Sunday Morning Book Thread 12-05-2021

North Reading Room Doe Library Berkeley 01.jpg

North Reading Room, Doe Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, and crétins sans pantalon (who are technically breaking the rules). 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 this scowly fellow would qualify, and I hope they're paying him enough money to compensate for this extreme public humiliation they're putting him through.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

Heh. Anybody else read this as 'faucinorious'?

Rare Books

Occasionally I will get an e-mail from someone who tells me that he has inherited a bunch of old books from a deceased family member and wants to sell them, believing someone would be be willing to pay a good chunk of change on his inventory.

Yeah, no.

The chance that you have a book worth more than a few dollars on the antiaqe book market is quite small. The collectible book market is fickle and hard to gauge accurately. I claim no expertise in this area, but I have learned a few small things.

Generally speaking:

1. Age does not automatically bestow value.

2. The book has to be in very good to excellent condition.

3. In addition, there has to be something very special about the book. For example, a book owned by a very famous person (and provenance can be certified) might be valuable. Perhaps he signed it. Or, a signed, first edition of a book by a well-known author. That last bit is important. I've a number of signed first editions in my collection, but the authors aren't big and famous so all they have for me is sentimental value. Such books you can often purchase from used book sites for a few extra dollars. They're fun to have, but they won't make you rich.

4. Probably the best route to take is to find a book appraiser near you. Use your favorite search engine. Also, AbeBooks has a good overview on what makes a book collectible. Including this short tutorial:

To give you an idea of what's selling, CBD sent me a link to AbeBook's most expensive sales in 2021. And you'll like this: Coming in at #9 is "Grapefruit" by Yoko Ono, which sold for $25,250.

What makes it so valuable?

Self-published in 1964 with a run of 500 copies, this is a first edition of Yoko Ono’s piece of conceptual art. Grapefruit offers "instructions to help you through life" divided into five sections - music, painting, events, poetry and objects. This copy is inscribed by Ono to American artist Ken Dewey.

The publication date is before the time she broke up the Beatles (Lennon didn't meet her until 1966), so there's that.

Anyway, the rest of the list is worth perusing to see what's selling big.

Who Dis:

Last week's who dis was actor George Nader.

Moron Recommendations

Last week, in response to a request, commenter naturalfake offered up an extensive list of dystopian novels worth reading, and many of them are, or ought to be, classics. I've selected a few that looked particularly interesting.

The first is A Regiment of Women, first published in 1973, about which NF says "Feminism takes over the world. Yay! Everything is perfect now! Or is it? Your tolerance of the grotesque will determine whether or not you enjoy this very black comedy."

The Amazon blurb says:

Women reign supreme in the not-so-distant future, where Georgie Cornell has no choice but to wear the high heel shoe on the other foot. Swept into the chaotic world of publishing, he is at the mercy of his female bosses, especially if his pencil skirt is an inch too short.

Georgie only has one male coworker he can lean on for a bit of support, and his friend Charlie’s fascination with gender roles borders on the scandalous for Georgie’s taste. Still, when Georgie loses his job it’s Charlie he turns to for comfort. Spilling a drink on his expensive dress, he has no choice but to wear the women’s clothes Charlie keeps in secret on the way home. The simple journey quickly turns chaotic when Georgie is taken in by the police for the crime of being a transvestite. A prison escape is only the start of this piercing, insightful, and prescient look at gender norms.

Imagine if the USA were run by the Women's Studies department of any Ivy League school. Fun, huh?

The Kindle edition is $6.99. Berger has written a number of other novels including, get this, Little Big Man (I never knew the movie came from a book), and the sequel, The Return of Little Big Man.

I recommend checking out Berger's other books, some of which sell for as low as $2.99 on Kindle.

Naturalfake also recommends This Perfect Day by Ira Levin, wherein all the world's problems have been solved:

Considered one of the great dystopian novels—alongside Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World—Ira Levin's frightening glimpse into the future continues to fascinate readers even forty years after publication.

The story is set in a seemingly perfect global society. Uniformity is the defining feature; there is only one language and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race called “The Family.“ The world is ruled by a central computer called UniComp that has been programmed to keep every single human on the surface of the earth in check. People are continually drugged by means of regular injections so that they can never realize their potential as human beings, but will remain satisfied and cooperative. They are told where to live, when to eat, whom to marry, when to reproduce. even the basic facts of nature are subject to the UniComp's will—men do not grow facial hair, women do not develop breasts, and it only rains at night.

With a vision as frightening as any in the history of the science fiction genre, This Perfect Day is one of Ira Levin's most haunting novels.

$12.99 for the Kindle edition.

Levin has written other novels which you all should know: The Stepford Wives, Rosemary's Baby, The Boys from Brazil and A Kiss Before Dying

An impressive list. Berger has had almost as many of his novels adapted as Philip K. Dick.

Here's one more classic dystopian novel, one that I have actually heard of, although I know nothing about it: Facial Justice by LP Hartley. This story takes place in a post-apocalyptic society that has sought to banish privilege and envy, to the extent that people will even have their faces surgically altered in order to appear neither too beautiful nor too ugly.

Jael 97 is an Alpha. Deemed over-privileged for her beauty, she is compelled to report to the Ministry of Facial Justice, where her face will be reconstructed. For Jael lives in the New State, created out of the devastation of the Third World War. Under the rule of the Darling Dictator, citizens must wear sackcloth and ashes, and only a 17.5% quotum of personality is permitted to each. Anything that inspires envy is forbidden. But Jael cannot suppress her rebellious spirit. Secretly, she starts to reassert the rights of the individual, and decides to hunt down the faceless Dictator.

Facial Justice was first published in 1960. So it's kind of an historical document.

___________

387 Just read a lengthy review of Scott Atlas's book A Plague Upon Our House. Has anyone rad it? I don't usually read this kind of book, but the review makes it sound phenomenal exposing all the players that have made our lives miserable since Covid arrived on our shores.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 28, 2021 11:16 AM (Y+l9t)

The Brownstone review is here. Seems a bit over-the-top, but I haven't read it, so I don't know. My point is, with a book like A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America, by Dr. Scott Atlas what I'd be worried about is being misled by my own confirmation bias. Because I'm really interested in how these Covid decisions were made, who made them, why they were decided they way they were, and what evidence they were based on. Now this book is eyewitness testimony, and should be taken seriously. But remember:

The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.
--Prov. 18:17

There might be other witnesses who would tell a different story. For example, Donald Trump is a self-admitted germaphobe (according to his 2004 book 'How To Get Rich'), so did that affect his Covid policy decisions, and if so, how?

Also, with a subtitle like 'My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America', that's kind of a tip that this is not going to be an evenhanded, dispassionate factual account, but the author definitely has an agenda. It's highly doubtful that Dr. Atlas is 100% right and everyone else whom he is criticizing in his book is 100% wrong. This is something to keep in mind when you're reading his book.

So I intend to read it, but I'm going to hold onto it loosely.

___________

And Now, a PSA From the AoSHQ Sunday Morning Book Thread:

So the takeaway here is that you'll be helping out moron authors whose books you read by taking a few minutes to write a review and post it to Amazon.

___________

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

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, insults, threats, ugly pants pics and moron library submissions may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 09:01 AM (2JoB8)

2 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog at December 05, 2021 09:02 AM (71luh)

3 Based on book she's reading, Who Dis is Patricia Neal?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 09:03 AM (PiwSw)

4 Morning, Horde...How goes it?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:03 AM (NQjQK)

5 Facinorious is a great word to describe Democrat leaders.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:04 AM (bFMjy)

6 One for the Book Thread ~~later~~ now...

Edward Elderman
at_edwereddie

Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2:34 AM - Dec 5, 2021 - https://bit.ly/3Gj5Kxc

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 05, 2021 09:05 AM (Do5/p)

7 Finished one David Vining's Battle of Lake Erie, one young Americans adventure in the war of 1812.
Loved it, but then love military stories. Had no idea about the Battle so at least a idea how it happened.
Would recommend it, even for young teenage readers.

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 09:05 AM (2JoB8)

8 I like Ira Levin, and read This Perfect Day after seeing Rosemary's Baby. I've always wonder why it has never been dramatized.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 05, 2021 09:06 AM (EZebt)

9 I was able to read a couple of interesting books this week. First up is one that was inspired by an ONT discussion from earlier this week. The comments were about the idea of human civilization being much older than we might expect, given some current archaeological evidence (or something to that effect). So I started reading Brian Lumley's Tales of the Primal Earth which is part of the Cthulhu Mythos in that the stories take place on a supercontinent millions of years in Earth's past inhabited by humans dominated by a Lovecraftian world. Good stuff.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:07 AM (NQjQK)

10 Extremely wicked as opposed to just marginally wicked from time to time.

Posted by: weirdflunky at December 05, 2021 09:07 AM (cknjq)

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

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:07 AM (7EjX1)

12 Who dis is obviously Gillian Anderson

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 09:08 AM (2JoB8)

13 Good morning everyone. I read Levin's TPD long ago and have completely forgotten everything about it. Hmmmm.

Finished Dante's Inferno - now moving into Purgatorio. Absolutely wonderful even though I know how it ends.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 05, 2021 09:08 AM (mD/uy)

14 I have Berger's "Little Big Man" on my kindle, and read it earlier this year. Got several good laughs out of it!

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:09 AM (bFMjy)

15 Kidding of course

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 09:09 AM (2JoB8)

16 Rereading the elemental masters series by Mercdes Lackey.

Posted by: Vic at December 05, 2021 09:09 AM (mpXpK)

17 Russia Today has a funny tweet, oddly enough.

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/
1467463769773146113

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 09:10 AM (UHVv4)

18 Women reign supreme in the not-so-distant future, where Georgie Cornell has no choice but to wear the high heel shoe on the other foot. Swept into the chaotic world of publishing, he is at the mercy of his female bosses, especially if his pencil skirt is an inch too short.

-
Oh, sure. RadFem syfy dystopia can come true but where are our flying cars?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:11 AM (FVME7)

19 I have Webster's Works, vol. IV (1857) and The Life of Mary Queen of Scots, vol. 2 which turns 200 next year. Both readable, neither in very good condition (though not poor).

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 09:11 AM (KAi1n)

20 Facinorious means extremely wicked. So then, an extremely wicked, public health sociopath might be considered Faucinorious.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at December 05, 2021 09:12 AM (d9Cw3)

21 Gillian Anderson...yum

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:12 AM (bFMjy)

22 10 Extremely wicked as opposed to just marginally wicked from time to time.
Posted by: weirdflunky at December 05, 2021 09:07 AM (cknjq)

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

It's the difference between "the prince of darkness" and "Phil, the prince of insufficient light"

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 05, 2021 09:13 AM (CAJOC)

23 I read Stephen Baxter's The Raft where a group of human refugees are living on a makeshift spacecraft in a universe where the gravitational constant is radically different. Leads to some interesting effects. The nebula where the events take place is slowly dying so the main conflict is trying to escape to another nebula. However, the scarcity of resources is a problem. Naturally, Communism arrives to save the day! (not really, of course.) This novel shows that Communism really is an infectious disease that causes strife and division even in the ass-end of an alternate universe when humans are on the brink of destruction. Good stuff.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:13 AM (NQjQK)

24 Everybody in that UC Berkeley library is high.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 05, 2021 09:14 AM (Dc2NZ)

25 Russia Today has a funny tweet, oddly enough.

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/
1467463769773146113
Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 09:10 AM (UHVv4)
===============
A whole new source of Russian youtube dashcam videos.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:14 AM (bFMjy)

26 Everybody in that UC Berkeley library is high.
=======================
And most think Republicans belong in concentration camps

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:16 AM (bFMjy)

27 Nice reading room!

Those pants....Fagetaboutit!

The Who Dis is that broad who was always making out with John Wayne when he served in the Pacific.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 05, 2021 09:17 AM (R/m4+)

28 I finished "Fiddlehead", the final volume in Cherie Priest's steampunk zombiad. I liked it. Alternate history clockpunk is my slow jam.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 09:18 AM (Dc2NZ)

29 Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:13 AM (NQjQK)

And another one goes on the "to get" list!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 09:18 AM (PiwSw)

30 A whole new source of Russian youtube dashcam videos.
------------

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 09:19 AM (UHVv4)

31 Sad to say, I read it as "Farinacious"

It was grueling for me.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 09:19 AM (ZMraq)

32 That poor "deez pants" guy looks like a mashup of 2001 and Midsommar.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 09:19 AM (Dc2NZ)

33 As soon as finished TJM and Molly Hemingway's books on ebook the review request came immediately up so did. ( don't think I am good at them btw) but as got JJ's in real book that hasn't happened though purposely bought it from Amazon to do this. Can you go and request a review? Tried it once long ago and didn't get the book from Amazon and it wouldn't let me.

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 09:21 AM (2JoB8)

34 I am on time to the Book Thread for a change!

Still involved in 100 Days of Dante. What a terrific use of the web! Unfortunately I am still behind (on Inferno XXX -- note the Latian, as Longfellow (Harvard Classics) calls it). It's a great, great work no doubt, but I sometimes get weary of Dante the Poet's naming names and settling scores. I'm also not particularly interested in Italian geography. Various annotations, footnotes, and commentaries help with that. Translator Esolen's inclusion of relevant parts of Virgil's Aeneid (Aeneas visit to underworld) in the notes post script was a genius decision.

For tasty tastiness I re-read moronette Sabrina Chase's Last Mage Guardian and its two follow-ons. Yummy.

Posted by: sinmi at December 05, 2021 09:21 AM (A5IVt)

35 I love that photo of the writing desk with the pile of books (hooray for horizontal space) and the typewriter. It looks like it belongs in a rustic cottage designed for comfort and erudition.

I imagine the liquor cabinet is just off to the side out of view beside the floor to ceiling bookshelves.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:21 AM (7EjX1)

36 Read Typhoon: The Other Enemy by C. Raymond Calhoun. Published in 1981, this was a brief examination of the ordeal and aftermath of the December 1944 typhoon that sank three destroyers and seriously damaged several aircraft carriers. The author was a skipper of the USS Dewey caught in the typhoon and she has the record of surviving an over 72 degree list - beyond the limits of the inclinometer.

Two of the three lost destroyers were of the the 1934 Farragut class. The author has a real bone to pick with Bureau of Ships: they knew the class was becoming unstable because of added equipment during the war but did not address the issue even though they were getting complaints of bad rolling.

Fairly interesting. I had not realized that there were growing concerns in the Farragut crews and Halsey actually put the Third Fleet in two typhoons in 1944 and 1945. Rating = 4.0/5.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 05, 2021 09:22 AM (pJWtt)

37 Who dis is the mother Of George Tsoukalas.

Posted by: Sasquatch, the Original Trans-Wookie at December 05, 2021 09:22 AM (xxG/v)

38 Hartley wrote "Facial Justice" in 1960, and Vonnegut used a similar idea in his 1961 short story "Harrison Bergeron". I wonder if he'd read the Hartley book?

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:23 AM (bFMjy)

39 >>> 8 I like Ira Levin, and read This Perfect Day after seeing Rosemary's Baby. I've always wonder why it has never been dramatized.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 05, 2021 09:06 AM (EZebt)

Too close to what the collectivists want? Can't let the proles think it's a *bad* idea for the world to be run that way.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 05, 2021 09:25 AM (llON8)

40 I am still reading up on Jutland, and preparing to go back to my drudgery of writing next week.

I am also rereading Plutarch's Fall of the Roman Republic because "hey why not?"

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:26 AM (Lzpvj)

41 Dave Eggars' "The Every", a sequel to "The Circle", is hilarious and horrifying. I had a good chuckle on nearly every page as he lampoons the geekspeak of these happiness engineers, but the global media saturation wrought by this Google-oid company is truly awful. There isn't a place on earth that doesn't have a camera installed so that everyone can "see the world" from the comfort of their sterile pods (well, almost everywhere -- the angry inhabitants of South Sentinel Island killed and ate the technician who tried to install cameras there).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 09:26 AM (Dc2NZ)

42 This book amps up the humanity hacking and social credit schemes.

"Like a growing majority of tech innovations, the invention and proliferation of Samaritan, an app standard on Everyphones, was driven by a mixture of benign utopianism and pseudofascist behavioral compliance. A million shams -- a bastard mash of Samaritan and shame - were posted each day, exposing swervy drivers, loud gym grunters, Louvre line-cutters, single-use-plastic-users, and blithe allowers of infants-crying-in-public. Getting shammed was not the problem. The problem was if you got ID'd and tagged, and if the video got widely shared, commented on, and tipped your Shame Aggregate to unacceptable levels. Then it could follow you for life."

