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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