Support




Contact
Ace:
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD:
cbd.aoshq at gee mail.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
Powered by
Movable Type





Sunday Morning Book Thread - 09-25-2022 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]



++++++++++

092522-Library.JPG

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever
guilty pleasure
we feel like reading (I bought this solely for the cover--but thoroughly enjoyed the story!). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material, even if it's nothing more than a history of Nazi atrocities. As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing
these pants
...(inspired by one of today's Moron Recommendations)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, warm up some leftover banana bread, and crack open a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Libraries are not just about books. The library in which I work (but do not work for) is hosting a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Museum over the next few weeks. We had an opening reception for this exhibit last Sunday. The pic above is a selection of Holocaust-themed books to commemmorate this event. I have been privileged enough to visit two concentration camps in my life (Dachau and Flossenbürg). Very sobering experiences. You can view a pic of the exhibit in our library HERE.

UPDATE FROM LAST WEEK: So last week I shared a picture of a book called A Book About a Thousand Things by George Stimpson. It's basically a book of miscellaneous trivia. I checked it out from the library this week to actually read it and discovered the following question inside: "What is a moron?" Turns out that the "modern" definition (in 1946) comes from a 1910 meeting of the American Association of the Study of the Feeble-Minded. Morons were declared to be "those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years" (p. 392).

TXMOME GREAT BOOK GIVEAWAY!

The TXMOME is only 26 days away from today! Thanks to the generosity of several Moron Authors, we will have a number of excellent books to give away as door prizes! You must be present to win, so contact Ben Had to sign up for the TXMOME today! (Email link is in the left hand sidebar...)

Here are the Moron Authors who will be contributing:


  • Gary Rafferty

  • Sabrina Chase

  • Thomas J. Doscher

  • Matt DeLorenzo

  • William Leonard

And there will be a few more books by Moron Authors, donated by Yours Truly...

++++++++++

092522-Joke.jpg
(HT: mindful webworker)

++++++++++

WHERE TO SEND STORIES?

Aspiring Moron Author OrangeEnt sent me the following question:


Hi Perfessor,

I've pretty much finished a short story and I've thought about what to do with it. I googled "where to send stories" and had a lot of hits on it. My question would be what rights do professional writers look for when selling something? One place I'm considering submitting to says they claim "first North American publishing rights" then the rights go back to the writer for other uses. Is there something pro writers look for, or is there a standard rights clause? Is it the same whether using a traditional publishing house, gen circulation magazines, or anthologies? I'm just trying to find out what is standard and what to avoid when I get around to trying to sell my writings.

Thanks,

OrangeEnt

Perhaps our esteemed Moron Authors could enlighten the rest of us about "publishing rights" in the comments below. From my own little digging on the subject, it seems like there are several different kinds of rights available to authors so it helps to know what they are to help maximize your revenue stream. You don't want to just give everything up if you have an opportunity to sell your work in multiple places...

Thoughts?

++++++++++

BOOKS BY MORONS


fed-up.jpg

Readers might like these:

FED UP is about a mild-mannered citizen screwed by the system who decides to set things right.

EDEN WILL BE DETROYED is a spoof on the Garden of Eden story, using modern politically correct ideas as the cause of The Fall.

Enjoy,

H. Narcissus Petit

++++++++++

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS


The classic novel I relied on in elementary school was The Three Musketeers. I had an ancient hardback that one of my siblings likely forgot to return to the library, and it was the perfect rainy afternoon read.

Posted by: Moki at September 18, 2022 09:10 AM (JrN/x)

Comment: I, too, really enjoyed this book when I read it many years ago. I think it truly embraces all definitions of "classic." It's just a timeless tale of adventure and heroism for the ages. I've also enjoyed most of the adaptations I've seen of this story. Highly recommended!

+++++


Recently I've been reading Food and Drink in Medieval Poland by Maria Dembinska, a book donated to the Little Free MoMe Library by an 'ette of great learning at the Yakima MoMe this year. I of course have to sample donated books (for quality!) and this intrigued me. Further intrigue was provided in the preface, where the phrase "smuggled out of Poland" shows up, something rarely said about cookbooks but such was the depravity of Communist Poland in 1983. (Ms. Dembinska bribed a border guard with a silver heirloom to get the book out to the West). It's a bit academic (originally a doctoral thesis) but quite interesting. And the political subterfuge adds a piquant flavor especially in these piping times. I shall see if it provides any helpful hints on baking files into cakes to help political prisoners escape.

Morons may be interested in such recipes as "Beer Soup with Cheese and Eggs".

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at September 18, 2022 09:12 AM (zNcSj)

Comment: How repressive do you have to be to suppress a cookbook from your native country from escaping out into the world? Is Polish cooking really that bad? Wonder if The Deplorable Gourmet will be banned any time soon...On a lighter note, Sabrina Chase has donated several of her books to be given away as prizes at the TXMOME this year! A few lucky winners will walk away with free, signed copies!

+++++


Bridge of Birds and the two following novels by Barry Hughart.
A novel of China that never was.
You will not be sorry you read this series. Rumored to become a film for many years, but I'm not sure a film could ever do it justice.

Posted by: 42 at September 18, 2022 11:21 AM (H9VVh)

Comment: Barry Hughart is a fairly obscure fantasy author, and that's a shame because his novels are exceptional. Master Li (who has a slight flaw to his character) is an outrageously funny expy of Sherlock Holmes, and his sidekick Number Ten Ox serves as the voice of common sense and peasant wisdom. All of Hughart's books depict a deep dive into ancient Chinese mythology. And the covers on all three are just gorgeous. I highly recommend Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen.

+++++


As a classic, I would suggest, Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. On its surface it is the story of a boy becoming a man, but it is full of brilliant observations on human nature and the sort of people you will meet in life. Read it at 15 and you will learn alot; read it again at 30 and you will understand how little you actually knew when you were 15. Highly recommended for young morons.

Posted by: Slash Buzz at September 18, 2022 11:40 AM (0O3aP)

Comment: Tom Jones is another one of those books I picked up from the English department's community bookshelf many years ago. I had heard of it, but I've never gotten around to reading it...I shall have to do that sometime in the near future, I think.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (422 Moron-recommended books so far!)

+-----+-----+-----+-----+

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:


  • The Joiner King by Troy Denning -- This is Book I of Star Wars: Legends - Dark Nest series. Just mindless entertainment, for the most part...

  • The Unseen Queen by Troy Denning -- Book II of Star Wars: Legends - Dark Nest.
  • The Swarm War by Troy Denning -- Book III and the thrilling conclusion of Star Wars: Legends - Dark Nest.
  • A Book About a Thousand Things by George Stimpson -- It has some very interesting facts about, well, a thousand different things. Some of them may very well be outdated, but were as accurate as possible given the knowledge available at the time. Fun read.
  • Firstborn by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook -- First volume in the Dragonlance: Elven Nations Trilogy, when the elves of Krynn split into two factions: the Silvanesti and Qualinesti (a woman was involved).


That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding my Sunday Morning Book Thread. This is a very special place. You are very special people (in all the best ways!). The kindness, generosity, and wisdom of the Moron Horde knows no bounds. Let's keep reading!

Oh, and Amazon's Rings of Power continues to be a dumpster fire of a story for an epic fantasy. I have never seen anyone set over $1 billion on fire with such enthusiasm, unless they worked for the federal government, of course.

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or writing projects that you'd like to see on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, you can send them to perfessor dot squirrel at-sign gmail dot com. Your feedback is always appreciated! You can also take a virtual tour of OUR library at libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel. Since I added sections for AoSHQ, I now consider it OUR library, rather than my own personal fiefdom...

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 09-18-22 (hat tip: vmom stabby stabby stabamillion) (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

092522-ClosingSquirrel.jpg
("Huggy" Squirrel will rebuild Eden in his image!)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Hello bibliophiles!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:00 AM (Dc2NZ)

2 Thanks for the book thread, man.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 25, 2022 09:00 AM (dNqv+)

3 Tolle Lege!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at September 25, 2022 09:01 AM (PiwSw)

4 Currently doing a re-read of the Honor Harrington series.

Posted by: vic /s at September 25, 2022 09:01 AM (mZwKe)

5 Good morning all you bibleeohtechs, bibleofiles, book readers.

Posted by: Tonypete at September 25, 2022 09:01 AM (LsEU/)

6 Tolle Lege
Can't put down Dominic Lieven Russia Against Napoleon, it's a wealth of information on the interactions of the Russian commanders.
And staying in the same vein have a book on Russian tactics of the Napoleonic wars coming

Posted by: Skip at September 25, 2022 09:02 AM (xhxe8)

7 I checked the front page. No book thread.
I wrote a comment for the tech thread.
I checked the front page and still no book thread.
I hit post for the comment, check the front page, and the book thread is up.
Remarkable.

Posted by: mindful webworker - a page right out of history at September 25, 2022 09:02 AM (8NNF8)

8 Is that book a Guilty Pleasure because the word "oriental" is on the cover?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:03 AM (Dc2NZ)

9 "Oh, and Amazon's Rings of Power continues to be a dumpster fire of a story for an epic fantasy. I have never seen anyone set over $1 billion on fire with such enthusiasm, unless they worked for the federal government, of course."

I keep wondering what is going through Bezos' head. He wanted a buzzworthy generator like Game of Thrones (and he was an idiot in not realizing Tolkien is the AntiMartin- or Martin is the AntiTolkien.) What he has gotten is Ishtar. And calling fans of the source racists will accomplish nothing but harden their will. I do not think he is an ideologue, just a fool. And he has been used by his HR dept to accomplish THEIR will.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 25, 2022 09:04 AM (dNqv+)

10 LOL

Perfesser escalates the TX MoMee peer pressure!



...hmm, did I read any books this week?

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 25, 2022 09:05 AM (llON8)

11 They didn't want that cookbook escaping the Iron Curtain because pierogis build Slavic supermen.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:06 AM (Dc2NZ)

12 Morning, Perfessor..

I was betting the pic was in DIY section of the Reading Room at the FBI.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 25, 2022 09:07 AM (Wmbtn)

13 Still with "Shield." Much discussion about how tyranny forms and the risks of rebelling. This would have been much more enjoyable just three years ago.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:08 AM (Om/di)

14 Didn't get around to reading anything this week except internet posts.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 09:10 AM (7bRMQ)

15 I read The Terminal List by Jack Carr. This is one of the better thrillers that I have read. Navy Seal James Reece is exacting revenge on those who planned the ambush which wiped out most of his Seal team in Afghanistan, and who slaughtered his family in Coronado. It wasn't foreign terrorists calling the shots, but members of his own chain of command to very high levels along with rich important businessmen.

This is the first book in the James Reece series which has five books so far. Jack Carr is a former navy Seal, so he knows of which he writes. The next in the series is True Believer, which I will be reading soon.

Posted by: Zoltan at September 25, 2022 09:11 AM (0ipkK)

16 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Food and Drink in Medieval Poland looks fascinating. There is a hardcover copy on Thriftbooks right now. $63.60. A bit more than I'm willing to pay right now this minute, sigh.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at September 25, 2022 09:11 AM (OX9vb)

17 Good Morning!

I'm humbled, Perfesser! Glad you share similar affection for one of my childhood favorites!!!

We visited Dachau in 2008, and it was a truly humbling experience. Treblinka also, or what was left of it. The Germans tried to hide the evidence of what they had been doing by destroying the compound, but bits remained. If any of the Horde has an opportunity to go to one of these places, do so. Make the effort, endure the pain or discomfort. It pales in comparison to what those who suffered there endured, and they deserve to be remembered.

Posted by: Moki at September 25, 2022 09:11 AM (JrN/x)

18 Hey, Prof --

I appreciate the countdown clock, and today's cartoon made me laugh. Even though I'm not a writer and have no wish to be one.

I'm curious as to how you decided which book cover to put in the column and which to pimp.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:12 AM (Om/di)

19 Been reading that A.H. Llloyd guy's Long Live Death. It's amusing (and not so much) to see how the commies have been consistently asshoe over the years. There are definitely some similarities to our current situation, but it has also got me thinking about the possible / likely *differences*.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 25, 2022 09:12 AM (llON8)

20 I recently finished "Hero of the Empire" by Candice Millard, which was on the list of moron recommendations that Perfesser links to each week. It's a book about Winston Churchill's early years, primarily his time as a war correspondent and captive during the Second Boer War. It's very good until Churchill's capture and then it becomes un-put-downable. Very enjoyable.