The best part is, the young woman infiltrating the corporation keeps brainstorming these crazy ideas hoping that surely this one is so crazily horrendous it will make people rebel. but they all love them.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 09:27 AM (Dc2NZ)

43 39 Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 05, 2021 09:25 AM (llON

For the same reason Whore E Wood removed the cogent social commentary from the literary "Death Wish."

Moonbats like cockroaches loathe daylight.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:27 AM (Lzpvj)

44 When I started reading about the dystopian female overlords, I first thought it was going to be about 'Monstrous Regiment' by Pratchett.

My current recommendation for under 30s of my acquaintance is 'Witches Abroad' about the power of The Narrative.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 05, 2021 09:28 AM (MIKMs)

45 Busy week so not a lot of reading, although I did finish re-reading Dune. It's . . . not as great as I remembered. There's a huge idiot plot where Paul's loyal Atreides retainers think his mom was the traitor who betrayed them, and if anyone had ever bothered to say this out loud Paul could have said, "No, it was the Doc. The Baron killed his wife," and that would have been that. I don't know why Herbert stuck in that pointless intrigue.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:29 AM (QZxDR)

46 Facial Justice made me think of a Twilight Zone episode. I found two that are similar - 'Eye of the Beholder' and 'Number 12 Looks Just Like You' The latter seems to be the closest fit. Teens have to pick one of 12 models that they will be made to look like. I'm amazed at how often I'll see a show that make me think, 'Hmm, great story', and then I find out it came from an earlier book.

I look forward to the Book Thread every week. I've found many recommendations that I've enjoyed and subjects I'd never have found without the Thread.

Posted by: JerseyDevilRider at December 05, 2021 09:29 AM (XEfn8)

47 Who dis looks like Merle Oberon. Mmmm, Merle Oberon.

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 09:29 AM (KAi1n)

48 She is too pretty (and angular) to be Patricia Neal.

Posted by: Been Lurking, but clearly been posting too at December 05, 2021 09:30 AM (rDgjh)

49 I also began dipping into "Executive Orders" by Tom Clancy (my first Clancy novel). He's certainly no prose stylist, but he knows how to keep you turning the page.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 09:30 AM (Dc2NZ)

50 I think about half the books I buy start as Moron recommendations on the Book Thread.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:31 AM (QZxDR)

51 I have only ever left one book review on Amazon. It was for a Schlichter book I hadn't read, and was a polite, but dismissive response to another reviewer's review. (He slammed the book, but also hadn't read it. It was just after it came out)

Amazon said I had been a naughty boy, and that I was blocked from leaving further reviews. That was several years ago, and I haven't been unblocked yet. I have not inquired about the matter with Amazon, because f*** them.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:31 AM (ZsR3z)

52 ZOD IMPERIAL.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 09:31 AM (M3Z2J)

53 49 Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 09:30 AM (Dc2NZ)

Clancy's main hubris is he thinks the Farm is a monastic order of "great guys."

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:32 AM (Lzpvj)

54 I've been on a Robert Harris historical fiction binge lately. I've just finished Munich about feeding Czechoslovakia to Hitler in 1938 in exchange for peace in our time. I've just started V2 about efforts to sabotage Hitler's missiles. (Harris also wrote Fatherland set in the early '60s as Hitler's attempts to reach an understanding with President Kennedy (not JFK but his father, old man Joe) are disrupted by an uppity German detective who, while investigating a routine case, begins to question where all the Jews went.)

Munich has a good French pun but I don't know if it's true or not. The French thought Prime Minister Chamberlain was soft on Hitler and the Germans so they nicknamed him J'aime Berlin, "I love Berlin".

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:32 AM (FVME7)

55 50 I think about half the books I buy start as Moron recommendations on the Book Thread.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:31 AM (QZxDR)
--

Easily!

OM, you are an internet influencer!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 09:32 AM (Dc2NZ)

56 What is the guy in "the pants" holding? Some giant silver orb???

Posted by: lin-duh at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (UUBmN)

57 I'll have to check into the "Battle of Lake Erie" book Skip mentioned. I know about Perry and the battle in general but not details. That time and area, the old Northwest, is
has always seemed interesting, sort of an extension of the 18th century explorations and settlements.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (7EjX1)

58 Who Dis looks like Joan Weldon, of the 1954 Them cast.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (ZsR3z)

59 Yup. That's Neal. Married to Roald Dahl. He took care of her after a stroke, helped pioneer new rehab techniques to get her up and mobile again. Then they broke up. Don't know whose idea it was.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (QZxDR)

60 When I started reading about the dystopian female overlords, I first thought it was going to be about 'Monstrous Regiment' by Pratchett.
---------------------------
Do they go on the offensive once a month??

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (UHVv4)

61 The first "feminists take over" book I know of is The Marvelous Land of Oz (#2 in the series).

Actually a lot of fun, especially the translation scene. But it does end with a boy transitioning into a girl, so beware.

Posted by: Eeyore at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM (7X3UV)

62 My current recommendation for under 30s of my acquaintance is 'Witches Abroad' about the power of The Narrative.
Posted by: mustbequantum at December 05, 2021 09:28 AM (MIKMs)
----
That's a very common theme in the Discworld novels. Often the villains have their own preferred "narrative" which is then offset by the heroes more compelling "narrative." The GURPS Discworld role-playing game supplement explicitly says that the way to beat a good story is to tell an even better story.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM (NQjQK)

63 Amazon said I had been a naughty boy,

-
The Bee says Santa has abandon his naughty or nice list this year in favor of a vaccinated or unvaccinated list.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM (FVME7)

64 In the last 70 pages of Leviathan Falls, the 9th/last volume of The Expanse series by James SA Corey, which is my favorite space opera ever. As I suspected would happen in the middle of the series when they introduced a new existential enemy of humanity (evil interdimensional/between the atoms/quantum level killer something somethings), they've written themselves into a fairly underwhelming corner and so the tale is slogging to its end without being particularly satisfying or narratively coherent. I'll be sad to leave these characters and this universe and story because I've really enjoyed it over the last 10 years.

Also reading "Icebreaker" by Victor Suvorov, which was recommended to me on this thread several weeks ago. Premise is that Stalin was going to invade Germany and central Europe in July 1941, which explains why he had all his armies right up against the new Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact border with Germany when Hitler jumped the starter's pistol on June 22, 1941. This theory is "controversial" amongst historians but Suvarov makes a good case, noting how Stalin had dismantled the USSR's interior defenses and positioned his armies to go on the attack.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM (pTHOC)

65 >>Amazon said I had been a naughty boy, and that I was blocked from leaving further reviews. That was several years ago, and I haven't been unblocked yet. I have not inquired about the matter with Amazon, because f*** them. Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:31 AM (ZsR3z)

Zod left a review of your above post of a review you left of a book you hadn't read on Amazon on Amazon. FWIW.

I have not yet been blocked for my review of your review of that other guy's review.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM (M3Z2J)

66 Zod left a review of your above post of a review you left of a book you hadn't read on Amazon on Amazon. FWIW.

I have not yet been blocked for my review of your review of that other guy's review.

Posted by: ZOD

How's the relationship between your sister and mooses.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:36 AM (ZsR3z)

67 My current read is Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly." Indeed!

Posted by: Biden's Dog at December 05, 2021 09:37 AM (71luh)

68 I think after finishing The Expanse, I'm going to circle back and re-read Alastair Reynolds' excellent Revelation Space trilogy. Or maybe re-read Neal Stephenson's Seveneves or start his Baroque Cycle.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 09:37 AM (pTHOC)

69 Now that I've finished Baxter's The Raft, I've started reading another one of his called Flux. It's about humans genetically modified to live within the "turbulent superfluid mantle of a neutron star." I don't even know where to begin to process that. I'm only a few pages in and it's already bizarre beyond belief. But it's Stephen Baxter, which means it's bound to be a pretty cool story...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:38 AM (NQjQK)

70 Continuing with the 100 Days of Dante and it keeps getting more and more interesting. Besides the rather vivid descriptions and historical insights, it is proving to offer hope for a better life, both in this world and after. I didn't expect that to come through, to me, so strongly.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:38 AM (7EjX1)

71 dystopian female overlords
Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (UHVv4)

"Boots. Made for Walking." Sinema verite.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 09:38 AM (M3Z2J)

72 I didn't dare comment yesterday OregonMuse, but I wanted to thank you for that facinorious photo on yesterday's Chess Thread. Hubba, hubba!

Posted by: Mr. Midwesterner at December 05, 2021 09:39 AM (faP8w)

73 Continuing with the 100 Days of Dante and it keeps getting more and more interesting. Besides the rather vivid descriptions and historical insights, it is proving to offer hope for a better life, both in this world and after. I didn't expect that to come through, to me, so strongly.

Right? I think this guy may have a future as an author.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:39 AM (ZsR3z)

74 The notion that Stalin was getting ready to invade Germany when Hitler struck first does have one strong argument in its favor: otherwise you have to believe that the only person Stalin ever trusted was Adolf Hitler.

That being said, I'm not sure I buy it. Snapping up little Eastern European states when they're being slapped around by Germany is one thing. Taking on a major enemy is another. I suspect Stalin put the armies on the border because that's where you put armies when you want to look threatening and scare your opponent into picking on someone else.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:39 AM (QZxDR)

75 "Boots. Made for Walking." Sinema verite.

Oooh. That's very good.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:40 AM (ZsR3z)

76 Booken Morgen Horden!

Not much to contribute, just checking in

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at December 05, 2021 09:40 AM (FcPY7)

77 >>> 61 The first "feminists take over" book I know of is The Marvelous Land of Oz (#2 in the series).

Actually a lot of fun, especially the translation scene. But it does end with a boy transitioning into a girl, so beware.
Posted by: Eeyore at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM (7X3UV)

I would argue that change is not at all in the modern sense that stupid collectivists would wish it to be. Not like they wouldn't lie about it to score points though.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 05, 2021 09:40 AM (llON8)

78 >>How's the relationship between your sister and mooses. Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:36 AM (ZsR3z)

Beautiful. Also, mutated.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 09:40 AM (M3Z2J)

79 3 Based on book she's reading, Who Dis is Patricia Neal?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 09:03 AM (PiwSw)

A reasonable guess, but sorry, no.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 09:41 AM (P9aJ6)

80 64 Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM (pTHOC)

Icebreaker has the unfortunate burden of being true.

When you look at Soviet armor development you see two competing ideas. From an engineering standpoint armor is a problem finding the correct spot on the "survivability, lethality, and mobility" triad. He points out that Soviet kit deployed near the border was geared towards the lethality and mobility corner and that is offensive kit not defensive.

Most powers in interwar development pushed the "corners" which is why the UK had the ultra survivable Matilda and the Frogs had a mix of tanks a 50 cal could perforate with what was likely the best "in the middle" tank of the early war the Souma S-35.

The best all around balanced designs of the allied powers wound up being the T-34 and Sherman.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (Lzpvj)

81 Julie Adams

Posted by: vin at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (Z1u3S)

82 Fairly interesting. I had not realized that there were growing concerns in the Farragut crews and Halsey actually put the Third Fleet in two typhoons in 1944 and 1945. Rating = 4.0/5.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer

I've read speculation that it was for this reason that although a ship has been named after him, he has not been honored with a class of ships being named after him. He was somewhat like Patton in that he was the right man at the right time but once that time was over, he became wrong.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (FVME7)

83 Hot Coffee...Tolle Lege...got my pants booster...now they reach my shoes!!!

Posted by: Qmark at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (emnp2)

84
Amazon said I had been a naughty boy, and that I was blocked from leaving further reviews. That was several years ago, and I haven't been unblocked yet. I have not inquired about the matter with Amazon, because f*** them.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:31 AM

Yeah, if you write anything that does not help Amazon sell more product they'll block you and/or no longer request your feedback.

I wrote a review of a sous vide machine that went out of control, boiled all the water away (despite having temps that can't be set for higher then 205 degrees F), and the plastic in the sous vide bag could possibly set a kitchen on fire, and they said it was unacceptable and did not publish. So you can see where their concern lies.

Posted by: Traitor Joe's Military Surplus at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (dQvv7)

85 "Mrs. Pollifax on Safari" wasn't as leftist as I had feared it would be, but I still think the people of southern Africa were better off before the Communists took power. (By the way, is Mugabe still alive? I know he's finally out of office.)

Now I'm bingeing on Perry Mason again, comparing the books with the TV episodes derived from those specific books. Current book: "The Case of the One-Eyed Witness."

Also, I did a quick dip into the early issues of an '80s comic book, GrimJack. One story merits mention. It had to do with elections in the pandimensional city of Cynosure. The city is run by a council of ministers. "Nobody elected them, so nobody will vote them out." Elections are for bureaucratic posts. Votes are cast through pledges of money. It's solely to generate revenue. Of course, those posts mean money to somebody.

The writer, John Ostrander, lived in Chicago. No surprise where he got his ideas.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 09:43 AM (ZihT8)

86 >>giant silver orb

Turgid.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 09:43 AM (M3Z2J)

87 Greetings:

RE: Little Big Man

I recently read "Lakota America" by Pekka Hamalainen and he mentioned an actual Lakota chief who was around in the late 1800s as in the book you mentioned and the subsequent movie.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 09:43 AM (uuklp)

88 Regarding this week's pants -

Now, finally, I understand why models look so angry all the time.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 05, 2021 09:43 AM (5NkmN)

89 74 Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:39 AM (QZxDR)

Stalin had equipment and leadership that was better geared for the defensive, they were not on the frontier.

As you said, Hitler and Stalin according to conventional wisdom hated each other but also had complete trust in one another.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:43 AM (Lzpvj)

90 Read The Chaos Mind by Barry Eisler. Call it a popcorn read about spies and killers and politics with a little heft every now and then. Pretty solid - obviously there are characters in the book that have been in other books I have not read. Did not detract from story though

Posted by: Charlottr at December 05, 2021 09:43 AM (d2yqy)

91 Mornin', all,

That could be Merle Oberon, though I'm not really familiar with her. Could be Julie Adams of Creature From the Black Lagoon fame?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at December 05, 2021 09:44 AM (c6xtn)

92 Amazon reviews can be addicting. I left JJ a review and then I went around and left five more for other books, before I came to my senses and stopped. Not enough time in the RL day to focus on more than the HQ in silicon world.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:44 AM (jLszb)

93 The Who Dis is that broad who was always making out with John Wayne when he served in the Pacific.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 05, 2021 09:17 AM (R/m4+)

No, however she was in a film with the Duke way later, toward the end of his career.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 09:44 AM (P9aJ6)

94 My current read is Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly." Indeed!
Posted by: Biden's Dog

March?!!! They're galloping!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:45 AM (FVME7)

95 Thank you, OM, for another scintillating and erudition-filled Book Thread!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 09:46 AM (PiwSw)

96 81 Julie Adams

Posted by: vin at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (Z1u3S)

Yes!

Need coffee, brb...

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 09:46 AM (P9aJ6)

97 Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:21 AM (7EjX1)

The photo reminds me of the Japanese-themed long-play gifs from YouTube that I like. They generally feature tatami rooms with open shoji panels to watch the rain while drinking tea and reading a pile of books.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 09:47 AM (MXdMt)

98 The Who Dis is that broad who was always making out with John Wayne when he served in the Pacific.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 05, 2021 09:17 AM (R/m4+)

Maggie!

Rock!

Posted by: Fox2! at December 05, 2021 09:47 AM (qyH+l)

99 I finished "Monstrous Regiment" by Terry Pratchett and sent it to the compost. It's supposed to be a satirically antiwar and anti-religion. It's mostly stupid.

The protagonist is a girl dressed as a boy to find her artistic idiot-savant brother who may or may not be dead.

Spoilers:

Everyone is female except an officer named Blouse who can pass as female in a dress. The real girls are stopped. In fact, they're so manly that even the pregnant one isn't detected. None of them have menstrual cycles to worry about, either.

