Friday Night Videos

It's not really Christmas until the Kinks play "Father Christmas," so let me help you get into the holiday spirit!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Christine McVie.

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20 years

Exactly 20 years ago today I started work for Texas State University. It was a weird time for me. My family was living in Temple and I was staying in San Antonio and Austin. I'd worked the previous nine months for Prime Time Newspapers in San Antonio, which had the most ethically challenged, incompetent management I've ever had the misfortune of working for (and that's after leaving my previous job because of a terrible, terrible boss as well--honestly, I've had great bosses and bad bosses, so I know the difference. My bad ones outnumber the good ones 2:1. My luck is absolute crap in that department). They were terrible (the staff working there were great--it's just the management that was awful). Texas State offered me a lifeline, but there was a catch: Orientation only occurred once a month, so if I didn't start on the December date (10 days away) I'd have to wait until January. That meant spending another month working for those terrible people whilst making less money.

Oh, and because of the academic calendar, if I came to Texas State on December 16, I'd work four days then get two weeks off for the holidays. Paid. I hadn't had any kind of time off in two years at that point.

The decision was not difficult. The management at Prime Time called me all sorts of names, accused me of betrayal, being unprofessional and a litany of other insults because I had the nerve to give only 10 days notice rather than a full 14. I served my time then got the hell out of Dodge. And you know what? I soon found out that they sold one of the magazines I'd edited the following week. Those kind of deals don't happen overnight. It had been in the works for some time, and when it happened they'd planned to fire me and pass the other magazine on to one of the other editors there. I'd seen it before. Talk about a bunch of rat fink bastards.

I did not expect to spend the next 20 years at Texas State. The first 12 years were the best job I'd ever had. My coworkers were great, my supervisors were friendly and supportive. It was the best environment ever. Then there was a change in leadership, and suddenly I had another rat fink bastard making my life miserable. She was pathologically incapable of telling the truth, insisted she had expertise on everything (often with disastrous results) and believed good leadership meant firing someone every three months. And yes, I looked for a way out, but nothing ever quite worked out although I got very close to leaving a couple of times. Her bullying got so bad that I finally had to file a formal grievance, which despite dragging out almost two years, ended with her adopting a hands off policy on me. I enjoyed some well-earned schadenfreude when she pulled her shit on the wrong person and was escorted off campus by police earlier this year.

Now, I'm in a new division with new leadership and finally getting the staffing help that I've desperately needed for the past 8 years. I'm not quite ready to say things are back to being the greatest job ever, but at least they're trending that way. I will not be sticking around for another 20 at this point I suspect this is the final stop in my career as a media relations professional.

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Friday Night Videos

Christine McVie died this week. No cause of death as been given beyond "a brief illness." This is somewhat shocking, as she always struck me at the one who would outlive all the other members of Fleetwood Mac.

Growing up in rural Texas, we listened to both kinds of music--country *and* western. When I reached junior high and high school and realized most of my peers were listening to other kinds of music (what is pop? what is rock? what is R&B?) I kinda flailed for a while. But then one day in 1984 I was watching Showtime (we didn't get HBO) and back then they used to have a "Take 5" segment filling dead air between movies where they'd run music videos (we didn't get MTV then, either). And what came on by the video to McVie's second solo single, "Love Will Show Us How." I was immediately captivated by the exceptionally silly video, which poked a lot of fun at the cliches of all those other videos, most of which I'd never seen. But what stayed with me was the velvety texture of her voice. I've never really heard any other singer who sounded like her. That led me to our local record store (we did have record stores in those days) and I came away with her album on cassette. It was melodic. It was lyrically engaging. It shared much in common with McVie's Fleetwood Mac work, except that it didn't have that creative tension to take it to the next level. But still, solid music. From there, I discovered Fleetwood Mac (naturally), Billy Joel, Sheena Easton, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd and my music obsession was born. But Christine McVie was my gateway drug, and for that I'll always be grateful.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Jane Wiedlin.

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Friday Night Videos

Since I featured Belinda Carlisle here last week, it's only fitting that I follow up with her pixie-cut former bandmate, the effervescent Jane Weidlin. She had a fairly successful acting career after the Go-Go's broke up, so I suppose that's one reason she never put out much solo music. But when she did, it was fun stuff. Here's her first solo hit, the infectious and charming "Rush Hour."

