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Sunday Morning Book Thread 10-23-2016: [OregonMuse]

Favley Memorial Library, Villanova University 3_525.jpgDugan Polk Family Reading Room, Favley Memorial Library, Villanova University


Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. Welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, where men are men, all the 'ettes are gorgeous, safe spaces are underneath your house and are used as protection against actual dangers, like tornados, hurricanes, IRS audits, and getting caught in the path between Hillary! and giant bags of cash, and special snowflakes can't stand the heat. And unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these awful things. And WTH are they supposed to be, accordion pants? These are the worst pants I've ever seen. If you can find uglier pants, send me the link and I'll use it. Ugh.


Note on Today's Library Pic

This was a submission from longtime moron 'Skip' and what you're seeing is the finished product of a restoration project that he worked on himself. Skip writes:

I worked on about 1/2 the ceiling along with large crew. But the ground area is where I did most of the work, the window sills, baseboard and mid point crown moulding just another guy and me did. The handrail woodwork and underneath woodwork of the railings as well as doors with exception of the single door leading into the library stacks I did myself.

And that painting on the upper left is a 17th-century work by Pietro Berretini (Pietro da Cortona) titled The Triumph of David that measures 12-by-19 feet. It shows David bringing back the sword of Goliath, whom he has just killed, to King Saul. This painting itself has been restored, and I found an article about the restoration efforts here.


Pop Quiz

OK all you 'rons and 'ettes, what do these words have in common?

In alphabetical order, they are: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

(Answer below the fold)

Nobel Prize

There's a brouhaha over the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded to Bob Dylan, "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". Meh. I can't get too worked up over it. Poets have won it before, so awarding the prize to a musician who's been writing song lyrics for over 50 years isn't that big of a stretch. I mean, at least they didn't give it to Barak Obama.

You know who's got their panties all in a wad about it, though? Why, the commies at The Guardian, of course:

Giving the award to any white male writer, no matter what form he writes in, is in no way innovative or inspired. It is simply a return to the status quo – albeit in a different genre.
...

Dylan wins his Nobel in the same year that the prize is not awarded to any women across any of its fields, which seems hardly believable. But what is particularly frustrating about Dylan’s win is that it is being packaged as revolutionary, as a means of breaking from tradition, when it is anything but.

Giving the award to yet another white, distinguished male over more qualified women is exactly the status quo. It proves, once again, how the times just aren’t a-changin’...

Shorter Guardian:

crying baby.jpg


Actually, I'm old enough to remember when Dylan was considered to be a big-time revolutionary, you know, bringing an electric guitar to the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, that sort of thing. He was at the front of the vanguard of the 1960s social revolution. But now we're being told he's just a status quo guy, like your boring old, suit-and-tie wearing, working 9-to-5 all week and mow the lawn on Saturday dad. How times have changed.


The Illustrated FAB

What, you say you want an illustrated children's book extolling all the many glorious virtues of Hillary Clinton? OK, then, here you go: Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead. No, no, please. You can thank me later.

In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious. Even though, deep inside, they may have felt that way. And then along came Hillary. Brave, brilliant, and unstoppable, she was out to change the world. They said a woman couldn't be a mother and a lawyer. Hillary was both. They said a woman shouldn't be too strong or too smart. Hillary was fearlessly. It didn't matter what people said, she was born to lead.

That's right, kids, Hillary is Born. To. Lead.

It's funny to see that out of the 100+ reviews on Amazon, they're either 5-star or 1-star. There's hardly anything in between. And if you click over there, you'll probably see some other books devoted to Hillary hagiography, so if you have high BP or a delicate stomach, I suggest you stay here.

Of course, those sourpusses over at NRO didn't like it very much:

It would be hard to write a fair and compelling children’s storybook about Hillary Clinton. Most of her many scandals are unfit for children. Her struggles are largely symbolic, against abstract obstacles such as expectations or criticism, and her actual accomplishments are few. We keep hearing that this woman is the most qualified presidential candidate of our lifetimes, and yet, try as it might, Some Girls Are Born to Lead can’t quite hide the fact that her life story isn’t much of a story at all.

Geraghty's piece is actually a serious, snark-free (almost) analysis of this children's book. I'm not sure it deserved it. Can't we just throw up and move on?


Bon Appétit

Thanks to moron 'josephistan' for linking, in a thread earlier this week, to these restaurant menus replete with hilariously fractured attempts at English, or Engrish as it's sometimes called) and some of them are so loony, I suspect photoshop. I mean, come on, "Steamed Red Crap With Ginger"? That has to be fake. And "Cowboy Leg Beautiful Pole"? I don't even want to know what that is, let alone put it in my mouth.

Actually, there's not much on these menus I'd want to put it my mouth.


Books By Morons

Moron lurker Gunnar Grey tells me that his Moronette lurker Gunnar Grey tells me that her little publishing company, Dingbat Publishing, has released a right-wing military science fiction novel back in in August. You know it must be doing something right because it's getting one- and two-star reviews from lefty whiners.

The title is Standing the Final Watch, by William Alan Webb, and it's the first of a series.

Lt. General Nick Angriff has spent his adult life protecting family and country from a world of terrorism spinning out of control...But when a terror attack on Lake Tahoe kills his family, he’s left with only the corrosive acid of revenge… that is, until a hated superior officer reveals the deepest of all secret operations. Against the day of national collapse, a heavily-armed military unit rests in cryogenic storage, to be awakened when needed, and Angriff is named its commander.

Fifty years later he wakes to find the USA destroyed and predatory warlords roaming the ruins. Stalked by assassins bent on seizing his command for their own purposes, Angriff has to prepare for war while avoiding murder.


Kindle price is $2.99.


___________

Thanks to moron Sutton Hoo for alerting me in last week's thread that moronette lurker artemis has a new novel out, Murder in Containment, the fourth in her 'Doyle and Acton' murder mystery series. In this installment,

Detective Sergeant Kathleen Doyle realizes that several apparently unrelated murders are actually "containment" murders--murders to contain an ominous scandal that could reach into the highest levels of Scotland Yard's CID. In the process of tracking down the killers, however, she comes to the unsettling realization that Chief Inspector Acton has committed a containment murder or two of his own.

Start with Murder in Thrall if you haven't read this series.


___________

Adam Piggott is a longtime moron lurker from Down Under who, for the past 20 years, has lived and worked all over the world as a rafting guide. Some of his many adventures are recounted in his book Pushing Rubber Downhill: A journey to Manhood Via Whitewater Adventures:

Always order a witchdoctor from the eastern part of Uganda if you want to get the best results, a predicament that Adam Piggott was not expecting to find himself in when he accepted a job as a rafting guide in deepest darkest Africa. But the unexpected is the new normal when he chucks away his life to ride across Australia on a motorbike chasing a girl, and in the process winds up in situations that he never imagined.

Mr. Piggott also brags of his vast book collection going back many years, and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf a friend once designed and built for him. I say, pics, or it didn't happen. And I can probably display one of the pics on the book thread.


___________

The Kindle version of longtime moron author Chris Taylor's latest novel, Life Unworthy, is currently selling at the reduced price of $1.99.

Moron 'cool breeze' reminded me to remind you that this is the November selection for the Horde group read and that there is a discussion thread for it on the goodreads group for those who are interested. Which I can't link to, because you need to be a member to participate.

It's also available in paperback.


Pop Quiz Answer

These words, and only these words, appear in the Dr. Suess book Green Eggs and Ham. The position of the words "green" and "ham" appearing right next to each other in the list was a serendipitous hint.

And according to this article, the book was the result of a bet:

“In the right hands, the most ordinary things can take on extraordinary meanings. “The Cat in the Hat” came about when Dr Seuss was asked by William Ellsworth Spaulding, Houghton Mifflin’s education director, to compose a text for six-year-olds using a lexicon of only the 348 words they should developmentally know.“The Cat in the Hat” uses 223 words that are on the list and 13 that are not.It had sold more than 10.5 million copies by 2007.Random House publisher Bennett Cerf then bet Seuss $50 he couldn’t do a book in just 50 words. The result was “Green Eggs and Ham,” one of the weirdest, most delightful books around.”

The more you know...


___________

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

___________

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

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

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:59 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good morning.

Posted by: HH at October 23, 2016 08:57 AM (DrCtv)

2 Been re-working David Weber most of this week. Working on the Empire From The Ashes series now.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 08:57 AM (mpXpK)

3 Tolle lege! Tolle lege !

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 08:57 AM (sWbjH)

4 My comment is on the material mural behind where I took the picture from. Its a quote from St Augustine.

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 09:00 AM (sWbjH)

5 After finishing A Sea of Words by Dean King I'm back to Desolation Island the next Aubrey/Maturin novel.

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 09:02 AM (sWbjH)

6 In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious.


Tell that to the woman who basically was responsible for setting up the Navy's first computer. There are so many famous women in the sciences and industry it is pathetic. But in the 50s most everyday women were glad to get out of the factories and go back to being "moms". A lot stayed out there but most did go back. And they did it because they wanted to.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 09:05 AM (mpXpK)

7 Working on "Wet Britches and Muddy Boots" - a comprehensive history of methods of travel (in all forms!) in 19th century America. Enjoying it very much, as an overall survey.
Interesting nugget of information - mules were very much favored for pulling streetcars in Southern cities, because they were tough, not as high-maintenance as horses ... and because they could be potty-trained. Which kept the streets in cities where they were used much less noisome.

Off to spend the day at a market event in Johnson City! Hope for lots of sales ...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at October 23, 2016 09:07 AM (xnmPy)

8 Green Eggs and Ham?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 09:08 AM (eMnol)

9 I spent four years at Villanova, I've never seen that room.

Posted by: lost my cookies at October 23, 2016 09:08 AM (nMmK1)

10 Beautiful craftsmanship, Skip!

Posted by: RondinellaMamma at October 23, 2016 09:09 AM (oQQwD)

11 Good morning my Fellow Book People.

I hit a string of books on nature dealing with bird intelligence, trees, and the impact of white settlement on the ecology of New England. All of them managed both to discourage my trust in 'science' (or at least in scientists) and piss me off. I have no problem accepting that birds have greater cognitive abilities, in their avian ways, than most believe. I don't need the required ongoing, snippy, denigrating remarks hinting that humans aren't so great by comparison. The way trees interact with each other in an ecosystem is of interest. Talking about parent trees caring for younger ones takes away some of the trust I have in the research. (I thought the authors were going to describe older trees cuddling and nursing the seedlings.) This is fine if I'm reading about Ents or watching a Disney cartoon. Not otherwise. And I am really tired of the evil, capitalist white people disrupting the paradise enjoyed by the New England tribes. The first quote in the book was from Marx and Engels. That should have been a clue. At least these were library books so there was no cost.

To get the bad taste out of my mouth and brain, I reread "A Reverence For Wood' by Eric Sloane. I've enjoyed its combination of history and folk lore for many years. If you have any interest in the properties of certain woods and how they were used over the centuries, this is the book for you.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:11 AM (V+03K)

12 Yay book thread!

Lovely room, Skip!

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:11 AM (Om16U)

13 That library did exist while I was there too, just saying. Coincidentally, they just sent a nice letter asking for money.

Posted by: lost my cookies at October 23, 2016 09:13 AM (nMmK1)

14 When I go out and about the people I see more and more lately look like Dr. Seuss characters with man buns, green or purple hair and odd things sticking here and there out of God knows where.

Plus, Bob Dylan is just an old ham and egger....

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 23, 2016 09:13 AM (ej1L0)

15 Skip, that is some fine workmanship.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:13 AM (V+03K)

16 Still working on the room off to the left, it will be another reading rm.
The great thing for the sudents ( you can go to the library blog) is there are very numerous outlets (which was lacking before)and the library's routers can literally take 1000 portable devices.

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 09:15 AM (sWbjH)

17 "It didn't matter what people said, she was born to lead."
-------

Leadership, and other personal traits and strengths, simply are. They insist upon themselves and do not require that someone assert that they are.

Such mewlings are defensive of those who have not such qualities.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 09:16 AM (eMnol)

18 I finished reading Brandon Sanderson's first novel, "Elantris" this week. It was ok. Most of the characters, especially the bad guys, could have used a bit more devopment. Magic system was interesting but, again, needed more explanation.

Posted by: Tuna at October 23, 2016 09:17 AM (JSovD)

19 I read the excellent novel 1906 by James Dalessandro. Previously mentioned here, the novel begins on Easter Sunday, 1906, three days before the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. The story is about the political corruption in SF and a federal prosecutor with a group of clean cops and civic leaders who are about to arrest and indite the mayor, police chief, most of the city supervisors, and the political boss of the city when the earthquake hits. The story is told through the eyes of Annalisa Passerelli, a young society reporter who is the mole in the organization of the political boss. The story is loosely based on facts, but the descriptions of the earthquake and subsequent three-day fire are as they happened. An excellent read.

Posted by: Zoltan at October 23, 2016 09:17 AM (JYer2)

20 Went and saw the new Tom Cruise movie "Never Go Back" based on the Reacher novel of that name. It was enjoyable enough. My problem is contrasting the movie with the book while I watch and there's no value in that endeavor. Of course there was little resemblance between the two.

Posted by: sawhorse at October 23, 2016 09:18 AM (JIz7y)

21 Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 09:16 AM (eMnol)


If you have to tell people you're a leader.....you ain't.

Posted by: BignJames at October 23, 2016 09:20 AM (x9c8r)

22 Some other things, the ceiling and wall behind are covered with a cloth material as opposed to wallpaper. And there are wall sconces to go on the columns that will be of same design as the ceiling but are still being made.

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 09:20 AM (sWbjH)

23 I still remember when Dylan went with an electric guitar the reaction at the Newport Folk Festival was insane. He was accused of Betraying The Cause. (Whatever 'the cause' might have been.) The furor didn't die down for a few weeks. I can only assume it was the New York/Greenwich Village crowd taking umbrage. Most locals didn't give a damn except to be amused at all the noise.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:20 AM (V+03K)

24 Good Morning Horde! Thanks for giving me a hat tip there, OM. I can assure you that the "Cowboy Leg Beautiful Pole" is not photoshop. It was part of a larger, even more baffling menu that was posted online some 10 years ago but has since been taken down. Thankfully I printed the page out - the menu also features such treats as "Bargain Item - Burn the Spring Chicken!", "Good to eat mountain", "Ginger bumping milk (hot)" & my favorite "Man Fruit braises the north almond."

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:20 AM (7qAYi)

25 Well into reading book three of the Aubrey-Maturin series in hard copy (not having a set timetable I am reading slowly and carefully) and am continually amazed at the incredible detail O'Brian puts into the descriptions of almost everything.

Still missing five of the books but I have time to search for them which is a bit of fun in itself!

Posted by: Hrothgar at October 23, 2016 09:21 AM (wCEn4)

26 I started Chesterton's "The Victorian Age in Literature". This is the first of the 'academic' books of his I've read besides "The Everlasting Man". Interesting and entertaining so far. It reminds me of a gentle version of Mark Twain's criticism of James Fenimore Cooper, which is acerbic, funny as hell and with which I agree. (Reading "Last of the Mohicans" many years ago killed my interest in Cooper.) If Chesterton's other writings are this good, I have a lot of excellent reading to look forward to.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:24 AM (V+03K)

27 I went to the monthly warehouse sale at local used book store Harvest Books & actually got to meet a moron! I was looking through some books & the owner called out "Hey Joe" & the guy standing next to me said "Josephistan?" I looked at him & said "What?" He replied "I was hoping I'd meet the Moron who introduced me to this place." I replied "I am indeed that Moron." Nice guy, a lurker whom I hope becomes a poster.

