Episode 7 of Game of Thrones

Just finished watching another episode of 'Game of Thrones'. This is one show I'm glad I started watching. It is a bit confusing sometimes, to keep all the names straight, but nevertheless, it is a great show. Plenty of action, intrigue, erotica, and a good story. The ending of tonight's episode was surprising and I can't wait for the continuation. It is fantasy, to be sure, but it isn't any different than watching a movie about knights and kings from hundreds of years ago. Certainly a wonderful change from all the cop-shows and CSI shows. Or even all those reality shows.
The Borgias has come to an end. My wife and I really enjoyed that one also. That was not fantasy but taken from history. A bit of an eye opener about the corruption in the church and the power-play and politics that goes on, probably still to this day. Makes one wonder if the religious leaders truly believe what they preach or if they are only in it for the power and prestige their positions bring.
By the way, I've written around 22,000 words in my new novel so far. Right now it has the title 'Conspiracy', but that will change once the story is finished.

Thunder and Lightening

Talk about Mother Nature. We had quite some hail today. Our lawn was covered with ice-pellets. A small mountain stayed on the grass for hours after the storm was over. Some of the flowers on the flowerbeds were damaged, but they'll grow back. Luckily, I haven't planted my garden yet, otherwise I'd be singing the blues right now, lamenting the loss of my tomato and pepper plants, but they are still patiently waiting to be planted...safe in their little pots. That is always part of my fear after planting my garden...hail.
Apparently, a tornado touched down in St. Adolph, but no damage was done. Crazy weather. Another system is supposed to move in for Monday.

Where is Summer?

Last night we had minus 3 Celsius. Been covering up our flowers for the last three nights, but tonight the low temperature will be 7 plus. We saw our first hummingbird at the feeder today. We hung out the feeder last week. The North American Finches have been here for a while now. They probably are wondering where the warm weather is. The chokecherry tree is is full bloom as is the crab-apple tree. Maybe next week it will be warm enough so I can plant my tomatoes, peppers, and seed my garden. The summer and the growing season are so short. There isn't much time for things to grow. But we shouldn't complain. So many parts of Manitoba are under water, people have lost their houses and cottages. And all the tornadoes in the US. Terrible. So much property destroyed and so many people killed. One wonders what is going on. Mother Nature is a strong force and we are nothing but puppets and toys when she unleashes her powers and lets them run rampant.

Orola, Warrior Priestess

It seems yahoo does not put the whole link onto my posts or perhaps it is the Amazon site itself, because the link published on the post takes you to the Amazon Kindle ad site.
Well, anyway, anyone interested please, follow this link to get to my books at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1243894445/ref=sr_nr_af_1?ie=UTF8&field-is-available-new=1&rs=&sort=relevancerank&unfiltered=1&rh=n%3A!1000%2Ci%3Astripbooks%2Cp_27%3AHerbert%20Grosshans

Orion on Kindle

Orion, Symbiont of Passion is available now from Amazon on Kindle. Here is the link.


http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1243894445/ref=sr_nr_af_1?ie=UTF8&field-is-available-new=1&rs=&sort=relevancerank&unfiltered=1&rh=n%3A!1000%2Ci%3Astripbooks%2Cp_27%3AHerbert%20Grosshans

Cancelled TV shows

I just saw the list of cancelled Television shows and it sucks. It seems all the shows I’ve been watching won’t return.
The Chicago Code. One of the best Crime dramas in a long time. Cancelled.
The Event. Loved the show. Cancelled.
V. I thought it was great. Good drama, no stupid jokes (the same in the above shows). Cancelled.
Medium. It’s been running for a long time and my wife didn’t care for it anymore. I still liked it. Cancelled.
Off the Map. A quirky show about doctors in the jungle. We enjoyed it. Good acting and action. Cancelled.
Shit, my Father says. Cancelled. Too bad. I like William Shatner and I thought he was funny in the show, even though a bit crude, but that was his character in the show.

Fortunately, another of our favorite shows, The Vampire Diaries, is coming back. Thank goodness for small favors.

