The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

Gentle reader, will you join me on a trip into the hills and hollers of West Virginia? Into the midst of Boone County where there resides a clan of infamous hillbillies known as the Whites? Will you examine the festering branches of a moldering and rotted family tree to examine where society can go so very, very wrong? If yes, then I sincerely hope that you've had all of your shots because we're going in.

Shameless Plug

Looking for an easy but super delicious recipe for Thanksgiving? I mean, a dessert recipe? Then head on over to  Godtopus Eats and check out my Memaw Godsey's Peanut Butter Pie. It even has the bloody admin Seal of Approval!

Cannonball Read III: The Readening

Cannonball Read v3.0 will commence in January, 2011. I will be participating in this cycle and I hope to read a greater range of novels this go round. Or just win. Either one.

Want to learn more? Want to participate? BLAM! Click that link for all the information and just know that I'M NUMBER FOUR! I'M NUMBER FOUR!

Cannonball Read II: In My Pants is OVAH

This is a few days late, but CBR II ended on November 1st. One year and I managed to read and review 62 books. Phew! Of course, that's nothing compared to some other people (Jen K.), but I'm proud of myself anyway. I don't know the final tally for everyone, but I know that a lot of Pajibans read a lot of books and wrote a shit-ton of reviews. Hell, admin's kid wrote a review of a book she read for the CBR.

How many books have you read this past year?

CBR Book#62: Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong

I've returned to Kelley Armstrong's writing with her latest novel, and the only one I had not yet read. This one centers on a new narrator, twenty-one year old Savannah Levine. The daughter of a half-demon witch and a sorcerer takes on her first investigation without the help of her guardian, witch Paige Winterbourne, or Paige's husband, Lucas Cortez.

CBR Bok#62: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

I'm not sure if anyone is reading this, so I'm not sure that anyone has noticed: I get obsessed with things for a bit before moving on to something else. Book series, authors, movies, actors, songs, television shows, whatever. So when I requested Mary Roach's book Bonk, I also requested this book so I could binge on Mary Roach. It's just how I roll.

CBR Book#61: Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

I love Mary Roach. It was with great curiosity and high recommendations that I read her book Stiff. I was not disappointed. I looked for her books every time that I visited the library before realizing that I would need to specifically request her books and make the library ship them to me. So I did. Once again, I'm glad that I read a book by Mary Roach.

CBR Book#60: Living With The Dead by Kelley Armstrong

As with any books I review that are part of a series, there may be spoilers in this.

Strong and Sexy Exercise DVD: Watching But Not Doing Part II

Hey kids! It's time for the Six-pack Abs portion of the good Dr.'s Strong and Sexy workout. Will she change into another gloriously awful bodysuit? Will the six-pack abs be on another flabby martial arts champion? Is anyone going to break some mondaythroughfriday boards? Let's find out!!

CBR Book#59: No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong

Another day, another Kelley Armstrong book. Haters to the left. Also, there may be SPOILER IN HURR!

CBR Book#58: Haunted by Kelley Armstrong

This is the fifth book in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. I don't think that there will be too many spoilers in this review, as we don't meet the narrator in the series until after she is dead. So, her being dead isn't a spoiler, just who the character is.

Strong & Sexy Exercise DVD: Watching But Not Doing Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I entered a contest at Fit Fig & Friends to win the Poise Strong & Sexy exercise DVD. I won. I promised Fig and some other Pajibans that I would record myself doing the workout and then post it since the DVD cover makes this workout look crazy as hell. I decided that I should watch the DVD before I attempt to do the exercises on camera. (Don't worry, I'll still look a fool when I do this.) Once the credits started, I knew I had to share the bat-shit crazy within this tape. You're welcome.

CBR Book#57: Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong

There may be spoilers all up in huuurrrrr.

Oh, hello America! I didn't see you there!

