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Burgeoning Bag Of Awful Morphs From Onerous To Odious – August 4, 2012
• Tuesday, July 17 8:58 p.m. More items turned up missing at a burgled Golf Course Road residences, including two computers. A back door had been left unlocked.
• Wednesday, July 18 7:41 a.m. It was either a small mountain lion or the world's burliest housecat that was glimpsed in a Spring Street backyard.
9:05 a.m. A woman said that someone was using the frightening little tools that science has made available – text, e-mail and voice mail – to deliver threats. The bombardment was making her feel suicidal.
10:51 a.m. A woman who left her cute-ute parked at the Diamond Drive entrance to the Community Forest came back after a hike to find it broken into and burgled, with numerous items missing.
11:57 a.m. Alfred either did or didn't get into an argument with hitchhikers at his 17th and G corner.
12:18 p.m.
Drummer-types hatched a mad plot
To throttle a calm parking lot
In H block 900
The boppingness thundered
Till cops gave beat-stopping bon mots
1:44 p.m. A woman reportedly abandoned her four children, ages 5, 4, 3 and 1, leaving them with a roommate, and no one has been able to contact her. Child Welfare Services and the Sheriff's Office were notified.
5:39 p.m. A trash bag crammed with an unholy stew of ejectamenta turned up on an L.K. Wood Boulevard lawn. First thought to be a bag full of marijuana, the malodorous melange was then described as garbage and woody debris. The commingled substances seemed to evolve over a matter of minutes, as an arriving police officer described a fetid goulash of condoms and feces, mixed with further mind-reeling "unknown debris." The odious admixture was taken to the Corp Yard, where they have a cadaver-rated incinerator.
5:48 p.m. A pregnant cat in distress at the Marsh was taken to the animal shelter.
• Thursday, July 19 3:30 a.m. A thoroughly cocktailed man found hazardous repose in the roadway on Samoa Boulevard. He was deposited in the drunk tank.
10:50 a.m. A man came to the station complaining of having been in a "funk" for two days.
12:20 p.m. A tall, bearded man dressed all in white with a walking staff committed some lunch hour messianic activity by knocking over a ladder and arguing with random individuals, including children in the area of 10th and I streets.
2:43 p.m. Out Eighth Street way by the trainless tracks, a man had a hissysnit with himself, screaming profanities and not taking the self-dressing down very amicably. An officer waded into the weeds and told the wailing want-wit to clear out.
7:05 p.m. A Sixth Street resident admitted that he had been up two or three days on meth, which may be why he was having those delusions.
• Friday, July 20 2:55 a.m. A wrong-way driver drove up H Street and parked against traffic. He then took ukelele in hand and wandered around in the middle of the street with the minute musical device. Slipping into something more comfortable, he removed his brown hoodie to reveal an underlying blue ensemble, including a quilted vest and jeans. He was encouraged to move his car and drive home, and did.
12:02 p.m. Someone plundered and pillaged a pot of flowers and blue-potted treelet from an 11th Street front porch.
2:16 p.m. A man riding a bike crashed at Ariel Way and Lorelei Lane. After he dropped to the sidewalk, said a witness, he began beating himself in the head. The man then wandered into a nearby field and wasn't found.
6:21 p.m. Merely speeding and tailgating on ribbon-thin Buttermilk Lane wasn't sufficiently reckless and obnoxious for one lout. No, he had to try to pass a resident, and as she pulled into her driveway, "laid on the horn."
7:43 p.m. One of the multiple neighborly feuds in progress around town featured dirty looks and mocking laughter hate-beamed across the street at the despised foe.
8:57 p.m. Between the two, the loungeabouts at Sixth and F streets boasted at least one bandana, one set of camouflage pants, two open containers and as many alcohol-infused world views. This set of circumstances may have helped compel the top-volume verbal commentary they directed at passersby.
9:01 p.m. A '90s Honda Accord was stolen from a Union Street apartment building's lot.
11:32 p.m. A Lincoln Avenue resident returned home after being gone several hours to find a tape measure outside the front door and the dog behaving oddly.
• Saturday, July 21 4:27 p.m. A woman called 911 making nonsensical statements about being with "Debby." She was counseled about making frivolous emergency calls.
8:37 p.m. Obnoxiousness Central may have been the Alliance Road apartment that was blasting music, with the hostess allegedly deputizing her "guests" as field agents of annoyance to deploy retaliatory knocks on the doors of any neighbors who complained.
• Sunday, July 22 8:58 a.m. A passenger-side window was smashed on Buttermilk Lane.
10:27 a.m. A car window was smashed and a purse stolen on Margaret Lane.
11:58 a.m. An unlocked vehicle on Chester Avenue was entered. Items stolen included backpacks, a rain jacket, sleeping bag, passport and Social Security card.
1:03 p.m. A man was reported yelling and throwing things at Ninth and H streets. He was upset because he had stashed his backpack in some bushes near the Skate Park, then later observed a woman downtown wearing his clothes and backpack. She "freaked out" at the accusation, but gave him his pack back. He wanted it known that his Epinephrin was missing from inside the pack.
2:04 p.m. Four slumpabouts clumped up on a lawn at 12th and J streets, smoking pot and letting a dog romp unleashed.
3:13 p.m. More scrounge lizardry in a Ninth Street yard, with five leisure specialists drinking and throwing a bottle.
3:23 p.m. Three people were reported yelling and advertising something at Samoa Boulevard and G Street. An officer soon reported being "out with the shrieking car washers."
7:13 p.m. A mother called from Southern California, unable to contact her daughter for five days through any of the modern channels – phone, texts, e-mails or Facebook. An officer went to the daughter's home, and was told that she had several overdrawn accounts from local grocery stores. It was suggested that she was at a local reggae festival, which was ending that day.
• Monday, July 23 6:51 a.m. An officer dragged a washing machine out of the roadway in Giuntoli Lane near the freeway.
9:11 a.m. A person got his or her hand caught in an industrial shredder on West End Road. The victim was hospitalized.
9:38 a.m. A deposit bag containing $450 and a check for $1,400 was either lost or stolen.
10:08 a.m. Since his car contained an iPod, charger, pain pills and $32, a man decided to leave it unlocked in a Uniontown parking lot.


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QUESTION: I don't have a question, but I'd like to share some information that I hope will be helpful to others. My medical condition is due to a stroke I experienced many years ago that left me unable to manage everyday chores such as preparing food, bathing and exercising. I attribute the fact that I'm still here to the wonderful helpers who have enriched my life and provided quality, compassionate caregiving. But I also take credit in our success by being respectful and helpful recipient of care. My caregivers and I work as a team. I try as best I can to express my needs in a clear and concise manner, and my caregivers hold up their end of the bargain by doing the best they can to keep me healthy and thriving as much as possible given my difficult situation. I always say "thank you" and "please," and that seems to go a long way. I hear from friends and family about unhappy, unhealthy seniors and how difficult it is to get good care these days. I believe caregiving works two ways: There must be respect from both sides. Aging and illness certainly have their challenges, but so does caregiving. Working together seems to be the best solution for everyone.—Wilma
ANSWER: You are a gem, Wilma. And I thank you for writing and sharing the wisdom you impart to others. Aging and illness have the power to make us cranky, bitter, resentful and full of regret. Unfortunately, it is often the caregiver who is on the receiving end of this angst. And I, too, believe caregiving is a two way street. There is giving and receiving from both sides and we all need to be aware of the gifts caregiving can bestow on everyone involved—kindness, patience, empathy, compassion and love. I'd like to add another suggestion to your list. It concerns the fine art of asking questions. As caregivers, we often assume we know what is best for the person in our care. It is imperative that caregivers consistently ask questions to be able to adequately serve others. Assumptions are often based on generational and gender misperceptions or on past experiences. In the end, assumptions and perceptions can be just plain wrong. The only way to get to the heart of a situation is to ask questions. Would you like a shower seat installed so you don't feel so wobbly in the shower? Would a walker or a cane help with your balance? Would you prefer a cream sauce or marinara sauce on your pasta? Would you enjoy a little glass of red wine with your dinner? Would engaging the Closed Caption on the television help you to hear your programs better? Are you up to taking a walk around the block now, or would you prefer to go later today? For the most part, age and illness do not take away our ability to make decisions that promote a better quality of life. Time is always a challenge for caregivers, as well. But to short change those in our care to save a few minutes is a waste of an opportunity to truly connect and make a difference in someone's life. Again, thank you for writing and bringing these important issues to light. As caregivers, compassion fatigue is what we experience when we don't practice authentic, sustainable self-care daily. Compassion satisfaction is what we experience when we derive pleasure from the caregiving work we do. If there were more people like you, Wilma, compassion satisfaction levels for caregivers would be sky high.
Patricia Smith is a certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist with 20 years of training experience. As founder of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project© (www.compassionfatigue.org), the outreach division of Healthy Caregiving, LLC, she writes, speaks and facilities workshops nationwide in service of those who care for others. She has authored several books including To Weep for a Stranger: Compassion Fatigue in Caregiving, which is available at www.healthycaregiving.com or Amazon.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Learn About the Law
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Appeal from the Supreme Court of Colorado.
Mr. Thomas H. Gibson, of Denver, Colo., for appellant.
Mr. Charles Roach, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Appellant brought this proceeding in the Supreme Court of Colorado to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. His petition was denied without opinion. It appears that appellant was held pursuant to conviction for violation [ Woolsey v. Best 299 U.S. 1 (1936)
of section 2676, C.L.1921, being section 40, c. 44, Sess.Laws 1913, of the laws of Colorado (see, also, section 2740, C.L.1921, being section 85, chapter 44 of Session Laws of 1913), the judgment of conviction having been affirmed by the Supreme Court of the state. Woolsey v. People, 98 Colo. 62, 53 P.(2d) 596.
