Saturday, June 06, 2015

Ronnie Gilbert, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Ronnie Gilbert, whose crystalline, bold contralto provided distaff ballast for the Weavers, the seminal quartet that helped propel folk music to wide popularity and establish its power as an agent of social change, died on Saturday in Mill Valley, Calif. She was 88.  

Hat tip to Steve Stilwell.

7 Burning Belmont Questions

7 Burning Belmont Questions 

This Weekend in Recent History

This Weekend in Recent History

How Are Things in Dannemora?

New York prison inmates reported missing

And Keep Off Her Lawn!

Female UFC fighter beats apology out of man after he pinched her pal's bum outside nightclub

Song of the Day

Jerry Keller - Here Comes Summer ( 1959 ) - YouTube:

The Weird Week in Review

The Weird Week in Review 

Today's Vintage Ad

11 Celebrity #TBT Photos You May Have Missed This Week

11 Celebrity #TBT Photos You May Have Missed This Week

PaperBack



J. Walter Small, The Dance Merchants, Ace, 1958.

All of Them

What Grammatical Error Drives You Completely Insane?

Forgotten Hits: Selections From The Top 66 of 6 - 6 - 66

Forgotten Hits: Selections From The Top 66 of 6 - 6 - 66

Ruth Feldman, R. I. P.

 NYTimes.com: Ruth Duskin Feldman, who died on May 18 at 80, was a regular panelist, and perhaps the best known of the comparatively few girls, on “The Quiz Kids,” the torrentially popular show of the 1940s. Broadcast nationwide from Chicago on NBC, it tested its young combatants weekly with rigorous questions in math, science, literature and much else. (“What would I be carrying home,” one question ran, “if I brought an antimacassar, a dinghy, a sarong and an apteryx?”)  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

I Miss the Old Days

Retrospace: Pulp Pages #5: Modern Romance (Nov 1971)

Vintage Treasures: Jamie the Red by Gordon R. Dickson with Roland Green

Vintage Treasures: Jamie the Red by Gordon R. Dickson with Roland Green

R.A. MacAvoy’s The Book of Kells

R.A. MacAvoy’s The Book of Kells

Friday, June 05, 2015

Stephen King's 'The Stand' Poised to Add TV Miniseries at Showtime

Stephen King's 'The Stand' Poised to Add TV Miniseries at Showtime: Before it hits a movie theater near you, Stephen King‘s epic postapocalyptic novel “The Stand” will take a revolutionary detour to the small screen, as Warner Bros. and CBS Films are in talks with Showtime to mount an eight-part miniseries that will culminate in a big-budget feature film, multiple individuals familiar with the ambitious project have told TheWrap.

Will Holt, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Will Holt, a songwriter whose lyrics for the 1970 musical “The Me Nobody Knows” were nominated for a Tony Award, and whose Latin-tinged folk song “Lemon Tree” became a musical signpost of the 1960s, covered by myriad artists and finding its way into advertising and the literature of the Vietnam War, died on Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 86.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Woman wanted for attacking another woman with tire iron in Bronx

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

2 costumed characters, Hello Kitty and Minnie Mouse, got into a fight in Times Square

10 Intriguing Stories Of Ordinary People In The US Civil War

10 Intriguing Stories Of Ordinary People In The US Civil War

Song of the Day

The Jamies - Summertime, Summertime (Rare Stereo) - YouTube:

Once Again Texas Leads The Way

'Worm balls' baffle park rangers in Texas 

Robert S. Levinson: Clark Gable, Mama, and the Velour Stetson

Robert S. Levinson: Clark Gable, Mama, and the Velour Stetson

21 Famous Authors' Favorite Books

21 Famous Authors' Favorite Books 

Today's Vintage Ad


10 Car Companies That Failed in America

10 Car Companies That Failed in America

PaperBack



H. Bedford-Jones, Mormon Valley, Garden City Publications, 1923

Blackbeard's Ship Confirmed off North Carolina

Blackbeard's Ship Confirmed off North Carolina

Seepy Benton's Ancestors?

The Jewish Pirates Who Ruled the Caribbean

I Miss the Old Days

Cassette Revolution: Why 1980s Tape Tech Is Still Making Noise in Our Digital World

A Review of Interest (To Me, Anyway)

Forgotten Books: MEDICINE SHOW by Bill Crider (1990)

Happy Birthday, Francelle Bettinger!

