Sunday Morning Book Thread - 10-22-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: BonnieK)

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. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

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

PIC NOTE

Lurker and very infrequent commenter BonnieK sent me the pic above. I love it! Sure, it's not very good for organizing one's library, but the artistic appeal is fantastic.

"CURSE YOUR SUDDEN BUT INEVITABLE BETRAYAL!"

Betrayal in storytelling is a trope as old as storytelling itself. Consider the serpent in the Garden of Eden betraying God by tempting Eve into eating the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. Then Cain, one of the sons of Adam and Eve, betrayed and murdered his brother Abel. This set the stage for mankind's fascination for betraying one's fellow man (or woman). Lots of betrayals to go around in the Old Testament...Also one very, very famous betrayal in the New Testament when Judas betrays Jesus to the Romans, leading to His execution and subsequent resurrection, thus ushering in Christianity to the world.

History, of course, is also filled with legendary betrayals, some that resulted in good ends, and others less so, though I suppose it depends on your perspective. James Armistead, for instance, was a double-agent, pretending to spy for the British during the American Revolution, but delivered key information about British troop and arms deployments to American spies. During the same war, American general Benedict Arnold sold out West Point to the British, thus earning his place in history as a synonym for traitor in American history.

Traitors in storytelling are interesting characters because--when written well--they often struggle with their actions as they fight to do what they believe is the right thing but it may ultimately cause problems for the hero. Other traitors embrace their role because they are consumed by ambition, lust, greed, and so on, and therefore see nothing wrong with selling out their companions for personal gain. Sometimes they delight in their betrayal, taunting everyone they betray and daring them to retaliate. And some characters are caught in the middle, forced to betray their companions in order to protect the ones they love who may be held hostage.

Dr. Yueh, from Frank Herbert's Dune is a perfect example of this latter type of traitor. He served House Atreides, but his wife had been captured by House Harkonnen, the sworn enemy of House Atreides. Dr. Yueh is notable for being trained by a medical tradition that instilled supposedly unbreakable loyalty in its adherents. It was thought that the conditioning could NOT be broken, but the Harkonnens found a way. Yueh was forced to betray his Duke, but did try to give Duke Atreides a way to strike back at Baron Harkonnen. Yueh's story is tragic in the end because he knows that his wife is long dead, but is forced to go along with Baron Harkonnen's plans anyway, though he is able to join his beloved wife in the afterlife.

Tad Williams, whose works I've been reading lately, definitely enjoys inserting betrayals into his stories. In his Otherland series, a cabal of WEF-like oligarchs known as The Grail Brotherhood (it includes women) attempts to achieve immortality by uploading their consciousnesses into a virtual reality simulator, where they can rule over Earth forever. Naturally, they are all a bunch of backstabbing, conniving bastards, so they continually struggle and plot against each other in order to become "first among equals" in the new world order they hope to create. Just when they are about to achieve their goals, one of their high-level mooks implements a plan of his own to take over their network...Whoops! Whoopsie!

Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy--which takes place in the Star Wars universe--also contains multiple instances of treachery and betrayal as the heroes of the New Galactic Republic struggle against the Imperial Remnant to consolidate their control over the galaxy. In the end, Thrawn betrays the wrong person, which leads to his downfall as his own hubris catches up to him.

What are some other great stories of treachery and betrayal? Do you ever get a sense of immense satisfaction when the traitor meets a just end?

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IT PAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WORD POWER

splenetic - adj. - marked by bad temper, malevolence, or spite.

Comment: This looks like a fun word to sprinkle through a story when a character gets particularly annoyed. It refers to venting one's spleen, which can be traced back to the four humours of the body: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The last of these was thought to be produced by the spleen (the actual function of which is to store and filter blood), and thus lead to angry outbursts and violent temper.

pareidolia - n. - the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous pattern.

Comment: Human beings seemed to be programmed to spot patterns, even if they don't actually exist in reality. Seeing a cloud that resembles a dog or other object is an example of engaging in pareidolia. This can often lead to interesting situations, such as an can be found in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where the gang finds a water stain they claim resembles the Virgin Mary. Since they are all sociopathic assholes, they try to exploit it for financial gain by asking religious folks for donations to view the image and thus gain a blessing from the Virgin Mary. Much hilarity ensues.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

A great read is At All Costs by Sam Moses. This is the story of two young American merchant mariners in 1942 who are part of a convoy trying to resupply a desperate Malta. The SS Ohio is one of the newest and largest tankers afloat, and has been loaned to the British for the mission. If they do not get the Ohio into the port of Malta, the island will have to surrender, giving the Germans complete access to resupply North Africa. The Ohio has already been bombed, and only the buoyancy of the oil is keeping her afloat. You can feel the determination and desperation as you read about their heroic efforts to get the vital cargo to Malta. So many close run things that succeeded determined the course of world war two, and this is one of the closest and most important
Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 15, 2023 09:47 AM (F0UNL)

Comment: Situated due south of the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, the tiny island of Malta seems to be a very strategic location. It's been inhabited for thousands of years, seeing the passing of Phonecians, Greeks, Etruscans, Romans, Moors, etc. It's no surprise that it would be a strategic location in WWII for both the Allies and the Axis powers.

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My burning hatred for Desecration Through Adaptation was kindled with me back in 1974 after I purchased a Scholastic Book Fair copy of The Hundred and One Dalmatians. I read it and reread it multiple times. I enjoyed it so much that my parents decided to get me the ViewMaster adaptation from the Disney animated feature. I was bitterly disappointed. "Where's Perdita?" "What, no Cadpig and TELEVISION?" My disappointment deepened when I rented the VHS version and found entire chapters sliced out. The live action version is desecration on steroids.
So: if you've never read The Hundred and One Dalmatians, or at least handed a copy to your child, you should do so. It's an enjoyable well-written story with several good plot twists due to plausible changing circumstances without leaving any gaping plot holes. Author Dodie Smith (I Capture the Castle) was a dog lover and researched and included many different breeds into the story.
For those looking for a copy, ignore the American versions and get one published in England with the original pen illustrations by sisters Janet and Anne Grahame-Johnstone. They actually read the story and produced their art to match it. The dust jacket has many story elements, and the endpapers have a wonderful illustration of various dogs involved in the story akin to a map. The American versions have basic Disneyfied art or simple character portraits (like the Barnes & Noble edition.) It seems my Scholastic Book Fair copy was the only edition printed in America with the original pen art. As part of the film contract rights, Disney suppressed the pen art so they could distribute their own art exclusively in the 1960s.
Cesspit Pariah

Comment: Disney has been in the game of ruining other stories for a long, long time. They've "Disneyfied" so many classic fairy tales that many people may not even be aware that original versions exist. Look what they did to Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid recently. And look what they are planning to do to Snow White. Buy the originals and give those to your kids and grandkids instead.

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I read The Loom of Time, by Robert Kaplan. It's an overview of the muslim world by a man who has been traveling throughout it for 50 years. He examines individual states and their histories, and then discusses why he thinks most of them have failed.
I don't agree with all his conclusions, but one he gets right is that while democracy is desirable, countries like most of those in the mideast simply aren't cohesive enough as ethnic entities for a democracy to exist. A strong man is not only necessary in most cases, he's imperative, and critically, desired by most of the population, who fear anarchy more than dictatorship. This is, of course, contrary to the assumptions we made in Iraq, Libya, and other places where the replacement for a dictator was chaos and anarchy, and ultimately an even worse dictator.
All in all, it was not an encouraging book, but it's full of insights grounded in an understanding of the specific countries, their history, and demography. Recommended.
Posted by: Archimedes at October 15, 2023 09:13 AM (I/Qkd)

Comment: Understanding the Muslim mind is key to dealing with them in any meaningful way. Unfortunately, the "elites" are woefully ignorant on what motivates them, believing that they are driven by the same ideals as "the elites." This is both true and false, as everything in Islam is surrounded by Allah's will. Yes, they desire power and wealth, but it's all taken from the infidel as their due to the Islamic world. Democracy, as it's practiced in the West, is as foreign to them as color is to a man who has been blind from birth. It's just beyond their comprehension.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

Nora Kelly Book 3 - Diablo Mesa by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child - Archaeologist Nora Kelly and her colleague from the FBI, junior agent Corrie Swann, are tasked by a billionaire (Elon Musk expy) to unravel the mystery of what really happened in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947.

Nora Kelly Book 4 - Dead Mountain by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child - Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Swanson investigate a cold case where 9 hikers disappeared in the NM mountains under strange circumstances. After 15 years, the last of the bodies have re-emerged, only prompting more questions about what happened that dark Halloween night in 2008...

That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding the 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!

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or discussion topics 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 - 10-15-23 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

(Huggy Squirrel makes a mental note to get his prostate checked--just in case the aliens need to probe him again!)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tree of Good and Evil

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 22, 2023 08:48 AM (lwOKI)

2 Morning, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 22, 2023 08:50 AM (a/4+U)

3 Must be something funny with that Texican time. It ain't only but 5:50!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 08:50 AM (Angsy)

4 Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Posted by: davidt at October 22, 2023 08:53 AM (SYTee)

5 Morning horde! Will need to catch up on the thread a little later due to TX transit, but a memorable part of the MoMe was meeting the Perfessor. He's put so much time and thought into this little corner of AoS. He also looks great in a purple hat. THANK YOU!

Posted by: TRex at October 22, 2023 08:53 AM (bApRP)

6 Did a quick skim to refresh my memory on Lawrence Block's book Writing the Novel, and should have a few thoughts for the Literary Horde some time this week.

Unless, of course, my natural slothfulness gets in the way.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 22, 2023 08:54 AM (a/4+U)

7 Finally finished up the biography of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden-one of the best biographies I have ever read, but it is long. Someone was mentioned last week that all they had read of Edwards was "Sinners in the hands of an angry God," and wondered if that was deliberate. Dr. Marsden thinks so-to push the idea of Puritans and angry people and religion as all about hell. Here are some thoughts on another sermon by Edwards about heaven:

https://tinyurl.com/4m7a86r4

I don't know if Dr. Marsden is still alive-he'd be pretty old if this is true, but I'm going to find out an write a note of appreciation to his publisher if he is

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 22, 2023 08:54 AM (RSbhh)

8 A two-day read that I will re-read in the very near future: Mark Helprin's latest novel, The Oceans and The Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story.

Posted by: FIIGMO at October 22, 2023 08:54 AM (5Xtai)

9 PIC NOTE

Lurker and very infrequent commenter BonnieK sent me the pic above. I love it! Sure, it's not very good for organizing one's library, but the artistic appeal is fantastic.

Oh.

I thought it was Ace's shelves.

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 08:55 AM (T4tVD)

10 I am going to be reading 1 John 5 in about 15 minutes.

Posted by: Miss Issippi at October 22, 2023 08:55 AM (9CTr8)

11 Early posts are not fair and could upset the Time/ Space Continuum
Tolle Lege everyone

Posted by: Skip at October 22, 2023 08:55 AM (fwDg9)

12 I can assume that top picture is not Ace-Shelving branded?

Posted by: Ciampino - Gruntled Employee of the Month? at October 22, 2023 08:56 AM (qfLjt)

13 Book tree is awesome
Still crawling through Silmarillion

Did JRR Tolkien have to make a new name a few times for everything under the sun?

Posted by: Skip at October 22, 2023 08:57 AM (fwDg9)

14 Morning, book Horde! It was a great pleasure to meet our Professor at the Momee. And he really rocks the purple fedora!

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 22, 2023 08:57 AM (bApRP)

15 Did a quick skim to refresh my memory on Lawrence Block's book Writing the Novel, and should have a few thoughts for the Literary Horde some time this week.

Unless, of course, my natural slothfulness gets in the way.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 22, 2023 08:54 AM (a/4+U)

Do it! Be interesting to read your take.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 08:58 AM (Angsy)

16 Hey, got my copy on A Canticle for Liebowtz. Haven’t read it yet but I have it now. So that counts toward reading, rite?

Posted by: Puddinhead at October 22, 2023 08:58 AM (/UtnQ)

17 hiya

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 08:59 AM (T4tVD)

18 Ow, my spine!

Posted by: Almost certainly, some of the books in that picture at October 22, 2023 08:59 AM (PiwSw)

19 Willowed:

Good morning. Borrowing the word's from the illustrious Weasel, Holy Shitballs! What a fun weekend!
Posted by: Ben Had at October 22, 2023 08:44 AM

Ben Had, thank you so much for all that you, Rancher Bob, and CowHorseQueen did to make it an amazing MoMe!
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 22, 2023 08:58 AM

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 22, 2023 09:00 AM (Pz86S)

20 Have been reading a WW2 series by Tom Burkhalter set initially in the pacific. Well written and researched. I recommend.

Posted by: Diogenes at October 22, 2023 09:01 AM (u77iJ)

21 That reminds me, I need to stop at the supermarket on the way home from work to pick up a few things.

Posted by: Liebowtz at October 22, 2023 09:01 AM (SYTee)

22 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. I wonder if any of the Corsicana crew will come home with book suggestions.

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:02 AM (7EjX1)

23 Shy Lurking Voter: If you're here, see my post # 274 from last week's book thread. Hope you got a chance to start on John Van Stry's "Portals of Infinity" series and enjoy that.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at October 22, 2023 09:02 AM (qPw5n)

24 You guys are the best!

Posted by: Perfessor Squirrel at October 22, 2023 09:03 AM (KN2gu)

25 I LOVE those book shelves in the top photo. Part of the library at Rivendell? (Obligatory Tolkien reference.)

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

26 Booken morgen horden!
Fantastic tree shelf

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 22, 2023 09:04 AM (NfESG)

27 I read The Traitor by Richard Paul Evans. This is the ninth book in the Michael Vey YA series. Once again Vey and his Electroclan are in the jungles of Peru to rescue Clan members captured by the evil Chasqui drug dealers. They receive help from the Amacarra, a tribe of jungle dwellers. The series is becoming a bit formulistic, but the proper values of living an honorable life are still stressed. It's a good escape read and I always pick up some tidbits of new knowledge.

Posted by: Zoltan at October 22, 2023 09:07 AM (7EvEN)

28 Yes; Great bookshelves.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 22, 2023 09:07 AM (xUoge)

29 Stayed up late reading a Juliet Marillier book. I am not sure if it was a reread

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 22, 2023 09:07 AM (NfESG)

30 Pants status: Donned.

Sorry I'm late. Had to slop 14 turkeys and a bevy of deer that wandered into the backyard for their twice daily feed. It's a zoo.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 09:08 AM (vnfYO)

31 Well, let me bring in the first Matt Helm reference of the day. For those who don't know, Helm stories are narrated in first person past tense.

In regard to traitors, he says (paraphrased): "They all claim some great ideological motive, ever since Judas caught hell for doing it for cash."

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 09:09 AM (bApRP)

32 I ordered "American on Purpose" by Craig Ferguson.

Always liked him and his sense of humor.

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:09 AM (T4tVD)

33 I took an extra day of vacation before the TxMoMe to check out Dallas-area bookstores. I wound up visiting only one, Lucky Dog Books in the Garland area. It didn't have any Mason or Wolfe, but I picked up a few other books, including two Ellery Queen mysteries and a hardcover collection of Rocketeer comics adventures by a variety of comics pros. (R.I.P. Dave Stevens.)

I see that Half Price Books has stores on my route home and that they're now open on Sundays. I may add to my haul.

