Not Cool GSA

Yikes! The Girl Scouts just charged my card $200 towards summer camp - that'd be $200 I can't spare - despite the fact that I took care of that bill months ago. They've reversed the charges ("for now") but I need to redo some of the paperwork (?!) for the camp. Apparently a large chunk of the application was lost, & so their computer records are incomplete & I was charged as part of a mass billing . . .

Ruby Ridge

Lisa & I watched a show on Ruby Ridge; what a needless waste. Then, we watched testimony from OR v Beagley, a case of alleged negligent homicide against parents who refused med treatment for their 16 yr old son. IMO, another case of the gov't overstepping its bounds. Gov't doesn't shrink or remain stagnant, it perpetually grows, like a cancer. I shudder to think what burdens our great-grandchildren will live under.

Babysitting the Godson

Babysitting my (soon to be) Godson TJ. Took him for a walk in the stroller with LuLu and Junie stopped at a local playground, then spent time in the backyard. He seemed the happiest outdoors, breaking into huge grins for Lisa & the girls. Now he's asleep in the bouncer, but he's been a little grumpy. From experience I'd say he's teething or constipated. Or he's po'd about the Brewers losing AGAIN; Lord knows I am.

Facebook March 7th - 11th

March 7th - my Smiley's 5th Birthday!!

* Smiley's name appeared on Sprout's Birthday Wishes at ~9:32 this morning, but (so far) not his card.

* 3 words to describe Smiley's bday party (in progress): pretty dang lousy. [only one of six invited guests from his class showed up, despite folks RSVP'ing]

* [3:18 pm] The kid party is done. 1 hr 55 minutes until the family party for Smiley starts. I think I'm going to try and nap. Or watch the Magic-Lakers game. Either/or.

March 8th:

I'll say it again: as early as the 2000 election I witnessed, first hand, voter fraud at the polls here in Milwaukee. A few hundred fraudulent ballots may not sound like a lot, but in a battleground state like we were in '00 and '04, it matters.

* I finished *One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich*. The blase acceptance of the gulag as normal and "just something to bear" is as much an indictment of the Soviets as the injustice of the camp itself.

* [from my sister K] Danny - Congrat's dear man . Your wish has come true . People .com is reporting that Betty White will be hosting Saturday night live !!!!! Your fantasy lady is fullfilling your dreams :)

* [on the death of Natalie Wood in the '80's] I was seven at the time, and I think it's the first high-profile celebrity death I remember. Ah, memories.

* [re: a serial killer who won on 'The Dating Game'] By the time of the show he'd already raped a little girl, and by the end of that year he would abduct and kill the first of his victims. Even at the time the other contestants on the game felt he was 'creepy' and despite winning, the woman refused to go out with him.

March 9th:

* On Sunday I caught YaYa using "BRB" (as in 'be right back') in actual, human to human conversation. Our culture's decline is all but complete.

* [Rep Eric Massa (D - NY) on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel] Quote: : "I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me." Icky-ick. At least it was just a finger he was poking with . . .

* Internet quote of the day, from a commenter on a Baseball Think Factory article about Obemann's over-the-top (surprise!) & rude attack on sportswriter Bill Simmons: "It may take months. It may take years. It may take decades. But as God is my witness, before I die, I will see Science get that stick out of Olbermann's ass"

* AI: A srong night for the women, and I much prefer the terse one hr format to the dragged out 2hr crap. Lacey saved herself this wk, and I think it's obvious Paige has to go. 2nd elimination is harder to pick this week - maybe Katelyn for her good vocal/no personality performance?

* Lost: After last weeks yawner, it was good to see Lost back on track. I'm happy Ben is a good man in the flash-sideways. Note also that on-island he rejected neoLocke/devil?'s offer & been accepted into the (good) group simply by confessing his sins. Jack's transformation has begun as well; on the Black Rock it became ...clear he is now a man of faith, and a believer in destiny. The lines have been drawn. It's showtime.

