The Fifth richardderus thread

After only a month, the fourth thread was over 250 posts. That's Stasia territory, and I have no wish to be blasted by a death ray aimed from Texas....

Reviews for books one through twenty-five are over here.

Reviews for books twenty-six through thirty-seven are over here.

Reviews for books thirty-eight through fifty-three are over here.

Reviews for books fifty-four through sixty-eight are over here.

Cool ticker thingie:




Reviews are in post:
(note that touchstones are in the reviews to save me endless touchstone corrections)

69. The Careful Use of Compliments...#13

70. Cooking With Fernet Branca...#208

71. Fishing the Sloe-Black River...#223

72. Canaletto and the Case of the Westminster Bridge...#232

73. The Soul Thief...#243

I have you starred! You are now Richard The Fifth, King of the 75 Challenge Group!

I bow to your wickedly lovely sense of humor.

just passing through :)

2> Hi Linda! Welcome home. And as for loving my sense of humor, you're part of a smaaalll group that does, bless your li'l ol' hide!

3> oh. Okay.

Ah! A nice clean slate. That won't last long...too many admirers.

Clean! LOL You *did* notice whose thread this is, right? Clean *chortle*

Caught that did you? Just a little sarcastic humor, a double entendre between friends. *wink*

Found you this time--no more having to read 300 posts to catch up. :-) And, if I leave quickly, nothing to add to my TBR. Thanks!

*waves*

As long as he stays Richard the Fifth and does not turn into Henry the Eighth and start lopping people's heads off, I am OK with it, lol.

I am starring you again, Richard, even if you persist in not visiting me :)

A person of such majesty expects his subjects to come to him. Perhaps we should start posting our reviews on this thread. :-)

>7 Berly: Berlyner, I myownself call it "wit," but yours thee comment, yours the verdict.

>8 MusicMom41: Hi Linda!

>9 cameling: Yoo-hoo, cameling!

>10 alcottacre: Stasia, *I* do not admire post-menopausal furies with big handguns, unlike *some* I could mention...so which of us is likely to be the bigger danger to society, hmmm?

And I do so visit your thread(s)...I just get confused easily...is it your thirtieth or forty-second thread that had 1,217 posts? It's so hard to keep up the pace, over in Stasia, Texas.

>11 MusicMom41: Linda...I was wondering the other day about an LT-based reading group with a shared review thread for each book, like I started with cyderry's group read of The Serpent's Tale a few weeks ago. That final review thread seemed to be useful to some others. I haven't seen that as a feature in other group reads, or am I missing something and it's actually very common...?

Sixty-nine of seventy-five:

The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith is the fourth Isabel Dalhousie novel, as I am pleased to note Pantheon is now marketing them, not mysteries. Now I wonder why my library still keeps them in the mysteries...?

It's a lovely, warm way to spend a frustrating day's end, reading a well-written book about quiet, domestic things, and feeling thereby that one has checked in on the doings of some rather remote, but nonetheless cherished, friends. That's the charm of the Isabel Dalhousie novels for me. It's just smooth sailing such as this that gets comparatively little respect, critical or commercial; how glad I am that Precious Ramotswe has given McCall Smith the megaphone that brought these unfashionably serene books to a broad, general market.

And how delightedly I received this particular book! The previous entry in the series wasn't very good at all, seeming to me to have been composed on a laptop perched on the author's knee while traveling to signings, clunked onto the never-the-right-height hotel desk for a fast few hundred before passing out, and edited by fax while jouncing over unpaved roads in Botswana. While I'm not quite ready to forget that readerly disappointment, I'm a long way from unhappy after this evening's pleasures.

Isabel does several interesting things in this book, and does them with verve. I think it was this sense of verve that I missed in book three, The Right Attitude to Rain.

Cat, Isabel's niece, appears again in this book, though she isn't as central a character...this is but one example of the evolution of the series, that natural fading in and out of some characters. It's just like life. Only better...it takes less time. Recommended, no reservations, for anyone needing a quiet place to relax and have a good conversation with good people.

#12: so which of us is likely to be the bigger danger to society, hmmm?

Got me there, Richard! I would like to point out, however, that nobody in the group has 42 threads :)

#13: I still do not think that I am touching any more of his books, despite your (once again) well-written review.

I love the Dalhousie novels.. and read the ones I did thanks to you..

I have to read that one.. I loaned mine to my sister and may have to try to get them back again some rainy day..

poi

I do appreciate your sense of humor, my friend.. as well as your vocabulary!
Now I am really off to get ready for work dammit!

I've never been a big fan of Alexander McCall Smith, but I feel I might tackle The Right Attitude to Rain (a present from Mum a year or two ago now) with a different attitude (er, no pun intended) and get more out of it. Thanks for the review.

(And, yes, I know you didn't like it so much as the one above, that's okay. :)

Are these Smith books considered
"cozy mysteries" I have heard so many posters mention?

R, Do you like this series (#13) better than the Precious Ramotswe books, because I have given up on them: so formulaic! Do you really have 42 threads and I am only reading one of them?

>15 mckait: mckait, why do you mention a Hawaiian fish gruel in the middle of your post? Poi is just flat nasty. Tastes like you made tapioca with the oil from drained tuna cans. *shudder*

>16 wookiebender: wookiebender...these aren't like the Precious Ramotswe or 44 Scotland Street books, they're far more readable and enjoyable than his usual ouevre.

>17 Carmenere: Carmenere, they're so cozy they're almost suffocating. But mysteries they are not. There is no urgent puzzle to be solved, no hideous trigger event that only the main character can resolve, nothing in short to mark them out as mysteries.

>18 Berly: Berlyner, I dislike the Precious Ramotswe books, in fact. It built slowly but inexorably. I understand why others love them so much, though. And the 44 Scotland Street ones are lethally dull. Never tried the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, I'm counting myself lucky to still enjoy the Dalhousies!

#19: Ricardo, I'm reading Cooking with Fernet Branca right now and that's exactly the kind of recipe the male protagonist would come up with. He has deep fried mussels rolled in chocolate, has another cooked with otter chunks, has asked for 1 1/2 eggs in one recipe (I ask you!) and I know there are more to come. As someone who cooks, it has had me in stitches. The actual writing has had me convulsed with laughter.

>20 tiffin: Tui, I can't wait now! I once made a vanilla/Chartreuse mousse, just to see if I could. I could. I won't again. *trundles off to liberry catalog*

Oh Tiffin, that sounds deliciously funny! I will have to find it.

It isn't a cookbook, by the way. It's a novel in which the male thinks he can cook. He is always experimenting. What ends up being inedible, he puts out on his birdfeeder. He actually killed a blue woodpecker once and then ATE IT!

Ewww!! Sounds even funnier.

>22 Berly: *waves*

>23 tiffin: ROFL Oh why did I have to order this from the county system?! Drat! I'd even brave the 90-degree, 200% humidity to go get this one!!!

I'm with alcottacre and wookiebender... I'm keeping away from his books. I suffered through 2 Precious Ramotswe books that I couldn't even in good conscience give away .. I had to throw them out so as not to inflict mental duress on anyone else.

>26 cameling: cameling, I know what you mean...like that Skeletons at the Feast horror I had to get dressed, load the dog in the car, and drive all the way to the cathedral in Rockville Centre to shove in a donate box to be sure I'd never see it again.

>19 richardderus: Thanks for the clarification. I've jotted it down and next time I mosey over to my local library I'll investigate.

>20 tiffin: tiffin, Fernet Branca sounds like a hoot - I'll be looking into that one too.

I will never get over that you know Richard. I sure hope someone with better taste in reads got Skeletons from that box.
You know very well what poi means drat it.. !

And yes, the Dalhouse books are better than the Precious Ramotswe books, in my opinion, wookie.

