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Jack Mangan’s Deadpan #106: Three Stories508 comments to Jack Mangan’s Deadpan #106: Three StoriesLeave a Reply |
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Jack Mangan’s Deadpan #106: Three Stories508 comments to Jack Mangan’s Deadpan #106: Three StoriesLeave a Reply |
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Copyright © 2012 Jack Mangan's Deadpan - All Rights Reserved |
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I think the bailouts SUCK. The question is, are you and I willing to have a very lean year in order to show the people who have been playing “fast and lose” with our financial system – some tough love?
BTW – the current theme song for my retirement account is “I’ll stop the world and melt with you.” :(
very painful day
JOe, for my part I am willing to have a very lean year. I can’t imagine what all of my neighbors who are losing their houses have been going through. If I have to tighten my belt a little, so be it.
Ya, same here. I ready to go through a lean year with the promise of better opprotunities ahead.
It’s the possibility of hyper inflation that worries me, my meagre savings could become worthless overnight if that happens.
On a much more trivial note, cool Star Wars homage in the Simpsons season premiere.
http://tinyurl.com/4dfgxp
But I will cry into my mug if any replies contain the words ‘long’ and ‘face’.
Speaking of Star Wars, I managed to rip my DVD of A New Hope to a PSP compatible format.
On a completely trivial note -
Does anyone else think of a small, 4 door sedan when they hear the word “quandary”?
As in “The new Chrysler Quandary … let us put you in one today!”
Sounds like an overpriced brand of ice cream bars to me JOe. “The rich, sweet and cold taste of a Quandary Bar.”
I’ve done too many geology courses, I was getting it mixed up with a geological time period…
Were you thinking of the Marzipan Era?
The Quandry Bar, do you lick it and risk the melt down or just bite in and rick the brain freeze? Hmmmmmm what to do? The Quandry bar.
http://tinyurl.com/4vgyba
I’ll get my coat.
http://tinyurl.com/4vgyba
I’ll get my coat…
The Quandary Period is now!
Final paragraphs:
‘He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.’
-1984 by George Orwell
‘Carson managed a sickly ghost of a grin, for it would be days before he’d be over the impact of his experience, but the captain wasn’t watching.
‘Yes, sir,’ he said. Common sense, more than modesty, told him he’d be branded as the worst liar in space if he ever said any more than that. ‘Yes, sir, too bad I missed all the excitement….’
-Arena by Fredric Brown.
Looks like my son made an impression on the volunteer group for “National Public Lands Day.” LOL
http://gctvolunteers.blogspot.com/2008/09/national-public-lands-day.html
‘Krag was waiting for him on the island raft. He threw a stern glance at Nightspore.
“Have you seen everything?”
“The struggle is hopeless,” muttered Nightspore.
“Did I not say I am the stronger?”
“You maybe the stronger, but he is the mightier.”
“I am the stronger and the mightier. Crystalman’s Empire is but a shadow on the face of Muspel. But nothing will be done without the bloodiest blows…. What do you mean to do?”
Nightspore looked at him strangely. “Are you not Surtur, Krag?”
“Yes.”
“Yes,” said Nightspore in a slow voice, without surprise. “But what is your name on Earth?”
“It is pain.”
“That, too, I must have known.”
He was silent for a few minutes; then he stepped quietly onto the raft. Krag pushed off, and they proceeded into the darkness.’
-A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
Wander Wolf was ROBBED of the Chico’s bag!
Chico? What about the man?
Damn that Brad P!
Well, even if WNDR lost out on Chico, I hear he gets the Man’s bag as consolation.
At the end of a long night, the writing phase of the production of Questors #3 is complete. Regular cast members, look for your scripts in the next day or two.
Good night, mush.
Irregular cast members tend to have to wait a little longer. *rimshot*
In that case I’ll hit the bran extra hard in the AM…
Dammit J0e, I only just noticed that we both made the same “Chico and hte Man” joke at the same time.
Whooooosh! as the chico reference passes way over my head.
http://tinyurl.com/3vgu72
Right.
Morning Pan, rain, rain, and more rain. These boots are made for walking.
‘A thousand miles below, he became aware that a slumbering cargo of death had awoken, and was stirring sluggishly in it’s orbit. The feeble energies it contained were no possible menace to him; but he preferred a cleaner sky. He put forth his will, and the circling megatons flowered in a silent detonation that brought a brief, false dawn to half the sleeping globe.
Then he waited, marshalling his thoughts and brooding over his still untested powers. For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something.’
-2001 a Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke.
