Richardderus thread 15 for 2012

Chihuly.


Cthulhu.


Cuttlefish.

“Reading in bed can be heaven, assuming you can get just the right amount of light on the page and aren't prone to spilling your coffee or cognac on the sheets. ”
― Stephen King, On Writing


After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.--Chinese proverb


Life being very short, and the quiet hours of it few, we ought to waste none of them in reading useless books.--John Ruskin

My 2012 NEW books ticker:




Previous reviews:

Book 1...thread two.
Books 2 & 3...thread three.
Book 4...thread four.
Books 5 & 6...thread five.
Books 7-10...thread six.
Books 11-24...thread seven.
Books 25-31...thread eight.
Books 32-34...thread nine.
Books 35 & 36...thread ten.
Books 37-42...thread 11.
Books 43-53...thread 12.
Books 54 & 55...thread 13.
Books 56 & 57...thread 14.

My 2012 ORPHANED books ticker:




Books are reviewed in post:

58. The Bookman...#39.

Pearl Ruled: The Yard...#157.

59. The Radetzky March...#210.

60. The Conference of the Birds...#247.

Wow! Chihuly (as referenced in the last Richard thread) can be scary at first glance. Anyone visiting Seattle may want to go see the new gallery displaying his awesome blown glass art. He is beyond unbelievably talented, as are the folks he trains, and supervises.

Hi Richard ... looking forward to whatever fills the "space reserved":)

Hi Karen44!

Hi calm!

From last thread, I'm glad my funnies and pretties are finding appreciative eyes.

I'd hoped to squeeze in my review of The Bookman in the last thread, but alas 'twas not to be. Oh well.

Cool pictures and love the Stephen King quote!

>7 Thanks, Chelle!

>8 UGH

After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.--Chinese proverb

Love that.

I brung ya some flowers for your new thread:

>10 I'd never heard it before, Ellen, but it speaks for me right well.

>11 PERFECT!! Gawd, I want some bacon now.

If anything can be described this way, I am all for checkin' it out!

RD- Wow, love the new thread! Perfect summer feel. When you were looking for pix, did you put "hunks reading" in your browser?
And good King quote. I remember that morsel.

Thanks, Mark! I love all the tentacly stuff.

Just "man reading in bed." The I spent an hour drooling over the results.

I just noticed safe handling instructions on the bacon package. What is our world coming to ?

Safe handling instructions? "Fry bacon. Drain fat on piece of paper towel. Let fat in pan cool, or use immediately to saute onions or mushrooms or celery. Wait until bacon is cool before stuffing into your piehole."

End of instructions.

How about: Cook, drain, eat, smile!

Hey Richard!

Your link on the last thread (linking to this one) is bad, just to let you know. :)

Love the astonishingly beautiful blown glass in that first pic; love the Chinese proverb; really, really love the bacon bouquet. Nice shiny new thread Richard.

What a lovely way to open your thread! Visual treats.

Lovely new thread, Richard!

Go for a few hours kip to try to sleep out my cold and you are already well on the way with your 15th thread and closing on the 4,000th post of the year at Chez Richard.

>18 I'm all for that!

>19 Oh dear, I'll go fix it.

>20 A lady with her priorities straight.

>21 I'm pleased you enjoy them as much as I do!

>22 Thank you, m'dear.

>23 4000 posts?! Good heavens!!

Great new digs, Richard!

Thank you, Prue, and glad to see you here!

*slowly emerging from the shadows*

I bring you greetings from the land of sand. (aka Nebraska Sandhills)

*slowly dissolving, smiling, fading*

I'm going to have to remember that bacon for a party idea... what a great way to serve appetizers... as floral arrangements. Love it!!

In our family we thought it was the washer, not the dryer, that ate socks. Turns out that, at least in my sister's case, it was true. Something went wrong with the washer. It was disassembled (almost wrote dissembled! LOL), and what did they find?! A ton of socks! LOL

cheers xox

Susan... I always suspected the washer .. I for one appreciate the confirmation.

#28 As long as you didn't spell it as "dismembered", it is all good I think. I wouldn't mind it so much if I miss/lose a pair of socks now and then, my issue is with the single member of the socks family going AWOL.

>27 Hi M'Lou! *smooch* for the Sandy Hills Wraith

>28 THE WASHER?! Really? Go know!

>29 I am so stunned. I've always been sure it was the brownies in the dryer! Now I learn it's the nixies in the washer!

>30 Oh so true, Piyush, a pair missing ~meh~ whatever but ONE of the pair...! GRRRR

Hot and muggy Jersey snuggles to you in your new threadiness. No grammar left - too hot. Window still n ot fixed. May melt.

Easiest way to "do" bacon...in the oven.....line a jelly roll pan with foil....lay your likkle bacon slices (preferably without them touching each other) on the pan....place in a cold oven, set to 400F. Takes about 10 minutes or so...you have to watch it, if the bacon is "thin" sliced....It gets veddy crispy and there's no a lot of spatter or excess grease.

**Lesson over**

Not sure how effing hot it's supposed to be, here...Had the AC on yesterday, and the house was 72F this morning...temp is creeping upward.....crankin' that puppy in a while

;-}

Today's lovely lovely high temp in my burg will be a revolting, unconstitutional 96F/37C. 60% humidity.

Feel a little better now, Bekka?

Good idea re: bacon, Jude, but my oiven ain't goin' on until it's under 80 again. All nuke, all the time, if not actually refrigerated.

>34 Nuked bacon is good...but tres messy!

ouch, 96? serious?
It's 26 here (or 79 for american folks) with 60% humidity. There is a lovely breeze on my deck though. With the patio umbrella up it's a perfect reading day :)

Hope you don't melt dear!

>35 Pass...I never get it right, and frankly no one else ever has either!

>36 I won't melt, never you doubt it, since I'm inside huddled in front of the a/c which is set on its "Antarctic winter" setting.

26C sounds lovely right about now, though 16 sounds better.

I always cook a whole pound of bacon, and reheat in the micro or oven as needed.
Or put it on burgers or crumble it on salad..
easier. I hate to cook bacon.

Review: 58 of seventy-five

Title: THE BOOKMAN

Author: LAVIE TIDHAR

Rating: 3* of five

The Book Report: Why have I been trying to do these myself? The book description from Amazon says:
“A masked terrorist has brought London to its knees -- there are bombs inside books, and nobody knows which ones. On the day of the launch of the first expedition to Mars, by giant cannon, he outdoes himself with an audacious attack.

For young poet Orphan, trapped in the screaming audience, it seems his destiny is entwined with that of the shadowy terrorist, but how? His quest to uncover the truth takes him from the hidden catacombs of London on the brink of revolution, through pirate-infested seas, to the mysterious island that may hold the secret to the origin not only of the shadowy Bookman, but of Orphan himself...

Like a steam-powered take on V for Vendetta, rich with satire and slashed through with automatons, giant lizards, pirates, airships and wild adventure. The Bookman is the first of a series.

File Under: Steampunk {Alternate History! | Reptilian Royalty! | Diabolical Anarchists! | Extraordinary Adventure!}”
Fair enough.

My Review: It is a simple truism that it's easier to review a book you hated than one you loved, because snark and sarcasm are not difficult to pull off and sincerity is.

I didn't hate this book, and I most certainly didn't love it. I was alternately amused by its cleverness and exasperated by its clever-clever overkill on the world-building front. Not infrequently both simultaneously.

I wanted to like this. And I almost do. But there are simply too many things that rub my tender spots in a disagreeable way. I found the Parliament of Payne cheeky at first, then irksome, in their silly caperings at famous poets (eg, Oscar Wilde) and then their surveillance of Les Lezards. The existence of Les Lezards wore on me a lot faster than I thought it would, too. I know I've carried on about majgicqk and talking dragons and phantaissiee and its manifold mispelings and random capitalization sins, but I was counting on extraterrestriality to make Les Lezards work for me.

Nope.

