tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103664442024-03-12T10:20:13.267-05:00Stirring the PuddingThomasina in Tom Stoppard's mind bending time warping play, ARCADIA, observes that when you stir raspberry jam into vanilla pudding it will first swirl in streaks but ultimately will turn the entire pudding pink. If you stir the pudding in the opposite direction, the jam will not separate back out again.
--LIFE MOVES ONLY FORWARD--NEVER BACK!--DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.comBlogger992125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-72957491482040072852024-03-12T10:17:00.000-05:002024-03-12T10:19:41.384-05:00Quick Review of a Loser<p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqvjBUNvbaRkpjRDgh_zULA1dmom4gfMqNVxeMvyi5v7EV-uqEJ-W4InL-MgVHZRV8p-yk8yOVm35-b6Zb1OfYblys4NNozgenQSsC9wAyhSyvSZGt_PEIkpSVs8rbBzqSL37g47iZF1qOUgrcwj7DMjniU9bLUtP2cQG0xGXn-vOlvA7p-8_/s1822/Scan_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1822" data-original-width="1190" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqvjBUNvbaRkpjRDgh_zULA1dmom4gfMqNVxeMvyi5v7EV-uqEJ-W4InL-MgVHZRV8p-yk8yOVm35-b6Zb1OfYblys4NNozgenQSsC9wAyhSyvSZGt_PEIkpSVs8rbBzqSL37g47iZF1qOUgrcwj7DMjniU9bLUtP2cQG0xGXn-vOlvA7p-8_/s320/Scan_0003.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Dorment, Richard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Warhol
After Warhol<o:p></o:p></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I picked this up on a whim as it looked like I might learn a
bit more about Andy Warhol and the modern day art market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the jacket promised an exciting read
full of action and miscreants, I found it started to get tedious quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prose plods, the constant meetings,
texts, and restaurant tete a tetes with moneyed dolts and venal Warhol
executives left me with a bad taste for artists who phone in their work, the
critics who are eager to exploit it, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
the people who have too much money who buy it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you should see it on a library shelf, leave
it there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-26879519085417002982024-03-09T20:22:00.000-06:002024-03-09T20:22:13.502-06:00A review of FROM A FAR AND LOVELY COUNTRY by Andrew McCall Smith<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUsCsW9I0kszTTXMrGrYMMhHM-YCbIwoEQuEn6gJN42uNGijbdY5AV557oxp3fFd5bZOT2vNcnvxS4j17MpY28HwMQZ-GumHt9sW59z4pQP_vmVUQbiWT6mHYekApFdzj9-TkR9ZveqBnl_Ty5S-j8Zdci1vogWnRmuK82rQ37XSqIgtWoHtb/s1856/Scan_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1856" data-original-width="1168" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUsCsW9I0kszTTXMrGrYMMhHM-YCbIwoEQuEn6gJN42uNGijbdY5AV557oxp3fFd5bZOT2vNcnvxS4j17MpY28HwMQZ-GumHt9sW59z4pQP_vmVUQbiWT6mHYekApFdzj9-TkR9ZveqBnl_Ty5S-j8Zdci1vogWnRmuK82rQ37XSqIgtWoHtb/w154-h246/Scan_0003.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><br />Andrew McCall Smith is up to his old tricks again with this,
his twenty fourth, No 1 Ladies Detective Agency novel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the familiar characters are present
from Mma Ramotswe to Grace Makutsi, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, and Mma Potokwane. The
arch villain Violet Sephotho does not appear, but still has a prominent
function in the plot. With a deftness that comes from long experience, McCall
Smith sets up a series of life’s problems and then ties them together in a
satisfying conclusion that once again bespeaks the need of human beings for
love and forgiveness. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first problem is that several important people seem to have
forgotten Mma Ramotwse’s birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A more
serious one emerges when the daughter of one of Mme Potokwane’s house mothers is
victimized at a local singles club. A third complication and the title
reference comes in the form of an American woman who arrives in Botswana to
find, in Alex Haley fashion, her lost uncle’s African roots. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Along the way McCall Smith continues to sprinkle nuggets of
wisdom like cherries on an ice cream sundae. I loved the humor when J.L.B.
Matekoni went on an extended metaphor linking types of chocolate to the varying
viscosities of motor oil. On a more serious note comes an observation about the
nature of home. “We all have somewhere that we think of as our place-and that
place stays with you, I think, all the way through your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have history in our veins.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When things get really serious, Mma Ramotswe puts
things back into balance by observing that lamenting and blaming wastes the
time that might be better used to find solutions or at least minimize the
damage. “There are always going to be problems”, she says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“They are a natural background to human
affairs.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nearing the end, Mma Makutsi laments that there are just too
many “extra low-grade people in the world” and McCall Smith has Mma Ramotswe agree
that there are “many people indifferent to the feelings and interests of
others, who behave with nastiness and selfishness, and who simply do not care
about the effect of their actions.” She goes on to admit that these people are
often “. . . conspicuously successful. They even get into high office,
sometimes even the highest of all offices, and while they were there continued
to lie and cheat in the way that they had always lied and cheated.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t normally think of McCall Smith as a
political writer, but it’s hard not to see a contemporary politician who might fit
to a tee that description. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The ending remains as usual, upbeat. There can be no life
without trust and without trust no real friendships. When you have found your special
friends, you have indeed found your home.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in; text-indent: .5in;"> afrika<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>africa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>africa<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>africa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>africa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>africa<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>africa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Africa<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>africa<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I give this a solid 4.5 of 5<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-27963663214446821382024-02-29T17:53:00.003-06:002024-02-29T17:53:58.877-06:00Review of ARTHUR COLLINS RADIO WIZARD by Ben Stern<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvX1sJQDsQqBsBA6D1uln0ly8vozTATLC8BpZItRarGjSBYCrDMIHM8lPPV5TWyJ1FW4QGQueHltTbUQLRoNNSU7OppDnYM3urYeY1h3c2FLKM3gjYg_6uM97fr5ZTqJhfVq0ezuTbSuyChDkHl2Tc44Y5Yp5GMYh-RLUkoaIjKpBqbdb-HBso/s1546/Scan_0003%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1546" data-original-width="1020" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvX1sJQDsQqBsBA6D1uln0ly8vozTATLC8BpZItRarGjSBYCrDMIHM8lPPV5TWyJ1FW4QGQueHltTbUQLRoNNSU7OppDnYM3urYeY1h3c2FLKM3gjYg_6uM97fr5ZTqJhfVq0ezuTbSuyChDkHl2Tc44Y5Yp5GMYh-RLUkoaIjKpBqbdb-HBso/s320/Scan_0003%20(2).jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">ArtthurCollins
Radio Wizard by Ben W Sterns<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ben Sterns
worked as a public relations executive for Collins Radio for fifteen years and
he has assembled here an exhaustive coverage of the life of Arthur Collins and
the development of his company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Collins Radio began as provider of ham radio
equipment and before it was sold to Rockwell International it had become a
giant in the world of electronic storage and communication. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Art Collins did not invent the concept of
communication by wire or through the air, but by the end of his life in 1977, he
was recognized world over as belonging right up with Guglielmo Marconi, as <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one its major developers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Stern’s book
is not a mass market tour of the career of a famous businessman. It logs the
company’s operations minutely right down to technical details and product serial
numbers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A general reader will not be
excited by a lot of this, but do not let that scare you off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story of the man behind this technical
curtain proves that he was indeed a wizard. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Collins was
born in 1909 and by the 1920’s was already fiddling with crystal sets in the
attic of his parent’s home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was there he started his
first ham radio business and it didn’t take him long to outgrow manufacturing
his units in the family’s basement. By 1933-34 he had a rented location in
town. His name was already becoming a byword in the industry because his transmission
equipment was on board and functioning when Admiral Richard Byrd embarked on
his Antarctic expedition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the next years
Collins Radio built a reputation for providing high quality products that could
perform even under the most challenging of conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One thing
that comes through in the book is that Art Collins was a driven man. He was
devoted above all to experiment, improvement, and ultimately perfection in
every product he made and sold. To that end he hired talented employees and
expected them to be as driven as he was. No executive stayed long at Collins if
they could not become accustomed to being called on a Sunday morning or in the middle of
the night to report for work in the lab or to have a committee meeting. The
only piece of humor about him cited in the entire book was from 1950. He was
asked by a reporter “How many people you got working for you now?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Art’s answer, “About half of them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WWII
provided the juice that moved Collins out of the ham radio niche and into the
world of large government contracts. The war needed airplanes and those planes needed
to be able to communicate privately with each other and to their bases on the
ground. Collins literally invented the radios that could do that and by war’s
end his company was a world leader in aviation electronics. An interesting
sidelight to this was that the assembly lines in Cedar Rapids that produced his
equipment during the war years were held together by women—many from Iowa’s Amana
Colonies. Arthur discovered that with smaller fingers and skills in fine sewing
work the women could do accurate electronic assembly jobs better than men. Civilian
air traffic mushroomed after the war and Collins equipment anchored the
construction of the nation’s air traffic control system and by the early
sixties it was the largest supplier of aviation electronics in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Never
resting on his laurels, Art Collins piggybacked next on the discovery of solar
radio waves and radio-astronomy. His company designed, built, and installed massive
receiving dishes for astronomical research and long-range communication all
over the world. He also managed to revolutionize marine navigation by inventing
something called the radio-sextant that made it possible for ships and even
nuclear submarines to know their exact position even when no sky was visible or
the sub was underwater. This was one of the key elements in our entire defense
posture as it enabled nuclear submarines to stay underwater for extended time
periods without ever re-surfacing and thus being almost impossible to track. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
continuation of major government contracts continued on into 1970’s with Collins
Radio building facilities in Texas and California as well as Cedar Rapids, IA. (where
the company was now the city’s largest employer.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NASA’s space program was heating up and Collins
engineers supplied the audio and video transmission equipment for the Apollo
program that culminated in live pictures from the surface of the moon. With the
Space Program’s success assured, Collins leaped ahead to work on high-speed computers
and network communication. He began pouring large sums of money into research
in this area, but unfortunately profitability dropped as the research bills skyrocketed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other entities saw
weakness and began to make buyout and merger offers. Art’s vision was accurate,
but too far ahead of its time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With his
health deteriorating and the business under stress, he was finally edged out of
the president’s chair and the company was folded into a new consortium. Happily,
they did keep the Collins name alive and the signs now say Rockwell Collins
Aerospace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As noted in
my introduction, this book contains considerable amounts of names of many executives
and engineering researchers as well as details of products that are somewhat
technical in nature. This slowed me down, but will not hamper a reader who has
a more advanced technical background. It does not obscure in any way the fact
that Art Collins built a multi-million dollar company that had a major impact
on the nation’s military capabilities, helped put the country on the moon, impacted
the computer age, and brought the joy of clear, long-range radio communication
to the masses. He was indeed a wizard. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I give it a
4 out of 5. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-51767237367002876402024-02-29T14:24:00.001-06:002024-03-03T09:23:04.819-06:00Reviewing Cassidy Hutchinson's Enough<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcVgCQo41Zp-DlDKcqpl6MdEBOlXlHlvpZDK5r05o3qunikHui3B-mykj4avGP5qbuGl5wqJmT7HVQzXO6bcGT7vRwY-p2S96IKxeD26Wy-VfyqTDJ-eZDCN0fvw5hnNpQNbSpPNHkEUiU5Z1U4QLGC3-87VhoRVEAdkgTHIkySjh7LwALP7d/s1836/Scan_0003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="1267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcVgCQo41Zp-DlDKcqpl6MdEBOlXlHlvpZDK5r05o3qunikHui3B-mykj4avGP5qbuGl5wqJmT7HVQzXO6bcGT7vRwY-p2S96IKxeD26Wy-VfyqTDJ-eZDCN0fvw5hnNpQNbSpPNHkEUiU5Z1U4QLGC3-87VhoRVEAdkgTHIkySjh7LwALP7d/s320/Scan_0003.jpg" width="221" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Enough</span></u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> by Cassidy Hutchinson</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">There is
a difficulty in writing an autobiography about your own heroism. It is hard to
escape the occasional pitfall of self-congratulation. It is also hard to
eliminate extraneous mundane detail, like the bagel flavor you like best or
your preferred fizzy water. I presume these details are added to emphasize her ordinariness,
but it is hard to forget this was someone who managed to be stationed a few
paces from the office of the president of the United States. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Hutchinson lists no ghost writer to help her develop a
personal style and color and her narrative, while interesting for its closeness
to power, tends to be a bit flat especially in the early stages. There is a lot
of “and this happened and then that happened.” The prose is clear, but falters
in its physical descriptions and her sense of her own motives and of the people
around her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Although she did indicate that Rudy Guiliani pawed her and
Matt Gatz was consistently trying his luck, she does not draw any connections to
the toxic male sexual world she was living in and her own experience with an
absentee father. She spent a good deal of her early life trying to re-establish
real content with this man and at a critical point went to his home, discovered
it empty, with no forwarding address. Shortly after that she began her years of
trying to ease and organize the lives of two more power hungry and heartless
men—Donald Trump and Mark Meadows. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">It is not until we get to the story of her subpoenas and
her various public and private testimony sessions that the book becomes more compelling.