It is well established that the writ of habeas corpus cannot be used as a writ of error. This is the rule in Colorado as well as in this Court. The judgment of conviction was not subject to collateral attack. People ex rel. Burchinell v. District Court, 22 Colo. 422, 45 P. 402; Martin v. District Court, 37 Colo. 110, 115, 86 P. 82, 119 Am.St.Rep. 262; Chemgas v. Tynan, 51 Colo. 35, 116 P. 1045; In re Arakawa, 78 Colo. 193, 196, 240 P. 940; In re Nottingham, 84 Colo. 123, 128, 268 P. 587. Compare Harlan v. McGourin, 218 U.S. 442 , 31 S.Ct. 44, 21 Ann.Cas. 849; Riddle v. Dyche, 262 U.S. 333 , 43 S.Ct. 555; Craig v. Hecht, 263 U.S. 255, 277 , 44 S.Ct. 103, 106; Knewel v. Egan, 268 U.S. 442, 445 , 446 S., 45 S.Ct. 522, 524; Cox v. People of State of Colorado, 282 U.S. 807 , 51 S.Ct. 103. It is apparent from the record submitted that the state court had jurisdiction to try the appellant for violation of the statute in question and that any federal question properly raised as to the validity of the statute could have been heard and determined on appeal to this Court from the final judgment in that action. The Supreme Court of the state was not required by the Federal Constitution to entertain such questions on the subsequent petition for habeas corpus, and it does not appear that its denial of the petition did not rest upon an adequate nonfederal ground. Lynch v. State of New York, 293 U.S. 52 , 55 S.Ct. 16, and cases there cited. The appeal is dismissed for the want of jurisdiction.
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Legal Basis for College Response
609, 605 Trespass
Subdivision 1. Misdemeanor.
(A) The following terms have the meaning given to them for purposes of this section.
- "Premises" means real property and any appurtenant building or structure.
- "Dwelling" means the building or part of a building used by an individual as a place of residence on either a full-time or part-time basis. A dwelling may be part of a multi-dwelling or multi-purpose building or a manufactured home as defined in section 168.011, Subdivision 8.
- "Construction site" means the site of construction, alteration, painting, or repair of a building or structure.
- "Owner or Lawful Possessor", as used in paragraph (B), clause (9), means the person on whose behalf a building or dwelling is being constructed, altered, painted, or repaired and the general contractor or subcontractor engaged in that work.
- "Posted" as used in clause (9), means the placement of a sign at least 11 inches square in a conspicuous place on the exterior of the building that is under construction, alteration, or repair, and additional signs in at least two conspicuous places for each ten acres being protected. The sign must carry an appropriate notice and the name of the person giving the notice, followed by work "owner" if the person giving the notice is the holder of legal title to the land on which the construction site is located or by the work "occupant" if the person giving the notice is not the holder of legal title but is a lawful occupant of the land.
- "Business licensee", as used in paragraph (B), clause (9), includes a representative of a building trades labor or management organization.
- "Building" as the meaning given in section 609.581, subdivision 2.
(B) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if the person intentionally:
- Permits domestic animals or fowls under the actor's control to go on the land of another within a city.
- Interferes unlawfully with a monument, sign, or pointer erected or marked to designated a point of boundary, line or a political subdivision, or as of a tract of land.
- Trespasses on the premises of another and, without claim of right, refuses to depart from the premises on demand of the lawful possessor.
- Occupies or enters the dwelling or locked or posted building of another, without the claim of right or consent of the owner or consent of one who has the right to give consent, except in an emergency situation.
- Enters the premises of another with intent to take or injure any fruit, fruit trees, or vegetables growing on the premises, without the permission of the owner or occupant.
- Enters or is found on the premises of a public or private cemetery without authorization during hours the cemetery is posted as closed to the public.
- Returns to the property of another with the intent to abuse, disturb, or cause distress to, or threaten another, after being told to leave the property and not to return. If the actor is without claim of right to the property or consent of one with authority to consent.
- Returns to the property of another within 30 days after being told to leave the property and not to return, if the actor is without claim of right to the property or consent of one with authority to consent.
- Enters the locked or posted construction site of another without the consent of the owner or lawful possessor, unless the person is a business licensee.
Subdivision 2. Gross misdemeanor. Whoever trespasses upon the grounds of a facility providing emergency shelter services for battered women, as defined under section 611a.31, subdivision 3, or a facility providing transitional housing for battered women and their children, without claim of right or consent of one who has right to give consent, and refuses to depart from the grounds of the facility on demand of one who has right to give consent, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
Subdivision 3. Repealed 1993 c 326 ART 2 s 34
Subdivision 4. Trespasses on school property. (A) It is a misdemeanor for a person to enter or be found in a public or non-public elementary, middle, or secondary school building unless the person:
- Is an enrolled student, a parent or guardian of an enrolled student, or an employee of the school or school district.
- Has permission or an invitation from a school official to be in the building.
- Is attending a school event, class, or meeting to which the person, the public, or a student's family is invited.
- Has reported the person's presence in the school building in the manner required for visitors to the school.
(C) It is a gross misdemeanor for a group of three or more persons to enter or be found on school property within six months after being told not to return, unless the principal or the principal's designee has given the person permission to return to the property. As used in it's paragraph, "school property" has the meaning given in section 152.01, subdivision 14a, clauses (1) and (3).
(D) A school principal or a school employee designated by the school principal to maintain order on school property, who has reasonable cause to believe that a person is violating this subdivision may detain the person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable period of time pending the arrival or a peace officer. A school principal or designated school employee is not civilly or criminally liable for an action authorized under this paragraph if the person's action is based on reasonable cause.
(E) A peace officer may arrest a person without a warrant if the officer has probable cause to believe that person violated this subdivision within the preceding four hours. The arrest may be made even though the violation did not occur in the peace officer's presence.
Hist: 1963 c 753 ART 1 s 609.605: 1971 c 23 s 62: 1973 c 123 ART 5s 7: 1976 c 251 s 1: 1978 c 512s 1 : 1981 c 365 s 9: 1982 c 408 s 2: 1985 c 159 s 2: 1986 c 444: 1987 c 307 s 3: 1989c 5 s9: 1989 c 261 s 5: 1990 c 426 ART 1 s 54: 1993 c 326 ART 1 s 14: ART2 s 13: ART 4 s 32: 1993 c 366 s


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With Roger Federer these days, Nike has kept frivolous design to a minimum: gone are the flashy, gimmicky clothing; the blazers, the big bags, the warm-up dress pants — and the minimalist remains are enough to please the eye but not overpower it. Nike's kept with this new aesthetic in Roger's kits for the 2011 U.S. Open.
The casual day outfit has a bright red v-neck (with grey detail) while his night attire has a darker grey polo with red lines trimming the collar and appearing as a racing stripe down the back. Of course, there are the same construction elements that we've come to see in most of Roger's shirts — no-sew application, laser-cut button holes, bonded plackets.
Icing on the cake: While all-dark outfits are nothing new, the prevalence of neon at this year's event endeared us to the third seed's stealthy ensemble. This outfit reflects Roger's current state: toned down, flying under the radar, but still elegant where it counts. And with the youthful bursts of white emanating from his socks and shoes, we see a glimpse of Fed in the tail end of his career — letting loose just a little.
Brackets: Fed's currently playing his quarterfinal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The winner will play Djokovic, who won his QF match after Janko Tipsarevic retired with a hamstring injury while trailing in the fourth set. (Draw: Men's Singles)
More: Plenty of detail shots of his day/night looks and his Lunar Vapor 8 Tour shoes — all after the cut…
Watch: Nike Tennis Creative Director Janice Lucena and Footwear Development Director Gary McCourt talk about the items they've designed for Roger's U.S. Open run.
(images courtesy of Nike)


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Now streaming on:
In your average movie, helicopter shots are just for decoration. The camera soars over a breathtaking landscape or cityscape to show off the scenery and the production budget. These glorified establishing shots make the scale and the scope of the movie appear to be more expansive, even if they really aren't.
In Baran bo Odar's first-rate thriller "The Silence," the aerial panoramic images, which survey undeniably gorgeous slices of Bavarian countryside, express so much more. This is a movie about the gaps between two points in time and space — the murders of two young girls in the same spot, 23 years apart — and the invisible connections the deaths forge between people: Peer (Ulrich Thomsen), the maintenance worker who rapes and kills Pia (Helene Doppler); Timo (Wotan Wilke Mohring), his passive accomplice; Elena (Katrin Sass), Pia's mother, who still takes flowers to the memorial on the bucolic spot where her daughter died; Krischan Mittich (Burghart Klaussner), the retired police detective haunted by his inability to solve Pia's homicide; the Weghamms (Roeland Wiesnekker and Karoline Eichhorn), whose daughter, Sinikka (Anna Lena Klenke), becomes the second victim; Matthias Grimmer (Oliver Stokowski), the lead investigative officer on the new case who believes it's merely a copycat killing, and his partner, David Jahn (Sebastian Blomberg), a damaged soul mourning the recent loss of his wife to cancer, who detects more personal links between the crimes.
The overhead images from helicopters and cranes are integral to the telling of the story, but also essential to tracking its reverberations. The twin killings in "The Silence" aren't just crimes against individuals; they're crimes against the natural order. Sometimes the aerial views are simply date-stamped chapter markers, dividing the narrative into discrete blocks of time; sometimes the camera rises as if tracing a silent howl of grief across the temporal and spatial landscape; sometimes they feel like the manifestations of an objective moral intelligence — not a "God's-eye-view," exactly, but a kind of cosmic perspective tracing the marks human beings make upon the Earth, literally and figuratively.
The film begins on a sizzling day in July, 1986. The camera closes in on two brown exterior doors in an anonymous apartment complex. Behind one of them, two men sit in semi-darkness, watching a grimy 16mm amateur bondage movie. A fan buzzes in the corner and an amber sliver of afternoon sunlight is exposed under the blinds. When the film runs out, the two men silently exit the building, walk to the garage and get into a car. They act with solemn determination, having apparently reached some sort of unspoken agreement about where they're going and what they plan to do. The camera watches them — and the heedless everyday life all around them — from directly overhead. Until their vehicle comes up on a girl riding her bike beside the road, the view shifts to ground-level; in a chilling moment, she veers off the highway and down a perpendicular dirt road, riding directly away from the camera. The car passes by and, seconds later, backs into the frame and turns down the side road after her.
