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Sunday Morning Book Thread 12-28-2014: Wring Out The Old [OregonMuse]


Strahav Library Prague 525.jpg
Strahav Library, Prague
Same Library As A Few Weeks Ago, But With Different Lighting

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread. The only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Or kilts. Kilts are OK, too. But not tutus.


When Seconds Count, Police Are Minutes Away

Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, and Brooklyn, NY, has caused the police to come under greater scrutiny. And that's a good thing, all in all. But Law enforcement is a peculiar institution. We use our tax money to hire and train people to protect us from crime, but actually, they are not obligated to do so. Which, obviously, is kind of weird. If I pay someone to paint my house, I expect him to paint my house, and if he doesn't, I can take him to court. But you can't take the police to court if they fail to protect you. There have been been any number of lawsuits initiated by people whom law enforcement failed to protect, and these suits have always been denied. The position of the courts has always been that it is unreasonable to expect the police to be able to prevent each and every instance of each and every crime.

Which, actually, is not an unreasonable argument. The police aren't omniscient supermen (and, in fact, it would be rather scary if they were) so there's always going to be the possibility that they won't get there in time. That's the point of the book Dial 911 and Die: The Shocking Truth About the Police Protection Myth by Richard W. Stevens, published in 1999. This is a compendium of all the ways that law enforcement is not obligated to protect you.

This is from one of the reviews:

Do the police have the obligation to arrest someone who repeatedly violates a domestic violence protective order? No.

Can the police ignore an emergency call for assistance in order to do paperwork? Yes.

Do the police have the obligation to respond to a 911 call for help? No.

What if they promise that "help is on the way"? Do they then have an obligation to respond? Still no.

If the police witness a crime in progress, must they intervene to protect the innocent? No again.

The book documents all of these depressing instances with the relevant court cases. So, given all that, what should we do? What can we do? I would think that this should be enough to show even the most obtuse progressive the absurdity of gun control laws, and also the perniciousness of the "only the police should be allowed to have guns" argument, which you sometimes hear made by law enforcement officials.

So, this being the book thread, my answer takes the form of two other books: Thank God I Had a Gun: True Accounts of Self-Defense and of course Andrew Branca's The Law of Self Defense: The Indispensable Guide to the Armed Citizen. Also, let's not forget the third edition of John Lott's classic More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws.

I mean, do they know the bind that gun control laws puts ordinary citizens in? The police don't have to protect us, and we're denied the means to protect ourselves. What then? A pointy stick? Longbows?


Skullduggery Up Near The Roof of the World

For those of you who like exotic locations, mystery writer Eliot (one 'l') Pattison kas a series featuring Shan Tao Yun, a former senior inspector in Beijing's Public Security Bureau, that take place in Tibet. The series started out in 1999 with The Skull Mantra. The latest, Soul of the Fire, is the eighth novel in the series.

Pattison is also the author of Original Death and Bone Rattler, both of which are set in colonial America. And at the other end of things, there's Ashes of the Earth, a post-apocalyptic America.

E-Readers Considered Harmful

According to the Guardian, Harvard researchers say light-emitting ebooks negatively affect our sleep and lead to next-day grogginess:

Researchers from Harvard Medical School's sleep medicine department put 12 healthy young adults through a two-week experiment, in which the participants would either read a light-emitting ebook for four hours before bedtime or a printed book. Study participants reading a light-emitting ebook took on average almost 10 minutes longer to fall asleep and said they were less sleepy an hour before bedtime than they were reading a paper book.

They also had suppressed evening levels of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin - readers of print showed no suppression - and significantly less REM (rapid eye movement) sleep than print book participants. The next morning, they took "hours longer to fully 'wake up' and attain the same level of alertness", researchers have reported

Note that if you're using the basic Kindle, or original Nook, or any other e-reader that isn't backlit, the results of this study do not apply to you. On the other hand, only 12 experimental subjects is an awfully small sample size to be making conclusions about.

And then there's the claim that digital reading doesn't allow the reader to develop a sense of 'place' within a text:

Surveying the latest research, Jabr speculates that reading traditional books allows readers to locate a text within a mental geography. "Much as we might recall that we passed the red farmhouse near the start of a hiking trail before we started climbing uphill toward the forest," writes Jabr, "we remember that we read about Mr. Darcy rebuffing Elizabeth Bennett at a dance on the bottom left corner of the left-hand page in one of the earlier chapters of Jane Austen’s 'Pride and Prejudice.'"

These sorts of things are supposedly more difficult to keep track of when scrolling through digital text. And presumably it doesn't matter if the e-reader is backlit or not. Although many e-text readers, such as the Google Play book app and the Nook reader, to named just two, do a pretty good job of simulating page turning rather than simply having you move the text up and down in a scrolling motion. So I'm not seeing much of a problem here.


Movie Books

The nameless moron commenter MMC8r (you know who you are) mentioned this one last week: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary 'Westley' Elwes is a behind-the-scenes memoir of the making of this iconic movie that has more quotable lines than any other movie I can think of (hey, ever notice that the LOTR trilogy, as great as it is, has virtually no memorable lines?).

I tend to not like these kind of "fan" books. I very much enjoy the Princess Bride movie every time I watch it, but I've never felt the need to learn anything more about it. It's kind of like breaking something when you take it apart. But, YMMV.

___________

And speaking of iconic movies, here are a few things you may not know about Star Wars:

* Brian De Palma, the director of “Carrie,” helped to write the opening crawl

* Christopher Walken was originally cast as Han Solo

* Solo was partly based on Francis Ford Coppola. (At the time, he was a young, seductive, swashbuckling smoothie who had impressed George Lucas by talking Warner Brothers into funding "Apocalypse Now.")

* Toshiro Mifune was almost cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi

All this is taken from How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise by Chris Taylor, which is not just a "behind the scenes" book for fans, but whose aim is more ambitious:

How did a few notes scribbled on a legal pad in 1973 by George Lucas, a man who hated writing, turn into a four billion dollar franchise that has quite literally transformed the way we think about entertainment, merchandizing, politics, and even religion? A cultural touchstone and cinematic classic, Star Wars has a cosmic appeal that no other movie franchise has been able to replicate. From Jedi-themed weddings and international storm-trooper legions, to impassioned debates over the digitization of the three Star Wars prequels, to the shockwaves that continue to reverberate from Disney’s purchase of the beloved franchise in 2012, the series hasn’t stopped inspiring and inciting viewers for almost forty years. Yet surprisingly little is known about its history, its impact—or where it’s headed next.

So George Lucas hated writing? Huh. Actually, that would explain a lot.


Books Of Note

Critics are already starting to call Victoria: A Life by A. N. Wilson the definitive biography of Queen Victoria (1819-1901):

When Queen Victoria died in 1901, she had ruled for nearly sixty-four years. She was a mother of nine and grandmother of forty-two and the matriarch of royal Europe through her children’s marriages. To many, Queen Victoria is a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, an aging, stiff widow paraded as the figurehead to an all-male imperial enterprise. But in truth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was one of the most passionate, expressive, humorous and unconventional women who ever lived

Wilson has previously written biographies of Tolstoy, C.S. Lewis, and even had a shot at St. Paul the Apostle.


Book Threads 2014

What follows is a list of links to every 2014 book thread. There's a metric boatload of book recommendations in these links, so this is your easy reference point. So you won't ever have to say you have nothing to read.

Also, I would like to take the opportunity at year's end to publicly thank ace for letting me do this. I never asked for his permission, by the way, which, if you think about it, is way presumptuous on my part, considering that this isn't my blog and I'm just some guy. I'm glad that ace is the generous and tolerant sort. I remember the days when he was lucky if he could get 20-30 comments on one of his threads. It's been ace's hard work over the years that has built up the audience of the AoSHQ blog and I'm deeply grateful that he lets me borrow it every week for the book thread.

Also, a big thank you to all of you 'rons and 'ettes. It's your comments and your recommendations, your collective Horde knowledge that make the book thread as fun and informative as it is. And speaking of comments and recommendations:

Book Thread 01-05-2014
Book Thread 01-12-2014
Book Thread 01-19-2014
Book Thread 01-26-2014
Book Thread 02-02-2014
Book Thread 02-09-2014
Book Thread 02-16-2014
Book Thread 02-23-2014
Book Thread 03-02-2014
Book Thread 03-09-2014
Book Thread 03-16-2014
Book Thread 03-23-2014
Book Thread 03-30-2014
Book Thread 04-06-2014
Book Thread 04-13-2014
Book Thread 04-20-2014
Book Thread 04-27-2014
Book Thread 05-04-2014
Book Thread 05-11-2014
Book Thread 05-18-2014
Book Thread 05-25-2014
Book Thread 06-01-2014
Book Thread 06-08-2014
Book Thread 06-15-2014
Book Thread 06-22-2014
Book Thread 06-29-2014
Book Thread 07-06-2014
Book Thread 07-13-2014
Book Thread 07-20-2014
Book Thread 07-27-2014
Book Thread 08-03-2014
Book Thread 08-10-2014
Book Thread 08-17-2014
Book Thread 08-24-2014
Book Thread 08-31-2014
Book Thread 09-07-2014
Book Thread 09-14-2014
Book Thread 09-21-2014
Book Thread 09-28-2014
Book Thread 10-05-2014
Book Thread 10-12-2014
Book Thread 10-19-2014
Book Thread 10-26-2014
Book Thread 11-02-2014
Book Thread 11-09-2014
Book Thread 11-16-2014
Book Thread 11-23-2014
Book Thread 11-30-2014
Book Thread 12-07-2014
Book Thread 12-14-2014
Book Thread 12-21-2014


Open Question

This being the book thread and all, what books did you morons get for Christmas this year?

Let's start out with De La Bourdonnais Versus Mcdonnell, 1834: The Eighty-five Games of Their Six Chess Matches, With Excerpts from Additional Games Against Other Opponents by Cary Utterberg, an exhaustive modern treatment of that titanic match series during the pre-Morphy era, given by Mrs. Muse to her nerd husband.

So far I have learned that even by 1834, the 'White moves first' rule had not yet been set in stone. The author has concluded from the evidence that Black moved first in approximately half of the games. So in order to avoid confusion, the game scores were adjusted so that White was assigned to the player that moved first.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, 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 you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:25 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I am rereading The Da Vinci Code on the kindle now. One think I have noticed when reading on my Samsung is that my eyes tend to become unfocused but I have no other problems.

Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 09:20 AM (u9gzs)

2 Also, let's not forget the third edition of John Lott's classic More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws.
--------------------------


I have read that book. Great book.

Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 09:22 AM (u9gzs)

3 ghee

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 28, 2014 09:24 AM (fIv/H)

4 Good morning, Vic. The Da Vinci Code, eh? I look forward to your review, and whether it blows as much as others have said.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 09:24 AM (DVjiu)

5 Researchers from Harvard Medical School's sleep medicine department put
12 healthy young adults through a two-week experiment, in which the
participants would either read a light-emitting ebook for four hours
before bedtime or a printed book. Study participants reading a
light-emitting ebook took on average almost 10 minutes longer to fall
asleep and said they were less sleepy an hour before bedtime than they
were reading a paper book.



I have never had a problem getting to sleep after reading my e-book. In fact have the opposite reaction. It tends to put me to sleep.

Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 09:24 AM (u9gzs)

6 This being the book thread and all, what books did you morons get for Christmas this year?



I didn't get any books.

Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 09:26 AM (u9gzs)

7 Thanks O.M. Happy New Year!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 28, 2014 09:29 AM (NeFrd)

8 4
Good morning, Vic. The Da Vinci Code, eh? I look forward to your review, and whether it blows as much as others have said.


Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 09:24 AM (DVjiu)

I have read it before and I thought it was good. A lot of people hate it because it is sort of anti-church. I ignore those parts and don't let it bother me.

Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 09:29 AM (u9gzs)

9 Not sure if I've said it lately, OregonMuse, but thanks for your hard work in putting these threads together every week. I really do enjoy them, even when I don't have a reason to chime in.

Books for Christmas! I got Jesus on Trial by David Limbaugh and A Day's Ride from Here, Vol. 1: Mountain Home, Texas by Clifford R. Caldwell. The latter should come in handy when I get to the fourth Loyal Valley book, which will be set (at least partly) in Kerr County. Of course, first I have to get unstuck on the third book....

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at December 28, 2014 09:32 AM (iuQS7)

10 "This being the book thread and all, what books did you morons get for Christmas this year"



I received "Jack's Story: The Life Story of C.S. Lewis, by his stepson Douglas Gresham. I am looking forward to reading it soon.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 28, 2014 09:35 AM (dFi94)

11 Tried to read "Angels and Demons" and it was so horribly written I actually threw it against the wall.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 09:36 AM (KH1sk)

12 There's a metric boatload of book recommendations in these links

I am glad that you said "boatload" instead of "buttload" as so many people do.

Posted by: rickl at December 28, 2014 09:37 AM (sdi6R)

13 Ooh, grammie winger, I've read that one! It's quite good.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at December 28, 2014 09:38 AM (iuQS7)

14
When will Lucas at last confess his hyenous theft of an idea?

#SpaceballsCameFirst

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 09:38 AM (bWFHa)

15 the Da Vinci Code, eh? I look forward to your review, and whether it blows as much as others have said.



It does. It's farcical to the point where the farce interferes with the storyline.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 28, 2014 09:38 AM (dFi94)

16 Ooh, grammie winger, I've read that one! It's quite good.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at December 28, 2014 09:38


I think I read another comment here that also praised it. I was happy to receive it. My sister owns a bookstore so I often get goodies from her.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 28, 2014 09:40 AM (dFi94)

17
I didn't get books, but I did spend yesterday looking up and downloading power tool manuals. That's one of the joys of acquiring tools secondhand at auction and the like.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 09:40 AM (bWFHa)

18 11
Tried to read "Angels and Demons" and it was so horribly written I actually threw it against the wall.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 09:36 AM (KH1sk)


Angels and Demons was not as good as The Da Vinci code. But it was better than Inferno and The Lost Symbol which I thought blew chunks. But right now the Da Vinci Code and Inferno are on sale for $2.50 each.

Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 09:41 AM (u9gzs)

19 Book rec: Swallow the Sky - A Space Opera by Chris Mead

An story about an interstellar conspiracy and an interstellar mailman.

Posted by: eman at December 28, 2014 09:41 AM (MQEz6)

20 It seems to me that police have a best-effort contract. While they can't prevent all crime, they shouldn't be able to ignore it.

Posted by: toby928(C) at December 28, 2014 09:42 AM (rwI+c)

21 Gorgeous library in the picture. Would look great on fire.

Posted by: Some resentful Mohammedan at December 28, 2014 09:42 AM (bGLSw)

22 I received "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and "The Five Fists of Science", a graphic novel by Matt Fraction featuring Mark Twain, Tesla, Edison, Marconi, and others. I dunno, is Tesla played out?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 09:43 AM (KH1sk)

23 20 It seems to me that police have a best-effort contract. While they can't prevent all crime, they shouldn't be able to ignore it.
Posted by: toby928(C) at December 28, 2014 09:42 AM (rwI+c)

We need to vent androids to help the police.

Hot androids.

Posted by: eman at December 28, 2014 09:45 AM (MQEz6)

24 On the recommendation of phoenixgirl, I recently read Uncle Tom's Cabin. I know many of us have read excerpts but if you haven't read through the entire story from start to finish, I heartily add my recommendation to phoenixgirls.

Posted by: Kirly at December 28, 2014 09:45 AM (um8c7)

25 Mainly, though, the Democratic Party has become the party of reaction. In reaction to a war that is ill conceived, we appear suspicious of all military action. In reaction to those who proclaim the market can cure all ills, we resist efforts to use market principles to tackle pressing problems. In reaction to religious overreach, we equate tolerance with secularism, and forfeit the moral language that would help infuse our policies with a larger meaning. We lose elections and hope for the courts to foil Republican plans. We lost the courts and wait for a White House scandal.

And increasingly we feel the need to match the Republican right in stridency and hardball tactics. The accepted wisdom that drives many advocacy groups and Democratic activists these days goes like this: The Republican Party has been able to consistently win elections not by expanding its base but by vilifying Democrats, driving wedges into the electorate, energizing its right wing, and disciplining those who stray from the party line. If the Democrats ever want to get back into power, then they will have to take up the same approach.

-- Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

Posted by: Mitt Romney at December 28, 2014 09:45 AM (e8kgV)

26 I received Business Adventures and Thomas Picketty's Capital as well as volumes 3, 4 , 5 of Transmetropolitan.

Posted by: Chad at December 28, 2014 09:45 AM (sOaAq)

27 Some folks have talked about too much short-attention-span web reading leads to difficulty approaching, say, War & Peace or Moby Dick. I've noticed that. I haven't actually sat down and read a significant print book in years. Gift books stack up, in the round tuit stack.

A comfortable chair and a nice reading lamp might help.

Christmas day, daughter handed me a gift, by feel a very hefty book. Not being a reader of late, I tore back the wrapping with some trepidation. The Autobiography of Mark Twain... Volume One! If anything would get my book-reading gears going again, this could do it.

I need to go reading chair shopping now.

Posted by: mindful webworker - print? I remember print at December 28, 2014 09:46 AM (tHAoL)

28 I read "Lone Star Sons" by Celia Hayes (Sgt. Mom) and loved it. I mentioned on the Amazon review that it feels like stories told around a campfire at night. And (bless her heart) she got the firearms information correct. These stories have a feel of Louis L'Amour. Now I have to try her other Texas-based books.

Posted by: JTB at December 28, 2014 09:46 AM (FvdPb)

29 I didn't get any books this year, but I am currently writing one.

The working title is "Embrace the Suck: How to remove popcorn texture from a bathroom ceiling".

Both pages are good, so far.

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 28, 2014 09:47 AM (KCxzN)

30
As for what I actually am reading, "Lee's Lieutenants", by D. S. Freeman.

An interesting point is that Freeman was pretty critical of Stonewall Jackson's performance in his 1862 Valley Campaign. Reading about it, though, got me to thinking that conducting an extended hiking trip on and around Massanutten Mountain might be worth doing one summer week.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 09:47 AM (bWFHa)

31 "In reaction to religious overreach, we equate tolerance with
secularism, and forfeit the moral language that would help infuse our
policies with a larger meaning." - B.O.



There's religious overreach? Where?

Posted by: grammie winger at December 28, 2014 09:48 AM (dFi94)

32 One does not simply quote LoTR.

Posted by: Boromir at December 28, 2014 09:48 AM (t//F+)

33 No quotable lines from LOTR? What are you talking about??

You shall not pass?

My precious?

I'll carry you, Mr. Frodo?

Then I threw down my enemy, and smote him upon the mountainside?

There may come a time when the courage of men may fail, but it is not this day?

That's just off the top of my head...

Posted by: Yoshi, Aggrieved Victim of the White Man at December 28, 2014 09:51 AM (zyX4R)

34
32 One does not simply quote LoTR.
Posted by: Boromir at December 28, 2014 09:48 AM (t//F+)


I quote "Bored of the Rings" far more often than LotR.

Say it now, say it loud.
I'm a cow and I'm proud!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 09:52 AM (bWFHa)

35 Oops. Should be "Then I threw down my enemy, and smote his ruin upon the mountainside." The other quotes are paraphrased too, but you get the picture.

Posted by: Yoshi, Aggrieved Victim of the White Man at December 28, 2014 09:52 AM (zyX4R)

36 I got a kindle fire for Christmas so technically I have All The Books. I still like reading them on my normal kindle better though.

Posted by: Lauren at December 28, 2014 09:52 AM (MYCIw)

37 I bought Sony PSR-300 readers for my Dad and Sister and loaded them off Gutenberg. Sony no longer builds, supports or sells the readers so I bought them from a vendor on Amazon - brand-new.
If you are willing to buy obsolete, you can get stuff cheap.

I've had mine for 3 years and I've read it so much I have worn the arrows off the page turning buttons.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 28, 2014 09:55 AM (t//F+)

38 *3 full seconds of googly eyes*


Never...


..tell me....the


*microscopically shakes head*


....oddsssssah!


*stares for 5 full seconds*

Posted by: Christopher Walken As Han Solo at December 28, 2014 09:56 AM (KBvAm)

39 Thanks OregonMuse for writing the book thread in 2014, always look forward to it on the weekends.

Sometimes I stay up late during the week engrossed in an e-book, so I guess in that way it can cause grogginess the next day, otherwise pfft. Hopefully the Repub congress will work to stop throwing money away on all these dumb, frequently contradictory studies.

Listened to James Corey's Leviathan Wakes, a very good sci-fi story involving conflict between Earth, Mars colonists and miners in the asteroid belt as well as a mystery. Will have to look into the sequels.

If I can finish my current book this week (Philip K Dick's The Man In The High Castle) I'll have got through 64 books this year. Next year hope to tackle some longer works.

Posted by: waelse1 at December 28, 2014 09:56 AM (x+P8L)

40 No new books. the stack of real and ebooks that I have begun or intend to read is already too high. dammit.

Posted by: goatexchange at December 28, 2014 09:57 AM (/ngfX)

41 I just finished Lev Grossman's "Magician" trilogy. Probably my favorite fiction read of the year. A modern-day young adept is selected to attend magic u. (a la Harry Potter) and is whisked off to Fillory, his beloved children's fiction fantasy land (a riff on Narnia) whose stories were in fact transcribed from the actual adventures of the four English children who became kings and queens of Fillory (much like Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy). This land is no Christian allegory, though, and it's as creepy and dangerous as it is beautiful.

It's an adult novel about childhood dreams, adolescent struggles to find self, and finally adult responsibilities.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 10:01 AM (KH1sk)

42 No books this Christmas.


Currently reading-

"The Black Room" by Luke Smitherd


as per a moron's recommendation, since I loved "The Stone Man" by him.


I'm almost 3/4 of the way through and so far it's good, but it seems all wind-up so I'm hoping for a helluva ball delivery in the last quarter.

This seems to be one of those novels where the 3rd act will absolutely make or break the book.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 28, 2014 10:02 AM (KBvAm)

43 Continuing my quest to "master" the piano, I have been going through, "The Piano Handbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Piano."

Incredible book that goes through all genres from classical to ragtime, Jazz to pop.

If you want to to learn the Piano and only want one book this might be it.

Posted by: Kreplach at December 28, 2014 10:03 AM (bKSy7)

44 I quote "Bored of the Rings" far more often than LotR.

Say it now, say it loud.
I'm a cow and I'm proud!
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 09:52 AM (bWFHa)
---
Me too!

"May the good fairy what sits in the sky grant yer ev'ry wish!"
http://alassea.net/quotes/books/botr.php

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 10:04 AM (KH1sk)

45 A.N. Wilson is quite anti-religious, which certainly colored his bio of C.S. Lewis. (I didn't read the St. Paul one.) It's a bit like Rachel Maddow writing a biography of Ronald Reagan, although A.N. Wilson is far more literate than Maddow.

Posted by: Donna &&&&&& V. (handing out sacks of ampersands for Christmas) at December 28, 2014 10:04 AM (+XMAD)

46 AN Wilson?

Didn't she sing in the rock band, Heart, with her sister?

