Tag Archives: Amazon

Joe Pickett by C.J. Box – Book to Screen

Joe Pickett C.J. Box CJ Box
C.J. Box’s “Joe Pickett” … starring a bunch of nobodys

Have you picked up on the Joe Pickett TV series on Amazon Prime?  I just did last night.  Having already made my way through three-quarters of the current available books … I gotta tell ya … the Joe Pickett TV series is a hotdog!

I’ll explain what I mean by ‘a hotdog’ — but first, I need to back-up a little …

Ten-plus years ago I couldn’t be less interested in Westerns.  I had seen few such movies or TV shows — as far as I was concerned, they were okay — but for the most part … they didn’t catch my interest.  Then, one evening, one of my piping students turned me on to westerns.  He had received his first set of bagpipes — and new pipes need a lot of work to get set up right — so I suggested that we book an evening where he brought his instrument, snacks and a stack of movies.  We watched True Grit (remake) and Appaloosaand I was HOOKED!  (Or maybe ‘roped in’ is more genre correct?)  I have since come to not just enjoy but also value this section of the big-screen selection.

(Side Note — In my new exploration, I’ve found the source of scenes and characters in Firefly from Westerns and other Sci-Fi movies.)

Longmire Craig Johnson
Craig Johnson’s “Longmire” staring Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, and Lou Diamond Phillips

In more recent years, I was given solid recommendations about the Longmire TV series, so I bookmarked the seasons in my To-Watch List.  These kept getting passed over, and a few years ago I decided to give them a try.  With the first few episodes I COULDN’T GET ENOUGH!  I fairly well binge-watched  the seasons back-to-back.

Once through the TV series, I wanted more — yep, I loved  watching Longmire!  So I thought to give the original Craig Johnson books a try.  I soon found that the TV show and the source material had little to do with each other.  Book one, in my opinion, was so miserable I didn’t want to give the second book a chance — I had excitedly downloaded them all from my library, and I  remorselessly deleted the entire collection.  Sorry, Craig — them’s the breaks!

Still, I wanted more Longmire’ism … a modern western based around a flawed yet well oriented good-guy, finding his way through life while striving for justice in the face of complex moral situations controlled by underhanded, devious bad-guys.

A short time later, I was given the suggestion to try the Joe Pickett books by C.J. Box — a few beautifully descriptive lines were even read to me, and I soon dove into the debut story.  The work quickly revealed that the stories are thought provoking and well paced between exposition and thrills.  The main character is easy to enjoy and endearing in his foibles.  Box writes pleasing storylines with an array of characters — better than that are his beautiful descriptions, usually presenting a moment in nature.  I wanted something like Longmire, and I began to find this in the Joe Pickett books with a whole new character to appreciate.

(Side Note — C.J. Box’s ability to release one book a year in chronological story order — book #1 in 2001, book #2 in 2002, and so on — has also been impressive.)

(Additional Side Note — I think the Longmire TV series ‘borrowed’ story elements from the Joe Pickett books to make what they couldn’t out of the Longmire stories.  There are too many things in Season 01 that are identical in the early C.J. Box books … or to say, too similar to be a coincidence.)

Jesse Stone Robert B. Parker
Robert B. Parker’s “Jesse Stone”, starring Tom Selleck

As I progressed through the books — in my case, I have been consuming the audiobooks — I thought that this character and these stories would make for a good TV series.  Or maybe a couple of good quality movies … maybe made-for-TV, similar to the Jesse Stone installments.  What better time than now to feature a down-to-earth do-right family-man through a “neo-western“.

Around the release of book 22 or 23 I picked up that these Joe Pickett was going to get made into a TV series — I was thrilled!  Someone read my mind, came up with a bunch of production money, and were on their way to fulfil my wish — that was considerate of them!

Jack Carr James Reese The Terminal List
Jack Carr’s “The Terminal List”, starring Chris Pratt

Last evenings I finished Season 01 of the Jack Carr / James Reese / Terminal List on Amazon Prime — books 1 through 5 and the recently released 6 had been GREAT!  Out of curiosity, I scrolled down through the TV series listings and … to my surprise … happened to find the “Joe Pickett” TV series!  I had been expecting to wait and hear more about my favourite fictional game warden hitting screens, and IT’S ALREADY BEEN MADE!!!

