Saturday, April 19, 2014

FINALISTS: 2014 Hugo Award & 1939 Retro Hugos

FINALISTS: 2014 Hugo Award & 1939 Retro Hugos [With Free Fiction Links!] - SF Signal

The Memorable Last Words of Literary Characters

The Memorable Last Words of Literary Characters 

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

7-year-old twin boys fend off Texas carjacker with fists and a rubber snake 

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Man Threatens Deli Workers With Samurai Sword   

Annoying auto-start video.

Song of the Day

Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford - I Need Your Lovin'.wmv - YouTube:

Or You Might

20 Facts You Might Not Know About ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2′

Today's Vintage Ad


How Paperbacks Transformed the Way Americans Read

How Paperbacks Transformed the Way Americans Read

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Stephen Becker, Shanghai Incident, Gold Medal, 1955

The genre debate: Science fiction travels farther than literary fiction

The genre debate: Science fiction travels farther than literary fiction   

Link via SF Signal.

Well, Duh

Ancient wrestling was fake too: Researchers have deciphered a Greek document that shows an ancient wrestling match was fixed. The document, which has a date on it that corresponds to the year A.D. 267, is a contract between two teenagers who had reached the final bout of a prestigious series of games in Egypt.

Once Again Texas Leads the Way

World’s Largest Volcano Officially Named For Texas A&M

Hat tip to Bill Page.

Archaeology Update (Bad Doggie Edition)

Ancient puppy paw prints found on Roman tiles: "They are beautiful finds, as they represent a snapshot, a single moment in history," said Nick Daffern, a senior project manager with Wardell Armstrong Archaeology. "It is lovely to imagine some irate person chasing a dog or some other animal away from their freshly made tiles."

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Soccer fan arrested for dumping several kilograms of anchovies on team’s bench before a game

The 5-2 Blog Tour

I try to alert everyone when there's a new poem at Gerald So's site The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly.  It's always fun to see a new poem and  hear a new voice, so when Gerald asked me to be part of his annual blog tour and write about one of the poems, I was happy to take part.  It's not always easy to choose one to write about since I like nearly all of them, but this year one title called out to me: "The Adjunct Professor's Lament."  It's by Charles Rammelkamp, and it appeared on March 3.  You can read it here, and you should. 

I was taken with this one because as chair of a community college English department for many years, I had to hire a lot of adjunct professors.  They're the unsung heroes of academia, teaching classes for ridiculously low salaries and trying to impart a little knowledge. Sometimes the job has its hazards, and I suspect every teacher (not just adjuncts) has had a student a little like the one that Rammelkamp describes in his poem.  My own favorite memory of such a student is the one who might very well be the duplicate of the one in Rammelkamp's poem, the one who told me while ranting about her instructor and the grade she'd received, "Just because I'm mentally ill doesn't mean I'm crazy."

What's the risk of having a student like that, and what's a teacher to do?  The instructor in the poem has one answer.  I expect it's one that many others have also found.  So much for the semicolon.

WINNER: 2014 Philip K. Dick Award

WINNER: 2014 Philip K. Dick Award - SF Signal

I Sell Anything

1934 I SELL ANYTHING TRAILER PAT O'BRIEN - YouTube:

Friday, April 18, 2014

Film and Indiegogo Campaign

If you're into indie (very indie) films, you can watch A Public Ransom free online at the link below.  The link tells you a bit more about the film, and you can read the rest at the link.  If you watch the film and would like to kick in a few bucks to help the author and filmmaker get the film shown at a few festivals, you can contribute to the Indiegogo campaign here.

A PUBLIC RANSOM | a film by Pablo D'Stair: Visually inspired by the early films of Bresson, Fassbinder, and Jarmusch, A PUBLIC RANSOM is a slow burn character-study cum psychological-thriller in the spirit of the works of Patricia Highsmith.

An Interview with Max Allan Collins

An Interview with Max Allan Collins | Crimespree Magazine

I Want to Believe!

Loch Ness Monster spotted on satellite image 

I'm Fine With This

10 Remakes That Never Happened 

Trailer for Prizzi's Honor Inexplicably Not Included

12 Trailers That Spoil The Movies

Song of the Day

Little Joe Cook and The Thrillers - Peanuts - YouTube:

Little Joe Cook, R. I. P.

