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Sunday Morning Book Thread 10-31-2021

20211031 book pic 02 - 500.jpg
"Who Ya Gonna Call?"

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, werewolves, vampires, zombies, ghouls, goblins, hags, banshees, and Democrats. 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 spooky pants, and do you really want to make friends with a pair of pants walking around by themselves? And is that anything we should be teaching our kids?



Pic Note:

I read this article, 5 Haunted Libraries In 5 Different Countries, to see if there was a story that would match the pic, and I wasn't disappointed:

HUTCHINSON PUBLIC LIBRARY (USA)

At Hutchinson Public Library in Hutchinson, Kansas, the ghost of Ida Day Holzapfel has been seen. She worked at the library from 1916 to 1926, and again from 1946 to 1953. It was in 1953 that she left the Hutchinson Public Library to work as a librarian in California. Not long after however, she died in a car accident.

According to the library, Holzapfel was very dedicated to her work. On Halloween in 1975, library workers “reported seeing and hearing a ghost in the library” – hers. Library employees have continued to feel her presence after that day.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

There's also this one:

The National Library of India “is a permanent depository of all reading and printed materials produced in India, or written by any foreigner, wherever published and in whatever language.” Located in Kolkata, its beginnings go back to the early 1800s and the Calcutta Public Library.

The Times of India Travel section lists the library as one of several haunted places in Kolkata. Different ghosts have made their presence known in the library over the years. The Times of India also reported that a secret chamber was discovered in 2010, which no one has entered in more than 200 years. There are different theories about what may be inside.

Well, what are you waiting for? JUST BREAK DOWN THE DAMN DOOR!! What could *possibly* go wrong?


It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

20211031 book pic 03.jpg

I don't have any dancing skeletons, so these guys will have to do:



20211031 book pic 05.jpg
"Some Books Ought Not To Be Read"

(h/t Achtung! Cthulhu: The Secret War. This site looks like some sort of board game design project that was abandoned some time ago.)



Magical Thinking

Author Gary Lachman is a man whom Donald Trump evidently broke very, very badly. Trying to process the reasons why the Bad Orange Man is living rent-free in his head 24/7, he came up with Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, a book wherein he argues that there can be only one explanation for Trump's astonishing election victory in 2016 and his domination of the political landscape: dark magic.

Get a load of this:

Within the concentric circles of Trump's regime lies an unseen culture of occultists, power-seekers, and mind-magicians whose influence is on the rise. In this unparalleled account, historian Gary Lachman examines the influence of occult and esoteric philosophy on the unexpected rise of the alt-right.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You know this is going to be good:

Did positive thinking and mental science help put Donald Trump in the White House? And are there any other hidden powers of the mind and thought at work in today's world politics? In Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, historian and cultural critic Gary Lachman takes a close look at the various magical and esoteric ideas that are impacting political events across the globe. From New Thought and Chaos Magick to the far-right esotericism of Julius Evola and the Traditionalists, Lachman follows a trail of mystic clues that involve, among others, Norman Vincent Peale, domineering gurus and demagogues, Ayn Rand, Pepe the Frog, Rene Schwaller de Lubicz, synarchy, the Alt-Right, meme magic, and Vladimir Putin and his postmodern Rasputin.

As I said, Trump really, really broke this guy. And including Pepe the Frog in the same rogues' gallery as Norman Vincent Peale is particularly choice.

There is only one way to fight the magic of the Bad Orange Man and his Evil Legions of Darkness: with magic of your own. Fortunately, there is a book that tells you how to do just that. I'm talking about Magic for the Resistance: Rituals and Spells for Change by Michael Hughes:

The resistance is growing, and it needs your help. This book provides spells and rituals designed to help you put your magical will to work to create a more just and equitable world...Magic for the Resistance offers a toolkit for magical people or first-time spellcasters who want to manifest social justice, equality, and peace.

Includes spells for: Racial justice, women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, antifascism, environmentalism, immigration, refugee support, nonviolence.

Apparently not included are spells for: setting fire to federal buildings, destroying small businesses, throwing Molotov cocktails at cops, beating up old men in wheelchairs, and shouting down public speakers who are saying things you don't like.

Although, I guess they don't really need magic to do those things.

Hughes is the creator of the internationally viral Mass Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him, the largest and longest-running magical working in history.

We laugh at this, but considering the trajectory of the 2020 election, who knows, maybe it worked.



Who Dis:

who dis 20211031.jpg
Last week's who dis was actor/hoofer Fred Astaire.



Moron Recommendations

87 And I've been listening to The Disappearing Spoon, by Sam Kean (and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World From the Periodic Table of the Elements).

So fascinating, and even though I glaze over a lot on the more technical atomic structure descriptions, I have learned enough to inject relevant gleanings into several conversations in the last two weeks.

There is a young readers edition for the middle-school set.

Posted by: April -- dash my lace wigs! at October 24, 2021 08:48 AM (OX9vb)

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements looks like a fun book, described as

...a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time.

So the 'disappearing spoon' in the title comes from a prank you can play using the element gallium, which is a metal:

Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.

You can actually buy a kit with all you need to pull this gag from Amazon. Probably other places, too.

The Kindle edition of the book is $7.99.

___________

113 One of the books I'm reading currently is Bugles and a Tiger, by John Masters. It's about his first years as a new officer in the 4th Gurkha Regiment, 1935-1939. Most of it takes place on the Afghan border, which is where all the fighting takes place. Technically not a "war", just "keeping the peace." But a lot of shooting happened when the Pathans got sporty. Which they liked to do.

Boy, they were a brutal lot. You REALLY didn't want to get taken prisoner. The RAF actually adopted a policy of ransoming downed pilots, if returned alive and unharmed. Otherwise, torture and mutilation preceded the beheadings. Does that sound familiar?

But he does have some respect for them. In speaking of their predilection to sodomy, he contrasts them favorable with "Manhattan fairies"...

Pretty good. The weakest parts come with Masters tried to get artsy or deep. The straight story telling works.

Posted by: Eeyore at October 24, 2021 08:56 AM (7X3UV)

First of all, I thought a Manhattan Fairy was a cocktail, and second, how do they compare with those dandified Kansas City faggots mentioned in Blazing Saddles?

Anyway...

About the author:

John Masters was a soldier before he became a bestselling novelist. He went to Sandhurst in 1933 at the age of eighteen and was commissioned into the 4th Gurkha Rifles in time to take part in some of the last campaigns on the turbulent north-west frontier of India. John Masters joined a Gurhka regiment on receiving his commission, and his depiction of garrison life and campaigning on the North-West Frontier has never been surpassed. Bugles And A Tiger is a matchless evocation of the British Army in India on the eve of the Second World War. Still very much the army depicted by Kipling, it stands on the threshold of a war that will transform the world.

Bugles and a Tiger : My Life in the Gurkhas is the first of a 3-part autobiography. The sequel is The Road Past Mandalay, followed by Pilgrim's Son: A Personal Odyssey, which appears to be OOP.

No e-versions appear to be available. And he wrote a number of novels as well. I had not heard of him before, but he appears to be a well-respected author.

There's quite a lot of biographical information about John Masters here. The man had quite a life.

___________

And while I was looking at Masters' books, Amazon shoved this one at me, B00C8X1CO0/" target="_blank">The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe.

Now how in the world did something like *that* come about?

May, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis.

The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold's VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.

$9.99 for the Kindle edition. And somebody needs to adapt this as a movie or mini-series. And the book is going is going on my stack immediately.

___________

Funny How The Meaning Of This Sentence Changes Depending On What Word You Emphasize:

20211031 book pic 04.jpg



Books By Morons

Many of us enjoy J.J. Sefton's Morning Reports, and not only the linkage, of which he provides us with a crap ton every day, but his commentary which, I have to admit, are way better than my rantings. And as proof, I offer you this published compilation of Mr. Sefton's morning reports, The End of America: 100 Days That Shook the World:

The epic tragedy we are living through is no accident. It is the culmination of the Left's 100-year campaign of political and cultural subversion. And as The End of America: 100 Days That Shook the World makes clear, in its concluding act, touched off by the George Floyd riots, that campaign has been abetted by a broad array of Establishment forces. The brazenly criminal Democratic Party. Republicans who are their match in craven fecklessness. A cowardly judiciary. Corporate titans who embrace "social justice" but scarcely pay lip service to capitalism. A traditional media unapologetically aligned with, (and increasingly composed of) the ideological and cultural vandals of the Left. The social media enforcers, viciously punitive of those out of step with the approved narrative, who are to be mocked, vilified, censored and even incarcerated.

In this remarkable book, J.J. Sefton captures it all, in real time, day by day. Even as he regards the unfolding events with all the alarm and outrage so many of us felt, he also brings to the task great perspective and, yes, even wry gallows humor. Above all, he makes sense of it.

You can easily see why we need a book like this. Years from now, people are going to saying "Are you freaking kidding me? Demanding people to be injected with dubious vaccines or lose their jobs? The police retreating and letting cities burn? Forcing pre-schoolers to wear masks all day? A 3.5 *trillion* dollar spending boondoggle? *No way* this could've happened!" This book will be part of the historical record, an eloquent witness to the madness, mayhem and moral dereliction of the early 21st century when many people simply lost their minds.

The Kindle edition sells for $9.99.


___________

Moron author (and movie thread writer) TheJamesMadison has a new novel out, The Sharp Kid:

1880s Missouri is a time of gangs and civilization, finding a way towards modernity through the old scars of the Civil War. 16 year old Cal Braden joins his absent father on a journey of train robbing with the promise of a new life further West in San Francisco. But promises are cheap, as cheap as iron, and it's a question of whether they'll ever be able to get out of the life of criminality they've decided to take up.

"Every time I try to get out, they keep lassoing me back in." Perhaps this line is not in TJM's western novel. But it should be.

The Kindle edition is $9.99. It's still in pre-order status, but if you buy it today, it will be delivered to your device tomorrow.

___________

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.


20211031 book pic 01.jpg

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Happy Halloween, bookwyrms!

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:00 AM (Dc2NZ)

2 Leslie Caron!

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:01 AM (ONvIw)

3 No reading this week.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 08:01 AM (yrol0)

4 Tolle Lege
Just started Molly Hemingway Rigged

Posted by: Skip's Phone at October 31, 2021 08:01 AM (Hl7/C)

5 Is that Gigi?

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

6 "The legend of Mmatmuor and Sodosma shall rise only in the latter cycles of Earth, when the glad legends of the prime have been forgotten. Before the time of its telling, many epochs shall have passed away, and the seas shall have fallen in their beds, and new continents shall have come to birth. Perhaps, in that day, it will serve to beguile for a little the black weariness of a dying race, grown hopeless of all but oblivion. I tell the tale as men shall tell it in Zothique, the last continent, beneath a dim sun and sad heavens where the stars come out in terrible brightness before eventide."

--- from "The Empire of the Necromancers" by (of course) Clark Ashton Smith

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

7 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog at October 31, 2021 08:02 AM (w2C3p)

8 A map of Zothique:

https://tinyurl.com/szv9y7dp

Overlay over our current world:

https://tinyurl.com/ydnu9f4s

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

9 Margaret Rutherford!

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:03 AM (45fpk)

10 Ha! Grammie

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:03 AM (Dc2NZ)

11 5 Is that Gigi?
Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

La scoundrelly Obama voter herself!

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:03 AM (ONvIw)

12 Who Dis? Hellen Keller, of course!

Posted by: Biden's Dog at October 31, 2021 08:03 AM (w2C3p)

13 I finished my first Shelley bio and read her father's work An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice. Seems Marx cribbed from Godwin, but Godwin grew up and disavowed a lot of the shit he wrote.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:05 AM (ONvIw)

14 Nooded.

Posted by: NaCly Dog next year with Polka music (u82oZ) at October 31, 2021 08:06 AM (u82oZ)

15 Morning, Horde...How goes it? I just read The Disappearing Spoon not that long ago...Always a fun read. I talked about it in the class I'm teaching and one of my students decided to read it too.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:07 AM (K5n5d)

16 Good Sunday morning, horde!

How can they not open that secret chamber to see what's in there? Mr. April can't stand it if I get a package delivered and don't open it for several hours. He would be the one attacking that door with everything he's got, to see what's inside.

Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:07 AM (OX9vb)

17 Good morning book threadists.

Still grinding my way through Dante's Divine Comedy.

*Scampers off to don pants*

Posted by: Tonyeeek at October 31, 2021 08:08 AM (mD/uy)

18 a secret chamber was discovered in 2010, which no one has entered in more than 200 years. There are different theories about what may be inside.

-
Hillary's conscience? It hasn't been seen for over 200 years.

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus at October 31, 2021 08:08 AM (d9FiS)

19 Nice movie lieberry!

Those pants...wasn't Dr. Seuss banned by the cropped haired, bitter faced old lefty bints some years ago?

The Who Dis is some Eyetie broad who just seen what Joe did in his pants.

More coffee.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 31, 2021 08:08 AM (R/m4+)

20 I've started "Tribe" by Sebastian Unger.
Non-fiction, very engaging social analysis.
About half way through it.
They gave Chapter 1 as a sample/teaser, but all the other chapters don't resemble the subject matter of chapter 1, which I find frustrating as a consumer, but I'll probably get over it.

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:09 AM (3aQHd)

21 Sitting, waiting to see what Kindletot thinks about my story.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:09 AM (7bRMQ)

22 Morning all! Picked up Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest this week, then put it back down. Although it hit all the right notes, I had trouble getting into it for some reason.

Posted by: Long-time Commenter, First-time Reader at October 31, 2021 08:09 AM (Bg96i)

23 Good morning, Horde. Whether it becomes a good day remains to be seen...

Posted by: Ladyl at October 31, 2021 08:09 AM (+4oV5)

24 The Pants With Nobody Inside Them!

That story creeped Li'l Eris out bigly. But it had a sweet ending -- they just wanted to be worn.

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

25 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great, maybe spooky, week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:10 AM (7EjX1)

26 Last evening I started a Ford Madox Ford (Huefner)Trained for Genius: The Life and Writings of Ford Madox Ford.

So far, I'm more interested in the social aspects of Ford's life than the other writings. He was very friendly and helpful to Joseph Conrad and was a frequent guest/host of Henry James. One passage told the story of how impressed Conrad was to be using Christina Rosetti's writing desk.

I found the social aspects of the Shelleys' lives fascinating too. In both cases there was quite an illustrious circle.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:10 AM (ONvIw)

27 22 Morning all! Picked up Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest this week, then put it back down. Although it hit all the right notes, I had trouble getting into it for some reason.
Posted by: Long-time Commenter, First-time Reader at October 31, 2021 08:09 AM (Bg96i)
---

Is that the new one in the "Boneshaker" series?

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:10 AM (Dc2NZ)

28 I missed last week's thread because I was traveling home from TXMOME. So here's what I've read in the past couple of weeks.

I finished Troy Denning's Prism Pentad series set in the Dark Sun World of AD&D (2nd Ed.). Although the first third of the book was kind of "meh" the last two-thirds was balls-to-the-wall insane as the main characters took on both the Dragon, which has been terrorizing Athas for over a thousand years, but also the eldritch abomination the Dragon had been keeping imprisoned during that time. The final battle is absolutely insane and cannot be described.

I've also started reading The Wars of Vis written by Tanith Lee. It makes The Prism Pentad seem tame by comparison. Currently on Book 2 of that series...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:10 AM (K5n5d)

29 I've bought a beginning whittling book for Thing 2 for Christmas. And a carving knife. We'll see how that goes. He is a doer, not a reader, so I thought this was a good mix.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:11 AM (45fpk)

30 The Pants With Nobody Inside Them!

That story creeped Li'l Eris out bigly. But it had a sweet ending -- they just wanted to be worn.
Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:09 AM (Dc2NZ)
----
Found a copy of The Sneetches and Other Stories at the university library (where I work) and just had to read them all again for nostalgia sake. Good stuff!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (K5n5d)

31 Trump is using black magic, huh? Explains why Biden's economic and foreign policies are failures even though Joe is a super genius.

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (d9FiS)

32 I previously finished The Divine Comedy.
The Baylor University YouTube channel "100 Days of Dante" is very helpful and filled in a lot of blanks, for me anyway.
I read the Longfellow translation.

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (3aQHd)

33 Oh, not new. But it's in my library queue now.

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (Dc2NZ)

34 Eris, it might be the new one. I read the others some time ago but had never read this one.

Posted by: Long-time Commenter, First-time Reader at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (Bg96i)

35 Halloween elbows!

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (hTVNH)

36 I have no idea who dis is, but she's super cute.

Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (OX9vb)

37 29 I've bought a beginning whittling book for Thing 2 for Christmas. And a carving knife. We'll see how that goes. He is a doer, not a reader, so I thought this was a good mix.
Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:11 AM (45fpk)

That's a great idea! I bought the grandsons some crafting materials too, and am going to get them involved in some very basic drafting.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:13 AM (ONvIw)

38 Thank you OM, for another hair-raisingly great Boo-ok Thread!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Cryptkeeper at October 31, 2021 08:13 AM (PiwSw)

39 I read The Return of the God Hypothesis by Stephen Meyer. His previous book, Darwin's Doubt, was a scientifically based critique of evolution, specifically its inability to explain the origin of complex biochemicals like DNA and folded proteins, and the likelihood that intelligent design is the only explanation for their existence. The new book expands on that thesis, moving into the realm of cosmology, and the inability of modern physics to explain the fine tuning of physical constants including (among many others) the permittivity constant in Coulomb's Law, the gravitational force constant, and the ratio of the electromagnetic force and gravity. Here, Meyer explicitly explains these phenomena as evidence of (not proof of) God or a Godlike entity as the most likely causal explanation. He introduces the ideas at the cutting edge of modern theoretical physics, e.g. infinite universes, as alternative, but ultimately unsatisfactory explanations. (to be cont.)

Posted by: pep at October 31, 2021 08:13 AM (ZsR3z)

40 Totally wild ass guess: Is the 'who dis' Leslie Caron?

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:14 AM (7EjX1)

41 (2 of 2)
Meyer has a PhD in physics, or something akin to it, from Cambridge, and is obviously a very smart man who knows the material and has thought long and hard about it. He has an astounding ability to make complex concepts at least marginally understandable and to anticipate objections from dismissive scientists.

I won't say I agreed with everything he wrote, but it's all meticulously laid out and logical. Even viewed as a work of science fiction, it's a master class. Those who read this book and simply dismiss it as another unhinged religious tract are the ones with the unwillingness to listen and weigh evidence, not him. You spot the scientist.

Posted by: pep at October 31, 2021 08:14 AM (ZsR3z)

42 Greetings! I will again make mention of Msr. Stephen Rossetti's Diary of an American Exorcist, which is a very accessible introduction to the spirit realm.

A key finding of his is that what we think of as ghosts are actually demons impersonating the dead. Souls go where they are destined immediately. The notion that murdered innocents are condemned to walk the earth bemoaning their fate is romanticist heresy.

The Lord of Spirits podcast hammers home the same point, albeit from the Eastern Orthodox perspective.