And yet, while I'm far, far more conversant with loss than I'd like to be, I can still recognize and appreciate the experience of grief well-rendered into prose. Orphan's grief on losing his beloved Lucy, and his only parent-equivalent Gilgamesh is well and accurately written, making his actions fall into a completely comprehensible pattern.

But the clever-clever far outweighed this grace-note writing. Isabella Beeton, the cookbook writer, as an anarchist. Irene Adler, that all-purpose baddie in alt-Victoriana, in a return engagement in the role. Mycroft Holmes as a cross between M and Q from the Bond flicks (sort of). Prime Minister Moriarty. (Fiction + fact = faction?) A reference to Beerbohm Tree, for cryin' out loud! (Only reason I'd ever heard the name was being a theater fag in high school.) The map of London all flippied and damzeled about, which I sort of followed but not really; I suspect a Londoner or permaybehaps even just a Brit would get more out of these things than a mere colonial. Honestly, after a while I wanted to say, “dim down a notch, presh, we get it...you know your onions...now just write me a goddam story.”

Oh, whatever, it's just not there for me in this book, while it might be for you. I'd say this: Don't read past p124 if you're not flying in the door to finish where you left off.

Oven Bacon is best.....if the temp is unbearable...i do it at like 2AM...but, i'm weird

>39 Have that on my Kindle Wishlist

Even though I'd rather be flensed and fried than read this book (where did I hear that phrase before?) your entertaining review gets a thumb from me.

Hi RD- Sorry, The Bookman didn't wet your whistle. With a title like that, it should have. More bacon talk, huh? Could use a hefty BLT right about now.

>38, 40 STOOOOPPPPPP!!! I want bacon so bad right now I'm about to go get a pound just so I can have a BLT! *mops drool off keyboard*

>41 Thanks for the thumb! Wise to stay away, though. I suspect you *would* hate it.

>42 OMG not you TOO with the bacon!!!

*flies to the Key Food to get bacon*

“Literature should not disappear up its own asshole, so to speak.”
― Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Bacon? Did someone say bacon? Runs after Richard to the kitchen...

I went to Donnigan's, the pub 2 blocks away, and got a bacon cheeseburger. I was gonna *die* if I didn't get bacon.

Bacon bacon bacon bacon... yum.....

*wave*

*wave*

Now that I've had bacon, I am in a most amiable frame of mind.

And where is MY bacon burger, I ask you? Cuz there aint nothin' in your kitchen!! : P

This is the bacon thread. Yum.

>11 bacon flowers! Now that's thoughtful!

The Bookman doesn't sound like it will be jumping to the top of my WL any time soon. Thanks for vetting it for me. As Im sure that is why you read it, to save me from having to :))

>49 At Off the Griddle. It's vegan.

>50 Now that I'm thoroughly baconned, I'm happy to host the bacon thread.

>51 Isn't it? Yes, I'd recommend against ol' Lavie's book. It just had a bad case of failure to launch. Too, too bad, that is.

Did you know that restaurant was in Portland? Or did you look it up special for lil ol' me? xoxo

BLT with fried egg sandwich (plus avocado, cheddar, and grilled onions) for supper tonight, after all this bacon talk!

Yes it has become the bacon thread .....

Oh, I found a wonderful picture on google of a rather hairy, gray-bearded, an balding man covering his naked body with packs of bacon that I think would be perfect for this conversation, but it's potentially traumatizing so I'll keep it to myself.

*smooch*

>54 I bet that really hit the spot, Roni. Sounds good even now.

>55 C'est la vie. I can think of a lot worse things to get stuck on!

>56 I told you not to google me!!

>57 *smooch* right back

I will admit that I've found a book with majgicqk that I like. It's called Midnight Riot and it's about a young London police officer who's got the talent and how it affects his police career.

This is what I was looking for when I picked up the Harry Dresden books, which I wore out on partway through the first book due to Main Character Angst Aversion Syndrome.

I see that I am not the only suggestible one here at LT.
Bacon ..lol

I have spent a fair amount of time this morning sorting out computer issues.
It seems that it has not been my computer .. but FF. So I am working on switching over.
Back to Safari! I will then remove FF forever.

sigh.

hope your day is a good one.

Oh well, Safari's hugely superior to IE. Sorry about the Firefox issue, though. Maybe it's time to try Chrome.

Bacon...mmmmmmmmmmmmm

I was thinking that. I am not a huge Safari fan. I will have to see how it goes.

I think Chrome's very good at the things I like a browser to do, and there are apps to do stuff I want like keep the #(!^$)^^%#%%$ ads to a minimum on FB. (Called Facebook Purity, ha.)

Heading for 96 again today. ICK.

That is one of the things I like about FF that Safari doesn't have.That and a sort of preview that will show you a preview of a link or enlarge a photo :(

Chrome has that, too.

just sayin'

I still love summer (naysayers be dam.... cuddled) but 96 is too much. If it could be 82 every day, I'd be a happy man.

If it could be 82 for a week in August, I'd be a happy man.

I could live with 82 as a max temp....this 90plus is not for me. ugh.

I could even live with 85 as a highest-ever-recorded-OMG-run-for-cover-where's-the-g&t temp. After that, ew.

Thank all the goddesses that my a/c has a "Winter in Antarctica" setting.

you all should move to Nova Scotia then as it's 79 and sunny with a beautiful breeze!
I'll even rent out part of my property for your tents if you want ;)

Richard, there's hope: The past three days have been in the 90s around here, but a cold front came through overnight. It's currently 80 with a cool-ish breeze, clouds, and pockets of light rain. Refreshing. And probably on its way to you since our weather tends to head east.

>70 Tents. Oh nay nay nay, Mother Richard does not sleep outside or on the ground. But you and Nate are so much younger, you'll no doubt relish the adventure and I'll agree to let you use the shower inside once a week while I'm there.

>71 That sounds like perfection. Hurry it along its way, will you? Stand outside and flap your arms eastward or something.

Speaking from the far northern western corner of these states.... we are all thrilled that it might hit 80 today.

Tomorrow.... cooler, and rain. Must mow lawn today even if my Rheumatoid Arthritis wrist is paining me mucho.

Bacon....

I'd be thrilled if it hit 80, too! On the way down to 50, preferably, not up to 100.

I'm with Maggie--out enjoying pleasantly warm weather and sunshine while we can get it!! Good news is that I haven't had to water the plants very much yet. I never really count on summer in Portland until after the fourth of July. Last year it didn't start until August! Yuck.

no summer until August *swoon*

G*A*S*P! hot out....

Yup, Portland and Seattle both had a very unsatisfyingly short summer last year. Please, not again this year.

Really, any one scheduling a vacation in this part of the world... August and September are the primo months.

>77 HORRIFYINGLY.

>78 "Unsatisfyingly short" and "summer" do not belong in the same sentence. It's like "too much" and "garlic".

>79 ROFL

Me too!

My mum figured that calculation out with the amount of cigarettes she has smoked...and came to about the same conclusion. Luckily for her though, she has JUST quit smoking after having done so for nearly 40 years (minus the months when she was pregnant).
We are so proud of her, as Im sure her addiction was very well entrenched....

>81 That's a terrific piece of news! I hope you and the family will give her all the support she wants.

And tie her up on Christmas.

Um, why must we tie her up at Christmas?
As a metaphorical present to us....ie her life?
To mock her for her years of foolishness?
As some bizarre north American ritual that I know nothing of?
So the kids can use her as a pinata?

Stress is the single most irresistible smoking trigger. Apart from death and divorce, Christmas is the most stressful thing in the average western person's life.

Likin' the pinata idea, though.

Hi RD- Still with the bacon over here? Oy vey! Thanks for all the "likes" over on GR, much appreciated, my friend. I don't communicate with very many over there, just a hand-full. Not as sociable as we are, that's for damn sure!

Ooooh, I get it now.
hehe

I love Christmas and am very unstressed. We usually have more money at Xmas than throughout the year, due to a bonus that the Union arranged for their members at that time, and the fact that I buy presents throughout the year.

Here's an early Christmas pressie for you RD-

Stealing that Megan...

