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Sunday Morning Book Thread 04-03-2016: The Shame Of The Cities [OregonMuse]


Mark Twain library, Detroit - then.jpg
Mark Twain Branch Library, Detroit, c. 1940


Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. And to all you young lovers wherever you are, we hope your problems are few. Welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread. The Sunday Morning Book Thread is the only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required. And when I type up the book thread, my pinkies remain elevated the whole time, that's how classy it is.

“In a good bookroom, you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without opening them”
--Mark Twain


Death By Democrats

How can a thriving city be turned into a burned-over ruin in just 2 or 3 decades? As has been proven by the Democrats, it's a surprisingly simple algorithm:

repeat
ELECT(left-wing Democrats)
IMPLEMENT(left-wing social and economic policies).
until (city = ruined)
GOTO: next_city

The grim statistics are compiled by author John Perrazo in his book The New Shame of the Cities, the title of which is an homage to Lincoln Steffens 1904 muckraking classic The Shame of the Cities that exposed Tammany Hall and other urban political machines that were lousy with graft and corruption. And they were all, get this, Democrats.

Liberal Democrats make their living by talking about how the policies of heartless Republicans oppress the poor and keep minorities down. But John Perrazo shows that the facts are otherwise. The vast majority of voiceless, powerless and poor people are concentrated in Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta, and America's other large urban centers. And all of them are run by Democrats and have been for 50 to 100 years...America's urban centers have slid into a violence, corruption and savage dysfunction that make the snapshots of despair Lincoln Steffens produced at the beginning of the 20th century seem mild by comparison.

The only East Coast city not on his "corrupt sh*thole" list? New York City, of course. Why? Mostly because of Republican mayor Rudy Giuliani People forget what a corrupt sewer New York City was in the 1970s and Giuliani turned it into a decent, liveable city. Now, you'd think other politicians would be impressed with his success and go whoa, look at that, how did Rudy do that and how can I take what he did and use it to improve my city? But no, they never do. And his successors have been trying their damndest to reverse what he did and bring back the bad old days.


Mark Twain library, Detroit - now.jpg
Mark Twain Branch Library, Detroit, c. 2011

Who Was John Birch?

All I've known is that he was no connection to the organization that took up his name other than his name, and that he was a Christian missionary who was killed by rat bastard commies in China. But there's a book on his life that's just been published, John Birch: A Life by Terry Lautz, that attempts to be an objective biography:

Raised as a Baptist fundamentalist, Birch became a missionary to China prior to Americas entry into the Second World War. After Pearl Harbor, he volunteered for the U.S. Army in China, served with Claire Chennault, commander of the famed Flying Tigers, and operated behind enemy lines as an intelligence officer. He planned to resume his missionary work after the war, but was killed in a dispute with Communist troops just days after Japans surrender.

And according to this review, he weren't no ignorant rube:

Arriving in Shanghai, Birch threw himself into the study of Chinese, writing home that "there is war, starvation, disease, sin, idolatry, superstition, suffering and death on every side, but our wonderful Savior keeps saving souls, answering prayers, and giving joy in the midst of sorrow." Before long, Birch acquired an astonishing command of Mandarin, as well as a high level of comfort and familiarity with the ways and customs of China.

I would have liked to have known Mr. Birch. Unfortunately, he died way too young. His death was tragic - and probably avoidable:

On his last mission in the field, Birch had encountered a Chinese Communist detachment. His judgment, which on all such previous assignments had been notably acute, on this occasion failed him, perhaps due to exhaustion. He rebuffed the demands of a Red Army major that he surrender his sidearm, and he shoved a soldier, lodging an insult at the same time. Birch was shot on the spot and his body mutilated.

Previously, most of what anybody knew of Mr. Birch came from this book, The Life of John Birch: In the Story of One American Boy, the Ordeal of His Age, the biography written by John Birch Society founder Robert Welch.


Men And Women Are, Get This, Different

Even in reading? Yes, even in reading:

The study found that although men and women complete books at nearly identical rates, men are more likely to abandon books sooner.

“The initial decline during which most readers are lost is much sharper and earlier for men than it is for women, and this is a behavior that we observe for the majority of books,” writes Jellybooks founder Andrew Rhomberg for Digital Book World. “So put another way, men give up on a book much sooner than women do."

It's not entirely clear why this is, but Jellybooks suggests women are more likely to stick with a book even if they don't like it.

Kind of like sticking with a crappy husband, I guess. "I know he'll get better. He'll change. I just know it."

And in related news, I must say I love it when a doctrinaire feminist gets smacked in the face with the great stinking halibut of truth:

As a feminist, I'm all in favor of avoiding gender stereotyping.

Oh, I'm sure that your fear and loathing of gender differences is not an insubstantial portion of your worldview. . But how is that working out for you, babycakes?

Still, working in a public library has demolished any "Free to be You and Me" notion I might have had about guys and gals being just the same. When our patrons bring their books to the circulation desk for check-out, there are few surprises.

So, not very well, then. In other words, this librarian has a strong commitment to what feminist ideology tells her, and then all day, every day, the reality that presents itself to her senses and reason is completely different. That must hurt a lot.

No man has ever checked out "Entwined Together" without a disclaimer. And when women check out "Take, Burn or Destroy: A Novel of Naval Adventure," they invariably remark, "This is for my husband.".

But oh, how she desperately wants it not to be that way:

Will things ever change? They're marketing Easy Bake Ovens to little boys these days, so anything is possible. Maybe we're on the cusp of a Gender Neutral Reading Utopia, a brave new world where women check out "Retreat, Hell!" and men eagerly await the next Julie Garwood.

I haven't heard of any marketing campaign to get little boys to play with Easy Bake Ovens, but the only way they'd be able get them to would be if they were told how they can use them to Shoot Stuff or Blow Stuff Up. And do we really need a "Gender Neutral Reading Utopia"? It sounds so dull, like one of those commie countries where everybody has to wear and eat and think the same things. All in the name of diversity.


Books by Morons

Book Giveaway: Moronette lurker 'Krukke1' is giving away 5 copies of her new collection of stand-aline short short stories, Glimpse (Vol. 2), "forty imagined scenes from forty imagined lives."

I was given 5 different links, one for each book. So the first moron to click on the link gets the book. Please don't take more than one.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5


___________

Moron author Pat Chiles is happy to report that both of his books Perigee, and the sequel Farside, have been picked up by Baen Books. They're also interested in seeing follow-on books, so it sounds like Mr. Chiles had a pretty good week.


What I'm Reading

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of Hallow Mass, a modern-day fantasy novel written by the husband of a lurking 'ette.

This story, the first in a trilogy, takes place in the Lovecraftian universe of hideous, unnatural beings and ultimate cosmic indifference. In Dunwich, Massachusetts, only a small, beleaguered band in the Antiquities Section at Miskatonic University is keeping back trans-dimensional horrors from wiping all human life from earth in preparation for the return of the Great Old Ones. And speaking of hideous, unnatural beings, progressives have pretty much taken over Miskatonic U. and filled it with the usual P.C. blather: critical weather studies, diversity enforcement, and research into "contemporary oppression modalities". Naturally, they are completely hostile to the Antiquities Section and they think the copy of Abdul Al-Hazred's Necronomicon in the Antiquities library is just a collection of old folk religion tales that should be returned to its "original owners", i.e. a group of murderous Cthulu-cultists in nearby Dunwich who need it to bring about the return of the Great Old Ones.

Into this simmering conflict steps Mercy O'Connor, an aimless party girl grad student in the Antiquities Section who has yet to find herself or her place in life. She's about to be thrust to the front lines of the age-old battle against ultimate evil, and her only ally is her department's security guard, a descendent of Zulu warriors who loves country music and Jesus with his whole heart. Against them are arrayed all of the unimaginatively powerful dark forces of evil from time immemorial.

So how could they possibly lose?

I liked this book very much. I loved the characters, the bad guys are suitably creepy, and as an added bonus, readers get to see the SJW crowd get punched in the face, figuratively speaking. So what's not to like?

Hallow Mass is available for pre-order now and will be released on April 29th. An amusing trailer for it can be seen here.


___________

And speaking of the Necronomicon, its wiki entry has this amusing bit:

Many readers have believed it to be a real work, with booksellers and librarians receiving many requests for it; pranksters have listed it in rare book catalogues , and a student smuggled a card for it into the Yale University Library's card catalog.

Heh.


___________

Moronette 'votermom' is putting together a list of moron authors over on the Goodreads site which is intended to be acessible to non-members. Here is the list she has compiled so far. Let her know if there's an author she's missing.

http://www.bookhorde.org/p/aoshq-authors.html

___________

Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde.

___________

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

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

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:03 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Morning.

Posted by: HH at April 03, 2016 09:00 AM (DrCtv)

2 HH how did you beat me to it?

Morning bookworms

Amtrak crash south of Philadelphia with two fatalities

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 09:02 AM (1J6E6)

3 Spent the whole week re-reading the Darkling Sea series by Johnny Ringo. I had long waited for that 4th book to go down in price from above $10 and it finally did.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:04 AM (vvmPQ)

4 NYC should be on his list of shitty cities, especially since that commie took over as mayor.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:06 AM (vvmPQ)

5 I'm still working on Bomber War, Arthur Harris and the Allied Bomber Offensive 1939-45 and Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler
Didn't know but saw Kindle Unlimited is just under $10 a month. Good bargain if your a heavy reader and can find what you want. The Bomber book is one and is very good.

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 09:07 AM (1J6E6)

6 Amtrak crash south of Philadelphia with two fatalities

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 09:02 AM (1J6E6)


We definitely need moar high speed rail!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2016 09:07 AM (wYnyS)

7 Spent the whole week re-reading the Darkling Sea series by Johnny Ringo. I had long waited for that 4th book to go down in price from above $10 and it finally did.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:04 AM (vvmPQ)



I take it that is a very positive review by the Vic?

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2016 09:08 AM (wYnyS)

8 Was going for a link but decided I've got more on my plate already.

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 09:08 AM (1J6E6)

9 The John Birch society was initially a good organization and was strongly anti-communist. But soon it because overrun with white supremacists and turned to a racist crap organization.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:09 AM (vvmPQ)

10 So I've finally begun work on my magnum opus. (My first and only other attempt at a opus, of any size, landed with a mighty thud).

Next update: appx one year.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at April 03, 2016 09:09 AM (4ng05)

11 I could just cry, looking at those two pictures of the Mark Train Library in Detroit - what a noble, high-ceilinged room, with nary a dropped panel in sight ... all done to ruin.

On the book front, my daughter and I are going to bring out the second collection about Luna City, Texas, by the end of this month. Everyone wants to know the resolution to the cliff-hanger ending in the Chronicles of Luna City ... so, we just went ahead, in response to popular demand.

The Second Chronicle of Luna City will be available around the end of this month ... but there will be a cliff-hanger ending to it as well.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 03, 2016 09:10 AM (oK6A/)

12 Report is something on track was hit by train, winds have been maybe 30mph so totally speculation on my part wonder if something was blown onto tracks.

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 09:10 AM (1J6E6)

13 And if one might wonder why Detroit can't have nice things,show that picture.

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 09:13 AM (1J6E6)

14 7 I take it that is a very positive review by the Vic?

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2016 09:08 AM (wYnyS)

Yes, it was a good series and not at all what I had expected when I initially read the book summery. I should have known that Ringo could never write a bad book.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:14 AM (vvmPQ)

15 "Many readers have believed [the Necronomicon] to be a real work, with booksellers and librarians receiving many requests for it..." Heh! Check out the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company's 'Special Order,' or the original short it's adapted from in 'Disciples of Cthulhu.'

Posted by: Ron Butler at April 03, 2016 09:16 AM (DjjZJ)

16
I am rereading Conspiracy of Silence -- The Secret Life of Anthony Blount.

Except it was never much a secret. Everyone knew or should have known about the Cambridge spies. But all these books on these scoundrels and there is little info given on how their treachery resulted in the deaths of hundreds of good men and women who were trying to liberate their countries from communism.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 09:17 AM (iQIUe)

17 From moron recommendations and author pimping I bought "To Save Us All From Ruin and Life Unworthy". Read them both this week. Enjoyed both very much.

Just now dawned on me (because moron) that both books take place during WW2. Amazing the difference in settings and story lines that this would just dawn on me.