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Belinda Carlisle.

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Friday Night Videos

I saw Belinda Carlisle--former lead singer of the Go-Go's--perform in San Antonio last night. Her voice was in fine form and her moves were that of a 24-year-old, which belied her actual 64 years. It was a fun show, but just a few song in I was surprised to realize that she'd enojoyed far more hits as a solo artist than she ever did with the Go-Go's (yet she's still primarily thought of in relation to that group). This shouldn't have come as a surprise, since I remember the success of her solo career, but the brain gets set in its ways, does it not? So here's her first solo hit, "Mad About You," which came out the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school. This video marks a strong break from her Go-Go's image. She's very femme, painfully cute and impossibly young. Yes, that's Duran Duran's Andy Taylor playing guitar, and for my tikiphile friends out there the album she's messing with is Yma Sumac! I mean, you couldn't get more obscure in 1986 if you tried. And I still think they should've used this as the theme song to Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt's sitcom of the same name.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Stan Getz.

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Friday Night Videos

Stan Getz is, without a doubt, amongst my favorite jazz musicians of all time. I first encountered his work, naturally enough, through his bossa nova collaborations, but that quickly led me to his cool jazz work and boy oh boy, did I learn I absolutely love cool jazz. A brilliant performer from a young age, he was plagued all his life by addiction. Despite this persistent millstone, the man's tallent was damn near limitless. Here's the man performing "Windows" with the Stan Getz Quartet at Montreaux back in 1972.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Juice Newton.

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Friday Night Videos

In the early 1980s, Juice Newton absolutely dominated the airwaves. She had hit after hit, then all of the sudden she was gone. What happened to her? I'm not sure, but this video might offer a clue to her disappearance: "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me."

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets.

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Chicken Ranch anniversary: Sheriff T.J. Flournoy (1902-1982)

On this date in 1982, Fayette County Sheriff T.J. "Jim" Flournoy died at the age of 80. Big Jim, as he was known, was the longest-serving sheriff in Fayette County history, had a two-year run as a Texas Ranger during World War II and several stints as a deputy in various jurisdictions. He shot to fame, of course, by defending the Chicken Ranch brothel when KTRK-TV newsman Marvin Zindler campaigned to shut it down. Zindler returned to La Grange on December 30, 1974 to do a follow-up story, and that's where he encountered Sheriff Flournoy. The altercation ended with the Sheriff stomping on Zindler's toupée in the middle of the street, and Zindler heading back to Houston with several cracked ribs. Lawsuits flew back and forth for years, before the two eventually settled out of court.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Friday Night Videos

I've been a Pink Floyd fan since my long-ago high school days. I missed the band's late 80s tour for Momentary Lapse of Reason but was fortunate enough to catch the Division Bell tour in 1994, which turned out to be the band's swan song. It was a technically magnificent show, but a bit impersonal (which is understandable, taking place in San Antonio's Alamodome). Now, several decades later, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason brought his Saucerful of Secrets group to Austin for a show in Bass Hall, focusing entirely on pre-Dark Side of the Moon material. I hope to do a full writeup in the near future, but let me just say here that it was magnificent. Fun, warm, personal and joyous. It was a marvelous show and amongst the many highlights was a fantastic rendition of "Fearless," which just so happens to be my favorite Pink Floyd song.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Le Trio Joubran.

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Friday Night Videos

I encountered the music of Le Trio Joubran some years ago and I don't know if "fell in love with it" is accurate, but I did develop a deep appreciation for their sound. I mean, how many international musical groups have successfully based their sound around the oud? Not a whole heck of a lot. Here's their piece, "NAWWAR," performed live.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Pat Benatar.

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A Moment of Tiki episodes 46 & 47: Bamboo Redux & Kingston Negroni Shootout

My apologies for being lax in my postings. I've fallen a bit behind, but am catching up now by sharing the two most recent episode of A Moment of Tiki. First up is Episode 47: Kingston Negroni Shootout.

