Hallelujah, I'm Rich Again!

My Dear My name is Mrs Grace Gryshchenko, I am married to Kostyantyn Gryshchenko who work with ukrain ambassador to the Russian Federation(2008-2010) for two years before he died in the year 2015. And my husband died after a brief illiness that lasted for only four days. Before he died we were both born again christains , since his death i decided not to remarry any more.

When my late husband was alive he deposited the sume of (5.5 Million Euro) in a prime bank. presently, this is still in the bank and recently my doctor told me that i would not live for the next three months due to cancer problem. Church where you worship to always pray for me because i know that the lord is my shephard. my happiness is that i lived a life of a worthy christain.

Who ever that want to serve the lord must serve him in spirit and truth. please always be prayerfull throughout your life and any delay in your reply will will not be too good for my life. As me and my son is searching for a church or a christian individual for this same porpose.

Please asure me that you will act accordingly as I started here without any problem, and i want you to fast and pray for God to take absolut controll of this fund untill it get to you . please endeavour to use it for the children of God, with trust.

Yours in the lord,

Mrs Grace Gryshchenko.

Latest Scam

Salaam,

I am a broker linked with high profile investors from the Gulf who are interested and willing to fund 
you in any current project you are undergoing as they are privately seeking means of expanding 
their investment portfolio,

To this end, we seek to know the possibility of going into partnership discussion with your company 
within your present scope of business.

Should you be interested in engaging us for a more detailed discussion on the proposal we would be 
happy to do so in whatever medium you find much more appropriate for this engagement.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Abdullah Ramann

Ramann Private Broker LLC 
P O Box 43007 Abu Dhabi 
United Arab Emirates 
Phone: +971528061378 
Fax: 971-4-4256-003

The Fender Stratocaster: A Short History

Most Clumsy Nigerian Scam Extant

Dear Friend.

I am Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the current executive governor 

of the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN).

I write to inform you that an unpaid contract payment file 

worth Seventy Seven Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars

 ($77.500.000.00) only was recently discovered from the auditing exercise

 to close the fiscal year of 2018.

With my position as the Central Bank Governor it was easy for me 

to move the fund to a secure  bank account in Europe which will be

disclose to you upon your interest.

This transaction is bank to bank wire transfer to any nominated bank 

account of your choice.

Kindly supply me with your details as listed below as to enable 

me prepared the documentation of the transaction for the release

of the fund via Europe bank.

 
    Your Formal Name
    Your Direct Contact Address
    Your Bank Name & Address
    Account Number,
    Routing Number,
    Swift Code
    Your Private Telephone Numbers.

I will personally furnish you with steps assigned for this payment

inline with the European banking system.

For the confidentiality of this transaction all contacts should be

directed to my private email address (godwin_emefiele122@hotmail.com)

as to avoid expossing this transaction.

Sincerely
Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
Excutive Governor Central Bank (CBN).

Foxes and Fossils

     It shouldn't be difficult to tell who is who in this group. I was messing around on YouTube, stumbled over them, and gave them a listen. I was quite impressed. I hope you are, too.

Trapped Like a Rat

The following message arrived in my e-mail's inbox tonight. At first I thought it was a real problem, but they gave themselves away when they mentioned my web camera (I don't have one), and my flogging the bishop in front of the screen, which I've never done, I knew it was crap. Good day, my victim. I know your password - xxxxxxx That is my last warning. I write you inasmuch as I set a trojan online site with pornography that you have visited. My trojan grabbed all your personal data and switched on your web cam which caught the process of your masturbation. Just after that trojan stored your contact list. I will remove the compromising video and all the information if you pay me 600 USD in bitcoin. That is wallet address for payment : 1HqUTGvbvDWCSTFDdYtPVviPW2iF8HsNUc (you can google on "how to buy bitcoin") I give you 24 hours when you view my message for making the payment. When you see the email I'll know it right away. It's not necessary to inform me that you have sent money to me. That address is linked to you, my script will remove every thing immediately after payment confirmation. You can visit the authorities but no body can not help you. In the event that you attempt to cheat me, I'll notice it straight away! I do not live in your country. So nobody can not monitor my location even for 9 months. Don't neglect the disgrace. Your life can be ruined.

I'm Rich!

