Santa (family) was good to me! Guess I was a good boy this year.

I got very limited Rams gear this year.

I got a new and very cool hat and I got several wristbands.

That’s it for the Rams gear. It’s not like I don’t have a ton of stuff already. I do have to get a current Rams players jersey though and as it stands right now I think I’ll look for Quinn or Donald.

My other interest besides the Rams, is reading(got several new Kindle books with my Amazon gift card) and the big expense–books on card sleights and a DVD as well. I have to slow that down at some point–I’m growing out of my bookshelf and I will never, in my lifetime master or for that matter even learn half of the material I have aquired over the years.

Still, it’s interesting. Card tricks are puzzles in a lot of ways. There are few these days I can’t figure out anymore.

Speaking of that–I have completed my “Columbo” DVD collection as well—got every episode–even the new ones when he came back to reprise the role.

Best Columbo episodes:

1.) “A Stitch in Crime” (Season 2)1973: Leonard Nimoy is the killer and it has perhaps the best ending–just when it looks like Columbo has been beaten. Columbo shows a rare flash of anger in this one.

2.)”An Exercise in Fatality” (Season 4) 1974: Robert Conrad is the evildoer in this one and I love the way that Columbo finds the well placed and interesting clues and the ultimate inevitable outcome.

3.)”Now You See Him” (Season 5) 1976: Jack Cassidy, a recurring bad guy(he made two other appearances)is great as a magician who was onstage at the time of the murder(or was he?). This is one where Columbo discovers something with a new sort of technology(something he does quite often)that is funny to look back on years later considering how far we’ve come–but clever nonetheless. It’s the sort of episode that makes you realize there is no perfect crime. As Columbo says: “It’s(the perfect crime) an illusion.”

The newer episodes starting in 1989 are a bit campier than even the older ones and some of them take the Columbo character in a direction that doesn’t quite feel right. The older ones are the classics–still the best. There are a few of the newer ones that remain true though to the spirit of the show and show some cleverness.

Currently I’m reading, “The Martian” which I picked up for my Kindle for 3 bucks.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Novel-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B00EMXBDMA

The technical aspects of the book are way, way, way over my head so I’m just kind of going with it. My understanding is that the book was heavily researched and uses good hard science to tell the story of an astronaut stranded by himself on Mars and how he uses various pieces of technology at his disposal to survive on the harsh planet.

Apparently it’s being made into a film next year but the script is going to need a lot of work because the book is written as a log–very internal thinking. I just started it so I don’t know what’s ahead.

Here’s a tidbit about the author:

Publishing history[edit]
Andy Weir, the son of a particle physicist, has a background in computer science. He began writing the book in 2009, researching the book to be as realistic as possible based on existing technology.[5] Weir studied orbital mechanics, astronomy, and the history of manned spaceflight.[8]

Having been rebuffed by literary agents when trying to get prior books published, Weir decided to put the book online in serial format one chapter at a time for free at his website.[5] At the request of fans he made an Amazon Kindle version available through Amazon.com at 99 cents (the minimum he could set the price).[5] The Kindle edition rose to the top of Amazon’s list of best-selling science-fiction titles, where it sold 35,000 copies in three months.[5] This garnered the attention of publishers: Podium Publishing, an audiobook publisher, signed for the audiobook rights in January 2013. Weir sold the print rights to Crown in March 2013 for six figures.[5]

The book debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list on March 2, 2014 in the hardcover fiction category at twelfth position

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_%28Weir_novel%29

Okay–so, I’ve talked a little Rams stuff, went through my Christmas gifts, worked in my favorite “Columbo” episodes and ended with some information on the book I’m reading.

And all this started with Mac’s post on speakers.

You just never know where these threads will go.

You never do.