March 10th:

* Actor Corey Haim dies (RIP) and Einstein's theory of relativity is allegedly proven

* Happy birthday Chuck Norris!. One of my favorite Norris facts: He destroyed the Periodic Table of Elements because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

* [on the retirement of the great but oft-injured Nomar Garciaparra] There's no sport that likes to dwell more on 'what coulda been', but baseball mythology aside, injuries rarely derail what was sure to be a Hall of Fame, history making career. Not so with Nomar. He could be the poster boy for great talent rendered useless. I tip my cap to you sir. Enjoy your retirement.

March 11th:

I think the men did quite well tonight on AI. Michael Lynche won the night, although not my vote, but I was also quite impressed with Alex Lambert's voice. My picks to go home: the one-note Andrew Garcia and Todrick Hall.

* Just finished watching the Spanish language film "Before the Fall" (Tres Dias). The world has 3 days before a meterorite destroys the earth. So its a disaster movie right? Nope. Prison riots break out, & a serial killer escapes to kill the family of the man who caught him. Only the man's loser brother is left to defen...d the children. Think High Noon meets Armageddon meets Party of Five. Very good flick.

Any dog'll turn

RIP my front lawn

Last fall the city used stimilus $ to tear up my lawn. They replaced a functioning, intact gas pipe w/ more of the same, wiped out the small hill in front of my porch & destroyed my grass. I was set to cut the new lawn today for the 1st x - so naturally the city returned & dug it up AGAIN. They left a note on my door saying it was just to ck & see if they'd done the work right. America, your gov't at work.

Quote of the Day

"Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil." - Jerry Garcia

To every yahoo that went around Milwaukee yesterday saying "Whoo-hoo! Summer's finally here!" - thank your karma for the fifty degree tit-nipply weather today. I 'preciate it. 🙂

Bob and Brian

, stick a fork in Bob & Brian. I used to love 'em, and they did their schtick - blue collar/everyday Milwaukee Joe - better than anyone. But now they're rich, 50 yr old guys who live in the burbs; they're guys who have to google pop culture references, who refuse to play ANY music, & who pander to the stick-in-the-ass Zayban (sic). Enough. And please, don't even get me started on this 'Reheated' B.S.

Lisa was super piss*d at me yest. So after work, w/ our kids dispersed to relatives, I took her out for dinner and drinks, followed by a moonlight ride by the lakefront. With her again loving the Dslap, I finally got down to enjoying Saturday night the way it was meant to be spent: w/ a new episode of Doctor Who on the TV. 😉

Facebook March 4th (cont.) - March 6th

March 4th:

* Whodathunk I could make a cake from scratch? Having mastered all the Manly Arts, it seems I'm destined to conquer the kitchen as well. :) The apple cake is out of the oven & looks and smells wonderful. I made it for Friday's dessert so I can't judge the taste yet, but I'm gonna go on a limb & type out the recipie on S...lapinions. I can always delete the draft if the cake is hurl-worthy.

* [on the brutal slaying of Rachel Thompson and her children here in Milwaukee] Ah, man. They killed the 4 yr old first - a child that greeted them by name - & then took turns stabbing a toddler in the neck. Then, and only then, did they kill the woman who'd seen her own mom, and now her own children, murdered. Monsters like this walk the streets, freed by our legal system, while people piss & moan about due process for terrorists. What a f*ed up world.

* two links, neither of which I can get to work today: a lock of Napoleon's hair was found in an Australian vault, and coins from the time of Alexander the Great were unearthed in Syria

March 5th:

* My parents just left. I'd invited them over for a Lenten meal of cajun style salmon cakes, rice, salad, and that homemade apple cake I made yest. Personally, I think the cake was a litte dry, but everyone seemed to like it.