As for reading, I burned through two more Sandman Mystery Theatre TCs and Detective Comics stories written by Paul Dini. I'm done with SMT for a while, but I wish Dini had written more Bat-stories.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 09:10 AM (bApRP)

34 Every autumn I re-read the first parts of "Travels With Charley", the opening and his accounts of New England. Reminds me of that time and place when I was a kid. And I still lust for my own version of Rocinante even if I wouldn't fit in it very well. But I love the descriptions of the truck and camper and the planning for what to take.

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:10 AM (7EjX1)

35 Here is a very strong recommendation. Get "The Reader's Encyclopedia" by William Rose Benet.

It's a compendium of literature and the Arts and major figures in science and major historical events and really just about everything you should have learned in a classical liberal arts education in one handy volume. Be sure to buy a copy that was published before 1982 because later versions have of course been scrubbed by the lefties.

Posted by: Beverly at October 22, 2023 09:10 AM (MjTM2)

36 Good Sunday morning, horde!

I want the tree bookshelves all over my house.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 22, 2023 09:11 AM (OX9vb)

37 Stayed up late reading a Juliet Marillier book. I am not sure if it was a reread

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 22, 2023 09:07 AM (NfESG)

I stayed up watching Clemson/Miami....I could've watched a football game.

Posted by: BignJames at October 22, 2023 09:11 AM (AwYPR)

38 Does one have to water that bookcase in the pic up top??

Posted by: dantesed at October 22, 2023 09:11 AM (88xKn)

39 I read that as "Dildo Mesa" and thought Perf's reading had taken a strange turn.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 09:11 AM (vnfYO)

40 I'm continuing to go through my collection of illustrated children's books so I can enjoy the gorgeous colors and details with my rejuvenated eyes. So glad I searched out editions with excellent renditions of the artwork.

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:11 AM (7EjX1)

41 Dang, I hate it when I read an extract of something I wrote, and find errors. In this case:

A strong man is not only ~~necessary~~ desirable in most cases, he's imperative, and critically, desired by most of the population, who fear anarchy more than dictatorship.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 22, 2023 09:12 AM (I/Qkd)

42 well no judas has to be understood as a vessel, to fulfill the covenant, yes Satan was somewhere in the bargain, not to riff too theological

Posted by: no 6 at October 22, 2023 09:12 AM (PXvVL)

43 Yay book thread! I'm starting to feel the need to write again after the epic burnout of doing back-to-back nonfiction books.

No firm ideas as yet, but I'm sending up weekly columns over at bleedingfool.com for those interested. I've actually been thinking about an anthology of my best stuff. We'll see. And now my book reviews....

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:12 AM (llXky)

44 Last week's discussion of Devil in the White City leads me to recommend another Erik Larson work, Thunderstruck. This is the intertwined story of Hawley Crippen and Guglielmo Marconi. Marconi was the man who perfected the wireless, a tool that revolutionized communication and dramatically improved safety at sea, while Crippen murdered his wife, removed identifying features from her body, and buried her remains in his London basement. How do these stories intersect? Crippen escaped England in 1910 aboard the liner Montose, headed for Canada, with hopes of disappearing in the new world. The officers aboard ship are suspicious of the little man and his feminine looking "son", who in reality is the young female maid Crippen is running away with. The captain and crew communicate with London and Canada via Marconi's wireless to exchange details and plans to intercept the pair when they arrive in Newfoundland. As the situation unfolds, newspapers around the world begin to cover the story, while the pair on board the ship are ignorant of the dragnet being created. Larson captures the technical challenges Marconi faced, while interweaving it with the story of the first public manhunt.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 09:12 AM (fV4Rw)

45 Understanding the Muslim mind is key to dealing with them in any meaningful way. Unfortunately, the "elites" are woefully ignorant on what motivates them, believing that they are driven by the same ideals as "the elites." This is both true and false, as everything in Islam is surrounded by Allah's will. Yes, they desire power and wealth, but it's all taken from the infidel as they're due to the Islamic world. Democracy, as it's practiced in the West, is as foreign to them as color is to a man who has been blind from birth. It's just beyond their comprehension.

Democracy is man-made and as flawed as any other man-made system. Democracy is "vote for what you want", not "vote for what is right".

To the Muslim child staring at the sky as the American ordered shock and awe rocked every building in his/her city and blew his/her mother or father to bits in front of them, there is only distinction without difference between western democracy and Islamic fundamentalism.

There is but one system that will ever deliver the world a lasting peace, that is the benevolent monarchy with Righteous King with the justice and mercy enthroned.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at October 22, 2023 09:14 AM (TNnZH)

46 I was lucky enough to read the original "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" during grade school. Because I had seen the movie first, some of the scenes in the book shocked me. No spoilers.

That book also showed me that one could make popcorn without a popcorn popper. That, too, was a surprise.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (bApRP)

47 Good morning all!
My students and I are reading Frankenstein. We just finished reading Macbeth. One of my students said, “Why do we just read about evil people?”
I said, “You have to be aware of it and acknowledge that evil exists in order to avoid it.”

Posted by: Jmel at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (bVhJi)

48 I love-love-love the tree bookshelf!

Finally finished the last bit of my Civil War novel - which will be out in Kindle and other ebook formats by December, and in print shortly thereafter. It's called "That Fateful Lightning" - and all the chapter headings are lines from popular songs of the era.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (xnmPy)

49 First up, we have At the Crossroads: Michilimackinac During the American Revolution by David A. Armour and Keith R. Widder. I bought this at For Michilimackinac's gift shop after their Fort Fright Halloween event (which is epic). While the title gives a military history vibe, it is an all-encompassing look at not only the Straits, but the entire Great Lakes basin. Everything is in there, from the rhythm of the seasons, to the actual canoe count of trade goods shipped out in the spring.

It's packed with maps, period illustrations, photos of artifacts recovered at the Straits, and is an invaluable resource. The one weakness is that sometimes the detail is just too much, and one has to put the book down and just process all that information. Great portraits of the people, and in the right hands, one could make an awesome TV/Film adaptation of the thing, since it was the Casablanca of its age - everyone showed up there.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (llXky)

50 The Tree of Whoa.

Posted by: Crom at October 22, 2023 09:19 AM (+4yUt)

51 Anything by Erik Larson is worth reading.
"Thunderstruck" is a real page turner.

"Isaac's Storm" was an early work, with real significance for me. My maternal grandfather survived the Great Galveston Storm as a young boy. I never knew him, as he died shortly after I was born, but my grandmother had a collection of photos of the devastation. Very grim.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 09:19 AM (KB0Aa)

52 How many deer are in a bevy ?

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:19 AM (T4tVD)

53 Did JRR Tolkien have to make a new name a few times for everything under the sun?
Posted by: Skip at October 22, 2023 08:57 AM (fwDg9)

Yes. SO annoying.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 09:20 AM (KB0Aa)

54 I don't think the Pants guy is a guy, but if he is, I don't think he owns a weedwhacker. (if you catch my drift)

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:21 AM (T4tVD)

55 In less pleasant reading, I was obligated to read Richard Schwartz's No Bad Parts. I've been forced to read at least a half-dozen of these pop-psych/self-help books and I cordially loathe them, but I give Schwartz credit: none of the other ones combined his level of arrogance and ignorance.

In the first 14 pages the man declares that he has more wisdom than the Church Fathers and Buddha himself. Such modesty! He has an entire chapter on how he's solved all the problems of the world (nice of him to share) and if you cut out his constant need to pat himself on the back, there's 15 actual pages of useful information.

What really sets this guy apart, though, is how *wrong* he is about all this little tangents. He lectures on the doctrinal failures of Christianity while getting them completely wrong.

About the only good thing I say of this book is that it isn't mine, otherwise it would already have been expended as a target and burned.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:21 AM (llXky)

56 Speaking of Disneyfied stories. Pinocchio is another story that surprised me. It is a little dark in places, and he is reminded frequently that things would go better for him if he obeyed his father.

Posted by: Quirky bookworm at October 22, 2023 09:21 AM (gBvlU)

57 Book thread!... Better get the coffee started.
Morning all.
This week I read.
Wagners powdercoat gun users manual. Which I had to translate in google from German. I think a few things are lost in translation as I still have no idea why no powder will pass through the gun.
Restarted The Black Prince by Henry Dwight Sedgwick... For the fourth time. Dunno what it is but I never seem to get past page 60 or so before I forget I'm reading it and it goes onto a stack. Then I'll find it and be all "Damnit, finish this" and I start over. Only to get to page 60 or so again.

Posted by: Reforger at October 22, 2023 09:22 AM (PQeev)

58 With cooler weather coming in I start thinking more about kitchen stuffs I've been reading through several cookbooks. "The Modern Pioneer" by Mary Bryant Shrader, who does the Mary's Nest videos on YT, for the recipes and, especially, for the techniques. Also, the three Cowboy Kent Rollins cookbooks for the recipes, the gorgeous photography and the narratives.

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:22 AM (7EjX1)

59 For all those who suddenly cannot do without a set of shelves like that, I think I know what lumber yard the boards came from.

In the back upstairs pile, I had kept a lon gass 1 x 12 that was warped in two directions and cupped. You couldn't put it in a stack. My uncle had an ("ornamental") pony cart, originally made up by a sulky racer, and stopped over one day to ask if I knew anything about steam-bending, because he had to make new seats. Was he ever tickled when I slid out that propeller stock.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 09:23 AM (4PZHB)

60 First up, we have At the Crossroads: Michilimackinac During the American Revolution by David A. Armour and Keith R. Widder.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (llXky)

A couple of years ago, I read quite a few nf books about the Revolutionary period. To think of what they did, and now their handiwork in the clutches of evildoers makes their exploits hard to read about. You almost think they wasted their time.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 09:23 AM (Angsy)

61 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:21 AM (llXky)

I'll be sure not to read that, but thank you for your amusingly acerbic review.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 22, 2023 09:24 AM (5rpT/)

62 Good morning all!
My students and I are reading Frankenstein. We just finished reading Macbeth. One of my students said, “Why do we just read about evil people?”
I said, “You have to be aware of it and acknowledge that evil exists in order to avoid it.”
Posted by: Jmel at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (bVhJi)

That and good people are kinda boring.

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:24 AM (T4tVD)

63 I thought it was Ace's shelves.
Posted by: JT
________________

Too level.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at October 22, 2023 09:24 AM (Dm8we)

64 I thought it was Ace's shelves.
Posted by: JT
________________

Too level.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at October 22, 2023 09:24 AM (Dm8we)

lol

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:26 AM (T4tVD)

65 The Disney version of anything is a big bunch of plastic artificial flowers (remember those?) next to the real thing.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 09:26 AM (KB0Aa)

66 I was lucky enough to read the original "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" during grade school. Because I had seen the movie first, some of the scenes in the book shocked me. No spoilers.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (bApRP)
---
Walt Disney famously asked one writer if he'd ever read The Jungle Book, and when he hadn't, Walt said "Good, because weren't not really making a movie about it, just using parts."

That's pretty much what Disney did with everything, but the result product was often excellent. I just got Beauty and the Beast on DVD and was amazed not only at how well it has held up, but the level of complexity in the animation and the emotion it conveyed. It really is for 'all ages.' As opposed to the woke remakes.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:27 AM (llXky)

67 "Situated due south of the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, the tiny island of Malta seems to be a very strategic location."

Yes, Malta is the key to the central Mediterranean. Its capital of Valetta has one of the finest natural harbors in the world, and is coveted by naval powers. is WWII was just the latest in a long line of sieges of Malta. Perhaps the most significant was in the 16th century, when the Knights of Malta (remember the Maltese Falcon?) fought off a siege by the Turkish forces of Suleiman the Magnificent. Had the Turks taken Malta, the entire subsequent history of the western Europe might be different.

The siege and its aftermath is described vividly in my recommended book: "The Galleys of Lepanto", by British journalist Jack Beeching. The author tells the story of the struggle between Europe and Islam in the 16th century, culminating in the victory of the West at Lepanto in 1571. It's also a biography of the victor of Lepanto, Charles V's bastard son Don John of Austria. It's a powerful story superbly told, and even more important now than it was when it was published in the 1970s. Available via alibris.com and amazon.

Posted by: Nemo at October 22, 2023 09:28 AM (S6ArX)

68 Got to go make breakfast.

But- scored two vintage copies of Mary Lasswell books at the Library Book Sale yesterday: High Time and Suds in Your Eye.
Everyone needs these as a respite from all the doom and gloom. They have been re-issued, but I think they kept the original illustrations.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 09:29 AM (KB0Aa)

69 My students and I are reading Frankenstein. We just finished reading Macbeth. One of my students said, “Why do we just read about evil people?”
I said, “You have to be aware of it and acknowledge that evil exists in order to avoid it.”

Posted by: Jmel at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (bVhJi)
---
Flawed people are more interesting. The curse of our age is the Stunning and Brave Empowered Woman with no flaws, who needs no instruction, who never fails (unless some man lets her down) and whose epic struggle is to simply accept and love herself and her own awesomeness.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:29 AM (llXky)

70 Splenetic! Not nearly enough use. I'll be sure to remedy this situation.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (V13WU)

71 I read Diablo Mesa a couple of weeks ago. It is an interesting twist on the Area 51 story. I like that Preston and Child have taken memorable characters from one series and given them stories of their own. Without adding spoilers, this story gives a credible path as to how the conspiracy theories could be correct, and how an archeologist could help solve it.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (fV4Rw)

72 52
A bexy is just a large group of people or things. Indefinite size.

Posted by: Ciampino - Could have said a PLETHORA at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (qfLjt)

73 That bookshelf looks horribly unstable and incredibly inefficient. You could fit so many more books on a standard shelf of the same overall dimensions....

Amazon had the ebook version of one of the Gor books (Warriors of Gor, maybe, I dunno) on sale for 2 bucks. So I bought it. Not proud of the purchase, but not ashamed, either. The Gor books have a reputation for just being about scantily clad slave girls, but they also include bits about knights riding giant eagles. At least the first book did, which I read years ago... Anyways, it should be some light (and hopefully stand-alone) reading once I get to it.

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (Lhaco)

74 72
BEVY

Posted by: Ciampino - Could have said a PLETHORA at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (qfLjt)

75 The Disney version of anything is a big bunch of plastic artificial flowers (remember those?) next to the real thing.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 09:26 AM (KB0Aa)
---
Thirty years ago, describing something as "the Disney version" was not a compliment.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (llXky)

76 Iago in Shakespeare's Othello is possibly the nastiest traitor in literature.

It is so dark, I rarely delve into it. What an absolutely fantastic character.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at October 22, 2023 09:31 AM (+tgkM)

77 @57 --

Reforger, you just described me with "The Dogs of War." The story was broken into three parts. I enjoyed it immensely, but I always set it down after part I concluded. Picked it up months later but had to start at the beginning. This went on for years.

Finally gritted my teeth and powered on through the rest of the book. Terrific tale.

Now I'm thinking of other books that I haven't finished. One immediately comes to mind. Maybe it's time to pick it up again.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 09:31 AM (bApRP)

78 That bookshelf looks horribly unstable and incredibly inefficient. You could fit so many more books on a standard shelf of the same overall dimensions....

You're an engineer, aren't you.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 22, 2023 09:32 AM (I/Qkd)

79 Glad to learn about the original version of 101 Dalmations with the Grahame-Johnstone illustrations. I wasn't aware that Disney didn't create the story. I'll have to look for the earlier edition.

The DD (Disney Desecration) doesn't surprise me anymore. That why I have hardback editions of the complete Grimm's Fairy Tales and the Hans Christian Andersen stories. And my copies of Winnie-the-Pooh do NOT use the Disney illustrations. At Least Disney never (as far as I know) screwed with Wind In The Willows.

