The Russia House by John LeCarre

Last night I finished reading my first book in almost two months. It was "Russia House" by John Le Carre, and while it was my first taste of the master storyteller, it won't be the last.

Do Better [Blank] Bank

A scare yesterday: we got certified mail saying we were in default of our mortgage (we're not). When I called and pointed out that our payments were up to date they said I'd missed May, which then meant June's wouldn't be accepted until I paid up. Funny that, since they cashed my check. The mystery was solved when, while on the phone, I pulled up a copy of the payment on my bank's website - and noticed the wrong account number was printed on it. The clerk at the bank that holds the mortgage had credited it to the wrong account. After a good 40 minute phone call, the problem was resolved. But c'mon people . . .

Joan Parker

RIP Joan Parker, beloved wife and muse of Robert B Parker. 🙁

My Thoughts

stupid analogies are stupid

Truman

• Early in the year I read both volumes of Harry Truman's autobiography and, to be honest, I had a hard time of it; popular opinion aside, there just didn't seem that much to like about him. Here are some thoughts I posted on social media at the time. I'm not sure why the formatting is so screwy, but I can't seem to fix it. 
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• There are few things more obnoxious than a "self-taught" man constantly showing off his knowledge - often knowledge half-understood and in the wrong context - in a vain effort to ease his inferiority complex. Harry S Truman, I'm talking to you.
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• Reading V2 of Truman's memoirs. Every time I'm impressed, he follows it up with something jack-assery.
• Hyper partisan. Distrustful of 'experts'. Twists history 2 justify his decisions. Ever hungry 4 more gov't. What's not to luv about Truman?
• Chp. 26 of his memoirs concern the a-bomb, and HST is far too cavalier about it. re Hirishima: " This is the greatest thing in history" ?!?!
• Truman argued the Potsdam declaration was
•  fair warning of & justification for the atomic destruction to come. I call b.s.
• In Chapter 26 of Vol 1 of his memoirs he admits he had been advised by statesmen and 
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• military alike that taking the Emperor off the table – in effect, making “unconditional 
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• surrender” slightly less so – would all but ensure the surrender of Japan. He concurred, and
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•  in an awkward segue claims that Potsdam was his last, best attempt to offer the Japanese a 
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• way out under that umbrella. But if you read the declaration, there is no mention of such a concession, nor for obvious reasons is there mention of atomic weapons, merely the standard issue “surrender or we’ll destroy you”. and, as you know, we did amend our surrender demands to allow the Emperror to remain - after we dropped two bombs.There may have been a way out, and it was either squandered or subverted by the President. 
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• Whether or not its use was justified - and I lean towards 'yes’ for Hiroshima, but no for Nagasaki – and whether by the same token you can stomach the idea of consciously selecting an entire population center for extermination - one would hope you make the decision with careful deliberation and a ton of melancholy. Not so. At least as he wrote it, the decision was preordained, and he was at sea when the bomb was dropped. He then famously declared the news of Hiroshima’s fate to be “the greatest thing in history” and expresses no hesitation when needlessly bombing Nagasaki three days latei. 
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• Throughout the chapter its taken far, far less somberly than prior discussions over the partitioning of Germany and the division of the German merchant fleet. Even if he didn't give one fat fig about dropping the bomb, a proper respect for the opinions of mankind and mankind’s God decrees that some expression of remorse or solemnity find its way into his account
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• There is none.
• Whether or not its use was justified - and I lean towards 'yes’ for Hiroshima, but no for Nagasaki – and whether by the same token you can stomach the idea of consciously selecting an entire population center for extermination - one would hope you make the decision with careful deliberation and a ton of melancholy. Not so. At least as he wrote it, the decision was preordained, and he was at sea when the bomb was dropped. He then famously declared the news of Hiroshima’s fate to be “the greatest thing in history” and expresses no hesitation when needlessly bombing Nagasaki three days latei. 
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• Throughout the chapter its taken far, far less somberly than prior discussions over the partitioning of Germany and the division of the German merchant fleet. Even if he didn't give one fat fig about dropping the bomb, a proper respect for the opinions of mankind and mankind’s God decrees that some expression of remorse or solemnity find its way into his account
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• There is none.
• Whether or not its use was justified - and I lean towards 'yes’ for Hiroshima, but no for Nagasaki – and whether by the same token you can stomach the idea of consciously selecting an entire population center for extermination - one would hope you make the decision with careful deliberation and a ton of melancholy. Not so. At least as he wrote it, the decision was preordained, and he was at sea when the bomb was dropped. He then famously declared the news of Hiroshima’s fate to be “the greatest thing in history” and expresses no hesitation when needlessly bombing Nagasaki three days latei. 
• Throughout the chapter its taken far, far less somberly than prior discussions over the partitioning of Germany and the division of the German merchant fleet. Even if he didn't give one fat fig about dropping the bomb, a proper respect for the opinions of mankind and mankind’s God decrees that some expression of remorse or solemnity find its way into his account
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• There is none.
• Throughout the chapter its taken far, far less somberly than prior discussions over the partitioning of Germany and the division of the German merchant fleet. Even if he didn't give one fat fig about dropping the bomb, a proper respect for the opinions of mankind and mankind’s God decrees that some expression of remorse or solemnity find its way into his account
• There is none.
• There is none.
• I would counter that paragraph one of my comment is not a question of morality per se ( though it is as well) but of practicality. Had we not had the bomb, the failure to amend the " unconditional" surrender despite correct pleas to do so would have had us incur needless economic, material, and personnel losses by dragging out the war. Offer that and have it refused, and you remove any moral questions regarding the use of the bomb.
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Where's the fun in that?

