Unusual Hue - on the 19th
my camera could not quite capture the strange and unusual colour of the air and surrounds - but it came close
Behind The Trees
- and I still shoot on 'Automatic' - I can't praise my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 enough
What Rough Beast
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
My Son's First Knife
Not the first knife that he has owned - but rather the first knife that he has ever made - 'from-scratch' as they say - starting with shaping the metal, then tempering it precisely, taking the rough cherry wood and making the handle and all the little steps to end up with this lovely kitchen knife.
Book Review The Mullah’s Storm
Book Review
The Mullah’s Storm, (©2010)
Author – Thomas W. Young
I seldom read war fiction about the middle east because I
find the situation there so politicized and so much a pawn for this country’s
oil and corporate greed that I cannot bear to indulge in doing so. So against my usual judgement I picked this
book up at a used book store and glanced at a few pages. I was immediately drawn in despite my above
misgivings. The book jacket describes
Mr. Young’s background – his chips, so to speak – as a flight engineer for the
Air National Guard through-out the world in military hot spots and in
Afghanistan in particular along with his various military honors including the
Air Force Combat Action Medal. His
background serves him well in this work of fiction conveying a realism to the
non-stop military action that composes the book from beginning to end. Well written, riveting and morally compelling
without recourse to maudlin clichés. If
you like war fiction this will satisfy you completely and if like me liking war
stories only occasionally then you will find this novel a non-stop read. Four Star.
Booksellers, Antiques, Beans, Leaves, Etc
I Do Not Like Thee Saffron Creek
I do not like thee, Saffron Creek
The reason why - I will here speak
(For Xmas is not yet begun
and I think your decor is no fun
wait a bit and in December
this Holiday we can then remember)
For this I think- and think to wreak
I do not like thee Saffron Creek
For this I think- and think to wreak
I do not like thee Saffron Creek
The poem- that I've butchered - is said to have been written by satirical English poet Tom Brown in 1680
The anecdote associated with the origin of the rhyme is that when Brown was a student at the Christ Church, Oxford, he was caught doing mischief. The dean of Christ Church, John Fell, 1625–1686), who later went on to become the Bishop of Oxford,
expelled Brown; but offered to take him back if he passed a test. If
Brown could extemporaneously translate the thirty-second epigram of Martial, (a well known Roman epigramist), his expulsion would be cancelled. The epigram in Latin is as follows:
Brown made the impromptu English translation which became the verse:
- I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
- The reason why - I cannot tell;
- But this I know, and know full well,
- I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.