Jack – *rubs hands together* Perrrrrfect!
My “mind meld” program is coming along nicely. Bwahahahahahahahah!!!
XTC playing in the background at Starbucks.
‘With an asbestos glove, he tremblingly reached into the still hot kiln and brought out the tall, now blue and white pot. His first pot. Taking it to a table, under direct light, he set it down and took a good luck at it. He professionally appraised its artistic worth. He appraised what he had done, and, within it, what he would do, and what later pots would be like, the future of them lying before him. And his justification, in a sense, for leaving Glimmung and all the others. Mali most of all. Mali whom he loved.
The pot was awful.’
Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K Dick.
Morning Pan!
I’m not even going to pretend to read the last four days of comments :)
There were some nice posts about Paul Newman.
Some Economic Updates.
… and Van was trying to find himself. Repeatedly. While apparently on a train.
I hate it when I misplace myself…
there’s a song by Lother and the Hand People.
One of the lyrics are
“you hide, and try and find yourself… and I’ll do the same”
lother – lothar
So how was the convention TEB?
lothar needed Van’s GPS
I’ve never thought of TEB as conventional.
Convention’s not til the end of October, Van.
Just life is getting quite busy leading up to it. Having meetings and doing other stuff almost every day now to put last minute stuff in order.
(Also month end at work now… no time for myself)
Right, getting my dates mixed up.
On an up note, I now know 7 different self defense moves as well as several kicks ;)
Many scripts for Questors #3 have been sent out. This has been a good morning. Off to run errands, and then tutoring time.
Well that should get Wolf shaking in his boots TEB.
Oh an a /swoooooon from me.
+d
I shall now growl at my keyboard..grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Van – Am I supposed to be Skeered of a pair of Slippers??
On a rare jaj positive note – my neighbor and I cooked up a batch of “Big Dog Barely Wine” (beer) last Sunday and it is happily bubbling away in the fermenter! In three months or so it will be a tasty treat!
Our October Fest beer is in it’s secondary fermentation stage and will be ready for bottling this weekend. Sadly, I won’t be able to help with that stage as I am going out of town for a week. (I will be scarce around here to)
The Oct Fest should be ready to drink in about 2 weeks!!! mmmmmm.
Well when the slippers know ’7 different self defense moves as well as several kicks ‘ that would be a yes.
Wabbit Season!
Hey Wolf, just heard your cast. If you need anybody for your story, let me know.
*flips Wndr to the floor*
‘My daughters are here with me now. They look beautiful by the sunny window and I tell them so. Seeing their pretty faces, I want to tell them that life is a journey of joys and wonders in a world of glorious possibilities, but I don’t believe a word of that. The terrible truth is that the world is an unsolvable deathtrap, full of willful predators and malicious fatal coincidences. Life within it is a series of losses, tragic accidents, and near misses, until you finally break down and become the next anonymous tragedy in the infinite march.
I want them to leave, so that they’re not here when the men come for me.
I smile and keep all of these thoughts to myself.
I wonder if today will be the day.’
The Unsolvable Deathtrap by Jack Mangan.
You do realise TEB that soon you will embody the ‘cute but deadly’ tag…
cough
*woosh of air escaping the lungs*
CP: Big Dumb Rocket – Our Lady Peace
Shoot me an email. I’ll get you on the list.
*winks at Vanamonde*
done!
Responded – Thank you.
Last night:
Heroes = pretty good
Chuck = rocked!
An interview that I did (over a year ago) finally has posted…
I don’t remember what I said in it…
http://www.escapefromcubicle17.com/2008/09/30/efc17-007-wander-radio/
BT is being very slow today…sigh.
Well I found out I’m being reduced to four days a week at work, because of our continued slow business. This does not bode well. I’m taking the necessary precautions, but my free time to post here is going to get sketchy fast.
Wow – Good luck to you Rhettro!
Hopefully things will go alright for you.
I’m hoping, been feeling like I’m living on borrowed time lately. So now the alternative / part time job search goes into full drive.
Woke up to no power. No heat and no internet. Guess which one I cursed over first?
Good luck with the job search Rhettro.
‘”They’re gone, Evie,” he said to the burro, “all gone.” He put his arm affectionately around her neck. “I reckon it’s up to me and you agin. We got to start all over.” He stood back and gazed at her with mild reproach. “I shore hope they don’t favor your side of the house so much this time.”‘
And All the Earth a Grave by Carroll M Capps
While 4 days a week is better than no days a week, I think most people would be doubling up on resumes. The gong of doom has sounded.
