mstrust #2- The Postman Always Rings Twice

1. American Authors

1. The Thin Man- 4.5 stars
2. Diary of a Mad Diva- 3 stars
3. Cotton Comes to Harlem- 4 stars
4. Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day 3 stars
5. The Day of the Locust 4.5 stars

2. Travel, Food, Music, Art, T.V., Plays

1. Twinkie, Deconstructed- 3 stars
2. Punk Rock Blitzkrieg- 5 stars
3. One-Dish Vegetarian Meals- 4 stars
4. Bill Bryson's African Diary- 4 stars
5. Niagara Falls 4 stars
6. Toast 4.5 stars
7. The Maple Syrup Book 4.5 stars
8. Pufnstuf & Other Stuff 4.5 stars

3. Books I Need To Read

1. Unabrow- 4 stars

4. History & Bios

1. Barren Grounds 3.5 stars
2. Life of Richard Savage 4.5 stars
3. Cleopatra: Beyond the Myth- 3 stars

5. Mystery & Noir

1. The Man in the Brown Suit 4 stars
2. The Torn Branch 3.5 stars
3. Woman in the Dark 3 stars

6. Flavor of the Month

January-Charles Dickens-1. A Tale of Two Cities- 4 stars, The Mystery of Edwin Drood- 3.5 stars
February-Margaret Atwood- The Penelopiad- 4 stars Oryx and Crake-4 stars
March-Evelyn Waugh-Brideshead Revisited- 4.5 stars
April-Christopher Brookmyre
May-F. Scott Fitzgerald
June-William Faulkner
July-Jim Thompson
August-Edna O'Brien
September-Jo Nesbo
October-Neil Gaiman
November-Dorothy Sayers
December-China Mieville

7. World Authors

1. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency- 4 stars
2. The Housekeeper and the Professor- 3.5 stars
3. The Following Story 3.5 stars
4. Tiger at the Gates 3 stars

8. Non-Fiction

1. The Angry Island- 4.5
2. Stacked- 3 stars
3. Sorry! The English and Their Manners 3.5 stars

9. Autumn/Halloween

10. Everything Else

1. Dogs in Cars- 3 stars
2. Novel Living- 3 stars

Welcome to Part Two of my 2015 thread!

Hello! Nice to see the gorgeous ladies again!

Happy new thread!

>12 MissWatson: Hi, and thanks for coming by! I did have to change a few pics because I couldn't find the originals. That's Anna Mae Wong representing "World Authors" now and, of course, Debbie Harry for "Music & Travel".

>13 rabbitprincess: Hello, princess! Glad you could make it!

Happy new thread. As usual the photos are great!

Thank you, Vivienne! It's kind of surprising how long it takes to set up a new thread, what with finding the right photos.

In other news, we celebrated our boxer Ava's 11th birthday! Here she is again:

Oh, she's lovely! Boxers are great dogs, aren't they? I've noticed that when they love someone, they really love them. Ava looks like my cattledog/pit mix, Emmie, except Emmie's eyes are small, close-set and kind of beady. But the grin is the same.

She sure looks happy and healthy for her age. Hope she gets a candle in her kibble today!

>17 RidgewayGirl: You're right about Boxers. I've only had female Boxers, but all of them have super-glued themselves to the man of the house, earning themselves the nickname of "Daddy's girl."

>18 mamzel: She is happy and enjoys being with us and her food and toys. She's developed MS in her back legs so has some trouble walking now, but we do exercises to build up the muscle a little and we have runners all over the house to help her grip.
I actually made them giant cinnamon butter cookies and frosted them with peanut butter. I should have written "spoiled" on top.

13. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. World Authors. A young unnamed housekeeper is sent by her agency to work for a client who has gone through many housekeepers. Thinking he's a difficult man, the housekeeper finds that he's a former math genius who suffered severe brain damage in a car crash decades ago. Along with losing his career, he has spent the past seventeen years unable to hold memories for longer than 80 minutes. He remembers before the crash, but every morning the housekeeper must tell him who she is and go through the same introductory questions. Yet she, and her ten year old son, are able to draw life out of him in those short intervals and they discover some happiness together in their love of Japanese baseball.

I should have hated this story, with all the math theories and equations I would never understand, and then the baseball talk, but I liked it. It's a quiet, gentle book told by a woman with a very small life who still finds this poor and isolated man to have great value. 3.5 stars



14. Dogs in Cars by Lara Jo Regan. Everything Else. A book of photography by the owner/photographer of Mr. Winkle. It's great to see happy dogs with their heads hanging out the car windows, and that's exactly what you get here. Nothing particularly original or innovative, but the dogs are of all different breeds and mixes and they do tend to look thrilled. 3 stars

>20 mstrust: I've recommended THatP to more than a few students. I loved it for the reasons you list.

Dogs in Cars looks like a fun book. I don't think I have ever seen a dog in a car that didn't look happy. When I was young we had a dog that acted totally heartbroken if my Dad went out without taking him. He loved to ride in the car!

>16 mstrust: What a wonderful smile for the birthday photograph!

>21 mamzel: It's one of those books that somehow stays with you even though no one was murdered ; )

>22 DeltaQueen50: Yeah, it's like going to Disneyland for them. As long as they don't end up at the v-e-t.

>23 VivienneR: Ava smiles. Point a camera at Greta, the lab, and her eyes get wide, the ears go back and the expression clearly says, "noooooo!"


15. Novel Living: Collecting, Decorating and Crafting with Books by Lisa Occhipinti. Everything Else. The author is an artist who uses books as her medium, so there are craft suggestions using books here. There are also step-by-step instructions for re-binding and re-attaching loose pages in a section for book preservation. The author discusses how to start a book collection and there are a few pics of bookshelving. 3 stars

Happy new thread and happy birthday Ava!

>Thanks, Lori! I'll let her know you wished her happy birthday!

Did anyone else catch the recent episode of "Well Read"? Colm Toibin was on discussing his latest, Nora Webster, along with his childhood, the English, and his writing classes. He's just a really interesting guy. And I have to say that part of my pleasure in watching the show is to see two actual book nerds. The host, Terry Tazioli, squirms around in his chair when he gets excited, and Mary Gwinn has that creaky voice and keeps gulping or covering her mic. They are the least slick people on t.v. and it's pretty entertaining.

Love your thread. I went back to visit the first one and wondered to myself why I had not found it before!

Adding The Housekeeper and The Professor onto my list.

Thanks, and I'm glad you found me now!

I've noticed that you take a cat to the vet once and that's it, they never want to go in a car again. Whereas, dogs always think they are going to the beach, and are always surprised to find themselves at the vet!

>30 DeltaQueen50: I have not experienced either of those. Our dog could feel it when it was vet time and while she'd get into the car fine, she seemed to be able to tell from the turns we made where we were going and started howling halfway there. Our old cat loved riding in the car and had no problems with that part but became feral once you passed the threshold to the vet's office. And our current cat HATES the car - not matter where you're going he'll cry the whole ride - but once at the vet he's all smiles and cuddles and will headbutt the vet and purr louder than you'd believe. Animals are weird.

>16 mstrust:
Happy birthday to Ava! That's a great doggie-smile she has!

>30 DeltaQueen50: - LOL, that was our experience with both of our cats. They wouldn't even go near the carrier case after that first trip... they were having none of that! I always found it heartbreaking to listen to their cries while driving to and from the vet's office but at least they did behave and were no trouble for the vet during their annual visits. ;-)

>30 DeltaQueen50: & >31 PawsforThought: I guess it depends on how horrifying that last visit to the vet was. Ava doesn't mind the vet or being checked out, but she will not allow her temperature to be taken. That's her business.

>31 PawsforThought: Some animals feel that no good can come from a car ride. At least your cat is happy with the end result!

>32 -Eva-: Thanks, Eva! It is a cute smile even though most of her teeth are missing!

My dog hates the vet. She's a shaky mess and is so happy to leave. People in the waiting room actually laughed at the speed at which she pulled me out of there last time. And the cat doesn't care. He sits on the table and sticks his head into drawers. Being in the carrier makes him yowl, but he's fine as soon as he's let out.

>34 mstrust: I think it's more about the pet's personality.

>35 RidgewayGirl: Poor thing! My husband has to take our lab. At nearly 100 pounds, and so excitable that she stops listening, she'll pull me off my feet.
>36 PawsforThought: I'm sure that's part of it.

D.A. Discussion:

1. Maybe one minute into the show and Mary's making the first snotty comment when she learns that Gregson's dead- "He was a nice man, though what he saw in Edith..."

2. So now we know for sure that Edith's true love is dead. And Edith's response is to run away from home. At, what, 27 years old?

3. And she shows such cruelty by taking the baby away from the Drews. What complete selfishness. Now I've joined the "Edith Sux" group.

4. Could that baby be any more spaced out? She just stares and has no reaction at all.

5. I think Granny got exactly the conversation she wanted when she went to see her Russian. And wasn't she in a much better mood after?

6. Bates finds the box of Lady Mary's Dirties (LMD in future, as it may come up again) and of course thinks Anna's been lying.

7. But now we know that, of all things, Bates is innocent!

8. Barrow turns to Baxter to save his life, and now they will be friends. I just know it.

9. Mary looks good with a bob. Cora's hair is way too black. It's starting to look like a pile of fudge on her head.

10. So we're entering the era of Hitler. Which makes me wonder how the show will handle the collapse of the grand households of post-WWII England.

