Memorial Thoughts from the White Board - May 28

I love Memorial Day.  The days are warm and the smell of the cottonwood trees is in the air.  It's the kick-off to summer.  And of course, Honda is having their big sales event.  Yes, dear friends, it appears that a holiday once called "Decoration Day" (thanks mom) is now used to hock your new ride.

I didn't know it, but apparently Memorial Day is one of the biggest car buying holidays of the year (see here).  You know, that's exactly the sort of thing I want to do at the end of May.  Buy a car.  Also I want to watch a summer blockbuster movie and eat overcooked barbecue from a carcinogen-causing grill.  Or better yet, go o Home Depot and buy a new grill.  One that looks like it should be in my kitchen under the range hood.

Seriously, if my kitchen's decor was green, this would fit in quite nicely.  It's prettier than my stove and my refrigerator put together / Source: Home Depot.com

Thoughts from the White Board - May 24

At least I think it's the 24th.  It's Thursday.  That much I'm sure of.

Mmmmhhh...  Bacon.  I was just thinking of bacon.  Aren't you thinking of bacon too?  Not Sir Francis Bacon, the guy who...  now what did he do again?  Google to the rescue.

Ah yes.  "Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban(s),[1] KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist and author. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Although his political career ended in disgrace, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method during the scientific revolution."  Thanks Wikipedia.

Thoughts from the White Board - May 22

Hmmm...  I shouldn't be writing at this hour of the morning, but I figure I ought to write something.  Why, you ask?  Well what else can you think of to do besides watching old episodes of Star Trek Voyager and blogging at 5 AM?  Yeah, there is sleep.  And I could probably use sleep.  Especially after this past morning ("morning" being a relative term.  I'll explain).

I slept poorly Sunday night / Monday morning.  I had some unusual dreams.  That seems to happen a lot lately. But this one more qualified as a nightmare rather than just an odd dream.  I was a student attending some sort of High School.  The place's architecture was my typical dreamscape.  Lots of oddly shaped halls and weird rooms.  We're not talking non-euclidean geometry here, but when I dream rooms and buildings, they seem to conform to structures that I wish for, rather than how they really are.  I don't mean to say they are convenient, but rather aesthetically... well... interesting.  Best term I can think of.

U.S.-German relations

An odd little post today.  I got on the computer today, and as I was sorting my mail (all three things... no wait, four!), I saw a comment post for my review of A Fiery Peace in a Cold War.  I read it, expecting a relative or friend, but instead it was from somebody I don't know.

Now the reason I instituted my policy of moderation on comments is that... well, let's not do a total recap of what happened on my old blog.  Suffice it to say, I was surprised by some unexpected criticism that I received to a post, and it was the impetus for me to decide to change around my blog in an effort to give me and mine more privacy.

Well, so back to the point.  This person's post (it is anonymous) said something about... well, here, here's a quote:

Wow! In the end I got a webpage from where I be able to truly
take helpful facts regarding my study and knowledge.
Also see my web site :: Internet

Book Review: Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World

There's lots of things I keep wanting to get posted, but haven't gotten to it yet.  For instance, my wife and I finally got a chance to see The Hunger Games movie this past weekend, and I wanted to do a Dual Review for that (since I'd read the book previously - I'd cheat and just use that review plus my thoughts on the movie).

And there are a number of other things that I'm working on, off and on.  For one, I'd like to get Abnormal Signs back up and running.  The problem right now is that I need clever photos to use for the signs themselves.  You know, Aries, Libra, Virgo, etc...  I've thought of an idea or two, but I don't have money/time to acquire all the ones I need.  I am seeking pictures of the various animals/things that the signs are named for, and I need stuff that is straight off somebody's camera.  Nothing I have to source to somebody else.  Know what I mean?

Anyway, on that subject, if you have any pictures, preferably odd or funny ones, of the various critters that make up the signs of the zodiac (the non-Chinese one, that is), I'd sure appreciate it if you'd forward me some.  For use on the Signs.  Even ideas on how to get pictures without using the ubiquitous Google Image search would be appreciated.  Thanks

And here's the review, as promised.

Source: Amazon.com

Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World, by Margaret MacMillan

From the book’s cover:

With the publication of her landmark bestseller Paris 1919, Margaret MacMillan was praised as “a superb writer who can bring history to life” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Now she brings her extraordinary gifts to one of the most important subjects today–the relationship between the United States and China–and one of the most significant moments in modern history. In February 1972, Richard Nixon, the first American president ever to visit China, and Mao Tse-tung (Note: I prefer the Romanized "Zedong," and will use that hereafter), the enigmatic Communist dictator, met for an hour in Beijing. Their meeting changed the course of history and ultimately laid the groundwork for the complex relationship between China and the United States that we see today.

That monumental meeting in 1972–during what Nixon called “the week that changed the world”–could have been brought about only by powerful leaders: Nixon himself, a great strategist and a flawed human being, and Mao, willful and ruthless. They were assisted by two brilliant and complex statesmen, Henry Kissinger and Chou En-lai. Surrounding them were fascinating people with unusual roles to play, including the enormously disciplined and unhappy Pat Nixon and a small-time Shanghai actress turned monstrous empress, Jiang Qing. And behind all of them lay the complex history of two countries, two great and equally confident civilizations: China, ancient and contemptuous yet fearful of barbarians beyond the Middle Kingdom, and the United States, forward-looking and confident, seeing itself as the beacon for the world.