Posted by: naturalfake at December 28, 2014 10:07 AM (KBvAm)

47 @altonjackson:
here's how to remove popcorn ceilings.
get a gallon pump-up yard sprayer
fill up, pump, and spray ceiling.
wait a half hour, the respray.
sprayit just enough so it doesn't drip
wait awhile
peels off like icing on a cupcake with a drywall knife. some just starts to fall off.
did the whole house this way.
tried everything else.
came up with this. works perfect.
then skimmed it with some fast setting drywall mud, primed it, and painted. can do a whole room in an afternoon.
and, alot of pre-70's popcorn has asbestos. this method keeps the dust to zero.

yeah... nothing to do with books. sue me.

Posted by: retropox at December 28, 2014 10:08 AM (mGLag)

48 Smelly baseball sock off...speaking of baseball socks, I seem to recall a pitcher landed on the DL back in the 80's because he dislocated a finger taking off a sweat soaked sock.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at December 28, 2014 10:09 AM (5buP8)

49 I mean, do they know the bind that gun control laws puts ordinary citizens in? The police don't have to protect us, and we're denied the means to protect ourselves. What then? A pointy stick? Longbows?

OregonMuse, they know. There are decades of empirical data that demonstrate the uselessness of gun-control laws in lessening crime and, conversely, that an armed populace leads to fewer criminal attacks against people. I have come to the conclusion that these "elites" want an armed criminal element to utilize as muscle.

I'm currently reading Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries by Tom Shachtman. It is a look at the Founders as scientists and experimenters. I have only finished about a third of the book but have been struck by how often the Colonists expressed in their letters to each other that they desired to thought of as intellectual equals by the Royal Society in London. So far I am finding the book interesting.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 28, 2014 10:10 AM (wQYNW)

50 I actually go to sleep sooner after reading e-books...

Of course, this may be because I read e-books on my phone, which also has an alarm set to remind me to go to sleep. The alarm takes the kindle app right off the screen. Reading an analog book, I sometimes get engrossed enough that I don't even register the sound of my go-the-fuck-to-sleep alarm, and suddenly it's 2 am, the book is finished and I have to be awake in three hours. :-/

Posted by: Jenny Hates Her Phone at December 28, 2014 10:11 AM (SIgM0)

51 i just read sesame streets 123 count with me

i had help

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 28, 2014 10:11 AM (Cq0oW)

52 OK, those BoTR quotes are hilarious. Like this one:

"Then just over their heads they saw a passing flash of color. There in the sky they saw a giant eagle, full-feathered and painted shocking pink. On its side were the words DEUS EX MACHINA AIRLINES in metallic gold."

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 10:13 AM (DVjiu)

53 Read "Space Captain Smith". Good, harmless fun, but at some point it switched from silly fun to just plain silly and I'm not quite certain where. I think, perhaps, the aliens were just a step of silliness too far. Several typos, a few that I couldn't tell whether they were typos, attempts at puns, or differences in language usage between English.

Just finished "Live Free or Die", the first Troy Rising book by John Ringo. Also good, harmless fun, but an annoying number of typos of the sort that can't be caught by a spell-checker. "Insulation" where "insolation" should be. At one point, a character says "Blond. Blond. Blonde."; two spellings for one word, right next to each other (I hassled Skandia Recluse about that one and he only used the word twice in his whole book!). Stuff like that. Not enough to make reading the book overall painful, but a few sharp jabs in the eye. I also see he used straight quotes instead of curly ones so he wouldn't have to worry about which way they curled. He also frequently italicized a word in a sentence for emphasis, but often the wrong one.


Posted by: Anachronda at December 28, 2014 10:14 AM (coJ1L)

54 James Corey's Leviathan Wakes, a very good sci-fi story

An excellent series. James Corey is actually a pseudonym for two writers, one of which is David Abraham who also has a good fantasy series. Currently reading the sequel to Cast of Stones. This was off a rec from this thread a long time ago. Series is about a world based on a "magical" Catholicism. As a protestant, I like it as it is very respectful to Christian faith.


Posted by: countrydoc at December 28, 2014 10:14 AM (Yj/Vy)

55 Yoshi, I'll give you the first two ("You...shall not...pass" and "my precioussss"), but the others? Not so much..

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 10:17 AM (DVjiu)

56 Greetings, Hordelings. I hope all y'all had a good Christmas with not much coal.

He also frequently italicized a word in a sentence for emphasis, but often the wrong one.


Just like the King James Bible. Coming from the Bible Belt as I do, it became a source of great amusement to hear local preachers emphasize those italicized words in their sermons. I now think that was done on purpose, in order to expose the charlatans.

I'm probably wrong, but it was funny.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, Curmudgeon Extraordinaire at December 28, 2014 10:23 AM (0HooB)

57 i always do the You Shall Not Pass while driving

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 28, 2014 10:24 AM (Cq0oW)

58 I think the italicised words were there to show the reader where the translators inserted "glosses" - explanatory text (mostly prepositions) to clarify the meaning.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 28, 2014 10:25 AM (AVEe1)

59 I AM A SERVANT OF THE SECRET TIRE

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 28, 2014 10:26 AM (Cq0oW)

60 Just like the King James Bible. Coming from the Bible Belt as I do, it became a source of great amusement to hear local preachers emphasize those italicized words in their sermons. I now think that was done on purpose, in order to expose the charlatans.

Sounds like those preachers didn't know that an italicized word in the Bible is not for emphasis, it means that the word is not in the manuscript(s) used for translation, but was added to smooth out the sentence, or avoid confusion, etc.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 10:27 AM (DVjiu)

61 Eh, this isn't a novel, but-

I saw a movie on cable recently, called-

"Heartless".

It's an artsy horror movie concerning a young British man with a birthmark on his face in the shaped of a
(AHOOOOOGAH! Symbolism Alert!!!) heart, which he believes has crushed his chances at a normal life.

The movie starts a bit slow as it wants us to get an idea of his daily life, but keeps getting progressively better as it goes along.

For a horror movie, and it is a horror movie, it is actually in the end rather sweet and plays a bit like-

"It's a Wonderful Life" (Only I ckufed mine up)

that involves a deal with the devil instead of a helpful angel.


It plays over the next two months on SHO Beyond and TMC if you have cable and is probably on Netflix.

Check it out.



Posted by: naturalfake at December 28, 2014 10:27 AM (KBvAm)

62 And a pox be upon boulder terlit hobo and his fast typing fingers.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 10:28 AM (DVjiu)

63 "
i always do the You Shall Not Pass while driving"


So, you're that asshole?

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at December 28, 2014 10:28 AM (vcADg)

64 I am trying to get in Dead Six by Correia and Kupari, The problem is not that the writing or plot is hard to get into, it is just....there are certain writers who's books are well written, well thought out, and fast plotted and as uncomfortable as walking through an automatic car wash, you keep getting hit from so many sides. I don't have the attention right now to follow all the elements.

I'm thinking of Michael Z Williamson and Correia and Kratman, all of whom I love reading, but, today I want a cozy book.

aaaand, now I am imagining Correia writing a cozy: cats, quilts, small town politics... And then Mrs. Grundy down the street turns out to be a satanic cultist intent on raising Bel-Shamharoth...

Posted by: Kindltot at December 28, 2014 10:28 AM (t//F+)

65 I'm currently reading Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries by Tom Shachtman.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 28, 2014 10:10 AM (wQYNW)
--------
I just put this on my library list.

An interesting case in point was Benjamin Banneker, a free black scientist, surveyor, and almanac author. Largely self-taught (as were many in those days), he was part of a group that surveyed the original District of Columbia. He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson on topics like racial equality and abolition.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 10:29 AM (KH1sk)

66 I got the first four books in the Sir Robert Carey series by P.F. Chisholm. I'm planning to start book #1, A Famine of Horses, after the first of the year.

Has anyone read these books?

Posted by: bnonny at December 28, 2014 10:32 AM (SQdHJ)

67 The italicizing in The Bible, yeah. That's sorta "we can't figure this shit out so here we think is what they said."

Close approximations, or, so they thought.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at December 28, 2014 10:32 AM (vcADg)

68 This site loads so slowly and erratically that it is almost unusable on my iPhone. Took me 10 minutes of patient effort to post this. Sucks big ones.

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at December 28, 2014 10:33 AM (LIyA2)

69 JTB@ 28 - Thanks! Glad you liked it AND posted a review. Actually, some of the 'getting the weaponry right' is due to input from the Rons and Ronettes who volunteered to Alpha read ... and the rest is that a year or so ago I was hired to ghost-write a MS about Sam Colt, and the person who hired me supplied me with a shelf of Colt and weapons-related information. When it came to firearms, the 1840s were a kind of transition period, and care does have to be taken writing about it...

As for books that I got for Christmas, Lee Miller's Roanoke, which was on my Amazon wishlist because I had finally gotten around to reading Paul Clayton's White Seed (about the missing Roanoke settlers) which I had first read chapters of in one of those prospective writer cooperative websites and thought it was fantastic and I'd have to get a copy when eventually published ... and I wanted to know the 'real history' behind the story. (In my own books, the 'real history' is in the notes at the end.)

Posted by: Sgt Mom at December 28, 2014 10:35 AM (95iDF)

70 Oh, and as for The Da Vinci Code? I tried to read it once (my daughter loved it!) but only got about three chapters in, as I kept tripping and falling flat over sentences which read like top entries in the Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Contest. Obviously, YMMV.

Posted by: Sgt Mom at December 28, 2014 10:37 AM (95iDF)

71 68
This site loads so slowly and erratically that it is almost unusable on
my iPhone. Took me 10 minutes of patient effort to post this. Sucks big
ones.


While my iPhone frequently takes ages to load this site, the problem isn't limited to this site. It behaves more like ATampersandT occasionally has DNS difficulties.

At work, there was a brief, shining week or so after the :1080 fiasco where I could access the comments. Since then, the web browser (IE because I'm not allowed anything else) will sit and sit and sit and eventually say it can't talk to the server.

Posted by: Anachronda at December 28, 2014 10:39 AM (coJ1L)

72 I wonder if Tolkein had picked up the "you shall not pass" from the Spanish Civil war.

It was originally the "No pasaran" that the Republican forces used as a rallying cry at the defense of Madrid, and later was picked up by the Nationalists.
I have seen an image of a picture of Franco that he had signed with the motto "no pasaran" so everyone appropriated it.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 28, 2014 10:39 AM (t//F+)

73 First of all, I'd like to thank Mr. O'Muse for this weekly thread. Sort of like Christmas every Sunday.


Besides the books constantly loaned to me, I did indeed get a gift one for Christmas. It's called "Dorothy Must Die", by Danielle Page. Here's the back cover blurb;


Your Mission:

Remove the Woodman's heart,

Steal the Scarecrow's brain,

Take the Lion's courage,

And then-

Dorothy Must Die.

Only you can make Oz a free land again.


Looks like a fun book. And I plan to catch up on my reading for the next few weeks or more.


Posted by: HH at December 28, 2014 10:40 AM (Ce4DF)

74 Thanks, y'all. I figured there was some reason for the italiananicized words in the KJB.

I knew someone here would know.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, Curmudgeon Extraordinaire at December 28, 2014 10:42 AM (0HooB)

75 I'm re-reading "Good Girls' Guide to Great Sex," by Sheila Wray Gregoire. She's a Christian who's shown - through surveys - that "nice" women actually have better sex lives than they imagine "bad girls" do.

It's also insightful for males of all ages who've ever puzzled about what fuels a woman's sex drive. (Hint: It ain't porn.)

Posted by: Michael Rittenhouse at December 28, 2014 10:43 AM (Q8/pq)

76 Finished the flagler railroad book. It was wicked tedious. Started a ghostwritten biography of an old tailor guy who survived the holocaust as a teen and came to America and made suits for presidents and actors. Light reading. Measure of a Man.

