I bought my LightWedge (paperback version) a few years ago. I love it. I do not travel without it. I use it daily.
The LightWedge provides ample light for reading but the light is directed across your page and does not distract theo ther people around you such as the driver of the vehicle you are in, or the person you may be sharing your bed with!
As I said, my LightWedge is a few years old. I think I probably bought it around 2005... It has a few minor scratches on it, nothing deep. I have never found a good "screen protector" for it. If I could find one that was the correct size and was not too expensive I would consider buying it for a new LightWedge. As it is, the age and condition of my current LightWedge are such that I would not bother; it's fine and serves its purpose.
That said, one of our sons has been wanting a LightWedge paperback version for a long time. Not long after I bought mine I bought LightWedge Minis for each of our five children, my husband, my dad, and my mother-in-law. I bought a knock-off of the LightWedge last year to give to our son. Within minutes it was obvious that its construction was very bad. I called to ask for my money to be returned and we threw it in the trash! I am just about to place an order for the REAL LightWedge as a Christmas gift for our son. Actually, I will probably give him mine and I will probably take the new one. : )
The wonderful thing is that I am still able to use it with my ereader. I just hold it in front of it or even near it, just as I would with a regular book. I do not think I would like the larger version and have no need for more light than the paperback version provides.
If you do not have a booklight that you really like I urge you to try one!
01 October 2010
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen 4*
I read this book because it is being made into a movie and the son of an acquaintance of mine is acting in it, as the character Garrett. Now that I've read the book I can let myself see the film!
Flipped is the story of the relationship between Bryce and Juli. The story is uniquely told from both of their points of view, in alternating chapters. It is really interesting to see an example of the same event being told from two difffering points of view. We all see things uniquely and we all retell them in our own unique style too.
But it isn't only the tale of two young teens. The story actually looks at all kinds of relationships. There is a sub-plot about a marriage relationship, and also about the relationship between Bryce and his grandfather whom he barely knows even though Gramps has been living with them for a year and a half. Of course there are also several teenage frindships that are quietly observed. The story doesn't preach, it just allows the reader to view the interactions and make their own judgment about what happens. I like that.
Bryce is bombarded by Juli's bubbly, in-your-face friendship from the moment his family moves into their home. Juli is a determined and self-confident young woman. Bryce is a somewhat typical young man who thinks that friendship with a girl is not something he is interested in. Of course as he ages and as their characters develop all of that starts to change.
Bryce's grandpa ends up befriending Juli before he befriends Bryce. That finally spurs Bryce and Grandpa into talking...and that brings them to a point of beginning to really know each other. Funny how we can essentially ignore people even when we live with them...
The setting of the book was changed a bit. The book is set in California, the movie is Michigan. The book was done in a current timeframe, the film is set in the fifties I think. I like that they changed the timeframe for the film.
I found an interesting blog post by the author of the book:
http://tinyurl.com/FlippedVanDraanen
Edited to add:
I came back to add some of my favorite quotes from the book.
"In the end, Shelly went home early with a bad case of mussed-up hair, while I told my side of things to the principal. Mrs. Shultz is a sturdy lady who probably secretly appreciates the value of a swift kick well placed, and although she told me that it would be better if I let other people work out their own dilemmas, she definitely understood about Shelly Stalls and her hair and told me she was glad I'd had the self-control to do nothing more than restrain her." pg 16
"I felt sorry for my father. I felt sorry for my mother. But most of all I felt lucky for me that they were mine." pg 78
and my favorite:
"There's nothing like a head-strong woman to make you happy to be alive." pg 82
The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert 4*
This book didn't really end up being exactly what I expected. I decided to read it because I had seen a lot of good reviews and I dreadfully miss England. Right now, rieading is as close as I can get to being there!
The book is a fictionalized telling of Beatrix Potter's life, with a bit of mystery thrown in. In the beginning I found the mystery intriguing but by the end of the book, and given the way the mystery was unfolded, I was not as happy with it. I hate it when a mystery is so involved that I feel lost, but this one was, rather, a bit too simple really.
