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Sunday Morning Book Thread 06-23-2019

boston athenaeum.jpg
Boston Athenæum


Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, crétins sans pantalon, fat-heads, meat-heads, pot-heads, acid-heads, potato-heads and morons who picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, writing, 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 something George Jetson might see after accidentally inhaling some space mushroom spores.



Pic Note

This library has been around for awhile:

Founded in 1807, the Boston Athenæum is one of the oldest and most distinguished independent libraries and cultural institutions in the United States. It grew out of a slightly earlier organization known as the Anthology Society which had been formed in 1805 by a group of Bostonians...[whose] purpose was to form "an establishment similar to that of the Athenæum and Lyceum of Liverpool in Great Britain; combining the advantages of a public library [and] containing the great works of learning and science in all languages."...Today its collections comprise over half a million volumes, with particular strengths in Boston history, New England state and local history, biography, English and American literature, and the fine and decorative arts.



Children's Book Bleg

I see many requests from you morons for children's book recommendations, presumably because you want good stories and you don't want to fill up their heads with modern day woke crap. So I am working with 'ette commenter "Brunette the 'Ette" to compile a spreadsheet (or series of spreadsheets) of good recommendations based on age. And by "working with" I mean that Brunette is doing all of the work and I'll just take what she sends me and make it available. The question is, what's the best way to do this? These will be Excel spreadsheets (containing links to Amazon and other sites) and I doubt all of you have Microsoft Office, so I'm open to suggestions. Maybe some kind of Google doc thingy somewhere on the so-called 'Cloud'? Please leave your suggestions in the comments. Thank you.


It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

Covertly implying or drawing attention to something by ostensibly avoiding all mention of it is called PARALEIPSIS.

Usage: Remember that thing I told you to stop thinking about it? Well, stop thinking about it.



book cartoon 39.jpg



Jim Acosta Wrote a Book

E I E I O...

Yeah, it's a bad as you might think::

From the hazy denials and accusations meant to discredit the Mueller investigation, to the president’s scurrilous tweets, Jim Acosta is in the eye of the storm while reporting live to millions of people across the world. After spending hundreds of hours with the revolving door of White House personnel, Acosta paints portraits of the personalities of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner and more. Acosta is tenacious and unyielding in his public battle to preserve the First Amendment and #RealNews.

Holy crap. What a pompous b*tthole.

This NPR review is gently but firmly negative:

The Enemy of the People would have been a good place to ask why Trump has succeeded in this project. But Acosta used it as an opportunity to relitigate his spats with the White House rather than to meaningfully interrogate the cultural shift that left huge numbers of people despising and fearing the press.

Li'l Jimmy cries:

"...Members of the press have been so savaged by Trump and his propagandists in the media that journalists seem almost foreign or anti-American to his supporters."

Does this sanctimonious horse's ass really think we hate the media becaus Trump told us to? I've got news for him. We've hated the Eastern Liberal Media Establishment for decades. Let me put it this way: When it first became obvious to me that the MSM was basically a cabal of lying rat bastard commies, Acosta was still in grade school. Oh, and he's got his bloomers in a bunch that we dare make assumptions about his patriotism. Does he think we haven't heard journalists express doubts about expressions of patriotism? Does he think we didn't witness the cabal of lying rat bastard commie media stooges pull out all the stops to get the American-hating Barak Obama elected? Does he think we don't know that the MSM is infested with a rat's nest of anti-American lefties? Does anybody else think it's odd that after p*ssing on America for years, America-hating lefties are now wrapping themselves in the flag and trying to pass themselves off as America-loving patriots?


jim acosta meme 01.JPG

I never thought our mainstream media would get so bad that I'd be yearning for the days of Sam Donaldson.



The Thing That Got Real Big

AbeBooks has another fun collection, Retro Monsters in Books, that has lots of great cover art. Includes such classics as John Campbell's The Thing From Outer Space and Lord of the Spiders by Michael Moorcock.




page art 02.jpg
Page Art



Moron Recommendations

Here's a rec that's been sitting in my queue for a couple of weeks:

18 Still working my through 'The Invention That Changed The World'.


A damned fine book, but quite a tome. A billion pages, or maybe a little less. Extremely well researched and written.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 02, 2019 09:10 AM (2qPhT)

The blurb is pretty minimal:

Recalls the small group of scientists whose invention of radar during World War II contributed to the Allied victory, as well as chronicling their significant post-war achievements.

The technology that was created to win World War Ii (radar) has revolutionized the modern world. This is the story of the inventors and their inventions.

The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technical Revolution by Robert Buderi is a link to the paperback edition.Also available in hardcover. I didn't any e-book versions.

___________

From an e-mail I received earlier this week:

I wanted to suggest R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War, which reads like a fusion of Harry Potter and the Second Sino-Japanese War, complete with a horrific expy of the Rape of Nanking. (Kuang cites Iris Chang's book in her afterword.) It's not your bog-standard fantasy novel, even if everyone is running around with bows, arrows, swords, and polearms; the gods are very real and very feared for very good reasons, as our war orphan protagonist finds out after escaping her foster parents by passing the rigorous entrance exam for Sinegard, the Imperial military academy. I am looking forward to the sequel (The Dragon Republic) which is due out in August, hoping that Rin will live happily ever after and dreading that she won't.

As of when I typing this (Tuesday afternoon), the Kindle edition of The Poppy War, as I type this, can be purchased for $2.99. Don't know how long this price will last. The Dragon Republic can be pre-ordered for $11.99.

Also, the book by Iris Chang he mentioned is The Rape Of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust Of World War II

This recommendation comes with a caveat:

I can't stress enough that this isn't a YA novel unless you raised your kids on stuff like THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO, THE THEORY & PRACTICE OF HELL, and similar texts. I had to put the book down for a minute during the chapter where Rin and her compatriots come to the capitol city, which has gotten the Rape of Nanking treatment, and I have a pretty strong stomach.


___________

292 #233 "Okay, I was sure there was an older SF book by the title "Sky Without Stars", about a man at the edge of the galaxy. I can't find it listed. Am I trippin'?" Eris.

I think you may be looking for Poul Anderson's "World Without Stars" 1967. The plot involves a starship crash landing on a world circling a lone star outside our galaxy. The Galaxy is the dominate feature in the night sky there and one of the local cultures worships it as God. It is a good book; currently available for only $1.99 on Kindle or you can look for a paperback with the Michael Whelan cover art.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 16, 2019 06:08 PM (iuRR5)

Unfortunately, I must've missed the sale because the price for the Kindle edition of World Without Stars is now back up to $7.99.

In a far-future era, death is virtually no more, banished except in the case of severe, violent trauma, enabling mankind to spend what were once entire lifetimes exploring the farthest reaches of the vast universe. When the interstellar vessel Meteor is dispatched to investigate a distant orb circling a giant red sun, an error in calculations sends the ship crashing into a different world altogether, casting its surviving crew into the heart of a savage, planetwide war of primitive alien tribes. With no means of escape and hostiles on every side, the situation appears hopeless for Captain Felip Argens. But for the mission’s true leader—crewman, adventurer, and ship’s bard Hugh Valland—impossible is not an option. If necessary, he will alter destiny to end the terrible conflict and bring his men safely back home, even if it takes decades, or centuries, or longer—for a remarkable love patiently awaits Valland’s return to Earth. It is she who sustains him, who inspires his actions, his courage, his song, with a love that is a miracle, a memory, a tragedy, and a dream.

That's a lot of story to be told in only 150 pages. You can also get paperback used copies. Cheaper used copies can be had on AbeBooks for considerably cheaper.

___________

277 Les Kinetic, when son N**** the Valiant was 12, his older sister at college sent him The Lightning Thief. She was a Classicist in college, and my son went from a non-reader to a Classics enthusiast overnight. Went off to college at 15 to study Latin and Greek.

Posted by: Charles the Simple at June 16, 2019 01:57 PM (w7U7L)

If this book inspired a lifetime of study, how could I not check it out? The Lightning Thief appears to be Book 1 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The bad news is that the Amazon blurb is pretty sparse:

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him.

A little more detail would've been good, I think. But the good news is that this book is only $1.99, so it won't cost you much to find out if it can change your life as it did Charles the Simple's son.

___________

book pic 05.jpg



Books by Morons

Got an e-mail from moron author Max Cossack:

I noticed with delight that Sunday night, the Ace of Spades’ first “quote of the day” was a link to Susan Vass’s Friday “Ammo Grrrll” column on PowerLine. Thanks!

Which makes this exactly the right time to let you and the Sunday book thread readers know that Susan has four complete books of collected Ammo Grrrll Powerline columns for sale on Amazon. Here’s her brand new collection, in which she has truly hit her stride in capturing the absurdity of the “Resistance” meltdown, as well as the righteous indignation of the much-maligned residents of “Flyover Land”. Susan takes on Vice President Pence’s policy of not dining alone with women not his wife; a rousing discussion of bathing vs. showering; her first rodeo, and a list of “12 Things More Accurate than CNN.”

Ammo Grrrll Is Home On The Range: A Humorist's Friday Columns For Power Line (Volume 4) is available on Kindle or paperback.

Max also says:

By coincidence, this weekend, Max Cossack’s new adventure novel Zarah’s Fire will be on sale for $2.99 on Amazon in a "Countdown Sale."

Zarah's Fire, which I pimped in an earlier book thread, concludes the story that began with Khaybar, Minnesota.

___________

'Ette author Kerrie Noor informs me that the sequel to her science-fiction comedy novel Rebel Without A Clue, is on sale this week:

The Edinburgh Festival is about to be invaded-will anyone notice?

Mex is heading for the Edinburgh Festival in search of Legless. Hot on her heels is Beryl a leader who has already dropped Mex in it once and, now plans to do so again.

Beryl must make contact with Mex before Mex finds Legless; retrieve the spark plug formula, find a way back to Planet Hy Man and save her planet.

And all before the Edinburgh Festival finishes!

A feat made near impossible when considering her arch-rival Hilda, a woman as ruthless as a politician. has access to every high- tech spying equipment going.

A Rebel Without a Bra is the second in the Planet Hy Man series where every hero is a woman old enough to know better and old enough not to care.

And the Edinburgh Festival is indeed a thing, not just something invented. by the author as a storytelling device.

This week, you can buy the Kindle edition of Rebel Without A Bra for the sale price of 99 cents.


___________

If you like, you can follow me on Twitter, where I make the occasional snarky comment.

___________

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.

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Hello fellow bibiliophiliacs.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:00 AM (kQs4Y)

2 !

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:01 AM (b084x)

3 It's so immature to take pride in Firstiness. Don't you think?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:01 AM (kQs4Y)

4 Ya got me !

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:01 AM (b084x)

5 Good morning, Bookies.

Posted by: RI Red at June 23, 2019 09:02 AM (R+3Am)

6 Being first on the book thread is like winning the NIT.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 09:03 AM (cfSRQ)

7 Tolle Lege
Should be done Making Sense of the Molly Maguires by Kevin Kenny today.
While not following the movie I do see much was fictional, but still a favorite.
The other shocking thing I learned was hanging isn't the quick execution I was led to believe.

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 09:03 AM (BbGew)

8 Recommended here, I read the novel Chernobyl by Fredrick Pohl. On one level the book is a taunt thriller, and on another it's an explanation of what happened to cause the disaster and what the cleanup entailed. An interesting, gripping read.

Posted by: Zoltan at June 23, 2019 09:04 AM (Zgezk)

9 It's so immature to take pride in Firstiness. Don't you think?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes


Well, when you get a first and a picture of yourself in pants in the same thread you're allowed to crow a bit.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (fuK7c)

10 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

I've come to the conclusion that whoever makes "these pants" hates both the human body and any sense of Western (possibly universal) taste. Or maybe they are just trying to be stupid and are winning the contest.

Posted by: JTB at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (bmdz3)

11 Reading: Making good progress through the Book That Shall Not Be Named. Goal is to get this clunker out of the way ASAP so I can read something less punishing.

Writing: Made first actual progress this week on new writing project, which is a retread of an old one. I'm still net -3,000 words from where I dusted it off, but it's nice to be writing text rather than deleting it.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (cfSRQ)

12 The other shocking thing I learned was hanging isn't the quick execution I was led to believe.

Not if the neck doesn't break.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (b084x)

13 Looks well-lit. Shelves don't seem to be impossibly inaccessible. Some possibly comfortable places to sit.

I'll take it.

(Y'think anyone's ever just laid down, put his feet up on those bolsters, and stretched out on that couch in the foreground? I would. With a big, heavy book open on my chest whilst I snoozed rested my eyes.)
___

Those... "pants" are bad enough. The "top" is about as bad. But... what are those things on its shoulders? Look like sponges or something.

Posted by: mindful webworker - click for vids blog at June 23, 2019 09:06 AM (/IMJl)

14 Did a reread of the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn and moved on to the Mercedes Lackey Elemental Masters series.

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 09:07 AM (mpXpK)

15 LOL that American Chopper meme. Too true! This is my internal dialog every time I go to a sale "just to browse".

This thread is positively turgid with content, OM!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:07 AM (kQs4Y)

16 OM, I really enjoy those drawings and paintings you've been including after the Word Power segment. Thanks.

Posted by: JTB at June 23, 2019 09:09 AM (bmdz3)

17 It's so immature to take pride in Firstiness. Don't you think? ''

Si. Act as if you've been there before...

Morning, y'all! Lovely AM, so... more coffeve!

Posted by: Anon a mouse at June 23, 2019 09:11 AM (6qErC)

18 Well, when you get a first and a picture of yourself in pants in the same thread you're allowed to crow a bit.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (fuK7c)
---
It's like Ziggy Stardust's flying squirrel suit!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:11 AM (kQs4Y)

19 Gulag Archipelago and Mere Christianity are sitting in front of me. One on digital and one in large print paper.

Posted by: rhennigantx at June 23, 2019 09:12 AM (JFO2v)

20 Ok, last week I read Quick and Dirty by Stuart Woods about art theft. I like him his books are interesting and quick reads.

His first book Chiefs is one of the best books I ever read.

Then I started reading The Philadelphia Experiment but I interrupted that to start reading Let it Burn a novel set in Detroit by Steve Hamilton. Its pretty good.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:13 AM (b084x)

21 Good morning all!
I have started reading The Poisonwood Bible. It is absolute garbage. I hate starting a book and not finishing it, though. Basically, it is White Christians--> bad. Native black African pagans--> good. Catholics--> bad. Protestants--> worse. European colonialism--> bad. Societies with witch doctors--> good. Truly a glimpse into a lot of progs' minds, I bet.

Posted by: jmel at June 23, 2019 09:14 AM (OeWgo)

22 (sotto voce to OM)
Um, you might want to look at the caption of your library picture. The a and the e are, ahem, doing it.

Posted by: pep at June 23, 2019 09:14 AM (T6t7i)

23 Oh yeah, books.

I read Mary Robinette Kowal’s “The Calculating Stars”, an interesting alternate history in which a meteorite strikes the Chesapeake Bay area in 1952 and obliterates the East Coast. As bad as that is, the stuff kicked up into the atmosphere will eventually cause the Earth to be unlivable, so an accelerated international space program is ramped up to get colonies on the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Our protagonist is a pilot who was a WASP in WWII and is now a mathematician for NACA. She wants to be an astronaut. There will obviously be a need for them if humanity is to colonize space, but this is the fifties and there are roadblocks to her selection.

The first couple chapters describing the meteor strike and its aftermath were terrific, but it quickly become a gauntlet of -isms for her and her rainbow coalition of fellow female scientists and mathematicians to endure and overcome. It’s a shame, because she is a very deft writer and I enjoyed parts of it despite the wokeness.

But it got rather boring and bogged down in minutiae and I skipped to the lunar launch in the final pages. There was a nice passage where the astronauts finally see the stars clearly again once they are above the detritus.

(Follow-on: Sped through the sequel where they go on to Mars. Meh.)

It’s not even SF with a progressive agenda, it’s Progressivism in SF trappings. She’s a good writer and means well, but everything is through a lens of race/class/gender. Still, Nebula Award winner!

Remember how Heinlein would cleverly let you follow a character for chapter after chapter and then casually mention he or she was black/Asian/etc.? It was a great way to play with your assumptions. Well, with Kowal the character’s race is the first thing you have to know about that person.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:15 AM (kQs4Y)

24 The a and the e are, ahem, doing it.


That's where dipthongs come from.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:16 AM (b084x)

25 My reading has been sparse. I just can't seem to get engaged in a book lately. Even stuff I've read before that I loved. I get about 25-50 pages in and decide it's not worth the time.... I think part of it is finding out so many authors are leftists isn't helpful. That is always there in the background for me, I can't help it. Just like trying to watch a movie with all the sjw crap. I finally saw Endgame and the parts where Captain America is counseling the gay guy and the women save the Day were were bad...really bad. The conservative authors can be just as over the top with their agendas. Sorry to be a downer...

Posted by: lin-duh at June 23, 2019 09:17 AM (UUBmN)

26 You know or will get all the standards in this catagory so...

For 10ish year old boys

Bristle Face by Zachary Ball
William Allen White Award winner

No idea on availability.

Posted by: Sad ending to new beginning at June 23, 2019 09:17 AM (ubFZv)

27 Booken morgen horden!

Posted by: VMom's phone at June 23, 2019 09:18 AM (dm05u)

28 Adam Rex’s “Fat Vampire” is funny but it’s basically a big bag of Doritos, you keep going but it’s not really filling.

But there are laughs on every page.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:20 AM (kQs4Y)

29 Even my 12 yo will point out sjw stuff in books he's reading.

Posted by: lin-duh at June 23, 2019 09:20 AM (UUBmN)

30 > The a and the e are, ahem, doing it.


That's where dipthongs come from.
Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:16 AM (b084x)


I wasn't gonna say nothin', but the whole thread's full of copulæ. *shields eyes*

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 09:20 AM (t+qrx)

31 OM:

OpenOffice and LibreOffice are open-source versions of the familiar Microsponge product, available for free at their respective dot-orgs.

Either will open an Excel spreadsheet, and perform all the usual functions.


I vote for no cloud, and no Google involvement.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they are gaslighting us 24/365 at June 23, 2019 09:21 AM (ITxGy)

32 Thanks to the moron who recommended Idaho Falls. I had no idea the first nuclear accident occurred on US soil in 1961.
Fascinating read.

Posted by: mpfs, Waiter, I'll have the Juan de Fuca Plate at June 23, 2019 09:21 AM (I7Wzx)

33 I am STILL reading the complete Sherlock Holmes collection. I think I started in January sometime. Although that's on hold for a bit so I can read the quit smoking book Ace recommended.

Posted by: Jordan61 at June 23, 2019 09:21 AM (wvGlN)

34 The Percy Jackson series is a LOT of fun!
The writer Rick Riordan was a middle school tracher, IIRC, whoo would test out the stories by reading them to his class
I don't know if he still teaches now as he's written about a gazillion books
They made the first 2 books into movies some years ago.

Posted by: VMom's phone at June 23, 2019 09:22 AM (dm05u)

35 Jordan61

And WHY did someone tell you to wear underwear ?

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:24 AM (b084x)

36 29 Even my 12 yo will point out sjw stuff in books he's reading.
Posted by: lin-duh at June 23, 2019 09:20 AM (UUBmN)
---
As a kid I could sniff out SJW before SJW was even a thing. All you need to see is "Newberry Award" on the cover and I knew it was supposed to be uplifting and inclusive.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:25 AM (kQs4Y)

37 Just about to the end of A Canticle for Liebowitz.


A Hugo winner from 1961, it's amazing to think that such a book, celebrating the Church and without a single female character, would be considered a Hate Crime by the same people in 2019.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 09:25 AM (oVJmc)

38 21
Good morning all!

I have started reading The Poisonwood Bible
---
Never heard of it.

I assume the author knows nothing about actual African animism, which has some pretty er, *problematic* practices.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 09:25 AM (cfSRQ)

39 No new books to read lately.

The used book stores I peruse in my AO have had no new arrivals for my interests.

Just lots and lots of roooooomance novels.

Who reads all of those is a mystery to me but I can guess.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 23, 2019 09:25 AM (Z+IKu)

40 Gotta go...shit tadoo.

I'll check back later..Have a Great One, Bookhorde !

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:26 AM (b084x)

41 As a kid I could sniff out SJW before SJW was even a thing. All you
need to see is "Newberry Award" on the cover and I knew it was supposed
to be uplifting and inclusive.


Which, of course, meant it was irritating and exclusive of anyone who didn't agree with them.

Posted by: pep at June 23, 2019 09:26 AM (T6t7i)

42 As far as Accosta's book is concerned and the 'recent' distrust of journalism. In the late 60s I had a chance to talk to some Marines wounded in Nam and recovering at a local navy hospital. Were they bitter about their wounds? Nope, not exactly. They were worried about their squad mates. And they were livid about the news coverage. My justified doubts about reporting in general, the New York Times, and Walter Fuckin' Cronkite began at that moment. I doubt Accosta was even born by then.

BTW, My disgust with journalism has only grown deeper and more justified. That's why J.J.'s morning news round up is so valuable.

Posted by: JTB at June 23, 2019 09:26 AM (bmdz3)

43 I was charmed by the space age bachelor pad grooviness of Rod Taylor’s automated house, especially his kitchen, in “The Glass Bottom Boat”, and this week I found “The Midcentury Kitchen: 1940s – 1970s” by Sarah Archer at the library. This 1972 show kitchen is like Peter Max exploded in it:

https://tinyurl.com/yxcujk26

Sorry for all the linketry, but I’m going down the rabbit hole!

https://flashbak.com/30-vintage-kitchens-from-atomic-age-to-disco-era-383812/

Lots of efficiency experts put their minds to creating the best dimensions for this home workspace. Christine Frederick thought the home was a work site/assembly plant just like a factory and applied the same ideas to the kitchen, and published her ideas in “The New Housekeeping” in 1913.

https://archive.org/details/newhousekeeping00fredrich/page/n13

She, in turn, influenced Austrian Margarete Shutte-Lihostsky of the famous Frankfurt Kitchen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrdwMfJJPP0

Our modern kitchens are basically unchanged from these early and mid-century designs.

The kitchen of the future! (I want that crushed ice gun and the broiler):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snA2kT_UysU
The WestinghouseTotal Electric Home with Betty Furness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyrTgtPTz3M

Nothing marks a decade like color. There are traditional pink and aqua palettes from the 50’s, the sunny trippy daisy fields of the 60s, and on through the burnt orange and avocado-tinged Lileksian/Lovecraftian horrors of the 70s. I have one with lots of black and brushed steel which looks good in a cavernous apartment converted from a factory, but I bet it will look dated in 5 years.

The kitchen of the future, today! Well, in 1956:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiACOLuYlJ4

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:26 AM (kQs4Y)

44 No new books to read lately.

The used book stores I peruse in my AO have had no new arrivals for my interests.

Just lots and lots of roooooomance novels.

Who reads all of those is a mystery to me but I can guess.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy

Dames.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:27 AM (b084x)

45 Oregon, do you mean to post a spreadsheet or email it around?

Posted by: VMom's phone at June 23, 2019 09:28 AM (dm05u)

46 I have a recommendation for anyone who loves the classic ghost story: the fiction of Russell Kirk. Now, Kirk was best known in his day as a writer on conservative political philosophy (and his work on that is well worth reading). However he also wrote fiction; mostly what he called "the ghostly tale".

His short stories were most recently collected in a book entitled: "Ancestral Shadows: An Anthology of Ghostly Tales", 2004. Arkham House also published two collections of his stories "The Princess of All Lands" 1979 and "Watchers at the Strait Gate" 1984 (please note that these two volumes collect the same stories as "Ancestral Shadows"). These are erudite and chilling tales; I advise against reading them when you are alone in the house at night.