In the last decade or so, the northern Europeans have surpassed the Americans in the making of deeply unsettling thrillers that are gripping to watch and stay with you afterward — from the "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (2010) trilogy to "The Bridge" ("Bron/Broen") on television. American thrillers tend to be polished but stay focused on the superficial; they're mainly about action, about interchangeable people and machines doing things. They leave out the juicy stuff that's harder to convey — like who the people are, how they feel, what motivates them (beyond the formulaic contrivances necessary to the plot), and the physical and psychological details of the worlds in which they live. But this is what immerses you in a movie, not the simple mechanics of plot and action.
The obvious comparison here (girl murdered in the countryside of a Scandinavian nation; two flawed detectives investigate; grief-stricken parents) is "The Killing." But that was a popular Danish TV series (later, a not-that-popular American one on AMC), and "The Silence" is a German film. This isn't exactly a whodunit; we know the killer (of the first victim, anyway) from the start. We're witnesses to her brutal death, obscured by stalks of wheat in the vast field where her life ends. The mysteries here are larger, deeper, more ineffable than the purely practical concerns of crime-solving: motive, means and opportunity.
What's exceptional about "The Silence" is its style — the kinds of textures and colors that create memorable moments like those above. At times I was reminded of the symphony of grief reverberating through Twin Peaks after the discovery of Laura Palmer's body in the pilot of David Lynch's landmark series; the maddening, unresolved ambiguities of Bong Joon-Ho's "Memories of Murder," and David Fincher's "Zodiac," another film in which certain answers remain known and unknown at the same time. "The Silence" is the not-knowing.
120 minutes
Sebastian Blomberg as David
Burghart Klaussner as Krischan
Katrin Sass as Elena
Oliver Stokowski as Matthias
Ulrich Thomsen as Peer
Anna Lena Klenke as Sinikka


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Group Surf lesson (Narooma)
À partir de AUD 50,00 $AU
- Durée: 2 Heures (environ)
- Code produit: GSLNar
Meet at the Surf the Bay Van (located near the foot of the walkway Bridge at Dalmeny Beach Narooma) approximately 5 minutes prior to your booking time. You will be greeted by one of our highly qualified, friendly surf instructors who will assist you in getting geared up for one of the most exhilarating experiences of your life. Lesson runs for 2 hours and all equipment including boards and wetsuits are provided. A single group lesson will provide you with a fantastic introduction to surfing. You will learn how to safely navigate surf, how to paddle effectively, various techniques of standing and riding waves, while at the same time enjoying the thrills, spills and excitement of surfing.


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Marketing Jobs York is job-research service that consolidate all of the York-based marketing jobs from every professional job source, company, and organization career page (and every other job site we can find) so you know about all the York-based marketing jobs and can make your important personal career decisions in an objective and rational way.
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Elite thoroughbred race horses killed in California wildfire
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Hundreds of elite thoroughbred race horses sprinted away from flames Thursday as one of California's major wildfires tore through a training center in San Diego County. Not all made it.
There was no official count of how many animals were killed in the hazy confusion as both horses and humans evacuated, but trainers at San Luis Rey Downs estimated that at least a dozen had died, possibly far more.
Horses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars who are usually carefully walked from place to place were simply set free and encouraged to run away as flames engulfed the center near Bonsall, which is just a few miles from where the fire broke out.
Mac McBride, who was working with the center's trainers, said it was "total pandemonium when several hundred horses were cut loose," but he believes most of the about 450 horses stabled there survived. McBride, who works at the Del Mar race track, said some horses were evacuated to the nearby track where many of them compete.
"There was so much smoke it was difficult to see," said horse trainer Dan Durham, who got his 20 horses rounded up and was loading them into vans to be evacuated. "Some of the horses were turned loose so they could be safe. They were scattered around."
San Luis Rey Downs is home to horses that run at nearby Del Mar and other top-flight California tracks like Santa Anita Park. Doug O'Neill, whose horses have won the Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup races, is among the trainers who keep at least part of their stable there.
The sign at the front calls it "Home of Azeri," the now-retired mare who was the 2002 U.S. Horse of the Year who earned over $4 million in her career.
Horse trainer Scott Hansen said he knows some of the 30 horses he had at the facility were killed.
"I don't know how many are living and how many are dead," Hansen said. "I guess I'll have to figure that out in the morning." For now, he said he was concentrating on getting his horses that survived to evacuation centers.
Another trainer, Cliff Sise, told KFMB-TV that he saw about 10 horses die, including his own filly.
"It was dark, everything was hot and she wouldn't come out. I opened the pen and tried to get behind her and get her out, and she wouldn't get out," Sise said. "She burned to death that quick."
Dalton reported from Los Angeles.


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Because we are emotinally obligated to cover every single thing to do with Les Misérables, please enjoy a slideshow of beautiful
oil portraits photographs of the cast, shot by Annie Leibovitz for the December issue of American Vogue.
Aside from a much-needed look at Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen as The Thénardiers, this rich, expressive spread also offers certain proof that — haters be damned — Anne Hathaway is going to make a great Fantine.
In addition to the glory of seeing the actors frozen in full costume — ready to be added to your already-robust Les Misérables shrine — we have to give major props to Leibovitz and the folks at Vogue for this feature. This kind of work, though par for the course with Leibovitz, is rare in magazines today. It's completely gimmick-free, with no nudity, no crazy outfits, no exotic location, and though the stars are posing as characters rather than as themselves, there's still an incredible quality to the captured emotions, which is at once very real and possessing of that storybook quality you see in 18th century European paintings.
If this is all right up your alley, you've got to check out the full editorial, not to mention Anne Hathaway's cover interview. You'll fall completely in love, if you weren't already, which you were, so start reading. (Vogue)
Photos: Annie Leibovitz/Courtesy of Vogue.


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Friday, November 18, 2016
13 comments:
Joe Renaud wrote on November 17, 2016 at 3:58 PM:
"WELL HERE'S A MORE POSITIVE MESSAGE OF A CHANNELLER WHO CLAIMS SHE GETS EMAILS FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE. BUT THEN MOST OF THEM SAY THAT ANYWAY, RIGHT? https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=282&v=e_YNOctE_Vc"
This channeler is Alexandra Meadors, who had many interesting monthly interviews with Cobra, before Rob Potter did:
Let's ask Alexandra Meadors to have new interviews with Cobra, at least when PFC can not do it! (i.e. October 2016!?)ReplyDelete
These are the older ones:
Good Work, everyone. Well Done.
I knew you'd handle it and wasn't worried for a second.
This one's for you:
Lots Of Love and Light.
Here's some 504 for ya, my friends:
You wanna know how members of the dark side and the cabal know how to put on their underwear every day?
Well . . .
The part with the yellow stain belongs in the front, and the part with the brown stain belongs in the back ;-)
Don't Stop Believing
Man In Motion
Lots Of Love and Light
Positive direction.ReplyDelete
feeling much better today. much better control of my thoughts. finally getting a sense of what 504 is - I thinkReplyDelete
I would like to know everything about these codes.ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Is 504 in relation to cern?ReplyDelete
Nice!! thank you !! Keep it up team, thank youReplyDelete
I am a child, and there is a war going on around me.ReplyDelete
I can set an intent in meditative moments that it "goes well".
Beyond that, I will live my life.
My control is in what I intend, what I focus on, how I interpret, and how I respond, for often it seems like I am just a child, and there is a war going on around me. Peace.
I had a feeling a black alert was worst than red ... glad to see things are being deflected ...ReplyDelete


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Saturday, March 26, 2011
Beet Dip with White Crudites
Red beets were peeled and then grated on a box grater. Meanwhile, finely chopped red onion was sauteed in some olive oil, and then the grated beets were added. Water was poured over the onion and beets, and the saute pan was covered so the vegetables could simmer for about five minutes. The cover was removed, red wine vinegar and honey were added, and the mixture was cooked while stirring until the liquid evaporated. Once cooked and allowed to cool a bit, the vegetables were combined with sour cream, and it was ready to serve.
A dip made with golden beets would have been just as delicious, but I might not have remembered it so well. And, certainly any vegetables could be served with this dip, but the pale, just barely green colors of those suggested made for a striking platter with the bowl of pink dip.
Posted by lisa is cooking at Saturday, March 26, 2011
32 comments:
This dip sounds amazing. First I love beets and second any type of dip is perfect. This is on my list of must makes. Enjoy your weekend!ReplyDelete
I make it often in my home...would add onion and taste it the next time.ReplyDelete
What a splendid dip! Beetroots are so versatile and delicious.ReplyDelete
Love the colors of that beetdip! I love the color of beet in general but here it is really striking...ReplyDelete
lovely dip recipe.... Color of beetroot is standing out nicely .. Nice blog Lisa.ReplyDelete
Wow the bright pink is definitely something I've never seen before! Grated beets and sour cream sounds amazing :)ReplyDelete
This sounds fabulous since I love beets and the pink color is just astonishing! In Greece we make a beetroot dip with Greek yoghurt which I have made ages ago and never posted.ReplyDelete
This dip looks awesome. And beautiful too! A favoite wine bar in New York serves a similar dip as a snack, and I just love it!ReplyDelete
The sweet beets and sour cream must be a balance of flavors as a dip!ReplyDelete
Ooh that colour is amazing! I was reading your blog on my iPad and someone looked over my shoulder at it fascinated at the colour!ReplyDelete
I eat with my eyes, nose, fingers, mouth, everything, and I savor a food before I ever put it into my mouth. I am intrigued by this recipe and the color and texture does make it really tempting. I can imagine how great the combo of sweet beets and tangy sour cream is! We grew up adding a great big dollop of sour cream to our borsht! Great recipe!ReplyDelete
With the sour cream, definitely memories of Borscht from when I was a child - which, unfortunately, I absolutely hated! I just started liking beets last year! So glad I gave them another few tries. Your dip looks gorgeous, such a vibrant pink-red. Can't 'beat' beets when it comes to natural food color. :)ReplyDelete
I made beet dip a while ago and inhaled it! Love the color but most of all the sweet taste of that vegetable and the creaminess of the dip, yum.ReplyDelete
I love beets and this looks so pretty. The perfect spring appetizer!ReplyDelete
I love the addition of red wine vinegar and honey- sounds delicious! And yes, we do eat with our eyes so it's good to see that natural, unadulterated foods can be just as visually appealing as food color laden foods. Let's hope the FDA recognizes this as well:-)ReplyDelete
I always end up doing the same thing with beets. I should start doing more dishes with it. This looks great.ReplyDelete
I absolutely love beets!! You have a gorgeous looking beet dip that is healthy and delish!!ReplyDelete
Stunning color, I am going to have to try this, even if my beloved is not too wild about beets.ReplyDelete
I am wondering if roasted beets could be used as the starting point of this dip too, that would help me, as I don't have a box grater at the moment.
was this part of your Bday party?
