Just Finished, History & Science and the Birth Date Thing.

The end of another week. Yesterday we went out to check out a house that is for sale in our neighborhood. Out of our price range but still interesting to check out. The final episode of Halt and Catch Fire was also on last night. What an excellent show it was! If you haven't seen, it's about the development of the computer industry and the internet from the perspective of 4 people who work and compete. Really great show on AMC. It should have won Emmy's. I can't understand when you see some of the shows that do win. Oh well. It's worth checking out if you want to watch an excellent dram series.

Just Finished

I finished my first horror book of October yesterday; The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. It was a slow start but once I got into it, it moved along nicely. I enjoyed a lot.









"I've never seen either of the movies based on The Phantom of the Opera by French writer, Gaston Leroux. Well, in fact, I guess I've seen one, a very loose remake starring Paul Williams, The Phantom of the Paradise, but I don't know if that counts. I've once seen the musical and enjoyed it immensely.
Having said all that, I was interested in finally trying to read the book. I had found an interesting edition published in 1985 by the Dorset Press and decided to buy it.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the story when I started it. It was a bit of a slow burn at first, with a mite of difficulty getting into the flow of the translation. But once I got going and more in depth into the story, I found the story increasingly interesting. The last half moved along at breakneck pace and there was considerable tension and excitement.
The narrator of the story is researching the stories of the 'Opera Ghost' who had haunted the Paris Opera House. He persuaded the managers to maintain Box 5 for him, demanded a payment of 20,000 francs a month for his use. (why would a ghost need money, you ask? Good question). Deaths are attributed to him, an soprano in the opera loses her voice during a show and is replaced by Christine Daae, who the 'ghost' fancies. The owners sell the opera to two new managers and ensure they are aware of the conditions of keeping the 'ghost' happy. Of course, they don't believe the stories, with consequences.
Christine has another admirer, Viscount de Changy, who tries to save her from the ghost, Erik. Along with the Persian, an old acquaintance of Erik, they two must make a mad race through the cellars of the Opera in a last ditch attempt to save Christine from the ghost / Phantom of the opera. I enjoyed the story more and more as it moved along and as we discovered more about Erik and where he came from. All in all, after a bit of a slow start, it was a most enjoyable story. (4 stars)"

Currently Reading

I've started my 2nd Horror story, the 2nd book in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz. That would be Forever Odd. I'm enjoying so far. Koontz does have a nice way with words and story flow.









"I see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it. Odd Thomas never asked for his special ability. He's just an ordinary guy trying to live a quiet life in the small desert town of Pico Mundo. Yet he feels an obligation to do right by his otherworldly confidants, and that's why he's won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death. But when a childhood friend disappears, Odd discovers something worse than a dead body and embarks on a heart-stopping battle of will and wits with an enemy of exceptional cunning. In the hours to come there can be no innocent bystanders, and every sacrifice can tip the balance between despair and hope."

Great Historical Events

In today's excerpt we finish off 1793 with the invention of the cotton gin.

"Invention of the Cotton Gin

 Cotton gin invented by Whitney. A machine for separating seeds from cotton; an invention which revolutionized the cotton trade, and which added more to the wealth and commercial importance of the United States than any other invention of enterprise could have done at that time.
Yellow Fever first visited the United States at Philadelphia.
Automatic signal telegraph introduced and applied in New York.
Steam first applied to saw-mills in Pennsylvania by Gen. Bentham.
President's salary fixed at $25,000."

We move onto 1794 next excerpt with the Whiskey Rebellion, etc.

Science of Common Things

Professor L.G. Gorton highlights the dangers of thunder storms in today's excerpt.

"Why is it dangerous to stand near a tree during a thunder storm? Because the tree, being a high object and a good conductor of electricity, is very liable to form the conductor for the lightning. Why is it dangerous to be near a fire during a thunder storm? Because smoke and flame are conductors of electricity. Where is the safest place during a thunder storm? In the center of a dry room, away from all conductors of electricity. (Ed. Note. I was going to say in the next county, but I guess that would work too.)"

In the next excerpt we move from thunder storms to thunder itself. :)

The Birth Date Thing 10 November 2015

Canadian Decoration (CD)

2015 was a big year for me. I hit my sixth decade. My marriage to Jo reached its 13th year and I look forward to many, many more. Since I was now 60, my career with the Canadian military ended, after 41 years in the Regular and Reserve forces. I was one year from achieving my 2nd clasp on my Canadian Decoration; a medal we receive after 12 years of service and then receive a clasp for every ten years afterwards. But, hey, I now have a great retirement to look forward to with Jo. It's been great so far.. :0)





US Billboard #1 Single 10 November 2015

The Hills by The Weeknd. Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is a Canadian singer / songwriter from Toronto. The Hills was his first US #1 single.

UK #1 Single 10 November 2015

Hello by Adele. This is the 2nd time that English singer / songwriter has been on my Birth Date Song list, the first was in 2011 on the US charts. Hello was 3rd UK #1. It was the lead single from her 3rd album.

New York Times #1 Fiction Best Seller 10 November 2015

Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham. This is the 3rd year in a row that Grisham had the #1 best seller on my birthday.










"On the right side of the law - sort of - Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. His office is a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, and fine leather chairs. He has no firm, no partners, and only one employee: his heavily armed driver, who also so happens to be his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant, and golf caddie. Sebastian drinks small-batch bourbon and carries a gun. He defends people other lawyers won't go near: a drug-addled, tattooed kid rumored to be in a satanic cult; a vicious crime lord on death row; a homeowner arrested for shooting at a SWAT team that mistakenly invaded his house. Why these clients? Because Sebastian believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial - even if he has to bend the law to secure one."

Pulitzer Prize Winner 2015

At the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  This was the 2nd novel by American writer Doerr.










"Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another."

Nobel Prize Laureate 2015

Svetlana Alexievich (Belarus). Alexievich is a Belorussian investigative investigator and non-fiction prose writer. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time".

Hugo Award Winner 2015

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu. 











"Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision."

Edgar Award Winner 2015

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.  The last book by King that I've read was Under the Dome. I may have to check this one out too.










"In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.

In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the “perk” and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy.

Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with two new, unusual allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady’s next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands."

Man Booker Prize 2015

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon Jones. This was the third novel by Jamaican writer, Marlon Jones. Jones now lives in Minneapolis.










"On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert, gunmen stormed his house, machine guns blazing. The attack nearly killed the Reggae superstar, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Marley would go on to perform at the free concert on December 5, but he left the country the next day, not to return for two years."

Giller Prize Winner 2015

Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis.  Alexis was born in Trinidad / Tobago, was raised in Ottawa, Ont and now resides in Toronto. Fifteen Dogs was his ninth novel.









"It begins in a bar, like so many strange stories. The gods Hermes and Apollo argue about what would happen if animals had human intelligence, so they make a bet that leads them to grant consciousness and language to a group of dogs staying overnight at a veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of complex thought, the dogs escape and become a pack. They are torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into unfamiliar territory, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings. Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks."

One more year to review and then I've got up with the present. It will be interesting to see what my birth day in November of this year brings. Have a great week!