Thursday, November 02, 2017
The Peak Hour Commute Seen Through the Eyes of a Mystery Writer
“Rock ’n Rail: Take the Quiz, or, The Peak Hour Commute Seen Through the Eyes of a Mystery Writer” (by V.S. Kemanis) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: V.S. Kemanis has had a varied career in the law and the arts. As an attorney, she has been a criminal prosecutor, a civil litigator, and the supervising editor of decisions for an appellate court. Her short fiction has appeared in EQMM and elsewhere and was collected most recently in 2017’s highly praised Love and Crime: Stories. She is also the author of the Dana Hargrove legal mysteries, a series described by reviewer Jon L. Breen as “a law buff’s delight.” Recently retired from the practice of law, the author expects to have more time for her fiction, and has a new Hargrove novel due for release in January. But as we see in this post, the daily grind of commuting to a day job is never entirely unproductive time for a writer.—Janet Hutchings
Creature From the Green Lagoon
Creature From the Green Lagoon: Caddo Lake is being consumed by the world’s most monstrous weed. Herbicides, kitchen strainers, and even blowtorches have failed to stop it. Now a local band of volunteers is making a last-ditch effort to save these treasured wetlands.
Long, but interesting. And it has some great photos.
Long, but interesting. And it has some great photos.
Keith Wilder, R. I. P.
Boing Boing: Keith Wilder, singer for 70s funk powerhouse Heatwave, died on Sunday at age 65.
"From Heatwave is your heart," Wilder once said. "If your music is where your heart is, and you put your whole heart into, it will come out the way your heart is as a person and a human being... We kept our music in a vein that also was a pure, clear picture and representation of what we were like, and what we were about. And we kept our music that way... We just kept it real and kept it pure."
Hat tip to Deb.
Hat tip to Deb.
Charles Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Charles Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The first mention of a sound film version of victor Hugo's classic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame can be traced back to a 1932 news item in the Hollywood reporter, stating that John Huston was writing a treatment of the story for the screen, to star Boris Karloff. MGM executive Irving Thalberg first presented the idea to Charles Laughton in 1934. In 1937, MGM considered making the film with Peter Lorre in the title role. RKO studios made the final decision to make the film in 1939.
World Fantasy Convention
In a little while I'll be leaving for the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio. I had blood work done yesterday to check my red and white cell count, and the doctor said the levels were okay. So she cleared me to go. I'm flying instead of driving because I've been fatigued since the last chemo. The doctor told me that there was a reason for that, as they'd increased the dosage for last week's treatment. That's why they were checking the blood counts. I'll be flying back on Monday, but until them I might be keeping a low profile. The usual features have been scheduled, and there will be few other posts scheduled, too. Until I'm back, however, things will likely be sparse. Or if I'm tired and stay in the room a lot, I'll post more.
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
Dina Merrill, R. I. P.
Actress Dina Merrill, last surviving child of M.M. Post, dies: Dina Merrill, an actress, artist and the last surviving child of Marjorie Merriweather Post, died Monday at the East Hampton, N.Y., home where she had lived for more than six decades. She was 93.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Boris Karloff in Frankenstein
Boris Karloff in Frankenstein: In 1930, Universal Studios lost $2.2 million in revenue. The studio, reeling and on the verge of potential bankruptcy, had thrown the dice and produced Dracula, starring a Hungarian actor named Bela Lugosi, in 1931. Dracula proved to be the studio's salvation, earning a $700,000 profit (Universal's biggest money-maker in '31). Buoyed by the studio's Dracula success, Carl Laemmle Jr., the head of of production, immediately ordered more horror films. This was to be a turning point in Hollywood history.
Old-Fashioned Horror Books
Old-Fashioned Horror Books - AbeBooks.com: We've delved deep into our vault and dusted off a selection of stories designed to chill the reader to the bone. These books were all published before 1960 - some of them forgotten, many out-of-print - illustrate how authors and publishers tried to scare people in the days before JFK, The Beatles and everything else that came with the Swinging Sixties. You will find ghosts, monsters, witches, the undead, general strange happenings and a diverse range of supernatural elements in this selection.
Forgotten Hits: November 1st, 1967
Forgotten Hits: November 1st, 1967: We've got some big movers on the lower half of the chart this week …
Lots of songs to play today.
Lots of songs to play today.
