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Category: Poststream
Books & Short Stories I’ve Read Fairly Recently…
I don’t recall if I have started this list elsewhere, but am doing it here to make sure it gets done. *Oh, and I consider myself a slow reader. I’ve always been a slow reader, but on the other hand, I remember a great deal of what I read. When you realize that I have read 28 of the Michael Connelly novels between November 2023 and July 2024 (approximately 9 months) and that most of those novels were about 385 pages each – The Overlook being the shortest at less than 300 pages, and originally published as a serial in a newspaper.
I make this list because after many years of not reading anything for pleasure but technical computer manuals and most of those online, I started reading again from the book resources I had incurred from my interactions with the Little Lending Libraries. I had not originally intended to read any of these books but to just act like a “book bee” moving a few from one lending library to another, within town and between towns as I visited elsewhere. Those other towns began to include Raleigh, Bennettsville, and Benson.
It may have been in Benson where I found, at the only Little Lending Library listed for the town, “Fig Pudding” by Ralph Fletcher. There were multiple copies of this little booklet, and I surmised that they might have been purchased for some group reading project, either for children, youth or adults. This was an enjoyable and quick read. I guess I would term it a “family” oriented novel, without being a Christian tome.
“Fig Pudding” primed the reading pump, and then the following “hinkey” event happened. It was late October of 2023, the 23rd I think. I had stopped at the Little Lending Library located nearest to where I lived. I think I left a book or two, but then I noticed the face of Matthew Perry (comic actor from the TV show “Friends”) filling the cover of his “memoir,” “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” I had no desire to read this book, but I thought that someone else would recognize him and want to read it. So, I took the book.
A few days later I was sitting in my easy chair, watching TV and browsing online on my Windows laptop. I happened to be on one of those web sites that memorializes celebrities that have died in the past year. I normally do not look at these until they start appearing near the end of the year, but as I started to scroll down the site, I happened to see a picture of Matthew Perry about the third celeb from the top. I thought to myself, “I didn’t know he was dead.” I hadn’t taken his memoir from the LLL because of him being dead, but because I knew he was famous. But I quickly determined that the actor Matthew Perry had died just three days after I had snagged his book from the LLL. That is what I called “hinkey.” And I said to myself, “I guess I’ll have to read his book.”
I started to read his book and within the first few pages he says, “I should be dead by now.” And then he goes on to explain that the “Big Terrible Thing” was his long time drug problem. He made a lot of money, and he also spent a lot of money. And, whether he could have stayed “on the wagon,” is now moot. One interesting aside is that Keith Morrison married Matthew Perry’s mother, and MP said that Morrison was a good guy.
I am now reading “The Men We Became” by Robert Littel who was a long time best friend of John F. Kennedy, Jr. The interesting aside from this story is that Christiane “Kissy” Amanpour of PBS fame (for me) was one of several roommates that JFK, Jr. and Rob Littel shared an apartment/house with during John’s last couple of years at Brown University.
So, once I finished the Matthew Perry memoir, I was stoked to read more. I had a bunch of Michael Connelly (Bosch) novels that I had collected to disperse via the LLLs. I had already said I had no plan to read any of those novels, and repeatedly said I wasn’t going to read any more of them once I had read several… and finally I finished all of the Bosch novels and included three others, “the Poet,” “Blood Work,” and “the Late Show.” “The Poet” was a Jack McAvoy novel. “Blood Work” was a Terry McCaleb tome, and “The Late Show” features Renee Ballard. *I did not read the Bosch novels in their published order. I learned to hate Harry Bosch from the novels. This was something I had not noted from the TV series.
I never had any desire to become familiar with Los Angeles, California, but because Michael Connelly puts his fictional characters in “real” settings and I recognized this first in the Original Amazon Bosch Series. If you pause these videos the street signs are perfectly readable. They are not blurred out as most TV shows and movies usually are. So, I started pulling up these streets or street corners on Google Maps and did Street View which gave me an even deeper understanding of the settings. Bosch liked Chicken Pot Pie on Wednesdays at Frank and Musso Restaurant. And, this restaurant after 100+ years actually does have this as a special on Wednesday. And as I began to read the Bosch novels, I saw this Michael Connelly influence. Avalon is the only incorporated town on Catalina Island. The large cargo ships loading & unloading their containers at the Port of Los Angeles all night probably does annoy nearby residents (even those trying to sleep on their boats at a nearby marina). City Hall, LAPD HQ, the LA Times, Bradbury Building, Grand Central Market and Angels Flight. In the opposite direction the CCB, China Town, and over to Union Station. Also on 1st Street is Mariachi Plaza. I already knew of High Tower Apartments from a favorite movie, “The Long Goodbye,” but I didn’t know how close the Hollywood Bowl was located to them. And now when I rewatch that movie I note the small garages down below those apartments. And, the iconic Chateau Marmont in “the Drop.”
I’ve always been a “cat person” so watching Marlowe (Elliott Gould) deal with his finicky cat has always been pleasing. Somewhere in the last 30 years it seems that everyone else got on the “cat loving” bandwagon and now are endlessly entertained by Cat Videos on YouTube.
So, here is the list (not necessarily in the order in which I read them, but I read them):
- Who Goes There? – John W. Campbell, Jr.
- Fig Pudding – Ralph Fletcher
- Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing – Matthew Perry
- The Black Echo – Michael Connelly
- The Black Ice – Michael Connelly
- The Concrete Blonde – Michael Connelly
- The Last Coyote – Michael Connelly
- Trunk Music – Michael Connelly
- Angels Flight – Michael Connelly
- A Darkness More Than Night – Michael Connelly
- City of Bones – Michael Connelly
- Lost Light – Michael Connelly
- The Narrows – Michael Connelly
- The Closers – Michael Connelly
- Echo Park – Michael Connelly
- The Overlook – Michael Connelly
- Nine Dragons – Michael Connelly
- The Drop – Michael Connelly
- The Black Box – Michael Connelly
- The Burning Room – Michael Connelly
- The Crossing – Michael Connelly
- Two Kinds of Truth – Michael Connelly
- Dark Sacred Night – Michael Connelly
- The Night Fire – Michael Connelly
- The Dark Hours – Michael Connelly
- Desert Star – Michael Connelly
- The Poet – Michael Connelly
- Blood Work – Michael Connelly
- The Late Show – Michael Connelly
- Resurrection Walk – Michael Connelly
- The Wrong Side of Goodbye – Michael Connelly *The last Bosch novel I read.