Good luck, Rhettro. May you have some irreplaceable niche skill set that gets you snapped up like the last cookie.
‘”Maybe. What’s it mean to you?”
“Night-hunting predator accustomed to dropping upon it’s victim from above. No other type of creature ever has had the vertical slit. And Tanub said himself that the Delphinus was hidden in the est place in all of their history. History? That’d be a high place. Dark, likewise. Ego: a high place on the darkside of their moon.”
“I’m a pie-eyed greepus,” whispered Stetson.
Orne grinned, said “You probably are … sir.”
Missing Link by Frank Herbert.
‘But Spur had stopped listening. He rubbed the shroud between his thumb and forefinger, thinking about how he and the Joerlys used to make up adventures in the ruins along Mercy’s Creek when they were children. Often as not one of them would achieve some glorious death as part of the game. The explorer would boldly drink from the poisoned cup to free her comrades, the pirate captain would be run through defending his treasure, the queen of skantlings would throw down her heartstone rather than betray the castle. And then he or Vic or Comfort would stumble dramatically to the forest floor and sprawl there, cheek pressed against leaf litter, as still as scattered stones. The others would pause briefly over the body and then dash into the woods, so that the fallen hero could be reincarnated and the game could go on.
“I want to go home,” he said, at last.
-Burn by James Patrick Kelly
‘Shattered, I sit down at the computer to email my brother about what’s happened. When I try and hit the space bar, one of my thumbs is missing. And I can’t remember how to spell “Matthew.” I scratch my head and can feel an incision all the way around my scalp, just at the hairline.’
Mementos by Richard Kadrey
Laughs are pretty scarce at the mo, but this should help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmE0Jbt0s9U
If Amazon can be believed, my name pops up twice in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008. I assume it’s a misprint.
CP: Jason Mraz – You and I Both
‘A flicker too bright to see, propagating faster than the signaling speed of nerves, punctuates their conversation. Seconds later, the mach wave flushes their cinders from the bleached concrete of the bench. Far out across the disk, the game of ape and ant continues; but in this place and for the present time, the question has been answered. And there are no human winners.’
Missile Gap by Charles Stross
‘She didn’t fight my kiss more than a couple of seconds. Then it was a pure case of self-preservation for me. This girl was a tiger. Looks can be awfully deceiving. But she broke away from me.
“Tex!” she gasped. “Stop, honey! Suppose somebody walks in.”
“A PC like you never gets that kind of surprise,” I lied valiantly.
“Am I?” she whispered. “Am I really a PC?
“That’s why you locked the door,” I said. “Remember?”
-Card… Trick by Randall Garrett
CP: Kurt Nilsen – Breathe You In
‘”Federal Bureau of Termination,” said the very warm voice of a hostess.
“How soon could I get an appointment?” he asked, speaking very carefully.
“We could probably fit you in late this afternoon, sir,” she said. “It might even be earlier, if we get a cancellation.”
“All right,” said the painter, “fit me in, if you please.” And he gave her his name, spelling it out.
“Thank you, sir,” said the hostess. “Your city thanks you; your country thanks you; your planet thanks you. But the deepest thanks of all is from future generations.”‘
2BRO2B by Kurt Vonnegut
Bloody spider/ zooming across the carpet as if on speed/ creeping me out/
BTW: I’m honored to have been amongst the quoted, Van.
Thanks everyone, I shall persevere.
Today’s awful title, from new books @ the public library:
Barbie in the Christmas Carol
*hurk*
Gateway techs give me the grrrrs.
Personal laptop went uh uh this morning. Translation: power refuses to come on. Gateway techs charge you $30 to say take it somewhere locally. Mind you, I fought with it an hour myself before resorting to “professional” help. So, while I wait for a nice local guy to show up, I’m typing this on the work computer. Shhhhhhhhhhh.
Here’s hoping October is a better month for us all.
Received today – my signed, limited edition hardcover of John Lenahan’s Shadowmagic. Listened to his podiobook version of it last year after meeting him at DragonCon 2007. I highly recommend it as a fun fantasy yarn.
http://www.shadowmagic.co.uk/
I can’t believe how fast this year has seemed to pass, October now and xmas coming in a rush.
‘They knew this was the fulfillment, by the powerful Psammead, of the last wish of the Phoenix, and that this glorious and delightful box of treasures was really the very, very, very end of the Phoenix and the Carpet.’
The Phoenix and the Carpet by Edith Nesbit.
. . . . …..driVE-BY COMmen….. . . . . . . .