Posted by: NCKate at December 28, 2014 10:44 AM (Ib+/H)

77 "One does not simply walk into Mordor."

Thanks, OM, for making Sunday mornings classy and for all you have done to assist in the selling of my book and the writing of the next (two).

God bless you!

Posted by: baldilocks at December 28, 2014 10:45 AM (GE9Jc)

78 Me and my brother traded Stackpole books for Christmas. One is about holding The West Wall and the other is about German fighter-bombers over Britain.

I wish I had the entire set of Ballantine history books published in the late 1960s and early 70s. They were excellent. Anybody else remember them?

Posted by: Ed Anger at December 28, 2014 10:46 AM (RcpcZ)

79 Backwards, don't take our word for it. Just my learnings. I could be wrong.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at December 28, 2014 10:46 AM (vcADg)

80 Got Killing Patton for Christmas. Anyone read it?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 28, 2014 10:46 AM (0FSuD)

81 It's also insightful for males of all ages who've ever puzzled about what fuels a woman's sex drive. (Hint: It ain't porn.)

Posted by: Michael Rittenhouse at December 28, 2014 10:43 AM (Q8/pq)


It's putting up shelves, isn't it. That and taking out the trash.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 28, 2014 10:47 AM (t//F+)

82 I got no books in the dead tree sense this Christmas, although my son copied over his 1600 volume book library onto a portable hard drive for me. I will be buying some book thread recommends from Amazon when I get paid on Friday -

Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at December 28, 2014 10:47 AM (ETrjW)

83 It's also insightful for males of all ages who've ever puzzled about what fuels a woman's sex drive. (Hint: It ain't porn.)

I have it narrowed down to either chocolate or money.

Or chocolate-covered money.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, Curmudgeon Extraordinaire at December 28, 2014 10:47 AM (0HooB)

84 74 Thanks, y'all. I figured there was some reason for the italiananicized words in the KJB.

I knew someone here would know.
Posted by: BackwardsBoy, Curmudgeon Extraordinaire at December 28, 2014 10:42 AM (0HooB)

I'm shocked that the pastors didn't know that. Oh wait...I'm not.

Charlatans, like you said. Lazy ones.

Posted by: baldilocks at December 28, 2014 10:49 AM (GE9Jc)

85 #5

With the original Nook, with the narrow color touchscreen at the bottom, you had to be careful about falling asleep because if your hands slackened the nook could give you a good whack in the face as it fell towards you.

I have much less of that problem with the newer models. I still fall asleep but they're so much lighter I'm far less likely to give myself a shiner.

Posted by: Epobirs at December 28, 2014 10:50 AM (IdCqF)

86 Thanks, as always, for the plug for my book, "The Law of Self Defense, 2nd Edition." Just a reminder that the promo code "AOSHQ" gets the buyer $5 off, which more than covers shipping on the book, and brings the total price under $20. You can learn more about the book here: http://lawofselfdefense.com/buy-now/ :-)

The books also available in Kindle form from Amazon for $10 (coupon won't work there, however): http://is.gd/J0QM1e

Also, folks might be interested to know that we've begun rolling out state-specific online, on-demand webinars. These are webinar versions of the 4-5 hour long state-specific seminars I give live and in-person all over the country, but accessible from the convenience of your computer, tablet, smartphone and on your own schedule. You can learn more about those, and watch the first ~30 minutes or so free, at this link: http://lawofselfdefense.com/get-online-course.html. The same discount code should work for the webinars, as well.

Have a safe and Happy New Year, everyone!

--Andrew, @LawSelfDefense

Posted by: Law of Self Defense at December 28, 2014 10:50 AM (ajYyi)

87 sentences which read like top entries in the Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Contest. Obviously, YMMV.
Posted by: Sgt Mom at December 28, 2014 10:37 AM (95iDF)
-----
"... her bosoms heaved like twin boiling suet puddings..."

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 10:51 AM (KH1sk)

88 I'm re-reading "Good Girls' Guide to Great Sex," by Sheila Wray Gregoire. She's a Christian who's shown - through surveys - that "nice" women actually have better sex lives than they imagine "bad girls" do.

Queen Victoria, who supposedly hated the very thought of sex, as all the stereotypes of her tell us, wrote that her wedding night was 'bliss beyond belief.'

Which is the way it should be.

And which makes her an infinitely better role model for young women than Lena Dunham or Madonna.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 10:55 AM (DVjiu)

89 i looked up what boiling suet puddings look like

that's hot

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 28, 2014 10:55 AM (Cq0oW)

90 "With the original Nook,"


Kick yo' ass, bitch!

Posted by: Original Nook at December 28, 2014 10:56 AM (vcADg)

91 Just finished Michael Connelly's The Burning Room (a little weak, definitely not his best), and am now starting DHF's Paul Revere's Ride upon the recommendation of a fellow Moron. Also need to finish Robert Crais' Suspect.

Posted by: smaulz at December 28, 2014 10:58 AM (AbcTu)

92 ...a year or so ago I was hired to ghost-write a MS about Sam Colt...

Meh - you should've written about me, gringo. I could build a better pistol than Colt out of parts.

Posted by: Tuco Ramirez at December 28, 2014 10:59 AM (RcpcZ)

93 OM, I get an error when I click on your nic.

"Can't be displayed." IE whichever this version is, 11 I think.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, Curmudgeon Extraordinaire at December 28, 2014 10:59 AM (0HooB)

94 83 It's also insightful for males of all ages who've ever puzzled about what fuels a woman's sex drive. (Hint: It ain't porn.)


------------------------

A comfortable place to live, a car, a job, and a bit of money in the bank. And last but certainly not least, a moral code for living.

Numerous young women have told me this. Those type of men, they have said, are very few and far between.

Posted by: Soona at December 28, 2014 11:01 AM (V3IoZ)

95 An interesting case in point was Benjamin Banneker, a free black scientist, surveyor, and almanac author. Largely self-taught (as were many in those days), he was part of a group that surveyed the original District of Columbia. He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson on topics like racial equality and abolition.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 10:29 AM (KH1sk)


Jefferson hasn't shown up yet; so far it is mostly about the men who were in Ben Franklin's sphere and the merchant member of the Royal Society that helped Franklin. Shachtman's point is that the Enlightenment and the "de-gentrifying" of scientific experimentation shaped the Founders' viewpoints.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 28, 2014 11:02 AM (wQYNW)

96 "a car, a job, and a bit of money in the bank. And last but certainly not least, a moral code for living."


I got all that.

No wimminz though.



Posted by: Ricardo Kill at December 28, 2014 11:03 AM (vcADg)

97 Help!: In the last couple of months (I had thought it was on a Book Thread, but I can't find it), there was announced a Polish fairy tale from the 1950s that was finally being translated into English and is apparently quite brilliant. It was to be released sometime recently. Anyone know what book I am referring to? Thank you.

Posted by: Crispian at December 28, 2014 11:04 AM (9wqgC)

98 OM, I get an error when I click on your nic.

Yeah, it's a link to a phony web site, so the error is appropriate. I set it up years ago when I first started commenting on this blog and never got around to changing it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 11:05 AM (DVjiu)

99 #22

If Tesla isn't played out for you, '14' by Peter Clines is enjoyable. Clines spent many years writing for film industry trade papers before taking up novel writing. His books tend to have very familiar geography for those who live in LA, especially around the studios. His Ex-Heroes series is largely set on the converted Paramount lot after the zombie apocalypse has turned it into a fortress for survivors lead by the remaining superheroes.

'14' starts off a bit more mundane, with a perma-temp looking for a new apartment situation and finding a remarkable deal in a quaint old building in Hollywood.
http://peterclines.com/books/_14_

Posted by: Epobirs at December 28, 2014 11:06 AM (IdCqF)

100 5 or six years ago I bought, used, "The Yankee Cookbook" which was a 1960's reprint of a 1930's collection of traditional NE recipies.

It encouraged me to buy a pudding mold to make boiled puddings. It works pretty good but it is important to hit high enough temperatures to get the darkening of the batter. Otherwise it is just pale and greasy looking instead of looking dark and rich.


Posted by: Kindltot at December 28, 2014 11:07 AM (t//F+)

101 I wish I had the entire set of Ballantine history books published in the late 1960s and early 70s. They were excellent. Anybody else remember them?


Posted by: Ed Anger at December 28, 2014 10:46 AM (RcpcZ)


They're still be had. My go-to site for book hunting in abebooks.com. You can find plenty of fair copies for less than $10 each including postage.

They are nice introductory books on various topics concerning WWII written and edited by experts in the field back in the early 70s. I got the book on the Battle of Kursk last when reading several books on the topic and found the best maps were in the Ballantine book.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 28, 2014 11:08 AM (wQYNW)

102 OK bookworms, I gotta go do stuff.

Y'all have fun and try not to trash the place, 'k?

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, Curmudgeon Extraordinaire at December 28, 2014 11:08 AM (0HooB)

103 Oregon Muse, can't thank you enough for these threads!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 11:09 AM (KH1sk)

104
Some of the books I got for Christmas:

A Weird-Oh World: The Art of Bill Campbell by Mark Cantrell

Enjoy looking back over the career of this colorful artist in over 700 brilliant photos and witty prose. From his early days painting model box tops for the Hawk Model Company to his invention of the iconic Weird-Ohs model kits, Bill has continued to create some of the most unique artwork the world has seen. Also discover his work for national ad campaigns, editorial cartoons, his box art, fine art, and the Weird-Ohs that never were.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:10 AM (kdS6q)

105 I don't have it yet, but I'll buy Titan this week. Its the biography of John D Rockefeller. If you want to try the Kindle sample, its two full chapters. The biographer also did a book on Alexander Hamilton.

At 13, John D used to buy candy by the pound. He'd split it up and resell it to his siblings at a profit. But the real lightbulb moment came after digging potatoes for a farmer. He didn't earn much for the work. Around the same time, he loaned another farmer $50 and earned $3.50. He said he learned that he could make his money work for him.

And his father was a shady character that sold patent medicine and once had both wife and mistress living in the same house, both having his kids. The book is well written and interesting. I'm looking forward to it.

Posted by: notsothoreau at December 28, 2014 11:10 AM (Lqy/e)

106
Aurora Monster Scenes - The Most Controversial Toys of a Generation by Dennis L. Prince

the full story about the most infamous toys of the boomer generation. Monster Scenes, intended as an exciting and innovative model kit series in 1971, touched off a firestorm of parental outrage and public protest. Its makers meant to deliver an interactive series of adaptable figures and playsets based on classic monster movies. The marketing angle, however, touted apparent sex and sadism, going so far as to promote the series as "Rated X...for Excitement," all pitched at children 8 years and up. Oops!

Now read the full account of this unusual set of model kits, from its initial inspiration, through its ever-changing development, and through its battles with parent organizations, women's advocacy organizations, and toy safety watchdogs. It was a series that unwittingly toppled the long-proud Aurora Plastics Corporation,

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:10 AM (kdS6q)

107 "We use our tax money to hire and train people to protect us from crime"

You might think that, but if you do, you would be wrong.

We 'hire' police to enforce the law. To keep the vigilantes away.

...and 19$ for a kindle book is 'way outside my price range. I would love to have college level textbooks on math and science, but I can't pay 50-150 bucks for one either. .. and going to the library requires that I leave my seclusion. (itsa phobia, sorry, can't help it.)

...and I put up three new stories on Amazon. One is kinda like Romeo and Juliet except the two families aren't at war, Juliet is an expert pistolero, they live on a space habitat at L5, and there is a lot of science. (Somebody who knows Calculus should check my description and see if I got it right, vaguely, mostly)

Other than that, I got nothing. Well, Santa delivered another eight inches or so of new snow. Everything is white, pure, clean, and cold outside.