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:32 AM (7EjX1)

80 In the 70's American Rifleman had a very literary review of the violence done to the original Bambi by the Disney rewrite. It was converted from a naturalistic, brutally honest slice of forest life into a cutesy fantasy by a young communist named
Whittaker Chambers.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 09:33 AM (4PZHB)

81 I went to our library's semiannual used book sale and nabbed my usual paperback sci fi, plus an 1889 biography of Willy the Shake that includes his "doubtful plays". They must have come down on "nope" because I haven't heard of them: Locrine, Sir John Oldcastle, The Puritan, Mucedorus, etc.

Not that my unfamiliarity means much; I am shockingly ignorant of much of Shakespeare.

The biography section is suspiciously thick for such an enigmatic fellow. It must be as much about the times as the man.

Anyway, lovely book with lots of illustrations, for two bucks. Winning!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 09:34 AM (vnfYO)

82 Amazon had the ebook version of one of the Gor books (Warriors of Gor, maybe, I dunno) on sale for 2 bucks. So I bought it. Not proud of the purchase, but not ashamed, either. The Gor books have a reputation for just being about scantily clad slave girls, but they also include bits about knights riding giant eagles. At least the first book did, which I read years ago... Anyways, it should be some light (and hopefully stand-alone) reading once I get to it.

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (Lhaco)

My brother had all of them. I read a few. Eventually, meh. How many times can you have the Priest-Kings kill someone to keep society from advancing to the next level.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 09:34 AM (Angsy)

83 Out of the Night by Jan Valtin - he betrays the Comintern and the Gestapo, does time in San Quentin, then ends up deployed in the Philippines and writes the book Children of Yesterday about the 24th Infantry Division.

LIES, deceptions and redemption. A wild life.

Posted by: 13times at October 22, 2023 09:34 AM (+4yUt)

84 I'll be sure not to read that, but thank you for your amusingly acerbic review.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 22, 2023 09:24 AM (5rpT/)
---
I read it so you don't have to.

Having read 1,300 pages on Ford Madox Ford, I'm no position to criticize reading a biography of Edwards, but trying to rehabilitate the Puritans is a serious steep slope to climb. They're a classic example of a persecuted people who flee to a new land, make it there own, and then demonstrate that their tormentors kind of had a point.

Did Edwards celebrate Christmas or was that still on the naughty list in his day?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:35 AM (llXky)

85 @78 always appropriate for bookshelf critiques:

BOOM.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 09:35 AM (4PZHB)

86 Had to slop 14 turkeys and a bevy of deer that wandered into the backyard for their twice daily feed. It's a zoo.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 09:08 AM (vnfYO)

When's the hunt? I assume turkey for Thanksgiving and venison for Christmas?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 22, 2023 09:35 AM (3Gtis)

87 Hadn't heard of the Lasswells -- they look like they'd be fun. And it looks like Open Road has the series available as ebooks for not too much $$$.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 22, 2023 09:35 AM (a/4+U)

88 77
Is this the book you are referring to?
The Dogs Of War - Frederick Forsyth

Posted by: Ciampino - Could have said a PLETHORA ! at October 22, 2023 09:36 AM (qfLjt)

89 Just wrapped up the Anabasis by Xenophon (or as Penguin mysteriously insists on titling it, _The Persian Expedition_). Great stuff -- especially if you're planning to invade Persian-held Anatolia and want to know how long it takes to march between various cities, how strong the local tribes are, and how hard various rivers are to cross.

One thing which struck me was the organization, or maybe lack thereof, of the Greek army. Officers were chosen by election. This meant that the Persian attempt at a "decapitation" by inviting the generals to a parley and then massacring them failed utterly (the Greeks just elected new generals), but it also meant an awful lot of jawboning and second-guessing during the march.

I believe the Romans had a mixed system: a given century would elect its centurion (during the Republic era) but the Senate appointed the generals. So on the small unit level you're led by someone you trust, but the chain of command is not subject to alteration from below.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 09:36 AM (78a2H)

90 What are some other great stories of treachery and betrayal? Do you ever get a sense of immense satisfaction when the traitor meets a just end?

======

Well, on the GREAT stories of betrayal is in the Odyssey, and mores so in the Aeneid (I had to check, so you don't have to ). But the betrayer was a wooden horse. I guess it was not a betrayal as much as a military tactic. so never mind.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 09:38 AM (V13WU)

91 In the 70's American Rifleman had a very literary review of the violence done to the original Bambi by the Disney rewrite. It was converted from a naturalistic, brutally honest slice of forest life into a cutesy fantasy by a young communist named
Whittaker Chambers.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 09:33 AM (4PZHB)
---
Didn't Chambers renounce communism?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:38 AM (llXky)

92 72
BEVY
Posted by: Ciampino - Could have said a PLETHORA at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (qfLjt)

I ain't deaf yannow !

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:38 AM (T4tVD)

93 When's the hunt? I assume turkey for Thanksgiving and Venison for Christmas?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 22, 2023 09:35 AM (3Gtis)
---

*shifty eyes*
Keep an eye on your e-mail in November.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 09:38 AM (vnfYO)

94 Disney has done some magnificent animation over the decades: Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty (love the part where Maleficent becomes the dragon), and many others. But I also want the stories the cartoons are based on and that didn't happen. Bummer!

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:38 AM (7EjX1)

95 Iago in Shakespeare's Othello is possibly the nastiest traitor in literature.

It is so dark, I rarely delve into it. What an absolutely fantastic character.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at October 22, 2023 09:31 AM (+tgkM)
---
He's no Richard III, though.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:39 AM (llXky)

96 @88 --

Yes.

BTW, I enjoyed the kitten videos when they were kittens.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 09:40 AM (bApRP)

97 Disney was in the process of screwing with Wind In the Willows but I think Walt died before it was done. So there's just a short film, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. But I have to say I'm glad it was never completed: I really really don't want to see Disney trying to capture the tone of the Piper at the Gates of Dawn chapter. Walt Disney was a strange mix of visionary creative genius and tin-eared philistine. A control freak with a strong anti-authority streak. He meticulously micro-managed films about defying authority.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 09:42 AM (78a2H)

98 Perhaps the most significant was in the 16th century, when the Knights of Malta (remember the Maltese Falcon?) fought off a siege by the Turkish forces of Suleiman the Magnificent. Had the Turks taken Malta, the entire subsequent history of the western Europe might be different.

Posted by: Nemo

Another fantastic book on the siege of Malta is Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley. The defenders were vastly outnumbered by the Ottoman invaders, and it was incredible that they were victorious.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 09:42 AM (fV4Rw)

99 Here is another one , assassination of Caesar.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 09:42 AM (V13WU)

100 92 72
BEVY
Posted by: Ciampino - Could have said a PLETHORA at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (qfLjt)

I ain't deaf yannow !

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:38 AM (T4tVD)
----
But I am JT. It gets hard to know what is said without lip-reading. One of the negatives on being multiple-29s.

Posted by: Ciampino - El Guapo said it. at October 22, 2023 09:43 AM (qfLjt)

101 I once read a review that slammed the original "Bambi" as socialist claptrap.

I had the opportunity to get that book a few years ago, but it was in such poor shape that I didn't deem it worth the 25 cents.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 09:44 AM (bApRP)

102 I read Stephen Baxter's "Proxima", a hard SF story about a forced colonization of one of the planets of Proxima Centauri in order to claim it as territory before a rival entity gets there.

There are plot threads aboundin', including scheming AIs, inscrutable Chinee, an energy source that has revolutionized space travel, and alien space/time portals that whisk one between systems.

I've noticed that "hard" SF has great ideas but wafffer-thin characterization. I still enjoyed it, and now I'm reading the second half of this duo logo, "Ultima", in which we find that that hatches aren't just space/time portals but also doors to alternate timelines. In one, the Roman Empire never collapsed and now we have Rooooomans In Spaaaaaaace!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 09:45 AM (vnfYO)

103 "CURSE YOUR SUDDEN BUT INEVITABLE BETRAYAL!"

U. S. Congress, every day.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 22, 2023 09:45 AM (OX9vb)

104 This is both true and false, as everything in Islam is surrounded by Allah's will. Yes, they desire power and wealth, but it's all taken from the infidel as their due to the Islamic world.

Now do progressives and marxist.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 22, 2023 09:46 AM (lwOKI)

105 Disney was in the process of screwing with Wind In the Willows but I think Walt died before it was done. So there's just a short film, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Which was also a trippy ride at Disney World. It's gone now, of course. I believe it has been replaced by Mrx. Toad and the Diverse Intersectional Characters Fight Microagressions.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 22, 2023 09:46 AM (I/Qkd)

106 This is both true and false, as everything in Islam is surrounded by Allah's will. Yes, they desire power and wealth, but it's all taken from the infidel as their due to the Islamic world.

Now do progressives and marxist.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 22, 2023 09:46 AM (lwOKI)

Same animating spirit.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 09:47 AM (Angsy)

107 Disney has done some magnificent animation over the decades: Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty (love the part where Maleficent becomes the dragon), and many others. But I also want the stories the cartoons are based on and that didn't happen. Bummer!

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:38 AM (7EjX1)
---
If you approach Disney films as "inspired by" rather than any kind of faithful adaptation, they are much easier to enjoy.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:47 AM (llXky)

108 Judas Iscariot comes to mind.

Posted by: Java Joe at October 22, 2023 09:47 AM (WaLgG)

109 But I am JT. It gets hard to know what is said without lip-reading. One of the negatives on being multiple-29s.
Posted by: Ciampino - El Guapo said it. at October 22, 2023 09:43 AM (qfLjt)

I hear ya.

Thanks for reminding me that I need new glasses.

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:49 AM (T4tVD)

110 99 Here is another one , assassination of Caesar.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 09:42 AM (V13WU)
----
Wayne and Shuster have a great comedy routine "Rinse The Blood Off My Toga". If you haven't heard it, it's clever.
https://youtu.be/rR_5h8CzRcI

Posted by: Ciampino - Onion on a spear at October 22, 2023 09:49 AM (qfLjt)

111 It's a product of its time as much as any Cold War-era SF that assumed the US-USSR rivalry would continue centuries hence out into space. In this novel from 2013, the earth has suffered devastating climate change, or Jolts, that have reduced vast swaths of the planet to desert. The rivalry is now between the UN and China, who as a kind of Co-Prosperity Sphere in Asia and Oceania and is dominating the solar system from Mars on out.

As if the United Nations could scrape together a space force!

But yeah, climate change and the unstoppable PRC are very Aughts/Teens.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 09:49 AM (vnfYO)

112 This is both true and false, as everything in Islam is surrounded by Allah's will. Yes, they desire power and wealth, but it's all taken from the infidel as their due to the Islamic world.

Now do progressives and marxist.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 22, 2023 09:46 AM (lwOKI)
---
Islam is a Christian heresy that emphasizes the obedience of Christ over His divinity. Marxism is likewise best thought of as a heresy rather than economic analysis.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:50 AM (llXky)

113 CVS Removes Popular Cold Medicines From Store Shelves: Sudafed, Mucinex, Allegra, Dayquill ‘Fail to Outperform Placebo Pills’

FDA makes drug that work hard to get as some people abuse them.
FDA recommends topical drug as sub.
Topical drug does NOT works systemically.
Whole class of effective drugs pulled.

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 22, 2023 09:51 AM (lwOKI)

114 I’ve been reading “Confessions of a Conservative” by Garry Wills. I don’t think of him as a traitor, but he did leave National Review in the late ‘60s. I’ve been obsessing over the old NR lately. One of the first issues I read was a long cover story about Wills in the early ‘70s speculating about why he had left, that was so granular and highbrow it drew me into that world like a tractor beam. I like Wills’ accounts of that idiosyncratic bunch and their squabbles.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at October 22, 2023 09:51 AM (hsWtj)

115 CVS Removes Popular Cold Medicines From Store Shelves: Sudafed, Mucinex, Allegra, Dayquill ‘Fail to Outperform Placebo Pills’

Laudanum FTW!

Posted by: Archimedes at October 22, 2023 09:52 AM (I/Qkd)

116 I have very mixed feelings about the Disney animated films. The fairy tale adaptations are great. The reworkings of popular childrens's books are decidedly mixed, and the original stories tend to suck.

I despise the animated Jungle Book -- except that it has two of the greatest musical numbers in the history of cinema. And one of the worst. (Seriously? The Beatles as a barbership quartet of carrion birds?)

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 09:52 AM (78a2H)

117 109
Thanks for reminding me that I need new glasses.

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:49 AM (T4tVD)
----
I could do with new eyes but it will be just cataract surgery, if I ever get around to it, and if it won't break the piggy bank.

Posted by: Ciampino - They won't givr new glasses without cataract surgery at October 22, 2023 09:52 AM (qfLjt)

118 48 ... "Finally finished the last bit of my Civil War novel - which will be out in Kindle and other ebook formats by December, and in print shortly thereafter. It's called "That Fateful Lightning" - and all the chapter headings are lines from popular songs of the era."

Sgt. Mom,

Please let us know when the book becomes available. Those chapter headings should be interesting. Is this for general readers or more YA?

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 09:53 AM (7EjX1)

119 He's no Richard III, though.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

I am beginning to think Richard III has gotten a bad rap. I was fascinated when his remains were found several years ago under a parking lot, and buried in Leicester with full royal honors. I recently got a book about him written after the discovery but haven't read it yet. There is a group that is dedicated to restoring his good name, and they might have a point. His story may be one of the earliest examples of a disinformation campaign. There is a documentary on the ytube about the discovery of his old grave that is really interesting.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 09:54 AM (fV4Rw)

120 Did not the Mermaid die of heartbreak and float away on seafoam?

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 22, 2023 09:54 AM (lwOKI)

121 Dogs of War is one of the books in a box of mine found in a cubby hole at my parents couple weeks ago from my early 20s.
Do want to read it again

Posted by: Skip at October 22, 2023 09:54 AM (fwDg9)

122 Come to think of it, did any assassination of a leader, political assassination, produce the desired results ? Unless the intended result is chaos. I don't think it ever did. Roman Senators thought they will be removing a tyrant, but instead destroyed the Republic.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 09:56 AM (V13WU)

123 23 Shy Lurking Voter: If you're here, see my post # 274 from last week's book thread. Hope you got a chance to start on John Van Stry's "Portals of Infinity" series and enjoy that.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at October 22, 2023 09:02 AM (qPw5n)

Saw the comment. Portals are on order, arriving this next week. Thanks for the recommendation GnR!

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at October 22, 2023 09:56 AM (e/Osv)

124 Children of Yesterday about the 24th Infantry Division.

LIES, deceptions and redemption. A wild life.
Posted by: 13times at October 22, 2023 09:34 AM (+4yUt)

The 24th was all but wiped out in Korea a few years after Children was published.

I must find this book. I was in the 24th from 92 - 94. It deactivated in 96.

Posted by: Reforger at October 22, 2023 09:57 AM (/i94z)

125 115 CVS Removes Popular Cold Medicines From Store Shelves: Sudafed, Mucinex, Allegra, Dayquill ‘Fail to Outperform Placebo Pills’

Laudanum FTW!

Posted by: Archimedes at October 22, 2023 09:52 AM (I/Qkd)
----
Wasn't that something to do with the FDA stating that ephedrine is useless? (pseudo-ephedrine is the one that works to dry up the sinuses or to make methamphetamine).
Now let's have the FDA do the same for all the covid vaxxes.

