Amici:
Lethal Injection ... Jim Nisbet’s ironic novel about the injustice this life sometimes metes out to its inhabitants (no matter how well-meaning they may be). A doctor down on his marriage and luck has taken a job administering his medical services to a prison population and is there to prepare a condemned man (wrongly convicted) to meet his maker. During the condemned man’s stay at the prison, he’s been subject to some genuinely mean shit in the form of one particular correction officer and when his hour is up, he has a surprise for that particular CO. The doctor can feel the condemned man’s innocence (in the crime for which he was convicted) and after the final hour has come and gone, the doctor’s conscience (and a desire to escape his miserable marriage) send him on a quest to find out the truth. Along the lines of “no good deed goes unpunished”, the doctor winds up in the middle of something life altering (for lack of a better description). There is true irony in this dark tale of life around the justice system. It is also a well written novel that ends (for this reader) right where it’s supposed to ... and there will be more Nisbet in this reader’s future. (Available on kindle, where this reader purchased it)James Reasoner ... big ups to Nigel Bird's blog site (Sea Minor) once again for giving this reader (sick of that saying yet?) yet another author and series to follow. The ugly one (moi) is a civil war buff and upon learning about Mr. Reasoner’s historical novels from the blog, I immediately ordered Manassas (the first in the series). This is the tale of a southern family (the Brannons) as it goes through the lead up to the war between the states and the first of the big battles between the North and the South (The First Manassas = The First Bull Run). The eldest son (Will) is the sheriff of Culpepper County and has issues with a particularly nasty family (the Fogerty’s) ... but a trip to Richmond for the state fair at the height of secession, brings unwanted and undeserved wrath from some what appear to be misguided abolitionists. Then war breaks out and there will be no spoilers here, except to say this is a fine read that provides some welcomed historical context and facts and is about as fair as they come. I will be moving on to the others in this series for sure.
Manassas, Book 1 in the series.
Where’s the Doc?
He’ll be at casa Stella Saturday spreading holiday cheer ... and since today was the last of my Dental visits (until the next tooth/gum abscess), three days of no smoking/drinking will (by Saturday) cease and desist so's I can get shit-faced while smoking my brains out upon the Doc's holiday visit.
It’s a beautiful thing.
Jets cheap shot coach ... what’s to say? The Yets (and the NFL) should be embarrassed for not firing this asswipe 5 seconds after he apologized/admitted what he’d done. He was screwing with the career of another man, end of story. If there’s any truth to him plotting the despicable act, anybody involved (players or otherwise) should be suspended for the rest of the season and the Yets should be fined. It is truly unbelievable to me that anybody would do something so low and stupid ... and in a televised game in this day and age. Coach moron, I hope they called him.As for the Yets themselves ... if they can’t BEAT the Pittsburgh Steelers this week (no easy task), Rex Ryan should crawl across the field and beg forgiveness for contributing to the proliferation of noise in the NFL akin to “... a tale: Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Speaking of which, that PUNK on Philadelphia (Desean Jackson) really showed some class (extreme sarcasm intended) last week against the Cowgirls.
To be clear, a punk can be 6, 10, 16, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and/or older. You can also be an NFL superstar (Desean Jackson) or a super rich wrassling promoter (Vince McMahon) or a former heavyweight champion of the world (Mike Tyson) and still be a punk. A punk (where I come from) doesn’t shed the title with age and or celebrity status. A punk is somebody who does what punks do ... and Desean Jackson’s stopping on the 1 yard line to embarrass the Cowgirls last week was about one of the most punk-ass moves I’ve ever seen.
And just to show you the history of this punk (although “asshole” might be a better description here), Desean’s been doing this forever:
Yes, amici, those were TURNOVERS ...
ESPN highlights has truly ruined most sports. It has become way more important that we witness some Defensive Tackle earning $10 million a year beat his chest after making a single tackle (what he’s paid to do) 1 minute into the first quarter when there’s no score yet (or worse, when his team is already down by 7 or more), than the same guy return to his huddle without having to dramatize his performance whenever he does anything he’s paid to do.
I guess I wouldn’t mind it if the same slob crawled across the field and begged forgiveness for getting his ass kicked when he’s been successfully blocked (the way Muhammad Ali was supposed to crawl across the ring after he lost to Joe Frazier in their first fight) but that isn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, the chest beating that goes on today in the NFL has filtered down to college and high school. It’s all about ME and shows no respect for a team concept or the other players on the field. How about you play the game for a change, the full sixty minutes, before you celebrate? And maybe you should concern yourself with the score and make sure you “win” before you celebrate. Maybe even think about how classless it looks to strut your stuff and consider being fucking humble in victory because ...
"For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters, musicians and strange animals from conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conquerors rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children robed in white stood with him in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting." —Gen. George C. Patton
Not only that, imagine how fucking long each game would take if we had to do the chariot thing after each tackle! Oy vey ...
The Eaglettes of Philadelphia show no class when it comes to most things (Michael “the Dog Killer” Vick immediately comes to mind), so it doesn’t surprise me that Desean Jackson wasn’t suspended by his coach/owner for being a punk yet again. This clown has a history of doing really stupid shit on his way to the end zone going back to his college days (as we’ve seen above):
But here’s Desean “the punk” Jackson’s move against the Cowgirls last week that should’ve earned him a big-ass fine and some time on the pine:
Seriously, if somebody on the Cowgirls had taken a punch at Jackson after this, I would’ve contributed a few bucks to paying his fine.
—Knucks