>85 No problemo! Yeah, the bacon thing has legs, doesn't it?

>86 LOL That's totally adorable!

>87 I would too, but it's already posted here.

Jefferson 1 -- We-the-People 0

That is really depressing, too, isn't it? We seem to be there.

I think you can make that an absolute, love. We are there.

"Unsatisfyingly short" and "summer" do not belong in the same sentence. It's like "too much" and "garlic".

So very true!!!

>92 I knew you had good sense, Alex.

delurking.. Darn I was behind again. ****Waves****

Sent "I've got your back" to my macabre-loving son. The Jefferson quote is scary accurate.

>94 One thing about cyberspace, Monica, is that what you're behind on usually doesn't go anywhere. So really, you're never behind!

>95 Heh. Bet he liked it. And yeah, Mr. Jefferson knew what time it was almost 200 years ago.

We're having a houseguest this weekend, so I'll only be here spottily.

#86-- I've never thought of you as spineless, but I guess you were!! Hmmmm. : P

Ha! I think you misunderstand, madam.

No. It's right there in the picture! (Nevermind the caption.)

Found this cool html list:

en dash (–): &ndash

em dash (—): &mdash

cent sign (¢): &cent

pound sterling (£): &pound

copyright (©): &copy

degree sign (°): &deg

superscript two (²): &sup2

one-half (½): &frac12

bullet (•): &bull

check mark (✔): & # 10004;

open star (☆): & # 9734;

closed star (★): & # 9733;

heart (♥): &hearts

left arrow (←): &larr

right arrow (→): &rarr

up arrow (↑): &uarr

down arrow (↓): &darr

double-headed arrow (↔): &harr

musical eighth note (♪): & # 9834;

beamed pair of eighth notes (♫): & # 9835;

Just add the semi on the end. For the numeric codes, put the & then the # with no spaces in front of the code number and semi. For some reason LT doesn't like that in a post.

>99 :-P~~~

See? Spineless. Instead of confronting me head on, you slide your weak rebuttal in at the end of a long list of admittedly cool symbols, secretly hoping that I would miss it. But no. I see it!

As to the cool list, if I don't see a beamed eighth note on my keyboard, trying to put a pair of parenthesis around it seems...difficult. For instance, if I had a heart on my keyboard, I would put that in parens right now, but you'll have to settle for xoxo instead. : )

(♥)

Showoff!

♥

Sorry Kim - the html code is &hearts ; (without the space).

♥ It worked!! Thanks. You are much nicer than Richard. And I am much smarter now that I have had my tea!

♥

either I am doing it wrong, or not on my mac..
ok.. have to go to lunch with Debbie.
Perfect.
Just.
perfect.

Kath-- you need the ; at the end of &hearts. I learned the hard way.

Thank you ! I will try some more if I get back :P

Yay! You get a &cstar; Well, that's my best guess for closed star since R didn't put the rest of the info in....

How about &closedstar;

Nope.

I didn't know these but a bit of searching gives

★ & #9733 ;
☆ & #9734 ;

Of course you need to close up the spaces in the code:)

I'll see if I can research those gaps in Richard's list:)

Right for musical notes

& # 9 8 3 4 ; produces ♪ (eighth note)
& # 9 8 3 5 ; produces ♫ (beamed pair of eighth notes)

Once again close up the spaces.

I think those were the only ones missing.

Dublin university library.

OMG

Guest arrival delayed until 3:15EDT o frabjous day callooh callay more time to soak up a/c!!

Beautiful library Richard.

Hope the visit goes smoothly, have a great weekend:)

xo Thanks calm!

What? No code for smiley face? Ill have to try hearts then...
♥

>100 For all the "cool" stuff...I'm using Firefox and click "Edit"...and at the bottom click "Special Characters" (sounds like LT!)...and there's a lot to play with.

I used Chrome, for a while...but found that some pages i visited wouldn't accept it, for certain features.....only accepted Firefox and Safari (for Mac, that is)

♥ ⚔ ♠

'-)

*snort*

cool html.. gorgeous *wish I could see* library. thanks
I survived lunch.

Did your digestive system and your sense of humor survive too?

Partly because of my new bat shirt, yes.

>120 I want a pic of that shirt.

on my thread there is a link

R--Can you send the 10 Reasons to me on Facebook? Can't seem to steal it and my brother would sooooo get a kick out of it. Thanks! Oh, and have fun with your guest and also let me know if you ever want someone to go to Dublin with you.

Morning RD- This is always such an entertaining and informative thread! Hope you are staying cool.

>123 'Tis done, m'dear.

Dublin trip line forms to the right! The intrepid Berly and timorous Richard will be your guides!

>124 I haven't left my air conditioner's side in days, so cool I am. Have fun in Doucheyburg!

Thanks and Yay!! (Timorous, really?? Are you fishing for compliments?)

No, just think all tours are led by one charger and one hang-backer, and it's less work to hang back. *bright smile*

LOL. Good thinking.

*snort*

Good times are rolling around here!

Find me a smooch html code - hop hop.

:-*

>128 I'm reasonably fast on my feet. Metaphorically, anyway.

>129 *smooch*

>130 I don't think HTML coders know the word "smooch*, Crypto.



And we return to our regularly scheduled leftist political rants.

Good one

I'd choose a different word than "opulent" for the rich sociopaths, but I ain't write it.

I don't know who the Duggars are, but I still wonder how this is supposed to slip unnoticed past the public.

The Duggars are the reality tv folks with 20 kids, or something like that. They have vast numbers of children (all of whose names begin with J), and let cameras follow them around the grocery store.

>135 Oh. Ew.

Maybe it's only 19.

Still, ew.

Too many kids for me, however....I have watched this about 3 times over the years.
These are nice kids. They are ( obviously) a very religious family, but the kids are nice.
I don't know that I could spend much time in a room with mom or dad.. they have that
quiet because it's the right way to be voices. They are not on any assistance. They homeschool
and the kids are all firmly taught that the universe does not revolve around them. They do the dishes,
cook etc. AS it should be. So... say what you will, but they are the nicest kids I have seen on tv since the seventies.

My "ew" is more about the cameras and broadcasting of the kids' daily life. I don't think it is likely to lead them into a healthy sense of boundaries when there are people in every corner filming you popping your zits and fighting with your little sister.

OK, Richard, the #141 is altogether too close to TRUTH for me! Dang, boy, don't I have any thing left that I can deny?

140> I agree with that..... but it is what it is. Cheap tv for us, income for them?
I have never watched that Snookie show, but what few things I have seen about her online and on trashy tv make me want to unswallow. And apparently she is pregnant. Poor baby.

I think the kids on sister wives are great too.. not perfect, but good kids. That oldest boy is
particularly great, imo. You know that is a not so secret ice of mine. I love the idea, that family and
diislike wife #4 . Also, not great for the kids for lives to be on tv, but I think these two families seem to manage pretty well. The Duggers don't have a tv! They don't watch themselves.

>142 True for most of us on the northern face of fifty, dearie-me-lass.

>143 I'm just uneasy with the whole genre of reality tv. I don't like what it suggests about us as a society.

Bah - I detest reality tv .. there's nothing real about the people on the shows at all since it's edited to showcase the most scandalous or controversial. Gone are the days of good scripts written by writers. And don't even get me started on all these silly housewives of various counties and drunken young adults of NJ ... no intelligent dialogue to follow and trashy behavior.

I must admit, I've found a reality tv show that appeals to me - "Breaking Pointe." Six-weeks in a ballet company? Yes, please. I just love watching the rehearsals.

Is "Dirty Jobs" considered a reality show? If so, that's another one I enjoy.

Broadcasting young children on tv rubs me the wrong way, and I greatly dislike rewarding foolish behavior with celebrity status. The fact that "Kate" is now a celebrity makes me angry if I think about it too long, so I choose not to linger.

I really don't care about the not-so-private lives of other people, unless they are deceased royalty or artists/authors.

141, 142, 144 > oh dear..... too true too much of the time..... thank goodness there are books......

