Misc, Music

Rick Vito at the Pix

Last time I was at the Pix, E.T. was still phoning home. I don’t know if they show movies there anymore, but I hear they have a lot of small concerts. They have a thing called Blues Fest, which I think runs through a weekend each year. Tonight they kicked off Blues Fest with Rick Vito and his band.

I admit, I never heard of Rick Vito before I saw a Facebook post from the Pix about a month or two ago. I found out that he had played with Fleetwood Mac for a time. I have heard of Fleetwood Mac, but I really don’t know if I’ve heard any of their music. I guess Vito has played with other musicians and bands I’ve heard of, but I don’t know if I’d heard Vito himself.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like his music, but I wanted to give him a chance and I’m glad I did. I was pleased with the music. Some of the songs were so beautiful, they almost put me to sleep. There were rockabilly songs too. But the band kept to the theme, Blues Fest.

Books, Reviews

Sly Mongoose, by Tobias S. Buckell

“We.”
“Are.”
“The.”
“Swarm.”

The new threat is the Swarm. They are zombies, but a little different than the zombies of the Walking Dead. The Swarm can speak, and think, but the goal is pretty much the same. The Swarm will bite you, infect you and turn you into one of them.

Pepper crash lands on Chilo and warns the people that the Swarm is coming.

Sly Mongoose is the third book of Tobias S. Buckell‘s Xenowealth series. I enjoyed Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin a great deal, but I felt Sly Mongoose was a major improvement. I’m guessing Buckell had a better grasp on the craft, or least the series, when he went to work on Sly Mongoose.

The writing is very good, easy to read, an excellent flow. The world building dazzled me and the scenes were interesting. I’m not saying Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin didn’t have all that, but I feel it’s better done in Sly Mongoose.

If I was to rank the three Xenowealth books that I’ve read, I’d say that although I enjoyed Ragamuffin, I didn’t like it as much as Crystal Rain, and I liked Sly Mongoose far more than I liked Crystal Rain. Even so, I recommend you start the series with the first book and work your way through. It’s action-packed science fiction and it’s fun.

Hunting

Calls and Stuff

I heard that next deer season, baiting won’t be allowed. So, maybe I should try deer calls. I used to think learning to use calls would be like learning to play a harmonica, and I’m a very shitty harmonica player. But last year, during the spring turkey season, I successfully called in a turkey with a push button call and a gobbler shaker.

So, now I think it’s not quite so hard to make the right sounds and rhymes to draw in a wild animal. The only reason I didn’t get that turkey is I was thinking too much about how well they see. Though its back was to me for a minute or more, I took too long to pick up my gun. The turkey changed its direction and walked through some trees.

Maybe I could’ve gone after it, but I thought another turkey might come along. Also, I’m not sure how fast turkey run or how well they hear. I just know they have amazing eyesight and no sense of smell. I didn’t get another chance because I only made it out once that season.

I might go out for the next turkey season, we’ll see. But my passion is deer hunting. I have not experimented with deer calls yet. If you have any recommendations on which deer calls I should try, drop a comment.