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.?


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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

RSS Feed leads to Cool Tools leads to Cool Book

Until I subscribed to the RSS feed, I'd forgotten how cool Cool Tools (www.kk.org/cooltools/) is. It's a web version of the Whole Earth Catalog (yes, I'm dating myself). As they say, "A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true."

One Cool Tool is Rule the Web by Mark Frauenfelder from www.boingboing.net. Worth taking a look at if you use those interwebs all the kids are talking about.

One tip from the book: to send all the pages on your desktop to the toolbar hit CTRL + D. To bring them back again hit CTRL + D again. Cool, huh?

Kindling

My newest toy. Highly recommend it except the buttons for "next page" are way too large. Try holding the device without accidently hitting the buttons - almost impossible unless you use the case. I'm sure this will be fixed in Kindle 2.0. But being able to instantly download books is perfect for someone like me who wants it now, now, NOW. I won't give up my library card because free is better than paying for a book. But I love the Kindle for traveling about. You can easily carry multiple books with you and even access the internet. Can't wait to go on vacation with my Kindle instead of suitcase full of books. Because you have to bring at least one book for each day you're away, right?

One of my first downloads was a complete set of all the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels.

I enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories, both the original and some of the pastiches. My first Kindle book read was Study in Scarlet and it seemed shorter than I remembered but maybe that was because I was clicking through the pages so quickly to see what happened next.

Now I just need to wait for the Hello Kitty model . . .

The Black Bird

No, not for the cats to chase. Just listened to The Maltese Falcon. Sam Spade is tough, brutal and he won't play the sap for you. Seriously. Not even if you ask really, really nicely.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go watch the movie again. Here's looking at you kid.

Oh . . . oops . . . wrong movie . . .

Simon Green Update

I've read two more of the Nightside books in as many days. I stick with my previous comments: they are funny, easy reads and will keep me busy until the next Kim Harrison book shows up.

Of course, my idea of a happy read seems to include houses that absorb people and lots of gory deaths. Sort of a Stephen King happy read. So enjoy at your own risk.

Penguin

Pros: Smartest cat, loves to flop and cuddle

Cons: Totally neurotic, after two years still thinks Fluffy (see below) is the Evil One and has a hissy fit whenever he comes near her. Of course, if we hadn't named her after an aquatic water fowl, maybe he wouldn't chase her so much.

Dave

Pros: Very friendly - greets everyone who enters our home, patient with children, total sweetie

Cons: Creative non-use of litter box

The Fluffinator

Fluffy aka Sir Albert aka The Fluffinator

Pros: He's gorgeous - just look at him

Cons: Tendency to splay - very embarrassing when the vicar comes to call

Urban Fantasy: We discovers a new author

I very much like urban fantasy. I know, I know, trashy books, whatever. Just like any genre some of them are better than others especially because everyone is now trying to hone in on the popularity. Some are more straight fantasy, some are more fantasy/romance. Some are edgier than others. Jim Butcher is about the outer limits of what I can read. Holly Black writes for teens but her stuff is edgier than some of the "adult" writers (her Tithe/Valiant/Ironside faerie books, not Spiderwick). Kim Harrison's series has definite creepiness going on while Charlaine Harris is a little lighter (except for the last book).

I found Simon Green by accident while shelving (don't ask). His Nightside series is reminiscent of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, though a little less gory and a little less deep. Sort of Dresden-lite. I've only read the first book (Something From the Darkside) so I'll post again after a few more and see if I still like them.