;-) Isn't the big day this week?
I AM TRES OBSESSED WITH BEETROOT AT THE MOMENT! infact, I got a whole pink food thing going on. Loving your site. Yay!ReplyDelete
Miss T
Sally: I think chopped, roasted beets would work fine too. And, today is the big day!ReplyDelete
Just gorgeous! I find that when I cater, I often end up with lots of brown food. I'm not sure how that happens and I always like to have a back-pocket recipe for something really striking visually. Totally going to use this sometime soon!ReplyDelete
Well, I hope you don't mind me shouting in the comments: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LISA!ReplyDelete
I look forward to reading about your celebration, I imagine you will be cooking something, or maybe having a nice dinner out...
whatever it is, enjoy your day!!!!
- AnonymousMarch 28, 2011 at 9:19 PM
Very colorful and pretty and sounds flavorful too! Great dip! Is it your birthday today? Happy birthday :)ReplyDelete
what an unusual yet wonderful dip! beet is so healthy and the colour is gorgeous.ReplyDelete
oh it's your special day - happy birthday! have a great bday celebration week :)
Awesome ;) I made a similar recipe not long ago & could hardly stop going back & having another taste and then another taste, there was hardly any left by the time our friends arrived. Its such a good taste huh. The colour alone is awesome huhReplyDelete
It really looks delicious, I love such dips with turkish bread :)ReplyDelete
Oh my gosh. I can't help but think this would be a perfect dip for Valentine's Day or a girlie get together over wine. It's just so darned purdy! Thanks for sharing!ReplyDelete
The luscious color of this dip alone is enough to make me want to eat it! Amazing.ReplyDelete
eating with eyes indeed. There is something so appealing and earthy about this beautiful veggie.And what a pretty idea to serve it with white crudites.ReplyDelete
LOVE beets! I've done roasted beets with orange or grapefruit segments, nuts and blue cheese on an endive.ReplyDelete
Your spread is so pretty! Yum.
Very refreshing this picture, love the contrast! I have to check out the recipe. Would be perfect for the warm weather. BTW, you have won a copy of my cookbook : )ReplyDelete
That dip is beautiful.ReplyDelete


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Since retiring after 33 years on the late night television, David Letterman has kept a low public profile — aided by the growth of a truly impressive beard. But that doesn't mean he hasn't been as fixated on politics as the rest of us. "If I still had a show," says the 69-year-old, dressed in a baggy sweater and cargo pants and sitting high above midtown Manhattan in a conference room at his publicist's offices, "people would have to come and take me off the stage. 'Dave, that's enough about Trump. We've run out of tape.' It's all I'd be talking about. I'd be exhausted." Late-night TV comedy has offered some of the sharpest — and most-remarked-upon — responses to the Trump presidency. But despite the work of Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live, and the rest, it's hard not to wish Letterman, late-night's greatest ironist and most ornery host, was still around to take aim. And so we've brought him out of retirement to weigh in on life after television and his old frequent guest and punching bag, the man he calls Trumpy.
David Marchese: I've always loved Leaves of Grass, so it's a pleasure to meet the man who wrote it.
David Letterman: I've given up on making that kind of joke because I ran out of people with beards other than Walt Whitman that anyone knew — the joke didn't work as well when I used Frederick Douglass. But great things have happened to me since I've been walking around with this beard. I was in Santa Monica, at the Ocean Park Café, and this woman comes over and she says, "Are you who I think you are?" And I said, "That depends on who you think I am." She said, "You're Chuck Close." I said, "Yeah, yeah, I am." She said, "Oh my God" — she has a whole story. She was an art major, and for her final project she did a pencil-drawing portrait of Chuck Close. She said, "It was the best thing I did in all of college." I finally said, "I'm not Chuck Close." Boom, she's out like a shot. Gone. Then she comes back and says, "That really disappoints me."
The other thing is that somebody who loves Chuck Close that much might know that, unlike you, he's in a wheelchair.
Good point. I wish you had been with us. Another time with this beard, I was in New York City standing on Sixth Avenue, and a woman on the sidewalk looked at me and she said, "Do you have a television show?" "No, I don't." "Did you used to have a television show?" "Yes, I did." "What happened?" "I got fired." "Are you David Letterman?" "Yes, I am." And then she said, "Man, they fucked you up."
Did CBS fuck you up?
What do you know? What have you heard? If anybody fucked me up, it was me, by getting old and stupid.
Have you ever wondered what you might've said if you'd been doing The Late Show the night after Trump was elected?
No, I haven't thought about it. See, I was out running one day when he was still president-elect, and I thought, Let's call him. I've known the guy since the '80s. I was one of a few people who had routinely interviewed him. I'm not blinded by the white-hot light of "president-elect." I mean, we elected a guy with that hair? Why don't we investigate that? He looks like Al Jardine of the Beach Boys. I don't know. I'm sorry for rambling. I'm afraid something has happened to me hormonally. I can't stop talking.
And that's why you're okay with being off the air?
I'm afraid if I still had a show, it would be a lot of, "We're spending quite a lot of money on editing, Dave. If you could just keep it to an hour, we'd all appreciate that, because we have big stars who've flown in from Hollywood to be here."
As someone who interviewed Trump dozens of times, how did your estimation of him change over the years? The first time he came on Late Night, which I think was in '87, there's deference on your part to the idea that he might know something about the economy.
He was a mogul, for God's sake.
By 2012, you're making fun of his hair apparatus and explaining to him that his ties were being made in China.
I always regarded him as, if you're going to have New York City, you gotta have a Donald Trump. He was a joke of a wealthy guy. We didn't take him seriously. He'd sit down, and I would just start making fun of him. He never had any retort. He was big and doughy, and you could beat him up. He seemed to have a good time, and the audience loved it, and that was Donald Trump. Beyond that, I remember a friend in the PR business told me that he knew for a fact — this was three or four presidential campaigns ago — that Donald Trump would never run for president; he was just monkeying around for the publicity. So I assumed that was the story and now it turns out he's the president. Now, who owns New York?
It's a family. The Wassersteins.
Say the head of the family, let's say his name was Larry Wasserstein. If Larry behaved the way Donald behaves, for even a six-week period, the family would get together and say, "Jesus, somebody better call the doctor." Then they'd ask him to step down. But Trump's the president and he can lie about anything from the time he wakes up to what he has for lunch and he's still the president. I don't get that. I'm tired of people being bewildered about everything he says: "I can't believe he said that." We gotta stop that and instead figure out ways to protect ourselves from him. We know he's crazy. We gotta take care of ourselves here now.
How? Is comedy useful for that?
Comedy's one of the ways that we can protect ourselves. Alec Baldwin deserves a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Sadly, he's not going to get it from this president.
Can you explain that a bit more? How does satire protect us from Donald Trump?
The man has such thin skin that if you keep pressure on him — I remember there was a baseball game in Cleveland, and a swarm of flies came on the field and the batters were doing this [mimes swatting at flies] while the pitcher was throwing 100 miles an hour. Well, that's Alec Baldwin and Saturday Night Live. It's distracting the batter. Eventually Trump's going to take a fastball off the sternum and have to leave the game.
There's this idea that reducing Trump to a punchline could make him seem harmless or helps to normalize him. Is there any validity to that argument?
I guess it's a possibility. On the other hand, Donald Trump can be Donald Trump, but if he doesn't help the people that need help, then he's just a jerk. That press conference that he held berating the news media? I mean, how do you build a dictatorship? First, you undermine the press: "The only truth you're going to hear is from me." And he hires the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Steve Bannon, to be his little buddy. Bannon looks like a guy who goes to lunch, gets drunk, and comes back to the office: "Steve, could you have just one drink?" "Fuck you." How is a white supremacist the chief adviser to our president? Did anybody look that up? I don't know. How's this interview going? Do you think you're talking to a normal person here? Don't I seem like I'm full of something?
Watch a supercut of all the times Letterman has interviewed Trump over the years:
You're sure you're not missing being on the air? It seems like you've got a lot to say.
This is the way I'd be every night, and the next thing you know, I'd be slumped over in my chair and that would be it.
But it's such an amazing group of targets. The comedy potential of these people is incredible.
It's delightful. Kellyanne Conway was my favorite for a long time. This thing about her telling everyone, "Go buy Ivanka's shoes; I'm going to go buy Ivanka's shoes. Hell, I'll buy you a pair of Ivanka's shoes." Then they had to counsel her. Boy, if this administration decides you need counseling — whoa. And poor Sean Spicer is a boob who just got out of a cab and now here he is. Then the other kid, is it Miller?
Stephen Miller.
