Book Review: Usagi Yojimbo Bk. 20 by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo Book 20: Glimpses of Death by Stan Sakai

More adventures with Usagi, after he left his son...

Cooking Lesson--Young Usagi learns from his sensei a valuable lesson about dealing with hardships by cooking some food. The story is short, whimsical, and insightful.

Contraband--Usagi bumps into a dying man who gives Usagi a package to deliver to his daughter in town. Usagi is a little reluctant to be involved but the guy expires right there so he feels obligated. He's drawn into an adventure as he travels with the unopened package, which draws a lot of attention since it is contraband. The twist at the end was a total surprise and a total delight.

After the Rat--Inspector Ishida (who appeared in a few other earlier tales) investigates The Rat, a local Robin Hood-type thief who is beloved by the poor people of the town but despised by the merchants. The Rat makes the police do a lot of running around, but will he finally be caught when he is accused of murder? The tale goes quickly and has some interesting comments about society.

Samurai for Hire--Usagi gets "hired" by a rude old woman who is on the road and carrying a heavy bag. Well, Usagi carries the bag now that he is her "underling." Usagi goes along with her, putting up with her odd, annoying behavior. The story slowly gets more complicated, but not too much. It's another traveling tale with an odd character at the center.

Dreams and Nightmares--Inazuma (a female friend of Usagi's) has some intense nightmares that come into reality as she is possessed by the spirit of Jei, a particularly nasty character that Usagi killed once, but he's a demon, so he is back again as Inazuma. She is traveling with Keiko, a girl who thinks of her as her "auntie," though Inazuma has become a lot more.

Gen and the Dog--Gen is hunting the bounty on Inazuma and has competition with Stray Dog, another bounty hunter who has been a pain in the butt before. Their separate investigations lead to the same spot, but Inazuma has moved on. This reads like set-up for future story lines.

When Rabbits Fly--A local scientist is trying to get his mechanical wings to work. Ruffians make fun of him but Usagi is at least open to the idea they might work. The story is mostly a comedy with some serious moments and the usual satisfying ending.

Into the Mist--Tomoe is out with her lord's retinue on a falconing hunt. The falcon brings down some prey and the lord sends her and Lord Horikawa to recover it. As she rides out, she is enveloped in mist. Coming out of the mist, she discovers a battlefield with an army approaching. She is confused but issues orders for a tricky tactical move. Things go well until one of the flanks does not attack like it should. The battle gets shrouded in mist again and Tomoe returns to the present, where she discovers Horikawa regaling their lord with a tale about a 200-year old battle their clan lost because of the strategy of Tomoe's ancestor. Tomoe corrects the record but does not resolve her conflict with Horikawa.

Nocturnal--Sanshobo, a priest Usagi knew back in the Grasscutter saga, is head priest of his temple. A man about to take vows comes to him describing nightmares he's had about becoming a monk, specifically about a girl in the local village whom he was supposed to marry but left for the temple. Sanshobo's advice is to go to the village the next day to resolve the issue. The novice passes out, so they summon a doctor. The doctor thinks that more than exhaustion is going on; Sanshobo explains about the soon-to-be monk's guilt. The doctor says it's odd because the girl has been missing for three days. The unhappy truth is soon revealed as Sanshobo discovers the novice has been visited at night by more than nightmares. It's another good tale from Sakai. 

Vendetta's End--Matabei, who has been tracking down and killing his father's killers, comes to a town where Usagi is visiting. The new local priest has been doing much good healing people though he becomes the target of Matabei since the priest was formerly part of the gang of killers. Usagi tries to help the situation with an unexpected outcome.

I don't know what it is about Sakai and his storytelling. I just enjoy it so much, I've read almost no bad stories in the entire series. He has a good sense of people and has a wide variety of characters. A lot of people deal with death, either their own coming or another's. Sakai fills the situations with a lot of interesting ideas.

Recommended.

