A little late today, due to an intense windstorm that knocked our power out for most of the morning. Here’s a look at what caught my eye this past week.
Louise Penny, trade warrior. I live just next door to Knowlton, where author Louise Penny operates her bookstore and the Three Pines cafe. I’ve never read any of her work—my primary experience of Penny was during her days as a CBC broadcaster many years ago when I was consuming huge amounts of terrestrial radio—but it’s interesting as to how much of a lightning rod she’s become in the trade war between Canada and the United States, and how she’s stepped up to spend real money on erasing some of problems it’s brought to Quebec’s Eastern Townships.
John Varley is dead. I’ve read a lot of Varley, on and off, due to my life-long passion for science fiction. I had no idea his career was considered by many to have been sidetracked by Hollywood, as explained in the link above. His work is well worth exploring, and the world is lesser with him not in it.
Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks. I prefer paperbacks over hardcovers, as they’re just easier to read while lying down in bed (and easier to pack when traveling). I’ll miss mass market paperbacks, but the sad reality is that most of this format’s readership has apparently moved on to e-books, especially in a world where the concept of buying a book outside of a dedicated seller (like you used to be able to do at the supermarket or corner store) is now long behind us.
It’s a Waingro World, Brother. This piece makes the case that the character of Waingro is the entire plot engine of Michael Mann’s Heat, but more than that, he is also a cautionary tale in terms of the people we encounter in our own lives and the outsize effects they can have on our happiness and well-being. A great read.
The strange fate of Flight 2069. In the year 2000, someone crashed the cockpit of a 747 and tried to fly it into the Sahara desert. Bryan Ferry was on the plane, but no official investigation took place and the event wasn’t classified as serious. This feature explores the lives that were forever changed by that incident.
Two Nights Playing With Fire At Patrick Mahomes And Travis Kelce’s Steakhouse. Come take a journey into a glorious takedown of the conceit that expensive, celebrity-branded restaurants are worth your time and money. It’s rare for food writing to be this entertaining.
Personics. Did you know that at the end of the 1980s, some music shops offered the ‘Personics System’ that would let you make officially-sanctioned mix-tapes from high-quality digital sources, right in the store? I’d never heard of Personics until last week. Has anyone out there every seen it, or even used it?