Wow, that guy is creepy. He fell out of a truck. And the guy from Exxon, Rex Tillerson. Don would say, "Rex, if you're talking to your friends, ask them" — I'm sure the Russians groomed Trump. They gave him tips: "You want to be an authoritarian dictator? Sure, that's not a problem. We'll tell you how to do it, for God's sake." I think it was just all like that, because that's the way Trump does business: "See if they'll give us the tar coating? They'll throw that in? Great, great. And by the way, we're not paying the last 10 percent of the bill." I think it's the same shit.
Do you feel any better about your fellow Indianan Mike Pence?
He only got elected because he looks like Bobby Knight. Jeez, Pence scared the hell out of me. There was a therapy …
Conversion therapy. There's debate about whether or not Pence actually supported it.
Yes, conversion therapy. That's when I just thought, Oh God, really, Indiana? I don't care if you're a fundamentalist Christian — even they have gay relatives. They can't be saying homosexuality is a sin. It's horseshit. Then this transgender issue that just happened, I just think, Are you kidding me? Look, you're a human, I'm a human. We're breathing the same air. We have the same problems. We're trying to get through our day. Who the fuck are you to throw a log in the road of somebody who has a different set of difficulties in life?
Aside from SNL and Alec Baldwin, who else in late-night TV comedy is doing good work?
I don't watch any of it. I don't watch my old show. I will see clips now and stuff. I was at a thing the other night and so was Lorne Michaels. This guy is now the prince of New York. People are waiting in line to thank him for what he's doing to Trump. He's given us a little breathing room. He's loosened the noose. And the scary goddamn thing is that Don would like that not to be the case.
It's clear he cares so much about how he's portrayed.
He would really rather not have a society where free speech was going to be a factor. I'm telling you, there's something between him and the Russians. "What color tie should I wear?" "Tell him red." "They say red, Don." "Okay, red it is."
I do like the idea that Putin has something on Don and decided: "Let's get him in office, and we'll get things to go our way." That's beginning to sound like an Alex Jones theory, but that'd be fun, wouldn't it?
Well — since we're on the topic of blackmail, you're in the bizarre position of being a famous person who has gone through being blackmailed, or at least attempted blackmail. So if we assume that Russia does have compromising material on Trump, can you give some insight into his behavior? Would that make you have any sympathy for him?
Well, yes, I was blackmailed. But in baseball you have the major leagues and then you have your instructional leagues. My situation would have been down in the instructional leagues, and I was dumb enough to put myself in a position where I was vulnerable. If what they're saying about Trump is true, that's major-league blackmail. There's no sympathy there. Yes, I went through a blackmailing; yes, it's horrible; yes, my behavior hurt a large number of people. But do I equate it with the possibility of international interference from an authoritarian dictator? No, I don't. I don't even think of it as the same thing, really. Maybe I'm not thoughtful enough.
I have a conspiracy theory that your blackmail was a Vladimir Putin long game to get you off the air. You weren't very nice to him over the years.
Now we be having a conversation! Wow. I'm going to look into this. This is tremendous.
Look, I don't know for sure if it's true or not.
This is the scene in the movies: Stop the presses. We have a new page one. Holy crap, that would be great, wouldn't it? I mean, that would make Ed Snowden look like a third-grade shop teacher … That joke didn't make any sense. You can fill in your own joke. But I'm going to look into this theory of yours. Jesus. I can turn that into something. This idea is money in the bank.
If you're a comedian or a late-night host, is there a responsibility to be taking on Trump? Would you understand the position of someone who said, "That's just not what I do"?
I think you have an obligation.
I remember talking to Norm Macdonald about this subject after Jimmy Fallon was criticized for goofing around with Trump like he's a cuddly teddy bear. Norm's opinion was that criticizing Fallon for not asking hard-hitting questions wasn't fair. It's like criticizing a penguin for not flying.
I know exactly what you're talking about with Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy got a fantastic viral clip out of that. The comparison that comes to mind is during the Vietnam War, Johnny Carson had an unstated policy that he would never mention the war. He would talk about the personalities involved, but not the war. His theory was, with the six o'clock news, the last thing people wanted to hear more of was young Americans dying painfully.
I'm not sure how that comparison shakes out in terms of Fallon.
There is that obligation. We used to have a joke we'd do about booking guests: "Guess what?" "What?" "Neil Armstrong is going to be on the show." "Neil Armstrong? That's fantastic." "He doesn't want to talk about the moon." I don't want to criticize Jimmy Fallon, but I can only tell you what I would have done in that situation: I would have gone to work on Trump. But the thing about it is, you don't have to concoct a complicated satirical premise to joke about Donald Trump. It's not, "Two guys walk into a bar …"
The premise being that the president is a lying idiot?
Your words, not mine!
For probably the first half or so of your TV career, you stayed away from politics —
Because Carson was my model. I'll tell you the other thing: All of that changed because of Jon Stewart.
Because what he did on The Daily Show influenced you?
I wouldn't say that, but he made it so that not doing political stuff got to be the elephant in the room. And also it was having Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton. It was hard to ignore that. We're always looking for the easiest path, the most obvious joke. Bill Clinton having sex with the intern, well, that's not comedic heavy lifting. After that it became George W. Bush, and I thought he was funny in a harmless way. I mean, Dick Cheney was the guy to keep your eye on at a party, because he'd be going through your wife's purse. But George W. was nothing but fun.
So the political jokes were about expedience?
We changed our attitude to make it easier on ourselves. And again, what defense do you have for ignoring these topics? None, really.
You mentioned Fallon and viral videos. Whether it's Jimmy Kimmel having celebrities read mean tweets about themselves or James Corden and carpool karaoke, part of the job now of a late-night host is to try to generate bits that'll get shared online. When you used to do bits, even the "Top Ten" list, it always seemed like you were suffering through them. How do you feel about late-night shows becoming vehicles for social media?
I knew it was happening, and I recognized that it was a good idea, but I didn't know how to do it. When people around me would come up with ideas, I felt like, This is exploitation beyond the pale. We're just going to produce some little precious moment here and put it up on the internet? But nobody wants to sit through an eight-minute interview with fill-in-the-blank. So these things are useful. But the idea of Twitter: Trumpy — my son, Harry, and I call him "Trumpy" — has really got something with it. Rather than a laughable expression of ego run amok, it could be a useful tool. If we get a president sometime soon who does not have a mental disorder, Twitter will be useful. So — I'm lonely, I can't stop talking.
Do you feel like —
This is like visitors' day at prison for me.
I wish we were all better at ignoring the tweets. Just because Trump blurts something on Twitter doesn't mean we have to run around pulling our hair out every time he does it. It seems counterproductive.
That's my point: Let's stop that. We don't need more confirmation that there's something wrong with Donald Trump. Let's instead find ways to rebuild what is rational. And the Democrats, goddamn it, get a little backbone, get a little spine.
The only person I can trust anymore is Al Franken, who has a great brain and a great heart. I believe what he says.
And what's he been telling you?
We haven't talked much about Trumpy. We talked during the election about Ted Cruz. He told me, "Ted Cruz is one of the smartest men I've ever met. He's scary smart."
You figure, for somebody as viscerally unlikable as Ted Cruz to get as far as he's gotten, he must be pretty smart.
And this was coming from Al Franken, who I think is one of the one of the smartest people I've ever met. And one of the three funniest.
Who are the other two?
Norm Macdonald and a guy named Jim Downey.
Aside from the hunt for viral videos, it seems like late night also had a shift in its style of comedy. It moved away from the irony and sarcasm you were known for and toward something more earnest. I mean, Jay Leno would seem like a smartass now. Did you notice that shift happening?
No, I didn't. I was so single-minded in getting through the hour, and sarcasm is so easy. The quote is "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." If you can't think of something funny, say something sarcastic. That worked and also got me in a lot of trouble. People would accuse me of being mean. Well, yes, sarcasm probably is mean; but on the other hand, I'm just trying to get a laugh, so leave me alone. "Hey, nice shirt" — ha-ha-ha. Big, big laugh: "Nice shirt." Good night, everybody!
It's also interesting how the late-night hosts have gotten softer with their interviews at the same time as they've gotten more biting with the news. Is something valuable lost when the discussions between the hosts and guests are always so pleasant?
Well, at some point publicists took over the talk shows. They were the people that booked the guests, and they had six or seven guests, so you had to be awfully nice to Guest A if you wanted to get to Guest B or C. I was not aware that this was going on until people started saying, "So-and-so is not going to be back on the show if you don't be nice to so-and-so." And I said, "What do we care?" And they'd say, "Well, because they also manage so-and-so and so-and-so's sister, and we want those people on the show." I realized not early into it that we were a tool for the careers of other people, which mediates what you're going to talk about: "I'm Harrison Ford, and I can't talk about landing a plane on a golf course." I'm not saying it even makes the show worse. I can remember having a conversation via the sales department about Tylenol, and we had Bill O'Reilly on the show, and we were talking about something in the news, not particularly unpleasant but just something in the news. Tylenol called up and said, "You know what? We're just going to lay out tonight. We'll be back." And rightly so. If you want to see adversarial conversation, you have cable-news channels all day long.
Were there ever instances where you thought, Maybe I was too hard on that person?
Oh, yeah. I always felt like, We got 500 people in the audience and it's my responsibility to get a laugh. Many times, the laugh would come at the expense of the guest. I regret that now, but at the time you think, I've got to do anything to keep my head above water. So it's "Hey, nice shirt." And then it's "Oh, my mother made this shirt — how could you have said that?"
Your interview with Paris Hilton was famously rough.
I remember that. She went to jail and had a sandwich or whatever she did there and then came home. I was fascinated by this. And the poor woman said to me, "I don't want to talk about being in jail." I felt like I could circumnavigate that. I said, "Well, that's all I want to talk about." If you had a chance to talk to Paris Hilton in those days, you just kind of want to talk about, "Well, no, seriously, you were in jail." But that upset her and she cried and I called her and apologized. I think I bought her a car, too. As the guy operating the machinery sometimes, it was "You're going a little fast here, pal." It was easy to overdo it.
Joaquin Phoenix is another one you wouldn't let off the hook.
