Sunday Morning Book Thread 11-10-2019

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, crétins sans pantalon (who are technically breaking the rules), acidheads, crackheads, cokeheads, methheads, potheads, and teetotallers. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, witty repartee, hilarious bon mots, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, spending way too much money on books, writing books, and publishing books by escaped oafs and oafettes who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which even Steve Buscemi would be ashamed to wear.

Pic Note:

This is apparently one in a chain of bookstores:

Designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto—one of the most important members of the Scandinavian modernist movement—the Academic Bookstore‘s flagship location in central Helsinki is a modern masterpiece. Sunlight pours in through the glass skylights, illuminating the white marble and blond wood interior. The shop carries around 450,000 volumes, with a large selection of books in English and other foreign languages. Architecture and design buffs should check out the Designmuseo (Design Museum) nearby.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

Know the difference!

Progressive Book of the Week

I picked up an interesting follower on Twitter the other day, to wit: a progressive who isn't a screaming maniac. And he's probably marveling that I'm not screaming at him.

I don't check who follows me, so I think if there are any progressives, they're probably there by mistake, but not this guy. I was running my mouth about the electoral college and he broke into the convo and complimented me even if he didn't agree with me, and told me specifically that he had read through my time line and he was going to be following me. So I glanced through his TL and it's pretty strongly anti-Trump, as one would expect from a progressive. So I followed him back and we swapped some DMs about whether Trump's followers exhibit cult-like behavior. Obviously we don't agree, but the point is, we're actually had a conversation and didn't just yell insults. He actually agreed with a couple of my points.

Call it "interfaith dialog."

Along the way, he indicated some familiarity with AoSHQ, so I think he probably lurks here. I told him about the book thread and then I had an idea:

I would like to ask you to suggest a progressive book that you think that conservatives ought to read and a brief review that would explain why.

If it's interesting enough, I would then publish it on the book thread.

He then responded with this:

I suggest to you a progressive book for your reading pleasure: The Age of Reform by Richard Hofstadter, a book on the reformation movement in America which spans the late 1800’s through the New Deal of the 1930’s up through to 1940. Many of the issues encountered in the reading are remarkably similar to what we see in politics today, polarization, propaganda, divisions, and movements both for and against capitalism. I’ve found in reading this as much as things change, they stay the same. This book doesn’t address these elements well from a historical angle (it’s debatably inaccurate in detail) and is highly opinionated, but a very well written philosophical one that demonstrates a strong belief for reform.
Available on Google Play, $8.99

The wiki entry for The Age of Reform is a lot more comprehensive than the Amazon blurb:

The Age of Reform is a genuine evaluation of the reform associations from William Jennings Bryan to Franklin Roosevelt. Rather than just provide a copious number of details of each reform movement, Hofstadter instead analyzes the ideas of the average participant, not the legislative or political philosophies. That makes it an innovative historical work. In the introduction, Hofstadter states his point clearly: his purpose is to analyze the reformations in modern perspective and to define the distinctions between each of them. By the book's conclusion, Hofstadter has effectively done so.

The clearest example of his efficacy is in the final chapter on the New Deal. The last section has an abundance of acute disparities between the New Deal and the closely related Populist and Progressive reforms. Despite the vast number of facts and outside sources, Hofstadter effectively organized the book both chronologically and topically. His method of order accommodates the reader in that each reform is divided into chapters that are then divided into specific sections. By dividing up the material into smaller portions, the main points are easily accessed.

Richard Hofstadler was one of America's preeminent historians and public intellectuals of the mid-20th century.

As a historian, his main weakness was that

...he did little or no research into manuscripts, newspapers, archival, or unpublished sources. Instead, he primarily relied upon secondary sources augmented by his lively style and wide-ranging interdisciplinary readings, thus producing very well-written arguments based upon scattered evidence he found by reading other historians.

Despite this, he won a Pulitzer Prize twice, the first in 1956 for The Age of Reform, the second in 1964 for Anti-intellectualism in American Life. The latter is reviewed here, which includes this overview of Hofstadler's life and career:

He was born in 1916, and as a young man he had the standard flirtation with Communism of intellectuals of his generation. He briefly joined the Communist Party USA. By the time Anti-Intellectualism in American Life was published (1963), he was a mainstream liberal, not a radical. In the final pages in the book he seems to catch a whiff of the coming of the student radicalism of the sixties, and he doesn’t like it. After the 1968 student strike at Columbia University, his academic home, he disliked it intensely. It isn’t clear where Hofstadter would have wound up politically, because he died in 1970, at the age of 54.

So he was a liberal, not really a progressive. Perhaps he would be a progressive today. I think that's likely. Though today's progressives would probably call him a fascist.

There were a number of old-school liberals like this who hated the incursion of the "New Left" movement, hippies, student radicals and anti-war protestors, the SDS, all that. Al Capp, the author of the comic strip "Li'l Abner", was another one. The section on Capp's wiki page covering the 60s makes for interesting reading.

Anyway, The Age of Reform is long OOP, in addition to Google Play, Amazon has The Age of Reform: From Bryan to FDR on Kindle for $13.99, or used dead tree editions for considerably cheaper. But the good news is that this book, published in 1955, is now in the public domain, so you can download various e-versions from archive.org for free.

Who Dis:

(bigger)Last Sunday's 'Who Dis' was Joanne Woodward.

Moron Recommendations

This one came up in one of the morning threads:

370 The book is riveting.

Not a spoiler; the whale ship sinks in the first chapter. The whole rest is about their efforts to get back.

The captain was one of the survivors and actually was given another ship to captain afterward. I think maybe that one sank too.

Posted by: TexasDan at November 04, 2019 11:05 AM (yL25O)

A later comment made it clear that this book being discussed here is In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick:

In 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale, leaving the desperate crew to drift for more than ninety days in three tiny boats. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little-known documents and vivid details about the Nantucket whaling tradition to reveal the chilling facts of this infamous maritime disaster. In the Heart of the Sea—and now, its epic adaptation for the screen—will forever place the Essex tragedy in the American historical canon.

It also says these are the events upon which the book Moby Dick was based.

(This sounds familiar. I seem to remember they made this into a movie. Let me check... Yes, they did)

Philbrick has written a series on the Revolutionary War that sounds like it might be interesting. The first is Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution:

In the opening volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick turns his keen eye to pre-Revolutionary Boston and the spark that ignited the American Revolution. In the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party and the violence at Lexington and Concord, the conflict escalated and skirmishes gave way to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was the bloodiest conflict of the revolutionary war, and the point of no return for the rebellious colonists. Philbrick gives us a fresh view of the story and its dynamic personalities, including John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and George Washington. With passion and insight, he reconstructs the revolutionary landscape—geographic and ideological—in a mesmerizing narrative of the robust, messy, blisteringly real origins of America.

This is followed by Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution and then In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown

___________

And here's another novel about manly seafarin' men, The Last Voyage: Captain Cook's Lost Diary.

From Christopher Taylor's review on GoodReads:

In this book, Innes proposes that Cook wrote a second, more personal diary for his own thoughts and fears which he kept from the public and was lost over time...The details of sea life, captaining a vessel, the demands of controlling men's passions and baser interests, discipline, and the various problems of simply sailing a small ship around 2/3rds of the planet's surface are well told here with humor, intelligence, and fun. But in the end, it is a dark and sad story in which a very great man was lost to the world through some stupid misunderstandings and human corruption.

So the diary is fictitious, but it's fun to speculate what Captain Cook would have written.

First published in 1981, this book is now OOP. But used copies are available.

___________

173 I'm reading "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. Basically if Stephen King wrote World War Z and replaced the zombies with vampires you would have The Passage. It's excellent, it's huge. I'm in the middle at this point so this is not a final review.

Posted by: Max Power at November 03, 2019 09:57 AM (QCc6B)

Oh yeah, I thought this looked familiar, I watched the TV adaptation on Fox.

The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

Naturally, The Passage: A Novel is the first of a series. And, even though you'll be paying $9.99 for the Kindle edition, it's almost 900 pages, so that's a lot of story for your buck.

Mrs. Muse and I were dissatisfied with the series, though, because after spending 10 episodes introducing us to and developing the characters, in the last 5 minutes of the last episode, the action shifts to 90 years in the future. So everybody we knew except Amy, the main character, is now dead. We said "well, screw this" and that was the end of that. I see The Passage didn't get picked up for a second season, anyway, which kind of spoils our flounce-out if there's nothing there not to watch? Anyway, perhaps the book handles it better, but we just felt kind of cheated.

___________

26 I backed Neon Revolt's book, Revolution Q: The Story of QAnon and the 2nd American Revolution, and received a pre-release copy. The book argues that there is a secret war underway between Patriots and a Cabal aimed at doing whatever it takes to retain power. The book offers an interesting lens through which to interpret and understand current events and recent history. It will be released November 6.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at October 27, 2019 09:15 AM (FXjhj)

This seems a bit overblown to me, but it might be interesting:

Neon Revolt, author of the popular website NeonRevolt.com and over five hundred articles discussing Q, delivers the most definitive book on QAnon in the world

Revolution Q is a mind-bending survey of the Q movement written by one of the most qualified voices in the Q space to date. Drawing on his skills as a master storyteller, Neon brings the reader straight into the front lines of the information war that is currently raging on all around. [b]This is a war between two factions: Patriots, whose only allegiance is to Life and Truth, and the Cabal, an ad hoc network of sinister fiends desperate to maintain control over the masses, and who will do whatever it takes to stay in power.[/b] What emerges from all this all is a portrait of a struggle unlike anything humanity has ever known; a struggle between Light and Dark, between the highest Good and terrifying Evil few can truly comprehend.

I don't know enough about QAnon to even have an opinion, so I will limit my usual running off at the mouth to just this: I have an instinctive distrust for these sorts of Manichaeistic explanations where you have all the guys in black hats crowded onto one side and all of the guys in white hats bunched up together on the other. Reality is usually a lot more complicated.

But for those who are interested, Revolution Q is available for $9.99 on Kindle.

Books By Morons

'Ette author Libby e-mails:

My mystery novel, DEATH IS THE COOL NIGHT (by Libby Sternberg), was a quarter finalist in the 2019 BookLife contest. This is a contest run by Publishers Weekly for self-published books. They gave it a wonderful blurb: "Superior prose carries this story of a brooding pianist alcoholic who worries that he might be guilty of killing a loathsome conductor. Musicians and murder make for an especially neurotic entanglement of suspects. Bravo!"

She's recently revised the Kindle version, and will do the print one soon.

Also:

In other news, I've released the third in a sweet romance series set along the Delaware coastline. Called ANNE'S FAMILY PLAN (by Libby Malin), this book tells the love story of a civilian physical therapist and a "fast burner" pilot at Dover AFB. I was fortunate enough to get lots of info from my own USAF pilot son to help with verisimilitude, something the BookLife folks picked up on in their blurb for it: "This book features an uncommon plot and unique take on modern-day romance and one that highlighted some pervasive, but little seen, aspects of military life…The standard love-story trope is elevated here into something intriguing, quickly capturing and keeping the reader’s attention."

The Kindle version is available now at the sweet and low launch price of 99 cents and will be in print soon.

___________

FLASH SALE: My CLFA Book of the Year finalist novel Making Peace is on sale to US customers for just $0.99 for a limited time. Widely called my best work, it follows a spoiled romance novelist working with a clandestine order to stop a brutal serial killer https://t.co/jCoR5uLq9H
— Brometheus (@TheBrometheus) November 9, 2019

___________

Conservative author Rolf Nelson has just published a coming-of-age novel set in the universe of his previous novel, which I'll get to shortly. His new one is called Komenagen: Slog

Skaffington White is a sixteen-year-old nobody in New Philly as far as the rest of his high school class-mates are concerned. Bright and honest enough to be a discipline problem at school, under-appreciated by his accountant father and mousy mother, he was just putting in seat-time at school until he could graduate. At least until a drug raid gone wrong left him an orphan with three younger siblings. None of his extended family was willing to take in what the government described as an entirely too independent problem child…. How could he get a new start in life that didn’t go through Enlightenment Foster Care Facility Number Four, with level two treatment? Could a wilderness trek for the pitiless Plateans offer a way out, or will it lead only to a cold, lonely death on a barely terraformed planet? How much worse can the wild of a new world be than the impersonal bureaucracy of “civilization”?

This is the backstory to one of the central characters in his previous novel, The Stars Came Back:

Helton Strom is just a guy between contracts when he runs afoul of both officialdom and space pirates. He is left with nothing but the clothes on his back, and not even a citizenship to his name. Is the ancient, broken-down military surplus starship and the young lady living aboard it the key to a bright future, or will his repairs and new mercenary friends reawaken the demons lurking in the ship’s murky and lethal past?

THE STARS CAME BACK is part space-western, the story of folks just trying stay alive, seeking work to earn money for repairs to get to the next job, with no shortage of action and adventure along the way. It is part military sci-fi, with a company of mercenaries, spaceship combat, mortar and rifle combat, spear-and-shield battle, and PTSD. And it is part philosophical investigation, pondering the lessons of Achilles, if a computer can have a soul, what freedom means, and how one stops a bar fight with earplugs.

Written in a format similar to a screenplay, the book includes various graphics, including the blueprints of the ship.

It's amazing to me how much Firefly has influenced the science fiction genre.

The Kindle edition of each book is $4.99, not a bad price.

___________

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

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

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

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Ahoy, book people!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 09:01 AM (Dc2NZ)

2 !

Posted by: JT at November 10, 2019 09:01 AM (arJlL)

3 Hiya

Posted by: JT at November 10, 2019 09:01 AM (arJlL)

4 Just looked at last night's movie thread. And I have to say I'm disappointed. How can you discuss Scorsese and not mention the final scene in Goodfellas, when Ray Liotta gets up from the witness stand and reveals that Epstein didn't kill himself.

Penance will be 10 Lock Her Ups and 5 Build The Walls.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:02 AM (ZbwAu)

5 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. ine was sporadic for a number of reasons.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 09:02 AM (bmdz3)

6 Morning, people of the books!

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 09:03 AM (438dO)

7 Those pants are not fine. In fact, they are not even pants.

Posted by: freakddd at November 10, 2019 09:03 AM (Tnijr)

8 1 Ahoy, book people!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 09:01 AM (Dc2NZ)
________

Where do you think you are, the Bulwark?

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:03 AM (ZbwAu)

9
Islam
Is not lam is goat

Posted by: freakddd at November 10, 2019 09:03 AM (Tnijr)

10 Designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto--one of the most important members of the Scandinavian modernist movement--the Academic Bookstore's flagship location in central Helsinki is a modern masterpiece. Sunlight pours in through the glass skylights, illuminating the white marble and blond wood interior.

Sure sounds like White Supremacy to me. Those Scandis just can't help themselves.

Posted by: rickl at November 10, 2019 09:06 AM (7vvoJ)

11 I've been reading some Thomas Paine. He was a big fan of the French Revolution. Go figure.

Posted by: freakddd at November 10, 2019 09:06 AM (Tnijr)

12 ...he did little or no research into manuscripts, newspapers, archival, or unpublished sources

What could possibly go wrong?

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 10, 2019 09:06 AM (EgshT)

13 Hmmm, is that Judi Dench?

Posted by: no good deed at November 10, 2019 09:07 AM (MmFTx)

14 I need to go to a book store to browse the books to see which ones to load onto my iPad

Posted by: Nevergiveup at November 10, 2019 09:08 AM (85Gof)

15 Booken morgen horden

That owl is my spirit animal

Posted by: VM's phone at November 10, 2019 09:08 AM (G546f)

16 Hello everyone.

I'm still working through Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and have only a little bit left. Since I started writing again, reading only happens at bedtime.

It's interesting to see what Orwell thinks because he wrote the book while Spanish Civil War was still in progress. He notes how there was a coordinated effort to blame the POUM for the May Days, and one will see and even more radical effort to re-write history when Stalin and Hitler sign their pact in August 1939, which has yet to happen when Orwell is writing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:08 AM (cfSRQ)

17 I finished Debbie Harry’s autobiography “Face It”. It’s a good snapshot of New York in the mid-70’s/early 80’s. The city was a decaying hulk but the DIY music/art/fashion scene was vibrant.

The band had their problems: drug use, Stein’s autoimmune illness, and financial mismanagement. It seems that no matter how successful you are, your manager and/or accountant will screw you over.

She played a fairy godmother to Basquiat in the movie “Downtown 81”, which is on YouTube.

Here’s “Dreaming”. Clem Burke’s drumming is smashing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU3-lS_Gryk

“The Hardest Part”. Debbie is a rocking Betty Page:

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

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 09:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

18 Jean Seberg?

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 10, 2019 09:09 AM (H8QX8)

19 13 Hmmm, is that Judi Dench?
Posted by: no good deed at November 10, 2019 09:07 AM (MmFTx)

Looks exactly like her.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:09 AM (U7k5w)

20 So you've been hanging out with the twatter bad element eh?

*sprays febreze on OM to remove second hand proggie smoke*

Posted by: VM's phone at November 10, 2019 09:10 AM (G546f)

21 I think the photo is of a young Judi Dench. She was a tiny hottie back then.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 09:10 AM (bmdz3)

22 Hiya bookfagz.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 10, 2019 09:11 AM (NWiLs)

23 Hey Insom

Posted by: JT at November 10, 2019 09:11 AM (arJlL)

24 Hiya bookfagz.
---
It's the chess thread all over again!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 09:12 AM (Dc2NZ)

25 Mornin' Readers!

Posted by: Weasel at November 10, 2019 09:12 AM (WMzpv)

26 Eris!

Posted by: Weasel at November 10, 2019 09:13 AM (WMzpv)

27 I'm reading "The Plot Against the President" by Lee Smith. Good points: Absolutely riveting, full of information that I did not know (and it is really the only story I have been absorbed with for the past two years). One example - the "insurance policy" is actually some FBI operation that we as yet know nothing about. Reads like a thriller.

Bad points: If the coup plotters are not brought to justice, I'm ready to take up arms.

Really the most important book you can read this year. And I'd also recommend a very special SMBT focused on 3 books: Ball of Collusion by Andrew McCarthy, Resistance (At All Costs) by Kim Strassel, and this Lee Smith book.

It's a coup, and the same group that failed with Russia are working the exact same playbook with Ukraine.

Posted by: motionview at November 10, 2019 09:13 AM (pYQR/)

28 Ed Driscoll"

"It was during the 1950s and early '60s that that liberal elites declared America's nascent and disparate conservative movements to be a greater threat to the nation than the Soviet Union, as illustrated by films of the day such as Dr. Strangelove and The Manchurian Candidate. And the subtext of those films was very much based upon "a vast literature that developed in the '50s and early '60s about the threat from the far right," Piereson says, specifically mentioning Richard Hofstadter's The Paranoid Style In American Politics, and Daniel Bell's The Radical Right.