The Negroni is one of the most popular cocktails in the world, but isn't tiki. The Kingston Negroni, however, which uses Smith & Cross rum instead of gin, arguably is a tiki cocktail (or at least tiki adjacent). That got me to thinking (as these things often do) that Smith & Cross was wildly popular because it was the most ester-filled, hogo-laden Jamaican rum readily available in the U.S. at the time. In the years since, we have been blessed with an array of even more potent potables from that Caribbean nation. Might some of the newer, funkier rums make for an even better Kingston Negroni? At the very least, a shootout incorporating a selection of four pungent Jamaican rums would highlight the nuances that separate them from each other and offer deeper understanding of their roles in cocktail creation. So that's exactly what I did. FOR SCIENCE!

Way back in episode 1 of A Moment of Tiki I discussed how I torch bamboo that I've harvested myself. Since then, I've learned that bamboo mites are a serious problem in some parts of the U.S. where bamboo grows naturally, and flame treating at home normally doesn't get the bamboo hot enough to kill all the mites or their eggs. Fortunately, folks in Asia have been using bamboo for centuries and have devised methods to kill these insects and ward off infestation by soaking the bamboo in a solution of borax and boric acid. A bonus of this is that the treatment makes bamboo toxic to other wood-boring insects such as the dreaded powder post beetle and termites. It also offers some protection from mold and fungus. I explore all of this in Episode 46:

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Friday Night Videos

It's hard to believe that despite Pat Benatar's legendary career, she never scored a No. 1 hit on the Billboard top 40. Crazy, right? She got up to No. 13 with "Shadows of the Night," which is tonight's featured video. It's a ridiculous WWII era fantasy about fighter planes, behind-enemy-lines espionage and fighting Nazis. What's not to love? Oh yeah, it's got a young Judge Reinhold at the beginning as an Allies fighter jock and a young Bill Paxton later as a Nazi officer. I mean, where else are you going to find quality entertainment like that?

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Carmen Miranda.

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Friday Night Videos

Today, Carmen Miranda is remembered--if she's remembered at all--as the lady who wore outrageous hats piled high with fruit. That's pretty much it. It's kind of astonishing that this woman, who was one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood during the 1940s, is so utterly forgotten. Part of that is probably due to her death from a massive heart attack at the young age of 46. Even so, it's hard to believe her legacy is so forgotten. The Brazilian performer had an excellent singing voice, was a skilled dancer but, more importantly, simply oozed carisma. Her facial expressions and body language effortlessly convey more personality in a few moments than most performers manage in an entire career. She rocketed to fame fueled by her "exotic" image, but as her career progressed (or failed to progress, depending on one's perspective) she grew to resent being typecast as "South American Woman" and not allowed to display her entire range. So, she was wildly successful yet that success boxed her in. I think all of those elements are on display in "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat." Sometimes a giant banana is just a giant banana.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Otyken.

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Friday Night Videos

I had never heard of Otyken until recently. As near as I can tell, they're an indigenous group from Siberia. And they rock like nobody's business. Here's "Storm." Yeah. Wow.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Molly Lewis.

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AUTHOR FEST!

They say you can't go home again, and in my experience that's generally true. But you can visit on occasion and that's exactly what I'll be doing this Saturday, August 27. The Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus (Texas, for all you folks who immediately thought Ohio or Georgia) is hosting an Author Fest 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Buddy Rau Room of the venerable Stafford Opera House. It's the kickoff event for a year-long bicentennial celebration of the town's founding. I--along with a baker's dozen authors from the surrounding areas--will be on hand to sign and sell copies of their various books. In addition to Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch, I will also have a few copies of the coffeetable photo book I co-authored with Lisa, Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch. Believe it or not, I also recently came across several copies of my 2005 interview collection, Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction & Fantasy Speak, which I'll have there as well.

I have to say, every time I'm invited to participate in some event or other by the Nesbitt I feel a surge of joy. This is a place where I spent a significant portion of my childhood, devouring so, so many books. My love of science fiction was born here, when I stumbled across the intriguing cover of the young adult novel Battle on Mercury by Eric Van Lhin (ie Lester Del Rey). That one book hooked me and set in motion ripples that continue to impact my life to this day. For that I shall always be grateful. So if you're in the area, come on out and I will regale you with all manner of stories, some of which might even be true!

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Friday Night Videos

Molly Lewis, the whistler who specializes in modern-day exotica music, is back with a new single, "Miracle Fruit." I'm really digging her work--I just wish she was more prolific. You can bet she'll turn up on my tiki bar playlist.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Georgia Satellites.

