I used to really enjoy Larry King’s column. It consisted of a number of comments of a sentence or two that were either 1) informative or 2) opinionated. One could read it quickly, and best of all, one did not have to look at or listen to Larry while doing it. Yay!
So what does that have to do with anything? I’m glad you asked: the dreaded deadline doom is approaching and I’m functioning (if that’s the word) on a few hours of sleep and really don’t feel competent to devote three or four paragraphs to a single topic. I accordingly am going emulate Mr. King and provide a sentence or two about a number of topics, primarily related to books and the musical and visual arts but also to some other things as well. We’ll be back to normal in two weeks. Maybe. Here goes:
Joseph Finder, after a layoff of a couple of years, is back with SUSPICION, which may be his best book yet…with all of the bombast about the Hachette vs. Amazon disagreement, has anyone considered that there are no good guys or bad guys here? They are just a couple of entities which are unable to come to terms at the moment but will do so eventually…I am loving every minute of 24: Live Another Day…I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes reads like a true account of a near-miss terrorist act. I was up all night reading it…Find a way to be the first on your block to hear “Thirteen Sad Farewells” by Stu Larsen before everyone else does. Great video, too…How will the second season of True Detective ever surpass, let alone equal, its first? I still watch all eight episodes once a week at least…Is it just me, or has this year been a particularly strong one for the mystery and thriller genres? Established authors are stepping up and writing the novels of their careers while every week brings a new and worthy debut. It has always been difficult to keep up but it seems to be well-nigh impossible now…
You know that the Skinny Cow brand of ice cream sundries and candies have officially arrived when you see that they now have their own fleet of trucks. Eating a box of the candy bars kind of defeats the purpose of having a diet chocolate treat but they are hard to resist…Health tip: add ONE drop of Yucateco Chili Habanero Hot Sauce (the green one) to your food at each meal and mix it well. It will ward of colds and flu…
Sunbathing Animal, the new album by Parquet Courts, is a punk classic, a pre-dystopian soundtrack of what the night before the Apocalypse will feel like…following the success of Afterlife with Archie, Archie Comics publisher is planning a similar adult-themed rebooting of Sabrina the Teenage Witch…and, best for last…Kill Zone alumnus John Ramsey Miller is a step or three closer to the recognition he so greatly deserves as a television series based around his character Winter Massey approaches reality. Go, John, go!
Fantastic news, and well deserved! Farethee well in your Hollywood sojourn, John! We’re rooting for ya!
Indeed. Can’t wait to see Massey in a shootout in a New Orleans parking deck. Go John, Go!
Joe Finder wrote the book on spec because he wanted to change directions. Good on him….Hachette v. Amazon (Godzilla v. Mothra) is entertaining for business observers and is like the final table at the World Series of Poker. Who has the best hole cards?….Skinny Cow is okay in a pinch, but Cold Stone Creamery is where it’s at….are you playing a prank on us about the habanero sauce?….Good on Miller!
No pranking on the habanero sauce, Jim. Cold Stone is great, but I would carry the calories for years. That being said…if I ever get the news of a terminal illness with no hope of cure, I go on the DQ + Tim Horton’s diet immediately.
With so many season endings on TV, I’m looking forward to my other shows restarting, beginning with Royal Pains. It’s amazing how TV writers can keep coming up with plot complications week after week. Good luck to John with his series getting on TV.
Nancy, it’s an amazing process, and not always a pleasant one. Otto von Bismarck’s statement about law and sausage applies to series television as well.
Joe, sit the coffee pot down. Back away slowly. No more caffeine for you today.
Brian, I appreciate your good intentions. Caffeine, however, is one of my two remaining vices. To paraphrase what Robert Mitchum said about beer, any coffee in the cupboard is good coffee. Unless it’s instant.
Wow! What a post. Thanks, Joe. Fortunately I took notes as I passed through and have added more books to my list.
A new season of Luther is now streaming on Netflix. It’s still good and edgy.
That’s great, Jim. Hope you enjoy the books. Re: Luther…that’s the last season, though there is the possibility of a two hour prequel being shot sooner rather than later. Brilliant television. Thanks!
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Wouldn’t it be the case? A post I can really sink my teeth into and I was out of town, off the grid, in the mountains.
By the way, I have a new definition for people that like to talk fast, can flow with multiple subjects with seeming ease, may seem distracted but really are paying attention to you and six other things simultaneously but have often been misdiagnosed as having ADHD.
We should instead be diagnosed as:
Bilateral Rapid Uptake Hyper Attentive Hyper Active
or for short
BRUHAHA
And in answer to your questions:
Yes, of course, never watched, sounds cool, nice, interesting, seems like it, plain habaneros will do it too (but it hurts), like any other until we look back at it, Zombie Archie?, Go Massey Go!
Bruhaha it is, Basil! I differentiate between folks with ADHD and those who (seemingly) multitask. The latter seem to get a lot done, the former never seem to get anything done. The truth, in both cases, is never quite that simple.
BTW, if I could find a way to get off of the grid I would never get back on. My standard remark is that when I have my long-awaited nervous breakdown, I will disappear and be found several years later, in a dingy apartment on St. Charles Avenue in the Lower Garden District, sitting in a corner and mumbling “The horror. The horror.”