Little Joe Cook - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Joseph Cook (born December 29, 1922; died April 15, 2014), known as Little Joe Cook, is an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of Little Joe & The Thrillers, whose song "Peanuts" reached no. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957.

10 Of The Most Baffling Unsolved Mysteries Of All Time

10 Of The Most Baffling Unsolved Mysteries Of All Time  

Link via mental_floss.

Today's Vintage Ad


Gold Medal Originals Inexplicably Not Included

Best Short Novels: 50 Incredible Novels Under 200 Pages

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Jay Fulton, Perverted Urge, Merit Books, 1961

Miss the Old Days? Now You Can Visit.

British Pathe uploads 85,000 historic films to YouTube

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Legacy

Utopia 14 by Kurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Legacy: Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was one of the best loved American authors of his generation, even having an asteroid named after him. The author′s most celebrated novels are Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat′s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. His work stretched across black comedy, science fiction and satire.

Free ebooks!

The Education of a Pulp Writer: Free ebooks!

Paul Di Filippo reviews A Forgotten Writer

Paul Di Filippo reviews Robert Moore Williams

Vintage Treasures: Sentinels of Space by Eric Frank Russell / The Ultimate Invader

Vintage Treasures: Sentinels of Space by Eric Frank Russell / The Ultimate Invader

A Forgotten Book and Writer

The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series: Lilith by George MacDonald

A Forgotten Magazine

Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1951: A Retro-Review

FFB: Flesh Avenger -- J. X. Williams (Harry Whittington)

Flesh Avenger  is one of the "missing 38" Harry Whittington novels, finally brought back from the depths of obscurity by David Laurence Wilson and Lynn Munroe.  You can read all about it here.  I haven't completed my collection of Whittington novels, but I'm working on it.  I still have four or five of these formerly missing novels to go.  All were published under various house names shared by a number of writers.  In this case, Whittington was J. X. Williams.

Like so many of the softcore porn novels of the late '50s and '60s, this one's a dark crime story.  Jim Devlin has just been released from prison, where he's served 8 years for something he didn't do, something that resulted in the death of his wife.  Now he's returned to the small town where it happened, determined to find out why three women lied on the witness stand and got him sent to prison. And why his wife died.

Devlin is relentless in pursuit of the answers, no matter how many people try to stop him and no matter what the consequences are for everyone concerned, including himself.  His life no longer means anything to him.  Only his revenge matters.  Naturally in a book like this, the revenge-taking involves sex.  Lots of sex.  But it's all integral to the plot.  Well, maybe not, but most of it is.  Sort of.

Speaking of the plot, it's not going to be a great strain on anyone to figure out pretty much what's going on as soon as the culprits are introduced, but the book is very readable, anyway.  Nobody ever depicted raw emotion better than Whittington, and this book is packed with it.  And when it came to moving a plot along, Whittington was also tops.  I probably won't read all or even most of the missing 38 books that I have, but now and then I can't resist picking up something by Whittington.  This time, Flesh Avenger was the one.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, R. I. P.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Dead: Nobel Prize-Winning Author Dies At 87: Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez has died at age 87, a source close to the family told the Associated Press. Marquez had been recently hospitalized for infections in his lungs and his urinary tract.

NASA discovers first Earth-sized planet orbiting in life-friendly zone

NASA discovers first Earth-sized planet orbiting in life-friendly zone: For the first time, scientists have found an Earth-sized world orbiting in a life-friendly zone around a distant star.

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

SHOCKING PICTURES: Epic river battle to settle who wins in hippos versus crocs: A HUGE rumble in the jungle between hundreds of bloodthirsty animals answered once and for all the pub question of who would win in a fight between a hippo and a crocodile.

Well, Maybe Not You

These 9 Words Don't Mean What You Think They Mean

Song of the Day

Meri Wilson - Telephone Man (1977) - YouTube:

Kittens Of The Sea: Nine Legendary Ship's Cats

Kittens Of The Sea: Nine Legendary Ship's Cats  

Link via the Presurfer.

