Fort Worth dad deploying to country that took his son | Top Stories | Star-Telegram.com: "FORT WORTH — In a few days, Francisco Martinez will land in Iraq.
He is one of tens of thousands of men and women who, with various motivations, enlisted in the armed forces, knowing that they’d someday end up there. . . .
When Martinez steps off the airplane, he will be in the country that took his only son, a 20-year-old skateboarder and budding graphic artist whose loss is felt every single day of his father’s life."
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
I think this place must have been inspired by a Republic serial.
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas/Southwest: "A hidden door in a structure in Red Oak led officers to an underground marijuana operation and more than 150 flourishing plants.
Ellis County Sheriff's deputies say it appears 46-year-old Dwayne Nielsen had a sophisticated hydroponics farm. . . .
KTVT television reports officers searched a detached garage and found a bookcase that hid a secret door.
Capt. Danny Williams says deputies located a key, which released a magnet behind the door that opened to a stairwell leading to underground rooms."
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas/Southwest: "A hidden door in a structure in Red Oak led officers to an underground marijuana operation and more than 150 flourishing plants.
Ellis County Sheriff's deputies say it appears 46-year-old Dwayne Nielsen had a sophisticated hydroponics farm. . . .
KTVT television reports officers searched a detached garage and found a bookcase that hid a secret door.
Capt. Danny Williams says deputies located a key, which released a magnet behind the door that opened to a stairwell leading to underground rooms."
Croc Update ('Cage of Death' Edition)
Probably not my next vacation stop, but still. . . .
FOXNews.com - Theme Park's 'Cage of Death' Drops Tourists Into Crocodile Tank - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News: "A new Australian theme park hopes to lure tourists into their 'Cage of Death' for a close encounter with an 18-foot crocodile, the Northern Territory News reported.
Just 1.6 inches of acrylic will separate thrill seekers from the jaws of Choppa – a saltwater crocodile.
Brave tourists will climb into a clear box before being lowered into Choppa's lair.
They will then spend 15 minutes inside the 9-foot-high cage and watch Choppa, who lost both front feet while fighting other crocodiles, trying to take a bite out of them."
FOXNews.com - Theme Park's 'Cage of Death' Drops Tourists Into Crocodile Tank - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News: "A new Australian theme park hopes to lure tourists into their 'Cage of Death' for a close encounter with an 18-foot crocodile, the Northern Territory News reported.
Just 1.6 inches of acrylic will separate thrill seekers from the jaws of Choppa – a saltwater crocodile.
Brave tourists will climb into a clear box before being lowered into Choppa's lair.
They will then spend 15 minutes inside the 9-foot-high cage and watch Choppa, who lost both front feet while fighting other crocodiles, trying to take a bite out of them."
Friday, July 11, 2008
Roger Ebert on the Films of our Lives
Roger Ebert's Journal is always worth a read for me, but this entry really hit home. And the story about Marcello Mastroianni that follows is a real classic.
Caiman Update
The original post is here.
Search for caiman in Fremont suspended - Inside Bay Area: "FREMONT — Sgt. John Dauzat has a fishing pole and he's ready to hook into the catch of a lifetime.
But unless someone again reports seeing his target — a 3-foot-long caiman spotted this week at the Fremont Park Golf and Practice Center — he won't get a chance to reel it in.
A day after announcing that he'd likely use a fishing pole and half a chicken breast to catch the reptile, Dauzat, who heads the Tri-City Animal Control, called off all efforts Thursday amid hoards of onlookers and a reported third sighting of a caiman at a different body of water earlier in the week."
Search for caiman in Fremont suspended - Inside Bay Area: "FREMONT — Sgt. John Dauzat has a fishing pole and he's ready to hook into the catch of a lifetime.
But unless someone again reports seeing his target — a 3-foot-long caiman spotted this week at the Fremont Park Golf and Practice Center — he won't get a chance to reel it in.
