Nobody 824

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Nobody # 824

Nobody Asked Me But:

I hate Southern California’s June gloom. And when it spills over into July, as it is doing this year, I really hate it. I don’t want to feel chilly in the summer. I want warm. I don’t mind if it cools to sleeping temperature at night, but by the start of my day, usually about 5:45, I want it to be 70 degrees and rising.

Or to say it another way, here is a reprise of a poem I wrote a few years ago. Obviously, I updated my age for this editi

on.

HOT IMMORTALITY

I will turn seventy-six next month:

Don’t like it much,

But I love the heat.

My wife thinks I’m crazy,

Turns on the fan,

Just doesn’t understand

That triple digit heat

Reflecting off the street

Triggers some synapse relapse,

Some hot blast from the past,

And I’m a boy again in Tucson,

For an instant

Immortal.

Barry Eisler, the creator of the John Rain series, has a terrific new novel that is not quite a stand-alone. Inside Out is the story of a military intelligence guy, Ben Treven, assigned to hunt down a rogue CIA agent who ha

s stolen torture tapes that may cont

ain an even more damaging secret. Eisler is the anti Vince Flynn - and a much better writer. To him, torture is both immoral, and ineffective. And the multi

-initialed intelligence establishments who sponsor it are completely amoral as are the politicians who blink once for yes while protecting their deniability. Their religion is in equal parts “ends justify means,” “we know what’s best” and “we man the walls.”

I don’t read Flynn anymore. What used to be a guilty pleasure has become no pleasure at all. For my America, I want heroes like Treven, not Mitch Rapp.<<<

MORE ON BOOKS

Friday I finished listening to “The Girl

Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest,” the third and last book in Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy. I am sorry you died early, Mr.

Larsson, but thanks for giving me great stories and even greater characters. I will always treasure Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, along with Berger, Armonski and Bublanski, and the others. But this is not goodbye, because I will see you in the movies. (As soon as next week.)

Was “Hornet’s Nest” better than the first two books? Worse? Except to say that it was at least as good, I will make no comparisons. What I will do is give all three my highest recommendation.

Add on – “Hornet’s Nest:” I was completely transformed, transfixed and impressed by the trial scene that serves as the book’s climax. To the extent that this was a realistic picture of a closed courtroom proceeding in Sweden, and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity, I am amazed at the civility of the process. While examining a witness, the attorney can engage others in an almost conversation-like d

ialogue to strengthen or refute the testimony. It seemed to me that the intent of the process was to seek justice rather than adhere to rigid procedural rules. And shouldn’t that be the aim of all courts.<<<

CONVERSATION WITH MY DOCTOR

My doctor: “You need to lose 40 pounds and keep it off.” Start eating right.

Me: “That's not going to happen.

My doctor: “Then you vastly increase your chance of dying prematurity.”

Me: “It's still not going to happen.”

My doctor: “Aren't you afraid of dying?

Me: “Absolutely - but I am more afraid of not living.”

Note: I don’t gorge and I don’t stuff. But I do take great pleasure in satisfying my taste buds without constantly having to face up to the eternal question. Is this good/bad for me?<<<

Nevada’s Republican Senate candidate, and Tea Party favorite, Sharron Angle has an interesting take on incest rape. She thinks it is like the proverbial lemon. When asked whether an abortion should be permitted for a girl raped by her father, Angle responded, "Two wrongs don't make a right. Much good can come from a horrific situation like that. Lemons can be made into lemonade.”<<<

From an LA Times piece on special effects becoming “old hat.” “The only special effect that Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man) had to worry about was not spilling the gin.”<<<

"It took thousands of men to build Hoover Dam and modern Nevada. But it only took two men to help tear down its economy." Republican National Committee

Comment: I know about George Bush, but wh

o is the other guy?<<<

ON LABRON’S CIRCUS

When asked if LaBron’s move to Miami will cause a power shift in the NBA, Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith responded, “Is Kobe retiring?”

Charles Barkley: “Now LaBron is never going to be THE GUY.”<<<

All-time classic quotes: This, From Dan Quayle, I included in Nobody # 269: "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.”<<<

This past week the LA Times released the results of its reader poll on the fifteen greatest LA Dodgers. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Vin Scully finished one, two, three. Not to take anything away from Sandy, who shares top billing on my all-time baseball list, but I think that Vinny belongs, at the top.

And I love this line about Sandy – “Many people will tell you that the greatest pitcher in baseball history was Sandy Koufax on four days' rest. Second greatest? Sandy Koufax on three days' rest.”<<<

Emmys: It is totally unjustified that Justified did not get an Emmy nomination.<<<

Q: Someone asked if I remembered that 20 years ago last Wednesday Andy Hawkins of the New York Yankees gave up no hits against the Chicago White Sox — and lost, 4-0, when the Yankees committed three eighth-inning errors.

A: Hell, I don’t even remember Andy Hawkins.<<<

MORE GED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q. What is artificial insemination? 
A. When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow. 

Q. How can you delay milk turning sour? 
A. Keep it in the cow - (Actually, this one is pretty bright.)
 Q. What is the fibula? 
A. A small lie.

<<<

I was reading an interview with Mark Emmert, the new president of the NCAA and found we have two things in common. One of our first jobs was picking vegetables in Washington’s Puyallup Valley. I am sure that he outlasted me, however, as I was fired on day two, because I played more than picked. But day one did give me a lifelong respect for those who do stooped labor. Our second commonality - we both love tin roof sundaes – vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and Spanish peanuts.

He also has something in common with Barbara. In even the best steakhouse, he puts ketchup on his steak.<<<

Not that it’s important, but: I so completely associate Frank, Dean and Sammy with the Rat Pack, that I sometimes forget that the group was founded by Bogart and Bacall.<<<

AND FINALLY, THIS WEEK’S GREAT MOVIE FUNNY LINE

”What do they think I am? Dumb or something? Why, I make more money than - than - than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!” - Jean Hagen, “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952)

Happy First Anniversary Greg and Marie.