The more I read about Churchill, the more I realize what a singular person he was. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend "Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill" by Sonia Purnell. (It's Clemen-TEEN, BTW.) She was a remarkable woman in her own right and possibly the only wife who would not have murdered or divorced Winston. As brilliant and strong-willed as he was, Churchill could not have been Churchill without her.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at September 25, 2022 09:12 AM (fTtFy)

21 Kind of wanted to see the new Ken Burns almost kinda close to history story but its seems to have much tongue bathing of FDR.
If fair and balance it could have pointed out that FDR over the years used ZERO to 50% of the German Immigration allowed by law and even to the point when pointed out he could have done a MAKE UP to go back 8 or 9 years. Maybe saving an additional 200k to 400k Jews. Also missed the point US took in about 200k Jews when UK took in about 300k and USSR maybe close to 350k.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 09:13 AM (BRHaw)

22 Satisfying my insatiable SF jones with Alan Smale's "Hot Moon", an alternate history story set in 1979 where the Soviets beat us in the race to the moon by two months. A decade later, both sides have bases and orbiting stations. The story begins with Apollo 23 mission commander Vivian Carter being dropped off at orbiting station Columbia (basically an upgraded Skylab) for a televised interview with Walter Cronkite before the they descend to the moon on a scientific mission. Things go bonkers when the Russians launch a surprise attack on Columbia station, with Viv making a hair's breadth escape back to Apollo 23 before they are out of range completely. The crew manage to reestablish comms with CAPCOM and are given new landing site coordinates. Carter and her pilot touch down at Hadley Base -- which is also soon under attack from the Russians!

It's a real nailbiter of a story and I am enjoying it immensely.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:14 AM (Dc2NZ)

23 I'm curious as to how you decided which book cover to put in the column and which to pimp.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:12 AM (Om/di)
---
Mostly space...Two books wouldn't fit in the space nice and neat, so I decided to use the first book as the one inline with the text and the other one as "Huggy" Squirrel's weekly reading material.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022 09:15 AM (K5n5d)

24 I'm curious as to how you decided which book cover to put in the column and which to pimp.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:12 AM (Om/di)
---

I'm sure money changes hands.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:15 AM (Dc2NZ)

25 Fielding’s Tom Jones is the fountainhead of the Modern English novel.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 09:17 AM (qKnWc)

26 Morning, book peoplez!

I'm reading my first Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust, thanks to glowing comments from people here. I'm enjoying it. Not the sort of stuff I would have liked when I was younger, I think . . . though Waugh's style reminds me very much of Anthony Berkeley (Cox), aka Francis Iles of Before the Fact fame. And I love that book.

The two were contemporaries -- Cox published his first detective stories in the '20s and BtF dates to '32, while Waugh's book is from '34. Both have this sort of poker-faced humor plus satirical portraits of the British upper- and middle-class of the time.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 09:17 AM (c6xtn)

27 OrangeEnt, you're not alone. I get most book reading done on Sunday nights, when MeTV has nothing to interest me.

Once the cycle of "Perry Mason" ends, I'll use that time to catch up -- or I may watch DVDs.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:17 AM (Om/di)

28 Helena Handbasket if you read Pipes's Russian Revolution you'll see it hasn't changed since then. We are reliving it again and again.

Posted by: Skip at September 25, 2022 09:18 AM (xhxe8)

29 Tom Jones is another one of those books I picked up from the English department's community bookshelf many years ago. I had heard of it, but I've never gotten around to reading it...I shall have to do that sometime in the near future, I think.

Just be careful that you don't find ladies panties or room keys inside!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 09:19 AM (7bRMQ)

30 Nuts in the cellular tower make it difficult for me to get my audio books. We're going to have to correct that.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at September 25, 2022 09:19 AM (w2Z7l)

31 Maybe saving an additional 200k to 400k Jews. Also missed the point US took in about 200k Jews when UK took in about 300k and USSR maybe close to 350k.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 09:13 AM (BRHaw)
---
Yes, but that would have made it even harder for legacy WASPs to make it into the Ivy League. Priorities, my good man.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:19 AM (llXky)

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

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 09:20 AM (7EjX1)

33 As a Jew, I found it really difficult to read books like The Diary of Anne Frank or watch Schindler's list.
Then I read Exodus by Leon Uris. It made a difference.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 25, 2022 09:22 AM (Y+l9t)

34 I just ran across this on Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools website (I know he's a big lib, but there is some good stuff there)

A list of Alternate History novels (goes to Wikipedia)

https://is.gd/cSDU20



Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at September 25, 2022 09:22 AM (PiwSw)

35 We've previously discussed the transition, in science fiction and fantasy, from short stories and standalone novels to epic series. In SF particularly, this has resulted in a change of emphasis from exploring ideas to one of creating immersion in a world. Here, the fellow opines that SF is losing its fundamental core:

https://tinyurl.com/naeamfvd

I think one reason is that periodicals, the main vehicle for short stories, just aren't that important anymore. There are plenty of terrific anthologies being published, but it's not the same.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:22 AM (Dc2NZ)

36 A thank you to the Moron that mentioned the Audible book, Travels With Charley, read by Gary Sinise. It is wonderful to listen to. I wish I had been able to make by move with a comfortable place to sleep at night!

I am trying to do more Audible books and watch fewer videos. I get frustrated at the pace sometimes since I am a fast reader.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 25, 2022 09:24 AM (uz3Px)

37 Speaking of lost classics, "Arundel" is an absolute kick to read. It's an adventure story/coming of age/historical fiction story that tracks the troop of men from the town of Arundel, Maine in the Revolutionary War. They travel overland, in horrific conditions to attack Quebec City. They are led by Benedict Arnold, who despite his traitorous end, was an original bad-ass leader. It is a great winter evening-by the fire, type book.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 25, 2022 09:25 AM (7Fj9P)

38 Recommend(not a new release): "You Have The Right to Remain Innocent" by James Duane.

A book along the lines of "Three Felonies a Day" by Harvey Silvergate.

Know your rights fellow Ettes, Fatbros and Morons.

Posted by: Danimal28 at September 25, 2022 09:25 AM (UtHxr)

39 While I wait for the China revisions to roll in, I've been taking a break and getting into some other work.

I re-read Air War South Atlantic by Jeffrey Ethell and Alfred Price. This is a 1983 account of the Falklands War from the air perspective. It's a good read and was published in the immediate aftermath of the war. It is primarily based on the first-hand accounts of pilots on both sides, and the authors include a table of aircraft losses which differs from the official account.

It does not focus much on the ground fighting, but it gives a great sense of how much aerial combat has changed since then. The early-gen British SAMs simply did not work that well and once the Army got its batteries set up on land, they (typically) placed them with regard to their positions, not defending the supply ships they so desperately needed. This was remedied only after near-disaster.

This is very much in the line of the contemporaneous WW II pilot biographies/memoirs that were so prevalent at the time. My copy is a "SPECIAL ACTION PHOTO EDITION" which means it has grainy black and white photos tucked in it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:26 AM (llXky)

40 >>> 35 We've previously discussed the transition, in science fiction and fantasy, from short stories and standalone novels to epic series. In SF particularly, this has resulted in a change of emphasis from exploring ideas to one of creating immersion in a world. Here, the fellow opines that SF is losing its fundamental core:

https://tinyurl.com/naeamfvd

I think one reason is that periodicals, the main vehicle for short stories, just aren't that important anymore. There are plenty of terrific anthologies being published, but it's not the same.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:22 AM (Dc2NZ)

My father had a subscription to Analog forever, and I had my own after I moved out for several years. I can't remember exactly when or why I failed to renew but they were not immune to the 'woke' stupidity.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 25, 2022 09:26 AM (llON8)

41 Stirling just proved his worth yet again. He spotted a slow-moving wasp on the wall behind my head. I removed him, sprayed and chopped it into pieces, then rewarded him with some wet Friskies shreds. This is something like the 3rd or 4th time he's proved his value as a watchcat!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 09:26 AM (c6xtn)

42 Oh, and for those who enjoy Rob Kroese's stuff (the Iron Dragon series was Awesome!), he has another Kickstarter going on that hit its goal 48 hours after launch, but it's still open if you want to participate:

https://is.gd/sNVmBl

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at September 25, 2022 09:27 AM (PiwSw)

43 I've been reading Scourge of God by William Dietrich. I don't know much about ancient history, I'm sorry to say, so I really don't even know how this ends. I'm at the point in the book where the Huns are approaching Rome. I really need to get some books on world history.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at September 25, 2022 09:28 AM (OX9vb)

44 The library in which I work (but do not work for) is hosting a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Museum over the next few weeks.
======================
If you ever find yourself in D.C., do not miss the Holocaust Museum. It is really well done, and an almost cinematic experience. Amazing architecture and interior spaces, too.
This would contrast with the African American museum, which is seemingly intentionally horrible design. it's an absolute blight on the Mall.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 25, 2022 09:29 AM (7Fj9P)

45 Stirling just proved his worth yet again. He spotted a slow-moving wasp on the wall behind my head. I removed him, sprayed and chopped it into pieces, then rewarded him with some wet Friskies shreds. This is something like the 3rd or 4th time he's proved his value as a watchcat!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 09:26 AM (c6xtn)
---
Our older cat Mittens excels at this. She mostly naps but her head will come up and she'll start staring at something, and it's often a stinging insect.

The younger cat, Dakota, is the mouser. Of course, she also "kills" stray socks or similar sized items and announces her victory with a loud (for her) meow of triumph. Sometimes, it's a mouse.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:29 AM (llXky)

46 Also, this week, OrangeENT let me read his short story based on the Hopper painting, Nighthawks at the Diner. It's a good story, with pre-WWII intrigue. He was really gracious about pushing back against my over-reach in editing suggestions.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at September 25, 2022 09:31 AM (OX9vb)

47 I read Treblinka (sp?) when I was way too young, ten to twelve or whatever. I think it had just come out, and my mother had read it.
She warned me it was harsh, but said it would be good for me. She was right, and it always stuck with this boston irish boy. Made me more than a bit different.

Posted by: From about that time at September 25, 2022 09:32 AM (4780s)

48 In the guilty pleasure category...

My dear mother passed recently and while visiting my dad a couple of weeks ago he mentioned there was some of my childhood stuff boxed-up in the basement that my mom had saved if I wanted to take a look at it.

Among the stuff, I found a box full of the Kenneth Robeson Doc Savage paperbacks (I think Robeson was just a pen name for these, which were reprints of the original stories). Back in the 70s, I bought every one of these as soon as they were released using the money I earned from my paper route. I couldn't believe she kept them. Brought a tear to my eye.

They had great covers.

https://tinyurl.com/2h2tu2fy

Anyway, I've been reading through them again this week. They fit in the guilty pleasure category. Having a ton of fun. (It's a little weird holding these books again that I last held as a boy.)

Posted by: Biergood at September 25, 2022 09:33 AM (FQWHA)

49 Last week Ace discussed sleep strategies and my book reading is part of this. I have a bedside book and my other (alert) reading. Based on the discussion of Rings of Power, I've picked up the Silmarillion again, and this time I'm reading it by paying closer attention to the world of the Unseen in the Bible. I'm looking at ways Tolkien's account meshes with Genesis.

It is very relaxing in troubling times, helping me doze off. Believe it or not, Air War South Atlantic was holding this slot because I'd already read it and I find books of that sort familiar.

My other reading is Peter Kemp's memoir of the Spanish Civil War, Mine Were of Trouble. I'm almost finished (and so is the Republic!) and I will probably read the next two books in the series. He is a typical British writer of the 1930s - witty, erudite and generally unflappable. Too bad the stiff upper lip went away.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:35 AM (llXky)

50 Memory is pretty unreliable. Treblinka came out in '67, I was 16. That actually fits in better for the impression it made on me.

Posted by: From about that time at September 25, 2022 09:36 AM (4780s)

51 I've been reading the "Noir Fatale" and "No Game for Knights" anthologies edited by Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell.

The theme is film noir-like stories set in science fiction and fantasy worlds. NGFK focuses on the hardboiled detective archetype, while NF focuses on the femmes fatale.

