Sworn to protect a scenic island meant to be far from the evils of
the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing
in.
Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina
Island is no paradise, but to most residents, it seems blissfully
separated—by twenty-two miles of ocean—from the troubles of Los
Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.
Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his
deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the
Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag
of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in, but things quickly go
sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the
mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway and the plane
flies off.
An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he
is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is
determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island,
and begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone
wrong.
While under orders to remain in the sheriff’s substation, he finds
in the lost and found a valuable backpack that was never claimed. He
traces it to a woman who disappeared while hiking on the island four
years ago. But then why was the pack only turned in two months back?
Now thoroughly intrigued, he follows the mystery all the way to the
LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit and Detective Renée Ballard.
Stilwell and Ballard work the case from both sides of the channel,
and soon realize they are on the trail of a criminal who revels in
taunting the authorities. Meanwhile, frustrated at being shut out of
an investigation on his own island, Stilwell risks his already shaky
standing in the department to pursue a case whose reach is wider
than he ever imagined.
In the afternoon I started in
Ironwood,
a Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly.
In the evening, after having watched the second half of the Costa Rica
tarantula documentary part 2 with Esme (we had seen the first half in
the afternoon), I checked upon the four female tarantulas I keep.
Monocentropus balfouri with a morio worm (threat pose).
First, I tried to feed the juvenile female Monocentropus balfouri. She
immediately raised herself into a treat pose. This specimen is very
skittish in my experience, so no surprise.
Monocentropus balfouri with a morio worm.
After a short while, however, the spider relaxed and rested on top of
the morio worm.
I feed my tarantulas mostly morio worms: larvae of the darkling beetle
Zophobas atratus. I do crush the head to prevent the larva from
burrowing into the substrate and appear later as an adult beetle.
After I had fed the Monocentropus balfouri I dropped a pre-killed
morio worm with the Pterinochilus murinus, Acanthoscurria
geniculata, and finally Tliltocatl albopilosus; one larva each.
The 8th of May in the afternoon I ordered The Complete
Archive Volume 1 from
lovetarantulas.com, a 64GB USB stick
with 13 ebooks and 15 documentaries. I paid £30 (€36,22) which in my
opinion is a steal for this wealth of information. A few hours later I
got a confirmation email by Andrew Smith: it would be in the post the
next morning.
The outside of the Complete Archive Volume 1 cover.
And today, in the morning, the package finally arrived. No idea why it
took so long. The USB stick was in a small plastic bag glued to the
inside of a DVD like cover: very neat.
The inside of the Complete Archive Volume 1 cover.
In the evening I watched the first of two Costa Rica
documentaries. Alone, because Esme had school (Dutch) followed by a
dance workshop. I liked the documentary a lot: it was a mix of
historical/taxonomical information and actual field work.
After I had watched the Costa Rica documentary I checked upon the
tarantulas I keep and noticed that the juvenile female Monocentropus
balfouri was out and about.
In the evening I decided to rehouse the Orange Bitey Thing; a female
Pterinochilus murinus Red Color Form. I drilled holes in the lid of
a 19 litre plastic container, to which I added coconut coir, and some plastic
plants.
Next, I took the tarantula, still inside her small enclosure, up to
the bathroom. This species can be quite skittish and moves fast, so I
wanted a place where an escape wouldn't cause too much of a
problem. After quite some time I managed to finally move the spider in
a plastic cup using a paint brush. No threat posing by the spider, and
no running around; it was actually resisting to move at all.
Pterinochilus murinus in a catch cup.
I cleaned up some of the decoration in the original enclosure: some
cork and some plastic plants, and moved it to the new enclosure as
well. Then I tried to move the spider in her new home. But it refused
to move from her position near the bottom. There was no hole in the
bottom of the catch cup (recommended) hence I couldn't push her carefully
out that way. So I decided to let the catch cup with spider inside the
large enclosure so she could get out in her own time.
Pterinochilus murinus in a catch cup inside the new enclosure.