* Luda's "How Low Can You Go?" came on when I was driving w/ Smiley. When the chipmunk voice chimed in he got very excited & asked me to turn it down so he could tell me something. "Daddy, t'ose Zhu-Zhu [Pet] sounds!" he said, a typical grin plastered on his face.



* From the comfort of a chair in WI, the 'race' seems like no big deal, if silly, but I'm sure it's a big no-no. Here's an interesting bit: I didn't know the USN had female Capt's on warships - or that this one (Holly Graff) has been relieved of duty for unprofessional and cruel behavior towards her crew. That behavior ...incl.'s assault, verbal abuse, & allegedly using her rank for personal gain. Way to be a pioneer for your gender there, Capt'n. Navy Captain Demoted After Warship Drag Race Surfaced

* [on news that Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is alleged to have committed a sexual assualt] Here we go again. No idea if he's guilty or just an easy, easy mark, but enough already. Get your ass out of bars Ben, and hit up Craigslist personals and the local liquor store. The results certainly couldn't be any worse.

March 6th, my niece's birthday and the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo:

* Screw a dislike button. What FB needs is a spelling and grammar check.

* I woke up at 6 am, got dressed, scraped the frost off the windshield and drove to work, ready to start at 7 . . . only to discover my shift didn't start until 10.

* *93.6%* of Iceland's pop. votes 'no' to a bank bailout that would have cost them the equiv of $5.3 billion in payments to Britain & the Netherlands. Now International Moneary Fund may block a financial rescue package, the gov't might be destablized, and folks are p.o'd. Welcome to the messy, squabling Europe. Same as the old Europe, really, but w/out trench warfare. So far.

* After a busy day at work I came home, chilled for a bit, then noticed we were down to only 2 kids (after my niece's bday party YaYa stayed over, Smiley is at Gma). So I packed up & burned part of my paycheck on dinner at Villa Roma. Click on that link for a review of our experience. Lu and Ginger were dolls. A nice end to the day.

* My family ate at Villa Roma Saturday night. It was a nice atmosphere, relaxed and adult but more than accomodating to the kids - to the point they were given Princess and Hannah Montana plates! The pizza was typical Milwaukee style - thin cracker crust, a sweet tomato sauce, sausage and cheese. Very good, and quite affordable: $15.50 for a 12x18 pizza. The garlic bread was great but a little pricey for the amount that we were given. Service was quite friendly. We'll be back!

* [on an article debating whether or not civility and politeness in a crisis is directly related to the time you have to react] Interesting. I agree w/ the idea, but also w/ several of the rebuttals. The Lusitania, cited as an ex. of panic induced selfishness, did sink quickly, leaving no time to re-exert sociatal norms. But passengers had just been attacked & sunk during wartime, & they had full knowledge of the Titanic disaster. Put those conditions on the Titanic & a similar panic may have emerged, regardless of the time it took to sink.

Towers of Midnight

Hot dog! The 13th Wheel of Time novel (Towers of Midnight) will be released the day after my anniversary, which should make it pretty easy for me to remember.

Baseball News - Good and Bad

The Missouri legislature has given approval to strip Mark McGwire's name from the highway they named in his honor. What a sh*t move. Ugh. On the other hand, former Brewers manager Ned Yost has been named the manager of the KC Royals. Congrats to Ned, and all the best.

Facebook March 1st - 4th

March 1st:

This is a hearbreaking story. I hope, in between tragedies, she had a good life.
Deaths make 4 generations of homicides, heartbreak

* The author of 'Gertie the Duck', Milwaukee native Nick Geoprgiady, has passed away. RIP.

* I pointed this out on their FB page & was labeled a troll, but it's the truth: the Milwaukee Public Library FB's nothing more than 'inpirational' quotes & links to Wikipedia entries - Dinah Shore (!) today. Isn't posting a daily Wikipedia entry just admitting "hey, we're irrelevant! Even we use the web to get our info!...". All those English majors and not one can write a FB status update?

