What did the ocean say to the beach?
Nothing. It just waved.

Happy end of the week! Was Labor Day this week?? Whoa, almost doesn’t feel like it anymore…

But some places, there’s summer happening. So I’m off to swim…

The water cooler or the camp circle is yours, everyone. Know any good jokes?

You’ve read this story and dozens like it. Is this the formula?

From The Onion’s “Top Story On John McCain Run Out Of Obligation:”

“Approximately two-thirds of the way through, the legitimate news content grew thin, and several last-ditch efforts were made to increase the length of the story, including a crude listing of pertinent or interesting facts and background information on McCain.

John McCain was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone….John McCain hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live with musical guest the White Stripes in 2002.

In a clear attempt to fill the remaining space on the jump page, the article then presented a dissenting opinion from an outside source on several points made previously in the story….”  Read more 

Indoors and out?

Out: lettuce, onions, radishes…is it too late for snow peas?

In: herbs? Maybe lettuce?
Do you need grow lights?

Anyone have any great recipes for tomato sauce? Or other tomato recipes?

If you still have too many tomatoes, try the Tomatina, a tomato-throwing festival. (Picture 20 made me laugh the hardest—maybe because it looks like eager pickers?)

Welcome to the Book Reviews.

Newspaper book reviews around the country, along with newspapers, continue their decline. Many newspaper writers and editors have been fired.

Via Forbes:
“Buyouts are being offered to 55 percent of The Sacramento Bee’s full-time employees and a smaller number of part-timers, including most editorial employees, according to Sacramento Bee publisher Cheryl Dell…(The Bee is) owned by McClatchy Co., which has seen advertising revenue at its California and Florida newspapers drop 22 percent this year, Dell said….

“Sacramento-based McClatchy owns 30 daily newspapers nationwide. It imposed a companywide wage freeze two weeks ago.  Read more 

Have at it!

Multiple reviews of Vinge, same book, different books, whatever you want…if someone else has reviewed a book, we want your review of the same book too!
And/or a different book…Any Vinge books. Don’t worry about posting too many.

(Regular Sunday Morning Book Reviews will be a separate post.)

Enjoy.

It’s almost Sunday morning…and do you know what you’d read if you actually had extra relaxing time to read whatever you wanted?

Please join us tomorrow morning for Sunday Morning Book Reviews.

Hey everyone, just seeing if you can remember what day of the week it is! Not.

I have to travel for work Friday.

But could we do without weekly jokes? No.

So…have you heard the one about…

(convention jokes welcome!)

I’ve been noticing a number of complaints about posts or comments vanishing really recently. I had one comment vanish last night and a different comment today. Often with me it’s pilot error (heh) but I’m wondering if we’re having a problem.
Please post here if you’ve lost a post, or a comment, recently with details—when, possible length, why it might not have gone through.
Thanks.

Book reviews are going away elsewhere, being dropped from newspapers all over the country—but not here! (At the link, you can click through to information about the newspapers’s cut book review sections and staff; and also back to our great earlier book reviews. Many thanks again to everyone!)

What good books have you read lately?

Please give us a review…or a list of your top ten. Or the best health book, garden book, cookbook…your choice welcome.

What book changed your childhood? See interesting answers from last night here.

This is one of our last calls for beach books too.

Help save fictional lives. Review a book today.

Same book time, same book station.
Sunday morning book reviews (tomorrow), here.

What book changed your life as a child?

I didn’t hear back re multiple Vinge reviews, so we’ll schedule that when y’all say you have time. Almost the last chance for beach book suggestions…Long, short, a few words, essays, questions, inquiries for good books, come one, come all and tell us about books.

See you tomorrow.

By the end of the week, ya just need jokes.

Anyone got some?

…this.

It’s Sunday Morning…let’s talk about books. As you may have read, many newspapers are decreasing or eliminating their book review sections.

Let’s keep the book review tradition alive. If you click each of the last 4 words separately, you will go to our past Sunday Morning Book Reviews, then Lost Clown’s Austen Reviews with others reviewing the same book, and then Sarah’s 1632 review from last week.

