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Sunday Morning Book Thread 01-13-2019
Royal Portugese Cabinet of Reading, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, and everybody who's holding your beer. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, and publishing by escaped oafs who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which look like about what you'd get if you had a zoot suit designed by gay rastafarian pastry chefs.
Pic Note Most impressive:
The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading opened its doors in 1887. The building in Neo-Manueline style is a combination of Gothic-Renaissance style. The famed Reading Room extends across three stories with black and white marble floor, rows and rows of bookcases, lavish arches and an iron skylight. When it opened, this gorgeously ornate room housed 350,000 volumes becoming the largest collection of Portuguese works outside of Portugal. The collection included rare manuscripts, unique works of literature as well as painting and other cultural pieces. Over the years the collection has increased with more books lining the library’s bookshelves. According to Time magazine, this is the fourth most beautiful library in the world and a mandatory visit for booklovers in the area.You need to click on it to really see how magnificent it is.
It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®
347 Word of the day: "Agnotology" (study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt).Usage: Universities could save themselves a lot of money if they took all of the "Studies" departments (Women, Gay, Gender, Intersectional, etc.) and combined them all into one big Department of Agnotology.
Posted by: xnycpeasant at January 04, 2019 11:57 AM (koNhm)
In the Public Domain Back in 1998, DisneyCorp succeeded in getting the copyright laws changed so that "corporate creations" (i.e. Mickey Mouse) can be restricted for 120(!) years. Personally, I think this is ridiculously unreasonable, but I'm not a corporate lawyer working for the Mouse, so what do I know? However, there was an amendment to the act so that works published between 1923 and 1977 can enter the public domain 95 years after their creation. This means that 2019 will be a significant year:
Basically, 2019 marks the first time a huge quantity of books published in 1923—including works by Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie, and Robert Frost—have become legally downloadable since digital books became a thing. It’s a big deal—the Internet Archive had a party in San Francisco to celebrate. Next year, works from 1924 will enter the public domain, and so-on.There's more information at the linked article, including a sample of book titles that will enter the public domain, and sites where they can (presumably) be downloaded: Readprint.com
The Literature Network (mostly major authors)
Librivox (audio books)
Authorama Happy downloading.
Adaptations Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women has been filmed a number of times, and the quality varies. But Mrs. Muse and I have just finished watching a 3-part BBC adaptation, originally aired in 2017, that we think is the best one. I was skeptical at first because (a) BBC and (b) 2017 so we thought it was going to be larded up with all sorts of PC/diversity/feminist/intersectional crap. To our surprise, it wasn't. Aunt March wasn't a lesbian, Jo wasn't trying to smash the patriarchy, and Professor Bhaer wasn't a bi-curious soy boy. and I don't know how faithful it was to the book, because I haven't read it, but they played it as a straight period piece. Also, the dialog was really good. Meaning, it actually sounded like I imagine 19th century speech would sound, and I didn't hear any modern anachronisms. All in all, it was a joy to watch. It's currently on Amazon Prime, but you have to pay extra for it. I was able to acquire it by other ( *cough*bittorrent*cough* ) means. I discovered that there is a new, 7-part adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel, Vanity Fair. We're about half way through it, and it also appears that it's being played straight. It's available on Amazon Prime, but you don't have to pay extra for it. Mrs. Muse and I recommend both.
Moron Recommendations
20 'Morning, Morons. This week I finally finished Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Highly recommended and eminently readable. I was rotating with other things that were due ahead of it or else I would've finished it faster.I think many of us are at an age where providing good care for aging parents is becoming more and more of a concern. And if not, you will be, all too soon. So this book looks like it might be helpful. Other than that, there's not much I can add to SandyCheeks' review. Being Mortal is available on Kindle. Also hardcover and paperback.
Having had a father who passed away within the last 18 months (with his last few days in hospice) and a mother who broke her second hip (along with a shoulder in the summer, a wrist a few years back, and an incident with a wringer washer!) I noticed this book in my Book Bub selections.
Gawande is a surgeon who has learned about aging, nursing homes, assisted living, brilliant adaptations of the former, and finally, hospice care, and the differences among them. You'd be surprised. Many of the positive changes in care facilities were brought to fruition by the children of those requiring them.
It's hard to say enough about this book, especially the fact that it was written by the humble son of a doctor who had a tumor in his spinal column that was rendering him quadriplegic. The true definition of hospice was gleaned by the doctor-author as was the fact that ALL OF US, at any age or condition, need to have some serious conversations while we still can.
Posted by: SandyCheeks at January 06, 2019 09:10 AM (tGSHk)
___________
22 Read 'No Highway' by Nevil Shute. A good book about a scientist at Britain's Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough who is convinced a new airliner's tail will fall off in flight from metal fatigue. Considered a crackpot, or a boffin, he has a difficult time convincing the establishment he's correct. The movie 'No Highway in the Sky' with Jimmy Stewart is a faithful adaptation of the book...I've never read anything by Nevil Shute. My only experience with him is the film adaptation of On the Beach, which was one of the most thoroughly depressing movies I have ever seen. But he's written a metric crap ton of books, lots available on Kindle, some suprisingly inexpensive, and some less so. Unfortunately, No Highway is in the latter category, but the plot does sound interesting:
Published in 1948 some of his inspiration for it might have been his time spent at Vickers Ltd.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 06, 2019 09:11 AM (5jAa5)
Theodore Honey is a shy, inconspicuous engineer whose eccentric interests are frowned upon in aviation circles. When a passenger plane crashes in Newfoundland under unexplained circumstances, Honey is determined to prove his unorthodox theory about what went wrong to his superiors, before more lives are lost. But while flying to the crash scene to investigate, Honey discovers to his horror that he is on board one of the defective planes and that he and his fellow passengers, including a friendly young stewardess and an aging movie actress, are in imminent peril.Who knew someone could write a novel about an engineer solving engineering problems? ___________
48 I mentioned it in last week's book thread; sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I can't recommend highly enough "Lost in Shangri-La". It's a true story about a plane crash in Dutch New Guinea towards the end of WWII. The surviving victims end up encountering a stone-age tribe of natives that have had (essentially) zero contact with outsiders. (The plane was overflying the valley where these natives lived, to get a glimpse of them.) The ensuing rescue is amazing.Lost in Shangri-La (Enhanced Edition): A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II is available on Kindle for only $7.99. ___________
Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at January 06, 2019 09:36 AM (ty7RM)
Books By Morons The Secret Cold War Series, by moron author (and Army Security Agency veteran) R.G. Ainslee, continues with The Caspian Intercept, a fast-paced adventure filled with Cold War intrigue in Revolutionary Iran.
1979: Iran in chaos. When an Iranian technician reveals the existence of an unknown intercept tape, Amadeo Ruiz and Jack Richards of the Raven-One Team are sent back to Tehran. But things are about to get worse, radicals take over the American embassy. A powerful enemy reemerges and seeks to stop the team in their tracks. Raven-One team operative Ruiz is forced to navigate through the chaos and barely escapes capture. Follow him as he flees through northern Iran with an enigmatic Italian woman. Who does she really work for? The Caspian Intercept combines historical events, intrigue, and high adventure during the first days of the embassy hostage crisis.The Caspian Intercept: A Raven-One Team Thriller is now available exclusively on Amazon.com in both Kindle and paperback editions. The book trailer may be viewed at YouTube.com. More information may be found at rgainslee.com.
___________
If you like, you can follow me on Twitter, where I make the occasional snarky comment. ___________ Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde. ___________ So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, insults, threats, ugly pants pics and moron library submissions 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.
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Dicks out for the Book Thread!
Posted by: Philip K. at January 13, 2019 08:57 AM (kQs4Y)
2
*preens*
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at January 13, 2019 08:57 AM (kQs4Y)
3
Ha! A threesome!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at January 13, 2019 08:57 AM (kQs4Y)
4
Tolle Lege
Will be done reading Moby Dick today
Will be done reading Moby Dick today
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 08:58 AM (/rm4P)
5
That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse.
Posted by: zombie Mark Twain at January 13, 2019 08:59 AM (UdKB7)
6
I was
forced to move on to the 1632 series yesterday when I completed the
book I was working on and the next in the series would have required
a download while my internet service was out. I would sure like to
know why Amazon retracts your download of a book if you have not
opened it for a while. I have been caught on this crap before when I
went down to GA to look after uncle in brother's camp house at a lake
which had no internet service. When you pay for and download a book
from Amazon it should be in your memory forever.
I was
forced to move on to the 1632 series yesterday when I completed the
book I was working on and the next in the series would have required
a download while my internet service was out. I would sure like to
know why Amazon retracts your download of a book if you have not
opened it for a while. I have been caught on this crap before when I
went down to GA to look after uncle in brother's camp house at a lake
which had no internet service. When you pay for and download a book
from Amazon it should be in your memory forever.
Posted by: Vic at January 13, 2019 09:01 AM (mpXpK)
7
Someone last week inspired me to dust off an old copy of “The Histories” by Herodotus.
I’m enjoying my very casual reading. It’s in a chatty informal style and there are many amusing anecdotes. One such: King Alyattes carried on his father’s war against the Milesians. “His custom each year was to invade Milesian territory when the crops were ripe, marching in to the tune of pipes, harps, and treble and tenor oboes. On arrival he never destroyed or burned the houses in the country, but left them unmolested. He would merely destroy the trees and crops, and then retire…in order that the Milesians, having somewhere to live, might continue to work the land and sow their seed, with the result that he himself would have something to plunder each time he invaded their country.” War as theatre! “Okay then folks, same time next year? Great!”
I don’t think Herodotus is a liar or a fabulist, he just jots down what people tell him – I report, you decide, he says. In one bit he scoffs at the idea that the Nile floods because of melting snow from two mountains in the far south – snow, in the hottest part of the world?! So why don’t birds migrate from this cold, snowy area? And why are the people there black? But hey, that’s what the guy told me. And he distinguishes between hearsay and things he sees with his own eyes. (But yes, the snowmelt from the Ethiopian Mountains does cause the Blue Nile to flood.)
The picture on the cover of my book is of an old Greek philosopher, but Herodotus died before he reached sixty, and these travels sound like something only a younger man could tolerate, so now I’m picturing him as Jason Momoa in a loincloth. Hey, prove me wrong!
Here is a contemporary rendering of what Herodotus may have looked like:
https://tinyurl.com/ybkjb5jc
I’m enjoying my very casual reading. It’s in a chatty informal style and there are many amusing anecdotes. One such: King Alyattes carried on his father’s war against the Milesians. “His custom each year was to invade Milesian territory when the crops were ripe, marching in to the tune of pipes, harps, and treble and tenor oboes. On arrival he never destroyed or burned the houses in the country, but left them unmolested. He would merely destroy the trees and crops, and then retire…in order that the Milesians, having somewhere to live, might continue to work the land and sow their seed, with the result that he himself would have something to plunder each time he invaded their country.” War as theatre! “Okay then folks, same time next year? Great!”
I don’t think Herodotus is a liar or a fabulist, he just jots down what people tell him – I report, you decide, he says. In one bit he scoffs at the idea that the Nile floods because of melting snow from two mountains in the far south – snow, in the hottest part of the world?! So why don’t birds migrate from this cold, snowy area? And why are the people there black? But hey, that’s what the guy told me. And he distinguishes between hearsay and things he sees with his own eyes. (But yes, the snowmelt from the Ethiopian Mountains does cause the Blue Nile to flood.)
The picture on the cover of my book is of an old Greek philosopher, but Herodotus died before he reached sixty, and these travels sound like something only a younger man could tolerate, so now I’m picturing him as Jason Momoa in a loincloth. Hey, prove me wrong!
Here is a contemporary rendering of what Herodotus may have looked like:
https://tinyurl.com/ybkjb5jc
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:02 AM (kQs4Y)
8
Wow. What a cool looking library.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 13, 2019 09:03 AM (5jAa5)
9
Read two enjoyable books this past week.
'Passage of Arms' by Eric Ambler. Published in 1959, reviews back then describe him as 'the greatest spy novelist of all time.' Um, okay. I've never read anything by him before and this wasn't what I'd call a spy novel. An Indian (dot not feather) who works on a Malayan plantation finds an abandoned weapons cache in the jungle. A lot of interesting characters get involved with it.
'The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare' by Lilian Jackson Braun. This is the seventh of her 'The Cat Who...' mysteries. A former crime reporter with his two Siamese cats solve crimes. But the cats don't seem to do much. The female wanders around acting like a queen (normal behavior) and the male knocks books (Shakespeare) off book shelves and meows a lot (normal for a Siamese). I haven't read any of the earlier books, but I might.
Some head music:
Dire Straits - Six Blade Knife
https://youtu.be/JHIIivQnIsU
Neu! - Hallogallo
https://youtu.be/6zUHqH4KRdg
Redlight King - Old Man
https://youtu.be/lGt54Ozo8LQ
'Passage of Arms' by Eric Ambler. Published in 1959, reviews back then describe him as 'the greatest spy novelist of all time.' Um, okay. I've never read anything by him before and this wasn't what I'd call a spy novel. An Indian (dot not feather) who works on a Malayan plantation finds an abandoned weapons cache in the jungle. A lot of interesting characters get involved with it.
'The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare' by Lilian Jackson Braun. This is the seventh of her 'The Cat Who...' mysteries. A former crime reporter with his two Siamese cats solve crimes. But the cats don't seem to do much. The female wanders around acting like a queen (normal behavior) and the male knocks books (Shakespeare) off book shelves and meows a lot (normal for a Siamese). I haven't read any of the earlier books, but I might.
Some head music:
Dire Straits - Six Blade Knife
https://youtu.be/JHIIivQnIsU
Neu! - Hallogallo
https://youtu.be/6zUHqH4KRdg
Redlight King - Old Man
https://youtu.be/lGt54Ozo8LQ
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 13, 2019 09:04 AM (5jAa5)
10
Must politely disagree about the pant(aloon)s, OM. Them Zoot Suits were stylin'!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:04 AM (kQs4Y)
11
Unfortunately, No Highway is in the latter category, but the plot does sound interesting:
Huh, I didn't know it was a book. I've seen the movie "No Highway in the Sky" with Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.
Huh, I didn't know it was a book. I've seen the movie "No Highway in the Sky" with Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.
Posted by: no good deed at January 13, 2019 09:05 AM (uTY3H)
Posted by: naturalfake at January 13, 2019 09:05 AM (CRRq9)
13
I'm so lame, I have read nothing but the blog this week... just not interested in reading anything right now...
Posted by: lin-duh at January 13, 2019 09:05 AM (kufk0)
14
Guten Booken Horden!
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 09:06 AM (BJlbN)
15
Greetings!
With the completion of the Tolkien books, I'm back to Bruce Catton's The Coming Fury.
I'd long puzzled over what would be THE ISSUE that could split up the nation and I'm wondering if unlimited immigration is it. Both sides are using moral language and just as limiting slavery posed an existential threat to the Old South, so also does getting a grip on the border threaten to drain away Democrat political power.
It will be interesting to see how long the shutdown goes on. Monday is my first payless payday, so now that the shutdown is something other than paid vacation, we may see movement.
The other interesting parallel of course was the Democrats in 1860 refused to accept the election of a president they didn't like. So in that respect, we're doing better than they did. I wonder if re-election will be some sort of breaking point.
Anyhow, not wanting to bring up contemporary politics in the book thread, just noting curious historical parallels in a book I'm reading. I still think that operationally things will look closer to the Spanish Civil War that the American one.
With the completion of the Tolkien books, I'm back to Bruce Catton's The Coming Fury.
I'd long puzzled over what would be THE ISSUE that could split up the nation and I'm wondering if unlimited immigration is it. Both sides are using moral language and just as limiting slavery posed an existential threat to the Old South, so also does getting a grip on the border threaten to drain away Democrat political power.
It will be interesting to see how long the shutdown goes on. Monday is my first payless payday, so now that the shutdown is something other than paid vacation, we may see movement.
The other interesting parallel of course was the Democrats in 1860 refused to accept the election of a president they didn't like. So in that respect, we're doing better than they did. I wonder if re-election will be some sort of breaking point.
Anyhow, not wanting to bring up contemporary politics in the book thread, just noting curious historical parallels in a book I'm reading. I still think that operationally things will look closer to the Spanish Civil War that the American one.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:06 AM (cfSRQ)
16
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History (King of Kings) on the Persian empire draws heavily on Herodotus
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History (King of Kings) on the Persian empire draws heavily on Herodotus
Posted by: AltonJackson at January 13, 2019 09:07 AM (KCxzN)
17
Morning Readers!
lin-duh - it's snowing here so I may be late for breakfast. Please go ahead and start without me.
lin-duh - it's snowing here so I may be late for breakfast. Please go ahead and start without me.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:07 AM (MVjcR)
18
I also read 'U-Boats Offshore' by Edwin P. Hoyt. Published in 1978 it's the story of Operation Paukenschlag (Roll of the Drums), or Drumbeat, the German U-boat offensive against shipping off the U.S. East Coast and in the Carribean from Jan 1942- July 1942.
Hoyt writes in the Preface; As Winston Churchill warned from the beginning, American unpreparedness and incompetence in dealing with the U-boats threatened the entire allied war effort more than the Japanese destruction of the American battle fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Churchill was possibly correct, but it took time to build, crew, and equip the ships and planes needed to combat the U-boats, to figure out what worked and didn't, and to overcome the childish inner and inter-service rivalries. But not before hundreds of ships were sunk.
On N. Carolina's Outer Banks is the tiny village of Ocracoke. In their cemetery are four graves of Royal Navy sailors from the HMT Bedfordshire, one of 24 trawlers converted to anti-submarine warfare duty sent to assist the U.S. Sunk on May 11, 1942 by U-558 all 37 crewmen were killed. Every May British, Canadian, and American military reps gather there to honor those that died. Considered British soil there's supposed to be a plaque there that has part of the poem 'The Soldier' by British poet Rupert Brooke (he died during WW1):
If I should die think only this of me
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England.
Hoyt writes in the Preface; As Winston Churchill warned from the beginning, American unpreparedness and incompetence in dealing with the U-boats threatened the entire allied war effort more than the Japanese destruction of the American battle fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Churchill was possibly correct, but it took time to build, crew, and equip the ships and planes needed to combat the U-boats, to figure out what worked and didn't, and to overcome the childish inner and inter-service rivalries. But not before hundreds of ships were sunk.
On N. Carolina's Outer Banks is the tiny village of Ocracoke. In their cemetery are four graves of Royal Navy sailors from the HMT Bedfordshire, one of 24 trawlers converted to anti-submarine warfare duty sent to assist the U.S. Sunk on May 11, 1942 by U-558 all 37 crewmen were killed. Every May British, Canadian, and American military reps gather there to honor those that died. Considered British soil there's supposed to be a plaque there that has part of the poem 'The Soldier' by British poet Rupert Brooke (he died during WW1):
If I should die think only this of me
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 13, 2019 09:07 AM (5jAa5)
19
It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®
347 Word of the day: "Agnotology" (study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt).
Posted by: xnycpeasant at January 04, 2019 11:57 AM (koNhm)
Usage: Universities could save themselves a lot of money if they took all of the "Studies" departments (Women, Gay, Gender, Intersectional, etc.) and combined them all into one big Department of Agnotology.
Is there any word more suited to our times? Today, you could define it, ostensively, as "current events."
347 Word of the day: "Agnotology" (study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt).
Posted by: xnycpeasant at January 04, 2019 11:57 AM (koNhm)
Usage: Universities could save themselves a lot of money if they took all of the "Studies" departments (Women, Gay, Gender, Intersectional, etc.) and combined them all into one big Department of Agnotology.
Is there any word more suited to our times? Today, you could define it, ostensively, as "current events."
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:07 AM (VaN/j)
20
hiya
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:07 AM (vNLNV)
21
it's snowing here so I may be late for breakfast. Please go ahead and start without me.
Posted by: Weasel
-----
It's more like brunch on Sundays since we don't really eat until we get home from church around 12:30-45ish
Posted by: Weasel
-----
It's more like brunch on Sundays since we don't really eat until we get home from church around 12:30-45ish
Posted by: lin-duh at January 13, 2019 09:09 AM (kufk0)
22
I have a couple of Lizzie Warren books on order for ... science.
Posted by: Marooned at January 13, 2019 09:09 AM (8hRlF)
23
Good books.
"The Caspian Intercept" is book 4 in a series.
I have read book 1 "The Latakia Intercept" and enjoyed it. Kept wondering if it was true.
All four books hit my price point. Thanks to the author and thanks to Oregon Muse.
"The Caspian Intercept" is book 4 in a series.
I have read book 1 "The Latakia Intercept" and enjoyed it. Kept wondering if it was true.
All four books hit my price point. Thanks to the author and thanks to Oregon Muse.
Posted by: Skandia Recluse at January 13, 2019 09:09 AM (kJWoP)
24
The book, "No Highway" was written about two years before the Comet airliners began to crash. The cause was predicted by Shute; metal fatigue. In 1938, he had written anovel about what it would be like to be subjected to aerial bombing and two years later, the Blitz began. I was in college when "On the Beach" was published and it scared Mexico so badly, I almost dropped out of college. He had written two novels that had correctly predicted the future.
I did not drop out but I am unable to read the novel again. He has become my favorite writer and he has a world wide fan group almost 60 years after his death,.
I did not drop out but I am unable to read the novel again. He has become my favorite writer and he has a world wide fan group almost 60 years after his death,.
Posted by: Mike K at January 13, 2019 09:09 AM (s170V)
25
Weasel,
You did miss some awesome Philly Cheesesteaks last night though...
You did miss some awesome Philly Cheesesteaks last night though...
Posted by: lin-duh at January 13, 2019 09:09 AM (kufk0)
26
Autocorrect turned "me" into Mexico.
Posted by: Mike K at January 13, 2019 09:10 AM (s170V)
27
well, off to walk then church, see y'all laters!
Posted by: lin-duh at January 13, 2019 09:11 AM (kufk0)
28
Hey! I actually have something book related to say!!
When I bought my tractor (used) it didn't have a manual with it. John Deere offers an online version for free, but for some things, like maintenance stuff, I want a printed book. So I bit the bullet and ordered a printed copy. Eighty-five smackeroos!!
Annnnnd that's my on topic comment.
The End.
When I bought my tractor (used) it didn't have a manual with it. John Deere offers an online version for free, but for some things, like maintenance stuff, I want a printed book. So I bit the bullet and ordered a printed copy. Eighty-five smackeroos!!
Annnnnd that's my on topic comment.
The End.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:11 AM (MVjcR)
29
"Autocorrect turned "me" into Mexico."
-Posted by: Mike K at January 13, 2019 09:10 AM (s170V)
It turned me into a newt.
-Posted by: Mike K at January 13, 2019 09:10 AM (s170V)
It turned me into a newt.
Posted by: Slapweasel at January 13, 2019 09:12 AM (Ckg4U)
30
2017 so we thought it was going to be larded up with all sorts of PC/diversity/feminist/intersectional
Despite the lack of body-positivity in that statement, and the fact that, with only one or two exceptions, the commentators on this blog are varying, and generally significant, degrees of deplorable, and likely mired in irredeemable BadThought, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Healthy New Year, and remind you that communism and socialism are superior economic systems to capitalism, because capitalism promotes both the oppression of fat people and the tyranny of healthy eating.
Despite the lack of body-positivity in that statement, and the fact that, with only one or two exceptions, the commentators on this blog are varying, and generally significant, degrees of deplorable, and likely mired in irredeemable BadThought, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Healthy New Year, and remind you that communism and socialism are superior economic systems to capitalism, because capitalism promotes both the oppression of fat people and the tyranny of healthy eating.
Posted by: Cora Segal at January 13, 2019 09:12 AM (DMUuz)
31
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. Hope everyone had a great week of reading.
Posted by: JTB at January 13, 2019 09:12 AM (bmdz3)
32
25 Weasel,
You did miss some awesome Philly Cheesesteaks last night though...
Posted by: lin-duh at January 13, 2019 09:09 AM (kufk0)
----
Awwww, man!!! That sounds tasty! WeaselWoman made spaghetti which was good. WeaselDog is funny to watch when she eats a spaghetti noodle.
You did miss some awesome Philly Cheesesteaks last night though...
Posted by: lin-duh at January 13, 2019 09:09 AM (kufk0)
----
Awwww, man!!! That sounds tasty! WeaselWoman made spaghetti which was good. WeaselDog is funny to watch when she eats a spaghetti noodle.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:13 AM (MVjcR)
33
Should fashion designers who are transitioning to be gay Rastafarian pastry chefs be offended? Let's survey the average man on the street here in Nome Alaska for their informed opinion...
Should fashion designers who are transitioning to be gay Rastafarian pastry chefs be offended? Let's survey the average man on the street here in Nome Alaska for their informed opinion...
Posted by: In Vino Veritits at January 13, 2019 09:14 AM (iLoHX)
34
Beautiful library. Have never been to Rio but I wouldn't have imagined it to house such a place.
Posted by: Huck Follywood, having a glass of whine at January 13, 2019 09:14 AM (Z216Q)
35
18
I also read 'U-Boats Offshore' by Edwin P. Hoyt. Published in 1978 it's
the story of Operation Paukenschlag (Roll of the Drums), or Drumbeat,
the German U-boat offensive against shipping off the U.S. East Coast and
in the Carribean from Jan 1942- July 1942.
---
One of my colleagues alerted me to a youtube by a guy called "lindybeige" about how the British used wargaming to defeat the u-boats. I think it's called "how wargamers actually won a war."
The wargaming area was used to train but also test tactics. They took a big empty room and put a screen around the outside. This was where the ship captains would sit and they had peepholes covered with colored gauze to provide limited intelligence to the players.
The way it worked was they had little model boats and used white chalk to trace their paths. The U-boat models were brown and had brown chalk to mark where they had been. The gauze actually prevented the captains from seeing the brown-colors, so the ship captains only knew where the surface combatants were, not the U-boats.
Pretty cool setup.
I also read 'U-Boats Offshore' by Edwin P. Hoyt. Published in 1978 it's
the story of Operation Paukenschlag (Roll of the Drums), or Drumbeat,
the German U-boat offensive against shipping off the U.S. East Coast and
in the Carribean from Jan 1942- July 1942.
---
One of my colleagues alerted me to a youtube by a guy called "lindybeige" about how the British used wargaming to defeat the u-boats. I think it's called "how wargamers actually won a war."
The wargaming area was used to train but also test tactics. They took a big empty room and put a screen around the outside. This was where the ship captains would sit and they had peepholes covered with colored gauze to provide limited intelligence to the players.
The way it worked was they had little model boats and used white chalk to trace their paths. The U-boat models were brown and had brown chalk to mark where they had been. The gauze actually prevented the captains from seeing the brown-colors, so the ship captains only knew where the surface combatants were, not the U-boats.
Pretty cool setup.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:15 AM (cfSRQ)
36
Oh, never read Nevil Schute? Yeah, On the Beach is a bad book/movie to judge him by. Better off with A Town Like Alice (both the book and the miniseries) and two of his WWII adventures: Pied Piper (there was a 1989 TV movie of it with, IIRC, Peter O'Toole) and Most Secret - about cross-Channel wartime espionage. I think the two best post-war reads of his are The Far Country and Requiem for a Wren, although the latter has a slightly unhappy conclusion. YMMV.
I ordered and started Jaqueline Winspeare's "Care and Maintenance of Lies" after a fellow book-threadist mentioned it some weeks ago. Not gotten far enough into it to have any opinion, yet.
I ordered and started Jaqueline Winspeare's "Care and Maintenance of Lies" after a fellow book-threadist mentioned it some weeks ago. Not gotten far enough into it to have any opinion, yet.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at January 13, 2019 09:15 AM (xnmPy)
37
I read Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Haller and David Moore. Ron Haller was a Fort Worth based international art dealer. One night his wife, Debbie, had a vision in a dream in which she saw the face of a homeless man who would do great things. They began volunteering at the Union Rescue Mission where they eventually met the man in the dream. This story of faith, fortitude and friendship is very inspirational.
Having nearly finished two series featuring a Roman Empire detective (Falco and Decius Metelius), I found a new one featuring Gordianus, the Finder. I read Roman Blood, the first in the series by Steven Saylor. Set in 80 B. C. during the the time of Sulla's dictatorship, Gordinus is hired by Cicero to help him defend a man charged with patricide. The mystery is based on an actual case of Cicero. His argument, embellished after the trial by Cicero, is extant.It's a good mystery and a good explanation on how Sulla came to power.
Having nearly finished two series featuring a Roman Empire detective (Falco and Decius Metelius), I found a new one featuring Gordianus, the Finder. I read Roman Blood, the first in the series by Steven Saylor. Set in 80 B. C. during the the time of Sulla's dictatorship, Gordinus is hired by Cicero to help him defend a man charged with patricide. The mystery is based on an actual case of Cicero. His argument, embellished after the trial by Cicero, is extant.It's a good mystery and a good explanation on how Sulla came to power.
Posted by: Zoltan at January 13, 2019 09:15 AM (u1x0c)
38
It turned me into a newt.
Posted by: Slapweasel at January 13, 2019 09:12 AM (Ckg4U)
---
Me, too. I got better, though.
Posted by: Slapweasel at January 13, 2019 09:12 AM (Ckg4U)
---
Me, too. I got better, though.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:15 AM (cfSRQ)
39
So I saw the Wolfe comments and got the I am Charlotte Simmons. Tb be 15 YO it covers college bullshit today very well.
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM (JFO2v)
40
Hey! I actually have something book related to say!!
When I bought my tractor (used) it didn't have a manual with it. John Deere offers an online version for free, but for some things, like maintenance stuff, I want a printed book. So I bit the bullet and ordered a printed copy. Eighty-five smackeroos!!
Annnnnd that's my on topic comment.
The End.
Posted by: Weasel
Does it have a centerfold ?
When I bought my tractor (used) it didn't have a manual with it. John Deere offers an online version for free, but for some things, like maintenance stuff, I want a printed book. So I bit the bullet and ordered a printed copy. Eighty-five smackeroos!!
Annnnnd that's my on topic comment.
The End.
Posted by: Weasel
Does it have a centerfold ?
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM (vNLNV)
41
24 mike k: "the problem was predicted by shute: metal fatigue"
i was just going to mention the comets falling from the sky! iirc, there was a design flaw - the windows were rectangular with sharp, right angled corners. that's where the cracks developed. that's why windows on jets are ovoid with curved corners.
i was just going to mention the comets falling from the sky! iirc, there was a design flaw - the windows were rectangular with sharp, right angled corners. that's where the cracks developed. that's why windows on jets are ovoid with curved corners.