Clicking the link, I was excited to see that Season 01 is available now through 30June2023, and I’m right in time for the release of Season 02 on 04July2023!  Between last night and today, I watched through the first 3 episodes of Season 01.  Before finishing Episode 01 I found myself frankly disappointed.  In my opinion … the Joe Pickett TV series is terrible — I forced myself to finish Episode 03 — and I’m giving up on the show.

The Expanse James S.A. Corey Sci-Fi
James S. A. Corey’s “The Expanse”, starring a bunch of people you don’t know — but the show is so incredibly great YOU DON’T CARE!

Like books, just because you start a TV series doesn’t mean you are required to finish it.  Each of us only live so long, and if the book you’re reading isn’t pleasing … move on to another.  I have better things to watch — like The Expanse, which I’ve also been reading (audiobook) — and my viewing time is better spent with something that I find makes me happy.  So in this case, I’d rather preserve perception of Joe Picket that I have from the books than the garbage the producers are trying to pass-off as the TV show.

I think this IMDB review does a good job of introducing the conflict …


DiCaprioFan13 / 4 October 2022

“Joe Pickett is a must watch for any western fan. It seems most people who’ve watched it seem to really like it. The only people who seem not to like it are fans of the book that are mad that it isn’t exactly like the book.


Yosemite Sam‘Not exactly the same as the book’ … really, how hard is it to get a modern-day story based in reality reasonably correct?  The book started at an exciting moment that would have been a great hook for the TV show — NOPE, they didn’t do that!  The pistol Joe Pickett is carrying is the wrong type, but I guess strapping a revolver on him makes more of a Western impression?  Giving TV-Joe the less-expensive problematic truck that book-Joe distinctly complained about was not good enough for the production budget?  Fitting TV-Joe with the dog that book-Joe doesn’t get until much-later in the series does … what … win cute-points with the unfamiliar audience?  Putting the Pickett family in a nicer (2-story) house on a better piece of property located outside of town was somehow more TV-savvy?  In the books, the (single-story, cramped) crummy house provided through his low-paying state job speaks to his humility and his wife’s love of Joe superseding materialism.  I should also mention that his mother-in-law, Missy, is all wrong and April (their adopted daughter) arrives too early.

For me though, this isn’t the crux of the issue — this isn’t why I find it disappointing, or why another viewer like DiCaprioFan13 might think that Joe Pickett book readers are somehow ‘angry’.
(Not to mention that it seems DiCaprioFan13 makes redundant use of “it seem/s”, seemingly in close proximity … doesn’t it seem like that would make someone itch?)

So what do I mean when I say that
the Joe Pickett TV series is a hotdog”?

hotdog
There comes a point where you just can’t bring yourself to eat these things anymore…

Have you ever heard the humor-intended line about what hotdogs are made of?  At the end of the work-day in a butcher’s shop, the butcher sweeps the floor, and what they collect in their dust pan is what they use to make hotdogs — dirt, dust, and discarded bits of bone and meat … or what previously looked like something edible.

I will 100% own that I am biased by the C.J. Box / Joe Pickett books.  Yes, I am one of the fans of the books who are unhappy — not because the show ‘isn’t exactly like the book‘, but because it is such a terribly missed opportunity at making a good TV series out of a good book series.

Michael Dorman
Have you seen this man …. ANYWHERE?!?

The collection of actors in the show seem to be C, D, E, and F-List nobodys — most of whom I have never seen, including the lead played by Michael Dorman.  The choices someone made for the characters — the changes loosely based on the books — has turned them into amateurish versions of the characters.  This book series seems to have received the same wacko-treatment Disney has been applying to Star Wars since buying the franchise — changing the characters for agenda-driven reasons instead of serving the previously developed story, and telling the established fanbase what they should like.