Good luck w/ the puter, Cynful. Thanks for the recommendation, Ed.
Did anyone else see Jack fly by?
Was he (giving) a bird?
Raw recording of the first 7 minutes or so of Questors #3 is complete. Bedtime soon.
Night, Pan.
I think there was actually a Doppler shift in Jack’s post.
Which was the blue end?
Morning Pan, a day for pottering around and not doing much.
Pottering? You mean moping and riding a broomstick?
I think I’ve found Joe a Guru.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html
Tough love, but probably the right call.
Not everything with a potter in relates to JKR incorporated.
Morning Pan
I wish I could potter around and not do much today :(
Morning…Busy day…
So I’m in the cinema waiting for a movie called Red Belt to start and I’m all ALONE!
Eeeeek!
I’m the only one in the cinema I mean.
Was the movie that good, Van?
Behave yourself, Van.
Morning, Deadpan!
CP: Bernadette – The Four Tops
this is actually done by a gaming company to promote an upcoming game, but it’s an amusing commentary on the history of gaming
http://therealmatthazard.wordpress.com/
Morning Deadpan.
Ed – While I think that the guy may be write about “tough love”, most of his premise is fundamentally flawed.
He is trying to pin this mess all on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – while in fact those two institutions were small potatoes in this mess and aren’t even included in the 700 billion bailout is being offered to.
He is trying to pin this mess all on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – while in fact those two institutions were small potatoes in this mess and aren’t even included in the 700 billion bailout is being offered to.
This guy also makes the ludicrous comment, “with policies like the Community Reinvestment Act that pressure banks into subprime lending.” – FAIL.
That act makes allowances for only a tiny percentage of the number of bad loans that were written.
This guy is trying to “back-handedly” absolve greedy investment bankers and loan agencies of their sins.
The Government’s share of the blame in all of this was the removal of many banking regulations and the failure to enforce the ones that remained. Writing BAD subprime loans lays SOLELY at the feet of those mortgage professionals wrote them.
Morning DP,
So any opinions on a new computer? I’m honestly torn between a new lappy and a new desktop. I’m leaning toward the lappy since that’s what I’ve had.
Results from yesterday: motherboard went t.u.
What do you use if for, Cynful? I use a laptop exclusively. I’ve got it topped out though as I do a lot of gaming. I find that it works just fine (although I did need to add a cooling pad to play some of the higher end games).
I play LOTRO and SL a bit. My main storage is music and podcasting schtuff. So yeah, gaming/entertainment/online communication are my main uses.
PC Gaming did a recent article on laptops to fit both your needs and your budget
http://tinyurl.com/527dr3
Well the film was interesting but got a bit silly at the end.
I’m into netbooks at the moment, I like the small size and low power requirements.
Not so good for modern games though.
Thank you TEB. I was kinda looking at the Dell XPS. The article definitely helps.
I use a Dell XPS. I just bumped up from the standard (512 graphics, 4g memory, etc)
ZP disses Mercenaries 2:
http://tinyurl.com/4b47wv
‘While she was wondering what to do, and blaming herself for not breaking the spell before it was too late, he was agony of self loathing. Then he started to use his technique upon himself, so that no more harm should be done. It was more difficult than he expected; for soon as he began to lose consciousness he also lost his grip on the operation. But he made a desperate effort of will. When Helen, noticing his stillness, knelt down by him, he was dead.’
A Modern Magician by William Olaf Stapledon
‘The cat miaows faintly and hands me something red. An old plastic ball with toothmarks, smelling of the sun and the sea, with a few grains of sand ratting inside.
“Thanks,” I say. The cat says nothing, just opens a door into the zeppelins skin. I whisper a command, and the master is underway in a neutrino stream, shooting up towards an island in a blue sea. Where gods and big dogs live forever.
We dive through the door together, down into the light and flame.’
His Master’s Voice by Hannu Rajaniemi
…and now for some more crap jokes:
For decades, two heroic statues, one male and one female, faced each other in a city park, until one day an angel came down from heaven.
“You’ve been such exemplary statues,” he announced to them, “That I’m going to give you a special gift. I’m going to bring you both to life for thirty minutes, in which you can do anything you want.”
And with a clap of his hands, the angel brought the statues to life. The two approached each other a bit shyly, but soon dashed for the bushes, from which shortly emerged a good deal of giggling, laughter, and shaking of branches.
Fifteen minutes later, the two statues emerged from the bushes, wide grins on their faces.
“You still have fifteen more minutes,” said the angel, winking at them.