#29, Carmenere, I haven't laughed helplessly at a book in a long time. I'm not very far into it, so can't really say if it all holds together and is a good story or not. But so far the various escapades and descriptions of same have had me turned into jelly with laughter. I completely lost it over the outhouse in the Andes.
ETA: caveat: I am a charter member of the Easily Amused

New thread, starred!!
You could have lost a follower! Not that you need more fans!

You know very well what poi means drat it.. ! Yes...fish gruel. Do you hint that there is another meaning? Elucidate, o sibyl.

And Skellingtons at the Fast would not appeal to someone of *superior* taste to mine...all that finger-in-the-chest youyouyou...! Faugh.

>32 calm: calm, the more the merrier!

book snob

poi = point of information

Richard- Just stopped by to say hello! Your threads are always interesting, even if you are a book snob....tiptoes away to cower!

Is there anything wrong with being a book snob?

I have read several of McCall Smith's books - the first Precious Ramotswe (but no more, I found it twee to the point of feeling smothered by cuteness); two of the Professor von Igelfeld (I know I'm misspelling that, just as I'm misspelling "misspelling") which were amusing slapstick sort of books; the first two Isabel Dalhousie (I much preferred the second, I found her irritatingly conservative in the first); and La's Orchestra Saves the World which had a very enjoyable first half, but I really disliked the second half.

The problem seems to be that I like parts of his books, but dislike other parts. It's all a love/hate relationship.

>34 mckait: Guilty as charged, what's the penalty, more reading? And "poi" has a non-distasteful meaning! Good for it!

>35 msf59: Howdy do, Mark, glad to see you here.

>36 wookiebender: WB, that's what I'm wondering.

McCall Smith is too minor a talent to cultivate a taste for. If you like it, good, if not, oh well.

WHAT is that object Snobbington Q. Coffeebreath is holding?!

It is a pifflegrimp. A brown one.

It's either a pocket magnifying glass or it's a snuffbox.

Richard, I must say that I was amazed when I read over on Kath's thread that you could not think of anybody to block! I was sure I was going to be at the top of a lengthy list :)

I'm only one day late in finding you, and over 40 messages already???

>40 mckait:, 41...I like the idea of the brown pifflegrimp, it goes with my moss-covered, three-handled, family gradunza.

>42 alcottacre: Stasia! How can you imagine I'd want to block you, of all people? You're too easy to ignore. ;-P

ETA: >43 ronincats: ya snooze ya lose, there, Roni!

LOL!

#44... I have one in mauve

You're killing me! LOL.

>46 mckait: Mauve! You would...that chemically created 19th century shade of evil. Exactly what I'd expect of you. *hairtoss*

Seriously...Mauve by Simon Garfield is a very interesting book about the invention of the color that never existed in nature. Weird thought, that.

Popping in to say Hi, while the list is still short enough to read. :)

Hi Ficus! Glad you're here, and thanks for the PM.

I should be writing reviews. I've finished the challenge, but haven't gotten as far as I'd like to in reviewing. I've had to fire my cleaning laddie for theft this morning, and I hate doing that. I don't care that I saw it happen, it makes me feel awful. But there is no choice when confronted with that kind of evidence.

It sort of helped that he accused the home health aide, because it's clearer now that he's feeling guilty. Of course, I have my suspicions about the aide, but so far no clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing has surfaced. I'm putting some new requirements for her in place, and making sure I am reliably unpredictable in my movements around the house, so I hope to prevent that from becoming an issue.

Ugh! Poor Richard, I don't like having to fire anyone either, even if you know they deserve it. It's never a pleasant exercise. And how awful it must be to suspect your home health aide of shady activities in your home.

Looking on the bright side, being unpredictable at home will keep you mindful and your mental neurons active, thereby staving off senility or at least keeping it at bay for a while yet. ;-) I hope your change in behavior and the new requirements quickly convinces your aide that it's really not worth being tempted to engage in even the teeniest bit of dishonesty

Thanks, cameling. I don't think it's easy to accuse anyone of dishonesty, accurate or not; there can *always* be an innocent explanation, even of the most damning looking of acts; but it's not probable, and defensiveness isn't ever a good sign where theft is concerned.

Someone accused me of theft in a department store where I worked as a teenager; I said nothing coherent, just stood there with my mouth hanging open and spluttering, "what? huh? what?" Later I was told that was what made the PTB dismiss the accusation immediately, that's what an innocent person does.

I *hate* having to think like this.

Rd mauve is my middle name Kathleen Mauve McStay.

Auntie Iris called me Little Mauve, cause I was named after her dad.

*gasp*

I'm bettin' someone misspelled "Maeve," doncha think? NO ONE would....

The end of that sentence was provably untrue, so I binned it. Mother Mauve, I think; that shall be thy new yclepture. Mother Mauve. Mauveling. Mauve-a-licious.

provably untrue?

so prove it~ :)

"No one would be so unkind as to name an innocent baby after a depressing color" but then I remembered my great-aunt Olive and clammed up.

Could have been worse (Khaki?)!

LOL rd... I used to do Reiki for an elderly woman named Olive... she was a blast.

kids always call me kaffi... :)

Khaki! Ha! "Oh Khaki darling, please pass mumsy the bottle, do?"

Great-aunt Olive was *emphatically not* a blast, unless one refers to the gastrointestinal sort. She was a pill of the first water, and easily the most unkind person I have ever met. Awful person.

khaki mauve.. to colorful.. in an uncolorful sort of way

Khaki Olive?

I enjoy an olive now and then.. green, black, stuffed, lemon garlicked etc.
olive spread, olives and cream cheese on a bagel.. all good.

Pennsylvania Macaroni Company in the Strip District has a great selection of olives. I miss that store.

mmmmm I have never been there Darryl.. I mean the strip! lol
I have to go someday :)

It's sticky and gross outside this morning, I don't want to take the dog out. She's not agitating to go, either. *sigh* I would pay good money to the person who invents a dog toilet.

I would pay good money to the person who invents a dog toilet.

Someone did, Richard: God - it's called grass.

#66: What about a dog diaper?

#65: There are lots of good shops there, kath. My friends & I would go there at least once or twice a month to buy food from PA Macaroni, Wholey's Fish Market, a great Italian bakery that made pepperoni and sausage bread (drool!), and an Asian food store on the street behind Penn Avenue, close to a large orthodox Greek(?) church. PA Macaroni also has a nice selection of cheeses & meats; it's an old-fashioned deli that reminds me of similar stores in lower Manhattan that my grandfather took me to as a kid (which probably aren't there anymore), and of Molinari Delicatessen in San Francisco.

Oh I know Darryl.. and I would love to go! I keep saying I will..

you have made me seriously hungry and antsy! I need to promise myself a trip .. soon!

oh and rd.. stasia is right.. grass.. lol

If you go to the Strip District on a Saturday, go early in the morning; after noon it seems as if all of Pittsburgh has congregated there! It's not as crowded on Sundays or weekdays.

Sundays? hmmmm I have to try for that..
I thought about it all summer and never ended up going..
drat!

Hmm...kath doesn't like the Stillers, Pirates or Pens; her house isn't painted black and gold; she's never been to the Strip District; and she doesn't like Primanti Bros. artery-clogging but delectable sandwiches. I will write a letter to the Chamber of Commerce today and have her Pittsburgh membership card canceled.

LOL Darryl ..

I do like pirogi's though... does that count for anything:)

How about chipped ham and Klondike bars?

mmmmm sometimes.. but the chipped ham has to have chips on it..

Chips on the ham? Like potato chips? Is that a Pittsburgh thing?

yes and yes

white bread, mayo, chips, and chipped ham.. almost as artery clogging as Primanti's :)

I hadn't heard of that!