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:26 AM (7qAYi)

28 "Patrick Graham never believed or said or ate or drank or wore or displayed anything for any other purpose than to be admired by the best people. By this he meant conscientious objectors to capitalism and liberal democracy like himself who had been made rich by a system they despised. He loved the people but lived in Georgetown in an imposing Federal house filled with the works of fashionable artists living and dead and owned a weatherbeaten twenty-room summer 'cottage' on Chipmunk Island off the coast of Maine. He played tennis on the White House courts, always using a Head Genesis racquet, and golf at Burning Tree with Ping Eye II clubs. He owned two of the largest and most powerful German automobiles that US dollars could buy, dressed (when not on camera) in three-thousand-dollar suits tailored in Savile Row, ate only organically raised vegetables and meat from animals that had been fed natural fodder and humanely slaughtered, and now that California wines were admired by connoisseurs, drank nothing but undiluted chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons from small coastal vineyards, open to the Pacific winds, whose appellations were know only to the cognoscenti. He liked to see Republicans lose elections and Communist insurgents win wars of liberation; he gave all leftists the benefit of every possible doubt and greeted each new Soviet dictator as a possible Messiah. Broadcasting from Moscow after the death of Leonid Brezhnev, he had described his successor, Yuri V. Andropov, the sometime head of the KGB who had been the Kremlin's ambassador to Hungary during the popular uprising against Communist rule, as 'the savior of Budapest.' During the Vietnam War he had escaped the draft by pursuing a graduate degree in political science at Yale University. He joined the antiwar movement, waved a Vietcong flag in marches for peace, and hoped in his heart that the enemy would win and thus demonstrate the hollowness of American ideas and life. He made a name for himself early as a journalist by tracking down the semi-literate black amputee who had been drafted in his place (and blown up by a mine in the Mekong delta) and interviewed him on national television as an example of the injustice imposed upon the wretched by a heartless Establishment. He spent eleven days in Vietnam preparing this broadcast and afterward hung photographs of himself in full war correspondent costume, Army fatigues and Australian bush hat, on the wall of his office; for a year or so after his return from the war zone he habitually shook hands with his left hand and smiled enigmatically when asked what was wrong with his right. Now that the Vietnam War was over he had the same sentimental admiration for terrorists as he had formerly had for Vietcong guerrillas. As intellectual fashion made it desirable to become an 'anti-Zionist,' he believed as a matter of faith that Palestinians were helpless in the grip of their history but Jews had no right to mention theirs."

- Charles McCarry, "Second Sight"

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at October 23, 2016 09:26 AM (J8/9G)

29 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am interested in the period.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (V+03K)

30 6 In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious.

--------

So being a mother, wife & homemaker doesn't require any intelligence or strength?

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (7qAYi)

31 Currently listening to "Starship Troopers". Geez, the narrator is putting me to sleep. It is definitely off my exercise motivating rotation. Can't be falling off the rowing machine in a dead snooze. I'll probably finish listening in the car on the way home from work.

Posted by: Tuna at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (JSovD)

32 I knew that that was Green Eggs and Ham and I knew about the bet.

Ted Geisel was amazing.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (mgbwf)

33 I loved green eggs and ham as a child, but when I read it to my two year old grandson he just looked at me like I was crazy. He would point at the weird trees or other fantastical things and ask, "what is that?" He loved books about real things. His favorite was a book about transportation and he wanted to hear about how the cargo ships brought containers across the ocean that ere then out on trucks and trains to take them to the cities so their contents child be bright to the stores where we child buy them. At 9, he still prefers non fiction to fiction. He thought green eggs and ham was just a very silly story.

Posted by: Auntie Doodles at October 23, 2016 09:28 AM (VnNi7)

34 I was reading the local paper about how in Greensboro NC a 16 year old shot and killed a 51 year old security guard to take his gun. After his arrest it was reported that he is shocked to learn that he might face the death penalty.
I will be rereading Starship Troopers which has an underlying theme of actions and consequences.

Posted by: Picric at October 23, 2016 09:28 AM (s0VSd)

35 Cowboy Leg Beautiful Pole?

Czech, please!

Posted by: cool breeze at October 23, 2016 09:29 AM (StZrq)

36 I am reading ette Sabrina Chase' s Last Mage Guardian which is one of the 12 books in the Light in Darkness set.
I am enjoying it a lot . It's seems to be a fantasy of manners set in a Victorian like world. I like this subgenre a lot.

I posted about it, and about several other horde books, this week. (Link in nic to blog, scroll down see)

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:29 AM (Om16U)

37 13 - It was a total restoration, the only thing not replaced was from the mid point crown moulding on wall the painting is on and either side of the end window. The ceiling was stripped to the steel and totally re built. Windows are all new.

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 09:30 AM (sWbjH)

38 In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious.

--
Paging Rosie the Riveter

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:30 AM (Om16U)

39 Skip, kid the elder applied to Villanova mainly because it's such a beautiful campus. But she wasn't offered a scholarship, so no va.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:32 AM (Om16U)

40 35 Cowboy Leg Beautiful Pole?

Czech, please!
Posted by: cool breeze at October 23, 2016 09:29 AM (StZrq)

Even nice normal commenters are doing the puns now.
I blame Muldoon.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:33 AM (Om16U)

41 25 ... Hrothgar,

You might try McKay's Used Books in Manassas for the Aubrey books. I got most of my O'Brian books there but am also missing 4 or 5 of them, mostly the last five.

Have to agree about having hardcopies of his stories. Actually holding the books seems more appropriate than e-versions. And as Skip and I learned, Dean King's "A Sea of Words" is a huge help in understanding the sailing and cultural terms O'Brian used. Besides, It is just fun reading on its own.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:36 AM (V+03K)

42 Been listening to the TTS of Robinson Crusoe because of watching (hilariously awful) animated movie recently. The book is not at all as I expected since along with the adventure and humor is the story of personal redemption through Christ laid out explicitly.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at October 23, 2016 09:36 AM (GDulk)

43 On Tuchman generally: I'm told "Guns of August" is *not* the book to learn about the origins of the Great War.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:36 AM (6FqZa)

44 Standing the Final Watch is my kind of book. A-Team meets Mac Bolan meets zombie apocalypse...for $2.99! Woot!

Posted by: exdem13 at October 23, 2016 09:37 AM (ry4ab)

45 More on WW1 -

I enjoyed Max Hastings' "Catastrophe", but it suffers from opinionitis. Hastings is a Brit and pins it all on the Kaiser. Uh, no. See two books that he didn't read (and his NYT reviewer Max Boot didn't read), "The Sleepwalkers" and "July 1914": http://tinyurl.com/bujdlhg.

Also I was annoyed with Hastings second-guessing the German and French manoeuvrings on the Western Front. This is easy for him now, but during the Fog Of War people make the decisions they can with the information they have. I do agree with him that the Brits' general over there was useless at first.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:37 AM (6FqZa)

46 I started The Better Angels by Charles McCarry based on recs here and so far, I'm not sure. I've already lost track of the characters, because the requisite family history chapter dragged on far too long. And I'm fully prepared to detest the reporter/news anchor? I'm not sure any more, simply because the description of him so far seems to have "saint" written all over it. But I don't remember his name. Oy.

And I am reading "Evidence Dismissed" by the lead detectives (and a professional writer) on the OJ Simpson trial. So far, they have managed to make descriptions of the location of blood drops more interesting that the Charles McCarry novel.

And I started Hillbilly Elegy. The writing, at least, is good, literate at least. And I expect I will enjoy it. We are Scots-Irish on Daddy's side although from the Smokey Mountains, not eastern Kentucky. And there has been a boatload of family misery, so I have that in common with Vance.

Posted by: Tonestaple at October 23, 2016 09:38 AM (uAU0q)

47 Meh. Dr Seuss wasn't even his real name.

Posted by: Mark Twain at October 23, 2016 09:39 AM (o9vm9)

48 So the books I wound up getting at the book sale were
"Pirates & Outlaws of Canada - 1610-1932" by Harold Horwood & Ed Butts (who doesn't want to read about Canadian pirates?)
"Burn the Town & Sack The Banks" by Cathryn Prince, about the Confederate raid on St. Albans, Vermont
"The Shadow Warriors: OSS & the origins of the CIA" by Bradley Smith
"The Phony War 1939-1940" by Tom Scachtman, and
"The Zimmermann Telegram" by Barbara Tuchman, about the espionage & infamous telegram between Mexico & Germany that led to our entry into WWI

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:40 AM (7qAYi)

49 "Starship Troopers" is full of Heinlein's speeches about politics and military organisation, which read pretty well when you're full of coffee (in a library, say), less well when you're trying to keep your energy up without coffee.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:40 AM (6FqZa)

50 We went to a B&N yesterday to browse. I think I am going to buy a human anatomy coloring book.for kid the younger. She's been musing about nursing for several months now.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:41 AM (Om16U)

51 Oh, and I bought a book about Wellington in India which I already had. i'm going to see if I can exchange it today.

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:42 AM (7qAYi)

52 30 6 In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious.

--------

So being a mother, wife & homemaker doesn't require any intelligence or strength?
Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (7qAYi)
---------------

You are a wonderful man.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 09:42 AM (uHcnA)

53 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am interested in the period.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (V+03K)


Long ago and far away, I read Tuchman's "ADM" and liked it very much.

So much that after i read "ADM", I went straight to her other popular book "The Guns of August".

She writes well and in a popular history vein that sort of leads you by the nose to the conclusions she draws.


Lots of interesting stuff in "ADM" but I gather that other historians have a lot of issues with both ADM and TGOA.

And what they say may be true, but as a "popular history" read it's hard to fault either book.

Posted by: H D Woodard - "Wearing the Cat - Part Four: The Black Room" at October 23, 2016 09:42 AM (9q7Dl)

54 Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:40 AM (6FqZa)

One of the reasons I can't do audio books is that I skim a lot of boring parts.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:42 AM (Om16U)

55 I heard the Hope Solo Anatomy Coloring Book didn't sell.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:42 AM (6FqZa)

56 On Tuchman generally: I'm told "Guns of August" is *not* the book to learn about the origins of the Great War.

I read "Guns of August" and quite liked it, but I have seen it criticized around here.

A much less scholarly appraisal is "If WWI were a bar fight":

http://themetapicture.com/if-wwi-was-a-bar-fight/

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 09:43 AM (mgbwf)

57 Voter mom, Dover probably has one.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 09:43 AM (uHcnA)

58 Concerning "cowboy leg beautiful pole": "cowboy" could mean "boy cow," i.e. a calf, so "cowboy leg" would be leg of veal. About "beautiful pole" I have no idea.

Posted by: Don at October 23, 2016 09:44 AM (iFXhh)

59 Reading "The Everlasting Man", this sentence caught my fancy.
"The human unity with which I deal here is not to be confounded with this modern industrial monotony and herding, which is rather a congestion than a communion."

A gem like this is why reading Chesterton is such a pleasure.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:44 AM (V+03K)

60 Also, not sure what it says about me, but I immediately recognized that list of words as being from Green Eggs and Ham. I think box and fox were the giveaways.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 09:44 AM (uHcnA)

61 I really enjoyed Christopher Taylor's Life Unworthy, a well-researched thriller involving a werewolf set in Nazi-occupied Poland. As an added bonus, it has a number of Easter eggs, including a sly dig at a real lefty archvillain.

It's a bargain at the current sale price of $1.99 on amazon.

Posted by: cool breeze at October 23, 2016 09:46 AM (StZrq)

62 43 On Tuchman generally: I'm told "Guns of August" is *not* the book to learn about the origins of the Great War.
----------
It must have been a German who told you that. Her early chapters detailing the grand diplomatic debacle as the armies mobilized was very informative. She doesn't really take sides (enough stupidity on both sides), although Kaiser Willy takes a hiding for having the chance to cool off Austria and Russia, but then forgoing that in favor of Screw France II: Marne Boogaloo.

The important Tuchman book to read is The Proud Tower, which details Western society in the first decade of the 20th century. It will blow one's mind to read how about 110 years ago Europe was orderly, classist but progressive, monarchial but representative, optimistic and full of people looking to the future. And the Bolshies were angry hipsters moping in corners. Read The Proud Tower, THEN read The Guns of August to get the full measure of the tragedy of 1914.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 23, 2016 09:46 AM (ry4ab)

63 I read Nicholas Wade's "Before the Dawn". It's a layman's summary of the history of man in both genetic and cultural terms, and it's very good. Wade is also the author of "Our Troublesome Inheritance", which is an exploration of how genetics affects our behavior.

Wade was the science editor for the NYT, and I'm not sure how he kept his job, given that he acknowledges a role of genetics in intelligence and behavior, and suggests that all are not equally endowed.

Regardless, both books are well worth a read.

Posted by: pep at October 23, 2016 09:46 AM (LAe3v)

64 And Skip, that library is beautiful. I've been anxious to see it.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 09:46 AM (uHcnA)

65 Kodos the Executioner at October 23, 2016 09:26 AM (J8/9G)

Thanks, Kodos - that will clear up some of my confusion. I do hope that I will eventually find a character in "The Better Angels" whom I can actually like.

Posted by: Tonestaple at October 23, 2016 09:47 AM (uAU0q)

66 51- Idid that on a Napoleoic book once, saw it in store didn't look to close and got home started really looking and relized I owned it already.

Josephistan- Are you a big Napoleoic era buff?

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 09:50 AM (sWbjH)

67 27 I went to the monthly warehouse sale at local used book store Harvest Books actually got to meet a moron! I was looking through some books the owner called out "Hey Joe" the guy standing next to me said "Josephistan?"

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:26 AM (7qAYi)


Heh. Why would he assume that a guy standing next to him who happens to be named 'Joe' is actually someone he knows from online? That's all kinds of crazy.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 09:50 AM (EL4JJ)

68 cowboy leg beautiful pole


I'm going to guess that this is referring to a

"Cowboy SteaK'.

Sometimes called a "Tomahawk Steak"


It's basically a bone-in ribeye with a longish portion of the rib sticking out from it.

Sort of like a ribeye popsicle.


I imagine once grilled they fancy up the rib to look "beautiful".

Posted by: H D Woodard - "Wearing the Cat - Prat Four: The Black Room" at October 23, 2016 09:51 AM (9q7Dl)

69 Bluebell, of the books we looked at, she liked this one

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Body-Coloring-Book/dp/0756682347/

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:53 AM (Om16U)

70 A much less scholarly appraisal is "If WWI were a bar fight":

http://themetapicture.com/if-wwi-was-a-bar-fight/

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 09:43 AM (mgbwf)


This is hilarious.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 09:54 AM (EL4JJ)

71 >>>43 On Tuchman generally: I'm told "Guns of August" is *not* the book to learn about the origins of the Great War. Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:36 AM (6FqZa)

"Distant Mirror" is a bizarre if somewhat entertaining book. An almost opposite view of the high middle ages is entirely possible. Read Chaucer and then read Tuchman and let me know which one seems more reliable...

Posted by: Caliban at October 23, 2016 09:54 AM (3GFMN)

72 "I mean, come on, "Steamed Red Crap With Ginger"? That has to be fake"

Nah, that's just a simple typo. It's supposed to be either crab or carp.

Posted by: jic at October 23, 2016 09:55 AM (ppHim)

73 53 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am interested in the period.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (V+03K)

Long ago and far away, I read Tuchman's "ADM" and liked it very much.

So much that after i read "ADM", I went straight to her other popular book "The Guns of August".

She writes well and in a popular history vein that sort of leads you by the nose to the conclusions she draws.
-----------
I really liked A Distant Mirror, although her thesis that the century of the Black Death and Hundred Years' War was similar to our then-modern Twentieth Century was not enheartening. Using a particular French noble family as a connecting device (they had the biggest keep in France) she depicts the orderly High Medieval period Europe of 1300 in its prosperous and self-satisfied setting. Then let the roller-coaster ride begin! in 1 volume we get the beginning of what post-Tuchman scholars will call the Little Ice Age, the humbling of Chivalry at Courtrai and Morgarten, the Babylonian Exile, the rise of the Swiss cantons, the Hundred Years' War in several phases, the Plague, a second plague of Free Companies, the Peasants' Uprising and the Jacquerie, the Ottoman invasion of Europe, and at Nicopolis the bungled last Crusade.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 23, 2016 09:55 AM (ry4ab)

74
Heh. Why would he assume that a guy standing next to him who happens to be named 'Joe' is actually someone he knows from online? That's all kinds of crazy.
Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 09:50 AM (EL4JJ)
-----------

That's moron-level crazy. This guy needs to delurk and fast.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 09:57 AM (uHcnA)

75 Mrs. wanted to know what is for dinner.

A big, huge helping of steamed red crap.

