Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Here's the Plot for Your Next Hollywood Thriller
latimes.com: Los Angeles police detectives are investigating the slaying of a man believed to be of Armenian descent whose head was discovered Tuesday afternoon by two dogs off a hiking trail below the Hollywood sign.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Darwin Update
Fox News: British scientists have found scores of fossils the great evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin and his peers collected but that had been lost for more than 150 years.
Dr. Howard Falcon-Lang, a paleontologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, said Tuesday that he stumbled upon the glass slides containing the fossils in an old wooden cabinet that had been shoved in a "gloomy corner" of the massive, drafty British Geological Survey.
Dr. Howard Falcon-Lang, a paleontologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, said Tuesday that he stumbled upon the glass slides containing the fossils in an old wooden cabinet that had been shoved in a "gloomy corner" of the massive, drafty British Geological Survey.
Jimmy Castor, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Jimmy Castor, a Bronx kid who started singing on street corners and later scored with two of the all-time great R&B street records, "Hey Leroy" and "Troglodyte," died Monday in Henderson, Nev.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Copper Room -- Henry Melton
Henry Melton's latest YA novel is a time-travel adventure. Jerry's uncle Greg invents the copper room of the title, an enclosure inside which time stands (almost) still. Stay inside for fifteen hours, and only five minutes pass outside. But Greg makes a big mistake. The room has two sets of controls, and one of them can send the room into the future in the blink of an eye. Sure enough, Jerry decides that it would be a fine idea to invite his girlfriend, Lil, to study with him in the room. The can do all their homework and have plenty of time for other things once back outside. Which is fine until they accidentally bump into the other controls and find out there's no way they can ever return to their own time again.They learn how to control the machine and jump ahead into different eras, looking for one that's hospitable. Not an easy job, and Melton explores various possible futures, most of them not pleasant. Jerry and Lil are nothing if not resourceful, and they become legendary figures as they deal with slavery, spaceships, and more.
What's unique about this book is the relationship between Jerry and Lil, two teens in love but with strong moral restraints against consummating that love without the benefit of marriage. You're not going to find this kind of thing in the usual YA novel.
The Copper Room is another winner from Melton. It's an entertaining ride into several possible futures, with some nice little twists along the way. There's humor, too, and the idea of a time traveler who often wears a cheerleader outfit is especially amusing. Check it out.
Dan Evins, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: The founder of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store chain, Dan Evins, has died at 76.
[. . . .]
Evins opened his first restaurant in Lebanon, Tenn., in 1969. The restaurant catered to highway travelers and focused on offering Southern hospitality, country-style cooking and an associated gift shop that came to define the chain.
[. . . .]
Evins opened his first restaurant in Lebanon, Tenn., in 1969. The restaurant catered to highway travelers and focused on offering Southern hospitality, country-style cooking and an associated gift shop that came to define the chain.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
A New Dead Man Debuts Today!
Read for free if you're an Amazon Prime member!Amazon.com: Fire and Ice (Dead Man #8) eBook: Jude Hardin, Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin: Kindle Store: The saga of Matthew Cahill continues as the man who sees a nightmarish netherworld nobody else does fights to save us all—and his own soul—from the clutches of the purely evil Mr. Dark.
On Matt’s third day of temping at a plant, disgruntled former worker Kevin Radowski (aka K-Rad) walks in and starts shooting. As the day progresses and the body count rises, Matt finds himself locked inside with four fellow employees—and no discernible way out.
Matt soon realizes K-Rad has more in mind than killing his co-workers…he’s using the chemicals available to blow the plant, and several square blocks of surrounding businesses and residences, sky high. But just when Matt thinks things can’t get any worse, Mr. Dark steps into the game, raising the stakes in a gruesome and horrifying way.
Fire and Ice delivers the non-stop action, high body count, and edgy thrills that make The Dead Man series impossible to put down.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Free for today only! I've read this one, and it's fine entertainment. You can't pass it up when it's free.Amazon.com: Stealing Souls (A Mina and James Stark Investigation) eBook: Ian Doyle: Kindle Store: In Drummond, James Stark and his pretty wife Mina run a discreet inquiry agency and are used to laying their lives on the line to see that justice and the truth prevail. The city is rife with dark creatures, great monsters and men who are beasts, and fantastical foes live in the shadows, waiting for victims.
When a puppet knocks on their door in the dead of night claiming to be a real boy who has had his body stolen through black arts, James takes up his pistol and sets out to balance the scales. Mina accompanies her husband as they investigate the dangerous affair of the wooden boy.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Northwest Florida Daily News: Man punches stepdad after being asked to stop staring
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Mail Online: A Southern Baptist minister and his wife have staged a bed-in on the roof of their church to encourage parishioners to put the zing back in their marriages - by having sex for seven days straight.
Inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's infamous protest bed-ins for peace in 1969, Reverend Ed Young and his wife Lisa snuggled up on top of the Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas for a 24-hour 'Sexperiment'.
Inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's infamous protest bed-ins for peace in 1969, Reverend Ed Young and his wife Lisa snuggled up on top of the Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas for a 24-hour 'Sexperiment'.
Overlooked Films -- The Iron Mistress
Who needs historical accuracy when you have Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo in blazing Technicolor? Not me, and certainly not me when I was eleven years old. I was brought up on tales of Bowie at the Alamo, and he was a hero in my mind. He's a hero in this movie, too, and the unsavory aspects of his character are completely absent. I wouldn't want it any other way.Bowie (Ladd) goes to New Orleans to sell some lumber. He meets and falls for Virginia Mayo (as who wouldn't?), the aristocratic Judalon de Bornay. She rejects him because he's a country bumpkin with no money. So he makes a lot of money and becomes refined and rich. Along the way he makes enemies and has his famous knife forged for protection. The scene where the blacksmith makes the knife was one of two that impressed me most as a kid. The blacksmith has a piece of a meteorite that he keeps hidden away, and he uses a bit of that special iron in the blade of the knife -- "a piece of heaven. . . or hell." Even with riches and a knife, however, Bowie can't win Judalon's love.
There are a couple of good knife fights in the movie, and the other scene that impressed me is the climactic one where Bowie and another man enter a completely darkened room to fight it out with their knives. An occasional flash of lightning gives us a glimpse of the proceedings. I acted this scene out in my back yard more than once. Great stuff (the scene, not the way I acted it out).
You know those movies that you see and say, "They don't make 'em like that anymore"? Well, this is one of those. Probably too corny for today's audiences, but just right for a geezer like me.
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