Nobody 821

Sunday, June 20, 2010
Nobody # 821

Nobody Asked Me But:

HAPPY DAY TO ALL FATHERS – FROM THE LUCKIEST DAD IN THE WORLD

ALSO, HAPPY 251 MONTH ANNIVERSARY TO MY WIFE

AND FINALLY, THE TULIPS ARE IN VANCOUVER

Pay no attention to that man behind the keyboard. He’s no wizard. He’s the charlatan who, in the third quarter, said that the Celtics were mentally tougher than the Lakers.

Yes, I am guilty as charged above, although mine is not a capital offense. The Lakers did play tight for 3 ½ quarters. They wanted it so much – almost too much. But down the stretch, when the game was on the line, and where mental toughness counted for everything, it was the Celtics who felt the tightness. If basketball is a staring contest, then in the fourth quarter, Boston blinked.

How does it feel to be a Laker fan this morning? In the immortal words of Jackie Gleason – “How sweet it is!”<<<

OTHER POST-GAME THOUGHTS

The Celtic’s Doc Rivers is an excellent coach and a class act.

Ron Artest is strange and my least favorite Laker, but today all I have to say is, “Thank you, Ron.”

You don’t believe he is strange? Then how about his post-game statement – "I want to thank my psychiatrist."

Those weren’t Laker fans rioting after the game. They were idiots grabbing an excuse to follow their id.

Should the Lakers pay the price to have Phil Jackson back? This is what Magic Johnson says: "I want to make sure of something. I want Phil back in the worst way. I will give the Buss family some money if I have to."

And how about this Laker tribute from long-time Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan: "Hate LA all you want. These guys can play.”<<<

Question # 1: When does a 760-page book become a sprint rather than a marathon?

Question # 2: When does a juxtaposition of apocalyptic and vampire become much closer to literature than schlock?

Answer to both questions: When the book is Justin Cronin’s “The Passage.”

I finished “The Passage” yesterday. Rarely have so many pages given me such consistent pleasure. There were no dead spots for me. (Plenty of dead people though) in this fascinating story about an army experiment gone so wrong that humanity’s only hope seems to lie in a young girl and the small band of people who both protect her and depend upon her for their survival.

I know that it sounds a little hokey and “done before,” but trust me. Rarely has it been done as well as by Cronin, who won the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Stephen Crane Prize for his first novel, “Mary and O’Neil.”

My recommendation: Buy it, head for your most comfortable chair or other favorite reading spot, take a few days off from all but your most pressing responsibilities and enjoy.<<<

In his recent book, “The End of the Free Market,” Ian Bremmer compares democratic capitalism (the U.S, Japan, Denmark, etc.) with state capitalism (Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, etc.). The democratic variety comes out ahead. (It would with me also.) But his statement that “under state capitalism, market enterprises exist to earn money to finance the ruling class begs the question of - how is this different from democratic capitalism?<<<

ACTION/REACTION

Action: Texas scuttles PAC super conference by opting to remain in Big 12.

Reaction: I think the PAC dodged a bullet. Texas is too arrogant to be a satisfactory partner.

Reaction #2: If you need proof of the above, just look at the financial deal the UT demanded from its Big 12 partners as the price for staying in the conference.

Reaction #3: You can still see the lip prints of the other Big 12 schools all over UT ass. Yes, surprisingly, even the University of Oklahoma bestowed a quick kiss.

Action: With the addition of Colorado and Utah the PAC-10 becomes the PAC-12.

Reaction: Be still my pounding heart!

Reaction # 2: Yawn.

Action: Former USC coach Pete Carroll says that he ran a clean program.

Reaction: With his blond good looks and the ability to lie to the media, Carroll may have a bright future in politics.

Action: NY Times leadline: “Dog Spots Gator in Ohio That's Captured Barehanded.”

Reaction: Ohio was captured barehanded?

Action: “I only read when I have to.” Too many athletes (and others).

Reaction: I know it takes all kinds, but I cannot read something like this without my jaw dropping in amazement. Thanks, mom, for raising me as a reader.<<<

One of ex-Dodger Steve Garvey’s favorite movies is “The Quiet Man.” I’ll give him a home run for this.

The book Garvey is currently reading is “Bat Boy Days” by Steve Garvey. He gets a strike out for this one.<<<

If you like mystery and thriller novels, you should become acquainted with SYKM, (Stop, You’re Killing Me) a genre newsletter sent out twice a month. Their June 15 e-mail listed the nominees for several book awards given yearly by various groups – Edger, Anthony, Barry, Nero, Macavity, etc. This year, in addition to its regular yearly presentations, a Berry Award will be given to the Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade. The six nominees are:

“The Guards” by Ken Bruen
“The Lincoln Lawyer” by Michael Connelly
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson
“Mystic River” by Dennis Lehane
“Still Life” by Louise Penny
“The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I have read three of the six. As you know, I loved “Dragon Tattoo.” “The Lincoln Lawyer” was excellent, although I think Connelly’s “City of Bones” was even better. But Lehane’s “Mystic River” is superb, not simply the decade’s best, but an all-time classic.

Obviously I can’t evaluate the three I haven’t read, but it is difficult to understand why T. Jefferson Parker’s “California Girl” and “Silent Joe,” and George Pelecanos “The Night Gardner” did not make the cut. And it is impossible to justify the absence of a book by James Lee Burke, (“Jolle Blon’s Bounce” perhaps) whose every effort turns prose into poetry.

My choice for political cartoon of the week (below) is, as usual, by Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Constitution.

And finally, props to LA Times columnist Chris Erskine who salutes the innocence of first graders with this: “As with Champagne itself, first-graders have lots of bubbles and none of them has been burst — Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, corporate capitalism.”