Posted by: Pittsburgh Pirates at October 23, 2016 09:57 AM (89T5c)

76 Off shitty beisbol team sock.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at October 23, 2016 09:59 AM (89T5c)

77 "In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious."

Whatever idiot wrote that didn't try to raise myself, sister and brother AND run a business with my dad. The idea of my mother 'dumbing' herself down to meet other's expectations belongs in a parallel universe, not this one. And she voted Democrat all her life.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:59 AM (V+03K)

78 "Read Chaucer and then read Tuchman"

I preferred Boccaccio's Decameron. I don't think I ever laughed so hard.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:59 AM (6FqZa)

79 http://themetapicture.com/if-wwi-was-a-bar-fight/

--

We need one for current world affairs, "before the 3rd bar fight"

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 10:00 AM (Om16U)

80
To get the bad taste out of my mouth and brain, I reread "A Reverence For Wood' by Eric Sloane.
---------------
Sounds like my kind of book!

Posted by: Sandra Fluke at October 23, 2016 10:01 AM (7qAYi)

81 30 6 In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious.

--------

So being a mother, wife & homemaker doesn't require any intelligence or strength?

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (7qAYi)

******

I was born in the 1950s and never bought into the feminism of the 1960s because it always seemed they could never tout their "accomplishments" without berating the roles of people like my Mother. I did what I wanted for my own reasons, not for "the cause".

I ended up being a military officer for over a decade who decided to get out to do what?

Be a mother, wife, and homemaker.

And I have never regretted it.

Posted by: Deplorable Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at October 23, 2016 10:01 AM (NqQAS)

82 Oh, and-

A big Domo Arigato to lurker(?) Bill Hahn for-

your two reviews of WTC on Amazon.


They are very much appreciated!

Posted by: H D Woodard - "Wearing the Cat - Part Four: The Black Room" at October 23, 2016 10:02 AM (9q7Dl)

83 We need one for current world affairs, "before the 3rd bar fight"

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab


Munch's "The Scream".

Posted by: pep at October 23, 2016 10:04 AM (LAe3v)

84 52 30 6 In the 1950s, it was a man's world. Girls weren't supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious.

--------

So being a mother, wife & homemaker doesn't require any intelligence or strength?
Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (7qAYi)
---------------

You are a wonderful man.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 09:42 AM (uHcnA)

Amen and Amen. Thanks josephistan.

Posted by: Moki at October 23, 2016 10:04 AM (VnCI9)

85 The important Tuchman book to read is The Proud Tower, which details Western society in the first decade of the 20th century.

I'll second that.

A more modern version of the same subject is Margaret MacMillan's The War That Ended Peace. As I was mentioning to someone the other night, it's the sort of book you read with increasing frustration, because you see the Great Powers (especially Austria) deliberately heading to a war they think can be contained, like the Crimean or Franco-Prussian.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at October 23, 2016 10:05 AM (xoU17)

86 To get the bad taste out of my mouth and brain, I reread "A Reverence For Wood' by Eric Sloane.
---------------

Sounds like my kind of book!

Posted by: Sandra Fluke at October 23, 2016 10:01 AM (7qAYi)


Ho, hrmmm.... let us not be hasty.

Posted by: Treebeard at October 23, 2016 10:05 AM (EL4JJ)

87 >>>She writes well and in a popular history vein that sort of leads you by the nose to the conclusions she draws.
Posted by: H D Woodard - "Wearing the Cat - Part Four: The Black Room" at October 23, 2016 09:42 AM (9q7Dl)

Yes, not popular history in the sense of David McCullough. Somewhat tendentious, and a tendency to prolixity.

Posted by: Caliban at October 23, 2016 10:05 AM (3GFMN)

88 Great job Skip !

How long did the project take ?

Posted by: JT at October 23, 2016 10:05 AM (GdBvh)

89 exdem, I couldn't agree more about those two Tuchman books. Should be sold as a pair. You nailed it.

Thing about the 50's was, I was a kid but alive and paying attention. In our backwater province (ten Fortune 500 companies had their HQ's here, then) the overwhelming business activity was small, privately-owned businesses, many of which leaned on the big corp's or govt contracts, but, independent. And in those local businesses, there were lots of women at or near the top. Often due to widowhood, or marriage partnership or the en of one, or some other "accident," like, you know, WWII.

There were woman bankers, truck drivers (and truck-line owners), insurance agents, all kinds of stuff. People noticed, but it was no huge social deal. And then, it was. And now it's important to say none of that ever went on. Why would that be.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 10:06 AM (H5rtT)

90 Moki! Did you and your family manage to avoid Miley Cyrus yesterday?

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:06 AM (uHcnA)

91 46 Tonestaple,

Charles McCarry's The Better Angels is notable mainly for having anticipated the use of passenger airplanes as terror weapons 22 years before 9/11. The only other book I am aware of to do so was Adam Hall's Quiller Solitaire (1992). Unfortunately, The Better Angels is probably McCarry's most poorly written novel. Don't give up on McCarry just because of this one book.

Yes, you are supposed to detest the news anchor, Patrick Graham, who is viewed as a saint by himself and many others, but who is in fact a lefty douche. Does that help any?

Posted by: cool breeze at October 23, 2016 10:07 AM (StZrq)

92 Somewhat tendentious, and a tendency to prolixity.

As long as nothing's "redolent." We don't do "redolent" here.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 10:07 AM (H5rtT)

93 Oregon, btw, J. Gunnar Grey is an ette.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 10:08 AM (Om16U)

94 31 Currently listening to "Starship Troopers". Geez, the narrator is putting me to sleep. It is definitely off my exercise motivating rotation. Can't be falling off the rowing machine in a dead snooze. I'll probably finish listening in the car on the way home from work.
Posted by: Tuna at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (JSovD)

If you want a good fun book and even better in Audiobook form get the Hard Luck Hank series. You will find yourself laughing which I think everyone needs now. I love the fact the book is being read by Hank and stays in character though out.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 10:08 AM (dKiJG)

95 As I was mentioning to someone the other night, it's the sort of book you read with increasing frustration, because you see the Great Powers (especially Austria) deliberately heading to a war they think can be contained, like the Crimean or Franco-Prussian.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at October 23, 2016 10:05 AM (xoU17)

Or like today re: Syria

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 10:09 AM (7qAYi)

96 Happy belated birthday Bluebell !

Say that 3 times real fast and you'll sound like
you're ordering from Josephstan's menu.

Posted by: JT at October 23, 2016 10:09 AM (GdBvh)

97 I preferred Boccaccio's Decameron. I don't think I ever laughed so hard.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 09:59 AM (6FqZa)


BTH,

Which translation did you read?

I read "The Decameron" several years ago and found it, at least in that translation, pretty tough sledding.

I'd like to give it another shot because as readers of "WTC" can tell you, I likes me some wild and ribald comedy.

Posted by: H D Woodard - "Wearing the Cat - Part Four: The Black Room" at October 23, 2016 10:09 AM (9q7Dl)

98 Can't be falling off the rowing machine in a dead snooze. I'll probably finish listening in the car on the way home from work.

Oh that's a way better place to fall asleep.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 10:09 AM (mgbwf)

99 92
Somewhat tendentious, and a tendency to prolixity.

As long as nothing's "redolent." We don't do "redolent" here.


Posted by: Stringer Davis


Don't you get arch with me, young man.

Posted by: pep at October 23, 2016 10:10 AM (LAe3v)

100 "Can't we just throw up and move on?"

Quote of the freakin' year.

Posted by: V the K at October 23, 2016 10:10 AM (jn7FC)

101 Ha, thanks JT!

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:10 AM (uHcnA)

102 My recommendations for Tuchman is because of her readability. I'm not going to go into the weeds as a generalist because I'm certainly not a scholar. For a kid who is starting to think about history, overwhelming the kid with minutiae of scholarly facts and figures quibbling is not the way to go.

Recommend that they read an enjoyable presentation and for their sake and your own gratification is to watch their own curiosity go into gear. Her 'tipping point' method is a lot of fun.

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 10:10 AM (MIKMs)

103 Or like today re: Syria

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 10:09 AM (7qAYi)


One conspiracy theory I came across lately states that the elite are so afraid Teh Donald is going to expose and jail the Clinton and Bush crime families that they are willing to start a war with Russia in order to postpone the election or throw it to Hillary.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at October 23, 2016 10:11 AM (xoU17)

104 I have read 1177 BC: the Year Civilization Collapsed, by Eric H Cline. A short but interesting read (245 pp all told, 180 pp text), it deals with the circumstances surrounding the end of late Bronze Age civilization in the Mediterranean world. Mr. Cline believes this collapse was more intricate than previously described, and that the realms of that time were more connected than previously thought. Crash one sector of the Med at that time, and the result was a tumble of states that left only Egypt standing at the end of it all.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 23, 2016 10:11 AM (ry4ab)

105 Hiya book thread!
There is much happiness in my library today--I have heat again. (Old furnace died...). And blessings on those who build libraries, for they make many people happy.

Many thanks to those who have posted reviews of Light in the Darkness collection (hi VoterMom!) Currently at #4 in the Steampunk category on Amazon, yay!

An amusing consequence of the YUUUGENESS of the 12 book collection is that the free sample (the first 10%) is the entirety of the first book and the first 11 chapters of the second So, Morons on a budget can get a *really* good idea of what it is like for free. And for compulsive collectors, it also contains a short story of mine never published anywhere else.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at October 23, 2016 10:12 AM (SuJIo)

106 >>>Then let the roller-coaster ride begin! in 1 volume we get the beginning of what post-Tuchman scholars will call the Little Ice Age, the humbling of Chivalry at Courtrai and Morgarten, the Babylonian Exile, the rise of the Swiss cantons, the Hundred Years' War in several phases, the Plague, a second plague of Free Companies, the Peasants' Uprising and the Jacquerie, the Ottoman invasion of Europe, and at Nicopolis the bungled last Crusade.
Posted by: exdem13 at October 23, 2016 09:55 AM (ry4ab)

Agree, but this could also be characterized as laying it on a little thick. Actually you could choose almost any period in history and make it sound pretty bad.

Posted by: Caliban at October 23, 2016 10:12 AM (3GFMN)

107 90 Moki! Did you and your family manage to avoid Miley Cyrus yesterday?

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:06 AM (uHcnA)



She stayed on campus, thank goodness. Daughter had to set up the sounds systems for her speech, and left as soon as she could. We did have lots of "5k'ers" walking in front our house, going to the event. They were nice, but...different. One guy kept taking pictures of our neighbor's house (she has a sticker on her car about Benghazi, and she's also in her 90's. And sharp as a tack.) We went out to see why he was doing that, and he ran off. So, thankfully we didn't have to see her in her weird, boob bow and fuzzy shrug outfit.

Posted by: Moki at October 23, 2016 10:12 AM (VnCI9)

108 who broke the thread?

Posted by: Moki at October 23, 2016 10:13 AM (VnCI9)

109 Somebody's headed for the barrel. . .

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at October 23, 2016 10:13 AM (xoU17)

110 93 Oregon, btw, J. Gunnar Grey is an ette.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 10:08 AM (Om16U)


I never knew that. Thank you, I've corrected the text.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:13 AM (EL4JJ)

111 I never knew that. Thank you, I've corrected the text.


For certain values of corrected.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 10:14 AM (mgbwf)

112 OMuuuuuuuuussssseeeee! Yoo hooooooo!!

Posted by: Le Barrel at October 23, 2016 10:15 AM (uHcnA)

113 Somebody's headed for the barrel. . .

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at October 23, 2016 10:13 AM (xoU17)


Not me!

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:15 AM (EL4JJ)

114 112 OMuuuuuuuuussssseeeee! Yoo hooooooo!!

Posted by: Le Barrel at October 23, 2016 10:15 AM (uHcnA)


( *moons Barrel* )

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:15 AM (EL4JJ)

115 Welp.

Looks like the Ministry of Truth has taken over the Book Thread.

OM,

Let us know how Room 101 works out.

Posted by: H D Woodard - "Wearing the Cat - Part Four: The Black Room" at October 23, 2016 10:16 AM (9q7Dl)

116 Birthday? bluebell? It was bluebell's birthday? And I missed it?

Happy belated birthday, bluebell!!!!

Posted by: Weasel at October 23, 2016 10:16 AM (Sfs6o)

117 Strike!

Posted by: MTF at October 23, 2016 10:16 AM (/m8T6)

118 Oops.

Too slow.

Posted by: H D Woodard - "Wearing the Cat - Part Four: The Black Room" at October 23, 2016 10:17 AM (9q7Dl)

119 Speaking of labor unrest, I heard yesterday that Hillary isn't much of a book reader. Too busy scheming, I guess.

Posted by: MTF at October 23, 2016 10:17 AM (/m8T6)

120 Feed me! Tasty admin meat!

Posted by: Barrel at October 23, 2016 10:17 AM (pUDQf)

121 We don't do "redolent" here.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 10:07 AM (H5rtT)

Wanna bet?

Posted by: CharlieBrown's Redolent Dildo at October 23, 2016 10:17 AM (Zu3d9)

122 bluebell! When was your birthday? And I hope you had a happy one!!


Off to church, fellow horde. I say we pardon OM, and give reprieve from the barrel today. Just this once!!!

Posted by: Moki at October 23, 2016 10:17 AM (VnCI9)

123 I suppose I should try to write.

I was reading Star Trek Movie Memories a while back (don't laugh!) and came across director Nicholas Meyer's approach to movie VI. It seems there were four or five different versions of the script, none of which bore any relation to the others. So Meyer told the producers, "pick what you like from the other scripts - a scene, an idea or even a line of dialogue - and write it down. I'll take all of that and mix it together into a new script."

So I was thinking that that (besides cutting down on my drinking) might be the way past this writer's block I've got. I've written enough for a new book, but I can't get it to hold together. So perhaps if I take what I like from the mass of garbage I've written and put it on a set of index cards, I might be able to shuffle it into a plot.

Anyway, that's what I'd like to do today. But I'm also a very lazy, slothful person.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at October 23, 2016 10:18 AM (xoU17)

124 It's nice to be the king, isn't it, OMuse?

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:18 AM (uHcnA)

125 We went to a B&N yesterday to browse. I think I am going to buy a human anatomy coloring book.for kid the younger. She's been musing about nursing for several months now.
Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 09:41 AM (Om16U)

She's pregnant?!

Posted by: Deety at October 23, 2016 10:20 AM (xPWMR)

126 The project was started in June, I'm still working on it as I said above a small reading room off to left were the two of the doors lead to. The first single door leads into the library shelves All the doors and trim are walnut.
You can look up Favley Memorial Library blog and see before pictures.

Posted by: Skip at October 23, 2016 10:20 AM (sWbjH)

127 Moki, I'm glad you survived the Cyrus virus!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, all. It was actually on Monday. Was very well treated by friends and family all week, actually. I'm very lucky!

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:20 AM (uHcnA)

128 102 My recommendations for Tuchman is because of her readability. I'm not going to go into the weeds as a generalist because I'm certainly not a scholar. For a kid who is starting to think about history, overwhelming the kid with minutiae of scholarly facts and figures quibbling is not the way to go.
-----------
I think Tuchman makes a great author for the high school and college age reader. I speak from experience here. For the young reader I recommend The Proud Tower, of course! Her short take on the Zimmerman Telegram should be mandatory reading for college courses; I cannot fathom why it was never on any relevant courses for me! I also recommend The March of Folly, wherein she proves that obstinate devotion to bad policy is the true wreck of great powers, and The First Salute, a diplomatic and strategic history of the War of Independence that shows the actions and reactions in London, Paris, and The Hague that helped shape the war and bring about an American victory.