* MPS, Ald. Willie Wade butt heads over hat-removal policy Aside from city official using the "Don't you know who I am?!" bit to try & get out of a jam, causing a ruckus at a high school, being escorted out by cops, etc there's this: it's rude to wear a hat indoors. It just is. Why don't you hold your fork like a shovel and chew with your mouth open while you're at it?

March 2nd:

Postal Service Seeks Permission to End Saturday Delivery

* Interesting. "The change is negligible, but permanent: Each day should be 1.26 microseconds shorter, according to preliminary calculations." Chile quake may have tipped Earth's axis

* [RE replacing Simon on AI next year] A dark horse will probably be the winner to take his seat, but I do think Neil Patrick Harris would be great in the role. But you know, I'm not sure Ellen should stay tho', as she often seems . . . overwhelmed on the live shows. Time will tell.

* Widely irrelevant, outside of a vague water/space connection: In retrospect, I think the Dr. Who episode "The Waters of Mars" was very derivative of the episode "42", save with water in place of sun.
Tons and Tons of Ice Found on the Moon

* Long day already. Came home from wrk last night and had to fix something in the basement: Result: 3.5 hrs of sleep. Followed by an argument w/ YaYa on the way to school, Mass, grocery store, home to cranky Ginger, now waiting on an appt. Full afternoon/evening planned, followed (~ 10) with hitting the DVR and watchi...ng AI, Lost, Dirty Jobs, 19 Kids, etc. Tuesday's. Yikes.

* I replaced the coffee pot Ginger shattered. The problem is I didn't measure it & its too tall for my coffee maker. You can fit it in, but you 1st have to remove the filter/coffee part, then lift the lid of the pot and slide both in @ the same time, giving it a little jiggle-wiggle there @ the end. You also have to keep... the lid up the whole time its brewing. In short, it's a ridiculous jerry-rigged contraption.

* Smiley just Shake 'n Bake'd the chicken I'm prepping for dinner. He was dancing around the kitchen shaking the bag like maracas. Did a pretty good job of it too.

* Not too sound all girly, but when a man makes his family a dinner and says be home at 5:30, it'll be on the table then, the clock should *not* read 5:49 w/out so much as a phone call. I [pretend to] slave all day, and for what? I feel like putting down my frilly apron and going home to Mother. ;)

* The women will *not* perform as expected today on AI, due to an unspecified illness by Crystal Bowersox. The men will sing instead. Bumping up the boys a day might just sink a few of them.

March 3rd:

Happy Birthday to my sister Katie!

* AI (men): much better than last week, & Ellen finally looked comfortable. Kara: please stop the neck motion and get out of Simon's shot. Ugh. On the hot seat: John Park, Jermaine, and Todrick, *maybe* Garcia (can't ride the 'Straight Up' train 4ever). Casey will stay, but vocals were weak. Alex was much improved.

* I finished "Shutter Island" today. I was right - I'd guessed the ending after only a few chapters. It was still a good bk, but w/ all due respect to those who rave about 'the twist', I don't think you had to be Hank Aaron to see that particular curveball coming.

* Yeah, one of the worst afternoons with the kids in months. Ginger is screaming at me and pulling at my arm right now, Smiley is banished to his room after a crybaby fit that lasted the length of a city block, LuLu is arrogant and short-tempered, YaYa is just plain lazy and jerky - and they've destroyed my house. Good times, good f*ing times.

* This is my niece and nephew 'round about 2001 or so, pre-Grace or just after. Lisa and I took them to a rec class at South Division to learn how to rollerskate. Lisa did Caitlin's hair that morning.



* Things have improved and everyone is smiling. The reason? It's pretty disgusting. YaYa ran into the house screaming "I have to poop!", then a moment later bragged about her handiwork and is *still* trying to convince people to go check it out. Hard to be angry at people when they show such pride in their work.

* The brother of an undecided House Dem has been named to the Appeals Court. Maybe it's coincidental, but it looks like biz as usual, esp. since House Dem Joe Sestak claims that he was offered a federal job (allegedly Sec. of the Navy) not to run against Arlen Specter in Penn.

