Sometimes leadership is about sacrifice. I’m not sure this qualifies. We’re out of desks, so I gave mine up and appropriated a couch….
The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons has written a number of fantastic books – some of my favorites are Hyperion, Illium, and Flashback, mostly in the Science Fiction realm. But he’s wide ranging – Drood was a widely regarded novel based on the life of Charles Dickens and he’s also written various Horror novels.
In The Crook Factory, Simmons tackles a fun meme – the semi-fictional novelization of little known or improbable events. This is territory that reminds me of one of Tim Powers’ best novels, Declare, which somehow manages to put together Kim Philby (the super spy), Lawrence of Arabia, Djinn and Nazis. In this case Simmons isn’t channeling the supernatural, just the world of 1940s Cuba and J Edgar Hoover – and yes Nazis and Marlene Dietrich too. Oh, and Ernest Hemingway.
Did you know that Hemingway was a spy? Me neither.
The Crook Factory plays out through the eyes of Joe Lucas, a fictional FBI agent with a history of bending the law and being the FBI’s goto person when dirty tricks or semi legal activities are involved
Joe is sent to become part of, and spy on, Hemingway’s burgeoning spy ring – the crook factory. Through Joe we meet, and become very close to, Ernest Hemingway – the writer, the lover, the prodigious drinker, the pugilist, the sentimentalist, the blowhard, the trickster. The novel renders Hemingway in amazing depth.
Joe and Ernest are off to fight the Nazis and sink subs (seriously), as well as the fighting off the local Cuban police while watching out for any number of competing intelligence agencies.
Crook factory is a great adventure and a fantastic history lesson all wrapped in one. Virtually all of the novel with the exception of Joe Lucas himself is well grounded in fact. I also gained a much more realized view of Hemingway the man (albeit fictionalized), and the book inspired me to return to some of Hemingway’s novels (e.g. For Whom the Bell Tolls) with renewed appreciation.
If any of this sounds interesting, get The Crook Factory – you won’t be sorry.
[I received a complimentary copy of The Crook Factory through the excellent LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.].It’s been awhile.
Well now, it’s been awhile since I posted anything! Coming soon, my annual best music of the year post. But in the meantime, I just finished a batch of beer, with help from Kristen & Erik. And special help from my sister in law Dallyn. I christened the beer Thor’s Hammer IPA, and she promptly designed a label for it. Can’t wait for the beer to finish fermenting & conditioning.
Here’s the label. Nice 8).
And some bottles.
And the elves who helped brew it. 
Tippling Rock, and finding Ford’s Folly
Back in 2003 I tried to find Ford’s Folly, a dam built by Henry Ford in the late 1920s. At the time, Ford owned Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, and wanted to supply water from the stream running down the Nobscot mountain. As it turns out, the dam never really worked, although it’s a pretty impressive and imposing structure, lost in the woods above Sudbury. In 2003, I was unsuccessful in finding it; trail descriptions were pretty vague on the internet then, I took a wrong turn, and never found it. This weekend I decided to try again; everyone else was out of town so I had some time on my hands. The weather was brutally hot (~95), but the mountain is completely shaded so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad. I also decided to combine the trip with a short climb to Tippling Rock, the highest point in Sudbury and one of the highest points in eastern Massachusetts, with a great view of Metrowest. On a clear day you can see the taller buildings in downtown Boston.
Park at the trailhead parking lot on Rt 20, across the street and just west of the end of Horsepond Road. The trailhead is broad and heads due south. Be sure to take a trail map (this is a good one: http://www.sudburyvalleytrustees.org/sites/default/files/Nobscot.pdf), there are a lot of criss-crossing trails in the area. There are a few different parcels you will cross, the Weisblatt conservation land, the Boyscout’s Nobscott Reservation, and the Nobscott Conservation Land. Heading out from the parking lot, it’s a quick 20-30 minute stroll to the top of Tippling Rock. The elevation gain is very modest, about 500 feet. From there, I went down the back side of Tippling Rock and headed over towards the other parking area on Brimstone Lane, in the Nobscott Conservation Land.
