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This is book 10 in the Prey series. I enjoyed this one immensely. There are two "villains" in this novel, both of whom are women. You find out who they are right at the beginning and then the rest of the novel goes back and forth between the villain narrative and the Lucas Davenport narrative. Both are worthy adversaries. One of the women is truly an imaginative piece of work.

This was pretty good. Another book about a disease which almost wipes out the world. After you read enough of these, they get kind of old - virtually the same plot across the board. This one is slightly different in that it really delves into the vectors through which the pathogen is transmitted.

Another excellent Elvis Cole novel. This one has Elvis making a trip to New Orleans. Lots of interesting characters and very good humor.

I read a happy, yet aggravating, news item in the MIT Technology Review today. A drug company in China is putting a SARS vaccine into human trials this month. That's right, they've already got a vaccine for SARS. Of course, it might not work, but considering SARS has only been around for maybe TWO years max, I think that's pretty good. In fact, I bet the AIDS patients around the world who have HIV and have been waiting for a vaccine for TWENTY years are kind of ticked off. China cranks out a SARS vaccine in 2 years and the U.S. can't figure out HIV in 20 years. Just wait until their full-blown stem cell program gets going. China has no restrictions on stem cell research so they are light years ahead of the U.S. there. It won't be long before all the new drugs are coming from China and other non-restricted Asian companies. Of course, we won't be able to get any of these drugs because of the FDA but that's another rant...

Just an interesting aside... I had lunch today at Chipotle, which is quite normal. So did this other guy in front of me in the line. The guy is a rail, I mean, literally 130 lbs. at most and taller than me. He gets a Bol with rice and chicken and not a lot of rice. It was the wimpiest little Chipotle I've ever seen. Not even any no calorie flavor add-ins like onions, green peppers, and lettuce. My Bol, which comes standard with mucho rice, mucho vegetables, chicken, EXTRA chicken, corn, another scoop of corn, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce looked like a real meal. His Bol looked like the results of someone wiping scraps off of a couple tables. When we go to the register, the checkout guy had to control a laugh when our Bols ended up side by side, it was so ridiculous. And I had to control an urge to say "Well, another example where mine's bigger than yours!"

Tonight was the most incredible night of any Olympic Games I've ever seen. And I've seen every Olympics since I was old enough to watch television. The Olympic Games were always on at my house. At every games I knew all the best athletes and tuned in for every special event.

Well, finally, after months and months of waiting, Doom 3 has finally been released. I received my copy from Amazon.com two days after the release date. I've played all of the previous incarnations of Doom, from the first release of Doom through Ultimate Doom, Doom 2, etc. I think I've played all of them through to the last level but no longer remember what's what.

Masquerade is the 8th novel I've read since moving to West Dundee. I've read other books by Lynds where she was a co-author with Robert Ludlum. As a soloist, she writes in such a way that you'd think Ludlum were the author. Reading Masquerade is a lot like reading a Jason Bourne novel, all international espionage and intrigue, assassins, and memory loss.

This is a powerful, but disturbing film. Ahu and I saw this on Saturday night and thought and talked about it for days afterwards. Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley play their parts in the movie with amazing emotion and belief. Jennifer plays a jobless alcoholic who gets evicted from her home for not paying some taxes. Kingsley plays an Iranian colonel who leaves Iran after the overthrow of the government and seeks asylum in the United States. He shrewdly invests in Connelly's house after the seized home is put up for auction by the local government. However, Connelly does not give up easily and her pursuit of this house and the colonel's defense of his ownership results in a tragic struggle. I was amazed at the compassion of Kingsley's character and the members of his family as they confront the woman who would do them in. Ron Eldard fits well in his role as a wayward deputy who gets in over his head. A definite must-see, just watch it when you are in the mood for a thinking movie, not an uplifting or comedic one.

I've had the Mosquito Magnet (Liberty Plus model) for about 7 weeks now. I've gone through 2 propane tanks, 2 Octenol cartridges, and am on my second catch net. I've also used up 2 Quick Clear cartridges as well. The reduction in biting insects has been significant. In the week before we got the Mosquito Magnet, I was getting 4-5 bites every night I went out in the yard. The week after we got it, I was down to 1 or 2 bites per night. Within the first couple of weeks, I was not getting any bites.