* [on an alleged photo of Jon Gosselin's penis] Tsk tsk. If you have a girlfriend who nicknames you 'stubby' because of your, ahem, shortcomings, make damn sure she erases any pics of said stubbyness before you break up. I always did. :)

March 4th:

* The kids accidentally erased this weeks Lost from the DVR, and in retrospect I'm almost grateful. Now that I'vewatched it on ABC.com I thought it did little to move the plot and next to nothing to develop the characters. C-

* AI (women): an up & down night. I liked Bowersox but don't understand the mad love the judges have for her; no way she'll adapt to the weekly themes to come. Lily was good, on par or better than Bsox, but Shiobahn was spectacular. Plus she's a short -haired kooky brunette? Hell yeah. Adios to Haley, Lacey or Didi.

* The Gov.has signed a bill banning the growth & sale of Salvia, an herbal intoxicant. 1 - No one had heard of this until the media started salivating over it (pun intended). I heard a radio show where a caller THANKED anchor Brad Hicks for his report, saying it inspired her to seek some out. 2. It's none of the gov'ts d...amn business. It's a herb, and one who's first side effect is listed as "uncontrollable laughter". A waste of gov't - and now police and DA's - time.

* When you're making a cake from scratch for the first time in your life, it's probably not a good idea to do it while you're watching a 2 and a 4 year old. My kitchen looks like Lucy Ricardo just filled in at a flour factory. It's an apple cake, btw. If it tastes OK I'll post the recipie on my blog.

* [on news Supervisor Toni Clark was admitting to a felony and leaving office] No snark intended, none whatsof*ingever, but when the hell did Milwaukee start to be Little Chicago? Enough with the crooked politics.

* Extra small condoms for boys as young as 12 are going on sale in Switzerland. According to the article, a quarter of German youth (age 13 to 20) said standard condoms were too large. For the record, I am not German. Joking aside, this program is yet another example of how Europe is morally bankrupt. Those who look to it as a modern 'city on a hill' are blind.

Justified

If you're in need of a good (albeit violent) drama to fill up your TV screen, take a gander at 'Justified' on FX. I've watched the first 8 episodes via On Demand and I've enjoyed every show.

Lost - Across the Sea

It's been a long, long time since I did a weekly post about Lost. Frankly, I often have to DVR the show and watch it later, which ruins the relevancy of the writing. And now, with only 3.5 hours left in the series, what's the point of posting at all? All the mysteries will be answered, right?

Maybe. But even if the answers are around the bend, the fact is I sit here feeling very confused after watching "Across the Sea". That's unusual. After an episode what I 'know' may turn out to be wrong, but I always walk away with a grasp of the plot and a plausible theory in my head. Not this week.

I'm not going to waste time typing out a synopsis. If you saw the episode, you'll know what I'm talking about, and if you didn't, well, you should have 'x'd out this post by now.

Here are my three primary concerns about this episode:

1. Does this episode reinforce or refute or notion of Jacob as 'good' and Esau/Locke/Man In Black as 'bad'?

2. Regardless of who is good or bad, is there validity to the current status-quo of the island? If Locke leaves will disaster befall humanity? Is it necessary for someone (Jacob/candidate) to assume the role of 'protector' of the island and foe of Locke?

3. To what degree are the events of 2000 years ago (this episode) a manipulation to acheive a desired effect? Do they mirror events of 2004-2007?

POINT 1:

Well, damn, this episode screwed with the show as a whole, didn't it? Nowhere in the course of the hour was anything presented that labeled Jacob as 'bad', but it knocked away the idea that he was a benign, all-wise entity.

