King Arthur Movie Tristan

- Nickel Creek performing "This Side" on PBS Sound Stage in Chicago (lyrics at the bottom of my post) ....


- A video about Thomas Aquinas and the "Franciscan Thesis" ...


- Perhaps this is in bad taste, and if so, please forgive me, but sometimes I have to laugh so I won't cry ... Mr. Deity and the problem of evil ...


- Socrates on how to stand up for what you believe ...


Nickel Creek - This Side

One day you'll see her and you'll know what I mean.
Take her or leave her she will still be the same.
She'll not try to buy you with her time.
But nothing's the same, as you will see when she's gone.

It's foreign on this side,
And I'll not leave my home again.
There's no place to hide
And I'm nothing but scared.

You dream of colors that have never been made,
You imagine songs that have never been played.
They will try to buy you and your mind.
Only the curious have something to find.

It's foreign on this side,
And the truth is a bitter friend.
But reasons few have I to go back again.

Your first dawn blinded you, left you cursing the day.
Entrance is crucial and it's not without pain.
There's no path to follow, once you're here.
You'll climb up the slide and then you'll slide down the stairs.

It's foreign on this side,
But it feels like I'm home again.
There's no place to hide
But I don't think I'm scared.

I PROMISED I WOULD NOT COMMENT ON THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH LAST NIGHT

ABOVE PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE WHITEHOUSE: President Barack Obama addresses a Joint Session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 8, 2011. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner are seated behind the President. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

But I am not going to be like the Republicans who signed some asinine pledge and I will just say what is necessary at this time. I think that the President’s speech was superb, almost confrontational and still not devoid of that Obama willingness to compromise…It is disheartening to see how President Obama and Democrats in general have allowed the Republicans to dictate the agenda.

It makes no difference to any politician what we…the people think at this point…we are emphatically against cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and touching Social Security is not even in our radar. We are in agreement, at least the majority of us Americans that there has to be substantial increases in taxes on the wealthier and the corporations and that this business of cutting the deficit is not a priority at this time when our economy is in shambles. The President thought that it was a BIG program but most of us don’t think it is big enough.

Unfortunately, Republicans have proven how they think. Small. Petty. In their own political interests. They have shown they will do everything they can – including holding our economy back – in their obsessive drive to make President Obama a one-term president – and seize both houses of Congress.

Today, as I do every day, I received more than a dozen e-mails requesting donations. I added it up and if I were to donate to each politician running for office, each cause célèbre and each organization that has requested I would be shedding out over $250.00…and that is for one day.

Of course I will vote to re-elect President Obama…I consider the alternatives…having a Teabagger Fundamentalist-science denier, homophobic and middle class destroyer in the White House doesn’t set very well with me.

But what I am not is enthusiastic nor am I going to go out of my way like I did in the last elections…if the Republicans win then so be it…it is because the American people deserve it and I can’t think of a better punishment for their stupidity…that is if they vote for these radical extremist right wingers…that remains to be seen.

Good friend of ours Sherry made sure her daughter Carlee who is in the 2nd grade (congrats) was wearing her Underground Clown 2 tone shirt for the first day of school. As we all know she was the hit of the class styling in her new shirt.

To have you child looking fresh and different for the school year check out Theundergroundclown.com to see what we have for you.

Thanks Carlee

title: To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (Ladies in Waiting, Book One)

author: Sandra Byrd

genre: historical fiction

published: ARC/ August 2011

pages: 332

source: Historical Fiction Book Tours

first line: There are many ways to arrive at the Tower of London, though there are a few ways out.

rated: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars









blurb:

Meg Wyatt has been Anne Boleyn's closest friend ever since they grew up together on neighboring manors in Kent. So when twenty-five-year-old Anne's star begins to ascend, of course she takes Meg along for the ride.


Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling...at first. Meg is made mistress of Anne's wardrobe, and she enjoys the spoils of this privileged orbit and uses her influence for good. She is young and beautiful and in favor; everyone at court assumes that being close to her is being close to Anne.


