Company Name

    In contrast, it once took my company's board of directors 9 months to decide what our company colors would be.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Is it true that you barbarians allow your women to have a say with whom they mate?”

    (...) “They have a way with words,” Agog replied.

    Gnaeus nodded sagely.  “Are you not concerned with their deceptions?  They are despicable creatures.”

    “Despicable?  No.  Deceptive?  Yes.”  Agog rubbed the parallel rope scars on his forearm.  “One tricked me into killing a particularly dangerous black bear for her.”

    “Did you punish her for her indiscretions?” he asked.

    “Yes.”  Agog letting a grin rise slowly to his lips.  “I married her.”

    (from Fires of Alexandria by Thomas K. Carpenter)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Reality vs. Expectations

    Food for thought.  Literally.

Space Vampires

    Well, I for one am worried.

Quote For The Day

Punny Tuesday

Palindromes

    I do like Palindromes, and I do like XKCD.

Inspirational Sunday!

Existential Saturday

    From The New Yorker magazine, and rather cerebral, even for them.

Dinosaurs and Humans

    Proof that dinosaurs and humans coexisted 6,000 years ago.  Your move, evolutionists!

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “I thought you said it was a comedy.”

    “It is, yes.  Action costume comedy musical.  The idea is, there’s this group of Zulu warriors in the 1830’s who’ve just come back from kicking Boer ass all over the Transvaal, and then they hear about this orphanage that can’t afford presents for the kids at Christmas, so they put on this big show and raise money.  It’s a sure thing.  They’re thinking of calling it Assegais and Dolls.

    (from The Good, The Bad and The Smug by Tom Holt)

  8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Winter Storm

    A winter storm of epic proportions is about to sweep across the United States, and here I am in Arizona, debating whether to wear sandals with my cutoffs, or just go barefoot.

Geography Tuesday!

    They're practically next door neighbors.

Monday Awww

   Well, if Skeletor is going to ride a kitty cat, of course it's gonna be a black one.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Dawn, pink and chilly.  The Emperor of San Francisco was trudging along the waterfront by the Aquatic Park when a guinea pig dressed in the pumpkin pants and satin doublet of an Elizabethan dandy ran by on disproportionately long, wading-bird legs, a small model tugboat thrown over its shoulder.  It was followed by two equally patchwork creatures dressed in what appeared to be red shop rags, the type that are sold in rolls; one creature had the head of a calico cat, the other that of an armadillo, the latter chanting “go, go, go” as they passed.

     “Well, you don’t see that every day,” said the Emperor.

    (from Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore)

    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Book Clock

    For the record, I've read three of these books (2, 3, 7), and eight of the authors  (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12).

Science Friday

    Do you want to know why I majored in Chemistry?  Because of perks like this.

2016 Christmas List

    Well, this is definitely going to be the first entry on my 2016 Christmas Wish List.

The Washington Redskins - A Recap

    While it is true that my Washington Redskins biffed in the first round of the playoffs, it was still a very successful season for us.  A 9-7 record, winning the division, making it to post-season.  And of course, whacking the daylights out of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16.

    We are still not a top-tier team.  Even if we had beaten Green Bay, Arizona or Carolina would've slaughtered us in the second round.  But we're finally beyond all those draft picks we gave up for RG3.  And our offensive and defensive lines are no longer pitiful.

    So there's a lot to look forward to next season.

Star Wars 7

    Really.  I have to presume that everybody who had/has any intention of seeing Star Wars - Episode 7 has by now gone and seen it.  So no spoiler alerts are needed anymore.

Monkey Bars

    For the record, the monkey bars were where you could find me every recess.  Seesaws were for sissies, and jump-rope were for kids who liked to fall flat on their face.

Beer Mitten

   How come I didn't think of this?

Epicurus Quote

    Gotta respect the logic here.

Book Excerpt For The Day

    She made one circuit of the tree, and was about to return to the path when she saw a pair of living eyes staring out at her from the leaves.  She yelped.  They blinked.  Tentatively, she reached forward and parted the twigs.

    The head of the man she’d taken for dead was on almost back to front, and his skull had been cracked wide open. But everywhere the wounds had bred sumptuous life.  A beard, lush as new grass, grew around a mossy mouth that ran with sap; floret-laden twigs broke from the cheeks.

    The eyes watched her intently, and she felt moist tendrils reaching up to investigate her face and hair.

    Then, its blossoms shaking as it drew breath, the hybrid spoke.  One long, soft word.

    “Amialive.”

f

    (from Weaveworld by Clive Barker)

     8*/10.  The full review is here.

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One Year Ago...

    ...and Charlie Hebdo is alive and well.  Take that, religious zealots!

Interest-Free Checking

    So that's how it works.  I knew there was a catch. 

E-Cards Tuesday!

    My sentiments exactly.

Food For Thought

    I don't believe in coincidences.

Grammar-itis

    Sadly, I suffer from this disease in real life. 

Surreal Saturday!

   Give me Surreal Art over Abstract Art any day.

Reading Is Fun ("RIF")

    May 2016 be an excellent year for everyone, reading-wise.  Buy a kindle, visit your library, get into graphic novels.  Heck, even "listen" to one via an audio-book, which I tried once and just couldn't get into.

    If necessary, set yourself a reasonable reading goal.  Something like 25 books for the year, which equates to one every two weeks.   Write reviews if that sort of thing appeals to you.  Join Goodreads to see what books your friends are enjoying.

    But never stop reading.

Happy New Year's Eve!

    And this pretty much sums up my resolutions for 2016.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Careful, Archchancellor,  warned the Dean.  “What you have there might represent pure sobriety.”

    Ridcully paused with the finger halfway to his lips.

    “Good point,” he said.  I don’t want to start being sober at my time of life.”  He looked around.  “How do we usually test stuff?”

    “Generally we ask for student volunteers,” said the Dean.

    “What happens if we don’t get any?”

    “We give it to them anyway.”

    “Isn’t that a bit unethical?”

    “Not if we don’t tell them, Archchancellor.”

    (from Hogfather by Terry Pratchett)

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Go To Jail

    True dis.  You can also get thrown in jail in a card game called "Bang!" which we were introduced to on Christmas night, and was a blast to play.

E-Card Monday - Nerd Edition

   Just cuz we haven't done an e-card day for a while.

Back from Seattle

   We're back from our week-long sojourn in Seattle.  The flight schedules were all fscked up due to bad weather in Texas and elsewhere, so we took the Stargate portal.

Magic The Gathering

   I played my second game game of Magic The Gathering this week.  My first game occurred about 20 years ago.  I still don't comprehend WTF is going on or any of the strategy.  But I can now see where it is an exceedingly complex game, and that is a definite plus.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

    ...which is indeed possible for a change.  But a sleety one is more likely.

Seattle Public Library

    We visited the Seattle Public Library today.  I was interested in seeing how it compared to my hometown Phoenix Public Library.  In terms of quantities of books, DVD's, and CD's, the two are pretty equal.

    But the Seattle library has a Coffee/Chocolate snack area, and an adjoining "friend play" zone where you can play library-supplied board games.  No such thing back home.

    So the ball's in your court, Phoenix.

Star Wars - Episode 7

   We saw the new Star Wars movie today - Episode 7.  It was both spectacular and predictable, with lots of action and due homage to the previous episodes/  I'm not going to gush about it. but I wasn't disappointed either.