Put simply, no one who calls themselves Christian should believe that murder victims - particularly children - would not be immediately embraced by God in the afterlife. Demons are the ones spreading that lie.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:14 AM (llXky)

43 36 I have no idea who dis is, but she's super cute.
Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:12 AM (OX9vb)

I used to like her more than I do now. I was watching The Glass Slipper with my kids, many years ago, and the younger one called her "fish mouth". I never did recover.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:14 AM (ONvIw)

44 If any of the Horde ever gets a chance, check out The Illustrated Saint John's Bible in person at George Fox University in Oregon.

https://is.gd/kZvnBI

It is absolutely stunning. Ask if Professor Anderson is available to present it to you and your group. Hell of a guy and scarily brilliant concerning the St. John's writings.

Posted by: Tonyeeek at October 31, 2021 08:15 AM (mD/uy)

45 I'm up to Canto 24 of The Inferno as part of 100 Days of Dante. It's getting more interesting with each Canto. I do wonder if he intended The Comedy as something for the ages. Yes, he grouped himself with Homer and Virgil and deals with profound matters of religion and the church. But Dante doesn't mind putting using recent and contemporary events as examples nor putting his political and ecclesiastic foes into hell. Revenge for his exile? Exposing social and political matters to help overthrow them? Writing in the vernacular instead of academic Latin for a more general audience?

I realize The Comedy is important literature and offers deep perspectives on Dante's time and society. That's what it became. My question is that what Dante had in mind. I'm not sure. But it is fun speculation even as I mine the work for its huge value and entertainment.


Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:15 AM (7EjX1)

46 I am not very shocked that the left is resorting to a fascination with devils and the black arts. It's sort of their SOP.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:16 AM (ONvIw)

47 I'm curious, though, how big were the other leaders' motorcades, for comparison? Are they all just as hypocritical? Maybe they all deserve to be called out.
---------------------------
It's not the exact same thing but when Justin went to yesterday's meeting [walking past an honour guard of lancers if you've seen photos/video of arriving dignitaries], dumbf#ck was just in one midsize car without any other vehicles I could see for aides. Don't know how Joe went to the same meeting yesterday.

Merkel arrived the same way in an ordinary car [including mask b.s. in the video]

https://twitter.com/drdavidsamadi/status/
1454738826006601728

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 08:16 AM (UHVv4)

48 I can vouch for John Masters.

He was the real deal. One correction. Gurkha regiments were the elite of the Indian Army. You had to serve faithfully in another, lesser, regiment to be vetted first. Which he did.

Bhowani Junction is his best known book, but I liked his The Road Past Mandalay better. It is a well told story of an obscure corner of WWII (Burma). He was in the Chindits, and has a tale to tell. Very revealing.

I think he tells of Indians and India up past the formation of the nation state very well. It was in his blood.

Posted by: NaCly Dog next year with Polka music (u82oZ) at October 31, 2021 08:17 AM (u82oZ)

49 Happy Halloween.

I've read enough of Buddenbrooks to realize that it's an exercise in sheer tedium about a family of spoiled brats who squander the family fortune. How Mann ever got regarded as someone worth reading is a mystery to me. Even for the rare more responsible characters there's no insight provided for what they actually do for a living other than buy and sell large quantities of grain, increasingly at unfavorable terms. I don't think Mann was particularly interested in working for a living either, which is why he found it more lucrative to be a gasbag writer and wrote so convincingly about family deadbeats. What a kraut fraud.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 08:17 AM (y7DUB)

50 Last evening I started a Ford Madox Ford (Huefner)Trained for Genius: The Life and Writings of Ford Madox Ford.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:10 AM (ONvIw)
---
I have a sticky note on my desk reminding me to get this.

On an unrelated note, I wonder of the good burghers of East Lansing are rethinking last year's decision to "de-police" the area. The grandkids were cranky, so I missed the end of the game, however when I heard wild shouts of joy echoing through the neighborhood, I figured MSU pulled it out.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:18 AM (llXky)

51 Airline cancellations popping up again/still...
Quote Tweet CNBC; 16h
American Airlines cancels more than 700 flights, citing weather and staffing issues

ZubyMusic; 10h
It's crazy how the weather in the USA can target specific airlines.

Climate change is something else these days.

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 08:18 AM (UHVv4)

52 I won't say I agreed with everything he wrote, but it's all meticulously laid out and logical. Even viewed as a work of science fiction, it's a master class. Those who read this book and simply dismiss it as another unhinged religious tract are the ones with the unwillingness to listen and weigh evidence, not him. You spot the scientist.
Posted by: pep at October 31, 2021 08:14 AM (ZsR3z)
----
The fine structure constant is one of those truly baffling mysteries. If it is altered even just a tiny bit, suddenly physics as we know it fails. How can it be so perfectly tuned? And HAS is ever changed over time? Science seems to think it might, which alters a bunch of stuff...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:18 AM (K5n5d)

53 Not much reading done this week, other than re-reading a Kurt Schlicter's "Crisis". Seriously, I'm wondering if his Kelly Turnbull series ought to be moved from 'dystopic fiction' to 'current events'...
Cleaned out the garage freezer, yesterday, and made a specialty candy bag in the shape of a black bat to go with the grandson's Dracula Halloween costume. My daughter is going to dress as Mina Harker, with two blood-red fang marks on her neck, and take him around for a spot of tricker-treating tonight.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at October 31, 2021 08:18 AM (xnmPy)

54 Put simply, no one who calls themselves Christian should believe that murder victims - particularly children - would not be immediately embraced by God in the afterlife. Demons are the ones spreading that lie.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:14 AM (llXky)

Any believer should know that. There are no such things as ghosts. The dead are finished, they get reward or punishment. They don't walk around haunting places they lived.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:19 AM (7bRMQ)

55 Funny How The Meaning Of This Sentence Changes Depending On What Word You Emphasize:

That's excellent. Like a Clintonian speech guide.

Posted by: t-bat at October 31, 2021 08:20 AM (8u/ei)

56 I read in the shallow end of the pool. This week it was John Sandford's latest Prey novel (31st of its line), featuring Lucas Davenport AND Virgil Flowers. I emphasize that f'n Flowers because, well, it's Virgil. If you've read him, you'll know why they call him 'that f'n Flowers.' Peaches what used to post here loved Virgil. Good fun.


If you're out there Peaches, read this one.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:21 AM (45fpk)

57 Any believer should know that. There are no such things as ghosts. The dead are finished, they get reward or punishment. They don't walk around haunting places they lived.
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Right - the truly evil haunt us while they are alive.

Posted by: Tonyeeek at October 31, 2021 08:21 AM (mD/uy)

58 My Dune book club has now gotten to the end of Heretics of Dune.

SF writers got more and more consumed with sex as they got older. I think in part its because they are already writing about being beyond boundaries and different societies, and how could you demonstrate that more easily than going there on sex.

Either that, or they were just horny old men.

Posted by: blaster at October 31, 2021 08:21 AM (mbFEM)

59 SF writers got more and more consumed with sex as they got older. I think in part its because they are already writing about being beyond boundaries and different societies, and how could you demonstrate that more easily than going there on sex.

Either that, or they were just horny old men.
Posted by: blaster at October 31, 2021 08:21 AM (mbFEM)
----
A little from column A and a lot from column B....

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:22 AM (K5n5d)

60 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:18 AM (llXky)

MSU beating those tubby weasels is always a good thing.
I'm thinking that particular bio may not be the "best", and I'm hunting for a longer one. I bought a cheap ex-library copy.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:22 AM (ONvIw)

61 Ordered a hardcopy of JJ's book. Got it through Amazon so that the numbers will help sales and give me a chance to comment. JJ suggested this earlier this week. Our initial concern was what source would give him the most profit but it's close whether ordered through Amazon or the publisher.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:23 AM (7EjX1)

62 A little from column A and a lot from column B....
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:22 AM (K5n5d)

Yep, writing about what they're not really doing anymore. Depraved on account of deprived?

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:23 AM (ONvIw)

63 Those pale green pants with nobody inside 'em!

Good morning all! I slept in this morning until almost NINE!

Posted by: Rosasharn at October 31, 2021 08:23 AM (PzBTm)

64 There are no such things as ghosts. The dead are finished, they get reward or punishment. They don't walk around haunting places they lived.

-
I don't know about that. Beau Biden had been haunting the White House and the country for some time now.

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus at October 31, 2021 08:24 AM (d9FiS)

65 Love that closing cartoon. The Horror! The Horror!

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:24 AM (7EjX1)

66 2 Leslie Caron!
Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:01 AM (ONvIw)

40 Totally wild ass guess: Is the 'who dis' Leslie Caron?
Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:14 AM (7EjX1)


Yes!

Brb, need coffee.

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 08:24 AM (DXUY7)

67 ...they get reward or punishment. They don't walk around haunting places they lived.
Posted by: OrangeEnt


Then how do you explain Hillary! Clinton?

Posted by: naturalfrankenstein at October 31, 2021 08:24 AM (5NkmN)

68 >>>Funny How The Meaning Of This Sentence Changes Depending On What Word You Emphasize

And also if you emphasize no word in the sentence; entirely monotone:

I never said we should kill him.

Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 08:25 AM (fVJPF)

69 There are no such things as ghosts. The dead are finished, they get reward or punishment. They don't walk around haunting places they lived.
----
I think there are a couple of prevailing ideas re: spirits/haunting. One is that they are unable to find peace due to the circumstances of their horrific death and therefore CAN'T ascend to the next plane of existence. The other is that they are simply psychic imprints that have imprinted onto the world and are not actually tied to their former owners. Either idea allows for intriguing storytelling.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:26 AM (K5n5d)

70 Those pants are fine. I would wear them to make a speech.

Posted by: Barky McDogeaterface at October 31, 2021 08:26 AM (Tnijr)

71 I did buy a cheap ex library copy of Ford's It was the Nightingale, as it promises to be more autobiography and "writer chat" which I enjoy.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:26 AM (ONvIw)

72 And also if you emphasize no word in the sentence; entirely monotone:

I never said we should kill him.
Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 08:25 AM (fVJPF)
---
And that is how you establish "plausible deniability"...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:27 AM (K5n5d)

73 ...they get reward or punishment. They don't walk around haunting places they lived.
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Then how do you explain Hillary! Clinton?


Dante self-censored The Inferno. The 10th circle of hell is DNC headquarters. He didn't think anyone would believe something so evil could exist.

Posted by: pep at October 31, 2021 08:27 AM (ZsR3z)

74 "There are no such things as ghosts"

If there are I would like to see one. It would clear up a lot of things.

Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:27 AM (Tnijr)

75 On the theme of ghosts in libraries, one of my favorite scenes in the Lord Peter Wimsey books is one from "Busman's Honeymoon." Newly married Peter and Harriet are visiting Peter's mother at the family seat when Harriet meets an unknown (and silent) relative in the library. Peter and his mother later explain that it's one of the family ghosts and that she should be honored because he usually doesn't show himself to newcomers.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at October 31, 2021 08:27 AM (fTtFy)

76 the younger one called her "fish mouth". I never did recover.
Posted by: Sparkling CN

Haha, these things happen. Once seen, can't be unseen.

Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:28 AM (OX9vb)

77 Right - the truly evil haunt us while they are alive.

Posted by: Tonyeeek at October 31, 2021 08:21 AM (mD/uy)

Somebody named Martin wrote something about that a few years ago. Seems appropriate for this day:

Though hordes of devils fill the land all threat'ning to devour us, we tremble not, unmoved we stand: they cannot over pow'r us. Let this world's tyrant rage, in battle we'll engage....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:28 AM (7bRMQ)

78 Hogmartin once sent me a cartoon of "your favorite book" pooping out a movie. So true!

Hogmartin, if you're reading this, find that cartoon please.

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (Dc2NZ)

79 Finished "A" Force: The Origins of British Deception in the Second World War
by Whitney Bendeck.

It is a good overview of the process of deception in the UK forces in the Middle East. It was the template used in the rest of the war, especially in Operation Bodyguard to aid the Normandy landings.

The author shows what works and does not work, and highlights the commanders like Wavell and Montgomery that put it to use.

A solid addition to my expanding library of WWII deception means and methods.

OB Hollywood: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was a commander of one of the USN units used in deception.

Posted by: NaCly Dog next year with Polka music (u82oZ) at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (u82oZ)

80 Got a bunch of holiday cookbooks from the library to peruse. (If I wait until December they're all checked out.) Looking at brunch recipes and bar cookies in particular.

Posted by: JuJuBee at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (mNhhD)

81 Seems appropriate for this day:

Though hordes of devils fill the land all threat'ning to devour us, we tremble not, unmoved we stand: they cannot over pow'r us. Let this world's tyrant rage, in battle we'll engage....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:28 AM (7bRMQ)


Happy Reformation Day!

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (45fpk)

82 And also if you emphasize no word in the sentence; entirely monotone:

I never said we should kill him.
Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 08:25 AM (fVJPF)
---

HAL, on the witness stand.

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (Dc2NZ)

83 29 ... " I've bought a beginning whittling book for Thing 2 for Christmas. And a carving knife. We'll see how that goes. He is a doer, not a reader, so I thought this was a good mix."

grammie, Out of curiosity, which book did you get and which knife? Whittling is so much fun and learning to safely use a knife is, in my opinion, an important skill.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (7EjX1)

84 And on the theme of magic, many thanks to the moron who recommended the Great Merlini mysteries. I have how read two of the novels and a collection of short stories. The novels are absurdly complicated but I enjoyed them anyway. That's probably because they include so much inside baseball stuff about magic (Death from a Top Hat) and the circus (The Headless Lady).

They made a movie based on "Death from a Top Hat" with Robert Young called "Miracles for Sale." It's WAY pared down from the book, but still very entertaining.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (fTtFy)

85 HAL, on the witness stand.
Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (Dc2NZ)

Space Odyssey, HAL. I was interested to learn that the first HAL voice was Nigel Davenport, but the director found the accent to distracting.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (ONvIw)

86 77 Right - the truly evil haunt us while they are alive.

Posted by: Tonyeeek at October 31, 2021 08:21 AM (mD/uy)

Somebody named Martin wrote something about that a few years ago. Seems appropriate for this day:

Though hordes of devils fill the land all threat'ning to devour us, we tremble not, unmoved we stand: they cannot over pow'r us. Let this world's tyrant rage, in battle we'll engage....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:28 AM (7bRMQ)

Breitbart!

Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (fVJPF)

87 I think...they are trying to make us feel like we did before WWII. Foreplay for war.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (Mb9aP)

88 Booken Morgen Horden

Happy Halloween!

Posted by: vmom's blood soaked claws at October 31, 2021 08:32 AM (YZG/i)

89 Started reading For Whom the Bell Tolls. The appeal of Hemingway usually eludes me but this has grabbed me as an interesting account of an English speaking furriner good at demolishing things like bridges with bombs interacting with partisans in the Spanish Civil War. The internal intrigue between participants is interestingly presented and I've gained an enhanced appreciation of ol' Ernie. Is this regarded as one of the best fictional portrayal of the Spanish Civil War?

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 08:32 AM (y7DUB)

90 Got a bunch of holiday cookbooks from the library to peruse. (If I wait until December they're all checked out.) Looking at brunch recipes and bar cookies in particular.
Posted by: JuJuBee at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (mNhhD)
----------

Good for you! I do the same thing. It's enjoyable and relaxing to me. I've found the Southern Living ones particularly good. But there are lots of fun ones out there.

Posted by: boo-bell at October 31, 2021 08:32 AM (wyw4S)

91 grammie, Out of curiosity, which book did you get and which knife? Whittling is so much fun and learning to safely use a knife is, in my opinion, an important skill.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (7EjX1)


Let me see if I can find the title from the dread Amazon. The knife I got from Hobby Lobby, which kind of offsets the uff da-ness of Amazon.....

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:32 AM (45fpk)

92 Somebody named Martin wrote something about that a few years ago. Seems appropriate for this day:

Though hordes of devils fill the land all threat'ning to devour us, we tremble not, unmoved we stand: they cannot over pow'r us. Let this world's tyrant rage, in battle we'll engage....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:28 AM (7bRMQ)

Breitbart!
Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (fVJPF)

A blessed Reformation Sunday to all.

Posted by: Wethal at October 31, 2021 08:33 AM (ZzVCK)

93 No dancing skeletons (yet) but here's a spider for Jurassic Park enthusiasts. Is that warning enough?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnJ7NWgcXP0

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:33 AM (W+kMI)

94 87 I think...they are trying to make us feel like we did before WWII. Foreplay for war.
Posted by: Humphreyrobot at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (Mb9aP

I think we do stand on the brink. Every time I look at twitter, I find a slew of comments calling for purges of conservatives. The commies are restless. And I'm sad to say, they have used CRT and that tranny shit to push their economic issues with some success due to white guilt and ownership of the media

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:34 AM (ONvIw)

95 Walk around a Gettysburg battlefield at dusk.
Then tell me that ghosts don't exist.

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:34 AM (3aQHd)

96 Morning, all

Been bingeing "The Crown" and was reminded of an alternate history mystery novel that I loved, "King and Joker" by Peter Dickinson.

Edward, the Prince of Wales doesn't die in 1892- he recovers and rules as Victor I, under the strict tutelage of Queen Mary.
In the 1970s, his grandson is King and there's a practical joker loose in Buckingham Palace, whose pranks get more and more dangerous.

There's a middle school Princess protagonist, an ancient Nanny, the Spanish Queen, the King's 'very great friend', a vegetarian animal rights Prince of Wales and a royal look-alike.

Very clever. Dickinson is a treat.

Posted by: sal at October 31, 2021 08:35 AM (bJKUl)

97 What is Reformation Sunday? Is this something to do with Luther?

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:35 AM (ONvIw)

98 @80

My mother in law used to have about a dozen Christmas cookie specializes, made from scratch, and every year she'd spend a day baking them. (some more favorite than others--Scottish, enough said)

But no one has carried on the tradition. Except for her shortbread recipe, which mainly consists of butter--the grandkids can handle that.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 08:35 AM (AwPyG)

99 Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (7EjX1)


JTB - the book is entitled "Easy Wood Carving for Children; Whittling projects for Adventurous Kids" by Frank Egholm. The knife simply says "Wood Carving Knife". It's got a carved blade.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:36 AM (45fpk)

100 Of course there's no such thing as a ghost
Aliens on the other hand...

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at October 31, 2021 08:36 AM (zdpQZ)

101 Gary Lachman isn't a historian, he's an occultist. If he was a Baptist or Lutheran instead of a Wiccan, he'd be the type of author that kept Thunderbird Press in business back in the day with Nazi Occult Studies. And yeah, he has TDS so bad he's probably still self-quarantined.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:36 AM (W+kMI)

102 Still reading "Downbelow Station". I will then plow through the rest of the Union-Alliance universe.

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 31, 2021 08:36 AM (Dc2NZ)

103 Reformation Sunday commemorates the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, a critical day in Protestant history and a special one to all of us Lutherans.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at October 31, 2021 08:37 AM (fTtFy)

104 Oh well...another World wide cult to kill.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at October 31, 2021 08:37 AM (Mb9aP)

105 What is Reformation Sunday? Is this something to do with Luther?

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:35 AM (ONvIw)


Yes, it is the day Martin Luther made a stink at the Wittenburg Door. Nailed it, you might say.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:37 AM (45fpk)

106 These pretzels are making me thirsty.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at October 31, 2021 08:38 AM (vuisn)

107 Started Last Stands (Why Men Fght When All is Lost), based on recommendations here. Quite good so far. Vignettes of famous battles where one side was badly outnumbered, and usually got wiped out.