I mean, he came out begging to be beat up. How can you not take a couple of swings?
The line you had at the end of that interview was perfect: "I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight."
Is it sexist of me to make this observation? You have Paris Hilton, who is beautiful and kind and introverted, versus Joaquin Phoenix, who comes out in a Halloween costume. So you can say that line to him. I don't know that you can say it to her. Anyway, I ought to be in prison as a result of this conversation I'm having with you right now.
If you could snap your fingers and make it happen, who'd be a dream interview for you?
I think about that all the time. It would be great to talk to Bob Marley. Because when Bob Marley left us, he was politically active. He was the biggest musical star in the world, and he came from such desperate circumstances. It seems like we don't have that person now whose life and music and behavior apply to soothing the waters of world strife.
Bob Marley's last two albums were called Survival and Uprising. I don't know that he'd only be singing "One Love" in 2017.
But I think also the situation politically was probably ignored back then and he was bringing it to light, whereas now we're more aware. It might have been easier to overlook things in those days; hence the music. But I'm just fascinated by the guy. I read the biography Catch a Fire. That's where my interest was born. And how about the music? It's still great.
How about somebody who's alive?
I'll take Living Legends for $100, Alex. Let's see, somebody who's alive. Well, Trump.
How would you handle it?
I would just start with a list. "You did this. You did that. Don't you feel stupid for having done that, Don? And who's this goon Steve Bannon, and why do you want a white supremacist as one of your advisers? Come on, Don, we both know you're lying. Now, stop it." I think I would be in the position to give him a bit of a scolding and he would have to sit there and take it. Yeah, I would like an hour with Donald Trump; an hour and a half.
It was clear that as The Late Show went on, you were more interested in the conversations than the comedy. What sort of guests were you most excited by?
Bill O'Reilly — before he became standard talk-show fare. All I knew about him was that his ideology seemed counter to mine. My premise with him was that "You're too smart to believe the things you're saying. Aren't you just playing the part of the right-wing buffoon?" For a long time, I used to think that was true. I always liked having folks on that were not the mainstream.
In the early days, there was Harvey Pekar.
Oh, God, Harvey Pekar. He would get under my skin so bad. He was so irritating. I don't know how to describe Harvey, but he was tremendous. Just a tremendous guest. I can remember one time he went and started attacking G.E.
And calling you a sellout.
Yeah, and then I admonished him for it. We were constantly negotiating with Harvey, "Oh, can you come back?" "No." "Please?" I don't know if shows have guys like Harvey on these days.
I don't think they do.
Well, are there guys like Harvey? That was great fun, and it was when we were on at 12:30, and we were working to not get just the leftovers from The Tonight Show. We had to establish an identity for ourselves. And Harvey and others were instrumental in that. Andy Kaufman, too, of course. One wonders, if he were alive today, what those appearances would be like. Jesus, that was fantastic.
I know you said you don't really watch the late-night shows, but do you have even an ambient sense of how Trump has been useful for guys like Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert?
People tell me nice things about Seth Meyers, that he's good and thoughtful. But I mean, can you imagine not doing Trump jokes? That would seem bizarre.
What are your thoughts on Colbert?
Only just what you say, that a lot of people have been able to root themselves in the Trump tsunami, and Stephen is one of them. I'm aware that Stephen has been able to solidify his position, or — having not seen the show, I don't know what the situation was prior. I can't say much about these shows, because I just don't watch them.
Are you not watching because you're not awake at 11:30 or because you did it for so long that you're no longer interested?
The latter is correct. Having done it for 30 years with this blind devotion to the project, and then having been a participant in the late-night wars, which, there's no war now at all — and it was always me and Leno and me and Leno and me and Leno. I realize, Jesus, what was the matter with me? So, well … the truth is I can't stay up that late.
Have you and Jay been in touch at all since you left The Late Show?
No. I'm assuming I will bump into him before we die.
You've said elsewhere that you'd hoped CBS would have considered a woman to replace you. Why do you think there has been such resistance to having a woman host a late-night talk show?
I think it's inertia. Inertia is hard to break. It's like, "Oh, we gotta get a new face in there. It's always been a man, so we don't want to rock the boat by adjusting to a new face which happens to belong to a woman." I just think that a woman host would have been cool. At the top of the list are Tina Fey and Amy Schumer.
Your writers' room over the years didn't exactly have the most egalitarian reputation.
I don't know about my writers' room. I never went to the writers' room, so I have no idea what went on there. I stayed away: "Just call me when you're done."
Going back to the late-night wars — doesn't the fact that you and so many viewers cared so much about who was winning late night seem a little crazy? Why did it matter who was No. 1? Both shows were being seen by millions of people.
I cared. Jay cared. I can remember being on Johnny Carson's show toward the end of his run, and during the commercial break I said, "Honestly, what's the deal here?" Because he seemed like he was still the Johnny that we all loved. And he said, "I want to go out on top." So he cared. When I began, if you didn't have a 30 share, get in your car and go home. For a time, I looked at the ratings every single morning. If our number was bigger than The Tonight Show's number, I would feel good. If it was not as big, I would feel bad. That was every day. Now I don't know if anybody cares. I keep saying to people, "Where are the late-night wars?" "Oh, the U.N. came in and Ban Ki-moon put a stop to it."
Your son, Harry, is 13. Does he have a sense of his dad's career?
I remember Jack Paar came out of retirement after years of being gone. People said to him, "What are you doing?" And he said, "I want my daughter to understand what it is I did." Well, I don't feel that way. The other day, I said, "Harry, I get the sense sometimes you don't like going places with me in public." And he said, "Well, you have bad people skills. Just be normal."
How are you not normal?
I can't stop talking. We go and have cheeseburgers every Friday night, and I'm always worried that, you know, in the old days, you got a cheeseburger with everything. Not a problem. Now, you may not get everything. So I have to grill the counter kid: "Am I going to get everything on the burger?" And Harry's just, "Oh my God. Stop it, please." So I want him to be proud of me, but I don't know that having a television show is what makes a kid proud of you.
He doesn't pester you with questions about what Alan Kalter was really like?
Well, that, he's fascinated by. It's funny, Harry used to come to the show. He would watch the show. When I said to him — because I was a ninny; I just assume everything is going to be an earthquake for the kid — I said, "Harry, pretty soon I'm not going to have a job. I'm retiring. But everything will be the same." And he said, "Will I still get to watch the Cartoon Network?" That was his concern about my retirement.
What was the verdict on the Cartoon Network?
No more Cartoon Network when Daddy's retired.
It's no secret you were slightly insanely self-critical and competitive about your work. Now that the show is no longer part of your life, are those qualities still around?
Yes, but not in a crippling, paralyzing way. A friend of mine, my doctor, said, "You know, you don't need to kill yourself. It's just TV." Then he convinced me to try one of these selective-serotonin-reuptake inhibitors. I resisted it. I thought, No, just put me in a state hospital. But I did try it, and suddenly that wiring had less power than it used to. I still have vestiges of it — I think that's about where you want to be. You don't want to be putting your fist through a wall, but I can't imagine going through life not questioning my own worthiness. So, yes, I still have those qualities, but in a lower gear.
What do you beat yourself up about now?
Mostly about my role as a father. I will say to my wife, Regina, "What about this, and do you think that?" Then from the next room, you hear, "What are you guys talking about?" And you realize, Oh shit, Harry's heard every God-dang thing I didn't want him to hear. The universe of worries and anxieties that I possess with regard to my son's welfare seems to be infinite. Now, if I had a daughter, then I would have ill treatment from men to add to that universe of worries and anxieties.
What does a regular day look like for you now?
Right now, I'm missing The Price Is Right; thanks a lot. A regular day is structured around my wife and son. I am secondary to their schedule. But my days — I was just in California with some people. It was business related. So I do a lot of that, and I do a lot of pro bono work, as they say in the legal industry. But mostly I sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the floor. That's why I was stunned when you — "Did we have to call and pay them to come?"
You mean when we asked to do this interview?
Yeah, "Is there anything we can do for Dad? He's getting a little …"
Was it hard to adjust to civilian life?
It's still hard. I have trouble operating the phone. That's the God's truth. I needed a pair of shoelaces. And I thought, Hell, where do you get shoelaces? And my friend said, there's a place over off I-84, it's the Designer Shoe Warehouse. So I go over there, and it's a building the size of the Pentagon. It's enormous. If you took somebody from — I don't know, pick a country where they don't have Designer Shoe Warehouses — blindfolded them and turned them loose in this place, they would just think, You people are insane. Who needs this many shoes? It's sinful. It's one of these places where there's no employees and every now and then there's just a scrum of shoe boxes. I'm not finding the damn shoelaces, and finally I think, Maybe it's one of those items they've got at the counter. I go up there and I'm nosing around the counter and, by God, there's shoelaces. This is after about an hour. So now I'm waiting in line and the woman checking people out says in a big loud voice, "May I help our next shoe lover, please?" I just started to tremble. Nobody else seems to have a problem with going to a store! You don't want to have painted yourself into some elite position where it's "Bob, go out and get me some shoelaces." It makes you feel stupid. Here's where I'm comfortable: There's a bait-and-tackle store near my house. They've got guys in there, and you can buy live bait, you can buy artificial bait, they'll put new line on your reel. You can talk to them about rods. They'll tell you where to go for a largemouth bass. That's exactly where I want to be.
This is the kind of question you'll probably blanch at, but, you know, even a schmo like me —
That's right, you're a schmo.
Just a schmo.
Send the schmo to talk to Letterman!
Just in idle moments now and then, I'll have dumb things pop up in my mind that I'm proud for having done in my career. Standing in the line at a DSW or wherever, do you ever have those little flashes where you think back with pride about the work you did?
I don't have those kinds of memory flashes. Somebody will say, "Remember when so and so happened," and I'll say, "Jeez, I sure don't." Paul Shaffer and I get together about once a month and have dinner, and nothing about the show ever comes up. Memory lane is closed for repairs.