11. Blake and Fox are plotting and it's going splendidly.

12. I sorta wanted Mary to fall off her horse and break a leg.

13. Did Carson propose to Mrs. Hughes? Was that a proposal?

14. Didn't Mary and Edith have an exchange in front of everyone? And they're both right. And then when Mrs. Drew won't let Edith in her house, Edith (Sux) actually says, "There's no need to be rude." Yes there is, Edith.

15. Granny's quote of the episode- "All this endless thinking is very overrated."

>37 mstrust: 10. The way time passes on this show is so odd. I'm continually flabbergasted by the fact that this show has now covered 20 years of history (more than 5 in a single series (series 2) and no one has mentioned it. How is Sybbie a small child? She was born in series 3! She should be entering her teens if they stuck with actual time passed. Maybe the house is like a TARDIS? Anyone remotely connected to it ages much slower than the rest of the world.

13. Yes, that's exactly what it was. Seems like all the staff are shacking up.

Yes, the passage of time in the series is something I have to keep reminding myself of, as the people look exactly the same as they did in 1912 aside from the fashions. Daisy still looks like she just left school.
A TARDIS? That explains everything!

And Carson's proposal was as romantic as suggesting they read a time share lease together.

Btw, can I just say how sad last night's The Walking Dead was? How could they do that to us again so soon after Beth?

>39 mstrust: Well, to be honest, would you expect CARSON to be romantic?

>39 mstrust: That was definitely a traumatic ep of TWD for sure! But I must confess that I nearly lost my mind when a certain personage showed up! I watch the show for the wrong reasons...

>37 mstrust: Haha, poor Edith. Although I agree that she has completely mishandled everything involving her daughter and the Drewes, I'm actually glad she has finally taken some positive action! In general I really liked this episode, because all these plodding story arcs are finally moving forward. The "Bates is innocent" development didn't really surprise me, but I'm glad it's out in the open now. And I'm very, very pro Mabel Lane-Fox (or is it Fox-Lane?)…I hope she and Tony Gillingham will be able to patch things up! Also loved Barrow this week. He's seriously one of my favorite characters on the show -- he may be mostly evil, but at least he's interesting! It's nice to see him being friendly to Baxter for a change.

>40 PawsforThought: To be honest, I've never expected anything but good sense and punctuality from Carson. But I'm happy if he's decided to add some romance to his life.

>41 rabbitprincess: Some people can be long dead, one-eyed and spouting hate yet still be nice to look at...

>42 christina_reads: Hee! I don't see anything Edith did this episode as ending well, especially taking the child. In fact, it's Edith, so it will be a complete disaster. It was an act of complete self-absorption and the girl is old enough to recognize that Edith is not the mother she knows. The whole thing is Edith's way of stamping her feet and yelling, "Marcia Marcia Marcia!"
I like this Mabel Fox-whatever too. I don't know why she'd want Tony back, but she seems a good rival for Mary.
Yes, I like Thomas being evil too. Seeming him give a genuine smile is like Christmas because it happens just once a year.

>43 mstrust: Romance? Is that what it's called? Mind you, Mrs Hughes looked mighty pleased about it.

And, I think I missed a few minutes - did Anna and Bates get the LMD issue resolved?

She looked very pleased. She's probably known Carson for decades and sees that 10 seconds as the most forward and tender-hearted ever from him.
Romance turns out to be a relative thing. For our first Valentine's, my husband sent me a big bouquet of roses, took me to dinner and gave me candy. Now it's twenty years later and we are calling a new hot water heater our Valentine's present to each other. Yawn.

They really didn't resolve the LMD issue, in that Anna never told Bates that they were Mary's things. No doubt she has been trained to keep her Lady's secrets, but she never told him why she had those things. They went from the LMD right into the murder discussion, and then both looked happy with each other.

That was my favorite episode so far this season. Loved the interactions with Barrow and Baxter as she manages to bring out the nicer side of him. Also really enjoyed Molesley offering to help Daisy and seeing him yet again be an all around nice guy. Also, this finally addressed something that has been bugging me all season - Carson and Mrs. Hughes. Last season ended with them holding hands which implied there would be more of a romantic connection this season, which hasn't materialized at all until this sudden proposal to buy a house together. The only downside was the possible illness with Isis. How dare they make me worry about what is going to happen to the dog?!

Yes, apparently a person must help Barrow in a life or death situation before he will trust them. I wonder if the truce will last.
It was good to have someone finally say something nice about Mosley, and finding that he's educated himself like Daisy is trying to do. They may have a common interest.
I know what you mean about the way Carson and Hughes ended last season. I was all set to come back this season and find they had married, but nothing at all had happened. Has it taken Carson twenty years to decide on Mrs Hughes?

I hope Isis is okay too. But maybe she'll be written out due to her unfortunate name.

I hate to be cynical but I expect that once he's back to "normal" he'll be back to his old tricks.

I'm sure he will, because evil is Thomas' default setting.

It's more fun that way, though I do enjoy the brief bouts of niceness, or at least what qualifies as niceness for him.

He needs those brief sparks of humanity, otherwise he'd be like a cartoon, always skulking and plotting. Though he does look good no matter how bad he's being.

I had some very good news today- I didn't have to go to jury duty! It's a big deal, as this is the 10th time in 15 years that I've been called for jury duty. Yes, seriously.



16. The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie. Mystery.Soon after the death of her anthropologist father, young Anne Beddingfeld witnesses the accidental death of a stranger in the tube station. She also realizes that the doctor who pushes his way into the crowd to examine the dead man doesn't seem to know anything about basic anatomy, which makes Anne follow the fraud and starts her adventure. Determined to prove that she had witnessed a crime of some kind, Anne boards a ship for South Africa, which is on the brink of revolution. Aboard, she becomes friends with a famous socialite, meets Member of Parliament Sir Eustace Pedlar and his three secretaries, Secret Service man Colonel Race, and falls in love with a wanted criminal.

This is one of Christie's most fun and most active. Anne's thirst for adventure has her fighting, falling down cliffs, being chased through the city and receiving proposals. If you want to sample a Christie that is not her typical English locked room mystery, this is a good one. 4 stars

Two birthdays today:

The Man in the Brown Suit is my favorite Christie novel. It's so adventurous.

It is that- funny that you don't hear much about it but it's nice that Christie can still surprise a reader who's spent a couple of years with her.

>54 mstrust: - Classic!

She still makes me laugh.

Wheeeeee! Today was the giant fairgrounds book sale!

The Weather Shelter
Mulliner Nights
Here Comes There Goes You Know Who
Rabbit, Run
Traps the Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich by Mel Torme- didn't know this existed!
Death of a Swagman
The Falls- Rankin
The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac
I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive
The Maple Syrup Book
Apples: A Cookbook
Britain in the Seventies
Xenophobe's Guide to the Italians
Pictures from New Zealand
Learning to Bow
Mrs. Bridges' Upstairs, Downstairs Cookery Book
England For All Seasons
The Descendants
Foreign Babes in Beijing
Charity Girl
A Dark-Adapted Eye
The Red House Mystery
The Virtue of Selfishness
At Swim Two Birds
Laments for the Living
Mrs. Ames
The Sense of an Ending

Holy smokes, that's a great haul!! I will be most interested to hear about the Rankin and the Britain in the 70s book.

I did do well! All that for $26. I didn't get as many mysteries as usual because there were only half as many as in past years.
I'm looking forward to the British 70's book too- seems to cover much of the headlines from then.

The Sense of an Ending was wonderful! Hope you enjoy it.

That's a great selection! I hope your shelves don't explode!

>59 LittleTaiko: I've only read one Barnes so far even though I keep collecting his books.

>60 RidgewayGirl: Thanks! Out of necessity I have become more heartless in getting rid of books I didn't love, which I'm okay with because eventually I'll end up with a house full of the greatest books in the world. That's my theory.



17. Sorry! The English and Their Manners by Henry Hitchings. Non-Fiction. Hitchings discusses the beginnings of English manners, and this means not just good manners, but mannerisms. From public behavior, table manners, gender signals and bad behavior, the author manages to keep a light tone while discussing ancient history and the caste system. 3.5 stars

Ha! That's my theory, too. That one day, my shelves will consist of those books I've loved the most over the years. Right now, however, it's a giant TBR with those loved books behind the ones I haven't read yet. But someday.

D.A. discussion:

1. Poor Isis!

2. Baxter is eavesdropping just like O'Brien or Thomas. But she seems to want to do good instead of evil. Hmmm, now that I say that out loud, should we trust her?

3. Granny is so vulnerable in this episode. The situation with Isobel, then the one with Edith. Cora crushes her with, "How can you think I'll ever trust you again?"

4. Will this scheme to bring Marigold in as an adopted child work? It involves Edith, so I say no.

5. Mary, Blake and the group of stiff-jawed friends all being so frightfully blase about their broken relationships is disturbing.

6. So Anna has told Bates about LMDs. And he doesn't giggle. Way to be a grown up, Bates. It was nice to see them after hours in their own home.

7. Speaking of Anna, wasn't Mrs Hughes telling her that she hadn't seen what she knew she had seen. Like "shut up and eyes forward".

8. Actual interaction between the little children and their parents! I'd started to think of those kids as ghosts haunting the attic.

