Bunny is Back!

A few years ago, we had a bunny that chose our backyard and kept visiting it all summer long. We never knew where it was coming from since we live in a residential area. This was after the dog died, and it was my opinion that the bunny sensed the dog's spirit and felt at peace in the yard where we buried him. Then, something happened and the bunny disappeared, and didn't come the next year. I was kind of worried if something had happened to it.

Then today, my Dad mentioned that he saw the bunny in the backyard again. So, I went outside with my camera, while it was still sunny and managed to take a few pictures. I kept trying to get as close as possible to get the best picture I could, and I did manage to get a really good one. My camera is only a 2.1 Megapixel camera, so I was limited in the amount of zoom I could get, which meant I had to get substantially closer to the bunny without scaring it off. What I did was I laid down my my stomach and then snapped away.

I was out there for awhile, and the Bunny had gotten out from under the tree and started to eat grass and leaves. I felt a drop of rain on my nose, and then the minute the bunny started to feel raindrops, it ran the fastest I'd ever see it run back under the tree where it feels safe.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep seeing it over the summer.

Hilarity on the Highway

Let me preface this by saying that I don't travel very much, at least not out of the country. At least not at my age where I still have a lot of travelling to do and sights to see. But I'm posting this here because it does have something related to reading and it's funny.

Lately though, every year, we've tried to be at a certain place in Vermont which required lots of driving, many times straight through without much stopping. All 16 hours or so of it.A couple of years ago, something happened during our travels which will always stay with me. It's one of those moments where you just smile at what life decided to throw at you.

Sixteen hours is a long drive, and we all need to stop and take a leak, even if we're a little too quiet in the process. That summer, we were 3 in a rented minivan with my Dad doing the driving. I was in the front seat, quietly immersed in a book which I couldn't pry my eyes away from.

Brother in the back was as quiet as a mouse, also quite immersed in a book of his choosing. One of the few stops was getting gas, and so we pulled over to a gas station, in Rutland, Vermont, I think it was. Well, whaddya know, he needs to take a leak, and so he quietly, without making a sound, opens the sliding door and walks to the restroom.

Again, I say, I'm immersed in my own book, and I don't notice what's happening around me. After getting the gas pumped and paying for it, my Dad comes back and we drive off.

Fast forward to about 2 hours later, maybe less, and we get flashing lights in the rear view mirror. I glance over at my Dad and it seems like I can almost read his thoughts. "Huh? Is it legal to get gas in Vermont?", I could hear his mind say. Needless to say, we were both very puzzled as to what we did wrong.

Not one, but two cruisers had been sent for us. Wow, that's hardcore. It was actually kind of cool to hear that there were two of them sent for us. Well, when they knew they had found us, one of them turned back towards where he came from. As the lone officer walked up to us, my Dad rolled down the window. "Would you have by any chance left your son at a gas station?", the officer asks. Surely, he must have had the wrong vehicle, right? I mean, we're not the kind of people to leave our family members behind, at gas stations of all places. No, that would just be cruel. So, as I start to turn my head and look in the backseat to confirm my thoughts, I start saying, "No, he's right here...", a pause of unbelief spread across my face as I caught my fumble as I saw the unfortunate truth. "No, wait a minute! He's not!", I exclaimed.

Silence. Cold, hard truthful silence during those next few moments, and then the officer laughed as we thanked him and turned around back towards the gas station. Unfortunately, this delayed our destination by 2 hours. The upside is that we got my brother back all safe and sound. When we got to the gas station, he took it all in stride, and it seemed that the owner of that station, with a smile that looked like it was out of a cartoon, had a laugh at the situation too.

This adventure had even become the stuff of legends at our destination, even to the point of being featured in a newsletter and it's not something my Dad will ever live down.

The moral of the story here is: Make some noise and don't be so quiet when on a road trip. You'll never know if you'll be left behind.

Music Review: The Wailin' Jennys - Firecracker

Every once in awhile, a record comes along that makes you sit up and take notice at a band you may never have paid attention to before. The Wailin' Jennys' latest release, Firecracker is one such release.

This is their second release, with one of the forming members, Annabelle Chvostek leaving the band; Heather Masse coming in to fill in for a critical 3rd voice. Gone are their celtic stylings that were apparent in the first release, and in with a more country-ish flavour that hint at the early style of country that is missing from many current country releases in favour of pop/rock oriented country.

When I first heard one of the songs, I was hooked and knew I had to get the record. Their 3 voices blend wonderfully and produce many haunting harmonies, on songs such as 'A Long Time Traveller'. I have to say, I think my favourite songs on the record are 'Begin' and 'Some Good Thing', but as always when a record is so good, it's hard to pick out the anything.

This record is not just a good country/folk record, but also a very good record in general for music lovers. It's a cracker of a record, one full of fire.

Album: The Wailin' Jennys - Firecracker
Label: Red House (US), Festival Destribution (Canada)
Release Date: June 6, 2006
Bonus Material?: No
Site: http://www.thewailinjennys.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thewailinjennys

Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age becoming a mini-series

Ok, so if you read this blog, you probably know I'm a Neal Stephenson fan by now, so I was really excited when I found news of The Diamond Age being adapted by the Sci-Fi channel as a mini-series and being produced by George Clooney. Did I mention I'm really excited? Neal himself is writing the screenplay. Oh , yeah, I'm really excited.

Diamond Age, based on Neal Stephenson's best-selling novel The Diamond Age: Or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, is a six-hour miniseries from Clooney and fellow executive producer Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Productions.

When a prominent member of society concludes that the futuristic civilization in which he lives is stifling creativity, he commissions an interactive book for his daughter that serves as a guide through a surreal alternate world. Stephenson will adapt his novel for the miniseries, the first time the Hugo and Nebula award winner has written for TV.

More info straight from the horse's mouth: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=39447

Currently Reading: Nighttime is My Time - Mary Higgins Clark

Well, I just started this one a few days ago as I don't feel like getting into anything heavy just yet.

This is my first from hers and it's not bad, but it's also not that great. The character names are very generic sounding, and the chapters are also very short. I suppose that's kind of what I'm getting to with this kind of mainstream author. I'll post an update when I finish this book and post my thoughts about it in more detail, which is something I should be doing from now on with books.

Description:

"The definition of an owl had always pleased him: a night bird of prey...sharp talons and soft plumage which permits noiseless flight...applied figuratively to a person of nocturnal habits. 'I am The Owl,' he would whisper to himself after he had selected his prey, 'and nighttime is my time.'"

Jean Sheridan, a college dean and prominent historian, sets out to her hometown to attend the twenty-year reunion of Stonecroft Academy alumni, where she is to be honored along with six other members of her class. There is something uneasy in the air: one woman in the group about to be feted, Alison Kendall, a beautiful, high-powered Hollywood agent, drowned in her pool during an early-morning swim. Alison is the fifth woman in the class whose life has come to a sudden, mysterious end.

Adding to Jean's sense of unease is a taunting, anonymous fax she received, referring to her daughter -- a child she had given up for adoption twenty years ago.

At the award dinner, Jean is introduced to Sam Deegan, a detective obsessed by the unsolved murder of a young woman who may hold the key to the identity of the Stonecroft killer. Jean does not suspect that among the distinguished people she is greeting is The Owl, a murderer nearing the countdown on his mission of vengeance against the Stonecroft women who had mocked and humiliated him, with Jean as his final victim.

UPDATE - April 25th: Well, I finished the book and while I originally thought I wouldn't like it, I did really like it and I thought it was quite a good mystery. I realize there are two types of mystery novels. There are the murder mysteries and some of them can tend to be quite gruesome. I personally like them when it's just hinted at and not explicitly given in detail, and this book rides the thin line between both. I did like the fact that I kept on guessing who the murderer was as hints were dropped about who it may be. It maybe you realize that everyone is not as who they seem at first. I think that in the future I'll be reading more of these books of hers.



Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages: 464