Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Top 10 Out-of-Print Books of 2006
BookFinder.com releases Top 10 Out-of-Print Books of 2006: "Bookfinder.com, a website that facilitates searches for and purchases of used, rare and out-of-print books, has announced the Top 10 most sought-after out-of-print books on the website in 2006. Madonna tops the list with her 1992 book, Sex, as she has every year since BookFinder began releasing its annual list in 2003. "
This Just In. . . .
. . . from Jeff Meyerson:
iWon News - Actress Enters Drug Rehab Program: "LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) - Tawny Kitaen, who starred in the 1984 Tom Hanks comedy, 'Bachelor Party,' has entered a drug rehabilitation program after pleading guilty to possessing 15 grams of cocaine.
The 45-year-old actress will be allowed to change her plea to not guilty after completing the program, under terms of a plea agreement, officials said. The plea change will remove the conviction from her record."
iWon News - Actress Enters Drug Rehab Program: "LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) - Tawny Kitaen, who starred in the 1984 Tom Hanks comedy, 'Bachelor Party,' has entered a drug rehabilitation program after pleading guilty to possessing 15 grams of cocaine.
The 45-year-old actress will be allowed to change her plea to not guilty after completing the program, under terms of a plea agreement, officials said. The plea change will remove the conviction from her record."
No Comment Department
Rapper finds inspiration in Chaucer - Yahoo! News: "WELLESLEY, Mass. - The lights dim, the music pumps — a steady beat that can be felt in the bones — and Baba Brinkman struts and bounces around the stage, belting out his rhymes about hard living, violence, sex and the secrets to true love.
He gets his inspiration not from growing up in the 'hood, but from the musings of a 14th-century English poet.
'Ready to kill with their jagged-edged daggers drawn/The three aggravated braggarts staggered up the lawn/And without dragging on while the story is told/Beneath the tree they found a bag filled with glorious gold,' Brinkman raps in a seamless cadence, updating Geoffrey Chaucer to hip hop.
Brinkman, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, who has a master's degree in medieval and Renaissance English literature from the University of Victoria, has adapted some of Chaucer's earthy, satirical and pious 'The Canterbury Tales' into rap."
He gets his inspiration not from growing up in the 'hood, but from the musings of a 14th-century English poet.
'Ready to kill with their jagged-edged daggers drawn/The three aggravated braggarts staggered up the lawn/And without dragging on while the story is told/Beneath the tree they found a bag filled with glorious gold,' Brinkman raps in a seamless cadence, updating Geoffrey Chaucer to hip hop.
Brinkman, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, who has a master's degree in medieval and Renaissance English literature from the University of Victoria, has adapted some of Chaucer's earthy, satirical and pious 'The Canterbury Tales' into rap."
Now Here's a Fresh Idea!
Advertising Age - Ford Denies Connection to Web-Concert Porno Promo: "SAN FRANCISCO (Adage.com) -- An entertainment company promoting a Ford Motor Co.-backed concert has come up with a new way to tie its advertising into celebrity content: putting banner ads next to internet photos of the private parts of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and others.
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The banners, which play off the title of Pink's single 'U and UR Hand,' will have headlines such as 'Don't you and your hands have better places to be,' and 'See the real Pink.'"
Hat tip to Todd Mason. Photo of P.H. at the link. Sorry, pervs, no exposed genitalia.
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The banners, which play off the title of Pink's single 'U and UR Hand,' will have headlines such as 'Don't you and your hands have better places to be,' and 'See the real Pink.'"
Hat tip to Todd Mason. Photo of P.H. at the link. Sorry, pervs, no exposed genitalia.
Ripper Update
Ace Reporter Jeff Meyerson takes a break from the Paris Hilton beat to provide us with this info:
British police grill second suspect over prostitute murders: "IPSWICH, England - British police arrested Tuesday a second man suspected of murdering all five prostitutes whose naked corpses were dumped in the countryside around Ipswich, eastern England.
Detectives were quizzing the pair in the high-profile investigation into a spate of murders that has gripped Britain and left the normally quiet town of Ipswich on edge in the run-up to Christmas.