9. Isn't Larry Merton unbelievable? Does no one get punched in the mouth at Downton? And the other son was no better.

10. Moseley's little giggle afterwards was pretty funny.

11. Fashion notes: isn't Mary the perfect flapper in her bronze/black number with the gloves? And Cora's beige fur-lined coat was gorgeous.

12. Best line from Mary: "Edith's gone away. So what."

>63 mstrust: Not only is Baxter eavesdropping (with possible nefarious intent), but Thomas is (apparently) being nice to Baxter, Molesley, and Daisy! HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?!?! Also, this "Marigold is adopted" storyline is ridiculous…there is no way it's going to work, and Cora is insane for suggesting it! My favorite part of the episode was when, after Mary was being a b*tch about Edith (as usual), Lady Violet shut her down by saying, "A lack of compassion can be as vulgar as an excess of tears." YOU GO LADY VIOLET!

I haven't gotten to DA yet (I'm planning a binge once the season is done broadcasting), so I have to skim a bunch of posts, but I have to say I adore the Lucy-gif in >54 mstrust:!

>56 mstrust: Good for you! Some great books there.

>63 mstrust: The Marigold adoption storyline will never fly. What a mess that's going to be. I loved the way horrified Lady Mary said "What?" when Charles Blake told her to kiss him. Since the beginning, Granny has been my favourite character, always will be.

>64 christina_reads: I know, I kept waiting for Thomas to make someone cry, ha! We're so used to his snide remarks that the few times he's decent, it leaves us wondering what happened.
The Marigold plan will fail in that Robert will find out for sure and hit the roof. And that means the staff will find out.
I thought that was a great line from Granny too. It pulled Mary up short, because if snotty old Granny thinks Mary has gone too far, she's gone too far.

>65 -Eva-: Thanks! I grew up watching her every morning. And you have great willpower to wait until it's all over!

>66 VivienneR: Thank you, I was happy with my haul.
My favorites were always the combination of Thomas and O'Brien. They were a couple of viruses feeding off each other. I wish O'Brien would come back, because that would be something to see if she and Thomas go back to being enemies or friends, because they were both.



18. Bill Bryson's African Diary. Travel. Sent by the charity group CARE, Bryson travels across Kenya by car, train and light airplane. He visits Nairobi and its adjacent slum, small villages and a museum that houses the largest collection of ancient human bones, all the while speaking with locals about their lives and the difference things like a water pump, farming education and business loans have made in their lives.
This book is so slim, just 49 pages, but Bryson fills it with his humor, danger and meeting people across a country. 4 stars

And let's celebrate the birthday of another favorite actor of mine whom you've never heard of. But you might recognize his face if you've seen movies like "The Cat's Meow", "Pink Floyd's The Wall", or shows like the Sharpe's series, "State of Play", "The Duchess of Duke Street", "Spooks" and "The Hollow Crown". He's James Laurenson:

"Edward II with Ian McKellen"
As Pink's dad in "The Wall"

My favorite, as the Shadmock in "The Monster Club"

Finally watched DA last night. Definitely a couple of brow-raising moments.

Anna came down a couple of pegs, in my eyes, when she went and tattled to Mrs. Hughes. After all she and Mr. Bates went through because of other people meddling where they oughtn't I am surprised she is sinking to this level and not just keeping her own council! Shame on you, Anna!

Cora rose up a number of steps by allowing Isis to come into her bed. That is wifely duty far and above what is expected! (Must be her American background.)

They have to keep Tom around since he can be expected to say what everyone is thinking. They can just inwardly high five him and blame his indiscretion on being Irish and low born.

Mary is definitely due for another comeuppance!

I keep hearing the Jaws theme whenever I see Thomas do that little half grin.

I had to laugh when the family was contemplating the increased commotion that a third child would bring to the house. Like any of them actually had anything to do with their upbringing! The children are brought in fed, washed, and clothed by the nannies, give the adults a hug and they congratulate themselves on their good parenting skills. Yeah, right!

To another show - Grantchester - Sidney, what were you thinking!!! First you go to a jazz club where you dance with your ex-girlfriend who is engaged to another guy. Then you get totally sloshed and sleep with the black singer?? Good thing you're not Catholic or you'd be spending the rest of your life on your knees on a stone floor! Your congregation better not hear about this!

I followed up by watching the Father Brown mysteries on another PBS station and enjoy watching Mr. Weasley sporting a black cassock and blurring the line between Catholic and police confession. Last week's episode was interesting since he was invited to an tea hosted by an Anglican father to commemorate the new church bell. It was quite a contrast between the two religions.

I love my Monday nights of British TV!

I could only think that Anna was tattling because a child was involved. She's so nice and not a gossip at all, so this was unusual for her. Or maybe she finds Edith annoying too ; )
I did notice that while Larry the Drunk was berating Isobel, the hosts, and even the man she was engaged to, mostly sat there looking at their plates. Robert challenged him a bit, but it looks like it takes a low-born person to take on an aristocratic lush. And if Isobel looks like she's having second thoughts about her marriage, it wouldn't be because of what Larry said, it's because she's engaged to a coward.

I'm afraid I haven't seen any of Grantchester and only one episode of "Father Brown". I know, gasp! It's just that my Sundays nights are so full too. D.A., "The Walking Dead", "The Talking Dead" and "Bob's Burgers", which we never miss. I also watch the British baking show, which has been moved from Sundays to Monday night in my area. Down to four bakers now and the challenges are tough.

Sady, I missed "Grantchester" because other family wanted to see the anniversary edition of SNL (time to get PVR). I allowed it because I know it's repeated later in the week, only to find out it coincides with another favourite "Death in Paradise". I only watch a handful of tv shows, so who would have guessed two would be on at the same time. Arrgh!

>56 mstrust: - All that for $26. *Jaw drop* Wow!

>70 VivienneR: I watched the SNL show too. It was great to see people like Rachel Dratch and Bill Hader doing Stephan. I think every member of the audience was onstage at some point.
I'm hooked on so many shows right now that I'm fending off finding more "can't miss". Although I see that David Tennant in "Broadchurch" will be starting soon and my beloved "Community" has been picked up by Yahoo for a new season and will be streaming on their new channel. Which I don't have.

>71 lkernagh: Yes, and that's with them bumping the prices up too. I always come home from this sale exhausted, and then the next day I'm wishing I could do it all over again.

Here's something unusual. I've been watching the PBS series "Shakespeare Uncovered" and I'm watching the Romeo and Juliet episode hosted by Joseph Fiennes. They show a R&J theme park in Italy, so I google "Romeo and Juliet theme park", and there's one in Tampa. Why they have given themselves a porn-ish name, why they have a train named "Romeo and Juliet's Love Train", why the restaurant serves Buffalo wings, or they assure that they don't overcharge for candy, it's all questionable. But it exists!
http://forbiddenlovethemepark.weebly.com/index.html

>73 mstrust: With a name like that no wonder it is kept secret!

>74 VivienneR: Ha! I'm sure many people see the name and immediately say, "Oh, no." I'm guessing another amusement park closed, one in which a train was fitting, and the R& J people bought everything as is.



19. Niagara Falls by Irving Weisdorf & Co. Ltd.. Travel. This is one of those souvenir books you buy at the location of whatever the book's about. There are the expected photos of The Maid in the Mist and Horseshoe Falls, but this book takes some interesting detours into the actual city of Niagara Falls and the history of daredevils going over the falls. Niagara is a beautiful place, at least on the Canadian side that I visited. Away from the tourist area it is quiet and small-town, while the falls are really fun, if you don't mind getting soaked. Extra half point for having a pic of the restaurant we had lunch at, so this review is not objective at all. 4 stars

>75 mstrust: That seems appropriate since I keep hearing about the frozen falls on the news.

I hadn't even thought of that but you're right. Ooooh, I'll bet it's painfully cold right at the Falls.

20. Unabrow: Misadventures of a Late Bloomer by Una LaMarche. Books I Need To Read. Yes, that's the author on the cover, a little girl with a single, heavy brow. This is a memoir, a collection of essays about growing up awkwardly in New York City. The unibrow is the jumping off point, but she has plenty of other experiences to talk about, such as why, as a child, she became obsessed with Garrison Keillor and the musk oxen diorama at the Museum of Natural History, why she learned to drive at twenty-five, how she introduced alcohol to her playdate group and finding a job after getting a degree in film studies.
This is an ARC. LaMarche belongs to that group of young, funny women who get books about their childhoods published even though nobody's heard of them. Anyway, there's some funny stuff here. 4 stars

growing up awkwardly.

I love that phrase, and can so relate to it.... the awkward child bit, not the unabrow bit. ;-)

>78 mstrust: That sounds like a good memoir.

>79 lkernagh: I can relate to both. Thank heavens my mom let me wax my unabrow early on! I begged her please don't let me look like Leonid Brezhnev.

>79 lkernagh: I think most of us had something we felt awkward about, but hers was right on her face!

>80 luvamystery65: Looking at the cover, you'd assume the author was teased every day of her childhood, because that thing is brutal and there are pics of her as an older child that show it only got worse. But she says no one really said anything until she was nearly in high school, so things weren't so bad for her.

I really should have mentioned in my review that several chapters of the book are about her childbirth/parenting experiences, so things have worked out just fine for unibrow girl.

I just found out that today is National Margarita Day. It's official, so I must celebrate.

