Sunday Morning Book Thread 04-12-2015 [OregonMuse]

Waanders in de Broeren Bookstore, Zwolle, Netherlands

Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. Welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed 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. Unless you're a girl.

Book Quote

Whenever you read a good book, it's like the author is right there, in the room, talking to you - which is why I don't like to read good books.

-Jack Handey

Today's photo is from here. I'm sad that a beautiful old cathedral was repurposed into a worldly occupation. But, on the other hand, books. And I have to admit, they did a fantastic job preserving the original architecture. Click on the link and look at the other photos. It's really quite beautiful.

Today's book thread is going to be a bit abbreviated, so sorry about that. On Saturday afternoon, my 5-year-old monitor decided to give up the ghost, so I had to hotfoot it down to Best Buy for a new one. And it took longer than anticipated, so I ran out of time.

The Puppies Are Still Sad

Much has been said about the Sad Puppies brouhaha that hasn't already been said, and even our own capo di tutti capi himself has weighed in (see here and here). Plus, we have access to some primary sources, such as Larry Correia, who naturally has written a crap ton about this, also Brad Torgersen (for example, this and that). Not to mention Sarah Hoyt.

Additionally, I also note that the wikipedia entry for the Hugo Awards has added a paragraph about Sad Puppies, to wit:

In 2015, two Internet groups of right-wing[32] science fiction writers, the "Sad Puppies" led by Brad R. Torgersen and Larry Correia, and the "Rabid Puppies" led by Vox Day, each put forward slates of nominations which came to dominate the ballot. According to Correia and Torgersen, this was in reaction to what they considered the prevalence of "niche, academic, overtly to the Left" and not fun science fiction,[32] and in opposition to "an affirmative action award" that preferred female and non-white authors, or works featuring such characters.[33] The campaigns triggered an "uproar"[32] among fans and authors, with some nominees declining their nominations,[32] and many people advocating "no award" votes.[33] The Guardian and The A.V. Club assessed the campaigns as an "orchestrated backlash"[34] by a "group of white guys"[35] against a trend of increasing diversity in the Hugo awards. Various commentators compared the affair to the Gamergate controversy,[36][37][38] and the Boston Globe called the "Sad Puppies" "Gamergate-affiliated".[36]

By way of comment, I have seen this a lot in football games:

1. Player 1 late-hits Player 2
2. Player 2, angered at being hit late, late-hits Player 1 in retaliation
3. Referee responds by calling a personal foul on Player 2 for his late hit.

Or, the second scenario:

1. Player 1 late-hits Player 2
2. Player 2, angered at being hit late, late-hits Player 1 in retaliation
3. Referee calls personal fouls on both players for hitting late.

The NFL lately has been trying to referee these sorts of situations more intelligently, but my point is, these two scenarios are very much descriptive of the reactions to Sad Puppies. Most of the social justice wankers are playing this as "right wing conservatives have orchestrated a take-over of the Hugo Awards because they hate 'diversity'." In other words, NFL scenario #1. This Salon article is a typical example of this dishonest narrative.

And I'm not even going over to the Guardian site, because you know they're all in full-blown social-justice-wank-wank-wank mode over this.

So, finally getting around to my point, the wikipedia entry is more like NFL scenario #2. But it reads like the "let's not quibble over who killed who" (where is that from, anyway?) gag line. By pretending to be fair, it really is quite unfair; it doesn't tell the whole story. Seems to me that it could use a bit of editing.

By the way, George R.R. Martin has weighed in (har) on this, trying to strike a reasonable tone, and Larry Correia has responded.

Also, this week I received an e-mail from a moron who wants me to remind you that you can participate in the Hugo voting by becoming a supporting member of the Science Fiction Society of America. Supporting membership costs $40 and registration here. The worldcon 2015 convention, where the Hugos are formally awarded, is in August, so you have some time left.

Also, I found out from moronette Anna Puma that Weber State University in Ogden, Utah is holding a workshop entitled How to Make a Living as a Professional Fiction Writer presided over and taught by the head honcho of the Evil League of Evil himself, Larry Correia. Workshop dates are Tuesdays, May 5th - 26th.

Do AIs Ever BSOD?

Looks like Baen is running a contest:

In Travis S. Taylor's new novel Trail of Evil, a malevolent AI teams up with an alien species. But how might things play out if the computer program the aliens came into contact with wasn't so intelligent? Tell us, what is the worst piece of Earth software an intelligent extraterrestrial species could come into contact with and why? Might Siri interpret "We come in peace" as "Find us some peas"? Would Microsoft Word reformat the aliens' letter of greeting? Tell us for your chance to win a signed copy of Trail of Evil

Thanks to Anna Puma for the tip.

More Programs

Moronette Elisabeth Wolfe informs me that there are a couple of UCLA programs that moron writers might be interested in. The Apollo Workshop, which focuses on film and television, and the new Calliope Workshop, for fiction and non-fiction authors. Both workshops are free, and they even provide travel and living expenses to out-of-town participants, but you have to qualify to be accepted.

Application for the Apollo Workshop is here.
Application for the Calliope Workshop is here.

The following question on the Apollo application caught my attention:

In 1500 characters (about 300 words total) or less, please tell us about three individual rights that you would add to the U.S. Constitution that are either not currently present or enforced, or have been ignored, neglected, or reversed.

To me, this looks like a question that's going to be used to screen out pesky conservatives. Ms. Wolfe, who attended the workshop in 2012, assures me that this isn't true. In fact,

Quite the opposite - these guys are conservative/libertarian. When I went, one of my fellow attendees wrote for Big Hollywood, and another wrote for Reason TV, and panel members included Bill Whittle's colleague Jeremy Boreing. That question did puzzle me, but I think it's coming from a libertarian viewpoint

So it sounds very much worthwhile - for those of you with the writing chops to qualify.

Books By Morons

Moron commenter "BornLib" reminds me that Old Sailors Poet has finally released and published the sequel to Amy Lynn. Now only in paperback, the Kindle version of the long-awaited Amy Lynn: Golden Angel will be out in a few days.

OSP also has his own Amazon author's page where you can see his smiling face, and read about his life, which I think is quite remarkable, all the things he's done. And you'll also find out that he's currently working on his next book, Amy Lynn #3, The Lady of Castle Dunn.

What I'm Reading

I've been having a lot of fun with Marc Schweizer's Liturgical Mysteries series. They're laugh-out-loud funny. I do most of my reading in bed at the end of they day, and with these books, I keep wanting to elbow Mrs. Muse, "hey, let me read you this part", every couple of chapters.

The main character, Hayden Konig, is a police detective in a small town in North Carolina who is also the music director(with decidedly conservative musical and liturgical tastes) of the local Episcopalian church. Having acquired Raymond Chandler's typewriter in an eBay auction, he thinks he can write hard-boiled crime fiction, but his efforts, strewn throughout each of the books, are laughably bad. But what he is good at is solving crimes, so each book has him figuring out a complex whodunit while writing his latest Chandler-esque detective story. And dealing with the add cast of characters at his church, usually the zany hijinks that ensue why they try to implement some goofy modern liturgical novelty (such as a "Clown Eucharist" service.). I think the author must be conservative, at least in some aspects, the way he goes after liberal targets. So that just adds to the fun.

The first one in the series The Alto Wore Tweed. I'm currently reading book 2, The Baritone Wore Chiffon.

___________

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 09:01 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1
Still working on reread of Dies The Fire

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 09:04 AM (wlDny)

2 And all of those books would fit in my Samsung with the 32G memory card.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 09:05 AM (wlDny)

3 "let's not quibble over who killed who"

Took a bit of digging, but Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Castle Swampy sequence. Father of the groom about Lancelot wiping out the bride's family.

Posted by: Jenos Idanian at April 12, 2015 09:06 AM (XZnq8)

4 Print is dead.

Posted by: Egon Spengler at April 12, 2015 09:08 AM (+1T7c)

5 Suppose it's just a coincidence that as Holland was converting Catholic cathedrals into bookstores, it was also seeing the rise of indigenous Muslim fanatics of the sort who plunged a knife into the gut of Theo Van Gogh?

Posted by: Jimbolaya at April 12, 2015 09:08 AM (4HYng)

6 We love you, George RR Martin!

Posted by: Floppy wieners at April 12, 2015 09:08 AM (mx5oN)

7 So, finally getting around to my point, the wikipedia entry is more like
NFL scenario #2. But it reads like the "let's not quibble over who
killed who" (where is that from, anyway?) gag line. By pretending to be
fair, it really is quite unfair; it doesn't tell the whole story. Seems
to me that it could use a bit of editing.

Wiki is a liberal site and is the worst place in the world to go for anything that even brushes on political thought.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 09:09 AM (wlDny)

8 This week I read the previously recommended Medicus by Ruth Downie. The story is about a bumbling doctor in the Roman Legion stationed in Britain. He stumbles into being a inspector/detective when women's bodies begin appearing in town.

It was hard for me to get into this book, but I'm glad a stayed with it as half way through the story picked up and came to an exciting ending. I'll give the second book in the series, Terra Incognita, a go.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 12, 2015 09:09 AM (eLZwy)

9 "let's not quibble over who killed who" (where is that from, anyway?) gag line."

Sounds like a Monty Python line. Maybe the Holy Grail?

Posted by: Jimbolaya at April 12, 2015 09:13 AM (4HYng)

10 Thanks for the reminder Christianity is dying. Wake me when they convert the Blue Mosque into a deli.

Posted by: A Guy at April 12, 2015 09:14 AM (lPdaT)

11 I read the "If you were a dinosaur, my love" vs. Lawrence C Wright's response, "The Queen of the Tyrant Lizard" on Friday.

Heh.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 12, 2015 09:15 AM (2TN4k)

12 For an abbreviated book thread, you did pretty well. Thanks for your efforts!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 09:15 AM (ftVQq)

13 Good morning rons, I'm currently reading the notice by Daniella Bova. It's the second book in her series. Good stuff.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:19 AM (KbNXw)

14 Thank you for the shout out OregonMuse. Kindle will be available this week.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:20 AM (KbNXw)

15 Thanks for the shout outs Oregon Muse. Hope the literary Horde finds them useful.

The workshop conducted by Larry Correia can be attended online for $99. And will even get a certificate saying you attended.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 09:22 AM (IyYu3)

16 If you want to learn more about the Hugos and Sad Puppies I'm going to have Sarah Hoyt and Brad Torgerson on my radio show wednesday evening.

http://tobtr.com/s/7512631

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:23 AM (KbNXw)

17 Morning Horde. Ready for some golf today? Think ace will do a Master's thread?

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 09:23 AM (0FSuD)

18 Morning Horde. Ready for some golf today? Think ace will do a Master's thread?
Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 09:23 AM (0FSuD)

I think that kid from Texas is stinkin up the joint.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:24 AM (KbNXw)

19 8
Keep going on the series. Ruso and the lovely Tilla find themselves all over Roman Britain including Londinium, in Gaul( to visit his family), at Hadrian's Wall and,at the end of the last book, I sense they may be on their way to Rome.