I never watched any reality tv till I found myself unemployed.
Sometimes I need the company. I think Kate was a bitch that destroyed her family..
but thats just me. I watched The Duggers when they were traveling.. I got to see bits of Ireland etc, that I will probably never see.

I am well aware that the shows are scripted and edited, but .. it is interesting to me
to see the sister wives. I often wonder what it is that they don't show. But, the concept of plural marriage is fascinating to me. I also like watching Jackson Galaxy and his cats :) I loved his book! I cried clean through it though.

AND I watch Ancient aliens, Serial Killer Earth and all sorts Ghost shows etc on Travel, History, SyFy and H2, and sometimes find things on BBC America.

And.. like y reading choices, I watch what I want when I want and dong care a fig what anyone thinks about it.. I am also a huge fan of the terrible monster movies that are these days mostly found ( for me ) on SyFy.

Now..Dan is gone for the day and I can pick up a book.. but which one????

Ooooh I luuuurve Ancient Aliens!! Most of the time I think it should be on Comedy Central, but I really really like the guy with the wild-ass hair and his thought-provoking ideas. The Dutch dude with the fixed-up harelip is pretty interesting too.

They did a bunch of stuff on the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata being essentially the National Enquirer of the day. It was so interesting to me. I'm quite sure all those sacred texts were talking about real visitations. I just don't think they were aliens. Just seems improbable. Time travelers, extra-dimensional earthlings from parallel earths, seem more likely to me.

I like him too... lol
Whichever they turn out to be, I think they were extra humanity types..
There was a show on the other day ( I missed it, out to lunch with my sister, but it was on tv there.. )
about the Hindenburg... which I would love to see...

Do you know that people on it were only allowed one napkin for the whole voyage
in order to save weight? AND that one of its purposes was to get mail across the Atlantic in half the
time of a boat? And I think that anyone who would fly in a balloon filled with something combustable
and smoke etc is a little nuts..

It was featured in a Smithsonian magazine recently....

Here's a link to my reality (yesterday's Librarything meet up, near Seattle) : http://www.librarything.com/topic/138315

edit to eliminate random superfluous letters

>150 The Smithsonian Channel had a doc about the Hindenburg disaster that was really well-made. Fascinating stuff!

>151 Coolness! Thanks for sharing.

I can't think of any reality tv shows that I like, but there was a week-by-week elimination show that I liked. It was called Solitary, and the first couple seasons were gold. Unfortunately I believe they aired on that Fox Reality channle, which I think died a few years ago. I don't know if it's watchable online, but I really liked it.

I have to try to find it .. I have that Smithsonian app on iPad.

On your profile.

Pearl Ruled: THE YARD by Alex Grecian (p67)

This is its star:


I started getting annoyed when, at the beginning of chapter 2, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford, Commissioner of Scotland Yard, calls the sleuth into his mahogany-lined office and proceeds to make no sense at all for several pages. The sleuth is confused, too, and there appears to be no reason we-the-readers should give the ass of a rat about this little tete-a-tete.

Then came the who-cares italicized narration of the bald man, who killed the victim. We're told so in the first 20pp, I am not spoilering. The other thing I'm not is caring.

Then on p67, a clue is run down by the sleuth and the forensic scientist, but the forensic scientist says it's not really a clue, they're just being thorough, and I frankly became so disgusted with this amateurish, ramshackle mess of typing that I was physically unable to force my eyes to focus on the first sentence of chapter 10.

There are point-of-view issues. There are credibility gaps. There is a numbing expectedness in each character's responses and reactions. Well, as you can tell by my one-star rating, I am not impressed and I am not happy to have spent this time in this fashion. I don't recommend it.

But, other than that...

...the jacket is pretty...

I love you, Rdear.

*smooch* Thanks, Gail! You're on my list, too.

I will not be reading The Yard.
Other than that how's your Sunday?

Lovely, thank you, Chelle. Our houseguest left around 2 in a cloud of happy smiles, as usual. Course, it might have a wee tiny bit to do with the half pound of pate she left behind. Oh, and the bottle of my new favorite prosecco.



Pray, pray on bended knees, pray for life everlasting for Mr. Bacon!!

Back to the bacon again!! No, seriously, is he sick?

>162
Bwa ha haaaaa!
lol
rotf

(on a serious note, I really like Kevin Bacon, he seems sweet)

I will take the minor risk of hijacking the bacon thread—there will always be more bacon. No, really, I think it's a law somewhere...or it should be.

>100 cool and useful list, RD; I am always putting lists like this somewhere "safe"

>reality TV: so much TMI from uninformed folks, too many hours one might never get back that were wasted on their trivia. That said, the non-gossip stations seem to be finding some interesting slice of life shows about people with obscure and sometimes thankless jobs. Discovery, History, Animal Planet, even The Weather Channel have some that are well-done, interesting, and even educational. Myth-Busters, American Pickers, Dirtiest Jobs, even Tanked (awesome aquariums!).

Kate was one of my first ventures into that world. She made a lot of mistakes, but I think they would have had notoriety and hassles anyway. They also wound up with some amazing experiences they wouldn't have had otherwise. And I think the show would have ended when the kids were old enough to need true privacy. Kids tend to enjoy and be community-style in their earlier years. And they did usually have the option to stop the cameras when things got overwheming. I have no kids of my own (just nieces/nephews), so handling 6 toddlers was fascinating.

>148 - kath, I also enjoy Jackson Galaxy's show; he has amazing way with creature that others would have given up on. I will spare RD further discussion, to respect his allergy and aversion to felines.

Finally on the subject of books, since we *are* still on LT:
>112 - I could be content with a poster like this, although a live visit would be awesome. Ireland is on my "Maybe someday" list, but that is currently still a fictional list 8-o

>59 - Thanks, Richard for finding something more palatable than the Harry Dresden series. I think I persevered through three or even four before realizing angst was almost a character. I have enough trouble keeping my own life angst-free, so not usually entertained by excesses of such.

Sorry for such a chatty post after long absence, but the topics made me do it!

156: Ha! I liked that one, but I hate mysteries so my opinion isn't worth much there. However, thinking back to all the overlapping books we have read, I'm beginning to think we don't agree on ANYTHING.

Fab rant synopsis. Great way to start my day :)
You are right about the cover, it is appealing. I was wondering yesterday
about the resurgence of of all thinks Sherlock. Tv Series, series of films.
That book seems to be sort of capitalizing on that?

Michele .. have you seen Dogs in the City? It is a summer show on network TV.
It is similar to Galaxy's show, but dogs. Last week, I was on it. Well not really of
course, but a woman who reminded me of me.

You know Stephen, I used to say that I don't read mysteries. I have also said that I don't read romance.
I used to say that chick lit was way down on my list. Here is what I have learned.

What was I thinking? I love mysteries.. shame on me for refusing to look at them. I used to look for fiction/literature.. serious fiction. I have no idea why. Full of myself I guess? I now read them all. I still have little interest in Romance ( I heard that rd) but, never say never. I may not read much of it, but I am sure that it is in there somewhere. And some of the books that are labeled chick lit are pretty good. I now read anything that strikes my fancy. Sometimes, even a poorly written book can be quite enjoyable, and I m no one to judge. I am worthy of judging a story, or how much I like it at least,not writing. So....

I don't know if The Yard is capitalizing on the Sherlock thing, considering most of the characters are, well, bumbling oafs...

I have nothing against mysteries, Kath. I didn't say that mysteries were bad and I would never judge someone for their reading tastes. I do read mysteries on occasion, I just don't like them. I don't have some snotty attitude towards 'lesser' literature or anything, because I don't consider them 'lesser.' To spin an engaging yarn takes just as much talent as anything. I'm just saying that, preferentially speaking, they aren't for me.

I like books about diseases, apocalyptic novels, anything commonly considered 'depressing,' and I prefer dark, brooding, paranormal atmospheres as opposed to Mr. Hero Saves The Day mystery novels.