The 48-year-old man nabbed Tuesday was arrested in the town centre before dawn, a day after a 37-year-old man was detained in a village outside Ipswich, said Suffolk Police Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, who is leading the manhunt."
British police grill second suspect over prostitute murders: "IPSWICH, England - British police arrested Tuesday a second man suspected of murdering all five prostitutes whose naked corpses were dumped in the countryside around Ipswich, eastern England.
Detectives were quizzing the pair in the high-profile investigation into a spate of murders that has gripped Britain and left the normally quiet town of Ipswich on edge in the run-up to Christmas.
The 48-year-old man nabbed Tuesday was arrested in the town centre before dawn, a day after a 37-year-old man was detained in a village outside Ipswich, said Suffolk Police Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, who is leading the manhunt."
Whatever Happened to Jello Wrestling?
STLtoday - News - St. Louis City / County: "MADISON COUNTY — Four scantily clad women who wrestled in a swimming pool filled with mashed potatoes have whipped up a legal mess for a bar owner here, police said Monday.
Rhonda Cato has been cited with a misdemeanor charge of obscenity and with a liquor license violation for Thursday's performance at the Palace Tavern, 5150 Illinois Route 140.
The wrestling match turned raunchy when the women pulled up each others' shirts, said Lt. Brad Wells of the Madison County sheriff's office."
Rhonda Cato has been cited with a misdemeanor charge of obscenity and with a liquor license violation for Thursday's performance at the Palace Tavern, 5150 Illinois Route 140.
The wrestling match turned raunchy when the women pulled up each others' shirts, said Lt. Brad Wells of the Madison County sheriff's office."
Ed Gorman's Pro Files
Ed Gorman's started his "Pro-Files" feature again on his blog, and today's subject is that wonderful writer Bill Crider. Check it out.
Amazing Coincidence Update
I just got an e-mail from Walter Satterthwait, who tells me that the PointBlank edition of Of all the Bloody Cheek has been published and that the actual book is out there. You can see the cover here (scroll down). Order your copy now!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Frank McAuliffe
As I mentioned in the post below, PointBlank is planning to publish the Augustus Mandrell books. Their website promises only one, the unpublished one. I'd love to have it on the market, and I hope they follow through.
www.pointblankpress.com:
FRANK McAULIFFE (1926-1986) is the author of five previously published books. Of All The Bloody Cheek, Rather A Vicious Gentleman, For Murder I Charge More (the first three in the Augustus Mandrell series), Hot Town, and The Bag Man. Prompted by rumors of an unpublished fourth Mandrell novel, acclaimed mystery writers, Walter Satterthwait and Bill Crider contacted the author’s wife, Rita. (Incidently, her birth date, February 13th, is the one Augustus Mandrell perpetually refers to as “...that birth date, historically, of beautiful women...”) Through an uncanny chain of fortuitous events the manuscript was found, and will be published by PointBlank.
Frank McAuliffe was born the eldest of eight children to Irish immigrants, Con and Margaret McAuliffe in New York City, New York. He married Rita Gibbons and they had seven children together (Meg, Liz, Mark, Mary, Kate, Barbara, and Luke). After moving to Ventura, California, McAuliffe worked as a technical writer for the Navy, but spent most of his spare time writing fiction. In 1972 Frank McAuliffe was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award for his novel, For Murder I Charge More. Upon accepting the award for The Best Paperback Mystery of the Year, McAuliffe responded, "Ladies and Gentlemen, you have impeccably good taste."
www.pointblankpress.com:
FRANK McAULIFFE (1926-1986) is the author of five previously published books. Of All The Bloody Cheek, Rather A Vicious Gentleman, For Murder I Charge More (the first three in the Augustus Mandrell series), Hot Town, and The Bag Man. Prompted by rumors of an unpublished fourth Mandrell novel, acclaimed mystery writers, Walter Satterthwait and Bill Crider contacted the author’s wife, Rita. (Incidently, her birth date, February 13th, is the one Augustus Mandrell perpetually refers to as “...that birth date, historically, of beautiful women...”) Through an uncanny chain of fortuitous events the manuscript was found, and will be published by PointBlank.