Posted by: Ciampino - ephedrine is not the same as pseudo-ephedrine at October 22, 2023 09:57 AM (qfLjt)

126 A Quality Murder

I liked the first George Smiley novel so well I bought and read the second, A Quality Murder. The author writes an introduction /retrospective 50 years after initial publication. For some years now, public; i.e. private English boarding schools have been popular probably because of the popularity of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, but the author, in his introduction, has a different opinion. In his experience, he hated the public boarding school and blames his parents for forcing him to attend. This book is set in such a school and details the polite and proper cruelties, betrayals, hypocrisy, competition, and such in such an institution. I enjoyed this book as well although it is more a murder mystery than a spy story.

P.S. Kinda fits in with last night's Movie Thread.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 09:57 AM (FVME7)

127 Come to think of it, did any assassination of a leader, political assassination, produce the desired results ? Unless the intended result is chaos. I don't think it ever did. Roman Senators thought they will be removing a tyrant, but instead destroyed the Republic.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 09:56 AM (V13WU)
---
The Republic was already dead. The dictatorship of Sulla proved that. The question was who was in charge, and there's a case to be made that Caesar's military genius clearly did not translate into good government. Octavian, on the other hand, was a mediocre commander, but first-rate administrator and politician.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:58 AM (llXky)

128 First Tolkien @13

Always bet the 'under'

Posted by: Muldoon at October 22, 2023 09:59 AM (l4B/J)

129 Thomas Paine, have you read Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time? It's a murder mystery, but this is the underlying plot thread.

My college had a Society for the Vindication of Richard III.

Posted by: Wenda at October 22, 2023 09:59 AM (Tji/p)

130 JTB at 118 - It's for general readers, but OK for YA with an interest in the American Civil War - no graphic sex, just some descriptions of the aftermath of battles.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at October 22, 2023 10:02 AM (xnmPy)

131 : CharlieBrown'sDildo

I trust that you survived not attending the MoMee.

I hope all is well in CBD land.

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 10:02 AM (T4tVD)

132 Thomas Paine, have you read Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time? It's a murder mystery, but this is the underlying plot thread.

My college had a Society for the Vindication of Richard III.
Posted by: Wenda

No, but it is now on my lookout list, thanks!

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 10:03 AM (fV4Rw)

133 I am beginning to think Richard III has gotten a bad rap. I was fascinated when his remains were found several years ago under a parking lot, and buried in Leicester with full royal honors. I recently got a book about him written after the discovery but haven't read it yet. There is a group that is dedicated to restoring his good name, and they might have a point. His story may be one of the earliest examples of a disinformation campaign. There is a documentary on the ytube about the discovery of his old grave that is really interesting.

======
He absolutely got a bad rap. Woven by the lascivious, incompetent Tudors who had to engage foreigners - the ever ready French, to remove a legitimate English king. All Tudor claimants to the English throne had a very murky biography and even murkier bloodlines. Not many know the advancements that RIII reign introduced to English lawfare. Like "innocent until found guilty" came about due to his efforts. There are others that I cannot name off the top. Tudors created a tale of a hunchback (he was not) and a monster ( was not) and had their propagandist memorialize those lies in his dramas.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:04 AM (V13WU)

134 I am beginning to think Richard III has gotten a bad rap. I was fascinated when his remains were found several years ago under a parking lot, and buried in Leicester with full royal honors. I recently got a book about him written after the discovery but haven't read it yet. There is a group that is dedicated to restoring his good name, and they might have a point. His story may be one of the earliest examples of a disinformation campaign. There is a documentary on the ytube about the discovery of his old grave that is really interesting.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 09:54 AM (fV4Rw)
---
The British have long had a tendency to take contrarian positions to the point of absurdity. Richard III wasn't Shakespeare's uber-villain, but efforts to rehabilitate him seem a reach. There's a reason he was deserted by so many of his allies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 10:05 AM (llXky)

135 @91 Didn't Chambers renounce communism?

Never mind that. He never renounced Bambi.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 10:05 AM (4PZHB)

136 Hi All, thanks SQ!

Been reading "War in the Shadows" by Asprey, a 1600+ page tome of the history of guerilla warfare. Might last me a decade or so.

Posted by: goatexchange at October 22, 2023 10:05 AM (APPN8)

137 47 Good morning all!
My students and I are reading Frankenstein. We just finished reading Macbeth. One of my students said, “Why do we just read about evil people?”
I said, “You have to be aware of it and acknowledge that evil exists in order to avoid it.”
Posted by: Jmel at October 22, 2023 09:16 AM (bVhJi)

You gave a more hopeful answer that I would have. I would have made some snarky comment about how the emotionally-damaged gatekeepers of the 'intelligencia' only find meaning in evil or broken characters, and thus do their best to shun/demean stories of good or heroic people.

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 22, 2023 10:05 AM (Lhaco)

138 He absolutely got a bad rap. Woven by the lascivious, incompetent Tudors who had to engage foreigners - the ever ready French, to remove a legitimate English king.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:04 AM (V13WU)
---
Oh, come on. No English king in history turned away foreign help when it was available.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 10:08 AM (llXky)

139 @89 ISTR Xenophon never quit bitching about the strategos election process and all the second guessing that went with it. He most definitely felt stabbed in the back when he was voted out after getting them back to The Sea.

Often overlooked: when it was over, he "founded a grove" and invited all veterans for a yearly reunion of the Myriad. History's first VFW post. Imagine what their fund-raisers looked like.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 10:09 AM (4PZHB)

140 Finally finished the last bit of my Civil War novel

-
I watched a very interesting and moving documentary about the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg, Jennie Wade, age 20. She was killed by a stray bullet while she was comforting the afflicted by preparing bread for hungry soldiers. Here is a Wikipedia article on her.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennie_Wade

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:09 AM (FVME7)

141 IT PAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WORD POWER

splenetic - adj. - marked by bad temper, malevolence, or spite.
-

You mean... Ricky Ricardo?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at October 22, 2023 10:10 AM (2ShPH)

142 78 That bookshelf looks horribly unstable and incredibly inefficient. You could fit so many more books on a standard shelf of the same overall dimensions....

You're an engineer, aren't you.
Posted by: Archimedes at October 22, 2023 09:32 AM (I/Qkd)

You say that in jest, but, unironically, yes. Went to college for architecture, currently working in a structural engineering firm.

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 22, 2023 10:10 AM (Lhaco)

143 "Isaac's Storm" was an early work

-
A very tragic story.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:10 AM (FVME7)

144 Started (and finished) both Tales of the Jazz Age by F Scott Fitzgerald and The Rough Riders by Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy wasn't worth the time (and neither is his autobiography). A couple of the Fitzgerald stories are home runs but mostly a collection of bloop singles.

Posted by: who knew at October 22, 2023 10:11 AM (4I7VG)

145 95 Any stage or cinematic production of Shakespeare's Othello done today, would it require Othello to be an authentic Black person?

Posted by: Ciampino - Moor eh! at October 22, 2023 10:11 AM (qfLjt)

146 I’ve been reading “Confessions of a Conservative” by Garry Wills. I don’t think of him as a traitor, but he did leave National Review in the late ‘60s. I’ve been obsessing over the old NR lately. One of the first issues I read was a long cover story about Wills in the early ‘70s speculating about why he had left, that was so granular and highbrow it drew me into that world like a tractor beam. I like Wills’ accounts of that idiosyncratic bunch and their squabbles.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at October 22, 2023 09:51 AM (hsWtj)
---
National Review has pretty much become a publication of nothing but traitors at that point. For a while, I was getting plaintive letters asking me to subscribe at rock-bottom rates, and as usual it had sample covers showing how severely conservative it was, but the list of authors was pathetic, and yes, VDH was listed, even though they merely run his syndicated column.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)

147 I'm sorry my ancestral side of the War of the Roses lost.

We paid dearly for it.

Posted by: Reforger, him who confuses kings at October 22, 2023 10:12 AM (T4MOW)

148 117 ... "I could do with new eyes but it will be just cataract surgery, if I ever get around to it, and if it won't break the piggy bank."

Ciampino,

I ended up getting the cataract surgery because new prescriptions for glasses wasn't enough anymore. I would be functional but not good. I believe Medicare, if that applies to you, will pick up most of the cost if you go with standard procedures and lenses. We elected to go with the laser-assisted process and top lenses and astigmatism correction. Not cheap, about 7K for both eyes, but this is a one time thing.

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 10:13 AM (7EjX1)

149 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:35 AM (llXky)

No need for me to rehabilitate the Puritans. They had their positives and negatives. Edwards was a scholar, preacher and a devoted man of God. He also dearly loved his wife and family and their grief at his passing was profound. I don't care if he celebrated Christmas or not. It's clear he loved Christ.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 22, 2023 10:13 AM (zBybw)

150 I can think of one assassination which was completely successful: Archduke Ferdinand. As a result of that gunshot, Serbia ended Austro-Hungarian influence in the Balkans and made an enlarged Serbia ("Yugoslavia" was run from Belgrade) which endured for seventy years. A hell of a lot of people in Serbia and elsewhere died to bring it about, but if Gavrilo Princip had lived to 1930 I bet he would have been completely satisfied with his work.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 10:14 AM (78a2H)

151 Has anyone calculated the total number of spots present on 101 Dalmatians?

Posted by: Muldoon at October 22, 2023 10:15 AM (l4B/J)

152 145 95 Any stage or cinematic production of Shakespeare's Othello done today, would it require Othello to be an authentic Black person?
Posted by: Ciampino - Moor eh! at October 22, 2023 10:11 AM (qfLjt)

Only if it was Lizzo.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:17 AM (q3gwH)

153 95 Any stage or cinematic production of Shakespeare's Othello done today, would it require Othello to be an authentic Black person?
Posted by: Ciampino - Moor eh! at October 22, 2023 10:11 AM (qfLjt)

Othello is near ?

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 10:18 AM (T4tVD)

154 He was probably a weasel and a right bastard, but all the same one must admire Henry Tudor aka Henry VII. He managed to seize the throne even though his primary claim was "My grandmother's first husband was King of England, therefore I am the legitimate heir!" That takes some gumption.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 10:18 AM (78a2H)

155 I can think of one assassination which was completely successful: Archduke Ferdinand. As a result of that gunshot, Serbia ended Austro-Hungarian influence in the Balkans and made an enlarged Serbia ("Yugoslavia" was run from Belgrade) which endured for seventy years. A hell of a lot of people in Serbia and elsewhere died to bring it about, but if Gavrilo Princip had lived to 1930 I bet he would have been completely satisfied with his work.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 10:14 AM (78a2H)
---
I think the successful assassinations are those that don't seem to have much impact because they accomplished their task. A rising officer who had a car accident never gets a chance to launch that coup. He's just gone.

My candidate for an assassination that backfired is Jose Calvo Sotelo, who's death inaugurated the Spanish Civil War. I feel that if Trump is assassinated, it could prove a similar catalyst.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 10:18 AM (llXky)

156 Tad Williams, whose works I've been reading lately,

I thought he was just a frozen head.

Posted by: He gives dictation? at October 22, 2023 10:19 AM (B9RjC)

157 Thanks for the Book Thread Perfessor !

If I don't see ya through the week, I'll see ya through the window !

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 10:19 AM (T4tVD)

158 I was obligated to read Richard Schwartz's No Bad Parts. I've been forced to read at least a half-dozen of these pop-psych/self-help books and I cordially loathe them, but I give Schwartz credit: none of the other ones combined his level of arrogance and ignorance.

-
There's a YouTube about celebrity interviews that went bad. One was Tom Cruise saying psychiatrists don't know what they're talking about. Boy, how crazy Cruise must be to doubt that profession that tells us trannies are mentally healthy and we're the ones who are crazy?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:20 AM (FVME7)

159 How many spots?
asked a man named Muldoon.
On 101 dalmations.
A Disney cartoon.
...

Posted by: Reforger at October 22, 2023 10:20 AM (T4MOW)

160 He's no Richard III, though.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:39 AM (llXky)

* "Daughter of Time" has entered the chat*

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 10:20 AM (KB0Aa)

161 Huggy Squirrel is missing his trademark hat. What gives?

Posted by: My bitch betta not taken my hat! at October 22, 2023 10:21 AM (B9RjC)

162 He was probably a weasel and a right bastard, but all the same one must admire Henry Tudor aka Henry VII. He managed to seize the throne even though his primary claim was "My grandmother's first husband was King of England, therefore I am the legitimate heir!" That takes some gumption.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 10:18 AM (78a2H)
---
Henry Tudor's success in raising forces and rallying support is the biggest indicator of Richard III's failings.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 10:21 AM (llXky)

163 @151 --

When they're newborns, zero.

You'd know that if you read the book. And I think that was in the first movie, too.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 10:21 AM (bApRP)

164 @102 "hard" SF has great ideas but wafffer-thin characterization.

Young writers of my cohort used to have a standing joke about RAH, "How does he make those cardboard cutouts stand up and dance?" Because, we, you see, were so much cleverer than RAH, you see. It's why we're all so famous now.

A thing about certain wafffer-thin characters is that after the first hundred years or so people really get to liking them, and then you're not only stuck with them for eternity, but clever young things will try to make theirs just as thin. You can hurt yourself.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 10:21 AM (4PZHB)

165 Countries like most of those in the mideast simply aren't cohesive enough as ethnic entities for a democracy to exist. A strong man is not only necessary in most cases, he's imperative, and critically, desired by most of the population, who fear anarchy more than dictatorship.'

I have heard this exact sentiment in both the Balkans and in Mexico. Russians too. A lot of people WANT a strongman. I've learned to accept it when I'm in their countries. I was told explicitly once, "We have to have a powerful dictator to ensure our rights!"
I said, "Well... okay."
Also, "This is The Balkans! You can't give us democractic institutions, we'll just do something stupid with them! We always do!"
Me: "You have a very valid point."

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:22 AM (43xH1)

166 There's a YouTube about celebrity interviews that went bad. One was Tom Cruise saying psychiatrists don't know what they're talking about. Boy, how crazy Cruise must be to doubt that profession that tells us trannies are mentally healthy and we're the ones who are crazy?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:20 AM (FVME7)
---
I'm thinking of a chart with three trend lines on it. One is incidence of mental illness. The next is the number of "mental health professionals." The third is percentage of the population who believes in God.

I that would pretty much explain where we are at.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 10:23 AM (llXky)

167 I'd be interested to see the woke reaction if they cast an Arab as Othello.

Posted by: Toad-0 at October 22, 2023 10:24 AM (cct0t)

168 Thanks for the dandy Book Thread, Perfessor!

Safe travels home from the MoMe.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at October 22, 2023 10:24 AM (Zb5iS)

169 Average adult Dalmatian has 150 spots. So going by the average 101 Dalmatians would have a total of 15,150 spots.

Posted by: There, happy now? at October 22, 2023 10:25 AM (B9RjC)

170 Yes, 'hard' SF has cardboard cutout characters. I sometimes wonder if that's not what Kubrick was suggesting with his robotic astronauts. With my SF story as soon as I got an actual Rocket Scientist involved, if I'd listened to even half what he suggested, there would have been no room for any characterizations at all and would have read like a technical manual.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:25 AM (43xH1)

171 @161 --

Joke answer: It's on his head, now.

