Listened to: Valdez is Coming by Elmore Leonard, downloaded from Overdrive.
When did Leonard write this anyway? I assume this is one of his westerns from the '50s, the movie version is from '71.
Roberto Valdez is a part-time constable in a small AZ town and considered a loser only fit to round up drunk Mexicans A rich rancher and gun runner, Tanner, says a guy in a shack is a killer. Tanner surrounds the shack with his hired guns and shoots it up. Valdez walks down to the shack to talk to the guy. Tanner and Co. come up from behind Valdez with rifles, guy thinks he has been tricked, Valdez has to shoot guy. Tanner says, "Oops, wrong guy."
Valdez thinks the dead guy's pregnant wife should get payment. He asks town people for money, for $500. They say no. Valdez goes to ask Tanner. Tanner just pissed and has his goons try to terrify Valdez. Valdez leaves. Valdez visits Tanner again and is tied to a cross of poles and left to die. Valdez lives.
Valdez goes after Tanner using his years of tracking and combat experience as a scout with General Crook. Valdez kidnaps Tanner's girly-friend. Valdez gets hots for girly-friend. Valdez kills people. Valdez and girly-friend live happily ever after.
Substandard narration by Keith Carradine.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Listened to: "Sharpe's Devil" by Bernard Cornwell
Listened to Sharpe's Devil by Bernard Cornwell, downloaded from Overdrive.
Sharpe travels to Chile to look for the missing Don Blas Vivar after his widow asks for his help and offers to pay him. Sharpe gets on wrong side of current Spanish Captain General in charge of Chile. Things happen. Sharpe gets in fight. Sharpe and Harper are deported. Sharpe and Harper's ship is attacked by Chilean rebels. Sharpe and Harper join the rebels. Sharpe, Harper and rebels defeat the Spanish government. Chilean admiral - a Scotsman - wants to rescue Bonaparte from St. Helene and start a United States of South America.
I forgot the neat historical settings and details Cornwell uses in every novel. He does such a solid job with character, action, and plot that I forget how well he uses the history. Of course, you have to listen to the afterword to clear up the fact from the fiction Cornwell creates.Sharpe is weary in this one. He has been farming in Normandy for years and had no interest in taking the job to hunt for Vivar until his wife decided they could use the money. There is none of the previous feelings of joy and elation he used to have in battle.
Sharpe travels to Chile to look for the missing Don Blas Vivar after his widow asks for his help and offers to pay him. Sharpe gets on wrong side of current Spanish Captain General in charge of Chile. Things happen. Sharpe gets in fight. Sharpe and Harper are deported. Sharpe and Harper's ship is attacked by Chilean rebels. Sharpe and Harper join the rebels. Sharpe, Harper and rebels defeat the Spanish government. Chilean admiral - a Scotsman - wants to rescue Bonaparte from St. Helene and start a United States of South America.
I forgot the neat historical settings and details Cornwell uses in every novel. He does such a solid job with character, action, and plot that I forget how well he uses the history. Of course, you have to listen to the afterword to clear up the fact from the fiction Cornwell creates.Sharpe is weary in this one. He has been farming in Normandy for years and had no interest in taking the job to hunt for Vivar until his wife decided they could use the money. There is none of the previous feelings of joy and elation he used to have in battle.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Surprisingly Read: "A Different Kind of Intimacy" by Karen Finley
Surprisingly Read: A Different Kind of Intimacy: the collected writings of Karen Finley, a memoir by Karen Finley, 2000, 1560252936.
I don't recall why I reserved this. I must have run across a Finley reference and just grabbed this.
I well remember the NEA nonsense of the '90s and Finley's status as the Chocolate Woman (or whatever she was called). I also wondered at her artistic skill or value - which was the point of much criticism. As Finley writes, most of her work was never seen, was misunderstood, was taken out of context, or was treated as bizarre eroticism. She seems like a nice lady. A nice lady who does discuss sex but does not make it the sole focus of her work.
I had written several notes on my bookmark while reading the book. I lost the bookmark. Damn it.
Thoughts I had while reading:
1- Finley had a rough time from the NEA brouhaha and even had a miscarriage due, in part, to all the stress.
2 - When reading the book and excerpts from her performances it is difficult to tell if Finley or a character is talking.
3 - I imagine making a living as a performance artist must be tough. Finley received a ton of attention but how many people actually saw her performances? Does Finley license her performances like a play script? How big an audience is there for this kind of work, can you make a living just off of that?