Another place I loved in Pittsburgh was Squirrel Hill. There is a great Jewish deli on the bottom of Murray Avenue, near Penn-Lincoln Parkway, that made great pierogies (sp?) and blintzes. My best friend & I would frequently meet there on Sundays to have breakfast and read the Sunday New York Times.

Grass. Oh ha ha. Grass.

*sulphrous mutters*

And why, exactly, does Pittsview or whatever it's called feel the need to call ham on white, mayo, "chipped ham?" Local obfuscation. Silly. Unnecessary, unlike Primanti Bros.' exotically fatty scary-huge..."sandwich" is almost disrespectfully small a word to use for these creations....

there is no official spelling for pieroghies... lol... pronunciation either..

rd the ham is different from anywhere in the country. srsly.
I tried to have them chip different types of ham when we lived near Boston.. it just wasn't the same. Delis hated me.

Primanti's.. meh!

rd how is it that you are familiar with Primanti?

Hmph. I think I should send Richard a classic Primanti Bros sandwich (pastrami, sauerkraut, French fries, fried egg on white bread) so that he can see what he's missing.

As big as their sandwiches are, they pale in comparison to those at Carnegie Deli in NYC. My favorite NYC sandwiches, though, come from Junior's on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. And, they make the world's best cheesecake. There is a Junior's on the lower level of Grand Central Station, too.

>83 kidzdoc:: There's actually a place in Parsippany, NJ that serves bigger sandwiches than Carnegie Deli...Harold's New York Deli. Three people could make a meal off just one.

um

I don't like cheesecale.. lol

but I will keep the deli in mind should I ever find myself in new york :)

and I am betting richard would love the sandwich and not admit it ... * evil chuckle*

Let me get this straight: the French fries are IN the sandwich? Along with the fried egg? All on white bread? My arteries just clogged thinking about it.

Yep.

And you're even wondering if you need a public health care system down there? Yoicks.

Primanti Bros sandwich + six Iron City ("Ahrn Sitee") beers + two Klondike bars + stress from watching the Stillers-Ravens game = trip to UPMC-Presby ER (Presbyterian Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center)

OMG, ROFL!! Nice pic Kidzdoc. Good one Tiffin.

I'm still laughing at your comment, Tui. That was good.

I've heard of onion rings in a sandwich, but french fries? My heart just twitched uncontrollably for 3 seconds..... it's back to normal now as i munch my way through a bag of Kettle chips

Imagine that photo with the caption "And we're even wondering if we need a public health care system?" on billboards around the U.S. Landslide victory.

rofl!!!!!!!!

If you want your arteries clogged, you can come to St. Louis and have a Slinger at O.T. Hodge Chile Parlor. A slinger is 2 cheeseburger patties (no buns) & hash browns, covered with chili and topped with an egg of your choice.

I hate to say this, but none of this stuff sounds or looks appealing. I am a simple ficus from New England and like plain, rather bland food.

Oh, my...what a mess we've made of Richard's thread. Olives, greasy sandwiches, Iron City beer, cheesecake, and Slingers everywhere. And we won't mention what his dog did. Anyone want to help me clean up?

nah.....

lets just move to another thread :)

Primanti's, dear mckait, is famous famous famous amongst us fat old baseball fans. *slurp* That looks sooo goood....

Many thousasnds of years ago, I worked at Bantam Doubleday Dell when it was independent and located at 666 Fifth Ave. The deli in the basement made "red-head burgers." 8oz burger patty on rye toast, plus provolone, plus cole slaw, topped with 8oz pastrami. Fries on the side. I always added mayo/ketchup/Tabasco spoodge, which I mix for dipping my fries as well as plopping on my sammich. That and a beer was my treat-lunch.

LOL. We need to send that photo and caption to Obama's people STAT.

When you pass through town, I will take you to Primanti's :)

All this talk about food & ice cream! How about a beer discussion? I'm having a nice Bass Ale, at the moment!

mmmm Guinness!

We went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant last night and I had my first experience drinking Thai beer. It was good and went very well with the food. The alternative was Bud Light. This was much better with a nice but not too strong flavor. I drink beer rarely and when I do I want it to be good--this passed the test.

That is interesting... and good to know :)

You are brave to try it :)

>MusicMom41- You made an excellent choice! Lesson: whenever your have to decide between Bud Light and something else, always go for the something else! You can't go wrong!

LOL My thoughts exactly. No bravery involved--just good sense. :-D

I like Corona or Killians Red and with sushi TsingTao(spelled something like that), and any ANYTHING over Bud light!

Oh, stop. When you live in St. Louis, I think it's against the law to drink anything BUT Bud Light.

Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout or Brown Ale are my favorites.

LT used to be bad only for my wallet--too many books, too little money.
Now, it's become a problem for my diet too. :)

BTW--a few months back you promised a recipe for the world's best potato salad, richard. Have I missed it somewhere?

Congratulations on your hot review for Raven Black by Ann Cleves

>113 arubabookwoman: no, didn't miss it...Cousin Manie wasn't at all pleased that I planned to share his recipe with the world. I honored his (loud) wishes and left it unposted. *sigh*

>114 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda!

Beer. Good for simmering sausages in, after browning them and getting a little color on the onions...bottle of beer, low heat, cover, yum. Drinking? *ngurmph* Gin is better.

Don't like Beer either but will go with a Corona or Coors if forced - they are almost tasteless.

Don't like Gin any better. I chugged a tall glass full in High School and the smell still makes me queasy.

Vodka, baby. But its got to be mixed with something sweet/tart so I can't taste the alcohol.

#116 FisccusFan

That reminds me of one of my favorite times--

When I was newly married my husband and I went to visit my parents for a few days. One evening we were having cocktails--I didn't then and don't now have cocktails often but I had a vodka Collins that night. Later, when Dad asked if anyone would like a "dividend" I piped up and and asked for one, too. He looked at me a little "funny" but went out to fix them and brought me back one. When I had it about finished, he asked me how I liked it. I said it was really good, even better than the first. He gave a chuckle and informed me that the reason he had hesitated was because he didn't have any more vodka and hadn't worried about because I never took seconds! He had made me a virgin Collins. I obviously liked it better when I couldn't taste the alcohol! :-)

Went out for a friend's 40th birthday last night to an excellent inner-west restaurant. I was the first there, so got a beer while I waited for everyone else to finish at the pub and catch up with me. The beer menu was suitably fabulous, and I went for a ginger beer brewed in Broome (west coast of Australia, other side of the continent from me!). It tasted divine, like exceptionally yummy ginger beer with a mild alcoholic kick. The same brewery also did a mango beer, and they had a cherry beer from NZ as well.

I wonder if I could go back and just work my way through the beer menu...

I like Killians, too..

Sorry terri, I just can't drink bud light.. I do like Clydesdales though. beautiful!

ficus, I do love gin! I love the smell and the taste... mmm

Wookie, that sounds like a great idea!

and rd.. so post the recipe
leave something out
post it randomly in someone elses thread in the future...?

#115 I have never, ever understood people who aren't willing to share recipes. It irritates the crap out of me. Tell Cousin Manie that sharing recipes is very gratifying because it can be called "Cousin Manie's Fantastic Potato Salad." If Julia Child and Craig Claibourne and Richard Franey and The Galloping Gourmet and .... Erma Rombauer for goodness sake.... are willing to share, who's Cousin Manie to withhold? Sheesh.

Too bad you mentioned it to him, richard.