Kirk also wrote three novels. The first "Old House of Fear" (a gothic tale mostly set on a remote Scottish island) is currently in print. The other are "A Creature of the Twilight" and "Lord of the Hollow Dark". These are related and feature one of Kirk's most enjoyable creations: Manfred Arcane, a suave and sinister gentleman who can, with equal elegance, kiss a lady's hand or cut a man's throat. Arcane also appears in a couple of the short stories ("The Last God's Dream" and "The Peculiar Demesne of Archvicar Gerontion").

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 23, 2019 09:29 AM (iuRR5)

47 25
My reading has been sparse. I just can't seem to get engaged in a book
lately. Even stuff I've read before that I loved. I get about 25-50
pages in and decide it's not worth the time.... I think part of it is
finding out so many authors are leftists isn't helpful. That is always
there in the background for me, I can't help it. Just like trying to
watch a movie with all the sjw crap. I finally saw Endgame and the parts
where Captain America is counseling the gay guy and the women save the
Day were were bad...really bad. The conservative authors can be just as
over the top with their agendas. Sorry to be a downer...

Posted by: lin-duh at June 23, 2019 09:17 AM (UUBmN)

*Shameless self-promotion alert*

You might enjoy my books, which are generally politics-free. I'm told they are quick and enjoyable reads.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 09:30 AM (cfSRQ)

48 This may be in the wrong place.

You were asking about spreadsheets and pointing out that everyone doesn't have Excel. Why don't you put your data into OpenOffice or LibreOffice? Just as powerful as Excel and available for pretty much every OS. It's also free and can read/write Excel files.

Posted by: Michael Stamps at June 23, 2019 09:30 AM (bIQRl)

49 35 Jordan61

And WHY did someone tell you to wear underwear ?
Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:24 AM (b084x)

LOL, on one of the threads Friday evening AlaBAMA said we had to wear underwear.

Posted by: Jordan61 at June 23, 2019 09:30 AM (wvGlN)

50 Want a damned good conservative read, try END TIMES. The reason I know is I wrote it. A social critique of our celebrity-sick culture wrapped up as a thriller package with a pretty bow. It's on Amazon because I want Bezos to own everything.

Posted by: Banjo at June 23, 2019 09:31 AM (SYCeT)

51 Ah, here it is:
443 The only thing I don't like about this place is the dress code.





Some of you really should be wearing underwear.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at June 21, 2019 09:42 PM (CqtRA)

Posted by: Jordan61 at June 23, 2019 09:32 AM (wvGlN)

52 I read Everything but the Flak by Martin Caidin. Published in 1964, it is the account of the trans-Atlantic flight of three B-17 bombers in 1961 for the filming of the movie, The War Lover. These guys were lunatics (with extensive combat flying experience) and had quite a few harrowing experiences before safely reaching England. A quick read but the book is rather scarce and expensive. There is a photo from the movie in which a B-17 is flying about 20 feet above the runway while "beating up" the airfield. Rating = 4.0/5.0

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 09:32 AM (5Yee7)

53 I reread Churchill's "Painting As A Pastime". This long essay, written in the 1920s, doesn't deal with how to paint but why art and other hand-eye activities are so valuable to an individual. He's not saying try to become a great artist requiring years of practice and lessons. That's for the young. Churchill was 40 when he began painting. Some lessons are fine but don't get bogged down with them. Just get started for the enjoyment of the activity and don't worry about what anyone else thinks of your efforts. It's practical philosophy but done with Churchill's wit and wonderful writing skill. Seems I need to read it at least every year and it's a delight each time.

Most of my attempts are only suitable for taking up space in a landfill but I find the activity to be satisfying and absorbing. Reason enough to do it.

With that in mind, I'm looking through "Essential Techniques of Landscape Drawing" by Suzanne Brooker. When sketching I'm always drawn to landscapes and still lifes. This book gives some guidance on which strokes of a pen or pencil will achieve certain effects. It's a good starting point.

Posted by: JTB at June 23, 2019 09:32 AM (bmdz3)

54 Also finished the trilogy of A Discovery of Witches.

Not bad, lots of historical references.

Posted by: mpfs, Waiter, I'll have the Juan de Fuca Plate at June 23, 2019 09:33 AM (I7Wzx)

55 Barbara Hambly released a new James Asher book. Next on my list.

Posted by: mpfs, Waiter, I'll have the Juan de Fuca Plate at June 23, 2019 09:34 AM (I7Wzx)

56 48
This may be in the wrong place.



You were asking about spreadsheets and pointing out that everyone
doesn't have Excel. Why don't you put your data into OpenOffice or
LibreOffice? Just as powerful as Excel and available for pretty much
every OS. It's also free and can read/write Excel files.

Posted by: Michael Stamps at June 23, 2019 09:30 AM (bIQRl)

That's what I am using now for tracking temperatures outside and my weight, BP AND STUFF..

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 09:34 AM (mpXpK)

57 Maybe fitting for the gainz thread but vowed to read more this year and as halfway through it think I am doing better than expected.

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 09:34 AM (BbGew)

58 "When it first became obvious to me that the MSM was basically a cabal of lying rat bastard commies, Acosta was still in grade school.
_______

I'm older. I looked up when that spawn of an ape and a warthog (anally conceived, without doubt) first afflicted the world. It was 1971. I'd been hating the commie rat bastard press since 1965.

BTW, I long ago learned not to click a "these pants" link. Last thing I need so early.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 09:35 AM (VaN/j)

59 Spent much of the past week getting over being sick, so my reading tended to old favorites rather than anything new. I re-read all of Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories. Great stuff.

Though really the most interesting part was Lieber's own introduction to one volume, which consisted of an intro written in the 1960s followed by a supplemental intro from a decade later -- in which he admitted he had neglected to mention how some of the gaps in his career were due to galloping alcoholism.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 09:35 AM (BpS6n)

60 "Members of the press have been so savaged by Trump and his propagandists in the media that journalists seem almost foreign or anti-American to his supporters"

**SEEM** anti-American? LOL

Posted by: Lurking Lurker at June 23, 2019 09:36 AM (FiUMj)

61 Lin-duh, I know what you mean. I was reading the latest in one of my old favorite fantasy authors, Patricia Briggs, and right around chapter two I get wokeness.
She used to keep ger perdonal politics out if her books so it's annoying.

Posted by: VMom's phone at June 23, 2019 09:36 AM (dm05u)

62 Books can indeed change one's life. One novel that changed mine was Red Storm Rising. I read that when I was 15 after reading The Hunt For Red October the week before. Once I read that, I knew and understood that there WAS good fiction out there and that I just needed to find it.

The reading got to the point where an English teacher (tried) to send home this note a year later:

"As an English teacher, I am delighted to see a student who likes to read, and before I met Catch, I firmly believed a person could never read too much - but Catch hurries through assignments, often doing a slipshod job, in order to get back to his novels. This is a problem."

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 23, 2019 09:36 AM (mEn6y)

63 52
I read Everything but the Flak by Martin Caidin. Published in
1964, it is the account of the trans-Atlantic flight of three B-17
bombers in 1961 for the filming of the movie, The War Lover. These guys
were lunatics (with extensive combat flying experience) and had quite a
few harrowing experiences before safely reaching England. A quick read
but the book is rather scarce and expensive. There is a photo from the
movie in which a B-17 is flying about 20 feet above the runway while
"beating up" the airfield. Rating = 4.0/5.0

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 09:32 AM (5Yee7)

---
Reminds me of a book my grandmother owned - We Flew Without Guns, about Air Transport Command. I don't know how widely it was published, but she had the book because my grandfather knew the author.

It was about the air links across the Atlantic and over The Hump in the CBI theater. My grandfather was a navigator who logged 2,000 flight hours over the North and South Atlantic.

They flew unarmed bombers as cargo aircraft and the big danger was the trip itself. I have his charts and flight log.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 09:37 AM (cfSRQ)

64 46
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 23, 2019 09:29 AM (iuRR5)
______

I've read some of those. Creature of the Twilight is a lot of fun. There is a terrific speech which is the oratorical equivalent of Peter Schickele's Quodlibet and Unbegun Symphony. Be prepared to hear things you've heard before.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 09:37 AM (VaN/j)

65 45 Oregon, do you mean to post a spreadsheet or email it around?
Posted by: VMom's phone at June 23, 2019 09:28 AM (dm05u


I was thinking more in terms of putting it somewhere on "The Cloud" where everyone who wanted to could access it.

I'd post a link to it.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 09:38 AM (9ioAf)

66 The psnts du jour are shiny!

Posted by: VMom's phone at June 23, 2019 09:39 AM (dm05u)

67 PARALEIPSIS - merciful heavens, this week's word is one with which I am actually familiar, for a change!

I mean, not that I coulda drugged it up from memory very easily, but it did ring the "oh yeah" bell.

Been twenty (or forty) years since adding new words* to my vocab came very easily. Took me ten years to get even the simple "neologism" solidified in mind. Still working on the "synecdoche." Then there's... um..

*And A♠ brings so many new words to its readers. (!!)

Posted by: mindful webworker - click for Invulnerable story at June 23, 2019 09:40 AM (/IMJl)

68 Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series is pretty good, up to a point. There's a five-book series with Greek mythology characters, a five-book series with Roman mythology characters (Heroes of Olympus), then it goes off the rails with Norse mythology which includes gay and transgender characters written so hamhandedly that my daughter put down the book without finishing it. There's also a trilogy of Egyptian mythology books called The Kane Chronicles, and my kids liked those.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at June 23, 2019 09:40 AM (THS4q)

69 Also at NPR there is this

"President Trump has dismissed white nationalists as a "small group of people." He has retweeted white nationalist accounts. And there is little daylight between his anti-immigrant speeches and those of far-right extremists. White supremacist factions were spotted among the crowds cheering for Trump at his 2020 campaign kickoff rally in Florida this week."

What media bias?

Posted by: Lurking Lurker at June 23, 2019 09:41 AM (FiUMj)

70 I am writing a short story in answer to the open call, for Science Fiction authors, for a book of short stories - that was linked on this site last week. The title of my story is Strange Attractor.

Posted by: An Observation at June 23, 2019 09:41 AM (8PNoo)

71 I finished a couple books this week. The first, The Risen by Ron Rash was a typically compelling read by him; at a point I just stopped my rotation of reading other books and concentrated solely on it until the end (it wasn't a long book). It was about two brothers, one a smart superstar and the narrator who became a drunk fuckup, growing up in the sticks and meeting a slutty girl during the hippie times who bangs their eyes out until she strangely disappears and then turns up murdered years later. The book is a slow explication of the narrator finding out just what happens.

The book was outstanding but I may have finally found a chink in Rash's armour. There's a malignant character in the book, the boys' grandfather, who is just as much of an evil fuck as the title character in Serena. In some ways he's even more effectively portrayed. But both antagonists have a hulking borderline retarded sidekick who does all their wet work. If Rash talked with me and gave a flying fuck about my opinion I'd tell him "you've gotta stop doing this".

Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 09:42 AM (y7DUB)

72 Space mushroom spores, indeed.


Interesting kitchen stuff, Eris ! Thanks !


Found Pohl's Chernobyl book in a Little Free Libary during the week, haven't started it yet. Thx whoever mentioned it last week.


Yeah, I've known that the "news" organizations were liars since the 60's, grew up in a strong 2A home watching CBS (among others) pushing "gun control" with many of the same lies we hear today.
But for a long time I still thought that some of what they said was trustworthy. (cue Nelson Muntz).
The past decade or two has pretty much cured me of that, however.



Light reading of the week:
"I Rode With Jeb Stuart" by H. B. Mc Clellan, on the Kindle; one of those 99 cent old history books they have so many of.
Interesting perspective, from Gen. Stuart's adjutant.

"Isle of the Dead" by Roger Zelazny, a re-read.



Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they are gaslighting us 24/365 at June 23, 2019 09:42 AM (ITxGy)

73 I'm continuing with "A Pilgrim's Journey" by Mark A. Baker mentioned last week. It's history and practice combined. I added Nessmuk's "Woodcraft and Camping" for the same reasons. Nessmuk (George Washington Sears) wrote about his camping and canoing trips in the late-ish 1800s. His approach and designs for what is practical and valuable for these ventures is still influential. It's enjoyable reading.

Posted by: JTB at June 23, 2019 09:43 AM (bmdz3)

74 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Societies with witch doctors--> good. Truly a glimpse into a lot of progs' minds, I bet.
Posted by: jmel at June 23, 2019 09:14 AM (OeWgo)


Yeah, and they are invariably the sciency science lovers who say religious people are backward.

Posted by: April at June 23, 2019 09:43 AM (OX9vb)

75 More from NPR: not at all enemies of the people. And totally super duper American and patriotic and stuff!!

"Art Jipson, a professor at the University of Dayton, said this was made clear to him during a recent video conference with a State Department official who used terms Jipson had never encountered in his nearly three decades of studying homegrown extremists. "Anarcho-Marxist violent revolutionaries," Jipson said, laughing. "And then they started using terms like Islamo-terrorism and anarchic Islamic terrorist organizations and networks. I don't even know what that means!"

This guy is an "expert" and has never herd the term Islami-terrorism? And NPR is a supposed news organization and doesn't question the fact an "expert" doesn't know what Islamo-terrorism is.

Fuck you NPR. Fuck you CNN. Fuck you enemies of the people.

Posted by: Lurking Lurker at June 23, 2019 09:44 AM (FiUMj)

76 Test

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 23, 2019 09:44 AM (vV/gB)

77 One benefit from the Percy Jackson series was that my kids then read one
of my old books called "Minute Myths" by Marie Schubert.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at June 23, 2019 09:45 AM (THS4q)

78
"President Trump has dismissed white nationalists as a "small group of people." He has retweeted white nationalist accounts. And there is little daylight between his anti-immigrant speeches and those of far-right extremists. White supremacist factions were spotted among the crowds cheering for Trump at his 2020 campaign kickoff rally in Florida this week."



Any mention of Obama and Farrakhan?

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 09:46 AM (oVJmc)

79 She used to keep her personal politics out if her books so it's annoying.
Posted by: VMom's phone at June 23, 2019 09:36 AM (dm05u)
---
This is a shame, I loved her Mercy Thompson books.

Is it latent and I never sensed it, or are they compelled to declare their orthodoxy just to get published?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:47 AM (kQs4Y)

80 25: I hear ya. Fortunately I have come nowhere close to exhausting classics and vintage books. I take my disgust for libs into the marketplace daily, and when it's an etsy seller or a pattern "designer", I check them out on FB, if there's a lib vibe among the posts, I look elsewhere.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 09:47 AM (U7k5w)

81 Good morning!

Let's smile and be happy and strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 09:48 AM (u82oZ)

82 Lots of recs for The Powers of the Earth by Travis Corcoran so I had a really long flight and thought this would be a great time to try the book. Really liked it- thought it could have been edited down by a hundred pages or so. Strong characters, well developed plot.

Posted by: Charlotte at June 23, 2019 09:48 AM (2SSYa)

83 In the midst of Chesapeake. Enjoyable read.

Posted by: Puddin Head at June 23, 2019 09:49 AM (vV/gB)

84 I just started re-reading RA Salvatore "Homeland" and will continue throughout the entire Drizzt series. Brushing up on my Illithid lore. Looks like it might come in handy when BG III is released.

Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 09:50 AM (DB16e)

85 Still reading The Cultural Revolution by Frank Dikotter, as I lack a good book on the subject outside what I read in The Black Book Of Communism. Also still taking swipes at Unfreedom of the Press by Mark Levin. They would go by much faster if life wasn't so much in flux at the moment, but there you go.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 23, 2019 09:50 AM (mEn6y)

86 The MSM's mission is clear. From now until election day, every article about Trump will include the words white nationalist.

Posted by: Lurking Lurker at June 23, 2019 09:50 AM (FiUMj)

87 So trip back to used book store, maybe for later Sharpe series book this week.
Exchange with clerk last week
Clerk - " You know you can sell books back here"
Me - I wouldn't buy them if I didn't want them"

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 09:51 AM (BbGew)

88 31 OM:

OpenOffice and LibreOffice are open-source versions of the familiar Microsponge product, available for free at their respective dot-orgs.

Either will open an Excel spreadsheet, and perform all the usual functions.


I vote for no cloud, and no Google involvement.

I second that emotion.

Posted by: Catherine in MO at June 23, 2019 09:51 AM (z+fMz)

89 Any mention of Obama and Farrakhan?
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 09:46 AM (oVJmc)

____

We know this Obama fellow you speak of. But Fara-who-now?
- MSM

Posted by: Lurking Lurker at June 23, 2019 09:51 AM (FiUMj)

90 I had read The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technical Revolution by Robert Buderi and recommended it a while back.

Get the Hardcover. For someone who used radar as part of his job, it is a foundational book. It is light on theory and heavy on translating an idea into a reality.

It is also about how America's industrial prowess was harnessed in WWII to make the large numbers needed to win the war. And it was a war winner. The Germans and Japan had radar, but not enough units. The wizard war is a larger topic, dealt with in other books.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 09:53 AM (u82oZ)

91 Read Christopher Moore's Lust Lizard of Meloncholy Cove yesterday. Haven't read it in a few years. Laughed so hard I couldn't read because of streaming tears. Gawd, that guy is freakin' funny!

Posted by: Russkilitlover at June 23, 2019 09:53 AM (99Nt9)

92 A follow up to my recommendation for the fiction of Russell Kirk (above at #46): I just noticed on Amazon that there is a new paperback edition of his novel "Old House of Fear" coming out in October.

Now keeping my fingers crossed that Kirk's other novels and his short stories will also be brought back in current print and e-editions.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 23, 2019 09:54 AM (iuRR5)

93 Wokeness in SF/Fantasy is nothing new, though in the past it was at least less monolithic. I mentioned re-reading Fritz Lieber -- one of his tales (pretty good one, too) is "Bazaar of the Bizarre" about a sinister magical shop whose wares appear wonderful but are actually vile. Fine and good, but Fritz does go on about two paragraphs too long about how awful the forces behind the shop are. See, they make you buy stuff and they get rich off it. Just like advertising!

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 09:54 AM (BpS6n)

94 Brushing up on my Illithid lore. Looks like it might come in handy when BG III is released.
Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 09:50 AM (DB16e)


Ugh, I hate illithids. Is it ok to say that? Is hate too strong?

*sigh*

OK I don't HATE illithids. I just wouldn't want my sister marrying some mind-flayer is all.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 09:54 AM (t+qrx)

95 I made a modified, limited recommendation for children's book of the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz based solely on my enjoyment of his adult works. I decided to read the first series, Stormbreaker, so that I'd know what I was talking about.

It was OK but didn't knock me out. Written for readers from 10 to 12 years of age, it's about a 14 year old drafted into spying on mysterious billionaire who wants to donate his Stormbreaker super computers to schools all over Britain. Alex' spy uncle and guardian was killed while investigating the billionaire and Alex reveals skills in investigating his uncle's death that cause his employers to accept Alex as a replacement to continue his uncle's mission. It's very James Bondy. Of course, adults have to take all of this with a huge grain of salt but I imagine 10 to 12 year old boys would enjoy and there is nothing offensive in it (other than James Bond-style violence).

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 09:55 AM (+y/Ru)

96 Open Office is a good choice as a free replacement for Microsoft Office. It is a very large file download. A simpler solution Is download the free version of doPDF. I have used it to convert both Word and Excel files to PDF's. It installs as a dummy printer so you select the Excel file and print it using doPDF which creates a PDF version of the file. I store the resulting file in my Documents folder.

Posted by: Biaggio Rinaldi at June 23, 2019 09:55 AM (D/t3S)

97 Home.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts and pre-order Crystal Embers today! at June 23, 2019 09:57 AM (cd2Ve)

98 Read Christopher Moore's Lust Lizard of Meloncholy Cove yesterday.
---
Terrific read. The image of the giant critter humping the sign is emblazoned on my cortex. And I loved the aging scream queen.

This needs to be made into a movie. Heck, all his books do.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:57 AM (kQs4Y)

99 57 Maybe fitting for the gainz thread but vowed to read more this year and as halfway through it think I am doing better than expected.
Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 09:34 AM (BbGew)

I am way behind my goal of 52 books this year. Like lin-duh, I just can't seem to find anything that holds my interest lately. I don't suppose it helps that we have two puppies in the house--my concentration level is way down!

Posted by: April at June 23, 2019 09:57 AM (OX9vb)

100 I suggest making the spreadsheet a .csv (comma separated variables) format file without links. If you have to be computer literate to access the file, you can figure out how to search for the book. Plenty of open source programs can read .csv files.

The photo meme at the end is SO true and funny! Mrs Cop is not a bibliophile but she reads quite a lot: either professional literature or romance/trash intellectual bubblegum. She doesn't grok the concept of keeping books but she tolerates my private library.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 09:58 AM (5Yee7)

101 Oops, I mean "humps an oil truck".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:59 AM (kQs4Y)

102 Book nerds!

Posted by: Ogre at June 23, 2019 09:59 AM (t6MX/)

103 The second book I finished this week was Nabokov's The Defense, the story of an unhappy kid who discovers chess which then becomes an obsessive part of his life until he has a complete meltdown during a key match. The shrinks tell him he has to give chess up to have a normal life and he gives a good faith effort to restart his life from scratch with a very devoted wife, but the itch for chess is still there and reliving that last match keeps intruding despite his best efforts to keep it at bay. The title refers to what he was doing in the match and what he's doing in real life.

This was an early masterpiece by Nabokov which is highly recommended. I know some readers don't like him for whatever reason but he hits all the right notes for me.

Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 09:59 AM (y7DUB)

104 Finished Omaha Beach: A Flawed Victory by Adrian R. Lewis.

This is not a retelling of the fighting. It is primarily how the planning process for this specific amphibious invasion worked. It is great on people, ideas, doctrine, and how some famous Generals got it wrong. Very well researched.

I found his analysis spot-on, if a bit repetitive. He hints at the key decision to make it all work at Omaha, and does name those names. (In a lecture on this by him at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, my question was on that key operational decision -- to keep feeding troops into the battle, and bring the DDs in close for NGFS).

The fighting men had to redeem the planner's failures. Hence all the casualties.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 10:01 AM (u82oZ)

105 Brushing up on my Illithid lore. Looks like it might come in handy when BG III is released.
Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 09:50 AM (DB16e)
---
I read this as "when RBG III is released". Is that the new liquid metal prototype?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 10:01 AM (kQs4Y)

106 Probably Lieber's wokest book was an SF novel called "A Specter is Haunting Texas" -- which is basically a book-length shriek of mid-Sixties Yankee horror that Texans have wealth and power and don't think what the New York Times tells them to think.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:01 AM (BpS6n)

107 BGIII?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:02 AM (BpS6n)

108 Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 09:54 AM (t+qrx)
__________________________

I don't know that you have to hate a favored enemy but there are few more deserving, I suppose.

Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 10:02 AM (DB16e)

109 This Thread reached peak 'pants' with Hillary!'s pants photo.

There's comfort in knowing that one can click on the pants link and not face that level of Lovecraftian horror again.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at June 23, 2019 10:02 AM (DMUuz)

110 On deck, Operation Sea Lion: The Projected Invasion of England in 1940 by Peter Fleming.

The other side of WWII invasions.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 10:03 AM (u82oZ)

111 103 The second book I finished this week was Nabokov's The Defense, the story of an unhappy kid who discovers chess which then becomes an obsessive part of his life until he has a complete meltdown during a key match.

Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 09:59 AM (y7DUB)
______

That reminds me of something I've often thought of before reading the book thread. I'm rarely here PM Saturdays, so I'll mention it now: When did cute girls take up chess? Wasn't so in the 60s, that's for sure.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:04 AM (VaN/j)

112 The other shocking thing I learned was hanging isn't the quick execution I was led to believe.



Not if the neck doesn't break.
Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (b084x)


There is an old saying that if you have friends they will swing on your heels.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 10:04 AM (hSQmw)

113 Probably Lieber's wokest book was an SF novel called "A Specter is Haunting Texas" -- which is basically a book-length shriek of mid-Sixties Yankee horror that Texans have wealth and power and don't think what the New York Times tells them to think.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:01 AM (BpS6n)

Yep, read it decades ago and that one is a real stinker. As I remember, the Texans make the noble Mexicans into peons.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 10:04 AM (5Yee7)

114 To Trimegistus @93 above: I agree entirely about Leiber's message marring the story in "Bazaar of the Bizarre". That series is interesting to look at as a whole because Leiber wrote them over a span of about fifty years (from the late 1930s up to the late '80s, IIRC) and they reflect changes in his skills as a writer and his life. Myself, I think the best in the series (which, in my not so humble opinion, are classics) are those of what I think of as the middle period. These are the ones collected "Swords in the Mist", "Swords Against Wizardry" and "The Swords of Lankhmar".

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 23, 2019 10:05 AM (iuRR5)

115
So0, books for kids-

I went to London back in the 90's and there was a series that was universally hailed and that grabbed young readers, especially boys.

This series was "Harry Potter". The first two novels were in paperback and it had not yet crossed the Atlantic to the US at that time.

I scanned it and judged it fit for the kiddos, and bought them home...

Holy Cow! The eldest just blazed through both books and could hardly wait for the third to come out. (I bought it from an overseas bookseller.)

Yes, yes, I know - but Harry Potter, at least, initially started out as a cracking good adventure book for boys.

Secondus, though perhaps a bit young, blazed through it given the eldest's recommendation.

So, an obvious choice there.

The books they liked best were:

The Redwall series

The "Goosebumps" series

"A Wrinkle in Time" series

The "Hobbit"

"Lord of the Rings"

These were the days where they were forcing kids to read crapola like "Sarah Big and Tall" which bored boys to tears.

Adventure style books are what kept them reading.

I tried the classics, "Kim", "{Treasure Island", etc but those didn't grab them the same way.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 10:06 AM (PhPlm)

116 I read somewhere that Fritz Leiber had a lot of guilt being German, maybe that's why he overcompensated.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 10:06 AM (kQs4Y)

117 Recalls the small group of scientists whose invention of radar during World War II contributed to the Allied victory, as well as chronicling their significant post-war achievements.

The technology that was created to win World War Ii (radar) has revolutionized the modern world. This is the story of the inventors and their inventions.

====

I can't remember the name of it but I saw a movie about this on Prime or Netflix. I'll see if I can find it...

Posted by: Tami at June 23, 2019 10:06 AM (cF8AT)

118 Li'l Chrissy Hayes is all upset that everybody is ignoring the E. E. Jean is not my lover story.

Chris Hayes
@chrislhayes
Call me crazy, but President Accused of Rape By Well Known Writer seems like the very definition of news? It's somewhat odd to me that it is not being covered in many places.

-
You've been to the false-sex-assault-allegation well once too often. P.S. Same is true of the fake-hate-crime well.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 10:06 AM (+y/Ru)

119 This was an early masterpiece by Nabokov which is
highly recommended. I know some readers don't like him for whatever
reason but he hits all the right notes for me.

Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 09:59 AM (y7DUB)

---
My father is a huge fan of Nabokov. I should probably read him more so we can talk about it.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:06 AM (cfSRQ)

120 107 BGIII?
_____________
Baldur's Gate III PC game series based in the Forgotten Realms. I'm a nerdy nerd. Been reading FR books since the 80's.

Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 10:07 AM (DB16e)

121 That's where dipthongs come from.
Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:16 AM (b084x)


every vowel wants a piece of Ash.

(Aesc if you want to go full Saxon)

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 10:08 AM (hSQmw)

122 Those pants are fine. I would wear them to barbecue in my backyard.

Posted by: guy with a pantload at June 23, 2019 10:08 AM (UdKB7)

123 My original spreadsheets were all from Office 2000. When I went to load my Office 2000 disk on my new computer it would not load because it was an "upgrade" for my old windows 97 program which I no longer had. That's when I down loaded open office and converted them. I don't remember how big the download is but the site says it uses 440MB of disk space.

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:08 AM (mpXpK)

124 Found it...'Castles in the Sky'. BBC.

"It is the mid-1930s and the storm clouds of WWII are forming in Germany. This film charts the work of Robert Watson Watt, the pioneer of Radar, and his hand-picked team of eccentric yet brilliant meteorologists as they struggle to turn the concept of Radar into a workable reality. Hamstrung by a tiny budget, seemingly insurmountable technical problems and even a spy in the camp, Watson Watt also has to deal with marital problems as he chases his dream. "

It was pretty well done.

Posted by: Tami at June 23, 2019 10:10 AM (cF8AT)

125 Russkilitlover, I like Christopher Moore, too. Haven't read any of his for a few years, but he's very funny. Seemed like he started going full prog in something I was reading and I abandoned him.

I really, really loved "Lamb," though. It's a novel about Christ between birth and saving the world, and his best friend Biff. It's irreverent in a reverent sort of way.

Also, do you prefer old Russki lit, or modern? If modern, do you have any good recommendations?

Posted by: April at June 23, 2019 10:10 AM (OX9vb)

126 And BTW, another reason for downloading open office is Windows 10 will not run Microsoft Word 2000.

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:10 AM (mpXpK)

127 On deck, Operation Sea Lion: The Projected Invasion of England in 1940 by Peter Fleming.

The other side of WWII invasions.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 10:03 AM (u82oZ)


I'd be interested to hear if he thought it was plausible - looks like it was written in 1957?

It probably looked a lot more terrifying before and during the Battle of Britain, but modern consensus is that Germany couldn't have come anywhere close to pulling off an amphibious invasion for numerous reasons.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:11 AM (t+qrx)

128 "These were the days where they were forcing kids to read crapola like "Sarah Big and Tall" which bored boys to tears."

Back in the day I used to peruse the Scholastic Book Orders (remember those from school? Are they still done?) and I was strictly limited to three books per book order. I wound up getting a lot of reference books. I got my first almanac this way. I didn't dare touch the fiction because about 99% of it was aimed at girls, with themes I found to be very boring.

Looking back on it I truly believe the schools were out to destroy my budding desire to read. They failed, as the library I have today can attest.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 23, 2019 10:11 AM (mEn6y)

129 One reason the Brits have always been unusually afraid of invasion is that there's basically no defensible terrain between the Channel and London. If you can get ashore, you've won.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:12 AM (BpS6n)

130 Speaking of reading, apparently North Korean media has released a picture of Chairman Kim intently reading a personal letter from President Trump, which is described as having "excellent content."

Interesting that they'd put that out there.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:13 AM (cfSRQ)

131 I went to London back in the 90's and there was a series that was universally hailed and that grabbed young readers, especially boys.

This series was "Harry Potter". The first two novels were in paperback and it had not yet crossed the Atlantic to the US at that time.

I scanned it and judged it fit for the kiddos, and bought them home...

Holy Cow! The eldest just blazed through both books and could hardly wait for the third to come out. (I bought it from an overseas bookseller.)

Yes, yes, I know - but Harry Potter, at least, initially started out as a cracking good adventure book for boys.

Secondus, though perhaps a bit young, blazed through it given the eldest's recommendation.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 10:06 AM (PhPlm)


The first couple of Harry Potter books are a lot of fun then Rowling decided that she was "woke before woke was cool" and turned into dark $sh!t storms. I think Rowling secretly hates the fans that have made her fabulously wealthy.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 10:13 AM (5Yee7)

132 One reason I no longer read fiction by living authors is the political s**t others have mentioned. But it does make me wonder, how will that read in the future?

Sometimes old politics can have a certain charm; GKC pulled it off, at least for me. But I once read a novel, The Green Knife, by Anthony Wynne. (20s, I think, or 30s.) It had two big flaws. One was that it was a not-very good locked room murder (or maybe Carr has spoiled me.) Well set up, but not we executed.

The other was a somewhat Distributist sounding economic message he kept harping on. Now, I can take that from the Chesterbelloc, but he just hammered in his views, crudely and with near SJW lack of subtlety. The only pleasure it gave was the unintentional humor of some of his ideas. A key plot element is that a magnate can alter the world economy simply by putting a lot of gold on a ship, and moving it to a different country. Not sell, or anything like that; just the fact that the ship is now anchored in Cherbourg or Hamburg is enough.

I do recall Conan Doyle sometimes putting in some political/social points. I wonder if any of today's crap will be read at all in the future, other than by diagnosticians of our decline.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:13 AM (VaN/j)

133 "Sarah Big and Tall" sounds like a chain of plus-size clothing stores.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:13 AM (BpS6n)

134 This week's reading consisted of finishing Monster Hunter Siege, a book I started during my last plane trip and then put aside for a couple of months. I like the series, but this one was sorta meh. I'm hoping Correia brings back Agent Franks for the next one. Now to move on to something a bit more substantive. I have Musashi waiting on the bookcase; maybe I'll pick that one.

Posted by: PabloD at June 23, 2019 10:14 AM (44Vke)

135 I think it is occurring to me, another reason I don't want to read fiction these days is because we are, intentionally I believe, blurring the lines between fact and fiction, as a society.

This latest nonsense, about the chick writer, who want to cash in on her encounter with Trump, we are a people who are losing our ability to tell the difference between truth, as backed up with evidence, and fiction, which is spurred on by how people feel about things.

Fiction also has the unfortunate advantage of being exciting, whereas reality is much more often, boring. So people gravitate toward fiction.

I don't know, everywhere I look I see signs of civilization's collapse, but heck, maybe that's just me being overly dramatic, and I'm avoiding the evidence that shows the boring old status quo continues, unrelentingly onward.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:15 AM (cY3LT)

136 If you can get ashore, you've won.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:12 AM (BpS6n)


Unless your troops are used to eating food and shooting guns. Then you have to keep them in supply.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:15 AM (t+qrx)

137 I'd be interested to hear if he thought it was plausible - looks like it was written in 1957?



It probably looked a lot more terrifying before and during the
Battle of Britain, but modern consensus is that Germany couldn't have
come anywhere close to pulling off an amphibious invasion for numerous
reasons.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:11 AM (t+qrx)

---
There was a big wargame to study this in the 70s, with veterans serving as the umpires.

They concluded it would have failed in the face of British seapower. The Germans could get ashore, but not support their troops.

Which makes total sense.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:16 AM (cfSRQ)

138 Speaking of reading, apparently North Korean media has released a picture of Chairman Kim intently reading a personal letter from President Trump, which is described as having "excellent content."
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:13 AM (cfSRQ)


...but everybody skips right to the comments.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:16 AM (t+qrx)

139 I find Chesterton gets tiresome the more political/religious he gets. He has a bad habit of making the people with The Wrong Opinions into caricatures rather than characters.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:16 AM (BpS6n)

140 112 The other shocking thing I learned was hanging isn't the quick execution I was led to believe.



Not if the neck doesn't break.
Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (b084x)

There is an old saying that if you have friends they will swing on your heels.
Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 10:04 AM (hSQmw)
_________

The best scene (interpolated) in the Wallace Beery version of Treasure Island is built around that.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:17 AM (VaN/j)

141 127 hogmartin

i'll report on that in a future book thread.

I read this as a callow youth, without knowledge. ISTR he said it was not possible, because of the RN. But I can read it now with knowledge.

Certainly the British and Empire forces would have been hard-pressed to defeat a well-supplied and active Wehrmacht on British soil.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 10:18 AM (u82oZ)

142 BurtTC - Oh, rest assured, it's collapsing. It turns out that collapse IS the status quo, after enough time has elapsed. It's just a matter of how much time, for each given civilization.

Posted by: PabloD at June 23, 2019 10:19 AM (44Vke)

143 Especially in SF and fantasy, obvious nods to Current Year political/social issues are story-ruiners for me. Now, I don't mean stories which are set in and around current events, but rather stories taking place a thousand years in the future or a thousand years in the past which nevertheless have to stop and say hurray for gay marriage, or legalized weed, or whatever. Bounces me right out.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:20 AM (BpS6n)

144 "They concluded it would have failed in the face of British seapower. The Germans could get ashore, but not support their troops.

"Which makes total sense." - A.H. Lloyd

Indeed. Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.

Sure, I suppose you can reach London and "win", but there is more to Great Britain than that. You'd have to keep pushing onward to truly defeat the British, and that would require a sustainment of operations that I don't think the Germans would have been capable of, especially given the fact that they put all their naval eggs into the U-boat basket with few exceptions.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 23, 2019 10:20 AM (mEn6y)

145 Laffer gets Pres Medal of Freedom

https://www.nysun.com/editorials/the-medal-of-freedom-in-economics/90739/

Posted by: rhennigantx at June 23, 2019 10:21 AM (JFO2v)

146 Eris, since you love illustration, comics and graphic novels, AND you linked me to wonderful stuff, have you seen this online compendium from Labiek?

The Comiclopedia

https://www.lambiek.net/comiclopedia.html

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 10:21 AM (hSQmw)

147 112 The other shocking thing I learned was hanging isn't the quick execution I was led to believe.

There is also an excellent scene on this in Stephenson's The System of the World, in which there are young boys who hang around the gallows and for a few pence will jump up and grab your legs to speed things up.

Payment up front.

Posted by: motionview at June 23, 2019 10:21 AM (pYQR/)

148 137 I'd be interested to hear if he thought it was plausible - looks like it was written in 1957?



It probably looked a lot more terrifying before and during the
Battle of Britain, but modern consensus is that Germany couldn't have
come anywhere close to pulling off an amphibious invasion for numerous
reasons.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:11 AM (t+qrx)

---
There was a big wargame to study this in the 70s, with veterans serving as the umpires.

They concluded it would have failed in the face of British seapower. The Germans could get ashore, but not support their troops.

Which makes total sense.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:16 AM (cfSRQ)
_______

Which is exactly what Raeder told them. The navy really hated every idea the army came up with. Already grossly outnumbered, they'd been really hit in the Norway campaign, which for the fleet was a Pyhrric victory. (And the LW had already sunk two of their destroyers before that. If the Italians had done that, it would be famous, but it doesn't fit the "Germans can do anything" narrative.)

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:21 AM (VaN/j)

149 The second book I finished this week was Nabokov's The Defense, the story of an unhappy kid who discovers chess which then becomes an obsessive part of his life until he has a complete meltdown during a key match. The shrinks tell him he has to give chess up to have a normal life and he gives a good faith effort to restart his life from scratch with a very devoted wife, but the itch for chess is still there and reliving that last match keeps intruding despite his best efforts to keep it at bay. The title refers to what he was doing in the match and what he's doing in real life.

This was an early masterpiece by Nabokov which is highly recommended. I know some readers don't like him for whatever reason but he hits all the right notes for me.
Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 09:59 AM (y7DUB)



I did the same thing with Nabokov during my college years.

I loved most of his books. Big influence on my writing in that I learned that it's okay to play games with the reader. It make-a da reading-a fun.

Probably, should re-read his oeuvre again to see if I get something different from him than young naturalfake did.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 10:22 AM (PhPlm)

150 While Open Office IS the best all round solution.. being free.. microsoft has something called "Excel Viewer".. it is available on Android App Store, Apple store and Microsoft store.
That is by far the "lightest" solution.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at June 23, 2019 10:22 AM (438dO)

151 The indefensibility of their island is why the British always did have to maintain sea control.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:22 AM (BpS6n)

152 Certainly the British and Empire forces would have been hard-pressed to defeat a well-supplied and active Wehrmacht on British soil.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 10:18 AM (u82oZ)


Undoubtedly; as Trimegistus said, there isn't much geography to get in the way. But I think consensus is against them being well-supplied or active past the first few hours.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:22 AM (t+qrx)

153 Well, there's about a half inch of global warming sitting on my front porch this morning. This was not the year to try to expand my flower garden.

I received a kindle paperwhite as a gift recently, and fired it up earlier in the week. This might be a good to actually read something on it. Some cheap indy novels....Or I may just read more Savage Sword of Conan comics. Good old back-and-white pulpy goodness....

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 23, 2019 10:24 AM (Lhaco)

154 Sure, I suppose you can reach London and "win", but there is more to Great Britain than that.

-
Napoleon got to Moscow and won.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 10:24 AM (+y/Ru)

155 ...but everybody skips right to the comments.
Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:16 AM


Not me. I only read the content.

Posted by: One of the weirdos at June 23, 2019 10:25 AM (DMUuz)

156 This is a shame, I loved her Mercy Thompson books.

Is it latent and I never sensed it, or are they compelled to declare their orthodoxy just to get published?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes

==

a good question
in her latest Mercy Thompson, she throws in a gratuitous "bigot cop giving family of color some attitude" but it's got nothing to do with the plot and just an opportunity for Mercy to do some virtue signalling




Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 10:25 AM (dm05u)

157 The Comiclopedia

https://www.lambiek.net/comiclopedia.html
Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 10:21 AM (hSQmw)
---
Whoa.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 10:25 AM (kQs4Y)

158 Nothing much in progress to report, readingwise: nearly done with Sarah Hoyt's "Death of a Musketeer" which is her retelling of the Dumas adventure, and about halfway in to Peter Lovesey's "Bertie and the 7 Bodies"...
Serious research this week into the slave market district of Richmond in the 1850ies, though. Some very curious facts and observations about the wholesale and retail slave trade... (this is for my next book, BTW.)

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at June 23, 2019 10:26 AM (xnmPy)

159 IMO, the only way Germany could have "won" Sea Lion is if they could have drawn enough destroyers and other light craft into bomber range, and sunk enough to give the subs a heavy edge in the Atlantic.

But I don't think they could. The RN would have mostly operated at night - people forget that they matched the Japanese in their emphasis on that. And the distances were close enough that would have been enough. Assuming they could successfully invade, which is questionable if you compare what they were working on with what we used for D-Day. And remember that the season was working against them.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:27 AM (VaN/j)

160 I do audiobooks because I stay at home with my Son.

The SPELLMONGER series is very good, has some good humor. It has some political intrigue along with a crazy Goblin who is dead and had his head preserved in some magic crystal and is exacting revenge on Humans. The Gods do appear and meddle in the affairs. The books are up to 10.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at June 23, 2019 10:27 AM (dKiJG)

161 Indeed. Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.



Sure, I suppose you can reach London and "win", but there is more to
Great Britain than that. You'd have to keep pushing onward to truly
defeat the British, and that would require a sustainment of operations
that I don't think the Germans would have been capable of, especially
given the fact that they put all their naval eggs into the U-boat basket
with few exceptions.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 23, 2019 10:20 AM (mEn6y)

---
London would have been Stalingrad on steroids. At the time it was the largest city on earth. The Germans figured they'd have to encircle it, but that's a pretty wide sweep for an army with no fuel or spare ammunition.

That's why books that focus on tactical problems (like D-Day) kind of bore me. Planners can't cover that level of detail, all they can do is send what they hope is enough stuff to get the job done. It's the on-scene commanders who have to find the key to the local position.

And that key will be worthless without guaranteed reinforcements and supplies. If you are trying to maintain a beachhead by running barges in the dark, well we saw how that worked in Guadalcanal.

The big difference was the Japanese actually had a navy. Germany didn't.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:27 AM (cfSRQ)

162 ADM Raeder was the best strategist the Germans had in WWII. He had a milder personality, so he could not convince others that were cray-cray in the German high command.

Certainly his Malta invasion plan was sound, and would have helped Rommel a lot.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 10:27 AM (u82oZ)

163 So . . . do we just notice Progressive propagandizing in fiction more easily, or do liberals actually do more of it when they write?

. . . Or do out-and-proud conservatives just get rejected by publishers?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:29 AM (BpS6n)

164 The RN would have mostly operated at night
Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:27 AM (VaN/j)


...mostly.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:29 AM (t+qrx)

165 BOOK NERDS!!!!

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:31 AM (NWiLs)

166 If you look at RN fleet positions in 1940, there was more than enough force to isolate the Germans that even managed to land.

it does not go well for the Germans.

Well, we are all in agreement.

Time for chores.

Have a great day, everyone.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 23, 2019 10:32 AM (u82oZ)

167 I watched The Ghost Writer last night, the movie version of The Ghost, written by BBC reporter Robert Harris. It is a "thinly veiled" portrayal of Tony Blair apparently, who they paint as an American/CIA toady (but make the character appear to be unaware that he was being "handled" by the CIA from college days).


The media is heroic of course, in the movie, as they find "Blair" was complicit in war crimes (waterboarding torture by America/CIA). Polanksi directed (2010) ... surprising he still works (born 1933) ... those 75+ year old leftists still causing trouble.


An accurate part of the movie (it seems) is that the CIA murders anyone that finds out their (globalist) secrets, but it does not convey any of the globalist (anti-American) nature of the CIA (and some of their complicit friends in other governments). The book of course lauds the (globalist) International Criminal Court ... whose authority the US does not recognize (which the author, naturally, condemns, while holding the Brits as mostly virtuous).


We have globalists everywhere, Brennan/Kerry/Macron/May/Merkel/Cameron/+1000. And it appears part of the ICE stand down was due to Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan sabotaging the effort with (criminal) leaks of details on which cities. The movie is more globalist propaganda, from what I can tell. But it does (accurately?) portray the CIA as grooming prospects in college, opening their paths to power, and handling them through life (e.g. Brennan/Comey/Obama/Clintons?)

Posted by: illiniwek at June 23, 2019 10:33 AM (Cus5s)

168 So I've finally gotten around to working on The Brothers Karamazov. It's...weird.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:33 AM (NWiLs)

169 The big difference was the Japanese actually had a navy. Germany didn't.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:27 AM


IIRC, The German Navy presented two plans ~1937, around building sufficient ships.

Plan A, a surface Navy that could go scupper-to-scupper would be ready in the early '50s.

Plan B, using U-Boats, would be ready ~1946-47.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at June 23, 2019 10:34 AM (DMUuz)

170 I can second the recommendation for The Invention That Changed The World, with the caveat that any wireless invention whose inventor had any MIT connection is depicted as being a direct result of MIT. That over-boosterism aside, it's a great historical account of the fascinating development of radar.

This week, I finished Karl Gallagher's Lost War and Lost War Reveled while attending Boy Scout Camp. Warning - do not read these books if you will need to walk a quarter mile to the latrine through a dark and misty forest.

Also read Declan Finn's latest St. Tommy supernatural thriller, Crusader. The series, now five in number, keeps getting better and better with thoughtful ties into current political and social events. Start with Book 1 - Hell Spawn, and keep reading.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at June 23, 2019 10:35 AM (FXjhj)

171 So I've finally gotten around to working on The Brothers Karamazov.
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:33 AM


Is there nothing Nurse can't do?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at June 23, 2019 10:35 AM (DMUuz)

172 163
So . . . do we just notice Progressive propagandizing in fiction more
easily, or do liberals actually do more of it when they write?



. . . Or do out-and-proud conservatives just get rejected by publishers?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:29 AM (BpS6n)

---
I think the biggest thing is that they've gotten so over the top about it.

It's not enough to just have a villain or something, now it's OMG NAZIS!!!1! about everything.

A parallel development is the end of forgiveness as a concept. There is none. Once you're judged impure, you're done.

So story arcs about people who grow or are complex (like a racist who nevertheless helps minorities out of a shared sense of humanity) aren't interesting to these people.

I watched "Glory" a while back, and the way the 54th earned the respect of the white troops would be unthinkable in today's Hollywood.

There is no redemption, only condemnation.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:35 AM (cfSRQ)

173 153 I received a kindle paperwhite as a gift recently,
and fired it up earlier in the week. This might be a good to actually
read something on it. Some cheap indy novels....Or I may just read more
Savage Sword of Conan comics. Good old back-and-white pulpy
goodness....

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 23, 2019 10:24 AM (Lhaco)


Go over to Gutenberg and download old stuff for free.

Gutenberg

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:35 AM (mpXpK)

174 I'm sure it looked different in 1940. The Nazis had just done the impossible and conquered France in a few weeks. Why not another impossible thing achieved?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 10:36 AM (+y/Ru)

175 Covertly implying or drawing attention to something by ostensibly avoiding all mention of it is called PARALEIPSIS.

And covertly hiding something like the Obama/Clinton Coup Attempt by avoiding all mention of it is called REPORTING.

