a few more to take off the "unread" stack

34. The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes, Caleb Carr. Caleb Carr writing Sherlock Holmes? How could I resist? Holmes and Watson head to Holyroodhouse at the request of Holmes' brother Mycroft to investigate a pair of mysterious deaths which may be related to recent attempts on the life of Queen Victoria, but also bear similarities to the murder of David Rizzio which took place there centuries before. The novel grew out of a short story Carr was writing for an anthology of Holmes stories dealing with the supernatural (The Ghosts in Baker Street). It felt a bit rushed towards the end, but I found it an enjoyable and quick read. crouchback, have you read it yet?


35. Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut, Mike Mullane. Oh, lord. This book will in short order disabuse the reader of any ideas they might've had about American astronauts being anything other than human. XD Mullane writes with highly entertaining candor about his experiences as part of the first group of shuttle astronaut candidates selected in 1978, a group that included Judy Resnick, Dick Scobee, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair and Sally Ride (who he claims would hardly speak to him for the better part of a decade, considering him a sexist jerk -- which is something that in hindsight he admits more than once to being). His candor also extends to recounting what it was like working in the Astronaut Office at the time and the prevailing fear of speaking up because it might jeopardize your chance to fly. He tells a great story, but be prepared for a round or seven of TMI, starting with the first page of the book.

And now, off to watch "A Scanner Darkly". [Oops. I thought I posted this before we left, but apparently not. Speaking of books, this was reasonably faithful to the source.]

localfolks: last minute "I'm Your Man" viewing?

Anyone local-ish interested in seeing "I'm Your Man" tonight? It's showing at the Cinema Arts Theatre in Fairfax at 7:50 and 9:50 and at Bethesda Row at 7:25 and 9:45. Bethesda at 7:25 would be a stretch for me right now, but I suppose it could be done.