The latest addition to my collection. Heavily flamed maple back, sides, and scroll, tight grained spruce top, ebony fittings, and Dominants with a Pirastro Olive E.
It’s almost here
Little, Brown and Company releases the cover for The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling, along with updated cover copy, details of the audio reader, and confirmed page count.
Published worldwide in the English language on September 27, 2012 in hardcover, large print hardcover, e-book, unabridged audio download, and on CD.
When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.
Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?
A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J. K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.
How does your garden grow?
Since last year’s square-foot garden was so successful (lettuce was still growing through January), I’ve planted this year’s garden several weeks ago. Everything has sprouted and growth is exceeding expectations. Except for the bell peppers. Absolutely nothing. Until this evening I figured it was just a failed crop. But I found that the seed packet hadn’t been opened yet. I had forgotten to plant the peppers.
Note for the future: Something must be planted in order for it to grow.
Steve Paul Jobs 1955-2011
(CNN) — Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage, built it into the world’s leading tech company and led a mobile-computing revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.
The hard-driving executive pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse. In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet — all of which changed how we consume content in the digital age.
More than one pundit, praising Jobs’ ability to transform entire industries with his inventions, called him a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci.
“Steve Jobs is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism,” New York Times columnist Joe Nocera said in August. “His intuition has been phenomenal over the years.”
Jobs’ death, while dreaded by Apple’s legions of fans, was not unexpected. He had battled cancer for years, took a medical leave from Apple in January and stepped down as chief executive in August because he could “no longer meet (his) duties and expectations.”
Liberty Belle
This plane has flown over my place a few times. It was always a joy to run out and watch it pass.
From the L.A. Times: A World War II Flying Fortress bomber crashed and burned Monday in a cornfield southwest of Chicago, but seven crew members and volunteers walked away without serious injury.
The B-17, christened the Liberty Belle, took off from the Aurora Municipal Airport at 9:30 a.m. and made an emergency crash landing in Oswego, 44 miles outside Chicago, after the pilot reported an engine fire, said Sugar Grove Fire Chief Marty Kunkle.
Witnesses said the pilot set the plane down between a tower and a line of trees.
The crew had smelled smoke and was trying to pinpoint the problem when the pilot of another plane, a single-engine T6 Texan, radioed them about the engine fire, said Tim Sorensen, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane was headed to the Indianapolis Regional Airport, said airport spokeswoman Allisa Pipes, and was scheduled to give flights to the media Monday and to the public over Father’s Day weekend.
Don Brooks, founder of the Liberty Foundation, said the seven people on board were crew members and volunteers who helped with the foundation’s tours around the country.
The foundation had been flying the Liberty Belle since it was restored in 2004, Brooks said. The plane, manufactured in 1944, had not missed more than “a couple days” because of mechanical problems, he said, once flying to England and back with no problems.
The B-17 was primarily deployed by the U.S. Army Air Forces in daylight strategic bombing of German industrial and military targets.
James King Aurness
From CNN: Former “Gunsmoke” actor James Arness, who played Marshal Matt Dillon in the western TV series for 20 years, died Friday from natural causes, according to his website. He was 88.
Over the two decades of “Gunsmoke” episodes from 1955 to 1975, Arness worked with hundreds of actors, some of them just up-and-comers such as Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds and Charles Bronson. He also worked with Bette Davis.
Arness left behind a letter to his fans, which was posted on his website after his death:
“I had a wonderful life and was blessed with some many loving people and great friends. The best part of my life was my family, especially my wife, Janet. Many of you met her at Dodge City so you understand what a special person she is,” Arness wrote.
“I wanted to take this time to thank all of you for the many years of being a fan of ‘Gunsmoke,’ ‘The Thing,’ ‘How the West Was Won’ and all the other fun projects I was lucky enough to have been allowed to be a part of. I had the privilege of working with so many great actors over the years.
“I was honored to have served in the army for my country. I was at Anzio during WWII and it makes you realize how very precious life is,” Arness wrote.
“Thank you again for all the many letters, cards, emails and gifts we received from you over the years. You are and always have been truly appreciated,” he concluded.