I was struck by two possibilities. With this much at stake, either

Obama will allow it all to continue as it has the last 8 years and has already made promises he will

-- or --

Obama better watch his ass

Putting missles in Poland isn't about protecting anyone from Russia OR Iran or protecting anyone from anyone else.

I't about putting missles places. It's about selling missles.

Simple.

Done with Northern Lights.

It was perfect.

And I found the two next volumes.
Hurray for series bypassing my entire to-read stack.

In preparation for a Florida trip, I've started on a stack of 'Florida Fiction'. This is a sub-genre of the Crime/Skiffy cross-over set in the dystopian society of that state.

Authors writing in this space include: Carl Hiaasen, Randy Wayne White, and Tim Dorsey. BTW, there are photos of a menage au toi: aitapata, Dorsey, and a Cadallac Seville convertible posted on NGB.

I'm currently reading:

Captiva (1997) by Randy Wayne White

She had the shell-shocked look of someone trying to recover from a debilitating event. You see it often in Florida: the introspective stare, the weighted shoulders, the slow declination of chin. They don't say much. They sigh alot. [sic] They seem to have trouble concentrating, as if some private chord echoes in their ears. They are traveling, they say, or on sabbatical. It's not true. They are in flight; trying to escape divorce, a death, the law, or whatever has dismantled their lives. They come down hoping the beaches, the sunsets will be curative--just like the brochures suggest. All too often, the abruptness of the change, the neon glitz, the heat, the bright sunshine, and the ocean space of Florida only add to their sense of being untethered.

Actually, two years ago, I met Randy. He bought me a Red Stripe at his bar in Sanibel. Nice guy. Shows to go you it doesn't take much to be a writer.

This rocked. Next one in March I think.



Now on to these, which also happen to rock in a religion-is-a-bunch-of-shite, steampunky, poisoned world kind of way.

quote:

Originally posted by Black Jacque:
In preparation for a Florida trip, I've started on a stack of 'Florida Fiction'. This is a sub-genre of the Crime/Skiffy cross-over set in the dystopian society of that state.

Authors writing in this space include: Carl Hiaasen, Randy Wayne White, and Tim Dorsey. BTW, there are photos of a menage au toi: aitapata, Dorsey, and a Cadallac Seville convertible posted on NGB.

I'm currently reading:

Captiva (1997) by Randy Wayne White

She had the shell-shocked look of someone trying to recover from a debilitating event. You see it often in Florida: the introspective stare, the weighted shoulders, the slow declination of chin. They don't say much. They sigh alot. [sic] They seem to have trouble concentrating, as if some private chord echoes in their ears. They are traveling, they say, or on sabbatical. It's not true. They are in flight; trying to escape divorce, a death, the law, or whatever has dismantled their lives. They come down hoping the beaches, the sunsets will be curative--just like the brochures suggest. All too often, the abruptness of the change, the neon glitz, the heat, the bright sunshine, and the ocean space of Florida only add to their sense of being untethered.

Actually, two years ago, I met Randy. He bought me a Red Stripe at his bar in Sanibel. Nice guy. Shows to go you it doesn't take much to be a writer.

you might want to check out this as well. I keep meaning to steal it from my father but haven't got around to it yet.

i started reading ken macleod's "execution channel" while travelling to edinburgh and back over the weekend. been meaning to do it for ages, had it since april when he did the "aye write" festival in glasgow. his new one "night sessions" is just out in hardback, and reading an extract of that made me get started on this one. while looking for things to do in edinburgh we realised that macleod was in fact at teh edinburgh book festival on sunday, so i introduced newro and maus to macleod. which was cool.

the book is interesting. it starts with what appears to be a nuclear strike or accident on an RAF base in scotland, which is actually an american base. this is quickly followed by a series of other events, including the destruction of the site i worked on last year, which is a bit of an odd read. its macleod's most near-present book to date, extending today's politics a little - though changing the politics of the last decade a little as well.

