Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Music Tuesday


    The Billboard piece of trivia is in fact, true.  DSotM had amazing longevity on their "Top 200" chart.  Surprisingly, this is not my favorite Pink Floyd album.  Probably not even in the Top Three.

Monday, June 22, 2020

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Bestsellers


    I gotta find this book.

Friday, June 19, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    Nowhere is the white standard-setting more outrageous than when it comes to history.  When the topic is about anybody other than white folks, it has to be labeled: Black, Latino, Native American, etc.; but white folks have been allowed to own “history”.  As this planet’s original people, there is no history without us.  Further, even when we moved outside of Africa, from ancient Greece and Rome to the Russian Empire to the start of the American Revolution to today, black folks have touched all of humanity’s most significant events.  Neither the world nor America would be what they are today without the contributions of people of African Ancestry; let us be clear once and for all that black history is “history”.


    (from Defining Moments in (Black) History by Dick Gregory)

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Thursday, June 18, 2020

Global Warning



    Ha!  You thought I misspelled "Global Warming", didn't you?

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Paper Tiger


    Calvin & Hobbes RIF ("Reading is Fun") Edition.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

The Joys of Teaching


Just cuz I'm reading a book that takes a (light-hearted) look at the joys of teaching nigh school.

Monday, June 15, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “Since when do you open your own front door?”

    “It is a luxury to feel so secure that I don’t need armed men to welcome old friends.”

    “You’re taking a damned fool chance,” said Janson.

    “A luxury by definition is an indulgence.”

    “You’ll get yourself killed.  Or snatched.”

    “There are four concealed cameras over the alley.”

    “I saw them.  And the gas port.  It would not be easy to take you, but not impossible.”

    “Will I get a bill for security advice?”


    (from The Janson Command by Paul Garrison)

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Sunday, June 14, 2020

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Who to believe?


    So difficult to choose.

Friday, June 12, 2020

Safety Meetings


    I remember safety meetings like this.

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “We need something with which to protect ourselves, too,” Arturo mentioned.  “They have sharp teeth, and claws.”

    “I’m hungry,” Robert whined, rubbing his sizable stomach.  He caught a few glances and grimaced.  “What?  It’s a valid concern.”

    “He’s right,” Joe remarked.  “This probably isn’t gonna clear up in an afternoon, and we’ll need food.  It’s like ‘Nam all over again.  We need weapons, we need protection, and we need food.  We should split up.”

    “Then I need more booze, too.  I’m not gonna do this sober.”


    (from The Missing Link by Brandon Meyers and Bryan Pedas)

    5*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Virus Update


    Headline today in USA Today: Experts: Arizona's COVID-19 spread 'alarming'.

Tuesday, June 09, 2020

The Golden Compass


    Today only, for just $1.99 you can read The Golden Compass, Book 1 of Philip Pullman's fantastic His Dark Materials trilogy on your Kindle.

Sunday, June 07, 2020

Art Appreciation Sunday


    My great-great-great-great grandfather. This explains so much about my freaking hair.

Saturday, June 06, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “I can’t forgive him for what he did to those poor prisoners of ours, of course, but I suppose some capricious cruelty is probably necessary in a ruler.  All in all, I think, and judging him by the standards of our own monarchy, we should have to give the Tippoo fairly high marks.”

    “So why the hell are we fighting him, sir?”

    McCandless smiled.  “Because we want to be here, and he doesn’t want us to be here.  Two dogs in a small cage, Sharpe.”


    (from Sharpe’s Tiger by Bernard Cornwell)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Friday, June 05, 2020

RIP Jorge Santana


Jorge Santana was the equally-talented younger brother of Carlos Santana, and Malo was his short-lived band who put out Santana-esque music that for some reason never sold well. I for one thought they were woefully underappreciated. RIP, good sir!

Thursday, June 04, 2020

Movie Reference Thursday


    Best movie ever.  Hands down.

Wednesday, June 03, 2020

Tuesday, June 02, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “Can you lift this, or should I work a pulley?”

    “I think I can get it, but be ready to spot me so I don’t drop it.”

    “There isn’t enough room in here for me to jump in and catch squat.  I’ll be right behind you watching it fall.”

    “Have I mentioned what a treat it is to work with you, Lyons?”

    “Hasn’t come up,” she answered.

    “Imagine that.”


    (from The Years Ran Like Rabbits by Anna Taylor)

    7*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Monday, June 01, 2020

To Reread or not To Reread


    I've reread Brave New World, Waiting For Godot, and Slaughterhouse Five. That's about it. Why read something a second time when there are zillions of interesting books out there that you haven't touched yet?

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Nutty Buddy


    The best Little Debbie snack ever!  And I should know; I've tried them all.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    Claudine had mentioned that Claude had just broken up with his boyfriend, too, so he was unattached: all six feet of him, accessorized with rippling black hair and rippling muscles and a six-pack that could have been featured in Abs Weekly.  Mentally add to that a pair of brown velour-soft eyes, a chiseled jaw, and a sensuous mouth with a pouty bottom lip, and you’ve got Claude.  Not that I was noticing.


    (from Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Thursday, May 28, 2020

Estragon



    Oh neat!  It looks like Barney & Clyde are doing Waiting For Godot cartoons for a bit.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Hoarding


    I admit it.  I hoard books.  But only ones I haven't read yet.

Monday, May 25, 2020

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Florence


    I like 'em both.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    “Let me provisionally say that we knew each other nineteen years, seven months, and around fifteen days when he passed away so tragically.  I have kept careful records my whole life.  The only data I won’t be able to record is the exact time of my own death, unless I commit suicide, which I have no plans to do.  But my lawyer has instructions to burn all my notebooks when I die.  They are of value only to me, not anyone else.”

    Wallander was starting to sense that Sundelius was one of those people who did not get enough chances to talk to others.


    (from One Step Behind by Henning Mankell)

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Darwinism


    Evolution.  Just a theory.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Monday, May 18, 2020

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    A few entrepreneurs realized that there was a market for higher quality ice cream in small containers at high prices.  In 1961 Rose Mattus and her husband, Reuben, developed such a brand and called it Häagen-Dazs.  The success of this brand name proves that Americans like their food to have foreign names – the way they will use coriander only when it is called cilantro and the way sherbet has made a comeback under the name “sorbet”.  The Mattuses intended “Häagen-Dazs” to sound Danish, though there is no umlaut in Danish.  But if you wanted a word to look foreign, what could be better than an umlaut?


    (from Milk! by Mark Kurlansky)

    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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Saturday, May 16, 2020

Cornhole Competition


    We were reduced to watching a "cornhole" match today during breakfast. That's apparently an updated word for "bean bag". I am not making this up.

Friday, May 15, 2020

Word for the Day


    Word for the Day: "Proustian" (adj.): relating to or characteristic of the French writer Marcel Proust or his works, particularly with reference to the recovery of the lost past and the stimulation of unconscious memory.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Book Excerpt for the Day


    Before the Virus, schools taught all sorts of subjects, but now they stuck to the basics.  Enough to communicate and survive in a world of rudimentary living.  And parents could stop sending their kids to school whenever they wanted to.  It was more important for your kid to help grow food or sew shirts or fish or chop wood or keep an old car or bicycle going.  Or to work one of the necessary jobs in town.

    (from H2O by Irving Belateche)

    6½*/10.  The complete review is here.
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