cameling and the traveling library - Part 5

For anyone who hasn't yet stumbled onto my thread in previous years, I am a camel-mad, food-loving oddball who calls Boston home these days. I travel a fair bit during the year and will share my adventures (some call them mishaps) with all who visit. My thread will never be as well organized as some other LTers, and neither will it be an altogether serious place. It will carry photos of places that inspire me, food I probably ate too much of, and objects that made me laugh. I shall endeavor to write insightful reviews of the books I've enjoyed, and not rant over the ones that bored me to tears.

I welcome all to contribute as you wish on this thread, but ask that you please keep your posts respectful to other members, even if you disagree with their opinions. And most of all ... have fun!







Male Authors: 45
Female Authors: 35

January Reads
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
The Shameful Peace - Frederic Spotts
Room No. 10 - Åke Edwardson
Uncle Fred in the Springtime - P.G. Wodehouse
The Lady and her Monsters - Roseanne Montillo
Still Foolin' 'Em - Billy Crystal
Eva's Eye - Karin Fossum
Drowning Mermaids - Nardia Scrieva
Fathoms of Forgiveness - Nardia Scrieva
Boundless Sea - Nardia Scrieva
Song of the Lark - Willa Cather
The Gauguin Connection - Estelle Ryan
The Trickster's Hat - Nick Bantock
The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
The Italian Wedding - Nicky Pellegrino
Somewhere in France - Jennifer Robson
A Pale Horse - Charles Todd
The Tortilla Curtain - T.C. Boyle
Mrs Somebody Somebody - Tracy Winn

February Reads
Abyssal Zone - Nadia Scrivea
Tides of Tranquility - Nadia Scrivea
Maelstrom - Nadia Scrivea
Toby's Room - Pat Barker
Quicker Than the Eye - Ray Bradbury
The Whale : In Search of Giants of the Sea - Philip Hoare
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats - Jan-Philipp Sendker
To Touch a Wild Dolphin - Rachel Smolker
The Great Fire - Shirley Hazaard
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida
Codex Seraphinianus - Luigi Serafini

March Reads
The Constant Gardener - John le Carré
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
Concealed in Death - JD Robb
Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Guest Cat - Takashi Hiraide
Sinfest Vol 1 - Tatsuya Ishida
The Man on Table Ten - Luke Smitherd
Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue
Lullaby : The 87th Precinct - Ed McBain
The Immortals of Meluha - Amish
How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things - Neil Smith

April Reads
An Ice Cream War - William Boyd
Devices and Desires - P.D. James
Every Day is for the Thief - Teju Cole
The Food of Love - Anthony Capella
The Dante Connection - Estelle Ryan
The Tooth Tattoo - Peter Lovesey
The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister
The Ian Fleming Files : Operation Armada - Damien Stevenson
47 Ronin - John Allyn
Asterios Polyp - David Mazzachelli
Double Cross : The True Story of the D-Day Spies - Ben McIntyre
Sweet Tooth Vol.1 : Out of the Woods - Jeff Lemire

May Reads
The Rainmaker - John Grisham
A Long Shadow - Charles Todd
The Sports Gene - David Epstein
Sweet Tooth Vol. 2 : In Captivity - Jeff Lemire
Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi
The Edwardians - Vita Sackville-West
Cold Treachery - Charles Todd
Out - Natsuo Kirino
Point Omega - Don DeLilo
Candle in the Darkness - Lynn Austin
Selected Stories of Eudora Welty - Eudora Welty
Red Skies - Kay Bratt
Jerusalem : Chronicles from the Holy City - Guy Delisle
Palace of Justice - Susanne Alleyn
A False Mirror - Charles Todd
The Old Fox Deceived - Martha Grimes
Seven Patients - Atul Kumar

June Reads
The Sleeping Dragon - Miyuki Miyabe
A Blunt Instrument - Georgette Heyer
Agent ZigZag - Ben McIntyre
The Stone Cutter - Camilla Läckberg
The Dirty Duck - Martha Grimes
Singapore Noir - Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
A Call to Arms - P.G. Nagle
Hyperbole and a Half - Allie Brosh
The Snowman - Jo Nesbo
The Braque Connection - Estelle Ryan
The Flinck Connection - Estelle Ryan
The Hanover Square Affair - Ashley Gardner
A Regimental Murder - Ashley Gardner
The Glass House - Ashley Gardner
The Sudbury School Murders - Ashley Gardner

I had to share this photo that I took of a woman taking her dog (literally) for a walk in Tokyo.

Am I first?? :D

Okay I need to check your thread on my phone to see what camel picture you posted because for some reason my mac doesn't like to show it....strange.

I think buying a stroller for the kids is $$ so spending that kind of money for a dog for something I don't think they need...is out of the question for me......especially if we are blowing all of our money on overpriced airport food...haha!

On my last work day in Tokyo, I was pretty drained after a rather intense 4 hour meeting in the morning, I made my way over to my favorite sushi/sashimi restaurant in Shibuya for a tasty Chirashi sushi lunch.



Here's the close up of the Chirashi bowl


Decided against staying for dessert and walked over to a crepe cafe for a cuppuccino and a version of a crepe suzette.... and read for an hour. Ahhh.... bliss.

You're home!

>5 jolerie: Whoopeee.. yes, you are first, Valerie!

Some browser versions aren't compatible with certain image files. So try using Google Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer if your Safari is still not displaying the image. One of them should work.

I was trying to look more closely into her stroller to see if it was specifically for a pet, or if she repurposed a baby's stroller for her dog. But she was started to look rather suspiciously at me so I walked away. Drats.

>7 mckait: Yes I am, Kath! And sooo happy to be home. :-)

Valerie - Here's a photo of a plate of pork katsu and onion beef curry I had for lunch one day.

That Chirashi lunch looks wonderful but is that uni in the middle!! If so, you're brave.

>10 catarina1: yes, the orange thing is Uni. Why brave? If the Uni is really fresh, it's absolutely delicious.. you can taste the sea from it. But if it's even slightly old ... best to avoid .. it tastes like ammonia !

I came upon an Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) exhibition the afternoon before I came home and was about to walk in when a guard stopped me and asked for me ticket. Hmm... ticket? Apparently it wasn't free. He did tell me where I could go buy a ticket so off I went ..but just before I got to the ticket booth, a little elderly lady stopped me and offered me her spare ticket, refusing to accept any money for it, but bowed and asked me to please enjoy the exhibition. That was so sweet of her, so we exchanged a few bows, with me making sure I gave some very deep ones to show my respect for her age and gratitude for her generosity, and then she toddled off inside.

I left my bag containing a few bottles of sake at the bag check and went in and had a lovely time! Some of the arrangements were really clever and some incredibly beautiful. Here are some photos I took ..

This was one of my favorites .. tiny flowers in egg shells

Beautiful!!

cool use of an air conditioning filter





This arrangement was of different vegetables on a piece of driftwood

What amazing flower arrangements!

Wow!! Awesome arrangements! Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you chose to show so many--they are all so completely different. I love the white flowers with the red picture hanging on the wall behind them.

65. Selected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty

Ms Welty's short stories were all set in towns in Mississippi and highlighted her observations of the language, moral code and culture of that area. I liked some stories better than others, but I found all of them interesting.

3.5 stars

66. Red Skies by Kay Bratt

Life in Beijing can be hard, and more so when your husband has turned into an addict on pain-killers following a back injury, forcing Mari to make ends meet by taking photographs of tourists on a mangy camel at the Great Wall. Things start looking up a little when an American photojournalist hires her to be his translator and bring him to a few local sites on what seems like his China bucket list. But a tragedy occurs which threatens her happily-ever-after.

We're also introduced to 2 young girls who were kidnapped by an adult syndicate who force them to beg on the streets to avoid being beaten and starved. They are often bullied by the older boys or worse. Their lives take a toll for the worse when the older girl, An Ni, breaks her leg during an escape during a risky train heist. It's left to little Xiao Mei to find help, which comes from an unexpected meeting. The Chinese government's disinterest in the known situation of child kidnappings takes an abrupt 360 when certain photographs and a story published by a foreign journal goes viral.

The children's resilience are admirable as is the determination of one man facing his own demons to make a difference.

3 stars

67. Jerusalem : Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle

Guy DeLisle's graphic memoir of his time in Jerusalem is illuminating and provides an unbiased look at lives of the Palestinians and Israelis in this troubled land. Living as an expatriate, his walks around the neighborhood and road trips across checkpoints illustrate the tense conditions people live under.

4 stars

More pics from the floral arrangement exhibition

Nice reviews. I am a few behind myself. Lol. I hope to catch up now that I am confined to bed after knee surgery. : )

>18 Berly: Glad you like the photos, Kim. They all varied in size and composition, but one thing was common .. the placement of each plant or object was deliberate and precise. The photos don't really do them justice at all, but that was the best I could do with my camera phone.

ETA : The reviews are rather short since I'm a little pressed for time. I have to get on a conference call in 10 mins. :-)

>2 cameling: photo: LOL

Caro, congratulations on your new thread. There are manifique photos., so beautiful and filigree. I LOVE them. Good to see that you are back safely.

I think my favorite is the next to the last...the tree like thing. pretty pretty.

Happy New thread, Caro! I hope you have a nice long weekend ahead of you. Glad you got to the Welty. I read her first 2 collections and I agree they were a bit uneven but I am glad I finally read her.

Oh, those are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!

Happy new thread Caro! The photos are gorgeous! I have to agree with you about my favorite, the tiny flowers in the eggshells were so cute.

There's always something interesting to look at on your threads. That Chirashi bowl is my favourite arrangement of them all! :-)

Happy New Thread Caro!

>23 Ameise1: That squirrel looked exactly like how I felt yesterday, Barbara. :-) I was hoping to get out for a bike ride this morning before work but it was raining quite heavily, so I decided ... to stay in bed for an extra hour.

Glad you liked the photos.

>24 mckait: Kath, I stayed in that exhibition for near on an hour and a half. There were quite a lot of arrangements and I didn't take photos of all of them. Some just didn't frame up well on my phone, or because of the lighting, I couldn't do them justice. And of course while they were happy for you to take photos of the works, they didn't allow flash photography. I'm so glad I got in though. It was definitely a highlight of my trip.

>25 msf59: I'm glad you picked Welty as this month's American Author, Mark. I'd never read anything by her before so I'm very glad that you gave me the opportunity to do so. I'm a little uncertain if I will read The Optimist's Daughter because I've read some mixed reviews about that book. Still, I'm leaving it in my obese wish list ... just in case.

Hope you enjoy a nice Memorial Day weekend with good weather.

Speaking of the squirrel, I couldn't help but wonder if that was some sort of torture device he was pinned to, poor thing!

>26 scaifea: You're welcome, Amber. I thought I should share more than just food photos for a change. :-)

>27 Thebookdiva: Abby, attending that exhibition has given me some ideas which I hope I'll be able to actually execute the next time I consider floral arrangements for the house. Talk about interesting conversation pieces. I love how each piece is not just about the plants and the flowers but the sculpture as a whole. If I could reproduce the nesting flowers, I'd throw a party for myself. Ha!

>28 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana. I love Chirashi and get them here as well at certain Japanese restaurants where I know they have a good seafood supply. The ones here don't tend to give you any sea urchin though, so having them in my Chirashi bowl in Japan is always a treat.

>30 Smiler69: Nooooooooo! I think he was just tired, the poor thing. And someone built him a nice little chair and table on a tree.

I thought the squirrel looked like he was waiting for his masseuse.

Those arrangements are beautiful. I liked the tiny daisies wrapped in leaves. There was a lot of wire and metal being used, which I haven't seen before. New trend in ikebana?

Fabulous photos, Caroline! Have you ever thought of creating a travel blog in your spare time? ;-)

I love the pictures of the flower arrangements, I would have a very hard time picking a favorite, they are all pretty amazing!

>6 cameling: >9 cameling: love the look of those dishes!! More than the floral arrangements I am afraid- beautiful though they are :)

xoxo

Those are truly amazing arrangements, Caro--so glad you shared them with us. I liked the one with the saxophone.

I am not much into floral arrangements Caro as they don't suffice much for brunch, lunch, or evening meal, but they were typically delicate japanese constructions.

Congratulations on your new thread and wishing you the most wonderful of weekends.