Bonus FFB for Wednesday: Touchfeather -- Jimmy Sangster
Jimmy Sangster was an amazing writer. He was one of the best screenwriters for Hammer's horror movies, and he was all over U.S. TV in the '70s (check out his IMDb entry). He also wrote novels, several of which I read and enjoyed, including two about a spy named Katy Touchfeather.When Touchfeather's boyfriend is killed, it's revealed to her by the head of a super-secret British spy agency that he was murdered. She's offered a chance to work for the same agency, as she already has the perfect cover, as she's a stewardess ('60s parlance). Aftr attending spy school, she'll be able to work for any airline at any time and fly over the world on assignment.
The big assignment in this case is to prevent a scientist from passing along secrets to the enemy. Touchfeather makes a rookie mistake and falls for him. It's clear to her that he's innocent, and later the plane they're on is highjacked. He's taken prisoner and the others on the plane are freed. Later he's reported dead, and Touchfeather is kidnapped and tortured by the bad guys for information. She escapes and is sent to California to find out what really happened to the scientist. Danger and more adventure ensue.
This book is a true product of the Swinging '60s, and Brash Books is bringing it back into print in January, complete with a trigger warning at the beginning. Times and attitudes have changed that much. I read this book in a Berkley edition long ago and enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading it again, too. Touchfeather's breezy narration carries the story right along, and while she makes mistakes, she's efficient and tough when it counts.
Brash will be bringing all Sangster's novels back into print, and that means a lot of entertainment for readers in a new era. Check 'em out.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Zombies in the Real World
Zombies in the Real World: With flesh-eating monsters devouring everything from Jane Austen to Louisville, Kentucky, it seems like dead is the new living.
When Halloween Was All Tricks and No Treats
When Halloween Was All Tricks and No Treats: Nineteenth-century urbanization unleashed the nation’s anarchic spirits, turning holiday mischief into mayhem
Ray Bradbury's "The October Country" Turns Sixty
Ray Bradbury's "The October Country" Turns Sixty: Where the Hills Are Fog and the Rivers Are Mist
Overlooked Movies: Raffles (!930)
There have been a lot of versions of this movie made, but the one I saw was the one from 1930 with Ronald Colman and Kay Francis and their matching haircuts. There's no trailer, I'm sorry to say.One thing this movie reminded me of was how much plot the moviemakers could get into a 90-minute film. Colman is, of course, Raffles, the amateur cracksman, and he's decided to retire from his life of crime. Unfortunately his great friend, Bunny, owes a huge gambling debt, and only Raffles can save him. It will take a daring theft of the famous Melrose Necklace to do so, however, and the job is greatly complicated when a gang of thieves decides to steal the necklace. It's further complicated by the fact that a Scotland Yard inspector finds out about the gang's plans and shows up at the Melrose estate to foil them.
There are some nice twists in the plot, and it's all carried forward with wit and good humor. Colman is excellent, as usual, and so is Kay Francis as the love interest. There's much here that is old-fashioned, and I doubt that very many people under 50 or 60 would get as much fun from it as I did. I liked it a lot.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Dennis Banks, R. I. P.
New York Times: Dennis J. Banks, the militant Chippewa who founded the American Indian Movement in 1968 and led often-violent insurrections to protest the treatment of Native Americans and the nation’s history of injustices against its indigenous peoples, died on Sunday night at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He was 80.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Fats Domino's Infectious Rhythms Set a Nation in Motion
Fats Domino's Infectious Rhythms Set a Nation in Motion: This Rock ’n’ Roll maverick was a true New Orleans original
The Secret Lives of Vampires
Burials Unearthed in Poland Open the Casket on The Secret Lives of Vampires: What people actually did to prevent the dead from rising again was very different than what Hollywood would have you think
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Ron Chernow: By the Book
Ron Chernow: By the Book: The author of “Hamilton,” “Titan” and most recently “Grant,” is a slow reader: “It’s a shameful thing to admit for someone who writes such long books.”
Friday, October 27, 2017
History of Trick-or-Treating
History of Trick-or-Treating: Trick-or-treating—going from house to house in search of candy and other goodies—has been a popular Halloween tradition in the United States and other countries for an estimated 100 years. But the origins of this community-based ritual, which costumed children typically savor while their cavity-conscious parents grudgingly tag along, remain hazy.