Posted by: musical jolly chimp at January 13, 2019 09:17 AM (Pg+x7)
42
I was skeptical at first because (a) BBC and (b) 2017 so we thought it was going to be larded up with all sorts of PC/diversity/feminist/intersectional crap.
I remember in the late 90s, during the Austin boom, a column expressing surprise that "they let Jane be Jane." Except for the appalling Mansfield Park, all the movies/series were reasonably faithful. And, credit to BBC, the Jennifer Ehle P&P was, IMO the best of the lot. I sat down expecting to hate it, but it quickly won me over. Everyone talked about Colin Firth, who was OK, but the real stars were Ehle and Benjamin Whitrow as Mr Bennett.
I remember in the late 90s, during the Austin boom, a column expressing surprise that "they let Jane be Jane." Except for the appalling Mansfield Park, all the movies/series were reasonably faithful. And, credit to BBC, the Jennifer Ehle P&P was, IMO the best of the lot. I sat down expecting to hate it, but it quickly won me over. Everyone talked about Colin Firth, who was OK, but the real stars were Ehle and Benjamin Whitrow as Mr Bennett.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:17 AM (VaN/j)
43
That library is fantastic to look at but it is limited since I don't do ladders. Of course if I had it I would have servants to fetch the books for me as I relax in my chair enjoying beverages and pipe tobacco.
As to the pants. Zoot suits were bad enough but this exaggeration is repulsive. Those pants could clothe a family of four.
As to the pants. Zoot suits were bad enough but this exaggeration is repulsive. Those pants could clothe a family of four.
Posted by: JTB at January 13, 2019 09:17 AM (bmdz3)
44
Does it have a centerfold ?
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM (vNLNV)
the letters section is interesting:
Deere Manual, I never imagined this would happen...
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM (vNLNV)
the letters section is interesting:
Deere Manual, I never imagined this would happen...
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 09:18 AM (BJlbN)
45
Couple things about Moby Dick, Melville does go into all aspects of the whaling industries weaved into his story. I can't say I ever really was interested or read much about it before this as as I do with many books start looking up additional information as I am reading.
From what I can gather the Sperm Whales world population is doing ok but Right Whales are endangered probably due as much as they were hunted longer in history.
From what I can gather the Sperm Whales world population is doing ok but Right Whales are endangered probably due as much as they were hunted longer in history.
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 09:18 AM (/rm4P)
46
Does it have a centerfold ?
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM
Dude. There are hard-core tractor publications that do.
You don't want to tangle with serious tractor collectors.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM
Dude. There are hard-core tractor publications that do.
You don't want to tangle with serious tractor collectors.
Posted by: Duncanthrax at January 13, 2019 09:19 AM (DMUuz)
47
Portuguese = Spanish desperately trying to sound more Italian.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 13, 2019 09:19 AM (EZebt)
48
Thanks for the shout out, OM. Forgot to add that the author provides comparisons about our physical abilities at age 30 and the following decades. The most important thing to practice? BALANCE! That determines whether you'll be in a nursing home (or the factor of how many children you have and if any of them are daughters).
He also included some cool prototypes of "nursing homes" that are anything but and that have been wildly successful since they don't follow the old models.
He also included some cool prototypes of "nursing homes" that are anything but and that have been wildly successful since they don't follow the old models.
Posted by: SandyCheeks at January 13, 2019 09:19 AM (tGSHk)
49
JTB - drones would be of great help, but besides all those books are in Portuguese.
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 09:20 AM (/rm4P)
50
The description of No Highway sounds like a Jimmie Stewart movie, also with Marlene Dietrich. I'm too lazy to check it out; I expect it was the film version.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:20 AM (VaN/j)
51
47 Portuguese = Spanish desperately trying to sound more Italian.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 13, 2019 09:19 AM (EZebt)
Hah! Exactly.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 13, 2019 09:19 AM (EZebt)
Hah! Exactly.
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (BJlbN)
52
I remember in the late 90s, during the Austin boom, a
column expressing surprise that "they let Jane be Jane." Except for the
appalling Mansfield Park, all the movies/series were reasonably
faithful. And, credit to BBC, the Jennifer Ehle PP was, IMO the
best of the lot. I sat down expecting to hate it, but it quickly won me
over. Everyone talked about Colin Firth, who was OK, but the real stars
were Ehle and Benjamin Whitrow as Mr Bennett.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:17 AM (VaN/j)
---
Isn't it funny how sacrosanct those books are? I've noticed the same thing - while every masculine icon has to be beaten up and re-gendered, somehow Jane Austen keeps tooling along, and no one wants to do a "woke" version.
The answer of course is that everyone knows that "woke" Jane is a sure money-loser while revisionist takes on male-centric stories at least get you SJW points.
The deeper truth is that most Hollywood women secretly wish they could live in Jane's world, but don't want to admit it.
column expressing surprise that "they let Jane be Jane." Except for the
appalling Mansfield Park, all the movies/series were reasonably
faithful. And, credit to BBC, the Jennifer Ehle PP was, IMO the
best of the lot. I sat down expecting to hate it, but it quickly won me
over. Everyone talked about Colin Firth, who was OK, but the real stars
were Ehle and Benjamin Whitrow as Mr Bennett.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:17 AM (VaN/j)
---
Isn't it funny how sacrosanct those books are? I've noticed the same thing - while every masculine icon has to be beaten up and re-gendered, somehow Jane Austen keeps tooling along, and no one wants to do a "woke" version.
The answer of course is that everyone knows that "woke" Jane is a sure money-loser while revisionist takes on male-centric stories at least get you SJW points.
The deeper truth is that most Hollywood women secretly wish they could live in Jane's world, but don't want to admit it.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (cfSRQ)
53
The copyright laws have become ridiculous. Why should a writer or musician's great-grandchildren never have to work a day in their lives because of what their great-grandfather did?
Even worse when it's a corporation that keeps going on forever based on what the original creator created.
This is different from leaving a house to descendants. They at least have to keep up with repairs and so forth. The heirs of intellectual property can't improve on the original.
Even worse when it's a corporation that keeps going on forever based on what the original creator created.
This is different from leaving a house to descendants. They at least have to keep up with repairs and so forth. The heirs of intellectual property can't improve on the original.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (sdi6R)
54
On book 5 of the Sheriff Weber stories by Nick Russel.
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (JFO2v)
55
CNN: "Should fashion designers who are transitioning to be gay Rastafarian
pastry chefs be offended? Let's survey the average man on the street
here in Nome Alaska for their informed opinion..."
Local Whacked Out on Sterno and Whale Blubber, Smacks Self in Face with Frozen Cod: "Drumpf!" Vomits...
CNN: "There you have it, the typical American Hates Donald Trump! Now, on to our Sunday morning book review. This week 'Literary Criticism and Social Commentary in Chilton's Repair Manuals for Ford Pintos: An Internationalization Guide.'
CNN: "Should fashion designers who are transitioning to be gay Rastafarian
pastry chefs be offended? Let's survey the average man on the street
here in Nome Alaska for their informed opinion..."
Local Whacked Out on Sterno and Whale Blubber, Smacks Self in Face with Frozen Cod: "Drumpf!" Vomits...
CNN: "There you have it, the typical American Hates Donald Trump! Now, on to our Sunday morning book review. This week 'Literary Criticism and Social Commentary in Chilton's Repair Manuals for Ford Pintos: An Internationalization Guide.'
Posted by: In Vino Veritits at January 13, 2019 09:22 AM (w3OLr)
56
Weasel- try eBay for that manual
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 09:22 AM (/rm4P)
57
Does it have a centerfold ?
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM (vNLNV)
------
For $85, it should drive the damn tractor!
Does it have a centerfold ?
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:16 AM (vNLNV)
------
For $85, it should drive the damn tractor!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:22 AM (MVjcR)
58
I completed book one in my quest to reread The Chronicles of Narnia in internal chronological order, beginning with the birth of that pleasant land in "The Magician's Nephew".
I love the scenes in which Aslan sings the flora and fauna into being, and the soil is so rich and fertile that toffees, coins, and lampposts spring alive and grow. Young Digory is of course later the old professor with whom Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy stay during the war. The wardrobe was made from a tree that grew when Digory planted a core from a Narnian apple.
Uncle Andrew is Lewis's best villain (after unreformed Eustace). He is vain, petty, and a coward, sending young Polly into the unknown knowing that Digory (being decent) will feel compelled to go after her. He fancies himself a great magician until a real sorceress is brought back to our world and he is made her servant. This same Jadis became the White Witch of the next book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe".
Lots of humor in this one, as with Eustace Clarence Scrubb's outing.
I love the scenes in which Aslan sings the flora and fauna into being, and the soil is so rich and fertile that toffees, coins, and lampposts spring alive and grow. Young Digory is of course later the old professor with whom Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy stay during the war. The wardrobe was made from a tree that grew when Digory planted a core from a Narnian apple.
Uncle Andrew is Lewis's best villain (after unreformed Eustace). He is vain, petty, and a coward, sending young Polly into the unknown knowing that Digory (being decent) will feel compelled to go after her. He fancies himself a great magician until a real sorceress is brought back to our world and he is made her servant. This same Jadis became the White Witch of the next book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe".
Lots of humor in this one, as with Eustace Clarence Scrubb's outing.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:22 AM (kQs4Y)
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at January 13, 2019 09:22 AM (Ndje9)
60
Bet the Portuguese stole that place and the books from the Aztecs & Incas Incorporated.
Posted by: saf at January 13, 2019 09:23 AM (5IHGB)
61
53
The copyright laws have become ridiculous. Why should a writer or
musician's great-grandchildren never have to work a day in their lives
because of what their great-grandfather did?
Even worse when it's a corporation that keeps going on forever based on what the original creator created.
This is different from leaving a house to descendants. They at
least have to keep up with repairs and so forth. The heirs of
intellectual property can't improve on the original.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (sdi6R)
---
I agree. And it's not like being in the public domain leaves the writer's estate destitute. They can still publish "authoritative" editions with special introductions that other editions won't feature.
I mean, that's part of the game with (for example) Jane Austen. Anyone can publish it, but which version do you want?
The copyright laws have become ridiculous. Why should a writer or
musician's great-grandchildren never have to work a day in their lives
because of what their great-grandfather did?
Even worse when it's a corporation that keeps going on forever based on what the original creator created.
This is different from leaving a house to descendants. They at
least have to keep up with repairs and so forth. The heirs of
intellectual property can't improve on the original.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (sdi6R)
---
I agree. And it's not like being in the public domain leaves the writer's estate destitute. They can still publish "authoritative" editions with special introductions that other editions won't feature.
I mean, that's part of the game with (for example) Jane Austen. Anyone can publish it, but which version do you want?
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:24 AM (cfSRQ)
62
I'm currently reading Night Life by David C. Taylor and it is very good.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:24 AM (vNLNV)
63
56 Weasel- try eBay for that manual
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 09:22 AM (/rm4P)
------
Good tip. I buy a lot of used books on Amazon but didn't see one on eBay. I'll tell you one thing I do occasionally buy one may and that is tools. Especially things like calipers and micrometers.
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 09:22 AM (/rm4P)
------
Good tip. I buy a lot of used books on Amazon but didn't see one on eBay. I'll tell you one thing I do occasionally buy one may and that is tools. Especially things like calipers and micrometers.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:24 AM (MVjcR)
64
This week Literary Criticism and Social Commentary in Chilton's Repair Manuals for Ford Pintos: An Internationalization Guide.
The discussion of Chiltons Repair Manual for Vega just became an argument about about Chevy small block swaps vs. LS swaps. It was like Indians and Pakistanis, I could not tell the difference, but they could, and the hated each other.
The discussion of Chiltons Repair Manual for Vega just became an argument about about Chevy small block swaps vs. LS swaps. It was like Indians and Pakistanis, I could not tell the difference, but they could, and the hated each other.
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 09:26 AM (JFO2v)
65
Thanks for the "Being Mortal" recommendation. Very timely as I just brought mom to my home indefinitely. Fortunately, her mind is intact though her body is failing, but I told my husband this morning that aging is a scary thing.
At the other end of the spectrum, if anyone has teenage daughters, I'm currently reading "Untangled" by Lauren Damour. About understanding (or tolerating) the drama of the teen years. Very insightful. Plus no SJW garbage - at least so far.
At the other end of the spectrum, if anyone has teenage daughters, I'm currently reading "Untangled" by Lauren Damour. About understanding (or tolerating) the drama of the teen years. Very insightful. Plus no SJW garbage - at least so far.
Posted by: Hoplite Housewife at January 13, 2019 09:27 AM (XXNQ+)
66
On deck at chez Nerada is Armed America by Clayton Cramer, which traces the history of how guns have always been important to Americans and that the modern government attempts at restrictions are nothing more than an attack on the second amendment.
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at January 13, 2019 09:27 AM (pkhQp)
67
Get the micrometers that read in ten-thousandths.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:27 AM (vNLNV)
68
7
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:02 AM (kQs4Y)
I remember the snow and the Nile passage. And I too have always used it to refute the "fabulist" charge. Just because he didn't believe it was, to Herodotus, no reason not to report it. (He could have taught our reporters something on that.)
BTW, though not quite as good, Marco Polo reminds me of Herodotus sometimes. Lots of similar vignettes of places, little anecdotes. One thing stands out; in almost every location, the two things he is sure to mention are (a) how you make money there, and (b) what the women are like. Young son of a merchant family, so it figures.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:02 AM (kQs4Y)
I remember the snow and the Nile passage. And I too have always used it to refute the "fabulist" charge. Just because he didn't believe it was, to Herodotus, no reason not to report it. (He could have taught our reporters something on that.)
BTW, though not quite as good, Marco Polo reminds me of Herodotus sometimes. Lots of similar vignettes of places, little anecdotes. One thing stands out; in almost every location, the two things he is sure to mention are (a) how you make money there, and (b) what the women are like. Young son of a merchant family, so it figures.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:28 AM (VaN/j)
69
Regarding what I'm reading, I'm really hating "From Here to Eternity". It's poorly written and the characters are stick figures about which I don't give a flying fuck. And, most importantly, it's extremely plodding in style so can't even be categorized as a page turner. It marks the downside of book groups to be shackled to a turd like this. For whatever reason I've stuck with it even though other books have gotten the fuck this shit treatment.
On a more positive note, Travels With Herodotus has a brief three paragraph section, written in Cairo when Nasser was in power, about how tyrants in third world shitholes use street people as their ad hoc eyes and ears to maintain control. I was gonna transcribe it here to remark on it being a good example of how Kapuscinski (and his translator) has a remarkably direct way of communicating things with very few words (unlike that wordy fuck James Jones) but that's too much fucking work. Anyway, right after Ryszard wrote that he was liberated of all his money by some shithead who took him to the top of some ancient minaret and then demanded his wallet. Is-slum and lowlifes; what are the chances?
On a more positive note, Travels With Herodotus has a brief three paragraph section, written in Cairo when Nasser was in power, about how tyrants in third world shitholes use street people as their ad hoc eyes and ears to maintain control. I was gonna transcribe it here to remark on it being a good example of how Kapuscinski (and his translator) has a remarkably direct way of communicating things with very few words (unlike that wordy fuck James Jones) but that's too much fucking work. Anyway, right after Ryszard wrote that he was liberated of all his money by some shithead who took him to the top of some ancient minaret and then demanded his wallet. Is-slum and lowlifes; what are the chances?
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:28 AM (y7DUB)
70
Even if it's these pants, which look like about what you'd get if you had a zoot suit designed by gay rastafarian pastry chefs.
---
Aieee! those are some snazzy! Just like my bombachas!
---
Aieee! those are some snazzy! Just like my bombachas!
Posted by: Pimp Gaucho on the Pampas [\i] at January 13, 2019 09:28 AM (eNHDE)
71
I believe Nevil Shute Norway (full name) was also an aeronautical engineer on the very successful R100 airship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R100
The R100 was privately designed and built, while the other airship in the design competition (R101) was a government effort. The R100 was a complete success and made a round trip to Canada. The R101 broke up over France.
There's a deeper meaning lurking there, I think.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R100
The R100 was privately designed and built, while the other airship in the design competition (R101) was a government effort. The R100 was a complete success and made a round trip to Canada. The R101 broke up over France.
There's a deeper meaning lurking there, I think.
Posted by: MichiCanuck at January 13, 2019 09:29 AM (Vqtm3)
72
I think copyright should be restricted to the life of the creator with a minimum of 50 years.
Say you write something at age 40, then die at age 80. The thing you wrote is still copyrighted for another 10 years.
That will be one of my edicts when I ascend the throne of Intergalactic Pharoah.
Say you write something at age 40, then die at age 80. The thing you wrote is still copyrighted for another 10 years.
That will be one of my edicts when I ascend the throne of Intergalactic Pharoah.
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 09:29 AM (BJlbN)
73
11 Unfortunately, No Highway is in the latter category, but the plot does sound interesting:
Huh, I didn't know it was a book. I've seen the movie "No Highway in the Sky" with Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.
Posted by: no good deed at January 13, 2019 09:05 AM (uTY3H)
Yours wasn't up when I made my comment. Obviously, that's it.
Huh, I didn't know it was a book. I've seen the movie "No Highway in the Sky" with Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.
Posted by: no good deed at January 13, 2019 09:05 AM (uTY3H)
Yours wasn't up when I made my comment. Obviously, that's it.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:29 AM (VaN/j)
74
A.H. Lloyd,
The U.S. Navy did something similar with the submarine service in the pacific. They called their war gaming 'Convoy College'.
The U.S. Navy did something similar with the submarine service in the pacific. They called their war gaming 'Convoy College'.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 13, 2019 09:30 AM (5jAa5)
75
There have been a couple of woke-ish Jane Austen films. Mansfield Park (made in the 90s sometime) turned one line about Lord So-and-so making a fortune in the West Indies into a whole subplot about the white man sexually oppressing the sistas. And the heroine promptly gets woke as hell about it. Because upper-class Englishwomen in the Regency era were totally concerned with fighting white privilege.
Posted by: Trimegistus at January 13, 2019 09:30 AM (f3O2n)
76
Regarding what I'm reading, I'm really hating "From Here to Eternity". It's poorly written and the characters are stick figures about which I don't give a flying fuck. And, most importantly, it's extremely plodding in style so can't even be categorized as a page turner. It marks the downside of book groups to be shackled to a turd like this. For whatever reason I've stuck with it even though other books have gotten the fuck this shit treatment.
Whoa.
I've read it several times.
To each his own.
Whoa.
I've read it several times.
To each his own.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:31 AM (vNLNV)
77
Sorry you're committed to that book group, Captain Hate, but I do love your acid reviews. Your pain is my pleasure.
The Book Thread is my kind of book club. No pants! (Sorry, OM).
The Book Thread is my kind of book club. No pants! (Sorry, OM).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:31 AM (kQs4Y)
78
I am currently reading the manual for the Stanley Jump-starter w/compressor someone recommended last wknd.
Posted by: Infidel at January 13, 2019 09:32 AM (9L2du)
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (vNLNV)
80
I like reading repair manuals. Not just because the mechanical stuff is interesting but sometimes there is that one little detail that will make your life a whole lot easier.
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (UdKB7)
81
reread The Chronicles of Narnia in internal chronological order, beginning with the birth of that pleasant land in "The Magician's Nephew".
----
That is my personal favorite. Back when the little Neradas were small and we had to take long road trips to visit the grandparents, we got the whole set on BBC unabridged audio books and played them front to back.
----
That is my personal favorite. Back when the little Neradas were small and we had to take long road trips to visit the grandparents, we got the whole set on BBC unabridged audio books and played them front to back.
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (pkhQp)
82
The copyright laws have become ridiculous.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (sdi6R)
Disney and that stupid mouse is a perfect example.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (sdi6R)
Disney and that stupid mouse is a perfect example.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (5jAa5)
83
So clicking through the interwebs early this AM and saw something to the effect that modernism writing and books at the end of the 20th century was the elitist response to the fact that classical liberal literature was easy for the masses (working class) to afford via purchase and the public library.
Hence the need to establish a new written (nee English) style that required a mind trained in a elite (college) setting. Bringing us to the current situation where many genres have been taken over by LBGTASDF themes and are SJWhore screeds that can only be properly read and understood by the betters in our society.
Hence the need to establish a new written (nee English) style that required a mind trained in a elite (college) setting. Bringing us to the current situation where many genres have been taken over by LBGTASDF themes and are SJWhore screeds that can only be properly read and understood by the betters in our society.
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (JFO2v)
84
75 There have been a couple of woke-ish Jane Austen films. Mansfield Park (made in the 90s sometime) turned one line about Lord So-and-so making a fortune in the West Indies into a whole subplot about the white man sexually oppressing the sistas. And the heroine promptly gets woke as hell about it. Because upper-class Englishwomen in the Regency era were totally concerned with fighting white privilege.
Posted by: Trimegistus at January 13, 2019 09:30 AM (f3O2n)
---
This is why I can't enjoy Downton Abbey as much as some. Upper Class twits speaking in therapy talk about the feelz just doesn't seem appropriately stiff upper for the time.
Posted by: Trimegistus at January 13, 2019 09:30 AM (f3O2n)
---
This is why I can't enjoy Downton Abbey as much as some. Upper Class twits speaking in therapy talk about the feelz just doesn't seem appropriately stiff upper for the time.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (kQs4Y)
85
18
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 13, 2019 09:07 AM (5jAa5)
My wife knew of this; she was on the Outer Banks a lot when young. She says there's a legend that one of the sailors' ghost still haunts the place. (But she also says there are ghost legends galore from Hatteras to Corolla.)
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at January 13, 2019 09:07 AM (5jAa5)
My wife knew of this; she was on the Outer Banks a lot when young. She says there's a legend that one of the sailors' ghost still haunts the place. (But she also says there are ghost legends galore from Hatteras to Corolla.)
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (VaN/j)
86
71 I believe Nevil Shute Norway (full name) was also an aeronautical engineer on the very successful R100 airship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R100
The R100 was privately designed and built, while the other airship in the design competition (R101) was a government effort. The R100 was a complete success and made a round trip to Canada. The R101 broke up over France.
There's a deeper meaning lurking there, I think.
Posted by: MichiCanuck at January 13, 2019 09:29 AM (Vqtm3)
And after the R101 crashed, the British government ordered the R100 broken up and destroyed.
Yeah, there's a deeper meaning, all right.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R100
The R100 was privately designed and built, while the other airship in the design competition (R101) was a government effort. The R100 was a complete success and made a round trip to Canada. The R101 broke up over France.
There's a deeper meaning lurking there, I think.
Posted by: MichiCanuck at January 13, 2019 09:29 AM (Vqtm3)
And after the R101 crashed, the British government ordered the R100 broken up and destroyed.
Yeah, there's a deeper meaning, all right.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (sdi6R)
87
Nevil Shute was present for the Normandy landings on D Day, as a correspondent, according to Wikipedia.
Posted by: Huck Follywood, having a glass of whine at January 13, 2019 09:35 AM (Z216Q)
88
Sunday Book Thread 2019 Reading Goal update:
From the previous book thread I've picked
The Daily Stoic
#DoNotDisturb
and a Pratchett book - Good Omens (mainly because a mini series is coming out)
Haven't picked a book from this thread yet
From the previous book thread I've picked
The Daily Stoic
#DoNotDisturb
and a Pratchett book - Good Omens (mainly because a mini series is coming out)
Haven't picked a book from this thread yet
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 09:35 AM (BJlbN)
89
My wife knew of this; she was on the Outer Banks a lot when young. She says there's a legend that one of the sailors' ghost still haunts the place. (But she also says there are ghost legends galore from Hatteras to Corolla.)
We should get Capt. Hate to review the ghosts !
We should get Capt. Hate to review the ghosts !
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:36 AM (vNLNV)
90
Chuck Schumer promoted to Russian Ambassador to the United States!
Putin sending message with a hardline old school Leninist! NYT sez "Huzzah"!
Bill Mahr found unconscious, revived with smelling salts!
Putin sending message with a hardline old school Leninist! NYT sez "Huzzah"!
Bill Mahr found unconscious, revived with smelling salts!
Posted by: Burger Chef at January 13, 2019 09:37 AM (RuIsu)
91
Good morning! Lovely library!
This week, I'm reading one of my antique books. It is Flight From Terror by Alya Rachmanova, copyright 1933, a memoir of an affluent young Russian who escaped Russia after the revolution.
Intro is written by Gleb Botkin, son of the physician to the Russian Imperial Court, and author of The Real Romanovs.
I'm only a few chapters in, but Alya Rachmanova was the daughter of affluent Russians. She is getting "woke," essentially, dressing herself in the morning instead of waiting for the servant to come dress her, and she's becoming aware of class divisions.
There is a rousing discussion about Rasputin at her birthday dinner, the guests being incensed that this "peasant and horse-thief" had so much influence on the czar and on their local political appointments.
Rachmanova is also getting involved in the student groups (i.e. Bolsheviks) and struggling to balance privilege with activism.
You could take this book, set it in Boston today and make her a Harvard student, and it would still be topical. Some things never change.
This week, I'm reading one of my antique books. It is Flight From Terror by Alya Rachmanova, copyright 1933, a memoir of an affluent young Russian who escaped Russia after the revolution.
Intro is written by Gleb Botkin, son of the physician to the Russian Imperial Court, and author of The Real Romanovs.
I'm only a few chapters in, but Alya Rachmanova was the daughter of affluent Russians. She is getting "woke," essentially, dressing herself in the morning instead of waiting for the servant to come dress her, and she's becoming aware of class divisions.
There is a rousing discussion about Rasputin at her birthday dinner, the guests being incensed that this "peasant and horse-thief" had so much influence on the czar and on their local political appointments.
Rachmanova is also getting involved in the student groups (i.e. Bolsheviks) and struggling to balance privilege with activism.
You could take this book, set it in Boston today and make her a Harvard student, and it would still be topical. Some things never change.
Posted by: April at January 13, 2019 09:37 AM (OX9vb)
92
69
Regarding what I'm reading, I'm really hating "From Here to Eternity".
It's poorly written and the characters are stick figures about which I
don't give a flying fuck. And, most importantly, it's extremely
plodding in style so can't even be categorized as a page turner. It
marks the downside of book groups to be shackled to a turd like this.
For whatever reason I've stuck with it even though other books have
gotten the fuck this shit treatment.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:28 AM (y7DUB)
---
I think we talked about this on a previous thread.
My father said that the book was big-seller because it was shocking, not because it was any good. He read it back in the day and he agreed with your assessment.
There are a lot of famous books from that era that achieved fame only because they had sex scenes or bad language, etc. - stuff that previously wouldn't have been in a mass-market book.
It's sort of like the experimental movies that got buzz and are now seen as dull.
I still think the movie is great and one of the reasons I never wanted to read the book is that I got a sense that the characters in the book couldn't compare with the ones on the screen. When you get down to it, most of them are not really nice people or likeable, but the actors do a great job of selling them.
Deborah Kerr is so brittle and vulnerable you can't look away. Donna Reed is also captivating. Same with the male leads. It would take a virtuoso writer to sell these people as worth following on the printed page and I don't think that's the case.
Regarding what I'm reading, I'm really hating "From Here to Eternity".
It's poorly written and the characters are stick figures about which I
don't give a flying fuck. And, most importantly, it's extremely
plodding in style so can't even be categorized as a page turner. It
marks the downside of book groups to be shackled to a turd like this.
For whatever reason I've stuck with it even though other books have
gotten the fuck this shit treatment.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:28 AM (y7DUB)
---
I think we talked about this on a previous thread.
My father said that the book was big-seller because it was shocking, not because it was any good. He read it back in the day and he agreed with your assessment.
There are a lot of famous books from that era that achieved fame only because they had sex scenes or bad language, etc. - stuff that previously wouldn't have been in a mass-market book.
It's sort of like the experimental movies that got buzz and are now seen as dull.
I still think the movie is great and one of the reasons I never wanted to read the book is that I got a sense that the characters in the book couldn't compare with the ones on the screen. When you get down to it, most of them are not really nice people or likeable, but the actors do a great job of selling them.
Deborah Kerr is so brittle and vulnerable you can't look away. Donna Reed is also captivating. Same with the male leads. It would take a virtuoso writer to sell these people as worth following on the printed page and I don't think that's the case.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:38 AM (cfSRQ)
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 09:38 AM (BJlbN)
94
Whoa.
I've read it several times.
To each his own.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:31 AM (vNLNV)
True dat. Sorry to shit on your parade. If it's any consolation I'm at least enduring it rather than badmouthing an entire genre of literature like Vic did trashing all of Russian literature for being too fucking wordy and, by extension, everybody who likes that. I was pretty fucking pissed off at that and considered unloading on some of the dogshit he enjoys except I decided to restrain myself.
Until now.
I've read it several times.
To each his own.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:31 AM (vNLNV)
True dat. Sorry to shit on your parade. If it's any consolation I'm at least enduring it rather than badmouthing an entire genre of literature like Vic did trashing all of Russian literature for being too fucking wordy and, by extension, everybody who likes that. I was pretty fucking pissed off at that and considered unloading on some of the dogshit he enjoys except I decided to restrain myself.
Until now.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:39 AM (y7DUB)
95
Haven't had as much reading time this week as I would like. I did read a surprisingly good original SF anthology: Infinity's End, edited by Jonathan Strahan. I say surprisingly good because nearly all the stories in it were actual science fiction about the future with no ham-fisted commentary on contemporary issues. There is one piece which gets oh-so-clever about pronouns (a fad in SF since Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice came out a few years ago), but otherwise the stories are entertaining, solid, and well-written.
Posted by: Trimegistus at January 13, 2019 09:41 AM (f3O2n)
96
52
Isn't it funny how sacrosanct those books are? I've noticed the same thing - while every masculine icon has to be beaten up and re-gendered, somehow Jane Austen keeps tooling along, and no one wants to do a "woke" version.
The answer of course is that everyone knows that "woke" Jane is a sure money-loser while revisionist takes on male-centric stories at least get you SJW points.
The deeper truth is that most Hollywood women secretly wish they could live in Jane's world, but don't want to admit it.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (cfSRQ)
I think you're right.
I would add that there's one thing they can't admit: Austin was one of the most fundamentally conservative of all the big name novelists. I think that's one reason they had to mess up Mansfield Park; the message is just too strong there.
Isn't it funny how sacrosanct those books are? I've noticed the same thing - while every masculine icon has to be beaten up and re-gendered, somehow Jane Austen keeps tooling along, and no one wants to do a "woke" version.
The answer of course is that everyone knows that "woke" Jane is a sure money-loser while revisionist takes on male-centric stories at least get you SJW points.