Or just LYING.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at June 23, 2019 10:36 AM (Ndje9)

176 The first couple of Harry Potter books are a lot of fun then Rowling decided that she was "woke before woke was cool" and turned into dark $sh!t storms. I think Rowling secretly hates the fans that have made her fabulously wealthy.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 10:13 AM (5Yee7)

I just saw the latest Rowling adult mystery (under her alias Robert Galbraith) on the "withdrawn and for sale for a buck" bin at the local library, which means it must not gave circulated last year.

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 10:36 AM (dm05u)

177 One fairly recent (post WWII) writer was was remarkably even handed about politics was Michael Gilbert, the Brit mystery writer. If you just read one of his books, you might decide he was left, or he was right. Read several, and you'll be confused, as I was. Anyone could be the good guy. And he touches on politics often.

Turns out he was the Tory party's solicitor in Maggie's day. I should have seen that. Could any leftist portray conservatives favorably? I'm not sure even Orwell could.

One I'd recommend for today is Flash Point, which is a portrayal of the Deep State at work. Labour is scum, but hard-core real Communists prove helpful. Another is The Queen Against Karl Mullen, which is, mirabile dictu, even handed about apartheid.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:36 AM (VaN/j)

178 That was a link I guess Pixy ate the link.

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:36 AM (mpXpK)

179 171 So I've finally gotten around to working on The Brothers Karamazov.
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:33 AM

Is there nothing Nurse can't do?
Posted by: Duncanthrax at June 23, 2019 10:35 AM (DMUuz)

What happens in Florida stays in Florida. Though I am experiencing a noticeable post-visit crash.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:38 AM (NWiLs)

180 I read "The Poisonwood Bible" years ago...back when it was against my religion to abandon a book. It was dog-awful. How does garbage like that make it into print?

Last night I finished an interesting book called "Zoo Nebraska" about a tiny Town in Nebraska with a sort-of zoo. The book leads up to the escape of four chimpanzees and subsequent killing of three by locals.

While the animals are mentioned often throughout the book, it's most interesting for the human characters. The writing is a bit ragged in spots but nothing to drive you away from the book.

Well worth the read.

Posted by: creeper at June 23, 2019 10:39 AM (v9wA5)

181 The Nazis had just done the impossible and conquered France in a few weeks. Why not another impossible thing achieved?
---

You're welcome!

Posted by: Pervitin! at June 23, 2019 10:39 AM (kQs4Y)

182 IIRC, The German Navy presented two plans ~1937, around building sufficient ships.



Plan A, a surface Navy that could go scupper-to-scupper would be ready in the early '50s.



Plan B, using U-Boats, would be ready ~1946-47.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at June 23, 2019 10:34 AM (DMUuz)

---
One of the often-overlooked aspects of Germany's frantic efforts at rearmament was that they simply didn't have enough material do to it all.

Building that fleet would have consumed all of Germany's steel. There were similar arguments over aluminum and such. It's crazy to think of it, but the Wehrmacht was never fully mechanized and the most prevalent tank for the first year of the war was the Panzer I, which was designed for training.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:40 AM (cfSRQ)

183 oooh a kindle paperwhite! I'm envious

you could see if your local library lends out ebooks

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 10:40 AM (dm05u)

184 Even if it's these pants, which look like something George Jetson might see after accidentally inhaling some space mushroom spores..

Kill it. Kill it with fire. And nuke the site from orbit. It's the only joy way to be sure.

Posted by: Fox2! at June 23, 2019 10:40 AM (MwFQu)

185 Here is a tinyurl link to Guteberg

https://tinyurl.com/45gtx

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:40 AM (mpXpK)

186 Just received Zamulin's The Battle of Kursk: Controversial and Neglected Aspects. I'll start digging into it on my flight tomorrow

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at June 23, 2019 10:40 AM (di1hb)

187 Maybe some kind of Google doc thingy somewhere on the so-called 'Cloud'? Please leave your suggestions in the comments.

Google docs is the most convenient for me.

Posted by: Bob from the NSA at June 23, 2019 10:41 AM (UGKMd)

188 Salty got to it before I had the chance, the air war was close but the RN was in a very strong position to stop a invasion.

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton made that look easy.

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 10:41 AM (BbGew)

189 the spreadsheet - one way I'd suggest in ye olde days would be put it up as a pdf but also have a link to the csv for download

but that means keeping track of two.formats for you

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 10:42 AM (dm05u)

190 Another problem the German navy had, often skirted over, is that they did have a limitation treaty with Britain. They were held to 35% of the size of the RN (parity in subs). They could have cheated some, of course, but people who think they "should" have had 100+ U-boats are ignoring the fact there was no surer way to push the Brits into taking a tougher position.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:43 AM (VaN/j)

191 Iron Mike Golf - Can't wait to hear about it.

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 10:43 AM (BbGew)

192 Re the library pic - with all those blue bound books on the upstairs right shelves, they must have the complete Hardy Boys collection!

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 23, 2019 10:43 AM (q1Pj5)

193 you could see if your local library lends out ebooks

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 10:40 AM (dm05u)

Seconded. I've gotten tons of books both audio and print this way.

Posted by: Jordan61 at June 23, 2019 10:43 AM (wvGlN)

194 I heard a useful term from my teenage kid the other day -- gamer slang, apparently.

"Wehraboos" -- those guys who won't shut up about how awesome the Germans were.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:43 AM (BpS6n)

195 I want a tablet to take with me on my upcoming trip to England. Any thoughts on the Kindle Fire?

Posted by: josephistan at June 23, 2019 10:45 AM (Izzlo)

196 163: They do a lot of virtue signaling and propagandizing, and plenty of it is in childrens' books. I suspect that is why so many books feature animal characters, so that you can get around the preoccupation with race, religion, and sexual "preferences".

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 10:45 AM (U7k5w)

197 Sarah was plain and tall.The big and tall version would be the later, non-fat-shaming rewrite.

There are two versions of the discovery of the cavity magnetron's cooking ability. One is the gently humorous one, of an MIT nerd carrying a Hershey bar in his coat pocket while walking around in the lab. It's MIT propaganda.


The other is related in Pynchon's "V" and has to do with sailors doing steaks on the radar mast, which used to be a crow's nest. And they figured out how to do that because an old alcoholic boatswain used to climb up there to hide and have a drink, and nobody briefed him on the upgrade. Ewww.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 10:45 AM (8ZmvG)

198 BurtTC - Oh, rest assured, it's collapsing. It turns out that collapse IS the status quo, after enough time has elapsed. It's just a matter of how much time, for each given civilization.
Posted by: PabloD at June 23, 2019 10:19 AM (44Vke)


I think it's an open question as to whether we're in a period of imminent collapse, or if we're in a period of stupid foolishness that will pass, like so many other episodes of stupid foolishness have.

In the history of history, there are only a few episodes that turned into total collapse, so that's the other question: Total collapse or mini collapse?

Too many unknowns, and not enough data sets to draw any conclusions like "it always happens like this." The doomsdayers seem to relish in the idea that we're in the End Times, but yeah, I still have no idea if that's based on facts and logic, or wishful thinking of those who are bored by reality.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (cY3LT)

199 195: I dragged mine all over Eastern Europe. It performed well. I had to get the hotel passwords, but if you don't have credit and banking info stored it's perfect.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (U7k5w)

200 174
I'm sure it looked different in 1940. The Nazis had just done the
impossible and conquered France in a few weeks. Why not another
impossible thing achieved?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 10:36 AM (+y/Ru)

---
Was it impossible, though? Germany's army was raw and under-equipped, but the French were utterly demoralized. They also had crap for air power.

There's a nice little wargame that does a good job of recreating the campaign. Basically the German player secretly picks an objective - clearing the Maginot Line, taking Paris, or sweeping the Channel coast.

The Allied player has to set up not knowing what will happen. It's actually a very tense game because thanks to tactical air superiority, the Germans can pretty much guarantee a breakthrough somewhere, and they have enough mechanization (and amphetamine tablets!) to support it.

The fundamental issue was that the Allies had zero interest in fighting the war. Their plan was to wait out the Germans.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (cfSRQ)

201 Any thoughts on the Kindle Fire?
Posted by: josephistan at June 23, 2019 10:45 AM (Izzlo)


My parents have those. What do you want to know about them? The only thing that comes to mind offhand is dad can only load apps from the Kindle App Store; there's a way to sideload any random Android app, but it's not as simple.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:47 AM (t+qrx)

202 75: Methinks Jipson lies like a rug

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 10:48 AM (U7k5w)

203 So . . . do we just notice Progressive propagandizing in fiction more

easily, or do liberals actually do more of it when they write?

. . . Or do out-and-proud conservatives just get rejected by publishers?



Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:29 AM (BpS6n)


What gets rewarded gets priority. The publishing houses reward wokeness and SJW over plot, language and potential audience, so that word gets out and the authors who want to sell big and make their living writing focus on wokeness and SJW tropes to get the brass rings.

What are the inducements to write measured, thought out conservative books? It is like being a Libertarian in the 50's, you either have to have a deep commitment based on personal understanding, be a crank, or be kind of blind to social pressures.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 10:48 AM (hSQmw)

204 With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.

Posted by: Moron Engineer at June 23, 2019 10:48 AM (DMUuz)

205 Before my Samsung I had a Kindle Fire and loved it. I bought my wife a Kindle 10 but don't know much about it, only bought it so she wouldn't steal my Samsung.

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 10:49 AM (BbGew)

206 sometime in July Amazon does "Prime Day" and they might do a sale on devices like the kindle and fire

fyi

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 10:51 AM (dm05u)

207 Another writer who touches politics a lot is Patrick O'Brian. Of course, the politics that of two centuries back, but note that each of his characters is a sort of conservative. Jack is a bred-in-the-bone Tory of landed class. Stephen is a reformed radical of the Coleridge-Wordsworth model. I don't know if a hard leftist would hate them.

It's not exactly politics, but an odd case is P C Wren, of Beau Geste fame. He wrote a novel, Mammon, in which the message is that sexual repression of the sort Freud spoke of would warp a man's character. The twist is that it keeps him from turning into the right sort of English gentleman who can look a gnu in the face and put an ounce of lead in it. (Which does remind me of Roderick Spode and Comrade Bingo.)

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:51 AM (VaN/j)

208 What happens in Florida stays in Florida.
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:38 AM


Hold my beer.

Posted by: Florida Man at June 23, 2019 10:51 AM (DMUuz)

209 ---
I think the biggest thing is that they've gotten so over the top about it.

It's not enough to just have a villain or something, now it's OMG NAZIS!!!1! about everything.

A parallel development is the end of forgiveness as a concept. There is none. Once you're judged impure, you're done.

So story arcs about people who grow or are complex (like a racist who nevertheless helps minorities out of a shared sense of humanity) aren't interesting to these people.

I watched "Glory" a while back, and the way the 54th earned the respect of the white troops would be unthinkable in today's Hollywood.

There is no redemption, only condemnation.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:35 AM (cfSRQ)



I realize that this is an axe I grind, but-

I see this as a direct outgrowth of insisting on the "likable" protagonist.

"Likeable" is the world of the Left means holding every single woke belief, being the wokest of the woke.

Therefore the virtuous of the virtuous.

Conservative authors often do the same though to a lesser extent.

The obverse of this must be the irredeemable antagonist. The 'deplorable" if you will.

For a book to be organic and breathe, characters must be allowed to grow and progress in fundamental ways.

It's my belief that the insistence on a "likable" hero/protagonist is simply another way that the Left seeks to control the culture and the conversation.

For a refreshing break from this dogma, check out my book, "Wearing the Cat".


Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 10:52 AM (PhPlm)

210 That reminds me of something I've often thought of before reading the book thread. I'm rarely here PM Saturdays, so I'll mention it now: When did cute girls take up chess? Wasn't so in the 60s, that's for sure.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:04 AM (VaN/j)


That's a good question. I don't really know. Back in the old days, what few women chess players made it to the big leagues all looked like Leonid Brezhnev's mother.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 10:52 AM (9ioAf)

211 bonjour, bookists. now to read the thread.

Posted by: Huck Follywood, the Demofascists are certifiable at June 23, 2019 10:52 AM (Z216Q)

212 What happens in Florida stays in Florida.
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:38 AM

Hold my beer.
Posted by: Florida Man at June 23, 2019 10:51 AM (DMUuz)


That's not beer.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (t+qrx)

213 I was thinking more in terms of putting it somewhere on "The Cloud" where everyone who wanted to could access it.


May I suggest posting it in a text-only format like CSV? It would be less convenient to use because links would have to be cut and pasted like they are here instead of being clickable but it would be safer.

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (qc+VF)

214 Instead of the Kindle Fire get the samsung galaxy tab A and a Kindle app which is free/. Then you gan read books and do apps as well.

https://tinyurl.com/y5vvecfd

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (mpXpK)

215 Has to be killing the French band to play the German national anthem

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (BbGew)

216 Too many unknowns, and not enough data sets to draw
any conclusions like "it always happens like this." The doomsdayers
seem to relish in the idea that we're in the End Times, but yeah, I
still have no idea if that's based on facts and logic, or wishful
thinking of those who are bored by reality.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (cY3LT)

---
Things are always in motion, though sometimes we don't realize it.

Besides, what does the term End Times even mean? We've seen currency collapses before - Argentina has them every decade. Strangely, it's still there.

There have been disasters, civil wars, etc. and when they happen, things still go on, but different.

If one looks at how revolutions or civil wars start, there isn't usually an important moment where it officially starts. Oh, sometimes there's a declaration of war or a decree, but it's either muted or after the fact.

It's honestly not something to worry about. A better use is to focus on actual threats and opportunities and get on with life.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (cfSRQ)

217 I want a tablet to take with me on my upcoming trip to England. Any thoughts on the Kindle Fire?
Posted by: josephistan
.............

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8 inch. Perfect size for reading and its battery simply lasts and lasts and lasts...

Mine was on sale for $120 in December.. but it's like $175 now.. it's an incredible little tablet.

Kindle Fire is half that, but you have, from what I read, lots of Amazon apps that are hard to get rid of. Also, read the one star reviews.. slowness, bad wi-fi connections are just some of the complaints.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (438dO)

218 212 What happens in Florida stays in Florida.
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:38 AM

Hold my beer.
Posted by: Florida Man at June 23, 2019 10:51 AM (DMUuz)

That's not beer.
Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (t+qrx)

*discreetly drops bottle into the trash*

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 10:54 AM (NWiLs)

219 The Armed Forces Radio station in Munich had two AM towers, each 100,000 watts. You could fly in fog from England to Munich by homing on their signal, which led some wag to make Charlie Barnet's "Skyliner" the theme song.

There is a rumor that this navigational approach led to the strategy of the Berlin Air Lift, which kind of, sort of, changed air traffic control forever.

I'd like to think so because Charlie Barnet never got his due, historically.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 10:54 AM (8ZmvG)

220 Can't say I like the Kindle App for Samsung, doesn't seem to be easy to manuver around, but maybe it's me.

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 10:54 AM (BbGew)

221 Good morning, Bookists!

Exciting news this morning, related to my writing about my grandfather the combat engineer. I got in contact with the daughter of one of gpa's battalion commanders, who wrote of his experiences in WWII, serving under my gpa.
She says she has some of his (her father) source material, including a file with my gpa's name. Now I need to figure out how to get my hands on it.....

Any book morons near Marquette, MI? I am a thousand miles away.....

Posted by: goatexchange at June 23, 2019 10:55 AM (iBmJc)

222
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:29 AM (BpS6n)

What gets rewarded gets priority. The publishing houses reward wokeness and SJW over plot, language and potential audience, so that word gets out and the authors who want to sell big and make their living writing focus on wokeness and SJW tropes to get the brass rings.

What are the inducements to write measured, thought out conservative books? It is like being a Libertarian in the 50's, you either have to have a deep commitment based on personal understanding, be a crank, or be kind of blind to social pressures.
Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 10:48 AM (hSQmw)


At least in the Comic Book world, the Comicsgate folks are fighting back, by self-publishing.

I guess the jury is still out, somewhat. Ethan Van Sciver and a few others are cashing in big, and seem to be proclaiming victory, but I'm not sure they're right.

It's the same with the Youtube crowd. They're at a point where several are complaining about being deplatformed, and are talking about setting up their own separate platforms, without the Big Media clampdown, but who knows.

It should all work. If what they have to say is valuable enough, it should be possible in this age to circumvent the leftists, go straight to their intended audience, and make a decent living doing so.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:55 AM (cY3LT)

223 Things are always in motion, though sometimes we don't realize it.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM

Unless, of course, they're at rest.

Posted by: Newton's First Law at June 23, 2019 10:56 AM (DMUuz)

224 For a refreshing break from this dogma, check out my book, "Wearing the Cat".







Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 10:52 AM (PhPlm)

---
I like the twist at the end. Much more subtle than my approach.

And I agree with you, flawed characters are much more interesting, both to read and to write.

Someone might actually have fun with a flawed "woke" character by doing this. I don't mean showing them to be a hypocrite, but simply earnest and flawed.

Hmmm. That gets me thinking...

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:57 AM (cfSRQ)

225 198
In the history of history, there are only a few episodes that turned into total collapse, so that's the other question: Total collapse or mini collapse?

Too many unknowns, and not enough data sets to draw any conclusions like "it always happens like this." The doomsdayers seem to relish in the idea that we're in the End Times, but yeah, I still have no idea if that's based on facts and logic, or wishful thinking of those who are bored by reality.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (cY3LT)
________

We don't know, and cannot. Far too often people try to pick out parallel features of two periods (sometimes including today) and make some "rule" out of that. But that wholly ignores the particulars that don't fit the model - and those are always present.

I really like J H Hexter's essays on this. He was a very strong "splitter", and wrote against "lumping" continually. He also had the great virtue of flat-out owning it when someone showed him wrong. That is very rare.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:57 AM (VaN/j)

226 Just finished reading one of those non fiction bargain bin books, Tesla vs Edison . Just one of the books I've read in Tesla.

Nikolai Tesla is the most under rated or should say , under credited inventor ever. I think he had the most impact on the modern world than anyone.







Posted by: Can't resist temptation man at June 23, 2019 10:58 AM (2DOZq)

227 217 Mine was on sale for $120 in December.. but it's like $175 now.. it's an incredible little tablet.



Kindle Fire is half that, but you have, from what I read, lots of
Amazon apps that are hard to get rid of. Also, read the one star
reviews.. slowness, bad wi-fi connections are just some of the
complaints.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (438dO)

Its a $189 at Amazon right now.

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:58 AM (mpXpK)

228 191 Iron Mike Golf - Can't wait to hear about it.
Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 10:43 AM (BbGew)


If you haven't read his Demolishing the Myth: The Tank Battle at Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943: An Operational Narrative, get that one.

New book is shorter than his previous (400 pages or so). Some photos, maps, and charts with operational rates and casualties.

This book seems more scholarly. Perhaps it is a byproduct of Zamulin's PhD work. It will be very useful when my hobby gig turns its sights to that battle.

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at June 23, 2019 10:58 AM (di1hb)

229 Home.

SAFE !

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 10:59 AM (b084x)

230 Off added word sock.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at June 23, 2019 10:59 AM (2DOZq)

231 Got to visit Powell's bookstore in Portland last week. Amazing store! And filled with people in their 20's which is great to see!

Posted by: keena at June 23, 2019 10:59 AM (scP6Z)

232 123 My original spreadsheets were all from Office 2000. When I went to load my Office 2000 disk on my new computer it would not load because it was an "upgrade" for my old windows 97 program which I no longer had. That's when I down loaded open office and converted them. I don't remember how big the download is but the site says it uses 440MB of disk space.
Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:08 AM (mpXpK)


Right, and I don't want to make you all install half a gig of software just to read a book list.That's why I was considering some sort of 'cloud' solution.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 10:59 AM (9ioAf)

233 Things are always in motion, though sometimes we don't realize it.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM

And most of the time they're pretty bad things. The handful of times when they aren't is a nice surprise.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:00 AM (NWiLs)

234 > 'The Invention That Changed The World'.

Ahhh, great book. I read it a few years ago.

I got for the WW2 coverage and was surprised at how interesting the post-ww2 stuff was.

The most entertaining part was when Time Magazine was preparing a feature story on how MIT's Radiation Lab (the place where America did most of it's Radar research) won the war. It was going to be the cover story and take up 10-20 pages. Time wrote it and ... Hiroshima got nuked. Time rewrote the issue and the Radiation Lab wound up with one or two paragraphs.

Posted by: ArthurK at June 23, 2019 11:00 AM (Aqi5D)

235 204 With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.
Posted by: Moron Engineer at June 23, 2019 10:48 AM (DMUuz)

E.g., F-4/F-110 family of fighters

Posted by: Her Grace, Honor, Duchess and Steadholder Harrington at June 23, 2019 11:00 AM (3XdyI)

236
Unless, of course, they're at rest.

Posted by: Newton's First Law at June 23, 2019 10:56 AM (DMUuz)

---
Always in motion is the future.

Posted by: Yoda at June 23, 2019 11:00 AM (cfSRQ)

237 There's a nice little wargame that does a good job of recreating the campaign. Basically the German player secretly picks an objective ...

The fundamental issue was that the Allies had zero interest in fighting the war. Their plan was to wait out the Germans.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (cfSRQ)


What's the title of this wargame? Sounds like it's something I would be interested in.

The Germans got inside the Allied OODA Loop and stayed there for pretty much the entire campaign. The Allies had good equipment and counted on that parity to guarantee success. They did not expect the Germans to be so nimble in their decision-making; it wasn't easy for the Germans everywhere but they were able to side-slip around problem areas to find soft spots.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 11:01 AM (5Yee7)

238 Someone might actually have fun with a flawed "woke" character by doing this. I don't mean showing them to be a hypocrite, but simply earnest and flawed.

Hmmm. That gets me thinking...
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:57 AM (cfSRQ)

That would pose an interesting challenge as the more "woke" a person is in real life the greater a hypocrite they are likely to be.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:01 AM (NWiLs)

239 231 - my guess 20 something SJW

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 11:01 AM (BbGew)

240 Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (cY3LT)

---
Things are always in motion, though sometimes we don't realize it.

Besides, what does the term End Times even mean? We've seen currency collapses before - Argentina has them every decade. Strangely, it's still there.

There have been disasters, civil wars, etc. and when they happen, things still go on, but different.

If one looks at how revolutions or civil wars start, there isn't usually an important moment where it officially starts. Oh, sometimes there's a declaration of war or a decree, but it's either muted or after the fact.

It's honestly not something to worry about. A better use is to focus on actual threats and opportunities and get on with life.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (cfSRQ)


There's a macro/micro argument to be had, one that I usually... usually, in real life tackle by focusing on my own version of here and now, rather than big picture stuff.

But it seems rather pointless to me, to fight one's own little battles, if there's a larger war going on, to which one is otherwise oblivious.

Seems to me one needs to at least "keep an eye on" the bigger picture stuff.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:01 AM (cY3LT)

241 Children's books:

A vote for Daniel Pinkwater books. They are seemingly absurdist fare but ultimately harmless hippy stuff.

The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death
A must read for the title alone.

Lizard Music
Ditto

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency
Who can't relate?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:02 AM (DrqHq)

242 The other shocking thing I learned was hanging isn't the quick execution I was led to believe.



Not if the neck doesn't break.
Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 09:05 AM (b084x)

There is an old saying that if you have friends they will swing on your heels.
Posted by: Kindltot

So, in this case, I guess having Michael Moore as a friend would be a good thing.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:02 AM (b084x)

243 210 That reminds me of something I've often thought of before reading the book thread. I'm rarely here PM Saturdays, so I'll mention it now: When did cute girls take up chess? Wasn't so in the 60s, that's for sure.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:04 AM (VaN/j)

That's a good question. I don't really know. Back in the old days, what few women chess players made it to the big leagues all looked like Leonid Brezhnev's mother.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 10:52 AM (9ioAf)
_______

Reminds me of a line in a TV show, shortly after A Beautiful Mind came out. A nerd says "Real math girls don't look like Jennifer Connelly."

Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 11:03 AM (VaN/j)

244 I have had my Samsung Gal Tab A for three years now and not a problem with it. Battery has to be recharged more often now but they all get week after a few years.

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 11:04 AM (mpXpK)

245 One more bit on 'The Invention That Changed The World'.

If you want to understand WW2 radar, just remember that the the Allies were two years ahead of the Axis on radar tech - All Through The War. And this was when the tech was being rapidly developed so that meant the Axis was always 2 or 3 generations behind.

Posted by: ArthurK at June 23, 2019 11:04 AM (Aqi5D)

246 241 Children's books:

A vote for Daniel Pinkwater books. They are seemingly absurdist fare but ultimately harmless hippy stuff.

The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death
A must read for the title alone.

Lizard Music
Ditto

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency
Who can't relate?
Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:02 AM (DrqHq)

Hell yes. The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror.

And the poetry...oh, the poetry

The light and the corner of 5th and Snark
Is whanging
banging
clanging in the wind
Oh James Dean where are you now,
Squashed in your Porsche
And the muscle-bound crum-bums threaten to beat me up
Just 'cause I'm weird

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:04 AM (NWiLs)

247 I read the Moron Trump romance book/movie meme in the sidebar this week... I laughed till I cried. Instant classic.

Posted by: Heirloominati at June 23, 2019 11:05 AM (hgEPl)

248 osted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:46 AM (cY3LT)
________

We don't know, and cannot. Far too often people try to pick out parallel features of two periods (sometimes including today) and make some "rule" out of that. But that wholly ignores the particulars that don't fit the model - and those are always present.

I really like J H Hexter's essays on this. He was a very strong "splitter", and wrote against "lumping" continually. He also had the great virtue of flat-out owning it when someone showed him wrong. That is very rare.
Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 10:57 AM (VaN/j)


Hmmm, a name I'd never heard before.

I see several titles. Any suggestion as to where one might start?

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:06 AM (cY3LT)

249 217 I want a tablet to take with me on my upcoming trip to England. Any thoughts on the Kindle Fire?
Posted by: josephistan
.............

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8 inch. Perfect size for reading and its battery simply lasts and lasts and lasts...

Mine was on sale for $120 in December.. but it's like $175 now.. it's an incredible little tablet.

Kindle Fire is half that, but you have, from what I read, lots of Amazon apps that are hard to get rid of. Also, read the one star reviews.. slowness, bad wi-fi connections are just some of the complaints.
Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at June 23, 2019 10:53 AM (438dO)


Concur on the Samsung. I have an older one that is going string. Mrs IMG as the newer one and loves it. Grandson the Elder has a Fire. We got the kid package and good thing. He's on his 3d one. Micro USB charging port doesn't hold up.

The current Samsung uses a USB-C and those are much sturdier.

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at June 23, 2019 11:06 AM (di1hb)

250 And most of the time they're pretty bad things. The handful of times when they aren't is a nice surprise.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:00 AM (NWiLs)

---
Not really. A lot of that depends on how you perceive them.

If you only notice the bad stuff, build it up and dwell on it, then yes, life is a succession of disappointments followed by blissful oblivion.

But if you look for small things and take pleasure in them, pausing in each moment to savor them, then life takes on a much more benign aspect.

Here's a simple mental exercise I learned a while ago. Take a minute to think of something you enjoy - a person, a relationship, even an object. Now imagine losing it. After that sense of bleakness, reach out and experience that something again, as if it has been miraculously restored to you.

Every day should be like that. Yes, shit happens, but you mind it a lot less if you're grateful to what you have rather than bitching about what you haven't.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:07 AM (cfSRQ)

251 I don't have any recommendations for the children's book list but I have a suggestion: pitch them books slightly higher in recommended age than the "experts" suggest. Kids can reach and grow more than some people give them credit for. The "suggested ages" on books are like 2-5 years younger than any normal kid would or could read.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:07 AM (39g3+)

252 So . . . do we just notice Progressive propagandizing in fiction more
easily, or do liberals actually do more of it when they write?
. . . Or do out-and-proud conservatives just get rejected by publishers?
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:29 AM (BpS6n)


Brick-and-mortar publishing houses have woke gatekeepers now. Called "sensitivity readers", they read manuscripts to make sure all of the proper 'diversity' boxes are checked. Minority character? Check. Gay subplot? Check. Tranny? Check. Not enough checks and your ms. will get returned to you for a rewrite.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:07 AM (9ioAf)

253 238: I agree completely. Rabbi Sharpton, gave an irritating BLM sermon full of white bashing and admonished us to "reach out" (an expression I hate) to POC for friendship and understanding. I looked at his and wifey's FB pages. White: 100%, not so much as a Latino. I called him on it, Mr. Woke, and he made his friend list private. What a shithead

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:07 AM (U7k5w)

254 Reminds me of a line in a TV show, shortly after A Beautiful Mind came out. A nerd says "Real math girls don't look like Jennifer Connelly."
Posted by: Eeyore at June 23, 2019 11:03 AM (VaN/j)


Yes, and they don't have to! Smart women are sexy, not because they have big bongos, but because they are smart, and they're women!

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:08 AM (cY3LT)

255 I recently read Babel-17 by Samual Delany. A strange book as you'd expect from Delany. On the border of fantasy and scify. It involves an intercept of an signal sent in a strange language and the effort to decode it. Similar to that Arrival movie from a few years ago, understanding the language manifests changes in one who learns it.

A lot of it is way out there though. For instance, most of the book takes place on space ships and one common component of a ship's crew are ghosts. It isn't explained what technology allows ghosts to crew a ship but there you go. The interaction between the people and the "noncorp" (noncorporial) is neat writing I'll admit. Another interesting thing is that the main grunts on board, the mechanics/marines are all children that are linked to a single parent figure that gives them orders. The best part is that at the end everyone is saved by FORTRAN, which makes this oldschool engineer happy.

Posted by: bananadream at June 23, 2019 11:08 AM (l6b3d)

256 Someone may have recommended it already but my favorite children's book is Captains Courageous. May be my favorite book overall.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at June 23, 2019 11:09 AM (2DOZq)

257 Also,

Why hide the database of said kid's books? Couldn't one just post it on any number of free doc sites? What's with the secrecy? Is this a moron test?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:09 AM (DrqHq)

258 I want a tablet to take with me on my upcoming trip to England. Any thoughts on the Kindle Fire?

I have one and like it, conditionally. I don't like the ad that plays as soon as you start it up (what the??? I PAID FOR THIS). But its a solid reader with lots of options. That said, I haven't used any other readers, so I can't compare.

But I have never even wanted to know what was being advertised, let alone considered buying anything. Its just an annoying thing on the way to what I want that is quickly discarded.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:09 AM (39g3+)

259 But it seems rather pointless to me, to fight one's
own little battles, if there's a larger war going on, to which one is
otherwise oblivious.



Seems to me one needs to at least "keep an eye on" the bigger picture stuff.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:01 AM (cY3LT)

---
Whoa, I didn't write that you should live in a fog, unaware of changes in the world around you.

I said don't *WORRY* about it. Worry is wasted effort. By all means stay informed and think through how changes will affect you.

But that's a world of difference then wringing your hands over each development - most of which you can't affect one way or another.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:09 AM (cfSRQ)

260 I thought I remember hearing that pre 9/1/1939 France had the largest and most well-equipped, modern army force.

Which the Huns sidestepped and conquered in six weeks.

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 23, 2019 11:09 AM (q1Pj5)

261 There is an old saying that if you have friends they will swing on your heels.
Posted by: Kindltot

So, in this case, I guess having Michael Moore as a friend would be a good thing.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:02 AM (b084x)


Too much weight, though, and the guy's head will be torn clean off.

Or so I've heard.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (9ioAf)

262 Thanks for the Fire input. I think I'll look at getting a Galaxy. Maybe there will be a good 4th of July sale

Posted by: josephistan at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (Izzlo)

263 Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:07 AM (cfSRQ)

I don't know that it's only a matter of mindset - it is a fallen world existing under a curse after all - but I agree that it can make a great deal of difference. I've been trying to alter mine after decades of seeing only the negative in myself, in life, in the world - pretty much since I was capable of conscious thought. An uphill task if ever there was one.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (NWiLs)

264 Almost finished with a Japanese light novel Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.
A high school comedy-drama-romance-supernatural tale. I'm getting a flavor of Japanese 'go with the crowd' attitudes, or as it's referred to 'reading the atmosphere'.

I'm increasingly getting into anime and manga as an escape from the anti-male anti-white anti-American slidge of current 'culture'.

Posted by: Vlad the implaer, whittling away like mad at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (P1SZ/)

265 That would pose an interesting challenge as the more
"woke" a person is in real life the greater a hypocrite they are likely
to be.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:01 AM (NWiLs)

---
Right, but hypocrites can be quite relatable.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:12 AM (cfSRQ)

266 Why hide the database of said kid's books? Couldn't one just post it on any number of free doc sites? What's with the secrecy? Is this a moron test?
Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:09 AM (DrqHq)


Whoa, whoa, calm your tits...

We're not trying to "hide" the document, we're trying to determine the best method of making it freely available to everyone.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:12 AM (9ioAf)

267 The best part is that at the end everyone is saved by FORTRAN, which makes this oldschool engineer happy.
Posted by: bananadream at June 23, 2019 11:08 AM (l6b3d)


DoD still uses a number of models that use FORTRAN for simulations. They work (pretty much) and no one wants pay for the development of a model in a more modern computer language; the attempts that have been made (such as using Simulink) run MUCH slower without any real difference in accuracy.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (5Yee7)

268 Too much weight, though, and the guy's head will be torn clean off.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (9ioAf)

I thought the trick was to base the length of the drop on the subject's weight...

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (wYseH)

269 So, in this case, I guess having Michael Moore as a friend would be a good thing.
Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:02 AM


Hang around with you, or go to the all-you-can-eat brunch buffet?

Sorry, bro.

Posted by: Michael Moore at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (DMUuz)

270 Smart women are sexy, not because they have big bongos, but because they are smart, and they're women!

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:08 AM (cY3LT)

And the bongos.

Posted by: Count de Monet at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (q1Pj5)

271 263: I usually saw my life as worse than it was, then one day a student working a my facility (a guy no less) said, "I'm working hard to be you". It was a weird moment.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (U7k5w)

272 Radar?

There is always Arthur C. Clarke's fictional novel Glide Path about the development of Precision Approach Radar during World War II by a bunch of British boffins.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (eS61a)

273 I'm very suspicious of historical determinism. Spengler or Toynbee's cycles, parallels between the current year and 1936 or 63 BC, or any appeals to inevitability all ignore the very real differences between times and places.

I'm particularly suspicious of the idea of "cultural decadence." Restoration England was famously libertine, yet they managed to pull off the Scientific Revolution, the birth of modern finance, and the start of the British colonial empire.

Similarly, Venice was notoriously decadent after about 1500 -- yet they managed to go toe-to-toe with the Turks for another two centuries, despite being a city-state in a world of empires.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (BpS6n)

274 But it seems rather pointless to me, to fight one's
own little battles, if there's a larger war going on, to which one is otherwise oblivious.

Seems to me one needs to at least "keep an eye on" the bigger picture stuff.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:01 AM (cY3LT)

---
Whoa, I didn't write that you should live in a fog, unaware of changes in the world around you.

I said don't *WORRY* about it. Worry is wasted effort. By all means stay informed and think through how changes will affect you.

But that's a world of difference then wringing your hands over each development - most of which you can't affect one way or another.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:09 AM (cfSRQ)


There's a wide wide chasm between "don't WORRY about" and "wringing your hands over each development."

I don't think either extreme is particularly useful.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:14 AM (cY3LT)

275 Ive detoured into some light summer reading and am enjoying the Elin Hildebrand books about murders, affairs and other intrigues on Nantucket.

Posted by: LASue at June 23, 2019 11:14 AM (wMHPW)

276 I thought the trick was to base the length of the drop on the subject's weight...
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (wYseH)


That's right. I've seen the hangman's chart that gives the rope length per body weight in 10 lb. increments.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:15 AM (9ioAf)

277 Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (NWiLs)

I do not have a problem with seeing the negative in the world or the negative that happens to oneself. The way I've always handled it is to think of it as someone out to get me and my competitive personality which says fuck you, you're not going to win.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at June 23, 2019 11:16 AM (2DOZq)

278 There is an old saying that if you have friends they will swing on your heels.
Posted by: Kindltot

So, in this case, I guess having Michael Moore as a friend would be a good thing.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:02 AM (b084x)

Too much weight, though, and the guy's head will be torn clean off.

Or so I've heard.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor

I was reading ( About the French Revolution, there were a lot of hangings and not enough qualified hangmen) and the author went into great detail i.e. if the ropes's too long the head will pop off and the Knot has to be JUST right or the neck won't break and people will just hang there and strangle.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (b084x)

279 Too much weight, though, and the guy's head will be torn clean off.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (9ioAf)

I thought the trick was to base the length of the drop on the subject's weight...
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (wYseH)

That's what sandbags are for. At least that's what the movies tell me.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (2DOZq)

280 That's right. I've seen the hangman's chart that gives the rope length per body weight in 10 lb. increments.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:15 AM (9ioAf)

What's the rope length for each ten pounds?

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (NWiLs)

281 We're not trying to "hide" the document, we're trying to determine the best method of making it freely available to everyone.
Posted by: OregonMuse


Scrib.
Google docs.
There's like 50 free doc sites. Just make up a new account on any one of them and post it.

What's the difficult part?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:19 AM (DrqHq)

282 Damn, those newly discovered 9/11 pictures. Very sobering. Never forget.

Posted by: Jewells45 at June 23, 2019 11:19 AM (dUJdY)

283 With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.

My dad was sort of an amateur aeronautical engineer. I think it's what he would have been if not for that little dust-up in Korea interrupting his education. He used to say something like "you can fly a barn door if you can put a big enough prop on it."

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at June 23, 2019 11:19 AM (qc+VF)

284 Apparent news headline that would make a great springboard for a science fiction novel -

"It looked like a simple domestic murder. Then police learned of the alien reptile cult."

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:20 AM (eS61a)

285 I don't know that it's only a matter of mindset - it
is a fallen world existing under a curse after all - but I agree that
it can make a great deal of difference. I've been trying to alter mine
after decades of seeing only the negative in myself, in life, in the
world - pretty much since I was capable of conscious thought. An uphill
task if ever there was one.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (NWiLs)

---
Without the mindset, everything else is pointless.

Look at all the people who appear to have everything and are utterly miserable. Wealth, fame, beauty - and yet hoovering up cocaine to pass the time and deaden the pain.

I know somewhat of your situation, and the key is to flip the script. Take stock of what you have rather than focusing on things you lost.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:20 AM (cfSRQ)

286 283 With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.

My dad was sort of an amateur aeronautical engineer. I think it's what he would have been if not for that little dust-up in Korea interrupting his education. He used to say something like "you can fly a barn door if you can put a big enough prop on it."
Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at June 23, 2019 11:19 AM (qc+VF)

Heh. I heard something similar from a Navy pilot once: "You can fly your kitchen table with enough thrust."

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:20 AM (NWiLs)

287 I wore out a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10" tablet but it took me four years to do it.

Replaced it this year with a Motorola 10" tablet. It runs fine but is only good for about six hours on a charge.

Also have a Samsung SM-T217A...a 7" tablet that's handy for reading in bed. This one's good for eight hours on a charge. I've had excellent luck with all things Samsung.

Posted by: creeper at June 23, 2019 11:20 AM (v9wA5)

288 235 204 With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.
Posted by: Moron Engineer at June 23, 2019 10:48 AM (DMUuz)

E.g., F-4/F-110 family of fighters

Posted by: Her Grace, Honor, Duchess and Steadholder Harrington at June 23, 2019 11:00 AM (3XdyI)


(* ahem *)

Posted by: A-10 Warthog at June 23, 2019 11:21 AM (9ioAf)

289 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Table_of_Drops

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 23, 2019 11:21 AM (wYseH)

290 282 Damn, those newly discovered 9/11 pictures. Very sobering. Never forget.
Posted by: Jewells45 at June 23, 2019 11:19 AM (dUJdY)

And never forgive the goat-fuckers. Ever.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:21 AM (NWiLs)

291 Did a reread of the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn and moved on to the Mercedes Lackey Elemental Masters series.
Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 09:07 AM (mpXpK)

Wasn't there one where he assassinated a Soros-like character ?

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:21 AM (b084x)

292 And never forgive the goat-fuckers. Ever.
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:21 AM (NWiLs)


Amen.

Posted by: Jewells45 at June 23, 2019 11:22 AM (dUJdY)

293 With enough thrust, they even made the C-5 fly.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:22 AM (eS61a)

294 I'm very suspicious of historical determinism. Spengler or Toynbee's cycles, parallels between the current year and 1936 or 63 BC, or any appeals to inevitability all ignore the very real differences between times and places.

I'm particularly suspicious of the idea of "cultural decadence." Restoration England was famously libertine, yet they managed to pull off the Scientific Revolution, the birth of modern finance, and the start of the British colonial empire.

Similarly, Venice was notoriously decadent after about 1500 -- yet they managed to go toe-to-toe with the Turks for another two centuries, despite being a city-state in a world of empires.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (BpS6n)


What's interesting about this is how we can parallel this (see what I did there?) WITH the individual experience!

Take somebody who had a horrific experience, like a car accident. Now, every time they hear tires screech, they get startled and overreact to the "threat" which might not be a threat at all.

So yeah, 99% of the time, screeching tires don't mean imminent accident... but when they tires are screeching, and the breaks aren't working on a downhill incline on an icy road, while a drunk maniac is flying through the red light intersection at 90 miles an hour... you just might have a problem.

Because yeah, I'm not sure if in 1500 Venice they were celebrating murdering babies, and calling prepubescent boys girls and girls boys, and trying to normalize things like bestiality and pedophilia... but I don't know. Maybe they were.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:23 AM (cY3LT)

295 do we just notice Progressive propagandizing in fiction more easily, or do liberals actually do more of it when they write?

I think its a combo. We're sensitive to a certain viewpoint and lefties feel more preachy. Conservatives can be preachy, but that doesn't get published anywhere because the gatekeepers despise the viewpoint. Its out there in older books, though. The same way we find lefty woke sjw crap obnoxious and objectionable, leftie sjws long found Christian or conservative philosophy obnoxious and objectionable in books in the past.

We'll smile and shrug at something Heinlein says because generally we agree with what he says (like the classroom sections in Starship Troopers). We're fine with someone having basic Judeo-Christian values and promoting same in a Western. The leftist finds that toxic.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:23 AM (39g3+)

296 282: We should have obliterated the home of the perps, especially that black box thingy

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:24 AM (U7k5w)

297 Jordan61

As far as I'm concerned, you're free to wear or NOT wear whatever you choose.

(If you catch my drift).

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:24 AM (b084x)

298 Scrib.
Google docs.
There's like 50 free doc sites. Just make up a new account on any one of them and post it.
What's the difficult part?
Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:19 AM (DrqHq)


I originally thought of Google and there has been some pushback on using Google and I think Scribd is mostly behind a paywall now.

Dropbox is also a possibility.

Posted by: OregonMuse AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:24 AM (9ioAf)

299 What's the rope length for each ten pounds?
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (NWiLs)


I don't think it would be a linear relationship:

KE = 1/2mv²

and free-fall velocity is dependent on time

v = 1/2gt²

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (5Yee7)

300 Posted by: OregonMuse AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:24 AM (9ioAf)

Sneaky.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (t+qrx)

301 299 What's the rope length for each ten pounds?
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (NWiLs)

I don't think it would be a linear relationship:

KE = 1/2mv²

and free-fall velocity is dependent on time

v = 1/2gt²
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (5Yee7)

That's very engineery of you.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (NWiLs)

302 Children's books bleg -

Please include Doctor Deplorable's Political Characters A to Z, which is meant to be read aloud by parents to their children as a springboard to early political discussions. Get it at the website (www.doctordeplorable.com) and use the Coupon Code MIKE for $4.00 off the list price. No, better yet, use Coupon Code MORON and get $5.00 off the list price!

Posted by: Doctor Deplorable at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (YIsx4)

303 FTA: "When it first became obvious to me that the MSM was basically a cabal of lying rat bastard commies, Acosta was still in grade school."

Hell, I was still in grade school when it first became obvious to me that the MSM was basically a cabal of lying rat bastard commies! LIFE Magazine's hagiographic article about Teddy Kennedy after he killed Mary Jo Kopechne did it for me. I still remember the cover picture of him in a therapy pool wearing a neck brace. I wanted to break that fucker's neck right then, and my opinions on Democrats have only gone downhill since then!

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at June 23, 2019 11:27 AM (1wNUE)

304 Too much weight, though, and the guy's head will be torn clean off.

Loren D Estleman has written a couple of books about hangmen with enough detail and info that one almost wonders about his interest in the subject, until you get to the end and he shows how being a professional executioner ruins your soul. Where you tie the knot, how long the rope is, what kind of rope it is, etc all make a huge difference.

What I'm curious about is when they went from "dangle them until the choke to death horribly" to "drop them so their neck snaps and they die instant" because the former was the standard up until at least the 19th century.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:27 AM (39g3+)

305 LOL@ Bob Bilderberg

mr. creeper was a corporate pilot. He flew some fairly big jets. Early on I asked him if he could fly a 747. His reply: "You put enough power on it and I can fly the box it came in."

Posted by: creeper at June 23, 2019 11:27 AM (v9wA5)

306 We'll smile and shrug at something Heinlein says because generally we agree with what he says (like the classroom sections in Starship Troopers). We're fine with someone having basic Judeo-Christian values and promoting same in a Western. The leftist finds that toxic.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:23 AM (39g3+)


This is a good point, but there's a difference: When we encounter lefty preaching, we roll our eyes and look for something else to read. When the lefties encounter righty preaching, they shriek like vampires in a crucifix shop and demand that it to be wiped out so *no one* can read it.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:28 AM (9ioAf)

307 Is Vannevar Bush included in the book on inventing radar? Fascinating charachter

Posted by: Ignoramus at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (CIy8X)

308 That's very engineery of you.
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (NWiLs)


Heh...It's what I do in my new life. It's hard to believe, but it has been 11 years since I retired.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (5Yee7)

309 The "enough power and it will fly" thing is proven pretty regularly in model aircraft. They fly the strangest crap with virtually no lift capability whatsoever because you can put a gigantically powerful engine (relative to the size and weight) and just force it to move.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (39g3+)

310 BTW if all you want is to host a document for download, you can use stoatnet.org. I don't have a convenient click to upload thing, but I own the domain and have run the server since 2012, so it's not going anywhere and there are no ads or nothin'.

I can even spin up a named host like bookthread.stoatnet.org if you want it real fancy.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (t+qrx)

311 We should have obliterated the home of the perps, especially that black box thingy

Ever wonder what the response would have been if Trump had been in office instead of Dubya?

Posted by: Jewells45 at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (dUJdY)

312 What I'm curious about is when they went from "dangle them until the choke to death horribly" to "drop them so their neck snaps and they die instant" because the former was the standard up until at least the 19th century.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:27 AM (39g3+)


My guess? About the same time they invented the guillotine.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (9ioAf)

313 273
I'm very suspicious of historical determinism. Spengler or Toynbee's
cycles, parallels between the current year and 1936 or 63 BC, or any
appeals to inevitability all ignore the very real differences between
times and places.



Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (BpS6n)
---
There's also the problem of where cycles start and end. Was it the best of times, or the worst of times? Depends, right?

So on the one hand, you have trans-insanity, and abortion zealots wanting to kill all da babies, but at the same time you see right-to-life making the most concerted push in years.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (cfSRQ)

314 310 BTW if all you want is to host a document for download, you can use stoatnet.org. I don't have a convenient click to upload thing, but I own the domain and have run the server since 2012, so it's not going anywhere and there are no ads or nothin'.