Posted by: Tuna at April 12, 2015 09:25 AM (JSovD)

20 Oh, by the way: if you do want to get a Worldcon membership and vote on the Hugos, do it before July. I believe the deadline for ballots is July 31.

So far the people running the awards have been scrupulously fair, but I'd suggest voting early just in case they're a bit overwhelmed this year by a much bigger than usual response.

And remember that voting blindly out of sheer political allegiance is exactly what the Puppies campaign was created to fight. Read the stories and pick the ones you like best.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2015 09:28 AM (QxS3K)

21 Since Ace's podcast where he talks about the basic dishonesty of Rolling Stone and Erdley's fabulism, I have been focusing on attributed and non-attributed quotes.

I do like how the Wiki article mi
xes quotes up together. It muddies the logic progression and makes them look like so-called "scare" quotes.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 12, 2015 09:29 AM (t//F+)

22 Wikipedia claims to be run by volunteers. Test that. Join up as an editor.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2015 09:31 AM (QxS3K)

23 So the Front page of the Dispatch, they have the story of a Transgender teen, and saw that Children's Hospital has Transgender unit that treats kids as young as 5, yes 5.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at April 12, 2015 09:32 AM (CxEX+)

24 Tell us, what is the worst piece of Earth software an
intelligent extraterrestrial species could come into contact with and
why?

'''''''''' because ''''''''''

Posted by: cool breeze at April 12, 2015 09:33 AM (6Cu7i)

25 Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at April 12, 2015 09:32 AM (CxEX+)

At that age it would be more like parents selecting the sex of there child post-partum.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:34 AM (KbNXw)

26 Drat! Can't get black diamonds when you you're trying, only when you're not.

Still no ampersands, but at least no barrel.

Posted by: cool breeze at April 12, 2015 09:35 AM (6Cu7i)

27 >>Children's Hospital has Transgender unit that treats kids as young as 5, yes 5.

I recall hearing an NPR story on transgenderism about 15 years ago, and at that time, the strategy was to give the kids drugs to hold off puberty until they were old enough (1

to make an informed decision.

5 tear olds are not equipped to make that kind of decision - seems more like mutilation, and yes, Munchausen by Proxy if done at that age.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 12, 2015 09:36 AM (2TN4k)

28 27
I recall hearing an NPR story on transgenderism about 15 years ago, and at that time, the strategy was to give the kids drugs to hold off puberty until they were old enough (18 ) to make an informed decision.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 12, 2015 09:36 AM (2TN4k)

Excellent. I approve.

Posted by: Dr. Josef Mengele at April 12, 2015 09:39 AM (sdi6R)

29 Clarification: The workshops are only on the campus of UCLA. They're sponsored by Taliesin Nexus, which is a conservatarian outfit.

Those Liturgical Mysteries sound like fun, OM! I'll have to see if the library has them.

Kind of stuck in Girl Genius mode at the moment, when I'm not reading for class--up next: Dickens' Life of Our Lord and a couple of Twain sketches ("The Scriptural Panoramist" and "A New Beecher Church," the latter of which proves that 19th-c. megachurches weren't all that different from 21st-c. megachurches).

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 12, 2015 09:40 AM (iuQS7)

30 Stolen from HA. SNL skit on Hill's announcement.

http://tinyurl.com/lth9o37

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 09:42 AM (0FSuD)

31 Those Liturgical Mysteries sound like fun, OM! I'll have to see if the library has them

The first two only cost 99 cents on Kindle, and a couple of the others go for $2.99, so you wouldn't be out a lot of coin.

Go on, indulge yourself. You know you want to.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 09:43 AM (6CqM5)

32 22
Wikipedia claims to be run by volunteers. Test that. Join up as an editor.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2015 09:31 AM (QxS3K)

I did with no problem, accept I forgot my password. Drunk.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 09:44 AM (0FSuD)

33 "please tell us about three individual rights that you would add to the U.S. Constitution"

You know it's coming : The right to employment at fair wages, and the right to reasonable housing. I would add food, but that would be four things.

Posted by: Zephyer Springhill at April 12, 2015 09:45 AM (VPBKR)

34 Michael Palin's "This is supposed to be a 'appy occasion! Let's not bicker and argue about 'oo killed 'oo!" is one of three great wedding speeches from the movies, along with the overused "mawwiage" from Princess Bride and the lesser-known Flash Gordon wedding vows:

"Do you, Ming the Merciless, Ruler of the Universe, take this earthling Dale Arden to be your empress of the hour? Do you promise to use her as you will? Not to blast her into space, until such time as you grow weary of her?"

Posted by: Jack Squat Bupkis at April 12, 2015 09:45 AM (bitPb)

35 Eh ... I hit the famous NEISD-PTA book sale on Friday; it is held in a basketball arena once a year. All hardbacks $1, all paperbacks 50. cents. I am trying to rebuild my mother's nearly complete run of the hardback American Heritage Magazines. She had a subscription starting in the late 1950s up to the present, but the hardbound ones without advertising and with all the illustrations (the on-line AH archive does not have the illustrations with the articles) - and I absolutely devoured them, growing up. I am almost certain that was the reason I was so interested in history. I got fifteen of them, from 1963, 1968 and 1971, and I have been reading them all weekend.
So - nothing more on my personal reading front. I do have an engagement this afternoon at the downtown Half-Price Books, as part of DEAR Texas. (Drop Everything And Read). The Texas Association of Authors asked member authors to do appearances at participating bookstores, and the guy who runs the TAA did a lot of publicity for it ... so if there are any 'rons and 'ronettes in San Antonio this afternoon - I'll be at the Half-Price on Broadway from 1 to 4.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 12, 2015 09:46 AM (95iDF)

36 Speaking of reading for class, I have a Horde-sourcing question: in my sophomore-level lit survey for the fall, I want to include a lesson on the American Revolution with readings being Paine's "The Crisis" and selections from The Federalist Papers and de Tocqueville (thanks on the last to whoever made the suggestion when I asked on the ONT). I'm thinking maybe one chapter from Democracy in America and two or three from The Federalist Papers, definitely including Federalist #51 ("If men were angels, no government would be necessary"). What specific selections from each book would you consider essential?

I have a couple of months to get my syllabus in order, so I'll try to (re-)read all of both before I decide, but recommendations will certainly help!

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 12, 2015 09:47 AM (iuQS7)

37 A PROMISE OF BLOOD, PowderMages over throw the King who bankrupt the country and will sign a treaty to get more money from thier enemy country but will decimate the military. It has a French revolutionary feel.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at April 12, 2015 09:48 AM (CxEX+)

38 Ah, the erudite thread. My weekly favorite.

Posted by: Count de Monet at April 12, 2015 09:51 AM (JO9+V)

39 "please tell us about three individual rights that you would add to the U.S. Constitution"

The right to use drugs and alcohol without the expectation of anyone raising a finger or spending a dime to cover your healthcare.

That's one.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:52 AM (KbNXw)

40 Ah, the erudite thread. My weekly favorite.
Posted by: Count de Monet at April 12, 2015 09:51 AM (JO9+V)

Dammit, I have to look up erudite.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:54 AM (KbNXw)

41 The right to anal from anyone you date.

Posted by: Wonkette at April 12, 2015 09:55 AM (0FSuD)

42 Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 12, 2015 09:47 AM (iuQS7)

Federalist 45?

Posted by: golfman at April 12, 2015 09:55 AM (48QDY)

43 Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 12, 2015 09:47 AM (iuQS7)

You might want to include some readings from "The Anti-Federalist Papers" for balance. I don't have any specific suggestions, however.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 09:55 AM (ftVQq)

44 Ah, the erudite thread. My weekly favorite.
Posted by: Count de Monet at April 12, 2015 09:51 AM (JO9+V)

Dammit, I have to look up erudite.

OH! you mean sapient, I get ya.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 09:56 AM (KbNXw)

45 I'd formalize the Right of States to secede from the union. Sure would be handy along about now!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 09:57 AM (ftVQq)

46 45
I'd formalize the Right of States to secede from the union. Sure would be handy along about now!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 09:57 AM (ftVQq)

We tried that. They were not pleased

Posted by: Zombie Jefferson Davis at April 12, 2015 09:58 AM (0FSuD)

47 We tried that. They were not pleased
Posted by: Zombie Jefferson Davis at April 12, 2015 09:58 AM (0FSuD)

LOL

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:00 AM (KbNXw)

48 I'd formalize the Right of States to secede from the union.

Or the right to choose a new capital and cede DC to Cuba.

Posted by: t-bird at April 12, 2015 10:00 AM (FcR7P)

49 43 You might want to include some readings from "The
Anti-Federalist Papers" for balance. I don't have any specific
suggestions, however.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 09:55 AM (ftVQq)

The anti-federalist papers turned out to be right after all. But what is bad is I ordered the Federalist Papers in a two volume set years ago and paid $40 for them. I found out later I could have downloaded them for free.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:01 AM (wlDny)

50 Or the right to choose a new capital and cede DC to Cuba.
Posted by: t-bird at April 12, 2015 10:00 AM (FcR7P)

So, what would be our new capitol? I'm thinking somewhere in Texas or Utah.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:03 AM (KbNXw)

51 Texas or Utah would be too hospitable.

I'm thinking either White Sands or the Everglades.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:05 AM (IyYu3)

52 Didn't realize Old Sailors Poet had survived the bucolic wonderland that is northern Indiana. Having served three years in South Bend, I salute you, sir.

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 10:07 AM (yxw0r)

53 I don't know....Alaska.

Posted by: goatexchange at April 12, 2015 10:08 AM (C+vOU)

54 11 that's john c wright not Lawrence. In case someone is looking for it. Yeah the one he did - actual science fiction story. Has emotional weight because it's a story unlike the original ", which is a checklist of agitprop. It is like the difference between steak and Styrofoam. If you close your eyes when you chew you might trick yourself that the Styrofoam is a tasteless cheeto. But that's the best you can hope for with agitprop.

Posted by: simplemind at April 12, 2015 10:08 AM (hTeQK)

55 Martin is a tad more reasonable then most of the left, but he is still echoing the "It isn't fair when you guys do the same things we do back to us!" argument.

Oh, why the hate for Vox Day, btw? I've read some of his social commentary on men and women and it is indeed very political uncorrect...but it is also mostly accurate...

Posted by: 18-1 at April 12, 2015 10:09 AM (5LOno)

56 Didn't realize Old Sailors Poet had survived the bucolic wonderland that is northern Indiana. Having served three years in South Bend, I salute you, sir.
Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 10:07 AM (yxw0r)

Oh yes, the hillbilly buffer zone ensconced between white Hammond and black Gary. Times were a bit different back then.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:09 AM (KbNXw)

57 You know it's coming : The right to employment at fair wages, and the right to reasonable housing. I would add food, but that would be four things.

