robert.admin – Page 168 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

February 19, 2015

Architects (DOG EAR)

rose is architecture, not interior decoration” So said Ernest Hemingway, the writer’s writer. And at first, I was willing to agree with the statement. Now I’m having reservations. Clearly Hemingway firmed the idea of what a novel should be. His stories were sharp and to the point. I’ve mentioned To Have and Have Not, a wonderful tale that is gritty and sharp and drives towards its grim conclusion. I’m not an expert of 1930’s literature. Mostly, I’m a Sabatini fan, yet I have to admit that he can be flowery in his prose. Lovers labor over misunderstandings, endlessly blushing and […]

February 15, 2015

OpsLog – TY&E – 2/15/2015

‘ve got a couple of favorite trains I love to run. On my own Coast Route, I love the helper, hissing and grunting my way up the long slope through the Santa Lucia Range. On the NS Saluda, I’m always in 720, a long coal drag feeling its way down that 5% namesake grade. I love the Rinker Run on the FEC. On the club line, I’ll opt for the Mingo Local if nobody else wants it. Yes, there are just trains I like, fun and interesting and full of attitude, ones I’ll run until I’ve got them down perfect. […]

February 15, 2015

The Trampling of the Lilies (Review)

et’s just get this out front – I like Rafael Sabatini. I’ve reviewed Scaramouche, The Shame of Motley, and The Marquis of Carabas. I haven’t done Captain Blood but I’ve read it twice and could review it cold. I’ve liked them all. But The Trampling of the Lilies? I’m going to have to luke-warm this one. I figured it was shaping up to the usual Sabatini fare – low-born clerk loves nobleman’s daughter. He professes his love. Then he gets a horse whip across the face. He then takes a shot at the nobleman who’d slashed him and ends up […]

February 15, 2015

Orion twice (2/15/2015)

unny how these things work. Just ordered my telescope – an Orion Astroview 120 ST, from a recommendation by Astronomer Carl the other night. Read the reviews and it seemed just what I was looking for. So that’s one. After dinner tonight, we dropped in at Barnes and Noble and I picked up a book on astronomy and picked up a star wheel too. Looks like I’ll need a red combat light to use it – tried it after Downton tonight in the backyard with a lamp and flashblinded myself. Still, I managed to get some guestomates on a few […]

February 14, 2015

Venus & Jupiter (2/14/2015)

hile waiting for the pizza to show, I broke out the Bushnell x35 and went out into the backyard. The sun was just down and to the west, I could clearly see Venus glimmering (fitting, on Valentine’s Day). Looked at it for quite a while. Behind me, Jupiter was coming up. Of course, not seeing it through the planetarium scope (using my peeper) I could only see it as a bright spot, but still. Right now, I’m like someone who’s moved into a foreign city. I don’t know anything. And nearly always lost. But when I leave my apartment, there […]

February 14, 2015

Looking up (week of 2/9/2015)

o here we go again. For my fifteen year anniversary with FedEx, I was awarded a x35 Bushnell tripod telescope. In the back of my mind, I think I knew I wanted it to sweep the stars with it. I had many happy memories looking up with my dad’s old Navy binoculars, watching the moon. As if on perfect cue, the moon rose the night I got it, clearing the trees by about 11pm. It was a perfect moon, wide and full with just a hint of terminator (all the better to peer into those silent craters). And there I […]

February 12, 2015

Reader (DOG EAR)

’ve heard of people who occasionally imagine their own obituaries. It is, I suppose, a morbid accounting of one’s life, to consider what one has achieved and how far one has climbed. For me, it’s the occasional imagined writing of my final Dog Ear piece. “It’s been a long road, but one that’s come to an end…” Sometimes, when I write about writing, I realize how little I know about this strange thing publishing has turned into. The idea of harvesting hits and reciprocal reviews and playing the Amazon rankings leaves me cold. As I see people hit big time […]

February 9, 2015

I hate: Jeeps

hate Jeeps. You can tell a lot about people by what they drive. I generally thought VW owners such as myself were eco-conscious hippy-throwbacks (or people who embraced that life-look). Generally I was right. Beetle drivers tended to run smooth. I remember the day I saw one driving with a cellphone and not signaling, I felt betrayed. BMW owners and Cadillac Escalade owners, I got ya. I know that it’s that pushy channeled-textile-mill-owner stuff coming up, the wealth-makes-right stuff, that makes you that way. As Douglas Coupland said, BMW drivers drive so horribly because they believe their car’s ad copy. […]

February 8, 2015

Two short scifis (Review)

his week, I scratched through Project Gutenberg and came up with two short scifi stories, both out of pulp magazines. I didn’t want to spend that much time on them but they deserved some sort of mention (and me? I deserve some sort of weekly blog entry out of them). A Spaceship Named McGuire – this was a shortie written in 1960, just about when Harry Harrison was coming up with the Stainless Steel Rat. It was when humanism was making a push back into the industry, when bold wisecracking heroes were popular. In this story, a clever space detective […]

February 5, 2015

Good Omens (Review)

The first admission is that I’ve bought just about every Pratchett book out there – loved the Diskworld series. And Gaiman, I’ve also read one or two of his and generally liked them. So when a work acquaintance mentioned Good Omens, I had to have a look. I’ve got to say that I really enjoyed it; the opener is perfect with the Angel of God (Aziraphale) and of the Devil (Crowley) distantly looking down at the ejection of Adam and Eve from Eden, both with strong misgivings (Crowley is miffed that the apple thing was very unfair, even though he, […]