2. POTW [Phrase of the Week]: "Locked and loaded." Here's what the OED says:
to lock and load: (a) to prepare a firearm for firing by
pulling back and ‘locking’ the bolt and loading the ammunition (frequently in
imperative, as an order); (b) figurative
to ready oneself for action or confrontation.
3. This week I actually finished three books, all of which had been on my nightstand for ... a ... while.
- The first was The Silkworm (2014) by Robert Galbraith (aka J. K. Rowling), the second in her 4-book series about the British P. I. Cormoran Strike, an Afghan war vet who's lost part of a leg. This one deals with a grisly murder (is there another kind?) of a novelist whose latest (unpublished) work has eviscerated a number of people in the publishing world. Guess who then actually gets eviscerated?
These C. Strike novels are very conventional--almost old-fashioned (far more dialogue and description than action)--but that, of course, is part of these novels' appeal--and Galbraith/Rowling is (obviously) no dummy, so she, I think, is enjoying romping around in another genre--mastering it.
I got a little smile on my face on p. 192 when Strike, looking at magazines, comments about one cover he sees: "Emma Watson in white on the cover of Vogue ...." Sly, sly, eh?
I also like Strike's relationship with his young assistant, Robin, whose BF does not like her job. There is some sexual electricity between Strike and her, but, so far, it hasn't gone anywhere steamy.
We'll see what happens. I've already started the third in the series, Career of Evil ...
- The second I finished (via Kindle) was Val McDermid's The Mermaids Singing (1995), the first in her series about criminal profiler Tony Hill (and the detective he works with, Carol Jordan, who is, uh, very attracted to Hill). Serial killer focusing on gay men? Each section features, at the head, a transcript of a recording the killer has made about his/her preparations for the murder--the very careful preparations. Then, near the end, he/she zeroes in on our of our lead characters ...
I'd not heard of McDermid until my friend Chris told me about the British TV series Wire in the Blood, which is also the title of the second novel in the series (a novel I have now started). So I thank Chris for that (we've streamed all the seasons)--and (True Confessions Time) for alerting me to the fact that Val McDermid is a woman (was I thinking Val Kilmer? or was I just not thinking at all?). Anyway, humility is a good thing, right?
- The third book I finished was a short one by Edward O. Wilson, his latest: Genesis: The Deep Origin of Societies (2019). Wilson, now retired from the faculty of Harvard University, is one of the world's leading experts on "social" animals (ants are/were his specialty), and in this book he goes over the evolutionary evidence (mixed with some very learned speculation) about how it is that some critters band together and (in one sense or another) help one another. But others do not?
Long-term care of the young is one trait--and, in the case of humans, how about this? Talking near the end about the social organization of humans, he writes about the importance of the campfire, the cooked meat often obtained by group cooperation: at night, talk was "primarily devoted to stories, some about living individuals, some enthralling, the latter turning easily into singing, dancing, and religious conversation" (124).
4. Last night--on the spur of the moment--Joyce and I drove over to our local Regal Cinema to see Emma Thompson in Late Night, co-starring Mindy Kaling (who also wrote the screenplay). It's a story with lots of current relevance (hiring of women and minorities), and it tells the story of a veteran talk-show host (Thompson), whose ratings have been falling, whose attitude is less than, uh, cooperative, and who needs to change. Enter Kaling, a new hire ... You can probably guess the rest. But who cares? It's Emma Thompson, whom I have long loved--since the mid-90s and Much Ado About Nothing. Link to Late Night trailer ...
5. Our son and his family are back from two weeks in France and England. They got to see part of The Comedy of Errors at the Globe in London; then the skies opened, and they had to leave (they were among the groundlings). A wonderful trip for them (Melissa did a couple of presentations on human trafficking): Their boys (10, 14) got to see and do so much!
6. Still streaming away--little bits of "our" shows each night. Enjoying Waking the Dead, another Chris-recommendation.
7. I posted not long ago that our Poor Old Bed collapsed a couple weeks ago ... it's fixed! But we both remain ... tentative ... as we lie down ...
8. Last Word: A word I liked this week from one of my online word-of-the-day providers:
- from wordsmith.org
achillize (UH-ki-lyz)
verb tr.: To harass or chase.
ETYMOLOGY: After Achilles, a hero in the Greek mythology. When his
close friend Patroclus is killed by Hector, a vengeful Achilles chases Hector
around the wall of Troy three times. Also, he causes great carnage among
Trojans. Earliest documented use: 1672. Also see Achilles’ heel.
NOTES: Achilles is better known for his heel, but his anger is so
prominent that it’s a popular subject in paintings. For example, The Wrath
of Achilles (1630-1635) by Peter Paul Rubens, The Rage of Achilles
(1757) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and La Colère d’Achille (1847) by
Léon Benouville.
USAGE: “Parker ‘hectors and achillizes all the noncomformists’.”
Martin Dzelzainis & Edward Holberton; The Oxford Handbook of
Andrew Marvell; Oxford University Press; May 28, 2019.
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