It is not until the end of Chapter Ten that she records her first sense of
something rotten in the Trumpian dream world. The president suggests light
highlights in her hair would suit her better. He compliments her after
she tries it and she accepts his praise. Shortly after that, she does note that
she decided to quietly return “to the dark side.” I would have loved more
comment on the significance of that mention. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">A bit further on, her immediate boss, Mark Meadows, asks
her if she would take a bullet for the president. She answers
jokingly—"only in the leg”. As they continue walking down the hall, she
says that she asked Meadows the same question. He replied, “I would do anything
to get him re-elected.” And thereby hangs the crook of the book and all
the multiple sycophants who would do anything to stay on the right side of their
cultish and never a loser leader. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Her turnaround gains steam when she begins to hear that
some of Trump's enablers are starting to fish for pardons. On January 6<sup>th </sup>she
reports that the president wanted to let armed people into the rally location,
then voices a willingness to let his Vice President be hung, and then tries
vainly to get the secret service to take him to the riot he created. Finally,
after waiting and watching on TV for more than two hours and rejecting appeals
to intercede, she labels Trump's appeal for the rioters to go home as half
hearted. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Her final decision is made as she reads Bob Woodward’s book
<u>Last of the President’s Men</u>. This was the story of Alexander
Butterfield, who exposed the taping system in the White House, that set up the
demise of Richard Nixon. Butterfield’s example, she said, gave her the backbone
to adjust her earlier testimony and go on to answer all questions fully and
truthfully.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">There are certainly some choice tidbits in this book, but you
can skim through a lot of it. It remains for me a sad story of a very young
woman thrust into the cynical center of political power. She is under great
stress and is compelled to please. Then, at a major turning point, she does manage
to become one of the few in the Trumpian inner circle to find and use a moral
compass. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I give the book a 3 out of 5.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-14789367821915909952024-02-21T11:56:00.001-06:002024-02-21T13:02:49.681-06:00Review of SOMETHING ROTTEN AT Theatre Cedar Rapids<p class="MsoNormal"><u><br /></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFGFJ0qgqJJT-JOMpZVo3Kr8ovj9XZ2RGfUPN90P2Mkz8XJW-zBwGT89NITK6DhTocsg811qe4Ixe6cTEZ7EOv-92KOjeQqUPCTsrTAhSRVpMZLFcOTKklJkHRnSfN7tPYeQBip2YPcl7LpaFXL13K9ld1uKnxqU8untNcGwUew8SQey66DLV/s1670/Scan_0002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1670" data-original-width="1052" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFGFJ0qgqJJT-JOMpZVo3Kr8ovj9XZ2RGfUPN90P2Mkz8XJW-zBwGT89NITK6DhTocsg811qe4Ixe6cTEZ7EOv-92KOjeQqUPCTsrTAhSRVpMZLFcOTKklJkHRnSfN7tPYeQBip2YPcl7LpaFXL13K9ld1uKnxqU8untNcGwUew8SQey66DLV/s320/Scan_0002.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><br /><u><br /></u><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Something Rotten</u> is the kind of show that you cannot
take seriously. You must let it roll, laugh
lots, cringe occasionally, and then just enjoy. There is nothing smelly at all
about this jiving jumping musical now on view at Theatre Cedar Rapids. It is not
the first or the only musical take off on the Bard, but it does rock. Your best
introduction to seeing this show is a neat You Tube cut of “Brush Up Your
Shakespeare” from <u>Kiss Me Kate</u>. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJIpp2Jj8AQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJIpp2Jj8AQ</a>)
You can then ease into this show's plot that follows the creation of the greatest play
of all time—<u>Omelette</u>. Just remember you can't make anything happen unless you break a few eggs. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick Bottom, Shakespeare’s proverbial jackass, has a brother
who wants to be a poet and needs a big hit to bring success against the
competition from that cool dude, the bard himself. Bottom consults a soothsayer
and discovers that all he needs to do is cut the tragedy out of Romeo and
Juliet and add music and dancing. Then you get a good Puritan villain and you
are all set. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While keeping an Elizabethan flavor, Wayne and Karey
Kirkpatrick manage to give homage to the sound or name of almost every musical
ever written. There are snippets of theme music, the mention of plots, the
names of characters, the titles of blockbusters, and even signature dance
motifs from tap dancing to the traditional chorus line from surprise! surprise! <u>Chorus Line. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The lighting is flashy, the costumes including a bunch of
false beards and breakaways, are wildly colorful, and the scenery wagons roll
on and off efficiently propelled by costumed stage personnel. Not a second is
wasted. The bouncy score was too loud for my tastes, but it had the younger set
rising up and shouting. Technically, the production was led by magnificent
and energetic choreography. Megan Helmers is credited, but I could find nothing
in the program about her background. It is obviously superlative and the
hoofing in several styles shows that the Cedar Rapids area has a large well of dance talent. The only thing missing was a “dream ballet.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kudos also goes to director Matt Hagmeier Curtis who clearly
knows how to put a large cast, with no glaring weak spots, through its
paces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calvin Bowman, decked out in
leather pants and long sideburns is cool to the core and like his namesake a
master of disguise. Brandon Burkhardt, who I loved as the Tin Man in <i>Wizard
of Oz,</i> puts in another stellar performance as Nick Bottom. Katelyn
Halverson looks the part of Portia all the way, but I felt was a victim of the
amplification system. Her voice seemed to come off as unnecessarily shrill through the speakers. One can only wish that modern actors could carry the day better
without artificial amping up of their voices in order to survive above the
electronics of the score.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The fast-talking character work of Greg Smith as Nostradamus
and Aaron Pozdol as Shylock were also victimized somewhat by the amplification. They talked fast and loud, but the articulation didn't seem crisp enough--though I am first to admit that my hearing is not
what it used to be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then there is the ending. The Omellette
number is hard to top for pzazz of the first order and that
leaves the Finale a tad soft. My suggestion for a final visual that might put a better exclamation
point on the show would be a new drop or projection of the "new world" New York harbor with the Statue of Liberty standing tall. The core idea of the show is the American invention of the musical
as a popular genre and where was that done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In New York o</span>n Broadway, of course. So, let's cross fade out of Mr. Visscher's view of the Thames in 17th century London to the real new world. This is just something for Matt to think about if he has the
chance to do this show again. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Congrats to the entire company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a blast. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jim De Young 2/20/24<o:p></o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-61947967889123563082024-02-18T19:14:00.000-06:002024-02-18T19:14:21.767-06:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdGanHRqkVF2m-hpnYlAuDoVgbKZeNl0TA0KbPZ4U3ADNLPoDV1AHYIMEmSESBB3zkb9NIwP9GrmNl30qYa1pjKD6aXLFTa-2wQyynBxzmUEKcbzBo6XJ7evjQUzSH8gzdCMzv2VCNRkB0W6z7AXNAs1WbpUNkD4IuGQkjw2G17A0OeUhqBFXN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="234" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdGanHRqkVF2m-hpnYlAuDoVgbKZeNl0TA0KbPZ4U3ADNLPoDV1AHYIMEmSESBB3zkb9NIwP9GrmNl30qYa1pjKD6aXLFTa-2wQyynBxzmUEKcbzBo6XJ7evjQUzSH8gzdCMzv2VCNRkB0W6z7AXNAs1WbpUNkD4IuGQkjw2G17A0OeUhqBFXN" width="158" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><a name="_Hlk158572022"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Review
of <u>The Which of Shakespeare’s Why</u> </span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by Leigh Light<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Which of Shakespeare’s Why</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> is a comic
take on the historic Shakespeare authorship quest. It has a play within a
novel, good and bad puns, some overblown characters, and an Artificial
Intelligence sub-plot that is torn right out of the interests of today’s tech
startups. Right off the bat the author’s name, Leigh Light, would appear to be
an androgenous “nom de plume” and the cast of characters includes an abundance
of aliases and some cross dressing. All of this suggests that at least part of
the spoof is aimed at Shakespeare’s plays regardless of who wrote them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The main character, Harry Haines, is a frustrated aspiring
actor who is cast as Hamlet in the initial production of a new New Jersey repertory
company. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just before rehearsals get
under way, the major angel runs off with his mistress and takes his money with
him. Faced with financial disaster even before the first production, Lance, the
ever-resourceful director, tries to save the day by recruiting the also wealthy
jilted wife of the first money machine. This woman will turn the cash faucet
back on if there is benefit for her technology company and a part in the first
production. Lance offers the role of role of Queen Elizabeth in the play. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Wait a minute” you might say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Queen Elizabeth the first, or the second for
that matter, is not in <u>Hamlet.”</u> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This confusion may be based on the fact that the
Queen was seen as attending a play at the Globe in that cuddly romantic fiction
movie titled “Sh<i>akespeare In Love”. Dame Judi Dench even won an award for
it. Whatever! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To accommodate the new money
fountain, a re-write of the bard’s script is necessary. Harry, our lead in Hamlet,
for some inexplicable reason, is hired to do the job. He is given the name of
Mr. Bottom. Get it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After which he is
plopped in a fancy hotel suite overlooking Central Park and given a pile of
money to write a new Shakespearean masterpiece called “<u>The Which of
Shakespeare’s Why</u>.” This includes a role for Queen Elizabeth and a slew of
other Shakespeare characters like Lear’s daughters, who just happen to saunter
by.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
requirement is to highlight the 14<sup>th</sup> Earl of Oxford. This nobleman will
be revealed at the opening, which takes place at New York’s famous Radio City
Music Hall, as the author of all the plays now attributed to William
Shakespeare. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is a good scene when Harry/Bottom has a
drunken conversation with Will’s statue in Central Park, but the long passages
that discuss the work of Stratfordian Shakespeare scholars will probably leave
most readers cold. You may also find some of the strange druggy sentence
structure hard to decipher. The Radio City Rockettes in sequined panties
playing some of King Lear’s daughters give us some sex, but the characters
created by Mr. or Ms. Light mainly end up having less weight than Shakespeare’s.