Greatdrama. Nearly all have been made into movies.

Author is clearly a Moron.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 08:39 AM (ZHVt1)

108 Have a great day, everyone.

Slowly rereading a classic of SF The War against the Rull by A.E. Van Vogt.

Van Vogt is a poor but influential writer with out there ideas. Standards in SF have improved greatly, or maybe I am more discriminating now than at 11.

Slan and The Weapons Shop of Isher were better, but not The Players of Null-A. .

Posted by: NaCly Dog next year with Polka music (u82oZ) at October 31, 2021 08:40 AM (u82oZ)

109 Is this regarded as one of the best fictional portrayal of the Spanish Civil War?

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 08:32 AM (y7DUB)
---
The whole "did the earth move for you, too?" thing got Hemingway a lot of grief. I haven't re-read it since I wrote Long Live Death but may have to see how it holds up. The story is about a specific campaign early in the war, but the name eludes me at the moment.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:40 AM (llXky)

110 Thanks. I had never heard the term before.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:40 AM (ONvIw)

111 Morning. Im up too early.. Just finished Sea Wolf, Jack London. Interesting but very philosophical. I'm not very deep and reading it before bed hurt my brain. Also not a sailor and very nautical.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 08:40 AM (QKH1N)

112 Greetings:

In the afterglow of the Columbus Day suppressions, I've started reading "Conquistadores" by Fernando Cervantes. For a 2021 book, in the depths of the Progressive Era, it's a surprisingly good read. (Rather steady blood pressure readings through the first 150 pages.)

A lot about the court. church, and philosophical intrigues of those days most in a rather that's they way they rolled almost "Get over it." blaséness.

Recommended 4.5 out of 5.

Posted by: 11B40 at October 31, 2021 08:41 AM (uuklp)

113 I see several reports that VA Gov race will take until Friday to count all the fake and cheat votes.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 08:41 AM (yrol0)

114 Is Gary Lachman still nominally American?

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (ONvIw)

115 103 Reformation Sunday commemorates the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, a critical day in Protestant history and a special one to all of us Lutherans.
========
The ELCA hasn't been emphasizing it so much since we made nice with the Catholics. But still it's the day when Ein Feste Burg gets dusted off for the choir. Makes me remember church services at my grandparents' big Lutheran church in NW Ohio. When I was a much younger Lutheran and still regularly attending LCA church, it was a day to reaffirm WASP virtues in (non-1619 mode) progressive history mode.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (W+kMI)

116 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)

117 113 I see several reports that VA Gov race will take until Friday to count all the fake and cheat votes.
Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 08:41 AM (yrol0)

The fix is in? I wonder what nothingness the GOP will do about this?

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:43 AM (ONvIw)

118 Last Stands is very good, yes.
Author is Michael Walsh

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:43 AM (3aQHd)

119 Tried to get Rigged last week but got a loading error, did it again same loading error but it showed up on my carousel. Hope their isn't two of them.
All week read every review and every one said get it.

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 08:43 AM (2JoB8)

120 105 Yes, it is the day Martin Luther made a stink at the Wittenburg Door.

you know who else made a stink?

Posted by: Anachronda at October 31, 2021 08:43 AM (I38CQ)

121 Walk around a Gettysburg battlefield at dusk.
Then tell me that ghosts don't exist.

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:34 AM


There are half a dozen battlefield ghost tour businesses in Gettysburg, and there are always a line at dusk waiting for the tour.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at October 31, 2021 08:43 AM (JUOKG)

122 Renting a place in the mountains and thd bookshelf has some books from early 1900's. I'm really enjoying those. I never would have read them otherwise.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 08:44 AM (QKH1N)

123 Yes, it is the day Martin Luther made a stink at the Wittenburg Door. Nailed it, you might say.
Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:37 AM (45fpk)

Powerline Blog's wonderful Week in Pictures [Cartoons, Memes, etc.] had a great cartoon of Luther posting his theses:

"You know, Martin, it will just be taken down and you'll be blocked from posting for 30 days."

Posted by: Wethal at October 31, 2021 08:44 AM (ZzVCK)

124 hiya

Posted by: JT at October 31, 2021 08:45 AM (arJlL)

125 Walk around a Gettysburg battlefield at dusk.
Then tell me that ghosts don't exist.

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:34 AM (3aQHd)
---
If by "ghost" you mean the Germanic term for "spirits," yes, they absolutely do exist. But those are the unquiet dead.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:45 AM (llXky)

126 Happy Reformation Day!

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:29 AM (45fpk)

Thanks, you too!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:45 AM (7bRMQ)

127 "You know, Martin, it will just be taken down and you'll be blocked from posting for 30 days."


That's funny

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:45 AM (45fpk)

128 I'm gonna say the pants guy owns a weedwhacker....

Posted by: JT at October 31, 2021 08:45 AM (arJlL)

129 But no one has carried on the tradition. Except for her shortbread recipe, which mainly consists of butter--the grandkids can handle that.
Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 08:35 AM (AwPyG)
-----------

You need to encourage her tradition to continue! If you still have the recipes, maybe look into putting them in a small book for the grandkids. And make some yourself! You don't need to make a dozen different kinds, but maybe 4 this year, 4 others the next, etc.

Somewhere down the line someone will thank you.

Posted by: boo-bell at October 31, 2021 08:46 AM (wyw4S)

130 Good morning morons and thank you om

Mazel tov JJ on your new book. Good luck to you and all the nyc morons now at immediate risk of life and limb because of the collapse of public emergency services there.

Posted by: San Franspook-o at October 31, 2021 08:46 AM (EZebt)

131 Argh! Those are NOT the unquiet dead. They have long since gone to their reward.

Other entities are drawn to such places and will impersonate them, maybe even try to fool you to establish a relationship by communicating with them.

Don't do it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:46 AM (llXky)

132 What the hell? My older dog, a 46 pound Vizsla, just climbed into my lap (legs outstretched on a table) and fell asleep. I ask you: Should this be permitted?!

Busy work week this week, so reading was thin. Read "Rigged", and I normally don't read political books but I made an exception and learned quite a lot. Zuckerberg may be banal, but he's done enormous damage to America. Reading JJS as well. Also slowly following Dante (100 days).

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 31, 2021 08:47 AM (hTVNH)

133 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?
Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)

I see Joe Biden every day.

Posted by: dantesed at October 31, 2021 08:47 AM (88xKn)

134 52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence
letters, even though the indulgence
commissary, or even the pope, was to offer
his own soul as security

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 08:47 AM (yrol0)

135 Don't do it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:46 AM (llXky)


Listen to this man.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:47 AM (45fpk)

136 ...do you really want to make friends with a pair of pants walking around by themselves?

I recall reading Jessie Ventura, back before he went total nutzoid. Hanging around with bikers, "You get a pair of 501 jeans that fit perfect, and wear them when riding, and never wash them. Road grime, oil, sweat, yada yada yada. It struck me as Odd to say the least. Never tried it. That's one thing about "Jack Reacher", wear clothes for a week to ten day, then toss them and buy new ones. Odd.

Posted by: Paladin at October 31, 2021 08:47 AM (wpleL)

137 I own and have read The Last Battle. It is a concise and interesting little book about the last real engagement of note in the European Theater. You'd think it was a novelization of a WW II movie from the Seventies, but no, it's all real. In a very short summary, the story concerns an American military unit that gets told off to rescue French VIPs from the 1937-1940 government and Vichy regime who are being held prisoner by the SS in a scenic castle. They are blocked by one of the last cohesive Wehrmacht positions in Germany. The Wehrmacht joins the GI's in rescuing the Frogs from the SS. If you want to know how that happened, well, you know what to do.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:48 AM (W+kMI)

138 Greetings:

The Halloween mask over/under question:

Fauci mask or Halloween mask ???

Posted by: 11B40 at October 31, 2021 08:48 AM (uuklp)

139 116 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?
Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)

Personally, no, but I swear I got a verbal message once. Could have been pain and fatigue.

Anyway years ago on a wet and chilly NJ prom night, I got a report of a geriatric patient throwing things at the window of his room and demanding that someone stop the "damn Japs in formal wear" from dancing on the rain. It was odd, but he settled down and went to sleep so didn't require a transfer. He wasn't psychotic so we wrote it off as an elderly veteran having a bad dream. About an hour later we heard that there had been a fatal accident very near the hospital, and that an Asian high school couple lost control of their vehicle and died on their way home from the prom. It was kind of a disconcerting coincidence?

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:49 AM (ONvIw)

140 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:40 AM (llXky)

Thanks. I was debating whether to read your book before or after this one. It reads like an account of a real campaign fleshed out with interesting and more or less sympathetic characters.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 08:49 AM (y7DUB)

141 Renting a place in the mountains and thd bookshelf has some books from early 1900's. I'm really enjoying those. I never would have read them otherwise.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 08:44 AM (QKH1N)
---------

You're still there in the mountains? Lucky you!

I'm currently reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, written in 1859. I'm enjoying that too. Something to these old fellers, eh?

Posted by: boo-bell at October 31, 2021 08:49 AM (wyw4S)

142 Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, a book wherein he argues that there can be only one explanation for Trump's astonishing election victory in 2016 and his domination of the political landscape: dark magic.

==

Progs always project
I am convinced there's a lot of occult stuff going on with the globalist tyrants

Posted by: vmom's blood soaked claws at October 31, 2021 08:50 AM (YZG/i)

143 120 105 Yes, it is the day Martin Luther made a stink at the Wittenburg Door.

you know who else made a stink?
---------
It puts a whole new spin on "Let's go Brandon!"

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:50 AM (W+kMI)

144 Reformation Sunday commemorates the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, a critical day in Protestant history and a special one to all of us Lutherans.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at October 31, 2021 08:37 AM (fTtFy)
---
Our unit had a Lutheran chaplain and we used to tease each other all the time. One of my favorite jibes was to announce that I had realized Luther was right, the Catholics were wrong and I now had to join the True Lutheran Church.

But there were so many to choose from, how could I know which was the right one?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:50 AM (llXky)

145 Ghosts don't know that they are dead.
They are in a state of profound confusion, not for all eternity, perhaps, but definitely for the time being.
For instance, imagine charging an enemy in a fortified position, running, your heart is racing, you are shouting.
Then you catch an artillery round and become a pink mist to all your fellows around you.
Everyone knows you are gone except you.

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:50 AM (3aQHd)

146 It was kind of a disconcerting coincidence?
Posted by: Sparkling CN-

I'll say !

Posted by: JT at October 31, 2021 08:51 AM (arJlL)

147 That's one thing about "Jack Reacher", wear clothes for a week to ten day, then toss them and buy new ones. Odd.
Posted by: Paladin at October 31, 2021 08:47 AM (wpleL)

I have a buddies that buys 10 new pair of drawers, sox, and tshirts every new years day.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 08:51 AM (yrol0)

148 Everyone knows you are gone except you.

This, too, is the story of Joe Biden.

Posted by: pep at October 31, 2021 08:51 AM (ZsR3z)

149 Someone mentioned R A Lafferty last week so I got from my bought but not yet read shelf:

"The Man Who Never Was: The Collected Short Fiction, Volume Six" by R A Lafferty.

As always with Lafferty, it's a fun read. And this volume seems better assembled in the selection of stories than previous volumes. Previously the stories just seemed to be assembled by throwing darts.

This one appears to be centered around vaguely horrorish stories and loss. Perhaps the inclusion of Neil Gaiman in the process at some level helped with that. The idea of these volumes is to ultimately gather all of Lafferty's short stories together. So, there some here which I've never read before.

This book seems physically constructed better as well. With book numbers and autographs at the end.

Now for the bad news, this is a limited series (300 books) and if you don't buy them early, it is almost impossible to find one at a decent price. However, if you're a big fan of Lafferty, so far this volume appears to be the best one in both story selection and construction. So, do what you do.

Posted by: naturalfrankenstein at October 31, 2021 08:52 AM (5NkmN)

150 99 ... " the book is entitled "Easy Wood Carving for Children; Whittling projects for Adventurous Kids" by Frank Egholm. The knife simply says "Wood Carving Knife". It's got a carved blade."

grammie, That looks like a good kids intro to the hobby. I like the emphasis on safety and proper technique. If he stays with it and wants a better knife, check out the Mora 122 or the Flexcut Roughing knife. Both cost around 25 bucks but they are quality products that can last for years. Also, they come razor sharp and the blade shape is very versatile. I use both of them for whittling. Just FYI.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:52 AM (7EjX1)

151 Also not a sailor and very nautical.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

I picked this one up at a used book store, but haven't read it yet. Is it cold and wet? Because so much nautical lit is cold and wet. I might put that one at the bottom of the pile.

Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:52 AM (OX9vb)

152 If he stays with it and wants a better knife, check out the Mora 122 or the Flexcut Roughing knife. Both cost around 25 bucks but they are quality products that can last for years. Also, they come razor sharp and the blade shape is very versatile. I use both of them for whittling. Just FYI.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:52 AM (7EjX1)


Thanks JTB! I'll make a note of that! They live in the woods so he'll have no shortage of material.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:53 AM (45fpk)

153 I'll say !
Posted by: JT at October 31, 2021 08:51 AM (arJlL)

We were a little weirded out at the time. There was no way he could have heard about the accident, and the hospital property is guarded to prevent the curious from snooping around

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:53 AM (ONvIw)

154 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)

Not seen but definitely felt. Heidi and I went to an estate sale in Sarasota. The lady had died in the house. Her clothes, jewelry at were for sale. She did some acting IIRC, and some beautiful dresses, costume dresses. I had a horrible depressing oppressive feeling as people rummaged through stuff. After awhile we left. We both said nothing for quite awhile and then I said I had images of the deseased yelling while in the house "leave my things alone!"... Heidi had the same ominous feeling. It took a coupla hours before we could shake our mood. Very weird.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 08:55 AM (QKH1N)

155 What the hell? My older dog, a 46 pound Vizsla, just climbed into my lap (legs outstretched on a table) and fell asleep. I ask you: Should this be permitted?!

Doing goofy things like that is why Vizslas tend to get along well with Airedales.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 08:55 AM (y7DUB)

156 Thanks. I was debating whether to read your book before or after this one. It reads like an account of a real campaign fleshed out with interesting and more or less sympathetic characters.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 08:49 AM (y7DUB)
---
It's based on real people. Robert Jordan was based on Robert Merriman, who commanded the Lincoln Battalion at one point. He was straight from central casting - tall, athletic, handsome, charismatic, but a lousy commander.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:55 AM (llXky)

157 The Wehrmacht joins the GI's in rescuing the Frogs from the SS. If you want to know how that happened, well, you know what to do.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:48 AM (W+kMI)

Even though it would make a good movie, things the way they are today, it would never get made. Can't show any Germans as "good guys."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:56 AM (7bRMQ)

158 Here we go! Watch this one before the Rat's lawyers strike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOGhAV-84iI

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:56 AM (W+kMI)

159 125 ... "Walk around a Gettysburg battlefield at dusk.
Then tell me that ghosts don't exist."

If Devil's Den, even in full daylight, isn't haunted, then no place is.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:57 AM (7EjX1)

160 artemis, you could share your recipes with us!

I would like to peruse some Scottish cookie recipes.

Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:57 AM (OX9vb)

161 Ghosts don't know that they are dead.
They are in a state of profound confusion, not for all eternity, perhaps, but definitely for the time being.

Posted by: casual observer 1030 at October 31, 2021 08:50 AM (3aQHd)
---
The theology of Sixth Sense, eh?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:57 AM (llXky)

162
I picked this one up at a used book store, but haven't read it yet. Is it cold and wet? Because so much nautical lit is cold and wet. I might put that one at the bottom of the pile.

Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:52 AM (OX9vb)

Lol. Yes. Very cold and wet. And evil and violent.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 08:58 AM (QKH1N)

163 Reformation Sunday is a day that commemorates the day a Catholic priest nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg church

I've often wondered how many of those theses the Catholic Church has one way or another kind of sort of admitted Luther had a point.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (mR6Gs)

164 But there were so many to choose from, how could I know which was the right one?
--------------------
Just like Woody and Kelly from Cheers!!

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (UHVv4)

165 Then how do you explain Hillary! Clinton?

Posted by: naturalfrankenstein at October 31, 2021 08:24 AM (5NkmN)

Bad angel pretending to be human?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (7bRMQ)

166 As I bragged earlier, Mollie Hemingway is reading her book, RIGGED, to me. The level of corruption in our government is astounding. If Trump runs in 2024, he better be extremely careful. If this monstrosity of a bill DOESN'T pass, we all need to exercise caution. These people don't accept NO!

Posted by: Mean Tweets at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (BOJAx)

167 There certainly are spiritual forces at work, as the Bible clearly states. Don't be drawn in by the dark ones. Please.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (45fpk)

168 Posted by: Mean Tweets at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (BOJAx)

And their Obama is a secular god, so the followers are basing this on a perverted "faith" and will bang on.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 09:00 AM (ONvIw)

169 @160

I've mentioned before that her generation was very territorial about her recipes, and it was only late in life that she agreed to allow my daughter to watch her bake.

And it wasn't easy--for example, she's explain that the baker was to add "a wee ball of fat", and my daughter had to figure out the exact measurement.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:01 AM (AwPyG)

170 Even though it would make a good movie, things the way they are today, it would never get made. Can't show any Germans as "good guys."
Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:56 AM (7bRMQ)

That's while they'll never make a movie about Otto Skorzeny. He was a real scumbag alright---but an interesting one.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 09:01 AM (mR6Gs)

171 In most deaths, the living have a chance to reconcile themselves to their fate, to make peace with their creator, and to make amends if needed.
Those that die violently and suddenly are denied that, unless they do so daily as a routine, which I recommend.

Posted by: casual observer 1031 at October 31, 2021 09:02 AM (3aQHd)

172 My wrong but gonna do it anyway (sans hyphens so it's not an adjective) guess is Lena Horne.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:02 AM (KAi1n)

173 Just finished Sea Wolf, Jack London. Interesting but very philosophical.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 08:40 AM (QKH1N)

London was best when he stayed away from political philosophy...or really any philosophy. He was a great writer of marvelous stories, but not much of a thinker, in spite of what he thought of himself. He has a few books that are impenetrable because he went long on philosophy and short on a ripping good yarn.

Posted by: TheGreatPumpkin'sDildo at October 31, 2021 09:02 AM (Q9lwr)

174 I think it's possible I saw a ghost, as a teenager outside in open but where I would think no ghost should be anchored to for a reason saw a slight glowing orb more than a human form moving for less than a minute.
My wife contends she has but then 2 suicides happen in or on the property she lived at before or after she lived there.