The deeper truth is that most Hollywood women secretly wish they could live in Jane's world, but don't want to admit it.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:21 AM (cfSRQ)
I think you're right.
I would add that there's one thing they can't admit: Austin was one of the most fundamentally conservative of all the big name novelists. I think that's one reason they had to mess up Mansfield Park; the message is just too strong there.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:41 AM (VaN/j)
97
I'm taking a break from LOTR. I'm so familiar with it after all these years it's easy to start skimming instead of giving it the proper attention.
That doesn't mean I am Tolkien-less in my reading. I continue to enjoy "Proverbs of Middle-earth". It continues to give insights to the LOTR using the books themselves but also his other works and essays by scholars.
I just received a copy of "Tolkien on Fairy-Stories" by Verlyn Flieger. It takes Tolkien's academic and scholarly essay and provides context and expansion. I'm really looking forward to reading it this week.
That doesn't mean I am Tolkien-less in my reading. I continue to enjoy "Proverbs of Middle-earth". It continues to give insights to the LOTR using the books themselves but also his other works and essays by scholars.
I just received a copy of "Tolkien on Fairy-Stories" by Verlyn Flieger. It takes Tolkien's academic and scholarly essay and provides context and expansion. I'm really looking forward to reading it this week.
Posted by: JTB at January 13, 2019 09:41 AM (bmdz3)
98
I still think that President Trump made a mistake by not appointing Captain Hate as UN ambassador.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:42 AM (sdi6R)
99
This is why I can't enjoy Downton Abbey as much as
some. Upper Class twits speaking in therapy talk about the feelz just
doesn't seem appropriately stiff upper for the time.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (kQs4Y)
---
I bailed on it because the drama became just too much. There's a point at which the Unluckiest Family Ever combined with the Most Clueless People in the World and I get bored.
I tried the watch the season after the heir apparent died in a (typically dramatic timed) car wreck, but when they dusted off the Secretly Evil Servant plot line I was done.
some. Upper Class twits speaking in therapy talk about the feelz just
doesn't seem appropriately stiff upper for the time.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (kQs4Y)
---
I bailed on it because the drama became just too much. There's a point at which the Unluckiest Family Ever combined with the Most Clueless People in the World and I get bored.
I tried the watch the season after the heir apparent died in a (typically dramatic timed) car wreck, but when they dusted off the Secretly Evil Servant plot line I was done.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)
100
On the Beach was a depressing book, too. Shute seems to understand human nature fairly well, though.
Posted by: Still Another Zap Rowsdower at January 13, 2019 09:42 AM (cUpB1)
101
Whoa...those are some spacious pantaloons, there. Stylin'.
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 09:43 AM (bUjCl)
102
I still think the movie is great and one of the reasons I never wanted to read the book is that I got a sense that the characters in the book couldn't compare with the ones on the screen. When you get down to it, most of them are not really nice people or likeable, but the actors do a great job of selling them.
George Reeves (Superman) played the Mess Sgt. in the movie and was a big part of the movie.
During a test screening, when Reeves appeared someone yelled "Look ! It's Superman !" and the audience busted out laughing. And most of his scenes were cut from the film.
George Reeves (Superman) played the Mess Sgt. in the movie and was a big part of the movie.
During a test screening, when Reeves appeared someone yelled "Look ! It's Superman !" and the audience busted out laughing. And most of his scenes were cut from the film.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:44 AM (vNLNV)
103
60 Bet the Portuguese stole that place and the books from the Aztecs & Incas Incorporated.
Posted by: saf at January 13, 2019 09:23 AM (5IHGB)
I bet AOC believes that. Also stolen from the indigenous black population.
Ever read Scoop? Waugh has a parody of that BS in the early chapters.
Posted by: saf at January 13, 2019 09:23 AM (5IHGB)
I bet AOC believes that. Also stolen from the indigenous black population.
Ever read Scoop? Waugh has a parody of that BS in the early chapters.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:45 AM (VaN/j)
104
This week I read Bretherton: Khaki or Field Gray by W. F. Morris. Originally published in the 1920s, it was a big hit at the time but is now forgotten. Having seen They Shall Not Grow Old, I was feeling WWIy and stumbled across this. It reminds me of Beau Geste by P.C. Wren in that both books are (of course) written in old timey style, both are concerned with upper middle class English young men behaving honorably in the face of adversity, and the plot of both begins with the bodies of friends or relatives found in inexplicable, possibly treasonous, situations in combat and the rest of the books detail how the bodies came to be in the inexplicable circumstances revealed in the first chapters.
Here, the body of heroic Bretherton, company commander and staff officer, is found on the last day of WWI in a chateau dressed in a German general's uniform and in the company of the body of a beautiful Austrian princess. We then go to 1915 and follow events from different view points leading up to his death in the chateau.
Bretherton was a company commander in a battalion of bicycle troops. Who knew that there were bicycle troops in WWI? But there were and the author was an officer in one such unit. Bicycle troops suffered the same handicap as cavalry in the war which has caused them to be forgotten. They were intended to exploit a breach in the German lines but such breach never occurred. The bicyclists were therefore relegated to such odd jobs as needed warm bodies including manning trenches. The author's experience does lend a certain authenticity to the book and certain battle scenes are harrowing. This also creates a problem, however, in that soldier abbreviations and slang from last century are not easily understood by contemporary readers. I suspect the author never imagined that his book would still be read a hundred years in the future.
Overall, I enjoyed it although my willingness to disbelieve was tested a time or two. And it was informative. I had no idea that there were bicycle troops. And speaking of old fashion writing, close your eyes when you come to this sentence: "[Y]ou and I are here, and they have killed poor old Melford. Good luck to him! He was a soldier and a white man."
Here, the body of heroic Bretherton, company commander and staff officer, is found on the last day of WWI in a chateau dressed in a German general's uniform and in the company of the body of a beautiful Austrian princess. We then go to 1915 and follow events from different view points leading up to his death in the chateau.
Bretherton was a company commander in a battalion of bicycle troops. Who knew that there were bicycle troops in WWI? But there were and the author was an officer in one such unit. Bicycle troops suffered the same handicap as cavalry in the war which has caused them to be forgotten. They were intended to exploit a breach in the German lines but such breach never occurred. The bicyclists were therefore relegated to such odd jobs as needed warm bodies including manning trenches. The author's experience does lend a certain authenticity to the book and certain battle scenes are harrowing. This also creates a problem, however, in that soldier abbreviations and slang from last century are not easily understood by contemporary readers. I suspect the author never imagined that his book would still be read a hundred years in the future.
Overall, I enjoyed it although my willingness to disbelieve was tested a time or two. And it was informative. I had no idea that there were bicycle troops. And speaking of old fashion writing, close your eyes when you come to this sentence: "[Y]ou and I are here, and they have killed poor old Melford. Good luck to him! He was a soldier and a white man."
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 09:45 AM (+y/Ru)
105
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:39 AM (y7DUB)
===
Because of the structure of the language, I think that translating Russian to English guarantees prose that is turgid to say the least.
===
Because of the structure of the language, I think that translating Russian to English guarantees prose that is turgid to say the least.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 13, 2019 09:46 AM (EZebt)
106
agnotology ... never heard of it, but Wikileaks has a good introduction to it, beyond the short definition. In a sense it is "Fake News" ... deliberately faked to present an alternative world that advances TheNarrative, and serves the CFR/oligarchs/DrEvils.
"The biopolitical paradigm of distraction, ... can only be maintained if the underlying strictures
remain hidden from view. If affective labor works to reduce alienation,
agnotology works to eliminate the potential for dissent." Michael Betancourt
Just from that blurb, comes to mind the Silicon Valley dogmatic PC world, where Mozilla CEO (2014) was "fired" for his personal support of Title 8 (anti-gay marriage), and that shit happens constantly, not to mention their shutdown of conservative pedestrians posting WrongThink on FaceBook or the others.
"The biopolitical paradigm of distraction, ... can only be maintained if the underlying strictures
remain hidden from view. If affective labor works to reduce alienation,
agnotology works to eliminate the potential for dissent." Michael Betancourt
Just from that blurb, comes to mind the Silicon Valley dogmatic PC world, where Mozilla CEO (2014) was "fired" for his personal support of Title 8 (anti-gay marriage), and that shit happens constantly, not to mention their shutdown of conservative pedestrians posting WrongThink on FaceBook or the others.
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 09:46 AM (Cus5s)
107
49 ... "drones would be of great help, but besides all those books are in Portuguese."
Skip, One of those servants would be a translator. :-)
Skip, One of those servants would be a translator. :-)
Posted by: JTB at January 13, 2019 09:46 AM (bmdz3)
108
67 Get the micrometers that read in ten-thousandths.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:27 AM (vNLNV)
---
For some applications (reloading) a thousandth is sufficient, and for some others ten-thousandth is needed. I have a little collection if old machinists tools.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:27 AM (vNLNV)
---
For some applications (reloading) a thousandth is sufficient, and for some others ten-thousandth is needed. I have a little collection if old machinists tools.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:46 AM (MVjcR)
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (vNLNV)
110
Ha! From the Narnia Wiki:
Lewis said that his gardener Fred Paxford was inspiration for the loyal and pessimistic Puddleglum (Douglas Gresham recalls, "If you said good morning to him, he might reply, 'Ah! Looks like rain afore lunch, though; if'n it don't snow or hail, tha's.'")
Lewis said that his gardener Fred Paxford was inspiration for the loyal and pessimistic Puddleglum (Douglas Gresham recalls, "If you said good morning to him, he might reply, 'Ah! Looks like rain afore lunch, though; if'n it don't snow or hail, tha's.'")
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (kQs4Y)
111
They must have different public domain rules in Australia because I was able to download several George Orwell books from Gutenberg Australia but Gutenberg USA acts like he doesn't exist.
Posted by: gimme free at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (YLzLe)
112
Based on comments in book thread a while back I bought The Shadow of the Wind. Interesting read with meandering plot lines and unique characters. Prairie Fire is a behind the scenes look at the Ingall Wilder family. The Taste of War is a fascinating look at the role of food in determining who were the victors and who were the vanquished in WW2. Highly recommended for WW2 buffs.
Posted by: colfax mingo at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (w1Q8n)
113
Agnotology, not to be confused with Agnetology: the study of Darrin's mother-in-law.
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (Ndje9)
114
Portuguese = Spanish desperately trying to sound more Italian.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 13, 2019 09:19 AM (EZebt)
Since I don't speak Portuguese it just sounds weird, like Provencal or Argentine.
Portuguese speakers understand Spanish speakers fairly well. Spanish speakers have trouble with the whole "Zsha-zshaow-pom" thing. It is like being told the name is spelled Yacht, but is actually pronounced "Throat-Warbler-Mangrove"
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 13, 2019 09:19 AM (EZebt)
Since I don't speak Portuguese it just sounds weird, like Provencal or Argentine.
Portuguese speakers understand Spanish speakers fairly well. Spanish speakers have trouble with the whole "Zsha-zshaow-pom" thing. It is like being told the name is spelled Yacht, but is actually pronounced "Throat-Warbler-Mangrove"
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 09:48 AM (mUa7G)
115
80 I like reading repair manuals. Not just because the mechanical stuff is interesting but sometimes there is that one little detail that will make your life a whole lot easier.
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (UdKB7)
------
Absolutely. I used to be terrible about reading manuals when I bought a new piece of equipment. They really are written for a reason!!
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (UdKB7)
------
Absolutely. I used to be terrible about reading manuals when I bought a new piece of equipment. They really are written for a reason!!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
116
You don't watch Downton for plot. I mean, what about a plot where two star-crossed teenagers meet at a ball, and families just happen to be feuding, and the loverboy very accidentally stabs his lover's kinsman to death...and the priest is late with a message of love and hope and then (spoiler !) they both commit suicide. Kind of silly, but the acting, the drama, the costumes....
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (bUjCl)
117
60 Bet the Portuguese stole that place and the books from the Aztecs Incas Incorporated.
Posted by: saf at January 13, 2019 09:23 AM (5IHGB)
Waaaaiiit a minute, this comment is coherent, logical, and even funny. Who are you really and what have you done with saf?
Posted by: saf at January 13, 2019 09:23 AM (5IHGB)
Waaaaiiit a minute, this comment is coherent, logical, and even funny. Who are you really and what have you done with saf?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 09:50 AM (IoAJL)
118
There are a lot of famous books from that era that achieved fame only because they had sex scenes or bad language, etc. - stuff that previously wouldn't have been in a mass-market book.
Mass market must be the key because Henry Miller and Billy boy Burroughs were around with works dripping with sex and drugs on small presses. Now those I enjoyed a great deal.
Jones also wrote The Thin Red Line which I watched as part of a personal Jim Caviezel film festival and thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe I should just stick to the movie adaptations of his work.
Mass market must be the key because Henry Miller and Billy boy Burroughs were around with works dripping with sex and drugs on small presses. Now those I enjoyed a great deal.
Jones also wrote The Thin Red Line which I watched as part of a personal Jim Caviezel film festival and thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe I should just stick to the movie adaptations of his work.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:50 AM (y7DUB)
119
Also this week, I downloaded The Man From the Train by Bill James, recommended here by one a youse morons. I'm listening to it on my way home from work.
True crime regarding a series of axe murders (of entire families! ) in the early 1900s, in different states, which no one connected then. James believes they were committed by the same person, travelling by train, but that they were never connected because we lacked the communication and informational networks of today.
I'm going to have to get hard copy, though, because I get focused on driving (yay, right? ) and lose some of the story.
True crime regarding a series of axe murders (of entire families! ) in the early 1900s, in different states, which no one connected then. James believes they were committed by the same person, travelling by train, but that they were never connected because we lacked the communication and informational networks of today.
I'm going to have to get hard copy, though, because I get focused on driving (yay, right? ) and lose some of the story.
Posted by: April at January 13, 2019 09:51 AM (OX9vb)
120
Captain Hate, you should suggest "Exterminator!" or "Naked Lunch" for your book club's next read.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:52 AM (kQs4Y)
121
Portuguese speakers understand Spanish speakers fairly well. Spanish speakers have trouble with the whole "Zsha-zshaow-pom" thing. It is like being told the name is spelled Yacht, but is actually pronounced "Throat-Warbler-Mangrove"
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 09:48 AM (mUa7G)
Many years ago when I was in college, one of the GTFs who taught Physics I could barely understand, his accent was so thick. To my ears, it sounded like some Slavic language. But the guy turned out to be Portuguese.
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 09:48 AM (mUa7G)
Many years ago when I was in college, one of the GTFs who taught Physics I could barely understand, his accent was so thick. To my ears, it sounded like some Slavic language. But the guy turned out to be Portuguese.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 09:53 AM (IoAJL)
122
Read Michael Connolly's "Wrong Side of Goodbye" good (and formulaic) Harry Bosch, enjoyed it.
Started Neal Stephenson's (franchise book) "Rise and Fall of DODO", my internal jury is still out, but so far it's interesting enough to keep me reading for a bit longer.
O'Brian's Yellow Admiral is still in the queue.
Lee Child's latest book " Past Tense" is also in the queue, but the beginning is so formula Reacher, it may be a while before I get back to it.
I am thinking of renewing my vow to abstain from buying any more books until I finish at least 100 of the ones I already own.
Gonna go shovel me some driveway. A long tortuous driveway has some minor security features, but the maintenance is a bear, especially when your poorly maintained snow blower expires the day of a snow storm.
Started Neal Stephenson's (franchise book) "Rise and Fall of DODO", my internal jury is still out, but so far it's interesting enough to keep me reading for a bit longer.
O'Brian's Yellow Admiral is still in the queue.
Lee Child's latest book " Past Tense" is also in the queue, but the beginning is so formula Reacher, it may be a while before I get back to it.
I am thinking of renewing my vow to abstain from buying any more books until I finish at least 100 of the ones I already own.
Gonna go shovel me some driveway. A long tortuous driveway has some minor security features, but the maintenance is a bear, especially when your poorly maintained snow blower expires the day of a snow storm.
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at January 13, 2019 09:53 AM (f3oO4)
123
Agnotology is the study of wilful acts to spread confusion and deceit, usually to sell a product or win favour.
I can't tell if *we* are the agnotologists, because we see what's going on, or if the people willfully doing the acts are the students of agnotology.
In any case, great word. Timely. Coined in 1995.
I can't tell if *we* are the agnotologists, because we see what's going on, or if the people willfully doing the acts are the students of agnotology.
In any case, great word. Timely. Coined in 1995.
Posted by: t-bird at January 13, 2019 09:53 AM (Qwtw1)
124
Back in July, my professor of Russian and Latin died. Somehow his family decided that I was the one to come in and poke through his books, which they had no idea what to do with. Stuff I didn't take was to be discarded.
The man's library was an absolute treasure. I'd pick up a book and go "OMG! I must read this!" Then Mrs. Chronda got involved, so the couple of boxes I thought I absolutely must read turned into packing my car with an eclectic collection of books full of Smart Stuff (TM). There are books in Russian (he had an English textbook that was used in Soviet schools!), Latin (Winnie Ille Pooh!), conversational Welsh (!), Greek, German, Chinese (a magnificent book that takes you through how to write about 250 characters, shows you historical versions of the characters as they evolved, etc!), and more. I had no idea he had this stuff; had I known, I'd have asked to borrow some of them while he was alive.
I've started into "The Village" by Ernest Poole. Poole was a foreign correspondent for a US magazine and wandered about Russia starting about August 1917 talking to folks and writing up his impression of what was going on. The book was published in 1918. Yeah, Wikipedia tells me he was a leftist, but, come on! Man-on-the-street impressions as the revolution was going on? How could I possibly resist?
The man's library was an absolute treasure. I'd pick up a book and go "OMG! I must read this!" Then Mrs. Chronda got involved, so the couple of boxes I thought I absolutely must read turned into packing my car with an eclectic collection of books full of Smart Stuff (TM). There are books in Russian (he had an English textbook that was used in Soviet schools!), Latin (Winnie Ille Pooh!), conversational Welsh (!), Greek, German, Chinese (a magnificent book that takes you through how to write about 250 characters, shows you historical versions of the characters as they evolved, etc!), and more. I had no idea he had this stuff; had I known, I'd have asked to borrow some of them while he was alive.
I've started into "The Village" by Ernest Poole. Poole was a foreign correspondent for a US magazine and wandered about Russia starting about August 1917 talking to folks and writing up his impression of what was going on. The book was published in 1918. Yeah, Wikipedia tells me he was a leftist, but, come on! Man-on-the-street impressions as the revolution was going on? How could I possibly resist?
Posted by: Anachronda at January 13, 2019 09:54 AM (2//jc)
125
111 They must have different public domain rules in Australia
Posted by: gimme free at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (YLzLe)
Yes, they do.
Posted by: gimme free at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (YLzLe)
Yes, they do.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 09:54 AM (IoAJL)
126
Books are for fagz, and I'm severely heterosexual. So no reading for me!
Posted by: Cory Booker at January 13, 2019 09:54 AM (WHrsn)
127
Bicycle cavalry certainly is a novel idea.
Posted by: A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court at January 13, 2019 09:55 AM (DMUuz)
128
Anachronda, what a treasure trove!
Posted by: April at January 13, 2019 09:55 AM (OX9vb)
129
114
It is like being told the name is spelled Yacht, but is actually pronounced "Throat-Warbler-Mangrove"
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 09:48 AM (mUa7G)
Sort of the opposite of the Brits. There's a Wodehouse character named Mapledurham, pronounced "Mum". (Strychnine in the Soup, IIRC. One of the Mulliners, for sure.)
It is like being told the name is spelled Yacht, but is actually pronounced "Throat-Warbler-Mangrove"
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 09:48 AM (mUa7G)
Sort of the opposite of the Brits. There's a Wodehouse character named Mapledurham, pronounced "Mum". (Strychnine in the Soup, IIRC. One of the Mulliners, for sure.)
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:56 AM (VaN/j)
130
Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Do the royals only read paperbacks? Really colorful collection of spines there.
Do the royals only read paperbacks? Really colorful collection of spines there.
Posted by: t-bird at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (IPZPl)
131
Lewis said that his gardener Fred Paxford was inspiration for the loyal and pessimistic Puddleglum (Douglas Gresham recalls, "If you said good morning to him, he might reply, 'Ah! Looks like rain afore lunch, though; if'n it don't snow or hail, tha's.'")
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (kQs4Y)
Ha! Very funny. Thanks for this delicious little tidbit.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (kQs4Y)
Ha! Very funny. Thanks for this delicious little tidbit.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (IoAJL)
132
Wow Anachronda what a deal. That guy was saving all those books just for you.
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (UdKB7)
133
104
This week I read Bretherton: Khaki or Field Gray by W. F. Morris.
Originally published in the 1920s, it was a big hit at the time but is
now forgotten. Having seen They Shall Not Grow Old, I was feeling WWIy
and stumbled across this.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 09:45 AM (+y/Ru)
----
If you want some good WW I fiction, try Ford Maddox Ford's Parade's End stuff.
It's a bit long-winded and you should skip the last book in the series, but otherwise very evocative.
Ford was a literary mentor to a lot of people who became famous after the war and though he wrote in the 1920s, his style is older because he was older.
I plowed through it a while ago, and am thinking I need to give it a second reading. HBO did a version of it that was reasonably accurate, but failed to capture the fundamental oddness of the story because it's hard for them to reflect the values of the time.
This week I read Bretherton: Khaki or Field Gray by W. F. Morris.
Originally published in the 1920s, it was a big hit at the time but is
now forgotten. Having seen They Shall Not Grow Old, I was feeling WWIy
and stumbled across this.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 09:45 AM (+y/Ru)
----
If you want some good WW I fiction, try Ford Maddox Ford's Parade's End stuff.
It's a bit long-winded and you should skip the last book in the series, but otherwise very evocative.
Ford was a literary mentor to a lot of people who became famous after the war and though he wrote in the 1920s, his style is older because he was older.
I plowed through it a while ago, and am thinking I need to give it a second reading. HBO did a version of it that was reasonably accurate, but failed to capture the fundamental oddness of the story because it's hard for them to reflect the values of the time.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (cfSRQ)
134
One thing about the movie "From Here to Eternity" is that it saved Frank Sinatra's career.
He had been a popular singer in the 40s, but by the early 50s he was more or less on the skids. That movie role gave him a much needed boost in popularity, and then he went on to create his greatest music.
He had been a popular singer in the 40s, but by the early 50s he was more or less on the skids. That movie role gave him a much needed boost in popularity, and then he went on to create his greatest music.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (sdi6R)
135
This is why I can't enjoy Downton Abbey as much as
some. Upper Class twits speaking in therapy talk about the feelz just
doesn't seem appropriately stiff upper for the time.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (kQs4Y)
---
I bailed on it because the drama became just too much. There's a point at which the Unluckiest Family Ever combined with the Most Clueless People in the World and I get bored.
I tried the watch the season after the heir apparent died in a (typically dramatic timed) car wreck, but when they dusted off the Secretly Evil Servant plot line I was done.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)
It started off as a mildly interesting soap opera that outlived its usefulness by at least three years. By the time it was mercifully over and state TV had leached every iota of benefit from it, it was embarrassingly sappy.
some. Upper Class twits speaking in therapy talk about the feelz just
doesn't seem appropriately stiff upper for the time.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:34 AM (kQs4Y)
---
I bailed on it because the drama became just too much. There's a point at which the Unluckiest Family Ever combined with the Most Clueless People in the World and I get bored.
I tried the watch the season after the heir apparent died in a (typically dramatic timed) car wreck, but when they dusted off the Secretly Evil Servant plot line I was done.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)
It started off as a mildly interesting soap opera that outlived its usefulness by at least three years. By the time it was mercifully over and state TV had leached every iota of benefit from it, it was embarrassingly sappy.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (y7DUB)
136
121
Many
years ago when I was in college, one of the GTFs who taught Physics I
could barely understand, his accent was so thick. To my ears, it sounded
like some Slavic language. But the guy turned out to be Portuguese.
youtube keeps suggesting that i watch a video titled "why does portuguese sound like russian?", but i haven't yet.
Many
years ago when I was in college, one of the GTFs who taught Physics I
could barely understand, his accent was so thick. To my ears, it sounded
like some Slavic language. But the guy turned out to be Portuguese.
youtube keeps suggesting that i watch a video titled "why does portuguese sound like russian?", but i haven't yet.
Posted by: Anachronda at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (2//jc)
137
So it looks like the Roy Moore hitting on schoolgirls was one big Dem false flag operation. 2020 will be fun!
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (JFO2v)
138
Absolutely. I used to be terrible about reading manuals when I bought a new piece of equipment. They really are written for a reason!!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
Second that, but I get irritated when so many manufacturer's now only give you a high level user's guide not the shop manual. I physically know what the required part is for my snowblower, but have no idea how it is constructed and they don't give a part number or exploded view of the engine.
BTW, what you really need is the John Deere Virtual Reality Repair Manual.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
Second that, but I get irritated when so many manufacturer's now only give you a high level user's guide not the shop manual. I physically know what the required part is for my snowblower, but have no idea how it is constructed and they don't give a part number or exploded view of the engine.
BTW, what you really need is the John Deere Virtual Reality Repair Manual.
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (f3oO4)
139
Want to utilize the ™ symbol here to look smarter than the Median Moron™?
It's easy! & # 8482 without the two spaces!
It's easy! & # 8482 without the two spaces!
Posted by: That irritating person in the sub-basement at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (DMUuz)
140
I'd like to thank whichever Moron it was who recommended "A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War" by Joseph Loconte.
I listened to the audio book this week. It really brings home the horrors of WWI trench warfare and how it affected Tolkien's and Lewis's writings. Loconte does do a bit of mind reading in some spots and does reference several other biographer's takes on Tolkien and Lewis, (which also do some mindreading), but overall it is a very interesting book.
I listened to the audio book this week. It really brings home the horrors of WWI trench warfare and how it affected Tolkien's and Lewis's writings. Loconte does do a bit of mind reading in some spots and does reference several other biographer's takes on Tolkien and Lewis, (which also do some mindreading), but overall it is a very interesting book.
Posted by: squeakywheel at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (miKko)
141
I'm trying to imaging reading Winnie the Pooh in Latin to my grandkids if I ever get any.
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:59 AM (UdKB7)
142
138 Absolutely. I used to be terrible about reading manuals when I bought a new piece of equipment. They really are written for a reason!!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
Second that, but I get irritated when so many manufacturer's now only give you a high level user's guide not the shop manual. I physically know what the required part is for my snowblower, but have no idea how it is constructed and they don't give a part number or exploded view of the engine.
BTW, what you really need is the John Deere Virtual Reality Repair Manual.
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (f3oO4)
-----
With nekked tractor repair babes.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
Second that, but I get irritated when so many manufacturer's now only give you a high level user's guide not the shop manual. I physically know what the required part is for my snowblower, but have no idea how it is constructed and they don't give a part number or exploded view of the engine.
BTW, what you really need is the John Deere Virtual Reality Repair Manual.
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (f3oO4)
-----
With nekked tractor repair babes.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:59 AM (MVjcR)
143
Sort of the opposite of the Brits. There's a Wodehouse character named Mapledurham, pronounced "Mum". (Strychnine in the Soup, IIRC. One of the Mulliners, for sure.)
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:56 AM (VaN/j)
---
The ultimate for me is the name Cholmondeley, pronounced "Chumley".
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:56 AM (VaN/j)
---
The ultimate for me is the name Cholmondeley, pronounced "Chumley".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:59 AM (kQs4Y)
144
Today, if I have the time, or tomorrow for sure, I will finish Preface to Paradise Lost. Which will mean there is no more new Lewis to read. Which is why I'm not flying through it.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:00 AM (VaN/j)
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:00 AM (bUjCl)
146
"Should fashion designers who are transitioning to be gay Rastafarian pastry chefs be offended?
-
Didja see that the latest word to be forbidden is "exotic"? I never saw that as a problematic word.
-
Didja see that the latest word to be forbidden is "exotic"? I never saw that as a problematic word.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 10:00 AM (+y/Ru)
147
116
You don't watch Downton for plot. I mean, what about a plot where two
star-crossed teenagers meet at a ball, and families just happen to be
feuding, and the loverboy very accidentally stabs his lover's kinsman to
death...and the priest is late with a message of love and hope and then
(spoiler !) they both commit suicide. Kind of silly, but the acting,
the drama, the costumes....
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (bUjCl)
---
Sure, but there becomes a point where the plot makes the characters look absurd. At that point the costumes and acting don't really matter because you're distracted by how stupid everyone is behaving.
You know, if Romeo and Juliet were stretched out into multiple seasons and they KEEP TRYING TO KILL THEMSELVES but not quite making it, after a while it would get old.
You don't watch Downton for plot. I mean, what about a plot where two
star-crossed teenagers meet at a ball, and families just happen to be
feuding, and the loverboy very accidentally stabs his lover's kinsman to
death...and the priest is late with a message of love and hope and then
(spoiler !) they both commit suicide. Kind of silly, but the acting,
the drama, the costumes....
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (bUjCl)
---
Sure, but there becomes a point where the plot makes the characters look absurd. At that point the costumes and acting don't really matter because you're distracted by how stupid everyone is behaving.
You know, if Romeo and Juliet were stretched out into multiple seasons and they KEEP TRYING TO KILL THEMSELVES but not quite making it, after a while it would get old.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:02 AM (cfSRQ)
148
One thing about the movie "From Here to Eternity" is that it saved Frank Sinatra's career.
It didn't do much for the horse , though.
It didn't do much for the horse , though.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 10:03 AM (vNLNV)
149
Portuguese speakers understand Spanish speakers fairly well. Spanish speakers have trouble with the whole "Zsha-zshaow-pom" thing. It is like being told the name is spelled Yacht, but is actually pronounced "Throat-Warbler-Mangrove"
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 09:48 AM (mUa7G)
---------------
Heh.
Reminds me of an anecdote I read years ago. Some guy had what was basically an unpronounceable last name, of the "buy a vowel" variety, so, he always insisted his name was pronounced, "Smith."
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 09:48 AM (mUa7G)
---------------
Heh.
Reminds me of an anecdote I read years ago. Some guy had what was basically an unpronounceable last name, of the "buy a vowel" variety, so, he always insisted his name was pronounced, "Smith."
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:03 AM (WEBkv)
150
So it looks like the Roy Moore hitting on schoolgirls was one big Dem false flag operation. 2020 will be fun!
Gee, think that Kavanaugh accusing dimwit with all the convenient Deep State ties might have been the same thing?
Seriously, if we don't get the likes of Fusion GPS and their contacts in the bureaucracies in front of a firing squad, Western Civ is done for.
