ECLECTIC MEANDERINGS ON BOOKS, PULPS, NOIR, '60S SPY SERIES, SOUNDTRACKS, JAZZ, THE RAT PACK, THE LOUNGE LIFE, Y/A NOVELS, COMICS, AND ANYTHING ELSE OF MILD AMUSEMENT . . .
INCLUDING THE INCREDIBLE UKULELE FIVE-0 FROM JAKE SHIMABUKURO
TRACKLIST:
1. Hawaii Five-0 Main Title Theme ~ Brian Tyler 2. World Upside Down ~ Jimmy Cliff 3. The Best of Me ~ Goo Goo Dolls 4. Out of Control ~ Switchfoot 5. Should We Believe ~ Train 6. Closer ~ Corinne Bailey Rae 7. Don't Ever Take Yourself Away ~ Bob Dylan 8. Ukulele Five-0 ~ Jake Shimabukuro 9. Love That's Bigger ~ The Swell Season 10. Pass It On ~ Ziggy Marley 11. Hi'ilawe ~ John Cruz 12. Book 'Em, Danno ~ Brian Tyler / Keith Power
Move over Doc Savage and Captain Hazzard, here comes America’s newest pulp hero - Challenger Storm
Airship 27 Productions and Cornerstone Book Publishers present another new pulp hero crafted in the mold of the classic 1930s adventurers. The sole survivor of a senseless tragedy, the heir to a massive fortune devotes himself to a life protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. From his base of operations at the Miami Aerodrome Research & Development Laboratories, he and his colorful associates brave any danger to bring justice to those in need.
His name is Clifton Storm ... the world will call him "Challenger". . .
THE ISLE OF BLOOD
When a wealthy aviation tycoon asks Storm to help return his kidnapped daughter, the MARDL crew is plunged into a rescue-mission on the tiny island-nation of La Isla de Sangre. From the sunny streets of Miami to the assault on a guerrilla enclave & the ruins of a lost-city deep in the jungle, the action is non-stop in this debut pulp thriller. Can Storm rid La Isla de Sangre from the vicious warlords known as the Villalobos Brothers and defeat the mysterious Goddess of Death?
Join Challenger Storm and his loyal band of adventurers as they fly off on this, the first of a brand new series of pulp thrillers. Writer Don Gates and legendary graphic artist, Michael Kaluta join forces to unleash this exciting and original new pulp hero guaranteed to provide pulp fans with explosive thrill-a-minute entertainment. All brought to you by the always ground-breaking crew of Airship 27 Productions; Pulp Fiction for a New Generation!
THE SWINGIN’ KOOP KOOPER GIVES US A COOL ADDITION TO OUR LOUNGE LIBRARY . . .
Koop Kooper, the cocktail universe's high priest of all things hep swingin and swank, and cyber disc jockey of his radio show the 'Cocktail Nation', has unleashed the definitive guide to the Lounge universe, with his new eponymous tome now available as an eBook.
Replete with gassin interviews and cool pixeramas, Koop Kooper reveals the incredible diorama of Cocktail culture, lifestyle and music.
Koop mixes it up with cool luminaries and pioneers of the Cocktail soundtrack, such as hepster Jack Constanzo, the bongo player of the 50s…shakes a martini with the leaders of the revival Combustible Edison; trades smart lip with comedian satirist Shelley Berman and twenty first century hit makers Martini Kings; heads down the dark streets of Cocktail noir, muscling it up with croonoir Jimmy Vargas; then it's off to the Vegas pool, where he conducts an underwater interview with gorgeous fire eating mermaid Marina.
Koop Kooper’s Cocktail Nation book is a glorious panorama of all things Lounge, created by the swank meister of uber cool himself.
To hell with the critics who unanimously hated this latest incarnation of one of the greatest adventure stories ever written . . . I loved every ridiculous, campy, hilarious, beautifully filmed, corny dialogue, action-packed second. What a fun film that brought a whole new approach to the story, yet remained completely true to the plot and intent of the original. Well cast, and well executed . . .
If you love swordplay and are tired of the current trend in action films to cut everything so fast you can’t see what’s happening, then this film is for you. The swordplay is sharp, lengthy, well choreographed, and just a delight . . . everyone in the film appeared to be having fun . . .
The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, Milady de Winter, the evil Cardinal Richelieu, the even more evil and swaggering Comte de Rochefort . . . and zeppelins, yes, zeppelins . . . what more could you ask?
Maybe I wasn't expecting much after the original reviews, and perhaps I am gushing too much, but this film deserves a break. . . I had fun . . . Brilliant . . .
FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, ABSOLUTELY KATE AND THE GANG OF AT THE BIJOU ARE WREATHING THEMSELVES IN BLACK AND WHITE, ATMOSPHERIC CIGARETTE SMOKE, AND CASES OF RICH AND HEAVY WHISKEY AS AT THE BIJOU GOES NOIR . . . BISH’S BEAT WILL EVEN BE GETTING IN ON A LITTLE OF THE ACTION . . .