Anywho, enjoyed both for very different reasons.

Highly recommend.

Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at April 03, 2016 09:17 AM (xHksd)

18 This week I read Saigon by Anthony Grey. The book reminded me of a James Michener novel. The story is told through the eyes of multi-generations of families which are on opposite sides of a cultural chasm. The story held my interest and I learned quite a bit about the history of Vietnam.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 03, 2016 09:20 AM (JYer2)

19 I saw Death By Democrats open for the Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Chapman Music Hall in Tulsa in 1993.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 03, 2016 09:21 AM (2rmvw)

20 BTW, you can get the entire 4 book series now all at once for $28.


http://tinyurl.com/zj4opy2

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:21 AM (vvmPQ)

21 That Detroit branch would be great to remodel into a home. But who could live in that hellhole? Talked to a woman who said her brother bought one of these cheap homes in Detroit. He was working on it, found all these people had illegally hooked up to his electricity and disconnected them. One guy came over and shot him. He bled so much that he had a stroke in the ambulance. He survived but is paralyzed on one side and has no money to start over. So, stay the fk out of Detroit!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 09:22 AM (iQIUe)

22 9 The John Birch society was initially a good organization and was strongly anti-communist. But soon it because overrun with white supremacists and turned to a racist crap organization.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:09 AM (vvmPQ)


Huh. I never knew that the white racists played a part in the JBS. That's something I had never heard before.

Whitaker Chambers complaint about the Birchers is that they took legitimate concern about communist/Soviet infiltration of government and turned it into a clown show. I tend to agree. Especially since subsequent research (i.e. Venona) has revealed that the level of infiltration was alarmingly high. Despite the silliness they got into later on, the JBS was more right than wrong.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 09:23 AM (ZmkiN)

23 Ramming speed Captain Stormfield!

Posted by: Zombie Mark Twain at April 03, 2016 09:24 AM (BO/km)

24 I finally got around to reading a short collection of "accounts" and "recollections" taken from the Draper manuscripts regarding warfare along the Ohio River in the late 18th century with an emphasis on the life and deeds of Lew Wetzel. I bought it probably over a year ago, but never did more than skim it. I've got another collection by the same editor, Jared Lobdell, that I haven't read in its entirety, and a modern history on the same subject coming from amazon sometime in the next couple weeks.

I also found a copy of a museum book regarding southern powderhorns for sale on amazon - its been listed as unavailable for years, but one finally showed up and at a price I can afford. Now, I've got my fingers crossed that it actually arrives, as I have several books disappear in the mail recently...seller says that they will give a tracking number, at least.

Posted by: Grey Fox at April 03, 2016 09:25 AM (bZ7mE)

25 Strangely, enough.

I also saw The Great Stinking Halibut of Truth open for Goose Creek Symphony in Austin at Armadillo World Headquarters in 1977.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 03, 2016 09:25 AM (2rmvw)

26 18 This week I read Saigon by Anthony Grey.
Posted by: Zoltan at April 03, 2016 09:20 AM (JYer2)


I'm about half-way through it. I should get back to it one of these days.

I learned that the French really effed it up in Vietnam.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 09:26 AM (ZmkiN)

27 I'm listening to "Krakatoa: The Day The World Exploded" by Simon Manchester. So far, so good. A pretty deep history of the region and it's geography/exploration/role in history. Of course the author can't resist a few "anti-Imperialist" jibes, but he's not too heavy-handed with it.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 03, 2016 09:30 AM (2cS/G)

28 22 Huh. I never knew that the white racists played a part in the JBS. That's something I had never heard before.

Whitaker
Chambers complaint about the Birchers is that they took legitimate
concern about communist/Soviet infiltration of government and turned it
into a clown show. I tend to agree. Especially since subsequent research
(i.e. Venona) has revealed that the level of infiltration was
alarmingly high. Despite the silliness they got into later on, the JBS
was more right than wrong.


Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 09:23 AM (ZmkiN)

The original one was very good. They came around to my school when I was in the 7th grade and showed a film about the communist atrocities in Algeria. It was a very graphic film and really not material for the young. The principle stopped the film and told them to leave.
But they gradually become discredited after their opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and portrayed as racist loons by the MFM. Maybe they were not so racist because they did allow blacks into the organization. But the MFM sure painted them with a wide tarry brush and the people had not yet recognized how bad the MFM was.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:30 AM (vvmPQ)

29 11 I could just cry, looking at those two pictures of the Mark Train Library in Detroit - what a noble, high-ceilinged room, with nary a dropped panel in sight ... all done to ruin.

--

The second photo is the saddest pic I have ever seen on a book thread.

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 09:31 AM (nbrY/)

30 Those photos of the Detroit library are both heartbreaking and disgusting. The only time I've been in Detroit was for the BIL wedding in the mid-80s. Parts of it looked like Dresden in 1945 interspersed with the occasional oasis of non-ruined areas. I understand it is much worse now but you couldn't pay me to go back to find out. Detroit is one of the many reasons I hate cities.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 09:32 AM (V+03K)

31 New Orleans, a once beautiful city enshrined by its history, is now having its history ravaged by its suck-ass mayor Mitch Landrieu (brother of Mary--that should tell you something) by destroying Confederate monuments throughout the city--specifically statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and P.G.T. Beaurergard which he has declared to be "public nuisances."

These statures have been in place for over a hundred years, but suddenly they are objectionable. Shades of ISIS.

Posted by: Libra at April 03, 2016 09:33 AM (GblmV)

32 NO use to have a very high crime rate only over shadowed by that snakepit Chicago. Maybe the mayor shd accuse himself with that?

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 09:35 AM (iQIUe)

33 The last time Chicago had a Republican mayor was two years before Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion.

Posted by: CrustyB at April 03, 2016 09:38 AM (Hnglq)

34 Still, working in a public library has demolished any "Free to be You
and Me" notion I might have had about guys and gals being just the same.





I believe the feminist credo is "Free to be Me; You, Not So Much."

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2016 09:38 AM (oKE6c)

35 30
Those photos of the Detroit library are both heartbreaking and
disgusting. The only time I've been in Detroit was for the BIL wedding
in the mid-80s. Parts of it looked like Dresden in 1945 interspersed
with the occasional oasis of non-ruined areas. I understand it is much
worse now but you couldn't pay me to go back to find out. Detroit is one
of the many reasons I hate cities.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 09:32 AM (V+03K)


I said the same thing about Benton Harbor, MI fifteen or twenty years ago when I went there on a buisness trip. Most of the buildings downtown had the windows and doors boarded up and it looked like a bombed out WWII town.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:39 AM (vvmPQ)

36 This week listened to David Edding's Enchanter's End Game (The Belgariad #5), conclusion to that series. Didn't feel like the main characters developed much over the course of the books, but did get a good confrontation between Belgarion and the evil god Torak, and it had a sweet ending. Good series.

Listened to The High Window by Raymond Chandler, one of his Marlow books. Marlow deals with a messed up family who send him on what seems a simple assignment, until bodies start piling up. Lots of great noir style and characters, enjoyed it a lot.

Read Shakespeare's King Henry VI Part 3, 3rd of his 4 part War of the Roses plays. The weak Henry is supported by his strong French wife Margaret who leads his war effort against the house of York. It ends with many deaths, a King Edward IV in charge with his evil humpback brother Richard scheming how to get the crown. Well written with very good characters, look forward to the finale with Richard III.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 03, 2016 09:42 AM (zAHcw)

37 I understand this is a "side" issue with regard to libraries but who would want to frequent a public library when many cities have allowed perverts to use the computers for porn, allowed them to sleep there during the day and frequent the bathrooms.

No thanks, I'll just order from Amazon.

Posted by: Seems Legit at April 03, 2016 09:42 AM (U+nHb)

38 Re Detroit:

1940 91% white
2010 11% white

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_Detroit

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2016 09:44 AM (oKE6c)

39 Heh. Best of Show just arrived on Netflix. I haven't seen it in at least a decade. Watching it now that I own a dog and have met a bunch of "dog people" makes it even funnier.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 03, 2016 09:44 AM (2cS/G)

40 Ooops, Best IN Show.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 03, 2016 09:46 AM (2cS/G)

41 Destruction of libraries, desecration of monuments, riots in the streets, government by incompetents and criminals. It all has a familiar ring.

Posted by: Libra at April 03, 2016 09:46 AM (GblmV)

42 You might be surprised at how quickly little green plastic Army men melt in an Easy-Bake™ Oven.

Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 03, 2016 09:46 AM (NeFrd)

43 I just started "A Tale of Two Cities," for no reason other than it turned up on my phone's Kindle app as the first book. No idea why.....

Is Dickens trolling for readers?


Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 03, 2016 09:47 AM (Zu3d9)

44 36
This week listened to David Edding's Enchanter's End Game (The Belgariad #5),
conclusion to that series. Didn't feel like the main characters
developed much over the course of the books, but did get a good
confrontation between Belgarion and the evil god Torak, and it had a
sweet ending. Good series.

Listened to The High Window by
Raymond Chandler, one of his Marlow books. Marlow deals with a messed up
family who send him on what seems a simple assignment, until bodies
start piling up. Lots of great noir style and characters, enjoyed it a
lot.

Read Shakespeare's King Henry VI Part 3, 3rd of his 4
part War of the Roses plays. The weak Henry is supported by his strong
French wife Margaret who leads his war effort against the house of York.
It ends with many deaths, a King Edward IV in charge with his evil
humpback brother Richard scheming how to get the crown. Well written
with very good characters, look forward to the finale with Richard III.


Posted by: waelse1 at April 03, 2016 09:42 AM (zAHcw)

You have to go to the The Malloreon series to get the real ending. Unfortunately you will be stuck with paperback or a library book. The e-book is available only in Great Britain due to a copyright fight between the heirs of the estate.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:50 AM (vvmPQ)

45 Good morning fellow Book Threadist People, despite that sickening photo.

I've started reading 'Paradise Lost". As I mentioned last week, I haven't read it for about 45 years and had a 'certain' attitude at the time. What a difference the years can make. I'm taking my time and savoring each line. The richness of the imagery is astounding. And there is satisfaction that I recognize, or remember, many of the allusions Milton used. Nice to know the mind hasn't completely gone to hell.

Unlike older epic poetry, I can't decide if 'Paradise Lost' is to be listened to or read. I am leaning towards read partly because the imagery is so complex. But in a culture where literacy was low, people were more accustomed to listening (see the appreciation for Shakespeare's plays) so it could go either way. I might look for a recording if one exists.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 09:53 AM (V+03K)

46 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:50 AM (vvmPQ)


I had read something like that, that the series is finished in the Malloreon series, will have to check them out on audiobook where the copyright issue hasn't struck.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 03, 2016 09:53 AM (zAHcw)

47 >>>ELECT(left-wing Democrats)


The phrase "Left-wing Democrats" is barely more redundant than left-wing Republicans.

Posted by: angela urkel at April 03, 2016 09:53 AM (vhTN7)

48
A few years ago, someone showed me photos of the old Chicago Main Library that his sister had cut out of a magazine and sent him. It brought tears to my eyes. Many a happy Saturday I spent there.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 09:54 AM (iQIUe)

49 I bought "To Save Us All From Ruin" and "Life Unworthy". Read them both this week. Enjoyed both very much...
...Anywho, enjoyed both for very different reasons. Highly recommend.

Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet


****

Heh! Werewolves v. hamsters.

Maybe C. Taylor and I could team up on a joint sequel- "Cold War Werehamsters"


Seriously- glad you enjoyed "To Save Us All From Ruin". I appreciate the kind words.

Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 03, 2016 09:55 AM (NeFrd)

50 "We Werehamsters Once, And Young"

Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 03, 2016 09:56 AM (NeFrd)

51 You go to Detroit unarmed and unwilling to shoot first and ask questions later, you gonna get kilt.

Posted by: John Bigboote Society at April 03, 2016 09:57 AM (CUk0C)

52 I'm close to finishing the 8th book in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series set in upstate New York. Thanks to whoever mentioned this in the estimable Book Thread. I've enjoyed them so much and hope the author is busy on the 9th, because this most recent installment was written in 2013 and there are relationship developments dangling in the wind.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at April 03, 2016 09:57 AM (jR7Wy)

53 You want to watch Whittaker Chambers very closely. He was an old commie himself, and had odd notions of what "belonged" in literature. He wrote the Disneyfied anti-hunter version of "Bambi." Grains of salt always in order.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at April 03, 2016 09:58 AM (xq1UY)

54 BTW on that Mallorean series I logged to to Amazon GB to try to buy it from them. Was promptly told that it could not be sold in the US.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:58 AM (vvmPQ)

55 Maybe we're on the cusp of a Gender Neutral Reading Utopia, a brave new world

When the left wins the day, they can't stifle themselves and stop being activists. They are incontinent. They go on to invent stupid arbitrary causes, like men and women having the exact same tastes, and pretend that it's a moral cause.