As Piereson writes, leading up to Kennedy's fateful trip to Dallas, there was a remarkable amount of violence in the south, caused by a backlash against the civil rights movement. In October of 1963, Adlai Stevenson, the Democrats' presidential candidate in the 1950s who had been appointed the ambassador to the UN by Kennedy, traveled to Dallas for a speech on United Nations Day. Stevenson is heckled, booed, spat upon, and hit over the head with a cardboard sign. Stevenson says publicly, there's a "spirit of madness" in Texas. And Kennedy's White House staffers believe that he should cancel his already announced November visit to Dallas.

Thus, at the beginning of November 1963 a framework has been established that the far right is the threat to American democracy, "and that they've moved from heated rhetoric to violent act," Piereson says.

"So when the news spreads that Kennedy has been killed, the immediate response is that it must be a right winger who's done it," Piereson notes. And while the Birch-era right definitely had severe issues, JFK's assassin on November 22, 1963 had, of course, a polar opposite ideology. "When the word is now spread that Oswald has been captured, and that he has a communist past, and they start running film of him demonstrating for Castro in the previous summer, there is a tremendous disorientation at this."

The shock that Kennedy was in reality a victim of the Cold War simply did not compute on a national level. This was in stark contrast to the narrative that framed the death of Abraham Lincoln a century prior.

In contrast, "Liberals had great difficulty assimilating this idea that a communist would kill Kennedy. It made sense to them that an anti-civil rights person might do it, or an anti-communist might do it, but not a communist."

But that's exactly who Oswald was, having defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 and then spending two and a half years there, and attempting to denounce his American citizenship along the way. Piereson says that his April 1963 attempt to kill Edwin Walker, former army general, anti-civil rights leader, and head of the John Birch Society in Texas says much about Oswald as well. In addition to his anti-civil rights action, Walker also gave frequent speeches calling for the overthrow of Castro. Piereson believes that Oswald's attempt to kill Walker sheds light on why he killed Kennedy: his policies towards Cuba and his leading the nation's other Cold War actions of the time.

"However, that is not how the Kennedy assassination was interpreted," Piereson says, with enormous understatement. Instead, a sense of collective guilt is imposed on the nation through its liberal elites and media. "And this is really the first time that you get on the liberal-left this idea that America is guilty. But this however now becomes a metaphor for the left for everything that happens moving on in the 1960s."

"So how do you get, really, from this place in 1963, where Kennedy is shot by a communist, to '68 where communists like Castro are heroes to the left?"

Piereson believes this could have only happened due to the cultural disorientation caused by the airbrushing of Kennedy's assassination and the attempt to "view it as a civil rights event, instead of a Cold War event.""

Hofstatder wrote fiction like Christopher Steele.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:14 AM (Ndje9)

29 It seems that no matter how successful you are, your manager and/or accountant will screw you over.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 09:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

Tell me about it

Posted by: Leonard Cohen at November 10, 2019 09:14 AM (UGKMd)

30 Good morning, all - the Daughter Unit and I had a table at a local craft fair all day yesterday, and I took along my Kindle to pass the time between customers. Finished Alma Boykin's "Alexander, Soldier's Son" - which is a series of short adventures featuring a modern-day family and their tangles with ancient Russian fairy-tale villains. A nice diversion, quite enjoyable.
I think I will get the book about Bunker Hill ... probably my next novel will be set in the Revolutionary War, and it's never too early to start reading...
The Civil War novel is about halfway done in draft... and I hope to get the print version of the Luna City compendium volumes done in time for several Christmas events in December.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at November 10, 2019 09:15 AM (xnmPy)

31 I read a book! Skimmed through The Family Next Door, which is about the Turpins - the couple that kept their 13 children locked, chained, undernourished, and in filth.
It was written by one if those investigative writers, just thru research, no special access to the case,

The mom had some childhood incest abuse as a kid via her paternal granddad.

Not sure what the dad's psychosis was.

Anyway,aside from feeling very sorry for the kids, the book also made me desperately want toglean my house.

Posted by: VM's phone at November 10, 2019 09:16 AM (G546f)

32 I just reread The Devil and Daniel Webster last night. Excellent short story. Excellent short story. Daniel Webster takes - and argues - the case of a man with second thoughts about selling his soul.

Stephen Vincent Benet also wrote By The Waters of Babylon - it's an Ur-Post-Apocalyptic story that seems hopelessly "tropey" these days by virtue of having been the original source from which everyone stole their post-apocalyptic story-telling ideas.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at November 10, 2019 09:16 AM (FXjhj)

33 13 Hmmm, is that Judi Dench?
Posted by: no good deed at November 10, 2019 09:07 AM

Definitely Judi Dench. She was a bit of a strumpet along with Helen Mirren in her youth.

Posted by: Dread0 at November 10, 2019 09:17 AM (thwGF)

34 Hayley Mills?

Posted by: Emmie at November 10, 2019 09:17 AM (i/wJA)

35 I read most of the Fitzgerald previously unpublished stories "I'd Die for You, and Other Lost Stories" and like most of Fitzgerald's work, it's a mixed bag, but the person compiling the book shares enough info on the author's personal views about his writing, and the magazine editors' refusal to let him move beyond flappers and youth, that I am enjoying the book. One interesting anecdote has magazines refusing to publish a story because of a character's elopement with a Catholic girl (who was expecting his child). The magazine asked for a different ending, Fitzgerald refused. I suspect his story was more in line with the truth of the era.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:17 AM (U7k5w)

36 the book also made me desperately want toglean my house.

"To glean the impossible glean......"

Posted by: JT at November 10, 2019 09:18 AM (arJlL)

37 Crikey, now that's a bookstore !

That might even be bigger than the Kroch's and Brentano's in downtown Chicago when I was growing up.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/365 at November 10, 2019 09:18 AM (JwHjN)

38 Hofstatder wrote fiction like Christopher Steele.
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:14 AM (Ndje9)

Thank you. I have zero respect for Hofstader or any "progressive" intellectual. Zero. They are wrong. Eternally, constantly, invariably, utterly wrong.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 10, 2019 09:18 AM (H8QX8)

39

Myrna Loy?

Posted by: Soothie at November 10, 2019 09:19 AM (Ki4SL)

40 Also, glean rhymes with you-know-who !

Posted by: JT at November 10, 2019 09:19 AM (arJlL)

41 Thanks to A. H. Lloyd for slogging through numerous Spanish Civil War histories filled with lefty propaganda to identify the best one: The Spanish Civil War by Stanley G. Payne. I finished it this week and agree with his recommendation.

The parallels with the developing situation in the US are disturbing:

"the left... identified the new Republic not so much with a democratic process to be scrupulously respected as with a radical reform project, for which Manuel Azana and other leaders sometimes used the term 'revolution'. To them, 'the Republic' meant less a political system than a special cultural and institutional reform program, under which it was indispensable to exclude permanently Catholics and conservatives from any participation in government."

"Whereas the CEDA has accepted an electoral law written by its opponents, the left contended that the Catholic party could not be permitted to win elections - even under rules drawn up by the left - because the CEDA proposed fundamental changes in the Republican system. Although the left had just finished drastically altering Spain's political system and the Socialists proposed to go much further yet to introduce socialism, the left maintained that the Catholic right could not be allowed to introduce any other changes, irregardless of how many votes it received. The left insisted that the Republic constituted not an equal democratic regime for all, but a special project exclusively aligned with the left."

"Only ten years earlier, in 1923, most of the left had demanded full democratization. As soon as it arrived, they rejected it when it failed to guarantee their domination."

"Turning to rightist deputies, [Azana] challenged them directly by saying 'Did you not want violence...? Then take to violence. Be prepared for the consequences.' This was an extraordinary gesture after the CEDA's five years of observing Republican legality, a bizarre spectacle of a parliamentary prime minister challenging the opposition to something approaching civil war."

"A fundamental mistake of all the left was their total scorn for the right, which they judged to have rendered impotent by historical change. They held devoutly to this belief, and only found how inaccurate it was when it had become too late."

Posted by: cool breeze at November 10, 2019 09:19 AM (UGKMd)

42 Great picture of the three girls; completely captured by the story. Love it

Posted by: Zeera BMGG Books Make Great Gifts at November 10, 2019 09:20 AM (zUdXR)

43 That Lieberry looks like a bomb shelter.

Which it probably is.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 10, 2019 09:20 AM (Z+IKu)

44 Here's "Dreaming". Clem Burke's drumming is smashing:

I may have, in my younger and more callow years, have spent dozens of hours watching that performance thinking she couldn't possibly stay inside that shirt the whole time and looking for the slips. I'm better now.

To be all book thread classy, Debbie is terrifically underrated as a lyricist. Oh, it's just throwaway pop? Sure.

"reel to reel is living verite"

Posted by: Bandersnatch, camp fire pics welcome at e-mail in nic at November 10, 2019 09:20 AM (gd9RK)

45

Ann Jillian?

Posted by: Soothie at November 10, 2019 09:20 AM (Ki4SL)

46 I don't understand why lefties think we oppose reform. Right now, we're trying to reform. We finally have a president and a few others who are attempting reform and are even making some progress. Many of the reforms we propose are resisted by Democrats.

Posted by: Emmie at November 10, 2019 09:21 AM (i/wJA)

47 Anyway,aside from feeling very sorry for the kids, the book also made me desperately want toglean my house.
Posted by: VM's phone at November 10, 2019 09:16 AM (G546f)

I have a lot of work to do, too. This week was spent caring for younger grandson in order to reduce the likelihood he would catch whatever stomach virus big brother had. So in addition to the usual cleaning, I'll have his laundry and disarray to deal with. Four year olds love cutting, pasting and play-doh, so it's hard to keep up.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:21 AM (U7k5w)

48 Hofstadler mainlined theodor adornos authoritarian personality tropes from the frankfurt school.

Posted by: Gaius martius at November 10, 2019 09:22 AM (hMlTh)

49 16 Hello everyone.

I'm still working through Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and have only a little bit left. Since I started writing again, reading only happens at bedtime.

It's interesting to see what Orwell thinks because he wrote the book while Spanish Civil War was still in progress. He notes how there was a coordinated effort to blame the POUM for the May Days, and one will see and even more radical effort to re-write history when Stalin and Hitler sign their pact in August 1939, which has yet to happen when Orwell is writing.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:08 AM (cfSRQ)
______

Do you have the 4 volume collection edited by Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus? It's OP, and some look pricey, but I expect it could be gotten together for not too much.

Invaluable. And throughout, there are essays and reviews touching on the Civil War. He never did change his mind that the Nationalists were the bad guys, even after the Republicans were a Stalinist rump.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:22 AM (ZbwAu)

50 Good morning.

Finished "A Bridge Too Far" and "Monster Hunter Guardian" this week.

After reading "A Bridge Too Far," I now have a complete hatred for Montgomery. That jackass sacrificed some of the finest fighting men the British and American could field because of his monumental ego.

"Monster Hunter Guardian" is an excellent installment in the "Monster Hunter" series. Fun read.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 09:23 AM (WEBkv)

51 I just wanted sincerely thank everyone who left a review for "Wearing the Cat".

Y'all rock!

And the reviews stayed up! So, it appears that after 2.5 years(!) the embargo against good reviews for "WTC" has finally been broken.

I suppose that whoever initiated the blockade got what they wanted in slowing any momentum "WTC" might gain as a new book with good reviews on Kirkus Reviews.

But, even a small victory is still a victory!

Again, thank you so much.

The Horde is mighty indeed.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 10, 2019 09:23 AM (kauXV)

52 We are. LSU.

Posted by: Blacksheep at November 10, 2019 09:23 AM (6mvRv)

53 They follow lenins dictim 'the worse thr better' for them.

Posted by: Gaius martius at November 10, 2019 09:23 AM (hMlTh)

54 28
"However, that is not how the Kennedy assassination was interpreted," Piereson says, with enormous understatement. Instead, a sense of collective guilt is imposed on the nation through its liberal elites and media. "And this is really the first time that you get on the liberal-left this idea that America is guilty. But this however now becomes a metaphor for the left for everything that happens moving on in the 1960s."

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:14 AM (Ndje9)

Wow. That sounds like it could be the definitive book on the Kennedy assassination, or at least the social fallout.

Posted by: rickl at November 10, 2019 09:24 AM (7vvoJ)

55 46 I don't understand why lefties think we oppose reform. Posted by: Emmie at November 10, 2019 09:21 AM (i/wJA)

They have to. Their orthodoxy demands it. We must conform to the caricature they've established. Once they concede that we don't, their unified field theory collapses and chaos follows.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 10, 2019 09:25 AM (H8QX8)

56 Lenin knew revolution couldnt happen organically so it took the vanguard the elite to guide it, to provoke he has seen that direct action, which was the tool of the social revolutionaries couldnt topple it.

Posted by: Gaius martius at November 10, 2019 09:26 AM (hMlTh)

57 Judging by her housekeeping habits, the previous Mrs. REDACTED.

Posted by: REDACTED at November 10, 2019 09:26 AM (rpxSz)

58 33 13 Hmmm, is that Judi Dench?
Posted by: no good deed at November 10, 2019 09:07 AM

Definitely Judi Dench. She was a bit of a strumpet along with Helen Mirren in her youth.
Posted by: Dread0 at November 10, 2019 09:17 AM (thwGF)
________

Don't know if it's Dench, but could be. When I was in HS we were assigned to watch the then new version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which Judi is clothed in only green body paint. "But Mom, I HAVE to watch it."

She had a bodacious pair, back in the day.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:26 AM (ZbwAu)

59 I wonder if OM's Twitter buddy is the commenter "Liberal AoSHQ reader - really!" or some nic like that.

Posted by: Emmie at November 10, 2019 09:26 AM (i/wJA)

60

That's why I no longer call myself a "conservative." I'm more of a Liberal-Reformist."

Actually, if anything, I'm Anti-Leftist-Fascist. What's left to conserve? The Left has ruined everything with their radicalism; and it needs to be Un-Done not conserved. I'm an Un-Doer of leftism.

Posted by: Soothie at November 10, 2019 09:27 AM (Ki4SL)

61 OM, I admire your patience.

I find it very difficult to engage with leftists because no matter how right one is, leftists tend to have a dogmatic belief in their cause.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 09:27 AM (WEBkv)

62 Eternally, constantly, invariably, utterly wrong.
Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice

Yes--that's why they are repeating the same pattern today, fanning the all-but-extinct "White Supremacy Meanace" in their Communist fan-boy newsletters ang going full-Lenin in the legislature and full-Mao at the Acadamy. Although with a Muslim Brotherhood touch today, like Charlie Ciamarella at Yale.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:27 AM (Ndje9)

63 So it took strikes, if took mismanagemenr from rhe czarisr regime, and misgivings like kerensky reaction to kornilov. To give him an opening.

Posted by: Gaius martius at November 10, 2019 09:28 AM (hMlTh)

64 Republicans were a Stalinist rump.
Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:22 AM (ZbwAu)

Any number of the rump came to America to avoid retribution, this included my elderly cousin's husband who was a Stalinist and favored anarchy until the nuevo Bolshevik government could rule and steal. His views appealed mightily to her as she idolized the Russian revolutionaries and hoped she had married a revolutionary. She supported him his entire life while he "wrote" and entertained other anti-American creeps, mostly foreign.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:28 AM (U7k5w)

65 Little known fact:
Hofstatder had a column in the Sun - Times when I was a kid (1968-ish ?); I at least knew something about him when I read his stuff years later.

Based on my memories of his thinking, I'm gonna say he would be a Trump guy today, insofar as he was pro working-stiff, pro liberty in an old-school liberal way, and anti-authoritarian.
But honestly, who knows ?

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/365 at November 10, 2019 09:28 AM (JwHjN)

66 I'm an Un-Doer of leftism.

Posted by: Soothie at November 10, 2019 09:27 AM (Ki4SL)

Likewise. I consider myself an anti-Leftist.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 10, 2019 09:28 AM (H8QX8)

67 59 Good guy. He responded to me when I asked about a website that would make a case for liberalism. I visited but forgot the website.

Posted by: Emmie at November 10, 2019 09:28 AM (i/wJA)

68 "Liberals had great difficulty assimilating this idea that a communist would kill Kennedy. It made sense to them that an anti-civil rights person might do it, or an anti-communist might do it, but not a communist."

Wasn't Jackie O irritated that a "shitty little commie" aerated her hubby's melon? Always the narrative above all else.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 09:29 AM (y7DUB)

69
After reading "A Bridge Too Far," I now have a
complete hatred for Montgomery. That jackass sacrificed some of the
finest fighting men the British and American could field because of his
monumental ego.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
---
I've read it a couple of times and my takeaway is that groupthink causes planning to go to hell.

The Allies wanted a quick way to end the war and this looked like it. So everyone got on board, even though it was a long shot. A lot of it was overconfidence because it looked like the Germans were collapsing.

Monty is almost a peripheral figure.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:29 AM (cfSRQ)

70 That does look like Judi Dench. Thought I had no idea she had such a pretty hind paw.

On a Steinbeck kick right now: I've read his Journal of a Novel, the journal and notes of his writing East of Eden. He wrote that 250K word classic in longhand, with pencils, and did it between February and November of 1951. A 250K-word book would be a strain even with today's word processors -- and he did it in longhand. My God.

I also finished his Burnng Bright, a play in novelette form. The trick to it as well is that, while the four characters remain the same and with the same names throughout each act, the setting and their employment changes: In Act I they all are performers in a circus, in II they live on and work a farm, in III they live on a freighter. Peculiar, especially the dialog -- it is definitely NOT "naturalistic" or "realistic" dialog. But it is colorful. It was done as a play while he was working on E of E, with Barbara Bel Geddes as one of the leads.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at November 10, 2019 09:29 AM (4c+5M)

71 41
Thanks to A. H. Lloyd for slogging through numerous Spanish Civil War
histories filled with lefty propaganda to identify the best one: The Spanish Civil War by Stanley G. Payne. I finished it this week and agree with his recommendation.

The parallels with the developing situation in the US are disturbing:

Posted by: cool breeze at November 10, 2019 09:19 AM (UGKMd)

---
Glad you liked it.

It is very much the template for Civil War 2.0.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:31 AM (cfSRQ)

72 Don't know if it's Dench, but could be. When I was in HS we were assigned to watch the then new version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which Judi is clothed in only green body paint. "But Mom, I HAVE to watch it."

She had a bodacious pair, back in the day.
Posted by: Eeyore
...........

Helen Mirren and Diana Rigg were both in that with her!

I believe we had some "Who Dis" pics (with some controversy) of them a while back.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 09:31 AM (438dO)

73 Oh, and for Broadway buffs, Steinbeck's play Burning Bright ran for only 13 performances, and had Barbara Bel Geddes, Kent Smith (you know him from Cat People), and Howard Da Silva in the cast.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at November 10, 2019 09:32 AM (4c+5M)

74 I didn't do much book reading this week. After the election results in Virginia and what that might mean for 2A rights here, I've been doing a lot of research online and in my reference books on how to best maximize my gear, especially ammo. That is a lot of reading. Given my mood, it is also therapy.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 09:33 AM (bmdz3)

75 500 articles on Qanon, WTF

Posted by: Jean at November 10, 2019 09:34 AM (qffDB)

76 The Coddling of the the American mind is a 3 part book on the current state of academia, education, and psychology in the US over the last 10 years.

