I’m Sorry, She’s Out Of Her Mind Right Now, May I Take A Message?

I find myself with a massive case of burn-out at the moment, so taking the advice of my dear friend Kristi: it’s MY blog, I can do anything I want with it. And right now, I choose to post pictures of cats.

This first pic is in honor of Fall.

Kittens playing in leaves.

How sweet is that?

This pic is a dark kitty with butterfly wings.

Is she good or evil?

Waiting to pounce, or waiting to help?

Make up your own story and tell me.

This is one of the MANY, MANY, MANY pics I’ve recaptioned from the famous website. I have a TON of these pics. Come by some time and let me bore you with them! I happen to think they are hilarious. Some I kept with the original captions, but the majority I have added my own special humor.

OK. Last one, I promise. This actually looks a bit like my cat Harper, but I’ve never had a cat that got in the dryer. I usually keep the door to it closed. The washer is a different story. When I had a top loading washer, my cat Tucker would curl up in it on hot summer days. He would also curl up in the laundry sink in the garage.

There. I feel a little better now. Maybe next week I’ll write something wonderful and thought provoking. Probably not, though. That’s not the way I roll…

Peace out, y’all.

September 2014 Book Report

I’ve written previously about the Dream Park series by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes. The first book was Dream Park, the second The Barsoom Project. Absolutely awesome books. I’ve now finished the series with the last two books. I really don’t see how this series can be continued further, and I kind of regret that. But at least it all wraps up nicely, and I can be content with that.

The California Voodoo Game has a different venue this time. The newest Game will take place in a large abandoned multi-story building and involve several competing teams. There is a lot more at stake this time, and of course the bad guys are REALLY bad. The way this book ended made it difficult to imagine how the next book could take place. Things were pretty well wrapped up. But wait! There’s more!

The Moon Maze Game REALLY had a different venue! The moon! The action takes place 25 years after the events in the previous book. I was a little disappointed at first that the original bunch of characters wouldn’t be the main folks in this book. This was a great book, though. The spirit of The Game was still here, and still just as exciting. The bad guys were terrible people, and the good guys won. And as I said, everything wraps up nicely and I don’t see any reason for continuing the series. Unless they actually do get established on Mars and try something else. But I’m happy with the series. Good books. Definite keepers in my library.

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The next two books are in the Blue Hill Library series. As always, good stories with a Christian leaning. Very comforting. Written by Emily Thomas.

Off the Shelf deals with a new tax levy, one that can really help the library. When several children’s books go missing, it looks like there is something shady going on with the council members. There appears to be bribery amongst them as well. Anne is threatened when she tries to investigate what is going on.

Gone In A Flash is about mysterious pictures in an old camera. When Aunt Edie’s camera comes to light during a yard sale, Anne has the pictures developed. In trying to find out who some of the people are in the pictures, Anne decides to host a family reunion. Family ties are re-established and a long-lost relative is rediscovered.

Mysteries & Music – Margery Allingham

I had never read any of Allingham’s books before seeing this series involving the jaunty Albert Campion and his sidekick Magersfontein Lugg. After the first episode or so, I started looking for the books. I devoured them with relish! (But I was careful not to get any of the relish on the books, haha)

Total delights, both books and TV episodes.

Peter Davison is a perfect Campion. He plays him with dapper good humor. He became a favorite actor of mine after seeing this series.

I continued to get the books from the library, and then started collecting them in paperback for my own collection. I was devastated when I discovered I had read them all, and Ms. Allingham had in fact died some time before. She had left copious notes, though, for her husband, Philip Youngman Carter. He was also a writer and continued the series after his wife’s passing. Unfortunately, he was only able to complete one novel of his wife’s and write two more of his own in the series before he died.

You can get the series on DVD, but it’s VERY pricey, unfortunately. So get the books! Read them!!

Nigel Hess wrote the lovely little tune for the theme music. The name Campion is misspelled on youtube, but here is the link. Sweet little tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6XllPtxi88 

Mysteries & Music – P.D. James

I had never read any P.D. James books before seeing this series. They all involved the Scotland Yard inspector Adam Dalgliesh. This series was set in modern times, but I still enjoyed the stories. After I started reading the books, I discovered I liked the books better.

Roy Marsden was a good fit as Insp. Dalgliesh, and it did help my mental picture when reading the books, but something just didn’t grab me with the TV series. I still watched all the episodes that were shown in the US. I read most of the books and enjoyed them, but not enough to keep in my library.

What I probably enjoyed most of all about the TV series was the theme music by Richard Harvey. Very lovely and haunting. Give it a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP2BZQayIWk