Possumblog

Well, by Jiminy, if New Orleans can have Mardi Gras…

…then the intervention in regular Possumblogging caused by me having to tend to my paid work shouldn’t stop us from producing yet another installment of America’s Favorite Weekday Internet Time-Waster, The Axis of Weevil Thursday Three!

As you all know, lately it has become my custom to rely upon the kindness of strangers to supply questions for the T-3, and this week’s no exception. Thankfully, given that the amount of time I have this week to devote to such diversions is small, the questions are of the short, sweet, and simple variety. (And no, I do not believe this has anything to do with their author.)

SO THEN, let’s get on with the parade! The questions are these:

1. Whatcha reading?
2. …Listening to?
3. …Watching?

AND, in one of the biggest surprises of all, A BONUS QUESTION— Whatcha cooking?

Since our questionist didn’t specify, I figure you can be as literal or figurative as you want to be when it comes to defining things like time and material. Right now you’re reading this, right? Well, if you want to put that down, go ahead. Cooking up a big batch of manatee lasagna in a couple of weeks? Same deal.

Just leave your answers in the comments below or a link to your site and we’ll all come over and see what’s there.

NOW THEN, for my answers--

1. Reading? What’s that!?

Hee-hee. I’m so funny.

ANYwho, I’ve got a couple in the hopper at the house that I manage to read a bit of each night. I just finished one book I got for Christmas, Military History's Top 10 Lists--Great Commanders, Improbable Victories, Unlikely Heroes, and Other Martial Oddities by M. Evan Brooks. It was a jaunty, breezy ride through history, and although the real heavy lifting of the book is in coming up with the categories and possible “nominees” (for lack of a better word), the write-ups rely a bit heavily on excerpts of other author’s works. The author obviously has to know his stuff to be able to sift through all the lists and make comparisons, but I think I would have liked to have heard more of his voice in it.

One that I started at the same time as that one is one that I am in the middle of right now--World War II--4,139 Strange and Fascinating Facts by Don McCombs and Fred L. Worth. It’s basically an encyclopedia, which means great width, but not a lot of depth. It also seems very dated, even though it was published only about 11 years ago. There are some real corkers in there that would bear a bit more research before passing them along. What’s most interesting is the number of famous Hollywood actors who served during World War II, and not just in the “boosting morale” role. I can’t remember them all right off hand, but it would be nice if we had more folks in Hollywood like Jimmy Stewart or Charles Durning.

The other one I’ve got beside the bed is one I’ve barely gotten past the first couple of chapters on, but it is very informative. It’s Last Battle: The Mayaguez, the Lost Fire Team, and the End of the Vietnam War by Ralph Wetterham.

2. Listening to? Well, I signed up for that Yahoo! Launchcast gadget, where you can pick several artists and have your own little desktop radio station. I suppose there are other things out there that are easier to use or with fewer interruptions, but it’s pretty good for background noise. You get to pick several artists, and then they add in more that are supposedly related to your picks. Right now, it’s playing Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City.” I assume this is because in amongst all the baroque late-‘70s pothead/redneck/boogie rock bands I chose, I also picked The Dillards and Bill Monroe as two of my choices. (HEY! “Mule Skinner Blues” just came on! Wheee!) I suppose if I knew more about downloading music I would do that, but this is a lot easier, and it’s blessedly free of Eminem.

3. Watching? Well, there’s basically only four things on teevee right now--24, American Idol, The Office, and My Name Is Earl. I also enjoy watching reruns of the same 11 episodes of Fawlty Towers on Saturdays. I have a bunch of movies that I got for Christmas that I still have not watched.

4. Cooking? Nothing of note--last weekend’s rainy-day meat incineration duties have been about the extent of it lately.

Speaking of incineration, my lovely bride brought home a bunch of meaty shish kebob things Tuesday night, and yes, you guessed it, decided to use the oven broiler to cook them. And yes, as she always does, filled the house with acrid smoke. And the lovely screech of smoke alarms. ::sigh:: Why? I suggested after the fifth or sixth time I had to get up and open up the garage door that maybe we should consider baking stuff like this instead of broiling it. “Well, I HAVE the oven on BAKE!” I looked over there, and sure enough, the little dial was set to “Bake.” And the temperature all the way up to 500º. “Hmm. Well, maybe it’s the temperature, then--possibly we could turn it down to 350 or so--you know, like regular baking temperature.”

Yes, I know, I’m a moron to suggest it.

Anyway, there you go.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at March 2, 2006 08:00 AM