I've been lazy. Well, lazy about reading books lately. I have watched a butt-ton of movies though. I'm thinking I might start trying to review movies since I've hit the magic number for Cannonball Read and have begun to slack on that front. The thing is, I need to remember that I want to review something before I watch it so I can take notes and such. I also have to turn off the damned Facebook while I watch. So, I might try that. I'll still be doing book reviews and I hope I'll take part in the next Cannonball Read. Until then, read my other blog, Beautiful Women Who Are Now Dead and the blog I sometimes contribute to, Godtopus Eats . Don't make me send the peacock after you.

CBR Book#56: Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

This is what I've been waiting for ever since reading Bitten. Armstrong hinted at strong backgrounds for all of the characters and mentioned lots of previous escapades preceding some of the books. In this collection, as in Men of the Otherworld, we get some of the stories that didn't fit into the novels. Including the beginning of Elena and Clay's relationship and the inevitable bite that started it all, which I have been dying to read. 

CBR Book#55: Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong

Alright, you can mock my choice of reading materials all you want, but Kelley Armstrong is a hell of a writer. I know that some people are over the whole supernatural lean that most everything has anymore. But her books are different. There are relationships that one can actually relate to. The characters are not just one-dimensional men and women that happen to change into werewolves or cast spells. They change and grow and develop as the books go on. They realize mistakes and work to make sure they don't repeat them (for the most part).

CBR Book#54: Broken by Kelley Armstrong

There will most definitely be spoilers in this review.

CBR Book#53: Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong

There will probably be spoilers about the first two books in the series in this review! BEWARE.

CBR Book#52: Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

This book is the second in Armstrong's Women of the Underworld and also the second to center on female werewolf Elena Michaels. There may be spoilers in this review, but I'll try not to be too spoilery. Also, this book successfully completes my Cannonball Read for this year. I'll still be reviewing books and numbering them from this book, but everything past this is just to piss off geep (just kidding!).

CBR Book#51: Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror edited by Ellen Datlow

I can honestly say that I've never read as many collections of short stories and essays as I have through this Cannonball Read. I've also shown everyone just how much horror and thriller novels I read. However, I previously had a very small list of just which horror authors I read. Stephen King and...uh, I can't think of another horror writer whose novels I read before this foray into semi-competitive reading. Bad, Pinky. Bad!

Food is Delicious

The lovely Ranylt , former Pajiba contributor and all the time wonderful, has started, along with Sharon, the blog Godtopus Eats (That is a lot of link right there, kids). I have contributed a peanut butter cookie recipe as my first foray into recipe sharing. Please, be gentle with me, as we all know I am highly fragile. Cookies!

CBR Book#50: Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong

This novel is another that takes place in Armstrong's Otherworld setting. It is chronologically the eighth novel in her series and only the third Otherworld novel that I've read. Again, there are some events that took place in novels two through seven that are mildly spoiled in this story, but they are not fully explored or explained and will still be new when I read them. Characters that took center stage in Bitten and Men of the Otherworld are mentioned briefly, if at all, and some who were minor characters or briefly mentioned in those novels are explored more deeply.

CBR Book#49: Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

This novel is a collection of short stories concerning the male characters of Armstrong's Otherworld novels. When reading Armstrong's first Otherworld novel, Bitten, I was impressed with the amount of back-story that she seemed to have mapped out while not fully exploring it in her first foray. Of course, that left me with curiosity about the specifics of this fully formed background that we, the readers, were not privy to. My curiosity has been sated, at least where the men are concerned, with this novel.

CBR#48: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Elena Michaels is a thirty year old woman living in Toronto. She has a very patient boyfriend named Philip, a job as a journalist, and a big secret. Elena is the only female werewolf in existence. She was bitten when she was nineteen and was taken into the Pack. The Pack is the organized collection of hereditary werewolves that rules from their sanctuary in Stonehaven, located in New York state. Elena has left the pack and her past in an attempt to find what she thinks is a normal life with Philip. But how normal can you be when you have to sneak out of your bed at night to change into a werewolf and run through the streets of Toronto?

CBR Book#47: The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

I have read and reviewed the first two books in the Dark Powers trilogy: The Summoning and The Awakening. There may be spoilers in this review, as the events in the previous novels are addressed in this one.