And despite Brooks' disdain for religion, they're saved (more than once) by a mad girl possessed by the spirit of the Duchess, to whom everyone prays.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 09:48 AM (6j4Tv)

100 In the last 70 pages of Leviathan Falls, the 9th/last volume of The Expanse series by James SA Corey, which is my favorite space opera ever. As I suspected would happen in the middle of the series when they introduced a new existential enemy of humanity (evil interdimensional/between the atoms/quantum level killer something somethings), they've written themselves into a fairly underwhelming corner and so the tale is slogging to its end without being particularly satisfying or narratively coherent. I'll be sad to leave these characters and this universe and story because I've really enjoyed it over the last 10 years.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 09:34 AM

the final season of The Expanse drops next Friday and I'm kinda dreading it, after the hash they made of season four and season five being underwhelming

seasons one thru three are quite possibly some of the finest space opera ever...I wish I had read the books before discovering the TV adaptation

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 05, 2021 09:49 AM (DUIap)

101

dammit! I did it again

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 05, 2021 09:49 AM (DUIap)

102 I've read speculation that it was for this reason that although a ship has been named after him, he has not been honored with a class of ships being named after him. He was somewhat like Patton in that he was the right man at the right time but once that time was over, he became wrong.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (FVME7)

The Old Man was career Navy (he was a Mustang and retired as a Commander in 1981) and he said the same thing about Halsey.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 05, 2021 09:50 AM (pJWtt)

103 My mother unfortunately is at the Joe Biden stage right now. She's obstinate, demanding and forgetful. I have gotten her at least a dozen books and she says the same thing about all of them. The author repeats himself and it's boring, she's read only one of the books to the end.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 09:50 AM (iXJM1)

104 56 What is the guy in "the pants" holding? Some giant silver orb???
Posted by: lin-duh at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (UUBmN)

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

Well, you have to have giant balls of steel to be seen in that outfit.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 05, 2021 09:51 AM (CAJOC)

105 I'm reading Billy Summers, a thriller from Stephen King (I know, many of you hate him, but he is a top-notch storyteller). Billy is a hit man with an interesting past and -- if the current job goes as badly south as he thinks it will -- no future at all. It's told in present tense, which I usually hate as an "authorly" affectation, but King's prose is never affected. As usual with his stuff, the story grips you from the beginning.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at December 05, 2021 09:51 AM (c6xtn)

106 It's curious: the highbrow "cerebral" science fiction I used to like now seems dull and not nearly as clever as I thought it was. Meanwhile I'm finding new depths in the pulpy adventure stories by people like Leigh Brackett and Robert E. Howard.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:51 AM (QZxDR)

107 Amazon is entirely focused on bucks, as commenters are saying. I know an old guy who is a book collector, and writes to Amazon fraud all the time about fake first editions and other valuable stuff he sees listed on the site, and they do not seem to care, generally. He saw a book listed for sale once that he owns, the actual book, and Amazon didn't listen to his complaints until going to epic levels of scream-writing before the site finally took down the advert.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:51 AM (jLszb)

108 The most recent reviewer of "Mein Kampf" left an all-caps review disparaging the inclusion of an ADL introduction to the book.

IOW, he negatively reviewed their negative review of the book. Curiously, he left four stars. As the Greek deli-owner would've said, "so complications."

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 09:51 AM (M3Z2J)

109 102 Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 05, 2021 09:50 AM (pJWtt)

Halsey, Patton, and Bomber Harris are all people that "the dignified" decided were problematic after the war.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:51 AM (Lzpvj)

110 I suspect Stalin put the armies on the border because that's where you put armies when you want to look threatening and scare your opponent into picking on someone else.
----------------------------------
That's what I said!

Posted by: vlad putin at December 05, 2021 09:52 AM (UHVv4)

111 dammit! I did it again
Posted by: AltonJackson at December 05, 2021 09:49 AM

* snaps mandibles *

Soon, my pretty!

Posted by: The Barrel at December 05, 2021 09:52 AM (a3Q+t)

112 Yeah, if you write anything that does not help Amazon sell more product they'll block you and/or no longer request your feedback.

I don't think that was it. The initial reviewer was a ranting lefty, and his "review" was all bile directed at Schlichter for being a Nazi, etc., and the book was the next Mein Kampf. As I said, the guy hadn't actually read the book, he was just a hate-spewing lefty. My dismissal of his work was short and polite, but to the point. I guess Amazon doesn't like having their worldview questioned.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:52 AM (ZsR3z)

113 Another space opera I can highly recommend are the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

Hyperion
Fall of Hyperion
Endymion
Rise of Endymion

NB: Do not read the first one without having the second one in hand. The first one ends...abruptly.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 09:52 AM (PiwSw)

114 Berger's This Perfect Day sounds like the origin story for the excellent movie Equilibrium with Christian Bale and Sean Bean.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 09:52 AM (pTHOC)

115 I made the mistake of reading Michael Dirda's "On Conan Doyle". He does his usual great job showing the many facets, some not as well known, of Doyle's writing and influence. This has reignited my enjoyment of the Sherlock Holmes stories, which I'm starting to reread, but also the related books that came from fans. As a result, I dug out my two volume set of "The Annotated Sherlock Holmes" with all its details and 'fun' deductions. I'll soon have used copies of "Profile BY Gaslight" (love that title) and "The Game Is Afoot", collections of essays and spoofs concerning Holmes. I'm looking forward to their arrival.

BTW, the 'danger' in Michael Dirda books is that he plays hob with my book budget. His "On Conan Doyle" is just a bit more dangerous, for me, than most.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:53 AM (7EjX1)

116 Oops. Levin, not Berger.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 09:53 AM (pTHOC)

117 I was designed by man. I'm almost human genetically so it is legal to enslave us.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 09:54 AM (UvMeP)

118 Hi All, Thanks OM!
Still cutting my way through Chernow's Grant. Loving it.

Last Amazon review was for C. Whiting's Peiper (which relates to my own book). It is a dreadful book, with large segments of it either completely fabricated or pure horsehockey.

Posted by: goatexchange at December 05, 2021 09:54 AM (APPN8)

119 Had a great feel-good moment this week. I teach rhetoric and composition. This week I asked my students to write SMART goals that would help them improve their writing. Several students said they wanted to become better readers by reading more. They also want to practice writing cursive, which is great...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:54 AM (NQjQK)

120 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:42 AM (FVME7)

Patton actually was right when 'the time was over'. IMHO of course. MacArthur was also right.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 09:54 AM (iXJM1)

121 Word is Joe Stalin ( as opposed to Joe Shithead) went into a depression for a couple weeks after Barbarosa began. So if that is so doubt it was because he wanted to attack Germany first. Another check against that was Stalin purged most of the higher officer Corp in 1938ish.

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 09:54 AM (2JoB8)

122 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 09:32 AM (FVME7)

One of the things I learned from Churchill's WWII series was that Czechoslovakia was a major arms producer for the world. No wonder Hitler wanted the region. Not having to fight to get it was a serious bonus.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 09:55 AM (MXdMt)

123 Another space opera I can highly recommend are the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

Hyperion
Fall of Hyperion
Endymion
Rise of Endymion

NB: Do not read the first one without having the second one in hand. The first one ends...abruptly.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 09:52 AM (PiwSw)
---
That's definitely in my TBR pile. I read the first one and really enjoyed it. Started the second and then got distracted...Oh, well. It's on the shelf and it's not going anywhere...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 05, 2021 09:56 AM (NQjQK)

124 Number if weedwhackers owned by pants boy: 0

Posted by: Fox2! at December 05, 2021 09:56 AM (qyH+l)

125 I wasn't a fan of "Hyperion". It seems written in a curiously disconnected way, as if the author got a little bored while writing but kept going for form's sake.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 09:57 AM (jLszb)

126 Stalin expected Germany and France to repeat WW1, then he'd move in. No one expected French defeat in 6 weeks. Stalin was going to invade in '42 after re-tooling from his purges.

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 09:57 AM (KAi1n)

127 Halsey, Patton, and Bomber Harris are all people that "the dignified" decided were problematic after the war.
Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:51 AM (Lzpvj)

Ah yes, "Bomber" Harris. Absolutely correct in how to conduct a night-time bombing campaign (i.e., in total war, the civilians that make war material are targets too), but once peace broke out, the politicians decided the faster to forget about him the better.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 05, 2021 09:57 AM (pJWtt)

128 121 Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 09:54 AM (2JoB

If your plan was to "liberate the poor workers of EUtopia" by hammering the unholy f*ck out of Fritz and Fritz pantsed you because the kit you had staged on the border was inadequate for defense you might hide too.

The best end of WW2 would have been the annihalation of all tyrants, we decided to cut a deal with one Tyrant in particular and paid the price of a 70+ year cold war with them and the loss of China.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:58 AM (Lzpvj)

129 Finished The Voyage Out and thought it very good and I like her style. While it's kind of the boring people doing boring things that made me abandon A Room With A View, she makes it interesting enough to finish the book. Also finished Green Mansions by W H Hudson. meh. Started The Sleepwalkers about the start of WWI and am hooked, Same with The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendahl.

Posted by: who knew at December 05, 2021 09:58 AM (4I7VG)

130 122 Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 09:55 AM (MXdMt)

The Skoda works gave Hitler the best tanks he used in France.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:59 AM (Lzpvj)

131 I'm sure that people who read this smart military blog are aware of such things, but I did run across a website called radionerds.com which has many field manuals and other historical documents related to military communications. I plan on downloading and/or printing several of the general radio and antenna theory FMs. I figure if the Marines can write something in a way that PFC Schmuckatelli can understand it, I just might be able to understand it, too.

Posted by: PabloD at December 05, 2021 09:59 AM (vvvS9)

132 WHOA !

I don't think the pants guy has ever been in the same building as a weedwhacker,

(if you catch my drift)

Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 10:00 AM (arJlL)

133 Hiya

Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 10:00 AM (arJlL)

134 Germany used a lot of Czech tanks, referred to as 38(T), (T for Tchechoslovakia)

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 10:00 AM (KAi1n)

135 I need to run out to pick up some more of Chekov's Rx food. The Petco website says that store opens at 10. We will see.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at December 05, 2021 10:00 AM (c6xtn)

136 Practice writing cursive?? What a throw-back thing to do!

A woman who works for me has wonderful cursive, ascribed by her to her Catholic school education. Mine is a scrawl and unreadable, so I might do what your students are doing, and imitate her style. Practice, in other words.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:00 AM (jLszb)

137 Stalin attacked Poland at the same time as Germany and committed comparable atrocities and he was basically rewarded for it.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:01 AM (iXJM1)

138 The photo reminds me of the Japanese-themed long-play gifs from YouTube that I like. They generally feature tatami rooms with open shoji panels to watch the rain while drinking tea and reading a pile of books.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 09:47 AM (MXdMt)
---

And a cat. Don't forget the cat.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 10:02 AM (Dc2NZ)

139 One of the things I learned from Churchill's WWII series was that Czechoslovakia was a major arms producer for the world. No wonder Hitler wanted the region. Not having to fight to get it was a serious bonus.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 09:55 AM (MXdMt)

Germany used a bunch of the captured Czech tanks. The Czech Pz-38 was better than the German Pz-III.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 05, 2021 10:02 AM (pJWtt)

140 >>The Skoda works gave Hitler the best tanks he used in France.

"The blitzkrieg raged. The bodies stank." -- Heinz Guderian

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:02 AM (M3Z2J)

141 The bomber will always get through! (Some Italian)

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 10:03 AM (KAi1n)

142 This past week, I re-read Dave Barry's Big Trouble and Tricky Business.

The STILL make me laugh.

I understand that he has a new novel out: Insane People.

Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 10:03 AM (arJlL)

143 Good morning!

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

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at December 05, 2021 10:03 AM (u82oZ)

144 Stalin expected Germany and France to repeat WW1, then he'd move in. No one expected French defeat in 6 weeks. Stalin was going to invade in '42 after re-tooling from his purges.
Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 09:57 AM (KAi1n)
===============
Communist terror campaigns against their own populations are amazingly effective. Once Lenin showed the way, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot proved the pattern works. That lesson of history is not going to be lost on present-day totalitarians.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:04 AM (jLszb)

145 I'll have to check into the "Battle of Lake Erie" book Skip mentioned. I know about Perry and the battle in general but not details. That time and area, the old Northwest, is
has always seemed interesting, sort of an extension of the 18th century explorations and settlements.
Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (7EjX1)

It's a good book. I recommend it. I also recommend visiting the Niagra in Erie, PA.

Posted by: WiNO at December 05, 2021 10:05 AM (EpDzw)

146 I mean the purges of Stalin's military leadership, particulary his equivalent of Guderian. Hell, he had Rokossovsky in the gulag when war broke out.

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 10:05 AM (KAi1n)

147 Definitely Communist world domination was just on hold by the Soviets in 1940, they were just starting to replace obsolete Equipment and the officer corp that was all but wiped out.

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 10:06 AM (2JoB8)

148 Are there any good books about what Paul(Saul) was able to accomplish in 1st century AD?

Note that I using AD instead of CE for good reason.

Posted by: dantesed at December 05, 2021 10:06 AM (88xKn)

149 >>totalitarians.

Mussolini, Caligula: Totalitalianarians.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:06 AM (M3Z2J)

150 Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 09:43 AM (Lzpvj)

And that mendacious idiot FDR trusted Stalin.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 05, 2021 10:06 AM (Q9lwr)

151 Speaking of reading, I read comments hither and yon blaming the school for the mass shooting. The violent drawing and looking at ammo on his phone should have been enough to justify a search and suspension. These are comments by supposed conservatives.

I have a student this year whose favorite reading material is Gun Digest. Nice kid, special ed, who loves hunting with his grandfather (who is probably a Moron). I know other students who draw violent scenes from video games and movies they like. They're not creeps; they're boys fascinated by masculine bravery and strength.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 10:07 AM (6j4Tv)

152 Still plowing through Germany's Aims in the First World War by German Fritz Fischer.

Comprehensive and has the telling detail, so far.

Groupthink came over the inner circle. And reality did not impinge on their self-satisfied conclusions.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at December 05, 2021 10:07 AM (u82oZ)

153 And Now, a PSA From the AoSHQ Sunday Morning Book Thread:
*******

re: 5-star rating schemes, a tangential observation: I once pulled up the website of a prominent regional Children's Hospital and looked at the 5-star ratings of a single specialty department of which I had first hand knowledge. Every single physician (out of some 35-40 docs) had a rating between 4.7 and 4.9 stars. Every. Single. One.

This told me everything I needed to know about the ratings, while telling me nothing at all of any use about the doctors.

Posted by: Muldoon at December 05, 2021 10:08 AM (m45I2)

154 Greetings:

Palmer Method, with little posters of each two letters circumscribing the classroom, was the favorite of Catholic schools all over the then USofA.

I mostly got "Ds" in "Penmanship" in the 4th grade. I tried to convince my Father that Sister Evangelista mistakenly put my first initial in the grade box. By the time I got out of the military, the rest of the world was finding my cursive masterful.

At Cal Poly in the '90s, all the youngsters could do was print their letters like 1st graders.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 10:08 AM (uuklp)

155 If you are interested at all in Mao's rise to power, and his terror campaigns against the Chinese, I've recommended this remarkable biography before, and do so again.

https://tinyurl.com/yckr48y2

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:09 AM (jLszb)

156 When i was in 9th grade, i was fascinated by Astrosmash.

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 10:09 AM (KAi1n)

157 I have a few signed comics, but I doubt that will improve their value much. One artist, whom I asked to sign a first issue he drew, scrawled his name in silver marker across the cover -- and he didn't paint the cover! Ruined the book for me. I don't think I have that series any more.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 10:09 AM (ZihT8)

158 re: 5-star rating schemes, a tangential observation: I once pulled up the website of a prominent regional Children's Hospital and looked at the 5-star ratings of a single specialty department of which I had first hand knowledge. Every single physician (out of some 35-40 docs) had a rating between 4.7 and 4.9 stars. Every. Single. One.

This told me everything I needed to know about the ratings, while telling me nothing at all of any use about the doctors.
Posted by: Muldoon at December 05, 2021 10:08 AM (m45I2)

Doctors are people too.

Draw your own conclusions.

Posted by: Napoleon XIV at December 05, 2021 10:09 AM (AiZBA)

159 150 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 05, 2021 10:06 AM (Q9lwr)

I spent a lifetime thinking FDR was "a useful idiot" for Commie Inc, but after reading the Venona papers and looking at his HR moves during his reign (and I use the word reign pointedly he was the closest we have ever come to having a dictator until perhaps the current Obama gang) he is either the dumbest man ever or knowingly complicit.

