Support
Contact
Ace:
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
Sunday Morning Book Thread 06-22-2014 [OregonMuse]
Harvard University Library, Interior, Where Books Bound With Human Skin Live
Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's stately and prestigious Sunday Morning Book Thread.
A Visit To The Bookbinder Trigger warning: This section talks about finding books bound with human skin. If you have been traumatized in the past by books bound with human skin, or if your own skin has been used to bind a book, do not read the following: So they've found several books at the Harvard University Library that are bound with human skin. Ew. There's even a name for this sort of thing. It's called anthropodermic bibliopegy. It's kind of like cannibalism, only more literate. So even though the books specifically say things like "this book is bound in human skin", I guess they didn't take these simple declarative sentences seriously. At least, not until recently, when some genius decided they should run some lab tests on the cover material. So the results came back and the ssmples turned out to be, hold on to your hats, human skin, just like the books said. Anthropodermic bibliopegy. Ask for it by name.
Do You Want To Be A Writer? Heh. Then you can play this board game.
How Well Do You Know Stephen King's Books? Here's a quiz to help you find out. I sucked big time on this one. All of you should be able to beat my puny 53% score.
Yale University Library, Interior. Number of Books Bound With Human Skin: Nearly Zero
5 Authors More Badass Than The Badass Character They Created Lots of fun stuff about the authors in this Cracked list. I think I was the most impressed by Ernest Hemingway:
He was a boxer, a track runner, a football player, a water polo player and a key figure of the debate team, presumably winning most of his arguments with terrifying scowls...Hemingway spent the last years of his life refusing to die, surviving two consecutive plane crashes, a concussion, temporary paralysis and a massive bushfire.
At one point he was so injured that some American newspapers ran his obituary. Yes, that's right--Hemingway was so badass that he got to read his own obituary.
Hard Choices OK, so how well is the new book by Hillary! Clinton selling? According to the Weekly Standard, it's tanking. But the LA Times says it's going like gangbusters. So which is it? The Washington Post blog's piece on this topic contains some actual numbers for comparison, so you can look for yourself. The one comparison that caught my attention is that Hillary!'s first book, 'Living History', sold 600,000 copies in the first week when it came out in 2003. 'Hard Choices', on the other hand, sold 86,000 in that time frame.
Books to Film Here are 15 book adaptions slated to hit the big screen in 2015. Included are 'Fifty Shades of Grey', and another version of 'Frankenstein':
This much-adapted horror classic is going to hit theaters once again. The twist to this version will be be a shift in focus towards Igor, Frankenstein's assistant, who did not appear in the original Shelley novel. James McAvoy will play Frankenstein and Igor will be played by none other than Daniel Radcliffe.Also, 'The Jungle Book':
Not to be confused with the Disney adaptation from the 1960s, this big-screen version of the Kipling classic will be a live-action film with such stars as Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, and Lupita Nyong'o lending their voices to some of the many animal characters in the novel. It will be directed by Jon Favreau.Not to mention 'American Sniper', which will be directed by Clint Eastwood.
Two Authors I've never read any of Tom Robbins' books. And after reading this review in Slate, I probably never will. But I was amused by the author's premise that Tom Robbins is just Ayn Rand for hippies:
[T]he standard setup of a Robbins novel involves an "enlightened" character shattering paradigms and hectoring the unenlightened with lengthy harangues about how it all really works, man. Often the unenlightened character or some stuffy bystander will counter with weak straw-man arguments in favor of the status quo, just to be ripped apart by the hero. It's tempting to say that a tone of "wake up, sheeple!" persists, but that's not quite accurate; the Robbins hero is generally trying to wake up (and bone) one particular sheeple, and the masses are on their own.And this from a guy who says he likes Robbins. I'm thinking, Egad, his books must really be insufferable. But I have to admit, what the author says about Robbins is pretty much how I feel about Rand. That is, I thought she was The Greatest Thing Ever when I first stumbled upon her books back when I was in my early 20s. It was only after I was older that I was able to see her flaws, her bad writing, and appreciate, if not wholly agree with, Whitaker Chambers' intensely negatively review of Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, Big Sister Is Watching You, from the Dec. 28th, 1957 issue of National Review. Sometimes, you just grow up. Update: although the way things are going the past few years, sometimes when I thumb through my copy of AS, I think, damn, the woman's a prophet.
Books of Note Hey, remember the good old days, long, long ago, when there wasn't any war and we all sat around weaving flower garlands in our hair and dancing naked around the maypole, worshiping benign, gentle fertility deities and munching on locally grown fruits and nuts? Well, I don't either. The myth of the "noble savage" is a theme I've touched on before. But from this piece in Taki's Magazine, I learned of the book War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage by Lawrence H. Keeley, which discusses how wars were fought by prehistoric peoples, based on archeological and historical research, and how they were bloody and savage as all hell. Which won't be news to any of you, but it's nice to see reality coming from academia. The Amazon blurb is too long to copy-and-paste here, but I'll leave you with this fascinating tidbit:
Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times).Rahm Emmanuel just e-mailed me to say "no way, dude."
Books By Morons Late in last week's thread, moron Brian McKim (yes, that's his real name) mentioned that his wife
wrote a Kindle single called "Sometimes Ask A Man." It's a fisking of the obscure 1965 book "Always Ask A Man," by Arlene Dahl. It's hysterical. (I actually laughed so hard when I was editing it that I cried a few times.) Hope some of you pick it up. It's $1.99!Sometimes Ask A Man by Traci Skene is available on Kindle. ___________ And on a more serious note, moronette "Sally June" wants you (or a friend/grandchild/friend of a grandchild) to score big on the MCAT and get into that big-ass med school. And she has written a book to help with this. She writes:
Maybe they are too poor to take the classes that cost thousands. Maybe they are too dazed by all the info out there to figure out -- quickly, efficiently -- how to study for the Verbal Reasoning part of the test. If that's the case, I wrote a book to help such students. It's available at Amazon, in Kindle and Smashwords: 12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success. I don't expect anyone to buy it unless they have an actual use for it.12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success is available on createspace. Also Kindle and Smashwords. ___________ So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm. What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as I keep saying, life is too short to be reading lousy books.
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
I just finished with the re-read of Atlas Shrugged. A good book and certainly turned out to be exactly what has happened in the US since 1957 when it was written. But it cries out for editing it down to about 500 or 600 pages. Getting through the John Galt address to the nation chapter was extremely tedious. She essentially said the same thing over and over for one entire chapter. I found myself simply skimming through it. With a good trimming this could go from a good book to a great book.
Fans of Ayn Rand and objectivism may be interested in the Terry Goodkind book "Faith of the Fallen". It is part of the sword of truth series and it really details the theories of objectivism and the ultimate failures of socialism. It is also a much better book entertainment-wise. But if you have never read this series, it is always better to start at the beginning.
I am starting "Off To Be the Wizard" next because it is supposed to be light comedy SF novel. I got it on one of the daily deals for $1.99
Fans of Ayn Rand and objectivism may be interested in the Terry Goodkind book "Faith of the Fallen". It is part of the sword of truth series and it really details the theories of objectivism and the ultimate failures of socialism. It is also a much better book entertainment-wise. But if you have never read this series, it is always better to start at the beginning.
I am starting "Off To Be the Wizard" next because it is supposed to be light comedy SF novel. I got it on one of the daily deals for $1.99
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:02 AM (T2V/1)
2
I would love to have a room like that first pic in my house for a reading room. But would like one south facing wall with large windows.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:03 AM (T2V/1)
3
So is Ace committing hobopodermic blogiopegy?
Posted by: S. Muldoon at June 22, 2014 10:04 AM (mvenn)
4
I just finished with the re-read of Atlas Shrugged. A good book and certainly turned out to be exactly what has happened in the US since 1957 when it was written. But it cries out for editing it down to about 500 or 600 pages
I'm thinking you could probably whittle it down to 300-400 pages and still not lose any of what she wanted to say.
I'm thinking you could probably whittle it down to 300-400 pages and still not lose any of what she wanted to say.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:04 AM (+ahS9)
5
I sucked big time on this one. All of you should be able to beat my puny 53% score.
Not me, I have only read one SK book.
Not me, I have only read one SK book.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:05 AM (T2V/1)
6
It's pronounced, "Fronkenshteen."
Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at June 22, 2014 10:05 AM (0HooB)
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:06 AM (+ahS9)
8
Well not reading but writing. Past few days lightning has struck for Sluggor. Got broad outlines for two more tests. Once I am done with these tests, he will be wishing he was struck by lightning.
And speaking of The Princess Who Caused Fear, thank you Shawn for writing your review. Hope I am addressing the complaint of -Insert Middle of Story Here-
And speaking of The Princess Who Caused Fear, thank you Shawn for writing your review. Hope I am addressing the complaint of -Insert Middle of Story Here-
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:07 AM (Nyz5c)
9
Hemingway was a commie asshole. He even offered to spy on behalf of Stalin.
Hemingway was a commie asshole. He even offered to spy on behalf of Stalin.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 10:09 AM (lJm99)
10
Nice fantasy fiction, some of my favs:
David Gemmell
Alastair Reynonlds
Currently reading the Mistborn trilogy from Brandon Sanderson.
Sanderson finished the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan died.
His Way of Kings series is in progress and really good.
Non-fiction: Dan Pipes' Russian history books.
And yer gonna say "wth?" but I also have chem textbook that I read for fun because I'm a nerd.
David Gemmell
Alastair Reynonlds
Currently reading the Mistborn trilogy from Brandon Sanderson.
Sanderson finished the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan died.
His Way of Kings series is in progress and really good.
Non-fiction: Dan Pipes' Russian history books.
And yer gonna say "wth?" but I also have chem textbook that I read for fun because I'm a nerd.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:10 AM (x3YFz)
11
Apparently some must pay the ultimate price for a Harvard MBA.
I'm reading Dead Man's Ransom (Brother Cadfael Chronicle #9) by Ellis Peters.
Diggin' it as I do the entire series, though what's not to like about a Holmsian Crusade-soldier-turned-herbalist-crime-solving monk living during the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud in the 12th century.
BTW, Amazon has all 13 vids produced in the Cadfael series available in Instant Video format for just $7 ... not bad for a half-buck each.
Highly recommended in either format, especially the books.
I'm reading Dead Man's Ransom (Brother Cadfael Chronicle #9) by Ellis Peters.
Diggin' it as I do the entire series, though what's not to like about a Holmsian Crusade-soldier-turned-herbalist-crime-solving monk living during the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud in the 12th century.
BTW, Amazon has all 13 vids produced in the Cadfael series available in Instant Video format for just $7 ... not bad for a half-buck each.
Highly recommended in either format, especially the books.
Posted by: Blacksheep at June 22, 2014 10:10 AM (bS6uW)
12
Not to mention 'American Sniper', which will be directed by Clint Eastwood.
He better hurry. He's 84.
He better hurry. He's 84.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 10:11 AM (lJm99)
13
Read Sanderson's "Steelheart". Was definitely worth the 1.99 I probably paid on Kindle. The second book of the series comes out this fall. Don't plan to pay $8 or so though. Will wait for sale or get it from the library.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette, assault Hobbit at June 22, 2014 10:11 AM (GDulk)
14
How Well Do You Know Stephen King's Books?
Describe almost every Stephen King novel in four words:
Evil Space Aliens Did It
How Well Do You Know Stephen King's Books?
Describe almost every Stephen King novel in four words:
Evil Space Aliens Did It
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 22, 2014 10:11 AM (OMTVG)
15
oh, and someone asked about the "Johnson" in the nic in last nights open thread:
Dwayne Johnson: why? the ettes have to love him and he's a great dude.
Dwayne Johnson: why? the ettes have to love him and he's a great dude.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:12 AM (x3YFz)
16
14 One word-Flagg.
Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at June 22, 2014 10:13 AM (s8AA4)
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 22, 2014 10:13 AM (OMTVG)
18
Describe almost every Stephen King novel in four words:
Evil Space Aliens Did It
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 22, 2014 10:11 AM (OMTVG)
Worst movies. Ever.
I don't know what went wrong, but any stephen king book that gets made for tv looks like it was filmed by the local high school.
Just awful.
And he's a dick.
Evil Space Aliens Did It
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 22, 2014 10:11 AM (OMTVG)
Worst movies. Ever.
I don't know what went wrong, but any stephen king book that gets made for tv looks like it was filmed by the local high school.
Just awful.
And he's a dick.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:13 AM (x3YFz)
19
Sitting now at Nantucket Airport reading "Lincoln's Own Yarns and Stories" by Colonel AK McClure. Good refresher from my youth. About to board a Nantucket to DC flight. Can't wait to see the douchecanoes on that plane.
Posted by: lincolntf at June 22, 2014 10:14 AM (uDJTI)
20
4 I'm thinking you could probably whittle it down to 300-400 pages and still not lose any of what she wanted to say.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:04 AM (+ahS9)
Probably.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:04 AM (+ahS9)
Probably.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:14 AM (T2V/1)
21
I have a very nice purse made from my husband's ball sack.
Posted by: The First Wookie at June 22, 2014 10:14 AM (JdEZJ)
22
The 'ettes asked about your Johnson????
Dood.....
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 22, 2014 10:13 AM (OMTVG)
i'm not that lucky.
Dood.....
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 22, 2014 10:13 AM (OMTVG)
i'm not that lucky.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:14 AM (x3YFz)
23
Speaking of "Get it frim the library." I was eighth on the list to read Butcher's new Dresden Files book and haven't heard a peep yet. Hope they haven't fotgotten me.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette, assault Hobbit at June 22, 2014 10:15 AM (GDulk)
24
Well it's actually a coin purse.
Posted by: The First Wookie at June 22, 2014 10:15 AM (JdEZJ)
25
Well it's actually a coin purse.
Posted by: The First Wookie at June 22, 2014 10:15 AM (JdEZJ)
A needle case.
Well it's actually a coin purse.
Posted by: The First Wookie at June 22, 2014 10:15 AM (JdEZJ)
A needle case.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 22, 2014 10:16 AM (OMTVG)
26
From 1942 starring Sabu, a live action adaptation of The Jungle Book.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034928/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034928/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:16 AM (Nyz5c)
27
Read Sanderson's "Steelheart". Was definitely worth the 1.99 I probably paid on Kindle. The second book of the series comes out this fall. Don't plan to pay $8 or so though. Will wait for sale or get it from the library.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette, assault Hobbit at June 22, 2014 10:11 AM (GDulk)
I have the Way of Kings and Words of Radiance in hardback.
Good authors get my $$. They gotta eat, too.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette, assault Hobbit at June 22, 2014 10:11 AM (GDulk)
I have the Way of Kings and Words of Radiance in hardback.
Good authors get my $$. They gotta eat, too.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:16 AM (x3YFz)
28
Occasional moronette Sarah Hoyt has an article over at PJM that likens Hillary's book failure to the pulling down of Lenin statues as a metaphor for the looming collapse of the traditional publishing industry:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/n36nnzz
http://preview.tinyurl.com/n36nnzz
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 10:17 AM (MMC8r)
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 10:18 AM (0FSuD)
30
Frankenstein remake featuring Igor.?!? Sorry, but Marty Feldman owns Igor. "What hump?" http://goo.gl/SEuUkz
*
Finished Steven Pressfield's "The Lion's Gate." Comparable to his "Gates of Fire," even though "Fire" was a novel and "Lion's" is a "Hybrid History." Clearly a labor of love on the author's part. http://goo.gl/szPSxA
*
Reading Adam Corolla's "President Me." Funny, crude, and insightful. Not for people who are offended by profanity.
*
Finished Steven Pressfield's "The Lion's Gate." Comparable to his "Gates of Fire," even though "Fire" was a novel and "Lion's" is a "Hybrid History." Clearly a labor of love on the author's part. http://goo.gl/szPSxA
*
Reading Adam Corolla's "President Me." Funny, crude, and insightful. Not for people who are offended by profanity.
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 10:20 AM (YK3ic)
31
Not a big fan of the e-books.
For some reason, I like my bookshelves filled with titles. I guess it's just a warm fuzzy thing, and sometime back someone told me you can judge a man/woman by the titles of the books on their bookshelves.
just holding a book in my hand, flipping a page, dog-earing... It's somehow very satisfying.
For some reason, I like my bookshelves filled with titles. I guess it's just a warm fuzzy thing, and sometime back someone told me you can judge a man/woman by the titles of the books on their bookshelves.
just holding a book in my hand, flipping a page, dog-earing... It's somehow very satisfying.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:20 AM (x3YFz)
32
Reading Adam Corolla's "President Me." Funny, crude, and insightful. Not for people who are offended by profanity.
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 10:20 AM (YK3ic)
he's a great dude. Thanks for the rec!
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 10:20 AM (YK3ic)
he's a great dude. Thanks for the rec!
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:21 AM (x3YFz)
33
Wonder who first thought human skin book cover was a good idea? That's just so wrong.
I loved Stephen King books when I was a teen - read all of the ones that were available. Read some of his recent stories a few years ago out of curiosity and...no. And yeah, he's a dick.