Gee, think that Kavanaugh accusing dimwit with all the convenient Deep State ties might have been the same thing?
Seriously, if we don't get the likes of Fusion GPS and their contacts in the bureaucracies in front of a firing squad, Western Civ is done for.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at January 13, 2019 10:03 AM (m075u)
151
"Exotic" to whom, is the issue. It assumes Western man is the norm.
Just like "Oriental" was deemed Wrong - to the east of Europe, hence Eurocentric. I'm sure it will soon be badthink to say the Middle Kingdom is in the Far East.
Just like "Oriental" was deemed Wrong - to the east of Europe, hence Eurocentric. I'm sure it will soon be badthink to say the Middle Kingdom is in the Far East.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:04 AM (kQs4Y)
152
Didja see that the latest word to be forbidden is "exotic"? I never saw that as a problematic word.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 10:00 AM
Hear! Hear! We prefer to be yclept terpsichorean ecdysiasts.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 10:00 AM
Hear! Hear! We prefer to be yclept terpsichorean ecdysiasts.
Posted by: Tiffini in Dallas / Ft. Worth at January 13, 2019 10:04 AM (DMUuz)
153
They really are written for a reason!!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
*sigh* Yes. Because you took it apart right out of the box, to figure out how it works, right? and now you have parts left over while trying to put it back together.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
*sigh* Yes. Because you took it apart right out of the box, to figure out how it works, right? and now you have parts left over while trying to put it back together.
Posted by: Technical Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:04 AM (wNN8A)
154
With nekked tractor repair babes.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:59 AM (MVjcR)
And worth everypenny dollar!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:59 AM (MVjcR)
And worth every
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at January 13, 2019 10:05 AM (f3oO4)
155
Personally - and I'll grant it's just that - I detest continued stories. I'm OK with series on books I've read, or where I know how it ends, like Band of Brothers. But I just detest the new long-form Greatest Age of Television I keep hearing about. I even hated two-part Rockfords. To me they're all just soaps with violence.
Rocky and Bullwinkle is an exception of course.
Rocky and Bullwinkle is an exception of course.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:05 AM (VaN/j)
156
124 Back in July, my professor of Russian and Latin died. Somehow his family decided that I was the one to come in and poke through his books, which they had no idea what to do with. Stuff I didn't take was to be discarded.
The man's library was an absolute treasure.
Posted by: Anachronda at January 13, 2019 09:54 AM (2//jc)
Good for you! I would have taken it all, even if I never intended to read them, because the thought of books being discarded is horrifying to me.
The man's library was an absolute treasure.
Posted by: Anachronda at January 13, 2019 09:54 AM (2//jc)
Good for you! I would have taken it all, even if I never intended to read them, because the thought of books being discarded is horrifying to me.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (sdi6R)
157
Captain Hate, you should suggest "Exterminator!" or "Naked Lunch" for your book club's next read.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:52 AM (kQs4Y)
Not a bad idea. I've already got a past book thread suggestion, Petersburg by Andrei Bely, in the pipeline. The Horde has been a valuable asset for that which is why I strive not to shit all over books other people like frequently.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:52 AM (kQs4Y)
Not a bad idea. I've already got a past book thread suggestion, Petersburg by Andrei Bely, in the pipeline. The Horde has been a valuable asset for that which is why I strive not to shit all over books other people like frequently.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (y7DUB)
158
I remember the snow and the Nile passage. And I too have always used it to refute the "fabulist" charge. Just because he didn't believe it was, to Herodotus, no reason not to report it. (He could have taught our reporters something on that.)
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:28 AM (VaN/j)
I found the one that really got my eye, about the Phoenicians sailing around Africa.
[ . . . ]for Libya furnishes proofs about itself that it is surrounded by sea, except so much of it as borders upon Asia; and this fact was shown by Necos king of the Egyptians first of all those about whom we have knowledge. He [ . . .] sent Phenicians with ships, bidding them sail and come back through the Pillars of Heracles to the Northern Sea and so to Egypt.
The Phenicians therefore set forth from the Erythraian Sea and sailed through the Southern Sea; and when autumn came, they would put to shore and sow the land, wherever in Libya they might happen to be as they sailed, and then they waited for the harvest: and having reaped the corn they would sail on, so that after two years had elapsed, in the third year they turned through the Pillars of Heracles and arrived again in Egypt.
And they reported a thing which I cannot believe, but another man may, namely that in sailing round Libya they had the sun on their right hand.
(I love Gutenberg.org)
This by the way is the basis for a vignette in L. Sprague de Camp's Dragon of the Ishatar Gate, and the whole second part of de Camp's The Golden Wind, which also wove in the two trading expeditions the Ptolemies sent to India.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 09:28 AM (VaN/j)
I found the one that really got my eye, about the Phoenicians sailing around Africa.
[ . . . ]for Libya furnishes proofs about itself that it is surrounded by sea, except so much of it as borders upon Asia; and this fact was shown by Necos king of the Egyptians first of all those about whom we have knowledge. He [ . . .] sent Phenicians with ships, bidding them sail and come back through the Pillars of Heracles to the Northern Sea and so to Egypt.
The Phenicians therefore set forth from the Erythraian Sea and sailed through the Southern Sea; and when autumn came, they would put to shore and sow the land, wherever in Libya they might happen to be as they sailed, and then they waited for the harvest: and having reaped the corn they would sail on, so that after two years had elapsed, in the third year they turned through the Pillars of Heracles and arrived again in Egypt.
And they reported a thing which I cannot believe, but another man may, namely that in sailing round Libya they had the sun on their right hand.
(I love Gutenberg.org)
This by the way is the basis for a vignette in L. Sprague de Camp's Dragon of the Ishatar Gate, and the whole second part of de Camp's The Golden Wind, which also wove in the two trading expeditions the Ptolemies sent to India.
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (mUa7G)
159
134
One thing about the movie "From Here to Eternity" is that it saved Frank Sinatra's career.
He had been a popular singer in the 40s, but by the early 50s he was
more or less on the skids. That movie role gave him a much needed
boost in popularity, and then he went on to create his greatest music.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (sdi6R)
---
Yes, and this was alluded to in "The Godfather," with the famous horse head scene.
Also of note: the book featured the same producer having a line of (underage) wannabe starlets waiting for an audition on the casting couch. One of them leaves the appointment with her makeup smeared, dress out of place and being dragged away by a mother whose eyes are ablaze with triumph.
Hollywood's been a sick place for a long time.
One thing about the movie "From Here to Eternity" is that it saved Frank Sinatra's career.
He had been a popular singer in the 40s, but by the early 50s he was
more or less on the skids. That movie role gave him a much needed
boost in popularity, and then he went on to create his greatest music.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 09:57 AM (sdi6R)
---
Yes, and this was alluded to in "The Godfather," with the famous horse head scene.
Also of note: the book featured the same producer having a line of (underage) wannabe starlets waiting for an audition on the casting couch. One of them leaves the appointment with her makeup smeared, dress out of place and being dragged away by a mother whose eyes are ablaze with triumph.
Hollywood's been a sick place for a long time.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (cfSRQ)
160
Ms Alcott continued Jo's story in Little Men and Jo's Boys. Also worth the read, especially if you have an interest in educational issues related to boys.
Posted by: Aelishdad at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (+dnig)
161
youtube keeps suggesting that i watch a video titled "why does portuguese sound like russian?", but i haven't yet.
I enjoy his (LangFocus) videos a lot, but you've really got to be into languages.
I was at a conference in Lisbon once. The Portuguese engineers we were with spoke American English perfectly. The Spaniards were garbage.. One of the Portuguese told us it because the Spaniards learned British in school and the Portuguese watched television.
I enjoy his (LangFocus) videos a lot, but you've really got to be into languages.
I was at a conference in Lisbon once. The Portuguese engineers we were with spoke American English perfectly. The Spaniards were garbage.. One of the Portuguese told us it because the Spaniards learned British in school and the Portuguese watched television.
Posted by: t-bird at January 13, 2019 10:07 AM (yAc+w)
162
I tried the watch the season after the heir apparent died in a (typically dramatic timed) car wreck, but when they dusted off the Secretly Evil Servant plot line I was done.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)
-------------------
I'm pretty sure that particular character was killed off the way he was so there would be no way he could ever come back. I suspect the writers got a bit tired of the actor and made sure they killed him off to make sure there was not to be any sort of resurrection.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)
-------------------
I'm pretty sure that particular character was killed off the way he was so there would be no way he could ever come back. I suspect the writers got a bit tired of the actor and made sure they killed him off to make sure there was not to be any sort of resurrection.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:08 AM (WEBkv)
163
If I were to do it over, I'd like to learn Portuguese. I find the age of exploration, through Manuel, and the decline, a very interesting. There's apparently some evidence that the improvements in ships of the 16th C, normally attributed to England, was really Portuguese.
The union with Spain really screwed them.
The union with Spain really screwed them.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:08 AM (VaN/j)
164
I'm trying to imaging reading Winnie the Pooh in Latin to my grandkids if I ever get any.
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:59 AM (UdKB7)
When you're done with that you can read them Hobbitus Ille. A Latin translation of The Hobbit. Assuming you get the grandkids, of course.
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:59 AM (UdKB7)
When you're done with that you can read them Hobbitus Ille. A Latin translation of The Hobbit. Assuming you get the grandkids, of course.
Posted by: J. Randomus Dudeus at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (ayQjc)
165
Lewis said that his gardener Fred Paxford was inspiration for the loyal and pessimistic Puddleglum (Douglas Gresham recalls, "If you said good morning to him, he might reply, 'Ah! Looks like rain afore lunch, though; if'n it don't snow or hail, tha's.'")
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (kQs4Y)
In the 1980s BBC adaptation of the Narnia books, they chose Tom Baker (Dr. Who) for the role of Puddleglum, He played the part pitch pefect. His work was the high point of the series.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 09:47 AM (kQs4Y)
In the 1980s BBC adaptation of the Narnia books, they chose Tom Baker (Dr. Who) for the role of Puddleglum, He played the part pitch pefect. His work was the high point of the series.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (IoAJL)
166
So over the Christmas Season I went to a used book store in the area. It is quite an extraordinary place these days to see all the old books gathered sorted and up for sale. Its in an old barn in eastern CT. Really awesome place, cats wandering around and all.
Anyhoooooo, I been reading thriller/action/spy/ type stuff lately cause they are easy to read and relax my mind from daily stress. So at this Barn of Books I went nuts and picked up all sorts of these books for $1 a piece, $4 for the really popular authors.
There are some good writers out there who tell terrible (to me) stories. Kinda weird. People who can really paint a scene, a location or a feeling, but fail with the plot or motivation. Writing is hard. I get it.
But what really jumped out at me was there is apparently a sub genre of the thriller/action/spy stuff that is actually thinly guised romance novels, maybe aimed at women I suppose.
I can certainly take a female lead in an action book, but what this author does is toss in action once in a while (maybe like real life), but spends an inordinate amount of time discussing why hubby is not doing it for the lead (she wants it just a little harder and rougher, he's too domestic), while constantly talking about the "hero's", we can call him Fabio, cut swollen thighs, and his tight fitting french cut shirt that becomes see through when he sweats through it, blah blah blah.
AND THEN.....every 75 pages or some there is an absolutely pornographic sex scene so coarse and gross that there would be no way I could ever leave the book in the book exchange at my place of work. It's full of BD self loathing and slurping of sex fluids. WTF!!!! I flip to the back cover to look at the picture of the author and its this middle aged Jewish woman who's going to "be the next great writer of her time", according to James Patterson in the 1998 book flap review.
Jeebus......what a train wreck. Women write the strangest "love scenes". I guess that's why they are called "bodice rippers". Who knew, other than the whole industry I mean. In every "love scene" I was absolutely horrified at what I was reading.
Anyhoooooo, I been reading thriller/action/spy/ type stuff lately cause they are easy to read and relax my mind from daily stress. So at this Barn of Books I went nuts and picked up all sorts of these books for $1 a piece, $4 for the really popular authors.
There are some good writers out there who tell terrible (to me) stories. Kinda weird. People who can really paint a scene, a location or a feeling, but fail with the plot or motivation. Writing is hard. I get it.
But what really jumped out at me was there is apparently a sub genre of the thriller/action/spy stuff that is actually thinly guised romance novels, maybe aimed at women I suppose.
I can certainly take a female lead in an action book, but what this author does is toss in action once in a while (maybe like real life), but spends an inordinate amount of time discussing why hubby is not doing it for the lead (she wants it just a little harder and rougher, he's too domestic), while constantly talking about the "hero's", we can call him Fabio, cut swollen thighs, and his tight fitting french cut shirt that becomes see through when he sweats through it, blah blah blah.
AND THEN.....every 75 pages or some there is an absolutely pornographic sex scene so coarse and gross that there would be no way I could ever leave the book in the book exchange at my place of work. It's full of BD self loathing and slurping of sex fluids. WTF!!!! I flip to the back cover to look at the picture of the author and its this middle aged Jewish woman who's going to "be the next great writer of her time", according to James Patterson in the 1998 book flap review.
Jeebus......what a train wreck. Women write the strangest "love scenes". I guess that's why they are called "bodice rippers". Who knew, other than the whole industry I mean. In every "love scene" I was absolutely horrified at what I was reading.
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (9dzlp)
167
'Just like "Oriental" was deemed Wrong - to the east of Europe, hence Eurocentric. '
It is a question of wong vs white.
It is a question of wong vs white.
Posted by: Confusedus at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (UdKB7)
168
Last week I think I mentioned the Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford Ashley. Published in the mid-1940s, it is still considered THE compendium of knots and their purpose and history. Turns out I enjoy the writing and his illustrations but the knots' description are mosty beyond me. An experienced knot tyer would be okay with it. Still worth it for the information imparted.
Then I learned that Ashley as a young man went to sea on the last whaing ship that used all sail, around 1900. "The Yankee Whaler" was his description of life and duties aboard such a voyage so the traditional skills wouldn't be lost. I'm just starting it but it's a fun read so far. Part of my enjoyment is his writing ability. Ashley was born around 1880 and his writing reflects that Victorian era style I enjoy for non-fiction. It's a combination of clear word use that is capable of nuance, humor (usually straight-faced) and even disapproval with a relaxed pacing. It assumes the author will both inform and entertain the reader and it's worth the time to read carefully.
Then I learned that Ashley as a young man went to sea on the last whaing ship that used all sail, around 1900. "The Yankee Whaler" was his description of life and duties aboard such a voyage so the traditional skills wouldn't be lost. I'm just starting it but it's a fun read so far. Part of my enjoyment is his writing ability. Ashley was born around 1880 and his writing reflects that Victorian era style I enjoy for non-fiction. It's a combination of clear word use that is capable of nuance, humor (usually straight-faced) and even disapproval with a relaxed pacing. It assumes the author will both inform and entertain the reader and it's worth the time to read carefully.
Posted by: JTB at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (bmdz3)
169
Good for you! I would have taken it all, even if I never intended to read them, because the thought of books being discarded is horrifying to me.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (sdi6R)
With a few exceptions. What Happened and Dreams of My Father wouldn't be missed. I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (sdi6R)
With a few exceptions. What Happened and Dreams of My Father wouldn't be missed. I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
170
155
Personally - and I'll grant it's just that - I detest continued stories.
I'm OK with series on books I've read, or where I know how it ends,
like Band of Brothers. But I just detest the new long-form Greatest Age
of Television I keep hearing about. I even hated two-part Rockfords. To
me they're all just soaps with violence.
Rocky and Bullwinkle is an exception of course.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:05 AM (VaN/j)
---
Results may vary. What I like is that there's no pressure to make a season have a set number of episodes, so you can do more of a miniseries to keep things from getting dull.
Looking back on Babylon 5 (which has aged well), it's clear that many of the episodes were filler to meet the contract (such as the entire 5th season). It would have been a better show if they could have condensed the action and not had some of the placeholder episodes to fill out the 22-24 episode requirement.
IF you haven't seen "Justified" check it out. They ended it at the right time, before it started to drag.
Personally - and I'll grant it's just that - I detest continued stories.
I'm OK with series on books I've read, or where I know how it ends,
like Band of Brothers. But I just detest the new long-form Greatest Age
of Television I keep hearing about. I even hated two-part Rockfords. To
me they're all just soaps with violence.
Rocky and Bullwinkle is an exception of course.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:05 AM (VaN/j)
---
Results may vary. What I like is that there's no pressure to make a season have a set number of episodes, so you can do more of a miniseries to keep things from getting dull.
Looking back on Babylon 5 (which has aged well), it's clear that many of the episodes were filler to meet the contract (such as the entire 5th season). It would have been a better show if they could have condensed the action and not had some of the placeholder episodes to fill out the 22-24 episode requirement.
IF you haven't seen "Justified" check it out. They ended it at the right time, before it started to drag.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (cfSRQ)
171
I'll second the recommendation for Nevil Shute's No Highway. For once, the movie version is actually better than the book, though. The book had some more superstitious elements about psychic powers that the movie left out. My favorite Nevil Shute works are Most Secret - a novel about a renegade group of British commandos operating from fishing boats off Brittany in WW2 and Trustee from the Toolroom, a novel of a machinist whose hobby has made him friends around the world who help him in an intriguing quest.
This week, I read John C. Wright's Book of Feasts & Seasons - excellent collection of short stories around the theme of religious holidays. I also reread Declan Finn's Saint Tommy NYPD books, Hell Spawn and Death Cult. The third should be out soon. Excellent police procedurals / urban fantasy pastiche.
On the Kindle, I have Stefan Molyneaux's Essential Philosophy: How to Know What on Earth is Going On, and Meeting Boudicca by C.A. Powell, a historical novel about the titular queen.
This week, I read John C. Wright's Book of Feasts & Seasons - excellent collection of short stories around the theme of religious holidays. I also reread Declan Finn's Saint Tommy NYPD books, Hell Spawn and Death Cult. The third should be out soon. Excellent police procedurals / urban fantasy pastiche.
On the Kindle, I have Stefan Molyneaux's Essential Philosophy: How to Know What on Earth is Going On, and Meeting Boudicca by C.A. Powell, a historical novel about the titular queen.
Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (1pQvR)
172
153 They really are written for a reason!!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
*sigh* Yes. Because you took it apart right out of the box, to figure out how it works, right? and now you have parts left over while trying to put it back together.
Posted by: Technical Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:04 AM (wNN8A)
-------
Well, yes.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
*sigh* Yes. Because you took it apart right out of the box, to figure out how it works, right? and now you have parts left over while trying to put it back together.
Posted by: Technical Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:04 AM (wNN8A)
-------
Well, yes.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (MVjcR)
173
LOL, A.H. Lloyd, Shakespeare just did not think of it ! .....but the Brits get me with their acting mastery every time. This particular one was also very historically correct - etiquette, costumes, pretty much everything. And personally, if I judged every show by how sound and cohesive the plot is, I would not watch any. You know ? To each his own...
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (bUjCl)
174
In the 1980s BBC adaptation of the Narnia books, they chose Tom Baker (Dr. Who) for the role of Puddleglum, He played the part pitch pefect. His work was the high point of the series.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (IoAJL)
---
I loved their Silver Chair! It's on YouTube last time I checked.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (IoAJL)
---
I loved their Silver Chair! It's on YouTube last time I checked.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (kQs4Y)
175
Absolutely. I used to be terrible about reading manuals when I bought a new piece of equipment. They really are written for a reason!!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
-----------------
Unfortunately, though, I've run across a manual or two that is written in Engrish.
(see: engrish.com)
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 09:49 AM (MVjcR)
-----------------
Unfortunately, though, I've run across a manual or two that is written in Engrish.
(see: engrish.com)
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (WEBkv)
176
if agnotolgy is the study of doubt is atheistology the study of condescending douchebags?
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (2DOZq)
177
Unfortunately, though, I've run across a manual or two that is written in Engrish.
(see: engrish.com)
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (WEBkv)
-----
That site is great!
Unfortunately, though, I've run across a manual or two that is written in Engrish.
(see: engrish.com)
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:12 AM (WEBkv)
-----
That site is great!
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 10:13 AM (MVjcR)
178
Yes, and this was alluded to in "The Godfather," with the famous horse head scene.
=
Ha ! that was about old blue eyes, wasn't it.
=
Ha ! that was about old blue eyes, wasn't it.
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:13 AM (bUjCl)
179
I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:14 AM (kQs4Y)
180
now you have parts left over while trying to put it back together.
Posted by: Technical Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:04 AM (wNN8A)
Once I would never aver believed this possible, but I once rebuilt a small tractor engine carefully keeping track of every part as I disassembled it and in a pristine garage. Got it back together, and it ran very rough and just got worse and worse. Finally took it to the shop, paid them a snootful, but they got it running correctly. AND they said there were two valve tappet pieces (spacers IIRC) missing, I'd take an oath that there were never any such pieces present in the disassembly. But they got it back to running. That was one of many times I wished I had the true shop manual available! It would have paid for itself.
Posted by: Technical Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:04 AM (wNN8A)
Once I would never aver believed this possible, but I once rebuilt a small tractor engine carefully keeping track of every part as I disassembled it and in a pristine garage. Got it back together, and it ran very rough and just got worse and worse. Finally took it to the shop, paid them a snootful, but they got it running correctly. AND they said there were two valve tappet pieces (spacers IIRC) missing, I'd take an oath that there were never any such pieces present in the disassembly. But they got it back to running. That was one of many times I wished I had the true shop manual available! It would have paid for itself.
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at January 13, 2019 10:15 AM (f3oO4)
181
from last book thread:
I am a huge Nevil Shute fan. I have every book of his except the last one completed after his death.
His popular book A Town Like Alice was written to finance his masterpiece Round the Bend.
His autobiography Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer should be read by every problem solver or engineer. The R-100 and R-101 story is well told.
So many of his books glitter in memory. I even read a book of Progressive criticism on his books, something I never do.
IMHO, he takes Work as the central theme, and hangs tales on them. His mystic side, seen in No Highway and other books, does feel a tad odd juxtaposed with accurate aeronautical details.
Trustee From the Toolroom is a heartwarming book to read.
He was prophetic in his topics, as No Highway dealt with metal fatigue before it was found to be causing the crashes of a British airliner, the de Havilland DH 106.
For political type, his set in the future novel In the Wet describes the collapse of Great Britain and the hugely appealing political system of multiple votes that is put forward as the solution. Supersonic travel in the Queen's Flight adds to the appeal. It does have a large framing sequence that can be skipped.
If we had a multiple voting system the Democratic Party's attempt to end America would be tougher.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 06, 2019 10:01 AM (u82oZ)
I am a huge Nevil Shute fan. I have every book of his except the last one completed after his death.
His popular book A Town Like Alice was written to finance his masterpiece Round the Bend.
His autobiography Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer should be read by every problem solver or engineer. The R-100 and R-101 story is well told.
So many of his books glitter in memory. I even read a book of Progressive criticism on his books, something I never do.
IMHO, he takes Work as the central theme, and hangs tales on them. His mystic side, seen in No Highway and other books, does feel a tad odd juxtaposed with accurate aeronautical details.
Trustee From the Toolroom is a heartwarming book to read.
He was prophetic in his topics, as No Highway dealt with metal fatigue before it was found to be causing the crashes of a British airliner, the de Havilland DH 106.
For political type, his set in the future novel In the Wet describes the collapse of Great Britain and the hugely appealing political system of multiple votes that is put forward as the solution. Supersonic travel in the Queen's Flight adds to the appeal. It does have a large framing sequence that can be skipped.
If we had a multiple voting system the Democratic Party's attempt to end America would be tougher.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 06, 2019 10:01 AM (u82oZ)
Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 13, 2019 10:15 AM (u82oZ)
182
Over the last week, I tried reading, and failed, "When the Killings Done."
Good grief, what a piece of tripe. Resulted in the longest review I've ever written for a book I found unreadable.
Good grief, what a piece of tripe. Resulted in the longest review I've ever written for a book I found unreadable.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:15 AM (WEBkv)
183
My favorite bit ever on Get Smart was Max giving the secret password phrase to another agent.
Max: Who wrote Little Women?
Agent: The book or the screenplay?
Max: There was a book?
Max: Who wrote Little Women?
Agent: The book or the screenplay?
Max: There was a book?
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:15 AM (2DOZq)
184
Last week I think I mentioned the Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford Ashley.
I have Fell's Official Guide to Knots.
I bought it for a buck.
It came with a piece of rope.
I have Fell's Official Guide to Knots.
I bought it for a buck.
It came with a piece of rope.
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (vNLNV)
185
I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
==
"Eyes Wide Open"
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
==
"Eyes Wide Open"
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (bUjCl)
186
158
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (mUa7G)
Yes. Reminds me of a question I thought when I saw that. I didn't think Dante knew Herodotus. But maybe there was some record; as the Purgatorio mentions the Southern Cross. Or maybe there was some other source.
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (mUa7G)
Yes. Reminds me of a question I thought when I saw that. I didn't think Dante knew Herodotus. But maybe there was some record; as the Purgatorio mentions the Southern Cross. Or maybe there was some other source.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (VaN/j)
187
Jeebus......what a train wreck. Women write the strangest "love scenes". I guess that's why they are called "bodice rippers". Who knew, other than the whole industry I mean. In every "love scene" I was absolutely horrified at what I was reading.
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (9dzlp)
Ha! Weren't you the one swooning over Mel Gibson in one of the rant threads last week? Not enough man sex in these books for you?
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (9dzlp)
Ha! Weren't you the one swooning over Mel Gibson in one of the rant threads last week? Not enough man sex in these books for you?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (IoAJL)
188
Posted by: Anachronda at January 13, 2019 09:54 AM (2//jc)
===
I was taught Russian with Soviet textbooks. They eventually fell apart.
===
I was taught Russian with Soviet textbooks. They eventually fell apart.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 13, 2019 10:17 AM (EZebt)
189
I finished "Lincoln in the Bardo". I still don't know what to think. I think I'm going to give the book away. It's like Anne Rice meets Shelby Foote. If you're looking for a really, really weird ride, pick it up. If you're even slightly depressed, keep away.
You've been warned.
You've been warned.
Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at January 13, 2019 10:17 AM (ty7RM)
190
Re the R100 / R101 story, Shute wrote a nonfiction book, *Slide Rule*, on his experiences on the R100 team and impressions of the problems with the R101. His NS handle was short for Nevil Shute Norway, BTW.
Have just read *Adas Algorithm* about the collaboration between Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, and Charles Babbage, which makes the case that modern computing concepts were foreseen by her in mid-19th century England, but were impeded by Babbages limited vision of computing machinery as sophisticated calculators, and his bloody-mindedness that made it impossible to sell his ideas to government (although the Crown did spend the equivalent cost of two RN frigates on his prototype).
Nevil Shute does a pretty interesting job of portraying engineering computing in Britain some 3/4 century later than Babbage, and it does not seem to have made any great breakthroughs in equipment anyway - still relying on meat computers - dozens of young women doing incremental calculations by hand or with simple adding machines.
Makes you wonder what Ada could have done if unleashed. I dont think Adas Alorithm is just another Chicks Wuz Always Getting Held Back alternative history books, but her potential may have been exaggerated a wee bit, not sure.
Have just read *Adas Algorithm* about the collaboration between Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, and Charles Babbage, which makes the case that modern computing concepts were foreseen by her in mid-19th century England, but were impeded by Babbages limited vision of computing machinery as sophisticated calculators, and his bloody-mindedness that made it impossible to sell his ideas to government (although the Crown did spend the equivalent cost of two RN frigates on his prototype).
Nevil Shute does a pretty interesting job of portraying engineering computing in Britain some 3/4 century later than Babbage, and it does not seem to have made any great breakthroughs in equipment anyway - still relying on meat computers - dozens of young women doing incremental calculations by hand or with simple adding machines.
Makes you wonder what Ada could have done if unleashed. I dont think Adas Alorithm is just another Chicks Wuz Always Getting Held Back alternative history books, but her potential may have been exaggerated a wee bit, not sure.
Posted by: Ray Van Dune at January 13, 2019 10:17 AM (9GXhn)
191
187
Jeebus......what a train wreck. Women write the strangest "love
scenes". I guess that's why they are called "bodice rippers". Who knew,
other than the whole industry I mean. In every "love scene" I was
absolutely horrified at what I was reading.
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (9dzlp)
Ha!
Weren't you the one swooning over Mel Gibson in one of the rant threads
last week? Not enough man sex in these books for you?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (IoAJL)
Why I nevah!
Jeebus......what a train wreck. Women write the strangest "love
scenes". I guess that's why they are called "bodice rippers". Who knew,
other than the whole industry I mean. In every "love scene" I was
absolutely horrified at what I was reading.
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:09 AM (9dzlp)
Ha!
Weren't you the one swooning over Mel Gibson in one of the rant threads
last week? Not enough man sex in these books for you?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (IoAJL)
Why I nevah!
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:17 AM (9dzlp)
192
185 I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
==
"Eyes Wide Open"
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (bUjCl)
---
"Chopper Chick from Zombie Town"
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
==
"Eyes Wide Open"
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (bUjCl)
---
"Chopper Chick from Zombie Town"
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:18 AM (kQs4Y)
193
185 I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
Who Dis? Dis me .
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
Who Dis? Dis me .
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:18 AM (2DOZq)
194
My own AOC title would be "How to Succeed in Politics Without Ever Thinking".
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:18 AM (VaN/j)
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 10:19 AM (vNLNV)
196
Many years ago when I was in college, one of the
GTFs who taught Physics I could barely understand, his accent was so
thick. To my ears, it sounded like some Slavic language. But the guy
turned out to be Portuguese.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 09:53 AM (IoAJL)
I have a co-worker who is from Brazil. She talks like Gru.
GTFs who taught Physics I could barely understand, his accent was so
thick. To my ears, it sounded like some Slavic language. But the guy
turned out to be Portuguese.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 09:53 AM (IoAJL)
I have a co-worker who is from Brazil. She talks like Gru.
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 10:19 AM (mUa7G)
197
"I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?"
Mein Lucha
Mein Lucha
Posted by: Confusedus at January 13, 2019 10:19 AM (UdKB7)
198
I was taught Russian with Soviet textbooks. They eventually fell apart. Posted by: San Franpsycho
They didn't fall; they were pushed.
They didn't fall; they were pushed.
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at January 13, 2019 10:20 AM (Ndje9)
199
Socialism For Dummies
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 10:21 AM (UdKB7)
200
199 Socialism For Dummies
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 10:21 AM (UdKB7)
Dummies for Socialism
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 10:21 AM (UdKB7)
Dummies for Socialism
Posted by: Sandy n Bernie at January 13, 2019 10:22 AM (JFO2v)
201
185 I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
==
"Eyes Wide Open"
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (bUjCl)
The Dummies Guide to Being Stupid
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:11 AM (VaN/j)
---
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".