As I age I think "complicit" is the case.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (Lzpvj)

160 Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 10:07 AM (6j4Tv)

Every case is different even those that appear similar on the surface. It was obvious this kid was a potential threat. The entire student body knew it.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (iXJM1)

161 For fun, started Day After Judgment, the sequel to Black Easter. Both by James Blish.

Still compelling. Expands the boundaries of the problem of evil.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (u82oZ)

162 Stalin attacked Poland at the same time as Germany and committed comparable atrocities and he was basically rewarded for it.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:01 AM (iXJM1)

A very good little book about the Polish military contribution during WWII is Kenneth Koskodan's No Greater Ally. While German propaganda made them out to be fools, the Poles punched way above their weight and ended up having formed Polish units fight in every front of the European Theater. There is a chapter on post-WWII Poland: there was a Polish government in exile until the Communist regime fell decades later.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (pJWtt)

163 re Hartley's Facial Justice. The web site for Valancourt Books has that one listed as coming soon, so some time in the fairly near future there should be a new paperback edition available and probably an ebook as well.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (JzDjf)

164 The Red Army was built to advance the world wide communist revolution.

They got their butts kicked in Poland in the 20's and later in Finland in 1940, but it was always the plan right up until 1989.

The "Great Patriotic War" was just an interlude but then we had the atomic bomb so once again they were left to plan and wait.

In the meantime, Soviet arms and material ended up being shipped all over the globe to those they supported in their commie plans while their friends in the west apologized for them.

Attack, attack, attack was the Soviet way of warfare, just like the democrats.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 05, 2021 10:11 AM (R/m4+)

165 >>>Mussolini, Caligula: Totalitalianarians.
===================

Bring me these interesting totalitalianarians!

Posted by: President For Life, Barack I at December 05, 2021 10:11 AM (jLszb)

166 Biden's meeting with Putin on Tuesday. Peace in our time.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:12 AM (QZxDR)

167 My handwriting has gone to smash. I've always been a printer. Just ordered a workbook from Amazon.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 10:13 AM (Dc2NZ)

168 As I age I think "complicit" is the case.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (Lzpvj)

Possibly, but he was fooled by the hardcore communists in his circle that they were not what they quite obviously were.

I think his desire for power was a natural result of being a politician. I think that getting taken by Stalin was a result of him being a naive fool.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 05, 2021 10:13 AM (Q9lwr)

169 Got chores. Plural.

Have a great and either productive or relaxing day, everyone.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at December 05, 2021 10:13 AM (u82oZ)

170 In my teen years, I found a boys' adventure book from 1943. It ended with the heroes notifying Bomber Command of a German installation, which "suffered the most extensive bombing of the war thus far!"

I do not remember the title. It only remains in my mind because of the era in which it was published.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 10:14 AM (ZihT8)

171 59 Yup. That's Neal.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 09:33 AM (QZxDR)

No. It's not. See #81 for correct answer.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 10:14 AM (P9aJ6)

172 Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (pJWtt)

Their units in the Battle of Britain were legendary.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:15 AM (iXJM1)

173 152 Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at December 05, 2021 10:07 AM (u82oZ)

Germany lost the war with the failure to capitailize on Tannenburg which was a strategic gift they had no idea would happen.

Germany was ill-prepared for the war contrary to popular belief, and was in a declining not increasing strategic position regarding military readiness.

Turns out having socialists trying to spend their way out of debt is bad for world powers.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 10:15 AM (Lzpvj)

174 By any count by any metric Marxists win when it counts death murder kill.

We need at least 10 death clocks to navigate life death. One for cancer...one for flue...one for Germany....just to keep tabs.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 10:16 AM (UvMeP)

175
And that mendacious idiot FDR trusted Stalin.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 05, 2021

***
Stalin was a pipe smoker, and preferred an American brand called Edgeworth. He got it shipped in to him in the diplomatic pouches. If only somebody in the OSS had laced one shipment liberally with some cyanide . . .

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at December 05, 2021 10:17 AM (c6xtn)

176 Every single physician (out of some 35-40 docs) had a rating between 4.7 and 4.9 stars. Every. Single. One.

Five stars:
https://tinyurl.com/2p836ekj
https://tinyurl.com/28zsdfxk

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:18 AM (M3Z2J)

177 I don't collect valuable books because they are rare or valuable. I do appreciate old books that are in good condition: the better paper (that doesn't turn brown after three days) and larger print size used, the superior binding, the smooth, warm feel, and the aroma from old paper, ink and cloth.

Price is not always an indicator of value. I have a paperback copy of "Pirating Plants" from the mid-1970s. It's kind of a fun, hippyish, approach to propagating all sorts of plants. The best price I've found on Amazon is around 50 bucks going up to over seven hundred. It's a fine, enjoyable book but those prices are crazy.

This is why I treasure used bookstores. I have a hardcover one volume edition of all the CS Lewis 'Signature' books. Cost was five dollars. I found a 1942 little hardcover of "Musings of an Angler" in wonderful condition for about 2 bucks. I don't think it's ever been reprinted, which is a shame as it is a delightful series of articles about fishing, methods and philosophy, from around 1900. It is a little treasure of a treatise that was a lucky find.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 10:18 AM (7EjX1)

178 148 Are there any good books about what Paul(Saul) was able to accomplish in 1st century AD?

Posted by: dantesed at December 05, 2021 10:06 AM (88xKn

I would recommend the New Testament.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 10:18 AM (P9aJ6)

179 My handwriting has gone to smash. I've always been a printer.

Some time ago I looked at my signature when I was about 30 on some real estate documents vs. current. You can tell it's done by the same hand even if it's not exactly the same.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 05, 2021 10:18 AM (BFigT)

180 The YouTuber "Drachinifel" has a nice video about the Free Nations navies (Denmark, Netherlands, Poland, France, etc.) in WWII. As one might expect, they also punched above their weight, and tended to be very aggressive.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:18 AM (QZxDR)

181 Practice writing cursive?? What a throw-back thing to do!
a woman who works for me has wonderful cursive, ascribed by her to her Catholic school education. Mine is a scrawl and unreadable, so I might do what your students are doing, and imitate her style. Practice, in other words.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:00 AM (jLszb)

I took a couple of images of Palmer style cursive handwriting, and using them as a reference, and copied out the text of personal letters by Abraham Lincoln, and some of his speeches.
Once I got used to it, I would start noodling on my own. To start with, the larger you write the easier it is to copy, for example writing on a foggy mirror with your finger is easier than using a pen, it will just look better and be easier to do.
English Round-hand and Spencerian were developed for using a dip pen, and Palmer was created for fountain pens, so you might consider getting those tools as well, once you start feeling good about what you are doing.
It is a "slowly at first, and then suddenly" sort of thing.

There are a lot of UT OOnb videos out that will help too.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 10:20 AM (ZMraq)

182 For fun, started Day After Judgment, the sequel to Black Easter. Both by James Blish.

Still compelling. Expands the boundaries of the problem of evil.
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at December 05, 2021

***
I'm pretty sure I've read the sequel, but can't recall it as well as I do Black Easter. That chapter with the industrialist's aide being seduced by the beautiful lamia . . . that's superb stuff.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at December 05, 2021 10:20 AM (c6xtn)

183 About the only cursive writing I do any more is my signature. Basically stopped using cursive as soon as my teachers stopped requiring it.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:20 AM (QZxDR)

184 I spent a lifetime thinking FDR was "a useful idiot" for Commie Inc, but after reading the Venona papers and looking at his HR moves during his reign (and I use the word reign pointedly he was the closest we have ever come to having a dictator until perhaps the current Obama gang) he is either the dumbest man ever or knowingly complicit.
==============
Since so many elite Americans were flirting with Communism and/or fascism both before the war, I guess it isn't surprising FDR was a fellow traveler of sorts.

Yet FDR pulled back from the brink. I always wondered if he replaced Henry Wallace, an obvious Soviet agent, with Truman not just because Wallace was a complete Bernie Sanders-like fool but also because Truman was not a proto-totalitarian while Wallace was.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:20 AM (jLszb)

185 I always thought if Hitler had waited a few more years to develop his 'super' weapons it would have been much harder for the Allies. But then I remember necessity is the mother of invention and some of the things Germany was coming up with at the end of the war may not have been thought of when there was no conflict.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:20 AM (iXJM1)

186 Biden's meeting with Putin on Tuesday. Peace in our time.
Posted by: Trimegistus

I thought no one would vote for Poopy Pants because we simply couldn't have a brain damaged idiot negotiating with world leaders without preemptive disclaimers to the other leaders to not rely on anything he might say. But I was wrong. Putin and all the other leaders know exactly who and what Joe is without a disclaimer.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 10:21 AM (FVME7)

187 Charles Swindoll has written a book on Paul the Apostle. I have not read this one, but I have read others in his "Great Lives" series that have been pretty good. The title is Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 05, 2021 10:21 AM (45fpk)

188 Those pants are just fine. But I sure as heck wouldn't wear them to a piñata party!

Posted by: Muldoon at December 05, 2021 10:22 AM (m45I2)

189 @178

Great Lion of God is about St Paul, by the wonderful Taylor Caldwell, a woman of faith who wrote excellent fiction.

Recommend it highly

She also wrote one called Dear Physician about St Luke, but I like the Paul one better.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:22 AM (AwPyG)

190 Dan Simmons -- never got around to the Hyperion books, and it's been eons since I read some of his others. As I recall, most of the stories in Prayers to Broken Stones and Lovedeath are pretty good. And if you want to see a bone-chiller of an opening, check out the prologue to Song of Kali.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 05, 2021 10:23 AM (JzDjf)

191 Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 10:18 AM (P9aJ6)

Thanks, I just read something of his in church this morning.

Posted by: dantesed at December 05, 2021 10:23 AM (88xKn)

192 ...and copied out the text of personal letters by Abraham Lincoln, and some of his speeches.
-----------------------
His "Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" is a great speech!

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 10:24 AM (UHVv4)

193 I will second Retired Buckeye Cop's recommendation of No Greater Ally. It's a fascinating book and the Poles were tenacious fighters. After years of hearing Polack jokes, I was surprised to find out (from a different source than this book) that the Poles reputation in Europe was as great fighters, going all the way back to the battles against the Turks. Their big problem was living on a nice flat piece of property stuck between Germany and Russia. There is also a great book out there about the Polish Air Force. Unfortunately I can't remember the name and I loaned to a friend so I can't go to the bookshelf to check.

Posted by: who knew at December 05, 2021 10:24 AM (4I7VG)

194 I started re-reading The Hobbit. I got about 20 pages in, then had to pause, and go to youtube so I could read-along/sing-along with the complete Misty Mountains Cold song. If nothing else, the movies gave us a good and universally-acknowledged tune for those verses.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 05, 2021 10:24 AM (Lhaco)

195 I don't think that was it. The initial reviewer was a ranting lefty, and his "review" was all bile directed at Schlichter for being a Nazi, etc., and the book was the next Mein Kampf. As I said, the guy hadn't actually read the book, he was just a hate-spewing lefty. My dismissal of his work was short and polite, but to the point. I guess Amazon doesn't like having their worldview questioned.

Posted by: pep at December 05, 2021 09:52 AM (ZsR3z)

There was a reason why Amazon removed the commenting function on their reviews.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 10:25 AM (P9aJ6)

196 We recently watched "Only Murder In The Building" on TV and the murder victim collected the Hardy Boys series. I used to love the Hardy Boys books when I was a kid and owned them all. Like reading O'Brian, I bet I read the series three or four times, at least. I wonder what ever happened to those books...

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:26 AM (jLszb)

197 Putin requires Biden's lunch-money.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:27 AM (M3Z2J)

198 Isn't there a recording somewhere of Tolkein singing the dwarf song? That should be the "official" tune, whatever it is.

Or did he just use "Yellow Rose of Texas" or something?

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:27 AM (QZxDR)

199 I also began dipping into "Executive Orders" by Tom Clancy (my first Clancy novel). He's certainly no prose stylist, but he knows how to keep you turning the page.

Posted by: All Hail Eris

Red Storm Rising is his best book.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 10:27 AM (pTHOC)

200 Great Lion of God is about St Paul, by the wonderful Taylor Caldwell, a woman of faith who wrote excellent fiction.
============
Methinks I will add this to my nightstand. Thanks for the recommendation!

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:27 AM (jLszb)

201 I did run across a website called radionerds.com

Bookmarked for future reading. Thanks.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 05, 2021 10:28 AM (nfrXX)

202 185 Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:20 AM (iXJM1)

I'd make the argument that WunderWaffe is part of why he lost, Shicklegruber severely misunderstood war economics or he would have done a much better job of utilizing the Baku oil fields.

Germany understood they had a problem, and were hoping that the creation of a 15,000 man "petroleum engineer cadre" would allow them to explout the gained assets.

You have to be able to create your technological solutions to battlefield necesity and then power them to do the work.

Posted by: sven at December 05, 2021 10:28 AM (Lzpvj)

203
re: 5-star rating schemes, a tangential observation: I once pulled up the website of a prominent regional Children's Hospital and looked at the 5-star ratings of a single specialty department of which I had first hand knowledge. Every single physician (out of some 35-40 docs) had a rating between 4.7 and 4.9 stars. Every. Single. One.

This told me everything I needed to know about the ratings, while telling me nothing at all of any use about the doctors.
Posted by: Muldoon

Rating systems are useful only if comments are enabled.

Comments are useful only if they describe how the product or service was defective. Why? Because people are more likely to devote an effort to tell what went wrong rather than what went right.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 05, 2021 10:29 AM (3l5Yq)

204 Finished reading The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale. It's a true story about a woman plagued by a poltergeist in 1938 London. The book points out connections between Alma's mental instability and the unsettled state of the world at the time, on the brink of war.

Posted by: Linnet at December 05, 2021 10:29 AM (jaXtv)

205 I've mentioned this before about Amazon reviews, but I'll mention it again.

(1) No one is sure what the secret sauce is that gets Amazon to start pushing your books for free, but it has to do with the reviews--quality and quantity. Everyone started figuring this out, which is why

(2) Amazon installed a new rule about a year ago where if they catch you in a "review swapping" group, none of you will be able to sell books on Amazon. (Large groups of authors who were agreeing to give each other 5 star reviews)

(3) some people are deemed more "influential" for the algorithm; notice that one of the toggles is "best reviews" which is a subjective standard. Start noticing who Amazon thinks is a "best" reviewer in your genre, and then figure out how to contact them and ask if you can send that person your book.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:29 AM (AwPyG)

206 When did Polack jokes begin? Post-WW II?

Because of those jokes, I thought Poles weren't bright. Then Solidarity and the movie "To Be or Not to Be" made me see them in a new light.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 10:30 AM (ZihT8)

207 I'm thinking of stopping at a bookstore on my way home from church and seeing if there are one or two books that need a good home.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:30 AM (eGTCV)

208 My tendency to 'complete-itis' has lead me to own both 1984 Hypatia hard cover editions of PC Hodgell's novel "Seeker's Mask." One is 1 of 500, other 1 of I think 100. Both signed by Hodgell and Charles de Lint.

Value to anyone not a Hodgell fan? Pennies. Oh well.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 05, 2021 10:30 AM (5MpIr)

209 Putin should wear a Darth Vader helmet to the meeting, just to scare the beejeezus out of Puppet, Blinken and Co.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:31 AM (jLszb)

210 And that mendacious idiot FDR trusted Stalin.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 05, 2021 10:06 AM (Q9lwr)

I think it was more that Delano thought he could work Koba for some obtuse reason, maybe the brotherhood of gimps. It was an astounding level of hubris and characteristic of everything that dimwitted cocksucker touched.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 10:31 AM (y7DUB)

211 A modern day Hardy Boys would not have them tracking down smugglers and thieves but rather people who use the wrong pronoun.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 10:31 AM (FVME7)

212 Audiobook narrator expert: Barrett Whitener. Non-folksy Paul Harvey.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:31 AM (M3Z2J)

213 Everyone will eventually disappoint you. My favorite author was Steven Pressfield. I then read 36 Righteous Men. He went climate woke and now my opinion of him has been tarnished. Maybe I'm being to harsh . I'm going to give his latest book Men At Arms a chance to redeem himself. Has anyone read it?

