Wednesday, December 31, 2014
New Year’s Eve Netflix Streaming Guide
Flavorwire: Flavorwire’s Guide to (Expiring) Movies to Stream This New Year’s Eve
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Christine Cavanaugh, R. I. P.
AOL.com: The actress, who voiced the original "Babe" the pig in the 1995 film and Chuckie from "Rugrats," died on December 22.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Campaign to Prove Shakespeare Didn't Exist
The Campaign to Prove Shakespeare Didn't Exist: The greatest ongoing investigation in literary history has been caused entirely by William Shakespeare’s thoughtlessness.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
The Job -- Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg
Kate O'Hare and Nick Fox are back, which is good news for anybody who wants to read a light-hearted, fast-moving caper novel. I'm one of those people. I can always use a good laugh, particularly now, and this book provided some fine escape reading.As you'll recall if you've read previous books, Fox is the world's greatest conman and thief, while O'Hare is the FBI agent who finally managed to catch him. Now Fox is secretly working for the FBI, and he and O'Hare are unofficially teamed up to bring down the world's biggest criminals.
The book opens with Fox being accused of a series of art thefts. The evidence that he's guilty seems overwhelming, but O'Hare doesn't believe it for a second. She's right, of course, but I won't give any details except to say that the thefts lead them to devise an elaborate con game to capture a zillionaire drug dealer. Setting up the con with their usual team is a large and enjoyable part of the book. Along the way there are some fights, some escapes, and some romance. Not to mention a lot of laughs. The Job is another fine job (couldn't resist) by a top-notch writing team. Check it out.
Luise Rainer, R. I. P.
Flavorwire: Luise Rainer, the first-ever performer to win back-to-back Oscars, passed today. Over a century old, the German-born Rainer retired from major motion pictures in 1943. In a career spanning just eight years—she made her Hollywood debut at MGM in 1935—Rainer won Best Actress for her roles in The Great Ziegfeld, in 1936, and an adaptation of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, in 1937.
The Trap of Solid Gold: The Executioners
Long, excellent essay: The Trap of Solid Gold: The Executioners
Overlooked Movies: The Beast of Hollow Mountain
As I've mentioned numerous times before, I was a big fan of 3-D movies when I was a youngster. When The Beast of Hollow Mountain was announced as a forthcoming 3-D feature, I was eager to see it. Unfortunately, somebody got cold feet, or maybe the budget couldn't handle it. Or maybe 3-D was dying. For whatever reason, the movie was released in the old flat-screen format. In something called Regiscope. I have no idea what that is. Maybe Mr. Philbin could help us out. As you can see on the poster to the left, the movie was based on a story by Willis O'Brien of King Kong fame. This movie is no King Kong, but it is the first movie to feature cowboys and dinosaurs (or a dinosaur), so there's that. There's also the key ingredient necessary to make any movie successful -- quicksand. Or a tar pit, but it's still quicksand to me.
The star is Guy Madison, who was just about always good in westerns and did make one in 3-D, The Charge at Feather River, in which the famous "Wilhelm scream" originated. Madison was also the star of TV's Wild Bill Hickok. Too bad they didn't get Jingles to be in The Beast from Hollow Mountain, too. They did get Patricia Medina, and that was a great decision. You can't go wrong with Patricia Medina.
Madison is in Mexico to start a cattle ranch, and the locals don't want him there. They think he should go back where he came from. He doesn't, even though there are mysterious doings. Something is eating the local ranchers' cattle. There's romance between Madison and Medina, who's already pledged to one of the locals. Naturally there's conflict, but it's mostly boring because we're all waiting for the beast to show up. It takes a long time. It's not a bad beast by '50s standards, though it's laughable by today's. And it's not a realistic dinosaur, not unless dinosaurs had really, really long tongues. Maybe they did. Anyway, the method by which Madison disposes of the beast is pretty clever.
I'm not exactly recommending this movie. It's a good example of how little it took to make us happy back in the old days, however, so it's worth a look for historical purposes.