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New fiction: "It Gazes Back"

Longtime followers of this blog may recall that many moons ago, before my content was donimated by tiki and Friday Night Videos, much of my writing here concerned itself with writing elsewhere. I am a writer, a recovering journalist, who has long harbored interests in short fiction, genre and related non-fiction. I love science fiction and fantasy, speculative fiction if you will, although I have not published very much in recent years.

That is a roundabout way of announcing that I have a new publication available for those who are interested in such things. This marks a milestone as well, for after more than 20 years of professional publication, this latest work is my first co-authored piece. "It Gazes Back" was written with the amazingly talented Don Webb, and is unlike anything I have ever done before. Cindy Ward, the acquiring editor, said the story “reveals the connections between Nietszche’s abyss, Lovecraft’s god-monsters and non-Euclidean spaces, and Cordwainer Smith’s monsters of subspace.” If that piques your interest, the story is now available in Black Cat Weekly No. 32. Let me know what you think! Now Playing: Robert Drasnin Voodoo!
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Chicken Ranch anniversary: Happy birthday Marvin Zindler!

On this date in 1921, KTRK consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler was born.

Zindler, of course, is forever linked with the Chicken Ranch, as his series of exposés on the brothel directly led to its closure. Marvin clashed with his father (who owned the well-regarded Zindler's clothing store in Houston) growing up and went on to try his hand at a host of different career options. He was a drum major (briefly) at Tarleton State, served in the Marines (again, briefly) before being discharged as 4F, was a radio reporter for defunct Houston radio station KATL, was a reporter for the defunct Houston Press, ran for mayor of Bellaire, was fired by one TV station because he was "too ugly for television" and was a Harris County deputy sheriff for years, where he worked in civil fraud and fugitive extradition before setting up the consumer fraud division.

Had he not died of pancreatic cancer in 2007, Zindler would've been 101 today.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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That was the Armadillocon that was (2022 edition)

I attended the 44th edition of Armadillocon over the weekend. For those of you who are impatient and want me to cut to the chase: I had a good time. The end.

For those who want a more detailed recap, I'll do as best as my increasingly unreliable memory will allow. I was oddly tired all weekend. Mind you, conventions normally wear me out, so that I often take the following Monday off from work. This year, however, I was tired all day, every day, not just in the evenings. And there weren't any big room parties to keep me up late the night before. If this is indeed age sneaking up on me, I would very much like to speak to a manager.

Mask wearing in panels was mandatory. Yes, the masks were annoying, but not as annoying as the superspreader event I got to be a part of last month. The convention was wise to err on the side of caution. What's more, the guests and attendees were wise to not make a thing of it. Folks were pretty chill that way.

There were several moments over the course of the weekend where it turned out that folks I knew from science fiction circles also knew folks I know from tiki circles. It may be hard to fathom for some of you, but by and large SF crowds are broadly unaware of my interest in tiki (it being an interested that manifested only a few years pre-COVID) and tiki crowds are almost always surprised to discover I'm a published author. When those interests overlap, it can be a bit disconcerting. Nice, but disconcerting nonetheless.

Programming was interesting and varied, continuing Armadillocon's established efforts to avoid same-old, same-old programming topics. My one complaint, if it even rises to that of a complaint, was that I ended up scheduled opposite the one panel topic I had suggested (2001: How Near Future SF Has Changed). I didn't necessarily need to be on it, but would've liked to hear what others had to say on the matter. Other than that, I had no complaints. I ended up sharing two panels with Ehi Okosun, who has a duology coming next year from Harper Voyager. On several occasions, he had no qualms about telling me my half-baked ideas could probably stand another 10 minutes in the oven. I can't speak for her experience, but I thoroughly enjoyed our time spent together and look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

On other panels I obviously ran amok, and talked for entirely too much time on defunct Texas hockey leagues and the fact that more than one game was "fogged out" back in the day when hot, humid September air rolled into unairconditioned rodeo arena and engaged the retrofitted ice rinks in mortal combat. And I also worked references to the Chicken Ranch into pretty much every panel discussion, but I think by this point we all agree that's pretty much baked into the equation.