I loved Stephen King books when I was a teen - read all of the ones that were available. Read some of his recent stories a few years ago out of curiosity and...no. And yeah, he's a dick.
Posted by: Lizzy at June 22, 2014 10:21 AM (yCMP5)
34
Over on PJMedia, Sarah Hoyt recommenced a book by Mackey Chandler "The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet" which is book two of a series.
Book one, "Family Law" was interesting enough to me that I stayed up all night last night to read it straight through. The conflict is the legal systems between humans and nonhumans. The incident is a young human taken into California's child protective services as she is an orphan. The problem is, her parents were killed doing a survey of a previously unknown habitable planet, and their partner (non human) had an agreement with them to act as guardian to their daughter.
The humans are incompetent arrogant bigots, and the non human species seem, uh..conservative. All the right stereotypes get their just desserts, so I liked it.
Book two appears to be setting up a first contact with a belligerent species. That's the hint, but I've only just started it.
Both books were in my price range. (not free).
Book one, "Family Law" was interesting enough to me that I stayed up all night last night to read it straight through. The conflict is the legal systems between humans and nonhumans. The incident is a young human taken into California's child protective services as she is an orphan. The problem is, her parents were killed doing a survey of a previously unknown habitable planet, and their partner (non human) had an agreement with them to act as guardian to their daughter.
The humans are incompetent arrogant bigots, and the non human species seem, uh..conservative. All the right stereotypes get their just desserts, so I liked it.
Book two appears to be setting up a first contact with a belligerent species. That's the hint, but I've only just started it.
Both books were in my price range. (not free).
Posted by: Dennus Lester at June 22, 2014 10:22 AM (2Ex5Y)
35
I have been reading my own damn book because it is Editing Time for Dragonhunters. Boooooring. (I already know how it ends...) Morons with more money than sense can pick up the unedited eARC version here: http://bit.ly/1pbguQT
For everyone else, the polished (and cheaper) version should be out mid July. I just sent the files off to the editor. She's switched from a per-word to an hourly rate, but reassured me that "your manuscripts are so clean the final cost may actually be less." *preen* See, Mrs. Pencke and all my other long-suffering English teachers? I was so paying attention!
For everyone else, the polished (and cheaper) version should be out mid July. I just sent the files off to the editor. She's switched from a per-word to an hourly rate, but reassured me that "your manuscripts are so clean the final cost may actually be less." *preen* See, Mrs. Pencke and all my other long-suffering English teachers? I was so paying attention!
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at June 22, 2014 10:22 AM (2buaQ)
36
*cheerfully dumps personal 1,600 book library on TangoNine*
Sometimes people run out of shelves and house for the books. So e-books.
Sometimes people run out of shelves and house for the books. So e-books.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (Nyz5c)
37
29 Nip, Boss Lady and I went on vacay last year to Asheville. The Biltmore is beyond awesome. I saw it as a kid but didn't appreciate it. Anyone that ever has the chance should see it! Downtown Asheville OTOH is way freaky. Hippy dippy is an understatement. Fun but unexpected in the mountains of NC.
Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (s8AA4)
38
Wonder who first thought human skin book cover was a good idea? That's just so wrong.
I loved Stephen King books when I was a teen - read all of the ones that were available. Read some of his recent stories a few years ago out of curiosity and...no. And yeah, he's a dick.
Posted by: Lizzy at June 22, 2014 10:21 AM (yCMP5)
he started drinking, stopped drinking, started drinking again or something. Dude is just an asshole now.
I loved Stephen King books when I was a teen - read all of the ones that were available. Read some of his recent stories a few years ago out of curiosity and...no. And yeah, he's a dick.
Posted by: Lizzy at June 22, 2014 10:21 AM (yCMP5)
he started drinking, stopped drinking, started drinking again or something. Dude is just an asshole now.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (x3YFz)
39
I'm embarrassed to report I got 80% on the King quiz.
I read them all up to a point but they long ago became unreadable, and I'll be damned if I'm going to enrich someone like that for bad work.
I read them all up to a point but they long ago became unreadable, and I'll be damned if I'm going to enrich someone like that for bad work.
Posted by: Blacksheep at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (bS6uW)
40
*cheerfully dumps personal 1,600 book library on TangoNine*
Sometimes people run out of shelves and house for the books. So e-books.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (Nyz5c)
hehe...
I'm nut judging at all. It's just personal preference ; )
Sometimes people run out of shelves and house for the books. So e-books.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (Nyz5c)
hehe...
I'm nut judging at all. It's just personal preference ; )
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:24 AM (x3YFz)
41
T9, I agree about book feel. However, I love being able to download a bunch of books on my kindle for travel, vacations. So I do a little of both.
Oh, good call on Dwayne Johnson. Yes.
Would appreciate Bruce Willis in their Cabinet.
Oh, good call on Dwayne Johnson. Yes.
Would appreciate Bruce Willis in their Cabinet.
Posted by: Lizzy at June 22, 2014 10:25 AM (yCMP5)
42
Would appreciate Bruce Willis in their Cabinet.
Posted by: Lizzy at June 22, 2014 10:25 AM (yCMP5)
SECDEF
Posted by: Lizzy at June 22, 2014 10:25 AM (yCMP5)
SECDEF
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:26 AM (x3YFz)
43
Atlas Shrugged would be twice as good at half the length.
I started it three times. It was only on my third try that I made it all the way. And, I skimmed the big Galt speech, too. Maybe not even skimmed, looked at a page, yeah yeah, and turned it.
Lefties disparage it not because of its message but because it is so poorly written
But pieces of it are pure genius. Like this:
"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against . . . We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
I started it three times. It was only on my third try that I made it all the way. And, I skimmed the big Galt speech, too. Maybe not even skimmed, looked at a page, yeah yeah, and turned it.
Lefties disparage it not because of its message but because it is so poorly written
But pieces of it are pure genius. Like this:
"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against . . . We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
Posted by: blaster at June 22, 2014 10:28 AM (rCQHn)
44
Harvard Library? Come to Asheville to see a REAL library.
Wow, that's amazing. Thanks for the link. One or two of those photos might be gracing the book thread in the near future.
I'm always looking for good library or bookstore pics.
Wow, that's amazing. Thanks for the link. One or two of those photos might be gracing the book thread in the near future.
I'm always looking for good library or bookstore pics.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:30 AM (+ahS9)
45
Posted by: blaster at June 22, 2014 10:28 AM (rCQHn)
tried to read it several times.
It's... just got this monotonous quality to it that makes it hard to get past more than 4 pages at a time.
tried to read it several times.
It's... just got this monotonous quality to it that makes it hard to get past more than 4 pages at a time.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:31 AM (x3YFz)
46
26 From 1942 starring Sabu, a live action adaptation of The Jungle Book.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034928/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:16 AM (Nyz5c)
I really liked Sabu when I was a kid. He was a bit creepy in Black Narcissus and died young.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034928/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:16 AM (Nyz5c)
I really liked Sabu when I was a kid. He was a bit creepy in Black Narcissus and died young.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 10:31 AM (lJm99)
47
Pro tip:
Scoring high on the MCAT is not necessarily a good thing, I know from experience.
Mid tier schools won't even interview you, some schools interview you just so they can say they interviewed the person with "Score X."
And if you're stupid enough to take actual courses, and they harm your GPA people will reject you based on that disparity (I should have been a history major
)
Scoring high on the MCAT is not necessarily a good thing, I know from experience.
Mid tier schools won't even interview you, some schools interview you just so they can say they interviewed the person with "Score X."
And if you're stupid enough to take actual courses, and they harm your GPA people will reject you based on that disparity (I should have been a history major
)Posted by: tsrblke, PhD(c) And father to be in 7 months! at June 22, 2014 10:32 AM (HDwDg)
48
Sometimes people run out of shelves and house for the books. So e-books.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (Nyz5c)
Same basic problem here. Decades of recreational reading plus my physics and law books left my house looking like a hoarder's.
So, I got them all down one weekend, filled up my study and office and gave away, sold and - yes, I'll admit it - threw away everything else.
Nowadays I e-book everything and if I like it enough I'll track down a nice version in hardback to squeeze into my mini-library. It's got to be pretty good to make the cut.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:23 AM (Nyz5c)
Same basic problem here. Decades of recreational reading plus my physics and law books left my house looking like a hoarder's.
So, I got them all down one weekend, filled up my study and office and gave away, sold and - yes, I'll admit it - threw away everything else.
Nowadays I e-book everything and if I like it enough I'll track down a nice version in hardback to squeeze into my mini-library. It's got to be pretty good to make the cut.
Posted by: Blacksheep at June 22, 2014 10:33 AM (bS6uW)
49
Tom Robbins books suck maximum cock; they are full of trite dogshit irritating vignettes that appeal to dipshit lefties. Do not waste any time on them.
I finished "An Artist in the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro for my book group. It was pretty good about an artist in Japan post WW2 who had been involved with some propaganda art and how people deal with him after the defeat. It was pretty good in terms of exploring motifs such as the relationship of artists to society, of artists to other artists and society coming to grips with losing a war. If it had an overriding weak point it was not creating vivid characters so that whenever one of them re-appeared I had to go back just to figure out who the hell they were. The author also wrote "The Remains of the Day" and writes in English so there were no translation issues with this.
Made a bit of headway in the books of the Crusades which I'm reading and came to the first bit of substantial difference between Oldenbourg's and Asbridge's works in dealing with the attack on Nicea. Asbridge goes into much greater detail in his descriptions (he points out that Taticius was a eunuch of Greek/Arab lineage who had a metal nose replacing the lopped off one and mentions two captured Turk spies, one who lived, who provided a lot of valuable info) while Oldenbourg stresses more how Alexius Comnenus worked behind the backs of the Latin Crusaders to negotiate things leaving them pissed off at being out of the loop. In either case it was a hugely successful joint effort by the Byzantines and Western European Crusaders helped by Kilif Arslan not realizing just how many fucking soldiers there were and not taking them seriously. I check in with Gibbon to see how he describes things and it suffers woefully in comparison. But one thing remains constant with Gibbon: He ALWAYS badmouths the Christians to the point of being ridiculed in an updated footnote for being incredibly wrong. He would fit it well in today's MFM.
Also made some progress in "Post Captain", the second Aubrey/Maturin work by Patrick O'Brian. Aubrey has just taken command of a dogshit ship that was weirdly designed and handles like a complete turd on the initial cruise with a new crew, who also have their issues. I'm really enjoying these works a great deal and am glad some people gave them such high recommendations. O'Brian writes in a very unique style in which a lot of action happens with very few words.
In "Red Fortress" by Catherine Merridale, the 19th century got run through pretty quickly after Napolean attacked and the focus has been mostly on how the Kremlin was used as a huge repository of tons of items from Russia's past which defied categorization and most of the things were damaged because of the storage conditions.
I finished "An Artist in the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro for my book group. It was pretty good about an artist in Japan post WW2 who had been involved with some propaganda art and how people deal with him after the defeat. It was pretty good in terms of exploring motifs such as the relationship of artists to society, of artists to other artists and society coming to grips with losing a war. If it had an overriding weak point it was not creating vivid characters so that whenever one of them re-appeared I had to go back just to figure out who the hell they were. The author also wrote "The Remains of the Day" and writes in English so there were no translation issues with this.
Made a bit of headway in the books of the Crusades which I'm reading and came to the first bit of substantial difference between Oldenbourg's and Asbridge's works in dealing with the attack on Nicea. Asbridge goes into much greater detail in his descriptions (he points out that Taticius was a eunuch of Greek/Arab lineage who had a metal nose replacing the lopped off one and mentions two captured Turk spies, one who lived, who provided a lot of valuable info) while Oldenbourg stresses more how Alexius Comnenus worked behind the backs of the Latin Crusaders to negotiate things leaving them pissed off at being out of the loop. In either case it was a hugely successful joint effort by the Byzantines and Western European Crusaders helped by Kilif Arslan not realizing just how many fucking soldiers there were and not taking them seriously. I check in with Gibbon to see how he describes things and it suffers woefully in comparison. But one thing remains constant with Gibbon: He ALWAYS badmouths the Christians to the point of being ridiculed in an updated footnote for being incredibly wrong. He would fit it well in today's MFM.
Also made some progress in "Post Captain", the second Aubrey/Maturin work by Patrick O'Brian. Aubrey has just taken command of a dogshit ship that was weirdly designed and handles like a complete turd on the initial cruise with a new crew, who also have their issues. I'm really enjoying these works a great deal and am glad some people gave them such high recommendations. O'Brian writes in a very unique style in which a lot of action happens with very few words.
In "Red Fortress" by Catherine Merridale, the 19th century got run through pretty quickly after Napolean attacked and the focus has been mostly on how the Kremlin was used as a huge repository of tons of items from Russia's past which defied categorization and most of the things were damaged because of the storage conditions.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 10:33 AM (3EmSI)
50
Re-read most of Atlas Shrugged 2 years ago.
Ayn and really had the commie's/progressive's number. You think Obama and crew even know that they're doing exactly as she predicted? The arrogant a$$holes even think they're original.
Ayn and really had the commie's/progressive's number. You think Obama and crew even know that they're doing exactly as she predicted? The arrogant a$$holes even think they're original.
Posted by: Lizzy at June 22, 2014 10:33 AM (yCMP5)
51
Excellent news there Sabrina Chase.
Caught up with a writer friend yesterday at SOPOCU Con in Jackson, MS. Her fans and publisher are pestering her to finish second novel in series, they are getting restless and impatient. So the life of an indie author rears it's head - publish or perish.
I should also email the organizers SOPOCU is just too close to SEPPUKU
Caught up with a writer friend yesterday at SOPOCU Con in Jackson, MS. Her fans and publisher are pestering her to finish second novel in series, they are getting restless and impatient. So the life of an indie author rears it's head - publish or perish.
I should also email the organizers SOPOCU is just too close to SEPPUKU
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:34 AM (Nyz5c)
52
The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
Solzhenitsyn complained about this very thing in the Gulag Archipelago.
Solzhenitsyn complained about this very thing in the Gulag Archipelago.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:36 AM (+ahS9)
53
Well, lefties also criticize Rand for bad writing. Though some will laud certain ideas, ultimately the left is nothing without collectivism, of which Rand is one of the harsher critics.
IME even leftists who have nice things to say about Rand will eventually have very harsh things to say, for that reason (ran into that recently).
I do wish someone would edit that darned book, but I also wish people would read the essays and other writings. Rand could be concise on occasion, just for whatever reason she thought fiction should plod.
IME even leftists who have nice things to say about Rand will eventually have very harsh things to say, for that reason (ran into that recently).
I do wish someone would edit that darned book, but I also wish people would read the essays and other writings. Rand could be concise on occasion, just for whatever reason she thought fiction should plod.
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at June 22, 2014 10:37 AM (WqvLb)
54
33
Wonder who first thought human skin book cover was a good idea? That's just so wrong.
Come for the book covers, stay for the lamp shades.
Wonder who first thought human skin book cover was a good idea? That's just so wrong.
Come for the book covers, stay for the lamp shades.
Posted by: Heinrich Himmler at June 22, 2014 10:38 AM (0FSuD)
55
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at June 22, 2014 10:37 AM (WqvLb
It probably didn't help that the attempts at movies were almost a farce.
It probably didn't help that the attempts at movies were almost a farce.
Posted by: tsrblke, PhD(c) And father to be in 7 months! at June 22, 2014 10:38 AM (HDwDg)
56
I was able to get 67% on the Stephen King quiz and I guessed modt of them.King is pretty predictable.
Posted by: steevy at June 22, 2014 10:39 AM (zqvg6)
57
I'm reading Jim Geraghty's The Weed Agency. I love it. It's hilarious and I think it really gets to the dysfunction of beurocracies without hyperbole. Great characters. And it is very nice the way he weaves a tale of fiction around actual events and people, complete with footnotes. He also does not spare the GOP got failing to rein in the government.
I highly recommend it as a fun and enlightening, if depressing, read.
Btw, it was fun hanging out with the rons and ettes last night at NoVaMoMee.
I highly recommend it as a fun and enlightening, if depressing, read.
Btw, it was fun hanging out with the rons and ettes last night at NoVaMoMee.
Posted by: Chique at June 22, 2014 10:39 AM (s4Fqg)
58
#28 - yeah, Sarah's article is a nice encapsulation of how it now appears to stand in Big Publishing, or as I call it, the Literary-Industrial Complex.
It was purely amazing, though - how the various elements which made indy-publishing possible all came together around 2007-2010: first, digital printing - POD, or publishing on demand. This made it possible to print as few or as many copies as needed, rather than the hundreds or thousands necessary to make a lithographic print run economically possible. There were indy writers doing this before 2007, of course - but it meant laying out at least $5000+ for a decent print run and then marketing your book by hand.
Second - the internet, which made it easier to market your indy-published book, and gave rise to Amazon. Which, hate or love it, made getting your book out there possible, making an end-run around the wholesale distributors and brick-and-mortar bookstores. And finally - development of eBook readers. I'm still a little boggled at how fast that went from being a very expensive high-end electronic toy to an every-day item. With eBook readers, the whole issue and expense of printing, shipping, warehousing and returning unsold copies is eliminated from the equation.
