Sunday Morning Book Thread 11-17-2019

Biblioteca Vasconcelos Mexico City 01 small.jpg

Biblioteca Vasconcelos, Mexico City, Mexico

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, crétins sans pantalon (who are technically breaking the rules), conspiracy theorists, unindicted co-conspirators and unimpeachable quid-pro-quoers. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, witty repartee, hilarious bon mots, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, spending way too much money on books, writing books, and publishing books by escaped oafs and oafettes 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, for which I thank my lucky stars that they're more of a turquoise color, and not lime green, or burnt orange.

Pic Note:

Yeah, I know this one is not going to be to everyone's taste, and I generally don't like the aesthetics of modern libraries, but I kind of like this one. I had to laugh at its construction history, though:

Then President of Mexico Vicente Fox inaugurated the library on 16 May 2006, and stated that this was one of the most advanced constructions of the 21st century, and that it would be spoken of throughout the world. This inauguration took place a week before the deadline the president had to promote his accomplishments before the 2006 presidential election.

The library had to close in March 2007 due to construction defects...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHA!!!!! Stop laughing, you racists!

The Superior Auditor of the Federation detected 36 construction irregularities and issued 13 motions of responsibility for public servants of the federal government. Among the irregularities found was the misplacement of marble blocks at a cost of 15 million pesos (roughly 1.4 million dollars).

During Calderón's administration, efforts to restore it continued with a further investment of 32 million pesos (roughly US$3 million).

It was reopened to the public in November 2008 after 22 months.

So, from this account, the library was built broken and then had to be fixed. And you have to wonder how many pesos went to graft, kickbacks, or simply disappeared into the pockets of the well-connected.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

The Origins of the Word “Barbecue” https://t.co/Ip3fzeMyPK #History #bbq pic.twitter.com/3SDiys2h1t
— Eric G. E. Zuelow (@EZuelow) November 12, 2019

On Writing

An 'ette author asked me to share this with you:

A thank-you to the Ace of Spades book thread
by Libby Sternberg

Whenever my books are mentioned on the Ace of Spades weekly book thread, I can count on seeing sales spike. This confirms something I've long believed: conservatives want to support conservative writers. Not just nonfiction authors writing about topics conservatives are interested in, but fiction writers like myself writing mystery, romance, women's fiction, historical fiction and more.

We're not all Ayn Rands, penning allegorical tales with libertarian lessons, but you might sometimes catch a whiff of conservative/libertarian sentiment floating on the breeze or in the background.

Selling books is hard. Even for big, so-called traditional publishers, it's challenging to reach readers willing to shell out bucks and take a chance on a story. The book industry, unlike other parts of the entertainment industry, never seemed to latch on to paid advertising, for example, and seems to rely mostly on earned media and word-of-mouth recommendations to move books.

For small, independent presses and indie writers, selling books is even harder. We don't have the clout of big publishers to get reviews.

So when a site like Ace of Spades devotes even a small bit of their cyber real estate to our offerings, it makes a huge difference.

My only comment is something I believe we would all agree with: the necessity of books by conservative authors must not be allowed to deteriorate into some sort of mirror-image 'woke' thing and purity enforcement where all the right boxes have to be checked in order for a book to be accepted. This is what the left does, and we don't want any sort of rigidly enforced ideological requirements, we just want good, well-written stories that thrill you, chill you, make you think, make you wonder, kick your ass, transport you to new worlds, or some combination thereof. And don't worry about having to be explicitly conservative, because readers want a story, not a lecture. If you're conservative, it will show up in your story somewhere, perhaps even in some ways you can't anticipate. Because that's just who you are, and you can't hide it.

What the progressives are doing to themselves is self-destructive. Because it's hard to write a story if you're forced to lard it up with someone else's ideology in order to get published. The stories will be crap. Progressives ruin everything, including art. My favorite anecdote on this topic is one I heard from a friend of mind who studied for a year in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. While he was there, he liked to visit the Hermitage Museum which has tons of fine art, which is divided into pre-Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary sections. He was amused when he noticed that the pre-Revolutionary wing was usually packed with visitors, but the sections that contained all of the art produced after the Revolution never seemed to have many people in it. In other words, the commies pretty much destroyed Russian art and the only works they could produce was junk that nobody wanted.

I'm all for supporting conservative authors, and I try to do my share of that, but I'm hoping this is a temporary thing based on the current social climate. Ultimately, people should be buying books not because they're conservative, but because they're just great stories.

___________

And speaking of recommendations:

Designated a threat to be shot on sight, an executive must elude assassins and figure out why they're targeting him. This non-stop action #thriller combines, murder, mystery, & conspiracy in a thoroughly satisfying package. https://t.co/WYk7tedjaY #MAGA #WWG1WGA #QArmy #QAnon pic.twitter.com/CEVvgEtUym
— Hans G. Schantz ?? (@AetherCzar) November 14, 2019

You think YOU had a killer workday. . .

Get ready for the FASTEST thriller of the summer!

Each morning in his 45th floor executive office, David Elliot savors the quiet moments until the workday begins.

Until today, when his boss walks in and aims a gun at him.

For the rest of the day, he will be trapped in his midtown office building, and everyone David Elliot meets will try to kill him.

He has 24 hours to find out why. . .

In Vertical Run, you can escape into a world on fast forward, a drama that plays out with electrifying intensity. No one who reads this book will ever see the office the same way again.

Strong words. You can pony up $7.99 for Vertical Run and find out if they're true.

Who Dis:

Last Sunday's 'Who Dis' was Dame Judi Dench

Moron Recommendations

In response to last week's progressive book recommendation, Kindltot commented:

78 OM, I would think the progressive book most likely appreciated by the horde would be The Progressive Era, by Murray Rothbard.

Not a Progressive book, mind you, but a book about Progressivism

Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 09:36 AM (1glZx)

From the author's forward:

Progressivism brought the triumph of institutionalized racism, the disfranchising of blacks in the South, the cutting off of immigration, the building up of trade unions by the federal government into a tripartite of big government, big business, big union alliance, the glorifying of military virtues and conscription, and a drive for American expansion abroad. In short, the Progressive era ushered the modern American politico-economic system into being.

Amazon has this book on Kindle for 3.95, but the free-market site Mises.org has it in a number of formats, including an audiobook version, available for free here. Published posthumously, this meaty tome weighs in at 600+ pages.

It might be interesting to compare this book with the one by Richard Hofstadter discussed last week. Because it appears that both authors are looking at the same history and arriving at very, very different conclusions.

___________

173 Another excellent book, written by someone who was not only a "progressive" but an out-and-out Marxist when he wrote it is "Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made" by Eugene Genovese. It's based on the recollections of elderly blacks who had been slaves and were interviewed in the 1930's. The book examines the way slaves were able to create meaning and dignity for themselves while living under an unjust system. Although Genovese sympathies are clearly with the slaves, he exhibited compassion for the white slaveonwers as well, giving a much more nuanced viewpoint than is currently the fashion.

That sort of nuance and compassion might be why Genovese eventually moved to the right - ALL the way to the right. He and his wife even converted to Catholicism. Genovese, born in Brooklyn, had a great deal of respect for Southern manners and values, whether they were exhibited by whites or blacks. "Roll Jordan Roll" was published, I believe, in 1970. There would be no room for him in academia today.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V. at November 10, 2019 10:21 AM (d6Ksn)

Thought this one might be OOP -- and I think it is, but e-versions are available. Here is the Amazon blurb:

This landmark history of slavery in the South—a winner of the Bancroft Prize—challenged conventional views of slaves by illuminating the many forms of resistance to dehumanization that developed in slave society.

Rather than emphasizing the cruelty and degradation of slavery, historian Eugene Genovese investigates the ways that slaves forced their owners to acknowledge their humanity through culture, music, and religion. Not merely passive victims, the slaves in this account actively engaged with the paternalism of slaveholding culture in ways that supported their self-respect and aspirations for freedom. Roll, Jordan, Roll covers a vast range of subjects, from slave weddings and funerals, to the language, food, clothing, and labor of slaves, and places particular emphasis on religion as both a major battleground for psychological control and a paradoxical source of spiritual strength. Displaying keen insight into the minds of both slaves and slaveholders, Roll, Jordan, Roll is a testament to the power of the human spirit under conditions of extreme oppression.

The Kindle version of Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made is available for $12.99. Also used hardbacks starting at about $10.

___________

29 I read an excellent book, The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff. In his author's note Graff writes "... this book intends to capture how Americans lived that day how the attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in the skies over Somerset County, Pennsylvania, rippled across lives from coast to coast..." Gleaned from over 5000 oral histories taken from 9/11/2001 to the spring of 2019, Graff wrote an engrossing, informative account of that day. I found this book hard to put down.

Posted by: Zoltan at November 03, 2019 09:08 AM (MikIT)

I can't imagine what it must be like to be, say, one of the airline ticket agents who checked in Mohamed Atta or Marwan al-Shehhi and then finding out later who he was. It's not really your fault, but still... There was some discussion on Friday's rant thread about brooding and not being able to let things ago, and this is something I don't think I'd be able to stop thinking about for a long time.

Drawing on never-before-published transcripts, recently declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly five hundred government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, friends, and family members, Graff paints the most vivid and human portrait of the September 11 attacks yet.

Beginning in the predawn hours of airports in the Northeast, we meet the ticket agents who unknowingly usher terrorists onto their flights, and the flight attendants inside the hijacked planes. In New York City, first responders confront a scene of unimaginable horror at the Twin Towers. From a secret bunker underneath the White House, officials watch for incoming planes on radar. Aboard the small number of unarmed fighter jets in the air, pilots make a pact to fly into a hijacked airliner if necessary to bring it down. In the skies above Pennsylvania, civilians aboard United Flight 93 make the ultimate sacrifice in their place. Then, as the day moves forward and flights are grounded nationwide, Air Force One circles the country alone, its passengers isolated and afraid.

The Kindle edition of The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett Graff goes for $14.99.

___________

Books By Morons

Moron Daniel Humphreys, author of the post-apocalyptic zombie series Z-Day, has just published a new release in that series, a short story collection entitled Places Beyond the Wild: A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Anthology. Dan tells me it's a bit different than your standard short story collection:

Rather than providing a simple writing prompt and presenting unrelated stories on a common theme, I worked closely with each submitter to align their story with existing canon and even expand it in some ways. I then wrote the first and last novellas to bookend the rest. The storyline takes the reader on a journey through the existing timeline, starting shortly after the opening chapters of A Place Outside the Wild and concluding several years after the end of A Place for War to show where the universe is headed in the future.

There are some great entries, including a mind-bending one by fellow member of the horde Hans Schantz. Z-Day as it stands wouldn't be nearly so successful as it has been without the support and readership of the blog, and I think they'll enjoy the latest addition as much as I did putting it together.

The Amazon blurb gives a few more details:

The vast wilds outside a place called Hope hold their own stories. When the end came, what happened to everyone else?

Massachusetts. Texas. Alabama. Tennessee. Pockets of humanity have persisted through the apocalypse. All have tales of survival and loss.

Mad Dog Mattis’ last stand at the Pentagon. The first Christmas after the end of the world. A family isolated on their homestead as the evolving dead press at the fences. A desperate quest for helicopters to destroy the undead.

Come read through this expansion of Daniel Humphreys’ Dragon Award nominated Z-Day universe. Twelve brand new survival stories written by the best up and coming independent sci-fi and fantasy writers will thrill fans of the series.

Available on Kindle for the reasonable price of $4.99.

___________

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 Surprise anal!!!!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:01 AM (Dc2NZ)

2 Finished 'Good Omens; The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch' by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gamen. Was a strange book, good but strange. Moved on to the first book in a series by Rachel Cain called 'Ill Wind'. I had read the first three books in that series back when my wife had them in hardback. I though they were pretty good then and I got the first on in the Kindle format. Just couldn't get into it so I put it down. I moved on to a re-read of the Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey.

Posted by: Vic at November 17, 2019 09:01 AM (mpXpK)

3 Right on Time!

Posted by: Blue Bird of F'ing Joy
Julianne Assange didn't kill himself. at November 17, 2019 09:02 AM (lD3vL)

4 That's like a Sing Sing for books.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

5 Nice!

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 09:03 AM (cqNba)

6 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. I sure did.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:03 AM (bmdz3)

7 I was pawing through my Tolkiana and was drawn back to this:
----

Prologue -- Concerning Bogies

This book is predominantly concerned with making money, and from its pages a reader may learn much bout the character and the literary integrity of the authors. Of bogies, however, he will discover next to nothing, since anyone in the possession of a mere moiety of his marbles will readily concede that such creatures exist only in the minds of children of the sort whose childhoods are spent in wicker baskets, and who grow up to be muggers, dog thieves, and insurance salesmen. Nonetheless, judging from the sales of Prof. Tolkien's interesting books, this is a rather sizable group, sporting the kind of scorchmarks on their pockets that only the spontaneous combustion of heavy wads of crumpled money can produce.

-- Bored of the Rings

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:03 AM (Dc2NZ)

8 Those pants are fine. I would wear them to a barbeque in Murray's back yard.

Posted by: Mary Tyler Moore at November 17, 2019 09:04 AM (Tnijr)

9 booken morgen horden!

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 09:05 AM (G546f)

10 That liberry has a Borg look to it.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at November 17, 2019 09:05 AM (oVJmc)

11 Top 20 maybe?

Posted by: JC. Just JC. at November 17, 2019 09:05 AM (377Zs)

12 The dude from Star wars.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 09:06 AM (cqNba)

13 That is, of course, Grand Moff Tarkin.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:06 AM (Dc2NZ)

14 Peter Cushing.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 09:06 AM (cqNba)

15 >>Grand Moff Tarkin. Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:06 AM (Dc2NZ)

Surprise anal!

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2019 09:07 AM (XzT/D)

16 Peter Cushing

Posted by: San Franpsycho at November 17, 2019 09:07 AM (EZebt)

17 The 'these pants' photo isn't quite as strange as some of the examples. However, being of a portly physique (incredible understatement) it pisses me off when skinny people wear baggy clothes. If they are going to be skinny then dress skinny and leave the cloth for my stuff.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:07 AM (bmdz3)

18 Well done Eris!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar knows that EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:08 AM (BiNEL)

19 pretty Outlander art

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 09:08 AM (G546f)

20 Bored of the Rings still leaves me paralyzed with laughter at its best parts.

The map at the front is great, too. "Land of the Knee-Walking Turkeys."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:08 AM (cfSRQ)

21 So now I know why the Cartels are running wild in Mexico.

They turned their prisons onto Lieberrys.

Is that Bill Clinton reading his wife's autobiography?

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 17, 2019 09:09 AM (Z+IKu)

22 I saw the library picture, and first thought was Bezos built a new warehouse.

Posted by: bill in arkansas at November 17, 2019 09:09 AM (C1Lsn)

23 That liberry has a Borg look to it.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at November 17, 2019 09:05 AM (oVJmc)

My first thought was this is the Amazon Book Warehouse and expected to see robot book fetchers running hither and yon!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar knows that EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:09 AM (BiNEL)

24 22

My brother!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar knows that EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:10 AM (BiNEL)

25 The only reason that I could name Peter Cushing was that Svenghoulie had 'The Gorgon' as the Saturday night feature.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 09:10 AM (cqNba)

26 Who dis be Peter Cushing

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:10 AM (Ki5SV)

27 I had read and enjoyed Term Limits before, but I read my first Mitch Rapp book this week (I was without a book and this was handy), Pursuit of Honor, and I now know why Flynn had such a fan base.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:10 AM (Dc2NZ)

28 18 Well done Eris!
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar knows that EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:08 AM (BiNEL)
---

You never saw it coming!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:11 AM (Dc2NZ)

29 Thank you for the book thread, Oregon Muse.

I always like reading about moron authors and books. It's my goal to read some of them in the next year.

Posted by: Ladyl at November 17, 2019 09:11 AM (TdMsT)

30 Doctor Who!

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at November 17, 2019 09:12 AM (oVJmc)

31 Now, speaking of the Hermitage - this is definitely not to everyone's taste, but here is the trailer for 2002s Russian Ark:

https://tinyurl.com/vovwg88

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:12 AM (Ki5SV)

32 📖!

Saw that library pic and immediately thought, didn't look particularly stable - I wouldn't feel safe in here during an earthquake.

That was before I read about its construction.

Posted by: mindful webworker - y el libro de la gringo estupido at November 17, 2019 09:12 AM (5RITs)

33 another interesting book about slavery in the South was a book used by Wofford College in the history studies. I believe the name was "The Economics of Slavery in the South". I borrowed it from a friend of mine who was going to Wofford. I guess she bought it from the college bookstore because I have not been able to find it anywhere.

Posted by: Vic at November 17, 2019 09:12 AM (mpXpK)

34 "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.

Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read"

- Groucho Marx, who occasionally took his cigar out of his mouth

Posted by: BackwardsBoy does whatever his television tells him at November 17, 2019 09:12 AM (HaL55)

35 I really like Ben Rheder and the Blanco County Mysteries. There are 12 books in the series and all good fun and good reading. I feel like I know Red and Billy Don, two rednecks featured in all of the books. Book 12 is about those 2 sidekicks as they try to solve a mystery.

Ben does a describing Texas and Texans with with the warts and all. Most of his books a free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.

Posted by: rhennigantx at November 17, 2019 09:13 AM (JFO2v)

36 I just finished a really fun book: _The Book of Swindles_, by Zhang Yingyu (translated by Christopher Rea and Bruce Rusk). It was written around the time of the Jamestown colony, and it's a compendium of con games and dodges in Ming China.

Some of the cons are familiar favorites, like the classic "drop the pigeon" scam. Others depend on Chinese culture to work: pretending to be the servant of the official in charge of grading civil service exams, in order to get bribes from candidates.

And some of them are flat-out crazy: having your daughter seduce a young aristocrat so your descendants can hijack his ancestors' spiritual power. Or Daoist monks using magic to appear to people in dreams and thereby sucker them into being friends so they can rob them.