Posted by: exdem13 at October 23, 2016 10:21 AM (ry4ab)

129 I correctly guessed "Green Eggs and Ham"! Where do I collect my winnings?

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 10:21 AM (sdi6R)

130 124 It's nice to be the king, isn't it, OMuse?
Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:18 AM (uHcnA)


It certainly is!

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:21 AM (EL4JJ)

131 OM I'm disappointed today. You have no pic of a cute little girl sitting next to her books like last week.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 10:21 AM (mpXpK)

132 OK. Off for some tea and, I hope, writing. See you all next week.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at October 23, 2016 10:23 AM (xoU17)

133 Hot date night for Her Majesty and me:

1) Madame's oysters and drinkie at our favorite Cajun restaurant.
2) Walk over to B&N.
3) Fall asleep in our chairs while reading.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at October 23, 2016 10:23 AM (J8/9G)

134 Anybody know of audiobooks that read in Character like HARD LUCK HANK, Game of thrones and the Harry Potter books?

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 10:24 AM (dKiJG)

135 Way, way too early on a Sunday morning to read that Hilary! book review/tribute/whatever you want to call it. Bleagggh.

Just started Altamont, a pretty exhaustive accounting of the backdrop of the ill fated, patched together, 1969 free concert which offered 300,000 people, minimal sanitation, almost no parking, the Rolling Stones, and the Hells Angels for security. Geez, you have to wonder how that could have all gone wrong.

Just starting last night, and still mostly talking about the Bay Area music scene and how the Stones got involved. Could be a good one, not positive yet.

Posted by: RM at October 23, 2016 10:24 AM (U3LtS)

136 ABC tracking poll...

Clinton 50
Trump 38
Johnson 5

Posted by: Poll man at October 23, 2016 10:26 AM (V5BGe)

137 Patrick, Jim whatshiscan that reads the Harry Pitter books is excellent. He does a different voice for each character. He's outstanding.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:26 AM (uHcnA)

138 131 OM I'm disappointed today. You have no pic of a cute little girl sitting next to her books like last week.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 10:21 AM (mpXpK)


I actually have another shot of Pookette that Pookysgirl sent me. I hope I still have it on my hard drive. Maybe I'll put it up next week.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:26 AM (EL4JJ)

139 Sorry, typing on my phone. You know I meant Potter.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:27 AM (uHcnA)

140 The full story (very full) of the restoration is linked in my sock.

Posted by: andycanuck at October 23, 2016 10:28 AM (FP3TD)

141 Just starting last night, and still mostly talking about the Bay Area music scene and how the Stones got involved. Could be a good one, not positive yet.

Posted by: RM at October 23, 2016 10:24 AM (U3LtS)


I grew up in the SF Bay Area during the 60s. This is a book that might interest me.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:28 AM (EL4JJ)

142 #140 Addendum: from the university library's own website, that is.

Posted by: andycanuck at October 23, 2016 10:29 AM (FP3TD)

143 "The Shadow Warriors: OSS & the origins of the CIA" by Bradley Smith"

Was that the one that says half the OSS were communists? I read many such books when I was in that game.

Don't bother with Legacy of Ashes, if you ever see it. It's moralizing garbage.

Posted by: Apostate at October 23, 2016 10:29 AM (2ilh7)

144 Patrick, I thought you were talking about the 'Hank the Cowdog' series read by the author (John R. Erickson). My kids loooooved them and their reading improved exponentially with the audio and the book together.

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 10:30 AM (MIKMs)

145 137 Patrick, Jim whatshiscan that reads the Harry Pitter books is excellent. He does a different voice for each character. He's outstanding.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:26 AM (uHcnA)

Jim Dale, he was in Dr Doolittle, the good one. That reminds me he did the New Peter Pan books which are pretty dark, my wife listened to them when she was driving to school for her RN, she really liked them. I like listening to books when we drive down to Disney, makes the drive seem short.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 10:32 AM (dKiJG)

146 Good morning! Busy week for me--I quit the retail job that was putting me in excruciating pain, got a new job with a little tiny company that I'm feeling great about, and am re-reading Faithful Place by one of my favorite detective authors, Tana French. I can't help seeing Jason Statham as the main character.

Now, on to read the rest of your comments!

Posted by: Deplorable April at October 23, 2016 10:32 AM (e8PP1)

147 Oh, and, Skip---nice work!

Posted by: Deplorable April at October 23, 2016 10:33 AM (e8PP1)

148 A word of encouragement to moron/ette authors and publishers: I invariably click on over to Amazon when I read this thread. Haven't been unhappy with any of the suggested reads I've bought.

Posted by: RI Red at October 23, 2016 10:33 AM (E2ZuB)

149 Anthony Newly was in Dr Doolittle. Jim Dale was in Pete's Dragon.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living at October 23, 2016 10:34 AM (x3uSY)

150 I read the "Guns of August" some years ago, and though I may be mis-remembering, it was a bit off-putting, although a good read.

Last year, I read "The War of the World" by Niall Ferguson, and thought that was a very good perspective on why WWI happened. He takes a very broad demographic, economic and political view of the years leading up to the Great War. The Great War (WWI) has gone a long way to wrecking the West.
It was not only a great bloodbath, killing the best men of a generation, but destroyed the social consensus and cultural optimism of the previous years.

They stumbled into WWI, but Europe was heading for a re-write, as the old Empires (Hapsburgs- Austro-Hungarian empire, and the Ottoman Empire) were rotting out from inside, as was Czarist Russia.
A great re-arrangement was coming.

Probably something similar beginning today, as America is culturally rotting out from the inside.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....outlaw in America at October 23, 2016 10:35 AM (S6Pax)

151 Engrish: a local Asian grocery store once sold "Fermented Red Residue." Small jar, refrigerated. No, I didn't buy it.

Posted by: Annalucia at October 23, 2016 10:36 AM (a5bF3)

152 The more you know...

The more you want to select the proper protection for the things you love.

Posted by: Brad at October 23, 2016 10:36 AM (Vi3+d)

153 135 Just started Altamont, a pretty exhaustive accounting of the backdrop of the ill fated, patched together, 1969 free concert which offered 300,000 people, minimal sanitation, almost no parking, the Rolling Stones, and the Hells Angels for security. Geez, you have to wonder how that could have all gone wrong.

Just starting last night, and still mostly talking about the Bay Area music scene and how the Stones got involved. Could be a good one, not positive yet.
------------------
I heard about that one, but have not gotten to it yet. Let me know how it turns out.

Posted by: exdem13 at October 23, 2016 10:37 AM (ry4ab)

154 Patrick, I thought you were talking about the 'Hank the Cowdog' series read by the author (John R. Erickson). My kids loooooved them and their reading improved exponentially with the audio and the book together.
Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 10:30 AM (MIKMs)

Thanks, I am adding that to my Amazon list, I need something like that for my son.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 10:37 AM (dKiJG)

155 re Decameron, I think I just read the Penguin Classics 1995 edition.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 10:41 AM (6FqZa)

156 He thought green eggs and ham was just a very silly story.

Posted by: Auntie Doodles

That is a most profound observation about the young. Silly stuff tailor-made for kids usually seems to be trying too hard. The young are perfectly capable of making their own silliness on an as-needed basis -- usually out of more serious stuff you think it's important for them to know.

You can trace the history of human folly through deliberately created kiddie-lit. It says little about the "consumers," and a great deal about the purveyors.

In my childhood, a lot of us resented the "especially for kids!" mindset. We got told about Science and Industry, and had fewer and fewer chances to actually be part of them. The displays and programs were very impressive; you just couldn't do it. My guiding principle as a parent, shooting instructor and occasional youth leader was to let the young do real things, not simulacra. Lots of them like that.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 10:42 AM (H5rtT)

157 We should worry when Skip starts building an ark right? Way to go Skip.

Read through the first novel in the Nobelbright book collection. It was an enjoyable read. Thanks Sabrina Chase.

Still working through my novel sometimes it seems word by word like Germans and Russians going house to house in Stalingrad. But working on it.

And don't forget in nine days, National Novel Writing Month kicks off.
http://nanowrimo.org/

Posted by: Anna Puma at October 23, 2016 10:43 AM (64sZ6)

158 After I saw ham and green, I started thinking "I wonder if eggs is in there, too?". Then I noticed Sam, too, and I had my answer.

Posted by: t-bird at October 23, 2016 10:43 AM (NBHj5)

159 Just started Altamont, a pretty exhaustive accounting of the backdrop of the ill fated, patched together, 1969 free concert which offered 300,000 people, minimal sanitation, almost no parking, the Rolling Stones, and the Hells Angels for security. Geez, you have to wonder how that could have all gone wrong.
Posted by: RM at October 23, 2016 10:24 AM (U3LtS)


I heard an eyewitness say on a radio call-in show the day after that one of the contributing factors was that there was really no stage, i.e. the performers were on the same level as the audience. This fostered the illusion among unstable fanbois (and fangrrls) that you could just stroll right up front and hang out with Mick and the boys. Which created crowd control problems.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:43 AM (EL4JJ)

160


A fun project for friends and family.

Below is the link to a great free app to create your own crossword puzzle.

I made a huge crossword for a family event recently. Very fun stuff. I had my family contribute clues, which was fun in itself strolling down memory lane. This was a surprise for someone's birthday in the family.

http://www.eclipsecrossword.com/

You export out whatever format you need (both the empty crossword graphic, the clues, and the filled in crossword and Keys to clues - you get it all), and you can cut and paste it into a Word file(s), then save that Word file as a PDF to send to the printers. I ended up making a couple large posters to be framed.

I laminated one to be able to use an erasable marker on.

You can also make them into a web page if you want.

Very very fun.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at October 23, 2016 10:44 AM (qCMvj)

161 BTW Morons, last week I discussed Weber's Hell's Gate series and hoped that he would wrap it up in the 3rd book instead of stretching it out into infinity. He didn't wrap it up. Looks like another series headed to never closing.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 10:45 AM (mpXpK)

162

Sort of word related.

I think I found this link over at pjmedia. Also, very fun.

http://emojipedia.org/

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at October 23, 2016 10:45 AM (qCMvj)

163

book reading status: still in book binging mode - finishing up a 4-book series today. Then back to some research reading for me.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at October 23, 2016 10:46 AM (qCMvj)

164 artisanal 'ette, what a cool idea!!

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:46 AM (uHcnA)

165 I mean the crossword puzzle.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:47 AM (uHcnA)

166 You export out whatever format you need (both the empty crossword graphic, the clues, and the filled in crossword and Keys to clues - you get it all), and you can cut and paste it into a Word file(s), then save that Word file as a PDF to send to the printers. I ended up making a couple large posters to be framed.

Note: to bring the crossword graphic into the word doc, you need to use the Insert Image function. The clues and Keys to clues are simply cut and paste functions.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at October 23, 2016 10:48 AM (qCMvj)

167 @160 paging artisinal 'ette, Baron Tweedsmuir on line two...

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 10:49 AM (H5rtT)

168 Reading 'Two Cheers for Anarchism' by James Scott, some Cicero, and 'Tyranny Unmasked' by John Taylor as prep for a non-fiction book I'm writing in a change from the fantasy series I started. Might have to put the fantasy under a pen name.

Finishing 'The Long Road to Boston' so I can review it. Nice intermingling of the history of the race and one guy's attempt to finally race there. Light on the emotion, though, and I doubt that many want that much history of the race, most of it recent.

Posted by: Long Running Fool at October 23, 2016 10:49 AM (L0bUn)

169 artisanal 'ette, what a cool idea!!

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 10:46 AM (uHcnA)


it's so fun

and it's so easy - the app is worth downloading and playing with

My puzzle grew and grew as I thought of more stuff to put in it.

It gets crazy, because you don't want to stop!

It's fun finally generating the puzzle, as you wait to see what it looks like.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at October 23, 2016 10:50 AM (qCMvj)

170 I haven't read "A Distant Mirror", but I loved "The Guns of August". I thought it read like a thriller. Which is not bad for a history book. I wish more of them were like that. History is pretty thrilling, after all.

The part where she described the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was flat-out hilarious, at least to me with my morbid sense of humor. To hear her tell it, there was hardly anybody in Sarajevo who wasn't trying to kill him that day.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 10:50 AM (sdi6R)

171 This fostered the illusion among unstable fanbois (and fangrrls) that you could just stroll right up front and hang out with Mick and the boys. Which created crowd control problems.
Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 10:43 AM (EL4JJ)

Look up the clips from "Gimme Shelter" on YouTube. There is one of some completely whacked out dude who got up on stage right next to Jagger and was grimacing and talking to himself. You can see the fear in Jagger as he was prancing around this guy, trying to ignore him but casting nervous glances in his direction. The Hells Angels finally tired of the loon and threw him brutally off stage, just a few minutes before the Meredith Hunter stabbing.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 10:51 AM (P8951)

172 Which created crowd control problems.


"Gimme Shelter" is an indispensable documentary of all that led up to Altamont and what happened there. There was a stage, but it was only about 4' high.

Most of the crowd control problems came from hiring the Hell's Angels for security and paying them in beer.

Before the Stones came on one of the Angels punched out Paul Kantner on stage and Jefferson Airplane just bugged out. Of course eventually a guy (I'd like to say James Mereditch -- looking things up is cheating) appeared to pull a gun in the front of the crowd and the Hell's Angels beat, stabbed, and stomped him to death.

It is generally considered the end of the Woodstock era, which had begun only months before.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 10:51 AM (mgbwf)

173 Meredith Hunter stabbing.


Yeah, that's right. I was close.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 10:54 AM (mgbwf)

174

back to watching sports
game on!

Have a great weekend.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at October 23, 2016 10:54 AM (qCMvj)

175 Late to the thread, as usual, but this time I have an excuse. Honest. I've been working on the re-write of the novel and, wonder of wonders, it's almost done! Just a few more gaps to fill in, and a one more section to edit, then it's ready to go to a copy editor. And I'll have time to actually read some books, instead of writing them.

Posted by: right wing whippersnapper at October 23, 2016 10:56 AM (26lkV)

176 The best part of the Bob Dylan story is that he's refusing to answer phone calls from the Nobel committee. Evidently he thinks they are a bunch of idiots, too.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 10:57 AM (39g3+)

177 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am interested in the period.
Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (V+03K)


Echoing what others have said, her books are highly readable. I don't know how fully accurate her scholarship is, but she goes into detail about her source material, so if others want to follow after her to challenge her conclusions, they can.


Honestly, I remember very little of this book, only that I enjoyed the experience. I don't find the period terribly interesting, so that probably has something to do with my lack of memory on specifics.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 23, 2016 11:00 AM (Pz4pT)

178 It is generally considered the end of the Woodstock era, which had begun only months before.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 10:51 AM (mgbwf)


Yes, and good riddance. I hate all of the ex post facto romanticization of the "Woodstock nation" as if it was some sort of brave, new civilization. All it was was a was a third-world country unsustainable without massive outside assistance.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 11:01 AM (EL4JJ)

179 I just finished re-reading Port Hazard by Loren D Estleman. Its a western, set in San Francisco at the height of the Barbary Coast era. It's full of the fascinating slang used at the time, a variant on Cockney rhyming slang and "theive's cant" I used as an inspiration for the slang that shows up in Old Habits.

Here's a link to the Bob Dylan story. Nobel committee members are calling him "arrogant" for refusing contact with them

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37740379

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 11:01 AM (39g3+)

180 Obviously, Altamont was a shit show, but one thing that strikes me about "Gimme Shelter" was the simplicity of rock concerts in that era. Here's the band playing music. That's it. (That's plenty much what it was like in '75, when I saw the Stones, although of course at that point nobody could stroll onto the stage.)Compare that with the multimedia $300 per ticket(or whatever they cost) extravaganzas the Stones put on today. Now Mick and Co. are sort of traveling museum pieces.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:01 AM (P8951)

181 91 Cool Breeze 46 Tonestaple,

Charles McCarry's The Better Angels is notable mainly for having anticipated the use of passenger airplanes as terror weapons 22 years before 9/11. The only other book I am aware of to do so was Adam Hall's Quiller Solitaire (1992).