Recommended if you enjoy noir and/or non-woke science fiction.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 25, 2022 09:37 AM (bW8dp)

52 The more I read about Churchill, the more I realize what a singular person he was.
========================
He had an amazing life. He had so many accomplishments, it's easy to glaze over what an incredibly well rounded person he was. Our local university hosted a showing of his collected paintings, and the man could have had a standalone career as a fine artist. He entered a juried show under an assumed name, and won. His paintings of N. Africa are so evocative; I think I got a sunburn viewing them.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 25, 2022 09:37 AM (7Fj9P)

53 Those pants are fine. I would wear them to blend in with the wallpaper in our bathroom.

Posted by: Guy hiding in the bathroom at September 25, 2022 09:38 AM (sn5EN)

54 I don't think the pants guy owns a weedwhacker. (if you catch my drift....)

Posted by: JT at September 25, 2022 09:38 AM (T4tVD)

55 hiya

Posted by: JT at September 25, 2022 09:38 AM (T4tVD)

56 Anyway, I've been reading through them again this week. They fit in the guilty pleasure category. Having a ton of fun. (It's a little weird holding these books again that I last held as a boy.)

Posted by: Biergood at September 25, 2022 09:33 AM (FQWHA)
---
A few years back I dug out my Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs and put on some 70s tunes and it was like a time warp.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:38 AM (llXky)

57 I think a good many of you would enjoy Mortimer Adler’s How To Read A Book. I would recommend the 1940 edition over the 1960 one.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 09:40 AM (qKnWc)

58 I want to know who got a look at my desk. (At least after I had 'organized' it.) The first panel was a good example of fantasy.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 09:41 AM (7EjX1)

59 The mention of the Holocaust also reminds me that I recently reread "Maus: a Survivor's Tale" by Art Spiegelman. These are stories of Spiegelman's father's experiences in WWII in graphic novel form.

Gut-wrenching stuff.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 25, 2022 09:41 AM (bW8dp)

60 Thanks, Perfesser Squirrel! I for one am glad we are all here today, following the memorable non-events of 9/24, to read your post and hobnob in the comments.

Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022 09:41 AM (4I/2K)

61 Also, this week, OrangeENT let me read his short story based on the Hopper painting, Nighthawks at the Diner. It's a good story, with pre-WWII intrigue. He was really gracious about pushing back against my over-reach in editing suggestions.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at September 25, 2022 09:31 AM (OX9vb)

Wait til you read the rewrite! I sent it a few minutes ago, btw.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 09:42 AM (7bRMQ)

62 57 I think a good many of you would enjoy Mortimer Adler’s How To Read A Book. I would recommend the 1940 edition over the 1960 one.
Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022


***
As Will Cuppy once wrote about this book: "It was too late. I'd already read one."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 09:42 AM (c6xtn)

63 A few years back I dug out my Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs and put on some 70s tunes and it was like a time warp.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Ha! I should find a copy of the Kiss Destroyer album to play while reading these.

Posted by: Biergood at September 25, 2022 09:43 AM (FQWHA)

64 Thanks, Perfesser Squirrel! I for one am glad we are all here today, following the memorable non-events of 9/24, to read your post and hobnob in the comments.
Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022 09:41 AM (4I/2K)
---
Heh. Forgot all about that. I wonder if J.J. will cover it in tomorrow's MR?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022 09:43 AM (K5n5d)

65 Wait til you read the rewrite! I sent it a few minutes ago, btw.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 09:42 AM (7bRMQ

Awesome! I have a busy day ahead, after book thread, so it will be tomorrow before I have a chance to read it. I look forward to it!

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at September 25, 2022 09:43 AM (OX9vb)

66 I want to know who got a look at my desk. (At least after I had 'organized' it.) The first panel was a good example of fantasy.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 09:41 AM (7EjX1)
---
I don't have a writing desk. I do everything on a laptop. When writing a novel, I'll create a cheat sheet to remind me of plot points, character descriptions, etc., and I might use notepad but that's generally it.

Non-fiction is messier and I'll have piles of books covering the room, but once that's done, they go away and things become reasonably tidy. I do save the last corrected manuscript of all my work just for fun. I figure if I'm famous after I die, my kids can sell it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:45 AM (llXky)

67 Adler is very impressive man. Google his bio.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 09:47 AM (qKnWc)

68 > As Will Cuppy once wrote about this book: "It was too late. I'd already read one."

"Mr. Adler once wrote a book called How to Read a Book. He should now read a book called How to Write a Book." -- Dwight McDonald

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 25, 2022 09:47 AM (bW8dp)

69 Churchill is one at some point I want to read

Posted by: Skip at September 25, 2022 09:47 AM (xhxe8)

70 I loved The Three Musketeers as a yute (Treasure Island is always top of the list.) I re-read the series about 20 years ago and was delighted that they were still a fun read.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 09:47 AM (7EjX1)

71 'Sup, readers?

Posted by: Weasel at September 25, 2022 09:48 AM (0IeYL)

72 Finally read Dune after a few abandoned attempts in my teens. Maybe my perception/appreciation is skewed because of the movies, but it found it underwhelming and weirdly underdeveloped (the weirding way, for example - space kung-fu?).

Maybe it's like watching High Noon for the first time - ripped off by so many movies and TV, the acclaimed original is a meh.

Posted by: Kreskin at September 25, 2022 09:49 AM (xP8Wr)

73 I'm still reading Pliny's Natural History. I'm at the part about nuts and learned a new word "fescennine", used in association with walnuts and "fescennine" songs

These were rude and sometimes obscene songs sung at festivals, and more particularly marriages. From what I gather, while these songs were being sung at the door of the nuptial chamber, it was the custom for the husband to distribute walnuts among the young people assembled there. These friends of the bridegroom would then throw the walnuts violently against the nuptial chamber, with the view of drowning the cries of the bride.

Posted by: Guy hiding in the bathroom at September 25, 2022 09:49 AM (sn5EN)

74 > Churchill is one at some point I want to read

I think his "History of the English-Speaking Peoples" is on archive.org.

That one is no longer available in the four volume unabridged format, I believe, only in a woked-up single volume edition (with, as I understand it, anything that would offend a communist removed).

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 25, 2022 09:49 AM (bW8dp)

75 I'm currently reading Dream Town (an Archer novel) by David Baldacci. Its pretty good.

Posted by: JT at September 25, 2022 09:50 AM (T4tVD)

76 Oops I'm not in the bathroom anymore.

Posted by: fd at September 25, 2022 09:50 AM (sn5EN)

77 As Will Cuppy once wrote about this book: "It was too late. I'd already read one."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 09:42 AM (c6xtn)
---

"The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody"!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 09:51 AM (Dc2NZ)

78 76 Oops I'm not in the bathroom anymore.
Posted by: fd at September 25, 2022


***
About time! People are waiting, you know!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 09:51 AM (c6xtn)

79 Re: Holocaust

The Dressmakers of Auschwitz. True historical narrative of the women (seamstresses) who survived the camps by sewing high fashion dresses for wives of the Nazi officers. Interesting insights into the hierarchy of prisoners when it came to obtaining work assignments and what prisoners did to survive.
Well researched. Photos of the seamstresses prior to the camps.

Posted by: John Kirby, x-man at September 25, 2022 09:52 AM (4h9M3)

80 Where did this term "guilty pleasure" come from? Why are we supposed to be embarrassed over what we enjoy? Just because it's not the Bible or snob shit?

I first noticed this with comics and all the articles that "comics aren't just for kids anymore." Hey, some of those "kid" stories showed imagination. I'm thinking right now of a "Little Monsters" four-page story. A bad guy gets into the family's castle and takes Mom and Dad prisoner because the kids once again neglected to shut the door. The kids have to defeat the bad guy.

Comedy, a straightforward story, and a lesson. So it never would be mentioned in The New Yorker. Big deal.

* steps off the soapbox*

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:52 AM (Om/di)

81 Maybe it's like watching High Noon for the first time - ripped off by so many movies and TV, the acclaimed original is a meh.

Posted by: Kreskin at September 25, 2022 09:49 AM (xP8Wr)
---
It had a big influence on sci-fi/space fantasy and it has some memorable bits that are fun. I like the Litany Against Fear.

It's very badly written and the end is a serious rush job. I wonder if the publisher gave him a hard deadline and that's why he sped everything up.

National Lampoon did a parody called Doon, which was set on a dessert planet whose chief export was beer. The beer was guarded by giant, carnivorous soft pretzels.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:53 AM (llXky)

82 The more I read about Churchill

His father died of syphilis and his mother's morals were widely questioned. He was captured in the Boer War due to simplitude mostly, rose to a position of authority in the government only to take the fall for Gallipolis, spent fully half his life out of power and politically untouchable, had a good spell and then got the premiership pulled out from under him on the eve of victory. And yet, most Brits and virtually oll of us consider him the greatest Briton ever. A lesson for morons in that. Write in the bathtub, learn to paint.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at September 25, 2022 09:53 AM (a1oFB)

83 I scored a pristine copy of 'Winston Churchill, A Life' by Martin Gilbert at a used bookstore last week for $7. At over 1000 pages, it is quite the tome. Condensed from his multiple volume series.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 25, 2022 09:55 AM (EEF9t)

84 I have a beef with the Holocaust Museum. We visited in June of this year, and I noticed that in the section on book-burning, a wall sign pronounced that the Nazis burned the books of some American authors, including Margaret Sanger.

Margaret Sanger.

Sanger was a dedicated, pioneering eugenicist, and an inspiration to the Nazis. She could be considered a proto-Nazi. Yet the HM decided to try to rehabilitate her a bit, by claiming the Nazis burned her books.

It pays to be an ally.

Posted by: motionview, a MAGA Republican (who supports DeSantis) at September 25, 2022 09:55 AM (rvIpH)

85 Where did this term "guilty pleasure" come from? Why are we supposed to be embarrassed over what we enjoy? Just because it's not the Bible or snob shit?

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:52 AM (Om/di)
---
It's when you know what you like is trashy and you know it is trashy and don't defend it as not being trashy but own it being trashy.

That is the polar opposite of the Current Age where people insist that juvenile junk is Deep and Serious and how dare you question their taste!?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 09:56 AM (llXky)

86 First North American rights means they get to publish that work first. You can sell it again but only after they've published.

Now, problems can arise if the publisher/magazine which has bought your first rights then drags their heels and never actually prints the damned thing, because that locks down the story and keeps you from selling it elsewhere.

See if the agreement has an expiration clause or a kill fee.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 09:56 AM (QZxDR)

87 I know I read Tom Jones in high school but remember almost nothing about the book, which is unusual for me. I do have a nice hardcover edition picked up at a used book store. Perhaps it's time to dig it out and add it to my ever growing pile of winter reading.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 09:56 AM (7EjX1)

88 I've found Churchill volumes at local book sales. Need to arrive early though before the on line vendors show up.

Posted by: Ziba at September 25, 2022 09:57 AM (4h9M3)

89 Have a good book thread. I'm sick of wallowing in WWII. See you next week unless it's another nazi fest. This is Erev RH, not a day for pigging out on generational guilt and ripping scars.

Posted by: CN at September 25, 2022 10:00 AM (Zzbjj)

90 A couple of years ago, I purchased the four volume unabridged 'History of the English Speaking Peoples.. It is in great shape. The clerk look stunned when I brought it to the register, probably wondering how he could have missed getting it with an employee discount.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 25, 2022 10:00 AM (EEF9t)

91 Hey, some of those "kid" stories showed imagination. . . .

* steps off the soapbox*
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022


***
I'm reminded of a Jimmy Olsen story in his own comic from about 1961 or -'62. He and Lucy Lane, Lois's sister, are trapped by a Dr Cyclops-type and shrunk down to miniature size, so that they need to navigate the giant furniture a la The Incredible Shrinking Man. At one point Jimmy accidentally tears open a feather pillow. We see the feathers fly around him and he sneezes, and Lucy jeers at him. Well, that turns out to be the crucial clue. The feathers are normally sized! If Jimmy and Lucy had really been miniaturized, the feathers would have been gigantic too. It's all a big hoax. Now don't ask me why the Dr. Cyclops fellow built giant furniture to fool them. The point is that it's a fair mystery, with the main clue quite visible, and Jimmy sees the answer at the time but does not tell. He reveals it at the climax -- very Ellery Queen-ish. So, yes, imagination.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:00 AM (c6xtn)

92 Clementine, bio of Mrs. Churchill, by Sonia Parnell is a good read, not only about Clementine but also Winston, the man.