My sister, Francelle (that's her on the right) has been through more dark times than anybody I know, yet she's always come through and managed to find the light.  She still has her zest for travel and adventure, and she's been a real help to me in recent months.  Happy birthday, Francelle.

Unknown, September 1939: A Retro-Review

Unknown, September 1939: A Retro-Review

FFB: Cast a Yellow Shadow -- Ross Thomas

My theory is that you can't go wrong with a book by Ross Thomas.  Cast a Yellow Shadow isn't without its flaws, but it's also stuffed with all of Thomas' virtues: great dialogue, fine descriptive writing, and insightful offhand comments about politics and politicians and the world situation.  Not to mention McCorkle and Padillo, two guys who are excellent company.  

This was the second book to feature Mac and Padillo, coming along after Thomas' Edgar-winning The Cold War Swap, at the end of which Padillo was presumed dead.  Mac knows better and when he opens a bar in Washington, D. C., he considers Mac a full partner.  (Their original bar in Germany was destroyed in the previous book.)  Mac has pretty good life, a nice income, and is happily married.  Things change when Padillo turns up again.  Certain members of the government of a South African country want Padillo to assassinate their ambassador.  (The ambassador wants this, too.)  When he refuses, they kidnap Mac's wife and use her as leverage.  What's to be done?  Padillo calls in some favors and gets three double (or maybe triple) agents to help out.  As in just about any Thomas novel, you can count on plenty of double (or maybe triple) crosses.  A good rule in these books is to trust no one to be what he or she seems, other than Mac and Padillo because that's the rule they follow.  They know there will be betrayals, even if they don't always know by whom and in what fashion they'll come.   As is often the case with Thomas, the plot is very complicated.

This book was published in 1967, and contemporary readers might boggle at things like the difficulty of getting telephones installed in automobiles and setting up a four-way conference call, but in most ways the novel doesn't seem dated at all.

And I can't resist quoting one line, among many, that made me smile:

"You watch television much?" Padillo asked.
"Some," I said.  "It's like China.  If you ignore it, it just gets worse."

Thursday, June 04, 2015

This Is Exactly Why We Have 911

Man Calls 911 To Report Aggressive Cat Won’t Let Him In Home

2015 Shamus Award Finalists

2015 Shamus Award Finalists - In Reference to Murder

What? No Garlic?

Man dances on car roof to save kids from vampires  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Lambda Literary Award Winners

Mystery Fanfare: Lambda Literary Award Winners

Dudley Williams, R. I. P.

NYTimes.com: Dudley Williams, an East Harlem prodigy who dazzled Alvin Ailey company audiences as a leading dancer for more than four decades, performing into his 60s, died over the weekend at his home in Manhattan. He was 76.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

News from The Associated Press: TEXAS DOCTORS DO FIRST SKULL AND SCALP TRANSPLANT

Song of the Day

The Platters - Down The River Of Golden Dreams (1960) - YouTube:

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

The Best Movie Sets Ever Built, Ranked

Today's Vintage Ad


I Miss the Old Days

The Cher Show finale, with Elton John and Bette Midler (1975) 

PaperBack



Ed McBain (Evan Hunter), Killer's Choice, Perma Books, 1957

Secrets of BILL CRIDER's Bookshelf (circa 1990)

Secrets of BILL CRIDER's Bookshelf (circa 1990)

The Famous Writer Who Brought Down Famous Writers School

The Famous Writer Who Brought Down Famous Writers School

Venture, July 1957: A Retro-Review

Venture, July 1957: A Retro-Review

Throwback Thursday: It was 50 years ago today

Today would have been Judy's and my 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a day we'd talked about a little and looked forward to a lot.  Judy had really hoped to be around for it, but it didn't work out that way.  She came up six months and seven days short.  

I haven't written much about her illness here because she didn't want me to.  She was a private person and stoic in facing her illness.  She was steel.  One day a few months before she died, we were talking about what might happen, and my voice cracked.  I probably had tears in my eyes.  Judy said, "Don't be maudlin.  If I die, I die, and that's it.  We've done all we can."   Steel?  Titanium is more like it.  Never once did I see her cry or weaken.  It must have been tough because she went through a lot.  Some of the chemo treatments were brutal, though I'm the only one who ever knew because to everyone else, she was relentlessly cheerful and polite. When ever anyone asked how she was doing, she'd always say, "Fine."  Nobody was ever going to hear her complain, except me, and that was the way it was.  I may have mentioned before that one of the nurses called me and said this about Judy: "That Mrs. Crider was always a lady, always dressed so nice, she never complained, not once."