Frank McAuliffe was born the eldest of eight children to Irish immigrants, Con and Margaret McAuliffe in New York City, New York. He married Rita Gibbons and they had seven children together (Meg, Liz, Mark, Mary, Kate, Barbara, and Luke). After moving to Ventura, California, McAuliffe worked as a technical writer for the Navy, but spent most of his spare time writing fiction. In 1972 Frank McAuliffe was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award for his novel, For Murder I Charge More. Upon accepting the award for The Best Paperback Mystery of the Year, McAuliffe responded, "Ladies and Gentlemen, you have impeccably good taste."
forthcoming books:
They Shoot Presidents, Don't They?
Augustus Mandrell
Peter Rozovsky has a nice post about Of All the Bloody Cheek, the first of Frank McAuliffe's Augustus Mandrell novels. Peter also links to this excellent review/commentary on all three books of the series. As I've said before, the Mandrell books are wonderful stuff, and everybody should read them. I don't know if PointBlank is carrying through on its intent to publish all three of them, but I hope so. PointBlank was also supposed to bring into print the heretofore unpublished fourth book in the series. That's something I'd really like to see.
Will the Persecution Never End?
Online vote says Spears worst dog owner - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK - When it comes to celebrity dog-parenting skills, Oprah Winfrey is tops and
Britney Spears is the world's worst, according to an online vote by readers of two dog magazines.
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Paris Hilton, 2005's 'worst' winner, placed second for "treating her dogs like accessories,' the magazines said."
Britney Spears is the world's worst, according to an online vote by readers of two dog magazines.
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Paris Hilton, 2005's 'worst' winner, placed second for "treating her dogs like accessories,' the magazines said."
Memories of Katherine Anne Porter
I'm still moving things from the college from which I retired four years ago and taking them to storage. Today I ran across some things I thought might be interesting to one or two of you.
First is a photo of the grave marker in the Indian Creek Cemetery, a few miles out of Brownwood, Texas.
When she spoke in Brownwood, Texas, in 1976, Miss Porter told several of us that she had bought a wooden casket in Mexico and that she wanted to be buried in it. She said she kept it in a closet of her apartment. Later that year, Charlotte Laughlin, an English teacher at Howard Payne University, visited Miss Porter and took the photo at the bottom.
After her death in 1980, Miss Porter was cremated. I have no idea whether the casket was used. For some reason her mortal remains weren't returned to the Indian Creek Cemetery where she wished to be buried until 1981. Here's the April 5, 1981, bulletin from St. Mary's Catholic Church in Brownwood, and you can see the mention of Miss Porter in the middle photo. Click on it a couple of times for a good enlargement.
Is NOTHING Sacred?
Pictures at the link.
ARCHIE & RIVERDALE GET A NEW LOOK - NEWSARAMA: "With more than 60 years of a certain…shall we say, style behind them, Archie, Betty, Veronica, and the whole Riverdale gang will be getting a new look in 2007, courtesy of artist Steven Butler.
Rather than moving to a manga style, which has worked on Sabrina by Tania del Rio, this change will move the art towards a more contemporary comic book style, more realistic, and less cartoony. The move, an Archie Comics representative told Newsarama, is a continuing experiment and exploration with the characters, showcasing not only their timlessness, but their adaptability as well."
ARCHIE & RIVERDALE GET A NEW LOOK - NEWSARAMA: "With more than 60 years of a certain…shall we say, style behind them, Archie, Betty, Veronica, and the whole Riverdale gang will be getting a new look in 2007, courtesy of artist Steven Butler.
Rather than moving to a manga style, which has worked on Sabrina by Tania del Rio, this change will move the art towards a more contemporary comic book style, more realistic, and less cartoony. The move, an Archie Comics representative told Newsarama, is a continuing experiment and exploration with the characters, showcasing not only their timlessness, but their adaptability as well."
Ripper Update
IPSWICH, England (AP) - Police hunting a suspected serial killer following the murders of five prostitutes in eastern England arrested a 37-year-old man on Monday and cordoned off a group of houses.