Monday, December 29, 2014
‘It’s the holy grail of ship wrecks’
Fox17: MICHIGAN — Le Griffon, a well known ship that sunk in Lake Michigan during the 17th century, has been hiding at the depths of the lake for more than 300 years. Now, treasure hunters who believe they found it, said to have stumbled upon it by accident.
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
The Star Telegram: A motorist who said he saw a man in another car beating a woman forced the man out of the car at gunpoint Friday and held him until officers arrived, Southlake police reported.
Forgotten Hits: December 29th
Forgotten Hits: December 29th Top hits on this date from various years.
Nostalgia Time
Judy and I met on December 29, 1960, on a blind date arranged by her friend Loibeth Black and my friend Fred Williams. On the left you can read what Judy wrote in our wedding book about that night. I remember exactly what she was wearing, and though she doesn't mention it, she also wore what was then called a mouton coat. Just about every girl had one of those back then. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were in a closet somewhere in this house. I don't know if she was impressed by me, but I was certainly impressed by her. She was a senior in high school, and I was a freshman in college. She was black-haired beauty. I was a short-haired, four-eyed geek. It didn't take me long to learn that she was also very smart, and if I didn't fall for her on that date, it wasn't long before I did. After a few dates I could tell that she liked me, too, for reasons I'll never understand.We always celebrated December 29 as an anniversary and gave each other a gift every year. This is the first time since 1960 that we won't be together on this date. I miss the old days.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
David Ryall. R. I. P.
BBC News: Actor David Ryall, known for playing Elphias Doge in the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows film, has died aged 79.
50 Great Pre-Fame Performances by Famous Actors
Flavorwire: 50 Great Pre-Fame Performances by Famous Actors
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Texas teen shoots father in the face in Christmas present dispute: “The young 16-year-old was very upset because he claimed that the rest of his friends, either got a car or a pickup for Christmas. All his father provided for him was a fishing rod,” Lucio said.
Paris Hilton Update
Paris Hilton shares baby photo from her first Christmas in Instagram post
And there's video of the present-day PH, too!
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
And there's video of the present-day PH, too!
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Jeremy Lloyd, R. I. P.
.com: Jeremy Lloyd, a creator of the long-running BBC comedy series “’Allo ’Allo!” and “Are You Being Served?,” died on Monday in a hospital near his home in London. He was 84.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Friday, December 26, 2014
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee
wptv.com: PORT ST. LUCIE — A man angry about a backup of cars at the entrance to his large gated community fought with police who were called in to intervene, according to an arrest affidavit.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Christmas Swag
FFB: Catastrophe Planet -- Keith Laumer
This is a straight-up SF adventure novel. Our Hero is Mal Irish, a guy about whom we know little or nothing and about whom we learn little or nothing more. He's zipping across the post-apocalyptic landscape on some kind of hovercraft when he encounters a dying man in what's left of a small town in Georgia. The man relates a wild tale of a lost race in the Antarctic and gives Mal a strange coin. People try to kill Mal, and after that it's just one damned thing after another, with escapes and pursuits around the globe and deaths and a beautiful woman who's thousands of years old. All this happens while the planet's crust is shifting and causing seas to rise and/or retreat, volcanoes to erupt and earthquakes to occur all the time.None of it makes a lot of sense, though Laumer tries to tie it all up in the end. It's part Puppet Masters and part Cthulhu and part James Bond. And part other things, too, all in one big stew. It's fun if you're looking for some mindless entertainment and don't mind plenty of coincidences and lots of implausible action, which I'm sometimes in the mood for. Laumer writes with flair, and the story hardly ever slows down for more than a paragraph. You might forget it all in a few hours, but it's entertaining for the moment. You'll like it if that's the kind of thing you like.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Bernie, Is That You?
NY Daily News: JOPLIN, Mo. – A southwest Missouri woman has pleaded guilty to abandoning a corpse after she and a man posed for photos with the body and posted them on Facebook.
Merry Christmas to All!
History of Christmas: Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.
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