tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89874007891309036622024-03-05T03:12:58.306-05:00Reading Richard RohmerBrian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-46361202872213744672018-01-31T07:00:00.000-05:002018-01-31T07:00:06.750-05:00Greatest Hits Medley<div style="text-align: center;">
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Brian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-24926088314603732792018-01-05T14:09:00.002-05:002018-01-05T16:39:12.577-05:00Resuming Reading Richard Rohmer<br />
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Yes, it’s 2018 and we haven’t read our last Rohmer yet. We should be ashamed. If Rohmer put in any kind of effort at all, he could write a book faster than we could read it. Herman Wouk is 102 and he published a novel last year. Rohmer is 93, a spring chicken in Wouk years. He could start pumping out thrillers again and we could end up farther back than where we were when we started.<br />
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Speaking of Herman Wouk – something only crazy people say – I wonder if Rohmer knows there’s an alternative to the bread trick for not getting drunk with Russians? It’s in <i>War and Remembrance</i>, page 931:<br />
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(Noble sea captain Victor “Pug” Henry is at a party in Moscow in 1943 when he runs into globetrotting war correspondent Pamela Tudsbury.)<br />
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“Seems to me,” Pug said to Pamela, “that we’ve heard that imbecile noise before. Dance?”<br />
“Must we?”<br />
“You’d rather not? Thank God.” He twined fingers in hers and led her to a small sofa. “They caught me at my white wine trick during the toasts. I had to switch back to vodka, and I’m reeling.”</blockquote>
The old white-wine-for-vodka trick. Second time I fell for it this war.<br />
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- CK<br />
<br />Brian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-82187251535731044272016-09-28T17:31:00.000-04:002016-09-28T17:31:05.478-04:00Ultimata<br />
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Five days into autumn, I report that the most disappointing beach read of my summer was <i>Ultimatum 2</i>. I know you both liked the book... at least I think you both liked the book, but I was a bit let down. It's nowhere near as good as the original - which I will remind you we graded 'C' - nor is it as memorable. How well I remember the sexy Deputy Premier of Nova Scotia of <i>Ultimatum</i>; how little I remember of the "amazing, sharp-minded, cool-tongued black woman" who serves as Secretary of State in <i>Ultimatum 2</i>.<br />
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Here's looking forward to <i>Ultimatum 3</i>. And why not? After all, <i>Ultimatum</i> is the one Rohmer title that Canadians of a certain age remember. Why stop at two? Coppola didn't. Sure, the premise of <i>Ultimatum 2</i> wasn't nearly so interesting as <i>Ultimatum</i>, but that isn't to say that there aren't ideas out there. Some suggestions:
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Brian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-18018124204212610472016-09-06T13:59:00.003-04:002016-09-06T13:59:36.544-04:00Mid-Canada in the News!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In its ongoing hunt for subscribers, the <i>National Post</i> uncovers a market that could've been:</div>
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<a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-grandiose-but-failed-1960s-plan-by-an-ontario-war-hero-to-settle-a-second-canada-below-the-arctic"><b>The grandiose — but failed — 1960s plan by an Ontario war hero to settle a ‘second Canada’ below the Arctic</b></a></blockquote>
<br />Brian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-22843954654710300452016-07-13T16:48:00.004-04:002016-07-13T19:28:26.500-04:00Reading Richard Rohmer in The Walrus!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'd like to think that we've reached new heights, but as my agent will attest, I'm not one for promotion.<br />
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Is evidence required?<br />
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Consider the simple fact that I'm only now mentioning my 29 June article for <i>The Walrus</i>.<br />
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Remember when Michael Cimino was still alive?<br />
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Yeah, it's been that long.<br />
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You'll find the piece here:<br />
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<a href="https://thewalrus.ca/the-brexit-fix-it/" target="_blank">The Brexit Fix-it:</a></div>
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<a href="https://thewalrus.ca/the-brexit-fix-it/" target="_blank">How an obscure forty-year-old Canadian thriller might help alleviate a global crisis</a></div>
