Well, it looks as if I'm definitely in the minority here. I think that America made the absolutely right choice when they voted for Lee ! From the very first night of competition, I thought Lee was wonderful and was the person I wanted to win this competition. I think he is very "commercial"...meaning that I think his music will be attractive to many different age groups and genres. Although Crystal has a powerful voice, I'm not sure who will buy her music. I can see people in my age group, that remember and loved Janis, being potential fans but I can see young people becoming real fans. I can't wait to buy another Lee Dewyze cd (I already own two).

Always write as you "find it" Vee. It makes for a much more interesting discussion! :) Yes, even Nao made much of her name being pronounced Now and how it related to the time theme. Read the link I posted on bullying in Japan. Nao was an outsider who barely spoke Japanese after coming to that country from the states when she was a teenager. She had American customs and not Japanese ones, so of course whe would have stood out from the pack as a non-conformist. There is a racist remark that I have heard here where an Asian/American/Cdn who has lost his heritage is referred to as a banana, yellow on the outside and white on the inside, and that term is usually used by other Asians. That link explains why some teachers tolerated the bullying as a way to help the one picked on conform. Bizarre, I agree. The Jungle Crow? He too was blown off course and ended up far from home, just like the freezer bag and its contents. We do get birds like that here, and then the birders and their cameras camp out in some poor persons backyard so they can see the exotic visitor and cross it off their lifelist of birds. But in the novel there was some sort of bafflegab symbolism going on there, I am sure. Like I said earlier, I was in Ruth's area a little while ago and stayed on one of the islands. On a Friday night, they had what is called an 'open mic' and the villagers show up with musical instruments. Some brought tea, coffee, home made desserts and all were put on a table for everyone to share. At least 100 people showed up to listen. You just sign up if you want to display your musical talents or whatever and it goes in that order. Believe me, there were quite a few eccentric people, including a former US draft dodger who sorta twanged an electric guitar and then gave a stand up comedy routine which was, well, interesting. Some guy from Iran gave a speech on the human race, a native girl sang a song she wrote about bullying, a couple of guys had banjos and played some stuff they wrote. Lots of others, some were really good. Finding someone who speaks French is not hard at all, and there are plenty of Chinese and Japanese as well. The Japanese fisherman actually were an integral part of the fisheries during the 1920's to the 1950's. After Pearl Harbour many of them were gathered up and sent to internment camps, at least 145 of them from one cannery near Prince Rupert, causing the cannery to just about shut down. People on the coast are often aware of currents, especially after the tsunami. I think that was Oliver's specialty, wasn't his brain wired for things like that? Where I was staying, a couple of retired people beachcombed as a hobby. The woman found a Japanese fishing boat washed up on shore and using the numbers, she researched it and determined its original owners and confirmed it was from the tsunami. She actually visited Japan and eventually visited the elderly owners who had lost everything (the fishing...

Lucky you, Vee, to have seen so many stage performances. I never had the opportunity even when I lived in London to see more than a handful. I was too busy and didn't run with the right crowd, apparently. The ones I did see were entirely forgettable. Thanks, I hadn't thought of Caine, Harvey, Harris, and Finch. I always thought Harvey was such a super-serious actor that I was astonished and delighted when he did a striptease! in "The Magic Christian," that piece of insanity with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. I've heard about E. Flynn's wildness, but whatever it was that so many found appealing about him passed me right by. Do you think English females and males have quite different views and opinions of films? I ask because I went out with two English fellas who did not want to watch British films when we were trying to make a decision on what pictures to see; they only wanted to see American movies starring the likes of Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and George C. Scott. In fact, I had never heard of Bronson before this particular English boyfriend took me to see one of his films. I also saw "Patton" with this fella. He was so annoyed with the portrayal of Montgomery that it's the part I remember best. I asked both of these men why they didn't want to see English films? They both had basically the same answer but one was particularly succinct: "English actors are w__ers." Surely that attitude is no longer common, if indeed it was common back then. Are there American actors and movies that you particularly like? I haven't seen you mention many/any, if you do. Some of my female English friends have said that American actors might be dream-worthy but they're just too inaccessible for them.

Hi all, I also recently "discovered" Hakan Nesser and have read the first 6 (or was it 7) titles in his Van Veeteran series. While I like Van Veeteran as a character, as someone said, chess, fine music and wine, with a fair smattering of philosophy, I found that the series got more disturbing as it went on. Darker, more crude. I have not requested any further titles from the library as the last one put me out of sorts. I need a break. Just finished reading This House is Haunted by John Boyne. The blurb claims it to be a "Dickensian ghost story". I think not. It was spooky and dark yet neither gory nor graphic. I think it more of a Victorian style, but Dickensian is much too much praise. It was a fun read, albeit slightly predictable, for the season of All Hallow's Eve. Speaking of ghosts, I also read the latest by Simone St. James, The Other Side of Midnight. The main character is a psychic and she was hired to solve the murder of another psychic. It was okay, not as good as her first two books; The Haunting of Maddy Clare and An Inquiry into Love and Death. I second and third the praise for both Geraldine Brooks and her spouse, Tony Horwitz. I read everything he wrote and most of what she wrote. (I like his stuff much more, if you are curious.) Now reading Six Questions of Socrates by Christopher Phillips. He is the head of the Society for Philosophical Inquiry. In this book, he poses the six questions of Socrates to different demographic groups, in different countries and shares the differences and similarities. I am only on page 23 and find it fascinating. The six questions are: What is virtue? What is piety? What is good? What is justice? What is moderation? What is courage? He simply goes to a public area and starts chatting. Soon there is a Socratic circle discussion going on and wow... nary a cell phone nor a google search in sight. The conversations sound just amazing and I am quite jealous I have not yet stumbled upon one. PAM