Notice in the above photo how the plastic plants provide plenty of
anchor points for webbing. In my experience Pterinochilus murinus
webs a lot. Because this species uses some height of its enclosure,
when available, it's now and then called semi-arboreal.
The last time I rehoused this tarantula
was way back in 2020, when it managed to escape the catch cup I used.
A woman takes a job as a housekeeper in a NYC high-rise, unaware of
the building's history of disappearances. She soon realizes the
community is shrouded in mystery.
In the evening Esme and I watched They Will Kill
You. The movie was both weird
and funny. It was nice to see Angus Sampson in a (short) role
similar to his one in The Lincoln
Lawyer: a private
investigator. Anyway, I liked the movie, and rate it a 7 out of 10.
Yesterday I noticed a small green dot in one the 10 sections of a seed
starting tray; a Carolina reaper chocolate chili pepper plant had
breached the soil. And today, in the early afternoon, a tiny seedling
could be seen.
I planted the 10 seeds Sunday the 26th of April. I got the
seeds earlier this year from my brother. According to him this pepper
grows slowly. It is my first attempt at growing chili peppers.
In the afternoon I finished The Integral
Trees,
The Smoke Ring series book 1 by Larry Niven. I really liked the
setting of the story and how one learns more and more about the smoke
ring environment. A good read; recommended.
In the free-fall environment of the Smoke Ring (an immense gaseous
envelope and neutron star circling a habitable cluster of plants,
trees and animals), descendants of the starship Discipline’s crew no
longer remember their Earth roots or the existence of Sharls Davis
Kendy, the computer AI controlling the ship — until Kendy initiated
contact once more, 500 years after the crew whom the half-mad AI
calls “mutineers” were abandoned on this strange world (see The
Integral Trees).
Fourteen years later only Jeffer, the Citizens Tree “Scientist”,
knew that Kendy was watching and advising. When Citizens Tree
rescues a family of loggers, they learn of the Admiralty, a military
organization in a town unknown to Citizens Tree. Jeffer is among
those who want to visit the town and the Admiralty, which may have
maintained intact Discipline's original computer library. The events
following the visit to the town and the subsequent flight from the
Admiralty form part of this exciting tale of adventure, danger and
courage.
In the evening I started in The Smoke
Ring, The
Smoke Ring series book 2 by Larry Niven.
In the early evening I finally rehoused Jaiden's Brazilian whiteknee
tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata). The juvenile female's
enclosure had become quite cramped. I had already made a batch of
coconut coir by soaking a brick and let the sun dry it out quite a bit
the past days.
I first transferred the large spider to a catch cup and put it in a
safe place because our cat, Lina, was paying close attention. She
likes to watch the enclosures with the spiders within.
Next, I transferred the "old" substrate also to the new enclosure, it
was still good enough, and added some decoration: plastic plants and a
cork tube. Finally, I transferred the spider from the catch cup into
her new enclosure using a paint brush.
Female Acanthoscurria geniculata in her larger enclosure.
On both occasions, into the cup and out of the cup, the spider kicked
some hairs in defense. When it finally was in her enclosure it kept
her legs tucked in; a sign of stress. I'll let her acclimatize for a
few days before attempting to feed her.
In the far future, the crew of an interstellar expedition abandoned
the main spacecraft, which housed an AI who monitored the crew for
the all-powerful State. The “mutineers”, as the AI calls them, made
a new home in a gas torus that rotates around a neutron star, rich
in trees, animals, sufficient water, but no real gravity. Five
hundred years later, their descendants live in various, sometimes
waring, clans.
A scouting expedition by men and women from one of these groups
meets with hardships and enforced servitude. A revolt ensues. And
all the time, the AI of the original ship, observes and waits…
In the evening I started in The Integral
Trees,
The Smoke Ring series book 1 by Larry Niven.
When I was a teenager I didn't want to read the book because I thought
it would have math in it (integrals). Later I did read the book and it
became one of my favourite books by Niven.