Posted by: Ziba at September 25, 2022 10:01 AM (4h9M3)

93 36 ... "A thank you to the Moron that mentioned the Audible book, Travels With Charley, read by Gary Sinise. It is wonderful to listen to."

Notsothoreau,
You're welcome and I'm glad you liked it. Sinise's narration added a lot to a book I had read many times. Did you listen while driving to the new abode?

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 10:02 AM (7EjX1)

94 89 Have a good book thread. I'm sick of wallowing in WWII. See you next week unless it's another nazi fest. This is Erev RH, not a day for pigging out on generational guilt and ripping scars.
Posted by: CN at September 25, 2022 10:00 AM (Zzbjj)

L'shana Tovah!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at September 25, 2022 10:02 AM (PiwSw)

95 National Lampoon did a parody called Doon, which was set on a dessert planet whose chief export was beer. The beer was guarded by giant, carnivorous soft pretzels.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022


***
Doon is hilarious, like the similar Bored of the Rings. The glossary in Doon, parodying the glossary in the original, is worth the price of the paperback by itself.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:03 AM (c6xtn)

96 I should add that one of the things that makes Doon work is the author totally rips on Herbert's repetitive writing style. "He looked at his son and knew that he was the boy's father, which meant that this was the son of himself."

Stuff like that. Not as funny as Bored of the Rings, but still amusing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 10:03 AM (llXky)

97 People often don't realize how long Solidarnosc took to succeed in toppling their evil regime... Everyone remembers the roundtable talks in '89 that signalled the coming end of the Warsaw Pact, but it took nine grueling years of incessant labor actions slowly sapping the regime of its lifeblood, before it was sufficiently weak to be forced to it's knees.

By 1983, they weren't even close to ready to negotiate. They were panicked, and afraid of Moscow, and enraged by the insolence of the Polish slaves. They had already been keeping the entire under martial law for two years by that time.

Nothing was coming in or out of Poland, except under armed guard. Not a cookbook. Nothing.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 25, 2022 10:05 AM (oINRc)

98 6,000 domestic and international flights, and train service cancelled in China.

Pro Xi? Anti Xi? Taiwan invasion prep? [Although the weather is pretty bad in the Far East currently for that I'd think.]

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:05 AM (yikp0)

99 A few years after that Jimmy Olsen story, Amazing Spider-Man #49-50 had Mysterio making Spidey think he'd been shrunk.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:05 AM (Om/di)

100 "He looked at his son and knew that he was the boy's father, which meant that this was the son of himself."

I don't see the problem.

Posted by: Kamalala at September 25, 2022 10:06 AM (sn5EN)

101 Have more books been written about Churchill than say Hitler or Napoleon? Does anybody know?

Posted by: dantesed at September 25, 2022 10:06 AM (88xKn)

102 Don't go!

How To Serve The Proletariat -- it's a COOKBOOK!!!

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:07 AM (yikp0)

103
Last week was my COOF week (first time infectee -- yay!), so I read more than usual.

Finished Clavell's "Tai Pan"; while I have his "Nobel House" on hand, I am deferring reading it for a few weeks.

Picked up and read (for a second time) in one day, "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt, an alternate telling of the story of the multiple deaths that occurred on Mt. Everest on May 10 - 11, 1996. Boukreev was the sole non-native person (and a guide on one of the commercial teams) who spent most of the night of May 10 - 11 out searching for climbers lost on the South Col in the blizzard that had hindered their return to Camp IV. His is a compelling account and his courage was beyond doubt. Of course someone found fault with the man -- Jon Krakauer, author of "Into Thin Air" (and also on the mountain) -- and published misleading falsehoods regarding Boukreev's actions and motivation despite the latter having spoken and written to him in order to convey the true story. I felt nothing but contempt for Krakauer upon finishing this book.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at September 25, 2022 10:07 AM (pNxlR)

104 A few years after that Jimmy Olsen story, Amazing Spider-Man #49-50 had Mysterio making Spidey think he'd been shrunk.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022


***
Did that one use the same clue, or was it less of a mystery and more an adventure?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:07 AM (c6xtn)

105 I'm willing to bet Napoleon without having looked it up first.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:08 AM (yikp0)

106 Read Dune in high school and have about zippedy-doo-dah desire to revisit it. Enjoyed it at the time, but not enough to put it on the read-it-again list. Of the Herberts I read, the ones that worked for me were a couple that never seemed to get much press, Soul Catcher (not a science fiction novel) and Destination: Void. Those two I may revisit one of these days.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 25, 2022 10:08 AM (a/4+U)

107 I purchased A Book about a Thousand Things based on your recommendation and I’m quite enjoying it. Good suggestion. I’m a hundred pages in. I love trivia, though he does seem a bit fixated on birds. Thanks!

Posted by: Hulegu at September 25, 2022 10:08 AM (JEcEr)

108 See if the agreement has an expiration clause or a kill fee.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 09:56 AM (QZxDR)

Thanks for the info. I think that might be a sneaky way of the pc brigade to block publishing of things they don't like. Buy the first rights and never publish. I wonder if anyone else had that happen....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 10:08 AM (7bRMQ)

109 A few years after that Jimmy Olsen story, Amazing Spider-Man #49-50 had Mysterio making Spidey think he'd been shrunk.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:05 AM (Om/di)
---
I really don't get the motivations of comic-book supervillains sometimes...Why would it be necessary to make Spiderman *think* he'd been shrunk?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022 10:08 AM (K5n5d)

110 Napoleon by a long shot is my guess

Posted by: Skip at September 25, 2022 10:08 AM (xhxe8)

111 Damn, I sorely miss National Lampoon.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 10:08 AM (qKnWc)

112 BTW, wasn't Napoleon born in Corsicana??

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:09 AM (yikp0)

113 I also re-read Dune after seeing the movie, and my take is that it's a good, but not great book. I think its amazing popularity was due to readers who were simply enchanted with the idea of like, this planet, where there's this, like super-hash everywhere and it gives you, like, psychic powers, man.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:10 AM (QZxDR)

114 To Dantsed above.
Definitely Napoleon. He’s had a 150 year head start for one thing.

Posted by: Hulegu at September 25, 2022 10:10 AM (JEcEr)

115 @104 --

I don't remember how Spider-Man twigged to the hoax. Will have to reread it.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:10 AM (Om/di)

116 Have more books been written about Churchill than say Hitler or Napoleon? Does anybody know?

Posted by: dantesed at September 25, 2022 10:06 AM (88xKn)
---
I guess it depends on how you define "about." Do you mean pure biographies, or works that study aspects of their politics/rule?

Churchill is getting a lot of attention because he's both popular and safe from the wokes (for the moment). One of the few Englishment we are permitted to admire, so there is a market for that.

Lincoln used to be like this, and you get waves of titles on the Current Thing. I think Napoleon probably gets a lot more titles than either of the above because people study his tactics and military campaigns as well as administrative innovations and personal life.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 10:11 AM (llXky)

117 The point is that it's a fair mystery, with the main clue quite visible, and Jimmy sees the answer at the time but does not tell. He reveals it at the climax -- very Ellery Queen-ish. So, yes, imagination.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022


***
In a similar vein, I've always been annoyed at how Jimmy Olsen has been portrayed in the movies and TV. In the comics he was clever and adventurous, not always relying on Superman to extract him from trouble. The films and shows I've seen paint him as a doofus.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:11 AM (c6xtn)

118 I certainly am not skiddish of unabridged books, a thousand pages is easy

Posted by: Skip at September 25, 2022 10:12 AM (xhxe8)

119 Well, I'm sure a hostile publisher could try to lock down a story by accepting it and then not publishing, but that's really difficult and expensive. If they pay on publication, I'm pretty sure you have the right to withdraw it before any money changes hands.

Is this a short story or a book? Things get a lot more serious with books.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:12 AM (QZxDR)

120 I felt nothing but contempt for Krakauer upon finishing this book.
===================
Thanks for the tip! I've had a fascination with those events, and the personalities involved. Krakauer's account always felt slightly exploitative and very self serving. I'd love to get an alternate perspective on that tragedy.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 25, 2022 10:13 AM (7Fj9P)

121 How To Serve The Proletariat -- it's a COOKBOOK!!!
Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:07 AM (yikp0)

Usually with a cheap red and a side of kraut!

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 10:13 AM (BRHaw)

122 BTW, wasn't Napoleon born in Corsicana??
Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022


***
Two fewer letters

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:13 AM (c6xtn)

123 Past the 100 comment rule. So it's safe to say

שנה טובה ומתוקה

Posted by: Biden's Dog at September 25, 2022 10:14 AM (g6w1n)

124 Some 15,000 books have been written about Lincoln

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 10:14 AM (BRHaw)

125 I'm gonna go do some stuff.

See ya Bookies !

Posted by: JT at September 25, 2022 10:14 AM (T4tVD)

126 I also re-read Dune after seeing the movie, and my take is that it's a good, but not great book. I think its amazing popularity was due to readers who were simply enchanted with the idea of like, this planet, where there's this, like super-hash everywhere and it gives you, like, psychic powers, man.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:10 AM (QZxDR)
---
So much of Dune is incorporated elsewhere, though. A Galactic Empire, a mystic way to control time and space, feared elite warriors, etc.

It's quite original if very, very odd. The concept of knife-fighting because energy shields make missile combat too dangerous also allows classical duels.

Credit where it's due - you can't argue with its success.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 10:14 AM (llXky)

127 He’s had a 150 year head start for one thing.
-------------------------
People writing about him even before he died like Thomas Hardy in The Dynasts.

SPIRIT SINISTER. Well; be it so. My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading. So I back Bonaparte for the reason that he will give pleasure to posterity.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:14 AM (yikp0)

128 Two fewer letters
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:13 AM (c6xtn)
-

I've never heard of Napeon.

Posted by: Biden's Dog at September 25, 2022 10:15 AM (g6w1n)

129 As a teenager I love Dune but burned out on Dune Messiah. Same deal with Vonnegurt.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 10:15 AM (qKnWc)

130 I see the Nazis banned Bambi and The Time Machine.

WTF!

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 10:16 AM (BRHaw)

131 I certainly am not skiddish of unabridged books, a thousand pages is easy
Posted by: Skip

Psst.....(skittish)

Posted by: JT at September 25, 2022 10:16 AM (T4tVD)

132 Currently reading a novel by Harry Turtledove, called _Three Miles Down_. It's about the Glomar Explorer mission to recover a sunken Russian sub -- except that in the book that's just the cover story (well, the second-level cover story) for the REAL mission, which is to recover a Very Strange Object on the seafloor which may have destroyed the sub.

It is weird to see a decade I lived through getting the historical novel treatment, with explanations of forgotten details of everyday life and utterly gratuitous comments by characters about current events.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:16 AM (QZxDR)

133 I really don't get the motivations of comic-book supervillains sometimes
===================
"World domination, Mr. Bond!" (I always wish Bond had said: "Why do you want to dominate Ethiopia??")

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 25, 2022 10:16 AM (7Fj9P)

134 I also re-read Dune after seeing the movie, and my take is that it's a good, but not great book. I think its amazing popularity was due to readers who were simply enchanted with the idea of like, this planet, where there's this, like super-hash everywhere and it gives you, like, psychic powers, man.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022


***
There are also some remarkable action and suspense sequences -- when Paul and his father first see a sandworm as it swallows a spice collecting machine, and when Paul and his mother escape from their kidnappers and are trying to get across the sand before a worm comes.

Don't forget, too, that the novel extolled the virtues of knowing about ecology and the environment. Ecology as a field of study, or even as a term, was hardly on anyone's radar then.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:17 AM (c6xtn)

135 Where did this term "guilty pleasure" come from? Why are we supposed to be embarrassed over what we enjoy? Just because it's not the Bible or snob shit?
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 09:52 AM (Om/di)


It was a marketing ploy to up-sell chocolates and gooey sweet food to older women. It plays off the inherent pleasure = guilt of the cultural protestant, and the whole chocolate makes you fat and butter and fat will kill you.