Of course, it does mean there is a lot of pretty dreadful stuff out there - but also many excellent and wonderful books for the reading public to appreciate, which otherwise wouldn't have made it past the literary agency slush-pile.
Oh, and I just put up another collection of historical essays last night - on Kindle, here: http://tinyurl.com/otytdxz - enjoy.
It was purely amazing, though - how the various elements which made indy-publishing possible all came together around 2007-2010: first, digital printing - POD, or publishing on demand. This made it possible to print as few or as many copies as needed, rather than the hundreds or thousands necessary to make a lithographic print run economically possible. There were indy writers doing this before 2007, of course - but it meant laying out at least $5000+ for a decent print run and then marketing your book by hand.
Second - the internet, which made it easier to market your indy-published book, and gave rise to Amazon. Which, hate or love it, made getting your book out there possible, making an end-run around the wholesale distributors and brick-and-mortar bookstores. And finally - development of eBook readers. I'm still a little boggled at how fast that went from being a very expensive high-end electronic toy to an every-day item. With eBook readers, the whole issue and expense of printing, shipping, warehousing and returning unsold copies is eliminated from the equation.
Of course, it does mean there is a lot of pretty dreadful stuff out there - but also many excellent and wonderful books for the reading public to appreciate, which otherwise wouldn't have made it past the literary agency slush-pile.
Oh, and I just put up another collection of historical essays last night - on Kindle, here: http://tinyurl.com/otytdxz - enjoy.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at June 22, 2014 10:40 AM (Asjr7)
59
I'm always looking for good library or bookstore pics.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:30 AM (+ahS9)
Morrison Reading Room at UC Berkeley: beautiful.
I spent way more time there than I should have. They didn't allow textbooks....just reading for pleasure.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:30 AM (+ahS9)
Morrison Reading Room at UC Berkeley: beautiful.
I spent way more time there than I should have. They didn't allow textbooks....just reading for pleasure.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 10:41 AM (QFxY5)
60
Same basic problem here. Decades of recreational reading plus my physics and law books left my house looking like a hoarder's.
Posted by: Blacksheep at June 22, 2014 10:33 AM (bS6uW)
I had to start stacking them on on the ping pong table (yup) in the basement. Maybe 20 different physics texts, 10 chem, at least as many calc, statistics, systems engineering, C/C++/C#, scripting, java,
holy cow... I look at the pile sometimes and think: "no way I read all those... twice"
and those are just the nerd books.
let's not forget the 10 shelves of Modern Chess Openings, 20 shelves of history books, military study.
The lesson here is this: the human brain is capable of absorbing a shit ton of information.
Posted by: Blacksheep at June 22, 2014 10:33 AM (bS6uW)
I had to start stacking them on on the ping pong table (yup) in the basement. Maybe 20 different physics texts, 10 chem, at least as many calc, statistics, systems engineering, C/C++/C#, scripting, java,
holy cow... I look at the pile sometimes and think: "no way I read all those... twice"
and those are just the nerd books.
let's not forget the 10 shelves of Modern Chess Openings, 20 shelves of history books, military study.
The lesson here is this: the human brain is capable of absorbing a shit ton of information.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:41 AM (x3YFz)
61
I hate to admit it but the UNC grad library is pretty neat, as is Duke's.
Nothing beats The Library of Congress. Period.
Nothing beats The Library of Congress. Period.
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 10:42 AM (0FSuD)
62
I will try to keep an eye out for Sabrina Chase's announcement when the book is edited.
I always keep an eye out for Sarah Hoyt.
I almost always remember to wave at Anna (*waves*)!
I always keep an eye out for Sarah Hoyt.
I almost always remember to wave at Anna (*waves*)!
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at June 22, 2014 10:43 AM (WqvLb)
63
Rand could be concise on occasion, just for whatever reason she thought fiction should plod.
She was Russian.
She was Russian.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 10:44 AM (MMC8r)
64
I tried to introduce a literary atmosphere to the soiree last night by bringing my copy of the "Kwame Sutra: Sayings by Kwame Kilpatrick, as edited by the Detroit Free Press" for MWR to read from. I dare say it is a rare volume by now.
Posted by: Jinx the Cat at June 22, 2014 10:45 AM (l3vZN)
65
Where's the open thread? I have a blistering rant stewing over McCarthy... But it's the book thread so
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:45 AM (x3YFz)
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM (MMC8r)
67
*waves at Merovign*
Oh well, time to slug through the prose.. left Sluggor about to be devoured by a giant snow cat.
Oh well, time to slug through the prose.. left Sluggor about to be devoured by a giant snow cat.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM (Nyz5c)
68
Well, lefties also criticize Rand for bad writing. Though some
will laud certain ideas, ultimately the left is nothing without
collectivism, of which Rand is one of the harsher critics.
I think a reasonable criticism of Rand's works is that they aren't really literature so much as extended polemics. There is no real character development in them so they exist as stick figures to make her point. I say that as somebody who has enjoyed reading them (except passing completely over John Galt Speaks in Atlas Shrugged) and by and large agree with her viewpoint.
will laud certain ideas, ultimately the left is nothing without
collectivism, of which Rand is one of the harsher critics.
I think a reasonable criticism of Rand's works is that they aren't really literature so much as extended polemics. There is no real character development in them so they exist as stick figures to make her point. I say that as somebody who has enjoyed reading them (except passing completely over John Galt Speaks in Atlas Shrugged) and by and large agree with her viewpoint.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM (3EmSI)
69
I tried to introduce a literary atmosphere to the soiree last night by bringing my copy of the "Kwame Sutra: Sayings by Kwame Kilpatrick, as edited by the Detroit Free Press" for MWR to read from. I dare say it is a rare volume by now.
Posted by: Jinx the Cat at June 22, 2014 10:45 AM (l3vZN)
Ok now that's funny.
Posted by: Jinx the Cat at June 22, 2014 10:45 AM (l3vZN)
Ok now that's funny.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM (x3YFz)
70
For the fantasy readers out there, here is Gary Gygax's Appendix N:
http://yellowedandcreased.wordpress.com/appendix-n/
http://yellowedandcreased.wordpress.com/appendix-n/
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 10:47 AM (3kZUM)
71
the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times)
Dude, that was, like, 10,000 years ago.
Dude, that was, like, 10,000 years ago.
Posted by: Phinn at June 22, 2014 10:49 AM (i5GO4)
72
AS could have also been a better book if the chief character was not a whore modeled after Sandra Fluke.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:50 AM (T2V/1)
73
For the fantasy readers out there, here is Gary Gygax's Appendix N:
http://yellowedandcreased.wordpress.com/appendix-n/
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 10:47 AM (3kZUM)
without googling it, I know the name, isn't he the D and D guy?
http://yellowedandcreased.wordpress.com/appendix-n/
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 10:47 AM (3kZUM)
without googling it, I know the name, isn't he the D and D guy?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:50 AM (x3YFz)
74
Well folks, can't stand it. Got to go hit the rocking chair.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:51 AM (T2V/1)
75
Completely O/T since we don't have the usual open comment thread, hint hint.
What would liberals think in the Catholic church hunted down converts to Islam?
http://tinyurl.com/m9mwckt
What would liberals think in the Catholic church hunted down converts to Islam?
http://tinyurl.com/m9mwckt
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 10:52 AM (0FSuD)
76
I've been reading Roadside Geology of Georgia by Pamela Gore and Bill Witherspoon. It describes the geology and terranesof places I've been many times but never realized the significance of. It's written for people who may or may not know anything about the subject.
There is a lot of interesting geology in Georgia partly because of it's being on the edge of a plate and it has collected many different types of rock formations in the last billion Earth years.Also half of it used to be underwater.
I understand there are versions for other states too.
There is a lot of interesting geology in Georgia partly because of it's being on the edge of a plate and it has collected many different types of rock formations in the last billion Earth years.Also half of it used to be underwater.
I understand there are versions for other states too.
Posted by: freaked at June 22, 2014 10:52 AM (JdEZJ)
77
Well folks, can't stand it. Got to go hit the rocking chair.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:51 AM (T2V/1)
lol vic... hey, breathe some oxygen for me, ok?
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:51 AM (T2V/1)
lol vic... hey, breathe some oxygen for me, ok?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:52 AM (x3YFz)
78
Someonestolemyspacesagain.
Posted by: freaked at June 22, 2014 10:53 AM (JdEZJ)
Posted by: Epobirs at June 22, 2014 10:53 AM (Icq+V)
80
What would liberals think in the Catholic church hunted down converts to Islam?
http://tinyurl.com/m9mwckt
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 10:52 AM (0FSuD)
nope. I got broadsided yesterday over saying the pope is "just a guy"
Freaking catholics get feisty when you go after the pope.
Gonna not do that today.
What would liberals think in the Catholic church hunted down converts to Islam?
http://tinyurl.com/m9mwckt
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 10:52 AM (0FSuD)
nope. I got broadsided yesterday over saying the pope is "just a guy"
Freaking catholics get feisty when you go after the pope.
Gonna not do that today.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:54 AM (x3YFz)
81
Stephen King, always looking for a way to express his membership with the people, has done the hipster drag coming to talk shows with a six pack of PBR. He also broadcasts that he is a man of the North Woods,and, in more than one book includes the Colt Woodsman pistol. Please stick it in your mouth.
Posted by: Bill at June 22, 2014 10:55 AM (uvyrw)
82
Oh well, time to slug through the prose.. left Sluggor about to be devoured by a giant snow cat.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM (Nyz5c)
Well, he probably won't have a laser pointer, so he'll have to distract it with a mouse tried to a piece of string!
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM (Nyz5c)
Well, he probably won't have a laser pointer, so he'll have to distract it with a mouse tried to a piece of string!
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at June 22, 2014 10:55 AM (WqvLb)
83
LOL Merovign, as if Sluggor would have it that easy.
I seriously doubt this would work, early Darth Vader?
http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/selection-du-weekend-93-46.jpg
I seriously doubt this would work, early Darth Vader?
http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/selection-du-weekend-93-46.jpg
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 11:00 AM (Nyz5c)
84
I do wish someone would edit that darned book, but I also wish people would read the essays and other writings. Rand could be concise on occasion, just for whatever reason she thought fiction should plod.
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith
I think that Ayn Rand's estate had engineered some iron-clad copyright agreements that the text could not be altered or edited.
Agreed that editing could make it a much better book.
I also have "The Passion of Ayn Rand", a biography of Rand by Barbara Branden, and "Judgement Day", a somewhat auto biographical book by Nathaniel Branden, Barbara's estranged husband. Fills in a lot of the background life to Alice Rosenbaum, aka Ayn Rand, a Jewish girl who emigrated to the United States after the Russian revolution and the Red-White Civil war.
Her father's pharmacy business was ruined by the Bolsheviks and he urged her to get out of the country. She had a younger sister, with whom she was re-united late in life, and that went badly.
Rand at times suffered from a lack of empathy for other people, although I don't think she was intentionally cruel (Asberger's Syndrom?). She did things that were somewhat haphazard with respect to other people's lives, especially those that were her friends (or her husband, Frank Connor, who looked a lot like Gary Cooper).
She was an atheist, and very much pro-abortion rights.
Agreed that many of her essays were very good, and precisely described the mindset and outlook of the Left. She knew exactly what they were.
Whittaker Chambers and William F. Buckley disliked her intensely, because she ridiculed "conservatives", i.e. Republicans, as much as the Left, for some very profound (and sometimes atheistic) reasons.
"The Fountainhead" was a much better novel, but "Atlas Shrugs", despite all its flaws, is a book with an unusual look at the ultimate consequences of collectivism and how it always defeats itself. It is quite disturbing to see the parallels with the book and these modern times.
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith
I think that Ayn Rand's estate had engineered some iron-clad copyright agreements that the text could not be altered or edited.
Agreed that editing could make it a much better book.
I also have "The Passion of Ayn Rand", a biography of Rand by Barbara Branden, and "Judgement Day", a somewhat auto biographical book by Nathaniel Branden, Barbara's estranged husband. Fills in a lot of the background life to Alice Rosenbaum, aka Ayn Rand, a Jewish girl who emigrated to the United States after the Russian revolution and the Red-White Civil war.
Her father's pharmacy business was ruined by the Bolsheviks and he urged her to get out of the country. She had a younger sister, with whom she was re-united late in life, and that went badly.
Rand at times suffered from a lack of empathy for other people, although I don't think she was intentionally cruel (Asberger's Syndrom?). She did things that were somewhat haphazard with respect to other people's lives, especially those that were her friends (or her husband, Frank Connor, who looked a lot like Gary Cooper).
She was an atheist, and very much pro-abortion rights.
Agreed that many of her essays were very good, and precisely described the mindset and outlook of the Left. She knew exactly what they were.
Whittaker Chambers and William F. Buckley disliked her intensely, because she ridiculed "conservatives", i.e. Republicans, as much as the Left, for some very profound (and sometimes atheistic) reasons.
"The Fountainhead" was a much better novel, but "Atlas Shrugs", despite all its flaws, is a book with an unusual look at the ultimate consequences of collectivism and how it always defeats itself. It is quite disturbing to see the parallels with the book and these modern times.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding the comfy chair at June 22, 2014 11:04 AM (+1T7c)
85
How can you NOT have Louis L'Amour in the badass authors article? Then again, its Cracked and they're pretty much idiots.
Incidentally I have 2 fantasy novels out, in paperback for under 10 bucks
Incidentally I have 2 fantasy novels out, in paperback for under 10 bucks
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:04 AM (zfY+H)
86
Speaking of crazy russians, I was reading about Sergei Yesenin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Yesenin
I need to find a bio in english on him. What a nut. Wrote his suicide note in blood and then hanged himself. So russian. Was married a bunch of times to hot chicks but alas, it did not save him from killing himself when he was only 30.
Speaking of crazy russians, I was reading about Sergei Yesenin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Yesenin
I need to find a bio in english on him. What a nut. Wrote his suicide note in blood and then hanged himself. So russian. Was married a bunch of times to hot chicks but alas, it did not save him from killing himself when he was only 30.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 11:06 AM (lJm99)
87
Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times).
Yeah, the one thing that leaps out at you when you read about prehistoric tribes found in the (relatively) modern world is how much of their time is consumed with warfare.
Or actually, just defending from or trespassing against other tribes.
Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times).
Among the Indians of that region, it was common to inflict horrible tortures on members of other tribes caught in their territory like skinning them alive.
So, that whole thang about Indians as peaceful little smurfs who all shared the land is a bunch of hooey.
If you've never seen "The Black Robe", it's an excellent movie that touches on this aspect of iroquois -type tribes, as was deeply researched to present as factual and complete a picture as possible.
Yeah, the one thing that leaps out at you when you read about prehistoric tribes found in the (relatively) modern world is how much of their time is consumed with warfare.
Or actually, just defending from or trespassing against other tribes.
Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times).
Among the Indians of that region, it was common to inflict horrible tortures on members of other tribes caught in their territory like skinning them alive.
So, that whole thang about Indians as peaceful little smurfs who all shared the land is a bunch of hooey.
If you've never seen "The Black Robe", it's an excellent movie that touches on this aspect of iroquois -type tribes, as was deeply researched to present as factual and complete a picture as possible.
Posted by: naturalfake at June 22, 2014 11:06 AM (KBvAm)
88
Poul Anderson, "Three Hearts and Three Lions" -
This is one of those books I'd discovered via Appendix N. Gygax went on to give a capsule gazetteer of the world of Faerie, to the point of Alfric's game stats, in his "Queen of the Demonweb Pits" module. (Gygax called it Caer Sidi in that work; Monte Cook called it Triala.)
The protagonist Holger is a Dane, who gets shot in WW2 fighting Hitler. When Holger awakens he is in somewhere next to Dark Age Germany. I say "next to" because this is really the Grimm Brothers' Germany, with swanmays and witches, and where Roland fell against the Saracens rather than, in real life, against Basques.
This Germany itself is next-to Alfric's elfland. Holger needs to get home, and for that he needs magic: Alfric is his best shot. Unfortunately Alfric turns out to be a "pharisee", one of the pre Tolkien breed of elf: cold, polite, witty, and arrogant. Oh wait, also tricksy.
I noticed several parallels with "The Hobbit": giants who turn to stone in the daylight, a dark forest bordering Faerie called Mirkwood. The Hobbit was published in 1937-38 but I don't know how widely-read it was as of the 1950s. I get the vague feeling that Anderson had read "The Hobbit" and then correlated it with that book's own sources.
One distracting feature was Holger's +2 Penis. He boffs a pharisee early on, which is fine given that they're about to trick him. But then he
This is one of those books I'd discovered via Appendix N. Gygax went on to give a capsule gazetteer of the world of Faerie, to the point of Alfric's game stats, in his "Queen of the Demonweb Pits" module. (Gygax called it Caer Sidi in that work; Monte Cook called it Triala.)