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

I believe that Tom Clancy did so himself, in "Debt of Honor" (1994)

Posted by: John the Baptist at October 23, 2016 11:03 AM (MPH+3)

182 That's plenty much what it was like in '75, when I saw the Stones,


Dang, I first saw them in '78, so you win. But I thought '75 was the tour with the big star stage where the leaves folded down and the 40 foot phallus that Mick climbed all over.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 11:06 AM (mgbwf)

183 176 The best part of the Bob Dylan story is that he's refusing to answer phone calls from the Nobel committee. Evidently he thinks they are a bunch of idiots, too.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 10:57 AM (39g3+)

I think it's hilarious. I know boomers who went into friggin' raptures when he was named the recipient. For the man to say "Go to hell, I don't want your damned award" is a great troll of both them and the Committee.

The guy who started out against the Establishment still doesn't want anything to do with it. Kudos, Bob.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:06 AM (P8951)

184 But I thought '75 was the tour with the big star stage where the leaves folded down and the 40 foot phallus that Mick climbed all over.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at October 23, 2016 11:06 AM (mgbwf)

Maybe, but not at the show I was at. The stage wasn't big enough for much else but the band.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:09 AM (P8951)

185 JTB, I was just looking back at the beginning of the thread which I had missed. I see you are reading Chesterton. Have you read The Man Who Was Thursday yet? It had me literally holding my breath when I read it a few years back. I really enjoyed it.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 11:09 AM (uHcnA)

186 The part where she described the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was flat-out hilarious, at least to me with my morbid sense of humor. To hear her tell it, there was hardly anybody in Sarajevo who wasn't trying to kill him that day.
Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 10:50 AM (sdi6R)


Yep, try to imagine the thing, set to Benny Hill music, and sped up with jump cut editing. Hilarious.


Until the dude and his wife are shot dead. That part's not so funny. Nor was the 4 years following of harrowing war.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 23, 2016 11:09 AM (Pz4pT)

187 I hit a string of books on nature dealing with bird intelligence,

-
I read a somewhat similar book on an aspect of nature in the old days, the real old days. The Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs by David Hone. It takes an in depth, and I do mean in depth, look at the Big T. And I see no commie propaganda.

For example, he discusses the possible uses of those weak, dinky arms. First, they weren't all that weak and dinky. Each could lift 250 lbs., maybe not remarkable compared to his hind legs but they could but the hurt on you. They could have been used for grasping his partner while mating, could have been used to grasp prey while he puts the big hurt on with jaws and rear legs, or could have been used to help them stand after nesting.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With More Je Ne Sais Quoi! at October 23, 2016 11:10 AM (Nwg0u)

188 She's pregnant?!
Posted by: Deety at October 23, 2016 10:20 AM (xPWMR)

LOL

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 11:10 AM (Om16U)

189 Woodstock was supposed to be a folk festival, a huge one at about 50,000.
As owlish profs solemnly intoned for two generation after any student recognized the referents (redolent alert!), after that "Like Topsy, it just growed."

There were supposed to be one-on-one workshops with the musicians. All kinds of folkie stuff. Organizers did not grasp what "Dylan went electric" entailed.

Dick Cavett had the Dead on one night. High points (heh) were, "When you started this band, did you ever think" and Lesh stops him and says, No, we didn't.

And, asked if they made the scene at the Summer of Love and ff., they said, we were the Warlocks then, we had a steady job at a biker bar in L.A., and we couldn't go party because we had to work. I have always respected them, a little, for that answer. And to anyone who ever saw them, for all the goofy shit going on around them, that band was working for its living.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 11:11 AM (H5rtT)

190 Now Mick and Co. are sort of traveling museum pieces.

I was at a bar once in Houston 2009 or so. I read in the Houston Press that the Psychedelic Furs were coming to town, having not written a note of original material since the 1980s. I blurted out "they've become a cover band for their own material".

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 11:11 AM (6FqZa)

191 Nor was the 4 years following of harrowing war.
Posted by: BurtTC at October 23, 2016 11:09 AM (Pz4pT)

Which was the beginning of the end of Western Civilization. Aren't we lucky to see the final death throes? No, we are not.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:11 AM (P8951)

192 I think the Sisters of Mercy, though, do write original songs for their concerts. But they don't go to the studio to put any of it down. No idea why not. They must have at least a dozen albums' worth by now.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 11:13 AM (6FqZa)

193 (That's plenty much what it was like in '75, when I saw the Stones,
although of course at that point nobody could stroll onto the stage.)

Yep, Saw them in '78 at A Stadium before they enclosed it. For some reason I don't remember, everyone was throwing their shows towards the stage.

Posted by: Infidel at October 23, 2016 11:14 AM (kjwd/)

194 In the 1950s, it was a man's world.

Same as the 1940's, when she was born.

In the 2010's, it's an elderly woman's world.

Hillary Clinton: Some Women Require Constant Medical Care

Posted by: t-bird at October 23, 2016 11:14 AM (8zL5i)

195 Bluebell belated happy birthday!

I hope it was resplendent & fragrantly redolent.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 11:15 AM (Om16U)

196 I was at a bar once in Houston 2009 or so. I read in the Houston Press that the Psychedelic Furs were coming to town, having not written a note of original material since the 1980s. I blurted out "they've become a cover band for their own material".
Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 11:11 AM (6FqZa)

Jagger said back in the 1960's that he'd rather be dead than be singing "Satisfaction" at age 60. He passed that milestone some time ago. Of course, that's like the 60's kids saying "Don't Trust Anyone Over 30." Apparently, they thought they'd never see their 31st birthday.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:16 AM (P8951)

197 Until the dude and his wife are shot dead. That part's not so funny.

According to Hastings, when Princip got nabbed and got to singing his song, he was adamant he did not mean to shoot the duchess. He said something poignant - something like, when you fire a gun, the bullet doesn't always go where you want it to go

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at October 23, 2016 11:16 AM (6FqZa)

198 Yes, bluebell, I hope you had a nice birthday.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:17 AM (P8951)

199 ugh, shoes.

Posted by: Infidel at October 23, 2016 11:18 AM (kjwd/)

200 >>Well into reading book three of the Aubrey-Maturin series in hard copy (not having a set timetable I am reading slowly and carefully) and am continually amazed at the incredible detail O'Brian puts into the descriptions of almost everything.

I just lent, lent being the key word, my complete Aubrey-Maturin series to my best friends son. I've read the series 3 or 4 times and the books are to good to just sit on a shelf collecting dust. Circle of life and all that.

I've mentioned this before but years ago I got a last minute ride for the Newport-Bermuda Race. The owner was elderly and not doing well but nothing was keeping him from his last race.

I didn't know him well before the race and he spent most of the trip down below as it was a very rough ride for much of the trip. But after the Gulf Stream he came on deck while I was on watch. We started talking and he asked me if I was reading anything and I mentioned that I was reading the Aubrey-Maturin series. He smiled and asked me if I liked them. I, of course, said I loved them and he then told me he was one of the editors of the publishing company that fought to bring the series to the US for a wide distribution.

It seems that the thinking at the time was that the books were written in a style and density that would not be popular with a large audience of American readers.

Posted by: JackStraw at October 23, 2016 11:18 AM (/tuJf)

201 185 ... Hi Bluebell
Thanks for the recommendation. I have a copy of The man Who was Thursday but haven't read it yet. It goes on the 'to be read sooner than later' list. I have an ebook with most of Chesterton's works. It will take a while to go through.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 11:18 AM (V+03K)

202 @196 Jagger once explicitly stated "You won't see me out there like Marlene Dietrich, when I'm 70 years of age..." Apparently reality intruded.

Abby Hoffman was something like 33 when he said that about "over 30." Heh.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 11:19 AM (H5rtT)

203 Morning, all. I haven't done much reading lately. I need to rectify that immediately.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her Deplorable 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod at October 23, 2016 11:19 AM (+eR2D)

204 Hi. Ok, there is my official "hi", required to join the AoS group on Goodreads. Having found a number of interesting recommendations on various Sunday Library threads, it seems like a good idea to ask to join the group. I see you are reading "Camp of the Saints". When I read that in the '70's, it seemed much more like sci-fi dystopian fiction. Now, if read metaphorically, it seems like a history of the last decade.

Posted by: TomS. at October 23, 2016 11:19 AM (9/QQm)

205 I'm the guy who said hello to josephistan. He'd mentioned he was going to the place in last week's book thread, so when the owner said "Hi Joe", I threw out the moron reference.
I have posted a few times before, maybe more one day.
Thanks josephistan

Posted by: PA Lurker at October 23, 2016 11:19 AM (hfEqB)

206 I think Bob Dylan absolutely deserves the Nobel. I was walking on clouds* all day long when I heard the news.

Before he came along, popular music mostly consisted of 2 or 3 minute love songs. There were plenty of lyricists who shone in that narrow format, such as Cole Porter. But Bob kicked the walls out and made it possible to write song lyrics about just about anything, and also longer songs. His influence on popular music lyrics is simply incalculable.

Here's the list of Nobel laureates for Literature. There's lots of poets in there.

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




*OK, that's a 10,000 Maniacs song, but whatevs.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 11:20 AM (sdi6R)

207 And, asked if they made the scene at the Summer of Love and ff., they said, we were the Warlocks then, we had a steady job at a biker bar in L.A., and we couldn't go party because we had to work. I have always respected them, a little, for that answer. And to anyone who ever saw them, for all the goofy shit going on around them, that band was working for its living.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 11:11 AM (H5rtT)


The Grateful Dead had been playing under that name in and around SF since 1965. So I don't understand Lesh's answer that they were the Warlocks playing in an LA biker bar during Woodstock in 1969.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 11:21 AM (EL4JJ)

208 Posted by: PA Lurker at October 23, 2016 11:19 AM (hfEqB)

How did you figure it was josephistan?

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 11:21 AM (Om16U)

209 That shorter Guardian pic is hilarious. Lots of people (Clinton, Obama included) give Dylan awards for a chance to meet him, now they are writing articles attacking Dylan for not responding to Nobel queries. Ungrateful jerk! He didn't ask for it and owes them nothing, but the prize is worth almost $1 million, he should pick up the phone.

Read Shakespeare's Pericles, an adventure story that begins when Prince Pericles seeks the hand of the Emperor's daughter. When he figures out there is incest between them he flees for his life, and travels from country to country and getting married in the process. Not included in the 1623 Folio as probably he only wrote part of it, it's good until about halfway through when his daughter Marina appears, then becomes very good through the end. Has a touching happy ending, probably why it was very popular in its day.

Also read his Coriolanus, a simple story of a fierce Roman general who beat back Rome's enemies but then decides to dip his toe into politics. Corrupt politicians smear his reputation using his unbending pride as a fatal flaw and get him tossed out of the city. He joins forces with former enemies and leads them against his homeland. Very well written and good characters, fun piece.

Listened to Dream Park by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, a story about a virtual DD adventure park where someone commits espionage and murder, and the head of security enters the game undercover to find the killer. Fun piece though not as good as Ready Player One or CTRL ALT Revolt!.

Posted by: waelse1 at October 23, 2016 11:22 AM (DXrCk)

210 Apparently, they thought they'd never see their 31st birthday.

Plenty didn't.

Posted by: Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin at October 23, 2016 11:23 AM (StZrq)

211 PA Lurker. "All kinds of crazy." "Moron-level crazy."

Dude. You're a living legend. In your own time!
Now there is a guy who knows how to arrive.

Cueing up "Bookstore security video, or it didn't happen"?

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 11:23 AM (H5rtT)

212 Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Cubs were to win the WS and, immediately after the final out of Game 7 rather than SMOD we would find ourselves back in 1908? With a booming voice from Heaven saying, "OK, you get a chance to redo the 20th century. Please try not to screw it up this time."

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:23 AM (P8951)

213 Lt. General Nick Angriff ...

Such a great name for this story. Somehow I doubt he'll be cautiously playing defense.

Posted by: t-bird at October 23, 2016 11:24 AM (k8DTS)

214 Hey PA Lurker! Welcome and thanks for delurking!

Lucky you to get to meet josephistan. Hope I can some day.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 11:24 AM (uHcnA)

215 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am interested in the period.

-
It is good but bleak. She began writing about the effects if the Black Death but soon found the fourteenth century attracted calamity much as did the twentieth. Bloody peasant revolts, wars, crimes, famine, fanaticism, inflation, conspiracy, and what have you. She says that the fourteenth century was so long ago that whatever similarity to contemporary life must arise from human nature itself. If so, it doesn't speak well of homo sapiens; perhaps we ought to drop the "sapiens" and change the designation to homo dumbfvckus.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With More Je Ne Sais Quoi! at October 23, 2016 11:24 AM (Nwg0u)

216 Asking for recommended authors. I like a history book prefably in audio CD format without too much SJW crap. I am okay with almost any period of Western history except WWII which I have reached saturation point on. Any recommendations? Thanks

Posted by: ZombieChurchill at October 23, 2016 11:26 AM (lidp8)

217 Jagger said back in the 1960's that he'd rather be dead than be singing "Satisfaction" at age 60. He passed that milestone some time ago. Of course, that's like the 60's kids saying "Don't Trust Anyone Over 30." Apparently, they thought they'd never see their 31st birthday.

Posted by: DonnaV(deplorably brandishing ampersandsand so there at October 23, 2016 11:16 AM (P8951)


Never trust anyone over 30 40 50 60 70 80!

Posted by: idiot baby boomers at October 23, 2016 11:26 AM (EL4JJ)

218 waelse1 Is READY PLAYER ONE that good?

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 11:26 AM (dKiJG)

219 Well best get to things like feed the cats, feed myself, and write some more. Have fun everyone.

Plug for Golden Isis
Nook book version
http://preview.tinyurl.com/zynnfah

Kindle version
http://astore.amazon.com/aoshq-20/detail/B014BTSEYO

Createspace printed version
https://www.createspace.com/5705570

Posted by: Anna Puma at October 23, 2016 11:27 AM (64sZ6)

220 Apparently, they thought they'd never see their 31st birthday.

--

Drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 11:27 AM (Om16U)

221 change the designation to homo dumbfvckus.


okay, I did laugh out loud.

Posted by: Infidel at October 23, 2016 11:28 AM (kjwd/)

222 OM, the Grateful Dead were talking about the Summer of Love scene, mostly 1967 "or so," not Woodstock. They did work in southern California a lot, and then again, may have just lost track of time.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 11:29 AM (H5rtT)

223 Also read his Coriolanus, a simple story of a fierce Roman general who beat back Rome's enemies but then decides to dip his toe into politics. Corrupt politicians smear his reputation using his unbending pride as a fatal flaw and get him tossed out of the city. He joins forces with former enemies and leads them against his homeland. Very well written and good characters, fun piece.
--------------------

Ah. Mr. Bluebell and I saw Coriolanus at Shakespeare's theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon on our honeymoon. Charles Dance was Coriolanus. It was very good.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 11:30 AM (uHcnA)

224 Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 11:20 AM (sdi6R)

I actually like Dylan, but I think the guy at "Maggie's Farm" got it right - Dylan is a troubadour, not a poet. His lyrics do not stand alone as poetry.

Many of Leonard Cohen's lyrics do - and Cohen actually was a published poet and novelist before he took up songwriting.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:30 AM (P8951)

225 The Woodstock music festival was almost literally in Bob Dylan's backyard, and it was sited there because the promoters hoped to entice him to come out of "retirement". He hadn't played in public since his 1966 motorcycle accident and was living in the area at the time.