Posted by: angela urkel at April 03, 2016 09:59 AM (vhTN7)

56 Listened to The High Window by
Raymond Chandler, one of his Marlow books. Marlow deals with a messed up family who send him on what seems a simple assignment, until bodies
start piling up. Lots of great noir style and characters, enjoyed it a
lot.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 09:50 AM (vvmPQ)


Heh. That's pretty much the plot of 'The Big Sleep' Now I'm wondering if all of Chandlers' books are like that.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:00 AM (ZmkiN)

57 The recent mention of JRR Tolkien's art work got me thinking about his non-LOTR writing. Figured I would start at the beginning with his 'On Fairy-Stories' essay and proceed to 'Leaf By Niggle'. The essay is based on a 1939 lecture e gave and finally published, with a bunch of rewriting as was typical for Tolkien, in 1946 or so. It is probably his best definition of what he considers fantasy versus fairy tales, science fiction, and other fanciful writings. There is some real, academic hair splitting but it gives insight as to why LOTR, the Silmarillion and, to a point, The Hobbit, were written the way they were.

Whether in humor or not, Tolkien uses a Scherazade routine in his lecture/essay. He frequently mentions a topic, an important one, and says he'll get to it later. The man had a real sense of humor about his lecturing so it might be a tease.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 10:01 AM (V+03K)

58 In Dunwich, Massachusetts, only a small, beleaguered band in the Antiquities Section at Miskatonic University is keeping back trans-dimensional horrors from wiping all human life from earth

There's a glut of trans-dimensional horrors these days.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at April 03, 2016 10:02 AM (vhTN7)

59 When the left wins the day, they can't stifle
themselves and stop being activists. They are incontinent. They go on to
invent stupid arbitrary causes, like men and women having the exact
same tastes, and pretend that it's a moral cause.

Posted by: angela urkel at April 03, 2016 09:59 AM (vhTN7)


Because they deal with their gnawing internal issues by projecting them outward and addressing them in the external (real) world, in effect scratching where it doesn't itch. Which is why they can't stop.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2016 10:02 AM (oKE6c)

60 Heh. That's pretty much the plot of 'The Big Sleep' Now I'm wondering if all of Chandlers' books are like that.


Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:00 AM (ZmkiN)


That was waelse1

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 10:03 AM (vvmPQ)

61 53 You want to watch Whittaker Chambers very closely. He was an old commie himself, and had odd notions of what "belonged" in literature. He wrote the Disneyfied anti-hunter version of "Bambi." Grains of salt always in order.
Posted by: Stringer Davis at April 03, 2016 09:58 AM (xq1UY)


Rather, Chambers translated 'Bambi' from the original language it was written in, German. Not sure why you're bringing this up, though.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:04 AM (ZmkiN)

62 53 You want to watch Whittaker Chambers very closely. He was an old commie himself, and had odd notions of what "belonged" in literature. He wrote the Disneyfied anti-hunter version of "Bambi." Grains of salt always in order.
Posted by: Stringer Davis at April 03, 2016 09:58 AM (xq1UY)

============
He was hired to translate the book from German to English and that was in the 20s. I dont think he had anything to do with the film.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:07 AM (iQIUe)

63 Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 09:53 AM (V+03K)
---
I have a lovely old edition liberally interspersed with Dore illustrations. Many of the ones set in Hell are seriously Metal.

For me it's a visual feast to read the lines in thick black ink on heavy cream paper.

Want it in plain English? Here it is, side by side with the chewier Miltonese:

http://www.paradiselost.org/lmg/Book-1.html

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at April 03, 2016 10:07 AM (jR7Wy)

64
If you want to watch anyone, watch Chambers grandson who is a real lefty.

http://whittakerchambers.org/

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:09 AM (iQIUe)

65 The area of Detroit where the Mark Twain library was located (it was torn down a few years ago) is spooky. Van Dyke Ave. is the main drag there and entire blocks of houses are torn down,except one or two houses with old people living in them. That area is also loaded with pheasants, and while I would love to take my pointer there for bird work, I would be outgunned with my 12 GA. shotgun. What a waste.

Posted by: F.N.G at April 03, 2016 10:11 AM (ovuUl)

66 OT: The inability of refugees to assimilate into Europe, on Politico of all places.

http://tinyurl.com/z9njoe2

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 03, 2016 10:12 AM (VdICR)

67 My favorite Ringo is There Will Be Dragons.

Check out Tom Kratman A Desert Called Peace for a fiction book that shows how wars can actually by won (and a good read).

That picture of the library made my stomach twist. Not much does that to me. I looked at the Detroit cheap houses also but couldn't come up with one reason why I would want to own a house in Detroit at any price.

Wasn't aware that the Eddings had both passed. That would explain the lack of new books. Too bad about estates. Good books. If you haven't read any start at the beginning and that will keep you going for quite some time, even if you have to read them on paper.

Make Mead Like a Viking by Jereme Zimmerman. I'm looking forward to picking up some raw honey and trying a bit of wild fermentation.

Just finished The Abolition of Man by Lewis for the Goodreads book discussion. Preview: I found the first two essays to be far more interesting and compelling than the third. The final essay seemed a bit incoherent but I'm going to give it a re-read since the whole thing is only 52 pages. I figure since it's Lewis writing the problem is probably me.

About to start By the People by Charles Murray. Almost everything he's written is interesting and informative. I heard an interview on this one and he talks about starting a legal defense fund for people accused of violating one of the myriad of incomprehensible regulations that have been implemented by the multitude of new offices and the swarms of officers. Fighting back by making it impossible for the federal government to enforce their dictates. Might be interesting.

Posted by: Heresolong at April 03, 2016 10:13 AM (ntIeo)

68 Who needs lieberrys? In a housing project/HUD reservation near me, they have a football field with actual goal posts, BaseketBall hoops and all kinds of sports paraphernalia to keep the young skulls full of mush just that. Sports are big on federal plantations.

Lieberrys, "media centers", books?.....next thing you will want is for those utes to grow up and actually get a job. Sheesh. Detroit is a shining example of what you can accomplish when you want to accomplish nothing.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 03, 2016 10:14 AM (ej1L0)

69 Look at that abandoned library, then recall that Obama has said on several occasions that we have failed inner-city youth because a gun is cheaper than a book. IIRC, the only things *not* ripped off from the Mark Twain Branch library were the book. To the looters they had no value.
So sad.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 03, 2016 10:15 AM (NOIQH)

70 Still reading "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt -The Home Front in World War II". A very good book, but reading it a chapter at a sitting sucks.

Posted by: antisocialist at April 03, 2016 10:16 AM (9n14Y)

71 Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:00 AM (ZmkiN)

In The High Window there is a supposedly stolen gold coin to start the plot, there is a bit of a Maltese Falcon angle to it.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 03, 2016 10:17 AM (zAHcw)

72 The Twain Library was goregous.

There was a time in this country when our public buildings were useful and artful, worthy ornaments of a great nation.

And look at us now.

I weep to think that the best days of my homeland passed before I was even born, and that I was destined forever to be only the epigone of my ancestors.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at April 03, 2016 10:18 AM (lutOX)

73 As is with the Detroit story, so goes it with the Flint Michigan governance.

With the despair that comes with looking at the above photos, please be aware that the Detroit Public Library system is alive and the main downtown location, built in 1921, is a must stop and see for any architecture or book fanatics. Designed by Cass Gilbert and still breathtaking.

http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/branch/main

Posted by: Jen the original at April 03, 2016 10:18 AM (ph1j2)

74 There was some old commie whose name escapes me who had a hard core commie wife. I googled the address of where they lived in NYC and low and behold the daughter still lived there. More googling produced that the wife would full right wing, joined the NRA, loved Reagan and Bush. The daughter became a painter of tall ships. The old man? I think he died in prison. Wish I could remember the name. Alas, old age. I do find it interesting that you can google alot of these old addresses in NYC where these commies live. I you read the files in the fbi vault you can see how they would pass apartments to each other.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:19 AM (iQIUe)

75 Speaking of no value, well maybe here, but anyway in a estate cleanup there were a set of mail order books of old classics. Probably at least 50 in number that were not easy to get rid of. I read a couple while they were here.

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 10:19 AM (1J6E6)

76 I just re-discovered Georgette Heyer, so her mysteries have been my reading material for this week. I didn't even know she wrote mysteries until very recently, but I've always liked her other fiction. It appeals to me because it's so classy. Even the ruffians are dressed neatly and speak properly. It's unrealistic, I know, but it makes a nice change from a lot of modern literature, which takes 'gritty' and turns it into 'hellish descriptions of places I have no interest in'.

Now I should go back to my own writings. Does anyone know how long you're supposed to keep a fractured wrist- splinted, not cast- in a sling? I'm in the midst of tormenting one of my characters and I need to know how long he should be out of commission. He also dislocated the shoulder on the same side as the cracked wrist, poor guy.

Posted by: right wing whippersnapper- quietly rebellious at April 03, 2016 10:21 AM (26lkV)

77 I'm running late on today's blog post but please feel free to browse this week's posts
And the Horde author lists now have their own submenu link under the menu Lists

Link to blog in nic

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 10:21 AM (nbrY/)

78 You come across book references in the strangest places. Yesterday I was on the Art of Manliness website and they had an article about Teddy Roosevelt's approach to reading. He mentions how much he likes the two novels by Emily Eden who lived from the 1790s to about 1860. The books are 'The Semi-Detached House' and 'The Semi-attached Couple'. I had never heard of them or her but they are still available. I got the e-book version.

The lady was a fan of Jane Austen and it shows. They are comedies of manners about the gentle folk of Victorian England. So far the first one is dang funny in its mild way. I also enjoy the slightly archaic wording. The similarity to Jane Austen is very strong. And you can see how it is in the line of influence for Oscar Wilde's 'Importance of Being Earnest' and a lot of PG Wodehouse stories.

If these seem obscure today, TR mentioned that he knew nobody else who had even heard of Emily Eden or her books and that was a century ago. But I'm glad I found them. They have been a pleasant surprise.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 10:22 AM (V+03K)

79 Finished Gone With the Zombies last night. Very good for a first novel and I really enjoyed the author's "voice".

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2016 10:22 AM (GDulk)

80 Hallow Mass ? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2016 10:23 AM (GIXMb)

81
Okay, it was William Remington who was murdered in prison. And to keep it on topic, I did read a couple of biographical books on him. His daughter is Galeyn Sutherland Remington who is the painter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Remington

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:23 AM (iQIUe)

82 >>...but who would want to frequent a public library when many cities have
allowed perverts to use the computers for porn, allowed them to sleep
there during the day and frequent the bathrooms.



Here in Denver this happened (about 7 years ago): Guy checks out rare books (some really old) that he is translating for project Gutenberg. He has bed bugs in his messy home. Returns them by putting books in overnight book drop. Many books are infected and must destroyed. Library attempts to fine him for the damages and he gets a lawyer and said he would sue.
And the DPS restores his library privileges.


There was exactly *1* news story on this. No follow-up. No idea if they eventually stopped the guy. Was avoiding main branch of DPL for years after that.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 03, 2016 10:23 AM (NOIQH)

83 Online sneak peek at the Detroit Main Library Tour
http://www.dpltour.org/

Posted by: Jen the original at April 03, 2016 10:24 AM (ph1j2)

84 If you want to know what NYC will look like, see
Dog Day Afternoon
Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Fort Apache The Bronx
The Warriors
Death Wish

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2016 10:24 AM (EZebt)

85 Oh, interesting book story that I wanted to share. A book called The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Arts, a translation of a mathematical work that was the standard text in China until about 1600. Translated in 2000 and published by Oxford University Press for $450. That is not a mistype. Available occasionally on half.com for never less than about $375. I contacted Oxford UP and was told that it is still available new for $450 on a "print it when you buy it" basis.