..and I'm working on another story, "What if space aliens invaded and no one noticed?"

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 11:11 AM (Wq4UH)

108 No books were received this year at Christmas. But since I have about 1,600 not counting e-books, gilding the lily would apply.

Did re-read last week Chrome Circle by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. Along with Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey.

On the writing front, working out a plot synopsis for a second story.

Some more photos of libraries:
http://www.ufunk.net/photos/house-of-books-franck-bohbot/

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 11:11 AM (spNrX)

109 96 "a car, a job, and a bit of money in the bank. And last but certainly not least, a moral code for living."




I got all that.

No wimminz though.



Posted by: Ricardo Kill at December 28, 2014 11:03 AM (vcADg)


--------------------


Because for men, it's hard to find a good woman anymore. They are few and far between also.

Posted by: Soona at December 28, 2014 11:12 AM (V3IoZ)

110
Tiki Pop: America imagines its own Polynesian Paradise by Sven Kirsten

Urban islands and bamboo hideaways set the stage for a pop culture phenomenon like no other. In mid-century America, the imaginative appeal of Tiki penetrated fashion, music, eating, drinking, and architecture.

This book is the culmination of the extensive research of Sven Kirsten, urban archaeologist, Tiki sage, and author of earlier TASCHEN books, The Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern,. The result is at once a visual feast, a piece of cultural history, and a tribute to a very particular vision of paradise.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:14 AM (kdS6q)

111 I wish I had the entire set of Ballantine history books published in the late 1960s and early 70s. They were excellent. Anybody else remember them?


Posted by: Ed Anger at December 28, 2014 10:46 AM (RcpcZ)
--------
I love them! I remember whole spinning racks of them as a kid, but of course when they were available I didn't give a tinker's dam. Not when there's sword and sandal pulp with Frazetta covers!

I did get one on the Reichstag fire as a teen. Yeah, didn't get invited to the prom, surprise surprise.

I have a couple Balantines: Afrika Korps, Rommel, and Slim. They're great introductions to the topics and the photographs give an immediate, documentary feel to the reads.

You can still find plenty of them on Alibris and Abe Books.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 11:16 AM (KH1sk)

112 #100 Last week I found June Platt's N.E. Cook Book in a thrift store. It has a nice recipe for Plum Pudding. Yesterday I saw molds in 2 different antique stores, but I passed them up as too pricey. Wish I'd bought one of them, as hubby is now interested in trying this recipe.

Posted by: bnonny at December 28, 2014 11:19 AM (SQdHJ)

113 #88

Being the namesake of the Victorian Era, it fell upon Vickie to be the personification of repression, especially in the 1060 and thereafter. And yet, the same era is when porn really became a publishing genre unto itself rather than an oddity.

Posted by: Epobirs at December 28, 2014 11:20 AM (IdCqF)

114 and Boner Rattler
You going to die, kimosabe.

Posted by: Tonto at December 28, 2014 11:21 AM (CSXsy)

115
I wish I had the entire set of Ballantine history books published in the late 1960s and early 70s. They were excellent. Anybody else remember them?


Posted by: Ed Anger at December 28, 2014 10:46 AM (RcpcZ)


I recall reading one on Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists, but my memories of others in the series is hazy at best.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 11:22 AM (bWFHa)

116 I don't have it yet, but I'll buy Titan this week. Its the biography of John D Rockefeller.

What a coincidence. A biography of Nelson A. Rockefeller has just come out. This is how the review over on City-Journal.org starts out:

In 15 years as governor of New York, Nelson A. Rockefeller, popularly known as "Rocky," was as careful with the public's money as he was with his own - which is to say, he spent lavishly, impulsively, and often indiscriminately. New Yorkers have been paying the bill ever since.

Heh.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 11:22 AM (DVjiu)

117 "Aurora Monster Scenes - The Most Controversial Toys of a Generation by Dennis L. Prince"


Now that sounds pretty interesting. Me and my friends all built the original models, but the "Monster Scenes" must have come later. Going to have to look for that one.

Posted by: HH at December 28, 2014 11:23 AM (Ce4DF)

118 Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:14 AM (kdS6q)

I've wondered what fueled that particular craze. "South Pacific," perhaps? A yearning for the exotic in post-war suburban America?

Posted by: Donna &&&&&& V. (handing out sacks of ampersands for Christmas) at December 28, 2014 11:24 AM (+XMAD)

119
The Art of Robert E McGinnis by Art Scott

The emergence of the McGinnis Woman, long legged, intelligent, alluring, and enigmatic established him as the go-to artist for detective novels. His work appeared on Mike Shayne titles and the Perry Mason series, and he produced 100 paintings for the Carter Brown adventures. Yet McGinnis became famous for his work in other genres as well: espionage, romance, historicals, gothics, and Westerns.

McGinniss first major magazine assignments were for The Saturday Evening Post, and his work has graced the pages of Cosmopolitan, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, Guideposts, and others. McGinnis women frequently cropped up in the mens magazines of the 60s and 70s.

The Art of Robert E. McGinnis collection reveals the full scope and beauty of the work of a true American master.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:25 AM (kdS6q)

120 ghee
Posted by: Dr. Varno

Save it for the cooking thread, Doctor.

Posted by: andycanuck at December 28, 2014 11:26 AM (CSXsy)

121 pants are required


This "rule" appears nowhere in my copy of the Official Ace of Spades Player's Handbook.

Posted by: Phinn at December 28, 2014 11:26 AM (i5GO4)

122 ..and I'm working on another story, "What if space aliens invaded and no one noticed?"

The magic of the MFM. It would be species-ist to criticize our leader.

Posted by: t-bird at December 28, 2014 11:26 AM (FcR7P)

123 Posted by: Donna &&&&&& V. (handing out sacks of ampersands for Christmas) at December 28, 2014 11:24 AM (+XMAD)
________

Maybe all the guys stationed in the Pacific during the war? Our house looked like a cross between Don Tiki's and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. But in a good way.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 11:27 AM (KH1sk)

124 If Tiki does not tick your clock, there is always Googie

http://tinyurl.com/mszaa4a

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 11:28 AM (spNrX)

125 Longbow?

Personally, I think that a good crossbow is superior for home defense.


Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at December 28, 2014 11:28 AM (V70Uh)

126 Soona @ 94 - That's what they say they want. What they are attracted to is a different matter.

After they have sown their wild oats with the bad boys, then they decide to settle for a nice guy with a job, money in the bank, etc.

Posted by: butch at December 28, 2014 11:28 AM (HLx1C)

127 I got "You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes" by astronaut Chris Hadfield, "Spacewalker" which is Jerry Ross's autobiography, and "Jacob T. Marley" by R. William Bennett, which had been recommended here.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at December 28, 2014 11:28 AM (A8ZgE)

128 I've wondered what fueled that particular craze. "South Pacific," perhaps? A yearning for the exotic in post-war suburban America?

Posted by: Donna V. (handing out sacks of ampersands for Christmas) at December 28, 2014 11:24 AM (+XMAD)


Margaret Mead's fake stories were the inspiration, often called "wind in the palm trees" writing.

Posted by: Ed Anger at December 28, 2014 11:30 AM (RcpcZ)

129
76 Finished the flagler railroad book. It was wicked tedious.
Posted by: NCKate at December 28, 2014 10:44 AM (Ib+/H)


Are you referring to Last Train to Paradise by Les Stanford? I picked it up at the BSA's Florida Sea Base store when we were there in June. The Sea Base is located on a site for one of the veterans' work camps that were demolished during the September 1935 hurricane.

I read it on the trip back north and finished it in a couple of days. I'd read it again, but only before, during and after my next trip to FSB.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 11:30 AM (bWFHa)

130 Bonny, try cruising the thrift shops, or get a mini bundt pan. You can use a couple of tin cans, like the size baked beans or peaches come it to start with, the recipe book I have suggests tying a sheet of wax paper over the top of cans when you boil them.
Originally you used a doubled cloth like muslin, or a knitted stocking-cap looking thing, just remember to leave about 1/2 to 1/3 of the space to allow the pudding to expand or else you have re-invented spaetzle as it will squeeze out when you boil it.
Cloths have to be well floured so the pudding won't stick to it by the way.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 28, 2014 11:31 AM (t//F+)

131 Thank you, OM, for this weekly thread! I look forward to it every Sunday.

For Christmas, I received "The Complete Southern Cookbook" by Tammy Algood, a local Nashville author.

Tammy often appears on local TV channels for food and recipe demos, and she also teaches classes at wineries across Tennessee.

I cross paths with Tammy every week or so, and she is the real deal. Plus a sweet and charming personality.

Once I'm over all the holiday overeating, I'll have to start trying out recipes.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at December 28, 2014 11:32 AM (NqQAS)

132
With the 25% and 30% off coupons from Amazon and BN this Christmas, really cleaned out the big art books from my want list:

Never Built Los Angeles by Sam Lubell

Explores the "what ifs" of Los Angeles architecture. A treasure trove of buildings, master plans, parks, follies and mass-transit proposals that only saw the drawing board, the book asks: why is Los Angeles a mecca for great architects, yet so lacking in urban innovation?

Featured are more than 100 visionary works that could have transformed both the physical reality and the collective perception of the metropolis, from Olmsted Brothers and Bartholomew's groundbreaking 1930 Plan for the Los Angeles Region to John Lautners Alto Capistrano, a series of spaceship-like apartments hovering above a mixed-use development.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:32 AM (kdS6q)

133 Numerous young women have told me this.

And they might believe it, too. But what they do when presented with the opportunity is a different matter.

Posted by: t-bird at December 28, 2014 11:33 AM (FcR7P)

134 The police aren't omniscient supermen

Just the navy police are
Now where are the dogs?

Posted by: Navycopjoe got 2 Kimbers for Xmas at December 28, 2014 11:33 AM (/88SZ)

135 ...because they're under a constant media barrage that they're unsatisfied.

Posted by: t-bird at December 28, 2014 11:34 AM (FcR7P)

136 112 #100 Last week I found June Platt's N.E. Cook Book in a thrift store. It has a nice recipe for Plum Pudding. Yesterday I saw molds in 2 different antique stores, but I passed them up as too pricey. Wish I'd bought one of them, as hubby is now interested in trying this recipe.

Posted by: bnonny at December 28, 2014 11:19 AM (SQdHJ)



Pudding molds aren't really necessary.

I've made Christmas puddings several times and never used a mold.

Since you're probably going to bind the pud in cheesecloth, you can use a Pyrex bowl or something similar when steaming.

Guess what? It's comes out in a nice easy to slice shape.

The most important part, I've learned is aging the pudding for at least a few weeks and best of all- one year after the initial cooking.

You can keep the pudding in a tight fitting container and pour rum on it every few weeks or once a month.

Then do the final steaming at Christmas and serve with rum sauce. Yum- yum.

Well, there's one more important part and that's be sure to use real beef fat in the pudding.

It makes a huge difference in the taste.

I've tried to make a "low-cal" pudding for the whiners in the extended family twice.

Both times they sucked. The flavor and richness of a real English Christmas pudding just isn't there.

So, now when i make one, I just make the real deal and the whiners can eat and be happy or go without.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 28, 2014 11:35 AM (KBvAm)

137 *looks at the bookshelves*

Ballantine War Library:
U-Boats at War by Harold Busch.
Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan by Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya.
The Big "E" by Comdr. Edward P. Stafford, USN.

