books – Page 4 – Observations Along the Road

Borders UK Closing

Posted onTuesday, December 15, 2009Authorcahwyguy

Thanks to underpope for this lead: Borders may be closing all stores on 12/22 (http://tinyurl.com/ycy2gsm). I find this odd that they wouldn’t have a going out of business sale, so I’m guessing they are close on a buyer… but still… We’re regulars at the Borders at the Northridge Mall.

UPDATE: Looking closer, this appears to just be Borders UK. Still, it’s sad to see any bookseller close.

Thursday News Chum

Posted onThursday, June 4, 2009Authorcahwyguy

For some reason, finding good news chum this week has been harder than finding a solvent US-headquartered automobile company. But I know my audience, and did find a few things worth commenting over a few days of skimming the news over lunch:

From the “Maybe We Need A Part-Time Legislature” Department: I’ve commented on this before: our state legislators seem far too eager to introduce bills, without realizing that each bill costs money… and so, one significant way that California could save money is probably by making the legislators get real jobs. Two articles this week highlighted that for me: The first was a story from the SLO local paper about how there is a bill in the assembly to make pseudoephedrine prescription only. Yes, I’m aware of its use to make meth. But it is also one of the few effective decongestants out there, and it already requires a log to get, with quantity limitations. Prescriptions will just make it more expensive, with respect to doctor charges. On the state Senate side, there’s a bill regarding mandatory spay and neutering. Now, I’m all in favor of having animals spayed and neutered, but according to the AKC, this bill is unnecessary. When you look at all the bills introduced, and look at the specifics of the interesting ones, you wonder how much of our current fiscal problems come from the legislator feeling they need to do something to justify their salaries.
From the “It’s an Original” Department: Playbill brings news that the 1983 film comedy “Valley Girl” is being turned into a movie musical. There are also plans to make a movie based off of “Stretch Armstrong”… yes, the toy. This has led some to argue about the dearth of original movies, and how there are too many remakes of recent movies. However, just as with theatre, being original does not guarantee success. What we need is not necessarily original movies or theatre, but movies or theatre from good sources. There are plenty of excellent books out there that could be well adapted, but this would require that folks actually read books. Perhaps that’s too much to ask.
From the “Teach Your Children” Department: Sorta related to conclusion of the last item… Viacom is discontinuing Nick Magazine, because of the usual problems with print media. It seems that kids these days don’t read… and don’t buy from advertisers. Soon, the only successful kids magazines might be the ones that don’t have ads (such as Ladybug). I’m not holding Nick Magazine as a paragon of great writing (it is more in the category of great marketing), but its death does say something about these shill magazines. I wonder what the future holds for the Food Network magazine.

Kosher L’Pesach News Chum

Posted onFriday, April 10, 2009Authorcahwyguy

Some lunchtime news stories, guaranteed not to contain wheat or to have been in contact with water for more than 18 minutes… although they might get a rise out of you:

From the “Roadside Motel” Department: Many folks know I have an interest in historical Southern California, and especially things along the routes of US highways. Thus I was just drawn to an article in today’s LA Times on the preservation attempts for the “Wagon Wheel Motel”, which is located at the intersection of US 101 and CA 1. The Wagon Wheel has been the focus of some interesting photo essays in socal_abandoned. I just love looking at old motels along US highways. Related to this (and not far away), Rick Caruso’s rehab of Montecito’s “Miramar Hotel” has been revived and looks to be moving forward.
From the “Loving Books” Department: During a recession, people turn to entertainment to divert themselves from their woes. This is being demonstrated not only in the theaters, but in the sales of Romance novels, which are growing. And there are all sorts these days: Christian romance, paranormal romance, suspense romance, NASCAR romance (titles include “Checkered Past” and “Black Flag, White Lies”), unexpected pregnancy scenarios, single-mother situations, and even an unwed pregnant woman courted by a man who isn’t the father of her baby but wants to be.
From the “Getting the Message Across” Department: A father has smashed his daughter’s cell phone over a $4,700 cell phone bill, caused by over 20K text messages sent or received in a single month. Of course, she’s also been grounded for the month.

Pre-inaugural Chum

Posted onMonday, January 19, 2009Authorcahwyguy

Although Monday’s are usually quiet news days, perhaps the hoopla tomorrow is churning it out:

From the “Brands That Live and Die” Department: The NY Times is reporting that even though the Sharper Image stores have closed, the brand is living on. Specifically, the new owners of the brand are using it for new innovative, although cheaper, electronics. Other brands aren’t so lucky. A local franchiser is closing most of the Southern California Applebee’s, including those in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, and Santa Clarita. Another bane of the mall, Libby Lu, is also closing their locations. I’ve always had a grudge against Libby Lu, as they took over the GameKeeper location at the Northridge Mall.
From the “Feeling the Pain of the Recession” Department: Many other groups are feeling the pain of the recession. The LA Times has an interesting article on one such group: gardeners. It seems local service providers such as gardeners, housekeepers, and pool cleaners are often hit hardest during a recession — and they are the ones that can often ill afford such a hit. There’s another group being hurt by the recession: Bush-administration appointees. Normally, when an administration leaves office the appointees can count on jobs in the DC area at local corporations and lobbyists. But the tightened job market is making those jobs harder to come by, and so these folks may have to look elsewhere.
From the “Perhaps The Expectations Are Too High” Department: I know that everyone is excited about the change of administrations tomorrow, but let’s not elevate the man to patriarch status until he has earned it. Even our great leaders didn’t come into office with such high expectations (and that includes the man of the hour, Abe Lincoln). But I’m already seeing movements to rename Delmar Blvd in St. Louis as Obama Blvd, and even CNN is indicating that everyone expects Obama inauguration speech to be carved in marble. I admit, he is doing some interesting bipartisan actions — even going so far as to consult with his election opponent, but let’s not raise the expectations so high he can never meet them. We should, after all, be used to low expectations.
From the “Moving Day” Department: And speaking of low expectations, how about those Bushes? Seriously, one thing that has always interested me is the logistics of moving one occupant out and one in on the same day. It appears that that the Bushes have been smart here, or at least Laura has. Starting in the summer, Laura Bush started moving out of the White House, completing the move of personal belongings from Camp David over Christmas. The only things really left for President and Mrs. Bush are their personal belongings and luggage for the last day. Of course, they will leave a legacy…
From the “They’re Dieing to Get In” Department: Speaking of legacies… There is an interesting legacy in the Santa Monica Canyons: The Marquez Cemetary. The LA Times has an interesting article today on how the family is attempting to restore the cemetary and open it to the public.
From the “Read a Good Book” Department: If you are at all like me, you love a good bookstore. Especially used book stores. Ever wonder how they are faring these days? There’s a good article in the Daily News on A&M Book Cellars in Canoga Park (website), a used-book store that has been around 24 years. The secret of their success: don’t change. It reminds me of another favorite used book store: Cliff’s in Pasadena.

A Literary Legend is Gone

Posted onFriday, October 31, 2008Authorcahwyguy

Studs Turkel has died.

Studs was a remarkable author who was willing to weave oral stories into compelling narratives that made a point. Examples include books such as the classic Working, which was just people talking about their jobs; The Good War, people remembering World War II; “Hard Times“, people talking about the depression, and many others. Working was eventually made into a Broadway musical. One of the books on my reading list is one of Stud’s last books: “Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Difficult Times“.

A unique author who made unique contributions. He will be missed.

Some tidbits from the news, plus a few other things…

Posted onMonday, January 28, 2008Authorcahwyguy

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article on how “Super Tuesday” will be close. Hopefully, race won’t be a factor, for in South Carolina, it appears that white voters supported ‘Hil, and black voters supported ‘Bama. Andy Tanenbaum said it best over at Electoral-Vote: if Obama is to win, the battle must be characterized as “youth” vs. “old and decrepid”, not “white” vs. “black” or “man” vs. “woman”. Obama represents the incoming generation (what some call Gen-X), Hilary the Late-Boomer generation, and McCain the generation before that (some characterize it as “GI”). This is one of the reason Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama is so important (I’ll note the Mercury News endorsed him as well): the Washington Post has a good analysis of endorsements. By the way, for those that follow Electoral-Vote, I’ve created it as a syndication: elect_vote_08.
Of interest to auntysocial, the LA Times also has an article on saving LA’s historic bridges. There are a number downtown built between 1910 and 1930 that are quite beautiful. What are my favorite bridges? I have two: the Colorado St. Bridge in Pasadena, and the one folks rarely see: the Cold Spring Arch Bridge (another link) near Santa Barbara.
lrc has a pointer to an interesting question: What was the first Sci/Fi and/or Fantasy novel/series you ever read? In my case, it was two things: a camp counselor introducing me to Kurt Vonnegut’s “Welcome to the Monkey House” (which was really a short-story collection), and Bill Layton at Pali Hi introducing me to Harry Harrison’s “Captive Universe”.

Did You Ever Wonder What Happened When Buffy Grew Up?

Posted onSunday, September 16, 2007Authorcahwyguy

A month-or-so ago, whilst perusing the aisles of the local Borders, I chanced upon a book that caught my eye: California Demon. The description of the book seemed quite interesting:

As both a Level Four Demon Hunter and a stay-at-home mom, Kate Connor’s days are filled with challenges. If Kate isn’t dusting off demons with nothing more than a bottle of holy water and a sharp object, then she is trying to not only meet the many different demands of a toddler, a teenager, and a busy husband running for political office but also keep her house dusted. So far Kate has successfully kept her two different “jobs” separate from one another, but when a new demon–but one with the same old goal of ruling the world–shows up in San Diablo and targets her daughter’s high school, it starts becoming more and more difficult for Kate to keep her family from finding out she has another calling, namely, ridding the world of evil. Picking up Kate’s story from Carpe Demon (2005), Kenner continues to put her fun, fresh twist on mommy-lit with another devilishly clever book.

This turns out to be a series of books: Carpe Demon, California Demon, and Demons are Forever. The books are well written and quite funny… and would make a wonderful TV series because of the basic characters combined with the demon-of-the-week. It would be nice mix of comedy and drama, and I think it would do well. But how to cast it?

Note that my intent here is really not to talk about Buffy (to confess, I’ve really only watched the musical episode)… but rather to recommend this series, which I found to be really good. I’ll also note that the author has a blog and a myspace page that look to be worth exploring.

Protected: Smelling the Paint Drying…

Posted onFriday, July 27, 2007Authorcahwyguy