As I type this I feel like degrasse-tyson ripping apart some little girl's dream about being in Star Trek, but I hate the whole concept: take the action and accept the consequences and blame no one but yourself.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022 10:17 AM (xhaym)

136 130 I see the Nazis banned Bambi
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 10:16 AM (BRHaw)
-

Direct competition to the Reich stag.

Posted by: Biden's Dog at September 25, 2022 10:17 AM (g6w1n)

137 Two fewer letters
-------------------
Ab was I ere I saw ba??

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:18 AM (yikp0)

138 Is this a short story or a book? Things get a lot more serious with books.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:12 AM (QZxDR)

Oh, it was info from a conversation I had with someone. Not me, I just thought that might be a sneaky way to keep something away from the public.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 10:20 AM (7bRMQ)

139 By the way, who had "World War III Breaks Out" in the betting pool for 2022?

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:20 AM (QZxDR)

140 Why would anybody want to rule the world??!! That would guarantee endless headaches.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:20 AM (Om/di)

141 I really don't get the motivations of comic-book supervillains sometimes...Why would it be necessary to make Spiderman *think* he'd been shrunk?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022


***
Right; I don't recall the motive for the Dr. Cyclops guy to fool Jimmy and Lucy. I don't *think* it was about them specifically; they may have just fallen into a trap. Still don't know why he'd develop the trap, though.

Maybe it was supposed to be some kind of mental challenge for Jimmy, to see if he could come up with the answer. The DC comics were rarely about *evil* villains -- or for that matter about interstellar war, or war at all. Lex Luthor was evil, I guess, but he was not viciously insane like the Joker in the most recent films.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:22 AM (c6xtn)

142 Why would anybody want to rule the world??!! That would guarantee endless headaches.
___

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGCdLKXNF3w

Posted by: SMH at September 25, 2022 10:23 AM (wUiVU)

143 Oh, as I said, I agree that Dune is a good novel. I just don't think it's "great."

One interesting thing is how our view of "ecology" has changed since he wrote that. In Dune, the wise nature-loving Fremen have been working over the centuries to transform the planet's environment and make it greener. Terraform it so that they can go about without gimp suits all the time.

Nowadays environmentalists would recoil in horror from the idea of changing a planet's "natural" environment like that.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:23 AM (QZxDR)

144 I see the Nazis banned Bambi
Posted by: rhennigantx
-
Direct competition to the Reich stag.
Posted by: Biden's Dog
--------------------------------
They had to; he wanted to kill all the Moose.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at September 25, 2022 10:23 AM (yikp0)

145 Booken morgen horden!
Fashionably late today

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 25, 2022 10:24 AM (p/nbH)

146 Note that the regional rights thing goes back a long time. That way you could sell a story to a magazine in New York (North American) and London (UK Commonwealth) at the same time. Worth more that way.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:25 AM (QZxDR)

147 From what I've read, "Bambi" was a socialist book.

I had the opportunity to buy it this year, but I passed; it was in poor condition, and I'm way overbooked now.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:25 AM (Om/di)

148 "those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years"

Ah. Explains the fart jokes.

Posted by: Emmie at September 25, 2022 10:25 AM (6RgRK)

149 JT ( thanks)

Posted by: Skip at September 25, 2022 10:26 AM (xhxe8)

150 "those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years"

This is why Uranus never gets a break.

Posted by: Emmie at September 25, 2022 10:26 AM (6RgRK)

151 In a similar vein, I've always been annoyed at how Jimmy Olsen has been portrayed in the movies and TV. In the comics he was clever and adventurous, not always relying on Superman to extract him from trouble. The films and shows I've seen paint him as a doofus.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:11 AM (c6xtn)


I always figured that Jimmy Olsen was not supposed to place the reader in the story by being a stand in within the adventure, but was the appreciative and interactive audience because every kid wanted to be Superman, and it is boring to be the main character with no audience.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022 10:26 AM (xhaym)

152 I had the bizarre opportunity one time to go to one of the most expensive houses in Dallas, owned by a billionaire. He had many original Churchill original paintings, had some of his paint sets, brushes, etc.

His library was unreal. The things he had in there, good Lord. Abraham Lincoln's desk from Congress, Clarence Thomas's vote tally from the Senate confirming him to SCOTUS. He had a library vault in the basement with who knows what was in there.

Posted by: Colonel Travis at September 25, 2022 10:28 AM (RG7Wy)

153 Reading The Forgotten 500 (I fogot author) about Army Air Corps shot down on Rumanian oilfieilds.
Serbians rescued them from Nazi soldiers, and Tito's commies. Good book.

Posted by: Eromero at September 25, 2022 10:28 AM (DXbAa)

154 I'm continuing to map out The Adventures of Paisley Poirot Doggie Detective. Her sidekick will be a grouchy orange Tom Cat.
Paisley will be a sweet, trusting Christian of the non-intellectual sort--slightly modeled on my late wife.
Cat will be a Humesian skeptic modeled, somewhat on the skeptical Scottish character in That Hideous Strength.
Cat teases Paisley but the thinks the world of her.

Posted by: That NLurker guy at September 25, 2022 10:29 AM (eGTCV)

155 I've mentioned this young-adult book before: the Roy Rogers tie-in adventure The Ghost of Mystery Rancho. One of my absolute favorites at age 9-10, it features Teas Ranger Roy Rogers and his battle against a bandit leader along the Rio Grande who wears a skull-and-skeleton costume, so that no one, even his own men, knows his identity. The answer is held until the penultimate chapter, and is a good thunderbolt. It sparked my interest in the classical mystery.

Reading it as an adult, I wonder why the Ghost would bother with the full skeleton outfit. Wouldn't the mask be enough as long as he didn't wear the same clothes in his real identity as he wore as the Ghost? I don't think there was some peculiarity of his body that the skeleton suit would conceal. Still, the story is fast-moving and colorful, with continual plot challenges and good atmosphere.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:30 AM (c6xtn)

156 Direct competition to the Reich stag.
Posted by: Biden's Dog at September 25, 2022 10:17 AM (g6w1n)



I hate you

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022 10:30 AM (xhaym)

157 > As a teenager I love Dune but burned out on Dune Messiah.

I got a couple more books into the series, but yeah, I burned out before very many of them.

I understand Herbert's kid is writing them now, and that they suck, big-time.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 25, 2022 10:31 AM (bW8dp)

158 Why would anybody want to rule the world??!! That would guarantee endless headaches.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:20 AM (Om/di)


Guaranteed market share.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022 10:32 AM (xhaym)

159 > Reading it as an adult, I wonder why the Ghost would bother with the full skeleton outfit.

I think you may have lost the 10-year-old perspective there.

If you *could* wear a cool skeleton outfit, why wouldn't you?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 25, 2022 10:32 AM (bW8dp)

160 Damn, I sorely miss National Lampoon.
Posted by: Head puddi

If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog

Posted by: Biergood at September 25, 2022 10:32 AM (FQWHA)

161 I used to like Turtledove's stories. Got kind of bored by the end of the Supervolcano trilogy, which felt padded. Then the novella Three Miles Down proved that he could stuff even a shorter story with boring details and minutiae. And now I read about this:

"And The Last Trump Shall Sound" by Harry Turtledove et al

"Three alarming, eclectic novellas imagine a ravaged America left behind by the totalitarian reign of Donald Trump in this chilling anthology, which picks up after Trump’s death in 2024 during 'the second great COVID outbreak'"

Screw you, Turtledove!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 25, 2022 10:33 AM (Dc2NZ)

162 Well, if Lincoln was a vampire killer, I guess that makes Churchill a werewolf killer. There's even a ready-made song available. Can't wait to read about it.

Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022 10:34 AM (4I/2K)

163 > Ah. Explains the fart jokes.
Posted by: Emmie

They worked for me.

Pro tip: have some dick and fart jokes interspersed with the deep philosophy, so there's something for everyone.

Posted by: William Shakespeare at September 25, 2022 10:34 AM (bW8dp)

164 Why would anybody want to rule the world??!! That would guarantee endless headaches.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:20 AM (Om/di)


I don't suppose everyone is bored of my repeated rants about how Auric Goldfinger was the hero in opposing the states' monopoly on free markets and the use of organized violence to enforce acceptance of fiat currencies . . . Anyone?

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022 10:34 AM (xhaym)

165 I mentioned yesterday or Friday that after rewatching the movie "How Green Was My Valley"
I decided to re-read the book which I read probably 20 years ago or more. It is a lovely book about family and faith and miners in Wales. The library did not have any other of his books. I'd like to see other things which he wrote.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 25, 2022 10:34 AM (vci4Q)

166 I always figured that Jimmy Olsen was not supposed to place the reader in the story by being a stand in within the adventure, but was the appreciative and interactive audience because every kid wanted to be Superman, and it is boring to be the main character with no audience.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022


***
Oh, you mean in the movies? I guess you're right. In the comics he was the major character in the stories, esp. in his own magazine. I liked him best of all the DC heroes (maybe even more than the Sherlock Holmes in cape and mask, Batman) because he had no superpowers and had to rely on courage and his own wits. Yeah, he had that emergency watch with the alarm that could call Superman -- but if he were cast back in time, didn't have the watch for some reason, or if Superman were off-planet, Jimmy had to save his own skin.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:35 AM (c6xtn)

167 I don't suppose everyone is bored of my repeated rants about how Auric Goldfinger was the hero in opposing the states' monopoly on free markets and the use of organized violence to enforce acceptance of fiat currencies . . . Anyone?
Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022


***
That's a very good alternative take. But as Fleming drew him, I doubt that was his motivation. He just loved gold the way other man loved women or drink or gambling.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:36 AM (c6xtn)

168 Well, if Lincoln was a vampire killer, I guess that makes Churchill a werewolf killer. There's even a ready-made song available. Can't wait to read about it.
Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022


***
Has anybody ever written the latter story?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:37 AM (c6xtn)

169 Been going through some cook books, especially the ones about bread baking. I always regard baking bread as a cool/cold weather activity and we've had a the first cool nights since April. Haven't done any baking for several years so it's time to start again. Besides, it's an interesting combination of science and art.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 10:38 AM (7EjX1)

170 The Perfessor's guilty pleasure book, The Story of the Stone, has in the cover illustration a black disc in the foreground. What is that thing?

Posted by: Emmie at September 25, 2022 10:40 AM (6RgRK)

171 Why would anybody want to rule the world??!! That would guarantee endless headaches.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:20 AM (Om/di)

-----------

That's where the minions and satraps come in.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at September 25, 2022 10:41 AM (Qzn2/)

172 Has anybody ever written the latter story?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:37 AM (c6xtn)

I don't think so. It needs to be written though. Churchill needed an escape to let off some steam. I suppose the full moon nights suppressed the enemy's bombing raids and brought out the werewolves, so Churchill had motive and opportunity . . .

Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022 10:41 AM (4I/2K)

173 Note that the regional rights thing goes back a long time. That way you could sell a story to a magazine in New York (North American) and London (UK Commonwealth) at the same time. Worth more that way.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 25, 2022 10:25 AM (QZxDR)

I get that. Surprised that a pub with offices overseas would do it, but I suppose they purchase worldwide rights.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 10:42 AM (7bRMQ)

174 Reading it as an adult, I wonder why the Ghost would bother with the full skeleton outfit.

I think you may have lost the 10-year-old perspective there.

If you *could* wear a cool skeleton outfit, why wouldn't you?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 25, 2022

***
Wearing a sturdy skeleton outfit and chaps *over* regular clothes? In Southern Texas in the days before air-conditioning? All Roy would have to do is wait for the Ghost to collapse from heat exhaustion!

You're right about the 10-year-old perspective. The novel is still fun to read for an adult, though. It has plot holes you could ride Trigger through -- but it's still exciting and there is real danger.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:42 AM (c6xtn)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:43 AM (c6xtn)

176 I have read those Master Li and Number Ten Ox stories. I remember them being quite funny.

Currently rereading a truly horrific yet entertaining fantasy series about battledragons. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone because the writing is so bad, but it is pretty entertaining nonetheless.

Posted by: Mrs. Peel at September 25, 2022 10:44 AM (jrY13)

177 I recently finished an Osprey book about Byzantine vs Arab warships. It was kind of shocking how little the Medeterranean ships had evolved from the classical Roman era. Sure, both the Byzantines and early Arabs just inherited Roman designs, but, still, it was striking how similar the ships were. Especially compared to what was soon to happen in the Atlantic...