So, are you going to be home for a good long time? I hope so. Is there a vacation in your future with Edd, just for fun and relaxation? You know, a trip with no conferences, no meetings... no work?

Caro, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

Loved the photos, Caro. I can't make up my mind which is my favorite. Am waffling between the tiny flowers in eggshells and the vegetables on driftwood.

Looks to me as if the squirrel is waiting for his grub. I like squirrels in general, but would love it if my own furry moochers would go on a permanent vacation.

>33 mstrust: LOL .. I like that, Jennifer. Now that you've mentioned it, I can see the squirrel saying; "I've had a hard day, how about a little hot stone therapy and a drink, huh?"

The ikebana exhibition I went to was to highlight mixed mediums in floral arrangements.

>34 kidzdoc: Darryl .. I toyed with the idea of a travel blog, but then I considered how much reading time I'd have to give up in order to do it justice ... and the books won the toss. So I'll have to share my travel stories and photos only with my LT peeps.

>35 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I wish some of the other photos I took were better representations of the floral subjects because there were more. But alas, either I wasn't able to capture the immense size (there was one the size of a sedan), or the intricate details because they were just too delicate.

>36 LovingLit: Megan, I like to keep my foodie friends happy too. I wish I had thought to take photos of some cute Hello Kitty and teddy bear donuts I ate, but unfortunately I was hungry.

>37 richardderus: Smoooches, Richard. I hope you are getting better!

>38 ronincats: Glad you like them, Roni. I hope they've inspired you and given you some ideas for your jewelry and pottery.

>39 PaulCranswick: Paul - What if they were edible floral arrangements on a plate of nasi kandar? Would you have liked them more then?

>40 mckait: Kath - I'll be home until the last week of June, when I'll be heading back down to Australia again for a couple of weeks. So it'll be a nice little 'break' for me. We've been talking about making going to Key West or New Orleans in September after Labor Day (so we can avoid school holidaying families) but we don't have any firm plans as yet, since both our schedules are a little fluid and sometimes change at the last minute. Having said that, we both tend to take spontaneous holidays. We're not really big planners. :-)

Speaking of conferences, I shall have to attend a 2 day conference in NYC next week. No rest for the wicked, I guess.

But I will definitely be taking Fridays off now that summer hails, especially if they're nice weather days so I can hang out at the beach and swim in the ocean. I live for beach days! I love making a batch of crispy fried chicken, bags of chips, cut some fruit, pack drinks in a cooler and make an afternoon of it at the beach with a good book.

>41 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. What an interesting picture. Is that a cherub in the tree above the nest of eggs?

>42 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I'm with you on wishing squirrels would take a vacation away from my property. I've just planted some tomato, eggplant, kale and snap peas in my vegetable bed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this year, those critters will at least share the harvest with me instead of thinking I'm planting their very own buffet.

There's a nest of hawks up in one of my pine trees though, and I'm noticing that there are fewer squirrels, chipmunks and wild rabbits romping around my yard so either they've noticed the hawks too and are keeping away, or the hawks have been picking some of them off as dinner.

68. Palace of Justice by Susanne Alleyn
Towards the end of the 1700s, the French Revolution has overthrown the monarchy and introduced many a royalist to Madame Guillotine and the executioners who keep her well oiled and sharpened. The Revolutionary Tribunal passes more and more death sentences on all unfortunate enough to be found guilty when they are brought before them.

In Paris, Marie Antoinette's trial looms and headless corpses are being dumped around Paris. There is a serial killer lose among the citizens, one who appears to choose his victims indiscriminately. Aristide Ravel is summoned to investigate these murders, preferably find the victims' heads and to do so as quietly as possible.

The apparent absence of a pattern in the murders intrigues him, but he's distracted by the impending trail of some of his childhood friends who, although part of the revolution, unfortunately backed the wrong party and are now imprisoned awaiting trial and their very probable execution. His investigations lead him to uncover a 30 year-old injustice and a plan to make the English think France unstable.

This is one of the most enjoyable historical mystery series I've read in a long time.

3.5 stars

>44 cameling: yes, it is. Isn't it a lovely one, like a little rascal.

>45 cameling: so happy you liked it! go tell susanne on facebook. she's a lovely lady.

I'm glad to know that you will be home for a while.. a break is nice indeed.

I have no doubt that your weekend is filled with plans, friends and fun.....amI right?

Fridays off is brilliant!

Welcome back! May we hope for a double date?

Love the photos and the reviews, especially the Delisle in >19 cameling:. Did you make it to that wonderful Jerusalem exhibit at the Museum of Science?

Caro, I wish you a relaxing weekend.

Just checking in with my favourite world traveller. Hope you are doing well with an awesome weekend ahead of you! :)

Have a fun weekend, Caro!

>47 richardderus: Richard - good suggestion. I will have to do just that. Excellent suggestion. This was just my second Aristide Ravel book and I think I'm going to have to continue following this series.

>48 mckait: Kath - we had friends visiting us for Memorial Day weekend and had an activity laden weekend. Great fun spending time with them and their 2 children, whom we haven't seen in a couple of years. We went hiking, mini-golfing, kayaking and made daily visits to different ice cream farms. Monday afternoon, after they left, was spent cleaning the whole house .. it's incredible how much dirt gets tracked in from 4 extra people, especially 2 small kids (even though everyone takes their shoes off upon entering the house).

Tuesday I had an 8am flight to NYC to attend a 4 day conference for senior managers and executives at my company. It turned out to be quite a momentous event because our corporate CEO announced splitting our company into a separate division that they're going to continue to invest in and fund (thank goodness), integrating 5 business units into another separate division, and turning 3 business units into self-funding units. Subsequent days were spent in planning sessions and presentations. There were dinners every night where we were all placed at different tables so we could get to know with others in different business units. My brain was starting to cramp by Day 3. Although we did have dinners and cocktails at some really cool restaurants and roof-top bars in NYC.

I just arrived home last night and at 9.15am this morning, the hubster, a friend and I ran a 5K race in Haverhill where volunteers threw color bombs at us every 400m or so. I know you're going to ask, so here are some pics. :-)

Nice and clean ..before the race


Hmm...runaway bride?


After the race ...and multiple color bombs

And what do we eat the night before, to give us the fuel to run a really hilly and muddy course for the race? Peruvian food of course!

mixed seafood cerviche


chicharones with fried yucca


papa rellenos (spiced ground beef and egg stuffed in a fried mashed potato ball)

Momentous news indeed! Slightly unsettling to have it sprung on you, wasn't it? Still, you were here on a great run of cool days.

*smooch* now go take a shower to get that muck off you!

Hmm...a combination of racing and paintball? Cool.

That Peruvian meal looks divine!

>53 cameling: Gorgeous photos, Caro. :-)

>49 michigantrumpet: Alas, Marianne, we didn't make it to the Jerusalem gallery this time. We do want to visit it on our own even though our friends have left though. But for the rest of today, we're just putting our feet up ... my legs are killing me from all those steep hills, and also from wrenching my ankle when someone bumped into me while I was running and I fell down the side of the hill. hmph!

I will call you during the week and see when we can arrange a double date in June... preferably before I head down to Australia. :-)

>50 Ameise1: What a lovely bird, Barbara. What bird is that? I hope you have a wonderful weekend too.

>51 jolerie: Hi Valerie - so far the weekend has started off with a very colorful bang. And soon I'm expecting to take a much needed nap. Haha. I hope your weekend is a fun one with the boys.

>52 jnwelch: Ooh Joe, I might just need another dose of Inspector Montalbano by watching some of the DVDs again. I'm glad I decided to buy them instead of renting them from the library after all.

>55 richardderus: Richard, it's incredible how far the colored powders reached under my clothes. I even had a blue breast! If If it wouldn't have been pornographic, I would have taken a photo and posted it... it actually looked pretty artistic. Haha... Watching the floor of the shower turn first orange, then blue and then green was pretty fun. Never have I scrubbed quite so hard though .. it was tough getting all that color off all of me ... and I had to wash my hair twice just to get everything out of my scalp.

The company news was unexpected and more of a shock to the 3 business units who now have to self-fund ... in essence, live or die by their own performance. My company being a separate division officially (we've always operated as a separate division) makes more sense because we are a software company and the rest of our corporation's business units, the ones who have all been integrated into one single division, were all customer interaction services. So trying to fit us all under one umbrella had been awkward most of the time. But now with classifying us as a separate division and in the next quarter, having to publish our numbers, we are going to be under the scrutiny of Wall Street and potentially attractive to buyers. Oh well, what will be, will be. I'm not going to worry about things.

>56 kidzdoc: Darryl .. it would have been better if I had color bombs to throw at the volunteers! There were some moments during the run when they blasted us with so many bombs and even used smokers that I couldn't see where I was going. I must have inhaled about 10oz of colored cornstarch. I Q-tipped a lot of blue out of one ear, and a lot of pink out of the other after my shower.

We'll have to take you to this Peruvian restaurant when you next visit Boston. :-)

>57 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara.

69. A False Mirror by Charles Todd

Not my favorite in the series. I thought this read a little slow. There were more flashbacks to Rutledge's time in Ypres and how Hamish died though, which brought the horrors of war, the choices one is sometimes forced to make and the repercussions one has to live with long after the war is over.

3 stars bordering on 2.8 stars

70. The Old Fox Deceiv'd by Martha Grimes

A costumed woman is found murdered, but nobody knows who she really is. Is she the prodigal ward of a prodigal landowner or is she an imposter? Some are convinced she is the ward, but the landowner's son is adamant that she is not, and shouldn't he know, having grown up with her?

Inspector Richard Jury is hard pressed to find answers to her identity. Together with his unofficial and witty sidekick, Melrose Plant, they lift every proverbial rock trying to find answers to the puzzle.

This is a fun series that I'm definitely going to be following.
3.5 stars

71. Seven Patients by Atul Kumar

In his first year of clinical medicine, 3rd year medical student Raj shares his fears, excitement and tiredness with us. The world of practicing medicine is a far cry from the dry medical textbooks, as he experiences with seven patients he works most closely with.

From the ER to the ICU, the trauma suffered by some of the patients are real and horrific. Definitely not a read for anyone squeamish by graphic descriptions of medical procedures and results of diseases and infections on patients. The author also raises a few ethical questions in patient treatment that I can see resulting in a long discussion during a book club.

I wasn't sure about this book after being into it for 2 chapters, but gradually it drew me in and I became really interested in Raj's journey and the lives of these 7 patients. I'm glad I stuck with it because it turned out to be an interesting book, even though I could not really like Raj himself.

3 stars

Caro, I love the Inspector Richard Jury series. There was a time I read one after another.

>61 Ameise1: Barbara, I'm very tempted to do just that. ;-)

I love your life, Caro. Rooftop bars in NYC, colour-bomb runs and Peruvian food. LOL. fantastic!

I just saw an alert on CNN about last night's deadly plane crash in Bedford, so I'm checking in to be sure that you and Edd are okay. It seems as though the plane went down in a wooded area some distance from residential neighborhoods.

Seven Patients sounds interesting. I see that Amazon Prime members can borrow it for free from the Kindle Lending Library, so I may read it soon.

>63 LovingLit: Megan, my calves are killing me today because of the hilly course during yesterday's run, but I think I've stretched them out a little by going on a bike ride this morning .. nothing major, just a 3 mile ride to and from my favorite bagel store for fresh bagels, a petstore for birdseed and grocery store for some milk. They actually feel better now after the ride, even if I did have to pedal up a couple of hills. But I'm also liking not having to drive to the stores when traffic isn't heavy since I get to lower my carbon footprint just a bit and get some exercise at the same time.

No exotic foods today. I'll probably go for a run in the woods later after watching a few more French Open matches and then start prepping for a cookout with some friends in the late afternoon. I'm making a kale, white bean and tomato quinoa salad, grilled garlic shrimp, grilled rosemary lamb and I made a tub of grapefruit and champagne granitas in the freezer. Friends are bringing a few other things.

>64 kidzdoc: Darryl, thanks for your concern. The crash was at Hanscom Airbase, just about a mile down the road from our house. I didn't hear anything, but I did smell something in the air last night and thought one of the neighbors was having a cookout. Then I saw the news ... then I went out on the street and saw a bright orange glow in the night sky and plumes of smoke in the air. Sad.

I'll be very interested to hear what you think of Seven Patients when you get a chance to read it ... especially the medical student's actions in the last story and his apparent easy access to certain areas in a hospital.