I can even spin up a named host like bookthread.stoatnet.org if you want it real fancy.
Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (t+qrx)

Now now, don't go puttin' on airs.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (NWiLs)

315 Wow is it beautiful out.

Maybe I shouldn't say such things on the book thread.

Posted by: Pervitin! at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (kQs4Y)

316 315 Wow is it beautiful out.

Maybe I shouldn't say such things on the book thread.
Posted by: Pervitin! at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (kQs4Y)

One can always read outside.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:31 AM (NWiLs)

317 To anyone here from the emt thanks for your comments. To the one's that said he ate or drank something he shouldn't have pick up your prize at the front desk! Vet gave him antibiotics, doggie Imodium and sent him home with more meds. Figures he either ate a dead animal or drank bad water and got beaver fever.

Posted by: Canuckjack at June 23, 2019 11:31 AM (dWT4L)

318 310 BTW if all you want is to host a document for download, you can use stoatnet.org. I don't have a convenient click to upload thing, but I own the domain and have run the server since 2012, so it's not going anywhere and there are no ads or nothin'.

I can even spin up a named host like bookthread.stoatnet.org if you want it real fancy.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (t+qrx)


Thank you, this has possibilities. You may be hearing from me.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:31 AM (9ioAf)

319 KIDS BOOKS

These are mostly for little ones

Little Blue Truck
I Stink
Room on the Broom
Where's My Mummy (slightest bit spooky for Halloween)

You'll have to find them on ebay, but there is a series of really great pre-woke Sesame Street books called "On My Way with Sesame Street" that are full of short stories, crafts, recipes, etc.

$20 example: https://ebay.to/2KEUFy7

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:32 AM (SYNdr)

320 They fly the strangest crap with virtually no lift capability whatsoever because you can put a gigantically powerful engine (relative to the size and weight) and just force it to move.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (39g3+)


Like lawnmowers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNWfqVWC2KI

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:32 AM (t+qrx)

321 There's also the problem of where cycles start and end. Was it the best of times, or the worst of times? Depends, right?

So on the one hand, you have trans-insanity, and abortion zealots wanting to kill all da babies, but at the same time you see right-to-life making the most concerted push in years.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (cfSRQ)


I blame Trump.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:32 AM (9ioAf)

322 Figures he either ate a dead animal or drank bad water and got beaver fever.

Posted by: Canuckjack at June 23, 2019 11:31 AM (dWT4L)

--

I have bad news for you. If it's beaver fever, you never, ever get over it.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:33 AM (SYNdr)

323 299 What's the rope length for each ten pounds?
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (NWiLs)

I don't think it would be a linear relationship:

KE = 1/2mv²

and free-fall velocity is dependent on time

v = 1/2gt²
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (5Yee7)

What is it for helicopter tours?

Posted by: Pervitin! at June 23, 2019 11:33 AM (kQs4Y)

324 307 Is Vannevar Bush included in the book on inventing radar? Fascinating charachter
Posted by: Ignoramus at June 23, 2019 11:29 AM (CIy8X)


You mean the guy who invented hypertext? He invented radar, too?

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:34 AM (9ioAf)

325 Loren D Estleman has written a couple of books about
hangmen with enough detail and info that one almost wonders about his
interest in the subject, until you get to the end and he shows how being
a professional executioner ruins your soul. Where you tie the knot,
how long the rope is, what kind of rope it is, etc all make a huge
difference.


Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:27 AM (39g3+)

---
I have a theory that people disposed to be serial killers used to get jobs as executioners. Now that we don't carry out death sentences much, they kill as a hobby instead.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:34 AM (cfSRQ)

326 So, I am working on a new book, aimed at young readers. The working title is "From Crybaby to Capitalist" and it explores in humorous yet serious fashion how we all start as Crybabies and Consumers, make our way to Creators and then Competitors. The Sections on Companies (maybe) and Capitalists have not yet been drafted, and I am toying with a postscript of sorts that would discuss why some people support Socialism and why Capitalism is better.

I am going to "workshop" this draft and the next ones through the final version. If any of you morons with kids (or kid-like dispositions) would be willing to test a draft out and provide feedback, that would be terrific. Just reach out to me at mike@doctordeplorable.com and I will send you the current version.

Thanks all.

Posted by: Doctor Deplorable at June 23, 2019 11:35 AM (YIsx4)

327 I have bad news for you. If it's beaver fever, you never, ever get over it.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:33 AM (SYNdr)

---
Is that like cat scratch fever?

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:35 AM (cfSRQ)

328 " Posted by: John F. MacMichael "


Interesting tidbit, that.

I've known that Ray Bradbury and Russel Kirk corresponded, but wondered how that would have started. Here is a plausible reason.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they are gaslighting us 24/365 at June 23, 2019 11:36 AM (ITxGy)

329 280 That's right. I've seen the hangman's chart that gives the rope length per body weight in 10 lb. increments.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:15 AM (9ioAf)

What's the rope length for each ten pounds?
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (NWiLs)

Did they start at 10 pounds?

Were they hanging chihuahuas?

Not judging.

Posted by: Pervitin! at June 23, 2019 11:36 AM (kQs4Y)

330 Like lawnmowers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNWfqVWC2KI

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:32 AM (t+qrx)

At least it looks like a lawnmower.

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 11:37 AM (ykq7q)

331 317: Giardia, at least that's curable and it wasn't some awful poison

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:37 AM (U7k5w)

332 Loren D Estleman has written a couple of books about
hangmen with enough detail and info that one almost wonders about his
interest in the subject,

Maybe THAT'S where I read that stuff.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:37 AM (b084x)

333 I have a theory that people disposed to be serial killers used to get jobs as executioners.

There probably are times in the past when that definitely happened. It makes sense, if you're attracted to killing people and nobody else wants the job, it makes sense.

I don't think anyone normal would seek out such a job. Its one thing to support the idea of the death penalty, and another to be the one pulling the lever personally.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:38 AM (39g3+)

334
Ah, well...

Work, work, work.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 11:38 AM (r1/AF)

335 Big enough engine no matter the shape, anything can fly category

1. AV-8 Harrier
2. Yak-38 Forger
3. F-35B

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:38 AM (eS61a)

336 I use a Samsung tablet, not the Tab A, the other, more spendy one, I think it's the 7, cost about $200. I wanted more processing power than the Tab series, so I was willing to spend the extra buck.

I run the Kindle, Nook, and Google Play apps. Everything works great and not at all slow.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:39 AM (9ioAf)

337 Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (cfSRQ)

I blame Trump.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:32 AM (9ioAf)


Which in a funny way, this IS the twist that makes this time all the more... interesting.

I mean the collective insanity of the left, where pretty much everything they believe is based on emotions, and not fact. It's very dangerous living side by side with these people, because, as everyone says, you can't reason with them, you can't argue with them, you can't compromise with them.

We've essentially abandoned (at least half of us) what has made the "Age of Reason" the age of reason. I kinda sorta think that's why, when people think these are End Times, they might be on to something.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:39 AM (cY3LT)

338 >>I don't think anyone normal would seek out such a job. Its one thing to support the idea of the death penalty, and another to be the one pulling the lever personally.



I'd have no problem doing that job.

Posted by: garrett at June 23, 2019 11:39 AM (M1n0C)

339 159 IMO, the only way Germany could have "won" Sea Lion is if they could have drawn enough destroyers and other light craft into bomber range, and sunk enough to give the subs a heavy edge in the Atlantic.

The WWII effectiveness of horizontal bombing against maneuvering ships is basically zero. Dive bombers could work (Midway) but not only was the Stuka a sitting duck in a sky full of Spitfires and Hurricanes, but it had short legs and the Germans had no experience in hitting anything moving.

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at June 23, 2019 11:40 AM (1wNUE)

340 put anything on the roof of your car, and release it at 60 mph .. it will "fly". With a couple flaps and the right computer chip, it could be guided, I suppose.

Posted by: illiniwek at June 23, 2019 11:41 AM (Cus5s)

341 327 I have bad news for you. If it's beaver fever, you never, ever get over it.
Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:33 AM (SYNdr)
---
Is that like cat scratch fever?
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:35 AM (cfSRQ)


Beaver fever? Let me tell you about beaver fever...

Posted by: Bill Clinton at June 23, 2019 11:41 AM (9ioAf)

342 Is that like cat scratch fever?

--

I'm not sure about the genetic relationships between the two, but I think treatment is similar.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:41 AM (SYNdr)

343 Kid's books:

I remember reading a lot of Boxcar Children books--a family of sibling finding and solving some mysteries, ala Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.

I also read a lot of books by Jim Kjelgaard--books about dogs in the wilderness. Sort of like The Incredible Journey, but with more of a survivalist bent. These books made me feel I knew a lot about tracking and how to stay downwind of deer and wolves and such.

And of course, you can't go wrong with Redwall.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 23, 2019 11:43 AM (Lhaco)

344 Big enough engine no matter the shape, anything can fly category

1. AV-8 Harrier
2. Yak-38 Forger
3. F-35B


4. Jerrold Nadler

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 11:43 AM (oVJmc)

345 _123 My original spreadsheets were all from Office 2000. When I went to load my Office 2000 disk on my new computer it would not load because it was an "upgrade" for my old windows 97 program which I no longer had. That's when I down loaded open office and converted them. I don't remember how big the download is but the site says it uses 440MB of disk space.
Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 10:08 AM (mpXpK)_

Big fan of Open Office. Hell, I even donated.

Posted by: Halfwise at June 23, 2019 11:43 AM (kLxSO)

346 The torpedo was the favored weapon of the US Navy since it let water in as opposed to bombs letting air in.

Too bad they never spent the dollars to actually test the blasted thing with a live warhead before the shooting started.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:43 AM (eS61a)

347 4. Jerrold Nadler

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 11:43 AM (oVJmc)

Saturn V

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 11:44 AM (ykq7q)

348 We've essentially abandoned (at least half of us)
what has made the "Age of Reason" the age of reason. I kinda sorta
think that's why, when people think these are End Times, they might be
on to something.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:39 AM (cY3LT)

---
It's always the End Times of something.

The abortion zealotry makes sense, because it's very close to what happened over slavery.

For a long time, the South accepted slavery as a necessary evil (sort of like making abortion "safe, legal, and rare"), but around 1830 a new generation came in that argued it was a positive good. At that point, the South was not only going to defend it, but try to expand it wherever possible.

And so it is with abortion.

Same process is working with the gay and now trans movement. Having gained tolerance, it seems natural to go for total dominance.

It's the old "What isn't forbidden becomes mandatory" schtick.

Is any of this crazier than banning booze and giving women the vote?

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:44 AM (cfSRQ)

349 I have a theory that people disposed to be serial killers used to get jobs as executioners.
--------------------------------------------
There probably are times in the past when that definitely happened. It makes sense, if you're attracted to killing people and nobody else wants the job, it makes sense.

I don't think anyone normal would seek out such a job. Its one thing to support the idea of the death penalty, and another to be the one pulling the lever personally.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:38 AM (39g3+)


I just finished watching the documentary series "The Killing Season." The makers are a bit too weeny for my taste, a lot of "ooh, we're documentarians, look at us documentaring around all these scary spooky serial killer situations, but overall the story is worth a look.

One of the themes that emerges is the open question: Just how many serial killers are out there right now? How do they get away with it so easily?

There are answers to those questions, and the answers that emerge are very disturbing.

One word of caution, people: If you're going to be a prostitute, don't get in a truck with an over the road trucker.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:44 AM (cY3LT)

350 4. Jerrold Nadler


Gonna need a bigger catapult.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:45 AM (eS61a)

351 KIDS BOOKS

The Magic Treehouse series is pretty good, and a really great way to sneak in a lot of stuff about history that kids are otherwise pretty bored with.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:45 AM (SYNdr)

352 I re-read David Drake's Northworld: Vengeance, which is his second book based on the Norse sagas.

The Northworld series is built around several separate sagas that Drake weaves into one whole, sort of the way Pulp Fiction did. Drake is a fabulous technical writer and does pull all those separate threads into a single denoument.

It is built mostly around the Lay of Volund (Wayland), from his Valkyrie wife through his captivity and escape, but as with all the Northworld books, it is specifically about the main character Nils Hansen (sort of a personification of Thor but other Vanir and Vasir as well) fighting a campaign, as well as doing something on the side to make sure that the campaign succeeds.

It is pretty bloody, and in Drakes normal style, everyone winds up dead, lost or really unhappy in spite of victory.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (hSQmw)

353 Is any of this crazier than banning booze and giving women the vote?
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:44 AM (cfSRQ)

Yes.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (cY3LT)

354 338 >>I don't think anyone normal would seek out such a job. Its one thing to support the idea of the death penalty, and another to be the one pulling the lever personally.

I'd have no problem doing that job.
Posted by: garrett at June 23, 2019 11:39 AM (M1n0C)


I can imagine doing it once, if I absolutely had to.

After that, no. It would be like those Facebook content monitors who have to look at videos of puppies being killed with baseball bats and suchlike gruesomeness all day long. It would deaden your soul.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (9ioAf)

355 Hyper sock off!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 11:47 AM (kQs4Y)

356 I haven't discovered any "woke" stuff in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, either. No "Lamont has two dads" or rainbow flags that I've seen.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:47 AM (SYNdr)

357 From the commie meeting in Chicago on the sidebar story:

For example, Liz Rowley, who addressed the main body as the representative of the Canadian Communists, had the crowd loudly yelling its approval when she gave a shout-out to North Korea and hollered, "We say hands off Venezuela!"

"Long live Marxism-Leninism!" she cried at the end, as many attendees raised their fists. "Long live proletarian internationalism!"


She left out, Long live the mass murdering of tens of millions of people

Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 11:47 AM (JMJQ3)

358 312 What I'm curious about is when they went from "dangle them until the choke to death horribly" to "drop them so their neck snaps and they die instant" because the former was the standard up until at least the 19th century.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:27 AM (39g3+)

My guess? About the same time they invented the guillotine.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:30 AM (9ioAf)

This picture, a somewhat amusing but very dark sign on a modern day Brewery and Pub in York, England, is a good picture of the old practices:

https://tinyurl.com/y2nsgf9s

they pulled up the oxcart with the prisoner (or prisoners) in the back, tie them off, and drive the oxcart away while the crowd cheered. You can find 16th and 17th century woodcuts where'd do 7 or 8 at a time this way.

Posted by: tom servo at June 23, 2019 11:47 AM (V2Yro)

359 That's very engineery of you.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:26 AM (NWiLs)



Heh...It's what I do in my new life.

Jesus Christ. You hang people?
Seems like you could have just stayed with police work!

Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 11:47 AM (8ZmvG)

360 354: Lethal injection wouldn't be gruesome at all. In the case of murdering bastards, I can see volunteering.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:48 AM (U7k5w)

361 >> It would deaden your soul.


If it was Puppies, sure...but it's people.

I don't like people.

Posted by: garrett at June 23, 2019 11:48 AM (M1n0C)

362 4. Jerrold Nadler
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 11:43 AM (oVJmc)

--------

Da. We delivered lipidinous super-weapon of socialism to decadent West on glorious socialist N1 Launch System.

Posted by: The Soviets at June 23, 2019 11:49 AM (5aX2M)

363 Ah, well...



Work, work, work.





Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 11:38 AM (r1/AF)

Think of your secretary, Gov.

Posted by: Hedley Lamarr at June 23, 2019 11:49 AM (q1Pj5)

364 She left out, Long live the mass murdering of tens of millions of people



Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 11:47 AM (JMJQ3)

---
For her that's a feature, not a bug.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 11:49 AM (cfSRQ)

365 It would be like those Facebook content monitors who have to look at videos of puppies being killed with baseball bats and suchlike gruesomeness all day long.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (9ioAf)


!...!....dayum.

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 11:50 AM (ykq7q)

366 356: Speaking of rainbow flags, is Notsothoreau still about the place, or is she busy downloading before she's banned from Ravelry?

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:50 AM (U7k5w)

367 "Long live" and 'communism' don't really go together, do they?

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 11:51 AM (oVJmc)

368 I'm always amazed at prisoners getting to live out their life in peace with three hots and a cot, all the free TV and medical care they want, etc. because there's some shortage of a chemical or something is "cruel" and needs to go before the SCOTUS.

It's like the smart folks can't figure out how to hook up a garden hose to the exhaust pipe of any of the dozens of state vehicles parked outside. Yawn, sleepy, sleep, dead. WTF people? Why is this so hard?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:51 AM (SYNdr)

369 360 354: Lethal injection wouldn't be gruesome at all. In the case of murdering bastards, I can see volunteering.
Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:48 AM (U7k5w)


Not so sure about that, once you know how lethal injection "works."

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:51 AM (cY3LT)

370 On the topic of kids' books, our kids* loved the "Hank the Cow Dog" series. We read some and listened to some on audiobook during road trips.

* I admit it; that should be "and I."

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at June 23, 2019 11:51 AM (qc+VF)

371 I just finished watching the documentary series "The Killing Season." The makers are a bit too weeny for my taste, a lot of "ooh, we're documentarians, look at us documentaring around all these scary spooky serial killer situations, but overall the story is worth a look.

Posted by: BurtTC


Heh. They do insist upon themselves.

It really does seem like a serialized Blair Witch Project though. It just wanders all over and the 'motorcycle club' interview was just pathetic.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:51 AM (DrqHq)

372 368:I have no idea, or just shoot them up with a big dose of fentanyl.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:52 AM (U7k5w)

373 My dad worked at Wright-Patterson AFB during WWII. He and his peeps worked on radar development and enhancements, although he never was able to talk about classified info. In 1943, he was sent to Alaska to test radar in harsh conditions near the North Pole. They lived in quonset huts and put a 6-pack of Cokes on the window sill to chill one night. While they were asleep, one burst. They all covered their heads with blankets and waited until the other 5 did the same. We have photos of him in full Eskimo regalia, beard and fur parka. He loved his time in the cold, snowy area.

Posted by: Susanamantha at June 23, 2019 11:53 AM (aeqTc)

374 369: Thiopental isn't ideal but nothing is.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (U7k5w)

375 We've essentially abandoned (at least half of us) what has made the "Age of Reason" the age of reason.

You keep using this word.You do know that the entire French Revolution occurred in this Age of Reason?

Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (8ZmvG)

376 That would be weird and probably gruesome alternate history - what if serial killers were caught early enough and used as state executioners.

Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Darhmer, John Wayne Gacy...

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (eS61a)

377 For example, Liz Rowley, who addressed the main body as the representative of the Canadian Communists, had the crowd loudly yelling its approval when she gave a shout-out to North Korea and hollered, "We say hands off Venezuela!"
Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 11:47 AM (JMJQ3)


The Marxist-Leninist Socialist Worker's Paradise is so inexorable and inevitable that like the coming of the dawn, nothing can prevent or delay the overwhelming victory of the proletariat.

Also, it's the rarest and most delicate of hothouse flowers made from ethereal strands of spun gossamer and the slightest bit of opposition - or even a hint of anything but full-throated frothing support - is enough for it to collapse into a cannibalistic apocalyptic wasteland. Because of saboteurs and wreckers.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:55 AM (t+qrx)

378 I just finished watching the documentary series "The Killing Season." The makers are a bit too weeny for my taste, a lot of "ooh, we're documentarians, look at us documentaring around all these scary spooky serial killer situations, but overall the story is worth a look.

Posted by: BurtTC

Heh. They do insist upon themselves.

It really does seem like a serialized Blair Witch Project though. It just wanders all over and the 'motorcycle club' interview was just pathetic.
Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 11:51 AM (DrqHq)


Yeah, it's about 90 minutes of good content, surrounded by... what, about 450 minutes of concerned looks exchanged between them?

I think they didn't really tell that story well, about the motorcycle club. They had the answer, regarding those three murders in particular, and they were too busy showing us footage of them showing up at night, while fellas lurked in shadows, or filmed them from a car! Oh heavens! He was filming USSSSSSSS!!!

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:55 AM (cY3LT)

379 Funny that the Left simultaneously advocates 'death with dignity' and euthanasia, but decries the Death Penalty as cruel and inhuman.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 11:55 AM (oVJmc)

380 Speaking of rainbow flags, is Notsothoreau still about the place, or is she busy downloading before she's banned from Ravelry?

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:50 AM (U7k5w)



When he's reelected next year I want all of those twats to go full Jonestown

Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 11:56 AM (RjvyS)

381 "163 So . . . do we just notice Progressive propagandizing in fiction more easily, or do liberals actually do more of it when they write?

. . . Or do out-and-proud conservatives just get rejected by publishers?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 23, 2019 10:29 AM (BpS6n) "



Yes, definitely.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they are gaslighting us 24/365 at June 23, 2019 11:56 AM (ITxGy)

382 It is built mostly around the Lay of Volund (Wayland), from his Valkyrie wife through his captivity and escape, but as with all the Northworld books, it is specifically about the main character Nils Hansen (sort of a personification of Thor but other Vanir and Vasir as well) fighting a campaign, as well as doing something on the side to make sure that the campaign succeeds.

It is pretty bloody, and in Drakes normal style, everyone winds up dead, lost or really unhappy in spite of victory.
Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (hSQmw)

Give it a country music theme and make it the Lay of Wayland Jennings. And his Valkyrie wife could be a stripper who did MMA on the side.

Posted by: tom servo at June 23, 2019 11:57 AM (V2Yro)

383 We've essentially abandoned (at least half of us) what has made the "Age of Reason" the age of reason.
-------------------
You keep using this word.You do know that the entire French Revolution occurred in this Age of Reason?
Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (8ZmvG)


Yes, I know. What's your point?

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:57 AM (cY3LT)

384 They lived in quonset huts and put a 6-pack of Cokes on the window sill to chill one night. While they were asleep, one burst. They all covered their heads with blankets and waited until the other 5 did the same.


Really?

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 11:57 AM (ykq7q)

385 A NASA press conference is starting. It's about some of the experimental payloads on tomorrow night's Space Test Program-2 flight.

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

Posted by: rickl at June 23, 2019 11:58 AM (sdi6R)

386 speaking of not being able to separate fact and fiction, there's a popular memoir out called Educated by Tara Westover - I haven't read it but from reviews sounds like it could be another faumemoir

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 11:59 AM (dm05u)

387 Look, it's not a job I'd want to do. But if the money's right then hell yeah, I'd throw the switch. Somebody's gotta do it, and I can always contemplate the questions of life, death and my role in it on my new boat.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at June 23, 2019 11:59 AM (5aX2M)

388 376 That would be weird and probably gruesome alternate history - what if serial killers were caught early enough and used as state executioners.

Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Darhmer, John Wayne Gacy...
Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (eS61a)

Beria - oh wait that really happened.

Posted by: tom servo at June 23, 2019 11:59 AM (V2Yro)

389 380: Me too, but they'll bitch on. For my money, and they didn't get any, Ravelry was a nice way to see color combinations and the use of different yarns in the same pattern. I never paid for any of their "designers" work, as I though it was all pretty derivative.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:59 AM (U7k5w)

390 It's like the smart folks can't figure out how to hook up a garden hose to the exhaust pipe of any of the dozens of state vehicles parked outside. Yawn, sleepy, sleep, dead. WTF people? Why is this so hard?
Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 11:51 AM (SYNdr)

===

Sympathy for the Devil plays a role.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 23, 2019 12:00 PM (EZebt)

391 Kids Books:
Aesop's Fables- early elementary? Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys.

Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 12:00 PM (DB16e)

392 That would be weird and probably gruesome alternate history - what if serial killers were caught early enough and used as state executioners.

Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Darhmer, John Wayne Gacy...
Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (eS61a)


Right. Jeff Dahmer, executioner... and prison mess hall cook!