- The Men We Became – Robert Littel
- Highest Duty | My Search for What Really Matters – Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, III – 08/06/24
- Fair Warning – Michael Connelly
- The Little Black Bag – C. M. Kornbluth
- Toys!: Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions – Don L. Wulffson
- Tim Russert, We Heartily Knew Ye: Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Great Life – Rich Wolfe
[NOTE 08/09/24]: I think the first version of “The Little Black Bag” that I watched had Burgess Meredith and Chill Wills in it, and it was an episode of “The Night Gallery.” Meredith was a disgraced former doctor, turned drunken street bum, who finds the little black bag and proceeds to recover some of his former life as a practicing physician aided by the bag’s futuristic healing instruments, tools and potions. The bag comes from the far future which explains its miraculous contents. Meredith’s character finds redemption by using the contents to heal, the until now unhealable. But, Will’s character sees dollar signs and a way to a vast wealth. Wills ends up killing Meredith with a scalpel from the bag, and the future monitor revokes the bag’s useful contents. But, this revocation isn’t obvious to Wills, who is about to show the current medical professionals and example. Unfortunately for Wills, the scalpel he now plunges into his neck, as a demonstration, has lost it’s miraculous powers for healing and instead kills the surprised Wills.
It was sometime later that I saw another version of “the Bag” from an episode of “Tales of Tomorrow,” a 1952 Sci Fi anthology show. In this version, the disgraced, alcoholic doctor has a nagging wife and she wants the monetary reward from his use of the tricks from the little black bag. The wife ends up stabbing her husband in the back, killing him, and then finding the revoked bag’s contents reduced to straw and putrid liquids. And now I’ve read “The Little Black Bag,” and I cannot tell you the twists and turns from this reading. I like the Night Gallery version because of the “just desserts” ending that the Wills character receives.
I like the 1951 Howard Hawk’s version of “The THING from another world.” I watch it and think of how “cutting edge” this movie must have been for it’s time. I liked the 1980s version of “the THING” and it’s remake, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but for different reasons. But, after enjoying these movies through out the years, the thought finally came to me, “why not read the original short story”? And, I found that the 1951 movie left out the most important element of the “Who Goes There” story. The alien could fool humans by it’s appearance. Thus the natural response by a soldier standing guard and being approached by someone unknown, “Halt. Who goes there?” *The two later versions of the story focused on this shape-shifting element.
I prefer the 1945 adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery, “And Then There Were None,” but a close second is the 2015 version which may come closer to the original written story. Several characters from the 1945 movie were deserving of sympathy, much less in the 2015 version where Vera Claypool has been responsible for the death of a young boy under her “nannyship.” The choice of endings for the various versions of this acted story are myriad. In 1945 the story should have been re-titled as “Then There Were Two.” And, the Hugh O’Brien and Shirley Eaton version would also become, “And Then There Were Two.” And then there was one, in the 2015 version. Which was a surprise for me when Vera shoots and kills Phillip Lombard. And it was this version that prompted me to actually read the Agatha Christie short story just to see who, if anyone, actually survived to the end.
I found the story online and copied the text to my laptop. As I read through the story, I realized that Christie must have originally written it with the idea and intent that it would eventually be “acted out,” either as a play or a radio drama. And so, I started reformatting the text to make it more readable as a “script.”
[end NOTE]
I went to the Friends of the Cumberland County Library yesterday (08/16/24). I bought nine books, one of which was “Tim Russert, We Heartily Knew Ye: Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Great Life” by Rich Wolfe. This was the last book choice I made there because I was looking for something to read “next” after the book about toys I was reading. I bought one cookbook by Martin Yan (Several years ago I enjoyed watching him on TV, but haven’t seen him recently.) and the rest were current fiction (fodder for the Little Lending Libraries). *Russert has been dead since 2008, but I recall enjoying watching Meet the Press on Sunday mornings when he was hosting the show. A sharp and personable guy. Oh, the hardback books were only $1 each and I think I left a $1 donation to round out the $10 bill I gave them for payment. **I had talked briefly with a woman (two women standing behind me in the line waiting to get into the Library book sale) and for some reason we had been discussing how police forensics (my term) had changed drastically through the years. DNA only because really important during the 1990s and computers, on detective’s desks, were also slow to appear. I had picked up a copy of “Fair Warning” to buy and when I saw her I thought I would give her a gift of this book. I fished around for a dollar and stopped her searching, temporarily, to give her the book and the dollar to pay for it. I also told her as I was walking away, “You can read it, or give it away, if you want.” Later, I thought of this book’s content and mildly regretted giving her this to possibly read. The reason? The book starts off with the bad guy, the Shrike, breaking a woman’s neck (killing her) and in the end, the killer gets killed in an automobile accident.
After the Library Book Sale, I drove around, went to the bank, and eventually rode over to BJ’s Used Books before returning home. I bought 6 or 7 cookbooks @$1, and I bought another copy of “The Narrows,” another Bosch novel. I may have this confused, but I did give the copy of “Fair Warning” to the woman while still in the Cumberland County Library. And I did buy a Bosch novel while at BJ’s and I think it was “The Narrows,” because this would be one of a set that I might put together as a gift for someone who likes police fiction. *I’m not sure how accurate Connelly portrays police procedure.
“The Narrows” has Harry Bosch and Rachael Walling (FBI) and Harry is looking into the suspicious death of Terry McCaleb. I would add “The Poet” (Jack McEvoy & Rachael Walling) and “Fair Warning” (also those two fictional characters some years later), and also in there I would add “Blood Work” which was about Terry McCaleb (FBI agent that has a heart transplant). And, “The Narrows” has the Poet returning from the supposed dead.