But favor is fickle and envy is often laced with venom. As Anne falls, so does Meg, and it becomes nearly impossible for her to discern ally from enemy. Suddenly life's unwelcome surprises rub against court's sheen to reveal the tarnished brass of false affections and the bona fide gold of those are true. Both Anne and Meg may lose everything. When your best friend is married to fearsome Henry VIII, you may soon find yourself not only friendless but headless as well.


A rich alchemy of fact and fiction, To Die For chronicles the glittering court life, the sweeping romance, and the heartbreaking fall from grace of a forsaken queen and Meg, her closest companion, who was forgotten by the ages but who is destined to live on in our hearts forever.

About:

Best friends Meg Wyatt and Anne Boleyn grew up together in Kent. When Anne is sent to live at King Henry VIII's Court, Meg follows soon after.




Meg herself lived a difficult life at home, her father having been a harsh man and often beating her. She falls in love with Will Ogilvy, but when he is sent off to become a priest, her heart is shattered.


Not before long, Meg's father arranges a marriage for her, to a man who is decades older and whom she could never possibly love.


Life at court is tantalizing as well as dangerous, and when Anne gets herself into trouble, Meg follows her best friend in her downward spiral.






My thoughts:


The Tudor period is my favorite era. What historical fiction I've read concerning the Tudors has been by Philippa Gregory. I am so glad to have had the chance to read Sandra Byrd. She is a fantastic storyteller and superb writer and I enjoyed reading To Die For from start to finish. I was instantly transported to England in the 1500's and could easily envision King Henry VIII's court, with its luxury, scandal and drama. We all know how the story of Anne Boleyn plays out, but here we get to see her best friend alongside Anne. Meg's story takes a life of its own and I was really interested in what would become of her.


Meg and Anne were very close, and I could imagine the two of them living life in the King's court.

The first young man trained his eyes on me and smiled flirtatiously. I was unused to courtly manners. Did he intend to pay me such intense attention? Or was this a part and parcel of the illusory world of the court, where nothing was as it seemed?

p.56, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

Meg is truly heartbroken over Will. You can feel her pain as you read. Her heart breaks when Will tells her his plans to join the priesthood.

"I loved him to the point of anguish."





I liked seeing some well known people in this story; George and Mary Boleyn, Jane Parker and King Henry himself.


I recommend this one to fans of historicals and Tudor fiction, or to anyone looking to get swept up in a great story with plenty of drama, glitz and heartache.
Actually, I think To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn is a must read for Tudor fans.





On a final note, I really like the cover on this book. It suits it perfectly.
To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (Ladies in Waiting, Book One) will be on my top reads for 2011.











Special thanks to Historical Fiction Book Tours for making this possible.




Links of interest:


This has been a part of Historical Fiction Book Tours.





Click Here for the Tour schedule.

When I started this blog I had the option to pick many names.

I thought about it and there are lots of things I could have named it after; but the one thing that disturbs me most is that old-tired, Reagan economic theory of “TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS”.

Because I hate it so much and have time and time again pointed out what a hoax, a failure, an askew and perverse ideology it was, I opted for the name of my blog to be: “TRICKLEDOWNBS”.

Among one of the most ardent opponents of this Trickle Down crap is Robert Reich and not only is he qualified to give an opinion…he is a freaking expert on economics having served under the Clinton administration as Labor Secretary. He belongs to academia now as a professor at Berkley but he still comes out and offers us writings and opinions that are valuable and in need to be heard. I met him at the airport in Paris when we were both waiting to board a flight back to the states and I spoke to him at length for a good half hour…I was blown away by his wit and his knowledge.

In view of the fact that Republican-Teahadists live by, breath, eat and practice this odious Reagan theory…it is incumbent upon us to hear what Reich and others like him have to say on the subject.

Here is one I think you should look at carefully because it comes with a very telling chart:

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Truth About Reaganomics

In a single chart, courtesy of Robert Reich, from the New York Times yesterday:

“As I have stated so often, the entire reason for the existence of the Republican party is to thieve whatever the rest of us have, and give it to the rich. Ronald Reagan was the "inspirational" figure who found a way to convince large numbers of Americans to accept that vicious concept as a good thing. The country has been run on that basis ever since. The result can be seen by anyone that can read this single graph. That is why the country is in the condition that it is today, and only a massive seizure of the ill-gotten gains of the rich, and an equally massive redistribution of it to the vast number of workers to whom it really belongs, can save us.

The truth is no more complicated or obscure than that. People who cared to open their eyes have been warning since Reagan that Republican plundering of the economy would lead us to this place, but they were shouted down by the greed-maddened fools that bought Reagan's economic lies. Really, there isn't much more to say.

Posted by Green Eagle at 12:41 PM

Robert B. Reich is the former secretary of labor, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future.”

THE 5 percent of Americans with the highest incomes now account for 37 percent of all consumer purchases, according to the latest research from Moody’s Analytics. That should come as no surprise. Our society has become more and more unequal.

When so much income goes to the top, the middle class doesn’t have enough purchasing power to keep the economy going without sinking ever more deeply into debt — which, as we’ve seen, ends badly. An economy so dependent on the spending of a few is also prone to great booms and busts. The rich splurge and speculate when their savings are doing well. But when the values of their assets tumble, they pull back. That can lead to wild gyrations. Sound familiar?

The economy won’t really bounce back until America’s surge toward inequality is reversed. Even if by some miracle President Obama gets support for a second big stimulus while Ben S. Bernanke’s Fed keeps interest rates near zero, neither will do the trick without a middle class capable of spending. Pump-priming works only when a well contains enough water.

Look back over the last hundred years and you’ll see the pattern. During periods when the very rich took home a much smaller proportion of total income — as in the Great Prosperity between 1947 and 1977 — the nation as a whole grew faster and median wages surged. We created a virtuous cycle in which an ever growing middle class had the ability to consume more goods and services, which created more and better jobs, thereby stoking demand. The rising tide did in fact lift all boats.

During periods when the very rich took home a larger proportion — as between 1918 and 1933, and in the Great Regression from 1981 to the present day — growth slowed, median wages stagnated and we suffered giant downturns. It’s no mere coincidence that over the last century the top earners’ share of the nation’s total income peaked in 1928 and 2007 — the two years just preceding the biggest downturns.

Starting in the late 1970s, the middle class began to weaken. Although productivity continued to grow and the economy continued to expand, wages began flattening in the 1970s because new technologies — container ships, satellite communications, eventually computers and the Internet — started to undermine any American job that could be automated or done more cheaply abroad. The same technologies bestowed ever larger rewards on people who could use them to innovate and solve problems. Some were product entrepreneurs; a growing number were financial entrepreneurs. The pay of graduates of prestigious colleges and M.B.A. programs — the “talent” who reached the pinnacles of power in executive suites and on Wall Street — soared.

The middle class nonetheless continued to spend, at first enabled by the flow of women into the work force. (In the 1960s only 12 percent of married women with young children were working for pay; by the late 1990s, 55 percent were.) When that way of life stopped generating enough income, Americans went deeper into debt. From the late 1990s to 2007, the typical household debt grew by a third. As long as housing values continued to rise it seemed a painless way to get additional money.

Eventually, of course, the bubble burst. That ended the middle class’s remarkable ability to keep spending in the face of near stagnant wages. The puzzle is why so little has been done in the last 40 years to help deal with the subversion of the economic power of the middle class. With the continued gains from economic growth, the nation could have enabled more people to become problem solvers and innovators — through early childhood education, better public schools, expanded access to higher education and more efficient public transportation.

We might have enlarged safety nets — by having unemployment insurance cover part-time work, by giving transition assistance to move to new jobs in new locations, by creating insurance for communities that lost a major employer. And we could have made Medicare available to anyone.

Big companies could have been required to pay severance to American workers they let go and train them for new jobs. The minimum wage could have been pegged at half the median wage, and we could have insisted that the foreign nations we trade with do the same, so that all citizens could share in gains from trade.

We could have raised taxes on the rich and cut them for poorer Americans.

But starting in the late 1970s, and with increasing fervor over the next three decades, government did just the opposite. It deregulated and privatized. It cut spending on infrastructure as a percentage of the national economy and shifted more of the costs of public higher education to families. It shredded safety nets. (Only 27 percent of the unemployed are covered by unemployment insurance.) And it allowed companies to bust unions and threaten employees who tried to organize. Fewer than 8 percent of private-sector workers are unionized.

More generally, it stood by as big American companies became global companies with no more loyalty to the United States than a GPS satellite. Meanwhile, the top income tax rate was halved to 35 percent and many of the nation’s richest were allowed to treat their income as capital gains subject to no more than 15 percent tax. Inheritance taxes that affected only the topmost 1.5 percent of earners were sliced. Yet at the same time sales and payroll taxes — both taking a bigger chunk out of modest paychecks — were increased.

Most telling of all, Washington deregulated Wall Street while insuring it against major losses. In so doing, it allowed finance — which until then had been the servant of American industry — to become its master, demanding short-term profits over long-term growth and raking in an ever larger portion of the nation’s profits. By 2007, financial companies accounted for over 40 percent of American corporate profits and almost as great a percentage of pay, up from 10 percent during the Great Prosperity.

Some say the regressive lurch occurred because Americans lost confidence in government. But this argument has cause and effect backward. The tax revolts that thundered across America starting in the late 1970s were not so much ideological revolts against government — Americans still wanted all the government services they had before, and then some — as against paying more taxes on incomes that had stagnated. Inevitably, government services deteriorated and government deficits exploded, confirming the public’s growing cynicism about government’s doing anything right.

Some say we couldn’t have reversed the consequences of globalization and technological change. Yet the experiences of other nations, like Germany, suggest otherwise. Germany has grown faster than the United States for the last 15 years, and the gains have been more widely spread. While Americans’ average hourly pay has risen only 6 percent since 1985, adjusted for inflation, German workers’ pay has risen almost 30 percent. At the same time, the top 1 percent of German households now take home about 11 percent of all income — about the same as in 1970. And although in the last months Germany has been hit by the debt crisis of its neighbors, its unemployment is still below where it was when the financial crisis started in 2007.

How has Germany done it? Mainly by focusing like a laser on education (German math scores continue to extend their lead over American), and by maintaining strong labor unions.

THE real reason for America’s Great Regression was political. As income and wealth became more concentrated in fewer hands, American politics reverted to what Marriner S. Eccles, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, described in the 1920s, when people “with great economic power had an undue influence in making the rules of the economic game.” With hefty campaign contributions and platoons of lobbyists and public relations spinners, America’s executive class has gained lower tax rates while resisting reforms that would spread the gains from growth.

Yet the rich are now being bitten by their own success. Those at the top would be better off with a smaller share of a rapidly growing economy than a large share of one that’s almost dead in the water.

The economy cannot possibly get out of its current doldrums without a strategy to revive the purchasing power of America’s vast middle class. The spending of the richest 5 percent alone will not lead to a virtuous cycle of more jobs and higher living standards. Nor can we rely on exports to fill the gap. It is impossible for every large economy, including the United States, to become a net exporter.

Reviving the middle class requires that we reverse the nation’s decades-long trend toward widening inequality. This is possible notwithstanding the political power of the executive class. So many people are now being hit by job losses, sagging incomes and declining home values that Americans could be mobilized.

Moreover, an economy is not a zero-sum game. Even the executive class has an enlightened self-interest in reversing the trend; just as a rising tide lifts all boats, the ebbing tide is now threatening to beach many of the yachts. The question is whether, and when, we will summon the political will. We have summoned it before in even bleaker times.

As the historian James Truslow Adams defined the American Dream when he coined the term at the depths of the Great Depression, what we seek is “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.”

That dream is still within our grasp.”

CHART SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/09/04/opinion/04reich-graphic.html?ref=sunday

Before I get to my game picks for this week, I just want to thank anyone who is reading that served in the military. You guys sacrifice your lives while I get to sit behind a computer and talk about football. I also want to send my deepest condolences to anyone who lost family members in the 9/11 attacks. God Bless.

Some have perished or gone because of their irrelevance…others have risen to prominence by virtue of remaining innovative and evolving.

Certainly the telegraph became obsolete with the advent of the telephone. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who actually knows or even have studied the Morse code. But Western Union evolved and has remained a viable and vibrant company throughout the years. Sure, they don’t send telegraphs any more…not even those singing ones…but they transfer money for you and perform many other useful functions.

Wells Fargo is not your great-grandpappy's horse drawn courier any more...it is a powerful and successful financial institution and an example of how a corporation can evolve to become relevant. From the wild West horse-drawn carriages to state of the art electronic finances...that is Wells Fargo today.

But just as we see the success some companies have had in remaining relevant…we also see others that have perished…a good example and one that I personally greatly miss is PANAMERICAN AIRWAYS (PANAM) which was mismanaged and suffered the final blow to its integrity when one of their 747s was blown up in the skies over Scotland.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I learned to type in one of those manual typewriters one only finds in museums today. It was necessary to strike the keys with force and as a consequence you typed castigating the keyboard…which translated into numerous mistakes when the electric typewriter became the norm.

But back then, nobody thought that writing would become obsolete. I remember my tortuous and boring Palmer handwriting courses where you had to write sentences over and over until you copied the style and format of the Palmer method to the most insignificant detail. I had perfect penmanship then. But then I went to college and because you have to take notes when attending lectures, you had to relax that Palmer method, find shortcuts, simplify the letters…adopt a kind of shorthand if you will and now my writing is barely legible. (Doctors are notorious for their illegible scribbles and taking notes in college is one of the reasons for this)

Sure, throughout my educational years there wasn’t a single person who knew anything about computers…it had been invented, yes, but it was still a couple of decades away and then when it came it worked with cards! The functions and memory of those early computers are so dwarfed by today’s behemoths…where the whole Library of Congress can be compressed into a little black box. It is mind boggling that today you can actually obtain an advance college degree from the comfort of your home.

So it is not surprising that when we have computers in our homes and offices there is no longer the need for the printed word…newspapers are closing shop left and right…book publishers are hanging it up and libraries closing not just because of lack of public funds but also from lack of patronage…Kindle is now the new-fangled novelty.

Banking too is one of the functions that used to be tortuous and time consuming. When Bank of America first came into being there were deposit slips with carbon copies…(who can explain carbon copies to the youngsters of today?) and now banking transactions take seconds…all done through computers that are linked to one another and what used to take days now has become almost instantaneous.

Edifices for banks had to be built solidly and impressively to give the depositors a sense of security and permanence…oftentimes very elaborate and the neo-classical style was the preferred architectural style. Now bank buildings are sleek, steel and glass skyscrapers that only compete in height for their message of importance…the taller the building the better the bank.

The Bank of America was formed in the latter part of the 1920s as the result of a merger between the Bank of Italy (based in San Francisco) and the Bank of America, whose business interests were solely based at that time in Los Angeles. The merger resulted in a rebranding of the expanded Bank of America company leading to the merged bank being called BankAmerica. BankAmerica was headed by Amadeo Giannini (founder of the Bank of Italy) and co-chaired by E. Monette (founder of the Bank of America).

But one of the areas that is regrettably lagging behind in going electronic is that of the process of voting. There are countries where it is possible to vote on line…and please don’t tell me that it is not secure because if we can trust banks to do all our transactions worth billions electronically then voting could be done with complete transparency. Needless is to say that Republicans will oppose it because they won’t be able to disenfranchise voters or discourage people from voting…remember the elections of 2000 with the “hanging chards”? It is in the best interest of the Republicans to have an ignorant population and one that doesn’t exercise their right to vote…they want less participation, not more and to manipulate the voting process to their advantage.

PHOTO SOURCES:

http://www.johnstowntypewriterconservatory.com/remington2.htm

http://www.trivago.co.uk/san-francisco-34308/museum--exhibition--gallery/wells-fargo-history-museum-731651/picture-i3739501

http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/fa_wu_telegraphregister.aspx

http://www.thefinanceowl.com/banks/usa/bank-of-america/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_Am_Boeing_747_at_Zurich_Airport_in_May_1985.jpg

http://designslinger.com/2008/10/12/old-banks--new-beginings.aspx

Author Margaret Coel was here Monday for a guest post. Today, I'm reviewing the two books in her Catherine McLeod mystery series. (My apologies, these reviews are two days late.)







title: Blood Memory: A Catherine McLeod Mystery

author: Margaret Coel

published: 2008

genre: crime thriller/suspense

pages: 305

source: sent by publisher for review

first line: The August night was perfect.

rated: 3 out of 5 stars







About:

Blood Memory is the first in the Catherine McLeod mystery books by author Margaret Coel.
Catherine is an investigative reporter for a Denver newspaper called the Journal. On one of her nightly routine walks with her golden retriever Rex, Catherine notices she is being followed. Narrowly escaping a brush with death, Catherine becomes involved in a crime investigation and realizes she is being targeted by a hit man. Being an investigative reporter has gotten her plenty of enemies, but she cannot think of anyone who would want to kill her. The hit man himself sends her an email, but it is basically a threat. From page one, Catherine is caught in a cat and mouse chase.