Last week a friend treated us to pizza at the restaurant down the street. YaYa stayed behind but asked that we return with three slices for her dinner.

We complied, but as a joke also brought home three teeny tiny slices just to freak her out.

Alas, aware of my humor she blandly played along, accepting the offering without complaint and thanking us for a tasty dinner.

Where's the fun in that?

Quote of the Day

“All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance.” 

- Will Rogers

More of YaYa's Art - "Sophia's Back 6-2-13"

LK and my Mom

Custard at Leon's after Mass

Yes, I took Junie to church wearing a "Vampires Suck" T-shirt. Sue me - at least we went, right? 

LBJ

LEBRON!

Fantasy Baseball

Lost the first three weeks of the fantasy baseball season. Won the next five weeks. Lost last week. Tied this time around. Top to bottom, a helluva lot more fun than fantasy football.

Chuckles Bites the Dust

Just watched the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" (S6ep7), often ranked as the best half-hour sitcom episode of all time. 38 years after it aired, it still made me LOL.

:(

Crap day. Absolutely crap day.

Esther Williams

RIP actressa and swimmer Esther Williams, age 91.

Deacon Jones

RIP Deacon Jones

The Heat

Congratulations to the Miami Heat, who FINALLY stuck a fork in the freakin' Pacers to move on to the Finals. Provided the Spurs don't complete an upset, Lebron should walk away with his second ring. *fingers crossed*

Attended Vern S's funeral Mass with YaYa and paid our respects, then in an abrupt about face took Smiley to his first ever trip to the batting cages. More on that last part later.

Ready O-Key-Oh!

Today, for the first time in ages, the house echoed with cries of "Ready O-key-oh!" as blanket forts fended off zombie attacks (often unsuccessfully) "We're just pratendin' deres a zombie attack," JUnie said. "No," I replied. "You're PRACTICING."

Smiley's Art

I'm sorry the image is so faint, but this is a scanned copy of a pencil sketch Smiley (age 8) did last week. I asked him time and again if he traced it, and he swears up and down it's freehand. Since YaYa has also become a rather talented artist (at least for her age) I think the little guy is telling the truth :)

Fantasy Baseball

After five consecutive wins, it looks like I'm going to lose this week in fantasy baseball. "Lose" is an understatement: I'm going to be spanked and made to say Da-Da, thanks to some truly crapalicious pitching performances.

Harvey Korman

RIP Harvey Korman of the Carol Burnett show, age 81

Jean Stapleton

RIP Jean Stapleton, aka Edith Bunker, age 90. You will be missed.

Pizza Man - a rough sketch by LuLu

Here's a rough draft of an art project LuLu did entitled "Pizza Man". Enjoy!.

Earworm

Since hearing it this morning, Smiley has been singing "Brass Monkey"