As another “side note,” I think I have been healthier, regarding the common cold and Flu, since COVID. I didn’t have any colds or the Flu during the two serious COVID quarantine years, because of wearing a mask while out, and not eating at buffet food bars. And because I don’t eat buffets any more (many have closed shop permanently) I think that has severely cut the possibility of the cold and Flu bugs being spread (to me). Before COVID I might eat at Golden Corral twice a week, and Ryans also had a buffet.
I don’t recall if it is the first episode of Tales of Tomorrow, or another early Sci FI anthology series but the basic story is that a woman from the future has come to the present time and asked a man to “acquire” (steal) certain items (paintings & other items of artistic value) for her. She gives him a special device that stops time, except for people in his immediate vicinity. She gives him a specific period of time in which to make all of his acquisitions. He completes his tasks and then she reveals that the Earth will shortly be destroyed by a special bomb (atomic, I don’t recall) and she has been acquiring these art works to preserve them. Now, I don’t recall but I guess the world won’t be completely destroyed but just all life. I also don’t recall how human life continues into the future from which she has come. *It was episode 37 of season 1 of Tales of Tomorrow, called “All the Time in the World.” Not to confused with the Twilight Zone episode called “Time Enough at Last.”
The man who has stolen all the items asks the woman if he can keep the time control device. She lets him keep it, but basically tells him he only has a minute left and he can choose to stop time, exist alone for as long as he would like, or let time run out. She leaves.
But, I immediately thought there could be hope. Stop time, and make a plan. She had told him not to get too near other people or they would be drawn into his “stopped time” environment. I think I would approach the problem from this perceived weakness. He would need to research who or what might be done to stop the end of the world. I don’t recall if automobiles & other equipment worked for him in his “stopped time” environment, but I think they did. And he could bring others into his STE (stopped time environment) that could assist him. Maybe he could bring a brilliant scientist into his STE, and they could go to wherever they needed to go to control/stop the bomb from going off. Or they could bring another bomb to destroy the doomsday bomb. But the flaw with this story was that he could bring others into his STE, and if you could do that, even a few seconds could be an eternity to work on & possibly solve this problem.
[04/24/25]: Some time ago, I was playing with an AI, either Gemini or ChatGPT and I started going through the logic for an alternative successful ending to the above SciFi story, and according to the AI, I came up with a valid solution where the World and myself were saved. The basic logic was that I had an endless amount of time to research a solution, and then I could go to where one or more people might have the knowledge or skills to help me stop the bomb. If you get to within a certain distance of a person they come into your endless “time bubble.” So, I go somewhere and ask knowledgeable people who might be able to help me. I then go to the suggested person or persons and get them in my bubble and ask if it is possible to stop the bomb. If they think it is, we go to the bomb mechanism and I let them try. I guess you can walk away from a person to remove them from the time bubble. So, if more than one person is needed, I could get them in the bubble and walk them to the bomb location, and then go to get as many other persons they need.
Still, I guess the paradox is that the woman that came from the future had to come from somewhere in the past, and if the bomb goes off and kills everyone, then where did she come from. And if my quest is successful, then there wouldn’t even be a need for her to come back to try and salvage all the art works. That’s the problem with the time travel, change the past scenarios. [end]
Police deploy pepper spray as crowd protesting Israel’s war in Gaza marches toward US Capitol
Like President Trump couldn’t have called in a bunch of pepper spraying police to disperse the Republican attackers on the US Capitol on January 6th, if he had wanted to.
Fenugreek Cauliflower Stir Fry
Ingredients:
- 2-3 tablespoon Avocado/Olive Oil
- 1 Chicken Tender (cubed)
- 1 small Onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon Fenugreek powder
- 1 medium Jalapeno slit (opt, adjust to taste)
- Sweet Bell Pepper
- Mild Colorful Exotic Peppers
- 1 teaspoon Ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
- Salt to taste
- 1 medium sized Cauliflower cut into 1 ½ “ Florets
- 1 medium Tomato chopped
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
I was looking for a recipe to use some of the Fenugreek Powder I had bought this morning. The original recipe used the fresh herb Fenugreek, but I just used the powder. I added the chicken to this dish. Instead of a garlic/ginger paste, I used powder for both of these. I had Avocado & Olive Oil on hand so I used a combo of these. I chopped the cauliflower into smaller florets.
I used my electric wok starting with the chicken and onion. I had all the listed spices so I just added them, without actually tasting this as I went along. However, this ends up being a very savory chicken dish which is very pleasing, and I would make this again. *It is a great change-up from my usual sweet stir fries in which I add pineapple, Agave Nectar and/or Splenda. You could probably serve this with rice or a baked sweet potato, with cinnamon, sweetener, sour cream and margarine/butter, and this sweet element would set the savoriness of the chicken off well.
I haven’t had any fresh Curry leaves in a long time. But, I think these might add positively to this dish. I bought some of these leaves at the Indian Market in Apex, NC several years ago.
[NOTE 07/26/24]: I fixed this the next day also. I then realized that probably what I liked about the flavors was that they were the base of a curry. And, then I realized that I wouldn’t want to make this very often.
I fix a good stir-fry, and do so quite often, but I’m not completely satisfied with the flavors. I use chicken usually, and often shrimp, and even rarely some pork or beef strips. I’ve found a “garlic crunch” that tastes pretty good once I add some sweetener to the dish.
I was in an Oriental Market (in Fayetteville) and asked some of the workers about what seasonings they might use for Thai Basil Chicken. One woman suggested “Oyster Sauce,” which I had tried a year ago, or more, and that didn’t float my boat then. But I bought a small bottle again and plan to add it to see if anything pops.
Many recipes suggest adding anchovies to various dishes. I noted that “Fish Sauce” is made from anchovies, but it is watery, and there is no visible particulate matter. No fish parts floating in the juice. So, I’m thinking that using Fish Sauce instead of actual Anchovies might go well.[end NOTE]
Where to buy dulse in Greensboro, NC
Last night I decided that I was going to drive up to Greensboro so that I could have pizza at Sticks-n-Stones Pizza. Several years ago I was watching something like a network morning show (don’t recall which one) and someone mentioned that “Sticks-n-Stones” in Greensboro was ranked 3rd nationally for artisanal pizza. They have a wood fired pizza oven. So, I made a note that at some point I would visit this pizza place and try their pizza.
