Let's ruminate

Here are a few ponderables and general observations you may find interesting, courtesy of Aaron Karo's clever website, Ruminations.com...

You know you're getting old when you look outside, notice it's raining, and your first thought is, "That'll do the lawn some good."

My grandmother just asked me if you can send e-mail on Sundays.

I wish women came equipped with progress bars so I could see how close I am to scoring.

If that Harry Potter theme park doesn't have a souvenir shop called VoldeMart, that's just a crying shame.

Why has America dumbed down? Because smart people wear condoms.

Some people would consider me broke. I like to think of myself as immune to market fluctuations.

Kids today will never understand the precise skill it took to skip or rewind a song and stop right at the perfect spot on a cassette tape.

Wheaties: the breakfast of champions and the dinner of the unemployed.

When my toast gets stuck, I imagine I'm playing Operation.

Receipts are just short stories about how stupid you are with money.

Love conquers all?

The enjoyable, moving The Descendents (written and directed by Alexander Payne, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings) smartly depicts how a major development in a family- in this case, a tragedy- immediately steamrolls and negates all petty drama and grievances, and quite efficiently illuminates everyone's true colors and true feelings.

George Clooney is terrific as Matt King, a marginal parent who all of a sudden is thrust into the role of central parent and responsibility bearer when a boating accident puts his wife Elizabeth into a coma. Things become more complicated when it becomes clear that Elizabeth isn't going to wake up, and that her legal wishes indicate that she doesn't want to be kept alive via artificial means if a situation like her current one ever arose.

Despite the subject matter, the film isn't relentlessly sad. It's nice to see the strong bond that immediately develops between Matt and his oldest daughter Alexandra (beautifully played by Shailene Woodley), who tosses aside the usual teen issues that drove a wedge between her and her parents in recent years, and starts helping her dad put her mother's affairs in order and prepare for her funeral.

And when I use the word "affairs" above, I don't just mean finances and legal stuff. Matt soon learns from his daughter that he wasn't the only imperfect spouse in their family, though he is shocked to learn exactly what his wife was up to during her last months.

With the help of his family, and one or two hangers-on, Matt puts things to rest during the course of the movie, resulting in situations that are funny, sad, moving, sometimes ridiculous, but always very human. It's interesting that Matt's forgiveness of his wife's infidelity comes fairly early on (though residual anger surfaces here and there), because there's work to be done. Despite what he's learned, he's determined to put his wife to rest with dignity and love, and to honor her memory properly with friends and family.

Filling out the movie are some beautiful locations in Hawaii, a quirky subplot involving Matt and Alexandra trying to locate Elizabeth's secret lover (despite their negative feelings about that part of her life, they want to give the guy the opportunity to properly say goodbye to her), and another subplot involving a major land deal being overseen my Matt, which ultimately ties into the movie's theme of identifying what's really important in life.

In the end, The Descendents is an involving family drama that honestly earns the emotions it brings forth. And, really, don't let the premise scare you off. You'll likely leave the film feeling upbeat and chatty, ready to discuss the film's humor and humanity.

Obligatory cat photo

I've said it before and I'll say it again: what good is a blog if you don't occasionally run a photo of a cute cat? So here's one for you. We took this little guy in on Monday, November 14, close to midnight.



What's his story, you ask? Through our front window, I first saw him wandering in front of a couple of stores across from our house earlier that night (about 8:00 p.m., if I remember), but didn't act because there were a few people out there and I figured he probably belonged to one of them. But then, near midnight, when I happened to look through the window again before going to bed, he was still there, this time alone, amusing himself by chasing pieces of paper that were blowing around.

To me, it was pretty obvious: as an older kitten, no longer tiny and cute (though he's still pretty cute, if you ask me), somebody or somebodies decided they didn't want him anymore and just dropped him in front of a strip mall, hoping (if they even thought about it that much) that someone would grab him up.

Anyway, long story short, within a few minutes he was safely in our house, eating away (we already have cats, so plenty of cat food was on hand), and shortly looked completely at ease. He's been here since, thanks to Alison not telling me to get rid of him when she saw him in our kitchen the morning after my late-night rescue. Even our other two cats kinda/sorta like him (well, at least one does).

Now, if only we can come up with a good name...

Here's the story...

