Nobody 678
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Nobody # 678
Nobody Asked Me But:
On being good, being watched, or both:
He’s making a list.
He’s (even) checking it twice.
(You better bet that) He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town.<<<
An afternoon on the town - from sublime to interesting: Before the Bruin game last Wednesday, Barb and I headed to Larchmont Village to try out the highly rated pizza at Village Pizzeria with a stop at Frittelli’s in Beverly Hills for another new gastronomic experience – doughnuts, supposedly made in heaven. They were –
the 
chocolate mocha is otherworldly and every other one we tried is close behind. (We returned before our Saturday game to pick up a couple of dozen more plus one for Barb).
Now for the troubling news: nothing will ever part my wife and I, but she pushed the limit by liking Larchmont pizza better than Casa Bianca. Don’t get me wrong. It was excellent, but NO PIZZA IS BETTER THAN CASA BIANCA.
And finally for the interesting – we luckily found a doughnut parking place on a side street in BH. As we got out of the car we noticed that a man was cutting and styling a young woman’s hair in the middle of the sidewalk beside the car. When we returned they were still at it. We assumed it was because the city of BH gave him a good rental deal on sidewalk space.<<<
Sports Illustrated basketball columnist Seth Davis was writing about the Achilles heel of several college teams. Of Arizona he said the following, which made me laugh and want to share:
Biggest deficiency: “We all know this team can get out on the break and put points on the board (the Wildcats average 86.6 ppg, ninth in the nation). What 'Zona lacks is a true defensive monster to man the interior and provide some toughness. Senior center Kirk Walters is slowly working his way back from mononucleosis, but let's face it, when guards are driving down the lane they'll be more afraid Walters will kiss them than they are that he'll reject their shot.”<<<
I am currently reading “The Lay Of The Land,” by Richard Ford, which has made most top 10 lists of novels of 2006. The hero, Frank Bascombe, is, among other trials, fighting prostate cancer. It seems that so many of the best novelists, especially the male ones – Roth, Updike, etc. are obsessed with aging and death or at least write about it as if obsessed. I suppose that is to be as expected even from writers when they reach that “certain age.” The funny thing is that although I am about their age (or older) and not at all happy that I will (probably) die some day, I read their work with curiosity and interest and am not depressed by their words,
And
I know that it is easier said than done, but laughter is still one of the best medicines. Thus, I love Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Woody Allen-like quote on death: “At least you don’t have to go to the dentist anymore.”
(Do you suppose that he stole that from The Woodman?”)<<<
There is a funny PC passage from “The lay Of The Land.” Ford is writing about a small pilgrim town in New Jersey - a sort of Williamsburg-rip off. (Why do you suppose that so many of our best writers live in NJ? I would think that an anomaly – no offense meant, Gary and Sheena.)
But I digress.
Ford writes: “Inside the village they’ve installed a collection of young pilgrims – a black pilgrim, a Jewish, female pilgrim, a wheelchair bound pilgrim, a Japanese pilgrim with a learning disability plus two or three ordinary white kids.”<<<
Here are 4 from Newswe
ek’s long year-end list of Conventional Wisdom. (It’s worth reading the magazine (left) or checking it out on line to see the rest.)
Bush – Down Arrow “Last year's CW said, "Nowhere to go but up." Once again, he confounded expectations.”
Al Gore – Both-ways arrow “Thriving in new career as movie star and "I told you so" enviro. Inconvenient truth: He still blew it in 2000.”
Google – Up Arrow “Stock hits $500 in Oct., and its rivals still searching for a clue. Click here for this arrow's sponsored link.”
Tiger Woods – Up Arrow “Beloved dad dies, but he's more dominant than ever. With Mickelson in meltdown, who will be No. 2?”<<<
There may be
no ultimate in PC, but this comes close: Barbara was trying to send a holiday E-card and they rejected Ho, as in Ho, Ho, Ho, because it could be misinterpreted.<<<
As the year ends, it is time for everybody and their brother (I’m the brother) to delight and inform with their Best of 06 lists. I will start with the Best Books that I have read (or listened to) in 2006.