I don’t recall when my first visit occurred, but I do recall that I enjoyed the pizza, and definitely thought that was really good pizza. I chose their “To Be the One,” a margherita pizza, roundish in shape with a raised edge and garnished with hand-crushed peeled tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil leaves. Eventually I would add jalapeno peppers to my pizza order, but have stuck with the margherita style. *Today, I brought a small glass container that included both anchovies and sundried tomatoes. I liked the anchovies, but the tomatoes really added nothing to this pizza. I generously sifted on parmesan cheese and hot pepper flakes.
I think there were four groups of customers at tables and in a back booth and a few more women came in separately and were directed to the back booth (maybe 5 women total before I left). I first asked for only water but a short time later asked for unsweet tea with sweetener. They have Splenda sweetener. The tea isn’t that flavorful, which I should have already known and remembered from a previous trip. I make a note now, if I ever go back, don’t order the unsweet tea.
If I ever go back? The pizza was good, but not exceptional (which I have had exceptional pizza there previously). I think the good pizza maker or makers have left and whomever is left or current doesn’t either have the skills to make a great pizza, or the desire. I put some anchovies and sun dried tomatoes on a couple of slices of the pizza which already had the jalapenos I had requested (not pickled). ***I would add anchovies again, but the sun dried tomatoes did nothing extra for the pizza flavor. I think I noted a slight orange color to the cheese on my pizza today, which I equate to Cheddar being added to the Mozzarella… and I don’t like Cheddar on my pizza. I didn’t taste Cheddar, but.
I left with a to-go cup for my unsweet tea. In my car I added a packet of Dragon Fruit powder to the unsweet tea and this made it more palatable.
I got to Sticks-n-Stones after 11:30 am this morning but that is because I had chosen to go to Ken Chappell’s Peaches (stand) near Candor, NC. and then to Deep Roots Market in downtown Greensboro before hitting lunch. This was the correct order, and the route was so fluid, with little wasted time or any backtracking.
I had a really good time at Chappell’s and bought two bags of peaches. I honestly think that the “Sugar Giant” peach (white) had better flavor than the “Blushing Star – White” peach that I bought two or three weeks ago, and that was a really flavorful peach. And the “China Pearl” peach (also white) had good flavor, but not as good as the “Blushing Star.”
I wanted to try a peach of each type before I bought a bag of them, and the “girl” that I have known for years (but never asked her name) was willing to let me taste both. Surprisingly, I thought both of these peaches were delicious and worth buying. I also saw and bought a couple of ears of corn @ .50. *I just had an ear of corn and it was pretty good. Not the best I’ve ever had, but definitely flavorful and big in size.
I left the girl a Bosch novel (paperback), “Trunk Music.”
But I also wanted to see if I could find a vendor for Dulse. I googled and “Deep Roots Market” came up as a possible provider. This is a co-op, but you don’t have to be a member to shop there. I came up 220 from Candor to Greensboro, and the phone GPS directed me right to Deep Roots.
I took my yellow shopping bag in with me. I was impressed immediately with the way the fruits and veggies were displayed (different, but noticeable care like Wegman’s). Shortly I found a spice section and ended up weighing out some Fenugreek powder, Horehound Herb and around the corner was some coffee and assorted tea, and I bagged some Assam loose leaf tea.
*I recalled that I had tried and enjoyed some Assam Brahmaputra tea at Dobra in Asheville several years ago. The Dobra tea was brought to me in a pot but there was no sweetener, and I drank it all, and enjoyed it even without sweetening it.
**I think I later googled and found that Assam was the tea type and Brahmaputra was the region of India where the tea was grown. And just across the border in China is also their tea growing region.
I added some Fenugreek powder to a recipe some time ago, but couldn’t distinguish if it had added any additional or different flavor to the finished product (and I don’t even recall what the recipe was for), so I had thrown out this powder ages ago. But it smelled interesting this morning so I bought some more and will google for how to use it. The Horehound Herb smelled good also. I had bought a Horehound flavored hard candy several times at Dunrovin near Southern Pines. This flavor was unusual but pleasant.
I asked about dulse at Deep Roots Market and a young woman checked, but there was none on the shelf where it was usually located. I asked specifically if the Dulse they carried was the one I’ve see for years (from Maine) in a small cardboard shaker. She said it was and that it had been reordered and should be in tomorrow.
So it was a relatively short distance from Deep Roots Market over to Sticks-n-Stones. There were a few parking spaces in front of the restaurant/bar and I took one and went inside.
I was planning to go to the book store in downtown Burlington but never made it as I saw a sign advertising Replacements.com. I missed which exit to take for this but saw the building as I passed it and took the next exit, thinking I had missed the correct exit. I had the urge to try to come back to the Replacements Showroom via a side road, but ignored this feeling thinking that the Interstate would be quicker. My bad! After much zigzagging, back and forth, I came at the side road from a different direction and finally arrived at the Showroom just as a good downpour of rain started. I got out of my car and walked quickly into the Showroom.
Seems that several years ago there was an easy, off the Interstate exit for the Showroom, but this had been blocked and now the one side road, with little signage was the only way in and out. They must do more business online than actual in store sales.
The young woman that came up to me was very attentive (I think she was almost ready to go home.) and listened to me for a long time. I didn’t buy anything from her choosing to go the the bathroom and then browse the Showroom, Museum and Bob’s Back Door offerings before coming back to eventually buy an Oneida Golden Julliard Cocktail Fork from another salesman. The first girl had gone home for the day, by that time, but I did ask for her before making my purchase.
I did ask about an Oneida Stafford Satin finish serving spoon, but they didn’t have one. This was the spoon I lost after taking it to work for a casserole, and then forgetting to take it home afterwards. Never saw it again, and I am left with the slotted serving spoon which is much less useful, unless I was serving some green beans, and potatoes with seasoning meat and didn’t want a bunch of liquid on the plate.