Now that sounds like something worth celebrating! Maybe a Mexican inspired dinner is called for to go along with the Margaritas. I bought some fairly ripe mangos today so I may just try Mango Margaritas - thanks for the inspiration. ;)

>82 mstrust: This sounds very tempting, especially the Kiwi Clementine and the Mango version, I should try that soon. Thanks for sharing! :)

>83 DeltaQueen50: > 84 I'm happy to encourage you! I happened to have a lot of strawberries on hand, so I made a strawberry margarita made with DIRTY tequila, which is made with cinnamon and pineapple, so a very flavorful drink.

Today is something called "Be Humble Day", which doesn't compute in my head.

I'm glad we live in a world where National Margarita Day exists. :)

I agree- now let's push for a National Champagne Day. Or does that double as Bastille Day? Or just Tuesdays?

I haven't seen last night's Downton Abbey yet, so the discussion will be a little delayed. In the meantime, here's a random book pic to look at.

My living room occasionally looks like that. When life gets stressful, I find it helps to rearrange all the books. All of them. One month I did that twice. I have learned that arranging books by spine color does result in a lovely room and then vast quantities of frustration when I needed a specific book.

My library looked like this pic before we had the bookshelves built. Everything was in stacks on the floor and I'd weave my way through.
I love re-arranging or cleaning my books, but I don't do it often enough. With over 3000 of them, it's become so daunting. And some of my shelves are too high for me so I need a little stool to get a book out.

Ready for some D.A.?
This episode was like a series of fires erupting all over the place and at the same time.

1. First, they mention O'Brien and I got all hopeful that she'd appear, but it didn't happen.

2. Not to be the only girl left out, Granny received a proposal from her Prince. So now, since she didn't express anything but shock, we have to see how she'll handle it.

3. Scotland Yard seems to possess supernatural abilities, since they put together a scenario with tiny scraps of conjecture and no (that the viewers sees) evidence. I expected that S.Y detective to do the Backstrom thing of "I'm you, I hate Mr. Green..." And could Anna's arrest have been any more dramatic with the whole household being present?

4. Rose's mother is an oaf. I admit that I knew Atticus was being set up with the tart, and once Siderby said he hadn't done it, I knew it was Rose's mother. She's just too miserable to allow anyone else to be happy. I was glad Tom was smart enough to know what was happening so soon.

5. Speaking of Tom, his leaving is the only thing that makes Mary's face crack.

6. So Rose got married. And even in the registry office, a family member caused a scene. Can't these people go anywhere and just be normal for a few minutes?

7. I did think Barrows would be the one to make that temp footman uncomfortable, but then drunky Danka was the bad one. How great was Barrows in riding to the rescue of the poor boy?

8. Anyone else tired of listening to Daisy lisp out her frustration to anyone who'll listen? Then she makes Mrs. Patmore cry.

9. Mary's great/bitchy line: "Let's all go for lunch on Wednesday. Even you, Edith."

10. Ahhh, Robert figures out Marigold. And his reaction is so underwhelming. And unrealistic. He couldn't even get worked up enough to storm away from a dinner table. Probably because it's just Edith.

11. Both Rose and Edith were dressed beautifully throughout the episode, and Mary wore a great black and white dress at lunch. I've noticed the incessant jangle of beaded jewelry this season.

>89 mstrust: Looks like DA is packing in lots of action to wrap up the season.

The Bates/Mr Green/Scotland Yard story has become completely silly. Unless Julian Fellowes is actually going to go somewhere with it...

Mary was getting so unnaturally affectionate with Tom that I expected a proposal of marriage - from Lady Mary of course!

The ladies' costumes were beautiful. There were a few episodes where they were looking kind of frumpy.

Good for Barrows! He's not all bad.

>90 VivienneR: That would be so great if Mary made a play for Tom. Of course he'd have the sense to shoot her down, which we'd all enjoy.
Agreed that the whole Scotland Yard thing is silly. First Mr. Bates is a killer, now tiny little Anna? Puh-leease.
In this episode, the only frumpy dress wasn't even shown fully. Cora wore it as she spoke to Robert, a black and charcoal thing with too much poofiness around the shoulders. It was ugly.
Barrows continues to surprise me each week. And now I wonder if Danka will still have a job.
Also, did Isis die? I know Robert had the man in for a pet tombstone, but did anyone mention that the dog had actually died?

There were so many shockers in this episode it was like a sweeps week episode of my soaps! Mrs. Patmore surely was on an emotional rollercoaster. Glad she ended the day on a happy note.

I cracked up when the prince proposed to Granny. What a hoot! I guess she would have no problem with a divorced man.

The last dress that Mary wore was stunning. It also showed how flat she is! She could have worn the dress backwards and no one would notice.

I think the police arrested Anna to scare Bates into confessing. Obviously they don't have a shred of evidence against Anna, and I think they know it; they're just hoping Bates will confess in order to save her (which is just the sort of thing I can imagine him doing).

I also liked Barrow unexpectedly saving the day with the new footman, although I can't help wondering whether he has an ulterior motive (maybe a crush?). This is why he's one of my favorite characters…he's 90% pure evil, but he has some unexpected kind spots.

Do we think Tom is going to leave Downton (and hence the show)? I'd be sorry to see him go, but if he stays, they need to do something with his character (besides throwing unsuitable women in his face, of course!).

>92 mamzel: For a woman raised to be calm no matter the situation, Granny's mouth was hanging open wide enough to catch flies. I think both she and the Prince are hoping the Princess is actually dead, or maybe I'm reading too much into her slight expressions.
In the 20's those flapper dresses required a corset that bound the chest down. If the D.A. ladies are having to do that, I feel sorry for them and they deserve extra pay. But Mary is really thin to begin with so maybe she's happy as can be. I noticed they had Edith in a reddish-orange dress that she looks so good in. That hadn't let her wear that color since her days with Gregson.

>93 christina_reads: Oh, that's a good theory for a bad story line. I hadn't thought of Mrs Bates as bait.

The reason I thought Barrows would be a problem for the footman was the brief scene when Barrows is explaining the duties and reaches over to smooth the footman's tie. It made the guy look at Barrow's with fright, ha! Barrows has turned out to be a character with more layers than most of them.

I really like Tom, but it is hard to place him. If he stays so that Sibby can be with her family, he gives up being the working man he was raised to be. If he leaves, his daughter loses her right to be part of this grand family. I don't know what they'll do with him but I hope he doesn't get written off.

21. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Flavor of the Month. Snowman is possibly the last human left, though he isn't alone. He's the caretaker of a group of human-like creatures who have sun-resistant skin, who have been bred to need no love, war or religion. But through Snowman's stories, they are in awe of Crake, their maker. They also give thanks to Oryx, the woman who gave them the animals.
Snowman was once a man named Jimmy, and Oryx was a victim of child trafficking who eventually became Jimmy's girlfriend. Crake was Jimmy's friend since childhood, when they grew up in the same compound. Crake had always made Jimmy feel inferior, and as they grew older and went into different careers, Jimmy saw that Crake was a genius rising to the top of his science compounds, but Jimmy knew that Crake had less of a conscious than he let on. Dystopian and scary, yet a memoir of a life too.
4 stars

22. Toast: the story of a boy's hunger by Nigel Slater. Food A series of short personal memories, mostly food related. Some are sweet, as Slater remembers his mother's awful cooking with fondness, and after her death, his father's attempts to feed his son and comfort him. Some memories are steeped in anger or anxiety, especially when a new woman entered his father's life, and some food memories deal with his happiness upon starting his culinary career.
Very intimate and very English, I enjoyed this nearly as much as my previous read from the author, Eating for England. There are lots of mentions of foods and kitchen equipment I'm unfamiliar with, so I Googled.

This is a damson, which is a type of plum.


Here greengages, another plum variety:


These are pickled walnuts,
which I guess are a snack food:

Today is Elizabeth Taylor's birthday. In an age when a blonde on a magazine cover was guaranteed money, Taylor was known to be the only brunette whose pic would sell out an issue.

They don't any better looking than she was in her prime!

That's a very glamorous photo!

Apparently Angela Lansbury played Elizabeth Taylor's sister in National Velvet, which was released 71 years ago. Whoa.

>96 mstrust: Just been hit by a BB. Growing up in the UK I am familiar with greengages and damsons. We always made jam with them. Pickled walnuts I haven't tried because they look disgusting.

>97 mstrust: No one can match Elizabeth Taylor's beauty. Talented too.

>96 mstrust:
I got that one from World Book Night a few years back, but haven't read it yet. But I love damsons - YUM!

>100 VivienneR:
They do look terrible, don't they. I've not tried them either.

>98 DeltaQueen50: I agree! She was stunning.

>99 rabbitprincess: There are no shortages of glamorous photos of her, it's just a matter of which to use. An interesting fact is that her famously violet eyes were actually a very deep blue that showed up violet under the studio lighting.
That is a very long time ago. I watch a lot of old movies, but I haven't seen "National Velvet" yet.

>100 VivienneR: Yes, the author never ate pickled walnuts either because of the look, but they were a favorite of his father's. Yecch!
I never understood why Taylor had the reputation for being a bad actress. Even as a child she did very well. Haters.

>101 -Eva-: Slater loves them too. Some day maybe I'll get to try one. I love discovering new fruits. Another thing I had to look up were "butterfly" cakes, which turn out to be cupcakes with pieces of batter arranged to look like butterfly wings. Or is there a taste difference?
I think any walnut that has been pickled long enough to make the shell black and soft is older then I am.