4 - This is a ten year old book. I did a search on YouTube hoping to find a recorded performance by Finley but a whole bunch of other crap came up and I gave up after 30 seconds. I might try ILL.
5 - I forget what else.
6 - I did write in an interesting comment Finley had to say:
I think what's happened for hundreds of years is this idea that the artist is crazy. That's the whole reason for the Van Gogh phenomenon. Everyone loves Van Gogh more for his being out of his mind and out of control, which is what they want to believe creativity is, than for his paintings. No one could think that a person who is intelligent, or is a professional, or who thinks, could create work. The idea is that creativity only comes out of irrationality.
The same could be said for drug use. That doping up is the way to creativity. People who seem to think that drugs are responsible for great art and music but many artists out of rehab say they were successful in spite of the drugs.
HEY! I just found the bookmark. Let's see...
1. AIDS really wiped out Finley's circle of friends and, resultingly, hit her hard as well.
2. Finley was not desirous of being an art martyr and sick of standing in as Joan of Arc. The court cases took over her life.
3. Not really an autobiography of Finley. More a tale of her professional travails. Not even a autobio of her artwork itself.
4. Finley ended up using food because real props were too expensive. She opened up her fridge to find something to use.
5. Getting past the seriousness of "high art".
6. Critics sexualized her performances.
7. Museums and galleries were still (2000) afraid to invite her to perform. Other people stopped talking to her.
I don't recall why I reserved this. I must have run across a Finley reference and just grabbed this.
I well remember the NEA nonsense of the '90s and Finley's status as the Chocolate Woman (or whatever she was called). I also wondered at her artistic skill or value - which was the point of much criticism. As Finley writes, most of her work was never seen, was misunderstood, was taken out of context, or was treated as bizarre eroticism. She seems like a nice lady. A nice lady who does discuss sex but does not make it the sole focus of her work.
I had written several notes on my bookmark while reading the book. I lost the bookmark. Damn it.
Thoughts I had while reading:
1- Finley had a rough time from the NEA brouhaha and even had a miscarriage due, in part, to all the stress.
2 - When reading the book and excerpts from her performances it is difficult to tell if Finley or a character is talking.
3 - I imagine making a living as a performance artist must be tough. Finley received a ton of attention but how many people actually saw her performances? Does Finley license her performances like a play script? How big an audience is there for this kind of work, can you make a living just off of that?
4 - This is a ten year old book. I did a search on YouTube hoping to find a recorded performance by Finley but a whole bunch of other crap came up and I gave up after 30 seconds. I might try ILL.
5 - I forget what else.
6 - I did write in an interesting comment Finley had to say:
I think what's happened for hundreds of years is this idea that the artist is crazy. That's the whole reason for the Van Gogh phenomenon. Everyone loves Van Gogh more for his being out of his mind and out of control, which is what they want to believe creativity is, than for his paintings. No one could think that a person who is intelligent, or is a professional, or who thinks, could create work. The idea is that creativity only comes out of irrationality.
The same could be said for drug use. That doping up is the way to creativity. People who seem to think that drugs are responsible for great art and music but many artists out of rehab say they were successful in spite of the drugs.
HEY! I just found the bookmark. Let's see...
1. AIDS really wiped out Finley's circle of friends and, resultingly, hit her hard as well.
2. Finley was not desirous of being an art martyr and sick of standing in as Joan of Arc. The court cases took over her life.
3. Not really an autobiography of Finley. More a tale of her professional travails. Not even a autobio of her artwork itself.
4. Finley ended up using food because real props were too expensive. She opened up her fridge to find something to use.
5. Getting past the seriousness of "high art".
6. Critics sexualized her performances.
7. Museums and galleries were still (2000) afraid to invite her to perform. Other people stopped talking to her.
Finished: "The Midnight Road" by Tom Piccirilli
Finished: The Midnight Road by Tom Piccirilli, 2007, 9780553384086.
I did not like this book as much as Piccirilli's other novels. But, like all Piccirilli books, I was obsessively reading the novel until I finished.
Flynn works for Child Protective Services out on Long Island. He investigates an anonymous complaint during a blizzard. He finds a guy locked into a cage in a basement. He flees the house with the guy, a seven-year-old girl, and a French Bulldog. The crazy mom chases them in car, Flynn wrecks his car on ice, Flynn is frozen - dead - for 28 minutes, dog and girl die. Flynn is revived. People are killed with some connection to Flynn. Flynn is suicidal and a zombie walking through life - has been for thirty years. Things happen. People die. Twists turn. Flynn hallucinates the French Bulldog talking to him.
