LARRY SWEAZY REALLY WANTS TO GIVE YOU A BOOK

If you are interested in reading a great western novel, follow the link to Larry Sweazy's blog where he really wants to away a signed copy of his book The Scorpion Trail:

http://larrydsweazy.blogspot.com/2011/03/win-free-signed-copy-of-scorpion-trail.html

FRIDAY, 7:31 A.M.

Japan has had a severe earthquake and my thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people.

The earthquake has triggered a tsunami that is due to hit Hawaii about a half an hour from now.  All good thoughts to our fiftieth state.

Also hoping the tsunami won't take out Obama's birth certificate.

FORGOTTEN BOOK: AN EYE FOR AN EYE

Ben Forbes, a successful young lawyer, waits for his wife to pick him up at his office.  She never appears.

     Ben had represented Lorene Guthrie in a divorce suit against her sadistic husband Al.  Al Guthrie blames Ben for his wife leaving him and for convincing her to file for divorce; until Ben appeared, Lorene always came crawling back to Al after he beat her.  With the divorce to be finalized within two weeks, Al has a delusional plan to get his wife back.  He has kidnapped Carolyn Forbes, and if Ben wants his wife back, he must convince Lorene to come back to Al.  Because Al believes Ben was the one to convince his wife to leave him, he will be the one who can convince Lorene to come back.  If Ben fails, Al will kill Carolyn, the Lorene, and then Ben.

     Ben is afraid to tell the police, even though his wife's disappearance is being handled by high school friend Detective Ernie McGrath.  Ben's erratic behavior makes Ernie begin to suspect that he had killed his wife.  In the meantime, Ben contacts Lorene, a young, beautiful, and selfish woman, who has just become engaged to an older -- safer -- man.  Ben soon realizes that the shallow Lorene will be of no help. 

     The stage is set for a razor-sharp, fast-moving psychological thriller.  Author Leigh Brackett rachets up the suspense as Al Guthrie descends further and further into madness.  An Eye for an Eye is a crackerjack novel with a sudden violent ending, a book that -- if it had not been issued by a major hardcover publisher -- would have fit just fine with a yellow spine and a Gold Medal label.

     Leigh Brackett began her career as a science fiction writer, becoming one of the leading authors of planetary adventure.  Her first novel, however, was a hard-boiled detective story and she soon brought a noir sensibility to her science fiction.  She soon moved to screenwriting, writing such classics as The Big Sleep (with William Faulkner), Rio Bravo, The Long Goodbye, and The Empire Strikes Back (complete by Lawrence Kasdan after Brackett's sudden death).  Among her many novels were The Sword of Rhiannon and The Long Tomorrow (science fiction), Follow the Free Wind (western, winner of the Spur award), Stranger at Home (mystery novel ghost-written for actor George Sanders), and mystery novels No Good for a Corpse, A Tiger Among Us, and Silent Partner.  Her science fiction short stories are currently being published in really great editions from Haffner Press, and Silent Partner was released with a number of mystery short stories by Dennis McMillan in 1999.  Most of her books are readily available through on-line sellers.  No matter what hat she wore, Leigh Brackett always delivered the goods.

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     For more of Friday's Forgotten Books, go to Patti Abbot's blog Pattinase at pattinase.blogspot.com

MY HEAD IS SPINNING

I think it's pretty well established that I am of a liberal bent.  I was not really surprised by the antics in Wisconsin yesterday, or by Rep. Peter King's hearings on Muslim terrorism, but Lordloveaduck Newt Gingrich has got my head spinning.

     (In the interest of full disclosure, I have been told that I look like Newt Gingrich.  In fact, I've been mistaken for him a couple of times in Washington, D.C. by what I am sure are myopic yahoos.  It's gotten to the point where I have considered getting a tee-shirt proclaiming me to be the "Anti-Newt".)