What I can't figure out is why I can get a new book from Amazon for $10 on a print it as you buy it basis, but $450 from OUP. Haven't they figured out that they might actually sell the occasional copy if it were more reasonably priced?

Another book I want is called Fleeting Footsteps. Similar topic, a translation of Chinese mathematical thought, it dates back to 1992 and sells for about $100. Better but again, how many copies could they sell if they put it up for $20 or $30 through the amazon self publishing system.

Posted by: Heresolong at April 03, 2016 10:24 AM (ntIeo)

86 Been working off and on - mostly 'off' - on a novel for some time now.

The narrative voice - I've had a friend or two read it over - is a bit 'odd,' as they say. They get the sense that the narrator isn't 100% honest or even sane, even if he writes in the 3rd person and appears omniscient.

They have said I've got a knack for dialogue, however, which is encouraging.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at April 03, 2016 10:25 AM (lutOX)

87 Books this week...


Read a couple of Joseph Wambaugh's (sp?) books about cops in California... Hollywood Station and Hollywood Moon... that I got from the library. Really enjoyable "short" "light" reads.


Just finished "Uncle Sam can't count" by Burton Folsom and Anita Folsom... very good book on how individuals create new life changing goods and services through innovation and cutting costs while government entities fail at most everything they do...due to lack of accountability and lack of their own invested capital. Highly recommended.

The two or three chapters on the so called Robber Barrons are worth the price of the book. Eyeopening stuff...

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin finally got his order of girlscout cookies from his cousin's kids in Arizona at April 03, 2016 10:27 AM (Qj6zv)

88 It appeals to me because it's so classy. Even the ruffians are dressed neatly and speak properly.


Posted by: right wing whippersnapper- quietly rebellious at April 03, 2016 10:21 AM (26lkV)

Heyer is da bomb!

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 10:27 AM (nbrY/)

89 Lizzy, I think the scum who were watching porn...regardless of kids, etc., lawyered up too and it settled out that they were allowed to watch whatever they wanted. So, no thanks.

Posted by: Seems Legit at April 03, 2016 10:27 AM (U+nHb)

90 84 If you want to know what NYC will look like, see
Dog Day Afternoon
Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Fort Apache The Bronx
The Warriors
Death Wish
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2016 10:24 AM (EZebt)


You forgot 'Panic In Needle Park'.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:28 AM (ZmkiN)

91 Obama's secret service code name is Cthulhu.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 10:28 AM (Nwg0u)

92 50 "We Werehamsters Once, And Young"
Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 03, 2016 09:56 AM (NeFrd)

*starts building silver hamster wheel*

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 10:30 AM (nbrY/)

93 And speaking of artful libraries, this is the original library I used to go to as a kid. It was built in 1904 and had character.


http://tinyurl.com/jo867ch


This is the "new" library, while it is not ugly, it has no character. It was built and opened in 1975.


http://tinyurl.com/z4emb6z

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 10:30 AM (vvmPQ)

94 I like books with pictures.

Posted by: Weasel at April 03, 2016 10:30 AM (e3bId)

95 I finished Marco Polo's Travels, which is a 1950's translation of the original manuscripts.

I need to point out that in the section about Russia near the end, in a discussion about how cold the steppes are, there is what has to be the earliest proto-Ole and Lena joke. (woman freezes to the ground while taking a whizz, man gets stuck trying to thaw her out, neighbors are called to help)

Anyhow, congrats to Pat Chiles on the sale to Baen. That is awesome

Posted by: Kindltot at April 03, 2016 10:31 AM (aKchR)

96 the Darkling Sea series by Johnny Ringo

Another not quite finished series.

Posted by: DaveA at April 03, 2016 10:31 AM (DL2i+)

97 I depend on the Sunday Morning Book Thread to add a much-needed intellectual stimulus to my week, so I am happy to report that last week's rousing discussion of T. E. Lawrence resulted in an Amazon purchase.

On Friday, "MAD About the Sixties: The Best of the Decade" arrived! This soft back contains the movie parody "Flawence of Arabia" and many other classic articles from the sixties that I remember reading. (I would sneak into my brother's room and "borrow" them.) The movie and TV show parodies were always my favorites.

So now I will settle down this afternoon to enjoy a nostalgic hour or two reminiscing about my misspent youth and contributing to my continued misspent adulthood. It's nice to have a little something to smile and chuckle about.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at April 03, 2016 10:31 AM (NqQAS)

98 Will things ever change? They're marketing Easy Bake Ovens to little boys these days, so anything is possible. Maybe we're on the cusp of a Gender Neutral Reading Utopia, a brave new world where women check out "Retreat, Hell!" and men eagerly await the next Julie Harwood.


Several years ago, I read a novel about such a "Utopia"-

Thomas Berger's "Regiment of Women".

It's a black humor satire where sex roles are completely reversed-

with men wearing dresses, getting breast implants, and PIV has been replaced by DIA(dildo wielded by women in anus of men).

I'm not sure I can really recommend it exactly as it's not a pleasant read. Writing technique is superb. Storyline is grotesque in the extreme with anal rape figuring in much of the story dynamics. The humor is there but very very dark.

The funniest thing about it is reading the reviews on amazon who try to shoo away the notion that this is a novel about feminism. Or that this is somehow a novel that is actually pro-feminist.

It was published in 1973 - which I guess is the time when feminism really broke big.

However, it's kind of funny(in a sad way) seeing a 43 year old dystopian novel slowly coming to life before your eyes with all the transgender silliness being pushed as a glorious positive into the public sphere.

Anyway, you can buy it for $.01 used on amazon.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 03, 2016 10:32 AM (2rmvw)

99 76---Does anyone know how long you're supposed to keep a fractured wrist- splinted, not cast- in a sling? I'm in the midst of tormenting one of my characters and I need to know how long he should be out of commission.

Posted by: right wing whippersnapper- quietly rebellious at April 03, 2016 10:21 AM (26lkV)
----------------
At least six weeks for someone under 40. Add a couple of weeks for each decade of age after that, along with complaints that the now-working wrist still feels funny.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at April 03, 2016 10:33 AM (T/5A0)

100 I think it's possible to kill bedbugs without destroying the books.
I mean, it must be, right?

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 10:33 AM (nbrY/)

101 OTOH, I'm reading Commander in Chief (Clancy/Greaney) and the formula and delivery are getting quite repetitive. Moar ThugRussians, moar everytime John Clark says don't do that, Ryan jr. does that, bad thing happens.

Posted by: DaveA at April 03, 2016 10:34 AM (DL2i+)

102 Years ago, I wanted to read some rare books which had to be done in the rare book room. I had to make an appt and it took me months to get one. When I get there I see that they only allow two people in at a time. Now the space is like any old library fairly large with numerous carrels and tables and books and displays. The people who worked there were typical gov workers. - rude. I asked them if there anything special they could direct me to that they were displaying or that they could show me and they acted outraged. And the carrels were filthy. Had to wipe it down myself bc there was black dirt on them.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:34 AM (iQIUe)

103 76 Now I should go back to my own writings. Does anyone
know how long you're supposed to keep a fractured wrist- splinted, not
cast- in a sling? I'm in the midst of tormenting one of my characters
and I need to know how long he should be out of commission. He also
dislocated the shoulder on the same side as the cracked wrist, poor guy.



Posted by: right wing whippersnapper- quietly rebellious at April 03, 2016 10:21 AM (26lkV)

When I broke by elbow the doctor put me in a sling with no cast. He said they no longer used casts because it took so long to recover from wearing the cast. He kept me in the sling for 30 days and then told me to start using it to restore mobility.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 10:35 AM (vvmPQ)

104 Never saw that one. But as someone who looks at that time with a little rose-colored nostalgia, I will.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2016 10:35 AM (EZebt)

105 It is also why women stick with crappy governments, crappy politicians, crappy economic systems, crappy religions, etc. Just like with crappy husbands, as long as he says he is sorry after punching her in the face in a drunken stupor then everything is ok.

You can make an argument that the reason so many urban black communities in America are a mess is this. No fathers generation after generation creates lots of single mothers who then let the grandmother raise the kids, because she never had a father either. The females then settle for crappy governments, like the crappy fatherless men they reproduced with. Thus the cycle repeats.

The feminists in America want all of America to be like that. It is the natural outcome of their "utopia", but they don't realize it. That is the real reason they support, single motherhood, gay marriage, transsexualism, etc. Like any religion you need a "devil", and their devils are males and traditional marriage.

Posted by: William Eaton at April 03, 2016 10:35 AM (KhJh8)

106 100 I think it's possible to kill bedbugs without destroying the books.
I mean, it must be, right?
Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 10:33 AM (nbrY/)
***
Bedbugs...another blessing of mass third-world immigration.

Heat - it takes a lot of heat to do it. I've heard of companies here in TX using industrial heaters to crank up the mercury well over 100 and something and hold it there for about a day. Seems to do the trick.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at April 03, 2016 10:36 AM (lutOX)

107 I watched the documentary The Barkley Marathons on Netflix last night (which I found fascinating). It's about about a brutally difficult ultra marathon in the hills of Tennessee.
The planners stash books along the way as markers for the runner/masochists on the course. Each has to tear a specific page from each book as proof they passed that point.

So I'm wonder what books I would stash along the way--the Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner is one, Born to Run is another, for some reason Darkness at Noon comes to mind as does The Heart of Darkness. I would have to ponder more deeply to finish the list.
I believe there are 11 books stashed along the course, which is the equivalent of five marathons.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 03, 2016 10:37 AM (4rzL1)

108 I finished G. M. Fraser's " Quartered Safe Out Here" this week. I enjoyed it very much but found myself wanting to know much more about his fellow infantry mates especially what happened to them after the war. Their Cumbrian dialect was challenging. Had to repeat some of the dialogue out loud before I understood what they were saying.

Since I found myself in a war memoir type of mood I started Howard Blum' s "The Brigade" which I picked up from Book Bub several months ago. It focuses on three members of the Jewish Palestinian Brigade the Brits put together and sent to Italy in the last days of WWII. I'm a couple of chapters in and am finding it fascinating. It's a little part of history I was completely unaware of.

Posted by: Tuna at April 03, 2016 10:39 AM (JSovD)

109 I watched The Barkley Marathon a couple weeks ago, meant to recommend it.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 03, 2016 10:39 AM (2cS/G)

110 104 Never saw that one. But as someone who looks at that time with a little rose-colored nostalgia, I will.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2016 10:35 AM (EZebt)
===========
It's good and stars a very young Al Pacino. It was based on one of those Life spreads where they would do the story and have lots of photos. I saw it when I was a kid. All that stuff was shocking in the day but now everyone is an addict.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:40 AM (iQIUe)

111 I do find it interesting that you can google alot of these old addresses in NYC where these commies live. I you read the files in the fbi vault you can see how they would pass apartments to each other.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:19 AM (iQIUe)


What period of time are we talking about here, pre-WWII or after? Because if it's after, it sounds like the commies are just trying to take advantage of the labyrinthine NYC rent control laws.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:41 AM (ZmkiN)

112 Posted by: Tuna at April 03, 2016 10:39 AM (JSovD)

I wonder if that was the brigade Bookworm's dad fought in. He fought in Italy and would have met the requirements for that group.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2016 10:42 AM (GDulk)

113 It's good and stars a very young Al Pacino. It was based on one of those Life spreads where they would do the story and have lots of photos. I saw it when I was a kid. All that stuff was shocking in the day but now everyone is an addict.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:40 AM (iQIUe)


It was also one of the most depressing films I've ever seen.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:43 AM (ZmkiN)

114 For gender Utopia stories, I like Anthony Burgess' M/F

Government policy alternates between encouraging homosexuality and abortion and criminalizing them in response to overpopulation and war. Weirdly prescient.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2016 10:43 AM (EZebt)

115 84---NYC already DID look like these movies until Giuliani came along.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 03, 2016 10:44 AM (wWnhP)

116 The pictures of the Detroit Library are heartbreaking. They are destroying our culture, on purpose.

Posted by: PJ at April 03, 2016 10:45 AM (cHuNI)

117 Oh, and I read Glimpse 1 and liked it a lot.

Posted by: PJ at April 03, 2016 10:46 AM (cHuNI)

118 Hey Book Thread!
Yesterday I and a group of friends went on a day-pilgrimage to Powells and a great book-raid commenced. (We went by train but ours stayed properly upright and on the rails at all times). I found a 1920's book by an explorer in Mongolia, a great book about castles and fortifications with lots of pictures and diagrams, a book on the Taipei rebellion, some classic SF, and other delights. The weather was even glorious. Powell's should really allow sleepovers or have little bed-and-breakfast type rooms for out-of-state visitors, because there NEVER is enough time for All The Books! Sigh...