Speaking of Atlantic ships, I did order some additional Osprey books: Two about the English Navy of the Tudor era, and one about Spanish Galleons. Gotta bone up on my Golden Age of Piracy warships, or else I'll imagine everyone sailing around in Horatio-Hornblower inspired frigates. (And I don't think Hollywood had done anything to dissuade me of that notion.)

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 25, 2022 10:44 AM (Lhaco)

178
I know the US did not act forcefully in giving Jewish refugees a home, but, to be sure, no one else did either. The Évian Conference in 1938 sought to obtain from 32 countries commitments to allow in more refugees. Only Trujillo's Dominican Republic offered to do so.

Indifference and "social" antisemitism played a part, but before the war broke out - indeed, well into it - I doubt the total extermination of a people by a European nation wasn't in the intellectual sphere of any diplomat or statesman of the time.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 25, 2022 10:44 AM (1Nxff)

179 Have more books been written about Churchill than say Hitler or Napoleon? Does anybody know?
Posted by: dantesed
====
Churchill wrote way more books than either of those two.

Posted by: From about that time at September 25, 2022 10:45 AM (4780s)

180 Has anybody ever written the latter story?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:37 AM (c6xtn)

I don't think so. It needs to be written though. Churchill needed an escape to let off some steam. I suppose the full moon nights suppressed the enemy's bombing raids and brought out the werewolves, so Churchill had motive and opportunity . . .
Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022


***
There was a semi-biographical movie called Young Winston in the early '70s, detailing his time in South Africa as a war correspondent during the Boer War. That would be the setting to tell about his werewolf hunt. . . .

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:45 AM (c6xtn)

181 I remember reading The Three Musketeers when I was a kid. It was one of those books that I thought I wouldn't like because of the crappy cover art. I ended up starting it because there was nothing else in the house to read, and holy cow! I ripped through that book over the course of a weekend.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at September 25, 2022 10:46 AM (CCf67)

182 Currently rereading a truly horrific yet entertaining fantasy series about battledragons. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone because the writing is so bad, but it is pretty entertaining nonetheless.
Posted by: Mrs. Peel at September 25, 2022


***
Is that the one set during the Napoleonic era? I can't recall the title or author, but the setting was neat.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:46 AM (c6xtn)

183 JTB do you make sourdough bread?

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 10:46 AM (qKnWc)

184 That's a very good alternative take. But as Fleming drew him, I doubt that was his motivation. He just loved gold the way other man loved women or drink or gambling.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:36 AM (c6xtn)


I suppose, but no one who truly loves gold would go to the struggle of buying scrap gold and refining it to mill it into the door panels of a Rolls Royce to sneak it to a free market for the metal in Switzerland. On top of which the cost of all those steps better cost less than the difference between the official spot in London and the floating spot in Zurich or you are just smuggling at the level of those German housewives that used to buy untaxed butter in Holland.

But my main point of it is that governments already are working for world domination, why should they exclude a private individual from the same goal, and why should they make illegal something they do freely and openly?

(Hans-Hermann Hoppe would have written some lit action novels, lots of helicopters)

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022 10:47 AM (xhaym)

185 Maybe it was supposed to be some kind of mental challenge for Jimmy, to see if he could come up with the answer. The DC comics were rarely about *evil* villains -- or for that matter about interstellar war, or war at all. Lex Luthor was evil, I guess, but he was not viciously insane like the Joker in the most recent films.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:22 AM (c6xtn)
---
This is a big part of why I find comics boring. There's no real point to the stories, just overcoming this challenge or that and while I'm told they do some life-cycle development, I just don't find it that interesting.

As a kid, it was great fun, don't overthink it. As an adult, I want something I can relate to as an adult.

Evelyn Waugh, for example. Or Tolkien.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 10:49 AM (llXky)

186 Skip at 69 "Churchill is one at some point I want to read"
Don't delay, I've read this memoirs of WWII three times plus A History of the English Speaking Peoples and a couple of others of his work. I've also read at least one big fat biography of him. Well worth it. He led an amazing life and is possible the most important man of the 20th century.

For my own reading, just dove into Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues" . I'm loving it and 70 pages in it hasn't even gotten to Robert Johnson yet.

Posted by: who knew at September 25, 2022 10:50 AM (4I7VG)

187 Speaking of Tolkien and Waugh, time for Mass.

Thanks again, "Perfesser!"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022 10:51 AM (llXky)

188 The subject of the Holocaust is always harrowing. For persons who feel the need to read about it, I suggest two books, neither of which is about the Holocaust itself.

The first is "The Yellow Spot", published in 1936, which is a "collection of facts and documents relating to three years' persecution of German Jews, derived from National Socialist sources, very carefully assembled by a group of investigators." The book is not for the faint of heart; the cartoons reproduced from National Socialist publications are utterly vile. The book makes perfectly clear what was coming. It is long out of print, but copies may be available on alibris.com.

The other book is "Abstracts of Papers Read at the First International Eugenics Congress", which was held in 1912 at the University of London. While I'm sure that the scientists who read these papers would have been horrified by the Holocaust to come, it's clear that they, in their calm, rational, scientific way, were paving the road to Auschwitz. The book available from gutenberg.org (#4494.

Posted by: Nemo at September 25, 2022 10:52 AM (S6ArX)

189 74 > Churchill is one at some point I want to read

I think his "History of the English-Speaking Peoples" is on archive.org.

I have the four volume set here in front of me: Barnes & Noble Books Copyright 2005. Cleared up a lot of murk in my mind about British history. Murk still there, All that Cromwell business with various Kings being decapitated/deposed is hard to keep track of, but at least there is now a reference material. Churchill very interested in politics (duh) and the last volume 'The Great Democracies" bogs down in minutiae, but still, worth reading as a set. His coverage of Crecy and Agincourt is the best (the longbow makes it's appearance on the Continent).

Posted by: Michael at September 25, 2022 10:53 AM (BCV0P)

190
I suppose, but no one who truly loves gold would go to the struggle of buying scrap gold and refining it to mill it into the door panels of a Rolls Royce to sneak it to a free market for the metal in Switzerland. On top of which the cost of all those steps better cost less than the difference between the official spot in London and the floating spot in Zurich or you are just smuggling at the level of those German housewives that used to buy untaxed butter in Holland. . . .

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022


***
As entertaining as the novel and movie Goldfinger is, it was one of Fleming's weakest as far as plausibility. The film version with GF's goal of irradiating the Fort Knox gold to make his own worth more was a better idea than the novel's notion: actually stealing the gold (which would have been radioactive anyway from the tactical nuke he was going to use on the vault, as Bond points out) and trying to get away with it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:53 AM (c6xtn)

191 183 ... "JTB do you make sourdough bread?"

I have in years past and plan to do so again. Part of the interest in baking our own bread is a way to control carbs and sourdough is better than regular white bread for that. Besides, sourdough tastes better. I'm also looking at using almond flour for baking. It has about 1/5 the carbs in wheat bread. Bluebell sent us some info on that.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 10:54 AM (7EjX1)

192 Buenos Dias on this rainy morning...

Finally, after two plus years, I committed to staying put where I am, and have put up bookshelves.

After unpacking many, many boxes, I find that I'm missing more than a few books. I assume that my boys have them. Well, better that than the "ex".

Last book to be unpacked "Noble House". It is now on my nightstand for evening reading...

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at September 25, 2022 10:55 AM (BgMrQ)

193 This is a big part of why I find comics boring. There's no real point to the stories, just overcoming this challenge or that and while I'm told they do some life-cycle development, I just don't find it that interesting. . . .

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 25, 2022


***
Yeah, I outgrew comics at age 11, or even earlier. Some of the X-Men stories in the '80s were pretty good. But the old DCs engendered in me a love of vivid storytelling that has never gone away.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:55 AM (c6xtn)

194 Been going through some cook books, especially the ones about bread baking. I always regard baking bread as a cool/cold weather activity and we've had a the first cool nights since April. Haven't done any baking for several years so it's time to start again. Besides, it's an interesting combination of science and art.
Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 10:38 AM (7EjX1)


The book that got me cooking good bread, instead of the horrible stuff I had been making, was the Tassajara Bread Cookbook by Edward Espe Brown.

Brown had been the baker for the Tassajara Buddhist . . . Monastery? and wrote up his recipes. He sets up the basic recipe, and then everything else is modifications on it.
There is a reprint edition that I am not so much in love with, but it is a good solid book.

My go to loaf is flour, water, yeast and salt, and it is amazing what you can do with that combination: everything from paste suitable for gluing paper to cardboard, to sandwich bread and dinner rolls.

at the end of the book he admits that baking at that volume is really hard and he was glad to give it up and instead work as a mason for the monastery

Posted by: Kindltot at September 25, 2022 10:56 AM (xhaym)

195 A.H. Loyd, give Gayle Rivers ‘The Five Fingers’ a tumble. Also, check out Steve Sailer’s article on why Rich German American Jews didn’t build Jewish colleges but did build Jewish Country Clubs at Unz. Interesting insights.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 10:56 AM (qKnWc)

196 Greetings:

A bit off the Book Thread's usually beaten path perhaps but I would just like to mention the design and manufacture of Charles Murray's "Facing Reality" hardcover book.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of craft that went into it from the front cover to the end papers to the soft-white vellum text paper. It was designed and composed by Carl W. Scarbough who included "A Note on then Type" at the back that sent me to the Colophon days of yore.

If you find yourself in a local library or bookstore please seek it out. It is a treat to experience.

Posted by: 11B40 at September 25, 2022 10:56 AM (uuklp)

197 There was a semi-biographical movie called Young Winston in the early '70s, detailing his time in South Africa as a war correspondent during the Boer War. That would be the setting to tell about his werewolf hunt. . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:45 AM (c6xtn)

Maybe that's where he got his start as a werewolf hunter, learning the tricks and traps of the art. Then in London during the war, he needed to call upon his youthful training to rid the town of a werewolf outbreak. Besides, Werewolves of South Africa just doesn't have the same zing as Zevon's hit song. 😉

Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022 10:57 AM (4I/2K)

198 Treblinka also, or what was left of it. The Germans tried to hide the evidence of what they had been doing by destroying the compound, but bits remained.

-
The Jews themselves made a pretty good start of it. I don't think it ever reopened after the Jewish revolt.

Incidentally, in my darker moments I consider the revolts at the death camps. There were only a handful of true death factories (although conditions amounted to first degree murder at 1000 others). (There were for sure six death camps: Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau. There may have been two others deep in Russia that did not remain in German hands long.) Of the six, there were hopeless revolts in three: Sobibor, Treblinka, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. I find some comfort in knowing that the human spirit will rise against relentless evil if pushed far enough.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 10:58 AM (FVME7)

199 re: publisher contracts, First North American rights is old school and often a sign of dealing with tradpub and other fossils. The contracts for the short stories I've sold, in the last five years, were exclusive print publishing rights for a period of time only, and at the end of the time all those rights reverted to me automatically. There was also a clause permitting reprints in certain conditions and a set fee for that if used (and it was, and I was paid).

It is sad that the usual periodicals are no longer available or have turned into woke zombies. I used to really like Analog. We're going through a Dark Ages of periodicals, unfortunately, and I don't know how to revive them. The bookstores used to be a major source of income but that's gone, and you have to really know and love a periodical to subscribe. But that was the real incubator of writers learning to do cool stuff, the short story periodicals. We need them back.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at September 25, 2022 10:59 AM (BbSpR)

200 Haven't seen A book about a thousand things but when the Guiness Book of World Records first hit the scene in America, I wanted a copy but my dad came home one day with "The Odd Book of Data" by R. Houwink. Initially disappointed, I loved that book.

Posted by: who knew at September 25, 2022 11:00 AM (4I7VG)

201 The Perfessor's guilty pleasure book, The Story of the Stone, has in the cover illustration a black disc in the foreground. What is that thing?
Posted by: Emmie at September 25, 2022 10:40 AM (6RgRK)
---
That's an ink bowl. The flower is shedding tears into the bowl (it makes sense in the context of the story).

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022 11:00 AM (K5n5d)

202 >>>Guaranteed market share.