From stylish crime dramas where come hither sensuality and cynicism on the rat-a-tat-tat shoot out their shadowy flings . . . where grifters, coppers, dicks and pugilists pull punches and punchlines . . . this enticing genre spans decades of tough talkin' flatfoots and daunting dames who flaunt ~~ well, what dames should flaunt to keep their daunting on the up and up. I mean what's a dame without her up and up to ooze a come hither? Low-key lighting swirls mighty minds in mist or fog as the mystique of visual style transports police procedures, lingering glances, dark alleys and opening chances to open and shut cases . . . or are they?
This week, we find out about a virtual tiki bar, another period tv show set in 1959 Miami coming your way, and Koop has away you can get a brand new 1965 Mustang . . . and tells us where we can buy a tiki bar . . .
PLAYLIST:
Tikiyaki Orch ~ La Hula Rhumba Tiki Joes Ocean ~ Rio De Jean Clouseux ~ Monkey with The Golden Fez Jack Jones ~ Strangers in the Night Jackie Gleason ~ When Your Lover is Gone Spy Fi ~ Dragnett 007 Vibes on Velvet -Ink Mysterioso Oscar Peterson ~ Body and Soul Antonio Carlos Jobim ~ One Note Samba Waitiki 7 ~ Left Arm Of Budda Vicki Carr ~ Like Love
THIS SHOW WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON SATURDAY
ROSS MCDONALD'S LEW ARCHER . . . NEXT BIG SCREEN REVIVAL?
PER DEALINE . . .
Warner Bros acquired rights to the Ross Macdonald mystery series about private detective Lew Archer. The studio will launch a franchise, starting with the 1959 novel The Galton Case, which was the eighth book in the series. Paul Newman played Archer in the 1966 Warner Bros film Harper and 1975 film The Drowning Pool . . .
I WAS STUNNED AND HUMBLED BY THIS NEW REVIEW OF THE E-BOOK VERSION OF HOT PURSUIT . . .
Bishop's range is also impressive. He'll totally sell a frat house-style prank involving a tipped-over portable toilet in one scene, then totally engross us in a conversation where two cops discuss their true feelings about the general public in another. And he makes diverse scenes like these comfortably coexist with each other, creating a coherent whole.
Pacing, plotting, and the unfolding of scenes are all top-notch (making me think the author wouldn't make a bad director), but for me the characters really make the book shine. While there are definitely heroes and villains in the story, the good guys have flaws, fears, and some unlikable qualities, and the bad guys have style, wit, and/or understandable motivations. There are no cartoon characters in Hot Pursuit. Which isn't to say that there aren't some very, very funny scenes (the toilet scene was only one of many).
AN ONGOING SERIES HIGHLIGHTING POSSIBLY DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH E-BOOKS BY RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AUTHORS, FOUND WHILE CRUISING THE E-BOOK SHELVES ON AMAZON WITH PRICES MAKING THEM WORTH TAKING A CHANCE ON . .
TODAY’S FIND . . . PULP!
THE POINT!
GERARD BRENNAN
KINDLE EDITION ~ $.99
Small time crook Paul Morgan is a bad influence on his brother, Brian. When Paul crosses one thug too many, the cider fuelled duo flee Belfast for Warrenpoint, the sleepy seaside resort of their childhood memories.
For Brian a new life in The Point means going straight and falling in love with Rachel while Paul graduates to carjacking by unusual means and ‘borrowing’ firearms from his new boss.
Brian can’t help being dragged into his brother’s bungling schemes but Rachel can be violently persuasive herself . . . and she isn’t the only one who wants to see an end to Paul’s criminal career.
Don’t miss the November 2 debut of Sugar Heart, a magazine devoted to pin-up and rockabilly culture. This issue will feature the ravishing Nikki St. James, interviews with Little Darling and Beretta Fleur of Pin-ups for Pitbulls, pulp fiction by Bill Raetz, vintage care columnist Uncle Fezter, and recipes by the enticing Jesca of The Drunken Cupcake.
Meet the girls behind Sugar Heart, including art director and cover model Lady Harlow and executive editor Tabatha “Sugar” Acosta. With more than seventy pages of bombshells and deviant dolls, Sugar Heart will satisfy your sweet tooth.
IF YOU LIKE LISTENING TO MARTINI IN THE MORNING, TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS TO LISTEN! TO TO JOIN FELLOW LOUNGE LIZARDS AND LISTEN TO THE CONTEMPORARY STANDARDS OF MICHAEL BUBLE, RENEE OLSTEAD, STEVE TYRELL, AND THE CLASSIC STYLINGS OF SINATRA, DEAN MARTIN, JULIE LONDON, AND SO MANY MORE CHECK OUT:
