"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
There I was at 30,000 feet
So there’s a new book out: Area 51: an Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base, by Annie Jacobsen. On Tuesday, May 17, Annie discussed her book with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Naturally, I watched. You can watch too, if you wish: Most of what Annie had to say about Area 51 […]
Here’s another neighborhood mystery to keep me up nights. Once in a while road crews dump piles of dirt alongside county roads near our housing subdivision. I don’t know for sure, but presumably workers come along later and use the dirt to repair erosion damage along the shoulders of the roads. Perhaps it’s some special […]
Last week Jon Stewart weighed in on the Republican/Fox News hissy fit over the White House inviting the rapper Common to a poetry reading. Stewart’s segment — especially his masterful takedown of the deeply stupid Sean Hannity — was brilliant. If you missed it, here’s a link to the video. Then, last night, MSNBC’s Ed […]
A friend lent me two hard science fiction novels, one sword & sorcery fantasy novel, and one Arthurian romance. I thought I’d enjoy the hard sci-fi (and I do) but her brand new paperbacks are in such perfect condition I’m afraid to open the pages wide enough to read because I’ll crease the books’ spines […]
Today they call it SERE, for Survival Evasion Resistance Escape. When I went through the training in the mid-1970s, it was called Survival School. What prompted the memory was last night’s Netflix rental, the epic survival movie The Way Back, a story about escapees from a Siberian prison camp who trekked 4,000 miles across Russia, […]
It was enormously disappointing to watch Jon Stewart fluffing Mau Mau Mike Huckabee on Wednesday’s Daily Show. Oh, Stewart gently nibbled at him about his support for right-wing fundamentalist David Barton, but he didn’t challenge any of his evasive answers. He didn’t mention Huckabee’s advocacy of religious indoctrination at gunpoint, nor did he bring up […]
No, not bicycles or motorcycles . . . I’m thinking of a different kind of cycle this time, as in: noun: a complete alteration in which a phenomenon attains a maximum and minimum value, returning to a final value equal to the original one (source: dictionary.com) When I entered the F-15 training program in the […]
I’m packing for a motorcycle trip to Nevada and Utah, tomorrow through Monday. In Las Vegas I’ll stay with a friend, visit with the kids and grandkids, and take some day rides around southern Nevada; on Sunday my son and I are going on an all-day out & back ride to southwestern Utah, with Gregory […]