Still, the story is sweet and the setting idyllic. The Lake District in England is simply beautiful and relaxing. We spent one night there and most of a day, when we visited in the fall of 2008. We did not visit Hill Top Farm or Castle Cottage but we did visit Beatrix Potter World and were all pleasantly surprised by its sweetness.
As I said, the story is simple, filled with simple characters. There are, however, quite a few characters. The list in the front of the book was, indeed, helpful for remembering who everyone was. I referred to it a few times. The writing is such that you can envision the places and people.
The author did begin to lose my interest when she mentions some of the animals as wearing clothing. I could accept the fact that the animals shared dialogue with one another but not with people. Accepting the communication of animals for the sake of the story was fine...accepting rats in waistcoats was a bit too much for me though.
It is a charming book and pretty easy to follow. It would certainly work well as a read-aloud to young children who run out of titles written by Miss Potter, herself.
The book is a fictionalized telling of Beatrix Potter's life, with a bit of mystery thrown in. In the beginning I found the mystery intriguing but by the end of the book, and given the way the mystery was unfolded, I was not as happy with it. I hate it when a mystery is so involved that I feel lost, but this one was, rather, a bit too simple really.
Still, the story is sweet and the setting idyllic. The Lake District in England is simply beautiful and relaxing. We spent one night there and most of a day, when we visited in the fall of 2008. We did not visit Hill Top Farm or Castle Cottage but we did visit Beatrix Potter World and were all pleasantly surprised by its sweetness.
As I said, the story is simple, filled with simple characters. There are, however, quite a few characters. The list in the front of the book was, indeed, helpful for remembering who everyone was. I referred to it a few times. The writing is such that you can envision the places and people.
The author did begin to lose my interest when she mentions some of the animals as wearing clothing. I could accept the fact that the animals shared dialogue with one another but not with people. Accepting the communication of animals for the sake of the story was fine...accepting rats in waistcoats was a bit too much for me though.
It is a charming book and pretty easy to follow. It would certainly work well as a read-aloud to young children who run out of titles written by Miss Potter, herself.
29 September 2010
27 September 2010
Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse by Phyllis Diller
Pyllis Diller's autobiography is a straightforward look at her life. She pulls no punches and tells it the way she feels about it. She begins at the very beginning. Her parents were older when her mother was told she had an abdominal tumor that needed to be removed. Her mother was 35 years old and her father was 55 years old. When the doctor opened her mother for surgery he found that she was pregnant and went to Mr. Diller to determine how to proceed. His reply was "leave it in." And that was her beginning.
Phyllis had two failed marriages. I felt her straigtforwardness seemed somewhat balanced until she labeled both her first and second husbands as being mentally ill. And, yet, perhaps they were. It just seems a bit unlikely. Her second husband, however, ended up being gay, so she really doesn't seem to have been the best at finding a husband. She refers to her third husband as the love of her life.
She had 6 children by her first husband though I am not certain she mentionedthe third child in her book; he only lived for two weeks, born a "blue baby". Her second child, a daughter, suffers from schizophrenia.
Diller relates that she first had plastic surgery at the age of 55. She was outspoken about it and didn't hide it from anyone. She woudl receive offers from surgeons who would operate on her for free because they felt that the image she presented about the benefits of plastic surgery would be beneficial to them. Playboy approached her to do a photo shoot. They wanted to do a contrast piece, contrasting a very thin subject with one they thought was a bit plumper. (She has always hidden her figure in the clothing she chose to wear for her standp-up performances.) They found her to be really gorgeous and that the shoot didn't suit its intended purpose and so Playboy never published the photo in their magazine. I found the photo to be stunning; "stunning" as in beautiful, not as in "shocking":
http://tinyurl.com/PhyllisDillerPlayboyShoot
She is an accomplished pianist and even did a tour but gave it up when she came to the conclusion that she would never really be good enough. She is also a painter and sells her artwork. http://www.artcelebs.com/diller_pg2.htm
Phyllis had two failed marriages. I felt her straigtforwardness seemed somewhat balanced until she labeled both her first and second husbands as being mentally ill. And, yet, perhaps they were. It just seems a bit unlikely. Her second husband, however, ended up being gay, so she really doesn't seem to have been the best at finding a husband. She refers to her third husband as the love of her life.
