For everyone who picked the Dallas Mavericks in the “next to file for Chapter 11” pool, you were…half right.
You may be asking yourself, “Gee, I wonder who the Texas Rangers owe money to?”
(Hattip: Lawrence.)
Archive for May 24th, 2010
Chapter 11 watch.
Monday, May 24th, 2010True crime.
Monday, May 24th, 2010Bill Crider, one of nature’s noblemen, points us to this list of “The 25 Best True Crime Books” from the Forensic Colleges blog.
Blogging about other people’s lists seems to me to be non-productive (de gustibus non disputatum and all that), but I’m making an exception here because this seems to be a pretty solid list. I’ve read 9 out of the 25 listed, and mostly agree with those choices.
Of course, I have a few quibbles:
- I wouldn’t have put both Mark Bowden books on the list, though he is a heck of a good writer. Finders Keepers
would be my pick for the list: Doctor Dealer
is only a so-so book (and a very early Bowden).
- I confess that I have not read Killer Clown
, but it will have to be one heck of a book to beat Buried Dreams
on the Gacy front.
- The Amanda Knox case is fascinating and troubling, but it seems a bit early to be putting Angel Face
on a best list. I have something of the same quibble about The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
.
- I’ve read Crime and Science – The New Frontier in Criminology
, and it seems odd to pick that over Thorwald’s much more famous Century of the Detective
. To be fair, though, I’ve only read the latter book in the Reader’s Digest Condensed Edition. I’ve been trying to find a cheap used copy without much luck.
- Blood and Money
is actually a 1976 book, though it appears to have been reissued in 2001. (I read that for the first time last year; it is a swell book that belongs on the list.)
- The Onion Field
, dammit!
Cavalier disregard.
Monday, May 24th, 2010The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired head coach Mike Brown, the 2009 NBA coach of the year, after five seasons.
Brown’s regular season record was 272-138, a .663 winning percentage that was the best in team history. Brown also set a team record for playoff wins, finishing 42-29.
Astros update.
Monday, May 24th, 201015-29, .341 winning percentage, on track to win 55.242 games.
One of the last of the good guys.
Monday, May 24th, 2010This has been covered elsewhere, but I would be remiss if I did not note the passing of Martin Gardner: author, polymath, long-time “Mathematical Games” columnist for Scientific American, and founding member of CSICOP.
I regret that Gardner died before I got a chance to shake his hand and say “Thank you.” But 95 years is a pretty good run, and his mind stayed sharp until the end (he has a new article in the latest Skeptical Inquirer).
I hope, wherever he is, he’s found a solution to all the mysteries he ever wondered about, and that he’s hoisting a pint with Lewis Carroll
Edited to add: CSICOP tribute, which was not up this morning. A nice tribute from Derek Lowe, and from the comments we learn of this item