The Daily Bongo

Commentaries


This page is devoted to a collection of commentaries on a variety of topics, but will probably be mostly devoted to books that I've read or news topics. Right now, the amount of material here might not be extensive, but it will grow as I have time to devote to more in-depth analysis of materials.


Reviews

4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie
Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan by Todd Gallagher
Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea by Nancy Atherton
Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin by Nancy Atherton
Black Rainbow by Barbara Michaels
Breaking Away
Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz
Cat's Eyewitness by Rita Mae Brown
The Code: the Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL by Ross Bernstein
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
The Defector by Daniel Silva
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
The Messenger by Daniel Silva
Moai Murders by Lyn Hamilton
Mummy Dearest by Joan Hess
Murder Walks the Plank by Carolyn Hart
My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart
Next by Michael Crichton
Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry
Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva
The Rookie: A Season with Sidney Crosby and the New NHL by Shawna Richer
The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters
Snobbery With Violence by Marion Chesney
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
Timeline by Michael Crichton
Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston


Random Thoughts

Dreams -- August 11, 2005
My Reading Addiction -- August 12, 2005
Gaza pull out -- August 13, 2005
Who's a Terrorist? -- August 16, 2005
First Smoking, Now Food -- August 20, 2005
Women in Science -- August 23, 2005
Where Have All the Heroes Gone? -- August 25, 2005
Are You Bored? -- August 31, 2005
Literature -- September 6, 2005
Nancy Atherton breakfast talk -- February 11, 2006
The Eliza Furnace Trail -- April 30, 2006
When I Grow Up, I Want to Be ... -- May 8, 2006
Summertime -- May 16, 2006


Short Stories

These stories were written for my Introduction to Fiction class. The teacher in the class liked the stories, but I think that she felt my efforts were more pulp fiction than "literature". If you have suggestions or comments about the stories, let me know.

Story 1 -- The main character in this story is Moshe Shabati. He is reservist on duty at a checkpoint in Shim'a, not too far from Be'er Shiva.
Story 2 -- This story is a revision of an earlier vignette that the teacher thought had some potential. The revision is based on comments made by the teacher and the classroom workshop. The main character in the story is Daphne Cohen. She is caught between a rock (her mother, Ida) and a hard place (her boyfriend, Sam).
Story 3 -- This story is also a revision of an earlier vignette. Although the teacher liked the earlier vignette, she thought that it was borderline soft porn. The character was the creation of another student in the class. We had to create a character that was then passed to another student in the class to create a vignette. At first, I didn't like the character, but then I used him to make fun of some of the things that were said in class.


Recipes

Pumpkin Pie