Just an idea...

    I support this.

Reading is Fun Wednesday

E-Card Tuesday. Winter Edition

    Here in Phoenix, we don't even know the meaning of the word Snow.

Quote for the Day

   It's true.  There is no reason for Genius and Crazy to be mutually exclusive.

Therapy

    This is why I don't go to Therapy.  It would seriously impact my Time-Travel adventures.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    She smiled.  “I never took you for the martyr type.”

    “You mean there’s a martyr type?  Who the hell would want to be a martyr?”

    “More than you’d think.  In the right setting it can be a form of celebrity.”

    “I guess so.   Who was it who said that some people climb onto the cross merely to be seen from a greater distance?”

    “Camus, I believe.”

    Patrick was startled – happily.  “You’ve read Camus?”

f

    (from Sims, by F. Paul Wilson)

     8*/10.  The full review is here.

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Back to school

    Yay for me!!  I'm going back to school!  Well, it's Traffic School, but that still counts, doesn't it?

Go Seahawks!

    I've never been a fan of the New England Patriots, although I'd cheer for them if they were playing the Dallas Cowboys.  I'm not a big Seattle Seahawks fan either, but I will definitely be cheering for them in the Super Bowl.

Grammar Nazis and Commas

    I've been reading up on the proper use of commas.  Cuz Beta-Readers have got to be punctuation pros.

Kale

    Kale,  Yuck.  But maybe I haven't been eating it the right way.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “All we wanted to know was, are we on the right road for the Hundred Acre Wood?”

    Julian nodded.  “Follow your nose as far as the next clearing but one and wait for a dramatic plot reversal,” he sighed.  “There’s usually one along every ten minutes or so.”

    “Many thanks,” the intruder said.  “If it’s any consolation, the river of predestination has many bends but few bridges.”

    “I’ll bear that in mind,” Julian assured him.  “And now, if you don’t mind -“

    “Carry on,” replied the intruder.  ”Be seeing you.  Strive to be at peace.”

    “Same to you with knobs on.”

    (from Snow White and the Seven Samurai by Tom Holt)

  8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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FaceBook Warning

    I adjusted my FaceBook settings to eliminate the Apocalypse threat.  The Universe sleeps a little safer tonight.

E-Card Friday

    Awww.  Ain't love a marvelous thing?

RIF Thursday

    Reading Is Fun.  One learns from every book one reads.

Antisocial Support Groups

    That is an inherent weakness of Antisocial Support groups.

Philosophy Tuesday

    Words to live by.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “So what?”

    “So this,” Leopard’s finger stabbed out again.  “These legends were created by a group of ex-Nazis right after World War Two.  They were brought over by the OSS and given the job of creating legends for agents who were then inserted inside the USSR.  They called themselves the Norns, the weavers of fate from Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera.”

    “How do you know all that?”

    “The Internet, dude.  How else?”

    (from Father Night by Eric Van Lustbader)

    6½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Dylan Sunday

Saturday Zen

RIF Friday

    And I for one appreciate that information.

Why do we call it Finland?

    Germany calls itself Deutschland.  Spain calls itself Espana.  And Finland calls itself Suomi.  So why don't we call these countries what they call themselves?

    This question was posed to me a couple days ago, and I still don't have an answer for it.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “This is a terrible idea,” Carveth said.  “I mean, haven’t you noticed that we’re actually going towards the enemy?  Four people can’t defeat six divisions, especially if a quarter of them are hiding.  It’s like mooning people at light speed: it just won’t work.  At a guess.”

    (from God Emperor of Didcot by Toby Frost)

    8½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Frasier

    Is it just me, or did Frasier have the best scriptwriters in Hollywood?

Today's Drabble

   I can empathize with Ralph.  I've had this nightmare as well.

Squirrel Jam

  I always love a well-constructed pun.

Cursive

    Ah, Cursive.  You gave me so many bad "Handwriting Grades" in elementary school.  Cute girls got assigned to try and help me, but in those days they had Cooties.  I was very happy when I made it to Junior High and my sloppy handwriting no longer got graded.

    Now of course, we "write" everything with a computer, tablet, cell phone, or e-mail carrier.  And even my signature is usually digitally affixed.

    So up yours, Cursive! I outlasted you.

Irregardless

    We post far too few SMBC cartoons here.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “You are an … interesting man, Elend Venture,” Yomen finally said.

    “I’m a bastard,” Elend said.

    Yomen raised an eyebrow.

    “In composition, not in temperament or by birth,” Elend said with a smile.  “I’m an amalgamation of what I’ve needed to be.  Part scholar, part rebel, part nobleman, part Mistborn, and part soldier.  Sometimes, I don’t even know myself.  I had a devil of a time getting all those pieces to work together.  And, just when I’m starting to get it figured out, the world up and ends on me.”

    (from The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson)

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

Great Men of Music - Franz Joseph Haydn

Title  :  Great Men of Music - Franz Joseph Haydn

Artists  :  Various.  (it's the composer that counts)

Description  :  4-LP Box Set

Year Released  :  1976 (and a revised version in 1978)

    Okay, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky are in a class by themselves when it comes to Classical Music.  But composers like Franz Joseph Haydn and Antonio Vivaldi aren't far behind.  So it was a treat to convert this Time-Life boxed-set to MP3 files.