CBR Book#46: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

I read the Darkest Powers books out of order, so this is the first book and I reviewed the second book here.

I'd Like to Apologize for My Lack of Awesome

I've been going back and reading several of my posted book reviews and I'd like to say "I'm sorry". My writing skills have been diminishing rapidly since high school and have, clearly, nearly been snuffed out lately. I blame medication. The same medication that lets me quell my panic attacks and curb my incessant anxiety has also served to make me forgetful. This forgetfulness makes me think that if I don't get a book review done and posted within 24 hours of finishing a book, well, it just won't get done. I'll forget to do it. Alas, this leads to my embarrassingly short reviews of books that I would have previously delved into more deeply. It also leads to jumbled focus and horrible transitions, among other problems.

So, I apologize. I hope to edit some previous posts (though none that were already posted on Pajiba) so that they are more coherent. I also want them to be higher quality because I don't want to sully the memory of the person that this Cannonball Read is meant to honor. Maybe that's silly of me to think, that my reviews could do something like that, but, you know just in case. (Obviously my meds don't block out all of my irrational anxieties.)

CBR Book#45: Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

This book was first brought to my attention via an item on Pajiba. I must admit, the synopsis makes the premise of this book sound horrible. Just bad and idiotic. Add to that the fact that Farnsworth's book had been picked up to be made into a movie before the book was even released and you'll appreciate my reluctance to read this book. Then I decided, screw it. I'm reading it. And then I did. And I'm glad I did, though now I'll worry about Hollywood destroying what Farnsworth has created.

CBR Book#44: The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

As I mentioned in my review of Blood Lite, I enjoyed Kelley Armstrong's short story "The Ungrateful Dead". So, while browsing the library I wandered over to the young adult section and looked for her name. I found the second novel in her Darkest Powers series, The Awakening. While it would have been nice to read the first novel in the series, Armstrong did an admirable job of giving background where needed, so I feel that I didn't miss anything that would have affected my enjoyment.

CBR Book#43: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

If anyone reads this blog (does anyone read it? Well, besides Jen K., ha!), then you know that I love love love the Sookie Stackhouse novels. They are crazy and sexy and entertaining. Well, all of the novels to this point have been all of this. As per usual with Sookie's adventures, SPOILERS AHOY!

CBR Book#42: Blood Lite edited by Kevin J. Anderson

I picked this collection of short stories up while browsing the library. I was looking for something that would keep my attention, which has been all ADHD lately. I blame...something besides myself. Anyway, this was a collection of horror stories that are humorous instead of scary. Stories were included from Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, and Jim Butcher, as well as others. (Also, I apologize for the spottiness of this review. I returned the book to the library before I wrote this review, which is not what I usually do. My bad.)

Freak Out! or Why I Haven't Had A New Book Review

I have been laboring, and yes, that is the correct word, to finish what would be my 42nd book for the Cannonball Read. I'm so very picky about what I'll read and I'm very bad at choosing books at random from the library. So, I picked up a book that I've been avoiding since it was released in 2002: Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell. Why was I avoiding it? Well, Cornwell is a writer of the fictional Dr. Kay Scarpetta novels, former journalist, and former tech writer and computer analyst for a medical examiner's office. She does not have a degree in forensics, law, or anything else related to law enforcement and/or forensic investigations. Yet, she claims that she alone has been able to uncover and follow clues that once and for all tell us the identity of Jack the Ripper. (I would just like to mention that I accidentally wrote 'Jack' as 'Hack'. Sort of telling, eh?)

Cornwell has decided that famous artist Walter Richard Sickert was Jack the Ripper. She bases this on his paintings, which depict scenes of women in precarious situations. One such painting is called Ennui. In it, a bored looking man and woman are in a room. The woman is looking forlornly at something on a table, possibly birds or something under glass, and the man is sitting in a chair with a surly expression. On their wall is a painting of a woman, possibly a diva. There is a white smudge just over one of her shoulders, standing out in the darkness. Cornwell has decided that this white smudge is a man and that the man is about to murder the woman. I wish I were making this up.