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Brian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-84559230146655107642016-06-19T18:32:00.000-04:002016-06-19T20:24:32.113-04:00If you judge a book by the cover...<div>
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<i>Ultimatum 2</i> arrived on my desk the same week <i>The Lexicon of Love II</i> was released. You see the similarities, right? Each looks to capitalize on <i>the</i> greatest hit, beginning with the cover.</div>
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Because <i>The Guardian</i> is very keen on <i>The Lexicon of Love II</i>, I'm going to force myself to give it a listen.</div>
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Because I'm committed to reading Richard Rohmer, I'll be forcing myself to pick up <i>Ultimatum 2</i>. Before I do, I've got a few things to say about it as an objet. </div>
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A few days ago, I wrote you guys an email in which I referred to <i>Ultimatum 2</i> as a "competent-looking production."</div>
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It's not.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's look at the cover, which I'll describe charitably as an homage to the original.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzFREEnsJM8OxtxUhapcnBGNG9QDJ7XJPQENwxqkmC5ev0AIlTCFDFJuo5P1POksQxwgcKwwtNTwVkZw34sP4ZuhYzcsUweD4puNHv_WfUOFjskSiwqgknrkEejUdV205zgvELwqx12Y/s1600/Ultimatum+-+Richard+Rohmer+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzFREEnsJM8OxtxUhapcnBGNG9QDJ7XJPQENwxqkmC5ev0AIlTCFDFJuo5P1POksQxwgcKwwtNTwVkZw34sP4ZuhYzcsUweD4puNHv_WfUOFjskSiwqgknrkEejUdV205zgvELwqx12Y/s1600/Ultimatum+-+Richard+Rohmer+1.png" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm certain that the change in the red, white and blue stripes has no meaning. The placement of "MAJOR-GENERAL" is evidence of ineptitude. Laziness comes in the form of the Russian coat of arms - though "RUSSIA" is helpful to those not familiar - and the old eagle and Canadian flag design used on the cover of <i>Ultimatum</i>... the mass market paperback edition.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7cpELO4JjGrDOGqNyNLH9_PtNMFi2PoINqQgUtLHvoNldWvt6V_FfcCfLXd-H3ysAgM3irPthv1VHIjVgO71PlYSjZHMP3S6Iq8TPPJEz2LKems36Xz-9ECu3IzHQb4NLXPvL_mONuZw/s1600/ultimatum.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7cpELO4JjGrDOGqNyNLH9_PtNMFi2PoINqQgUtLHvoNldWvt6V_FfcCfLXd-H3ysAgM3irPthv1VHIjVgO71PlYSjZHMP3S6Iq8TPPJEz2LKems36Xz-9ECu3IzHQb4NLXPvL_mONuZw/s400/ultimatum.png" width="242" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2cpgSjKUz8zfG_1Vr7mInoxCxXz5JsF-DUmCFCQrlIalILeqIzcS7R03rImaHFyespKyo5DUlqAR5UgviJ1_8-egaJk56t0mlv5HXnaAIJVytHodhWpC5ad4LjRCaX1ypda0v63SlrE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-19+at+5.18.36+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2cpgSjKUz8zfG_1Vr7mInoxCxXz5JsF-DUmCFCQrlIalILeqIzcS7R03rImaHFyespKyo5DUlqAR5UgviJ1_8-egaJk56t0mlv5HXnaAIJVytHodhWpC5ad4LjRCaX1ypda0v63SlrE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-19+at+5.18.36+PM.png" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
C'mon, 300dpi minimum, guys.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A few lessons in Photoshop would help. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You know it's true.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Brian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-56776436958519671492016-05-28T16:26:00.000-04:002016-05-28T17:52:46.881-04:00How to Read a Be$t $ellerSeriously, Brian, do you want me to mail you my copy of <i>Ultimatum 2</i>?<br />
Stan, do you want me to send back your copy of <i>Raleigh on the Rocks</i>? <br />
With my daughter Emma attending the University of Toronto this Fall, and God as my witness, we <i>will</i> obtain <i>The Building the CN Tower</i> and <i>The Building of the SkyDome/Rogers Center</i>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-66004608465086258592016-05-23T18:24:00.002-04:002016-05-25T02:47:54.985-04:00Anticipation 2Waiting for Brian Busby to receive and read his copy of <i>Ultimatum 2</i> is like waiting for the last person at work to finish watching Breaking Bad. Except lots of people like Breaking Bad. So it's not <i>exactly</i> like that.<br />
<br />
I can't believe he's reading Rainbow Country novelizations instead. Yes, those stories feature a floatplane and thrilling-but-repetitive adventures in the great Canadian outdoors, but do the characters ever negotiate business deals or drill for anything? No, they do not.<br />
<br />
They do <u>not</u> satisfy.<br />
<br />