To get to Ford’s Folly, head across the road and pick up the trail again. 
Head down the hill, through a series of switchbacks. Then you’ll go a couple of hundred yards through some wetlands until you come to a fork in the trail. Last time in 2003, I went left. Wrong. This time I was going to try the right turn; between now and 2003, someone’s taken the trouble to put up a sign 8). Turn right and follow the trail for a quarter mile or so, and the trail will eventually take you to Ford’s Folly. The structure is still in amazing shape, maybe 100 yards across, even though it never held water. You can wander along the bottom to the other side, then come back along the top. There’s some interesting mechanical structures in the dam, and a rusted out car.
From Ford’s Folly, I came back the way I went; except for Tippling Rock there’s almost no climbing, it’s a pleasant stroll through the woods, and would be great for younger kids. Round trip, including dawdling at Ford’s Folly playing with the camera, the round trip took about 2 hours. You can see the path I took below, and see more details on Everytrail.
Tippling Rock and Ford’s Folly
EveryTrail – Find the best Hiking near Cambridge, Massachusetts
Clockwork Angels, a new cd from Rush
I’ve been living with the CD for about week, listening to it constantly. I find that Rush CDs really require a break-in period of a few weeks to really appreciate them, there are so many layers. Behind the extraordinary musicianship one finds deep lyrics, and hooks and solos that resonate more each time you listen. There are a lot of atmospherics and textures in this disc, more than any other Rush disc in recent memory. Caravan bells, string orchestra backdrops, the wind sounds on Halo Effect, vocal processing effects, a carnival backdrop and a repeating, echoing ratchet sound on Carnies, all make their appearance, and lend a depth to the songs. But they are always subtle and not overdone.
In fact I find the word that most describes this disc to me, for a 30 year Rush fan, is “distilled”. All these songs are distilled to their essence and the core of Rush’s approach. There is a delirious, Middle-eastern inspired guitar solo in The Anarchist that is about 30 seconds of blistering guitar work that would have been a 10 minute interlude for Rush 20 years ago. Distilled. (And oh by way intermingled interestingly with a string ensemble – this song would have felt at home on Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti, were that remade today). As always, the songs show the typical Rush bent for philosophical introspection together with a musical change of meter and change of key, and unwillingness to just play it straight – the title track Clockwork Angels packs three different movements (including a jazz interlude) into a 7 minute solid track. And it works. Scattered amongst the power rock are a couple of well done ballads, including Halo Effect, a song about seeing what you what to see in someone, instead of what’s there.
Interestingly I found many echoes and nods to previous Rush material scattered through the music. BU2B’s remixed opening immediately makes me thing of Permanent Waves; the guitar solo on Carnies cannot help but remind a Rush fan of YYZ from Moving Pictures, the winds on the opening of Halo Effect feel sampled direct from 2112, and if you are true long time Rush fan, you’ll hear By-Tor and the Snow Dog from 1975, echoed in the back half of Seven Cities of Gold. Headlong Flight clearly echoes Bastille Day from Caress of Steel. There are too many of these for it be un-intentional; much as Robert Plant did on Tall Cool One, they’re sampling themselves to remind you where they were, and that they’re better now than they were. I love it when people late in their career are still innovating.
A small bit of media commentary. It’s legendary how much the music “establishment” dislikes Rush. But how an album from a group that’s sold more music than practically anyone, can debut at #2, and have virtually NO reviews out with in a week, is beyond me. Rolling Stone, where are you? I’d like to think the reviewers were doing the same as I was, letting it sit for a week to really “get it”. But then Billboard throws up a review that’s 1 paragraph long and dismissive, with no content, that took about 30 seconds to write. Seriously?
Well, whatever they think, if you like Rush or any form of hard rock, or just appreciate powerful musicianship, get Clockwork Angels and let it spin for awhile. I’m not sure where this disc is in the pantheon of Rush CDs (Snakes & Arrows was a masterpiece), but it’s near the top….