Saturday, February 28, 2026

What's Going On - Protest Songs FV

What's Going On. Another soundtrack to illegal wars with protest songs from the 60's and 70's.

We can change the world starting with the demented diaper-clad orange warmonger draft-dodger in the white house he has been destroying along with our country.


What’s Going On - Protest Songs FV
  1. What’s Gong On – Marvin Gaye, 1971
  2. Ball of Confusion – The Temptations, 1970
  3. Funky President (People It’s Bad) – James Brown, 1974
  4. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gil Scott Heron, 1971
  5. Fight The Power (Part 1 & 2) – The Isley Brothers, 1975
  6. Living For The City – Stevie Wonder, 1973
  7. War – Bob Marley & The Wailers, 1976
  8. Vietnam – Jimmy Cliff, 1969
  9. We Got To Have Peace – Curtis Mayfield, 1971
  10. Freedom – Richie Havens, 1969
  11. Bring On The Lucie (Freda People) – John Lennon, 1973
  12. Chicago / We Can Change The World – Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1970
  13. Hand Me Down World – The Guess Who, 1970
  14. Monster / Suicide / America – Steppenwolf, 1969
  15. Dialogue (Part I & II) – Chicago, 1972
  16. Student Demonstration Time – The Beach Boys, 1970
  17. I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die – Country Joe & The Fish, 1967
  18. Peace Frog – The Doors, 1970
  19. Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969
  20. We Can Be Together – Jefferson Airplane, 1969


Masters Of War - Protest Songs FV

A reworking of my Protest Songs mixes starts with this one on the day the orange turd starts an illegal war with Iran.







Masters of War - Protest Songs FV
  1. Masters of War – Bob Dylan, 1963
  2. The Times They Are A-changin’ – Odetta, 1965
  3. Blowin’ In The Wind – Peter, Paul & Mary, 1970
  4. Tear Down The Walls – Martin & Neil, 1964
  5. Peace Train – Cat Stevens, 1971
  6. Eve Of Destruction – Barry McGuire, 1965
  7. Something In The Air – Thunderclap Newman, 1969
  8. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield, 1967
  9. Military Madness – Graham Nash, 1971
  10. Kill For Peace – The Fugs, 1966
  11. Give Peace A Chance – John Lennon & Yoko Ono, 1969
  12. American Woman – The Guess Who, 1970
  13. Someday (August 29, 1968) – Chicago, 1969
  14. Volunteers – Jefferson Airplane, 1970
  15. Living In The U.S.A. – Steve Miller Band, 1968
  16. Signs – Five Man Electrical Band, 1970
  17. Shape Of Things To Come – Max Frost & The Troopers, 1968
  18. Trouble Every Day – The Mothers Of Invention, 1966
  19. Revolution – The Beatles, 1968
  20. I’d Love To Change The World – Ten Years After, 1971
  21. Get Together – The Youngbloods, 1967
  22. Why Can’t We Live Together – Timmy Thomas, 1972
  23. Where Have All The Flowers Gone – Johnny Rivers, 1965
  24. Reach Out Of The Darkness – Friend & Lover, 1968
  25. Save The Country – Laura Nyro, 1969

Paul Auster - The Authors List

I read 13 books by Paul Auster between 2005 and 2017. They were twelve novels and one memoir... Winter Journal. The first book I read in 2005 was Moon Palace and the last was 4 3 2 1 in 2017. I really enjoyed reading all his books and was sad when he passed away in 2024 at the age of 77. Looking back on him now I see there is one book that I missed and really should read. Invisible from 2009. I'm not sure how I missed that one.




Woke Up To Trump's War

We woke up this morning to the news that America is at war with Iran and the bombing had started. The orange turd pedophile in chief felon in the white house posted a video of his rambling incoherent "announcement" on his "truth social" media for lying and avoiding the real media as usual.

Of course we know this whole war thing is just a cover up of the Epstein Files.

And then 
one of the first things on the news this regime did was to bomb a school for girls in Iran that was located near a targeted Iranian naval base. Many deaths of school children. A terrible start to an illegal war.

Friday, February 27, 2026

Backyard Cabana Sitting

Today was the first time I was able to sit out in the backyard cabana all winter. The sun was out and it was quite pleasant back there watching the birds and squirrels do their thing. The temperature in the room was about 62 degrees but starting dropping around 4 pm. I went in there around 3. 