The Oneida Golden Julliard Cocktail Fork was something that I had become used to using for years, before giving them to Jeff and Robin. I didn’t realize how comfortable this fork was for digging out pickles, olives, smoked oysters and other veggies for my homemade hummus. I bought one of these and yes, I do use it often.
Michael Connelly – The Burning Room
The book differs from the Amazon BOSCH TV series, in that the fire bombing of an apartment complex is a cold case in the book, not present day, and some of Soto’s friends had been killed in the fire. So Soto is looking into that case, unofficially, and now with the help of Harry Bosch.
In the book, currently there are two cases: the shooting and eventual death of a Mariachi band member, shot in Mariachi Plaza, and the other case is the fire bombed apartments.
Travelling 1st Street gives the Bosch reader several familiar locations.
The Hollenbeck Police Station, in East LA, is on 1st Street.
But head back up 1st Street toward downtown LA and you come to:
Eastside Luv Wine Bar
and on the other corner, across the street, is:
Mariachi Plaza
and from another side. Lucha Reyes bronze statue to the right of the three palm trees.
and the shooter may have been on the second floor of the Boyle Hotel (across the street from Mariachi Plaza):
and much further up 1st Street we come to:
LA City Hall & Police HQ
and next door to LAPD HQ (reflecting City Hall) is the LA Times Building.
Los Angeles Superior Court
Clara Shortridge Foltz Courthouse
Los Angeles Superior Court from Temple Street
Philippe Original (French Dip Sandwiches)
Philippe The Original (web site)
Union Station
Your choice: Left to Mulholland Drive, Right to Woodrow Wilson Drive.
What’s for dinner? Poquito Mas
Poquito Mas at 3701 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Studio City CA 91604
Ralphs at 3rd Street and Vermont Avenue
Pacific Dining Car
[NOTE 07/09/24]: The L.A. Public Library (Not in this Bosch novel.)
[end NOTE]
The Poet, Blood Work, & The Late Show.
I just finished “The Late Show.” I am a slow reader but the 405 pages went quickly and it was a good read. Several times I almost came to dislike the main character, but she managed to “not cross the line” as others have done. About the only loose end was how Trent managed to find out Ballard was a cop, AND her location in Ventura, while visiting her grandmother. *I think we were led to believe that Trent had an insider in DMV to help with the license tag number on her van, and it was registered at her grandmother’s address.
My next hopefully will be “Resurrection Walk,” which I think is a Mickey Haller, “the Lincoln Lawyer” novel with “some” Harry Bosch included. I really have come to dislike the way Harry Bosch “gets things done,” and as I have said elsewhere, if I had read the Bosch novels in order, I would have probably stopped reading by #4 or #5. “The Black Ice” #2 started my dislike of Bosch when he betrayed the trust the “interim medical examiner” had put in him regarding her autopsy findings.
The Poet was fun as we are led from an apparent suicide into a deceptive murder.
[NOTE 06/29/24]: I’m almost a hundred pages into “Resurrection Walk” and Harry Bosch has become an innocuous limo driver for his half-brother, “the Lincoln Lawyer.”
** So now Maddie has surprised Harry as he is having his radiation therapy trying to stanch his bone marrow cancer. She has come up to drive him back home, although he was expecting to use Uber. I’m not saying that old people can’t be useful or productive, using the vast experience they have gained through living a long life, but there comes a time for the End. Not sure how I want Harry to go out, but it might be similar to the end of Endeavor Morse. Morse had flipped roles with his protege, Lewis. And on his death bed, in the hospital, Morse is alone when death comes, and Lewis is out on an active case.
Seems to be a recurring theme, with President Joe Biden “showing his age.” It’s a sad time for America when you don’t have a viable alternative to either current Presidential candidate. Biden is too old, and Trump is just too wrong for America. What turmoil society will be if Trump is re-elected.
[end NOTE]
[NOTE 07/02/24]: Just finished “Resurrection Walk.” It was enjoyable. So I’ve read 26 Michael Connelly novels, since last year. I started the Bosch novels after I finished reading the Matthew Perry Memoir, which I got on October 23, 2023. A few days after I found the Perry book in the Little Lending Library nearest my apartment, I happened to see a picture of Matthew Perry online in one of those famous deaths for the year. I said to myself, “I didn’t know Matthew Perry was dead.” I then went on to find that he had died a few days after I had taken his book. I thought that was hinky, and suggested to myself that I would need to read it. I hadn’t read for pleasure, for most of my life. But now I began to read crime fiction. Only because I had bought several Connelly novels to put in the little lending libraries. I’ve paid anywhere from about a dollar to over forty dollars for these novels, and I have given away a bunch of them. *The forty dollar novel was “The Overhang” hardcover copy that had a special author’s autograph “For Bill,…” I wasn’t the original Bill, but I just felt the power of having the fictional character, Harry Bosch, speak to me by name, and then the Michael Connelly signature beneath. Who can speak for the fictional character better than the author?
I have become very familiar with the Los Angeles area because Connelly placed his fictional characters in actual places. I’m 70 years old and will never visit Los Angeles. Last night I was watching an episode of BOSCH which I had seen years ago, but now I knew so much more. The vignette was taken from “The Black Box,” and a minor character is killed in a tunnel at the Hollywood Bowl. As soon as I saw the two actors walking up to the underpass steps, I knew exactly where they were. I had visited this area using Google Street View and I doubt that I could visualize it any better unless I had actually been there. [end NOTE]
Cheap Pop-Up Tent from Five BEL°W in Cary, NC.
I’ve been reading “The Late Show” lately (already 3/4 completed) and the main character takes a pop-up tent to the beach, where she sets up temporary camp, paddle boards and then sleeps some with her dog, Lola. Don’t know why, but I decided to search for a “cheap pop-up tent” online and the cheapest I found was only $15 from Five BEL°W, and the only location that had the tent was the Cary location. I decided yesterday morning to drive up to Cary and see if I could buy one of these cheap tents. *As if I actually ever would go to the beach, or somewhere else, to set up this tent. And, I haven’t checked out the quality yet, but what could I expect for only $15 plus tax?
* I ended up donating the pop-up tent to the Main Library in Laurinburg, and checked back some time later and they did use it at least once for an overnight teddy bear event.
