Stargate SG1: Trial by Fire by Sabine C Bauer

I've finished reading "Stargate SG1: Trial by Fire" by Sabine C. Bauer, a readable but forgettable tie-in novel from the TV series. Grade: C (book #64 of 2012)

The oldest (and once troubled) son of Eagles coach Andy Reid has been found dead at 29. RIP.

Doctor Who Quotes

Amy Pond: You do have a plan, don't you? 

The Doctor: No, I have a thing. It's like a plan, but with more greatness.

Greatest Doctor Who quote Ever, although I admit it loses a bit of pizazz in print: 

 Amy: So you were right. . . We didn't make a difference at all.

The Doctor: I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant - and we definitely added to his pile of good things.

Last Sunday the kids sat down with us and watched a 60 Minutes segment on Van Gogh, followed (through a quirk of programming) by "Vincent and the Doctor", an episode of Doctor Who featuring a trip back in time to visit the great painter in the year of his death. It was a great one-two punch, and I was very proud of the kids for knowing the names of several of his paintings before they were said - apparently art class at STAA does more than just macaroni necklaces :)

And before I head off to work - ty to Lu for going to the tennis courts with me this morning, and RIP Marilyn, 50 years ago today.

Yes! Ben Bowder, aka John Crichton from Farscape, will appear in A Town Called Mercy, the 3rd episode of the this season of Doctor Who!

2 Quarry Novels by Max Allan Collins

I finished reading both 'The First Quarry' and "Quarry' by Max Allan Collins. They're both hard boiled novels featuring a contract killer. As usual, Collins delivers. Grade for each: B+ 62 and 63

Wisest Words I Ever Thunk

There's waaayyyyy more to fear than just fear itself

Life rewards action

My Day

A good day at work, followed by a nice dinner with the kids, then played catch with LuLu in the alley before winding down for the night.

The Olympics

Every four years I claim not to be interested in the Olympics, and what do I do? I  wind up watching hours of it a night. It's always the old standbys for me: gymnastics, swimming, volleyball. :)

Gore Vidal

RIP writer Gore Vidal

Or - why not both?

".....do not prepare the road for your children. Prepare your children for the road."

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Today I finished reading "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse [translation by Susan Bernofsky, The Modern Library]. I think if you were going to read one "finding yourself" narrative from the first half of the last century, I'd skip this and read The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. (great book, great Tyrone Power movie).With that being said, I thought this short novel was engaging and, at times, enlightening. Grade: B #61

“Siddhartha began to understand that it was not happiness and peace that had come to him with his son but, rather, sorrow and worry. But he loved him and preferred the sorrow and worry of love to the happiness and peace he had known without the boy.” - "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse

"[rejecting the philosophical concept that all is meaningless and illusory] Blue was blue, river was river, and even if the One, the Divine, lay hidden in the blue and the river . . .it was still the nature and the intention of the Divine to be yellow here, blue here, sky over there, forest here, and here Siddhartha. Meaning and being did not lie somewhere behind things; they lay within them, within everything . . . When a person reads something and wishes to grasp its meaning, he does not scorn the characters and letters and call them illusory, random, and worthless husks; he reads them, studies them, and loves them, letter for letter. But I - I who set out to read the book of the world and the book of my own being - I scorned the characters and letters in deference to a meaning I assumed in advance." - "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse

“To see through the world, to explain it, to scorn it - this may be the business of great thinkers. But what interests me is being able to love the world, not scorn it, not to hate it and hate myself but to look at it and myself and all beings with love and admiration and reverence.” - Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Erle Stanley Gardner

I just finished reading a Perry Mason novel by  Erle Stanley Gardner called  "The Case of the Caretaker's Cat". I've read Gardner before and enjoyed him, but this one, eh, not so much. The first third moved well, but the theatrics and the extended 'reveal' at the end were too much for my taste. I'd grade this a C #60

Congrats to Yankee Ichiro Suzuki on his 100th career home run.

Maeve Binchy

RIP author Maeve Binchy , aged 72.

My Day

Did jack-diddley-do-diddley on this, my only day off of the week. Well, I did go school shopping w/ Lisa. And I did backup the hard drive from our old computer. And I did go to Lisa's work to visit over her lunch break. And I walked the kids to and from school, which was a genuine treat for me. But mostly, it was sit on my bum and do nada.

Yes, please.

That'll Do it

With the firing of the Brewers bullpen coach, Lee Tunnell is now pressed into service. I'm sure a big, bad, fearsome looking guy like him will whip them back into shape.

Incredible

The MPD dropped off a flyer on my door today, stating that with the large number of foreclosures and abruptly vacated houses in the neighborhood, we should report any suspicious behavior we see, esp. scrap dealers. I've been up and about for 38 years now, and I never thought I'd see the day when financial disaster was so common place it would leech into every aspect of our lives. 

Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell

In the kitchen of our upstairs flat was a two door, white metal storage cabinet that was used for odds and ends and assorted storage. I remember borrowing this book, Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell, from my Dad's stash in that cabinet. From the contextual clues, that puts it at or before 1985, so I was no older than 11. 

I loved the book, which was full of action and history (I will always remember the description of the powdered hair of the soldiers.). While I always remembered the book, I long forgot the name of its author. 

Decades later, Bernard Cornwell would become one of my favorite authors, a name on the cover that guaranteed I'd read the book. Imagine my suprise when I found Redcoat on his resume, and learned that I'd been a fan for far longer than I thought!

Still, if it gets you to read, then read it anyway

My Day

Going to work soon. Spent the late morning cutting my lawn for the first time since Father's Day (thank you extended record setting drought!). All well and good, but my yard is in full sun and an 80 degree temp for you means a 90+ degree ordeal for the guy pushing the mower. and I am drained. (mayhaps last night's alcohol played some small role in the dehydration as well.)

Return of the Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

Yesterday I finished an electronic ARC for "Return of the Thin Man" a collection of previously UNPUBLISHED Dashiell Hammett 'Thin Man' stories. He wrote these as treatments for MGM back in the '30's. Hammett's prose still packs a punch, even in this truncated format, but his genius shines in the dialogue; some of it is so sharp I was worried I'd need bandages. Individually, I'd grade "After the Thin Man" an A+, "Another Thin Man" a B+ and the oddly angry "Sequel to the Thin Man" a C. As a whole I'd grade this slice of history a B+/A- 

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