I agree with mckait mostly - but post it ALL in multiple threads, just one ingredient per post until it's done. Then you can post a How One Would Make Potato Salad If One Had the Ingredients for the Best Potato Salad in the World as a generic lesson in potato salad making.

yeh, karen.. I agree. why not share??

silly.

but richard, we're NOT the world, we're your LT family ..and therefore sharing recipes, especially of great potato salad is passing on family traditions. ;-) ok.. how about if you wrote it out in French? Would that count? After all, I'm sure he gave you the recipe in English, right? am I stretching enough here? I do so love a good potato salad ..especially if they have bacon in them. heck, i like anything with bacon... i've even had cake with a side of bacon (and i wasn't drunk).

Yeah, my mistake was forgetting the eternal truism, "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission." And I certainly don't see the point of keeping recipes "secret" because I flat guarantee that SOMEone else has your same recipe and doesn't think it's all that.

But, having asked permission and being told no, I would feel like a dishonest and disrespectful friend/family member if I went against his expressed wishes now.

He did NOT, however, tell me I couldn't GIVE the recipe to others, just said I couldn't *post* it anywhere on the Internet. So, anyone whose email I don't already have, PM me and I'll email you a copy. But YOU can't post it, either, as I specifically state that up front. No one can keep you from doing it, of course, but I'd feel betrayed if you did.

I promise, on every salivating tastebud, that I will not post Cousin Manie's potato salad recipe anywhere on the Internet, my company's Intranet or office Billboard. I will also keep said potato salad recipe (provided I like it when I try it out) in handwritten form only, in my recipe card box and will destroy the electronic version that you send me through email, to prevent any potential hackers to my computer from getting their grubby hacking paws on it.

My eyes, fingers and toes are uncrossed, I am not twitching or spitting behind my left shoulder to negate the promise made.

*does a little happy dance at the thought of trying Cousin Manie's potato salad*

Then *poof* your wish is granted!

BTW...just the wet ingredients part of the recipe makes a *wooonderful* sauce for grilled prawns, served with saffron rice and a slice of panzetta.

That's it...now I really have to have it! R-Think you already have my email address (back from whence you gave me all that info on how to post pictures, etc.). Let me know if you don't. :P That's a salivating tongue hanging out!

Oh heck...I'll give it to everybody!

Cousin Manie's Potatoe Sallet

1) Go to Sam's Club
2) Buy a tub of potatoe salad
3) Bring it home
4) Dump it in a bowl
5) Dust the top with celery salt
6) Serve!

*heeheehee*

Sure, Kimmers, I'll send it on.

Already checking my inbox rdear.....

yoohoo, richard .... you need a new lamp ... the genie you instructed to email the recipe has fallen on the job. :-(

and what's worse is i have a yearning for potato salad now... grrr..... *mentally sharpening a scalpel*

cameling...not there?! Hell and damnation. My spam filters are doing some weird and un-wonderful things. *grumble* Anything I've sent out with an attachment appears to set my ISP into a tis-was. RE-visiting their website, I'll send it out this evening after I've wrestled the blasted thing to the ground **for the third time**.

I set them for outgoing stuff because I had an invasion once and inadvertently spammed everyone I knew with a 20-sec porn clip. MOST embarrassing. Since then, I'm willing to send only minimal attachments. But this is getting ridiculous.

Oh! Kath! You want one, too? Huh. Imagine you *listening* to me.

*is suffering a nervous tic in her right eye* ...spam filters? malicious technological goblins they are.

oooh...*grimaces sympathetically*... not a good day for you, I'm sure, to have unintentionally spammed everyone with a porn clip.

You are forgiven, and no hurry .. after all, since I'm traveling tomorrow for 2 weeks, I'm unlikely to be heading out to a Korean or Hong Kong supermarket to buy ingredients, take over the hotels' kitchen and whip out potato salad, Cousin Manie's recipe or no. ;-)

well.. I am not sure I'll make it.. :P

O'Doul's for me, but only if absolutely neceessary. Ginger ale is *much* nicer.

What I wanna know is, how can *anyone* not like cheesecake?

Richard, I don't know how to PM and my e-mail isn't on my profile. What am I going to do in this potato salid-less condition? :o(

Move to Earthlink. Some complain about it, but I find it reliable.

Sadly, Catreona, I am locked in for another two years. Oh, it's really my own fault for setting the default values on outgoing messages higher than the standard.

If you visit my profile, and leave me a comment, all you need do to make it a PM is to click the "private" box next to "Submit." That way only you and I can see the message. I'll send it to you as soon as I convince myself to delve into the tangled mess that is the spam machinery.

mckait...you'll see it and drool...

You could cut and paste it into the body of the e-mail message itself.

That way, no attachments.

My request is already on your profile page.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

karenmarie

R-- Don't spam me, just spuds please.

I'd love the recipe too and promise all the things cameling promised above.
please and thanks?

mckait doesn't like cheesecake...admittedly a large character flaw...but I won't eat corn on the cob even to be polite. Stuff is nasty, the packing materials between its little tick-like sugar sacks gets in your teeth, it smells funny, and it has pubic hairs. Plants should not have pubic hairs.

blech

Also, I don't care if I never eat plain chocolate ever again. Don't like it much. It's nauseatingly sweet unless you put peanut butter with it, when it becomes the Food of the Gods.

I gather everyone has said "aye" to the recipe, and left me their email addy? I will see to it tomorrow, to give stragglers a chance to get in on the fun.

Richard, just wanted to let you know that I am finishing The Lost City of Z tonight thanks to your impetus. It is a terrific book!

Oh I'm glad, Stasia! It was such a wonderful read for me that I am running in circles handing it to people in the liberry. The staff hates me. They only have two copies, and a waiting list thanks to me.

Actually, they hate me because I make them work...I order at least two or three books a week from the ILL program. *does Muttley laugh*

Do all the librarians know you by name yet? All of mine do - they run when they see me coming, lol. I make extensive use of every service my local library has :)

rd- pubic hair..?????

ew

I do not like cheesecake
I now do not like corn on the cob

>141 alcottacre: Stasia, they don't know my name, just my general outline. The scurrying when I approach the circulation desk...!

>142 mckait: yes, pubic hairs. You know when you're pulling back the ear's nasty rough green foreskin, there's all that wavy-floppy brown stuff? They call 'em silks, but I say...well, I guess my loathing for the stuff is established.

I may never look at an ear of corn the same way again :)

I never let the silk get in the way of enjoying my ear of corn and so on and so forth...

I'm with you, Berly: fresh sweet corn with butter, salt & pepper is one of the joys of August. Slice the kernels off of the cob with a saw edge knife, so you don't have to deal with it getting stuck in your teeth, Mr. Silly Pea. Corn is an amazing plant, if you take it apart and look at it closely.

>145 Berly:, 146...y'all can have mine. I don't want it until it's processed into flour, Fritos, or fructose.

mmmmmmmm fritos........

Iew, Richard! peanut vutter is *DISGUSTING*!!! It's right up there with fruit de mer. YYYUUUCCCKKK!!!!!!!!!

Hmmm. Probably didn't spell that French fraise correctly. You know what I mean though, right?

Fritos are indeed nice.

Ah! We have the basic malfunction identified, Cat! You are what is known, in food circles, as "wrong-tongued." You can't identify the pure deliciousness of peanut butter, poor thing, OR scallops, clams, oysters, octopus, squid...oh, so so sad. My dear...how do you live so apparently contentedly with this hideous affliction? I know I'm not kind to draw attention to your deformity, but isn't it *hard* to know there is so much numminess that you can't appreciate?

There, there.

I am wrong-tongued too, then ( oysters, octopus, squid)

So I shouldn't make eggplant-oyster casserole for you when you visit, mckait? Too bad, it's delicious as I remember. I can't eat eggplant anymore, it makes my gout go into hyperdrive. And I looove eggplant rollatini.