Highly recommended.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:13 AM (b3VIz)

37 2 Finished 'Good Omens; The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch' by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gamen. Was a strange book, good but strange. Moved on to the first book in a series by Rachel Cain called 'Ill Wind'.

Vic, I remember that series - Weather Wardens. I thought it was enjoyable.
I think Rachel Cain has a tendency to use cliffhangers as book endings in most of her series, so I usually tap out after a few books.

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 09:13 AM (G546f)

38 Those pants are fine. I would try to get that girl out of those pants at a 70s barbecue.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, camp fire pics welcome at e-mail in nic at November 17, 2019 09:14 AM (gd9RK)

39 Just about finished with Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. I don't like my edition, which seems to have been scanned from an earlier printing and dumped into book format. It is full of artifacts and errors and devoid of commentary. I will be getting a better version for my permanent collection.

Absolutely recommend reading Henry G. Payne's book on the Spanish Civil War before attempting to read Orwell. You will get much more out of it.

Not sure what's next in the lineup, though my wife is pushing some of her religious books on me. I'm still in a Spanish Civil War mood, but running out of material. I've got every Osprey book that even touches on the conflict, including the aces, though there may be an out of print book on how the air forces were organized.

I've seen a military history on Amazon that I may check out. I've also seen Anthony Beevor's book but I don't know what he would have that Payne and Hugh Thomas missed.

Thomas is very long-winded and while a leftist idiot, does provide a lot of sources. Payne is half as long, and twice as accurate. We'll see.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:14 AM (cfSRQ)

40 OM's post is a work of performance art. Wonderful read.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at November 17, 2019 09:15 AM (NVYyb)

41 Bored of the Rings. Ah yes. Bought from 1st copy from my paper route money when it first came out when I was ten (but I date myself). Still have it with all of my Mad Magazines and their earmarked and rumbled pages. Never would have guessed that "Spy vs. Spy" would be describing what the Dimms are doing today in undermining our President.

Posted by: JC. Just JC. at November 17, 2019 09:15 AM (377Zs)

42 You never saw it coming!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:11 AM (Dc2NZ)

To be fair, I was very very surprised!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar knows that EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:16 AM (BiNEL)

43 Bored of the Rings is starting to show its age, though. My kid read it a few years ago and I had to explain a lot of the jokes. Like calling Gandalf "Goodgulf" or some of the references in the Ballhog section.

Word to the wise: if your work is timely, that means it will be dated.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:17 AM (b3VIz)

44 Friday night I finished "The Night Manager" miniseries.

It was terrible.

I have read none of Le Carre's books and there is the risk that this production wrecked his story, but I get a sense that the guy is so blinded by anti-American, anti-Capitalist sentiment that the book version is just as stupid as the movie, without the benefit of at least getting to enjoy Hugh Laurie chewing on the scenery.

This is why I avoid Le Carre because the things I like best about the adaptations are the cast. Even Le Carre admitted that Alec Guinness' performance as George Smiley exceeded his writing of him, and he changed the character to match Guinness' affectations.

I'm going to have to write a hate review at my web site this week just to cleanse my soul.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:17 AM (cfSRQ)

45 The library does not look cozy at all. Not a place to curl up on a comfy chair with a good book.

It looks rather Soviet in design.

Posted by: Ladyl at November 17, 2019 09:18 AM (TdMsT)

46 With the release of the excellent Midway film.
I wanted to put in the recommendation for the postmotum Miracle at Midway and At Dawn We Slept by Gordon W Prange.

Posted by: Dread0 at November 17, 2019 09:18 AM (thwGF)

47 28 18 Well done Eris!
Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar knows that EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:08 AM (BiNEL)
---

You never saw it coming!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:11 AM (Dc2NZ)

the second surprise in surprise anal

Posted by: rhennigantx at November 17, 2019 09:19 AM (JFO2v)

48 I mentioned this last night, but repeating it for the book thread:

I bought myself an early Christmas gift yesterday, Jeanine Basinger's The Movie Musical! I've mentioned her here before - she is a film scholar at Wesleyan University and I have two of her other books, Silent Stars (which is obvious as to what it is about) and The Star Machine (which is about how Hollywood found, groomed and promoted actors in the Golden Age.

I started Movie Musical! yesterday. I would recommend it, if you like that sort of thing. I had to put it down once she began discussing Fed Astaire because - well, because I was brooding, thinking of Astaire's style and talent and comparing that to my own self.

Which, I know, is utterly ridiculous. I might as well compare myself to Marilyn Monroe and be sad that I am not her. Still, the thought is always there because I just can't stand myself.

**deep breath**

Anyway, The Movie Musical! would be a good gift, I think, for anyone interested in them. Be forewarned, it's not a lavish celebration, but a serious (if popular-oriented) look at how the genre was created and how it developed from the late 1920s on.

https://tinyurl.com/qr8hogw

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:19 AM (Ki5SV)

49 The Holy Bible
Still the best selling book of all time...

Posted by: Builder Berg at November 17, 2019 09:20 AM (+Yu7u)

50 Have any of you ever read Carroll Quigley's book, "Tragedy and Hope"? I've had it on my bookshelf for at least 3 decades, but never read it. It's over 1300 pages long. From what I have heard, it is very prophetic.

Posted by: Grannymimi at November 17, 2019 09:20 AM (u5LFV)

51 I'm also starting Douglas Brinkley's _American Moonshot_ about the origins of the space program. It's effectively a braided biography of Kennedy, Von Braun, and Armstrong.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:20 AM (b3VIz)

52 I've been in the mood for gentle, sometimes raucus, humor. It started with a twenty year collection of "Hagar The Horrible" comic strips. They aren't as consistently good as Calvin and Hobbs (few things are) but they are funny. Mrs. JTB knew what I was reading by the sounds of stifled laughter as I tried to avoid disturbing her and waking up the pup.

Then there was "Parnassus On Wheels" by Christopher Morley. Written in 1917. This was the gentle humor part with wry observations about the characters and society in general. A sense of fun and enthusiasm comes through the writing which enhances the story. (BTW, Morley was a co-founder of the Baker Street Irregulars.)

Then I started a re-read of "Three Men In A Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome. This must be the third time I've read it and I still laugh out loud at the same sections. The dead pan delivery of the humor and silliness adds to the comedy. I wonder if it was an influence on PG Wodehouse and Cleveland Amory.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:20 AM (bmdz3)

53
Reading Nothing Superfluous by Fr. James Jackson. This is an analysis of the old Tridentine Mass or, as we're supposed to call it, the Extraordinary Form of the Catholic Mass.

This form of the Mass, in Latin, was codified by the Council of Trent in the 16th Century and was supplanted by the Novus Ordo Mass (the Ordinary Form) in 1969, with its melange of bad translation and breezy superficiality. The Tridentine Mass is still allowed and is used by orders like the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

What Jackson shows is how each and every part of the Tridentine Mass - the altar, the vestments, the ceremony, the words and the rubrics (the gestures of the priest during Mass) - are extremely important, each symbolizing something, each making up a part of this beautiful remembrance of the Supreme Sacrifice.

If you're a snapper and have the chance to attend a Traditional Latin Mass, try to do so. What happens is no mystery. The priest is saying Mass on your behalf and there are booklets with which the ceremony can be followed and printouts of the readings of the day.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 17, 2019 09:21 AM (7rVsF)

54 >>Which, I know, is utterly ridiculous. I might as well compare myself to Marilyn Monroe and be sad that I am not her. Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:19 AM (Ki5SV)

You are superior to Marilyn Monroe.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2019 09:21 AM (XzT/D)

55 Ah Creepy Comics. A guilty pleasure of my misspent youth.

Posted by: Big V at November 17, 2019 09:21 AM (B06Zw)

56 another interesting book about slavery in the South was a book used by Wofford College in the history studies. I believe the name was "The Economics of Slavery in the South". I borrowed it from a friend of mine who was going to Wofford. I guess she bought it from the college bookstore because I have not been able to find it anywhere.
Posted by: Vic at November 17, 2019 09:12 AM (mpXpK)

I found The Peculiar Institution to be an interesting look at slavery, myself.

https://tinyurl.com/tlc324f

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:21 AM (Ki5SV)

57 I read Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett. This is the second in the Demon Cycle series, following The Warded Man. Humans must still battle Corelings, monsters who rise from the ground each night; but now they must also contend with an Arab/Muslim-like tribe, the Krasians, who come swarming out of the desert to subjugate the Northern People and to use them as fodder in fighting the Corelings. The head of the desert tribe, Ahamann Jardir, believes he is the Deliverer of ancient prophecy, but the Northerns claim that it is the Warded Man who is the true Deliverer. The showdown between the two appears to be in the next book of the series, The Dayling War. I'm enjoying the series very much.

Recommended here several times recently, I read Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (Harry Hart Frank). Published in 1959 at the height of backyard underground bunkers and drop-and-hold drills in schools, the book is about surviving a nuclear attack in a small town in central Florida. The book is considered a classic in early dystopian literature. An interesting, tightly-written novel.

Posted by: Zoltan at November 17, 2019 09:22 AM (MikIT)

58 Amazon Kindle is lending 6 short story thrillers NAMELESS by Dean Koontz. They are quick reads, 1 or maybe less than an hour each book.

Posted by: Oggi at November 17, 2019 09:22 AM (Bk5Q+)

59 I read some of Tragedy and Hope about thirty years ago and remember absolutely nothing of it. Which, in a way, says a great deal about it.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:22 AM (b3VIz)

60
"Who dis?" looks like John Paul Getty.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 17, 2019 09:23 AM (7rVsF)

61 56 I found The Peculiar Institution to be an interesting look at slavery, myself.

https://tinyurl.com/tlc324f

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:21 AM (Ki5SV)

Too bad it doesn't have a cheaper Kindle version.

Posted by: Vic at November 17, 2019 09:23 AM (mpXpK)

62 I'll be back. Going to make some tea and toast.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:24 AM (Ki5SV)

63 Made a big breakfast for Dr. Mrs. T. and myself, made a proper pot of coffee, built a fire, and now I'm sitting here in my armchair reading the Book Thread while the dog gazes at me from the couch.

A good morning so far.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:25 AM (b3VIz)

64 38 Those pants are fine. I would try to get that girl out of those pants at a 70s barbecue

I DID get a girl out of pants like those at a 70s barbecue. We're still married.

Posted by: JC. Just JC. at November 17, 2019 09:25 AM (377Zs)

65 Writing Update:

I finally got some decent writing sessions in this week, but my hopes of crossing the crucial 40,000 word line were thwarted by a very loud sleepover held by my youngest daughter. Impossible to write with all that movement and racket - especially when trying to create the mood necessary for a vampire story.

Still, I seem to be on schedule and the plot is coming together. I rewrote the epic shootout on I-75 just north of the Mackinac Bridge in light of watching a Paul Harrell video on which parts of cars can stop bullets (that would be the engine).

If I can get some good brainstorming in, this week could be decisive and I'll hit my goal of the rough draft by Thanksgiving weekend.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:25 AM (cfSRQ)

66 Second the recommendation for Miracle at Midway and At Dawn We Slept

Both deal with Intelligence. Prange refutes that FDR knew about Pearl and let it happen. Our blind spot was underestimating the Japanese

"We should have known after we imposed the oil embargo"
Tom Hagen, not a wartime consigliere

Midway of course with the trap about the failed water facility

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 09:26 AM (4vWPM)

67 I'm continuing to listen to "The Silmarillion" on CD and enjoying it. I thought I might get lost in all the character and place names. I do to a degree but not as badly as I anticipated. Also, the mood and movement of the story comes through without constantly flicking back and forth through the pages trying to keep everything clear.

Once I'm done with The Silmarillion, I'll start my annual session with LOTR but on audio this time. I have the BBC 'staged' radio production but find that all the sound effects, music, and different voices distracts me from Tolkien's words. So I'm going with the Rob Inglis unabridged narration version. My only complaint is that it doesn't include the Prologue material but starts with chapter one. I'll read the intro matters as, for me, that is as much a part of the books as the story.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:28 AM (bmdz3)

68 Ha. I love Hordemind. We were just recently talking about the etymology of BBQ and how it's a regional noun vs verb.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - You don't stop lawlessness by obeying the law but by enforcing it at November 17, 2019 09:29 AM (PRN3w)

69 Are the Louis L'Amour series still considered "Classics"

Posted by: Builder Berg at November 17, 2019 09:29 AM (+Yu7u)

70 If you're a snapper and have the chance to attend a
Traditional Latin Mass, try to do so. What happens is no mystery. The
priest is saying Mass on your behalf and there are booklets with which
the ceremony can be followed and printouts of the readings of the day.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 17, 2019 09:21 AM (7rVsF)

---
I would like to do this. I know there were some in the area, but that was a while ago. I think Benedict did improve the translation, but the old-timers tell me how you could go into any church anywhere and the mass was exactly the same.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:29 AM (cfSRQ)

71 Good morning y'all!

Posted by: tbodie at November 17, 2019 09:30 AM (YxTUV)

72 I agree that those pants aren't at all egregious, but agreeable. That skirt ensemble is adorable.

Now these pants are practical:

https://tinyurl.com/yx73ajug

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:30 AM (Dc2NZ)

73 Also book and current events related:

"Then President of Mexico Vicente Fox inaugurated the library on 16 May 2006, and stated that this was one of the most advanced constructions of the 21st century, and that it would be spoken of throughout the world. This inauguration took place a week before the deadline the president had to promote his accomplishments before the 2006 presidential election.

The library had to close in March 2007 due to construction defects..."

--

I'm guessing that Mexican library was designed and built by the best and brightest.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - You don't stop lawlessness by obeying the law but by enforcing it at November 17, 2019 09:31 AM (PRN3w)

74 67
I'm continuing to listen to "The Silmarillion" on CD and enjoying it. I
thought I might get lost in all the character and place names. I do to a
degree but not as badly as I anticipated. Also, the mood and movement
of the story comes through without constantly flicking back and forth
through the pages trying to keep everything clear.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:28 AM (bmdz3)

---
Do you have the CD where Tolkien reads his works? It also has Christopher reading some of the Silmarillion. Pretty cool.

I bet the audio version is easier than the printed word because on the page Finrod, Feanor, Fingolfin, Finarfin, etc. all look very much alike but spoken they are quite distinct.

It was clearly written as an oral tale, recounted by bards.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:31 AM (cfSRQ)

75 Grannymimi, there is a Carroll Quigley, Bill Clinton, connection.

Just something to keep in mind.

Is that Vertical Run author a Hordester?

Posted by: teej at November 17, 2019 09:32 AM (B2OlB)

76 Okay, humans have been cooking meat over fires for about a million years.

Europeans certainly did a lot of cooking meat on spits or grills over fires.

So why did they need to borrow a Carib word for it? What was new and different about barbecue that it needed a new word rather than "roasting" or "spit-roasting" or something?

Was it that stoves were becoming the norm in Europe, so they needed a retronym for "cooking not on a stove"? The way we now talk about landline phones or analog recordings?

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:32 AM (b3VIz)

77 Eris, those are great pants!

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 09:33 AM (G546f)

78 Oops, I mean the guy, Hans, that tweeted about the book.

Posted by: teej at November 17, 2019 09:33 AM (B2OlB)

79 7 ... Hi Eris, I just re-read Bored of the Rings a few months ago. And yes, I still laugh, although it helps to be from the north east circa Woodstock times.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:33 AM (bmdz3)

80 It's weird how the library thread always seems to overlook the National Library of Kosovo, in Pristina. Granted, there aren't a lot of photos of the interior...let's see what I can find.

Exterior
https://tinyurl.com/s7zooc5
https://tinyurl.com/svdmaa4
https://i.___ur.com/LcPOHBG.jpg
so beautiful (retches)

Interior (that I could easily find)
https://tinyurl.com/raole8e
https://tinyurl.com/rj4rqye

It looks nice enough inside, but I don't see many books...

Posted by: Grimaldi at November 17, 2019 09:35 AM (6K3U5)

81 teej, Hans Schantz is a Moron - he shows up on the Sunday book thread once in a while.
He's also a certified nerd - physics prof at Georgia Tech, I think

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 09:36 AM (G546f)

82 Okay, humans have been cooking meat over fires for about a million years.

Europeans certainly did a lot of cooking meat on spits or grills over fires.

So why did they need to borrow a Carib word for it? What was new and different about barbecue that it needed a new word rather than "roasting" or "spit-roasting" or something?

Was it that stoves were becoming the norm in Europe, so they needed a retronym for "cooking not on a stove"? The way we now talk about landline phones or analog recordings?

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:32 AM (b3VIz)

--

I'd put my money on the word being so non-specific. The europeans (looking at you, French) probably had language reflecting techniques that were akin to "cooking on low heat on coal from a oak limbs collected in the early spring and using only the dark meat from the lower part of the bird"

vs

"Cook that. Cook ALL that."

Posted by: Moron Robbie - You don't stop lawlessness by obeying the law but by enforcing it at November 17, 2019 09:37 AM (PRN3w)

83 Second the recommendation for Miracle at Midway and At Dawn We Slept

Both deal with Intelligence. Prange refutes that FDR knew about
Pearl and let it happen. Our blind spot was underestimating the
Japanese

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 09:26 AM (4vWPM)

---
This is a pet peeve of mine.

Yes, there are conspiracies. Most large-scale acts are technically conspiracies.

Where it gets stupid is imputing a degree of ruthless efficiency to military/political actors that is simply impossible if you know anything about the culture or environment.

Instapundit linked to an article about how the Japanese "knew" the A-bomb was en route and didn't intercept it. It was only recently uncovered, or so the post argued.

But a close reading shows nothing of the sort. Okay, the Japanese figured out that there was a shadowy B-29 group doing flying that didn't seem part of the other formations. It deployed single aircraft, which was unusual.

That in and of itself wasn't enough for the military to demand everyone run to the shelters every time a plane flew overhead. The entire article ignored the fact that once raids become common enough, the leadership has to decide when to sound the alarm.

The British and Germans had the same problem. When people go to ground, nothing gets done. In short order the war effort will grind to a halt.

