Framing the Dialogue

Archive for April, 2015

There is Hope All Around

As the title suggests, there is hope all around us.  I have come to believe that the media is the worst enemy of our country.  They exploit our worst traits to sell us shoes, makeup and prescription drugs.  From reality shows to thousands of diet tips to photoshopped images of “celebrities,” media sets the dialogue…and sadly we watch.

The Burning Wire

burning wire“Rhyme needed problems, challenges, input.  One of the difficulties with a severe disability that few people focus on is the absence of anything new.  The same settings, the same people, the same activities…and the same platitudes, the same empty reassurances, the same reports from unemotional doctors.”

In The Burning Wire, quadriplegic crime scene investigator, Lincoln Rhymes, wrestles with an old nemesis, the Watchmaker, and a new threat to New York City using an effective and powerful yet invisible weapon.  Panic begins to set into NYC as a series of attacks, seemingly random, occur from a group with unrealistic demands.  Actually impossible demands.  Hindered by his disability, Rhymes relies on his associates to be his arms and legs, but it’s his mind that makes him great.  Also the style of his team puts them in the spotlight and at risk.

Double Fudge Brownie Murder

double fudge brownieHannah Swensen and company are back in the Double Fudge Brownie Murder and…surprise surprise…there is another murder to solve and in this one Hannah almost witnesses the murder. She and her friends and family try to solve the crime as they explore numerous new recipes for treats. By way of full disclosure I tried the “burger dog” recipe from the book. They were hard to seal (stuffed burger) and the taste was just okay…not a keeper in my Paprika iPhone app.

Divorce American Style

imageUnless you live in a cave somewhere you’ve seen the statistics on the effects that divorce has on families. I do think the stats are skewed and that 50% of all marriages do not end in divorce or I must live in some “super” zone where divorce rarely happens and when it does its for the best of all concerned.

Divorce is certainly a last resort, but is a divorce decree from the Interweb I think I can live with:

The Cases That Haunt Us

imageI’m reading this book, The Cases That Haunt Us, and I’m in a chapter discussing a possIble scenario where an UNSUB (unknown subject) breaks into the victim’s house the brutally murder someone. My wife wakes me at 4:00 am because she heard the garage door open. I grab some clothes, my Mag light (one of the big ones), my phone and a baseball bat to investigate. Adrenaline now pumping as I advance and turn on ever light approaching the basement/garage…only to find it empty and the door closed. I turned to go back inside when the garage door opened on its own.

Time Will Run Back

time runs back 2This book was a great surprise for me. Time Will Run Back was written by one of my favorite economics authors, Henry Hazlitt. His earlier work titled Economics In One Lesson is more or less a text book that read, to me anyway, like a novel. Okay not really like a novel, but I found it to be readable and understandable. When I started reading this book I was astonished to find that this was, in fact, a work of fiction.

Blackberry Pie Murder

blackberry pie murder 2The Blackberry Pie Murder is the latest (for me) in the Hannah Swensen “baking” murder mysteries.  The novel is the seventeenth in the series by author Joanne Fluke.  It features the usual cast of characters and Ms. Swensen, her family and the “getting tiresome” love triangle with Mike and Norman.  As usual the book feature numerous recipes for baked goods mentioned in the story.  By my count of all of the books that I read The Cookie Jar, Swensen’s fictitious baker/coffee shop, must have about four hundred cookie on the menu.  In the interest of full disclosure I have actually tried some in the past.

One Of These Things

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This page from a recent Costco magazine immediately reminded me of that old Sesame Street skit One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other.  The look on the little plush lamb’s face is quite understandable!

HAPPY EASTER!