She had 6 children by her first husband though I am not certain she mentionedthe third child in her book; he only lived for two weeks, born a "blue baby". Her second child, a daughter, suffers from schizophrenia.
Diller relates that she first had plastic surgery at the age of 55. She was outspoken about it and didn't hide it from anyone. She woudl receive offers from surgeons who would operate on her for free because they felt that the image she presented about the benefits of plastic surgery would be beneficial to them. Playboy approached her to do a photo shoot. They wanted to do a contrast piece, contrasting a very thin subject with one they thought was a bit plumper. (She has always hidden her figure in the clothing she chose to wear for her standp-up performances.) They found her to be really gorgeous and that the shoot didn't suit its intended purpose and so Playboy never published the photo in their magazine. I found the photo to be stunning; "stunning" as in beautiful, not as in "shocking":
http://tinyurl.com/PhyllisDillerPlayboyShoot
She is an accomplished pianist and even did a tour but gave it up when she came to the conclusion that she would never really be good enough. She is also a painter and sells her artwork. http://www.artcelebs.com/diller_pg2.htm
17 September 2010
The Wakefield Dynasty by Gilbert Morris
The Sword of Truth (Wakefield Dynasty #1)
I've been trying to think of a book or series that I could post about here that would be something new to many people. I think I thought of just the series.
I found the Wakefield Dynasty series at the perfect moment in time in 1995. My husband and I were about to embark on our first trip to Europe; to England to be exact. In truth, I had never read historical ficition but this series drew me in; the genre is now one of my favourites.
The Wakefield Dynasty weaves a fictional tale into historical fact. During the fascinating reign of Henry VII Myles Morgan, the lead character, is a young vassal being raised by his mother. Upon the death of his mother event lead to the revelation that he is the heir to the "Wakefield Dynasty".
Miles is friends with Hannah Kemp whose personal tutor is William Tynedale. Tynedale, fascinating historical icon, was the first to ranslate many portions of the Bible into English; the first English translator of the Bible to to refer directly to the Hebrew and Greek texts. His placment in time allowed for his translations to be produced by printing press. This also placed him in greater danger from those who didn't want the common man to have access to the Bible. Remember that this was a time when owning a personal copy of the Bible could lead to punishment...by death.
This series entertwines fact and fiction, romance and hatred, good and evil, indlugence and deprivation. It held me mesmerized; and this was at a time in my life when I was not an avid reader.
The name Wakefield is found in history. It is the name of a tower at The Tower of London. The name of the tower is said to be derived from either the imprisonment of descendants of the line of York following the Battle of Wakefiled during the War of the Roses, or from William de Wakefield, the Kings Clerk, in 1334.
Even if you do not typically read Christian fiction, if you have an interest in English history, you will still find this series greatly intriguing. If you are interested in Christian history you will be riveted.
(I have read books one through four of this series.)
Book 1 The sword of truth
Book 2 The winds of God
Book 3 The shield of honor
Book 4 The fields of glory
Book 5 The ramparts of heaven
Book 6 The song of princes
Book 7 A gathering of eagles
I've been trying to think of a book or series that I could post about here that would be something new to many people. I think I thought of just the series.I found the Wakefield Dynasty series at the perfect moment in time in 1995. My husband and I were about to embark on our first trip to Europe; to England to be exact. In truth, I had never read historical ficition but this series drew me in; the genre is now one of my favourites.
