A Room With a View-E.M.Forster

A week or so ago NASA completed another part of the International Space Station. Essentially they added a bay window.

Don't know why it took so long, maybe they simply didn't have the technology. Perhaps with all the stuff floating around out there, safety was an issue. I'm sure it cost us a pretty penny.

But I have to sympathize with the astronauts. Spending months so far from home must get pretty lonely.

Besides, with this view who can blame them.

Cheap Tricks

Books-Fiction: Blackout by Connie Willis

I gave up reading Science Fiction sometime ago, when every story seemed to be a knockoff of Star Wars. On a whim, I picked up To Say Nothing of the Dog by the same author after reading a review in Bookmarks Magazine. I enjoyed it so much, I picked up the author's newest release, Blackout.

The year is 2060 and time travel is possible. Oxford students travel backward in time to study things. For instance, one student plans to study how perfectly ordinary people become heroes during extraordinary times; Dunkirk, Pearl Harbor, like that.

Several students travel back to England during WWII. They plan to study different things; heroes, evacuated kids, the blitz, at different times and in different places in the country. They are not to place themselves in danger, or do anything that might change the future, like save a persons life. The process for time travel does not allow them to go if such a thing would occur. As in all imaginary worlds, this one has rules to follow.

In alternating chapters, we follow the different students as they embark on their studies. It isn't long before things start to go wrong for each of them. At the same time, we see how the lives of the ordinary citizens in London and the rural country, are effected by the war. The menace grows as we watch the students change from simple observers to unwilling participants.

I loved the story. It's a page turner. But I was unhappy that, after nearly 500 pages, the story was unresolved and 'To be continued.' Literally, the story will be concluded in the next book released sometime in the fall. As a reader, I felt I had fallen into a story that ended with, "and then I awoke from my dream."

I didn't like it. It felt like a cheap trick to make me buy the next book to see how the story ends. I hope publishing doesn't start going down this road. If it does, I will be forced to read the last page of every book to be sure it has a resolution before I buy it.

And frankly after six months, the irritation will work on me so much, and the story fade to such a degree, that I just won't bother. But I will remember that the author pulled a sneaky trick on me.

I do recommend the book, but you might want to wait until the second installment is available to read it.

Mr. Bubble speaks

News Headline: Greenspan: U.S. recovery "extremely unbalanced"

Greenspan is one of the smartest people I've never met. He's always carefully measured in anything he says. In spite of having left the Federal Reserve several years ago, his comments still can rock the markets.

Personally I think he has a duty to speak more forcefully than he does. He has nothing at all to lose now he's out of office, and the country is in dire need of his wisdom. His book, The Age of Turbulence, is a fascinating read. The things he almost says, particularly about a few of our past presidents, are as interesting as the things he actually says.

He's one of the few famous people in the world I would actually like to meet. One of the others is an inventor.

Shot Rock

I've been watching curling at the Vancouver games. Yes, I'm one of those, a closet curling fan. Having grown up in a winter state bordering Canada, I've actually curled. It's really nothing but shuffleboard on ice. Most important, a player can be older than twenty to do it. In fact, older folks have far more guile than young ones.

It's a game of strategy and contemplation. Skill with a broom is a necessity, not to mention the strength to propel a sixteen pound rock down the ice and keep from falling over.

The other important thing is a pair of really warm socks.

Monty Python is alive

Okay, one more stop action and then I'm going to stop. This one was made by a seventeen year old Brit as an art project for school. It took him about three weeks to complete. I love the penciled-in sound effects, just in case we aren't following the action.



Love the Monty Python bit at the end. A fond memory from my youth.

Local Boy Makes Good

Sports of any kind is rarely on my mind. But like many others, my attention is focused on the Olympics in Canada this week. Yesterday it was the moguls. You know the sport I mean. It's where skiers race downhill as fast as they can between large mounds of icy snow, the moguls. As if dodging moguls isn't challenging enough, the skiers perform flips and somersaults from snow ramps along the way.

Now I've skied a time or two in my life. Frankly, my time was spent finding the longest, gentlest, and most importantly, smoothest places to descend. Admittedly, I'm not very good. Faced with the daunting slopes these folks are tackling, I would kick off my skies and walk to the bottom.

To my way of thinking, every one who leaves the starting gate deserves a medal. It was good too see a Canadian take gold.

I rubbed my sore knees in empathy.

Happy Valentines Days!

You know which one belongs to you.

Stop the Camera

I've become a little obsessed with stop motion films. This one caught my fancy. It's essentially a commercial, so be forewarned. It looks like it was shot in somebody's basement. Staff Support could probably have cut out the selling bit. But I figured, what the heck, these guys went to all this trouble, the selling part should stay too.