It's like trying to drink whisky from a bottle of wine. Or vodka, without eating bread.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-56167325205023705472016-05-15T12:18:00.001-04:002016-05-24T00:10:32.045-04:00The password is "swordfish"<a href="http://readingrichardrohmer.blogspot.com/2016/05/spent-yesterday-afternoon-at-air-show.html?spref=bl"></a>At the halfway point, let me pause to say hello to a few old friends: Hello referring to Russia and the US as The Russian Bear and the American Eagle; Welcome back Twin Otter; nice to see you again, MacKenzie Delta; what's happening advice on how to eat bread before drinking vodka? How've you been plot device of flying all over the word in a mad rush for meetings that could, in all honesty, wait a day or two? <br />
<br />
So nice to see you back. In my travels through <i>The Green North</i> and E.P. Taylor's life, I've missed you.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to Chris's last posts - if we ever created an RR drinking game, say in the event of a new book being released and taking us by surprise - I say we have a moratorium on using the word "ultimatum". By page 3 we'd be on the floor. Unless we invoked a "you don't have to drink if it's not a real ultimatum" rule, which would disqualify most of the uses in this book. Is it <i>really</i> an ultimatum if, when presented to the Russians, they say "ultimatum!" and then in a line or two, accept it and think it's a good idea after all.<br />
<br />
I have a new favorite double entendre: "(Sue Long) sat back, her foot suggestively touching his leg. "Dare I hope, dare I wish, that this something you want can't happen in the bar?"<br />
<br />
"Again you've got it. It can only be on the third floor in an appropriate horizontal conference position."<br />
<br />
"Where I can take dictation?"<br />
<br />
"No. Where you can receive it..."<br />
<br />
Oh boy - "receiving dictation". A clever play on...er, wait. I take it back. This is more like a half entendre. Well, I love it anyway!<br />
<br />
If Putin can be named and used as a character, why not Bush and Condoleezza Rice?<br />
<br />
A character description for the ages: "Ross was an expert girl-sizer-upper"<br />
<br />
Mr. Rohmer - it's time for for your cameo: "You're at the Stafford. My favourite hotel. And that American Bar. Wonderful, with all those pictures of the American generals and admirals in the entrance from the hotel's main-floor sitting room. Mind you, there's one Canadian Air Force general's photo contaminating the montage."<br />
<br />
"Yes, I saw that. Air Force, author, lawyer, most decorated Canadian citizen. Forgotten his name."<br />
<br />Stanley Whytehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579745111959535696noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-85485426610840175732016-05-02T12:18:00.003-04:002016-05-24T00:08:33.932-04:00Spent yesterday afternoon at an air show in Chino watching Mustangs with the major-general on my mind. No de Havilland Otters.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwEwClCI4fwXZF1USqHY_IaLIIVMg_heGOAl8EGuaUog4CAeuSwZJDqvUsfJRdq4ItdxDhWWDpLOH_1mFsECe6nrSxzVJEvmzf99IcR1mzH6_xWJekrVsQNk0GwAO6cU_ML6fUSnwmvUl/s1600/p51s-for-NAA-75th-anniv-brdr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwEwClCI4fwXZF1USqHY_IaLIIVMg_heGOAl8EGuaUog4CAeuSwZJDqvUsfJRdq4ItdxDhWWDpLOH_1mFsECe6nrSxzVJEvmzf99IcR1mzH6_xWJekrVsQNk0GwAO6cU_ML6fUSnwmvUl/s400/p51s-for-NAA-75th-anniv-brdr.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
But here's Olivia de Havilland.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED7O0eAnR_-uSdfcIVZxl8ep_rRojz8l2CZqfhHC-VP3p7DoZ0X-kVjiWtTcPq9k6NVeiGNYIRnZvU3MVtV7N5L-XskAsVFfJxP34EHDuD-LIYmH3C2pf2Wxpp_btuRR8AahBQOhe8h-A/s1600/Olivia-De-Havilland-2016-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED7O0eAnR_-uSdfcIVZxl8ep_rRojz8l2CZqfhHC-VP3p7DoZ0X-kVjiWtTcPq9k6NVeiGNYIRnZvU3MVtV7N5L-XskAsVFfJxP34EHDuD-LIYmH3C2pf2Wxpp_btuRR8AahBQOhe8h-A/s400/Olivia-De-Havilland-2016-02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-75531185430583429482016-04-22T10:23:00.000-04:002016-04-22T10:23:05.781-04:00The life of Prince (1958-2016) fits <i>inside</i> the life of Richard Rohmer. Of course, BB King's life fits in there too. But it makes you think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-68067344854027056602016-04-10T01:14:00.002-04:002016-04-10T07:11:00.711-04:00Addendum<style>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-31768057836280910582016-04-09T16:23:00.002-04:002016-04-10T10:01:53.561-04:00All This and Ultimatum Too<style>
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It’s been more than a year since I’ve tasted sweet, sweet Richard
Rohmer fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stanley Whyte’s last
note on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death By Deficit</i> was in March
2015. But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ultimatum 2</i> was worth the
wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Brian and Stan, have you started?
I’ll avoid spoilers.) I’m barely halfway through and here’s what I’ve got:</div>
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Page 116: “Ivanov blanched. He blurted out one word:
“Ultimatum!”</div>
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ultimatum…”</div>
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Page 125: “To conclude, the parties agreed that the word