My general impression of Joe in the books is that he is more more … manly … than the Joe actor in the TV series.  I’m not saying he’s duke-dashing with a chiseled physique and Tom Selleck’s chest carpet, but somehow more … masculine.  I don’t know how better to say it, but this guy seems like a +90% self-doubting beta-male.  When you are familiar with the characters in the books, and see how they’re changed in the TV show … one could easily form the impression that specific choices were made in attempt to satiate the new politically-correct mob.

Freedom Arms Model 83 .500 WE
Big Bad bah-dah BOOM!

In the books, Joe and his wife are a team — he confides in her, and she places her trust in him.  However, in the TV show, Marybeth steers Joe.  Nate Romanowski in the books is a ruggedly handsome, tall, blond, white man, former special forces.  Alternatively, in the TV show Nate is “… one part mystic, one part hardened criminal. He was a survivalist who (lives) off the grid deep in the woods …” and is played by a black man (and not the only character who has undergone such changes, clearly for the sake of ardent “Political Correctness!”).  When Joe meets Nate, he conducts himself more like a ghetto gangster than the way any former special forces soldier would — brandishing a pistol that doesn’t appear to be the celebrated Freedom Arms Model 83 .500 WE Nate is famous for in the books (until switching to another similar revolver around book 12).

C.J. Box
C.J. Box … YEE-HAWWW!!!

Supposedly there are funny bits in the TV show that weren’t in the books.  Three episodes and I never caught one of those.  Is there a guide that tells viewers where those are?  I mean, it makes sense, right — the producers are already telling you what you should think society should be like … so why not this funny-bits guide, too?  Frankly, were I C.J. Box, I’d feel worse about this show than finding out I had permanent podium / lectern and basic geographical errors in my books*.
(* see below)

I have no idea what C.J. Box’s opinion is of the Joe Pickett TV series.  Maybe he likes it, or — and I wouldn’t be surprised — maybe he’s contractually obligated to say he approves of it.  But personally I’m sorry for him, and I’m sorry for Joe Pickett.  Compared to the books, the TV show is a hotdog — floor sweepings, collected up and shoved into a casing, sold as being ‘good for you’ when really its* only worth being dumped into the garbage.
(* that was intentional)


podium
People stand on podiums
Speakers stand at or behind lecterns

I would be remiss if I didn’t say there have been a few things that have made me twitch from the Joe Pickett books.

Recently I started book #15.  It was only just before this that C.J. Box, his editor, or his wife seemed to get the difference between a podium and a lectern corrected — although in American English “podium” has sadly come to mean “lectern” through  further dumbing-down of the language.  Here’s a tip — DO NOT STAND ON A LECTERN — it’s dangerous, you could get hurt.  I know I won’t make that mistake a third time.  Alternatively, under most circumstances, it should be safe to speak standing behind a podium.

Paul Bunyan Babe the blue ox
Recent photo from Bremerton, WA

One or more geographical errors would have been corrected if someone just looked at a map.  While reading (listening to) an early book, I laughed sardonically when some hitmen were approaching Bremerton, WA ‘from the east’ driving their SUV, arriving in a logging town full of modern lumberjacks in a bar.  Apparently this SUV has some sort of non-factory amphibious feature — pontoons perhaps?  I presume the nearby US Navy base would like to know about this technology.  I also suspect it’s the United States Navy that is hiding all those lumberjacks, too!  The secret is now out … you read it here first at BagpiperDon.com … Area 51 hides the flying saucers and aliens, while the Bremerton Navy base hides all the loggers!

amphibious vehicle
We’re headed to Bremerton, boys!

 

Patriotic Piper V.01 @ The Piper’s Hut!

Pah-SKETTIE!!!

As everyone knows, the Corona pandemic has thrown everything out of wack.  Being an author, it has made for an odd time to release a book — or, as Billy Bob Shakespeare said, “To publish during a pandemic, or not to publish: that is the question.”  The Patriotic Piper Vol. 01 has been in  print for just over a year, and as of today November and December 2021 have been the most exciting yet!

Normal Circumstances & One Year Ago

PSST — In addition to 50+ food and beverage recipes, this book also features 3 of my personal compositions.