True answer: The hat appears only when Prof has a recommended book in the column. If it's something he's heading on his own, no hat.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 22, 2023 10:26 AM (bApRP)

172 155 I can think of one assassination which was completely successful: Archduke Ferdinand. '

I can think of another - the assassination of JFK, by the Deep State. They were able to use it to cement their control and guarantee their eventual complete takeover.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:26 AM (q3gwH)

173 The Spy Who Came In From the Cold

Having enjoyed both the prior George Smiley books, I also bought this, the third in the series. I have read only the 50 Years After introduction and the first chapter* so it is early for me to express an opinion. One of the author's comments from his introduction, however, caught my eye. "Today, the same man [the amoral spy chief], with better teeth and hair, and a much smarter suit, can be heard explaining . . . the inalienable right of closet psychopaths to bear semiautomatic weapons . . . as a risk-free method of assassinating one’s perceived enemies and anybody who has the bad luck to be standing near them." I'm pretty sure he's talking about you. But then he's a limey who views human rights much more suspiciously than we on the right side of the ocean.

*Actually, some 50 years or more ago, I read this book for a junior high book report but don't remember much about it. A year previously, I shocked my English teacher by asking to be allowed to read Beau Geste by P.C. Wren rather than one of the books on the approved list. I wonder how many eighth graders today could read either of those books.
P.S. I loved Beau Geste.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:27 AM (FVME7)

174 145 95 Any stage or cinematic production of Shakespeare's Othello done today, would it require Othello to be an authentic Black person?
Posted by: Ciampino - Moor eh! at October 22, 2023 10:11 AM (qfLjt)

Not to go all Movie Thread, but if you get a chance watch Olivier's version. His Othello, in the early scenes is like a blackface minstrel man. Surprised he doesn't break out a banjo. Really odd.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 10:28 AM (KB0Aa)

175 172 155 I can think of one assassination which was completely successful: Archduke Ferdinand.

Which wouldn't have been successful if his driver wasn't a fuckup.

Posted by: It's a truly astounding set of facts almost unbelievable at October 22, 2023 10:29 AM (B9RjC)

176 *reading on his own*

Posted by: Weak Geek (fat fingers, tiny keyboard) at October 22, 2023 10:29 AM (bApRP)

177 The creature in the attic is more pervasive than the creature in the basement.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at October 22, 2023 10:29 AM (KVGVf)

178 Morning, book lovers! I'm back from the Walmart in the exurbs. I thought it would be a nice trip, but two *hours* for a grocery run? Uh, not no mo'.

I've been re-reading John Dickson Carr's The Three Coffins, and am revisiting his 1937 The Burning Court. He was the master of the "locked room/impossible crime" story, but more than that, he was a solid writer with character and atmosphere.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 22, 2023 10:30 AM (omVj0)

179 In reading this week I've been reading up on Trance 'Music' and the EDM 'movement' or whatever it's supposed to be. Not many books out there on it as it's rather decentralized and kind of unknown so I'm stuck with piecing together information from scattered websites and rave promoters' announcements. I knew about it already from other sources but the most recent business in Negev/Israel led me down a rabbit hole.

Other than that I've been going on Archive and reading old publications about Zionism,and also oddball old books (1960s vintage) from European publishers about various European guns and developments.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:30 AM (43xH1)

180 Besides, the Puritans of the 18th century ( Edwards died around 1751) were different than the 17th century Puritans of Massachusetts Bay and Salem. A different milieu.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 22, 2023 10:30 AM (zBybw)

181 In one of his recent interviews RFK Jr. gave his theory on who assassinated his uncle. He pointed to the see👁️a's cuban desk as one of the culprits.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:31 AM (V13WU)

182 And what were they trying to accomplish by removing Kennedy ?

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:32 AM (V13WU)

183 Saw this linked over at Sarah Hoyt's blog: the trailer for an upcoming film called _American Fiction_, with Jeffrey Wright as a highbrow black academic who writes a "ghetto" memoir while drunk as a joke, and then has to deal with it becoming a mammoth bestseller. It looks like a huge piss-take on affluent white wokeness and the racial grift industry; I only hope the film lives up to the trailer.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 10:32 AM (78a2H)

184 Not to go all Movie Thread, but if you get a chance watch Olivier's version. His Othello, in the early scenes is like a blackface minstrel man. Surprised he doesn't break out a banjo. Really odd.
Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at October 22, 2023 10:28 AM (KB0Aa)
-----

He had bad makeup in "Khartoum"! Like shoe polish. I don't mind using makeup to make an actor swarthy -- it's OLIVIER you're paying for, not "a dusky actor". But make it believable on film.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 22, 2023 10:32 AM (vnfYO)

185 Cuba would have stayed in the Soviet sphere whether it was JFK or anyone else.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:33 AM (V13WU)

186 Besides, the Puritans of the 18th century ( Edwards died around 1751) were different than the 17th century Puritans of Massachusetts Bay and Salem. A different milieu.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 22, 2023 10:30 AM (zBybw)
---
That's why I asked about Christmas.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 10:33 AM (llXky)

187 I can think of one assassination which was completely successful: Archduke Ferdinand. Which wouldn't have been successful if his driver wasn't a fuckup.
Posted by: It's a truly astounding set of facts almost unbelievable'

The Serbian Secret Police couldn't believe it. They gave that clutch of idiot students a few pistols and grenades never in a million years dreaming they'd actually kill the guy. They spent years trying to cover up their involvement because 'We didn't think they'd pull it off!' just doesn't sound very good. It really was a farcical shitshow, truly incredible. No way you'd get away with that in fiction.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:33 AM (43xH1)

188 *I don't know how we got from fictional and non-fictional spies to real world assassinations, but here we are...

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:35 AM (V13WU)

189 Amazon had the ebook version of one of the Gor books (Warriors of Gor, maybe, I dunno) on sale for 2 bucks. So I bought it. Not proud of the purchase, but not ashamed, either. The Gor books have a reputation for just being about scantily clad slave girls, but they also include bits about knights riding giant eagles. At least the first book did, which I read years ago... Anyways, it should be some light (and hopefully stand-alone) reading once I get to it.

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 22, 2023 09:30 AM (Lhaco)

My brother had all of them. I read a few. Eventually, meh. How many times can you have the Priest-Kings kill someone to keep society from advancing to the next level.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 09:34 AM (Angsy)

I read them years ago in junior high/ high school and also eventually lost interest. Basically Edgar Rice Burroughs with some extra spice: the sex is implied but not particularly graphic; according to Wiki that changes in later books. The 1st, Tarnsmen of Gor is good and I also liked the one involving the Mongol-ish tribes (but I don't remember the title).

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at October 22, 2023 10:35 AM (pJWtt)

190 I for one had no idea that "101 Dalmatians" started as a book. Shouldn't be surprised, all things considered.

Posted by: Dr. T at October 22, 2023 10:36 AM (m9hmt)

191 182 And what were they trying to accomplish by removing Kennedy ?
Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:32 AM (V13WU)

too much time has passed and the wters have been too muddied to ever really be sure, but one theory is that he was growing disenchanted with the desire of the military complex to get more and more invested in Vietnam. Also, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence supporting the idea that LBJ was at least somewhat involved. He of course was in the perfect position to orchestrate the after the fact cover up. LBJ of course needed no motive but his own lust for power, plus his longstanding hatred of JFK.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:38 AM (q3gwH)

192 I wonder what would have happened had the July 20, 1944 attempted assassination of Hitler succeeded. The conspirators probably wanted an honorable surrender to the western allies but continued resistance in the east. Would we have betrayed Stalin with a separate peace? What kind of government would we have allowed Germany? Would the new head of government been a Nazi? Would the perpetrators of the Holocaust been held accountable? How much would the world even know about the Holocaust?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:40 AM (FVME7)

193 I don't think I have ever in my life read, in a book-book, an actual, straight-up blunt description of how and why Archduke Franz Ferdinand got smoked. It's one of the most discussed and written about events in history and nobody seems to be able to just come out and say, "The entire thing was an accident."

It really is as simple as a faction of the Serbian Secret Police handing a few extremely naive and stupid students some weapons never ever believing they'd really be able to kill anyone except maybe themselves.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:40 AM (43xH1)

194 Thomas Paine, have you read Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time? It's a murder mystery, but this is the underlying plot thread.

My college had a Society for the Vindication of Richard III.
Posted by: Wenda at October 22, 2023

***
Wenda, 'tis a superb book. The mystery is more about "Who really murdered the princes in the Tower?" and not a 1950s Scotland Yard case.

The other amazing thing about it is this. You know how, when you're reading European and British history, and the king dubs Mr. So-and-So as "Lord Elqueen"? And if you miss the line where this is mentioned, you're left wondering: Where is So-and-So who was so important, and who is this Lord Elqueen guy?

Tey avoids that, somehow. You always know who the characters are talking about by both name and title. And you can keep the family relationships clear *without* a family tree, too!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 22, 2023 10:41 AM (omVj0)

195 I am beginning to think Richard III has gotten a bad rap. I was fascinated when his remains were found several years ago under a parking lot, and buried in Leicester with full royal honors. I recently got a book about him written after the discovery but haven't read it yet. There is a group that is dedicated to restoring his good name, and they might have a point. His story may be one of the earliest examples of a disinformation campaign. There is a documentary on the ytube about the discovery of his old grave that is really interesting.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 09:54 AM (fV4Rw)

A brief account I once read of Richard III and the "Princes in the Tower" controversy concluded that yeah, he was a real bastard--and probably did have them killed--but so was everyone else in that era, and Henry Tudor would have done the same.

Posted by: Dr. T at October 22, 2023 10:41 AM (m9hmt)

196 If I ever did a story on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand I'd do it like a Coen Brothers movie, an absurdist dark comedy.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:42 AM (43xH1)

197 Not about Disney, but-

the book National Velvet by Enid Bagnold is wonderful. Forget the movie; little Velvet looks just the opposite of Elizabeth Taylor. It's very quirky and unsentimental, and not a children's book, although I did get my copy through Scholastic in junior high. Have reread it several times through the years.

Posted by: skywch at October 22, 2023 10:42 AM (uqhmb)

198 I can't really believe that the "Deep State" would want to get rid of JFK. He was their biggest fan. Expanded the CIA and never met a spook he didn't like. Huge Ian Fleming fanboy.

Equally silly is the idea favored by Lefties that "he was going to get us out of Vietnam." He got us _into_ Vietnam!

Or the current Woke version, that he was killed by racists to stop Civil Rights. Pretty impressive given that the Civil Rights act was passed under Eisenhower, and Kennedy's support for it was . . . shall we say, more a matter of sentiment than of actual policy.

He was killed by a Leftist, and since his death the Leftists have done their best to claim him as one of their own.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 10:43 AM (78a2H)

199 No reading this week. Been occupied with a new miniature dachshund puppy. It's been a while since I had a pet. Forgot how much time they require.

Posted by: Tuna at October 22, 2023 10:43 AM (oaGWv)

200 Average adult Dalmatian has 150 spots. So going by the average 101 Dalmatians would have a total of 15,150 spots.
Posted by: There, happy now?

********

Well, given that your model suffers from several flaws, such as faulty presumptions of baseline number of spots, uncontrolled variables, lack of standardization as to what qualifies as a spot and data smoothing, I would not use it as the basis for an expensive and untestable public policy intervention.

So no, I am not happy now.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 22, 2023 10:43 AM (l4B/J)

201 Splenetic. Kinda like bilious, yes?

Off to celebrate GStE's birthday in half an hour. Nice bakery cake, dancing bananas card, D&B arcade tournament. And I am short several hours sleep.

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf A2E6, Easy 6 Titanium Enhanced at October 22, 2023 10:43 AM (8C7+r)

202 Greetings! Betrayal, an interesting topic, indeed.
In Dante, the lowest circle of hell is reserved for traitors, or so I've read, if memory serves.
On recommendation of another commenter I am reading JFK and the Unspeakable by James Douglass.
I'm about halfway in. Lots of detail in the book, it's a lot to digest, which is a good thing.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at October 22, 2023 10:43 AM (MeG8a)

203 Read a neat exchange in the IMDb entry of a Kolchak: the Night Stalker episode:

Vincenzo (Kolchak's boss): "You know I once thought of entering the priesthood."
Kolchak: "And then the Inquisition ended and all the fun went out of it for you."

We need more dialog like that in film and written fiction.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 22, 2023 10:43 AM (omVj0)

204 I'm also working my way through a 'book' about Charlemagne but I put 'book' in quotes as it's actually an unpublished doctoral thesis from I think 196?-something.

Some historical doctoral theses are really interesting, sometimes the authors are really passionate about their subject and it permeates the material. Once you get past the whole 'typewritten/double-spaced' thing some of them are lots of fun and very informative.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:46 AM (43xH1)

205 @192 it it succeeded in 1944 , would have removed one year from the duration of WWII. Betraying Stalin, a separatist peace was very much on Stalin's mind. There were indeed such efforts.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:46 AM (V13WU)

206 Velvet looks just the opposite of Elizabeth Taylor'

As God is my witness, I thought Velvet was the horse.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:47 AM (43xH1)

207 I don't think I have ever in my life read, in a book-book, an actual, straight-up blunt description of how and why Archduke Franz Ferdinand got smoked. It's one of the most discussed and written about events in history and nobody seems to be able to just come out and say, "The entire thing was an accident."

It really is as simple as a faction of the Serbian Secret Police handing a few extremely naive and stupid students some weapons never ever believing they'd really be able to kill anyone except maybe themselves.
Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:40 AM (43xH1)

Check out Sean McMeekin's "July 1914," which starts with a detailed revisiting of Ferdinand's Sarajevo trip. Basically, there are about a dozen different ways the assassination could have been avoided, and that it happened was something of a fluke. There's also an object lesson: when you have a sudden change of plans, always, *always* make sure your underlings know the new drill. Otherwise, you may make a wrong turn at the worst possible moment.

Posted by: Dr. T at October 22, 2023 10:47 AM (m9hmt)

208 Kind of On Topic:

The Supreme Court’s ‘First Amendment jurisprudence has acknowledged limitations on the otherwise absolute interest of the speaker in reaching an unlimited audience where the speech is sexually explicit and the audience may include children.’

The Court has also made clear that ‘in addressing the question whether the First Amendment places any limit on the authority of public schools to remove books from a public school library, all Members of the Court, otherwise sharply divided, acknowledged that the school board has the authority to remove books that are vulgar.'”

Posted by: rhennigantx at October 22, 2023 10:47 AM (lwOKI)

209 " I am beginning to think Richard III has gotten a bad rap. I was fascinated when his remains were found several years ago under a parking lot, and buried in Leicester with full royal honors. I recently got a book about him written after the discovery but haven't read it yet. There is a group that is dedicated to restoring his good name, and they might have a point. His story may be one of the earliest examples of a disinformation campaign. There is a documentary on the ytube about the discovery of his old grave that is really interesting."

There is a little British movie about the discovery of his remains and the woman who pushed for the discovery, "The Lost King". Very enjoyable.

Posted by: Tuna at October 22, 2023 10:48 AM (oaGWv)

210 Islam is a Christian heresy that emphasizes the obedience of Christ over His divinity. Marxism is likewise best thought of as a heresy rather than economic analysis.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 22, 2023 09:50 AM (llXky)

Yes, I've also come to that conclusion about Marxism. To "circle back" to the Book Thread, Paul Kengor's The Devil and Karl Marx is an outstanding examination of Marxism's demonic roots. I give it a rating of 5/5.

It is amusing to read the "1 Star" ratings on Amazon by lefties complaining that Kengor doesn't understand "real Marxism (tm)" reeeee!!!! Um... he's quoting Marx, you dolt.

