Ike Update

Some Texans still living in tents after Ike - Hurricane Ike- msnbc.com: "OAK ISLAND, Texas - Truong Van Cao and two other fishermen share a cramped, muddy tent amid the wreckage of homes, including his own, destroyed when Hurricane Ike stormed across this tiny Southeast Texas town.

Seventy miles to the northeast, Bridge City retirees Ferrel and Jerry Ashby waited a month to get a mobile home from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the storm flooded their house.

On Galveston Island, the bullseye for Ike's arrival, Roshonda Domingeaux and her family have bounced around from shelter to shelter since Ike's 12-foot storm surge destroyed her house."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Marching Band Routine Offends Mental Health Organization - San Antonio News Story - KSAT San Antonio: "SAN ANTONIO -- Instead of showing off their skills with steps and sounds, some people are calling the Churchill High School marching band's recent performance offensive.

The band's performance at the University Interscholastic League's state band competition -- entitled 'Symphonic Schizophrenia' -- included props resembling padded walls and had some band members dressed in strait jackets running around the field in an erratic manner."

Happy Birthday, Daniel Pinkwater!

One of the greats. I highly recommend The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fish Whistle, and many, many others.

Gentlemen of the Road -- Michael Chabon

I guess I just don't get Michael Chabon's short novels.  I didn't think much of The Final Solution, and I don't think much of Gentlemen of the Road, either.  I keep hoping Chabon's going to write something again that's as magical for me as Wonder Boys or Kavalier and Klay, but so far he hasn't done it.

Gentlemen of the Road is a pastiche of Moorcock, Leiber, Howard, and others.  The setting is the Silk Road in time of the Khazar Empire (you could look it up).  Amram, a huge African, and Zelikman, a Jew, are the gentlemen of the title, adventurers living by their wits, getting into fights, you know the drill.  They find themselves saddled with Filaq, heir to a throne, but delivering Filaq turns out to be a lot of trouble.  So you get your battles, your captures, your escapes, your re-captures, your re-escapes, etc.  

In other words, it's the kind of thing I like to read now and then.  So what's my problem?  It's the prose and the message.  Chabon wants to be literary, he wants to write a propulsive adventure, and he wants to be a bit jokey, too.  It doesn't work for me.  If Robert E. Howard, say, had written this tale, you can bet it would have moved twice as fast.  And Howard, even though he was getting paid by the word, would have done it in half the space.  He'd have clarified the plot, too, I'll bet.  You'd be better off reading Howard's "Tower of the Elephant" or some other adventure than this.  Well, maybe you wouldn't, but I would.

007's Hottest Cars

With photos.

Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia

Moon Landing Update

India plants flag on Moon • The Register: "India has become the fourth nation to join the stuff-on-the-Moon club, after the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in lunar orbit successfully launched an impact probe at the lunar surface this afternoon. The 35-kg impactor was blazoned with the Indian flag.

'It will signify the entry of India on Moon,' an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said, quoted by the Times of India. The probe drop was described as a 'perfect operation'."

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Dallas ISD faulted for using fake Social Security numbers | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News: "Years after being advised by a state agency to stop, the Dallas Independent School District continued to provide foreign citizens with fake Social Security numbers to get them on the payroll quickly."

I'm Glad That's Settled

Tech puts JFK conspiracy theories to rest - Discovery.com- msnbc.com: "A team of experts assembled by the Discovery Channel has recreated the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Using modern blood spatter analysis, new artificial human body surrogates, and 3-D computer simulations, the team determined that the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository was the most likely origin of the shot that killed the 35th president of the United States."

Forgotten Books: JITTER JOINT -- Howard Swindle

Howard Swindle was a reporter who was nominated for an Edgar for true crime before he turned to fiction. Jitter Joint was his first novel, and it's a good one. Jeb Quinlin is a Dallas homicide cop. He's also an alcoholic, and at the beginning of the novel he's committed to a rehab hospital, the jitter joint of the title. Turns out there's a serial killer in the joint, which sort of complicates life. Quinlin has to get his own life in order and find the killer, no easy task.

One of the fascinating things about the book is the treatment that Quinlin undergoes. There are plenty of books about cops or private-eyes who are recovering alcoholics, but I can't think of another one that goes into such detail about the rehab process. It's hard not to be reminded of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest while reading this book, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Swindle knew what he was talking about. Like Quinlin, he survived an abusive alcoholic father only to fall into alcoholism himself. I met Swindle only once, at a ClueFest in Dallas, shortly before he was diagnosed with the cancer that killed him all too soon. He published one other novel, a good one called Doin' Dirty. There's more about Swindle and his work here. It's well worth a read.

