Kevin's Watch

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:29 pm Post subject:

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for

a highly reliable dedicated Linux server
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THE HONK AND HOLLER OPENING SOON
Billie Letts
Warner Books, May 1999
Paperback Reissue 2004
Reviewed by Joy Calderwood

Oklahoma, 1985-86

The Honk and Holler diner was built on big dreams. Its huge, catchy neon sign contributed to its success. But those dreams and the town around them have long since faded, by the time Vena Takes Horse drifts in looking for work. The Honk And Holler is so used to losing money that it takes the staff a while to cope with all the business Vena is suddenly bringing in. Vena is a natural caretaker, a drifter with so much tragedy in her past that she can no longer even consider staying anywhere and letting it catch up with her. But while she is here, she is the direct cause of many wonderful things.

A fascinating group allows Vena into their lives with more or less willingness. Caney Paxton, owner of the Honk, who is still trapped in the killing fields of Vietnam. MollyO, trying to find a use for her motherliness. Life Halstead, who has found the one woman he thinks can revive him, after the death of his wife and all her secret talents. Galilee Jackson, the most unlikely person possible to feed the starving soul of lost Bui Khanh. Sam Kellam, spending his life fighting back against his dead, twisted father, waiting for his chance.

In our love for Vena, we might overlook the other influence in reawakening the Honk and Holler to its dreams. Bui Khanh is trying to make a place in the United States so he can bring his wife from Vietnam. Bui can barely understand or speak English; he must communicate in other ways. At first people don’t understand those other ways, but his eagerness to help is impossible to ignore, and so, gradually, is his impact on those around him. Bui is an endearing soul struggling with problems almost too big even for his courage.

THE HONK AND HOLLER OPENING SOON is an exceptional handing of the familiar Redemptive Stranger theme. In spite of its dingy setting, reading it is like slowly unwrapping a Christmas present. The Honk and Holler is planted in a desolate environment, in a long winter of the spirit from which spring begins to open like cactus flowers. A broadening community, seeing that help is needed, are jolted into caring for each other again. The warmth of the ending is a magic that lives on in our minds as long as the characters do.

Award winning author Billie Letts also wrote WHERE THE HEART IS, from which the film starring Natalie Portman was made. SHOOT THE MOON was her new release of 2004. Letts has written a screenplay for THE HONK AND HOLLER OPENING SOON; it is to be hoped we will see a movie from it, and that the story will retain all the humanity of the original.

March 2005 Review

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[quote="Edge"]

"Two things must ye know about the wise woman: First: She is a woman! Second she is--"
"--Wise?"
"Oh, you DO know her!"
"No, it was just a wild stab in the dark, which incidentally is what you're going to get if you don't start being a little more helpful."

THE HONK AND HOLLER OPENING SOON NEW
Letts, Billie

stingray.tamu.edu/homepage/links.htm

I didn't know about either dragon movie, or which one you were referring to, the five o'clock one or the seven o'clock one. However, handily, they are airing back to back, so I put in a tape with 4 hours on it.

I did have fun watching The Pacifier, in spite of some awful moments. Vin also spent most of the movie in a tight t-shirt, which was nice. All in all, I'm glad I went.

I need another fan. We're having a heat wave in March.

e.e. cummings - a pretty a day

a pretty a day
(and every fades)
is here and away
(but born are maids
to flower an hour
in all,all)

o yes to flower
until so blithe
a doer a wooer
some limber and lithe
some very fine mower
a tall;tall

some jerry so very
(and nellie and fan)
some handsomest harry
(and sally and nan
they tremble and cower
so pale:pale)

for betty was born
to never say nay
but lucy could learn
and lily could pray
and fewer were shyer
than doll. doll

Best way to reach me is by email

Person/People Year Value
Babylonians ~2000 B.C. 3 1/8

Egyptians ~2000 B.C. (16/9)^2= 3.1605
Chinese ~1200 B.C. 3
Old Testament ~550 B.C. 3
Archimedes ~300 B.C. proves 3 10/71<Pi<3 1/7
uses 211875/67441=3.14163
Ptolemy ~200 A.D. 377/120=3.14166...
Chung Huing ~300 A.D. sqrt(10)=3.16...
Wang Fau 263 A.D. 157/50=3.14
Tsu Chung-Chi ~500 A.D. proves 3.1415926<Pi<3.1415929
Aryabhatta ~500 3.1416
Brahmagupta ~600 sqrt(10)
Fibonacci 1220 3.141818
Ludolph van Ceulen 1596 Calculates Pi to 35 decimal places
Machin 1706 100 decimal places
Lambert 1766 Proves Pi is irrational
Richter 1855 500 decimal places
Lindeman 1882 Proves Pi is transcendental
Ferguson 1947 808 decimal places
Pegasus Computer 1957 7,840 decimal places
IBM 7090 1961 100,000 decimal places
CDC 6600 1967 500,000 decimal places