First part of the books picks apart several great Untruths that have become most valued in our society. The believe in these unscientific, disproven ideas is destroying mind, souls, and the fabric of democratic society.

One such Great Untruth is the idea that the harm and hurt I feel are the fault of the speaker, regardless of their intentions. I free societies we have given the speaker or deliverer of ideas the idea of INTENTIONS. If the words come with the speakers good intentions not to hurt or harm the listener(s) but to deliver a message, the listener was free to reject the ideas, leave the situation, or offer rebuttal.

The standard now is that the listener may be mentally and physically harmed by the hearing of the words regardless of the speakers intentions.

Antifa is based entirely on this idea. Your words may caused my harm so I may react violently to end your message.

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at November 10, 2019 09:34 AM (JFO2v)

77 The more I look at it, the less I think it is Dench.

And the photo is staged.. She's staring at the inside back cover of a paperback, which is usually blank!

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 09:35 AM (438dO)

78 OM, I would think the progressive book most likely appreciated by the horde would be The Progressive Era, by Murray Rothbard.

Not a Progressive book, mind you, but a book about Progressivism

https://mises.org/library/progressive-era-3

Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 09:36 AM (1glZx)

79 Agree about Hofstader; and the Adorno connection is real, and malign.

However, don't dismiss the prog friend on that account. Remember, it is in the nature of things that you'll start far apart. The most you can usually hope for is to dismiss from their minds the caricature vision of us most of them have.

And to a lesser extent, they can do that for us. Of course, we already live in a left-dominated culture, so we know more than they about them. But not so much as we might.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:37 AM (ZbwAu)

80 I remember some of Al Capp's "Lil Abner" comics from back then. "Joanie Phoanie" was a thinly-veiled caricature of Joan Baez.

Posted by: rickl at November 10, 2019 09:37 AM (7vvoJ)

81 The girl in the picture is scowly and maybe Scandi, so Scoldilocks' grandmother.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, camp fire pics welcome at e-mail in nic at November 10, 2019 09:37 AM (gd9RK)

82 The standard now is that the listener may be mentally and physically harmed by the hearing of the words regardless of the speakers intentions.

Antifa is based entirely on this idea. Your words may caused my harm so I may react violently to end your message.
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at November 10, 2019 09:34 AM (JFO2v)

And even though I find lib messages offensive, only libs are allowed to attack. It's too convenient. Today I saw an article which discussed some loathsome academic who stated that pro-life Christians must be treated like Nazis (it seemed like an Antifa call to violence)

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:37 AM (U7k5w)

83 Hordians! Rise up against the CoBriarchy, and its repressive 'pants required' standard for the Book Thread!

Demand the right to wear chaps only!

#resist

Posted by: Percival at November 10, 2019 09:38 AM (UeAus)

84 And now my writing update.

One lesson I've learned over the past couple of weeks is that if you are thinking of picking up an old project, don't try to edit it; just rewrite the whole thing.

I'm moving at a snail's pace because I'm not really making new stuff, just updating and throwing out old stuff. My word count pretty much remains static because I'm replacing huge chunks of text - which should have just been crossed out on a manuscript.

I contrast this laborious and unsatisfying writing experience with my updated Halloween short story.

In that example, I took an document I wrote in 1994 and rather than typing into or over or around it, I set the printout in front of me and used it as a reference for a completely new document.

That's what I should have done with Vampires of Michigan.

Lamentations aside, it's still grinding forward and I seem on track to get the draft done by Thanksgiving.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:39 AM (cfSRQ)

85 The Allies wanted a quick way to end the war and this looked like it. So everyone got on board, even though it was a long shot. A lot of it was overconfidence because it looked like the Germans were collapsing.

Monty is almost a peripheral figure.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:29 AM (cfSRQ)

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

Well, from my reading, Montgomery was the driving force behind Market Garden.

Anyway, some of the mistakes made during initial planning were beyond belief.

And, yeah, over-confidence definitely played a part.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 09:39 AM (WEBkv)

86 Wow. That sounds like it could be the definitive book on the Kennedy assassination, or at least the social fallout. Posted by: rickl

That was from Ed Driscoll's brilliant review of James Piereson's brilliant book, Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism.

"Hatred and bitterness...has been injected into the life of our nation by bigots."--Supreme Court Chief Justice & Philosopher King Earl Warren, blaming conservatives for what a Communist did.

So many parallels to today, when our President is being blamed for the Cockroaches' Coup against him--and us.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:40 AM (Ndje9)

87 Okay, read all the comments, and many have reminded me of why I read Hofstadter once, decades ago, and never again.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/365 at November 10, 2019 09:40 AM (JwHjN)

88 I picked up an interesting follower on Twitter the other day, to wit: a progressive who isn't a screaming maniac.
________

OM, any idea how old this person is?

Posted by: FireHorse at November 10, 2019 09:41 AM (sWmEa)

89 The more I look at it, the less I think it is Dench.

And the photo is staged.. She's staring at the inside back cover of a paperback, which is usually blank!

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 09:35 AM (438dO)

---
It looks like Julie Christie to me.

And she's reading the naughty note her lover left her, duh!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)

90 89: It's Dench, Christie was much prettier.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:43 AM (U7k5w)

91 Looks like Anne Francis to these old eyes.

Posted by: JAS at November 10, 2019 09:44 AM (DBGf/)

92 I read The Passage (the first being the best of the trilogy, by far). Both the TV show (cancelled), and that summation have very little to do with the book.
I very much enjoyed the Passage. It reminded me of Stephen King when he was younger, and was able to write something that felt sweeping, epic.

Posted by: Quilp at November 10, 2019 09:45 AM (Fxgkp)

93 89 The more I look at it, the less I think it is Dench.

And the photo is staged.. She's staring at the inside back cover of a paperback, which is usually blank!

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 09:35 AM (438dO)

---
It looks like Julie Christie to me.

And she's reading the naughty note her lover left her, duh!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019

*
*

You both have good points. Perhaps the short hair is making us think Judi Dench. I'm used to seeing her with hair that short, and Julie Christie with long hair.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at November 10, 2019 09:47 AM (4c+5M)

94 70 ... "On a Steinbeck kick right now: I've read his Journal of a Novel, the journal and notes of his writing East of Eden. He wrote that 250K word classic in longhand, with pencils, and did it between February and November of 1951. A 250K-word book would be a strain even with today's word processors -- and he did it in longhand. My God."

Wolfus, There are others who wrote their books in longhand. Shelby Foote wrote all hs books, including the 3 volume Civil War, with a dip pen. I seem to recall that Robert Ludlum did his drafts with a pencil on legal pads. I'm sure there are others. Even today, David McCullough does all his writing on a 1939 Royal manual typewriter.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 09:47 AM (bmdz3)

95 I have been active this week after about 2 weeks unable to type, because of a pinched nerve. Unfortunately, it's seizing up again. So I'll try to keep this short:

Montgomery was deeply flawed, but not a worthless general. It's easy to miss because he was also a world-class shit.

But he had two strengths. One was he was really good at planning, and preparing his forces to put those plans in action. The other was complete dedication to see those plans through. If you look at earlier Brit battles (e.g., Crusader, Gazala) you can see that the Brits needed what he brought to the table.

But they were linked with faults that, in action, undercut them. One was arrogance, as he seems to have never heard of Moltke's caution about battle plans rarely surviving contact with the enemy. The other, which flowed from that, was inflexibility. The latter meant both that he would miss unexpected opportunities, and also that he'd go into denial when an operation wasn't working.

(Like most naval buffs, I find the Desert War more interesting than other land battles. It's closer to speaking our language.)

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:47 AM (ZbwAu)

96 It can't be Christie, she has Dench's face.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (U7k5w)

97 Finally finished Book 7 of Herodotus and the battle of Thermopylae which was a very heroic stand against overwhelming odds and being sold out by a traitor giving Xerxes an alternative route over the mountains so Leonidas was caught in a nut cracker. I wonder if Xerxes thought, after he lost so many ships from big ass storms "maybe it wasn't such a good idea punishing Poseidon after my bridges got trashed"? Although that probably confirmed the concept of a sea god in his mind.

I got less than a hundred pages to go so I'm really gonna finish it. So when I've finished it I can add it to Gibbon in the canon of history books experienced. Any future suggestions by the Horde? Maybe Shelby Foote?

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (y7DUB)

98 aWell, from my reading, Montgomery was the driving force behind Market Garden.

Anyway, some of the mistakes made during initial planning were beyond belief.

And, yeah, over-confidence definitely played a part.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
---
I don't think that was a Monty thing, it was a British thing.

Which is to say - they wanted to dry this desperate plan because they had been at war for five years and didn't want to drag it out any longer.

IIRC, Ryan spoke of how everyone wanted the plan to work, no one wanted to rock the boat, and yet once things started, everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

One could argue that the fatal flaw as that the Brits were simply too played out by that point to push forward as boldly as the plan called for. The weird choice of drop zones, fear of AAA and so on. If 1st Airborne lands south of the bridge or does a crazy glider drop right next to it, they'd have been chewed up - but it's unlikely they'd have lost 80 percent of their men, which is what actually happened.

It was a bold plan with timid execution, which only made it worse.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (cfSRQ)

99 83 Hordians! Rise up against the CoBriarchy, and its repressive 'pants required' standard for the Book Thread!

Demand the right to wear chaps only!

#resist
Posted by: Percival at November 10, 2019 09:38 AM (UeAus)
________

No need to rise up. Remember yesterday's morning thread? Wait for the food thread when CBD strikes back.

Cob-on-cob action awaits. Or we may say, a cobfight.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (ZbwAu)

100 82 The standard now is that the listener may be mentally and physically harmed by the hearing of the words regardless of the speakers intentions.

Antifa is based entirely on this idea. Your words may caused my harm so I may react violently to end your message.
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at November 10, 2019 09:34 AM (JFO2v)

And even though I find lib messages offensive, only libs are allowed to attack. It's too convenient. Today I saw an article which discussed some loathsome academic who stated that pro-life Christians must be treated like Nazis (it seemed like an Antifa call to violence)
Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:37 AM (U7k5w)

Another Great Untruth. Every situation is Good vs. Evil. Us vs. Them. White vs. Black. Natives vs. European Invaders.

By age 10 or 11 most young people can accept 2 or more competing ideas that another person can say something that you dislike without that person being bad. Mothers can point out to young ladies that their dress in inappropriate or Dads can ask their sons to be a better sport. Neither wants to hear this message and maybe it lead to tears or stomping off but Mom and Dad are not BAD people for these actions.

But this idea has been abandoned in our society. The act of voting for a candidate makes the voter DEPLORABLE.

The Progressive mind of the 21st has been cleave down the middle and cannot fathom (tolerate) that Good people may vote, act, or speak differently from them.

Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (JFO2v)

101 As for the mystery guest lady peering at the inside back cover: Not all inside back covers are completely blank. Sometimes a publisher will print a capsule bio of the author there, or a short list of other books the publisher offers by this author and/or others.

But inside back covers *are* usually blank. So the idea that she is looking at an inscription from a previous owner -- or that the pic is staged -- are both plausible.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at November 10, 2019 09:50 AM (4c+5M)

102 This week I read (more like mowed through) The Russian, by Ben Coes. Coes writes political thrillers and this time took on the Russian mob, who the author says replaced the Italian mobs wiped out by the government. He posits that Reagan opening up eastern Europe unleashed the greed of some dangerous Ruskies who could give the worst terrorists a run for the money, and we've got quite a network here.

Excellent book.

Posted by: sandyCheeks at November 10, 2019 09:51 AM (tGSHk)

103
Hofstatder wrote fiction like Christopher Steele.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:14 AM (Ndje9)

I love the description from the person who made the recommendation: "This book doesn't address these elements well from a historical angle (it's debatably inaccurate in detail) and is highly opinionated, but a very well written philosophical one that demonstrates a strong belief for reform."

How can flawed facts and poorly presented argumentation somehow become "philosophical?" Is it the opinionated tone?

As I get older and my perception of passing time accelerates, I have settled into peremptorily writing off people who should know better but still think that silk purses can come from sows' ears.

Posted by: fktheleft at November 10, 2019 09:51 AM (I54dk)

104 Good morning Book Horde! I picked up some interesting books this past week. I got an anthology of horror stories signed by Karl Edward Wagner; a signed limited edition of "Needing Ghosts" by Ramsey Campbell; and an odd little volume called "Pulptown" by P.H. Cannon, which he writes in the voice of Frank Belknap Long, telling the tale of H.P. Lovecraft & Houdini tracking down a mysterious manuscript. It has an afterword by Robert Bloch & is signed by Bloch as well.

Posted by: josephistan at November 10, 2019 09:51 AM (Izzlo)

105 Wasn't Jackie O irritated that a "shitty little commie" aerated her hubby's melon? Always the narrative above all else. Posted by: Captain Hate

Yes--she wasn't a Kennedy.

When a Commie shot Jack, Democrats surrendered to them. When a PLO shot Bobby, Democrats surrendered to them. Teddy surrendered to all of them and a shot of Johnnie Walker's.

Bill Ayers even dedicated his book to Sirhan--no, not Dreams From My Father; one of his other books.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:52 AM (Ndje9)

106 How about Lee Remick?

Posted by: JAS at November 10, 2019 09:52 AM (DBGf/)

107 I remember some of Al Capp's "Lil Abner" comics from back then. "Joanie Phoanie" was a thinly-veiled caricature of Joan Baez.

Posted by: rickl at November 10, 2019 09:37 AM (7vvoJ)

I remember "S.W.I.N.E."......"Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything".

Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 09:52 AM (X/Pw5)

108 "Hatred and bitterness...has been injected into the life of our nation by bigots."--Supreme Court Chief Justice & Philosopher King Earl Warren, blaming conservatives for what a Communist did.

So many parallels to today, when our President is being blamed for the Cockroaches' Coup against him--and us.
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:40 AM (Ndje9)

John Roberts hides his disgust with us a little better.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 09:52 AM (y7DUB)

109 I got less than a hundred pages to go so I'm really
gonna finish it. So when I've finished it I can add it to Gibbon in the
canon of history books experienced. Any future suggestions by the
Horde? Maybe Shelby Foote?

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (y7DUB)

---
Did you read Thucydides yet?

Also Tacitus - The Histories. This the one about the Year of Four Emperors and it is a taut, ancient thriller. Plotting, pacing - no wonder the ancients raved about the guy (which is why his books survived).

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:53 AM (cfSRQ)

110 Wife & I went to see Midway last night. I love the original movie, & thought I'd be disappointed. I wasn't. Some characters not covered in the original. Wife especially enjoyed it, so much so that I think a read for Christmas would be good. Any recommendations for a good to great read on the Battle of Midway would be much appreciated. I know it's been covered in these pages before.

Posted by: Roscoe at November 10, 2019 09:54 AM (zaohv)

111 94 70 ... "On a Steinbeck kick right now: I've read his Journal of a Novel, the journal and notes of his writing East of Eden. He wrote that 250K word classic in longhand, with pencils, and did it between February and November of 1951. A 250K-word book would be a strain even with today's word processors -- and he did it in longhand. My God."

Wolfus, There are others who wrote their books in longhand. Shelby Foote wrote all hs books, including the 3 volume Civil War, with a dip pen. I seem to recall that Robert Ludlum did his drafts with a pencil on legal pads. I'm sure there are others. Even today, David McCullough does all his writing on a 1939 Royal manual typewriter.
Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019

*
*

Oh, I know. And there was a time when I wrote my own short pieces in longhand too. It just amazes me. Maybe Steinbeck never learned to touch-type, and longhand was easier than the hunt and peck system.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at November 10, 2019 09:54 AM (4c+5M)

112 Bruce Catton's "Centennial History of the Civil War" is good.

Posted by: JAS at November 10, 2019 09:54 AM (DBGf/)

113 I have Philbrick's *Valiant Ambition* and found it quite good. It's one of the best attempts I've seen to give a balanced assessment of Benedict Arnold, though the author does ultimately come down on the side of, Arnold was a dastardly back-stabber who was ready to throw Washington and everyone else under the bus to get his way.

Posted by: Dr. T at November 10, 2019 09:54 AM (2PXwn)

114 I love that painting of the little girls focus absolutely riveted on the book. Their attention might shift in a minute (Squirrel!) but until then they are engrossed in the words and pictures. It is charming.

Thanks to OM for including these bits and pieces.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 09:55 AM (bmdz3)

115 98
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (cfSRQ)
________

There was also the motive that the area involved was of more interest to them than to us. They wanted to push to N Germany because that's where the U-boats were assembled and based. And to drive V2 further from Britain.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:55 AM (ZbwAu)

116 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.

Just finished The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984 by Dorian Lynskey.

I'd give it a qualified "thumbs up." It does a good job discussing Orwell's service in the Spanish Civil War and how it affected his writing as well as how his service in the BBC during WWII informed parts of 1984.

Skip the last chapter, which is nothing more than a long, tendentious piece of nonsense about the evil Trump and how no, he's not Big Brother because he's too lazy and stupid to be, but how he lies and his followers are living examples of doublethink, hating democracy and a free press because Trump tells them to.

https://tinyurl.com/qw7rxm4

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 10, 2019 09:55 AM (Ki5SV)

117 106 How about Lee Remick?
Posted by: JAS at November 10, 2019

*
*

Sure, I'd love some!

Don't think it can be her, even with the short hair. Lee's nose had a bit more of an upturn.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at November 10, 2019 09:55 AM (4c+5M)

118 Battle of Midway? I think Herman Wouk did a pretty good job either at the end of "Winds of War" or the beginning of "War and Remembrance."

Posted by: JAS at November 10, 2019 09:56 AM (DBGf/)

119 After reading "A Bridge Too Far," I now have a
complete hatred for Montgomery.

-
After Monty's failure at Arnhem (which he never admitted was a failure), he was to be redeemed by his massive set piece crossing of the Rhine in Operation Varsity but then Patton more or less accidentally (by seeing an opportunity and taking advantage of it) stole his thunder by crossing first at Remagen. Monty must have been fit to be tied.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 09:56 AM (+y/Ru)

120 The Progressive mind of the 21st has been cleave down the middle and cannot fathom (tolerate) that Good people may vote, act, or speak differently from them.
Posted by: rhennigantx dont californicate my TEXAS at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (JFO2v)

A lot of them are spewing the views of profs like this Tushnet character who stated that pro-life Christians shoiild be treated like Nazis. The quoted article was from 2016, but was profane, ugly and called for a hardline against conservatives.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 09:57 AM (U7k5w)

121 Did you read Thucydides yet?

Also Tacitus - The Histories. This the one about the Year of Four Emperors and it is a taut, ancient thriller. Plotting, pacing - no wonder the ancients raved about the guy (which is why his books survived).
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:53 AM (cfSRQ)

I was thinking about the former and wondering about the Horde's opinion, but you've sold me on the latter.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 09:58 AM (y7DUB)

122 inaccurate in detail) and is highly opinionated, but a very well written philosophical one that demonstrates a strong belief for reform." Posted by: fktheleft

"Fundamentally transformed"

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 10:00 AM (Ndje9)

123 Am I terrible person for thinking that Ed Driscoll is the TL

R of Instapundit?