Japan in August 1945 had only a few unbombed cities left, so to have them voluntarily shut down work was tantamount to giving up. It wasn't a conspiracy per se, just standard decision-making during the fog of war.

The "shocking revelations" came because with the trauma of surrender and occupation, digging it up made no sense. Now, 70 years later, they an go nitpick this crap.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:37 AM (cfSRQ)

84 Those pants. Sigh. I had some blue ones just like those in the picture. 100% polyester; I can still smell and feel the fabric. Probably the only reason I didn't have the hideous plaid top is that any time of the year that it's okay to wear pastels is too hot to wear long sleeves in Texas.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at November 17, 2019 09:38 AM (S+f+m)

85 Add my thanks to Libby Sternbergs', as an indy author whose books always take a jump in sales after being noted in the book thread. It does make a huge difference, being able to actually pay a couple of bills with the royalties from a months' worth of sales (as opposed to maybe a restaurant meal!)

I looked around at my book purchases over the last couple of years, and aside from books bought because I needed them for reference for the book that I was working on at the time - just about all my pleasure reading came from recommendations and discussions from the book thread!

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at November 17, 2019 09:39 AM (xnmPy)

86 Looks like a book warehouse. How do you find anything?!

One more P. Mason, then on to something new.

BBL.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 17, 2019 09:39 AM (u/nim)

87 79 7 ... Hi Eris, I just re-read Bored of the Rings a few months ago. And yes, I still laugh, although it helps to be from the north east circa Woodstock times.
Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:33 AM (bmdz3)
---
It was dated even when I read it as a tweener, and I still loved it. It is emblazoned on my hippocampus.

"Ho ho!" chortled the narc as he stood over Moxie like some housewife sizing up a kielbasa.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:39 AM (Dc2NZ)

88 Has anyone here read "Invitation to a Beheading" by Nabokov? It usually isn't mentioned in the short list of his essential books but it surely deserves inclusion. I'm barely a quarter of the way through and am already floored by it. It's very Kafkaesque without him being aware of Franz; surely as a result of having lived through everything turning to shit in Russia and now being in Berlin in the 30s. Since young Vlad was very well read I'd think of Gogol being a major influence but this is a uniquely Nabokovian construct of some young guy, Cincinnatus, schedule to have his dome lopped off at some future date (his dickweed lawyer doesn't consider finding that out particularly important) for the crime of gnostical turpitude. Everything happens like in a dream where nothing stays constant or makes sense; in the hands of a lesser writer this could be very irritating but he makes me want to keep reading to see what happens next. Just last night Cincinnatus was reading a bound collection of a glossy magazine "published once upon a time, in a barely remembered age" and goes into various descriptions of the idealized world being presented and, even though I was a bit hammered, I was thinking how this would appear to a future reader after magazines have gone completely tits up; except for porn, there will always be porn.

This was written during a frenzied bit of writing activity by Vlad. He was already working on a larger work, The Gift, and just dashed this off in short order. His son had just been born and the economy was total shit so he obviously needed money; but this doesn't have a rushed or slapdash feeling of being written for quick cash like The Idiot by Dostoyevsky did.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 09:40 AM (y7DUB)

89 Reading Neil Postman's Entertaining Ourselves to Death, which has been on my reading list since I was young.

It's really quite good. The first half is dedicated to the exploration of the effects the medium used for information transmission in a society has on that society as a whole and the mental habits and reasoning practices of its constituent members. The impact of the spoken word, the written word and of the image are explored, and the utility of memory and the way community is construed and truth perceived as a consequence is described and evidenced.

Postman is a liberal, and it comes through at times, but he is a true professor, and his analyis and thoughts are clear and useful and mostly true. He does have a luddite strain which comes through much more strongly in his lectures than his book.

Highly recommended. Goes far beyond an analysis of television to an exploration of how we conceive and organize thought and orient to the world.

I'm also reading The Coddling of the American Mind, which I'm finding less interesting. About done, two chapters to go, might not finish. On the generous side, I would say that their contributions have been folded into the national conversation, at least among its right-thinking conversants. The book doesn't seem to add much to my understanding or even knowledgebase. Events like Brett Weinstein are examined, trends like campus speech codes and the diminishment of unstructured play are described, and explanations about the cultured fragility of modern young people are offered.

I was dissapponted because I had expected more, and greatly enjoyed the lectures from Haidt and his co-author. But perhaps I had already heard their message in those, and so the book fell short for me.

Recommended if you need a framework for understanding modern troubles or an orientation after a 20 year sleep.

Posted by: .87c at November 17, 2019 09:41 AM (TDP3i)

90 Another source of all those historical conspiracy theories is hindsight. Sure there were plenty of intelligence reports suggesting the Japanese might attack the fleet at Hawaii. But there were also reports suggesting surprise raids against the West Coast, strikes against the Panama Canal, an invasion of Alaska, invasion of Samoa, invasion of India, etc. etc. etc. You only know which reports are significant after the events. So some modern researcher goes digging into the pile of intel briefings, spies one that mentions an attack on Pearl, and says "Aha! Roosevelt knew and did nothing!"

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:41 AM (b3VIz)

91 "Ho ho!" chortled the narc as he stood over Moxie like some housewife sizing up a kielbasa.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:39 AM (Dc2NZ)

---
How about the narcs polishing the desert of Fordor with giant buffers?

Awesome.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:41 AM (cfSRQ)

92 The "shocking revelations" came because with the trauma of surrender and occupation, digging it up made no sense. Now, 70 years later, they an go nitpick this crap.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:37 AM (cfSRQ)

I call that ^^ the Evil Genius Syndrome. Made popular in a lot of movies. Somehow, if we see it in the movies that makes it true.

Posted by: tbodie at November 17, 2019 09:42 AM (YxTUV)

93 "Even if it's these pants, for which I thank my lucky stars that they're more of a turquoise color, and not lime green, or burnt orange."

*****

In junior high school in the 1970s I had a very similar clothing ensemble, except that the color scheme was pink plaid and lime green. The pants had the same wide cuffs. And the fabric was seersucker. My Mom, an accomplished seamstress, made it for me. It had a matching vest as well.

At the time, I thought it was quite the fashion statement.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at November 17, 2019 09:43 AM (NqQAS)

94 Here, I fixed your library picture:
https://___ur.com/a/Dx4PNPY

Posted by: Spamf Roming at November 17, 2019 09:45 AM (7HnEw)

95 https://___ur.com/a/Dx4PNPY

Posted by: Spamf Roming at November 17, 2019 09:45 AM (7HnEw)

96 FFS

Posted by: Spamf Roming at November 17, 2019 09:45 AM (7HnEw)

97 Use capital IMG

Posted by: Moron Robbie is a Proud Black Woman - my word as a Biden at November 17, 2019 09:46 AM (0GvUH)

98 Another source of all those historical conspiracy
theories is hindsight. Sure there were plenty of intelligence reports
suggesting the Japanese might attack the fleet at Hawaii. But there were
also reports suggesting surprise raids against the West Coast, strikes
against the Panama Canal, an invasion of Alaska, invasion of Samoa,
invasion of India, etc. etc. etc. You only know which reports are
significant after the events. So some modern researcher goes digging
into the pile of intel briefings, spies one that mentions an attack on
Pearl, and says "Aha! Roosevelt knew and did nothing!"

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:41 AM (b3VIz)

---
There's also the problem of what Clausewitz calls "friction."

I remember sitting in a briefing where our battery commander said that THIS TIME, we were going to hold the convoy together, dammit.

Nope. Total fail.

Note that this "convoy" wasn't through Fallujah, but from Lansing to Grayling on a Friday evening. Two-hour drive on the interstate.

When you add enemy action, it gets that much worse.

Pearl Harbor weirdos have to set aside the fact that you can't disperse a fleet and expect it to be a fighting force. The first step in deterrence is concentrating the fleet. Thus, the British task in both 1914 and 1939 was to call in their scattered ships on peacetime cruises or on leave and get them back to the main base.

"But Pearl Harbor was bait!"

No, it wasn't. It was the natural defensive line to protect the West Coast. Had the US concentrated on the West Coast itself, Hawaii could have been invaded without any way to defend it until after Japanese troops arrived.

It's interesting to challenge people on this, and ask them how their "simple" or "obvious" countermove would actually have worked in practice.

Spoiler alert: It wouldn't have worked.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:48 AM (cfSRQ)

99 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:25 AM (cfSRQ)

Congratulations and good work!

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:48 AM (Ki5SV)

100 That tweet was a bit misleading, OregonMuse, I thought for a second the Hans Schantz had released a new book and it wasn't about a Unified Field theory or the conspiracy to cover it up and I was taken strongly aback.

Still looking forward to the next installment of The Hidden Truth.

I also read Storm Front by Jim Butcher, first of the Dresden Files series. It was fine. Picked it up on a lark.

Read the latest Declann Finn book, which is basically Monster Hunter but Catholic.

Also read The Tempest. Had never read that before. After reading Olympos and Illium and having seen The Forbidden Planet I figured I should patch this hole in my education. I found myself underwhelmed by it and wonder if my decision to read the play without commentary was wise. I thought I was understanding everything, but didn't see any great examinations of character or morality or anything else I'd expect from Shakespeare. But most of my previous experience with the Barr was in an acqdemic or acting setting, requiring extensive analysis or at least comprehension and memorization. But I probably won't invest that kind of time now, yet didn't want the "answers" given to my by a commentary, filling my head with words by stripping the reading of the meaning and value of those concepts.

Does anyone have suggestions for a good way to engage with Shakespeare (or similar) in a meaningful, economical way?

Posted by: .87c at November 17, 2019 09:48 AM (TDP3i)

101 Absolutely recommend reading Henry G. Payne's book on the Spanish Civil War before attempting to read Orwell. You will get much more out of it.

This should be stamped in every copy of Homage to Catalonia. As I was reading it as part of the Horde group experience I was thinking "this is sucking far too much cock to be considered optimal". I doubt I was the only one thinking that, maybe even in those specific words.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 09:49 AM (y7DUB)

102 At the time, I thought it was quite the fashion statement.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at November 17, 2019 09:43 AM (NqQAS)

---
And it was!

The problem was that the statement was: "Isn't this the worst decade of fashion in the history of all mankind?"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:51 AM (cfSRQ)

103 That Mexican library looks straight out of the movie Interstellar.

Posted by: Flyover EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:51 AM (Rbu5d)

104 Thanks vmom!!
Thought maybe I recognized it but, being juuust a bit over 29, hard for me to keep track of people who don't comment much,,, like me.

Posted by: teej at November 17, 2019 09:51 AM (B2OlB)

105 I read "Vertical Run" a couple of decades ago or more.

Fun thriller and good light reading.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing
at November 17, 2019 09:51 AM (WEBkv)

106 Tolle Lege
Finished With Eagles to Glory on the French- Austrian 1809 campaign and well into Bernard Cornwall's Sharpe's Triumph. It's my truck book for lunch time and down time. They are more my line of interest than the Aubrey/ Maturin series which I really enjoyed.

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2019 09:52 AM (ZCEU2)

107 96 FFS
Posted by: Spamf Roming at November 17, 2019 09:45 AM

Yeah...weird issues with some of those links. My apologies. Maybe Pixy is trying to protect us all from ugly library images? I've verified these links now work...we'll see if Pixy allows them.

https://tinyurl.com/s74lnfk
https://tinyurl.com/vxgesr2

Posted by: Grimaldi at November 17, 2019 09:53 AM (6K3U5)

108 So, can one get cafe or a chalupa in that first floor covered arcade?

Posted by: Flyover EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:54 AM (Rbu5d)

109 >>That Mexican library looks straight out of the movie Interstellar.
Posted by: Flyover EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:51 AM (Rbu5d)

My 1st thought was the warehouse of doors in the movie Monsters Inc.

Posted by: My life is insanity at November 17, 2019 09:55 AM (Z/jzm)

110 Now, speaking of the Hermitage - this is definitely not to everyone's taste, but here is the trailer for 2002s Russian Ark:

https://tinyurl.com/vovwg88
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:12 AM (Ki5SV)

That movie has been on my list for some time, just haven't gotten around to it.

I was somewhat skeptical, seems more like a gimmick to keep focusing on the "one continuous shot" thing, so I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be, otherwise.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 09:56 AM (hku12)

111 I think I will follow A.H. Lloyd's lead and see if I can get any writing done.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 17, 2019 09:56 AM (Ki5SV)

112 53 ... Hadrian, Thanks for mentioning "Nothing Superfluous". I'll have to check into it.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:57 AM (bmdz3)

113 Thank you, OM, for the book thread (the best thread).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:57 AM (Dc2NZ)

114 I look at the pants pic and it reminds me of a story I heard long ago:

"A guy walked into a store, in San Francisco, wearing bright green bell bottom and a lime green shirt, robbed the story, walked outside and disappeared into the crowd....."

True story. However, the colors have been changed, because my memory is not that good.

Happened about the time the pants pics would have been high fashion.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing
at November 17, 2019 09:57 AM (WEBkv)

115 That Mexican library looks straight out of the movie Interstellar.
Posted by: Flyover EDKH at November 17, 2019 09:51 AM (Rbu5d)

Reminds me of a prison. Lots of interesting stuff warehoused in it, not sure how they keep track of it all.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 09:58 AM (hku12)

116 This should be stamped in every copy of Homage to
Catalonia. As I was reading it as part of the Horde group experience I
was thinking "this is sucking far too much cock to be considered
optimal". I doubt I was the only one thinking that, maybe even in those
specific words.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 09:49 AM (y7DUB)

---
I had a similar experience. I had done a little background work on it when I first read it, but it did nothing for me.

Now it all makes sense. The Aragon front was quiet, and the winter of 36-37 was mostly where both sides were reorganizing and setting the table for the coming year. The heavy fighting happened near Madrid.

Orwell alludes to the Popular Army, which was organized (and policed) by the Soviets. Naturally the militias were going to have be broken up.

If one doesn't understand the four-way split between socialists, anarchists, Stalinists and "Trotskyists" (who weren't, but that's another story), his tale is also largely gibberish.

One (surely unintentional) takeaway is how the British in particular seemed to think they could just sort of drop in a for a few months of service and then pop out in time for tea. They didn't get that this wasn't some sort of colonial juant where "gentlemen adventurers" were welcome to do a spell of service before the onset of the rainy season.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:59 AM (cfSRQ)

117 .This is why I avoid Le Carre because the things I like best about the adaptations are the cast. Even Le Carre admitted that Alec Guinness' performance as George Smiley exceeded his writing of him, and he changed the character to match Guinness' affectations.
I'm going to have to write a hate review at my web site this week just to cleanse my soul.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:17 AM (cfSRQ)

And this is why you should also avoid the recent reboot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Gary Oldman's George Smiley is basically Gary Oldman doing Alec Guinness doing George Smiley. So why do you need an imitation when you can get the real thing?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:00 AM (3Ame7)

118 And it was!

The problem was that the statement was: "Isn't this the worst decade of fashion in the history of all mankind?"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:51 AM (cfSRQ)

*****

I rate that statement as true!

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at November 17, 2019 10:00 AM (NqQAS)

119 Not a book per se, but an interesting online read for people who are into English history, alternate history, or English alternate history:

On the Alternate History Forum (alternatehistory.com) there is currently a lengthy thread in the pre-1900 forum titled "The Queen is Dead: Katherine of Aragon dies in 1518". It's written by a Brit lady who's into "Tudor fanfic" and she writes it in the style of a serial novel, posting it a chapter at a time.

Its premise is that Katherine dies while giving birth to her last baby, leaving Henry VIII a widower, free to remarry and pursue his goal of begetting a legitimate male heir. It also eliminates the "king's great matter" in the future and changes the whole landscape WRT the Church, the course of the Protestant Reformation, relations with France and other nations, etc. I found it quite interesting and it's still being updated regularly.

Posted by: Secret Square at November 17, 2019 10:01 AM (9WuX0)

120
The Spanish Civil War is a case where the losers wrote the history. The "Republicans" hoodwinked everyone into thinking they were besieged defenders of democracy instead of violent psychopathic killers.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 17, 2019 10:03 AM (7rVsF)

121 If I may…

I don't think about "supporting conservative authors" etc.

The saying goes, the Left can't meme. Likewise they can't art or story, as every film franchise murdered by social injustice engineering demonstrates.

I would no more enjoy a "conservative" agenda-driven story, pandering to all the right talking points, but lacking an intriguing plot and characters.

Similarly with non-fiction. "Conservatives" talk about history and consequences and fundamental rights. Trying to wrap my head around lefty thinking quickly feels like too many shots of tequila.

I use "Left" for convenience here, but I don't like those terms. It's not any kind of Right and Left. It's right and wrong.

Posted by: mindful webworker - si is mi at November 17, 2019 10:03 AM (5RITs)

122 Another source of all those historical conspiracy
theories is hindsight. Sure there were plenty of intelligence reportt suggesting the Japanese might attack the fleet at Hawaii. But there were
also reports suggesting surprise raids against the West Coast, strikes against the Panama Canal, an invasion of Alaska, invasion of Samoa, invasion of India, etc. etc. etc. You only know which reports are
significant after the events. So some modern researcher goes digging into the pile of intel briefings, spies one that mentions an attack on
Pearl, and says "Aha! Roosevelt knew and did nothing!"

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:41 AM (b3VIz)

This same sort of thing happens in everyday life too, and people seem oblivious to it at times. All of us.

You go to a busy restaurant and wonder why it's taking so long for the waiter to take your order. You sit in a traffic jam, and honk at the car in front of you for not moving.

We see only what we see, and think we have the whole story, and of course we don't.

I was interested in reading that article linked here yesterday, about Brennan poring over all sorts of raw "intelligence" and thinking he had the secret to the Trump/Russia conspiracy, when in fact he was driving himself nuts trying to make connections out of nothing.

People are funny.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 10:05 AM (hku12)

123 In A People's Tragedy the White Army was just defeated by the Reds. Figes makes it clear that they never really stood a chance because of their blindness of how people were unalterably opposed to going back to the old days no matter how badly Lenin's shitheads fucked things up. This harkens back to Winik's Great Upheaval when Catherine the Great called off planned liberalizing policies because she was scared shitless of what happened in the French Revolution with a world power going completely feral. Winik made it clear that the pressure kept building until Lenin took advantage of it.

