I saw this ad on TV for Tim Horton's. It showed how easy it was to get a hamburger. The guy had a cell phone and on it was the picture of a hamburger. All he did was press a button and a hamburger jumped out. Now I would like to see that. But I may be out of luck there, I don't have a cell phone. I was at the Bank not too long ago and the cashier said I could do something with my cell phone. I told her I didn't have one and she almost fainted. Her mouth dropped to the floor and she had trouble speaking. When she finally recovered and asked me why, I asked her why I needed one. All she could say was but, but, but...
Poor Reacher, he can even get in trouble when he is trying to be a good Samaritan, This is a Reacher novella. A great example of his deductive reasoning.
This is a long story, equal to three normal size books. If you are going to read it, be prepared for violence. It describes the life of cowboys, mostly during a cattle drive, where they are confronted by almost every calamity known to man. It continually emphasizes the weaknesses of the cowboys and their frequent bouts of tears. A bunch of indecision makers concerned about what the others think of them. The women are the strong characters, nothing getting in the way of their goals. The author has no remorse about the elimination of his characters, seldom dying in bed.
After I started this book I was surprised to find out it was a western. I did not expect it from this author. It was a very slow start and the plot was predictable. It was not a bad story but not what you call exciting. Not too many surprises.
We all know that these days you can't believe anything you hear. All the broadcasted news has to have a spin on it. To bring us around to someone's way of thinking, hoping it will influence you next election choice. But this is nothing new, it's been going on forever. The Old Testament is notorious for it. Take for instance the Tower of Babel. There was such a tower and the rocks are now piled outside some city in Syria. In the Bible it says that God changed everyone's language so they couldn't cooperate to build the tower and were scattered. A great story but not true. At that time they used to make square pyramids. They were just square buildings. Each square added was smaller than the one before, so that there was space to walk around it. In other words, they were just hire rise office buildings. Nebuchadnezzar was the King at this time and he ruled over many lands and many languages. When he wanted a tower built, he would call in workers from all his kingdoms. They would come, speaking different languages, to build the tower. When they were finished, they were scattered, back to their own homeland. The other way makes a better story.
This is a modern western, fast moving with well defined characters. It has the background of cold whether in a North Dakota boom town rampant with drugs. Suspense builds at a good pace throughout the book and I had trouble putting it down. Cassie Dewell is a determined police woman who wants results even to the point of breaking the law. It wouldn't take much for her to slip to the dark side to get her desired results. She doesn't realize that she may have a kindred soul in her new superior. He knows her background and she may be just the kind of investigator he is looking for. Although in another state, she has not given up on the capture of The Lizard king, setting a trap in her spare time.
Speaking of time machines, which was yesterday, I doubt very much that man will go back in time. What we will have is the next best thing. And I'm talking about movies. We make movies now about history using actors and we get a glimpse of what history may have been like. I expect that in the future they will have computer programs, capturing all possible information about people and events and make a movie as close to reality as possible, without actors. It would be like watching the actual event unfold. Of course this will have to depend on the integrity of the producer. Hopefully the truth will be told.
I was reading an archaeology magazine the other day and came across an interesting article about the first Egyptian mummy taken to Ireland. It was in 1835. A young woman, 22 yrs. old, the daughter of a priest. Her name was Takabuti. There were a few peculiarities about her, such as an extra tooth and an extra vertebrae. When they did a DNA scan (recent of course) she was a closer match to Europeans than Egyptians. She died young because she was murdered, stabbed in the back. What would a time machine tell us?
Busy lately cleaning out the shed, putting stuff on Kijiji and throwing out some stuff. In the last three weeks I've sold 6 items and given away 2, for a sum of $140. Two more items going to day, if they show up. I think there are people who have the hobby of promising to show up but never do. Usually 3 or 4 people do this. When people say they are coming, I don't even open the shed until they are here. The two coming today are women, so I expect them. It is usually men that are the assholes.
When you see an obituary in the newspaper, there are always three important parts. The date of birth, the date of death and the dash in between. The dates of birth and death are really unimportant. What is important is the dash in between. It is what you do between those two dates that makes all the difference for you and for others.
This is a simple story and doesn't take too long to read. A western story that is a bit far fetched, winning when the odds are 19 to 1 and all the adversities are expert gunmen. It is well written but doesn't seem to have an ending. I guess we have to make up our own mind as to how it is supposed to end.
This is a naval story without cannon balls or battles. Although touted as naval, it is actually a spy novel but a bit boring. As usual, it has long drawn out descriptions and conversations. I noticed that the author installed in the character a dislike of the Catholic Church whether this is personal or a sign of that time we will never know.
From "Ancient Origins" magazine I found out about the language of the Vikings. It was called Elfdarian. That sounds mystic doesn't it? At the present time, only about 3000 people can speak it and that is in one village in Sweden. Speakers of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian can carry on a simple conversation with each other but none can understand Elfdarian. As a final point. From the beginning of time, there has been about 30,000 different languages.
In a book I am reading, there is a part that concerns the French Revolution. It describes neighbors informing on neighbors and the consequences for the neighbor. It brings to mind the conditions the exist here at the present time. People who inform on those not wearing masks, not social distancing, or not standing on the right spot or in the right line in supermarkets. I've heard of women walking around stores to see if they can confront someone and feeling so righteous. Easy to see how life happened in East Germany or other Communist states. Just this far away from a police state and we would then wonder how it was possible.