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:31 AM (iXJM1)

214 Funny thing, I remember when legalizing Sunday shopping was under debate. Now I don't even think about it.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:32 AM (eGTCV)

215 >>209 Putin should wear a Darth Vader helmet to the meeting,
Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:31 AM (jLszb)

Putin should wear Dr. Jill to the meeting.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:32 AM (M3Z2J)

216 @195

?? Commenting function is there.

Maybe some books, you mean?

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:32 AM (AwPyG)

217 Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:20 AM (QZxDR

I discovered the Bullet Journal concept a couple of years ago and that involves journaling, partially to prevent the tool from becoming simply a to-do list, so I use that to keep up on my cursive. My handwriting isn't very good, but Littlest Kidlet was able to read an entry, much to her surprise, so I guess it isn't that bad either.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 10:33 AM (MXdMt)

218 Loretta Young?

Posted by: Brett at December 05, 2021 10:33 AM (Zni+K)

219 The Poles had fighter squadrons in England during the Blitz, a Brigade of paratroopers in 1944 in operation Market Garden.

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 10:34 AM (2JoB8)

220 Putin will slip Hunter $20 to park his car when he arrives for the meeting.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:35 AM (jLszb)

221 My daughter and I were on our Saturday morning ritual, farmer's market and Barnes, and I saw a new Neal Stephenson release. Ten year ago this would have led to exuberance, followed by three days locked inside devouring the work of (to my mind) a modern day Charles Dickens.

After The Fall, I just left it on the shelf. So depressing.

Posted by: motionview (prep train organize) at December 05, 2021 10:35 AM (+W8+H)

222 The Hardy Boys met these Amazon women and became Hardy Men. And they all lived happily ever after.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 10:35 AM (UvMeP)

223 The Baku oil fields were rendered useless by soviet sabotage when they pulled out. The Caucasus expedition doomed Germany. Aside from sending a huge force hundreds of miles from stalingrad, where it could have made the difference, supplying it was a nightmare.

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 10:35 AM (KAi1n)

224 I will second Retired Buckeye Cop's recommendation of No Greater Ally. It's a fascinating book and the Poles were tenacious fighters. After years of hearing Polack jokes, I was surprised to find out (from a different source than this book) that the Poles reputation in Europe was as great fighters, going all the way back to the battles against the Turks. Their big problem was living on a nice flat piece of property stuck between Germany and Russia.

My Euro History prof called it "A GREAT place to have a war !"

Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 10:35 AM (arJlL)

225 Everyone will eventually disappoint you.

Ain't it the truth. I'm currently reading Daniel Silva's "The Order", about a pope who has died and all the deadly machinations going on behind the scene as the Cardinals elect a new pope. He manages to tie "right-wing" groups to Nazis, and blames "right-wing Christians" for exterminating the Jews. Other than that, it's a pretty good story.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (45fpk)

226 My handwriting is dreadful but it's better with some pens than with others.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (eGTCV)

227 On book reviews I am probably the only one who actually reads some on a book I am thinking I want but not sure as dollars need to go only to books I like.

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (2JoB8)

228 I suspect Stalin put the armies on the border because that's where you put armies when you want to look threatening and scare your opponent into picking on someone else.

Posted by: Trimegistus

Suvarov addresses this in his book. He also presents a very long list of actions Stalin took between August 1939 and June 1941 that you would only take if you were planning an offensive war rather than a defensive one. Too long to write out here. I was skeptical when I picked up the book but Suvarov has done a good job of citing sources.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (pTHOC)

229 Biden's meeting with Putin on Tuesday. Peace in our time.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:12 AM (QZxDR)

Until biden shits on putin's couch, then its war.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 10:37 AM (VwHCD)

230 His "Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" is a great speech!
Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 10:24 AM (UHVv4)

I needed something to write that was originally written with a dip pen, because I believe the tools dictate the product. Lincoln had a clear writing style, and was something of a poet in his phrasing, but he also was a reader and a writer and I figured that he would be able to turn a felicitous turn to his writing.
I also figured it would be a good way to immerse myself into a good technical writer's style.

There are four prime American prose writers (IMHO) who excel in clarity, style and compentence: Lincoln, Twain. H. Beam Piper and David Drake.
I once tried to get into sentence diagramming to figure out what made Piper's prose so good.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 10:37 AM (ZMraq)

231 If you watch Antiques Roadshow, you already know that books you'd think are worth something usually aren't.

The exceptions are like our host mentioned, signed first editions.

Also--think about things that appeal to people who collect. Antique maps. Anything Mormon, anything civil war, anything early statehood tends to be worth more.

American Indian, too--they had a soldier's translation of the Lakota language from civil war times that was worth a huge amount.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:37 AM (AwPyG)

232 >>220 Putin will slip Hunter $20 to park his car when he arrives for the meeting.Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:35 AM (jLszb)

"You will give him heroin. Also, pictures taken for laughing later at."

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:37 AM (M3Z2J)

233 @196 --

Mine (blue spines) are in a grocery sack in the garage. Except for a few originals I got from Dad, which are in a closet.

Talk about old books -- I fear those will crumble to dust if I were to open them again.

I just can't bring myself to find new homes for my collection. I spent many happy years accumulating them. Let the kids dispose of them.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 10:38 AM (ZihT8)

234 At Cal Poly in the '90s, all the youngsters could do was print their letters like 1st graders.
=====

In my locale, block printing was not taught because they used something called D'nealian (sp?) to transition children to cursive without learning printing.

Ridiculous attempts by the kids to make sense of the serifs, because to a little kid the serifs are just as important as the 'letter' so their writing was an incomprehensible mashup of swirls.

Like that poor Jeantel woman who could not read cursive, a lot of the kids I knew could not print block letters.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 05, 2021 10:38 AM (MIKMs)

235 Alternative history writers are getting confused, seeing the Biden administration bringing all their "what-ifs" to life. I pity future dystopian writers having to outstrip reality in their books.

Posted by: The Omicron Variant at December 05, 2021 10:38 AM (jLszb)

236 And a cat. Don't forget the cat.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 05, 2021 10:02 AM (Dc2NZ

I *entirely* forgot the cat. In my defense, the cat seems to be a fairly new innovation.

I like the genre so much that I'm slowly transforming the back porch to be like an engawa where I can sit, drink coffee, have a fire and watch the weather go by.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 10:38 AM (MXdMt)

237 >>an incomprehensible mashup of swirls.

"Rirruto."

Posted by: Billy Madison at December 05, 2021 10:39 AM (M3Z2J)

238 Because of those jokes, I thought Poles weren't bright. Then Solidarity and the movie "To Be or Not to Be" made me see them in a new light.
Posted by: Weak Geek

Let's not forget St. Pope John Paul

Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 10:40 AM (arJlL)

239 You can get a first edition of Huckleberry Finn signed by Samuel Clements for $9500.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:40 AM (iXJM1)

240 My handwriting is dreadful but it's better with some pens than with others.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (eGTCV)

Same here, why is that?

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 10:41 AM (VwHCD)

241 My handwriting is dreadful but it's better with some pens than with others.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (eGTCV)

I can't write with a fine-point.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 05, 2021 10:41 AM (45fpk)

242 we should have people give their opinions about authors who fell the furthest into the woke psychosis.

William Kent Krueger was a new author whose first book, Ordinary Grace, won a bunch of awards and then his second book was so woke as to be almost unreadable.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:42 AM (AwPyG)

243 Putin should wear a Darth Vader helmet to the meeting,
Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:31 AM (jLszb)

Putin should wear Dr. Jill to the meeting.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:32 AM (M3Z2J)

Lol..frigging ZOD

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 10:42 AM (VwHCD)

244 When did Polack jokes begin? Post-WW II?

-
My high school history teacher, "Chicken Legs" Ingraham, speculated that it was because for centuries they seeking their freedom and independence by armed revolt and were continually crushed.

Speaking of the Poles and dystopia, by the way, I'm seeing reports that Polish game designer CD Projekt is creating a multiplayer version of Cyberpunk 2077. No details as to whether this will be DLC or an entirely new game (Cyberpunk 2077 II: The Suck Continues?) but don't hold your breath. They're going to start working on it next year.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 10:42 AM (FVME7)

245 You can get a first edition of Huckleberry Finn signed by Samuel Clements for $9500.
Posted by: Just a side note

That's because he's dead .

Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 10:42 AM (arJlL)

246 Neat handwriting is a sign of a sick mind.

Posted by: weirdflunky at December 05, 2021 10:43 AM (cknjq)

247 >>Biden "What-ifs"

AP: US intelligence reports have confirmed that Chinese premier Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin have coordinated the timing of the former's invasion of Taiwan and the latter's invasion of Ukraine. According to a transcript of conversation between the two, Putin was said to have claimed that "it would be more fucky-fuck for that babbling fool to handle." The Xi response was reportedly "Yes. His anus will belong to Chinese people."

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:43 AM (M3Z2J)

248 I can't write with a fine-point.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 05, 2021 10:41 AM (45fpk)

Oh hell no.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 10:43 AM (VwHCD)

249
I'm approaching the halfway point in reading Jack Carr's "The Terminal List" (201

. It's interesting enough, I guess, but not so gripping as to have me read it in a single sitting, as some reviewers quoted on the early pages claimed.

He does delight in poking TPTB in his glossary of terms at the end of the work, which I enjoyed. An example --

SCI: Sensitive compartmented information. Classified information concerning or derived from sensitive intelligence sources, methods, or analytical processes. Often found on private basement servers in upstate New York or bathroom closet servers in Denver.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 05, 2021 10:43 AM (3l5Yq)

250 Suvarov addresses this in his book. He also presents a very long list of actions Stalin took between August 1939 and June 1941 that you would only take if you were planning an offensive war rather than a defensive one. Too long to write out here. I was skeptical when I picked up the book but Suvarov has done a good job of citing sources.
Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (pTHOC)

They are also actions he would have taken if he was trying to create a war emergency to solidify his shaky position. War is the health of the state, but it is expensive, better to have a fake emergency since you have to feed the troops and it excuses the shortages in the cities as well.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 10:43 AM (ZMraq)

251 @242 --

So it got even more awards?

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 10:43 AM (ZihT8)

252 going all the way back to the battles against the Turks. Their big problem was living on a nice flat piece of property stuck between Germany and Russia.

My Euro History prof called it "A GREAT place to have a war !"
Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 10:35 AM (arJlL)
==============
Let's not forget the Poles also beat the crap out of the invading Swedes, fresh off their yuge victory over the Russkies.

Posted by: The Omicron Variant at December 05, 2021 10:43 AM (jLszb)

253 For tasty tastiness I re-read moronette Sabrina Chase's Last Mage Guardian and its two follow-ons. Yummy.
sinmi at December 05, 2021 09:21 AM (A5IVt)

Every writer has their own secret goal. Fame, Oprah, blockbuster movie, an obscure award. Me, I want my books to be the kind of thing people re-read for pleasure. So yay Sinmi! I am a very happy scribbler today, for I have achieved my goal.

I would add to the review list: give your full opinion even if it is negative. What you hated might be what someone loves. So "the characters were ok but there were too many spaceships" is NOT a negative review for someone looking for a spaceship-redolent book

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at December 05, 2021 10:44 AM (7IHuq)

254 Britain and the Soviets both had Polish troops in their armies. Our Poles fought in Italy, including Monte Cassino, and in France/Normandy as well as air forces, an Armoured Division, and the Para Brigade.

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 10:44 AM (UHVv4)

255 240 My handwriting is dreadful but it's better with some pens than with others.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:36 AM (eGTCV)

Same here, why is that?
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 10:41 AM (VwHCD)

It seems to have something to do with weight, balance and the thickness of the barrel.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:44 AM (eGTCV)

256 Zod....you are a. Professional snark sniper.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 10:44 AM (UvMeP)

257 My Euro History prof called it "A GREAT place to have a war !"
------------------
Ha!

Posted by: the low countries at December 05, 2021 10:44 AM (UHVv4)

258 Same here, why is that?
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 10:41 AM (VwHCD)

Some pens have a fine point and some have a ball point. I write better with the fine point for some reason I can't figure out.

Posted by: dantesed at December 05, 2021 10:45 AM (88xKn)

259 Yeah, I write more legibly with a sharpie fine point.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:46 AM (AwPyG)

260 >>255 240 My handwriting is dreadful but it's better with some pens than with others.

Can't write with fine point. Much prefer bold point.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:47 AM (M3Z2J)

261 It seems to have something to do with weight, balance and the thickness of the barrel.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:44 AM (eGTCV)

We talking guns or pens? lol

I like the gel pens, or what I think they call gel pens. They seem to roll smooth. I write way better with those.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 10:47 AM (VwHCD)

262 My best handwriting is block print.

I used it for everything, until my wife got angry at me for "yelling" at her in a note.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 10:48 AM (ZihT8)

263 Greetings:

Canadians used to have "Goofie Newfie" jokes about their Newfoundland brethren. I can't imagine that the jokes survive even though Newfoundlanders were excessively white.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 10:48 AM (uuklp)

264 Stalin expected Germany and France to repeat WW1, then he'd move in. No one expected French defeat in 6 weeks. Stalin was going to invade in '42 after re-tooling from his purges.

Posted by: SFGoth

I think this is a reasonable alternative theory to the July 1941 date that Suvarov pushes in Icebreaker. Stalin would still have taken the actions Suvarov describes in preparing to invade Europe. Just a timeline adjustment.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 10:48 AM (pTHOC)

265 @251

No, believe it or not. Most of the awards are voted on by the readers, in the mystery genre, and the readers want a good story, not a lecture.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:48 AM (AwPyG)

266 >>I like the gel pens

Me too.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:48 AM (M3Z2J)

267 I'd guess the type of pen would matter too. A good fountain pen, you don't have to press down at all, but a ballpoint requires some pressure. That's how it seems to me, anyway -- my handwriting seems a bit better with the fountain pen. Your mileage may vary.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 05, 2021 10:48 AM (JzDjf)

268 Can't write with fine point. Much prefer bold point.
Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:47 AM (M3Z2J)
=============
As an aside to the bold snark, ZOD just admitted (first time ever?) that he CAN'T do something. Must not be worth doing then.

Posted by: The Omicron Variant at December 05, 2021 10:49 AM (jLszb)

269
As a left-hander whose writing hand drags over what I have written, I am usually dissatisfied with any pen or pencil. Ballpoint pens and mechanical lead pencils work best for me, but both still fall short of working well for me.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 05, 2021 10:49 AM (3l5Yq)

270 I have a fountain pen with a fine nib point and I write pretty good with that.

Posted by: dantesed at December 05, 2021 10:49 AM (88xKn)

271 I can't write with a fine-point.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 05, 2021 10:41 AM (45fpk)

Where as I *must* have a fine point or my lines will be so thick as to be ridiculous, what a handwriting analyst I read calls "pastiosity". That's why I give at least mild credence to handwriting analysis.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 05, 2021 10:50 AM (MXdMt)

272 >>As an aside to the bold snark, ZOD just admitted (first time ever?) that he CAN'T do something. Must not be worth doing then.Posted by: The Omicron Variant at December 05, 2021 10:49 AM (jLszb)

Also can't eat cilantro and taste soap.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:50 AM (M3Z2J)

273 I think a lot of engineer-types use that block print style.

fine motor coordination is not their strong suit

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:50 AM (AwPyG)

274 Several months ago, this thread recommended the 6 Kelly Turnbull novels by Kurt Schlichter. I bought the first one (People's Republic) and before I was halfway through it I had ordered the other 5. If you want your mind blown on how prescient an author can be, look no further.

All 6 books are highly recommended, and yes, I did leave good reviews on Amazon !

Posted by: TxMarko at December 05, 2021 10:50 AM (7WLRC)

275 I've occasionally had to write on white boards. It's embarrassing.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 10:51 AM (eGTCV)

276 Greetings:

Inkblots from fountain pens on one's white shirt pocket were punishable if you got home before Dad.

I've since up graded to Pilot's V7 and now all my inkblots are on my back jeans pockets.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 10:51 AM (uuklp)

277 Thank you horde book people! My Sunday morning enjoyment must come to an end. The doggehs require airing.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 05, 2021 10:52 AM (jLszb)

278 Chalkboard-writing: The worst.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:52 AM (M3Z2J)

279 Waterman Phileas with a bold nib....

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 10:52 AM (PiwSw)

280 I think a lot of engineer-types use that block print style.

An engineer joke, from an engineer:

How can you tell an engineer is warning up to you? When talking to you, he looks down at your shoes.