The Wakefield Dynasty weaves a fictional tale into historical fact. During the fascinating reign of Henry VII Myles Morgan, the lead character, is a young vassal being raised by his mother. Upon the death of his mother event lead to the revelation that he is the heir to the "Wakefield Dynasty".
Miles is friends with Hannah Kemp whose personal tutor is William Tynedale. Tynedale, fascinating historical icon, was the first to ranslate many portions of the Bible into English; the first English translator of the Bible to to refer directly to the Hebrew and Greek texts. His placment in time allowed for his translations to be produced by printing press. This also placed him in greater danger from those who didn't want the common man to have access to the Bible. Remember that this was a time when owning a personal copy of the Bible could lead to punishment...by death.
This series entertwines fact and fiction, romance and hatred, good and evil, indlugence and deprivation. It held me mesmerized; and this was at a time in my life when I was not an avid reader.
The name Wakefield is found in history. It is the name of a tower at The Tower of London. The name of the tower is said to be derived from either the imprisonment of descendants of the line of York following the Battle of Wakefiled during the War of the Roses, or from William de Wakefield, the Kings Clerk, in 1334.
Even if you do not typically read Christian fiction, if you have an interest in English history, you will still find this series greatly intriguing. If you are interested in Christian history you will be riveted.
(I have read books one through four of this series.)
Book 1 The sword of truth
Book 2 The winds of God
Book 3 The shield of honor
Book 4 The fields of glory
Book 5 The ramparts of heaven
Book 6 The song of princes
Book 7 A gathering of eagles
31 August 2010
Wife in the North by Judith O'Reilly
I read this in September of 2008 while living in the UK.
Another Brit "chick" book for me. I am enjoying this genre very much although previous to living in the UK I am sure I wouldn't have to the same degree.
This book strikes home because the woman's husband yearns to live in the countryside. He moves her far from her beloved London, to the norther-most parts of England. I, too, will eventually be moved away from here.
At first I was really afraid the book would just be a bunch of moaning and husband-bashing. I was surprised and happy to find that she always unfailingly supported her husband even when he caused her trouble (he had promised to always fill her car with petrol when he wasn't in London on business (often away on business) but she ran out of gas FIVE TIMES!) I read the whole book before realizing it was a true story. I love a true story! This one was a real winner for me. Hated to finish it!
Another Brit "chick" book for me. I am enjoying this genre very much although previous to living in the UK I am sure I wouldn't have to the same degree.
This book strikes home because the woman's husband yearns to live in the countryside. He moves her far from her beloved London, to the norther-most parts of England. I, too, will eventually be moved away from here.
At first I was really afraid the book would just be a bunch of moaning and husband-bashing. I was surprised and happy to find that she always unfailingly supported her husband even when he caused her trouble (he had promised to always fill her car with petrol when he wasn't in London on business (often away on business) but she ran out of gas FIVE TIMES!) I read the whole book before realizing it was a true story. I love a true story! This one was a real winner for me. Hated to finish it!
Random Acts of Kindness by Danny Wallace
This is a small book that may be placed on a table so that people will hopefully pick it up and be given ideas of nice things they can do for others.
Danny Wallace is an author and tv/film personality from the UK. I am working my way through all of his projects.
Some things in this book are simply silliness. I really think he should have preserved the sense of giving with each suggestion; the suggestions that are based on kindness are still, at times, humourous. He lost me when he included suggestions that were simply silliness. I would have rated the book MUCH higher if he had stuck to his original intention of inspiring others to be a simple but real help to others, even with a bit of humor sometimes included.
Some are just offensive, as:
Compliment a lesbian couple on their haircuts.
Really? And what if they don't have nice haircuts? Do you think they won't know you're being a 'smart arse'?
Here, however, are some of my favourite ideas from the book:
Take your leftovers from a meal in a restaurant and hand them to someone who appears to need them more than you. (This would be easy to do in England as there are street people within easy access. They tend not to be very scary. London is not so cold a place that they are forced to take shelter which would put them out of site more likely. To a truly hungry person een someone else's leftovers might be welcome.)