Further damning this book in my opinion is the way that Cornwell relays information that is circumstantial at best but then begins to incorporate it as if it is fact. At one point she tells us about the "ha ha ha" used in some of the Ripper letters. Cornwell then alerts us that Sickert would have used this because he was an apprentice to a famous American artist that laughed like that. Then there is the use of the word 'fools' in the Ripper letters which, she tells us, was a favorite word of Sickert and his father. As if there is no one else that used the word fools? As if there is no one else that would write out "ha" in the late 1800s?

I can't finish this book. It travels in circles unrelated to Sickert and then comes back to the starting point, which is that Cornwell had become obsessed with the artist and wanted him to be the murderer. Maybe he is, maybe not. Probably not. Most telling of all is this quote from the book and Cornwell herself: "But when one works hard and begins to know what to look for, the unusual turns up...". Yes. If you look for something hard enough, you are bound to find it. Whether it is really there or not.

CBR Book#41: Creepers by David Morrell

I picked up this book after seeing the author's name on the back cover of another book I was considering borrowing. The title Creepers sounded promising and the cover looked decent enough. The synopsis sounded intriguing as well. A group of "urban explorers", aka creepers, aka "people that go into abandoned buildings and look at stuff" decide to enter the Paragon Hotel in Asbury Park. The long abandoned hotel was built by an agoraphobic hemophiliac (I KNOW) named Morgan Carlisle in 1901. The hotel was very specifically built to resemble a pyramid and had furnishings of the Victorian era throughout its rooms. The creepers consist of Professor Robert Conklin and his former students, married couple Cora and Rick Magill, and Vincent Vanelli. They are joined by reporter Frank Balenger, who wishes to write a story about the unusual hobby of creepers. The creepers enter the hotel and find that they are not alone.

CBR Book#40: Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore

Travis is a demonkeeper. Catch is his demon. Well, not really his demon, but Travis does have control over Catch. Well, not really control, as in all of the time. Sometimes. When Travis is trying. And sometimes not. Anyway, Travis and Catch have been together for seventy years. That's a lot of time spent trying to keep the demon from eating people.

CBR Book#39: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Sometimes when I'm reading, I can feel an invisible wall between myself and the end of the book. I push against it with the words that I read and the pages that I turn, only to feel it become tiring in a way that makes me want to exert myself even more. The ending is so sought after that I have difficulty reading. I want to see the threads joined together. I want to know that I've read what I think I've read. I want to know that I've seen what I should have seen. The Blind Assassin is a book that pushed me in this way.

CBR Book#38: Fragile Things:Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

As I've said before, I've resisted Gaiman because he comes highly recommended and praised, and I'm usually disappointed by the build-up and high expectations of others. In Gaiman's case, the praise is actually deserving and I'm glad that I've begun to read his works. My first brush with him was the short story "Bitter Grounds" in the short story collection The Living Dead. The story intrigued me, but left me a little confused but satisfied. That same story in included in this collection and allowed me to read it apart from so many other 'zombie' stories, making me see it more clearly and appreciate it more. It works beautifully on its own and added even more to the collection than I could have discerned before.

CBR Book#37: Horns by Joe Hill

(Just a note to say that I didn't give up on the CBR. I just tried to be like gp and read outside of my comfort zone. It was a complete failure. So I went back to what I like.)

Ignatius "Ig" Perrish has been in love with Merrin Williams since he was 15 years old. They met in church when Merrin used her cross necklace to flash light in Ig's eyes. That was also the first time that Ig ever saw his future best friend Lee Tourneau. Both boys are smitten with the flame-haired Merrin, but it is Ig that she wants.