==
"Eyes Wide Open"
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (bUjCl)
The Dummies Guide to Being Stupid
Posted by: Wurst Dan Hitler at January 13, 2019 10:22 AM (MkcN1)
202
I have a book somewhere devoted to the bicycle in war. It's years since I read it, and I don't know where it is now (the normal location of most of my books.) But I do recall that it played the biggest success as their use by the Japanese in SE Asia, e.g., Malaya and Burma.
There were some such units at the start of WWII. IIRC, the Belgians has some in the Ardennes. Which is odd, given the limited road networks there.
There were some such units at the start of WWII. IIRC, the Belgians has some in the Ardennes. Which is odd, given the limited road networks there.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:23 AM (VaN/j)
203
So it looks like the Roy Moore hitting on schoolgirls was one big Dem false flag operation. 2020 will be fun!
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (JFO2v)
part of that, I suspect, will be the Kekistanis saying, "game's on b***h"
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 09:58 AM (JFO2v)
part of that, I suspect, will be the Kekistanis saying, "game's on b***h"
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 10:23 AM (mUa7G)
204
Cuthbert, I used to visit the Book Barn often. Loved seeing the cats roaming around the place.
Its great for finding cheap books, but I could never get over how they just leave them essentially exposed to the elements. There was more than a few times I picked up an interesting book that was covered in cat hair and pollen dust, or warped from the humidity, which just seems not right.
It is an unusual book store with quite a variety, tho. We've moved so far away that I haven't been there in years, so it is interesting to know that it is still open.
Its great for finding cheap books, but I could never get over how they just leave them essentially exposed to the elements. There was more than a few times I picked up an interesting book that was covered in cat hair and pollen dust, or warped from the humidity, which just seems not right.
It is an unusual book store with quite a variety, tho. We've moved so far away that I haven't been there in years, so it is interesting to know that it is still open.
Posted by: squeakywheel at January 13, 2019 10:24 AM (miKko)
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:24 AM (VaN/j)
206
Something Kapuscinsky points out about Herodotus which maybe gets overlooked by modern people is that he was totally on his own when amassing his work. In addition to not working for a corporation who would underwrite his travels, he had to figure a way to make it entertaining enough that people would be interested enough to pay money to hear him talk about it.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 10:24 AM (y7DUB)
207
I'm imaging a platoon of war bicyclists ringing their bells in unison. It doesn't exactly inspire terror.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:26 AM (sdi6R)
208
""There was more than a few times I picked up an interesting book that was covered in cat hair and pollen dust..."
----
To be fair, this describes my own library as well.
----
To be fair, this describes my own library as well.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:26 AM (kQs4Y)
209
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 09:53 AM (IoAJL)
That's the joke about Sarah Hoyt's accent. Everyone wants to hear her say "Moose and Squirrel".
That's the joke about Sarah Hoyt's accent. Everyone wants to hear her say "Moose and Squirrel".
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 10:27 AM (uquGJ)
210
Reading "Everything That Rises Must Converge," stories by Flannery O'Connor--after having enjoyed "A Good Man is Hard to Find" last year. Sometimes it seems O'Connor, Caldwell, and the other Southern Gothicists were all fleeing the same boogeyman, and jettisoning all their weighty ancestors and other family members as they went, so as to lighten their load and aid their flight. Keeping only this peculiar and eminently readable contempt.
Not sure I know of any writer who loathed intellectuals as vividly and comically as O'Connor. Seems like half of her stories has some intellectual-shaped pinata.
Not sure I know of any writer who loathed intellectuals as vividly and comically as O'Connor. Seems like half of her stories has some intellectual-shaped pinata.
Posted by: River Cat at January 13, 2019 10:27 AM (wJ/zZ)
211
Finally remembered to erase that Wurst Dan Hitler sock.
Posted by: Northern Lurker, still hiding after all these years at January 13, 2019 10:27 AM (MkcN1)
212
> I assume AOC will have one out soon. And there's a question for the Horde. What should the title be?
"Math is Hard", by Communist Barbie.
"Math is Hard", by Communist Barbie.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at January 13, 2019 10:29 AM (YLHN9)
213
"Let's Go Crazy ! My Roadmap To Socialist America" by AOC...
There is a series of videos called "AOC dances to every song' - all your favs folks, WHAM!, Prince - Let's go Crazy, and other classics. I highly recommend....
"Let's Go Crazy ! My Roadmap To Socialist America" by AOC...
There is a series of videos called "AOC dances to every song' - all your favs folks, WHAM!, Prince - Let's go Crazy, and other classics. I highly recommend....
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:29 AM (bUjCl)
214
There were some such units at the start of WWII.
==============================
The Italians had bicycle mounted troops. The Bicygliari IIRC. I believe some spec. ops. troops use mountain bikes today.
==============================
The Italians had bicycle mounted troops. The Bicygliari IIRC. I believe some spec. ops. troops use mountain bikes today.
Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at January 13, 2019 10:30 AM (ty7RM)
215
207 I'm imaging a platoon of war bicyclists ringing their bells in unison. It doesn't exactly inspire terror.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:26 AM (sdi6R)
A folding bike design was originally developed for the US military under a grant from DARPA to allow airborne soldiers to drop out of airplanes and into combat with a bike. The rugged and portable Paratrooper folding bike is now available to the public.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:26 AM (sdi6R)
A folding bike design was originally developed for the US military under a grant from DARPA to allow airborne soldiers to drop out of airplanes and into combat with a bike. The rugged and portable Paratrooper folding bike is now available to the public.
Posted by: Military Folding Bikes at January 13, 2019 10:31 AM (wNN8A)
216
I hesitate to post this here. Being a heathen among people of faith can uncomfortable (though Teh Horde is amazingly tolerant).
Anyway, I'm almost finished reading [i[Holy Bible - Best God Damned Version - The Books of Moses: For atheists, agnostics, and fans of religious stupidity.
It's pretty much what it sounds like from the title...an irreverent romp through the first part of the Old Testament with every inconsistency in the Bible highlighted...often. And there are a ton of inconsistencies, as anyone familiar with the Bible knows. I'm still trying to sort out different versions of the delivery of the Ten Commandments.
But I think the description of it as "for atheists, agnostics, etc" is wrong. I can easily see how a person of faith could find this book an endearing retelling of a story he already knows by heart and believes with all his heart, despite it's glaring contradictions.
For all his attention on the mashups in the Bible I got the impression the author held some affection for them. The end result is laugh-out-loud funny, even if it is sacrilegious.
Anyway, I'm almost finished reading [i[Holy Bible - Best God Damned Version - The Books of Moses: For atheists, agnostics, and fans of religious stupidity.
It's pretty much what it sounds like from the title...an irreverent romp through the first part of the Old Testament with every inconsistency in the Bible highlighted...often. And there are a ton of inconsistencies, as anyone familiar with the Bible knows. I'm still trying to sort out different versions of the delivery of the Ten Commandments.
But I think the description of it as "for atheists, agnostics, etc" is wrong. I can easily see how a person of faith could find this book an endearing retelling of a story he already knows by heart and believes with all his heart, despite it's glaring contradictions.
For all his attention on the mashups in the Bible I got the impression the author held some affection for them. The end result is laugh-out-loud funny, even if it is sacrilegious.
Posted by: creeper at January 13, 2019 10:31 AM (5ysN4)
217
The comments about "Orient" being taboo remind me that the book Dangerous Knowledge, Orientalism and Its Enemies is pretty good. Though the author seems ultimately a pinko, he has not patience for the pomo PC horseshit. Plus, it's a good review of the the history of Western studies of the Middle East.
And the takedown of Said is worth the read, all by itself.
And the takedown of Said is worth the read, all by itself.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:31 AM (VaN/j)
218
That's the joke about Sarah Hoyt's accent. Everyone wants to hear her say "Moose and Squirrel".
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 10:27 AM (uquGJ)
---------------
She's already said she won't say it. It was pretty funny when I read it and even funnier when I heard her speak.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 10:27 AM (uquGJ)
---------------
She's already said she won't say it. It was pretty funny when I read it and even funnier when I heard her speak.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:31 AM (WEBkv)
219
Ha!
Weren't you the one swooning over Mel Gibson in one of the rant threads
last week? Not enough man sex in these books for you?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (IoAJL)
Why I nevah!
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:17 AM (9dzlp)
---
This brings me back to one of my recurring themes that overt displays of masculinity (and expressing admiration for it) have been labeled "gay" precisely because they threaten less masculine men (i.e. Hollywood types).
People have fun with this, but the whole notion that expressing admiration for a male figure = gay is exactly what LGBTQWERY movement wants. While the ribbing was (generally) good natured, using shame is a way that people are coerced into thinking they are gay.
The military now has a growing problem with same-sex assaults and they have helpful brochures explaining how people can be forced into homosexual acts and then told that there's no going back.
It's a thing, and has been for a while.
Since this is a book thread, I'll note that a number of literary figures experimented with homosexuality before utterly rejecting it. Robert Graves actually argued that the British Public School system was set up specifically to create homosexuals. Evelyn Waugh's older (and for a while more famous) brother Alec wrote a scandalous book about it that got him banned from his school's alumni association (which was a big deal in the clubbish upper classes).
Weren't you the one swooning over Mel Gibson in one of the rant threads
last week? Not enough man sex in these books for you?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:16 AM (IoAJL)
Why I nevah!
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at January 13, 2019 10:17 AM (9dzlp)
---
This brings me back to one of my recurring themes that overt displays of masculinity (and expressing admiration for it) have been labeled "gay" precisely because they threaten less masculine men (i.e. Hollywood types).
People have fun with this, but the whole notion that expressing admiration for a male figure = gay is exactly what LGBTQWERY movement wants. While the ribbing was (generally) good natured, using shame is a way that people are coerced into thinking they are gay.
The military now has a growing problem with same-sex assaults and they have helpful brochures explaining how people can be forced into homosexual acts and then told that there's no going back.
It's a thing, and has been for a while.
Since this is a book thread, I'll note that a number of literary figures experimented with homosexuality before utterly rejecting it. Robert Graves actually argued that the British Public School system was set up specifically to create homosexuals. Evelyn Waugh's older (and for a while more famous) brother Alec wrote a scandalous book about it that got him banned from his school's alumni association (which was a big deal in the clubbish upper classes).
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)
220
The Bicygliari ?? I need to look this up..
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (bUjCl)
221
And now I'm off to church.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:33 AM (cfSRQ)
222
The title No Highway in the Sky reminds me of some comics bit on fear of flying. 'I hate people who continually tell me flying is safer than driving. All I know is if my fan belt breaks when I'm driving I ain't going to die '
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:33 AM (2DOZq)
223
Speaking of, does anyone know if O'CrazyHo-CourtDate came along on the "fact-finding mission" to Puerto Rico with her fellow Dems?
Facts are often to found in warm locations like Puerto Rico during Congressional breaks in January. Much more common there than in, say, Duluth, Minnesota.
It is known.
Facts are often to found in warm locations like Puerto Rico during Congressional breaks in January. Much more common there than in, say, Duluth, Minnesota.
It is known.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at January 13, 2019 10:33 AM (YLHN9)
224
Good thing it was the opening tag I screwed up and not the closing one. Vic's not here to save my butt.
Posted by: creeper at January 13, 2019 10:34 AM (5ysN4)
225
Not sure I know of any writer who loathed intellectuals as vividly and comically as O'Connor. Seems like half of her stories has some intellectual-shaped pinata.
Posted by: River Cat at January 13, 2019 10:27 AM (wJ/zZ)
The one about the pinhead father who was unsympathetic to his poor son who was distraught over his dead mother was scathingly brutal. I also admire anyone who regards To Kill a Mockingbird as a children's book.
Posted by: River Cat at January 13, 2019 10:27 AM (wJ/zZ)
The one about the pinhead father who was unsympathetic to his poor son who was distraught over his dead mother was scathingly brutal. I also admire anyone who regards To Kill a Mockingbird as a children's book.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 10:34 AM (y7DUB)
226
In "The Jungle is Neutral", Chapman describes the Japanese travelling en mass by bike, though that is more just troop transport rather than war bicyclists.
I'm picturing a phalanx of cyclists with polo mallets and machine guns.
I'm picturing a phalanx of cyclists with polo mallets and machine guns.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:35 AM (kQs4Y)
227
The idea of combat soldiers riding bicycles just seems comical to me.
Then again, they laughed at airplanes at first.
I guess it's easier to sneak up on a target with a bicycle than with a tank.
Then again, they laughed at airplanes at first.
I guess it's easier to sneak up on a target with a bicycle than with a tank.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (sdi6R)
228
So it looks like the Roy Moore hitting on schoolgirls was one big Dem false flag operation. 2020 will be fun!
---------------------
Gee, think that Kavanaugh accusing dimwit with all the convenient Deep State ties might have been the same thing?
Seriously, if we don't get the likes of Fusion GPS and their contacts in the bureaucracies in front of a firing squad, Western Civ is done for.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at January 13, 2019 10:03 AM (m075u)
I'm enough of a cynic to believe those episodes were a twofer. First, to try to destroy the candidates in question, and second, to saturate the battlefield with enough false claims that the real ones would lose their power.
---------------------
Gee, think that Kavanaugh accusing dimwit with all the convenient Deep State ties might have been the same thing?
Seriously, if we don't get the likes of Fusion GPS and their contacts in the bureaucracies in front of a firing squad, Western Civ is done for.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at January 13, 2019 10:03 AM (m075u)
I'm enough of a cynic to believe those episodes were a twofer. First, to try to destroy the candidates in question, and second, to saturate the battlefield with enough false claims that the real ones would lose their power.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (cY3LT)
229
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (HaL55)
230
Since this is a book thread, I'll note that a number of literary figures experimented with homosexuality before utterly rejecting it. Robert Graves actually argued that the British Public School system was set up specifically to create homosexuals. Evelyn Waugh's older (and for a while more famous) brother Alec wrote a scandalous book about it that got him banned from his school's alumni association (which was a big deal in the clubbish upper classes).
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)[/i[
One of Michael Gilbert's characters says much the same thing.
It's been noticeable for a long time that they (a) love to say that it's inherent, and (b) love to recruit.
Amazing that boys' schools and prisons get so many who were "born gay".
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)[/i[
One of Michael Gilbert's characters says much the same thing.
It's been noticeable for a long time that they (a) love to say that it's inherent, and (b) love to recruit.
Amazing that boys' schools and prisons get so many who were "born gay".
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (VaN/j)
231
How many of those books in the Brazilian libarry are illustrated samba manuals?
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (cY3LT)
232
Facts are often to found in warm locations like Puerto Rico during Congressional breaks in January. Much more common there than in, say, Duluth, Minnesota.
It is known.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at January 13, 2019 10:33 AM (YLHN9)
--------------
Maybe someone could tell Occasion Cortex to visit "Frostbite Falls" in MN.
It is known.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at January 13, 2019 10:33 AM (YLHN9)
--------------
Maybe someone could tell Occasion Cortex to visit "Frostbite Falls" in MN.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (WEBkv)
233
I suspect that what you guys consider reading and how I read is a bit different. I read a book a day approximately. Almost all of them are self-published/small publisher apocalyptic/sci-fi/fantasy. I did gobble up Amy Lynn and Luna City in the last year. My absolute fave authors are Thomas A. Watson, N.C. Reed and J.L. Curtis and guys like that. I re-read Laurence Dahner's complete Ell Donsai series every few months. More established authors that I read avidly are John Ringo, Terry Pratchett, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody stories. If you absolutely cannot acquire enough words to read Michael Anderle produces vast quantities of words but many of his co-authors aren't quite up to snuff. Love to see what everybody is reading. Returning to lurker mode.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (tJj1y)
234
I guess it's easier to sneak up on a target with a bicycle than with a tank.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (sdi6R)
---
Brrrriinggg Brrrriinggg! Honk!
*enemy laughs*
Flamethrower.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (sdi6R)
---
Brrrriinggg Brrrriinggg! Honk!
*enemy laughs*
Flamethrower.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (kQs4Y)
235
But I think the description of it as "for atheists, agnostics, etc" is wrong. I can easily see how a person of faith could find this book an endearing retelling of a story he already knows by heart and believes with all his heart, despite it's glaring contradictions.
Types ...deletes. You're right . The Horde is tolerant.
Types ...deletes. You're right . The Horde is tolerant.
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (2DOZq)
236
"...sometimes there is that one little detail that will make your life a whole lot easier."
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (UdKB7)
"Do not use lighted match to illuminate inside of fuel tank while removing fuel pump."
Posted by: freaked at January 13, 2019 09:33 AM (UdKB7)
"Do not use lighted match to illuminate inside of fuel tank while removing fuel pump."
Posted by: Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:39 AM (wYseH)
237
223 Speaking of, does anyone know if O'CrazyHo-CourtDate came along on the "fact-finding mission" to Puerto Rico with her fellow Dems?
Facts are often to found in warm locations like Puerto Rico during Congressional breaks in January. Much more common there than in, say, Duluth, Minnesota.
It is known.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at January 13, 2019 10:33 AM (YLHN9)
Did you know Puerto Rico is an island? Why is this fact suppressed?
Facts are often to found in warm locations like Puerto Rico during Congressional breaks in January. Much more common there than in, say, Duluth, Minnesota.
It is known.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at January 13, 2019 10:33 AM (YLHN9)
Did you know Puerto Rico is an island? Why is this fact suppressed?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:39 AM (VaN/j)
238
"Ageism in the Constitution Be Damned: Why I'm Running for President in 2020" by AOC.
Posted by: Zoltan at January 13, 2019 10:40 AM (u1x0c)
239
The two Testaments are interesting, each in its own way. The Old one gives us a picture of these people's Deity as he was before he got religion, the other one gives us a picture of him as he appeared afterward.
Posted by: zombie Mark Twain at January 13, 2019 10:40 AM (UdKB7)
240
227 The idea of combat soldiers riding bicycles just seems comical to me.
Then again, they laughed at airplanes at first.
I guess it's easier to sneak up on a target with a bicycle than with a tank.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (sdi6R)
-----------
I believe the Vietnamese used bicycles to move tons of supplies into place just before the Tet offensive.
Too lazy to look it up, so, expect those better acquainted with that history to correct me if I have the wrong information.
Then again, they laughed at airplanes at first.
I guess it's easier to sneak up on a target with a bicycle than with a tank.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (sdi6R)
-----------
I believe the Vietnamese used bicycles to move tons of supplies into place just before the Tet offensive.
Too lazy to look it up, so, expect those better acquainted with that history to correct me if I have the wrong information.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:40 AM (WEBkv)
Posted by: franksalterego at January 13, 2019 10:41 AM (3cq8T)
242
231 How many of those books in the Brazilian libarry are illustrated samba manuals?
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (cY3LT)
Wonder if there are books on Brazilian Waxing?
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (cY3LT)
Wonder if there are books on Brazilian Waxing?
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 10:41 AM (JFO2v)
243
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 09:39 AM (y7DUB)
I cannot spare this man....he fights.
I cannot spare this man....he fights.
Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at January 13, 2019 10:42 AM (u95+k)
244
231 How many of those books in the Brazilian libarry are illustrated samba manuals?
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (cY3LT)
-------------------
You said "Samba" but I read "wax."
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (cY3LT)
-------------------
You said "Samba" but I read "wax."
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:42 AM (WEBkv)
245
226 In "The Jungle is Neutral", Chapman describes the Japanese travelling en mass by bike, though that is more just troop transport rather than war bicyclists.
I'm picturing a phalanx of cyclists with polo mallets and machine guns.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:35 AM (kQs4Y)
Harley Davidson WLA > Jap Bicycle
I'm picturing a phalanx of cyclists with polo mallets and machine guns.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:35 AM (kQs4Y)
Harley Davidson WLA > Jap Bicycle
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:42 AM (2DOZq)
246
Types ...deletes. You're right . The Horde is tolerant.
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (2DOZq)
Perhaps that's because many of them understand that the dirty little secret of most atheists is that they envy the faithful their commitment.
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (2DOZq)
Perhaps that's because many of them understand that the dirty little secret of most atheists is that they envy the faithful their commitment.
Posted by: creeper at January 13, 2019 10:42 AM (5ysN4)
247
Facts are often to found in warm locations like Puerto Rico during Congressional breaks in January. Much more common there than in, say, Duluth, Minnesota.
It's also true that the fact many international conferences are in Rio has nothing whatever to do with girls in micro-bikinis. It's solely because of international flight schedules. Yeah, that's right dear, flight schedules.
It's also true that the fact many international conferences are in Rio has nothing whatever to do with girls in micro-bikinis. It's solely because of international flight schedules. Yeah, that's right dear, flight schedules.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:42 AM (VaN/j)
248
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)[/i[
One of Michael Gilbert's characters says much the same thing.
It's been noticeable for a long time that they (a) love to say that it's inherent, and (b) love to recruit.
Amazing that boys' schools and prisons get so many who were "born gay".
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (VaN/j)
Robert Hughes' "The Fatal Shore," which is about the founding of Australia, makes a significant point about the penal colonies, and the high level of homosexuality associated with them.
In a rather matter-of-fact way, he points to a well known cultural phenomenon, which is that if you put a lot of men (or boys) together, without any women (or girls) around, a high percentage of the fellas will start banging each other.
This is now a well understood component of ALL prison populations. I can't recall exactly, but I think Hughes made the point in the book that the Engrish were fairly well familiar with the concept, and some humanitarians among them, presumably men who went to public screwels, thought it cruel, and opposed sending chaps over there to their fates.
One of Michael Gilbert's characters says much the same thing.
It's been noticeable for a long time that they (a) love to say that it's inherent, and (b) love to recruit.
Amazing that boys' schools and prisons get so many who were "born gay".
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (VaN/j)
Robert Hughes' "The Fatal Shore," which is about the founding of Australia, makes a significant point about the penal colonies, and the high level of homosexuality associated with them.
In a rather matter-of-fact way, he points to a well known cultural phenomenon, which is that if you put a lot of men (or boys) together, without any women (or girls) around, a high percentage of the fellas will start banging each other.
This is now a well understood component of ALL prison populations. I can't recall exactly, but I think Hughes made the point in the book that the Engrish were fairly well familiar with the concept, and some humanitarians among them, presumably men who went to public screwels, thought it cruel, and opposed sending chaps over there to their fates.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:43 AM (cY3LT)
249
241 The Little Library Project
https://tinyurl.com/yahawo3y
Posted by: franksalterego at January 13, 2019 10:41 AM (3cq8T)
---
That is SO cool!
https://tinyurl.com/yahawo3y
Posted by: franksalterego at January 13, 2019 10:41 AM (3cq8T)
---
That is SO cool!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:44 AM (kQs4Y)
250
How many of those books in the Brazilian libarry are illustrated samba manuals?
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (cY3LT)
Wonder if there are books on Brazilian Waxing?
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 10:41 AM (JFO2v)
And with that, we have exhausted my supply of knowledge of Brazilian "culture."
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:37 AM (cY3LT)
Wonder if there are books on Brazilian Waxing?
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 10:41 AM (JFO2v)
And with that, we have exhausted my supply of knowledge of Brazilian "culture."
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:44 AM (cY3LT)
251
I can imagine All Hail Eris hanging off the ladders in that library in Brazil going "whhee!!"
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 10:45 AM (8lLw2)
252
This is now a well understood component of ALL prison populations. I can't recall exactly, but I think Hughes made the point in the book that the Engrish were fairly well familiar with the concept, and some humanitarians among them, presumably men who went to public screwels, thought it cruel, and opposed sending chaps over there to their fates.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:43 AM (cY3LT)
---------------
The book, "The Ghost Soldiers" mentions this being a problem during their imprisonment before their subsequent rescue.
I highly recommend the book, by the way.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:43 AM (cY3LT)
---------------
The book, "The Ghost Soldiers" mentions this being a problem during their imprisonment before their subsequent rescue.
I highly recommend the book, by the way.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:46 AM (WEBkv)
253
'And with that, we have exhausted my supply of knowledge of Brazilian "culture." '
But we have so much to offer!
But we have so much to offer!
Posted by: Brazil nuts at January 13, 2019 10:46 AM (UdKB7)
254
That library has Brazilian books? My lord that's a lot of books!!
Posted by: Rep Cortez at January 13, 2019 10:46 AM (2DOZq)
255
But we have so much to offer!
Posted by: Brazil nuts at January 13, 2019 10:46 AM (UdKB7)
---------------------
Tell me more!
Posted by: Brazil nuts at January 13, 2019 10:46 AM (UdKB7)
---------------------
Tell me more!
Posted by: Pauloette at January 13, 2019 10:47 AM (WEBkv)
256
I've never read the Narnia stories. (Hides face in shame.) But this talk of reading them in order has convinced me to give them a try. They are about the only Lewis books I haven't read. The Magician's Nephew comes off the shelf today.
Posted by: JTB at January 13, 2019 10:48 AM (bmdz3)
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:49 AM (WEBkv)
258
I can imagine All Hail Eris hanging off the ladders in that library in Brazil going "whhee!!"
Indoor monkey bars!
I can imagine All Hail Eris hanging off the ladders in that library in Brazil going "whhee!!"
Indoor monkey bars!
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at January 13, 2019 10:50 AM (HaL55)
259
"Do not use lighted match to illuminate inside of fuel tank while removing fuel pump."
Posted by: Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:39 AM (wYseH)
The instructions on fireworks used to be nothing but 'Light fuse -- get away.' But these days, it has to be something such as 'DO NOT stick this firework up your butt and set it off. I don't care what you saw on YouTube, just don't do it, OK?'
Posted by: Manual Writer at January 13, 2019 10:39 AM (wYseH)
The instructions on fireworks used to be nothing but 'Light fuse -- get away.' But these days, it has to be something such as 'DO NOT stick this firework up your butt and set it off. I don't care what you saw on YouTube, just don't do it, OK?'
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:51 AM (IoAJL)
260
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:31 AM (WEBkv)
I don't blame her for not wanting to. If she says it once she'll be badgered to say it every time she talks to anyone. I heard a clip she posted of reading one of her books so I can see why everyone wants to hear her say "Moose and Squirrel". *I* want to hear her say it, which is why I understand why she won't.
I don't blame her for not wanting to. If she says it once she'll be badgered to say it every time she talks to anyone. I heard a clip she posted of reading one of her books so I can see why everyone wants to hear her say "Moose and Squirrel". *I* want to hear her say it, which is why I understand why she won't.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 10:52 AM (uquGJ)
261
I saw a TV show once about the founding of Australia which said that there was pretty much an orgy on the beach during a storm after one of the first ships arrived.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:52 AM (sdi6R)
262
Is it late enough to post something non-book related?
I just saw this meme on a friend's FB page: "Opium comes in from Afghanistan daily via planes. How high of a wall do we need to remedy that?"
I really want to respond, but won't, because I've learned that leftists don't like it when you disagree with their FB virtue-signaling. I don't understand why people think this is a clever argument against a border wall. "Traffic lights do nothing to stop speeders, so why do we bother with traffic lights?" "That deadbolt on your front door isn't going to stop a burglar from sneaking in through a window."
If they don't like a proposed policy, fine, make the argument against that policy. But pointing out some other problem that the proposed policy was never designed to solve is not a good argument. It's kinda depressing to realize how many people are incapable of clear, rational thinking and how much they're swayed by logical fallacies.
I just saw this meme on a friend's FB page: "Opium comes in from Afghanistan daily via planes. How high of a wall do we need to remedy that?"
I really want to respond, but won't, because I've learned that leftists don't like it when you disagree with their FB virtue-signaling. I don't understand why people think this is a clever argument against a border wall. "Traffic lights do nothing to stop speeders, so why do we bother with traffic lights?" "That deadbolt on your front door isn't going to stop a burglar from sneaking in through a window."
If they don't like a proposed policy, fine, make the argument against that policy. But pointing out some other problem that the proposed policy was never designed to solve is not a good argument. It's kinda depressing to realize how many people are incapable of clear, rational thinking and how much they're swayed by logical fallacies.
Posted by: biancaneve at January 13, 2019 10:52 AM (hkMx0)
263
In a rather matter-of-fact way, he points to a well known cultural
phenomenon, which is that if you put a lot of men (or boys) together,
without any women (or girls) around, a high percentage of the fellas
will start banging each other.
Only if they're 8s or above. Or have money. Or cigarettes. Or a shank.
phenomenon, which is that if you put a lot of men (or boys) together,
without any women (or girls) around, a high percentage of the fellas
will start banging each other.
Only if they're 8s or above. Or have money. Or cigarettes. Or a shank.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 10:52 AM (T6t7i)
264
"Agnotology is the study of wilful acts to spread confusion and deceit, usually to sell a product or win favour. I can't tell if *we* are the agnotologists, because we see what's
going on, or if the people willfully doing the acts are the students of
agnotology" t-bird
It is basically "disinformation", from what I can tell, but applied to the digital world. It started with Satan ... "Did God really say? ... Thou shalt not surely die". Deception and the promise of being like God. ("We" are just trying to shine light on the cockroaches)
The Soviets spent a lot of money on it, more than military from what I hear. So they infiltrated Hollywood and marched through the institutions. It was all built on (crafted/manufactured) confusion and deceit.
Leary's "turn on, tune in, drop out" counter-culture. Now we have Gore's "science is settled" BS as a required belief if people want to keep their jobs. The plan to use the SJW FAANGS as a trojan horse to implement mandated PC control was plotted by TheFoundations that always get taken over by the far left oligarchs (money talks).
going on, or if the people willfully doing the acts are the students of
agnotology" t-bird
It is basically "disinformation", from what I can tell, but applied to the digital world. It started with Satan ... "Did God really say? ... Thou shalt not surely die". Deception and the promise of being like God. ("We" are just trying to shine light on the cockroaches)
The Soviets spent a lot of money on it, more than military from what I hear. So they infiltrated Hollywood and marched through the institutions. It was all built on (crafted/manufactured) confusion and deceit.
Leary's "turn on, tune in, drop out" counter-culture. Now we have Gore's "science is settled" BS as a required belief if people want to keep their jobs. The plan to use the SJW FAANGS as a trojan horse to implement mandated PC control was plotted by TheFoundations that always get taken over by the far left oligarchs (money talks).
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 10:52 AM (Cus5s)
265
257 Well, time to go be productive.
Catch you on the gun and, maybe cooking thread!
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:49 AM (WEBkv)
Productive? NFW. Snow has turned to "wintry mix". I'll pass. Old, retired, and not feeling well has its rewards.