After seeing news around the 'net (particularly at Amazon) that revealed the title and release date of the new Spenser novel, Lullaby, I immediately engaged in a little detective work to find an actual plot synopsis of the novel, which was written by mystery/thriller novelist Ace Atkins (pictured). In a brilliant piece of deductive reasoning based on obscure clues, I decided to, uh, check out Mr. Atkins' web site. And, sure enough, I saw that the writer had just posted a perfect little teaser (not too much info, nor too little) on what we can look forward to in May. Here's what Ace had to say:

"Lullaby" takes place the following spring after we last saw Spenser in "Sixkill". Spenser helps a tough 14-year-old girl from South Boston find justice for her mother, who was murdered four years ago. The girl, Mattie, believes the wrong man is doing life for the crime, because she saw two other toughs shove her mother in a car the night she died. Spenser finds those two toughs are connected to Gerry Broz, the screw-up son of infamous crime boss Joe Broz, a man who's been missing for more than a decade and on top of the FBI's most-wanted list.

Doesn't sound bad. I like the "familiar ground" aspects of the plot: Spenser taking on a loose-cannon gangster wannabe out to prove himself, and Spenser helping out a troubled kid. These tried and true, always fun to see Spenser elements will soothe and welcome readers, putting us at ease as we get used to a new writer's voice in this 40-book series, as well as make us more open to the new types of plot and character elements that Mr Atkins will almost undoubtedly also include.

So, yeah, bring on Lullaby!

New Spenser info!

The late and much missed Robert B. Parker's famous and beloved detective hero Spenser returns on May 1, 2012 in Lullaby, written by noted thriller/mystery novelist Ace Atkins. The new book's subtle and classy cover art accompanies this post.

I'll share basic plot information as I get it, but for now it's nice to know that we'll soon have Spenser back in our lives again. And I think Robert Parker would be glad to know that, too. During his lifetime, it pleased the author that his character was popular and loved, and now his creation will, one hopes, continue to be so in new adventures and cases.

Of course, on that last point, it'll help if Lullaby turns out to be a terrific, bang-up story worthy of the many great Spenser tales that preceded it. I just might have to check out an Ace Atkins title or two between now and May to give myself a bit of a glimpse of the kind of story that might be waiting for us this spring. But, for now, I have high hopes.

Enjoy the day

Kindle Taproom wishes all its readers a happy and healthy Thanksgiving, full of family, fun, and fantastic food!

Posting may be a little light during the next day or two as blogger Joe (me) enjoys the long weekend, but posts will resume in full force shortly. Until then, try to follow my example and enjoy a little relaxation and maybe hit a movie. I hear The Descendents is good.

Quarry stalks more prey

Sharp, fast, and fun, Quarry's Ex features Max Allan Collins' ex-hitman character- now a type of investigator, bodyguard, and counter hitman- this time hiring himself out to a low-budget film director targeted for termination by parties unknown. The director purchases Quarry's deluxe package, meaning our hero will eliminate the hitmen stalking the director AND identify and neutralize whoever hired them.

I use the term "hero" in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Though Quarry (aka "Jack", with no last name given to the reader) is not a hitman himself anymore, Collins doesn't set up bogus situations where 1) the only people Quarry now kills are murderous scum, or 2) Quarry is only killing in self defense (two of the scenarios embraced by lesser writers to make sure their "bad boy" characters don't appear too bad). Nope, while Quarry certainly doesn't kill Girl Scouts or little old ladies, some of the kills he performs in the service of his current assignments are a little wince-inducing (I'm thinking of a scene in the current book involving a car tire). And yet, he still remains likable. That's good writing.

The initial five or six Quarry books chronicle Quarry's, or "Jack's", career from its earliest days to its conclusion. The most recent entries, including this one, are basically untold stories that take place at various points during that career. This time out, as well as enjoying the story of the film director and whoever is stalking him, we also get to see Jack meet up with the wife (now "ex", hence the book's title) who had, at least in Jack's mind, a central role in his becoming a hitman in the first place way back when. In fact, maybe Quarry's ex-wife is somehow involved in the director's predicament, as she's now married to him.

Oh, and if you're curious how Quarry's hitman and counter-hitman career wound to a close, you'll have to read The Last Quarry, because I won't reveal things here. But feel free to read Quarry's Ex first. All the Quarry books, with their heady mix of mystery, action, sex, and violence, are self-contained gems that are guaranteed to happily take you away for a few hours.

Quarry's Ex is available on Kindle for $7.69.