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 09:02 AM (2JoB8)

175 Good Morning although still debating that. Maybe second cup of coffee will help.

I was so excited to get the new Lee/Andrew Child book Better Off Dead. What a colossal waste of time. It was simply boring. It did not even feel like a Reacher book. The character narrates the book in what I imagined was a listless tone of voice. Oh well, another bad guy to get rid of. He needs the last chapter of the book to explain the story because there was no clue during the reading that a story line actually existed.
Stay away.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at October 31, 2021 09:03 AM (Y+l9t)

176 You're still there in the mountains? Lucky you!

I'm currently reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, written in 1859. I'm enjoying that too. Something to these old fellers, eh?

Posted by: boo-bell at October 31, 2021 08:49 AM (wyw4S)

It is, and to realize they are writing at that time, not About that time. Its fascinating.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:03 AM (QKH1N)

177 Didn't read anything this past week, but I'm going to pick up an appropriate comic today.

I have two choices. One is Ghosted, an Image series from about 10 years ago. It begins with a criminal mastermind who is hired to steal a ghost.

The other is Supernatural Law -- formerly Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre -- about a small law firm that deals with the things that go bump in the night. In one story, dealing with a lawsuit over the sale of a haunted house, they represent an involved third party -- the ghost.

Off topic: My dad is being rushed to the hospital again. This could be it. Prayers, please.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 31, 2021 09:03 AM (Om/di)

178 Off topic: My dad is being rushed to the hospital again. This could be it. Prayers, please.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 31, 2021 09:03 AM (Om/di)


Of course.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:04 AM (45fpk)

179 I am starting on Monster Hunter Bloodlines, latest installment from Larry Correia

Posted by: vmom's blood soaked claws at October 31, 2021 09:04 AM (YZG/i)

180
g'mornin', book-ish 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2021 09:05 AM (DUIap)

181 Who's Dis does look a lot like Anya

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 09:05 AM (2JoB8)

182 few books that are impenetrable because he went long on philosophy and short on a ripping good yarn.

Posted by: TheGreatPumpkin'sDildo at October 31, 2021 09:02

Impenetrable is definitely the word! Lol.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:05 AM (QKH1N)

183 I see several reports that VA Gov race will take until Friday to count all the fake and cheat votes.
Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 08:41 AM (yrol0)

The fix is in? I wonder what nothingness the GOP will do about this?
Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 08:43 AM (ONvIw)

You would THINK that since Youngkin is NOT a Trumper, the GOP would fight this one.

You would THINK.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 09:05 AM (mR6Gs)

184 I think there are a couple of prevailing ideas re: spirits/haunting. One is that they are unable to find peace due to the circumstances of their horrific death and therefore CAN'T ascend to the next plane of existence. The other is that they are simply psychic imprints that have imprinted onto the world and are not actually tied to their former owners. Either idea allows for intriguing storytelling.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 08:26 AM (K5n5d)

Does work for storytelling. From what I've learned, you don't really get a say about what happens when you die, you're going one place or another whether you want to or not. Afterimage is a nice literary conceit, but I don't think it's possible.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 09:06 AM (7bRMQ)

185 Been trying to read Marvel's "Kazar the Savage." Its supposed to be Tarzan in comic book form, but, well, it's not. The characters all talk and think like typical New Yorkers, cracking jokes about Disney World and dentist appointments while traversing through the jungle. There's no sense of wonder, no sense of the exotic, no sense that the main characters are in any way affected by their environment, nor even of the adventures they regularly engage in. It's low-effort schlock like this that gave comic books a bad name...

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 31, 2021 09:07 AM (Lhaco)

186 As my annual re-reading of LOTR approaches, I learned about a new audio version. Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the movies narrates unabridged versions of The Hobbit and LOTR. I heard some excerpts on Youtube and was VERY impressed. To my amazement, our local library had copies on CD. Damn! He is an effective narrator. Much better, for my taste, than the earlier Rob Ingles edition. (Ingles is good but I prefer Serkis.)

I had a hard time tracking down the audio CDs as they were mostly produced for libraries only. Finally found a source. Yeah, they are available for streaming but I want to own the disks to play when and where I want. (The audio analog of owning physical books for me.)

They aren't cheap, around 50 bucks per volume. I splurged and made it a Christmas present to myself.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 09:07 AM (7EjX1)

187 Will pray Weak Geek

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:07 AM (QKH1N)

188 Over the last couple weeks I finished listening to Life in Hawaii by Titus Coan. In the 1800s there was a Great Awakening in Hawaii that meant the native churches were some of the largest in the world. Now South Korea has the largest. I hope they don't fall away as in Hawaii.

Then I listened to Adventures in Patagonia, also by Coan. Patagonia was his first mission field when he and another young man scouted the area to test feasibility of a mission station. Native culture was remarkably similar to U.S. Plains Indian culture, at least once both had gotten horses. It was eventually decided that an American church based mission was untenable at that time.

Also listened to The autobiography of Hudson Taylor who started the China Inland Mission. It was interesting but a pretty quick overview without a lot of detail. I think it may have been a pamphlet to begin with, which would explain the brevity.

Now on Amity Schlae's biography of Coolidge.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at October 31, 2021 09:07 AM (MXdMt)

189 The Tower of London is supposed to be chock full of ghosts, with Anne Boleyn being the most famous.

Posted by: Jmel at October 31, 2021 09:07 AM (ShLyM)

190 Breitbart!

Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 08:31 AM (fVJPF)

That's it! (causes dial m to flip-take)

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 09:09 AM (7bRMQ)

191 157 The Wehrmacht joins the GI's in rescuing the Frogs from the SS. If you want to know how that happened, well, you know what to do.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 08:48 AM (W+kMI)

Even though it would make a good movie, things the way they are today, it would never get made. Can't show any Germans as "good guys."
--------
Well, there are admittedly no POC, no LGBTQ, no Fearless and Strong Womyn, so yeah, it'd never make the cut in 2021. Maybe in 2031 though....

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 09:09 AM (W+kMI)

192 Finished reading the biography Pearl Buck in China by Hilary Spurling. The author restricts the biography to Pearl's forty years in China - from early childhood through her teen years and into her twenties and marriage - which are by far the most interesting years of her life. If you enjoy biographies then this is a must-read.

Posted by: 13times at October 31, 2021 09:10 AM (9rMWy)

193 Revisited Irwin Shaw's VOICES OF A SUMMER DAY, one that tends to be overlooked. When you think Shaw, you think of RICH MAN, POOR MAN and THE YOUNG LIONS and all those terrific short stories. But VOICES is one of his best, imho.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 31, 2021 09:10 AM (JzDjf)

194 51 going to 81 down here by NASA

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:10 AM (yrol0)

195 Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 08:55 AM (QKH1N)

I was also at an estate sale. Same weird oppressive feeling. I was the only one in my little group to feel it.

I told them emphatically, "Get out! Get out of this house now!"

only ever felt it once

Posted by: alarminglyweirdflunky at October 31, 2021 09:11 AM (cknjq)

196 I bought the boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia for Thing 1.


For Christmas, I like to buy each Thing something to read, something to wear, something to play with, and something off their wish list.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:11 AM (45fpk)

197 189 The Tower of London is supposed to be chock full of ghosts, with Anne Boleyn being the most famous.
--------
Even a song about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JKNl8gmESs

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 09:11 AM (W+kMI)

198 Now on Amity Schlae's biography of Coolidge.
====================

Stumbled upon Silent Cal's home last winter, in Vermont. Appropriately modest little museum there. I think he would appreciate it.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 31, 2021 09:12 AM (hTVNH)

199
Chock Full of Ghosts is my favorite candy bar.

Posted by: naturalfrankenstein at October 31, 2021 09:12 AM (5NkmN)

200 " Walk around a Gettysburg battlefield at dusk.
Then tell me that ghosts don't exist."

I read "at dusk" as "drunk". In that case, i could see it.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:12 AM (KAi1n)

201 The Hotel del Coronado in San Diego has a haunted room. A young woman named Kate Morgan committed suicide, back in the day, and it is her ghost, they say.

The gift shop is called "Kate's"

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:13 AM (AwPyG)

202 Also listened to The autobiography of Hudson Taylor who started the China Inland Mission.


Polliwog - was that the Chinese mission that Eric Liddel was associated with before he died in the concentration camp?

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:13 AM (45fpk)

203 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)


No. The closest has been a creepy feeling that someone is in my house that shouldn't be (never was really the case).

The most harrowing thing I've ever experienced was hearing the scream of a young woman down the street who found her husband hanging by the neck when she came home from work. That's a sound you don't forget.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 09:14 AM (y7DUB)

204 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?
Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)


I haven't, but someone I worked with did, while I was working with him. We worked at an inn that was rumored to be haunted by a bride who fell down the staircase on the way to her ceremony. I worked the front desk and he was a waiter for the restaurant. He was walking back and forth from the restaurant at the one end to the kitchen at the other end. There was a banquet room next to the front desk that was only used for special occasions, so it was empty and dark. He came up to me at one point during the evening and asked, what did the lady in the white dress want?

Posted by: I Was a Teenage WereJordan61 at October 31, 2021 09:14 AM (h02fy)

205 Halloween themed book A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny is a very fun book with some pretty subtle humor.

Posted by: 13times at October 31, 2021 09:15 AM (9rMWy)

206 I have heard ghosts. Two of them were having a muffled conversation, somewhere in the house (not my current abode). Like a father and son discussing the previous day's unimportant events.

Posted by: klaftern at October 31, 2021 09:15 AM (taPSh)

207 But there were so many to choose from, how could I know which was the right one?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 08:50 AM (llXky)

Psst, LCMS.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 09:15 AM (7bRMQ)

208 185 Been trying to read Marvel's "Kazar the Savage." Its supposed to be Tarzan in comic book form, but, well, it's not. The characters all talk and think like typical New Yorkers, cracking jokes about Disney World and dentist appointments while traversing through the jungle. There's no sense of wonder, no sense of the exotic, no sense that the main characters are in any way affected by their environment, nor even of the adventures they regularly engage in. It's low-effort schlock like this that gave comic books a bad name...
==========
They can't all be Cave Girl or Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy, man. For my money though, the best Burroughs tribute from comics was Warlord from D.C. Comics.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 09:15 AM (W+kMI)

209 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)
---
Can't say that I have. I do, however, often have extremely vivid dreams that my house is occupied by a malevolent spirit. Very creepy and weird. I also dream that I have a fourth cat, but I know for a fact that I don't...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 31, 2021 09:16 AM (K5n5d)

210 Have started Road Past Mandalay, so far haven't gotten to Burma parts; they did invade Iraq, Syria, and Iran. He's now at Staff Training.

But also got Jutland, WWI's Greatest Naval Battle, a selection of essays, about half by Germans, have by Brits (one Aussie). God! The Germans are the worst writers in the world. But I've known that since my college philosophy days. There are some sentences I just cannot make out, and the unnecessary words get to me after a while.

Oh, and Leslie Caron always worked for me. Bigly.

Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 09:18 AM (7X3UV)

211 Cat-ghosts actually make a lot of sense

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:19 AM (AwPyG)

212 205 Halloween themed book A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny is a very fun book with some pretty subtle humor.
========
I have to join you in endorsing this one as well. It's not very long as novels go, and very engaging, with Zelazny's usual wit and pacing. And having a Halloween story narrarated by Jack the Ripper's dog, complete with deliberate shaggy-dog punchline ending, is awesome.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 09:19 AM (W+kMI)

213 Thank you, OM for the book plug!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at October 31, 2021 09:19 AM (iJOIM)

214 How does a nice spirit announce it's presence to a tenderfoot?

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at October 31, 2021 09:20 AM (Mb9aP)

215 I've read a bunch about the Chosin Reservoir battle during the Korean War, and its one of the chapters in Last Stands. The author's father was a Marine there, so I suppose he sees a personal stake in the Marines not surrendering.

The ChiCom's did what MacArthur dismissed as never happening. A million Chinese "volunteers" appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and threatened to annihilate our Marines who had been pushing to the Yalu River to liberate the North, as MacArthur exceeded his initial orders. In horrific conditions (20 below), outnumbered 20 to 1, the Marines "attacked in a different direction" to escape. In Marine lore, this is one of their finest moments.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 09:21 AM (ZHVt1)

216 Leslie Caron is not mort. Not young either.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:21 AM (KAi1n)

217 I wonder how much of the empty shelves is about the Jones Act. It always gets suspended during storm and other disaster so it must cause much harm in free trade between the states.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:22 AM (yrol0)

218 You would THINK that since Youngkin is NOT a Trumper, the GOP would fight this one.

You would THINK.
Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 09:05 AM (mR6Gs)


It's like the GOP considers defeat as their birthright.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 09:22 AM (y7DUB)

219 152 ... "Thanks JTB! I'll make a note of that! They live in the woods so he'll have no shortage of material."

grammie, That sounds great. A few more thoughts and I'll shut up.

For easy carving, basswood is the usual material, It's used for most figure carving, like animals, and for whimsy items like ball-in-a-cage or wooden chains. Also, in you area, birch, especially when green, is a wonderful material for spoons and other utensils.

At my age I am careful about cutting myself, I often use a chainmail glove, (the kind fishmongers use). It has saved me from some nasty cuts. There are also kevlar gloves which protect from slashes but not stabbing. The book you got probably deals with these.

Check out Harley Refsal. He has almost single handedly brought back traditional Scandi-style flat plane carving. Chances are your local library has some of his books. There are also videos on Youtube and articles on the internet about him and his carvings. I love his many different Dala Horse pieces.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 09:23 AM (7EjX1)

220 Even though it would make a good movie, things the way they are today, it would never get made. Can't show any Germans as "good guys."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:56 AM (7bRMQ)


Oh, I think you could. You could portray the Wehrmacht soldiers who team up with the American GIs as "good" Germans who just want out and the SS unit as fanatical Nazis, the "bad" Germans, and you can make them evil as necessary. It could work.

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:24 AM (DXUY7)

221 You would THINK that since Youngkin is NOT a Trumper, the GOP would fight this one.

You would THINK.
Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 09:05 AM (mR6Gs)
__________

You don't know much about VA Republicans, do you. The party died with Dick Obenshain.

Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 09:24 AM (7X3UV)

222 Oh, I think you could. You could portray the Wehrmacht soldiers who team up with the American GIs as "good" Germans who just want out and the SS unit as fanatical Nazis, the "bad" Germans, and you can make them evil as necessary. It could work.
Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:24 AM (DXUY7)

I agree with this assessment, and it would do some good.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 09:25 AM (ONvIw)

223 Check out Harley Refsal. He has almost single handedly brought back traditional Scandi-style flat plane carving. Chances are your local library has some of his books. There are also videos on Youtube and articles on the internet about him and his carvings. I love his many different Dala Horse pieces.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 09:23 AM (7EjX1)


Dala Horses? Oh wow! I must get his books. We have a large collection of Swedish Dala horses, so how fun it would be to add one made from the grandboy! Thank you so much for the tips!

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:25 AM (45fpk)

224 Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:13 AM (45fpk)

I'm not finding what organization he was with in a quick search. His parents, also missionaries to China were part of a different organization.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at October 31, 2021 09:26 AM (MXdMt)

225 That's while they'll never make a movie about Otto Skorzeny. He was a real scumbag alright---but an interesting one.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 09:01 AM (mR6Gs)

Another person it would be interesting to have a movie about would be the leader of the Pearl Harbor attack, Mitsuo Uchida. Interned after the war, became a Christian evangelist.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 09:26 AM (7bRMQ)

226 Back in the 1980's I spent the night at an old inn in Vermont that was purported to be haunted. I've generally been skeptical of such things, so wasn't expecting anything special. But around two in the morning I woke up to see a woman's figure in what looked like colonial era dress, standing in the corner of the room. I reached for my camera, hoping to capture a photo. The figure started to fade, but then gestured with her arm for me to proceed. I took several snaps. I was really excited, but when I got the film back from the developer, I was disappointed to find the entire roll was underexposed. It seems the spirit was willing, but the flash was weak.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:26 AM (m45I2)

227 How does Gary Lachlan explain a demented 81 year old alcoholic maintaining power as Speaker of the House?

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at October 31, 2021 09:27 AM (cSyAR)

228 The exorcist "debunking" of ghost apparitions as demons in disguise makes me think of a potential Scooby-Doo knockoff about a gang of teenage seminarians tooling around the country investigating hauntings. "Now let's just see who's really behind the Blue Ghost of Green River!" Sister Velma rips away the shroud covered in phosphorescent paint "Aha! Malzoriel, Grand Duke of the Third Circle of Hell! I knew it!"

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 31, 2021 09:27 AM (QZxDR)

229 Weak Geek,

Prayers up for your dad and family.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 09:27 AM (7EjX1)

230 In some traditions, the dead's spirit wanders for anything between 3 , 9, or 40 days before it reaches its final destination

Posted by: vmom's blood soaked claws at October 31, 2021 09:27 AM (YZG/i)

231
Leslie Caron is not mort. Not young either.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:21 AM


another grim milestone for the biden administration (european edition)

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2021 09:27 AM (DUIap)

232 I think it's possible I saw a ghost, as a teenager outside in open but where I would think no ghost should be anchored to for a reason saw a slight glowing orb more than a human form moving for less than a minute.
My wife contends she has but then 2 suicides happen in or on the property she lived at before or after she lived there.

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 09:02 AM (2JoB
---
What if what people see aren't the ghosts of the dead but the spirits that had a hand in their deaths?

Is it too hard to imagine that these creatures who are as old as time itself can't impersonate people they tempted and destroyed in order to find new victims?

Oh, and in the process they further the lie that some people are beyond God's reach.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 09:27 AM (llXky)

233 Well, what are you waiting for? JUST BREAK DOWN THE DAMN DOOR!! What could *possibly* go wrong?

I can think of something...

Posted by: Geraldo Rivera at October 31, 2021 09:28 AM (ACi07)

234 Basswood is a common wood for electric guitars. You would think they'd use treblewood for 6 strings....

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:28 AM (KAi1n)

235 Thanks Polliwog - I have a biography of Eric Liddell here somewhere. I'll hunt for it and look it up.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:28 AM (45fpk)

236 227 How does Gary Lachlan explain a demented 81 year old alcoholic maintaining power as Speaker of the House?
Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at October 31, 2021 09:27 AM (cSyAR)

I suppose he supports elderly coven members

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 09:28 AM (ONvIw)

237 We were married by an ELCA pastor, a college roommate of mine. Now, we and he, are all RC. (Another college friend is LCMS. Hearing him talk about ELCA is like hearing me on Episcopalians. Women and children must leave the room first.)

Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 09:28 AM (7X3UV)

238 >116 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?
>Posted by: Dr F'nsteen

Ghosts don't believe I exist. Therefore I've never seen one.

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at October 31, 2021 09:28 AM (8dESG)

239 Mul

ha!

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:29 AM (yrol0)

240 If you saw Prince Phillip's funeral, there is a Scottish tradition where the piper plays, and "leads" the spirit out of the church, so that it can find it's way to heaven.

very moving.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:29 AM (AwPyG)

241 ChiCom madarins >> USA federal mandarins

We're already in a war with China, but most Americans don't have a clue about it because of the lack of Media coverage.