You forgot teh gay.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 10:10 AM (6CqM5)

58 And as some moron said.. so it begins

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:13 AM (0FSuD)

59 OSP I am surprised you are not plugging your new Amy Lynn book and the Kindle version which is coming out this week.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:13 AM (wlDny)

60 Here is what I would love to add to the Constitution...

The government may not tax any adult citizen more then any other adult citizen in any one fiscal year.

The government may not give any person, groups of persons (in any form), or organizations of any sort any money or goods in kind except in return for goods or services and at fair market value.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 12, 2015 10:14 AM (5LOno)

61 "...in a voice as husky as last year's Iditarod".

I see what you mean about "The Alto wore Tweed."

Posted by: trainer at April 12, 2015 10:17 AM (7EbAY)

62 OSP I am surprised you are not plugging your new Amy Lynn book and the Kindle version which is coming out this week.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:13 AM (wlDny)

OregonMuse did it for me. Can I just hang out without talking about my stupid book? I'v've read it a30 times in the past three months, Spent 50 hours on the phone with my editor, line editing and bounced the cover back and forth with my cover designer about a dozen times. I am Amy Lynned slap the FK out. I however, hope you guys do enjoy the book.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:17 AM (KbNXw)

63 The Right to Insult Anyone.
The Right NOT to do anything that violates my religion, but does not harm anyone.
The Right to not have my government invade my privacy without a specific reason that involves serious national security.

Posted by: goatexchange at April 12, 2015 10:21 AM (c769w)

64 "Do you, Ming the Merciless, Ruler of the Universe, take this earthling Dale Arden to be your empress of the hour? Do you promise to use her as you will? Not to blast her into space, until such time as you grow weary of her?"

--

That was awesome.
Also, Timothy Dalton was teh hawt in that movie.

Posted by: Media at April 12, 2015 10:22 AM (cbfNE)

65 The Right to not have my government invade my privacy without a specific reason that involves serious national security.
Posted by: goatexchange at April 12, 2015 10:21 AM (c769w)

Isn't that the Fourth Amendment? Let me look that one up.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:23 AM (KbNXw)

66 62 Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:17 AM (KbNXw)

LOL, I read through the column so fast I missed that.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:24 AM (wlDny)

67 The Right to not have my government invade my privacy without a specific reason that involves serious national security.
___
Like if you are holding Islamophobic thoughts?

Posted by: The Left at April 12, 2015 10:24 AM (5LOno)

68 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:13 AM (wlDny)

One more thing. Thank you Vic. You have always supported my adventure in writing. It means a lot.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:25 AM (KbNXw)

69 Wow talk about missing the wires on landing...

http://tinyurl.com/k6g7dsk

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:25 AM (IyYu3)

70 I didn't get as much reading done as usual. The yard work and outdoor gardening has begun. However ...
I dipped into more of Lewis' "God In The Dock" essays and "The Quotable Lewis". Wonderful reading when you don't have time for hours at a time.

I'm so glad you are enjoying the Liturgical mysteries by Schweizer. I started the seventh in the series, "The Diva Wore Diamonds". I can tell you the series maintains the same fun level.

Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 10:26 AM (FvdPb)

71 68 One more thing. Thank you Vic. You have always supported my adventure in writing. It means a lot.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:25 AM (KbNXw)

And I will be picking up the Kindle version as soon as it works its way down below my $10 Kindle limit.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:26 AM (wlDny)

72 At the risk of being labeled "pedantic", I must mention that it's "Evil League of Evil" (from Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog (IIRC Ben Edlund came up with the name)), not "Legion".

Posted by: Calvin Dodge at April 12, 2015 10:27 AM (BL16f)

73 The 28th Amendment in Bob's happy world would read: "No, really. The 10th Amendment. Go back and read the damn thing. You think I'm f***ing with you? Put. The coffee. Down."

Maybe zombie James Madison could clean it up a bit.

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 10:27 AM (yxw0r)

74 The worldcon 2015 convention, where the Hugos are ~~formerly~~ formally awarded, is in August, so you have some time left.

fixt, unless the puppy battle is much more interesting than I have been led to believe.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 12, 2015 10:27 AM (o78gS)

75 Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:25 AM (IyYu3)

Saw an F-14 shear the landing gear on the round down.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:28 AM (KbNXw)

76 And speaking of Kindle deals, Amazon is running a special for today only on Mysteries and Thrillers for $1.99 each.

http://amzn.to/1GBp6fN

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:31 AM (wlDny)

77 At the risk of being labeled "pedantic", I must mention that it's "Evil League of Evil" (from Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog (IIRC Ben Edlund came up with the name)), not "Legion"

Thank you, I have heard both, I wasn't clear on which one it actually was.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 10:31 AM (6CqM5)

78 fixt, unless the puppy battle is much more interesting than I have been led to believe.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 12, 2015 10:27 AM (o78gS)

You can listen to Dead Wrong Radio, starring me, Jack July Wed 8:30 to 10:30. My guests will be, Tom Knighton, Matthew Bowman, Sarah Hoyt and Brad Torgerson. Subject, the Hugos and Sad Puppies.

http://tobtr.com/s/7512631

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:32 AM (KbNXw)

79 Finally finished listening to The Odyssey and am now listening to A Day in the Life of.......a series of sketches describing various famous poets and their lives. The first one was Milton. "Complex and holding strong opinions" seems a good way to describe him.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 10:32 AM (GDulk)

80 79 The first one was Milton. "Complex and holding strong opinions" seems a good way to describe him.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 10:32 AM (GDulk)

Boring is even better.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:33 AM (wlDny)

81 Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:09 AM (KbNXw)

One of my Grammas lived in Black Oak. You from around there perchance?

Lived in Porter county. Always remembered going to her house and we'd cross a set of RR tracks and smell the Coke Plant of USS. Ahhh, Gary.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 10:34 AM (zRby/)

82 OregonMuse did it for me. Can I just hang out
without talking about my stupid book? I'v've read it a30 times in the
past three months, Spent 50 hours on the phone with my editor, line
editing and bounced the cover back and forth with my cover designer
about a dozen times. I am Amy Lynned slap the FK out. I however, hope
you guys do enjoy the book.

Posted by: Oldsailors

I'll head over and take a look. Congrats on surviving the process. Been there, love my characters. Still glad when they finally 'move' out, so to speak.

Posted by: Long Running Fool at April 12, 2015 10:35 AM (/A5gb)

83 Yes, I grew up in Black oak. My mom and dad owned a small grocery store on 25th avenue. At least that was the front. In the back my dad ran a chop shop.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:35 AM (KbNXw)

84 OLDSAILORS POET HAS A RADIO SHOW?

Posted by: Al Sharpton at April 12, 2015 10:35 AM (6CqM5)

85 For the naval nomenclature impaired, the round down is the very back end of the flight deck on an aircraft carrier. If plane and pilot manage to walk away from such an encounter and the CO does not ground the pilot, the aviator's call sign becomes Spud. Why Spud? Because by tradition the spud locker is at the fantail. So here is your lesson for the day in the weird use of words.

In the case of OSP's example I would guess flaps and slats out, hook and gear down and following the meatball perfectly. But then Ol Man Neptune decided to make the stern of the carrier jump up at the last moment. And suddenly life is far too interesting to be quantified.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:38 AM (IyYu3)

86 I flew into South Bend a few years ago and met up with some guys from INPO there to follow them to Benton Harbor. Those guys really had the crazy driving from Atlanta down. I could not keep up with them driving North on hwy 51. I had my rental car on the floor and they were leaving me.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:38 AM (wlDny)

87 OLDSAILORS POET HAS A RADIO SHOW?
Posted by: Al Sharpton at April 12, 2015 10:35 AM (6CqM5)

Yes, I do. Interesting story. I was invited to CPAC because of AMY LYNN. Met a gentleman Named Robert Bertrand while doing interviews on Radio Row. We hit it off. He ask me to Co-host his show. When he decided he wanted to do other things the network offered it to me. So I said, "Sure, I'll shamelessly plug my book and talk to interesting people. Why not?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:39 AM (KbNXw)

88 @76 Kindle Thriller Deals

Be aware that Eisler renamed his back catalog. I have enjoyed some of the books on sale, under their previous titles. Best read in order. Some of his later work has left "sucker punches," although it is claimed that his latest do not.

Good writer. Particularly like his insights into Asian culture.

Posted by: doug at April 12, 2015 10:39 AM (DTQXN)

89 Also finished By Pike and Dike by G. A. Henty. No wonder the Dutch consider their liberation from the Spanish a miracle. Their stubborn disregard of military advice from the Prince of Orange (not that he was infalible himself) and risk adverseness almost made their cause fail and did cause a lot of extra suffering for themselves.

I'm pretty much just going through Librivox's Henty catalog right now so next up is one set in Carthage at the end of their empire.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 10:40 AM (GDulk)

90 I stopped buying much new SciFi firstly because so many stores don't know what SciFi is/was and would mix Fantasy in. And the number of hard science writers dropped (at least readable ones) and too many writers started writing to entice female readers to read them (women do read more, but still) and too much SciFi became really just future social fiction placed in some future or weird setting but really was more regular fiction and not Science Fiction.

Pretty much I've given up. The cost of paperbacks are what $8 now? And I won't buy ebooks (except for tech manuals) because I like to hold a book when I read. *sigh*.

If someone pulls the main switch and we lose power, a lot of vital information is going to be lost and we'll never get it back. (maybe this is what really happened to past civilizations? they got so hi tech that a blown fuse put them back into the paleo age in an instant?)

I've always known awards were bullshit. Only on the playing field where scores were witnessed was it real. And then they stopped keeping score.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 10:40 AM (zRby/)

91 I'm thinking either White Sands or the Everglades.

Yeah, Everglades. And you're not allowed to use air conditioning because it might endanger the local ecology.

Posted by: t-bird at April 12, 2015 10:40 AM (FcR7P)

92 83
Yes, I grew up in Black oak. My mom and dad owned a small grocery store
on 25th avenue. At least that was the front. In the back my dad ran a
chop shop.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:35 AM (KbNXw)

SO that's where my 63 Chevy ended up?

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:42 AM (0FSuD)

93 In the case of OSP's example I would guess flaps and slats out, hook and gear down and following the meatball perfectly. But then Ol Man Neptune decided to make the stern of the carrier jump up at the last moment. And suddenly life is far too interesting to be quantified.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:38 AM (IyYu3)

Actually, broad daylight in calm seas. A nugget from VF-124, RAG and Training squadron. He boltered like four times. We knew it was gonna be ugly. My skipper then was Jack Snyder, the first guy fired in the taihook scandal.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:43 AM (KbNXw)

94 SO that's where my 63 Chevy ended up?
Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:42 AM (0FSuD)

No he specialized in Trucks and Lincolns. That's where I learned to use a torch and How we afforded out race cars.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:44 AM (KbNXw)

95 SO that's where my 63 Chevy ended up?
Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:42 AM (0FSuD)

No he specialized in Trucks and Lincolns. That's where I learned to use a torch and How we afforded out race cars.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:44 AM (KbNXw)

96 91 I'm thinking either White Sands or the Everglades.