General Fiction
BEST
"Ordinary Heroes," - by Scott Turow:
An incredibly moving story of a son trying to re-discover his dead father by reading dad’s journal of life and love during WW II.
"On Beauty," by Zadie Smith: A look, both meaningful and funny, at the never-ending warfare of class and intellect, manner and morals in the small college town of Everywhere, New England.
"Everyman," by Philip Roth: One of America’s great writers asks whether there is life after 70 or just a marking of time until death.
Mystery-Crime Fiction
BEST
"Pegasus Descending" – James Lee Burke – “Why is one person spared and another not? Why do the Yvonne Darbonnes of the world suffer? If age brings either wisdom or answers to ancient questions, it has made an exception for me.”
To read the passage above is to know why I think that Burke is one of the great crime fiction writers of all time. His prose often touches poetry and his characters are unforgettable.
The who of Dave Robicheaux, Burke’s main character, is best summed in Pegasus by his wife Molly when she says that of all the human beings that she has known he is the most true to himself. Sometimes he stumbles. Often the end game catches him by surprise. Always his good wrestles with his demons. Occasionally the good takes a temporary loss but still wins in the long haul. Because, as Molly reminds him, that’s who he is.
This is a book, so rich, that I didn’t want it to end.
RUNNERS-UP
"The Night Gardener" by George Pelecanos
Before starting Gardener I had just finished Pegasus Descending, and I did not think anything could come close. This does. In fact it may be as good. Like Dennis Lahane’s “Mystic River,” “The Night Gardener” is too large to fit in the genre. It is first a novel about people and about a city – Washington D.C. Yes, they investigate crimes, past and present, but they, and not the crimes, are what Gardener is all about.
"River of Darkness" by Ronnie Airth
Airth is new, and this, the first of only two novels so far, has made me a huge fan. Set in Post WW I England, the characters and the story are equally impressive. I am very anxious to read his second book.
I had many books from which to choose for this third spot. It was a great year for the genre, and I could have easily substituted either of Michael Connelly’s books, (“Echo Park” or “The Lincoln Lawyer”), Jeff Parker’s, “The Fallen,” Tess Gerritsen’s, “The Mephisto Club,” Barry Eisler’s, “The Last Assassin” or P. J. Tracy’s, “Snow Blind.”
Non-Fiction
BEST
"The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion
This is truly a magical book. I call it a realization book. To read it is to look into the face of death but more importantly into the face of survival. It is a face of pain and confusion but there is hope as well. It is not the hope that we can avoid feeling but that we can feel. And therein lies our humanity.
"America At The Crossroads: Democracy, Power And The Neoconservative Legacy" by Francis Fukuyama
Fukuyama, during the time between 1985 and the middle of the George Bush’s first term, was the main philosophical voice for the neoconservative movement. However, since the early days of the Iraqi war, he and the other key figures in the neo movement have parted company. They say Fukuyama l
eft the movement; he says the movement left him by moving away from some key principles of neoconservativism – primarily by moving too far, too fast and too alone.<<<
UCLA 92, Michigan 55! And this in a game where we were 8 ½ point favorites. The Bruins are 11-0 as they head into their opening weekend of PAC-10 play with a game that will cause us to drive from Tucson straight to Pauley. We will lose a few games along the way, but these Bruins are good!<<<
Laughing matter:
Barack Obama, less than two years into his Senate term, made his first-ever trip to the state in mid-December, and his sold-out performance before a tumultuous crowd impressed even the most hardened political operatives. But not Conan O'Brien, who said that it was “just because New Hampshire had never seen an African-American before.”<<<
No laughing matter: The man who produce
d the racist campaign ads that helped defeat black Tennessean Rep. Harold Ford Jr.’s bid for the Senate, (“They” are going to steal our women.) now works for John McCain.