Not branded as part of the Ballantine War Library but with Ballantine imprint:
Return from the River Kwai by Joan and Clay Blair, Jr.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 11:35 AM (spNrX)

138 There is a set of Ballantine WW2 Books on eBay for 39.00 free shipping.

19 books. Little over two dollars a book.

Posted by: Luap Nor's last brain cell at December 28, 2014 11:36 AM (zLOJ1)

139 beg pardon 16 books not 19.

Posted by: Luap Nor's last brain cell at December 28, 2014 11:37 AM (zLOJ1)

140 That's a good deal, Luap. They were 2 bucks a piece when published.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 11:39 AM (KH1sk)

141 @123-that was the case among my parents' relatives that'd been in the Pacific during the war.

Posted by: JEM at December 28, 2014 11:39 AM (K6Ziy)

142
I'm sure there are many here who remember the Weekly Reader Childrens' Book Club books that were offered for sale in schools when they were young. By the mid-'60s, IIRC, most of what they offered were paperbacks, but they had sold hardcover books before then, too.

"The Tide in the Attic" (about the 1953 flooding in The Netherlands) and "Quiet Boy" (about a young Navajo boy's life) were two that I remember having gotten.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at December 28, 2014 11:40 AM (bWFHa)

143 I read with a original Nook. No back light and I have to use an external light to read at night. It is very relaxing and I easily fall asleep.

Thank you OregonMuse for these weekly posts. I really look forward to them.

Thank you for the suggestions for stories for boys. I am currently reading Endurance Shakleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing to my son.

Posted by: bossy barbara at December 28, 2014 11:40 AM (/GgDU)

144 135 ...because they're under a constant media barrage that they're unsatisfied.
Posted by: t-bird at December 28, 2014 11:34 AM (FcR7P)



------------------------


This is true. It's why I wrote in another comment that it's hard to find a good woman.

Too many women have bought into the theory that if sex isn't like the "first" time, the relationship is failing.

Posted by: Soona at December 28, 2014 11:40 AM (V3IoZ)

145 Ballantine also produced a series on the Vietnam War. "Sky Soldiers", covering 173d Airborne Brigade, had a lot about the 1967 battles around Dak To, with emphasis on the horrendous Battle for Hill 875.

Posted by: JHW at December 28, 2014 11:41 AM (5G4F7)

146 "unsatisfied wymuns"

They want perfection, which is impossible to get, and they're outraged they can't get what they want.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 11:43 AM (Wq4UH)

147 I'm going to say something very controversial. I obviously exclude all ettes from this statement since they've already proven themselves capable of retaining logical thought by the nature of being ettes.

There are still lots of good women out there. Unfortunately for our single morons, most of them either married early, or got switched to the dark side during college. If you find a grown woman who has conservative values and will make a good wife/ mother, marry her. Don't hesitate or she'll be snatched up by someone else in a heartbeat.

Posted by: Lauren at December 28, 2014 11:43 AM (MYCIw)

148
I've wondered what fueled that particular craze. "South Pacific," perhaps? A yearning for the exotic in post-war suburban America?
Posted by: Donna V



There's an excellent documentary making the rounds of the local PBS stations that discusses that. Highly recommended:

Plastic Paradise: A Swingin Trip Through Americas Polynesian Obsession, a documentary that traces the history of Americas love affair with exotic style and tells a fascinating story of pop culture.

Filmed at Tiki events, bars and restaurants across the country and produced by Miamis award-winning commercial and documentary filmmakers Common Machine. Featuring interviews with a whos who of the modern Tiki revival (Sven Kirsten, Jeff Beachbum Berry, Shag, Kevin Kidney, Otto Von Stroheim, Christie Tiki Kiliki White, King Kukulele, Marina the Mermaid, and many others) and action-packed footage filmed at The Hukilau and The Mai-Kai, the movie gives viewers one of the most in-depth looks at what makes the current scene so vibrant. The plasticparadisedoc.tumblr.com site has many clips of interviews and footage used in the film.

http://tinyurl.com/kxguznr

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:43 AM (kdS6q)

149 144. This is true. It's why I wrote in another comment that it's hard to find a good woman.

Prison pen pals dot com

Posted by: Navycopjoe got 2 Kimbers for Xmas at December 28, 2014 11:44 AM (/88SZ)

150 Exclude the ettes from switching to the dark side in college that is.

Posted by: Lauren at December 28, 2014 11:44 AM (MYCIw)

151 I KNOW WHERE THAT SONOFABITCHING PLANE IS BUT NO ONE WILL LISTEN!!!

*looks around wildly*

Posted by: Gen. McInierny at December 28, 2014 11:45 AM (1Y+hH)

152 145 Ballantine also produced a series on the Vietnam War. "Sky Soldiers", covering 173d Airborne Brigade, had a lot about the 1967 battles around Dak To, with emphasis on the horrendous Battle for Hill 875.
Posted by: JHW at December 28, 2014 11:41 AM (5G4F7)


----------------------


Lost two friends that I grew up with in that battle.

Posted by: Soona at December 28, 2014 11:45 AM (V3IoZ)

153 They want perfection, which is impossible to get, and they're outraged they can't get what they want.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 11:43 AM (Wq4UH)
-----------
Kinda like all the cheerleader dissection on the football threads?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 11:45 AM (KH1sk)

154 147. I disagree
Guys who aren't thinking with the little head will one day meet the "one"
When she arrives a guy will know it

Posted by: Navycopjoe got 2 Kimbers for Xmas at December 28, 2014 11:47 AM (/88SZ)

155 "Kinda like all the cheerleader dissection on the football threads? "

Well, ya, except we're (the guys) aren't outraged about it. We'll take anything that will go home with us.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 11:47 AM (Wq4UH)

156 So far, every article about Flight QZ8501 is playing the "guess the party affiliation name game" by not listing the Pilots or Co-Pilots full name - all while gushing about how many thousands of practice hours they had.
Yet they did print A French crew members full name.

Posted by: MoJoTee at December 28, 2014 11:47 AM (aR8Ih)

157 ..and I'm working on another story, "What if space aliens invaded and no one noticed?"

Oh, I wouldn't write that kind of story. Cuz it's impossible.

I mean take some average guy with an average name like Karlmarx.

There's just no way he could be an alien invader with a name like that.

And absolutely, no way he might introduce an alien designed mind meme-like trojan horse into human society, that would-

oh, I don't know- progressively fragment humans into ever smaller groups at odds with every other group-

and ultimately, stymie all grow and development of the species so that they'd be easy to harvest.

Uh.....cuz that's impossible and all...


....Yeah.

Posted by: Xingflurb, King of the Kadoodles at December 28, 2014 11:48 AM (KBvAm)

158 "...the horrendous Battle for Hill 875."

That was 'battles' plural, wasn't it?

Posted by: Meremortal at December 28, 2014 11:50 AM (1Y+hH)

159 Speaking of books, my son wanted four for Christmas. It was too late to do Amazon so we had to go to Barnes and Nobles.



What a disaster. This company should go out of business, NOW.



No help the week before Christmas? I was told to use the computer to find my book. I suggested if I wanted to use a computer I would have ordered from Amazon. I went to the computer. Book was NOT where it was suppose to be. Finally a 70 year old women found the book.



Of course, she can not take a payment, I have to go wait in line with 10 people. Then I have to be given the pitch to buy an Club account.



Awful, simply awful. Get off my lawn.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 28, 2014 11:50 AM (0FSuD)

160 We are happy that Presdent Obama is back in favor of the dumb-ass American people. They finally learned that he is doing good things for them unlike Bush that lied everyday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Mary Clogginstien at December 28, 2014 11:50 AM (D5iCY)

161 If you find a grown woman who has conservative values and will make a good wife/ mother, marry her. Don't hesitate or she'll be snatched up by someone else in a heartbeat.

That's how I married Mrs. Muse almost 30 years ago. After I met and got to know her, she was all those things you mentioned, so I popped the question. I was afraid someone else would notice and take her from me.

Fortunately, she said 'yes'.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 11:51 AM (DVjiu)

162 beg pardon 16 books not 19.

There's also 32 for $67 further down

Posted by: t-bird at December 28, 2014 11:51 AM (FcR7P)

163 Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 28, 2014 11:43 AM (kdS6q)

Thanks for the link!

Posted by: Donna &&&&&& V. (handing out sacks of ampersands for Christmas) at December 28, 2014 11:51 AM (+XMAD)

164 I mean take some average guy with an average name like Karlmarx.



There's just no way he could be an alien invader with a name like that.



And absolutely, no way he might introduce an alien designed mind meme-like trojan horse into human society, that would-



oh, I don't know- progressively fragment humans into ever smaller groups at odds with every other group-



and ultimately, stymie all grow and development of the species so that they'd be easy to harvest.



Uh.....cuz that's impossible and all...





....Yeah.



Posted by: Xingflurb, King of the Kadoodles at December 28, 2014 11:48 AM (KBvAm)


Makes more sense than scientology.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at December 28, 2014 11:51 AM (oKE6c)

165 151 I KNOW WHERE THAT SONOFABITCHING PLANE IS BUT NO ONE WILL LISTEN!!!

*looks around wildly*

Posted by: Gen. McInierny at December 28, 2014 11:45 AM (1Y+hH)

******

Coffee. On. Screen.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at December 28, 2014 11:51 AM (NqQAS)

166 157
..and I'm working on another story, "What if space aliens invaded and no one noticed?"



They all ready have invaded.



http://tinyurl.com/mz6ecm8

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 28, 2014 11:52 AM (0FSuD)

167 When she arrives a guy will know it

Amen, yes. I can attest to this.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 28, 2014 11:52 AM (DVjiu)

168 Book was NOT where it was suppose to be.
----
Can I rant a moment here? My library has so many themed tables and rows of "we recommend" that it seems like half the books aren't on the shelves.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 11:52 AM (KH1sk)

169 Coffee. On. Screen.
Posted by: Elinor,

*feeds rag into usb port*

Posted by: Meremortal at December 28, 2014 11:54 AM (1Y+hH)

170 159 No help the week before Christmas? I was told to use
the computer to find my book. I suggested if I wanted to use a computer
I would have ordered from Amazon. I went to the computer. Book was NOT
where it was suppose to be. Finally a 70 year old women found the book.



Of
course, she can not take a payment, I have to go wait in line with 10
people. Then I have to be given the pitch to buy an Club account.



Awful, simply awful. Get off my lawn.


Posted by: Nip Sip at December 28, 2014 11:50 AM (0FSuD)


The best AND worst thing about an e-reader is you can get books without ever leaving your chair. Worst because I find I am spending a lot more on books.

Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 11:55 AM (u9gzs)

171 Xingflurb, King of the Kadoodles at December 28, 2014 11:48 AM

Ya, you're thinking behavior, and I'm thinking CGI and Hollywood. See, everything is a hoax. The moon landings were a hoax. Space Aliens bring back the Mars landers, park it in front of the Smithsonian and it's a 'perfect reproduction'. It's all a publicity stunt to promote the next movie.

This requires that the invading space aliens look like us. Which they could if Earth was settled by dissidents who were driven out of the Empire because we're too unruly and always causing trouble, you see? And that big space ship is just a blimp that's why it's soundless, and moves so slowly.

because everyone knows space aliens don't exist except in Hollywood movies. Anyone who believes in space aliens must be crazy, and you put them in mental institutions. Except for the movie fans who dress up like Imperial Marines, and speak Klingon.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 11:56 AM (Wq4UH)

172 If you find a grown woman who has conservative values and will make a
good wife/ mother, marry her. Don't hesitate or she'll be snatched up
by someone else in a heartbeat.




My advice to a conservative friend, who, sadly, failed to follow it, and is single to this day. He'd always been a huge hit with the ladies, and was always looking for the next one, and just couldn't light on any one.


