robert.admin – Page 194 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

June 9, 2013

Out on a comet (Review)

I‘ll admit I was curious to read this after coming across a spin-off in The New Jules Verne Adventures. Fortunately I knew what to expect, that the story was dreamlike and possibly ludicrous in some of its scientific aspects. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. Starts well, with two protagonists on the Algerian coast agreeing to duel over a woman. Then in sweeps a comet, one that somehow (we’ll use this word often) manages to gouge out a couple of chunks of Earth, a significant portion of the Mediterranean Sea, a dose of atmosphere, and pockets them all neatly into […]

June 6, 2013

Obituary (DOG EAR)

My father died last Sunday. And that’s a pretty good hook. Seriously, he passed away with his family in attendance and everything done well. But it made for a long day in the hospital and a longer night. Finally around 4am it was over. Everyone came back home to crash on the floors, the couches, whatever. After a very sunshiny brunch (if you think we should wear sackcloth and eat ashes, no, that’s not how we wanted to remember our father), we returned home and started to discuss what had to be done next. Someone mentioned, “We need to write […]

June 2, 2013

Capt James Raymond

Captain James A. Raymond (1934 – 2013) James Arthur Raymond passed away June 2nd, 2013 at Halifax Health Port Orange. Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1934, he resided in Bexley throughout his childhood. 1956 was a busy year for him, when he both joined the Navy and married Nancy, his childhood sweetheart. He pursued his naval career with success and promotions across twelve duty stations and thirty years, rising to the rank of Captain. Along the way, he fathered three loving children; Robert, Patricia and Michael. He was a man of varied interests including reading (producing numerous online reviews for […]

June 2, 2013

New Jules Verne Adventures (Review)

Years ago, I read a great book by Philip José Farmer titled The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, a cool steampunky book about why Fogg was actually making his round-the-world journey and the secrets behind it. It was very interesting, but what stood out for me was the appendix by H.W. Starr entitled “A Submersible Subterfuge or Proof Impositive”. Here, the writer pluckily dissembles the Nemo legend, providing firm evidence that he was not a haunted revolutionary but a greedy (and self-centered) pirate. That I still remember it three decades later points to how cleverly it was written, and the […]

May 29, 2013

Storyteller (DOG EAR)

Sat just six rows back, center, at a Garrison Keillor event tonight and listened so hard my ears dried out. This is how you tell the story. Everyone knows (or should know) the host of NPR’s Prairie Home Companion, a two hour variety show on weekends. Keillor’s been doing this for years, a gentle lampooning of Minnesotans, Lutherans, and old radio broadcasts. And he’s got it down pat. With his soft voice and his distracted look, he’s very agreeable, a perfect vehicle for storytelling. And that’s the thing; while I was enjoying it, I was dissecting it. You could actually […]

May 26, 2013

Whiskey Beach (Guest Review)

I’ve mentioned this book-elf before, a dynamic reader, writer, and good friend Lynn Perry. She’s penned (or is that key-boarded) another good review, this time for a Nora Roberts story. Enjoy! Well, if you think Ms Roberts authors books aimed mostly about and for women, think again. Whiskey Beach delves deeply into life of Eli Landon, a Boston criminal attorney accused of killing his wife in a fit of jealous rage. Though there is not enough evidence to convict Mr. Landon, there are those that believe he committed the murder and got away with it. Although judged innocent of […]

May 23, 2013

Anti-Semitic (DOG EAR)

“He was a man of about fifty, but from his appearance might well have been taken for at least ten years older. Small and skinny, with eyes bright and cunning, a hooked nose, a short yellow beard, unkempt hair, huge feet, and long bony hands, he presented all the typical characteristics of the German Jew, the heartless, wily usurer, the hardened miser and skinflint. As iron is attracted by the magnet, so was this Shylock attracted by the sight of gold, nor would he have hesitated to draw the life-blood of his creditors, if by such means he could secure […]

May 22, 2013

OpsLog – LM&O – 5/22/2013

When the weather is nice and its all warm and sunny and lazy in the evenings, it sucks for ops. It’s hard to get turnout, and given my hectic workday, I’m just fried by ops time. I had to dig for that enthusiasm. Dinner with the boys helped. It was also cool that the layout was pre-cleaned, that it all set up quick, that people were in their posts. Had a couple of newbies running with us and I noticed that throttles and engines were easily loaned out. My more experienced guys jumped in to ride with them (rather than […]

May 19, 2013

Wool (the Silo Saga) (Guest Review)

Another guest review, again from my dad (who apparently grinds through books at a predaceous rate in his peaceful retirement). The point is, the guest review is supposed to give me a break while I get books I’m reading read. Now I’m interested in reading this myself. Perhaps I’ll read it and post my views… All of the human race lives in a concrete silo sunk 150 stories into the ground of a ruined and desolate planet. The ruined land is swept by toxic winds and corrosive dust, nothing can live on the surface. The only part of the silo […]