Yeah, Everglades. And you're not allowed to use air conditioning because it might endanger the local ecology.
Posted by: t-bird at April 12, 2015 10:40 AM (FcR7P)

Word. And they should have to take an hour-long airboat ride to get there, sans hearing protection.

Posted by: Insomniac at April 12, 2015 10:45 AM (mx5oN)

97 Learning a lot of shit on this "book thread". Spud locker? LOL

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:45 AM (0FSuD)

98 But then Ol Man Neptune decided to make the stern of the carrier jump up at the last moment.

What does it take to make the stern of a Forrestal (or larger) jump that much?

Posted by: Fox2! at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (brIR5)

99 Posted by: Vic We HaveNo Party atApril 12, 2015 10:33 AM (wlDny)

Lol, the series only uses short quotes from the poems. I suspect the series was intended for kids so the episodes focus on the poet as a person. I knew pretty much *nothing* about Milton, so it was interesting finding out he was a European-style Republican and had held an important post in Cromwell's government.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (GDulk)

100 I read _The Girl With All The Gifts_ on last week's recommendation. Not bad, but I think between that and Mira Grant/Seanan Mcguire's Newsflesh trilogy, I've satisfied my zombie quota for the decade.

Still wading through Carola Dunn's vast sea of Regency romances, including the Rothschild trilogy. I'm getting ready for something subversive of the Regency romance pattern - although Dunn definitely paints the corners of the basic template, they're entirely within the bounds of the genre - the heroine can slum it as an opera singer, and get all the crap from the assumption that she's the love interest's mistress, but she can't actually *be* the mistress. Or the parson's sister protagonist can be inundated with her love interest's unruly harem of mistresses, but she's there to "solve" them and send them on their way. Regency romances, like parlour-room mystery, is all about resolving challenges to societal order, about the emergence of proto-Victorian propriety from Georgian improvidence and moral disorder.

Posted by: Mitch H. at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (gagqp)

101 Word. And they should have to take an hour-long airboat ride to get there, sans hearing protection.
Posted by: Insomniac at April 12, 2015 10:45 AM (mx5oN)

I see your point, Discomfort=quick decision making.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (KbNXw)

102 Why Spud? Because by tradition the spud locker is at the fantail. So here is your lesson for the day in the weird use of words.

In
the case of OSP's example I would guess flaps and slats out, hook and
gear down and following the meatball perfectly. But then Ol Man Neptune
decided to make the stern of the carrier jump up at the last moment. And
suddenly life is far too interesting to be quantified.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:38 AM (IyYu3)

The aviation maintenance shop was at the fantail on the Enterprise and Reactor Department birthing was below that.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (wlDny)

103 Tell us, what is the worst piece of Earth software an
intelligent extraterrestrial species could come into contact with and
why?

So, Pixy is running alien invaders' websites, now?

I keed, I keed.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (0cMkb)

104 What does it take to make the stern of a Forrestal (or larger) jump that much?
Posted by: Fox2! at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (brIR5)

20-30 ft seas. I've actually seen waves break over the flightdeck. That's 90 ft off the water. The sea can be a cruel place.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:47 AM (KbNXw)

105 99 Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (GDulk)

We had to do a book report on Paradise Lost in my English Lit class. I thought it was awful.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:48 AM (wlDny)

106 So OSP you were in Animal House?

http://tinyurl.com/qbe89cu

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:48 AM (0FSuD)

107 We had to do a book report on Paradise Lost in my English Lit class. I thought it was awful.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:48 AM (wlDny)

I had this really cool english lit teacher who pretty much let us read what we wanted. I did a book report on the Pirate, by Harold Robbins.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:49 AM (KbNXw)

108 Thirty-four comments before anyone pointed out that the correct line is "Let's not bicker and argue over 'oo killed 'oo." I'm so disappointed in you all.

Those liturgical mysteries sound funny! I'll have to check them out.

Posted by: Mrs. Peel at April 12, 2015 10:51 AM (1EtXn)

109
http://tinyurl.com/qbe89cu
Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:48 AM (0FSuD)

We were a bit more efficient. But close

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:51 AM (KbNXw)

110 20-30 ft seas. I've actually seen waves break over the flightdeck. That's 90 ft off the water. The sea can be a cruel place.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:47 AM (KbNXw)

Wow! Is it true that the destroyers have to pull away when a carrier goes to battle speed because of the wake?

A friend of my was on the Kennedy and he said they did.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:52 AM (0FSuD)

111 You know it's coming : The right to employment at fair wages, and the right to reasonable housing. I would add food, but that would be four things.

Right, and this is why I am against calling a new constitutional convention. What will happen is that the progressives are going to flood the zone with their bullshit and we're going to end up with women's "rights" and gay "rights" and medical care "rights" and housing "rights" and wage "rights" and environmental "rights" firmly embedded into the bedrock of the new constitutional law. And you think we're screwed now? At least the first time we did this, we lasted 250 years before we were screwed. This time around, we're going to be screwed coming out of the gate.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 10:53 AM (6CqM5)

112 104 20-30 ft seas. I've actually seen waves break over the flightdeck. That's 90 ft off the water. The sea can be a cruel place.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:47 AM (KbNXw)

We sailed through a typhoon on the way back from a WESPAC and I never saw a wave break over the flight deck. Of course we could not go out there anyway because the flight deck and sponsons were supposed to be off limits. I don't know how high above water the flight deck was though. The Enterprise was a lot bigger than the older carriers.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:53 AM (wlDny)

113 For fun "reading" I've been lisrening to Dr. Thorndyke mysteries from the turn of the previous century. Thorndyke is essentially the first forensic specialist and the author was a doctor who started writing as a way to support his family when patients were too few to make a living. He apparently took pride in making the forensic part factual but writes with decent humor as well.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 10:53 AM (GDulk)

114 103
So, Pixy is running alien invaders' websites, now?

Posted by: naturalfake at April 12, 2015 10:46 AM (0cMkb)

Sounds like we haven't got a thing to worry about.

Posted by: rickl at April 12, 2015 10:53 AM (sdi6R)

115 English professors seem to desperately want to kill everyone's interest in literature. Meh. Not just English. If you ever want to destroy your interest in anything, study it formally.

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 10:54 AM (yxw0r)

116 110 Wow! Is it true that the destroyers have to pull away when a carrier goes to battle speed because of the wake?

A friend of my was on the Kennedy and he said they did.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:52 AM (0FSuD)

Not true, but destroyers rarely followed that close anyway. They are there to detect submarines in the area and a carrier makes too much noise to do that if you are close abeam.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:54 AM (wlDny)

117
I've actually seen waves break over the flightdeck. That's 90 ft off the water. The sea can be a cruel place. (OSP)

I've seen pictures of green water over the flight deck. Amazing when you think about it. What were the little guys doing in those seas? Even the hardiest destroyerman must have been offering sacrifice to Neptunus Rex.

Posted by: Fox2! at April 12, 2015 10:55 AM (brIR5)

118 Looks as if in the Netherlands, as in many places in northern Europe, the 800-year-old Catholic churches have been recycled into places of commerce.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at April 12, 2015 10:55 AM (U6f54)

119 I used to read a lot of fiction in my 70s college days, but haven't since then. Do we have any conservatarian novelists these days? People who are the flip-side of what Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, etc were to the Progressives? I get that Brad Thor is a conservative action-novel version of that, but what about someone more literary and out there, like Flannery O'Connor?

Any recommendations?

Posted by: saltlick at April 12, 2015 10:55 AM (/CIla)

120 Rough seas breaking over the bow of USS John C. Stennis

http://tinyurl.com/mafbvg5

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:56 AM (IyYu3)

121 20-30 ft seas. I've actually seen waves break over the flightdeck. That's 90 ft off the water. The sea can be a cruel place.

Wow. And to think that our ancestors sailed the seven seas in those tiny, fragile wooden ships. I think it's a wonder that any of them survived.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 10:57 AM (6CqM5)

122 @117

You know what will give you goosebumps? Watch the Hornet launch Doolittle raid on Tokyo. Those were some seas.

http://tinyurl.com/qdb4j6v

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:58 AM (0FSuD)

123 119 Any recommendations?

Posted by: saltlick at April 12, 2015 10:55 AM (/CIla)

John Ringo is very conservative. Read The Last Centurion. It is a stand-alone novel that trashes the hell out of a Scankles type President.

He also has several series that are great too. He is probably my favorite author now.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:58 AM (wlDny)

124 Wow! Is it true that the destroyers have to pull away when a carrier goes to battle speed because of the wake?

A friend of my was on the Kennedy and he said they did.
Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 10:52 AM (0FSuD)

I don't recall that, they were never that close. Although it's a thrill to see a Frigate completely disappear under the water and pop back up. I met an old Chief that served on a destroyer that had three-sixty club patch where the ship rolled all the way over.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 10:58 AM (KbNXw)

125 People who've never gone out in an Ocean do not understand how large the waves can get.

Even on a clear day with no storms for miles days before or after, swells will be at least 6-10 feet.

Add some wind with hundreds to thousands of miles of fetch and those get to be waves and get large very quickly and yet still no storm (where you are anyway).

And in a storm? Forget it. Traveling south in the Pacific we ran into the edge of a typhoon (hurricane for you living next to the Atlantic Puddle) waves over the bridge of a Missile Frigate (old style DLG not the newer ones) 60' + above the mean water line. I don't mean spray. I mean WAVES. Wind? forget it. Nobody allowed on deck and the bridge wing watches brought in. Everything buttoned down with a relaxed condition 1 on hatches. No chow. Strapped into your rack if you lived near the bow.

Fun.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 10:58 AM (zRby/)

126 Until the advent of helicopters, a destroyer usually followed behind American carriers. Their job was to act as plane guard and pick up any pilots and crews who went into the drink on approach.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:59 AM (IyYu3)

127 121 Wow. And to think that our ancestors sailed the
seven seas in those tiny, fragile wooden ships. I think it's a wonder
that any of them survived.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 10:57 AM (6CqM5)

Many didn't.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:59 AM (wlDny)

128 Wow. And to think that our ancestors sailed the seven seas in those tiny, fragile wooden ships. I think it's a wonder that any of them survived.
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 10:57 AM (6CqM5)

You are exactly right. That was one of the first things I thought on my first cruise. That Christopher Columbus was one brave MFr.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 11:00 AM (KbNXw)

129 No book this week. Busy, busy.

But-

I did stream an interesting movie on Amazon last night because it looked so odd.