A day after announcing that he'd likely use a fishing pole and half a chicken breast to catch the reptile, Dauzat, who heads the Tri-City Animal Control, called off all efforts Thursday amid hoards of onlookers and a reported third sighting of a caiman at a different body of water earlier in the week."
I Know I Shouldn't Post This. . .
. . . but if I don't, people will keep sending me this link. My advice: do not click on it.
Hat tip to Boing Boing.
Hat tip to Boing Boing.
Paging John Steed
Unbreakable Fighting Umbrella Splits Watermelons, Defends Presidents | Gadget Lab from Wired.com: "The entourage of the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has an unusual secret weapon. Her security team defends the head of the government with umbrellas. Not ordinary umbrellas, but unbreakable fighting umbrellas."
Thanks to Doc Quatermass for the link (where you can see a video if you'd like to).
Thanks to Doc Quatermass for the link (where you can see a video if you'd like to).
And So I Think I'll Travel On to . . . .
News from The Associated Press: "AVALON, Calif. (AP) -- It seems even 22 miles of open ocean might not be keeping gangs off Catalina Island, a mist-shrouded outpost of Los Angeles County best known for its Hollywood history and crystal-clear harbors.
Deputies on the isle say a fledgling gang called the Brown Pride Locos has gotten a foothold among the beaches, coves and tourist shops. A stabbing, burglaries and graffiti are being blamed on the gang, and deputies last month surprised teenagers practicing moves with knives on a dark bluff above Avalon's crescent-shaped bay."
Deputies on the isle say a fledgling gang called the Brown Pride Locos has gotten a foothold among the beaches, coves and tourist shops. A stabbing, burglaries and graffiti are being blamed on the gang, and deputies last month surprised teenagers practicing moves with knives on a dark bluff above Avalon's crescent-shaped bay."
Shakespeare Update
William Shakespeare folio worth �15m recovered 10 years after being stolen - Times Online: "An edition of Shakespeare’s first folio stolen 10 years ago has been recovered after a British man took it into an American library to have it valued.
The folio, printed in 1623 and valued at up to 15million pounds, was among a number of valuable books and manuscripts taken from the Durham University Library in December 1998."
The folio, printed in 1623 and valued at up to 15million pounds, was among a number of valuable books and manuscripts taken from the Durham University Library in December 1998."
Gator Update (Wrestling Edition)
Local News: Florida man wrestles alligators at fair | florida, fair, alligators : TheTelegraph: "JERSEYVILLE - One brave alligator wrestler has ventured from the Florida swamps to astound Jersey County Fair audiences with his nationally recognized reptile-handling skills.
Kachunga is an all-American 'bushman,' decked out in khaki and sporting an Indiana Jones-style hat with alligator teeth around the hatband. He is 35 years old, hails from Tampa and, when he isn't wrestling a 300-pound American alligator, goes by the name of Bert Lucas."
Kachunga is an all-American 'bushman,' decked out in khaki and sporting an Indiana Jones-style hat with alligator teeth around the hatband. He is 35 years old, hails from Tampa and, when he isn't wrestling a 300-pound American alligator, goes by the name of Bert Lucas."
Oops!
Police answer call of family fight, find marital bliss instead | thestarpress.com | The Star Press: "NEW CASTLE — A report of a family fight Wednesday afternoon in New Castle didn't turn out to be what police expected.
Advertisement
A nine-year-old girl called 911 after she awoke from a nap and heard her mother screaming. She went to her mother's bedroom and thought her mother was being attacked.
Turns out, her parents were just enjoying marital relations."
Advertisement
A nine-year-old girl called 911 after she awoke from a nap and heard her mother screaming. She went to her mother's bedroom and thought her mother was being attacked.
Turns out, her parents were just enjoying marital relations."
The 20 Best Movie Endings
The End: the best movie endings ever, from E.T. to Casablanca - Times Online: "Is it E.T. leaving in a spaceship or Butch and Sundance going down in a hail of bullets? Here Times critics choose their Top 20 film endings. But be warned: it does contain spoilers."
