Bookworm Room

Tweet The Council has spoken — and it is good.  I’d like to add here that the Council just seems to be generating better stuff with every passing week.  The good part is that it makes for wonderful reading; the bad part is that voting is Hell, because there are way too many excellent choices: [...]

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Tweet Those who watch Hollywood movies think that fist fights last a long time, involve almost numberless hits, and take place standing up.  Those who have seen, or engaged in, real fights, know that, after a few punches, most fights quickly end up on the ground.  At that moment, it’s the ground fighter who has [...]

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Tweet I was talking with a friend about the consolations of aging, so I promised to post this song: This is the kind of performance that makes one overlook Chevalier’s history as a collaborator.

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Tweet This one deserves to go viral: The food stamp program, a US Government run program, announced it is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the National Park Service, also part of the US Government, asks us to “please do not feed the animals” because the animals may grow [...]

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Tweet I’ve always loved this song, and thought of it when I read Aaron Goldstein’s homage to Glen Campbell and his farewell tour:

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Tweet I’m processing (that’s a euphemism for “paying”) bills, which is hogging a ridiculous amount of the space in my head.  Nevertheless, there are three things I wanted to bring to your attention. First, you’ve probably heard already that Obama, as part of his proposal to cut military spending, is slashing military health benefits, even [...]

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Tweet The SF Comical sounds surprised by the fact that the Facebook IPO did not end California’s financial problems.  I think someone needs to watch Bill Whittle’s video, made roughly a year ago, but clearly pertinent today:

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Tweet This weekend was not a good weekend for reasons that included, but were not limited to, my initial take on Act of Valor.  I was right about the problem, but intemperate in my accusations.  I’m old enough to know better.  As you can imagine, I got some pushback, some of which was very hurtful.  [...]

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Tweet Ross, a town in Marin County, is a great place.  The houses are gorgeous (I’ve been to a billionaire’s house there once and it was magnificent), the schools are superb, and the people take good care of themselves:  exercise, healthy diets, good medical care.  In a pre-Obama era, these are boast-worthy things.  Not see [...]

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Tweet I know I’m being picayune here, but I found this paragraph funny: For 60 years, doctors have believed women were born with all the eggs they’ll ever have. Now Harvard scientists are challenging that dogma, saying they’ve discovered the ovaries of young women harbor very rare stem cells capable of producing new eggs. I’ll [...]

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Tweet A great deal of literature thrives on conflict.  This is especially true for the romance genre.  You really don’t have much of a book if the entire plot is “boy meets girl, boy gets girl.”  To engage the reader, the plot has to be “boy meets girl” and then something happens for the middle [...]

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Tweet Stick with this one.  You’ll like it — I promise:

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Tweet Of the many, many things I do that irritate my husband, two are pertinent here.  First, I actually listen to what he says.  This can be frustrating for him, because he doesn’t always use his words with precision.  When we’re having a discussion and I say “But you said…” his return is usually “I [...]

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Tweet [UPDATE:  I received an email from someone who I have reason to believe is indeed close to the story, rebutting my charges.  I still think the film slipped up, but I am certain that the SEALS are not antisemites.  Read more here.] In my earlier post, I accused Act of Valor of including crude [...]

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Tweet [UPDATE: I received an email from someone who I have reason to believe is indeed close to the story, rebutting my charges. I still think the film slipped up, but I am certain that the SEALS are not antisemites. Read more here.] [I didn't want to clutter this post with endless updates, so I [...]

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Tweet I’m taking the kids and their friends to see Act of Valor.  I’ll report back later.  (And I’ll wait to read the New York Times review until after I’ve seen the movie.) Until then, Open Thread time! UPDATE:  For those concerned, I know the movie is R rated.  I checked the parent information link [...]

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Tweet Yes, President’s Day 2012 is done, but these links went up on February 22 at the Watcher’s Council, so they still count.  Feel free to read along with me: Council Submissions The Colossus of Rhodey – Just a crazy writer looking for attention The Mellow Jihadi – Errrrr-rah Marine, Cobra Blood! Joshuapundit-Harvard Endorses Israel’s [...]

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Tweet One of my rules of thumb when reading a book, or watching a movie for that matter, is that I have to like at least some of the characters in the book.  Since I’m investing my time in the book or the movie, I want to be in the company of pleasant people.  After [...]

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Tweet Rasmussen just came out with a pre-debate poll that shows Obama leading both Romney and Santorum by ten and seven points respectively.  Couple this with headlines touting good news on the economy (some of which is definitely real and some illusory) and it’s enough to send something stronger than a frisson of fear coursing [...]

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Tweet My favorite song in the musical 1776 is the song in which John Adams tries to convince several of his fellow Congressman that they, not he, should write the Declaration of Independence.  As his reason for refusing this task, he says repeatedly that he is “obnoxious and disliked,” so much so that anything coming [...]

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Tweet Yikes!  I missed my self-imposed Tuesday deadline for bringing all of you up-to-date with the most recent Watcher’s Council winners.  I’m lashing myself with a wet noodle even as I type.  So as not to waste a single second more, here are the winners for February 17: Council Winners *First place with 2 1/3 [...]

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Tweet Sorry for the long silence today, but this is the first time I’ve gotten near a computer since 11:00 this morning.  It was a very complicated day today with regard to my mother and, while she’s fine, I’m tired.  I’d like to write, but I don’t have the energy to martial my thoughts.  I [...]

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Tweet This is not proving to be a day for blogging, as I have a lot of family business that needs my attention.  I’ll be back this afternoon, but until then . . . yes, it’s Open Thread time! And just to get things rolling, here are two posts to think about: I’m looking forward [...]

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Tweet I’ve mentioned before that I pretty much sat out the first decade of the 21st century when it came to pop culture, which is how I entirely missed Ricky Martin.  Having young children simply left me uninterested in things other than diapers, soccer carpools, etc.  Now those same children are bringing me back into [...]

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