And odd is the operative word for:

"Motivational Growth"

a low-budget, horrorish comedy (smile type not guffaw type)

about a depressed guy who lives in the filthiest apartment ever,

who one day decides to commit suicide and fails (or does he? - *Twilight Zone music*)

after which he starts taking life advice from the giant pile of talking mold in his bathroom.

I won't say it was a great movie but I was consistently entertained.

The end is a bit ambiguous but not unsatisfactory so.

I think The Mold's last speech kind of tips the scale in one direction.

Anyway check out the trailer on Amazon if that sounds interesting to you.

Also, Jeffery Coombs stars as The Mold, so....

Posted by: naturalfake at April 12, 2015 11:00 AM (0cMkb)

130 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:54 AM (wlDny)

Well they're also there doing Plane Guard during Flight Ops.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 11:01 AM (zRby/)

131 I met an old Chief that served on a destroyer that had three-sixty club patch where the ship rolled all the way over.

Ships actually do that? Do a complete 360 degree roll, and survive?

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:02 AM (6CqM5)

132 Ships actually do that? Do a complete 360 degree roll, and survive?
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:02 AM (6CqM5)

I didn't see it with my own eyes, but apparently yes.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 11:03 AM (KbNXw)

133 130 Well they're also there doing Plane Guard during Flight Ops.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 11:01 AM (zRby/)

But the only time they are really close is during underway unrep.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 11:03 AM (wlDny)

134 Also, Jeffery Coombs stars as The Mold, so....

It wasn't Brian Dennehy?

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:03 AM (6CqM5)

135 Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 10:59 AM (IyYu3)

I would think they still do for training cruises.

During operations probably not as they're busy acting as air traffic control and radar watch.

At least they did Plane Guard even with Helos available.

Most now are Helo landing capable and can act as a platform.

Depending on weather sometimes it's easier to pick someone up by boat than Helo.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 11:04 AM (zRby/)

136 #74 Thank you, Anachondra, I fixed it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:05 AM (6CqM5)

137 Since this is the book thread we should go back and re-read Sebastian Junger on the topic of storms and waves. "The Perfect Storm" described well what goes on while at sea during a big one.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at April 12, 2015 11:06 AM (U6f54)

138 I think this is an Independence class light carrier in rough seas. Oi!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1020/1190584999_3e0df1408a.jpg

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 11:06 AM (IyYu3)

139 We had a jet jockey getting bridge quals one day. He ordered a hard left turn at flank speed and maintained it. We leaned over so far when we crossed our wake the waves broke over the sponsons and flooded the third deck setting off a flare locker and created a fire.

He and the actual on-watch bridge officer was removed from the bridge and disqualified. They flew them both off the next time we were close to a port. Don't know what happened to them after that.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 11:07 AM (wlDny)

140 I saw the NFL scenario that Oregon alluded to played out in Catholic school many times.
Student # 1 pulls the hair of, or kicks the shins of Student #2 who then retaliates by doing same to Student # 1. Then the "referee" (Nun) sends student #2 down to principal's office.
But the more likely scenario was the one where Student #1 kicks shins of Student # 2, who responds in kind to Student #1, and is caught in the act by the "ref" (Nun) who then proceeds to grab the heads of both Students and bash them together...repeatedly.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 12, 2015 11:07 AM (R0e0q)

141 Speaking of sailors, just finished "Over the Edge of the World", subtitled Magellan's
Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, by Laurence Bergreen. Indeed those old explorers had titanium balls. He sailed in 1519, that's the same year Cortez landed in Mexico and took on an empire with a tiny army.

Posted by: JHW at April 12, 2015 11:07 AM (w+zdY)

142 Currently reading Eric Greitens' "Resilience: Hard Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life". Pulls lots of good ideas from the warrior poets and Stoics. There is much to recommend the classical mindset to modern times. Not fatalism, but clear-eyed realism; more like Teddy R.'s admonition to do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Even a soft dilettante like myself finds it strangely consoling.

Posted by: Pope John XII at April 12, 2015 11:07 AM (UKJFR)

143 Thirty-four comments before anyone pointed out that the correct line is "Let's not bicker and argue over 'oo killed 'oo." I'm so disappointed in you all.

Actually, I had originally written it in draft as "'oo killed 'oo", but for some reason, I thought it didn't look very good, so I changed it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:08 AM (6CqM5)

144 Ok y'all, I think I'm seasick now!

Posted by: lindafell is Cruzin' at April 12, 2015 11:08 AM (xVgrA)

145 Posted by: lindafell is Cruzin' at April 12, 2015 11:08 AM (xVgrA)

Wait'll we start telling "this ain't no shit" stories.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 11:09 AM (zRby/)

146 Just finished Lee Child's latest Reacher book, "Personal," and was pleased to see Child uprighted his style, and sailed out of the writer's doldrum into which he had sunk.

Metaphor alert.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at April 12, 2015 11:09 AM (U6f54)

147 Arrrrgh! Looks like the seafarin' men have taken over the book thread.

Shiver me timbers!

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:10 AM (6CqM5)

148 147 Shiver me timbers!

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:10 AM (6CqM5)

It is a conservative military blog after all.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 11:12 AM (wlDny)

149 Arrrrgh! Looks like the seafarin' men have taken over the book thread.

Shiver me timbers!
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:10 AM (6CqM5)

OH CABIN BOY!, fetch me grogg and a we bit o hog lard.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 11:12 AM (KbNXw)

150 >>People who've never gone out in an Ocean do not understand how large the waves can get.

I've got some friends who are doing a trans Atlantic are this summer on a 50 footer. If you ever want to feel small and insignificant go out on the open ocean in a small boat.

Nothing like looking up at a wall of water from the deck of a small sailboat to but things in perspective for you.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 12, 2015 11:12 AM (g1DWB)

151 Ah! The eternal fight between which books to have on e-readers and which to have as paper. Being that I have no faith in electronic devices (for all their convenience) the decision-making paradigm narrows. Casual fiction that I'm not likely to revisit, an inexpensive way to sample new writers, a means to compare different translations, are fine for Nook or Kindle. Fiction that inspires, critical reference and how-to books, any works that should be passed on to others, those I want in my hand.

I have a similar problem with digital photography vs. film. For all the conveniences of digital, I fear for the loss of a physical record.

Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 11:13 AM (FvdPb)

152 But the only time they are really close is during underway unrep.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 11:03 AM (wlDny)

Always disliked those. An oiler or a supply ship accident might just scrape the paint a bit.

A carrier running us over would've put us under.

I never liked looking up while underway to something bigger than us.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 11:13 AM (zRby/)

153 But the more likely scenario was the one where Student #1 kicks shins of Student # 2, who responds in kind to Student #1, and is caught in the act by the "ref" (Nun) who then proceeds to grab the heads of both Students and bash them together...repeatedly.

Exactly right, and I used to know malevolent d-bags who would instigate such brawls knowing full well the likely outcome because they wanted to get the other guy in trouble.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:14 AM (6CqM5)

154 You know what separates the men from the boys at sea?

A crowbar.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 11:15 AM (zRby/)

155 I have a similar problem with digital photography vs. film. For all the conveniences of digital, I fear for the loss of a physical record.
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 11:13 AM (FvdPb)

I read two or three books a week for other Authors. I do it all on Kindle. However, If I find something I really like I'll buy the Dead tree.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 11:15 AM (KbNXw)

156 Bitter Clinger you mean like this?

http://tinyurl.com/pdspotu

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 11:15 AM (IyYu3)

157 I just finished reading Mario Vargas Llosa's latest novel -The Discrete Hero--and I'm happy to report that it's up to his usual standards. I recommend it.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 12, 2015 11:17 AM (R0e0q)

158 Getting the word out now:

Attention Texas 'Ron and 'Ette authors, I am looking to open a needlework shop on the south side of League City. It is intended to focus on Texas artists and fighting human trafficking but will also have some sort of Little Free Library. I am very interested in holding book signings there for anyone interested. I definitely want to be open by the end of the year and am hoping to be up and running this fall.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 11:18 AM (GDulk)

159 OH CABIN BOY!, fetch me grogg and a we bit o hog lard

I'm afraid to ask what the hog lard is for.

And another thing about sailing in the old days that amazes me was the 12-13 year old midshipmen who were training to be officers. 12-13 years old! Un-fricking-believable.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:18 AM (6CqM5)

160 Posted by: the littl shyning man at April 12, 2015 11:09 AM (U6f54)

Halfway through it and yes, Reacher is back!

I also finished W E B Griffin's "Top Secret" and though a bit formulaic (hey, it's WEB), enjoyed it, and will be getting the second in the series.

Also got "The Stolen Email Archives Of Feable Industries" by John Wapner and while I can't claim it is great literature, I have stayed up too late several nights laughing while reading this.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 11:20 AM (ftVQq)

161 I've been on a cosmic horror kick. Reading Laird Barron's "The Beautiful
Thing that Awaits Us All". Lovecraftian short stories by a skilled
practitioner of the moron lifestyle. In nonfiction, "Political Theology"
by Carl Schmitt. No opinion yet, I want to get through more of his
writing before I start to play around with it.

Posted by: kartoffel at April 12, 2015 11:20 AM (sGRH7)

162 And another thing about sailing in the old days that amazes me was the 12-13 year old midshipmen who were training to be officers. 12-13 years old! Un-fricking-believable.
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:18 AM (6CqM5)

Wasn't Andrew Jackson 13 or 14 when he started fighting Injuns?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 11:20 AM (KbNXw)

163 >>And another thing about sailing in the old days that amazes me was the 12-13 year old midshipmen who were training to be officers. 12-13 years old! Un-fricking-believable.

Well they only lived till about 40 so they had to get a jump on things.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 12, 2015 11:22 AM (g1DWB)

164 Squires were around 12 or so when they started tagging along with their Knight to war.

Posted by: Media at April 12, 2015 11:23 AM (cbfNE)

165 I have a similar problem with digital photography
vs. film. For all the conveniences of digital, I fear for the loss of a
physical record.

Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 11:13 AM (FvdPb)
Call me!

Posted by: Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre at April 12, 2015 11:24 AM (ftVQq)

166 Wasn't Andrew Jackson 13 or 14 when he started fighting Injuns?

Yeah, and one of our other presidents, I forget which one, was an ambassador's assistant to France or Russia or some place at age 15.

And now we have millennials still living at home in their late 20s.

Such progress...

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:25 AM (6CqM5)

167 Well they only lived till about 40 so they had to get a jump on things.

True. But I think if you survived childhood diseases and managed to not contract a killer disease and were in good health at 40, you could reasonably expect to see "old" age.
It's not like everyone keeled over on their 40th birthday....

Posted by: JoeF. at April 12, 2015 11:25 AM (R0e0q)

168 Yep, Lord Nelson was a midshipman by 13. Sailing up near the North Pole and down to the East Indies as a young teenager. Had a ship of his own by 20.