I like it grilled .. yum!

eggplant that is....

and no thanks on the other :P

I can just about manage scallops, provided they are smothered in garlic butter and bread crumbs. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be able, or allowed, to live in New England. But...really. I am quite content, thank you. Codfish cakes and corn chowder are lovely, and it's really not all that hard to mask my, er, deformity. A bit harder when in Maine, since lobster makes me throw up, but on the whole I manage all right.

>154 mckait: Grilled veggies are generally pretty yum. I like grilled tomatoes as summertime substitutes for english muffins in eggs benedict. Have to be the supermarket ones, the woody flavorless ones, though; the others just flop into limpness where those are resilient and actually improve in flavor when grilled. (Hard to imagine them with flavor, isn't it?)

Everthing has at least one good use, I guess. Except Marcia.

ETA>155 Catreona: Cat...not...not...lobster too?! Crabs? Umi as well?! Oh no! And here I was going to invite all and sundry for a sushi dinner!

Computer won't let me post!

---

There used to be a wonderfully funny web site called "The Eggplant Conspiracy." Don't think it's around any more, unfortunately.

eggplant! You know, I actually sort'a like turnip, but keep me away from eggplant and parsnips. And hold the beats too!!!

Richard, how are you on cheese enchiladas? *grin*

No eggplant - don't like tomatoes cooked or grilled, don't do turnips either, though I am fine with beets and parsnips (cooked for hours in soup or stew).

No to fish, cooked or raw, Don't like oysters, squid or octopus - only as food in person the last 2 are quite nice, though very shy. Will only eat clam necks (fried clams or in chowder). Like scallops, love lobsters and crab. Love corn on the cob.

>158 Catreona: Cat, they shall be served in Heaven, or else it will be Hell.

Amen, Brother!

*grin*

And, there has to be great Jazz, or I'm not going!

But most of all, Heaven has all the books you can possibly imagine, and you, the resident, have unfailing 20/20 vision to read 'em with. Hell is unquestionably to be surrounded by books, but having just enough vision to make out the title pages but not enough to have a hope of reading so much as one page. I am saved, just, from a living hell by my enlarger, though I can't read in any meaningful way. Just a few minutes is exhausting. Thank God for NLS and now for commercial audiobooks. I truly believe a life without books is not worth living.

Eggplant baked in the oven with cheese melted on top...yum! And all those amazing seafood things...911 allergies until I did acupuncture treatments for shellfish. Ate my first lobster at 37...now I can't get enough. Calamari, shrimp, crab, scallops...the best!

Heaven would surely be filled with books and everyone would have 20/20 vision!! And no allergies. And lots of food that I don't have to cook, and all of them calorie-free and ..Oh, sorry. Got carried away.

Definitely no alergies.

And lots of cute kitties.

Ooo! I must tell all who got the potato(e) salad recipe...learn from my unpleasant mistake...this recipe DOES NOT SCALE WELL. I tried a half recipe and it was not, repeat NOT, the same taste or texture despite being made the same way.

Once I tried to double it. DISASTER. Awful results.

Do these things at own risk in full forewarn-ture.

That is all.

ETA: No it isn't. >164 Catreona: Any place infested with cats is, by definition, a seat of evil. A sink of sin. A place without possibility of redemption.

That really is all.

I literally would cry at the dinner table when my mom fixed eggplant, " I don't want plantegg." I still get made fun of and she still tries to make me eat it. BTW Richard, congratulations on your Hot Review. It sounds like a very good book, but I'm not sure I could handle it. It also sounds like your grandsons are blessed to have such a good mom!

>166 Catreona: How can you say that? Because it's true.

>167 thomasandmary: It also sounds like your grandsons are blessed to have such a good mom! This is so, so true. She's an amazing person. I stand in awe of her abilities. Unfortunately, she has character flaws as well. She likes cats. No one, sadly, can be perfect.

*that was your cue, threadies*

Lobster, scallops, squid, octopus - yum. Oysters and mussels and a few strange Japanese sushi-type things - yuck.

I have fond memories of Double Lobster at Appy's in Groton Connecticut - two 1 1/2-pound lobsters with as much drawn butter and lemon as you want for $8.95. This was in 1977-1980. Bibs included.

Eggplant parmesan at Ocean Pizza in New London Connecticut - yum.

I made some homemade tomato sauce Sunday with tomatoes from my garden. It's loosely based on Craig Claibourne's Fresh Tomato Sauce. I put it in tupperware to freeze it, then vacuum seal it if we're not going to use it within about a week or so.

I also made an apple crisp with apples from my apple tree. They're Granny Smith like.

Thanks for the heads up about the recipe not scaling well. I was going to make half for Wednesday's work lunch, but will have to think of something else. There are only six of us.

Catreona... 166...I absolutely believe this..
My do Dirk came for the spirit of my dog Jess when the time came...
we should talk :)

i think we need to start a food thread if we're going to continue along this vein. Reading this after a long flight with bad airline food is terrible! It's making me really hungry and I may have to call for room service since it's too late now to go out and look for something to eat.

but adding to conversation here, I was recently down on Rhode Island with some friends at a place called the Nordic Lodge. Seafood buffet with fresh lobsters, alaskan crab legs, snow crab, oysters, clams, shrimp, prime rib, steak, chicken, scallops, lamb, an amazing dessert spread and .. oh, some clusters of vegetables for those who insist on salads.

drats.. i've just made myself more hungry!!

Back when I hung out on the "Firefly" board, I was the instigator of what my friends there called "the food porn thread." It was fun...we traded recipes and menus and ideas. I almost got a book going, "Start With A Stick Of Butter: Cooking *Good* Food" but lost my job, my house, and my friends all in seven months.

Ah, les jadis...they were rotten!

but you have us, you know rd :D

A food thread would be a good idea...

So, Richard, are you saying we're *not* your friends? *sniff*

post segragation? woe is me :P

mckait,

Don't think of it as segregation. Think of it as an oppeertunity for one particular topic to flurish.

Received the PS recipe...thanks richard.... can't wait to try it out when i get back. right now, i just need some zzzzzz....

>174 Catreona: Cat, I would *never* say that. I would think it really, really loudly. ;-P

>175 mckait: I favor segregation. In the matter of foodies, it's urgent because the hoi polloi who eat-to-live are less likely to become bothersome with their rolled eyes and muffled yawns.

>177 cameling: sleep is good, esp. after a transPacific flight! See you post-slumbers. And enjoy the potato(e) salad.

I wisely planned to read this food thread just before lunch so I could happily leave and eat. Off to have some spicy pineapple mango salsa with leftover gnocci. Weird combo but it works!

Since I like campanelle with cannellini and spinach, I got no room to criticize what others put on their pasta-oid dishes. And I like the sound of that, BTW...something very piquant about tropical fruit sauces on top of boiled potato(e) products.

RICHard, no potato salad recipe yet? I'm in Coventry?

...??...

Tui, I've sent an email to verify your addy. Let me know when you get it, and if you DON'T, come post that here.

*danged technological kobolds*

passing through to say hello................

I think we should all meet for lunch at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Wow. 184 messages in seven days!

ETA: Make that 185; I can't keep up!

>185 kidzdoc: Darryl, kinda scary...and a whopping ONE review.

>184 Catreona: Cat, the fares would be prohibitive, no? And any notions on how to flag down a passing UFO?

