Barkers
Born in Liverpool in 1952, the multi-talented Clive Barker has had an amazing career as a writer, artist, film director and producer, toy and video game creator. Recently, Cabal, published in 1988, came my way. Although I prefer horror movies to books of the genre, I gave it a shot when I saw its page count, only 180. I was very disappointed. The story was too over the top for my taste. It concerns a young man who believes he has committed a number of brutal murders. That sparked my interest, but the tale soon evolved to one of a necropolis and the living dead occupying its nether region, who only come out at night. Although they are not vampires, the sun is potentially lethal to many of them. Most of the humans in the narrative are vile or pathetic. The showdowns are violent, which one must expect from such fare. The sex is ludicrous. Surprisingly, I found the prose lacking. The editor missed a lot of errors. Somehow I managed to finish the novel. Fortunately, the many breaks shortened the actual page count. Maybe it’s not Barker’s best work, although most of the users who have rated it at Amazon disagree. There, 152 opinions forge to 4.4 on a scale of five. According to his Wiki profile, Barker has written 21 novels, 14 plays, three short story collections, ten works of non-fiction and one book of essays. Obviously, he is doing something right. Sometimes there is simply a disconnect between and author and reader. He is way more successful than I will ever be. Here he is:
And here’s an example of his art:
From an article at foxnews.com, edited by yours truly: Detectives are using DNA and genetic genealogy to crack the iciest of cold cases. In less than two years, the new crime-solving tool that uploads DNA to a public genealogy website to identify suspects has closed dozens of cases, including nine that were very, very old. Of those, the oldest was nearly 52 years cold. The other eight were more than 42 years cold. Wow!
Sign of the times from a headline at foxnews.com: “PornHub stars walking in Fashion Week for the first time.”
Although I support President Trump, I do not watch political speeches. As I was scanning with the remote last night, I caught sight of the look on Nancy Pelosi’s face in the background and chuckled. I immediately moved on.
Does this FN.com headline mean anything in terms of the November election? “Fox News’ State of the Union ratings more than double MSNBC and CNN combined. “
PETA has called the term “pet” derogatory, claiming it patronizes the animal. The organization suggests “more inclusive” terms like “companion” and “human carer.”
My thanks to the young man who bought an Elvis pictorial and Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin; and to the woman who purchased a book on dieting. I had a visit from Crazy Joe, scourge of talk radio hosts, and learned a little bit more about him. He was in Brooklyn College at age sixteen-and-a-half, way before open enrollment ruined its academic reputation. In high school he graduated first among the males in his class, his 94.4 average winning him an accolade. When he told someone about it recently, the guy asked: “How much money they give ya?” Of course, the award was only a certificate. And the guy said: “You can wipe your ass with it.” And Joe replied: “You know, you’re right.”
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