I spent some of the time removing the address labels on a pile of old New Yorkers we have piled up on the table. I'm going to put them in our neighborhood little library boxes. I'm sure there will be people who would appreciate some back issues of these magazines. Then I did some reading.

Last year I was back there many times during the winter especially in February. This year was just different and much colder and cloudier. Didn't have many opportunities to go out there when the room was warmed up.

John Banville - The Authors List

John Banville, the Irish author who also published crime mystery novels under the name of Benjamin Black comes in at #6 on my list of most read authors at 13 books with number 14 coming up shortly. 

The first book I read by him was The Sea in 2012. I quickly followed that with a Benjamin Black novel in early 2013. I particularly liked his take on Philip Marlow in The Black-Eyed Blonde. The last book I read was The Drowned in December 2025. I have a hold on his latest novel with the NYPL so I'm looking forward to reading that one.

Although I've read 13 of his novels already there are still about 4 or 5 more books I would like to read.

John Banville / Benjamin Black novels I've read:

  • The Sea, 2005 - Dec 2012
  • Christine Falls, 2006 - Jan 2013
  • The Infinities, 2009 - Jan 2013
  • The Silver Swan, 2007 - Mar 2013
  • Ancient Light, 2012 - Jul 2013
  • The Black-Eyed Blonde, 2014- Jan 2016
  • Wolf On A String, 2017 - Jul 2017
  • Snow, 2020 - Oct 2021
  • The Secret Guests, 2020 - Nov 2021
  • The Untouchable,1997 - Feb 2023
  • April In Spain, 2021 - Jul 2023
  • The Lock-Up, 2023 - Apr 2025
  • The Drowned, 2024 - Dec 2025

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Cafe 59 w/ Val

Becky and I went out to dinner tonight with Val. We picked her up at her house and went over to Cafe 59 and had a delicious dinner as usual. Val had never been there before. 

I had their Harvest Wrap which is one of my favorite choices on their amazing menu. Becky had a Chicken Finger Sandwich. We both had potato wedges. Val had a shrimp risotto dinner. I also had a couple of draft pilsners from Community Beer Works.

We had a nice time with Val who seemed herself and didn't appear to have any issues. We went to the restaurant at 5:30 and were back home after dropping off Val at about 7:30. 

Neal Stephenson - The Authors List

Neal Stephenson is #5 on my list of most read authors at 15 books. The last book I read was in 2021. He is one of my all-time favorite writers and I love all of his brilliant novels of speculative fiction. The first of his novels I read was Cryptonomicon in 2004 and then from there I read every book I could get. 






His novels that I've read...

  • Cryptonomicon, 1999 - Oct 2004
  • Quicksilver, 2003 - Jan 2005
  • The Confusion, 2004 - Mar 2005
  • The System of the World, 2004 - Oct 2005
  • Anathem, 2008 - Nov 2008
  • Reamde, 2011 - Jan 2012
  • The Diamond Age, 1995 - Mar 2012
  • The Mongoliad Book 1, 2012 - Jul 2013
  • The Mongoliad Book 2, 2012 - Aug 2013
  • The Mongoliad Book 3, 2013 - Oct 2013
  • Seveneves, 2015 - Sep 2015
  • Snow Crash, 1992 - Mar 2017
  • The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., 2017 - Oct 2017
  • Fall, or Dodge in Hell, 2019 - Nov 2019
  • Termination Shock, 2021 - Jan 2022

Winter Reading - 1975-1976

These are some books I read during the winter of 1975-1976 based on my GoodReads app stats. These days I'm reading about a book a week and back then it was one a month.

At that time 50 years ago I was in my second year of college full time and working part time at the VA center. I had bought a house the house in early 74 and at the time was living with a bunch of guys going to school. I was also buying lots of albums and going to concerts regularly.

Most of my reading was classroom related but I did find some time for some pleasure reading.

  • Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone, 1974 - Feb 76
  • The Snow Walker - Farley Mowat, 1975 - Jan 76
  • An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser, 1925 - Dec 75

Dog Soldiers was one of the many books about the Vietnam War that I would read over the years. I would also read a few books by the conservationist Farley Mowat. He was an amazing writer. I should read a few more of his books. The only other Dreiser book I've read is Sister Carrie.