The allies and even the fucking Krauts, after they facilitated Lenin like a bunch of retards, tried helping the White Russians but they were tired of war and it was pretty much swimming against the tide.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 10:05 AM (y7DUB)

124 Thanks .87c

Gonna have to look the guy up. See if I can find a blurb on The Hidden truth.
Unified Field Theory? Yeah. I'd get a slippery grasp on about 0.01% of that one.

And please, don't bother yourself on posting a link for me. Can't copy/paste on this here cheap phone.

Duck duck go for the win!!

Posted by: teej at November 17, 2019 10:05 AM (B2OlB)

125 We humans enjoy a good hoodwinking, and will pay good money for one skillfully applied.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 10:06 AM (RuIsu)

126 My wife, the lovely and gracious Annalucia, and I recently finished reading LOTR aloud to each other. I'm sure I mangled the passages in Elvish (both varieties), and I'm sure that Professor Tolkien would have winced at my Midwestern accent; but in terms of appreciating a book - and, in particular, in appreciating fine writing - nothing compares with reading it aloud. Reading great prose silently, I think, like buying a bottle of wine and then just reading the label: until you take it into your mouth, you're not really experiencing it. And yes, "Bored of the Rings" is still brilliant and hilarious. In truth, their parody "An elven maid there was of old/Stenographer by day" has made it impossible for me to read the original: the parody is much more pungent, much funnier. (Though when I first read it to my kids, I had to explain what a "stenographer" was - how times have changed!)

Posted by: Brown Line at November 17, 2019 10:06 AM (S6ArX)

127 Spoiler alert: It wouldn't have worked.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

It's like they never played axis and allies.

Posted by: Jean at November 17, 2019 10:07 AM (TT5JW)

128 hiya

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 10:07 AM (arJlL)

129 All Hail Eris #1: Surprise anal!!!!

So good to see we're rock-solidly on-topic 📘 right from the top.

Ever wonder what folks just wandering into comments for the first time make of such AoS memes? I guess it's part of the weeding process. Twisted sense of humor test.

Posted by: mindful webworker - aqua aqui por favor at November 17, 2019 10:07 AM (5RITs)

130 And this is why you should also avoid the recent reboot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Gary Oldman's George Smiley is basically Gary Oldman doing Alec
Guinness doing George Smiley. So why do you need an imitation when you
can get the real thing?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:00 AM (3Ame7)

---
Too late. My wife made me see in the theater. Huge Gary Oldman fan.

I thought it was funny how the producers tried to make England look even shabbier than it actually was. Battered brown briefcase rather than a bright gym bag in the original TV production.

I had a bag like that back in the day. Those things were everywhere. Much less conspicuous than a battered leather briefcase.

Laurie was wasted. Loki was wasted. The chick was right out of a 30s movie - the moll with the heart of gold. It was cliche piled upon cliche with a large dollop of moral scolding.

So very, very stupid.

Here's the thing: if Le Carre wants to get all moralistic, there's an obvious thing for him to do other than the arms trade.

Human trafficking.

It's a huge problem, we know charities are doing it, but of course no one wants to talk about that, do they Mr. Fierce Truth-Teller. No, let's click our tongues at how AWFUL it is that guns are being sold somewhere and ignore the fact that....(takes deep breath)

NO ONE NEEDS TO IMPORT GUNS ANY MORE.

Egypt makes its own AKs. So does Sudan. So does anyone who wants to! This notion that absent the US and UK, somehow terrorists would lose access to toys is ludicrous.

Even dumber is the concept that you can buy F-15s (!#?) on the black market.

Uh, suuuuuure you can. Stupid beyond belief. In need to stop before I burst a vein.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 10:08 AM (cfSRQ)

131 Fun and interesting forum on "Ian Fleming vs. John Le Carre" (with some good actors doing the narrations). LeCarre is generally considered more erudite and highbrow, but you might be surprised how well Fleming's descriptive passages and human insights hold up.

https://tinyurl.com/sfky3c7

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 10:10 AM (H8QX8)

132 Reading a sci fi trilogy by Walter Jon Williams called Dread Empire's Fall, consisting of:

Praxis
The Sundering
Conventions of War

Just about finished with Conventions of War, then I will start the first book of his follow-up (planned) trilogy called The Accidental War, just published last year.

Very, very good series so far.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 17, 2019 10:12 AM (bQngX)

133 "Bored of the Rings" is still brilliant and hilarious. In truth, their parody "An elven maid there was of old/Stenographer by day" has made it impossible for me to read the original: the parody is much more pungent, much funnier. (Though when I first read it to my kids, I had to explain what a "stenographer" was - how times have changed!)
Posted by: Brown Line at November 17, 2019 10:06 AM (S6ArX)

One of the great parodies of all time. Bluntly and hilariously silly as it is clever.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 10:13 AM (H8QX8)

134 ✥
Romantic couple emerging from book:

He had only intended for her to be a footnote in his life, a short chapter at most. He never expected it to be a binding affair.

But after he confessed his abiding devotion to her, he died from a ruptured appendix.

Posted by: mindful webworker - libre libre yeehaw at November 17, 2019 10:13 AM (5RITs)

135
Who dis? Grand Moff Tarkin

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at November 17, 2019 10:16 AM (nEmT7)

136 I also want to note that Hogmartin was taken aback by how many books I have. Aghast. Amazed.

Like I have a problem or something.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 10:16 AM (Dc2NZ)

137 Fulminating against "arms merchants" lets you blame Third World violence on wealthy Western countries, which is something a lot of people wish to believe.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 10:17 AM (b3VIz)

138 Prange refutes that FDR knew about
Pearl and let it happen. Our blind spot was underestimating the Japanese

Father Hate used to get the American Legion magazine and I picked up a random copy one day and started reading exactly about that. To an impressionable young mind it was "holy fucking shit" fare. I think I even mentioned it to my dad and he kind of gave me a you can't believe everything someone might write and it doesn't change what happened anyway. I thought that was a measured response since I knew he thought Saint Delano was a gimp pile of shit and borderline commie.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 10:17 AM (y7DUB)

139 Admiral Chiuchi Naguma
Robert Steward, Viscount Castlereagh
Hannibal Barca
Marcus Pocius Cato Minor
Jeffrey Epstein

One of these things is not like the others
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing is not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed Epstein is not like the others
Then you're absolutely....right!

Posted by: Eeyore at November 17, 2019 10:17 AM (ZbwAu)

140
g'mornin, 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2019 10:17 AM (IBlr5)

141 9/11 was like Pearl Harbor in that they were both hiding in plain sight in a plethora of possibilities

With 9/11 we had the added problem that the CIA couldn't talk to the FBI about true matters of national security concern. Thank you Jamie Gorelick, peace be unto her

My pet theory is that because the CIA couldn't talk to the FBI, they went to Bush 43 the month before to tell him that a bin Laden attack was imminent in the hopes that he'd go to the FBI. The light bulb didn't go off

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 10:18 AM (4vWPM)

142 I've spent a lot of time this week on the internet researching various aspects of handloading ammo. The basics are simple enough but I've been checking into specific calibers for specific purposes, substituting one powder for another, and a bunch of other matters. It's an important part of the hobby for me and a lot of fun.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 10:18 AM (bmdz3)

143 I thought that was a measured response since I knew he thought Saint Delano was a gimp pile of shit and borderline commie.
---
There's no hate like Captain Hate hate. Bravo.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 10:18 AM (Dc2NZ)

144 "Second Guessing History" would be one thick read.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 10:21 AM (RuIsu)

145
Politician books: anybody have a recommendation on books about Putin? I know quite a bit about him, but I'd like to know more, as he's he's one of a handful of interesting Russian autocrats.

The Russian people are easy to rule, because they will usually obey, even if they hate you. But it's an exceptionally dangerous country to rule, because of its eternal boyar class and it's bottomless capacity for treachery.

The rare leader who can command the obedience of the ruling class and the love of the people simultaneously is rare.

So I'm looking for a deep dive - I know the high points of the political story, so I want a detailed account of that, but I also want a picture of who this intensely private man is as a person.

And I want to read an objective account - I know he's a thug. I don't need some politicized, Putin-is-a-monster agitprop screed.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 10:21 AM (5aX2M)

146 I also want to note that Hogmartin was taken aback by how many books I have. Aghast. Amazed.

Like I have a problem or something.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 10:16 AM (Dc2NZ)

Impressed, maybe. Shamed, even.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2019 10:21 AM (t+qrx)

147 Fulminating against "arms merchants" lets you blame
Third World violence on wealthy Western countries, which is something a
lot of people wish to believe.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 10:17 AM (b3VIz)

----
Yes, but there's also something to be said for drop-dead stupidity.

Example: Our main character is a British Army vet with two tours in Iraq. This is supposed to make him competent and sympathetic, I guess. Also a true, altruistic patriot.

It also makes him stupid, because when he gets the arms guide, the movie shows his brow furrowing in horror at standard-issue weapons like rocket launchers. Oh, the horror! He never knew how *deadly* these awful things were.

There's also a page showing "sarin gas." Yeah, nerve agent. Literally everyone in every Western military gets fully briefed on this crap, but no, they have Hiddleston read it like it's the Necronomicon and he's found an elemental evil he never dreamed of! Ia! Ia! C'thulhu f'thgan!

*I'm talking about The Night Manager TV adaptation for those trying to keep up. I've changed topics quite a bit.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 10:22 AM (cfSRQ)

148 Ignoramus - yeah those were good times, under Barky of course the FBI and CIA conspired together to start a soft coup.

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2019 10:22 AM (ZCEU2)

149 My pet theory is that because the CIA couldn't talk to the FBI, they went to Bush 43 the month before to tell him that a bin Laden attack was imminent in the hopes that he'd go to the FBI. The light bulb didn't go off
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 10:18 AM (4vWPM)

Or, as has been said, some lower level Fibbers got wind of these expired visa guys who might be up to something, they sent it up the chain, and the bosses ignored it, because they were too busy looking for the next Timothy McVeigh and/or Randy Weaver.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 10:23 AM (hku12)

150 Impressed, maybe. Shamed, even.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2019 10:21 AM (t+qrx)

---
The shame is part of the kink.

Or so I've heard.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 10:24 AM (cfSRQ)

151 134
Romantic couple emerging from book:

==

those are characters from the tv series Outlander, based on the books by Diana Gabaldon

the books are quite good! the series is almost as good

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 10:25 AM (G546f)

152 *I'm talking about The Night Manager TV adaptation for those trying to keep up. I've changed topics quite a bit.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 10:22 AM (cfSRQ)

John Le Carre again.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 10:25 AM (H8QX8)

153 And I want to read an objective account - I know he's a thug. I don't need some politicized, Putin-is-a-monster agitprop screed.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 10:21 AM (5aX2M)

No Putin recommendations, but Robert Massie's book on Pete the Great is a fine tale of what you are referring to, the rare giant (literally and figuratively) who can both rule in a hive of treachery, and an apparent love for his people.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 10:27 AM (hku12)

154 I look forward to the illustrations OM includes each week. They are delightful. Thanks, OM for them and the whole thread. It is a highlight of my week.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 10:28 AM (bmdz3)

155 books by conservative authors must not be allowed to deteriorate into some sort of mirror___ 'woke' thing and purity enforcement where all the right boxes have to be checked in order for a book to be accepted. This is what the left does, and we don't want any sort of rigidly enforced ideological requirements
_________

Absolutely true. I recall C S Lewis made a similar point about Christian writing.

But I'm not too worried about it. One thing I realized in the 60s is that "conservatism" is simply not an ideology, but a constellation of very different views. We differ from one another far too much for that. Rand and Chambers and Jaffa and Kendall made for a very various group. (It's a shame Kendall died after writing only a few chapters of his "Sages" book.)

In fact, one of the pre-2016 problems I had with NR - the reason I stopped subscribing - was the increasing uniformity of opinion, under the name of "fusionism". And I note that the worst offenders there have mostly gone full Never Trump. And those who didn't were the dissenters, Straussians, Thomists, Burkeans, even the older sort of libertarians and neocons have held out.

(Yes, necons. Look at Norman Podhoretz.)

Posted by: Eeyore at November 17, 2019 10:29 AM (ZbwAu)

156 143 >> My theory is that the CIA knew there were subversives in country but figured it was a domestic issue. The FBI was just spectacularly incompetent in following up on what should have been an apparent (although seemingly separate) terror cell.

When it went down, it was an order of magnitude worse than either agency ever expected and the CIA pointed the finger at GW and the FBI, citing policy and procedure. The fact that the FBI escorted key Saudis to the airport to waiting planes indicates to me that they knew who was responsible as soon as it happened.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at November 17, 2019 10:29 AM (hkouz)

157 Saw Midway. Its good. Slow in slow the second act

Doolittle is in it. Someone says he's the best pilot in the world. Had broken air speed records. FFS he invented instrument flying. Rattled the Japanese Empire by doing the impossible. MacArthur then banished him to the European theater

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 10:30 AM (4vWPM)

158 Posted by: Builder Berg at November 17, 2019 09:20 AM (+Yu7u)

Just for clarification, this is not me. But we do see each other at the secret meetings. Oops, forget I said that.

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at November 17, 2019 10:30 AM (qc+VF)

159 Biblioteca Vasconcelos, Mexico City, Mexico

Murph!
Murph!

Posted by: Cooper at November 17, 2019 10:30 AM (aS1PU)

160 Gonna drop this here before I go.

At yesterday evening winery gig a gal commented to the bass player - "You guys sound great. I can't believe you can play all of that without any sheet music."

Heh, good thing I'm the drummer. My music reading ability is F, A, C, E and E, G, B, D, F.
Even then my lips move.
Wish I could post a pic of the place I took while on break.
Seats 90.
Gig was 4 - 7.
By ten after four it was SRO.

Have a great one!!

Posted by: teej at November 17, 2019 10:30 AM (B2OlB)

161 Why is there a horrific giant Lovcraftian horror sitting in the middle of the stairs towards the back of the library??

Posted by: notofthebody at November 17, 2019 10:30 AM (pMTKZ)

162 That's like a Sing Sing for books.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 09:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

Looks like the Galactic Federation Lockup

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2019 10:31 AM (1glZx)

163 That's like a Sing Sing for books.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

Well, if you insist......

"Aunt Jemima waffles without her syrup

Is like a tranny without his balls

There's only one thing worse

In this universe

Epstein didn't kill himself AT ALL !

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 10:32 AM (arJlL)

164 Could be that busting Italians and Irish was the approved route to promotion in the FBI.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 10:32 AM (RuIsu)

165 How about giving a list of conservative (accurate,true) history books for children? Christmas is coming up I'd like to get some for grandkids.

Posted by: Rick9911 at November 17, 2019 10:33 AM (kYa/C)

166 36 I just finished a really fun book: _The Book of Swindles_, by Zhang Yingyu (translated by Christopher Rea and Bruce Rusk). It was written around the time of the Jamestown colony, and it's a compendium of con games and dodges in Ming China.

Highly recommended.
Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 09:13 AM (b3VIz)
__________

Given my fondness for Judge Dee, I'll have to check that out. Most of the Dee plots were from Ming originals.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 17, 2019 10:33 AM (ZbwAu)

167 Same thing with watching "Christian" movies. Hard to endure. The most impressively Christian movie I've ever seen was "Henry Poole is Here," written and directed by some old-school liberals. How did it happen? Not sure, but that they saw it as a compelling story, and they were right.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 10:34 AM (H8QX8)

168 Looking for the race schedule and seeing start of Snuffy, what a Leftist tool, listening to him its a wonder Trump hasn't been impeached already.

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2019 10:34 AM (ZCEU2)

169
So that is where G.M warehouses it's cheap replacemnt parts for it's Mexican built NoVas!

a cheerless vertical rat maze of a "building" they must have hired a charmless Finnish Architect...bring back the Aztec guys.....................any books on CARTELS Oh they are ALL OUT.

Posted by: saf at November 17, 2019 10:34 AM (5IHGB)

170 Eeyore: a couple of the cases make reference to a famous Judge Bao. Same guy?

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 10:34 AM (b3VIz)

171 Saw Midway. Its good. Slow in slow the second act
Posted by: Ignoramus

Hey, I finally saw it yesterday too! I've been reading the Ian Toll/James F? books (I'm wrapping up Flood Tide) and really wanted a good movie of Midway. Still too much human interest nonsense, but far superior to the 80's version with Chuck Heston.

Posted by: Moon Moon Blutarski at November 17, 2019 10:35 AM (VNfwt)

172 Mentioned recently, but I'd love to see a realistic story (book, movie, play) about D-day from the perspective of four or five women who have never met but whose lives are tied together from history coming to a sharp point on that morning.

Nurses, moms, girl friends, French women who react as the same.

A true story about girl power.

Posted by: Moron Robbie is a Proud Black Woman - my word as a Biden at November 17, 2019 10:35 AM (0GvUH)

173 136 I also want to note that Hogmartin was taken aback by how many books I have. Aghast. Amazed.

Like I have a problem or something.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 17, 2019 10:16 AM (Dc2NZ)

Heh. We've seen your library. I posted the pics.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:36 AM (3Ame7)

174 MacArthur then banished him to the European theater-

-
He was made head of the Eighth Air Force and bombed Germany to its knees.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 10:36 AM (+y/Ru)

175
Back from a constitutional with the lovely and lively Mrs naturalfake.

Now to wander upthread and see what I missed.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2019 10:38 AM (kauXV)

176 161 Why is there a horrific giant Lovcraftian horror sitting in the middle of the stairs towards the back of the library??

Posted by: notofthebody at November 17, 2019 10:30 AM (pMTKZ)

Forget it, Jake. It's Mexico.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:38 AM (3Ame7)

177 Same thing with watching "Christian" movies. Hard to
endure. The most impressively Christian movie I've ever seen was "Henry
Poole is Here," written and directed by some old-school liberals. How
did it happen? Not sure, but that they saw it as a compelling story, and
they were right.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 10:34 AM (H8QX

---
"Risen" is very good. Watched it several times and enjoy it.

