Saturday, September 27, 2008

Paul Newman, R.I.P.




We'll miss you Fast Eddie, Hustler, Butch, Cool Hand Luke ...

Monday, September 22, 2008

You like books? How about festivals?

Then you should make a point to hit the Louisiana Book Festival October 4th here it Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I'll be doing a little book talk thingy on Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. More details as the event draws nigh.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

James Crumley, R.I.P.



In grad school, when I was deciding I might write crime, my pal Anthony Neil Smith handed me a pile of books. On top was The Last Good Kiss. I read it.

Then I decided to write crime.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Back in the Buffy



The house once again hums with multiple episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer since my professor-wife has been asked to contribute another essay on the show. Since when did my wife become cooler than I am. Always? Who said that? Shut up!


Friday, September 12, 2008

My Top 3 Navy Films




1. In Harm's Way
2. The Sand Pebbles
3. Mr. Roberts

Why navy films? No idea.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Electricity back on ... kiss my ass, pre-industrial society.

I have been basking in the awesomeness of air-conditioning. Hurricane Gustav put quite a smackdown on Baton Rouge, and i was without power for a week.

A favor: During that week, i was only able to check e-mail intermittently. If you sent me an e-mail and i didn't reply, then somehow it slipped thru the cracks. Please send again.

Now if the cable would come back on, I'd be all set.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Check me out at Sci-fi.com

Sci-fi Wire is the official news service of the Sci-fi Channel. They were cool enough to give me a mention.

Right here.

Friday, September 5, 2008

I am not legend

I feel like a quitter.

After four humid nights without power, sitting with a candle and a battery-powered AM radio making coffee every morning on my Chargriller, I finally cashed it in and headed to my in-law's house in Memphis. Hot showers and Internet. Hooray.

Folks, Baton Rouge is a mess. Trees and power lines down everywhere. Peopel are actually going to New Orleans to get away from the mess in Baton Rouge. The radio announcer said people were waiting 3-4 hours for gasoline.

I'm going to rest here a few days then head back. I hope to God the power is back on by the time I return. They say it might be up to four weeks for some people to get back the juice.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Live from Hurricane Gustav: update #10

News reports that Gustav has turned slightly north ... more toward me.



Stop that, Guastav! Go away.

. . . . . . !

Damn. Power keeps going out. Thankfully it seems to come right back on.

Live from Hurricane Gustav: update #9



Whoa. Big gust of wind just whipped down my street. More branches and leaves in the lawn and street. Very messy looking out there. Lights just flickered a minute ago. Not sure when/if the power will go.


The picture above is from my swimming pool.


Live from Hurricane Gustav: update #8

Decided to go outside and assess the storm first hand. I stood under the carport, took my cup of coffee with me, so I was invincible. The wind is picking up, the tops of the oak trees thrashing around pretty good. Moderate rain. Small branches and leaves all over lawns.

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The power went out during this post. Came back on 10 seconds later. Lucky blogger saved it as a draft. Not sure how much longer I'll have juice.

Stay tuned. You may hear more ... or not.

Live from Gustav: update #7

Woke up this morning and it sounded like I lived on the beach. The wind in the trees sounded like surf. The sky is a uniform gray. Gusty but still not bad. Landfall anytime now.

I need coffee.

UPDATE: Rain has picked up significantly in the last 30 minutes.