Gacy would have the sewers all clogged up, and Bundy wouldn't be very efficient, only executing the female prisoners, while the backlog of male prisoners waited in their cells... as they do today.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 12:01 PM (cY3LT)

393 335 Big enough engine no matter the shape, anything can fly category

1. AV-8 Harrier
2. Yak-38 Forger
3. F-35B
Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:38 AM (eS61a)


F-117

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at June 23, 2019 12:02 PM (di1hb)

394 291 Wasn't there one where he assassinated a Soros-like character ?

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 11:21 AM (b084x)


Yes, I believe that one was called "The Third Option".

Posted by: Vic at June 23, 2019 12:02 PM (mpXpK)

395 379 Funny that the Left simultaneously advocates 'death with dignity' and euthanasia, but decries the Death Penalty as cruel and inhuman.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 11:55 AM (oVJmc)

===

And let's not forget the Baby-Killing too.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 23, 2019 12:02 PM (EZebt)

396 387: Yes, and I don't have any issue with it being uncomfortable. Their victims suffered more. As for injections, if you make sure the line is good, there is no reason it should be botched.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:02 PM (U7k5w)

397 kids books - the Edward Eager books are a wonderful "kids time travel" series
not sure if they are still in print

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 12:02 PM (dm05u)

398
Same process is working with the gay and now trans movement. Having gained tolerance, it seems natural to go for total dominance.

Rural Americans are changing their views on LGBTQ rights. Just look at this Kentucky town

https://outline.com/THYWEc

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at June 23, 2019 12:02 PM (aKsyK)

399 Yes.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (cY3LT)

---
That's where you're wrong.

Eunuchs and infanticide are pretty common throughout history.

Everything old is new again.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 12:03 PM (cfSRQ)

400 Series stumbled across on Pluto TV called Space Mistakes, it seems after the Columbia stand down they found a defect in Atlantis split rudder speed break. The upper most of the four motors had had its two sets of planetary gears installed backwards. If there had been more stress on this motor, the whole speed brake could have failed during landing. The most disturbing thing was the motor had been assembled incorrectly when the shuttle was originally built and the error had never been caught for 20 years.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 12:03 PM (eS61a)

401 I don't think anyone normal would seek out such a job. Its one thing to support the idea of the death penalty, and another to be the one pulling the lever personally.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:38 AM (39g3+)

On the other hand, don't underestimate the number of Baldric's in any society. People who would do anything for a dollar and really just don't give a shit - they'll sell you an orange, wipe your bum, or hang you as long as they're paid, and they really don't care which one.

Posted by: tom servo at June 23, 2019 12:03 PM (V2Yro)

402 329 280 That's right. I've seen the hangman's chart that gives the rope length per body weight in 10 lb. increments.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:15 AM (9ioAf)

What's the rope length for each ten pounds?
Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 11:18 AM (NWiLs)

Did they start at 10 pounds?

Were they hanging chihuahuas?

Not judging.
Posted by: Pervitin! at June 23, 2019 11:36 AM (kQs4Y)

If not, they should've been.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 12:03 PM (NWiLs)

403 Here's a history of Wright-Patterson AFB:

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/Portals/60/ documents/Index/History-of-WPAFB.pdf

(remove space)

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 12:03 PM (kQs4Y)

404 Kids Books:

Aesop's Fables- early elementary? Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys.



Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 12:00 PM (DB16e)


When I were a lad, it was the Hardy Boys and the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators books.

Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 12:04 PM (RjvyS)

405 Yes.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (cY3LT)

---
That's where you're wrong.

Eunuchs and infanticide are pretty common throughout history.

Everything old is new again.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 12:03 PM (cfSRQ)


Ok, you're right.

Everything's fine. All is well.

Let's go back to sleep.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 12:05 PM (cY3LT)

406 The WWII effectiveness of horizontal bombing against maneuvering ships is basically zero.

-
We had some success with skip bombing into the hulls of Japanese transports.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 12:05 PM (+y/Ru)

407 re: German invasion of Great Britain in 1940 --

A key thing to remember is that when the Western Campaign opened on May 10, the Germans had no serious, detailed plans ready for invading and conquering England. The rapid Fall of France was as surprising to most high-ranking German officers (of all three services) as it was to the militaries and politicians of France, UK, Italy, and the USSR. Plans had to be cobbled together, based on the the army, air force, and navy they had, not what they believed they needed.

Perhaps the best odds for the Germans would have been invading in mid-July, when the UK was still reeling and not fully organized for invasion defense. Still not good odds of succeeding, though.

Posted by: Gref at June 23, 2019 12:06 PM (AMIL/)

408 Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Darhmer, John Wayne Gacy...
Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (eS61a)

Beria - oh wait that really happened.
Posted by: tom servo at June 23, 2019 11:59 AM (V2Yro)


Vasily Blokhin.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 12:06 PM (t+qrx)

409 Imma go read. Be well my pretty Hordelings.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 12:06 PM (kQs4Y)

410 the children's book question reminds me that I have to print out and bind the comic book version of Hayek's Road to Serfdom and salt them into all the "little free libraries" in town.


Everyone needs a hobby.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 12:06 PM (hSQmw)

411 It would be like those Facebook content monitors who have to look at videos of puppies being killed with baseball bats and suchlike gruesomeness all day long.

There was a sub genre of evil videos coming out of Japan for a while (maybe still is). Pretty Japanese women in lingerie who cuddle and kiss bunnies and such, then put them under their foot and crush them to death. I think Ace actually wrote about it years ago. What possible sort of person likes to see that I can't even imagine.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 12:06 PM (39g3+)

412 Rural Americans are changing their views on LGBTQ rights. Just look at this Kentucky town

https://outline.com/THYWEc

---

Gosh, look at all those women voters making everything better.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:06 PM (SYNdr)

413 On the other hand, don't underestimate the number of Baldric's in any society.

==

historically, one only cared about one' s kin
you are kind to your kindred
that's why when you'd meet a stranger in ye olde dayes you'd both go over your lineage trying to figure out if you are 7th cousins or something

Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas at June 23, 2019 12:06 PM (dm05u)

414 365 It would be like those Facebook content monitors who have to look at videos of puppies being killed with baseball bats and suchlike gruesomeness all day long.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (9ioAf)

!...!....dayum.

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 11:50 AM (ykq7q)


https://bit.ly/2XWJBPC

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 12:07 PM (mFLqT)

415 Yes, I know. What's your point?

No point at all. You're just wrong, is all. And you will be, all day long.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 12:07 PM (8ZmvG)

416 296 282: We should have obliterated the home of the perps, especially that black box thingy
Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 11:24 AM (U7k5w)


Gotta figure Israel has their last two nukes hard coded to hit that.

Posted by: Halfwise at June 23, 2019 12:07 PM (kLxSO)

417 We had some success with skip bombing into the hulls of Japanese transports.

Except if you got the altitude, speed, or release point wrong - then the bombs would shatter impacting the water or worse bounce OVER the target ship. Thank goodness they installed extra machines guns in the B-25s.

Battle of the Bismarck Sea.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 12:07 PM (eS61a)

418 Good morning.
I'm a third of the way through a John LeCarre trilogy focused on George Smiley.
Sometimes the classics are the best.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 23, 2019 12:08 PM (axyOa)

419 412: As a woman, I agree.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:08 PM (U7k5w)

420 Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Darhmer, John Wayne Gacy...

Flipping thru HBO last night I came across a movie called My Friend Dahmer. It was about his high school years. How he was treated by friends and classmates. it definitely tried to cast him in a sympathetic light. Touched briefly on him killing animals though it never actually showed it. Ended with him picking up his first victim.

Posted by: Jewells45 at June 23, 2019 12:08 PM (dUJdY)

421 I strongly recommend checking out your local library, especially for SF and other older books that are out of print. My county library has access to Link+, which provides access to books (dead tree and electronic, depending on the particular book) from libraries across the state.

Posted by: March Hare at June 23, 2019 12:09 PM (81x1b)

422 Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys.
Posted by: Horus Hearsay


HAH! Half of my Scholastic money went to Encylopedia Brown books. The other half went to Choose Your Own Adventure.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 23, 2019 12:09 PM (DrqHq)

423 Same process is working with the gay and now
trans movement. Having gained tolerance, it seems natural to go for
total dominance.



Rural Americans are changing their views on LGBTQ rights. Just look at this Kentucky town



https://outline.com/THYWEc

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at June 23, 2019 12:02 PM (aKsyK)


So nice of them to paint the church doors all rainbow because let's pervert the church to fit their political agenda.

Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 12:09 PM (RjvyS)

424 I did the same thing with Nabokov during my college years.

I loved most of his books. Big influence on my writing in that I learned that it's okay to play games with the reader. It make-a da reading-a fun.

Probably, should re-read his oeuvre again to see if I get something different from him than young naturalfake did.
Posted by: naturalfake at June 23, 2019 10:22 AM (PhPlm)


One of my earliest exposures to Nabokov was his Lectures in Literature cribbed from his Cornell teaching days. Early on he admonished the class that you don't really read a book until you reread it. Being immature I thought that was really fucking stupid and but it stuck with me and through time and experience have come to realize the wisdom of the statement.

I can already tell that rereading The Defense will reveal some things i was previously oblivious to, over and beyond when something happened in the book i was vaguely aware of something happening previously that paralleled it in an unexpected way.

Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 12:09 PM (y7DUB)

425 Choose your own adventure books were a lot of fun. I'd forgotten about those.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:10 PM (SYNdr)

426 416: Bush should have manned up and did it, just as neither Carter nor Reagan smashed the shit out of Tehran. Had Tehran been dealt with when they pulled that hostage shit, we wouldn't see islamofascism flowering.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (U7k5w)

427 379 Funny that the Left simultaneously advocates 'death with dignity'
and euthanasia, but decries the Death Penalty as cruel and inhuman.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at June 23, 2019 11:55 AM (oVJmc)


When a person is in or about to go into a hospice, they've used-up any possible usefulness to the Left. Most people on Death Row would vote Democratic if they could. Not many votes to be had, but better than none!

Posted by: Gref at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (AMIL/)

428
Nobody has mentioned Captain Underpants yet?

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (MIKMs)

429 Yes, I know. What's your point?
---------------------
No point at all. You're just wrong, is all. And you will be, all day long.
Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 12:07 PM (8ZmvG)


I don't know what you're talking about, because you're not saying anything.

I would guess you got a stick up your ass about something, but you know what? I don't really care.

Bye.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (cY3LT)

430 that american chopper shtick never gets old.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (KP5rU)

431 Except if you got the altitude, speed, or release point wrong - then the bombs would shatter impacting the water or worse bounce OVER the target ship.

Or you hit a rogue wave, or the ship goes into a trough, there's a lot that can go wrong. Its why the old sailing ships used to fire a broadside rather than a few cannons carefully aimed (except during a chase). The inaccuracy of dumb weapons is okay if you have a lot of them but a bomber only has a limited capacity.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (39g3+)

432 Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 12:07 PM (mFLqT)

I've saved that.....I read about the Coast Guard guy the other day, but didn't pursue the rest of the story....I figured "facebook....meh, doesn't concern me."

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 12:12 PM (ykq7q)

433 Nobody has mentioned Captain Underpants yet?
Posted by: mustbequantum at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (MIKMs)


AlaBAMA?

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 12:13 PM (t+qrx)

434 The one thing Judeo-Christian Western values bought new to the world or rather eliminated from most of the world , is Might makes Right. That's something that hasn't been repeated just yet.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at June 23, 2019 12:13 PM (2DOZq)

435 Slate busts the lid off the patriarchy!

Slate
@Slate
Deodorants were created to solve a fake problem and thrived thanks to the patriarchy.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 12:13 PM (+y/Ru)

436 Jewells45 #282:
Damn, those newly discovered 9/11 pictures. Very sobering. Never forget.

What? where? Was something in content or comments I missed?

Posted by: mindful webworker - click for Invulnerable story at June 23, 2019 12:13 PM (/IMJl)

437 The "end times" of commie control have been progressing for 50 to 100 years (or go back further if one wishes). The sixties were a major advance as they took much of culture. Then in the 80's the globalists (are they just the CIA division/faction of the commies?) took our monetary system with deficit spending, and by late 90s Wall Street had control ... massive bailouts for billionaires, and our country's policies became servant to keeping the rich richer than ever.


TARP propelled that to unimaginable levels, as even very smart people thought the shadow men could not maintain such incredible leverage ... but all the countries went fiat with currency ... and it floats ever higher. A rising tide lifts all billionaires ... they can run a coup and still be untouchable.


The end times are here ... Google/FB/Chase are examining our social credit scores ... punishing the non-PC. The Fed Reserve isn't audited ... the six trillion missing in defense became 20+trillion missing in other places. Almost certainly the fed reserve has propped up markets with funny money, and everyone has their future tied to stocks/bonds ... all just paper and inflated assets.


End Times COULD appear with grid collapse, or market collapse, or USD collapse ... and it could be what preppers expect. But the techno control is here now ... as we see with the Orwellian media, and big book deals for participants in the Coup. The loss of sovereignty/liberty IS the end times ... whether or not they feed us our ration of gruel and high speed censored internet is largely irrelevant. imo

Posted by: illiniwek at June 23, 2019 12:14 PM (Cus5s)

438 Slate busts the lid off the patriarchy!



Slate

@Slate

Deodorants were created to solve a fake problem and thrived thanks to the patriarchy.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at June 23, 2019 12:13 PM (+y/Ru)


I just bought deodorant today. LONG LIVE THE PATRIARCHY and non stinky arm pits.

Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 12:14 PM (RjvyS)

439 What is it for helicopter tours?

Depends on whether you want death to occur from the impact, drowning or Great White.

Posted by: Her Grace, Honor, Duchess and Steadholder Harrington at June 23, 2019 12:14 PM (3XdyI)

440 @Slate
Deodorants were created to solve a fake problem and thrived thanks to the patriarchy.

--

This has got to be a late April fools joke.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:15 PM (SYNdr)

441 What? where? Was something in content or comments I missed?

Posted by: mindful webworker - click for Invulnerable story at June 23, 2019 12:13 PM (/IMJl)

see sidebar

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 12:15 PM (ykq7q)

442 >>@Slate

Deodorants were created to solve a fake problem and thrived thanks to the patriarchy.


What a bunch of douches.

Posted by: garrett at June 23, 2019 12:16 PM (M1n0C)

443 What? where? Was something in content or comments I missed?

Sidebar.

Posted by: Jewells45 at June 23, 2019 12:16 PM (dUJdY)

444 What a bunch of douches.
Posted by: garrett at June 23, 2019 12:16 PM (M1n0C)

ISWYDT

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at June 23, 2019 12:17 PM (2DOZq)

445 There's a report that claims boomers and gen y use less deodorant than previous generations. I don't know how accurate that is (I'm skeptical) but that's the origin of the Slate thing.

I will say this: some people need deodorant a lot more than others. Some folks can do fine without it most of the time, so insisting everyone should always wear it is misguided.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 12:17 PM (39g3+)

446 CHILDRENS BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

Chronicles of Pyridian. Most people have heard of Disney's awful Black Cauldron. A terrible adaptation of the source material. But the series comprises four excellent volumes. The chief moral lessons seem to be humility and prudence. There are some genuinely creepy elements (undead warriors). A strange but delightful combination of silly and serious characters and genuine growth of the characters across all for volumes. A coming off age story for children 9 to 14 years in age (I'm guessing). Notable mention: probably hard to find these days but "Alan Mendelssohn, the Boy From Mars" by Daniel Pinkwater was one of my favorite books growing up. It's a silly story about a boy moving to a new neighborhood where he doesn't fit in. All kinds of absurd adventures follow. Also 9 to 14.

Posted by: Max Power at June 23, 2019 12:17 PM (QCc6B)

447 Think of that feeling when you're at an amusement park or even just a grocery store and one (1) anti-deodorant person is somewhere nearby.

If rejecting even those single instances is a symbol of an oppressive patriarchy, I might support Lamont having two daddies.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:17 PM (SYNdr)

448 Slate writers wear tree shaped car air fresheners I guess along with their rainbow pins.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 12:17 PM (eS61a)

449 Deodorants were created to solve a fake problem and thrived thanks to the patriarchy.

Eye watering BO is NOT a fake problem.

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 12:18 PM (b084x)

450 With all this hangman love, I am hereby announcing a reunion concert tour!

Posted by: Mason Profitt at June 23, 2019 12:18 PM (p6Q7Q)

451 People who never go outside and who pay someone else to do any and all physical labor have suddenly determined that deodorant is an oppressive tool of the patriarchy to solve a problem that didn't exist.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:18 PM (SYNdr)

452 Books: Last week I read a bio of an artist that I always disliked, Alice Neel, and I dislike her all the more now, she was a true POS
I also reread a couple Euripides plays: Bacchae and Medea (makes bunny boilers look ok)

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:19 PM (U7k5w)

453 Biggest untapped market for deodorant?

India.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at June 23, 2019 12:19 PM (2DOZq)

454 Nobody has mentioned Captain Underpants yet?
Posted by: mustbequantum at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (MIKMs)


I've read that book to my grandson. It's an ok kids book, I guess.

Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 12:19 PM (y7DUB)

455 People who never go outside and who pay someone else to do any and all physical labor have suddenly determined that deodorant is an oppressive tool of the patriarchy to solve a problem that didn't exist.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:18 PM (SYNdr)

They could move to ....France.

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 12:20 PM (ykq7q)

456 I don't know what you're talking about, because you're not saying anything.



I would guess you got a stick up your ass about something, but you know what? I don't really care.



Bye.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 12:11 PM (cY3LT)

---
I think the point is that reason without morality is just as destructive as emotion unbound by reason.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 12:20 PM (cfSRQ)

457 Tell you what. To support your cause, I will no longer buy any soaps or deodorants made by Proctor and Gamble. Deal?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:21 PM (SYNdr)

458 Posted by: Max Power at June 23, 2019 12:17 PM (QCc6B)

I have a very beat-up set of Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain (took years of searching to find even a worn out set). I read them several times as a kid. At the time I found them a little easier to digest than Lord of the Rings. Plenty of action and as you said, a lot of character growth.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at June 23, 2019 12:22 PM (VAJVe)

459 Oh FYI, a good CD to read by is "Cries and Fancies" by Orlando Gibbons (Fretwork).


Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 12:22 PM (kQs4Y)

460 So nice of them to paint the church doors all rainbow because let's pervert the church to fit their political agenda.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 12:09 PM (RjvyS)

infiltrators. rotting from the head.

Posted by: Gay Vatican at June 23, 2019 12:23 PM (p6Q7Q)

461 Two big thumbs up for The Chronicles of Prydain!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 12:23 PM (kQs4Y)

462 So nice of them to paint the church doors all rainbow because let's pervert the church to fit their political agenda.

--

They won't mind me bringing my flask in and looking at porn during the sermon, right?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:24 PM (SYNdr)

463 They still might object if it is furry pr0n.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 12:24 PM (eS61a)

464 infiltrators. rotting from the head.

Posted by: Gay Vatican at June 23, 2019 12:23 PM (p6Q7Q)

---
It's interesting how now that the truth about the 'gay mafia' in the Church has been proven, a lot of the "gay ally" clergy and leadership are getting much closer scrutiny.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 12:25 PM (cfSRQ)

465 460: The rainbow girls probably think God is fine with abortion too. It's amazing how people grant their wants, no matter how bad, sacramental status.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:25 PM (U7k5w)

466 They still might object if it is furry pr0n.

--

Pretty sure any sin is covered since we were all born that way.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:25 PM (SYNdr)

467 "A Pennant for the Kremlin,"* which I saw recommended on the Book Thread not long ago, arrived at the library, so "Flashman" remains a captive in Afghanistan until I get through the newcomer. I'm so glad the library system isn't strict with fines; I'd be broke otherwise.

I could probably read more books if I skipped AoS threads.

Nah, that's crazy talk.

*Plot: USSR inadvertently inherits Chicago White Sox from angry tycoon. Complications ensue.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 23, 2019 12:25 PM (l3rAw)

468 Ha. Watch gay porn during the sermon and listen to them explain why it's a problem.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:26 PM (SYNdr)

469 462: Only if it's gay porn, then it's godly

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:26 PM (U7k5w)

470 414 365 It would be like those Facebook content monitors who have to look at videos of puppies being killed with baseball bats and suchlike gruesomeness all day long.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:46 AM (9ioAf)

!...!....dayum.

Posted by: BignJames at June 23, 2019 11:50 AM (ykq7q)

https://bit.ly/2XWJBPC
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 12:07 PM (mFLqT)

That's really, really fucking horrible. All of it.

Posted by: Insomniac at June 23, 2019 12:26 PM (NWiLs)

471 Posted by: TheQuietMan at June 23, 2019 12:04 PM (RjvyS)
__________________

Most of my Hardy Boys were hand-me-downs from 2 brothers that had graduated h.s. before I started kindergarten. I also had a Little Black Sambo. Which is probably not allowed to be read these days.

Posted by: Horus Hearsay at June 23, 2019 12:26 PM (DB16e)

472 They won't mind me bringing my flask in and looking at porn during the sermon, right?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:24 PM (SYNdr)

---
Near me there are two Protestant churches that are next door to each other, each trying to out-rainbow their neighbor.

Strangely, the Islamic Center just down the road lacks those decorations.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 12:27 PM (cfSRQ)

473 So nice of them to paint the church doors all rainbow because let's pervert the church to fit their political agenda.
--
They won't mind me bringing my flask in and looking at porn during the sermon, right?
Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:24 PM (SYNdr)

Ummmmmmm.......No.

Sodomy is the "new" family value.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 23, 2019 12:27 PM (Z+IKu)

474 We've essentially abandoned (at least half of us) what has made the "Age of Reason" the age of reason.
-------------------
You keep using this word.You do know that the entire French Revolution occurred in this Age of Reason?
Posted by: Stringer Davis at June 23, 2019 11:54 AM (8ZmvG)


Yes, I know. What's your point?
Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 11:57 AM (cY3LT)


The problem with the French Revolution was that it was based on believing that society could be made perfect even if run by imperfect beings. The commies made the same mistake.

Posted by: Captain Hate at June 23, 2019 12:27 PM (y7DUB)

475 Well, with Kowal the character's race is the first thing you have to know about that person.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 09:15 AM (kQs4Y)

Sounds like a book to be strenuously avoided.

I was in Value Village a few days ago, and somebody had organized their book section, so that you could actually find things. I bought "In High Places" by Harry Turtledove, and also "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 12:29 PM (WG6O9)

476 I haven't read all the comments, but this is a list we used pretty extensively when we were homeschooling back in the day. Divided up into grade levels for reading. I used it for read-alouds as well, choosing books from a higher level than my son's then current reading level. Classical Christian in orientation, for what it's worth.

The idea was that before a kid/young adult could effectively read "the Great Books" he must first do a lot of preliminary reading. A group of classical homeschoolers began submitting suggestions and the "1000 Good Books" list was born.

http://classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html

Whether on there or not, I would heartily endorse the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. My son was addicted to them. We also enjoyed the Tarzan series (much different from the cheesy movies), the Wizard of Oz series (I hadn't even known there was more than one!), Harry Potter (no, the use of "magic" never bothered me), and Jules Verne. And he, of course, burned through the Goosebumps series - which I didn't much care for. Shrug. We never restricted his reading. And on the graphic novel side of things, try the Tintin series. We read every single on our library had.

Posted by: SummaMamaT at June 23, 2019 12:30 PM (84ClH)

477 I haven't read all the comments, but this is a list we used pretty extensively when we were homeschooling back in the day...

Posted by: SummaMamaT at June 23, 2019 12:30 PM (84ClH)

-

Thanks. That's worth looking through.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:32 PM (SYNdr)

478 I loved the Chronicles of Prydain, and often got
Author A.H.Lloyd confused with Lloyd Alexander.

Llonio, Son of Llonwen.
I try to model my outlook on his.

Is the Newbery Medal still indicative of a great children's book, or has it gone SJW like the rest of the publishing award racket?