Senator McCain meet Dr. Faustus. He will return for your soul shortly.<<<
Nobody # 678
Nobody Asked Me But:
On being good, being watched, or both:
He’s making a list.
He’s (even) checking it twice.
(You better bet that) He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town.<<<
An afternoon on the town - from sublime to interesting: Before the Bruin game last Wednesday, Barb and I headed to Larchmont Village to try out the highly rated pizza at Village Pizzeria with a stop at Frittelli’s in Beverly Hills for another new gastronomic experience – doughnuts, supposedly made in heaven. They were –
the 
chocolate mocha is otherworldly and every other one we tried is close behind. (We returned before our Saturday game to pick up a couple of dozen more plus one for Barb). Now for the troubling news: nothing will ever part my wife and I, but she pushed the limit by liking Larchmont pizza better than Casa Bianca. Don’t get me wrong. It was excellent, but NO PIZZA IS BETTER THAN CASA BIANCA.
And finally for the interesting – we luckily found a doughnut parking place on a side street in BH. As we got out of the car we noticed that a man was cutting and styling a young woman’s hair in the middle of the sidewalk beside the car. When we returned they were still at it. We assumed it was because the city of BH gave him a good rental deal on sidewalk space.<<<
Sports Illustrated basketball columnist Seth Davis was writing about the Achilles heel of several college teams. Of Arizona he said the following, which made me laugh and want to share:
Biggest deficiency: “We all know this team can get out on the break and put points on the board (the Wildcats average 86.6 ppg, ninth in the nation). What 'Zona lacks is a true defensive monster to man the interior and provide some toughness. Senior center Kirk Walters is slowly working his way back from mononucleosis, but let's face it, when guards are driving down the lane they'll be more afraid Walters will kiss them than they are that he'll reject their shot.”<<<
I am currently reading “The Lay Of The Land,” by Richard Ford, which has made most top 10 lists of novels of 2006. The hero, Frank Bascombe, is, among other trials, fighting prostate cancer. It seems that so many of the best novelists, especially the male ones – Roth, Updike, etc. are obsessed with aging and death or at least write about it as if obsessed. I suppose that is to be as expected even from writers when they reach that “certain age.” The funny thing is that although I am about their age (or older) and not at all happy that I will (probably) die some day, I read their work with curiosity and interest and am not depressed by their words,
And
I know that it is easier said than done, but laughter is still one of the best medicines. Thus, I love Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Woody Allen-like quote on death: “At least you don’t have to go to the dentist anymore.”
(Do you suppose that he stole that from The Woodman?”)<<<
There is a funny PC passage from “The lay Of The Land.” Ford is writing about a small pilgrim town in New Jersey - a sort of Williamsburg-rip off. (Why do you suppose that so many of our best writers live in NJ? I would think that an anomaly – no offense meant, Gary and Sheena.)
But I digress.
Ford writes: “Inside the village they’ve installed a collection of young pilgrims – a black pilgrim, a Jewish, female pilgrim, a wheelchair bound pilgrim, a Japanese pilgrim with a learning disability plus two or three ordinary white kids.”<<<
Here are 4 from Newswe
ek’s long year-end list of Conventional Wisdom. (It’s worth reading the magazine (left) or checking it out on line to see the rest.) Bush – Down Arrow “Last year's CW said, "Nowhere to go but up." Once again, he confounded expectations.”
Al Gore – Both-ways arrow “Thriving in new career as movie star and "I told you so" enviro. Inconvenient truth: He still blew it in 2000.”
Google – Up Arrow “Stock hits $500 in Oct., and its rivals still searching for a clue. Click here for this arrow's sponsored link.”
Tiger Woods – Up Arrow “Beloved dad dies, but he's more dominant than ever. With Mickelson in meltdown, who will be No. 2?”<<<
There may be
no ultimate in PC, but this comes close: Barbara was trying to send a holiday E-card and they rejected Ho, as in Ho, Ho, Ho, because it could be misinterpreted.<<< As the year ends, it is time for everybody and their brother (I’m the brother) to delight and inform with their Best of 06 lists. I will start with the Best Books that I have read (or listened to) in 2006.