“ultimatum” was never to be applicable to any record of the proceedings.
Never!”</div>
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And here’s the best thing about the plot. (Again, spoiler,
but they give it away on the back cover.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Russians have a lot of nuclear waste they want to get rid of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Americans have been helping them get rid
of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Condoleezza Rice has a
brilliant idea: Why not bury it in a hole? America asks Russia what they think,
and the Russians agree. (At least that’s how it stands on page 125.) </div>
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There’s absolutely <u>no</u> reason to describe this plan as
an ultimatum. I believe the technical term is “offer.”</div>
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This ain’t my first Rohmer rodeo, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll bet my de Havilland Otter they’re about
to threaten Canada.<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-7380073630702227932016-04-09T10:30:00.001-04:002016-04-09T17:28:27.343-04:00Oh Boy! Today's Class is a Film!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xpyqY4xNNBk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xpyqY4xNNBk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
Richard Rohmer saves France from Hitler. As a teenager. (Rohmer, not Hitler.)<br />
<br />
I just wanted to acknowledge that before we get into <i>Ultimatum 2</i>.<br />
<br />
We can never make that crossing that he made, for such voyages in this world do not any more exist.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-53882515759367144432016-03-26T14:32:00.001-04:002016-03-31T10:32:50.726-04:00Really on the Rocks<style>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raleigh on the Rocks</i>
reads like the research packet for a novel Richard Rohmer never wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>212 pages of photocopies of ships’ logs,
trial transcripts and interoffice memos from ass-covering war bureaucrats, thankfully long dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder if a similar
pile of papers exists for the other fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“On Memorial Day, the
Admiral, accompanied by Sir Auckland Geddes, was received by President Harding
at the White House where pleasantries were cordially exchanged and, very
likely, there was discussion of the involvement of Pak’s illustrious ancestor,
Major General Sir Edward Pakenham, in the Battle of New Orleans.”</i> – <i>Raleigh
on the Rocks</i></div>
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Imagine how easy it would be to turn that into Rohmer-quality action, and create a BE$T$ELLER…</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Welcome to the White
House, Sir Auckland” said President Warren G. Harding, America’s 29<sup>th</sup>
President.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sir Auckland shook the
Ohio-born President’s hand.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“May I present Admiral
Pakenham, of her Majesty’s Navy.”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Packenham? Any
relation to Major General Sir Edward Pakenham?”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I’m sorry to say,
yes,” said the Admiral.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harding, who would die
in office several years later, laughed.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“And I’m sorry about
how our Andrew Jackson – one of my shall we say illustrious predecessors – gave
your relative a beating at the Battle of New Orleans!”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Tragically, neither
side knew our nations had already signed the Treaty of Ghent.”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Yes, a shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But enough of these pleasantries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you have an answer to my ultimatum?”</i></div>
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And then they’d check yes or no on the ultimatum, which
would involve ownership of all the oil and gas in the arctic – and put the
paper on the ship, and then it would run aground, and decades later frogmen
from the Bank of Canada would have to solve the mystery by searching the
wreckage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It writes itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Call it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Balls
Up!</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As it is, this isn’t a book at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a poorly padded high school paper about
nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grade F.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note from teacher: “See me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Okay, one interesting thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British Navy putting all that time and