Wednesday, February 25, 2026

John Sandford - The Authors List

John Sandford is #4 on my list of most read authors currently at 18 novels and counting. I could easily read quite a few more. He's written a lot of books. The police procedure crime mystery novels in the Lucas Davenport series account for 17 of the 18 books I've read. He's been writing one a year in the series since the late 80's.

Before John Sandford became a New York Times Best Selling author he was a journalist who received a Pulitzer Prize for his work.

I started reading his books in 2019 and that year I read 11 books in the series. There are 35 books in that series with another one scheduled for publication this year. The last book of his I read was in May 2023. He has another 15 or so books in a couple of off-shoot series.

I've enjoyed all of his books that I've read and they have been page turners that I always finished in less than a week. I should get back into this series.

The John Sandford books I've read and when.
  1. Rules of Prey,1989 - Feb 2019
  2. Shadow Prey, 1990 - Feb 2019
  3. Eyes of Prey, 1991 - Mar 2019
  4. Silent Prey, 1992 - Apr 2019
  5. Winter Prey, 1993 - Apr 2019
  6. Night Prey, 1994 - May 2019
  7. Mind Prey, 1995 - May 2019
  8. Sudden Prey, 1996 - Jun 2019
  9. Secret Prey, 1998 - Aug 2019
  10. Certain Prey, 1999 - Oct 2019
  11. Easy Prey, 2000 - Nov 2019
  12. Chosen Prey, 2001 - Mar 2020
  13. Mortal Prey, 2002 - Jun 2020
  14. Dead Watch, 2006 - Jul 2020
  15. Naked Prey, 2003 - Sep 2020
  16. Hidden Prey, 2004 - Mar 2021
  17. Broken Prey, 2005 - Jun 2022
  18. Invisible Prey, 2007 - May 2023

Chicken Noodle Soup

Becky made a very nice chicken noodle minestrone soup. It was delicious and was perfect after a show shovel workout on a cold winter day. We had some of that good French peasant bread too which is always good with soup. 

The chicken used in the soup was a good use of some leftover chicken from yesterday's wonderful dinner.

State of the Union Joke Fest

Trumps rambling demented racist sexist delusional lying rants last night was the longest state of the union in the history of America. He was an embarrassment in front of the world. A joke. A jerk. I call it a joke fest but there really wasn't anything funny with his attack on America.

We got home from the chamber music concert last night at about 9:30 and the idiot was still spewing hate and lies on the TV. He would go on for another hour and a half. We didn't watch. We had on Jimmy Kimmel instead.

I saw a few excerpts on the news today. Disgusting. I like what Senator Chuck Schumer said today... "For nearly two hours: Trump congratulated himself, inflated his own ego, patted himself on the back, and offered no solutions to our country's many problems."

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Leonkoro String Quartet

Tonight Becky and I enjoyed a wonderful evening in the Mary Seaton Room at Kleinhans Music Hall experiencing the incredible music of the Leonkoro String Quartet that was part of our Buffalo Chamber Music concert series.

This quartet was four young people and their performance was amazing. They also had a very interesting program that included Haydn, Mendelssohns and a couple of modern composers. 

It was also nice that the weather held up. It was supposed to start snowing at around 9 pm but when we got out of the concert close to 9:30 the weather was clear and the drive home was pleasant. The snow still hadn't started near bedtime but the forecast was now calling for some snow overnight.  

State of the Union - IFLA

I'm glad Becky and I will be at a chamber music concert tonight while demented donny is on the podium spewing out his overflowing his diaper.

From that guy in Australia...  

THE STATE OF THE UNION: A FUCKING EULOGY FOR A DYING EMPIRE

So apparently America is doing a thing tonight. They're going to wheel out a near 80 year old relic from an Adderall fuelled era who looks like he was inflated with a bicycle pump, slapped with a fake tan from a Bunnings discount bin, and ask him to stand at a podium for two hours and tell you everything is fine.

Everything. Is. Fine.

