A Jazzy Thursday Afternoon – so let’s go Into the Night with Oscar and Milt!

So today I doing some work that required a bit of concentration, so the soundtrack was jazz oriented. Last night I had turned on Pandora and was listening to some jazz albums and one of the tracks was from the album Very Tall by Milt Jackson and Oscar Peterson, since the track that played last night was very good and I had never heard this album I thought that the album would be a good place to start my afternoon music. I was right! What a great album, but then I” wouldn’t expect anything  from these two great jazz masters! here’s some information in the album from CD Universe: Read More

More Books – Just What I Needed – Right!

Hello, my name is Edward and I’m a book-a-holic! Yes and I need to be kept away from bokstores and libraries! The other night even after getting so many books for Christmas I was checking out the list of books I made before Christmas and my Wish List on Amazon and I saw Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness , Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard, which looks to me to be a great read! So I checked the library catalog and it was checked in at one of the branches, so I requested it, and tonight it came in! Read More

Book 1 of 2013 – Reset: Iran, Turkey and America’s Future

 Book 1 of 2013 is a book that I picked up at Dollar Tree, Reset: Iran, Turkey and America’s Future by Stephen Kinzer. I knew little about Mr Kinzer when I purchased the book, but I found the premise that the best path for the US to follow to lead to a stable Middle East runs not through Israel and traditional Arab allies but through Turkey and Iran. The foundation of the premise is that these are the only two countries in the Arab world that have a strong democratic tradition. I realy enjoyed the history Kinzer presents in the book. I knew little about Kemal Ataturk. I knew the name but not the impact that he had on the formation of a democratic Turkey. Kinzer also discusses the democratic foundations of Iran that were derailed by the US as we supported the 1953 coup that replaced democracy in Iran with the despotic Shah, a move that ultimately lead to the theocratic government that now is in power in Iran. Other highlights included an analysis of the US’ support of and partnerships with both Saudi Arabia and Israel, which really my not be the best in the ;llong run for the US! Read More

Christmas Books to Add to My to Be Read Pile! Oh Boy!

So as we start 2013 let’s take a look at the boat load of wonderful books that I received for Christmas! First there’s the book I received from my daughter Elizabeth, that I am currently reading The Boy in the Suit Case by Lene Kaaberboll and Agnete Frillis. This is the first book in a planned three book series featuring Red Cross worker Nina Borg. Elizabeth picked the book because, I told her after I picked up book two of the series a month or so ago for her at the library, that it said on the cover “Fans of Nordic crime fiction rejoice”,and that I was a fan of Nordic crime fiction, so the book sounded good to me! So far I was right! Read More

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to My Uncle Johnny – We still miss you!

John, wife Jean and Jimmy Ashton

So January 1st for me was usually family get together time with my Father’s family, typically, at my Uncle Ott’s or Kenny’s place. I remember many a good New Year’s Day celebration! It was also Uncle Johnny’s birthday. Johnny was my mother’s oldest brother, born in 1923. Johnny would have been the fourth John Sherrington Ashton a name which dates back to 1814 when the John S Ashton the first was born in Holbeach, England. John’s middle name however, was Howard. I believe that my Great mother Charlotte Trout Regars had a lot to do with naming her grandchildren. John’s middle name was Howard, which is one of Charlotte’s brothers name and my mom’s brother James middle name was Elmer, which was Charlotte’s grandfather’s name. The name middle name of Elmer cased Jimmy to say that he was James “No name” Ashton. But back to Uncle Johnny. Read More