Movie Review: A Working Man (2025)

A Working Man (2025) co-written and directed by David Ayer

Jason Statham is Levon Cade, a single dad whose daughter is mostly in the custody of his father-in-law since his wife died. As ex-special forces, he is deemed "dangerous" by that side of the family. But Cade has given up soldiering for construction work. When his boss's (Michael Cena) daughter (Arianna Rivas) is kidnapped with no ransom demand, Cade reluctantly agrees to get her back. He hunts down what turns out to be a human trafficking organization run by Russians that has lots of layers and connections to seedy underworld businesses. Cade is all business as he works his way through their chain of command to get the girl back.

While Statham is reliably good at the action, the plot gets harder and harder to believe as the movie goes on. The set-up is solid with the intriguing mystery about why she was taken. Cade seemingly has no money but during the investigation he suddenly has all sorts of surveillance equipment, several cars, several weapons, and wads of cash to pass himself off as a drug dealer. David Harbour's role is little more than a cameo--he provides an out-of-the-way place for Cade to stash his pre-teen daughter when "things get personal." Maybe I would have put up with the ridiculous stuff if the movie had more of a sense of humor like in other Statham movies or more convincing bad guys. 

Not recommended--this isn't terrible but it doesn't offer much entertainment either. 

Geocaching August 2025

The month started with our trip to Minnesota, so we made finds along the way out.

Our first find was in Hancock, Maryland. Old National Pike Mile Marker 96 is a mystery cache that was an easy and quick find, after solving the mystery. Our next stop was the next day in Ohio at one of the rest areas along their turnpike. What Is Your Final Destination? leans into the fact that cachers would only be here because they are on the road to another destination. Nobody jumps on a toll road just to get geocaches. At least, nobody I know. At least, they haven't admitted it. Also at that stop is the multi-cache Turnpike trivia 2 which requires an NFC device and then solving a simple crossword. We walked back to the car and drove away, forgetting it was a multicache. Once the crossword was solved, we got the final coordinates. Hopefully there will be another Minnesota trip in the future and we will remember to stop here?

On our way, we took a short jog off the highway to visit Michigan where we have never cached. I found sarepo.gnitsujda.gnirots, a mystery cache that was easy to solve before we even got there. The other Michigan cache was Oaklawn Shelter at a park with a playground that my children enjoyed. 

Playground at the shelter

We drove on to Janesville, Wisconsin, where I found Circle of Friendship, 50 Below, and Thank You Rogheff from Alex after dinner (so mostly in the dark). 

One of the Janesville parks

The next day we visited UW Madison which has a garden with a cache hidden in it.

Allen Centennial Garden cache

We finally made it to Minnesota. Our first full day there I found Rainbow Colors Challenge (a cache I have been working to qualify for), Stop (at a stop sign, naturally), and MnSQ: Green Lake Cemetery (a multi-cache). The finds were fairly easy though the neighboring grass was pretty high.

Cemetery

Tramping out a trail

In Cambridge (Minnesota), I found Smell Good For Church Pt. 2, which is part of a small series in town. The container made the title make sense.

A church to smell good for

We drove down to Eden Prairie and found a lot caches, including EP Veterans Park: Semper Fidelis, a multi-cache that takes some information off a list of locals who died in service of our country. The final was on a nearby bridge where I pretended to be a maintenance worker.

Veterans Park

Daniel R. Olsen

More of the memorial

Finding the final

"She Blinded Me With Science!" was a favorite of ours, a library cache. The first stage of this multicache was under a lamp post just outside the library. Unfortunately, it was also a wasps' home, so I had to use a lot of spray to make it accessible. The message pointed to a book inside, which we found quickly and safely.

Signing the book

Leaving a Pathtag

We also found a trivia series: Sports Team Trivia #2, #4, #8, #10, #11, and #12. The solutions were tricky, which is why I didn't find the other numbers since I couldn't solve them quickly. Maybe I will work on them for that next trip. A similar challenge limited me to Training Puzzle #2 Alphabet to Numbers, Training Puzzle #4 Google Is Your Friend, and Puzzle to Solve Puzzle to Solve Puzzle. 

In Isanti, Grandpa and I found Wayside Welcome!, Hwy 65 Tour: Cambridge, MARS Evil Lead Scout, and PANDA-ACME : PTG Part 1. Then we got a beer.

Best find ever?