Also, book is back from editor so back on my head...

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 03, 2016 10:49 AM (GG9V6)

119 I have been on a re-reading binge lately.
Last week it was Irving Babbitt's "Rousseau and Romanticism." (I cannot recommend it highly enough if you want to deepen your understanding of Western decadence.)
This week it's Christopher Lasch's "Culture of Narcissism."

I have to say that if one had to recommend only two books that best elucidate our age, those two would be as good as any.

I remember that when Lasch's book was originally published (1980ish,) some critics from both left and right thought he was overstating the case and that his predictions were overly pessimistic.
Today we know better.


Posted by: Margarita DeVille at April 03, 2016 10:50 AM (T/5A0)

120 Thanks, Margarita @ 99 and Vic @ 103. I was thinking 4-6 weeks with the sling and at least 6 weeks with the splint since this guy's being put back together on a battlefield with no modern medical tech, but I wasn't sure. Now I know.

Posted by: right wing whippersnapper- quietly rebellious at April 03, 2016 10:52 AM (26lkV)

121 Forgot, Galeyn Remington, besides being a painter, was a "negotiation specialist" focusing on Iran. IOW, she has a big boner for Iran. She also slammed Rushie for insulting muslims. How does the daughter of 2 commies get a job that involves security clearance? It just seems that her loyalties would be suspect.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:52 AM (iQIUe)

122 I think the reason NYC hasn't gone completely off the rails like Detroit and other cities--despite the best efforts of Democrats- is that blacks, while a large part of the demographic, don't dominate politically; there are huge numbers of Hispanics, and though there is a significant criminal element among them, most are working poor, apolitical and just trying to get by; there are significant numbers of Asians and whites (including Jews and WASPS) who still live there and wield tremendous influence.
There's also Broadway, museums,history, great restaurants and shopping= tourism
The best police force in the world.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 03, 2016 10:53 AM (wWnhP)

123 What period of time are we talking about here, pre-WWII or after? Because if it's after, it sounds like the commies are just trying to take advantage of the labyrinthine NYC rent control laws.
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:41 AM (ZmkiN)
===============
30-50s. They went to the same resorts, too. lol

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:55 AM (iQIUe)

124 There was some old commie whose name escapes me who had a hard core commie wife. I googled the address of where they lived in NYC

-
The husband of my wife's friend was a red diaper doper baby. His parents bought an anti-profit condo in NYC with a bunch of other commies. He's ten or fifteen years older than me so this must have been the late 40s or 50s. You had to sell your condo for what you paid for it. Imagine the profit they might have made.

Speaking of old commies, I read in one of David Horowitz' books about his old, bitter father who had wasted his life waiting for the revolution that never came. It was pathetic.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 10:55 AM (Nwg0u)

125 Bed and breakfast rooms in Powell's would quickly become a hipster and tattoo-chick semen-soaked hellhole. With syringes clogging the drainpipes. And the smell of pot, patchouli, stale sweat.

Posted by: retropox at April 03, 2016 10:56 AM (APJ36)

126
It was also one of the most depressing films I've ever seen.
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 10:43 AM (ZmkiN)

=============
It's pretty realistic.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:56 AM (iQIUe)

127 Also, NYC--unlike Detroit and the rest--still attracts some of the best minds from across the planet.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 03, 2016 10:57 AM (wWnhP)

128 I also read and enjoyed Gone with the Zombies, which was surprising to me. Not my usual fair. I've been mainly working my way through ebooks I've not yet read, even if I've read the originals long ago. Most recently, worked my way back through the There Will be War series of short story collections, much to delight, some to mystify, I took notes for some other books to track down. Heard good things about Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcasts, will try and find some time to devote to those.

Posted by: Graves at April 03, 2016 10:57 AM (beOli)

129 Baen is home to Larry Corriea, Michael Z. Williamson, John Ringo, and Tom Kratman. Definitely a safe spot for conservative sci-fi, and Toni Weisskopf gets a lot of credit for keeping Jim Baen's vision alive.

Hell, even I am working on something they may take for an anthology.

Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at April 03, 2016 10:58 AM (+Iexe)

130 105 ---Posted by: William Eaton at April 03, 2016 10:35 AM (KhJh
----------
AMEN....to every word of that.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at April 03, 2016 10:58 AM (T/5A0)

131 I always enjoy reading John Ringo, my big complaint being that he cannot figure out how to end a series, to the point of just abandoning more than one. Grr.

Posted by: Graves at April 03, 2016 11:00 AM (beOli)

132 The husband of my wife's friend was a red diaper doper baby. His parents bought an anti-profit condo in NYC with a bunch of other commies. He's ten or fifteen years older than me so this must have been the late 40s or 50s. You had to sell your condo for what you paid for it. Imagine the profit they might have made.

Speaking of old commies, I read in one of David Horowitz' books about his old, bitter father who had wasted his life waiting for the revolution that never came. It was pathetic.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 10:55 AM (Nwg0u)
==========
There was an excellent History forum that catered to authors and profs, mostly. Horowitz was a member and Haynes, Klehr, and many others. It use to be fun to watch them duke it out. Unfortunately, the website changed formats and got rid of all the old comments. A crime! It was hilarious to read people defending His and the Rosenbergs. Even that old spy himself Morton Sobel, before he confessed, would whine that he was innocent.

Anyway, people who went to these commie schools would laugh how they did not have American History classes. Their instructors believed it was not necessary because comrade stalin would take over America and only Russian history was relevant.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 11:02 AM (iQIUe)

133 63 ... Thanks All Hail Eris, I book marked that sight. I'm using the Bantam Classics Annotated Milton (downstairs) and the Oxford World Classics Paradise Lost (upstairs). Both use Milton's wording, not modernized. The foot notes are not too intrusive although a lot of them are for words that should be obvious. (It is entirely possible/likely I just know too much weird stuff.)

I'm keeping an eye open for a good hardback edition with the Dore illustrations that is affordable. Along with Shakespeare, CS Lewis, Tolkien, and several others, I want to enjoy certain writings that are a pleasure to handle as well as to read. And I don't trust these books to digital versions, batteries, or electricity. (Yes. The curmudgeon is strong with this one.)

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 11:05 AM (V+03K)

134 Good Morning everyone. I have a question. My husband and I are trying to get rid of things now that we are both retired. Books is the main thing. We have given our children a mountain of books and donated a mountain, but I have found a lot that we cannot get rid of. One was a Heinlein "Time enough for Love" I grabbed it off the donation pile because it was the first (and only) sic-fi book I ever read and hubs favorite. He said we can't get rid of that because it is signed by Frank Kelly Freas, an artist. Can someone tell me something about him, I think he was famous. It's from his own personal library. Honestly, I don't know who this person is.

Posted by: Abby Coffey at April 03, 2016 11:05 AM (HBU7W)

135
My new book, AoShq and Zombies, will be released in 2017.

The tag line will be The Undead Who Wear No Pants...

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 11:06 AM (iQIUe)

136 30-50s. They went to the same resorts, too. lol
Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:55 AM (iQIUe)


Yes, and their children went to the same commie schools, the same commie summer camps, etc., and I'd guess the reason churches and synagogues weren't in the mix is because the commies, being commies, were atheists.

It was all just a big commie community of commie crap.

David Horowitz talks about it a lot in his books.

I think there's one particular school back then (in NYC?) that was nicknamed 'The Little Red Schoolhouse' because it was run by commies and all the NYC commies sent their kids there.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:07 AM (ZmkiN)

137 Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 11:06 AM (iQIUe)

The Undead Morons Who Wear No Pants

Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at April 03, 2016 11:08 AM (xHksd)

138 The Big Sleep:

Who killed the Sternwood's chauffeur?

My money's on the chauffeur himself, though Chandler leaves that unresolved. I've heard theories to explain why he did that, but these theories revolve around a sort of logographic necessity (to invoke Strauss) that is not necessarily part of Chandler.

Perhaps it doesn't matter, because poor Owen didn't matter.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at April 03, 2016 11:08 AM (lutOX)

139 I grabbed it off the donation pile because it was the first (and only) sic-fi book I ever read and hubs favorite. He said we can't get rid of that because it is signed by Frank Kelly Freas, an artist. Can someone tell me something about him, I think he was famous. It's from his own personal library. Honestly, I don't know who this person is.

Posted by: Abby Coffey at April 03, 2016 11:05 AM (HBU7W)


Abby, Freas is an artist known for his illustrations of sci-fi books:

http://www.kellyfreas.com/

If you have a copy of a book out of his personal library, I'd agree with your husband, hold on to it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:11 AM (ZmkiN)

140 Who killed the Sternwood's chauffeur?

-
Zombies.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 11:11 AM (Nwg0u)

141 Abby Coffey, yes Kelly Freas was a very famous SF/Fantasy cover artist in the classic or golden age style.No idea how rare an autograph is, but he's quite well known in the community.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 03, 2016 11:11 AM (GG9V6)

142 Kelly Freas was one of the greatest sci-fi illustrators. He did magazine and book covers, movie posters, interior art back when magazines had interior art (back when there were print magazines) . . .

Original Freas artwork and signed prints have collector value, and a signed book -- especially if it has his art on the cover -- would probably be worth more than cover price.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 03, 2016 11:12 AM (8kFoN)

143 140 Who killed the Sternwood's chauffeur?

-
Zombies.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 11:11 AM (Nwg0u)
***
Zombies don't sap you down, swipe an undeveloped photo plate - how quaint, btw - set your hand-throttle, and point you toward the end of the pier.

Why waste the meat?

He offed himself after he woke and realized he'd killed a man for a thing he'd lost. Carmen...he loved her that much. and with his record....

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at April 03, 2016 11:13 AM (lutOX)

144 131
I always enjoy reading John Ringo, my big complaint being that he cannot
figure out how to end a series, to the point of just abandoning more
than one. Grr.


Posted by: Graves at April 03, 2016 11:00 AM (beOli)


Although not as bad as some authors Ringo has gone to the never completely close a series so you can revive it at a later date if it becomes real popular and sell more books. The publishers push that. Back when Jim Baen was still alive Baen did not do that at all.
But I have found that Ringo does close his series, but does leave them an "out" for more. However, I did not like the way he closed the Council Wars series because that did seem to be incomplete.


And I have read all of his series to the last one. I did abandon the 1632 series by David Weber which was taken over by Eric Flint because it became a never ending mess that would never close. I think they are up to book 19 now.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 11:13 AM (vvmPQ)

145 Posted by: Abby Coffey at April 03, 2016 11:05 AM (HBU7W)

Is the book cover by Freas?

I would guess that might be worth something but I don't know.
Freas was an artist who did s lot of SF&F art & covers. He died in 2005.
Obviously he is collectible but I don't know what your particular book would be worth, if anything, to interested collectors.

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 11:14 AM (nbrY/)

146 Perhaps it doesn't matter, because poor Owen didn't matter.
Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at April 03, 2016 11:08 AM (lutOX)


My understanding is that this was just sloppiness on Chandler's part. 'The Big Sleep' was cobbled together from a number of short stories and the chauffeur's murder was one loose end that he didn't get around to tying up.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:14 AM (ZmkiN)

147
I think there's one particular school back then (in NYC?) that was nicknamed 'The Little Red Schoolhouse' because it was run by commies and all the NYC commies sent their kids there.
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:07 AM (ZmkiN)

==========
It's still there. https://goo.gl/73snrz

It must cost a fortune to attend. A lot more celebs went there than listed.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 11:15 AM (iQIUe)

148 Thank you all. I will keep this book. I was going to keep it anyway because I enjoyed the book and it was one that husband said to read to enjoy sci-fi, so it's a keeper.