Posted by: Downcast at June 23, 2019 12:32 PM (p6Q7Q)

479 471: Sambo is still available.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:32 PM (U7k5w)

480 The rainbow girls probably think God is fine with abortion too

"churches" like this are more afraid of being strange to their culture and losing numbers from their midst than they are God and His word.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 12:33 PM (39g3+)

481 BignJames: see sidebar

Ah. Thanks.
___

Kid Lit:

When my now-grown-up kids were young readers, we all enjoyed the Animorphs series. Milady and I read them, because we had to check out what the kids were reading, but we actually enjoyed them.

Until the last book. We pondered whether the author had got tired of the series, or was ordered to finish it up and did it vengefully, or something. It was awful.

Daughter doing some cleaning up this week ran across the whole Animorphs collection. Contemplated keeping them all. Except the last one.

We decided, a la game of thrones fans, we should write our own alternative ending to the series.

And by "we" I mean someone not me.
___

Say, what is that linked in my nic, anyway?

Posted by: mindful webworker - click for Invulnerable story at June 23, 2019 12:34 PM (/IMJl)

482 Check out Walter Buehr for your kids books!

Beautifully illustrated and well written history books.

Many of them quite cheap on ABE books as libraries remove them not PC.

Posted by: Tail at June 23, 2019 12:34 PM (ADkUh)

483 Definitely sounds like sound advice to avoid Kuwol's books. Not looked, which came first, Kuwol's book or Deep Impact?

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 23, 2019 12:36 PM (eS61a)

484 480: And I think the presence of many female clergy have hurried this along. The female ministers "blessing " an abortion clinic made me ill. Eve bites the fuck out of the apple yet again.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:38 PM (U7k5w)

485 Suggestions for childresn' books:
1) earliest Dr. Seuss:
And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry StreetOn Beyond ZebraMcElligot's PoolIf I Ran the CircusThe King's StiltsThe 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
2) older readers:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare (colonial America)
The Sherwood Ring (American revolutionary ghosts turn up in present to tell their stories) - Pope

The Reb and the Redcoats (British children meet an American POW during the Revolution) - Savery

The Bronze Bow (Jewish children in Israel during Roman occupation) -Speare

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (19th Century England in alternative history - Glorious Revolution never happened; 1st of a series) - Aiken

The "All of Kind Family" series (Jewish family in early 20th Century in Lower East Side New York) - Taylor

Betsy-Tacy series - growing up in Mankato, MN in early 20th Century) -Lovelace
Strawberry Girl (and other regional novels) - Lenski
Indian Captive: the [true] story of Mary Jemison - Lenski
Miracle on Maple Hill (family moves to farm after WWII; father has what we now call PTSD) - Sorensen

Snow Treasure ( loosely based on fact - children help resistance smuggle Norwegian gold reserves out after Nazi invasion ) - McSwigan
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (based on fact; boy math prodigy too poor to go to Harvard becomes apprenticed to marine cooper; while serving on ship, he discovers new way of calculating navigation) - Latham




Posted by: Wethal at June 23, 2019 12:38 PM (3RspO)

486 268 Too much weight, though, and the guy's head will be torn clean off.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 11:11 AM (9ioAf)

I thought the trick was to base the length of the drop on the subject's weight...
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 23, 2019 11:13 AM (wYseH)

Mitchell Rupe. Death row in Washington State for brutal double murder. To be hanged.
Ate himself so heavy he went off the hanging chart. Got a judge to declare no hanging. Possible decapitation would be cruel and unusual. State wrangled for a while then just gave up. He died of liver disease, perhaps a self execution due to overweight.

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at June 23, 2019 12:38 PM (e1mEI)

487 Oh FYI, a good CD to read by is "Cries and Fancies" by Orlando Gibbons (Fretwork).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 12:22 PM (kQs4Y)


...sackbutt.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 12:38 PM (t+qrx)

488 How in the world could someone who is a ward of the state and literally behind bars receive enough food to be that obese?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:39 PM (SYNdr)

489 Nood

Posted by: Nood at June 23, 2019 12:40 PM (p6Q7Q)

490 ..sackbutt.

Krumhorn!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 12:40 PM (kQs4Y)

491 488: Starvation in the US is either self imposed or imposed by parents who blow it on drugs.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:41 PM (U7k5w)

492 Is the Newbery Medal still indicative of a great children's book, or has it gone SJW like the rest of the publishing award racket?

Posted by: Downcast at June 23, 2019 12:32 PM (p6Q7Q)


Guess.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 12:42 PM (dIJ/u)

493 It's fasting!!!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 23, 2019 12:42 PM (kQs4Y)

494 I was in Value Village a few days ago, and somebody had organized their book section, so that you could actually find things. I bought "In High Places" by Harry Turtledove, and also "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 12:29 PM (WG6O9)

We apologize for the convenience of the organized book section. We have discussed the issue with the new staff and re-trained them on our methods and policies. Please visit us again!

Posted by: Value Village at June 23, 2019 12:42 PM (q1Pj5)

495 I think the Discworld books would be fine for 14+. There are tons of them, too, which is great if a kid likes them.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:45 PM (SYNdr)

496 Finished lunch and it looks like the book thread is about over as well. Now for the next couple of hours -- go to the range or power wash the driveway? Range... Or driveway... Tough decision.

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at June 23, 2019 12:47 PM (qc+VF)

497 493: Sometimes. But an 80 lb adult looking in the mirror and seeing a fat person, then refusing to eat is starvation. Psychotic AF, but rarely treated as psychosis. FTR, I think the concept of being trapped in the body of the wrong sex is psychotic too. Sadly, people are going along with it for the sake of inclusiveness and "self-esteem" and making money on surgery, but neuroleptics are the answer for people who'd mutilate themselves. They'll only get them later.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:52 PM (U7k5w)

498 493: Sometimes. But an 80 lb adult looking in the mirror and seeing a fat person, then refusing to eat is starvation. Psychotic AF, but rarely treated as psychosis. FTR, I think the concept of being trapped in the body of the wrong sex is psychotic too. Sadly, people are going along with it for the sake of inclusiveness and "self-esteem" and making money on surgery, but neuroleptics are the answer for people who'd mutilate themselves. They'll only get them later.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 12:52 PM (U7k5w)


So why aren't we agreeing with anorexics that they're fat as seem to be doing when we're playing along with men who like to wear dresses and call themselves women?


Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at June 23, 2019 12:57 PM (dIJ/u)

499 498: Political correctness and non-lethality.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 01:00 PM (U7k5w)

500 "It is the mid-1930s and the storm clouds of WWII are forming in Germany. This film charts the work of Robert Watson Watt, the pioneer of Radar, and his hand-picked team of eccentric yet brilliant meteorologists as they struggle to turn the concept of Radar into a workable reality. Hamstrung by a tiny budget, seemingly insurmountable technical problems and even a spy in the camp, Watson Watt also has to deal with marital problems as he chases his dream. "

It was pretty well done.
Posted by: Tami at June 23, 2019 10:10 AM (cF8AT)


This gentleman, in later years, was ticketed for speeding, caught by police radar, and wrote a poem about it:

https://tinyurl.com/y5agcbt6

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 01:01 PM (WG6O9)

501 With regard to Excel, I agree with the above commenters: LibreOffice and OpenOffice are excellent alternatives to Excel, and they are free. However, I suggest that you embrace the power of "and", as Ace would say: export the spreadsheet into PDF format (which keeps the links available), and make both the .exe and the .pdf files available.
My only other suggestion is to date the file as you add to it, so that users will be able to tell immediately if the version they have is obsolete. That, or have a regular schedule of updates (say, on the first of the month). That will make your site much more usable.

With regard to the books themselves, my wife and I have a *ton* of suggestions, based on our 40 years of reading aloud to our children and grandchildren. No doubt, our list will overlap considerably with what you already have, but we'll be compiling it for you soon.

Posted by: Brown Line at June 23, 2019 01:04 PM (S6ArX)

502 This gentleman, in later years, was ticketed for speeding, caught by police radar, and wrote a poem about it:

https://tinyurl.com/y5agcbt6
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 01:01 PM (WG6O9)

Ha! That was awesome.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at June 23, 2019 01:04 PM (VAJVe)

503 This latest nonsense, about the chick writer, who want to cash in on her encounter with Trump, we are a people who are losing our ability to tell the difference between truth, as backed up with evidence, and fiction, which is spurred on by how people feel about things.

Fiction also has the unfortunate advantage of being exciting, whereas reality is much more often, boring. So people gravitate toward fiction.

I don't know, everywhere I look I see signs of civilization's collapse, but heck, maybe that's just me being overly dramatic, and I'm avoiding the evidence that shows the boring old status quo continues, unrelentingly onward.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 23, 2019 10:15 AM (cY3LT)

Burt, we don't know if this diseased twat ever even met Trump.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 01:05 PM (WG6O9)

504 Recalls the small group of scientists whose invention of radar during World War II contributed to the Allied victory, as well as chronicling their significant post-war achievements.

----

Radar was invented before WW2. It developed rapidly during the war.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at June 23, 2019 01:06 PM (t5m5e)

505 They concluded it would have failed in the face of British seapower. The Germans could get ashore, but not support their troops.

Which makes total sense.
Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 10:16 AM (cfSRQ)

What the Germans possibly could have done was use paratroops to establish, and supply an inland "beachhead", far enough inshore to be out of range of shelling from British warships.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 01:08 PM (WG6O9)

506
So why aren't we agreeing with anorexics that they're fat

-

I've read more than a few articles by pro-mental illness folks addressing this. One horrible Pullitzer Prize winning book called "Far From the Tree", too.

Summary: oh, that's different

Posted by: Moron Robbie, the Return of Moron Robbie, now in theaters at June 23, 2019 01:09 PM (Lwfjs)

507 Far From the Tree was hilarious, btw. The entire book was so the gay author could constantly remind the reader that he was gay and that gay people suffer the same way paraplegics suffer. Because reasons.

Posted by: Moron Robbie, the Return of Moron Robbie, now in theaters at June 23, 2019 01:11 PM (Lwfjs)

508 Insert black, deaf, color blind, dwarves, etc anywhere you need to compare how awesome gay people are because they are just like the handicapable or slaves.

Posted by: Moron Robbie, the Return of Moron Robbie, now in theaters at June 23, 2019 01:12 PM (Lwfjs)

509 506: Still psychotic, but anorexics can die of their delusions (which are rarely treated as psychosis), while a gonadectomy won't kill you unless you kill yourself when you decide you were mistaken and find out that the damage is forever.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 01:14 PM (U7k5w)

510 I think the Discworld books would be fine for 14+. There are tons of them, too, which is great if a kid likes them.
Posted by: Moron Robbie - New AIDS cases in '99 = 40K/yr. New HIV cases each year since? Take a guess at June 23, 2019 12:45 PM (SYNdr)


The interesting thing about Pratchett is that he was into EVERYTHING. He researched, read and put stuff into everything he did. So much of his jokes have a basis in real historical facts, twisted a bit, but the do have a basis in fact. He seemed interested in enlightenment age science and sociology, and was very interested in medieval society, but as he moved to Ankh-Morepork he started doing much more late Georgian/early Victorian society.

His work is also memorable in characters and situations, so that when I started running across what I figure were his source materials, I was also interested in the source materials - the history and technology.

Fascinating man, and I am very sad he passed.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 01:14 PM (hSQmw)

511 well there is always olde A.... whatesname...when all else dries out.....

if ever there was a State county that should be dry Chapaqua
qualifies.......my back woods have that musty woodsy
aroma and don't ask aboot the front hole........

Posted by: saf at June 23, 2019 01:17 PM (5IHGB)

512 Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 01:14 PM (U7k5w)

Since you're still around, what's going on with Ravelry? I haven't done more than check two groups for a while so am very out of the loop.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 23, 2019 01:18 PM (phT8I)

513 [ . . . ]
Ate himself so heavy he went off the hanging chart. Got a judge to
declare no hanging. Possible decapitation would be cruel and unusual.
State wrangled for a while then just gave up. He died of liver disease,
perhaps a self execution due to overweight.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at June 23, 2019 12:38 PM (e1mEI)

There was a man who was condemned in the 40's in Oregon to the gas chamber. He tried to eat himself so fat he wouldn't fit into the restraining chair. It didn't work.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 01:19 PM (hSQmw)

514 drat

Posted by: Kindltot at June 23, 2019 01:19 PM (hSQmw)

515 What the Germans possibly could have done was use
paratroops to establish, and supply an inland "beachhead", far enough
inshore to be out of range of shelling from British warships.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 01:08 PM (WG6O9)

---
The Germans tried an air bridge to Stalingrad. It didn't work out very well.

Posted by: Author A.H. Lloyd - now with functioning web site at June 23, 2019 01:19 PM (cfSRQ)

516 Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 23, 2019 09:29 AM (iuRR5)

Thank you for that recommendation. The fact that the author is conservative sells me on his books even more! And of course, my local lieberry has none of them! I'll keep my eye on Book Bub for free Kindle editions, though.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at June 23, 2019 01:23 PM (tGSHk)

517 The Germans didn't have the air lift capabilities the allies had.

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 01:23 PM (BbGew)

518 JourneyForth, which is an imprint of BJUPress has a good stock of children's books for all ages. They generally have Christian messages and themes. You can see a list broken down by ages group at https://www.bjupress.com/category/JourneyForth+for+Youth+%E2%80%93+CS

Posted by: R.Bradley at June 23, 2019 01:25 PM (4h4J3)

519 512: They have banned expressing support for Trump because white supremacy. It's beyond virtue signaling now. I never bought a thing from their site so I have contributed nothing to their success or failure, so I have no problem with deleting my account and did so. First I downloaded a couple of free patterns which are actually linked to other sites.
I want no part of them, and I will be doubly careful NOT to support any lib pattern creators in the future.

I could have supported a complete ban on political discussion on the site, that has occurred on more than a few boards over the years, but this was very targeted. Fuck these people.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 01:26 PM (U7k5w)

520 251 I don't have any recommendations for the children's book list but I have a suggestion: pitch them books slightly higher in recommended age than the "experts" suggest. Kids can reach and grow more than some people give them credit for. The "suggested ages" on books are like 2-5 years younger than any normal kid would or could read.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 23, 2019 11:07 AM (39g3+)
-------
You're spot on! I put together the age 6-8 book list first, and noticed that the "recommended age" for most of those books averaged two years higher than I was rating them (based on my experience with children).

Another thing is that kids can enjoy hearing a story a long time before they're able to read at the level it's written at; reading skill lags behind comprehension level by quite a bit until the teen years. That's why reading aloud to them/audiobooks are so beneficial, especially with dyslexic children.
My oldest boy had a helluva time learning to read, thanks to dyslexia and da Vince-style mirror reading/writing, but he'd listen to books all day long.
At age 10 now, he's a good reader and an avid book lover.

Posted by: Brunette the 'Ette at June 23, 2019 01:27 PM (adsVM)

521 Idle thoughts at the tail-end of the bookish thread.

Several weeks ago, I started re-reading my - whatever it is - story, Invulnerable. I got to the end of Part I and just felt unmotivated to continue.

Today, I picked up at Part II and read to the end. Felt better about it.

Is it weird to have feelings about the stories of characters you made up? (Doc Brown in BttF, reading a letter his later self wrote, saying, 'I never knew I could write anything so beautiful.' Heh.) I'm particularly fond of a bit character, "crazy Amy."

I found what I believe could be a continuity error. Hardly noticeable (barely an inconvenience), probably no one would notice but me on my nth re-reading. What I get for having a fool for my editor.

blurb__
Mixed-media (cartoon sketches lead into text). An angry bum finds a new purpose in life. A young fellow with a passive kind of super-power that's contagious. The cult that grew around him. A young girl who admired him becomes his raconteur. Also, interplanetary speciecidal conflict. Not to give too much away...

Donation button$ work.

Posted by: mindful webworker - click for Invulnerable story at June 23, 2019 01:29 PM (/IMJl)

522 Like lawnmowers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNWfqVWC2KI
Posted by: hogmartin at June 23, 2019 11:32 AM (t+qrx)

Heh. Not an actual lawnmower, but a model built to resemble one. The "handle" is an airfoil.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 23, 2019 01:35 PM (WG6O9)

523 I also read a lot of books by Jim Kjelgaard--books about dogs in the wilderness. Sort of like The Incredible Journey, but with more of a survivalist bent. These books made me feel I knew a lot about tracking and how to stay downwind of deer and wolves and such.

And of course, you can't go wrong with Redwall.
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 23, 2019 11:43 AM (Lhaco
-------
Kjelgaard is excellent! I devoured everything I could find by him in the library when I was growing up (the Redwall series, too), and when my first babies were old enough I went to get some Kjelgaard and discovered the library didn't carry him anymore and Amazon's selection was sparse and expensive.

To my complete delight, I discovered last week that someone started publishing him on Kindle in April!
Search him on Amazon in the Kindle category and you'll see the ones that have been put out so far: they're all .99 except for Big Red, which is $3.00.

I'm hoping they *all* end up on Kindle; they deserve the appreciation of a new generation.

Posted by: Brunette the 'Ette at June 23, 2019 01:38 PM (adsVM)

524 512: The level of vitriol is so great that I am totally convinced that they will seek prosecution of dissenters if a donk makes it to the WH

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 01:40 PM (U7k5w)

525 397 kids books - the Edward Eager books are a wonderful "kids time travel" series
not sure if they are still in print
Posted by: vmom superior, order of sweet merciless ninjas
--------
They're on Amazon! My kids have all his books on their Kindles.

Posted by: Brunette the 'Ette at June 23, 2019 01:42 PM (adsVM)

526 I'd recommend the Discworld series but not the young witch ones aimed at YA. Rather horrified that the young witch is taught about assisting in abortions.

For middle schoolers, I found that boys liked "Touching Spirit Bear" and "Hatchet." A couple kids liked "Tom's Midnight Garden" which is old-fashioned and a few Madeline Poland historical books, including "Children of the Red King."

For young kids, I found "The Wanderers" and "Lighthouse Island" by Elizabeth Coatsworth - the kid book, not the adult novel. Both out of print, of course, but easy to find on Amazon.

A good picture book: "The Errant Knight" by Ann Tompert, which is a nice allegory for serving Christ.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at June 23, 2019 01:42 PM (/+bwe)

527 Evernote is the way to go on a project like this. A spreadsheet isn't going to have nearly the flexibility of, e.g., adding tags for genre or cross referencing, etc.

Posted by: Marica at June 23, 2019 01:43 PM (0++T1)

528 Whether on there or not, I would heartily endorse the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. My son was addicted to them. We also enjoyed the Tarzan series (much different from the cheesy movies), the Wizard of Oz series (I hadn't even known there was more than one!), Harry Potter (no, the use of "magic" never bothered me), and Jules Verne. And he, of course, burned through the Goosebumps series - which I didn't much care for. Shrug. We never restricted his reading. And on the graphic novel side of things, try the Tintin series. We read every single on our library had.
Posted by: SummaMamaT
-------
L. Frank Baum wrote *19* books, mostly because children kept writing him to beg for more books. He finally put his foot down after 19, and then more were written by other people, among them members of his extended family!
None of those are near as good as his originals, though.
Same with Gertrude Chandler Warner, of Box-Car Children fame. 19 original books, and then other people ran off with the franchise after she died.

Posted by: Brunette the 'Ette at June 23, 2019 01:49 PM (adsVM)

529 170
I can second the recommendation for The Invention That Changed The
World, with the caveat that any wireless invention whose inventor had
any MIT connection is depicted as being a direct result of MIT. That
over-boosterism aside, it's a great historical account of the
fascinating development of radar.



This week, I finished Karl Gallagher's Lost War and Lost War Reveled
while attending Boy Scout Camp. Warning - do not read these books if
you will need to walk a quarter mile to the latrine through a dark and
misty forest.



Also read Declan Finn's latest St. Tommy supernatural thriller,
Crusader. The series, now five in number, keeps getting better and
better with thoughtful ties into current political and social events.
Start with Book 1 - Hell Spawn, and keep reading.
Hans- I have the first two books downloaded to my Kindle app and ready to go for the next trip. Looking forward to reading it.

Posted by: Charlotte at June 23, 2019 02:09 PM (2SSYa)

530 Christopher Moore.

And the "for later" list in my library account grows.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 23, 2019 02:29 PM (M5h3L)

531 Oregon Muse -- I hope this isn't too late for you to notice.

As is generally known, I owned a small specialty bookstore for over eighteen years. While I specialized in murder mysteries, I also realized that I was the only bookstore for miles in any direction, so I maintained a small kids section. I also fed the book addiction of several kids from their earliest reading years until they were old enough to have developed their own reading preferences.

I leaned very heavily on science fiction and fantasy for the kids, because those books hooked the kids' interest the most. Bruce Coville's books are a must -- especially his Magic Shop series. His Moongobble and Me books are suitable for beginning readers.

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson, Red Pyramid, and now his Norse mythology based books are catnip for kids, as well as educatioal. Reading the Percy Jackson books teaches the kids the entirety of Bulfinch's Mythology painlessly. (Rick Riordan is the only middle school English teacher is the only English teacher I know who actually makes real money teaching.)

Harry Potter is an unspoken neccessity. As is Judy Blume and Laura Wilder.

Hank the Cowdog, Geronimo Stilton, Junie B, and Encyclopedia Brown are great for kids just starting to read chapter books. Also the Amelia Bedelia, Bunnicula, and Frog and Toad books.

A lot of tweeners and young teens will enjoy Agatha Christie and Tony Hillerman. Ender's Game, Martian Chronicles, and Isaac Asimov are good, too. (This group of kids is particularly difficult. So many books they are interested in are simply not age appropriate.)

Yes, I could go on for the rest of the day, but I'll stop here before I bore you to death.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin at June 23, 2019 02:30 PM (5+J7M)

532 Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 01:26 PM (U7k5w)

Thanks, I got home and had 20 Twitter mentions (a huge number for me) about it. Closed my account which mostly hurts because Rav was the first social site I ever used. When they banned users for being the *victim* of trolling in the 08 election it took the shiny off, but I guess I'd kept hoping for another 10 years.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 23, 2019 02:36 PM (uquGJ)

533 Two big thumbs up for The Chronicles of Prydain!
Posted by: All Hail Eris

You have big thumbs ?

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 02:46 PM (7nhhV)

534 I could have supported a complete ban on political discussion on the site, that has occurred on more than a few boards over the years, but this was very targeted. Fuck these people.
Posted by: CN

Now don't hold back CN, tell us how you really feel !

Posted by: JT at June 23, 2019 02:49 PM (7nhhV)

535 Finished Making Sense of the Molly Maguires so need another book

Posted by: Skip at June 23, 2019 02:56 PM (BbGew)

536 532: Do you really need their "designers"? Their content sucks, and if I knew a vendor/advertiser was a huge lib in support of this, I'd stop buying their shit.

I am not hurt by the "loss". I used to click on some of the yarn shop links which I assume is their source of income. Anyway conservatives are pretty weak when it comes to boycotting and I suppose most will remain and toe the line.

Posted by: CN at June 23, 2019 03:26 PM (U7k5w)

537 As a solution for your readers that don't have MS Office and Excel to read your spreadsheet of children's books, go to Open Office, you can download it for free and there is a spreadsheet application in it called "Calc" https://www.openoffice.org/

Posted by: P at June 23, 2019 04:52 PM (Fboi2)

538 That Boston Library is the most exquisite I've ever seen and so reflective of Boston history. All those transcendentalists and their philosophies, their grasp and knowledge of the classics. Gives me chills.

Too bad that atmosphere is confined to "old books" and that Boston herself has gone the way of the superficial.

Posted by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Witch at June 23, 2019 06:56 PM (xZjSg)

539 Jim Acosta wrote a book...

Goes with Jim Acosta shit his pants...

The rhythm!

Posted by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Witch at June 23, 2019 06:58 PM (xZjSg)

540 Here's a great book, reads more like a novel than a history of D-day. The author has a rare talent to make an event seem like the reader is transported to the time.

Giles Milton "Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die"

Posted by: jeremiah at June 25, 2019 03:11 AM (AGFts)

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