effort into blowing up a ship just because it would look bad to have it sitting
there, after some idiot got it stuck on a rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your empire’s tax dollars at work.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stan, I’ll return your copy when I come to Montreal in
April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ultimatum 2</i>!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-1415946246376237202016-02-21T11:19:00.000-05:002016-02-21T12:58:36.441-05:00A Question Before We Get to Ultimatum II<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It occurred to me this morning that we’ve never had a
discussion about what a political thriller is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I mean, what happens in a successful, working example of the genre that
doesn’t happen in the novels of Major General Wing Commander Grand Admiral
Rohmer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A counterexample. The control to
Rohmer’s variables.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The answer to the question: “Okay, we get it, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death by Deficit</i> is terrible. But what
do you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like</i>?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Off the top of my head:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This Gun for Hire</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From Russia with Love</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Thirty-Nine Steps</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Manchurian Candidate</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Black Sunday</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fatherland</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eye of the Needle</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Boys from Brazil</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Dogs of War</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s on Rohmer’s list, do you think? (I’ll confess, I’ve
read Harold Robbins but I’ve never read anything by Arthur Hailey. I’ve gotten
halfway through some Tom Clancy, but I don’t know anything about Brad Thor,
Stephen Coonts or Vince Flynn, except that they appear to be fascist nonsense
written for the future victims of gun cleaning accidents.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s on your list?</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-52479634121574082922016-02-02T19:13:00.001-05:002016-02-03T11:44:34.346-05:00Raleigh on the Rocks is...<a href="http://readingrichardrohmer.blogspot.com/2016/02/hell-remember-with-advantages-what.html?spref=bl"></a>...an article. I mean - really? This slight story about a British warship that runs aground in "Canada" and is scuttled 4 years later, only to cause problems in the ensuing decades due to the fact there is was still live ammunition aboard it some 70 years later is not a book. There's barely enough story to fill an article. Rohmer tries valiantly to create a stirring story where none exists - the result is a mess of conjecture, supposition and assumption that stretches out past 200 pages (!) due to the inclusion of page after page of documentation that is supposed to tell the story. Unlike the writer, whose job it apparently is is to show you all this great research so you can say "yup - there sure is a story in there somewhere"<br />
<br />
...an appendix disguised as a book. Document after document after document. After document. All documented to prove that good research can make a book. Why would you need anything else?<br />
<br />
...unfinished. The last two pages (spoiler alert) is a letter from Rohmer to the powers that be demanding answers that by date of publication had not arrived.<br />
<br />
Try though he may (or did he really try?) there's just no story here. He tries to turn "Vice-admiral Sir William Pakenham, KCB, KCMG, KCVO, Commander-in-chief of Britain's North Atlantic and West Indies Fleet" (Rohmer has never met a title he didn't love writing out for effect) into a character - once introduced, he is referred to as "Pak" so you get the idea of what kind of upstanding career naval man we're dealing with. That or Rohmer feels that every story needs an "old Blood and Guts" at it's center. But there is nothing in the research that makes him out to be the colourful character he desperately wants us to believe he is.<br />
<br />
In fact, <i>nobody</i> is. Everyone in this story is dramatized by assumptions (read: wild guess/wishful thinking) so flimsy it's a wonder no one at the editing stage challenged them. To wit:<br />
<br />
"The next day, Admiral Pakenham received a signal (691) from Admiralty that he undoubtedly could not believe" (<i>undoubtedly</i>!)<br />
<br />