I just got this e-mail. Hot dog! I wonder what the poor people are doing today, heh-heh-heh? United Nations Liaison Office Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva Switzerland Email: info.un@swissmail.com +41 22 987 12 30 Attn! Our 2018 Beneficiary The United Nations in cooperation with World Bank have agreed to compensate you with the sum of One Million Two Hundred Thousand US Dollars ($1.2M) after your name and email was submitted by the Internet International Monitoring Group during the UNCC Conference Meeting which was held this 20/08/2018 edition with UN Secretary General António Guterres in Geneva Switzerland. This payment Program is organized for charity organization/Scam victims and development. Your name appeared among the beneficiaries who will receive the sum of $1.2USD, Credited to Online Bank ATM Card account that was set up for you in the Bank and it has been approved for immediate delivery to you. Your urgent response to this email will help facilitate the onward delivery of your ATM card to you, Contact Delivery officer Mr. Larry Wayne E-mail ( wayne.larry396@gmail.com ) Phone +229-6318-7920. Send to Him Your Full Name, Address, Tel:No, And A scan Copy Of Your Identification Thanks, Sgt, Sherri GALLAGHER For United Nations Liaison Office

Kristine Sings (or sang. This is from about 10 years ago.)

CONGRATULATIONS

Congrats to my mother, Gloria Newsome, who turned 95 today (Feb 24).

Farewell, Bill

     This is most of the final e-mail I got from Bill Crider, whose memorial service is today. It's more serious than most. Even the salutation, which is usually "Hey, Cap'n" assumes a more somber tone. 

Hi, Bob.

I'm a much worse correspondent than anybody.  You've read the latest update on the chemo.  I wish it were doing a better job on the PSA.  I need to get this thing kicked, and nothing seems to be working.  Naturally.  It's never easy when it's me.

I told the doctor about some pain I was having, and she said, "That's not cancer-related. Sometimes people of your age . . . ."  That's when I quit listening. I hate it when they start sentences like that.  But in the case of your knee pain, well, . . . .

Dan Rhodes doesn't live in the real present or he'd be a lot more upset about the world than he is.  I can't believe what's happened to this country, which was the greatest in the world at one time. I don't think that's true now, and I really resent it that I'm going to die in a country that's going downhill so fast. I don't know how many years I have left, but even it's ten or fifteen, I can't see us recovering.  I try not to think too much about it for fear of falling into despair.

I like not getting invited to things. I'd rather curl up with a good book than go to a reception or a wedding or anything else.  I'm a homebody.  Your daughters will get over it soon, I hope.  You'll just have to pour oil on troubled waters, or whatever it takes.  I like to keep out of stuff like that if I can.

Thanks for that review on Amazon.  I can use all the help I can get.  I don't know if I'll be writing another Rhodes book after the one I'm working on. St. Martin's doesn't seem interested. Maybe my agent can talk them into it, though.  I'll figure out how to get Boss Napier into the plot if I do.

I'm keeping the sunny side up as best I can.  What else can I do? 

Best,

Bill

Bill Crider

Our cherished friend Bill Crider died today. Words are inadequate. He'll be missed by family, friends, and fans alike. The world is poorer for his loss. My heart is heavy.

Goodbye, old pard. It was a great ride.

We Lost Two More

Today I learned that former Mouseketeer Doreen Tracey and Sportscaster Keith Jackson have died. I'm not feeling all that chipper myself, but I'm not close to the grave yet. I'm just tired of all these damn deaths.

Three Christmas Views

Bill Crider

Bill and Judy

Photos by Arthur Charles Scott except the one with Loren Estleman

     It's no secret that Bill Crider is fighting a life-threatening disease right now. I join his legion of fans and friends who are upset, saddened, and damned mad that such a terrible fate has befallen one of the world's finest men. Bill is not only a fine man but a talented and reliable writer. 

     I first became aware of Bill in 1979 when I joined Dapa-Em, the mystery apa (amateur press alliance). A year later we met in person at the Washington, D.C., Bouchercon. He didn't have any books out yet--we thought, though in fact he had dozens--but he had encyclopedic knowledge of the mystery genre and was no slouch at Westerns, science fiction, and horror. The members of Dapa-Em had room parties at every convention and Bill was always there with the lovely Judy at his side. He was low key but not a wallflower, and when he spoke he always had something interesting, enlightening, or witty to say. We always stocked Dr Pepper knowing it was his beverage of choice. 

     

     Bill was a prolific author, as many know, and his signature work is the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. You can tell a lot about Bill from reading those books. Like, his love of old paperbacks and his sorrow ay seeing Main Street America dry up and blow away. He never preached, but he made his point in his usual easy-going way.

     Bill also wrote Horror under the name Jack MacLane and scores of series Westerns, men's adventure novels, and collaborations, like the Willard Scott books. He wrote so many books under house names that even he can't remember them all. 