Since Piccirilli does the google I'll address him directly:
The problem I had with this, Piccirilli, is that it felt like the two main stories did not quite mesh. 1- There is Flynn, his car, his dead family, his dead brother, and all his angst and guilt. 2 - The murders in front of Flynn, the threats behind the killings, and Flynn's half-assed investigation.
The bulk of the novel seemed about Flynn and his issues with the murders floating in and out of the plot. Maybe that was the point. Flynn was a good character and the unwinding of his past and troubles was well done.
Enough sucking up to Piccirilli.
Comments/Observations:
1. Piccirilli likes characters who like muscle cars.
2. This is another Piccirilli novel with a Long Island setting.
3. Piccirilli seems to like main characters who are troubled guys and either orphans or with long dead relatives.
4. I wonder if Piccirilli got heat from autism people for having the bad guy be autistic.
5. The bad guy was a surprise. I was wondering if the tactless reporter was involved.
6. I still have not gotten around to reading the most recent Piccirilli novel. Which is also set in a snowstorm.
I did not like this book as much as Piccirilli's other novels. But, like all Piccirilli books, I was obsessively reading the novel until I finished.
Flynn works for Child Protective Services out on Long Island. He investigates an anonymous complaint during a blizzard. He finds a guy locked into a cage in a basement. He flees the house with the guy, a seven-year-old girl, and a French Bulldog. The crazy mom chases them in car, Flynn wrecks his car on ice, Flynn is frozen - dead - for 28 minutes, dog and girl die. Flynn is revived. People are killed with some connection to Flynn. Flynn is suicidal and a zombie walking through life - has been for thirty years. Things happen. People die. Twists turn. Flynn hallucinates the French Bulldog talking to him.
Since Piccirilli does the google I'll address him directly:
The problem I had with this, Piccirilli, is that it felt like the two main stories did not quite mesh. 1- There is Flynn, his car, his dead family, his dead brother, and all his angst and guilt. 2 - The murders in front of Flynn, the threats behind the killings, and Flynn's half-assed investigation.
The bulk of the novel seemed about Flynn and his issues with the murders floating in and out of the plot. Maybe that was the point. Flynn was a good character and the unwinding of his past and troubles was well done.
Enough sucking up to Piccirilli.
Comments/Observations:
1. Piccirilli likes characters who like muscle cars.
2. This is another Piccirilli novel with a Long Island setting.
3. Piccirilli seems to like main characters who are troubled guys and either orphans or with long dead relatives.
4. I wonder if Piccirilli got heat from autism people for having the bad guy be autistic.
5. The bad guy was a surprise. I was wondering if the tactless reporter was involved.
6. I still have not gotten around to reading the most recent Piccirilli novel. Which is also set in a snowstorm.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Finished: "Wake Up Dead" by Roger Smith
Finished: Wake Up Dead by Roger Smith, 2010 (U.S.), 9780805088762.
Excellent. This is two damn good books in a row. This and Broken Shore. Note to self: Never visit Cape Town.
Crime novel set in Cape Town, South Africa. (West side of country). Very gritty and brutal. Set in both the wealthy side of town and Cape Flats, a former black settlement with horrific crime. Smith covers racial issues and crime issues. The differences among white, black, and in-between.
Ex-cop Billy Afrika loses his job as a contractor in Iraq when he is picked as a scapegoat. He finds out the guy who hired him has not been paying him. Billy heads him to get the dough. The guy's wife, Roxy, takes advantage of a carjacking to murder her husband. Carjackers take advantage of wife's guilt to blackmail her. Afrika needs the dough to pay off a local crime lord and keep safe the family of his murdered cop partner. Murdering of Afrika's partner, Piper, escapes prison to reclaim his "prison wife", one of the carjackers named Disco. Add other ingredients, mix, stir, bake in the summer heat of Cape Town, watch pan boil over.
The plot does not follow convention. There are - in several instances - no last minute rescues. the people you may expect to turn heroic do not.
A fantastic crime novel. My Comments:
1. Afrika takes on the job of protecting Roxy. Not because he gives a damn about her but because she is the only link to the money he is owed. Roxy is a former model and mega-mega-hot. Roxy is used to using her looks to get her way but Afrika is unfazed - although he is attracted to her. This is a great tack by Smith. He doesn't create a love story between the two.