Barry Award Nominations

Mystery Fanfare: BARRY AWARD NOMINATIONS

Today's Vintage Ad


Archaeology Update

Findings may prove Rome a century older than initially thought

I Miss the Old Days

The '60s at 50: Friday, April 17, 1964: Ford Mustang

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Leonard Jackson, Patterns of Passion, Tropic Books, 1963

An Ode To Bookstore Cats

An Ode To Bookstore Cats

Naturally This Is Full of Spoilers

Top 10 Most Heroic Deaths in Movie History

Watch Babe Ruth Teach A Kid To Hit

Watch Babe Ruth Teach A Kid To Hit

Paging Seepy Benton

And the Most Desirable Job in the World Is… : With a median income of $101,360 and a 23% projected job growth rate by 2022, mathematician topped the site’s roundup of the most desirable jobs.

And Keep Off My Damn Lawn!

Study: Men Get Grumpy at Age 70

Cold In July

Cold In July Official Trailer 1 (2014) - Sam Shepard, Michael C. Hall Thriller HD - YouTube:

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Great Vintage Ad

“Genuine Soil From Dracula’s Castle” 

10 Ways Academics Say Comedians Make Us Laugh

10 Ways Academics Say Comedians Make Us Laugh

Frank R. Paul ~ Fantastic Adventures

The Golden Age: Frank R. Paul ~ Fantastic Adventures

Song of the Day

Pat Boone - Big Cold Wind (1961) - YouTube:

The REAL Texas Rangers

The REAL Texas Rangers

Today's Vintage Ad


Yet Another List I'm Not On

Top 10 People Who Could Be Considered the Fifth Beatle 

“Bookends”-- Lou Manfredo

“Bookends” (by Lou Manfredo) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN

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Paul Merchant (Harlan Ellison), Sex Gang, Nightstand Books, 1959

I Miss the Old Days

10 Hilariously Outdated Instructional Films

Nic Cage Update

Nic Cage's Encounters With The Animal Kingdom 

Or You Might

15 Facts You Might Not Know about Murder, She Wrote

Air Raid Wardens

1943 AIR RAID WARDENS TRAILER LAUREL AND HARDY - YouTube:

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Attention to Books of Possible Interest

Amazon.com: Fevre Dream eBook: Rachel Lampi: Kindle Store: New York police detective Sam Cordray is returning to the force after a year-long battle with Fevre Dream, a drug that both heightens the senses and causes frightening hallucinations. Police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt gives Sam a case to get him back in business: the murder of Molly O'Hara, an actress at City Lights Theatre. 

Sam doesn't think the case is anything out of the ordinary – until Fevre Dream surfaces in connection with the murder. Now he's caught in a battle: escaping the dark days he thought he had left behind him, or finding the City Lights murderer before he or she strikes again.

Frank R. Paul ~ Science and Mechanics 1932-1936

The Golden Age: Frank R. Paul ~ Science and Mechanics 1932-1936

Gator Update (Terrifying Facts Edition)

11 Terrifying and Amazing Facts About Alligators 

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Sex-crazed Romanian Angelina Jolie lookalike forced taxi driver into sex twice, stabbed him when he couldn't manage third time 

The 15 most entertaining Horror Films from the 1980s

The 15 most entertaining Horror Films from the 1980s  

Link via SF Signal.

Song of the Day

The Crickets - He's Old Enough To Know Better - YouTube:

I Miss the Old Days

Predictions that 1964 World's Fair got right and what it got very wrong 

Today's Vintage Ad


Here's the Plot for Your Next Bio-Thriller

Sars Research Lab Loses 2,000 Tubes of Killer Virus

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Earl Titan, Anjani the Mighty, Scion, 1951

A List I'm On!

Western Fictioneers: Peacemaker Award Finalists

Too bad there's no category for "best cover."  You can buy the book here.

24 Awesome Librarian Tattoos

24 Awesome Librarian Tattoos

I Miss the Old Days

Polyester Prayers: Gospel Family Album Covers of the Seventies

6 Hilarious Failures Celebrities Want You to Forget

6 Hilarious Failures Celebrities Want You to Forget

The Legacy of Victor Gollancz: Publishing Pioneer

Orphans of the Sky by Robert HeinleinAbeBooks: The Legacy of Victor Gollancz: Publishing Pioneer: Many of you will be familiar with Victor Gollancz’s last name. His publishing company printed some of the finest books of the 20th century - including The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell and Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis - but there is also an intriguing story behind the man himself.

Overlooked Movies: Day of the Triffids

Howard Keel in a horror movie?  Yes, the lead in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (and a number of other musicals) made movies with no music at all, including a few westerns and this one, which is based on a novel by John Wyndham.  I'd read the novel a few years before the movie appeared, so I remembered enough about it to know that there are some significant differences between the two, most notably the ending.  But I'll get to that later.