     But my favorite series, which he did under his own name, are the Boss Napier mysteries. Oh sure, a lot of people call them the Carl Burns books, but they are wrong. Alas, there were only four books in the series, which was ostensibly about a college professor in a small Texas town who gets involved with murders, but for my money the star of the show was Robert "Boss" Napier, Pecan City's irrepressible lawman. Boss has an eye for the ladies and vies for the attentions of a pretty teacher at Burns' school. Unlike most cops in amateur sleuth books, Boss wasn't a loud-mouthed blockhead. He just wasn't as quick to spot the killer as Burns. I'm sure he would have, given enough time.

     I was flattered as all get out when I saw the first Boss Napier book, and Bill was good enough to tuckerize me in several other of his works. I suggested he write a Rhodes book that brings in Boss as a guest lawman, and Bill allowed as how he might do something along those lines, but it seems like a long shot now, dagnabbit!

(l-r) me, Steve Stilwell, and Bill at an apres B'con gathering at Art Scott's house outside of San Francisco. Way outside, perhaps Cupertino. Bill is perusing the newly-released Paperback Price Guide.

(l-r) Loren Estleman, Loren's wife, me, Leslie Slaasted (va-va-voom!) and Bill. Taken at the Monterey Bouchercon in 1997, where I was the Fan GoH. Bill introduced me at the banquet.

     One thing about Bill, he was Mr. Reliable. He never missed a mailing of Dapa-Em, never failed to have a letter in Mystery & Detective Monthly, never failed to contribute to Patti Abbot's Friday's Forgotten Books on her blog, and never missed a deadline for OWLHOOT, a Western apa I ramrod. I'm sure there are others. Bill was an iron man. Maybe it was his dedication to running every day, or maybe that's just the way he was raised. 

     Bill loves music. When I mentioned gaps in my collection of oldies songs he immediately sent me cassettes of albums by such luminaries as The Skyliners and The Platters. He even sent me a tape of a song he recorded, an old Elvis hit. He wrote on the info card that it was by Billy Bob and the (can't remember dang it). He sang in a barbershop quartet in Alvin, performed in an oldies rock group with some fellow faculty members as The Fabulous G-Strings, and once helped The Kingston Trio warm up backstage before one of their performances. That final little nugget wasn't known by me until I'd known Bill for a good 25 years. Bill plays his cards close to the vest.

Also at Art Scott's house, Bill checking out a rare paperback. I walked in just as Art took the photo.

     Did Bill really have fixations on alligators and Paris Hilton? No, not really. These were running jokes that he enjoyed. The gator one started in Dapa-Em when he mentioned in one of his zines that he liked books and movies about alligators in the sewers. That got the snowball rolling downhill. I got into the spirit of it in a big way. For years I sent greeting cards with alligators on them and other gator items. The best was probably a real gator skull. Or maybe it's the alligator earrings I sent to Judy. When she e-mailed me her thanks I suggested that the next day she greet him at the door wearing the earrings--and nothing else.  Bill's response: "I can't wait." 

     I guess I've droned on enough, but even though there are more Bill Crider stories I can't relate them all. I guess I'm in denial, too. Bill will back at the old stand, doing his blog, writing his books, and charming people with his great aw-shucks presence again. I can't countenance anything else.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE !

     

     I found the tape Bill made. It was by Billy Boy and the BBs and contains Don't Be Cruel and Blue Suede Shoes. This will be made available eventually. 

Bill Crider's Lost Story

I was rummaging through a dresser yesterday, looking for more space for my socks, when I chanced upon some written material. One item was a comic book from Dark Horse Comics called Underground. I had it in a taped bag and had no idea why it was in the house. Later, curiosity got the better of me and I lifted the tape and slid the comic out. A glance at the Table of Contents revealed a story by Bill Crider. Some of the seven stories in this magazine are illustrated (poorly) and some are text. Bill's is text with a couple of drawings laid in. This comic was apparently produced under the auspices of Andrew Vachss, and I suspect Bill wrote the story as a favor to him. The date of publication is 1993 and the cover warns that it's for mature readers. 

     Sorry about the lousy reproduction.  

Merry Little Christmas

     Here are my girls, the MonaLisa Twins, doing an old holiday favorite. I dedicate it to my old pal Bill Crider, who's up against it these days.

Tough Jim's New Hobby

     Tough Jim Gaston is a Fender Stratocaster maniac. Now, with this tutorial, he can create his own.

Stephanie

Hard to believe my older girl Stephanie was born 28 years ago. She was a really lovely baby.

Here she is with her baby, Sofia, about five years ago. Happy birthday, kid.

Jimmy Beaumont

Jimmy Beaumont of The Skyliners died recently and I want to do a small tribute. He was an excellent singer as this cover of If I Loved You from Carousel shows. He was 76. The Skyliners were best known for Since I Don't Have You, but they had other noteworthy recordings. This is one of my favorites.

Just In Time For Halloween