Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Attention, foul jailers, attention!”  I shouted and hammered on the bars of my cage.  “Arouse yourself from your sweat-sodden slumbers and vulgar, erotic dreams and take me to Captain Varod.  Soonest – or even sooner!”

    My fellow prisoners awoke, calling out in righteous anger and threatened all sorts of unimaginative bodily harm.  I returned the insults with enthusiasm and eventually the night guard appeared, scowling with menace.

    “Hi there,” I called out cheerily.  “Nice to see a friendly face.”

    “You want your skull broke, kid?”

    (from The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted by Harry Harrison)

  7*/10.  The full review is here.

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2040

    Food for thought.

This lifetime

    I have  feeling this is quite true, and will occur a lot sooner for me than I'd like.

    Also, I am back from my sojourn in the PNW, where, for the first time in decades, I experienced  a white Christmas.  It was as spectacular as when I was a kid.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

    We saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi today.  I found it to be an excellent installment in the series, although my favorite character Jarr Jarr, wasn't in it.

Best Christmas Movie Ever

    We can argue what the second-best Christmas movie is.  My vote would be for How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  But there can be no debate that Die Hard One is the best.

Hello Seattle

    While 5 p.m. would be a better listing for our home in Phoenix, 4 p.m. is certainly valid when sojourning in Seattle.

Quote for the Day

   

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “If there is moral insanity,” he said in a conspiratorial whisper, “then there may be the reverse, a moral sanity, if you will, that comes upon one suddenly, like a fever.  In thrall to this moral sanity, Sheward may have been compelled to come clean.  It was, after all, the first of the year – a time for resolutions and whatnot.  Later, when the fever passed, he tried to recant, but by then it was too late.”

    “You look a mite feverish yourself.  Do you really believe that?” Holmes asked, smiling.

    “Of course not, it’s perfectly daft.”

    (from Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterohuse )

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Christmas Sweater

    Ho ho ho!  I got my ugly Christmas sweater for 2017!

Saturday Pun Day

   Groan.

The Monty Hall Paradox

    For the record, you really should switch your choice to the other door.  You really do then have a 2/3 chance of winning the prize.

Sandy Hook - 5 Years Ago

    Five years ago, today, 26 victims - 20 of them elementary grade kids - were gunned down by a deranged killer with an assault weapon.  As of today, absolutely NOTHING has been done to prevent this from happening again.  NEVER FORGET!

Obscure Literary Device Wednesday

Best Game Series Ever

    Must. Jump. Down. It.

It's all about the Its

    It's okay.  English has its quirks.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Barry was not on duty anymore, and his replacement was too well trained to ask me what the hell I was doing going around looking like something a train had dragged in.  He got me a cab and I told the driver where I needed to go.  The driver looked at me in the rearview mirror.  “Wouldn’t you rather go to a hospital?” he suggested uneasily.

    “No, I’ve already been.”  That hardly seemed to reassure him.

    “Those vampires treat you so bad, why do you hang around them?”

    “People did this to me,” I said.  “Not vampires.”

    (from Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Sales Projections

    There is much truth in this.

Trickle Down Dungeons and Dragons

    Fantasy role-playing?  Of course it is.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Comic

    We are committed to posting any comic strip that features the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  Although I disagree with the implication in the comic - TSO is IMHO a fabulous band.

RIP Johnny Hallyday

   RIP Johnny Hallyday.  (b. 06/15/43.  d. 12/06/17).  Thank you for the music, mon ami.  You, Celine, and Francis Cabrel all helped make learning French a joy for me.

Book Excerpt for the Day

   Henry Darrow was therefore injured, seriously, with minor fractures in the left leg as well as the depressed fragment of skull bone.  Had Henry been fully conscious during surgery, he would have assured the surgeons that, despite the severity of the wound, he would live.  They would have been dubious.  Henry Darrow knew when he was going to die – from myocardial infarction, some fifteen years, four months, and nine days in the future.

    (from To Ride Pegasus by Anne McCaffrey)

    5*/10.    The complete review is here.

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Christmas Shopping

    True dis.

Sunday Pun Day

    Today's Pearls Before Swine strip, and OY VEY, what a convoluted and contrived pun!  And I mean that in the best possible way.

The Ultimate Sound System

    For the record, my selection would be Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells".  But heck, anything would sound awesome through this system.