We’ve been watching ‘The Borgias’ and ‘Game of Thrones’. Those are two great shows. Plenty of action, intrigue, erotica, and no stupid jokes. I hate those shows with stupid jokes, especially when the shows are serious dramas.
If I want to watch comedy I will, like Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory. We love those and hope they are coming back. We used to watch 2 ½ men, but it was beginning to get lame. Maybe the new show with Ashton Kutcher will breathe new life into it. However, I have a feeling it won’t be the same without Charlie Sheen.

The End of the World

Unbelievable! It is always amazing how many coots and idiots live among us. How many times has somebody predicted the End of the World? It seems they haven’t learned yet because they keep popping up. This evangelist spent his entire retirement fund ($144,000.00) to announce on billboards that Judgment Day is on May 21st, 2011 (Yesterday). It was supposed to start with an earthquake and then continue around the world every hour with another one until the Earth was destroyed. Well…we are still here. What is he going to do now? Ask for donations from the other idiots who believed him? Perhaps some day one of these Doomsday-Sayers will get it right, who knows.
I remember quite a number of years ago, one of these ‘prophets’ gathered all of his followers on top of a mountain and waited for Jesus to pick them up. They gave away all of their possessions. Imagine how they felt when nobody came to pick them up and now they had no place to return to. Maybe they are still waiting... How can anyone feel sorry for them?
History is full of stories like that. It seems, people never learn. I am always puzzled that there is no shortage of people who believe these charlatans. If they don’t wait for somebody to physically take them to a better world, they commit suicide to speed up the process. Are people really that dumb or ignorant?
Unfortunately, the answer is Yes. One only has to look at the religions on this planet, the big, so-called ‘True’ religions and the cults, the smaller groups. What do they actually believe? They believe that there exists a better world than the one we live in. They believe the world will be destroyed some day and all the faithful will be saved and taken to this better world. It's a wonderful dream. Most of us dream of a better world. Is it because this one is so bad? Who is to blame for this bad world we live in? Why would the next one be better when everyone who makes this one bad will also be there? Wouldn’t it be better to try to make the one we have a better place instead of dreaming about a fantasy world that may not exist?
Something to think about.
The Mayans predict the end of ‘the world we know’ will happen in 2012. According to the Mayans this happens periodically every so many thousands of years. Scientists speculate about Earth’s possible destruction by a huge meteor that might collide with our planet some day.
It’s all speculation. I am more inclined to believe the scientists than the writings in old books or the visions of so-called prophets or seers.
But then again…I might just be wrong. In the meantime, I write my stories and my own visions of humanity’s future. They all start with the word ‘if’.That is my contribution of trying to make the world we live in a better, more pleasurable place, to provide readers with a place they can escape to for a few hours. Sure, the worlds I create are imaginary, but no less real than the one promised in old books.

Tulips in the Garden

There is nothing more beautiful and uplifting than a flowerbed. Tulips are one of the first flowers to appear. We don’t have many, only a few. They’ve been in bloom for a couple of days now. Some are yellow, some red, and some yellow with red stripes.
Our plum tree is also in full bloom. Perhaps in other parts of Canada flowers and trees bloom earlier in the year, but here in Manitoba it is cold for many months. We’ve only had warm and dry weather for a few days now. Last week we still had frost at night.
Next week I want to plant my vegetable garden. The tomatoes I grew from seeds in the basement are developing nicely but are still spindly and tall. Can’t compare them with the stocky, thick-stemmed plants the garden centers are selling. I don’t know how they prevent their plants from becoming leggy. I read on one site to cut the top leafs and the plants won’t shoot up so fast, but I can’t see the gardeners, who grow plants on masse, to take the time with every plant. It is fiddly and time-consuming. There has to be a better and easier way.
I shall enjoy my tulips as long as they bloom. Sadly, they don’t last too long, but our lilies are coming along fine. Some of them are quite beautiful. My wife adds more every year and they do multiply. Unfortunately, not all of them survive the cold winter.
The dandelions are also in full bloom, but they are a nuisance flower and I shall be spraying them next week, weather permitting. I tried to make a salad with dandelions leafs one time, but I think I will have to be quite desperate to make it again, even though they are supposed to possess healing qualities.