So naturally, Bob snubbed the Woodstock organizers and played at the Isle of Wight festival in England two weeks later.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 11:32 AM (sdi6R)

226 Thanks to all for the thoughts on "A Distant Mirror". It sounds like a worthwhile read as long as I combine it with Chaucer (always worth rereading) and The Decameron. And the WW I books mentioned also go on the list. Time to hit the used book store.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 11:32 AM (V+03K)

227 208 Posted by: PA Lurker at October 23, 2016 11:19 AM (hfEqB)

How did you figure it was josephistan?
Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 11:21 AM (Om16U)

I was wearing my "Joseph I, Lord Emperor of Josephistan" t-shirt.

Good to meet you, PA Lurker.

Posted by: josephistan at October 23, 2016 11:32 AM (7qAYi)

228 Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 11:26 AM (dKiJG)

I enjoyed it quite a bit, is a good nostalgia trip where people use their knowledge of 1980's culture, old computers, videogames and movies in a race to find a $240 billion treasure in a virtual world. Not deep but a fun fast read.

Posted by: waelse1 at October 23, 2016 11:33 AM (DXrCk)

229 They did work in southern California a lot, and then again, may have just lost track of time.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 11:29 AM (H5rtT)


Yeah, I can believe that. And I agree with you about their work ethic.

Posted by: idiots baby boomers at October 23, 2016 11:33 AM (EL4JJ)

230 Nobel Peace Prize committee is basically a teens-in-their-minds squeeing fan girl club these days.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 11:34 AM (Om16U)

231 Do not click on the pants link!

Fashion aside, it will seize control of your browser and try to get you to install malware and other nefarious things.

At least that's what it did on chrome.

Posted by: bananaDream[\i] at October 23, 2016 11:34 AM (Ag8Mw)

232 he's refusing to answer phone calls from the Nobel committee.

I hope the Peace Prize committee suffers the same fate one day. "And share a title with Arafat and Obama?! No, thanks!"

Posted by: t-bird at October 23, 2016 11:34 AM (HwVbl)

233 Posted by: ZombieChurchill at October 23, 2016 11:26 AM (lidp

I find the history of the British Empire fascinating. The Victorian Brits seem a different species from what they have in the UK today.

Don't know if it's on audio CD, but one of the best, most readable accounts of the Empire is the James (now Jan) Morris trilogy.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:34 AM (P8951)

234 I am so glad we are on the book thread and can talk endlessly about Altamont and rubber lips Jagger.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 11:35 AM (mpXpK)

235 bananaDream, use a forward-slash instead of a backslash for your Barrel Safety tag.

Posted by: t-bird at October 23, 2016 11:36 AM (HwVbl)

236 I see you are reading "Camp of the Saints". When I read that in the '70's, it seemed much more like sci-fi dystopian fiction. Now, if read metaphorically, it seems like a history of the last decade.

Yeah, unfortunately, coming true much faster than Orwell's 1984.

Posted by: cool breeze at October 23, 2016 11:36 AM (StZrq)

237 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 11:35 AM (mpXpK)

The book thread wanders where the book thread wanders. The book thread cob has made his own contributions to the subject.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:37 AM (P8951)

238 She's fearless? Brilliant, brave, unstoppable? Even Hillary herself doesn't fall for this.

Posted by: JuJuBee at October 23, 2016 11:37 AM (kma8f)

239 Drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 11:27 AM (Om16U)


I like how the Bible describes this attitude:

"Come," they say, "let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so." --Isaiah 56:12

Posted by: idiots baby boomers at October 23, 2016 11:38 AM (EL4JJ)

240 I am so glad we are on the book thread and can talk endlessly about Altamont and rubber lips Jagger.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 11:35 AM (mpXpK)

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

As long as the talk is vaguely redolent of books, doesn't get too tendentious, and doesn't head toward prolixity, I think we're okay.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 11:39 AM (uHcnA)

241 Fashion aside, it will seize control of your browser and try to get you to install malware and other nefarious things.
At least that's what it did on chrome.
Posted by: bananaDream at October 23, 2016 11:34 AM (Ag8Mw)


Ouch. Sorry, it didn't do this for me. Let me check this...

Posted by: idiots baby boomers at October 23, 2016 11:40 AM (EL4JJ)

242 Oh, the Morris trilogy is called Pax Britannica.

"Heaven's Command," "Pax Britannica" and "Farewell the Trumpets."

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:40 AM (P8951)

243 "In the 1950s, it was a man's world. ... They said a woman couldn't be a mother and a lawyer. Hillary was both."

Yes, she managed to overcome the sexist values of the 1950s ... by 1980.

This is akin to somebody saying, "Why do people pay so much attention to Rosa Parks? I sat in the front of the bus, too, and I didn't move, no matter what any racist white person said to me. No, it wasn't in 1955. It was this morning. But that should still count!"

Posted by: Joshua K. at October 23, 2016 11:40 AM (u7Zfr)

244 the lions gate steven pressfield, about the Six Day War.

He wrote about the (Gates of Fire) 300 and the battle Thermopylae, this book is historical fiction but it give you an idea of what life was like in Sparta.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 11:40 AM (dKiJG)

245 Brilliant, brave, unstoppable? Even Hillary herself doesn't fall for this.

Which is saying something.

Posted by: t-bird at October 23, 2016 11:41 AM (ysprU)

246 Never read Dr. Seuss as a kid. I learned to read around five with comic books. I will never consider myself rich no matter how much money I have since Richie Rich became my standard.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at October 23, 2016 11:41 AM (Xrson)

247 Ok, had to look up prolixity. Thanks bluebell. Good word. Have several relatives I can use to describe their ramblings.

Posted by: never enough caffeine at October 23, 2016 11:42 AM (wV8s/)

248 "Heaven's Command," "Pax Britannica" and "Farewell the Trumpets."

Posted by: DonnaV

Thanks Donna. I'm going to find those. Great winter read next to the fire in my rocking chair. :-)

Posted by: Infidel at October 23, 2016 11:43 AM (kjwd/)

249 Compare and contrast: HRC and Phyllis Schafly.

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 11:45 AM (MIKMs)

250 Altamont has been discussed, and I mentioned Bob Dylan's appearance at the 1969 Isle of Wight festival.

Then there was the 1970 Isle of Wight festival. I've seen the documentary about that one. It wasn't quite as bad as Altamont, but it came perilously close to going sideways. The performers were pissed off at the promoters, the promoters were pissed off at the audience, and the audience were pissed off at everybody.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Festival_1970

No doubt there was some good music there, but that thing was a hot mess.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 11:45 AM (sdi6R)

251 Have to agree about having hardcopies of his stories. Actually holding the books seems more appropriate than e-versions. And as Skip and I learned, Dean King's "A Sea of Words" is a huge help in understanding the sailing and cultural terms O'Brian used. Besides, It is just fun reading on its own.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:36 AM (V+03K)


I scored a number of the series from McKay's, what a great resource to have relatively nearby, I've got a lot of books on the Kindle and for fluff it works all right, but for real books, there is nothing like hardcopy. I'm switching back and forth between Sea of Words and O'Brian because having the context is so helpful!

Posted by: Hrothgar at October 23, 2016 11:48 AM (wCEn4)

252 Ok, had to look up prolixity. Thanks bluebell. Good word. Have several relatives I can use to describe their ramblings.
Posted by: never enough caffeine at October 23, 2016 11:42 AM (wV8s/)
------------------

Ha! Not my own. I had to look it up too!

I was riffing off the posts at #87 and #92 above.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 11:48 AM (uHcnA)

253 Ok, link is now just to an accordion pants picture and doesn't cause any problems for me.

Before it was to some bajiroo.com site that did funky things to my browser.

Posted by: bananaDream at October 23, 2016 11:48 AM (Ag8Mw)

254 OK, I fixed the pants link.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 11:52 AM (EL4JJ)

255 I'm liking Dylan's finger to the Nobel Committee because it flies in the face of all the kow-towing to authority formerly "rebellious" rock stars have done. They claimed to be anti-Establishment in the 1960's and then went on to become fabulously rich statists. Sir Paul, Sir Mick, Sir Elton. Paul Simon singing at the DNC, McCartney sucking up to Obama.

They display the worst aspects of leftist boomer culture - they're now The Man, comfortable and complacent, while pretending there is still something revolutionary about them.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 11:53 AM (P8951)

256 (Reading "Last of the Mohicans" many years ago killed my interest in Cooper.) If Chesterton's other writings are this good, I have a lot of excellent reading to look forward to.
Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:24 AM (V+03K)


I haven't read Chesterton's review of Last of the Mohicans but I well remember writing a scathing book of the novel in 8th grade. I thought that it was a dreadful, pompous book that was totally divorced from reality.

I watched and enjoyed the movie but haven't read a Cooper book since.

Posted by: Michael the Deplorable TEXIT at October 23, 2016 11:54 AM (nvMvs)

257 off, stupid sock.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 11:55 AM (EL4JJ)

258 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A
Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am
interested in the period.

======================

A fascinating book. Median income rose substantially due to the stratospheric death rate incurred by the Black Death and the North European merchant class made its claim for political power at the expense of the feudal aristocracy.

Tuchman spends a fair amount of time on the economic turmoils during the late 1300s. That alone makes the book worth reading and reading again.

Posted by: mrp at October 23, 2016 11:56 AM (JBggj)

259 255 I'm liking Dylan's finger to the Nobel Committee because it flies in the face of all the kow-towing to authority formerly "rebellious" rock stars have done. They claimed to be anti-Establishment in the 1960's and then went on to become fabulously rich statists. Sir Paul, Sir Mick, Sir Elton. Paul Simon singing at the DNC, McCartney sucking up to Obama.
They display the worst aspects of leftist boomer culture - they're now The Man, comfortable and complacent, while pretending there is still something revolutionary about them.

Posted by: DonnaV(deplorably brandishing ampersandsand so there at October 23, 2016 11:53 AM (P8951)


Young lady, do you have a newsletter?

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 11:57 AM (EL4JJ)

260 Sitting here at Harvard Square for the Head of the Charles Regatta, drinking dark roast and wondering when Harvard became such an ethnic dump rather than an institution of higher learning?

Where they taught student how to think and not what to think?

Posted by: Deplorable Adirondack Patriot at October 23, 2016 11:57 AM (2ANoF)

261 Thanks to a comment on here from some Moron, I read The Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman about a Jewish detective in the dying days of the Weimar Republic. I limed it so well I also am reading the prequel, Children of Wrath.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With More Je Ne Sais Quoi! at October 23, 2016 11:57 AM (Nwg0u)

262 talk endlessly about Altamont and rubber lips Jagger. --Vic

Hey, that's a Queen's Scout you're calling rubber lips, buster. Once a Scout...

No, no. Just discussing the various non-attendances of the Nobel Literature laureate. See?

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 11:59 AM (H5rtT)

263 They said a woman couldn't be a mother and a lawyer. Hillary was both."

Well, that's a high bar.

I believe what "they" actually said was that a woman couldn't be a mother and spend her life attacking her husband's (and other's) sexual victims. Hillary accomplished both.

Posted by: t-bird at October 23, 2016 12:01 PM (TqmC9)

264 I second waelse1 on Ready Player One. There's a rather startling anti-religion rant, but then the author moves on. I guess it's establishing the dystopia. Definitely 80's nostalgia and a satisfactory ending. Andy Weir ("The Martian") wrote a fan-fic short story that was included in the latest edition.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at October 23, 2016 12:01 PM (HmxmL)

265 Posted by: DonnaV(deplorably brandishing
ampersandsand so there at October 23, 2016 11:34 AM
(P8951)

Nice reminder. I am a big J. Morris fan.

Also, last night I was reading last Sunday's Book Thread. About children's books, I loved The Borrowers.

Recently read James Sallis, Willnot. Really well written and good character development. But not really a mystery as billed. I am hit and miss on Sallis, Found him here as a recommend. Really enjoy his writing. Apparently he has a series built around a detective -- bring to mind the details. I read one and don't know if I will read the rest.

Posted by: gracepc at October 23, 2016 12:03 PM (OU4q6)

266 "Hillary was fearlessly."

Is this the sort of strained sentence construction I get to look forward to from the children of the Hillary era?

I do like that in the Amazon reviews someone took the time to do a side-by-side comparison of the pages of this book and Soviet propaganda.

Posted by: bananaDream at October 23, 2016 12:04 PM (Ag8Mw)

267 They said a woman couldn't be a mother and a lawyer. Hillary was both.

Heh. You know who else was both? Phyllis Schlafly. Only she didn't have just one child, she had six. And she had more accomplishments in one year than Hillary has ever had in her entire miserable life.

Oh, she's a conservative? Well, never mind, then...

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 12:04 PM (EL4JJ)

268 I do like that in the Amazon reviews someone took the time to do a side-by-side comparison of the pages of this book and Soviet propaganda.

Posted by: bananaDream at October 23, 2016 12:04 PM (Ag8Mw)


Heh. I'll have to check that one out. I missed it the first time around.

And thank you for the heads-up about the pants link. I fixed it.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 12:05 PM (EL4JJ)

269 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am interested in the period.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 09:27 AM (V+03K)


Tuchman was a journalist, not an historian. Her books are readable, but not original, balanced or accurate. The Guns of August, which is about a subject that I know well, is so bad that I would have to have a terminal case of the Murray Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect to recommend anything else she wrote.

So, as to alternatives. As an overview, The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History is probably the best work out there. Also, Desmond Seward has written a lot about the same general period, is just as readable, and a lot more accurate than Tuchman. His books about the Hundred Years War and Richard III are very good, to name just two. Methuen's A History of Europe, 1198-1378 is also excellent.

Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 12:08 PM (PI8Vq)

270 The Guardian is chaffed that Dylan won the Nobel, but that is par for the course. Most people don't realize there was a political bent to the criticism Dylan received for going electric at Newport. Pete Seeger, the old Stalinist, tried to literally cut Dylan's electric cord with an axe ( it's surprising Seeger didn't go "electric" himself with that stupid act.) and the lefties in the crowd thought that Dylan wanted to be a pop star which they considered an act of treason. They wanted him to be their "mouthpiece" and continue to write protest songs--something he pretty much hasn't done since 1963.

About Dylan not rushing to accept his Nobel? He's probably slightly embarrassed that he won because he's never taken himself as seriously as some of his fans do. Also, there's the question of "tact." Maybe he thinks it would be unseemly for a multi-millionaire like himself to appear to eager to claim his million dollar prize.

By the way, he totally deserved the award--especially when you consider some of the people who've won in the past.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 23, 2016 12:10 PM (ZQMXl)

271 >>About Dylan not rushing to accept his Nobel? He's probably slightly embarrassed that he won because he's never taken himself as seriously as some of his fans do.

There's a great interview with Jerry Garcia where he is talking about his admiration and friendship with Dylan. They played together and the Dead and Jerry's side bands covered a lot of Dylan tunes.

He said the first time they were going to play together they were concerned that Dylan might not be up to it. Jerry asked him if he knew all the words to the Dylan songs they were planning on playing and Dylans answer was "Most of them.".

I don't think he's ever taken himself of his songs nearly as serious as his fans.

Posted by: JackStraw at October 23, 2016 12:15 PM (/tuJf)

272 Asking for recommended authors. I like a history book prefably in audio CD format without too much SJW crap. I am okay with almost any period of Western history except WWII which I have reached saturation point on. Any recommendations? Thanks

-
I quite liked Rubicon by Tom Holland about the fall of the Roman Republic. It is very readable with just a hint of the supernatural thrown in for spice. Any similarity between Rome 2000 years ago and the fall of the American Republic today, I'm sure, merely coincidental.

