Time once again to solicit your advice, dear readers. I may even heed it this time around.

The wife and I are planning a week's vacation in March, and at this point we've narrowed it down to "someplace warm." We're mulling options, and I figure I'd open the floor to suggestions.

At this point we're not tied in to one part of the world, though the ones farther away from our current location are less likely given the cost and time spent getting there. The one location that's not on the table is Orlando. We're pretty burnt out with central Florida. Also, anywhere that is likely to be infested with Spring Breakers we'd like to avoid. It's enough that I get to be with college students the other 51 weeks of the year.

We'd also prefer a place with a decent mix of things to do. We're not the type to spend an entire week at the beach, but we're also not looking to spend the entire week on the go, either.

So comment away with your warm weather vacation suggestions!

I'd do the usual post about bar trivia this week, but I was thrice irritated:

1. One of the questions in the first round? "What does Tony the Tiger think about Frosted Flakes?" WTF?

2. Another question botched a song title, reversing the actual title and its parenthetical title. We still got credit thanks to creative answering, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

3. There was a question that spoiled at least part of the last Harry Potter book. I know, it's been out for over a month, but I'm still annoyed.

Book Log 2007 #32: World War III: The Untold Story by Sir John Hackett

Hackett first fought World War III in a 1978 book that posited a two week war in the summer of 1985, started by a Soviet government that believes a quick war could revive its flagging economy and world status. This sequel was published in 1982 to provide a longer-range view of the fictional war's impact on the world.

I read the first book when I was in high school, so reading the sequel a good 20 years later - without re-reading the original - was pretty clearly a mistake. It wasn't helped by the density of the work and its style, which didn't lend itself to long-term casual reading. I found myself reading shorter and shorter bits of the book until, about 60 percent of the way through, I just stopped. I do not know that I would have done better even if I'd read the first book recently.

Oddly enough, I found both books at the same used book store in Beverly, though obviously some years apart. I think this one I'll sell back to them.

Book Log 2007 #31: The Dark Tower by P. D. James

The first of my vacation books, fitting given that we were in England (though not the eastern coast, where this book takes place). In this Dalgliesh mystery, the inspector goes to pay a call on an elderly minister he knew as a boy, only to find that he has died while living on an estate serving as a long-term care facility. Dalgliesh suspects something other than natural causes, and is borne out as he gets to the bottom of the web of intrigue surrounding the owner, patients, and community surrounding the care facility.

It's one of the better Dalgliesh books I've read, I think. You can tell it was written some time ago (first published in 1975), but the main mystery certainly holds up. I also liked that there was a little more insight as to Dalgliesh's past, which is (understandably) diminished in later books.

James was inspired for this work by Clavell Tower, whose story is vaguely similar to the tower in the book.

Recommended, and probably evidence that reading the books in order would be somewhat helpful.

For the first time in quite I while I was out playing bar trivia last night, thought not at the Elephant and Castle. A guy at work plays with some friends at the Applebee's in Danvers, and after a few weeks of being pestered I decided to go over.

It was pretty different from the E&C. There were six rounds, one of which was a bonus round of 10 questions (for this week, name the movie for which a listed actor won their first Oscar) and a theme round chosen by the previous week's winner (the team I was on won last week and went with Seinfeld, a solid choice). All questions were worth one point, with the final question allowing team to bet any number of their points. The emcee read the five questions and then played one song, which I think I like better than the one question, one song model.

Questions were pretty good. They may be a little easier than the E&C's, though I got stumped by enough of them.

We wound up winning, earning $25 or $30 restaurant credit. Which I'd be more excited about if I liked Applebees more. Still, they do have some decent apps, so no complaints.

It was kind of funny playing with a team of mostly strangers. My co-worker had mentioned that he worked with a guy who was on Millionaire, so there was much rehashing.

Anyway, some questions for you:

What is the name of the character you play as in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City? Tommy Vercetti (Greg) - I was surprised that no one on my team knew this, given how many of my teammates were males in their mid-20s. That seems like just the right demographic.

Why can't snakes shut their eyes? They don't have eyelids (Chris) - this is an example of one of the dodgier questions, as I don't know if we'd have gotten credit for giving an alternate correct answer, like Greg did. I think we would have, but it's hard to say. In any case, we had a snake owner on our team who got this. He's also apparently good friends with the guy who runs the game, which I can't imagine hurts any.

What is the birthstone for September? Sapphire (Greg) - you think I'd have this list down cold by now. I don't. It's like the order of the Presidents; I know the ends pretty well but lose track in the middle. Which makes sapphire the Rutherford B. Hayes of birthstones.

