Sunday, September 08, 2013
In Australia, It's Drugs and Crocs
Assets seized in Hobart drug raids: About 50 officers using drug dog teams raided another six houses in Hobart's northern suburbs on Thursday, seizing cannabis plants, a crossbow and a one-metre freshwater crocodile.
'Uncle Tom's Cabin' Update
'Uncle Tom's Cabin' Inspired By Fugitive Slave, Professor Says: A Clemson University professor is convinced that Harriet Beecher Stowe might not have written "Uncle Tom's Cabin" if it were not for a fugitive South Carolina slave she harbored for a night before starting the history-making novel.
Arkansas Update
Teacher uniforms? School district now requiring staff to wear underwear and shoes
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Friday, September 06, 2013
99 Cents for Kindle for a Limited Time
Amazon.com: Wolf Creek: Bloody Trail eBook: Clay More, James J. Griffin, Troy D. Smith, James Reasoner, L.J. Martin, Cheryl Pierson, Ford Fargo, Western Fictioneers: Kindle Store: Welcome to Wolf Creek.
Here you will find many of your favorite authors, working together as Ford Fargo to weave a complex and textured series of Old West adventures like no one has ever seen. Each author writes from the perspective of his or her own unique character, blended together into a single novel. In our first adventure, the town of Wolf Creek is assaulted by a small army of former Confederate guerrillas, who rob the bank and leave dead innocents in their wake. Sheriff G.W. Satterlee and his posse must overtake the outlaws before they reach Indian Territory—but the chase is complicated by the secret pasts of several posse members…
Appearing as Ford Fargo in this volume:
Clay More
James J. Griffin
Troy D. Smith
James Reasoner
L. J. Martin
Cheryl Pierson
About the author: Beneath the mask, Ford Fargo is not one but a posse of America's leading western authors who have pooled their talents to create a series of rip-snortin', old fashioned sagebrush sagas. Saddle up. Read ‘em Cowboy! These are the legends of Wolf Creek.
Here you will find many of your favorite authors, working together as Ford Fargo to weave a complex and textured series of Old West adventures like no one has ever seen. Each author writes from the perspective of his or her own unique character, blended together into a single novel. In our first adventure, the town of Wolf Creek is assaulted by a small army of former Confederate guerrillas, who rob the bank and leave dead innocents in their wake. Sheriff G.W. Satterlee and his posse must overtake the outlaws before they reach Indian Territory—but the chase is complicated by the secret pasts of several posse members… Appearing as Ford Fargo in this volume:
Clay More
James J. Griffin
Troy D. Smith
James Reasoner
L. J. Martin
Cheryl Pierson
About the author: Beneath the mask, Ford Fargo is not one but a posse of America's leading western authors who have pooled their talents to create a series of rip-snortin', old fashioned sagebrush sagas. Saddle up. Read ‘em Cowboy! These are the legends of Wolf Creek.
Dead Man's Road -- Joe R. Lansdale
The Reverend Jebidiah Mercer first showed up in Dead in the West one of Joe Lansdale's earliest works, a zombie western that was way ahead of its time and that became highly influential. Deadman's Road contains a considerably revised version of that novel to kick things off, and the novel is followed by four fairly long stories about the Rev. As you'd expect, they're all grim, hilarious, outrageous, and entertaining. I heard Lansdale read one of them at a convention, and it's too bad that all of you can't experience that treat. But, hey, you can read them, and I'd suggest that you do. This is great stuff.
Yes, I Watched Ragin' Cajun Redneck Gators . . .
Ann "AC" Crispin, R. I. P.
Boing Boing: Ann Crispin -- science fiction writer, crusader against scams, Star Trek novelist, and nice person -- has died. She wrote of her own impending death, "I want to thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. I fear my condition is deteriorating. I am doing the best I can to be positive but I probably don’t have an awful lot of time left. I want you all to know that I am receiving excellent care and am surrounded by family and friends."
I Can Hardly Wait
The Paris Hilton / Lil Wayne Collaboration Is Actually Happening: It seems her song Stars are Blind wasn’t actually the end of her music career. Paris showed off some behind the scenes photos of her music video for her new song GoodTime featuring Lil’ Wayne. Looking forward to it?
Fossil Jackpot
News24: Under the rich Venezuelan soil, palaeontologists have found treasures rivalling the bountiful oil: A giant armadillo the size of a Volkswagen, a crocodile bigger than a bus and a sabre-toothed tiger.