Butterfly cakes are the same as any other fairy cake until you get to the decorations. In fairy cakes, you ice the top. In a butterfly cake, you slice the top off and cut it in half. With a slob of cream on the cut surface you pop the two halves into the cream so it looks like wings. Exactly the same recipe as for fairy cakes, but you ice fairy cakes. It's called making one mixture work hard for you ;-)

We had a greengage tree in the garden. I made greengage jam one year. It tasted exactly the same as any other plum jam, but it looked really odd, being a very different colour.

I make butterfly cakes often, fill them with a lemon curd and sprinkle icing sugar on top. This is my granddaughter's favorite treat.

>103 Helenliz: I can imagine that green jam would be a little off-putting! But I wouldn't mind trying a fresh one.

>104 DeltaQueen50: That looks really good! I'd eat both. I like lemon cakes and pies but Mike won't touch them. The only lemon dessert he'll eat is Jamie Oliver steamed lemon pudding.
Speaking of Mike, I've just pulled a cinnamon coffee cake out of the oven; he's been after me all week to make it.
Tonight's dinner is vegetable chowder made with potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots. fresh parsley white wine and lime juice.

>105 mstrust: The skins stay a yellow colour, but the flesh goes a sort of peach colour. So it wasn't a virulent yellow/green, but somehow the colour certainly didn't match the flavour.

I will avoid the pickled walnuts as I am not much of a picked food fan but I will take a bowl of chowder!

>106 Helenliz: Might be fun to make people guess "what is it?" I've had homemade plum jam, made with regular old purple plums, and it was delicious.

>107 lkernagh: I'd avoid the pickled walnuts too. Looking at them makes me think they'd smell really badly.
But people like strange things if they grew up with them. My dad's treat was to crumble homemade cornbread, the bitter kind, into a tall glass of buttermilk and eat it with a spoon, like a sundae. Gross.
The chowder turned out really well. I've been cooking my soups and stews just halfway, then putting them in the fridge to develop the flavors before cooking again. Time consuming, I know, but the flavors are as good as when you leave it overnight.

>96 mstrust: Those damsons look good.

>104 DeltaQueen50: Judy, Those look amazing. I love lemon curd. Would you consider sharing your recipe?

My mom used to buy a very good English lemon curd from her grocery store in California. Sweet with tang.
My computer is down right now due to the rain. When it's working I'll comment on the first hour of dowton.

O.k., internet's back.

D.A. discussion for the first hour- I'll put up the discussion for the second hour tomorrow. Can you believe it's the season finale already?

1. I still say Cora and Robert's attitude towards their daughter having an illegitimate child is is so unrealistic it makes me splutter. How about some authenticity, at least at first? They could grow used to the idea, but this understanding right off the bat is out of place with the times.

2. Didn't you know Mr. Stole was so in for it when he talked to Barrow that way? And then to have Mary basically say "Unleash the hounds!" was a dream come true. Barrow's smiles in this episode seem unusually tight as he's holding the demonic laughter in.

3. And then we've got Spratt again and he's clearly trying to get Danker fired. As she should be. Yet I don't like Spratt any better and hope he gets fired too. I guess Granny hasn't heard about Danker's drunken singing yet.

4. And Isobel and Merton are still together. For now.

5. After all this talk about finding the Princess, I really didn't think they'd give us one. But they have, and I wonder why anyone would go searching for her.

6. Is Robert being set-up for a heart attack? I think so.

7. Edith finally takes a jab at Mary with, "Poor Mary. She hates the idea of being left behind while everyone else is getting on with their lives." And Mary answers, "It's not that. It's the idea of being left behind with you." I think Edith was probably pushed down the stairs a lot as children.

8. And why does Edith still have long curls? It would have been very unfashionable for a woman her age.

9. So Mary insults Edith then immediately tells a stranger that he's unwelcome. Of course he'll fall in love with her.

10. It looks like the house thing between Carson and Hughes was business rather than romance. Pity.

11. Snotty Siderby messed with the wrong footman.

And I've just seen that Maggie Smith will be leaving after next season!

>109 thornton37814: Lori, I will post my recipe over on your thread so I don't tie up Jennifers'!

>111 mstrust: Note after item 11: !!!! They might as well end the show!

>112 DeltaQueen50: I wouldn't have minded a good lemon recipe of any kind!

>113 rabbitprincess: Isn't that a surprise? She says the character has gone as far as she can go. It wouldn't feel the same. And there's a rumor that Fellowes may wrap things up after six seasons.

Also, what did you think of TWD? Specifically, Hunky Sheriff Rick. Andrew Lincoln doesn't usually do anything for me, but in this episode, whoa!

I hope Fellowes does wrap things up on a high note rather than let the show wither and die.

>115 rabbitprincess: I think the expression they use is "jumping the shark" for shows that go on for more seasons than they should have.

I was so surprised that Mary went so far as to let Thomas seek revenge for Tom. I just wish that something other than dragging that poor woman and son into the middle of the party could have been done. Yes, it had a positive result for Rose, but still...

Why was I under the impression that there was to be some fatal accident this episode? I was on the edge of my seat keeping my eyes open for the moment the whole show (not necessarily a bad thing). I was sure there would be an accident at the shootings the way the women stood around blathering while barrages of men shot at one poor unfortunate bird.

With Violet's late proposal failing I'm glad Carson and Mrs. Hughes are tying the knot!

When will the Anna and Bates troubles end????

1. I can't wait until Mary finds out she is the very last to figure out what's going on with Marigold. I hope she chokes on a finger sandwich.

2. Got to the point in the Jaws theme when the French horns come in!

8. Edith with her hair down looked so very wrong!

I amazed and pleased that Maggie Smith has continued this far with her career. She is so impressive!

>115 rabbitprincess: Scrape away a year's worth of filth, gore and hair and he's gorgeous, isn't he? It's nice to see his face again. Now if they'd only given Daryl a shower scene too.
I don't know, this Deanna seems creepy too. Her eyes are too small and she smiles through everything she says. And she was a politician. I think Carol is being very smart and Daryl is being too openly distrustful.

More D.A. talk: Second half.

1. Mr. Bates makes an obviously false confession. Which sends Mr. Moseley into Sherlock Holmes mode. And he turns out to be very good at it!

2. Rose must be very desperate to be liked by Sinderby if she saves him like that. But it would be difficult to get married and have to live with your in-laws, so she was likely thinking of what would make him hate her a little less. And like Moseley, she was successful.

3. And Sinderby is an even bigger jerk than we thought. Eventually Atticus will find out he has a half-brother. Probably after the old man kicks and the will is read.

4. Robert has an ulcer rather than heart problems. Good. Now he'll get incredibly wasted on two ounces of champagne. And maybe Tom won't be around to save him.

5. Is Tom really going to leave? He's doing all the heavy lifting for this family. Who will confront Edith politely while dancing, who will get Mary to pull her claws in for three minutes at a time?

6. At last, we get Granny's whole sordid story. Which makes me wonder again, why would she make such an effort to find the Princess when she could have finally been with the Prince?

7. Is Isobel sleepwalking, because she seems like she's barely interested in what's going on.

8. Carson loves Mrs. Hughes! And she loves him! I hope we have a wedding.

9. Bates creeps in for Christmas. Who knows what they'll do to that couple next year. Yes, it's only just started and now we have 10 months of waiting to find out.



Another show ended last night- The Great British Baking Show. After 10 weeks of competing, making cakes, breads and pastries, Nancy won.....a cake plate?
Really?

>116 mamzel: Looks like we were pondering at the same time. I'm also anxious to see Mary's reaction when she finds out about Marigold. Hopefully she'll keep to character rather than dissolve into mush the way the parents have.
And I was waiting for someone to get shot too. It seemed to have been a perfect opportunity for murder. I saw an episode of "Midsomer Murders" that did just that.

23. The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom. World Authors. Herman Mussert, the cold, arrogant writer of a popular series of Dutch travel books, wakes up one morning not in Amsterdam, but in Lisbon. He can't remember how he got there, or why his pockets are full of Portuguese money and why the hotel staff seems unfazed by his presence. This is not his first time in Lisbon though, as many years before he had a brief affair here with a married colleague who had refused to become emotionally attached.
Trying to find his way home, Mussert boards a ferry, along with a handful of others, and thinks back to the days when he was a teacher of Greek and Latin. These, along with Ovid and Socrates, have been his only loves and he often fantasizes about being among the Gods.

Only 115 pages, but this book is more challenging than most. It dips in and out of surrealism, with Mussert going from the teacher of his beloved Greek myths to becoming lost in his powerful fantasies, from recalling his mistakes to taking the eerie ferry ride that never seems to end. 3.5 stars

The Following Story has a wonderful cover.

>111 mstrust:, >116 mamzel:, >117 mstrust: - I thought Edith looked lovely with her hair down. Too bad the fashion of the day wouldn't allow her to go out in public without pinning up her hair. I teared up when Mary, Edith, and Tom were in the nursery, holding hands and praying to Sybil. I'm trying to imagine Mrs Hughes and Carson married but I'm having trouble even imagining them calling each other by their first names. Mary will implode when she finds out that everyone but her knew about Marigold.
I've read that season/series 6 will be the last.

>120 RidgewayGirl: I agree-creepy yet beautiful.

