Michael Crichton died on Tuesday.  This news got lost behind the fervor of the election.

He died at age 66 from a long fought private battle with cancer.

The first Michael Crichton book I read was Jurassic Park.  I read this after watching the movie which came out in 1993.  (I was only 12 when I read this book.  As I’ve said, I’m geeky…give me a break.)  After this I read Disclosure (before it came out as a movie).  I was then hooked on Michael Crichton and growing up, received many of his books as Christmas gifts.  I learned more about DNA and genetic mutation from The Lost World…the Bernoulli Principle (how planes stay in the air) from Airframe…quantum physics from Timeline…

As a freshman in college, I surprised an intructor, who was a NASA scientist before he retired to the north, about what I knew of quantum physics and the fact that I grasped the concept.  He was even more surprised when I said that I had learned it from a book.

Michael Crichton was an extremely intelligent man.  Besides his work that was translated to the big screen, he was behind the creation of ER.  The man graduated from Harvard Medical School…much to his fighting it.  He never went onto really practice medicine.  If you have read any of Michael Crichton’s works and enjoyed them, read his book Travels.  It is somewhat autobiographical and great.  It was written in 1988, before he became a household name.

I will miss reading his newest delusions… 

Posted under Books

Now I don’t know if these things really ran, but I LOVE them.  With all the "I’m Norm, I’m Al, I’m Brian, I’m Tim, I’m John, I’m Barack…and I approve this message" that we are being bombarded with, these are GREAT. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtAHhu_Mli4

And then also, I want to talk about books.  As you all may know, I’m an AVID TV watcher, but I’m also an AVID book reader.  (I’ve always been laughed at…You can often find me curled up on my sofa with the TV going and a book in my hand.)  I read all sorts of books.  Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, the Harry Potter series, the Series of Unfortunate Events, Malcolm Gladwell, To Kill A Mockingbird, Sleepers, Dave Pelzer…are all a few of my favorite authors, series, books…

But one of my all-time favorite authors is Dee Henderson.  She has written two series of books and a few others.  I am currently reading my way through the True Devotion series again.  Her books are just like comfort books.  They just make me feel better reading them.  The True Devotion series is about a bunch of Seals.  (And I can’t tell you how excited I was when I got to go to Coronado and actually saw Hotel Del Coranado, a hotel mentioned in some of the books take place.)  They are romance books, but they have that action sequence to them that even appeals to guys.  And they have a great take on religion and God.  If you just want a comfort book, read any of the True Devotion series.  They can stand alone or be read as a series.  They are GREAT!

As for tonight’s TV watching, I’m not looking forward to, but am going to watch CSI.  Grissom (William Peterson) is leaving the show.  They are using Warrick’s death (or maybe he didn’t die, you never know with TV shows) as a way for him to leave.  So there will be lots of turmoil and angst.  Not looking forward to it…

I’m also taping Life From Mars or whatever that show is called.  The one where the cop gets sent back to the 70s.  Should be…interesting…  I’ll let you know what I find out.

Posted under Books, Current Affairs, Television