Yeah, it's been hot down here too, though it is beginning to cool down now.
Supposedly, the heat wave will be going away, which is just as well.

Probably the top of our movie list right now is Robots. We really liked Ice
Age, which was done by the same studio. The movie shown yesterday was NOT
the one being advertised after all (that one's on March 20); I don't know
if you watched it, but it was pretty bad. The standard of movies on Sci-Fi
is generally not great: Did you see the hash they made of Wizard of
Earthsea?

img197.exs.cx/img197/7519/drw2vk.jpg

Maury Chaykin

drew: Once i saw an interview with David Copperfield (...The Magician) and he said his fans fall into two groups-the one's who sit back and are amazed, and just want to enjoy the show, and those who are constantly looking through the smoke and mirrors, trying to catch the slight of hand, and pick apart the show. I find a lot of the latter in this interview, and I am both supprized and impressed that you take the time to answer those kind of questions. This is not one of those questions...though it may seem that way.
-When reading the First Chrons, I always assumed that the One Tree was in the Land...there was nothing to support this, but nothing against it either. I realize that if the tree had of been somewhere just Northeast of Revelstone the the second Chrons would have been much shorter....but all I am wondering, is that when you were thinking up and Creating the history of the Land before You wrote the First Chrons, did you have a place in mind for the One Tree? Or did you feel that it's location would never come up, since you weren't planning on doing a second Chronicle?

Again, I'm not looking for possible plot holes and getting you to explain yourself...I'm more or less wondering how deep your history of the Land went when you started writting Lord Fouls Bane.

Thank you.






I've discussed the location of the One Tree elsewhere in this interview; but that isn't really your question. Forgive me for falling back on a couple of things I've said before.

First, I consider myself an "efficient" writer, by which I mean (in part) that I only create what I need. And second, until some years after I finished the first "Chronicles," I had no intention of ever continuing the story: as far as I was concerned, I was *done*--until Lester del Rey tricked me into realizing otherwise. So-o-o-- While I was working on the first trilogy, I didn't give much concrete thought to the One Tree. I didn't need to. But I realize now, looking back, that I had always assumed the Tree was *not* in the Land; or even nearby.

As a side-note: much of my preparation for writing "The Second Chronicles" involved, well, *mining* the first trilogy for possibilities; looking for hints which could prove useful precisely because I had said so little about them. Elohim, Sandgorgons, and the One Tree all fall into this category. And now (surprise, surprise) much of my work for "The Last Chronicles" involves more mining. Unfortunately, I now have *six* previous books to delve through. Fortunately, the fact that I knew my present story while I was writing "The Second Chronicles" makes mining those books *much* easier.