Posted by: Abby Coffey at April 03, 2016 11:15 AM (HBU7W)

149
The Undead Morons Who Wear No Pants
Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at April 03, 2016 11:08 AM (xHksd)

=========
Nice!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 11:16 AM (iQIUe)

150 Who killed the Sternwood's chauffeur?

-
There is a story that when they were filming the book, the screenwriters couldn't figure out who did it so they went to Chandler and asked him. He told them just read the book, it's in there. They still couldn't find it so Chandler reread the book and realized he hadn't tied up that loose end.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 11:16 AM (Nwg0u)

151 I'm keeping an eye open for a good hardback edition with the Dore illustrations that is affordable. Along with Shakespeare, CS Lewis, Tolkien, and several others, I want to enjoy certain writings that are a pleasure to handle as well as to read. And I don't trust these books to digital versions, batteries, or electricity. (Yes. The curmudgeon is strong with this one.)
Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 11:05 AM (V+03K)
-----
I am in complete agreement regarding dead trees versions. We've had discussions on this blog about maintaining print oases in these interesting times, with personal libraries of the old classics.

My Paradise Lost is by Collier from about the 1880s/1890s. This version is still available from Abe Books if you don't mind forking over a few shekels:

http://tinyurl.com/hjh9nfp

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at April 03, 2016 11:16 AM (jR7Wy)

152 My understanding is that this was just sloppiness on Chandler's part. 'The Big Sleep' was cobbled together from a number of short stories and the chauffeur's murder was one loose end that he didn't get around to tying up.
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:14 AM (ZmkiN)
***
There's a story in there, to be sure...

Hmmm......

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at April 03, 2016 11:16 AM (lutOX)

153 The pictures of the Detroit Library are heartbreaking. They are destroying our culture, on purpose.
Posted by: PJ


The key word there is, of course...."on purpose". Of course it is, to get to Year Zero.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative.....lost in America at April 03, 2016 11:16 AM (+1T7c)

154 #131, having gotten stumbling drunk with the guy on the cigar deck at a couple conventions, I would agree. But John freely admits he writes what his inner voices tell him to write at any given moment. That's why he stopped the Posleen War series to write Ghost, and why the original Posleen novels went four volumes, not three.

Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at April 03, 2016 11:18 AM (+Iexe)

155 Although not as bad as some authors Ringo has gone to the never completely close a series so you can revive it at a later date if it becomes real popular and sell more books.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 11:13 AM (vvmPQ)


Yeah, that was my complaint after I read the third and last 'Troy Rising' book. I felt nothing had really ended, it had just stopped, like I was watching a movie on TV, and then I get hit with a power failure and that's that.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:19 AM (ZmkiN)

156 122 I think the reason NYC hasn't gone completely off the rails like Detroit and other cities--despite the best efforts of Democrats- is that blacks, while a large part of the demographic, don't dominate politically; there are huge numbers of Hispanics, and though there is a significant criminal element among them, most are working poor, apolitical and just trying to get by; there are significant numbers of Asians and whites (including Jews and WASPS) who still live there and wield tremendous influence.
There's also Broadway, museums,history, great restaurants and shopping= tourism
The best police force in the world.
Posted by: JoeF. at April 03, 2016 10:53 AM (wWnhP)
---------------------
Heh.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with an old college friend, a Smart-Set lefty who lives in NYC.
She was using the superiority of NYC to certain other cities (*cough*cough*) as an argument for multi-culturalism.

But if you pursue that train of thought, which I most certainly did, you must concede that the multi-culturalist dogma that all cultures are equally good is sheer nonsense.
You will also have to concede that urban black culture just plain stinks --- at which point the Smart-Set lefty bursts into tears and you spend the rest of the evening trying to tell her that, no, she's not a horrible raaaacist for making a CULTURAL judgment.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at April 03, 2016 11:20 AM (T/5A0)

157 There is a story that when they were filming the book, the screenwriters couldn't figure out who did it so they went to Chandler and asked him. He told them just read the book, it's in there. They still couldn't find it so Chandler reread the book and realized he hadn't tied up that loose end.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 11:16 AM (Nwg0u)


This is almost right. According to the wiki entry, the screenwriters contacted Chandler, as you said, but what Chandler told them was, hey, sorry, I don't know who killed him, either.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:22 AM (ZmkiN)

158 For gender Utopia stories, I like Anthony Burgess' M/F

Government policy alternates between encouraging homosexuality and abortion and criminalizing them in response to overpopulation and war. Weirdly prescient.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2016 10:43 AM (EZebt)



I think you mean "The Wanting Seed". Not "M/F"

Posted by: naturalfake at April 03, 2016 11:24 AM (2rmvw)

159 Sabrina, you are in Portland Oregon? Powells was one of my must see places when I go to Portland (and have the time).

Along with Nicholas' Lebanese food on SE Grand

Posted by: Kindltot at April 03, 2016 11:24 AM (aKchR)

160 having gotten stumbling drunk with the guy on the cigar deck at a couple conventions

-
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have written a new Inferno which begins when the syfy writer protagonists is drinking with his fans at a convention and falls out the window to his death.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 11:24 AM (Nwg0u)

161 From the wiki entry for The Big Sleep:

As might be expected, all this cannibalizing—especially in a time when cutting and pasting was done by cutting and pasting paper—sometimes produced a plot with a few loose ends. The famously unanswered question in The Big Sleep is who killed the chauffeur. When Howard Hawks filmed the novel, his writing team felt perplexed by that question, in response to which Chandler replied that he had no idea.[4] This exemplifies a difference between Chandler's style of crime fiction and that of previous authors. To Chandler, plot stood third in line to atmosphere and characterization. An ending that answered every question while neatly tying every plot thread mattered less to Chandler than interesting characters with believable behavior.

So there you are.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:26 AM (ZmkiN)

162 Desert Called Peace
Thanks that book is free on Kindle.


If you haven't watched it, the movie about the Hockey player Don Cherry is Great also on Netflix, he would fit right in here.

So far I am really enjoying Matt Helm book.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at April 03, 2016 11:29 AM (c4yY7)

163 the chauffeur's murder was one loose end that he didn't get around to tying up.

Wasn't the chauffeur involved with Yoko Ono at the time, and his last words were:

"Darling, sing me a lullaby, won't you?"

Posted by: The John Bigboote Society at April 03, 2016 11:32 AM (CUk0C)

164 Kindletot, no, I live in the Seattle area. Hence the Great Raiding Expedition :-D Powell's is indeed great. I love how they have lots of old books mixed in with the new ones...

And speaking of authors, it amused me to see the relative shelf space given to authors like Ringo and Weber (lots and lots) vs. some of the more "progressive" types. They even had Soda Pop Soldier face out (that means, popular) on the shelf. So of course I got a copy :-)

And as Col. Kurtz mentions above, if you are ever at a convention Ringo is attending, find the late night party he's getting hammered at and gather round. He is even better storytelling in real life, and he doesn't have to clean it up as much :-D Ringo is a *true* Moron.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 03, 2016 11:34 AM (GG9V6)

165 Fun story. Kids foil the bad guys. (SFW)



http://tinyurl.com/gp2a3pc

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at April 03, 2016 11:35 AM (0IhFx)

166 84 If you want to know what NYC will look like, see
Dog Day Afternoon
Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Fort Apache The Bronx
The Warriors
Death Wish
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 03, 2016 10:24 AM (EZebt)


Another movie from that era is "Joe", released in 1970.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065916/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_8

I saw it a long, long time ago. It starred Peter Boyle in the title role, who was a sort of proto-Archie Bunker type, but it wasn't a comedy. (It also introduced a nekkid 20-something Susan Sarandon in her first role.)

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2016 11:36 AM (sdi6R)

167 As part of the homeschooling project, the kid and I have been reading portions of the King James Bible, so that the kid will have a better understanding of how foundational it is to all subsequent English literature.

One thing I noticed: the KJV is written almost entirely in "Saxon" English, with very few Latinate loan-words in it. Now, writers have known for a long time that using Saxon English gives your words more emotional power -- most of the great political and marketing slogans are Saxon English -- so now I'm wondering: is this because of the King James Bible, or is the King James version still the best edition because it follows that rule?

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 03, 2016 11:36 AM (8kFoN)

168 If you like Chandlers novels, find the anthology, The Simple Art of Murder. It is a number of his original stories for the magazines, and they have a simplicity of plot that comes from writing short stories instead of full - length novels.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 03, 2016 11:38 AM (aKchR)

169 (It also introduced a nekkid 20-something Susan Sarandon in her first role.)
Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2016 11:36 AM (sdi6R)


Oh.
My.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2016 11:38 AM (ZmkiN)

170 I think the reason NYC hasn't gone completely off the rails like Detroit and other cities--despite the best efforts of Democrats- is that blacks, while a large part of the demographic, don't dominate politically
----------------
One can try to blame generic liberal Democrats/liberals but there are a lot of liberal Democrat run cities that are far from Detroit/Newark status. A good test of the "implicit racist" nature of the generally unenlightening "The New Shame of the Cities" would be a word count of "black" and "African American".

Posted by: RioBravo at April 03, 2016 11:40 AM (NUqwG)

171 You want to watch Whittaker Chambers very closely. He was an old commie himself, and had odd notions of what "belonged" in literature. He wrote the Disneyfied anti-hunter version of "Bambi." Grains of salt always in order.
Posted by: Stringer Davis at April 03, 2016 09:58 AM (xq1UY)

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

He translated that in about 1932. Commie at the time. But, it was a pretty straight translation.

Posted by: Rance Prybar at April 03, 2016 11:40 AM (IIrcs)

172 "How does the daughter of 2 commies get a job that involves security clearance?"

I'll take "because the commies are now in charge" for a thousand, Alex.

Posted by: navybrat at April 03, 2016 11:40 AM (8QGte)

173 Just finished The Camp of the Saints.

Who knew that was a how-to manual.

Posted by: SMFH while circling the drain... at April 03, 2016 11:43 AM (rlfds)

174 "the Taipei rebellion"

I'm thinking you mean Taiping?
http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Chinese-Son-Taiping-Heavenly/dp/0393315568

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2016 11:44 AM (DRc61)

175 The rate of poverty us actually higher in rural areas than in urban areas

Posted by: Bubba at April 03, 2016 11:45 AM (AJAk6)

176 How do we separate the effects of Lefty policies from thise of time and chance and entropy?

We should be careful not to learn the wrong lessons from a place like Detroit.

We should expect decay to happen. It is natural.

I think the biggest problem with Lefty policy is not that they produce decay, but that do not produce rejuvination.

Posted by: eman at April 03, 2016 11:48 AM (MQEz6)

177 Patrick #162

Baen has a free library. They encourage their authors to post up older books so as to generate interest in newer books, especially early books in a series. You can find quite a few by Kratman, Ringo, et al available there. Here's the link:

http://www.baen.com/categories/free-library.html


Posted by: Heresolong at April 03, 2016 11:49 AM (ntIeo)

178 Here is another life story of a library in Democrat-controlled California:

1963: http://tinyurl.com/jyjt6ro

2015: http://tinyurl.com/guwc3yv

Posted by: Patricia at April 03, 2016 11:50 AM (cHuNI)

179 >>I'll take "because the commies are now in charge" for a thousand, Alex.

Yep, Obama is a 3rd generation Communist - his grandparents moved to Seattle so that Stanley could attend a Commie school there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVgRRbDuZvY

A lot of his people are 2nd and 3rd generation Commies, too, as Horowitz has helpfully documented here:

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/default.asp

Posted by: Lizzy at April 03, 2016 11:51 AM (NOIQH)

180 I recently re-read Influencer (by several authors) for some ideas on projects at work, but found myself thinking about American culture issues as well. The tools the authors describe (social influence, using the physical environment, creating vicarious experiences, etc) have been used very well by collectivists. FedGov and MSM manipulate the physical environment. Yay 'modern' art and blocky new architecture. Anti-collectivists can use the same tools. Although at this point, I think most of the useful idiots will have to experience what they (think they) want before we go into the next historical cycle.

Somewhat related, I saw (last week?) a Moron was thinking of building a recommended reading list for history. I'm wondering what would be a good K through 12 Moron education list? I'd want to add basic economics, balancing a friggin checkbook, cooking a meal (without using a microwave), basic home / auto / appliance maintenance and even outdoorsy types things (someone else mentioned Finding Your Way without Map or Compass). What else should growing or grown Morons know?

