Download Deferred

Earlier this year, after watching The Maltese Falcon, I searched the Internet to find information about the novel on which the film was based. I was able to find a copy of the novel as an e-book on a Canadian website, fadedpage.com. Several of Dashiell Hammett's works are no longer under copyright in Canada and are aslo available for download at that website.

A few nights ago, after watching a documentary film on Humphrey Bogart, I did a similar search for the novel that inspired Bogart's film, The African Queen. Like the Dashiell Hammett novel, I discovered The African Queen, written by C.S. Forester, is also out of copyright in Canada and available for download as an e-book at fadedpage.com. Before beginning the novel, I downloaded (and began reading) Forester's first novel, Payment Deferred.

I was so impressed with the crime novel, I immediately downloaded two more novels by Forester, Plain Murder and The Peacemaker.

Unfortunately, I was unable to transfer The Peacemaker mobi onto my Kindle. I tried transferring the e-book directly via a usb cable, as well as attempting to send it to my Kindle by email. I'm assuming that the file I have has been corrupted, although it can be read on the Kindle app on my computer. I don't like reading ebooks on my pc, so I made one more attempt at getting a copy of the novel to my Kindle.

Thinking the mobi file from fadedpage might be corrupted, I download the novel as a pdf. which I converted to mobi by going to online-convert.com. This converted file can now be read on my Kindle.

Where there's a Will, there's a Way.

Google Maps - 1,500 Photos, Five Million Views

According to recent stats from Google Maps, I've uploaded more than 1500 photos to Google Maps. Also, according to the stats, those photos have received slightly more than 5,000,000 views.

The number one viewed photo - with more than 200,000 views - is the (so-called) Silliman University Anthropology Museum. The building is still there, of course, though the name has changed. The building is now longer used as a museum.

Number two - with more than 85,000 views - is the now closed, FilOil-Airport Gas Station which is now Eco Oil.

Number three - with 81,000 views - is the Saint Joseph Parish church in Cebu city.

Number four- with 62,743 views - is the church in Dumaguete where we attend Mass on Sundays, Our Mother of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church.

Coming in at number five - with 100 fewer views than Our Mother of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church - is the Star Oil gas station located near the airport. Why this gas station should have received so many views is a complete mystery to me.

Equally a mystery is why the basketball court in Cangmating, Sibulan should come in number six with 52,000 views. Surely, this must be the work of bots.

At number seven is the Uling Roasters on the National Hwy in Sibulan. The photo has received 44,000 views. The chicken there is very, very good. It's unlikely, however that they will ever have 44,000 customers.

One of my photos of Negros Oriental State University comes in at number eight with 40,000 views

Number nine - with 36,635 views - is the Manhattan Suites Inn on the South Road, in Brgy Calindagan, Dumaguete.

Another popular hotel comes in at number ten with 36,494 views. The Bethel Guest House on Rizal Blvd.

It goes without saying that I'm pleased that my photos have received 5,000,000 plus views, but I can't understand why some of the photos that have received the most views have received the numbers they did.

Warren Upset Over Stalled Indian Casino Project

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe would like to have a portion of their land taken into trust for purposes of operating a resort casino in Taunton, Massachusetts, but U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young has blocked an Interior Department decision to hold land in trust for the tribe (a condition for building the tribal casino) ruling that the tribe was recognized about 73 years too late to qualify under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.

Leading the fight to prevent the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe from building a casino was Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) and the entire Rhode Island Congressional delegation.

According to indianz.com -

"Rhode Island was behind Carcieri v. Salazar, the disastrous U.S. Supreme Court decision that cast significant doubt on the land-into-trust process. According to the 2009 ruling, only tribes that were 'under federal jurisdiction' as of 1934 can seek to have their homelands placed in trust."

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe did not gain federal recognition until 2007.

Rhode Island successfully fought a ten-year legal battle with the Department to limit the Secretary's power to take land in trust ... only for those tribes under federal jurisdiction as of 1934. The motive behind the legal fight is that the proposed Mashpee Wampanoag casino would be about 20 miles from a new, non-Indian facility that opened in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Rhode Island could lose out on $26.1 million in the first year of the facility's operation and $6.6 million in the following year.

After the Bureau of Indian Affairs admitted defeat in the legal battle, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren blamed it on........you guessed it, Donald Trump.

Egypt Station - A Review

Paul McCartney is not my favorite Beatle. That honor goes to the late George Harrison. For that matter, I'm not sure if he's even my favorite living Beatle. He and Yoko may be in a tie for 2nd place.

When I first heard that McCartney had released a new work - Egypt Station - I wasn't really all that interested in listening to it. It wasn't until after reading of his embarrassing escapade as described in Vanity Fair, that I had a desire to give the new album a listen. I thought, if McCartney felt that getting the word out that he had a new album was worth telling a story about a Lennon/McCartney group masturbation episode, then I'd check out the album on Spotify.

I thought, no matter how embarrassing the music is, it can't be as embarrassing as his pre-Beatle circle jerk session story.

I've listened to the album twice on Spotify. No, the album isn't horrible. Some of the songs are pleasant enough, but if you're looking for a memorable tune, look somewhere else. There's really nothing new - we've heard all this before. There are no surprises. No Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Yesterday or even Helter Skelter.

These songs might have been passable had they been written forty-five years ago, but in 2018, the entire album is a stale, warmed over vanilla pudding.

After listening to the album for the 2nd time, I had to rinse the vanilla from my brain by filling it with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's Lick my Decals off, Baby. That certainly did the trick.

A Yellow VW Crew Cab

It's been awhile since I've been able to post new photos of VW Beetles that I've come upon while roaming around Dumaguete - at least photos of Beetles that I haven't previously photographed.

I did, however happen upon this VW crew cab parked at the corner of Silliman Ave. and Rizal Blvd.

This vehicle is only the 2nd crew cab I've seen here - the other one being a a blue one parked outside Sea Forest resort in Sibulan.

On another note, I did manage to drive by the corner of Predices and Luke Wright Street to see if VW 51 is still there and try to determine if the VW Beetle I recently spotted at the VW graveyard was the same as one I saw at that street corner a few weeks earlier. There is no longer a VW parked at that corner, so they may be one and the same.

A Tale of Two Beetles

Coming out along the road coming from barangay Tubtubon onto the National Highway in Sibulan, I saw this olive-colored VW Beetle. I've gone through my photo collection, and I'm reasonably certain this is the same VW I as the one I spotted in front of Ms Ann's Foodtown on Rovira Drive back in July. I'm so sure, in fact that I've tag this one as "49maybe". Having said that, I must not be 100% certain, or I would have named it "49b".

The second VW in this post is currently being repaired at the place near the airport that I've named the VW Beetle graveyard. This particular Beetle looks a lot like the one I happened upon at the corner of Predices and Luke Wright Street, catty-corner from New Jupiter Enterprises.

There are a number of differences, and I may be completely wrong, but I've gone ahead and named these photos "51maybe1" and "51maybe2".

I could, next time I'm roaming through Dumaguete, walk back to the corner of Predices and Luke Wright Street to see if VW 51 is still there. Logically, if it's still there then "51maybe1" and "51maybe2" can be renamed 52a and 52b. If it isn't there, it won't prove that the one I spotted at the graveyard is the same one, but it puts the odds in favor of the two being the same car.