- Tracks - (favorites in pink)

Side 01
    Symphony No. 60 in C Major ("Il Distratto")
Side 02
    Piano Sonata No. 33 in C Minor
    Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Minor
Side 03
    String Quartet No. 34 in D Major; Opus 20, No. 4
Side 04
    Symphony No. 88 in G Major
Side 05
    Piano Sonata No. 50 in D Major
Side 06
    String Quartet No. 76 in D Minor; Opus 76, No. 2
Side 07
    "The Creation"
    Mass No. 12 in B Flat Major ("Harmoniemesse")
Side 08
    (The rest of) Mass No. 12 in B Flat Major

    I picked this up for $3-$5 at Half-Price Books a while back.  Someone had unloaded a whole bunch from this series there, and I scarfed up 5 of the boxed-sets.  I converted the Vivaldi edition last year; it is shown here.  Bartok, Strauss, and Dvorak still await digitalizing.

    Once again, the LP's themselves were in very good shape.  There were some scratches, but few enough to where I opted to remove (most of) them manually.  There were no skips.

    The format was the same as was used in the Vivaldi set:  three of the LP's were instrumental; the fourth was vocal/opera.  Also included was an excellent booklet about Haydn's life.  The copyright therein cited 1976, but with a proviso that an amended edition was issued in 1978.  I presume they discovered that they had some biographical facts incorrect.

    I'm a huge fan of Haydn's symphonies, so Side 01 and 04 were a real treat.  But all of the first 6 sides are good.  I really don't care for opera, so didn't enjoy the final LP as much.  But if you're going to mix in vocals with my classical music, this is probably as good as it gets.

    ISTR there were about 18-19 sets issued in this Time-Life series.  It was somewhat picked-over by the time I came upon them at Half-Price books, and I didn't buy the remainder all at once.  But I'll be keeping my eyes open for any of these sets that might find their way back to the bookstore.

My New Year's Eve Resolution

Belle and Sebastian

    Belle and Sebastian is an absolutely fine Indie Pop group, whose music I've come to appreciate.  Yet when I hear their name, this is what I inevitably think of :

   I think this means I'm older than dirt.

Back To Work

    After two weeks of vacation, it is time to go back to work tomorrow.  But it's only for one day. and then I'm off until Friday.

    I am soooooooo not looking forward to the advent of 5-day workweeks starting the following Monday.

On hiatus

    We are on hiatus until Sunday, 28 December, at which time we will return to our usual rambling, aimless, and unfocused postings.  In the meantime, why not enjoy some of the historical blather we've posted?

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “I’m coming with you.”  Father Mateo stepped from the shadows at the edge of the road.

    “What are you doing here?” Hiro asked.

    “I know a thing or two about mending dams,” the Jesuit said.  “I followed you – by a different route – in case my help was required.”

    Kazu looked at Hiro.  “What is he talking about?”

    “He doesn’t trust me to apologize properly,” Hiro said.

    Kazu gave the priest an appraising glance.  “He knows you well.”

    (from Blade Of The Samurai by Susan Spann)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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The Obsolete Alphabet

    I don't mean to quibble, but "S" is not an obsolete item.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Ah, I see!” Horhotep said, walking up behind them.  “Ten men are posted here at all times, not out of necessity but so you’ll always be entertained.”

    The sergeant, his face flushed with fury, balled his hands into fists.  With a mighty effort, he restrained himself.

    Sennefer leaned close to Bak and murmured, “If Horhotep survives this journey, the gods have blundered exceedingly.”

    “I’d be pleased to serve as the instrument of their wrath.”

    (from A Curse of Silence,  by Lauren Haney)

  

    9*/10.  The full review is here.

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Christmas Punnery

    Well, this seems timely, for several reasons.

Aretha Franklin - Sweet Passion

Artist  :  Aretha Franklin

Album Title  :  Sweet Passion  (1977)

Genre  :  Soul

- TRACKS -  (favorites in pink)

01. Break It To Me Gently

02. When I Think About You

03. What I Did For Love

04. No One Could Ever Love You More

05. A Tender Touch

06. Touch Me Up

07. Sunshine Will Never Be The Same

08. Meadows Of Springtime

09. Mumbles

10. Sweet Passion

    I'm not much of a Soul Music fan. but thanks to my wife and son, I am slowly developing a taste for it.  Which is easy to do when the singer has the pipes like Aretha does.

    I found this LP in the clearance bin at my local Half Price Books store, for the modest price of $1.  The album has no major scratches, but lots of small ones.  And no skips.  Conversion was easy, but I tried to take the scratches out manually, and it is iffy whether I caught enough of the minor scratches to justify skipping the De-Popper Software Program.  I'm beta-listening to it as I write this; so far only two tracks need significant cleansing.

    For some reason, Sweet Passion has never been released in the US on CD.  To boot, neither Amazon nor iTunes offers it in digital form.

    Aretha's voice is impeccable here, and the backing musicians are up to the task of complementing her singing.  Other than the "I got the music in me" intro to Track 9, none of the songs are familiar to me, but that's probably a function of my not listening much to Soul.

   For the life of me, I cannot fathom why this hasn't been released as a CD yet.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Studley, as we have told you about ten times already, your chickens have eaten patented seeds.  Since you have not paid the patent license fee to Gonsanto, the company that owns the patents, you are in violation of the law.  We don’t care if the seeds blew in from the neighbouring farm.  You should have taken more precautions, like locking your chickens in an airproof chamber.”

    “But sirs, they would die without air, wouldn’t they?”

    “Excuses, Studley, excuses.”

    (from Who Framed Santa Claus?, by Shantnu Tiwari)

     7½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Christmas Shopping

    Okay.  Time to get serious about Christmas shopping.