The portrayal of the apostles is wonderful - just spaced out, tripping, can't believe what they've been through.

See also: Charlton Heston, "Ben Hur." "Quo Vadis" is also solid.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 10:41 AM (cfSRQ)

178 He was made head of the Eighth Air Force and bombed Germany to its knees.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 10:36 AM (+y/Ru)

When the P-51 was introduced as a bomber escort, he gave to order to not just hang with the bombers but also go out and pursue the Germans before they could get to the bombers.

Posted by: DR.WTF at November 17, 2019 10:41 AM (aS1PU)

179 Actually the miniseries was more subtle

Posted by: gaius martius at November 17, 2019 10:42 AM (hMlTh)

180 52
Then I started a re-read of "Three Men In A Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome. This must be the third time I've read it and I still laugh out loud at the same sections. The dead pan delivery of the humor and silliness adds to the comedy. I wonder if it was an influence on PG Wodehouse and Cleveland Amory.
Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 09:20 AM (bmdz3)
_______

Have you tried his sequel, Three Men on a Bummel (or On Wheels). About a bicycle trip in Germany. Just as funny. There's a great chapter on German Law.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 17, 2019 10:44 AM (ZbwAu)

181 I'm intrigued by how the Cabal came together. It wasn't just "the FBI conspired with the CIA." Many of the actors met in the aftermath of 9/11 and developed personal relationships. Much of it was a tight small circle

Sztrok was the go-to errand boy. He can give up a lot, if he sings

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 10:45 AM (4vWPM)

182
Has anyone here read "Invitation to a Beheading" by Nabokov?

I have, Captain Hate.

Once upon a time, when I was reading all things Nabokov,

it was one of my faves of his.

As you say, Kafkaesque but with a unique flavor, probably from Gogol. Maybe influenced by someone like Andre Biely (and his masterwork, "St Petersburg").

It's been so long though that I don't remember it in detail, so...........Yay! I get to read it again.*

*I can't stand rereading where I know everything that coming. My rereads are few and far between.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2019 10:45 AM (kauXV)

183 I noticed that Midway was produced with Chinese money. Now, if Netflix and it's Korean and Chinese language movies have taught me anything, it's that the Koreans and Chinese absolutely HATE the Japanese. Therefore, the Japanese were not portrayed in a particularly sympathetic manner. I didn't expect that.

Posted by: Moon Moon Blutarski at November 17, 2019 10:46 AM (VNfwt)

184 Saw Midway. It's worth the admission. Only two thoughts. First, it could of been 10 minutes longer just to flesh out the earlier actions.
Two, the costumes SUCKED. Horrible fitting, dirty, wrinkled. I have pictures of my ol man at Pearl Harbor and no one was that sloppy.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 17, 2019 10:46 AM (axyOa)

185 How about giving a list of conservative (accurate,true) history books for children? Christmas is coming up I'd like to get some for grandkids.
Posted by: Rick9911 at November 17, 2019 10:33 AM (kYa/C)

---------

Paul Johnson:

History of The Jews
History of Christianity
History of the American People
Churchill
Napoleon: A Life
Intellectuals
Modern Times

All of these are good, and there are many more, but the last is indispensable. Get a newer edition, as it includes updates for the end of the cold war.

Now, also - Shirer was a socialist, but he does his best to keep it out of his straight historical works, and he was a moderate socialist of the old school, so this stuff is right-wing propaganda by modern standards because it sticks to the facts:

The Collapse of the Third Republic
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The Nightmare Years
The Sinking of the Bismarck

For a less objective, more personal account, Berlin Diary.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 10:46 AM (5aX2M)

186 OT but amusing. Pete Buttguy give himself surprise anal.

https://bit.ly/33XQJOW

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 10:47 AM (+y/Ru)

187 170 Eeyore: a couple of the cases make reference to a famous Judge Bao. Same guy?
Posted by: Trimegistus at November 17, 2019 10:34 AM (b3VIz)
_______

Different guy. There is a Chinese tradition of mysteries, in which (according to Van Gulik's end notes) the judges are interchangeable. He chose Dee because he was the most famous.

Dee was an actual 7th C magistrate. I think Bao (or Pao) came later. The best of the Van Gulik ones is a straight translation (Celebrated Cases Solved by Judge Dee), but the earlier ones are all good. You can tell them by the titles; they are all "The Chinese X Mystery". Later, the quality falls off.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 17, 2019 10:47 AM (ZbwAu)

188 "Risen" is very good. Watched it several times and enjoy it.
The portrayal of the apostles is wonderful - just spaced out, tripping, can't believe what they've been through.

See also: Charlton Heston, "Ben Hur." "Quo Vadis" is also solid.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 10:41 AM (cfSRQ)

http://www.christiancinema.com. Pay-per-view Christian movies. The quality ranges from pretty bad to OK. Sometimes I get tired of the nihilism of mainstream movies and want to take a break and eatch something where my values are affirmed.

For example, dramas based around the evils of human trafficking. Not gun running. The one we watched, Priceless, was actually one of the better Christian movies we had seen.

Has there been a mainstream movie about the trafficking of sex slaves?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:50 AM (3Ame7)

189 Has there been a mainstream movie about the human trafficking of sex slaves?

How about movies funded by the human trafficking of sex slaves?

Posted by: the Disney Corporation at November 17, 2019 10:52 AM (ykYG2)

190 Love that Mayor Pete is surging. He only has limited appeal, mostly in places that are already Deep Blue. He's box office poison elsewhere

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 10:52 AM (4vWPM)

191 In the last coupla weeks I read the latest Reacher novel, Blue Moon, by Lee Child.

OwoooooOOOOOOOOOO !

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 10:52 AM (arJlL)

192
Has there been a mainstream movie about the trafficking of sex slaves?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:50 AM

a documentary about Hollywood?

Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2019 10:53 AM (IBlr5)

193 pursue the Germans before they could get to the bombers.

And after, all the way back to their bases. He knew he needed to kill the pilots.

Posted by: Jean at November 17, 2019 10:53 AM (TT5JW)

194 Taken. It was a French production, not Hollywood, which is why it's Harsh

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 10:53 AM (4vWPM)

195 Stock pics from Kenya?
Now that's funny.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 10:53 AM (RuIsu)

196 Paul Johnson:
History of The Jews
History of Christianity
History of the American People
Churchill
Napoleon: A Life
Intellectuals
Modern Times

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 10:46 AM (5aX2M)

All of these are good, but the request was for history books specifically for children. Regrettably, I don't think these qualify.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:53 AM (3Ame7)

197 @158
My golden baby was overcooked

Posted by: Builder Berg at November 17, 2019 10:54 AM (0VhWt)

198 Has there been a mainstream movie about the trafficking of sex slaves?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious

Taken

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 10:54 AM (5aX2M)

199 I just reread "Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare: From the Bounty to Safety 4,162 Miles Across the Pacific in a Rowing Boat."

An amazing story. The title alone should entice you. Trust me on this one.

Posted by: Nurse ratched at November 17, 2019 10:54 AM (PkVlr)

200 Thanks OM for the book thread. All I can say about that library is it looks ugly as hell and, being in Mexico, will never see me darken its door.

I think what Pearl Harbor conspiracy theorists miss is that had the Navy and Air Corps, with Roosevelt directing, would've had every fighter in the air ready to go. Every bomber loaded and set, the PBY's out looking and every AA gun cocked and locked. A failed attack on the islands would've been as much a declaration of war as the successful attack was.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at November 17, 2019 10:54 AM (Tt761)

201 Love that Mayor Pete is surging. He only has limited appeal, mostly in places that are already Deep Blue. He's box office poison elsewhere
Posted by: Ignoramus

He polls below actual slave overseers amount black males

Posted by: Jean at November 17, 2019 10:54 AM (TT5JW)

202 Oh. Great pants.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 17, 2019 10:55 AM (axyOa)

203 Saw Midway. It's worth the admission. Only two thoughts. First, it could of been 10 minutes longer just to flesh out the earlier actions.
Two, the costumes SUCKED. Horrible fitting, dirty, wrinkled. I have pictures of my ol man at Pearl Harbor and no one was that sloppy.

-
Critics hated it. The only reason I can figure is that the US is presented as the good guys and there are no trannies, homos, or other exalted creatures leading the way.

I don't quite know why, having seen many WWII planes in real life and having seen many in movies, but for some reason the planes struck me as very primitive, much when I watch WWI movies.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 10:55 AM (+y/Ru)

204 You Were Never Really Here isn't exactly mainstream but a human trafficking/pedo ring is a big part of the plot.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 10:56 AM (NWiLs)

205 All of these are good, but the request was for history books specifically for children. Regrettably, I don't think these qualify.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 10:53 AM (3Ame7)

-------

Sure they do. They're written for a broad audience, and I read them as a kid. A kid won't get everything - they'll need to read them again later, but they'll want to.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 10:56 AM (5aX2M)

206 198 Has there been a mainstream movie about the trafficking of sex slaves?

there is a Russian one. it's absolutely devastating - let me look it up. I think came out late 90s or early aughts, named after the girl - Lilya 4 Ever or something

Posted by: BlackOrchid..A.E.D.K.H. at November 17, 2019 10:57 AM (Rarvo)

207 Ds Impeachment argument is based on Trump improperly trying to get dirt on the Bidens

Wait for the reveal that Joe and Hunter are crooked as fuck. My bet is that it happens in the must see Senate trial

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 10:57 AM (4vWPM)

208 184 Saw Midway. It's worth the admission. Only two thoughts. First, it could of been 10 minutes longer just to flesh out the earlier actions.
Two, the costumes SUCKED. Horrible fitting, dirty, wrinkled. I have pictures of my ol man at Pearl Harbor and no one was that sloppy.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 17, 2019 10:46 AM (axyOa)

That doesn't actually seem too off the mark, especially so early in the war.

I haven't seen it yet, but did they have a few folks mixed in there wearing "grays" amongst all the khakis? It was an Ernest King thing - he was trying to change out khaki to gray, and there was a mix for a couple of years. Didn't take.

If that was in there, the moviemakers did their homework.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at November 17, 2019 10:57 AM (0eE0g)

209 Has there been a mainstream movie about the trafficking of sex slaves?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader,

Mira Sorvino did one years ago. Not sure if was made for tv though

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 10:58 AM (G546f)

210
I checked. I haven't bought a book, paper or electronic, since October.

Wow. I picked up an old textbook, *Linear Operator Theory* by Naylor and Sell and consequently realized I am no smarter than I was 30 years ago. :^(

Most recently accessed books on this kindle app are *El Principe de la Niebla* (still), a fluffy fun-read by Ilona Andrews, and *Introduction to Kettlebells* by Pat Flynn. In other words, no progress at all on the "New Reading Habit I am Not Embarrassed By" program.

I did buy my third copy of *Pirates of Penzance* DVD (Kevin Kline!), so that's a plus.

Posted by: sinmi at November 17, 2019 10:59 AM (A5IVt)

211 I did buy my third copy of *Pirates of Penzance* DVD (Kevin Kline!), so that's a plus.
Posted by: sinmi at November 17, 2019 10:59 AM (A5IVt)

That's a great production.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 10:59 AM (NWiLs)

212 Lilya 4-Ever

I'm linking in my nic. It's EXCELLENT. Absolutely heartbreaking.

I also think tangentially Tigers Are Not Afraid is about human trafficking but Lilya is directly the story of a girl who ends up being trafficked out of Estonia

Posted by: BlackOrchid..A.E.D.K.H. at November 17, 2019 11:00 AM (Rarvo)

213 If that was in there, the moviemakers did their homework.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer

I don't remember that. A quibble I have is the actor who portrayed Dick Best is a Brit. A Brit who has not mastered the Yank accent.

Posted by: Moon Moon Blutarski at November 17, 2019 11:00 AM (VNfwt)

214 Charity begins at home.

Al Sharpton Gets $1M In Pay From His Own Charity, Tax Filings Show

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:00 AM (+y/Ru)

215 I was reading ZOO by James Patterson/Michael Ledwidge.

Some parts of the book are riveting.

Other parts, I' like to reach into the book and SMACK the protagonist for being an oblivious lunkhead.

I haven't finished it yet, but I suspect its gonna have one of them "Dead guy on a dictaphone endings"

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 11:00 AM (arJlL)

216 I'd call those books 5th grade+ (if the kid is interested in history).

If they're not, and you're trying to get them interested, something more "fun" might be in order.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:01 AM (5aX2M)

217 How about giving a list of conservative (accurate,true) history books for children? Christmas is coming up I'd like to get some for grandkids.

-

We were fortunate to find the entire Enrichment of America series by Carpenter at a library sale for $5. It is a history of each state into modern times (at the time the late 60s). It's matter of fact and doesn't include modern sensitivies. It was probably a 5th grade level series at the time but would be a 10th grade book now.

The individual states are on eBay for $5 or so. Might be worth finding yours.

Posted by: Moron Robbie is a Proud Black Woman - my word as a Biden at November 17, 2019 11:01 AM (0GvUH)

218 Pope Francis Considers Introducing 'Sin Against Ecology' To Church's Catechism

-
Thou shalt not doubt climate change.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (+y/Ru)

219 DJT knew/knows how crooked BidenCorp is. The "investigation" was not based on a tabloid grade hunch.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (RuIsu)

220 FWIW, I have just started rereading "The Odyssey" after more than 29 years. So far, it is as good as I remember. My only minor complaint is that the translation I'm reading uses Roman god names and Odysseus is called Ulysses.

Posted by: DR.WTF at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (aS1PU)

221 Oh. Great pants.

"Do these pants make my boobs look small ?"

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 11:03 AM (arJlL)

222 I guess 5th grade and up is considered "YA," though, huh? That didn't used to be its own category, so I forget about it.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:03 AM (5aX2M)

223 218 Pope Francis Considers Introducing 'Sin Against Ecology' To Church's Catechism

-
Thou shalt not doubt climate change.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (+y/Ru)

That sounds like a violation of the first commandment. Maybe the second as well.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 11:04 AM (NWiLs)

224 Has there been a mainstream movie about the trafficking of sex slaves?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious

Taken
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 10:54 AM (5aX2M)

There are dozens of these movies, and I can't see the point of watching a fictional drama, when there are also several very very good documentaries on the subject.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 11:04 AM (hku12)