Dual Visions

'Dual Visions' has a new cover. The book contains 2 novellas. 'The Cliffs of Time' is a time travel story, and 'Orion, the Hunt' is a Science Fiction Adventure story. Here is the new cover:




If you want to read more about it click on this link: Dual Visions

Iceworld

Did the final edits on 'Iceworld', Book six in my Xandra series and fixed more mistakes. Amazing how your eyes can deceive you. I thought I caught everything the first time around. Anyway, it is done. The final word-count is 68,000. Just the right length for an ebook. I wrote the blurb and submitted the novel to Melange Books, my publisher.
I started writing Book seven in the series, but now I have to put it aside for awhile, because I suddenly had an idea for a contemporary mystery novel and it is stuck inside my head. The book wants to be written. I already wrote 5,000 words and I'm hooked. The story flows nicely and I've created a bunch of characters with backgrounds and so forth. I pretty much know where I'm going with the story so it is not a secret anymore for me. It doesn't always happen that way, but this is not an adventure/exploration story where I don't know myself what the characters will experience. The excitement of discovery is not there in this kind of story, but it is still fun to write and to develop the characters. I have the gist of the story but the details come to me as I write. Of course, one never knows what happens as the story develops. Sometimes the characters have other ideas and want to take a different road from the one I planned for them. Sounds crazy but that is the way it works.

Osama Bin-Laden and the Law

Now there are those who wonder if killing Osama Bin-Laden was legal. What??? Legal? You people must be kidding! Who cares. The man was a terrorist. Terrorists don't worry about the law and about legality. The only way to fight them is to drop down to their level. Should the President of the US have gone to the Pakistani government and asked for permission? Maybe he should have asked the Saudis, after all he was an Arab. Or perhaps he should have gotten permission from the Al-Quaida. I can only shake my head. I wouldn't be surprised if some lawyer doesn't come around and wants an inquiry. Who would pay his fees though? I guess he would have to figure that one out yet. I'm sure he'll find some group who would fund him. There are plenty of 'do-gooders' around who worry about the stupidest things and want to see justice done. Well, justice has been done. It doesn't matter how. One less terrorist walking the Earth. That man caused so much death and chaos in the world. Every time I am in an airport I curse these bastards who are responsible for the delays at the borders, the body searches, the additional cost to travel and the worry there might be some suicidal/murderess fanatic boarding the plane with me. I applaud the team of SEALS who finally put an end to the evil that was Osama Bin-Laden.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

Wow! So much has happened this weekend. Our Conservative Government under Harper won a majority, the Liberals are way down, the NDP under Jack Layton are the official opposition, the Bloc are pretty well dead with 3 seat, and the Green Party has one seat. Finally, the government can get back to what its function really is…to govern the country, pass laws to protect its citizens, instead of bickering and arguing and wasting taxpayers’ money and getting nothing done. At least now we should have peace until 2015 and we won’t waste more money on another election in the Fall.
The other big news, of course, is the death of the infamous Osama Bin Laden.
He finally got what he deserved on May 1st, 2011. An important day in the history of this planet. Shot in the chest and head by a team of navy seals who stormed his compound in Pakistan during the night. It took ten years, ten years in which he instigated many terror attacks on innocent people in the free world, but in the end he was brought to justice.
As Jesus said to his disciple Peter: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. There is even a song out there ‘If you live by the sword you die by the sword’ by Jamestown Story. This is so fitting.
Bin Laden got a burial at sea. He’ll make a welcome meal for the sharks. They didn’t want to create a shrine by burying him somewhere in a grave with a marker on it.
Apparently, Pakistan helped with the operation. I just wonder why nobody in the Pakistani Intelligence Service knew that Bin Laden was hiding out in that million Dollar mansion. It was a fortress with 18 foot walls. Wouldn’t anyone question what is behind those walls? He must have been there for quite some time.
They found out about his hideout through his courier. Obviously, we will never know the details, because there will be some bleeding hearts who will question the way the information was discovered. It really doesn’t matter. The man is dead and finally some of the people who lost a loved-one in that attack on September 11 ten years ago will have closure and the satisfaction that the man who orchestrated that terrible incident was punished for his crime.
Of course, it would be foolish to assume that the age of terrorism is over. Osama Bin Laden will have a successor. I don’t remember his name. He’s a dentist. But then again, with the new position comes a target on the man’s back, or should I say: On his forehead?
I wonder if Osama Bin Laden got his 72 Virgins now that he has passed into whatever place he thought he was going. Is he busy having sex right now? Or do the terrorists only get the 72 Virgins when they commit suicide? Just wondering. It still is beyond me that there are men so stupid to actually commit suicide so they can have sex in the afterlife.