Posted by: motionview (prep train organize) at December 05, 2021 10:53 AM (+W8+H)

281 Greetings:

My post Civil War American History Professor called his course "Cowboys and Indians".

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 10:54 AM (uuklp)

282
My block printing is as good as it is because I took two years of mechanical drawing in high school. I now wish that I had delved into the vocational classes a little more than I did during those four years -- metalworking, machining and welding come to mind.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 05, 2021 10:54 AM (3l5Yq)

283 If anyone follows the Meghan Markle saga, one of the first tip-offs that her entire family is a bunch of grifters was the fact that they all write long, multipage letters to each other discussing their hurts and grievances (letters that always happen to get leaked to the media)

This is a family from Hollywood. No one writes letters to each other, any more--especially milennials

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:54 AM (AwPyG)

284 I dug out a book I had forgotten I had:
"When The People Fell", a collection of stories by Cordwainer Smith.

I guess youse guys know I love sci-fi and fantasy, so believe me when I tell you Smith is one of the most original, mind-blowingly creative writers who ever worked in the field. Even the titles of his stories are amazing, like
Scanners Live In Vain
Think Blue, Count Two
Golden The Ship Was ---Oh! Oh! Oh!
Highly Recommended

Posted by: TANSTAAFL at December 05, 2021 10:55 AM (fBtlL)

285 216 @195

?? Commenting function is there.

Maybe some books, you mean?
Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:32 AM (AwPyG)

For me, it's all books. I no longer see the comments. And you can? Weird. I'll have to not sign in and see if they show up. Maybe Amazon thinks I've been a naughty boy.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 10:55 AM (P9aJ6)

286 Ballpoints write like crayons and they have differing "slip" on the points, I find some of them to write like I am writing on glass, there is little friction. If you are there, try putting a second sheet of paper under what you are writing on, it allows a bit more friction

with a dip pen or a cheap fountain pen there is always the risk of tearing a page, so the pen has to be "coasted " on upstrokes, and "painted" on downstrokes, both of them require minimum pressure to keep the tip in contact with the page, and past the shape of the letters and ligands between the letters, is the main physical skill. The advanced skill is varying the pressure to vary the line width without turning the tip of the pen into a two-tined fork.
If you write like you are trying to make a mark in polished marble, you will have trouble with a dip pen.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 10:55 AM (ZMraq)

287 @282

Never too late.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:55 AM (AwPyG)

288 As for my own reading I am thoroughly enjoying Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor. Usually historical fiction isn't much use to me (usually I suspect the author was tapped out on ideas) but when done well can be very good. This has held my interest the whole way and, if not completely accurate, makes me think it was (how many people know much about the life of Bram Stoker other than he wrote Dracula?). Good read of the type the book group sometimes leads me to.

For Whom the Bell Tolls has gotten a lot more enjoyable coincidentally with actual fighting starting and the chapters getting shorter.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 10:55 AM (y7DUB)

289
Chalkboard-writing: The worst.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:52 AM

The secret? Wet chalk. It flows well and is much more intense, so that even the kids in the back row can see it.

Posted by: Traitor Joe's Military Surplus at December 05, 2021 10:56 AM (dQvv7)

290 Stalin attacked Poland at the same time as Germany and committed comparable atrocities and he was basically rewarded for it.

Posted by: Just a side note

One of Suvarov's points in Icebreaker is "If Stalin wss afraid of Hitler, why did he invade eastern Poland and annex Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, then dismantle the defensive Stalin Line along the old Ukraine-Poland border?"

Why remove the buffer states between Germany and the USSR and then move all your armies up to that new border? It only makes sense if you arebnot afraid of Germany and are planning to go on the offensive.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 10:56 AM (pTHOC)

291 @285

:0

You've been shunned!

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:56 AM (AwPyG)

292
Putin should wear Dr. Jill to the meeting.
Posted by: ZOD

He'd have to beat Hunter off of her.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 05, 2021 10:57 AM (3l5Yq)

293 Note that if you have to write quickly -- taking notes, for example -- block print degrades less badly than cursive.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:57 AM (QZxDR)

294 Canadians used to have "Goofie Newfie" jokes about their Newfoundland brethren. I can't imagine that the jokes survive even though Newfoundlanders were excessively white.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 10:48 AM (uuklp)

I googled 'newfie jokes' awhile back. Some of them were pretty funny.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (P9aJ6)

295 How can you tell an engineer is warning up to you? When talking to you, he looks down at your shoes.
Posted by: motionview (prep train organize) at December 05, 2021 10:53 AM (+W8+H)

I hired a guy a few months ago that NEVER looks at you when speaking. NEVER.

It's weird and off putting. Not an engineer btw.

Posted by: weirdflunky at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (cknjq)

296 Now is the time for a large soft pretzel and hells lager in Old Town. Later, skaters.

Posted by: ZOD at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (M3Z2J)

297 Every case is different even those that appear similar on the surface. It was obvious this kid was a potential threat. The entire student body knew it.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 10:10 AM (iXJM1)

No, they didn't. Even the "I knew something so I stayed home" teen and his mother referenced social media hoaxes that were going around in November.

Before Christmas, we got hit with a hoax that sent the same same threat but substituted different school names. About 35% of middle-schoolers and ninth-graders didn't come to school because their parents (mostly moms) didn't believe the superintendent report that it had no basis.

Then we had a panic because kids (mostly girls) spread the rumor that the notorious BK's social media showed a gun and a date he was returning to school. Nevermind that BK was suspended in October and has no access to social media. Different moms demanded details of BK's case - things only discussed with BK's legal guardians - and took "no" to mean "It's a conspiracy!"

If all the threats were real, we'd have been assaulted six times and bombed twice.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (/+bwe)

298 Greetings:

Waterman's Ink in bottles, blue not black. Bladder and lever fountain pens. Then Schaefer ink cartridges.

No ball points in Catholic grammar school. BiCs be gone. Especially when we learned of their spitball potentials.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (uuklp)

299 The Waterman Phileas is nice (though I prefer the medium nib myself) -- got a few of those from Levenger. The Pelikans are nice too, and I've indulged myself with a couple of their low-end fountain pens, which are some of the nicest I've used. Sometimes I'll drool over a catalog listing of the black Montblanc Meisterstuck, but there's just no way I can justify an expense like that, not noway, not nohow.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (JzDjf)

300 I wish I had an astronaut pen.

Posted by: jerry seinfeld at December 05, 2021 10:59 AM (UHVv4)

301 Take the pen.....

Posted by: JT at December 05, 2021 11:00 AM (arJlL)

302 Are there any good books about what Paul(Saul) was able to accomplish in 1st century AD?

Posted by: dantesed

Paul, A Biography by NT Wright is excellent.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:01 AM (pTHOC)

303 Before Christmas... should be before Thanksgiving.

It's two weeks until Christmas break, so my brain is there already.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 11:01 AM (/+bwe)

304
My sister and I are taking notes regarding our mother's status and visitations during our times on watch with her. Both of us write in block print for this -- we never discussed doing that -- and consequently we have no issues reading one another's notes.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 05, 2021 11:01 AM (3l5Yq)

305 There could be a war so pervasive that almost every man woman child has to become a killer.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 11:02 AM (UvMeP)

306
I googled 'newfie jokes' awhile back. Some of them were pretty funny.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (P9aJ6)

How did the first Newfie get to Toronto?
He was playing hockey at the mouth of the St Lawrence and got a breakaway.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 11:02 AM (eGTCV)

307 There could be a war so pervasive that almost every man woman child has to become a killer.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 11:02 AM

Space Alien invasion or a zombie apocalypse could do that.

Posted by: Mister Scot (Formerly GWS) at December 05, 2021 11:03 AM (bVYXr)

308 oh yes the Russians have fought six wars over ukraine territory including crimea, so the notions they would give up any part of that land, I mean we only two war over texas, three if you consider the pancho villa dustup

Posted by: no 6 at December 05, 2021 11:03 AM (hMlTh)

309 I think a lot of engineer-types use that block print style.
=====

After dealing with some neighbor kids attempting the serif style printing, I gave an impassioned (for me) lecture to the teachers insisting on that style as 'easier' that it was excluding future engineers and architects because they would have to relearn 'printing'.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 05, 2021 11:04 AM (MIKMs)

310 There could be a war so pervasive that almost every man woman child has to become a killer.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 11:02 AM

Ant infestation. Summer of '78. I've seen things, man.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 11:04 AM (/+bwe)

311 Kindergarten teacher uses "Remi the Respectful Reindeer" to teach pronoun madness to little kids

https://bit.ly/3lBxHZi

Remi the Respectful Reindeer
Had a very brown ass nose
And if you ever saw him
You would say, "they, their, those".

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 11:05 AM (FVME7)

312 Good morning book lovers.
Finally finished all 1250 pages of Book 4 in the Brandon Sanderson's series, Rhythm of War. I promised Iris no spoilers so kind of a general review. Like the others, the book builds and builds and the last couple of hundred pages are riveting. Unlike the other 3 however, he seems to forget about characters he has stranded in other parts of his world and sums up their situations in a kind of offhand way. I know there is going to be a book 5 but I don't think he quite knows where he is going to go with it.
I'd be interested in what other Sanderson fans think.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 05, 2021 11:05 AM (eT0JC)

313 Dennis Prager absolutely loves fountain pens

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 11:05 AM (2JoB8)

314 Fountain pens are really nice, I wanted to get one, but I would have ink everywhere. My writing is pitiful, but it can be real nice when I want it to be.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 11:05 AM (VwHCD)

315 I would recommend the New Testament.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional

*OM drops mic from Neptune's orbit*

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:05 AM (pTHOC)

316 How can you tell an engineer is warning up to you? When talking to you, he looks down at your shoes.
Posted by: motionview (prep train organize) at December 05, 2021 10:53 AM (+W8+H)

I hired a guy a few months ago that NEVER looks at you when speaking. NEVER.

It's weird and off putting. Not an engineer btw.
Posted by: weirdflunky at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (cknjq)

Talking with someone crosseyed is an odd experience, like you can't trust anything he said.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 11:06 AM (y7DUB)

317 I just think it's interesting that my handwriting is bad, no matter how much I try to make it not look like chickenscratch.

Why is that?

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:07 AM (AwPyG)

318 Talking with someone crosseyed is an odd experience, like you can't trust anything he said.
Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 11:06 AM (y7DUB)

Talking with a pretty girl with a wandering eye is distracting.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 11:07 AM (eGTCV)

319
I absolutely cannot use a fountain pen for an extended bout of writing by hand because of "lefty drag hand".

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 05, 2021 11:07 AM (3l5Yq)

320 @316

I think that's a symptom of autism, the inability to make eye contact

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:08 AM (AwPyG)

321 Dennis Prager absolutely loves fountain pens
Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 11:05 AM (2JoB

I have not cared about what Mr. Prager's opinion on anything since 2012.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 11:08 AM (ZMraq)

322 I came across a book of Irish jokes years ago. Laughed so hard (silently) I shook.

I should have bought it.

Now I wonder -- do Asians make fun of other Asians, and if so, who?

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 11:08 AM (ZihT8)

323 Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 11:06 AM (y7DUB)

Which eye am I supposed to be looking at when I speak with you?

I'm prolly going to hell for asking out loud what everybody else is thinking.

Posted by: weirdflunky at December 05, 2021 11:09 AM (cknjq)

324 I like some of David Morell's books. Fraternity of the Stone is probably my favorite. The Protector is fun, although oddly dependent on supernatural/impossible things. Recently I discovered that he wrote a three-book series set in Victorian London, in which Thomas Dequincy, author of "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" helps the police track down serial killers. I'm about a quarter of the way into the second one, and having much more fun than I expected to.

Posted by: Splunge at December 05, 2021 11:10 AM (PQ4Fz)

325 About to leave the house so I'll say thank you now and check for replies later.

My handwriting is atrocious. I reverted to print in jr. high and never tried to improve since then. Does anyone know of, or better, have experience with a remedial handwriting course for adults?

Posted by: Oddbob at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (nfrXX)

326 Note that if you have to write quickly -- taking notes, for example -- block print degrades less badly than cursive.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:57 AM

I used to photocopy an old teaching manual about drafting lettering and give it to kids who couldn't read their own printed notes. Suddenly they could print faster and legibly. Like other "obsolete skills," drafting lettering has practical use but no class time devoted to it.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (/+bwe)

327 So you want to know my thoughts. (Slowly pulls out duct tape)

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (UvMeP)

328 the Soviets were thinking the long game, they thought the Nazis were not their great threat, initially, this is why they knocked out the Social Democrats, only later did they miscalculate, one is left to conclude, one might say the decimation of the officer corps was a counter to that, but Stalin felt the risk of a mutiny greater than the enemy, the same officers that were purged were allowed to train the Wehrmacht on Soviet soil,

Posted by: no 6 at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (hMlTh)

329 I think one of the reasons the Gospel spread so far and so fast was because Paul founded the first Christian communities in major trading cities.

A very smart man.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (AwPyG)

330 I bought a guitar once from a guitar repair guy. He goes to register the sale, cracks open a really nice looking book, and enters the info with a fountain pen. The book looked like one of those ancient frigging medieval manuscripts. The writing was amazing. It probably took him 2 minutes to write 10 words. It was bordering on calligraphy. The entire contents of that book were like that.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (VwHCD)

331 Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 10:58 AM (/+bwe)

Were you there? Are you on the school staff? Again every case is different and cognitive adults should be able to tell the difference.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (iXJM1)

332 I came across a book of Irish jokes years ago.
=====

Gave my dad a book of Scandinavian Humor years ago: it was blank. He laughed.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 05, 2021 11:12 AM (MIKMs)

333 Talking with a pretty girl with a wandering eye is distracting.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 11:07 AM (eGTCV)

Just look at her chest.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 05, 2021 11:12 AM (Q9lwr)

334 I just think it's interesting that my handwriting is bad, no matter how much I try to make it not look like chickenscratch.

Why is that?
Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:07 AM (AwPyG)

Maybe there's a drill sargeant way of making it better but it might be something you're born hard wired with.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 11:13 AM (y7DUB)

335 @324

Yeah, Morell's Victorian series is good, for those who like historical mystery.

A big switch from Rambo--which was also good.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:13 AM (AwPyG)

336 No sane school teacher should give sixth grade boys fountain pens. But they did. You can fling a string of ink a pretty far distance.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 11:13 AM (iXJM1)

337 Oh, good. 80 GOPes voted to create a federal vaccine database. For us. Because they care. Now give Dan Crenshaw money so he can keep fighting for YOU!

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at December 05, 2021 11:14 AM (t3/qz)

338 North Korean joke--

'My wife's on a diet, so she rides the horse every day to lose weight'.

'Oh, does it work?'

'Yes, it does! The horse lost 40 kilograms in a month!'

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 05, 2021 11:15 AM (vuisn)

339 I have a few shelves of 19th century books inherited from my great-grandfather. An 1884 edition of Huckleberry Finn and the first-ever collection of Poe's short stories are the prizes among them.

They are worth surprisingly little, but I treasure them.

And "Farinacious" was my favorite Our Gang member.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at December 05, 2021 11:15 AM (Bmy3R)

340 I think that's a symptom of autism, the inability to make eye contact

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:08 AM (AwPyG)

I have always had extreme difficulty making eye contact. It's something I have to force myself to do. So maybe I'm somewhere on the high end of the autism spectrum.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 11:16 AM (sNBgP)

341 There's a Japanese "light novel" collection available at humble bundle from one of Japan's most popular authors, NISIOISIN.

"Light Novel" means young adult I think. They don't seem to be something I'd like, but he writes mysteries that are very very popular in Japan. I don't understand their culture but it looks like most of his characters are teen girls but he is an old dude. Is the target audience teen girls or guys? I don't know. But if that interests you then they have about 40 some of the most popular books and manga in his collection

Posted by: banana Dream at December 05, 2021 11:16 AM (XXeDg)

342 Kindltot touche'

My printing is very good, but since don't use cursive often it's sloppy.

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 11:16 AM (2JoB8)

343 Talking with someone crosseyed is an odd experience, like you can't trust anything he said.
Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 11:06 AM (y7DUB)
Talking with a pretty girl with a wandering eye is distracting.
Posted by: N.L. Urker, the Phillips screwdriver of the gods at December 05, 2021 11:07 AM (eGTCV)

I knew a fella who had that eye problem where when he talked to you his eyes darted back and forth real fast the whole time.