Paperback Fiction

Published: March 20, 2005


This
Week Weeks
On List
1 DIVINE EVIL, by Nora Roberts. (Bantam, $7.99.) In this 1992 novel, an artist returns to her hometown and finds love — and murder. 1
2 THE CALHOUNS: SUZANNA AND MEGAN, by Nora Roberts. (Silhouette, $7.99.) Reprints "Suzanna's Surrender" (1991) and "Megan's Mate" (1996). 2
3 MURDER LIST, by Julie Garwood. (Ballantine, $7.99.) An heiress becomes entangled in a deadly plot that may have been hatched by a self-help guru. 1
4 BLOWOUT, by Catherine Coulter. (Jove, $7.99.) Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, F.B.I. agents who are also husband and wife, probe the murders of a Supreme Court justice and two of his law clerks. 2
5 THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead, $14.) A young Afghan-American returns to find out what happened to a friend under the Taliban. 26
6 DEEP FREEZE, by Lisa Jackson. (Zebra, $7.99.) A Hollywood actress who's moved to the Pacific Northwest is stalked by a deranged fan. 1
7 THE LAST JUROR, by John Grisham. (Dell, $7.99.) In Clanton, Miss., someone is killing off the jurors who sent a man to prison for rape and murder. 12
8 THE NARROWS, by Michael Connelly. (Warner, $7.99.) Harry Bosch, the former Los Angeles police detective, and the F.B.I. agent Rachel Walling must contend with the serial killer known as the Poet. 2
9 THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, by Zora Neale Hurston. (Perennial, $13.95.) The classic 1937 novel of a black woman's search for identity. 1
10 CHILD OF DARKNESS, by V. C. Andrews. (Pocket Star, $7.99.) Baby Celeste, now a teenager, is adopted by a wealthy couple with secrets. 1
11 THE BOURNE LEGACY, by Eric Van Lustbader. (St. Martin's, $7.99.) Continuing the story of Robert Ludlum's character Jason Bourne, who is the target of an assassin and, the C.I.A. believes, a rogue agent. 1
12 THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, by Mark Haddon. (Vintage Contemporaries, $12.) A 15-year-old autistic savant sets out to solve the mystery of a neighbor's dead poodle. First Chapter 38
13 *DEAN KOONTZ'S FRANKENSTEIN: PRODIGAL SON, by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson. (Bantam, $7.99.) Dr. Frankenstein is now a biotech tycoon, and one of his creations has become a serial killer. 6
14 THE IDEAL BRIDE, by Stephanie Laurens. (Avon, $7.50.) Bowing to pressure, an up-and-coming member of Parliament searches for an appropriate wife. 1
15 THE NOTEBOOK, by Nicholas Sparks. (Warner, $12.95 and $7.50.) A World War II veteran meets an old flame, who is about to be married. 82

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Also Selling
16 ANGELS & DEMONS, by Dan Brown. (Pocket Star, $7.99.)
17 RANSOM, by Danielle Steel. (Dell, $7.99.)
18 3RD DEGREE, by James Patterson and Andrew Gross. (Warner, $7.99.)
19 SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS, by Mary Balogh. (Dell, $6.99.)
20 MY SISTER'S KEEPER, by Jodi Picoult. (Washington Square, $14.)
21 THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, by Audrey Niffenegger. (Harvest/Harcourt, $14.)
22 SLEEPING BEAUTY, by A. N. Roquelaure. (Plume, $42.)
23 THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Penguin, $14.)
24 O'HURLEY'S RETURN, by Nora Roberts. (Silhouette, $14.95.)
25 PICTURE PERFECT, by Fern Michaels. (Zebra, $7.99.)
26 DECEPTION POINT, by Dan Brown. (Pocket Books, $7.99.)
27 THE BIRTH OF VENUS, by Sarah Dunant. (Random House, $13.95.) First Chapter
28 TO PLEASURE A PRINCE, by Sabrina Jeffries. (Pocket Star, $6.99.)
29 THE WEDDING, by Nicholas Sparks. (Warner, $12.95.)
30 LOVE OVERBOARD, by Janet Evanovich. (HarperTorch, $7.50.)
31 BAD BUSINESS, by Robert B. Parker. (Berkley, $7.99.)
32 CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? by Sophie Kinsella. (Delta, $12.)
33 LIFE OF PI, by Yann Martel. (Harvest/Harcourt, $14.)
34 DIGITAL FORTRESS, by Dan Brown. (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's, $14.95 and $7.99.)
35 MIDDLESEX, by Jeffrey Eugenides. (Picador, $15.) First Chapter

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Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending March 5, at almost 4,000 bookstores plus wholesalers serving 60,000 other retailers, statistically weighted to represent all such outlets. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book's sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (+) indicates that some stores received bulk orders.

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET is one of the most popular, innovative, and critically acclaimed police shows in television history. Based on the award-winning book by David Simon and adapted for television by Barry Levinson (RAIN MAN, DINER) and Tom Fontana (St. Elsewhere, Oz), the series stars Richard Belzer, Yaphet Kotto, and Andre Braugher as a team of homicide detectives solving cases on the gritty streets of Baltimore. The series is revered by fans and critics alike for eschewing typical crime drama violence in favor of gripping storylines, strong writing, compelling characters, and a superb ensemble cast. This 6-volume set collects all 20 episodes from the third season.