LFS: The Storyteller

©2013 by LeeZard The Moore Tornado We all have a respectful, fear-filled fascination with tornadoes and with good reason. Mondays top-of-the-scale EF-5 twister, two miles wide, hit Oklahoma City and roared through suburban Moore with top winds in excess of 250 MPH. Tornadoes are one of nature’s most unstoppable forces, right up there with earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, blizzards and hurricanes. The thing about tornadoes, though, is that they are the most severe weather event possible and they occur a heckuva lot more often than other natural disasters. According to the National Weather Service there were 939 tornadoes in the U.S. last year, killing 553 people. The Moore tornado took 24 lives and left $6-billion worth of damage in its wake. Moore, OK Under the right conditions, tornadoes can happen anywhere on the planet - and they do. Ironically, in the early 1990s I was at a convention of the American Meteorologist Society in Anaheim, CA when a tw...

©2013 by LeeZard Two words immediately come to mind when I think about Dan Brown’s latest book Inferno , formulaic and enlightening. Formulaic because hero Robert Langdon hooks up with a beautiful young woman (again) and, utilizing his didactic memory and world-renowned knowledge of art and symbolism, (again) travels through Europe hunting a threat to mankind. Enlightening because Brown includes historical references and current scientific theory to further his story. None of the above should be construed as negative criticism. Brown is so good at his craft that he makes the formula work (again). I sped through the 461 pages in two-and-a-half days. And, despite the formula, Brown includes enough twists and turns as the novel reaches its climactic conclusion to keep the reader turning the pages. It works. I won’t give away enough to spoil your enjoyment of Inferno . Hopefully I will give away enough to make you want to read this enjoyable thriller. The book’s title r...

©2013 by LeeZard It’s true; you reach a certain age and you do start to contemplate mortality. Not that I’m obsessing (although LeeZard does have the obsessive gene); I just haven’t reached that stage yet. But, I had a dream last night and, while it didn’t get me on the mortality train, it did open discussion on a subject I rarely even consider. Are you ready? I am talking about life after life (as I prefer to call it - so much more positive). The dream was about my late, wonderful pal Brando-the Wonder-Dog ( http://leezardonlife.blogspot.com/2011/11/2011-by-lee-somerstein-brando-wonder.html?zx=cc93a7f38b29e815 ). Even more than two-years after I had to put him down, Brando is often in my conscious thoughts. And, he has appeared in a dream or two but not like last night. In my dream, I was on a crowded beach with lots of family and friends (currently dead and/or alive). I was off toward the water with a ball to throw into the ocean for my two dogs, Trooper (alive ...