>183 mckait: Hidy!

glitter-graphics.com

She's Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!~!
Hello St. Richard and all the rest of y'uns!~!
Wow, I can't believe this. I leave for a few days and it takes
me hours to catch up with you. You are worse that Stasia!~!
Whom, by the by, I had the privilege of meeting along with her
lovely daughter Caty, while I was in Tx. We had a very nice visit
and a lot of laughs; some at your expense, I must admit. Hee hee.
We spoke of books a little, but mainly LT and all of our friends on
here so she caught me up a bit. It was wonderful to meet someone
that I talk with on here and she is the first one I have got to meet.
We even talked about sometime planning an LT convention somewhere mid-country to give everyone coast to coast a chance to be in on the fun. Probably will never happen, but we can dream. Wouldn't that be fun. (Hmmmmmmmmmmm, perhaps something to take to the "Wonder Organizer" himself; msf59)
Anyhoo:
>#38:
Kath----------the St. to a T!~~! LOL
>#58:
Kath------PM me what the heck Reiki is.
>#64 & 66:
kidzdoc and the St.----------Too, too funny!~!
"Pennsylvania Macaroni Company in the Strip District has a great selection of olives."
followed by:
"It's sticky and gross outside this morning"
ROLF!~!~!
>#113:
ditto what arubabookwoman said.
>#116:
If it is anything, it must be Tequila!~! Even if it causes my head to be in the hedge and my ass in the air!~!
>#171:
cameling: "bad food on the airline"; you must have been in first class because all I got was H2O; the cheapskates!~!
And now, Richard, we really must talk. What is all this about no love for cats? Hmmmmmmmmmmm?????????????????? My love for cats surpasses my love for dogs and humans. I don't get it. Wazzup with that?
And regarding the "corn on the cob" issue---------------I will never look a it again in the same light and without LMAO!~!
luv & missed ya guy!~!
hugs and tisses,
belva
P.S. am PMing my email to you for the potato salad recipe, thank you very much.

Beelzeva, you're back! Good, good...and you should have the recipe by now.

What is all this about no love for cats? No love? I abhor and detest the little minions of Satan. They possess toxic spit and their horrible little ocular units are creepy and, may I just point out, shared with venomous snakes like the very one that seduced Eve who was whom? Satan. The prostitution rests.

My love for cats surpasses my love for dogs and humans. Oh dear, oh my. Perhaps electroconvulsive therapy would help. And in any case, it would serve you right for liking those furry little poison-shedders.

To coin your phrase:
You, you, you...............


glitter-graphics.com

Don't blast my catz!~!

Have books been banned from this thread! :)

- TT

just temporarily

I've only got six reviews to write to finish the challenge...I'm waiting for post #200 to start doing it....

I

am getting

Richard up to

post number 200

so he

will do

the six reviews

he needs to do!

TA DA

ROFL

Stasia, **you** should talk about threads going off book talk! Clever boots.

ROFL Stasia!! Richard, hop to young man!

#201: OK, so where are they?

Impatiently waiting, stomping foot . . .

Possess your soul in patience, Stasia, I'm gettin' around to it. I have auntly tasks to accomplish. Prescriptions, laundry, y'know. I'm almost done with Cooking with Fernet Branca, so that will be review number 70.

I do not have to possess patience, Richard. You promised once you were at post 200!

I will, however, let it slide in view of your auntly tasks . . .

Richard,

May you fall totally and helplessly in love with a darling little furball of a kitten.

2

Seventy of seventy-five:

Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson is part of oddball publisher Europa Editions's sinister plot to make Murrikins like me aware of the strange and sinister world of lit'rachoor published beyond our shores. Muriel Barbery owes her Murrikin presence to them, too. We all know how *that* turned out....

Well, before moving any farther along in this review process, let me send out the call: Does anyone know how to get hold of (wicked double entendre optional) actor John Barrowman? You know, Captain Jack Harkness of "Torchwood" fame? He is literally missing the key to Murrikin stardom by not reading, optioning, and making this book into a movie. It suits every single national prejudice we have: Eastern Europeans as sinister lawbreaking peasants who eat strangely shaped, colored, and named things and call them foods (like Twinkies, Cheetos, and Mountain Dew are *normal*); Englishmen as dudis (you'll have to read the book for that translation) who do eccentric off-the-wall things with food that are repulsively named and gruesomely concocted (spotted dick? bubble-and-squeak?); and Italians as supercilious effete cognoscenti of world culture, who possess the strangest *need* for vulgarity.

The characters in this hilarious romp are the most dysfunctional group of misfits and ignoramuses and stereotypes ever deployed by an English-language author. They do predictable things, yet Hamilton-Paterson's deftly ironic, cruelly flensing eye and word processor cause readerly glee instead of readerly ennui to ensue. The whole bizarre crew...the lumpenproletariat ex-Soviet composer, the Italian superdirector long past his prime, the English snob who refers to Tuscany's glory as "Chiantishire" and "Tuscminster"...gyrates and shudders and clumps towards a completely foreseeable climactic explosion (heeheehee). And all the time, snarking and judging and learning to depend on each other. In the end, the end is nigh for all the established relationships and the dim, Fernet Branca-hangover-hazed outlines of the new configurations are, well, the English say it best...dire.

Read it. Really, do. And I dare you not to laugh at these idiots! Don't be put off by the sheer hideousness of the American edition's cover, in all its shades-of-purple garish grisliness. The charm of reading the book is that one needn't look at that...that...illustration...on the cover, but inflict it on those not yet In The Know enough to be reading it themselves.

And seriously...John Barrowman needs to know about this. Pass it on!

mckait...not you...you will HATE this book, it's got oodles of nastiness aimed at cats.

Cat...ha. They can't get close enough to me. I don't go into homes infested with cats, because I can't breathe after a very short exposure. So how is one of them going to insinuate itself into my heart?

And THERE, Stasia! THERE is the promised review, only 8 posts late. Ha!

oh darn, you beat me to reviewing it. Great fun though, wasn't it!

ETA: forgot to say "good review"!

I've heard that the sequel is nowhere near as good. :-(

#209: FINALLY!!

#206> May you fall totally and helplessly in love with a darling little furball of a kitten.

Remember that old WB cartoon with the big gruff bulldog who gets won over by a sweet little kitten who was mostly eyes? I've got a mental picture of that now. Ooh, Google rocks! Marc Antony and Pussyfoot!



I'm a cat fan, but I'm fine with others disliking them. They sometimes don't make it easy to be loved. (We belled the two boy cats the other day, and then were woken up all night by them romping and jingling up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs. I was very relieved when they wriggled out of their collars and lost them!)

I've never heard of Cooking With... until you mentioned it, but it sounds brilliant. Especially if it's perfect for Captain Jack Harkness. Thanks Richard! (I think...)

So, Richard, what? Did you lose your Sub-Eathor Sensomatic?

(Apologies for any misspellings.)

>214 Catreona: Cat, sadly I wasn't issued one by Zaphod...guess he wanted to keep our special time *really* special. The louse, he never calls, doesn't write...*sniff*

>211 TadAD: Tad, I can't imagine how a sequel to this book would work at all. It seems like colossally bad idea. So of course, no surprise that the publishing industry went on and did it. I sigh.

>210 tiffin: Tui, I would say I feel guilty for scooping you, but I don't, so I won't. :-)

#215: naw, don't. Mine will be coming shortly tho'. Alien pie: urk urk urk. And I can't imagine a sequel either. I couldn't believe how he could keep it up to the end of the book, never mind a second one. I googled Fernet Branca to find out exactly what it is and found this great description:
http://www.straight.com/article-119255/all-hail-fernet-branca-the-foulest-liqueu...

Actually, it was the sampering of the beets that almost made me unswallow. Oh, and I still shudder at the idea of lychees on toast...the anchovies and peanut butter with them is what just danced on my duodenum in cleats.

ETA: I like Fernet Branca, actually, although I prefer Averna as a digestivo. Bitter herbs appeal to me.

ETA ETA: I took a sip. Something shattering happened to my personal interior, something Immanuel Velikovsky would have understood. That's perfect!! Hilarious article, thanks.