225 184 Saw Midway. It's worth the admission. Only two thoughts. First, it could of been 10 minutes longer just to flesh out the earlier actions.
Two, the costumes SUCKED. Horrible fitting, dirty, wrinkled. I have pictures of my ol man at Pearl Harbor and no one was that sloppy.
Posted by: Diogenes at November 17, 2019
~~~
Truth. While watching some movie on the tube (early 70s), tho the crew was in tee-shirts and shorts cleaning the ship, the scene had (two or three) officers walking from the ship to pier, my Old Salt father commented on their attire 'They'd never get away with dress like that in port'.

Posted by: socalcon at November 17, 2019 11:04 AM (Roy2Z)

226 Past 100 and I am not finished with any books recently. However:

Ayn Rand did not like libertarians, however libertarian thought does look to Ayn Rand and objectivism.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2019 11:04 AM (1glZx)

227 Love that Mayor Pete is surging. He only has limited appeal, mostly in places that are already Deep Blue. He's box office poison elsewhere

Posted by: Ignoramus

--

Large numbers of blacks are openly saying they won't vote for him because he's gay.

(pops popcorn, wonders why that movie never seems to start)

Posted by: Moron Robbie - You don't stop lawlessness by obeying the law but by enforcing it at November 17, 2019 11:04 AM (PRN3w)

228 A couple of notes on You Were Never Really Here. If you like Joaquin Phoenix, you need to see it. It's also very dark.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 11:05 AM (NWiLs)

229 I don't remember that. A quibble I have is the actor who portrayed Dick Best is a Brit. A Brit who has not mastered the Yank accent.
Posted by: Moon Moon Blutarski at November 17, 2019 11:00 AM (VNfwt)

Damian Lewis' accent slips a few times playing Dick Winters. It's a heck of a job, though.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2019 11:06 AM (t+qrx)

230 There are dozens of these movies, and I can't see the point of watching a fictional drama, when there are also several very very good documentaries on the subject.
Posted by: BurtTC at November 17

------

What's one you'd recommend?

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:06 AM (5aX2M)

231 Alas, vmom, I'm not a physics professor at Georgia Tech, but my nerd credentials are secure in my current position as the Principal Scientist of the Geeks and Nerds Corporation.

I strongly concur with 0.87c's comment that Declan Finn's St. Tommy stories are like a Catholic version of Monster Hunter, but you don't have to be Catholic to enjoy them.

There are a number of great stories in Moron-author Daniel Humphrey's Places Beyond the Wild anthology. Humphreys has reworked the zombie genre, writing stories about heroic survivors banding together to overcome existential threats. My contribution, "Timeline Zulu" is more of a SF/mystery/procedural in a Hidden Truth, Z-Day crossover universe. My hero, Pete Burdell, and his alternate timeline twin team up to figure out what's going on, and they marshal the resources of the multiverse to try to fix the zombie outbreak. I hope it will help Hidden Truth fans hold out until I can get Book 4, A Hell of an Engineer done.

I'll second Libby Sternberg's thanks for the support of the Ace of Spades HQ Blog and the Moron Horde who follow the recommendations and check out the indie authors Oregon Muse and the Horde recommend. It's made a huge difference in my writing career getting the boost this blog provides. Thank you all.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at November 17, 2019 11:07 AM (FXjhj)

232
So my burnt umber herringbone golf plus fours are chicken liver ? Well there are a few stains here & THERE!!! FORE.....

where are the HOT mehican Libraribimbos por favor or por whateffer???

Posted by: saf at November 17, 2019 11:07 AM (5IHGB)

233 Damian Lewis' accent slips a few times playing Dick Winters. It's a heck of a job, though.
Posted by: hogmartin

Oh, heck, yes. I remember watching it for the first time and I had no idea he wasn't American. I thought, "where's this guy been? He's good".

Posted by: Moon Moon Blutarski at November 17, 2019 11:08 AM (VNfwt)

234 216 I'd call those books 5th grade+ (if the kid is interested in history).
If they're not, and you're trying to get them interested, something more "fun" might be in order.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:01 AM (5aX2M)

Right. "Kid" is a bit ambiguous. It can be anyone from age 4 or 5 to age 16 or 17. So the Paul Johnson books you suggested would be fine for the upper range, perhaps not so much for the lower.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 11:08 AM (3Ame7)

235 That Mayor Pete movie will start in South Carolina

Deval Patrick is a dark horse if Biden implodes

He's on with Chuck Todd who has open disdain

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 11:09 AM (4vWPM)

236 180n... "Have you tried his sequel, Three Men on a Bummel (or On Wheels). About a bicycle trip in Germany. Just as funny. There's a great chapter on German Law."

eeyore, I haven't read that one yet or the "Thoughts of an Idel Fellow. I may just order a good paper version with all three. If the other two books are half as fun as "In a Boat", they will be winners.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 11:09 AM (bmdz3)

237 I still remember the interview with the agent who let in Atta et al. to their flight at Logan. His first thought was "that's a terrorist" and then he chided himself for racism, etc. He was just sick at his part in 9/11. I hope he is okay.

Posted by: PJ at November 17, 2019 11:09 AM (qlTN9)

238 I know Rush Limbaugh did a series of Am. Hist. books for *small* children too young for Johnson or Shirer, that were well received.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:09 AM (5aX2M)

239 Same thing with watching "Christian" movies. Hard to endure. The most impressively Christian movie I've ever seen was "Henry Poole is Here," written and directed by some old-school liberals. How did it happen? Not sure, but that they saw it as a compelling story, and they were right.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 17, 2019 10:34 AM (H8QX

Yeah, that's the thing. If you set out to write a "conservative" and/or "Christian" movie/novet/etc.

And that's your goal.

Well, you can succeed regardless of how interesting or compelling the story is.

Look at the new "Charlie's Angels" - a complete progressive fymynyst success!

As entertainment? Not so much.

Same dealio as "clapter" comedians.

My personal theory is that characters and story always take precedence over "message" or philosophy, politics, etc.

Message, philosophy, and politics are all big boys, they don't need to be lallygagging and free-loading on my prose. Thank you very much.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2019 11:10 AM (kauXV)

240 Hadrian the VIIth, thank you for the rec of Nothing Superfluous by Fr. James Jackson.

Dr. Scott Hahn is a great source of writings explaining Catholic practices and doctrine and he does an excellent job of connecting both the Old Testament and New Testament to the Mass.

An excellent read is The Fourth Cup, by Dr. Hahn. Explains how Jesus' acceptance of the bitter wine from the hyssop branch while on the Cross just before He died was His drinking of the fourth cup of wine of the traditional Passover meal (which had begun the night before, of course), and signified the completion of that meal - and the foundation of the New Covenant.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 17, 2019 11:10 AM (bQngX)

241 have just started rereading "The Odyssey" after more than 29 years.

Posted by: DR.WTF at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (aS1PU)

Try a different translation...it will make all the difference in the world.

I recommend Robert Fagles' version, which I think is the best one!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 17, 2019 11:11 AM (wYseH)

242 Deval Patrick is what Obama pretended to be. Raised poor on Chicago Southside. He's really smart. Not pretty pretend smart

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 11:11 AM (4vWPM)

243 Oh, KID kid history:

Magic tree house

There's tons of them, too. From civil war to space race.

Posted by: Moron Robbie is a Proud Black Woman - my word as a Biden at November 17, 2019 11:12 AM (0GvUH)

244 Thou shalt not doubt climate change.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (+y/Ru)

That sounds like a violation of the first commandment. Maybe the second as well.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 11:04 AM (NWiLs)

Heh. I concur. You know, as a Protestant, I must say I had a lot of respect for JPII and Benedict. But this new commie pope? Not so much.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 11:12 AM (3Ame7)

245 Libraries are not like other buildings. Books are heavy -- really heavy.

Posted by: cpurick at November 17, 2019 11:13 AM (7YrFp)

246 It's been so long though that I don't remember it in detail, so...........Yay! I get to read it again.*

*I can't stand rereading where I know everything that coming. My rereads are few and far between.
Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2019 10:45 AM (kauXV)

Yeah but you get to re-experience something that appealed to you and appreciate the set up. Plus there are always details that have faded. Nabokov his own self said you don't really read a book until you reread it. Be so guided, young man.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 11:13 AM (y7DUB)

247 I recommend Robert Fagles' version, which I think is the best one!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

I'm reading Robert Fagles' Iliad.

Posted by: Moon Moon Blutarski at November 17, 2019 11:13 AM (VNfwt)

248 219 DJT knew/knows how crooked BidenCorp is. The "investigation" was not based on a tabloid grade hunch.
Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM
~~~
Corporate bribery is an unspoken rule in most nations outside the US. DC miscreants are well aware of that--why else would JugEars sh*tcan all ambassadors in 2009 and replace them as rewards to his donors/supporters?

WaPo 12-03-2008 By Glenn Kessler
The incoming Obama administration has notified all politically-appointed ambassadors that they must vacate their posts as of Jan. 20, the day President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office, a State Department official said.

The clean slate will open up prime opportunities for the president-elect to reward political supporters with posts in London, Paris, Tokyo and the like. The notice to diplomatic posts was issued this week.

Nation Press: {crickets}

Posted by: socalcon at November 17, 2019 11:14 AM (Roy2Z)

249 Has there been a mainstream movie about the trafficking of sex slaves?

*****

We watch a lot of British crime shows and police procedural series. Seems like every other one has a human trafficking story line, either as the main plot or a side story.

Currently watching Season 5 of Shetland, which has been a good series the first four. This one has a human trafficking/prostitution ring based in a fish processing plant on Shetland holding a Nigerian girl captive on the island. We haven't learned yet why the Nigerian girl was on a small island in the North Sea, but I'm sure there's a good reason. Seems odd for that particular setting, but we shall see.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 17, 2019 11:15 AM (m45I2)

250 Reading "Enterprise" by Barret Tillman. A history of USS Enterprise CV-6. It is a goof fast read for a history of the war in the Pacific, and The Big E. I recommend it as an introduction to the subject of the ship and the personalities that made up the crew.

Posted by: Mikey NTH - The Outrage Outlet Laments: Mimes, Why Did It Have To Be Mimes? at November 17, 2019 11:16 AM (SIV8g)

251 You can find a lot of Jerome K. Jerome's books on Gutenberg.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2019 11:16 AM (1glZx)

252 have just started rereading "The Odyssey" after more than 29 years.

Posted by: DR.WTF at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (aS1PU)

Try a different translation...it will make all the difference in the world.

I recommend Robert Fagles' version, which I think is the best one!

-
I've been reading Caroline Alexander's translation of The Illiad and quite like it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:16 AM (+y/Ru)

253 238 I know Rush Limbaugh did a series of Am. Hist. books for *small* children too young for Johnson or Shirer, that were well received.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:09 AM (5aX2M)

Yes. Doing a search for "Rush Revere" on Amazon will get you his 4-book set.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 11:17 AM (3Ame7)

254 Mira Sorvino can make a sex slave outta me anytime AND FILM IT... Salve Salve SALVE.

Posted by: saf at November 17, 2019 11:17 AM (5IHGB)

255 Deval Patrick is what Obama pretended to be. Raised poor on Chicago Southside. He's really smart. Not pretty pretend smart
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2019 11:11 AM (4vWPM)

His father was longtime Sun Ra Arkestra saxophonist Laurdine "Pat" Patrick. I'm sure Pat was a better musician than father since Coupe Deval won't talk about him.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 11:17 AM (y7DUB)

256 Saw Midway. It's worth the admission. Only two thoughts. First, it could of been 10 minutes longer just to flesh out the earlier actions.
Two, the costumes SUCKED. Horrible fitting, dirty, wrinkled. I have pictures of my ol man at Pearl Harbor and no one was that sloppy.

-
Critics hated it. The only reason I can figure is that the US is presented as the good guys and there are no trannies, homos, or other exalted creatures leading the way.

I don't quite know why, having seen many WWII planes in real life and having seen many in movies, but for some reason the planes struck me as very primitive, much when I watch WWI movies.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 10:55 AM (+y/Ru)

Critics hate it because it's a Roland Emmerich film.

I haven't seen any of the recent WWII movies. The CGI doesn't appeal to me, and I have no interest in the human interest aspects of these movies.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 11:18 AM (hku12)

257 There are dozens of these movies, and I can't see the point of watching a fictional drama, when there are also several very very good documentaries on the subject.

I hear this but sometimes dramatization is more poignant and impactful

Lilya 4-Ever was created by Sweden as part of a public effort to shine a spotlight on trafficking of immigrant girls. It is VERY gritty and realistic, and based on real cases.

I think for me (female) I always get more from a normal film treatment than from a documentary, which always feels just sort of slow and biased (not that dramatizations aren't!)

ALSO - there are excellent Christian films you just have to dig.

Jesus of Montreal is one.

Posted by: BlackOrchid..A.E.D.K.H. at November 17, 2019 11:18 AM (Rarvo)

258 His father was longtime Sun Ra Arkestra saxophonist Laurdine "Pat" Patrick. I'm sure Pat was a better musician than father since Coupe Deval won't talk about him.
Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 11:17 AM (y7DUB)

Hey, did you ever read any of Harvey Pekar's 'American Splendor' comics?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 11:19 AM (3Ame7)

259 Sharpy probably deducted the cost of his salary to/from himself. Or wrote it off as bad debt. Or both.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 11:19 AM (RuIsu)

260 I've been reading Bretz's Flood by John Soennichsen.
It tells the story of J Harlen Bretz a geologist in the 1920's who looked at Eastern Washington and came up with the idea of the great Ice Age floods as carving the landscape. I live here so it's very interesting. Bretz was derided for years by the geologists in academia because of his ideas.
At that time the idea of catastrophic events causing change were derided as, "Biblical and not Scientific". Yeah, no, not so much.
What I really find fascinating is how the academics felt that field work and observations were no longer needed because they already knew how the world worked.
Because... shut up peasant. He managed to outlive most of his critics and was vindicated in the end. He does have some quirks as do we all, but he is a pretty sympathetic character in general.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at November 17, 2019 11:19 AM (Tt761)

261
Were Jeromes' parents stutterers..........Que!

Posted by: saf at November 17, 2019 11:19 AM (5IHGB)

262 Deval Patrick is really smart and if the Dems were smart they'd be getting him ready to lead

the other similar very smart politician I don't get why they don't push more is Mike Nutter. He's actually pretty great, moderate, sharp.

Posted by: BlackOrchid..A.E.D.K.H. at November 17, 2019 11:20 AM (Rarvo)

263 There are dozens of these movies, and I can't see the point of watching a fictional drama, when there are also several very very good documentaries on the subject.
Posted by: BurtTC at November 17

------

What's one you'd recommend?
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:06 AM (5aX2M)

"While No One Is Watching," it's on Amazon Prime for free.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 11:21 AM (hku12)

264 244. SO SO pleasantly surprised to hear our priest sermonize against the Cult of Climate Change this a.m. At the end of Mass I shook his hand, complimented his sermon, then pointed in his face saying: CLIMATE CHANGE IS GONNA GETCHA! He laughed.

Posted by: kallisto at November 17, 2019 11:21 AM (M0wRt)

265 >>Try a different translation...it will make all the difference in the world.

>>I recommend Robert Fagles' version, which I think is the best one!

Try O Brother, Where Art Thou for a good southern interpretation.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 17, 2019 11:21 AM (ZLI7S)

266 We watch a lot of British crime shows and police procedural series. Seems like every other one has a human trafficking story line, either as the main plot or a side story.

-

Old, bald white businessmen in charge?

Posted by: Moron Robbie is a Proud Black Woman - my word as a Biden at November 17, 2019 11:21 AM (0GvUH)

267 I am currently reading RED METAL by Mark Greany and Lt. Colonel H. Ripley Rawlings IV , USMC.

* GREAT BOOK ALERT *

"A Russian military strike against Europe could change the balance of power in the West"

It is a page turner, and nothing I say about this book will do it justice.

I'm gonna go read it.

Have a great one, Book Horde.

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 11:21 AM (arJlL)

268 223
218 Pope Francis Considers Introducing 'Sin Against Ecology' To Church's Catechism+++++++++
Just finishing Taylor Marshall's Infiltration The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within. What I thought was going to be as interesting as watching paint dry, turned out to be a real page-turner. The book explains how the Church wound up with Bergoglio occupying the Seat of Saint Peter. He is the culmination and success of a decades long campaign to ensconce at the highest level in the hierarchy someone who is antithetical to the Church's doctrine. The book clearly illustrates how this has occurred and it has been both fascinating and deeply shocking.

Posted by: Old Dude at November 17, 2019 11:22 AM (LGXGf)

269 "While No One Is Watching," it's on Amazon Prime for free.
Posted by: BurtTC at November 17

------

Cool, will watch.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:23 AM (5aX2M)

270 I hear this but sometimes dramatization is more poignant and impactful

Lilya 4-Ever was created by Sweden as part of a public effort to shine a spotlight on trafficking of immigrant girls. It is VERY gritty and realistic, and based on real cases.

I think for me (female) I always get more from a normal film treatment than from a documentary, which always feels just sort of slow and biased (not that dramatizations aren't!)

ALSO - there are excellent Christian films you just have to dig.

Jesus of Montreal is one.
Posted by: BlackOrchid..A.E.D.K.H. at November 17, 2019 11:18 AM (Rarvo)

See my recommendation just above, also Swedish. Also quite impactful.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 17, 2019 11:23 AM (hku12)

271 "Ho ho!" chortled the narc as he stood over Moxie like some housewife sizing up a kielbasa.

Posted by: All Hail Eris

'The leader of the Nine shook his fist . . . "This ain't the end of this, punk. You'll hear from us again!!"

Saying this, the Nine spurred their farting porkers and sped away in a great cloud of dust and dung.

Observing this near impossible escape from certain death, Frito wondered how much longer the authors would be able to get away with such tripe. He wasn't the only one.'

Truly, a classic tale.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 17, 2019 11:24 AM (bQngX)

272
Alexander Pope, a great poet his own self, wrote a great translation of "The Iliad"

Chock full o'heroic couplets and all that. Beautifully written. Exciting.

If you haven't read it, give yourself a treat.

Pope makes it his own, so not an exact translation if that's what you're looking for.

Homer and Pope - two tastes that taste great together.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2019 11:25 AM (kauXV)

273
I don't quite know why, having seen many WWII planes in real life and having seen many in movies, but for some reason the planes struck me as very primitive, much when I watch WWI movies.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 10:55 AM (+y/Ru)

Combat aircraft manufactured during WWII were built to last somewhere around 800 hours. They were built as cheaply and quickly as possible but still maintaining top performance .

Posted by: Sooner at November 17, 2019 11:25 AM (Fs5vw)

274 Glad to learn we have a #BasedPastor. Wonder if I can get him to slip EDKH into the church bulletin.

Posted by: kallisto at November 17, 2019 11:25 AM (M0wRt)

275
Old, bald white businessmen in charge?

********

Seems to be either 'mobbed-up' Yorkshireman, Irish or Scots, or vaguely Eastern European' syndicates as the preferred bad guys in the shows we've seen.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 17, 2019 11:26 AM (m45I2)

276 The library pic is cool upside down

Posted by: REDACTED at November 17, 2019 11:26 AM (rpxSz)

277
OMFG.

I searched Amazon for young children's history... it's 95% identity politics dressed up as history.

Everything is black this, Latina that, women of science, etc. Very little in terms of fundamentals.

These are legitimate things to study, but very limited in scope, and of particular interest. It's stuff that graduate students should be focusing on, atop a strong understanding of the history that shaped the world and nation these things developed within.

No wonder Limbaugh saw a market opening there.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 11:28 AM (5aX2M)

278 Charity begins at home.
Al Sharpton Gets $1M In Pay From His Own Charity, Tax Filings Show
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:00 AM (+y/Ru)

Good help is find to hard. Resist we much!

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 17, 2019 11:29 AM (Z+IKu)

279
I don't quite know why, having seen many WWII planes in real life and having seen many in movies, but for some reason the planes struck me as very primitive, much when I watch WWI movies.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 10:55 AM (+y/Ru)

Combat aircraft manufactured during WWII were built to last somewhere around 800 hours. They were built as cheaply and quickly as possible but still maintaining top performance .
Posted by: Sooner at November 17, 2019 11:25 AM (Fs5vw)

They were also considered disposable at any time they became high maintenance burdens from combat action.

Posted by: Sooner at November 17, 2019 11:29 AM (Fs5vw)

280 Here is a scathing review of Midway by an editor of Military Times. I was expecting a detailing of historical inaccuracies (and they did simplify some things) but no, he didn't like the dialogue.

https://bit.ly/2NX3NhP

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:29 AM (+y/Ru)

281 Welp, I thought we still had some stragglers from the sleepover so I made a veritable mountain of pancakes.

Nope. All gone home.

So anyone who wants pancakes, let me know and I'll email them to you.

You have to add your own toppings. I don't want my USB port to get sticky.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:29 AM (cfSRQ)

282 Alexander Pope, a great poet his own self, wrote a great translation of "The Iliad"

Chock full o'heroic couplets and all that. Beautifully written. Exciting.

-
I liked it, too. As if Shakespeare wrote The Illiad.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:31 AM (+y/Ru)

283 241 ... "Try a different translation...it will make all the difference in the world.

I recommend Robert Fagles' version, which I think is the best one!"