Even with a pretty good surprise ending, this was still a slog. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I give it 2.5 stars<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-62421064469663099232024-02-06T20:48:00.001-06:002024-02-06T20:48:26.917-06:00What My Mother Told Me or How I Almost Failed Kindergarten<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I am trying to write up little pieces of memories that will be incorporated in a fuller biography at some point. I did this one for our writing group this past week. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not too long
ago, I read a brief essay by Robert Reich that told of his expulsion from his day
care center when he was a small boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young
Bob had refused to eat another tasteless lunch prepared by the dragon-lady
proprietor of the school and she had cashiered him out and sent him back to his
parents with the dire warning that he was a petulant smart-ass and would never
amount to anything. Granted that poor Oliver Twist had wanted a bit more gruel,
but the Dickensian echoes do remain. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Child nursery
school behavior has also come up in the PBS Doc Marten series. I remember an
episode where the Marten’s young son and only child, James, attracted teacher
and parental concern when he did not appear to mix easily with the other
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This James, like young Bob,
was small in stature, but was basically shy rather than outspoken. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All of which
leads me into one of my own early confrontations in the educational realm. This
story was told to me by my mother a number of times when I was growing up and
was the result of my still active penchant not to suffer fools gladly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 1940’s the Milwaukee school system gave
a competence test to all kindergarteners before promoting them to first grade. I
suspect it involved such things as taking simple words or pictures and putting
them into categories or crossing out things that did not belong in a
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a late spring afternoon in
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1943 that my mother said she received an
urgent and concerned message from my kindergarten teacher and could she please
come to the school for a conference at her earliest convenience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She
diligently turned up the next day right after school with me in tow. The
teacher, whose name was Miss Van Raalte, was probably around twenty-five and
single although I no doubt thought she was a grouchy old maid. No matter. My
mother said she was told that I had refused to complete the required promotion test
and would be kept back in kindergarten for another semester if I did not pass it.
Not only had I refused to do the required test, I had loudly asserted that I
had done all of those exercises before and it was stupid to keep doing them over
and over again. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Luckily, I
had done what I was supposed to do on one account. I had been instructed to
take all my work home to show my parents and I had done that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother brought the papers with her to the meeting
and was able to remind Miss Van Raalte that I had indeed not only completed all
the various practices for the test, but had gotten lots of good-work stars
affixed to the papers. A serious discussion and stern warnings <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by both teacher and parent ensued. Both of
them insisted that being a student and doing well in practices was never going
to be a substitute for passing a required test. At this point, I was apparently
convinced of my error and rapidly filled in the appropriate answers on the
blank test sheet displayed by my teacher. Come the fall I was happily ensconced
in a first-grade classroom and for the record can say that I have managed tests
and promotions pretty well ever since. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr. Jim De
Young, PhD <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2/3/2024<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-27278121767500334802024-01-31T19:43:00.000-06:002024-01-31T19:43:13.968-06:00Sherlock Holmes Returns<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiKiyRppJiMMS2PIQKARq5IbcXufcQ2ok7xiYpsmw334rBmT0t-tv__d6Re4ByHznFv_0pKGxUC9xlqs41z1f3QDYgj6wgqYa7u7Q2IN-ZHXEn38GQ1lXii4yEddQWYS4ARCsjl-LjTGgDbO1JYz7aKW6Gb3IEmn467TMXNL-St2962QGrUA4/s327/Jubilee%20problem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="218" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiKiyRppJiMMS2PIQKARq5IbcXufcQ2ok7xiYpsmw334rBmT0t-tv__d6Re4ByHznFv_0pKGxUC9xlqs41z1f3QDYgj6wgqYa7u7Q2IN-ZHXEn38GQ1lXii4yEddQWYS4ARCsjl-LjTGgDbO1JYz7aKW6Gb3IEmn467TMXNL-St2962QGrUA4/w133-h200/Jubilee%20problem.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9sfQ4COhRPbrq0Z5f0_S3K4gzHfc13IA1Gyz9X1duYViFcnT3lxZGXSKgjYTHH72YiRAMYFD8w0Y7-VxYelw2AOL4L4LNdGuH4-HZG77enYurnxpmNkTNehzSerALgCtAXHV8P2XvA0dOG59DKZMbmZ7k7C1ewv3uJFQKk7ZK7Cc3qFkkHir/s327/Last%20Moriarty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="218" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9sfQ4COhRPbrq0Z5f0_S3K4gzHfc13IA1Gyz9X1duYViFcnT3lxZGXSKgjYTHH72YiRAMYFD8w0Y7-VxYelw2AOL4L4LNdGuH4-HZG77enYurnxpmNkTNehzSerALgCtAXHV8P2XvA0dOG59DKZMbmZ7k7C1ewv3uJFQKk7ZK7Cc3qFkkHir/w133-h200/Last%20Moriarty.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>For total escape reading, let me recommend the Sherlock Holmes knock-off
series by Anna Elliot and Charles Velsey.
I have read two of them (<u>The Last Moriarty</u> and <u>The Jubilee Problem</u>)
and there appear to be oodles more. They are quick reads, suitably entertaining,
engrossingly faithful to the atmosphere of Victorian London, and many appear to
be available on Kindle Unlimited free of charge.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The set-up is that the young Sherlock had an affair with a
well-known concert violinist and the relationship produced a daughter named
Lucy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has been educated by her
mother in America, on the continent, and in England, but has been kept in the
dark about her parentage until the present. When she discovers her true father
while working as a singer in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with the D’oyly
Carte Opera Company, she manages to join Sherlock and Watson in the solving of
new cases. She has Holmes’ hyper deductive mind, a young person’s devil-may-care
attitude toward personal safety, and a thorough familiarity with physical
combat. If she lays a kick in the chops on an attacker, they go down for the
count. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In <u>The Last Moriarty</u> members of the now dispatched
great villain’s family return to do battle with Holmes and the British
government. In <u>The Jubilee Problem</u> a bomb threat on Queen Victoria
during her great Jubilee celebration nearly brings the empire to its
knees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I want more easy-going fun mysteries
set nicely in Victorian London, I will return to books in this series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*** <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-364022187932624612024-01-21T14:12:00.002-06:002024-01-21T14:12:33.198-06:00How are you at meeting US presidents?<p>The Name of the Game is Fame</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I think of myself as a fairly ordinary yet lucky individual.
I had two loving parents who were hard workers and made it a point to help me
get the kind of education they never had access to. I got that education and
was able to parlay it into a career as a Professor of Communications and Theatre
Arts in a small mid-western
town. My wife and I raised our family there and we were
residents for over fifty years.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since most of what happened in those fifty years is pretty
hum-drum, I am going to take the liberty today to tell you about how I happened
to have been able to see in person three United States presidents in those
fifty years. Now there was nothing buddy-buddy or intimate about those
encounters, but in two of the three cases I was close enough to get a handshake
and a short conversation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know if my experiences are in the realm of a normal
percentage or something unusual for the average citizen of a small town. What I
can tell you is that Jeff Rankin, a local historian, friend, and a long-time neighbor
of ours, wrote an article in 2021 that appeared in our local newspaper. It reported that our tiny town had had visits from at
least eight men who would become, were serving, or had been U.S. Presidents. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rankin wrote that the first recorded presidential visit to
Monmouth was that of Abraham Lincoln. He visited as a circuit lawyer in 1834
and again in 1858 when he was running for an Illinois Senate seat. In 1858 he
gave a speech, had his photograph taken, and stayed overnight. The following
day he traveled the 13 miles to Galesburg, IL where he took part in a debate
against a man named Stephen A. Douglas, who was his opponent in the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>President James Garfield visited in 1861 long
before he was president and Ulysses Grant in 1879 after his term had expired. The
only visit by a sitting president came when William McKinley came to town in
1898. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was followed by a long dry spell that was broken by Gerald
Ford, who at the time of his visit was the Republican minority leader of
Congress not a vice president or a president. He spoke at Monmouth College on
Valentine’s Day in 1964. I was in my first year of employment at the college and
am sorry to say that I have no recollection of his visit so I will not count it
as one of my presidential contacts. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1976 Ronald Reagan was the next to visit and he became
the first soon-to-be president I had ever met. He was really no stranger to the
town since his family had lived in Monmouth from 1918 to 1919 and he had
attended both first and second grade at a local school. His return in 1976 was
during his campaign for president and I do remember that visit well. His
advance team actually produced his old first grade teacher and had her sitting
in the front row to be introduced during his speech. I was one of the
volunteers who helped prepare the college gymnasium for his visit. We helped set
up chairs, hang placards and flags, and pass out programs. According to Jeff Rankin’s
article, there were over 2000 people in attendance and I can attest that the
place was packed right up to the rafters. Like the consummate politician that he
was, Reagan made sure that he pressed the flesh of all of the helpers backstage.
It was a quick shake and a word or two and we had no idea whether he would win
the election or not. Even though I was already a Democrat, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was still quite a thrill. Many years later,
when I was the Director of Acquisitions <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for our county historical museum, I helped to
collect and catalog the available President Reagan materials for future exhibits.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My second presidential meeting was not with a president-to-be,
but with a former president. On Mother’s Day in the year 2000, George Herbert
Walker Bush was gave the commencement address and received an honorary degree from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monmouth College. By that time, I was a
tenured full professor and occupied a spot rather high up in the marching
order. Ex-President Bush was in the platform group just ahead of me and as we
were all gathering on the sidewalk waiting to process in and take our seats, he
made a point of walking back to talk to several of us and shake our hands. Bush
had two Secret Service bodyguards with him. They had donned academic caps and
gowns just like all the rest of us, but did stay pretty much in the background.
The following morning Mr. Bush, who had stayed overnight at our president’s
home, went out to the local golf course and played a round. I didn’t get to
join that group, but a nice picture of him with our pro still hangs in the
clubhouse at Gibson Woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My final presidential encounter was also with a future
president. On a warm late July afternoon in 2004, shortly after his impressive
keynote address at the Democratic Convention, a young Illinois state senator
was scheduled to make a short speech at Monmouth College. He was in the midst
of a grueling thirty-nine city tour in pursuit of one of Illinois’ U.S. Senate seats.
His talk was originally scheduled for a small second floor room at the college,
but the crowd got so big that it had to be moved to the college chapel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was there that the audience, including me,
was enthralled by his short address. I don’t think I need to remind you that Barack
Obama won that Senate seat and then in 2008 made his lasting mark with a
successful run for the presidency. I didn’t have any personal contact with him
and I don’t remember if Michelle was there, but the now famous Obama smile was
on full view along with his oratorical skill. I felt as though he was speaking just
to me even though I was only a small part of a large crowd. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I proudly voted for him in 2008 and again in
2012. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There you have it. An ordinary American in a small town in
the USA was able to have short but close contact with three American presidents.
I consider that pretty lucky and am grateful for it. I’d love to hear about
your experiences in seeing or meeting any of our presidents or even other famous people. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jim De Young<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>1/11/2024<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-2835021223204586332024-01-05T11:14:00.004-06:002024-01-05T11:14:56.566-06:00FOLLOWING CAESAR book review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda_MuToFbRnZuELXLcuN71_Vpj6bDNgn3PgDGn64VBB_H5mlxilIajuDboc4dlA3vNQWesXvOUkvQARXCbrUvDy8zDLIL4YTO0m-FplV_PlXzQgtN8pQd1VVkVmkEzaGBKOp98f5T_7rbdGl9sanDw9H5VMBUObrN5y_YtUvxQGhy8RCxAei5/s1607/Scan_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1607" data-original-width="1079" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda_MuToFbRnZuELXLcuN71_Vpj6bDNgn3PgDGn64VBB_H5mlxilIajuDboc4dlA3vNQWesXvOUkvQARXCbrUvDy8zDLIL4YTO0m-FplV_PlXzQgtN8pQd1VVkVmkEzaGBKOp98f5T_7rbdGl9sanDw9H5VMBUObrN5y_YtUvxQGhy8RCxAei5/s320/Scan_0003.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I recently had the opportunity to read <u>Following Caesar</u>, in an
advance publisher’s copy before its formal release in December of 2023. The
book covers an extended trip through Italy and the Adriatic by a reporter who
loves Italy, Roman history, and the magnificent roads the Romans built to make
and administer one of the largest empires ever created.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Keahey’s <i>modis operendi</i> was to rent a car and drive
the routes of three great Roman highways—The Via Appia, the Via Traiana, and
the Via Egnatia. As he proceeds along the modern roads that sometimes mirror,
sometimes parallel, and occasionally deviate from the ancient ones, he enlists
the aid of local guides to help him locate now exposed sections of the ancient
byways. At many of his stops he merely sits and contemplates the grandeur and
historic importance of past. You get the bloody stories of Julius Ceasar, Mark Antony, Brutus, Octavius,
Cicero, Hannibal, Hoarce, Virgil and other not so notables who marched along on the carefully
groomed ancient stones and made history with their footfalls. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is not a dry academic treatise. Keahey dispenses with
footnotes and keeps the style unassuming and down to earth. He concentrates as
much on the current sights, the food, and the morning coffee he consumes <i>en
route</i> as he does on the history. My guess is that if you have traveled in
Italy or studied at least a bit of classical history, you will enjoy
his travel journal more. Even if
your knowledge of Julius Caesar is confined to “Beware, the Ides of March”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> you may still find some pleasure in this short and easy read. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-62262876878215484252023-12-14T09:04:00.016-06:002024-01-10T07:47:16.434-06:00Holiday Greetings from Jim and Jan De Young<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Volume L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>December, 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> Christmas
2023</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">Would you
believe that this will be the fiftieth consecutive year for this letter? The
first one was on a ditto (only old people will know what that was) dated 1973.
Our family had just returned from a year in our favorite city in all the
world—London, England. </span><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
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</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">Where are we now?
The pair, who will soon celebrate their
64<sup>th</sup> wedding anniversary, are beginning their third year of
residency at Grand Living. We don’t travel much anymore; covid put a real stopper
on that. We still drive for medical appointments and to our daughter’s first
grade classroom where we spend an hour once a week reading stories and tutoring.
Jan’s special project has been working with a little girl who just arrived from
Mexico with zero English. She is finding her college Spanish is a bit rusty.
The rest of our activity is pretty much focused inside our home community. Jim
is on the resident council and chairs the Activities and Sales sub-committees. We
both work on tending the building’s two libraries and we lead a book and
creative writing group. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjgRPZdxEiUeCvWGV1RU10x5DS00Fjx-OnY-h978iJVGgBXPg9ofJIDniDYWpput2eK5iRDDlWMjLu5dOTJJvx2xOSfzokZxwsas5s8n3jjnm1uVgqYnVe_Dgf4CBvaKhRIJMKYM9yqLZ1_P2Fsjpm0Ix1USU95f7YdSHi-DpvcfLZhFexnlS/s918/Todd%20Amy%20Texas.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="758" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjgRPZdxEiUeCvWGV1RU10x5DS00Fjx-OnY-h978iJVGgBXPg9ofJIDniDYWpput2eK5iRDDlWMjLu5dOTJJvx2xOSfzokZxwsas5s8n3jjnm1uVgqYnVe_Dgf4CBvaKhRIJMKYM9yqLZ1_P2Fsjpm0Ix1USU95f7YdSHi-DpvcfLZhFexnlS/w147-h179/Todd%20Amy%20Texas.JPG" width="147" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Daughter
Amy and her husband Todd live ten minutes from our apartment.
She still teaches first grade at Hiawatha School in Cedar Rapids. Her life is a whirl of activity
mostly devoted to her students, and her fellow teachers (all of whom are facing
educational challenges that have not receded even though Covid has diminished.)
She has inherited some of my appreciation of clever humor and recently sent me
this one. “Have you seen the </span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">ad from a company that makes yardsticks
promising that they won’t make them any longer?” T</span><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">odd is
officially retired and is now waiting for a surgical implant that we hope will alleviate
his back pain. He is doing a lot of the cooking and is so good at it that
he can even make brussels sprouts taste good. His skills also extend to
marksmanship. He bagged a wild turkey and a deer with his crossbow last month. The
year’s jerky supply is ensured.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeVh7GYrljVqBRUhbZUq0_Hs018MSnTSc8Nt5ucssCtUdphRHNGGzWVbQJnYGAFOYQhe4r9IxlzOIEllVGEBg0Ikbw_fkF0BXkKzw7Uy4Bmceq2OAFgULeTHP4ZF_dchG7KD8o5Olp2-_svKwyVGoi1udoNzLIT8Wf_xWFvuQhTXJnrB2kmRh-/s546/Bruno%20Mikel.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="378" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeVh7GYrljVqBRUhbZUq0_Hs018MSnTSc8Nt5ucssCtUdphRHNGGzWVbQJnYGAFOYQhe4r9IxlzOIEllVGEBg0Ikbw_fkF0BXkKzw7Uy4Bmceq2OAFgULeTHP4ZF_dchG7KD8o5Olp2-_svKwyVGoi1udoNzLIT8Wf_xWFvuQhTXJnrB2kmRh-/w85-h124/Bruno%20Mikel.JPG" width="85" /></a></div>Grandson Mikel
will be graduating from Upper Iowa University in May. His next steps are not clear
at the moment, but he likes the outdoors and it looks like he will land
somewhere in the area of conservation or the environment. He now has his own
apartment and is working part time while he finishes his senior year.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Consolas;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 16px;">Big brother Taylor, a paramedic and firefighter in Texas, is also embarking on something new. He has announced his engagement to be married in March. His bride-to-be is employed by the</span><br style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 16px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgV-8v6LnCCeHFktiP-cY8OW8PJ4KYnxQCLp7GEeosfyOo1jg6QY5IjNgrTJZUmL5dnw9oLxepqeAi-FHOIRNhybwUolL2QkSqGdxEXzCrQaSVvDJSgC0ZMHVIPp1Xc0xzNFeu-WNDUCZ6fzMy8wlDK6EvIb1YvDd7mCq5ZlGGGCBICkhBuYmDg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="97" data-original-width="130" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgV-8v6LnCCeHFktiP-cY8OW8PJ4KYnxQCLp7GEeosfyOo1jg6QY5IjNgrTJZUmL5dnw9oLxepqeAi-FHOIRNhybwUolL2QkSqGdxEXzCrQaSVvDJSgC0ZMHVIPp1Xc0xzNFeu-WNDUCZ6fzMy8wlDK6EvIb1YvDd7mCq5ZlGGGCBICkhBuYmDg=w132-h99" width="132" /></a></div>police department and both of them are familiar with the hours that must be kept by the people who work to heal and protect us. A commitment to helping others runs deep in our family and we wish them well.<span style="font-family: Consolas;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp92fLzy9unVIZIy82k_Ss9PovJXDk0t9alUeVoptt9g44cDVmEhRWznOOET9yrBX_2xzelPIQWK2wDIpCoGGSTecbz6SDR23pFKcouPNgOk5zCG_NmSuvzDiYswyE87YYNS6QRvJn62PUXMMjqEaQqDuyaP2DdujlCd2nkcfa3Vh_GDO3oJK/s640/David%20and%20family.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="640" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp92fLzy9unVIZIy82k_Ss9PovJXDk0t9alUeVoptt9g44cDVmEhRWznOOET9yrBX_2xzelPIQWK2wDIpCoGGSTecbz6SDR23pFKcouPNgOk5zCG_NmSuvzDiYswyE87YYNS6QRvJn62PUXMMjqEaQqDuyaP2DdujlCd2nkcfa3Vh_GDO3oJK/w171-h135/David%20and%20family.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="171" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">Our son David and his family live in Finland. He works in IT (Information Technology) and reports that AI (Artificial Intelligence) is all the buzz. His wife, Lotta, still finds time for her Gestalt Therapy clients and their two girls (Frida and Selma) are up to their winter caps in school and activities. This brings us to the event of th</span><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">e year. BRUNO, David and Lotta’s 3</span><sup style="font-family: Consolas;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"> child, arrived in January. We didn’t meet him in person until this fall when everyone visited us in the USA. The young charmer took his first unassisted steps while here and with his twinkling eyes and wide smile endeared himself to everybody-- especially his uncle Mikel who seemed to develop a special bond with him and was a godsend as a caregiver during the visit.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps, in this season of giving, you will also give a thought to a bit of wisdom from Andrew McCall Smith: “Gracious acceptance is an art most of us never bother to cultivate. The very best gifts have no conditions attached to them and you must realize that accepting another person’s gift is allowing them to express their feelings for you.” With that in mind, we send you this gift of love which is enduring and carries no strings. May your season be merry and your new year bright.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">Yours, Jim and Jan De Young.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:dramajim@gmail.com"><span style="background: white; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">dramajim@gmail.com</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="mailto:janetwdeyoung@gmail.com"><span style="background: white; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">janetwdeyoung@gmail.com</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="http://stirringthepudding.blogspot.com/"><span style="background: white; font-family: Consolas; font-size: 12pt;">http://stirringthepudding.blogspot.</span></a>com</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><v:shape id="_x0000_s1028" style="height: 78.95pt; margin-left: 337.8pt; margin-top: 6.2pt; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-relative: margin; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-relative: margin; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 106.2pt; z-index: 251661312;" type="#_x0000_t75">
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</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape></p><p class="MsoNormal"><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 133.45pt; margin-left: 1.2pt; margin-top: 5.15pt; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 135.6pt; z-index: 251662336;" type="#_x0000_t75"><br /></v:shape></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-75748626027159887812023-12-11T15:31:00.006-06:002023-12-11T15:31:45.370-06:00Book Review of William Kent Krueger's THE RIVER WE REMEMBER<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Krueger, William Kent <u>The
River We Remember<o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHc2SIiiDmBrc1brtxoRrcOK5MgWq38Nkbah8XoUaPuKlx5c-54w3iCDz2s7U4D4i06HFhoflzF6rZsf5EShpjLie9qy-fyh44PSMgFJHsNHfFpzCG8P6MAu8yC3Bajxd8BCW-M1SxfHchKskSXqKF8kjTzeAQ_nwJ2j6t2C5A6b_e1qKq8456/s1846/The%20river%20we%20remember.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1846" data-original-width="1286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHc2SIiiDmBrc1brtxoRrcOK5MgWq38Nkbah8XoUaPuKlx5c-54w3iCDz2s7U4D4i06HFhoflzF6rZsf5EShpjLie9qy-fyh44PSMgFJHsNHfFpzCG8P6MAu8yC3Bajxd8BCW-M1SxfHchKskSXqKF8kjTzeAQ_nwJ2j6t2C5A6b_e1qKq8456/s320/The%20river%20we%20remember.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><u style="text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration-line: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u><p></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 19.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .75pt;">William Kent Krueger is a “sneaky” writer.