Grinning even more widely the female statue turned to the male statue and said, “Great! Only this time you hold the pigeon down and I’ll shit on its head.”
An inmate on death row was scheduled to be put to death by firing squad the following morning. One of the prison guards asked the inmate if he wanted something special for his last meal. The inmate declined the offer.
Later, the prison guard asked the inmate if there was something special he wanted to do on his final day. Again, the inmate declined the offer.
The following morning, as the inmate was being put before the firing squad, the guard asked him if he wanted a cigarette and a blindfold. “No,” the inmate said, “just get it over with.” “Well, is there anything that I can do for you before you go?” asked the guard.
The inmate thought for a moment, then replied, “Actually, music is my life. One thing I would really like would be to sing my favourite song, from beginning to end, without any interruptions.”
The guard nodded and agreed. “Go ahead,” said the guard.
The inmate started, “One billion bottles of beer on the wall…”
A man walked into a bar, sat down, ordered 3 shots of whiskey, drank them, then left. This continued daily for several weeks. Curious, the bartender asked him one day, “Why do you always order three shots of whiskey?”
The man answered, “Because my two brothers and I always used to have one shot each, and since they’ve both passed on, I’ve continued to order the three shots in their honor.”
The bartender thought that this was a very noble thing to do, and welcomed the man every time he visited the bar. Two weeks later, the man walked into the bar for his daily visit and ordered two shots of whiskey.
Surprised, the bartender asked him why he only ordered two when had had always been ordering three.
The man answered, “Oh, I’ve decided to stop drinking.”
A little fella walks into a bar. Unfortunately, there is a pile of dog shit just inside the door, and he slips in it and falls over. He gets up, cleans himself up and walks to the bar and buys a drink.
A great big man then enters the bar. He slips in the same pile of shit, falls, gets up, cleans up and buys a drink.
The little guy turns to the big guy and, trying to strike up a conversation, points to the pile by the door and says, “I just did that.”
The big guy punches him in the mouth.
Two Scottish nuns have just arrived in USA by boat and one says to the other, “I hear that the people of this country actually eat dogs.
“Odd,” her companion replies, “but if we shall live in America, we might as well do as the Americans do.”
Nodding emphatically, the mother superior points to a hot dog vendor and they both walk towards the cart. “Two dogs, please,” says one.
The vendor is only too pleased to oblige and he wraps both hot dogs in foil and hands them over the counter.
Excited, the nuns hurry over to a bench and begin to unwrap their ‘dogs.’ The mother superior is first to open hers.
She begins to blush and then, staring at it for a moment, leans over to the other nun and whispers cautiously, “What part did you get?”
Two missionaries in Africa get apprehended by a tribe of very hostile cannibals who put them in a large pot of water, build a huge fire under it, and leave them there.
A few minutes later, one of the missionaries starts to laugh uncontrollably. The other missionary can’t believe it! He says, “What’s wrong with you? We’re being boiled alive! They’re gonna eat us! What could possibly be funny at a time like this?”
The other missionary says, “I just peed in the soup.”
The teacher asked her class what each wanted to become when they grew up. A chorus of responses came from all over the room.
“A football player,”
“A doctor,”
“An astronaut,”
“The president,”
“A fireman,”
“A teacher,”
“A race car driver.”
Everyone that is, except Tommy. The teacher noticed he was sitting there quiet and still. So she said to him, “Tommy, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Possible” Tommy replied.
“Possible?” asked the teacher.
“Yes,” Tommy said. “My mom is always telling me I’m impossible. So when I get to be big, I want to be possible.”
So according to the new episode of Life, the Canadian thing is to be happy for now reason.
Any comments from the DP Canadians?
-w
cough
‘The higher sky, as we crossed the range, was surely vaporous and disturbed enough; and although I did not see the zenith, I can well imagine that its swirls of ice dust may have taken strange forms. Imagination, knowing how vividly distant scenes can sometimes be reflected, refracted, and magnified by such layers of restless cloud, might easily have supplied the rest – and, of course, Danforth did not hint any of these specific horrors till after his memory had had a chance to draw on his bygone reading. He could never have seen so much in one instantaneous glance.
At the time, his shrieks were confined to the repetition of a single, mad word of all too obvious source: “Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!” ‘
At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft
Back from lunch, doing WF stuff, etc.
Van, what’s wrong with being happy? You got something against people being happy? THAT KIND OF THINKING MAKES ME ANGRY!
;)
Happiness is so depressing.
Safety Razors were a wonderful invention.