The protagonist Holger is a Dane, who gets shot in WW2 fighting Hitler. When Holger awakens he is in somewhere next to Dark Age Germany. I say "next to" because this is really the Grimm Brothers' Germany, with swanmays and witches, and where Roland fell against the Saracens rather than, in real life, against Basques.
This Germany itself is next-to Alfric's elfland. Holger needs to get home, and for that he needs magic: Alfric is his best shot. Unfortunately Alfric turns out to be a "pharisee", one of the pre Tolkien breed of elf: cold, polite, witty, and arrogant. Oh wait, also tricksy.
I noticed several parallels with "The Hobbit": giants who turn to stone in the daylight, a dark forest bordering Faerie called Mirkwood. The Hobbit was published in 1937-38 but I don't know how widely-read it was as of the 1950s. I get the vague feeling that Anderson had read "The Hobbit" and then correlated it with that book's own sources.
One distracting feature was Holger's +2 Penis. He boffs a pharisee early on, which is fine given that they're about to trick him. But then he
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 11:07 AM (3kZUM)
89
Ayn Rand was great at diagnosing and recognizing the problems and future damage of leftist ideology, but lousy at solutions. Her remedies were as bad as the problems she so clearly saw.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:07 AM (zfY+H)
Posted by: naturalfake at June 22, 2014 11:08 AM (KBvAm)
91
3 Hearts and 3 Lions is a classic, which is surprising from a sci fi author. When people are looking for good fantasy its one of my recommendations from a list (also Amber books by Zelazny, the eternal champion books by Moorcock, Fritz Liebers, books, etc)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:09 AM (zfY+H)
92
-boffs, or nearly boffs, the swanmay. And comes close to boffing Morgana Le Fay (yeah that one), who's 5'10 and voluptuous here (was she like this in Morte D'arthur?). The swanmay and Morgana then start a catfight over Holger which had me rolling my eyes.
To sum up - Dungeons and Dragons fans, and fans of the fairy-tale genre, will get a lot out of this book. Just be prepared for the Marty-Stu'ing and the adolescent daydreaming.
To sum up - Dungeons and Dragons fans, and fans of the fairy-tale genre, will get a lot out of this book. Just be prepared for the Marty-Stu'ing and the adolescent daydreaming.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 11:09 AM (3kZUM)
93
Incidentally I have 2 fantasy novels out, in paperback for under 10 bucks
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:04 AM (zfY+H)
linky!
but you know... if you advertise your writings to the Horde you have to be prepared for the feedback.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:04 AM (zfY+H)
linky!
but you know... if you advertise your writings to the Horde you have to be prepared for the feedback.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:12 AM (x3YFz)
94
Agreed that Tom Robbin's books are a huge waste of time. I bought one 30 years ago or something like "Still Life with Woodpecker" or something stupid.
Read about 30 pages and quit. Awful.
Much like Kurt Vonnegut from "Slaughterhouse 5" and onward. Infected by progressive numb speak de-constructivism of thought.
Read about 30 pages and quit. Awful.
Much like Kurt Vonnegut from "Slaughterhouse 5" and onward. Infected by progressive numb speak de-constructivism of thought.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding the comfy chair at June 22, 2014 11:13 AM (+1T7c)
95
I'm reading two books right now. The first is a little one just a few dozen pages, by a corrections officer and ex military guy named Rory Miller. The book is called "Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence," and its a brilliant, eye opening examination of violence and the use of force that takes it from a much different approach than anything else I've read.
The other is called "Dark End of the Street" by Ace Atkins. Atkins (yes, that's his real name) is a former crime reporter and author who was tapped to take over writing Spenser novels when Parker died. He's a better writer than Parker was (although he doesn't have the gift for hilarious, sparkling dialog that Parker did), and his books are quite good.
The other is called "Dark End of the Street" by Ace Atkins. Atkins (yes, that's his real name) is a former crime reporter and author who was tapped to take over writing Spenser novels when Parker died. He's a better writer than Parker was (although he doesn't have the gift for hilarious, sparkling dialog that Parker did), and his books are quite good.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:14 AM (zfY+H)
96
I got a whopping 27% on the S. King test...mostly because I read three of his novels (Christine, The Talisman and Black House, which were co-written with Peter Straub), and two answers were correct guesses.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 22, 2014 11:15 AM (4E3aU)
97
I'm reading two books right now. The first is a little one just a few dozen pages, by a corrections officer and ex military guy named Rory Miller. The book is called "Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence," and its a brilliant, eye opening examination of violence and the use of force that takes it from a much different approach than anything else I've read.
The other is called "Dark End of the Street" by Ace Atkins. Atkins (yes, that's his real name) is a former crime reporter and author who was tapped to take over writing Spenser novels when Parker died. He's a better writer than Parker was (although he doesn't have the gift for hilarious, sparkling dialog that Parker did), and his books are quite good.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:14 AM (zfY+H)
noted and logged.
The other is called "Dark End of the Street" by Ace Atkins. Atkins (yes, that's his real name) is a former crime reporter and author who was tapped to take over writing Spenser novels when Parker died. He's a better writer than Parker was (although he doesn't have the gift for hilarious, sparkling dialog that Parker did), and his books are quite good.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:14 AM (zfY+H)
noted and logged.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:15 AM (x3YFz)
98
94 Agreed that Tom Robbin's books are a huge waste of time. I bought one 30 years ago or something like "Still Life with Woodpecker" or something stupid.
Read about 30 pages and quit. Awful.
Much like Kurt Vonnegut from "Slaughterhouse 5" and onward. Infected by progressive numb speak de-constructivism of thought.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding the comfy chair at June 22, 2014 11:13 AM (+1T7c)
dude! I left a comment on Maggies Farm about that shitty book a few days ago! I got 40 pages into it before putting it down in disgust.
Read about 30 pages and quit. Awful.
Much like Kurt Vonnegut from "Slaughterhouse 5" and onward. Infected by progressive numb speak de-constructivism of thought.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding the comfy chair at June 22, 2014 11:13 AM (+1T7c)
dude! I left a comment on Maggies Farm about that shitty book a few days ago! I got 40 pages into it before putting it down in disgust.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 22, 2014 11:17 AM (4E3aU)
99
At one point I sat down to write the "best science fiction book evar!"
I quickly realized I have zero talent for it and it was total poop.
SO you writers? hat tip to you.
I quickly realized I have zero talent for it and it was total poop.
SO you writers? hat tip to you.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:18 AM (x3YFz)
100
Yeah, so many writers and other assorted celebs of that era fell somewhere on the commie spectrum: sympathizer, willing dupe, secret party member, spy... I have a hard time remembering where Hemingway fell, but he was in there somewhere.
One thing you never hear said about Hemingway: he was a good father. I tend to discount the manliness of any man about whom that cannot be said.
Plus, I suspect the key eyewitness for much of what passes for Hemingway's real life badassery was Ernest Hemingway. I don't really know that we can trust the truth of much of it.
And finally, anyone who puts a shotgun in his mouth obviously did NOT refuse to die, but gutlessly chose to do so. In a manner that required someone other than him to clean up the goo and blood afterwards.
Hemingway worship is highly overrated.
One thing you never hear said about Hemingway: he was a good father. I tend to discount the manliness of any man about whom that cannot be said.
Plus, I suspect the key eyewitness for much of what passes for Hemingway's real life badassery was Ernest Hemingway. I don't really know that we can trust the truth of much of it.
And finally, anyone who puts a shotgun in his mouth obviously did NOT refuse to die, but gutlessly chose to do so. In a manner that required someone other than him to clean up the goo and blood afterwards.
Hemingway worship is highly overrated.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 11:18 AM (PEb5B)
101
I not only welcome feedback and criticism from the horde, but I would delight in any reviews written - for good or ill - for my work.
Old Habits and Snowberry's Veil in paperback
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kestrelarts
Both can also be e-read from Amazon, Snowberry's Veil also available at Nook and Smashwords. If I could grok the formatting demands of Smashwords it would be more broadly available but their requirements make no sense to me.
Old Habits and Snowberry's Veil in paperback
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kestrelarts
Both can also be e-read from Amazon, Snowberry's Veil also available at Nook and Smashwords. If I could grok the formatting demands of Smashwords it would be more broadly available but their requirements make no sense to me.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:18 AM (zfY+H)
102
Hemingway worship is highly overrated.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 11:18 AM (PEb5B)
Mostly because Hemingway is overrated.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 11:18 AM (PEb5B)
Mostly because Hemingway is overrated.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 22, 2014 11:19 AM (4E3aU)
103
I don't care for Hemingway's work. His praised writing style was better done by Dashiell Hammett (another knucklehead commmie sympathizer) and Hammett's work was much better and less pathetically desperate to prove his masculinity. Hammett didn't seem to give a crap what anyone thought of him, and Hemingway seemed to spend every waking moment thinking about it.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:21 AM (zfY+H)
104
Both can also be e-read from Amazon, Snowberry's Veil also available at Nook and Smashwords. If I could grok the formatting demands of Smashwords it would be more broadly available but their requirements make no sense to me.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:18 AM (zfY+H)
hah... I pushed a few articles for e-how. Their editing requirements were tougher than my master's thesis.
I'll pick them up and give them a read. I'll support a hordeling always.
Both can also be e-read from Amazon, Snowberry's Veil also available at Nook and Smashwords. If I could grok the formatting demands of Smashwords it would be more broadly available but their requirements make no sense to me.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:18 AM (zfY+H)
hah... I pushed a few articles for e-how. Their editing requirements were tougher than my master's thesis.
I'll pick them up and give them a read. I'll support a hordeling always.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:21 AM (x3YFz)
105
Mostly because Hemingway is overrated.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 22, 2014 11:19 AM (4E3aU)
and annoying.
He's one of those lefty authors that it's "cool" to worship, not because he's worth a crap but because youre told to.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 22, 2014 11:19 AM (4E3aU)
and annoying.
He's one of those lefty authors that it's "cool" to worship, not because he's worth a crap but because youre told to.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:23 AM (x3YFz)
106
99 -
Writing is like painting. Lots of people are good enough at it that people will pay you to cover what needs to be covered, but very very few are good enough for people to see the art in what you created.
Writing is like painting. Lots of people are good enough at it that people will pay you to cover what needs to be covered, but very very few are good enough for people to see the art in what you created.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 11:23 AM (PEb5B)
107
#95 I also like Atkins' new Spenser books, but you are right that he doesn't have the ear for dialog that Parker had.
Strange fact: Robert B. Parker had a PhD in English Lit. from Boston University. Wikipedia: "His dissertation, titled 'The Violent Hero, Wilderness Heritage and Urban Reality,' discussed the exploits of fictional private-eye heroes created by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald."
Strange fact: Robert B. Parker had a PhD in English Lit. from Boston University. Wikipedia: "His dissertation, titled 'The Violent Hero, Wilderness Heritage and Urban Reality,' discussed the exploits of fictional private-eye heroes created by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald."
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 11:24 AM (YK3ic)
108
I don't feel any sense of loss for not having read any Hemingway except "Old Man and the Sea".
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 11:25 AM (3EmSI)
109
Writing is like painting. Lots of people are good enough at it that people will pay you to cover what needs to be covered, but very very few are good enough for people to see the art in what you created.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 11:23 AM (PEb5B)
I can write tech orders, lesson plans, that kind of thing very well. If you ask me I'll tell you I'm the Master.
But fiction? totally evades me. Just brain wiring, I think.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 11:23 AM (PEb5B)
I can write tech orders, lesson plans, that kind of thing very well. If you ask me I'll tell you I'm the Master.
But fiction? totally evades me. Just brain wiring, I think.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:25 AM (x3YFz)
110
I'm overrated? What about that fop Fitzgerald!?
Posted by: Zombie Hemingway at June 22, 2014 11:26 AM (GxUxc)
111
I got 67% on the Stephen King test which was sheer luck because I have read one book of his (I can't even recall what it was now) and loathed it.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 11:27 AM (lLdbc)
112
I read really great fiction authors, just excellent at the craft, and over the years, you learn as a reader:
you canspot when that guy wrote and had a down day, or the part where he was at the top of his game.
Edited 2 fiction novels and 2 non-fiction books and I know when my author is on or off.
you canspot when that guy wrote and had a down day, or the part where he was at the top of his game.
Edited 2 fiction novels and 2 non-fiction books and I know when my author is on or off.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:28 AM (x3YFz)
113
I say that as somebody who has enjoyed reading them
(except passing completely over John Galt Speaks in Atlas Shrugged) and
by and large agree with her viewpoint.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM
Agreeing with at least the nut of her viewpoint (at least as expressed in the books) and tolerating her turgid, tedious, yammering "style" are two different things.
In her "day job," Rand wrote scripts for "B" movies. I can't remember any of the titles, though I know I've seen one or two.
If only Elmore Leonard had written Atlas Shrugged!
(except passing completely over John Galt Speaks in Atlas Shrugged) and
by and large agree with her viewpoint.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 10:46 AM
Agreeing with at least the nut of her viewpoint (at least as expressed in the books) and tolerating her turgid, tedious, yammering "style" are two different things.
In her "day job," Rand wrote scripts for "B" movies. I can't remember any of the titles, though I know I've seen one or two.
If only Elmore Leonard had written Atlas Shrugged!
Posted by: MrScribbler at June 22, 2014 11:29 AM (dDzOj)
114
110 I'm overrated? What about that fop Fitzgerald!?
Posted by: Zombie Hemingway at June 22, 2014 11:26 AM (GxUxc)
He's more of a dandy than a fop.
Posted by: Zombie Hemingway at June 22, 2014 11:26 AM (GxUxc)
He's more of a dandy than a fop.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 22, 2014 11:30 AM (4E3aU)
115
Stephen King can start a book...but it would be best for someone else to finish them for him.
Posted by: garrett at June 22, 2014 11:30 AM (GxUxc)
116
Hemingway is overrated for sure.
He was good, not great.
The trouble with his writing, for me, is as I was reading something he wrote I could feel him writing it. His work just felt very constructed.
He was good, not great.
The trouble with his writing, for me, is as I was reading something he wrote I could feel him writing it. His work just felt very constructed.
Posted by: eman at June 22, 2014 11:30 AM (MQEz6)
117
Agreeing with at least the nut of her viewpoint (at least as expressed in the books) and tolerating her turgid, tedious, yammering "style" are two different things.
In her "day job," Rand wrote scripts for "B" movies. I can't remember any of the titles, though I know I've seen one or two.
If only Elmore Leonard had written Atlas Shrugged!
Posted by: MrScribbler at June 22, 2014 11:29 AM (dDzOj)
Atlas Shrugged is tedious and doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
In her "day job," Rand wrote scripts for "B" movies. I can't remember any of the titles, though I know I've seen one or two.
If only Elmore Leonard had written Atlas Shrugged!
Posted by: MrScribbler at June 22, 2014 11:29 AM (dDzOj)
Atlas Shrugged is tedious and doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:30 AM (x3YFz)
118
AS could have also been a better book if the chief character was not a whore modeled after Sandra Fluke.
Yeah, this is something my wife noticed, and I should have. For all of Dagny's great moral values and high ideals, she certainly got poked a lot, didn't she? And from a number of different men, too.
Yeah, this is something my wife noticed, and I should have. For all of Dagny's great moral values and high ideals, she certainly got poked a lot, didn't she? And from a number of different men, too.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 11:31 AM (+ahS9)
119
Sometimes Ask A Man by Traci Skene is available on Kindle.
==============
I want to read this, but I don't have a Kindle. Last fall I told my husband "not yet" (in case he was thinking of buying me one as a Christmas present). But the time is drawing nigh.
==============
I want to read this, but I don't have a Kindle. Last fall I told my husband "not yet" (in case he was thinking of buying me one as a Christmas present). But the time is drawing nigh.
Posted by: Miley's Tongue at June 22, 2014 11:31 AM (R+h7Q)
120
It's a beautiful morning here, so I'm going to take Molly the Moop for a waggy-waggy.
Posted by: model_1066 at June 22, 2014 11:32 AM (4E3aU)
121
Completely O/T since we don't have the usual open comment thread, hint hint.
Yeah, I know. The trouble is, there is already an open thread below this one, so it just seemed redundant to add another one.
Yeah, I know. The trouble is, there is already an open thread below this one, so it just seemed redundant to add another one.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 11:33 AM (+ahS9)
122
Posted by: Miley's Tongue at June 22, 2014 11:31 AM (R+h7Q)
Rarely does someone have a nic so horrifying.
Rarely does someone have a nic so horrifying.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:33 AM (x3YFz)
123
Yeah, this is something my wife noticed, and I should have. For all of Dagny's great moral values and high ideals, she certainly got poked a lot, didn't she? And from a number of different men, too.
I believe that was Rand's style, too, wasn't it?
I believe that was Rand's style, too, wasn't it?
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:33 AM (MMC8r)
124
Gonna not do that today.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:54 AM (x3YFz)
LOL. Be careful, the Pope's hit squads will track you down!
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 10:54 AM (x3YFz)
LOL. Be careful, the Pope's hit squads will track you down!
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 11:34 AM (0FSuD)
125
I want to read this, but I don't have a Kindle.
Last I checked, there is a Kindle app for WIndows.