In the movie, the triffids are a plant that's been brought to earth by a meteor shower. They're sinister, they make a funny noise, and they kill.  Keel is in the hospital recovering from an eye injury caused by a triffid when second meteor shower comes along and blinds everyone who looks at it.  Most people on earth look at it, and with most of the population now blind, civilization starts to crumble.  Keel and a few others who can see begin to make their way to Spain (I'm not quite sure why) and have to evade the triffids all the way.  A second plot involves a young couple in a lighthouse, trying to survive.

There are some good scenes of civilization crumbling and of narrow escapes from the triffids, who are having a fine time feeding on a bunch of blind people who can't escape them.  Who will save the world from these horrible creatures?  [HUGE SPOILER ALERT It turns out that they can be easily killed.  It's not quite a rip-off of War of the Worlds, but it's in the same ballpark.  The young couple in the lighthouse figure it out.  In the novel, there's no such happy ending.  There's some hope that humanity will survive, but no easy way of killing triffids. END OF HUGE SPOILER ALERT]   

This isn't a great movie, by any means.  It's not terrible, though, and might be fun if you're in the right frame of mind.

Day of the Triffids

1963 DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS TRAILER HOWARD KEEL SCI-FI - YouTube:

Monday, April 14, 2014

2014 Pulitzer Prize Winners Include Donna Tartt, Annie Baker

2014 Pulitzer Prize Winners Include Donna Tartt, Annie Baker

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

North Carolina man shoots 13 bullets into strip club after he was kicked out: Mario Chavez, 33, was kicked out of the Leather & Lace strip club in Gastonia, N.C., after he reportedly slapped a dancer on the hip — so he decided to go to his truck and pull out two guns.

Rejection Letters I've Received Inexplicably Not Included

12 Incredibly Ill-Advised Rejection Letters

Song of the Day

The Dave Clark Five/Last Train To Clarksville - YouTube:

How the Dave Clark Five almost became the Monkees

How the Dave Clark Five almost became the Monkees

Today's Vintage Ad


11 Old Timey Criminal Slang Terms for the Police

11 Old Timey Criminal Slang Terms for the Police 

5 Animals That Look Like Cartoons (Until They Kill You)

5 Animals That Look Like Cartoons (Until They Kill You) 

PaperBack



C. & G. Graham, Fleshpots of Malibu (Queer People), Avon Broadway Novel Monthly, 1947

New Poem at the 5-2

The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly: Linda Lerner FEAR AS LOUD AS A MUGGING

The Oldest Living Things in the World

The Oldest Living Things in the World: A Decade-Long Photographic Masterpiece 

Dino Turtle Would Be a Great Title for a SyFy Movie

It WBAGNFARB, too.

Extremely rare Texas dino turtle even more endangered than first thought 

I Got #1 Right!

Guess The Celebrity From The #ThrowbackThursday Picture

I Miss the Old Days

The 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car

Scrabble Update

Here’s the First Word to Be Added to the Scrabble Dictionary in 9 Years 

Fourteen Hours

fourthou - YouTube:

Sunday, April 13, 2014

First It Was the Thin Mints Melee

Angry over 22-cent tax on soda, man pulls out submachine gun in store

The Funniest Guy in the World

Curly of the Three Stooges: The Funniest Guy in the World

Song of the Day

Golden Bells - The Shacklefords - YouTube:

Forgotten Treasures of the Pulps: Tony Rome, Private Eye

Forgotten Treasures of the Pulps: Tony Rome, Private Eye

Today's Vintage Ad


20 Things You Might Not Have Known About Gone with the Wind

20 Things You Might Not Have Known About Gone with the Wind 

PaperBack



Space Science Fiction, 9-52

A Brief History of Movie Post-Credits Sequences

A Brief History of Movie Post-Credits Sequences

Gator Update (Sneaky Snake Edition)

Man watching alligator bitten by snake off Alligator Alley 

The Toxic History of Soda Pop

Medicinal Soft Drinks and Coca-Cola Fiends: The Toxic History of Soda Pop 

10 Habits Of Highly Creative People

10 Habits Of Highly Creative People

Safari Drums

1953 SAFARI DRUMS TRAILER JOHNNY SHEFFIELD AS BOMBA - YouTube: