I just received word from Amazon that they consider some aspect of The Wisdom of Walt Disney in violation of their trademark content policy. So, while I'm trying to find out just what and how I can correct it, the book will be temporarily unavailable in paperback. Sorry everyone. UPDATE: The strike's been withdrawn and … Continue reading Walt Disney Content Strike
Books
Friday Flotsam: Verne, History, and Broomsticks
1. Visiting relatives in Maine all this week 2. On the way up, listened to a biography of Jules Verne. It was certainly interesting to get a look into the life of such an important author, though the biographer is rather annoyingly intrusive; his thesis is that Verne is one of the great authors of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Verne, History, and Broomsticks
Friday Flotsam: Starts Grim, Gets Happier
1. An exhausting week full of discouragement. I’m really realizing how much I dislike coding, but the trouble is that I don’t know what else I can do for a day job. I’d really like to have a job that I can actually be invested in, even if it isn’t the Final Goal, but there … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Starts Grim, Gets Happier
Friday Flotsam: Some Reading and Some Thoughts
1. Read classic noir pulp short Angel Face by Cornell Woolrich, about a savvy stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold trying to save her loser of a brother from a false accusation of murder with help from a sympathetic detective. Really exactly what you want in this kind of thing: snappy dialogue and narration (“One of them was kind of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Some Reading and Some Thoughts
Friday Flotsam: Psych Days, Recreation, ‘The Living Shadow’, and an Interesting Fact
1. One thing I would recommend to any fellow sufferers from depression or related problems is not to be ashamed to occasionally take off ‘psych days’ to try to recoup yourself, especially if your job is a source of strain and unhappiness (which, I may be cynical, but I think most jobs these days are). … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Psych Days, Recreation, ‘The Living Shadow’, and an Interesting Fact
Thoughts on ‘Flatland’
You have almost certainly never read a novel like Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott (under the name ‘A. Square’). It depicts a two-dimensional world, and the narrator’s experience of being granted visions of other dimensions. About two-thirds of the book consists in simply describing the nature and some of the … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Flatland’
Thoughts on ‘The Monster Men’
"Let those who will say that I have no soul, for I am satisfied with the soul I have found...And if the savage men who came tonight to kill have souls, then I am glad that my soul is after my own choosing—I would not care for one like theirs." I had started to read … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘The Monster Men’
Recommendation: All Creatures Great and Small
Since earlier this week I brought up the wonderful Robert Hardy and his role in All Creatures Great and Small, I think we’ll delve a bit more into it, or at least the book it is based on. All Creatures Great and Small is the first volume of semi-fictionalized tales of the life of a … Continue reading Recommendation: All Creatures Great and Small
Five Great Casting Choices That Never Were
1. Lance Henriksen as William Tecumseh Sherman Sherman’s a fascinating figure; repellent in many ways, yet certifiably brilliant and one of the few men on either side who went into the war knowing full well what it would mean. He’d be a good figure for a Patton-style biopic, or at the very least would have … Continue reading Five Great Casting Choices That Never Were
Book Recommendation: Robert E. Lee on Leadership
Most recently I read through Robert E. Lee on Leadership, by H.W. Crocker III. Overall, I found it to be quite excellent: a fascinating and very useful insight into one of the preeminent figures of American history. Mr. Crocker’s focus is less to tell a complete biography of Lee (though we get a decent overview … Continue reading Book Recommendation: Robert E. Lee on Leadership
Serpent's Den 