The guy who cannot walk down a ramp without looking like a newborn giraffe on ice. The guy who loses his train of thought mid sentence so often that his speechwriters have started building in random pauses just so it looks intentional. The guy whose mouth is moving but what is coming out has all the coherence of a drunk uncle at Christmas who just discovered Facebook in 2019.

That guy. That guy is about to tell you the State of the Union.
And people are going to watch it. Voluntarily. With their own eyes and ears. Sit down, pour themselves a drink, and go, "Yeah, let's hear what the decaying tangerine has to say tonight."

Here is the State of the Union, mate. I will save you two fucking hours.

It is cooked. Completely, catastrophically, comprehensively cooked.

Your dollar is tanking. Your allies are gone, not drifting away, gone, like they changed their number and blocked you on everything. Canada is looking at you like an ex who finally got therapy. Europe has moved on. They are building their own shit now. They held emergency meetings, not about Russia, not about China, about you. About how to survive you. Let that sink in.

Your bond market is being quietly abandoned by every major economy on earth, because apparently when you spend four years threatening everyone, insulting your creditors, and governing like a mob boss at a casino he is about to burn down for the insurance money, people stop trusting you with their money. Wild concept.

Your healthcare system was already a fucking crime scene and he is turning it into a memorial.

Your social safety net? Being shredded by a man who has never once in his entire pampered, gold toilet, daddy's money life needed a safety net for anything. A man who went bankrupt six times and still landed on his feet because the system was built for people like him. And now he is in charge of that system. For you. For people who actually need it.

And who is he doing it for? Let us be honest. Let us just fucking say it out loud.
His mates. His extraordinarily, obscenely, eye wateringly rich mates. The ones who flew on the same planes as dead pedophiles and somehow, somehow, none of their names ever quite made it to the front page. Funny that. Funny how the files kept getting delayed. Funny how the guy who promised to release everything is also the guy whose name keeps appearing in the same social circles as the guy who did not kill himself.

Funny. Funny funny funny.

And tonight, he is going to stand there, swaying slightly, squinting at the teleprompter like it owes him money, that mouth doing that thing it does, that puckered little arsehole shaped grimace he pulls when he is reading words someone else wrote because his own words come out like a blender full of wet newspaper, and he is going to lie to your face.

He is going to tell you the economy is the greatest in history, while your grocery bill is eating your rent money.

He is going to tell you America is respected again, while NATO is quietly building contingency plans that do not include the United States.

He is going to tell you the border is secure, crime is down, the military is strong, the allies are back, the future is bright, and the crowd behind him, those empty, hollow, sycophantic fucking ghouls who sold every principle they ever pretended to have for a photo op and a mention on Truth Social, they are going to stand up and clap.

They are going to clap, folks. They are going to clap like trained seals at an aquarium that is on fire.

Because that is what enablers do. That is what cowards do. That is what people do when they have already made the deal and the only way to avoid accountability is to keep cheering, keep nodding, keep pretending the emperor's clothes are magnificent while the rest of the world watches a naked old man shuffle toward the podium.

The State of the Union is this:

A great nation, and yes, for all its flaws, it was genuinely great in ways that mattered, is being systematically hollowed out. Not by foreign enemies. Not by immigrants. Not by the people they keep blaming.

By one man. And the spineless, greedy, morally bankrupt parade of arseholes who let him do it. Who helped him do it. Who fundraised for him doing it. Who looked at everything he was and everything he had done and said, "Yeah, that is our guy."
That is the State of the Union.

You can watch him say otherwise for two hours if you want.

Or you can just accept that the building is on fire, the guy holding the hose is selling the water, and the State of the fucking Union is, to use the precise, technical, economic term, absolutely fucked.

And I'm betting not a single word about the doctored Trump Epstein Files
Share this if you think someone needed to say it. They did.

Cara Black - The Authors List

#3 on my list of most read authors at 20 books is Cara Black. This week I started reading novel number 21. Her crime detective novels all take place in Paris and the titles are based on the neighborhood where the crime takes place. The stories all contain fascinating descriptions of these neighborhoods and their history. 

I read my first Cara Black novel in 2018 shortly after returning from our vacation in Paris and I've continued to read them since then. I'm enjoying number 21 and will get back to reading it shortly.