The man was arrested at his home in Trimley St. Martin, near the port of Felixstowe, Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull said in a brief statement to reporters. He declined to say where the suspect was being held.
"He has been arrested on the suspicion of murdering all five women," Gull said.
News reports identified the suspect as Tom Stephens, who was quoted in the Sunday Mirror newspaper as saying he knew all five women, and that he had been interviewed four times under caution - meaning that he was regarded as a potential suspect - by police investigating the slayings.
Paris Hilton Wedding Plans Update
Jeff Meyerson, no fan of Miss Hilton, he) was kind enough to send this link.
Zee News - Paris Hilton confirms wedding rumours: "Paris Hilton confirms wedding rumours
Washington, Dec 18: Rumours that Paris Hilton is getting set to say ‘I Do’ are true after all, and the confirmation has come straight from the heiress’ mouth.
The Hilton hotel heiress revealed to British paper the Daily Star that she was indeed planning to wed her Greek shipping heir beau Stavros Niarchos.
'It`s true. I am going to get married,” Contactmusic quoted her, as telling the Daily Star.
And, it seems that all those reports about Hilton being at loggerheads with new BFF Britney Spears don’t hold much truth after all, for Paris wants the ‘Toxic’ singer to be her matron of honour.
'I want a fairytale wedding and Britney`s going to be my matron of honour. She can advise me,' Hilton added. "
Zee News - Paris Hilton confirms wedding rumours: "Paris Hilton confirms wedding rumours
Washington, Dec 18: Rumours that Paris Hilton is getting set to say ‘I Do’ are true after all, and the confirmation has come straight from the heiress’ mouth.
The Hilton hotel heiress revealed to British paper the Daily Star that she was indeed planning to wed her Greek shipping heir beau Stavros Niarchos.
'It`s true. I am going to get married,” Contactmusic quoted her, as telling the Daily Star.
And, it seems that all those reports about Hilton being at loggerheads with new BFF Britney Spears don’t hold much truth after all, for Paris wants the ‘Toxic’ singer to be her matron of honour.
'I want a fairytale wedding and Britney`s going to be my matron of honour. She can advise me,' Hilton added. "
Sunday, December 17, 2006
50 Lost Movie Classics
50 Lost Movie Classics | Features | Guardian Unlimited Film: "50 Lost Movie Classics
From scenes of striking Mexican zinc workers to Burt Lancaster wandering through the city in his trunks, film history is rich with neglected masterpieces that have moved, inspired and disturbed us but somehow missed the commercial boat. We asked a panel of critics and film-makers to sing the praises of 50 forgotten gems, introduced below by Philip French."
I've actually seen quite a few of these.
From scenes of striking Mexican zinc workers to Burt Lancaster wandering through the city in his trunks, film history is rich with neglected masterpieces that have moved, inspired and disturbed us but somehow missed the commercial boat. We asked a panel of critics and film-makers to sing the praises of 50 forgotten gems, introduced below by Philip French."
I've actually seen quite a few of these.
Points to Ponder
Is the recording industry more like publishing than I'd realized? Of course I'm not sure what McGuinn means by "a modest advance."
Paris Hilton Abstention Update
Paris Hilton’s 7- month break: "Paris Hilton hasn’t had sex for seven months. Earlier this year, Paris has vowed to stay celibate for at least twelve months and insists she has stuck to her self imposed sex ban.
The socialite said “I have been celibate for about six or seven months, I think. I would rather just make out and kiss someone instead of sex.”"
The socialite said “I have been celibate for about six or seven months, I think. I would rather just make out and kiss someone instead of sex.”"
Knudsen Custom Cowboy Hats
This folks know how to make hats! I like the various John Wayne models, but the Quigley (left) ain't bad. Unfortunately, the Stumpy is probably more my speed. Thanks to Bob Levinson for the link.
Knudsen Custom Cowboy Hats: "Unlike many 'custom cowboy hat' companies each custom hat is hand formed. Thisallows us to put curves into our hats that are impossible to duplicate with presses and forms. We utilize both old and new custom made hat tools and genuine know-how to create custom hats that are distinct, and high in quality without a huge price tag."
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