This doesn't apply just to books either, just to prove my point. I freaking DESPISE all those CSI/Bones/NCIS shows. I hate them. Hate them hate them hate them. I just don't like crime/mystery things. Period. It has nothing to do with other people's opinions of the Mystery genre's place in literature.

I do, however, find it ironic that every time I say "I don't like mysteries" I actually have to defend myself. It's like reverse-prejudice, people are so caught up in defending the mystery/romance/chick lit genres from close-minded judgemental silly-head that when someone says they don't like them everyone automatically gets all judgemental and jumps to conclusions about why they don't like them. I don't like them because I don't like them, plain and simple. I'd rather read a zombie novel. :)

Morning RD- Hopefully you didn't waste much time with The Yard. That's to bad, that one sounded pretty good too. Have a good day, sir!

No idea why you feel defensive.. I was just telling my thoughts & experiences..
I meant to go on to say .. I used to say that I do not watch reality shows but,
in the past year or so, I find that I do.. so, there goes that. Whatever. Whoever it was
that said never say never was on to something. I will most likely read at least certain books in
pretty much any genre. Same with TV.

For clarification purposes.. I am talking about myownself here..

I was just telling my thoughts & experiences..

Me too. :)

>163 I haven't heard doodly about him being sick, and I suspect the JPEG maker just thought the joke was funny. Based on what I know of Mr. Bacon, I doubt me much he'd be amused. Oh well, I am.

>164 He does, doesn't he? I really like the work he's done, and he's been pretty much out of the gossip mills, so I suspect I'd like him as a person, too.

>165 *smoochiesmoochsmooch* You're BACK!! How wonderful! Always glad to see you.

There are some pacing issues in Midnight Riot. I still like it, though, and it's a further practical proof of Kath's maxim against ever saying never.

Ireland's sort of bald and shaggy, but I wanna go so I can sit in that library!!

>169 One reason I'm so annoyed by the book's complete flop is how much I liked the sound of it. 67pp and I can't make myself read another sentence? Oh, that is a bad, bad letdown.

Kath and Stephen: Useful interaction here. It is very easy to sound accusatory when talking about someone's preferences. Very. In fact, it's the default feeling in the accused.

One's own intentions in making a statement are not important, it's how the receiver perceives them. "I don't like mysteries" or "I don't like YA novels" or "I don't like {fill in blank}" are inarguable statements. No one can tell you you're wrong about your taste, and if you're wise, you'll always leave room for change by pursuing things you won't like based on a fast scan, if others you like have liked them.

I am now sick to death of the word like.

I don't like teenagers. My current gentleman caller is 20, or 19 + 1. So how is it that I still don't like teenagers again? Well, I don't. He slipped in under the radar and has kept me laughing for several months. So I like THAT recent teenager. Exception, meet rule.

I've tried and Pearl Ruled so many of the YA novels people around here yodel their rapturous responses to, I can't count. I don't write up the responses because I'll have to hear about it, feel criticized by the "oh no, the author is doing..." sorts of explanations, blah blah blah. I am not up for it. Want to ask me why I don't like something? We can talk. Start with what looks to me like a criticism of me and my opinion, and I will shout at you and be mean to you, all quite unapologetically. And the only way we know what another person is saying is by what they type, so no lectures please on "but I didn't mean..."

A shorter way to say this is, I'll happily explain my opinion in detail and with pleasure, but I will defend it with all the considerable weaponry at my command if one approaches me with criticism.

Warning: More angry leftist shrieking ahead.

I absolutely adore these Gene Wilder rants, RichardDear.

#175 is something that we need to always remember. And we therefore need to always treat people with kindness (until they stab us in the back, of course.)

*smooch*

>176 I do too! And yes, we must always bear in mind that someone could be having the worst day ever and respond to us with venom not warranted by our actions.

I'm savin' it up for the next missionary.

*smooch*

150: Surpried to hear the story of "one napkin to save weight" on the Hindenberg.
Ship had lifting capacity to burn - including a grand piano - and on the last voyage came from Germany to America with most of the passenger berths empty. (They were booked on the US-to-Germany leg of the trip)

The stunner to me has always been the Hindenburg's smoking room...srsly?!?

I love this image!

The piano was made of aluminum...

#180 I love that! I'm so stealing it from you ;)

Smooches!

Gene Wilder, so kooky in that film, love it.

And an apt quote from "him" too.....what a wisdom he has (was it Gene or Mr Wonka who actually said that though?) ;)

I suspect it would have been Wonka. Sounds like him, don't it?

Matthew McConaughey as Surfer Dude, a movie sadly lacking male nudity and boring as bat shit, but the pics are pleasant.

Jindo mother and pup.

Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. Those bureaucratic idiots need to move you along through the system - stat!

That's why I had these taken! A little manipulation. Heh, pun optional.

Ouchies... You know how I feel.. I hope things move faster this week :(

Me too! Hence the pics....

Oh Padre, I'm so sorry. :(

Wow. Those pictures should be attached to any applicaton forms you have to submit. We're all pulling for you, my friend.

Richard, a picture is worth a thousand words sometimes. Those are painful to see, can't imagine how you stand it. Good luck dealing with the bureaucratic idiots.

It's always amazing to me how I stand it too, when I see the bits separately from my body. "WHAT?! How does that person do anything?! Oh wait...."

I live with it, find ways around it, and a lot of the time, lie around with my feet in the air breathing through it.

Without the internet, this really would be unendurable.

oh dear!! I'm sorry you are in pain
Hopefully your application will go through quickly!

Good luck with the application, those pictures say more than words ever could.

Take care of yourself.

It is wonderful how the internet has brought so much more of life into many, many lives, which otherwise might have been more impoverished!

I hope your day, today, is as close to pain free as is possible! And have a great time reading, too!

Oh, Richard Dear! Heartbreaking pictures. I ache for you. Hugs and smooches from your own dear Horrible.

(Thanks for the FB post!)

This is how your pain and frustration makes me feel :( Hopeful for good news soon.

I give you this Oreo to make you feel better. And this article to make you shake your head.

Seriously unpleasant-looking. I can understand how it would put a damper on a perfectly good Victorian mystery novel. *Cough cough*

Seriously though, the pictures should definitely help, I would imagine. Hoping for good news.

I'm having a bad day with pain, so I think I went a little melodramatic...I'll find some cheerier pics to replace them.

Tom, HOLY FUCKING SHIT! "Eating Oreos is now a Sin" is my favorite laugh, but there are so many women saying "fags should die" and "Gawd hates fags"! The men, I get it, they're embarrassed about wanting to suck cock and get fucked in the ass...but the women?! What?!

Srsly makes my loathing for xians and xianity make even more sense. Horrible, horrible people believe it, so it must be horrible and bad.

There! 187 & 188 are now much more agreeable to look at!

>202 Had I read any perfectly good Victorian mysteries lately, I'd agree wholeheartedly, but the only one I read is by a comic book writer (found that out today reading the flap, was appalled) and it stank on ice.

awww puppies...

Whew, just managed to catch up on your thread, Rdear. I'm glad there is Kevin Bacon is not seriously ill ...my heart did stop for a minute when I saw that picture. I'm angered that the system is taking such a long time to process your application, and leaving you in so much pain.

Hmm... the article is crazy, but I have to say I like the rainbow oreo and wouldn't mind eating it if the colored filling was buttercream.

That article is ridiculous! I have now "liked" oreo in support. Some people's kids, man!

Love the new pictures! Matthew is yummy!

>170 I used to say that I do not watch reality shows but,
in the past year or so, I find that I do.. so, there goes that
Americas Next Top Model is the best TV show in the world.
Haha, I crack up just to hear myself say it, but I love it.

I must have missed your pics RD, hope they werent as gruesome as comments lead me to believe, but I guess they were.

Those facebook posts cannot be for real can they? I DO NOT GET IT, maybe Ill go and like Oreos on FB now....

