Author Archives: Editor (Retired)

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About Editor (Retired)

Newsman, blogger, editor, writer (and no longer young).

Finished Reading ‘The Casual Vacancy’ — Now The Hard Part

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Stayed up way late last night (nothing unusual about that) and finished “The Casual Vacancy.” I reached that point where you’re so close to the end, you don’t dare put it down.

Adventure stories have a chase scene near the end, to step up the tempo and raise the suspense.

Mysteries have a detective following the evidence, piecing it together, closer and closer, the danger mounting, until . . .

J.K. Rowling’s wounded and wounding humans wander in circles, running away, crossing paths, reversing direction . . . not seeing the obvious until it’s too late . . . the sirens come . . . bringing them all together, sort of, . . . and they find themselves . . . and each other . . . or not.

Whew! A great novel. Now all I have to do is find time to write a review that’s worthy of the author, the book, and the characters.

— John

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So Many Books, So Little Time

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I haven’t forgotten about my unfinished review of J.K. Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy.”  I’m on p. 448. The pace of the story is picking up as I near the end @ p. 503. It’s a wonderful book tracing an intricate web of human interactions, hypocrisy and deceit. I haven’t written another interim installment of the review (the first part is here) partly because I hardly know where to begin.

And partly because I’ve been busy with so many other projects, like trying to become a photographer and to improve this blog. Hard to believe I’ve written 12 posts on other subjects in the intervening days. Casual Vacancy, despite its length, is a book I would easily finish in two days (and enjoy more) if only I could sit down and read it straight through.    Continue reading →

Politics Out of Control: Somebody Please Say ‘Amen’

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Did anyone notice the color of the carpet on the debate stage?  It was an almost blinding shade of bright red? Unusual color to see anyplace but on a fire truck. Don’t believe I’ve ever seen a carpet of that color before.

The logical explanation is that the debate planners didn’t want you to see the blood on the floor.

Yes, I recused myself from criticizing the debate performance of President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney. But I have to say I’m appalled by the state of American political discourse in general. Maybe we should skip the debates and select the next president by mixed martial arts in a cage. Or if that’s over the top, maybe an old-fashioned fist fight with civilized rules and a referee.

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No Debate Criticism Tonight

Aside

I hereby recuse myself from analyzing the debate performance of President Barack Obama, Gov. Mitt Romney, and moderator Candy Crowley. I reserve the right to criticize the performance of the cable TV commentators. Their constant analysis of the debates in the past few weeks has been over the top.  — John

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Nations, City-States And Corporations In The New World Economy

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Can Scotland separate from Great Britain? 

The age of empires is long since over. The Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the British Empire are history.

Can it be possible that cohesive nations are on the brink of extinction, sort of slow-moving dinosaurs not well adapted to survive in the hyper-fast digital age and the internationalized economy?

NPR News reports today that Scotland will hold a referendum in two years, with the approval of Great Britain. Who knows what the voters will decide?

Large federations covering vast land masses are subject to powerful Centrifugal forces.    Continue reading →

Power In A Box: Cannon Power Shot SX160

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CANNON POWER SHOT SX 160 — WHENEVER I’M BUYING NEW TECHNOLOGY, I ALWAYS WONDER: “DOES EVERYTHING I NEED COME IN THE BOX?” IN THIS CASE ‘YES,’ ALTHOUGH A PROTECTIVE CARRYING CASE WOULD BE A NICE ADDITION.

You want to know what an obsolete bachelor’s degree  feels like? Long time ago, as part of my journalism major at University of Maryland, I took a class on news photography. Although 135 mm film and Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras were state of the art in the 1960s, the journalism class provided us with older Yashika Mat cameras.

Today, I unboxed the very latest Canon digital camera. It can make an amateur photographer like me feel like a pro! Photography has come a long, long, way since I took that class.

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Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles — Maybe Next Year

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Unbelievable!

Wouldn’t you know it, my Friday-afternoon  post speculating on an I-95 World Series was the kiss of death for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. Before the night was over, BOTH teams were eliminated from the 2012 pennant chase, the O’s in the American League and the Nats in the National League.

A short post on my humble blog has the same power to jinx as a Sports Illustrated cover story? Who’d ‘a thunk it?

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Baseball History Made In Washington (More Photos from Nationals Park)

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Welcome to the latest chapter in the long history of baseball in the Nation’s Capital.

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Baseball History in Washington — I-95 World Series Possible

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I-95 World Series Possible! — The Baltimore Orioles play the New York Yankees today (Friday) at 5 p.m. in the Bronx. And the Washington Nationals play the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, starting at 8:37 p.m. at the new Nationals Park in Southeast Washington. Both contests are the fifth and deciding games in their playoff series.

If both the Orioles and Nationals win, it would set the stage for a possible first-ever World Series between the neighboring cities of Baltimore and Washington.

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Baseball History Made in Washington (National League Playoffs 2012)

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It only happens about once a century: A Washington baseball team representing the Nation’s Capital playing in the postseason! Last time was in 1933, when each league had eight teams, and the Washington Senators played in the World Series. Now baseball has expanded to many more cities, and two rounds of postseason playoffs lead up to the World Series.

The Washington Nationals in the field, the St. Louis Cardinals at bat, view of the field from the nosebleed seats on the third-base side of Nationals Park, one of America’s great new ballparks.

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