*sigh* yet another book to add to my wishlist. The only thing that is saving my sanity is that I'm now in Hong Kong and books are prohibitively expensive here (something about a book tax, go figure.. you'd think they should want people to read, no?) so I won't be tempted to hit the bookstores and reappear, blinking in the sunlight with an armload of books ..at least not if I also intend to have enough money to eat while I'm here.

Again rd, thanks for the warning .. you are the bestest!

That's definitely going on the wish list. Thanks, Richard!

I read Cooking with Fernet Branca a few years ago and loved it. The sequel Amazing Disgrace was ok, but not anywhere as funny as the first book. A third one Rancid Pansies has just come out.

Rancid Pansies!! I have to get that one even if only for the title! Thanks avatiakh for the heads-up. I don't really see how this book could bear up under sequelling, though, it's a joke thoroughly mined in its first incarnation.

Seventy-one of seventy-five:

Fishing the Sloe-Black River by Colum McCann collects twelve stories written by an Irish-by-Irish-American talent whose work garnered praise from no less a short story luminary than Edna O'Brien. Justly so, may I add.

These are stories that go down easy, slipping into the eyes with no great effort and causing the brain no hiccups. Then, an hour later, why are they repeating like uncooked garlic? Because, dear readers of them, you've been *snookered*!

McCann's characters are delineated deftly, his settings established economically, and his stories told without fuss. But the end result is more than the sum of its parts. An example, decribing Flaherty the Irishman living in New Orleans, from "Step We Gaily, On We Go":

"Give life long enough and it will solve all your problems, including the one of being alive. Should write that one on the stairwell, he chuckles to himself as he shuffles down the rat-gray steps of the apartment complex. He walks slowly, his big shoulders pitching back and forth in the folds of an old brown overcoat. Thick fists, blotched here and there with liver spots, pop out from the cuffs and a magenta handkerchief sprouts from the breast pocket. Beads of sweat gather beneath the peak of his flat tweed cap as he negotiates the corner on the third floor. Damn, he thinks, it's hot under this whole rigout."

A washed up has-been boxer, Flaherty? Or a never-was dreamer? A lonely old man, surely, but why? What happened here? This is my favorite story in the collection, and I use it as an example of what I think McCann does best: He gives you the picture, and lets you decide what interests you most about it. Most short stories aren't that good, frankly, because they're just exactly the wrong length to do anything well, except in the hands of the talented.

"Cathal's Lake", the final story in the collection, is my runner-up favorite and would be even if only for its first line: "It's a sad Sunday when a man has to dig another swan from the soil." Cathal, a dirt farmer of no notable qualities, and his dog Wingnut are spending their morning digging up swans, see, and Cathal's mind (such as it is) wanders into some strange reveries...soldiers in battle, teen toughs in battle..."All this miraculous hatred. Christ, a man can't eat his breakfast for filling his belly full of it." It's sad to say that this is an evergreen trope in our world, this mindless exploration of anger and hate in calm and peace. It's a good story.

It's a good collection. I'd recommend it to anyone whose desire is to see *just enough* of a story and a character and a setting to get the story, but still want to hear the tale.

#223: Yours is at least the third recommendation of McCann's work recently. I wish my local library had some of his books!

>224 alcottacre: Stasia, maybe they'd do an inter-library loan for you. I'd say it's worth it to get acquainted with this talent. Maybe you can BookMooch some of his work?

#225: I can do the ILL. I do not belong to BookMooch, I belong to PBS and am going to check there.

Richard- As usual excellent review! I remember you mentioning this book awhile back, as you were first reading it and I took note then. I am starting to really find the joy in short stories. BLT,(before LT) I only occasionally dabbled in the format. Sir, I'm now a believer!

Thumbs up!

An enticing review but I refuse to be tempted by you again! Not in the same week. The madness must stop

Most of the books on my Wish List are Richard's fault.

Is he responsible for the whole Wish List concept? It wouldn't surprise me, sly dog that he is. ;)

>227 msf59: Mark, this collection could make you an enjoyer as well as a believer. I think you'd **love** the title story, "Fishing the Sloe-Black River."

>228 mckait: mckait, thanks! Knowing your dislike and disdain for the short story, simply not getting a smoked herring in my inbox was all I aspired to.

>229 cameling: mwaaahaaahaaa! You *WILL* add this book to your wishlist, and how do I know this? Because you cannot resist good writing about quirky characters who do oddball things that make internal sense!! Resistance is futile.

>230 Catreona: Cat, oh dear. This could prove problematic...what shall you do after I'm done with the 75 Books Challenge, and I slink off into the depths of LT? What ever shall become of your poor little wishlist then?

Seventy-two of seventy-five:

Canaletto and the Case of the Westminster Bridge by Janet Laurence is the first book in a series of mysteries set in 1740s London, featuring Venetian painter Antonio Canal, aka Canaletto, as the sleuth.

It's amazing how many historical figures had hitherto-unknown crime-solving careers! Just astonishing that we never learned of Dr. Johnson's career as a thief-taker from that master of the art of amanuensis-ing, Boswell. Perfectly amazing that Benj. Franklin is famous for "Poor Richard's Almanack" but not for his crime-solvig prowess. And now, not to be outdone, the shade of Canaletto comes back...in London no less!...to resolve mysterious evildoings at the behest of no less a personage than Pitt the Elder.

Bosh.

I am glad to suspend disbelief, truly I am, and I can see past the facts to the story in most cases. But this cadaver is too far gone to reanimate even with Frankenstein's help. The writing is no better than serviceable. The plotting is average at best. The idea strikes me as a "me too me too" sort of an effort, cashing in on a trend.

Oh hell. Not recommended. Don't bother looking for it, if it's given to you gratefully accept and quietly return it, and if confronted with your perfidy, send the injured party to me. I shall defend you against any accusation save that of sensible use of the limited number of eyeblinks one gets in this life.

My Wish List shall grow at a far more leisurely rate, that's what. You're a menis to society, you are. LOL

still resisting but my resolve is gradually weakening.

I was on the verge of picking up Canaletto and Bonnie Prince Charlie but sneaking in the reading of a few chapters at the bookstore, I decided to put it back on the shelf. I wasn't impressed with the bits that I had read.

Excellent review St. Richard and Congratulations for
your Hot Review on Fishing the Sloe-Black River.
Good job my man. Ew-you have earned your first ever
"kitty token". When you are up to 10 tokens, you get
a kitten. (Of our choice) You know there are hair-less
ones out there now. Cute little monsters, they are too.
Big hugs n warm snugs to ya,
belva

Here is the token, belva dear forgot to leave it.. only nine to go rdear!!!

Oh goody goody! I need a calibrator for my microwave, to see if it's running hot...a kitten would be *perfect*! Preferably a really cute one that chases balls of string. And I can webcam the whole thing right to y'all's inboxes!

hah! you won't even put up a pic of your dog.. I am not worried about the kitten or your webcam you nefarious cat hater you.

>237 richardderus: Richard!!! You do have an awful mean streak! ;-)

St. Richard;
You are evil and you must be destroyed!~!~! Posthaste!~!~!




glitter-graphics.com

belva

Given your vigorous dislike of the feline animal, I am now quite sure that I can visit your abode without any allergy worries. Now if I just had a good excuse to travel out your way...

>241 Berly: New York City. You need another reason? I promise evenings of scotch, home-made shortbread, and a fire in the fireplace. The Divine Miss is quite sociable, really, once we get her meds on board, as is the Jindo Formally Known As Stella. Neither one bites too hard.

Everyone else: Cats. Eeewww.

Seventy-three of seventy-five:

The Soul Thief by Cecelia Holland

Ewww. Irish twins with a mystical bond are separated by a cruel and unjust fate. Girl raped, pregnant, held hostage by evil old woman who wants to abort her unborn child; boy free, homeless, wandering the Viking world searching for his Other Half.