Posted by: kartoffel at April 12, 2015 11:26 AM (sGRH7)

169 159 And another thing about sailing in the old days that
amazes me was the 12-13 year old midshipmen who were training to be
officers. 12-13 years old! Un-fricking-believable.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:18 AM (6CqM5)

And those days lasted at least into the early 1900s. I saw a picture a few days ago of a very young boy who was a powder monkey on a battle ship in 1903.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 11:27 AM (wlDny)

170 They basically grew up on ships so as men they were "married to the sea."
Based on this paradigm we should probably start a middle to high school for astronauts if we ever get serious about space exploration.

Posted by: Media at April 12, 2015 11:27 AM (cbfNE)

171 Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 10:58 AM (zRby/)
---
Sailing from the Philippines to Hong Kong on an LCC during typhoon season is a great way to test your intestinal fortitude. Being "tied to the rack" a la Torquemada and roped to the comms gear was fun fun fun.

Posted by: Pope John XII at April 12, 2015 11:28 AM (UKJFR)

172 "And to think that our ancestors sailed the seven seas in those tiny, fragile wooden ships. I think it's a wonder that any of them survived."

I've always thought that the ability to make seaworthy crafts and face the dangers of the ocean was an important measure of a civilization. But then I grew up on an island so maybe I'm prejudiced.

Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2015 11:29 AM (FvdPb)

173 Whoops, Party Hearty Pope sock off.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 11:29 AM (UKJFR)

174 Yeah, and one of our other presidents, I forget which one, was an ambassador's assistant to France or Russia or some place at age 15.
--
John Quincy Adams.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 11:30 AM (UKJFR)

175 Heh, just realized I had a "Media" sock on.

Posted by: @votermom at April 12, 2015 11:30 AM (cbfNE)

176 I read the two dinosaur stories. The first is a kids story and it's appalling that anyone would pretend it's science fiction. The Wright story was excellent. I used to read Science Fiction back in the day but was turned off by the fantasy stuff. It seems there are some authors worth reading.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 12, 2015 11:31 AM (Lqy/e)

177 Over the Edge of the World, thanks looks like a good read.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at April 12, 2015 11:31 AM (CxEX+)

178 Wow, talk about dirty socks on a thread...

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 11:31 AM (IyYu3)

179 Having 12year olds be part of real life, dangerous occupational training is a form of apprenticeship, I think. Same genetal idea. You don't learn how to be a naval officer by sitting in a classroom, you learn it by being part of the chain of command.

Posted by: @votermom at April 12, 2015 11:33 AM (cbfNE)

180 Greetings:

I'm currently reading "Ch�: A Revolutionary Life" by Jon Lee Anderson.

I'm about half way through but a couple of things in this really really detailed (700 pp) biography of a guy who didn't really live all that long thankfully have struck my fancy.

Back in the '50s, Raul Castro's branch of the family marauding business was responsible for taking 20 or so American hostage near our beloved Guantanamo Bay base. Also, well documented was brother Fidel's ability to conceal his actual "socio-commio" intentions from the media, his fellow Cubanos, and, of course, the government of the USofA. The author quotes Fidel's written intention to go after the USofA as soon as he disposed of the dictator Battista.

Not that any of his is likely to show up in this weekend's kudotastic Obama worship.

Posted by: 11B40 at April 12, 2015 11:33 AM (evgyj)

181 ok, i'll chime in. I was midshipman on a Pac cruise, in a flat bottom Sumter-class LST, a day out of Singapore. Typhoon. Good Lord. half the crew being seasick, we all pulled various duties to cover for 36 hours straight. as helm, I watched us do 35-degree rolls for hours on end. and they ask frogs why we don't like gray monsters....

Posted by: goatexchange at April 12, 2015 11:33 AM (c769w)

182 There are some good SJW fantasy writers, but their books are damned depressing, imo.

Posted by: @votermom at April 12, 2015 11:34 AM (cbfNE)

183 Posted by: JackStraw at April 12, 2015 11:22 AM (g1DWB)

George Washington was appointed an official county surveyor at the age of 17. He didn't live in his parent's basement or count on their health insurance either,

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 11:34 AM (ftVQq)

184 I met an old Chief that served on a destroyer that had three-sixty club patch where the ship rolled all the way over.
---
How the heck did the people inside survive the roll?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 11:35 AM (UKJFR)

185 Yeah, and one of our other presidents, I forget which one, was an ambassador's assistant to France or Russia or some place at age 15.

John Quincy Adams

Posted by: JoeF. at April 12, 2015 11:35 AM (wLlSo)

186 Listened to Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. I can't visualize David Pierce (Niles from Frazier) as the intrepid adventurer Gulliver but his reading was entertaining and it's a fun story.

Listened to Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, read by same. You can't help but be impressed by the years of struggle to make it as a stand-up comic, before he begins doing the arrow-through-the-head gag before thousands of fans. He interweaves the outlines of his life story with his professional growth. It's good, though I don't find him a likeable person.

Read Gates Of Ivory (Ivory #1) by Doris Egan (not on e-book), a fantasy novel where a young woman travels to a planet with her college mates and somehow is left behind. Struggling to live she gets mixed up with sorcerers and various schemes. Well-written and entertaining, plan to continue the trilogy soon.

Read Charles Cooke' s Conservatarian Manifesto, which discusses his form of conservatism. I don't care much for reading political books, all theory and not about successful implementation of conservative ideas, but I did like it. Cooke's a good writer and I agreed with his arguments.

Listened to Tarnsman Of Gor (Gor #1) by John Norman. Begins like Burroughs' John Carter Of Mars with some humor, a young Englishman working as a college teacher in the U.S. is somehow transported to the planet Gor. Here we are introduced to the idea of women being slaves to men. It starts well enough, he goes on a quest and meets a young woman, they fight and so on. It's pretty ridiculous throughout, with talking spiders, he somehow becomes a great warrior as war breaks out. It's OK, apparently the series goes off the rails after a few books, may try another at some point.

I did the Sad Puppy thing and look forward to reading the nominees. GRR Martin scrutinizing the Correia thing and having ignored the political stuff Scalzi has done for years is a joke. It's only political when the Right does it. As Correia points out the Sad Puppy slate is diverse but the MFM went all out calling it racist and sexist, Gamergate all over again.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 12, 2015 11:36 AM (YmfOS)

187 Wasn't Andrew Jackson 13 or 14 when he started fighting Injuns?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet

I think he was 15 or 16 during the Revolutionary War. And fought as a teenager. He was a tough old hombre.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....on a Sunday morning at April 12, 2015 11:36 AM (+1T7c)

188 Borrow a copy of "Red Shirts" and tell me it deserved a Hugo. Read Heinlein's "Friday". The money manager of a group marriage creates misery and then blames the heroine. That part of "Friday" captures the feel of SJW behavior which shows once again why Heinlein's books are so popular.

Posted by: theTruth at April 12, 2015 11:36 AM (PGh+Q)

189 Based on this paradigm we should probably start a middle to high school for astronauts if we ever get serious about space exploration.

I'm been reading some military sci-fi, which I'll write a bit about for next week's thread, where the "space navy" has revived this old tradition, and the youngest of these young boys on each military vessel is nicknamed, by navy tradition, "Will Robinson".

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:37 AM (6CqM5)

190 eah, and one of our other presidents, I forget which
one, was an ambassador's assistant to France or Russia or some place at
age 15.

John Quincy Adams

Posted by: JoeF.

Yes, it probably had a lot to do with his last name being "Adams" in that era.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....on a Sunday morning at April 12, 2015 11:38 AM (+1T7c)

191 189 Orson Scott Card uses this idea also in Ender's Game.

Posted by: @votermom at April 12, 2015 11:38 AM (cbfNE)

192 166 Wasn't Andrew Jackson 13 or 14 when he started fighting Injuns?

Yeah, and one of our other presidents, I forget which one, was an ambassador's assistant to France or Russia or some place at age 15.

And now we have millennials still living at home in their late 20s.

Such progress...
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:25 AM (6CqM5)

When you get sad about the Millennials (as I often do), remember the thousands in uniform. There are still a few fine specimens.

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 11:38 AM (yxw0r)

193 Of course, John Quincy Adam's got those gigs because his father was the president. He was groomed for the job. Sort of like Chelsea Clinton. Not.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 12, 2015 11:38 AM (wLlSo)

194 Since we're on sailing, small boats, large boats, and etc

here is a free book on gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18541

The voyage of the liberdade by Joshua Slocum.

As a commercial sailing captain, he loses his vessel to shipwreck in South America. Builds a small sail boat to get himself and his family back to his home in the US.

Slocum goes on to write another book "Alone around the World", as the first sailor to ever accomplish the feat.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6317

Posted by: Zephyer Springhill at April 12, 2015 11:40 AM (ek1tT)

195 I think I'm gonna go grab my youngens some Donuts. Ya'll have a great day.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 11:40 AM (KbNXw)

196 Millenials kind of went through the "finishing school" paradigm.
Young girls sent to boarding schools to learn to be proper young ladies with all the social mores acceptable to the elites.

Posted by: @votermom at April 12, 2015 11:41 AM (cbfNE)

197 159 OH CABIN BOY!, fetch me grogg and a we bit o hog lard

I'm afraid to ask what the hog lard is for.

It's for frying up some hardtack, you sick bastard.

Posted by: Insomniac at April 12, 2015 11:42 AM (mx5oN)

198 When you get sad about the Millennials (as I often do), remember the thousands in uniform. There are still a few fine specimens.

Thank you, that's good to remember.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:42 AM (6CqM5)

199 I would guess that anyone inside a ship during a 360 would get banged up but not as much as you'd think.

In most spaces the overhead's less than 8', most everything large is bolted down and it takes some time to do a full roll so unless you were in say engineering, you could hang on and adjust.

I would think though that the ship was dead in the water after as I can't imagine the boilers staying structurally sound or stay lit. A lot of stuff would come adrift and break and some people would be in bad places and be injured.

Some of the small destroyers (say a DE) would actually be okay as they were built knowing that they would be tossed around under any other than normal circumstances and the space was even more cramped than in a larger vessel.

Still not an adventure I'd choose to take or try or wish to see happen.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 11:42 AM (zRby/)

200 I think he was 15 or 16 during the Revolutionary War. And fought as a teenager. He was a tough old hombre.

Talking about Vic again?

Posted by: Insomniac at April 12, 2015 11:42 AM (mx5oN)

201 Hey, Alexander the Great conquered the known world.

He died at 32. Half the youts today are still in grad school at that age.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 11:43 AM (0FSuD)

202 It's for frying up some hardtack, you sick bastard.

Whew! You had me scared there for a minute.

Posted by: The Chicken at April 12, 2015 11:43 AM (6CqM5)

203 Airhead alert RED. Fox has Mariel Hemingway on.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 11:43 AM (0FSuD)

204
Are all of Cersei's children a product of incest with her brother?

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 11:44 AM (iQIUe)

205 >>When you get sad about the Millennials (as I often do), remember the thousands in uniform. There are still a few fine specimens.