What was the occupation of the virgin Jerry dated on Seinfeld? Closet organizer (Greg) - We knew this, but I figured it was more interesting question than Jerry's apartment number. Which the team also knew. This was good round for me to take a break.

What two companies have advertising signs on top of the Green Monster? Volvo and The Sports Authority (Chris) - we had kind of a mini-Sox themed round here, as there were questions on the distance from home plate to the center field triangle and the number of consecutive saves Eric Gagne put together as a Dodger. Definitely more of a series of questions you can ask a local crowd rather than the mix of locals and business travelers the E&C usually has.

For what film did Robert DeNiro win his first Oscar? The Godfather Part II (Greg) - there was talk about this, but we wound up going with Raging Bull. This pissed me off less than missing Denzel Washington's win for Glory, where I though he had happen what actually happened to Morgan Freeman.

Who has appeared on the greatest number of Sports Illustrated covers? Michael Jordan (Greg) - this was the final question, and we were pretty confident about it. The only other person I could think of who'd be close was Muhammed Ali, but I was pretty sure MJ had passed him a while back.

Finally get a chance to surface. It's been busy.

Work - Wentworth has 450 or so new alumni after our graduation ceremony on Saturday. Busy as hell in the couple of weeks leading up to it, as we have more than four times as many students graduate in August than in May (a ratio that will only get worse once the new architecture curriculum is fully in place).

At least next year I'll get an extra day, as both of our ceremonies move back to Sunday. They'd moved to Saturday after a lone complaint about having graduation on Mother's Day. It may just be me, but I think seeing my child graduate from college would make a swell Mother's Day present.

Me - As mentioned before we had birthday fun to deal with, capped by a trip to Maine. Not only did we have the requisite birthday cookout, but we also got to take in the 150th anniversary celebration for Stockton Springs. We caught the parade, and I even have pictures if you're into public safety vehicles or horses.

I did not manage to get a picture of Susan Collins, the junior US Senator from Maine. I'd forgotten she was going to be there (it was mentioned in the paper). This is easily the closest I've been to a sitting Senator, at least since the time I got to ride the shuttle underneath the Capitol. Fair to say I'd not have recognized most of the Senators at that point.

Or now, I suppose.

Other crap - the only thing of note here is that I broke the lawn mower yesterday. Or rather, it broke itself. I was pushing it along, minding my own business, and a wheel just fell off. Thankfully I was close enough to done that I could freehand the rest with the weed whacker.

I spent about 15 minutes trying to put the wheel back on, but didn't succeed. I can see how it needs to go on, and even had a wrench that'd allow me to fasten the wheel securely. I just didn't have the third hand necessary to manage the wheel, the mower, and the wrench at the same time.

That's the sort of thing I didn't miss when I was renting or living on campus.

It should also be noted that while the sweet pea isn't in the same league as kudzu, it is one hearty plant. One of the neighbors has it growing along his bushes and grape arbor, and it's everywhere in my backyard, both growing up the side of the house (the one I yanked down yesterday was a good eight feet up) and in the middle of the yard. I fear that I'm going to have to invest in some sort of lawn care products to give the grass a fighting chance.

I've been trying not to think too much about the whole Barry Bonds thing, but a thought did occur to me. The three most cherished offensive career records (in my opinion) in baseball are for home runs, hits, and batting average. Which means that Barry Bonds is now in baseball company with Pete Rose and Ty Cobb.

Which, when you think about it, means that Bonds is, in some ways, a more fitting home run king than Hank Aaron.

Five things to remember if you ever decide to eat at Mandrake, found on Beverly's nascent Restaurant Row in the downtown section of Cabot Street:

1. The online menu may not match the one they're using. It was pretty close, but they didn't offer at least one of the apps we were considering (the duck confit). It also appears that clicking on any link but the one for the bar gives you the dinner menu.

2. The chicken skewers that were on the live menu are huge. Two people could easily split it.

3. Whoever came up with the idea for gouda-chorizo scalloped potatoes deserves some sort of medal.

4. Try not to be dismayed by the art on the walls. We have an art college in town, and I assume the semi-erotic photography on display will rotate out eventually.

5. The waitstaff is good if a little slow, and they're very willing to comp mistakes, such as when an order for pinot noir turns into a very nice glass of champagne.

All that being said, we enjoyed our meal quite a bit, and would go back without hesitation.

Book Log 2007 #30: Harvard Yard by William Martin

Peter Fallon, the hero of Martin's earlier book Back Bay, is at the center of another historical mystery entwined with family history. In this case it's a lost Shakespeare play, the text of which has been hidden at Harvard since its inception. The book follows the hunt for this priceless object - both in the present-day and throughout the centuries.