If people can be so creative about silly stuff like this, just think what they could do if they worked on something really important.

Snow Day!

Picture by Jonathan Ernst for Reuters.

Seriously now, doesn't this beautiful picture bring a little lump to your throat?

"Wind in the Willows"- Kenneth Graham

Having dodged the bullet that was the last snowstorm, I was expecting to see daffodils poking their little head above the snow. Instead, it's so windy there are rolling waves and whitecaps on the holding pond in our subdivision. Okay maybe not as big as that, but you get the idea.

And cold? Jumping Jehoshaphat, it's cold. Again, perhaps I exaggerate a teensy bit.

All I know is, I'm wrapping myself up really good before going out, and my little pets too.

Love your Ink

Staff Support was ranting about the latest faux pas by she who would be Prez. I had hoped we had heard the last of her. But nope, there she was giving a speech and doing an interview, while gazing into her palm at her crib notes.

What a brouhaha it's causing in the media. More fodder for Saturday Night Live, that's for sure. I suspect there will be writing on more than Tina Fey's hand next time we see her.

Frankly, I was relieved. I wasn't sure the Prez wannabe could read.

"Show me the money"- Jerry Maquire

News Headline: Special Forces Assassins Infiltrate Taliban Stronghold in Afghanistan

Now I'm no military genius, but I have learned a thing or two from reading lots of assassin novels. Usually the assassin is pretty interested in keeping his plan to infiltrate the enemy camp a secret.

Actually, I thought that was why special forces go through all that training. And why we spend so much money on stealth weapons. You know, so we can take the enemy by surprise. Maybe the Taliban are different. Maybe just knowing we're infiltrating their camps is enough to get them to give up.

Or maybe it's because our assassins come with pockets full of money.

Winter Wonderland

Arrived home between the storms. It was messy and cold, and quite a shock to the system after the summer like weather in Fl. I'm glad we weren't going any further north. Washington D.C. got slammed.

Ahhh, isn't D.C. pretty.

I can say that with a big genuine smile, cause I'm not there.

Tooling around the Net

"I am the native and this is my home" - Serge A. Storms

Traveling with the Support Staff is an adventure. He takes...shall we say... a unique view of things. On this trip to Florida, he took a Serge view. What is a Serge view? Well, Serge is a character created by Tim Dorsey. Serge is a psycho serial killer. The good news is, he only kills low-life bad guys.

Serge is also a native Floridian. He cherishes the 'original' Florida, not the one made up by Disney. In fact, if Walt Disney wasn't already dead, I'm pretty sure Serge would hunt him down and kill him.

In fairness, I have to admit to liking Tim Dorsey's books too. They're funny, and often give a poignant view of Florida in the 50's and how it has changed. In Serge's view, definitely not for the better.

Our trip followed a typical Serge itinerary.

Amelia Island Lighthouse, considered the oldest structure on the island. It's barricaded from the public by a stout fence. A stern sign by Homeland Security warned us off. We respected the barrier, which is more than Serge would do, I can tell you.

The Palace Saloon, oldest bar in Florida. I'm sure Serge and Coleman have visited here a time or two.

But if he saw this garish sign, he'd surely go berserk prompting multiple murders.

St. Augustine, oldest fort in America. They haven't tarted the old stone fortress up too much. Serge would like that.

The same can not be said for the town. Serge would definitely have a rampage walking around in this Disneyfied sterilized place.

Marineland, first marine animal park in Florida. It's sad how they've let this place go. A word to the wise; Mr./Ms. director, stay out of Serge's way.

Daytona Beach, where you can still drive on the sand, park and people watch. Serge does this a lot, I think. It calms him down.

Port Canaveral. No, it wasn't invented just to send man to the moon. But if Serge sees this Disney ship docked here, it's going down.

Spanish Point. Orange trees used to grow here, now there's nary a one in sight. Oranges were packaged for shipment in orange crates in this old shed. If Serge saw this faked up display, he would weep like a baby.

The pier at Venice Beach. The woman will need to use the metal detector to defend herself is Serge is anywhere around. Piers are for fishing.

Bocilla Island Seaport on the tip of Pine Island. Hasn't changed since the fifties. Serge would definitely be at home here.

Alligator mosaic at Vero Beach. Serge would throw this in the ocean and replace it with the real thing. Nothing like a big ole gator lazing in the sun on a canal bank. Handy for getting rid of unwanted bodies.

American Flamingos. Beautiful but smelly birds. Not sure how they got to be such a laughing stock, they're really quite elegant. Used to see them in the wild all over Florida. Now they're pretty much confined to the tourist parks. Serge is not happy!