I'm honored that "Cranked" has been nominated for a Derringer Award by the Short Mystery Fiction Society. First the Edgar nom, and now this. It really is an honor just to be nominated. Thanks to Duane Swierczynski and David Thompson for including the story in Damn Near Dead and to Dave White and Byron Quatermous, whose blog project was the impetus for the first story about one of the characters.
My brother, who lives in our hometown, sent this photo, taken yesterday afternoon, of his backyard. This is the first time it's snowed in that part of Texas in April in my lifetime.
Once again the movie slut (me) finds himself in the minority of people who liked Shooter. I checked on Rotten Tomatoes and found it had a ranking of 47%. I didn't bother to read any of the reviews now that I've seen the movie, but maybe I should just to see what people didn't like.If you've read Stephen Hunter's Point of Impact, on which the movie is based, you have a good idea of the plot. The movie's been slightly updated, but it follows the novel pretty closely. Bob Lee Swagger, expert sniper, gets involved in a conspiracy and is made the patsy. He survives and starts hunting down the principals, who are very powerful people indeed. He gets out of some tight spots and deals out some rough vigilante justice along the way to a satisfying conclusion. In fact, a well-made Matt Helm movie might be something like this.Mark Wahlberg does just fine as Swagger, who, as in the novel, is hard as nails and smarter than anybody gives him credit for. Levon Helm steals the only scene he's in without even trying. Danny Glover is fine, and it's always good to see Ned Beatty chew a little scenery and do a variation on "wee, wee, wee."
And speaking of Donald Hamilton, as I was above, the plot of Hunter's book and movie reminded me a little of Hamilton's excellent standalone Line of Fire. I haven't read that one in a while, so maybe I'm wrong about any similarity. Still, I'm willing to bet that Hunter's read Hamilton.
Even Judy, no fan of action movies, liked Shooter. Ignore those pesky critics and check it out.
James Garner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "James Garner (born James Scott Baumgarner on April 7, 1928) is an American film and television actor. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades, including his roles as Bret Maverick in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, Maverick, Jim Rockford in the popular 1970s detective drama, The Rockford Files and the father of Katey Sagal's character on 8 Simple Rules following the death of John Ritter. He has starred in dozens of movies, including The Great Escape (1963) and Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964)."
Update: The Rap Sheet has a fine tribute. Check it out.
Yes, every state has one. The 2007 eggs are here.
Or is this just nuts?Passengers on 5 flights screened after JFK security breach: "ORLANDO, Fla. -- Passengers aboard five flights from New York City were evacuated and screened at their destination cities as authorities tried to find a man who breached security at John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said Friday.No arrests were made and no one was detained at any of the five airports where the flights landed Thursday, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Christopher White said. The flights went to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Palm Beach, Salt Lake City and San Diego, he said.'We had no specific intelligence indicating the suspect was on board one of the flights,' White said. 'But there was the small likelihood that the individual could have gotten on a flight.'"
BreakingNews: "State wildlife officials warn spring’s the time alligators go looking for love. So don’t get caught in all the wrong places.Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this week urged Floridians and tourists to use extreme caution around the water.Alligators can become more aggressive during the spring, as they seek mating opportunities. "
One of the giants of country music without a doubt, even if they won't play his songs on country radio these days. Merle Haggard turns 70 today.
Invisibility cloak within our grasp | NEWS.com.au: "HARRY Potter fans take note: scientists in the US have finally come up with a workable design for an invisibility cloak.Physicists figured out the complex mathematical equations for making objects invisible by bending light around them last year.Now a group of engineers at Purdue University in Indiana has used those calculations to design a relatively simple device that may one day be able to make objects as big as a plane disappear.The design calls for tiny metal needles to be fitted into a cone like a hairbrush, at angles and lengths that would force light to pass around it. This would make everything inside the cone appear to vanish because the light would no longer reflect off it.'It looks pretty much like fiction, I do realise, but it's completely in agreement with the laws of physics,' said lead researcher Vladimir Shalaev, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue.'Ideally, if we make it real it would work exactly like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak,' he said. 'It's not going to be heavy because there's going to be very little metal in it.'"