Another vote for the Fagles translations. I've compared several over the years and settled on his. I do keep a copy of the Alexander Pope version just because I like Pope.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 11:32 AM (bmdz3)

284 So anyone who wants pancakes, let me know and I'll email them to you.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:29 AM (cfSRQ)

*screeches out of driveway*

*flies across ~~ice sheet~~street into neighbor's tree*

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2019 11:33 AM (t+qrx)

285 I'm still plowing through Herodotus. I hadn't realized that Xerxes burned the fuck out of Athens when everyone had deserted it except for a few defenders of the Acropolis. Even some of his generals told him he should stop because he accomplished everything he set out to do and the Greeks are in major WTF mode. Fortunately I'm right at the point where Themistocles is setting the Persian fleet up for a dry fucking in the close quarters of Salamis.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 11:33 AM (y7DUB)

286 So when a site like Ace of Spades devotes even a small bit of their cyber real estate
Sorry, had to back up and run over that one again. I'd read it as "shite."

I'm not bothering with the Illiad.Cutting out the middle man, going straight through to the Sickiad.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 17, 2019 11:34 AM (oRpiG)

287 "Have you tried his sequel, Three Men on a Bummel (or On Wheels). About a bicycle trip in Germany. Just as funny. There's a great chapter on German Law."

eeyore, I haven't read that one yet or the "Thoughts of an Idel Fellow. I may just order a good paper version with all three. If the other two books are half as fun as "In a Boat", they will be winners.

Posted by: JTB at November 17, 2019 11:09 AM (bmdz3)

Three Men on the Bummel is even better than Three Men in a Boat. Some quotes:

"The German citizen is a soldier, and the policeman is his officer. The policeman directs him where in the street to walk, and how fast to walk. At the end of each bridge stands a policeman to tell the German how to cross it. Were there no policeman there, he would probably sit down and wait till the river had passed by. At the railway station the policeman locks him up in the waiting-room, where he can do no harm to himself. When the proper time arrives, he fetches him out and hands him over to the guard of the train, who is only a policeman in another uniform. The guard tells him where to sit in the train, and when to get out, and sees that he does get out. In Germany you take no responsibility upon yourself whatever. Everything is done for you, and done well."

"Of all games in the world, the one most universally and eternally popular is the game of school. You collect six children and put them on a doorstep, while you walk up and down with the book and cane. Only one thing mars it: the tendency of one and all of other six children to clamour for their turn with the book and cane. The reason, I am sure, that journalism is so popular a calling, in spite of its many drawbacks, is this: each journalist feels he is the boy walking up and down with the cane. The Government, the Classes, and the Masses, Society, Art, and Literature, are the other children sitting on the doorstep."

Posted by: cool breeze at November 17, 2019 11:35 AM (UGKMd)

288 I picked up Places Beyond the Wild: A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Anthology earlier in the week. Good stories by good authors. You don't have to be into zombies to enjoy this book, it's got a lot of good ol' action and some hilarious bits.

Posted by: John Taloni at November 17, 2019 11:37 AM (/Nhc5)

289 That sounds like a violation of the first commandment. Maybe the second as well.

-
Well, the Bible is a living document that should be interpreted in light of contemporary circumstances.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:37 AM (+y/Ru)

290 Hey, did you ever read any of Harvey Pekar's 'American Splendor' comics?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 11:19 AM (3Ame7)

No. I somewhat knew Harvey and thought he was a real piece of shit. I wasn't an outlying point. He was knowledgeable about music but that only goes so far with me when wrapped in a disgusting shell.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 11:39 AM (y7DUB)

291

That is one ugly looking lie-berry. It looks like a warehouse

Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 17, 2019 11:41 AM (ktGpL)

292 While he was there, he liked to visit the Hermitage Museum
which has tons of fine art, which is divided into pre-Revolutionary and
post-Revolutionary sections. He was amused when he noticed that the
pre-Revolutionary wing was usually packed with visitors, but the
sections that contained all of the art produced after the Revolution
never seemed to have many people in it. In other words, the commies
pretty much destroyed Russian art and the only works they could produce
was junk that nobody wanted.

THIS! Everything they commies make is ugly, hideous and anti-human yet they shove it down our throats and tell us it's beautiful and wonderful. Kind of like Mike Obama

Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 17, 2019 11:42 AM (ktGpL)

293 Fortunately I'm right at the point where
Themistocles is setting the Persian fleet up for a dry fucking in the
close quarters of Salamis.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 11:33 AM (y7DUB)

---
A crowd favorite is Artemisia, who was butchered in the 300 sequel.

She sees an Athenian galley bearing down on her ship, so immediately rams one of her allies.

The Greek assumes she's switched sides, and waves off his attack.

Meanwhile Xerxes sees the ramming, and asks "Who was that?"

Upon being told it's Artemisia, he assumes she was whacking a traitor and orders royal honors for her.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:44 AM (cfSRQ)

294 Try O Brother, Where Art Thou for a good southern interpretation.

Posted by: JackStraw

Sing, O Muse, of that man of constant sorrows...

Funny you would mention that, as I was just a-quotin' on it.

Knowing as we do now that Deval P. is a descendant of the Sun Ra organization, that would make the Motor City Five the brain trust, right? One of them might still be alive. But who would notice?

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 17, 2019 11:45 AM (oRpiG)

295 Emmerich dedicated "this film to the Americans and Japanese who fought at Midway."

The
genocide and wartime atrocities committed by fanatical Japanese against
Chinese civilians - not to mention the treatment of American POWs,
would give me pause on that one.

Pass

Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 17, 2019 11:45 AM (ktGpL)

296 Heh. I concur. You know, as a Protestant, I must say I had a lot of respect for JPII and Benedict. But this new commie pope? Not so much.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 11:12 AM (3Ame7)
-----------

Same here. Just substitute the word "Catholic" for the word "Protestant."

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 11:45 AM (gVXDT)

297 The
genocide and wartime atrocities committed by fanatical Japanese against

Chinese civilians - not to mention the treatment of American POWs,
would give me pause on that one.

Pass

Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 17, 2019 11:45 AM (ktGpL)

----
To be fair, the Army and Navy were very different organizations in Imperial Japan. They did not like each other. At all.

The Navy was trained by the British and so had a great deal of respect for other maritime powers.

The Army was trained by Germans, and added Prussian militarism to their samurai ethic, making them world-historical jerks.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:48 AM (cfSRQ)

298 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:44 AM (cfSRQ)

Yes, earlier mention of Artemisia made it clear that Xerxes held her in high regard for whatever reason.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 17, 2019 11:52 AM (y7DUB)

299 Same here. Just substitute the word "Catholic" for the word "Protestant."

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 11:45 AM (gVXDT)

---
Francis is working hard to get himself ranked behind the Borgia popes.

His complete and utter failure to deal with sex abuse destroys the value of anything else he says.

The positive side of his reign is that all of the evil was exposed. Like many Catholics, I used to think the abuse was limited and the authorities were inept but well-meaning.

But it's now clear that the "lavender mafia" is real, Francis covers for it and is changing the subject on purpose.

What gives me hope is that all the clergy I meet are abjectly horrified and I've noticed there are fewer and fewer references to Francis in local publications. It's also clear the US bishops are unhappy with him, so my sense is that the next conclave will see a traditionalist, maybe Cardinal Sarah, who is brilliant.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:53 AM (cfSRQ)

300 Emmerich dedicated "this film to the Americans and Japanese who fought at Midway."

The genocide and wartime atrocities committed by fanatical Japanese against Chinese civilians - not to mention the treatment of American POWs,
would give me pause on that one.

Pass

-
Yes, that struck me, too. Mere seconds earlier the movie notes that the Japanese killed an estimated 250,000 Chinese in retaliation for the Dolittle raid, which, of course, the Chinese had little to do with.

I chose to interpret that dedication as a realization that the average Jap swabbie had nothing to do with setting policy and merely died for his Emperor.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:54 AM (+y/Ru)

301 280 Here is a scathing review of Midway by an editor of Military Times. I was expecting a detailing of historical inaccuracies (and they did simplify some things) but no, he didn't like the dialogue.

https://bit.ly/2NX3NhP
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 11:29 AM (+y/Ru)

---

Works for me.

Posted by: SMH at November 17, 2019 11:56 AM (RU4sa)

302 I would love to go see the Hermatage museum, one of my co-workers got to go a year ago, probably wasted on him.

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2019 11:57 AM (ZCEU2)

303 Agreed, Mr Lloyd.

I've been praying for an African Pope for a long time. We have a guest priest every summer who comes from Kenya. He is quite impressive.

Posted by: Nurse ratched at November 17, 2019 11:59 AM (PkVlr)

304 ...so my sense is that the next conclave will see a traditionalist, maybe Cardinal Sarah, who is brilliant.+++++
Again, referring to my previous post citing Taylor Marshall's Infiltration book, I'm finding it difficult to be sanguine about this self-correcting. What does give me great hope however, is the fact that the Church is protected by the Holy Ghost and we have bee assured that the "gates of hell shall not prevail against My Church."

Posted by: Old Dude at November 17, 2019 12:01 PM (LGXGf)

305 Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 17, 2019 11:34 AM (oRpiG)

"The Mortiad" is Homer's best work.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 17, 2019 12:02 PM (wYseH)

306 It's also clear the US bishops are unhappy with him, so my sense is that the next conclave will see a traditionalist, maybe Cardinal Sarah, who is brilliant.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:53 AM (cfSRQ)
----------

I too would love to see Cardinal Sarah as our next pope. Preferably sooner rather than later.

I noticed the parish up here in Mass. where we are this weekend is now ~ finally ~ saying the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel after Mass. Pope John Paul II asked priests to do this over 20 years ago. Most of the orthodox churches started right away. Glad that others are catching up. I suspect what's been going on in the Vatican is the reason why they are finally getting around to it.

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:03 PM (sTBcq)

307 What gives me hope is that all the clergy I meet are abjectly horrified and I've noticed there are fewer and fewer references to Francis in local publications. It's also clear the US bishops are unhappy with him, so my sense is that the next conclave will see a traditionalist, maybe Cardinal Sarah, who is brilliant.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

----

Word. I'm horrified and optimistic at the same time.

As you know, I'm a huge fan of Cardinal Sarah also.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 17, 2019 12:04 PM (Y4EXg)

308 I've been praying for an African Pope for a long
time.

Posted by: Nurse ratched at November 17, 2019 11:59 AM (PkVlr)

Whoa! Next thing you will say is that abortion is wrong, homosexuality is a sin, and AGW is a grand scheme of wealth distribution.

This is just crazy talk.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 17, 2019 12:05 PM (wYseH)

309 241
have just started rereading "The Odyssey" after more than 29 years.

Posted by: DR.WTF at November 17, 2019 11:02 AM (aS1PU)

Try a different translation...it will make all the difference in the world.

I recommend Robert Fagles' version, which I think is the best one!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 17, 2019 11:11 AM (wYseH)

I'll throw in a plug for Robert Fitzgerald, too.

Posted by: Hierominous Botch at November 17, 2019 12:05 PM (YqED9)

310 This is just crazy talk.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 17, 2019 12:05 PM (wYseH)
-------

We Catholics are known for that.

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:05 PM (sTBcq)

311 He is the culmination and success of a decades long campaign to ensconce at the highest level in the hierarchy someone who is antithetical to the Church's doctrine

Since Bungholio is still seated at the cathedra in the Vatican after that Pachamama literal idolatry, I can only assume that the bishop of Avignon is a pussy.

Posted by: the Disney Corporation at November 17, 2019 12:05 PM (ykYG2)

312 Off paedosock

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at November 17, 2019 12:06 PM (ykYG2)

313 "The Mortiad" is Homer's best work.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 17, 2019 12:02 PM (wYseH)

It was also the best season story arc on Adult Swim

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2019 12:06 PM (1glZx)

314 THIS! Everything they commies make is ugly, hideous and anti-human yet they shove it down our throats and tell us it's beautiful and wonderful. Kind of like Mike Obama
Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 17, 2019 11:42 AM (ktGpL)

------

Look at the brutalist atrocities their Western brethren inflicted on our cities... And then make it cheaper and uglier. The same goes for their art.

Even our Communist artists couldn't suck so many balls, though they put up a good effort.

The Soviet Union was an aesthetic crime against human eyes.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 12:06 PM (5aX2M)

315 Someone early upthread mentioned Walter Jon Williams. I thoroughly enjoyed his post-apocaplytic 'The Rift'. Premise is that the New Madrid fault cleaves the US in two. I don't recall how socially woke it was, I just remember being impressed with using the crack right down the middle as the starting point.

Will have to reread at some point as it was written in 1999, after all.

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 17, 2019 12:07 PM (MIKMs)

316 The Army was trained by Germans, and added Prussian militarism to their samurai ethic, making them world-historical jerks.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 11:48 AM (cfSRQ)

Didn't all of their neighbors pretty much hate the Japanese? I mean, historically speaking, is it fair to call the Japanese the assholes of the far East? Kind of like the Aztecs in Mexico who were so bad that the other tribes sided with Cortez? That kind of assholiness?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 12:08 PM (3Ame7)

317 Oh, and for anyone keeping up with my thermostat tribulations, we managed to turn my FIL's thermostat down to 72 (from 82) last night before we went to bed, and opened our windows.

This morning he told me that something was wrong with his heating in his room because he was "freezing" and had to put on two blankets.

I looked at the thermostat and he had turned it up to 88 when he got up. We've turned it down again. I have no hopes that it will remain there.

Paraphrasing Churchill, we shall fight on to the end, we shall fight over the thermostat, etc., etc.

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:09 PM (sTBcq)

318 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:29 AM (cfSRQ)

I have attended Extraordinary Form Masses in Venice (Italy), where I enjoyed hearing Latin pronounced with what's supposed to be the "best", i.e. Italian, accent. Naturally, very easy to understand.

I also had the great blessing of attending 2 Extraordinary Form Masses in Shanghai, in the oldest Catholic Church in town, St. Joseph's, built in 1860. Their history said that it was the only one in Shanghai which still had its altar rail. I had no trouble following along, except, of course, the sermon. I did understand the last two words: "Amen! Alleluia!" It was Pentecost, so how appropriate to hear the Epistle from the Acts of the Apostles! The second week I was there, two locals on either side of me saw that I was following along with my iMass app and asked for help. I showed them where we were using the handout that was in the pews. I could read the Latin and pointed that out. The other two columns were (updated?) Chinese and Mandarin, so I couldn't help there, but I assume they could read one or the other. There was a choir of locals led by a Caucasian expat singing quite nicely. An elderly gentleman nearby was rocking out the hymns. It didn't look like he had any teeth, which lead me to reflect on how many martyrs must have sat in the pews, and no doubt some living martyrs were sitting around me. Church was packed, almost all locals.

The last Mass in Latin that I attended prior to the almost universal fall into the vernacular was in Tijuana, with my parents in 1966. English had already been introduced in the US but we remembered our Latin and were innocently amazed that we understood everything, except the sermon!

If you want to hear excellent Latin with a Polish accent, there is a Rosarium app available, with Pope John Paul II praying. I got the shivers praying with it the first time; I always loved his voice.

Posted by: iLearnedToCode at November 17, 2019 12:09 PM (AZSzs)

319 Pope Francis is all washy wishy
His theology so rotten and squishy
That the most somnolent napper
Of a good mackerel snapper
Will think everything he says is fishy

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 12:10 PM (NWiLs)

320 I'm finding it difficult to be sanguine about this
self-correcting. What does give me great hope however, is the fact that
the Church is protected by the Holy Ghost and we have bee assured that
the "gates of hell shall not prevail against My Church."

Posted by: Old Dude at November 17, 2019 12:01 PM (LGXGf)

---
It's not self-correcting, correction is being forced upon the Church.

The seminaries are being cleansed and the new generation of priests are very committed. The generational shift has been quite stark, going from emphasizing feelings over doctrine to why doctrine is so important.

Our former pastor used to do a "sex talk" for the college students, and that's done now, ever since he was accused of sexual harassment by another priest.

He was forcibly retired. Zero tolerance.

The new pastor is very orthodox and we're seeing rituals coming back, stuff I never saw since I'm a convert.

I thought maybe this was just our parish, but our old parish has a new priest and he actually reversed the altar so that he has his back to the congregation! So old school there are kneelers up front to take Communion. It's completely different from the laid-back Catholicism of ten years ago.

That gives me hope.

Francis is cutting himself off from the body of the church. Sad, but necessary.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 12:10 PM (cfSRQ)

321 The library does not look cozy at all. Not a place to curl up on a comfy chair with a good book.

It looks rather Soviet in design.

--

I thought the same thing. Sterile. Could easily be officially named "Library #14."

Run, Jordan, Run sounds good. Might have to check that one out.

Posted by: Lady in Black at November 17, 2019 12:10 PM (JoUsr)

322 Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 17, 2019 09:21 AM (7rVsF)

Salve Hadrian VII! Dominus tecum!

Posted by: iLearnedToCode at November 17, 2019 12:12 PM (AZSzs)

323 > Deval Patrick is really smart and if the Dems were smart they'd be getting him ready to lead

I would enjoy the hell out of seeing the same people who claimed Bain Capital was the devil suddenly shift to a new pravda.
This week, I'm still re-reading Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series. These are centered around the character Gordianus the Finder, sort of a proto-detective, and are set across end stages of the Roman Republic and the beginning stages of the Roman Empire.
Saylor really knows his background material (he's a classical scholar), and can spin quite an entertaining tale as well.

There is a certain amount of Teh Ghey in these, so that might be offputting to some. However, it is, as far as I can tell, presented in a historically accurate manner.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 17, 2019 12:12 PM (oQp6r)

324 If you want to hear excellent Latin with a Polish accent, there is a Rosarium app available, with Pope John Paul II praying. I got the shivers praying with it the first time; I always loved his voice.
Posted by: iLearnedToCode
---

Thanks for the app tips!!

Posted by: Tonypete at November 17, 2019 12:12 PM (Y4EXg)

325 Paraphrasing Churchill, we shall fight on to the end, we shall fight over the thermostat, etc., etc.
Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:09 PM (sTBcq)

I'm picturing bluebell in a Brodie helmet right now.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2019 12:12 PM (t+qrx)

326 325 Paraphrasing Churchill, we shall fight on to the end, we shall fight over the thermostat, etc., etc.
Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:09 PM (sTBcq)

I'm picturing bluebell in a Brodie helmet right now.
Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2019 12:12 PM (t+qrx)

"There is nothing more exhilarating than to be attacked with a shiv with no result."