What do you and Paul talk about?
He took his daughter, Victoria, to the Grammy party. We talk about stuff like that. He's good friends with Martin Short, so we talk about what Marty is doing. Paul's son, Will, is applying for colleges now, and his kid is fascinating to me. Paul is maybe the least athletic person I've met in my life, but Will's a high-school quarterback and his hope is to apply to a school where he can walk on and try to make the team. Paul and I don't yak about the show.
How about in this moment, then? Is there anything about your career you can say you're proud of?
I have this conversation with my wife, who is also a schmo. And she will say, "Thirty years. Think of all of the people you employed." I thought, Yeah, by God, that's good enough. I was able to give jobs to people. That's an accomplishment.
But as far as on-camera stuff, there really isn't anything you can look back at and say, "That was pretty good"?
Some nights the show would be okay; some nights the show would not be okay. But the one thing you can't assail is what my wife was shrewd enough to point out, so that's what I have settled on. It's not like, Boy, how about the time that we had the donkey that came out and the jockey threw up?
You're being maybe excessively self-deprecating.
People are so much nicer to me now that I'm not on the air that my impression of myself is beginning to soften, but I'm sticking with jobs as my accomplishment.
Last year, you did the National Geographic documentary about India and climate change, but what else have you come close to doing since wrapping up The Late Show? There were rumors that you were going to do something at the Beacon Theatre.
We were going to re-create the annual Late Show Christmas special for like three days. Then people said, "The ticket prices are going to be so and so" and I said, "Oh Jesus, no. That's larceny. We can't do that." We couldn't ask people to pay that kind of money to come see something that they got for free on television for so many years.
What other offers have you gotten?
There's been offers to be on a lot of shows. I'm a big fan of Veep, and here's how nice they were: They asked if I would consider a cameo. Holy shit — I got so scared. I thought about it for 24 hours and then I told them, "Here's what would happen: I'm going to do your show. I'm going to worry about it, I'm going to get sick to my stomach, and I'm going to ruin it. I can't do that to you." I proved years ago that I can't act. I was on Mork & Mindy, and the night the episode aired, I had to stand on the front porch while my girlfriend watched inside. I couldn't watch myself.
You were okay in Cabin Boy.
Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that.
I said you were "okay."
That's better than what I usually hear. I love Chris Elliott and I love Adam Resnick, the two guys who did that movie. They got a raw deal. I remember going to see that in a theater shortly after it was released. I had never seen myself in a movie. My scene comes up, and it's just dead silence. You could hear the sprockets in the projector clicking. Once the scene was over, I picked a side aisle and snuck out. It was humiliating.
Is it fair to say you're not interested in revisiting a late-night talk show?
My interest has shifted. When I'm talking about things to do now, it's not like, God-dang, let's get right back into comedy. Let's call the Butterball hotline on Thanksgiving. But bring in Donald Trump or Mike Pence or somebody, and let me smother them with my ignorance. I'll tell you what really got up my nose — do you have a minute? — was the John Lewis thing. Congressman John Lewis. Do I have the name right?
So he announces he's boycotting the inauguration. Trump hops on his Twitter device and describes John Lewis as just another all-talk, no-action congressman, so sad.
It turns out John Lewis has been involved in a fair bit of action.
Holy God. First of all, because I'm always thinking about myself, I think, I was about John Lewis's age when he marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Would I have had the guts to do that? The all-talk John Lewis goes down there and gets a goddamned skull fracture. I mean, Trumpy will never have to worry about a skull fracture because of the hair. Thank you! How do you know if Donald Trump is lying? His lips are moving. Thank you! But in addition to every other thing that's wrong with the Trump, he's ignorant in a way that's insulting to the office, insulting to America, insulting to human rights, insulting to civil rights, insulting to John Lewis. Trump saying that broke my heart. I thought, You stupid son of a bitch. You ought to have known better than that.
When you look around and see Jerry Seinfeld doing Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee or see Louis C.K. pop up with something on his website — does the existence of these streamlined ways of getting material out into the world change the calculus for the kind of project you'd want to do next? It's not TV-show-or-nothing anymore.
Oh, yeah. I am platform-agnostic. What Jerry Seinfeld has done is brilliant. Because he had his little TV show that did quite well and he loves being on the road. He pursued two interests of his, and now he's got other people watching it and paying him huge sums of money. Actually, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee was my idea.
Seinfeld stole it from you?
Yeah. We're in deep, deep litigation. I'm going to get the rights to that back, and then I'll be doing it.
Is Worldwide Pants still a going concern? Is being on the production side interesting to you?
Worldwide Pants is now on pause. Years ago, I wanted Worldwide Pants to be an ongoing organism whereby we could continue to employ people and develop material. In the meantime, things changed out from under us. It was explained to me that that production model doesn't hold up anymore. So Worldwide Pants ran out of steam for lack of opportunity. But we are trying to put it back together. It would be fun not to be involved in traditional ABC, NBC, CBS television. There's a billion different places to put something now.
You know, I think we're just about out of time.
You're talking to a man who has nothing to do. When we're done, I'll be calling you.
Oh, no, it's Dave again.
This interview has been edited and condensed from two conversations.
*A version of this article appears in the March 6, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.


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California's ban on gay marriage is likely to fall soon, due to a pair of developments in the past week. What remains uncertain is whether same-sex marriage will become lawful in just a score of "blue states," or the norm throughout the nation.
Public opinion on marriage for gay and lesbian couples has shifted with almost unprecedented speed for a major issue. Even without a court ruling, that shift could doom restrictive marriage laws in liberal states such as California. It is also likely to have an effect on the court itself, in particular with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and possibly Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
Throughout his long career, Kennedy has been willing to make major changes in the law on issues including the death penalty, gun rights and gay rights. Kennedy has been a strong, steady proponent of constitutional principles such as free speech, individual liberty and limits on government power. But before signing on to major changes such as abolishing the death penalty for young murderers, for example he has wanted to feel comfortable that the change was in line with public opinion and the trend in the law.
"Among all the justices, he is most concerned about public opinion," New York University law professor Barry Friedman said of Kennedy. "The more there is a groundswell of support for gay marriage, the more it is likely he will vote to support it."
Kennedy, along with others on the court, probably would also resist going too fast. The current justices, both liberals and conservatives, say the court of the early 1970s made a mistake by striking down all state laws on abortion and capital punishment. Both decisions appeared to trigger a backlash, and the death penalty was soon restored to law.
Better to move in line with or just slightly ahead of shifting opinion, they believe.
In California, public opinion clearly has shifted since Proposition Eight passed in 2008 and banned same-sex marriage. A Field Poll released this week showed that California voters, by a nearly 2-1 margin, now approve of allowing same-sex couples to marry, a finding in line with states that legalized gay marriage in November's election.
With that shift, lawyers supporting same-sex marriage have offered the justices a range of options they could use to rule in favor of gay rights. The Obama administration's legal brief advocates a step-by-step approach.
Commenting Friday on the administration's filing in the case, President Barack Obama told reporters that, "I do think that we're seeing, on a state-by-state basis, progress being made more and more states recognizing same-sex couples and giving them the opportunity to marry and maintain all the benefits of marriage that heterosexual couples do." But, he added, the administration wanted to "answer the specific question" before the court whether "the California law is unconstitutional."
In providing that answer, Solicitor Gen. Donald Verrilli Jr. drew on arguments he had filed with the court just a few days earlier saying the justices should strike down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to legally married gay couples in states such as Massachusetts. He advised the court to say that discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation is highly suspect, akin to gender bias. It can be justified only if a state can show a strong need to treat gays and lesbians differently than other citizens, the administration argued.
Verrilli's brief filed Thursday applied that same approach in the Proposition 8 case. It argues that because California and seven other states Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island already have given gay couples full legal rights, there is no justification for denying them a right to marry.
This is what some lawyers have dubbed the "eight-state solution."
Already, nine other states and the District of Columbia authorize same-sex marriage. If the Supreme Court were to adopt the administration's view, it could raise the total to 17, mostly in the Northeast and on the West Coast.
While this would be a significant ruling, it would not require Justice Kennedy and his colleagues to mandate gay marriage in the "red" states where majority opinion continues to oppose it.
The defenders of Proposition Eight also cite the change in public opinion, but argue it is a reason for the court to stand aside. Because there is a great national debate over gay marriage, and some states are changing their laws, the court has no need to intervene, they said.
Andy Pugno, general counsel for the Proposition Eight proponents, said it was "very disappointing" that the Obama administration had urged the court to strike down the voter initiative. "The president has impugned the motives of millions of Californians," he said, "and disregarded the rights of each state to decide for itself whether to redefine marriage."
If the court were to adopt a version of the "eight-state solution," it would allow most states to decide for themselves, as Pugno advocates, at least for now. But it is also true that if the justices decided discrimination against gays violates the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the laws, that same argument eventually could be used to invalidate the remaining state laws against same-sex marriage. The justices might be particularly willing to do so if the majority of states already had acted.
In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that laws barring mixed-race couples from marriage violated the Constitution. By then, only 16 states still had such laws on their books.
IMAGE TAKEN from www.aglbical.org


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The other day as I was waking I saw very clearly in my mind a metal circular door, with lots of markings. I found myself standing in front of it and as I stood there waiting for it to open I heard clearly "put your hand on it". Laughing to myself and feeling a little silly, I placed my hand in the smooth spot and the doors opened. I stood there surprised and a little in shock as I realized I was looking into an observation deck of a ship. I walked in and was happy to see my highest aspect looking out the vast windows. She beckoned me over and I looked out the window at the beautiful earth below and was just amazed at the sheer number of ships in the sky.
I asked her if the ships were there for a mass landing as I had seen a few posts saying that landings were imminent. She shook her head and told me no, that a mass landing would bring about fear, panic, and utter chaos. None of which is beneficial in helping people to break free of the control matrix. She did say however, that more and more contact is being made, but on an individual and group basis. This can come in dreams, meditations, and journeying. That people need to simply open up to receiving and put away their logical mind which can interfere with contact. The minute you say "I'm imagining this" or "It's not real." the experience ends. I tell my clients who do this to tell their thinking mind that they are playing when they go into meditation, because giving yourself permission to play can help stop the logical mind from judging the experience.
