Wednesday 12 April 2000 I've been hiding out again. I have been doing what I have to do, but I've ignored my e-mail since Sunday. And I've been reading and watching movies... One very interesting book was The Victorian Internet by... I'll have to look it up, the name escapes me. It was about the invention of the telegraph. Very enjoyable. Did you know that the telegraph, in purely mechinical form, has been in existence since the 1700's? Did you know that by the 1840's transAtlantic electronic telegraphy had been established? Did you know that Thomas Edison got his start as a telegrapher? Did you know-- hey, read the book. (It's by Tom Standage.) Another book was devilish bad. A historical romance by Marion Chesney. A real stinker. I read some of her stuff years ago and wondered if her writing had improved. It hadn't. In fact, I do believe it's gotten much, much worse. I vow and declare I'll never make the mistake of reading her books again. Another bad read: The Realm of Prester John by Robert Silverberg. Answer me this: How could SilverBob, a truly good writer and storyteller who has successfully entertained readers for years, take an intriguing mystery that has fired imaginations of people the world over for a thousand years, and write a book so devastatingly boring that I couldn't even make myself read the captions on the pictures? I did enjoy Sara Paretsky's Tunnel Vision, a V.I. Warshawski novel. I'm trying to remember what movies I watched... The 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas wasn't as bad as I expected. In fact, I actually rather enjoyed it. Guess I've always been a sucker for middle eastern courtier types on adventures-- though I've never been big on Vikings, not since I had the misfortune to read Kristen Lavransdatter... a trilogy. Gawd. Those books were so morbid and depressing I couldn't stop reading because I kept thinking the story had to get better. But it didn't. Like The Mill on the Floss and Hedda Gabler. Every one of these stories would have benefited from having the main character(s) die on page two. Anyway, there were some good movies on. With Honors with Brendan Fraser and Joe Pesci. And V.I. Warshawski was on. Not a bad movie with Kathleen Turner as V.I. And The Razor's Edge with Tyrone Power. The Bill Murray version was actually better, but I enjoy them both... Clifton Webb is always a treat. Roman Holiday... In Harm's Way... Bridge on the River Kwai... Stalag 17... Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison... Predator II... Crazy from the Heart... And I don't remember what all else. I watched a lot of movies. I don't watch bad movies, either-- I mean, I don't watch movies just to watch movies. If I'm not getting something from it, I turn it off. I didn't realize how many movies I watched this past week. And the funny thing is, I'm always complaining because I only have Extended Basic Cable and there's only one all-movie station, AMC. How many movies would I watch if I could get the movie stations? I probably don't want to know.   Copyright © 2000 New Moon Addenda: I forgot these movies: Stigmata and To Wong Fu Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar. Weren't Patrick Swayze's outfits the living end? Looked like Delta Burke's sister! Wonderful!   Please feel free to comment at: The Madwoman's Message Board