Monday, February 23, 2026

Blizzard in Philly

Overnight a blizzard dumped a lot of snow on Philadelphia and up and down the East Coast. NYC got a lot too. We were talking to Rita last night and she was describing the snow coming down outside her window and happy that she had nowhere to go over the next few days. We had also talked to Katie this week and she was anticipating the heavy snow coming and having the kids home from school again.

So today it looks like the kids are having some fun with the snow in their backyard and the snow in the photos have really piled up around their house.

One of the things about snow storms in Philly is the snow piled up on the narrow streets where there isn't anywhere to put the snow. The narrow streets get clogged with plowed in cars and huge piles of snow. The snow plowing by the city focuses on the main streets and the narrow side streets just don't get plowed very well.
The grandkids did get to play in the snow in their backyard today. It looks like Todd made them a snow fort.






Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child - The Authors List

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have been writing together a series of horror crime mystery novels since 1995. Most of them have featured the maverick FBI detective Aloysius Pendergast along with a few other characters that have been part of this ongoing series.

I've enjoyed 26 of their novels. I have been reading them since 2018 so I've read a few a year. A new book was just recently released and yesterday I put an e-book copy on hold with the NY public library. I'm looking forward to reading it. The last book of this series I read in 2024.

I also read of couple of Douglas Preston's earlier historical nonfiction books.


Their books I've read:

  • Relic, 1995 - Aug 2018
  • Reliquary, 1997 - Sep 2018
  • Cabinet of Curiosities, 2002 - Oct 2018
  • Still Life With Crows, 2003 - Apr 2019
  • Brimstone, 2004 - May 2019
  • Dance of Death, 2005 - Jul 2019
  • The Book of the Dead, 2006 - Aug 2019
  • Wheel of Darkness, 2007 - Oct 2019
  • Cemetery Dance, 2008 - Nov 2019
  • Fever Dream, 2010 - Mar 2020
  • Cold Vengeance, 2011 - May 2020
  • Two Graves, 2012 - Aug 2020
  • White Fire, 2013 - Jan 2021
  • Baby Labyrinth, 2014 - Mar 2021
  • Crimson Shore, 2015 - May 2022
  • The Obsidian Chamber, 2016 - Jun 2022
  • City of Endless Night, 2017 - Jun 2022
  • Verses For The Dead, 2018 - Jan 2023
  • Crooked River, 2020 - Apr 2023
  • Thunderhead, 1999 - Jul 2024
  • Bloodless, 2021 - Aug 2024
  • Old Bones, 2019 - Aug 2024
  • The Cabinet of Dr. Leng, 2023 - Sep 2024
  • The Scorpion's Tail, 2021 - Sep 2024
  • Diablo Mesa, 2022 - Oct 2024
  • Angel of Vengeance, 2024 - Nov 2024

Sunday, February 22, 2026

The Incredible Shrinking Man - Film Favorites

Back to posting my Film Favorites.

The Incredible Shrinking Man was one of my favorite movies from my years as a kid walking around the corner to the Saturday matinee movies. It was released in 1957 but I saw it a little later during those double feature movie afternoons. 

I did see this several times and it always scared me. Especially when he was fighting the family cat or the spider in the basement.






Hockey Gold - USA vs Canada

Becky and I watched the USA vs Canada Olympic hockey game this morning and were very excited to see the USA get the gold medal in a 2-1 overtime game. It was an awesome game and very tough for both teams. I really did think that Canada was going to win because they seemed to dominate throughout most of the game. Then came the 3 on 3 sudden death overtime. Wow, what an ending. And what a way to end the two weeks of the Olympics. The closing ceremony will be on this afternoon.

We were downstairs watching the game by 8:30 this morning which meant we missed a few minutes of the first period. I thought it was starting at 8:30. We didn't much and we certainly saw a lot of the game. And of course the overtime too.

Jack Hughes scored the winning goal in overtime and the goaltender Connor Hellebuyck won the MVP award for the tournament. This was the first time the USA team won Olympic gold in hockey in 46 years... since that Miracle on Ice against the Soviet Union at Lake Placid in 1980.

And the USA women's hockey team beat the Canadian team in overtime a few days ago.

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Open The Bars

I saw some online reporting this evening concerning the US vs Canada hockey game tomorrow for the gold medal. 


