My Sun, Lebron

   This is just to whet your fantasies.  The headline in the Arizona Republic sports section today read "Suns Aim for Lebron, Carmelo".

   Personally, I think this is just a deja vu of "The Decision" all over again.  Lebron will never leave his Miami Heat chums.  The only question is how big of a pay cut he'll demand of an over-the-hill Dwayne Wade, so they can lure Carmelo south.  No way either Melo or Lebron end up as a Phoenix Sun.

    Still, it's fun to fantasize, and someone out there with better Photoshop skills than I have posted the above image.  Gotta love it.

Jacob von Hogflume

    I will have had the good fortune, once upon a future time, to meet the late, yet simultaneously early, fellow time-traveler, Jacob von Hogflume.

Old Rockers

    Really.  They haven't had a bona fide hit in, well, how long now?  Yet The Rolling Stones continue to tour.  And sell out venues.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Damage was just a fancy card game; partly skill, partly luck and partly bluff.  What made it interesting was not just the high sums involved, or even the fact that whenever a player lost a life he lost a Life – a living, breathing human being – but the use of complicated consciousness-altering two-way electronic fields around the game table. 

    With the cards in his or her hand, a player could alter the emotions of another player, or sometimes of several others.  Fear, hate, despair, hope, love, camaraderie, doubt, elation, paranoia; virtually every emotional state the human brain was capable of experiencing could be beamed at another player or used for oneself.  From far enough away, or in a field shield close in, the game could look like a pastime for the deranged or the simple-minded.

    (from Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks)

  8½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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RIP - Eli Wallach

    You were great as Tuko in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  But you were even better as Calvera in The Magnificent Seven.

Word for the Day : Octothorpe

    Yes, Octothorpe really is a word, although like the step-mom here, I'd call it a Pound Sign.  Likewise, Pilcrow is a real word, and also stands for a symbol in the English language.  I'll let you look it up.

    Seriously though, I love it when a comic strip actually challenges the reader's brain, instead of dumbing everything down to the intelligence level of a 5-year-old.  Strips like Foxtrot, Mythtickle, XKCD, and of course, the above-showcased Barney & Clyde.

Wimbledon

    Hooray, Hooray!  It's Wimbledon Day!!

Personality Tests

    These Personality Tests seem to be quite the rage right now on FaceBook.  Things like "Which X-Men Character Are you?", "What flower are you?" etc.

    Everybody recognizes they're complete hokum.  But, like your Daily Horoscope in the newspaper, quite addictive, apparently.

    However, those of us with Multiple Personalities face the additional chore of deciding "which one of us" should take the quiz.  The inner squabbling gets ugly sometimes.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “This babbling old fool don’t know what he’s talking about.”

    “I know damn well what I’m talking about,” Corky replied.  He stood up.

    Ben tugged at Corky’s suspenders.  “Sit down.”

    “Herbie Fletcher went missing after writing a blog about aliens taking over the government.  You can ask Ainsworth if you don’t believe me.  The Men in Black came and took him away.”

    “Now you’ve done it.”  He released Corky’s suspenders with a snap.

  (from Twisted Tales by Marlin Williams)

  8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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The 60's

    Ayup.  That pretty much sums it up.

E-Card Thursday

   Also, if you're driving to go see a band in concert, you NEVER play one of the band's CD's on the way there.

Campaign Promises

    He's got my vote.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    The world  was quite difficult enough as it was without people going around trying to make it better all the time.

    Masklin had understood that.  He knew the way to make people do what you wanted was to make them think it was their idea.  If there was one thing that got right up a nome’s nose, it was someone saying, “Here is a really sensible idea.  Why are you too stupid to understand?”

    (from Diggers,  by Terry Pratchett)

  

    8*/10.  The full review is here.

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Science Monday!

    Gotta love the Scientific Method.

Father's Day

    It was Father's Day.  I got to eat where I chose (Red Robin) and do what I chose (Chillin').  Plus the Miami Heat lost.  All in all, 'twas a good day.

Hey, kids! What time is it?

    It's World Cup Time!!

    For the record, I am predicting Brazil to win it all, beating Argentina in the finals.  Although I have yet to pick correctly.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “What’s going on?” I asked my forlorn sibling and my rude bartender.

    “Nothing,” Rae said, still studying the depths of her alcohol-free beverage.

    Milo refreshed Rae’s drink and said, “Talk to her.  You need to get it off your chest.”  Then Milo turned to me and said, “Why don’t you try a more subtle approach?”

    “I demand you tell me your troubles,” I said to my sister.

    “You’re not as funny as you think you are,” Rae replied.

    “Now that’s the ginger ale talking.”

    (from Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz)

  8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Physics Wednesday!

    Leave it to Dilbert to give the simplest and clearest explanation of Time as a Dimension.

Malcolm X Quote

Art Appreciation Monday

Women and Meds

   Scary indeed.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Cook and his men attempted to recover a stolen boat by trying to take the high chief hostage.  This was, needless to say, frowned upon.  The Hawaiians stopped the Brits from kidnapping their chief, and when Cook turned to retreat, natives hit and stabbed him, “his face,” a shipmate wrote, “falling into the water.”

     I have a friend whose father, a native of Liverpool, refused to eat pineapples his entire life because he held a grudge against Hawaiians for killing Britain’s greatest explorer.

    (from Unfamiliar Fishes,  by Sarah Vowell)

    8*/10.  The full review is here.

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21-0

    A rainbow's been sighted over Wisconsin.  The winning streak is extended to 21.

Jury Duty

    Yeah, guess what I get to do on July 10th?!

Laundry Day

    Actually, every Wednesday and Saturday is Laundry Day.  And I keep waiting for the Law of Infinite Probability to kick in.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Maybe we’ve made a mistake,” Kevin said.  “What I mean is, maybe I’ve made a mistake.  My conscience is starting to bother me, and I’m getting a little scared.  I’m really a basic science person.  This applied science is not my thing.”

    “Oh, please! Raymond said irritably.  “Don’t complicate things!  Not now.  I mean, you’ve got that lab you’ve always wanted.  I’ve beat my brains out getting you every damn piece of equipment that you’ve asked for.  And on top of that, things are going so well, especially with my recruiting.  Hell, with all the stock options you’re amassing, you’ll be a rich man.”

    “I’ve never intended on being rich,” Kevin said.

    “Worse things could happen,” Raymond said.

    (from Chromosome 6 by Robin Cook)

  6½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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We Built This City

    Claimed by many, including my son, to be the worst Rock & Roll song ever; I have never quite understood the vitriol spewed at it.  We Built This City has a kewl melody, and a catchy (faux) radio spiel in the middle, reminiscent of Meat Loaf's Paradise By The Dashboard Light.

    Yes, the song was obviously aimed at getting radio airplay.  Yes, a case could be made that Jefferson Starship had copped out for Commercial Appeal, and had tumbled a long way downhill from their "Up Against The Wall, Mother F**ker" heyday.

    But musicians gotta eat, and bands are expected to keep cranking out the hits and albums decade after decade.  We Built This City may not be a paragon of Rock & Roll, but there's a sh*tload of other Classic Rock songs that stink up the airwaves far worse.

The Weekend's Over

    Or, to quote an old, old punchline - "Coffee break's over.  Everyone back on their heads."