Then we headed home and made some finds along the way. In Wisconsin, I found Guardrail #9 in the rain (thankfully a quick find), then later on in Indiana an earthcache--Richey Woods Nature Preserve Earth Cache, Righty, IndyScan Hide #6 Trucker Sam, and I signed Emilie's 3/4 Challenge, which requires 100 finds with the numerals 3 or 4 in the title (I am at 70, so not too far).

Nature trail

Bus stop in the woods!?!

On the final push home I found I-70 EB Rest Stop Cache in Ohio. Then, to fill out my counties in Maryland, we found a couple in the panhandle that are a long way from home--Mountain Light and Footer's Dye Works. 

The mountain light!

The dye works!

Back in our home area, I found Big City Cacher Challenge X since I made it to ten big cities with an Indianapolis cache. Other mystery/challenge caches filling in my calendar were Fetchez le Vache, A Mystery About Dragons, Falling Snow, and Omnicache. I also found a traditional cache that looks like a mystery: Gur dhvpx Trb-Whfgvpr Ntrag whzcf bire 14 ynml qbt, quite the mouthful! Translated, that's "The quick Geo-Justice Agent jumps over 14 lazy dog"--why no "s" at the end?

We made a quick visit to the Museum of American History in DC and I found The DC Bioretention Cells across the street--an earthcache about rain gardens in the city.

No spoiler photo

The next week had a trip to Baltimore, where I found the garage rooftop cache Light of Baltimore 2 along with Carter's Forgotten Legacy, No Malady Here, MDCT - John Cadbury, Cenosillicaphobia #11, and LoZ Series: Theives' Den Intro. 

On the rooftop

Fun sign at a local coffee shop where I got a drink

The Cenosillicaphobia Location

I finished out the month with the multicache Calculate & Dismantle, The Maryland Virtual Challenge II, 365 Challenge, and MDCT - Domenico Ghiradelli. The MDCT is the Maryland Chocolate Trail, a series that has been mostly archived, so I won't find many more. We did stop in at the local chocolate shop and got some truffles to go. We also did the Adventure Lab: Tour of Catonsville which started near the chocolate shop. 

Random picnic bench near the 365 cache

Box of chocolates (sort of)

The month ends with 57 finds in August 2025 and a grand total of 2029 finds. 

Book Review: Conversations of Socrates by Xenophon

Conversations of Socrates by Xenophon

Socrates is one of those historical characters who is famous but never wrote anything himself, so people rely on others' testimonies. Plato is the most famous source, though scholars readily acknowledge that after the first couple of writings, Socrates turns into a mouthpiece for Plato's philosophy rather than Socrates' own. Aristophanes wrote a satirical play with Socrates portrayed in a lesser light. Xenophon, like Plato, was a follower of Socrates. He wrote several Socratic dialogues, collected here.

First is "Socrates' Defense," a recounting of Socrates's trial when he was accused of impiety and corrupting youth. Socrates cites examples of him offering gifts to the Athenian gods and that he has always taught that people, especially youth, might improve themselves. He's a bit arrogant and might come off as self-righteous. Even so, Socrates does not resist the death sentence, claiming it is better to die under the law (even with a false accusation) than to live to old age where his faculties will deteriorate. He offers no alternate punishment and refuses to let his friends do so. The style of writing is not as polished and vivid as Plato's, who presents Socrates with a more humble attitude toward the jury and accusers. Also, Plato's Socrates says nothing about senility while accepting the judgment of the state.

Second is "Memoirs of Socrates," a collection of random dialogues where Socrates investigates various topics. Socrates asks a lot of questions, looking to find the truth. The topics ramble a bit and there is some repeated material from other works. Each little section has some moral or some opinion that Socrates wants to get across, almost like Aesop's fables with people rather than animals. This part is interesting enough but has nothing great to offer.

Third is "The Dinner-Party." After a meal and a libation to the gods, the attendees discuss various subjects and entertainers perform. In this text, Callias, an ambitious but young man, invites Socrates and his friends to a dinner party to show off his learning. Others state their finest abilities as a young couple provides acrobatic and musical entertainment. The narrative has less of the moralizing of the "Memoirs" and has some nice, funny moments. It touches on love, like Plato's Symposium (another dinner party narrative), but not in nearly as much depth.