I want to read this, but I don't have a Kindle.
Last I checked, there is a Kindle app for WIndows.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:34 AM (MMC8r)
126
SK quiz, 7 correct, 47%. Only one I didn't guess on was The Green Mile question.
Posted by: lowandslow at June 22, 2014 11:35 AM (IV4od)
127
she certainly got poked a lot, didn't she? And from a number of different men, too.
I believe that was Rand's style, too, wasn't it?
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:33 AM (MMC8r)
never judge the 'ette lifestyle.
I believe that was Rand's style, too, wasn't it?
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:33 AM (MMC8r)
never judge the 'ette lifestyle.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:35 AM (x3YFz)
128
O/T
Our new majority leader says Obama is not the problem
Our new majority leader says Obama is not the problem
Posted by: Velvet Ambition at June 22, 2014 11:36 AM (R8hU8)
129
LOL. Be careful, the Pope's hit squads will track you down!
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 11:34 AM (0FSuD)
oh I know... those catholics can go from kneel/stand/kneel/stand to .22 in the back of your ear right quick.
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 11:34 AM (0FSuD)
oh I know... those catholics can go from kneel/stand/kneel/stand to .22 in the back of your ear right quick.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:37 AM (x3YFz)
130
118 -
It would be interesting to find a legitimate, objective tracing of the sexual revolution. One of the things we will find is how naive people were on the other side of it. If someone was able to fantasize about the wonder of a female who is free to explore her sexuality, anyone on THIS side of the sexual revolution ought to already understand how little the fantasy resembles reality.
One day, though not in our lifetimes I am sure, the human race will rediscover the value of monogamy. Unless we completely destroy ourselves, that is.
It would be interesting to find a legitimate, objective tracing of the sexual revolution. One of the things we will find is how naive people were on the other side of it. If someone was able to fantasize about the wonder of a female who is free to explore her sexuality, anyone on THIS side of the sexual revolution ought to already understand how little the fantasy resembles reality.
One day, though not in our lifetimes I am sure, the human race will rediscover the value of monogamy. Unless we completely destroy ourselves, that is.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 11:38 AM (PEb5B)
131
Does the new Majority Leader say what IS the problem?
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 11:38 AM (lLdbc)
132
Our new majority leader says Obama is not the problem
Posted by: Velvet Ambition at June 22, 2014 11:36 AM (R8hU
I was waiting for the the open thread to unload on this f... guy.
You can see his ass coming a mile away. GOPe on steroids, this f...
(I said I wouldn't cuss until noon... trying to stick by it)
Posted by: Velvet Ambition at June 22, 2014 11:36 AM (R8hU
I was waiting for the the open thread to unload on this f... guy.
You can see his ass coming a mile away. GOPe on steroids, this f...
(I said I wouldn't cuss until noon... trying to stick by it)
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:38 AM (x3YFz)
133
Ayn Rand's major books were almost devoid of children and old people. Her main heroes were always virile, strong, and healthy people but not children or elderly. The only book with kids as a major factor was We, The Living. Why no kids or older people, nobody ill? Because her objectivist philosophy fell to pieces for someone helplessly weak. If you aren't strong, healthy, and young - but not too young - it just doesn't work for you.
Her heroes had no kids, and relationships were about self pleasure instead of any real relationship at all. She was a cold fish. Great vision of the evils of statism, but cold.
Her heroes had no kids, and relationships were about self pleasure instead of any real relationship at all. She was a cold fish. Great vision of the evils of statism, but cold.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 11:39 AM (zfY+H)
Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 22, 2014 11:39 AM (u82oZ)
135
I seriously doubt this would work, early Darth Vader?
Holy crap, is that some kind of torture device?
Holy crap, is that some kind of torture device?
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 11:40 AM (+ahS9)
136
I believe that was Rand's style, too, wasn't it?
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:33 AM (MMC8r)
Yeah I'm pretty sure she liked getting boned a lot.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:33 AM (MMC8r)
Yeah I'm pretty sure she liked getting boned a lot.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 11:41 AM (3EmSI)
137
Our new majority leader says Obama is not the problem
Posted by: Velvet Ambition at June 22, 2014 11:36 AM (R8hU
Not sure the context, but Obama is really the symptom, not the disease.
Obama did not make us elect him.
Posted by: Velvet Ambition at June 22, 2014 11:36 AM (R8hU
Not sure the context, but Obama is really the symptom, not the disease.
Obama did not make us elect him.
Posted by: Ironically Named Josh Earnest at June 22, 2014 11:41 AM (rCQHn)
138
I heard McCarthy's first interview and his demeanor, his voice, his non-verbals just SCREAMED: jackass!
I hate him already.
I hate him already.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:41 AM (x3YFz)
139
Holy crap, is that some kind of torture device?
I wouldn't mind one, what with the kids on summer break.
I wouldn't mind one, what with the kids on summer break.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:42 AM (MMC8r)
140
132 I said I wouldn't cuss until noon... trying to stick by it
It's almost noon at the epicenter of the Big Government that is strangling you.
You can certainly let a fuck or two fly.
It's almost noon at the epicenter of the Big Government that is strangling you.
You can certainly let a fuck or two fly.
Posted by: akula51 at June 22, 2014 11:42 AM (RWBeZ)
141
I don't know how much of this to believe but it is amusing. Check out Hillary bristles are Benghazi deception on WZ and Drudge. Also on WZ, see the poster for Uncle Charlie's Dance Party.
Posted by: The Great White Snark at June 22, 2014 11:42 AM (Mogjf)
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:44 AM (x3YFz)
143
Another use for human skin -
RedSkin brand condoms - now in RedSkin Natural
made with real RedSkin
Why not? The name is no longer trade-marked and everybody already know that the mechica used to line up their neighbor, sometimes in the tens o thousands, just to see how many they could cut the still beating hearts out o andskin before they stopped twitching. The skins were used for clothing.
RedSkin brand condoms - now in RedSkin Natural
made with real RedSkin
Why not? The name is no longer trade-marked and everybody already know that the mechica used to line up their neighbor, sometimes in the tens o thousands, just to see how many they could cut the still beating hearts out o andskin before they stopped twitching. The skins were used for clothing.
Posted by: Burnt Toast at June 22, 2014 11:44 AM (NaeCR)
144
OT: Sorry....
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cancelled its longtime relationship with an email-storage contractor just weeks after ex-IRS official Lois Lerner's computer crashed and shortly before other IRS officials' computers allegedly crashed.
snip~
Sonasoft was providing "automatic data processing" services for the IRS throughout the January 2009 to April 2011 period in which Lerner sent her missing emails.
But Sonasoft's six-year business relationship with the IRS came to an abrupt end at the close of fiscal year 2011, as congressional investigators began looking into the IRS conservative targeting scandal and IRS employees' computers started crashing left and right.
Daily Caller: http://tinyurl.com/mpznecx
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cancelled its longtime relationship with an email-storage contractor just weeks after ex-IRS official Lois Lerner's computer crashed and shortly before other IRS officials' computers allegedly crashed.
snip~
Sonasoft was providing "automatic data processing" services for the IRS throughout the January 2009 to April 2011 period in which Lerner sent her missing emails.
But Sonasoft's six-year business relationship with the IRS came to an abrupt end at the close of fiscal year 2011, as congressional investigators began looking into the IRS conservative targeting scandal and IRS employees' computers started crashing left and right.
Daily Caller: http://tinyurl.com/mpznecx
Posted by: Tami at June 22, 2014 11:44 AM (v0/PR)
145
I assume that none of the books bound in skin were "The Pokey Little Puppy" or books by Clintons.
Finished James Curtis' W.C.Fields biography, highly recommended if you're a fan. Also "The Layman's Guide to World War I" prior to starting "Rites of Spring" all about WWI and its impact on culture. Actually I'm page one of that so I don't know if it'll be any good or not.
Finished James Curtis' W.C.Fields biography, highly recommended if you're a fan. Also "The Layman's Guide to World War I" prior to starting "Rites of Spring" all about WWI and its impact on culture. Actually I'm page one of that so I don't know if it'll be any good or not.
Posted by: Null at June 22, 2014 11:45 AM (xjpRj)
146
Hemingway was a bad ass because he told people he was a bad ass. The only other people to say Hemingway was a bad ass are the people Hemingway told he was a bad ass.
Posted by: Dang at June 22, 2014 11:47 AM (MNq6o)
147
Hemingway was a bad ass because he told people he was a bad ass. The only other people to say Hemingway was a bad ass are the people Hemingway told he was a bad ass.
Posted by: Dang at June 22, 2014 11:47 AM (MNq6o)
If you name a book "Leaves of Grass" you deserve to be punched in the face.
Posted by: Dang at June 22, 2014 11:47 AM (MNq6o)
If you name a book "Leaves of Grass" you deserve to be punched in the face.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:48 AM (x3YFz)
148
Hello from Way Down Here on a cold winter night...
My favourite books to read in between serious military books and ancient history stuff...
Sue Grafton's books - you know those alphabet booksA is for A.... etc
So easy to read, nicely written and it's good to forget serious things for a few hours while reading her books
A friend of mine is a well known author Down Under, and writes great non fiction stories about Australian life - I really enjoy his work and at the moment I'm reading Great Australian CWA Stories by Bill "Swampy" Marsh
The CWA, or the Country Women's Association, are known as the backbone of communities throughout OZ - they are involved in drought relief, rural health programmes, outback education, and many other activities
If any of you want to get a flavour of Australian country life, you can't go past Bill "Swampy" Marsh to help you with his wonderful books
His books are sold through the ABC bookshops and their website, and you can email him for signed copies of his work
Have a wonderful yesterday everyone!
Hello from Way Down Here on a cold winter night...
My favourite books to read in between serious military books and ancient history stuff...
Sue Grafton's books - you know those alphabet booksA is for A.... etc
So easy to read, nicely written and it's good to forget serious things for a few hours while reading her books
A friend of mine is a well known author Down Under, and writes great non fiction stories about Australian life - I really enjoy his work and at the moment I'm reading Great Australian CWA Stories by Bill "Swampy" Marsh
The CWA, or the Country Women's Association, are known as the backbone of communities throughout OZ - they are involved in drought relief, rural health programmes, outback education, and many other activities
If any of you want to get a flavour of Australian country life, you can't go past Bill "Swampy" Marsh to help you with his wonderful books
His books are sold through the ABC bookshops and their website, and you can email him for signed copies of his work
Have a wonderful yesterday everyone!
Posted by: aussie at June 22, 2014 11:50 AM (EGwwB)
149
Rand at times suffered from a lack of empathy for other people, although I don't think she was intentionally cruel (Asberger's Syndrom?). She did things that were somewhat haphazard with respect to other people's lives, especially those that were her friends (or her husband, Frank Connor, who looked a lot like Gary Cooper).
A little community of like-minded people grew up around her when she was living on the East Coast, over which she was pretty much a dictator. They had denunciations and show trials and expulsions and such, just like in Stalin's USSR. I think the irony of this was completely lost on her.
Her cuckolded husband, who went along meekly with her adulteries, was described as a "filet of human being". He also took to drink. Being married to Rand, I can't blame him.
A little community of like-minded people grew up around her when she was living on the East Coast, over which she was pretty much a dictator. They had denunciations and show trials and expulsions and such, just like in Stalin's USSR. I think the irony of this was completely lost on her.
Her cuckolded husband, who went along meekly with her adulteries, was described as a "filet of human being". He also took to drink. Being married to Rand, I can't blame him.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 11:50 AM (+ahS9)
150
Re: O/T -- McCarthy was Cantor's choice for his replacement. What did you expect? Washington Elite picks Washington Elite as replacement. VA-7 was right to dump Cantor. The GOP caucus said "screw you" to VA-7 and the rest of the country when they chose McCarthy.
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 11:51 AM (YK3ic)
151
I would love to have a room like that first pic in
my house for a reading room. But would like one south facing wall with
large windows.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:03 AM (T2V/1)
Yeah that would be stooopid money. I did one wall of my family room in a similar style, 5 ceiling to floor book cases from scratch with all the crown and fluted moldings. I picked through a bunch of maple planks at home depot and found all the figured/flamed planks to use for all the face woods and valances I had to make, plus I had to make all the corbels. It took 1.5 months to build and at a cost of 2k in materials. I'll never do that shit again, it was all consuming.
my house for a reading room. But would like one south facing wall with
large windows.
Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2014 10:03 AM (T2V/1)
Yeah that would be stooopid money. I did one wall of my family room in a similar style, 5 ceiling to floor book cases from scratch with all the crown and fluted moldings. I picked through a bunch of maple planks at home depot and found all the figured/flamed planks to use for all the face woods and valances I had to make, plus I had to make all the corbels. It took 1.5 months to build and at a cost of 2k in materials. I'll never do that shit again, it was all consuming.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at June 22, 2014 11:51 AM (FMbng)
152
I also got a 53% on the King quiz...I'm quite relieved...
Posted by: deseeded at June 22, 2014 11:51 AM (b2T8N)
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:53 AM (x3YFz)
154
My answer to every question on the King quiz was 'He's an asshole.' I got 100%.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:53 AM (MMC8r)
155
er... judge Jeanine. Sorry Jeanine!
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:54 AM (x3YFz)
156
Judge Jeanine. Not Judy
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 11:54 AM (3kZUM)
157
153 ok, so Judge Judy is an 'ette:
http://tinyurl.com/no4k8ob
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:53 AM (x3YFz)
Judge Jeanine. Bit of a difference.
http://tinyurl.com/no4k8ob
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:53 AM (x3YFz)
Judge Jeanine. Bit of a difference.
Posted by: baldilocks at June 22, 2014 11:54 AM (36Rjy)
158
154 My answer to every question on the King quiz was 'He's an asshole.' I got 100%.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:53 AM (MMC8r)
I think that car accident might have jarred something loose.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:53 AM (MMC8r)
I think that car accident might have jarred something loose.
Posted by: baldilocks at June 22, 2014 11:55 AM (36Rjy)
159
Judge Jeanine. Bit of a difference.
Posted by: baldilocks at June 22, 2014 11:54 AM (36Rjy)
I fixored it! wow you guys are ninjas...
Posted by: baldilocks at June 22, 2014 11:54 AM (36Rjy)
I fixored it! wow you guys are ninjas...
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:56 AM (x3YFz)
160
I read everything Stephen King wrote until about 2000. Then he started to lose me. I tried but couldn't read or finish his later stuff then just totally gave up when he started to voice his opinions. The only thing I may try to complete is the Dark Towers Series, maybe. I think I got to book six. I can't remember much after 2006 and having kids .
OTOH: quick poll- What do you think the odds of and audit are if I buy D'Sousa's "America" on kindle?
.
OTOH: quick poll- What do you think the odds of and audit are if I buy D'Sousa's "America" on kindle?
Posted by: lindafell at June 22, 2014 11:56 AM (nKVlf)
161
I take it you mean that she might have had Asbergers Syndrome, not that Asbergers syndrome automatically makes people intentionally cruel. It doesn't; They just don't "get" social interactions.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 11:56 AM (lLdbc)
162
I like some of Hemingway's writing. I believe he was exhibiting signs of mental illness long before his final years. What I always wonder about is why his wife didn't keep that gun cabinet locked up.
Hemingway's father shot himself, too. I think that plus mental illness is a sure fire way of making sure history repeats itself.
I like some of Hemingway's writing. I believe he was exhibiting signs of mental illness long before his final years. What I always wonder about is why his wife didn't keep that gun cabinet locked up.
Hemingway's father shot himself, too. I think that plus mental illness is a sure fire way of making sure history repeats itself.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 11:56 AM (lJm99)
Posted by: baldilocks at June 22, 2014 11:56 AM (36Rjy)
164
"Leaves of Grass" was written by Walt Whitman not Hemingway.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 11:57 AM (lLdbc)
165
"Leaves of Grass" was written by Walt Whitman not Hemingway.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 11:57 AM (lLdbc)
....You know what I'm thinking so I don't even need to comment.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 11:57 AM (lLdbc)
....You know what I'm thinking so I don't even need to comment.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:58 AM (x3YFz)
166
Thanks for the Judge Jeanine link. Good stuff.
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 11:59 AM (YK3ic)
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 11:59 AM (MMC8r)
168
T9: more coffee dude. lol
Posted by: baldilocks at June 22, 2014 11:59 AM (36Rjy)
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 11:59 AM (0FSuD)
170
Re: O/T -- McCarthy was Cantor's choice for his
replacement. What did you expect? Washington Elite picks Washington
Elite as replacement. VA-7 was right to dump Cantor. The GOP caucus
said "screw you" to VA-7 and the rest of the country when they chose
McCarthy.
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 11:51 AM (YK3ic)
The GOPe acting opposite to how the electorate dictates is just the latest bit of dumbfuckery from the Costanza Party.
replacement. What did you expect? Washington Elite picks Washington
Elite as replacement. VA-7 was right to dump Cantor. The GOP caucus
said "screw you" to VA-7 and the rest of the country when they chose
McCarthy.
