The other day I was doing the annual lawnmower/snowblower maintenance dance while listening to Elvis. I finished the oil changes and fired up the mower for the first time of the season.
At the end of the mowing (small yard, long playlist) came Elvis singing “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.”
I shut out the world for a few minutes and listened to the words. It’s one of my favorites.
As I listened, it dawned on me that most of you probably don’t like Christmas music as much as I do. I thrive on the stuff. You probably get sick of it every year. I, on the other hand, love listening and know all the words. You see, unlike the majority of you who despise the commercial nature of the season in the modern world, I get what it is all about for some. Besides, while I acknowledge that Easter is more in the spirit of the religion and why we are so blessed with grace, have you ever heard a decent Easter carol?
Hmmmm? Have you? Of course not. So put down your burden, open your ears, and worship the fact Jesus was born to save us all. I choose to do it with one of the greatest voices of all time. It will only take a few minutes of your time, and I pretty much promise that it will brighten up your Monday.
If not, double your money back on what you spent to read the blog today.
Have a great day, I’ll be back soon.
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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!
When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.
I’ve been working in the voice over field for about 15 years now, and today marks a very special moment: I’m the voice of Michael DiMercurio on Attack of the Seawolf.
While some might quail at being killed in a book, I knew from the dust jacket that he’d been an officer on the U.S.S. Hammerhead – one of the boats I rode. There was an officer on the boat who hated me, but I only ever saw him in the dark. Before you all get the wrong idea, we shared a berthing area on the submarine. I was in the 9-man compartment, and he had the rack below me. I snored. I had sleep apnea. He didn’t get much sleep. I only saw his shadow as he slammed the lid on his rack, cursed and stomped away in the middle of the night. I figured it was him, getting his revenge on me by killing my type.
Fast forward 20 years, and I meet Michael in a Facebook group for Cold War Submariners. (I have since been kicked out. When I joined, they were letting non-qualified spooks join for a time, but since changed the policy. If you were not qualified in submarines, you had to leave. This was due to a large number of idiots spouting bilge with no time under/on the waves in a submarine. Me? I have over 6 months under the surface.)
I sent him a message, we became friends, and I found out he was on the Hammerhead at a different time than I was. Nonetheless, we were peas-in-a-pod in some ways, and he very graciously listened to me whine about my book, Assault on Saint Agnes, while I was writing it. His help was invaluable.
A year goes by, and now he’s toying with putting his back list on Kindle. Once that was under way, I nagged him about doing an audio book version. He’s got a good voice, and would do a great job. But he’s got a real job in the real world, and didn’t have time to learn the trade and do the book. A month or two go by and he asks if I’d be interested in doing the book. I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
Over the next month I worked from 0300 to 0700 quite a few mornings on recording the book. My wife, bless her soul, let me record on weekends as well. I grew in my trade on this book, and it shows in the final product. The first two audio books I did for profit were good, but this one was the first with my new computer set up and all that experience. I had to run cables, punch holes in the house, and do some serious work to make it happen. But I also got a rhythm doing the reading. And, knowing the author, and knowing the subject matter intimately, didn’t hurt at all.
Consequently, I’m very proud of the book. I jumped a little when I got the notice that it was available on line Wednesday.
If you, or someone you know, likes techno-thrillers, this is a great book. It runs just a minute shy of 11 hours. Best of all, the next book in the series is under production right now. Yes, back to the 0300 wakey-wakey. Stormy isn’t fond of that scenario. But she’ll live: this is what buys her all those snacks she likes.
Done bragging for now. Hope you like listening as much as I did recording.
Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!
When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.
My goal in reviewing places/things/books/movies is to say nice things. Lots of mediocre/crappy stuff passes by me every day and you never hear about it. But Ichiddo Ramen was fantastic, and that garners a review on this blog. Ichiddo St Paul is located at 712 University Ave W, Suite 103, St Paul, MN 55104. Open 7 days a week, from 10 am – 10 pm (Mon-Sat), and 10 am – 9 pm (Sun).
I walk almost everywhere I go these days. Part of the “I’d like to see 60” program I’m on. One of my favorite routes includes a stroll down University Avenue in Saint Paul. University was on the comeback about 10 years ago, then it plunged into darkness when the nanny staters pushed light rail into our lives. Now, after a few years of the trains mashing cars and killing pedestrians on a regular basis, the business community is blossoming again. University has more new places than it has for a decade, and while some of them are – well, not up for a review – there are a bunch that look interesting. As the months go by, I’m going to try and hit more of them.