But, the trip was very enjoyable. I stop by the new Harnett County Library on my way. They usually have a few books, for sale, and I check them out. Then there is a short-cut that takes me away from Fuquay Varina on my way to Apex (I don’t go through Holly Springs, but veer off, West.) This time, I turned onto US 1 just before entering Apex. *There was a guy that was going to cut in, at the last, just ahead of me. But, I wasn’t in the mood, and he came close to hitting me, but finally slammed on his brakes and came in behind me. We later exchanged symbolic gestures in appreciation of each other. If you know the area, he was just some mook looking to cut-in at the last moment, and he had no more right to cut in front of me, by that time, than get in “with the rest” that were behind me.
I first turned off of US 1 to visit “Mr. Mike’s Used Books.” I’ve been there several times, and have even bought at least one of the Connelly novels there. They had a bunch of the Connelly novels, but nothing new for me. *I’m just looking for hardback copies for a few of the early Bosch novels that I only have in paperback versions.
After the bookstore, I checked my route to Five BEL°W and headed up to it. It had been a few years, but I began to recognize the area which I had driven around pretty extensively back during my working years.
I found Five BEL°W easily but did need to rely on my phone navigation because this shopping area has many convoluted streets that wind around. I guess I would call it “snaking my way” through.
I had never been in a Five BEL°W before but there is one located near the Sprouts in Fayetteville that I visit often. At the other end of the strip mall. I didn’t even know what they actually sold, and had never had a reason to find out. But the cheap pop-up tent had gotten me here.
I walked in the front of the store and saw a few customers and staff milling about. It actually looked a little like a Dollar Tree, but less organized. But later would find out that they were remodeling the whole back section to become a Ten BEL°W section. I didn’t see what I was looking for so I found a staff girl and asked. She wasn’t sure, but directed me back to the store manager.
The store manager was talking to another female staffer as they were walking out from the back area. There were several workers moving stuff about. I asked the man if he was the manager and he acknowledged that he was. I then asked about a cheap pop-up tent for $15. He said, “Yes, I think we have two. What color would you like.” I asked what colors he had and he said pink and green. I asked what shade of green and he said it was lime green (I think.). I said, “I’ll take the green.” He disappeared in the back of the store and shortly came back out with a round, flat, tent in a lime green carrying case.
I don’t recall why exactly but in a very brief exchange, we talked about goat cheeses, raspberry jam, and Trader Joe’s. He was a good guy. The young male store clerk took my tent and I guess scanned it and I asked if I could use my credit card. He replied in the affirmative. I stuck my card in and got my receipt for $16. A dollar tax, exactly.
It was a hot day and I walked out to my car and put the tent in the back seat. I took a picture of the tent on the seat, and also a picture of the store front of Five BEL°W. I then drove over to park under some shade provided by a tree (several shade trees, but not a great number of them). There was a truck parked in a slightly better location, but I had some shade and I reached for my novel, “The Late Show,” and I found my place and continued reading. *The truck eventually left and another car had come up on the other side of me to park.
It had begun to dawn on me that I had actually eaten at a restaurant in this area. More than one, but one was a “Jason’s deli.” The other I will have to track down, but I think it had the name “Tomato” in it’s title. I had been there several times as they had a good salad, soup and dessert bar. As I drove through this shopping area, I began to recall having become familiar with it several years ago. I scoped out the phone navigation and figured out how simple it was to find Tryon Road.
As I came up to Wake Med (on my right) I decided to get off Tryon Road and head to my left. I knew the Harris Teeter was then on my right. I went past that turn and was thinking I could find the LaQuinta Inn, but never saw a sign. I’m thinking it might have been the first street just past the Harris Teeter (which was beside a WalMart). So, I keep going and it is obvious that this is a nice neighborhood, on both sides of the street. I eventually come to a light and turn right. It’s been a while, but I am flying “by the seat of my pants” and after mistakenly turning into a nice “senior residential living facility” and coming back out, I turn down a street that will take me back close to the Amphitheater. I recognize where I am and turn to go past the Ampitheater.
I had attended a training session at a motel, near where Tryon Road and US 1 cross, and during another training session, I had stayed at a LaQuinta Inn. This training was near the Koka Booth Amphitheater (in fact the large parking lot blended together for all of these). The multi-story training facility had changed names, I think. I then came back and found the LaQuinta Inn and as I rode around the building I found that it was being remodeled and apparently there were no current customers. *I wondered if they still had the yellow acrylic table that I had really liked. I’ve looked several times online but have never found anything that looks quite like it. It was about three inches thick see-through yellow acrylic with a metal stand. Something that maybe two people could sit at. I seem to recall sitting at the table one morning, and the condensation was on the window nearby. It may have been in a Continental Breakfast nook.
After coming out of the LaQuinta, I headed past “Lucky 32” a high-end restaurant, and fought the urge to stop and go into the Harris Teeter nearby. I’ve been in this Harris Teeter, at least once, and they have an enormous selection that most Harris Teeter locations do not carry. That’s because Cary, NC is an elite neighborhood (most of it). I think I may have bought some fresh, special mushrooms there, and I think they also carried the Tiger Sauce.
Oh, now I recall that after heading down Tryon Road, back toward downtown Raleigh, I realized where I was and turned on to Avent Ferry Road. It had been a long time, but I used to love going past a lake. Yup, still there and with a long narrow pedestrian bridge that connects a parking area from the main lake-beach facility.
I then went to the State Farmer’s Market. Bought some peppers from Moore’s. They are just beginning to start but will have tons of both hot and mild peppers by the end of summer.
After the Farmer’s Market I headed down US 40 and finally stopped off of Hwy 42 at the Smithfield’s Chicken -n- Barbecue to have an Arnold Palmer (with sweet tea) and an order of French Fries. The drink and fries cost a little over $5. *They have created an intricate traffic interaction here, but it works.
I had actually begun to think about stopping at the Hwy 55 in Dunn for an order of onion rings, but finally decided against it. *Had googled for directions to Tucker Lake and found that coming from above I 95 was the easier route. That is where a 12 year old boy drowned recently.
