Brian’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2009)

Brian’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

And bacon does rule. Next time Shel be sure to buy the syrup for the 500 pancakes :)

I will add my thoughts and photos when I arrive at wherever it is I'm going. But I will say this... You are all a great bunch of people and I love you all and will miss you. And JE your ass really does smoke. And Patty, I didn't want to let you go. Tell the Poet hi for me. What a great soul. And Jennie, anytime you want to explore creepy dark spaces marked with gothic crosses let me know, I'll grab my passport. Smarty Kate Martha... your laugh woke me up on the second day and it was a wonderful way to begin the day. Margaret, I'm so glad you came. I enjoyed talking with you. Patrick, next time I'm bringing my own notebook and we're gonna fill it up. And Slow Rabbit Patrick... you are a huggable man except when you're holding an ax at night. Lara, Lara, Lara... Just practicing my pronounciation. How's Wheeze doing? Kerry, you're already my daughter's favorite person. Ben... let's start a glue store.

More later. I'm getting all teary-eyed. Just want to say that the last thing I did while on earth was wandered into the gay pride parade and man did I have fun.

Fun times.

i'm bringing scabby candy and trinkets.

gumbo is a possibility depending on the pot situation (the cooking vessel i mean) and what ingredients can be found at the local grocer. but don't hold me to it. i'm ok in the kitchen. i can help. jambalaya is also possible... found a quick and easy recipe, but again depends on the pot situation.

hugh... sorry to hear you won't be attending. i've already loaded up my pod with rupa and dengue fever and have been refreshing my feeble memory with faulkner. i alone cannot convert je into a faulkner fan.

pretty good list though the ones i've read i didn't read at the beach... damn. war and peace? beach book? just how long are we staying at the beach?

margaret... let me know your schedule when you have it figured out. ben and i will be somewhere in the state and in a state.

i have a car but i don't know where it will be... i know... not much help. my number is six zero one two two three five nine seven seven six. i'll be in the area, probably. i really should know more, but i don't. it's my nature to not know things.

did i read somewhere, sometime by someone that we needed to bring a sleeping bag? i need to know what to put in my space capsule. the planets are aligning soon.

happy bertha day ben.

and how in the hell did i miss shel and dan?

you two... go back and have another happy bertha day too, with ben. i insist.

Shel wrote:
(Isn't Apple disabling these sites? I got a note about my family site.)"

(they're disabling the old sites and are going with this iWeb thing. looks the same to me. it's just published differently and easier... like it wasn't easy enough before)

I'm currently STILL reading Anna Karenina and, yes, I do see an end in sight... there are more pages on my left than on my right. I read a huge chunk of this little novel while visiting both Moscow and St. Petersburg and thought I'd share. I reference several Russian books in the photos. I was able to visit the site of Bulgakov's Master and the Margarita, scenes from Tolstoy's War and Peace, Dostoevsky's neighborhood where Crime and Punishment took place, Pushkin's house where after a failed duel he died and a couple of others I'm probably forgetting. But sheesh... you could spend a month there on a literary tour and still not see everything. I didn't even come close to Chekhov or Gogol (though his Russian roots are in debate especially after the latest movie 'Taras Bulba'. Russia is truly a literary rich travel destination.

http://web.me.com/brian_doucet/Russia...

just got my tickets. will be arriving on the 26th at 7:00pm. will sleep somewhere. will get a car the next day and go somewhere. will attend the dork. will drive to vancouver island on the 31st. will drive back to seattle airport on the 2nd. that's really all i know. i'll need a phone number or two from some of you... like if i get lonely or confused.

shel... oh yeah, i went in. it was filled with a bunch of grumpy old women who huffed and puffed and sprayed spittle every time we stepped out of line. his kids used to slide down the staircase on metal serving trays. and they even have leo's underwear on display (??!!)... you can see more of the moscow photos on facebook or here: http://web.me.com/brian_doucet/Russia... (but i didn't take pictures of his under garments.

i stuck a couple of short movies at the last site.

st. petersburg will probably be posted next week. i've got pictures of the hay market area... a bit of crime and punishment cues.

now back to the regularly scheduled programming.

A few Russian references...



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Tsar's Cannon, Cathedral Square

"The Emperor entered the Cathedral of the Assumption. The crowd spread out again more evenly, and the clerk led Petya--pale and breathless--to the Tsar-cannon. Several people were sorry for Petya, and suddenly a crowd turned toward him and pressed round him. Those who stood nearest him attended to him, unbuttoned his coat, seated him on the raised platform of the cannon, and reproached those others (whoever they might be) who had crushed him."
War and Peace

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Patriarch's Pond

"At the hour of the hot spring sunset two citizens appeared at the Patriarch's Ponds."
The Master and the Margarita

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Tolstoy's House in Moscow

His writing room is located behind the top-right window.

Thanks Margaret.

Thanks Margaret.

Did I misspell it? Damnska!

Yes Margaret. I do want one. Hope I caught you before you sent your check. I'll bring real money too. Thanks for thinking about us Pluonians.

S dnem rozhdeiya!!

Summary doesn't give away much...

http://www.amazon.com/60-Years-Later-...