ETA /

Review: 59 of seventy-five

Title: THE RADETZKY MARCH

Author: JOSEPH ROTH

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Report: The book description from Amazon is unusually cryptic. It says:
“The Radetzky March, Joseph Roth's classic saga of the privileged von Trotta family, encompasses the entire social fabric of the Austro-Hungarian Empire just before World War I. The author's greatest achievement, The Radetzky March is an unparalleled portrait of a civilization in decline, and as such, a universal story for our times.”

My Review: The Trotta family, beneficiaries of the gratitude of the most inept politician and soldier ever to lead an empire, rise to dizzying social heights based on a misunderstanding of an actual brave and generous act. The First Baron saves the Emperor's life by knocking the fool off of his horse in the course of losing a battle. The Emperor's gift of a title to his Slovenian savior sets in motion a long, slow decline and fall, paralleling the Empire's own fate.

The Second Baron, excited by Papa's rep as a war hero and having no other information about the subject than other peoples' gossip, wants to be a cavalry officer like his papa. Papa, who was actually an infantry lieutenant and who is revolted by the gossipy fate of his deed, refuses either to discuss the matter or to allow his son into the military. So the second baron becomes a bureaucrat ruling the lives of people he feels superior to. He and the rest of the Trotta family are firmly convinced they are to the manor born. Papa sighs to himself, keeps his lip zipped, and dies.

The Baron-in-waiting becomes the cavalry officer his papa wanted to be. What a complete wastrel this goofball is. He truly buys in heavily to the privilege and prerogatives of being titled and in the Army. YUCKAPOOVICH. And then, in the course of duty, the scales fall from Lieutenant Trotta's eyes. The story of how that happens is a spoiler, so I have to leave it out of this review, except to say that it was at this point that my flagging interest in finishing this tome woke right back up and I wanted to read more.

I read the ending of the book in a rush, saddened and hurting for the Second Baron whose life was ending as his world was too. It was 1916, the Empire's effective end, and it is told in the simplest and most moving terms, in a scene of touching misdirected loyalty and typically unanswered love.

Joachim Neugroschel translated the edition I read. It was a pleasure to read...when the story could be bothered to perform its parlor tricks to keep me interested. There are stretches of the Second Baron's life that made me want to scrub my eyelids with witch hazel to tighten them into the open position. But as I read on, lulled by the gentle rocking of the style-train Roth sent me to war aboard, I realized that this, the warm velour first-class seat in the wood-lined first-class compartment, was a comfortable place to be, and I was content to trust the train's course would end in a place I'd want to be.

It did. It's a pleasure to have taken the journey at last.

I know.. Sad to say... those crappy shows will get you..
and suck you in and make you feel like you have to know
what happens next :PPP

I watched Sister Wives on Sunday, then they were interviewed by ?
an NBC journalist ? Anyway.. They dod not come off well. In fact during
the show, they came of as .. a tad bit greedy? A single wife with a child on her way to college
does not need a 7 bedroom home. IMO. wtf? Anyway... mid season cliff hanger, it will go away for a few weeks and we shall see if they go through with the colossally stupid idea of buying 4 seven bedroom homes, when all but the biatch last wife all lived in one house before?? I now right? That is 4 adults and 17 kids and 28 bedrooms. I mean wtf? ( oops sorry to be repetitive) Meri says she should not be penalized for
only having one child. I swear.. she said what if she wants a WET BAR! They don't drink. I dunno.
I still think it is a good idea for a lifestyle, and I still think the kids are mostly really good kids.. But I think
the adults are falling victim to greed and I never did like wife #4 or her kids :P ( sorry )

Well, i did catch the Icky Pics, earlier today...

....and, I hope you're doing everything you're told...in order to hustle this Disability Business on....knowing full well what a tedious load of BS it is..all the Forms and Doctors and GodHelpMeJustLeaveMeAlone that you might feel....'tis necessary, though..

I don't pray...but i'll do my own peculiar version for you, Sweetie

♥

Thumbed that excellent review of The Radetzky March Richard, which I happen to have on my shelf so there's a very good chance I'll be reading it soon.

Hi Rd- Sorry to hear about the lousy pain! Boo! Love the Books poster in #180. I need to hijack that one. Great review of The Radetzky March. Sounds terrific.

Richard: Totally entranced by the image at #180.

Thanks so much for the review of The Radetzky March. Roth is one of the writers profiled in New Yorker writer Joan Acocella's wonderful book 28 artists and 2 Saints. Her essays about Roth, Penelope Fitzgerald, Stefan Zweig, and Margaret Yourcenar among others made me curious about their writing.

Radetzky has definitely marched to the top of my list of books to be read soon.

>197 Thanks, Chelle. I hope so too.

>198 Thanks, calm. I hope they'll help.

>199 Isn't it, Karen44? "As possible" indeed.

>200 Thank you, Horrible, for the wishes and for stopping in on your birthday! Happy *mumblety*-fifth!

>201 Thanks for that link, Tom, I went and Liked Oreo on FB because they didn't succumb to bullying.

>206 Widdle poochie puppumses awwwwwww

>207 Thanks, Caro darling, and may your disgust propel me to the top of someone's pile soon!

>208 That article...well, I just don't know what to say. And yeah, he's a slurpsome morsel, ain't he?

>209 Pics of my left hand and right foot, Megan, gruesome stuff. It was really self-indulgent of me to post them, glad you missed them.

Yes, please go and like Oreos on FB! They need to know why, too.

>211 ...yes dear...

>212 Peculiar prayers especially welcome!

>213 Thanks, Bonnie! Oh I hope you will, it's a good'un.

>214 Isn't that poster beautiful? And get thee to a bookery to get The Radetzky March soon!

>215 *popcorn bowl* I await your review eagerly!

Missed the bad pictures. Like the replacements! Wishing you less pain from one who knows. : )

Nice review of The Radetzky March, Richard. Fortunately I don't have to add this to my wish list, as I already own it.

>219 *smooch*

>220 *snap* Rats!

Okay, I'm way behind and I think I did miss something here......
I think the pooches in 188 are adorable, and I saw the rainbow oreo on FB..... I also got together with some friends here after Seattle Pride this past Sunday. One of my favorite stickers one of them was wearing said:

Honey, we are baked this way. Loved it.

Hi RD, I am once again behind.. Love the Pooch pics.. I love doggies.. they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.. and always bring a smile to my face.. :) I am hoping your pain is subsiding and that you are having abetter day.. {{{HUGS}}}

Ohhhh, I see, you changed the pictures. I don't know, those shorts are hurting my eyes a lot more than your finger was.

I sent the email today.. thanks for the help.
Feeling a bit crappyish today.. PT will do that for you.

Not sure what the day will hold, but hope it's good for all of us and that it
speeds your info to the desk where it needs to land.

>222 Honey, we are baked this way.

PRICELESS!! I adore it!

>223 Hiya Monica! *smooch*

>224 ...he's wearing shorts...?

>225 *crossable parts crossed* It sounds perfect for you. I hope it works.

This PT situation...I am so so sorry it makes your pain worse...any further thoughts on a lawyer getting involved?

Yuh-huh.

They sent me a response.. they use
Word track changes, which I think is this ?
http://www.proof-reading.com/remove-microsoft-track-changes-from-word-2011-for-m...
and warned me that the books are erotica.. ( doesn't scare me off )

nope.. probably this ?
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/sharing/howtrackchangesworks.html

Wow, that Shauna Kelly link is *excellent*! I bookmarked it, thanks.

And yes, it's the correct thing to read.

I'd say this is a terrific opportunity!

Hmm I seem to be afraid of failure.
Downside.. I have never been familiar with Microsoft word.
Testing on it seems a bit scary, when my usual interaction with it
includes cursing. And lots of it.

Well me lurve, can you get a safer way to test out and fail than this? It's over the web, it's for a publisher you'd never heard of before this, and they're using the industry-standard tech so now you'll know what to study up on if it doesn't go well.

And you never have to leave your chair to do ANY of it.

Please tell me how this could be better suited to the place you are in your life right this moment.

Well, I would have to buy Microsoft word ( or office) for mac
which is like 90$ and if I am not good enough, I have that much of a loss.
Spelling worries me not, but grammar more so.