>65 cameling: I'm glad to hear that you're okay, Caroline!

I'm making a kale, white bean and tomato quinoa salad, grilled garlic shrimp, grilled rosemary lamb and I made a tub of grapefruit and champagne granitas in the freezer.

OMG. *checking Delta for today's flights from ATL to BOS*

I had a bowl of your Irish lamb salad for lunch yesterday. I made it 2-3 weeks ago and froze most of it in containers after it was ready. It tasted great when it was fresh, but it's even better when it is reheated.

I may read Seven Patients this month; I think I've "borrowed" another book from the Kindle Lending Library, so I'll read it and download this one soon.

>66 kidzdoc: *sets aside a 'Darryl-chair' at the table for whenever you decide to come visit*

The great thing about stews and curries, IMO, is that they get better when left to ... err.. stew overnight, frozen or refrigerated and then reheated later.

I wish Kindle would allow us to borrow more than 1 book per month. It'd be great if we could borrow 2- 3 books per month. Then again, I'm guessing if they did that, they'd probably not sell as many books.

>58 cameling: Sounds like a plan. HEading out of town this upcoming weekend, should be around the rest of June.

>68 michigantrumpet: Safe travels, Marianne. We're home this weekend but I have colleagues coming in from our Canada and Australia next weekend, so maybe we can do something next week. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by ... didn't I just get back from NYC?

Our new CEO has officially started and held an interesting company meeting this morning. On the whole I think he did a good job, but some of the strategies he's suggesting will mean a lot of changes for the company and it's made quite a few people nervous ... there are a lot of people who don't do well with change. Still he made a good first impression ... now let's see if this is the real him 6 months down the road, of if this was just his 'let's be friendly with the natives first before we exterminate them' face.

Change is scary. Fear of the unknown... always one that gets people gnashing their teeth, and I'm certainly not excluding myself from that lot!

Interesting times at your company, Caro, and may it not turn out to be the Chinese curse!

I read a few of the Richard Jury books ; found them pretty grim overall.

If he's picked up a witty sidekick somewhere along the way perhaps I will give him another chance.

>71 Smiler69: Ilana, I am the opposite, I refuse to worry about the unknown. If I did, I think I'd suffer sleepless nights and be really stressed out. It might just be that I'm a fairly oblivious person. ;-) Someone in my UK office just asked what my role in the company will be and if I think it will change. I responded that until I am told to the contrary, I'm just going to continue doing my job and that it is business as usual for me. I don't think our new CEO will make radical changes all at once anyway. Those are not usually really difficult to implement and he'd scare the natives into fleeing if they perceive this to be a sinking ship or rattle them so much they stop being productive at what they do well.

>72 ronincats: LOL thanks, Roni. I am hoping it won't be the Chinese curse either .. I'm quite happy with uneventful really.

>73 magicians_nephew: Jim, this was only my second Richard Jury. I'm definitely on the look out for more, especially if Melrose Plant is going to be participating alongside the more somber Jury.

72. The Sleeping Dragon by Miyuki Miyabe

Thanks to catarina1 for recommending this author.

If you like dark Japanese thrillers, this is one to pick. A journalist picks up a teenage hitchhiker in the pouring rain and drives over a manhole cover that's been removed. Upon stopping, he gets out, finds a little yellow umbrella and then comes upon an elderly gentleman looking for his young grandson who had run out to look for a pet. After the teenager claims to have ESP and to know not only that the man's grandson is dead but also the identity of the people are who removed the manhole cover, the journalist meets another young man who claims to have stronger powers than the teenager and warns him against him.

In the meantime, the journalist has also been the recipient of strange anonymous letters at the office.

Is there a link to all this? Is he being played by the two young men? What do they want with him? Do they have anything to do with the strange letters and why was there a reference to his ex-girlfriend?

The thriller does not appear to have suffered from being a translation and the reader is taken on a rollercoaster ride of unexpected twists and turns throughout the book.

3.5 stars

c--Best of luck with the whole company change-up and I like your worry-not attitude. I could use more of that!! Love the after pictures of the run. What fun! My daughter wants to do one of those. After I get me knee in shape again, maybe next year?!

Having survived more than one major corporate "realignment/right-size" in my career, I say you have the right attitude and approach to your current company change-up.

Don't you just love "corporate speak"? ;-)

xoxo

>75 cameling: That sounds good and creepy-it's on the list!

Hi Caro! More upheavals at your company...it's a good thing you have such an excellent attitude about things.

A friend of mine recently participated in one of those color bomb races. She did not care for it as she said running through the clouds of colored cornstarch made for difficult breathing condition, almost to the point of claustrophobia. That does not sound like my kind of thing.

I am one who is not great with change.... I hope the whole company shakes out well for everyone.

hugs

Hi Caro! Just checking in! Hope all is well. I hope everything works out at the office.

Thanks for the beer quiz. It was a hoot. I loved their take on Dogfish Head Brewery:

“People who like Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA either know a good thing when they’ve got it, or are about to go down a rabbit hole.”
“You are organic in nature!”
“Anyone who likes Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA, meanwhile, clearly goes the extra mile for quality. They don’t like to settle for less, and enjoy the finer things.”
“But people who require the 120 Minute IPA take things way too far. They stare down at everyone else from their high horse.”

They did take an unfair shot at Modelo, which, along with Victoria, are my favorite Mexican beers, but since it is all in fun, I didn't mind, that much.

And this is a good one, even though Coors is an easy target:

“Coors drinkers ran out of Budweiser.”
“Drinking to drink.”
“You reach for a Coors as your safety net at a party full of people you don’t know.”
"You speak almost exclusively in emoticons.”

>76 Berly: Kim, it was my first color run and I absolutely had a great time ... did not love the part of the course with the muddy and very slippery hill though, but since it was within the first half a mile, it was quickly forgotten as I got on with the rest of the also hilly, but thankfully not muddy of the course .. if you don't count portions when we had to run in the tractor wheel tracks. What with all the color bombs exploding or being blasted around us, it made for a very messy result ... I loved it! Haha... What's not to love about getting all dirty in a run? I hope your knee gets better so you and your daughter enjoy one next year. It's truly a hoot.

There's another race, the Tough Mudder I'm considering to train for next year that is a run and obstacle course, covering 10 - 12 miles. Some of the obstacles include things like the 'Arctic Enema' , the 'Funky Monkey' and 'ElectroShock Therapy' among others that are to challenge your stamina, strength and teamwork. There's not even an iota of a chance that you'd emerge from that race with a single spot that's clean. It involves crawling on your stomach through a muddy bed, climbing up and over a pyramid, jumping into and swimming across an icy cold 'swamp' only to climb out and run through exposed wires that 'tickle' you with electricity. :-)

>77 lkernagh: Lori, I think I'm just too lazy to work up the motivation to brown nose like I've observed a few people doing with great gusto. :-) I cannot understand how they don't think our new CEO is not going to notice what they're doing and that they look really ridiculous. Then again, who am I to judge as looking ridiculous? Our new CEO caught me humming and dancing in the hall this morning as I boogied (on carpet) my way to the room of printers to pick up some stuff. *sigh* I turned around to the sound of giggles and saw him leaning on the wall trying not to laugh loud. I gave him my icy glare and tried to walk off with my leftover dignity intact... but I fear I may have failed.

>78 richardderus: Smooocheroos, Richard.

>79 mstrust: Jennifer, The Sleeping Dragon has a good creepy factor going for it. :-) I'm definitely going to try some of her other works.

>80 Cobscook: Heidi, all companies go through changes from time to time, some big, some small, but it's all part of business. I guess if I actually owned a company, I'd worry a lot about how to make sure the company is profitable and a market leader, how to keep the competitive sharks at a distance and how to keep my employees loyal and productive. But since I'm a lowly employee, I can leave all of that to those who delight in such challenges. My current challenge is getting the new office cleaning staff to understand that I would like them to vacuum the carpet in my office every evening, but not to vacuum the seat of my chair with the brush end that's just been on the floor!

After the first major blast of colored powder I ran through, I learned not to breathe in the next time major clouds of powder were blasted at us. Or to breathe through my mouth ...although the taste of cornstarch was pretty awful and drying. I would probably advise anyone who's asthmatic against doing this run. And if you run through the clouds, then you don't have to breathe as much of it as if you would if you walked through it. So seeing a big group of volunteers with color bombs at the read is quite the motivation to run that stretch more quickly.

>81 mckait: I hope so too, Kath. Right now we're all knuckling down and working really hard to close out this quarter strong so that when our numbers are released to Wall St for the first time in July, our parent company's stock price won't suddenly take a nose dive. So there's enough pressure without having to worry about any possible changes that could be introduced after the quarter closes.

>82 msf59: I knew you'd appreciate it, Mark. Some of them are downright hilarious.

“If you’re a big fan of Abita Purple Haze, you’ve probably exposed yourself at Mardi Gras, but you own it. Good for you.”
“You’re a raspberry and cheese lover… you know a lot about beer and cheeses. You believe that fruits and beer should be a thing that everyone loves.”

“There are two types of people who like Guinness: people who know the history of the beer and will be quick to tell you that it’s actually really low in calories and good for you, and people who pass out in the street on Saint Patrick’s Day.”
“You like coffee — no, you LOVE coffee and all things heavy.”

I do like Guinness and I have to admit that I've actually told people that it's low in calories and good for you. Haha... but I'm glad to say I've not passed out on the street on St Pat's Day.

After a hard half of the week, the hubster and I had dinner with a friend at a new steak house.

Asparagus vichyssoise with garlic chips


Peas with pancetta & onions


Creamed spinach with a fried egg and fried bread


14oz Steak au poive with a red wine reduction, parsnip chips and a piece of roasted bone marrow


We had to pass on dessert because we were just too stuffed.

I like Guinness too! In the old days I preferred the lighter (in colour) and just as creamy-topped version, whose name escapes me right now. The bitterness of Guinness only became appealing to me in recent years.

I am sure doctors used to recommend Guinness as a drink in pregnancy for iron or some such benefit!

eta: roasted bone marrow? How was that?

>84 cameling: - LOL! If he was trying not to laugh, I take that as a good sign. He is probably more comfortable in his new role than some other CEO's would be.... and not in a cocky sort of way. ;-)

My dad loves Guinness. Me, not so much. I have heard it is great in bread so I will have to try baking a loaf with Guinness in it.

>86 cameling: - Most intrigued by the asparagus vichyssoise. Vichyssoise is a soup I have never attempted to make but that sounds like the perfect summer soup to the asparagus lover that I am!

>86 cameling: ASPARAGUS vichyssoise? New one on me, sounds good. The roasted bone marrow looks scrummy.

>86 cameling: Caro, it looks delicious. I'm so hungry :-D

Crossing crossables for you all Caro. I know the feeling of watching a company in transition that fails. I hope you don't ever feel that. It is a special kind of dread.

Food pics!

>86 cameling: I need to know where this is right *now.* No, really. Now.

We still need to go to that other steak house in Woburn.

'Nother Guinness lover, too. Although, I'm a big fan of black-and- tans. Made properly. With the bent spoon. Wonder what that says about me?

>87 LovingLit: Megan, do you mean a black and tan? That's a mix of Guinness and Harp beer. The beer makes the Guinness a little lighter without losing the creaminess.

I didn't know doctors recommended Guinness .. I'm sure a lot of pregnant women would have been happy to drink that instead of going teetotal for the whole 9 months.

I love roasted bone marrow. In fact I love bone marrow in any cooked form. I buy bone marrow from the butchers myself and have them split it in half, sprinkle a little sea salt and pepper and then roast them in the oven for about an hour. I usually can't restrain myself from eating one of them, but then I'll use the rest in a beef or lamb stew .. or sometimes like the way this restaurant served it, as an accompaniment to a nicely grilled steak. I also love lamb bone marrow that's cooked in a curry.

>88 lkernagh: Lori ...he stopped at my office a little later and said that he enjoyed the show and was glad to see someone happy at work. I suggested he bring back Wednesday afternoon ice cream social hour and he'd see a lot more happy dancing people in the office. He seemed to think about it for a bit and then said it wasn't a bad idea. So we'll see if he's actually going to remember this or if it flew out of his head the minute he left my office.

I've never had Guinness in bread. That sounds interesting. I wonder if it makes the yeast rise a little faster. Hmm... maybe I'll experiment this weekend.

