Polished off Cain’s super-fun first novel (an acknowledged inspiration for the Coens’ comparably fun The Man Who Wasn’t There and for Camus’ somewhat less fun The Stranger) today in practically one sitting. As Cain’s protagonists conspire to get money/off/away with murder, it makes sense that, on pg. 35 of the 1992 First Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Edition, Cain beats the reader over the head with a reference to some men (and, as of 1991, women) who are there and who similarly conspire:

That rap on the conk cost him $322, believe it or not.

I believe it.

This Sesame Street skit, along with the The Skulls sequels and Diana Peterfreund’s Secret Society Girl series, illustrates the above-mentioned development which chief economist of Barakhenaton’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Austan Goolsbee, helped bring about: the acceptance of women into the Brotherhood Siblinghood of Death.  Note also Grover’s position between the Twin Pillars of his mantelpiece and that, though Bohemian Grove (between which and S&B there is notable overlap, most famously in the cases of folks named Bush) still denies full membership to women, the Grovers have been known to admit the occasional female prostitute or mind-controlled sex puppet.  For some semi-recent dirt on the Grove, dig here, or infiltrate the dang thing yourself next month.

Happy deathday, Alexander the Great, John Wayne, Timothy McVeigh and Thích Quàng Ðúc.

Happy birthday, Carlos Seixas, Richard Strauss, Gene Wilder, and Hugh Laurie!

Cuídate.