Similar ideas are to hand out lollies (lollipops) to strangers. I think this could be easily done and probably appreciated on a train into or out from London. British people tend to keep to themselves, especially on trains, but a kindness is always acknowledged and can start up a pleasant conversation.
Play 'knock down ginger' (what we would call doorbell ditching, but is known by many names throughout the world -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock,_Knock,_Ginger ) but leave a gift for the person who answers the door.
Buy a copy of The Big Issue and then give it back to the seller.
Somehow I always thought The Big Issue was probably Muslim propaganda. I was wrong. It is street newspaper sold in eight countries. Only homeless or vulnerably housed people may sell it. The news/mag is written by professionals. The publishers assist the sellers by putting them in touch with services which can help them move forward in life. I often saw a young woman selling The Big Issue outside of Budgens in Virginia Water. Even though I didn't think the magazine was something I would support or be interested in I often thought of speaking to her...but I neer did. I did, however, always smile at her and she always smiled back. I wish I'd supported her sales.
This is probably my favorite suggestion in the book!
Visit http://www.goodgifts.org/ for many selfless ways to be a big help to others.
Send a postcard to one of the most remote lighthouses in the world!
Lighthouse Keeper
South Solitary Lighthouse
near Coffs Harbour
NSW
Australia
Danny Wallace is an author and tv/film personality from the UK. I am working my way through all of his projects.
Some things in this book are simply silliness. I really think he should have preserved the sense of giving with each suggestion; the suggestions that are based on kindness are still, at times, humourous. He lost me when he included suggestions that were simply silliness. I would have rated the book MUCH higher if he had stuck to his original intention of inspiring others to be a simple but real help to others, even with a bit of humor sometimes included.
Some are just offensive, as:
Compliment a lesbian couple on their haircuts.
Really? And what if they don't have nice haircuts? Do you think they won't know you're being a 'smart arse'?
Here, however, are some of my favourite ideas from the book:
Take your leftovers from a meal in a restaurant and hand them to someone who appears to need them more than you. (This would be easy to do in England as there are street people within easy access. They tend not to be very scary. London is not so cold a place that they are forced to take shelter which would put them out of site more likely. To a truly hungry person een someone else's leftovers might be welcome.)
Similar ideas are to hand out lollies (lollipops) to strangers. I think this could be easily done and probably appreciated on a train into or out from London. British people tend to keep to themselves, especially on trains, but a kindness is always acknowledged and can start up a pleasant conversation.
Play 'knock down ginger' (what we would call doorbell ditching, but is known by many names throughout the world -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock,_Knock,_Ginger ) but leave a gift for the person who answers the door.
Buy a copy of The Big Issue and then give it back to the seller.
Somehow I always thought The Big Issue was probably Muslim propaganda. I was wrong. It is street newspaper sold in eight countries. Only homeless or vulnerably housed people may sell it. The news/mag is written by professionals. The publishers assist the sellers by putting them in touch with services which can help them move forward in life. I often saw a young woman selling The Big Issue outside of Budgens in Virginia Water. Even though I didn't think the magazine was something I would support or be interested in I often thought of speaking to her...but I neer did. I did, however, always smile at her and she always smiled back. I wish I'd supported her sales.
This is probably my favorite suggestion in the book!
Visit http://www.goodgifts.org/ for many selfless ways to be a big help to others.
Send a postcard to one of the most remote lighthouses in the world!
Lighthouse Keeper
South Solitary Lighthouse
near Coffs Harbour
NSW
Australia
My Booky Wook by Russell Brand
Now, why did I read this book? The best answer is that I enjoyed the way he played the character in the movie 'Bedtime Stories.'
This story explores, in depth, his addiction to alcohol, drugs, and sex. Don't even pick it up if you think you might find it offensice because you will. He explores his early life and then explores the situations that took him to a drug addiction center and then to a sexual addiction center.