Today New York Governor Kathy Hochol made the following statement:

"Tomorrow, it's a gold medal morning. I've directed the State Liquor Authority to suspend enforcement of alcohol service hour from 6-10 AM so bars and restaurants can open early and fans can watch the U.S. go for gold together. Go USA."

We all know that the governor is a Buffalo girl and watching important hockey games in a bar is a tradition. Well, this is for most of New York but some places, like NYC, are under a state of weather emergency because of a coming blizzard so they cannot open. I also saw a list online of Buffalo bars that will be open very early tomorrow morning for the game and be serving drinks... and food.

Lion Hearts: A Novel

Lion Hearts by Dan Jones, 2025. The third novel of the Essex Dogs Trilogy. I read this book in a week and enjoyed it very much as I did the first two novels in this series of Middle Ages history and the Hundred Years War between England and France.

At the end of this book it certainly looked like there will be another one in the series.

The author Dan Jones is a popular historian and journalist who has written at least a dozen books on the history of the Middle Ages throughout his career and only recently began writing these historical novels.

There are a lot of his books I've put on my to-read list including ones about the Crusades, the Templars and many others.

Friday, February 20, 2026

Another Box to Clean Out

I cleaned out another box of "stuff" today that contained lots of paperwork, maps, guide books, tickets, etc from our trip to London and Paris in 2018. Most of the stuff I threw away. I did keep a small amount of our personal guide pamphlets that I think we would enjoy looking through one more time but everything else went into the recycle container unless it had personal info that went into the trash.

There must be another box somewhere with our "stuff" from our 2019 trip to Dublin, London and Edinburgh. It will be fun to go through that one too.



Winter Flowers

I went out in the backyard today because it was the first time in many weeks that there was no snow there. It had melted with the rain and 40 degree temperatures since last night. I was surprised to find some snow drops blooming. There were also some daffodils that had popped up. It looks like Becky's green thumb is at work.

Later this afternoon there will be snow coming to bury those plants again.

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Some Spring Fever

Earlier today and this evening we had gone out around town. It was a sunny day and the temperatures were in the high 30's and low 40's and the snow was melting. Some people had spring fever. We saw people jogging in shorts and t-shirts. There were people all over the place walking around in shorts. From our table in JT's we saw lots of folks on Elmwood Avenue walking around and we saw one woman with a bare mid-drift outfit. It's amazing how quickly people in Buffalo jump into some spring fever before it's spring. All they need is a little bit of improved weather and some sun to get the fever.

JT's Tonight

Tonight we went to JT's for dinner to use that gift certificate we got for Xmas from Sean and Ashley. First we had gone to Hallwalls to check out an art show. Then we went over to Elmwood Avenue and parked the car on Bidwell. We stopped at Talking Leaves bookstore for a bit looking at potential belated birthday gifts for Sean. Then we walked down the street to JT's.

It was about 5 pm when we got there which is a little earlier than we usually get there. There were only a couple tables in use plus the bar was busy as usual because they have their happy hour food specials at the bar. We got a nice seat near the front window just under the heaters. It was very comfy.

We started off with splitting a Caesar Salad after I got my glass of Tuscan Blend red wine and Becky got an NA. Becky had the Rigatoni Bolagnese which is something I usually get. I ordered their Black Spaghetti and Shrimp. It was a wonderful meal.

Wd did have a little confusion with the gift card that I had on my phone but they are used to those things while we are not. All went well and we may sure the waiter, who was very good, got his tip.

Overall a wonderful evening.

Hallwalls Amid/In WNY 2026

Becky and I went to Hallwalls this afternoon to see the Amid/In Western New York shows. We missed going to the opening a couple of weeks ago because not only the extremely deep frigid temperatures that night but there was also a big Sabres related event next door which would talk up most of the nearby parking. We would have had to walk a long way to park. We didn't go to the opening but Becky wanted to see the show.

So today we left our house around 3:45 and got there just before 4. We spent about 20 minutes, with the gallery to ourselves, looking at the art work of 11 area artists.

It was nice to be able to take our time looking at the artwork without the crowds of an opening reception which is how we usually see art shows. At least for me. Sometimes Becky will go down to a gallery during the time an exhibit is displayed to check out the artwork without the crowds.