Ichiddo Ramen almost missed out on my scrutiny, as I usually walk on the other side of the street – That’s where the delightful Trung Nam Bakery is located. But on the day I discovered them, I was headed to a bakery called Sugarush. No need for a long review there: great donuts. Thankfully, they are just a few doors down from Ichiddo.
I peered in through the window and was impressed with the interior. Clean. Neat. Beautiful. The kind of eatery you’d find in an upscale suburb, not University Avenue in Saint Paul. My wife loves this kind of stuff, so I decided that it would be a “Secret Date Night” destination for Friday night.
Friday rolled around, and so did we.
I know nothing about Ramen except that it kept me alive when the chow-hall stunk in Monterey. That’s not true. I also know that I love the spicy ones, and have two cases of them in the basement because they never go bad. They also are the bomb for soaking a peanut-butter sandwich on cold winter days when I’m really hungry. Little did I suspect that there is actual cuisine involving those noodles until that evening.
As noted above, the interior is beautiful. We were greeted immediately, and within 10 minutes we had the menus, a drink, and an order in for appetizers. The staff was good – very good. I was delighted by the level of attention they gave to all the guests. Nobody wound up in the dreaded “I thought that was your table” zone from what I observed.
The appetizers were really well done. Sauces, chilis, and presentation were spot-on. Flavors top-notch. We had the clamari, tokoyaki, and chicken wings. Delicate heat on the chili sauce with a sweet base. The wings were way better than any I’ve had in the last 12 months. Tokoyaki? One of those things that is best not done in bulk, because a large platter of them would be consumed in complete disregard for the caloric devastation they would cause.
For the main course, I went deep-end. I had the pork belly ramen (Niku Soba Ramen). I’ve eaten my share of pork belly over the years, including hand-done specimens from a master meat fanatic I know. This topped them all. I added extra noodles, tofu, and eggs to the mix. The eggs were a surprise. They’re marinated/pickled. Not a bad flavor, but not what I was expecting. I’m spoiled, as a midwesterner, with an abundance of fresh eggs. Runny Yolks would be my pseudonym if …. never mind. I loved it. A lot. As in, “I may never eat anything else” kind of worship.
My wife had something else. Danged if I know what it was, but she really liked it as well. (Beef Donburi) (Hey, nobody is paying me to do this, you get this half-witted stuff for the price of admission.) She is a bit more picky than your beloved two-legged garbage disposal, and her praise means something. She loved hers as well.
Total cost for this meal was about $63.00 with tip.
I will definitely go back. They have made that easy, as there is a parking lot just to the west of the building – a rarity on University Avenue.
It made for a great secret date. Thanks, Ichiddo Ramen, for a great experience.
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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!
When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.
My circle includes tax collectors, prostitutes, and apostles. Some have been possessed by demons, some by the Holy Spirit. I count myself as a Christian, sometimes even a good one. But this weekend I started to think about just how good I am on a daily basis. The answer wasn’t what I’d hoped to find.
The fact is, I was one of the imbeciles in church this morning marveling at all the “twice-a-year” Christians who showed up for their semi-annual visit. One witticism probably was justified, and it applies to all venues: if you used over 50% of the amount of material for your purse that you used for your dress, it’s probably too short. Other than that, I am rather ashamed tonight.
So what if they only come once a year? Maybe that’s the best they can manage, and it’s certainly better than spending the morning in an opium den (or the modern equivalent). Perhaps they are trying to restart their faith, and this is day one. Perhaps, just a chance, that they’re afraid of being judged by sanctimonious twits like me.
My judgement means nothing. His does. And He went to the cross for all of us. I’d best shut up.
Reading the news tonight, I read a long piece on President Trump’s Easter message. Again, I thought of all the smarmy members of my not-so-wonderful-club who mocked the man because he talked about a Bible verse and instead of saying “Second Corinthians” he said “Two Corinthians.” Strangely, I didn’t mock him, largely because if I don’t get it wrong about the Bible, it’s probably because I skipped that part. Yes, I’ve read the New Testament. Kind of a fan, some great writing. But if you want to quiz me on the Old Testament, I’m going to fail. I get the gist, read most of it, but there are parts that put me out like a bolt to the forehead in a slaughterhouse.
Reading Trump’s message made me realize that imperfect faith is still faith. People, like me, who haven’t ready every syllable, and who can’t quote passages at will, may not have the numbers right when you count the dots, but we (Trump included) get the gist. Isn’t that the point?