At one point (now decades ago), he was going out with a sweet, caring, sensible, very attractive woman who trained (and loved) horses, very practical, down to earth, obviously good wife/mom material, and just as obviously loved him. He took me aside and asked me if she were "good enough." (! Terrible question, but shows his attitude.)


I figuratively took him by the lapels and told him if he loved her (as he seemed to do, that noxious question notwithstanding) he was crazy if he didn't propose to her right away.


He didn't, she eventually gave up, and he's entering retirement ... still single. So sad.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at December 28, 2014 11:57 AM (oKE6c)

173 Or rowdy Randy Piper in They Live.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 11:57 AM (spNrX)

174 156 So far, every article about Flight QZ8501 is playing the "guess the party affiliation name game" by not listing the Pilots or Co-Pilots full name - all while gushing about how many thousands of practice hours they had.
Yet they did print A French crew members full name.

Posted by: MoJoTee at December 28, 2014 11:47 AM (aR8Ih)


---------------------


This story is a good exercise in the 24 hr rule. The area where it supposedly went down can be easily searched. If nothing is found in 24 hours, then I'll be using the "fool me once" rule.

Posted by: Soona at December 28, 2014 11:58 AM (V3IoZ)

175 158 Meremortal, could be, there was a whole series of very costly battles at that time around Dak To, Task Force Black, etc., but Hill 875 is usually mentioned as a single action where several MOHs were awarded, including one to Chaplain Watters, Nov 19, 1967.

Posted by: JHW at December 28, 2014 11:59 AM (5G4F7)

176
because everyone knows space aliens don't exist
except in Hollywood movies. Anyone who believes in space aliens must be
crazy, and you put them in mental institutions. Except for the movie
fans who dress up like Imperial Marines, and speak Klingon.
Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 11:56 AM (Wq4UH)


There was an Astounding story from the late 50's where the Martians showed up to ask that Hollywood stop slandering them on film.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 28, 2014 12:00 PM (t//F+)

177 The best AND worst thing about an e-reader is you
can get books without ever leaving your chair. Worst because I find I am
spending a lot more on books.


Posted by: Vic at December 28, 2014 11:55 AM (u9gzs)

Had mine for years, but have never spent a dime, still reading the classics I'd always wanted to read but hadn't previously gotten around to. And now with libraries having e-books, even more possibilities open up.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at December 28, 2014 12:01 PM (oKE6c)

178 @174

I am going with the failure to replace the air sensor that crashed the Air France plane. Same Airbus.



No one has confirmed Air Asia ever replaced teh sensor. The Air France crash was FIVE years ago.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 28, 2014 12:02 PM (0FSuD)

179 Or on Twilight Zone. "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up"

http://youtu.be/VY5cjHjMwTQ

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 12:02 PM (spNrX)

180 Hill 875 is usually mentioned as a single action where several MOHs were awarded, including one to Chaplain Watters, Nov 19, 1967.
Posted by: JHW at December 28, 2014 11:59 AM (5G4F7)

I thought 875 was the hill they took and gave up over and over, but perhaps that was a different one.

Very famous number 875, that's for sure. It deserved a better name, given what happened there.

Posted by: Meremortal at December 28, 2014 12:02 PM (1Y+hH)

181 "The Young Victoria". Is a lovely movie about the early years of her reign and her romance with Albert. Cast, costumes, locations all wonderful.

Posted by: Tuna at December 28, 2014 12:04 PM (JSovD)

182 *feeds rag into usb port*

Posted by: Meremortal at December 28, 2014 11:54 AM (1Y+hH)

*******

Thanks!

When I read the breaking news this morning, my first thought after concern for the souls onboard was whether the General was going to share with us again information about the disappearance from his highly placed "sources".

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at December 28, 2014 12:05 PM (NqQAS)

183 Time for some elbows! Dave???

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 28, 2014 12:05 PM (0FSuD)

184 180, You might be thinking of Hamburger Hill, 101st Airborne in 1969, pretty much fits your description and caused a tremendous resentment among the troops and had a lot of political fallout in the USA.

Posted by: JHW at December 28, 2014 12:06 PM (5G4F7)

185 As for the Air Asia flight, this might be of interest on PK-AXC an Airbus A320-219 that was accepted into service in 2008.

http://www.airlinereporter.com/tag/pk-axc/

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 12:07 PM (spNrX)

186

how did this turn into a Dr Laura thread?

Posted by: Slippery When Soothsayer at December 28, 2014 12:07 PM (roFmD)

187 Nood about surging bushes.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 12:08 PM (KH1sk)

188 All Hail Eris where is Roger the Shrubber? To deal with a rogue Bush and all that eh wot?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 12:09 PM (spNrX)

189 , You might be thinking of Hamburger Hill, 101st Airborne in 1969, pretty much fits your description and caused a tremendous resentment among the troops and had a lot of political fallout in the USA.
Posted by: JHW

Thanks, I almost mentioned that name too.

Posted by: Meremortal at December 28, 2014 12:09 PM (1Y+hH)

190 Just finished Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee series. Judge Dee was a magistrate and statesman in China, 630 to 700 AD, who was famous for the strange and complex cases he solved. van Gulik's stories are an excellent combination of history and mystery.

Posted by: gingeroni at December 28, 2014 12:09 PM (baKy9)

191 Another very dubious aspect of the 'e-reader study' is the question of what was used to read the devices that weren't self-illuminated? LED lighting is increasingly common. A non-sidelit (there is no such thing as backlit e-ink) reader must have an external light source like a bedside lamp to be used. Did they test with different types of light sources? If not, the study is invalid and their grandfather's work was doo-doo.

There is a difference between backlit LCD and E-ink displays, however illuminated. I can spend far more time with an e-ink display without eye strain, which may affect sleep immediately after if one has fewer physical complaints.

Posted by: Epobirs at December 28, 2014 12:11 PM (IdCqF)

192 I never get books as gifts anymore as no one ever knows what I've already read.

But I gave my older teen a journal called "642 Things to Write About" and she's been scribbling in it since Christmas.

Posted by: votermom at December 28, 2014 12:11 PM (cbfNE)

193 I read The Da Vinci Code on the advice of a co-worker--she lent me the book--and I found it a horribly written, agenda-driven book populated with cardboard characters. Brown did have a way of finishing chapters well in that he he made me want to turn the page in the futile hope that things might get better.
I think the appeal of the novel to certain people lies in Brown's ability to convince them that he's sharing inside information with them, the real story that "they" (The RC Church) don't want you to know.
Dan Brown ransacked Umberto Eco's flawed but brilliant Focault's Pendulum for ideas and themes, and it probably went over his head that he was practically a character in that superior book.

But he got rich. Very rich.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 28, 2014 12:13 PM (nmXhj)

194 Looks like Dave broke the blog trying to post the elbows.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 28, 2014 12:16 PM (0FSuD)

195 And the Gabe poll post goes bye-bye.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, Warlord of the Western Wastes at December 28, 2014 12:17 PM (m9V0o)

196 Are there any books on how fast the police can respond to Gabe's poll thread disappearing?

Posted by: The Lost Dutchman at December 28, 2014 12:17 PM (9F2c1)

197 >>> But he got rich. Very rich.

Let me let you in on a little secret...

Posted by: P.T. Barnum at December 28, 2014 12:17 PM (Ua6T/)

198 Whoa, what happened to the poll thread?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 12:17 PM (KH1sk)

199

Good. It was a stupid post.

Posted by: Slippery When Soothsayer at December 28, 2014 12:17 PM (roFmD)

200 My grandpa was one of the survivors at pork chop hill. Not that that has anything to do with the topic at hand, but it made me think of it. He was only 17 at the time.

Posted by: Lauren at December 28, 2014 12:18 PM (MYCIw)

201 Someone mentioned Ron Chernow's biography about John D. Rockefeller, Titan. It's an excellent book and Chernow is the best at these sorts of things. Don't miss his biographies 's of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. They're exhaustive and I mean that in a good way.

He's currently working on a bio for US Grant that's probably at least a year away....

Posted by: JoeF. at December 28, 2014 12:18 PM (nmXhj)

202 That poll thread died faster than another Bush's chances of winning the next election.

Posted by: Luap Nor's last brain cell at December 28, 2014 12:19 PM (zLOJ1)

203 And Gabe not-a-poll post returns, poll no-worky.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, Warlord of the Western Wastes at December 28, 2014 12:19 PM (m9V0o)

204 And the poll thread is alive. Or is it? Schroedinger's thread.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 12:20 PM (KH1sk)

205 So the poll thread is MUMRex?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 12:21 PM (spNrX)

206 For me, Da Vinci Code and 50 Shades of Grey will always be linked. Popular books, assumed to be tripe, wildly buzzworthy for the non-literary set.

I only vaguely have a sense of the story line, and frankly, both both topics are terrifically interesting when done right... and horribly boring when done wrong.

My assumption is, was, and always shall be, both are done wrong.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 28, 2014 12:22 PM (Dj0WE)

207 What books did I get for Christmas? All of December is sort of books for Christmas for me because Mrs. JTB is sweet and my reading habits are eclectic (read weird and unpredictable). I've picked up Letters of CS Lewis, Letters of JRR Tolkien, a CS Biography, The Guide to the Good Life about modern day Stoicism, and the Encyclopedia of Games. This last is out of print but it is helpful. I want to start playing card and board games again and couldn't even remember the rules for checkers or Go Fish. Pathetic. That's what half a century or more of neglect will do.

On the Kindle, I got most of the Brother Cadfael mysteries, which we both like.

Posted by: JTB at December 28, 2014 12:24 PM (FvdPb)

208 Fifty Shades of Gray is the nadir of what it should mean to be literary.

It started as Twilight fan fiction on fanfic.net. But someone read it, told the author to change things a bit, and voila the rest is um publishing history. And the original version has long since been purged from fanfic.net.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 12:25 PM (spNrX)

209 Read Tales of the Metachronopolis, by John C. Wright, and The Greatship by somebody else. Both were a collection of short stories. The Greatship had some interesting ideas and questions and hints towards something, but never delivered. Wright's stories actually tied together (in one way or another) and had an overarching story/development of haracter and world. And probably because of his Christian belief, the hints and questions thoughts that move towards something larger seemed to pay off and lead one to contemplation of the truth.

Only problem is it was kind of short and the next Count to a Trillion book isn't out yet.

Posted by: .87c at December 28, 2014 12:27 PM (JJKds)

210 Let's just stay here. I can't handle Gabe this morning.

Posted by: Lauren at December 28, 2014 12:28 PM (MYCIw)

211 Gave young teen grand-daughter a fountain pen and a leather bound journal with archival quality paper for Christmas, she has been writing away and I am very pleased that I seem to have chosen well.

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 28, 2014 12:29 PM (fL/7/)

212 Along the lines of space alien invaders, I enjoyed
"Inhuman Beings" by Jerry Jay Carroll. As usual, I started reading some of his stuff based on a comment here!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 28, 2014 12:33 PM (fL/7/)

213 Posted by: Hrothgar at December 28, 2014 12:29 PM (fL/7/)
--
Glad you're keeping the skills of the elder days alive, like slide rules and pen and ink journaling. And disseminating the knowledge to a new generation! Good job.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 12:34 PM (KH1sk)

214 And disseminating the knowledge to a new generation! Good job.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 12:34 PM (KH1sk)

Next on the list, stacking free standing split firewood without having it fall on you. I'll wait a bit before I buy her her own splitting axe though!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 28, 2014 12:38 PM (fL/7/)

215 Splitting logs instead of splitting infinitives?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 12:39 PM (spNrX)

216
Tough Rhetoric Does Not Cause Violence

You wrote this last week. Do you know why you didn't cite one single piece of evidence to support your thesis? Because you couldn't.