Due to being a spiritual conflict, rather than economic, the continued failures of Communism does not dissuade the true believers. Durant shows that some of the ancient Greek city-states experimented with a form of Communism in The Life of Greece. It failed then, too.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at October 22, 2023 10:49 AM (pJWtt)

211 >>>And what were they trying to accomplish by removing Kennedy ?

>It was time, way past due, to jazz up the half dollar design and so the United States Department of Treasury selected their man.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at October 22, 2023 10:49 AM (KVGVf)

212 196 If I ever did a story on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand I'd do it like a Coen Brothers movie, an absurdist dark comedy.
Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:42 AM (43xH1)

I'm reminded of Black Adder's 4th season, during WW1 - there are endless darkly comical elements that can be mined, but at the end you have to face the fact that this was arguably the greatest tragedy in modern history - the portal that once opened led to all of the much larger tragedies.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:49 AM (q3gwH)

213 If I ever did a story on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand I'd do it like a Coen Brothers movie, an absurdist dark comedy. Posted by: LenNeal'

If it was a movie I'd end it like 'Dr. Strangelove', with some official walking out of the execution of Princip and declaring, "Well! I'm glad that's settled!"

And then do a horrible montage of WWI.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:50 AM (43xH1)

214 All of the classic Disney films were based on books or fairy tales. That was Walt's plan.

Few people had heard of Mary Poppins, but Disney's daughters had read several of those books. So he went after the movie rights.

I audioread the first MP book. Sweet that lady wasn't!

Posted by: Weak Geek (fat fingers, tiny keyboard) at October 22, 2023 10:50 AM (bApRP)

215 For a really baffling case of characters known only by titles, check out the Tale of Genji. Most of the male characters are known by their titles: Master of the Pavilion, or Commander of the Gates, or whatever. And when they _change jobs_ the story doesn't bother to signpost that, so that you have to keep one finger on the page listing who the characters are, so you can keep track of their ever-changing designations in the book.

In Real History it took me forever to realize that William Cecil and Lord Burghley were the same guy, and that the Cecil family were the Earls/Marquesses of Salisbury.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 10:50 AM (78a2H)

216 Wayne and Shuster have a great comedy routine "Rinse The Blood Off My Toga". If you haven't heard it, it's clever.
https://youtu.be/rR_5h8CzRcI
Posted by: Ciampino - Onion on a spear at October 22, 2023

***
I remember that!

"Big Julie [Caesar] was stabbed in the portico."
"The portico? I had a splinter there once. And those marble splinters --!"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 22, 2023 10:51 AM (omVj0)

217 There is a little British movie about the discovery of his remains and the woman who pushed for the discovery, "The Lost King". Very enjoyable.

Posted by: Tuna at October 22, 2023 10:48 AM (oaGWv)

I saw it ! Based on The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley, which I recommend. There is a divergence between the book and the movie (big surprise), in spots the movie made it a personal interest story, but the acting was superb !

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 10:52 AM (V13WU)

218 >It was time, way past due, to jazz up the half dollar design and so the United States Department of Treasury selected their man.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at October 22, 2023 10:49 AM (KVGVf)

that always pissed me off - Benjamin Franklin only got 15 years out of his design. JFK's visage has been looming there for 59 years now. Ever notice how the US *never* put ex-Presidents on our coins until we started to get all imperial?

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:54 AM (q3gwH)

219 Perfesser thx for your weekly book thread . Fun and informative, and less filling

Posted by: Smell the Glove at October 22, 2023 10:54 AM (frl09)

220 The wearer of the seasonal pants has a tatoo that's looks like it could be a birthdate: 09-04-68 (another 4 after that...maybe continues again)

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 10:55 AM (ynpvh)

221 I wonder what would have happened had the July 20, 1944 attempted assassination of Hitler succeeded. The conspirators probably wanted an honorable surrender to the western allies but continued resistance in the east. Would we have betrayed Stalin with a separate peace? What kind of government would we have allowed Germany? Would the new head of government been a Nazi? Would the perpetrators of the Holocaust been held accountable? How much would the world even know about the Holocaust?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:40 AM (FVME7)

I for one am very skeptical that it would have ended in a separate peace. Britain couldn't have acted without America, and FDR was so hung up on the idea of being friends with Stalin, I doubt a successful coup would have made a difference to him.

Posted by: Dr. T at October 22, 2023 10:55 AM (m9hmt)

222 In Dante, the lowest circle of hell is reserved for traitors, or so I've read, if memory serves.

-
I'm conflicted about Julius Caesar. Dante puts Brutus in the lowest circle for killing Caesar but I could also see Caesar as betraying the Republic by making himself dictator for life.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 10:56 AM (FVME7)

223 too much time has passed and the wters have been too muddied to ever really be sure, but one theory is that he was growing disenchanted with the desire of the military complex to get more and more invested in Vietnam. Also, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence supporting the idea that LBJ was at least somewhat involved. He of course was in the perfect position to orchestrate the after the fact cover up. LBJ of course needed no motive but his own lust for power, plus his longstanding hatred of JFK.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:38 AM (q3gwH)

As I've said before, LBJ wanted his job, and Onassis wanted his wife.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 10:58 AM (Angsy)

224 Vincenzo (Kolchak's boss): "You know I once thought of entering the priesthood."
Kolchak: "And then the Inquisition ended and all the fun went out of it for you."

We need more dialog like that in film and written fiction.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

That's hilarious, I never caught that one. I recall Kolchak was an intense show.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 10:58 AM (fV4Rw)

225 known by their titles: Master of the Pavilion, or Commander of the Gates, or whatever. And when they _change jobs_ the story doesn't bother to signpost that'

HUGE problem in the original Italian of 'Golf Handicaps' by Curzio Malaparte. One character had 5 different names/titles! When I did the translation I dumped all that and kept with one single name for every person. It was ridiculous. An Italian friend of a colleague who read my English version got all offended and I told him to shut up.
It was absurd.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 10:58 AM (43xH1)

226
Whenever I meet a Dalmatian I ask: "What number are you?"

Posted by: Stephen Wright at October 22, 2023 10:58 AM (NBVIP)

227 Pareidolia. When waiting anywhere (like a doctor's office) I would sometimes look at carpet and other things and see what patterns would emerge.

These days, since I've read so many catholic church baptismal, marriage, and death records, I now not only see images, but cursive text.

"Zat is very, very Interestink" --jim in Kali's Psychologist

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 10:59 AM (ynpvh)

228 226
Whenever I meet a Dalmatian I ask: "What number are you?"

Posted by: Stephen Wright at October 22, 2023 10:58 AM (NBVIP)

I ask "What fire station did you come from".

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:00 AM (ynpvh)

229 You could almost say that the SS pulled the trigger on JFK. Why they have given Hillary a pass all of these years is beyond me.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at October 22, 2023 11:01 AM (KVGVf)

230 What kind of government would we have allowed Germany? Would the new head of government been a Nazi? Would the perpetrators of the Holocaust been held accountable? How much would the world even know about the Holocaust?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice!

Would Poland, the whole reason for the war, have been freed? It always struck me that by the end of the war, all of the war aims had essentially been abandoned.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 11:02 AM (fV4Rw)

231 We need more dialog like that in film and written fiction.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 22, 2023 10:43 AM (omVj0)

I'm trying! I'm trying!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 11:02 AM (Angsy)

232 Would Poland, the whole reason for the war, have been freed?

The Chinese might not agree.

Posted by: Button Pushing Monkey at October 22, 2023 11:04 AM (bfIgB)

233 (Huggy Squirrel makes a mental note to get his prostate checked--just in case the aliens need to probe him again!)

Maybe let the aliens do it if they're cheaper and do a better job?

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:04 AM (ynpvh)

234 Due to being a spiritual conflict, rather than economic, the continued failures of Communism does not dissuade the true believers. Durant shows that some of the ancient Greek city-states experimented with a form of Communism in The Life of Greece. It failed then, too.'

Belief in Marxism is wholly resistant to negative outcomes no matter how awful. That is a sure sign of a belief that can be called 'religious', although with that one I tend to like the term 'cosmology' better. But it's mostly semantics.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 11:04 AM (43xH1)

235 AW over the years seen% read a few what if Hitler was blown up. Speculation is Goring would have taken over but many think WWII might have ended

Posted by: Skip at October 22, 2023 11:07 AM (fwDg9)

236 In the first of my cozy-ish amateur detective stories, the lead and narrator is a young prof of ancient history. HIs sister is Dorothy Parker lite, a smart blonde who is hell on wheels. When one of the prof's colleagues comes on to her, she opens her eyes wide in her "I'm just an ingenue and it's my first time on the stage" look, and burbles, "It's so nice to meet a man who isn't scared off by my little case of stress incontinence."

The erstwhile suitor does a fast fade.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 22, 2023 11:08 AM (omVj0)

237 234 Due to being a spiritual conflict, rather than economic, the continued failures of Communism does not dissuade the true believers. Durant shows that some of the ancient Greek city-states experimented with a form of Communism in The Life of Greece. It failed then, too.'

Belief in Marxism is wholly resistant to negative outcomes no matter how awful. That is a sure sign of a belief that can be called 'religious', although with that one I tend to like the term 'cosmology' better. But it's mostly semantics.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 11:04 AM (43xH1)

That's the nature of true belief; you drink the Kool-Aid™ and want to force others the drink it too. Doesn't matter how far from reality and facts it may be. See the Halle-Bopp folks who neutered themselves and killed themselves so the comet to take them away.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:08 AM (ynpvh)

238 Good morning fellow book lovers.
Only have a couple of minutes before it is time to head to the airport.
(Yes, Texas was amazing!. Next year in Corsicana).
Read two Parker books, a Spenser mystery Ceremony and one of his Westerns Brimstone. Ceremony was just airplane filler. It had Sarah Silverman and Hawk so was better than the last one but eminently forgettable.
Cont

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at October 22, 2023 11:08 AM (bApRP)

239 I for one am very skeptical that it would have ended in a separate peace. Britain couldn't have acted without America, and FDR was so hung up on the idea of being friends with Stalin, I doubt a successful coup would have made a difference to him.

Posted by: Dr. T at October 22, 2023 10:55 AM (m9hmt)

They could have let the Flensburg government stay with Doenitz as fuhrer, but Churchill wouldn't hear of it either. Had they listened to Patton....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 11:09 AM (Angsy)

240 The Chinese might not agree.
Posted by: Button Pushing Monkey

That was the Pacific theater, where Japan attacked the US in Hawaii and Britain in Singapore. The Japanese had been getting away with literal murder for years in China, and Britain didn't do a whole lot until their possessions were attacked. I think the war aim in the Pacific was merely to destroy the Japanese military, not to rescue China.

The premise for the war declaration in the European theatre was to defend and reinstate Poland.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 11:10 AM (fV4Rw)

241 Paul Kengor's book on Hillary Clinton isn't bad really but woefully incomplete. I did a bunch of research on HRC before the 2016 election and learned a lot about women's social programs in Methodism. Those people have been proggies like, forever. Two books I purchased and read were:

'As Among The Methodists', Elizabeth Lee
'St. Mark's and the Social Gospel', Ellen Blue

Both really good. Also read through a lot of 'motive' magazine, which HRC stated were influential on her in college, the entire archive is here:
https://tinyurl.com/53b757ex

Lots of good information on the 'progressive' wings of the Methodist Church.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 11:11 AM (43xH1)

242 Did you see in the news how the CCP has disappeared a book about the failed Ming Emperor Chongzhen?

https://is.gd/ALegoK

Apparently it made Winnie the Xi uncomfortable due to the parallels percieved by the regular people of China.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:12 AM (ynpvh)

243 Brimstone opens where Resolution left off and finds out heroes Virgil Hitch on the road looking for Virgil's missing paramour. Why they want to find her is beyond me. Not really a spoiler but they do find Allie and end up in Brimstone. It feels like a real western and great Parker dialog. I rally like this series and already have Blue Eyed Devil on reserve.
Gotta go.
Have a great day all.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at October 22, 2023 11:12 AM (bApRP)

244 The rise of the 10/7 truthers.

https://tinyurl.com/22j2w4ak

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 11:13 AM (FVME7)

245 There is an upcoming plane ride of a few hours so I need to hit the Salvation Army and get something paperback and Literary Lite. Also load some music on a device.

Not a fan of audiobooks.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 11:17 AM (43xH1)

246 Belief in Marxism is wholly resistant to negative outcomes no matter how awful. That is a sure sign of a belief that can be called 'religious', although with that one I tend to like the term 'cosmology' better. But it's mostly semantics.
Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 11:04 AM (43xH1)

Yes, I agree. If you haven't read Kengor's book, I highly recommend it. Marx didn't invent collectivism as an economic model, but certainly has had profound effect on world events.

I now completely embrace the idea that Marxism/Communism/Wokeism/etc. is Satanically-inspired. These "-isms" require the commissions of the Sins of Pride, Envy, Anger, and Theft -- all while masquerading as charity and compassion, with the little extra flair of executing numerous dissidents not onboard with the latest scheme to achieve Utopia.

Who else would come up this plan other than the Father of Lies?

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at October 22, 2023 11:17 AM (pJWtt)

247 It's also stunning to realize how few people can see that Marxism is, at its core, an antisemitic movement. When they rail against "capitalists" and "money men" who do you think they mean?

When Marx was writing, the most famous "capitalists" in Europe were the Rothschild family.

Hell, Hitler's Jew-hatred was part and parcel of his Socialism. The other Leftists are just smart enough to keep from saying it out loud.

Which is why I have no patience with people on the Right who look for the Secret Jewish Conspiracy running everything: it's not there. The Jews are the biggest dupes and victims of the Left, falling over and over again for their rhetoric of a world without national and religious identity, only to have the football yanked away at the last minute sending them flying into boxcars.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 11:19 AM (78a2H)

248 I'm reminded of Black Adder's 4th season, during WW1 - there are endless darkly comical elements that can be mined, but at the end you have to face the fact that this was arguably the greatest tragedy in modern history - the portal that once opened led to all of the much larger tragedies.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:49 AM (q3gwH)

So far. In hindsight, it appears it was all inevitable, that world leaders were way too fond of war, way too casual about playing chess with human life, and had not yet come to terms with what the war machine was capable of grinding out.