When I got home, I came in and got the Nueske’s Smoked Liver Pate out of the fridge and cut off a 2 oz. slice. This was too much, but I eventually ate it all with some Black Sesame Rice crackers.
My meal schedule had been thrown off severely. I decided to not have calf liver for dinner but chose to make a chicken salad with some of the Harris Teeter Roasted Chicken I had bought a few days earlier. I had bought the roasted chicken from Publix for quite a while but then began to sense that the chicken meat tasted “mealy.” I tried Harris Teeter and the chicken tasted better, and I think they have kept the price down too. *I added some of the California Sun Dried Tomatoes to the salad and they have a distinct flavor.
I am a slow reader, but I only have about another 70 pages left in “The Late Show.” The hardcover copies feel better in the hand, and the print is larger which makes for easier reading, I think. I have plodded through several paperback copies but they are not as pleasurable, and the light gray paper of one paperback was horrible for reading.
Blood Work – Michael Connelly
I haven’t been scoping out the locations mentioned in Blood Work as I did with many of the Bosch Novels and the BOSCH TV series.
My favorite Agatha Christie story is “Ten Little Indians” or sometimes called, “And Then There Were None.” So, when I see the character name of “Noone” in Blood Work, I immediately think of the Christie character, which came to be know to the survivors as “No One.” So, every time I read the name “Noone,” I thought of No One, and just thought it was Connelly’s tribute to Agatha Christie. And, sure enough, late in the novel the play on the name is revealed, whether a Christie tribute or not.
[NOTE 06/22/24]: I’m writing today to mention an oddity that I came across in the last pages of my copy of Blood Work. Crimmins, the “bad guy” had kidnapped Graciela and Raymond, her deceased sister’s son, who she was now taking care of. Terry McCaleb has shot and killed Crimmins, on a Mexican beach, and has found and rescued Graciela and Raymond from their hell pit. And then in describing what had happened, my copy of the novel says, “Gloria and Raymond had spent thirty-six hours with Crimmins.” As I finished reading that sentence, I questioned whether this was a misprint, or if Connelly was using some allegory regarding Gloria’s heart in Terry’s chest. But, I finished the last page of Blood Work, and then did a quick Google Search on the sentence as written above. I didn’t find any exact matches, but did find the excerpt from this portion of the novel online. And there is the oddity. The online copy was written as it should have been, “Graciela and Raymond had spent thirty-six hours with Crimmins.”
So, now I wonder how my copy of Blood Work should have this glaring mistake. I looked at the book binding and it said Little Brown, which is the original publishing company. How could someone make this kind of mistake unless they were actually trying to think about what they were typing, not just transcribing? See below. I took a picture of my edition with the error, and a screencapture from the online, correct text:
[end NOTE]
Quick Trip to Rocky Mount & Wilson…
Yesterday, I took a trip up to Rocky Mount, and on the way back home to Wilson. This was definitely a “spur of the moment” decision based solely on finding a library book sale at “North Carolina Wesleyan University” in Rocky Mount listed online. *I see that “Wesleyan University” is in Middletown, Connecticut.
I found the few details of the book sale on the Pearsall Library Facebook site.
There were a number of miscues, on my part, in getting to this book sale, and I was also under a time limit. You see above that the Saturday book sale ended at 11 am, and I had less than two hours to shower and drive up to Rocky Mount, NC. I looked online and saw that the trip would only take one hour and twenty-four minutes. I thought this was optimistic since I thought that it would take a couple of hours to get to Wilson. But no, I showered quickly and drove like a demon along I95. I guess having an end goal and time requirement fueled some inner race car driver. I kept up with or passed many vehicles, in the fast lane of the Interstate on this journey.
I’ll leave my first miscue until later, but my second being: I did an “OK Google” search on my phone for directions to Pearsall Library in Rocky Mount, NC, and got a map and Start button on my phone. I pressed it and I was on my way. As I said, I was exceptionally speedy for most of my time on I95 and arrived at my library destination about 10:24 am. This would give me plenty of time to peruse the books on sale, if they were categorized by author, or at least as “crime fiction.
As I pulled into the library parking lot I saw a couple of black persons sitting beside an outside wall. I thought they might be students, or just members of the local community. But I wasn’t satisfied that I was at the library entrance, so I backed out of the parking lot and drove around the building. This wasn’t an easy task since there were “one way” streets that offered minor obstacles. I did a circuitous route as close to the library as I could noting that everyone that I saw were African American, or at least black. And the thought came to me that I didn’t know that Wesleyan University was a black institution (like FSU). Still having worked at FSU for 24 years, and then retiring, I had no problem with entering a black or mostly black institution.
After driving around the neighborhood I ended up on the same side of the library as I had originally been, but in a separate parking lot, adjacent to the first, but I don’t think they were connected. The two persons were still sitting beside the outside wall but I now saw the library entrance/exit. I walked through the doors, past another black person, a woman who did not appear to be of student age or ilk, and through a separate inside door. I was now in the library and saw a young black student sitting behind a counter.
I walked up to the library staffer and asked if the library was having a book sale today. He quickly responded that it wasn’t. I then made a comment that I must have the wrong date. I asked if the sale was scheduled for the next week. He responded negatively again. I asked when the next book sale was scheduled and he said he didn’t know but it would probably be at least a couple of months. *I said I knew I had seen the dates (or at least June 15th, a Saturday) in an online advertisement. The day matching the exact date seemed for me to be proof that the year was correct, 2024, Saturday, June 15th.
I then began to question if I was in the right library. I’m not sure if I recalled the library name as “Pearsall” but the student focused on his computer monitor and was looking for another library that might have a similar or same name. After about a minute, I tapped the counter and said, “I’ll search for myself,” as I turned and headed out of the library.
This first library I visited is apparently the main library in Rocky Mount. I thought this was on a campus, but it is not, and it is Braswell Memorial Library. I thought I had seen a sign near this library that said it was named for a woman with Pearsall in her name, but I do not see that from anything online now.
In the car, I checked for the library name and now saw there was another Pearsall Library at Wesleyan University and it was several miles across town. Still doable, but getting into that last 15 minutes of perusal time before my 11 am deadline. And, once again “one way” streets added to my minor obstacles. Finally, I was on a straightaway and heading down long blocks through green traffic lights.