He begins <u>The River We Remember</u> as a standalone, straightforward
detective story. A man, Brody Dern, with a dark WWII past, is now a county
sheriff and is called out, on what was celebrated as Decoration Day in 1958, to
the site of a vicious death along the banks of the Alabaster River. The victim
is Jimmy Quinn, a local man of considerable means, who has accumulated more
than enough enemies over the years. The traditional questions of a murder
mystery are broached. Was it suicide, was it murder, or was it a tragic
accident? Then, quietly, we begin to meet some of the suspects and other people
in the town. Things rapidly get <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more complicated.
The Alabaster River harbors dark secrets that go back through the history of
the town and we begin to see how the hopes, the fears, the adolescent longings,
the interlocking love affairs, the racial hatreds, and the violence of wars
have impacted the lives of those who live in the ironically named farming community
of Jewel, Iowa. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 19.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .75pt;">Krueger writes with profound sensitivity
about the scarred lives of the folks who live Jewel. His characters appear
normal on the surface, but many are lost in their past secrets and sins. The
narrative flows on and is continually deepened by references to both modern and
ancient literature. We have lost adolescents who seem drawn out of Holden
Caufield; we have lives compromised by alcohol and drugs; and we have the maimed
veterans of modern wars whose lives could have easily been pulled from the
pages of Homeric legend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these
folks now live near the quiet banks of the keynote river. The book moves you
most specifically by dealing with the deep seeds of hatred toward the American
Indian and the Japanese that have been planted in our history and continue to
grow today in the rich soils of the USA. Each of the lives depicted leads inexorably
to a violent resolution that takes you through more twists than a pretzel in
distress. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 19.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .75pt;">I must admit that this book caught me up. I
read most of the last third in one sitting. The plot is solid and convincing,
the characters seem spot on, and the overpowering inclusion of the sad history of
our land puts a rich and satisfying sauce on an already well-made meal. Through
it all, the Alabaster River runs with a current that sweeps all contents “from
our beginning to our end.” As Kreuger says in the epilogue, there are many
stories to be told and in all of them there is some truth and a “good deal of
innocent misremembering.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Separating it all
out remains the ultimate challenge of living.</span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 19.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .75pt;">Jim De Young 12/11/23</span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 19.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-41824716490930503822023-11-29T14:33:00.000-06:002023-11-29T14:33:23.238-06:00Reviewing The Wizard of Oz at Theatre Cedar Rapids <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ZeL51y1FsO34a6sSKKdjlzbNKAmJxR_NT6SyhfGjF_d3MStrWV58eUrS8BJyQ2NwjNIDIfy9qBB5_qzJHFT-i5yTigXsnHWklOmijUcsjhKG7l2ikDx4CeIW7SL0MASu0g8s7KE38l741AyVUeB1xFidBHoM91gxtEiSVB1VlwDduAqhyhck/s1620/Oz%20program%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1047" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ZeL51y1FsO34a6sSKKdjlzbNKAmJxR_NT6SyhfGjF_d3MStrWV58eUrS8BJyQ2NwjNIDIfy9qBB5_qzJHFT-i5yTigXsnHWklOmijUcsjhKG7l2ikDx4CeIW7SL0MASu0g8s7KE38l741AyVUeB1xFidBHoM91gxtEiSVB1VlwDduAqhyhck/s320/Oz%20program%20cover.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><u>The Wizard of Oz</u> at the Theatre Cedar Rapids is spiced up by
some sizzling performances while being taken down a few pegs by glitzy overly
busy lighting effects and a second act that goes on about fifteen minutes too
long. The younger viewers around us started getting pretty antsy as the endless
and not well integrated Jitterbug and reprise went on and on. The choreography overall was not
quite as rousing as the high voltage hoofing in last year’s <u>Cabaret</u>, but
still was pleasant enough to keep us involved.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All of the performances were competent while the standouts were well worth the ticket price. My favorite was the sprawling gangly
Scarecrow of Jenup Wan and second by a hair goes to the creaky movement and
strong voice of James Odegaard’s Lion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kudos
also to Jessica Link as the nasty Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rhylee Larson’s Dorothy had the mature voice of
a pro, but I felt she did not quite manage to portray the youthful vulnerability
of the Kansas Dorothy as well as she might have or maybe Judy Garland’s
performance in the movie was still a haunting presence for me. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The costumes were spot-on with fanciful touches in hats and
hair. I loved it when the apple trees started throwing their fruit.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> N</o:p>ow I come back to the lighting and special effects. Flying
actors are always special and this was done with expertise and safety though
perhaps it could have been done a few less times to keep it special. This goes
for the lighting as well. The jazzy projections were simply not enough to keep me from
feeling that the “Jitterbug dance and reprise in the 2<sup>nd</sup> act was too long. It was not all clear to me what the dancers were doing for so
long or why. In any case I do wonder if the moving
projections and wild color changes were overused in the show. The score
is more mellow and romantic than frenetic and boom-boom. This “hit em hard” ambiance was
also evident in the miking of both actors and orchestra at what I felt was an ear-splitting level. This may be part of the reason I had some doubts about Rylee Larson’s Dorothy. Over-amplification gave her
voice a grating harshness at times that was at odds with the tenderness of her character.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>My doubts may also be the result of my many years as a play director. </o:p>I detected a sense of even though the show has plenty of “wow” all by
itself, let’s juice it up some more by overusing the special effects until they
begin to pale from repetition. Not knowing when to stop is a disease that afflicts actors,
directors, and designers as well as gamblers and drinkers.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In spite of my quibbles, this was a fine afternoon at the
theatre and I continue to admire the Theatre Cedar Rapids’ work. They have a
fine mix of reliable adult talent both in front of and behind the curtain and
they are giving younger performers a chance to work in what is clearly a talented
ensemble.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-51272024649212284802023-11-12T17:30:00.000-06:002023-11-12T17:30:38.150-06:00Review McCall Smith Alexander The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVU2VliJ8BLfvP85CkhyphenhyphenzDCpmA5MRN9RDK-YTm_1IR8iBurJ-zPG8kA9-DXlgNxvJpAz7JLDJi_fGDME3MXhF8hhUIYT4fDYb8aC5ewjBJVqmWXzUvVVGYhxgEt83X1BU6La5rzfCynP5p_1rL_eriynj3Is-5-iXs8g33hWbNIGMCLlMLzDa/s1845/Scan_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1845" data-original-width="1242" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVU2VliJ8BLfvP85CkhyphenhyphenzDCpmA5MRN9RDK-YTm_1IR8iBurJ-zPG8kA9-DXlgNxvJpAz7JLDJi_fGDME3MXhF8hhUIYT4fDYb8aC5ewjBJVqmWXzUvVVGYhxgEt83X1BU6La5rzfCynP5p_1rL_eriynj3Is-5-iXs8g33hWbNIGMCLlMLzDa/s320/Scan_0001.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Alexander McCall Smith is like a warm comforter in a chilly
room. The last books I’ve tackled, in particular Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon
Copperhead, have been stuffed with so much negativity, violence and despair
that I was starting to cry “enough already.” I know the world is a nasty place, but I also
need a lighter lift once in a while and McCall Smith is the author who can
deliver that. This is not another edition of one of his wonderful series like
the Mma Ramotswe No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. This is a group of droll short
stories that illustrate the catch-all title of espionage and revenge. The
heroes are pretty kind and the villains more often puffed up with themselves than
sinister. As always the vignettes teem with philosophy, history, humor and
spot-on character development. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Section one features five stories about espionage. “Nuns and
Spies”, for instance, deals with a male German spy in WWII who parachutes into England
and ends up disguising himself as a Catholic Nun. It is based on a real but
unproved rumor and McCall Smith re-makes the story into a delightfully absurd adventure.
In “Filioque” a young theology student
in Rome is recruited by a Cardinal into the dark and secretive Vatican Secret
Service—again with some unusual results.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The second half of the book has four stories about various
types of comeuppance. My favorite was “The Principles of Soap” a story of an
actor/waiter in Australia who manages to strike it reasonably rich with a
continuing role in a TV soap opera. Along the way he survives an attempt by a
former nemesis and classmate from his old acting school to derail his career
and replace him with her lover. The story is filled with fun, coincidences, and
plenty of ironic humor about actor training and the theatre business. I liked that one for obvious reasons. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">If you feel the need to escape for a time from the horrors
of today’s news, I suggest you try a dance in the sunshine with this Alexander
McCall Smith collection. It will surely lift your heart and tickle your
funnybone. I give this collection a solid 4 out of 5 stars. <o:p></o:p></p><p><br /></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-75743310406598067562023-11-04T09:38:00.000-05:002023-11-04T09:45:43.799-05:00The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi898kM2i7vwhtGsYuUb5D-VUEUkiLOZNx5OBz547-wjzY8uLrjCqpvMeMv302dc9QbSeC3M6XLO6UJNl0bVNlebC8KpBDhmstMk635DJDd5G5afi88IqpnIEo5xPVJuxiBeWfhO1wjDV4x8dmt5dQJrIRrFjW2Ddr40mNYlXMBzfh7aiMaHdMf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1518" data-original-width="990" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi898kM2i7vwhtGsYuUb5D-VUEUkiLOZNx5OBz547-wjzY8uLrjCqpvMeMv302dc9QbSeC3M6XLO6UJNl0bVNlebC8KpBDhmstMk635DJDd5G5afi88IqpnIEo5xPVJuxiBeWfhO1wjDV4x8dmt5dQJrIRrFjW2Ddr40mNYlXMBzfh7aiMaHdMf" width="157" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>The Overnight Guest</u>, a 2022 novel by Iowa author Heather
Gudenkauf, mines a genre that I personally am getting sick of. Sure, the
world has sadistic killers who specialize in binding and torturing women and
children, but far too many writers today seem to find this particular horror and
the detailed description of its painful and bloody results to be a mainstay. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>When you combine this with another modern writing convention
of popping back and forth constantly between times and characters, you have a novel full of already overused conventions. The plot tells the story of a bloody family massacre that reverberates over many years. It depends on the improbable meeting of two of the victims
and continuous descriptions of fear, dread, and violence. Of course, it is “a dark and stormy night in a secluded farmhouse
and the power (wait for it) just has to go out etc. and etc. The imprisoned
must also pick this night after years of sick torture to try an escape. To be
sure there is the requisite final twist at the end, but I remain convinced that
you should pick this book up only if you have nothing better to do. I am going
back to Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-11920953812434413492023-10-26T17:56:00.000-05:002023-10-26T17:56:07.816-05:00A review of My Lady Judge by Cora Harrison<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhy25Kg80u3XQc255zniXKEu7_VwzMPSD0YLkiU51xbeksT32RNcRxONdzo4xFBrPmL38CUvmxzp_jk_rN_RR3nGsMMK5vcJApsLBBOOFdeTTe2gdUHwodr7RGEHY7RZK6-I-6BiuPKjurS7I6FFWKoqKNPU8dKKxd5o3ud4mB7fWOsKWt0Z4E/s1906/My%20lady%20judge%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1906" data-original-width="1232" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhy25Kg80u3XQc255zniXKEu7_VwzMPSD0YLkiU51xbeksT32RNcRxONdzo4xFBrPmL38CUvmxzp_jk_rN_RR3nGsMMK5vcJApsLBBOOFdeTTe2gdUHwodr7RGEHY7RZK6-I-6BiuPKjurS7I6FFWKoqKNPU8dKKxd5o3ud4mB7fWOsKWt0Z4E/w163-h252/My%20lady%20judge%20cover.jpg" width="163" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This novel is a sleeper. The Irish author, Cora Harrison, is
a former primary school teacher who has written a large number of books for
children. Back in 2007, she changed her
spots and produced an adult historical mystery novel set on the wild gray coast
of western Ireland in the year 1509. Her heroine is an intriguing and assertive
judge named Mara who has been appointed by the King of the area to rule on all
activity (from marriage to murder) in accordance with the ancient Celtic traditions.
Harrison has given Mara a love of plant and animal life, a sensitivity to the physical world around her, a young
daughter from a marriage that has ended in a divorce, a semi-romance with the
King who appointed her, and finally the position as head mistress of a school that
teaches young boys how to enter the legal profession. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Each chapter of this “mystery of Medieval Ireland” begins
with a listing of a type of law in the ancient canons such as personal worth, marriage,
inheritance, thievery, or assault. The development then explores Mara (the
judge’s) actions as she deals with the implications and intricacies of that set
of laws. This creates a slow start as the reader has to absorb a certain amount
of ancient Irish history, but the pace speeds up when one of Mara’s top
students is murdered during the celebration of an important community May Day ritual.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A murder investigation quickly gets under way and Mara finds
herself under pressure to find the culprit. Ultimately, what appears to be her orderly
intellectual search to find the killer by determining the opportunity and
motivation for the death, puts her into grave personal danger. This, along with
a series of twists at the end, kept me wanting to see more of this woman. A
quick internet search has revealed several more books by Harrison featuring Mara in what is
called “the Burren Mysteries Series.” I look forward to sampling at least a few
of them in the future. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This isn’t on the list of great books of the early 21<sup>st</sup>
century, but I give it a 4 out of 5 because the leading character is appealing,
the mystery is absorbing and full of twists, and it explores a fascinating
corner of the ancient world and the often strange laws that govern its
inhabitants. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jdy 10/26/2023<o:p></o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-70838937127556257152023-10-18T12:18:00.000-05:002023-10-18T12:18:01.454-05:00Clue Review at Theatre Cedar Rapids<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIj-HzfJQmq-NhRoLly8UXDg-hqWLBPdtsxsyF9JAmKzojShywu4A0NEELjswx9AXZe2QVSz-_TaM-ToE392nOMQR1IHFSfpHxvVrxCFKN_HI3AIYwhDIv5AV27ZS4Liz_5aUnsWg0FfpJYG-t8lfpeZQm9TM6-wZ-IXZPtUgzL4Uycaam1kq/s1434/Clue%20program%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIj-HzfJQmq-NhRoLly8UXDg-hqWLBPdtsxsyF9JAmKzojShywu4A0NEELjswx9AXZe2QVSz-_TaM-ToE392nOMQR1IHFSfpHxvVrxCFKN_HI3AIYwhDIv5AV27ZS4Liz_5aUnsWg0FfpJYG-t8lfpeZQm9TM6-wZ-IXZPtUgzL4Uycaam1kq/s320/Clue%20program%20cover.jpg" width="117" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Clue</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(the
stage play)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Performed by Theatre Cedar Rapid Friday, Oct. 13, 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><u>Clue</u>, the play, is a farce whodunnit, based on the
movie and the venerable board game itself. All the well-known players such as
Professor Plum and Miss Scarlet are present along with their associated murder
weapons. The plot is strained but who cares when a group of very familiar suspects
are gathered together on a dark and stormy night in an old mansion and engaged
in seeing who did what to whom and how.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Right up front, let me say that I loved this production. I
detected a single minded, disciplined commitment by the director and cast to
play seriously inside the play without the kind of wink and nod to the audience
that I felt was present in CRT’s recent production of the <u>The Play That Went
Wrong</u>. The director here, Mic Evans, kept the over the top script from
going to the heads of the cast and kept them tightly controlled even when they
were literally dancing from room to room during the scenic bridges. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Second, the show profited greatly from an ingeniously designed
set and superb lighting, music, and sound effects. The rumble of thunder shook
the building and right on time lightning flashes accompanied it. Sharp intensified
spotlight stabs accompanied the actor’s “takes” at dramatic moments. Kudos even
to the stage crew as they smoothly enabled the actors to weave through the
moving walls and doors. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A special mention
goes to Seth Engen as Mr. Green, who managed a magnificently controlled back
bend as a chandelier descended slowly onto him from above. This homage to <u>Phantom
of the Opera</u> was worth the price of the ticket all by itself. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I also couldn’t but help to think about how almost none of
technical artistry on view in the production would have even been possible in
the 1950’s when I started my career in the theatre. Today’s computer aided
systems were still in the future. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lighting
boards generally only had individually controlled dimmer handles or dials. We created
sound and music effects by dropping a needle on a record—it was actually a 78
not a 33 1/3. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spotlights had one color
based on a gelatin slide put in front of the lens. Light movement could happen
only as fast as human operators could physically adjust the placement of the
instrument or the individual dimmers. Now you can change a single spotlight’s
color and change its direction and focus by remote control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A new problem we didn’t have to face “in the old days” was
the pressure that our current technical fireworks puts on actors to rise above glitz.
It is a pleasure to report that this cast did just that. Throughout the evening
they showed both physical stamina and performance skill. Standouts for me were
John Miersen, as the butler, Greg Smith as Colonel Mustard, and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lauren Galliart as the tarty Miss Scarlet in
a flaming red dress that was certainly the knock-out costume of the evening. Belle
Caney had multiple roles but made a real mark as the acerbic cook and later as
a floppy dead body.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I close with my delight at seeing a show that could attract
and please an audience composed of all age levels from children to adults. In
sum, this play “went right” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the
enjoyment was evident during the curtain call and as the audience left the
theatre. Get a ticket. It runs until October 29th. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jdy <o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-4228742272626835132023-09-17T16:30:00.004-05:002023-09-17T16:30:48.429-05:00Review of THE WINTER SOLDIER by Daniel Mason<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEV6JvDEPoOkScRru3yFUO_3YJmtezHxbq4AghzeXDvYgU9ItseP_N3pqormQj3YEo1puEy5LrVdNQFw1ac-rsAMcyONybGmqzHt9rk1j29eVc4urjmUFgrykUpVoMe26MgjAYhjYmNxDBsc0g0ucGXC9btNaCJTtQCYbDfzXcuutip8Zj76S3/s350/winter%20soldier%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="228" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEV6JvDEPoOkScRru3yFUO_3YJmtezHxbq4AghzeXDvYgU9ItseP_N3pqormQj3YEo1puEy5LrVdNQFw1ac-rsAMcyONybGmqzHt9rk1j29eVc4urjmUFgrykUpVoMe26MgjAYhjYmNxDBsc0g0ucGXC9btNaCJTtQCYbDfzXcuutip8Zj76S3/s320/winter%20soldier%20cover.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Daniel Mason lives in California and is an MD and psychiatrist.
I read <u>The Winter Soldier</u> on my Kindle. It tells the heartbreaking story
of Lucius—a young man from a well-off military family who decides on medicine
as a career against the wishes of his family. Just before he completes his
medical degree in Vienna, WWI intervenes and the Austro-Hungarian empire is
thrown into chaos. The young man, wishing to contribute to the war effort, enlists
in the army and is sent as a medic to a casualty station located in a barely Carpathian
village church.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From here on we get the story of the war, not from the
trenches as in <u>All Quiet on the Western Front</u>, but from the hospitals
where the physically maimed and psychologically scarred are dumped to be treated.
Lucius is faced with barbaric sanitation, sparse medical equipment, limited drugs,
and precious little food. He is relegated primarily to cutting off destroyed limbs
while also attempting to cure lice, typhus, and the scourge of what was called
“shell shock” in WWI and is now known as PTSS (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Mason spares the reader none of the stench, the blood, the
suffering, and the violence that goes on behind the front lines. His diligently
researched book is not for the delicate or faint of heart, but the reward is
that, In spite of the conditions, Lucius manages to find romance in the person
of a nun named Marguerite, who is the head nurse at the facility.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The young medic is separated from his hospital when the
battle lines change, which leaves the last third of the novel to tell the story
of his tragic search for his lost love. Some reviewers have even compared the
book to Boris Pasternack’s <u>Dr. Zhivago</u>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mason uses his own medical knowledge with acute precision, while
combining it with the history of medicine and the societal and human conflicts
embodied in World War One. The title really tells it all. It reflects the chill
of a landscape and a war that is rife with blizzards. The weather is as much an
enemy as the opposing army and over it all hangs the pall of the horror of war.