Fourth is "The Estate-Manager," a discussion about managing one's possessions well. Socrates plays the usual naive interlocutor. The first part has a discussion with Critobulus, where Socrates clarifies that the best possessions are what are useful to the owner. Also, hard work and self-discipline are the key to success in estate management and life in general. He gets into more detail in the second part where Socrates recalls a conversation with Ischomachus, a farmer reputed to be a "good man." Ischomachus describes how he trained his wife to managed the household, how they both govern their slaves, and some technical bits about farming. The Isomachus discussion is interesting as he is the active questioner/explainer and Socrates has the passive learner part in the dialogue.

This book is interesting as a different perspective on Socrates, though the editor comments that, like with Plato, often Socrates is more of a mouthpiece for Xenophon's ideas than for Socrates. I found it interesting as a student of philosophy but probably won't reread it.

Mildly recommended.

TV Review: Reacher Season 3 (2025)

Reacher Season 3 (2025) adapted for television by Nick Santora based on the novel Persuader by Lee Child

Reacher (Alan Ritchson) gets involved in an attempted kidnapping in a small Maine town he's wandering through. Local teen Richard Beck (Johnny Berchtold) is almost snatched off the streets. Beck is the son of Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall), who is a very rich rug merchant. His son was kidnapped once before for ransom, so it is plausible that Beck Senior wants to hire Reacher as security for his son, even though they live in a highly secured seaside estate. Viewers find out pretty quickly that Reacher is really trying to infiltrate the home because Beck is involved in blackmarket shipments, using his international rug trade as a front. DEA officer Susan Duffy (Sonia Cassidy) has recruited Reacher because she wants to bring down what she assumes is drug trade and to find a young woman, Teresa (Storm Steenson), who was an inside informant working at the estate. Reacher signs on because he sees a guy he thought he had killed in the past. Reacher wants to finish the job. As part of the new security, Reacher has an ongoing feud with the even larger security guy Paulie (Olivier Richters), who usually mans the front gate (which includes a very large, tri-pod-mounted machine gun). This situation gets more complicated and violent as the story plays out.

The story has an interesting, well-crafted plot that slowly builds up the tension and excitement. Reacher has something of a fatherly relationship with Richard, as much as Reacher ever could. Ritchson does a good job as Reacher. He has the physical menace and enough smarts to make a good action/thriller hero. The rest of the cast is good too, especially Cassidy as the DEA agent trying to keep her investigation going with all the chaos that Reacher introduces. Some moments are a bit preposterous, including the typical Reacher sex scene that takes a surprisingly long while to happen. But this season is not as preposterous as the previous season, which had too many over-the-top moments for my taste. This show isn't perfect but it is very entertaining.

Recommended, highly for Reacher fans.

As of this writing (September 2025), the show is only available streaming on Amazon Prime. 

Book Review: Destro Vol. 1 by D. Watters et al.

Destro Volume 1: The Enemy written by Dan Watters, art by Andrei Bressan and Andrea Milana

In a continuation of the Energon Universe storyline, James McCullen Destro XXIV is a high-tech arms dealer whose family has a long tradition of selling weapons to any and everyone who is willing to pay. He has some competition, as any business would, but he has a star client in Cobra, an up and coming military force trying to sew war all over the world in hopes of achieving world domination. Before that can happen, Destro has to reckon with several competitors, especially Tomax and Xamot Paoli, the "Crimson Twins" who offer highly-trained soldiers to whoever will pay. They naturally want to muscle in on the high-tech end of the business, which makes Destro a prime target. Especially when he hosts an arms sales convention in an Eastern European country he has just taken over, putting his cousin on the throne. When the convention gets attacked (and the twins didn't even show up for the convention), a war breaks out among the weapons manufacturers of the world. Can Destro come out on top?

I played with the G. I. Joe figures of the 1980s and Destro was my favorite villain back then. He's given a lot more backstory here, which is good and handled well. The whole conflict between various villains is not so interesting--obviously readers are meant to root for Destro and he does have some clever tactics. But there's a lot of scientific nonsense and less than convincing alliances among characters. The plot became dramatically unconvincing about half-way through the book. I was very underwhelmed by this and am bailing out on the series. Sorry, G. I. Joes!

Not recommended.