Full Glass

Butterfly Effect, an illuminated sculpture by Masamichi Shimada, in front of Turbine Hall at Battersea Power station in London. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images, posted at theguardian.com:

Each night while viewing a photo array at youtube, there will be at least one shot of Marilyn Monroe, whose mystique seems immortal. Recently, The Empty Glass, a novel by J. I. Baker came my way. I was hesitant about reading it, as it concentrates on the circumstances of MM’s death, raising a conspiracy theory. It’s told from the point of view of the deputy coroner, a fictional character who smells deceit. What surprised me most was the bold dive into assigning blame. Although it is fiction, I don’t know how a writer can get away with naming names, even of the deceased. The narrative is non-linear. I found it fragmented, hard to follow. There’s a ton of name-dropping, including actress/golf hustler Jeanne Carmen, a figure I recently learned about after seeing her in a B movie, The Devil’s Hand (1961). I’m not sure if the protagonist of … Glass is off his rocker. If so, it would cast doubt on his findings, which in turn might prevent lawsuits from the families of the alleged perpetrators. The novel’s appeal is probably restricted to Monroe fanatics. I doubt those neutral on the possibilities would be satisfied. 1721 users at Amazon have rated The Empty Glass, forging to a consensus of 3.8 on a scale of five. I’ll go with 2.5. I would have gone lower but I’ll concede that the style is perhaps for people smarter than me. Published in 2013, it was Baker’s first novel. He has not written another. He has extensive experience in the magazine industry, writing, editing and running things. Photo from Google Images:

Since I’ve often cited the incredible advances attributed to AI, I would be remiss not to mention the despicable conduct of those who have created XXX Taylor Swift content. Creeps.

More evidence the world has gone mad, headline from foxnews.com: “US issues travel warning for Bahamas over spike in murders since new year: ‘Keep a low profile’.” According to the article by Louis Casiano, there have been 18 already in 2024, most attributed to gang violence. The population is less than 408,000… And then there’s this, from FN: “Mexican children wield rifles as volunteer police force battles organized crime.”

From FN: “Could a security guard shortage be solved with this autonomous security robot?” Photo from GI:

I’d go with this one. Photo from GI:

The rain finally moved out and the floating book shop moved in. My thanks to the gentleman who bought a book in Russian, and to the Latino restaurant worker who stocked up on DVDs that included Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), and to the gent who purchased Coming to America (1988), and to the lovely Tatiana, who took home Bruce Davidson Photographs, a large pictorial; and to The Frenchman, who selected Monet’s Years At Giverny: Beyond Impressionism by Metropolitan Museum.

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