Art Appreciation Friday

    A simply stunning piece of Medieval realism by a dude named Frans Snyder (1579-1657).  Click on it for a bigger view, but keep in mind the actual painting is 11 feet wide.  Then Google-Image "Frans Snyder Art" for a bunch more of his masterpieces.

    Wikipedia has a posting for Frans Snyder, but only includes one of his paintings (English version).  He is referenced in a book I'm reading - When You Are Engulfed In Flames, by David Sedaris - which is how I stumbled across him.

Word for the day : Stylite

   Stylite (n.) : a religious ascetic who spends his life on top of a pillar.

    The original, and the most famous stylite was one Simeon Stylites the Elder.  He's the dude on the left in the picture above.  He reportedly stayed up there for 37 years.  You can read about him here.

  The second pic is also of our Simeon the Elder.  His little perch was originally only 9 feet high.  But over time, his townspeeps built it up to a towering height fo 50 feet.

    It's comforting to know that the 20th/21st Century doesn't have a monopoly on religious nutjobs

The Dragon in front of the Refrigerator

   For the record, LSD will NOT cause you to see dragons in front of your refrigerator door.  However, you might spend 6-8 hours opening and closing the door while you try to catch the inside light going on and off.  Or 8-12 hours painting a psychedelic masterpiece on the door with fluorescent paints.

    Official Disclaimer : Not that I have any experience with hallucinogens.  I learned all this from Reader's Digest articles.

It's been a Bad Week for Bigotry

    Even the bigots admit it.  They're hurt.  Disappointed.  Angry.

    OTOH, it's been a great week for Civil Rights and Tolerance.  So welcome to the world of humanity, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming.  And as of today, Idaho and Nevada as well.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “In my profession you tend to travel a lot.  I always carry a passport.”

    “Yes, I read that in an article about you.  That’s why I didn’t ask you to bring one.”

   “In the past six months I’ve been to at least as many foreign countries: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Monaco, Peru Atlantic City.”

    “Atlantic City isn’t a foreign country,” Rush said with a laugh.

    “Felt like one to me.”

    (from The Third Gate by Lincoln Child)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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What Dogs Think of Horses

    We take our dogs for a walk every night.  Occasionally, when it's not too hot, we go around the extended block, and sometimes we pass a pair of horses in a yard on the next street over.

    Our dogs are completely flummoxed by these strange creatures.  Particularly Huxley, who studies them and barks at them, but with no growling.  There's a fence of course, so the above picture isn't entirely accurate.  But if he could get to them, this is probably what Huxley would do.

Saturday Night Music Quiz

    Okay, this Family Circus cartoon has been obviously altered.  Even if Bil Keane were still alive, I am certain he wouldn't be listening to Alternative Rock.  Someone has photoshopped three album covers into the image, and I for one think it is a superb effort.

    Alas, I only recognize one of the three album covers here.  I'll list it in the comments.  But I'm clueless about the other two.  Then again, while I like Alt-Rock, it's not a genre I'm obsessed with.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “And are you certain no one went in or out during that time?”

    “Yes.  I’m damned sure of that.  What happened before I went there, I don’t know.  Zachrisson said that three people had gone in and no one had come out.”

    “Can one rely on that?”

    “Don’t think so.  He seems unusually dumb.”

    (from The Fire Engine That Disappeared,  by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall)

    7½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Books per Selfies

    Well really, the ratio should be something like a book for every two selfies.  But I quibble.

Save the Cat

    True dat, Alice.

RIP Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky

    He passed away Sunday night, 28 September.

Poetry Monday

    Kinda reminds me of the song Highwayman by (of course) The Highwaymen.  Kinda.

Yellow Lights

    Really.  Yellow doesn't mean "Slow down and stop."  It means "Hit the gas pedal and floor it!"

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “I don’t know what to expect,” she said in a tight voice.  “Everything is different here.  I’m trying not to expect anything – but that doesn’t keep me from worrying.”

    Dahleven blew out a deep breath.  “You should stop that.  Worry is a waste of time and energy.”  He slanted a sideways glance at her.  “Now planning, that’s another thing altogether.  Right now, I’m planning on a bath, hot food, and rest.  You should do the same.  Beyond that, only the Norns know what the future holds, and they never tell.”

    (from Dangerous Talents,  by Frankie Robertson)

  

    7½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Science Fridays

   The rollover caption reads : "I tried oxidizing them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light."

    My gawd, don't we chemists have a crazy sense of humor?!

Neutral Milk Hotel

    Actually, this is a pretty freaking fantastic album, despite the fact that Jeff Mangum can't carry a tune in a bucket.

