"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."
My Boog Pages
Wednesday, May 10
Random Carp
Some dark, malevolent force doesn't want me to visit Houston.
I was supposed to go to Houston for "Noir Night 2" last December (later downgraded to "Not Quite Noir Night", or maybe "Noir Night Lite", when some of the authors had to cancel), but we had a freeze, and for good measure I got puking sick the next day.
So when I heard about "Noir Night 2006" I was mighty stoked, and immediately made plans to be there. When I got sick AGAIN I was, at least, nonplussed. Apparently there's something about me and Murder By The Book that's not meant to happen. If I ever have my own book and schedule a signing there, a rift in the space-time continuum may swallow me up forever. You heard it here first.
The wrote what? Sometimes writers write things you just wouldn't expect. For example, Ian Fleming wrote the rather coldblooded, hardboiled spy-type series featuring James Bond, and was by all accounts a rather coldblooded, hardboiled spy-type himself. Yes, he wrote Dr. No, Thunderball, and... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
Or take Pierre Boulle, author of the books that became the classic science fiction films The Fly, Planet Of The Apes, and... The Bridge On The River Kwai?
BTW, did you know that Jason Connery was in a movie where he played a suave WWII secret agent named... Ian Fleming? Will the italic madness never end?
And shouldn't he and Colin Hanks be in a movie together sometime? Along with, say, Alison Eastwood?
The Same - Or Different? Was listening to R.E.M.'s "Superman" the other day and happened to think - isn't this the same song as The Who's "I Can See For Miles"? Except that the singer in "Miles" sounds a bit sinister, whereas in "Superman" he's just pathetic.
Stealing From The Best.Tod Goldberg has practically made a career of outing the fucktards who write in to Parade Magazine, but I have to say he missed a golden opportunity here:
Q. My brother-in-law says the late Steve McQueen raced through San Francisco in a Ford Mustang in the 1968 movie Bullitt. I say it was a Dodge Charger. There is a $10 bet riding on your answer. Who wins? —Bob Sasko, Lewes, Del.
Pardon me, Mr. Sasko, but I'm going to make some assumptions about you, namely that you haven't seen Bullitt since it came out in 1968, that you were using one of the mind-altering substances commonly available at the time, and that you only went to the movie because the braless young lady in the next seat thought that Steve McQueen was, like, so cool. And that you must not own a television, and hence haven't seen Ford's "Field Of Steve" commercial. HOW IN THE NAME OF THE LORD COULD YOU NOT KNOW HE DROVE A MUSTANG?!? Tibetan monks under house arrest by the Chinese are FULLY AWARE that Detective Frank Bullitt drives the premier American muscle car. It's those Commie mafia bastards he's after who drive the Charger. Fucktard.
Mavs Update. Haven't watched much ball the last few days, but the Mavs took San Antonio right down to the wire in Game 1 before botching the final possession and losing by two. Unfazed, they came out firing last night, hammering the Spurs by twenty or so. The Mavs seem much more consistent right now - if they'd gotten the ball to Dirk for a clean 2 instead of to Stackhouse for an off-balance 3, they might be undefeated in the postseason. BONUS SPORTS COVERAGE: Last week I told a co-worker that there was "no way" the Suns would beat the Lakers three games in a row. But they did. Shows what I know.