Before I jump in, it helps if you understand a few things about the book-world from the business end…

I am a self-published author; to date I have three titles to my name and three new books I aim to publish Spring 2022.  As a self-published author all the work to bring a book to reality has to be done, over-seen, and/or paid-for by me.  A self-published author can work their tail-feathers off to promote a book in advance of and once published (or not).  Usually a book sees its best sales when it publishes, and over time the sales decline.

BTW — this e-book is FREE!

Due to this, I had the personal “To publish or not to publish” debate prior to releasing The Patriotic Piper Vol. 01.  Would it be better to complete and hold the publication until things ‘normalized’ … or would it be better to release it and re-work to promote it after the pandemic?  I decided that it was better to publish, have it out in the world and see what happens … and even though it hasn’t done much, I don’t regret that decision.

The Patriotic Piper, Vol. 01

Patriotic Piper Vol. I COVER FRONT
One of the first copies ordered, delivered to a piper friend.

My book could be called “unusual” — I rather the term “eclectic”.  It is the official music collection for The Scottish American Military Society (SAMS) Post 1889 Pipes & Drums — which I head up.  The Patriotic Piper Vol. 01 includes 20 traditional Scottish, American, and Irish military and parotic tunes for Highland bagpipes — and tune history.  It also includes 15 Scottish and Irish recipes — and food trivia.  It’s also a fundraiser item for Post 1889.

Like I said … “eclectic”.  While it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I like to think that it still offers a little something for everyone.  I can agree that this is an “unusual” book, and take that as a compliment.

The Piper’s Hut

Many bagpipe supply shops are website based.  One of these is The Piper’s Hut, located in Pickerington, Ohio.  As I see it, The Piper’s Hut has everything — great product selection, competitive prices, and outstanding service.  Obviously, they are one of my favourite bagpipe suppliers!

This past July the preeminent weekly Celtic-music video broadcast, Tartan Tunes, interviewed me about The Patriotic Piper Vol. 01 on one of their weekly broadcasts.  Outside of that, it’s been hard to get any traction for my book.  During November, Jon Maffett — owner of The Piper’s Hut — expressed interest in carrying my book.  You can only imagine how thrilled I was!  Getting a bagpipe supplier — not to mention one of my favourites — to carry my book meant that it would not only get additional sales but also receive better attention by the members of the piping community.

So, of course, I ordered copies to The Piper’s Hut as fast as I could!

Last Night, This Morning, and Noon Today

Last NightGOOD NEWS — I received a photo text from a piping friend.  It showed that my book had been listed on The Piper’s Hut website.  My book had been publicized through their most recent email, advertising new products — right at the top of the email!

This MorningGOOD NEWS — I received an email from The Piper’s Hut reading that …. THEY SOLD OUT IN 18 HOURS!!!!  Yes, Jon and his wife, Michelle, can legitimately claim that they are able to sell books faster than Amazon.

Noon Today GOOD NEWS — I spoke with Jon and he requested an order of additional copies of The Patriotic Piper Vol. 01.  While these books will of course be on back-order for a short period, folks can keep ordering copies from The Piper’s Hut. And to think I was thrilled to have this book as part of Piper’s Hut inventory before …. today I am OVER THE MOON!😃

The Big Picture

Is this THAT big of a deal?  Well … maybe not.  However, in the weird pandemic-time this is among the first ‘thing’ to happen for The Patriotic Piper Vol. 01.  I’ve not personally seen copies of my book sell this fast, and if nothing else … it feels good!  My hope is that this is the first of things to come.  Heck … it’d be a kick if The Piper’s Hut sold out of today’s order before the shipment arrived — and Jon and Michelle had to order more.  So like I said before the book is out in the world … let’s see what happens!

PS …

Work on The Patriotic Piper Vol. 02 is already underway.  I have a solid concept for Vol. 03, and concepts for books 04 and 05 are still getting finalized.  Remember … you read it here FIRST!

ALSO… the e-book version of The Patriotic Piper Vol. 01 is also available at SmashWords and most other major e-book retailers.

BACK TO WORK – BILL MILLIN AND D-DAY

(Re-posted from WhidbeyIslandBaking.com)
Bill Millin plays bagpipes for soldiers, 1944
Bill Millin plays his pipes for fellow soldiers in 1944.