I love vicchyssoise and make that and gazpacho every summer a couple of times. But this was the first time I've had asparagus vicchyssoise. I have to say I like it. So I'm going to try and make it at home one of these days.

>89 richardderus: I know, right, Richard? I've never even seen this on a menu before, so of course I just had to try it. Loved it! I think I might like it more than the traditional leek & potato version.

>90 Ameise1: Barbara - I hope it inspired you towards a tasty meal yourself?

>91 mckait: Kath - I suspect if I felt this company was starting to fail, I would already be casting around for something else rather than wait to watch it all crumble around me. But I sincerely hope we don't, because it's a good company to work for and I really like the people I work with. So thank you for your crossables .. I'll take that any time. :-)

>92 michigantrumpet: Haha Marianne - that was at The Bancroft in Burlington on Third Avenue. It's a new place, just opened a few weeks ago and is in a new development area. They have good drinks too. I like the decor inside, lots of wood, high ceilings and windows.

Yes, we have to go to Strega Prime in Woburn together. Personally, I think Strega Prime is better than The Bancroft ... for one thing, they served a foie gras bone marrow butter with each steak. I was actually there for lunch a week ago. They've just started a lunch service, so of course when I heard the news, I convinced my foodie partner in crime at work to go there for lunch. Just as good as their dinner service, but with a more pared down menu.

Why is there a bent spoon with black and tans? I never knew this.

It's a beautiful summer's day and it's Friday .... and I've been eating so much meat lately I thought I should switch to something lighter for lunch today. So I had .. lobster rolls and cajun fries. :-)

>83 cameling: oh I had a co-worker do the Tough Mudder, she said it was the hardest thing she'd ever done but loved it. My sister-in-law and oldest niece have done the Warrior Dash a couple of times. Definitely no clean spots left at the finish line.

>84 cameling:, what? You didn't ask him to join you in some Friday morning picking stuff up at the printer boogieing?

Dang! I wasn't even hungry till I came here! Yum! Now, back to the races...I love the play on words of the "Tough Mudder". I played rugby and on the men's water polo team in college, so I would probably be up for the slightly sadomasochistic nature of this run. ; ) But I think I have about a nine month recovery in front of me, so I have a little while wait ahead. It also will make my goal of TKD Black Belt Level 2 a later rather than a sooner. Rats.

Caro, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

>96 AuntieClio: >97 AuntieClio: Stefanie, I've been wanting to do the Warrior Dash or the Spartan Race, but unfortunately the dates of the events clashed with some of my business travel so I ended up forfeiting the registration fees. Last year I thought I'd wait until I knew I wouldn't have to travel during the date of the Warrior Dash, but then it was too late to register as all the spots had been taken. *sigh* Maybe it's my Guardian Angels managing my time so they don't have to call in reserve troops to help keep me from killing myself or breaking another bone.

I didn't think to invite my new CEO to a hallway boogie. But that's not a bad idea if I'm ever caught out again. Yesterday a colleague stopped me and asked if she could have some of my happy juice when I went humming past her office on my way to my own. She said she's never hummed coming to work before. It made me think that there must not be a lot of cheerful morning people. ;-)

>98 Berly: Wow Kim .. men's water polo team? That's impressive ... actually I'm impressed by anyone who can even play a whole game of water polo .. I'm a good swimmer, but I've never been good at swimming and throwing a ball at accurately at a target.

I certainly don't envy you such a long recovery period and I hope your physical therapy helps to speed the recovery up a little. What a great goal to look forward to though after your recovery ... I didn't make it past my green belt at TKD after I broke my toe.

I'm being inspired by the French Open to go play some tennis later this evening if I still have any energy left after the power hike we have planned after the women's final is over. Good match so far, probably the best women's final I've watched in a long time.

>99 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too.

73. A Blunt Instrument by Georgette Heyer

I'm not a big fan of Georgette Heyer's romance novels, but I do enjoy her mysteries. This is the last in the Superintendent Hannasyde series and it's one of her best, I think.

Who would want to kill a perfectly charming gentleman in his own home, one who didn't appear to have any enemies. But who are the mysterious visitors seen to be either leaving the house late at night, or welcomed into the house for a visit but not seen to have left, or indeed, who left the set of footprints by the bushes under the windows?

As Superintendent Hannasyde tries to make sense of the murder and as he interviews the butler, the nephew and the neighbors, he discovers that the murdered man had a cunning mind and was not always the gentleman he portrayed. He is assisted in his investigations by his Sargent and an extremely religious constable but even with their help, they seem to be traveling in circles. Just when they think they've hit a break in their investigations, another person is murdered.

The murderer was definitely not who I had suspected. Great twist right at the end.

3.8 stars

I'm bummed that this is the last in the series.

And Heyer ain't writin' no more...I lived a joyous memory at the sight of your lobster rolls. I can't eat lobster anymore, too gouty, and boy do I miss it.

A good game of tennis sounds like fun! I am recording the women's final. I plan to watch it later this afternoon. I do like a Heyer and I haven't read that one yet.

>100 cameling: races :P Amy and Tom do the Warrior dash ( or Marine mud run ) all the time. Even tho she promised me she was done with marathons's .. they are running the New York and claiming it is to raise money for kids ( and she told my sister it was to make me crazy) I hope her GAs are with her :-/
Humans are not built to run 27(?) miles in a couple of hours. Foolishness I tell you!

Saturday... gone :P

Happy tomorrow to you!

>103 richardderus: Aww Richard .. I feel so bad that you're unable to eat lobsters anymore for fear of a gouty flare up. Isn't there anything you can take for gout prevention? Or do? A friend of mine used to suffer from gout, gave up beer, stuck to wine and drank lots more water .. and he says that he's not had a gout attack in over 3 years and has been able to eat the occasional rack of lamb and shellfish without adverse effects.

>104 Berly: Kim - alas, tennis was but a pipedream yesterday. We pushed ourselves on a fast hike up and down Mt Monadnock and then on the way home, stopped at a cozy bar by a river to while away the rest of the evening with cold martinis, buffalo fries and steak & cheese springrolls.

We watched the move 'Words and Pictures' starring Clive Owens and Juliette Binoche that was just wonderful! I highly recommend this movie about an alcoholic English teacher who seems to have lost his muse, and an art teacher with rheumatoid arthritis who hasn't painted anything good since her illness. When they challenge their students to a stage a 'war' to decide if a picture can indeed paint a thousand words, or if words create more detailed pictures.

I'm watching the Nadal/Djokovic final now ... poor Nova appears to have a sour stomach. But I hope Nadal wins and ties Sampras's record for 14 Slam titles and earns his 5th consecutive French Open title.

>105 mckait: Kath - as long as Amy is enjoying her races and is in good health, her GAs will probably have an easy time of watching over her during her events. I don't know that I'd ever want to run a marathon, not because of the amount of training I'd have to endure to prepare for one, but because I know I'd be bored running for such a distance and time. The hubster has done a couple of marathons ..one by accident. (yes, I know, it sounds ludicrous that one can run a marathon accidentally, but he did when he was supposed to just pace his brother's girlfriend for 13 miles and then his brother was supposed to take over and pace her for the last half but his brother missed the halfway point, so the hubster didn't know where he was supposed to get off and just continued running with her until she dropped out because of cramps and he decided to just finish the whole thing even though he didn't register to run it and didn't have a number. At the last mile, he couldn't get off the course because by then, they were all running in the final 'chute' and he crossed the finish line and was herded into the tent where they gave our drinks and food to all runners who had finished ...and he wasn't going to pass up free apple pie, spaghetti and pizza. haha)

*sigh* yes, Saturday has come and gone, but we still have Sunday. :-) I'm waiting for the tennis to be over and then we can go for brunch. I've already gone for a morning run with the hubster without mishap. Whoohoo.

We have a friend coming over later this afternoon who's going for a long run with the hubster (the man is actually looking forward to a second run and a long hard one at that) while I prep dinner for when they get back.

74. Agent ZigZag by Ben McIntyre

Among the German spies that became double agents for the British Secret Service during WWII was Eddie Chapman, a man with a penchant for criminal activities in his youth and wanted by the British police for most of the war. Known as Fritz by the Germans, his identity as a double agent was never broken despite his indiscretion to a Norwegian girlfriend and an old member of his previous crime gang. Instead he was feted by the Germans as their most successful and reliable spy to whom he fed a mix of half truths and lies about V-1 bomb strike locations in and around London, a much more effective and dangerous hedgehog that could locate U-boats in deep dive and even helped fake the destruction of the Mosquito factory.

Chapman caused his British handlers no end of anxiety because he was a contradiction. He developed a longlasting and true friendship with his German handler and admired him, but at the same time, he knew that the information he was delivering to the British and to the Germans could potentially result in the death of this friend.

He was a survivor, a charming story-teller and had the ego the size of the Titanic. MI5 made a drastic mistake late in the war in changing his handler from one with whom he had developed a strong friendship, to one who was the very opposite in personalities, and who took it upon himself to destroy Chapman. His goal was to close the ZigZag operation down. The irrepressible Chapman though, proved to be a survivor and did very well for himself after the war.

4 stars

Lots of love around here for Ben MacIntyre. Nice review. I enjoyed that one, too.

Re: bent spoon and black-and-tans: first you pour in the Bass ale, then dribble the Guinness over the back of a bent spoon so it cascades gently over top of the Bass ale. That way the one sits nicely atop the other.

Tricks involving specific gravity never tasted so good!

Agent ZigZag review goooooood!

I can't eat some things no matter what, even medicated, or even I suspect when hooked up to a dialysis machine. Lobster, lamb, eggplant, mushrooms...*sigh* All the good stuff. It's not worth the severe attack within 12 hours.

Caro, regarding the Richard Jury mysteries, I recommend reading them in at least approximate order of publication. It is not so important for the earlier ones, but for the later ones, it's a must, as several arcs develop over multiple stories. And that is good, because Jury needed to grow, and he does.

*lurk*

>108 michigantrumpet: Thanks, Marianne.

I've never had a bent spoon black & tan. That's interesting .. I need to try this one the next time I'm at an Irish pub ... which might be Thursday after work if all goes well and I have no last minute conference calls scheduled for the evening.

>109 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. Mr McIntyre is such an entertaining writer without losing the facts that his books always (IMO) read like an improbable novel. He's definitely made the spyworld of WWII his niche. But I've got 2 more of his books, Forgotten Fatherland and The Napoleon of Crime in my TBR Tower that I'd like to read this year. I've left the 2 non-spy books to the last to read.

I had no idea that eggplant and mushrooms were verboten for gout. That's so sad. You could have eaten dinner at our house last night though because apart from the lobster, I think the other dishes would have been non-gout flaring foods. I made some blackened catfish seasoned with paprika, lemon, cayenne pepper and tarragon, roasted red, orange & yellow peppers & red onion seasoned roughly chopped and getting happy in sherry & lemon juice, guacamole & chips, caprese salad, quinoa with black beans, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and shallots and for dessert, a bittersweet chocolate raspberry tart.

>110 ffortsa: Thanks for the advice, Judy. Since I've just started on the Richard Jury series, I'm going to plan to read them in order. I've just got Dirty Duck from the library and can't wait to get to it.

>111 ronincats: Hi there, Roni. A friend is flying down to SD today and I thought of you.

This week promises to be a rather crazy one. I have meetings galore in the day and multiple conference calls in the evenings, then one of my staff from Australia arrives on the weekend for the following week. So I will not be able to head down to NYC for Father's Day with the family but the hubster will go without me so his parents don't feel abandoned. But I will take Friday off and cook up some goodies for him to drive down with him ... frankly, I think they'd rather receive the food and probably won't miss me. ;-)



This is the weirdest ever. .. I can't believe the artist thought it would be ok to design and produce Spidey with an erection over a children's playground.

For the full story : http://lockerdome.com/happygilmore/6170048381332289/6686406428992017

Just bad taste. And the property owner went along with it.

>114 cameling: Idiotic. Amazing how dumb people can be.

Nice review of Agent Zigzag, and timely for me, Caro. It'll be my next read after Redeployed - all the LT love has become irresistible.

Hope your crazy week is manageable and bearable.

I'll take Agent Zigzag over the excited Spiderman anytime! Seriously, the book sounds good.