The thing about the show today that I didn't like was the video exhibit which is in this photo. There was some really obnoxious loud audio from a video installation. The video of the camp fire was interesting but that audio drove us out of the gallery.

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Edgar Rice Burroughs - The Authors List

I just recently read another Edgar Rice Burroughs book... The Lost Continent. First time I read one of his books in over 50 years. This is #33 and of course Burroughs has been my #1 author for books read since the early 1970's when I read most of the books on my list while cruising around the world on a Navy ship.

So of all the books I've read that I have posted in GoodReads... from 1970 to the present. Burroughs is the author with the largest number of books I've read. There are still a lot more of his books out there that I haven't read. I saw somewhere that he wrote approximately 80 books over his life. So I haven't read half of them.

I found this photo of a bunch of Burroughs books online. A little more than I read but you get the picture.

Winter Walking

Becky and I have been trying to get some walks in around the neighborhood as we like to do but it has been hard to do with all of the snow and ice and the bitter cold too. We did get a couple of walks in this week and we were shocked at the numbers of people who had made no attempt to clear the snow and ice off of their sidewalks.

I know it's hard. I've been doing it almost every day all winter. Our sidewalk is always walkable. I shovel it regularly and I put salt down on the sidewalk... the good pet friendly kind. 

During our recent walks we've had to be very careful where we stepped because of the ice. Often times folks would clear their sidewalk but leave the snow and ice in the driveway. Can't understand that except that maybe the snow is packed down more because of the car riding over it. You could still throw some salt down. We do want to get over to the zoo very soon too and spend a little time in the Rainforest Building while it is still cold but walking over there has been a problem.

So we're looking forward to some spring time weather. 

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

The Lost Symbol - A Novel

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, 2009. This is the third novel in the Robert Langdon series. I read the first two books in the series about twenty years ago... The Da Vinci Code, 2003 first in April 2004 and then Angels & Demons, 2000 in June 2004. So why read the third book now. I saw that the sixth book in the series was just published this past Fall and then I found the Da Vinci Code on a book shelf recently. It reminded me of those early books and I saw that the third one was available at the library to download the e-book. I got it right away and then I read it in six days. 

I got to say I had mixed feelings about this novel. In some ways I just kept reading and couldn't put it down for long periods of time but I was also constantly being disappointed by almost gibberish story telling. I think I got through the book so fast because I was skipping and skimming paragraphs which I don't usually do very much with books that I'm reading... and enjoying. 

When I looked back GoodReads at those first two books I saw that I gave both of those book 3 star reviews which means I had a problem with them. I also never wrote anything about them either.

So there are three more books in this Robert Langdon series and I don't think I will bother with them. This guy seems to write the same book over and over again but not in a good way.

Foggy Day... and Night

We had a foggy day today and then it was a foggy night too. We don't have very many foggy days. I think that may be because of the nearby lake and the wind coming off it. We just don't see very much fog and especially during the winter. I can't remember the last time.

Growing up in the Philadelphia area we always had lots of fog throughout the year. Also down the shore and up in the Pocono Mountains. Most of the time it didn't matter to me but then when I started driving it did. That was after the family moved to Harleysville in the Fall of 1968. Suddenly I was driving back and forth between Germantown and Harleysville to see my friends. That is when I really discovered the problem of the fog. There was lots of it on the road out to the country and I was constantly having to deal with it... very carefully. That went on regularly all the next year and then I was gone. In the Navy.

And the Navy was a whole other experience of fog. First I saw some strange fog out in San Diego and then it was the new experience of the fog at sea. 

Later I would again experience that fog driving from Germantown to Harleysville when I moved back to the city after getting out of the Navy and visited my mom. I liked it better when she moved down to Chestnut Hill and I stopped doing that drive in the fog. 

Then we moved to Buffalo and said goodbye to the fog. Well, even the fog we did very occasionally got in Buffalo was nothing like that fog on the Pennsylvania roads or out at sea.

Sandwich and...

For dinner tonight we decided to just make turkey sandwiches for ourselves on that great French peasant bread. Becky also wanted to make some salad and also some guacamole from one of those fresh avocados we had. Chips and guac. Sounds good. We also had some leftover home fried potatoes to use up so we heated them too.

Suddenly we had a feast and everything was delicious. 