Probably as inarticulate a defense of a religious position as you’ll find, but it’s how I feel tonight. I’m a baby Christian by many measures. I’m going to try and quit judging those who try, because so many never even give it a nod.
Sorry, God: I’m a sinner and I’m going to work on it. You already paid the price 2,000 years ago and I’m not blind to that amazing gift.
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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!
When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.
Overbooking is a way of life in the hotel and airline industries. Statistically, it’s about 100% sure that not everyone who has a reservation will show up. Empty rooms and empty seats mean potential revenue lost. Do that often enough and people will be doing Google searches for Braniff & (insert name here) airlines.
Consequently, and you’ve experienced this if you fly very often, the airlines overbook flights all the time. Most of the time, it means that the standby passengers get to go to Cleveland like they want, and nobody is the wiser. Occasionally it means that the gate crew asks for volunteers to skip the flight in return for a voucher for another flight (often just a few hours later), meals, hotels if it’s overnight, and a big smile. I’ve contemplated the offers on occasion, but have never been asked to do so/taken up on my offer to do it for a higher fee. (Hint: if you hold out a while, the price goes way up. I usually am very quiet until we approach the $500 bonus round. Never been taken up on it, but someday…)
I’m usually reluctant to leap into the fray before all the facts are in on an incident. Today, however, I will combine two of my pet peeves and do a blog.
Pet peeve #1 is the sophisticated manipulation of customers the airlines carry out to maximize their profits. I’m good with it right up until the point where my purchased ticket is no longer good because they have to shuffle crew. I have a couple friends who are crew. Great folks. But if the airline isn’t able to jump-seat them, they shouldn’t be kicking paying cargo off to make it happen. And, yes, I have been impacted by this in the past. I was a finalist in a competition a few years back and chose to fly in for the awards that morning, instead of the night before, for the evening banquet. The airline didn’t have a crew for my airplane – because they were bringing them in for the flight from Chicago. So I sat in airports, and missed my pre-paid shuttle in the bonus round, for 5 hours. I found out on Facebook who won the competition while I was still 20 miles from the banquet hall.
The second hot-button issue is the increasing proclivity of law enforcement agencies to act as corporate goons, or as para-military forces. If you can tell me how that poor man on the United flight broke any LAW, I’ll apologize to the airline and the police involved. Yes, they have a right to tell you to get off their plane. But it’s a good thing for them to have cause. Poor logistics scheduling is not a valid reason to drag a customer from their seat and off the plane.
“But Joe, you defend this kind of thing all the time!” I defend righteous police action. I defend righteous corporate action. IN this case, from what has been released so far, the airline failed to observe the market economics I mentioned above. I don’t know what value they put on getting their crew to Louisville, but it couldn’t possibly be the amount that this bad publicity will cost them. Given the number of flights that they could have moved the passengers to, I’m guessing that they would have spent no more than $1500 per passenger to move those 4 crew. Quite the bargain, as I’m now on the “no way I’m flying United” list, and I’ve taken the time to write a blog about it.
Perhaps the doctor was a jerk. I have seen no indication of that, but it’s possible. He may have had to go for some other reason. But United has feet of clay if that’s the case, and they have lost the publicity round.
The police. Point 2 – there has to come a point where Law Enforcement simply says, “No. That’s not a crime. You need to resolve it civilly.” The cops then back away and force the airline to spend money to fix the problem, instead of putting the cops into the role of corporate thugs. Sounds harsh even to my ears to say it, but sometimes we get into the habit of using the militarized police forces in a way the Founding Fathers would have found to be the equivalent of British Redcoats – a permanent standing force.
My brothers and sisters in blue will understand, if they’ve read this blog before, that I’m in their corner. I am not in the corner of cops who use excessive force, or who blindly follow orders. Lawful orders. They have to be lawful. There was no terrorist threat here. United could have put those people on a competitor’s bird and got them to the destination. They could have rented a van and driven them to Louisville. I checked. I’ll double the price, just to be safe: $800. Throw in another $500 to pay someone to drive there and back, and a meal (it’s only 5 hours driving time) and you’re still under $1,500.00 to move those four crew to where they need to be.
So, for the sake of under $1500, United has garnered a ton of bad publicity, the airport police look awful (and will undoubtedly be investigated and sued) and the good doctor is traumatized.
United, I have just one question: Was it worth it?
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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!
When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.