CBR Book#36: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I've been afraid to read anything by Neil Gaiman. It seems that those familiar with his work absolutely adore him and his stories. Gaiman has also won numerous awards, including the Bram Stoker Award, a Newberry Medal, and Hugo Award. He's very intimidating and I feared that I wouldn't enjoy his writing or wouldn't get it, whatever 'it' is to get. I encountered my first glimpse of Gaiman in the short story collection The Living Dead and I quite liked it. But was I ready for an entire novel by Gaiman? When the Pajiba Book Club choice came down from Mount Scathing, it was The Graveyard Book by Mr. Gaiman. I decided to suck it up, read the book, and participate in its discussion. I'm glad I did.

CBR Book#35: The Collector by John Fowles

Do you ever wonder who writes the inside flap for books? Do you think it might be the same morons that create movie trailers with the entire plot, twists and all, spelled out for you? Do you ever wander the library, cursing softly to yourself (no one likes to get shushed in the library) as you read inner flap after inner flap with a description like this: Stupid Named Protagonist has left behind his/her life in the military/police force/crime. Unfortunately their brother/sister/wife/various other relatives/friend has been kidnapped/killed/gone missing and it is up to Stupid Named Protagonist to go back to their old life to save them." I'm sick of it. Luckily, Yosarrian recommended John Fowles' debut novel, The Collector to me. Thank you so much for rescuing me from a quagmire of mediocrity.

CBR Book#34: Stiff:The Curious Live of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

My aunt's husband passed away in November of last year due to complications of the H1N1 flu. His remains were donated to science. I hadn't really given much thought to what might happen to his body once it was donated. I briefly imagined that he would be shown to students or something and his organs examined to show the correlation of his health prior to the contraction of the flu and his death. Of course, that's closer to what an autopsy would do, but I didn't think about that. Though I have a degree in criminal justice with an emphasis on crime scene investigations, I don't like to think about what happens when we die. I'm better with looking at the components than the whole picture. So it wasn't until I read Stiff that I was confronted with some reality about what happens when we die.

CBR Book#33: Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Poor Sookie. I mean, it isn't all bad. She's gotten to bone two vampires and a weretiger, so that should count for something. Of course, she's also had the living poops beaten out of her since meeting all of these studs. But she didn't die...yep, I would like to be Sookie Stackhouse when I'm all groweds up.

CBR Book#32: Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

I stumbled upon this book while browsing the library occult section. Sadly, our library's occult section is embarrassingly small. There wouldn't be enough there to research even the simplest demon if, you know, we had to do it so our Slayer could save the day. Just sayin'. Anyway, I was intrigued by the idea of taking different aspects of death and subjecting it to scientific measures. I was not disappointed by this book.

CBR Book#31: From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

Just a reminder, SPOILERS AHOY!

CBR Book#30: All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

Told you. Also? I'm having a difficult time writing about the Sookie Stackhouse novels without using information from the previous installments, so SPOILERS!

CBR Book#29: Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard

Leonard brings back three of his characters to play with each other in the novel Road Dogs. We have Jack Foley, bank robber and lead in Out of Sight. There's the Cuban Cundo Rey from LaBrava and the psychic Dawn Navarro of Riding the Rap. I've seen Out of Sight, but not read it, so I'm familiar with Foley. The only other Elmore Leonard book I've read is Rum Punch so I haven't 'met' Cundo and Dawn before. I think I might need to remedy that.

CBR Book#28: Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

No, I won't stop reading these. Yes, I have two more I'm picking up from the library today.

CBR Book#27: Dead As A Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Oh, Charlaine Harris, you nutbag you. You have to be one of the most delightfully insane, and clearly horny, writers working today. Miss Sookie Stackhouse is a telepath with a name that sounds half Chinese prostitute and half Southern dynasty. The books are populated with (POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHOY!) Viking vampires. Pirate vampire. Yakuza vampire. Fairies. Werewolves. Shape-shifters. Werepanthers. Weretigers. Maenads. (POSSIBLE SPOILERS OVAH!) I'm starting to think that Sookie must either smell or taste like an orgasm feels with all of the supernatural sexy that wants to bang her. And I love it all!

