Charlie Sheen Fired from ‘Two and a Half Men’
And then there were one and a half.Charlie Sheen was fired by the producers of Two and a Half Men today.
Biographies
‘The Adjustment Bureau’ and Philip K. Dick
Yesterday I saw the new Matt Damon movie, The Adjustment Bureau. I didn’t know too much about it on the way in. Early on, my wife asked me, “is this based on a Philip K. Dick book?”I said, “I don’t know… if not directly, then indirectly.” I answer a lot of her questions that way — if not directly, then indirectly. As it turns out, The Adjustment Bureau is based on a Philip K. Dick short story, The Adjustment Team, published in 1954.
Happy Birthday, Luther Burbank
Today is the birthday of plant hybridizer and potato creator Luther Burbank. He was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1849.
Just a Nice Photo: Joan Cusack
Actress Joan Cusack gets smooched at the premiere of Mars Needs Moms at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles last night.
K.W. Jeter and the Birth of Steampunk
“Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of that era; like ‘steampunks,’ perhaps….”Letters of Note pins the term steampunk to a letter from sci-fi author K.W. Jeter in 1987.
Andy Warhol Exhibition, Andy Warhol Interview
Tomorrow the Indiana University Art Museum is opening an exhibit of more than 150 photographs by pop artist Andy Warhol.
The photos come from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Not to be confused with the Warhol museum.
Charles Portis Biography, with Anecdote
While reading up on author Charles Portis, I came upon the transcript of a lengthy interview he did with Roy Reed in 2001. The interview was for a project about the history of Little Rock’s Gazette, a newspaper Portis worked at in 1958.
Charles Portis went on to become a novelist. He wrote The Dog of the South and True Grit.
You can find the interview by way of this unofficial tribute to Portis.
Sirhan Sirhan: No Parole, 13 Times and Counting
“Board members argued that Sirhan hasn’t spent enough time reflecting on his crime.”Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, has again been denied parole.It’s the 13th time Sirhan Sirhan has been denied parole. The “I was brainwashed” argument didn’t carry the day for him.
Michael Bay Biography (With Ideas for His Next Film)
Our new biography of Michael Bay has just been posted, thanks to editor Paul Hehn at the Epics and Explosions Desk.
New Dashiell Hammett Short Story to be Published
This week The Strand Magazine will publish a previously unknown short story by legendary mystery master Dashiell Hammett, the author of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man.
The story, titled “So I Shot Him,” is one of 15 unpublished stories discovered by The Strand editor Andrew Gulli at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin.
Hammett’s family decided they would allow Gulli to publish one of the fifteen, and he picked “So I Shot Him.”
Here are some things to read about it: