Wolfgang wrote:
"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...

I hear he's got thousands invested in musical instruments, so he's
trying to get his money's worth out of them.

I don't know WHAT the hell you guys are talking about........but that's
pretty much my cue to butt into a conversation. So, here I am!

I was wondering if you were ever going to tkae your cue. :-)

Once again, coincidence rules the world. Exactly a week ago as I type this,
I was at a local independent bookstore listening to an author flog his new
book. Tim Flannery is not only a very successful author, he is also the
director of a prestigous museum (I don't remember which, but I figure anyone
else can google it as well as I) in Australia and a highly respected
biologist. I read his "The Eternal Frontier", which I very much enjoyed,
about a year and a half ago, and "Throwim Way Leg", which was o.k., during
last year's first annual UPYERS. His new book "The Weather Makers" is about
global warming. As I said to him when I went up to have my copy signed, I
don't often pay full price for books, but I figured it was worth a shot.
Haven't read it yet, but I'm sanguine......about the read, if not
necessarily the consequences of the subject matter.

Sounds too much like my professors. :-)

I'm reminded of an old expression (of disremembered provenance) that went
something like: "She ain't as pretty as she looks." Likewise, professors
ain't always as dumb as they sound.

Yeah, my dad was a prof, and in retrosepct, he was quite a bit
smarter than I thought at the time. :-)

Most recent reading: _Strangers in high places : the story of the Great
Smoky Mountains_, by Frome, Michael, and _The wild east : a biography of
the Great Smoky Mountains_, by Margaret Lynn Brown.

I thought it would be fun to immerse myself in them before our little
jaunt to the mountains.

Having recently gotten back in the saddle myself, I'm also immersed in a bit
of local history, "A Question of Loyalty: Gen. Billy Mitchell and the
Court-Martial that Gripped the Nation," by Douglas Waller.

I didn't realize Mitchell was a cheesehead. :-)


Chuck Vance (not that there's anything wrong with that)