Thursday, April 04, 2013
Here's the Outline for Your Next Big Rogue Cop Thriller
NY Daily News: A 17-year veteran of the NYPD was busted Wednesday for using his badge to lead a ruthless stickup crew — dressed up like New York’s Finest — to rob drug dealers of cash and narcotics, law enforcement officials said.
Max Allan Collins Update
Omnimystery News: Cinemax has ordered a pilot for a period crime drama based on a character created by Max Allan Collins.
Titled Quarry — the character's name, which is also the title of the first book in Collins's series — the action takes place in the early 1970s after Quarry, a young veteran coming home from Vietnam, finds his life further devastated upon his return.
Titled Quarry — the character's name, which is also the title of the first book in Collins's series — the action takes place in the early 1970s after Quarry, a young veteran coming home from Vietnam, finds his life further devastated upon his return.
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, the German-born screenwriter and novelist who, as the writing member of the Merchant Ivory filmmaking team, won two Academy Awards for adaptations of genteel, class-conscious E. M. Forster novels, died on Wednesday at her home in Manhattan. She was 85.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Milo O'Shea, R. I. P.
BBC News - Milo O'Shea dies after a short illness: The Irish actor, Milo O'Shea, has died after a short illness, his son has confirmed. He was 86.
The Dubliner, who had a long career on the stage and screen, died in a New York hospital on Tuesday night.
He is best remembered for his role in Franco Zeffirelli's film, Romeo and Juliet, the 1968 film Barbarella, and for his performance as Leopold Bloom in an adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses.
The Dubliner, who had a long career on the stage and screen, died in a New York hospital on Tuesday night.
He is best remembered for his role in Franco Zeffirelli's film, Romeo and Juliet, the 1968 film Barbarella, and for his performance as Leopold Bloom in an adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses.
Jess Franco, R. I. P.
Variety: Jess Franco, the prolific Spanish filmmaker who became renowned for his low-budget cult films, died in Malaga, Spain, of heart complications. He was 82.
Franco’s feature pic debut came in 1959 with “We Are 18 Years Old,” but the helmer found more mainstream success with 1962′s “The Awful Dr. Orlof,” which received wide distribution Stateside and in Blighty. He is best known for his contributions to the cinema fantastique genre, which veered away from the mainstream and employed supernatural phenomena in otherwise realistic narratives. Notable credits include “Necronomicon,” (1967), “Count Dracula” (1969), “Vampyros Lesbos” (1970), “Dracula vs. Frankenstein” (1971), and “Oasis of the Zombies” (1983).
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
Franco’s feature pic debut came in 1959 with “We Are 18 Years Old,” but the helmer found more mainstream success with 1962′s “The Awful Dr. Orlof,” which received wide distribution Stateside and in Blighty. He is best known for his contributions to the cinema fantastique genre, which veered away from the mainstream and employed supernatural phenomena in otherwise realistic narratives. Notable credits include “Necronomicon,” (1967), “Count Dracula” (1969), “Vampyros Lesbos” (1970), “Dracula vs. Frankenstein” (1971), and “Oasis of the Zombies” (1983).
Hat tip to Todd Mason.
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Sumatran Rhino Update
www.ajc.com: Several footprints believed to be from critically endangered Sumatran rhino have been found on Indonesia's Borneo island, raising hopes for the existence of an animal long thought to be extinct in that area, a conservation group said Thursday.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Report: Enraged wife set kitchen fire to "go out in a blaze of glory": Michelle Diane Fowler Osteen Bedillion's 46-year-old hubby called dispatchers on Easter Sunday morning to report his wife had been hitting him in the back of head with a heavy picture frame. He also said his wife threw a computer printer at him, striking him in the back, according to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
The Australian: A VICTORIAN man had superglue poured into his eyes and an ear and was bashed with a prosthetic leg during an argument with his housemate.
Experimenting with the Scientific Book Club
AbeBooks: Experimenting with the Scientific Book Club: The Scientific Book Club was a monthly publication that brought its readers tales from the world of modern science. The books were available to the public as well, but members enjoyed a discount off the cover price, and received the full-length, unabridged version just the same. The club operated out of 121 Charing Cross Road in London, under the umbrella of the much-beloved Foyles, one of London’s most well-known booksellers. Foyles began operation in 1903, and, although now it is a very different animal, is still in operation today.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Jane Henson, R. I.P.
CNN.com: (CNN) -- Jane Nebel Henson -- who was married to the late Muppets creator Jim Henson and was instrumental in the development of the world-famous puppets -- died Tuesday morning, a representative for the Jim Henson Company said. She was 79.