Posted by: Vendette at November 10, 2019 10:00 AM (Yeuu4)

124 Battle of Midway?

-
A lot of bad revies for the new movie but here is one that says it's great.

https://bit.ly/2NAShs4

(Link to Hot Air.)

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:01 AM (+y/Ru)

125 TL: D R

Posted by: Vendette at November 10, 2019 10:01 AM (Yeuu4)

126 I have had a good opinion of Benedict Arnold ever since reading "Arundel" in high school.

"Arundel", "Rabble in Arms", and "Johnny Tremain"
formed my worldview of the Revolution at a young age.

Posted by: retropox at November 10, 2019 10:01 AM (cprte)

127 There was also the motive that the area involved was
of more interest to them than to us. They wanted to push to N Germany
because that's where the U-boats were assembled and based. And to drive
V2 further from Britain.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:55 AM (ZbwAu)

---
Also the fact that while the rivers were obstacles, the terrain was a lot easier than the Ardennes or Alsace-Lorraine.

As Americans, we reflexively side with Patton and which he'd have gotten more resources, but his supply situation was a nightmare and not likely to improve. If Monty could clear the coast and some of the ports, it would have made a big difference along with hurting U-boats, V-2 ops.

I've recommended it before, but Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy is a funny but also very moving look at WW II. He does a really good job of showing what England was like during the war and how the losses and privation ground them down.

What makes it particularly interesting is that it is sort of a continuation of his "smart set" books from the 30s. So if you like those funny Brit comedies set in the interwar period, this book shows you what happens next, when the Bertie Woosters get drafted.

Again, it is very funny but also profound. I'd even call it transformative, the most important book I've read since Lord of the Rings 30+ years ago.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:02 AM (cfSRQ)

128 I don't understand why lefties think we oppose reform.

==

Who cares what they think.

Posted by: runner at November 10, 2019 10:04 AM (zr5Kq)

129 103
Hofstatder wrote fiction like Christopher Steele.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 09:14 AM (Ndje9)

I love the description from the person who made the recommendation: "This book doesn't address these elements well from a historical angle (it's debatably inaccurate in detail) and is highly opinionated, but a very well written philosophical one that demonstrates a strong belief for reform."

How can flawed facts and poorly presented argumentation somehow become "philosophical?" Is it the opinionated tone?

As I get older and my perception of passing time accelerates, I have settled into peremptorily writing off people who should know better but still think that silk purses can come from sows' ears.
Posted by: fktheleft at November 10, 2019 09:51 AM (I54dk)
________

It's not that simple. Though I wouldn't pick Hofstatder as a prime example, there have been lots of people who can present a perspective very effectively even though neither factual accuracy and close argument was their game.

Many - perhaps most - of the really influential thinkers have done that. Rousseau is always example #1 for me. In all honesty, there's more than a bit of that in A T Mahan. (I just picked one I hate and one I like, BTW.)

This is related to the question above of intention. If you don't grasp the underlying grounds for people's beliefs, you won't understand their actions, really. The tendency to overlook this in search of motivations and mechanical causes is itself a legacy of Marxism.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 10:04 AM (ZbwAu)

130 One thing for sure

it aint Hedwig

Posted by: REDACTED at November 10, 2019 10:05 AM (rpxSz)

131 It was a bold plan with timid execution,

-
Like Gallipoli.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:05 AM (+y/Ru)

132 I don't think that was a Monty thing, it was a British thing.

Which is to say - they wanted to dry this desperate plan because they had been at war for five years and didn't want to drag it out any longer.

IIRC, Ryan spoke of how everyone wanted the plan to work, no one wanted to rock the boat, and yet once things started, everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

One could argue that the fatal flaw as that the Brits were simply too played out by that point to push forward as boldly as the plan called for. The weird choice of drop zones, fear of AAA and so on. If 1st Airborne lands south of the bridge or does a crazy glider drop right next to it, they'd have been chewed up - but it's unlikely they'd have lost 80 percent of their men, which is what actually happened.

It was a bold plan with timid execution, which only made it worse.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (cfSRQ)

Though I haven't studied Market Garden in a while, I think the plan itself was a reasonable one. The problem was the Allies had outrun their supply lines in Sept. '44, and could either slow down their advance dramatically on all fronts, or make one big thrust and hold everyone else in place. If you're gonna go that route, doing it on Monty's front would seem the best chance of success, since the terrain in Holland and north Germany is much more open and potentially allows a swift advance towards Berlin.

But yeah, the execution was terrible, and they wound up getting the "slow advance on all fronts" outcome as a result.

Posted by: Dr. T at November 10, 2019 10:06 AM (2PXwn)

133 Am I terrible person for thinking that Ed Driscoll is the TLR of Instapundit?
Posted by: Vendette at November 10, 2019 10:00 AM (Yeuu4)

Insty and Sarah Hoyt are the only ones worth reading. Everyone else is a clown on that site.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at November 10, 2019 10:06 AM (Ki5SV)

134 It's a coup, and the same group that failed with Russia are working the exact same playbook with Ukraine.

=

There are two rules to keep in mind when dealing with Ukrainians and Ukraine.

Rule no 1 : do not deal with Ukraine. It will betray and undermine you. Always.
Rule no 2: see rule no 1.

Posted by: runner at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (zr5Kq)

135 I was noodling around on Amazon and found Strategy Six Pack 4 (Illustrated): Hannibal, The Reign of Tiberius, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada, Remember the Alamo, Waterloo and The Theory of War:

The Young Carthaginian: A Story of The Times of Hannibal by G. A. Henty
The Reign of Tiberius by Tacitus
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada by Edward Shepherd Creasy
Remember the Alamo by Amelia E. Barr
The Battle of Waterloo by Edward Shepherd Creasy
The Theory of War by Julian Stafford Corbett

It's $8.99 but might be good to have for rainy days and waiting rooms.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (Dc2NZ)

136 That Finnish bookstore looks exactly like the Barnes and Nobles in The Woodlands Mall / Galleria.

Posted by: God at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (2DOZq)

137 As someone stated above, that's a very young Dame Judi.

Posted by: Tuna at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (jm1YL)

138 Demand the right to wear chaps only!
#resist
Posted by: Percival at November 10, 2019 09:38 AM

No True Scotsman would support this.

Posted by: Angus McAngusface at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (UeAus)

139 Shelves! SHELVES EVERYWHERE! And not one drill motor selector switch set to Forward!

Posted by: Fritz at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (wo3c/)

140 Who cares what they think.
Posted by: runner at November 10, 2019 10:04 AM (zr5Kq)

I don't care as in demonstrate empathy, but I want to know what they're plotting and IMO it's to grind us into the ground. If there is a CW 2.0 the animosity of the first one will look like schoolyard silliness.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (U7k5w)

141 I was thinking about the former and wondering about the Horde's opinion, but you've sold me on the latter.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 09:58 AM (y7DUB)

---
Before I decided on Vampires of Michigan, I'd been turning over doing a novel based on The Histories, basically cutting it down to the essentials for a wider audience.

I started re-reading it and making notes but it kind of draws you in. It feels very modern in how the scenes shift. He'll deal with events in Rome and then shift to the Rhine army, then the Danube, and at the end all the armies converge on northern Italy. Good stuff.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:08 AM (cfSRQ)

142 I remember "S.W.I.N.E."......"Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything".

-
Rosie O'Donnell a member?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:08 AM (+y/Ru)

143 I don't care as in demonstrate empathy, but I want to know what they're plotting and IMO it's to grind us into the ground. If there is a CW 2.0 the animosity of the first one will look like schoolyard silliness.
Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (U7k5w)

I mean their opinion is irrelevant. Knowing their strategery is another thing entirely.

Posted by: runner at November 10, 2019 10:10 AM (zr5Kq)

144 I started listening to "The Silmarillion" on CD. I don't have it memorized like LOTR and was curious how it would come across especially with all those names to keep track of. I'm quite enjoying it. The narrator's voice is clear and he maintains a comfortable pace. It is surprisingly different from reading the words. There is a real feel of listening to ancient lore while sitting around a fire, learning about important matters in life. I had a strong image of listeners surrounding a poet reciting Homer's Odyssey.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 10:10 AM (bmdz3)

145 On Midway, I still recommend the Morrison volume. Really, on almost all fronts, he holds up well.

135
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 10:07 AM (Dc2NZ)
_______

I don't trust Creasy on the Armada, but Corbett is truly first rate.

Well, my arm is getting bad. Got's to go. Give 'em Hell, Horde.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 10:11 AM (ZbwAu)

146 Anybody read Lidell Hart's biography of Sherman?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 10:12 AM (Dc2NZ)

147 Oh crap. Off omnipotent sock from yesterday.

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 10:13 AM (2DOZq)

148 Like Gallipoli.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:05 AM (+y/Ru)

---
Arguably, yes.

I think Churchill's concept was solid. Land combat had reached a point in technology and tactics where extra mass provided zero advantage. Whether you send 100,000 troops or a million against the wire, all you were doing was getting people killed.

So why not probe the periphery, using the advantage of sea power?

This actually works very well in the Axis and Allies 1914 game.

I find it tiresome where historians point to the campaigns in Africa and the Middle East as sideshows and wasted resources.

Really? Were those local levies ready to face a European winter? May as well use what you have to clean up the backfield.

Plus, a knockout blow at Turkey would have helped Russia immensely.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:13 AM (cfSRQ)

149 I think I was in that bookstore in Finland.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 10, 2019 10:13 AM (ZLI7S)

150 11 I've been reading some Thomas Paine. He was a big fan of the French Revolution. Go figure.
Posted by: freakddd at November 10, 2019 09:06 AM (Tnijr)

So was Jefferson.

Paine just barely managed to escape a date with Mlle Guillotine because the Terror decided he wasn't radical enough.

Posted by: Fox2! at November 10, 2019 10:14 AM (MwFQu)

151 13 Hmmm, is that Judi Dench?
Posted by: no good deed at November 10, 2019 09:07 AM (MmFTx)

Yes it is!

The more I look at it, the less I think it is Dench.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 09:35 AM (438dO)

It's Dench.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:14 AM (+u+qV)

152 Still plugging my way through Tom Jones; the book group said we'll finish it in four weeks so that's like two chapters a day. The book was surely a groundbreaker of the Brit bedroom farce genre which persists today and Lady Bellaston an early cougar. Plus the authorial interjections of a meta narrative plus taking shots at contemporaries like Richardson. Probably the sheer length and time specific jabs keep it from being more read than it is. That said it was an excellent selection by the book group and why I tolerate some of their tiresome crap.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 10:14 AM (y7DUB)

153 88 I picked up an interesting follower on Twitter the other day, to wit: a progressive who isn't a screaming maniac.
________

OM, any idea how old this person is?
Posted by: FireHorse at November 10, 2019 09:41 AM (sWmEa)

No, we really haven't exchanged any personal information. But if he's recommending Hofstadter, I'd guess he's probably older.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:16 AM (+u+qV)

154 Currently reading "Circe" a retelling of the minor goddess story. It is simply enjoyable reading. I don't know, it's interesting reading tales you know, told from a different viewpoint. I picked up Song of Achilles by the same Author, Madeline Miller, and have it queued and ready to go on the kindle.

Posted by: Quilp at November 10, 2019 10:16 AM (Fxgkp)

155 CGI was made to do Midway. How can you screw it up if you stick to ready made script. Will see it soon

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:16 AM (OI8cY)

156 Admittedly I couldn't get through a chapter of a progressive written book. Luckily I did not go to any school that used Howard Zinn's text book,

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (2DOZq)

157 Hiya , Weasel.

Waiting for the gub thread. Had a moment of 'aha!' after watching a Wilson Combat video on 1911 care and feeding.

Posted by: BifBewalski at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (VcFUs)

158 News from London a few years ago:
WHEN 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) they had planned the operation in great detail. What they were not prepared for was the aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.

Mr. Beresford said: "They followed the guys into the lobby and kept kicking and punching them there. They literally kicked them on to the pavement."

Another said: "I took on a Texan Swat team at Esso last year and they were angels compared with this lot." Behind him, on the balcony of the pub opposite the IPE, a bleary-eyed trader, pint in hand, yelled: "Sod off, Swampy."

"The violence was instant," said one. "We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs," one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. "I've never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view."

Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (LxTcq)

159 Tolle Lege
Two chapters to go on John Gill's With Eagles to Glory.
I actually have learned a bit in detail many of the bigger picture narratives leave out such as the premature uprising of the Prussian Major Schill in 1809.
Also picked up Bernard Cornwall Sharpe's Triumph which is the 3rd volume of that series. I have Sharpe's Rifles on ebook.

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (ZCEU2)

160 Justice Roberts: "We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them in order to hand out campaign wiretapping warrants like candy. If we all pull together, this will be the Best Yearbook Evah!"

I quote from memory. Nellie Ohr's.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 10:18 AM (Ndje9)

161 I've been reading some Thomas Paine. He was a big fan of the French Revolution. Go figure.
Posted by: freakddd at November 10, 2019 09:06 AM (Tnijr)

Unfortunately It's the radicals who get the party started.

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (2DOZq)

162 Cob-on-cob action awaits.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 09:49 AM (ZbwAu)

Eeeew...

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (+u+qV)

163 Rotten tomatoes has Midway at 40% for critics and 91% for audience

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (OI8cY)

164 walked doggeh

am back

meant clean not glean, but not to worry,have done neither

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (G546f)

165
The tendency to overlook this in search of motivations and mechanical causes is itself a legacy of Marxism.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 10, 2019 10:04 AM (ZbwAu)

Ah. I see where you are coming from.

I admit that I am intentionally colorblind when it comes to understanding why people do and believe things that are objectively wrong.

You made me laugh at myself just now because I have grown into being a crazed fundamentalist when it comes to orienting toward objective truth. Fortunately that serves me pretty well in my line of work.

Posted by: fktheleft at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (I54dk)

166 Justice Roberts: "We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them in order to hand out campaign wiretapping warrants like candy. If we all pull together, this will be the Best Yearbook Evah!"

I quote from memory. Nellie Ohr's.
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 10:18 AM (Ndje9)

You only forgot the last sentence : Epstein did not kill hisself.

Posted by: runner at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (zr5Kq)

167 Hmmm. Graham is suggesting that the "whistleblower" was directly involved with the coup from the start.

We kinda figured that, but still surprised to hear him mention it.

Posted by: IrishEi at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (sGotD)

168 "The violence was instant," said one. "We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs," one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. "I've never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view."
Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (LxTcq)

Amazing how the liberal assholes think that "storming" a facility is merely expressing a point of view. The "our violence is protected speech" viewpoint. These lib fascists deserved more violence than they received.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 10:20 AM (U7k5w)

169 Damn. Now I have to go see Midway. I went and watch Dunkirk on critics recommendations, and boy was it a snoozer.

Posted by: Quilp at November 10, 2019 10:20 AM (Fxgkp)

170
"The violence was instant," said one. "We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs," one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. "I've never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view."
Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (LxTcq)

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

Obviously, the protesters were quite receptive the the point of view of the traders.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 10:20 AM (WEBkv)

171 >>Hmmm. Graham is suggesting that the "whistleblower" was directly involved with the coup from the start.

>>We kinda figured that, but still surprised to hear him mention it.

He also said he will be calling both the whistleblower and Hunter to testify if it gets to the Senate.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 10, 2019 10:20 AM (ZLI7S)

172 ''Anybody read Lidell Hart's biography of Sherman?''

No, but I've read his biography of Scipio Africanus which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Posted by: Tuna at November 10, 2019 10:21 AM (jm1YL)

173 Another excellent book, written by someone who was not only a "progressive" but an out-and-out Marxist when he wrote it is "Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made" by Eugene Genovese. It's based on the recollections of elderly blacks who had been slaves and were interviewed in the 1930's. The book examines the way slaves were able to create meaning and dignity for themselves while living under an unjust system. Although Genovese sympathies are clearly with the slaves, he exhibited compassion for the white slaveonwers as well, giving a much more nuanced viewpoint than is currently the fashion.

That sort of nuance and compassion might be why Genovese eventually moved to the right - ALL the way to the right. He and his wife even converted to Catholicism. Genovese, born in Brooklyn, had a great deal of respect for Southern manners and values, whether they were exhibited by whites or blacks. "Roll Jordan Roll" was published, I believe, in 1970. There would be no room for him in academia today.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V. at November 10, 2019 10:21 AM (d6Ksn)

174 Like Gallipoli.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:05 AM (+y/Ru)

---
Arguably, yes.

I think Churchill's concept was solid. Land combat had reached a point in technology and tactics where extra mass provided zero advantage. Whether you send 100,000 troops or a million against the wire, all you were doing was getting people killed.

So why not probe the periphery, using the advantage of sea power?

-----

In that line of thought, why didn't the Allies attempt a sea borne invasion of Belgium?

