The White Mountains

 Today I polished off "The White Mountains" by John Christopher, a fine young adult sci-fi novel from the late '60's. It was adapted into a long running comic in Boy's Life magazine and I lived and breathed for each issue as a kid. The book was very good - think Hunger Games, (only w/ a boy as the protagonist) but written forty years ago with a more literary edge. While I read it on my Nook, I've kept a hard copy around forever, and borrowed it to YaYa tonight. I hope she likes it as much as I did at her age. Grade: A

The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick

 For the last few days I've been enthralled by "The Last Stand", a history of the battle of Little Big Horn by Nathaniel Philbrick. It's a detailed narrative of the events leading up to that infamous battle, effortlessly weaving both the Sioux and U.S. Calvary perspective. As should be the case, there are no devils - or angels - to be found, but there is plenty of courage and human failings. Reno is given a bit of a (tempered) scourging for his loss of nerve, but so is Benteen for his ill-timed tantrum against Custer. Sitting Bull is praised but also shown to be resented by fellow Sioux who felt he bullied them into a war they didn't want. And Custer? He was careless and wild, but a genius at war, and one who came perilously close to turning this tragedy into a staggering victory. A well deserved A+.

Carnage

 Lisa had me rent "Carnage" a Roman Polanski dark-comedy starring John C Reilly, Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet. It's an adaptation of a stage play, and the script works hard to fabricate reasons why these four people remain in the same room despite hating one another. For a stage production, that works - for a movie, it seems forced and claustrophobic. That having been said, I thought the movie was more fun than I expected, starting - quite literally - at the moment Kate Winslet threw up all over the coffee table.

Carnage

Lisa had me rent "Carnage" a Roman Polanski dark-comedy starring John C Reilly, Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet. It's an adaptation of a stage play, and the script works hard to fabricate reasons why these four people remain in the same room despite hating one another. For a stage production, that works - for a movie, it seems forced and claustrophobic. That having been said, I thought the movie was more fun than I expected, starting - quite literally - at the moment Kate Winslet threw up all over the coffee table.

A Response to my Column

This morning's Journal printed a response to my column by a Capt. in the Waukesha County Sheriff's Drug Unit. This evening I am pleased to see that his letter was skewered quite effectively by readers, all of whom seemed to recognize that his argument was . . . poorly thought out, to put it mildly. Your income directly depends on the continuation of this law, be it right or wrong; to me, that eliminates you as a reliable source of information on its validity.

 Two more people from my training class were fired today. 9 of 19 still remain.

Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

Today on my lunch hour I finished reading "Destiny of the Republic" by Candice Millard, a non-fiction account of the assassination of President Garfield. Personally, I think Millard made it read a little too "pop history" for the subject matter, but she does a great job of letting the modern reader get to know Garfield. He sounds like a great man by any definition : the poor child who grew up without a father but scrapped his way to college degree; who led Union forces to victory in Kentucky during the Civil War; who not only didn't campaign for the Presidential nomination, he tried to refuse it; the man whose views on racial equality would be impressive in 1970, much less 1880; and the father who, on the day he was shot, started the day by playing on all fours w/ his children. His death was a waste of goodness and potential, and the method of his death (rotting away for 80 days as infection literally consumed his body from inside) is horrific. RIP. Grade: A-/B+

The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner

I was eager to read "The Man from Primrose Lane", so eager, in fact, that I read it in a single day. I loved the first 3/4ths of the book, which was a compelling blend of mystery and thriller with a subtle thread of sci-fi sneaking around in the shadows. And then . . . ah, and then. Then the book hit a wall and turned 100% into a sci-fi novel, and not a very good one. Essentially it was two different books, pasted together under the same cover. Sadly, I have to give this a C at best.

The Man from Primrose Lane

 I was eager to read "The Man from Primrose Lane", so eager, in fact, that I read it in a single day. I loved the first 3/4ths of the book, which was a compelling blend of mystery and thriller with a subtle thread of sci-fi sneaking around in the shadows. And then . . . ah, and then. Then the book hit a wall and turned 100% into a sci-fi novel, and not a very good one. Essentially it was two different books, pasted together under the same cover. Sadly, I have to give this a C at best

Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

Today on my lunch hour I finished reading "Destiny of the Republic" by Candice Millard, a non-fiction account of the assassination of President Garfield. Personally, I think Millard made it read a little too "pop history" for the subject matter, but she does a great job of letting the modern reader get to know Garfield. He sounds like a great man by any definition : the poor child who grew up without a father but scrapped his way to college degree; who led Union forces to victory in Kentucky during the Civil War; who not only didn't campaign for the Presidential nomination, he tried to refuse it; the man whose views on racial equality would be impressive in 1970, much less 1880; and the father who, on the day he was shot, started the day by playing on all fours w/ his children. His death was a waste of goodness and potential, and the method of his death (rotting away for 80 days as infection literally consumed his body from inside) is horrific. RIP. Grade: A-/B+

Dancing Bee

 

Junie

 

 I have a column in tomorrow (Wed's) Journal-Sentinel. Stop by Jsonline to comment or buy a paper. Thanks!

