James S. A. Corey - The Authors List

James S. A. Corey on the Authors List with 9 books I've read. Actually this is a pen name for two science fiction collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck and together they have written a space opera The Expanse series over a ten year period. I have read the entire 9 book series and enjoyed it all very much. Started with Leviathan Awake in 2017 and finished with Leviathan Falls in 2022.

I've also watched all six seasons of The Expanse television series.

The books of The Expanse series I've read.

• Leviathan Awakes, 2011 - Mar 2017
• Caliban's War, 2012 - Apr 2017
• Abaddon's Gate, 2013 - Apr 2017
• Cibola Burn, 2014 - May 2017
• Nemesis Games, 2015 - May 2017
• Babylon's Ashes, 2016 - Jun 2017
• Persepolis Rising, 2017 - Mar 2018
• Tiamat's Wrath, 2019 - Dec 2019
• Leviathan Falls, 2021 - Feb 2022

Michael Crichton - The Authors List

Michael Crichton is another author that I've read 10 books. The first one was The Andromeda Strain in 1974 followed quickly by The Terminal Man. It took Jurassic Park in the early 90's to get me back into reading his novels.

I also very much liked his movie Westworld from 1973 which he wrote and directed but wasn't based on a novel. Actually I've enjoyed quite a few films based on his novels and sequels.

His books that I've read:

• The Andromeda Strain, 1969 - Feb 1974
• The Terminal Man, 1972 - Aug 1974
• Jurassic Park, 1990 - Jan 1991
• Sphere, 1987 - Mar 1991
• Congo, 1980 - Feb 1993
• Rising Sun, 1992 - May 1993
• The Lost World, 1995 - Aug 1995
• Timeline, 1999 - Jun 2000
• Prey, 2002 - Apr 2003
• The Andromeda Evolution, 2019 - Aug 2019

War Is Over - Protest Songs FV

War Is Over. The 12th mix of my protest songs from albums in my collection. Now we are hearing that demented don is claiming that the war is over and he has won. But of course we know he is lying and has no idea about reality.

This is the last mix of this series for awhile.

War Is Over - Protest Songs

1. War Is Over – Lowland Hum
2. Recuperating From The War – The Autumn Defense
3. How You Survived The War – The Weepies
4. Love Vigilantes – Laura Cantrell
5. Post-War – M. Ward
6. Man At War – Daniel Johnston
7. The Peace Song – Jesse Colin Young
8. I Am Not At War – Luka Bloom
9. Dirty Little War – Will Hoge
10. This Is Baghdad – Bruce Cockburn
11. 19 Miles To Baghdad – Lizzie West & The White Buffalo
12. Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning – The Wrights
13. Battle Of Armegeddon – Larry Sparks
14. Men In A War – Suzanne Vega
15. The War You Left – Joy Of Cooking
16. War Song – Neil Young
17. Get Up, Stand Up – Peter Tosh
18. Redemption Song – Bob Marley & The Wailers
19. I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night – Billy Bragg
20. I Ain’t Marching Anymore – Phil Ochs
21. Travelin’ Soldier – Dixie Chicks
22. This Uncivil War – Gretchen Peters
23. Battle Hymns – The Nightwatchman
24. America – Simon & Garfunkel

The Story of Jamaican Music - Kitchen Listening

Today I played a 4 CD Various Artists set of reggae and ska collection titled Tougher Than Tough: The Story of Jamaican Music as part of my Kitchen Listening series. It was released in 1993 on Mango Records and provides a fabulous history of the island's music scene across the years and includes all the different musical styles with 95 songs. For a fan of reggae there are a lot of familiar tunes here but also some incredible deep cuts and amazing information about the music. Includes ska, rock steady, reggae, dub, dance hall and ragga. This box set runs a little over 5 hours. I have several other box sets of various artists reggae compilations.

I've been a big fan of reggae music since I spent some time in Jamaica in 1971 exploring the island's music scene while in the Navy. I would go on to visit many other islands and countries throughout the area of the Caribbean Sea where music and food was a great way to spend your time while on shore. The reggae and ska influence was everywhere down there back then. When I got out of the Navy in 1973 one of the first things I did was build up my reggae music collection.