Posted by: josephistan at November 10, 2019 10:21 AM (Izzlo)

175 Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (LxTcq)

The Beresford who got his ass kicked works for a windfarm and is probably just looking to enrich himself while disguising it as saving the planet.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 10:24 AM (U7k5w)

176 He also said he will be calling both the whistleblower and Hunter to testify if it gets to the Senate.
Posted by: JackStraw at November 10, 2019 10:20 AM (ZLI7S)
~~~~~

That'll be great fun. But it's probably enough of a threat that the dems will never let it get that far.

BTW, you mentioned that you had Goldens growing up, and that you lived in Princeton. Any chance you got your dogs from a local breeder there, Gold Rush Goldens?

Posted by: IrishEi at November 10, 2019 10:26 AM (sGotD)

177 Wiki'd Genovese.. Fascinating. He came to conclusions decades ago that millions of "conservatives" still struggle with- the market's destructive force on culture.

I'll read him, thanks

Posted by: Quilp at November 10, 2019 10:27 AM (Fxgkp)

178 You only forgot the last sentence : Epstein did not kill hisself. Posted by: runner

The Court hasn't decided if he's dead yet. Maybe next term.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at November 10, 2019 10:27 AM (Ndje9)

179 In that line of thought, why didn't the Allies attempt a sea borne invasion of Belgium?
Posted by: josephistan

Didn't something like that happen in WWI with obsolete destroyers used to take anti-shipping fire and scuttling them to block the huns in the harbor? Bremerhaven maybe? What's the other big port further west in belgium?

Posted by: BifBewalski at November 10, 2019 10:27 AM (VcFUs)

180 The biggest critism of Gallipoli was the allied troops landed, the Turks were weak and outnumbered there, so the troops landing thought getting there was a good days work and decided to call it a day.

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 10:27 AM (ZCEU2)

181 Obviously, the protesters were quite receptive the the point of view of the traders.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 10:20 AM (WEBkv)

And very quick to malign the people who did not cooperate with their attacks. The usual "anti-intellectual" bullshit. Most self appointed "intellectuals" assume away reality and are cocksucking cruds.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 10:27 AM (U7k5w)

182 In that line of thought, why didn't the Allies attempt a sea borne invasion of Belgium?
Posted by: josephistan at November 10, 2019 10:21 AM (Izzlo)

It was part of the consideration. After mulling over thousands of photographs and other intelligence info of the entire coasts, they chose Normandy.

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 10:28 AM (2DOZq)

183 Amazing how the liberal assholes think that "storming" a facility is merely expressing a point of view. The "our violence is protected speech" viewpoint. These lib fascists deserved more violence than they received.

-
I had a random thought this morning. The whole flood, Noah and the Arc thing is so ridiculous that only a particularly stupid retard could believe it and that reveals all religion to be a lie while GLOBAL WARMING IS GOING TO KILL GAIA IN 15 MONTHS is a moderate position based on science and logic.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:28 AM (+y/Ru)

184 As per usual, great discussion.

Now off to take Mom to church.

Later all!

Catch you on the gub thread!

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 10:28 AM (WEBkv)

185 >>That'll be great fun. But it's probably enough of a threat that the dems will never let it get that far.

Nancy has a very tough choice to make and neither of them are good.

>>BTW, you mentioned that you had Goldens growing up, and that you lived in Princeton. Any chance you got your dogs from a local breeder there, Gold Rush Goldens?

I think we may have. I'll have to ask my mom, she was the procurer of Goldens at that point in my life but that name rings a bell.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 10, 2019 10:28 AM (ZLI7S)

186 Ah, Sunday morning. I just finished reading A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky. It is about baboons, the Masai in Kenya, and the author's self discovery of what makes him tick.

Posted by: parker at November 10, 2019 10:28 AM (kO3Bf)

187 Quid pro quo ain't nothin without that old Corrupt Intent. Ds say that have it with the meme that Trump forced the Ukrainians to create dirt on Biden
But Trump wanted a reveal on what happened in the 2016 campaign. Hunter and Papa Joe are collateral damage because they're guilty as fuck.

Schiff won't let this into his Kangaroo Kourt. So Nancy will force an Impeachment vote, and then all this and more will come out in the Senate. Hoist meet petard

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:30 AM (OI8cY)

188 And very quick to malign the people who did not cooperate with their attacks. The usual "anti-intellectual" bullshit. Most self appointed "intellectuals" assume away reality and are cocksucking cruds.
Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 10:27 AM (U7k5w)
-------------------

Yep.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 10:30 AM (WEBkv)

189 On gaming site there is a thread about Midway, those who went have left good remarks.
Never asked but if Anna doesn't do war gaming it is a shame.

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 10:30 AM (ZCEU2)

190 John Le Carre has a new book out "Agent Running in the Field"

I'm a fan of a lot of his earlier work, especially the George Smiley/Karla books. Sadly this one looks like it's an anti-Trump/Brexit screed.

He always seemed like a lefty, but it's a bit weird that somebody with such a cynical view of intelligence agencies is siding with the Deep State.

Posted by: Biggs Darklighter at November 10, 2019 10:34 AM (RIvx9)

191 Baby Trump balloon knifed in Alabama...

-
Will right wing violence never end?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:34 AM (+y/Ru)

192 Read a few Nabokov short stories written during a prolific time in the 30s in Berlin when things are turning rapidly to shit and he's figured out that relocating elsewhere is a very high priority. Not surprisingly the stories focus on being an emigre or being considered "the other". He's probably starting to consider the US as a desirable destination because he's translating his works into English and starting to compose books in the language. Also his son, Dmitri, was born which heralds a shift in priorities.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 10:34 AM (y7DUB)

193 163 Rotten tomatoes has Midway at 40% for critics and 91% for audience
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (OI8cY)

That 50-point disparity means it's worth seeing.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:35 AM (+u+qV)

194 Heh....@about 1:10.....EDKH

https://dailycaller.com/2019/11/09/alabama-student-jeffrey-epstein-msnbc/

Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 10:37 AM (X/Pw5)

195 Got back from my jog.

L-o-o-o-o-o-ong workday ahead.

Time to give the thread a quick read while eating breakfast.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 10, 2019 10:38 AM (kauXV)

196 I think we may have. I'll have to ask my mom, she was the procurer of Goldens at that point in my life but that name rings a bell.
Posted by: JackStraw at November 10, 2019 10:28 AM (ZLI7S)
~~~~~

I mention it because the breeder, Ann Johnson, passed away recently. Wonderful dogs--I've gotten four from her. Thankfully, her daughter will continue in her place.

Posted by: IrishEi at November 10, 2019 10:38 AM (sGotD)

197 Just got home from Mass. At the end, Fr. N said "The Mass is ended, go in peace to love and serve the Lord. And Jeffery Epstein didn't kill himself."

I may have made up that last part.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 10, 2019 10:39 AM (Y4EXg)

198 In that line of thought, why didn't the Allies attempt a sea borne invasion of Belgium?

Posted by: josephistan at November 10, 2019 10:21 AM (Izzlo)

---
They did some raiding, but the coastline wasn't suitable. Think about the effort that went into creating "Mulberry" harbors, etc.

Plus, Germany still had a legitimate surface feel in WW I. It was considered too dangerous.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:39 AM (cfSRQ)

199 It's been a while but I really enjoyed Valiant Ambition. As a history moron I thought I knew lot about that chapter in American history (G. Washington - B. Arnold) but I learned a great deal I did not previously know about the character and actions of both men. It helps to have a reasonably detailed understanding of East Coast geography (which I do) in order for the book to have the greatest impact, but even without that component the utter fragility and uncertainty of the beginnings of the American Experiment came through in a graphic way I had seldom felt before.

Posted by: corn and beans at November 10, 2019 10:40 AM (tkNkP)

200 "The violence was instant," said one. "We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs," one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. "I've never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view."
Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 10, 2019 10:17 AM (LxTcq)

"Why didn't the rubes politely sit and listen to us when we smashed our way into their building and screamed into their faces?" wondered the left-wing protester.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:41 AM (+u+qV)

201 Those pants.
Mmm..no.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 10, 2019 10:42 AM (axyOa)

202 Heh....@about 1:10.....EDKH

https://dailycaller.com/2019/11/09/alabama-student-jeffrey-epstein-msnbc/

-
Boy, that did not work out the way MSBSFU planned it!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:43 AM (+y/Ru)

203 He always seemed like a lefty, but it's a bit weird
that somebody with such a cynical view of intelligence agencies is
siding with the Deep State.

Posted by: Biggs Darklighter at November 10, 2019 10:34 AM (RIvx9)

---
I am currently working through The Night Manager on DVD. My friend and I have a Friday night movie club and it was his turn to choose. We've finished four of the six episodes.

I thought it would be good, because Hugh Laurie and Loki are in it. Laurie is a great villain, and the photography is exquisite.

But the storyline is utterly awful, a bunch of recycled tropes - not just from spy movies but from Le Carre himself. He's got the older spymaster who is trapped in a loveless marriage, etc. Oh, but it's a homely woman! Pregnant! So diverse and hip!

So we heckle it. I'll let you know if the ending is in any way interesting. I'm pretty sure I know how it goes.

I own Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People on DVD. People ask why I never read Le Carre's books and the answer is that they don't have Alec Guinness in them.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:43 AM (cfSRQ)

204 >>I mention it because the breeder, Ann Johnson, passed away recently. Wonderful dogs--I've gotten four from her. Thankfully, her daughter will continue in her place.

It's not safe to bring your Goldens around me. A very good chance I will steal them.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 10, 2019 10:45 AM (ZLI7S)

205 That 50-point disparity means it's worth seeing.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:35 AM (+u+qV)

---
All the good critics are dead. Maybe there are a few left who are still breathing, but the current crop are journalists who learned to appreciate films based on message, not actual art or acting.

They're basically seals trained to clap on cue. Oh, and they're paid off, bigly.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:45 AM (cfSRQ)

206 Raddatz running ABCs Sunday show. Georgie got the day off. Wonder why?

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:46 AM (OI8cY)

207 Loser Bevin is already claiming voter fraud
That is always the GOP. Default position

Posted by: Kurt at November 10, 2019 10:46 AM (ezsug)

208 The Averoigne Legacy, the tribute Clark Ashton Smith collection ed. Christopher Stasheff. The stories appear in order of Averoignard timeline: Rome first, modern times last.

Run-down of reviews:

THE ORACLE OF SADOQUA by Ron Hilger (F)
This is one of the earlier post-CAS stories - to the point, it is not even wholly "post". Hilger had expanded a plot summary from CAS's "black book" about Averoigne's Gallo-Roman era. Unfortunately said summary represented a re-do of "Satrampa Zeiros" - explaining why CAS didn't expand it himself. And this expansion is not even competent at that. Its existence is justified by that it... exists.

THE WEDDING OF SHEILA-NA-GOG by Richard L. Tierney & G. Arthur Rahman (B)
This one stands in the same timeframe as "Oracle". And by Jove, it's good this time! The outline here is like "The Charnel God"; the servants of "evil" are particular about their prey. But the story keeps you guessing up to the end.

~~CULT OF THE SINGING FLAME by David Reid Ross~~
[not reviewing since this one is mine]

THE DOOM OF AZEDARAC by Ron Hilger (A)
This is another Hilger "posthumous collaboration". This time CAS wrote an outline for something that would be ironic and good; it tells how our time-travelling servant of Iog-Sotot became a saint (er...). Here I don't know why CAS dropped the plot but - given this story - I'm glad it got picked up again.

THE PINK FLOWER OF SAINT ZÉNOBIE by Aaron Hollingsworth (D)
This one is a weaker entry, tho' it starts well. Something is beheading the good citizens of the village. Then the heads come alive (like the Vargouille in the second monster manual), and come back. The bulk of this story is the stories the vargouilles tell. Poor construction, and an abrupt ending.

HUGH THE DISCERNING by Garnett Elliott (A)
Here we have our first story not proposed by CAS that reads like something he'd write himself. There's an ogre in the village and it's time for a battle of wits! The laughs came fast and furious with this one.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF GHOSTLY CATS by Michael Minnis (B)
Minnis is another one who understands what it is to write like Clark Ashton Smith (here, also like Cormac McCarthy...). The sorcerer Gasquet has two companions, Matois the cat (it's no spoiler to say he doesn't last) and Udon the goon. Unfortunately there is a narrative slip: when Gasquet and Udon summon Iog-Sotot, Gasquet winks out of the story and we learn only the fate of Udon.

UNHALLOWED GROUND, UNHOLY FLESH by James Chambers (A)
The land by Vyones, where the Colossus from Ylourgne fell, in AD 1379 has become a necromantic badland called "Nathaire's Field" (pour Averoigne, 'Champ de Nathaire' aurait pu estre mieux, n'est-ce pas?). Some vengeful man has raised part of this golem; it is up to Luc le Chaudronnier, hero of "The Beast of Averoigne", to stop it. Good storytelling; excellent villain, on par with Nathaire himself.

Posted by: David Reid Ross at November 10, 2019 10:46 AM (ykYG2)

209 Portrait of three little girls raring is wonderful

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:47 AM (OI8cY)

210 Academic Bookstore, Helsinki, Finland

********

Assimilation - a limerick

I reached the library at ten-ish
As the rush hour began to diminish
The lady was so kind
Said, "There shall be no fine
Just bring it back when you're Finnish"

Posted by: Muldoon at November 10, 2019 10:47 AM (m45I2)

211

It is very much the template for Civil War 2.0.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 09:31 AM (cfSRQ)

What triggered 'go' time?

Posted by: clutch at November 10, 2019 10:47 AM (Z3oWA)

212 Reading

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:47 AM (OI8cY)

213 I don't see how such a CGI laden , miscast movie can be 91% fresh. I guess I'll give it a chance when it comes to DVD / On Demand.

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 10:48 AM (2DOZq)

214 80 I remember some of Al Capp's "Lil Abner" comics from back then. "Joanie Phoanie" was a thinly-veiled caricature of Joan Baez.
Posted by: rickl at November 10, 2019 09:37 AM (7vvoJ)

Baez apparently didn't have much of a sense of humor and she threatened to sue Capp for that caricature.

Heh. If the shoe fits...

Amusing article about it here:

https://bit.ly/2qzRezL

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:49 AM (+u+qV)

215 What triggered 'go' time?

Posted by: clutch at November 10, 2019 10:47 AM (Z3oWA)

---
The leader of the Catholic opposition delivered a fiery speech in parliament. After he sat down, a leading Communist shouted out "That's your last speech."

Two days later he was dragged from his house by state police and shot to death in the middle of the night. The perp was known, and went unpunished.

That convinced the military it was time to act and radicalized the center enough to support them.

There was a lot of build up to it, but that was their Fort Sumter.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:49 AM (cfSRQ)

216 "...Even if it's these pants, which even Steve Buscemi would be ashamed to wear."
---
Way to be Butt-shamey, OM!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 10:50 AM (Dc2NZ)

217 Posted by: Kurt at November 10, 2019 10:46 AM (ezsug)

Choke on your projection turd .

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 10:50 AM (2DOZq)

218 Stuffy is probably touching base ( I hate that fk'n term) with Schiffty on this coming weeks open but tightly controlled hearings

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 10:51 AM (ZCEU2)

219 Interfaith dialogue -- Mohammad was a pedophile.

Yeah? Well, the Pope is a communist.

And as we rose from our sniper positions and met in the middle of the road, we prepared to shake hands when

an ammo truck ran us both over.

Posted by: GnuBreed at November 10, 2019 10:51 AM (Z4rgH)

220 Krut is projecting.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:52 AM (+y/Ru)

221 For battle of Midway I would recommend Walter Lord
"Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway".

Posted by: Redmonkey at November 10, 2019 10:52 AM (RjfJc)

222 For battle of Midway I would recommend Walter Lord

"Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway".

Posted by: Redmonkey at November 10, 2019 10:52 AM (RjfJc)

---
His "Miracle at Dunkirk" is great.

It seems to be the template for Nolan's movie, only he screwed it up and made it stupid and slow.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:54 AM (cfSRQ)

223 I haven't seen "Dr Sleep", the movie but I read it 2(?) years ago, and it's many problems as a book tie into last thread end discussion about "Star Wars -The Final Disappointment".

King amped up the "Shining" much as the newest "Star Wars" amp up the "Force", and to much the same effect.

The little girl, who contacts drunken, old, hoboesque, semi-reformed ally, Danny Torrance through the Shining is the Mary Sueiest of Mary Sues in the King Universe.

The Shining as presented in the book and movie was a sort of weak prognosticating line of communication between other people with the shine and things unknown.

In "Dr Sleep", the shining as wielded by the little girl in the novel is an all-powerful "Force" that allows her to do just about anything.

Want a ham sandwich?

*POOF*

Boom! there's your ham sandwich. The Shining, bitchez!

So, there goes dramatic tension right out the window.

And, weirdly, King seems to like his multicultural, pansexual, matriarchal child-murdering villains more than he seems to like his heroes, esp Danny Torrance.

Maybe cuz they're a pretty good analogue for Planned Parenthood?

Anyway, I don't know if they've cleaned all this up in the movie. But, King has expressed his happiness that "Dr Sleep" corrects all the probs of Kubrick's movie, "The Shining".

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 10, 2019 10:55 AM (kauXV)

224 meant clean not glean, but not to worry,have done neither
Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 10, 2019 10:19 AM (G546f)

does it sparg joy?

Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 10:55 AM (1glZx)

225 207
Posted by: Kurt at November 10, 2019 10:46 AM (ezsug)

Like that noted Republican Stacey Abrams.

Posted by: rickl at November 10, 2019 10:56 AM (7vvoJ)

226 I loved Nolan's Dunkirk. Know people who saw it multiple times in theater

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 10:57 AM (OI8cY)

227 By the way, the painting of three girls reading is The Fairy Tale, a painting by German artist Walter Firle, from.around 1900.

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 10, 2019 10:57 AM (G546f)

228 rickl - and Hillary

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 10:57 AM (ZCEU2)

229 186 Ah, Sunday morning. I just finished reading A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky. It is about baboons, the Masai in Kenya, and the author's self discovery of what makes him tick.
Posted by: parker at November 10, 2019 10:28 AM (kO3Bf)

----------

Great read. I especially enjoyed the section where Epstein didn't kill himself.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 10:58 AM (XVuno)

230 does it sparg joy?
Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 10:55 AM (1glZx)

I think it sporked Joy
Like Don Jr on the View
Which Joy is not too happy abput

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 10, 2019 10:59 AM (G546f)

231 Good morning, bookishests!

Only got as far in the post as the Al Capp link, then wandered off to read that article. Pretty good for Wiki.

Capp was an interesting character. I well remember the Li'l Abner strip's changes of attitude in the late '60s. Walt (Pogo) Kelly similarly stayed old-fashioned liberal while opposing the rising yippie-radicalism, which made them seem more like conservatives. Ain't politix phunny!

I think it must have been in the Kitchen Sink (?) Li'l Abner collection volumes (alas, mine now rotting inaccessibly in the moldy catacombs) that I read Capp talking about getting into comic strips. To make it big, he knew he had to go to New York, and a big part was his mother's support.

Mother's support to move to New York and become a cartoonist. I... didn't get that kind of encouragement.

Posted by: mindful webworker - eat more Shmoo! at November 10, 2019 10:59 AM (ECLlc)

232 Didn't something like that happen in WWI with obsolete destroyers used to take anti-shipping fire and scuttling them to block the huns in the harbor? Bremerhaven maybe? What's the other big port further west in belgium?
-----
Zeebrugge?

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 10:59 AM (3Z6pZ)

233 Baez apparently didn't have much of a sense of humor and she threatened to sue Capp for that caricature.

Heh. If the shoe fits...

Amusing article about it here:

https://bit.ly/2qzRezL
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 10:49 AM (+u+qV)

Joanie Phoanie doesn't look anything like Baez...notice that most of Capp's characters are caricatures of himself?

Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 10:59 AM (X/Pw5)

234 Anyway, I don't know if they've cleaned all this up
in the movie. But, King has expressed his happiness that "Dr Sleep"
corrects all the probs of Kubrick's movie, "The Shining".

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 10, 2019 10:55 AM (kauXV)

---
I've always hated King. I read his book about writing (cleverly called "On Writing") and it's divided into two parts.