>114 cameling: WTH??? That is beyond disgusting. The artist and whomever permitted him to put that vulgar sculpture over a children's playground should be tarred, feathered, and marched through the streets.

I hope that your week goes by quickly, and that it isn't too crazy.

Hi Caro! I am glad you loved Agent Zigzag. I will have to bookhorn in something else by him soon. Have a good week.

If you want to put agent Zigzag in context(and Agent Garbo and Agent Tricycle) you might have a look at Sir John Masterman's The Double Cross System in the War of 1939-1945.

It's a tad dry but I found it fascinating.

Dinner sounds fabOO except quinoa...gluten! Another thing that flares gout. *sigh*

>114 cameling: No. Seriously. A PLAYGROUND?!? Too too weird.

>114 cameling: oh. my. god.
What the???

>115 mstrust: Jennifer, I suspect the property owner's department that was responsible for structural designs in and around their building were given a different sketch of the sculpture, for which they needed to receive copyright approval by Marvel in the first place. From what I understand, the final design was changed by the artist without informing the client. However, it was the client's responsibility to check on the final sculpture when it was delivered before allowing it to be installed on their building and they must not have done that. Bizarre.

>116 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. I am a firm fan of Ben McIntyre, not only because of the subjects he has chosen to research into and write on, but also because of his style of writing. If only the history books I had to read in junior high were written in his captivating style, I would have been a lot more interested in my classes rather than daydreaming through them.

It's HUMP DAY!!! Whoohooooo... For everyone outside the US who may not know what the Hump Day Camel is .. here's the youtube video of the commercial for Geico.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBhP0EQ1lA

My crazy week continues to be somewhat crazy but since I was expecting it, I can't really complain when my expectations are being met. :-) I am managing to remain somewhat sane and I am safe from sharp objects even if they remain within my reach.

>123 cameling: C--Okay, that commercial, especially now that I viewed it with you in mind, is hysterical!! Happy hump day. : )

>123 cameling: If only the history books I had to read in junior high were written in his captivating style, I would have been a lot more interested in my classes rather than daydreaming through them. I'm a little over 50 pages in, and seeing what you mean, Caro. His style would've made studying history much more interesting.

>117 Berly: Kim, Agent ZigZag is seriously a fun and yet informative read. I'm glad that I read this after I read Double Cross and Operation Mincemeat though because there are a few references to both Operation Mincemeat and to the XX organization in this book that really made more sense because I already knew the details of them both.

And excited Spidey is no more. He's been taken off the building.

>118 kidzdoc: Darryl, I was really surprised because Korean society is usually very conservative in public, so I really can't fathom how the sculpture could have passed inspection and allowed to be installed over, especially, a children's playground. If it was in a sex club, that would be one thing, although I'm pretty sure Spiderman would still be appalled and offended, but over a public area for children? That's just so wrong on so many counts.

>119 msf59: Mark, I'm getting into a phase of wanting to read everything by certain authors within the year, even though I know the downside of that is once I finish the last written work, I'm going to be depressed that there's either no other forthcoming because the author is a) dead; b) stopped writing a particular series; or c) is not planning on releasing another book for another year or two. But I know you're going to love Agent ZigZag.

>120 magicians_nephew: Jim, I did give Masterman's The Double Cross System a go, but unfortunately, he's doesn't write in a style that appealed to me, and I have to admit I Pearl Ruled it because I found it similar in style to most of the history books I had to read in school, factual but dry and boring.

>121 richardderus: Wow, really Richard ... quinoa has gluten in it? I thought it didn't .. I keep seeing a sticker on the quinoa that says 'gluten-free' .. or maybe those are specifically adulterated so they are gluten-free?

The artist for the Korean Spiderman said that he wanted to portray the character in a comical way. Frankly, I see nothing comical about Spidey sporting a boner, especially over a playground. The artist goes on to say, after mall officials asked him to either change the sculpture or take it down altogether, that he was disappointed but could see how the work could be taken as lewd ... really?! But here's the weirder thing ... the sculpture had been up there on the building for almost ..... A Year!!!

>122 LovingLit: Uh huh. Megan, the artist said he hopes to deliver a much better work to the public next time. What next? Wonder Woman topless?

>124 Berly: Kim .. needless to say, that's my favorite Geico commercial. In fact, a friend was traveling somewhere around the US, and saw a tee-shirt with the Hump Day Camel on it ... and bought it for me. :-)

He came back on another commercial, not for Geico but with Terry Bradshaw in a Hump Day Pregame commercial: The whole thing is pretty funny .. especially the 3rd segment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmlK6xodMLk

>125 jnwelch: Joe, he writes in such a way that I had the book playing out in my mind like a huge movie reel. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

75. The Stone Cutter by Camilla Läckberg

One of the most masterful Scandicrime fiction authors presents us with a thriller that has all the makings of a movie that will keep viewers at the edge of their seat until the ending credits flash on the screen.

The 3rd in the series, Detective Patrik Hedstrom and his team are tasked with finding the murderer of a young child, found in the water by a local fisherman. The investigation is blurred by secrets held by the family of the young child and by their feuding neighbors. But why is there ash in the young victim's lungs? When 2 more babies are found with ash on their clothings or in their mouths but thankfully otherwise unharmed and one of the babies is Hedstrom's daughter, the investigators step up in their interviewing techniques with a suspect they have in custody.

Alternating with the investigation is the unfolding story set more than 50 years ago of a young woman who believes herself betrayed by all the men in her life.

The author's skill in tying all the different individuals, their past and their hidden secrets together so smoothly and with escalating tension deserves a standing ovation.

4 stars

>128 cameling: More camel laughs!! Loved them.
And The Stone Cutter looks very good. Like I need another detective series. Thanks?!

>130 Berly: LOL ... you're very welcome, Kim ... for both tickling you with more camel laughs and also for introducing you to another detective series. I've read that some critics tout her as the female Stig Larsson and I think they're undervaluing her. I think she is much better than the late Larsson in terms of building complex characters and plots. Perhaps they think that all dark Scandicrime writers are the same?

Dang you! Now I have to check it out and see for myself. : P

>114 cameling: O.M.G. I can't believe anyone thought Spidey with a boner was ok for anywhere!

>132 Berly: : Heh heh .... mission accomplished. *cheerful wave at Kim*

>133 Cobscook: : Heidi .. I've attended Comicon in the past and even there, I have never seen anyone wearing objectionable superhero costumes. Some, granted, should probably, because of their individual physique rethink their choice of costumes, but nonetheless, they've all at least kept to the spirit of the superhero they are trying to channel and hadn't added any inappropriate 'props'.

To remove the disturbing image of Spidey from your minds, here's a pic I think you would all like. It's a Mwanza Flat Headed Agama lizard found in Africa.



Isn't he cool?

Oh yeah! That's excellent. My mind feels better already.

VERY cool!!

"Spider Pig, Spider Pig"
Does whatever a Spider Pig does
Can he swing from a web?
No because he's a pig".

Thank you Homor Simpson

>136 jnwelch: Joe - I wonder if Stan Lee or Steve Ditko had seen this African lizard when they were creating Spiderman. It's the coolest looking lizard I've ever seen. I need to unearth my old Spidey comicbooks for a re-read.

>137 ronincats: Roni - how about some Spidey-inspired colors in your next pottery batch? :-)

>138 magicians_nephew: LOL .... thanks Jim.

I need more laughs today ... suffered through a long and tedious meeting, refrained from strangling one of our product managers who clearly was not managing a testing process for one of our products that I had received a scathing email about from one of our partners in Japan when they tried unsuccessfully to install the product multiple times, 'snuck' into the development area of one of our servers to pull the project plan, to take a look at the plan, made some change requests and sent it to the team for discussion, only to have this product manager say that my suggestions made sense and that that would be the 'right' way to do things .. Duh! Isn't that his job to know the right way since he's in product management and I'm not?!!

Went for a quick lunch with 2 colleagues which turned out to be longer than we had planned because ..... my car died! Wouldn't start when we came out. Luckily it's not far from my house and the hubster was working from home today, so called him, and he came over to give me a jump, and because it didn't sound like a regular dead battery and the lights were working, we figured it was probably the alternator, so instead of driving back to the office I drove straight to the garage and he followed us, left the car with them, and he drove us all back to the office. Grrr.... Definitely need drinks after work.

I called AAA and they were sending a truck over to sort me out, but the hubster arrived before they did, and since the jump worked, I called AAA back and told them the guy didn't have to come out to me after all. They were really grateful that I called back to tell them to cancel the service .. apparently lots of people don't bother calling to cancel if someone comes along to help them out before the AAA guy gets to them. How rude!

76. The Dirty Duck by Martha Grimes

The 4th in the Richard Jury series includes wonderful details of the Christopher Marlowe's life and his influence on Shakespeare. A group of American tourists have arrived in Stratford, ostensibly to attend a number of Shakespearean performances. When a young boy from the group goes missing and a woman from the group is found murdered with a little poem left beside her, Jury is asked to help in the investigations. Could there be a connection between the missing boy and the murdered woman? When another murder takes place sharing the same MO, one starts to wonder if a serial killer has his or her eye on American tourists. The motive for the murders prove elusive. Even as Jury and Plant conduct multiple interviews, sometimes with the same people, they are unable to uncover anything that could link the victims together apart from the fact that they're all members of the same touring group.

And what about the poems? Are they clues that point to the identity of the murderer? Are they part of the same poem and if so, how long is this poem? How many more murders are to be expected before the poem ends?

Another excellent whodunit that confirms my growing addiction to this series.

3.5 stars

DRINKS!! DRINKS!! Owe emmm gee I need a G&T! *smooch* and boo-hiss on alternator issues.

>138 magicians_nephew: LOL I just saw the shorts for an upcoming Simpson's episode, and it was that one!
"Spiderpig, spiderpig
doing whatever a spiderpig does"

Too much.

Oh, and >135 cameling: , that is really cool! Life imitating 'art' ;)

Red is a really difficult glaze at the temperatures the studio's kilns use--I dunno, do you think there would be a good market for Spiderman colored pottery?

Work. Bah.

Car... double Bah!

Love spidey frog :)

I hope today is better and the weekend is kind :)

Hi Caro, I should have known better than to get caught up on your thread when it's just about lunch time here and I am starving! All I can think about now is Lobster Roll!

I love the Spider-Man lizard, isn't it amazing how nature is easily able to surpass man's imagination!

>142 richardderus: Boo hiss indeed to the alternator, Richard. Just had the car fixed today and never going back to this garage again. They are overpriced and they wouldn't let me buy the part myself but insisted it's because they wouldn't be able to offer any sort of warranty on the part since they wouldn't know where the part was from, and wouldn't want me to have to come back again after a few months. Of course their part would be more than double what I could find online. Arrrghhh!

But the day is almost over and I just have a few more things to do before I can actually call it a day, go home and put my feet up and perhaps swig a big jug of straight vodka with a bottle of blue cheese stuffed olives at hand.

>143 LovingLit: Megan, Jim's mention of Spiderpig reminded me that I had a photo of Spiderpig .... as a hot air balloon I saw when I attended the Albuquerque Balloon Festival a few years ago. I just have to share :

>144 ronincats: Roni, awww.. that's too bad. I think it would be really cool if you made a Spiderman teapot.

>145 mckait: Kath - thank you, my dear. Today was busy and after I get a few drinks down me and a big bowl of lamb stew with some hot garlic bread, I'll be busy making an apple pie and some cookies for the hubster to bring down to New York with him for the family. The weekend will be busy too as I play driver, babysitter, tour guide and meal provider (well, restaurant selector anyway) to some of my colleagues arriving in from the UK, Belgium Venezuela and Australia for a week of team meetings.

>146 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I think my thread is far less dangerous a place to visit before lunch than Joe's cafe. :-) But I hope the lobster rolls inspired you to an equally delicious lunch.

The Spidey lizard is such a gorgeous creature! It would be an incredible coincidence if Steve Ditko did not use it as his inspiration for Spiderman's costume.

At least the conversation should be interesting with that global group. Heaven only knows what you will eat

Tom cooked goat while I was there. I mean GOAT!! Wah!

hugs

>150 mckait: Kath - my boss is a very picky eater so we cannot and will not stray far from the standard fare acceptable to most. You would be safe :-)

I've had goat curry and there are some I like better than others. Goat can be rather gamey and tough so I think it depends on how it's cooked. :-)

77. Singapore Noir by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Singapore, the city-state reknown for her cleanliness that borders on sterile conditions, draconian laws, enviable economy and affluence, high property and car prices, and a generally safe society. Singapore Noir, through short stories, exposes the darker side of the little island state, raising to our consciousness that below the glossy surface lurks the roiling beasts of humanity that could strike at any moment.