He is human, not a god [although many religions feature a god born of a woman]. Throughout his childhood he is clearly a follower, not quite content living in the shadow of his brother but unwilling to alter the situation. He is clearly devoted to his 'Mother', and believes her words with the conviction of a priest. Yet he is all too aware that his brother is the 'favorite', the leader, the boy who possesses both the spark of curiosity and the favor of his Mother's heart. This blossoms in violence and anger twice on screen.

On the other hand we are presented a portrait of MIB as a gifted, curious child with an adventurous heart, one who is clearly the favorite of his 'mother'. There is no clear, discernible 'evil' act to hold against him save matricide, and one could argue that the mass murder in the village momentarily pushed his sanity aside.

But . . .

If the words of warning about the Source were true, and MIB willingly and with full knowledge sought to breach that line in the sand - and remember, he somehow came to possess specific knowledge about it - then he is acting immorally. Immorally, and to such a scale he could be called 'evil'.

In the end of course, their childhood is nothing but irrelevant baggage. Who you are at 12 is not who you are guaranteed to be at 30, 40, 60 - or 2000. In his 30 years with the colony MIB had already grown bitter and distrustful of man, while Jacob seems to have picked up a fascination and affection for the same. Extrapolate that down 20 centuries, and 2004 MIB may be 100% evil, and Jacob may have evolved into the benefactor he appears to be.

POINT 2

Well shoot, how do I know? I'd say yes, and not just because it's necessary for the show to function. The show could amount to nothing more than leftovers from the imagination of a single crazy woman, but that's ignoring some facts. If she's such a complete loon, what about the source and the disappearing cave? The presence of a freakin' Smoke Monster, folks that live for millenia, and the simple fact that MIB physically can't seem to maneuver a way off into the wild blue yonder.

Something is keeping MIB in place, and whether you label MIB good or evil may be irrelevant. Perhaps, like a communicable disease, it must be contained before it spreads to the general population. It doesn't mean the infected person is any less good or moral than the next; there is not value judgment, simply a necessary precaution.

So yes, there's some point to this whole mess.


POINT 3:

We open with a mother giving birth to a child (in this case, two boys) who are taken from her by force or circumstance, ala Danielle and Claire.

Years pass. The smoke monster can take the shape of any person who is both dead AND whose body is somewhere on the island. Was it the smoke monster who appeared as MIB's true mother and introduced him to the colony? Was it his intention to set forth the chain of events we see?

Follow my train of thought. The role of Jacob/mother/candidate seems less a matter of defending the island/source than of protecting it by acting as the jailer of the smoke monster. Therefore, the smoke monster is stuck on the island 2000 years ago, presumably prisoned by the Source or the mother. Seeing an opportunity, it exploits the young MIB by posing as his birth mother, separating him from the Protector (the 'mother').

30 years pass, and the monster continues to whisper in MIB's ear, giving him information about the light and how to escape. Yet 'mother' intervenes. What's next is up for debate, but I doubt a lone woman could orchestrate the murder of a village and the destruction of a well. I suppose she could have summoned Smokey to do the deed, but I think it more likely that the monster exploited yet another opening. It wiped out the village and destroyed the well, not to hinder MIB but to push him into killing the island's protector, believing she was to blame for the village. Presumably, Smokey could then escape the island.

Farfetched? Why? It's been done before. Think about how complex Smokey's machinations were in maneuvering Locke and Ben into killing Jacob. That was a decades long process, no less or more an effort than what I've spelled out.

Except that the mother had thought ahead, and designated Jacob as her heir. When she was killed Smokey had no 'release'; it was just as much a prisoner as ever. Oopsie.

We're told Jacob can't kill MIB and vice versa. Yet MIB's physical body obviously perishes in the Source, and we see the Smoke Monster flee the cave. What happened?

Two choices. A, MIB died, period, and Smokey later took his shape. Or B, his physical form died but his soul was transformed into the Smoke Monster, which could later imitate his old form as the body was still on the island. Which doesn't explain who/what destroyed the village the day before, but there ya go.