Catherine's rich ex-husband, Lawrence, insists she stay at his secluded family ranch up in the Colorado mountains until they find the man who is after her. Catherine reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile Bustamante, the detective assigned to her case is on the search for her would be assassin.

Catherine realizes there is a connection between her attempted murder and a story involving the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians.





My thoughts:

Blood Memory is a suspenseful story that had me drawn in. I liked Catherine from the start. She's a strong woman with a mind of her own. The cast of characters is interesting and I was easily taken in by the storyline.



The Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians are involved within the plot and as the story unfolds you get to see how this is all connected to Catherine. This part of the story was a bit boring for me however, especially towards the end. I felt myself not interested in it as much as in the chase between Catherine and her would be assassin.



I liked police detective Nick Bustamante. He's your classic strong hero/good guy trying to save lives. I wanted to see if something would develop between he and Catherine.


I wanted Catherine to kick her ex-husband Lawrence in the 'you know whats'. He's your basic slimy guy who thinks he can get away with anything because he thinks he's entitled.


I also liked that Catherine's Golden Retriever Rex is involved the story, it gave it all a more realistic feel.




Author Margaret Coel wraps the ending up well and gives the story closure.







The Colorado setting was great, author Margaret Coel really makes it a part of the story. I could easily imagine the beautiful mountains and sky as the backdrop to the story.

There were scatterings of gray sagebrush and clusters of old cottonwood tress along the banks of dry creeks. The air smelled of dust and sage and outdoors. The great wall of mountains curved in the distance.
p. 43

Although the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indian aspect of the story dragged a bit for me, I found Blood Memory to be a good start to a suspenseful series.














title: The Perfect Suspect: A Catherine McLeod Mystery

author: Margaret Coel

published: 2011

genre: crime thriller/suspense

pages: 293

source: sent by publisher for review

first line: She never meant to kill him.

rated: 4 out of 5 stars







About:


David Mathews is a candidate running for Governor in Colorado. Journalist Catherine McLeod has been covering his campaign for some time. There are rumors of Mathews infidelities and shady business deals, but nothing has been proven. He and his wife seem to be the perfect couple.



One night Mathews is home alone and opens his front door to find his ex mistress Detective Ryan Beckman there. She insists on coming into his home and tries to convince Mathews the two can work things out.

When he asks her to leave, she shoots him dead. As Ryan leaves the crime scene, another one of Mathews mistresses sees her from outside the house. An eye witness.



Journalist Catherine McLeod is sent to the crime scene the next day to get the scoop. Ironically enough, Detective Ryan Beckman is assigned to the case along with her partner, Martinez.

At this point, Mathews wife is the prime suspect, the murder weapon is even found at her home, planted there by none other than Ryan.



Catherine receives an anonymous phone call from the eye witness/mistress, saying that she saw Detective Ryan Beckman flee the crime scene. She won't give her name or identity, being that she thinks she'll be ridiculed and possibly hauled in for questioning, since she is a private escort. Catherine has a gut feeling that this person is telling the truth and does all she can to prove who the real killer is.





My thoughts:


The Perfect Suspect grabbed me in from the first line and didn't let me go until the final page.
I read this book in one sitting and was really swept into the storyline.



I liked to see that Catherine and Nick (Blood Memory) are together and that she is moving on with her life after what happened in book 1.



The storyline in this one was great and the author does a wonderful job at getting the reader inside the minds of these characters. Detective Ryan Beckman is ironically assigned to a murder case for a crime of passion that she herself commited. She is hell bent on framing Mathews wife. She is also being very careful of what information she divulges, since she's been inside Mathews homes and knows her way around. She is very careful while interviewing suspects and friends of Mathews, even coming across one of his interns who saw the two together and knew of the affair.