The last week that she was in the hospital, I asked if she wanted to watch The Young and the Restless, and she said she didn't.  "But it's your favorite soap," I said.  "Bill," she said, "you just don't know how bad I feel."  That's a close as she ever came to complaining.

We dated (a quaint, old-fashioned custom, whippersnappers) for several years before we married, and in all we knew each other for well over 50 years.  That's a lot of memories, little things we shared that nobody else knows about -- jokes, trivial incidents, favorite songs and movies -- all things that nobody knows now except me.  Every day there's some little something that I want to tell her, that I know would make her smile, but that wouldn't mean a thing to anyone else.  

It's taken me a while to get used to being in the house alone, but I'm doing better at it.  It's taken me even longer to do other things.  We loved going to movies and for many years we went just about every week.  I've managed to get to one movie in the last six months and that was only recently (Mad Max: Fury Road).  I don't like going out alone.  I still haven't been to a restaurant alone.  Eating out was a lot of fun for the two of us.  It wouldn't be so much fun for just me.  I've been out with friends, and that's okay.  Sooner or later I'll make it out on my own, I think, but it might be a while.

What with my books and writing and the Internet, I manage to keep busy, and most of the time I can keep my mind occupied.  Distraction is good in cases like mine.  Sometimes grief sneaks up on me, though.  I have a feeling it's going to be doing that for a long time.  

When we were young and living in Brownwood, Texas, the local paper would often publish before-and-after shots of couples on their 50th anniversary, one shot of them when they were married and a current one.  Judy would often say, "We must remember not to do that."  So she's probably get me for this if she were here.   This is the closest thing I have to an "after."  It was taken in Sonoma in August last year.  I think Judy was as beautiful as ever.


If you think of it today or this evening, raise a glass to me and Judy on what would have been our 50th.  That will be our celebration.

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

I For One Welcome Our New Cortical Overlords

Scientists are Growing Tiny Cerebral Cortexes in Petri Dishes  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

10 things the History Channel's 'Texas Rising' got wrong about the Battle of the Alamo

10 things the History Channel's 'Texas Rising' got wrong about the Battle of the Alamo

Slideshow warning.

“How to Read Disreputably” (by Kevin Mims)

“How to Read Disreputably” (by Kevin Mims) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: Kevin Mims is a short-story writer and essayist whose stories have appeared in many literary magazines and in EQMM and AHMM. His essays have appeared in the New York Times and many other newspapers. He last contributed a post to this site almost exactly a year ago. He returns with a piece focused entirely on reading and readers. It will bring back some vivid memories for those of us who used to carry “pocket books” around in pockets or bags.—Janet Hutchings

Song of the Day

Bobby Edwards - You're The Reason (1961) - YouTube:

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

13 Best and Worst Modern-Horror Movie Remakes 

Today's Vintage Ad


7 Stories Stephen King Refuses to Publish

7 Stories Stephen King Refuses to Publish 

PaperBack



Donald Hamilton, The Big Country, Dell, 1959

The Top 200 #1 Hits Of The Beatles Years ( 1964 - 1970 )

Forgotten Hits: The Top 200 #1 Hits Of The Beatles Years (1964 - 1970)

6 Famous Movies Made By The Last Person You'd Expect

6 Famous Movies Made By The Last Person You'd Expect

7 Bookstores Too Beautiful For Words

7 Bookstores Too Beautiful For Words 

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Pine-Sol use leads to Portland man allegedly slicing woman's hand with machete  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Irwin Rose, R. I. P.

American Nobel chemistry laureate Irwin Rose dies at 88: American Nobel laureate Irwin Rose, a biochemist whose groundbreaking work helped in the development of treatments for cervical cancer and cystic fibrosis, died on Tuesday, the University of California, Irvine said. He was 88.

Jim Bailey, Character Actor in Drag, Dies at 77 - NYTimes.com

NYTimes.com: Jim Bailey, an actor and singer who specialized in performing in drag, especially in the guise of pop divas like Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 77.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

15 Painless Facts About 'Road House'

15 Painless Facts About 'Road House' 

Tuesday, June 02, 2015

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Fla. man attacked house guest with machetes  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Interview: Richard S. Wheeler

Gravetapping: Interview: Richard S. Wheeler

Lawrence Block Interview

Lawrence Block: The Life Sentence

And Keep Off Her Lawn!