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 03, 2016 11:52 AM (xki5G)

181 As we all know, used books stores are dangerous places, a siren's trap to lure mariners/readers to their doom. But sometimes you get lucky. I found a facsimile version of Pope's Iliad, published in the 1890s, with illustrations. Cost me one dollar. It has no real value over other versions but is just so cool. And it is easier to read than my ancient Norton Anthology version with its tissue paper pages and tiny print. I liked it enough that I would have spent another two bits to get it.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 11:54 AM (V+03K)

182 Sorry, I meant, 'are you visiting Portland'. Still, try the Baklava and coffee, and go look at used military gear at Andy Bax if you get a chance.

The three great bookstores in Oregon are Powell's in Portland and Beaverton, The Book Bin in Salem and Corvallis, and Smith Family Books in Eugene.

(the next tier has Robert's books in Lincoln City, The Reader's Guide in West Salem, and Escape Fiction in Salem. Escape Fiction has the biggest SF/F section in both new and used. Robert's has original cover art, and spears and pikes mounted above the cashier station)

Posted by: Kindltot at April 03, 2016 11:54 AM (aKchR)

183 I think the biggest problem with Lefty policy is not that they produce decay, but that do not produce rejuvination.

Posted by: eman at April 03, 2016 11:48 AM (MQEz6)
-----------
That view is certainly helped by the cities selected for review. The collapse and dispersal of much of Detroit's auto-related industries is a commonly cited reason for its collapse. Similarly nearly all of Pittsburgh's steel industry disappeared. The results in Pittsburgh are quite different than those in Detroit. Both Pittsburgh and Detroit have been dominated by those pesky leftist Democrats.

Posted by: RioBravo at April 03, 2016 11:54 AM (NUqwG)

184 There was a used book store within walking distance of were I have been working but it's closed, three are others in the chain so will stop by if I ever get in there area.

Posted by: Skip at April 03, 2016 12:00 PM (1J6E6)

185 Don't know about Saxon, but KJV is a wonderful supplement to all the other versions out there (I grew up with Revised Standard). For literature, it is essential; but the truly revolutionary scholarship and, even for this old agnostic, divinely inspired expression of the word of G-d it is definitive.

Posted by: mustbequantum at April 03, 2016 12:00 PM (MIKMs)

186 I wouldn't say NYC is destined to go the way of Detroit, since for most of De Blasio's time in office his approval rating has been underwater. However, the latest poll put it at 58%, so, who knows?

NYC's best hope might actually be Andrew Cuomo. Since he wants to be President, the last thing he wants is to watch De Blasio f'k it up. The two of them have not gotten along.

Posted by: AD at April 03, 2016 12:00 PM (7mFGy)

187 Ok blog is updated with usual Sunday's Today in History.

Guess the topic before you click (hint, author born today)

Link in nic

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 12:03 PM (nbrY/)

188 My understanding of the Troy battlestation series Ringo abandoned was that the climax of book three took control and he then discovered he'd written himself into a hole. There was never an end to the Kildar series, unless you count letting that hack write the last one to kill interest, I've literally seen better fanfic in that universe, and the zombie series answered none of the questions I had from the first book, so not a terribly satisfying ending. Who did it? Why? What was their goal? Did they survive? Will they reboot and try again? Can he be more in love with those two very young sisters? The Marching/Empire series did get to a logical stopping point even though he plans to go further, but the Council Wars hasn't, nor has the Posleen setting, and I never really could suspend disbelief for the Posleen anyway, too much design to ensure powered armor was the solution for my taste. I was enjoying the Looking Glass setting, which doesn't end.

Posted by: Graves at April 03, 2016 12:05 PM (beOli)

189 177 Patrick #162

Baen has a free library. They encourage their authors to post up older books so as to generate interest in newer books, especially early books in a series. You can find quite a few by Kratman, Ringo, et al available there. Here's the link:

http://www.baen.com/categories/free-library.html


Posted by: Heresolong at April 03, 2016 11:49 AM (ntIeo)


Thank you I booked marked it

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at April 03, 2016 12:07 PM (c4yY7)

190 84 If you want to know what NYC will look like, see
Dog Day Afternoon
Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Fort Apache The Bronx
The Warriors
Death Wish


I'm shooting for "Escape From New York"

Posted by: Bill de Blasio at April 03, 2016 12:07 PM (ckvus)

191 Ringo has made an arrangement with Correia and has a Monster Hunter International book coming out this year, looking forward to that.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 03, 2016 12:11 PM (zAHcw)

192 Greetings, Bill de Blasio: @ April 03, 2016 12:07 PM

I grew up in the Bronx of the '50s and '60s before the media concocted the South Bronx and it was either East or West.

Fort Apache is by far the best as to the Dresden-lite visuals. Because of the word's other connotation, holocaust may be too strong a term but it sure came close.

Luckily, an Uncle of mine offered me an all-expense-paid tour of somewhat sunny Southeast Asia so I managed to escape the chaos.

Posted by: 11B40 at April 03, 2016 12:13 PM (evgyj)

193 Posted by: AD at April 03, 2016 12:00 PM (7mFGy)

NYC has an unbelievable tax base that is in the short-to-medium term held captive by geography. The financial industry is located in NYC, and no amount of crime is going to drive it out for many years.

So De Blasio's worthless ass is being covered by the very people he hates so much.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 03, 2016 12:14 PM (Zu3d9)

194
It's not entirely clear why this is, but Jellybooks suggests women are more likely to stick with a book even if they don't like it.







Which is one reason why chick-lit books take such a gawdawful long time to get to the point, and the point is all to often vapid. They don't NEED to have a, you know, plot. They can just prattle on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, with no penalty from their audience. And the author doesn't have to spend a lot of time doing that pesky editing thing.

One thing that I enjoy about Jane Austen is that while the point is similarly vapid, the journey through her wit and plotting is a joy to read.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at April 03, 2016 12:15 PM (o98Jz)

195 I heard a good tip if you suspect Bedbugs when you travel is it leave your luggage in the car and then let your car out in the sun.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at April 03, 2016 12:16 PM (c4yY7)

196 It's not entirely clear why this is, but Jellybooks suggests women are more likely to stick with a book even if they don't like it.

--

I've become less and less patient with books as I get older.

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 12:19 PM (nbrY/)

197 A Deeper Blue was really the last of the Paladin of the Shadows series. That 6th book by Ryan Sear which had Ringo's name on it he did not write. I have found that when you have a so-called co-authored book that the only reason for the known name is to give the book a helping hand. I never buy co-authored books. I have learned my lesson. Some times they are good, but most of the time they are crap.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 12:20 PM (vvmPQ)

198 In the middle of 14, a standalone novel by Peter Clines, the author of the zombie apocalypse (plus superheroes!) series that begins with Ex-Heroes. I enjoy his zombie series a lot, so I figured I'd try one of his others.

The book I finished just before I started 14 was The Godfather, so the strong characterization, skilled language, and topnotch storytelling of that classic masterpiece was bound to overshadow whatever I read next.

So there are weaknesses in character distinctiveness and repeated language (can anyone take a sip of beer or water in this book, and have it described in some other way than "taking a hit off" of the bottle?) here. But as with the Ex-Heroes books, I still want to turn to the next page anyway, and the story, the unfolding mystery of just what is going on with the strange building the characters are living in, is holding my interest. It's also creeping me out nicely -- last night I switched to a Bloom County book 1/2 hour before bed, to keep 14 out of my dreams. Recommended, so far.

As an aside, I love the "Send a Sample" feature of the Kindle. I use it to keep a list of "stuff I may want to read someday." When in the mood for something new, I walk through that list, start reading something, and see if it catches me enough to hit Buy when I run out of sample. An important bonus is that there's a good chance that the price has gone down between the time that the sample was sent, and when I finally get around to reading it.

Posted by: Splunge at April 03, 2016 12:22 PM (iMxBJ)

199 NOOD

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 03, 2016 12:24 PM (vvmPQ)

200 Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 12:19 PM

I've noticed that too. And lately I just won't tolerate commie propaganda in an author. Doesn't take much anymore for me to go "done with this author" even if their novels were good reads. I don't have that much time to spend reading and I can find good authors who are not sucker punching me, I don't need to put up with that crap.

Posted by: PaleRider at April 03, 2016 12:27 PM (3kUGE)

201 Saw Anthony Burgess mentioned above, and though I'm not a great fan of his fiction (though I've read it all), the first volume of his autobiography is a real treat. Big God and Little Wilson, or vice versa, is the title. It's an engrossing story of a fascinating life.

Posted by: Mickey and Sylvia at April 03, 2016 12:29 PM (QP2lF)

202 180 ---What else should growing or grown Morons know?
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 03, 2016 11:52 AM (xki5G)
--------------
I home-schooled all 4 of our kids in the middle years (gr. 6, 7, and some younger or older too.

Perhaps the most valuable course of study was logic/critical thinking, what the old trivium called "dialectics," which is very suited to the middle-school years.

As a part of math we used Key to Probability and Statistics, a wonderful text that gives kids lots of FUN practice with fractions, decimals, and percentages and, of course, introduces them to prob/stat. Then we went over the old classic How to Lie With Statistics.

I also used an old (195 geometry text that, outside of teaching geometry, is chock full of proofs. (Current high-school geometry doesn't have that stuff. Maybe they don't want kids to be able to form systematic thought patterns.) You do need some very basic algebra to do this though, so it has to wait until the middle of algebra I or so.

There are quite a few good books on the home-school market to teach some formal logic (basic syllogisms, Venn diagrams, etc.) and informal fallacies.
I also used commercial "logic puzzles" books. The matrix ones are always fun.

Kids are very lawyeresque in their tween years and love criticizing others' thought, including that of their parents. (You must be willing to be challenged!) Try to give them the tools to challenge wisely.

What my kids know now --- the youngest is 18 --- is that they can hold any opinion they like but, if they're going to push it on mummy and daddy, they'd better be able to talk about it rationally.

A (reasonably) skeptical and critical mind is the best protection against leftism that I can think of. That and the wisdom of the ages (classics/Bible)--- and life experience.







Posted by: Margarita DeVille at April 03, 2016 12:30 PM (T/5A0)

203 I think the biggest problem with Lefty policy is not that they produce decay, but that do not produce rejuvination.

Posted by: eman at April 03, 2016 11:48 AM (MQEz6)


I think another practical point is that most of the graft occurs during the initial phases of a politically controlled project when the real and/or imagined benefits can be praised to the skies.

The rejuvenation/maintenance phase is much harder to extort sufficient graft from, thus it is of no practical political interest.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2016 12:31 PM (wYnyS)

204 Perhaps Pat Chiles can share the secrets to Baen success? And congratulations on making it there.

John Ringo and S.M. Stirling will both be attending Project A-kon in Dallas, TX this year.

Today will be spent rewriting another chapter in the Russian novel I am getting paid for. And continue reading of Dig Two Graves. I had plans of adding yard work to list but it seems I broke a toe and did not realize it until after a full day walking the floor at work. Ugh.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 03, 2016 12:32 PM (nPrGV)

205 I also used an old (1958(?)) geometry text that, outside of teaching geometry, is chock full of proofs.

...
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at April 03, 2016 12:30 PM (T/5A0)

Got a name/author for the textbook?

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2016 12:34 PM (wYnyS)

206 My Mother was from the South Bronx and when we visited early 80s, her old Catholic school was the only thing left standing and it was surrounded by a double fence with Razor wire, it. Looked like a prison but it was to keep the animals out. My Mother cried her eyes out at the site, she remembers it as a nice neighborhood.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at April 03, 2016 12:34 PM (c4yY7)

207 And lately I just won't tolerate commie propaganda in an author. Doesn't take much anymore for me to go "done with this author" even if their novels were good reads. I don't have that much time to spend reading and I can find good authors who are not sucker punching me, I don't need to put up with that crap.
Posted by: PaleRider at April 03, 2016 12:27 PM (3kUGE)

Hah!

That's the exact reason I started my blog. So sick of pc preachiness in books I was borrowing from the "lieberry"

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 12:38 PM (nbrY/)

208 It looks like a Nood but it's a trap!

Posted by: @votermom at April 03, 2016 12:41 PM (nbrY/)

209 I'm saying hi to join the GoodReads group. Which I have been meaning to do for months. So, you know what a good member I'll be.

This week, I read Michael Crichton's Airframe. Never read Crichton before, and his prose didn't exactly sweep me off my feet. But he set up a great mystery that kept me reading.