Donald Bain, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Donald Bain, the pseudonymous author of the “Murder, She Wrote” novels, Margaret Truman’s “Capital Crimes” mysteries and “Coffee, Tea or Me?,” the supposed memoir of two saucy airline stewardesses, died on Saturday in White Plains. He was 82.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
FFB: Four Ugly Guns (Buffalo Hunter #2) -- Ralph Hayes
Ralph Hayes wrote a lot of books for the low-rent paperback houses back in the '60s and '70s, both westerns and adventure series. He wasn't a great prose stylist, and his storytelling was pretty straight ahead, as it is in Four Ugly Guns. The buffalo hunter is a man named O'Brien, and in this book he stops off his wandering to pay a visit to his friend Tobias. When he arrives at Tobias's house, he finds Tobias, his wife, and his sons dead, murdered by a Mexican bandit called Diablo and the three other members of his gang.
After that, it's a simple affair. O'Brien goes after the killers to get revenge. He gets it, killing one after another of the gang members. There's no swerving from the plotline, no twists, no unexpected thrills. I don't know why I picked this book up to read, but it was fast going if mediocre. I doubt I'll be reading another one in the series, although I have a couple.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Forgotten Music: 'Rumble' Aims to Upset the Rock 'n' Roll Canon
'Rumble' Aims to Upset the Rock 'n' Roll Canon A documentary based on a Smithsonian exhibition is wowing festival audiences
The year was 1958 and some radio stations were refusing to play a song that was making its way up the pop charts. But it wasn’t Elvis Presley who was causing the furor—it was the similarly coiffed Link Wray.
They played "Rumble" on Texas stations until the grooves wore out. I still have the 45 I bought in 1958 so I could listen to it even more.
The year was 1958 and some radio stations were refusing to play a song that was making its way up the pop charts. But it wasn’t Elvis Presley who was causing the furor—it was the similarly coiffed Link Wray.
They played "Rumble" on Texas stations until the grooves wore out. I still have the 45 I bought in 1958 so I could listen to it even more.
10 Fascinating Facts About Davy Crockett
10 Fascinating Facts About Davy Crockett: Born on August 17, 1786, backwoods statesman Davy Crockett's life has often been obscured by myth. Even during his lifetime, fanciful stories about his adventures were transforming him into a buck-skinned superhero. And after his death, the tales kept growing taller. So let’s separate fact from fiction.
As Proved by Math
Estevez Is Hollywood's Most Profitable Actor: A new analysis report conducted by PartyCasino has looked at the box office numbers from 1980 to 2017 to determine Hollywood’s most and least profitable actors. The result? Surprisingly Emilio Estevez has emerged as the most profitable actor over the last four decades.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Dracula 1979: Celebrating Frank Langella's Rock Star Count
Dracula 1979: Celebrating Frank Langella's Rock Star Count: The 1979 version of Dracula with Frank Langella didn't get the names right, but it nailed the cobwebs.
“Open Letter to Queen Fans” (by Francis M. Nevins) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN
“Open Letter to Queen Fans” (by Francis M. Nevins) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: Francis M. Nevins has distinguished himself in every area of the field of mystery and crime fiction. He’s the author of six novels and forty short stories and has won the Edgar Allan Poe Award twice for his critical work. He is widely considered one of the leading authorities on the life and work of Ellery Queen, and he authored the influential works Royal Bloodline: Ellery Queen, Author and Detective (1974) and Ellery Queen: The Art of Detection (2013). In early 2018 his first published fiction, an Ellery Queen pastiche, will be reprinted in the anthology The Misadventures of Ellery Queen, edited by Josh Pachter and Dale Andrews (from Perfect Crime Books). It is the hope of all of us at EQMM that the collection will generate new interest in the novels of Ellery Queen, most of which are available in new e-editions from Mysterious Press/Open Road.—Janet Hutchings
Fats Domino, R. I. P.
TMZ.com: Fats Domino, the legendary New Orleans singer and piano player who took the '50s and '60s by storm ... is dead.
Domino died in New Orleans, surrounded by friends and family, according to his daughter.
His hits were epic ... "Blueberry Hill," "Ain't That a Shame" and "I'm Walkin'."
The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Neatorama: "It plays on the basic fear that people have about what might be lurking below the surface of any body of water. You know the feeling when you are swimming and something brushes your legs down there. It scares the hell out of you, if you don't know what it is. the fear of the unknown. I decided to exploit this fear as much as possible."
