By Steven Gould: I believe this is the first novel published by this author(whoever he may be). the original edition was published in 1992. Republished now that's it's become "a major motion picture" it would be interesting to see what a re-written version(post 9-11) would turn out. Anyway, an interesting story of a teenager who discovers his power of teleportation(thanks to his abusive father), but only to places he's been or can visualize in detail. While the story itself(terrorists,government agents,etc)is nothing new, the psychological and especially the personal interactions are something more than you might normally expect from this sort of novel (marketed as a 'movie tie-in' right on the spine of the book).
So, all in all, a good fast read, with some food for thought - what would YOU do given the choices David has to make? Personally, I would have gone for the bank also...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++And now for something completely different...and that would be the movie. Actually read this book quite a while ago, and in the interim had a chance to watch the movie. Probably a mistake, it usually is when I read a book & watch a movie. And when I say completely different, I mean pretty much different. Other than the name of the movie, the name of the main character, and the power to jump, there's not a lot in common betwen the book & the movie.(And of course, the movie comes off the worse.) I'm not going to give away the 'plot', but I will say one of the disappointing bits was the movie had more than one jumper, which was part of what made the book work well; being the only person with an ability like teleportation is a lot different than being one of a few or many.
So if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, do one or the other - not both. And I would recomment the book over the movie.
So it's been announced that the remaining V.M.s in the U.S. will be closing by May 31, including the one close to me in Downtown Disney shopping area. Bummer, as they were the last large music store that carried beyond the 'popular' music. Good place for Hawkwind and others of that ilk. But, alas, no more. Hopefully, they'll have a good closing sale and I'll be able to pick up some last gems before they go.
The famous unknown guitar player, you may recognize him, but you may not know who he is. Besides being a session musician, he also plays guitar for many vocal acts that don't have permanent bands. The reason I bring this up is last night watching a recent clip from a Stevie Nicks 'Soundstage' show, and of course there was Waddy playing guitar for Stevie. Well, back 25 or so years ago, there was a Stevie Nicks concert broadcast on HBO. And the guitar player was Waddy Wachtel back then. 
'Well you see, Norm, it's like this . . . A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.' 
Hadn't had them in about 40 years, but saw them on the buffet table at Fred's Market (good,down-home cooking - no shit). So I had to try them, and found that they're quite as tasty as when my Mom used to make them.
By Steven Gould: I believe this is the first novel published by this author(whoever he may be). the original edition was published in 1992. Republished now that's it's become "a major motion picture" it would be interesting to see what a re-written version(post 9-11) would turn out. Anyway, an interesting story of a teenager who discovers his power of teleportation(thanks to his abusive father), but only to places he's been or can visualize in detail. While the story itself(terrorists,government agents,etc)is nothing new, the psychological and especially the personal interactions are something more than you might normally expect from this sort of novel (marketed as a 'movie tie-in' right on the spine of the book).
And a perfect name for it, since it's a barleywine style with 11% alcohol!! Coming as the 3rd beer of the night, it ended up the last beer of the night. 
I'll tell you, this cartoon series 'Dinette Set' is way too funny!!! And you really have to pay attention to the backgrounds, t-shirts, etc. to make it even funnier. Check it out, the link is embedded in today's blog title.
Actually Phyllis has had double vision more like the picture below...
So for the last 2 weeks we've been going back and forth to Tampa to see the eye specialist for her eye operations, which basically consisted of surgically lifting her lower eyelids to cover her tear ducts. Which operation has a really long and meaningless name (at least to us laymen). But hopefully once the shiners go away Phyl's vision will go back to normal.