Our current situation seems very much the same, at a much grander scale.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:20 AM (QBaJw)

249 OT: Are jumbo roasted & salted sunflower seeds, the bagged ones available at Walmart, supposed to taste and chew like salted cardboard? These things, even if I toast them in the oven, are awful. The tiny sunflower seeds from Planters (I think) that used to come in a jar were great. Is it possible this is a bad batch, or are they like that? And can I still find the jars someplace?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 22, 2023 11:21 AM (omVj0)

250 And even though I'm an unbeliever myself, I do find it kind of significant that the Left always wants to destroy the Chosen People of God. Creepy.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 11:21 AM (78a2H)

251 the Kingsman, did paint it an ironic sense,

many of the july 20th plotters like Arthur Nebe, who is noted in both fatherland and some of the gunther series, were bag eggs, to be charitable,

You have to remember Dulles protected the likes of General Wolf, who ran operations as far East as Ukraine,

Posted by: no 6 at October 22, 2023 11:21 AM (PXvVL)

252 I like audio books but sometimes I later need to refer to the print version to make sure what I heard corresponds to the printed version.
A lot depends on the reader, or person who narrates and is recorded. If the sound is awkward or unpleasant, I don't buy it. A recent pleasant experience involved an audio book in which a foreign language is used, as an example James Michener's Hawaii (recently finished) has phrases spoken in Hawaiian Pidgin, which I found amusing.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at October 22, 2023 11:22 AM (MeG8a)

253 Just for you, I'd recommend "The Prince" by Machiavelli.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at October 22, 2023 11:23 AM (KVGVf)

254 Our current situation seems very much the same, at a much grander scale.
Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:20 AM (QBaJw)

sadly, yes. We're not waiting for Godot; we're waiting for this generations Gavrilo. We don't see him yet, but we hear his footsteps approaching.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 11:24 AM (q3gwH)

255 kingsman also posits the notion, that World War one was a provocation from a third party, with the loss of Kitchener prior to Gallipoli, and Wilson's reluctance to enter the war (it was Matahari's influence,

Posted by: no 6 at October 22, 2023 11:24 AM (PXvVL)

256 Well, off to enjoy a misty Fall afternoon. Bye, Morons!

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 11:25 AM (78a2H)

257 Which is why I have no patience with people on the Right who look for the Secret Jewish Conspiracy running everything: it's not there. The Jews are the biggest dupes and victims of the Left, falling over and over again for their rhetoric of a world without national and religious identity, only to have the football yanked away at the last minute sending them flying into boxcars.
Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 11:19 AM (78a2H)

That's an astute observation, the extent to which the desire to be accepted in the Christian world, morphed into the desire to be accepted in the secular (Marxist?) world.

We're seeing it again playing out in real time now.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:25 AM (QBaJw)

258 My last visit to Hawaii I was in a Walmart and saw a Bible in hard back which was all in Pidgin.
It made me chuckle a bit.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at October 22, 2023 11:27 AM (MeG8a)

259 Speaking of religions, the EDM/Trance festival circuit is looking a whole lot like a New Religion. With that 'concert massacre' I haven't seen much to describe what, exactly it really was. It was this:
https://tinyurl.com/23sbmwcf

Tribe Of Nova, SuperNova Sukkot. Adherents hold these 'festivals' in Israel deliberately on Jewish holy days. It's a hybrid form of cosmological shamanistic belief system. It's apparently huge in Israel (although I would guess Jewish posters here have either never heard of any of it or don't know what it is). And, there is another report the survivors are gathering in groups to deal with the tragedy by... having raves and playing more Trance.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 11:28 AM (43xH1)

260
The sermon this morning from our curate was on the mathematical significance of the Rosary. I don't think I've ever heard quite the like. He is, however, a graduate of VPI with a degree in aeronautical engineering.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:29 AM (MoZTd)

261 sadly, yes. We're not waiting for Godot; we're waiting for this generations Gavrilo. We don't see him yet, but we hear his footsteps approaching.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 11:24 AM (q3gwH)

I wonder though. Has he already come?

Is this possibly something we might call social pareidolia? The events and people we see and hear daily, playing out this act in front of us, and we can't quite see it?

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:29 AM (QBaJw)

262 Sorry, not book-related more 'research' related...

Posted by: LenNeal got off on a tangent at October 22, 2023 11:30 AM (43xH1)

263 Dulles who failed to stop Lenin from traveling to Russia, who then moved on to the Inquiry which craftef the Versailles capitulations who made bank with German industrialists,
he could be the Scotsman mastermind up to a point,

Posted by: no 6 at October 22, 2023 11:31 AM (PXvVL)

264 250 And even though I'm an unbeliever myself, I do find it kind of significant that the Left always wants to destroy the Chosen People of God. Creepy.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 11:21 AM (78a2H)

Well, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

The devil wants to destroy God's chosen, and so does the left; they are just doing their father's bidding.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:32 AM (ynpvh)

265 Posted by: LenNeal

Gad Saad
@GadSaad
You are not going to like this tweet so turn away if you are likely to be triggered:

I am a very optimistic person; I am a fighter for Western values and liberties; I am a dogged defender of science, reason, and common sense. I must say though that I am unsure that the West can recover from its multifront civilizational suicide. Yes, I've talked about these issues for decades and wrote a book about it but the past few weeks have crystallized the extent to which the problem has become intractable. It will be a long and ultimately bloody demise and the West will be the first society in recorded history to fully self-implode due to its parasitic ideological rapture. It is a gargantuan Greek tragedy that will shape the future of humanity. This is not hyperbole. Your grandchildren will pay a very high price for your "progressive" arrogance rooted in the pursuit of Unicornia that only exists in the recesses of deeply flawed parasitized minds.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 11:33 AM (FVME7)

266 No luck finding tha published-in-England version of The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Would love to make a gift to my niece. Do you recommend a substitute version?

Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at October 22, 2023 11:33 AM (XizFB)

267 I'm a barrel of laughs for a book thread. In some ways, I've slowed my reading, mainly because I'm oversaturated with the present events, and everything that came before, I wonder if there's anything else to learn from it.

So I have Michael Malice's "White Pill" on my nightstand, half finished. He promises it all comes together in the end, but the slog to get there is the endless parade of 20th century horror.

I started another book on the JFK conspiracy, and don't even know if it's worth it. I think I get it, even if details are not necessarily known. We know he wasn't shot by a kook who happened to work in a nearby warehouse. But ultimately does it matter if it was the CIA? Or mafia? Or Johnson? Or Cubans?

I mean, it was the CIA, but still...

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:34 AM (QBaJw)

268 I wonder though. Has he already come?

Is this possibly something we might call social pareidolia? The events and people we see and hear daily, playing out this act in front of us, and we can't quite see it?
Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:29 AM (QBaJw)

It will be some time before we know. When great civilization-wide changes and catastrophes occur, historians will tend to find one specific trigger that finally and irrevocably set the final breakdown in motion - but that often isn't recognizable for years after the fact. As just one possibility , the attack by Hamas could turn out to be one such trigger, but then it might not be. we can't tell yet.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 11:34 AM (q3gwH)

269 Henry Tudor stood to benefit the most by the deaths of the "Princes in the Tower." He could not allow any Plantagenet heirs to remain, as they would be threats. Thus, the number of Plantagenet dead during his reign.

The real treachery was that of the Stanleys, conspiring with both rebels and Richard to take lands in 1483, and then betraying Richard himself for Henry Tudor. Thomas Stanley was a cold-blooded killer.

Posted by: Brewingfrog at October 22, 2023 11:34 AM (5gZpE)

270 Game of Thrones is filled with treachery and betrayal, but I think that the Theon Greyjoy character is especially interesting. He betrays the Starks, but you can understand his motives. He was taken from his family at a young age, to be a ward of Ned Stark. In reality, he was a hostage to guarantee good behavior of his true family. Was it really treachery for him to act against the Starks?

Another great tale is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But, in the end, it's difficult to understand the motives of Bill Haydon. He sold out all those who cared about him because he disapproved of capitalism as an economic system. However, as hard as it is to understand such people, they do exist.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at October 22, 2023 11:35 AM (klJTj)

271 Perfessor,
Thanks for another wonderful thread. Glad you and all had a great time in Texas.

We're heading out for a dinner to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Talk to you all later.

Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 11:35 AM (7EjX1)

272 Did you see in the news how the CCP has disappeared a book about the failed Ming Emperor Chongzhen?

https://is.gd/ALegoK

Apparently it made Winnie the Xi uncomfortable due to the parallels percieved by the regular people of China.
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:12 AM (ynpvh)

Has Xi lost "The Mandate of Heaven"?

If so, he's a goner.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 22, 2023 11:35 AM (QzZeQ)

273
"The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read.

~ Ben Franklin

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 22, 2023 11:36 AM (NBVIP)

274 It will be a long and ultimately bloody demise and the West will be the first society in recorded history to fully self-implode due to its parasitic ideological rapture. It is a gargantuan Greek tragedy that will shape the future of humanity. This is not hyperbole. Your grandchildren will pay a very high price for your "progressive" arrogance rooted in the pursuit of Unicornia that only exists in the recesses of deeply flawed parasitized minds.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 11:33 AM (FVME7)

Egad, now I'm sad.

No, that's a joke. This is where I've been for a while now, and of course people like Saad are smart enough to see it too.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:37 AM (QBaJw)

275 The historiography of conspiracy is deep enough now to have conspiracy theories about conspiracy theories.

Hell, I never even knew that Princip was executed.

Back in the day, it was pretty widely accepted that Ferdinand was an inside job, and that the Austrians knew something was afoot but ignored it to be rid of him. He was a "liberal reformer." You don't hear that one anymore (FWIW, it had happened before).

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 22, 2023 11:37 AM (4PZHB)

276
That's an astute observation, the extent to which the desire to be accepted in the Christian world, morphed into the desire to be accepted in the secular (Marxist?) world.

We're seeing it again playing out in real time now.
Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:25 AM (QBaJw)

I can understand why so many Jews are liberals. Mostly they came from Eastern Europe and Russia, where sheer survival depended on mutual aid and concern for the collective welfare; rugged individualism was a recipe for suicide.

But you'd think that over 100 years later, they'd realize that what also kept them alive in the face of discrimination and pogroms was a deep religious faith and that not all misfortune is a result of external forces.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:37 AM (MoZTd)

277 No luck finding tha published-in-England version of The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Would love to make a gift to my niece. Do you recommend a substitute version?
Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate'

You can get a ratty copy off Abebooks for about 50 bucks.

Posted by: LenNeal got off on a tangent at October 22, 2023 11:38 AM (43xH1)

278 265 Posted by: LenNeal

Gad Saad
@GadSaad
You are not going to like this tweet so turn away if you are likely to be triggered:

/////

The recent, sudden incidence of widespread protests/riots by anyi-Semitic mobs is of great concern. Most cities and universities are doing nothing about them. Today's NYPost describes a huge violent mob in Brooklyn

Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at October 22, 2023 11:39 AM (XizFB)

279 250 And even though I'm an unbeliever myself, I do find it kind of significant that the Left always wants to destroy the Chosen People of God. Creepy.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 22, 2023 11:21 AM (78a2H)

Well, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

The devil wants to destroy God's chosen, and so does the left; they are just doing their father's bidding.
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:32 AM (ynpvh)

Yes, jim is correct.

Trimegistus, as an engineer, I tell you that there is no conflict between Faith and Reason.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at October 22, 2023 11:39 AM (pJWtt)

280 We're heading out for a dinner to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Talk to you all later.
Posted by: JTB at October 22, 2023 11:35 AM (7EjX1)

Happy Anniversary !

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 11:39 AM (T4tVD)

281 I am beginning to think Richard III has gotten a bad rap. I was fascinated when his remains were found several years ago under a parking lot, and buried in Leicester with full royal honors. I recently got a book about him written after the discovery but haven't read it yet. There is a group that is dedicated to restoring his good name, and they might have a point. His story may be one of the earliest examples of a disinformation campaign. There is a documentary on the ytube about the discovery of his old grave that is really interesting.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at October 22, 2023 09:54 AM (fV4Rw)
---

There are remains of two children found buried in the Tower and two children were found more buried at Windsor Castle. They were reburied in royal crypts, and Elizabeth II would never let them be disinterred for DNA testing. Charles III, who studied archaeology at Cambridge has given permission for DNA testing.

Richard III's remains were ID'd through DNA testing, and comparison to those of his living descendants. Even though the remains were of a man with curvature of the spine (the "hunchback" legend) and were found in what had been a monastery garden, the DNA confirmed it.

Posted by: Wethal at October 22, 2023 11:39 AM (NufIr)

282
I see the German chancellor is concerned about the rise of antisemitism in Germany. Except that all the Goodthinkers there imagine that the AfD is 100% responsible for it.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:41 AM (MoZTd)

283 272 Did you see in the news how the CCP has disappeared a book about the failed Ming Emperor Chongzhen?

https://is.gd/ALegoK

Apparently it made Winnie the Xi uncomfortable due to the parallels percieved by the regular people of China.
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:12 AM (ynpvh)

Has Xi lost "The Mandate of Heaven"?

If so, he's a goner.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 22, 2023 11:35 AM (QzZeQ)

He will hold on to his "Mandate" until it's pryed from his dead, cold hands. Look at all that he's done to get where he's at and stay there: imprisoned his political enemies, amended the constitution so he can continue "serving", military sabre rattling. He'll go to war before he allows anyone to step him down, mostly likely with Taiwan.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:41 AM (ynpvh)

284 273
"The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read.

~ Ben Franklin

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 22, 2023 11:36 AM (NBVIP)

Well, unless his book is waterproof, if he's IN the rain, the reading's gonna be a bit soggy.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:42 AM (ynpvh)

285 As just one possibility , the attack by Hamas could turn out to be one such trigger, but then it might not be. we can't tell yet.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 11:34 AM (q3gwH)

The grand conspirators are in place, for sure. Gates, Schwab, Fauci, Zuckerberg, etc. The various government actors.

Is Zelensky a player? I don't know. The kindling is in place, has the spark yet ignited it all?

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:42 AM (QBaJw)

286 38 Does one have to water that bookcase in the pic up top??

Posted by: dantesed at October 22, 2023 09:11 AM (88xKn)

++++

I'd be worried about the plants that are interspaced in there. If they are real, I suppose the owner can take them down before watering them. Not sure about that one with the book actually leaning against it. Looks like it would be bad for the book and the plant.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at October 22, 2023 11:42 AM (klJTj)

287 Not to get into a whole biblical nit-picking argument thing here perfessor but the tree Eve ate from as told in the Genesis account was "...the tree of the *knowledge* of good and evil..."

"Knowledge" being a key word that can't be left out.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty, wishing I was in Corsicana at October 22, 2023 11:45 AM (NBVIP)

288
You can get a ratty copy off Abebooks for about 50 bucks.
Posted by: LenNeal got off on a tangent at October 22, 2023 11:38 AM (43xH1)

////

Thanks! My next stop

Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at October 22, 2023 11:45 AM (XizFB)

289 Kengor seems to imply Marx was a Satanist

Posted by: Skip at October 22, 2023 11:47 AM (fwDg9)

290 https://tinyurl.com/4dm9n25r

The Hundred And One Dalmatians
Heinemann, 1956
ISBN 10: 043496400X / ISBN 13: 9780434964000
Published by Heinemann Young Books 1956-12-01, 1956

$34.13

Posted by: LenNeal got off on a tangent at October 22, 2023 11:48 AM (43xH1)

291 289 Kengor seems to imply Marx was a Satanist

Posted by: Skip at October 22, 2023 11:47 AM (fwDg9)

Funny that Satanist and Stalinist are just a few letters removed from each other...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:48 AM (ynpvh)

292 I'm seeing ads for language classes that maintain that Hebrew can't be accurately translated in to English. True? I've no idea.
BTW, I still have a friend who is in Jerusalem, a language Bible scholar (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic) who can't get home. I'm not sure how hard he is trying. He may wish to be where all the action is.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at October 22, 2023 11:49 AM (MeG8a)

293 The recent, sudden incidence of widespread protests/riots by anyi-Semitic mobs is of great concern. Most cities and universities are doing nothing about them. Today's NYPost describes a huge violent mob in Brooklyn
Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at October 22, 2023 11:39 AM (XizFB)

It should be clear, the meaning of the stark difference between how the powers that be treat leftist riots, and how they treated the J6... whatever they were.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:49 AM (QBaJw)

294 Henry Tudor stood to benefit the most by the deaths of the "Princes in the Tower." He could not allow any Plantagenet heirs to remain, as they would be threats. Thus, the number of Plantagenet dead during his reign.

