"Dutch researchers have estimated that there are FIVE TRILLION spiders in The Netherlands alone, each of which consumes about one-tenth of a gram of meat per day. Were there victims people instead of insects, they would require only three days to eat all six-and-a-half million Dutchmen."

does anybody else spend any time being annoyed by the way popular culture seems to glom onto certain words and phrases and beat them to death? "Paradigm," for instance. Here's a word that nobody ever remembered hearing, ever thought about after they actually heard it...and suddenly found t...

William Saroyan: "The Human Comedy"

since you're a movie nerd, I guarantee you'd like the British film version of OUTCAST OF THE ISLAND, starring Trevor Howard. In fact, if you like Conrad, there's a plethora of films; of course the most famous, I guess, being Peter O'Toole as LORD JIM.

wonderful to know that, at least on this site, there are people with some common decency.

Movie Nerd: I can honestly say I've never read one of Henry Miller's books, but I did have a conversation with him around 1971-72 near the home he had on Partington Ridge in Big Sur Calif.; I was in a beat up 4wd and met him on the one-lane road, him in a magnificent silver Rolls Royce. He was a ver...

At last! I think you're really onto something here, Lamont. MovieNerd, Cattleman, Robert Tulip, and youkrst have all been lying awake at night yearning for a book that would give them tips on playing poker. Me, too.

just beginning John Shannon's 10th entry in the "Jack Liffey" series: "The Devils of Bakersfield."

crystalline: I am in complete agreement with Cattleman and his response. If you didn't like the movie, I doubt you would like the book. I didn't think much of the book, and I don't expect much from the movie, but I have a technical interest in seeing how they handle the plotline with the camera. gla...

movie nerd. I don't have access to regular TV, but this is the best stuff I've been able see since the Deadwood series on HBo and many of the same actors are involved; it's episodic in timeframe, so of course its important to follow the adventures in order...much like reading the works of josef conrad