That human beings can still locate emotional warmth in this horrendous milieu is
a heartwarming tribute to resiliency.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Definitely a 4.8 out of 5 for me, but a reminder that it does contain violent description. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-71744332630253297342023-09-06T09:50:00.002-05:002023-09-06T09:50:36.911-05:00Review of Fatal Legacy by Lindsey Davis<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccT0tLbQjIG_w9esn_ImfW67dGPMGATM0svhlj62aN587Y94qugtCBB15-4_rG5F4Ljiijlca8pqFQ5VM3t1tQhh6ycPuUrv8U5im4TeCx5BY__Ok0d6Kcn7n6CG6wSpOyk6bbIdXQ1BT-MlQ7KkCgaoDaZjQvqjOQNwIamhPHmQ9_maSrCYh/s1891/Scan_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1891" data-original-width="1222" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccT0tLbQjIG_w9esn_ImfW67dGPMGATM0svhlj62aN587Y94qugtCBB15-4_rG5F4Ljiijlca8pqFQ5VM3t1tQhh6ycPuUrv8U5im4TeCx5BY__Ok0d6Kcn7n6CG6wSpOyk6bbIdXQ1BT-MlQ7KkCgaoDaZjQvqjOQNwIamhPHmQ9_maSrCYh/s320/Scan_0003.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Are you one of the many who enjoy traditional “who dunnits”
set in exotic or historical places?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you are, British authoress Lindsey Davis may be just your cup of tea. She has
written a slew of comical, historical mysteries set in ancient Rome. There have
been over twenty in the Marcus Didius Falco series and 2023’s <u>Fatal Legacy</u>
is the 11<sup>th</sup> in the Flavia Alba series. Flavia, if you are not
already familiar with her, is Marcus Didius Falco’s intelligent, high spirited
and courageous daughter. She takes on similar cases to her father as an “Informer,”
which is a sort of ancient investigator similar to today’s private eye. She
also, like her dad, has a wicked sense of humor that exploits the legal, political,
eating, drinking, and sexual habits of all levels of ancient Roman society. Is
this just inventive trash talking? Not at all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to a classicist friend of mine. “Her
history and geography is spot on.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In <u>Fatal Legacy</u> Flavia takes what seems like a
simple case of getting the goods on a guy who skipped out on a restaurant tab. This minor infraction turns quickly into a sinister
and convoluted multi- generational family feud over citizenship and inheritance
rights. The plot has more twists than a licorice stick and you will be laughing
all the way through to the violent climax. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I haven’t read all of the Falco family books, but the ones I
have read I have enjoyed immensely. They are light hearted, satirical, and deftly
plotted.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I give this one a 4 out of 5.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-29756017119675993212023-08-26T15:59:00.001-05:002023-08-26T15:59:42.049-05:00Review of The Collector by Daniel Silva<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrBbQwcMqepTHN11ioZMQh8PUgfxleUHkHQtpEGedBuS1_GPkanA-FUF30Le_z4HxU1MOL7mbyw53KAHrc0wkZnTUQt4OrpyLmCgX7ZsVFD8rCFuVSkfcDuBBAhmnx3v5BS6ktuLYKcQRGSIXR878dhdGXxrnIktPgtx34dV4uamx9shOe4YF/s1746/Silva%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1746" data-original-width="1257" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrBbQwcMqepTHN11ioZMQh8PUgfxleUHkHQtpEGedBuS1_GPkanA-FUF30Le_z4HxU1MOL7mbyw53KAHrc0wkZnTUQt4OrpyLmCgX7ZsVFD8rCFuVSkfcDuBBAhmnx3v5BS6ktuLYKcQRGSIXR878dhdGXxrnIktPgtx34dV4uamx9shOe4YF/w218-h303/Silva%20cover.jpg" width="218" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">Daniel Silva’s
latest thriller, <u>The Collector</u>, has all the characteristics of a
blockbuster. It is ripped right out of the pages of the Russian invasion of
Ukraine and will attract devotees as well as first readers. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Gabriel Allon, the retired
former head spymaster of the Israeli secret service is on tap and called into
action once again. This time he is asked to look into the murder of a wealthy
secret art collector and the theft of a long missing stolen masterpiece by the
famous Dutch painter, Vermeer. In no time he turns up a brilliant, vivacious,
female, master thief as a suspect, but almost immediately another more
dangerous plot emerges. Allon has to leave the art world behind in order to prevent
a Russian false flag operation from starting a nuclear war in the Ukraine. Soon
the secret services of the USA, Russia, Denmark, and Finland are planning to send
the female master thief and the head of a Danish petroleum company into the very
heart of Moscow to steal the incriminating war-plan and save the world. It should be no surprise that as the thieves begin
to execute their escape from Russia, things go awry. The final bullet heavy
standoff at a Finnish border crossing will keep you turning the pages at a
rapid clip. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">If you like
tradecraft and action you will be more than satisfied and if you wish to probe the depth
of the retired Allon’s character, you will be reminded of his exploits all the
way back to the Munich Olympics and the car bomb that permanently incapacitated
his first wife. I would also add that an item that sets Silva’s work apart is his
ability to lighten even catastrophes and setbacks with caustic humor. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>My judgement may be a
tad clouded by having a son and family living in Finland and therefore loving
the irony of putting the climax at the border of Russia and the “the happiest
country in the world,” but I still give it a 5 out of 5. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-17148663503731596972023-08-19T10:35:00.001-05:002023-08-19T10:35:50.659-05:00Interesting Comparison<p>Had two i<span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">nteresting viewing experiences in the last two nights. On Thursday evening we saw Stephen Sondheim's <u>A Little Night Music</u> in an outdoor venue on the grounds of an old Cedar Rapids mansion called Brucemore. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTD1KYlEd9gJvjxI4qOAFkFmZrrd8paFPTt71YLaYvKvBWqimEQXNH6acZukIIM5CjalnJsKH16ISWoIPEtRpOqrv3pL30FKkLGYQGRs6l6VSzGZ3ggq5cazcujwaD4_pUF4111GPCjsXqo_gVc0h4g4Z4TohvFPypuK2ED7Uf2zfWfYUFr-Fp/s640/A%20Little%20Night%20Music%20set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTD1KYlEd9gJvjxI4qOAFkFmZrrd8paFPTt71YLaYvKvBWqimEQXNH6acZukIIM5CjalnJsKH16ISWoIPEtRpOqrv3pL30FKkLGYQGRs6l6VSzGZ3ggq5cazcujwaD4_pUF4111GPCjsXqo_gVc0h4g4Z4TohvFPypuK2ED7Uf2zfWfYUFr-Fp/s320/A%20Little%20Night%20Music%20set.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Then on Friday night we saw the 1958 film of <u>South Pacific.</u> What a contrast in terms of the development of musical theatre over the past fifty years. The film was a big hit, but shows its age badly with hokey color tinting for the lovey-dovey scenes and some performances that seem wooden as well as in-appropriate in the modern era. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Although I am not a big Sondheim fan, the Theatre Cedar Rapids production hit the mark is almost all ways. You couldn't ask for a more gorgeous setting for this </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">show--outdoors and twilight deepening to dark as the 2nd act starts. The CR actors and singers showed that they were more than up to the difficult score. The miking was excellent and we could hear the lyrics and dialog clearly. Not sure what can be done outdoors to keep action on the far side of large stage from coming at you from the left speaker array. Stage design and direction excellent.. Lots of levels and they were used nicely. Blocking of dinner scenes always give directors the heebie jeebies, but Angie Toomsen had a beautiful and successful solution. With small low tables on two levels and a third level for the grand dame hostess, everyone could be seen and no backs were turned. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I still think Act I could use some trimming. By the time we get to the Act I finale the going is tedious and the last number goes on forever. No weekend in the country needs to be repeated that many times. Then again the South Pacific film could use more than a lot of trimming too. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Plenty to think about all around.</span></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-69060108311272246242023-08-14T09:19:00.014-05:002023-08-15T07:27:26.391-05:00Death in a Bygone Hue Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVLN_OTszVHgFB2frP3hVcj4SC-kN6RdAbeGOSZeoxbJKKfEBC4upGhx-LBfza31tQSUVetIl4qpkAN4DDOjmr08rHpbcQWo-oR6zsrqXHcXh13G5yu3Aoc59zoyAPThFHh6I6ObucnPmKcCaR8ZEo0Bb4EGZlR1uVNSug3bDbdLC51CgRTzq/s1785/Bygone%20Hue.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1785" data-original-width="1156" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVLN_OTszVHgFB2frP3hVcj4SC-kN6RdAbeGOSZeoxbJKKfEBC4upGhx-LBfza31tQSUVetIl4qpkAN4DDOjmr08rHpbcQWo-oR6zsrqXHcXh13G5yu3Aoc59zoyAPThFHh6I6ObucnPmKcCaR8ZEo0Bb4EGZlR1uVNSug3bDbdLC51CgRTzq/s320/Bygone%20Hue.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal">Death in a Bygone Hue review<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Susan Van Kirk’s second art center
mystery, <u>Death in a Bygone Hue” </u>is an engrossing and pleasant
cozy mystery. My caveat here is simply a mention that I have known Sue </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">as a neighbor and friend for
many years and she is aware that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">my personal preference in detective procedurals calls for a bit
more guts than the “cozy” genre generally supplies. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> With that said, I still love her
single, delightful, and unabashedly inquisitive heroine Jill Madison. Jill is a
budding artist, and Executive Director of an art center in a small midwestern
town. Just as she is readying the center’s first national juried exhibition,
Judge Spivey, her good friend and the treasurer of her Board of Directors, dies
suspiciously. This suddenly puts her as a sleuth in search of a killer as well
as a suspect in the crime. The judge’s will, unknown to her, has
disinherited his adult children and left all of his valuable paintings and his
money to Jill and the Art Center. A local newspaper woman adds fuel to the fire
by writing articles accusing Jill of the crime and a final fan to the flames
exposes concerns about the judge’s hidden past during the Viet Nam
War. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Van Kirk’s tightly plotted narrative
comes nicely equipped with a jolly sidekick and a handsome </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">emergency room doctor from the local
hospital who adds just a touch of steam to her life. Witness this quote, “I
found myself falling for him as he hugged me, kissed my forehead, and headed
for the door. He actually thought my work was important. He could be a keeper.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> Another plus is the unique setting
of the book in an arts center. I cheerfully admit that I know this art center
since Van Kirk has fictionalized the real one that operates in our town. When
Judge Spivey’s painting collection is discovered to be valuable, it opens up the
plot to potential art theft and forgery, which extends the plot well beyond the
locality where the crime was committed. This allows a reader to pick up just
enough discussion of how art shows are run, how exhibits are hung, and how
provenance operates in the art world itself to add depth to the setting without
slipping into the aesthetic weeds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Van Kirk’s book is not going to knock
Agatha Christie or Louise Penny off the top rung of the ladder quite yet, but
she had me guessing the wrong villain right up to the final suspenseful
confrontation. That, for my money, is what a good solid enjoyable read is all
about. I give it a 4 out of 5. Get a copy!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-83336314164213975992023-07-24T10:13:00.002-05:002023-07-24T10:13:48.999-05:00A PRIZED POSSESION<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“A most prized possession”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This writing
prompt asks that you select something you have or have had that means something
to you. It should be a treasure, but not necessarily a monetary one. It should
be something that has been special to you for a long time and you have kept in
your heart if not in reality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Although my
wife comes to mind immediately, this is not really a reasonable choice. Not a
good idea to go there in this day and age. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just in
case you need to be reminded, women are no longer owned objects to be