Russell mentions toward the very end of the book that the addiction center which helped him with his sex addiction expects their clients to make amends rather than apologizing for them. Throughout the book Russell occasionally mentions how awful it was that he treated some women certain ways. However, I don't believe I ever read anything that seemed apologetic in his writings, or which mentioned apologizing to any of them or how he may have made amends. And so I wonder if he is sorry or not. There were a couple of places where he appeared to regret his actions but he never fully formed such an idea to that extent.
Do I have hope for him? Yeah, I guess so, there is always hope. The book was only written in 2007 and he isn't dead yet or back in an addiction center. I just found that he is engaged to Katy Perry; interesting.
The writing of this book shows that he is in fact an intelligent person. He expresses that the time he spent in schools offering private education must have gotten something into his head. His references to great works proves it, but then, I think that even though British's free schools are often bashed, in general their culture seems to aspire more to literature, even in the lower classes. He just doesn't make good judgments about what is acceptable risque behaviour and what is unacceptable risque behaviour. That was and is his downfall. I am glad that I didn't put money directly into his pocket by purchasing this book; I read it via our library's free ebook service.
This story explores, in depth, his addiction to alcohol, drugs, and sex. Don't even pick it up if you think you might find it offensice because you will. He explores his early life and then explores the situations that took him to a drug addiction center and then to a sexual addiction center.
Russell mentions toward the very end of the book that the addiction center which helped him with his sex addiction expects their clients to make amends rather than apologizing for them. Throughout the book Russell occasionally mentions how awful it was that he treated some women certain ways. However, I don't believe I ever read anything that seemed apologetic in his writings, or which mentioned apologizing to any of them or how he may have made amends. And so I wonder if he is sorry or not. There were a couple of places where he appeared to regret his actions but he never fully formed such an idea to that extent.
Do I have hope for him? Yeah, I guess so, there is always hope. The book was only written in 2007 and he isn't dead yet or back in an addiction center. I just found that he is engaged to Katy Perry; interesting.
The writing of this book shows that he is in fact an intelligent person. He expresses that the time he spent in schools offering private education must have gotten something into his head. His references to great works proves it, but then, I think that even though British's free schools are often bashed, in general their culture seems to aspire more to literature, even in the lower classes. He just doesn't make good judgments about what is acceptable risque behaviour and what is unacceptable risque behaviour. That was and is his downfall. I am glad that I didn't put money directly into his pocket by purchasing this book; I read it via our library's free ebook service.
22 August 2010
Dave Gorman's Googlewhack! Adventure by Dave Gorman
"I bet you can't get ten Googlewhhacks in a row before your 32nd birthday."
From Wikipedia: A Googlewhack is a kind of a contest for finding a Google search query consisting of exactly two words without quotation marks, that return exactly one hit. A Googlewhack must consist of two actual words found in a dictionary. A Googlewhack is considered legitimate if both of the searched-for words appear as live links in Answers.com in the blue bar above the Google results.
Googlewhacks are shortlived because once someone publishes them to the internet as being a Googlewhack the new number of hits for the seaarch will become at least two, one to the original hit found, and one to the site that published it as being a Googlewhack.
The term and quest was invented by Gary Stock and published at UnBlinking on 8 January 2002. I gave the quests a few attempts myself. I came across this:
"Participants at Googlewhack.com discovered the sporadic "cleaner girl" bug in Google's search algorithm where "results 1-1 of thousands" were returned for two relatively common words.[3]
Googlewhack went offline in November of 2009 after Google stopped providing definition links. Gary Stock stated on the game's web page soon afterward that he was pursuing solutions for Googlewhack to remain viable. However, the game has not come back into play, and there is no word of when or if that will happen."
I wondered why it didn't seem that the searches appeared the same way the book described.