Posted by: Kindltot

>Nobody will give two shits when the Bidens, the Clintons, the McConnells and the Pelosis shuffle off into the inferno.

But everybody will know that they saved the world. For humanity, for all mankind, for the earth and the children!

Posted by: Dr. Bone at September 25, 2022 11:00 AM (w2Z7l)

203 JTB, I have a bread making machine I picked up cheap. Do you use one of those?

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 11:01 AM (qKnWc)

204 "Abstracts of Papers Read at the First International Eugenics Congress", which was held in 1912 at the University of London. While I'm sure that the scientists who read these papers would have been horrified by the Holocaust to come, it's clear that they, in their calm, rational, scientific way, were paving the road to Auschwitz.

-
They believed in science.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:01 AM (FVME7)

205 Is that the one set during the Napoleonic era? I can't recall the title or author, but the setting was neat.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:46 AM (c6xtn)

Temeraire, by Naomi Novak. I read the first book in about two days, but put it down angry. The action and the setting was fun, but the main character was too much of Mary Sue, and the word-building was atrocious. The dragon-riders were supposed to be super-secretive and separate from society, despite being a crucial part of war for thousands of years. (You know, like how the British Navy was super-secretive and had no affect on society at large....) All the author wanted to do with the society/culture of the era was show how the main characters changed it into our culture and society.

I read a few more books in order to get to Wellington's guest-appearance, but I bailed after that.

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 25, 2022 11:04 AM (Lhaco)

206 I thought The Joiner King would be about a woodworker.

Posted by: Oglebay at September 25, 2022 11:04 AM (7fVdQ)

207 OrangeEnt, NA rights means they have the right to publish your story in NA for whatever time they specify. So you can submit it to journals in Europe or whatever, but do have to ask them for permission to have another place publish it in NA.

Writers Digest is a great source of info and periodically lists publishers and what kind of story they are looking for.

Good luck! Now tell me where I can get my non-lefty fiction published.

Posted by: Ultra pj at September 25, 2022 11:05 AM (G1dq6)

208 I thought The Joiner King would be about a woodworker.
Posted by: Oglebay at September 25, 2022 11:04 AM (7fVdQ)
---
Sadly, no. It's about a rogue Jedi who joins forces with an insect civilization through the Force and then starts to wage war against the galaxy.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022 11:05 AM (K5n5d)

209 The contracts for the short stories I've sold, in the last five years, were exclusive print publishing rights for a period of time only, and at the end of the time all those rights reverted to me automatically.
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at September 25, 2022 10:59 AM (BbSpR)

Thanks for the info. The place I'm thinking of submitting a short story to lists that second type of right. If I get up the nerve....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 11:06 AM (7bRMQ)

210 194 ... "The book that got me cooking good bread, instead of the horrible stuff I had been making, was the Tassajara Bread Cookbook by Edward Espe Brown."

Kindltot,

Many thanks for the suggestion. That sounds like the kind of baking book I would enjoy just for reading about all the pastries I shouldn't eat.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 11:09 AM (7EjX1)

211 I also enjoyed reading Bridge of Birds. Somewhat related is Ou Lou Ken and the Beautiful Madwoman by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. A guy falls in love with a madwoman but can't marry her because the mad are considered "touched by god" and sacrosanct. So he goes on a quest to become mad with her. The book was a gift from a guy who said it reminded him of me. I am still not sure how to take that... ( I mean, I *am* a mad scientist)

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at September 25, 2022 11:10 AM (BbSpR)

212 The mention of the Holocaust also reminds me that I recently reread "Maus: a Survivor's Tale" by Art Spiegelman. These are stories of Spiegelman's father's experiences in WWII in graphic novel form.

Gut-wrenching stuff.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia

I have a vague rwckllection of that being banned by the left. Problem was no stuff I guess.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:13 AM (FVME7)

213 The book was a gift from a guy who said it reminded him of me. I am still not sure how to take that... ( I mean, I *am* a mad scientist)
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at September 25, 2022 11:10 AM (BbSpR)

You have the whole getup? Throwback lab coat, heavy rubber gloves, welding goggle-type glasses, awesome Don King hairdo? Classic!

Posted by: Count de Monet at September 25, 2022 11:14 AM (4I/2K)

214 203 ... We don't use a bread machine. Aside from a steel and aluminum pullman loaf pan, we'll be using cast iron or a baking stone.

Posted by: JTB at September 25, 2022 11:16 AM (7EjX1)

215 It was a marketing ploy to up-sell chocolates and gooey sweet food to older women.

-
Speaking of marketing and gooey sweet stuff, I have twice now seen the old commercial for Tootsie Roll Pops in which a boy asks an owl how many licks it takes to get to the center. That ran continuously when I was a kid 50+ years ago and I guess they're bringing it back now.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:17 AM (FVME7)

216 Is that the one set during the Napoleonic era? I can't recall the title or author, but the setting was neat.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022
*
Temeraire, by Naomi Novak. I read the first book in about two days, but put it down angry. The action and the setting was fun, but the main character was too much of Mary Sue, and the word-building was atrocious. The dragon-riders were supposed to be super-secretive and separate from society, despite being a crucial part of war for thousands of years. (You know, like how the British Navy was super-secretive and had no affect on society at large....) All the author wanted to do with the society/culture of the era was show how the main characters changed it into our culture and society.

I read a few more books in order to get to Wellington's guest-appearance, but I bailed after that.
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 25, 2022


***
That title sounds familiar. All I can recall was some cool cover art on the paperback, and a lack of my interest in reading another.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 11:19 AM (c6xtn)

217 Is that the one set during the Napoleonic era? I can't recall the title or author, but the setting was neat.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 10:46 AM (c6xtn)

Tremaraire by Naomi Novik, is what you're thinking of. I listened to the first three, but they were no longer good enough to continue. Hope that's not the one Mrs. Peel meant.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 25, 2022 11:19 AM (nC+QA)

218 Writers Digest is a great source of info and periodically lists publishers and what kind of story they are looking for.

Good luck! Now tell me where I can get my non-lefty fiction published.

Posted by: Ultra pj at September 25, 2022 11:05 AM (G1dq6)

I've found sources on the internet. I know about writer's guide, but I'll have to look for an online version. Library too far to keep running to every day.

Same places I'm looking I guess....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 11:19 AM (7bRMQ)

219 Temeraire, by Naomi Novak. I read the first book in about two days, but put it down angry. The action and the setting was fun, but the main character was too much of Mary Sue, and the word-building was atrocious.
=====

I don't know how the author avoided the YA designation, but it sure seemed like a kid's series to me. I would recommend it for kids, especially those who are hesitant about the 'girly' Pern series, and it tied in nicely with the Master and Commander movie.

Posted by: mustbequantum at September 25, 2022 11:19 AM (MIKMs)

220 Tremaraire by Naomi Novik, is what you're thinking of. I listened to the first three, but they were no longer good enough to continue. Hope that's not the one Mrs. Peel meant.

It began sailing into the Sea of Woke. Wife and I gave up on it.

Posted by: NR Pax at September 25, 2022 11:20 AM (rPRy7)

221 Allie the Calico Kitty Cat has been assisting me with grading papers this morning. On the plus side, she feels comfortable enough around me to plop herself down on my desk right in front of my keyboard. But this makes it hard to type...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022 11:21 AM (K5n5d)

222 Why would anybody want to rule the world??!! That would guarantee endless headaches.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 10:20 AM (Om/di)

-----------

That's where the minions and satraps come in.
Posted by: Cicero

Plus chicks dig it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:21 AM (FVME7)

223 Good luck! Now tell me where I can get my non-lefty fiction published.

Posted by: Ultra pj at September 25, 2022 11:05 AM (G1dq6)

Hmmm. The AoS Reader....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 11:24 AM (7bRMQ)

224 Anybody else remember author Philip Roth and his 'groundbreaking' novel 'The Breast'?

(The teacher dangerously wearing falsies around machinery brought that to mind.)

Posted by: mustbequantum at September 25, 2022 11:24 AM (MIKMs)

225 The Luck of Barry Lyndon can be easily read in a weekend

Posted by: REDACTED at September 25, 2022 11:25 AM (us2H3)

226
As for whether we should have bombed Auschwitz, the same people who scream that we should have spared no effort are the same ones who scream that the strategic bombing of Germany did no good.

And why do the Soviets get off so light in these discussions? Hitler couldn't have invaded Poland if he didn't have an agreement with Stalin.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 25, 2022 11:25 AM (1Nxff)

227 And why do the Soviets get off so light in these discussions? Hitler couldn't have invaded Poland if he didn't have an agreement with Stalin.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 25, 2022 11:25 AM (1Nxff)

Because they loved him.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 11:27 AM (7bRMQ)

228 And why do the Soviets get off so light in these discussions? Hitler couldn't have invaded Poland if he didn't have an agreement with Stalin.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 25, 2022 11:25 AM (1Nxff)

they lost at least 20 million in WWII

I'd say that was some sort of price

Posted by: REDACTED at September 25, 2022 11:28 AM (us2H3)

229 Anybody else remember author Philip Roth and his 'groundbreaking' novel 'The Breast'?

(The teacher dangerously wearing falsies around machinery brought that to mind.)

Posted by: mustbequantum at September 25, 2022 11:24 AM (MIKMs)

It sucked.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 11:28 AM (7bRMQ)

230 Sad news. We've lost her.

Texas Tribune@TexasTribune
.@Liz_Cheney says if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, she will not be a Republican. #TribFest22

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:30 AM (FVME7)

231 Finally got hold of Officers and Gentlemen by Evelyn Waugh, the second book of the Sword of Honour trilogy. It continues the story as if nothing had changed and is a very good companion to the first book.

Posted by: Captain Hate at September 25, 2022 11:31 AM (y7DUB)

232 they lost at least 20 million in WWII

I'd say that was some sort of price

Posted by: REDACTED at September 25, 2022 11:28 AM (us2H3)

Shooting your returned POWs for "treason" bumps the losses up quickly.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 25, 2022 11:31 AM (nC+QA)

233
.@Liz_Cheney says if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, she will not be a Republican. #TribFest22
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:30 AM (FVME7)

_______

Well, 'bye.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 25, 2022 11:32 AM (1Nxff)

234 .@Liz_Cheney says if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, she will not be a Republican. #TribFest22
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:30 AM (FVME7)

Well, 'bye.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 25, 2022 11:32 AM (1Nxff)

She's not a Republican.

Posted by: Narrator at September 25, 2022 11:33 AM (7bRMQ)

235 When Rocket Man is right, he's right.

Anyone caught listening to K-pop in North Korea will now get 15 years in a hard labor camp

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:34 AM (FVME7)

236 Finally got hold of Officers and Gentlemen by Evelyn Waugh, the second book of the Sword of Honour trilogy. It continues the story as if nothing had changed and is a very good companion to the first book.
Posted by: Captain Hate at September 25, 2022


***
The big library near my barber's place has a slew of recent hardback editions, most of his novels, I think. It's where I picked up A Handful of Dust. Brideshead Revisited I think I'll try next. I've never seen the film (or was it a TV series?), so I have no preconceptions.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 11:35 AM (c6xtn)

237 I've seen the "moron" definition before. My Mom taught special ed early in her career, and she said the terms were still idiot/moron/imbecile, which were later changed to EMR (Educable/Mentally Retarded), TMR (Trainable/MR) and CMR (Custodial/MR). I imagine that today you're not allowed to classify them at all because of the Da Feelz, so they sadly probably don't get the necessary care and attention they once did.

Posted by: Pennsyltucky at September 25, 2022 11:35 AM (lNHqD)

238 @Liz_Cheney says if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, she will not be a Republican. #TribFest22
----
I didn't realize she was one now...

