Curtains for crime time
Our True Crime class has come to an end. As all of the students have been saying, it was a lot of work, but it was worth it. And it was worth it because of the students – the truecrimers … Continue reading →
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106 Bullets
#ds106 in 106 bullets wonderful from @mdvfunes http://t.co/eduCBbm4Em — john johnston (@johnjohnston) December 14, 2013 So I encountered this tweet this morning from John Johnston via David Kernohan which points to this Tumblr from the ds106 shrink. “106 bullets” naturally … Continue reading → -
The working class gangster
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. We talked about nature vs. nurture with In Cold Blood. Thomas Firestone, in “Mafia Memoirs: What They Tell Us About Organize Crime” talks about the differential … Continue reading → -
Evil Incarnate
A call for papers for something called the Evil Incarnate Conference came through my email today. The theme is “Manifestations of Villains and Villainy,” and the conference seeks a definition through exploring various cultural representations of evil. This was a … Continue reading → -
Mad love for “Mad Love”
The article we read a few weeks ago, Mad Love: The Ballad of Fred & Allie, has been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize! While some might call it self-congratulation among the Academic/Industrial Literary Complex, it’s more of an honor … Continue reading → -
Ted, just admit it
Jane’s Addiction wrote the song “Ted, Just Admit It” in 1987. It gave the title to their 1988 major label debut, Nothing’s Shocking. At that point in time, Ted was still denying responsibility for his murders. The song incorporates Bundy’s … Continue reading → -
Manson week
My last episode of Crime Time Radio went up late, assuming it actually made it into the radio stream. But here’s a transcription: That was the Revolting Cocks featuring Timothy Leary with our Crime Time Radio theme, Gila Copter. It … Continue reading → -
Great googly moogly
I saw Sara’s first gif attempt, then I saw CogDog’s Googlyify A GIF assignment for ds106, and I knew this was going to happen. Sorry. Couldn’t be helped. -
Ted the poet
A few years ago I read Arthur Phillips’ novel, The Egyptologist. He tells the story through letters and diary entries, and at several points in the novel I realized that what I thought was happening wasn’t what was going on … Continue reading → -
“The story you’re about to see is true”
You are about to see a dramatization of actual facts, in which some of the names have been changed. But the story is true That’s the way the Helter Skelter movie starts, with actor George DiCenzo portraying prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi … Continue reading → -
Hearing voices
In a futile attempt to be efficient, I’ve been reading In Cold Blood in book form and listening to the audiobook. The audio format lets me use my drive time more or less productively. Unfortunately it’s not indexed in a … Continue reading → -
Fryin’ time’s here
The other week the truecrimers read a neat little story about an execution at Sing Sing, written by Joseph Mitchell. He was a writer’s writer, and one of the prime movers in literary journalism. Sing Sing Prison Blues “Sing Sing … Continue reading → -
“In dreams…I walk with you”
I’m fascinated by Perry’s dream. If this were fiction, this section would be riddled with symbolism. There’s Biblical imagery, with the serpent in the tree. The idea that the love of money is the root of all evil. A premonition … Continue reading → -
Dragnet
I grew up watch Dragnet reruns, so when I read “The Black Dahlia” I couldn’t help but hear Jack Webb’s voice and his distinctive cadence in my head. Here’s a video of him clowning around with Johnny Carson: He sounded … Continue reading → -
Cameron/Carey
Through playing around in ds106, I met globe-hopping podcaster scottlo. I actually met him in person, along with a number of other ds106ers, at the Minding the Future event at UMW a couple weeks ago. Nosing through his site this afternoon, … Continue reading → -
Mencken/Mitchell
I suspect most of us have heard of H.L. Mencken. He gets quoted all the time, because he had a lot to say and he said it so well. But Joseph Mitchell was a new name to me. From what I … Continue reading → -
Burning down the house
In the appendix to Torso, Bendis says that people often think that the shantytown fire was made up for dramatic purposes. Maybe the idea that police would burn poor people out of house and home is hard to believe. Because … Continue reading → -
Cleveland rots
In 1935, Cleveland’s so called Boy Scout Mayor, Harold Burton, decided to do something about official corruption and organized crime. He brought in a heavy hitter: Eliot Ness. At that time, Cleveland was the most dangerous city in America. Ness … Continue reading → -
Fun with fine art
Since Banksy is doing his NYC residency this month, I thought I’d take another shot at animated graffiti. Except this isn’t really graffiti. Whatever. I thought the velvet ropes on the traffic pylons were a nice touch. The original image has … Continue reading → -
“Find the heads.”
Bendis tells the Torso story in a very cinematic fashion. The dramatic lighting and the camera angles all look like something out of film noir. Then there’s that repetition from panel to panel, sometimes with slight variations, that gives it … Continue reading → -
Bastardy Bonds
When we were kids my brothers and I were doing something annoying, I don’t remember what, but it prompted my aunt to call us bastards. Of course, we thought that was the funniest thing ever, and never passed up a … Continue reading → -
“Lassoed”
In “Mad Love,” the last sentence of the opening paragraph says, But Alice Mitchell was the first to be lassoed by Frederica Ward’s charms… I like the verb in there, lassoed. Mainly I associate it with cowboys and rodeo. It … Continue reading → -
Fred & Allie, then & now
I find it fascinating to compare “Mad Love: The Ballad of Fred & Allie” to the way the story was received at the time it happened. Livingston’s essay was published this year, in a society that’s beginning to accept same-sex … Continue reading → -
Go Stagger Lee
I was going to do murder ballads for this week’s crime time, since that’s what’s coming up in the true crime course. But instead I’m just going to stick with one: Stagger Lee. It’s the story of one pimp shooting … Continue reading → -
Anticipating awesomeness
So we have a game show with a highway robber, and a president with a mistress(?). A number of people seem quite excited about the video project, and they’re having fun with it, so I think we’ll end up with … Continue reading → -
“I’m sorry, the government you have elected is inoperative”
This week the truecrimers looked at political corruption and crime. It’s a bit of a gray area sometimes, because things that are unethical aren’t always illegal. But as the saying goes, abuse of power comes as no surprise. “Politician,” a … Continue reading → -
Power, crime and corruption
Chelsea brings up the power of the media, and also touches on state power by bringing up the prison system. Foucault talked about power and the state, that power is negotiated between governments and the governed, and knowledge and power. … Continue reading → -
Then and now
Brilliant photographer Arleen Hodge shared a link to a great collection of crime scene photos from New York City. Press photographer Marc Hermann puts these together using the NY Daily News archive and contemporary scenes. I think it ties in to what … Continue reading → -
Confess!
There was something going on in the Lincoln reading, and I have to confes that I didn’t even pick it up until I found a related reading. He writes in a lawyerly just-the-facts manner, in comparison to Bierce, that it … Continue reading → -
Crime Galleries
So one thing led to another and I ended up on Paul Dodd’s website, featuring his Models from Crime Page series. Maybe those pictures were based on the Crime Stoppers flyer, which apparently also has its own on-demand cable channel. … Continue reading →
ds106 in[SPIRE]