Do you doubt that Chairman Xi would kill off half of all Americans if he thought he could get away with it? Xi has been public about how China needs to crush the US to be the World's sole hegemon, which is China's destiny in his view.

The most viewed movie in the World right now is a Chinese propaganda piece about the ChiCom's magnificent victory over the Yankee Running Dogs at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. "The Battle at Lake Changjin" (what the Chinese call it) has already earned $845 million at the box office, and will soon be the biggest grossing movie of all time despite most tickets being sold for far less than what we pay at the local cineplex.

My spidey sense says that the ChiComs will make a big move soon, and that forcing everyone in China to see this movie is battle space prep.

Hypersonic missiles and Taiwan flyovers are just for intimidating show. What I fear is the release of a far deadlier virus, bioengineered to decimate round eyes.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 09:30 AM (ZHVt1)

242 I wonder how many "hotel ghosts" are just pervy employees?

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 31, 2021 09:30 AM (QZxDR)

243 Two weeks after arriving on my doorstep, still wrapped in plastic, my copy of Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, and the Aesthetic of Revelation (volume 1) lies on the table, ready for reading.

Posted by: mrp at October 31, 2021 09:30 AM (6eRlp)

244 Oh and forgot
Weeks ago ordered the real book of Dennis Prager Rational Bible Deuteronomy but the seller Christianbooks doesn't even have it to ship yet. I do want it in book but getting frustrated because it should be out by now.

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 09:30 AM (2JoB8)

245 There is one unexplained ghost story in the West -- Ticonderoga's ghost story. [See the sock.]

In 1742 the foster-brother of a Scottish noble haunted him three nights in a row concluding with saying, "Farewell, we meet again at Ticonderoga."

The noble had never heard this word/name before and so noted it [I've read elsewhere, literally in his dated diary]; then years later in 1758 as a senior officer in the 42nd Black Watch highland regiment, the ghost reappeared to him during the siege of the French fort, Carillon, reminding him of the ghostly promise; he was mortally wounded in the assault upon the ramparts.

'Ticonderoga' is the Indian name for Ft Carillon that he never would have heard before arriving in North America during the French & Indian War [the Seven Years War]; and would not have been used on any map of the Americas that he might have seen between 1742 and 1758.

"Spooky, boys & girls! Woooohooo!!" as Count Floyd says!

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 09:31 AM (UHVv4)

246 Just picked up a few new books to read:

Pushing Ice, by Alastair Reynolds;

Shogun, by James Clavell; and

Chaos, by Tom O'Neill.

Chaos is about how the CIA's illegal and unethical experiments with LSD may have had something to do with the Manson Family Murders as Robert Kennedy's murder. And tangentially with JFK's killing. Pretty crazy stuff.

Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 09:32 AM (pTHOC)

247 The Tower of London is supposed to be chock full of ghosts, with Anne Boleyn being the most famous.
-------------------------
She's the head ghost!

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 09:32 AM (UHVv4)

248 Oh, I think you could. You could portray the Wehrmacht soldiers who team up with the American GIs as "good" Germans who just want out and the SS unit as fanatical Nazis, the "bad" Germans, and you can make them evil as necessary. It could work.

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:24 AM (DXUY7)

Hmmm, they'd have to be real young so as not to have been able to commit any atrocities. Then of course, you'd have to find at least five black Germans, two women, and a cripple. - James Watt

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 09:33 AM (7bRMQ)

249 Leslie Caron is not mort. Not young either.
Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:21 AM (KAi1n)

Lithe and not curvaceous.

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 09:34 AM (4I/2K)

250 Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:28 AM (45fpk)

Wikipedia didn't even bother to mention that he went back to China after the Olympics. Given that his real heroism happened there, it's a big disservice to both his memory and those trying to learn about him.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at October 31, 2021 09:34 AM (MXdMt)

251 Saw DUNE this past week. It's pretty good. I don't know if anyone who hasn't read the book will be able to tell what's going on, but I liked it. Lots of lovely shots. Timothy Chalmette gets to use about four facial expressions, which I think is a record for him.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 31, 2021 09:34 AM (QZxDR)

252 Does Chaos cover Whitey Bulger? He volunteered for MKUltra to get out of prison early, and so took a lot of LSD in quite strong doses.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 09:35 AM (ZHVt1)

253 Worrying about ghosts is silly superstition.

What you need to be worried about is a Golem.

Posted by: San Franspook-o at October 31, 2021 09:35 AM (EZebt)

254 248 Oh, I think you could. You could portray the Wehrmacht soldiers who team up with the American GIs as "good" Germans who just want out and the SS unit as fanatical Nazis, the "bad" Germans, and you can make them evil as necessary. It could work.

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:24 AM (DXUY7)


I agree with you. We do need more stories of Germans who wanted out or who never wanted "in" in the first place. I'm not sure Hollywood would consent to this or fund it. They are very invested in nazis under the carpets and the sanctity of CRT.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 09:35 AM (ONvIw)

255 Wikipedia didn't even bother to mention that he went back to China after the Olympics. Given that his real heroism happened there, it's a big disservice to both his memory and those trying to learn about him.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at October 31, 2021 09:34 AM (MXdMt)


Absolutely. He was born to run, and born to be a servant of God. I doubt he separated the two.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:35 AM (45fpk)

256 "Spooky, boys & girls! Woooohooo!!" as Count Floyd says!
Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 09:31 AM (UHVv4)

Yes indeed.

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 09:36 AM (4I/2K)

257 Hoping J.J.'s book would have arrived yesterday, but it didn't.

Looking forward to it.

Posted by: KT at October 31, 2021 09:36 AM (0ghg2)

258 All of the CIA/Pentagon/MKULTRA crap about the Kennedy assassination and the Manson Family are just desperate attempts by Lefties to keep people from realizing they have always been murderous lunatics.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 31, 2021 09:36 AM (QZxDR)

259 Currently reading "A Short Life of Pushkin," by Robert Chandler the renowned American translator of Russian texts. Chandler also translated Everything Flows, Stalingrad (for a just cause), Life and Fate, Armenian Sketchbook and The Road all by Vasily Grossman. Grossman was the first journalist to see and write about Treblinka. Which pissed Stalin off because Stalin was a nasty anti-Semite. If you want to read about the life of Vasily Grossman then read the biography " Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century."

Posted by: 13times at October 31, 2021 09:36 AM (9rMWy)

260 132 What the hell? My older dog, a 46 pound Vizsla, just climbed into my lap (legs outstretched on a table) and fell asleep. I ask you: Should this be permitted?!
...
Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 31, 2021 08:47 AM (hTVNH)

As it is a blessing, it is allowed.

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of The Baskervilles at October 31, 2021 09:37 AM (BgMrQ)

261 @253

Or the Riders of Rohan. Keep checking over your shoulder

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:37 AM (AwPyG)

262 172 My wrong but gonna do it anyway (sans hyphens so it's not an adjective) guess is Lena Horne.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:02 AM (KAi1n)


Not a bad guess, but see #2 for the correct answer.

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:37 AM (DXUY7)

263 Did you hear about the colonial era schoolmaster who had to walk by foot 10 miles to and from work every day? He was known as the horseless headman.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:39 AM (m45I2)

264 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)

Not that I can remember. I think a visitation would really jolt me awake for several days.

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 09:40 AM (4I/2K)

265 Was Jack the Ripper's dog named 'Bullseye'??

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 09:40 AM (UHVv4)

266 Leslie Caron ... just a wisp of a girl.

Posted by: mrp at October 31, 2021 09:40 AM (6eRlp)

267 William Robert MacAbre, (February 8 1774 - June 8 1862) Scottish writer, cook and polymath noted for his development of Scottish Gothic fiction, refinement of the Krebs' cycle steam engine, pioneer in the distillation of anilyne dye from coal tar for the Scottish wool trade, and regularization of the recipe for Haggis.

The use of his name as an adjective comes from his presentation of his Haggis to William IV in 1832 at a dinner at Balmoral Castle, where the King pronounced the dish to be "Truly MacAbre"

Posted by: Kindltot at October 31, 2021 09:40 AM (KbLYZ)

268 I'm astonished by the positive reviews of Lachman's book.
The "black arts" are more of a godless lib thing in search of new and lost "cultures". I'm surprised Hillary has not come out as a follower of Muti

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 09:41 AM (ONvIw)

269 Yes, keep worrying about ghosts and golems.

Posted by: The Spanish Inquisition at October 31, 2021 09:41 AM (QZxDR)

270 I'm listening to Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. His description of life in a concentration camp is gripping.
The second part of the book is about Logotherapy. I don't know enough about psychotherapy to comment.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at October 31, 2021 09:42 AM (cSyAR)

271 MKUltra - i can't think of anything vile enough to say about it.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:42 AM (KAi1n)

272 163 Reformation Sunday is a day that commemorates the day a Catholic priest nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg church

I've often wondered how many of those theses the Catholic Church has one way or another kind of sort of admitted Luther had a point.
Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (mR6Gs)
________

There are many copies online. Some are and were not controversial at the time. (E.g., indulgences then and now not getting you out of Hell.)
Some are rejected today by Protestants, e.g., the acceptance of Purgatory, though he doesn't take exactly the Catholic line, either.

It was never the case that all 95 were condemned. Nor, so far as I know, are all 95 accepted by anyone.

Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 09:42 AM (7X3UV)

273 In Zelazny's book, the Ripper's dog is called Snuff.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 31, 2021 09:42 AM (QZxDR)

274 Hmmm, they'd have to be real young so as not to have been able to commit any atrocities. Then of course, you'd have to find at least five black Germans, two women, and a cripple. - James Watt

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 09:33 AM (7bRMQ)


...and a tranny who wants to be called "Heidi".

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:42 AM (DXUY7)

275 Hmmmm, the Who Dis? looks like a live action Betty Boop.

Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 09:43 AM (pTHOC)

276 Put simply, no one who calls themselves Christian should believe that murder victims - particularly children - would not be immediately embraced by God in the afterlife. Demons are the ones spreading that lie.

So you categorically reject the idea of Repentance and Regeneration as part of Salvation - or are there many paths to God?

I mean, the idea that children instantly gain admittance to Heaven is very popular, so much that Andrea Yates should be Mother of The Century because she literally baptized all her children into the arms of Jesus Christ by drowning them in the bathtub.

Posted by: Revenant Hick at October 31, 2021 09:43 AM (+LCoQ)

277 ...and a tranny who wants to be called "Heidi".

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:42 AM (DXUY7)

Uh oh, summoning Cannibal Bob I see.

Out for now, back later.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 09:44 AM (7bRMQ)

278 I ordered the JJ book from the publisher and cannot figure out how to track the order.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:44 AM (yrol0)

279 Good article today at American Thinker, talking about how the American concept of liberty is not natural and has to be taught. And that the concept came from the Bible: How Did Thomas Paine Get the Colonies to Throw Off the British Monarchy?

https://bit.ly/3jSZFPg

Such a society can operate only if the society is Christian. If a society is not Christian, the individual tyranny that is in the mind of the unbeliever will eventually work its way out into society and destroy it. Without such Christianity, the slide into tyranny is inevitable. Men are too comfortable with agreeable dictators.

Men do not need the license of transgender, homosexual confusion to be free. The answer to Islam, to tyranny, is the gospel. But the West cannot bring the good news if we have abandoned it. We forget that rights are God-given, not state permissions. And, as Christianity is abandoned, we are becoming less free.

One has to be taught to desire liberty. The teacher is Christ.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 09:44 AM (Do5/p)

280 seems the spirit was willing, but the flash was weak.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:26 AM (m45I2)

Heidi groaned at this one. So success!!

Looks like Muldoon is warming up for Halloween. Monster Mash!! Great tune!

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:45 AM (QKH1N)

281 Posted by: Trimegistus at October 31, 2021 09:34 AM (QZxDR)

I saw it yesterday. I liked it but I have to admit it was a little hard to follow.

Posted by: BeatleJewells45#FJB at October 31, 2021 09:45 AM (nxdel)

282 ...and a tranny who wants to be called "Heidi".
Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader

******

Referred to in the inner party circles as Heidi "The Sausage"

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:45 AM (m45I2)

283 163 Reformation Sunday is a day that commemorates the day a Catholic priest nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg church

I've often wondered how many of those theses the Catholic Church has one way or another kind of sort of admitted Luther had a point.
Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 08:59 AM (mR6Gs)


See "The Council of Trent".

Posted by: mrp at October 31, 2021 09:46 AM (6eRlp)

284 I'm walking on the trail in my witch costume, freaking out the squares (actually getting verbal high fives). Gorgeous fall day, FINALLY.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 31, 2021 09:46 AM (BL0+q)

285 @274

you have to keep in mind that Hollywood portrays American soldiers in one of two ways (1) bloodthirsty psychopaths (2) shell-shocked.

So I doubt it would get a green light, even with Heidi.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:46 AM (AwPyG)

286 Since Shep Smithfield, we've had a hysteria shortage but Jim Acosta steps into fill the void.

Too Funny: Acosta Shrieks To Fox News Owners, 'Why Are You Doing This To Us?'

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 09:46 AM (d9FiS)

287 279: We, as a nation, are tossing our freedoms away. Vindman's call for censoring Tucker is an illustration and a sadly, typical one. The 1A is being demolished to serve the democrat/communist agenda.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 09:47 AM (ONvIw)

288 you know who else made a stink?
Posted by: Anachronda

Is the poop Catholic?

Posted by: vmom's blood soaked claws at October 31, 2021 09:47 AM (YZG/i)

289 "One has to be taught to desire liberty. The teacher is Christ."

Shalom. Guys like Moses and Judah Macabee might disagree with you.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:47 AM (KAi1n)

290 To prove ghosts are real, I challenge a sexy milf librarian ghost to sex me tonight.
Well, that should do it huh?

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at October 31, 2021 09:47 AM (zdpQZ)

291 "Walk around a Gettysburg battlefield at dusk.
Then tell me that ghosts don't exist."

If Devil's Den, even in full daylight, isn't haunted, then no place is.
Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 08:57 AM (7EjX1)

Yes. Sat on Little Roundtop one late summer afternoon overlooking Devil's Den. Though the day was quite warm, there was a chill in the air in the lengthening shadows.

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (4I/2K)

292 ...and a tranny who wants to be called "Heidi".

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 09:42 AM (DXUY7

She will not be amused. Shes all woman.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (QKH1N)

293 I ordered the JJ book from the publisher and cannot figure out how to track the order.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:44 AM

I did as well. I was going to purchase it through Amazon until I saw a late November, early December estimated delivery date. So thought maybe if I bought from the publisher it may get to me faster. I may purchase another copy through Amazon simply so I can leave a review.

But all I have is an e-mail confirming the purchase and stating that they will send another e-mail once the book is shipped.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (Do5/p)

294 Reading Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" reminded me there is more to Doyle than Sherlock Holmes. So I got out my copies of "On Conan Doyle" by Michael Dirda and "Through the Magic Door", an essay about the value and joys of reading Doyle wrote in 1907.

As much as I love the Holmes stories, I have a growing admiration for his other writing. They show an effervescent quality of humor, and character and place descriptions sometimes lacking with Holmes. I get the impression he had more fun writing them as he was tired of Holmes and Watson.

BTW, the Dirda book is a gem and worth reading by any Doyle fan.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (7EjX1)

295 Late to the literature party as usual.

Excellent library pic for today, OM!

My main reading for the week has been the 2022 Farmer's Almanac. I have to say, I'm rather disappointed in this issue.

The price is high, but everything is. Sure, it's got the usual bunch of weather and astrology predictions, and the always-amusing classified ads for seers and psychics. It still has the nice little short articles and stories, suitable for the "reading room." I like the story of the teen who designed the 50-star pattern on Old Glory.

But there's a couple of problems. Tradition is being lost: On my copy, at least, the functional hole in the upper-left corner wasn't drilled all the way through - sloppy work. Worse, there's a disturbing number of slick-paper pages, which pages just aren't suitable for the Almanac's ultimate utility. IYKWIMAITTYD

Posted by: mindful 'o what a tangled webwork we weave...' at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (022x+)

296 juliettekayyem
If @SouthwestAir doesnt do anything, every passenger on that flight has standing to file a complaint with the @FAANews and they should do so. Southwest will then be compelled to investigate or defend him. Have fun with that. No messing around in the air. Bright line rule.

Panty status:
[ ]Bunched
[X] On fire

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (yrol0)

297 ChiCom mandarins >> US federal mandarins

I believe I read this in American Caesar, the bio of MacArthur.

Early in the Korean War the ChiComs did a profile of MacArthur to predict what he might do. They pegged him as vainglorious, and likely to try to soemthing audacious to make up for his early failings as the North Koreans almost overran the entire peninsula.

They had spies at Japanese ports who reported back on the specifics of the materiel that we were shipping to the South.

And so they warned Kim Il-sung that MacArthur was about to try a huge amphibious landing at Inchon, intelligence that was ignored because Kim wouldn't believe it, including because of the 30 foot tides.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (ZHVt1)

298 no just the west coast, there are quite a few coincidences yes otto skorzeny was the protagonist of the eagle has landed, he was the robert shaw character, in battle of the bulge, but they changed his name, he worked for mossad in egypt at one point, he was closer to jon voights character in odessa files,

Posted by: alien covenant was much worse at October 31, 2021 09:48 AM (hMlTh)

299 If you make a movie out of The Last Battle, DO NOT HIRE ALEC BALDWIN or those frog VIPs are as good as dead!

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 09:50 AM (d9FiS)

300 220 Even though it would make a good movie, things the way they are today, it would never get made. Can't show any Germans as "good guys."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 31, 2021 08:56 AM (7bRMQ)

Oh, I think you could. You could portray the Wehrmacht soldiers who team up with the American GIs as "good" Germans who just want out and the SS unit as fanatical Nazis, the "bad" Germans, and you can make them evil as necessary. It could work.
=======
That's why I made the Seventies WW II film comparison. Nobody wants to be the last guy to stop a bullet in a decided contest, on either side. No one wants more wanton executions in a war that's seen too many of them. No one wants to obey the Third Reich to the end...except for the SS fanatics, natch. But we'll be heroes in the end, and somehow effect a rescue without a bloodbath! Roll the credits. Old school Hollywood would've filmed it for $5 million in Yugoslavia or $10 million in Austria, and made bank at the box office, maybe get an Oscar or two. But nowadays, no, oh no, no chance. The Left hates all war narratives which aren't anti-everything....except the war against America. Oh yes, that one they love.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 09:50 AM (W+kMI)

301 When I was a kid, my brother and I went trick-or-treating. He threw a sheet over his head and cut out some eye holes. I rigged up a beak and some wings. While he rang the doorbell I would start strutting around making turkey noises. When the homeowner asked what we were supposed to be my brother would say, "I'm a ghost, and he's a-gobblin'!

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:50 AM (m45I2)

302 So you categorically reject the idea of Repentance and Regeneration as part of Salvation - or are there many paths to God?

I mean, the idea that children instantly gain admittance to Heaven is very popular, so much that Andrea Yates should be Mother of The Century because she literally baptized all her children into the arms of Jesus Christ by drowning them in the bathtub.