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 12:14 PM (NWiLs)

327 I mean, historically speaking, is it fair to call the Japanese the assholes of the far East?

-
I would say yes. Ironically, the entire idea of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was to liberate the Asians from their oppression by honkies. So they were killing all those Chinese, Filipinos and what not for their own good.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2019 12:14 PM (+y/Ru)

328 I want to recommend several books on Midway.

The best is the Japanese perspective: Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully's

Parshall's www.combinedfleet.com is the foremost Internet site on the Imperial Navy.

Approach Miracle at Midway with caution. There are errors in the narrative.

Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway
by Walter Lord is even more flawed.

There is not an in-depth and accurate recounting of Midway from the USN side. It was an amazing victory.

I have read other books by him and he is sound, but I have not read The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History) by Craig L. Symonds.

Three books on the Intel side I liked are:

And I Was There : Breaking the Secrets - Pearl Harbor and Midway by Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton

Double-Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During World War II by W. J. Holmes.

Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II by Stephen Budiansky.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (u82oZ)

329 302 re: the hermitage

have you seen the film "Russian Ark" ?

every time i foolishly allow apple to update my iphone, copy and paste gets worse.

Posted by: Anachronda at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (cr2Uu)

330 I'm picturing bluebell in a Brodie helmet right now.
Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2019 12:12 PM (t+qrx)
--------

Shiv in hand.

I love my FIL, I really do, but I'm feeling terminally overheated, and this is a chick who's always freezing.

And this a guy who told his kids to wear multiple sweatshirts if they were too cold in this same house when they were growing up.

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (sTBcq)

331 So my company is making me participate in fantasy football. I don't care about it, and I'm still boycotting the NFL, both of which place me at a disadvantage. I keep losing.

So my new strategy is I'm picking the defense with the weakest offensive matchup, and then stacking the rest of the roster with offensive players from teams going against super-weak defenses. Hopefully this way I can win without following BLM ball.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (5aX2M)

332 307 What gives me hope is that all the clergy I meet are abjectly horrified and I've noticed there are fewer and fewer references to Francis in local publications. It's also clear the US bishops are unhappy with him, so my sense is that the next conclave will see a traditionalist, maybe Cardinal Sarah, who is brilliant.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Pope Sarah would be rock the house.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (3Ame7)

333 > Francis is working hard to get himself ranked behind the Borgia popes.

That's what I was about to say. The Church survived Roman persecution, the Borgia popes (ahem), the Barberini, the Orthodox schism, the Avignon schism, the Protestant reformation...
Frankie Goes to Vatican isn't going to destroy it, either. Martin Luther crapped bigger than him.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 17, 2019 12:16 PM (oQp6r)

334 332 307 What gives me hope is that all the clergy I meet are abjectly horrified and I've noticed there are fewer and fewer references to Francis in local publications. It's also clear the US bishops are unhappy with him, so my sense is that the next conclave will see a traditionalist, maybe Cardinal Sarah, who is brilliant.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Pope Sarah would be rock the house.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (3Ame7)

Palin?

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2019 12:16 PM (NWiLs)

335 I would enjoy the hell out of seeing the same people who claimed Bain Capital was the devil suddenly shift to a new pravda.

--

They would have zero qualms with it. Remember, we're watching it real-time in regards to Trump and Biden re: Ukraine.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - You don't stop lawlessness by obeying the law but by enforcing it at November 17, 2019 12:17 PM (PRN3w)

336 NOOD

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2019 12:17 PM (ZCEU2)

337 So my new strategy is I'm picking the defense with the weakest offensive matchup, and then stacking the rest of the roster with offensive players from teams going against super-weak defenses. Hopefully this way I can win without following BLM ball.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (5aX2M)
--------

I was forced into inheriting a fantasy football team one time with the neighbors, and the year after I won. I will tell you how I did it.

Just keep forgetting to change your players. And if you do decide to change them, go by their uniforms.

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:17 PM (sTBcq)

338 This week, I'm still re-reading Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series.
These are centered around the character Gordianus the Finder, sort of a
proto-detective, and are set across end stages of the Roman Republic and
the beginning stages of the Roman Empire. Saylor really knows his background material (he's a classical scholar), and can spin quite an entertaining tale as well.
=====

I would add Lindsey Davis to the classical scholar mystery writers, as well. I always wonder if they were in competition (not that they would admit it) because the mysteries are well-constructed, historically accurate, and enjoyable. How the heck did two of them start writing? Oh well, classical scholars have to eat just like everyone else.

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 17, 2019 12:18 PM (MIKMs)

339 Adm Yamamoto was practically a peacenik hippie, as Japanese warlords went. He warned the top leadership on several occasions (and we have those few lines as quotations from him). He regularly received death threats from the Army, and from his brother officers, because he clearly stated that the war against the US was a mistake.

I'm sure he was nobody's sweetheart -- that was not in the spirit of the times -- but it's ironic that he's the one we could get our hands on and do in. Of all the Japanese wartime leaders, he comes across as the one "realpolitik" agent who might have been a candidate to rebuild the nation in a different image.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 17, 2019 12:18 PM (oRpiG)

340 > Palin?

She was baptized Catholic, I believe, but has attended various churches in the Pentecostal region of the spectrum as an adult.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 17, 2019 12:18 PM (oQp6r)

341 > Oh well, classical scholars have to eat just like everyone else.
Yes, they do. Can't make a living teaching Latin or Roman/Greek history in these benighted times.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 17, 2019 12:19 PM (oQp6r)

342 That's what I was about to say. The Church survived Roman persecution, the Borgia popes (ahem), the Barberini, the Orthodox schism, the Avignon schism, the Protestant reformation...
Frankie Goes to Vatican isn't going to destroy it, either. Martin Luther crapped bigger than him.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 17, 2019 12:16 PM (oQp6r)

Yup......however, my checkbook will remain closed until Pope Frankie the Marxist is dead, gone or both.

No small bills either.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 17, 2019 12:20 PM (Z+IKu)

343 David H Lippman had a great website on WWII, with a compelling, minute by minute account of the Battle of Midway.

He took it off the web, and published it as World War II Plus 75 -- The Road To War by David H Lippman.

He was a wargamer, including Europa level games. His descriptions are sound.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 17, 2019 12:20 PM (u82oZ)

344 I can't imagine what it must be like to be, say, one of the airline ticket agents who checked in Mohamed Atta or Marwan al-Shehhi and then finding out later who he was. It's not really your fault, but still... There was some discussion on Friday's rant thread about brooding and not being able to let things ago, and this is something I don't think I'd be able to stop thinking about for a long time.

The Columbine Kids delivered Pizza to my house on many occasions.

As I tip pretty well, some of my money went to buy those weapons.

You never know when, or how, you will brush up against evil.

Posted by: Don Quixote, Tilting at November 17, 2019 12:21 PM (NgKpN)

345 Yup......however, my checkbook will remain closed until Pope Frankie the Marxist is dead, gone or both.

No small bills either.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 17, 2019 12:20 PM (Z+IKu)

---
I'm not going to punish my parish for the Pope's failures. I am more cautious about which charities I support, but our priests are doing their best.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 12:23 PM (cfSRQ)

346 Martin Luther crapped bigger than him.

That sounds like something the Augustinian monk would say himself.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at November 17, 2019 12:24 PM (ykYG2)

347 The Columbine Kids delivered Pizza to my house on many occasions.

As I tip pretty well, some of my money went to buy those weapons.

------

No need to brood about that, dude. These people are predators. They prey upon the good-natured in society. You're no different. Whether it's your money, or those people's blood, all they do is take. No sense in victim blaming. Especially yourself.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 12:24 PM (5aX2M)

348 I am definitely a member of the Ann Barnhardt School when it comes to Anti-Pope Francis.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 17, 2019 12:25 PM (bQngX)

349 Can't make a living teaching Latin or Roman/Greek history in these benighted times.

Regrettably, this is history that new generations keep having to learn themselves at first hand. Especially the bit about barbarian invasions.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at November 17, 2019 12:25 PM (ykYG2)

350 Didn't all of their neighbors pretty much hate the Japanese? I mean, historically speaking, is it fair to call the Japanese the assholes of the far East? Kind of like the Aztecs in Mexico who were so bad that the other tribes sided with Cortez? That kind of assholiness?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 17, 2019 12:08 PM (3Ame7)

Nah.

That spot was occupied for centuries by the Chinese.

That's right several hundreds of years of being the King Assholes of the Far East.

The Japanese weren't much until Adm Perry's visit shocked the crap outta them, and they decided-

Hey, we got to get us some of that modernization and colonialism of our own.

The viciousness against the Chinese in WWII didn't come out of a vacuum. It was pay back.

Not to say that makes them angels but the Chinese weren't innocent little Smurfs in this scenario.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2019 12:35 PM (kauXV)

351 I am so sad about LeCarre losing his mind about Trump. My favorite book is The Honorable Schoolboy, the middle book between Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy. and Smileys People. It's a huge book with lots of characters in opposite sides of the world and can be a challenge to read. But I reread it every year. Won't ever read anymore LeCarre.

Posted by: Moon howler at November 17, 2019 12:35 PM (rO6nP)

352 Posted by: Tonypete at November 17, 2019 12:12 PM (Y4EXg)

You're welcome, Tonypete! There's also Missale, which is all Latin, right down to "Dilectus" and "Auxilium", but it is Novus Ordo. There's not too many parishes doing NO in Latin. The Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul in Philadelphia does, I think, once a month. Far better, though, is when the Cathedral is lent out to Mater Ecclesiae Parish from NJ for the Assumption Day Mass in EF. Packed to the rafters and the organ and music is magnificent.

Posted by: iLearnedToCode at November 17, 2019 12:45 PM (AZSzs)

353 Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 17, 2019 12:15 PM (5aX2M)

FF has some skill but there is a vast majority that is pure dumb luck. I quite because I'm good at it but I was too frustrated.

Posted by: ... at November 17, 2019 12:55 PM (uEbPt)

354 "...and we don't want any sort of rigidly enforced ideological requirements,
we just want good, well-written stories that thrill you, chill you,
make you think, make you wonder, kick your ass, transport you to new
worlds, or some combination thereof. And don't worry about having to be
explicitly conservative, because readers want a story, not a lecture."

Amen, amen, amen. "Ideological requirements" are death to storytelling.
Maybe it's because my fictional stomping ground is the tenth century, ideology doesn't get in my way. What DOES surprise me is when characters start behaving in ways I didn't expect, and all attempts to write what I *think* they should be doing or saying, end in failure. Nothing to do but let 'em do what they want; later on I may discover the reason why.

Posted by: Annalucia at November 17, 2019 12:57 PM (S6ArX)

355 Still, I seem to be on schedule and the plot is coming together. I rewrote the epic shootout on I-75 just north of the Mackinac Bridge in light of watching a Paul Harrell video on which parts of cars can stop bullets (that would be the engine).

If I can get some good brainstorming in, this week could be decisive and I'll hit my goal of the rough draft by Thanksgiving weekend.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 17, 2019 09:25 AM (cfSRQ)

Well, any of the major mechanical parts, engine, transmission, differential, brake drums or rotors, suspension members; all ought to stop a bullet. So would the battery, for that matter. What won't reliably stop a bullet, is body metal, glass, and interior trim.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 17, 2019 12:58 PM (/sgva)

356 ---
To be fair, the Army and Navy were very different organizations in Imperial Japan. They did not like each other. At all.

The Navy was trained by the British and so had a great deal of respect for other maritime powers.

The Army was trained by Germans, and added Prussian militarism to their samurai ethic, making them world-historical jerks.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

I did not know that. Fascinating. Thank you, Mr. Lloyd, for that historical nugget.

Posted by: Annalucia at November 17, 2019 01:00 PM (S6ArX)

357 Just cross referencing a post I made in the mosquito/malaria thread. I am currently reading a very good book on that subject: Timothy C. Winegard's The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator. I recommend it if you are into that kind of thing.

Posted by: Sisqui at November 17, 2019 01:05 PM (ienGK)

358 Then President of Mexico Vicente Fox inaugurated the library on 16 May 2006, and stated that this was one of the most advanced constructions of the 21st century, and that it would be spoken of throughout the world.
----------

See? I was right!

Posted by: V. Fox at November 17, 2019 01:13 PM (CDGwz)

359 May have mentioned this last week. Ordered a copy on the recommendation of a friend. Has anyone read 'Street Without Joy', Bernard Fall ?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 17, 2019 01:17 PM (CDGwz)

360 Stock pics from Kenya?
Now that's funny.
Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2019 10:53 AM (RuIsu)

Obama's family album?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 17, 2019 01:25 PM (/sgva)

361 231 Alas, vmom, I'm not a physics professor at Georgia Tech, but my nerd credentials are secure in my current position as the Principal Scientist of the Geeks and Nerds Corporation.

==
*deducts 10 nerd points*

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 17, 2019 01:34 PM (G546f)

362 I looked at the thermostat and he had turned it up to 88 when he got up. We've turned it down again. I have no hopes that it will remain there.

Paraphrasing Churchill, we shall fight on to the end, we shall fight over the thermostat, etc., etc.

Posted by: bluebell at November 17, 2019 12:09 PM (sTBcq)

Can you mess with the thermostat, so that when the pointer shows 88, it's really set at 72?

And maybe the old boy has some medical condition that causes him to feel chilled?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 17, 2019 01:49 PM (/sgva)

363 And maybe the old boy has some medical condition that causes him to feel chilled?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 17, 2019 01:49 PM (/sgva)

older peeps are often anemic

Posted by: Mars Needs Moms at November 17, 2019 02:16 PM (G546f)

364 I remember sitting in a briefing where our battery commander said that THIS TIME, we were going to hold the convoy together, dammit.

Nope. Total fail.

Note that this "convoy" wasn't through Fallujah, but from Lansing to Grayling on a Friday evening. Two-hour drive on the interstate.

When you add enemy action, it gets that much worse.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
--------

"No plan of battle survives first contact with the enemy"

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 17, 2019 02:26 PM (xSo9G)

365 ==
*deducts 10 nerd points*

Posted by: vmom
------

Because not Ga Tech, or because not physics prof?

This is an important question.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, drinking clear whiskey at November 17, 2019 02:28 PM (xSo9G)

366 May have mentioned this last week. Ordered a copy on the recommendation of a friend. Has anyone read 'Street Without Joy', Bernard Fall ?
Posted by: Mike Hammer,

I read it a long, long time ago.

The Rue Sans Joi.

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 02:43 PM (arJlL)

367 I read it a long, long time ago.

The Rue Sans Joi.
Posted by: JT
-------

Was recommended to me by ex infantry officer, who had read it long ago, before he deployed to VN. He told me about being there, having read the book, it was a bit surreal.

It reminded me of this Mauldin cartoon:
https://tinyurl.com/wnochtd

The caption is "This is the town my pappy told me about"

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 17, 2019 03:04 PM (xSo9G)

368 I've been reading the Stephen Vicent Benet collection that was recommended here either last week or the week before. I've enjoyed most of the stories.

Also reading a biography of J.R.R Tolkien by Humphrey Carpenter.

Posted by: goodluckduck at November 17, 2019 03:57 PM (V8zw+)

369 May have mentioned this last week. Ordered a copy on the recommendation of a friend. Has anyone read 'Street Without Joy', Bernard Fall ?
Posted by: Mike Hammer,

He also wrote Hell in a Very Small Place, the siege at Dien Bien Phu.

That was excellent

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 04:10 PM (arJlL)

370 I bet on the ride home, Bluebell is gonna have her head out the window.

LOL !

Posted by: JT at November 17, 2019 04:13 PM (arJlL)

371 oh more pictures of empty libraries.

Posted by: Chouinard at November 17, 2019 07:15 PM (ua1m6)

372 Thanks, OM, for the book thread!

Regarding history books for children, when I was young, I enjoyed the biographies in the series called Childhood of Famous Americans. They were written in the 1940s to 1960s. Some of the titles I liked were Amelia Earhart, Daniel Boone, Ben Franklin, Clara Barton, Booker T. Washington, and Wilbur and Orville Wright. There are around 200 books in the series. The most popular originals have been re-published by Simon and Schuster, and I haven't read the re-published ones. Not sure if the content was revised to be more politically correct or not.

Regarding what I've been reading:
I just finished Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery. It is about Emma Gatewood who was the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail alone. She hiked the trail when she was 67 just because it sounded like a nice walk to her. Great story of perseverance and making the best of hard circumstances. I also enjoyed the illustration of living life to its fullest and remaining independent into old age even when people think you would be "safer" to stay at home.

I'm also in the middle of Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. He talks about how we treat the elderly and people near death. He raises a lot of questions around quality of life vs. prolonging life. A lot to ponder so far.

In regards to JT, I, too, have heard good things about Red Metal. I plan to read it soon.

Also, my local college library had the book It Didn't Start With Watergate (mentioned here a few weeks ago), and I have started reading it. I think I am the first person to ever check it out!

Posted by: Violet at November 17, 2019 10:58 PM (9ppMC)

373 281-A.H. Lloyd--just saw your post about the pancakes. Try freezing the pancakes. When you are ready to eat 'em just pop 'em in the toaster.

Posted by: Violet at November 17, 2019 11:11 PM (9ppMC)

374 Here, I fixed your library picture:
https://IMGur.com/a/Dx4PNPY

Posted by: Spamf Roming at November 18, 2019 12:53 AM (DinTn)

375 In regards to JT, I, too, have heard good things about Red Metal. I plan to read it soon.

Also, my local college library had the book It Didn't Start With Watergate (mentioned here a few weeks ago), and I have started reading it. I think I am the first person to ever check it out!

Posted by: Violet at November 17, 2019 10:58 PM (9ppMC)

Let me know what ya think.

Posted by: JT at November 18, 2019 04:50 AM (arJlL)

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Posted by: marcus roger at November 20, 2019 06:08 PM (4xjaR)

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