Tell us what’s on your bookshelf—just a list is fine.  Read more 

scribble down a book review for Sunday morning?

Tell us why to read a book—or not.
Tell us your best book memories. Why did that book change your life?
Give us a list of everyone-should-reads.
And I was thinking two things:
1) How about book-to-movies, books made into movies? Which books are good? Which movies are good? Which ones have nothing to do with each other?
2) The Vinge Reviews: when do y’all want to do this together?

Everything else, old or new, long or short, welcome.
See you tomorrow.

It’s just been a Steven Wright week.

Mark Rahner, Seattle Times interviews Steve Wright:

“Q: Do you work hard to craft a joke about, say, sh**ting a mime with a silencer?

A: I just hang out. I just go around and do stuff, and something’ll hit me. I write some stuff down. I don’t know what I do. I just look around and walk around aimlessly.

They just come into my mind and I just write them down. I can’t write them on purpose. I don’t think, “All right, today I’m going to write some jokes.”  Read more 

Good morning, and welcome to the Book Reviews.

Please post any reviews of books you have been reading, classics, beach books, your favorites, etc. We’d like to know what’s on your bookshelf.

Please note the Austen Reviews today, and the book is “Sense and Sensibility.” Please post your review of this book too—as well as Lost Clown’s thoughtful and historical review of this book—so we can have as many viewpoints as possible.

Does anyone have any thoughts about doing a multiple Vinge review? I thought several had “voted” for that. Is there a particular book that you would like to review or would this be an author review with many selections? Please let me know your thoughts.  Read more 

Please come and see us at Sunday Morning Book Reviews.

Don’t forget the Austen Reviews, where Lost Clown will post a review of “Sense and Sensibility” and everyone else who wants to will post their review of the same book too.

Various readers have expressed interest so let’s talk about multiple Vinge reviews then too.

Regular reviews as always welcomed. Looking forward also to reviews several have promised…

See you then.

According to research, I should wait until 6:03 next week to start our joke exchange…
No connection here with getting home to dinner I’m sure:
“Laugh Lab researchers found that jokes are funniest at 6:03 PM around the middle of the month and least humorous at 1:30 AM at the end of the month.”
And what were you doing calling me at 1:30 AM?  Read more 

Right?

NYT: “The Environmental Protection Agency rejected on Thursday a request to cut the quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, for the time being, that the goal of reducing the nation’s reliance on oil trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn.”

This explains the “leaks” pretty well:

“Sources close to both Obama and Clinton told ABC News that the New York senator is highly unlikely to allow her name to be formally submitted for a roll-call vote on the convention floor. The Obama campaign wants to avoid such a vote, since it would underscore the party’s splits and remind voters of the divisive primary campaign between the two Democrats.

The refusal to publicly announce her intentions is widely seen as a bargaining chip Clinton is holding on to as party officials negotiate logistics regarding her convention speech and other activities, according to several Democrats who are closely involved in the matter.  Read more 

Story Corrected, h/t Leah.

After all, why should all Democrats be favored over Republicans and Independents to attend their own Democratic nominee’s acceptance speech?
Also, attendees are being asked to attend early and make calls to urge people to register to vote. According to AP, “They’ll be armed with data gleaned through “microtargeting” unregistered voters the campaign believes are ripe to back Obama if pressed to get on board.”

From The Democratic National Convention Committee website:

“Q: Do I have to be a Democrat to receive a Community Credential? (required to attend speech and voter registration drive.)  Read more 

Go read Hillary.

Bayh’s running hard for VP, in what I would call not his usual Democratic style. You may remember, only two (2) days ago:  Read more 

As part of Sunday Morning Book Reviews, we are doing a new experimental book review format: we are running more than one person’s review of the same book.

LostClown has volunteered to review Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” and will be posting a review on Sunday Morning Book Reviews this coming week.

LC and I would like to request that other people review the same book and post their reviews this coming Sunday also. (LC had the idea that people that particularly loved that book might want to post on it.) Less enthusiastic fans may post too.

So please join our experimental Austen Reviews. Check out Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” and post a review this Sunday!

Thank you.
Regular Sunday Morning Book Reviews will be running as usual also.