     Okay, so Newt, who does have a problem with keeping it zipped up, has come up with a logical explanation for his serial adultery:  PATRIOTISM.  Yep.  Newt loves his country so much, it stressed him out enough to commit adultery.  Multiple times.  This, of course, allows Newt to seriously "consider" consider running for president, because who doesn't want the president to love his country?

     I've tried to explain to my wife that I am a true patriot, deeply in love with my country.  She isn't buying it.  (She really doesn't have to worry -- she doesn't have cancer.)

POP QUIZ

I'm in an evil mood this morning, students, so here's a surprise quiz.  It's going to count for fifty percent of your final grade.  In this essay quiz, you must discuss the following questions and defend your positions to my satisfaction.  You have twenty minutes.  And remember -- points will be taken off for bad penmanship.


1.  Charlie Sheen.  Winner?

2.  Today is the first anniversary of legal gay marriage in Washington D.C.  How in hell does this threaten my marriage?

3.  Which of the following parents of celebrities should be given a hard whack on the head, and why?  Pick only one.

          - Dina Lohan
          - Michael Lohan
          - Joe Simpson
          - Joe Jackson
          - Billy Ray Cyrus
          - Sarah Palin
          - Simon Cowell's father
          - Glenn Beck's father
          - L. Ron Hubbard (Tom Cruise's father figure)
          - Tom Cruise
          - All of the above.

4.  Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman (choose one).  Sexy, bat-shit crazy, or both?

5.  The Facebook revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have resulted in their respective governments being overthrown.  Not so much yet in Libya.  If the revolution fails in Libya, should the opposition try again, this time using chain letters?  Defend your answer.

6.  Rep. Peter King.  Radical I.R.A. supporter or radical Muslim non-supporter?  And how will affect his pledge to launch multiple investigations into President Obama, radical Hawaiian supporter?

7.  You have been ordered to slash the country's budget by $2.57.  What cut(s) would you make, how would defend them, and what would the overall fiscal, social, and political effects be?

8.  When will e-books be overtaken by technology?

9.  A copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man, just sold for $1.5 million dollars.  Why did my mother throw away my copy?  Did she not want to see me become rich, or did she just hate me?

10.  Why do these quizzes have ten questions?   If I were a polydactyl (born with six fingers on each hand), would I have to think up another two questions?

OVERLOOKED FILMS: MARDI GRAS!

Today is Fat Tuesday.  No, Miss Weld did not let herself gain weight.  It's Mardi Gras!

New Orleans has gone through some pretty tough times over the past few years, but it is a survivor.  I thought it would be interesting to look at some short films covering Mardi Gras in the Big Easy over the years.

The first is from home videos taken in 1941.  No sound on this one, but I love watching the faces in the crowd.  Toward the end, there are a lot of kids in fancy costumes and some of them look actually happy.  Huge crowds and absolutely safe for work.  By-gone times:

http://www.archive.org/details/Paradeof1941

Let's shift up to 1956:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n4TzJ69TBE

Even Katrina couldn't dispell the New Orleans spirit.  Here's 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvT6jdfD2Hs

Of course, New Orleans isn't the only city to celebrate Mardi Gras.  It's evidently a big day in Galveston
also.  Look closely and you may see Bill Crider tossing beads and shouting, "Show us your paperbacks!"  Or not:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykVTFPBEzyI

I hope you have a fantastic Fat Tuesday (again, I refer to the day, not the actress).  Laissez les bon temps roulez!

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For more much more significant overlooked films, visit Todd Mason at his Sweet Freedom blog.

Oh, and just so you don't confuse them, here's Tuesday Weld;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRNporirt9s

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

The first time I saw her, I knew she was the most beautiful woman in the world.  Today, she is still the most beautiful woman in the world..  Her warmth, her grace, her intelligence, her laughter...all have been so evident every day I have been with her.  She has made me a better person and I'd hate to think what I would have been without her.  For the longest time she said she wouldn't marry me because she did not want her name to be Kitty House.  I'm glad she changed her mind.  I am by far the lucky one because I married her.
Happy birthday, Kitty.  I will love you forever.