Singlish, the local patois, a mix of various Chinese dialects, Malay, English and occasionally Tamil, is scattered through the stories, incomprehensible and jarring perhaps to some readers who have yet to be exposed to the language, nonetheless provides the authenticity of the voices in the stories.

Some stories are uncomfortable, some are shocking and some will anger the reader, but what's common among them all is they each elicit a strong reaction.

3.5 stars

Caro, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

>147 cameling: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
HIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

>152 cameling: Sounds like a well-done collection indeed.

Just delurking to say hi Caro. Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

Happy Saturday!

A spiderpig ballooooon!??! haha, of course, as I just noted on my thread, America: it really is the land of plenty!!

Hello, Caroline. I know it's been a while, but I'm just now seeing those lovely photos of the Japanese flower arranging exhibit. They are breathtaking! I can only imagine how much more moving they were in person.

And I love the photo of Spiderpig as hot air balloon!

Oh, and books. I keep thinking I'd like some of the city-noir series but haven't yet cracked one open. And Camilla Läckberg's series sounds worth finding.

Have a good week, Caro!

Howdy Caro! Hope you had a R & R weekend! Hugs!

>153 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. It was a very busy weekend, but the weather was lovely and that helped.

>154 richardderus: Richard, I have found another garage that's actually closer to my house thanks to a recommendation from a friend, and the reviews I've read so far are very positive. I, on the other hand, have added my honest if somewhat scathing review about the scalpers at the garage where I had taken my car to, and while my wallet is still in shocked mourning, my conscience is soothed.

>155 Smiler69: Hi Ilana. The weekend just whirled past because of multiple chores around the house on Saturday morning and then I had airport ferrying duties in the afternoon as international members of my team started to fly in from Australia, the UK and Belgium. Sunday was taking them all shopping, eating and relaxing before our noses hit the grindstone first thing at 8am this morning.

*sigh* There will be long days ahead this week as we shut ourselves up in a conference room for planning sessions.

>156 Berly: I hope you had a good weekend, Kim, and lovely weather too. The only bummer about my weekend was that the weather was perfect for going to the beach and I was unable to take advantage of it.

>157 LovingLit: LOL .. Megan, there's an annual hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque every year, and thousands of hot air balloon enthusiasts from around the world actually come over to participate. It's quite the sight during the week long festival. to see all these balloons taking off at dawn, filling the sky with their pretty colors and, in some cases, fantastic designs.

>158 EBT1002: Hey there Ellen. I definitely recommend Camilla Läckberg's Scandicrime series. I like the way she develops her characters without losing the complexity of the plot, keeping the reader guessing and just as you think you're certain what the answer should be, she dangles another tempting carrot in front of you, leading you down a completely different path.

I was so fortunate to be in Tokyo while the floral exhibition was on. It's these little surprises that brighten up my usually staid business trips.

I've so far only read Boston, L.A., Chicago and Singapore in the Noir series and I've enjoyed them all. I think I have Berlin Noir in my TBR Tower.

>159 msf59: Alas, Mark .. it was definitely not very restful but it was interesting and fun too. It's not often my whole international team gets together and being able to hang out for a day or so outside of the work environment helps us get to know one another a little better. It helps to be able to enjoy some downtime together before we get down to serious business planned for the week. We only have until Thursday afternoon to accomplish the tasks we have set for ourselves this week, and I expect a few very vocal and heated 'discussions' during some of our sessions.

With the World Cup on and soccer fanatics within the group, we have, however, ensured we've planned an hour and a half lunch breaks at a sports bar. Haha...

78. A Call to Arms :The Civil War Adventures of Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias Private Frank Thompson by P.G. Nagel

During the Civil War, a young soldier named Frank Thompson, a slight man, enlisted with the Union Army to fight against the rebels. He as an army nurse, then because he rides well, he became a mail carrier, messenger and occasionally a spy for the Union Army. Thompson broke his leg during one of his missions but never went to the army doctors to have it set and for the rest of Thompson's life, walked with a limp. Thompson creatively donned disguises and impersonated a young negro boy and later a pie lady during his spy missions. But the cleverest disguise was Thompson's own ... for Frank Thompson in reality was, Sarah Emma Edmonds.

Startlingly, Emma managed to remain in disguise throughout her commission with the army and apparently only told one person her secret, which we are aware off through his journals. Unfortunately,despite the many dangers she faced, she later faced a court martial for desertion and was not heard off again.

This historical fiction highlights the many adventures of Emma and provides for a completely fictional but happy ending.

3.5 stars

So glad I got this as an ER e-book.

Hey, did we miss you blowing past 75? Congrats!

LOL ... I'm a quiet one, I am. :-) Thanks, Jim.

Caro, congrats on reaching

^ I like the graphic! Caro--congrats on the big 75! And nice review. I am not big on war stories, but that one sounds interesting. Thanks.

Yeeoowww! 78 already (and it sounds like a really good one, too)! *smooch*

Congrats on blowing past #75! Woot! You Rock, Girl!

Just a heads up, I started a Meet up thread for Judy (ffortsa) and Jim's (MagiciansNephew) trip to the Hub of the Universe over the 4th weekend. Seems things are pretty fluid as yet. I thought we'd skip the 4th, if only because getting around the city is so heinous what with Pops Concert/Fireworks/1 Million people etc.

Here is the thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/174113#

Congrats on the 75+, Caro! A Call to Arms does sound like a good one. Have you heard of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott? It comes out in the early fall, and has been getting positive buzz.

>165 Ameise1: Pretty gif, Barbara. Thank you.

>166 Berly: Thanks Kim. This book focused more on the adventures of Emma and the relationships she forged as likable Frank Thompson during the war. It's made me want to see if I can find a copy of Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, the book she wrote years later.

>167 richardderus: Smooches back, Richard. It turned out to be more interesting than I expected .. which was a huge relief since it was an ER book and I would have had to finish it even if I didn't like it.

>168 michigantrumpet: Haha.. thanks, Marianne. And thanks also for the MeetUp link. I would love to be able to join you guys over the weekend but I won't know if I'll be back in Boston. At present I'm scheduled to return to Boston on July 3, but there's a chance I might have to stay another week because of a client project and change my flight to return only the following weekend. I certainly hope not because I don't want to be away for 3 weeks. I'll let you know for sure by next week.

But good call not having the MeetUp on the 4th in the city.. it would be insane!

>169 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. I have heard the buzz about Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy and already have it on my Amazon wish list. :-)

I keep having to snatch just a couple of minutes here and there to log into LT this week. Yesterday was a huge cluster*^&! of a day and this whole day was spent doing some damage control, put out a few fires, and all that squeezed in between meetings, including a last minute one requested by our new CEO.

I'm sneaking out for a while to watch the 6pm Croatia/Cameroon match at the bar before joining my boss and our whole team for dinner. It'll be the last night we have together as a whole group as half of them are returning home tomorrow afternoon.

>171 cameling: It loooks like either the 5th or the 6th for the Boston meet up. Hope you can make it. Just send your husband along if not!!

Check out the meet up thread. I'm hoping you have some ideas for places to eat in Harvard Square.

>173 michigantrumpet: Marianne .. there's a good chance I will be home on July 3 ... I'm continuing to keep my fingers crossed. :-)

I'll post some options for eating spots in HS on the meet up thread later this afternoon when I take another break from work. Will this week never end?!!!

79. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Perfect book for reading after a very long and tiresome day. I love her illustrations throughout and she touches on tough subjects such as her depression with deprecating humor without diminishing the psychological and physical manifestations of this illness. Her chapter on her "silly dog" and how she tested it for mental deficiency had me laughing out loud, as did the first chapter where, after she found a time capsule and letter she wrote to herself when she was 10, she wrote letters back to this 10 year old.

4 stars

Oh dear... I believe that this year our Caro is busier than ever... little time to visit. I hope that you can relax a bit soon... here or not here ... just...have some of your very own relaxing, calm, down time. By which I mean, I understand that the Caroline version of such is much different from my own. lol

Our son loved Hyperbole and a Half. I need to get a hold of it. I only got to briefly look through it at his place.

Waving Hi!

Oops, I'm a latecomer to congratulating you on blowing past 75 books, Caro!

Happy Sunday, Caro.

Congratulations on passing 75 books, Caro! One of the bad things about reading your threads is that it always leaves me starving - I have to go and heat up some leftover spaghetti and meatballs ASAP! Hope you got a chance to enjoy the weekend and that this week is nice and calm, and filled with wonderful meals!

>176 mckait: Kath - you may be right.. I do seem to have much less time on my hands this year than I did last year. no rest for the wicked, as they say, right? I do think, though, that I may be reading more than I did last year .. or at least that's how it feels like to me. Unless I have to work in the evenings, I'm trying to reduce my computer time at home after work so I can read and also spend more time with the hubster. That does, of course, mean, less time on LT as well, alas. But I spend so much time on the computer at work and on webconferences at night that I'm trying to put more balance in my life this year.

I am, however, having a relaxing weekend. Everyone from my international team have FINALLY left .. the last one leaving yesterday after lunch at my house. And I heaved a big sigh of relief after dropping him off at the airport, went home, checked the tires of my bicycle and the hubster and I went on a 35 mile bike ride to a friend's house for a cook out, had a great time and then biked back just when it was starting to get dark ... around 9.30pm ... which was pretty cool.

We went for a run this morning and unfortunately both of us had some work to do this afternoon, but I managed to do mine on the couch, watching the World Cup matches. :-) We have some friends coming over for dinner tonight to watch the US play Portugal. Nothing fancy for dinner since everyone will be eating in front of the tv, so I made a cherry pie, a tomato onion tart, red quinoa with sundried tomatoes and zucchini and I've a bag full of lamb chops I'm marinating with rosemary and garlic, ready to throw on the grill when they arrive.

Aahh! Nothing a like a little *you* time! Do you have to head back into work first thing tomorrow?

>177 jnwelch: Joe, you will definitely enjoy Hyperbole and a Half so I hope you do manage to get hold of a copy. How about borrowing your son's? :-)

>178 Berly: Hi Kim .. *waves back* Hope you're enjoying a nice summer's weekend.

>179 ronincats: Thank you, Roni and no worries. I've been quite pleased with what I've been reading so far this year and I hope the rest of the year continues with more good than dud reads.

>180 Ameise1: Barbara, you find the most beautiful gifs to soothe my soul each weekend. Thank you for these beautiful images. I hope you are having a good weekend.

>181 LauraBrook: Laura, I often feel like that when I visit Joe's cafe. I have been good this past week though, in not posting photos of food I've been eating. In fact, I've had some pretty incredible meals with my visiting colleagues. It's not often we manage to get the whole team together for a whole week, so this was quite a special if extremely exhausting week. And what with the World Cup matches being played as well, I've had the unenviable task (being the only local member of the team) of picking lunch and dinner venues for us all each day that has large HD TV screens so we can watch the lunch time matches and the 6pm matches over drinks before dinner.

I'll be doing more cooking tonight to make some meals for Edd that he can freeze or refrigerate for the next 2 weeks while I'm away.

>183 michigantrumpet: Hi Marianne. How's your weekend? I do not need to head into the office tomorrow morning but will work from home in the morning, pack and then head to the airport to catch my flight to Melbourne. I was supposed to be there only for 2 days and then head over to Sydney for the following week, but we've hit a bit of a snag with a client's project in Melbourne and my plans have now changed. I'll be staying in Melbourne so that I can attend a workshop they've organized at the last minute and for which they're bringing in part of their project team from Germany over to attend as well. So I've had to reschedule my Sydney meetings and crunch them all into just 2 days. Oy!

BUT, I will be coming home on June 3. Whoohooo... so I'll be able to make the meetup with you guys. :-)

Ugh! I just had a call with one of my clients in Australia, giving him some disquieting news about the incompetence and disinterest of the team assigned to us on their end. My client was really understanding and thanked me for the information, even apologizing to me for the unprofessional behavior of those individuals. *sigh*

BUT, I got that out of the way and will now enjoy myself with our friends ... if we can... Portugal just scored their first goal against the US! Arrgghh!

80. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

I've missed Harry Hole. So glad to see he's managing to stay sober, especially since he's fighting against a vicious serial killer who appears to be targeting married women with children. He welcomes a new and very intense member to their little team as they face off a puzzling killer who strikes at the first fall of snow, sometimes leaving a snowman in his wake.

4 stars

Have a lower-stress-than-expected trip! *smooch*

Thrilled you'll be joining us on the 3rd for the meet up!

Have been going at the Harry Hole series rather haphazardly. Definitely read Phantom before Police.

meetup? meetup?
*hmph*

Don't mind me, I'm just international....I will have to wait for Caro to come to me I think. There is more chance of you coming here than me to the US at present, Caro!

>189 LovingLit: Happy to host you in Boston any time m'dear!

Nice that you got a meetup! :)

Happy 6th Thingaversary, Caro!

Hey, Happy Thingaversary, Caro!

It's funny how many of us joined up in June, 2008. Mark, you and I did, and I know there are others in the 75er group who did, too.

Have you watched any of the Young Montalbano episodes? I'm a good way into the first one and really enjoying it.

Happy Thingaversary, Caro! I hope you'll find some books here

Happy Thingaversary, Caro from a fellow June Joiner! My 6th was yesterday.

Happy Thing!!!!!! Whatcha buying....

Happy Thinga!!

>187 richardderus: So far, so good Richard ... if you don't count a trip and dive worthy of a World Cup goalkeeper at a client's office this morning, including an even more impressive roll upon contact with the ground, tucking my feet under and a rather graceful rise back up on my feet in a single movement, ala an Olympic gymnast. I am now sporting a fist sized bruise on my right hip, which took the brunt of the contact on the ground, but apart from that (and my mortification), I have emerged relatively unscathed.

>188 michigantrumpet: Eh? The meetup is on the 3rd, Marianne? Arrgghh...then no can do. I don't arrive in Boston until the night of the 3rd. Drats. I must have had the 5th on the brain for some other reason because I thought it was on the 5th of July. *sigh*

I've so far been reading the Harry Hole series in order, so my next will have to be The Leopard. Have you read that yet?

>189 LovingLit: Megan .. looks like I'll be missing the Boston meetup after all. Booohoooo.... But as to my coming over to Christchurch ...that's looking to be quite likely towards the end of this year. :-) I am working with a client who is starting to make noises about replicating a project we implemented for them in Australia for New Zealand, and to do so, we'd need to have meetings with their NZ team. So I could be in your neck of the woods in the near rather than distant future.

>190 michigantrumpet: Hopefully when Megan comes over to Boston, I'll be in town at the same time! I hate missing out on good MeetUps in my own town. *grumble grumble*

>191 The_Hibernator: Rachel - I love meetups .. when I can attend them. ;-) I'm in Melbourne now and I was going to bug Prue to see if we could schedule a 2nd MeetUp ..and remember to take a photo this time, but unfortunately, my schedule is ridiculous this time round, and I've got work events to attend in the evenings this week, a visit with some family over the weekend, more work events next Monday and then I'm off to Sydney.

>192 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I didn't even realize it was my Thingavasary much less that it's my 6th one!!! It certainly hasn't felt like 6 years .. more like 3! So is that an indication that I'm getting old when time seems to be zipping by more quickly than it used to?

>193 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe .. there must have been a strong subliminal recruitment vibe sent out in June 2008 that lured us to sign up on LT ... I'm thrilled to be among the June LT platoon.

So far, I've only watched the first Young Montalbano episode and I have to admit to liking it more than I expected. I was a little unsure at first since the actor is, of course, not sexy Luca Zingaretti, and has hair ...but it didn't take but a few minutes for me to warm to the younger sexy man. I can't wait to get to episode 2 after I get back home. I'm trying to string the DVDs out because I think there are only 6 episodes made of Young Montalbano.

>194 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. Love the gif. Have you ever gone into a bookstore only to come out empty handed? Has anyone on LT? I can't remember a single occasion when I've not emerged from a bookstore without at least 1 purchase. Even here in Australia where books are just so much more expensive than they are in the US.

>195 DeltaQueen50: Happy Thinga to you too, Judy! Do you remember how you were introduced to LT? I've been trying to remember how I heard of LT and if someone recommended it to me, and for the life of me, I can't. Yet another sign that my memory bank is starting to develop more holes than Swiss cheese. If I could remember who it was who drew my attention to LT, I'd give that person a big hug and kiss for introducing me to my favorite online forum and allowing me to get to some some incredible people here, some of whom I've been fortunate enough to meet in person. LT has definitely enriched my life and I'm thankful to the administrators who maintain the site and to everyone who contributes to make this an interesting, fun, informative and respectful place to hang out in.

>196 mckait: Haha.. Thanks Kath. I'm supposed to buy stuff on my Thingaversary? Does lunch count? I bought a client a lovely Italian lunch today.

>197 Berly: Thanks, Kim. I wonder if LThingaversaries are symbolized with book genres like wedding anniversaries are symbolized by minerals and objects. We ought to develop a list if there isn't one yet. :-)

80. The Braque Connection by Estelle Ryan

I'm definitely enjoying this art theft thriller series that involves a rather unique team of investigators. The team includes an art thief who secretly works for Interpol, a hacker, a non-neurotypical facial & body language expert, a large muscleman with connections to arms traders, owner of an art insurance company and federal detective.

One of the things I like about this series is the focus on a particular artist in each book and the information about the artist and his works that's woven seamlessly into the fabric of each story.

This is the 3rd in the series and while they can be read as standalones, I'd recommend that they be read in order because the subtle development in the characters within the team is important and more easily appreciated.

3.5 stars

Oh, Happy Thingading, Caro!!

Happy Thingaversary, Caro! You were just a couple weeks after me. You will always be one of my favorite LTers! Hugs!

Happy Thingaversary!

I completely mis-typed! The meet up is the FIFTH at 1:00 in Harvard Square.

Judy and Jim are just doing a final schedule check. Suzanne ( Chatterbox) and Charlotte (Fourpawz) look like they will be joining us. And my DH - remember him? - might be there too.

You simply MUST be there!

Yeah, it was an adjustment for me, too, with Young Montalbano, Caro, but I like the young guy and think he does a great job. I'll leave the "sexy" analysis to you - I did notice his girlfriend was quite attractive. ;-)

Did you read the book? The first episode tracks it pretty closely. I enjoyed seeing the young, ridiculous Catarella, too.

>201 cameling: I wonder if LThingaversaries are symbolized with book genres like wedding anniversaries are symbolized by minerals and objects. We ought to develop a list if there isn't one yet.

This is an absolutely brilliant idea, Caro, and I think we must all begin brainstorming ideas immediately! First Thingaversary is YA, second Thingaversary is British lit ...

Happy Thingaversary, Caro! Somehow I think you'll be able to correct your oversight of not buying books on your actual -versary. :) Hope you're having a good time Down Under and are now staying as accident-free as possible.

Between you and Joe, it's getting harder to resist tracking down copies of the Montalbano TV show. Darn it! ;)

>200 cameling: Caro, I never left a bookstore empty handed, never. :-D

Happy Thingaversary!

>198 cameling: :)

Still chance of a Caro meetup! yay :):):)

>201 cameling: >207 rosalita: This is such a brilliant idea that I started a thread to brainstorm! Click on this if you want to help come up with themes for each Thingaversary. (Kinda like a special idea for each wedding anniversary only much more fun because these are books!)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/176863#

>202 cameling: AND the first one, The Gauguin Connection, is FREE for your Kindle right now!

>213 richardderus: Stop it, stop it stoppit!!!! Too late. xoxo

>213 richardderus: got me! Gah!

>213 richardderus: Me three! Isn't one of the TIOLI categories something to do with art? Yup! #9 Read a book about art theft or art forgery. Perfect match!

>203 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. I am still a little shocked to realize I've been a member here for 6 years! It sure doesn't feel that long ....but I've loved every minute of it.

>204 msf59: Awww....you're so sweet, Mark. You're one of my favorite LTers too ... *hugs* ... and even if I've not been posting much on your thread this year (it's been one crazy busy year thus far) I do lurk just to keep tabs on what's going on and what you're reading.

>205 michigantrumpet: Marianne - I HAVE to make it over to the MeetUp thread for the deets on the meetup.. especially now that you've confirmed that it's for the 5th. Yaaaay! Unless something goes drastically wrong and I am forced to change my flight and stay in Australia for the whole week next week, I'll be home by the 3rd and definitely will attend the MeetUp. I spoke with Edd today and he said he'd love to come too. :-) So count us in.

>206 jnwelch: Joe, yes, I did read Montalbano's First Case .. really because you recommended it so highly and it was fun! You're right, the tv version tracked it pretty closely and I loved the younger but still wacky Catarella. I've just downloaded Angelica's Smile even though I've already seen the DVD, but what can I say? I still need to read it.

>207 rosalita: Haha, thanks Julia. This brainstorming session to set Thingaversary themes will be fun!

>208 LauraBrook: Laura - alas, it's quite the wildest dream for me not to expect at least one accident while I'm on a trip. I just hope the one I had in my client's office on Thursday is the only one I'll have during this trip. As it is, I'm already sporting a painful grazed knee, a bruise the size of an avocado and the color of an eggplant on my right hip, and a twingey left ankle from the incident. I did bonk my head on a glass pane this afternoon looking too closely at an exhibit but since neither the glass pane nor my head broke, I'm not counting that.

Resist no further ... trust us .. you will NOT regret getting hold of the Montalbano tv series DVDs. If you enjoy the books, you'll be hooked on the tv series. The cast of characters are just perfect!

>209 Ameise1: Haha Barbara .. I suspect that never leaving bookstores without at least one book is a common affliction that besets most LTers.

>210 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel :-)

>211 LovingLit: Haha.. thanks for the enthusiastic and optimistic cheer, Megan. I really want to get out to Christchurch. I've never been there. I know if I do get the opportunity to head down to NZ, I'll also need to take personal time to go visit the Hobbit Village. It would be insane to make the trip out there on business and not take advantage of that. Have you taken the boys out for a visit, yet? I've often wondered if New Zealanders make as much of a fuss over it as HP fans outside the country.

>212 Berly: Ooh thanks for the setting up the thread, Kim. I will definitely head over there after I finish updating my thread today. What fun!

>213 richardderus: Richard .. And that's how I got started on the series. I had a free Kindle version of The Gauguin Connection and never looked back after I read it. I just finished the most current in the series, The Flinck Connection and I'm bummed that there isn't another on the horizon. I surely hope Ms Ryan is busy writing another to be published soon. This is as addictive as the Russell Quant series.

>214 AuntieClio: Stephanie, sometimes there just is no point in resisting. ;-)

>215 michigantrumpet: Heh heh ... I love it when henchman Richard recruits more followers to the mighty call of free books. :-)

>216 Berly: Kim it's a fast read too so you'll easy squeak this in to meet the June TIOLI deadline.

81. The Flinck Connection by Estelle Ryan

This is a really addictive series. There are times when I have a few issues with the main character, non-neurotypical Dr Genevieve Lenard and the relationship between her and Colin, the art reappropriator lacks a certain chemistry. But I like the way the author has been developing the characters and allowing them to gradually coalesce into a believable team of investigators of art thefts, murder and conspiracies.

Art is a theme in each book in this thriller series and in this one, the infamous art heist at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is highlighted. When a heist at a museum in Strasbourg takes place, the team are called in to find the missing masterpieces, even as they are already starting to investigate the murder of a politician determined to block a financial transparency bill pushed by the President. When a spy camera found on his premises exposes the murderer as well as a conspiracy and a shocking side to the politician, the team find themselves in more danger than they've been in the past.

It's really a grabbing thriller and I can't wait for the next in the series.

3.5 stars

Now I'm really bummed because I don't know when the author is going to release the next in the series. :-(

The internet at the service apartment I'm staying seriously sucks! It's so darn slow that I think even DSL would be faster. It's driving me nuts trying to do any work at night with this sucky speed .. or lack of... and even updating LT takes forever because the pages load so very slowly.