Like everything else you publish on the internet, it was your opinion based on your limited experience. Do you know what your opinion is worth?

Posted by: Slippery When Soothsayer at December 28, 2014 12:41 PM (roFmD)

217 No books this Christmas..., s'ok, I have plenty to read.

My thanks, again, to whoever recommended 'A Soldier of the Great War'. Still working on it.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 28, 2014 12:41 PM (U93Mr)

218 Next on the list, stacking free standing split firewood without having it fall on you. I'll wait a bit before I buy her her own splitting axe though!
Posted by: Hrothgar at December 28, 2014 12:38 PM (fL/7/)
----------
Careful! Remember the Great Aggie Pyramid of Death!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 28, 2014 12:43 PM (KH1sk)

219 Poll thread is back.

Posted by: votermom at December 28, 2014 12:44 PM (cbfNE)

220 I ordered a book from Amazon Canada on August 1st which they still haven't been able to get for me. A couple of days ago, they suggested I buy the book from one of their seller partners and I caved after making sure Amazon handled payments.

So after almost 5 months, my book on Vedic Mathematics is going to be shipped from India and arrive in a few weeks.

Amazon did give me a $5 credit and upgraded shipping on my next order since I asked and they were excellent to deal with. Ironically, even with shipping costs, I'm paying less for the book than what Amazon was going to charge me.

But still, it's disconcerting when Amazon has trouble fulfilling an order.

Posted by: Stateless Infidel at December 28, 2014 12:44 PM (AC0lD)

221 207 What books did I get for Christmas?

. . .

On the Kindle, I got most of the Brother Cadfael mysteries, which we both like.

Posted by: JTB at December 28, 2014 12:24 PM (FvdPb)

*****

Somewhere in a box in the attic I have all the Brother Cadfael books. I was just thinking about them a few weeks ago.

I started using Kindle for Mac just this year and find I am repurchasing a lot of favorites, mainly because my achy hands don't have to hold the book open and I can make the fonts bigger for my pathetic eyesight.

I may have to splurge and actually buy a Kindle device. Kinda hard to take the computer to bed with with me.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at December 28, 2014 12:47 PM (NqQAS)

222 221 Elinor, do you have a smartphone? There is a kindle app for most kinds. Of course the screen might be too tiny.

Posted by: votermom at December 28, 2014 12:56 PM (cbfNE)

223 Reading in bed,

Why not use the 'text to speech' feature and have the computer/kindle talk you to sleep?

Audio books with real people's voice might work. Some of the old radio drama might work.

Not music, white noise, sounds of surf would be better than music.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 12:57 PM (Wq4UH)

224 Almost forgot, I FINALLY found some Dorothy Dunnett books at used used book store. They are expensive if bought new. Then I found a couple more at the local library book sale for a quarter each. Her books have been mentioned a number of times on the thread. Should make good February reading.

OregonMuse, As others have said, thank you so much for the weekly book thread. I look forward to it every Sunday and always find things of value.

Posted by: JTB at December 28, 2014 01:14 PM (FvdPb)

225 Another recommendation for those who like exotic locations: "Bangkok 8" by John Burdett. A good detective story with lots of sex, violence, and Buddhism. Moron lifestyle on overdrive.

Posted by: cool breeze at December 28, 2014 01:20 PM (A+/8k)

226 If the phone is too small, there are some great deals on Android tablets. Got mine for $56. It runs the Kindle app and the pages are a lot easier to use than my IPhone. I may get a Kindle some time but this works for now.

And I'm happy to hear about that US Grant biography.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 28, 2014 01:22 PM (Lqy/e)

227 I love the Sunday book thread! I look forward to them and it makes me sad that I have not been reading. I've fallen prey to the bad habits of internet reading. Every week I feel chided into changing my ways! So thank you! So many books, so little time!

Posted by: Auntie Doodles at December 28, 2014 01:25 PM (DdSgV)

228
Splitting logs instead of splitting infinitives?


Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 28, 2014 12:39 PM (spNrX)

In the burning times she'll face, she needs to be able to split wood and not split infinitives with equal grace!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 28, 2014 01:29 PM (fL/7/)

229 222 221 Elinor, do you have a smartphone? There is a kindle app for most kinds. Of course the screen might be too tiny.

Posted by: votermom at December 28, 2014 12:56 PM (cbfNE)

********

I can only put up with the small print for short sessions. I go nearly cross-eyed when I type a text message!

But new reading glasses Rx coming in this week!

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at December 28, 2014 01:31 PM (NqQAS)

230 JTB- Which Dunnett series will you be reading? I have both in hardback and have read them through twice. The characters, the plots, the atmosphere, and the historical settings Dunnett employed grabbed me from the get-go. Enjoy!

Posted by: bnonny at December 28, 2014 01:31 PM (SQdHJ)

231 223 Reading in bed,

Why not use the 'text to speech' feature and have the computer/kindle talk you to sleep?

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 28, 2014 12:57 PM (Wq4UH)

*****

I may have to give that a try! I've never tried to access that feature before.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at December 28, 2014 01:34 PM (NqQAS)

232 Reading a Christmas gift, a book called 400 Things Cops Know, by Adam Plantinga. If you liked David Simon's Homicide book, you will probably like this book. But Homicide was a bunch of individual police voices, and this one is all the voice of the author, a cop with 11 years under his belt. Each paragraph discusses a different, interesting thing about being a police officer.

I'm almost done with the book, and it has completely held my interest throughout. Fascinating and enlightening and downright hilarious in spots. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Splunge at December 28, 2014 01:39 PM (qyomX)

233 The book is a bit misleading, as shown above at least. The court cases are protecting cops by not allowing lawsuits and lawfare against them for failing to do these things, not making it permissible to not do them. They're going to get nailed by their superiors if they fail to do any of this but they're protected from lawsuits.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 28, 2014 01:43 PM (39g3+)

234 I got the first four books of the Niccolo Rising series and a couple of stand alone books. I'll be keeping an eye open for the rest of the Niccolo books and the Lymond Chronicles. To my annoyance, our local library doesn't have any of her works.

It says something about Dunnett's books that they rarely appear used. People just hold onto them. If I didn't want to finish my Tolkien reading I would be starting them now.

Posted by: JTB at December 28, 2014 01:44 PM (FvdPb)

235 Surveying the latest research, Jabr speculates that reading traditional books allows readers to locate a text within a mental geography. "Much as we might recall that we passed the red farmhouse near the start of a hiking trail before we started climbing uphill toward the forest," writes Jabr, "we remember that we read about Mr. Darcy rebuffing Elizabeth Bennett at a dance on the bottom left corner of the left-hand page in one of the earlier chapters of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.'"

This is true, but its only relevant for research, not fiction. Finding specific parts of a book is pretty rare for reading fiction but if you're using an e-reader for your Bible or college textbook, then you're going to find it harder to find specific parts.

You are always better off with print, but ebooks are cheaper and more convenient in many ways.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 28, 2014 01:45 PM (39g3+)

236 94
A comfortable place to live, a car, a job, and a bit of money in the bank. And last but certainly not least, a moral code for living.

Numerous young women have told me this. Those type of men, they have said, are very few and far between.

Posted by: Soona at December 28, 2014 11:01 AM (V3IoZ)



Uh huh. I'll believe that when I see it.

Posted by: rickl at December 28, 2014 01:59 PM (sdi6R)

237 JTB- Dunnett hardback reissues are available at half dot com very cheaply.

Posted by: bnonny at December 28, 2014 02:11 PM (SQdHJ)

238 Got the spouse a book about the 6666 Ranch, which he'd forgotten he'd asked for, so nice surprise.

Posted by: Sal at December 28, 2014 02:32 PM (9L1jT)

239 I see that I confused David Simon's Homicide above with Connie Fletcher's What Cops Know. On the mitigating side, all three books, these two and 400 Things Cops Know, reviewed in my earlier message, are excellent.

Posted by: Splunge at December 28, 2014 03:15 PM (qyomX)

240 I got a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas! First book loaded - Great Expectations, which I had planned on re-reading in 2015. Second book loaded - Happy Families, by Bruce Feiler. Feiler looks at all the research on what makes families function better. A lot of this research started out as business research and is slowly being applied to families. I don't have kids of my own, but it's an interesting book and is making me think about areas in my own life where I could apply the info.

And now the bad news - despite having read 64 books so far this year, I've decreased my to-be-read pile by a mere 10 books, the result of too many trips to the book warehouse and the friends-of-the-library store. At this rate I will need to live until I'm 143 before I read all my books. I'm scare this will just get worse with the kindle.

Posted by: biancaneve at December 28, 2014 03:27 PM (AJaBe)

241 Sal at December 28, 2014 02:32 PM (9L1jT)

What's the title? I live down the road from the 6666, and regularly drive through it.

Posted by: bikermailman at December 28, 2014 03:52 PM (kK7E/)

242 There's a big difference between what women say they want and what they actually go for when the opportunity comes along. Some men are like that too--but most aren't. You'll hear a guy say he likes tall blondes, but the minute a short brunette shows interest in him--there he goes.
Many women will tell you that they want a solid guy with a good job and a "moral code"--whatever that means these days--and deep down they probably do, but they often string these guys along while they sleep with "bad boys", lotharios, and tatoo-ed troublemakers. Sometimes they end up with these losers, while the "solid guy" that every girl claims they want, becomes embittered and often commitment-phobic. Then women complain that all the good ones are taken.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 28, 2014 03:57 PM (nmXhj)

243 Posted by: JoeF. at December 28, 2014 03:57 PM (nmXhj)

It may come as a shock, but not all women actually sleep around like you guys seem to be claiming. It just that, like Lauren said, we *got* married already.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 28, 2014 04:23 PM (GDulk)

244 n addition to my last comment, Now that I'm widowed, most of the good guys *are* taken for the same reason. Personally, I consider employed and not on disability to be a requirement since John left money to care for the kids not a boy-toy, but middle-age single guys seem to be generally either messily divorced, happy to be on disability, or uhm..not a good idea with three teenage girls in the house. I know that doesn't describe *all* middle-aged single guys though, just the ones I've met (which in fairness isn't really all that many since I'm practically a hermit).

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 28, 2014 04:29 PM (GDulk)

245 #235

OTOH, virtually every e-reader product worth mentioning has search functions. If the passage had a certain turn of phrase or other unique aspect, you can find it pretty fast.

Posted by: Epobirs at December 28, 2014 05:15 PM (IdCqF)

246 244, obviously all women don't sleep around. I never meant that and would never say that. But enough do that the perception is out there. After all, it takes two to tango, and if there are a lot of guys sleeping around--well, who are they sleeping with?
I'm older now and I can't tell you how many decent guys had their hearts broken, and resigned themselves against never having that happen again. One way of dealing with that is to try to seduce as many women as possible. The other way is to retreat and take themselves out of circulation, and build a moat around their heart. In either case, they end up miserable.
For the record, I'm not talking about myself at the present.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 28, 2014 05:55 PM (8HGb7)

247 Man, I wish Walken was Hans Solo.

Speaking of guns, I finally went to a gun show yesterday as just a costumer. I haven't done that in while. Bought some interesting stuff, too, including a 1977 QE2 Silver Jubilee Patch for just a dollar.

Posted by: WannabeAnglican at December 28, 2014 08:58 PM (CW6pW)

248 Elinor:

I read on my phone, and to do so I simply boosted the font size until I was comfortable. Easy-peasy. Kindle on Android or any other normal smart phone should work fine if you play around with it and boost the typeface.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at December 28, 2014 09:47 PM (t9WJ9)

249 Escort girls http://REGMODELS.RU

Posted by: Tina at December 29, 2014 03:00 AM (WprBO)

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