Paul Newman, R.I.P.

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

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.

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.

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!

My Top 3 Navy Films

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

Why navy films? No idea.

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.

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.

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.

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.