CBR Book#26: The Living Dead edited by John Joseph Adams

"This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, and not with a whimper, but with the bleak gusto of a low-budget horror movie" - John Langan

Adams has collected thirty-four short stories that all begin with the idea of zombies in our midst. Some of the stories bring the zombies to the forefront, some keep them in the background, shrouded in more mystery than usual. Some of the stories speak from the viewpoint of the zombie and one doesn't even involve real zombies.

CBR Book#25: Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Spoilers past the jump!

CBR Book#24: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

There are spoilers past the jump...

CBR Book#23: The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

The premise of this book is quite intriguing. As long as there is someone alive who remembers who you are, you will live in The City with other dead people after you pass away. When there is no one left with memories of you, you will leave The City of the dead and move on. On to what, this book does not address. It sounds like a beautiful way to view the afterlife and the dead seem to be happy in The City. Happy until some of them disappear due to a deadly virus sweeping the Earth.

Things I Say to My Dog

We have a beagle named Wallace. He's the only one in the house that obeys me on a consistent basis. He is also the only one that follows me around all day, tripping me and wanting to be scratched behind the ears. Here are some things that I've said to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up? Well, tough shit because it's Lost Tuesday, bitch."

"Holy Lord, dog! Did you just fart? Maybe those refried beans I gave you were a bad idea..."

"STOP EATING THE CRUNCHY LAUNDRY RESIDUE THAT FELL OUT OF THE DRYER!"

"No. Go wipe your paws off first. NOOOO. I SAID GET THE MUD OFF OF YOUR PAWS FIRST!"

"Really? You'd rather eat this slice of bread than that chunk of chicken I just gave you? ARE YOU EVEN A REAL DOG??"

"Get away from my clothes. They just came out of the dryer and I would like to wear them before they start to smell like dog butt. Thanks so much."

I think I need more company during the days...and evenings.

This is not a book review

My 79 year old Pepaw fell and broke his leg on Tuesday. He was alone at his house when it happened. He felt the leg break and then crawled back to his house. He got to the phone and called...his buddies. "Where's a good place to get bones set?" he asked. Since he was asking in a normal tone of voice, Pepaw's buddy asked, "For your dog?", to which Pepaw replied, "No, for me."

CBR Book#22: Teasing Secrets From the Dead by Emily Craig, Ph.D.

Emily Craig began her career as a medical illustrator. After dating a police officer, Craig became interested in forensics and crime scene investigations. She was able to assist in a facial reconstruction through her skill in sculpture. This got her interested in pursuing a new career as a forensic anthropologist and began attending University of Tennessee with the famed Dr. Bill Bass. After completing her education, Craig became the full-time forensic anthropologist for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Dr. Craig has been involved in identifying bones from human remains in such high profile cases as Branch Davidians in Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the World Trade Center after September 11th. She has also had hundreds of thousands of cases in her capacity as forensic anthropologist for Kentucky. You would think that all of this would make for an interesting book. You would be sorely mistaken, friend. SORELY.

CBR Book#21: Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

The second book in the Sookie Stackhouse novels is a quick read and more interesting to me than the first was. Sookie and Bill's romance is not as convoluted and messy as portrayed throughout most of the first season of True Blood, the series based on the novels. There is less need for artificial melodrama or the introduction of characters that I couldn't give a shit about. There are also less boobs.

CBR Book#20: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

At last I have completed the last book of the Harry Potter series. I was both looking forward to and dreading reading The Deathly Hallows because I would finally know how it all ends and because it would all end. I had heard that more people died in the end of this one and I spent most of the book afraid of when someone was going to die. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the book, because I did, but it was an intense experience.

CBR Book#19: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

People seemed to be severely underwhelmed by the movie adaptation of Half-Blood Prince. As I hadn't read the book, I didn't know what I was missing when I finally watched the movie a week ago. Let me tell you, I was confused watching Half-Blood Prince. I didn't understand what the hell was going on, even though I had seen all of the previous movies and had just begun reading the book. Having finished the book, I must say I have a clearer understanding of the movie and its many flaws.