I never even expected a response.. much less w hours later

Try to stick to Word if possible. A $90 investment? Srsly? Esp. since they aren't the only pbshrs on the interwebs lookin' for proofies. Samhain? Elora's Cave? Torquere? All of 'em could have work and should have a test. If this one doesn't fly, then the $90 is for training materials not for a job.

And the speed of the response is always a positive sign, since it means they have work to give.

#204 Sorry you are having such a sh*t time with the pain - I missed the bad pics but like the puppy :) I took some pics of my parents brand new pups today but since the comp is in the shop (running on the laptop - iff) I have no way of getting them off the camera. Needless to say - cute to the power of infinity. I'll post on my thread when I finally get back to normal.

Hugs.

>235 Hi Bekka! *smooch*

This should distress every American of EVERY political stripe. It is an unmitigated disaster.

Less politically, there's this:

This corporations are people thing is making me crazy!!!!!!!!!!! Government of the people, by the people and for the people... just think what that means now, not only for us (the people) but for the whole world.

Yikes

Well said, Karen44!

Im choosing to smile at #239 and not to even try to understand the logic behind #237. It is too depressing. I need more rainbows today than corporate arse-holery.

Well, hey, Rdear. Loved the review of Radetzky March and of course added it to the obese WL.

Making that Crab Savannah tomorrow night for dinner. We haven't had it in so long, I'm sure Dh will think it's something new I just dreamed up. Don't tell, okay?

>242 A most, most sensible attitude, Megan. Most.

>243 I promise never to breathe a word, Gail, as long as I get a big splodge of it. xoxo

Hmph. People my azz

Perzackly.

Review: 60 of seventy-five

Title: THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS

Author: PETER SIS

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Report: The book description says:
“In The Conference of the Birds Caldecott Honor-winning children's book author and illustrator Peter Sís breathes new life into this foundational Sufi poem, revealing its profound lessons.
Sís's deeply felt adaptation tells the story of an epic flight of birds in search of the true king, Simorgh. Drawn from all species, the band of birds is led by the hoopoe. He promises that the voyage to the mountain of Kaf, where Simorgh lives, will be perilous and many birds resist, afraid of what they might encounter. Others perish during the passage through the seven valleys: quest, love, understanding, friendship, unity, amazement, and death.

Those that continue reach the mountain to learn that Simorgh the king is, in fact, each of them and all of them. In this lyrical and richly illustrated story of love, faith, and the meaning of it all, Peter Sís shows the pain, and beauty, of the human journey.”

My Review: Oh heavy, heavy sigh. I have read a picture book and I have liked it. The floodgates are now open, I fear. I hasten to point out to the picture-book crowd that this is in no way a graphic novel! It is a poem adapted to picture-based storytelling.

The first question most Americans have is, “Whatinahell's a hoopoe?!”

This is a hoopoe.

It was a symbol of virtue in Persia, and its crown of feathers and coloration make it a natural choice for the role of leader-bird. In fact, the hoopoe is also the king of the birds in Aristophanes' play The Birds, to which antique model this poem bears a glancing resemblance. I don't know of any scholarly opinion or research on this observation, but the survival of so much Greek literature in the Islamic east makes me wonder if perhaps Attar, the Sufi poet who created The Parliament of the Birds as a didactic tool for the introduction of his readers to the central tenets of Sufism (the seven valleys the birds fly through are the seven ways man has of knowing god), had encountered and was influenced by Aristophanes' work.

So what are the valleys? What is Sufism? I'll give you the logline on Sufism: Mystical Islam. The valleys, in Sis's work, are:

♪ Quest
♪ Love
♪ Understanding
♪ Detachment
♪ Unity
♪ Amazement
♪ Death

Now I'll level with you here: I totally don't get the Sis versions of the valleys, and what they're supposed to represent in the quest for the True King of the Birds, Simorgh. Not even a little bit. But I've read enough quest-based literature (pretty much all sci fi and definitely all fantasy, and all mystery, fiction is rooted in the quest branch of literature) to get where I'm supposed to go. The Birds meet and decide to seek out a King whose wisdom is guaranted to answer all their questions and thus provide for all their needs. This leads all the numberless birds off to the mountain Kaf, in China (sort of), where Simorgh lives. Through the many many miles of travel, most of the birds die and, in the end, the hoopoe their leader-bird gets them to Kaf, only to discover that the mountain has only a lake, which the thirty birds remaining fly over, and see themselves in its perfect and still waters...

And there it is. “Thirty Birds” in Attar's native language is “si morgh”...SIMORGH! The king of the birds is...the birds themselves!

Why on earth would I, an agnostic and an old curmudgeon, like such a simplistic “the answer was in you all along” tale? Because it's true, and it's always been true, that looking within for guidance and sustenance and a moral compass is the surest way to make the journey to wisdom short and sweet. It's also been taught to us that we must rely on an external god for revelations and meaningful guidance, and Sufism says that god put all that inside us for us to find, so I find this story a useful corrective to the error and misdirection foisted on people by their religions.

Plus the artwork. Are you a person who, on seeing a maze, MUST solve it before moving on with your day? If you are, this book will please you. There are mazes and mazes and mazes. It's a blast. The meditative beauty of some of the images gave me lovely moments of contemplative trance, and at other times made me feel as though I too was flying, and always left me with the softly stroked sensation of having one's hands and face washed by a gentle, loving hand using soothing scented water.

The paper that The Penguin Press' production people chose for the book is weird, in that it's very strongly textured. This flies in the face of established custom, which dictates the use of very smoothly coated heavy paper for illustrated books. That, the received opinion has it, allows the artwork being printed to speak for itself. Sis's artwork in this book, being watercolory and soft-edged in its execution, would look weak and bland on conventional wisdom's paper, whereas on this strongly textured paper, where the whole sheet has visible large and small geometric structure, the contrast of the artwork's lovely swirls and soft curves and unplanned-looking dissolves from one color to another is made a part of the message.

It is a beautiful object, this book. It is a beautiful and simple message, and one I am already in sympathy with, too: Look. Look inside. Let the wind blow through the empty places...they are there fir a reason. And, no matter how many say they will come with you, only a few will ever finish the journey. Treasure them, and the path that led you all to the calm, still lake where your reflection is sharp and clear and starkly beautifully you.

Sometimes, beyond all reason...they speak to us.

Morning RD- What a beautiful review of "Conference"! I've also read it recently. Actually, I gave it a day or 2 and reread it . It's a gorgeous little book and one I would like to add to my "keeper" shelf. Try to hunt down his memoir as well. It's also excellent. Enjoy your day!

ETA- Did you post your review? I tried giving you a well-deserved Thumb and didn't see it.

So have you come to terms with being a birder or are you still resistant to that?

The bird is very intriguing though. It's funny, however, that I'm reading a book about general nature science and I've already chosen to post a picture of an ugly crab with my review, as opposed to a pretty bird, despite the fact that the book did cover birds and aerial predation. Hmmmm...

So, some binoculars for you Christmas present. Got it.

>248 They do, they do.

>249 How very weird. The edition I have in my liberry isn't the one the touchstone goes to. The touchstone also isn't the same edition as the Library of Congress data source pulls up. All published by Penguin Press in 2011, too. Something is amiss here.

>250 I have binoculars. They really really really don't work with bifocals. *queasy burp*

Ah, that explains why I couldn't thumb it. Well, I found the review on my Home page, so for anyone else looking for it the hard link is here.

It's probably a weird combining issue.

I emailed Jeremy with links to both records. Given his track record of superspeedy responses, the issue should be fixed before I hit "post message" on this message. How he does what he does so fast, I do not know.

Okay, there are 3 seperate pages that I have found for the book, one with 500 copies listed on LT, one with 50, and one with 2 (with Richard's review.) I've combined them, so Richard's review should be showing up and the link should take you to a page with 550+ copies...

I think the issue was with the multiple authors thing (Peter Sis and Farid al-Din Attar). Some were listed with one author and some with the other. Should be better now.