Catch you on the gun and, maybe cooking thread!
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 10:49 AM (WEBkv)
Productive? NFW. Snow has turned to "wintry mix". I'll pass. Old, retired, and not feeling well has its rewards.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:52 AM (VaN/j)
266
The instructions on fireworks used to be nothing but 'Light fuse -- get
away.' But these days, it has to be something such as 'DO NOT stick this
firework up your butt and set it off. I don't care what you saw on
YouTube, just don't do it, OK?'
What do you have against eugenics?
away.' But these days, it has to be something such as 'DO NOT stick this
firework up your butt and set it off. I don't care what you saw on
YouTube, just don't do it, OK?'
What do you have against eugenics?
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 10:53 AM (T6t7i)
267
JTB, I hope you enjoy them! I wonder how different the experience is to read them for the first time as an adult. I am experiencing nostalgia vu with each sentence.
Here is a map for your edification (you can click the second one to enlarge it):
https://tinyurl.com/y758wchg
Here is a map for your edification (you can click the second one to enlarge it):
https://tinyurl.com/y758wchg
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:54 AM (kQs4Y)
268
And with that, we have exhausted my supply of knowledge of Brazilian "culture."
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:44 AM (cY3LT)
For some mildly NSFW fun, google "Miss Bum Bum contest". Which is Brazil's annual competition for the world's most shapeliest derriere.
That's a whole lotta Brazilian culture for you right there.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 10:44 AM (cY3LT)
For some mildly NSFW fun, google "Miss Bum Bum contest". Which is Brazil's annual competition for the world's most shapeliest derriere.
That's a whole lotta Brazilian culture for you right there.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 10:54 AM (IoAJL)
269
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)
Those schools certainly seem to have done a great job of turning out guys who like to be humiliated (sexually or otherwise).
Those schools certainly seem to have done a great job of turning out guys who like to be humiliated (sexually or otherwise).
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 10:54 AM (uquGJ)
270
Hi Anna! What are you reading these days?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:55 AM (kQs4Y)
271
I don't blame her for not wanting to. If she says it once she'll be badgered to say it every time she talks to anyone.
Several people who remember the Dick Van Dyke show have asked my wife to say "Ro-obb!" And I know why.
Several people who remember the Dick Van Dyke show have asked my wife to say "Ro-obb!" And I know why.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 10:56 AM (VaN/j)
Posted by: t-bird at January 13, 2019 10:56 AM (8zL5p)
273
Since this is a book thread, I'll note that a number
of literary figures experimented with homosexuality before utterly
rejecting it. Robert Graves actually argued that the British Public
School system was set up specifically to create homosexuals. Evelyn
Waugh's older (and for a while more famous) brother Alec wrote a
scandalous book about it that got him banned from his school's alumni
association (which was a big deal in the clubbish upper classes).
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)
Just out of curiosity, did Graves or Waugh give a reason why the BPS would want to do such a thing? Seems counterintuitive; more of an unintended consequence than a deliberate policy.
of literary figures experimented with homosexuality before utterly
rejecting it. Robert Graves actually argued that the British Public
School system was set up specifically to create homosexuals. Evelyn
Waugh's older (and for a while more famous) brother Alec wrote a
scandalous book about it that got him banned from his school's alumni
association (which was a big deal in the clubbish upper classes).
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)
Just out of curiosity, did Graves or Waugh give a reason why the BPS would want to do such a thing? Seems counterintuitive; more of an unintended consequence than a deliberate policy.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 10:57 AM (T6t7i)
274
The idea of combat soldiers riding bicycles just seems comical to me.
Then again, they laughed at airplanes at first.
I guess it's easier to sneak up on a target with a bicycle than with a tank.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (sdi6R)
bicycle troops were an attempt to follow up on the lesson that it is essential to "get thar the firstest with the mostest".
They were fast infantry that were supposed to engage and hold until slower units could arrive. I think the Belgians had troops that carried a machine gun that used the bicycle as a bipod. The pictures I have seen of the troops deployed for battle, they generally are down on the ground.
And, yes, the VC used bikes to transport good down south. The bikes could use footpaths, were harder to spot from the air, could go a bit faster and travel a bit heavier than a man or woman with a pack, and were easier to melt into the local population than a string of bullocks or mules.
Then again, they laughed at airplanes at first.
I guess it's easier to sneak up on a target with a bicycle than with a tank.
Posted by: rickl at January 13, 2019 10:36 AM (sdi6R)
bicycle troops were an attempt to follow up on the lesson that it is essential to "get thar the firstest with the mostest".
They were fast infantry that were supposed to engage and hold until slower units could arrive. I think the Belgians had troops that carried a machine gun that used the bicycle as a bipod. The pictures I have seen of the troops deployed for battle, they generally are down on the ground.
And, yes, the VC used bikes to transport good down south. The bikes could use footpaths, were harder to spot from the air, could go a bit faster and travel a bit heavier than a man or woman with a pack, and were easier to melt into the local population than a string of bullocks or mules.
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 10:58 AM (mUa7G)
275
Well, I won't be doing anything constructive today:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:58 AM (kQs4Y)
276
266 The instructions on fireworks used to be nothing but 'Light fuse -- get
away.' But these days, it has to be something such as 'DO NOT stick this
firework up your butt and set it off. I don't care what you saw on
YouTube, just don't do it, OK?'
What do you have against eugenics?
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 10:53 AM (T6t7i)
Or against Darwin. Another throwback to my college days. We came up with a theory that we should stop putting up signs like "High Voltage. Do Not Touch" or "Stop. Bridge Out Ahead".
They should just say "High Voltage" and "Bridge Out Ahead". Let people figure the rest out. But even then, we were deplorable.
away.' But these days, it has to be something such as 'DO NOT stick this
firework up your butt and set it off. I don't care what you saw on
YouTube, just don't do it, OK?'
What do you have against eugenics?
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 10:53 AM (T6t7i)
Or against Darwin. Another throwback to my college days. We came up with a theory that we should stop putting up signs like "High Voltage. Do Not Touch" or "Stop. Bridge Out Ahead".
They should just say "High Voltage" and "Bridge Out Ahead". Let people figure the rest out. But even then, we were deplorable.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:00 AM (VaN/j)
277
I'm reading 'Rise and Kill First' about Israel's targeted assassination program. The writer dearly would love to slant things to say such activities are wrong and mistaken but he's impartial enough to provide both sides.
And the other side, my side, is glorious. I actually wrote a paper about selective assassination as a legitimate (if illegal) tool of US foreign policy. So this is my wheelhouse.
I'm enjoying it, very informative.
And the other side, my side, is glorious. I actually wrote a paper about selective assassination as a legitimate (if illegal) tool of US foreign policy. So this is my wheelhouse.
I'm enjoying it, very informative.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at January 13, 2019 11:01 AM (xJa6I)
278
I just saw this meme on a friend's FB page: "Opium comes in from Afghanistan daily via planes. How high of a wall do we need to remedy that?"
A good point though.
The Fe'ral Government, particularly the Left no longer have an argument for TSA. I say dissolve the TSA since it is silly to say that we need to stop drugs, guns and terrorists by screening, when there is no political will to do it on the border.
But we will keep TSA because: Unions, Money, and we are a conquered people who are destined to be subject to their sadistic torture and plunder.
A good point though.
The Fe'ral Government, particularly the Left no longer have an argument for TSA. I say dissolve the TSA since it is silly to say that we need to stop drugs, guns and terrorists by screening, when there is no political will to do it on the border.
But we will keep TSA because: Unions, Money, and we are a conquered people who are destined to be subject to their sadistic torture and plunder.
Posted by: Blue Bird of F'ing Joy at January 13, 2019 11:01 AM (lD3vL)
279
I also read (most of) Appalachian Fail...the story of a fellow who set out to hike the entire Appalachian Trail but ultimately failed.
I read most of it but bailed out when it disintegrated into conservative-bashing nonsense...evidently we're responsible for everything wrong with the Trail...and claptrap about the value of failing.
To whoever posted the link to BookBub...THANK YOU!
I read most of it but bailed out when it disintegrated into conservative-bashing nonsense...evidently we're responsible for everything wrong with the Trail...and claptrap about the value of failing.
To whoever posted the link to BookBub...THANK YOU!
Posted by: creeper at January 13, 2019 11:03 AM (5ysN4)
280
I'm about 150 pages into "The Prize" by Daniel Yergin.
This book is so interesting. It's about the discovery of oil and the making/or losing of many vast fortunes in the industry.
It won the pulitzer prize....but, don't let that stop you from checking it out. It's a gem so far. I hope it stays on point the rest of the way.
I'm about 150 pages into "The Prize" by Daniel Yergin.
This book is so interesting. It's about the discovery of oil and the making/or losing of many vast fortunes in the industry.
It won the pulitzer prize....but, don't let that stop you from checking it out. It's a gem so far. I hope it stays on point the rest of the way.
Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at January 13, 2019 11:03 AM (u95+k)
281
You know, in 1914 the Belgians had dogs instead of horses pulling their machine guns. Had several advantages, e.g., they could lie down instead of having to be left in some covered place in the rear.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:03 AM (VaN/j)
282
he idea of combat soldiers riding bicycles just seems comical to me.
With their Commander-In-Chief leading from behind...
With their Commander-In-Chief leading from behind...
Posted by: Barack Hussein Obama at January 13, 2019 11:03 AM (Pu/Kw)
283
IIRC in regards to the R101 airship there is a book called The Airmen Who Would Not Die that in some ways is much like The Ghosts of Flight 401. As in the spirits of the dead crew would pop up.
I remember the movie. The airliner was called the Reindeer, a triple tail job much like the Lockheed C-69 Constellation which first flew in WWII. The first BOAC Comet crash was in 1954 off Elba and it was a combination of the window corners and rivets introducing micro-fractures that caused whole sections of the roof to unzip under pressurization in flight.
In WWII on the Luftwaffe side there was one plane that had a tendency to lose the whole tail because the bright boys at Augsburg did not understand harmonics. The Bf109F series had four stiffener strips added at the point where the vertical tail started to prevent this from happening.
The P-51B/C Mustangs also had a tendency to lose their tail feathers. In a dive. It was traced back to NAA adding the fuel tank behind the pilot to give the increased range the USAAF wanted. When full the tank shifted the CG just enough that the start of a dive would make the plane do a sharp lurch and snap the tail off. So the USAAF put out a directive of no sharp dives until the center tank was at least half empty.
I remember the movie. The airliner was called the Reindeer, a triple tail job much like the Lockheed C-69 Constellation which first flew in WWII. The first BOAC Comet crash was in 1954 off Elba and it was a combination of the window corners and rivets introducing micro-fractures that caused whole sections of the roof to unzip under pressurization in flight.
In WWII on the Luftwaffe side there was one plane that had a tendency to lose the whole tail because the bright boys at Augsburg did not understand harmonics. The Bf109F series had four stiffener strips added at the point where the vertical tail started to prevent this from happening.
The P-51B/C Mustangs also had a tendency to lose their tail feathers. In a dive. It was traced back to NAA adding the fuel tank behind the pilot to give the increased range the USAAF wanted. When full the tank shifted the CG just enough that the start of a dive would make the plane do a sharp lurch and snap the tail off. So the USAAF put out a directive of no sharp dives until the center tank was at least half empty.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:04 AM (8lLw2)
284
The idea of combat soldiers riding bicycles just seems comical to me.
Yeah, its the visual imagery of camo spandex and the Styrofoam helmet
Yeah, its the visual imagery of camo spandex and the Styrofoam helmet
Posted by: Blue Bird of F'ing Joy at January 13, 2019 11:05 AM (lD3vL)
285
281 You know, in 1914 the Belgians had dogs instead of horses pulling their machine guns. Had several advantages, e.g., they could lie down instead of having to be left in some covered place in the rear.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:03 AM (VaN/j)
Read the story on the Korean War horse, Reckless. So amazing it feels like the horse was a reincarnated soldier from a past life.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:03 AM (VaN/j)
Read the story on the Korean War horse, Reckless. So amazing it feels like the horse was a reincarnated soldier from a past life.
Posted by: Rep Cortez at January 13, 2019 11:06 AM (2DOZq)
286
For some mildly NSFW fun, google "Miss Bum Bum contest". Which is Brazil's annual competition for the world's most shapeliest derriere.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019
This, far and away, is the best competition in all of the Virgo supercluster!
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019
This, far and away, is the best competition in all of the Virgo supercluster!
Posted by: Sir Mix-A-Lot at January 13, 2019 11:07 AM (DMUuz)
287
Agnotology is the study of wilful acts to spread confusion and deceit
Speaking of which. There is a hardcore Nevertrump cuckservative trolling the comments section of the excellent American Greatness article by Helen Lamm.
https://tinyurl.com/ychqynlt
If you are in the mood for batting a troll around - "Jeffrey Williams" and opportunity knocks.
Speaking of which. There is a hardcore Nevertrump cuckservative trolling the comments section of the excellent American Greatness article by Helen Lamm.
https://tinyurl.com/ychqynlt
If you are in the mood for batting a troll around - "Jeffrey Williams" and opportunity knocks.
Posted by: mikeyG at January 13, 2019 11:07 AM (LL1Be)
288
The P-51B/C Mustangs also had a tendency to lose their tail feathers. In
a dive. It was traced back to NAA adding the fuel tank behind the pilot
to give the increased range the USAAF wanted. When full the tank
shifted the CG just enough that the start of a dive would make the plane
do a sharp lurch and snap the tail off. So the USAAF put out a
directive of no sharp dives until the center tank was at least half
empty.
I've often wondered what the Germans below did with the drop tanks from Mustangs. It must have been disconcerting to have a big metal canister drop on your head from 30k feet.
a dive. It was traced back to NAA adding the fuel tank behind the pilot
to give the increased range the USAAF wanted. When full the tank
shifted the CG just enough that the start of a dive would make the plane
do a sharp lurch and snap the tail off. So the USAAF put out a
directive of no sharp dives until the center tank was at least half
empty.
I've often wondered what the Germans below did with the drop tanks from Mustangs. It must have been disconcerting to have a big metal canister drop on your head from 30k feet.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:07 AM (T6t7i)
289
Daniel Yergin...why does that name ring a bell ?
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 11:07 AM (bUjCl)
290
Well, I won't be doing anything constructive today:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
Wow. You and me both.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
Wow. You and me both.
Posted by: t-bird at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (/D1gp)
291
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 10:32 AM (cfSRQ)
Just out of curiosity, did Graves or Waugh give a reason why the BPS would want to do such a thing? Seems counterintuitive; more of an unintended consequence than a deliberate policy.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 10:57 AM (T6t7i)
Seriously reply: Because F-you, that's why!
Who knows how it started, but it did, and the people who ran such institutions either saw it as a good thing, or they believed it was part of their upbringing, so dammit, these boys are gonna get it too.
The impression I have, from too many different sources, is that the boys were more or less initiated into the system by older students, and the peer pressure being as great as it was, eventually some would "discover" their homosexuality, and continue it for life.
It was a secure, secretive right of passage for boys, and essentially EVERY boy who went through the system was touched by it (pun intended), one way or another.
Those who chose to leave it behind (again...pun) as adults, were free to do so, and those who chose to carry on, would, and could, find willing lovers who would not let their secret out. Because EVERYONE was already in on it.
So an otherwise socially unacceptable act, was given a quiet, "safe" way of being perpetuated.
Just out of curiosity, did Graves or Waugh give a reason why the BPS would want to do such a thing? Seems counterintuitive; more of an unintended consequence than a deliberate policy.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 10:57 AM (T6t7i)
Seriously reply: Because F-you, that's why!
Who knows how it started, but it did, and the people who ran such institutions either saw it as a good thing, or they believed it was part of their upbringing, so dammit, these boys are gonna get it too.
The impression I have, from too many different sources, is that the boys were more or less initiated into the system by older students, and the peer pressure being as great as it was, eventually some would "discover" their homosexuality, and continue it for life.
It was a secure, secretive right of passage for boys, and essentially EVERY boy who went through the system was touched by it (pun intended), one way or another.
Those who chose to leave it behind (again...pun) as adults, were free to do so, and those who chose to carry on, would, and could, find willing lovers who would not let their secret out. Because EVERYONE was already in on it.
So an otherwise socially unacceptable act, was given a quiet, "safe" way of being perpetuated.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (cY3LT)
Posted by: AltonJackson at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (KCxzN)
293
In Europe they stopped using the 75 gallon metal drop tanks in lieu of a British made pressed paper 110 gallon tank. To deny the Germans access to metal. Plus it added even more range to the Mustang even as it gave fighter pilots a more sore rear-end.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:10 AM (8lLw2)
294
288 The P-51B/C Mustangs also had a tendency to lose their tail feathers. In
a dive. It was traced back to NAA adding the fuel tank behind the pilot
to give the increased range the USAAF wanted. When full the tank
shifted the CG just enough that the start of a dive would make the plane
do a sharp lurch and snap the tail off. So the USAAF put out a
directive of no sharp dives until the center tank was at least half
empty.
I've often wondered what the Germans below did with the drop tanks from Mustangs. It must have been disconcerting to have a big metal canister drop on your head from 30k feet.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:07 AM (T6t7i)
Don't know about the Germans but a lot of redneck rocket cars have been made out of them.
a dive. It was traced back to NAA adding the fuel tank behind the pilot
to give the increased range the USAAF wanted. When full the tank
shifted the CG just enough that the start of a dive would make the plane
do a sharp lurch and snap the tail off. So the USAAF put out a
directive of no sharp dives until the center tank was at least half
empty.
I've often wondered what the Germans below did with the drop tanks from Mustangs. It must have been disconcerting to have a big metal canister drop on your head from 30k feet.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:07 AM (T6t7i)
Don't know about the Germans but a lot of redneck rocket cars have been made out of them.
Posted by: Rep Cortez at January 13, 2019 11:10 AM (2DOZq)
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 11:11 AM (bUjCl)
Posted by: Burger Chef at January 13, 2019 11:11 AM (RuIsu)
297
Doll Eyes Alex would declare the word White in White House racist and rename it the Peoples' House.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:13 AM (8lLw2)
298
The Fe'ral Government, particularly the Left no longer have an argument for TSA. I say dissolve the TSA since it is silly to say that we need to stop drugs, guns and terrorists by screening, when there is no political will to do it on the border.
Posted by: Blue Bird of F'ing Joy at January 13, 2019 11:01 AM
I was just reading a case study of a ill plane passenger who arrived in the country and was taken to the ''CDC quarantine station'' at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. What a concept... having people go through a checkpoint and observed for communicable disease. Then treated before being allowed into the general population.
But our 'elite' only care about their own safety when flying the world.
Posted by: Blue Bird of F'ing Joy at January 13, 2019 11:01 AM
I was just reading a case study of a ill plane passenger who arrived in the country and was taken to the ''CDC quarantine station'' at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. What a concept... having people go through a checkpoint and observed for communicable disease. Then treated before being allowed into the general population.
But our 'elite' only care about their own safety when flying the world.
Posted by: Newest Nic at January 13, 2019 11:14 AM (jYje5)
299
Not a bad idea. I've already got a past book thread suggestion, Petersburg by Andrei Bely, in the pipeline....
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (y7DUB)
Love, love, love "Petersburg" (or in some editions "St. Petersburg') by Andrei Bely.
Also, a huge influence.
For those unfamiliar, it's the story of the story of a Russian revolutionary, who's the son of a rich man. The son has been assigned by his revolutionary group to assassinate his father.
The story is told in a style that today would probably be referred to as "magic realism". Yet, it was written in 1913.
His other novels "The Silver Dove" and "Kotik Letaev" are also quite good, if not as good as P-burg.
They are both written in a similar style, which at the time was referred to as Symbolist, for those keeping score.
But, don't take my word for it, Vladimir Nabokov called "St Petersburg" one of the 4 great novels of the 20th Century.
Check it out.
Posted by: Captain Hate at January 13, 2019 10:06 AM (y7DUB)
Love, love, love "Petersburg" (or in some editions "St. Petersburg') by Andrei Bely.
Also, a huge influence.
For those unfamiliar, it's the story of the story of a Russian revolutionary, who's the son of a rich man. The son has been assigned by his revolutionary group to assassinate his father.
The story is told in a style that today would probably be referred to as "magic realism". Yet, it was written in 1913.
His other novels "The Silver Dove" and "Kotik Letaev" are also quite good, if not as good as P-burg.
They are both written in a similar style, which at the time was referred to as Symbolist, for those keeping score.
But, don't take my word for it, Vladimir Nabokov called "St Petersburg" one of the 4 great novels of the 20th Century.
Check it out.
Posted by: naturalfake at January 13, 2019 11:14 AM (CRRq9)
300
293
In Europe they stopped using the 75 gallon metal drop tanks in lieu of a British made pressed paper 110 gallon tank.
I think I would be a bit nervous carrying 220 gallons of high octane fuel around in paper bags, with people shooting at me.
In Europe they stopped using the 75 gallon metal drop tanks in lieu of a British made pressed paper 110 gallon tank.
I think I would be a bit nervous carrying 220 gallons of high octane fuel around in paper bags, with people shooting at me.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:15 AM (T6t7i)
301
I will probably be re-reading Watership Down soon. Just to cleanse the pallet after watching that disaster of a Netflix/BBC adaptation....
Posted by: Castle Guy at January 13, 2019 11:15 AM (Lhaco)
302
24° here
Posted by: KWDreaming at January 13, 2019 11:15 AM (76SY5)
303
283
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:04 AM (8lLw2)
I've read of stuff like that. E.g.,
- The German Nassau class battleships (WWI) had to be given special bilge keels because their rolling characteristics made them too close to common N Sea waves. So they would actually accelerate in their rolling, theoretically to the point of capsizing.
- The WWI Nieuports' wings' shredding problems are well known But apparently it wasn't a design flaw, but the way the fabric was sewn. And that was below the design level.
- The K class subs (RN) in WWI had to have special raised bows because they were so fast that, as originally built, they could submerge unintentionally.
Those are off the top of my head. D K Brown had a rule that the Mark II lightweight ALWAYS weighed more than the Mark I.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:04 AM (8lLw2)
I've read of stuff like that. E.g.,
- The German Nassau class battleships (WWI) had to be given special bilge keels because their rolling characteristics made them too close to common N Sea waves. So they would actually accelerate in their rolling, theoretically to the point of capsizing.
- The WWI Nieuports' wings' shredding problems are well known But apparently it wasn't a design flaw, but the way the fabric was sewn. And that was below the design level.
- The K class subs (RN) in WWI had to have special raised bows because they were so fast that, as originally built, they could submerge unintentionally.
Those are off the top of my head. D K Brown had a rule that the Mark II lightweight ALWAYS weighed more than the Mark I.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:15 AM (VaN/j)
304
Daniel Yergin...why does that name ring a bell ?
--------------------------------------------
3rd base for the Royals, '77 - '81?
Posted by: AltonJackson at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (KCxzN)
No, that position was already taken.
Maybe he was the Orioles shortstop sometime in the 80s or 90s? I think they had trouble finding a regular for that position during that time frame.
--------------------------------------------
3rd base for the Royals, '77 - '81?
Posted by: AltonJackson at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (KCxzN)
No, that position was already taken.
Maybe he was the Orioles shortstop sometime in the 80s or 90s? I think they had trouble finding a regular for that position during that time frame.
Posted by: George Brett at January 13, 2019 11:16 AM (cY3LT)
305
"I'm about 150 pages into "The Prize" by Daniel Yergin.
This book is so interesting. It's about the discovery of oil and the making/or losing of many vast fortunes in the industry. "
I've plugged it here as one of the best non-fiction reads. It's a history of the oil industry that doubles as an insightful history of the 20th Century.
The part on the start of the US Saudi alliance is a hoot.
Also, how Peak Oil peaks and falls, over and over.
Yergin is a quite successful industry consultant.
This book is so interesting. It's about the discovery of oil and the making/or losing of many vast fortunes in the industry. "
I've plugged it here as one of the best non-fiction reads. It's a history of the oil industry that doubles as an insightful history of the 20th Century.
The part on the start of the US Saudi alliance is a hoot.
Also, how Peak Oil peaks and falls, over and over.
Yergin is a quite successful industry consultant.
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:16 AM (1UZdv)
306
275 Well, I won't be doing anything constructive today:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:58 AM (kQs4Y)
I hate you.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:58 AM (kQs4Y)
I hate you.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:17 AM (IoAJL)
307
On deck at chez Nerada is Armed America by Clayton Cramer
IIRC, that book was intended as a direct response to Bellesiles's Arming America and the amateur historian put the "professional" to shame.
IIRC, that book was intended as a direct response to Bellesiles's Arming America and the amateur historian put the "professional" to shame.
Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at January 13, 2019 11:17 AM (qc+VF)
308
3rd base for the Royals, '77 - '81?
Posted by: AltonJackson at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (KCxzN)
I think you've picked a poor example. Like "Giants' center fielder of the 50s and 60s.
Avoid HOFers.
Posted by: AltonJackson at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (KCxzN)
I think you've picked a poor example. Like "Giants' center fielder of the 50s and 60s.
Avoid HOFers.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:18 AM (VaN/j)
309
Pep
The SOP was always to use up the drop tank fuel first. Then jettison them to have a clean plane for the fight. Then fight and return on the center and wing tanks.
The SOP was always to use up the drop tank fuel first. Then jettison them to have a clean plane for the fight. Then fight and return on the center and wing tanks.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:19 AM (8lLw2)
310
306
275 Well, I won't be doing anything constructive today:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:58 AM (kQs4Y)
I hate you.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:17 AM (IoAJL)
Looked at the article on Japanese gardens built on the back of delivery trucks. Them's some clever people.
275 Well, I won't be doing anything constructive today:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/collections/design/
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 10:58 AM (kQs4Y)
I hate you.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:17 AM (IoAJL)
Looked at the article on Japanese gardens built on the back of delivery trucks. Them's some clever people.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:20 AM (T6t7i)
311
309
Pep
The SOP was always to use up the drop tank fuel first. Then
jettison them to have a clean plane for the fight. Then fight and return
on the center and wing tanks.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR)
Yeah, I assumed so. Still, some guy in the bushes with a rifle could really ruin your day.
Pep
The SOP was always to use up the drop tank fuel first. Then
jettison them to have a clean plane for the fight. Then fight and return
on the center and wing tanks.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR)
Yeah, I assumed so. Still, some guy in the bushes with a rifle could really ruin your day.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:21 AM (T6t7i)
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:21 AM (kQs4Y)
313
speaking of cold wars ... will the little ice age coming in the next decade (???) ... save us from the leftists, or kill us all? There would be some warm places, but food production would have to be redesigned ...
We just got a foot of snow, and not much will melt before another foot is forecast for next weekend. One thing I read regarding the ice age, was it was not so much the cold as the increase in snow ... lots and lots of snow piled up makes things colder and keeps things from growing in the spring, reflects a lot of global warming back to space ... then come the glaciers, to save us from liberals?
We just got a foot of snow, and not much will melt before another foot is forecast for next weekend. One thing I read regarding the ice age, was it was not so much the cold as the increase in snow ... lots and lots of snow piled up makes things colder and keeps things from growing in the spring, reflects a lot of global warming back to space ... then come the glaciers, to save us from liberals?
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 11:21 AM (Cus5s)
314
Is Eris going to build that climbable earthquake proof bookshelf?
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:22 AM (8lLw2)
315
Greetings O Book Thread! May you live forever!
(and have lots of good books to read...)
BTW, for those Morons preferring audiobooks and on a budget, the site Librivox.org has free public domain books, read by volunteers. As you might expect the quality varies, but you can't beat the price.
Also keep an eye on standardebooks.org, which does a really nice job of formatting and some interesting classics. Free! (Where I got my copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius)
(and have lots of good books to read...)
BTW, for those Morons preferring audiobooks and on a budget, the site Librivox.org has free public domain books, read by volunteers. As you might expect the quality varies, but you can't beat the price.
Also keep an eye on standardebooks.org, which does a really nice job of formatting and some interesting classics. Free! (Where I got my copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius)
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at January 13, 2019 11:23 AM (IIV8c)
316
The British Public School system was the result of Thomas Arnold's "reforms". (Father of Matthew Arnold.) The impression I get of him is a classic example of the naively optimistic reformer. He really thought that putting the older boys in charge of the younger would be a good idea.
C S Lewis talks about this in several places. Surprised by Joy most obviously, but several essays as well.
The best know favorable portrait of Arnold is in Tom Brown's Schooldays. It's a book that, if read for the story, is pretty bad. But very interesting as a social record.
C S Lewis talks about this in several places. Surprised by Joy most obviously, but several essays as well.
The best know favorable portrait of Arnold is in Tom Brown's Schooldays. It's a book that, if read for the story, is pretty bad. But very interesting as a social record.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:24 AM (VaN/j)
317
This day in 1842 Mexico Signs Treaty of Cahuenga. We got Californication. May we give it back now?
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 11:24 AM (JFO2v)
318
On the plus side, I finally put pants on.
Posted by: All Hail Eris
Awwwwwwwwwwww
And I came in to get warm !
Posted by: All Hail Eris
Awwwwwwwwwwww
And I came in to get warm !
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 11:24 AM (vNLNV)
319
Have read that the switch to paper fuel drop tanks was to prevent the Germans from scavenging the metal in the other ones? Or at least that this was one reason. True?
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:24 AM (QDnY+)
320
Pep, do you know why Tommy McGuire, America's #2 ace, never survived WWII?
While engaged in a low level dogfight with Japanese fighters, his P-38 stalled out and crashed. McGuire had forgotten to jettison his drop tanks.
While engaged in a low level dogfight with Japanese fighters, his P-38 stalled out and crashed. McGuire had forgotten to jettison his drop tanks.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:25 AM (8lLw2)
321
320
Pep, do you know why Tommy McGuire, America's #2 ace, never survived WWII?
While
engaged in a low level dogfight with Japanese fighters, his P-38
stalled out and crashed. McGuire had forgotten to jettison his drop
tanks.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR)
Well, damn.
Pep, do you know why Tommy McGuire, America's #2 ace, never survived WWII?
While
engaged in a low level dogfight with Japanese fighters, his P-38
stalled out and crashed. McGuire had forgotten to jettison his drop
tanks.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR)
Well, damn.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:26 AM (T6t7i)
322
Yep deny the Germans metal for their war industry.
Still a bit disconcerting those 110 gallon tanks. Made of pressed paper and glue. Once filled, the gasoline would start to slowly dissolve them. One use only.
