Russell Atkinson's Blog, page 16

Our ignorant newsies – syntax edition

Here’s another gem from the radio (anchor asking a reporter):

“What have we heard about the hostages that were kidnapped from the White House?”

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Sunflower River Blues – Martin 0018 vs. Taro resonator

Here’s a video

 

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A Tribute to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve

I want to take this opportunity to pay my own tribute to Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve (RSA). RSA is both a county park (one part) and the rest an open space preserve owned and managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), a separate governmental entity that spans San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The whole thing is administered by MROSD. It has been a favorite place of mine since I moved back to the valley in 1980 and today was a somewhat special day.

I went on my regular out and back run today from Lot 1 (formerly called the horse trailer lot) to the far western point on the Rogue Valley Trail (N37 19.772 W122 05.139 to N37 20.332 W122 07.638 for you geocachers) and three unusual things happened. On the road to the farm next to the Lower Meadow Trail I saw a buck with an impressive set of antlers just to the left of the trail. The deer there are used to people, although they will usually avoid us and the bucks are shyer than the does. This one stayed put and eyed me, then as I got close it lowered its antlers and started toward me. This startled me for a second, but it immediately became clear he was heading to cross the road behind me. He trotted briskly across the road  and I turned to watch as he leapt over the wire fence (at approximately N37 19.913 W122 5.848). The fence isn’t very high, but it was a magnificent display nonetheless. There was only one other person who saw this, a man coming the opposite way. He stopped in his tracks and said “Wow! Amazing!” I told him we got to see a nature show.

That was on the way up. On the way back I was nearing the parking areas and two old men (by that, I mean about my age) were walking ahead of me when we all saw a dust devil whirl up some dirt from the trail directly ahead of us, It formed a violent funnel for a few seconds then disappeared just as quickly as it had formed. As I passed, one man said to the other, laughing, “I guess we can tell people we saw a tornado today.” It was no tornado, but it was unusual.

Finally, on the very last leg, on the Permanente Creek Trail I saw a lone coyote standing right in the middle of the trail about a hundred yards ahead of me. It didn’t seem to notice me as it was facing the other way. I kept running, expecting it to run off. Instead, it started trotting slowly away from me, toward the PG&E Trailhead. I wasn’t gaining on it at first, but after twenty yards or so it spotted some hikers on that trail where it crosses the trail we were on and it slowed, then stopped. I kept going and got to about fifty yards away when it turned and noticed me. It then dodged into the bushes to my left. I never saw it after that. Behind me was another jogger gaining on me (almost everyone is faster than me now) so I turned to him and asked if he’d seen it, too. He confirmed he had and gave me a big grin.

Where else in a busy high-tech hub like Silicon Valley can you see such a fun nature display? I’m not even including the everyday attractions of the place like the cute baby goats at Deer Hollow Farm, flocks of wild turkeys and quail, bunnies, and the hikers talking a myriad of foreign languages. I hear Mandarin and Spanish nearly every time I go there and have often heard German, Japanese, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, and various Indian or other Asian subcontinent languages I don’t know. If I want the place all to myself I can go early on a cold, rainy winter morning. The nature show is often great those days. So RSA, my hat (or running cap) is off to you. Thank you for the many years of enjoyment.

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The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m no history buff. I only read this because my book club chose it. But I loved it. From page 1 it’s a thriller. You know in general what happened. The title tells you that if you didn’t already know anything about it. But you don’t know exactly why or how it happened and you certainly don’t know who will survive and who won’t. The author personalizes the victims and the parties who may or may not have been responsible for this tragedy.

I learned a great deal about dams and spillways. There’s a lot more to them than I thought. In our valley there are some reservoirs that aren’t allowed to fill up even during heavy rains. I’ve always thought that was a near-criminal waste of capacity in this drought-prone region. Now I understand why engineers take the cautious approach they do. The author sneaked in lessons in history and engineering while foolish me thought it was just an exciting suspense story. He also taught us valuable lessons in human nature, like how people become inured to warnings and pretty much anything they don’t want to believe. Everyone knew the dam was dangerous, but nobody did anything about it. It’s always someone else’s responsibility. It’s the chicken little or the boy who cried wolf. Only after the worst happens did people accept it was real this time.

I listened to the audiobook and I can affirm that the reader did a perfect job – not too maudlin, not too casual. There was just enough drama in his voice without undue histrionics. I highly recommend this book.

