Category Archives: Scribbles

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More biplanes

ScoutObsPlanes3839

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Posted on November 10, 2010 in Library, Scribbles

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Waiting for the forces of Mooselim decency

Posted on November 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Waiting for the forces of Mooselim decency

That Tom Friedman of the NYTimes, what a card. Or as Snoopy-the-Goon says, it takes a village to raise an idiot.

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Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Obamalot, Scribbles, The War

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Last Exit In New Jersey

Posted on November 9, 2010 | Comments Off on Last Exit In New Jersey

This is memorable genre fiction, a crime mystery ennobled by a love story between a homicidal heroine and a suicidal hero. It’s marred, mainly, from the middle onward, by a distracting swarm of missing or unnecessary duplicated words.

I quit several times, both for the annoying typos and the confusing plot. I was drawn back for the reason one plunges on in any good story—to find out what happened next.

Most of the puzzle pieces snap into place at the end. And the surprising payoff is well worth the journey. All it needs is a good proofreader (and executing a few tedious cliches) to smooth the ride. The reader deserves it, and so do this intriguing tale’s touching protagonists.

UPDATE on 11/12:  The author, C.E. Grundler, made a crash effort to fix all of the mistakes and sent me the completed copy. Looks good now, so I’ll reiterate (without the typo reservations above) that if you’re looking for a good Indie tale, this is definitely one you should try.

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Posted in Library, Scribbles

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Harmonizing with the Browns

Posted on November 8, 2010 | Comments Off on Harmonizing with the Browns

Maxine, Jim Ed, and Bonnie Brown were voices on my radio back in the Dark Ages of my teens in the late 1950s—especially their pop hit “Three Bells,” whose words I always thought were gooey sentimental.

But I listened to them anyway for the beautiful harmonies. Which was the secret of their success, of course, the pure Deep South hillbilly music sound that would soon, sure enough, become Rock-n-Roll.

Via Gone South.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Library, Scribbles

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Colt McCoy, making Longhorns look good

Posted on November 7, 2010 | Comments Off on Colt McCoy, making Longhorns look good

If there was a way to watch the Cleveland Browns-New England Patriots game, I couldn’t find it. Thank goodness for ESPN’s Gamecast and Twitter. Or I wouldn’t know how good Colt did in a 33-14 beatdown of the Patriots. He’s making the 2010 stinker Horns look good, if only for what they had vs what they’ve got.

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Posted in Scribbles, Texana, Texas Football

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Longhorns lose again, 39-14, but the Ags win big

Posted on November 7, 2010 | Comments Off on Longhorns lose again, 39-14, but the Ags win big

The daily has this priceless recitation of a priceless play against Kansas State that finally led me to turn off the K-State-Texas part of the rube tube and find something better to do.

“Pretty play, similar outcome—Garrett Gilbert threw the prettiest ball of the season when he hit James Kirkendoll in stride on a 68-yard touchdown pass. It was something the offense hadn’t shown all year.

“Kirkendoll was celebrating when he saw the yellow flag lying on the ground. Trey Hopkins was called for holding. The play was called back.”

Stumble bums. Even when they do it right they do it wrong. I’m betting on a 4-8 season and no bowl that’s televised. This is their worst season since I don’t remember when. Even likewise-unranked Southern Cal isn’t this bad.

Earlier, the highlight of the evening was watching Texas A&M throttle Oklahoma (as I expect the Ags will likewise thump hapless Texas on Thanksgiving). As the daily’s Cedric Golden says, these are fascinating times for the Big 12 as the traditional underdogs rise up and take control.

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Posted in Scribbles, Texana, Texas Football

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The Baroque Cycle

Posted on November 6, 2010 | Comments Off on The Baroque Cycle

I finally finished Neal Stephenson’s 3,000-page novel (in three books) and I’m still decompressing from the 17th-18th century United Kingdom. Especially the vocabulary, which he handles very well.

I was disappointed with the ending because it didn’t bring us full circle back to the beginning of the first book. I’d have liked to hear more from Enoch Root, the novel’s Methuselah, and Daniel’s young son Godfrey who, as one character says will carry his line far into the future.

Also, while I never doubted that Jack would not be shaft-o on the Treble Tree, a more artful telling of his survival could have been made. Nevertheless, it was a fine journey through the development of Western science and world commerce. I will miss not having Jack and Eliza and the Natural Philosophers to return to day after day after day.

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Posted in Library, Science/Engineering, Scribbles

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