Which game of Van’s should I play….
First a quote from the book I’m currently reading…
“Try it once more, without contact,” he said to the others. The buzzing chant rose from their mouths like a swarm of black flies. Antronos convulsed with pain as the sound pervaded his mind and the twisting, grey tentacles pushed against his will, into his head. The attack was more brutal than any he had felt in his office, at the docks, even most recently at the top of the stairs, but is was somehow tangible, lacking the insinuating liquid form of Jait’s mind, and Antronos was able to resist it. The chant grew louder, more persistent. Some of the creatures hedged toward him, and with closer proximity, their assault grew more intense. He felt them seeping through his skin, slithering up his legs like coiling ropes of sand, but this was surface magic, and he was a child of the Desert. He could fight this. He knew the very source of their power-
The Longevity Thesis by Jennifer Rahn
Thirsty jokers can be seen waiting in the punch line.
If you have a joker your family, just remember, he is jest having fun with his elations.
Are the jokes from painters off-colour?
Are jokes about cooks tasteless?
When a hangman tells a joke is he cord-ial? Or does he just string you along to the punnish line?
A frog telephones the Psychic Hotline and is told, “You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you.”
The frog says, “This is great! Will I meet her at a party, or what?”
“No,” says the psychic. “Next semester in her biology class.”
Some race horses staying in a stable. One of them starts to boast about his track record. “In the last 15 races, I’ve won 8 of them!”
Another horse breaks in, “Well in the last 27 races, I’ve won 19!!”
“Oh that’s good, but in the last 36 races, I’ve won 28!”, says another, flicking his tail.
At this point, they notice that a greyhound dog has been sitting there listening. “I don’t mean to boast,” says the greyhound, “but in my last 90 races, I’ve won 88 of them!”
The horses are clearly amazed. “Wow!” says one, after a hushed silence. “A talking dog.”
Phew TEB, I was getting lonely…
Did you hear the joke about 288 eggs?
I’d tell you but it’s two gross.
A blind man with a seeing eye dog at his side walks into a grocery store. The man walks to the middle of the store, picks up the dog by the tail, and starts swinging the dog around in circles over his head.
The store manager, who has seen all this, thinks this is quite strange. So, he decides to find out what’s going on. The store manager approaches the blind man swinging the dog and says, “Pardon me. May I help you with something.”
The blind man says, “No thanks. I’m just looking around.”
That’s it for me. Gotta go!
See ya tomorrow:)
‘But the room was empty. And when I looked back at the window, there was only me, my mouth open, my right hand frozen in mid-air, still reaching out to greet her.
I told Leon, “Alright. I’m ready now. Let’s go.”
The next ship came in two days later. I crunch across the ice crystals in Astor Place, and shivered in my thin shirt.
I lit a cigarette.
It was a habit, but one she’d started; and I lit it, like a candle, to my memory of her.’
The Corner of the Circle by Tim Lees
Was the goal 499 this week?
Yes Van it is… 499
Thx Wolf, well in for penny, in for a pound.
‘Guitierrez pushed up from his chair. He waved to Tim and Lex, playing in the pool. “Probably they will send the children home,” he said. “There is no reason not to do that.” He put on his sunglasses. “Enjoy your stay with us Dr. Grant. It is a lovely country here.”
Grant said, “You’re telling me we’re not going anywhere?”
“None of us is going anywhere, Dr. Grant,” Guitierrez said, smiling. And then he turned, and walked back toward the entrance of the hotel.’
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
‘And even, finally when his face plate cracked from the heat, his smile didn’t because the wave was lifting him up, up toward the blue planet, toward the planet, up and over and down and under into the star-flecked, foam-speckled blackness.
Wipeout. . .’
Dark Star novelisation by Alan Dean Foster
‘I thought of the first day and Pyle sitting beside at the Continental, with his eye on the soda-fountain across the way. Everything had gone right with me since he had died, but how I wished there existed someone to whom I could sayI was sorry.’
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
‘As an aside, story of sole survivor, Mr. Piscine Molitor Patel, Indian citizen, is an astouding story of courage and endurance in the face of extraordinarily difficult and tragic circumstances. In the experience of this investigator, his story is unparalleled in the history of shipwrecks. Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal Tiger.’
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
‘Marlene snorted. “You want mental transparence? Did I ever tell you about the underwear model I dated?”
“I thought you liked men who worked with their hands.”
“Don’t make fun. It ends up being a more interesting story than you might think….”‘
Wrong Number by Alexander Jablokov
I want to know WHAT Marlene snorted.