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Feb. 16th, 2012 02:01 pmThe strike continues. The union offered to go to arbitration but the City said no. It would cost too much (i.e. arbitrators tend to favour the union). They offered the union another conciliator but the union said no. More of the same, they said. Neither side intends on budging over a major issue, how the work is scheduled. Everyone loses.
It's nice that i can work a flexible schedule and take Friday off at least. My drive is taking some time off later in March though, so I hope the strike is over by then or i'll have to scramble to find another ride. Plenty of time yet.
I had to give up on a book, The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coehlo. A bit too Good vs Evil and philosophical/preachy for my taste. I decided to try one i had to read in high school to see if it really was as dull as i thought it was then. Tastes change and i might not find it so bad now. Madame Bovary by Flaubert. Yeah, i know, i can see you shudder. I've only got a little way into it and the language/translation isn't difficult to read. Sometimes i find pre-20th century books are a bit tricky to get my head around the language and style of writing. It was why i couldn't be doing with Dickens. He annoyed the hell out of me.
19 Belle - Leslie Pearse
This is a historical romance/fiction about a young woman who has been raised in a Victorian/Edwardian brothel in London near Covent Garden. She witnesses a murder of one of the girls and is later snatched and sold into prostitution by the murderer. She ends up being sold on to a brother in New Orleans. The story follows Belle's adventures and ups and downs for 2 years. More of the review here.
It was a fairly good book, easy to read, pretty standard and predictable for the genre. Not "Wow Great!" but not bad.
20 - Half Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan
In Paris During WWII, a talented young trumpet player was taken by the Nazis. His band member, Sid, watched it happen. over 50 years later, Sid and his oldest friend, Chip, head to Berlin for a music festival celebrating the talent of that young man, Hieronymus Falk who, it seems, didn't die during the war after all. The book tells the story of the jazz band members at the beginning of the war years in Berlin and Paris and what happens to them both later at and after the festival when Chip and Sid find Hiero in Poland. The book is told from Sid's point of view and explores themes of jealousy and guilt. None of the characters are particularly likeable but the story is really well told and you feel you're right in the thick of it.
21 - I also read Grimm's Fairy Tales, i've never read the originals, or if i have, it's been so long i don't remember. They are quite grim aren't they? It's interesting to see how they have been expanded, "loved up" and changed to the wholesome, much lighter stories that we know today, thanks in part to Disney.
It's nice that i can work a flexible schedule and take Friday off at least. My drive is taking some time off later in March though, so I hope the strike is over by then or i'll have to scramble to find another ride. Plenty of time yet.
I had to give up on a book, The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coehlo. A bit too Good vs Evil and philosophical/preachy for my taste. I decided to try one i had to read in high school to see if it really was as dull as i thought it was then. Tastes change and i might not find it so bad now. Madame Bovary by Flaubert. Yeah, i know, i can see you shudder. I've only got a little way into it and the language/translation isn't difficult to read. Sometimes i find pre-20th century books are a bit tricky to get my head around the language and style of writing. It was why i couldn't be doing with Dickens. He annoyed the hell out of me.
19 Belle - Leslie Pearse
This is a historical romance/fiction about a young woman who has been raised in a Victorian/Edwardian brothel in London near Covent Garden. She witnesses a murder of one of the girls and is later snatched and sold into prostitution by the murderer. She ends up being sold on to a brother in New Orleans. The story follows Belle's adventures and ups and downs for 2 years. More of the review here.
It was a fairly good book, easy to read, pretty standard and predictable for the genre. Not "Wow Great!" but not bad.
20 - Half Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan
In Paris During WWII, a talented young trumpet player was taken by the Nazis. His band member, Sid, watched it happen. over 50 years later, Sid and his oldest friend, Chip, head to Berlin for a music festival celebrating the talent of that young man, Hieronymus Falk who, it seems, didn't die during the war after all. The book tells the story of the jazz band members at the beginning of the war years in Berlin and Paris and what happens to them both later at and after the festival when Chip and Sid find Hiero in Poland. The book is told from Sid's point of view and explores themes of jealousy and guilt. None of the characters are particularly likeable but the story is really well told and you feel you're right in the thick of it.
21 - I also read Grimm's Fairy Tales, i've never read the originals, or if i have, it's been so long i don't remember. They are quite grim aren't they? It's interesting to see how they have been expanded, "loved up" and changed to the wholesome, much lighter stories that we know today, thanks in part to Disney.