From Richard Helms
The Back Alley Webzine, the online home to hardboiled and noir fiction which snagged two Derringer Awards this year, has a new issue going live tomorrow, Friday July 11!
This is great lineup, featuring Derringer Award winner Patricia Abbott, Shamus and Anthony Award nominee Jack Bludis, Spinetingler Award winner Chris F. Holm, acclaimed breakout Scottish author Tony Black, and a newcomer with a very strong voice named Greg Lee.
In addition, we will continue with our ongoing serialization of Frank Norris's nineteenth century noir novel McTEAGUE, and will feature a eulogy to Norris written by W. D. Howells.
Keep an eye peeled in September for our All-Canada Issue!
You can catch all the action at www.backalleywebzine.com , beginning tomorrow!
Richard Helms
The Back Alley Webzine
www.backalleywebzine.com
This is great lineup, featuring Derringer Award winner Patricia Abbott, Shamus and Anthony Award nominee Jack Bludis, Spinetingler Award winner Chris F. Holm, acclaimed breakout Scottish author Tony Black, and a newcomer with a very strong voice named Greg Lee.
In addition, we will continue with our ongoing serialization of Frank Norris's nineteenth century noir novel McTEAGUE, and will feature a eulogy to Norris written by W. D. Howells.
Keep an eye peeled in September for our All-Canada Issue!
You can catch all the action at www.backalleywebzine.com , beginning tomorrow!
Richard Helms
The Back Alley Webzine
www.backalleywebzine.com
Forgotten Books: DEATH TOUR -- David J. Michael
This 1979 novel is a classic of the "alligators in the sewers" genre. Sample dialog:"I guess there are some down there."
"Alligators? In the sewers?"
"In the old pipe sections," she said. "Not in the plant. Down under."
"Alligators?" I repeated, like a halfwit. "In the pipes?"
"I guess people flush them down the toilet," she said.
Naturally the intrepid investigative team of five college students who call themselves Five Star can't resist seeing for themselves, and who can blame them? Do they find gators? Oh, yeah. But they find other things, too, things that are much, much worse. Do all five emerge from the underground? Of course not. And that's all I'm going to tell you. If you want more, you'll just have to find your own copy of Death Tour. I have three or four copies, myself.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Gator Update (Mythical Beast Edition)
KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Biologist Searching For Thousand Pound Gator Nicknamed 'Goliath' In Wood County: "A wildlife biologist is searching a private lake in southern Wood county for a reported 16 foot long giant alligator. KLTV 7's Bob Hallmark has more on a community that's a little nervous over an unwelcome resident.
Cruising under the calm waters is not a mythical beast.
But then again, an alligator that has been named Goliath is nothing to shake a stick at.
'They consider it to be 12 to 16 feet long, the gentleman saying it's close to 16 has seen a lot of alligators,' said Mark McDonald, the wildlife biologist searching for Goliath."
Cruising under the calm waters is not a mythical beast.
But then again, an alligator that has been named Goliath is nothing to shake a stick at.
'They consider it to be 12 to 16 feet long, the gentleman saying it's close to 16 has seen a lot of alligators,' said Mark McDonald, the wildlife biologist searching for Goliath."
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
MyFox Dallas | Commissioner Defends Position That 'Black Hole' is Racist Term: "Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is sticking to his comments that the term 'black hole,' which a colleague used, is racist.Price also says language such as 'angel food cake' and 'devil's food cake' are also racially insensitive."
This is an update of this post. Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker are reportedly changing the packaging of their cake mixes even now.Art Garfunkel 's Library
Art Garfunkel - Official Website: "Since the 1960's, Art Garfunkel has been a voracious reader. We are pleased to present a listing of every book Art has read over the last 40 years. To view a list of Art Garfunkel's favorite books, go to Favorites. This book list has been divided into several pages to allow easy downloading."
Link via Boing Boing.
Link via Boing Boing.
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