First Robin

Becky and I went for a walk earlier today and while out and about we saw our first robin of the season on a neighbor's lawn. It looked happy to be here but we'll see how long that last. Usually we see our first robin in our backyard. I spent about an hour in our backyard sunroom where it was almost 80 degrees... but no robins there yet. The temperature in the backyard was around 65 degrees and sunny. 

Gimme Some Truth - Protest Songs FV

Gimme Some Truth. Another mix of protest songs from albums in my collection. The war continues based on more lies, corruption and stupid fantasies. 

Gimme Some Truth - Protest Songs

1. Gimme Some Truth – John Lennon
2. 20th Century Man – The Kinks
3. Question – The Moody Blues
4. Fresh Air – Quicksilver Messenger Service
5. Nature’s Way – Spirit
6. Take The Star Out Of The Window – John Prine
7. To Susan On The West Coast Waiting – Donovan
8. We Seek No Wider War – Phil Ochs
9. War Song – The Fugs
10. Hey, Mr. Draft Board – David Peel & The Lower East End
11. Draft Resister – Steppenwolf
12. Who’s Gonna Win The War? – Hawkwind
13. The War – Lee Michaels
14. Draft Morning – The Byrds
15. Talking World War III Blues – Bob Dylan
16. If I Had A Hammer (The Hammer Song) – Peter, Paul & Mary
17. Guantanamera – The Sandpipers
18. Peace Will Come (According To Plan) – Melanie
19. War In Peace – Skip Spence
20. Love, Peace and Happiness – The Chambers Brothers
21. Let’s Work Together – Canned Heat
22. He’s Misstra Know It All – Stevie Wonder
23. Wake Up Everybody – Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
24. Buffalo Soldier – Bob Marley & The Wailers

3001: The Final Odyssey

Today I finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's fourth and final science fiction book in the Space Odyssey series that began with 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968. I had read the other two novels of the series back when they came out in the 1980's. The last book in the series was published in 1997 but somehow it was off my radar although I had did read his 3 volume series Time Odyssey in the late 2000's. 

I started reading 3001 just last week on March 3rd. So it took me six days to read this book. It was amazing and I don't know why it took me almost 30 years to get to it. 

I wrote about Clarke and his position in my Authors List here. This is now the 12th book of his that I've read. There is still one more novel of his that I want to read.

A Walk In The Zoo

It was a nice sunny afternoon for a walk but also a little chilly and windy. We did enjoy our walk very much and had decided it would be nice to visit the zoo. The zoo wasn't very crowded for a Sunday afternoon but we did enjoy our time there. We especially love seeing the small children running around the exhibits.

We did spend some quality time in the Rainforest Building and the animals seemed very active. Especially the monkeys and the birds. We spent close to an hour there and then headed back home. While walking down Russell we ran into our old friend Molly and stood around talking for awhile. It turned out that she was also just down at the zoo for a power walk and we just missed running into her there.

It is so nice to have the zoo so close to our home and as members we love making it part of our neighborhood walking routines.

Classic Blues - Kitchen Listening

I played some classic blues this morning from my collections of albums from the Smithsonian Folkways series of recordings. It went on for several hours and included such classic blues artists as Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee, Elizabeth Cotton, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Son House, Josh White, Lightnin' Hopkins, Victoria Spivey, and on and on.

This music made for a very pleasant morning and was much better than having any news on the TV. I have many more albums from this Smithsonian Folkways series and looking forward to playing more later.

H.G. Wells - The Authors List

H.G. Wells was a big influence in my lifelong love of science fiction both for reading his novels and seeing the movies based on his books. I read 9 of his books that included 8 novels and a collection of short stories.

The first book of his I read was The Time Machine as a teenager in the mid-1960's along with a few other of his novels. Then I read them again in the 70's along with some others. I read The Time Machine and War of the Worlds again just a few years ago. 

I saw the movie of the Time Machine in our neighborhood theater when it came out in 1960. I was 9. It was a double feature with the previously released War of the Worlds.

H.G. Wells books I've read:

• The War of the Worlds, 1898
• The Invisible Man, 1897
• The Island of Dr Moreau, 1896
• The First Men in the Moon, 1901
• The Food of the Gods and How It Came To Earth, 1904
• The Sleeper Awakes, 1899
• The War in the Air, 1908
• The Shape Of Things To Come, 1933
• The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories, 1911