Lisa Tuttle's top 10 mould-breaking fantasy novels
theguardian.com: Lisa Tuttle's top 10 mould-breaking fantasy novels
From alternative histories to legendary countries, time travellers to haunted houses, here are the best fantasy books for people who don't like dragons or sexy vampires
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
First date ends with police chase: A first date ended in a dramatic police chase when a man snatched a woman's phone as compensation after she refused to go Dutch on drinks.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Forgotten Books: Nightmare Age -- Frederik Pohl
Thursday, September 05, 2013
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Jimmy Doherty, a hard-luck orphan from the south side of Chicago, was mentored in the sweet science of boxing by Father Tim Brophy, the Battling Priest of St. Vincent's Asylum for Boys. Jimmy’s fists were good enough to take him to LA where he has begun his rise up the local fight-cards. He has big plans to be a contender and even bigger plans for Lindy – his trainer’s only daughter, who's sweeter than apple pie and harder to resist.
But when Lindy is arrested for killing a boxer with ties to gangster Mickey Cohen, Jimmy is forced to join forces with the arresting detective – who would like to do much more with Lindy than put her in handcuffs – in a desperate search for the real killer.
Love can be murder – in the ring and out ...
Ask Not -- Max Allan Collins
(A personal aside, a little story that's part of our family lore. When it was announced that JFK would be visiting Dallas, my great uncle, Ben Jackson, said, "He's crazy. If he comes to Dallas, LBJ will have him killed." So my family has always been a little ahead of the conspiracy curve.)
The JFK assassination is pretty much old news as the book opens. Heller's interest in the case is at first purely personal. Someone attempts to run him and his son down as they're leaving a Beatles concert in Chicago, and Heller recognizes the driver of the car as one of the men involved in the conspiracy laid out on Target Lancer. Heller thinks someone's trying to get rid of loose ends, and he determines to put a stop to that. (Lots of other loose ends connected to the assassination died in odd ways later on, as the novel makes clear, so Heller is right to be concerned.)
Heller travels all over the country, from Chicago to L. A. to New Orleans, before winding up in Dallas, where a reporter (based on Dorothy Kilgallen) gets him involved with her investigation of the Kennedy assassination.
Once again Heller's involved with all sorts of historical characters, from Jack Ruby to Robert Kennedy. Most of them are given their real names, though some, like the reporter I mentioned above, are not. Collins tells you all about them in the novel's afterword, which also demonstrated the impressive breadth and depth of his and George Hagenhauer's research.
This is a fast-moving and fascinating account of what might have happened, and it makes for irresistible reading. Collins had once thought that Heller's career might end here, but the good news is that he's considering moving on the the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. I'm sure he'll have some new angles and insights on these crimes, and I hope he carries out his plans.
Rabbit-swinging Watsonville woman arrested
I think "Watsonville Rabbit-Swinging Woman" would be a great name for a country song. Rabbit-swinging Watsonville woman arrested
Gator Update (Soccer Edition)
(97) Alligator in Boca: On 9/3/13 officers responded to Lake Wyman Park, 1500 NE 5th Ave, in reference to an alligator in the park on the soccer field.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Killing Custer (A Wind River Mystery): Margaret Coel: 9780425264638: Amazon.com: Books: The whole town of Lander has turned out for the big parade celebrating the start of the new rodeo season. The main spectacle this year is the appearance of Colonel Edward Garrett—a spot-on impersonator of General George Armstrong Custer—and a troop of men acting as the ill-fated Seventh Cavalry. The problem is they are being followed by a group of Arapaho warriors from the Wind River Reservation, who proceed to encircle Garrett and his men in a “dare ride” just to remind them exactly who won the Battle of the Little Bighorn. But when the ride is over, history seems to have repeated itself: Garrett is dead in the street with a bullet hole in his chest.
No one is sure what happened, but public sentiment quickly turns against the Arapaho—and the prime suspect is Colin Morningside, a descendant of Crazy Horse. When a local attorney connected to Morningside disappears, the accusations only grow stronger.
Father John O’Malley knows in his heart the Arapaho are not guilty. And Vicky Holden finds herself professionally and personally compromised from getting involved. But what begins as a murder soon reveals itself as a conspiracy that neither Father John nor Vicky could have foreseen. And someone wants to ensure that the truth they discover will die with them…
Scorpion Update
The Australian: A 350-million-year-old fossilised scorpion discovered in South Africa is the oldest known land animal to have lived on Gondwana, part of Earth's former supercontinent, a university said today.
The 20 big questions in science
The Observer: The 20 big questions in science
From the nature of the universe (that's if there is only one) to the purpose of dreams, there are lots of things we still don't know – but we might do soon.
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Interest
Uh-Oh
theguardian.com: Hercule Poirot gets new lease of life, 38 years after being killed off
Belgian detective who met his end in Curtain to follow in footsteps of Bond and Holmes after Agatha Christie estate commissions Sophie Hannah to write new Poirot novel
Hat tip to Fred Zackel.
Hat tip to Fred Zackel.
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