Whatever happened to Spring?

What a surprise. Woke up this morning and this is what we saw through our window.



There is green grass underneath all that snow. All the snow was already gone and we had a dry yard. I was getting ready to start cleaning up the old, dry grass and rake everything. My lawn-tractor is ready to go and now this. We're actually having a winter advisory in this region. Part of the number One Highway is closed between Brandon and the Saskatchewan border. This does not help the flood situation. Already the flood forecast has been revised. Because of this snow and the precipitation we had yesterday there will be areas flooded that previously were not in danger.

William and Kate

This is the day after. William and Kate are finally married. Now they are Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It was a wonderful wedding. We taped it. Seven hours of commentaries and other not so interesting stuff. We watched much of the seven hours in fast-forward. Kate was a beautiful bride, but aren’t most brides beautiful? Even in wedding gowns that don’t cost $50,000.00. One of the women they interviewed, they were dressed in wedding gowns, just for show I assume, said you can buy a dress for 2 pounds, after another one said she paid 20,000 pounds.
Who the heck were those two women sitting behind the Queen? Those hats! Wow! And that blue dress or skirt one of them was wearing…all bunched up. Whoever designed those must have had a few drinks too many or been on drugs. Speaking of hats. I haven’t seen that many ugly hats in one place for a long time. I’m surprised some of them stayed on the heads of their wearers.
Coming back to the wedding dress. Some designer/commentator said that there will be many imitations in the near future. Why? What’s wrong with other designs? Don't designers have their own ideas anymore, as ugly and ridiculous as some of them are (I'm talking about the designs!).
It confirms my theory that most people are monkeys…monkey see, monkey do. Or possibly sheep. One sheep does something and all the others follow. Just look at the young people these days. Tattoos, rings in ears, noses, lips, eyebrows, and places I don’t want to mention. Torn jeans, clothes two sizes too large, pants falling off their butts, crotch down to the knees (it is beyond me how they can even walk), baseball hats with the shield in all directions except the correct way…to the front. Unless you’re playing baseball, then you turn the shield to the back. They want to be individuals, free spirits, but they don’t seem to realize they are only following a trend most of their peers are following. No individuality there.
At least the weather held out. It didn’t rain and it allowed the couple to ride their open coach. It turned out to be a fairytale wedding. Apparently, 2 billion people watched it on TV, trying to escape their mundane life for a short time and dream about a world where everyone is happy, dream about kings and queens, princes and princesses. Many young girls probably dreamed about meeting their prince.
Fortunately, no crazies tried to interrupt a beautiful happening so many people enjoyed by creating chaos and committing violence. Our world is full of troublemakers and people who will not allow others to live in peace and harmony. Maybe some tried to destroy a few joyful hours, luckily without success, but we won’t hear about that.
Let’s hope this Royal Couple stays together and enjoys a happy future. Maybe some day they will be the King and Queen of England.
Fairy-tales still come true.

Game of Thrones

I watched the second installment of 'Game of Thrones' yesterday. Wow! What a show. George R. R. Martin's fantasy book series 'A Song of Ice and Fire' made into a TV series. What an excitement it must be for a writer to see his/her novel come to life in a movie or TV series. The show has been renewed after 4.2 million viewers tuned in to watch it at its debut April 17. There are at least 20 one-hour shows. I can't wait to see them all. I am hooked.
We are also watching 'The Borgias', a series about the Pope and the Church. Great Show. Apparently, the show is also quite popular and has been renewed for a second season.
Watching these shows is a wonderful change from all of the cop-shows aired these days. Mind you, we like 'Blue Blood' and 'The Chicago Code', also 'NCIS: Los Angeles, 'The Mentalist'.
I've taped a few episodes of 'Camelot' but we haven't had a chance to watch them yet. Another King Arthur remake but it is supposed to be a good show. We'll see.
My wife and I we love those type of shows. We watched 'The Pillars of the Earth' and 'The Tudors' and we were sorry to see them come to an end. It is a good thing the movie makers are always coming up with some good new shows. Of course, let us not forget the writers who wrote these stories in the first place.