The real treachery was that of the Stanleys, conspiring with both rebels and Richard to take lands in 1483, and then betraying Richard himself for Henry Tudor. Thomas Stanley was a cold-blooded killer.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at October 22, 2023 11:34 AM (5gZpE)

Apparently the murder story appeared 20 years after the princess' disappearance; also death of the princess benefited Henry VII, who was vying for the throne, more than Richard III.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 11:49 AM (V13WU)

295 Choosing sides.

Justin Trudeau
@JustinTrudeau
As members of the Palestinian, Arab, and Black Muslim communities gathered for prayer yesterday, I wanted them to know this: We know you’re worried and hurting. We’re here for you. We will not stop advocating for civilians to be protected and for international law to be upheld.

Department of State
@StateDept
Our message to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and all around the world is clear: we see you, we grieve with you, and we mourn every loss of innocent life. Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 11:49 AM (FVME7)

296 287 Not to get into a whole biblical nit-picking argument thing here perfessor but the tree Eve ate from as told in the Genesis account was "...the tree of the *knowledge* of good and evil..."

"Knowledge" being a key word that can't be left out.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty, wishing I was in Corsicana at October 22, 2023 11:45 AM (NBVIP)

Similiar to "Money is the root of all evil". No, it's the "Love of Money", e.g. greed.
I want to be like God.
I want my neighbor's stuff (wife, crops, cattle, etc)

The other negative aspects of emotion are rolled up in there: envy, lust and so forth.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:50 AM (ynpvh)

297 Very wicked looking book shelves.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 22, 2023 11:50 AM (iM3xE)

298 Actually, those shelves could be called tree of wisdom.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at October 22, 2023 11:52 AM (iM3xE)

299 295 Choosing sides.

Justin Trudeau
@JustinTrudeau
As members of the Palestinian, Arab, and Black Muslim communities gathered for prayer yesterday, I wanted them to know this: We know you’re worried and hurting. We’re here for you. We will not stop advocating for civilians to be protected and for international law to be upheld.

Department of State
@StateDept
Our message to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and all around the world is clear: we see you, we grieve with you, and we mourn every loss of innocent life. Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 11:49 AM (FVME7)

"God unfairly punished Satan!"--Satanists

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:52 AM (ynpvh)

300 260
The sermon this morning from our curate was on the mathematical significance of the Rosary. I don't think I've ever heard quite the like. He is, however, a graduate of VPI with a degree in aeronautical engineering.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:29 AM (MoZTd)

Vatican Popilogical Institute?

Posted by: Can he make flying nuns? at October 22, 2023 11:52 AM (B9RjC)

301
Similiar to "Money is the root of all evil". No, it's the "Love of Money", e.g. greed.

I once read a comment that said, "Greed is no basis for society." My reply was, "Neither is envy."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:53 AM (MoZTd)

302 >>>"Knowledge" being a key word that can't be left out.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty, wishing I was in Corsicana

>UNC. 2B or 2A? That is the question.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at October 22, 2023 11:53 AM (KVGVf)

303 The 'cheap' books (Thriftbooks, etc.) on Abebooks often show stock images!!!!
Be warned.
However if you are like me and just want the book and interior illustrations it should be fine, I've gotten really nice library discards with those awful covers that were pristine inside.

Seems Heinemann and Viking were the first US publishers, mostly you want something pre-1961 (pre-Disney). Either *should* be okay but I couldn't say for sure. If you gun for the English First Edition get the Visa Gold ready.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 11:53 AM (43xH1)

304 301
Similiar to "Money is the root of all evil". No, it's the "Love of Money", e.g. greed.

I once read a comment that said, "Greed is no basis for society." My reply was, "Neither is envy."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:53 AM (MoZTd)

LOL, excellent.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:54 AM (ynpvh)

305 Not to get into a whole biblical nit-picking argument thing here perfessor but the tree Eve ate from as told in the Genesis account was "...the tree of the *knowledge* of good and evil..."

"Knowledge" being a key word that can't be left out.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty, wishing I was in Corsicana at October 22, 2023 11:45 AM (NBVIP)

I'm partial to the belief that original sin was hubris. It was committed BEFORE taking the bite, the temptation was built into the DNA, and the snake was in many ways, unnecessary. He was merely there to take advantage.

Man wanted to be on equal footing with God. We still do. We keep pushing and pushing forward, as if this striving doesn't have consequences.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:55 AM (QBaJw)

306
As members of the Palestinian, Arab, and Black Muslim communities gathered for prayer yesterday, I wanted them to know this: We know you’re worried and hurting. We’re here for you. We will not stop advocating for civilians to be protected and for international law to be upheld.

Now that 1400 Jews have been massacred, let's start being concerned about the humanitarian aspects of this conflict.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:55 AM (MoZTd)

307 304 301
Similiar to "Money is the root of all evil". No, it's the "Love of Money", e.g. greed.

I once read a comment that said, "Greed is no basis for society." My reply was, "Neither is envy."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:53 AM (MoZTd)

LOL, excellent.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:54 AM (ynpvh)

Is there a book about what societies would look like if each one of the Seven Deadly Sins was used as it's premise?
e.g. Sloth would probably mean everybody would die of starvation.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:56 AM (ynpvh)

308 306
As members of the Palestinian, Arab, and Black Muslim communities gathered for prayer yesterday, I wanted them to know this: We know you’re worried and hurting. We’re here for you. We will not stop advocating for civilians to be protected and for international law to be upheld.

Now that 1400 Jews have been massacred, let's start being concerned about the humanitarian aspects of this conflict.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 22, 2023 11:55 AM (MoZTd)

Which implies somebody is not human in the minds of certain groups, doesn't it?

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:57 AM (ynpvh)

309 Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know who's the King
Til he's gone
They beheaded Richard-3
And put up a parking lot

Posted by: Muldoon at October 22, 2023 11:57 AM (l4B/J)

310 so, fk the gonorrhoea infested Tudors and the horse they rode on. For some reason history romanticizes Henry VIII, a cold blooded killer and torturer.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 11:57 AM (V13WU)

311 Apparently the murder story appeared 20 years after the princess' disappearance; also death of the princess benefited Henry VII, who was vying for the throne, more than Richard III.
Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 11:49 AM (V13WU)

And he forced the lost princes' sister, Elizabeth, to marry him, thus creating a "claim" for the throne through the Plantagenet line.

Posted by: Wethal at October 22, 2023 11:58 AM (NufIr)

312 And he forced the lost princes' sister, Elizabeth, to marry him, thus creating a "claim" for the throne through the Plantagenet line.
Posted by: Wethal at October 22, 2023 11:58 AM (NufIr)

That too ! Bastard.

Posted by: runner at October 22, 2023 11:58 AM (V13WU)

313 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 11:49 AM (FVME7)

"God unfairly punished Satan!"--Satanists
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 11:52 AM (ynpvh)

"And good luck, little buddies. Hold on, it looks like we're backing Israel right now, but we'll F them over, like we always do."

--- The West

Posted by: BurtTC at October 22, 2023 11:59 AM (QBaJw)

314 Many who frequent the Book Thread appreciate the use of language. Here is Dmocrat Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee using some language.

https://tinyurl.com/mtty6xjy

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 12:00 PM (FVME7)

315 I'm partial to the belief that original sin was hubris. It was committed BEFORE taking the bite, the temptation was built into the DNA, and the snake was in many ways, unnecessary. He was merely there to take advantage.

Listening to your wife was the original sin. Then again, the whole thing was a setup.

Posted by: Adam was doing JUST FINE until then at October 22, 2023 12:01 PM (B9RjC)

316 NOOD Cultural Divide

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 22, 2023 12:01 PM (ynpvh)

317 Hark !

A NOOD hath risen !

Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 12:02 PM (T4tVD)

318 Oh, where did the morning go?! The saddest part of Sunday morning, the end of the Book Thread. Thanks, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 12:02 PM (Angsy)

319 101 Dalmatians:

Wait a minute, the $34.13 one says it's published by Heinemann which is the English publisher; but lists the same ISBN as the Viking (US) edition. If the seller is actually offing the English printing that book is a steal, unless it looks like a dalmatian chewed it up.
Viking seems like the US publisher. But why the same ISBNs? That's weird.
Anyway looks like the ISBN you want is
ISBN 10: 043496400X

This may or not be correct, buyer beware.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 22, 2023 12:06 PM (43xH1)

320 I guess secret separations are a thing now.

Oscar Winner Meryl Streep and Husband Secretly Split Six Years Ago After 45 Years of Marriage

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 12:07 PM (FVME7)

321 Have a good one, gang.

Perfessor, thanks for the thread.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 22, 2023 12:09 PM (a/4+U)

322 I guess secret separations are a thing now.

Oscar Winner Meryl Streep and Husband Secretly Split Six Years Ago After 45 Years of Marriage

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 22, 2023 12:07 PM (FVME7)

Lucky bastard!

Posted by: Meryl's New Boyfriend Who's Already Sick of Her at October 22, 2023 12:11 PM (Angsy)

323 I had a great time at the Texas MOME! I was able to meet and talk to the "Perf" among many other notables - Weasel, Ben Had, Willow's Apprentice, Iris - I forgot this is the book thread.
I have been reading Defenders of the West by Raymond Ibrahim - it is a brief history about eight men that defended the west from the Muslim onslaught. The deprivations these men endured would make a navy seal seem weak. ( no offense to any seals)

The other book I just started is Social Justice Fallacies by Thomas Sowell - as always
very well researched and he always brings the receipts.

Posted by: Lurking in Garland at October 22, 2023 12:13 PM (vmpFt)

324 Sorry just got back. Now to read the thread

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 22, 2023 12:28 PM (vHIgi)

325 Sorry just got back. Now to read the thread

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 22, 2023 12:28 PM (vHIgi)

It's as dead as ALH is....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 22, 2023 12:29 PM (Angsy)

326 Thanks for the thread Perfessor, and it was great to meet you and your stylish hat in TX! No reading this week, but hopefully that changes now that the travel schedule is slowing down

Posted by: Grateful at October 22, 2023 12:40 PM (0xi9z)

327 Based on a horde recommendation I just started reading Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears. So far, it’s a very engaging and well written historical novel that is developing into an entertaining mystery.

Posted by: LASue at October 22, 2023 01:01 PM (Ed8Zd)

328 Thanks for the always entertaining book thread. This always makes my week!
I appreciate the tip on Preston & Childs other series. I am working my way through the Pendergast books. I find them to be entertaining somewhat quick reads. Also starting to work my way through the Longmire series.

Posted by: Paisley13 at October 22, 2023 01:04 PM (ny1NG)

329 me:

"The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III," by Phillipa Langley & Michael Jones

Fascinating. The book is half search for R-III, & half bio of R-III.

The odds of finding R-III when the search started were likely 1000-1, or worse. Archaeologists doubted they could even locate the CHURCH, let alone the remains.

Posted by: mnw at October 22, 2023 01:09 PM (NLIak)

330 runner

Can't agree about the death of the Little Princes benefitting Henry Tudor more than R-III.

In 1483, after R-III's coronation, there was an armed revolt in favor of the Edward V (the captive child & heir apparent). R-III drowned it in blood, because of course he did. The Princes were then transferred to the inner tower, denied all future contact with their servants (i.e., their physician), & were never again seen alive.

While all this was going on Tudor was in France trying to find money to raise an army. The Little Princes, who had already been declared bastards by R-III, were the VERY least of Tudor's problems.

R-III had the means, motive, and opportunity for the murders. It was HIS prison when the Princes were last seen alive. The Princes were so scared that they took the last rites every day.

Posted by: mnw at October 22, 2023 01:21 PM (NLIak)

331 Some beautiful fairy tales in the Andrew Lang Fairy books
"12 Coloured Fairy Books " pub lae 19th - early 20th century.
Much of the work done by his wife, and beautiful beautiful illustrations by Henry Justice Ford
The books are The Blue Fairy Book, the Red Fairy Book etc etc.
There are also The Blue Poetry Book, The True Story Book, The Animal Story Book, The Arabian Nights' Entertainments etc.
I think many are still in print!
My dream would be to own all 25 books.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 22, 2023 01:36 PM (vHIgi)

332 It's as dead as ALH is....
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Well then, nothing to do but go through the thread's pockets and collect loose change

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 22, 2023 01:39 PM (vHIgi)

333 My cat says he wants one of those trees...without the useless books.

Posted by: Jim at October 22, 2023 01:58 PM (VhG0v)

334 "Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism."
Are Hamas not civilians also? They are not military, they are not a legitimate government.
There is no such demarcation line in Gaza. They are terrorists.
(Note the declaration refrains from calling them terrorists; they are just ordinary people like you and me who happen to practice terrorism. Never stigmatize).

Posted by: PG at October 22, 2023 02:34 PM (afPT4)

335 Human beings seemed to be programmed to spot patterns, even if they don't actually exist in reality. Seeing a cloud that resembles a dog or other object is an example of engaging in pareidolia.

Which got me to wondering if AI can - or ever will! - be able to do something like that. I'm betting not; not for a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ong time if ever.

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at October 22, 2023 05:10 PM (K58O6)

336 Malta was the most bombed per acre piece of land in WWII. One miracle occurred that I read about long ago where during an air-raid by the Luftwaffe, Maltese townsfolk hid in the main church which had a dome. A bomb broke through the dome and hit the marble floor by the altar and skidded harmlessly away without exploding.

Posted by: Donovan Nuera at October 22, 2023 06:11 PM (LKMDZ)

337 32 I ordered "American on Purpose" by Craig Ferguson.

Always liked him and his sense of humor.
Posted by: JT at October 22, 2023 09:09 AM (T4tVD)

Is it wrong for me to enjoy (greatly) the video clips on YouTube featuring the appearances of Beth the CBS Executive (Dana DeLorenzo) on his show?

"You like this studio? Better watch it if you want to keep it."
(long pause) "You look hot."

: o )

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at October 22, 2023 07:02 PM (8sMut)

338 Ever notice how the US *never* put ex-Presidents on our coins until we started to get all imperial?
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 22, 2023 10:54 AM (q3gwH)

Or perhaps because we had enough of a grouping to pull from...

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at October 22, 2023 07:11 PM (8sMut)

339
"Hell, Hitler's Jew-hatred was part and parcel of his Socialism. The other Leftists are just smart enough to keep from saying it out loud."

Hitler wanted to abolish private property and nationalize all industry? Since when?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at October 22, 2023 07:15 PM (8sMut)

340 Good morning all !

Posted by: Noah Bawdy at October 22, 2023 08:21 PM (bI6Hc)

341 I loved Ever Ride a Dinosaur?
Book by Scott Corbett

Posted by: Noah Bawdy at October 22, 2023 08:32 PM (bI6Hc)

342 Reading Cleanup on Aisle Squatch, book 39 (yes 39) in Jerry Boyd's Bob Saucer Repair series. Humor, great insight and kindness, and no slaughter as hillbilly bob accidentally gets out in space and pretty much takes over. My favorite all-time SF series. Start with Book 1, Bob's Saucer Repair, and if you like it, you're very lucky because you have a lot of pleasure in front of you. The author is writing a book a month, and although some are more to my liking than others, they're all excellent.

Posted by: Doc at October 23, 2023 05:48 AM (Io/Ba)

343 Great meeting you Perfessor at Txmome. Thanks for the book thread.

Posted by: TG at October 23, 2023 08:23 AM (NNtBv)

344 Thanks for a marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it,
you may be a great author. I will make certain to bookmark your blog and will eventually come
back sometime soon. I want to encourage you to definitely
continue your great work, have a nice afternoon!

Posted by: https://ufa80p.online at October 24, 2023 04:17 AM (5IZUJ)

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