Elderly Woman Shoots Robot, Holds L.A. Deputies at Bay for 22 Hours  

P. S. 70 is not elderly.

Or Maybe You Did

10 Famously Bad Movies You Didn't Know Were Secret Masterpieces

Song of the Day

Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time , Mickey Gilley , 1976 Vinyl - YouTube:

The Big Idea: Martha Wells

The Big Idea: Martha Wells 

Today's Vintage Ad


For Some of You This Might Be the Old Days

20 Years Ago, This Is What Summer Looked Like

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Box cutter attack prompted by dirty towel  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

PaperBack



Charles Martin, Raw Passion, Uni Books, 1951

The Trap of Solid Gold: "The Flying Elephants"

The Trap of Solid Gold: "The Flying Elephants"

I'm Sure You'll All Agree

The 22 Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time 

New EQMM Podcast

PodOmatic | Best Free Podcasts: This month’s selection, from EQMM’s Passport to Crime department, is a story in translation. “Checkmate in Chimbote” by Belgium’s Bob Laerhoven, past winner of the Hercule Poirot Prize, is read by his translator, Josh Pachter. The story first appeared in English in EQMM’s June 2014 issue.

Some Forgotten Cartoons

5 Obscure Looney Tunes Cartoons

Overlooked Movies -- Bulworth

When Judy and I saw this in the theater, we both thought it was very funny.  We also thought it was kind of a mess.  Warren Beatty plays Jay Billington Bulworth, a senator from California who's running for reelection.  He's pretty much a cinch to lose, and he's tired of the whole game.  So, using a very old crime-fiction gimmick, he hires someone to kill him.  Anybody who's read a crime novel or two knows that as soon as someone does that, he immediately finds a lot of reasons to live.  And that's what happens here.  There's a twist to the contract deal, though.  Bulworth sells out to the insurance crowd, offering them his vote for a $10 million policy, payable to his daughter.  

Knowing he's going to be killed, Bulworth starts drinking, smoking pot, and having a great time.  He says what he's really thinking.  Naturally the public falls in love with him.  Now it looks like he might actually win the election.  More twists follow.  

This is a message movie, as well as a comedy.  Sometimes it feels as if Beatty is sitting in the seat beside you, nudging you with his elbow and saying, "Get it?  Get it?"  Or maybe hitting you on the head with a hammer instead of nudging.  I think it helps if you're a little to the left if you want to enjoy the movie, but nobody will need the nudging.  The points are all obvious.

The cast is great.  Halle Berry has never looked better, Beatty is awkwardly funny, and Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, and Jack Warren all do fine turns.  The ending is pretty messed up, another twist that you'll see coming, I'm sure.  And the message at the end really goes over the top.  No nudging.  More like a sledgehammer.  But I enjoyed the movie.  It's nearly 20 years old not, but I think you'll find that things haven't changed a bit.

Bulworth

Bulworth - Movie Trailer - YouTube:

Monday, June 01, 2015

Uh-Oh

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to Star in 'Big Trouble in Little China' Remake

Another Winner from Stark House Press


Coming in August.  This is great stuff.  There's an excellent introduction by Gary Lovisi, and some of you may have read Ed Gorman's rave reviews of The Evil Days on his blog or elsewhere.  These two books are fine examples of a masterly writer's work.  

STARK HOUSE PRESS: Bruno Fischer was born in Berlin, Germany, on June 29, 1908. He emigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1913, and was educated at the Rand School of Social Sciences (established by the American Socialist Party). Fischer became a sports reporter for the Long Island Daily Press in 1929, and followed this with stints at the Labor Voice and the Socialist Call, even running as a Socialist candidate for the New York state senate. He then turned to fiction, selling his first story, a horror tale, in 1936, followed by many more pulp stories and mystery novels, including the Ben Helm series. His last novel, The Evil Days, written after a lengthy writer's block, is considered by many to be his best. He passed away during a Mexican vacation on March 16, 1992.

A Brief History of CNN’s First Day on the Air, 35 Years Ago

A Brief History of CNN’s First Day on the Air, 35 Years Ago 

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

News - Home: Mayor Annise Parker announced Monday Houston became the largest city in the nation to help end veteran homelessness.

