Barry Graham's Blog, page 77

criminalwisdom:Stencil art in Copenhagen photographed by...

criminalwisdom:

Stencil art in Copenhagen photographed by Henrik Haven. (More)

ruckawriter:Pennsylvania Judge Sentenced For 28 Years For...

ruckawriter:

Pennsylvania Judge Sentenced For 28 Years For Selling Kids to the Prison System

Mark Ciavarella Jr, a 61-year old former judge in Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for literally selling young juveniles for cash. He was convicted of accepting money in exchange for incarcerating thousands of adults and children into a prison facility owned by a developer who was paying him under the table. The kickbacks amounted to more than $1 million.

The Pennsylvania Sup...

ruckawriter:comicbookcovers:Strange Adventures #75, December...

ruckawriter:

comicbookcovers:

Strange Adventures #75, December 1956, cover by Gil Kane and Bernard Sachs

Sometimes, people ask me why I like comics books.

This is a cover

of a gorilla,

robbing a librarian,

at gunpoint,

for Moby Dick, Robinson Crusoe, and Treasure Island,

for the purposes of conquering the world.

What’s not to love?

What indeed?

Me, Bart Lessard and Johnny Shaw at The Horse Brass in Portland...

Me, Bart Lessard and Johnny Shaw at The Horse Brass in Portland last night.

Chris La Tray's report of Noir at the Bar PDX

Chris La Tray's report of Noir at the Bar PDX:

I flew over to Portland on Tuesday to participate in the first ever Noir at the Bar event in Portland. This is the second one I’ve been part of, the first being in St. Louis a couple years ago. Bas…

"Admiration burned in his fierce eyes as he looked down on her splendid bosom and her lithe limbs,..."

“Admiration burned in his fierce eyes as he looked down on her splendid bosom and her lithe limbs, which still quivered from fright and exertion. He passed an arm around her flexible waist and said, reassuringly: “Stop shaking, wench; you’re safe enough.””

-

Robert E. Howard, Shadows in Zamboula

I think I’m going to start talking like this.

Portland Noir at the Bar Is Decadent and Depraved

The inaugural Noir at the Bar PDX at Beulahland was wonderful. A large, enthusiastic audience, and fine performances. Though it was Portland, there were no sensitive people with large glasses and baggy cardigans reading about their hurt feelings.It was wholesome family entertainment, if you happened to be in the Manson family.

I recited from memory a chapter fromHow Do You Like Your Blue Eyed Boy?in which the protagonist sucks out the eye of a neo-Nazi who’s trying to rape him.

Chris La T...

Tomorrow: Noir at the Bar Portland

Be there or be ordinary.

My 10 favorite books of 2013, in random order

The Maid’s Version by Daniel Woodrell

Love Is the Law by Nick Mamatas

The Secret Lives of Married Women by Elissa Wald

Explore Everything by Bradley Garrett

Martyrs and Holymen by Larry Fondation

His Father’s Son by Tony Black

The Pointby Gerard Brennan

Zen Confidential by Shozan Jack Haubner

Apparitions by Miyuki Miyabe

Joyland by Stephen King

A Wish for a Less Arrogant Thanksgiving

A Wish for a Less Arrogant Thanksgiving:

When people ask me my plans for Thanksgiving, I commonly tell them I’