Skywatch Friday - Natural Sepia Sunset

Last week a storm swept through town. In its aftermath we had a natural sepia sunset. Have your ever had one of those?

Skywatch Friday

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss Everdeen the teenage heroine is again at the center of the action. She is a guest of District 13 which is leading the rebellion against the Capitol of Panem. Panem is is a brutal country that rules harshly over the various districts that comprise the country. District 13 has stayed independent because they possess nuclear weapons and have also built their cities deep underground to withstand Capitol bombing.

Katniss finds out very soon that life is brutal in District 13 also. I learned a new word while researching this book: Dystopia. No it is not some sort of strange disease, it is the opposite of Utopia (and could be a good word for Words with Friends or Scrabble.) A Utopia is where life is great and everybody is fulfilled, a Dystopia is where from outward appearances everything is Utopian but where really life is repressive. So this trilogy is called Dystopian. So Katniss slowly realizes that District 13 may be no better than the Capitol in the way their citizens are treated.

The trilogy is marketed to teenagers but there is plenty of meat here for grownups. The choices that the characters make are complex and have consequences. There is lots to think about how social movements tend to be hijacked by those in control to achieve their own ends. (I'm thinking about how the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements have been hijacked by our two political parties)  The first two thirds of Mockingjay is much slower paced than the other books because it has to do with Katniss becoming aware of what is really happening. The last third of the book has plenty of fighting, killing, and gore.

I'm kind of a fan of many books marketed to teenagers. I'm no prude but I like the concentration on the story and characters and the absence of cheesy sex scenes and bad language. I guess I'm turning into a little old lady.

I rate the book four stars out of five.

ABC Wednesday - Today is D

The letter for ABC Wednesday is "D"

So I'm saying D is for Dogs!



Those are good Dogs, but not what I really meant.



From left to right, meet Ginger, Abby, and Rascal being tended to by a long suffering Washington Irving. Rascal is kind of hard to see. You know how hard it is to photograph a black dog. Lets try this:



Yes, Rascal does have a face.

ABC Wednesday

Our World - Nothing Like a Boat Show

SuperPizzaBoy and I went to the Tulsa Boat, Sport, and Travel Show here in Tulsa on Saturday.



There were all sorts of boats big and small on display there.



Plush and Roomy



SPB found one that he liked.



They had lots and lots of boat motors.



SPB met up with his buddy Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants. Are you familiar with the show? Do you like it? If you do, then I am worried about you.

In case you think that you are missing something here is a video.

Get More: SpongeBob SquarePants Episodes,SpongeBob SquarePants,SpongeBob SquarePants Games

I don't get it either.



We found some sport personal watercraft.



And little tug a lugs to haul hay out to your cows.



SPB liked the trailers. They had the economy models like above.



We liked the luxury models with fireplaces, indoor and outdoor televisions and kitchens.

Have you been to a boat show lately?

Our World Tuesday

Somebody Say AMEN!! Report on a Pie Auction

SuperPizzaBoy's school had a trivia night Friday night as a fund raiser. And you know you can't have a fund raiser without some sort of desert auction, right? (Somebody say amen.)

(Sorry about the blurry pics. Jim wouldn't slow down)

Sweetie was going to make an apple pie using one of the Pioneer Woman's recipes. That always gets my attention because Rhee Drummond can flat cook anything, and so can Sweetie. (Somebody say AMEN!!)



Sweetie's pie got picked for a live auction as opposed to the silent auction. Kari, the bundle of dynamite that was running the desert auction, looked at me and said "Yogi, bid $75." Anybody out there doubt I did that? (Somebody say AMEN!!) Bidding zoomed up to $95, my last bid.

Then Kari said the fateful words, "The bottom of this pie is still hot!" Did that wake the up?? Did that pull hte wallets out?? Yes it did, (Say AMEN!) You thought the pie was hot, you should have seen the bidding. The look on people's faces. Visions of HOT APPLE PIE!!!  (AMEN!!, I'll say it myself.)



The WINNER at $165! Actually he just got to pay for it, his wife was the one with the bid.



Know something else? That pie did not make it out of the building. Plates and forks were passed out and that pie was gone in minutes!!

One of the other Dad's paid Sweetie a compliment, I guess. He told me, "Good thing for you that I'm already married  because I would have to kill you. That was the best pie I ever had."

Somebody say AMEN