Thursday, November 30, 2006

How did this happen???


Let's not go crazy and call this girl classy, but how did she end up relatively normal? I don't get it. Just a couple of years ago Christina was on the short track to her own gonzo-style porn. Didn't she want to get dirty? Really, I guess she figured out the difference between singing about it and living it like Brittney. I always knew she was more talented than Ms. Spears, but now you're trying to tell me she is smarter than her too?

The truly sad part is the way we as a society glorify the talentless, and give them the platform and attention they crave. Does Paris have a discernible talent other than the one she showed off in her video? Other than a pre-packaged reputation for being "sexy," which I have always found dubious, Brittney has nothing either. I guess it's a good thing that they hang out now. Now we are reduced to seeing pictures of Brit's who-ha. Kill me now, really. The fact that I know anything about either of those two people is a damning indictment of our society. I'll be off now, I need to find something to numb the pain of seeing all of those Brittney pictures, I wonder if I have an ice-pick anywhere. . .

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

It's been a while


I know I promised more updates, but the only person reading this is my wife. She knows I've been busy. Anyway, here is a picture of that super-mom Pamela Anderson (Lee, Rock, whatever). She has been a "sex symbol" for almost 16 years now and I think that maybe she takes that status a little too seriously. I mean really, at some point isn't she going to have to wear clothes in public? I don't mean to sound totally emasculated here, but there is nothing sexy about this woman. She was pretty hot about ten boob jobs ago (this is kind of tongue-in-cheek, but really how many sets of breasts has she gone through over the years?) but she just needs to grow up. At some point most people learn that her particular lifestyle is a dead end. On the other hand, since she is nearing 40 and thrives on acting like she is 17, she can be a role model for Demi Moore.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

So do we really need this?



I'll admit that I am as big a pig as the next guy. Really, in fact my wife might argue that I am not normal in many ways, but rumors are circulating that K-Fed is shopping a four hour sex tape that he and Britney made early in their marriage have me horrified. Do we really need to see this? I can think of a number of diseases I would rather have than this video. She was never that attractive to begin with and all of that walking into dirty public bathrooms without shoes didn't help. I was going to rant on about this topic for a while, but I think I'll go vomit now.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Happy Monday!


Well, I finally got the Echo Park review up, it was a good book, but really, outside of Chasing the Dime, Connelly hasn't ever really written a clunker. I really enjoy his writing style. This month has some good new books coming out which I am excited about. Greg Iles' new book is due in December as is the newest from James Grippando. Before I get to either of those books, I am reading Stephen King's newest called Lisey's Story. So far I am enjoying it, but I have been really pressed for time lately.

It was a good weekend for on the fantasy football front, as the Kamikazes evened their record at 5-5. So I am going to go bask for a while. Thanks for stopping by!

Echo Park




Echo Park is the twelfth Harry Bosch book that Michael Connelly has written, and it is one of the best as well. After all of this time it would be easy for Connelly to recycle Bosch projects and for the series to become stale, but this hasn’t happened. For some reason, the Harry Bosch of Echo Park is as vital as ever.

The plot of Echo Park is good, but not great. Bosch now works in a cold-case unit where he and his partner review and work cases that have gone dead over the years. This is where Bosch landed when he returned to the LAPD. It is a good fit for Bosch’s talents and temperament, as he has always been more of an avenging angle than a mere detective over the years. But it isn’t the plot that drives Connelly’s work, it is the man himself Harry Bosch.

Over the series, Connelly has worked at creating a character worthy of having a series. In Harry, Connelly has created a very complex man whose existence feels real. Other mystery/thriller writers have created characters of some complexity, but all of them seem to fall into various archetypes. Bosch does to an extent, but there is a consistency of character in Bosch which keeps him from falling to the same problems that plague other characters like Sanford’s Lucas Davenport or Burke’s Robicheaux. These characters seem to break character to try to create some life of domesticity, which is obviously impossible due to the nature of their work and their personalities. Both make compromises which are not in the character’s inherent nature to try to accommodate these plot twists. The families that the writers create act and feel more like plot devices rather than actual people, which is the difference between Connelly’s writing and theirs.

In Echo Park Bosch ultimately bends some rules, both legal and moral ones, to ultimately find some kind of justice. He is not Dirty Harry, but he does try to find ways to bring justice and peace to the victims and victims families. In a way, I find it very easy to imagine Bosch as the policeman that all police officers would love to be. Thematically, Connelly seems to continue to attempt to find out where Bosch’s limit is. How far will Harry go for justice? He certainly sabotages his prospects of domestic bliss with his actions, but again that is the point. A true idealist has only two options available: to be fabulously successful or to stay true to his or her ideals and end up alone. Harry obviously is on that latter path, and he is comfortable with his plight, which makes reading these novels so engaging.

Finally, it feels like Connelly has found a pace, and a place, for Bosch’s character to continue on in his quest of being the voice for the lost. Hopefully he will continue to mine the depths of Bosch’s character and burrowing into the dark beauty of Los Angles until Harry needs to retire.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Things I Am Grateful For


I posted in another blog about the things that I am thankful for, and it was an idea I wanted to expand on here. Of course I am grateful for my family. They are relatively happy and healthy for which I am profoundly grateful. Additionally, my wife is my favorite person on this planet. She is fantastic, as well as the possessor of the best sense of humor that I have ever seen.

But beyond the obvious, over the next few weeks, I'll be adding little tidbits of things that make my life just a little more enjoyable. Today's little tidbit? Van Halen, although right about now I would be grateful if they went away. Van Halen has been a soundtrack to my life since I was 14. I play the guitar because of the man (although I play too much like EVH) and I used to look forward to new releases like kids looked forward to Christmas, it was an event which would lead to hours and hours of listening. Unfortunately, their circus has turned into a pathetic joke that should end. The idea of touring with David Lee Roth as a singer would be okay. The idea of them touring with DLR and Wolfgang Van Halen on bass??? That is nothing less than a joke.

Anyway, this has been fun, I'll post some more soon.