In other news, the great Sara Felix wowed everyone by presenting the GoH lineup with custom tiaras accompanied by poetic vignettes. The Willie Siros memorial panel was bittersweet (and the act of walking through the dealers' room was a surreal experience without Willie's larger-than-life presence behind the stacks of books). Malvern Books was there, selling copies of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch, which made me quite happy. They also sold out of their stock, which made me even happier. I also signed more stuff over the weekend than perhaps I ever have before. In addition to the Chicken Ranch book, I signed copies of the Writers of the Future volume I'm in (haven't seen one of those in ages), a copy of The Leading Edge with my story "Devil in a Tiny Little Ocean Bloc Container," which I can't recall ever signing copies of, and The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities. Just about the only thing missing were old Interzone back issues!

I had great conversations with Patrice Sarath, Jess Nevins, Mikal Trimm, Mark Finn, C. Stuart Hardwick, Renee Babcock, Beth Bugbee, Jessica Reisman, Josh Rountree, Scott Cupp, Don Webb, D.R.R. Chang, Matthey Bey (who gifted me some fantastic homebrew prickly pear wine!), Stina Leicht, Troyce Wilson, A. Lee Martinez and a host of other people I'm forgetting. I also got to meet Writer Guest of Honor Dr. Darcie Little Badger, who lives in San Marcos (yet somehow doesn't work at the university). How cool is that?

Below are various photographs I took over the course of the weekend. I'm not including captions because I'd like for this to come out before Armadillocon in 2023. Those folks contained therein know who they are and if you don't know someone, consider it a challenge to attend the next Armadillocon and fill that particular blank on your social dance card.

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Armadillocon off the port bow!

It's time once again for my favorite science fiction convention of the year, Armadillocon, taking place in Austin this weekend. Once again, it's at the Austin Southpark Hotel, which used to be the Omni Southpark and Wyndham Southpark before that. It's always a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new and interesting folks. The convention's lousy with writers and one of the best things about the weekend is that everyone is so accessible--opportunities to just hang out and chat with the guests of honor, fans, other writers, artists, vendors etc. abound. I know the huge mega-conventions have become all the rage and squeezed out these smaller, regional events, but I'd rather spend my pennies in the dealers' room on new books than a fleeting encounter with Sigourney Weaver for an impersonal autograph. But that's just me.

If you're going to be there, drop by and introduce yourself. Here is my schedule for the weekend:

Friday, August 5
8 p.m. Ballroom E
Crowdfunding or Crowded Out?
Panelists: D.L. Young (moderator), Dantzel Cherry, Rhonda Eudaly, Jayme Lynn Blaschke
Brandon Sanderson recently shattered Kickstarter's record for raised capital for book publishing. Is this the start of something big, or does it herald the beginning of the end?

Saturday, August 6
1 p.m. Ballroom E
Texas Weird: What Is It, and Why You Should Seek It Out
Panelists: Jayme Lynn Blaschke (moderator), Mark Finn, Tex Thompson, Rick Klaw, Derek Austin Johnson
Texas is its own place, and its SFF literature has its own unique flavor. We bring together a few experts and novices to talk about what it is and what you should be reading.

8 p.m. Southpark A
Religion and Nationalism in SFF
Panelists: Elizabeth Cobbe (moderator), Jon Black, Melanie Fletcher, Ehi Okosun, Jayme Lynn Blaschke
In a world where we're seeing the rise of extremist nationalism, and the continual blur of church vs state, how has SFF addressed this issue in the past, and how can it address it now?

Sunday, August 7
10 a.m. Ballroom D
Willie Siros: In Memoriam
Panelists: Scott A. Cupp (moderator), Patrice Sarath, Rick Klaw, Don Webb, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, John K Gibbons
The man, the books, the conventions, the legacy...

12 p.m. Ballroom D
Power Dynamics in Built Worlds
Panelists: S.G. Wilson (moderator), Eugene Fischer, Wayne Basta, Ehi Okosun, Jayme Lynn Blaschke
Who wields the power in our fictional worlds? Where does that power come from and how does it play out in plot and character arcs? What choices can creators make in their depiction of power to best show how their worlds work?

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Chicken Ranch anniversary: CLOSURE!

On this date in 1973, the infamous Chicken Ranch brothel of La Grange, Texas, closed its doors for good. The closure followed a week (give or take--it's been tough to pin down exact dates) of broadcasts by Houston TV station KTRK's consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler, accusing the brothel of corruption and conspiracy. The Chicken Ranch had survived attempts to close it before, but the white-hot media spotlight proved too much for it. Today marks the 49th anniversary of its closure.