"His answer was given in typical, direct no-nonsense Pak form". (<i>typical of Pak - he sure hated nonsense)</i><br />
<br />
<i>"</i>Admiral Oliver must have been highly frustrated by the lack of information coming from the other side of the Atlantic" (<i>yes, he must have been highly frustrated. Why, that's one step above being <u>very</u> frustrated)</i><br />
<br />
"Bromley's statement is strong evidence that Admiral Pakenham was a shrewd, hands-on, take-charge, no-nonsense commander" (<i>wow - he sounds not unlike E.P. Taylor. And boy - more evidence about how Pak hated nonsense</i>)<br />
<br />
<i>"</i>The Admiral must have been devastated when on the bridge of the <i>Calcutta </i>he first laid eyes on his true flagship gutted, tipped, mortally wounded" (<i>He must have been)</i><br />
<br />
Please - tell me there is more fiction on the way...<i> </i>Stanley Whytehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579745111959535696noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-75670416560504567992016-02-01T10:28:00.001-05:002016-02-02T09:18:43.259-05:00He'll Remember, With Advantages, What Feats He Did That DayNow, this is more like it. We're not out of the introduction before Rohmer tells us, again, about the night in 1978 when he totally got to wear a rear admiral's uniform, complete with the lace handkerchief stuffed up the left sleeve and (join in kids)...<br />
<br />
"... the only alteration was to shorten the pant legs slightly."<br />
<br />
Serious question to BB:<br />
<br />
What's with the title? Why "The <u>Canada</u> Shipwreck of HMS Raleigh"? Is there some Canada Council rule that you get more points if the word "Canada" is in the title, even at random? Because it looks like primitive search engine optimization in 2016.<br />
<br />
"The Jennifer Lawrence Shipwreck of the HMS Nipslip"<br />
<br />
What are the Master's rules on titles, again? I'm too lazy to get <i>How to Write a Be$t $eller</i> down from the atti¢.<br />
<br />
Which of us is writing the Canada wrap-up for <i>Golden Canada Phoenix</i>?<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-36193623877117594872016-01-30T11:11:00.002-05:002016-02-02T09:16:38.941-05:00UpdateOn E.P. Taylor's birthday, a copy of <i>Raleigh on the Rocks</i> arrived in my mailbox.<br />
<br />
All of nature talks to me. If I could only figure out what it was trying to tell me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-74873876851851342742016-01-10T03:21:00.001-05:002016-01-10T10:48:02.605-05:00License to Shill<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another clue that Richard Rohmer doesn’t know his Goldfinger
from his elbow: a chapter in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Golden
Phoenix</i> about celebrity endorsements for Peter Munk’s stereo
system, the Clairtone Project G:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
The star-studded cast included not only Sinatra, Peterson,
Gillespie and Vaughn but an impoverished young Scotsman who was about to become
James Bond and one of the highest-paid and most respected film actors of his
time, Sean Connery.</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think about the logic problem that makes this statement
unlikely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would Clairtone want an endorsement
from Sean Connery <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> he was
famous?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Clairtone G: Ask the
impoverished Scotsman who owns one.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rohmer has written himself into a corner to get the words “Sean Connery”
at the end of the sentence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where it
would mean the most in Rohmerland, attached to the information that Connery
eventually made lots of money.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> a Clairtone
Project G stereo in the background of the creepy Connery misfire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Fine Madness</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It came out in 1966, after Connery had
already played James Bond in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dr. No, From
Russia With Love, Goldfinger</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thunderball</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that’s what Rohmer means.<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-78080790231599739392016-01-10T02:14:00.000-05:002016-02-04T10:06:18.267-05:00Goldfinger<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was a little surprised, in an otherwise slavering work of
blind hero worship, to see that Rohmer called one of the chapters of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Golden Phoenix</i> “Canada’s
Goldfinger.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder if Rohmer has ever
seen Goldfinger, or if he understands that being Goldfinger is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bad</i> thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Auric Goldfinger – megalomaniac, thief, murderer, terrorist,
