Paris Hilton Loves Pets

Paris Hilton, cheetah girl: "A hotel spy tells us: 'Every time Paris saw something she liked, like a woman's dress, she would ask how much it was. That included a cheetah she saw at an animal park. She asked how much it was and said, 'If I bought a cheetah, would it run away from me or could I keep it?''"

Anna Nicole Smith Update

I think I'll write one about Paris Hilton. Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

Anna Nicole Smith: The Opera at the ROH - Telegraph: "The life of the late Playboy centrefold Anna Nicole Smith is to be turned into an opera by the co-creator of the cult musical Jerry Springer: The Opera.

Composer Richard Thomas is writing the libretto for a contemporary piece, to be staged at the Royal Opera House in 2010.

He said the tragic life story of Ms Smith, a former stripper who died from an overdose of prescription drugs a year ago, was 'a classic American tale about celebrity' which was 'intrinsically operatic'.

The production, still in the early stages of development, is intended to be shown on the main stage at the Royal Opera House, accompanied by a 90-piece orchestra."

You Think Your Name is Bad?

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

And the Worst Bad Name Is . . . - TierneyLab - Science - New York Times Blog: "We have a winner in the Worst Bad Name Contest. And after talking to the woman who has this name, I’m happy to report we have new anecdotal evidence to go with the psychological studies supporting the Boy Named Sue theory: good things can indeed come from a bad name.

It wasn’t easy picking a winner from more than 1,000 entries. Besides Charman Toilette, an early favorite of the judges, there was Chastity Beltz, Wrigley Fields, Justin Credible, Tiny Bimbo, and a girl whose father was an auto mechanic but somehow didn’t realize he was effectively giving her the name of a tire: Michele Lynn. There were girls named Chaos and Tutu, and boys named Clever, Cowboy, Crash, Felony, Furious and Zero. There was Unnamed Jones (pronounced you-NAH-med). There was Brook Traut and his daughter, Rainbow. There were more names involving genitalia than the judges cared to count. (Memo to parents: Carefully consider your surname before naming a boy Harry or Richard.)"

Hard Case Crime Update

Friends,

For the past few months we've been teasing you with hints about a long-lost book by Lawrence Block that will be kicking off our sixth season in January 2009. Now, at last, we're in a position to say what it is -- and I think you'll see what I meant when I said that the subject matter has been in the headlines lately.

Rather than spoiling the fun here, I encourage you to visit our Web site to see the cover and read the nice, long sample chapter we've got up there for you. All I'll say here is that this is by far the rarest of all Block's books. He wrote it under a pseudonym he never used before or since, it's never been published under his real name (or this title), and he couldn't even locate a copy of it himself for thirty years!

You can pull back the curtain by visiting www.HardCaseCrime.com and clicking on...well, you'll see what to click on.

In other news, let me congratulate the winners of our drawing for free copies of our new 'double' edition of Robert Bloch's SHOOTING STAR and SPIDERWEB: Brent, Opal, Michael, Dan, Cherie, Larry, Michael, Blu, Rich, and Kim (of NY, MO, KS, IL, WA, TX, CA, AL, UT, and MD, respectively). The book is in stores now -- don't miss it!

Coming up next month: The little known but harrowing and masterful novel THE MURDERER VINE by Shepard Rifkin, inspired (loosely) by the same events as "Mississippi Burning"...then Donald Westlake returns with the very funny SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY...and then 1950s film noir screenwriter Steve Fisher is up, with his novel of Las Vegas, NO HOUSE LIMIT.

Lots of good books, leading into what may be our biggest Fall ever, with four original novels back to back, including a new Quarry novel by Max Allan Collins and a sequel to BUST and SLIDE by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr.

Wouldn't this be a good time to sign up for the Hard Case Crime Book Club at last? If you're curious, call 1-800-481-9191 -- the person you reach will be glad to answer any questions you've got.

Best,
Charles
-----------
Charles Ardai
Editor, Hard Case Crime

Now They're Insulting Paris Hilton's Feet

Great photos at link. Including one of the bunion.

Paris Hilton launches shoe line.... and models them with her own terrifying size 11s | the Daily Mail: "Paris Hilton hasn't let her less than perfect feet put her off launching her own shoe range.

The socialite arrived in Montreal on the weekend to meet her fans and launch her newly designed range of shoes.

But some might say it's a bit rich coming from the heiress who possesses a pair of extremely large size 11 feet (UK size 9) complete with an angry-looking bunion."

You Know Without Even Looking . . .

. . . that this blog isn't on Time's list.

The Evolution of Slaughterhouse Five

Kurt Vonnegut | Salon Books: "April 7, 2008 | On May 29, 1945, Pfc. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. sat down at a typewriter in the Red Cross Club of the POW Repatriation Camp in Le Havre, France, and wrote his family a letter. 'I'm told that you were probably never informed that I was anything other than 'missing in action,'' he began. 'That leaves me a lot of explaining to do.'"

They Don't Make Trailers Like This Anymore

Bob Dylan wins Pulitzer Prize

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the link.

People: Times change as Bob Dylan wins Pulitzer Prize | News | The First Post: "Bob Dylan, singer, poet and one of the heroes of the Sixties generation, has been given a Pulitzer Prize. Dylan is the first rock artist to win the award, and was given his honorary Pulitzer for his 'profound impact on popular music and American culture' at a ceremony in New York on Monday."

Gator Update (Standing Up Edition

Great photo at link.

Alligator stands on hind legs - Boing Boing: "Daigooro is an alligator that stands upright when doused with water."

Swierczynski's Fist

TALKING IRON FIST WITH SWIERCZYNSKI, FRACTION, BRUBAKER AND FOREMAN - NEWSARAMA: "It’s official—Marvel Comics has announced that Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja are leaving The Immortal Iron Fist after issue #16, to be replaced by the team of Cable writer Duane Swierczynski, who will be joined by artist Travel Foreman. Swierczynski and Foreman will kick off their run starting with issue #17 in July."