Free Today for Kindle
Amazon.com: A Cold Day for Murder (Kate Shugak #1) eBook: Dana Stabenow: Kindle Store: Somewhere in the hinterlands of Alaska, among the millions of sprawling acres that comprise “The Park,” a young National Park Ranger has gone missing. When the detective sent after him also vanishes, the Anchorage DA’s department must turn to their reluctant former investigator, Kate Shugak. Shugak knows The Park because she’s of The Park, an Aleut who left her home village of Niniltna to pursue education, a career, and the righting of wrongs. Kate’s search for the missing men will take her from self-imposed exile back to a life she’d left behind, and face-to-face with people and problems she'd hoped never to confront again. The first novel in the popular Kate Shugak Series, A Cold Day for Murder established Dana Stabenow as a new voice in Alaskan mystery writing, and earned her an Edgar Award.
Bob Clarke, R. I. P.
Bleeding Cool: Delaware Online reports on the passing of Bob Clarke of Seaford, one of MAD Magazine’s earliest artists, working there in the fifties and sixties. He died on Sunday from complications related to pneumonia, at the age of 87.
His best-known work there was his “Believe It or NUTS!” regular… as well as being and artist for Ripley’s Believe It or Not! syndicated articles that he then parodied.
His best-known work there was his “Believe It or NUTS!” regular… as well as being and artist for Ripley’s Believe It or Not! syndicated articles that he then parodied.
Free Today for Kindle
The Complete Caspak Trilogy: Edgar Rice Burroughs: Amazon.com: Kindle Store (The Land that Time Forgot, etc.)Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Jack Pardee, R. I. P.
SportsDayDFW: Jack Pardee, one of Bear Bryant's "Junction Boys" at Texas A&M who went on to become an All-Pro linebacker and an NFL coach, has died, University of Houston spokesman David Bassity said.
Pardee was 76.
Forgotten US airship crash recalled 80 years later
Forgotten US airship crash recalled 80 years later: A ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the crash, the deadliest airship disaster on record, is being held Thursday at a veterans park where there is a tiny plaque dedicated to the victims. Below it is a small piece of metal from the airship.
Overlooked Movies: Creature from the Haunted Sea
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The movie is supposed to be a spoofy comedy, but it's not funny. The plot features an American mobster who escapes Cuba (it's 1961) with loyalists and bunches of money with which the loyalists plan start a counter-revolution and which the mobster plans to keep for himself. Our Hero (Towne) is embedded in the mob, and he's going to foil the plan. There's a woman, of course, the mobster's moll, who's allegedly a singer. (I report, you decide.) When the supposedly mythical creature from the haunted sea turns out to be real, people start getting killed. We sure must have been hard pressed to find entertainment in the earlyu '60s.
Monday, April 01, 2013
Paris Hilton Update
Paris Hilton slips into Playboy bunny costume as she parties with Hugh Hefner
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Christa Speck, R. I. P.
Christa Speck Krofft: Woman who went from Bank of America secretary to Playboy Playmate of the Year dies: Playboy magazine's 1962 'Playmate of the Year,' Christa Speck Krofft, has died of natural causes at the age of 70.
Family spokesman Christoph Buerger said she died on March 22, at home.
Free Today for Kindle
Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs: G M Dobbs: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: ‘It’s Miss Marple on steroids!’ Another murder rocks the small Welsh town of Gilfach – the police are baffled, the corpse is getting colder and only Granny Smith, the intrepid pensioner sleuth stands between justice and all out anarchy.
Granny has a talent for mayhem and soon those talents are put to good use as our intrepid pensioner starts to unravel the case, which finds her provoking Chief Inspector Miskin as she comes up against a full scale police investigation, proving that you’re never too old to make a nuisance of yourself and that seventy-one is actually the new twenty-one.
Murder’s never been so much fun.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Opening Day
Watched the first inning of the Astros game against the Rangers and saw the ump miss his first call of the year. That didn't take long.
Honduras Leads the Way
Mail Online: The most dangerous place on earth? San Pedro Sula in Honduras - where three people are murdered EVERY DAY - tops list of the world's most violent cities
2013 Derringer Winners from Short Mystery Fiction Society
Best Flash Story:
The Cable Job - Randy DeWitt
Best Short Story:
Getting Out of the Box - Michael Bracken, 54.55%
Best Long Story:
When Duty Calls - Art Taylor
Best Novelette:
Wood-Smoke Boys - Doug Allyn
The Cable Job - Randy DeWitt
Best Short Story:
Getting Out of the Box - Michael Bracken, 54.55%
Best Long Story:
When Duty Calls - Art Taylor
Best Novelette:
Wood-Smoke Boys - Doug Allyn
Bob Turley, R. I. P.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Why Eat Peeps at Easter?
Slate Magazine: But for all the fascination with Peeps, it's never been clear why the sugary treats are associated with Easter. The marshmallow rabbits represent the Easter Bunny, but what do marshmallow chicks have to do with the resurrection of Christ?
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