I was a little reluctant to pick this one up - you hear enough about Harvard around here - but I think this is likely my favorite book of Martin's. Both the historical and present story lines hold up well, and is certainly more engaging than the likes of Annapolis. It also helps that I've read this book much closer to its original publishing date. I picked up Back Bay about 20 years after it was published, and the present day story was, in some respects, pretty dated.

Fallon is also at the center of Martin's newest book. Given the Harvard connection, it seems like a matter of time before Fallon and Robert Langdon cross paths. Just as long as Dan Brown doesn't do the bulk of the writing.

Last year on this day I looked at ten people to see what they'd accomplished by the time they were 37. This year, I'm looking back to see what young, famous people (or young, famous people that I'm familiar with) were born today.

Katie Leung turns 20 today. We know her best for playing Cho Chang in the Harry Potter movies. Just a year younger than her is Princess Beatrice of York, who has not been in any of the Harry Potter movies.

Tennis great Roger Federer turns 26, while footballer Louis Saha (France/ManUre) turns 29. As does Countess Vaughn, formerly of Moesha and The Parkers.

Boy band fans have two reasons to celebrate - Drew Lachey and J.C. Chasez both turn 31. As does Heroes actress Tawny Cypress.

Scott Stapp turns 34. Former Paris Hilton fiance Paris Latsis turns 29. They seem to go together for reasons I can't fully express.

Not sure that was the note I wanted to end on, but so be it. Happy 38th birthday to me.

Book Log 2007 #29: Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

Not to be confused with the Tennessee fireworks celebration of the same name, Boomsday sees Christopher Buckley turn his witty writing style towards intergenerational issues in politics and media. The title comes from a term coined by a blogger for the impact Baby Boomers will have on the national economy (most notably Social Security), using resources that the less populous age cohorts behind them will be unable to replenish by the time they get to retirement. The blogger's wrath at Boomers (fuled by a father who used her college money to fund his tech start-up) fuels further anger by other under-30s, and humor ensues.

I'm not sure this quite reaches the level of Thank You For Smoking, but it's certainly better humor and better satire than the likes of some of his more recent books. The only negative for me was the ending, which seemed both abrupt and a bit of a cop-out. Buckley does a better job at portraying people younger than himself than many authors, which is refreshing.

That being said, a strong recommendation here.

As a side note, Boomsday is an offering from Twelve Books, an imprint that only releases one book a month. It's an interesting concept, if presented a bit pretentiously on its website.

Three things I did last weekend that I'd not done before:

1. Visited the Salem Witch Museum. It's billed as Salem's most visited museum, which is kind of sad given the quality of the collection at the Peabody Essex Museum. The main exhibit at the Witch Museum is a number of life-sized wax figured depicting the stages of the trial, from Tituba's stories inflaming bored local girls to the final hangings. The displays are along three walls of the main room, which is a problem as most of the seating is similarly situated. It is unlikely that you'll see the entire thing without having to get up and move around, potentially obscuring someone else's view.

The narration is overly-dramatic and sounds like it was recorded in 1982, less from the quality of the audio than the cheese factor.

The Witch Museum also has a section on the changing interpretation of witches, from the old crone to the green-skinned broom flyer to modern Wiccans. I imagine it's informative if you don't know anything about witches. The trolley tour we took was about as informative, and we could get on and off that all day.

2. Ate at Prince Pizza. I've been driving past this place all my life, but have never gone in, even with the enticement of the small-scale Leaning Tower of Pisa out front.

I can't say I was missing much. The pizza is similar to Greek pizza, thought the crust is a bit crispier and overall it's less greasy. That being said, it was on the expensive side, and their bruschetta is disappointing. I don't know if I'd bother going here again.

3. Saw the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo. I have vague memories of a kindergarten field trip to a zoo, but I think it was the Stone Zoo. I can't imagine our town would want to send its five year olds into the 'hood.

Franklin Park is not a big zoo. It's also not a very good zoo, as much of the fencing looks temporary and the habitats are either too small or (for the indoor ones) smelling of dank and feces. The indoor exhibits are also very dated. There's a push on to renovate the zoo, which is needed.

That being said, it was a good time. We got to see what we think was Bactrian camel foreplay, as well as a wildabeest that was three days old. There are also lions, tigers, giraffes, zebras and a popular gorilla exhibit. Not only do some of their gorillas paint, one, Little Joe, has talent as an escape artist. Thankfully, the new gorilla habitat seems more secure.

I'd go back, though with better directions. Getting there wasn't a problem, but leaving I wound up going down the wrong street and we had an impromptu visit to a part of Boston not normally on the tourist itinerary. It worked out fine, but I was pretty irritated at being lost.

All of this was courtesy of a visit from the wife's pre-teen niece, which seemed to go pretty well. At least she was never visibly bored or annoyed with us, which I'll take.