Author: Alex Diaz-Granados
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On Books: A (Short) List of My Favorite Books About World War II
If you’re a Constant Visitor to this blog, you’ve probably noticed that I’m a long-time history buff and bibliophile. I have been reading since I was little, and I became interested in military history – primarily World War II – in 1969 at the age of six. Although I might be misremembering things, the first…
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On Books: Previewing a New Graphic Novel’s Take on James D. Hornfischer’s 2004 Classic ‘The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors’
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in Books, James D. Hornfischer, Military History, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour (2004 book), The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour (2021 Graphic Novel), World War IIHi there, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in Fish Hawk, Florida on Sunday, November 7, 2021. It is a cool late autumn day. Currently, the temperature is 68˚F (20˚C) under sunny skies. With humidity at 76% and the wind blowing from the north-northwest at 11 MPH (18 KM/H), the wind-chill factor is 67˚F (20˚C)…
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On Books: It’s Time to Revisit the Ol’ TBR List of the Month (November Edition)
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in Alternative History (Alt History), And the Last Trump Shall Sound: A Future History of America, Books, Harry Turtledove, Jack Mitchell, Kristin Baver, Military History, Movies, Star Wars, Star Wars Books, Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual History (2021 Edition), The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War, The Odyssey of Star Wars: An Epic PoemHi, there, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in my corner of west-central Florida on Saturday, November 6, 2021. It’s a cold day – by Florida standards, anyway – but at least it’s not raining today. Currently, the temperature is 61˚F (16˚C) under cloudy skies. With the wind blowing from the northwest at 12 MPH…
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October Reveries
“When you get homesick, it’s not something missing, it’s something present, a visit. People and places from far away arrive and keep you company for a while.” ― Erri De Luca, God’s Mountain Thirty-three Octobers ago, I was on the other side of the Atlantic, 4,362 miles from where I live now and 4,329 miles…
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Music Album Review: ‘The Essential Glenn Miller’ (2005)
He was neither an outstanding soloist nor showman nor an original composer. Instead Miller’s personality combined idealism with a formidable work ethic in a soul that was deeply musical. – Mike Plaskett, in the liner notes for The Essential Glenn Miller Boy, the way Glenn Miller playedsongs that made the hit parade…. – Charles Strouse…
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On Music: My 10 Favorite Songs by Glenn Miller
“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship Boy, the way Glenn Miller playedsongs that made the hit paradeGuys like me we had it madeThose…
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On Music: But…But…I LIKE Oldies!
When I was in my early teens – way back in the late 1970s – I knew that in a world where Funk, Soul, R&B, Pop, Hard Rock, Soft Rock and Disco were the dominant music genres, I was an odd duck. Even as a child growing up on two continents – I was born in…
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Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, October 26, 2021, or: Of Reading Lists and Weighty Matters
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in A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America, Alternative History (Alt History), And the Last Trump Shall Sound: A Future History of America, Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: The NASA History – 50th Anniversary Edition, Blogging, Books, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, Harry Turtledove, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, The Napoleonic Wars: A Global HistoryAbout My October TBR List Well, with November 2021 not that far away, it’s time to check how I am doing with my To Be Read list for October. Unfortunately, Dear Reader, I haven’t made much of a dent on that TBR list. Of all the books I’ve started reading this fall – starting last…
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Old Gamers Never Die, or: Reliving the Liberation of Europe with MicroProse’s 1987 Classic War Game ‘Crusade in Europe’
Back in the late 1980s, when I was still a journalism student at Miami-Dade Community College in South Florida, I used to go to the nearby Miami International Mall to do a bit of shopping. My favorite places then were Waldenbooks and a software retailer called Babbage’s.[1] Before 1987, most of my trips to the…
A Certain Point of View, Too 