>121 VioletBramble: I thought Edith looked pretty with her hair down too. But for that time, it would have signaled that she was an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy to not have cut her long hair. I'll bet Mary makes fun of her for it. ; )
We go so long without a mention of Sybil or Matthew or Daisy's Albert (?) that it's like they are forgotten. I can't even remember that sweet footman's name now.
In my mind, they will carry on calling each other Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes, or maybe just Mister and Missus, you know, when they're being affectionate.

It wouldn't surprise me if next season is the last. Who knows what year they'll be in next but the era of the grand houses is coming to an end in their timeline, Smith is leaving, the actors are now so recognizable and I'm sure they want to get in the movies or whatever.

>117 mstrust: I commented to my BF that if Daryl had had a shower scene, large sections of the Internet would probably have exploded ;)

>123 rabbitprincess: O.k., now I think they have to give us a Daryl shower scene before the show ends. And a scene where Abraham gets his tank torn off. I'd be happy with that.
I saw this one a while ago and I still think it's funny:

Just catching up on the "Downton Abbey" talk! I have also heard that the next (6th) season will be the last, which I think is a good thing. Much as I enjoy the show, I want it to go out on a positive note! (Although part of me wishes we'd get all the way into World War II…but they'd have to age the actors an awful lot!) I was also expecting some sort of fatality in this episode, but I'm glad we (mostly) had only warm fuzzies instead! Also, I hope we see much more of Matthew Goode in the next season. :)

I would also like to see them getting around that time too. It would be interesting to see how they manage, or don't manage, with the war and rationing and the lack of servants. Even with things like cloth and stockings being rationed, I'm sure the ladies would find a way to be glamorous.

Maybe, if the show ends next year they could do a special and have the next generation - George, Syby, Marigold, (and any others that come along) - as the main characters and set it during WW II. That way we could catch up with the family and see what changes have taken place at Downton Abbey. Can you imagine seeing Lady Mary as a grandmother!! Or perhaps Mary's son, George, could meet and fall in love with a daughter whose parents worked as servants at Downton Abbey (The Bates? Daisy?) What fun!

The next generation is a great idea. Here's my impression of Mary as a grandmother: " Do not put your sticky fingers on Grandmama. I'll hug you after your bath. If you've been good."
Since British shows seem to do Christmas specials so often, even after a show has been gone awhile, it's not such a longshot.

We spent the morning at the zoo. It was great weather for it, and aside from the hundreds of screaming schoolchildren, it was a good time.

24. Barren Grounds: The Story of the Tragic Moffatt Canoe Trip by Skip Pessl. History. A recounting of an infamous 1950's canoe trip that ended in the death of its leader. This is an ER.
Art Moffatt was an experienced canoer and outdoorsman who wanted to make a nature film along Canada's Dubawnt River. He gathered fellow canoers, hikers and an ex-Army man for a total of six young men, almost all Ivy League college students. At thirty-six, Moffatt was the group elder and leader with the most wilderness experience. This book by survivor Pessl, takes his and another member's journal entries, written along the journey, to show the struggle through freezing temperatures, blizzards, rain, boredom and infractions with the food supply.
Surprisingly, hunger wasn't the major issue. They carried enough for the trip, though much was lost due to water damage, but hunted all along the way. The major cause of their tragedy, as Pessl states in his epilogue, is that they didn't factor in the harsh winter-like temperatures that began in early Fall, and the high caloric food they should have brought in order to remain energetic. 3.5 stars

>127 DeltaQueen50: I seem to remember a very brief (one season?) show which took place in London that could have been a future DA but for the life of me I can't remember the name and a scroll through Masterpiece Theater titles didn't ring any bells.

Maybe the attempt to re-do Upstairs Downstairs? It may still be running, but in my area it only ran for a couple of episodes.

Finally got to watch DA and loved it. Barrow got to be evil but in a good way. The proposal was so sweet! I was a bit annoyed with the sudden revelations of Anna and Mrs. Hughes, bit since in the case of Mrs. Hughes it got us to the proposal I'm okay with it. Intrigued by the prospective new beaus for Mary and Edith. Also, loved Edith's long hair. Really showed how pretty she is. Also, Molelsly and Baxter are too sweet.

>129 mstrust: I read another book on the same topic called Death on the Barrens, written by one of the members of the group, George James Grinnell. It was interesting and I wouldn't mind reading this one as well to compare the accounts.

>132 LittleTaiko: Moseley and Baxter do make a good team. If D.A. has a spin-off it could be them as private eyes.

>133 RidgewayGirl: Practically the whole epilogue of Barren Grounds is Pessl pointing out the lies he says Grinnell told in Death on the Barrens. I haven't read it, but Pessl is very adamant that Grinnell made up or exaggerated really key points of the story, and uses the journal and conversations with the other survivors to back his own version up. Truth may lie somewhere inbetween.

Michelangelo's birthday! Send a card!

>119 mstrust:
I just started reading his Rituals and I'm not sure where it is all going, but I already know it too will be "more challenging than most." :)

You'll have to let me know what you think when you're done. I wouldn't mind reading another from him, as the ending of The Following Story had a haunting quality.

Gratuitous book pic. I have no idea who the man is, but he has a great library.

>127 DeltaQueen50: Great idea! It reminds me of The Forsyte Saga by Galsworthy. I didn't see all of the most recent series (about 2004?) but I remember very well the wonderful series that aired in the late sixties, with Eric Porter as Soames.

The Forsyte Saga is one of those that has a great reputation and I've never come across the book or movie. It must be hiding from me.



We went to the Aloha Festival in Tempe yesterday and ate, of course. We shared a big plate of kalua pork with yakisoba noodles, a fresh coconut of coconut water (nasty) and strawberry lemonade. I got a bottle of Hawaiian honey-scented body and hair oil, which smells delicious. We only stayed about 90 minutes because it was too hot for me, so we went to Mill Ave and I found a little used bookstore, very tiny and run by a husband and wife who are so nice. I have one pic of the shop to post later.


25. The Torn Branch by Arthur Upfield. Mystery. Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is sent to the outback of New South Wales to investigate the murders of two men. The area has suffered a long drought, leaving the animals barely alive and the owners of the sheep station where one body was found on the edge of ruin. When the other body proves to be the missing hired hand from the same station, Bony looks for clues from the owners, the local government agents and the tribe of Aborigines that live nearby.
Because of the isolated location, this is pretty much a "locked room" mystery even though much of the action happens in the outback. It seems like the answer is easy to figure out, but there's a hard to foresee twist. Looks like this book was also published under the title "Bony and the Black Virgin".3.5 stars

Coconut water sounds delish. Sorry to hear it didn't live up to the promise.

Project Gutenberg has all of Galsworthy's books. There are several in the series and they should be read in order as the story is spread over generations. I've never seen the old tv series available anywhere. It was the DA of the times although I'm not sure it made it to the US.

Coconut water does sound like it would taste of coconut, doesn't it? The few cans of it that I've tried have been nasty, but I assumed the makers had done something to it. Nope, fresh coconut water tastes of salty dish water.
Thanks for reminding me about Project Gutenberg, as I used to have it bookmarked, but after a few viruses and a new computer, but I'd pretty much forgotten about it.

Before the advent of canned coconut water, I was with my daughter in St. Thomas. A street vendor was opening coconuts and pouring out the water into cups so I bought some for her. When the water sprung up on market shelves, I pointed out to her that we were ahead of the curve on this fad!

BTW, water straight from a ripe coconut only has a slight coconut flavor. It has a slightly salty flavor which can be a little disconcerting if you expect a full-on sweet coconut flavor.

Yes, I love coconut, but I'll avoid the water completely from now on. Unless I get stranded on an island.
I guess I'll have to make some kind of coconut and rum cocktail soon. Tiki stuff puts me in the mood for it.


26. Woman in the Dark by Dashiell Hammett. Mystery. A mysterious woman with a hurt ankle appears at Brazil's house late one night. He's never seen her before but she's clearly frightened, and soon two men arrive and try to coax her away. Brazil has some experience with guys like this, so he knows how to sneak her away to a good hideout.
Originally published in three magazine installments, this novella was somehow lost for twenty years. It's a decent story that has tension and little flashes of humor. 3 stars

A lost work by Hammett? This I need to get. BB taken.

It was a surprise to me too. How does a Hammett get lost? It seems like it means it was forgotten.

Here's that pic of the bookstore in Tempe. It's called Old Town Books and it's a little wider than a corridor and has a very pretty window with books displayed.

27. Stories for Nighttime and Some for The Day by Ben Loory. American Authors. A collection of short stories. Here, everything is alive and emotional, such as the sea and a house on a cliff who long for each other. Animals talk, aliens exist and people meet through weird circumstances because they were meant to. Some really stuck with me, like "The Octopus", where the nephews come from the sea to visit their city Uncle and remind him what he left behind, or "The Knife Act", about two friends who suddenly decide to form a knife-throwing act and find out the hard way that they have no talent for it.
The writing style is extremely minimalist; you'll find very little backstory or character development. And the endings tend to be less about closure, leaving the reader with a feeling that the author was just done with that particular story. It's the unusual, sometimes bizarre, plots the author sets up that I admire. 3 stars

You've probably heard that Terry Prachett has died. That's very young to be taken by Alzheimer's.
It's also Jack Kerouac's birthday. Here's just a couple of minutes of him reading the ending of One The Road, so, spoilers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MjPtem6ZbE

>146 mstrust: I have an appointment at the dentist today. :(

Oh, no! Good luck and I hope it's over quickly!