I've seen Holland several times on history documenraries and boy, talk about a nerd! (I have certain nerd-like qualities myself. He also wrote In the Shadow of the Sword about, among other things, the rise of Islam, as well as several other books.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With More Je Ne Sais Quoi! at October 23, 2016 12:15 PM (Nwg0u)

273 Hillary was fearlessly.

-
She will commit any crime, any time, anywhere.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With More Je Ne Sais Quoi! at October 23, 2016 12:18 PM (Nwg0u)

274 One thing I've always found interesting about Leonard Cohen's lyrics is the amount of Catholic imagery in them. He wrote a song about Joan of Arc and his lyrics reference the Sacred Heart, the Crucifixion and Calvary, the Sisters of Mercy (in a decidedly secular way), the rosary, etc.

Cohen was raised Jewish in what was then very Catholic (and alas, pretty anti-Semitic) Montreal*, which obviously influenced him a great deal.

*Montreal has ditched the Catholicism, but not the anti-Semitism.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 12:20 PM (P8951)

275 Excellent comment, JoeF.

The early 60s folk music scene was thoroughly infested with Communists and fellow travelers, and Dylan was a part of that--at first. By 1964 he was already distancing himself from them, and they were already calling him a "sellout" before he ever picked up an electric guitar.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've seen a lot of butthurt comments by conservatives, and now the left-wing Guardian joins in. Excellent.

I saw a comment at Instapundit which said that a lot of people have a cartoon image of Dylan in their minds. That captures it pretty well, I think.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 12:21 PM (sdi6R)

276 One thing I've always found interesting about Leonard Cohen's lyrics is the amount of Catholic imagery in them. He wrote a song about Joan of Arc and his lyrics reference the Sacred Heart, the Crucifixion and Calvary, the Sisters of Mercy (in a decidedly secular way), the rosary, etc.

Cohen was raised Jewish in what was then very Catholic (and alas, pretty anti-Semitic) Montreal*, which obviously influenced him a great deal.

*Montreal has ditched the Catholicism, but not the anti-Semitism.
Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing amper...)

You don't have to be Catholic to see and make use of the rich imagery of RC tradition.
I've noticed that many of Clint Eastwood's later movies are rife with Catholic imagery even though he's not Catholic.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 23, 2016 12:24 PM (ZQMXl)

277 About Dylan not rushing to accept his Nobel? He's probably slightly embarrassed that he won because he's never taken himself as seriously as some of his fans do.

He's never been very impressed with his generation's hippies and radicals, either.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 12:25 PM (39g3+)

278 I saw a comment at Instapundit which said that a lot of people have a cartoon image of Dylan in their minds. That captures it pretty well, I think.
Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 12:21 PM
(sdi6R)

That's true and for that I blame "Rainy Day Women , parts 12 and 35."

Posted by: JoeF. at October 23, 2016 12:26 PM (ZQMXl)

279 I've been reading the collected works of P. G. Wodehouse. Simple fun reads. Many of the pieces can be read in one or two sittings. When I'm feeling a bit down I found good old Pelham helps me up.

Do any modern humorists remind you of Wodehouse? Perhaps he was just a singular man made unique by his interwar period of writing.

Posted by: bananaDream at October 23, 2016 12:27 PM (Ag8Mw)

280 Asking for recommended authors. I like a history book prefably in audio CD format without too much SJW crap. I am okay with almost any period of Western history except WWII which I have reached saturation point on. Any recommendations? Thanks

-
I quite liked Rubicon by Tom Holland about the fall of the Roman Republic. It is very readable with just a hint of the supernatural thrown in for spice. Any similarity between Rome 2000 years ago and the fall of the American Republic today, I'm sure, merely coincidental.

I've seen Holland several times on history documenraries and boy, talk about a nerd! (I have certain nerd-like qualities myself. He also wrote In the Shadow of the Sword about, among other things, the rise of Islam, as well as several other books.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With More Je Ne Sais Quoi! at October 23, 2016 12:15 PM (Nwg0u)

Thanks Anonosaurus!

Posted by: StrawMan at October 23, 2016 12:27 PM (lidp8)

281 bananaDream, I share your love of P.G. Wodehouse. There will never be another writer like him. Never fails to make me laugh, ever.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 12:28 PM (uHcnA)

282 36
I am reading ette Sabrina Chase' s Last Mage Guardian which is one of the 12 books in the Light in Darkness set.

I am enjoying it a lot .


There's more where that came from. The lady can write.

Posted by: Anachronda at October 23, 2016 12:28 PM (Oi5b2)

283 has a series of Roman mysteries called SPQR by John Maddox Roberts that are pretty entertaining and interesting. I also recommend the Michael Jecks Templar mysteries set in medieval England during one of its darkest times.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 12:30 PM (39g3+)

284 277
He's never been very impressed with his generation's hippies and radicals, either.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 12:25 PM (39g3+)


In his book "Chronicles Vol. 1" he described living in rural Woodstock, NY in the late 60s and the hippies who came to his house and invited themselves inside when the doors weren't locked. "I wanted to set them on fire."

He also wrote about buying a rifle and being told by the local sheriff that he would get in trouble if he shot anybody.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 12:31 PM (sdi6R)

285 old nood

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 12:33 PM (mpXpK)

286 281 bananaDream, I share your love of P.G. Wodehouse. There will never be another writer like him. Never fails to make me laugh, ever.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 12:28 PM (uHcnA)

It's amazing to me that he could just toss off one witty line after another in story after story after story. There's a hardly a paragraph that doesn't contain a gem.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 12:33 PM (P8951)

287 It's amazing to me that he could just toss off one witty line after another in story after story after story. There's a hardly a paragraph that doesn't contain a gem.
Posted by: Donna&&&&V(deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&and so there at October 23, 2016 12:33 PM (P8951)
---------------

I know exactly what you mean. But, apparently he didn't just toss them off. I saw some sort of short documentary about him once and it showed how he wrote his books. He would tack the pages on the walls of his writing room, and pull them down, rearrange them, change things, etc. until it was the way he wanted it. He would do this over and over. Extreme editing, I guess.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 12:36 PM (uHcnA)

288 PG Wodehouse's writing process was... very intense. He'd write everything down and put it up on a wall, then take out the parts that weren't funny, and replace them and take down the parts that weren't funny enough, and replace them, and so on until he had one consistent product he could be proud of.

Kind of like the top end comedians, they hone down their set until its ONLY the biggest hits.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 12:37 PM (39g3+)

289 >>286 It's amazing to me that he could just toss off one witty line after another in story after story after story. There's a hardly a paragraph that doesn't contain a gem.

When I read the romantic ones I have a black and white movie running in my head with William Powel and Myrna Loy as the principle characters and it all just fits perfectly.

Posted by: bananaDream at October 23, 2016 12:39 PM (Ag8Mw)

290 *fistbump* CT

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 12:40 PM (uHcnA)

291 Its the glasses.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 12:41 PM (39g3+)

292 Posted by: JackStraw at October 23, 2016 12:15 PM (/tuJf)

Dylan admired Garcia and wrote some nice words on his death. Apparently when rehearsing with The Dead he couldn't remember his lyrics and someone had to run to a bookstore and buy his songbook. The 7-disc bootleg of Dylan rehearsing with The Dead is excellent, though he noticeably struggles with the words.

Posted by: waelse1 at October 23, 2016 12:42 PM (DXrCk)

293 bananaDream, I take it you've seen the Jeeves and Wooster series with Hugh Laurie and Steven Fry? If not, you must see it. The first two seasons are excellent, the third is pretty good, the fourth is spotty, but it's all worth seeing.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 12:42 PM (uHcnA)

294 Its the glasses.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 12:41 PM (39g3+)
-------------

Ha!!!! Contacts for the last mumblety years, but reading glasses now!

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 12:43 PM (uHcnA)

295 >>>Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Cubs were to win the WS and, immediately after the final out of Game 7 rather than SMOD we would find ourselves back in 1908?<<<

If President Momjeans is pulling for the Cubs, you can banish this notion from you head now and make your peace with SMOD.

Posted by: Fritz at October 23, 2016 12:44 PM (cyoBN)

296 Roman mysteries: Lyndsey Davis and Steven Saylor. Excellent writers and competent historians and latinists. 'Name of the Rose' was talked about last week for medievalists. Also good for the medievalists, Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) in the Cadfael series. All write in series format, so starting at the beginning is recommended because then you can see if their styles work for you. Never could get into Jecks, although a lot of people I respect like his mysteries.

Historical fiction: Robert Graves' Claudius series and Gore Vidal (I especially liked his 'Julian').

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 12:44 PM (MIKMs)

297 >>I take it you've seen the Jeeves and Wooster series with Hugh Laurie and Steven Fry?

Yes I like it, and I think they do a good job pulling off Wodehouse. Though I kind of pictured Wooster being a bit more debonair. But Black Adder probably just ruined Hugh for me as far as being debonair.

Posted by: bananaDream at October 23, 2016 12:49 PM (Ag8Mw)

298 Hey, that's a Queen's Scout you're calling rubber lips, buster. Once a Scout...


What's he scouting for?...

A chapstick ?

Posted by: JT at October 23, 2016 12:51 PM (GdBvh)

299 >>Dylan admired Garcia and wrote some nice words on his death. Apparently when rehearsing with The Dead he couldn't remember his lyrics and someone had to run to a bookstore and buy his songbook. The 7-disc bootleg of Dylan rehearsing with The Dead is excellent, though he noticeably struggles with the words.

Yep. What really seems different about a lot of the music back then and today is the camaraderie and sharing between the various artists.

Did you ever see the Festival Express documentary? It is about a train trip by various artists in 1970 through Canada. The real party was on the train where the different artists played together on all kinds of songs, theirs and others.

Dylan wasn't there but the Dead played I Shall Be Released, a personal favorite, at least one time during the tour. Great movie.

Posted by: JackStraw at October 23, 2016 12:52 PM (/tuJf)

300 Have you ever seen any of the old Wodehouse Playhouse with John Alderton and his wife, Pauline Collins? They are short skits based on Wodehouse's short stories and very well done. You can see some of them on Youtube. I was able to borrow the whole series from our library.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 12:52 PM (uHcnA)

301 Late to the thread, as usual. Or rather, interrupted by church.

This week reading The Forgotten Man, very interesting so far.

Also started working my way through Francis Bacon's Essays, which I received last week.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 12:54 PM (9mTYi)

302 Btw, I quite like Ann Cleeland' s Murder in Thrall series (Acton & Doyle).
A disturbing premise gives the series a kind of disquieting atmosphere.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 12:55 PM (Om16U)

303 292
Dylan admired Garcia and wrote some nice words on his death. Apparently when rehearsing with The Dead he couldn't remember his lyrics and someone had to run to a bookstore and buy his songbook. The 7-disc bootleg of Dylan rehearsing with The Dead is excellent, though he noticeably struggles with the words.
Posted by: waelse1 at October 23, 2016 12:42 PM (DXrCk)


The mid-80s was the nadir of Dylan's career. After he played with the Dead, he has been on fire for the last 30 years or so. He put together an excellent band, tours constantly, and has released several albums that are among the best of his career. He has no trouble with lyrics today as far as I can tell.

I may or may not have played a small role in encouraging him to play with the Dead. We will probably never know.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 12:56 PM (sdi6R)

304 Posted by: JackStraw at October 23, 2016 12:52 PM (/tuJf)

I've seen some of it, Joplin I think is the biggest star on the train. It is an interesting picture behind the scenes for these 60's stars.

Posted by: waelse1 at October 23, 2016 01:00 PM (DXrCk)

305 Writer Elizabeth Peters (Barbara Mertz) wrote very enjoyable mysteries. As an aside, she was a PhD from University of Chicago (1952, Egyptology). Gee, how did those women overcome all that oppression. /s

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 01:01 PM (MIKMs)

306 Posted by: rickl the deplorable at October 23, 2016 12:56 PM (sdi6R)

1987 Dylan had a very good voice, I think his nadir was 1990-1991 where I think some shows he was noticeably drunk and his voice had cracked. 1992 on he's been great though, his voice wasn't the same but has been making great music.

Posted by: waelse1 at October 23, 2016 01:05 PM (DXrCk)

307 mustbequantum, thanks for that recommendation! I've never heard of her, but my library has lots of her books. Sounds like a great rabbit hole for me. I love mystery stories, and the older ones are much more to my liking than any of the newer ones. I love the old writers like Margerie Allingham and Ngaio Marsh.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:07 PM (uHcnA)

308 i may be late, but here's something i learned recently:
soupçon. a word meaning a small amount. i long thought it came from the culinary world, perhaps a french measurement of some kind. no.

soupçon is derived from the french word for suspicion.

example: "he did not have even a soupçon of a chance." meaning "he did not have even a suspicion of a chance."

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at October 23, 2016 01:10 PM (WTSFk)

309 that's "soupçon"

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at October 23, 2016 01:11 PM (WTSFk)

310 s o u p c o n

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at October 23, 2016 01:12 PM (WTSFk)

311 {where did those diamonds with the question marks come from? dunno.

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at October 23, 2016 01:13 PM (WTSFk)

312 For Wodehouse fans, the screen adaptation of Heavy Weather is well worth watching. Filmed in the era of VHS and never digitally remastered (the DVD is clearly just the tape copied over to the new storage format), but your eyes will adjust to the lower resolution (eventually). Available on YouTube as well (at least it was the last time I checked). Some minor departures from the book, but generally pretty faithful. Actors portrayals are spot on, too, especially Peter O'Toole (Lord Emsworth), Richard Briers (Galahad), David Bamber (Pilbeam), Richard Johnson (Lord Tilbury), Roy Hudd (Beach) and Judy Parfitt (Lady Constance).

The new BBC series Blandings is also amusing, but not at all faithful to the books. Still, anything even loosely based on Wodehouse can't go too far wrong.

Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 01:14 PM (PI8Vq)

313 }

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at October 23, 2016 01:14 PM (WTSFk)

314 I love the old writers like Margerie Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:07 PM (uHcnA)
=====

Put Dorothy Sayers in the line as well. She also spent a lot of her 'free time' putting on Christian plays for radio. Surprised that Fenelon Spoke hasn't read more of her.

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 01:15 PM (MIKMs)

315 I've read every Dorothy Sayers book written. They are beautifully written, and they take a lot longer to read than other writers' books, but well worth the time.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:16 PM (uHcnA)

316 I should say, her mystery books. I've read some of her other writings as well, but not all of them.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:17 PM (uHcnA)

317 Donna w/ampersands, Leonard Cohen was a novelist before he wrote songs.
His earliest, Beautiful Loser, kind of references the life of St Catherine Tekakwitha. It has a little anti-catholic feeling to it, I'd say, but not like nowadays. Mid-60's.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 23, 2016 01:17 PM (H5rtT)

318 I just rattled some cages in a NaNoWriMo forum by stating that "Cultural Appropriation" was nothing but bullshit virtue-signaling.

Posted by: V the K at October 23, 2016 01:22 PM (jn7FC)

319 Younger daughter found some good restaurant menus on the intrawebz awhile back. We still laugh about chicken nugger, sweer potato and french fried (that's it, just french fried, nothing else).

This soon morphed to "you my nugger," Nugger, please!" etc.

She's in high school, so it's okay.

Posted by: SMOD '16! at October 23, 2016 01:22 PM (joFoi)

320 I like Dorothy Sayers but as you say, she's a bit slow, and focuses less on the mystery and the details of the case than the relationships and events that happen during the investigation. That's less of an interest to me.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 01:26 PM (39g3+)

321 Another vote for the Elizabeth Peters 'Amelia Peabody' series. Mrs. JTB and I read them all and they are all good mysteries and a lot of fun.

I don't know of any modern writer who matches PG Wodehouse, certainly not on a consistent basis. There are some parts of Cleveland Amory's "The Trouble With Nowadays" that come close. Wodehouse's great ability to express silliness with such a straight faced delivery is tough to do.

Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 01:26 PM (V+03K)

322 I just rattled some cages in a NaNoWriMo forum by
stating that "Cultural Appropriation" was nothing but bullshit
virtue-signaling. Posted by: V the K at October 23, 2016 01:22 PM (jn7FC)
=====

Keep rattling! I am so darned tired of it. Can't even read a novel without being preached at for some imaginary failing. Self-righteous smug a**hats have taken over writing Sermons for the Newly Converted. Makes the worst of the 'collected sermons of _____' look like high literature.

