Dilly Dallying and Lollygagging

    There is a difference between the two, albeit a subtle one.  Dilly dallying is aimlessly wandering around, while lollygagging is aimlessly idling in place.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Oh, horrible!” I exclaimed to myself: “Does anyone really imagine that these motor-cars are as smart as the old carriage-and-pair?  I dare say.  I am too old now – but I was not intended for a world in which women shackle themselves in garments that are not even made of cloth.  To what purpose shall I walk among these trees if there is nothing left now of the assembly that used to meet beneath the delicate tracery of reddening leaves, if vulgarity and fatuity have supplanted the exquisite thing that once their branches framed?  Oh, horrible!”

    (from Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust)

  8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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4,000 in Roman numerals

    Cute, but actually, no.  The ancient Romans had no symbol for 5,000, so they had no way to write "4,000".  I don't know why, nor what they did when they needed to write down a big number like that.

    Later on, in the Middle Ages and such, folks did "invent" a contrived symbol for bigger numbers in Roman numerals.  .One was a "V" with a line over it, to represent 5,000.  But hey, if the ancient Romans didn't use it, it doesn't count.

Famous Time-Travelers

    Not surprising.  I know for a fact that Billy Joel is a fellow time-traveler.

Shower Curtain

    Well, I'm gonna hafta get me one of these.  And we don't even have a shower curtain.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    He was no fool, and could hardly have failed to notice that he was being obliquely invited to believe that Cadfael might, when confronted with his old sweetheart married to another, have so far succumbed to jealousy as to remove his rival from the world with his own hands.  Who, after all, knew the properties of herbs and plants better, or the proportions in which they could be used for good or ill?  God forbid it should enter any mind, Jerome had said piously, neatly planting the notion as he deplored it.

    (from Monk’s Hood by Ellis Peters)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Psychic Fairs

    Back in my metaphysical days, I attended several Psychic Fairs here in the greater Phoenix area,  In those days, they were held in Scottsdale, sometimes indoors, sometimes outdoors.  One year I was even a participant, doing Tarot card readings for a couple dollars, all of which went to help with the costs of putting on the fair.

    And my thought always was, why does a psychic fair need to do any advertising?  Shouldn't anybody local who's psychic be able to feel the vibes about the upcoming fair, including where and when it's going to occur? 

High Speed Blues

    This is why I get speeding tickets.

Baptizing Aliens

   Well, yes for Alf, no for ET.  And for Predator, whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't shoot me.  FWIW, this is a real book, available at Amazon in various formats, including digital.

    Seriously, from my Pentecostal days, the Fundamentalists hated this sort of question, preferring to believe that extraterrestrials don't exist.  They are probably wrong, but they will never be disproven , since intergalactic travel, particularly by living, sentient creatures, will most likely never happen. 

Book Excerpt for the Day

    He had his arm around his girl of the evening, a short, thin, dark twenty-one-year-old from somewhere way out in the sticks.  (I’d carded her.)  I gave her a close look.  Jason didn’t know it, but she was a shape-shifter of some kind.  They’re easy to spot.  She was an attractive girl, but she changed into something with feathers or fur when the moon was full. I noticed Sam gave her a hard glare when Jason’s back was turned, to remind her to behave herself in his territory.  She returned the glare, with interest.  I had the feeling she didn’t become a kitten, or a squirrel.

    (from Dead To The World by Charlaine Harris)

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Wednesday Netiquette

Medical Tuesday

    Ewww.   Just ewww.

The Pool Man Cometh

    This is all three of our dogs.  Every freaking Friday, between 11:00 AM and noon.

Sunday Sermon

Monty Python Saturday!

    This isn't photoshopped.  Eric Idle did really shake hands with Prince Charles while in a dress and with a swan on his head.

     It came at the end of the farewell Monty Python show, immediately after the curtain came down.  Eric, still in costume, hadn't realized that he would have no time to change before greeting the special guests at the show.   

Book Excerpt for the Day

    I recognized Saswanna’s father and remember his words.

    “The Spanish took our gifts and left us with war and Black Sleep,” Azaha shouted at the crowd.  “They took our pride, dignity and honor, and in return, gave us a cross.”

    He pointed up at it.  “It may be holy and honorable to the Spanish, but for the people of Casqui, it is the sign of sickness and deceit.”

    The crowd chanted.  “Death to the Spanish.  Death to the Spanish.”

    “Burn it before it destroys us all!” Azaha shouted back.

    (from Storykeeper, by Daniel A. Smith)

     5*/10.  The full review is here.

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Causal Fridays

    My brain misread this one three times before finally "getting it".

The crowded bed

    Three of them, actually.