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 11:51 AM (YK3ic)
The GOPe acting opposite to how the electorate dictates is just the latest bit of dumbfuckery from the Costanza Party.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 12:00 PM (3EmSI)
171
#28, #58 - The same pattern of seeming permanence followed by swift disintegration happened to the newspaper industry. And for the same reason: the physical requirements changed. There's an oft-occurring image you can find in movies - 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' is a typical example. A headline on a newspaper comes up on the screen to impart some news to us, but first you see the printing press in action. And it's colossal! Two stories high, a huge mass of iron machinery churning away madly, an assembly line of papers feeding out in an endless stream. To publish a paper used to require lots of money to afford the buildings, machines, material and labor necessary. Only a few rich people could afford to do it, and they became the gatekeepers.
Computers sidestepped all that. Columnists no longer have to stay in the good graces of some tycoon to get their opinions to the public. Amateurs can gather a crowd and express their ideas. Internet news is faster, more up-to-date and more responsive than the clunky old newspaper model.
I suppose the music industry felt the pickaxe at its foundations with Napster. Education is beginning to wriggle free of the old bricks and mortar model. The big one that's going to fall eventually is the movie industry. It's just like the newspaper business: to make a professional-level product, it used to be necessary to have a giant studio, with huge amounts of equipment and hundreds of technical staff. The physical stuff is becoming more accessible all the time; when it comes together with people who can direct and act and no longer see Hollywood as the only place they can do their thing, independent movies that look as good as mainstream movies will become possible.
Computers sidestepped all that. Columnists no longer have to stay in the good graces of some tycoon to get their opinions to the public. Amateurs can gather a crowd and express their ideas. Internet news is faster, more up-to-date and more responsive than the clunky old newspaper model.
I suppose the music industry felt the pickaxe at its foundations with Napster. Education is beginning to wriggle free of the old bricks and mortar model. The big one that's going to fall eventually is the movie industry. It's just like the newspaper business: to make a professional-level product, it used to be necessary to have a giant studio, with huge amounts of equipment and hundreds of technical staff. The physical stuff is becoming more accessible all the time; when it comes together with people who can direct and act and no longer see Hollywood as the only place they can do their thing, independent movies that look as good as mainstream movies will become possible.
Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at June 22, 2014 12:01 PM (FkH4y)
172
My official apology for calling Judge Jeanine judge Judy.
(btw Jeanine is HAWT!)
She used moron terms in her rant so she lurks here.
(btw Jeanine is HAWT!)
She used moron terms in her rant so she lurks here.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:03 PM (x3YFz)
173
If you name a book "Leaves of Grass" you deserve to be punched in the face.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016)
LOL! Along with that list of his being a boxer and track athlete (I boxed with friends once or twice and ran on a track a couple of times. If I was Hemmingway I'd say I was boxer and a track athlete. Bullshit.) he claimed to have run around with the underground during WWII. If I'm not mistaken, all of the "operations" he went on were smuggling for black market profit and not much happened other than sitting around drinking. The National Archives are heavy on Ernie Pyle, not Ernie Hemmingway.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016)
LOL! Along with that list of his being a boxer and track athlete (I boxed with friends once or twice and ran on a track a couple of times. If I was Hemmingway I'd say I was boxer and a track athlete. Bullshit.) he claimed to have run around with the underground during WWII. If I'm not mistaken, all of the "operations" he went on were smuggling for black market profit and not much happened other than sitting around drinking. The National Archives are heavy on Ernie Pyle, not Ernie Hemmingway.
Posted by: Dang at June 22, 2014 12:03 PM (MNq6o)
174
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 11:58 AM (x3YFz)
If it's "f***k you please try not to share, ok? You said you were not going to curse before 12:00. ;^)
Now Walt Whitman was probably gay unlike Hemingway. He did a of of good work nursing men during the Civil War, which was a brutal thing to be involved with.
If it's "f***k you please try not to share, ok? You said you were not going to curse before 12:00. ;^)
Now Walt Whitman was probably gay unlike Hemingway. He did a of of good work nursing men during the Civil War, which was a brutal thing to be involved with.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:03 PM (lLdbc)
175
Hemingway is unreadable for me. I can't take page-long sentences. It's exhausting.
Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod (tm) at June 22, 2014 12:04 PM (GrtrJ)
176
Much like Kurt Vonnegut from "Slaughterhouse 5" and onward. Infected by progressive numb speak de-constructivism of thought.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding the comfy chair at June 22, 2014 11:13 AM (+1T7c)
After recently reading "Breakfast of Champions" and "Slapstick" by Vonnegut and finding them either just awful in every conceivable way(SS) or simply an act of trolling his readership(BoC)-
I started re-reading "Cat's Cradle"
, the book that first got me interested in Vonnegut as a writer.
I'm glad to say it's still a great read and justifiably was his breakthrough novel.
It's pretty clearly a novel of it's time (1963) and a humorous allegory for the development of the nuclear bomb and threat of nuclear annihilation with Ice-9 acting as proxy for the nuke..
In KV's version, Ice-9 was developed on a whim to solve a minor military problem and then passed onto 3 irresponsible parties. Hijinks ensue.
The humor comes mostly from the main character's la-di-da, que sera sera philosophy of Bokononism smashing up against the impending end of the world.
Sure, there are some of the same old tired liberal tropes, but they're not the whole point of the book as in later Vonnegut.
And who knows, maybe in 1963, they seemed fresh and coooool, Daddy-o!
I read this when I was a teen originally and I suspect that the prime reading age for this novel is late teens to early twenties- at that age darkly humorous cynicism is often mistaken for wisdom.
Worth a read.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding the comfy chair at June 22, 2014 11:13 AM (+1T7c)
After recently reading "Breakfast of Champions" and "Slapstick" by Vonnegut and finding them either just awful in every conceivable way(SS) or simply an act of trolling his readership(BoC)-
I started re-reading "Cat's Cradle"
, the book that first got me interested in Vonnegut as a writer.
I'm glad to say it's still a great read and justifiably was his breakthrough novel.
It's pretty clearly a novel of it's time (1963) and a humorous allegory for the development of the nuclear bomb and threat of nuclear annihilation with Ice-9 acting as proxy for the nuke..
In KV's version, Ice-9 was developed on a whim to solve a minor military problem and then passed onto 3 irresponsible parties. Hijinks ensue.
The humor comes mostly from the main character's la-di-da, que sera sera philosophy of Bokononism smashing up against the impending end of the world.
Sure, there are some of the same old tired liberal tropes, but they're not the whole point of the book as in later Vonnegut.
And who knows, maybe in 1963, they seemed fresh and coooool, Daddy-o!
I read this when I was a teen originally and I suspect that the prime reading age for this novel is late teens to early twenties- at that age darkly humorous cynicism is often mistaken for wisdom.
Worth a read.
Posted by: naturalfake at June 22, 2014 12:05 PM (KBvAm)
177
When a woman says "bomb them, bomb them again and keep bombing them" while pointing a finger in anger?
I begin thinking MC-17 thoughts.
I begin thinking MC-17 thoughts.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:07 PM (x3YFz)
178
If it's "f***k you please try not to share, ok? You said you were not going to curse before 12:00. ;^)
Now Walt Whitman was probably gay unlike Hemingway. He did a of of good work nursing men during the Civil War, which was a brutal thing to be involved with.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:03 PM (lLdbc)
I admit I know 0 about his history.
I'm victim to the trap that the libs fall into constantly : I judge him based on the idea that they (the left) worships him and have not taken the time to really learn about the man. My negligence.
Point taken, and I'll have a look.
Now Walt Whitman was probably gay unlike Hemingway. He did a of of good work nursing men during the Civil War, which was a brutal thing to be involved with.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:03 PM (lLdbc)
I admit I know 0 about his history.
I'm victim to the trap that the libs fall into constantly : I judge him based on the idea that they (the left) worships him and have not taken the time to really learn about the man. My negligence.
Point taken, and I'll have a look.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:10 PM (x3YFz)
179
Posted by: Dang at June 22, 2014 11:47 AM (MNq6o)
I agree.
I made a bit of a study of Hemingway when I was younger and more easily impressed, and I discovered that he was not nearly as tough as he wanted people to think. And he was also a cruel bastard.
There are rumors that he spent time with Che Guevara while he personally killed prisoners, drinking daiquiris and observing the murders.
I agree.
I made a bit of a study of Hemingway when I was younger and more easily impressed, and I discovered that he was not nearly as tough as he wanted people to think. And he was also a cruel bastard.
There are rumors that he spent time with Che Guevara while he personally killed prisoners, drinking daiquiris and observing the murders.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:11 PM (QFxY5)
180
And Walt Whitman really has some very powerful stories about soldiers-maybe probably he was a war correspondent.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:11 PM (lLdbc)
181
Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod (tm) at June 22, 2014 12:04 PM (GrtrJ)
His short stories are quite approachable.
His short stories are quite approachable.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:12 PM (QFxY5)
182
The man reason the left loves him is because he was supposedly gay and he had problems with the bloodiness of war-not because they really care for his poetry.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:13 PM (lLdbc)
183
LOL! Along with that list of his being a boxer and track athlete (I boxed with friends once or twice and ran on a track a couple of times. If I was Hemmingway I'd say I was boxer and a track athlete. Bullshit.) he claimed to have run around with the underground during WWII. If I'm not mistaken, all of the "operations" he went on were smuggling for black market profit and not much happened other than sitting around drinking. The National Archives are heavy on Ernie Pyle, not Ernie Hemmingway.
Posted by: Dang at June 22, 2014 12:03 PM (MNq6o)
Why did thoughts of Stolen Valor just appear?
Posted by: Dang at June 22, 2014 12:03 PM (MNq6o)
Why did thoughts of Stolen Valor just appear?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:14 PM (x3YFz)
184
His short stories are quite approachable.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:12 PM (QFxY5)
If they have the same writing style, they are a no-go for me.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:12 PM (QFxY5)
If they have the same writing style, they are a no-go for me.
Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod (tm) at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (GrtrJ)
185
Have a wonderful yesterday everyone!
Posted by: aussie at June 22, 2014 11:50 AM (EGwwB)
How was tomorrow? Or should I wait for the papers?
Posted by: aussie at June 22, 2014 11:50 AM (EGwwB)
How was tomorrow? Or should I wait for the papers?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (QFxY5)
186
And Walt Whitman really has some very powerful stories about soldiers-maybe probably he was a war correspondent.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:11 PM (lLdbc)
I have some powerful stories about war. We've kinda been at it for about 2 centuries.
So what?
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:11 PM (lLdbc)
I have some powerful stories about war. We've kinda been at it for about 2 centuries.
So what?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (x3YFz)
187
#180 Whitman had been pro-war, but changed when assessing the casualties and became a volunteer nurse in the Civil War.
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 12:16 PM (YK3ic)
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 12:16 PM (+ahS9)
189
Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod (tm) at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (GrtrJ)
Just look at the original publication date. The earlier the better....and that goes for his books too.
Just look at the original publication date. The earlier the better....and that goes for his books too.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:16 PM (QFxY5)
190
Either you like his poetry or you don't. You haven't read any of it have you, so why are you getting all pissed off?
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:17 PM (lLdbc)
191
Gazing into the crystal ball... something of Tangonine's future is swimming up... looks like a barrel
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 12:18 PM (3kZUM)
192
Uh, that should be NC-17, right?
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 12:16 PM (+ahS9)
lol.. yeah... I was doing some stuff with an MCH-101 and it leaked over ; )
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 12:16 PM (+ahS9)
lol.. yeah... I was doing some stuff with an MCH-101 and it leaked over ; )
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:19 PM (x3YFz)
193
Why Hillary's book is tanking:
Because her contributors have finished giving her money for now. Politician book sales are all about soft money contributions. With e-books, you can now donate hundreds of thousands of dollars, and not get left with a ton of un-readable books to get rid of.
Because her contributors have finished giving her money for now. Politician book sales are all about soft money contributions. With e-books, you can now donate hundreds of thousands of dollars, and not get left with a ton of un-readable books to get rid of.
Posted by: Kristophr at June 22, 2014 12:19 PM (0zVEV)
194
Gazing into the crystal ball... something of Tangonine's future is swimming up... looks like a barrel
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 12:18 PM (3kZUM)
I'm behaving quite nicely. No cussin, no insults. Just don't like walt whitman. sue me.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at June 22, 2014 12:18 PM (3kZUM)
I'm behaving quite nicely. No cussin, no insults. Just don't like walt whitman. sue me.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:21 PM (x3YFz)
195
So what?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (x3YFz)
I am not a huge fan of Whitman, but as Fenelon points out, he saw war firsthand. He gets some credit for that.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (x3YFz)
I am not a huge fan of Whitman, but as Fenelon points out, he saw war firsthand. He gets some credit for that.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:21 PM (QFxY5)
196
I think a reasonable criticism of Rand's works is that they aren't really literature so much as extended polemics. There is no real character development in them so they exist as stick figures to make her point.
I used to think that, and then the Obama Administration happened, in which all of the principles are basically stick figures quoting faculty lunchroom Marxism.
I used to think that, and then the Obama Administration happened, in which all of the principles are basically stick figures quoting faculty lunchroom Marxism.
Posted by: Ian S. at June 22, 2014 12:22 PM (102Hx)
197
So what?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (x3YFz)
I am not a huge fan of Whitman, but as Fenelon points out, he saw war firsthand. He gets some credit for that.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:21 PM (QFxY5)
not a point to argue over. Just letting it go. Coffee? anyone?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:15 PM (x3YFz)
I am not a huge fan of Whitman, but as Fenelon points out, he saw war firsthand. He gets some credit for that.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:21 PM (QFxY5)
not a point to argue over. Just letting it go. Coffee? anyone?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:23 PM (x3YFz)
198
Either you like his poetry or you don't. You haven't read any of it have you, so why are you getting all pissed off?
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:17 PM (lLdbc)
Maybe guilt by association from how Slick used it to try to snag cooter by making it look like he was a sensitive predator.
Either you like his poetry or you don't. You haven't read any of it have you, so why are you getting all pissed off?
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:17 PM (lLdbc)
Maybe guilt by association from how Slick used it to try to snag cooter by making it look like he was a sensitive predator.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 12:25 PM (3EmSI)
199
Just look at the original publication date. The earlier the better....and that goes for his books too.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:16 PM (QFxY5)
Yeah, sorry, I've tried about eight of his works from different times in his career and he's just not my cup of tea. He's just unreadable for me.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:16 PM (QFxY5)
Yeah, sorry, I've tried about eight of his works from different times in his career and he's just not my cup of tea. He's just unreadable for me.
Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod (tm) at June 22, 2014 12:25 PM (GrtrJ)
200
just gonna go back and re-watch judge jeanine because wow she's cute.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:25 PM (x3YFz)
201
...and then the Obama Administration happened, in which all of the principles are basically stick figures quoting faculty lunchroom Marxism.
Heh. Life imitates art.
Heh. Life imitates art.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 12:25 PM (+ahS9)
202
It's pronounced, "Fronkenshteen."
Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at June 22, 2014 10:05 AM (0HooB)
Do you also say "Froaderick"?
Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at June 22, 2014 10:05 AM (0HooB)
Do you also say "Froaderick"?
Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 22, 2014 12:25 PM (FE/sZ)
203
195 -
What is generally true for all sorts of artistic people is that they feel more than they think. It's what often makes them good artists. So if they are expressing their feelings through their art, that's great. Where many of them get crossed up is they start trying to think, which takes them outside the realms of their art. For example, politics, and what we have seen over and over and over and over again is, artists suck at politics.
Granted, these days politicians suck at politics too, but I generally try to ignore the politics of the artists who can more or less keep relatively quiet about it.
What is generally true for all sorts of artistic people is that they feel more than they think. It's what often makes them good artists. So if they are expressing their feelings through their art, that's great. Where many of them get crossed up is they start trying to think, which takes them outside the realms of their art. For example, politics, and what we have seen over and over and over and over again is, artists suck at politics.
Granted, these days politicians suck at politics too, but I generally try to ignore the politics of the artists who can more or less keep relatively quiet about it.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 12:26 PM (PEb5B)
204
Read the "Dog Eat Dog" book by Jerry Jay Carroll based on a recommendation here. Wish now that I had read them in order and I'm backtracking to read "Top Dog". Can't exactly explain why, but I really liked this author style. Another thanks to the Book Thread, because I would never have tried this author on my own.
Posted by: Hrothgar at June 22, 2014 12:27 PM (o3MSL)
205
I keep reading how authors should love poetry but I just don't. Its rarely worth reading and usually pretentious crap, by people who couldn't write prose so they wrote disjointed lines that vaguely follow a meter. Even the good poetry I can appreciate would be better with music. I can tolerate poetry with music, but on its own, I go along with Poe:
" It is how poetry has indefinite sensations to which end, music is an essential, since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception. Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Music without the idea is simply music. Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes palor, man becomes carcus, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are but for a moment motionless."
" It is how poetry has indefinite sensations to which end, music is an essential, since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception. Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Music without the idea is simply music. Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes palor, man becomes carcus, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are but for a moment motionless."