Posted by: Revenant Hick at October 31, 2021 09:43 AM (+LCoQ)
---
You're supposed to repent BEFORE you die. That's kind of the point.

I do like the way you conflate my pointing out that it is completely illogical for God to punish the innocent by leaving them to wander the earth in perpetual pain with sanctioning child murder.

Anyway, off to Mass!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 31, 2021 09:50 AM (llXky)

303 To prove ghosts are real, I challenge a sexy milf librarian ghost to sex me tonight.
Well, that should do it huh?
Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at October 31, 2021 09:47 AM (zdpQZ)

Does she have a sister nurse ghost perchance? Asking for a friend.

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 09:50 AM (4I/2K)

304 I had a conversation with a liberal last night. It will take weeks
to form new brain cells. My God they're dumb and annoying.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:52 AM (QKH1N)

305 Today is technical running training day. I would love to skip!

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:52 AM (yrol0)

306 Morning Hordemates.
As i was scanning the ample bosom of content and got to the story about this Lachman idiot, i said to myself: "Self, theres gonna be spoons somewhere. Bending spoons if there is a DoD twist, but spoons to be sure."

and these was.

Posted by: Digoblins at October 31, 2021 09:53 AM (axyOa)

307 234 Basswood is a common wood for electric guitars. You would think they'd use treblewood for 6 strings....

treblewood is notoriously difficult to work with.

what? you've never heard of the trouble with treble?

Posted by: Anachronda at October 31, 2021 09:53 AM (I38CQ)

308 "I'm a ghost, and he's a-gobblin'!

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:50 AM (m45I2)


You're incorrigible. You know that, right?

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:53 AM (45fpk)

309 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

Scared the shit out of me!

Posted by: Joey Biden at October 31, 2021 09:53 AM (os9oY)

310 245 ... andycanuck,
Thanks for the ghost stories, especially the one about Ticonderoga. Always interested in matters about the French and Indian War since I had ancestors on both sides.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 09:54 AM (7EjX1)

311 How can they not open that secret chamber to see what's in there? Mr. April can't stand it if I get a package delivered and don't open it for several hours. He would be the one attacking that door with everything he's got, to see what's inside.
Posted by: April at October 31, 2021 08:07 AM (OX9vb)


According to WIKI the room was filled with mud in an apparent attempt to stabilize the building.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 31, 2021 09:54 AM (KbLYZ)

312 Oh, I think you could. You could portray the Wehrmacht soldiers who team up with the American GIs as "good" Germans who just want out and the SS unit as fanatical Nazis, the "bad" Germans, and you can make them evil as necessary. It could work.

Posted by: exdem13 at October


in a way, Kelley's Heroes{/i] plays upon that theme

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2021 09:55 AM (DUIap)

313 a ghost, and he's a-gobblin'!

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:50 AM (m45I2)

...and so it began.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:55 AM (QKH1N)

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2021 09:55 AM (DUIap)

315 273 In Zelazny's book, the Ripper's dog is called Snuff.
============
Yes, he's named Snuff. Zelazny loved puns and word-play, and that story is shot through with it.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 09:55 AM (W+kMI)

316 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

I've seen sh*t that will turn you white!

Posted by: Winston Zeddemore at October 31, 2021 09:55 AM (4I/2K)

317 "French and Indian War since I had ancestors on both sides."

Don't you still have them?

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:55 AM (KAi1n)

318 @312

Yeah, Hogan's Heroes did, too.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:56 AM (AwPyG)

319 304 I had a conversation with a liberal last night. It will take weeks
to form new brain cells. My God they're dumb and annoying.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:52 AM (QKH1N)

Bonhoeffer decided the same thing in his prison letters.

Many people are very stupid and willing to believe things that are unpossible.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:56 AM (yrol0)

320 You're incorrigible. You know that, right?

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:53 AM

I don't know the meaning of the word.

(He really doesn't.)

Posted by: Todd Ingram, bassist, The Clash at Demonhead at October 31, 2021 09:56 AM (Do5/p)

321 You gotta love the letter K. It has power.

It makes magick real, respectable, and legitimate, and does the exact opposite for Amerika. Magick with a k is the real deal, not that fakey David Copperfield stuff.

Posted by: Spookiologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at October 31, 2021 09:57 AM (OssQ4)

322 I've started "Tribe" by Sebastian Junger.



Junger was on Rogan's podcast recently:

https://tinyurl.com/Rogan-Junger

He described how he was moments from death from a pancreatic aneurysm. As he was blacking out he saw a vision of his Father pulling him down into a black pit. He'd also had stomach pain for a year prior to the aneurysm, as well as a dream two days prior of him being dead and seeing his family but not being able to reach them.

Fortunately, Junger survived and is now going to write a book about his near-death experience, to be called Pulse. Of course, since he is an atheist, he is not going to ponder any possible spiritual explanations for the vision he had as he was dying, nor the warnings he received prior to his medical emergency, nor his admittedly miraculous survival.

*FacePalm*

Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 09:57 AM (pTHOC)

323 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

******

Not since the Ghosts' Union called for more transparency...

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:57 AM (m45I2)

324 You're welcome, JTB.

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 09:57 AM (UHVv4)

325 312 Oh, I think you could. You could portray the Wehrmacht soldiers who team up with the American GIs as "good" Germans who just want out and the SS unit as fanatical Nazis, the "bad" Germans, and you can make them evil as necessary. It could work.

Posted by: exdem13 at October

in a way, Kelley's Heroes{/i] plays upon that theme
=======
In a way, The Last Battle is like a high-toned Kelley's Heroes where Kelley didn't get busted to the ranks and still had his ideals, and the mission is principled instead of self-serving.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 09:58 AM (W+kMI)

326 You're incorrigible. You know that, right?

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 09:53 AM (45fpk)

Grammie, trying to learn Malaguena on the ukulele. Put a low G string on one uke and its perfect for Spanish pieces...and blues.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:58 AM (QKH1N)

327 Did positive thinking and mental science help put Donald Trump in the White House?

Oh no! Positive thinking! Quelle horreur!

Posted by: Emmie at October 31, 2021 09:58 AM (6RgRK)

328 I see ghosts. Or maybe it's just a Jackson Browne Doctor My Eyes thing. After decades of criminal law, I'll see a location or situation that reminds me of some case. In particular, I live now near where a rape victim lived then and I often drive by as I'm on my way home. Every time I drive by, I think of her. Of course, as far as I know, she's still alive so maybe she's not a ghost after all.

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 09:58 AM (d9FiS)

329 Without K, K, and K, what would've become of the Democrat party?

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 09:59 AM (KAi1n)

330 @319

It's called solipsism, I think, and you see it alot with hard core leftists. (similar to narcissism.)

Their only frame of reference is themselves.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:59 AM (AwPyG)

331 Oh come on, Muldoon!! We're trying to have a serious discussion of ghosties and wee things that go 'bump' in the night!!

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 09:59 AM (m45I2)

332 >>> 288 you know who else made a stink?
Posted by: Anachronda

Is the poop Catholic?
Posted by: vmom's blood soaked claws at October 31, 2021 09:47 AM (YZG/i)

YES!

It wasn't me!!

Posted by: Joe Biden at October 31, 2021 10:00 AM (ACi07)

333 Many people are very stupid and willing to believe things that are unpossible.
Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:56 AM (yrol0)

And worse, do not see their blazing hypocrisy. Doubting the 2020 election: purge these insurrectionists, doubting the 2016 election: Trust Mueller. The GOPe are very guilty of this and are closeted dems.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:00 AM (ONvIw)

334 Greetings:

Fort Ticonderoga is worth a visit. That whole area is glorious in the fall.

Posted by: 11B40 at October 31, 2021 10:00 AM (uuklp)

335 @319

It's called solipsism, I think, and you see it alot with hard core leftists. (similar to narcissism.)

Their only frame of reference is themselves.
Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 09:59 AM (AwPyG)

Spot on observation.

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 10:01 AM (4I/2K)

336 Put a low G string on one uke and its perfect for Spanish pieces...and blues.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

Sounds sexy

Posted by: nurse hatchet at October 31, 2021 10:01 AM (U2p+3)

337 Without K, K, and K, what would've become of the Democrat party?
Posted by: SFHippy

Also, I think Toby Keith is a dog whistle, because really? Kunte Kinte Keith. Uh huh.

Posted by: Spookiologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at October 31, 2021 10:01 AM (OssQ4)

338 You spot the scientist.

Posted by: pep



Pep, I've read all of Dr. Meyer's works and think he's an excellent writer and scientist. He's at The Discovery Institute in Seattle along with Michael Behe and many other scientists who rebel against the Materialist-Only theories of modern science.

Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 10:02 AM (pTHOC)

339 We should get 4chan to spread that one.

Posted by: Spookiologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at October 31, 2021 10:02 AM (OssQ4)

340 Part of the appeal for me with "The Lost World", "Through the Magic Door", and other stories of that period,roughly 1870 to 1914, (includes Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, ER Burroughs, and, in spirit, Robert Howard) is that they allow enjoyment of reading and life and wonder. All before WW I crushed the spirit out of Europe and Western culture. Part of the reason CS Lewis and Tolkien stand out, besides their brilliance, is that they didn't fall prey to that soul crushing post Great War mind set.

Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 10:03 AM (7EjX1)

341 Speaking of books and adaptations thereof, gotta book it, so to speak. Meeting with friend(s) later on today to watch Dune (Part 1). I have a need to see Shai-Halud eat a mobile spice factory, and heroes struggle against inevitable doom.


Posted by: exdem13 at October 31, 2021 10:03 AM (W+kMI)

342 At first glance I thought the ghost in the photo was standing in front of a squat rack following a killer leg workout.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at October 31, 2021 10:03 AM (cSyAR)

343 Solipsism + dipsomania = ?

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 10:05 AM (KAi1n)

344 Part of the appeal for me with "The Lost World", "Through the Magic Door", and other stories of that period,roughly 1870 to 1914, (includes Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, ER Burroughs, and, in spirit, Robert Howard) is that they allow enjoyment of reading and life and wonder. All before WW I crushed the spirit out of Europe and Western culture. Part of the reason CS Lewis and Tolkien stand out, besides their brilliance, is that they didn't fall prey to that soul crushing post Great War mind set.
Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 10:03 AM (7EjX1)

Excellent point.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 10:05 AM (mR6Gs)

345 RE: Gallium spoon trick:
Have fun going to prison because you poisoned someone as a "prank" if they ingest this toxic metal in their tea

Posted by: Edward Joseph Tiegs at October 31, 2021 10:05 AM (hx8es)

346 Great. Now I've got ectoplasm all over myself.

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 10:05 AM (UHVv4)

347 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?


Hell, I've never even been to Casper.

Posted by: Digoblins at October 31, 2021 10:06 AM (axyOa)

348 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?
Posted by: Dr F'nsteen at October 31, 2021 08:42 AM (Tnijr)


Had a friend who lived in an old house and they had a ghost cat. we could see it out of the corner of our eyes when working in the kitchen. Just a glimpse of a cat that wasn't there. Odd but not scary.
I don't believe in ghosts, but we all saw something once in a while.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 31, 2021 10:06 AM (KbLYZ)

349 Solipsism + dipsomania = ?

-
Party at Charlie Sheen's?

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:06 AM (d9FiS)

350 @343

Hillary?

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:06 AM (AwPyG)

351 Part of the reason CS Lewis and Tolkien stand out, besides their brilliance, is that they didn't fall prey to that soul crushing post Great War mind set.
Posted by: JTB at October 31, 2021 10:03 AM (7EjX1)

Excellent point.
Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 10:05 AM (mR6Gs)

Yes it is. They turned toward God and many turned toward searching for a "new god", just as some Americans do today with Obama.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:06 AM (ONvIw)

352 So, I finished The Plague and I by Betty MacDonald last week. It's about a woman who spends a year in the TB sanitorium here in Seattle in the 1930s.

Very well written and funny.

Posted by: nurse hatchet at October 31, 2021 10:06 AM (U2p+3)

353 Posted by: rhennigantx at October 31, 2021 09:52 AM

I guess you would, I'm doing much today

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 10:07 AM (2JoB8)

354 Did positive thinking and mental science help put Donald Trump in the White House?

No. My opinion is that it was overconfidence and hubris by Hillary Clinton and her entire campaign that allowed Donald Trump to win the 2016 election. He won 3 key long-time Democrat states by 1% or less. MI, PA and WI. Hillary and her campaign were so certain that Trump did not stand a chance to win the election, they did not even bother to campaign and lock up those states. Likely meant that they did not put money into those states to do their normal amount of fraud and cheating as well.

But sure, the "party of science" is going to blame "magic". Oy...

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:07 AM (Do5/p)

355 Greetings:

"The Crucible of War" by Fred Atkinson (???) is a worthwhile read on the French and Indian War.

Posted by: 11B40 at October 31, 2021 10:07 AM (uuklp)

356 On a tour of Chicago haunted sites, a boy and his dad got caught up in the crossfire between the ghost of Al Capone and a rival gangland ghost. A hail of submachine gun fire rang out. The boy and his dad hit the deck. When the smoke had cleared all that remained was the father, the son and the holey ghost.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:07 AM (m45I2)

357 But sure, the "party of science" is going to blame "magic". Oy...
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:07 AM (Do5/p)

They're the party of magical thinking and pseudoscience, especially sociology=theology.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:08 AM (ONvIw)

358 its scary kayyem is employed gainfully anywhere, isn't it,

Posted by: alien covenant was much worse at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (hMlTh)

359 But sure, the "party of science" is going to blame "magic". Oy...
Posted by: Clyde Shelton

The same people who were trying to cast "spells" on Trump.

Posted by: Spookiologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (OssQ4)

360 trying to learn Malaguena on the ukulele. Put a low G string on one uke and its perfect for Spanish pieces...and blues.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 09:58 AM (QKH1N)

There is sooo much wrong with this sentence. lol

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (VwHCD)

361 I think Trump one because he's the only guy who told the truth about the "magic" of government.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (ONvIw)

362 Solipsism + dipsomania = ?

Party at Charlie Sheen's?

Oh, ow, i laughed so hard, my 5" hernia scar split in 2.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (KAi1n)

363 Doing NOT much today

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (2JoB8)

364 Put a low G string on one uke and its perfect for Spanish pieces...and blues.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

Sounds sexy
Posted by: nurse hatchet at October 31, 2021 10:01 AM (U2p+3)

Lol. Takes sexy to know sexy nurse hatchet...

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (QKH1N)

365 Muldoon, nice.

Posted by: Spookiologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at October 31, 2021 10:10 AM (OssQ4)

366 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?

Sam Darnold, former NY Jet and now Panter QB, has. It's what makes him such a shity QB LOL

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 31, 2021 10:10 AM (Irn0L)

367 @354

Oh, they cheated in those three states. Watch the TV coverage of the 2016 election, especially the wait for "more" votes from Florida, and the unwillingness to call Pennsylvania.

They just had no idea about the magnitude of cheating needed, which is why 2020 was so over the top clownish

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:10 AM (AwPyG)

368 I am incapable of believing in ghosts, though I cannot in principle rule them out. It's just that in each case, my natural skepticism kicks in.

Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 10:10 AM (7X3UV)

369 >>> 361 I think Trump won because he's the only guy who told the truth about the "magic" of government.
Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (ONvIw)

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Posted by: Stan at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (ACi07)

370 There is sooo much wrong with this sentence. lol

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 10:09 AM (VwHCD)

Lmao. Shut up metal head.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (QKH1N)

371 It's about a woman who spends a year in the TB sanitorium here in Seattle in the 1930s.
----------------------------
Did she have a coffin fit??

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (UHVv4)

372 Last week, I mentioned a book which has been given to me, 'The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written'. I see that Wiki has the list as published in the book, here 'tis, for any interested: https://tinyurl.com/ch9ypwdr

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (830x5)

373 What color is her low G string?

Posted by: Just Wondering at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (jYQlA)

374 Durham is a ghost.

One of the signs that there's really a "there" there.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (AwPyG)

375 Ado Campeol, inventor of tiramisu, dies aged 93.

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 10:13 AM (UHVv4)

376 Why hasn't Geraldo been assigned to investigate the secret chamber?

Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 10:14 AM (7X3UV)

377 AP reporterette reports her Halloween story . . .

VColleen Long
@ctlong1
TFW you're trying to go on vacation and then the pilot says the very thing you're working [let's go, Brandon] on over the loud speaker and you have to try to get him comment but then almost get removed from plane

Also in defense of airline I was asking them to open locked cock pit and probably sounded insane!

-
"Probably"? " Sounded"?

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:14 AM (d9FiS)

378 They just had no idea about the magnitude of cheating needed, which is why 2020 was so over the top clownish

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:10 AM

Yep, that is what I think as well. They did some cheating in those 3 states in 2016, but half-assed it thinking the election was in the bag and were shocked when they lost. So they took no chances in 2020. They had their backup plan in place if they underestimated the required cheating (shut down counting in the required states and then bring in bundles of "votes").

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:14 AM (Do5/p)

379 Has anyone here ever seen a ghost?


The old bank building in downtown Tacoma is supposed to be haunted. Supposedly a banker (go figure) fell down the elevator shaft shortly after the building was finished, around 1915 if I recall. Some claim to see the distinguished older gentleman wandering the halls and stairwells (a little late for that IMO) looking at a ledger.
When I worked there for a software company, several of the engineers swore they had seen him as well as the company VP. Oddly, that was about the same time the scotch i kept in the lower right hand drawer of my desk began to "evaporate.".
Spirits!

Posted by: Digoblins at October 31, 2021 10:14 AM (axyOa)

380 Why did I ever post here about a G-string on a ukulele. Lol. I'm a masochist.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:14 AM (QKH1N)

381 Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Posted by: Stan at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (ACi07)

Lucianne linked to some Scott Adams stuff about "something big" getting ready to happen. He thinks its a tectonic shift away from donkshit. I, on the other hand, think all the price changes and shortages are planned and part of the Obamunist strategy and see the libs trying to purge their rivals. I realize that I am no sunny optimist under the best of circumstances, but I see no reason to think the donks will cede to any election or "tectonic shift" unless the military abandons them. And the military wants to show America as "losers" these days and its leadership is full of sick fucks who are not to be trusted.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:15 AM (ONvIw)

382 Forget about 'em, Utah, they're ghosts!

Posted by: Detective Pappas at October 31, 2021 10:16 AM (Do5/p)

383 There once was a girl from Nantucket
With a G string so tight you could pluck it...

Posted by: Muldoon wannabe at October 31, 2021 10:16 AM (jYQlA)

384 Supposedly a banker (go figure) fell down the elevator shaft shortly after the building was finished;;;

*****

Well, finished except for the doors in front of the elevator shaft, duh.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:16 AM (m45I2)

385 378 They just had no idea about the magnitude of cheating needed, which is why 2020 was so over the top clownish

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:10 AM

It wasn't clownish at all. It was pure evil that was joyously accepted by Mitch, Pence and McCarthy.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:16 AM (ONvIw)

386 On the other side, Aleister Crowley was said to have lived his last years in a residential hotel, where he amused himself by casting spells on himself.
A visitor to the hotel asked the front clerk who the old guy lurking from shadow to shadow in the lobby was, and the clerk responded, "That's Mr. Crowley, he's invisible."

