A Big Entrance

He watched Dewy Crowe bring a pump shotgun out of the trunk and start back this way, all business now, his mind made up, his dumb pride taking him to a place it would be hard to back out of.

. . . Raylan in his shirtsleeves, Dewey Crowe taking careful steps now, holding the shotgun out in front of him.

“Mr. Crowe? Listen, you better hold on there while I tell you something.”

It stopped him about fifty feet away, his shoulders hunched.

“I want you to understand,” Raylan said, “I don’t pull my sidearm ‘less I’m gonna shoot to kill. That’s it’s purpose, huh, to kill. So it’s how I use it.”

— Fire in the Hole

A Fine Bromance

Since self is currently reading Fire in the Hole, she’s on a Justified nostalgia kick.

Lookit these two! The hottest dudes on TV for six glorious seasons:

Timothy Olyphant as US Marshal Raylan Givens; Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder

Chemistry between these two was high, every encounter struck sparks.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

The Aryan Knights of Freedom

Hot, hot day. Still reading Elmore Leonard’s “Fire in the Hole”.

Trigger Warning: white supremacy, ‘niggers,’ spray-painting synagogues. Elmore Leonard could have been writing about today.

• This Jared had come recommended from an Oklahoma group, the Aryan Knights of Freedom. Jared saying he heard of Crowder’s Commandos he couldn’t wait to drive his new SUV over to Kentucky and join up. Saying he was anxious to get into high explosives ‘stead of chasing niggers down alleys and spray-painting synagogues; shit. He said he was in Oklahoma City for the Murrah Federal Building, got there just a few minutes after she blew. He said it had inspired him to get in the fight. Sometimes talking about the Murrah Buiding it would sound like he had taken part in that mission with Tim and Terry.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

“Fire in the Hole”

The title story:

They had dug coal together as young men and then lost touch over the years. Now it looked like they’d be meeting again, this time as lawman and felon, Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder.

Boyd did six years in a federal penitentiary for refusing to pay his income tax, came out and found religion. He received his ordination by mail order in South Carolina and formed a sect he called Christian Aggression. The next thing he did, Boyd formed the East Kentucky Militia with a cadre of neo-Nazi skinheads, a bunch of boys wearing Doc Martens and swastika tattoos. They were all natural-born racists and haters of authority, but still had to be taught what Boyd called “the laws of White Supremacy as laid down by the Lord,” which he took from Christian identity doctrines. Next thing, he trained these boys in the use of explosives and automatic weapons. He told them they were now members of Crowder’s Commandos, sworn to take up the fight for freedom against the coming Mongrel World Order and the government’s illegal tax laws.

That’s some opening. Probably one of the best short story openings ever.

So Boyd Crowder was a neo-Nazi skinhead? Somehow, this little fact escaped self’s mind when she was watching the show. Or perhaps they downplayed it for the adaptation, to make Boyd more likeable.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

Noir-ish 2

Reading Elmore Leonard’s Chickasaw Charlie Hoke.

There is a “big redhead” named Vernice, looking “like a strawberry sundae in her La-Z-Boy.”

There is “bourbon over crushed ice.”

There are mentions of “a pit boss at Bally’s,” a waitress at the Isle of Capri coffee shop.

There is an “RV in a trailer park on the outskirts of Tunica, Mississippi.”

Very fun reading Elmore Leonard. It brings back all the FEELZ about Justified, the F/X series that ran for six seasons and had Timothy Olyphant! Timothy Olyphant! Who Salon’s TV reviewer described as “one tall, cool drink of water”!

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

Noir-ish

Reading Elmore Leonard’s “Sparks.”

There must be gin.

There must be a rich widow who knows how to roll a joint.

There must be a detective of a certain age (and he must be a Jim or a Joe)

There must be dialogue like this:

“But, basically, Joe, we got together the way people usually do, and fell in love.”

“He was a lot older than you.”

“What you’re asking now, did I marry him for his money. Sure, that had a lot to do with it. But I liked him.”

It is summer, it is summer, it is summer. Summer and noir go together like white on rice.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

 

Elmore Leonard’s “Fire In the Hole”

Self checked out a collection of Elmore Leonard short stories from the Redwood City Public Library early this year. She hasn’t managed to get to it yet. COVID happened, and then self’s mind flew out the window.

This afternoon, while browsing through her stack of “To Read” books, she encountered the Elmore Leonard collection, and immediately turned to the title story.

Opening line:

• They had dug coal together as young men and then lost touch over the years.

omg!

Justified!

Timothy Olyphand and Walton Goggins! Those two actors were born to play Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder. Did either of the two ever win an Emmy? Did the show itself ever win an Emmy? For the six years of its run, self doesn’t think she ever skipped an episode.

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

2020 in Books

Self had an unbelievable string of great reads, in the spring. Here were the books she read:

• Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory, by Rafael Bob-Waksberg
• The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison
• I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
• The Run of His Life: The People vs O. J. Simpson, by Jeffrey Toobin
• Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh

After that run, she stumbled on The Expanse, and has so far read four novels in the series (The ninth is supposed to appear either this year or next. Ha!), all of them super-engaging. Highly recommend!

Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.

KUWENTO (Stories), Self’s First Book

A copy is in Green Library.

 

Photo Montage: 2020 So Far