I had found the online Facebook advertisement and had put the specific street address, “3400 N. Wesleyan Boulevard,” into my phone for directions. I turned at a light and saw athletic fields on my right. Nothing on my left, undeveloped real estate. I turned to my right again, as directed by my phone. And then another right and I saw a small building beside the athletic field. As I drove up to the building I realized it was an administrative building for the athletic department, not the library I was looking for. I cursed, or more than likely cursed, and looked at the phone again. I then thought, “how difficult could it be to find a library on a small college campus,” so I dropped the phone and started through the rest of campus. The buildings were labeled, but I finally stopped and called out to a couple of women, both black women, and one heard me. I asked if there was a library on campus, and she quickly pointed across to a nearby building stating that was the library. I thanked her and whipped the car over through the parking area.
And this is where I parked. It looks like a library entrance, but if it was the entrance, it wasn’t the entrance this morning. I walked to one door and it said, go to the next one, and that said go to the next one and I think there was one more door before I turned the corner (a Bistro) which had two doors, and neither of those were “the door.” But finally my door options had dwindled and I found the right entrance.
I walked in the library and saw two persons, a man and a woman, both white behind a counter. I think my first words were, “I know there is only about 15 minutes left, but is there a book sale today.” The man replied in the affirmative and started walking away from the counter and around to where the books were. And then it happened. There were plenty of books, but this wasn’t just any books sale. This sale was mostly of old tomes specifically written about political science or economics. No current fiction or popular novels here. No Connelly, or Coben, or any other popular New York Times Best Sellers. What a sense of disappointment, but still I walked up and down looking at titles on a table and then “in the stacks.” Nothing, but I did find an old, large cook book and I did buy that. I think it cost $1.
I walked back to my car with my purchase. Later I looked at the online ad (see above) and it didn’t reveal the nature of this book sale. I’m thinking I had see the wording about “popular titles” and “categorized by author” from the ad or ads for other book sales, and had just transposed that onto what I wanted this book sale to be. I then got on my phone and looked for a used book store and found one that was a few miles away, “Pequod Used Books.” It was only after purchasing several books at Pequod, and coming back to my car that I asked myself if “Pequod” didn’t have something to do with Moby Dick. I think I just did a verbal search (OK Google) and sure enough the Pequod was the whaling vessel of Capt. Ahab.
I had a pleasant experience in Pequod, talking to the owner at length.
*I am rushing off to breakfast and hopefully will get back in the writing mode to finish this as there is much more with a visit to City Lake, and driving about downtown Rocky Mount taking a myriad of digital pictures and then on to Wilson, NC and the “Wayback Burger” and a trip around the old Wilson Mall (partially abandoned, J.C. Penny, etc.).
After Pequod Used Books, I headed toward downtown Rocky Mount, but got sidetracked as I went past “the old Power Plant” and next door, the City Lake and park.
I parked in the shade and read some of “The Poet” and slept a little. I then had to find my way around the “One Way” drive around the Lake, but finally did. I then went for a ride in a “posh” nearby neighborhood. The homes seemed to be “old money” from probably the 1960s and I wondered what jobs these families did in order to afford these nice homes.
I had been downtown a couple of years before, and had even taken a short video of a train coming past this building. I misplaced this video, but not too long ago came across it, but don’t recall where I found it.
After I was through driving around downtown and taking a bunch of pictures, I headed toward Wilson, NC on Hwy. 301. But I caught the following out of the corner of my eye, and turned around to go through this narrow tunnel (actually two narrow tunnels). And from the pictures I took, one of the tunnels goes under a railroad track and the other is a street (where a truck was going overhead).
When I got to Wilson, I was hungry and went looking for What-a-Burger, but the actual name was “Wayback Burger.” I had been here once before maybe while I was still working at FSU. I knew they had a delicious hamburger. I had even driven up a year or more later, after my first visit on a Monday (I think.) and they had a “Closed” sign on their door. Some special training or event that day, so I came away without having a second good hamburger. *They were open yesterday, and I ordered a classic hamburger with a fry combo, which includes a drink, and I think the total price was a little over $12.
The only customers at first, besides myself were a family, a little boy and his parents. Later an older couple came in, ordered and sat next to my table to eat. A few more customers came in and had “take out” orders. The burger, and the fries were delicious again. I used a lot of ketchup and even most of a small cup of Ranch dressing.
Unlike my first visit, the sun continued to shine from the time I entered and after I left. The first visit, the sun was shining when I first went in, but it had started to storm and rain hard before I left, and finally when I walked to my car, my whole clothing was drenched. I was so wet that I took my shirt off to drive home.
After I finished eating, I drove over to the Wilson Mall. The Mall was vibrant at one time, but for quite a few years most of the original stores were no longer in business. There are signs of water damage and many of what were probably large glass windows have been boarded up. This is a depressing place that makes me melancholy. The movie theater still is open, and I think Roses may have opened near the theater. Not sure if Roses was there originally, or if they took over an empty space. Still the other end, where J. C. Penney’s was is boarded up.
If you compare the aerial view of this area with the new football stadium, there have been major changes.
I may have driven around the football stadium at Barton College before I went to eat, but after eating I also went back to downtown Wilson and tried to drive around the Whirly Gig Park. But, several of the roads had been closed and appeared to have been dug up. Not sure if they are going to re-route traffic around here, or what. One street appeared to be temporarily closed, with a yellow tape running across, taped to several orange pylons. I think they may have had some event planned for later in the day.
The football stadium looks great! I noted some additional features that had been added. I think it is now Truist Stadium.
Several years ago the bank building demolition was televised and was very entertaining. Seems like I may have driven down there, but don’t recall exactly. One of the center structures, perhaps an elevator well/tower did not fall at first was was brought down with some traditional wrecking ball work. I do recall driving by this street, so I don’t know if I watched the demolition online and then drove there the next day. Hmmm, possible?
I think they have built a new library YMCA and a nice multi-story apartment complex at the old bank location.
Bill Gibson, II 