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Saturday, April 18, 2020

WHY WE SWIM: SLEEPING DRAGON

“[The Old Gringo said] that to be stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags was a pretty good way to depart this life.  He used to smile and say: ‘It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs.’ 


“I often get the feeling that we all have a dragon inside, with strange and unlimited powers.  Sometimes the dragon is asleep and other times it’s awake; sometimes it wreaks havoc, and at other times it’s under the weather….Once the dragon wakes up and moves into action, we just have to hold on for dear life and hope for the best—it’s not likely that we’ll ever tame it.”


We cast the shadows of our emotions on others and they theirs on us. Sometimes we threaten to choke on them. But without them there would be no light in our lives
 ~ Ancient Armenian grave inscription


In the pantheon of Western critics of Communism, George Orwell and Raymond Aron have privileged perches. Rebecca West deserves a spot alongside them  West  


NEWS YOU CAN USE: Suzanne Somers Shares Sex Tips for Couples in Isolation.



Why aren’t academic philosophers wise? — because they live narrow, stable lives. Or so argues Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside




MEH, IT’S NOT EVEN OFFENSIVE. ‘Chinese Virus’ may be offensive, but it’s still protected speech.It’s a virus from China. Those wanting to cover that up are Chinese tools or useful idiots.




Pg. 99: Bonnie Tsui's "Why We Swim"



Featured at the Page 99 Test: Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui.About the book, from the publisher:
An immersive, unforgettable, and eye-opening perspective on swimming—and on human behavior itself.

We swim in freezing Arctic waters and piranha-infested rivers to test our limits. We swim for pleasure, for exercise, for healing. But humans, unlike other animals that are drawn to water, are not natural-born swimmers. We must be taught. Our evolutionary ancestors learned for survival; now, in the twenty-first century, swimming is one of the most popular activities in the world.

Why We Swim is propelled by stories of Olympic champions, a Baghdad swim club that meets in Saddam Hussein’s palace pool, modern-day Japanese samurai swimmers, and even an Icelandic fisherman who improbably survives a wintry six-hour swim after a shipwreck. New York Times contributor Bonnie Tsui, a swimmer herself, dives into the deep, from the San Francisco Bay to the South China Sea, investigating what about water—despite its dangers—seduces us and why we come back to it again and again.
Visit Bonnie Tsui's website.

The Page 99 Test: Why We Swim.

--Marshal Zeringue





Thank god for the internet. “I was 12 the first time I logged onto whatever was called the internet then. There were no websites to speak of, not really. No ecommerce, no banner ads, no data tracking, no spyware. iPhones hadn’t been invented yet; we called apps ‘programs’; and I had an EGA monitor on my PC (a whole 16 colors of range). But the first time I telnetted into a chatroom about raves, made new friends in Australia, or downloaded files to load into a music tracker, I felt the same elation that I feel now. This force, propelled by people, connected by copper and light, letting us make new connections. Connections we need now more than ever.”


Phillip Margolin's "A Reasonable Doubt," the movie



Featured at My Book, The Movie: A Reasonable Doubt (Robin Lockwood Series #3) by Phillip Margolin.
The entry begins:

I don't think about who would play a character in one of my books if it was made into a movie. Two of my books have made it to the screen and actors I would not have cast in the lead roles did terrific jobs, so I have decided that I do not have what it takes to cast a movie.

That being said, I think Chloë Grace Moretz would be perfect as Robin Lockwood. She...[read on]
Visit Phillip Margolin's websiteand Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Woman with a Gun.

The Page 69 Test: Woman with a Gun.

The Page 69 Test: Violent Crimes.

My Book, The Movie: Violent Crimes.

My Book, The Movie: The Third Victim.

The Page 69 Test: The Third Victim.

The Page 69 Test: The Perfect Alibi.

The Page 69 Test: A Reasonable Doubt.

My Book, The Movie: A Reasonable Doubt.

--Marshal Zeringue