private-eye who consumes enough alcohol and Oxycontin to kill just about anybody, and that's just by page 10. He's helping the cops on a suspicious suicide case that turns out to be tied to a savings-and-loan robbery. The robbery results in the mcguffin, a bag full of cash. Valentine is also working with Amish Ron on a related case. Gotta love the names. There's also Johnny No Nuts.
There's some detecting going on, but there's also torture, dismemberment, and, yes, Frank Sinatra in a blender. Plus shotguns and chainsaws. If you think Mickey Spillane's work is too brutal, if you prefer those nice little murders where no one gets hurt, this is not the book for you. If you're wondering what's out there on the cutting edge and aren't easily offended, then give it a try. You won't be disappointed.
Forgotten Books: Tales from Super-Science Fiction -- Edited by Robert Silverberg
Yes, I'm cheating again. This isn't a forgotten book. It's brand new. Almost. But the stories inside are from a nearly forgotten digest of the '50s, and a favorite of mine, not so much for the stories but for the covers by Emsh and Freas. They were wonderful, as the one reproduced on the cover of the book shows you. As a bonus, the covers of all 18 issues of the magazine are included on the front and back endpapers (and a couple on the back cover). The interior illos are included with the stories, too.In his introduction to the volume, Robert Silverberg talks about what fun it was to write for Super-Science Fiction. He must have enjoyed it, since he provide numerous stories for it, sometimes two, three, and four an issue. It was also a financial pleasure, since the pay was two cents a word. In the '50s. People are still writing for that, or less, now.
Super-Science Fiction wasn't the class of the SF field. It published mostly straightforward adventure stories of the kind that a lot of readers now wouldn't consider worthy of notice. Near the end of its run it even started running "Special Monster Issues" that featured, you guessed it, monsters. Every story with its own monster. These stories didn't save the magazine, but they were still fun.
Besides his intro to the collection, Silverberg also has brief intros to each story. You can always learn something from reading Silverberg's intros.
This isn't a book for everyone, but some of you will enjoy it as much as I do. You know who you are. You get the cover reproductions, Silverberg's intros, and the stories themselves, all in one great volume. Highly recommended.
Introduction by Robert Silverberg
"Catch 'Em All Alive" by Robert Silverberg
"Who Am I?" by Henry Slesar
"Every Day is Christmas" by James E. Gunn
"I'll Take Over" by A.Bertram Chandler
"Song of the Axe" by Don Berry
"Broomstick Ride" by Robert Bloch
"Worlds of Origin" by Jack Vance
"The Tool of Creation" by J.F. Bone
"I Want to Go Home" by Robert Moore Williams
"Hostile Life-Form" by Daniel L. Galouye
"The Gift of Numbers" by Alan E. Nourse
"First Man in a Satellite" by Charles W. Runyon
"A Place Beyond the Stars" by Tom Godwin
"The Loathsome Beasts" by Dan Malcolm (aka Silverberg)
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Deborah Raffin, R. I. P.
San Jose Mercury News: Deborah Raffin, an actress who ran a successful audiobook company with the help of her celebrity friends, has died. She was 59.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)