-Jack Arnold, director of The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Health Update
On Monday I spent the day at M.D. Anderson getting a bone scan and a CT-scan. Yesterday I got the results. I also had a cystoscopy. You don't want one. Trust me.
But on to the results, which were mixed. My PSA count is higher than it's ever been, which isn't good; however, the doctor said it might be "reactive." My bone scan and CT-scan results were good, with reductions in both areas, so the tumor might be, to use the technical medical term that the doctor used, "pissed off" and reacting by putting out the PSA to fight the improvements. At this point, the chemo seems to be winning, so I'll be continuing with it even taking into account the PSA number. I don't know how many treatments are left, but there will be at least one, and maybe more. I'm feeling good, as those who saw me at Bouchercon can attest, and the doctor cleared me to go to my hometown this weekend to a memorial service for a high-school classmate. I'm also cleared to attend the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio next week if I'm feeling up to it. I'm planning to feel up to it.
But on to the results, which were mixed. My PSA count is higher than it's ever been, which isn't good; however, the doctor said it might be "reactive." My bone scan and CT-scan results were good, with reductions in both areas, so the tumor might be, to use the technical medical term that the doctor used, "pissed off" and reacting by putting out the PSA to fight the improvements. At this point, the chemo seems to be winning, so I'll be continuing with it even taking into account the PSA number. I don't know how many treatments are left, but there will be at least one, and maybe more. I'm feeling good, as those who saw me at Bouchercon can attest, and the doctor cleared me to go to my hometown this weekend to a memorial service for a high-school classmate. I'm also cleared to attend the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio next week if I'm feeling up to it. I'm planning to feel up to it.
Bonus FFB for Wednesday: A Long Time Dead -- Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins
Yes, I know I'm cheating again. This is practically a new book, but somehow I overlooked it. When I found out about it, I ordered a copy at once.The subtitle is A Mike Hammer Casebook, so you know it's a collection of short stories. As usual in these collaborative works, Collins' informative and entertaining introduction tells you about the fragments and incomplete stories he worked with to bring them into print. Most of them appeared in The Strand, and several of them are award winners.
All the stories feature Mike Hammer, and they're arranged more or less chronologically from the earliest written to the most recent. A couple of the stories are horror stories, "Skin" and "Grave Matter." The latter story wouldn't be out of place in one of the Shudder Pulps of the '30s. One of my favorites is "It's in the Book," and not just because I loved the Johnny Standley recording when I was a kid. I like bibliomysteries, and this is a good one. The theme running through most of the book is revenge. Most often it's Hammer who's after it, and of course he sometimes administers his own rough justice. In a good many of the stories, someone wants to kill Hammer, either for revenge or other reasons. Fat chance that they'll succeed.
I've always liked Hammer at the shorter lengths, and these stories were a lot of fun to read, at least for me. I know some of the readers of the blog still haven't been converted to Hammer. They know who they are. The fans should get a huge kick from these entertaining tales. I sure did.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Long and the Short of It
The Big Switch
Fallout
A Long Time Dead
Grave Matter
So Long, Chief
A Dangerous Cat
It's in the Book
Skin
About the Authors
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Robert Guillaume, R. I. P.
Robert Guillaume Dead: 'Benson' Actor Was 89: He also portrayed Isaac Jaffe on 'Sports Night,' voiced Rafiki in 'The Lion King' and earned a Tony nomination for 'Guys and Dolls.'
Robert Guillaume, the urbane actor who received two Emmy Awards for portraying the acidic butler Benson on a pair of ABC sitcoms, died Tuesday. He was 89.
Guillaume, a baritone who also starred on the stage and voiced the wise mandrill Rafiki in 'The Lion King' (1994) and its related sequels, video games and TV series, died at his home in Los Angeles, his wife, Donna Brown Guillaume, told the Associated Press.
Guillaume, a baritone who also starred on the stage and voiced the wise mandrill Rafiki in 'The Lion King' (1994) and its related sequels, video games and TV series, died at his home in Los Angeles, his wife, Donna Brown Guillaume, told the Associated Press.
Dark Recesses
Dark Recesses (November/December 2017) | Trace Evidence: As the days grow short and winter looms, the lengthening evenings offer ample time and reason to brood over the nature of darkness. As the stories in this issue attest, a landscape of shadows offers far too many opportunities for both deception and misperception.
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