The first part is his literary autobiography, which I found quite interesting. It explained a lot about what he writes about and who he is. You write what you know and King is a prick with a shitty upbringing.

The second part is how to write like him and I laughed because I'd rather not write at all than write like him.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 11:00 AM (cfSRQ)

235 I have a friend who can still remember the humiliation he felt when his Grade 1,2 or 3 class laughed at him for pronouncing island as is land.

Posted by: N.L. Urker. I will urk until I can't urk anymore. at November 10, 2019 11:00 AM (Uu+Jp)

236 Zeebrugge?
Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 10:59 AM (3Z6pZ)

--------

I think I will, thanks. Do you have one with cheese?

Posted by: Walt Disney's Frozen Head at November 10, 2019 11:01 AM (XVuno)

237 Sure sounds like White Supremacy to me. Those Scandis just can't help themselves.
Posted by: rickl at November 10, 2019 09:06 AM (7vvoJ)

Would not want to be in that building in the event of an earthquake. Those slabs of marble might come tumbling down.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 10, 2019 11:02 AM (/sgva)

238 Kurtsey.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at November 10, 2019 11:03 AM (oVJmc)

239 The second part is how to write like him and I laughed because I'd rather not write at all than write like him.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 11:00 AM (cfSRQ)

Steven Pressfield has the best books for up and coming authors.

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 11:04 AM (2DOZq)

240 Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 10:59 AM (X/Pw5)
-----
To her credit, Joan Baez was one of the very few who admitted that she was wrong about the North Vietnamese govt. The damage had already been done, however.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:06 AM (3Z6pZ)

241 Zeebrugge?

-
Gesundheit.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 11:06 AM (+y/Ru)

242 What triggered 'go' time?

Posted by: clutch at November 10, 2019 10:47 AM (Z3oWA)
---
After he sat down, a leading Communist shouted out "That's your last speech."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 10:49 AM (cfSRQ)

... taking notes ...

Posted by: Adam Schiff at November 10, 2019 11:07 AM (UGKMd)

243 The finnish library at the top - THAT is "award winning architecture"?? I expect there to be a quizno's in the food court around the corner.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 11:07 AM (V2Yro)

244 You write what you know and King is a prick with a shitty upbringing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 11:00 AM (cfSRQ)

Now he's just a prick with a shit-ton of money.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:07 AM (+u+qV)

245 To her credit, Joan Baez was one of the very few who admitted that she was wrong about the North Vietnamese govt. The damage had already been done, however.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:06 AM (3Z6pZ)

I got nothing against Baez....I was young and stupid once, too.

Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 11:09 AM (X/Pw5)

246 Steven Pressfield has the best books for up and coming authors.
Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 11:04 AM (2DOZq)
-----
I like him. Haven't read "Bagger Vance", but I have read "Gates of Fire" (Battle of Thermopylae) and "The Virtues of War" (Alexander the Great in India). Good stuff.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:09 AM (3Z6pZ)

247 When I was a kid my dad bought me the Famous Artists course. It didn't spark a desire to be a professional cartoonist (I was* too lazy) but it did expose me to a lot of serials by analyzing the greats like Terry and the Pirates and Li'l Abner. I remember the Abner story being Daisy Mae's abduction by a creepy serial flenser who made lampshades out of his friends.

Take a look at the roster of characters from Li'l Abner:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%27l_Abner

My favorites are Count Felix Von Holenhedt and Appassionata Von Climax.

* "Was" -- ha!!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 10, 2019 11:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

248 was young and stupid once, too.
Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 11:09 AM (X/Pw5)
-----
So were we all.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:10 AM (3Z6pZ)

249 Sydney Australia Fire danger level: Catastrophic

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7669865

This level means if you get a warning for tomorrow, leave today.

Posted by: Enquiring Minds Want to Know at November 10, 2019 11:11 AM (XzVUd)

250 Yeah I just want to say the bunker hill book is really good. I do the audiobook and I must say I did enjoy the book.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 10, 2019 11:12 AM (dKiJG)

251 Now he's just a prick with a shit-ton of money.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:07 AM (+u+qV)

---
Sure. And fame.

And yet its funny how many people with both turn to drugs and end up killing themselves. King can't even remember writing his most successful books because he was so drunk.

"He who dies with the most toys wins" turns out to be crappy advice.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 11:12 AM (cfSRQ)

252 Probable scenario:
House Ds vote to Impeach
Horowitz reports drops. Big reveals
Senate Trial is the ultimate reality Tv show. Bidens shown to be crooks. Everything Trump has said is proven true .
Senate Ds forced to make a suicide vote. Many defect

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:14 AM (OI8cY)

253
248 was young and stupid once, too.
Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 11:09 AM (X/Pw5)
-----
So were we all.

I was never young.

But I'm still stupid.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at November 10, 2019 11:14 AM (oVJmc)

254 248 was young and stupid once, too.
Posted by: BignJames at November 10, 2019 11:09 AM (X/Pw5)
-----
So were we all.
Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:10 AM (3Z6pZ)

Not all of us. I wasn't allowed to be young or make mistakes.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 10, 2019 11:15 AM (NWiLs)

255 Greetings:

That Benedict Arnold guy you mentioned, wasn't he one of those decorated military officers that Progressives as so currently loving and respecting ???

Posted by: 11B40 at November 10, 2019 11:17 AM (evgyj)

256 Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:09 AM (3Z6pZ)

If you're a golfer , you will love Legend of Bagger Vance but it's not just a golf book. It has Pressfield's central thesis shared in all of his books. The warrior code.

My favorite after Gates of Fire is Tides of War . About the Peloponnesian War and Alcibiades.

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (2DOZq)

257 245 ... "To her credit, Joan Baez was one of the very few who admitted that she was wrong about the North Vietnamese govt. The damage had already been done, however."

I heard Baez perform a few times back when she did mostly traditional folk songs. She has always been a political idiot. But damn!, she has (or had, I haven't heard her sing for years) a gorgeous voice. Her solo rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" on the extended Woodstock movie is truly moving.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (bmdz3)

258
And yet its funny how many people with both turn to drugs and end up killing themselves. King can't even remember writing his most successful books because he was so drunk.
"He who dies with the most toys wins" turns out to be crappy advice.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 10, 2019 11:12 AM (cfSRQ)

One day back in 1989, Mrs. Muse's father picked up one of his handguns and took his own life -- in his penthouse apartment surrounded by luxury and with several millions in his bank accounts. I never could figure out what made him so unhappy.

Contentment with and enjoyment of life is truly a gift of God.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (+u+qV)

259 I'm gonna say it any book that has a female lead or action lead in a book I am not gonna read it because I am assuming it's gonna be a WOKE female character or girl power and I'm just gonna assume it's garbage.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (dKiJG)

260 King can't even remember writing his most successful books because he was so drunk.
-----
Huh. The dude could keep you reading, though. "The Shining" was one of the very few books I could not put down, along with "Jurassic Park". I re-read "The Mote in God's Eye" in one gulp because I had been in an auto accident that day with resulting severe muscle strain in my neck, and thus couldn't sleep.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:19 AM (3Z6pZ)

261 Contentment and enjoyment of life is truly a gift of God.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (+u+qV)

If so, it's one given out arbitrarily and capriciously.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 10, 2019 11:19 AM (NWiLs)

262 My favorite after Gates of Fire is Tides of War . About the Peloponnesian War and Alcibiades.
Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (2DOZq)

---------

Alcibiades was the Mitt Romney of his day. A traitorous, self-promoting piece of shit.

IMO

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:20 AM (XVuno)

263 Oh my God, OM -- How do you go forward from that?

Posted by: FireHorse at November 10, 2019 11:21 AM (sWmEa)

264 Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (+u+qV)

that's awful

so sorry Mrs Muse lost her dad that way

Posted by: vmom happy to have read a good book! at November 10, 2019 11:22 AM (G546f)

265 One day back in 1989, Mrs. Muse's father picked up one of his handguns and took his own life -- in his penthouse apartment surrounded by luxury and with several millions in his bank accounts. I never could figure out what made him so unhappy.

Contentment with and enjoyment of life is truly a gift of God.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (+u+qV)

Whoa. Sorry your wife had to endure coming to grips with that, and by extension you.

Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 11:23 AM (y7DUB)

266 Dear God, my wife has the most odious taste in entertainment.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at November 10, 2019 11:23 AM (oVJmc)

267 Now that Trump has redefined the R party's voting base, we'll never see a Romney as nominee

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:23 AM (OI8cY)

268 Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (2DOZq)
-----
Thanks for the tips! I haven't golfed in years, but enjoyed it when I did. If you like hilarious golf stories, check out "McAuslan in the Rough" by George McDonald Fraser.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:23 AM (3Z6pZ)

269 252 Probable scenario:
House Ds vote to Impeach
Horowitz reports drops. Big reveals
Senate Trial is the ultimate reality Tv show. Bidens shown to be crooks. Everything Trump has said is proven true .
Senate Ds forced to make a suicide vote. Many defect

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:14 AM (OI8cY)

I still haven't ruled out the possibility that Schiff is going to cancel next week's public hearings because he can't sufficiently rig them in the Democrats' favor, i.e. prevent the Republicans from cross-examining witnesses, presenting evidence, etc.

Schiff absolutely does not want Eric Ciaramella called as a witness. He'll cite "security" concerns and etc.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:24 AM (+u+qV)

270 Alcibiades was the Mitt Romney of his day. A traitorous, self-promoting piece of shit.
----
He had actual talent, though. Was finally assasinated by people who'd had enough of his crap.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:25 AM (3Z6pZ)

271 Alcibiades was the Mitt Romney of his day. A traitorous, self-promoting piece of shit.

IMO
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:20 AM (XVuno)

Pressfield portrays him as more of a Trump to me . Of course I'm not looking at some of his actions as traitorous but rather necessary based on the circumstances. He is also much more competent than Romney could ever be.

Posted by: Easy Andy at November 10, 2019 11:25 AM (2DOZq)

272 267 Now that Trump has redefined the R party's voting base, we'll never see a Romney as nominee
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:23 AM (OI8cY)

I'm hoping we don't even see a politician as a nominee again.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 10, 2019 11:26 AM (H8QX8)

273 I think the WWI raid involved ancient "monitor" gunships. The destroyer was the Campbelltown (its namesake town lately resurrected as the centre of all Scotch), and was on the Atlantic coast of France in WWII.

Helsinki, because of its close "neighbours," is the most undergroundest city in the world. Stories abound about how ready for a nukin' the place is, and how well-provided. Any time there's a story about gracious above-ground buildings with glass and sunlight, I get suspicious.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 10, 2019 11:26 AM (oRpiG)

274 That Benedict Arnold guy you mentioned, wasn't he one of those decorated military officers that Progressives as so currently loving and respecting ???

Posted by: 11B40
________

Before Richmond caught fire, General Arnold was injured in battle and became the first American to take a loyalty oath to the Republic.

Posted by: FireHorse at November 10, 2019 11:27 AM (sWmEa)

275 Whoa. Sorry your wife had to endure coming to grips with that, and by extension you.
Posted by: Captain Hate at November 10, 2019 11:23 AM (y7DUB)

Our oldest son had just been born and we had to suddenly pack up and fly across the country for the funeral. She held up amazingly well. When we got back home and all the pressure was off, that's then she finally broke down. It's like she knew it was now safe to release her emotions.

That was over 30 years ago.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:28 AM (+u+qV)

276
Schiff absolutely does not want Eric Ciaramella called as a witness. He'll cite "security" concerns and etc.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:24 AM (+u+qV)

I think that's already decided. Schiff has assumed the power to deny the appearance of any witnesses he doesn't like, and Pelosi looks like she agrees. So looks like a done deal. A farce, but a done deal. Schiff is too fanatical to see any problem with it.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 11:29 AM (V2Yro)

277 I still haven't ruled out the possibility that Schiff is going to cancel next week's public hearings because he can't sufficiently rig them in the Democrats' favor, i.e. prevent the Republicans from cross-examining witnesses, presenting evidence, etc.

Trump dropping another transcript...

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at November 10, 2019 11:29 AM (oVJmc)

278 What triggered 'go' time?
Posted by: clutch at November 10, 2019 10:47 AM (Z3oWA)

There was a low level of street assassination going on that was starting to get ramped, a lot of revenge for the retaliation for the outrage . . . And so on, sort of thing. In this case it was a retaliation for the assassination of the leader of the Guardia de Asalto

What sparked it was a group affiliated with the liberal party in power were planning on kidnapping Gil Robles, a conservative party leader, in revenge. They couldn't find him so they went to the apartment of Jose Calvo Sotelo, a former Finance minister for Spain and a vocal anti-republican, at night. Under the color of being elements of the Guardia Civil, searched his flat, and took him out under arrrest, and shot him.
Turns out they were linked to the Guardia and one of the leaders of the Spanish Workers Party.

The fact that Republican hit squads were being sent out to kill rival out of power politicians was the wake up call, and the Generals started making plans.

There is a tolerably good movie about the actual kick off called Dragon Rapide. You just gotta find the subtitled version since it is in Spanish

Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 11:29 AM (1glZx)

279 The destroyer was the Campbelltown (its namesake town lately resurrected as the centre of all Scotch), and was on the Atlantic coast of France in WWII.
-----
That was the St. Nazaire raid in WWII. The objective of which was to destroy the Normandie drydock, the only large drydock the Nazis had on the Atlantic. I'm very surprised that a movie has not been made about it.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:30 AM (3Z6pZ)

280 I think rarely do we know why people end it with seemingly lots to live for.

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:30 AM (ZCEU2)

281
Schiff absolutely does not want Eric Ciaramella called as a witness. He'll cite "security" concerns and etc.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:24 AM (+u+qV)

---------

What angers me to no end is that, even as the whole impeachment drama degenerates into a massive farce and shit show, the Dems are still accomplishing their primary aim. That is to connect "Donald Trump" with "impeachment" every night in the headlines and TV newscasts.

This won't affect anyone who actually follows this corrupt circus but there are a lot of LIVs out there who go away with the impression that Trump must have done some terrible things, even if they can't quite identify any one of them.

And those LIVs still vote.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:31 AM (XVuno)

282 Alvar Alto.

Gross.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 10, 2019 11:31 AM (5aX2M)

283 Cpt Obvious- There is a good movie in B&W of it.

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:32 AM (ZCEU2)

284 Cpt Obvious- There is a good movie in B&W of it.
Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:32 AM (ZCEU2)
-----
Really? Title?

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:32 AM (3Z6pZ)

285 268 ... "If you like hilarious golf stories, check out "McAuslan in the Rough" by George McDonald Fraser."

Thanks for the tip. I can't play golf anymore and when I did,the results were amusing. (I am being very kind.)

If you like golf humor, check out PG Wodehouse's golf stories. I have the "Golf Omnibus" but there are others.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 11:33 AM (bmdz3)

286 Contentment with and enjoyment of life is truly a gift of God.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 11:18 AM (+u+qV)

Too late to ask, of course. But many people in this position, successful, rich, admired, are often very unfulfilled due to the "more" they cannot have. This "more" takes many shapes: "so and so is more powerful," "I have a lot but I will never be (fill in the blank)", They have money, power, beauty, fame, etc, but it hasn't given them______.

More than a few of the people I've encountered in psych hospitals who seemed to have very enviable lives, tried killing themselves over one of these "mores". Some have tried due to losses that would shake anyone, but usually it's something like "the one that got away is happy for my achievement, but doesn't regret not choosing me", or " Yeah, I have tons of money, but I am not acclaimed for this".

Iris Murdoch wrote a book called "The Sea, the Sea" about a "has it all" sort of West End producer director who see's his life as wrecked because his childhood sweetheart moved on. He finds her as a late middle aged adult, and cannot let go of his obsession with funny/sad consequences.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 11:33 AM (U7k5w)

287 Nancy will get the Ds to vote to Impeach. For her it's personal. And she's that egotistical.

Schiff is all in.

They live to win the daily news cycle with an enabling Media

They can't see where their moves will inevitably lead.

It's like a classic tragedy, without the nobility

Its a classic tragedy.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:34 AM (OI8cY)

288 If you like golf humor, check out PG Wodehouse's golf stories. I have the "Golf Omnibus" but there are others.
Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 11:33 AM (bmdz3)
-----
Ricard Armour (light verse and humor writer) wrote a humorous book about golf, the title of which I can't remember. If you search on his name, it'll probably cone up. I read a number of his books when I was young and enjoyed tem all.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:36 AM (3Z6pZ)

289 What the Democrats and the Schiffty Shit Show has going for it the MSM is going to cover anything they can't. I could guarantee every one of my few aunts and uncles who only at best get their information from ABC or one of the other alphabets will know nothing other than what Schiffty wants them to know,

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:36 AM (ZCEU2)

290 280 I think rarely do we know why people end it with seemingly lots to live for.
Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:30 AM (ZCEU2)

For those who suffer, it can be to end the suffering. The truly mentally ill are to be greatly pitied, and I view that as great suffering. But for those who appear to be doing great from an external viewpoint, my experience with some of them leads me to believe that it's because they live a life totally focused on themselves, and not on those around them who need them and depend on them. And any life focused on only itself must end in great disappointment.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 11:37 AM (V2Yro)

291 Cpt Obvious- was trying to remember it, saw it not to long ago. The scuba guy is in it from the 50s.

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:38 AM (ZCEU2)

292 THE LITTLE AND THE BIG by Michael Minnis (A)
Renamed from "The Big and the Little"; further, this has been postponed from where it was originally planned, immediately after "Pink Flower". We learn that Antoinette, "Mother of Toads", has a husband - at least, as of 1400ish she does. Gros Vert is a Frog of course. As in, an actual giant toad. And he's jealous of Antoinette's human lovers (sometimes food). So he's off to Vyones to wreak havoc, because that's what monsters do here. There he meets up with Brigitte, who also has a worthless spouse. You can call this a feminist tale if you like; it is certainly a good tale.

THE PASSING OF BELZEVUTHE by Simon Whitechapel (B)
This one's been flipped with "The Butcher". Whitechapel is the best of the post-CAS prose stylists. Unfortunately with Averoigne, this man skimps with the canon. Here, "Touraine" is not actually an Averoignard site; it's just Tours. (Quit reading Moldvay, authors!!) This one pits a Jew, Moise ben Belzevuthe, against the Inquisition... another Thing That Doesn't Happen. If you can get past that, the profane little story entertains.

THE BUTCHER OF VYONES by Michael Minnis (A)
Flipped with "Passing". We're at AD 1410 now. We get a look at Vyones' seamier neighbourhoods. The local butcher has a new wife. Then he gets bit - by a dog, he says. The usual havoc is wraught in Vyones.

BLACK ART IN VYONES by Keith Chapman (A)
As in "Dorian Grey", or maybe "Last Duchess". In AD 1469, a beast is loose in the cursed city. Meanwhile Joost van Veen is commissioned for a portrait of the Comtesse Isabelle de la Melicourt. When the moonlight touches the portrait . . .

