Several years ago dw gave me this moose head as a Christmas present. It is one of my all-time favorite presents and for awhile it was a peripatetic House Moose, but now it has settled into it's permanent home -- perched above the computer. And there it has been growing old, losing it's proud erect stance. The Moose doesn't have a bladder as such, it sort of is a bladder, and I feared that -- as some old things do -- it had a leaking bladder. In the event, I took it down and with several strong puffs, restored it to it's former erect strength. I confess I hesitated but what else could I do? Fortunately no artificial assistance was needed, not even duct tape, and now it seems to be holding it's own, even sporting it's Christmas earring. dw has been putting up our Christmas decorations and I, as usual, have been emotionally supportive with the project. (In a couple of days I'll post some pictures)
Otherwise things have been quiet. dw has been working a lot and I'm continuing work on a couple of sculptures -- It's been cold enough that I've used up nearly a quarter of my wood pile (the studio has a small wood heater). And I've started a new painting which will be the best thing I've ever done until it's done and then not so much.
Books: Charlie Chan (Yunte Huang) -- "The untold story of the honorable detective and his rendezvous with American history" Huang uses Biggers' Charlie Chan books and the character to explore U.S. racism particularly as it applies to Asians, as well as writing a general biography of Biggers and providing the back story for Charlie Chan. Of particular interest to me: Chan was based on a real person -- Chang Apana -- a real Hawaiian cop. I thought the book was remarkably interesting. Cold Wind (C.J. Box) A mystery set in Wyoming. I enjoyed it but as I noted before I never remember mysteries -- I was nearly finished with this one before I remembered I had already read it. The Relentless Case of the Rose City Rain (Robert Durand) An unpublished first draft from my long time friend. Sort of a mixed genre mystery which I enjoyed. -- Murder in PDX -- And re-reading parts of Napoleon's Buttons (Le Couteur and Burreson) a discussion of seventeen important molecules -- their chemistry and discovery. Science medium-lite and much more interesting than it sounds. DA
Ah, dear Charlie!
ReplyDeleteI think I preferred Warner Oland (who was Swedish!) to Sidney Toler. HERE he is in Shanghai.
Why are you so interested in Chan? Are you by any chance a retired Hawaian cop?
Nah, I'm a retired letter carrier. To the best of my recollection Oland is the only Charlie I've seen and he defines Charlie for me. I think the character was one of the reasons, alone with Pearl Buck writings, for the U.S.'s sympathy for China in the early 20th century. (Not that the Chinese, or other Asians were welcome to move here). And Charlie was an iconic cultural figure (in the U.S. at least) in his time.
ReplyDelete