We don’t know yet, and I haven’t been asked, but I’m voting for The Banshees of Inisherin.

Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, the film follows lifelong friends Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson). Of course, something goes wrong.

In fact, they should create a new category: Best Dialogue in a Movie.

One of my favorite pieces:

Padraic’s sister: Maybe he’s just depressed.

Padraic: That’s what I was thinking, that he’s depressed. Well, if he is, he could at least keep it to himself like. You know, push it down, like the rest of us.

I might watch it a third time.

Forgive me if I reproduce a FB post, but I’m still thinking about the email I got this morning: My past is catching up with me. I got a notice from an academic site that someone read my paper, “Inspection Methods for Safeguards Systems at Nuclear Facilities.” Not a NYT Noteworthy.

Here’s photo documentation of that era.

As I’ve also admitted, a book I co-wrote with my boss at the time, “Nuclear Waste Management Abstracts,” was not a best seller.

What else could I do but turn to fiction where I’ve been a “best seller” at least for a cumulative 15 minutes, counting all 25+ novels plus short stories?

Coming soon: another holiday weekend. This one should give us pause about how that dream is working out. Better not to ask me these days.

(The speech is not in the public domain.)

Finally, Christmas is almost over. Hear the pipers piping!

So, one last chance to put that carol in our heads as well as de-mythify its meaning.

https://www.vox.com/21796404/12-days-of-christmas-explained

Next week — 2023 in earnest.

The 5th day of Christmas — my true love wanted to surpass the traditional gift.

Or whatever your favorite greeting is, to go with whatever you celebrate at this time of year.

There’s no going back from this version of our Christmas dollhouse — cards have gone out with this image, the final version. But The First Day of Christmas is not for another few days, which means you can still receive yours before The Twelfth Day! Address please, and it will arrive on time!

It’s all over the news, so I’ll just offer an article as a summary.

As many of you know, I worked at “the lab” as we called it, as if it were the only one in existence. I spent a short time in the laser fusion program, back when there were only 20 beams aimed at the tiny target.

This is good news for the planet.

Watch this spot!

As you know, if you’ve ever visited here, I like to look back at anniversaries, sometimes memorable like yesterday’s Pearl Harbor Day, if we can call it that, or today, December 8 in 1980 when John Lennon was fatally shot by a “fan.”

The Deer Hunter premiered and Reagan and Gorbachev signed a nuclear weapons reduction treaty.

Want more reasons to remember? Click here

Someone must have erased last Thursday’s blog.

OR I simply forgot it was Thursday. Thanksgiving trumps “Thursday” in my mind, I guess.

But I’m back, on Wednesday.

If you’re confused, imagine the state of my mind as everything converges these last weeks of the year.

Tonight, Wednesday is the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, and I’ll be there– not IRL, but in my living room.

The tree, I read, is 82 feet high and weighs 14 tons!

The tree in my office is 2″ high, weighs less than an ounce, caught on camera one year and glued to a miniature “big screen” tv!

I know it’s not even Thanksgiving, but there is an exciting event coming up December 3 that I can’t wait to share. Two good friends have new books to celebrate and I’m happy to be joining them! Both books are available on amazon and (if you’re local) at Pegasus Books in Berkeley, California, besides Reasonable Books, below.