This past summer got BUSY … and interesting!  As many of you know I had a few adventures as a professional SCUBA diver, working at various locations around western Washington.  While it was great to get back in the water and blow bubbles, it also required me to shift my priorities.  Big among those priorities was the completion of my second bookAs many of you ALSO know this project is a Highland bagpipe sheet music & tune history book I am writing as a fundraiser for a veteran’s organization I am a member of.  There are a few chunky tasks remaining before publication.  The most challenging of these is writing about Bill Millin, a bagpiper who played on D-Day.

The legend of Bill Millin is well-known in the Highland bagpipe community.  The short story that everyone knows is that “Piper Bill” went ashore on Sword Beach* — he carried no firearm, wore a kilt, played bagpipes, and never got shot by German forces because they thought he had gone insane.  While all of this is true and I already knew from lore, I have been formally researching the whole story and it is far more detailed.
(*Queen Red, the furthest east section of the invasion)

Bill Millin, Highland bagpipes, landing, Queen Red, Sword Beach.
Bill Millin with his bagpipes landing on the Queen Red section of Sword Beach.

It is an honor to be writing about this man’s role in the June 6, 1944, Normandy invasion and it is important to me that I get it right.  I have reached out for every information source I can locate.  Presently I have a considerable stack of library books on D-Day, audiobooks and e-books, media on order, one film, along with articles and interviews I’ve found online.  Something I am particularly excited about is that I have made contact with Bill Millin’s son and grandson online and they have agreed to review my work once complete.  Also, it seems that each time I stop by the library to pick up another piece of media I’ve ordered, I find and buy a D-Day or WWII book from their used book rack.  Apparently I’m building my own D-Day/WWII library $3 at a time!

The bronze life-size statue of Piper Bill Millin unveiled on 8 June 2013 at Colleville-Montgomery, near Sword, in France.

As I review these history sources I have found some problems in the information.  Generally speaking I have books written by historians and articles written by journalists.  Some of the errors I have identified due to my Highland bagpipe playing career.  Some of the errors seem to be words and concepts the previous writers did not fully understand.  The biggest problem I have been finding is historical inconsistencies.  Generally the greater collection of errors come from the journalists — these individuals tend to work at a faster pace with less study than historians.  Usually I can sift through the historical inconsistencies by applying information from military documents along with identifying the details that are consistent in history books and interviews from Bill Millin himself.

As said it is an honor to be writing about this man.  It is an honor as a bagpiper and as the grandson of WWII veterans.  My aim is to help clean up some of the history mistakes that have developed and promote the greater story of Bill Millin’s role in D-Day among my piping peers along with my non-piping readers.  I am sure that you too will be impressed by this one aspect of The Greatest Generation and the greatest invasion in the history of the world.

Books and Other Media

  • The Longest Day: 6 June 1944 D-Day by Cornelius Ryan – This is the seminal D-Day history book behind the film.  I am presently about half way through it and it is nothing short of AMAZING!  The cast-of-thousands film by Darryl F. Zanuck is really only a brief representation of the book although still well worth viewing.
  • D-Day / June 6, 1944: The Climatic Battle of WWII by Stephen E. Ambrose – To his great credit Mr. Ambrose seems to be making a good portion of his career on D-Day/WWII books, and to our benefit!  I have listened to his Pegasus Bridge book, largely built using interviews, and found it invaluable.  I am looking forward to one of his Eisenhower books along with others.
  • D-Day / The Air and Sea Invasion of Normandy in Photos by Nicholas A. Veronico – This bran-new 2019 publication may well be the best recent work on the subject.  In addition to concise writing it is packed with photos and data — not to mention a bibliography that can’t be beat.
  • D-Day by Peter Benoit, D-Day / The Invasion of Normandy 1944 by Rick Atkinson, and D-Day by Charlie Samuels – D-Day books for various age youths.  Straightforward photos and facts to introduce the next generation to the history and significance of this important day to remember.
  • D-Day / The WWII Invasion That Changed History by Deborah Hopkinson – I’m frankly disappointed by this book.  Picking it up it appears to be on-par with the work of Cornelius Ryan and Stephen Ambrose (ETC) — the book is large and thick — but that is a first impression only.  Upon closer inspection, as an author I can tell you there are a few tricks that have been used to make the book appear more impressive.  The two main tricks is that the book is not single-spaced and it is loaded with pictures; take out the photos, make it single spaced, and it is half the length at best.  This 2018 publication does not appear to present anything new on the topic and is possibly written in such a manner as to not ‘offend’ the Politically Correct (ETC) crowd &/or to spoon-feed D-Day to the delicate middle-grade blue-ribbon crowd.  The good thing I can say about the book is that it is worth it for accessing the D-Day related pictures … other than that, other books are in my opinion better information sources whereas this one is comparatively watered-down.  And for my uses … no apparent mention of Bill Millin on Sword Beach or at Pegasus Bridge.