Every year we get a fresh young crop of them doing OCS in Newport. Plus they have a post graduate course for high school grads who are going off to Annapolis so there are always youngins walking around town in uniform Yes Siring and Yes Maaming people.

Really good kids and certainly gives you hope for the next generation.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 12, 2015 11:46 AM (g1DWB)

206 Yuppie parent, "Yes I want to talk to the First Administrator. No not their Second Under Secretary. I'll wait."

"Gah, techno wait music? They must get with the times and select some appropriately oppressed indigenous groups."

"Oh yes First Administrator. I sent my specially gifted snowflake to your Gweneth Paltrow approved school. *pause* What is my complaint you ask? Why, after four years at your boarding school I find her and I have nothing in common."

Another long pause.

"What do you mean that is how its supposed to be? Let me tell you I want a refund... *gasp* Excuse me. Moon put down the Steuben crystal!" *click*

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 11:48 AM (IyYu3)

207 PLEASE get this AIRHEAD OFF TV

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 11:48 AM (0FSuD)

208
Good looks, money, lots of connections -- I'd take Marial Hemingways life any day even if it meant a bunch of relatives killed themselves.

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 11:53 AM (iQIUe)

209 @208

Oh, I WOULD DO her. But the old rule about fcuking crazy would scare me.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 11:54 AM (0FSuD)

210 Airhead alert RED. Fox has Mariel Hemingway on

Why does this person get to be on TV, and why do they think her opinions are worth listening to?

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:54 AM (6CqM5)

211 No woman should be punished with an infant. And no man should be punished with a p*nis and t*sticles. As gender czar, I hope to fix this situation. #GenderJustice

Posted by: Bruce Jenner at April 12, 2015 11:55 AM (3F6F8)

212 Thanks for the recs, y'all! And Polliwog, count me as a definite interest!

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 12, 2015 11:55 AM (iuQS7)

213 "Tell us, what is the worst piece of Earth software an intelligent extraterrestrial species could come into contact with and why?"

Well, if they came into contact with iTunes, they would conclude that we have already been conquered and enslaved. "Damn it, we're too late" they would say as they headed for the next system.

Posted by: Null at April 12, 2015 11:56 AM (xjpRj)

214 Read Gates Of Ivory (Ivory #1) by Doris Egan (not on e-book), a
fantasy novel where a young woman travels to a planet with her college
mates and somehow is left behind. Struggling to live she gets mixed up
with sorcerers and various schemes. Well-written and entertaining, plan
to continue the trilogy soon.

I loved that series, Ms. Egan is one of the best patter writers in Science Fiction, but I think she stopped writing SF and now writes for television.
It is a pity because I though she was the same level of craft as Bujold.

I wish she would go back to writing really excellent SF, Guilt Edged Ivory and Two-bit heroes were fantastic.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 12, 2015 11:57 AM (t//F+)

215 Based on this paradigm we should probably start a middle to high school for astronauts if we ever get serious about space exploration.
----
Mike Flynn's Firestar series did this very thing. Highly recommended.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 11:58 AM (UKJFR)

216 The actual quote is "let's not bicker and argue over who killed who."

Posted by: Null at April 12, 2015 11:58 AM (xjpRj)

217 Too many are trying to lay claim to the few meager successes allowed. There was a short story where the inventor of (AI) talking books killed his partner when he realized that his partner though he, the partner, was a co-inventor. They let the protagonist out of jail after he was able to infect the talking books with a (AI) virus and TPTB needed him to fix the books. Sorry. Can't remember author or title.

Posted by: theTruth at April 12, 2015 11:59 AM (PGh+Q)

218 I wonder how all those decathletes feel now, knowing they got beat by a pansy?

Posted by: goatexchange at April 12, 2015 12:00 PM (c769w)

219 Why does this person get to be on TV, and why do they think her opinions are worth listening to?
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:54 AM (6CqM5)

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

She's selling a book she wrote.

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 12:00 PM (iQIUe)

220
I feel pretty.....I feel pretty..... I feel pretty, witty, and ghey!

Posted by: Sir Rodham the Inevitable at April 12, 2015 12:00 PM (P330y)

221 Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at April 12, 2015 10:58 AM (zRby/)

Hell, 12' waves in the Atlantic for a small boat are a bitch.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 12, 2015 12:01 PM (Zu3d9)

222 Two-year-old boy falls into cheetah enclosure after his mother dangled him over the edge at zoo - and is then rescued by parents who jumped in after him

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

I guess mommy bimbo didnt hear about the 2 yr old who was ripped apart by wild dogs when his mom dangled him over the enclosure. I dont get it. Everyone knows kids are wiggly.

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 12:01 PM (iQIUe)

223 Why does this person get to be on TV, and why do they think her opinions are worth listening to?

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:54 AM (6CqM5)

She is selling a book, no doubt published by Harper Collins, a Murdoch house.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 12, 2015 12:02 PM (0FSuD)

224 I think he was 15 or 16 during the Revolutionary War. And fought as a teenager. He was a tough old hombre.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....on a Sunday morning at April 12, 2015 11:36 AM (+1T7c)
---
Scots-Irish need little provocation to tussle. Born fightin'! And didn't his own mother send him out to kick Redcoat butt? That there is good parenting.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 12:03 PM (UKJFR)

225 #151

There are these amazing new devices nowadays called printers.

And if I want to pass a book (or a few thousand) on to somebody, I'll burn a disc. Or give it to them on a flash drive if I'm feeling generous.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 12, 2015 12:03 PM (IdCqF)

226 I've been reading The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin. It's a fictionalized account of a real unsolved serial killer case in New Orleans in 1918 - 1919 (featuring Louis Armstrong). It's pretty good but what amused me is one of the characters searches for his long lost mother who is finally located in a town no one ever heard of, Ferguson MO.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at April 12, 2015 12:06 PM (LImiJ)

227 Speaking of Hugos, Books, and Morons...
The Stars Came Back managed to get me a Campbell nomination. It's a strange world I live in.
Sequel and sort-of-prequel should be coming out this summer.

Posted by: Rolf at April 12, 2015 12:06 PM (Boqht)

228
I was joking how everyone in Mia Farrow's family is "dead" to each other. She's dead to me! He's dead to me! Appears to be their favorite line.

I ran across another family who liked to use that phrase: remember the ninja killers in LA? 2 sons hired hit men to kill their parents? The parents had a successful company which made everyone wealthy. The 2 sons were brought in and the dad became jealous and all three ran the company into the ground. Everyone was stealing from the company and lying to banks and creditors. Killing the parents was out of hatred and to collect an ins. policy on mom's life.

One of the defendants opening brief was online - all 750 pages of it. What a sordid story. Sheesh!

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 12:08 PM (iQIUe)

229 ...Good looks, money, lots of connections -- I'd take Marial Hemingways life any day even if it meant a bunch of relatives killed themselves. ...

Looks fade. Connections are a poor substitute for people you enjoy being around. Lots of people would be good with the relatives thing though. :-)

Posted by: theTruth at April 12, 2015 12:09 PM (PGh+Q)

230 Congrats Rolf!

Posted by: @votermom at April 12, 2015 12:11 PM (cbfNE)

231 Holy Grail quote FTW!

Posted by: docweasel at April 12, 2015 12:13 PM (0r/VP)

232 Hmm. Fox News has an ALERT crawl for and a breathless reporter waiting on....

... some celebrity to post a tweet.

Surely, this is a sign of the end of the world as we know it.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 12, 2015 12:14 PM (o78gS)

233 Nude

Posted by: Bruce Jenner at April 12, 2015 12:14 PM (3F6F8)

234
3 "let's not quibble over who killed who"

"Took a bit of digging,
but Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Castle Swampy sequence. Father of
the groom about Lancelot wiping out the bride's family."

Took a bit of digging? Shame on you for not knowing MPHG script by heart! The groom's father said it to the guests about Lancelot after finding out he was a wealthy and influential knight from Camelot.

Posted by: docweasel at April 12, 2015 12:15 PM (0r/VP)

235 Looks fade. Connections are a poor substitute for people you enjoy being around. Lots of people would be good with the relatives thing though. :-)
Posted by: theTruth at April 12, 2015 12:09 PM (PGh+Q)

------------
Looks dont fade if you have bucks. She's 53. Just look a her.

Also, look at the size of those emeralds:

http://goo.gl/fvp8hd

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 12, 2015 12:15 PM (iQIUe)

236 216 The actual quote is "let's not bicker and argue over who killed who."
Posted by: Null at April 12, 2015 11:58 AM (xjpRj)

*********

Do I sense a fellow high-school virgin?

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 12:15 PM (yxw0r)

237 Good, the book thread can return to books.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 12:15 PM (wlDny)

238 Good for you Rolf!

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 12:15 PM (IyYu3)

239 80 79 The first one was Milton. "Complex and holding strong opinions" seems a good way to describe him.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 10:32 AM (GDulk)

Boring is even better.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 10:33 AM (wlDny)

***************

Mrs. Milton found him boring, too.

Posted by: Professor Jennings at Faber College at April 12, 2015 12:16 PM (NqQAS)

240 228

I ran across another family who liked to use that phrase: remember
the ninja killers in LA?

One of the defendants opening brief was online - all 750 pages of it.

Sounds like a potential Hugo winner.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 12, 2015 12:16 PM (o78gS)

241 Lord Nelson was a midshipman by 13. Sailing up near the North Pole

-
There's a story about him leaving the ship on an ice floe and fought a polar bear. Although I got married. Pretty much the same thing.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at April 12, 2015 12:17 PM (LImiJ)

242 Also, blessed Pascha to our orthodox Morons.

My beard skills are limited, so I'm just an evangelical.

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at April 12, 2015 12:18 PM (yxw0r)

243 So Bruce J, the book is called Fifty Shades of Dead?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 12:18 PM (IyYu3)

244 John Quincy Adams was overseas on diplomatic duty before there *were* presidents, during the Revolutionary War and afterwards, when John Adams was minister to France, the Netherlands and then Great Britain. He likewise took his son Charles with him as a secretary during his time as a diplomat, most notably during the Ghent negotiations that eventually ended the War of 1812. Charles likewise took his son Henry overseas with him during the Civil War when he was ambassador to the Court of St. James, as the Brits call it. Henry was much older than his father or grandfather when he did his diplomatic tour, I understand. Honestly, I don't know if Henry Adams ever worked as a diplomat in his own right - I got bored of _The Education of Henry Adams_ long before the end. (Wikipedia says no, just went on to write a history of the United States, emphasis on diplomacy, naturally enough.)