Bum Rap -- Paul Levine

First, a little personal story.  When Judy and I went to the Edgar Awards back in 2007 (I was nominated for Best Short Story; I didn't win), we went to the pre-banquet cocktail party.  It wasn't easy to get a seat in the big room where we were.  There were only a few tables, small ones, scattered around, and there were only two chairs at each table.  Judy and I had gotten there early, so we had a table.  I saw Paul Levine standing across the room.  I'm not sure how I knew it was him, but I'd read one of his books, Solomon and Lord, on the plane, and I wanted to tell him how much I'd enjoyed it.  So I got up and went over and told him.  I'm sure he doesn't remember it, but I was happy to do it.  I like telling someone I've enjoyed a book he's written, especially if I'm just read it happened to see him by coincidence.  Then I went back to my table, only to find that Judy had company.  Someone was sitting in my chair.  It was Stephen King, and he and Judy were carrying on a conversation.  I felt like a fifth wheel.  Later I asked her why she hadn't saved my seat.  She said, "Because that was Stephen King."  

Now that we have that out of the way, I should mention that after reading Solomon and Lord, I bought several more books by Levine, including others in that series and a couple in another series, this one about Jake Lassiter.  Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord are partners in a law firm in Miami, an odd couple who make a great team, and they're also lovers.  Jake Lassiter is a lawyer in Miami, too, and a former NFL linebacker, who, like Solomon and Lord, is a dedicated defense attorney.   In Bum Rap, Levine brings the three of them together.

Steve Solomon is in jail for having killed a Russian strip-club owner, a crime that Steve swears to Victoria that he's not guilty of.  Victoria hires a burned-out Jake Lassiter to defend Steve, who once again tells the story of his innocence.  [WARNING, WILL ROBINSON: SPOILER ALERT.  He's lying. END OF SPOILER ALERT.]  Complications ensue.  The include a beautiful Russian B-Girl who was in the room with Steve when the strip-club owner was shot, the FBI, diamond smuggling, the fact that Lassiter finds himself falling for Victoria, and lots of legal maneuvering, some of which is even on the up-and-up.  

It's a nice package of fast-moving legal-thriller entertainment, and I'm looking forward to the next book in the Solomon and Lord and Lassiter series.

And if you have Amazon Prime, you can get this one for free this month.  I certainly would recommend that you do.

This is What the World Looked Like to Columbus

This is What the World Looked Like to Columbus

Song of the Day

Move - Hello Susie (1970) - YouTube:

Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback - June 1st, 1965

Forgotten Hits: 50 Year Flashback - June 1st, 1965

Today's Vintage Ad


I'm Sure You'll All Agree

27 Underrated Shows All True TV Fans Should Watch

Who Says the Brits Don't Know How to Have Fun?

But soon they'll have no personal freedoms left.

Loud sex noises land woman in jail

PaperBack



Anthony Rome (Marvin H. Albert), Miami Mayhem, Pocket Books, 1960

Forgotten Hits: #1 - 1964 - 1969

Forgotten Hits: #1 - 1964 - 1969

I Miss the Old Days

Retrospace: Vintage Scan #30: Parade (Feb 22, 1970)

Feeling Safer Now?

But all the hassle is totally worth it if they can catch 5%, right?

ABC News: An internal investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News has learned.

New Poem at the Five-Two

The Five-Two: Bill Baber WE DIDN'T KNOW

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

Texas looks like Wild West as flooding forces a cattle drive

5th Annual Peacemaker Awards from Western Fictioneers

Western Fictioneers: 5th Annual Peacemaker Awards

First It was the Thin Mints Melee

Disney Star Raven Goodwin kicked out of Waffle House: Goodwin grew impatient when customers at a table she wanted lingered too long and she confronted one of the patrons in the bathroom.  

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Vintage Treasures: Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Vintage Treasures: Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Betsy Palmer, R. I. P.

Actress Betsy Palmer Dead at Age 88: Actress Betsy Palmer, whose long film, stage and television career began back in 1951 in the early days of live television and who later found a new generation of fans in her role as Mrs. Vorhees in the cult film classic Friday the 13th, has died at the age of 88, it was announced today by her longtime manager Brad Lemack. Lemack reports that Palmer died of natural causes on May 29th at a hospice care center near her Danbury, Connecticut home.

Free for Kindle for a Limited Time

Gun Sex - Kindle edition by Pearce Hansen. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.  Gun Sex is the first collection of short stories by Pearce Hansen, the author of STREET RAISED, STAGGER BAY, and THE STORM GIANTS. Looking back over a 17 year writing career, Pearce has gleaned what he considers the 15 best pieces from his six anthology inclusions, and over 100 publications in such venues as Plots With Guns!, Hardboiled, and Thuglit.