On Michelle Obama

Tonight, after work, while watching the Amazing Race with the kids, a PSA with Michelle Obama came on.

Me: I know you're going to think this is because her last name is Obama, but it's not; I don't see how people think she's so attractive. I mean, not that it matters what she looks like, but I think her face is very sharp and angry looking. I just don't get it.

Lulu: Oh, I know! Me too! But no one ever says it! And you know I don't care if she's a Democrat or whatever, so it's not that. I always thought she looked kinda like a hawk. Like, you know, she's pretttyy, but only if you look real fast. But if you keep looking, she looks mean.

edit from 2022: I wouldn't have posted this now. It just seems a little pointless and mean spirited. Not that I'm not still pointless and mean spirited, but publicly? No...

LuLu and GusGus

 

Mrs God by Peter Straub

I also finished reading Peter Straub's "Mrs. God", a ghost story set in the English countryside. While I 'got' the gist of the book, the last few pages left me scratching my head. Since it's clear the author meant the dénouement to make you gasp with delight, either I missed something or he got it wrong. Since I'm the schmuck that would be forking out the dough, I vote for "he got it wrong". C+/B-

Caligula by Aloys Winterling

I've finished reading "Caligula" by Aloys Winterling, an upcoming bio of the Roman emperor. It argues that, contrary to parochial belief, Caligula was neither insane nor, for that matter, all that wrong in what he did. I tend to agree. Look at his actions objectively in the context of his era, and you'll find an Emperor who was pretty good at what he did (and popular with the masses). It was the aristocracy that he treated with contempt, and of course its the aristocracy who lived to tell the tale of his life. Stylistically, not the greatest, so I rate this only a B+ for history fans.

Hitchers by Will McIntosh

 I've finished reading "Hitchers" by Will McIntosh. It begins with a terrorist attack that kills half a million in Atlanta, but oddly that plays almost no part in the bk; saying it does would be like saying a bk that starts w/ a rainstorm is all about meteorology. Finn is a 30'something on the rise when he becomes possessed by the voice, then the personality, of his gruff, abusive - and quite dead - grandfather. Soon the phenomenon becomes widespread, and Finn must scramble to find a way to close the 'hole' to the afterlife before the dead consume the living. If you can tolerate a brief foray into New-Agey philosophy, it's quite and intelligent novel. A-

Atrocious

The other night I watched the Spanish language film "Atrocious". When a family is brutally murdered in the Spanish countryside, the police (and viewer) examines 37 hours of "found" footage left behind by the victims. It's a ho-hum horror film with a few scares, but you're often left wondering why they don't just drop the camera and run already. Still, the end was a nice (if small) twist. C.

Jack and Jill

It's a travesty that the Academy Awards don't give proper weight to a performance in a comedy. You want proof? Al Pacino in Adam Sandler's "Jack and Jill". He was GREAT, and if it's possible he climbed up a few notches on my 'best of' list. He deserved a supporting actor nomination. BTW, the movie itself was surprisingly funny. Given Pacino's performance, and the LOL's w/ Sandler, I rate it an A.

 

 Junie accidentally spilled a glass of chocolate milk in my shoes the other day. Despite cleaning them, I'm afraid they will forever carry the faint odor of spoiled milk.

A New Cat for Team Slap

Tonight I took the kids to pick out a cat from the Humane Society.

Idiotically, I took them along and so suffered through two plus hours of misery w/ Junie and Smiley, while LuLu was cool and YaYa was very helpful.

The cat we wanted was adopted out. We chose another but he was too eager to flee and would prob drive me nuts worrying about his whereabouts. We settled on a 4yr old male short haired cat named Flock(!) who has lost the sight in one eye due to glaucoma or cataracts (I forget which).

Anyhow, he seems to get along with Angel, which was our main concern, and he's a loving and spry cat. LuLu wanted to change his name to David, but I told her to reserve that for her future son. We may go w/ the name of the cat we originally wanted: Gus-Gus.

All reactio

A Lost Boy in our Yard

Yest evening I came home and found an 18 month old boy playing in the yard, enjoying my kids toys. There are no kids on my block, or across the alley, so we had no idea where he came from. I set out to see if there was a search party out while the kids and Lisa enjoyed his company. After 20 min we called the police. Just before they showed up (10 or 15 min later) the boys Grandma came down the alley calling his name. Apparently she was babysitting and he wandered out of the yard. He must have seen our toys and decided it was as good a rest stop as any. In the end we let the boy take Junie's old pushcar and a toy lawnmower with him.

 Happy 7th (golden) birthday Smiley! May you have 100 more! We love you buddy!