controlled by men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This leads
me into a more physical domain. In spite of heart stutters, a bum shoulder, and
all-round old age, I do treasure the blessing of my continued mobility. It is
one of those things we don’t think about until it is disappearing. The ability
to go about your daily regimen, albeit more slowly than before, is a treasured possession
for any senior citizen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tied to the
physical world would be to choose the treasured memories of a lifetime of travel.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many, those recollections are
contained in the now fading photos or slides of far-flung places and past family
gatherings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just as
easily I could select a group of memories of the college students I have
encountered over the years and the experiences bound up in the plays directed
and sets constructed. More than a few of these students have kept a place in
their lives for attending or making live theatre. Several met their mate while participating
in one of my productions. Though now long gone from their alma maters and
working and raising families of their own, I continue to enjoy their lives vicariously
via some of the positive features of the modern social media. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But finally,
I have focused on books. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I offer no
apology for choosing them as a valuable personal treasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teaching has been my life and books have been
as constant a companion as my loving spouse. They lined the walls of my office
and of my study at home. The difficulty remains that this option is plural and
keeps me from focusing on a singular personal antecedent. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">With that in
mind, I have boiled the choice down to a single representative book. It is my
treasured copy of Richard Haliburton’s <u>Complete Book of Marvels.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, as of now, my most prized possession. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am looking at it on the shelf as I write
this and am quite sure it can be used as a seminal first cause. The copy I own
comes from the 1960’s. I am not quite sure when or where I bought it, but it
has traveled with me for years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
hardback and unquestionably shopworn. The paper jacket is still on although pretty
torn and tattered. The jacket blurb proclaims proudly that it is “the most
popular adventure book of our times.” The times are the 1930’s prior to its
copywrite date of 1937.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I do know
is that it was a library discard and the evidence of my attempts, without much
success, to pry off the old card pocket are still there to see. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2oAgiFAW-c3mvnxf0m9G0OmfLGEzBNAgWG25ZY_QIAJY9MWween5QdIcgovtlGMIzRJQgP4zAQ-aP-zgduk0juEZps2V1Bt-S0r9rBpPdfhN-Iv40cEh_Cr1DgjDQMnzA_L_Ca1_L5ze1KL66EtxRaKfAjPMvttDnLpl4FyYmzSLSWVc3jXq/s1971/Scan_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1971" data-original-width="1483" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2oAgiFAW-c3mvnxf0m9G0OmfLGEzBNAgWG25ZY_QIAJY9MWween5QdIcgovtlGMIzRJQgP4zAQ-aP-zgduk0juEZps2V1Bt-S0r9rBpPdfhN-Iv40cEh_Cr1DgjDQMnzA_L_Ca1_L5ze1KL66EtxRaKfAjPMvttDnLpl4FyYmzSLSWVc3jXq/s320/Scan_0001.jpg" width="241" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">You now have
a right to ask why this volume has kept its place on my bookshelf over several
moves and many years? This is where in old movies you see calendar pages
sliding slowly backward in time to a younger and simpler age.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My mother
was a high school graduate and an avid reader. She even belonged to the Book of
the Month club. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dad, not so much, partly
because reduced circumstances took him into the work force and out of school
after his sophomore year in high school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They both did, however, share one commonality. That was that they would
see to it that I and my sister would get a good education. My mother quit her
secretarial job when I was born and one of the things I remember from my early
life was she took me religiously to the branch library on Burleigh Street in
Milwaukee every week from an early age. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was first just for picture books and then on to real reading books as I entered
the early grades. I was hooked and was devouring anything in print before I was
eight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Significantly fairy tales and travel
to faraway places were tops on my list. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Adventure
drew me like a bee to nectar and somewhere between my 8<sup>th</sup> and 10<sup>th</sup>
birthday Richard Halliburton’s <u>Complete Book of Marvels</u> came my
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Halliburton often wrote for a younger
audience and excelled in describing his travels around the Occident and the
Orient. He wrote in the first person and in simple descriptive prose. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Facts were interspersed with questions and he had
a penchant for throwing himself dramatically into his role as both narrator and
participant in the scene he was describing. Take for instance his introduction
to his first wonder—the San Francisco Bay Bridge. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “Have you ever walked eight
miles?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were you tired? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How long did it take? . . . Now imagine
walking and walking and walking for three hours all on the same enormous
bridge.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it’s a bit corny now. Time
has not always been kind to Halliburton’s efforts, but I know for a fact that
it got my travel juices flowing. I still would not trade his tale of swimming
the Panama Canal (he is still today the smallest vessel ever to be locked
through) or jumping into the “Well if Death” at the Mayan city of Chichen Itza
for anything in the world. I must admit that I did not swim the canal or jump
into the Well of Death like Richard did, but I have since passed through that canal
and visited the “great well” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and other
monuments at <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chichen Itza. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What now still
makes this volume an important and valuable keepsake? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess because my copy of the book carries
twenty-five checkmarks noting which ones of Halliburton’s fifty-five wonders of
the world I have visited thus far. Now in my eighties, that bucket list still
has some places and “miles to go” before I sleep, but with a little bit of
luck<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this scrappy kid from a working
class family in Milwaukee might be able to add another checkmark or two to that
book’s Table of Contents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">*A footnote:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard Halliburton disappeared in 1939 while
trying to sail a specially constructed Chinese Junk named “The Sea Dragon”
across the Pacific Ocean from Hong Kong to the San Francisco World Fair. No
sign of his ship or its crew has ever been found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jim De
Young<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>7/24/2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-47190954096636531522023-07-12T14:52:00.003-05:002023-07-12T14:52:51.201-05:00Book Notice: The Case of the Cantankerous Carcass<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The Case of the Cantankerous Carcass by Howard of Warwick<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcZHMXIzrOYEQAywqOv7jquvHwUmTUw-FKEni7LGMTr_4gxcIVyZSfuYz3k-cOv8qS21m4ZmT5aTkzyiL9Cj_BpRRKl-XdzGd-gRHW3kl7Nj1vAPxzK6Q6zQ5ndlEgaf8ubcNMsbsl5UvZC2vL49h3dkbdwPhSf7a0coBkL-0z2W4kK0fKF7p/s500/corspe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcZHMXIzrOYEQAywqOv7jquvHwUmTUw-FKEni7LGMTr_4gxcIVyZSfuYz3k-cOv8qS21m4ZmT5aTkzyiL9Cj_BpRRKl-XdzGd-gRHW3kl7Nj1vAPxzK6Q6zQ5ndlEgaf8ubcNMsbsl5UvZC2vL49h3dkbdwPhSf7a0coBkL-0z2W4kK0fKF7p/s320/corspe.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">When all you want is quick and silly, there is nothing like
the series devoted to the adventures of a hapless monk named Brother Hermitage written
by Howard of Warwick. He has fallen into
the position of King’s Investigator and can’t manage to think of a way out. He
is joined by a savvy weaver named Wat who has made a pile of money making and
selling lewd tapestries to any and all. A third member of this triad is a young
smart-mouthed female weaver who has a snippy answer for all questions and
challenges.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In this adventure an Abbot finds he has been proclaimed dead
although he is quite alive. Hermitage is
asked to find out who started the rumor of his demise. Before that question is
answered a newly appointed Abbot is really found dead and we are off to the
races with constant jokes that are so corny you won’t need to plant another
crop for years. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are a whole group of these throwaway adventures on
offer at Amazon and most are offered free to Prime readers. Not sure you will
want to keep them on your book shelf, but they are a gas if you need a break
from the hard stuff.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A solid 3 out of 5 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10366444.post-9319599046840547922023-07-02T10:31:00.003-05:002023-07-03T09:18:03.993-05:00Book Review Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger<p> </p><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Ordinary Grace</o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAAVPtZXy94cy4KEQtqdkhDQV8hg3Ka4IWsACxzzYceCK86zMPlVYRN9R-rgJnS4cvvKskbIetyPyKaMtvjic7mC3pIpZ_Btv9SN35TeYiSosgLg9x0JVgDw4AyNgnYH2C-Ev126z5mmBvA8yWGXCzjMIpdtzVTieEMDYgxCrrZ5JxhETcVZa/s1764/Ordinary%20Grace%20Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1764" data-original-width="1235" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAAVPtZXy94cy4KEQtqdkhDQV8hg3Ka4IWsACxzzYceCK86zMPlVYRN9R-rgJnS4cvvKskbIetyPyKaMtvjic7mC3pIpZ_Btv9SN35TeYiSosgLg9x0JVgDw4AyNgnYH2C-Ev126z5mmBvA8yWGXCzjMIpdtzVTieEMDYgxCrrZ5JxhETcVZa/s320/Ordinary%20Grace%20Cover.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Something struck my fancy on p. 245 of William Kent
Krueger’s 2013 novel titled <u>Ordinary Grace</u>. The main character says: “I
lay in bed that night more confused than ever. Too many things had happened in
the day.” Now Krueger is a fine storyteller and an evocative descriptor of the weather,
the colors, and the very smells of mid-western river towns, but he just seems
to give his thirteen year old hero too many burdens too fast to convince me
that all this could happen or should to one kid in such a short time span. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Thirteen year old </o:p>Frank and his brother Jake, a stutterer, live in a Minnesota
river town in 1961. His father is the local preacher and his mother is a not so
happy woman who thought she was marrying a bright young lawyer before he
returned from “the war” a changed man and went off to divinity school instead.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> T</o:p>he tragedies mount fast and furious in that summer and
Frank, when he is not included in the adult’s lives, is an inveterate eavesdropper
on their conversations—most of which he can barely understand. The story ultimately
hinges on who is the murderer of Frank and Jake’s older sister--Ariel. There
are twists and turns aplenty before the real villain is found, but I just don’t
think, even though the narrator is the adult Frank looking back on his
childhood, he would have been quite so involved and philosophical about the events
as he seems to be. Frank often seems to be more
a nosey little brat constantly egging his brother into more trouble and as such doesn't make me like him a lot of the time. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Publicity for Krueger often seems to mention his series of
crime novels. I have not tried one of those and may pick one up in the future.
Right now I give this one a 2.5 out of 5. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>DramaJimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036832548440275808noreply@blogger.com0