Gunilla Knutson

In a comment below, Doc Quatermass thoughtfully provided this link to a Noxema commercial.

And for you Rula Lenska fans, she struts her stuff as one of the Little Ladies in Rock Follies. Apparently she was on Celebrity Big Brother 2 in the U.K. in 2006.

The Evil Adverb

Yesterday, the Quote of the Day on my homepage was from Stephen King. No source was cited, but I suspect the sentence came from On Writing. Here's what SK says: "The road to hell is paved with adverbs." So what I'd like to know is, when did adverbs become evil?

I grew up reading a lot of 19th century writers: Poe, James, Melville, Hawthorne, Dickens. These guys used adverbs. Poe use a lot of adverbs. Some sentences in stories like "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" have four or five per sentence. James used them by the bundle. Were adverbs more benign in the 19th century? Or were they even then working their insidious evil and destroying the prose of the so-called "masters"?

I'm not questioning King. I'm just wondering. I thought maybe Hemingway was an adverb-free guy, but even stories like "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and "The End of Something" use adverbs. So where and when did it begin? Who declared that adverbs were the spawn of Satan. Anybody know?

Gator Update (Antibiotic Edition)

Newswise Science News | Alligator Blood May Put the Bite on Antibiotic-resistant Infections: "Newswise — Despite their reputation for deadly attacks on humans and pets, alligators are wiggling their way toward a new role as potential lifesavers in medicine, biochemists in Louisiana reported today at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. They described how proteins in gator blood may provide a source of powerful new antibiotics to help fight infections associated with diabetic ulcers, severe burns, and “superbugs” that are resistant to conventional medication."

Variable Star -- Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson

Okay, here's the way this one came about. Discovered among Heinlein's papers was a 7-page single-spaced outline for a novel, along with 14 hand-written index cards containing various notes, all for a Heinlein juvenile that never got written. The outline was not complete, as the eighth page (and possibly subsequent pages) was missing. Robinson wrote the novel based on this material.

Some people aren't going to be able to read beyond the opening scenes because of the corny and sexist dialog between Joel (Our Hero) and Jinny, whom he believes to be his true love. But this dialog, especially the sexist part, is important to what happens next and kicks the plot into gear. Joel finds out things about Jinny that he can't accept and then finds himself on a ship to the stars. Fans of Heinlein are going to find plenty of familiar stuff, and if they've read The Door into Summer, they're going to be way ahead of other readers and maybe not surprised at what's supposed to be one of the book's big surprises. I have to say there's one even bigger surprise, though, and I didn't see it coming at all. I wonder if right before that surprise isn't where the outline ended and Robinson started winging it. Anway, I think Robinson's world view diverges from Heinlein's at that point in particular, though for a lot of the book I thought Robinson did a pretty good job of "making it Heinlein."

For me, though, Robinson goes wrong by making the book far too long (you're not surprised at that reaction from me by now, I'm sure). Heinlein would never have written a novel of well over 100K words back in 1955, especially not a juvenile (not that this one's a juvie; I think it's aimed at adults, too). I think the book could have profited from some heavy-handed editing and severe cutting, but others might feel differently. I'm glad I read it, even though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. If you're a Heinlein fan, you're probably going to read it out of curiosity, and you might find it great fun. I thought parts of it were.

I Used to OD on Hectograph Fumes

Boy, 8, suspended after sniffing Sharpie marker - The Denver Post: "WESTMINSTER —A Westminster parent says Adams School District 50 overreacted by suspending a third-grade student for smelling Sharpie marker fumes and the clothing on which he'd drawn a stripe."

It's the Queen of all Monsters . . .

. . . Queen Kong!

Charlton Heston, R. I. P.

Heston was in some great movies, though I never thought of him as a great actor. Alzheimer's is a terrible disease, and I'm sorry he suffered from it.

Charlton Heston, Epic Film Star and Voice of N.R.A., Dies at 83 - New York Times: "Charlton Heston, who appeared in some 100 films in his 60-year acting career but who is remembered chiefly for his monumental, jut-jawed portrayals of Moses, Ben-Hur and Michelangelo, died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 83."

The Kelley Collection

Some years ago, occasional commenter George Kelley gave his gigantic paperback collection to SUNY Buffalo. The librarians there have been working hard to catalog the collection, and they've created a new website that has a searchable database along with some great cover photos. Check it out.

Enchanted

You may have gathered by now that I have a weakness for fairy tales. It's embarrassing to admit it, as I'd rather be known as a tough guy, but when it comes to movies like Enchanted, I'm just an old bag of mush.

You probably know the gimmick. The movie opens with some great, traditional Disney animation, and then the wicked queen (Susan Sarandon) pushes the lovely young Giselle (Amy Adams) down a well. She arrives in New York City, the place where "there is no happily ever after." Edward, the handsome, but slightly vacant, prince (James Marsden) goes after Giselle to save her, so the queen sends her flunky, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall), to spoil things. A chipmunk goes, too, but he's a good guy.

Okay, you know the Mayberry Plot? The one where the big city guy goes to Mayberry and learns how to live? This is the reverse. Giselle goes from a fairy-tale land (not entirely unlike Mayberry) to the big city. Her sweetness and innocence teaches everybody else how to live, including Dr. McDreamy. It's the world the way we'd like to think it could be.

Great stuff, with some very funny lines and a fine screenplay. I bought into it from the first frame with all the visual references to former Disney animated films, but then I'm a sentimental old fart. My only criticism is my usual one: as is all to often the case these days, they drag out the ending for a special effects extravaganza. I loved it anyway.