I went out into the city of Melbourne today. The National Gallery of Victoria is hosting a special exhibition on Italian Masterpieces and I had to go see it. They wouldn't allow any photographs in the exhibition hall - why I don't really know if they made it clear that you can't use your flash, so it was a shame. I would have loved to have taken some photos. However, I did take photos of a really fun bear exhibit in the lobby of the NGV and I'll share them here .... when I leave Melbourne or find myself in a place with much better Internet speed.

I also went to the Dreamworks Animation Exhibition at the Australian Centre for Moving Images. That was super cool. It was an exhibition that showcased how all their animated movies were made, from drawings, story pitching, modeling, using animators, CGI and storyboarding. There were interactive computers around that allowed visitors to experience changing character features or landscape colors themselves, short movie segments of all the Dreamworks movies, and videos of the artistic directors explaining certain concepts in the movies they were involved in. You'll have to wait for the photos I took ... this line is just too slow for me to upload the photos off my phone to my computer.

82. The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner

When Captain Gabriel Lacey, an injured veteran of the Napoleonic War returns to Regency England and leaves the military, he struggles to find a new purpose in life. A man of honor and defender of the underdog, innocent victims, he manages to make an enemy of his one-time mentor and commander in the military while gaining the friendship of a much sought after society figure. When he learns that a man who was shot for causing a ruckus outside a house in a rich neighborhood had been there because he believed the owner of the house to have kidnapped his daughter, he takes it upon himself to find the missing girl and her maid.

Lacey's investigations uncovers another missing girl, a dead maid and earns him the attention of a dangerous and ruthless leader of the underworld. When a man is found murdered and Lacey discovers one of the missing maid tied and drugged in a locked closet, Lacey uncovers sordid details of the man's life and the extent to which his servants will turn a blind eye if they're paid well enough. Lacey risks his life to protect a young prostitute while trying to find the missing girls and the identity of the murderer.

Our Captain Lacey is a fiery, honorable and complex man with a tendency to fall into a depressive state. As the story evolves, it comes to light that there are other reasons besides PTSD for his emotional baggage.

This is a great introduction to a new series for anyone who enjoys historical mysteries.

3.5 stars

I read a review where a reader claimed to not have liked the book because of unnecessary crudity. I'm not sure if the reviewer read the same book that I just did because I don't understand how the reviewer could have found much crudity in this book. So unless the reviewer wrote a review for a different book by a similar title by accident, I can only surmise that the reviewer must be uncommonly sensitive at the description of war conditions or the language used by prostitutes during regency England.

Oh and despite the cover of the book, this is not a regency romance.

Caro, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Happy weekend Caro!

Hooray! Caro and Edd will be at the Meet up! John says he is coming, too!

>224 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. What beautiful flowers! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend too. Unfortunately, I have to work today, so it will be a less than restful Sunday here in Melbourne for me.

>225 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel. I hope you have a good weekend too. Actually, given that I am going to have to work today, I know your weekend is going to be a much more enjoyable one than mine will.

>226 michigantrumpet: Yaaaay.... I'm so looking forward to the MeetUp, Marianne. Thanks for organizing it.

83.A Regimental Murder by Ashley Gardner

The 2nd in the series of an injured veteran of the Napoleonic Wars who finds new purpose in his life seeking justice for innocent victims. In this installment, Captain Lacey is on his way home one dark night when he comes across a lady on an incomplete bridge. Thinking she is to throw herself over, he follows her and when she is attacked by a man, he rescues her and since she is unwilling to tell him where she lives or what her name is, he takes her to his house, and thus embroils himself in a new mystery for the lady believes her husband to have been murdered, and the murderers to be 3 gentlemen who had been part of a scandalous rioting during the Peninsular campaign.

Once again, Captain Lacey pits himself against formidable opponents and puts himself in danger, both emotionally and physically. Once again, his gentleman sidekick, Lucius Grenville, offers assistance with introductions and advice. Once again, the mysterious lord of the underworld James Denis finds ways to put Captain Lacey further in his debt.

As more bodies start falling, will Captain Lacey be able to uncover the truth behind the scandal that occurred during the war and unmask the killers for both past and present murders before all clues are forever sealed in the tombs with their victims?

3.5 stars

I couldn't help myself. After reading The Hanover Affair I wanted to see if this is likely going to be a series I can throw myself into so I downloaded the next in the series. And I have to admit that I am now hooked. I may just see how much further I will go with this series before needing a break and reading something else.

Hi Caro, all caught up with you, wanted to wish you a happy Sunday. I brought back Codex Seraphinianus from the library a couple of days ago, after waiting many weeks for it. Looking forward to plunging into it!

Hope you can get some decent internet speed soon--can't wait for your pictures!

>213 richardderus:, >221 cameling: I'd never heard of this series, Caro, but you and Richard got me. It's teed up on my Kindle now.

Hope you're having a good weekend.

>229 Smiler69: Ilana, I'm so very glad you managed to nab a copy of Codex Seraphinianus at last! I can't wait to hear what you make of it and which are your favorite illustrations.

>230 ronincats: Roni, I've been experimenting with the times I get on the internet when I'm in the apartment and it's all the same. For a while I thought maybe it's really extra slow in the evenings because other people are back and using the Internet, but it's now 3am and the speed is still the same. So that's put paid to my theory. If I end up with similar speed Internet when I get to Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, I'm going to drown myself in the biggest mug of hot chocolate from Guylian's !

>231 jnwelch: Joe, it's a subtly gripping series. I've already been reading them every chance I get, and I don't want to think about my day that will start in a few hours because I've stayed up until now to finish the 4th in the series! Yikes... this is much like my obsession with Montalbano.

I had to work on Sunday with some colleagues on a project, but we managed to finish up what we needed to do much more quickly than I expected, so I did manage to salvage some of my Sunday with a leisurely dinner at a Greek restaurant. We shared a beautiful Taramasalata dip with toasted pita bread, a dish of mixed marinated olives, Greek sausage with feta cheese, and an octopus salad. I had a beautiful plate of grilled lamb cutlets which were so tasty my inner cavewoman roared out and I gnawed at the bones. They were served with roasted winter vegetables and boiled potatoes. We were a little to full for our own dessert, so we shared a creme brulee and I had a coffee laced with brandy.

Now with another Captain Lacey settled and still warm from the brandied coffee, I will get a few hours sleep before I need to get up for my work day.

84. The Glass House by Ashley Gardner

When a young woman is found in the Thames with the back of her head bashed in and nothing to identify her with on her person but a ring on her finger, Lacey calls on his well-connected friend Grenville for assistance. The victim is identified as Peaches, ex-actress, wife of a barrister and lover of a peer. While suspicions fall heavily on the door of her husband, there is no evidence that he was even aware that she had been in London and not in Sussex where she was supposed to be visiting with friends. As Lacey tries to trace her steps in the last day of her life, he is introduced to a sleazy manager of the Glass House, a house of where vice of all manner may be bought by only the very rich, and a man who holds 'magic gas' gatherings in his house.

When a gentleman is found dead in his own living room, stabbed by Lacey's own sword, it is only by coincidence that he has an alibi that prevents him from being arrested by the Runner for murder. He is also asked by James Denis to help close down the Glass House and help destroy Lady Jane, a competitor to Denis. In return, Denis has certain information about Lacey's missing wife. If that wasn't enough to send Lacey reeling, his relationship with his ex-commander's wife suffers a devastating blow when he refuses to stop antagonizing her husband for past grievances.

By this third installment in the series, the author has developed more depth in her characters so much so that the reader becomes invested in them. She also writes a mean page turner and once you get past the half way point, it's near impossible to put the book down until you reach the very end.

3.5 stars

85. The Sudbury School Murders by Ashley Gardner

Having accepted a post in the Berkshires as a secretary to the headmaster of Sudbury School, Captain Lacey thinks he's in for a bit of quiet after his last harrowing adventure in London. That proves not to be the case because some prankster is plaguing the school with pranks that started out innocently enough, such as a garter snake under the bed covers or letters written in what appears to be blood, but they've escalated to burning books, a fire in the servants' quarters and poison in the port. Captain Lacey is of course, asked to uncover the prankster but before he can do much more than speak with a couple of boys, Middleton, a former henchman of his nemesis, James Denis, is found murdered, and a Romany stablehand is arrested for the crime.

Lacey believes the Romany innocent of the crime but there are reasons why the boy keeps lying about his whereabouts the night of the murder. While he's trying to investigate this crime, he discovers Marianne has disappeared and the secret behind her disappearance. When a blackmailing plot and conspiracy are uncovered, Glenville has been stabbed and another person from the school has been murdered. Will Lacey manage to gather sufficient evidence and more importantly a credible witness to finally collar the person responsible for these dastardly deeds?

3.5 stars

ETA : Correction of the garter snake from a garter snack as kindly pointed out by Marianne. ;-)

>233 cameling: A garter snack? Is that like tea and crumpets in a lingerie shop? Poison is one thing, but burning books? The fiend MUST be stopped! : ^)

Ha! Seriously, though, some great reviews.

Okay, I see that The Hanover Square Affair must be next up or I'm going to go doolally with frustration as Caro Satanically Warbles about the series.

>219 cameling: re: Hobbitton...Hobbitville....(wassit called again!?) No, I have not visited. My kids know nothing of the Hobbit yet (too many monsters in the movie and I have not read them the book). Plus, it's in the North Island, which is a 5 hour drive plus 3 hour ferry ride away from Christchurch, either that or a flight. We have out holidays locally, for now.

>234 michigantrumpet: :) (good one Marianne!!)

>234 michigantrumpet: LOL ... good catch, Marianne. Can I use the excuse that I was writing that at about 3am and in the dark? Fixed that pesky little typo. .... although now that I think of it, putting soggy froot loops or stale shortbread under bedcovers might not be a bad prank to play. hmm....

>235 richardderus: Yezzzzzzzz ...... *fist pump* I so love it when I can dictate your next read, Richard .... mwahahahahaaaaaa.

>236 LovingLit: Megan - Hobbitton is in the North Island?! Someone told me it down South. Well heck ... now I have to find a prospective client in Auckland or Wellington.

I can see that the LOTR movies would be scary for young kids the age of Wilbur and Lenny ... apart from ugly monsters, there was a lot of darkness in the movies. Actually I thought Gollum was pretty darn scary looking and I saw the movies as an adult!

My son's g/f is in Austraila now, too.. has been for nearly 2 wks I think, 4 more to go. It has something to do with her work, which is very unlike your work.. but anyway, I am seeing pics from her, too :)

How about you, home soon?

The Hanover Square Affair is all you warbled it to be.

I. HATE. YOU.

You all got me with the The Hanover Square Affair. I just got it for free on my Kindle.

I've reviewed The Hanover Square Affair, a first-in-series mystery set in Regency England, in my thread...post #163.

And guess whose Satanical Book Warblings cause this? Hmmm? Anyone?

Why that's correct, class, it was CAROLINE who led me into an eleven-book series! Our very own evil, evil Book Warbler!

*malocchio*ptoo*ptoo*

I just cursed Richard for luring me into the Hanover Square Affair and now I heap my love/hate on you, too!

Eleven book series?! Ack. La la la, I'm not listening... :)

A free kindle book? Yeah, that's how I got reeled in on the Chronicle of St. Mary's Series. Look where that got me.

*grumble grumble* *marches over to Ammy*

>242 Berly: Ditto...

>244 michigantrumpet: I did too. There's evil afoot here.

Me too.

Safe travels home, Caro! Glad you'll be home for the 4th! Yah!

Saw the post about your flight being canceled.. SOOO glad you got another one lined up. Safe travels to you ! hugs

Sooo -- Are you still coming New England bound tomorrow?

Home?

Hope so..Watch out for trash cans.

Yeeesh, this is the thanks I get for introducing an interesting series? GOOD! Payback is sweet! Because some of you have been plenty guilty of adding more addictive series that I'm compelled to follow.

Despite a flight cancellation, a rebooked flight, followed by multiple flight delays and one accident with a garbage bin, I finally arrived in one piece (thanks to skillful pilots and sound planes) last night at about 1.30am

Guess what I'm doing today for the 4th of July? NOTHING! Rest and recuperation are on the table .. with a little grocery shopping to stock up the larder, but nothing more exciting than that.

I have lots to post today so I'm going to go through what I owe in reviews (I've finished all the available books in the Captain Lacey series .. heh heh) and the promised photos. And will do so in a new thread.

>250 michigantrumpet: Yes, Marianne, we'll be there tomorrow. :-)