Yes, I know neither boy was 'allowed' to kill the other. But I think that rule expires once a new protector is chosen. Only a candidate is unable to be killed by the other's hand. Once someone is chosen the other is left as 'normal' as you and me.

I think B is the more likely plot point, but I kind of lean towards A.

Jacob and MIB never refer to themselves as brothers in the future (granted, proof of nothing). Morevoer, the death of MIB not only sets up all the points I've listed it makes this truly an eternal battle between good (the protector's) and evil (the smoke monster), not just the remnants of a petty family feud.

So. One more episdode, and then the 2.5 hour finale. God I'll miss this show.

Tonight's TV

I'm like Tinkerbell Finn - I need applause to live! Tuesday's Glee was a downer, wasn't it? Quadraplegics (sp?), John Mellencamp and Kurt going all boo-hoo over a Dad who CLEARLY loves his son despite their differences. Nut up kid. Ah well. Neil Patrick Harris guest stars next week. Should be a hoot. 

 And I finally saw last night's Lost. I'll cop to being a little confused, which is unusual; sometimes what I 'know' turns out to be wrong, but I always walk away with a gist of it down and a decent theory in my head. I'll need to mull this one over.

I love my kids but the damage they can do to a house . . . not so much. - Lisa

Jury duty all day, then came home to horrible children. Seriously. Horrible. Children. I sent them all to bed just after six with no supper. If they're lucky and actually show some compassion and regret, they might qualify for meals by June. July is more likely.

Mother's Day

This morning my mother-in-law took Lisa out for breakfast. When Lisa said it wasn't right that her Mom pay for the meal, and certainly not on Mother's Day, this was her Mom's response: "Don't worry about it. In twenty years when you're changing my diapers, I'll Just take an extra dump and call it even."

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Recently I read and reviewed the first novel in the Millennium Trilogy, the hugely popular Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. My verdict was mixed; it was solid overall but slow and distracted for long stretches, with a subplot that hindered rather than complement the story.

The sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire, is a remarkable improvement.

Lisbeth Salander, the titular character of the first book, is a stunningly intelligent but socially inept woman with a history of mental illness. She has severed ties with Mikael Blomkvist, the reporter who served as the protagonist of the first novel, but continues to monitor his life by hacking into his computer. When she discovers he has agreed to publish a book on Sweden's sex trade her complicated and dark past threatens to be exposed. Soon three people are dead, and newspapers across Sweden proclaim Salander the killer. As she goes underground it's up to Blomkvist and other unlikely allies to ferret out the truth before the law catches up to Salander.

Slow? No, not at all. Start to finish it has a tight, well-developed structure that keeps the reader turning pages. There is action - actual action, not the Miss Marple heroics of the first book - and a fight worthy of a Robert B. Parker novel. I wouldn't label the mystery itself as first rate (in that regard, Tattoo is superior) but it's certainly enough to keep you interested. And no, you don't need to read the books in order; they stand alone.

Well done. B+

Jody Gerut hits for the cycle! Congrats to Jody, the first Brewer since Chad Moeller to accomplish the feat. [btw I was at the Moeller game in 2004]

Came home from work and, wanting to get some repairs done on the porch roof, promptly sliced my thumb on a utiity knife. Don't worry, I stopped the blood flow - by accidently crushing a tube of asphalt sealant while I headed inside, thereby covering my hands, forearms, & shirt with a layer of black tar that took 20 minutes to scrub (75%) off. Ah, well. Saved me a stitch or two I suppose.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Where war and woe and wonder/Have been known frequently/And by turns bliss and despair/Have changed places suddenly

Lost

*spoilers* I finally got around to watching this weeks Lost. THREE principal characters killed off in a single episode - what other show would have the ba**s to do that? The death of the Kwon's was moving, as was Jack's last speech with Locke in the hosp.It was good to see Sayid shake off the 'fugue' - and wonderful to hear Jack named, however unofficially, as Jacob's successor. Wow.