Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Strange Women Lying in Ponds

Any time anybody expresses their religious views as part of a political argument, I can't help but think of this scene.


Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.....

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Half Year Book Post

We're coming up on the end of June, which marks 6 months down, you goons.

I've had a minor goal of 52 books a year for a few years running.  I usually do well with the goal until I hit holiday buzzsaw in mid November.  So far, I'm a couple ahead of pace.

I'm currently reading The Likeness, by Tana French, and Finders Keepers, by Stephen King, though I won't finish them until July, most likely.....

Anyway, month-by-month, here's what I've been reading in 2015.

January

1.  The Plague Dogs, by Richard Adams
2.  Moonshine: A Cultural History of America's Infamous Liquor, by Jaime Joyce
3.  A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
4.  Silver Screen Fiend, by Patton Oswalt
5.  So, Anyway..., by John Cleese

February

6.  City Behind a Fence:  Oak Ridge, Tennessee 1942-1946
                                     by Charles W. Johnson & Charles O. Jackson
7.  Revival, by Stephen King
8.  All Clear, by Connie Willis

March

9.  Tretiak: the Legend      by Vadislav Tretiak
10.  In the Kingdom of Ice, by Hampton Sides
11.  Black Swan Green,  by David Mitchell
12.  Dead Wake, by Erik Larson
13.  the Outlaw Album, by Daniel Woodrell
14.  Trigger Warning, by Neil Gaiman

April

15.  the Eye of God, by James Rollins
16.  the Guns of August, by Barbara W. Tuchman
17.  Prisoner 489, by Joe R. Lansdale
18.  the Prague Cemetary, by Umberto Eco
19.  the Martian, by Andy Weir

May

20.  Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: the Untold History of English, by John McWhorter
21.  the Dark Tower:  Gunslinger      by Stephen King
22.  I am Radar, by Reif Larsen
23.  Dust and Decay, by Jonathan Maberry
24.  Long Black Curl, by Alex Bledsoe
25.  Finding Nouf, by Zoe Ferraris

June

26.  the Jesus Cow, by Michael Perry
27.  Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn
28.  the Great Movies, by Roger Ebert

Monday, June 22, 2015

Punch n' Juicy


Nephew:  Uncle Tommy, what is that?
Me:  That's a kind of bubble gum.
Nephew:  Can I have some?
Me:  I don't think it exists any more.
Nephew:  Why not?
Me:  Well, they stopped selling it?
Nephew:  How come?
Me:  I guess it wasn't very good.
Nephew:  Did you have any?
Me:  I don't think so.
Nephew:  Can we try some?
Me:  No.
Nephew:  Why not?
Me:  Because they don't make it anymore.
Nephew:  Why not?
Me:  I guess it didn't sell very well.
Nephew:  How much did it cost?
Me:  I don't know.
Nephew:  Didn't you have any money?
Me:  Not in 1983.
Nephew:  Did they make gum in 1983?
Me:  Of course they made gum in 1983.
Nephew:  Did you buy any?
Me:  Sometimes my Dad bought me some at the store.
Nephew:  Some of that gum?
Me:  No.  Other gum.
Nephew:  But not that gum?
Me:  No.  Other gum.
Nephew:  Was it better than that gum?
Me:  I don't know.  I never tried that gum.
Nephew:  Why not?
Me:  Don't remember knowing about that gum.
Nephew:  But didn't you have this comic when you were little?
Me:  Yes, but I don't remember the gum.
Nephew:  You don't remember gum?
Me: I remember gum, but I don't remember that gum.
Nephew:  Why not?
Me:  I just don't.
Nephew (after a long pause):  I think it looks good.  I want some.
Me: You can't have any.
Nephew:  Why not?
Me: Because they don't make it anymore.
Nephew:  Why not?
Me:  Can we read the comic story?
Nephew (rolls eyes, skeptically):  oooookay......

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Minor thoughts on the Blackhawks

Didn't get to see the Blackhawks win the Cup tonight.  I'd told somebody at work that my head said the Lightning would take this game, but my gut said Chicago would take it, if only because I wasn't home to watch, and I'd be out of hockey to watch until next season.

Congrats to Chicago.

It puts me in an odd position on Twitter.  I follow a lot of Cubs fans.  A lot of those Cubs fans are also Blackhawks fans.

During the season, it's aggravating.  Especially when they play.  In a playoff series.

Still.  I'm happy for them.  They're good folks.

It's worth noting, I would suppose, that I've still not had a team win a title in a major professional or college league....

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Notes on the Day


  • I have worked 10 out of the last 11 days.   And 21 of the 25 since I got back from vacation.  My ass is tired.  As is the rest of me.  I'd made the mistake of noting to Shyam that 2015 has been a little easier on my schedule-wise than was 2014, and the latter half of 2013.  
  • I'm off tomorrow.  hooray.
  • Christopher Lee and Dusty Rhodes both died today.  Two folks who inhabited that odd, near unnameable concentric circle of "Shit Tommy thinks is cool."  If I was the type of guy who believed Things Happen in Threes, I'd want Ryne Sandberg, Elvira and Stephen King to take some notice, and make the proper arrangements to stay safe tonight.
  • I shared this on Facebook.  It is one of the first things I thought of when I heard Dusty passed.  The man had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.  It was a shitty, half-assed storyline, but Dusty made it work.  Plus, in this video, you can see my smiling mug around the 19-second mark:   
  • Aggravation is turning on MLB.TV to watch the Cubs, only to remember that they're playing the Reds, and that I live in what is considered the Reds' media area.  And the channel they normally play on is instead broadcasting a WNBA game.  Nothing against WNBA.  Just wanted to watch the Cubs.
  • Relief is realizing that SportSouth was showing the game, since the Braves played this afternoon.
  • May I recommend Illusive Traveler's Grapefruit Ale?  Fruit Ales aren't normally my cup of tea, but this one has a nice tartness to it.  I dig.

Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Howl

While I curse this little computer I carry with me all the time that connects me to work, friends and just about any bit of information I could deem fit to find, it's pretty handy to have it.  Especially when it helps me catch shit like this, which I happened upon as I left the post office, when I'd stopped to check some mail:

Howl