Free pdf copy of Outpost Epsilon

Anyone interested in receiving a free pdf copy of Outpost Epsilon please send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca. If you would like to read an excerpt go to my website Herbert's World or go to Melange Books, LLc.

Iceworld

I managed to finish editing Book Six in my Xandra series. It is 67,600 words long. Now I have to do one final reading just to make sure there aren't any mistakes I missed and to see how the story flows without being too critical about grammar or sentence structure. I'll probably miss some small errors, it is inevitable. Our brains are strange and wonderful with their ability to overlook certain things and fill in the blanks. I hope I'll catch most of the possible mistakes (maybe all?). I like to make it easy for the editor.
My book 'Outpost Epsilon' is featured today on NightsofPassion.wordpress.com together with a few Melange Books Authors. The reason for that is that my trilogy 'Lizard World' will be released this summer and fall. Outpost Epsilon is the forerunner to the trilogy. If anyone is interested send me an email and ask for a pdf copy of 'Outpost Epsilon'. It is free for the asking.
I will also give away a few pdf copies of Book One of the Xandra series, 'Daughter of the Dark', since I've been talking about Book six. Just send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca

Is Spring really here?

This is supposed to be Spring. Is Mother Nature playing games with us or is she getting old and senile? We woke up to an inch of snow this morning. Here is what our backyard looked like.



This is what it looked like a week ago:

The Xandra, Book Six

I finished the last chapter of Book Six in my Xandra series today. I even came up with a title. Iceworld. The book is 67,000 words long. But now comes the job of reading it from the beginning and editing it.
Book Seven is already in my head but it will have to wait a bit before I start with it. There are a few domestic things to be done first. Tomorrow I will cut some twigs from the Pussy willows. They are in full bloom right now. Just ready for Easter. And then I have to filter and bottle two carboys (46 liters) of wine. The wine (one red and one white) has been aging for a few months now.
We went to the movies today and watched True Grit. We were a bit disappointed. The movie was slow, too much talking. Had trouble understanding the actors. They did not pronounce their words clearly. I find that a lot these days. People mumbling their words, in the movies, on TV and in real live. Even the music these days is hard to listen too. No outstanding melodies, and most of the time I can't understand the words. It can't be my hearing or can it be?
I have no trouble understanding the old songs or the actors in the old movies.

Of Juncos and Robins

Juncos and Robins. Not the title of a new novel. Juncos are a subspecies of sparrow. The ones we have here in Manitoba are the Slate-colored Juncos. They have a light gray belly and dark-gray, almost black, hood and back. They usually come in small flocks to our place and hang around for a few weeks, picking seeds from the ground, and then they are gone until in the Fall, when they come back to pick the seeds from flowers we grow.
I have no idea where they hang out in the summer. Anyway, a few have been here now for a couple of days or so. Last year I saw the first ones around the same time.
A pair of sparrows has moved into our birdhouse. I’ve seen them making out on the perch in front of their home. A good sign. Last year we had only two pairs breeding in the house. We must have had around thirty sparrows coming to the feeder and spending their time among the shrubs and flowers in the summer, but they all disappeared over the winter. Perhaps they found a warmer, more protected place, like an old barn. I don’t know. For a while we had only one lonely guy coming to feed, and four Chickadees, also 3 pairs of Bluejays the odd time.
Today I saw my first Robin. Poor fellow was looking for worms, but the ground is still too hard for the worms to appear. We have quite a bit of water standing on our property and there is still some snow. It will probably melt away in the next few days.
I just checked my archives and found that I saw the first Robins March 29 in 2010. Either they are late this year or, which is most likely, I just haven’t seen them before today.
A couple of days ago I watched a pair of Bald Eagles courting each other above our house and I also saw a small flock of Pelicans and a large flock of Blackbirds. They’re all coming back to spend the summer.
It is cloudy today. It rained yesterday and last night. A good time to stay home and watch a movie. We don’t really need the rain, because of the flood.