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at June 22, 2014 12:27 PM (zfY+H)
206
Whitman visited and read to the war wounded in the hosital.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 12:27 PM (lJm99)
207
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:23 PM (x3YFz)
No argument at all! Just making a point.
No argument at all! Just making a point.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (QFxY5)
208
Afternoon all.
So, a lot of child dreamers with face tattoos are getting released by DHS.
I don't see the problem. America needs more diversity in it's criminal element.
Over at WZ.
So, a lot of child dreamers with face tattoos are getting released by DHS.
I don't see the problem. America needs more diversity in it's criminal element.
Over at WZ.
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (faowe)
209
Can't exactly explain why, but I really liked this author style.
Me, too. Have you read 'The Great Liars', yet?
Me, too. Have you read 'The Great Liars', yet?
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (+ahS9)
Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (BZAd3)
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:29 PM (x3YFz)
Posted by: ScoggDog at June 22, 2014 12:29 PM (v3BJ5)
213
200 just gonna go back and re-watch judge jeanine because wow she's cute.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:25 PM (x3YFz)
63 years young and wow.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:25 PM (x3YFz)
63 years young and wow.
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:29 PM (faowe)
214
"Ayn Rand's major books were almost devoid of children and old people."
She makes a half-hearted attempt to include children in Galt's Gulch: 2 boys, sons of the woman in the bakeshop. They are described in one paragraph where they wander around, looking intelligent and fearless, and their mother says that they're her particular career. I can perfectly agree with her criticism of the worthless education they'd get in the outside world, but Rand doesn't dare admit what a weird and unnatural life these kids would lead if they really inhabited such a place.
Not only that, it's explicitly stated that there's no policy of "family reuinification" there: family members have to get in (and presumably be approved) through their own efforts to prove themselves completely autonomous, selfish individuals with no emotional obligations to anyone else. I guess that would necessarily require abandoning children who couldn't meet those standards. These kids were 7 and 4, so I have to assume Rand sidestepped that problem by having them conceived and born in the valley.
She makes a half-hearted attempt to include children in Galt's Gulch: 2 boys, sons of the woman in the bakeshop. They are described in one paragraph where they wander around, looking intelligent and fearless, and their mother says that they're her particular career. I can perfectly agree with her criticism of the worthless education they'd get in the outside world, but Rand doesn't dare admit what a weird and unnatural life these kids would lead if they really inhabited such a place.
Not only that, it's explicitly stated that there's no policy of "family reuinification" there: family members have to get in (and presumably be approved) through their own efforts to prove themselves completely autonomous, selfish individuals with no emotional obligations to anyone else. I guess that would necessarily require abandoning children who couldn't meet those standards. These kids were 7 and 4, so I have to assume Rand sidestepped that problem by having them conceived and born in the valley.
Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at June 22, 2014 12:29 PM (FkH4y)
215
Hemingway was a commie asshole. He even offered to spy on behalf of Stalin.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 10:09 AM (lJm99)
And his books are a boring as hell. The Old Man and the Sea should have been The Old Man and the ZZZZZ
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 10:09 AM (lJm99)
And his books are a boring as hell. The Old Man and the Sea should have been The Old Man and the ZZZZZ
Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 22, 2014 12:30 PM (FE/sZ)
216
I am not a huge fan of Whitman, but as Fenelon points out, he saw war firsthand. He gets some credit for that.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:21 PM (QFxY5)
not a point to argue over. Just letting it go. Coffee? anyone?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:23 PM (x3YFz)
Certainly. Make sure you get a nice big mug for yourself.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:21 PM (QFxY5)
not a point to argue over. Just letting it go. Coffee? anyone?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:23 PM (x3YFz)
Certainly. Make sure you get a nice big mug for yourself.
Posted by: baldilocks at June 22, 2014 12:30 PM (36Rjy)
217
Old Man and the ZZZZZZ. LOL.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:31 PM (lLdbc)
218
I got an 80% on the King quiz.
Surprising since more than a few of the questions dealt with the books of his I haven't read.
Surprising since more than a few of the questions dealt with the books of his I haven't read.
Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at June 22, 2014 12:32 PM (oFCZn)
219
I second T9s observation ... Judge Jeanine really is cute.
But I still stick with ScoggDog's law. Behind every woman, no matter how hot, is some poor son of a bitch that's just sick and tired of her bullshit.
But I still stick with ScoggDog's law. Behind every woman, no matter how hot, is some poor son of a bitch that's just sick and tired of her bullshit.
Posted by: ScoggDog at June 22, 2014 12:32 PM (v3BJ5)
220
Vonnegut is the Pink Floyd of authors. No one reads him after high school and college.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at June 22, 2014 12:32 PM (RmZpe)
221
Y'all I'm only on my second cup of coffee. I'm not sure I'm up for books today. Words are hard.
Posted by: Gingy @GingyNorth at June 22, 2014 12:32 PM (N/cFh)
222
206 -
My twisted mind is picturing this old queen, sitting around a bunch of wounded young men who cannot go anywhere, reading poetry to them.
Egad...
My twisted mind is picturing this old queen, sitting around a bunch of wounded young men who cannot go anywhere, reading poetry to them.
Egad...
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 12:33 PM (PEb5B)
223
I take it you mean that she might have had Asbergers Syndrome, not that Asbergers syndrome automatically makes people intentionally cruel. It doesn't; They just don't "get" social interactions.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke
My nephew MIGHT have some of the aspects of Asberger's, and he is one of the kindest people I know, especially with small children. He does not do well in certain social situations, even with family.
Rand had problems in a LOT of social situations, as Oregon Muse intimated, the "Collective" which was what her followers called themselves, where she dictated a lot of behavior, etc.
There used to be some things on You Tube of a couple appearances on the old Phil Donahue show in the 60's, where she is almost in tears after explaining her philosophy and the audience reacting badly to it. She just didn't get how offensive some ideas can be to mainstream Americans.
She had a terrible time with her long lost sister, who was raised in Soviet collectivism, when they were re-united. She frequently referred to other people as "not my type of person".
She just wasn't good a certain kinds of human interactions, and hence my suspicion she suffered in part from Asberger's Syndrome.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke
My nephew MIGHT have some of the aspects of Asberger's, and he is one of the kindest people I know, especially with small children. He does not do well in certain social situations, even with family.
Rand had problems in a LOT of social situations, as Oregon Muse intimated, the "Collective" which was what her followers called themselves, where she dictated a lot of behavior, etc.
There used to be some things on You Tube of a couple appearances on the old Phil Donahue show in the 60's, where she is almost in tears after explaining her philosophy and the audience reacting badly to it. She just didn't get how offensive some ideas can be to mainstream Americans.
She had a terrible time with her long lost sister, who was raised in Soviet collectivism, when they were re-united. She frequently referred to other people as "not my type of person".
She just wasn't good a certain kinds of human interactions, and hence my suspicion she suffered in part from Asberger's Syndrome.
Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding the comfy chair at June 22, 2014 12:33 PM (+1T7c)
224
I read "the Year of Living Biblically". It was entertaining. I've also re-read my favorite books on cooking, "An Everlasting Meal", "The Feast Nearby" and "Jam Today". Some how I keep hoping that reading about cooking will turn me into a good cook!
Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 22, 2014 12:34 PM (Lqy/e)
225
Coffee? anyone?
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:23 PM (x3YFz)
I'll take a shot of bourbon in mine.
Posted by: TangoNine (Beckinsale/Johnson 2016) at June 22, 2014 12:23 PM (x3YFz)
I'll take a shot of bourbon in mine.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 22, 2014 12:34 PM (QFxY5)
226
Shit ... I might have Asberger's Syndrome.
Posted by: ScoggDog at June 22, 2014 12:35 PM (v3BJ5)
227
I don't see the problem. America needs more diversity in it's criminal element.
Over at WZ.
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (faowe)
Not to mention a more diverse set of infectious diseases that the cruel white man managed to pretty much ruthlessly eradicate with hygiene and drugs.
Over at WZ.
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (faowe)
Not to mention a more diverse set of infectious diseases that the cruel white man managed to pretty much ruthlessly eradicate with hygiene and drugs.
Posted by: Hrothgar at June 22, 2014 12:36 PM (o3MSL)
228
I don't know that he read poetry. He may have read the Bible.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:36 PM (lLdbc)
229
I don't see the problem. America needs more diversity in it's criminal element.
We need criminals who will rob you for $10/day.
We need criminals who will rob you for $10/day.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 12:37 PM (MMC8r)
230
Not only that, it's explicitly stated that there's no policy of "family reuinification" there: family members have to get in (and presumably be approved) through their own efforts to prove themselves completely autonomous, selfish individuals with no emotional obligations to anyone else. I guess that would necessarily require abandoning children who couldn't meet those standards. These kids were 7 and 4, so I have to assume Rand sidestepped that problem by having them conceived and born in the valley.
Some people don't like children, do not understand them, do not relate to them, do not want to be around them. Fine, there's nothing wrong with that. It's a little worrisome, though, when such a person constructs a 'philosophy of everything' and simply leaves them out of her calculus of human experience, or relegates them to an afterthought.
Some people don't like children, do not understand them, do not relate to them, do not want to be around them. Fine, there's nothing wrong with that. It's a little worrisome, though, when such a person constructs a 'philosophy of everything' and simply leaves them out of her calculus of human experience, or relegates them to an afterthought.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 12:38 PM (+ahS9)
231
Words are hard.
Posted by: Gingy @GingyNorth at June 22, 2014 12:32 PM (N/cFh)
Not as hard as finding out that Bannion doesn't take collect calls from the Alexandria police department lockup!
Posted by: Gingy @GingyNorth at June 22, 2014 12:32 PM (N/cFh)
Not as hard as finding out that Bannion doesn't take collect calls from the Alexandria police department lockup!
Posted by: Hrothgar at June 22, 2014 12:38 PM (o3MSL)
232
As-P-erger's.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 12:38 PM (MMC8r)
233
Or he may have read family letters to them.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:39 PM (lLdbc)
234
We need criminals who will rob you for $10/day.
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 12:37 PM (MMC8r)
Doing those jobs Americans won't do!
Posted by: --- at June 22, 2014 12:37 PM (MMC8r)
Doing those jobs Americans won't do!
Posted by: Hrothgar at June 22, 2014 12:39 PM (o3MSL)
235
Read 'Caves of Steel' by Asimov, one of his robot novels. Pretty good cop-robot buddy crime story, though Asimov is only workman-like with the English language.
Listened to Heinlein's 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress', which was OK but much (most?) of it was an explanation of the mores and family arrangements on the Moon, would have preferred a shorter novel that concentrated on the story.
Also listened to 'The Deep Blue Good-By', first of the Travis McGee novels by John D MacDonald. Enjoyed it quite a bit though the story was very similar to that of 'A Bullet For Cinderella' which I preferred.
Listened to Heinlein's 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress', which was OK but much (most?) of it was an explanation of the mores and family arrangements on the Moon, would have preferred a shorter novel that concentrated on the story.
Also listened to 'The Deep Blue Good-By', first of the Travis McGee novels by John D MacDonald. Enjoyed it quite a bit though the story was very similar to that of 'A Bullet For Cinderella' which I preferred.
Posted by: waelse1 at June 22, 2014 12:40 PM (t2lJg)
236
231 Did I really dodge that bullet?
Posted by: Hrothgar at June 22, 2014 12:40 PM (o3MSL)
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
238
Whitman read his poetry to the war wounded in the hospital.
Posted by: War Pug at June 22, 2014 12:42 PM (lJm99)
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 12:42 PM (PEb5B)
240
Loved the book thread. To lighten up, a parting gift -- Mark Knoller, quoted in Twitchy. (I am not making this up!!!)
"Citing severe losses of pollinators, Pres Obama calls for federal strategy to promote health of Honey Bees. Should create quite a buzz."
"Pres Obama establishing 'Pollinator Health Task Force.' To be co-chaired by the Ag Secy and EPA Admin."
Of course, the Twitter comments have fun with this. My fave: "A bee czar!"
Check it out at twitchy.com
"Citing severe losses of pollinators, Pres Obama calls for federal strategy to promote health of Honey Bees. Should create quite a buzz."
"Pres Obama establishing 'Pollinator Health Task Force.' To be co-chaired by the Ag Secy and EPA Admin."
Of course, the Twitter comments have fun with this. My fave: "A bee czar!"
Check it out at twitchy.com
Posted by: doug at June 22, 2014 12:43 PM (YK3ic)
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 12:44 PM (PEb5B)
242
They've already eliminated it. They don't call it Aspergers anymore. It's called being "on the autism spectrum".
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:44 PM (lLdbc)
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 12:46 PM (PEb5B)
244
I think President Obama should appear at his next Press Briefing (introduced by Josh Earnest) wearing a bee costume.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 22, 2014 12:47 PM (lLdbc)
245
My Ayn Rand and Ernest Hemingway action figures just had a huge fight.
Man, that one was nasty.
Oh crap, now they're making up.
Ew.
Man, that one was nasty.
Oh crap, now they're making up.
Ew.
Posted by: eman at June 22, 2014 12:47 PM (MQEz6)
246
I see the Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer got better Amazon ratings than Hillary's latest trope.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at June 22, 2014 12:47 PM (ozD9y)
247
Damn that's funny, eman.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 22, 2014 12:54 PM (j6SkI)
248
245 .... Thread winner ?
Posted by: ScoggDog at June 22, 2014 12:55 PM (v3BJ5)
249
I read "Atlas Shrugged" once. lost the thread of logic in "the Speech". checked out the book from the library a few weeks later and put it off again. Finally, after about a year, I sat down (you HAVE to be sober) and made my way through it. It would have been a lot shorter if she just said "God gave us inalienable rights."
I was always amazed that Dagny Taggart didn't get pregnant (from all that intercourse) during the story.
steevy, I too got a 67% without reading any but "The Stand."
Finished "The Killer in the Wind" by Andrew Klavan. Good thriller.
I was always amazed that Dagny Taggart didn't get pregnant (from all that intercourse) during the story.
steevy, I too got a 67% without reading any but "The Stand."
Finished "The Killer in the Wind" by Andrew Klavan. Good thriller.
Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at June 22, 2014 12:55 PM (V70Uh)
250
237
GGE make it back ok?
Or was he just funnin' with the posts last night?
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
I sure hope he didn't go walking in Alexander like he was talking about. We might find him in the Potomac.
GGE make it back ok?
Or was he just funnin' with the posts last night?
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
I sure hope he didn't go walking in Alexander like he was talking about. We might find him in the Potomac.
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 12:55 PM (0FSuD)
251
I was always amazed that Dagny Taggart didn't get pregnant (from all that intercourse) during the story.
I encourage you to read the Whitaker Chambers review/rant of Atlas Shrugged I linked to. He makes precisely this point.
I encourage you to read the Whitaker Chambers review/rant of Atlas Shrugged I linked to. He makes precisely this point.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 12:59 PM (+ahS9)
252
Off to church, good day to all, bbl.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 01:00 PM (+ahS9)
253
Also, I hereby declare #245 as this week's thread winner and eman gets a free year of AoSHQ Premium content, and a 'Get Out of the Barrel Free' card, good for one use.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 01:02 PM (+ahS9)
254
speaking of Hillary!, seen at Business Insider, via Yahoo:
"They don't see me as part of the problem," Clinton said of Americans who are upset about income inequality, adding, "Because we pay ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of peoplewho are truly well off, not to name names; and we've done it through dint of hard work."
I can hardly wait till they release 10 years of income tax like they wanted Romney to do. But also this:
"Earlier this month, Clinton caused controversy when she said she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were "dead broke" when he left the White House in 2000 and subsequently "struggled" to buy homes and pay for their daughter, Chelsea's, education."
Yeah, I recall how they struggled to buy two houses with a combined price of something like 4 million dollars.
[also seen at Yahoo: "Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Friday she expects Hillary Rodham Clinton to help Democrats heading into the midterm elections and raise money for the national party."]
"They don't see me as part of the problem," Clinton said of Americans who are upset about income inequality, adding, "Because we pay ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of peoplewho are truly well off, not to name names; and we've done it through dint of hard work."
I can hardly wait till they release 10 years of income tax like they wanted Romney to do. But also this:
"Earlier this month, Clinton caused controversy when she said she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were "dead broke" when he left the White House in 2000 and subsequently "struggled" to buy homes and pay for their daughter, Chelsea's, education."
Yeah, I recall how they struggled to buy two houses with a combined price of something like 4 million dollars.
[also seen at Yahoo: "Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Friday she expects Hillary Rodham Clinton to help Democrats heading into the midterm elections and raise money for the national party."]
Posted by: mallfly at June 22, 2014 01:04 PM (zjcTL)
255
Sitting on runway in DC, now reading "
Kent Knowles: Quhaug". by Joseph Lincoln. Quirky comedy of New England manners, published
100 years ago, still funny.
Kent Knowles: Quhaug". by Joseph Lincoln. Quirky comedy of New England manners, published
100 years ago, still funny.