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 01:28 PM (MIKMs)

323 This week I started and finished (it's a quick read) the late Paul Kalanithi's "When Breath Becomes Air," the bio of man in his mid-30s who is months away from becoming a neurosurgeon/prof with major promise, when he is diagnosed with stage IV cancer.

While it's a compact book, it contains memorable anecdotes about his childhood, family life and stand-out medical-school moments. Compared to some ijits who write their autobiographies about community organizing and thuggery, this one is worth it.

Posted by: SMOD '16! at October 23, 2016 01:28 PM (joFoi)

324 321 Another vote for the Elizabeth Peters 'Amelia Peabody' series. Mrs. JTB and I read them all and they are all good mysteries and a lot of fun.

--

Love that series! So much fun.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 01:29 PM (Om16U)

325 HTL, thank you! I will look for Heavy Weather.

I've seen the first season of the new Blandings remake and it's much too goofy for my liking.

I also saw an old movie with David Niven playing Wooster and I forget who playing Jeeves, and it also was too goofy.

For me, the standard was set with the Jeeves and Wooster series, as far as portrayals go.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:29 PM (uHcnA)

326 It's rare to find an un-put-downable book these days, but one exists in "I Let You Go," by Clare Mackintosh. On the first page, we witness the horrific hit-and-run crash that kills a 5 yo boy during a torrential British downpour. He slips from his mother's hand when he sees his house in sight and is struck by a car that neither slows down before the accident (?) or by the driver who fails to render aid but instead, guns the engine and backs up to the nearest cross street. The distraught mother is too shocked to provide eyewitness information and no one has come forth the entire first year to report anything tangible.

The subsequent chapters are irresistably readable and are anonymous first-person accounts of those involved and how their lives go on and detail what their earlier lives were like.

To say that the reader will assume too much into exactly who is who in this tale is to put it mildly. It's positively Hitchcockian. I'm 69 pages out from the end, which the jacket promises is a "killer twist."

Posted by: SMOD '16! at October 23, 2016 01:37 PM (joFoi)

327 V the K, should ask those defending 'Cultural Appropriation' to take the Ancestry or the 23 DNA test to determine which cultures and races they are allowed to write about.

Posted by: Anna Puma at October 23, 2016 01:38 PM (pBudL)

328 I also saw an old movie with David Niven playing Wooster and I forget who playing Jeeves, and it also was too goofy.

For me, the standard was set with the Jeeves and Wooster series, as far as portrayals go.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:29 PM (uHcnA)


I think that old movie had Arthur Treacher as Jeeves, and it had nothing to do with any Jeeves and Wooster story I ever read (and I have read them all).

There was also a series done in the olden days (the 60's, I think) with Ian Carmichael as Wooster and Dennis Price as Jeeves, which sounded good until I found what may be the only surviving episode (on YouTube, again), and learned to my chagrin that Carmichael was born to play Wimsey, not Wooster. It was also another case of the plot being only loosely based on Wodehouse. Pro tip: if you are a screenwriter and think that you can improve on Wodehouse, you can't.

Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 01:40 PM (PI8Vq)

329 Keep rattling! I am so darned tired of it. Can't
even read a novel without being preached at for some imaginary failing.
Self-righteous smug a**hats have taken over writing Sermons for the
Newly Converted. Makes the worst of the 'collected sermons of _____'
look like high literature.


Posted by: mustbequantum at October 23, 2016 01:28 PM (MIKMs)

Went to library last week. Part of what I got was "random" which I do frequently. Of 4 books, I returned 3 quickly -- furthest I got was chapter 2 in one of them and page 2 in another. Preach, the world against women, how difficult if it for women (sigh), and lots of smug. Takes a lot of the fun out of discovering "new" (new) to me. A lot times in the past, this has led me to some good /fun/interesting authors and I ended up reading almost all they wrote.

Posted by: gracepc at October 23, 2016 01:41 PM (OU4q6)

330 Someone much earlier in the thread mentioned that Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower and The Guns of August should be available in one volume. The actually are--in The Library of America series.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 23, 2016 01:46 PM (ZQMXl)

331 Pro tip: if you are a screenwriter and think that you can improve on Wodehouse, you can't.
Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 01:40 PM (PI8Vq)
--------------

Word.

And if you didn't see my comment upthread, it's worth checking out the old Wodehouse Playhouse for the short stories.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:46 PM (uHcnA)

332 There are some parts of Cleveland Amory's "The Trouble With Nowadays" that come close. Wodehouse's great ability to express silliness with such a straight faced delivery is tough to do.
Posted by: JTB at October 23, 2016 01:26 PM (V+03K)

-------

Thanks, JTB, I will look for that.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:48 PM (uHcnA)

333 I've recently come across several mentions of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". Never read anything by her. Is this one any good? I am interested in the period.
Posted by: JTB
--------------

Certainly readable, and entertaining in a historical sort of way. I don't think that you would come away with any any gross misapprehensions of the period in question.

I recall a quote that she used, though I do not recall the source. The source was speaking of the Church leadership (and I make here a parallel with our current political elite) and said, "I consider those in their charge, and tremble."

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 01:51 PM (7H/2n)

334 Pro tip: if you are a screenwriter and think that you can improve on Wodehouse, you can't.

But that's nearly always true of any written source material. There are almost no examples of a movie as good or better than the original material (there are some; Blade Runner (original cut), Princess Bride, Psycho, etc). And almost always because the screenwriter was sure he knew better.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 01:52 PM (39g3+)

335 Incidentally, if you'd rather have a physical copy of Life Unworthy - or any of my books - you can get them POD from either Createspace or Lulu.

http://alphawolf10.wixsite.com/kestrelarts2/books

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 01:54 PM (39g3+)

336 And if you didn't see my comment upthread, it's worth checking out the old Wodehouse Playhouse for the short stories.

Posted by: bluebell at October 23, 2016 01:46 PM (uHcnA)


I did see that. Have them on DVD. I like the fact that they were introduced by the author himself.

Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 02:02 PM (PI8Vq)

337 334 Pro tip: if you are a screenwriter and think that you can improve on Wodehouse, you can't.

But that's nearly always true of any written source material. There are almost no examples of a movie as good or better than the original material (there are some; Blade Runner (original cut), Princess Bride, Psycho, etc). And almost always because the screenwriter was sure he knew better.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 01:52 PM (39g3+)

I would say JAWS the movie was better than the book.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 02:04 PM (dKiJG)

338 I waded through "The Goldfinch" and was entertained, but did not find it great literature.

You gotta read the last page, the wrap up, to see how she tries to emulate Dickens' finish for "A Tale of Two Cities."

Dickens accomplishes something. Donna Tartt not so much.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at October 23, 2016 02:05 PM (U6f54)

339 josephistan - rates & Outlaws of Canada - 1610-1932" by Harold Horwood & Ed Butts
-----------

I wonder (surely they does) discuss the McLean brothers?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 02:05 PM (7H/2n)

340 That's all kinds of crazy.
Posted by: OregonMuse
------------

Feature, not bug, among Horde-ish Morons.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 02:09 PM (7H/2n)

341 339 - (surely they does)

Okay, I'm from the South.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at October 23, 2016 02:10 PM (7H/2n)

342 I would say JAWS the movie was better than the book.

I can't make that call because I've never read it. The only print version of the book I've been in contact with was with the Radio Reader show with Dick Estell reading it. And he was so good at it, he made any book great.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 02:10 PM (39g3+)

343 V the K, should ask those defending 'Cultural Appropriation' to take the Ancestry or the 23 DNA test to determine which cultures and races they are allowed to write about.

Actually, the lecture was, "You don't understand what 'cultural appropriation' is. It means when people from the dominant culture misuse and trivialize elements of other cultures like sombreros and Native American head dresses."

Posted by: V the K at October 23, 2016 02:12 PM (jn7FC)

344 Books on tape/recorded read books are a good book thread topic.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 02:15 PM (39g3+)

345 There are quite a few movies which are better than the books they were supposedly written from. Two that come immediately to mind for me are Gone With The Wind and The Princess Bride.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 02:19 PM (mpXpK)

346 But that's nearly always true of any written source material. There are almost no examples of a movie as good or better than the original material (there are some; Blade Runner (original cut), Princess Bride, Psycho, etc). And almost always because the screenwriter was sure he knew better.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 01:52 PM (39g3+)


Respectfully, I disagree. I can think of dozens of examples, just off the top of my head. The entire Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series, for example. Carmichael and Petherbridge's Wimsey stories. Sense and Sensibility by Emma Thompson. Lynch's Dune. The list goes on.

For some perverse reason, however, adaptations of Wodehouse are particularly prone to wandering off the reservation. So much so that it is rare to find one that is reasonably faithful to the original story. Even the Laurie and Fry series got lost at the end, and started making things up out of whole cloth.

To return to my own particular hobbyhorse/bete noir for a moment, it would almost be a relief to see a screen adaptation of Tuchman's Proud Tower/Guns of August. She was so clueless/credulous in her presentation of events, characters, motives, etc. that if a screenplay got her completely 'wrong', it might almost have a chance at getting the actual history right.

Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 02:20 PM (PI8Vq)

347 It means when people from the dominant culture misuse and trivialize elements of other cultures like sombreros and Native American head dresses."


RIght, they don't mean "people taking from other cultures" they mean "whitey taking from other cultures." Its like racism, the entire radical left's worldview is defined by oppressors and the oppressed. Its a formula they apply to everything: once they can identify the oppressor in any given situation, they can then apply the formula and decide everything.

Its a religion for mental infants.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 02:22 PM (39g3+)

348 Two that come immediately to mind for me are Gone With The Wind and The Princess Bride.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 23, 2016 02:19 PM (mpXpK)


Princess Bride the book was almost unreadable. I'm amazed they made my favorite movie from it.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 02:25 PM (Om16U)

349 Respectfully, I disagree. I can think of dozens of examples, just off the top of my head.

Sure, but more than 140,000 films have been made, so far. Almost none of them get the story from the book right. This is a classic example of the exception proving the rule.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 02:29 PM (39g3+)

350 91, cool breeze, it helps immensely. Thank you!

Posted by: Tonestaple at October 23, 2016 02:35 PM (uAU0q)

351 Sure, but more than 140,000 films have been made, so far. Almost none of them get the story from the book right. This is a classic example of the exception proving the rule.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 02:29 PM (39g3+)


Pardon me. Yours is the superior intellect. In my defense, I was unaware that you had actually watched all 140,000 movies, and read all 140,000 books, so as to have the definitive opinion on the subject. How many of them, by the way, are actually based on books instead of original screenplays? Just curious.

In my own, more limited experience, it is not hard to think of many shows that are as good as the original book. The list above was off the top of my head, but I now understand that the basis for my opinion is limited, indeed almost anecdotal.

Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 02:42 PM (PI8Vq)

352 I was unaware that you had actually watched all 140,000 movies, and read all 140,000 books, so as to have the definitive opinion on the subject.

Sorry, I didn't know this was a personal thing for you.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 02:43 PM (39g3+)

353 Sorry, I didn't know this was a personal thing for you.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 02:43 PM (39g3+)


It isn't. I was merely pointing out the hole in your logic, and the irrelevance of the datum you chose to introduce. You are telling everyone else (well, me anyway) that they are wrong, but actually have nothing better than anecdotal information and personal impressions to support your own opinion as well.

Posted by: HTL at October 23, 2016 02:54 PM (PI8Vq)

354 Jaws the book had a side story about the Police chief's wife having an affair or trying to have affair with the scientist, I just thought that was stupid.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 03:04 PM (dKiJG)

355 I wanted to comment somewhere about the SWOhMoMe last night, and seeing most of those in attendance read the book thread, I thought this would be appropriate.

Just want to say I had a blast! Hank (ibguy) did a great job getting everything and everybody together -- we had at least 20 people there at Spinoza's last night, and we even got to give a shout out via cellphone to the Texas group. They were showing off their T-shirts. I'm jealous.

Nonetheless, the food and company was great. So good to discuss religion, politics, and the movies with some of the finest minds on the internet. Speaking of Bob Dylan, I even got to do my favorite imitation of Dylan singing Chuck Berry ("Na-DEEEEEEN! Honey, is that YEEEEEW?") for the group. It went over big -- at my end of the table, anyway . . .

Once again, so good to meet so many of my fellow morons. I'll be hearing your voices as I read your comments now. And I promise to post more frequently, too.

Posted by: DynamiteDan at October 23, 2016 03:15 PM (XeY55)

356 Hi everybody, I think I've found a new home!

I can recommend a terrific Roman mystery series, SPQR by John Maddox Roberts. I would also recommend the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. They are a little romancy in spots, but I forgive them because they're so entertaining.

If you really want some fun, read the book Peters based her series on, A Thousand Miles Up The Nile by Amelia Edwards. If you don't mind a fairly pedantic volunteer reader, there's an audio version on https://librivox.org/

Thanks to the commenter who liked Standing The Final Watch, I wanted it to be a fast, fun read with serious overtones and it sounds like for them I succeeded!

Looking forward to hanging out with you folks.

Posted by: William Alan Webb at October 23, 2016 03:42 PM (OhYcy)

357 Posted by: William Alan Webb at October 23, 2016 03:42 PM (OhYcy)

Welcome!
I posted about your book at my blog today after Oregon called attention to it.

(link in my nickname below)

I will have to look up Amelia Edwards.

Posted by: Votermom the deplorable @vm on gab at October 23, 2016 03:57 PM (Om16U)

358 It's silly to say that there is no movie better than the source material. There are plenty of novels that are far worse than the movies that were made from them.
Exhibit A would be "The Godfather."

Now if your point is that the novelist-in this case, Mario Puzo--deserves the credit for inventing the situations and characters, I see where you're coming from. But once an author sells the rights to his work to Hollywood, it becomes an entirely different thing. But again, in this case, at least Puzo , as one of the screenwriters, deserves much of the credit for the film--which is far and away better than the book.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 23, 2016 04:15 PM (ZQMXl)

359 Sort of word related.

I think I found this link over at pjmedia. Also, very fun.

http://emojipedia.org/

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at October 23, 2016 10:45 AM (qCMvj)

That's a great resource. My Dad's 90th b-day is coming up and we're having a family dinner to celebrate. I think I'll make up a crossword about his life and times. Thanks!

Posted by: SMOD '16! at October 23, 2016 04:57 PM (joFoi)

360 Votermom- Thank you! You're awesome!

Posted by: William Alan Webb at October 23, 2016 06:21 PM (OhYcy)

361 Jaws the book had a side story about the Police chief's wife having an affair or trying to have affair with the scientist, I just thought that was stupid.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 03:04 PM (dKiJG)


It also had a stupid subplot about some organized crime angle. It's as if Benchley couldn't think up enough stupid shit to pack into the novel.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at October 23, 2016 08:15 PM (mY9D6)

362 It's silly to say that there is no movie better than the source material.

I agree. Good thing nobody said that.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 23, 2016 08:22 PM (39g3+)

363 I have to laugh, because yesterday this blog mentioned leftists attacking my book, Standing The Final Watch, and today on Amazon some leftist whined about it being a right wing rant. He also said it was too 'white' despite there being numerous minority characters.

You can't make this stuff up.

Posted by: William Alan Webb at October 24, 2016 07:09 PM (OhYcy)

364 134 Anybody know of audiobooks that read in Character like HARD LUCK HANK, Game of thrones and the Harry Potter books?
Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at October 23, 2016 10:24 AM (dKiJG)

Better late than never? The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher is read by James Marsters. It's first person and feels just like Harry Dresden is sitting there telling you his tale. James Marsters does an awesome job.

Posted by: gingeroni at October 24, 2016 10:34 PM (GIqnq)

365 Those accordion pants are hysterical

Posted by: Sheryl at October 27, 2016 01:10 AM (8Eujs)

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