Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween


    And to all my Druid brothers and sisters, Sensational Samhain!

Friday, October 30, 2015

Thursday, October 29, 2015

My Secret Fetish


    There's something about window sills that brings out the beast in me.

    Seriously though, this is an honest-to-god book that you can find at Amazon.  Unfortunately, it isn't available for the Kindle.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “We were always told that we were just protecting it for its rightful owner.  That someday we would be rid of it.”

    “You say that like it’s a curse or something,” Ling mused aloud.

    “Curse maybe.  But whoever has held the amulet has had ill luck befall them.”  Ling looked around the room at the odd mix of people and thought maybe it was more than the amulet causing their bad luck.  “Why didn’t you just rid yourself of it?”

    “Why does one not just rid themselves of an unwanted child,” the old woman spoke sagely.

    (from Pieces of the Puzzles by Jennifer Fowler & Carrie Wahl)

    3*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Monday, October 26, 2015

Princess Bride T-Shirt


    Must.  Find.  This.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Art Appreciation Sunday

    Actually, if you know Jackson Pollock's work, this really isn't a tribute to his art.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

What Is It?


    Saturday Night Trivia Question!  Identify the object in the picture, and tell what it is used for.  (Answer in the comments)

Friday, October 23, 2015

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “Um ... We’re not going to meet some ancient undead Heterodyne vampyre or … or something.  Are we?”
    Carson spat.  “Oh, and wouldn’t that be the perfect capper to my day?”
    Wooster licked his lips.  “That … actually that wasn’t a ‘ho ho, don’t be silly, old chap, there’s no such thing as vampyres down here.”
    “I ain’t being paid to lie to you, Brit.”
    “You mean…”
    “But that’s not who we’re looking for today.”
    The spy hunched himself down a bit  “You mean there are days when you do go looking for … them”
    “Didn’t say they were good days.”

    (from Agatha H and The voice of the Castle by Phil & Kata Foglio)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Thursday, October 22, 2015

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Think Before You Drink


    The reason you've never heard about this is because, you know, Starbucks is spending lots of money to keep it a secret!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Monday, October 19, 2015

Book Excerpt for the Day


    Long ago, Detective Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta had learned to be late for any appointment at the M.E. building on East Twenty-Sixth Street.  He had found out the hard way that there were distinct disadvantages to being early, most of which involved arriving while an autopsy was still ongoing and thus being compelled to witness the final stages, which were inevitably the worst.  They’d told him he would eventually get used to it.
    He hadn’t.

    (from Two Graves by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child)

    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Bring it on, Monday


    It's been a great weekend.  Summer has finally broken, and we've had scattered showers off-and-on all afternoon here.  Best of all, I could sit out on the back porch and get some serious reading done.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Cabin


    I don't want much when I retire.  Just a humble cabin in the woods.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Liver


   As a kid, I hated it when we had liver for dinner.  Liz feels the same way.  So it is never served in our house  Why eat a cesspool for supper?

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Wednesday Literary Reference


    It is an excellent book, BTW.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Critics


    This applies to book critics as well.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “I brung you a giftie,” he told her eagerly, his eyes dancing with excitement.

    “What was it that you held up at the Gathering?  I couldn’t see it.”

    “I brung you two things.  A big and a little.  The big be coming still.  But I gots the little here in my pockie.”  He dug one hand deep into his pocket and pulled out a handful of nuts and a dead grasshopper.

    “Nope.  Be the other side.”


    (from Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry)

    7*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Sunday, October 11, 2015

Rock Control


    But not if Obama is president!  He wants to take away ALL our rocks!!

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Scroll Down!


    Anything to help a superhero.

Friday, October 09, 2015

Three-Person Chess


    I have played chess almost my entire life.  And a number of variations of it - Kriegspiel, Giveaway, Dark Chess, King's Fortress, 3-D, etc.

    But I'd never seen a 3-person chess set before, and after googling it, this is apparently legitimate.  I have to say I'm very intrigued by it.

Thursday, October 08, 2015

Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Goals


    Where there's a will, there's a weigh.

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Book Excerpt for the Day


    I hated the zombies because they were like the guy who killed Aaron, but at the same time you had to forgive them, because they didn’t know did they?

    We don’t hate tigers or sharks or bears though they kill and eat people sometimes.  We don’t hate cows or buffalo in the field, but they can trample people to death.  A horse can kick the jaw clean off a man’s face.  A camel can bite off your nose.  Maybe some people hated camels, I wasn’t sure.

    (from The Last by Michael John Grist)

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Monday, October 05, 2015

First Contact


    The first rule about making contact with hostile tribes is "we don't make contact with hostile tribes."

Sunday, October 04, 2015

Pink Floyd Sunday


    All in all, you're just another brick in the wall.

Friday, October 02, 2015

Thursday, October 01, 2015

Another School Shooting


    It's pathetically tragic.  45 school shootings already this year, and you can bet your bottom bullet that all you'll hear from your gun-nut friends is the snarky, "yeah, but if all those students had been packing assault weapons, this never would've happened."

    Utter bullshit.  What they really mean is, "we'd rather have hundreds of innocent people killed by firearms every year than one iota of gun control".

    And until the rest of us get off our butts and vote in people who aren't puppets of the NRA, nothing's going to change.