Posted by: Kindltot at October 31, 2021 10:17 AM (KbLYZ)

387 Why did I ever post here about a G-string on a ukulele. Lol. I'm a masochist.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:14 AM (QKH1N)

She's a right sexy minx, that ukulele.

Posted by: Bass Fiddle at October 31, 2021 10:17 AM (4I/2K)

388 Lmao. Shut up metal head.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:11 AM (QKH1N)

lol right? I was just playing that song last night on a spanish built classical. Here I am thinking man it just sounds so much better on a classical guitar built in spain. Then you bring up the Hawaiian cigar box. lol

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 10:18 AM (VwHCD)

389 This week's reading will be dedicated to learning more about Ford Madox Ford and his literary circle.

I might read some more of Mary Wollstonecraft's letters as well.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:18 AM (ONvIw)

390 Next up, "Death on a Friday Afternoon," although I may wait until Lent for this one as it is a series of meditations on the last words of Jesus from the cross.

Im also midway through "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose. It's very good.

Posted by: nurse hatchet at October 31, 2021 10:18 AM (U2p+3)

391 There once was a girl from Nantucket
With a G string so tight you could pluck it...

Posted by: Muldoon wannabe at October 31, 2021 10:16 AM (jYQlA

Ok, Heidi and I are laughing our asses of.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:19 AM (QKH1N)

392 There once was a girl from Nantucket
With a G string so tight you could pluck it...
Posted by: Muldoon wannabe at October 31, 2021 10:16 AM (jYQlA)


And that was inevitable.

Posted by: Digoblins at October 31, 2021 10:19 AM (axyOa)

393 I'll tie two topics together by asking why certain instruments are made from certain woods--spruce, for example.

Does it have something to do with the sound, or is it just tradition?

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:19 AM (AwPyG)

394 "My opinion is that it was overconfidence and hubris by Hillary Clinton and her entire campaign that allowed Donald Trump to win the 2016 election."

One factor, but it was more complicated than that.

In March 2016, I projected how Trump would win with 300+ EVs by increasing white non-college turnout by 5%. This is by far the largest cohort of all and over-represented in swing states. Voters who the likes of Romney ignored, and they returned the favor. Ace banned me for continuing to predict this.

Team Hillary knew about Pussygate beforehand and thought they need only step over Trump's smoldering corpse to walk into the White House, and it made the outcome tighter.

Near the end, Team Hillary couldn't send her to key states because they knew it would actually have a negative effect.

The miracle was that Evangelicals mostly stuck by Trump despite Pussygate.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 10:20 AM (ZHVt1)

395 Does Chaos cover Whitey Bulger? He volunteered for MKUltra to get out of prison early, and so took a lot of LSD in quite strong doses.

Posted by: Ignoramus


I've not finished the book yet, but O'Neill did mention Whitey B in Joe Rogan's podcast I listened to:

https://tinyurl.com/Rogan-ONeill-Manson

The whole thing is worth a listen. The prosecutor on the Manson case was a lunatic.


Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 10:20 AM (pTHOC)

396 @385

But you have to admit the cardboard-over-the windows was pretty clownish.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:21 AM (AwPyG)

397 Muldoon!
You are a treasure!!

Posted by: nurse hatchet at October 31, 2021 10:22 AM (U2p+3)

398 Isn't it good Norwegian wood?

Posted by: Girl in a G string at October 31, 2021 10:22 AM (jYQlA)

399 It's been a long time since I read any P.D. James, but the current bedtime read of 'Death in Holy Orders' is well written, and entertaining.

Still working on 'The Real Lincoln', which undoes the general deification of Lincoln, and continue to slog through the Bell System history. The latter is a staggering techno-tome.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 10:22 AM (pK7cg)

400 Back to the topic of the occult and such. I was never really into it of the magical "spells" shit. It was briefly big in the early 70s with love spells being very popular among some teenage girls. I used to blame Dark Shadows for this, but as I grew up, I noted that many people wanted to magically get what they wanted effort free with no change to their own behavior or appearance, and to punish people who appeared to have it easy, but worked for it.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:23 AM (ONvIw)

401 On the other side, Aleister Crowley was said to have lived his last years in a residential hotel, where he amused himself by casting spells on himself.
A visitor to the hotel asked the front clerk who the old guy lurking from shadow to shadow in the lobby was, and the clerk responded, "That's Mr. Crowley, he's invisible."
Posted by: Kindltot

Those of a certain age may remember Mandrake the Magician who fought crime by using hypnosis. Mad Magazine did a parody in which he got shit faced by casting spells on himself.

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:23 AM (d9FiS)

402 bugliosi, yes that was made evident in 2000, a tad on the obsessive side,

Posted by: alien covenant was much worse at October 31, 2021 10:23 AM (hMlTh)

403 I think people weren't "sticking with Trump" in 2016 as much as they were SOOO happy to finally have a viable protest vote.

A lot of angry people, out there. Even more, now.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:23 AM (AwPyG)

404

There once was a girl from Nantucket
With a G string so tight you could pluck it.

And the lovable lass
Had a flute up her ass
But couldn't carry a tune in a bucket!

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:24 AM (m45I2)

405 lol right? I was just playing that song last night on a spanish built classical. Here I am thinking man it just sounds so much better on a classical guitar built in spain. Then you bring up the Hawaiian cigar box. lol

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 10:18 AM (VwHCD)

I actually do have a clasdical guitar Heidi bought when she lived in Spain.

Wonderful instrument. In fact she accompanies on the piano. But hey, I appreciate most all instruments played well.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:24 AM (QKH1N)

406 IF McAwful loses it will be a earthquake in politics,
1) They know they can lose, 2) fraud efforts will have to be doubled.

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 10:25 AM (2JoB8)

407 Mummies like the ukulele but they generally prefer wrap.

Posted by: Digoblins at October 31, 2021 10:25 AM (axyOa)

408 @400

It's the old, old, sin of worshiping false idols. You want to somehow control the uncontrollable.

"If I do this, then that will happen, and I'll be happy/safe"

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:25 AM (AwPyG)

409 The miracle was that Evangelicals mostly stuck by Trump despite Pussygate.
Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 10:20 AM (ZHVt1)

Pussygate and the pussyhead movement are stupid, especially when you consider Bill Clinton and his crime family. The idea that women fell for this crap speaks badly of us, as a whole. And the hats? How can adult women in pink cat ears expect to be taken seriously? Assholes, all.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (ONvIw)

410 And for some ideal Halloween reading, this kid may browse through some short stories by M. R. James, Fritz Leiber (if you've never read "Smoke Ghost" or "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" you're missing out), and Ramsey Campbell. If you're at a loss for short and scary today, suggest you do the same.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (JzDjf)

411 Posted by: Muldoon wannabe

*****

Just to be clear, this is not me.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (m45I2)

412 @411

accept no substitutes!

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:27 AM (AwPyG)

413 Make witches pretty again. #TeamSamanthaStevens

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 10:27 AM (4I/2K)

414 Just to be clear, this is not me.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (m45I2)

Is this you?

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:27 AM (QKH1N)

415 "If I do this, then that will happen, and I'll be happy/safe"
Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:25 AM (AwPyG)

Yep, magical thinking. Marginally acceptable in kids, but always malignant in adults. Always. And I put masks and the vaxxes in that category, these days.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:29 AM (ONvIw)

416
"If I do this, then that will happen, and I'll be happy/safe"
Posted by: artemis
--------

And the next thing you know, a virgin is being tossed into the fulminating volcano.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 10:29 AM (pK7cg)

417 Is this you?
Posted by: Cannibal Bob


*******

Truth be told, I haven't been myself lately.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:29 AM (m45I2)

418 And the hats? How can adult women in pink cat ears expect to be taken seriously? Assholes, all.
Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (ONvIw)

Now do us.

Posted by: Breasts Not Bombs at October 31, 2021 10:29 AM (4I/2K)

419 @416

Zackly.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:29 AM (AwPyG)

420 414 Just to be clear, this is not me.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (m45I2)

Is this you?
Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:27 AM (QKH1N)
_______

If you're not you, who's going to be you?

Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 10:29 AM (7X3UV)

421 I know vote cheating has been going on, but I believe it used to be more pronounced in local elections. If you got your crony into office, he'd find a way to pay you back.

This could of course affect state results, and in the case of Nixon v. JFK, a national election.

What we've just seen was organized and co-ordinated at the highest levels, and the scale of it made it obvious.

We know. They know we know. Hence the clampdown on talking about it in the public square.

Let's go Brandon!

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 10:30 AM (ZHVt1)

422 Just to be clear, this is not me.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (m45I2)

Is this you?
Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:27 AM (QKH1N)
_______

If you're not you, who's going to be you?
Posted by: Eeyore at October 31, 2021 10:29 AM (7X3UV)
------
He who is not he.

Posted by: Count Obvious, Castle o' Doom at October 31, 2021 10:30 AM (AlkyK)

423 I actually do have a clasdical guitar Heidi bought when she lived in Spain.

Wonderful instrument. In fact she accompanies on the piano. But hey, I appreciate most all instruments played well.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:24 AM (QKH1N)

Do you remember the make/brand of the guitar? I'm curious.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 10:31 AM (VwHCD)

424 413 Make witches pretty again. #TeamSamanthaStevens
Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 10:27 AM (4I/2K)

LOL. I'm in favor of an ugly occult a la Laurie Cabot and her vulgar fakery

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:31 AM (ONvIw)

425 What happens if we say "muldoon" three times?

Bad things?

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:31 AM (AwPyG)

426 This is a golden oldie that I always liked that could be seen (or heard) as ghost song. Bonus: It's by the Zombies.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hXBf1DakE

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:32 AM (d9FiS)

427 Muldoon -
You do you. As only you can.
I just wanted to get it started.
Thanks so much for a great limerick which you seem to so effortlessly produce!!

Posted by: Muldoon wannabe at October 31, 2021 10:33 AM (jYQlA)

428 What happens if we say "muldoon" three times?

Bad things?
Posted by: artemis

Pun-ishment?

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:33 AM (d9FiS)

429 IF McAwful loses it will be a earthquake in politics,
1) They know they can lose, 2) fraud efforts will have to be doubled.


The Party won't lose. They play for keeps, there is no level of violence and destruction that they are not willing to pay.

The rest of us want civilization and would prefer for us and our descendants to be chattel slaves than dare draw one drop of enemy blood.

That whole Security > Freedom thing.

Posted by: Revenant Hick at October 31, 2021 10:33 AM (+LCoQ)

430 New Ghostbusters movie coming out November 19... should have come out this weekend...

Posted by: Ghost of Romeo at October 31, 2021 10:34 AM (oHd/0)

431 somebody here (Joe Mannix, maybe?) had an excellent idea.

The voter rolls for all states are purged every 4 years, and they start again from scratch. It's not much to ask, that people re-register every four years.

That way, the Constitution's requirement of leaving it up to the states to choose the electors is still respected, but it puts a big dent in voter fraud.

Can you imagine the caterwauling?

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:35 AM (AwPyG)

432 All right y'all. Thanks for letting me play. I'm out.

Hasta lumbago!

(Translation: I'll be back...pain)

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:35 AM (m45I2)

433 I think people weren't "sticking with Trump" in 2016 as much as they were SOOO happy to finally have a viable protest vote.

A lot of angry people, out there. Even more, now.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:23 AM

Yep. If you look at the three states MI, PA and WI, they had massive third party votes. MI 3rd party voting had been typically around 1-2%. In 2016 it was 5% (250,000 votes). Hillary's vote total in MI was ~(-300k) compared to Obama's 2012 vote total. So have to think some of those 300k were part of the 250k who voted third party.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:35 AM (Do5/p)

434 Zombie Jamboree

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4k5XftdTMs

Posted by: The Kingston Trio at October 31, 2021 10:35 AM (bPH26)

435 OT: Systemic racism strikes again!

tinyurl.com/3cryrcvp

lol

Posted by: Alcoholic Asshole Shut In at October 31, 2021 10:35 AM (mZOHK)

436 If we say Muldoon just three times
He'll appears spouting limerick rhymes
Till you start to choke
On his corny old jokes
Your pun-ishment will fit your crime

Posted by: naturalfrankenstein at October 31, 2021 10:36 AM (5NkmN)

437 This is a golden oldie that I always liked that could be seen (or heard) as ghost song. Bonus: It's by the Zombies.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hXBf1DakE
Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:32 AM (d9FiS)

I never knew until watching this just now that Chevy Chase was the drummer for the Zombies.

Posted by: Count Dracula de Monet, IF, Unvaccinated Kulak-American at October 31, 2021 10:36 AM (4I/2K)

438 The Party won't lose. They play for keeps, there is no level of violence and destruction that they are not willing to pay.

The rest of us want civilization and would prefer for us and our descendants to be chattel slaves than dare draw one drop of enemy blood.

That whole Security > Freedom thing.
Posted by: Revenant Hick at October 31, 2021 10:33 AM (+LCoQ)

This. And it's getting stupid as the enemy is calling for "purges" quite openly. We went from two weeks to flatten the curve to "no vax no job", what's next, the death penalty for non-believers of Obamunism?

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:36 AM (ONvIw)

439 This is a golden oldie that I always liked that could be seen (or heard) as ghost song. Bonus: It's by the Zombies.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hXBf1DakE

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:32 AM (d9FiS)


I love that song.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:36 AM (45fpk)

440 flightaware.com/live/cancelled/

American has cancelled 700 flights today. They cite "high winds", apparently.

Posted by: t-brimstone at October 31, 2021 10:37 AM (ELgVT)

441 Pun-ishment?

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks at October 31, 2021 10:33 AM

Vizzini: No more rhymes now, I mean it!
Fezzik: Anybody want a peanut?
Vizzini: DYEEAAHHHHHH!

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:38 AM (Do5/p)

442 American has cancelled 700 flights today. They cite "high winds", apparently.

Posted by: t-brimstone at October 31, 2021 10:37 AM

If "high winds" were actually the problem, then *every* airline would be cancelling flights.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:39 AM (Do5/p)

443 Not that surprising, that the airlines are willing to be part of the Great Reset.

They've been getting more and more restrictive, and less and less responsive to their customers for the past 10 years or so.

Luckily, the pilots aren't having it.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:39 AM (AwPyG)

444 OT: Systemic racism strikes again!

tinyurl.com/3cryrcvp

lol
Posted by: Alcoholic Asshole
-------

That's an outrage!

Posted by: Rachel Dolezal at October 31, 2021 10:41 AM (L47aO)

445 Berserker. Heidi says a Delgado. Not sure if its a good one or not. Unfortunately it goes unplayed. I don't play the guitar any more. Never was proficient. She has a choir friend who plays and she recently promised it to him.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:41 AM (QKH1N)

446 If "high winds" were actually the problem, then *every* airline would be cancelling flights.

I'm sure they cite the other weekend where "high winds" only struck Southwest, and nationwide at that. They're all about the science.

Posted by: t-brimstone at October 31, 2021 10:42 AM (CTJwJ)

447 I am becoming a greater fan of the Who Goes Nazi article from 1941. The twist is that they're calling it anti-nazi and branding non-fascists as fascists. It's breathtaking. I agree with Thompson that there is no ethnic tendency toward totalitarianism and that "His mind is childish. His soul has been almost completely neglected" when it comes to the susceptible. Obama had an easy time winning the godless youth.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:43 AM (ONvIw)

448 American has cancelled 700 flights today. They cite "high winds", apparently.
Posted by: t-brimstone
--------

'Headwinds', probably, of the socio-political sort.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 10:43 AM (L47aO)

449 Mad Magazine did a parody in which he got shit faced by casting spells on himself.

Posted by: Phantasmosaurus Wrecks



Mad put out 5 volumes of those parodies in the late 70s. I would love to find them again and read 'em. They were hilarious.

Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 10:44 AM (pTHOC)

450 'Headwinds', probably, of the socio-political sort.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 10:43 AM (L47aO)

Yep. Sociology=theology/science

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:44 AM (ONvIw)

451
Ado Campeol, inventor of tiramisu, dies aged 93.

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 10:13 AM


yet another grim milestone for the biden administration (euporean edition)

he's really running up the score on his european vacation

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2021 10:44 AM (DUIap)

452 Just to be clear, this is not me.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 31, 2021 10:26 AM (m45I2)


You're not you when you are hungry.

**offers Muldoon a Snickers**

Posted by: tbodie at October 31, 2021 10:45 AM (mE8HP)

453 I've read enough of Buddenbrooks to realize that it's an exercise in sheer tedium about a family of spoiled brats who squander the family fortune. How Mann ever got regarded as someone worth reading is a mystery to me.
Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 08:17 AM (y7DUB)


That's interesting. I've always wondered if I should give Mann a try, but his subject matter never interested me. He was a big bete noire for the Nazis - they banned him every way from Sunday, but I don't really know why. Maybe that's contributed to his lasting reputation - if THEY hated Mann so much, well, he MUST be a good guy and worth reading!

Posted by: Dr. Mabusette, just to clarify things at October 31, 2021 10:45 AM (X365g)

454 They've been getting more and more restrictive, and less and less responsive to their customers for the past 10 years or so.

Luckily, the pilots aren't having it.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:39 AM

Well, when customers do nothing but complain, yet continue to be customers, there is no incentive for airlines to be responsive. I would have liked to see a massive amount of people refuse to fly after the tyrannical mask mandates went into effect but... nope. People just kept on flying.

Same thing with anything really. Have the NFL or MLB paid any price for going all-in with Burn-Loot-Murder? Nope. "Get woke, go broke" is not universal. It only works for things that people were already willing to go without. Americans aren't willing to go without flying, football and baseball apparently.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:46 AM (Do5/p)

455 Chevy Chase actually played drums; he was in a band with Fagen and Becker before Steely Dan.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 10:46 AM (KAi1n)

456 Mann came from a family of grain dealers so I assume, like so much else, there is a lot of autobiography in the book.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:47 AM (ONvIw)

457 Americans aren't willing to go without flying, football and baseball apparently.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:46 AM (Do5/p)


Granted, I've only watched baseball sporadically this season, but have watched steadily through the play-offs. I haven't seen anything that would put me off.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:48 AM (45fpk)

458 Oingo Boingo weighs in on Halloween:

Https://youtu.be/yhN8SdulOFc

Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 10:48 AM (pTHOC)

459 The Party won't lose

Getting that feeling reading Rigged, think I will be quite depressed after this is finished.

Posted by: Skipjack the Ripper at October 31, 2021 10:49 AM (2JoB8)

460 From the sidebar: The term "lycanthrope" ("lyc" wolf + "anthro" man) originally meant someone who had the delusion that he changed into a wolf. So it was a medical/psychiatric term. Only in the 19th century did it come to mean an actual werewolf.

In my re-watching of the series Grimm on Amazon Prime, I just recently passed the episode where Sgt. Wu is infected and becomes a lycanthrope.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:49 AM (Do5/p)

461 @454

I may disagree--I think professional sports paid a big price, and are still paying.