Posted by: Mitch H. at April 12, 2015 12:24 PM (gagqp)

245 George R.R. Martin seems to be in the same position as the character played by Mac Davis in "North Dallas Forty".

Posted by: theTruth at April 12, 2015 12:24 PM (PGh+Q)

246 George R R Martin is a huge Obot.

Posted by: @votermom at April 12, 2015 12:26 PM (cbfNE)

247 The right I would most like to see added to the US Constitution is the one allowing a citizen to thrice strike, with a cane no thicker than an index finger, any fellow citizen ending a declarative sentence with a question mark for no other reason than the phrase, when spoken or imagined by the offending party, ends with a rise, however slight, in inflection.

Posted by: jwpaine at April 12, 2015 12:28 PM (i0pY0)

248 Rights:

1. The right to the fruits of your own labor
2. The right to be held accountable for only your own actions -not the actions of a perceived group's history
3. The right to live with minimal interference from the government.
4. The right to be unpopular
5. The right to not participate in activities that offend your religion and ethics

Posted by: Jade Sea at April 12, 2015 12:35 PM (lbIHb)

249 ...Looks dont fade if you have bucks. She's 53. Just look a her. ...

You think she looks that good in person? I remember envying Johnny Carson. Now they say he was a troubled not-very-nice person. Remember Jessica Savitch? She came across marvelous on TV. It's all make believe and better from afar.

Posted by: theTruth at April 12, 2015 12:36 PM (PGh+Q)

250 Is jwpaine after me with a cane?

Posted by: theTruth at April 12, 2015 12:38 PM (PGh+Q)

251 @249 Imagine being David Letterman and knowing you are a complete fraud who has been phoning it in for more than a decade...

Posted by: doug at April 12, 2015 12:41 PM (DTQXN)

252 Why does this person get to be on TV, and why do they think her opinions are worth listening to?
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 12, 2015 11:54 AM (6CqM5)

Did you see Star 80?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 12:41 PM (KbNXw)

253 Good do usually looks fade, but if you have the "good looks" genes--and take care of yourself--they never do. Met an old Polish lady once, at least 80, with high cheekbones, a taut chin and crystal-clear blue eyes. She was gorgeous--for an 80 year old, of course, but the description fit. I have a friend who is 53 who eats whatever she wants, smokes like a chimney and has had 3 kids, and she is still beautiful--and has not had one iota of work done. I warn her constantly to start taking care of herself, but she is as stubborn as a mule. But there you go.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 12, 2015 12:54 PM (ZQMXl)

254 One last note on the Hugo/WorldCon Supporting membership. They currently plan (as they have the last five years) to have a voter package available to all members.

E-Book versions of the nominees will be sent out for you to read, so that forty bucks can get you a hundred bucks or more worth of novels (the Campbell nominees frequently include novel length works).

On the other hand, last year Orbit books was the publisher of three of the Best Novel nominees and only included a sample of each book.

On the gripping hand, The Wheel of Time was nominated as a complete series and the publisher included all FOURTEEN novels. 4.5 million words...

Posted by: Captain Comic at April 12, 2015 12:58 PM (edEwS)

255 The right I would most like to see added to the US Constitution is the one allowing a citizen to thrice strike, with a cane no thicker than an index finger, any fellow citizen ending a declarative sentence with a question mark for no other reason than the phrase, when spoken or imagined by the offending party, ends with a rise, however slight, in inflection.

Posted by: jwpaine at April 12, 2015 12:28 PM (i0pY0)
----
Marry me.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 01:14 PM (UKJFR)

256 Oh, something I failed to mention. My first book Amy Lynn, received an Honorable mention for book of the year from the conservative libertarian fiction alliance. That was cool.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at April 12, 2015 01:21 PM (KbNXw)

257 Marry me.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 01:14 PM (UKJFR)

Sure. Just let me run it past my wife first (since I tend to speak ex cathedra about nearly everything, she'll probably offer a dowery).

Posted by: jwpaine at April 12, 2015 01:26 PM (i0pY0)

258 Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 12, 2015 01:14 PM (UKJFR)

Wouldn't you want to add a "saber" sub-clause in there somewhere!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 12, 2015 01:33 PM (ftVQq)

259 37
A PROMISE OF BLOOD, PowderMages over throw the King who bankrupt the
country and will sign a treaty to get more money from thier enemy
country but will decimate the military. It has a French revolutionary
feel.

Patrick from Ohio- "PowderMages" sounded interesting. Hmmm, went and looked up the book. Have to add that to my to read list. Thanks!

Posted by: Charlotte at April 12, 2015 01:35 PM (VRwlD)

260 227
Congrats and looking forward to the new books.

Posted by: Tuna at April 12, 2015 01:38 PM (JSovD)

261 204
Yes.

Posted by: Tuna at April 12, 2015 01:43 PM (JSovD)

262 Dangerous concept - a romance anthology written by the Horde.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 01:45 PM (IyYu3)

263 Thanks for the reading recommendation OM; I needed some light amusement, and there are four Kindly editions of Marc Schweizer's Liturgical Mysteries on my preferred e-reader (an HP7 tablet) right now lol. Cheers!

Posted by: davisbr at April 12, 2015 01:50 PM (A2fj2)

264 Posted by: Rolf at April 12, 2015 12:06 PM (Boqht)

Congratulations. Good to hear about the sequel too. I spent so much time laughing while reading that Eldest Kidlet got her own copy so she could see what was so funny.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2015 02:03 PM (GDulk)

265 264 - Glad to see someone got my humor; not everyone does. Hope the sequel has a few more passages you like. I know it has at least a couple of very good lines, but also some darker moments than the first one.
260 - thanks, and we both want to see them out :-)
254 - as far as I know, the packet will include the entire 165k words of The Stars Came Back, too.
238, 230 - Thanks!

Posted by: Rolf at April 12, 2015 02:23 PM (Boqht)

266 Well I have finished Dies The Fire. And before moving on to the second in each of those S M Stirling series I will hit "The Coming Economic Armageddon" by Dr. David Jeremiah. My youngest brother recommended this.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 03:05 PM (wlDny)

267 Go to your sci-fi/fantasy section at BN and what will you see? Mostly female writers with females on the cover. Oh no, there isn't any leftist sci-fi/fantasy writers at all? There is hardly a female writer of sci-fi/fantasy that I like. They don't understand the genres, they don't know how to cultivate the stories. Instead they are nothing but romanticesque tension driven stories of wants and desires. In effect, they are crap.

Posted by: Methadras at April 12, 2015 03:24 PM (xEqy5)

268 267 Posted by: Methadras at April 12, 2015 03:24 PM (xEqy5)

Most female SF (at least carried as SF) are bodice rippers with fangs. This is because roughly 80% of all books sold go to females. Publishers push this crap because money talks.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 03:28 PM (wlDny)

269 268 - Cart, meet horse.
I buy very little modern sci-fi because it's targeted at a female / liberal / emotion-driven audience; the ideas are shallow, the characters warped, the plot thin. It's all about "style" and feelings.

Bollix on that.

I suspect that many men/boys are the same. If the publishers start producing things that men WANT to read, then they will show up, in droves (guys, meet Castalia House). If they continue to pander to the style/emotion-is-all set, then will become increasingly irrelevant. Because, at the end of the day, the universe doesn't give the smallest darn about any human's feelings.

Posted by: Rolf at April 12, 2015 04:34 PM (Boqht)

270 269 I suspect that many men/boys are the same. If the
publishers start producing things that men WANT to read, then they will
show up, in droves (guys, meet Castalia House). If they continue to
pander to the style/emotion-is-all set, then will become increasingly
irrelevant. Because, at the end of the day, the universe doesn't give
the smallest darn about any human's feelings.

Posted by: Rolf at April 12, 2015 04:34 PM (Boqht)

As I recommended to someone above, give John Ringo a try.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 04:39 PM (wlDny)

271 262
That that sounds like a fun project.

Posted by: Tuna at April 12, 2015 04:56 PM (JSovD)

272 And I just saw this on the Baen web-site. A Writers Boot Camp. And they are talking about bringing not only your laptop but your own weapons.

http://www.baen.com/writersbootcamp.asp

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 12, 2015 05:05 PM (IyYu3)

273 42
John Ringo made a great best-selling series based on how maple syrup
saved the Earth. Well, the later books are a little more about free
market vs. the Galaxy, but it starts with one man using his knowledge of
maple syrup to save his planet.

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1439133328/1439133328.htm?blurb

Posted by: doug at April 12, 2015 04:48 PM (3AvPP)

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 12, 2015 05:18 PM (wlDny)

274 i more or less stopped reading sci-fi in recent years for many of the same reasons the Sad Puppies talk about.

is it wrong for me to want to read sci-fi stories about rock-ribbed men and buxom, blonde-haired ladies flying around in spaceships being beat up and beating up but ultimately winning against hive-minded aliens?

i don't think so, but all I get now is dystopian, evil conservatives being bested by high-minded, noble collectivist morons and they don't even fly around in spaceships and hardly an alien to be found!

Posted by: Shoey at April 12, 2015 06:03 PM (vA94g)

275 Been too busy writing to do much reading or gaming. I posted Chapter 17 of my Skyrim fanfic Yssha's Tale to fanfic.net today, which keeps me ten chapters ahead just in case.

It's not super, but if you have a tolerance for Skyrim fanfic, it's there and free.

Posted by: Empire1 at April 12, 2015 06:13 PM (9wdbN)

276 well, there are aliens but they are either simplistic monsters to be mindlessly slaughtered or nearly as simple misunderstood bad boys (but our love will change them!)

how about some interesting aliens with a culture and history and philosophy... who can either join us in our fight to be unique individuals or who we must destroy because they ain't got their minds right?

Posted by: Shoey at April 12, 2015 06:25 PM (vA94g)

277 and spaceships and big-ass ray guns and teleporters and vulcan freakin' melds?

... and did i mention spaceships?

Posted by: Shoey at April 12, 2015 06:29 PM (vA94g)

278 yep, I liked the original Star Trek, and Spaceship Troopers!

I love that shit, and I want more...

Posted by: Shoey at April 12, 2015 06:40 PM (vA94g)

279 oops, Starship Troopers

Posted by: white, anglo-centric, male at April 12, 2015 07:20 PM (vA94g)

280 I very much enjoy the book entries each week, and have had some success and enjoyment buying the recommended books! Thanks!

Posted by: Wry Mouth at April 13, 2015 02:47 AM (GMFsH)

281 I always check the book thread in the morning on the next day for late additions. None here, but, Starship Troopers was an OK movie but it truly blew chunks if you were looking at how close to the book it was. The Heinlein estate should sue.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 13, 2015 05:33 AM (wlDny)

282 yes, the book was much, much better, I agree.

Posted by: Shoey at April 13, 2015 02:14 PM (vA94g)

283 I've been listening to H. Beam Piper audiobooks, I read them as a kid, but my eyes aren't so good anymore so I listen to a lot of audiobooks and audio drama podcasts.

Posted by: Shoey at April 13, 2015 02:20 PM (vA94g)

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