SOLID! Set in post-Revolutionary War America (Philadelphia, late 1700s) at a time where our Founding Fathers and entrepreneurial schemers ran the race to wealth, power, and molding the country’s destiny, this book had a definite parallel to the situation we now face today. His Excellency George Washington is president and Alexander Hamilton is the Secretary of the Treasury, and our 2 central figures (Ethan Saunders and Joan Maycott) soon embark on their individual paths to effect their respective plots. Once a valued spy for Washington’s army, Saunders has been stripped of all glory and honor by the accusation of selling vital documents of war to the enemy. He is later approached by Hamilton to investigate a scheme against the U.S. Treasury, but is reluctant to help the government that defaced his name. Only when Hamilton’s rival, Thomas Jefferson, tries to recruit Saunders’ skills does our fallen hero realize that something big is in the works. Continue »
A while back I saw a program on APT discussing a massive undertaking by renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson to redesign the St. John’s Bible into the first handwritten, illuminated bible commisioned since the invention of the printing press. Jackson approached the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s University and Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, who advised him on the interpretations of the text to which Jackson himself would illustrate. A small team of professional calligraphers under Jackson would aid in transcriptions. The completed volume was commisioned by Mary and Eugene Frey as a gift to Archbishop Harry Flynn to celebrate his 11 years of pastoral service to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The presentation took place back on April 24, 2008. Continue »
Well, well, well, hello there. Hope everything is froody with you guys and gals. Things are churning along quite nicely here. Been busy with this and that and a coupl’a those. Currently reading a book that just will not end no matter how much I groan. It’s a good book and all (or rather 6 in 1), but 800 pages is a bit of a haul, especially for British humor. Oh, the book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by the way, and I’m ever so close to finishing it, but I think I’ve lost too much enthusiasm for it to be anything more than a simple accomplishment. I mean, I’ve already forgotten what the first segment was about. It’s still entertaining to a degree, but it has certainly lost every bit of jazz it had during the 1st 400 pages. Continue »
Tommy Chong, of the legendary comedic duo Cheech & Chong, will be signing his new book The I Chong at our Brookwood location this Saturday (27th). Not sure what kind of crowd to expect, stoner brats and disillusioned hippie-breed, i’m sure. Continue »