2. Disco's male beauty is on par with Roxy's. But, Disco is a black soul. He is neither the beautiful hero or villain. He is a junkie criminal in fear of returning to prison and Piper.
3. Piper is not human. He is a killing machine and has been since he was 11. At least I think that was the age given for his first murder.
4. Modern Cape Town and crime. The differences between the uber-wealthy and chic waterfront with high-end designer shops versus the forlorn and gang controlled Flats where burglary, beatings, robbery, theft, drug dealing, severe child abuse, drug abuse, rape and murder are commonplace.
5. Compare this to Blood Safari. There the bodyguard is flawed but heroic and falls for his client, the client reciprocates. In Wake Up Dead there is little love, just guilt and fear.
6. Much mention of Z88s. The SA clone of Beretta 92s.
7. Piper is a scary person. He has 19 tear tattoos on his face of each murder he has done. Piper prefers the intimacy of stabbing people to death. I just did a google image search on Cape Town crime and ran across Piper Knife, which sells a knife defense e-book on knife fighting.
Excellent. This is two damn good books in a row. This and Broken Shore. Note to self: Never visit Cape Town.
Crime novel set in Cape Town, South Africa. (West side of country). Very gritty and brutal. Set in both the wealthy side of town and Cape Flats, a former black settlement with horrific crime. Smith covers racial issues and crime issues. The differences among white, black, and in-between.
Ex-cop Billy Afrika loses his job as a contractor in Iraq when he is picked as a scapegoat. He finds out the guy who hired him has not been paying him. Billy heads him to get the dough. The guy's wife, Roxy, takes advantage of a carjacking to murder her husband. Carjackers take advantage of wife's guilt to blackmail her. Afrika needs the dough to pay off a local crime lord and keep safe the family of his murdered cop partner. Murdering of Afrika's partner, Piper, escapes prison to reclaim his "prison wife", one of the carjackers named Disco. Add other ingredients, mix, stir, bake in the summer heat of Cape Town, watch pan boil over.
The plot does not follow convention. There are - in several instances - no last minute rescues. the people you may expect to turn heroic do not.
A fantastic crime novel. My Comments:
1. Afrika takes on the job of protecting Roxy. Not because he gives a damn about her but because she is the only link to the money he is owed. Roxy is a former model and mega-mega-hot. Roxy is used to using her looks to get her way but Afrika is unfazed - although he is attracted to her. This is a great tack by Smith. He doesn't create a love story between the two.
2. Disco's male beauty is on par with Roxy's. But, Disco is a black soul. He is neither the beautiful hero or villain. He is a junkie criminal in fear of returning to prison and Piper.
3. Piper is not human. He is a killing machine and has been since he was 11. At least I think that was the age given for his first murder.
4. Modern Cape Town and crime. The differences between the uber-wealthy and chic waterfront with high-end designer shops versus the forlorn and gang controlled Flats where burglary, beatings, robbery, theft, drug dealing, severe child abuse, drug abuse, rape and murder are commonplace.
5. Compare this to Blood Safari. There the bodyguard is flawed but heroic and falls for his client, the client reciprocates. In Wake Up Dead there is little love, just guilt and fear.
6. Much mention of Z88s. The SA clone of Beretta 92s.
7. Piper is a scary person. He has 19 tear tattoos on his face of each murder he has done. Piper prefers the intimacy of stabbing people to death. I just did a google image search on Cape Town crime and ran across Piper Knife, which sells a knife defense e-book on knife fighting.
Read: "The Broken Shore" by Peter Temple
Read: The Broken Shore by Peter Temple, 2007 (U.S.), 9780374116934.
Damn good. Mystery novel set in rural Australia. Melbourne homicide cop Joe Cashin was seriously injured by a suspect (massive car wreck) and after getting back on duty sent to work at Port Munro on the shore. Cashin grew up in Port Munro - sort of. Cashin's father died when Cashin was about ten and Cashin and his mother lived an itinerant life as his wife boozed it up and slept around a bit. They settled back down in Munro and Cashin lived with aboriginal relatives.
Lots of great things about this book. Cashin is living in constant pain from the massive car wreck he was in and living in a worn down shack of a house on old family property. Being back in Port Munro brings back a lot of unwelcome memories but Cashin is emotionally damaged and not able to go back to faster paced work in Melbourne.