On this date in 2016, however, another milestone was reached, with the official release of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse. Has it been six years already? Apparently so, but it's hard to believe. The six years I put into it seem to have paid off as far as critics are concerned, with the book's reception being as close to across-the-board positive as is reasonably possible. So much so that next year will see the release of the revised and updated 50th Anniversary Edition, which will mark the half century since the famed Best Little Whorehouse shuttered its doors and confounded skeptics by becoming a legend unto itself. I still think it's one of the weirdest stories to ever come out of Texas, as state that bases its entire identity on weird mythology.

Just a reminder--book reviews help tremendously. If you've read Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch and are willing to do so, even a short sentence or two on Amazon, Goodreads or other online book site would help get the book in front of new eyes and spread awareness. Thanks!

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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A Moment of Tiki Episode 45: Tapa Light

It's August 1, and that means it's time for a new episode of A Moment of Tiki! Remember how I admitted a few months back how I'd neglected the lighting elements of my home tiki bar and needed to rectify that oversight? In episode 45 I do just that, making a drum-style hanging lamp out of some fantastic Samoan Siapo tapa cloth I obtained from an estate sale some years ago.

Of course, nothing is ever easy and I'm not nearly as clever as some people seem to think I am. The tapa light seemed like it would be an easy build, and I suppose it would've been had I actually known what I was doing. But I didn't know what I was doing, having never done this before. So I made mistakes. Lots of them. Some mistakes weren't just wasted time, but actually made the job more difficult going forward. Fortunately, I perservered and came out the other end with a pretty nifty tapa lamp. If I ever make one of these again (and you know I'll do something like this again eventually, even if I don't have authentic Samoan tapa cloth to work with) the process should go much more smoothly because those mistakes I made? They're not easily forgotten.

Remember to let me know what you think in the comments!

Now Playing: The Phantomatics She Left Her Brain at the Drive-In
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Chicken Ranch anniversary: Marvin Zindler (1921-2007)

On this date in 2007, KTRK consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler died of pancreatic cancer.

Zindler, of course, is forever linked with the Chicken Ranch, as his series of exposés on the brothel directly led to its closure. And for that reason, many people (mostly men) who are old enough to remember curse his name. Despite being a self-admitted egomaniac, he was a powerful champion of the downtrodden in his lifetime, and did a tremendous amount of good. Where the Chicken Ranch was concerned, he let his lust for fame and the spotlight get the better of him, and this allowed people with a vendetta against the Chicken Ranch to manipulate him from a distance. Zindler was a person who firmly believed in his own righteous infallibility, and once it became clear the vast organized crime conspiracy behind the Chicken Ranch's operation did not exist, well, Zindler doubled down on the conspiracy angle rather than admitting he'd been duped. He went to his grave insisting on criminal conspiracy and corruption, although he was never able to prove any of his claims.

Despite this, nobody could argue Zindler wasn't committed to his job. He accomplished a tremendous amount of good throughout his career, championing the downtrodden and exposing slum lords, unscrupulous car salesmen and all manner of predators exploiting people who had neither the money nor power to fight back. But they had Zindler on their side. Despite constant pain from the cancer destroying him, Zindler insisted on delivering his famed restaurant report from his hospital bed on July 20. It proved to be his final report. Just over a week later, he was dead. His passing in 2007 directly inspired me to seek out information on the "true" story of what happened with the Chicken Ranch, and when I learned that no such history book existed, I researched and wrote Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse. So in truth, Marvin Zindler is responsible for my book.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Friday Night Videos

It's pretty much a given that the Georgia Satellites forever destroyed country music after hitting it big with the blues-drenched Southern guitar rock of "Keep Your Hands to Yourselves." Legions of mullet-wearing erstwhile country stars abandoned their ambitions of being the next George Strait or Randy Travis and instead settled for Billy Ray Cyrus rocking an amped-up Fender. In spite of this, you'd think the Georgia Satellites would've had more commercial success given the solid track listing of their debut album and deft expansion of their sound on the follow up effort. But no, after that first monster single fame quickly evaporated for the group. Which is a pity, because I have always liked "Battleship Chains" quite a bit. Sure, it's simple, but it delivers on its premise in spades, which is what any good rock song should do.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Three Dog Night.

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