Sunday, February 15, 2026

Robert Duvall RIP

I was sad to hear that the actor Robert Duvall passed away today and then surprised to hear that he was 95 years old.

He was in so many of the films I loved over the years. He was also in a lot of TV shows early in my life when I didn't know him or who he was or who he would turn out to be later on but apparently I probably saw him a lot on so many shows in the early to mid 1960's.

Shows like The Outer Limits, Route 66, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Combat!, The Untouchables, The F.B.I. and many more. And then he was in that classic miniseries I loved from 1989... Lonesome Dove.

The films of his that really made an impression on me as a young person were these and so many more...

  • To Kill A Mockingbird, 1962
  • Bullitt, 1968
  • True Grit, 1969
  • M*A*S*H*, 1970
  • THX 1138, 1971
  • The Godfather, 1972
  • Joe Kidd, 1972
  • The Conversation, 1974
  • The Godfather Part II, 1974
  • The Killer Elite, 1975
  • The Eagle Has Landed, 1976
  • The Seven-Percent-Solution
  • Network, 1976
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978
  • Apocalypse Now, 1979
  • True Confessions, 1981
  • The Natural, 1984
And the list would keep on going.

NBA All Star Game 2026

I've always enjoyed watching the annual NBA All Star game between the East and the West conferences and having grown up with the Phila. Sixers I naturally rooted for the East. I went to a lot of games during the Wilt Chamberlain Sixer years 1965-1968 and especially loved going to games when they played the Boston Celtics with Bill Russell on the court with Wilt. 

However, this year was something uniquely different with the all star game. It was the NBA's 75th anniversary so they created a different format to celebrate. They shifted to a 3 team mini tournament featuring four 12 minute games. Two of the teams, "Stars" and "Stipes" were made up of US born players and the third team, "World", was made up of international players. The players all played for some significant prize money.

I watched several games and it was some fun and very different. The international players lost both their games to the two US teams but they were close. The final game of the Stars over the Stripes was a blowout.

Overall it was a fun evening of NBA basketball.

Pasta Fasul

Becky made a Pasta Fasul dinner tonight. So called Peasant Food. 

It was very good. Pasta, beans and pancetta. And some very good cheese springled on top. 

And then we had some of that wonderful Heidelberg French Peasant bread with it too. 

Becky made enough of this soup that we will have some significant leftovers for the next couple of days... another dinner and probably a lunch for me too.

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Dinner @ Coles with Brian

This evening Becky and I went out to dinner with our old friend and neighbor Brian at Coles. His wife Anne had to back out because of a medical procedure done to their dog who she didn't want to leave home. So after our dinner at Coles we stopped at Brian's house down the street where Anne had made a desert for us... peanut butter cookies. We hung out there for another hour or so and had a nice time.

Our dinner at Coles was wonderful as usual. I had their delicious Sheppard's Pie. Becky had their Buffalo Wrap and Brian had their Chicken Bruschetta sandwich. Brian and I had their black and tan Guinness and Southern Tier Pumpking... the Drunken Pumpkin which as become my regular pint at Coles. It wasn't on the menu this time and it looked like it was going to be reverted back to a seasonal Fall brew but they made them for me and Brian. I also had a St. Fatty's Irish Red Ale by Fat Head Brewery. Very tasty.

It was a cold Thursday night. I was surprised how quiet Coles was tonight.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Pizza & Salad

Some frozen pizza and a homemade salad. The pizza was a Rao's Pizza and was actually quite good... for a store bought frozen pizza. I liked the crispy crust and their sauce.

Becky's salad was wonderful and very tasty. A nice easy dinner.
The second picture is the salad before mixed on the plate.

The Clockwork Man - A Science Fiction Novel

The Clockwork Man by E. V. Odle, 1923. Finished this crazy thought provoking science fiction novel last night. It's considered to be the first cyborg novel written in 1923. It was a very strange story of some 8,000 years in the future when the male gender becomes indistinguishable from machine or what we now call AI allows people to pass through time and space. Then a malfunction sends this "clockwork man" stumbling back to 1923 England to pop up in the middle of a cricket game. 

This is the second book I've recently read in the series of very early 20th century proto-science fiction published by MIT Press in their self-described Radium Age of underappreciated forgotten classics from 1900-1935.