Poor bastard.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 05, 2021 11:17 AM (R/m4+)

344 As others have mentioned; I took both Mechanical and Architectural Drawing in high school. Both required meticulous printing when annotating stuff on the drawings. One teacher spent nearly an entire week with nothing but printing exercises. Uppercase/lowercase alphabet, numbers, symbols, etc.

For the final exercise we had to print the lyrics to our favorite song. If it was less than a couple verses, copy it 3 or 4 times.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 05, 2021 11:17 AM (BFigT)

345 yes that dequincey series is pretty good, recall that morrell was originally an english professor at the university of iowa, although I don't recall if it was english or american literature,

set around the time of the crimean war, if memory serves

Posted by: no 6 at December 05, 2021 11:17 AM (hMlTh)

346 Which eye am I supposed to be looking at when I speak with you?

I'm prolly going to hell for asking out loud what everybody else is thinking.
Posted by: weirdflunky at December 05, 2021 11:09 AM (cknjq)

Both of them.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 11:18 AM (y7DUB)

347 A South Korean asks a North Korean "How's life?"

The North Korean responds "Well, I can't complain."

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 05, 2021 11:18 AM (vuisn)

348 329 I think one of the reasons the Gospel spread so far and so fast was because Paul founded the first Christian communities in major trading cities.

A very smart man.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (AwPyG)

He also made use of all the Roman-built roads and koine greek being a widely used language.

God did a lot of prep work to insure His gospel would spread quickly.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 11:18 AM (sNBgP)

349 My handwriting is block/cursive. The letters are block-style but all connected.

Which makes it illegible to everyone, including me.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:18 AM (pTHOC)

350 >>> 337 Oh, good. 80 GOPes voted to create a federal vaccine database. For us. Because they care. Now give Dan Crenshaw money so he can keep fighting for YOU!
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at December 05, 2021 11:14 AM (t3/qz)

Just making public what they were likely already doing. Like any other non-existent feralgov database of things.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 05, 2021 11:20 AM (llON8)

351 My guess for the "who dis" is Maila Nurmi aka Vampira.

Posted by: moviegique at December 05, 2021 11:21 AM (asXVI)

352 @347 --

An old "Wizard of Id" strip embellished that joke:

"I can't complain. It's forbidden."

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 11:22 AM (ZihT8)

353 Now it's Chris's turn!

||A former co-worker of Chris Cuomo made a sexual misconduct allegation against the former CNN anchor, who was fired Saturday for misleading the cable network about the extent of the role he played trying to mitigate the sexual harassment accusations that took down his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

A well known employment lawyer who represents the accuser contacted CNN Wednesday to tell them of the allegation, according to The New York Times.

The disclosure came as an outside law firm was probing new documents released by by New York's top prosecutor Monday that suggested the younger Cuomo was more involved trying to control damage to his brother's political career than he previously said.||

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 11:22 AM (UHVv4)

354 TANSTAAFL

Cordwainer Smith is fantastic. His life in Meat Space as Pail Linebarger is also fascinating.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:22 AM (pTHOC)

355 ". . . a great magician named Makke the Maugifer built a manse and ruled the land with his mauging magic. He mauged east and he mauged west, north and south; persons could lift their eyes to his face once, or with effort twice, but never three times, so strong was his maugery."

-- Jack Vance

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 11:22 AM (QZxDR)

356 One of my most favorite purchases was a copy of "Wendy Richard... No S", the biography of the woman who played Miss Brahms on Are You Being Served?

Bought it from an English bookseller (I think through ABE) and when it arrived, I saw that it had been inscribed by Wendy. Unfortunately not to me.

Posted by: Peter (My friends call me Pete) Zah at December 05, 2021 11:23 AM (a4vvV)

357 Paul Linebarger, not pail. Fucking autocorrect.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:24 AM (pTHOC)

358 The disclosure came as an outside law firm was probing new documents released by by New York's top prosecutor Monday that suggested the younger Cuomo was more involved trying to control damage to his brother's political career than he previously said.||
Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 11:22 AM (UHVv4)

Why, it's almost like there's a script for this sort of thing, where the matter has nothing to do with whether the person did something wrong, but whether the person is part of the "in" crowd or not.

Almost.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 05, 2021 11:26 AM (jsU0d)

359 Fountain pens are really nice, I wanted to get one, but I would have ink everywhere. My writing is pitiful, but it can be real nice when I want it to be.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 05, 2021 11:05 AM

I bought a fountain pen back in the day. Being left handed it did not work out.

Posted by: Mister Scot (Formerly GWS) at December 05, 2021 11:26 AM (bVYXr)

360 My cursive handwriting was always legible but not great. I usually got a C in penmanship in second grade. Back in the day I got preferred treatment for my manuals from the ladies in the typing pool (yeah, it was a while ago) because they could read the material without having to decipher it.

Lately, I'm treating cursive as a bit of art. That means the proper tools for my hand and taking my time. (It helps to be retired with no deadlines.) Pentel 500 or 1,000 mechanical pencils with 2B lead, Blackwing pencils, fine or extra fine nibs on fountain pens and certain dip pen nibs make a big difference. Better quality paper also helps. Just a matter for my own amusement.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 11:26 AM (7EjX1)

361 Finished reading/skimming A Plague Upon Our House by Scott Atlas. The man responsible for the lockdowns is VP Pence since he headed the CV Task Force. He repeatedly accepted Birx's, Fouci and Redfields lockdown scientism. Pence went out of his way to sell Birx's lockdown mischief - often accompanying her to individual states to bully governors and college officials. One of the more interesting - and telling - circumstances is who hired Birx in the first place. No one was willing to cop to it which leads me to think Pence hired her.

Posted by: 13times at December 05, 2021 11:27 AM (9rMWy)

362 Maybe a market for left handed fountain pens out there

Posted by: Skip at December 05, 2021 11:28 AM (2JoB8)

363 Greetings:

Birx had a nice scarf collection.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 11:29 AM (uuklp)

364 Were you there? Are you on the school staff? Again every case is different and cognitive adults should be able to tell the difference.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (iXJM1)

I have acquaintances who teach there. Crumbley wasn't known to all the staff, let alone all the kids. Oxford High School has more than 1,500 students. What I was told - and I don't know if the staff is supposed to mention - was that during the meeting, he said the drawing was of a video game he wanted to make. That made the concerned teacher look like an ass, and the parents refused to pull their son out of school based on such a stupid accusation.

The "I didn't go to school because I knew something was going to happen" kid and his mother who were interviewed on TV? Somehow neither of them could answer the question how he "knew," let alone show a social media post that predated the shooting. But they got attention in the aftermath, just like another teen who told CNN that Crumbley "looked depressed every day." (That was for a "bullied teen" angle that fizzled.)

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 11:29 AM (/+bwe)

365 Unlike the other 3 however, he seems to forget about characters he has stranded in other parts of his world and sums up their situations in a kind of offhand way.

Re. Sanderson, your observation here is exactly how I felt. I sometimes don't understand how an author can produce a voluminous work like that and then seem to rush to the finish line. I too was expecting the other suspended characters to be woven back into the end of the work. I found that disappointing, to say the least.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at December 05, 2021 11:30 AM (Xrfse)

366 Don't recall the grade, but we had to have a certain number of gold stars to be able to go from pencil to fountain pen. Big group pressure, emphasized by a nun who pinched cheeks.
I could never be a doctor. You can read both my cursive and print.

Posted by: A. Baldwin at December 05, 2021 11:30 AM (Foq6I)

367 Inkblots from fountain pens on one's white shirt pocket were punishable if you got home before Dad.
=====

Where, oh where, are the pocket protectors? The stiff exemplar of nerddom and the savior of laundries everywhere! /s

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 05, 2021 11:30 AM (MIKMs)

368 Damn!
Off dirty sock

Posted by: MkY at December 05, 2021 11:31 AM (Foq6I)

369 Anyone see the see the videos of the "Patriot Front" marching in DC yesterday? They were all wearing khaki pants and khaki-colored shirts, sunglasses, masks and the same color shirts and carrying flags and banners reading "reclaim America". They loaded up into U-Haul trucks to make their getaway.

It is an obvious op coordinated between AntiFa and the Feds. Talk about a Reichstag Fire.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:31 AM (pTHOC)

370 Back from a nap. Whud i miss?

Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 11:32 AM (KAi1n)

371 But they got attention in the aftermath, just like another teen who told CNN that Crumbley "looked depressed every day." (That was for a "bullied teen" angle that fizzled.)
Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 11:29 AM (/+bwe)

School shootings happen because there is evil in this world, and the world seems to glorify it.

Everyone knows the names of virtually every school shooter we have. That's incentive enough for a lot of these guys.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 05, 2021 11:33 AM (jsU0d)

372 My problem with fountain pens and I do like them, is that you can't just whip one out and start writing. I think storing them all nib down is asking for a mess. So you store them nib up and then you have to wait a while to write. And you can screw up the nib and have to wash it on occasion if you get dried ink build-up. Dealing with cartridges and compatible refill cartridges can be a pain.

They're more if you do a lot of writing, and will sit down for a long session, and you like the look coming from a nib, then it's for you. But if you're just looking for something to sign your name then a reliable ballpoint might be better.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 05, 2021 11:33 AM (XXeDg)

373 Rare books: but sometimes you get lucky. I was invited once to go through the cellar of a recently deceased lady. I found a couple of rotting old books in a literal trunk in the cellar. One was a large volume of hand colored prints of St Petersburg (Russia) published in 1805. The cover was ratty but the prints were fine.

The book sat in my attic for 20 years before I looked it up on Abebooks and found it was worth 24k. I put it on Ebay for 18k just to see what would happen. It was sold within a day to a broker in the UK.

It paid for new plumbing...

Posted by: poe at December 05, 2021 11:33 AM (76dsu)

374 @365

Yeah, I hate that too. Hollywood calls it "the promise of the premise" which is like a contract between the author and the reader. One of which is a character is there for a reason.

To me, it's so annoying when the author spends a lot of time on a character who is only going to be spun off in the next book or series. They do this a lot with the historical romance series.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:34 AM (AwPyG)

375 Ant infestation. Summer of '78. I've seen things, man.

Posted by: NaughtyPine

*FistBump*

We've been in the shit! Thank God for black cat firecrackers. Those ants never had a chance.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:35 AM (pTHOC)

376 You wanna talk about handwriting?

I'll give you handwriting.

Try learning it in a 1950's parochial school in SW Phila using FRIGGIN' PALMER METHOD!!!!!!

And, yes, using an ink pen.

Posted by: TANSTAAFL at December 05, 2021 11:36 AM (fBtlL)

377 Safety tip: ants hate powdered lemon dishwashing detergent.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:36 AM (AwPyG)

378 >>> Why, it's almost like there's a script for this sort of thing, where the matter has nothing to do with whether the person did something wrong, but whether the person is part of the "in" crowd or not.

Almost.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 05, 2021 11:26 AM (jsU0d)

And it's almost like there's a comparative calculation involved and so when your value to the collective calculated on one side is less than your risk to the collective shown on the other you are no longer protected.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 05, 2021 11:37 AM (XXeDg)

379 @373

That is amazeballs!!

*tries to remember if there are any similar books in boxes here*

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:38 AM (AwPyG)

380 352 @347 --
An old "Wizard of Id" strip embellished that joke:
"I can't complain. It's forbidden."
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 05, 2021 11:22 AM (ZihT

Another Wizard of Id:

A prisoner is chained up to the wall.
Wizard: How's the food?
Prisoner: I can't complain.
Wizard: Why not?
Prisoner: My teeth are stuck together.

Posted by: Splunge at December 05, 2021 11:39 AM (PQ4Fz)

381 The entire contents of that book were like that.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division

That dude may come in handy after civilisation collapses when the DemonRats steal the 2024 election.

"The Lay of the Burning Times"

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:39 AM (pTHOC)

382 The nuns didn't strap Alec Baldwin enough in school!

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 11:40 AM (UHVv4)

383 Greetings:

Philly does that to people.

Up in the Bronx, there was a bit of folk wisdom that was about an all-expense-paid trip to Philly lottery. First Prize was a week in Philly. Second Prize was two weeks in Philly.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 05, 2021 11:41 AM (uuklp)

384 Doroth Grant has written four novels so far that are enjoyable light reading. They're hard to classify (scifi--military with seasoning of romance?) but they're fun.

Posted by: Lirio100 at December 05, 2021 11:41 AM (uFOGo)

385 A good point:

Greg Price @greg_price11; 18h
It will always remain insane that both Cuomo brothers lost their jobs due to covering up creepy behavior from Andrew and NOT covering up how his covid policies led to thousands of nursing home deaths

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 11:42 AM (UHVv4)

386 Fully vaxxed cruise ship has outbreak of Coof. Infected passengers have to quarantine, uninfected have to be tested before they are allowed off the ship in N'awlans.
Lol.
Get your jab!

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at December 05, 2021 11:44 AM (P8FxN)

387 Inflation ius thru the roof
Gas has gone up over 60%
Our enemies are on the march all over the world

And the msm is still obsessed with PDT

Scmucks

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 05, 2021 11:44 AM (Irn0L)

388 My favorite fountain pens are Pelikan, even their 'lower' level pens. Good, consistent ink flow and nibs that only need a light touch. For the price, the Lamy Safari pens are a great value. That's what I use when carrying a fountain pen.

Bottled ink gets more complicated but I've found that Parker Quink is a very good everyday ink. All the colors work, not just black or blue. It also works well with dip pens.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 11:49 AM (7EjX1)

389 Fully vaxxed cruise ship has outbreak of Coof. Infected passengers have to quarantine, uninfected have to be tested before they are allowed off the ship in N'awlans.
Lol.
Get your jab!
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at December 05, 2021 11:44 AM (P8FxN)

It's the end of the world but I feel fine.

Posted by: Count de Monet, Unvaccinated Meatbag at December 05, 2021 11:50 AM (4I/2K)

390 Inflation ius thru the roof
Gas has gone up over 60%
Our enemies are on the march all over the world

And the msm is still obsessed with PDT

Scmucks
Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 05, 2021 11:44 AM (Irn0L)

An intentional portmanteau of scum + schmucks?

Posted by: Count de Monet, Unvaccinated Meatbag at December 05, 2021 11:52 AM (4I/2K)

391 Nearing the climax of Steven Hunter's excellent "The Master Sniper," the bad guy is Repp, SS nazi, end of WW2 Germany and Switzerland, he's a sniper with about a thousand kills.

An American captain and a Brit colonel, both in their respective intelligence branches, are trying to find him and puzzle out his mission, which is in play after the nazi surrender.

Very well-described gun tech for us gun nuts. Adolf Eichmann, in captivity the day of surrender, plays a role in the plot.

It is as good as Day of the Jackal.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at December 05, 2021 11:52 AM (KiBMU)

392 There a guy who shows up a craft fairs around here who makes ball point pens out of used shell casings and wood. I have one in NATO 5.56 that writes killer letters.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 05, 2021 11:52 AM (BFigT)

393 I .think I'm done with the Donna Leon Venetian mysteries. Although the descriptions of the city and its cuisine are wonderful the jabs at Americans are getting nastier and I'm only to books published in the very early 2000's.

Posted by: Tuna at December 05, 2021 11:52 AM (gLRfa)

394 Jumping in at the end. Mornin' Horde

Posted by: CN...FJB at December 05, 2021 11:53 AM (ONvIw)

395 I am currently reading a book on Economic History by Carlo Cipolla, Between Cultures, which is two essays on what Economic History is and what the sources are.

The first is a discussion of history and economics with history being a humanities discipline and economics becoming more and more tied to hard sciences, in spite of its poor ability at prediction and defining what the hard numbers mean. It also discusses source materials and what can and cannot be taken for granted as historical economic sources, and why historical understanding of the period is essential to understanding what the source material has to offer.

The second is about types of historical sources and what they offer and why what they show has to be critically reviewed.

Cipolla's opinion is that Economics and History are unwisely divided, that they are both Humanities subjects, and he believes that Economics is nowhere near a "newtonian revolution" putting it on an equal footing with physics or engineering since as a human venture, economics cannot be reduced to mere numbers, forces and physical rules of motion.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 11:53 AM (ZMraq)

396 "Fully vaxxed cruise ship has outbreak of Coof. Infected passengers have to quarantine, uninfected have to be tested before they are allowed off the ship in N'awlans.
Lol. Get your jab!"
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy

Remember that cruise ship right at the beginning of this? That's when I knew it wasn't worth worrying about. An isolated cruise ship with no vaccine or protection and the media was sure they were all going to die, all they did was complain about the food and being bored.