Anyway, I found a few word combinations with five or fewer hits...but if the game is not longer supported properly I won't bother further. (My best was a combo of only one hit - - nouthetic courgette/s.) The closest I came was "beatitudine icebox" with about 44 results. Besides, I think the internet is growing at such a rapid rate that it would be exponentially harder now to find a googlewhack. Right?
Gorman's adveentures took him away from home for most of two months, all over the world, to visit:
a man who collects photos of women and dogs
a man who took him on a trip into Mexico to buy Coke and pharmaceuticals
China twice
several writers of fan fiction
etc.
At the end of the adventure he had traveled through the UK, France, The US, Mexico (briefly,) Australia and China, over 71,000 miles, spending 183 hours in flight.
Okay, okay, I can't stop reading books written by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace. I found their books and videos while living in England and am still working my way through their collections. I love the crazy stuff they get themselves into. Danny is briefly mentioned in this book but isn't an active participant in it.
There continues, for me, though, a great difference between the two men. Danny Wallace has an impish, boy-like quality about him and his adventures. (In fact I'd love to meet him!) (I've actually asked Dave Gorman a question via Facebook before and he replied to me.) Dave has fun ideas and follows them wherever they may lead but as soon as he hits a roadblocks he crumbles like a little girl. He becomes a whiney, slobbery lump of patheticness . At this point I read his books and try to imagine how long it will take for the whining to start. In all fairness, however, I still manage to enjoy them...but I enjoy Danny's more.
From Wikipedia: A Googlewhack is a kind of a contest for finding a Google search query consisting of exactly two words without quotation marks, that return exactly one hit. A Googlewhack must consist of two actual words found in a dictionary. A Googlewhack is considered legitimate if both of the searched-for words appear as live links in Answers.com in the blue bar above the Google results.
Googlewhacks are shortlived because once someone publishes them to the internet as being a Googlewhack the new number of hits for the seaarch will become at least two, one to the original hit found, and one to the site that published it as being a Googlewhack.
The term and quest was invented by Gary Stock and published at UnBlinking on 8 January 2002. I gave the quests a few attempts myself. I came across this:
"Participants at Googlewhack.com discovered the sporadic "cleaner girl" bug in Google's search algorithm where "results 1-1 of thousands" were returned for two relatively common words.[3]
Googlewhack went offline in November of 2009 after Google stopped providing definition links. Gary Stock stated on the game's web page soon afterward that he was pursuing solutions for Googlewhack to remain viable. However, the game has not come back into play, and there is no word of when or if that will happen."
I wondered why it didn't seem that the searches appeared the same way the book described.
Anyway, I found a few word combinations with five or fewer hits...but if the game is not longer supported properly I won't bother further. (My best was a combo of only one hit - - nouthetic courgette/s.) The closest I came was "beatitudine icebox" with about 44 results. Besides, I think the internet is growing at such a rapid rate that it would be exponentially harder now to find a googlewhack. Right?
Gorman's adveentures took him away from home for most of two months, all over the world, to visit:
a man who collects photos of women and dogs
a man who took him on a trip into Mexico to buy Coke and pharmaceuticals
China twice
several writers of fan fiction
etc.
At the end of the adventure he had traveled through the UK, France, The US, Mexico (briefly,) Australia and China, over 71,000 miles, spending 183 hours in flight.
Okay, okay, I can't stop reading books written by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace. I found their books and videos while living in England and am still working my way through their collections. I love the crazy stuff they get themselves into. Danny is briefly mentioned in this book but isn't an active participant in it.
There continues, for me, though, a great difference between the two men. Danny Wallace has an impish, boy-like quality about him and his adventures. (In fact I'd love to meet him!) (I've actually asked Dave Gorman a question via Facebook before and he replied to me.) Dave has fun ideas and follows them wherever they may lead but as soon as he hits a roadblocks he crumbles like a little girl. He becomes a whiney, slobbery lump of patheticness . At this point I read his books and try to imagine how long it will take for the whining to start. In all fairness, however, I still manage to enjoy them...but I enjoy Danny's more.
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