I can't believe I actually read this ghastly twaddle. It's simply inexplicable to me that a talent like Holland's should be deployed in service of this trite, twee, oft-told tale. And then...I looked it up. It's one of her all-time bestselling books.

Barnum was right: No one ever lost money underestimating the {taste} of the American public. NOT recommended unless you like tedious, repetitious maunderings.

Mmm, I could almost give up cats for a fireplace and some home-made shortbread.

Mean streak? The man's a sadist! Charming, suave, urbane, but a sadist!

Yuck St. Richard;
How can you read such drivel?

>246 rainpebble: because "there is a sucker born every minute"! P T Barnum

~ TT

I take it Cecelia Holland has written books that are not ghastly twiddle? Not trite and not twee? Any recommendations?

>247 TheTortoise: ExACTly, Milord!

>248 karenmarie: Karen, The Firedrake was wonderful...the worm's-eye view of the Norman Conquest. Great Maria was amazing! Sicilan Norman aristocratic woman becomes independent by being herself, unwaveringly herself, in a world where that wasn't a Done Thing. Jerusalem -- the Crusader Kingdoms -- wonderful. She wrote some books about California, which subject interests me not at all, so I can't speak to their quality, except to note that they sold well.

blech! drivel!

I need to read and stop playing online. I am getting behind.

Speaking of biting.. I got bit today, on the shoulder and the boob by one of the older problem new kids they took on.

I have been bit harder in the past at work.. does that make this a good day?

♥ mckait

☺ thanks cat ♥

>250 mckait: Ouch!

~ TT

So, my dear Kath;
Did it hurt? Hmmmmmmmm?????????????????/

After a ghastly morning with my 6 year old grandson finding my very favorite kitty deceased, burying him, getting his little statuette in place, and doing a log of sniveling (as we all have) I have spent the major part of the afternoon lurking and skulking about on the threads popping up occasionally to make a comment. Whilst doing my lurking and skulking, I came across a book entitled How Sex Works: Why We Look, Smell, Taste, Feel, and Act the Way We Do, which to say the least I found to be a very interesting and provocative title. I went over to the book page and noted that 15 of our thousands have the book but no one has done a review of it yet.
I just thought I might nominate St. Richard to read and give said review so that the "inquiring minds" (there must be more than just mine) could be satisfied. What say, St.?
R U game?
belva

Bit as in bitten with teeth?!!! Kids bite their teachers these days? Seriously? I've never heard/seen that sort of behavior before at schools. Poor mckait ...did the little sharks break skin and draw blood? what do you do to them when they assault you like that?

>254 rainpebble: Beelzeva, being pure as the driven snow, I don't feel I am qualified. Best to find someone who has actually perpetrated the posititon.

Cameling, Kath works with special needs students. Change (like going back to school after being off for the summer) can be hard for these kids, especially kids with certain kind of autistic disorders. Sometimes the only way they can express how badly they feel is to act out. Lucky for these kids Kath is a consummate professional with a sense of humour!

All I can say is it's a good thing it was Kath and not me. I would bite back!

Young kids often bite too, when frustrated and angry. They can't communicate very well, so they sometimes act out. I've picked up Mr Bear once from daycare and had to sign about a bite he got from one of the other kids. You could almost see individual teeth marks on the bruise! (I had to sign another note last night at after school care because he walked eye-first into a felt-tipped pen some other child was holding. Ouch! As the form said, no visible sign of damage, but I can imagine the wailing that ensued!)

I didn't worry about a once-off bite. Had it reoccurred or been a regular occurrence, I wouldn't have been happy.

Kath, you're a saint! My sister-in-law is a special needs teacher for adults and she seems to have a bottomless well of patience

#138

I won't eat corn on the cob even to be polite. Stuff is nasty, the packing materials between its little tick-like sugar sacks gets in your teeth, it smells funny, and it has pubic hairs. Plants should not have pubic hairs.

For the record: I had a delicious corncob for dinner with my parents last night, which came from the farm two miles away from us. No, I did not mention Mr. Derus' comments to my parents, as we happily munched away.

yea..what tiff said.. special needs kids.. an only a little blood.. bruised.
I have been bitten worse.. in the same approximate spot.. lots of blood that time.

Nope.. not a saint. Not close. They're just kids.
I will say that a sense of humor is imperative.

The most difficult thing about my hob is the teacher in my room who is
controlling, inflexible and loud. Among other not so nice things.

I am getting way behind in so much.. I look forward to the long weekend coming up.. and a visit with friends on friday night.

mmmmm corn!

Did y'all know that every single silk creates a kernel of corn? Every single silk, which is actually the corn's flower, must be pollinated to get a full ear of corn with beautiful kernels. Cooked sweet corn also has significant antioxidant activity and provides a source of ferulic acid, which helps battle cancer. Great excuses to eat something that most of us, excluding Richard, of course, love.

#254 sorry about your kitty, nannybebette.

Every single silk, which is actually the corn's flower, must be pollinated to get a full ear of corn with beautiful kernels.

Flowers are a plant's sex organs. Kernels are the future plants, aka seeds. Ergo, those hairy awful brownish-puce things are pubic hairs, and plants should not have pubic hairs. Corn is perfectly fit for silage, of course. The idea that pigs batten on it seems reasonable to me. For human consumption? Oh nay nay nay.

>#256:
Ahhhhh; as in being exposed?

BTW, St.,
When I was reading your original post about corn, I was laughing so hard that my husband (3 rooms away) hollered out: "You must be reading Richard's thread!". LOL I guess I do quote you a lot to him. You, my dear man, are a "won" of a kinder!~!
Must be why we love you so.
mwaaaaaaaaaaa!~!
belva

richard : I love corn, although now thanks to your delightful (NOT) explanation for the silks, I am going to have a difficult time cooking corn again when I get home. time, I think for me to teach hubby how to shuck corn so I don't have to do it

Richard, as I munch on a handful of blue corn chips, I was wondering if you are you against all forms of corn, as your post would suggest, or only corn on the cob?

The fifth thread has become Stasiaesque. When can we, your faithful followers, expect a new one?

>266 cameling: I am pleased to have been the inspiration for the education of the Great Unwashed. But don't tell the hubster I called him that.

>267 kidzdoc: Darryl, no! Fritos, corn chips, cornbread, tortillas, all fine. I simply don't want to eat the icky lumpen tick-like sugarballs. I tend to avoid soft drinks, being averse to weighing hundreds of pounds more than is healthy, so I don't get that much fructose. I'll eat the off-the-cob kernels in pancakes (but only the little white ones)...does that make me less evil?

I figure I'll do the last two reviews and then another thread. Seems silly to start one now, with only two to go.

Now that is just weird. You actually put corn in your pancake batter?
Very, very strange.
belva

Why, naturally I do, Belva! What would be the reason not to? I especially like it in gingerbread pancakes. Yummy!

I decided Darryl is right, and started my sixth thread over here.

ew ew ew ew ew ew ew

My grandpa used to do that and it is icky poo poo poo

it is icky poo poo poo

This from a woman who is indentured to cats, and confesses to eating silage. Hmmm...somehow I don't feel too upset over the condemnation....

silage?

Kath;
do you eat sprouts?
hee hee hee ROLF
good one RD

Silage:

Silage is fermented, high-moisture fodder that can be fed to ruminants (cud-chewing animals like cattle and sheep) or used as a biofuel feedstock for anaerobic digesters. It is fermented and stored in a process called ensilage or silaging, and usually made from grass crops, including corn (maize) or sorghum or other cereals, using the entire green plant (not just the grain). Silage can be made from many field crops, and special terms may be used depending on type (oatlage for oats, haylage for alfalfa – but see below for different UK use of the term haylage). (Wikipedia)

Or, simply, icky poo poo poo corn/maize.

interesting thread