It's the Great Pumpkin!

Can a book about people who grow giant pumpkins be more of a page-turner than a James Patterson novel? And the answer is . . . YES! Backyard Giants by Susan Warren mostly follows a father and son team as they attempt to set the yearly record for largest pumpkin. And by large, we're talking over well over 1,000 pounds. Will they finally win? Will their pumpkins fall apart at the last minute (as happened before)?

You'll never look at a pumpkin the same way again.

Nepotism 101: Or Blogs My Family Made

Unlike this family member, some of my family members do update their blogs on a regular basis. You may want to take a look . . .

My dad was dragged kicking and screaming onto the internet and now we can't get him off. His blog is http://www.elisteincartoons.com/ and is updated weekly with his wry cartoons. One of my favorites is:
www.elisteincartoons.com/?cat=71

My brother's blog http://www.litkicks.com/ has been around since the dawn of time, er, the internet in different formats. He writes under the name of Levi Asher on all things literary including a weekly review of the New York Times Book Review. He doesn't hesitate to say what he thinks and the blog can be opinionated too. Other people write for the blog too so feel free to comment and join the fun.

My Traumatic Tiny Life

Back in the prehistoric internet days I wandered into the text-only MOO called LambdaMOO. All went well for the first few minutes until I moved into the kitchen. "Hi there!" said a friendly resident. Then he put me in the microwave and cooked me.

Strangely enough, I have never participated in a MMPORG since then.

(picture is K.K. Slider from Animal Crossing: A friendly game where no one would EVER try to cook you. Though they may plant a pitfall in front of your door.)

Good Reads

Good in an entirely addicting kind of way. Enter in the books you've read, rate them and possibly review them. Friends do the same. You get an e-mail every time your friends update their page and vice versa. Soon you are winging 100+ lists of books back and forth, creating new lists of to-be-read books but having no time to read them because you have to add JUST ONE MORE BOOK to your list.

Try it. If you dare.

www.goodreads.com

London walks podcasts

To go with the Bertie Wooster walk, I found a website that has oodles of London walks podcasts:

http://londonwalks.libsyn.com/

I picked the Regents Park walk as we'll be staying nearby. No all dog alert included.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/londonwalks/regentspark.mp3

Right Ho! A Mashup (I think?)

"Borrowing" from a description of a walking tour by the P.G. Wodehouse Society in London, I created a Google map walking tour of Bertie Wooster's London. Clicking on the tabs gives more information on each location. Anyone want to join me for a w.?


View Larger Map

Read it and cringe

Were you alive in the '70s? Did you wear any of the "fashions" shown in these catalogs? You can admit it, you're among friends.

www.wishbookweb.com