Posted by: lin-duh at September 25, 2022 11:35 AM (UUBmN)

239 Pelosi BOOED During Guest Appearance at "Global Citizen" Music Festival

-
Poor baby!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:37 AM (FVME7)

240 .@Liz_Cheney says if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, she will not be a Republican. #TribFest22
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:30 AM (FVME7)


reason # 447,364 to vote for Trump

Posted by: REDACTED at September 25, 2022 11:37 AM (us2H3)

241 I've seen the "moron" definition before. My Mom taught special ed early in her career, and she said the terms were still idiot/moron/imbecile, which were later changed to EMR (Educable/Mentally Retarded), TMR (Trainable/MR) and CMR (Custodial/MR). . . .
Posted by: Pennsyltucky at September 25, 2022


***
In my fantasy stories, set in a magic-working universe at about the level of tech of the Roman Republic, I was forced to use the word "simple" to describe a mildly retarded character.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 11:38 AM (c6xtn)

242 Pelosi BOOED During Guest Appearance at "Global Citizen" Music Festival

Poor baby!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:37 AM (FVME7)

Probably got boozed there too.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 25, 2022 11:39 AM (7bRMQ)

243 KJP Argues Inflation Reduction Act Will Help Hurricane Season

-
Is there anything it can't do?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:40 AM (FVME7)

244 KJP Argues Inflation Reduction Act Will Help Hurricane Season
-
Is there anything it can't do?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022


***
Make sense?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 11:42 AM (c6xtn)

245 Klan Cheney was, is and always shall be what I'll call a "Republicrat". No, not blend with "demo-crat", but rather, "bureau-crat".

Deep State Mod1 Mk0, Original Gangsta "smoke filled back room" deal-making, grifting sellout against the best interest of We The People. Ones like her daddy n' she are all for preserving themselves and their ilk as THE Ruling Class, and we're not welcome there, you see.

Pretty much takes in the whole of the Bush Klan. Cheney's, too. And, oh, about 99.5% of the (r) "leadership" in both houses.

*spits!* A pox on them all.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: I.Q.lly challenged frat bros at September 25, 2022 11:42 AM (e6UQI)

246 Without the moral leadership of Liz Cheney we are a failed people.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 11:42 AM (qKnWc)

247 Biden May Try To Fire World Bank President For Not Pushing Climate Policy Enough

-
Sumbitch not pulling his own weight.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:43 AM (FVME7)

248 What a day yesterday. BOA Austin, about 12 hours in the Texas heat yesterday and it was hot with high humidity. The kids were melting but they did great, they all do. We were lucky this year that we had charter buses for the kids to rest on in A/C between performances. Lots of hard work. It's nice that they are back to doing full retreats. One band was YUGE! 400+ kids . Let's just say the field was pretty much covered from end zone to end zone with the 12 final bands.
Sponge understands.

Posted by: lin-duh at September 25, 2022 11:43 AM (UUBmN)

249 Did they define Proud Moron?

Posted by: polynikes at September 25, 2022 11:43 AM (e4kZN)

250 *dumping last night's ONT sock in the waste bin*


Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at September 25, 2022 11:44 AM (e6UQI)

251 KJP Argues Inflation Reduction Act Will Help Hurricane Season
-
Is there anything it can't do?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022

***
Make sense?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 11:42 AM (c6xtn)


I'm not making any decisions until I hear what Kamala has to say.

Posted by: Napoleon XIV at September 25, 2022 11:44 AM (AiZBA)

252 My zoom book club is reading A Canticle for Liebowitz. Just finished the second part of it. Post nuclear devastation society moved out of the Dark Ages to just prior to Enlightenment.

This part was mostly a religious polemic though. Hardly SF at all other than its post apocalyptic setting. Kind of surprised it won a Hugo.

Posted by: blaster at September 25, 2022 11:45 AM (pwExq)

253 “Riverdale” & “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” Actor Ryan Grantham Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murdering His Mother

-
That's gonna cut into his screen time.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 25, 2022 11:45 AM (FVME7)

254 " ... Bridge of Birds and the two following novels by Barry Hughart.
A novel of China that never was. ..."

thoroughly enjoyable !

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - we are being gaslighted 24/365 at September 25, 2022 11:46 AM (8oyo2)

255 Time to handle some chores, crash for a bit, and then maybe sit at the computer and noodle up some ideas. Later, folken.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at September 25, 2022 11:46 AM (c6xtn)

256 Did they define Proud Moron?

Posted by: polynikes at September 25, 2022 11:43 AM (e4kZN)

AoS commenter who keeps on boinin'.

Posted by: John F at September 25, 2022 11:47 AM (7bRMQ)

257 I'm still reading YA fiction. It's ridiculous but easy to read and put down. I guess next stop is just romance novels but I'm not there yet...

Posted by: lin-duh at September 25, 2022 11:47 AM (UUBmN)

258 I finally finished the Elric saga. It was a bit of a slog because the style wasn't to my taste, but I wanted to finish it so that I could say that I had.

I'm almost done with all the Travis McGee books (only one left!) and I picked up a bunch of Cedar Sanderson books at FenCon last weekend, of which I've read one: Pixie Noir. I always enjoy Cedar's books, although she specifically warned me that one was her first and may not be as good. We'll see.

Lastly, prompted by the article "How to Mark a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler, Ph.D. I am marking up one of my old college textbooks, to wit Computational Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer by Anderson, Tannehill, and Pletcher. I never learned the skill back in the day because I never needed it, but perhaps I can learn to master more subjects at this late date than I could back then.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at September 25, 2022 11:49 AM (6jmQG)

259 AoS commenter who keeps on boinin'.
Posted by: John F at September 25, 2022 11:47 AM (7bRMQ)

Boning on the River ...

Posted by: polynikes at September 25, 2022 11:50 AM (e4kZN)

260 where is Juan Williams right arm ?

seems awol

Posted by: REDACTED at September 25, 2022 11:51 AM (us2H3)

261
Let's just say the field was pretty much covered from end zone to end zone with the 12 final bands.
Sponge understands.
Posted by: lin-duh at September 25, 2022 11:43 AM (UUBmN)

_________

HS band competitions in Texas are fierce. Drum lines from black schools are amazing.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 25, 2022 11:51 AM (1Nxff)

262 I thought of ordering Unconditional Surrender, the third and last book of the Sword of Honour trilogy, but enjoyed reading stories from The Collected Stories of William Trevor too much to do without a break.

Posted by: Captain Hate at September 25, 2022 11:52 AM (y7DUB)

263 I'm still reading YA fiction. It's ridiculous but easy to read and put down. I guess next stop is just romance novels but I'm not there yet...

Posted by: lin-duh at September 25, 2022 11:47 AM (UUBmN)

I'll be waiting for you, Bella!

Posted by: Fabio at September 25, 2022 11:53 AM (7bRMQ)

264 where is Juan Williams right arm ?

seems awol

Posted by: REDACTED at September 25, 2022 11:51 AM (us2H3)

Drat! You caught me!

Posted by: Michelle Fields at September 25, 2022 11:56 AM (7bRMQ)

265 I'm still reading YA fiction. It's ridiculous but easy to read and put down. I guess next stop is just romance novels but I'm not there yet...

Posted by: lin-duh at September 25, 2022 11:47 AM (UUBmN)
---
You could stop by "franchise" fiction on the way to romances...Stuff like the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance books (based off the Dungeons and Dragons) or Star Trek / Star Wars (avoid the newer stuff!)

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 25, 2022 11:56 AM (K5n5d)

266 Cybersmythe, you will never be done with Travis MacGee. He will be with you forever.

Posted by: Head puddi at September 25, 2022 11:58 AM (qKnWc)

267 At trial, the prosecution revealed that Ryan Grantham also intended to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

So he did have a few good ideas!

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 11:58 AM (BRHaw)

268 Nood

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 25, 2022 12:00 PM (u73oe)

269 I've been rereading some of Clancy 's earlier Jack Ryan books. Hunt For Red October holds up well. I'm half way thru The Bear and the Dragon. Now I remember why I quit reading Clancy. Gawd. He's turned Ryan into a whiney bitch and every paragraph he's complaining about the job of President. I hate being 500 pages in and still being lectured to by the author.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 25, 2022 12:05 PM (anj39)

270 "How to Mark a Book"
------
Thnx Cybersmith. Nice article. I have used similar methods to mark sundry (mostly technical, but some fiction and others) for years.

My shortcoming is (Reeeee) dogears, as those allow me to pick up a book, and immediately get at the pertinent bits that I am seeking. which will have the asterisks, underlining.

I have used small post-it stickies for that purpose, but they can become distracting. My rationalization for the dogears, is that they are my books, and I'm the only one who has to accept them. The next owner will at least grasp from their presence that they are a quick index to what I thought are significant passages.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 25, 2022 12:08 PM (RuRuy)

271 JTB,

No, I listened to it recovering from the trip. I wondered how he would have felt about CRT and attacks on whites and asians.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 25, 2022 12:09 PM (uz3Px)

272 Just started the 'Ramage' series. It's as if Pope shamelessly used C.S. Forester as a 'How To' manual.

Entertaining, nonetheless.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 25, 2022 12:11 PM (RuRuy)

273 Laurel's Kitchen was my bread baking book. But Pro Home Cooks has some great videos on sourdough and helped me a lot.

https://youtu.be/BJEHsvW2J6M

I just have to find my kitchen stuff.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 25, 2022 12:19 PM (uz3Px)

274 That's where the minions and satraps come in.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at September 25, 2022 10:41 AM (Qzn2/)

If the satraps foment rebellion, and you have to send the Army to quell them, you might be getting daily satrap sitreps.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 25, 2022 12:20 PM (OoiXi)

275 I am wondering if any of the Ace of Spades Book Morons has ever read Michael Neufeld’s book, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. I am looking for a new(er) book to review for a book club that I belong to and am wondering if Von Braun is treated accurately and fairly in this book. I don’t want his Nazi background to be whitewashed, and I don’t want his contributions to the American space program to be diminished by his previous affiliation. I trust the impressions of the Book Morons to sort through the moral inconsistencies fairly.

Thank you for any information you can provide me.

Posted by: Jim K at September 25, 2022 12:23 PM (lCKnA)

276 At trial, the prosecution revealed that Ryan Grantham also intended to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

So he did have a few good ideas!
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 25, 2022 11:58 AM (BRHaw)

Free Ryan Grantham!

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 25, 2022 12:34 PM (zbcDB)

277 Good morning!

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

Been busy. Chores, cooking & mild exercise, alas.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at September 25, 2022 12:40 PM (u82oZ)

278 277

'Allo, Salty.

Everything here is OK, but I don't have the energy to do much any more, i.e., drive back & forth to the Lake.

My kids are doing well in school.

Hope all is well.

Posted by: mnw at September 25, 2022 12:49 PM (NLIak)

279 @230 --

That's what I call incentive.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 25, 2022 01:44 PM (Om/di)

280 Hadrian the Seventh @178 "... but before the war broke out - indeed, well into it - I doubt the total extermination of a people by a European nation wasn't in the intellectual sphere of any diplomat or statesman of the time."

An interesting example of this is the short story "Into Egypt" by Stephen Vincent Benet (best remembered now for "The Devil and Daniel Webster"). Published in 1939 it tells of the mass expulsion of the "Accursed People" (read Jews) from "the Land" (Germany) at the command of "The Leader" (Hitler). This expulsion, on foot and with only what they can carry, plus the murder of some hundreds of prisoners is clearly shown as a crime and an atrocity. Which it would have been. But how much less of a horror than the reality that was already beginning!

This story is included in the collection: "By the Waters of Babylon, and Other Fantasies and Prophecies" (available on Kindle).

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at September 25, 2022 03:38 PM (L1mkL)

281 Thanks again to Prefessor Squirrel for keeping the Book Thread going!

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at September 25, 2022 03:40 PM (L1mkL)

282 Just read the thread. Thanks Perfesser, you always host a wonderful book thread!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 25, 2022 05:25 PM (p/nbH)

283 I am making $45 an hour working from home. I never imagined that it was honest to goodness yet my closest companion is earning $10,500 a month by working on a laptop, that was truly astounding for me, she prescribed for me to attempt it simply.
Everybody must try this job now by just use this... Www.Profit97.Com

Posted by: www.Profit97.Com at September 26, 2022 02:13 AM (Big30)

284
Making money online is more than $15k just by doing simple work from home. I received $18376 last month. It's an easy and simple job to do and its earnings are much better than regular office jobs and even a little child can do this and earn money. Everybody must try this job by just use the info on this page..... www.worksful.com

Posted by: Cynthia Smith at September 26, 2022 03:12 AM (nmJ2r)

(Jump to top of page)






Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.0391 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0146 seconds, 292 records returned.
Page size 189 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.



MuNuvians
MeeNuvians
Polls! Polls! Polls!

Real Clear Politics
Gallup
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
News/Chat