>254 NONONONONONONONO!!!!!

The Penguin edition is completely and totally separate from the Penguin PRESS hardcover edition! The ISBNs that should be combined are both 9781594203060. The other Penguin edition is a translation of the base poem.

Go and uncombine them immediately before people get wildly confused!

Okay, then I believe what is wrong is your touchstone, which is linking to the more popular version. Will fix!

No, what is wrong is there are *TWO RECORDS* of the SAME edition of the book from Penguin Press. There should only be one. http://www.librarything.com/work/12703863 is the one with 56 copies, and there's one with a "book/efnrbzuyur" (long string of numbers I don't remember) that's the same edition after that.

THOSE are the two that should be combined.

Okay, they're separated, but your touchstone Still links to wrong edition. I've found two pages for the same book (here and here). Your review is on the page with only 6 editions, and for some reason the two books just won't combine. *Grumbles*

I assume Jeremy or someone else at HQ will have the ninja craft to make that happen. Thanks for trying, though!

Posting so I can find this again--lost you for a bit!

ETA 1: did you know there is a bacon marmalade?

Will be here for another 40 or so posts, Tui.

ETA 1: NO!!!

I am not smart enough to understand all of that combining stuff. I come here to play.
I cheerfully let other accumulate badges etc. I thumbed the review by following Stephens link.
My work here is done.

It would be incredibly simple to go to the author's page and combine from there, but I can't do that because it isn't friendly with my dial-up. -.-

btw thank you Stephen!

>262 Thass how I feels too. I do stuff on Common Knowledge because I use Common Knowledge a lot to learn about writers. But all that combiney stuff? Oh nay nay nay. I suspect I'd become embroiled with catalog snobs and browser bruisers and pernickety judgmental unpleasant people I'd rather avoid.

>263 I hate that someone who can really use the advantages that cable internet offers can't get it.

B-b-b-but cataloging, organizing, and databasing IS play. :P

One good thing about having dial-up is my connection is so slow it prevents me from spending hours and hours looking at my catalog sorted in every way imaginable. "I want to see them all in the order I read them. Cool! Now I want to see them in the order I bought them. Neat! Now I want to see them organized alphabetically. Awesome!"

*Sigh*

Combining can be fun and addictive at the basic level but some of the complicated intertwined stuff hurts my brain. (Then again, how they get the cream inside of Ring Dings hurts my brain)

we're not having to wait for Chihuly to get outrageously hot but the image is certainly apt. we have 4 days in the 100s upcoming along with a huge push of moisture from the gulf to elevate the humididity. aaaarrrrrgh! i do not like climate change.

RD, i loved your review of The conference of the birds and went immediately to place a hold on it. you probably know Nasreddin/Nasrudin (a name i cannot pronounce correctly, according to my Egyptian friend, to save me) but i thought you might not have read this one. sounds like Joe's. an ex of mine introduced me to Sufism and Nasreddin about 40 years ago and it's been too long since i visited with him.

All Nasrudin’s disciples were gathered at a feast. They ate and drank for several hours, and talked about the origins of the stars. The night drew on and everyone made ready to go home.

A fine plate of sweets was left on the table: Nasrudin made all his disciples eat it.

One, however, refused.

“The master is testing us,” he said. “He wants to see whether we can control our desires.”

“You are mistaken,” replied Nasrudin. “The best way of dominating a desire, is to satisfy it. I would rather you had the sweets in your bellies – their rightful place – than in your minds, which should be filled with nobler things.”

>266 I so utterly disagree that it's hard to imagine how to begin to express my feelings, so I won't.

>267 It starts with a single, hard thrust of the blunt nozzle, and soon the sweet white cream flows and flows until the chocolate receptacle is full, full as it can be, full to bursting.

GOD I MISS SWEETIENUBBINS!!!

*moan*



Some book porn to distract me.

Book porn, indeed.

Hallo RD.

*smooches from Horrible*

How can we pin this picture in Pinterest? I want to look at it, over and over, and over and over. No, actually, I want it.

*must go buy lottery ticket*

>270 Ain't it gaawwjuss??? *smooch*

>271 I pinned it, Karen44, so you should be able to repin it now.

yup, just did~ thanks

pintrest? how find? so very ignorant, me.

want to live in that picture. *sigh*

Yeah. Seriously. All it needs is less windows. *Shutters*

Yes, I said it. Shutters. I have no shame.

No, no, no! No fewer windows. It is perfect, as is.

Mirrordrum, Pinterest is a newer site where people post pictures of stuff they like.

Send me a PM if you want to see my little collection.

smooch!
I claim the set by the window :)

Shutters would be helpful if you found the windows gave too much light. And then open them on gloomy days. Better than doing away with the windows entirely.

No compromise! No shutters.

Shutters?! FEWER WINDOWS?!?! What are y'all, mole people or something?! That amount of light is to be coveted and savored and protected!

I swaNEE y'all're cuckoo.



Miss Audrey is so so right.

You know me, Richard, with that amount of window I would feel, well...exposed? Vulnerable? Heck, people could SEE me! I need limited window space, or lots of dark, black, window-covering curtains.

Stephen. Did you look at that view? The place is on a high floor. There's no building across from it. Unless it the (non-existent) angels or the guy who owns the world's only jet-pack suit, who is gonna see in? Even two basketball players on each others' shoulders couldn't get a look in!

You say that like I think about such things with a rational mindset.

B B But I was just here yesterday! .. how did you thread grow by 75 posts since I was here?!

Loved your review of the Radetzky March. Thumbed you

>283 Mmm OIC

>284 IDK dearest it just happens. Thanks for the thumb! What a wonderful book.

I'm starting The Child Thief tonight, sweetie. :-)

OOO OOO OOO

*happy dance*

I cannot wait for you to finish and review it!

>282 Telescopes...they're out there.

>288 Also expensive, and lest we not forget, what for? Star-gazing makes my brain hurt and bird-watching gets boring fast, and none of my neighbors is *remotely* alluring.

Oh, for goodness sakes! Stop worries. Read more books. When you are reading in the glory of natural light there is not space in your brain for worries.

It might be true that occasionally those lovely windows would need some bare minimum of coverage to keep the sun from baking the place; or the air conditioning would have to be superior! Nonetheless, that room is perfect!

Worrying is what I do best...

yep. Some window cover is on order.. for hot glare-y days.
maybe a switch that lowers something like a tinted screen?

Brilliant! Oh... I meant, yea! that's smart.

280 - There are curtains, so I can handle the wall of windows, although I would probably hang sheer curtains for a false sense of privacy, like Stephen needs. I developed a small phobia of uncovered windows living here: neighbors like to wave in windows whenever they see you, and I'd much rather my entire house be my private space. If you can see me, pretend you don't.

How did you get the pic of my house, Richard? *holding nose firmly so it won't bash through monitor*

Stephen, you need an all black ninja costume and you'll be fine. I, on the other hand, would need handrails on those stairs, wot wif my dislike of heights and all.

On the way to 94 today! NINETY FOUR.

It is to vomit.

Goddesses bless Mr. Trane, Mr. Carrier, Mr. Freidrich, Mr. Lennox and their pioneering ilk for the a/c units that dot my home.

Sing it, brother Richard, sing it. Going to be a stinker here too.

here, too :P

Tellin' yuh what, time the UN did something worthwhile and put a stop to this "summer" crap.

104 here today. and tomorrow. then plummeting to 100.

love windows. windows, windows, windows. love library pic. would need minion for 'em stairs.

The first year I went to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, there was a record all-time high temperature in Austin. I believe it reached 112 on Saturday. Then a cold front came through and Sunday felt refreshing and wonderful. I never knew 100 could feel cool, but compared to 112 it does.

I must give tons of credit to the band Arcade Fire, because on the hottest day, they were out there, in the sun, during the hottest part of the day, in full hipster clothing performing their butts off. Considering they are Canadian (Montreal, I think?) even more impressive since I doubt they'd ever experience anything close to that heat.

#269 *drooooooolllll*

Sigh....