Good Lord.... I didn't even register that today was Friday the 13th. And here I was finding it strange that I was wide awake at 3:00 am and decided to just get up and face the day.

That's a bad start to any day. I hope it got better for you.
My Friday the 13th was quiet and pleasant and no planes flew into my house, so can't complain. Mike even brought dinner home.


28. Tiger at the Gates by Jean Giraudoux. Translated by Christopher Fry. World Authors. With the Greeks and war approaching, the Trojans have varying attitudes about the cause of it and the plan of action. Paris is ready to fight, as are the elders, Helen doesn't care one way or another, Andromache is terrified and Hector, the warrior, is willing to do anything to avoid it as he doesn't believe Helen is worth the trouble.
A dramedy first performed in 1955 with Michael Redgrave as Hector, the play gives these famous characters some surprisingly different views. Helen is vain and hungry for fame, but also introspective at times and very much in control of her life. Paris is shown as thoughtless and irresponsible, Hecuba and Cassandra are jaded and blunt in their assessments, Ajax is a drunk and the wise elders of Troy believe that writing a war song and forcing the troops to practice hurling insults to the enemy will win the war. 3 stars

Michael Redgrave as Hector:

Random book pic:

What a comfy space.

What is up with Michael Redgrave's beard?!

Makes the chin look all jutty, doesn't it? I've seen many instances of ancient men sporting a pointing beard, but I don't know if it was just in that Greek/Roman part of the world, or if it represented a certain social class. Seems to show up in a lot of the vase and pottery paintings.

Yesterday felt so empty without a new episode of DA. Fortunately, KQED had an all-day marathon of the last season. I only watched a couple.

I miss it too. And I hate how long the wait is between seasons. Get on with it, people!

But I have "The Walking Dead" to console myself with for a few more weeks, though they have a more brutal way of writing a character off the show. Last night's episode was rough.

I haven't seen Downtown Abbey since Matthew died. With your recaps, I feel all caught up. :-)

Glad to be your narrator! Or is it Cliff Notes provider?

What's everybody doing tonight?

29. Life of Richard Savage by Dr. Samuel Johnson. Bio. Savage was a mediocre poet and contemporary of Johnson, who published this biography of Savage in 1744, soon after the poet's death. The information about Savage's life has to have come mostly from himself, supplied over the course of long conversations in the tavern. The reader might expect a biography of a poet, especially from this time period, to be romanticized and dull. But this is Johnson, and he lists Savage's commendations on one hand, then relays the many more faults of the man with the other.
Savage was born to a woman of aristocracy, but his father was one of several possibilities. From her immediate rejection of her baby, along with her openness as to her promiscuous behavior, and if it's to be believed, her attempt to sell the boy into slavery, she was mentally unhinged, which gave Savage a horrible start in life. Revenge against her became a huge part of his adult life. Once he began writing, exposing her treatment towards him made it's way into just about everything he published, including a widely distributed poem entitled The Bastard and even a birthday poem to Queen Anne, in which he wrote:

Two fathers join'd to rob my claim of one!
My mother too thought fit to have no son!

When Savage wrote, it was for one of two reasons-immediate money or revenge. He drank heavily and there are several instances given where he threatened to publish a reputation-ruining poem unless given the money he demanded. His image of himself was much grander than his reputation as a poet or person, and this led to his incessantly hitting up friends for money without any feeling that he was expected to pay it back. He pushed people to do favors for him, leading one to say that they had spoken to the King on his behalf, and had been promised that Savage would be the next Poet Laureate, a supposed promise that Savage really on heavily. When another poet was named Laureate, Savage named himself "Volunteer Laureate" and published under this title for a time, even though he was confronted by the actual Laureate.

About halfway through this book, which is the length of a novella, I began to wonder if this was a parody because Savage is so self-absorbed, such an unbelievable leech, that I wondered if I was reading fiction. Nope, it's real. Then I wondered if Johnson had actually liked him at all, as each reason or excuse for Savage's oafish behavior is countered immediately with how the man went on, in any given situation, to make things so much worse. This is superb. The combination of Savage's ability to stomp on everyone's charitable intentions and Johnson's ability to write about his friend with a critical eye is a very entertaining read. Recommended! 4.5 stars

Here's his pic:

I'm sure you already had this on your calender, but it's National Chocolate Caramel Day! Finally!

Apples are a nutritious snack.

In less delicious news, I'm going to a Coyotes game tonight. It will be the second hockey game I've been to in my life, but the first was fun.

Have fun at the game! My poster once made it on to national tv, when the Coyotes were in the playoffs. I was a little nuts. There was a goaltender named Nikolai Khabibulin that my best friend and I were wild for. Good times.

Wow, you must have been a big fan! I couldn't name a single player or any of the rules, but it will be cool inside the arena and there might be a good fight. On the ice.

We had a good time at the game. Our tickets had been a gift from a season pass holder, so we were about 15 rows up from the rink. And outside the arena is a doughnut shop called The Fractured Prune, where I was able to have a cake donut dipped in a blackberry glaze and topped with cinnamon sugar. Score!

I was trying to save this book for Autumn, but I so wanted to read it.


30. The Maple Syrup Book by Janet Eagleson & Rosemary Hasner. Food and Travel. Filled with lovely pictures of maple groves, sugaring shacks, the sugaring process and maple foods, this book begins with the Native American's discovery of maple sap, the transition from early tapping to modern machinery, and the history of both Canadian and New England sugaring and sugar shacks. There are instructions for tapping back yard maple trees, and the maple flavor wheel, used in the industry for evaluating syrup, is explained. The way I rate books like this is to ask myself if someone, who knows nothing about the subject before, would be well-informed after reading just that book.4.5 stars
There's a section of recipes which includes this:

Grandma Pym's Maple Nut Creme Pudding

2 cups milk 1 cup maple syrup
2 eggs 2 tbs. corn starch
pinch salt 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup cream

Heat 1 & 3/4 c. of the milk with the syrup in a double boiler. Combine remaining milk with cornstarch and salt. Add to hot mixture. stirring constantly. Cook approximately two minutes.
Take a little of the milk mixture and beat into the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the double boiler and cook four minutes.
Pour into individual dishes and sprinkle with the nuts. Eat hot or chill in the fridge.

I love maple, and one of my favorite maple products are the maple sugar candies:

Mmmmm maple! I had maple tea this morning, since spring has arrived (although nobody gave the memo to Mother Nature; it's snowing today).

Maple tea is a new one to me! What brand is it, please?
It's bright and sunny here, but we did have a wonderful rainy day on Thursday.

I got mine from The Tea Store in Ottawa: http://teastore-3.myshopify.com/collections/black-tea-flavoured-black-teas/produ...
I've also seen a few brands of it at places like sugar shacks and Canadian souvenir stores.

Thanks for that link, princess. I see they have a Maple Cream flavor too, but they aren't ones for descriptions, are they? They are the Ron Swanson of tea!
I never got to a sugar shack and so wish I had. I'd love to try the maple taffy they make in the snow.
I bought a little syrup in Montreal but we were on such a long trip that I bought most of my "from the source" stuff in Vermont. I did get some of the maple sugar candy, which has to be fresh and tender or it's like trying to chew through a rock.

I went to public school in Ottawa (many, many years ago) and in those days it was mandatory to have a school trip to a maple shack. One of the highlights of the trip was eating the candy that was made by pouring the warm syrup over the snow.

How lucky! I've seen the syrup on snow and it looks delicious. I can imagine how good those shacks must smell.
Not that I have room to complain, as I grew up so close to Disneyland and that was a field trip for us once. We were suppose to be learning music appreciation.

Hands down, you win! I would have much rathered a trip to Disneyland. :)

All this talk of all things maple has reminded me that I still have half a mini jug of maple syrup in the fridge waiting to be used in... something. ;-)

I would have loved a field trip to Disneyland!

>169 DeltaQueen50: >170 lkernagh: It was fun. When people hear how close I grew up to Disneyland, they think I must have been there a lot. It was more like once every other year, so it was a big deal for me too.

>170 lkernagh: I made myself hungry too. I had to make a batch of cookies for a friend for tomorrow, so I took a favorite lemon butter cookie recipe, left out the lemon, added maple syrup, maple flavoring, rolled them into balls then dipped them in maple sugar, then flattened them on the baking sheet. They turned out delicious, just like I'd hoped.

'Experimental' cookies are the best! YUM!

You bet! I've also used this cookie recipe with a lime substitution and it was great too.


31. Pufnstuf & Other Stuff: The Weird and Wonderful World of Sid & Marty Krofft by David Martindale. Food, Travel, T.V. If you were a kid in America in the 70's, you likely watched the Krofft line-up on Saturday mornings. "H.R. Pufnstuf", "The Bugaloos", "Lidsville", "Land of the Lost", "Sigmund the Sea Monster", the list goes on. They were later the creators of prime time shows too, like "The Donny and Marie Show", and the infamously bad "The Brady Bunch Hour" and "Pink Lady and Jeff", which has been labeled the worst show ever made.
But it's the children's shows that have made the Kroffts famous, and Martindale has a chapter for each hit show, with interviews with the actors, photos and the Krofft's memories of how such weird shows got on the air and the hard work it took to keep them on. The question everyone who has seen these shows, "How much drugs were involved in the making of these shows?" is answered: none. Sid Krofft turns out to be a weird, childlike, and egotistical guy who turned his daydreams into highly popular kids shows. For a kid who was completely mesmerized by these shows, this book is a fantastic find. 4.5 stars

Here's the "Mechanical Boy" song from Pufnstuf:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_7WIt9A9gA

And here's a clip from "The Brady Bunch Hour". Good lord, it's bad. Poor Mr. Brady.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR9u9efiNvg

>167 DeltaQueen50: Me, too, Judy!