Still a bit disconcerting those 110 gallon tanks. Made of pressed paper and glue. Once filled, the gasoline would start to slowly dissolve them. One use only.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:27 AM (8lLw2)
323
One thing I read regarding the ice age, was it was not so much the cold as the increase in snow ...
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 11:21 AM (Cus5s)
Glaciers begin the first year that more snow falls than melts.
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 11:21 AM (Cus5s)
Glaciers begin the first year that more snow falls than melts.
Posted by: Instant Glaciers R Us at January 13, 2019 11:27 AM (wNN8A)
324
"The best know favorable portrait of Arnold is in Tom Brown's Schooldays. It's a book that, if read for the story, is pretty bad. But very interesting as a social record."
Flashman had a word or two about Arnold.
Flashman had a word or two about Arnold.
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:28 AM (1UZdv)
325
So an otherwise socially unacceptable act, was given a quiet, "safe" way of being perpetuated.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (cY3LT)
Isnt this the LUG syndrome iv colleges now?
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (cY3LT)
Isnt this the LUG syndrome iv colleges now?
Posted by: rhennigantx at January 13, 2019 11:28 AM (JFO2v)
326
Finished Moby Dick, Had to read it because after reading Last of the Mohicans wasn't sure that the Pequod didn't sail away with Moby Dick's head and a full load of Whale oil.
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:29 AM (/rm4P)
327
My crazy retired Marine Corps Colonel next door neighbor, who has ants in his pants and cannot sit still, has shoveled my driveway, sidewalk and cleaned off both cars. Now WeaselWoman can take it easy!! Time for a cigar.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 11:29 AM (MVjcR)
328
My crazy retired Marine Corps Colonel next door neighbor, who has ants in his pants and cannot sit still, has shoveled my driveway, sidewalk and cleaned off both cars. Now WeaselWoman can take it easy!! Time for a cigar.
Posted by: Weasel
The least you could do is drop down and give him fifty !
Posted by: Weasel
The least you could do is drop down and give him fifty !
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 11:31 AM (vNLNV)
329
Pep - bullets are going to rip through sheet metal as fast as paper
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:31 AM (/rm4P)
330
Weasel, are you going to treat him to a trip to the rifle range?
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:32 AM (8lLw2)
331
Finished "Secret War" by Hastings, so back to slogging through a barely readable Glantz eastern front book - "From the Don to the Dnepr" - which covers Soviet offensive action December 1942 (Little Saturn, one of three major offensives of which the Stalingrad encirclement was the most famous and important). Glantz knows his stuff, lived in the Soviet archives - but many of his books read like installation manuals for technical gear.
One particular annoyance is that pairing of numbingly detailed description of unit actions and movements, with terrible hand-drawn maps, wherein the scribblings are about 4-pt or less, and often barely legible.
I usually break up a Glantz book by reading an entire other book about every 100 pages or so. This time I'm thinking of a Leningrad siege book, to keep things wintry, and full of cellulose-based bread.
One particular annoyance is that pairing of numbingly detailed description of unit actions and movements, with terrible hand-drawn maps, wherein the scribblings are about 4-pt or less, and often barely legible.
I usually break up a Glantz book by reading an entire other book about every 100 pages or so. This time I'm thinking of a Leningrad siege book, to keep things wintry, and full of cellulose-based bread.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:32 AM (QDnY+)
332
All this time I thought "Agnotology" referred to guys who preferred Agnetha over Frida.
Posted by: Jaqen H'ghar at January 13, 2019 11:33 AM (5fSr7)
333
JT - ha! Perfect!
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:33 AM (QDnY+)
334
Blake, do you mean
Ghost soldiers : the epic account of World War II's greatest rescue mission by Hampton Sides?
Ghost soldiers : the epic account of World War II's greatest rescue mission by Hampton Sides?
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 11:33 AM (BJlbN)
335
"This time I'm thinking of a Leningrad siege book, to keep things wintry, and full of cellulose-based bread."
Do you recommend The 900 Days
Do you recommend The 900 Days
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:35 AM (1UZdv)
336
so back to slogging through a barely readable Glantz eastern front book - "From the Don to the Dnepr" - which covers Soviet offensive action December 1942 (Little Saturn, one of three major offensives of which the Stalingrad encirclement was the most famous and important). Glantz knows his stuff, lived in the Soviet archives - but many of his books read like installation manuals for technical gear.
=
Why read something unreadable ? Sometimes these types of books are published just to maintain tenure or status.
=
Why read something unreadable ? Sometimes these types of books are published just to maintain tenure or status.
Posted by: runner at January 13, 2019 11:35 AM (bUjCl)
337
The Nevil Shute Norway Foundation is a good starting point to learn about his life and works.
https://www.nevilshute.org
https://www.nevilshute.org
Posted by: m at January 13, 2019 11:36 AM (Q7mSB)
338
Rhomboid, poorly drawn (or nonexistent!) maps are one of my pet peeves for history books. Is it merely cheapness? Or an assumption that moderns always have a computer handy?
One of the reasons I love old 19th century histories and travelogues is that they are richly illustrated and are profusely be-mapped.
One of the reasons I love old 19th century histories and travelogues is that they are richly illustrated and are profusely be-mapped.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:36 AM (kQs4Y)
339
The remains of a German mine-laying submarine, UC 61, from World War I have resurfaced on the French beach where the boat had run aground during the war.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46846988
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46846988
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:36 AM (8lLw2)
340
Also keep an eye on standardebooks.org, which does a really nice job of formatting and some interesting classics. Free! (Where I got my copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius)
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at January 13, 2019 11:23 AM (IIV8c)
(h/t)
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at January 13, 2019 11:23 AM (IIV8c)
(h/t)
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:37 AM (IoAJL)
341
Eris, the bridge with hands is so surreal
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 11:38 AM (BJlbN)
342
Sandy O-C's book
My Struggle
My Struggle
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:38 AM (/rm4P)
343
Here's on for Anna Puma. I had an uncle who'd flown first SBDs then SB2Cs. (Hated the latter.)
According to him, in the last year or so of the war, the Japanese fighters' guns were no longer well aligned. He said that you could see the tracers going of in all directions, not converging as they should.
Have you ever encountered that?
I wish I'd taken notes of the things my father and his friends (many Pacific pilots) said about the planes. Or my grandfather's WWI flying memories.
According to him, in the last year or so of the war, the Japanese fighters' guns were no longer well aligned. He said that you could see the tracers going of in all directions, not converging as they should.
Have you ever encountered that?
I wish I'd taken notes of the things my father and his friends (many Pacific pilots) said about the planes. Or my grandfather's WWI flying memories.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:39 AM (VaN/j)
344
While engaged in a low level dogfight with Japanese fighters, his P-38 stalled out and crashed. McGuire had forgotten to jettison his drop tanks.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:25 AM (8lLw2)
Oopsie!
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:25 AM (8lLw2)
Oopsie!
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:40 AM (IoAJL)
345
Peak stupid? Media saying that Trump's firing Comey was done to collude with Russia, because Jimmy Drama was close to exposing the Russians. "Obstruction" = "Collusion" you see.
Because Trump has been a Russian stooge for decades.
Because Trump has been a Russian stooge for decades.
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:41 AM (1UZdv)
346
Anna - neat stuff
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:41 AM (/rm4P)
347
I know, VoterMom! Here's a clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5tldVG08gI
I bet it gets pretty windy up there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5tldVG08gI
I bet it gets pretty windy up there.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:41 AM (kQs4Y)
348
Ignoramus - actually read that book many years ago, and I think I would still recommend it. It's more of a general book about life and the whole situation, but as I recall, well done. I spent time in Leningrad and really feel a jag coming on where I read all the decent books on the topic. And I'm finally going to pick up a Russian-language WWII book, local branch of the library has one, which I think is commentary on Marshal Zhukov's military record and memoirs (just to depress myself about my atrophied language skills).
runner - good point. With Glantz's books, I tend to skip/skim some of the worst parts, and focus on the too-sparse analytical and summary parts, and some of the statistical info (he has assembled amazing stats on Soviet military resources, personnel, equipment, and organization). And as I said, I'll read 100 pages of Glantz, then a whole other book, then go back to Glantz. And not all of his books are like this - think the ones he co-wrote are more normal. I'm just pushing myself through the tougher ones first.
runner - good point. With Glantz's books, I tend to skip/skim some of the worst parts, and focus on the too-sparse analytical and summary parts, and some of the statistical info (he has assembled amazing stats on Soviet military resources, personnel, equipment, and organization). And as I said, I'll read 100 pages of Glantz, then a whole other book, then go back to Glantz. And not all of his books are like this - think the ones he co-wrote are more normal. I'm just pushing myself through the tougher ones first.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:41 AM (QDnY+)
349
Sandy O-C's book
My Struggle
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:38 AM
Yeah, 'My Struggle, A Renewed Call for National Socialism'
My Struggle
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:38 AM
Yeah, 'My Struggle, A Renewed Call for National Socialism'
Posted by: Newest Nic at January 13, 2019 11:42 AM (jYje5)
350
I have never heard of that being the case with the guns in Japanese fighters.
But the marksmanship and quality of the Japanese pilots had gone markedly down by '44 because the Japanese preferred not to pull pilots back home for a rest. So the cream of Japanese aviators died in '42 and '43 leaving only a few experts left for the US Navy to deal with.
But the marksmanship and quality of the Japanese pilots had gone markedly down by '44 because the Japanese preferred not to pull pilots back home for a rest. So the cream of Japanese aviators died in '42 and '43 leaving only a few experts left for the US Navy to deal with.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:42 AM (8lLw2)
351
Thanks m !
Posted by: JT at January 13, 2019 11:43 AM (vNLNV)
352
"This time I'm thinking of a Leningrad siege book, to keep things wintry, and full of cellulose-based bread."
-------------------------------------------
Do you recommend The 900 Days
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:35 AM (1UZdv)
Highly. It reads like an epic war story (which it is), a gripping suspense story (which it is), and a powerful portrayal of the human condition, in all its glory, both good and bad.
-------------------------------------------
Do you recommend The 900 Days
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:35 AM (1UZdv)
Highly. It reads like an epic war story (which it is), a gripping suspense story (which it is), and a powerful portrayal of the human condition, in all its glory, both good and bad.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 11:43 AM (cY3LT)
Posted by: Kindltot at January 13, 2019 11:43 AM (mUa7G)
354
The remains of a German mine-laying submarine, UC 61, from World War I have resurfaced on the French beach where the boat had run aground during the war.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:36 AM
Unpossible. I have been repeatedly scolded that the oceans are rising and WWI relics are under a hundred feet of water by now.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:36 AM
Unpossible. I have been repeatedly scolded that the oceans are rising and WWI relics are under a hundred feet of water by now.
Posted by: Newest Nic at January 13, 2019 11:44 AM (jYje5)
355
He really thought that putting the older boys in charge of the younger would be a good idea.
C S Lewis talks about this in several places. Surprised by Joy most obviously, but several essays as well.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:24 AM (VaN/j)
"Institutionalized bullying" would be a fair way to describe it, I think.
And I don't remember CS Lewis ever complaining about it all that much. His attitude seemed to be mostly a matter-of-fact kind of 'oh well, that's just the way things are' view.
C S Lewis talks about this in several places. Surprised by Joy most obviously, but several essays as well.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:24 AM (VaN/j)
"Institutionalized bullying" would be a fair way to describe it, I think.
And I don't remember CS Lewis ever complaining about it all that much. His attitude seemed to be mostly a matter-of-fact kind of 'oh well, that's just the way things are' view.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:45 AM (IoAJL)
356
Eris, dunno, but it's almost funny - Glantz has put together a very detailed history of unit actions and campaigns, and paired them with scribbled maps that force one to spend 10 minutes studying the maps to connect them to the text.
My only Pacific theater aviation anecdote is from my late, great USMC aviation ordnance friend (Guadalcanal, Roi-Namur, Okinawa), who described a squadron skipper furious and chewing them out because he couldn't release the bombs from his Corsair. Turned out there were not yet tech manuals provided on the subject, so the guys had to just "wing" it on bolt tightness, etc. Officer was yelling about court-martialing all of them. The storm passed, of course.
My only Pacific theater aviation anecdote is from my late, great USMC aviation ordnance friend (Guadalcanal, Roi-Namur, Okinawa), who described a squadron skipper furious and chewing them out because he couldn't release the bombs from his Corsair. Turned out there were not yet tech manuals provided on the subject, so the guys had to just "wing" it on bolt tightness, etc. Officer was yelling about court-martialing all of them. The storm passed, of course.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:45 AM (QDnY+)
357
LOL, these Brutalist cuckoo clocks bring me back to Tom Wolfe's "Bauhaus to Our House":
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/05/ contemporary-takes-on-cuckoo-clocks-by-guido-zimmerman/
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/05/ contemporary-takes-on-cuckoo-clocks-by-guido-zimmerman/
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:45 AM (kQs4Y)
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:46 AM (IoAJL)
359
Be forwarned about the seige of Leningrad reading, not for the faint of heart.
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:47 AM (/rm4P)
360
I bet it gets pretty windy up there.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes
The thing that jumps out at me is how ordinary the Vietnamese (and doubtless lots of Chinese) tourists seem. They wear baseball caps and sneakers, have cell phones, and young girls travel in clumps and make faces for selfies. Other than being much thinner than an American crowd, it could be here.
The engineering looks good. I also noticed a big Buddha statue in the background. I doubt any of this is what Ho Chi Minh had in mind, and it gives me hope for the future.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes
The thing that jumps out at me is how ordinary the Vietnamese (and doubtless lots of Chinese) tourists seem. They wear baseball caps and sneakers, have cell phones, and young girls travel in clumps and make faces for selfies. Other than being much thinner than an American crowd, it could be here.
The engineering looks good. I also noticed a big Buddha statue in the background. I doubt any of this is what Ho Chi Minh had in mind, and it gives me hope for the future.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:48 AM (T6t7i)
361
But sort of my favorite Pacific aviation story is one I just read about. Can't recall where - later '44, so western Pacific, maybe Marianas - American ingenuity and style asserted itself. They made ice cream by attaching tanks full of the proper ingredients to Corsairs, which then patrolled at altitude - when the planes returned, voila, ice cream (of a sort). Quintessentially American, and WWII, style, right there. Think I read about it in Tillman's Corsair book.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:48 AM (QDnY+)
362
I've plugged it here as one of the best non-fiction reads. It's a history of the oil industry that doubles as an insightful history of the 20th Century.
The part on the start of the US Saudi alliance is a hoot.
Also, how Peak Oil peaks and falls, over and over.
Yergin is a quite successful industry consultant.
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:16 AM (1UZdv)
Ignoramus, it is quite possible that I bought the book on your recommendation. I get a lot of books due to good reviews here by the Horde that I have enjoyed reading...
The book had been sitting in my "to read" pile for a while now....(sadly, my "to read" pile often grows faster than it shrinks. )
I look forward to this thread every week....even if I get to it later Sunday night long after the thread dies I always look for interesting comments on good books.
Thanks Horde. Thanks OregonMuse for all the work you put into this World Famous Thread. Well done.
The part on the start of the US Saudi alliance is a hoot.
Also, how Peak Oil peaks and falls, over and over.
Yergin is a quite successful industry consultant.
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:16 AM (1UZdv)
Ignoramus, it is quite possible that I bought the book on your recommendation.
I get a lot of books due to good reviews here by the Horde that I have enjoyed reading...
The book had been sitting in my "to read" pile for a while now....(sadly, my "to read" pile often grows faster than it shrinks.
)
I look forward to this thread every week....even if I get to it later Sunday night long after the thread dies I always look for interesting comments on good books.
Thanks Horde. Thanks OregonMuse for all the work you put into this World Famous Thread. Well done.
Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at January 13, 2019 11:48 AM (u95+k)
363
Petersburg by Andrei Bely - is the Gutenberg translation ok?
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 11:49 AM (BJlbN)
364
UC 61's scoreboard, 12 ships sunk and three damaged.
https://uboat.net/wwi/boats/successes/uc61.html
https://uboat.net/wwi/boats/successes/uc61.html
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:49 AM (8lLw2)
365
"Institutionalized bullying" would be a fair way to describe it, I think.
And I don't remember CS Lewis ever complaining about it all that much. His attitude seemed to be mostly a matter-of-fact kind of 'oh well, that's just the way things are' view.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:45 AM (IoAJL)
---
I used to see this attitude in some guys who would complain about their brutal company commanders/drill sergeants, then turn right around and say "I can't wait to cycle those recruits myself!"
This was obviously back in the days of blanket parties and other soirees (I'm old).
"Institutionalized bullying" would be a fair way to describe it, I think.
And I don't remember CS Lewis ever complaining about it all that much. His attitude seemed to be mostly a matter-of-fact kind of 'oh well, that's just the way things are' view.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:45 AM (IoAJL)
---
I used to see this attitude in some guys who would complain about their brutal company commanders/drill sergeants, then turn right around and say "I can't wait to cycle those recruits myself!"
This was obviously back in the days of blanket parties and other soirees (I'm old).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:49 AM (kQs4Y)
366
"Be forwarned about the seige of Leningrad reading, not for the faint of heart."
Cannibalism?
I tell the Igno-Kids that we may see it in Venezuela.
Cannibalism?
I tell the Igno-Kids that we may see it in Venezuela.
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 11:50 AM (1UZdv)
367
330 Weasel, are you going to treat him to a trip to the rifle range?
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:32 AM (8lLw2)
-------
He already has a standing invitation! He's a really good guy and is nuts about his little pal WeaselDog.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:32 AM (8lLw2)
-------
He already has a standing invitation! He's a really good guy and is nuts about his little pal WeaselDog.
Posted by: Weasel at January 13, 2019 11:50 AM (MVjcR)
368
The UC's and the related UB's of WWI were originally small, cheap subs to operate from Belgium. The UC was the minelaying version. But over the course of the war, they just growed. The early ones could be transported by rail (in sections), but by 1918, they weren't that much smaller than the 1914 U boats.
In many ways the WWI sub designs are more interesting than WWII, in that no one had a really fixed tradition, and they were experimenting more. Steam power. Hell, the Brits even built some with 12" guns.
In many ways the WWI sub designs are more interesting than WWII, in that no one had a really fixed tradition, and they were experimenting more. Steam power. Hell, the Brits even built some with 12" guns.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:50 AM (VaN/j)
369
Alexandria Occasional Cortex should write about what she knows. But then again there are plenty of 'Bartender's Guides' already on the market.
Alexandria Occasional Cortex should write about what she knows. But then again there are plenty of 'Bartender's Guides' already on the market.
Posted by: Newest Nic at January 13, 2019 11:50 AM (jYje5)
370
Cannibalism?
I tell the Igno-Kids that we may see it in Venezuela.
Posted by: Ignoramus
Oh, eat me.
I tell the Igno-Kids that we may see it in Venezuela.
Posted by: Ignoramus
Oh, eat me.
Posted by: pep at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (T6t7i)
371
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5tldVG08gI
I bet it gets pretty windy up there.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:41 AM (kQs4Y)
Here's another bridge on a windy day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw
I bet it gets pretty windy up there.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:41 AM (kQs4Y)
Here's another bridge on a windy day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (IoAJL)
372
But the marksmanship and quality of the Japanese pilots had gone markedly down by '44 because the Japanese preferred not to pull pilots back home for a rest. So the cream of Japanese aviators died in '42 and '43 leaving only a few experts left for the US Navy to deal with.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:42 AM (8lLw2)
---------------
Read somewhere that German pilots were supposed to bail out when they got beat in a dogfight because of the shortage of pilots.
Know if this is true?
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:42 AM (8lLw2)
---------------
Read somewhere that German pilots were supposed to bail out when they got beat in a dogfight because of the shortage of pilots.
Know if this is true?
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (WEBkv)
373
Could someone kindly check post 233 and post a teeny little bit to reassure me that I am not a ghost.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y)
374
Skip when I was in Leningrad the older women were not shy about sharing little tales from the siege (which is good, and we were all ears). One thing I remember was the ladies scolding and showing alarm at the skinny condition of the American girls when we went to the banya (public baths/steam rooms)*.
"You have nothing for the bad times! Don't they feed you in America?!"
* Back when American college girls were mostly thin/thin-ish. The guys felt like complete losers. Some of us were in decent shape, but the Russian guys all looked like football tight ends, muscled and worked out. Might have been partly that we were near shipyards, pretty sure lots of the Russians were manual laborers.
"You have nothing for the bad times! Don't they feed you in America?!"
* Back when American college girls were mostly thin/thin-ish. The guys felt like complete losers. Some of us were in decent shape, but the Russian guys all looked like football tight ends, muscled and worked out. Might have been partly that we were near shipyards, pretty sure lots of the Russians were manual laborers.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:52 AM (QDnY+)
375
As for being productive, have to hit the hardware store for some drywall anchors. Unfortunately, studs aren't conveniently located for the mirror I'm putting up.
Later!
Later!
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 11:52 AM (WEBkv)
376
If you could get AOC to put on that zoot suit and dance, you could film The Mask Part II.
Posted by: Fritz at January 13, 2019 11:52 AM (wxZSX)
377
373 Could someone kindly check post 233 and post a teeny little bit to reassure me that I am not a ghost.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y)
You do in fact exist
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y)
You do in fact exist
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at January 13, 2019 11:53 AM (xJa6I)
378
>>Peak stupid? Media saying that Trump's firing Comey was done to collude with Russia, because Jimmy Drama was close to exposing the Russians. "Obstruction" = "Collusion" you see.
>>Because Trump has been a Russian stooge for decades.
Have you listened to Trump's interview with Judge Jeanine that he did last night?
You should. It's very interesting.
>>Because Trump has been a Russian stooge for decades.
Have you listened to Trump's interview with Judge Jeanine that he did last night?
You should. It's very interesting.
Posted by: JackStraw at January 13, 2019 11:53 AM (/tuJf)
379
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (cY3LT)
I did a paper on CS Lewis for school and, according to what I read, that system was why he hated his school years.
I did a paper on CS Lewis for school and, according to what I read, that system was why he hated his school years.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (phT8I)
380
365
"Institutionalized bullying" would be a fair way to describe it, I think.
And I don't remember CS Lewis ever complaining about it all that much. His attitude seemed to be mostly a matter-of-fact kind of 'oh well, that's just the way things are' view.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:45 AM (IoAJL)
---
I used to see this attitude in some guys who would complain about their brutal company commanders/drill sergeants, then turn right around and say "I can't wait to cycle those recruits myself!"
This was obviously back in the days of blanket parties and other soirees (I'm old).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:49 AM (kQs4Y)
I remember him as very critical of the school system. He certainly was relieved to get out of it. And said the army was better because no one said you were supposed to enjoy it.
He also conjectured that it might have created the class of extremely radical intellectuals of his day.
"Institutionalized bullying" would be a fair way to describe it, I think.
And I don't remember CS Lewis ever complaining about it all that much. His attitude seemed to be mostly a matter-of-fact kind of 'oh well, that's just the way things are' view.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 11:45 AM (IoAJL)
---
I used to see this attitude in some guys who would complain about their brutal company commanders/drill sergeants, then turn right around and say "I can't wait to cycle those recruits myself!"
This was obviously back in the days of blanket parties and other soirees (I'm old).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:49 AM (kQs4Y)
I remember him as very critical of the school system. He certainly was relieved to get out of it. And said the army was better because no one said you were supposed to enjoy it.
He also conjectured that it might have created the class of extremely radical intellectuals of his day.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (VaN/j)
381
12" gun on a sub. That's what *I'M* talkin' about. Absurd, but glorious.
And the aircraft-launching Japanese subs were outstanding. Still am floored by the imagination of the scheme to close the Canal by torpedoing the lock doors.
And the aircraft-launching Japanese subs were outstanding. Still am floored by the imagination of the scheme to close the Canal by torpedoing the lock doors.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (QDnY+)
382
361 But sort of my favorite Pacific aviation story is one I just read about. Can't recall where - later '44, so western Pacific, maybe Marianas - American ingenuity and style asserted itself. They made ice cream by attaching tanks full of the proper ingredients to Corsairs, which then patrolled at altitude - when the planes returned, voila, ice cream (of a sort). Quintessentially American, and WWII, style, right there. Think I read about it in Tillman's Corsair book.
.
My ex-Father-in-Law told me they used to chill beers in Vietnam by filling the rocket launcher on their Cobra helicopters and have the junior Warrant Officer fly it at 10,000 feet for an hour.
.
.
My ex-Father-in-Law told me they used to chill beers in Vietnam by filling the rocket launcher on their Cobra helicopters and have the junior Warrant Officer fly it at 10,000 feet for an hour.
.
Posted by: FireNWater at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (S4rpa)
383
That bridge is stunning. If you have a fear of heights Eris I would skip it.
Now imagine unruly American teens, like the ones last night in store busily playing at punching and dragging each other, doing that kind of stupidity on the that bridge, think the other pedestrians would be tossing them over the side.
Now imagine unruly American teens, like the ones last night in store busily playing at punching and dragging each other, doing that kind of stupidity on the that bridge, think the other pedestrians would be tossing them over the side.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (8lLw2)
384
In a way I feel sorry for AOC. She is a profoundly silly person but may have gained some wisdom from experience by staying local and learning the ropes. Alas, she has been pushed to the forefront too early because she is photogenic and we live in the era of social media. Nobody is really groomed for the job before being thrust into the spotlight.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:55 AM (kQs4Y)
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:55 AM (tJj1y)
386
373 Could someone kindly check post 233 and post a teeny little bit to reassure me that I am not a ghost.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y
it's strange, I only see 232 and 234
actually I was going to ask you to recommend a recently read book or two from your less well known authors
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y
it's strange, I only see 232 and 234
actually I was going to ask you to recommend a recently read book or two from your less well known authors
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 11:55 AM (BJlbN)
387
Guess I need to get out and clean off truck and walk way
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:56 AM (/rm4P)
388
373 Could someone kindly check post 233 and post a teeny little bit to reassure me that I am not a ghost.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y)
Get up and walk into the nearest wall. If you find yourself in a different room, you're a ghost. If you find you're in pain, you're not.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y)
Get up and walk into the nearest wall. If you find yourself in a different room, you're a ghost. If you find you're in pain, you're not.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:56 AM (VaN/j)
389
267 ... AHE, Thanks for the link to the Narnia map. It felt a bit like the first time I opened LOTR over fifty years ago and pored over those maps. I didn't realize the map would be a life long introduction to Tolkien.
Posted by: JTB at January 13, 2019 11:58 AM (bmdz3)
390
361 But sort of my favorite Pacific aviation story is one I just read about. Can't recall where - later '44, so western Pacific, maybe Marianas - American ingenuity and style asserted itself. They made ice cream by attaching tanks full of the proper ingredients to Corsairs, which then patrolled at altitude - when the planes returned, voila, ice cream (of a sort). Quintessentially American, and WWII, style, right there. Think I read about it in Tillman's Corsair book.
-------
My dad said they made ice cream when they flew over the Hump.
-------
My dad said they made ice cream when they flew over the Hump.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 11:58 AM (kQs4Y)
391
233 I use to plow through tomes in a week or two but seem to have not as much time these days
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 11:58 AM (/rm4P)
392
381 12" gun on a sub. That's what *I'M* talkin' about. Absurd, but glorious.
And the aircraft-launching Japanese subs were outstanding. Still am floored by the imagination of the scheme to close the Canal by torpedoing the lock doors.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (QDnY+)
The really good idea the Brits had was the R-class. It was just a bit ahead of it's time (no sonar). But an ASW sub, capable of 15 knots submerged (unheard of then) was sound, and of course, the idea did end up being successful much later.
And the aircraft-launching Japanese subs were outstanding. Still am floored by the imagination of the scheme to close the Canal by torpedoing the lock doors.
Posted by: rhomboid at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (QDnY+)
The really good idea the Brits had was the R-class. It was just a bit ahead of it's time (no sonar). But an ASW sub, capable of 15 knots submerged (unheard of then) was sound, and of course, the idea did end up being successful much later.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 11:59 AM (VaN/j)
393
70 years ago out west we called "Those Pants" a Zuit suit. IT was cutting edge, all the hep cats wore 'em like Sidney Poitier; as well as the old fogies like Clark Gable and Peter Fonda.the hat + suit were very stylish at the start of the war. Totally passe by '53! None of these guys would be caught dead in it in '53; but '48 WOW!
Posted by: an ol exJarhead at January 13, 2019 11:59 AM (I6aDb)
394
Trump needs to tweet this out.
Dems partying in PR with lobbyists during shutdown.
https://tinyurl.com/ybyp25z3
Dems partying in PR with lobbyists during shutdown.
https://tinyurl.com/ybyp25z3
Posted by: HA at January 13, 2019 12:00 PM (MAstk)
395
373 Could someone kindly check post 233 and post a teeny little bit to reassure me that I am not a ghost.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y)
You mean this post?
233 I suspect that what you guys consider reading and how I read is a bit different. I read a book a day approximately. Almost all of them are self-published/small publisher apocalyptic/sci-fi/fantasy. I did gobble up Amy Lynn and Luna City in the last year. My absolute fave authors are Thomas A. Watson, N.C. Reed and J.L. Curtis and guys like that. I re-read Laurence Dahner's complete Ell Donsai series every few months. More established authors that I read avidly are John Ringo, Terry Pratchett, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody stories. If you absolutely cannot acquire enough words to read Michael Anderle produces vast quantities of words but many of his co-authors aren't quite up to snuff. Love to see what everybody is reading. Returning to lurker mode.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (tJj1y)
OK, then.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 11:51 AM (tJj1y)
You mean this post?
233 I suspect that what you guys consider reading and how I read is a bit different. I read a book a day approximately. Almost all of them are self-published/small publisher apocalyptic/sci-fi/fantasy. I did gobble up Amy Lynn and Luna City in the last year. My absolute fave authors are Thomas A. Watson, N.C. Reed and J.L. Curtis and guys like that. I re-read Laurence Dahner's complete Ell Donsai series every few months. More established authors that I read avidly are John Ringo, Terry Pratchett, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody stories. If you absolutely cannot acquire enough words to read Michael Anderle produces vast quantities of words but many of his co-authors aren't quite up to snuff. Love to see what everybody is reading. Returning to lurker mode.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 10:38 AM (tJj1y)
OK, then.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at January 13, 2019 12:01 PM (IoAJL)
396
I'd heard millet is a good "prepper food", more complete than other grains or some such. I got that reference from long ago, about how millet saved many during the Leningrad siege. Not sure that was true but it was one of the foods they had.