If you would like to support my writing endeavours today, please find my book “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” on Amazon, Smashwords and their affiliates4 Free Recipes are available if you would like to try before you buy.

UPDATE – My 1st Bagpipe Music Book

AS Most Of You Know I have been working on my next book — and it is close to DONE! The work has been going well and I am excited to debut it — but what is it?!?  Get ready, it’s a mouthful… UPDATE

SAMS Post 1889
SAMS Post 1889 — that’s me on the left, #94

While it looks to include some modern-traditional Scottish & Irish recipes, the book will in-part serve as a FUNdraiser for my Scottish American Military Society veterans Post.  The main feature of this text is military & patriotic Scottish & American bagpipe tunes & their histories. The News about this — the UPDATE — I finished writing the tune histories Sunday night! This is a major chunk of work on this project and the accomplishment feels GREAT 🙂

I sent these histories to one of my Post-mates yesterday who is formerly a copy editor.  He’ll go over my work while I keep my nose to the grindstone retouching the notation, finishing the writing in the beginning of the book, and starting to write the sales paragraphs for the back of the book.  Suffice it to say — there is still some work to go, however with this latest development I Am OPTIMISTIC that this book will be completed and that I will have copies-in-hand by or before my target end-of-June release date. 😀 UPDATE

& Updates On A Few Other Things…

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies

While I’m EXCITED to get the Post Piper book released, completing that project paves the way for me to return to re-doing my mini freE-book.  My plan is for this project is to first go up on Smashwords with the possibility of following as a book &/or short recipe book on Amazon. A few weeks ago I did a second publication of my e-book on Smashwords — previously only available on Amazon. The cool thing with Smashwords is that they push your e-book to all the other e-book platforms — B&N, Kobo, Overdrive — EVERYONE! Go check it out — my e-book is currently lower-priced on Smashwords right now than it is on Amazon … or at least it was the last I checked 😉 UPDATE

ENJOY ~ Don UPDATE

Click here for my debut recipe book & e-book on Amazon or use the Smashwords widget to buy the e-book in your preferred format Right Here! 😀

Back On The Snowy Sidewalks

And now, a snowy episode of …

ADVENTURES IN TRUCKDOM!

Jingle Trucks
Not quite this fancy, but you get the idea….

I’ve had my truck off the road during the past number of weeks to complete a few work items on my repair & improve list.  There have been a number of delays due to schedule and a major appliance going out at home, and yet my dad & I have chipped away at the work when and where we can.  Last night my truck reached a point where it’s ready to go back on the road for a while.  This accomplishments with this round of work feels good — it looks like I’m starting to get on top of my to-do list.

Frosty weather, snowy weather, when the wind blows we all go together ...Today I plan to get the front bumper back on my truck — to get my truck in our garage I had to start with taking off both bumpers.  Lately our temperatures have been as low as the upper teens and as high as the mid-30s — and we (finally) had our first round of snow.  Right now we’re getting our second round of snow.  For the next few days it looks like we’re supposed to get more of the teen temps to lower-30s and snow.  Snow began to fall again this morning, and so far it’s sticking however it is our warmer wet-snow … and now I’m going outside to work on my truck.