Posted by: lowandslow at December 05, 2021 11:53 AM (4thlk)

397 Julie Adams looks nice in the pic

Posted by: CN...FJB at December 05, 2021 11:54 AM (ONvIw)

398 One problem with the call to leave reviews on Amazon: Amazon will not let you post a review unless your account has spent $50 or more in the past six months.

On another note, this week I am reading "All In a Day's Work", the autobiography of Ida Tarbell. She was the muckraking journalist of the turn of the last century, whose groundbreaking "History of the Standard Oil Company" led to Rockefeller's oil monopoly being broken up. Hers is a fascinating life. Yes, she had to deal with the limitations that were imposed on women in the 19th century, but she overcame or bypassed them, without griping about it. She came by her anti-Rockefeller stance honestly, since she was raised in Titusville, Pa., which is where the first oil wells in the US were drilled, and her father's business deal with oil - he made barrels for storing and shipping the stuff. She writes very well, is candid about her mistakes and limitations, and tells lots of good stories. It's available on gutenberg.org for free. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Nemo at December 05, 2021 11:54 AM (S6ArX)

399 An intentional portmanteau of scum + schmucks?
Posted by: Count de Monet, Unvaccinated Meatbag at December 05, 2021 11:52 AM (4I/2K)

LOL, no just a lousy typist

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 05, 2021 11:54 AM (Irn0L)

400 Benny @bennyjohnson
Trump on General Milley telling him to leave the military equipment in Afghanistan:

"That's when I realized he was a fucking idiot."

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 11:55 AM (UHVv4)

401 vaccine or protection and the media was sure they were all going to die, all they did was complain about the food and being bored.

Posted by: lowandslow

Yep. I had the same thoughts then fot the same reasons.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 05, 2021 11:55 AM (pTHOC)

402 351 My guess for the "who dis" is Maila Nurmi aka Vampira.

Posted by: moviegique at December 05, 2021 11:21 AM (asXVI)

Another reasonable, but alas, wrong, guess. Correct answer is at #81.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 11:55 AM (sNBgP)

403 I was hunting for new kid books, well new to the grandsons, and hit upon a book I liked as a kid called Understood Betsey, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. Fisher became a big lefty but she has been cancelled because of some possible, but unsubstantiated, interest in eugenics in the 20s. Vermont changed the name of the award named for her.

Posted by: CN...FJB at December 05, 2021 11:56 AM (ONvIw)

404 LOL, no just a lousy typist
Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 05, 2021 11:54 AM (Irn0L)

Still, take credit for that one.

Posted by: Count de Monet, Unvaccinated Meatbag at December 05, 2021 11:56 AM (4I/2K)

405 Morning Hordemates.
Am reading the History of the Atomic Bomb by Rhodes.
Not bad actually. I have found my high school physics allows me to understand the early developed concepts and experiments.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 05, 2021 11:58 AM (axyOa)

406 I'm nearly done with Wm. Shirer's End of A Berlin Diary. Things that struck me about this examination of the immediate postwar era:

Shirer hobnobs with people like Edward R. Murrow, Howard K. Smith, and other WWII-era reporters. He drops lots of names and "lunches" with a lot of foreign government functionaries. His reading list includes classical Greek works and more recent European heavyweights like Mann and Joyce. He lets you know about it. Repeatedly.

Shirer really despises the German people. He sees them as overbearing and brutal in victory and posturing themselves as victims in defeat. All supported the Nazis in 1940 but somehow, all secretly opposed them from the start in 1945, or so they all claim.

He clearly has socialist, if not communist sympathies. Even so, he still comes across as a patriotic American. In that he is so unlike modern "journalists" who would NEVER utter a supportive word for their own country or its system of values. I can imagine him being repulsed by what journalism has become today with its agenda-driven dishonesty and its woke bullshit.

It makes for a very illuminating look into a time capsule from a bygone era.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 05, 2021 11:58 AM (VxC1e)

407 Welp, that was a long constitutional with the lively and energetic Mrs naturalfake.

Lessee what's up thread.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 05, 2021 11:59 AM (5NkmN)

408 I got an admit to UC Berkeley in 1971. So never saw that library.

Didn't have any money to go. Sad.

Posted by: torabora at December 05, 2021 12:00 PM (U0p6D)

409 370 Back from a nap. Whud i miss?
Posted by: SFGoth at December 05, 2021 11:32 AM (KAi1n)

We all voted you off the island. Go back to sleep.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 12:00 PM (sNBgP)

410 348 329 I think one of the reasons the Gospel spread so far and so fast was because Paul founded the first Christian communities in major trading cities.
A very smart man.

Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 11:11 AM (AwPyG)

He also made use of all the Roman-built roads and koine greek being a widely used language.

God did a lot of prep work to insure His gospel would spread quickly.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at December 05, 2021 11:18 AM (sNBgP)

It also happened at a time that Mithraism, the primary religion of the Legions themselves, was going through some type of crises... as it went away very very quickly, with almost no remnants left to tell us what its doctrines really were.

Posted by: Romeo13 at December 05, 2021 12:00 PM (oHd/0)

411 Upthread -> the Red Army and Stalin's lack of preparedness both offensive and defensive are best viewed through the prism of Finland's Winter War. A good case can be made that if Stalin had not invaded Finland and got 150,000+ troops killed that the Krauts would've easily taken Moscow. The carnage Finn ski squads inflicted upon RA troops is shattering - simply look at the photographic evidence documented on the Raate road.

Posted by: 13times at December 05, 2021 12:00 PM (9rMWy)

412 SURPRISE NOOD

Posted by: Skip guy who says NOOD at December 05, 2021 12:01 PM (2JoB8)

413 AOC Complains About Biden Admin Not Cancelling Her Student Loan Debt

-
Poor baby!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 12:01 PM (FVME7)

414 Benny @bennyjohnson
Trump on General Milley telling him to leave the military equipment in Afghanistan:
"That's when I realized he was a fucking idiot."
Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 11:55 AM (UHVv4)

Oh what foul language! I am so glad Joe Biden is in the white house.

Now off to fill my car up for $379.00.

Posted by: Democrat voters, grifters and preverts at December 05, 2021 12:01 PM (R/m4+)

415 There are four prime American prose writers (IMHO) who excel in clarity, style and compentence: Lincoln, Twain. H. Beam Piper and David Drake.
I once tried to get into sentence diagramming to figure out what made Piper's prose so good.
Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 10:37 AM (ZM

It sounds like you love beautiful sentences and figuring out what makes them work. I think you'd love Ward Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric. Its a great read; not at all dry or stuffy.

Posted by: LASue at December 05, 2021 12:02 PM (Ed8Zd)

416 Everyone knows the names of virtually every school shooter we have. That's incentive enough for a lot of these guys.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 05, 2021 11:33 AM

For hoaxers, the incentive is the fun of forcing adults to investigate and the possible reward of time off school. It's been really bad since the beginning of November, after the first marking period grades went out and reality set in with the younger teens. School is really staying open. Attendance counts. Missing work can't be blamed on technical difficulties.

The hoaxes have gotten so out of hand that just this Friday, a kid was arrested and charged with a 20-year felony for posting a threat to a middle school in another part of Oakland County. He's only 13.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 12:05 PM (/+bwe)

417 Late to the thread. I'm reading the Fourth Turning by Strauss and Howe.

They are liberals (Harvard and Yale educated) but they are on to something with the generational, cyclical patterns of our culture. Eye opening to realize we're now in what they call the Crisis phase, which has always culminated in a major war.

I believe Strauss has passed on, but thankfully he left this gem for us to ponder.

Posted by: squeakywheel at December 05, 2021 12:06 PM (UDSF6)

418 Bottled ink gets more complicated but I've found that Parker Quink is a very good everyday ink. All the colors work, not just black or blue. It also works well with dip pens.
Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 11:49 AM (7EjX1)

I like the Sheaffer ink, it works in all my fountain pens and for the dip pens as well.

The best deals in fountain pens are the Chinese ones, they have a number of providers that mix and match Euro and American fountain pen features. You can buy them on Amazon, You can get packs of three for a very good price, and they last longer than a Bic pen. I think they are all made in the same factory no matter what the branding is.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 05, 2021 12:12 PM (ZMraq)

419 Eye opening to realize we're now in what they call the Crisis phase, which has always culminated in a major war.

I believe Strauss has passed on, but thankfully he left this gem for us to ponder.
Posted by: squeakywheel at December 05, 2021 12:06 PM

I've added it to my list, though I almost don't want to read it! Thanks.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 05, 2021 12:13 PM (/+bwe)

420 I like Lamy for everyday writing. The pilots are nicer but more expensive. There are some nice chinese brands too. I've never owned an expensive pen, nothing more than fifty bucks. I have some lamy, jinhao and a single pilot.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 05, 2021 12:16 PM (XXeDg)

421 @178

Great Lion of God is about St Paul, by the wonderful Taylor Caldwell, a woman of faith who wrote excellent fiction.

Recommend it highly

She also wrote one called Dear Physician about St Luke, but I like the Paul one better.
Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:22 AM (AwPyG)

My mom had several Taylor Caldwell books. I always thought she was a he.

Posted by: LASue at December 05, 2021 12:20 PM (Ed8Zd)

422 The nuns didn't strap Alec Baldwin enough in school!
Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 05, 2021 11:40 AM (UHVv4)

You make a great point in jest, because this is something that I've thought about.

It's not that no assholes come out of Catholic schools, but Baldwin is exceptionally psychopathic as well as lacking in the ability to examine his own conscience.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 05, 2021 12:20 PM (mR6Gs)

423 "Shirer really despises the German people. He sees them as overbearing and brutal in victory and posturing themselves as victims in defeat. All supported the Nazis in 1940 but somehow, all secretly opposed them from the start in 1945, or so they all claim."

After seeing our own fellow citizens in action during the Trump and Covid years, I will never again hate the German people.

I now see how it can be done

Posted by: JoeF. at December 05, 2021 12:24 PM (mR6Gs)

424 If only Crumbley's terrible actions would have started with targeting his own parents and ended with himself, the world would be a better place....

Posted by: TxMarko at December 05, 2021 12:24 PM (7WLRC)

425 420 I like Lamy for everyday writing. The pilots are nicer but more expensive. There are some nice chinese brands too. I've never owned an expensive pen, nothing more than fifty bucks. I have some lamy, jinhao and a single pilot.
Posted by: banana Dream at December 05, 2021 12:16 PM (XXeDg)

I got my Phileas several years ago, when Waterman was selling a Calligraphy set that included the pen. It was something like $25 for the whole set, so it was a deal.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 05, 2021 12:26 PM (PiwSw)

426
After seeing our own fellow citizens in action during the Trump and Covid years, I will never again hate the German people.

I now see how it can be done
Posted by: JoeF. at December 05, 2021 12:24 PM (mR6Gs)

Agreed. Dorothy Thompson was too right in her assessments.

Posted by: CN...FJB at December 05, 2021 12:26 PM (ONvIw)

427 Note that if you have to write quickly -- taking notes, for example -- block print degrades less badly than cursive.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 05, 2021 10:57 AM (QZxDR)

Unless one chooses going to school for any kind of medical profession. That's when my and so many other's handwriting (and printing) went to shit.

Posted by: I'm The Other White Meat at December 05, 2021 12:33 PM (Fs5vw)

428 Noodler's ink is good. I have only two bottles, Heart of Darkness, and Blue. I am pretty sure I will never in my lifetime have to buy new ink.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 05, 2021 12:41 PM (XXeDg)

429 Shirer wanted to be loved by the American-Euro bohemian upper class. His book The Nightmare Years reveals much about his internal politics. Sent by his employer at the Chicago Tribune to the Moldovan-Transnistria border to report on the supposed famine in Ukraine (which he resents because the publisher Colonel McCormick is a protofascist republican). Shirer spends maybe four days near a bridge leading to the Ukraine interviewing Moldovans and famine refugees. He can't cross the bridge since it's guarded by Soviet machinegunners. Which doesn't pique his curiosity. He rates it a nothingburger - and subsequently devotes two short paragraphs to it in his articles and his book. The second greatest famine of the 20th century. And all he can talk about is rushing off to meet his wife at some central European bohemian enclave. Seriously. He says so in the book.

Posted by: 13times at December 05, 2021 12:48 PM (9rMWy)

430 I want to add that Shirer visited the Transnistria- Ukraine border midsummer 1932. I'm pretty sure of that. I have the book at home but I'm not a home atm. The spring and early summer of 1933 was the absolute peak of Stalin's terror famine.

Posted by: 13times at December 05, 2021 12:58 PM (9rMWy)

431 So the takeaway here is that you'll be helping out moron authors whose books you read by taking a few minutes to write a review and post it to Amazon.

Just so you know: all of this is true, and it really does help. Please review horde-authored books.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 05, 2021 01:19 PM (KZzsI)

432 Seems like that library has a lot more space than it does books to fill them. But then it is Berkeley, so ...

Posted by: Slow Learner at December 05, 2021 02:23 PM (klu5V)

433 229:
"Biden's meeting with Putin on Tuesday." He's meeting with Putin on the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor? Is he trying for a day of infamy even more infamous than that one? If he gives away enough vital American interests, he could do that. Of course, literally shitting Putin's couch on camera would be spectacularly infamous without directly damaging U.S. interests, so we can always hope for that.

Posted by: Dr. Weevil at December 05, 2021 02:55 PM (Ksezh)

434 I am currently reading G8 and his Flying Aces, its book 1 in a long series of pulp action WWI pilot books with wild and crazy adventures. Book one features giant poison-breathing bats.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 05, 2021 03:05 PM (KZzsI)

435 Glad to see the Horde having an affinity for fountain pens.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at December 05, 2021 03:17 PM (ABc29)

436 Good afternoon to all. Late again to the party, as usual, but it was interesting to read everything (some comments twice). Nice to see H. Beam Piper and Cordwainer Smith mentioned - I read a few of their works years ago when I was in school and was quite smitten by them. I may dig them out again just for old times sake. Currently reading the second volume of William Manchester's biography of Churchill, "Alone, 1932-1940." An impressive work, with lots of lessons for today. On the subject of Hitler and Stalin, Alan Bullock wrote an excellent study, "Hitler and Stalin, Parallel Lives." I highly recommend it.

Posted by: Retired, thank God at December 05, 2021 04:09 PM (Ce+MI)

437 Almost all of Beam Piper's published works are out of copyright, and available at Project Gutenberg.

Posted by: Pope John the 20th at December 05, 2021 04:41 PM (Ap+cR)

438 And that's how Amazon reviews became worthless.

Posted by: goodluckduck at December 05, 2021 05:01 PM (pCXlW)

439 After seeing our own fellow citizens in action during the Trump and Covid years, I will never again hate the German people.

I now see how it can be done
Posted by: JoeF.

I got into trouble in Jr. High German class for making a German = Nazi joke causing the teacher to launch into a it-can-happen-here, don't-think-it-couldn't-happen-here diatribe. I guess she was right.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 05, 2021 05:30 PM (FVME7)

440 Julie Adams

I dont have all day to read the entire comments thread so I dont know if I'm first or not

Did a lot of westerns in the 50'ds but best known for ,Cresture From The Black Lagoon.

Also did a lot of early TV.

Posted by: Bill at December 05, 2021 06:31 PM (lhvb+)

441 BTW, for Chuck Connors fans, he played a comic character in an episode of the old Superman TV series.

Posted by: JTB at December 05, 2021 09:22 PM (7EjX1)

442 273 I think a lot of engineer-types use that block print style.

fine motor coordination is not their strong suit
Posted by: artemis at December 05, 2021 10:50 AM (AwPyG)

For us old farts , it was two semesters of _Engineering Drawing_ out of the Civil Engr department. Only block print was acceptable. Hated the courses because every mistake cut into my beer money. Homework assignment: Nib pen ink on vellum, no erasures accepted. Vellum was expensive.

Younger guys? Another failure of the "Education Establishment". Teaching cursive requires knowledge and effort, both of which are in short supply in the low-SAT-high-GPA bunch.

Posted by: buddhaha at December 07, 2021 10:18 AM (fgnqM)

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