Maple sugar candy is delicious! When a close friend visited me recently, her mother sent me some hard maple candies. I am doling them out to myself as slowly as I possibly can.

I have yet to try the hard candies that are only maple syrup, but I will. I've had a hard maple candy lollipop that had shreds of smoked bacon embedded in it, and it was really good. And I don't blame you for rationing your candies, as it's not something most of us come across easily.

A beautiful place for a nap:

32. The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West. American Authors. Tod Hackett works as an artist for a Hollywood movie studio, but his mind and energy are always on Faye Greener, a teenage extra. To be in love with Faye is torture, as she has plenty of men after her and a father who was a stage comic but is now just annoying. The main problem with Faye is that she cares for no one, only her dreams of becoming a star.
Showing the hazards of celebrity with its crushed hopes and the fans who will form a mob to get near fame, this is a brilliantly written story, almost a noir with its femme fatale who leaves misery behind her. This would have been a 5 star for me if it weren't for a very graphic cockfight scene. I want to read West's other novels now. 4.5 stars

>173 mstrust: - I loved H.R. Pufnstuff. My parents took me to see the Sid and Marty Kroftt Review at Madison Square Garden when I was 9. So much fun.

Finally, someone else who grew up under their influence!
That's so great that you got to see the live show, and they do discuss those a bit in the book. I know they played at least once at the Hollywood Bowl, which was near us.
I was really surprised to learn that H.R. P. series was only 17 episodes long. That's it. And they went on the air at an earlier date than I thought, so when I was watching it, it must have been the re-runs. The network ran it continuously on Saturday mornings for a few years.



A close runner-up for my heart were The Bugaloos, because they were a rock band!


And today is my 8th LThingaversary! Because I hit that giant booksale last month, I've only bought myself one anniversary gift, a book of the movies of Oliver Reed. Gonna look at the pretty pictures.

Happy thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary! :)

Happy Thingaversary, Jennifer. I admire your restraint.

Hurray, happy Thingaversary! The giant book sale was an excellent early present.

>180 MissWatson: >181 AHS-Wolfy: >182 Chrischi_HH: Thank you! Eight years have gone by fast!

>183 RidgewayGirl: Thanks! It's true, I did have to restrain myself. I re-organized my shelves again a few weeks ago, so squeezing in the new book will be like having just one wafer thin mint.

>184 rabbitprincess: Thanks, and that's exactly how I think of it! Buying 30 books so recently makes it difficult to justify another binge so soon, though I'm sure I could talk myself into anything if I wanted it badly enough ; )

Wow for 8 years with LT and Happy Thingaversary!

Thank you, Lori! Before LT, I would have never seen myself reading 100 books a year.

I always wonder how many I did read before I actually started keeping track!

Happy 8th Thingaversary! I love all your random book collection photos.

>188 mamzel: I know! I never counting my reads before, but with the endless variety of ways to organize your books on LT, I can't help but count them now. I can say with all certainty that LT makes me read more and gives me a much larger pool to pick from.

>189 Roro8: Thanks! I love looking at beautiful rooms of books, filled bookcases, big piles of books... so I'm glad you're enjoying the pics because I do too!

33. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Flavor of the Month. New Oxford student Charles Ryder knows no one at his new school, until he meets Sebastian Flyte, a young man from an aristocratic family who is much more worldly than Charles. The two quickly become inseparable, and Charles is introduced to Sebastian's family with its scandal and deep religious conflicts, and they soon have Charles enveloped in their secrets and family squabbles. 4.5 stars

This was my month for Waugh, but I only managed one from him. At least it was a good one.

And here's an example of how easily I'm influenced. Brideshead Revisited has many, many mentions of limes, lime trees, the scent of lime blossoms... I dropped by Target today for Easter candy and found Lime Delight Peeps. They have a flavor that reminds me of Yoplait's Key Lime Pie yogurt. It's actually pretty good.

More gorging news:

We stopped by The Pop Shoppe last night, which is just around the corner from us. For a couple of years we've been buying small, regional sodas from Rocket Burgers next door, but their selection of over 200 sodas has been so popular that they created a separate little store next door, bought the logo to a business that existed in Scottsdale for many years, and expanded their soda selection. So we stopped in and bought 30 sodas at once, because that's what you do.

Waialua Pineapple


This is made in Hawaii using a mix of cane sugar and "Maui natural white cane sugar" and natural flavoring. As much as all that sounds great, the flavor is underwhelming. It's so mild that it tastes like a pineapple core rather than the fruit.

And today is Nelson Algren's birthday. Such a great writer, and one of those that are a mystery as to how they could be widely read and respected in their lifetime, then forgotten within just a generation or two. Jeez, even clicking on his name doesn't take you to his body of work. No respect!

You are unable to convince me to try Peeps, even though the Lime Delight Peeps sound interesting.

I have fantastic memories of The Pop Shoppe... that and Pic-a-Pop. When I was growing up, Saturday shopping included going to the 'soda store' as we called it. I loved the huge warehouse setup, the red carrying crates and the whole pic your pop set up. We all got to choose our favorite flavours - mine were lemon lime and black bing cherry sodas. Great memories!

I remember the Pop Shoppe from when I was a kid too! I think my favorite was the cherry and root beer. Now this pop shop is not that pop shop, though they do sell The Pop Shoppe sodas. I don't know how it all works out, but this Pop Shoppe has a different logo. But I'm very happy they exist and they're so close. Because I love sugar. I've never seen Pic-a-Pop before.

You must hate marshmallow, but I'm a fan. Especially stale ones. But I admit that I'm over the regular sugar crusted Peeps.

Mom made homemade root beer so I wasn't too keen on the 'store bought' stuff. As for marshmallows, I am kind of particular. I love the whole marshmallow and an open fire concept, in fact, I became quite the expert as a child at creating and then eating layers of golden cooked marshmallow off of the marshmallow attached to my cooking stick but beyond that and Rice Krispies Squares, I am not a big marshmallow fan.

Homemade root beer would be the best. There's a guy who shows up at the local street fairs with homemade root beer and it's delicious.
I've kind of gotten tired of plain old marshmallows, but I like trying all the new flavors that are coming out. The birthday cake Peeps are pretty good and I liked the raspberry lemonade ones a lot.

But speaking of root beer, I tried the Berghoff brand. It's from Chicago and made with cane sugar, natural flavoring and yucca extract. I don't know why. It's a mild root beer, not very spicy, but I liked it.



And it's Amy Sedaris' birthday! Of all her work, Jeri Blank is still my favorite from her. Spot Stephen Colbert, Will Ferrell and David Cross:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CH-9tVbKCM

Big Ben's Lime! soda. It tastes the way Windex smells.

The Walking Dead season finale was last night. Did you watch? I was actually relieved, as I thought someone else entirely was going to die.

>197 mstrust: OHMYGOD I was convinced that the "Freshly Squeezed Walker" (as Talking Dead described it) would give me nightmares. And I was horrified by Pete killing Deanna's husband. That was a really intense finale.

**SPOILERS** Yes to everything you said!
I was wondering if Pete had gotten hold of Michonne's sword or did there happen to be another sword lying around? And the "Freshly Squeezed Walker" was so gross. How could Rick keep from getting it in his mouth and eyes? Sick sick sick.
I do wonder if Michonne wants to put down roots enough that she'd stay in Alexandria if Rick and the others left.



34. Cleopatra: Beyond the Myth by Michel Chauveau. Translated by David Lorton. History & Bios. A slim book that debunks the often-repeated myths about the Queen of Egypt and focuses on the little that is proven fact. This really begins with the decline of her father and her co-ruling with her brother husband, then her fighting for control with her siblings, her relationships with both Caesar and Antony, her military conflicts and includes the most likely scenario of her suicide.
While not meant as a textbook, the writing is dry and far from engaging, so not recommended for a casual reader wanting to get lost in a book, but that could be a result of the translator rather than the author. The author, a scholar with an impressive background in Ancient Egyptian studies, has researched Cleopatra to such as degree that, even though there is very little to go on, he manages to piece together nearly an entire life. 3 stars

>199 mstrust: I think it was supposed to be her sword. At least that's what my BF and I assumed.

I think they must have edited out a scene of Pete breaking into Rick's house. Once he showed up with the sword I was wondering where he'd gotten it. Did Pete have an interest in Civil War re-enacting or Ancient Japan that we didn't know about it? ; ) It all happened so quickly that I didn't get a good look at it.
But Morgan's back! Finally!


This is an 8 oz. Dr. Pepper made with real cane sugar. Up until 2012, this would have had the word "Dublin" on the front, like in the pic. Made and bottled in Dublin, Texas, and including beet sugar in the formula, Dublin Dr. Pepper had a loyal following for years until the soda's parent company, Snapple, sued the Dublin bottler because they felt the success of that particular formula hurt the sales of their other producers. So the beet sugar and name "Dublin" are gone.
But it's still a very tasty soda, which a cleaner flavor than the regular stuff from the grocery store.

I've started Part 3 of my thread. Come on over!