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A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates

A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this umpteenth take on the unreliable narrator shtick we hear the voice of Gil, a professor of creative writing at a not-so-prestigious Vermont college. Gil and his wife Molly are struggling financially and his writing career is going nowhere. Suddenly Gil’s obscenely rich sister and her husband are killed in a car crash and the will names Gil as the guardian of their son Matthew, at that point 17 years old and finishing his senior year at a prep school. Gil despises Matthew for reasons hinted at but not immediately revealed, but he feels a duty to his sister and the job comes with a healthy stipend for expenses, so he and Molly agree.

Matthew was, when Gil last knew him, a foul-mouthed, spoiled, selfish little brat. There was a dark incident that is finally explained about page 50. Note to author: why wait? Either tell it right up front or save as a big reveal at the end. Why hint at something you’re about to reveal in a few pages? But I digress. When we learn of it, it is not clear whether Matthew did something evil or was otherwise at fault. Gil may even have been more responsible, especially since the story is told from his viewpoint with his assumptions and conclusions about what happened.

Now, years after that incident, Matthew settles in with Gil and Molly and Gil becomes increasingly paranoid about having him in the house. Every time Matthew smiles, Gil sees an evil smirk. Every time Matthew helps Gil’s daughters, his cousins, Gil sees it as an attempt to weasel his way into their confidence in order to set up some nefarious deed later. Molly and the girls think Matthew is nice and Gil is overreacting, judging him based on a childhood incident. The money he brings is certainly welcome. Then there’s a police investigation into the fatal crash, but we’re not told much about it. Matthew also manages to gain entrance to Gil’s creative writing class. The stories he writes Gil finds disturbing, taunting, while other students and Molly think they’re harmless fiction. Gil becomes increasingly unhinged. The story becomes a psychological mystery. Is Gil going crazy and persecuting his innocent nephew? Is Matthew secretly building a plot against Gil?

I like the basic plot setup to this point, although I’m tired of the unreliable narrator hook. I did keep reading to the end and enjoyed it enough to give it the three stars, but I found Gil to be too unreliable through the latter pages. In plain language, the author overdid it. Gil just seemed wacko, even though Matthew clearly showed himself to still be a foul-mouthed entitled brat at times. Neither garners our sympathy, which means it’s easy to lose interest in the outcome. Still, it was cleverly written with enough suspense building after the slow beginning. I did foresee the twist at the very end, which usually gives me triumphant satisfaction with the ending, but in this case I did not find it fulfilling.

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Playlist update again

I just updated the playlists I have on my phone, which I listen to in my car via Bluetooth. I’ll list the ones I’ve removed from my playlists separately, then the ones I’ve added. Bear in mind that the ones I’m deleting aren’t necessarily things I don’t like or no longer listen to. They’re all good enough for me to have put them on my playlists in the first place. Sometimes I just get tired of them. Sometimes I hear them on Pandora or listen to them on my computer at home through my stereo system. Some later get put back into my playlists after having been removed, like Adele’s Rolling in the Deep today.

Removed List

SongArtist/composer409Beach Boys42nd streetAndrews SistersBlue ChampagneManhattan Transfercactus ragTrebor Tichenorchinese bluesGeorge Gershwincow cow boogieElla May Morseearly in the morningBuddy HollyFast BoogiePreacher Jackgood luck charmOC TimesHeart of GlassBlondieHickory Smoked RagTrebor TichenorI’m savedUppity Blues WomenJambalayaHank WilliamsLet’s DanceChris MontezMule Skinner BluesThe FendermenNew OrleansGary US BondsOccapellaManhattan TransferPratt City BluesEthan LeinwandProud MaryCreedenceScandal WalkGeorge GershwinSchool DayChuck Berryshuffle boogieAlbert AmmonsSo FineThe FiestasThe great crush collision marchScott JoplinThink It OverBuddy HollyThree in one boogieMemphis SlimTS Eliot ragTrebor TichenorWhy don’t we just danceOC Timesyes, you done it??