General Fiction
BEST
"Ordinary Heroes," - by Scott Turow:
An incredibly moving story of a son trying to re-discover his dead father by reading dad’s journal of life and love during WW II.
"On Beauty," by Zadie Smith: A look, both meaningful and funny, at the never-ending warfare of class and intellect, manner and morals in the small college town of Everywhere, New England.
"Everyman," by Philip Roth: One of America’s great writers asks whether there is life after 70 or just a marking of time until death.
Mystery-Crime Fiction
BEST
"Pegasus Descending" – James Lee Burke – “Why is one person spared and another not? Why do the Yvonne Darbonnes of the world suffer? If age brings either wisdom or answers to ancient questions, it has made an exception for me.”
To read the passage above is to know why I think that Burke is one of the great crime fiction writers of all time. His prose often touches poetry and his characters are unforgettable.
The who of Dave Robicheaux, Burke’s main character, is best summed in Pegasus by his wife Molly when she says that of all the human beings that she has known he is the most true to himself. Sometimes he stumbles. Often the end game catches him by surprise. Always his good wrestles with his demons. Occasionally the good takes a temporary loss but still wins in the long haul. Because, as Molly reminds him, that’s who he is.
This is a book, so rich, that I didn’t want it to end.
RUNNERS-UP
"The Night Gardener" by George Pelecanos
Before starting Gardener I had just finished Pegasus Descending, and I did not think anything could come close. This does. In fact it may be as good. Like Dennis Lahane’s “Mystic River,” “The Night Gardener” is too large to fit in the genre. It is first a novel about people and about a city – Washington D.C. Yes, they investigate crimes, past and present, but they, and not the crimes, are what Gardener is all about.
"River of Darkness" by Ronnie Airth
Airth is new, and this, the first of only two novels so far, has made me a huge fan. Set in Post WW I England, the characters and the story are equally impressive. I am very anxious to read his second book.
I had many books from which to choose for this third spot. It was a great year for the genre, and I could have easily substituted either of Michael Connelly’s books, (“Echo Park” or “The Lincoln Lawyer”), Jeff Parker’s, “The Fallen,” Tess Gerritsen’s, “The Mephisto Club,” Barry Eisler’s, “The Last Assassin” or P. J. Tracy’s, “Snow Blind.”
Non-Fiction
BEST
"The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion
This is truly a magical book. I call it a realization book. To read it is to look into the face of death but more importantly into the face of survival. It is a face of pain and confusion but there is hope as well. It is not the hope that we can avoid feeling but that we can feel. And therein lies our humanity.
"America At The Crossroads: Democracy, Power And The Neoconservative Legacy" by Francis Fukuyama
Fukuyama, during the time between 1985 and the middle of the George Bush’s first term, was the main philosophical voice for the neoconservative movement. However, since the early days of the Iraqi war, he and the other key figures in the neo movement have parted company. They say Fukuyama l
eft the movement; he says the movement left him by moving away from some key principles of neoconservativism – primarily by moving too far, too fast and too alone.<<<UCLA 92, Michigan 55! And this in a game where we were 8 ½ point favorites. The Bruins are 11-0 as they head into their opening weekend of PAC-10 play with a game that will cause us to drive from Tucson straight to Pauley. We will lose a few games along the way, but these Bruins are good!<<<
Laughing matter:
Barack Obama, less than two years into his Senate term, made his first-ever trip to the state in mid-December, and his sold-out performance before a tumultuous crowd impressed even the most hardened political operatives. But not Conan O'Brien, who said that it was “just because New Hampshire had never seen an African-American before.”<<<
No laughing matter: The man who produce
d the racist campaign ads that helped defeat black Tennessean Rep. Harold Ford Jr.’s bid for the Senate, (“They” are going to steal our women.) now works for John McCain.Senator McCain meet Dr. Faustus. He will return for your soul shortly.<<<
posted by jmt | 9:27 AM
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