Jitter Joint was made into a movie with a great cast, including Sylvester Stallone. Unfortunately, it was one of those cases where if you didn't know the movie was supposed to be derived from the novel, you'd never guess it by seeing the movie. It's not set in Dallas but in some deserted area of Wyoming with lots of snow and ice. It was never released to theaters in the U. S. It's on DVD, maybe as D-Tox, maybe as Eye See You. Okay, I checked Netflix. Either title will bring up the movie.

Cannibal Women in the Jungle of Death

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Grapevine pastor: Celebrate marriage -- have more sex | Religion | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Marriage is the only right place for sex, says Ed Young, senior pastor of Grapevine's nondenominational Fellowship Church. So he's encouraging married couples to celebrate by having sex every day for a week starting Sunday."

Anciet Joke Book Translated -- You've Been Getting the Jokes in E-Mails for Years

Dead parrot sketch ancestor traced to fourth century - Yahoo! News: "LONDON (AFP) – A direct ancestor of Monty Python's renowned 'Dead Parrot' sketch has been found in a book of jokes dating back to Greece in the fourth century AD, a publisher said Thursday.

A new English translation of 'Philogelos: The Laugh Addict' contains a joke in which a man complains that a slave he has just bought has died.

'By the gods,' answers the slave's seller, 'when he was with me, he never did any such thing.'"

They Should Check with that British Guy

Pentagon Clears Flying-Car Project for Takeoff | Danger Room from Wired.com: "Pentagon mad-science division Darpa is helping build thought-controlled robotic limbs, artificial pack mules, real-life laser guns and 'kill-proof' soldiers. So it comes as no surprise, really, that the agency is now getting into the flying-car business, too.

Darpa hopes its 'Personal Air Vehicle Technology' project, announced yesterday, will ultimately lead to a working prototype of a military-suitable flying car -- a two- or four-passenger vehicle that can 'drive on roads' one minute and take off like a helicopter the next. The hybrid machine would be perfect for 'urban scouting,' casualty evacuation and commando-delivery missions, the agency believes."

Spacefem.com: Dewey Decimal System Meme

Thanks to Gerard Saylor for the link.

Spacefem.com: Dewey Decimal System Meme: "This will convert your name to a class listed in the Dewey Decimal System. That's right... somewhere between 000 (Generalities) and 999 (Extraterrestrial worlds) you have a place, and through the magic of internet we can find it through random arbitrary letter decoding. Plus this gives me a chance to saw that libraries are freaking awesome and we need more. So there."

Bill Crider's Dewey Decimal Section:

004 Data processing & computer science


Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works


Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.



What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Want to Visit Ancient Rome?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Google Earth revives ancient Rome: "Google has added a new twist to its popular 3D map tool, Google Earth, offering millions of users the chance to visit a virtual ancient Rome.

Google has reconstructed the sprawling city - inhabited by more than one million people as long ago as AD320.

Users can zoom around the map to visit the Forum of Julius Caesar, stand in the centre of the Colosseum or swoop over the Basilica."

Gator Update (Shunning Edition)

Fort Mill Times | FortMillTimes.com - Leashed alligator shunned after entering SoCal bar - Fort Mill, SC: "HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Ever heard the one about the guy who walked into a bar with an alligator?

That's the joke going around Orange County after a man tried to bring his 3-foot pet alligator into Johnny's Saloon and was shunned.

Police and animal control officers were called to the bar early Saturday morning to retrieve the leashed alligator, said police Sgt. Dave Dierking."

I'm Saving Up for This

Paris to ‘spread virus’ in Sydney on New Year's Eve > Entertainment > LIVENEWS.com.au: "Most punters would think the news Paris Hilton will be here in Sydney on New Year's Eve to spread a virus is a reference to her famous promiscuity.

But far from it. The celebrity silvertail will instead be getting paid to spread the word on new social networking system Bongo Virus.

The Simple Life star will be in town with her rockstar boyfriend Benji Madden who will be DJing the VIP party to launch the brand.

The party will be live streamed around the world – all you’ll need is $US5 to witness the momentous event live online."

Crocs Update (Market Crash Edition)

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crocs Inc. late Wednesday reported a third-quarter loss of $148 million, or $1.79 a share, battered by inventory write downs on its colorful sandals and restructuring charges to rejuvenate its once high-flying business.

Last Night's Full Moon