The official Jack Vance website names Wyst
book 2 of 3 and Marune book 3 of 3. Based on a reply by "Kilo Volt" to
a Facebook post I made, a short review of each of the novels, this is
the order the books were written, which is:
Trullion: Alastor 2262
Wyst: Alastor 1716
Marune: Alastor 933
As the books are stand-alone it doesn't matter much, although I
recommend to read Trullion first as this book explains hussade which
is mentioned in Wyst several times.
There is also an Alastor book by the Dutch author Tais Teng, written
in English: Phaedra: Alastor
824.
The races of Koryphon keep an uneasy peace- the swift, nomadic
Wind-runners, the fierce Uldras, and the aristocratic Outkers. For
over two hundred years the Outkers have occupied the Alouan lands,
living in baronial splendor where Uldra chieftains once ruled. When
the self-proclaimed "Gray Prince" leads Uldras in an onslaught to
expunge the Outkers from ancestral lands, he faces a challenge from
the Outkers, and from history itself!
In the evening I started in The Domains of
Koryphon by Jack
Vance with cover art by Dylan Carroll.
In the afternoon I wrote a reply to a Usenet post in both
comp.os.linux.advocacy and comp.sys.mac.advocacy. In the post I
replied to the author stated that there is an impressive choice of
terminal applications for Linux, implying that this is not the case
for macOS. I replied that I knew of at least 10 terminal applications
for macOS. Soon after, I replied to my own post with the following
list (reformatted to link directly):
Also the author complained about lack of customization features to
make the command-line environment aesthetically pleasing on macOS. To
which I replied that one could install
starship and a neat font like Firacode Nerd
Font Mono.
Alacritty with starship prompt and Firacode Nerd Font Mono.
Personally, I use Alacritty. In the past I have tried kitty but I like
the simplicity of Alacritty more.
Early in the evening I finished The Blue
World by Jack
Vance. Even though I have read this book several times before I still
enjoyed the story once more. Recommended.
Halma is a planet forever shrouded by the mystical epic of
Emphyrio. Governed by an antiquated feudal system, all but the
powerful Lords are involved in the planet's arts and crafts
handiwork, which is exported and highly regarded throughout the
galaxy. Work on machines is punishable by death, and profits are
small. From his father Amiante, Ghyl Tarvoke learns that the
inequalities of life on Halma can be remedied, and that the answer
lies in legend. When Amiante dies a cruel and unjustifiable death,
Ghyl begins his quest - to know the true story of Emphyrio.
In the early evening I started in
Emphyrio by Jack
Vance. I had downloaded the edition with cover art by Joe Bergeron.
In the afternoon I decided I wanted to read "The Blue World" by Jack
Vance. I did own the Dutch translation of The Blue
World
as part of an omnibus,
but not an English edition, which I prefer. So I went to the official
Jack Vance ebook shop and
selected The Blue
World. Additionally, I
also added Emphyrio
and The Domains of
Koryphon (also known
as "The Grey Prince") to my basket. Of the latter I also had a Dutch
edition, part of the same omnibus. Each ebook costs 5.99 USD so the
total was 17.97 USD which I paid for using PayPal.
King Kragen has ruled a sea-covered world since human colonists
arrived twelve generations before. A monstrous water creature with
gluttonous appetites, King Kragen demands a payoff in return for
protection- and to appease him has become a way of life. To anger
King Kragen means certain death, but Sklar Hast is fed up with
slavery and sacrifice. In a world without weapons, the fight won't
be easy- particularly when the unwilling treat Sklar Hast as the
enemy!
In the afternoon I started in The Blue
World by Jack
Vance. I had downloaded the edition with cover art by Marcel
Laverdet. This is one of my favorite books by Jack Vance. I read the
book, in a Dutch translation, for the very first time back
in 1981. Back then "Vienna" by Ultravox was played on the radio and I
recall that the haunting song went well with the water world described
in the book.
As we lived near a canal I even tried to make my own, fresh water,
sponge arbor with some success. I made a cube out of green plant
stakes and divided the cube into smaller sections. I lowered the
construction into the canal with a rope and checked it often. After
quite some time some growths could be discerned.