Jury Duty

    I have jury duty tomorrow.  Maybe.  I have to call in at 10:15 AM to see if I've been picked for the afternoon shift.

Bookworms

   I spent an hour at Half Price Books on Saturday.  Walked out of there with only two books and no CD's.  Sometimes my self-restraint amazes even me.

420 Day

    Happy 420 Day to all!

When Editors go Questing

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “It’s wonderful to be back at the Bollywood Hole after all these years.

    I am proud to be here on behalf of Monty Python to accept this honor.

    I bring messages and thanks from the others.  Terry Gilliam sadly can’t be with us tonight as they won’t let him show his ass, which has been favorably compared with Spielberg’s ass.

    Graham Chapman can’t be with us tonight, as sadly he is still dead.  And John Cleese is finishing a movie.

    He has to get it back to Blockbuster by tomorrow.

    So that just leaves me here tonight.

    And so, I’d like to thank me, without whom I too wouldn’t be here this evening.”

    (from Always Look on the Bright Side of Life  by Eric Idle)

  9½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Art Appreciation Wednesday

    It's called The Raft of the Medusa, and it presently resides at the Louvre in Paris.  Surprisingly (at least for me), "the Medusa" refers to a French ship, not the mythological creature.

Tuesday Motivational Message

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Percival Lake… The name is familiar.  Constance, would you be so good as to look that up on… What is that website?  It was named after a large mathematical number.”

    “Google?”

    “Ah, yes.  Google him for me, if you please.”

    (from Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Determinism Man

    My new superhero hero!

Swann's Way - Part Deux

    This is the second time in less than a month that I've run across a comic referencing Swann's Way.  I'm thinking may it's a sign from the god of books, Libris.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Do you know who I would watch out for if I were you?”

    “Catilina?”

    “Yes, him, too.  But the one who should really worry you is Antonius Hybrida.”

    “But the man is a half-wit!”

    “Cicero, you disappoint me.  Since when has idiocy been a bar to advancement in politics?”

    (from Imperium by Robert Harris)

     7*/10.  The full review is here.

Black Hole Size

    Just to keep everything in perspective.

Monty Python Wednesday!

    Just cuz I'm reading an autobiography by one of them. 

Industrial Death Metal Zits

    This is today's Zits comic strip.  I am familiar with Ulver, but the other two band names were new to me, and I wondered if they were made-up by the cartoonist.  So off to Google I went.

    It turns out they are real, and even have their own pages on Wikipedia.  They are indeed Industrial Death/Black Metal bands, but here's the curious part:

    All three bands are non-stereotypical for that genre, where the "norm" is pretending to be into satanism and ritual killing.  I need to camp out on YouTube and investigate them more deeply.

Monday Zen

    A clever take-off on one of my favorite Western movies.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Contact popularized the idea of aliens listening in on our broadcast media.  Sadly, the odds are against it.

    Here’s the problem: Space is really big.

    You can work through the physics of interstellar radio attenuation, but the problem is captured pretty well by considering the economics of the situation: If your TV signals are getting to another star, you’re wasting money.  Powering a transmitter is expensive, and creatures on other stars aren’t buying the products in the TV commercials that pay your power bill.

    The full picture is more complicated, but the bottom line is that as our technology has gotten better, less of our radio traffic has been leaking out into space.  We’re closing down the giant transmitting antennas and switching to cable, fiber, and tightly focused cell-tower networks.

    (from What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe)

    10*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Technology Generation Gap

    In the "Digital vs. Vinyl" debate, I favor the former, while my son favors the latter.

Social Vegan

   Ayup.  That's me.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Call the bank and relay the message that I can’t make it.”

    “What reason should I give them?”

    “It doesn’t matter, Sterling.  Make something up, if you have to.”

    “But, sir, that would be an untruth.  I – I don’t think I could do that.  A gentleman should always be impeccable with his word.  If I may be so bold to say.”

    “Well, explain that an emergency came up.”

    “Yes, sir.”  The puzzled look came back.  “What type of emergency?”

    “Tell them I have to go see an ailing friend.  And that’s the truth.”  Inspector Horatio Stagg always got a sick look on his face when he saw Ravenwood come through his office door.

    (from Trumpet of Triton by Marlin Williams)

     9*/10.  The full review is here.

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Gravy

    We made a gallon of gravy one time in college from about two teaspoons of meat-frying grease  by alternating additions of flour and milk.  It was pretty bland, but hey, we had gravy for our meat and potatoes.

Jumble

   It's true.  I do get vexed when I can't finish the Jumble in the morning.  But it gives my brain something to think about as I drive to work.

Vocabulary Building

    Learning a foreign language, one word at a time.