THE COCKATRICE OF CORDELIERS by Michael Minnis (A)
This one is another tale of the lower orders of Averoigne, and more humourous than some. Guy the porter and Heap the headsman (whom we meet when the villagers have demanded he execute a chicken) are hunting a "cockatrice". Recommended for Alex The Chick.

CLOTAIRE OF THE CROSS by Colin Harker (B?)
I didn't finish this one; it is practically a novella.

SYMPOSIUM OF THE GARGOYLE by Simon Whitechapel (A-)
There's a new gargoyle on the Vyones Cathedral, and it's communicating with Evariste Laroche the amateur scientist and his dogsbody Jean-Pierre - through mathematical code. Their landlord Salfuyche is the target. This one lost its full "A" rating for assuming that Vyones and Ximes are across the river from one another, which they are not. Not again, Simon, no!

THE QUARRY by Simon Whitechapel (A)
Gerard lives by an old flooded quarry (imagine the pool in "Gone Baby Gone", probably "Two Towers"), abandoned in AD 1756. It now - after la Revolution - has a waterspirit in it. A Russian waterspirit. Gerard and the spirit spark a friendship and, well. This is the best of the Whitechapel stories here.

THE GARGOYLES OF NOTRE DAME by Matthew Baugh (A)
We're deep into the Spiritualism fad here, with seance. This one is in fact set in Paris, but the gargoyles are "on loan from the cathedral of Vyones". Uh oh.

THE RETURN OF THE COLOSSUS by Brian McNaughton (C)
One of the earlier fan fictions; the Allies exhume this horror to use against Fritz in the Great War. I had trouble with the prose; it did not explain well the cave in which the Colossus was interred.

THE MUSE OF AVEROIGNE by Ron Hilger & Henry J. Vester III (A)
Hilger's back! And he's brought in another of CAS's protagonists, this one the survivor of the City Of The Singing Flame, Philip Hastane. So we're in the 1920s now. A magic tapestry takes Hastane beyond time and space - as in "The End Of The Story". It's good that Hastane is involved with Averoigne; I tried to put him in "The Cult" but eventually decided to absent him.

THE FELL FETE by Manuel Paul Arenas (A)
Erotic horror, where "The Quarry" was romantic horror. It starts with a quote from "She Moved Through the Fair". A Latin lover (Spanish) is stalked.

BOUFONOULA by D.J. Tyrer (B)
Modernisation of "Mother of Toads" - erotic horror again, although more offstage than "Fete's" was. Follows Ross's conjecture that Averoigne used to be in the Languedoc. A fine adaptation for our times with a bone-chilling ending.

A HONEYMOON IN AVEROIGNE by Trevor O. Childers (A)
"End of the Story" again; Faussesflammes never dies! This is Averoigne gothic. Two American backpackers through the ruins of Perigon (it got destroyed in la Revolution, we learn) and then Faussesflammes. You probably shouldn't do that.

Posted by: David Reid Ross at November 10, 2019 11:38 AM (ykYG2)

293 Done. Sorry for the textwalls! I was asked to do the review here.

Posted by: David Reid Ross at November 10, 2019 11:39 AM (ykYG2)

294 Sometimes rich and powerful people kill themselves. But not Epstein.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 10, 2019 11:39 AM (5aX2M)

295 == Another excellent book, written by someone who was not only a "progressive" but an out-and-out Marxist when he wrote it is "Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made" by Eugene Genovese.==

Posted by: Donna&&&&V. at November 10, 2019 10:21 AM

Thanks. Looks Interesting. I just now tried to reserve this at my large local suburban library but will have to go on a chase through the inter-library loan system because they do not have it in the catalog. My tax dollars (not) at work.

Posted by: corn and beans at November 10, 2019 11:39 AM (tkNkP)

296 Love that picture of the the little girls reading. They remind me of my daughters at those ages except the one on the left should have curly hair.

Posted by: bluebell at November 10, 2019 11:39 AM (ps8lq)

297 Baby Trump balloon knifed in Alabama...

-
Will right wing violence never end?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 10:34 AM (+y/Ru)

If those things are inflated with helium, the smart thing to do would be to cut the cords restraining them, let them float away on the breeze, and then have FAA fine the owners bigly for "creating a hazard to aerial navigation".

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 10, 2019 11:40 AM (/sgva)

298 A good jazz singer Suzzanna McCorkle pitched herself out of a Manhattan apartment back in the 90s, on the jazz station which is on now often they play her songs.

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:40 AM (ZCEU2)

299 Its a classic tragedy.
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:34 AM (OI8cY)

the only real difference between Tragedy and Comedy is whether it happens to you, or if it happens to someone else.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 11:40 AM (V2Yro)

300 The scuba guy is in it from the 50s.
Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:38 AM (ZCEU2)
----
Lloyd Bridges?

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:41 AM (3Z6pZ)

301 Love that picture of the the little girls reading.

---------

Whatever they're reading, it seems to be irradiated. I hope none of the girls plans on having children.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:42 AM (XVuno)

302 Sometimes rich and powerful people kill themselves. But not Epstein.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 10, 2019 11:39 AM (5aX2M)
----
Richard Cory.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:42 AM (3Z6pZ)

303 May the Democrats reenact Romeo and Juliet. Nancy as Juliet and Schiff as Hamlet.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 10, 2019 11:42 AM (ZFSIM)

304 Milton Friedman adapted Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" and tried to apply it to free markets, and/or open commerce. But this guy Warren Pollock says (Libertarian?) Friedman also mentioned the opposite invisible hand of government/bureaucracy ... that overrules choice between two parties in a trade/negotiation, and imposes the invisible hand of government to serve the bureaucracy (directly via pay/pensions, or indirectly as we see with payola and Ukraine). (I haven't found where Friedman said that)

This is the dichotomy of giving government enough power to assure the blessings liberty, but at the same time preventing bureaucrats from serving themselves (the same natural tendency as the other invisible hand). When the DeepState seditiously runs a coup against a duly elected president, and multiple agencies covertly assist, we are at a "tipping point" that is not about icebergs and polar bears.

youtube link to Pollock on invisible hand of government power
https://tinyurl.com/ql7f584

Posted by: illiniwek at November 10, 2019 11:43 AM (Cus5s)

305 re: Golf

**********

Sporting Attire - a limerick

Golfing can be ever so much fun
But there 's really lots of planning to be done
For instance- what to wear
How 'bout socks? I've got a pair
But darn it all I've got a hole in one!

Posted by: Muldoon at November 10, 2019 11:43 AM (m45I2)

306 Attack on The Iron Coast, 1968.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 10, 2019 11:43 AM (oRpiG)

307 I'm gonna say it any book that has a female lead or action lead in a
book I am not gonna read it because I am assuming it's gonna be a WOKE
female character or girl power and I'm just gonna assume it's garbage.+++++Same. Got really tired of the Brad Thor novels featuring the Athena Project. Finding I'm having to revisit the old guys to avoid the idiotic portrayals of Super Girl.

Posted by: Old Dude at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (LGXGf)

308 Nancy will get the Ds to vote to Impeach. For her it's personal. And she's that egotistical.

Schiff is all in.
...........

I am resigned to that, at this point.

let them push this sham through.. the faster the better.

Then, it goes to the Senate for a trial.

And Miss Lindsey, or whoever runs it, can call Eric Ciaramela and Hunter Biden and anyone else.. and they can be cross-examined by Trump's lawyers.

And maybe they can even call Schiff.

That is where the real fireworks will be in this whole sham shit show.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (438dO)

309 the only real difference between Tragedy and Comedy is whether it happens to you, or if it happens to someone else.
Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 11:40 AM (V2Yro)
-----
"Comedy is you should fall into an open manhole and die. Tragedy is I should get a hangnail."
-Mel Brooks

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (3Z6pZ)

310 Cicero, Cicero. The reading light is coming from the right, just out of view of the picture.

You lawyers are so dramatic.

Posted by: bluebell at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (ps8lq)

311 I expect a trial in the Senate that will totally vindicate Trump. Bidens exposed as crooks (Rudy has proof of a $3mm laundered payoff. Media ignores it)

Senate Ds will have to vote for Trump or risk backlash. Many are not in totally safe seats like nearly all House Congresscritters

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (OI8cY)

312 Yes Lloyd Bridges

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (ZCEU2)

313
any book that has a female lead or action lead in a book I am not gonna read it because I am assuming it's gonna be a WOKE female character or girl power and I'm just gonna assume it's garbage.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio

=========

You're probably not referring to classics like Jane Eyre or genre books like Twilight (both female leads), but Gillian Flynn writes some non-woke, okay fiction with female leads. You still might not like the books; female leads seem to dominate creepy mysteries, like Girl on a Train by Paula Hawkins, Tangerine by Christine Mangan, Hill House by Shirley Jackson, etc. The leads aren't so much involved in action, but they do a lot of scheming.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at November 10, 2019 11:45 AM (13CQC)

314 And any life focused on only itself must end in great disappointment.
Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 11:37 AM (V2Yro)

Yes, but sometimes they won't let go of the missing element. One of the guys I worked with who "had it all" tried killing himself when a very motivated friend was highly acclaimed and treated like a hero for a "breakthrough" in a different field. He's still alive and was able to get over his disappointment, but at the time he tried it seemed like an unlivable scenario for him.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 11:45 AM (U7k5w)

315 Sporting Attire - a limerick

--------

Darn. By the title I was expecting a poem on Winnie Mandela.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:45 AM (XVuno)

316 207 Loser Bevin is already claiming voter fraud
That is always the GOP. Default position
Posted by: Kurt at November 10, 2019 10:46 AM (ezsug)

So Wa has vote by mail. A couple of million ballots are sent out. Let's say 1.8m are returned. That leaves 0.2m ballots to finagle if you want to rig an election.
They never show the signature validation process on mailed in ballots. Because it is a joke. The mail in ballots process is designed for fraud.
I expect some day to see a cart trundle down the road with someone screaming "Bring out your dead's ballots'.

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at November 10, 2019 11:45 AM (e1mEI)

317 Also, welcome to OMuse's new liberal Twitter friend. Don't worry, we won't try to change you.

Muahahahaha.

Posted by: bluebell at November 10, 2019 11:46 AM (ps8lq)

318 Cicero, Cicero. The reading light is coming from the right, just out of view of the picture.

You lawyers are so dramatic.
Posted by: bluebell at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (ps8lq)

---------

"If you have been injured by irradiated books, then call this toll-free number!"

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:46 AM (XVuno)

319 I was doing some YouTube research on a beach park in Cozumel last night and by far the most viewed one was some dude and his partner ranting about how awful their experience was, which boiled down to being overcharged $8 for a taxi and their misunderstanding about free drinks. Meanwhile in the background it's all sunshine and paradise, couldn't believe they let those things ruin their whole deal.

Today in church our pastor says before we start I want us to recognize our veterans here today but want to make sure you don't think this is some nationalistic statement because we here don't engage in that sort of thing or promote today's nasty political rhetoric, and that pretty much ruined the whole service for me.

I'm sure there's a lesson in all this somewhere.

Posted by: jhawk90 at November 10, 2019 11:47 AM (4UlPP)

320 May the Democrats reenact Romeo and Juliet. Nancy as Juliet and Schiff as Hamlet.
Posted by: Anna Puma at November 10, 2019 11:42 AM (ZFSIM)
-----
"Hamlet and Juliet"? The protagonist pretends to be insane to win his lady love?

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:48 AM (3Z6pZ)

321 Not finding it so could be wrong about Lloyd in it

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:48 AM (ZCEU2)

322 "If you have been injured by irradiated books, then call this toll-free number!"

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:46 AM (XVuno)
-----------

I knew it! You're a radiation chaser!

Posted by: bluebell at November 10, 2019 11:48 AM (ps8lq)

323 I'm sure there's a lesson in all this somewhere.
Posted by: jhawk90 at November 10, 2019 11:47 AM (4UlPP)

Your pastor is a liberal douche?

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 11:49 AM (U7k5w)

324 I see Kurt actually stopped blowing homeless crack addicts to give us his words of wisdom.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at November 10, 2019 11:50 AM (89T5c)

325 And Miss Lindsey, or whoever runs it, can call Eric
Ciaramela and Hunter Biden and anyone else.. and they can be
cross-examined by Trump's lawyers.

And maybe they can even call Schiff.

That is where the real fireworks will be in this whole sham shit show.
Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at November 10, 2019 11:44 AM (438dO)

My prediction is that it will fail in the Senate, and the Dems will then sacrifice Bill Clinton as a liar who suborned perjury and a rapist and totally corrupt and getting away with murder just like Trump.

and that is when the fireworks start.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 11:50 AM (1glZx)

326
I am resigned to that, at this point.

let them push this sham through.. the faster the better.

Then, it goes to the Senate for a trial.

And Miss Lindsey, or whoever runs it, can call Eric Ciaramela and Hunter Biden and anyone else.. and they can be cross-examined by Trump's lawyers.

And maybe they can even call Schiff.

That is where the real fireworks will be in this whole sham shit show.
Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry

========

Before they do that, Lindsey should sit down with all those people like either a very good lover or a very good torture-master and tell them exactly what he's going to do. Not just a few headlines -- "Oh I'm ready for them, trust me!" -- but a long, juicy letter in which he presents a list of techniques that is explicit at the sexual or sadistic level. He could make it public, too. That could shake a few people up.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at November 10, 2019 11:51 AM (13CQC)

327 Skip, I found it and I posted it above.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 10, 2019 11:51 AM (oRpiG)

328 After decades of contemplation, I came to conclude...

Oswald was actually trying to kill Connelly. He mostly missed.

Posted by: mindful webworker - conspiratorially at November 10, 2019 11:52 AM (ECLlc)

329 328 After decades of contemplation, I came to conclude...

Oswald was actually trying to kill Connelly. He mostly missed.
Posted by: mindful webworker - conspiratorially at November 10, 2019 11:52 AM (ECLlc)

---------

Now I'm confused. How does the murder of Epstein fit into this?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:53 AM (XVuno)

330 The natives have invited us for lunch. I wonder what we're having??

Posted by: zombie captain cook at November 10, 2019 11:53 AM (Dh1wo)

331 Posted by: Blonde Morticia at November 10, 2019 11:51 AM (13CQC)

never show you hand.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 11:54 AM (U7k5w)

332 Oswald aimed at Epstein, and hit!
Marine Corp training

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 11:54 AM (OI8cY)

333 I picture Kurt, No and raimundo as those troll dolls that were popular back in the day, but without the charm.

And no dong.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:55 AM (3Z6pZ)

334 Those are some really big slabs of marble in that Finnish library. I hope they're only veneers, or they have a really strong anchoring system.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:55 AM (XVuno)

335 I am gluing some ceramics back together, and I am reminded of the old dodge of not leaving fingerprints by dabbing the pads of your fingers with superglue.

No, I am fine, I am not typing this with my nose. It was close, but I am safe. Thank you all for caring.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 11:56 AM (1glZx)

336 I re-read Flashman, the first of the series, and while it still was funny and packed with historical detail, I didn't like it as much this time through as the first time.

The first problem is that Flash is such a horrible person. He's a coward and a jerk and selfish and so on sure. But he's also a rapist, he's treacherous, he's evil. Its kind of funny for a loser coward to somehow end up on top but he mounds horrors on top of that which make him absolutely despicable.

But worse than that for me as a reader is how its very obvious that Frazer seems to despise heroism, patriotism, good deeds, and any of world history where great things happened. His mockery of heroism and goodness leaks off of every page like sewage and its difficult to read. Its almost like he is deliberately trying to "deconstruct" history and the very concept of heroism entirely.

The only thing that makes that possibly not true is that some of the fictional people like Sgt Hudson are genuinely good and noble people (who die horribly and pointlessly, like in Lonesome Dove) and Lord Wellington are straight up shown as good guys. Wellington is a noble, honest, and good person who tolerates what he sees Flashman to be.

But Fraser is so vicious toward everyone else, and every example of heroism and decency is either shown to be hypocrisy or an utter, idiotic failure that its hard for me to enjoy.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 10, 2019 11:57 AM (KZzsI)

337 I loved The Passage book series and liked the show for the most part. The book also jumps 90 years into the future but does flashbacks to fill in that time jump. I assumed the show would do the same. What did bother me about the show was that instead of Wolgast being the truly tragic character he was in the books--a viral but still lingering protectively near his beloved Amy, who in turn mourns his wretched existence--he is some sort of semi-vampire action hero.

Posted by: Grannysaurus Rex at November 10, 2019 11:57 AM (90LWK)

338 Those are some really big slabs of marble in that Finnish library. I hope they're only veneers, or they have a really strong anchoring system.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 10, 2019 11:55 AM (XVuno)
------
It reminds me of the Cornell Bookstore, which is entirely underground. I think its architect won a prize for the design as well.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:58 AM (3Z6pZ)

339 "And Miss Lindsey, or whoever runs it, can call Eric Ciaramela and Hunter Biden and anyone else.. and they can be cross-examined by Trump's lawyers."

Just like he was going to subpoena on the coup attempt. And nada. Don't trust any of them. The Senate trial will be a bigger fiasco than the House, only more "stately." They ALL want Trump gone.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at November 10, 2019 11:58 AM (H8QX8)

340 For me the difference between tragedy and comedy is that tragedy is easy as hell to write.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 10, 2019 11:58 AM (KZzsI)

341 After decades of contemplation, I came to conclude...

Oswald was actually trying to kill Connelly. He mostly missed.
Posted by: mindful webworker - conspiratorially at November 10, 2019 11:52 AM (ECLlc)

That was actually the point of departure from our universe on David Drake's novel Skyripper. (Skyripper also had Kurds assisting a resurgent Nazi party by the way)

Posted by: Kindltot at November 10, 2019 11:59 AM (1glZx)

342 Was right
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_the_Iron_Coast

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:59 AM (ZCEU2)

343 "Hamlet and Juliet"? The protagonist pretends to be insane to win his lady love?
Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 11:48 AM (3Z6pZ)

Worked for me when I was banging those pr0n starlets.

Posted by: Charlie Sheen at November 10, 2019 12:00 PM (+u+qV)

344 Remember the old joke that goes: "I know how to spell 'banana', I just don't know when to stop!"?

That right there is the problem with progressivism (and big government). Can't define the destination and even if they could, can't bring themselves to stop when they get there.

Progress - a limerick

A "progressive" old man known as Bernie
Became mayor of the small town of Kearney
He enactedTax and Spend
And when asked "When will it end?"
Said, "It's not the destination, it's the journey!"

Posted by: Muldoon at November 10, 2019 12:00 PM (m45I2)

345 I'm sure there's a lesson in all this somewhere.
Posted by: jhawk90 at November 10, 2019 11:47 AM (4UlPP)

Your pastor is a liberal douche?
Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 11:49 AM (U7k5w)
---------
I keep coming back to this conclusion, just wondering whether it's worth engaging. Can't believe he felt the need to qualify appreciation for veterans.