As we were talking, Sananda and a few other Ascended Masters entered the room. They explained to me that we are in a critical time. Too many are getting lost in the "Savior" stories. That the belief that ships will descend to save us is no different than the belief in the Christian rapture. Both of those stories are designed to take the responsibility of fixing our lives out of our own hands. The deep truth is that only we can save ourselves. We must each do what it takes to save ourselves, whatever that means for us. Another part of the "savior" stories that we have been playing out is the belief that we can save another. Too many are martyring themselves trying to save another at great expense to themselves. It was explained that we cannot change another, but we can be the example. We can show a different way, but we must honor each person's individual choice. Sananda also explained that each person is being tested during these times. Can we hold our light in the face of chaos and adversity? Can we come from a place of non-judgement and by doing so, truly be the example?
The most important thing they explained to me is that each person must walk in their own power, their own sovereignty. To become the walking master means to understand at the core that YOU are the one that affects your life the most. YOU are the creator of your own destiny. To think that another has control over your life is to give your power away. Can we in the face of reality crumbling maintain the focus on our own growth, our own mastery? They explained that it has never been more important to empower ourselves to be the highest version of self in every moment.
There was an urgency to this message. Things are going to continue to unfold, truths exposed that have the potential to trigger great outrage within us and the collective. It is up to each us to remain centered, balanced, and loving. It is up to each of us to continue on the path of remembering who we are as the world wakes from a long deep sleep.
At the end of the meeting, I was told that there were body upgrades coming that would require us to rest more and to use every tool that we have learned to move through the next phases. I returned from this incredible meeting to find myself knocked down for a few days with the upgrades so intense they reminded me of what I experienced in 2014. This time however, I knew that on the other side of the stomach pains (explosions), body aches and shivers would be a huge jump in frequency and greater clarity.
I hope that this message finds you well and walking in your mastery and remembering that no one is more powerful in your life than you. Thank you to all who read, share, and support these transmissions.


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A Brand New Novel
Josephine Baker, the early-20th-century African-American dancer, comic, and singer–hugely famous in Paris. Did you know that she was also a spy for the French Resistance during WWII?
I am so delighted with the blog Mirabile Dictu's review of FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS that I've copied it to share with you here. I first learned about this blog, which used to be called Frisbee: A Book Journal, from Trish Hoard, my good friend whom I met when she edited THE SWORD OF MEDINA for Beaufort Books. (She was also the editor of the beautifully written novel OUR SAVAGE by the Montana author Matt Pavelich, which I had reviewed for The Missoulian, where I worked as arts and entertainment editor.) Trish has terrific taste in books, obviously, and so when she recommended Kat Curtain's blog I surfed right on over, and was hooked immediately. She has turned me on to some terrific books I would not have otherwise read, by authors I'd never heard of, such as Pamela Hansford Johnson, whose book TOO DEAR FOR MY POSSESSING I've reviewed here before.
At any rate, Kat read my new book and loved it, and was kind enough to write about it on her blog. She's included it with other books of "Middlebrow American Women's Fiction," giving me, and now, you, more books by authors new (to me) to add to my to-read list. Enjoy!
"Mirabile Does Middlebrow" is a new bimonthly feature here.
I'd rather be reading middlebrow!
I am a fan of middlebrow women's fiction, and though I rarely write about it, I certainly read my share of popular novels. With a cup of tea in the middle of the night and none of the men awake to tease me, I curl up with the novels of Mrs. Oliphant, Mrs. Gaskell, Monica Dickens, or Mary Stewart.
I also try lots of contemporary women's fiction.
Sometimes middlebrow contemporary fiction is a good fit for me, sometimes not. I can't for the life of me read Jennifer Weiner or Joshlyn Jackson.
I intend to be honest, and hope you will find some good books here, some by famous people, some barely known.
And so here's the round-up of middlebrow novels for January:
1. Emma Tennant's Confessions of a Sugar Mummy. This delightful "chick lit" novel is for women of a certain age, or at least for women who know they may someday be that age. The wittyConfessions are narrated by a sixtyish interior decorator who falls in love with a 40ish man. She tells us that Freud discovered the Oedipus complex, but failed to invent the Jocasta complex, "to look at the situation from the point of view of…his mother." In her work as an interior decorator, she meets the gorgeous French tile maker, Alain, and immediately wants to sleep with him.
But she gives us very good advice.
"On no account rush to the loo and apply Touche Eclat or whatever the ruinously expensive foundation is called, the one that claims to remove your wrinkles and fill in the vertical lines down to your mouth, the result of a fifty-year nicotine habit. You will look strangely different, it's true, but not for the better, as they claim."
She considers trying Botox, settles for a new facial creme, and then resolves to interest Alain by making a fortune selling her flat in her gentrified neighborhood. She thinks she can buy a house for herself, Alain, and possibly his wife. He is very interested.
Yes, she's out of control, but she's very, very funny. B+
2. Hilma Wolitzer's An Available Man. You might think it is no coincidence that I read a novel about a man in his sixties after reading a novel about a woman in her sixties, but I assure you I'm still clinging to my spry half century. Hilma Wolitzer is the mother of Meg Wolitzer, one of my favorite writers, and Hilma's light, romantic novels are usually quite good, so I picked up a copy.
When retired science teacher Edward's children place a personal ad for him in NYR under the name Science Guy, he is annoyed, because he has not gotten over Bee, his late wife, and he doesn't want to date. But he goes ahead with it, and meets several women who are not quite right for him, among them a teacher who jilted him years ago; a beautiful older blonde whose extensive plastic surgery repulses him; and a widow whose insistence on showing him photos of her dead husband makes him feel he is at a bereavement brunch.
Edward is a kind, sensible, "nice" character, and this short entertaining novel is very "nicely" written. Occasionally an unpredictable moment redeems this novel as we see Edward change and grab life again. B+.
3. Angela Huth's Invitation to the Married Life. This novel was compared to Margaret Drabble's The Radiant Way, and though it was nothing like it, I very much enjoyed Huth's shrewd observations of her characters' rocky marriages and realignments of love. My favorite character is Rachel, a charming woman who spends her days sleeping on 300+ count sheets in a beautifully redecorated bedroom, because there are certainly days when I, too, would like to dream all day. Her husband, Thomas, who is quite nasty to her, has affairs with younger women and falls in love with an artist's work and schemes to seduce her. Rachel embarrasses herself at a party making a pass at a man, but that is not the end of the world.
We meet other characters, among them unhappy Frances Farthingoe, who gives a lot of parties and decides she needs a custom-made gray awning at her ball, while her quiet husband takes refuge in studying badgers at night.
Marriage is not the end-all when you're ill-suited, and that is what Huth shows us so charmingly. Grade: A-
4. Sherry Jones's Four Sisters, All Queens. Sherry, a Friend of Our Blog , was kind enough to send me a copy of her historical novel, Four Sisters, All Queens. As a fan of Jean Plaidy, Anya Seton, and Philippa Gregory, I knew I'd enjoy this novel set in the 13th century about four queens.
I enjoy historical novels about queens to the point that I once considered spending a year reading only historical novels…but I did something else!
And I ended up racing through Sherry's well-researched, deftly-written novel. She spins the story of the four daughters of savvy Beatrice of Savoy, the countess of Provence, who raised and educated her daughters as sons, ensuring that they would learn Latin, French, history, and other subjects that would help them participate in the political process.. She was the "queen maker" though she would have preferred to make kings, and her four daughters were expected to make political marriages. Indeed, Beatrice married them so well that it should have strengthened Provence.
The four sisters grew up to be Queen Marguerite of France, Queen Elenore of England, Queen Sanchia of Germany, and Queen Beatrice of Sicily. Marguerite's husband, Louis IX of France, is impotent. His mother has a way of showing up in the garden as they are kissing. Marguerite also has to contend with this evil queen politically, as she tries to edge Marguerite out of meetings and sends Marguerite's uncles home.
My favorite character, Eleanore, has to walk a treacherous path: her coronation is crashed by a madman who claims the coronation is illegal because Henry is betrothed to his daughter. Henry was engaged to her, and broke it off, saying she was too closely related: The Pope is reviewing the document. Marguerite tries to stay cool, and is astonishingly smart, managing to attract all the attention back to herself.
The other two queens, too, have problems, and as they grow older, the politics are even more complicated.
This novel is fascinating, great vacation reading, take it to the Caribbean (in my case the couch). Sherry, a former journalist, is an excellent writer.
Grade: B+
5. Jo-Ann Mapson was kind enough to send me a copy ofFinding Casey, the well-written sequel to her award-winning novel, Solomon's Oak. In Solomon's Oak, Mapson tells the story of Glory, a grieving widow who bakes pirate cakes and plans weddings to support her farm; Joseph, a retired wounded cop with pain management problems; and Juniper, a rebellious adolescent whose sister disappeared some years ago. In Finding Casey, Glory and Joseph have married and adopted Juniper and moved to Santa Fe, and there isn't at first much tension in their happy family life. Glory is pregnant, Joseph volunteers on the board of a women's shelter, and Juniper is in college.
But a new character is introduced, Laurel, a brainwashed young woman who has been horribly abused by a cult leader at "the Farm," and when she secretly brings her daughter to a hospital against the wishes of the sadistic Seth, she finds help from a social worker.
Mapson has a calm voice and a simple, poetic style. She understands suffering and describes it quietly. I did figure out the plot almost immediately, but that isn't a bad thing. Though there is suspense, you know she will help her characters.
Finding Casey continues the story without much ado, and perhaps doesn't quite stand alone. Is is more loosely plotted, because we already know the characters.
So read Solomon's Oak first. It's just better to read them in a row.
Grade: B+


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