I wanted to learn some Chinese history because I literally can't find Beijing on a map. Reading Carrington's A Short History of the Chinese People because it's a classic, which I thought would be better than something more recent and trendy. But it's not cutting it. Recommendations welcome.

Posted by: Jobey in Error at April 03, 2016 12:43 PM (dGWLp)

210 Patrick, I always ask liberals, if liberalism is good, why have all the cities ruled by liberals since the War on Poverty started turned into crime-ridden hellholes? Even Michelle TFG says her old neighborhood is a war zone.

Why? They have no answer.

Posted by: Patricia at April 03, 2016 12:48 PM (cHuNI)

211 As we all know, used books stores are dangerous places, a siren's trap to lure mariners/readers to their doom. But sometimes you get lucky. I found a facsimile version of Pope's Iliad, published in the 1890s, with illustrations. Cost me one dollar. It has no real value over other versions but is just so cool. And it is easier to read than my ancient Norton Anthology version with its tissue paper pages and tiny print. I liked it enough that I would have spent another two bits to get it.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 11:54 AM (V+03K)


Alexander Pope. Or, as I like to think of him, History's Greatest Monster (move over, Jimmy Carter). His translations of Homer and Virgil were notable for their sacrifice of the original text to the God of Relentless Rhyming.

Posted by: HTL at April 03, 2016 12:50 PM (NAWno)

212 I wanted to learn some Chinese history because I literally can't find Beijing on a map. Reading Carrington's A Short History of the Chinese People because it's a classic, which I thought would be better than something more recent and trendy. But it's not cutting it. Recommendations welcome.

Posted by: Jobey in Error at April 03, 2016 12:43 PM (dGWLp)


China, A Macro History by Ray Huang is a good summary. Covers everything from pre-history up to the 80's. The edition published in 1990 includes an epilogue discussing Tiananmen Square.

Posted by: HTL at April 03, 2016 01:00 PM (NAWno)

213 91 Obama's secret service code name is Cthulhu.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 03, 2016 10:28 AM (Nwg0u)



Grrrrrr....

Posted by: cthulhu at April 03, 2016 01:02 PM (EzgxV)

214 I personally wanted an easy bake oven when I was little so that I could have cake whenever I wished, Mom be damned. An Easy Bake oven, to me represented freedom, from the tyranny of Mom and her rigid control of snacks!

Posted by: DFCtomm at April 03, 2016 01:07 PM (YQFBn)

215 "He also dislocated the shoulder on the same side as the cracked wrist, poor guy"

When the aiki dude grabs you like that immediately do a half forward somersault. The floor is hard, but it beats having your arm disassembled.

Posted by: phunctor at April 03, 2016 01:09 PM (CKGil)

216 And yes if you must know my Grandmother said I was "husky".

Posted by: DFCtomm at April 03, 2016 01:09 PM (YQFBn)

217 64
If you want to watch anyone, watch Chambers grandson who is a real lefty.

http://whittakerchambers.org/
Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at April 03, 2016 10:09 AM (iQIUe)

So the purpose of his website is basically to shit all over his grandfather's work and memory?

I find that almost as disheartening as the photo of the Detriot library.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V (a white) (whitely brandishing ampersand privilege ) at April 03, 2016 02:20 PM (P8951)

218 I had an Easy Bake oven but I don't remember ever making anything that was all that tasty.

If I ever saw a dude engrossed in some bodice ripper, I'd ask for his man card.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V (a white) (whitely brandishing ampersand privilege ) at April 03, 2016 02:23 PM (P8951)

219 Late.... as usual.


Finished 'Damned Engineers' this week. A tip o' the hat to the Moron who suggested it. Thanks.

Started Seamus Muldoons's 'To Save Us All From Ruin', in paper, natch.

I have read a largish number of WWII historical records/accounts, and I always come away with the same reinforced recognition that the guys who were taking care of business were young. There is no reason that should come as any surprise to me as my brothers-in-arms during the VN era probably averaged 20 years of age, but it still does.

I suppose that I have come to expect less of people in that age group. Wonder why that is?

I was recently speaking to a WWII AAF Vet who had been the Lead Navigation Officer for a squadron of B-25's in the Pacific. He recounted a few stories, not the least of which dealt with his survival when four others aboard his plane were killed.

He looked at me and said, "Imagine that, I was 22 years old, and the Lead Navigator for an entire squadron."

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 03, 2016 02:27 PM (9mTYi)

220 Thanks for the John Birch item.

Posted by: Valiant at April 03, 2016 02:30 PM (3MiF8)

221 I find that almost as disheartening as the photo of the Detriot library.
Posted by: Donna&&&&
------------

heh. look at Gary, Indiana:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/7c9g7fv

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 03, 2016 02:31 PM (9mTYi)

222 So the purpose of his website is basically to shit all over his grandfather's work and memory?
-------

See: Christopher Buckley

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 03, 2016 02:38 PM (9mTYi)

223 If you want to know what NYC will look like, see
Dog Day Afternoon
Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Fort Apache The Bronx
The Warriors
Death Wish
------------

You forgot the Finale, 'Escape From New York'

Posted by: Snake Plissken at April 03, 2016 02:49 PM (9mTYi)

224 I went on a raid at The Strand yesterday. No trip to NY is complete without. I picked up a book on Jacobite spies, one on The Arab Legion, an anthology of supernatural tales from Hitchcock's magazine & a collection of horror stories about plants.

Posted by: Josephistan at April 03, 2016 03:04 PM (7qAYi)

225 This is my first visit to the book thread, and what an joy it is!!
I just finished The Good Neighbor, a fast thriller that would make a pretty decent movie. I am about to embark on Book 8 in The Road to Babylon series.

I also just finished Winter Men, and I recommend it if you have trouble understanding what happened to some of the decent German people who became part of the war machine.

Posted by: jazzuscounty at April 03, 2016 03:12 PM (QYKC+)

226 Read Chris Holm's "The Big Reap". Marketed as being in the style of
Butcher's Dresden series and I can see why, but it is not quite up to
the level of Butcher. Not that it was a bad book by any mean- I would
grade it a B, So if you are looking for a solid fantasy noir type book,
you might give it a whirl. It is about Sam, a human (used to be) who now
collects souls that are to be damned. Think this was the third book
book in the series, but I would not have known that by just reading it
(which is nice since some series must be read in order).

Posted by: Charlotte at April 03, 2016 03:18 PM (g+AAj)

227 Thanks, OM, for the Hallow Mass book review. Every bit helps.

Posted by: JP Mac at April 03, 2016 03:23 PM (HI1YC)

228 52
I'm close to finishing the 8th book in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van
Alstyne mystery series set in upstate New York. Thanks to whoever
mentioned this in the estimable Book Thread. I've enjoyed them so much
and hope the author is busy on the 9th, because this most recent
installment was written in 2013 and there are relationship developments
dangling in the wind.

Yes, I am no where near the 8th book, but picked up the first book used and really liked it. So, heading into the 2nd one.

So thanks to whomever posted that one.

Posted by: Charlotte at April 03, 2016 03:27 PM (g+AAj)

229 This song by Spanky and our Gang" (not the Little Rascals) was used as part of a community campaign in the 70's in New York City


Give A Damn Lyrics - Spanky Our Gang
If you'd take the train with me
Uptown, thru the misery
Of ghetto streets in morning light,
It's always night.
Take a window seat, put down your Times,
You can read between the lines,
Just meet the faces that you meet
Beyond the window's pane.

And it might begin to teach you
How to give a damn about your fellow man.
And it might begin to teach you
How to give a damn about your fellow man.

Or put your girl to sleep sometime
With rats instead of nursery rhymes,
With hunger and your other children
By her side,
And wonder if you'll share your bed
With something else which must be fed,
For fear may lie beside you
Or it may sleep down the hall.

[Chorus]

Come and see how well despair
Is seasoned by the stif'ling air,
See your ghetto in the good old
Sizzling summertime.
Suppose the streets were all on fire
The flames like tempers leaping higher
Suppose you'd lived there all your life,

D'you think that you would mind?
And it might begin to reach you
Why I give a damn about my fellow man;
And it might begin to teach you
How to give a damn about your fellow man

Posted by: Mayor John Lindsay at April 03, 2016 03:40 PM (e8kgV)

230 Greetings:

"American City Suite" by Cashman and West pretty much captures my feelings about watch the Bronx get pulled down around me in the '60s and '70s.

Mayor John Lindsay didn't seemed much disturbed by the situation.

Posted by: 11B40 at April 03, 2016 03:57 PM (evgyj)

231 Greetings:

Here's the YouTube address for "American City Suite"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq0Cbtj_utY

Posted by: 11B40 at April 03, 2016 04:01 PM (evgyj)

232 218
I had an Easy Bake oven but I don't remember ever making anything that was all that tasty.



If I ever saw a dude engrossed in some bodice ripper, I'd ask for his man card.

Posted by: DonnaV (a white) (whitely brandishing ampersand privilege ) at April 03, 2016 02:23 PM (P8951)

I never got one, so I'll have to take your word for it, but in my childhood mind those little cakes will always be the sweetest, and I could have had them whenever I wanted.

Posted by: DFCtomm at April 03, 2016 04:17 PM (YQFBn)

233 http://www.paradiselost.org/lmg/Book-1.html



Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at April 03, 2016 10:07 AM (jR7Wy)

**********May be too late here. Do you know, with the Kindle version, does it appear side by side as in the sample? Thanks.

Posted by: gracepc at April 03, 2016 05:00 PM (OU4q6)

234 233 ... Judging by the Kindle 'look inside' feature on Amazon, it looks like a few original lines are followed by the paraphrasing immediately below. Sounds awkward but appeared to work. The paperback version looks like the original lines are paraphrased on the facing page. Both versions use line numbers to coordinate the texts.

Hope this response isn't too late.

Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 06:00 PM (V+03K)

235 212
China, A Macro History by Ray Huang is a good summary.

Gah! Kindle edition is $50!

Posted by: Captain Garth at April 03, 2016 06:01 PM (o78gS)

236 China, A Macro History by Ray Huang is a good summary.

Gah! Kindle edition is $50!

Posted by: Captain Garth at April 03, 2016 06:01 PM (o78gS)


Available in paperback (which is the edition I have) for less than $4.00 on abebooks.com. Kindle pricing (and university press pricing, for that matter) makes no sense at all most of the time.

Posted by: HTL at April 03, 2016 06:38 PM (NAWno)

237 Posted by: JTB at April 03, 2016 06:00 PM (V+03K)

+++++++

Got it. Thanks. I will go back and look. I have Divine Comedy with Dore, but not Paradise Lost so I know what a pleasure it is.

Posted by: gracepc at April 03, 2016 07:07 PM (OU4q6)

238 235
212 China, A Macro History by Ray Huang is a good summary.

Gah! Kindle edition is $50!

Posted by: Captain Garth at April 03, 2016 06:01 PM (o78gS)

Try a public library. Ours has paper and ebook versions.

Posted by: gingeroni at April 03, 2016 07:45 PM (0oJ9U)

239 I have a 14 year old boy. I thought I was doing a good job raising him until I helped him clean his room this weekend. I was helping him straighten out his bookshelf when it hit me like a lightning bolt. Sure, I provided a stable home, made sure he has received a top education, and helped him get to pretty high levels in two sports- however- I totally screwed up when it came time to filling out his library. His shelves consisted of books that he had to read and a few that I asked him to read, but there was no plan in place.

Any help would be appreciated in compiling a list of 100 books a boy should read. Lord of the Rings and Rober Howard's Conan stories are waiting for him. Any other suggestions?

Posted by: Mattinj at April 03, 2016 11:41 PM (fp2zB)

240 Any help would be appreciated in compiling a list of 100 books a boy should read. Lord of the Rings and Rober Howard's Conan stories are waiting for him. Any other suggestions?

Posted by: Mattinj at April 03, 2016 11:41 PM (fp2zB)


Rudyard Kipling's Kim

You should probably repeat you request early in next Sunday's book thread, as commenters are risking a pixy-ban by commenting on an old thread, so you won't get many responses in this thread.

Posted by: cool breeze at April 04, 2016 01:45 PM (ckvus)

241 Why did you just mention Giuliani? Wasn't Bloomberg also not a Democrat? And didn't he, in police matters, mostly follow his kind of policy?

Posted by: Sammy Finkelman at April 04, 2016 10:50 PM (q9ZwJ)

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What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
News/Chat