Thoughts from the White Board - May 12

The house is in serious need of cleaning and I should be working on my internship.  So I'm sitting here, watching Scooby Doo with my daughter and posting a short entry.  I always liked this episode of Scooby Doo when I was a kid.  It's the one with the 10,000 volt ghost in it.

The 10,000 volt ghost / Source: Scoobydoo.wikia.com

Op-Ed: Other Peoples' Pain

A brief Opinion/Editorial post, and the Thoughts.

I ask no pity or even much real sympathy, but I'm gonna say that I'm feeling pretty low about the disappearance of our family dog, Sadie.  I just got finished taking fliers around and taping them to stop sign poles and street signs around the neighborhood.  Besides the fact that I'm probably going to be hauled off to jail for littering if there is even a decent wind storm in the next week, I also couldn't help but feel despair each time I stuck her face up on a pole.

I'm in the stages of grief, I suppose.  You know, Denial, Anger, etc...  What comes after Anger?  I can't remember.  Oh well.  In times when I don't know something, I tend to turn to The Simpsons for answers.

Book Review: A Fiery Peace in a Cold War

I've got a touch of the blues right now.  For those who have been keeping up with my wife's Facebook posts, you'll know that our dog, Sadie, is missing.  She took off out of the yard Tuesday morning (I think it was Tuesday, but since I work nights, it is hard to keep my days straight sometimes) and hasn't come back as she usually does.  She likes to wander a little bit, but knows her way home if left alone. 

Sadie, our blonde Cairn Terrier.

We suspect she might have been picked up by somebody in the neighborhood.  My wife is calling the Animal Shelter on a regular basis, and my daughter and I went out and canvassed the neighborhood (as much as her young legs would hold out) Wednesday afternoon.  Put up fliers all over the place and asked people we saw if they had seen our dog.  My wife says, and I agree, that we don't believe she has come to any harm, but she is still gone, and that is distressing.  If you pray, I'd ask your prayers for her sake, that if it is God's Will, Sadie will find her way home safe and sound... and soon.

Ok, here's that book review.

Source: Amazon.com

A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon, by Neil Sheehan

From the book’s cover:

From Neil Sheehan, author of the Pulitzer Prize—winning classic A Bright Shining Lie, comes this long-awaited, magnificent epic. Here is the never-before-told story of the nuclear arms race that changed history–and of the visionary American Air Force officer Bernard Schriever, who led the high-stakes effort. A Fiery Peace in a Cold War is a masterly work about Schriever’s quests to prevent the Soviet Union from acquiring nuclear superiority, to penetrate and exploit space for America, and to build the first weapons meant to deter an atomic holocaust rather than to be fired in anger.

The Signs of Boise

Spent the weekend in Boise.  Idaho, that is.  It was pretty nice.  The weather was cool but not cold.  The town was decent.  My mother and my daughter and I - my wife had to work and couldn't come along - went up to attend a baptism for a cousin's son.

While there, I took pictures of some of the local signs.  And since I'm getting a case of that whole "sleepy prior to getting ready to go to work"-thing, I'll skip the chit-chat and get right to the photos.

 The name of this annex of the local hospital was "Elks Wound Center."  Hmmm...

Book Review (sorta): The Modern Scholar: World War I: The Great War and the World It Made

I'm sitting here at work on my lunch break, and I figured I ought to post a book review while I'm not doing anything else useful.  Well, except that I'm eating my wife's goulash (hamburger, macaroni noodles and spaghetti sauce - yum) and listening to "Baby Come Back" on the overhead speakers.  Aren't you glad you can't hear me singing along?  Too bad blogging is mostly a written thing, as sometimes you miss out on some of the finer details.  Personally, I can't wait until they come up with "smell-o-vision..."  well, then again, maybe I can wait.  That'd take the old "pull my finger" joke and make it potentially into an "app."  Shudder.

Source: GoodReads.com

The Modern Scholar: World War I: The Great War and the World It Made, by John Ramsden

From the book’s cover: (this is strictly an audiobook, so it really has no cover to speak of)

"The Great War", as it was known at the time, was also said to be the "war to end all wars". It seized all of Europe and much of the rest of the world in its grip of death and destruction.

The first truly modern war, it changed how war and peace would be conducted throughout the remainder of the 20th century and even to the present. The Great War was a time of "firsts" and opened the door to the modern era. Almost all the major developed countries had a role to play in this war, as they never had before. This was the first time for fighting on land, at sea, and in the air. Modern weapons and munitions were developed in previously unimaginable quantities.

By the end of the war, international politics, the relationships between the individual and the state, gender relations, and the role of artists and the media were all drastically changed.

World War I laid the foundation for the modern world. This course examines the major events of the war to further understand how they led to the shaping of this new world.

Synopsis:

The Modern Scholar: World War I: The Great War and the World It Made, is an audiobook/lecture series narrated by the author, John Ramsden.  It covers World War I from a variety of viewpoints, both militarily, socially, politically and historically.  The series discusses the battles of the war, it is true, but it also discusses the political climate that surrounded both the war’s beginning, and the internal conflicts going on as the war progressed (such as the Russian Revolution, which brought about the end of the Tsarist period in that nation, and also the political climate in the United States, who had long remained neutral until Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean).

Summer Movies I Hope Don’t Suck - 2012 Part 2

Ok, here is the rest of my summer movie preview.  My wife made plain in her comments on Part 1 as to how those particular movies already mentioned will fare around our house.  Guess I'll be seeing The Raven by my lonesome.  That's ok.  I like scary movies...