Did someone put their truck in a ditch ... in the snow?
Not actually my truck … same brand and product line however

At this juncture I will skip how our western Washington snow IS in fact different than many other parts of the country, how we DO know how to drive in the snow VRS the southern transplants to Washington State that have no freakin’ clue (including how to drive in snow, rain, sun, etc), and how our wet-cement snow turns to ice along with being on hills that have more or less the same slope as parts of San Francisco.

SO — the remaining work to get my truck back on the sidewalks …. er, I mean, back on the road…
  1. Reinstall the front bumper and other MANLY metal bits along with the grill.  There is also a jerry-rig repair I want to finally complete on the grill.
  2. Reinstall a few interior bits now that that the defrost and dash-board lights are operating again.
  3. Replace the sandbags in the bed and put my tailgate back on — minor things, but necessary nonetheless.
  4. Paint the rear bumper on Saturday, get the paint adequately dry, rebuild the bumper (license plate lights and etc-bits), and bolt the bumper back on Sunday.

Yeah, I think that’s it.  The first step though is to get my winter clothing located following my move this past summer.  I’m and old-school Pacific Northwest boy — up to a point I tend to shake off the rain and snow … but over and around this weekend we’re supposed to get hit with enough snow and cold AND since I’ll be laying on the ground to get bumpers back on … yeah, something a little more serious in the way of clothing is called for.

Oh … PS!

the snowmobile's red haired step child
When I grow up I wanna be a snowmobile!

This time last year my truck was off the road, in a garage,  with my dad and I doing work on it.  The winter before that I didn’t drive it because I didn’t need to.  This is the first time in snow that I might actually get to drive my truck and see how it handles, how I do with it.  I was starting to wonder if it was going to notoriously be ‘off the road‘ every winter and I was never going to drive it in the snow.  I’ve been all ready for this year — sandbags in the back along with snow tires!

P-PS!

Make Your Darn Good Cookies book coverWhen it comes to inclement weather are you an in-door person? Do you prefer to curl up at home on the couch in a blanket, sipping a favourite hot beverage with a book?  If so, grab your preferred online device and order a book — and not just any book but my book — Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies, available now on Amazon in paperback and e-book.  Over 50 proven recipes including cookies, biscotti, coffee, coffee cake and apple sauce, along with a number of main-course comfort foods you and your friends are sure to enjoy!

Did that sound like an advertisement?  If so, good — because I need to sell these things!

Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2019 and My Book!

Do you know about Gung Haggis Fat Choy in Seattle?

GHFC founder, Toddish McWong

Do you know about my recipe book on Amazon?

Imagine them together — because
IT’S HAPPENING!

Every year I look forward to the Gung Haggis Fat Choy event in Seattle.  I’ve been the ‘Official Piper’ for our state’s version of this Chinese-Scottish cross-cultural dinner-show since it started in this former logging town — it’s a BLAST!

This time a year ago as I was once again preparing for the fun and frivolity of the night, I received an interesting request…. My friend, Bill MacFadden — who’s also the Seattle GHFC host — invited me to present my upcoming recipe book “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies“.  There was just one problem ….

I hadn’t finished it yet!

My book published on Amazon this past fall — 26Oct2018 to be exact!  Last year Bill offered for me to include a copy of my book with a plate of my cookies in the pot-luck dessert auction — I couldn’t do it last year so I’m doing it this year 🙂

When I thought about it though, I asked myself “How does my book tie in to this Scottish-Chinese event?!?”  The answer to that is simple!  In my book I feature how to make traditional Scottish Shortbread along with the history of its importance with Hogmanay (part of Scottish New Years).  Also, three of my own bagpipe compositions are featured at the end of the book …

Beag air Bheag (“Little by Little” in Scots Gaelic)

Lullaby For Zoë

Brother Emmett’s Waltz

Debuting my book has been a joy and I’m EXCITED to be bringing it to Gung Haggis Fat Choy in Seattle 2019 — February 24th at China Harbor — see the Seattle Gung Haggis Fat Choy website for tickets!

Here’s a video of me playing for a Lion at the 2011 event — while the sound-quality leaves a few things to be desired, this performance is one of my biggest memories of playing the Seattle Gung Haggis Fat Choy!