Posted by: lincolntf at June 22, 2014 01:05 PM (SayUt)
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at June 22, 2014 01:07 PM (Nyz5c)
257
220, that's not really fair. Floyd's influence is still being felt today--and Dark Side of the Moon still moves a lot of copies 40+ years after it came out--and that's without being "assigned" by lefty high school and college teachers as is the case with Vonnegut...
Posted by: JoeyBagels at June 22, 2014 01:09 PM (5OoYm)
258
I would personally not mind having my skin used as the binding of a grimoire as long as there was a nice acknowledgement in the foreword. "Spells Moronical to Summon ye Ewok".
Thanks to everyone who set up the 'Ron Moot, and apologies to all within earshot of my boozy succubus cackle, but really it's your own fault for being so damnably funny.
Am I the only one disappointed that the mini-trampoline was disassembled WAY too early in the game? And it was right in front of the window!
GGE: Nice gams.
Thanks to everyone who set up the 'Ron Moot, and apologies to all within earshot of my boozy succubus cackle, but really it's your own fault for being so damnably funny.
Am I the only one disappointed that the mini-trampoline was disassembled WAY too early in the game? And it was right in front of the window!
GGE: Nice gams.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 22, 2014 01:10 PM (QBm1P)
259
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
I sure hope he didn't go walking in Alexander like he was talking about. We might find him in the Potomac.
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 12:55 PM (0FSuD)
Geeze. Good luck. I was stone sober and misplaced my car for a bit.
I sure hope he didn't go walking in Alexander like he was talking about. We might find him in the Potomac.
Posted by: Nip Sip at June 22, 2014 12:55 PM (0FSuD)
Geeze. Good luck. I was stone sober and misplaced my car for a bit.
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 01:11 PM (faowe)
260
I like the "Do not Disturb Tiny grass is dreaming"
Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at June 22, 2014 01:11 PM (V70Uh)
261
I've already consigned my skin post-mortem to "100 Girls I'd Like to Pork, updated for the 2010s" based upon the fact that I don't expect to survive the decade.
Now this Illinois village they're talking about, are they comparing the homicide statistics to Chicago or to Naperville?
Now this Illinois village they're talking about, are they comparing the homicide statistics to Chicago or to Naperville?
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at June 22, 2014 01:19 PM (ozD9y)
262
237 GGE make it back ok?
Or was he just funnin' with the posts last night?
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
---
We took him to his hotel, dropped Cochran at his, and then headed home. Dave was driving, not GGE. And he wasn't too drunk, he was just posting on his phone with fat fingers, I guess.
Or was he just funnin' with the posts last night?
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
---
We took him to his hotel, dropped Cochran at his, and then headed home. Dave was driving, not GGE. And he wasn't too drunk, he was just posting on his phone with fat fingers, I guess.
Posted by: Gingy @GingyNorth at June 22, 2014 01:21 PM (N/cFh)
263
So, a lot of child dreamers with face tattoos are getting released by DHS.
I don't see the problem. America needs more diversity in it's criminal element.
Over at WZ.
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (faowe)
Speaking of face tattoos. Yesterday I was sitting in my truck at a local supermarket, drinking a soda, watching the world go by. I was working up the energy to go in and do my shopping, actually.
This young woman with a really spectacular rack comes out of the store, pushing a loaded shopping cart up to the rear of a minivan parked about 3 spaces away. At which point her boyfriend/husband gets out of the driver's seat where he had been lounging, minding the kids, and helps her load the groceries. Dude has double "racing stripes" down each side of his face, from his hairline to beneath his chin, bracketing each eye. Plus a mess of other seemingly-random tats. He looked centro-Americano to me, too. Swarthy, he was. Anybody here know if such tats are a "thing" in certain groups? This was in Edson, Alberta, not any big city at all.
And to go on-topic for a change, I just finished reading "The Little Bastards" by Jim Lindsay, an Oregon writer, published via CreateSpace. His website is www.jimlindsayauthor.com It's sort of a coming-of-age story about car-crazy young guys in 1950's western Oregon. I really enjoyed it.
I don't see the problem. America needs more diversity in it's criminal element.
Over at WZ.
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:28 PM (faowe)
Speaking of face tattoos. Yesterday I was sitting in my truck at a local supermarket, drinking a soda, watching the world go by. I was working up the energy to go in and do my shopping, actually.
This young woman with a really spectacular rack comes out of the store, pushing a loaded shopping cart up to the rear of a minivan parked about 3 spaces away. At which point her boyfriend/husband gets out of the driver's seat where he had been lounging, minding the kids, and helps her load the groceries. Dude has double "racing stripes" down each side of his face, from his hairline to beneath his chin, bracketing each eye. Plus a mess of other seemingly-random tats. He looked centro-Americano to me, too. Swarthy, he was. Anybody here know if such tats are a "thing" in certain groups? This was in Edson, Alberta, not any big city at all.
And to go on-topic for a change, I just finished reading "The Little Bastards" by Jim Lindsay, an Oregon writer, published via CreateSpace. His website is www.jimlindsayauthor.com It's sort of a coming-of-age story about car-crazy young guys in 1950's western Oregon. I really enjoyed it.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 22, 2014 01:29 PM (yDmQD)
264
Whatever. It's funnier the other way.
And the new DSM5 is working on eliminating it.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 12:42 PM (PEb5B)
As they have done with other disorders deemed to be "politically incorrect" like narcissistic personality disorder and homosexuality.
And the new DSM5 is working on eliminating it.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 22, 2014 12:42 PM (PEb5B)
As they have done with other disorders deemed to be "politically incorrect" like narcissistic personality disorder and homosexuality.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 22, 2014 01:36 PM (yDmQD)
265
Damn! I killed the thread.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 22, 2014 01:39 PM (yDmQD)
266
I played the board game.
I scored 48 points. I'm William Shakespeare, a writer for the ages.
Suck on that, book thread denizens.
I scored 48 points. I'm William Shakespeare, a writer for the ages.
Suck on that, book thread denizens.
Posted by: rickl at June 22, 2014 01:39 PM (sdi6R)
Posted by: Blanco Basura at June 22, 2014 01:41 PM (0AKks)
268
Wow. Busy day on the book thread. Finally finished the first 2 books of the John Ringo/David Weber "Empire of Man" series. A little something for everybody . Mini lessons on history, economics, political science, the history of firearms, military strategy,plus 4 armed aliens(some friendly, some not), nasty flora and fauna and a rival empire patterned after today's environmental crazies. All and all great fun. Taking a break before starting on the next book by reading P.C. Hodgell's new entry in her high fantasy series. So far so good. Getting reacquainted with the characters.
Posted by: Tuna at June 22, 2014 01:57 PM (7KPIw)
269
I played the board game too. I scored 27: I'm Ayn Rand. I have some avid fans, but more severe critics.
Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at June 22, 2014 02:04 PM (FkH4y)
270
The book thread breathes it's last ragged breath.
Posted by: Tuna at June 22, 2014 03:03 PM (7KPIw)
271
No! It's too soon! Breathe, dammit, breathe!
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 03:21 PM (RwTMN)
272
This week I read Martha Grimes newest mystery novel, Vertigo 42. I had been on the waiting list at the library since February when I finally got hold of it. I needn't have been that persistent. Disappointing. The lovely characters she has created over the years barely made conversation, much less an impact. Superintendent Jury followed a muddled case to a predictable end, and Melrose Plant was decidedly less than his witty and charming self. Also, dog abuse. Ugh. What a mess.
Posted by: grammie winger at June 22, 2014 03:27 PM (oMKp3)
273
I had planned to read "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr, but my son stole it from me when he was home for grandpa's funeral last week. So I did not.
Posted by: grammie winger at June 22, 2014 03:30 PM (oMKp3)
274
Hey, OregonMuse, the picture you have posted as "Harvard University Library" is of a reading room in Harvard's Widener Library, the university's main library. The anthropodermically bound books are in the Houghton Library, Harvard's rare books library.
Also, the picture you have posted as "Yale University Library" is of the stacks in the Beinecke Library, Yale's rare books and manuscripts library. The main library at Yale is the Sterling Memorial Library.
Also, the picture you have posted as "Yale University Library" is of the stacks in the Beinecke Library, Yale's rare books and manuscripts library. The main library at Yale is the Sterling Memorial Library.
Posted by: Percy Gryce at June 22, 2014 04:16 PM (/JTkz)
275
GGE make it back ok?
Or was he just funnin' with the posts last night?
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
Yes, GGE made it back just fine. The MoMe was great, hiking a mile with my bags to get the car after almost not getting up in time to check out before 11...not so much. I use my phone for an alarm clock, I plugged it in when I crashed and the damn plug fell out of the wall so the phone went completely dead. The hotel was a dive, but hey, the room was clean and it was less than a C note, so no real complaints.
And most of the funny posts was from trying to type on the damn phone. I was tipsy but not hammered, my last few posts were done from the computer and you can definitely tell the difference.
So to stay on book thread topic, my little Iowa hometown had/has a Carnegie library; the library has since moved to a new building and the future of the old one was somewhat uncertain. Thankfully someone has now bought it and they are restoring it to its former glory to be used as an art museum, so that's something to go see when I'm back next time.
Or was he just funnin' with the posts last night?
Posted by: RWC at June 22, 2014 12:41 PM (faowe)
Yes, GGE made it back just fine. The MoMe was great, hiking a mile with my bags to get the car after almost not getting up in time to check out before 11...not so much. I use my phone for an alarm clock, I plugged it in when I crashed and the damn plug fell out of the wall so the phone went completely dead. The hotel was a dive, but hey, the room was clean and it was less than a C note, so no real complaints.
And most of the funny posts was from trying to type on the damn phone. I was tipsy but not hammered, my last few posts were done from the computer and you can definitely tell the difference.
So to stay on book thread topic, my little Iowa hometown had/has a Carnegie library; the library has since moved to a new building and the future of the old one was somewhat uncertain. Thankfully someone has now bought it and they are restoring it to its former glory to be used as an art museum, so that's something to go see when I'm back next time.
Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at June 22, 2014 04:32 PM (6fyGz)
276
and WOOT! another S.C. book this summer? Can't wait!
Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at June 22, 2014 04:33 PM (6fyGz)
277
I haven't read any novels by the author known as Stephen King since the early 90s, the last two being "The Stand" and "It".....and I still scored a 60. I think Thomas Tryon's "The Other" and "Haarvest Home" are better novels than anything King as ever done.
Posted by: Budahmon at June 22, 2014 05:50 PM (vcSri)
278
That library room in the photo is the private Harry E. Widener collection. He was a member of the Class of 1907 who died on the Titanic. His mother, of the wealthy Widener family of Philly, bequeathed the Library in his memory with a gift of several million dollars. Harry was a bibliophile who amassed a collection of about 7000 expensive books. His mother stipulated that if a single brick of the building was removed, the library would revert from Harvard's control to the City of Cambridge. It is the largest university library in the world with 15,000,000 books on 9 floors. It also houses a Gutenberg Bible and Shakespeare's First Folio. Harry was also a member of the Owl Club, one of the 9 private all-male undergraduate clubs which houses its own original "Widener Library" ( of smutty 19th Century. French illustrated novels)
Posted by: Donovan Nuera at June 22, 2014 05:54 PM (eDVhK)
279
What I am reading....Just finished Christopher Nuttall's series staring with "Ark Royal". ScFi Alien war, it's actually a very good read. Reread of George Martin's GoT series, borrowed from library. Won't buy the bastard's books, but I will read them if it's for free.
Posted by: Budahmon at June 22, 2014 06:01 PM (vcSri)
280
I read a WW1 books this week, The Passing Bells by Phillip Rock. It's the first in a trilogy and was originally published in 1978 and has been republished to capitalize on the love for all things Downton Abbeyish. It's a pretty solid story, but suffers because it feels like a rip-off of Downton Abbey. There's an American mother, an ambitious chauffeur, even a daughter who becomes a nurse. I had to keep reminding myself that it was written well before DA was created. Reading the first 100 pages or so I wasn't sure if I liked the book enough to bother reading the second and third books, but the story got more interesting once the war started, so now I want to finish the series.
Posted by: biancaneve at June 22, 2014 07:12 PM (2sR50)
281
After The Passing Bells, I tried to read Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. This book received critical acclaim, and I'm prepared to accept that it's really well-written, but ultimately I decided I just don't want to read this book. Here's the description from Amazon:
"My name is Mike Engleby, and I'm in my second year at an ancient university." With that brief introduction we meet one of the most mesmerizing, singular voices in a long tradition of disturbing narrators. Despite his obvious intelligence and compelling voice, it is clear that something about solitary, odd Mike is not quite right. When he becomes fixated on a classmate named Jennifer Arkland and she goes missing, we are left with the looming question: Is Mike Engleby involved? As he grows up, finding a job and even a girlfriend in London, Mike only becomes more and more detached from those around him in an almost anti-coming-of-age. His inability to relate to others and his undependable memory (able to recall countless lines of text yet sometimes incapable of summoning up his own experiences from mere days before) lead the reader down an unclear and often darkly humorous path where one is never completely comfortable or confident about what is true.
The premise really intrigued me and I like Faulks' Birdsong, but I just could not read this book. I was going to give it 30 pages, but gave up after 15. I just don't want to read a book from the POV of an unfeeling psychopath.
"My name is Mike Engleby, and I'm in my second year at an ancient university." With that brief introduction we meet one of the most mesmerizing, singular voices in a long tradition of disturbing narrators. Despite his obvious intelligence and compelling voice, it is clear that something about solitary, odd Mike is not quite right. When he becomes fixated on a classmate named Jennifer Arkland and she goes missing, we are left with the looming question: Is Mike Engleby involved? As he grows up, finding a job and even a girlfriend in London, Mike only becomes more and more detached from those around him in an almost anti-coming-of-age. His inability to relate to others and his undependable memory (able to recall countless lines of text yet sometimes incapable of summoning up his own experiences from mere days before) lead the reader down an unclear and often darkly humorous path where one is never completely comfortable or confident about what is true.
The premise really intrigued me and I like Faulks' Birdsong, but I just could not read this book. I was going to give it 30 pages, but gave up after 15. I just don't want to read a book from the POV of an unfeeling psychopath.
Posted by: biancaneve at June 22, 2014 07:19 PM (2sR50)
282
I read The Passing Bells ages ago - I have the paperback editions of this and the following book ... sad that it would feel to you like a pale shade of Downton Abbey - when it actually came out decades before. No - this and other novels like it hit on the same themes and character-types. They've been marinating for a good long time in the psyches of writers of pop-fiction. I might give it a good go around in my own books, eventually.
The first world war so completely devastated the western mind-set of boundless optimism. I might come up to dealing with it, soon. It was a catastrophe so shattering that perhaps it has taken 100 years to come to grips with it, after all.
The first world war so completely devastated the western mind-set of boundless optimism. I might come up to dealing with it, soon. It was a catastrophe so shattering that perhaps it has taken 100 years to come to grips with it, after all.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at June 22, 2014 09:50 PM (Asjr7)
283
The premise really intrigued me and I like Faulks' Birdsong, but I just could not read this book. I was going to give it 30 pages, but gave up after 15. I just don't want to read a book from the POV of an unfeeling psychopath.
I know what you mean. I find that kind of story, where everything is dark and/or disturbing, just dries out my soul, so I can only tolerate so much of it, in small doses.
I know what you mean. I find that kind of story, where everything is dark and/or disturbing, just dries out my soul, so I can only tolerate so much of it, in small doses.
Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:14 PM (+ahS9)
284
The first world war so completely devastated the western mind-set of boundless optimism. I might come up to dealing with it, soon.
This was very true in Europe, maybe not so much in America, I think. I'd like to read your take on it, but you couldn't set such a novel in Texas. I think you'd have to send your characters off to London or Paris or other European locales.
This was very true in Europe, maybe not so much in America, I think. I'd like to read your take on it, but you couldn't set such a novel in Texas.
I think you'd have to send your characters off to London or Paris or other European locales.Posted by: OregonMuse at June 22, 2014 10:20 PM (+ahS9)
285
As of about an hour ago, my lovely wife reports that her book is currently #26 on Amazon's Humor Essays chart. Who else is in the Top 30? Mindy Kaling, Tina Fey, Chelsea Handler, David Sedaris, Jim Gaffigan, Diane Keaton, Adam Carolla, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Geist, Bill Bryson, Amy Poehler, John Waters, Annabelle Gurwitch, Dave Barry, Greg Gutfeld, Bob Saget and Joan Rivers just to name a few. Pretty amazing to be in such good company!
Thanks all!!!
Thanks all!!!
Posted by: Brian McKim at June 22, 2014 11:58 PM (NHK1D)
Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.0596 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0202 seconds, 293 records returned.
Page size 184 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.
MuNuvians
MeeNuvians
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement
Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band
AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection
AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings)
George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement
Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band
AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection
AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings)
George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer
Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica
New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network
Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes
Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse
Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party"
Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad
Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up
Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry
NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom
Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?"
Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind
All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd
Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran
Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore
Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery
Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile
Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance
Collective Names for Groups of People
John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets
Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle
Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy
Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive"
Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments
John Edwards Campaign Excuses
John Kerry Pick-Up Lines
Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney
Torments in Dog-Hell
Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
News/Chat