Toxic

Untraceable
Sergei Lebedev

This is a tightly written and cold-hearted literary suspense novel, based on something close to real life. The two protagonists/ antagonists– the Russian chemist-defector Kalitin and the Russian agent-assassin Shershnev– are on a collision course. Along the way, we learn their back stories. Do we come to understand what makes them tick? Hard to say. Comparisons of the book to Le Carré's moral universe have been made, but unlike Smiley, neither Kalitin nor Shershnev seems to have a moral bone in his body, and what emotion or empathy they possess is buried so deep in their psyches as to be nearly snuffed out.

The book actually has a third protagonist: the neurotoxin Neophyte, designed by Kalitin to be lethal and "untraceable," a cousin of the real-world novichok. Neophyte has its own personal history, paralleling Kalitin's as well as Russia's. The stories of these three toxic characters are compellingly told, and the descriptions of the landscape and action are vivid and artful. Thank the translator, Antonina W. Bouis, as well as Lebedev for that. A good read about awful stuff for bad times.

Two more cheers for capitalism

Basically the U.S. government has done jack shit to combat climate change. So we are left relying on Elon Musk and now General Motors. Not ideal, but beggars can't be choosers. 

Crocodile tears for the capitalists

 Ooooh scary! Until you look back five years and see average returns in excess of 10% per year... 

Grant Park lichens

In addition to plenty of birds, oaks, and vistas... lichens! Not the best lichen spot in the region by a long shot, but an interesting rock outcropping here and there...

Busy acorn woodpeckers

 Grant Park, east of San Jose.

Woodrat project, vol. 5

Oh, the woodrats in Wilder Ranch State Park are very very busy. Click on the pictures to appreciate the craftsratship in higher resolution.

Soul

The new Pixar movie is very clever and very sweet. I liked the bustling New York scenes better than the Great Before, with its indistinguishable pale green bubblehead spirits and Calder-esque bureaucrats. I especially loved the jazz itself, which is played in a straight-ahead modern style, no concessions to pop, just what you would expect to hear in a downtown club like the barely fictional "Half Note." Tia Fuller's alto sax is awesome, and Jon Batiste, whose stylistic choices are not always to my liking, gets it just right. The rest of the animated band is as good as you would expect it to be given the roster of real-life musicians who played the notes.