Rumors swirled about the candidate-financial improprieties, shady business deals, extramarital affairs. She had never suceeded in running down any of them. They were like a dull throbbing in her head, elusive, maddening and persistent.

p.14

Catherine is on the prowl, trying to get as much information as she can, risking her life in the process.

There is plenty of suspense in this one, and I was really curious to see how it would all end. All in all, a great read and I do recommend this one to fans of this genre or for anyone looking to get swept up in a great thriller.






Overall, Blood Memory and The Perfect Suspect, are both suspenseful entertaining reads and I do recommend them. Although they are part of a series, they can be read as stand alone books.


Out of these two book, I enjoyed The Perfect Suspect more.







Special thanks to Kaitlyn over @ the Penguin Group for making this possible.

Courtesy of Liam, here's a list of ten historical battles. Why is a peacenik like me interested in battles? I don't know but I have always been :) (see my past post on 10 war movies).

The list below is from a post at TopTenz - Top 10 Most Important Battles in History. Best to read the whole thing for details on the battles, as I'm just posting the list itself with my own commentary on the battles I know something of ....

1. Adrianople, 718 ... Arabs defeated by Byzantines and Bulgarians.

2. Battle of Salamis, 480 BCE ... Greeks beat the Persians on the sea. This is one battle I know a bit about, having read Herodotus in school. It takes place just after the Battle of Thermopylae. You can listen to an interview at NPR with the author of Salamis: The Battle That Saved Western Culture. And here's a short fun (to me anyway) video from the History Channel about the battle and the general who made it happen, Themistocles ....



3. Yorktown, 1781 ... in the Revolutionary War, the US and French trounce the British.

4. Battle of Vienna, 1683 ... the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth beat back the Ottoman Empire.

5. Battle of Tours, 732 ... this battle I'm familiar with too - Charles the Hammer (grandfather of Charlemagne) defeated an invading Muslim army.

6. Gettysburg, 1863 ... the North ends the South's advance in the Civil War.

7. Waterloo, 1815 ... Wellington defeats Napoleon. Everyone knows about this battle, even me, having read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and having watched the movie Waterloo

8. Actium, 31 BCE ...


- The Battle of Actium by Lorenzo Castro

This is a battle with an interesting backstory - Cleopatra and her then boyfriend Mark Antony fight and lose a sea battle against Octavian/Augustus. Julius Caesar had been murdered, and his nephew (and adopted son) Octavian was called to Rome to join up with Mark Antony (a friend of Caesar's who gave that famous speech at his funeral - Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears) and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in a military dictatorship, after wiping out Caesar's assassins. The relationships eventually began to deteriorate, with Lepidus being exiled and Mark Antony hanging out with Cleopatra (who had had a previous relationship and son with Caesar). BTW, Mark Antony, a general, at this time captured Jerusalem and surrounding areas in 37 BC ... he installed Herod as puppet king of Judaea (link). But anyway, things fell apart between Octavian and Mark Antony and they went to war. Mark Antony lost the battle of Actium, he and Cleopatra retired to Egypt, and both eventually committed suicide (or, some say, MA was actually murdered). The latest movie I've seen which touches on these events was Julius Caesar.

9. Midway Island, 1942 ... the US Navy defeats the Japanese Navy.

10. Stalingrad, 1942-1943 ... Russians stop the German advance in WWII. I'm familiar with this battle because I recently saw a film about it - Enemy at the Gates - and posted about it here. I wrote this about the film ...

The movie begins by introducing Vasily (Jude Law) as a young Russian shepherd who gets sent to a horrifically besieged Stalingrad that's burning like Gehenna, where many of his comrades are killed by German bombers before leaving their transport, and where many more are shot by their own troops for retreating in the face of brutal German fire -- all in the first ten minutes. It was a Saving Private Ryan beginning, and though I've read that it's unlikely this kind of thing actually occurred at the Battle of Stalingrad, Wikipedia states: "The Battle of Stalingrad ... was amongst the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare with the higher estimates of combined casualties amounting to nearly two million deaths."


- Motherland Calls ... a statue in Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad. It was designed by sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and structural engineer Nikolai Nikitin.