Added List

Down the road apieceCarl Sonny LeylandEverlasting armsDr. John et al.From Four Until LateSplinter groupHot House RagRagtime Jitterbug BandJungle Time RagRagtime Jitterbug BandModern Major GeneralGilbert & SullivanPink Panther themeCircus BandRolling in the Deep AdeleVirginia Bound Mary FlowerWalk Right In Rooftop singersWilliam Tell Overture Circus BandYes Sir, That’s my Baby Mary Flower

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Judas 62 by Charles Cumming

Judas 62 by Charles Cumming
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This spy novel is divided into two main parts. It begins in the modern day (pandemic) and we are informed that “Lockie” Kite, a British spy, is on a Russian hit list, but under an alias he once used. Quickly the story switches to that time many years earlier when as a young man he was involved in an exfiltration operation of a Russian scientist. This all takes place early on, so this is no spoiler. The next 170 pages (of 494) are rather boring. They portray Kite as a hard-drinking, smoking, drug-taking, cheating roue. This may have had some cachet in the days of 007, but doesn’t make him an attractive character by today’s standards. I found him quite dislikeable. Starting around that page, the earlier operation action is laid out. It is fairly credible, exciting, and well-written for the next 120 pages. I enjoyed it, although there’s little suspense since we already know Kite is alive and still doing spy work decades later.

I wish I could say the same for the rest of it. The scene switches back to the modern day and as you might expect, Kite is bound and determined to get the Russian bad guy who is after him before he can get to Kite. An absolutely preposterous, laughable, and needlessly dangerous British operation is then undertaken starting with Chapter 33. Don’t bother to read it after that point. The book is way too long anyway.

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What3Words in the news

It’s been a while since I posted a W3W post. If you’re not familiar with the website/app, it’s a clever system to identify any spot on the surface of the Earth using only three words. You can read more about on the website or in my prior post here: .

Every now and then it’s sobering to see how these random word combinations are so appropriate to the location, even newsworthy. Here are some examples.

wildfires.outdated.afraid = near the center of Lahaina, Hawaii

rockets.rockets.rockets = a suburb of Volgograd, Russia where earlier this month that area was attacked by Ukrainian drones for the first time.

duck.worth.plan = city near Quincy, Illinois. U.S. Senator is Tammy Duckworth represents Illinois. She was instrumental in getting a Veterans’ center built there.

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The Stepfamily by Bonnie Traymore

The Stepfamily by Bonnie L. Traymore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Laura is the stepmother to two children from her husband Peter’s first marriage. His first wife died by suicide more than ten years ago. Or was it suicide? That’s the first big mystery. Then there are tensions at work for both Laura and Peter with a financial crime lurking in the past. Then it looks like someone cut the brake line on Laura’s car. Is someone out to kill her? This doesn’t even touch on the possible frictions and resentment a stepmom can face from children still loyal to their mother.

The author does a good job of ramping up the suspense. It is properly subtitled “A psychological thriller.” I enjoyed the book enough to recommend it. Having said that, it suffers from some self-published book flaws like poor proofreading. I also didn’t like the chick lit vibe, e.g. the constant descriptions of female characters’ outfits and even toenail color (plum). I did like the local references as I live in the area. Chef Chu’s is the best Chinese restaurant around.

The author shows a good deal of knowledge about tech startups and Silicon Valley culture and business, but she is clearly not up to speed on police procedure or investigative matters. That’s why I say it’s a psychological thriller, not a detective novel. She refers to the the Santa Clara County Police as investigating the case. Sorry, no, there is no such agency. If a crime took place outside a city, it would be investigated by the county sheriff, otherwise by the police agency for that city. Los Altos Hills, Laura’s location, uses Los Altos Police for most detective work although the sheriff’s office might assist on a possible homicide. Worse, though, is the private eye she conjures up who seems to have magical powers to find out anything. As a retired FBI agent and attorney, I can tell you it doesn’t work that way. For example the P.I. searches for someone using facial recognition. How? That requires a network of hundreds or even thousands of cameras, very sophisticated software and hardware, and a series of good photos of the person sought. He had none of that and neither does any law enforcement agency in the county. He also found out about an affair from years ago with no indication that either of the lovers told him about it, or for that matter, any explanation at all of how he did. Admittedly, I’m a bit picky about that stuff because of my background, but these eye-rolling mistakes have the effect of taking the reader out of the credibility of the story. There’s also a major timeline error at the very end. Even so, I found myself engaged with the story and continually wanting to read the next chapter. At least she stuck to the old rule, “write about what you know.”

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Trends – Soccer vs. Tennis

Soccer is generally more poplar in the United States than tennis. Google searches on the two words usually favors soccer by a big margin. However, with Coco Gauff winning the U.S. Open recently, tennis has stepped into the spotlight. It’s interesting to see where tennis has broken through to Americans.

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