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Rock stars to recreate Sgt Pepper: "Oasis, The Killers and Razorlight are to cover songs from The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to mark the album's 40th anniversary.James Morrison, The Fratellis, Travis and the Kaiser Chiefs are among the other acts taking part in the special recording sessions for BBC Radio 2.The engineer in charge of the original 1967 sessions will use the same equipment to record the new versions.The results will be aired on Radio 2 on 2 June, a day after the anniversary.The original album was released on 1 June 1967 and went on to be regarded as one of the best and most influential releases in rock history.Last year, it came top of a Radio 2 poll to find the best number one album of all time.'Unique event'The modern rock bands will be recorded by audio engineer Geoff Emerick, using the one-inch four-track equipment he captured the original on 40 years ago."
Hackszine.com: WIKISKY: Google Maps-Like View of the Night Sky: "WIKISKY lets you see what's up in the heavens above. You can locate many deep sky objects, get detailed information on them by simply hovering your mouse, and see high-quality Sloan Digital Sky Survey images for selected parts of the sky. Type in your current location, verify your timezone, and you can use WIKISKY to help plan your next observing session."
Here's a URL for the site.
The April issue of ThugLit can be found here. Hard-as-nails fare for your reading pleasure. Check it out.
Helix is a treat for SF readers. Click here for the latest issue.
. . . because I can. Thanks to an anonymous donor for the link.
Eighty-five today. My Little Margie. The Gale Storm Show (aka Oh, Susanna). And a few hit records, too, including "Dark Moon." Those were the days.
When I received a review copy of Croaked!, I took a look and thought, "Three hundred and ninety-three pages. I don't read books that long." But this was a book by Dick Lochte, and I liked Sleeping Dog, Laughing Dog, Blue Bayou, and The Neon Smile, so I figured I'd read a few pages just to see what it was about. Forty-four pages later, I thought, "I think I'm going to read this even if it is three hundred and ninety-three pages long."So what persuaded me? Well, for one thing I was reminded of one of my favorite books from many years ago, William Brinkley's The Fun House, which is about behind-the-scenes goings on at a large publisher like Time-Life. Croaked! is about a different kind of publisher, Ogle, which is a lot like Playboy, and the people who work there are just as goofy as those in The Fun House, if not goofier. For another thing, the book's set in the 1960s, a time I remember with affection. and then there's the first murder. How many books have you read lately where someone's killed by a giant frog?
Croaked! is fast and funny, and it doesn't seem long at all. Check it out.
Rolling Stone : The Last Confessions of E. Howard Hunt: "He was the ultimate keeper of secrets, lurking in the shadows of American history. He toppled banana republics, planned the Bay of Pigs invasion and led the Watergate break-in. Now he would reveal what he'd always kept hidden: who killed JFK."
Jayme Lynn Blaschke has an excellent report on the Aggiecon, something that this blog lacked. There's even a picture of me, looking about 100, and one of Kasey Lansdale, looking great. And Joe Lansdale, too, but who cares about him?
KOTV.com - The News On 6: "Film director Robert Clark, best known for the beloved holiday classic ``A Christmas Story,'' was killed with his son Wednesday in a car wreck, the filmmaker's assistant and police said.Clark, 67, and son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in the accident in Pacific Palisades, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant.The two men were in an Infiniti that collided head-on with a GMC Yukon around 2:30 a.m. PST, said Lt. Paul Vernon, a police spokesman. The driver of the other car was under the influence of alcohol and was driving without a license, Vernon said.The driver, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles, remained hospitalized and will be booked for investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter after being treated, Vernon said. A female passenger in his car also was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and released, police said."
Once again the movie slut (me) finds himself in the minority of people who liked Shooter. I checked on Rotten Tomatoes and found it had a ranking of 47%. I didn't bother to read any of the reviews now that I've seen the movie, but maybe I should just to see what people didn't like.
One of the giants of country music without a doubt, even if they won't play his songs on country radio these days. Merle Haggard turns 70 today.
Eighty-five today. My Little Margie. The Gale Storm Show (aka Oh, Susanna). And a few hit records, too, including "Dark Moon." Those were the days.
When I received a review copy of Croaked!, I took a look and thought, "Three hundred and ninety-three pages. I don't read books that long." But this was a book by Dick Lochte, and I liked Sleeping Dog, Laughing Dog, Blue Bayou, and The Neon Smile, so I figured I'd read a few pages just to see what it was about. Forty-four pages later, I thought, "I think I'm going to read this even if it is three hundred and ninety-three pages long."
