Andy Straka's Blog, page 6
December 10, 2012
Spy Vultures?
Today’s UK Telegraph carries an interesting articleabout a claim by Sudanese officials to have captured a vulture equipped with Israeli aerial surveillance technology. The Israelis say the camera gear is merely part of a project to study vulture migration patterns.
Whatever the truth, the idea of spy vultures raises some interesting issues.In addition to all of the drones flying around in Daniel Suarez’s new Sci-Fi novel KILL DECISION, the main character employs ravens outfitted with cameras t...
CRASHED by Timothy Hallinan: Book Review
Timothy Hallinan’s PI novel CRASHED launches what may well be one of the most exciting new private eye series to come along in years. Already optioned for television and film, CRASHED introduces Junior Bender, “the favorite burglar-turned-private-investigator of Hollywood crooks.”
Since he first started breaking into houses when he was fourteen years old, Junior’s never once been caught by the law. In CRASHED he is blackmailed by Trey Annunziato, one of the most powerful crime bosses in LA, in...
December 3, 2012
The Illegal Eagle Has Landed
As any falconer quickly learns, the federal government has numerous regulations regardingbirds of prey. Most of these laws serve a good purpose: to protect these noble creatures as the precious natural resource they are. But when combined with zealous tax enforcement, sometimes these rules can can result in bizarre consequences. The case of the illegal stuffed eagle as art is a case in point. Read all about it in this Wall Street Journal article by Eric Gibson. As Gibson puts it: “Only in the...
November 26, 2012
Internet Sneak Attack
A few months back I blogged about the UN’s attempted takeover of the Internet and why I think all writers and artists, not just big corporations like Google and Facebook, should be ardently opposing these efforts.
Today is “cyber Monday,” online retailers answer to Black Friday. How ironic then that yesterday’s Wall Street Journal weekend edition carried yet another great column by L. Gordon Crovitz about the issue with even more detail about how Russian, China, Iran, and several Arab states c...
November 12, 2012
Gallery Of Heroic Wings
In honor of Veterans Day, I’ve put together this collection of military aircraft named after birds of prey. (A work in progress–additions welcome.)
F15 Eagle
F117 Nighthawk
Blackhawk
F16 Fighting Falcon
F22 Raptor
Global Hawk
Osprey
Harrier
November 9, 2012
Book Review: Under The Eye Of God by Jerome Charyn
Kinky Friedman meets Carl Hiaasen with a Bronx/Texas twist in Jerome Charyn’s new Issac Sidel novel UNDER THE EYE OF GOD.
With cynically screwball characters and caricatures that will leave you smiling or recoiling at nearly every turn, don’t expect to make a whole lot of sense of the frenetic plot.But have no fear. Charyn will somehow manage to keep you entertained.
UNDER THE EYE OF GOD continues a mytery series that began back in 1974. Jerome Charyn (b. 1937) is the critically acclaimed autho...
November 8, 2012
Gliding To Governopolis
At dawn, the bald eagle rises from her nest, gliding through the fog along Virginia’s South Fork Rivanna River, not really sure what she seeks.
She is a symbol, a hope for a better tomorrow. She is a nation, flying proud and free.
Soon, the eagle begins to climb. There is a steep slope here, she discovers, and she feels compelled to find out where it leads. Breaking through the mist, she ascends to the top of the little mountain, coming upon a columned, octangular mansion. It is Monticello, the...
November 5, 2012
Roaming Wild
What a wild week it’s been with the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. We were fortunate to have dodged a bullet here in the Virginia Piedmont, sandwiched between the worst of the storm’s wrath to our Northeast and the massive snows to our west. The media pictures of the storm’s devastation break my heart. We should all do as much as we can to help those in need.
Sandy’s impact has also gotten me thinking about our postmodern culture’s relationship with nature. The truth is that too much of the t...
October 29, 2012
Mating season for random penguins
In the news: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/
My first three Frank Pavlicek novel were originally published by an imprint of Penguin. It’s a fine institution with a venerable history and I’ve always appreciated the opportunity they gave me and the people I worked with there. Random House shares a similar pedigree. Will the merger of these two behemoths enhance their odds of long term survival in the brave new publishing world we all seem to be moving toward? Let’s hope so. Most of all, le...
October 28, 2012
Bird Versus Bird
On the lighter side, this was sent to me by a friend in response to last week’s post.
Really, guys?
Of course, I have to root for the eagle, but I don’t know, Obama looks pretty confident. Maybe Big Bird can take him.
Either way, apparently it’s now official: We have a bird fight.
