New Story at BEAT to a PULP

BEAT to a PULP :: Brotherly Love :: J.E. Seymour

It's Baaaaaack

Frozen yogurt market heats up again - Houston Business Journal:: "After a wildly popular run in the 1980s, frozen yogurt stores are making a comeback with new locations swirling up all over Houston."

A Little Geek Love

And stay off her lawn, too.

'Geek Love' author fights off purse snatcher in Northwest Portland | Health & Fitness News - OregonLive.com: "Author Katherine Dunn spent more than 10 years training with the fighters of Knott Street Boxing Club in Northeast Portland’s Matt Dishman Community Center.

But Dunn, best known for her novel “Geek Love,” had never fought for a purse until Tuesday afternoon. Dunn, 64, was carrying a bag of groceries from Trader Joe’s to the Northwest Portland home where she has lived for more than 30 years when someone yanked the purse strap on her left shoulder so hard it spun her around.

“I was facing this young woman who shouted, ‘Let it go. Let it go,’” Dunn said.

She did not. So, Dunn said, 25-year-old Brandy Amber Carroll kicked her in the shin and slapped her face. Dunn figured that gave her permission to put her years of training to work."

No Comment Department

Leeds University advertises for lap dance research officer - Telegraph: "The advertised position, in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, is for: “Research Officer - The rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labour and consumption in the night time economy”."

Robbin' Goth

Goth robber jailed for bizarre Eastbourne bank job (From The Argus): "A goth robber held up a bank but then gave away all the money he had stolen.

Frater Osiris Xnoubis was dressed from head to foot in black leather when he carried out the bizarre robbery."

A Flash of Green

APOD: 2002 November 10 - A Green Flash from the Sun: "Many think it is just a myth. Others think it is true but its cause isn't known. Adventurers pride themselves on having seen it. It's a green flash from the Sun. The truth is the green flash does exist and its cause is well understood. Just as the setting Sun disappears completely from view, a last glimmer appears startlingly green."

A Princess of Mars

Fisticup

You can own one, but supplies are limited. I figure this is a natural for Victor Gischler.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Black Friday Mishap Forces Tow Trucks to Return Cars | MyFoxHouston.com: "Shoppers lining up extra early for Black Friday sales got a surprise when they went looking for their cars -- they were gone.

The incident happened at the Best Buy on Beechnut near the Southwest Freeway late Thursday night.

Houston Police say hundreds of people were lined up outside the store for the 4:30 a.m. Friday opening. Two tow truck drivers, who are contracted to remove cars parked overnight, towed about 12 cars before store patrons called police."

Barry Malzberg's 15 Favorite Issues of ASTOUNDING

I read about this video on the Fictionmags list, and of course I loved it.

Once Again, Texas Leads the Way

Store goes topless for Black Friday | KXAN.com: "North Austin tropical fish and aquarium store owner hopes to pick up business on Black Friday by going topless.

Caroline Estes, owner of Amazonia Aquariums , hopes that the publicity will help boost sales."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

World's Best Wedding Cake?

Icing on the cake... groom orders two-foot alligator for wedding as homage to his favourite team | Mail Online

Croc Update

Two jailed for beating sacred crocodile in Bangladesh | My Sinchew: "A court in southern Bangladesh sentenced two men to two years in jail after they beat and blinded a sacred crocodile at a Muslim shrine, police said Thursday."

Black Friday is for Suckers

Netbooks, e-book readers, and other Black Friday bargains to avoid. - By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine

Forgotten Books: CRY AT DUSK -- Lester Dent

Several bloggers have commented on Lester Dent lately, and I happened to have had a copy of one of his books lying around for, oh, forty years or thereabouts, so I thought I'd read it.

It's not as if I haven't read Dent's work before. Back when the Doc Savage books were appearing from Bantam, I read quite a few of them. I've also read "Sail," the short story from Black Mask that gets reprinted often. But those things didn't prepare me for Cry at Dusk. Yikes. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it.

Let's just say that Dent must have had his copy of Psychopathia Sexualis open beside him as he typed. Can you read the blurb at the top of the cover? It's a clue to the contents. We all know what "corrupt and alien love" meant in the '50s, right? Well, I'll bet you never read a book from Beacon or the other "sex publishers" that's as strange as this one. I'd go so far as to say there wasn't another book in 1952 quite as weird and, yes, perverse. Not to mention "corrupt and alien." Even given the euphemisms of the time, Dent gets away with a lot here, more than I'd have thought possible.

The story itself is kind of goofy. It begins with Oliver Stringer becoming a college football hero, but Stringer's not really his name. He's Johnny Marks, and he and his Uncle Walter have been on the run for years. Johnny doesn't know why, and Uncle Walter won't tell him. When U. W. is murdered, we get a long flashback in which we learn about Johnny's past and his involvement with a girl named Jennifer and a kid named Hermie Bouncett. Hermie is the bad guy, and he's as bad, corrupt, and perverse as they come. But he likes Johnny. A lot. He also likes being hit and kicked. Johnny's afraid that he might be like Hermie. But he knows he likes Jennifer. It's a mess. And I mean the plot as well as the situation.

Back in the present, we finally find out the Big Secret. Johnny's U. W. never knew it, so why they had to keep moving is a mystery to me. I guess nobody believed him, so they just kept beating him up. You'd think they'd learn.

The climax (and I guess there are two of them, so to speak) comes down in the Caribbean, and at least one of them is oddly anti-climactic. But maybe that part of the plot's not what interested Dent. At any rate, I'm glad I finally picked this one up. It's a very '50s book, so be warned. And if you read it, I can guarantee you won't be sailing on any stranger seas than these for a good while.

The File on Thelma Jordon

Detective of Love

Frankie and the Fashions sing "Detective of Love." Can you remember all the detectives they name?

Another Review from a While Back

� A 1001 MIDNIGHTS review: PETER RABE - Dig My Grave Deep.

A Review from a While Back

� A 1001 MIDNIGHTS review: PETER RABE - Kill the Boss Good-By.

The Youngest Templar: Trail of Fate -- Michale P. Spradlin

This book takes up immediately after the ending of Keeper of the Grail, which is a good thing since that one ended with a real cliffhanger. It's probably no surprise that Tristan, who has the grail in his keeping, survives the shipwreck that closed the earlier novel. He washes up on the shore of France, where he encounters a group of alleged heretics, the Cathars, who are being hunted by the High Counsel. They're also led by a very attractive young woman named Celia, who awakens feelings in Tristan that he's never before experienced.

Robard Horde and Maryam are along, too, and they recognize the feelings for what they are. They also know that Tristan's desire to help Celia stems from those feelings, but they go along with him. This leads to battles, escapes, sieges, and more, with action and color on just about every page. It also leads to another humdinger of a cliffhanger ending.

Tristan, Robin, Maryam, and Celia are great characters and fun to be with. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next installment in this series.