Posted by: jhawk90 at November 10, 2019 12:00 PM (4UlPP)

346 Cpt Obvious- There is a good movie in B&W of it.
Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 11:32 AM (ZCEU2)
-----
Really? Title?

-
There is also an episode of Great Raids on The History Channel about it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 10, 2019 12:01 PM (+y/Ru)

347 "

Posted by: Cosda at November 10, 2019 12:01 PM (HGyhI)

348 Frazer was one true Scotsman who disliked the British Empire. He admired Americans. His Mr American shows this

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 12:02 PM (OI8cY)

349 OM many kudos for engaging w the left. Any time I try to explain Ukraine election interference is not a "conspiracy" because Artem Syntyk was found guilty in UKR of that same crime, I'm called a racist or something. Plus, if they would look at the WH visitor logs, the WB met w Syntyk on 1/19/16. But, we're the tinfoil hat ppl.

Posted by: Ever at November 10, 2019 12:03 PM (ZZDMQ)

350 " the Rhine in Operation Varsity but then Patton more or less accidentally (by seeing an opportunity and taking advantage of it) stole his thunder by crossing first at Remagen. Monty must have been fit to be tied."
*******
First Army crossed at Remagen. Patton and Third Army crossed farther south.

Posted by: Cosda at November 10, 2019 12:03 PM (HGyhI)

351 Tragedy is my feeble attempts at comedy.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 10, 2019 12:03 PM (m45I2)

352 Today in church our pastor says before we start I want us to recognize our veterans here today but want to make sure you don't think this is some nationalistic statement because we here don't engage in that sort of thing or promote today's nasty political rhetoric, and that pretty much ruined the whole service for me.

I'm sure there's a lesson in all this somewhere.
Posted by: jhawk90 at November 10, 2019 11:47 AM (4UlPP)

Go to another church. Life is too short to put up with someone who thinks Mussolini invented gratitude.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 10, 2019 12:03 PM (LxTcq)

353 Yes, but sometimes they won't let go of the missing element. One of the guys I worked with who "had it all" tried killing himself when a very motivated friend was highly acclaimed and treated like a hero for a "breakthrough" in a different field. He's still alive and was able to get over his disappointment, but at the time he tried it seemed like an unlivable scenario for him.
Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 11:45 AM (U7k5w)

Fascinating look at how destructive Pride can be. Why should another person's good fortune be a source of such pain, except for Pride and Envy? Reality is that no matter how good you may think you are at something, there is always someone else who is bigger, better, badder, faster, smarter. But another part of reality is, so what? Do the best you can with what you got and don't worry about what anyone else does.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 12:03 PM (V2Yro)

354 New thread: Clarence Thomas.

Posted by: m at November 10, 2019 12:04 PM (vSb78)

355 But Fraser is so vicious toward everyone else, and every example of heroism and decency is either shown to be hypocrisy or an utter, idiotic failure that its hard for me to enjoy.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 10, 2019 11:57 AM (KZzsI)
----
I have to disagree. Perhaps you might try reading some of Fraser's other works, where his (and not Flashy's) opinions are to the fore.

When I was married, I read aloud to my wife. One of the books was "Flashman", and I was rather worried that she might not want to continue after some of Flashy's more despicable deeds (particularly his treatment of Judy and rape of Nareeman). To my surprise, she liked Flashy as a character, and I went on to read most, if not all, of the other novels to her.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at November 10, 2019 12:05 PM (3Z6pZ)

356 Tragedy is my feeble attempts at comedy.
Posted by: Muldoon at November 10, 2019 12:03 PM (m45I2)

Surely you jest

Posted by: runner at November 10, 2019 12:06 PM (zr5Kq)

357 I keep coming back to this conclusion, just wondering whether it's worth engaging. Can't believe he felt the need to qualify appreciation for veterans.
Posted by: jhawk90 at November 10, 2019 12:00 PM (4UlPP)

Is there enough about him and your congregation that you like to make his lapses into virtue signaling acceptable? For me the answer was "yes" until it got bad enough that we quit. Then we were told that they'd been fudging the numbers and a lot of families quit. Now they teeter on the brink of financial ruin. We were asked to remain. We left anyway but explained our objections. They really didn't grasp that their DNC worship and PC crap was toxic. Too late in my case, but maybe engaging would prevent a bigger problem.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 12:07 PM (U7k5w)

358 Graham previewed what he'd ask the Whistleblower when he gets to the Senate. Lots of specific reveals. He all but named him

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 12:07 PM (OI8cY)

359
never show you hand.
Posted by: CN

=======

There's that, but if you have five aces, you might convince the other guy to fold.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at November 10, 2019 12:07 PM (13CQC)

360 Finished "A Bridge Too Far" and "Monster Hunter Guardian" this week.

After reading "A Bridge Too Far," I now have a complete hatred for
Montgomery. That jackass sacrificed some of the finest fighting men the
British and American could field because of his monumental ego.

"Monster Hunter Guardian" is an excellent installment in the "Monster Hunter" series. Fun read.

Posted by: blake - are you DMV experienced?
at November 10, 2019 09:23 AM (WEBkv)

Monty
was an overrated general. He won in the desert because he had
overwhelming numerical superiority in everything and the Afrika Korps
was pretty much spent. The one time he tried to be a bit audacious and
it fell short of its goals. I did find this quote from Monty and I'm surprised that the Limeys haven't wiped his memory from existence:

He spoke out against the legalisation of homosexuality in the United Kingdom, arguing that the Sexual Offences Act 1967 was a "charter for buggery" and that "this sort of thing may be tolerated by the French, but we're British - thank God".

Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 10, 2019 12:07 PM (xItd4)

361 Finns are noted as big readers. Used to be,the average Finnish household would get 5 newspapers a day. My old man, born there, carried this on. Also, Mom and Dad made sure I was reading at a pretty good level before kindergarten. Used to be a little tradition for me to read for guests.

Posted by: bill in arkansas at November 10, 2019 12:07 PM (C1Lsn)

362 Finished the post-apocalyptic classic "Alas, Babylon" this week. Very believable and not too much Mad Max style mayhem. Would like to read others in this genre.

Posted by: FloridaMan at November 10, 2019 12:11 PM (cn91m)

363 But another part of reality is, so what? Do the best you can with what you got and don't worry about what anyone else does.
Posted by: Tom Servo at November 10, 2019 12:03 PM (V2Yro)

Seems obvious. Sometimes people accumulate and achieve in order to be celebrated. Then someone gets the admiration for what they perceive to be less. In this case the momentary shock this caused came close to fatal. He spent many days in the ICU before he came to the psych unit, and by then he was able to articulate the anger and loss he felt.

Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 12:14 PM (U7k5w)

364 Would like to read others in this genre.

Posted by: FloridaMan at November 10, 2019 12:11 PM

Lots of it out there. Are you looking for just post-nuke or other TEOTWAWKI scenarios?

Posted by: Bert G at November 10, 2019 12:15 PM (OMsf+)

365 358 Graham previewed what he'd ask the Whistleblower when he gets to the Senate. Lots of specific reveals. He all but named him

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 10, 2019 12:07 PM (OI8cY)

If I were Trump, I'd publicly say, "You know, the first question that Graham should ask the whistleblower should be 'Is your name Eric Ciaramella'" and then laugh as the media and the Dems shriek and run around with their hair on fire.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at November 10, 2019 12:21 PM (+u+qV)

366 Attack on the Iron coast
https://youtu.be/0Y4MYBWs-9A

Posted by: Skip at November 10, 2019 12:22 PM (ZCEU2)

367 They really didn't grasp that their DNC worship and PC crap was toxic. Too late in my case, but maybe engaging would prevent a bigger problem.
Posted by: CN at November 10, 2019 12:07 PM (U7k5w)
-------
Well we are in MN so...we've always appreciated the attempt to stay down the middle, today just really struck me - but up here vets and military personnel are a bit more rare. They don't know how to deal with them.

Funny you should mention it though, thanks for sharing your experiences - today was the money/tithing sermon lol.

Posted by: jhawk90 at November 10, 2019 12:25 PM (4UlPP)

368
Graham previewed what he'd ask the Whistleblower when he gets to the Senate. Lots of specific reveals. He all but named him
Posted by: Ignoramus

========

Cool. I missed that. (lol) and Nancy's still proceeding? What can I say, she's politically suicidal.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at November 10, 2019 12:26 PM (13CQC)

369 Yep, glanced at the thread before church -- three comments.

This should be No. 362.

That aside --

I'm about to say goodbye for now to Perry Mason and his friends. I love Gardner's plotting. Also enjoyable are the little asides that help flesh out Mason -- his favorite restaurants, his references to his hunting trips, things like that.

I doubt that Gardner had any overall plan for Mason; he just threw things in at random. He was a mystery writer, and it did him well. Cue the lyric from "Make 'Em Laugh" -- "... charm all the critics but have nothing to eat."

Do current series writers consider fandom and continuity from the start, or does that come into play only after a series gains traction? It seems that could be wasted effort if the first book flops, but obsessive people, me included, would be more pleased when we come upon an unfamiliar series and become engulfed in its world.

Just another headache for writers. Glad I'm not among them.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 10, 2019 12:33 PM (PWPy3)

370 I started listening to "The Silmarillion" on CD.
...
Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 10:10 AM (bmdz3)

Who's the narrator?

Posted by: gingeroni at November 10, 2019 12:35 PM (/XPvv)

371 Four Hours of Fury about the last airdrop in WWII and operation Varsity the guy Who killed Bin Laden gave it a really good review.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at November 10, 2019 12:35 PM (dKiJG)

372 Just bought Libbys book- the Look Inside was enough to show me I'll like it.....

Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at November 10, 2019 12:35 PM (5AVMW)

373 370 ... Martin Shaw did the narration for The Simarillion and the audio vesion of The Hobbit. But not the LOTR.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 12:52 PM (bmdz3)

374 288 ... Captain Obvious,

Thanks for the suggestion about Richard Armour golf book. It sounds like a fun read. I'll have to check out his other humor books as well.

Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 12:56 PM (bmdz3)

375 Richard Hofstader - Some while back, I recall posting a quote from him. My ego was boosted when Ace hisself followed with a comment that he had been planning on looking into Hofstader.

At any rate, here are some quotes, most of which are highly relevant to our times:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yz3woawu

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 01:00 PM (sHVgQ)

376 "Anti-intellectualism ... has been present in some form and degree in most societies; in one it takes the form of the administering of hemlock, in another of town-and-gown riots, in another of censorship and regimentation, in still another, of Congressional investigations." -- Richard Hofstadter

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 01:05 PM (sHVgQ)

377 A friend, and ex-Infantry officer, recommended this to me this morning, pointing out that he had tramped the same territory. Has any one read it?

'Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina'

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 01:08 PM (sHVgQ)

378
Cool. I missed that. (lol) and Nancy's still proceeding? What can I say, she's politically suicidal.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia
---------
Nancy, et al, have allowed (if not nurtured) a smoldering ember to become a fire, and now they cannot control it. One hopes against hope that she and her fellow travelers will be the ones consumed, but at best, it would seem that the rest of the nation may be drawn into the conflagration.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 01:12 PM (sHVgQ)

379 373 370 ... Martin Shaw did the narration for The Simarillion and the audio vesion of The Hobbit. But not the LOTR.
Posted by: JTB at November 10, 2019 12:52 PM (bmdz3)

Thanks! It's on my wishlist now.

Posted by: gingeroni at November 10, 2019 01:18 PM (/XPvv)

380 Re Richard Hofstadter: it's good to get some recommendations from "Progressives" but be warned that Hofstadter was one of the "public intellectuals" so beloved of the Establishment and main street media of the time. To the extent he is known now it may be because of an essay published in 1965 or so called "The Paranoid Style in American Politics." Written in the wake of Barry Goldwater's 1964 insurgency and presidential run, it dismisses his supporters and the parts of the country from which they came as a fever swamp of bigots and conspiracy addicts standing in the way of "progress." It is a foretaste of the scathing contempt that Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) have for Trump supporters.

The Age of Reform is not as tendentious and is one look at an era in American politics when 20th Century progressive politics was being formed and then in full flourish. It is not a waste of time to read it; just be aware of where Hofstadter is coming from if you read it.P.S. The Sunday BookThread is my favorite part of weekend Ace. Please keep up the good work.

Posted by: jamesmadison501 at November 10, 2019 01:44 PM (zd6n9)

381 Thanks greatly for the plug, though I'm not sure I'd call myself a "conservative". Certainly not "big C Conservative," more small "l" "libertarian," but I digress. Quick poll, responding in the thread here or at my web site (thestarscameback dot com).

My original story, "The Stars Came Back," was in modified screenplay format, and it's available on the kindle that way. I also rewrote it in prose format, but because of the size of it it was broken into two halves and the first half was released in both print and Kindle as "Back from the Dead." For reasons I won't go into, the rewritten prose second half was not released in either print or kindle. I have the sequel to the whole TSCB story written, titled "Insanity's Children," just working on cover art.

So, would folks prefer I work on releasing the prose second half of TSCB next, or "Insanity's Children" next?

Related note: for those who have read the whole screenplay TSCB story, what would you title the second half?

Posted by: Rolf Nelson at November 10, 2019 01:54 PM (ZzfNw)

382 Read "The Passage". Author too impressed with his own peose, took way too long to get anywhere, first book could have easily been 1/3 the length. Didn't bother with the restvof the trilogy.

Just for comparision, I slogged my way through Neal Stephenson's "Anathem", which was a bear of a novel. But the end more thappn made up for it and in the end I did mot consider a word wasted

Posted by: West at November 10, 2019 02:09 PM (7m7/V)

383 NeonRevolt is one of Alex Jones' pupils. The dude is a fraud, and just like Jones, a rabid lunatic. People say Q is a LARP or Deep State propaganda. Fair enough, but NR's website is full of insane stuff.

I used to check out his website once in a while for entertainment purposes. I stopped doing it when he came up with his "kiddie rape" road maps. Urgh.

I can't believe somebody published his crap. It's rich that the book is supposed to be about Q, considering NR bashed Q when Q's posts exposed Alex Jones as a fraud.

Posted by: MuhNo at November 10, 2019 03:10 PM (2Cm6i)

384 Kindltot @341, Actually, the book you are thinking of is "Fortress" (1987) David Drake's second Tom Kelly novel. As you said it is set in an alternate history where Gov. Connelly was shot but JFK survived. In this story, Kelly is a veteran of the war started by America's early '60s intervention in Lebanon.

"Skyripper" (1983) was Drake's first Tom Kelly novel. It was a near contemporary thriller with Kelly as a Vietnam vet and former NSA agent who is recruited to manage the defection of a top Soviet scientist who has made a critical break through.

Both good reads as pretty much everything by Drake is.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at November 10, 2019 04:42 PM (iuRR5)

385 Someone upthread recommended "McAuslan in the Rough" as a great comic golf story. I would like to strongly recommend "The Complete McAuslan" ($11.99 on Kindle). This collects all three volumes of the series ("The General Danced at Dawn", "McAuslan in the Rough" and "The Sheikh and the Dustbin").

These are great stories based on Fraser's experience as a young officer just after WW II. Interestingly enough, McAuslan is a classic example of a minor character who comes to dominate the series. I once counted (sadly I do not have my notes on this to hand) and, IIRC, McAuslan (AKA "The Dirtiest Soldier in the World" or "The Tartan Caliban") does not appear at all in in a third of the stories, is a secondary character in some others and is a primary character in perhaps 40%. Nevertheless, the series is now usually referred to as "...McAuslan stories" Most of these stories are very funny, several are quite moving and all of them are clearly written from first hand experience.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at November 10, 2019 05:03 PM (iuRR5)

386 I'm with MuhNo on this one. I called out Q as LARP over a year ago and Alex Jones as a grade-A nutbar, over a DECADE ago. I don't even want to touch NeonRevolt.

Not to say they should be "de-platformed"; I'm fine with them being public loonies, as long as we know to ignore them. Like we ignore Glen Beck.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at November 10, 2019 05:31 PM (ykYG2)

387 btw, on further reading of Arenas' "The Fell Fete"... I'm downgrading that one to "C" in present form. There are perhaps-fatal problems which I've recently brought to the editor's attention.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at November 10, 2019 05:38 PM (ykYG2)

388 383 and 386; Neon and Q: maybe, maybe not. Time will tell. Yes, his stories sound like complete lunacy.... until you try to explain the observed behavior of many politicians and business leaders in any other way. The "elites" are either stupid, morons (in the non-AofSHQ way), or evil, and they are most demonstrably NOT working for the betterment of their respective nations' people or long-term health of their companies. Ergo, Occam's razor. Copernicus was a loon, too, but his heliocentric model explained the movement of things much better than all the epicycles everyone else had to introduce.

Posted by: Rolf Nelson at November 10, 2019 05:46 PM (ZzfNw)

389 Progressives (and rightists) should read everything Eugene Lyons. Eugene Lyons was very much a socialist - and for a number of years a Soviet apologist - he later came to loath Stalinism (only after kowtowing to Stalin.)

Lyons went on to author a whole series of anti-Soviet books but he seems to have never shook the socialism bug.

Head over to Archive.org and search Eugene Lyons or his first book Assignment in Utopia.

Posted by: review at November 10, 2019 05:58 PM (K3B2k)

390

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Posted by: NeverMind at November 10, 2019 06:05 PM (17+9D)

391 NeverMind - Rather a spectacular way to go out. Does the word 'Irony' mean anything to you?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 06:44 PM (sHVgQ)

392 oh well, whatever -

Posted by: the barrel at November 10, 2019 06:51 PM (ykYG2)

393 NeverMind - Rather a spectacular way to go out. Does the word 'Irony' mean anything to you?
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 06:44 PM (sHVgQ)

Perfect.

Posted by: weirdflunky at November 10, 2019 06:55 PM (cknjq)

394 NeverMind - Rather a spectacular way to go out. Does the word 'Irony' mean anything to you?
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 06:44 PM (sHVgQ)

Perfect.

Posted by: weirdflunky
---

We endeavor to provide satisfactory service.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 10, 2019 06:58 PM (sHVgQ)

395

Who Dis: KNICKERLESS WENCH reading Bonds' discarded porn. OR Anita Hill using pubic hair for marker.

Posted by: saf at November 10, 2019 07:01 PM (5IHGB)

396
There's no place for snogging or groping in that cold book store in a country that has 10 months of long nights...Brrrrr.The Finns have 23,457 words for "Brass Monkeys"
Half the books are on Central Heating repairs.......and genital uncoupling,

Posted by: saf at November 10, 2019 07:18 PM (5IHGB)

397 For those talking about Market Garden. 75th remembrance.

Massed Pipes and Drums Marching Over John Frost Bridge Arnhem.

https://tinyurl.com/rglgvqd

Posted by: Monty at November 10, 2019 07:27 PM (K3B2k)

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Posted by: Isiah fred at November 10, 2019 10:24 PM (Yd+10)

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