Sunday, October 29, 2006

books and bush

Hold on, that didn't sound right...!

wait, Bush DIDN'T say stay the course over and over and over? I guess the whole WORLD must have mis-heard.
Check out Crooks and Liars it's a great site.

Here's a partial book list for you.

1) Murder in the Heartland by M. William Phelps
2) Fraud by David Rakoff
3) Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
4) Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
5) The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
6) Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande (thanks to the good people over at La Bloga
7) Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon by Michael E. Veal
8) L.A. Rex by Will Beall
9) Echo Park by Michael Connelly
10) Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez

I liked everything I read - mostly. The Rakoff book I could have lived without. At times it was funny and sarcastic (which I like) but mostly it annoyed me.
Everyone needs some brain candy to read and you could do A LOT worse than the Koontz book. This particular character is compelling, honest and real. AND he sees dead people. The Fela Kuti book was really good even if you don't know who he was.
LA Rex was hard to read in all its gore and violence, but it had its moments of sheer genius. I loved the newest Harry Bosch book by Michael Connelly. That guy sure can write. I especially liked the Reyna Grande novel. I can't remember the last time I got as emotional over a story. Oh yeah, I remember. 3 words - no 6 words. Luis Alberto Urrea. The Hummingbird's Daughter.
Read, people.

Happy 73rd Birthday (tomorrow) to my dad.

Alessandro Zanardi is testing for F1 in a BMW. Amazing, since he had both legs amputated after a horrific crash in Germany when he was racing Indy cars. Now that's courage and fortitude. He was always one of the approachable ones at all the races. Nice man. Good deal.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

no snappy headline comes to mind

wait, after the 4th time??! incredible. father finally catches on about his wife, their son, and those pesky ransom demands.

california (teen) girl questioned by secret service about a myspace picture she had posted of president bush.

questions for Mr T, the consummate eighties pop icon (not MY words...)

i don’t know what to make of this one... “with numerous subtle (and not so subtle) satirical swipes at the bush administration and the republican party” this childrens book will appeal to democrats of ALL ages.

you were right, christina

Sunday, October 8, 2006

sunday! sunday! sunday!

all i can say is YAY!
retiring NOT as world champion. sounds mean, but ask me if i care!

i cut my hair. it's short. and dark. winter is coming.

haven't felt poetically inclined as of late, but tony brown is at Bar 13 this monday, which means i'm going.

Ozomatli is at the Nokia Theater on Tuesday, November 14th. i WILL be there. the thing is they're OPENING for Los Lonely Boys - sheesh, what a turn of events.don't get me wrong LLB are alright, but they're flash in the pan compared to Ozomatli. whatever, i'm just glad to be seeing them again.

Friday, October 6, 2006

this, that, the other

sometimes The Onion CAN make me laugh out loud.

The Selena stamp and the David Mann (famous motorcycle artist from Easyrider magazine) stamp. not available from your local post office though.

Bruce Potts,a professor of public speaking at the University of New Mexico, and his full face tribal tattoo.

The Hubble detects as many as 16 new planets.

Deliver Us From Evil, Amy Berg's unflinching documentary about a defrocked california priest convicted (and later deported back to his native Ireland) of several counts of child molestation won Best Documentary Film at the L.A. film festival.

Last week, a majority of Democrats in the U.S. Senate, including New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, joined forces with Republicans to vote 80 to 19 to begin construction of an expensive set of Berlin Wall-like barriers across this nation's southern border.

These are the good guys? Police in Russia have conducted raids against Georgian-owned markets, shops and restaurants and cracked down on illegal immigrants. Officials said at least 140 Georgians were deported by plane Friday. A spokesman for the Moscow city education department said police were asking schools for lists of students with Georgian names, whose parents might be in Russia illegally.

Archaeologists working in Mexico City have discovered an Aztec monolith - the most important ruins of the ancient civilization to be found in decades.

The military on MySpace - a link filled article definitely worth reading.

At least five apparently bogus voter registration forms were submitted to the Metro Nashville election commission by a worker with ties to the Republican National Committee, and up to 150 other registrations have been called into question, The Tennessean has learned.

Fuma los puros, toma ese cafecito riquito y ten mucho sexo, pero cuidado con el alcohol! Some Cuban centenarians say cigars, coffee and sex is the secret to living past 100. Cuba, with a population of 11.2 million, has about 3,000 people who have lived for more than a century.