Echoe by Ila Golden

I enjoyed this story very much. The characters were very believable and well crafted. The story was quite original and as it developed further the mystery of what was happening made the ESP of the characters seem quite natural. I concentrated more and more on trying to figure out what was going on. The way things were progressing I was drawn into it more and more. I am happy to say that the climactic ending tied all the loose ends together beautifully. The story deserves five stars, but sadly, the grammar and spelling were somewhat clunky. I happen to suffer from the same problem. I usually go through two and sometimes three edits of my own stories before publishing and yet, I always find more things that I should have caught previously. For that reason, I have to take away one star. Still, on the overall, it was a good, enjoyable read.

Ernest Samuel Llime

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Liquor Town

Amazing liquor store! I found an extra-fine special Askelon Arak for $18.99 (less than it would cost in Israel where it was distilled) an R. Jelinek Slivovitz for $20.99 (cheapest I’ve ever seen and to cap it all a Butchertown American Brandy that I cannot find anywhere else in Queens.

  1. Askelon Arak is a very popular brand of Arak in Israel and when I visit there I buy a lot of it, but not the extra fine. Last time I was there (in March) I paid about $17 for a 40% ABV 700ml. bottle. This one was 50% ABV 750ml.
  2. R. Jelinek Czech Slivovitz is possible the best in the world. It is as close as one can come to a bootleg Maramureș palinka.
  3. Butchertown American Brandy by Copper & Kings is one of the world’s leading brandies. Mainly, because it is hard to find a brandy, or cognac in the US that states on its label that there are no additives of any kind. Even if you spring for a $3,500 bottle of Louis XIII cognac, you have no guarantee that there are no additives in it, because the French government is allowing them and there is no assurance on the label that there aren’t any.  The Butchertown states it categorically: no boisé and no caramel coloring. So at $49.99, it is a bit more expensive than my other two bargains, but it beats any cognac at whatever price. It is however also 62% alcohol, so imbibe in moderation.

Cheers!

Liquor Town

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Amor Vincit Omnia – Sense8 Finale

Sense8 is one of the greatest sci-fi/adventure/action series ever. It is also the greatest LGBT story ever told (at least to my knowledge). The Wachowski sisters proved once again that their amazing movie and story telling skills are phenomenal.

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Sarah Small’s Tableau Vivant

An amazing work of multi-media art by Sarah Small. I find it hard to absorb with the intellect, but it has a strong visceral impact. The music is minimal, stirring and inspired. The nudity does not arouse one’s lust but rather, as in other great works it stokes our sense of wonder and elicits admiration. Truly inspiring, and hard to praise enough with words. I just posted this little paragraph in order to make more people aware of this amazing multi-media piece.

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Echad Mi Yodea

This is a piece performed by the Young Ensemble of the BatSheva Dance Company. It is set to a great arrangement of a Traditional religious song, but the choreography is unprecedented as far as I can tell. I have watched it at least ten times and I still do not understand it. I guess it is one of those things that are transcendental and not to be understood with the intellect, but absorbed into our intangible essence. This clip is transliterated and translated into English so the subtitles take away some of the impact. Still, I thought that non-Hebrew speakers should have an idea as to what it is all about. There are some un-subtitled versions on youtube and they can easily be found under this title. Bottom line: it blows me away every time I watch it.

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No More Day’s Inn

Last week I went to visit some friends in Lawrenceville GA. 10 days earlier I made a reservation at some fleabag hotel. When I got there at 10:30 pm on the appointed day, they gave me a smoking room which was totally unacceptable. Sat in the car with my phone and fired up booking.com. No problem- found a room at a Day’s Inn 2 minutes away.

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Black Panther

Two thumbs down!

I went to a movie theater to see this one. The teaser or trailer as they sometimes call it had Gil-Scott Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised in it. I did not know anything about the comic and I was wondering if it had anything to do with the American Black Panther Party of the 1960’s and 70’s. My daughter told me that it was very much influenced by it. I was excited and I could hardly wait for it to hit the theaters. I was captivated by the concept from get go – great idea, great CGI’s or whatever they call them and some good action. Not so good that the guy who wanted to help the world got killed and his son became the villain. Anyway, I kept waiting for the dramatic Continue reading

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Later for Scotch and Cognac Crooks!

cognacsI’ve been bitching and moaning about this for a while now. Check out my post at The Civil Gripe . There is. however some light at the end of that tunnel, so here’s where I’m at nowadays. Continue reading

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In the Eye of the Beholder

Mr. Llime is once again turning his writer’s craft as well as his childish mind in a sexual direction. The stories in this collection are no less eclectic than the ones n his previous volume. We are treated to inventions about the Japanese auto industry, fantastic shenanigans in the Mile High Club, alternative after-life scenarios, strange military training, rousing cooking competition events and other such unusual settings for sexual play. Though some of the stories have quite pedestrian settings, others are happening purely in the realm of fantasy. There are also a couple of Sci-Fi entries that postulate unlikely but possible future events.

So, even though the events happening to Timmy the Timid are absolutely absurd and (at least partially) unbelievable. the story is quite enjoyable. A man turning into a parrot is also quite fantastic, but once again, good solid story.

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The Signature of All Things

One of my daughters has recommended this book to me. Having some knowledge of my literary tastes, she was sure that I would love it as much as she did. At first I had to agree that Elizabeth Gilbert was a very talented writer.

 

This is how the Prologue opens:

Alma Whittaker, born with the century, slid into our world on the fifth of January, 1800.

What a promising first sentence!

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