Paint job and other topics

Please note the neighbor is painting the little bungalow what appears to be a gray green tint and he has uncovered the lovely little diamond window at the top of the wall. Nice work.

Duh book review.   We recently had a very nice book sale at work. I purchased on impulse I might add "Cloud Atlas" By David Mitchell.   I picked it up because of the movie trailers I have seen and for NO OTHER REASON.

This is the kind of book my professor in college would have had the class read and critique.

Without sounding like too much of a dumb ass here goes.  There are ten chapters, at least three of them are named the same.   My personal test has always been how captivated am I by the first sentence? "Beyond the Indian hamlet,upon a forlorn strand, I happened up a trail of recent foot prints."
1.  I do not care for first person narrative.
2.  Who is he looking for, My Man Friday?  Nope human teeth consumed by cannibals.  ew.


It natters on and on until we come to this chapter:

"Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'rthin" after.

First sentence:  Old Georgie's path an' mine crossed more times'n I'm comfy mem'ryin, an' after I'm died, no sayin' what that fangy devil won't try an' do to me.....gimme some mutton an' I'll tell you 'bout our first meetin'. a fat joocesom slice, nay, none o' your burnt wafery off'rin's....

Hmph.   Sounds like English, maybe Hill Folk English in about 500 year after civilization as we know it fails.

So basically this is 500 pages of very colorful yet not tempting enough to wade through thoroughly not even if I were being paid.

The reviews on the back page shed little light regarding plot other than "The result is brilliantly original fiction that reveals how disparate people connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift like clouds across the sky".

Hmmm sure sounds like Pullet Surprise to me.

ANOTHER DELAYED MOVIE REVIEW

I accidentally watched "Red" (Retired Extremely Dangerous) tonight.  It is Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Murrin, Um Malkovich and this fellow above, Karl Urban. Sqinch yer eyes a bit and he morphs into "Bones" From Star Trek. Yepper's, however,he only had to look very intense with a bit of scar tissue and um lots of shooting.  Apparently there is a Red II coming up soon.   I woulda thought we'd run outta bullets. 

ER somewhat late Movie review

I have not willingly attended a movie theater for some years given that I have never enjoyed wading through the debris of the former seat occupants.

So my entertainment viewing usually consists of channel surfing and arriving at the almost beginning of such a film and thinking that this might be worth viewing.  Settled and watched last night...yawn.

An so 2007 Live Free and Die Hard.  Bruce has held up very well since Nakatami Tower.  His task in this film is to bring a computer geek to the FBI while a super villain (extremely good looking) is bringing down the infrastructure of the USA because, well he can and there is all the money ever owned by the USA as well being taken into his account, um which apparently is hack proof.

Anyway 90 minutes later Bruce has shot a few people, been shot and even shoots himself through his own shoulder to take out the bad guy who has him in a choke hold.  OH and lots of spectacular explosions, he even manages to bring down an F35, did not know they could hover. How long does that last before fuel runs out or Bruce Willis tricks the pilot into ejecting? 

I was reading where the last film 2015 set in Tokyo will be his last film before he retires.   Will there be any good looking bad guys with a taste for butt kicking chics left by then? Dunno.

RUN......it's its a Book Review....

Alrighty then, "Roses in Moonlight" by Lynn Kurland. This is one of her time-travel romances that started with "A Dance Through Time".  Lovely.  Start with that one and enjoy the history along the way.

Derrick Cameron and Samantha Drummond.  They don't know it but they have common ancestors back around 1602 or so.

She is 26, living a very sheltered well educated life with her mother who is manic 24/7 and her Shakespearan actor father, very self absorbed. Her siblings have managed to escape the clutches of the parents.  Samantha's older brother sends her a ticket to London to housesit for some people. She happily flies to London.

Derrick is 32, owns Cameron Antiquities and finds missing/stolen antiquities.  He is cynical and is finally becoming really really tired of crooks.

Enter Samantha. She is tasked to deliver some Victoria embroidery to someone in London. Derrick follows here because he is certain she has a piece of Elizabethan lace.

The tale becomes bit more involved.   Samantha's luggage has been salted with the Elizabethan lace AND some priceless antigue diamonds. WTF? where and how did those get in the purse?

A accidental trip through a mushroom ring lands here in 1602 England, she can tell mostly from the smell of sewage in the streets.

Eventually Derrick discoveres she is not a thief but quite a bit more than she looks....and Samantha finds that she likes Derrick.  There is a bit of time travel to return diamonds and rescue their mutual ancestor from The Tower of London etc.

All ends well, and there is not even a HINT of any of the other main characters going off on a time travel jaunt. Well except for Granny Mary.

Neighborhood project

Summer project, the owner of the Grapes of Wrath house has been steadily chipping away at fixing for a past year or so.  He started out with a new roof and went clear down to the rafters....and left the red rusty crusty paint intact.  Earlier this spring the part of the house that stuck out into the backyard and may have contained the kitchen was demolished right down to the ground and they moved some ground as well.  Just this past week the gentleman dug out some white pain and has been painting it in carefully all by himself with his dog giving advice now and then.  It will be nice when the little pre-war bungalow is completely rehabed. I think our neighbor may move in then.
Oh and he put in a new foundation.  At least the druggies don't hang out there anymore.  Thanks, neighbor!!