Anyway. Cashin is called to rich man's estate where elderly man has been beaten nearly to death. Cashin works investigation with cops from neighboring big town. Other cops are racist goons. A couple aboriginal teens from "The Daunt" (seems to be like an Indian reservation here) try to pawn a watch in Sydney. Watch is like one owned by beaten guy. Cops try and stop the kids on their way back from Sydney and two of the three kids are killed. One is shot and another dies in car wreck. Third kid commits suicide a couple days later. Shit storm comes down. Uncle of one kid is Abor. politician who also went to school with Cashin. Case called off. Cashin keeps digging after beaten guy dies and it looks like the kids were innocent. Cashin finds strange money trail, follows trail, finds tortured and dead guy who was pedophile. Cashin continues and finds that there was old pedophile ring. Victim of ring is killing people. Cashin solves the case and gets shot. Cashin hooks up with girl character.
Comments:
1. Lots of ambiguity.
2. Temple does not spoon feed. You have to pay attention to what is going on. I liked that.
3. Unvarnished look at race relations between white and black. Cashin covers both sides as a white cop and relative of Aboriginals and mixed race.
4. What is gun crime like in Australia now? The one kid is shot when firing a short barreled shotgun. I remember gun crime in Perth being a big deal, whenever it happened in '92 it hit the news.
5. Descriptions of weather and terrain worked well for me.
6. Inside politics in the police service.
7. Whats the deal with cops there anyway? Are there local cops or are they all state cops who can be transferred around?
8. Cashin hooks up with gal he had hots for in high school.
9. Cashin finds out his father committed suicide.
10. I forget the rest.
Damn good. Mystery novel set in rural Australia. Melbourne homicide cop Joe Cashin was seriously injured by a suspect (massive car wreck) and after getting back on duty sent to work at Port Munro on the shore. Cashin grew up in Port Munro - sort of. Cashin's father died when Cashin was about ten and Cashin and his mother lived an itinerant life as his wife boozed it up and slept around a bit. They settled back down in Munro and Cashin lived with aboriginal relatives.
Lots of great things about this book. Cashin is living in constant pain from the massive car wreck he was in and living in a worn down shack of a house on old family property. Being back in Port Munro brings back a lot of unwelcome memories but Cashin is emotionally damaged and not able to go back to faster paced work in Melbourne.
Anyway. Cashin is called to rich man's estate where elderly man has been beaten nearly to death. Cashin works investigation with cops from neighboring big town. Other cops are racist goons. A couple aboriginal teens from "The Daunt" (seems to be like an Indian reservation here) try to pawn a watch in Sydney. Watch is like one owned by beaten guy. Cops try and stop the kids on their way back from Sydney and two of the three kids are killed. One is shot and another dies in car wreck. Third kid commits suicide a couple days later. Shit storm comes down. Uncle of one kid is Abor. politician who also went to school with Cashin. Case called off. Cashin keeps digging after beaten guy dies and it looks like the kids were innocent. Cashin finds strange money trail, follows trail, finds tortured and dead guy who was pedophile. Cashin continues and finds that there was old pedophile ring. Victim of ring is killing people. Cashin solves the case and gets shot. Cashin hooks up with girl character.
Comments:
1. Lots of ambiguity.
2. Temple does not spoon feed. You have to pay attention to what is going on. I liked that.
3. Unvarnished look at race relations between white and black. Cashin covers both sides as a white cop and relative of Aboriginals and mixed race.
4. What is gun crime like in Australia now? The one kid is shot when firing a short barreled shotgun. I remember gun crime in Perth being a big deal, whenever it happened in '92 it hit the news.
5. Descriptions of weather and terrain worked well for me.
6. Inside politics in the police service.
7. Whats the deal with cops there anyway? Are there local cops or are they all state cops who can be transferred around?
8. Cashin hooks up with gal he had hots for in high school.
9. Cashin finds out his father committed suicide.
10. I forget the rest.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Read Some Of: "Moonshine!" by Matthew B. Rowley
Read Some Of: Moonshine! by Matthew B. Rowley, 2007, 9781579906481.
A very neat book. Well done by Rowley with plenty of research of historical and contemporary distilling and the white lightning culture. I read the historical and folklore sections and enjoyed them.
I skipped the recipes, still making, still operations because I'm not going to make one and don't even care that much how the still works.
A very neat book. Well done by Rowley with plenty of research of historical and contemporary distilling and the white lightning culture. I read the historical and folklore sections and enjoyed them.
I skipped the recipes, still making, still operations because I'm not going to make one and don't even care that much how the still works.
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