pervert, cheat – had been born in Guelph, would Rohmer have written a book for
him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> rich.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-19262839955230395192016-01-10T01:39:00.000-05:002016-01-10T10:50:11.110-05:00Get Money<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
2016.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>
happen?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve just finished reading Richard Rohmer’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Golden Phoenix: the Biography of Peter Munk</i>
and anyone who says I haven’t is a liar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m ready to give it a grade (C) and vote we take the cover down from
the “currently reading” side of the blog, where it’s been shaming me for four
months.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What did I learn? Peter Munk made a lot of money and is a
swell guy, what with all that earning and owning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Rohmer’s source appears to be Peter Munk.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One time a newspaper said one of Munk’s
publicly held companies paid him too much, but they were wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stockholders are lucky they got anything.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
No stockholder had complained, no backlash came from
investors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The controversy was now
behind him.</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, that settles that, then.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clairtone went bankrupt, but that was Nova Scotia’s
fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> He had this idea to take Canadian-backed mortgages </span>and sell them in Switzerland as as "a unique, hybrid financial instrument" before it was cool, but "it was just too difficult to get an underwriting." He never got to build his golf
course in the shadow of the pyramids, but that was Egypt’s fault. The trick to
working with a state is knowing the right people and the proper application of
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no one can win them all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know who’s a great guy? Suharto. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know who knows a good deal when he sees it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adnan Khashoggi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also loves to party!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know who can be had for a price?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brian Mulroney.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just like Richard Rohmer.<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-31982154884067024942015-11-22T20:35:00.002-05:002016-01-10T20:01:32.624-05:00Big Weekend for the Little General<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
From
the Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin:
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">For Collingwood’s Richard Rohmer, the awards keep coming.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The long-time columnist with the Enterprise Bulletin was in Kingston to
speak with graduates from the Royal Military of College, Friday.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Lieutenant General, the only person so designated in Canada, was
conferred with an honorary doctorate during Royal Military College’s
convocation in Kingston.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Rohmer was appointed Lieutenant-General, and invited to continue his
post as Honorary Advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff in June of this
year.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Living an accomplished career, the award-winning author, has served on
numerous advisory boards and has received numerous honorary appointments. He
has served as Chancellor of the University of Windsor for 13 years and is
chairman of the Overview Group of Companies and a member of the law firm of
Rohmer & Fenn.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">A decorated veteran of the Second World War with decades of service in
the Canadian Armed Forces, Rohmer was promoted to the rank of Major-General and
appointed Chief of Reserves in 1978, before retired in 1981.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In December of 2014 he returned and was named Honorary Advisor to the
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), a position created to recognize his contributions
to the CAF.</span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Arguably Canada’s most decorated
citizen</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">. In August 1990 he was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Canada. He holds the Jubilee Medal, the Centennial
