The End

The proverbial "Light at the end of the tunnel" literally, thank goodness it isn't a train!

Happy New Year 2006 everyone!

Scarcrow

I thought I had read them all. After Dan Brown's Angels & Demons spoilt my tastes (in a good way) for good, real-time, suspense, thriller-mystery novels, Matthew Reilly comes along and decides to shatter that record and take it one notch higher.

Scarcrow is an action-paced adventure thriller novel which is a continuous roller coaster ride that won't stop. And believe me, I've been on most of the extreme roller coaster rides there are! The story starts with an aristocratic conglomerate who hire international bounty hunters and put a price to hunt down 15 people's heads (literally), most of them SAS, SEAL, Delta Force, MI6, and eliminate them by noon of a certain day. After eliminating them, they'll be able to carry out their plan for global war.

Enter Captain Shane "Scarcrow" Schofield, the new action commander, who is on the hit-list and has to keep his head on in and around Europe to track down who his bounty hunters are, who hired them, and why. There are several surprising turns in the story that tell you that nobody is safe and that anyone can die. That's what makes the story so believeable.

Matthew Reilly's 5th novel is written almost like an action movie, with nail-biting dog-fights, and car chases that leave you at the edge of your seat and guessing the outcome. Oh, and there's the interesting use of a mountain climbing piton I've never heard of. It has the distinctive writing style of this Australian writer who is only 31. I've yet to read his other novels, but I've just gotten Seven Ancient Wonders, his latest novel and will be starting on that soon!

9 out of 10

359

Dearest family and friends,

Merry Christmas & a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2006!

Cheers all.

Bad Drivers

I just don't understand some drivers. In my country, it's stated that you give way to traffic coming from the right. However, the driver of the SUV this evening was changing from his lane to the right, almost the same time as I was changing from my lane moving left. We were moving into the same lane. I was first, so of course, he was forced to give way to me to avoid hitting me, but he was still unreasonable. He overtook me on the right and cut into my lane right in front of me. If my reflexes weren't fast enough, I would have hit him, or me braking so hard, the car behind me would have hit me.

Oh and he had a lady friend (wife perhaps?) in the car with him. So, perhaps he was trying to impress her with his pig-headed driving skills. If I had a sand truck, I would have rammed his SUV and dragged it all the way to the top of the bridge and pushed it over.

If only...

Grown-Up Christmas List

What I want for Christmas this year, my very own Xmas wishlist.

1. Black iPod 30 GB with Video Playback
   
2. Travel Scrabble Game Set
3. Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly
   
4. The Complete Calvin & Hobbes
5. Battlestar Galactica Complete Season 2 DVD
6. Aliens Vs Predator Unrated Directors Cut DVD
7. Michael Buble - Caught In The Act CD/DVD
8. Peter Gallagher – 7 Days In Memphis CD
9. Life size blow-up doll of Jenna Jameson
10. An intelligent, boobsy, strong-headed, vivacious and insanely rich wife!

Hopefully, more than 50% of my wishes come true!!

Update: 40%, that's not too bad!

Pyrrhic Victory

A Pyrrhic victory is a victory which is won at too great a cost for the victor. The phrase is a reference to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who defeated the Romans at Heraclea and Asculum in 279 BC, but suffered severe and irreplaceable casualties in the process, going on to eventually lose the Pyrrhic War.

President GW Bush just asserted that the US is winning the war in Iraq, a war that he's fighting for his people. War propaganda and morale boosters, nothing more. Really, is he trying to free the Iraqis or is he just trying to tie them up in so much political unrest and red tape so that he can get his hands on their oil? It has always been about the oil and nothing else. Saddam was a bonus to toy around with, to distract us, just like the proclamation of WMD, it was never found.

Actually, the more vehemently someone denies something, the more truth there is to it. It's like the Vietnam War all over again, but they don't want to hear that Iraq is like another Vietnam War, it's low morale on the troops. He doesn't want to give the troop withdrawal time-table because he doesn't have one.

They will forever live in the shadow of terrorism and never move out of their wilderness of mirrors that was created for them, always looking over their shoulders. Their war will never be over. To them it has always been a matter of pride, ego and military might. And to what end? The originator of the September 11 attacks, OBL, is still at large...

'Nuff said.