Recent Reads: Pyramid Scheme & Pyramid Power

First off, let me tell you these books have absolutely nothing to do with Bernie Madoff, finance in general, or just about anything else anchored in reality (though to be fair neither Madoff nor the investment banks were anchored in reality either.) Pyramid Scheme and the sequel Pyramid Power are jointly written by Eric Flint and Dave Freer.
Quick synopsis of the first book. Weird alien device shaped like a black 5 sided pyramid lands in the middle of the U. of Chicago campus and starts sucking up people who have a lot of gullibility or anger. Like the blob it grows with every snatch. It also grabs anyone in contact with the person it was trying to snatch. (This is where it gets weird and really, really funny.) Those that are snatched are thrown into the middle of the Greek myths -though a few get sidetracked into the Egyptian myth. The characters we follow are dropped on Odysseus ship in the middle of his trek home. A biologist, a not very bright policeman, a mythography professor, and two soldiers match wits with Odysseus, Circe, Medea, Arachne, and the pantheon of Olympus in a very funny twist.... sort of Connecticut Yankee in Zeus' court. This book is light, quick, funny and has it's own take on the Greek Myth - for example, why does Odysseus get to go down in history when he was one of the least successful leaders ever. To misquote, he lost 1100 men while spending 20 years travelling only 500 miles and having his men ignore nearly every order he gave. If you like myths and/or fantasy and/or clever writing this is a good book.
Pyramid Power revisits the pyramid with many of the same characters, only this time we are in the Norse myths. While dealings with Odin, and especially Loki and Thor are entertaining this book is a little too familiar. It is fun but doesn't quite capture the spirit of the first book. While fun it just doesn't flow as well as the first book.

Recent Reads: Charlatan and Shakespeare: World as Stage

I recently finished two books: Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Caught him, and the age of Flimflam " by Pope Brock and "Shakespeare: The World as Stage" by Bill Bryson. Charlatan was an incredibly interesting book about John Brinkley, the most successful medical con man in the United States history and the editor of the then-fledgling American Medical Association Journal, Morris Fishbein.

Brinkley made millions, opening hospitals first in Milford, Ks. then in Del Rio, Texas to implant goat glands in men who have, well, let's just say goat gland implants were the 1930's version of Viagra. I could have done with less medical detail, but it was interesting to learn how Brinkley was actually the winner of the 1930 Kansas Gubernatorial race, but was cheated by collusion between the GOP and Demo's (both of whom later admitted it.) Brinkley, through his botched surgeries and the selling of colored water as various prescription formulas deserves to be thought of as a mass murderer, but he was also the forerunner of radio advertising - building a radio station in Milford, then when it was closed down by the FCC he opened one across the Mexican border from Del Rio. His station was eventually 1 million watts and could be heard across the country, blotting out local stations. Between ads for his hospital and his 'prescriptions' he introduced country and bluegrass to the U.S. - most people heard the Carter family for the first time on XERA, his Del Rio station.

Bill Bryson's Shakespeare book, like all of his books, is both an absolute hoot and a really interesting biography. Bryson gives us great imagery of England and especially London during the time of Shakespeare. He also gives an overview of some of the detailed research and studies on Shakespeare, and attacks the supposed 'other writer' theories with relish - laying out then tearing down one after the other, demonstrating the conjecture is not based on anything factual - one of my favorite points in the book is when he looks into the claim that "there is no evidence that Shakespeare ever owned a book." After acknowledging that this is true, he reflects on the other evidence and shows that we also have no proof that Shakespeare ever owned shoes or pants - yet we assume he did not spend his entire life naked from the waist down.
Anyone who loves Bryson's books, Shakespeare's plays or sonnets, or just the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages will enjoy this book.

Twittering and Twitching through Taxes

Firing up the software, I have coffee and all my paperwork in front of me.
9:32 pm

Still updating, going to grab another cup of coffee.
9:47 pm


Whohoo green I scored a refund.
9:59 pm

Red, I pay. bummer.
10:04 pm

Green Yea!
10:05 pm


Red again, dang it.
10:06 pm


Still red.
10:10pm

Still red, better check the income boxes, must have typed something in wrong.
10:13pm


Great, fixed an error and now it is redder.
10:19pm


Coffee isn't doing it - I am getting a beer from the secret beer fridge (don't tell anyone about it).
10:20pm


Umm beer.
10:25pm


Checking numbers again - still red.
10:29 pm


Still red.
10:35 pm

Change income to $10 just to watch it turn green.
10:38 pm

Decided I will lose some liberties if I keep it at $10, correct income - yup red again.
10:44 pm

Time to start on deductions - I need another beer.
10:54 pm

Umm beer. Deductions here I come.
11:01 pm

Why is it still red?
11:05 pm

Why can't I deduct that? I need something stiffer than beer.
11:08 pm

Umm Scotch.
11:15 pm

Why can't I claim the cats as dependents? They can't even fill their water bowl or food.
11:19 pm

Boy this Scotch is smoother than I thought, better pour another glass.
11:24 pm

I know I paid more interest than that. I am calling Chase!
11:28 pm

Nice music, boy how did this bottle of scotch get sooo llooow so qucily
11:31 pm

Hung up phone. Wonder if liquor can be considered a tax preparation expense?
11:34 pm

Bottle empty. Box still red. Life Sucks! (Cat watches me cry)
11:58 pm

It's all good - so what if I have to pay taxes, people starving in Africa don't even have turbotax.
(Glad I found more booze though)
12:05 am

Stoopid compoter all blurrry. Grate I gottsta get me new monitor to finith my taxees.
12:28 am

Gonna go to bed, will finish in the morning, these taxes have given me quite a little headache. 12:48 am

Why is the house spinning! It must be a tornado!!! I must remember to stay away from flying monkeys!

12.55 pm

Tornado passed but I am gonna crawl to bed. Just to be safe.

1:01 am

What do you mean I didn't hit save!!!!!!!!!
9:30am

Just Finished Reading "Why We're Liberals"

I just finished reading Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America by Eric Alterman. An interesting book, and at moments truly enlightening. Part I tries, with limited success to try to define liberalism. It sets up the historically honorable liberal (everyone used to praise liberalism it seems) and the present ability of conservatives to define liberals however they want.

Part II, is titled Why they (liberals) Hate America - but it would have been more effectively titled "I know you are but what am I." This section, which is both more interesting and entertaining provides various claims made by conservatives about liberals (Liberals are love to tax, liberals hate religion, my favorite - liberals are so nasty) and disputes them with exhausting examples of how conservatives are even worse than liberals (hence I know you are but what am I). Alterman does a great job of proving that conservatives are worse at almost everything they accuse the liberals of being, and the exhaustive examples are both amusing and helpful, but that seems to be the value of the book.