Medal, the Confederation (125 year) Medal; the Golden Jubilee Medal; The
Diamond Jubilee Medal; and the Canada Defence Medal (CD).</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In July 1989, he was appointed by H.M. King Beaudoin of Belgium to the
Order of Leopold with the rank of Officer (OfL). In June 1997 he was appointed
to the Order of Ontario and was a member of the Advisory Council of the Order
of Ontario 2000-2012. In May 2004 he was appointed by the President of France
as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. </span></i></div>
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Why “arguably”? Who would argue? And why’s it its own
sentence? </div>
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Lieutenant General? How did we miss his commission
(appointment? promotion? investment? coronation?) last June?</div>
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Why can’t I make myself read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Golden Phoenix</i>?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-88168665416173453282015-11-15T13:06:00.001-05:002015-11-18T06:55:17.045-05:00Lost in ledger landI second commending Brian's fortitude in ploughing through <i>Golden Phoenix</i> so quickly. I have to get over my disappointment that it turned out not to be a novelization of a lost Shaw Brothers movie before I can comment at length (do I really want to do that?), but some quick takes:<br />
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1. Ledgers, stock deals, the endless search for funds, stock issues, the interminable shell games of international finance. There are ways to make this interesting, gripping even. Very little of that shows through - I personally couldn't make head or tail about some of the deals. Maybe that's my failing, but sometimes I couldn't figure out how issuing new shares and taking on more debt can make you richer and richer.<br />
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2. Who is Peter Munk? After a promising beginning with his family on the run from the Nazis, his mother trapped in Auschwitz, the eventual escape to Canada we had the makings of a real biography that balanced his achievements with his family story. That falls apart pretty quickly as Clairtone is born and the business side takes over and smothers everything else. Rohmer actually delves into the anguish Munk felt abandoning his mother to an austere life of poverty after being released from the Concentration Camp while he escaped to Canada, but that side of his life gets neatly ignored in favour of stock issue intrigue. 100 pages later there is an offhand reference to her living in Toronto with her new husband - how did that happen?<br />
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3. I'm on page 250 and I still don't know what happened to his father or the family that escaped the Nazis.<br />
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4. Brian pointed this out and I want to know: what did the man who gave the world Clairtone and had an impact on the way people listened to music at home think about music? Not once do we know if he cared about it all. I presume he did - but this isn't where you'll find out. I mean, while out among his coterie of rich and powerful friends, did he ever play them things on his home stereo?<br />
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5. From home stereos to property development to hotel chains to oil and gas exploration to gold is some kind of journey. I can honestly say I don't know how one led to the next thing for Munk. Other than the fact he is "focused", I know that he DID go from one to another over the span of his life, but there is nothing in this book that tells me how. Maybe I expect too much.<br />
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I need to push through the last quarter of this book now - maybe all will be revealed in the closing pages.<br />
<br />Stanley Whytehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579745111959535696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987400789130903662.post-40596181393872471762015-11-14T10:23:00.002-05:002015-11-17T13:28:56.075-05:00By the Time I Get Through PhoenixI want to salute Brian Busby for reading this book, which has stopped me like a tank trap. (I will go on, because of the human spirit.) I can detect no Rohmer in what I've read so far. This was written by a large and joyless team of business school undergrads, right? I keep getting to places where I expect the Brigadier General to at least weigh in -- how does a book with the words "Richard Rohmer" on the cover contain the word "D-Day" without an tangential exegesis on reconnaissance and the time the author met Patton, killed Rommel, and sent the pictures to Dirk Bogarde?<br />
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This is an unfair question -- because I'm getting older too -- but where's the Rohmer of Balls! and Triad?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1