"The Beatles or The Stones?"

    Some of us think the correct answer to that question is "The Doors".

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Two-thirty comes during Testifying.  Aunt Helena is here, as well as Aunt Lydia, because Testifying is special.  Aunt Helena is fat, she once headed a Weight Watchers’ franchise in Iowa.  She’s good at Testifying.

    It’s Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion.  She told the same story last week.  She seemed almost proud of it, while she was telling.  It may not even be true.  At Testifying, it’s safer to make things up than to say you have nothing to reveal.  But since it’s Janine, it’s probably more or less true.

    (from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood)

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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About that election

    I can't say that I had an opinion one way or another on the issue, but I was mildly surprised that, given Scottish history, the measure didn't pass.

Art Appreciation Sunday

    And I always appreciate a great twerk of art.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Drumknott continued, “A lot of this is to do with the crossword, of course.  You know how he is about that.  I intend personally to write to the editor.  His lordship considers elegant completion to be a test of his integrity.  A crossword is meant to be an engaging and educational puzzle.”

    And then, his normally pink face reddening, Drumknott added, “I’m sure it’s not intended to be a form of torture, and I’m certain that there is no such word as lagniappe.”

    (from Raising Steam,  by Terry Pratchett)

     7*/10.  The full review is here.

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Universal Remote Control

    I was devastated, I tell you.

Flu Shots

    Sound advice.  Although for the record, I will be getting my (free) flu shot, at work, in a couple of weeks.

Science Wednesdays

    Aptly put.

Oooo, that smell

    The litter mates that sleep together, keep together.

Dancing With The Stars

    DWTS starts tonight and I'm so excited!!  This means I get to play on the computer for two hours while my wife watches DWTS.

Demotivational Sunday

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Major Benjamin Mapp-Flint, the town’s only resident warrior, enjoyed an esteem even greater than had been his when, on one never to be forgotten occasion, he had briefly (and erroneously) been clothed in the glamour of the desperate duelist.  The fact that both participants in this affair of honor had sought to escape to London by the early morning train and had converted their rencontre into a round of golf in no way diminished the antique splendour of the incident.

    (from Lucia In Wartime, by Tom Holt)

  

    6½*/10.  The full review is here.

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What about "Swine"?

Never Forget.

    The 9-11 historical event they DON'T want you to remember.  Arguably the most blatant illegal CIA activity ever.  And the CIA has done a lot of illegal activities over the years.

Math Wednesday

    Or LOTR Wednesday.  Your choice.

The Circle of Life

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Dogs are colour blind, did you know that?”

    “Of course, what has that to do with it?”

    “A dog can’t see a rainbow.  And nobody will ever be able to teach it what colours are.  But you know as well as I do that red, yellow and blue exist.  Who’s to say that isn’t true of people, too?  There may be things that exist, even though we can’t see them.  Like evil.  We know it’s there only when it manifests itself, by which time it’s too late.”

    (from The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carrisi)

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Stamp Collecting

    A little bit of Sunday punnery.  And yes, I was an avid philatelist as a kid.

Dear YouTube

    So will I.  However, I do find it academically interesting to see how the Advertisers construct the opening 5 seconds of the ads to try to entice you to stick around.

E-Card Friday

    This is another cause that I totally support.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “I bet they drugged him.”

    “The way they drugged you?”

    “Not quite.  Not the same drug, or the poor bastard wouldn’t have been able to talk at all.  I wonder what she gave me.  It must have been powerful stuff.  It had me hallucinating.”

    “Like acid?”

    “I never had any acid.”

    “Neither did I.”

    (from The Burglar Who Liked To Quote Kipling,  by Lawrence Block)

     8½*/10.  The full review is here.

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The Battle of Carthage

    This is wrong for oh so many reasons.

    First of all, it was a 2-year siege, not a flippin' battle.  The citizens of Carthage put up heroic resistance, but it was ultimately in vain, and Carthage was destroyed by the &!^*$$*& Romans, never to be rebuilt.

    Second of all, there's been - what? - a gazillion battles in recorded history.  Why the frick did Mom choose this particular one?  It wasn't the Romans' finest hour.  It didn't have any brilliant tactics.  No songs or ballads were written about it.

    Thirdly, among my dozen or so multiple personalities, there is a Carthagenian general, and he's been in a royal snit all day over this cartoon.  Let's show a little respect for the crazies of the world.

But it's a dry heat

    Not funny, cell phone.  Not funny at all.

Wasted Life

   So sad.