Know how you can tell? No one mentions the dreaded disease, anymore, and every announcer is cheerful and soo very enthusiastic! We love America, folks!

It must kill them

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 10:49 AM (AwPyG)

462 I haven't seen anything that would put me off.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:48 AM (45fpk)

That's promising. Of course the Red Sox aren't in the Series, otherwise you would have seen the very large "Black Lives Matter" sign on Fenway Park.

Posted by: TheGreatPumpkin'sDildo at October 31, 2021 10:50 AM (Q9lwr)

463 Berserker. Heidi says a Delgado. Not sure if its a good one or not. Unfortunately it goes unplayed. I don't play the guitar any more. Never was proficient. She has a choir friend who plays and she recently promised it to him.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:41 AM (QKH1N)

If...if its the Delgado I'm thinking of you may want to keep it, ot at least check the value. He only make about 20 of them a year, all hand built.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 10:50 AM (VwHCD)

464 There are no such things as ghosts.

There are demons.

Posted by: Been Lurking at October 31, 2021 10:50 AM (rDgjh)

465 So, I finished The Plague and I by Betty MacDonald last week. It's about a woman who spends a year in the TB sanitorium here in Seattle in the 1930s.
Very well written and funny.
Posted by: nurse hatchet at October 31, 2021 10:06 AM (U2p+3)


Betty MacDonald had a sister named Mary Bard, who wrote a couple of books, I have just started The Doctor Wears Three Faces, and is about getting accustomed to being married to her husband, who was a GP in Seattle.

She dedicated it to "my sister Betty, who egged me on"

And it is a bit odd, since the reason Betty said she wrote The Egg and I is because Mary told a literary agent that Betty was writing a book, when all she was doing was writing very long letter to her family.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 31, 2021 10:50 AM (KbLYZ)

466 "Americans aren't willing to go without flying, football and baseball apparently."

Considering where they were invented....

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 10:51 AM (KAi1n)

467 That's promising. Of course the Red Sox aren't in the Series, otherwise you would have seen the very large "Black Lives Matter" sign on Fenway Park.

Posted by: TheGreatPumpkin'sDildo at October 31, 2021 10:50 AM (Q9lwr)


It was encouraging the other night to see the "Let's Go Brandon" sign, and the accompanying chants.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:51 AM (45fpk)

468 Oingo Boingo weighs in on Halloween:

Https://youtu.be/yhN8SdulOFc


That can only mean... Yep. Guess I'll go on an Oingo Boingo binge for a while.

Posted by: t-brimstone at October 31, 2021 10:51 AM (vOGqy)

469 "Chevy Chase actually played drums; he was in a band with Fagen and Becker before Steely Dan."

College pick-up band at Bard College. Blythe Danner, Gwyneth's mom, also played with them.

I'm a Dan nerd

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 10:52 AM (ZHVt1)

470 Granted, I've only watched baseball sporadically this season, but have watched steadily through the play-offs. I haven't seen anything that would put me off.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:48 AM

Well, they're not promoting BLM anymore. But they were all-in with teams kneeling and promoting BLM by name last year. Not to mention, this year they moved the All-Star game due to the Georgia voting law.

I put this together last year to show some of MLB's BLM propaganda: https://bit.ly/3jTADQe

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 10:52 AM (Do5/p)

471 Biden's favorite song is by Oingo Boingo.

Posted by: SFHippy at October 31, 2021 10:52 AM (KAi1n)

472 I'm amused that the Braves and their Tomohawk Chop are poised to win the Series.

With the worst record of all of the playoff teams.

Posted by: Sharkman at October 31, 2021 10:54 AM (pTHOC)

473 Not to mention, this year they moved the All-Star game due to the Georgia voting law.


Which is sweetly ironic, now that the World Series is playing in Atlanta.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:55 AM (45fpk)

474 Biden's favorite song is by Oingo Boingo.

I'd forgotten about that one. Almost afraid to watch the video.

Posted by: t-brimstone at October 31, 2021 10:56 AM (DMQdU)

475 Late to the book thread, I guess. I'll ask anyway:

Was John Masters the inspiration for TV character Robin Masters on the old Magnum TV series?

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain, Cryptid Anarchist at October 31, 2021 10:56 AM (Hl1x5)

476 I liked Buddenbrooks and Mann's depiction of what happens to a family when it ceases to strive. There are no villains dragging the family down, just their own vanity poor judgement.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:56 AM (ONvIw)

477 If...if its the Delgado I'm thinking of you may want to keep it, ot at least check the value. He only make about 20 of them a year, all hand built.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 10:50 AM (VwHCD)

Really? When we get back next month we'll check. Thank you. She studied Spanish in Madrid 87-88. Got it then. Her roommate was studying guitar and he went with her and tried them at a music shop and chose one for her fir the best sound she says. Go figure.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:57 AM (QKH1N)

478 Nut dressed as the Joker armed with a knife starts a fire on Tokyo subway train; 15 injured.

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/
1454824309952757765

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 10:59 AM (UHVv4)

479 Chevy Chase actually played drums; he was in a band with Fagen and Becker before Steely Dan."

College pick-up band at Bard College. Blythe Danner, Gwyneth's mom, also played with them.

I'm a Dan nerd
Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 10:52 AM (ZHVt1)

I didn't attend Bard but I had some really good times on their property.

Posted by: Just a side note at October 31, 2021 11:00 AM (2DOZq)

480 Berserker-D, howabout Asturias on a Mandolin?

https://youtu.be/w6jGRunX9s8



(mandolins always seemed Ideal for shredding for some reason)

Posted by: Kindltot at October 31, 2021 11:00 AM (KbLYZ)

481 For those who don't follow baseball, Manfred, the commissioner of baseball, is another hard core leftist like Goodell and Silver (NFL and NBA)

Manfred cancelled the all star game, set for Atlanta, because GA passed a weak-sauce voting rights bill that was supposed to stop voter fraud. So instead, the all star game was played in lib-friendly Denver, even though Hank Aaron was the guest of honor. Just awful.

So now, Manfred gets his comeuppance, and the Braves will probably win the WS. With Trump attending.

God has a sense of humor.

Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 11:00 AM (AwPyG)

482 Nood

Posted by: Spook Lowell at October 31, 2021 11:01 AM (kTF2Z)

483 ...and chose one for her fir the best sound she says.
----------------------------
Was it made of pine??

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at October 31, 2021 11:01 AM (UHVv4)

484 So now, Manfred gets his comeuppance, and the Braves will probably win the WS. With Trump attending.

God has a sense of humor.
Posted by: artemis at October 31, 2021 11:00 AM (AwPyG)

I liked this happyish ending. But I sense more tribulation is in the air from the wokeists.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:02 AM (ONvIw)

485 Not to mention, this year they moved the All-Star game due to the Georgia voting law.


Which is sweetly ironic, now that the World Series is playing in Atlanta.
Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:55 AM (45fpk)

And Texas passed a similar voter reform law. So both states got last laugh.

Posted by: Just a side note at October 31, 2021 11:02 AM (2DOZq)

486 I feel like i need to glow....reproduce...dirt nap...just a short coma.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at October 31, 2021 11:02 AM (Mb9aP)

487 Biden's favorite song is by Oingo Boingo.
Posted by: SFHippy


Hoo-boy. When you're right, you're right.

Posted by: t-brimstone at October 31, 2021 11:03 AM (CTJwJ)

488 The subtext to the Steely Dan song (never going back to) My Old School was a big drug raid abetted by the Bard College administration.

The local prosecutor behind it was G. Gordon Liddy, later of Watergate fame.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 11:03 AM (ZHVt1)

489 I love that song.

Posted by: grammie winger at October 31, 2021 10:36 AM (45fpk)


Have you heard the Santana cover?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jdiJA2TtQ

I think I like it better.

Posted by: OregonBOOs, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor and Part-time ghost buster at October 31, 2021 11:05 AM (GLULz)

490 Thanks OM for another great book thread. I just may buy JJ's book as a piece of history, as I already know the ugly story of the junta and the Obama followers and grifters who caused it. I don't want to see more truth banned and destroyed.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:05 AM (ONvIw)

491 And Texas passed a similar voter reform law. So both states got last laugh.

Posted by: Just a side note at October 31, 2021 11:02 AM

That's optimistic, considering we have not been a nation of laws for decades. Criminals do not follow laws. 2020 election was not stolen, because there were not laws on the books. 2020 election was stolen, because no one enforced the laws already on the books.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 11:05 AM (Do5/p)

492 Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 31, 2021 09:46 AM (BL0+q)

Your phone removed your howl, All Howl Eris.

Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 11:07 AM (TZgEk)

493 2020 election was stolen, because no one enforced the laws already on the books.
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at October 31, 2021 11:05 AM (Do5/p)

Sort of like the unenforced immigration and political corruption laws? Thanks Bill Barr and Rod Rosenstein (the de facto AG).

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:07 AM (ONvIw)

494 Your phone removed your howl, All Howl Eris.
Posted by: dial m for murder at October 31, 2021 11:07 AM (TZgEk

I like this!

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:07 AM (ONvIw)

495
Was John Masters the inspiration for TV character Robin Masters on the old Magnum TV series?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain
-----

Interesting question. As you obviously know, Masters spent some time in the capacity of Valet. One supposes that he thought that upper class Americans might be inclined to the genuine British model of such.

I don't think that lasted long. I rather doubt that there are many people anymore who appreciate (or even merit) a 'Gentleman's Gentleman', which is unfortunate.

Hard to imagine a Zuckerberg being tolerated by a dignified valet.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 11:08 AM (bPH26)

496 Really? When we get back next month we'll check. Thank you. She studied Spanish in Madrid 87-88. Got it then. Her roommate was studying guitar and he went with her and tried them at a music shop and chose one for her fir the best sound she says. Go figure.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 10:57 AM (QKH1N)

Yeah, definitely check. There could be a few different delgados, but there is one that is a custom guitar all hand built by one guy. Check the label in the guitar and see if it names the city it was made. The delgado I'm thinking of had its roots in mexico, so I'm not sure if its the same delgado, but you never know. A lot of times these makers are part of a dynasty, and they are on their 3rd, 4th or 5th generation of builders, and did any move to spain, etc etc. Just do some research on it.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 31, 2021 11:09 AM (VwHCD)

497 I'm never really ready to end the Book Thread. I'd like it to stay open all week. These days it's the only place where I get to talk with fellow Spartan, AHLloyd, for example.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:09 AM (ONvIw)

498
Hard to imagine a Zuckerberg being tolerated by a dignified valet.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 11:08 AM (bPH26)

He wears jeans a tshirt, what possible need would he have for a valet? All he needs is a few cheap laborers to clean the house and cut the lawn, and some armed guards to make sure no one turns the tables on him. BAstard.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:11 AM (ONvIw)

499 I believe the some ghosts are serving their time in Purgatory or sent as a warning. My great-grandmother was driving a wagon home with some of the children with her when a spectral horseman came over a rise and spooked her horses. In the time that it took to bring the wagon to a stop and calm the horses, a loggerman's load fell over on the other side of the hill.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at October 31, 2021 11:13 AM (/+bwe)

500 499. Great story.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:13 AM (ONvIw)

501 Just visited my mom's Dem neighbor. God bless her, she's a great gal who cares about my mother, but she has reality-filtering goggles welded on. She thinks the current administration is doing great things and is so relieved not to have the news dominated by one person (PDJT). Well who obsessively covered Trump in the news?!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 31, 2021 11:15 AM (XItSe)

502
He wears jeans a tshirt, what possible need would he have for a valet? All he needs is a few cheap laborers to clean the house and cut the lawn, and some armed guards to make sure no one turns the tables on him. BAstard.
Posted by: Sparkling CN
------

Well, I suppose that is crux of the matter, there simply are no more 'Gentlemen', in the classic sense. Just crass wealthy boors.

I seem to recollect that David Niven's passport indicated his occupation as 'Gentleman'.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 11:18 AM (WD9ZA)

503 I believe the some ghosts are serving their time in Purgatory or sent as a warning.
-----

See: Jacob Marley, visiting Scrooge.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 31, 2021 11:19 AM (WD9ZA)

504 502. I loved David Niven! I liked his modesty about his war service as well. He was indeed a gentleman in a Hollywood full of crass wealthy boors/boars/bores.

Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 11:20 AM (ONvIw)

505 Berserker, thanks again. We'll check. I get the same history. They moved to Mexico but one for sale shows an LA label.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at October 31, 2021 11:25 AM (QKH1N)

506 Today is technical running training day. I would love to skip!
Posted by: rhennigantx

Bring a weedwhacker (if you catch my drift)

Posted by: JT at October 31, 2021 11:46 AM (arJlL)

507 The subtext to the Steely Dan song (never going back to) My Old School was a big drug raid abetted by the Bard College administration.

The local prosecutor behind it was G. Gordon Liddy, later of Watergate fame.
Posted by: Ignoramus at October 31, 2021 11:03 AM (ZHVt1)

He was "Daddy G" in the song

Posted by: JoeF. at October 31, 2021 12:00 PM (mR6Gs)

508 I liked Buddenbrooks and Mann's depiction of what happens to a family when it ceases to strive. There are no villains dragging the family down, just their own vanity poor judgement.
Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:56 AM (ONvIw)


Ceases to strive is a very good way to put it. Other than Thomas and maybe Antonia the rest of the family are neurotic whiners; much worse than Proust, for example, whom I find oddly interesting by comparison.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 12:02 PM (y7DUB)

509 That's interesting. I've always wondered if I should give Mann a try, but his subject matter never interested me. He was a big bete noire for the Nazis - they banned him every way from Sunday, but I don't really know why. Maybe that's contributed to his lasting reputation - if THEY hated Mann so much, well, he MUST be a good guy and worth reading!
Posted by: Dr. Mabusette, just to clarify things at October 31, 2021 10:45 AM (X365g)


Maybe some ersatz mysticism in The Magic Mountain hit too close to home for their liking. Looking at photos of Mann made him look like he was suffering from major league constipation so maybe he was an inadvertent kindred soul.

Mann came from a family of grain dealers so I assume, like so much else, there is a lot of autobiography in the book.
Posted by: Sparkling CN- at October 31, 2021 10:47 AM (ONvIw)


He betrays no insight into how the dealers make money, or don't. It's more like
A. Buy grain
B. Sell grain
C. ???
D. Profit or loss.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at October 31, 2021 12:18 PM (y7DUB)

510 So, pantsless Morons are banned, but spooky, Moronless pants are allowed?

Posted by: Half Dozen Half Dozen Half Dozen at October 31, 2021 12:35 PM (dJs6r)

511 509. He lived comfortably and was rather divorced from the business. Sort of a Johan IV

Posted by: CN- at October 31, 2021 01:07 PM (ONvIw)

512 In the afterglow of the Columbus Day suppressions, I've started reading "Conquistadores" by Fernando Cervantes. For a 2021 book, in the depths of the Progressive Era, it's a surprisingly good read. (Rather steady blood pressure readings through the first 150 pages.)
Try: The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz.
He was a conquistador with Cortez.
It will make you think that Mel
Gibson's movie Apocalypto was a documentarty.
The people of Central America and Mexico should celebrate Cortez as a hero heralded by Columbus.
Those areas were held in evil's hand.

Posted by: waepnedmann at October 31, 2021 01:28 PM (VRF8U)

513 Some Magic Books will READ YOU!

Posted by: jakee308 at October 31, 2021 02:00 PM (C4l4A)

514 Ghosts are trapped spirits that either can't or won't exit into eternity.

They either don't see the light or are scared of it and manage to hide or keep out of it's influence.

The Egyptians and other Pagan Sects believed that there were demons that tried to make ones spirit fail to achieve eternity so perhaps the ghosts are those who failed but didn't get forced into rebirth.

I think it takes a very strong mind (not smart or intelligent) and very set in their ways. Sometimes that appears to be some thing they didn't achieve when they were alive. Which would be a good reason to stick around. Plus we don't know how much influence they may or may not have here on this plane of existence. They may have more than we think.

Posted by: jakee308 at October 31, 2021 02:05 PM (C4l4A)

515 Greetings:

I think that there is a sociological parallel between the fracturing of sports leagues into multiple few member divisions that results in occasions where the worst record teams win championships.

In tournament play, it's not uncommon for the result to be the the best versus the hottest team.
(Why I don't like tournaments very much.) But that downgrades sustained long term performance for the sold seats and emotional highs of late performers.

So, too, with our current society.

Posted by: 11B40 at October 31, 2021 02:23 PM (uuklp)

516 Greetings:

Quoting 512 above:

"Gibson's movie Apocalypto was a documentarty."

And somewhat amazingly, those feathered dancing boys didn't show up to demonstrate against it.

Posted by: 11B40 at October 31, 2021 02:27 PM (uuklp)

517 That library in India must be the reason Patrick Rothfuss still hasn't finished Doors of Stone, he's been waiting a decade to see how his book ends.

Posted by: tintex at October 31, 2021 03:35 PM (N6frR)

518 A few years ago I read that someone actually was making a movie about Castle Itter (the May 5, 1945 small scale action by American GIs and German soldiers to defend the prominent French prisoners/hostages being held there against German SS troops) and I was looking forward to seeing it. Does anyone know if the movie ever got made or what happened to it?

Posted by: matthew49 at October 31, 2021 04:07 PM (2uE6E)

519 As usual I come very late to the Book Thread (an unfortunate effect of my domestic schedule). I do have a couple of comments:

sal @96, I second your recommendation of Peter Dickinson's "King and Joker". He wrote a sequel to it that is also worth reading "Skeleton in Waiting".

Just Some Guy @410, if you have not already read it I strongly recommend Fritz Leiber's short novel "Our Lady of Darkness".

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at October 31, 2021 04:10 PM (y/8TR)

520 John Masters's son was in my Scottish Dance branch. He'd been trying for years to get a movie deal on his father's books. Needless to say, Hollywood wanted to film THEIR version of the story and he was smart enough to retain rights.
Also in my branch was the daughter of Charles B. MacDonald (see Amazon books for his bibliography). Needless to say, afters parties were MOST educational.

Posted by: Stretch at October 31, 2021 05:44 PM (HZfX6)

521 519 --
Our Lady of Darkness is a delight. Conjure Wife still holds up nicely too. If you're into Kindle ebooks, Open Road Media offers a terrific selection of Leiber's short story collections, all of 'em well worth a look.

Bests.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 31, 2021 06:32 PM (JzDjf)

522 On the topic of "emphasis" (and phrasing and punctuation) in English, I offer one of the classics; a simple question:

"What is this thing called love?"

Have at it, boys and girls.

Posted by: Bruce at October 31, 2021 11:57 PM (2h8S9)

523 If the Bugles and a Tiger is your cup of tea, try "Quartered Safe Out Here" by George MacDonald Fraser. Some years later, WWII, but a great read, especially from the POV of regional English dialects of the soldiers.

Link I had was rejected for some reason. You have the info.

Posted by: aawlberninf350 at November 01, 2021 12:49 AM (JcnFx)

524 Thanks, all, for another great and list-adding book thread!

Posted by: Joe at November 01, 2021 03:22 AM (w2JTz)

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