Super-Cannes by J.G. Ballard. It's the first book of Ballard i've read and i'm liking it a lot. On one level, it's a fairly standard type of mystery / whodunnit kind of story. But on another level it is a gibsonian exploration of the near past, which exposes a possible disturbing (dystopian, even) future.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Push:
... so i introduced newro and maus to macleod. which was cool.

It sure was. Interesting fella, that scotsman.
The Execution Channel is currently laying on my bedside table in the next to be read spot.

Today, I both received and read Rumble Strip. I
generally don't go for graphic texts that are
more manifesto than drawings, but there were
certain pages in this book where they are
absolutely essential.

This book could easily be called fear mongering,
and there are times when it gets too black and
white. Surely handling is important when rating
a car as well as speed. Me, I consider fuel
efficiency to be the most important thing.

As a social scientist, I often phrase things in
terms of behavior. Really, addressing social
problems without considering behavior is pretty
stupid. Rumble Strip is all about humans and
their behavior in the car. At times during the
examples, names and humanness is given to the
victims, while the offenders are seen as crazed,
faceless, nameless beings. It's us vs. the
other. But that's not really what Woodrow is
getting at, here. We're all the other when we're
in the car. We're all the us when we're not, and
eventually we're going to have to get out of
that car.

Over all, this is a really thought provoking
book. I did the obvious thing and considered my
actions when I'm driving my car. I also
considered my actions when I'm riding my bike.
I'm a fairly aggressive bike rider at times and
I'm sure it's not just a matter of scale between
when I'm in a car and when I'm on a bike.
Woodrow once asked me what I think about when
I'm riding my bike. Having read this book, I'm
trying to remember what I said. Probably
something about trying to not daydream.

My biggest issue with this book is that it
offers up the problems (and even the causes of
those problems), but really doesn't address
potential solutions. Perhaps that's not as big
an issue as one might think. If enough people
learn what the problems are, they'll come up
with the solutions. Maybe they'll try to be more
focused and aware. Maybe they'll just try to be
more cognizant of what they're doing. Maybe
there will be a shift in infrastructure design
to minimize the deadly effects of cars.

All in all, this is easily a must-read. Part of
me wonders if it'll be reviewed on any of the
bicycle advocacy feeds that I read. Part of my
wonders why it hasn't already been so reviewed.

Masterfully done, Mr. Phoenix.

(and I'm still thinking about bicycle saddle
options)

I'm reading this:

quote:

Associate Professor Bruce Scates of the Army History Unit wrote recently that 20,000 Australian soldiers of the Great War are still "missing", a euphemism for the fact that their bodies "sank in the mud, withered in the sun or were simply blown to pieces" without identification.

To read Somme Mud is to understand how that happened. The book is a memoir of the trenches of the Western Front by an Australian infantryman, Private Edward Lynch.

"Fritz" might be the official enemy but the French mud is a far more malevolent character. "We live in a world of Somme mud," Lynch writes. "We sleep in it, work in it, fight in it, wade in it and many of us die in it. We see it, feel it, eat it and curse it, but we can't escape it, not even by dying."

It is an account that Lynch typed up after the war, but it gathered dust until Lynch's grandson lent it to documentary maker and writer Will Davies in 2002.

Davies has edited down the nine-centimetre thick manuscript into a piece of almost unrelenting hell that is told with cheery fatalism and mercifully punctuated by the odd beacon of Aussie humour.

It's astonishing.

quote:

Originally posted by Gromit:
I'm reading this:


It's astonishing.

I saw another more recent book about Private Lynch by the same author today. Damned if I can remember what it was called.

Finished all the fiction in STORMING.... Not quite ready to move onto the criticism yet so I started BROKEN ANGELS by Richard K Morgan.

Has anybody read this? Ms. Shake is interested in opinions on whether to purchase.

NO, but I'd love to.

yeah, it does look hella interesting, doesn't it.

i looked through it a few weeks ago, and from memory, it looked pretty cool. but muth is one of those artists who does very cool stuff. doesn't reflect on the writing though.

I think "M" is a perfect film for the graphic novel. Fritz Lang made a wonderful silent(doh!) film, all there was to do would have been to isolate the elements that conveyed the most meaning, and there were many to choose from.

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