This is from some diary published in the Daily Mail ... a girl that lost her family around her ... (after she said eating the cat kept them alive 12 more days)
"we went to the bread shop. I
got 600g of bread and gave her 300g. Then I went to school and got a
bowl of millet soup and a portion of millet kasha with butter."
https://tinyurl.com/ybd6k86y
This is from some diary published in the Daily Mail ... a girl that lost her family around her ... (after she said eating the cat kept them alive 12 more days)
"we went to the bread shop. I
got 600g of bread and gave her 300g. Then I went to school and got a
bowl of millet soup and a portion of millet kasha with butter."
https://tinyurl.com/ybd6k86y
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 12:02 PM (Cus5s)
397
AOC is the tip of the Leftie spear. She's part of the Justice Democrats that wants the D party to go hard left. Part of this is primarying "moderate" Menshevick Ds to be replaced with fellow Bolsheviks.
In point of fact, AOC replaced old-line Crowley by winning a light turnout primary in a Deep Blue district
Dig into this and I'd bet you'd find Soros money
In point of fact, AOC replaced old-line Crowley by winning a light turnout primary in a Deep Blue district
Dig into this and I'd bet you'd find Soros money
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:02 PM (1UZdv)
398
AOC is not a threat, she's a disaster for the Dems.
Now that she is done warring with Joe Lieberman, she's at war with the media.
Love it.
https://tinyurl.com/yd6zdrqq
Now that she is done warring with Joe Lieberman, she's at war with the media.
Love it.
https://tinyurl.com/yd6zdrqq
Posted by: HA at January 13, 2019 12:03 PM (MAstk)
399
I have never heard of an order for the Germans to bail out due to pilot shortage. Though on the Eastern Front, stories of Luftwaffe pilots crash landing multiple times to fight again is common.
The I-400 class I-boat was interesting with three Seirans aboard. But the Japanese submarine fleet for the Pacific in WWII was truly a bewildering mix of classes. While the US churned out many Gato and Balao class boats, only rarely did a Japanese submarine class boast more than three boats.
Talking about beer and ice cream. In the book Combat Chronicles of the P-61 there is a photo of the RO's area of one P-61 stuffed full of fruit. The Brits also would do beer runs across the Channel to Europe by loading up Spitfires with beer casks on the underwing hardpoints.
The I-400 class I-boat was interesting with three Seirans aboard. But the Japanese submarine fleet for the Pacific in WWII was truly a bewildering mix of classes. While the US churned out many Gato and Balao class boats, only rarely did a Japanese submarine class boast more than three boats.
Talking about beer and ice cream. In the book Combat Chronicles of the P-61 there is a photo of the RO's area of one P-61 stuffed full of fruit. The Brits also would do beer runs across the Channel to Europe by loading up Spitfires with beer casks on the underwing hardpoints.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 12:05 PM (8lLw2)
400
386 actually I was going to ask you to recommend a recently read book or two from your less well known authors
Stormcrow by N.C. Reed- 2 books so far- is a about a space freighter and it's various crew.
The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone by Michael Anderle- 8 books so far- is an urban fantasy about a bounty hunter. Omnibus Edition (books 1-6) available on Kindle for 2.99 at the moment.
Stormcrow by N.C. Reed- 2 books so far- is a about a space freighter and it's various crew.
The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone by Michael Anderle- 8 books so far- is an urban fantasy about a bounty hunter. Omnibus Edition (books 1-6) available on Kindle for 2.99 at the moment.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 12:06 PM (tJj1y)
401
Nevile Shute is my mom's favorite author. He designed planes during WWI and wrote many, many books, quite a few of them which have been made into films (such as No Highway in the Sky, with Jimmy Stewart).
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at January 13, 2019 12:07 PM (39g3+)
402
Millet is yummy.
Posted by: Finches everywhere at January 13, 2019 12:08 PM (5ysN4)
403
Good morning ...
Posted by: maynfan at January 13, 2019 12:08 PM (GG502)
404
That was a fad pre-WWII of cruiser submarines. The US had Nautilus and Narwhal but they proved too slow on the dive and hard to quickly maneuver so by war's end they were supply subs running munitions and arms to guerillas in the Philippines
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 12:09 PM (8lLw2)
405
But the Japanese submarine fleet for the Pacific in WWII was truly a bewildering mix of classes. While the US churned out many Gato and Balao class boats, only rarely did a Japanese submarine class boast more than three boats.
It wasn't quite that bad. Most of the small (in numbers, not size) classes were developments of their predecessors, not wholly new. But it was confusing; they had several different types of the big fast subs, supposedly for different roles. And it's hard to see why one or two designs couldn't just be adapted ad hoc. They are hard to keep straight.
But they weren't so bad as the French battleships of the 1890s. That was a real "fleet of samples."
It wasn't quite that bad. Most of the small (in numbers, not size) classes were developments of their predecessors, not wholly new. But it was confusing; they had several different types of the big fast subs, supposedly for different roles. And it's hard to see why one or two designs couldn't just be adapted ad hoc. They are hard to keep straight.
But they weren't so bad as the French battleships of the 1890s. That was a real "fleet of samples."
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 12:11 PM (VaN/j)
406
Talking about good books, doent forgit about my book. It is be named Loving are Black Presdent by Mary Clogginstein. Grate book about all the wondorfall things Presdent Obama did for us little people. Only $39.99 with all the moneey going to help children of coler and stopping Globall Warning.
Posted by: Mary Clogginstien from Brattlboro, VT at January 13, 2019 12:11 PM (qM84C)
407
Well got to scoot and get ready for work. *thud*
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 12:13 PM (8lLw2)
408
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 12:06 PM (tJj1y)
cool!
just to check - are these free of Leftist / sjw nonsense?
cool!
just to check - are these free of Leftist / sjw nonsense?
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 12:13 PM (BJlbN)
409
We're at day 22 1/2 of the shutdown.
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (1UZdv)
410
" I never knew a boy who was not cowed for life at Eton."
- William Pitt the elder, noted home schooler
So Headmaster Arnold might have been wanting to do the right thing. But no creative type who has come up through the BPS since then has praised it, or him. Judging from "The Silver Chair", C.S. Lewis had much to say on the idea of peer/senior rule at schools. OTOH in Japanese schools on all levels the students are taught pride and admiration for their schools, and the students take care of many basic duties. Of course in manga there is always the inevitable school council of elite twats who actually run the place, but that is fiction.
- William Pitt the elder, noted home schooler
So Headmaster Arnold might have been wanting to do the right thing. But no creative type who has come up through the BPS since then has praised it, or him. Judging from "The Silver Chair", C.S. Lewis had much to say on the idea of peer/senior rule at schools. OTOH in Japanese schools on all levels the students are taught pride and admiration for their schools, and the students take care of many basic duties. Of course in manga there is always the inevitable school council of elite twats who actually run the place, but that is fiction.
Posted by: exdem13 at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (W+kMI)
411
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 11:08 AM (cY3LT)
I did a paper on CS Lewis for school and, according to what I read, that system was why he hated his school years.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (phT8I)
Hate to say it, but we see the same sort of thing in high school girls athletics.
And sadly, Catholic seminaries.
I did a paper on CS Lewis for school and, according to what I read, that system was why he hated his school years.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 13, 2019 11:54 AM (phT8I)
Hate to say it, but we see the same sort of thing in high school girls athletics.
And sadly, Catholic seminaries.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 13, 2019 12:15 PM (cY3LT)
412
404 That was a fad pre-WWII of cruiser submarines. The US had Nautilus and Narwhal but they proved too slow on the dive and hard to quickly maneuver so by war's end they were supply subs running munitions and arms to guerillas in the Philippines
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 12:09 PM (8lLw2)
I think the epitome was the French Suffren. She even had a compartment for the survivors of ships she sank. Plus a plane, and 4 x 8" guns.
There were other pre-WWII fads. Everyone seems to have expected floatplanes to be a bigger deal than they were. That is, for combat, not scouting and spotting. So many seaplane carriers were built, and a lot of effort was put into having them on battleships, cruisers, and even destroyers. There was a sub-class of the Fletchers which was specifically modified to carry a seaplane. They quickly reverted to regular destroyers.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 12:09 PM (8lLw2)
I think the epitome was the French Suffren. She even had a compartment for the survivors of ships she sank. Plus a plane, and 4 x 8" guns.
There were other pre-WWII fads. Everyone seems to have expected floatplanes to be a bigger deal than they were. That is, for combat, not scouting and spotting. So many seaplane carriers were built, and a lot of effort was put into having them on battleships, cruisers, and even destroyers. There was a sub-class of the Fletchers which was specifically modified to carry a seaplane. They quickly reverted to regular destroyers.
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 12:15 PM (VaN/j)
413
Ref "No Highway"
I had assumed it was based on the Comet Airliner disasters* and now I just learned that the Comet crashes happened years after the book. Prophetic!
*metal fatigue on the world's first passenger jet airliner - two planes lost with no survivors.
Ref "No Highway"
I had assumed it was based on the Comet Airliner disasters* and now I just learned that the Comet crashes happened years after the book. Prophetic!
*metal fatigue on the world's first passenger jet airliner - two planes lost with no survivors.
Posted by: ArthurK at January 13, 2019 12:15 PM (wTfoB)
414
Thanks to Lin-duh, Pookette read this past week: Richard Scarry's "Big and Little," "Pete the Cat: A Pet for Pete," "I Spy: A School Bus" (apparently she has her mother's photographic memory), and Mercer Mayer's "When I Get Bigger." Not an exhaustive list, since that's just what I saw her reading.
Posted by: pookysgirl at January 13, 2019 12:16 PM (XKZwp)
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 12:17 PM (BJlbN)
416
409 We're at day 22 1/2 of the shutdown.
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (1UZdv)
OK, raise your hand if you died in the Trump Shutdown Apocalypse.
BTW, how come we don't see stories of media-types raising money to help the poor wretches in government service?
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (1UZdv)
OK, raise your hand if you died in the Trump Shutdown Apocalypse.
BTW, how come we don't see stories of media-types raising money to help the poor wretches in government service?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 12:18 PM (VaN/j)
417
I am currently reading The Spark by David Drake. Someone got him to take up the challenge of doing his own take on the Matter of Britain. It's a kinder, gentler Drake than his Northworld days, but it's still a fine read.
Posted by: exdem13 at January 13, 2019 12:19 PM (W+kMI)
418
409 We're at day 22 1/2 of the shutdown.
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
============
Total shrieking hyperbolic apocalyptic meltdown, so maybe we get Donaldus Maximus to go for 15-20%?
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
============
Total shrieking hyperbolic apocalyptic meltdown, so maybe we get Donaldus Maximus to go for 15-20%?
Posted by: exdem13 at January 13, 2019 12:22 PM (W+kMI)
419
AOC is not a threat, she's a disaster for the Dems
------
For the older ones. She is the face of hardline communism in America though, and the future of the Party, and the old folks are the past. Though too stupid and weak for actual power, she will be the face of the hardliners as they mobilize the youth for the final push.
AOC is the physical manifestation of the endpoint of the Gramscian March. Once we go full-blown, and democracy is swept away, someone tougher and smarter will of course shunt her aside, but in the meantime - get ready to see a whole lot more of this "rising star."
Be dismissive of her if you like, but never underestimate what she represents.
------
For the older ones. She is the face of hardline communism in America though, and the future of the Party, and the old folks are the past. Though too stupid and weak for actual power, she will be the face of the hardliners as they mobilize the youth for the final push.
AOC is the physical manifestation of the endpoint of the Gramscian March. Once we go full-blown, and democracy is swept away, someone tougher and smarter will of course shunt her aside, but in the meantime - get ready to see a whole lot more of this "rising star."
Be dismissive of her if you like, but never underestimate what she represents.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 13, 2019 12:22 PM (5aX2M)
420
making yellow rice for the heathens to go with ground beef
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 12:24 PM (BJlbN)
421
416 409 We're at day 22 1/2 of the shutdown.
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (1UZdv)
OK, raise your hand if you died in the Trump Shutdown Apocalypse.
BTW, how come we don't see stories of media-types raising money to help the poor wretches in government service?
=========
Them, actually cut a check to help out people instead of sea otters? HAH!! USA for Africa is a distant memory, the pinkos of PMS-NBC equate Caesar with charity, not Christ.
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (1UZdv)
OK, raise your hand if you died in the Trump Shutdown Apocalypse.
BTW, how come we don't see stories of media-types raising money to help the poor wretches in government service?
=========
Them, actually cut a check to help out people instead of sea otters? HAH!! USA for Africa is a distant memory, the pinkos of PMS-NBC equate Caesar with charity, not Christ.
Posted by: exdem13 at January 13, 2019 12:24 PM (W+kMI)
422
419 AOC is not a threat, she's a disaster for the Dems
------
For the older ones. She is the face of hardline communism in America though, and the future of the Party, and the old folks are the past. Though too stupid and weak for actual power, she will be the face of the hardliners as they mobilize the youth for the final push.
AOC is the physical manifestation of the endpoint of the Gramscian March. Once we go full-blown, and democracy is swept away, someone tougher and smarter will of course shunt her aside, but in the meantime - get ready to see a whole lot more of this "rising star."
Be dismissive of her if you like, but never underestimate what she represents.
========
TO pare that down some, AOC is a God-damned fool, but she is a God-damned fool with some serious support by people who are cursed good at propping up fools to get things done.
------
For the older ones. She is the face of hardline communism in America though, and the future of the Party, and the old folks are the past. Though too stupid and weak for actual power, she will be the face of the hardliners as they mobilize the youth for the final push.
AOC is the physical manifestation of the endpoint of the Gramscian March. Once we go full-blown, and democracy is swept away, someone tougher and smarter will of course shunt her aside, but in the meantime - get ready to see a whole lot more of this "rising star."
Be dismissive of her if you like, but never underestimate what she represents.
========
TO pare that down some, AOC is a God-damned fool, but she is a God-damned fool with some serious support by people who are cursed good at propping up fools to get things done.
Posted by: exdem13 at January 13, 2019 12:27 PM (W+kMI)
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 12:28 PM (VaN/j)
424
The library pic reminds me of my uncle REDACTED's liquor cabinet. Its got fake books on the doors and it was made about 70 or 80 yrs b4 this building. Or so he tells me, lol
Posted by: Majolica at January 13, 2019 12:32 PM (L/iaS)
425
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 12:13 PM
Guaranteed SJW free as far as my perception perceives.
Guaranteed SJW free as far as my perception perceives.
Posted by: alo89 at January 13, 2019 12:41 PM (tJj1y)
426
409
We're at day 22 1/2 of the shutdown.
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (1UZdv)
---
I don't know about other folks here, but a payless payday does seriously suck.
We're at day 22 1/2 of the shutdown.
If it goes 30 days, federal agencies can RIF furloughed employees.
Media are in uproar because federal employees have missed a check. What would be the response if some agencies got cut 10%?
Posted by: Ignoramus at January 13, 2019 12:14 PM (1UZdv)
---
I don't know about other folks here, but a payless payday does seriously suck.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 12:42 PM (cfSRQ)
427
Have read a number of books by Nevil Shute but the one I read over and over is, "An Old Captivity" about a pilot, an Oxford professor and his daughter on a small Greenland archeological expedition.
Posted by: Henry Lee at January 13, 2019 12:42 PM (ZaZvt)
428
OK, raise your hand if you died in the Trump Shutdown Apocalypse.
BTW, how come we don't see stories of media-types raising money to help the poor wretches in government service?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 12:18 PM (VaN/j)
---
I'm not dead, but the looming threat caused a very austere Christmas at Chateau Lloyd. I'm the sole breadwinner for the household so we're locked down pretty tight until this thing ends.
On the plus side, DoD is stll open for business, so I'm able to knock out training days with my Guard unit. Still, hoping things are settled soon (and in a good way).
One of my daughters' birthdays is later this month and I haven't had to warn her that presents will have to be delayed.
So yeah, there is real pain.
BTW, how come we don't see stories of media-types raising money to help the poor wretches in government service?
Posted by: Eeyore at January 13, 2019 12:18 PM (VaN/j)
---
I'm not dead, but the looming threat caused a very austere Christmas at Chateau Lloyd. I'm the sole breadwinner for the household so we're locked down pretty tight until this thing ends.
On the plus side, DoD is stll open for business, so I'm able to knock out training days with my Guard unit. Still, hoping things are settled soon (and in a good way).
One of my daughters' birthdays is later this month and I haven't had to warn her that presents will have to be delayed.
So yeah, there is real pain.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 12:47 PM (cfSRQ)
429
Maybe I missed it 400 comments ago but... according to Time Mag it's the 4th most beautiful library in the world. Whoa. I did not know Time was an authority on library beauty. How does one oder the beauty of a library on an ordinal scale? Just asking.
Posted by: Marica at January 13, 2019 12:51 PM (cykH2)
430
Yikes! Four hundred comments already? This thread could take all afternoon.
Having abandoned all thought of resolving to eschew library books in favor of cutting my TBR piles, I finished two library items -- "Firebreak," a Parker novel by Richard Stark nee Donald Westlake; and "Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye," the first trade collection of a new comics series by DC, featuring an obscure character from the '50s. I recommend both.
Parker is a professional thief with no compunctions about doing whatever is necessary to pull off the job. This is one of the later entries in the series, which began in the '60s. "Stark" produced more than a dozen books through the mid-'70s, then let the character lie fallow until the '90s, bringing Parker to a new audience with "Comeback."
I've read nearly all of the later books but only one of the first phase. Thanks to B&N, I hope to remedy that someday.
Cave Carson was an underground explorer. This being the DC Universe, he encountered monsters and subterranean civilizations. This iteration brings him in as a somewhat older man, mourning for his recently deceased wife and working to rebuild a relationship with his teenage daughter.
I picked up the book because I had enjoyed previous work by the artist. It's not as realistic as I prefer, but it does show talent, something I can't say about a lot of current comics. And the colors really pop!
Here's how much I enjoyed the comic: When I completed it, I immediately checked the library's website for the next volume. None is out yet, but I understand the series is continuing. Something to await.
One more library book to complete, and then it's over to my bookshelves. The hard part will be deciding which to select.
Having abandoned all thought of resolving to eschew library books in favor of cutting my TBR piles, I finished two library items -- "Firebreak," a Parker novel by Richard Stark nee Donald Westlake; and "Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye," the first trade collection of a new comics series by DC, featuring an obscure character from the '50s. I recommend both.
Parker is a professional thief with no compunctions about doing whatever is necessary to pull off the job. This is one of the later entries in the series, which began in the '60s. "Stark" produced more than a dozen books through the mid-'70s, then let the character lie fallow until the '90s, bringing Parker to a new audience with "Comeback."
I've read nearly all of the later books but only one of the first phase. Thanks to B&N, I hope to remedy that someday.
Cave Carson was an underground explorer. This being the DC Universe, he encountered monsters and subterranean civilizations. This iteration brings him in as a somewhat older man, mourning for his recently deceased wife and working to rebuild a relationship with his teenage daughter.
I picked up the book because I had enjoyed previous work by the artist. It's not as realistic as I prefer, but it does show talent, something I can't say about a lot of current comics. And the colors really pop!
Here's how much I enjoyed the comic: When I completed it, I immediately checked the library's website for the next volume. None is out yet, but I understand the series is continuing. Something to await.
One more library book to complete, and then it's over to my bookshelves. The hard part will be deciding which to select.
Posted by: Weak Geek at January 13, 2019 12:55 PM (PWPy3)
431
429
Maybe I missed it 400 comments ago but... according to Time Mag it's the
4th most beautiful library in the world. Whoa. I did not know Time was
an authority on library beauty. How does one oder the beauty of a
library on an ordinal scale? Just asking.
Posted by: Marica at January 13, 2019 12:51 PM (cykH2)
---
Time may have been saying that among those that rate them, it's fourth.
Sort of like describing a football team as ranked first in the nation. You didn't personally rank it, but AP or USA Today did.
Maybe I missed it 400 comments ago but... according to Time Mag it's the
4th most beautiful library in the world. Whoa. I did not know Time was
an authority on library beauty. How does one oder the beauty of a
library on an ordinal scale? Just asking.
Posted by: Marica at January 13, 2019 12:51 PM (cykH2)
---
Time may have been saying that among those that rate them, it's fourth.
Sort of like describing a football team as ranked first in the nation. You didn't personally rank it, but AP or USA Today did.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 12:58 PM (cfSRQ)
432
SCORE! I went out to our Little Free Library to drop off an offering -- a Star Wars graphic novel -- and walked away with the Holly Lisle fantasy Sympathy for the Devil, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, and Gregg Smith's Beer In America: The Early Years.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 12:58 PM (kQs4Y)
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 12:59 PM (kQs4Y)
434
Thumbs nose at Barrel.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 12:59 PM (kQs4Y)
435
Late to the discussion of bicycle troops, but I just want to note the excellent Danish film "9.April", about the German invasion of Denmark. The film focuses on a company of bicycle troops, and you shouod see the horrified looks these poor schmoes have when they run up against armored personnel carriers. The film is available on Prime. Highly recommended.
Posted by: Captain Obvious at January 13, 2019 01:07 PM (Hx3Yn)
436
313 speaking of cold wars ... will the little ice age coming in the next decade (???) ... save us from the leftists, or kill us all? There would be some warm places, but food production would have to be redesigned ...
We just got a foot of snow, and not much will melt before another foot is forecast for next weekend. One thing I read regarding the ice age, was it was not so much the cold as the increase in snow ... lots and lots of snow piled up makes things colder and keeps things from growing in the spring, reflects a lot of global warming back to space ... then come the glaciers, to save us from liberals?
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 11:21 AM (Cus5s)
Glaciers are augmented by snow that doesn't melt from one season to the next (as noted above). Also, note that we have had several years of low sunspot numbers and we're about due for a climate minimum. So, 10 or 20 years of unusually low temperatures and heightened snowfall could certainly kick off a bit of enhanced glaciation.
(Book related: Finished The Fellowship of the Ring, now pushing through The Two Towers. I gave myself a new Kindle reader for Christmas and it's wunnerful.)
We just got a foot of snow, and not much will melt before another foot is forecast for next weekend. One thing I read regarding the ice age, was it was not so much the cold as the increase in snow ... lots and lots of snow piled up makes things colder and keeps things from growing in the spring, reflects a lot of global warming back to space ... then come the glaciers, to save us from liberals?
Posted by: illiniwek at January 13, 2019 11:21 AM (Cus5s)
Glaciers are augmented by snow that doesn't melt from one season to the next (as noted above). Also, note that we have had several years of low sunspot numbers and we're about due for a climate minimum. So, 10 or 20 years of unusually low temperatures and heightened snowfall could certainly kick off a bit of enhanced glaciation.
(Book related: Finished The Fellowship of the Ring, now pushing through The Two Towers. I gave myself a new Kindle reader for Christmas and it's wunnerful.)
Posted by: joncelli, consulting his Roget's at January 13, 2019 01:07 PM (1FhAQ)
437
The Barrel, "soon...."
Sympathy for the Devil, ya see Boss got this idea for a theme park.
Of to work I go. Yay.
Sympathy for the Devil, ya see Boss got this idea for a theme park.
Of to work I go. Yay.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 01:09 PM (8lLw2)
438
435
Late to the discussion of bicycle troops, but I just want to note the
excellent Danish film "9.April", about the German invasion of Denmark.
The film focuses on a company of bicycle troops, and you shouod see the
horrified looks these poor schmoes have when they run up against armored
personnel carriers. The film is available on Prime. Highly
recommended.
Posted by: Captain Obvious at January 13, 2019 01:07 PM (Hx3Yn)
---
Didn't Denmark surrender by mid-morning? Not that they had a chance...
Late to the discussion of bicycle troops, but I just want to note the
excellent Danish film "9.April", about the German invasion of Denmark.
The film focuses on a company of bicycle troops, and you shouod see the
horrified looks these poor schmoes have when they run up against armored
personnel carriers. The film is available on Prime. Highly
recommended.
Posted by: Captain Obvious at January 13, 2019 01:07 PM (Hx3Yn)
---
Didn't Denmark surrender by mid-morning? Not that they had a chance...
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at January 13, 2019 01:09 PM (cfSRQ)
439
"Traffic lights do nothing to stop speeders, so why do we bother with traffic lights?" "That deadbolt on your front door isn't going to stop a burglar from sneaking in through a window."
-
Modern medicine can't cure the common cold. I guess that's the end of Obamacare.
-
Modern medicine can't cure the common cold. I guess that's the end of Obamacare.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 01:11 PM (+y/Ru)
440
Brought up April 9 last week on the movie thread, available on Amazon prime, maybe Netflix, for me nothing.
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 01:12 PM (/rm4P)
441
Posted by: Marica at January 13, 2019 12:51 PM
Just have to read the last 100 comments but don't think it was mentioned.
Just have to read the last 100 comments but don't think it was mentioned.
Posted by: Skip at January 13, 2019 01:14 PM (/rm4P)
442
The remains of a German mine-laying submarine, UC 61, from World War I have resurfaced on the French beach where the boat had run aground during the war.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:36 AM
Unpossible. I have been repeatedly scolded that the oceans are rising and WWI relics are under a hundred feet of water by now.
-
Is Paris Drowning?
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at January 13, 2019 11:36 AM
Unpossible. I have been repeatedly scolded that the oceans are rising and WWI relics are under a hundred feet of water by now.
-
Is Paris Drowning?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at January 13, 2019 01:20 PM (+y/Ru)
443
With regard to filmed versions of "Little Women", I saw the 1994 version, with Winona Ryder as Jo and Susan Sarandon as Marmie, and enjoyed it quite a bit. In fact, it led me to read the book, and I was surprised at how faithfully the movie followed the book - though, of course, it had to chop out quite a bit of the book - after all, there's a limit to how much material will fit into a two-hour movie. Still, I recommend it as an enjoyable and faithful adaption of the novel.
Posted by: Brown Line at January 13, 2019 01:21 PM (S6ArX)
444
Didn't Denmark surrender by mid-morning? Not that they had a chance...
-----
Yes, one of the poignant moments in the film is at the end, when the Danish captain surrenders to avoid further casualties and the German commander asks him in honest puzzlement why they kept fighting. They hadn't gotten the word that the government had laid down arms.
-----
Yes, one of the poignant moments in the film is at the end, when the Danish captain surrenders to avoid further casualties and the German commander asks him in honest puzzlement why they kept fighting. They hadn't gotten the word that the government had laid down arms.
Posted by: Captain Obvious at January 13, 2019 01:22 PM (Hx3Yn)
445
I like Holly Lisle; don't think I've read Sympathy for the Devil
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 01:25 PM (BJlbN)
446
Yeah, Holly Lisle was a mainstay for me years ago. She wrote some light funny fantasy like "Fire in the Mist and "Bones of the Past", but then really got intense with the Secret Texts trilogy, where magic is a real science but its use has negative side effects, much like radiation from atomic bombs.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 13, 2019 01:43 PM (kQs4Y)
447
Re: finding books by Neil Shute & other authors...
As a bonafide bibliophile and cheapskate, I love my public library! I can usually find what I want, if not at my branch, then through intralibrary or interlibrary loan. Even better, more and more books are available as now in ebook format--easily downloadable, even when the library is closed. And they are returned automatically, so no fines!
As a bonafide bibliophile and cheapskate, I love my public library! I can usually find what I want, if not at my branch, then through intralibrary or interlibrary loan. Even better, more and more books are available as now in ebook format--easily downloadable, even when the library is closed. And they are returned automatically, so no fines!
Posted by: March Hare at January 13, 2019 02:05 PM (81x1b)
448
*Neville Shute.
Posted by: March Hare at January 13, 2019 02:31 PM (81x1b)
449
One more time *Nevil Shute. (Need more coffee!)
Posted by: March Hare at January 13, 2019 02:33 PM (81x1b)
450
The Royal Portuguese Library in Rio is gorgeous.
I hope, after the fire at the National Museum of Brazil last September, that they are taking extra-special precautions to ensure that the book collection remains safe.
I'm not so sure about that, unfortunately.
I hope, after the fire at the National Museum of Brazil last September, that they are taking extra-special precautions to ensure that the book collection remains safe.
I'm not so sure about that, unfortunately.
Posted by: Darrell Harris at January 13, 2019 03:04 PM (iuFgi)
451
Ghost soldiers : the epic account of World War II's greatest rescue mission by Hampton Sides?
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 11:33 AM (BJlbN)
---------------
Yes.
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at January 13, 2019 11:33 AM (BJlbN)
---------------
Yes.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at January 13, 2019 04:50 PM (WEBkv)
452
Huh. A Nevil Shute book about the Lockheed L-1011?
Reading Vanity Fair for the first time right now. Holy crap that is a long book. Not terrible though, once you get into it. Just remember that it's about people, not action. Probably worked better in its original "serialized" form. That's how I'm reading it now, a chapter every once in a while.
Reading Vanity Fair for the first time right now. Holy crap that is a long book. Not terrible though, once you get into it. Just remember that it's about people, not action. Probably worked better in its original "serialized" form. That's how I'm reading it now, a chapter every once in a while.
Posted by: Heresolong at January 13, 2019 06:49 PM (spsWF)
453
415
just saw thst they are on Kindle Unlimited, gonna check out Mr Brownstone #1
thanks alo89
Yes, those sound like a fun read. Thanks for the rec. Off to download.
just saw thst they are on Kindle Unlimited, gonna check out Mr Brownstone #1
thanks alo89
Yes, those sound like a fun read. Thanks for the rec. Off to download.
Posted by: Charlotte at January 13, 2019 07:30 PM (foWqu)
454
Speaking of books to movies, I stumbled across a miniseries of Len Deighton's SS-GB. I've watched just the first two episodes and it's OK. I hadn't realized t hat I had developed such a mental image of protagonist Douglas Archer but I do know that I hadn't seen him as the pretty boy actor they have playing him.
A remake of Catch 22? Back in the day, they said that the novel could not be made into a movie. The chaos of the novel simply could not be translated to the screen. I thought the Alan Arkin version was pretty good (and Joseph Heller liked it) but I fear for one of my favorite books in this age lunacy. I've often thought that this age of lunacy is ripe for a Catch 22 style sacred cow skewering but I fear in this production the sacred cows will remain unskewered and the usual scapegoats will be BBQed.
A remake of Catch 22? Back in the day, they said that the novel could not be made into a movie. The chaos of the novel simply could not be translated to the screen. I thought the Alan Arkin version was pretty good (and Joseph Heller liked it) but I fear for one of my favorite books in this age lunacy. I've often thought that this age of lunacy is ripe for a Catch 22 style sacred cow skewering but I fear in this production the sacred cows will remain unskewered and the usual scapegoats will be BBQed.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 10, 2019 10:12 AM (+y/Ru)
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