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Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-25-2022 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

122522-Library.jpg


And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material, even if it's nothing more than the lyrics to "The Twelve Days of Christmas." As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing these pants...or these pants...or these pants (since it's Christmas, you can choose which pants to wear!)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, dive into the goodies in your Christmas stocking (or indulge in some Sufganiyot if you celebrate Hanukkah), and crack open a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HANUKKAH to our Jewish friends! By some curious coincidence today's Sunday Morning Book Thread takes place on Christmas Day. I posted a pic of the Gospel of Luke from the New Testament of the Bible because it's a link to my own childhood experience with Christmas. One of my family's traditions when I was growing up was that we'd gather 'round the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and we'd read about Jesus' birth from the Gospel of Luke. Then my sisters and I were allowed to open ONE present on Christmas Eve. A good time was had by all...

CONCLUDING AN EPIC READING JOURNEY

If you've been paying attention to my reading habits this year, you've noticed that I've been reading Robert Jordan's epic fantasy, The Wheel of Time at the pace of one book a month. I began this particular readthrough in November of 2021 after watching Amazon's execrable production of a television series in name only. (Seriously, it's just a terrible series on its own merits, regardless of how much it mangles the source material.) So for the past 14 months, I've been working my way through the book series, savoring each book anew.

I'm not here to discuss the merits of the books (they have their ups and downs). Rather, it's about the reading journey itself. At the time the series was released, it was uncertain just how many books it would take to present the entire story. Originally conceived as a trilogy, it became something much grander. The final plan was for a dozen books, but when Brandon Sanderson took over from Robert Jordan after Jordan's untimely passing, he realized that the final book would have to be split into three books in order to wrap up all of the threads. So we, the fans, got to enjoy the finale of the series spread over three novels.

It says a lot about Jordan's character in that he was so focused on finishing his series that even while he was dying he worked constantly to provide Sanderson and Harriet McDougal (Jordan's widow and editor) with enough notes and outlines for Sanderson to finish the job. According to Sanderson, Jordan himself wrote the climax of the story. Jordan cared about his story and cared about his fans, like me, who had been reading his books for decades.

My original readthrough of The Wheel of Time took place over the span of nearly 22 years, starting in summer/fall of 1991 and ending in January 2013. It's been nearly a full decade since I've reread the final novel in the series, A Memory of Light. It was an excruciating experience the first time because I'd have to wait 2-3 years before each book was released, then sprint through each book in a couple of days (or one day in the case of The Great Hunt). Then there was a long dry spell while Jordan and Sanderson worked on the final novels before Jordan's death. Now I feel as though I can take my time savoring each novel in its entirety, as I know where the story is going, but I want to enjoy the journey.

Reading this series has been one of the most emotionally exhausting, yet spiritually satisfying reading experiences in my life.

What is YOUR best reading journey?

++++++++++

122522-Joke.jpg

++++++++++

IT PAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WORD POWER

Sufganiyot - n. - Pillowy doughnuts eaten in Israel and around the world during Hanukkah. Traditionally filled with jelly or jam and deep fried in oil.


Continuing my reading of Pliny's Natural History, I learned that "crapulence" is a real word that has apparently been around for a long time.

Also, I learned the words "vermifuge" and "scintillationibus", but I am struggling to use both in the same sentence. Well, other than that last sentence.

Posted by: fd at December 18, 2022 09:47 AM (iayUP)

crapulence - n. - Sickness or indisposition caused by excessive eating or drinking [strangely relevant during the holiday season - PS]

vermifuge - n. - An anthelmintic medicine [chiefly used to destroy parasitic worms - PS]

scintillationibus - n. - [clearly related to the word "scintillating" or sparkling, but the exact definition is a bit unclear. In Latin it is the inflection of the dative plural and ablative plural of "scintillatio." - PS]

++++++++++

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS


I know I've mentioned this book before, but I think that, with the world as it is, it could use a puff again - Everybody Calls Me Father. It's by "Father X," and is his reminiscence of his first five years as a priest at the disguised "St Rose's Church."

The paperback version I have is from 1961, but it apparently came out a decade earlier (Amazon lists the author as Robert Hilkert). The time period of the book is never specified, but it seems to be set in the late 1930s - early 1940s, as WWII gets name-checked.

It's a very sweet book (Father is a sort of bumbling do-gooder, but with a loving heart and deep understanding of human foibles), but also incredibly depressing, contrasting his world of faithful, devout American Catholics and today's fallen world. It's hard for me to describe it in any more detail, but if this brief precis makes you think you'd like to read the book, I highly recommend it. I only wish it weren't so rare and expensive!

https://tinyurl.com/3akejfcr

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at December 18, 2022 09:17 AM (AW0uW)

Comment: In these dark times, I'm sure we could all use a little inspirational reading. The contrast between the Father's faith and the fallen world surrounding him just highlights the importance of faith in a Higher Power that is watching over us.

+++++


In the middle of reading NT Wright's massive 4 volume, 3500 page Christian Origins and the Question of God series of tomes, which is a wonderful historical investigation of Jesus and His message within the context of 1st Century Judaism.

Unfortunately, there is an enormous, glaring hole in his analysis, due of course to Rev. Wright's membership in the Church of England: "What about the Eucharist, Rev?"

It's Rev. Wright's life's work, and it's missing one of the most important parts of Christianity. But I'll keep reading.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 18, 2022 09:20 AM (VRkIV)

Comment: I did not know that the Church of England had a different view of the Eucharist than Roman Catholicism. A brief search on the topic shows that this is a deep and complex topic involving the idea of transubstantiation, where the elements of the Eucharist (bread and wine) are converted into the body and blood of Christ.

+++++


I read Jesus and the Essenes by Dolores Cannon.

It was a captivating read, at the heart of it is the doctrine of reincarnation, a concept of which I am only vaguely familiar. Of course, reincarnation is heresy in Christianity, but the Essenes were were an obscure and isolated sect.

I have read that any references to reincarnation were stricken from the gospels during the council of Nicaea.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at December 18, 2022 12:04 PM (jTmQV)

Comment: From what I could tell by looking up this book is that Dolores is relying on "regressive hypnosis," which supposedly allows you to "speak" to the past lives of people who are under hypnosis. This is a controversial subject for many, many reasons...

+++++


I'm reading Oil and Gas Pipelines in Nontechnical Language by Miesner and Leffler. I am enjoying it; it explains how these things work and is clear. I suspect the number of Americans who can explain the basics of unicorns and dragons is several orders of magnitude greater than those that know the first thing about pipelines and other fundamental technology on which our lives literally depend.

Posted by: Durak Kazyol at December 18, 2022 09:38 AM (4zxRq)

Comment: I decided to highlight this recommendation because it spawned a lot of similar recommendations for books on infrastructure in the modern world. We truly live in amazing times. Our roads, our energy, our communications, all of it relies on an incredibly complex web of infrastructure. Sadly, there are those who would see all of this torn down and destroyed in favor of "Mother Earth."

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (551 Moron-recommended books so far!)

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

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:


  • A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson -- The magnificent and rewarding conclusion to the epic Wheel of Time saga. It was worth waiting 22 years to finish this series.

  • The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester -- A billionaire psychopath murders his chief rival under nearly impossible circumstances. Thus begins a cat-and-mouse contest as he attempts to avoid being "Demolished" while being chased by the psychic detectives attempting to bring him to justice.

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

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

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 12-18-22 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

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Huggy the Squirrel comes down the chimney with a sack full of books for good 'rons and 'ettes!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at December 18, 2022 09:07 AM (Dc2NZ)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Merry Christmas book-addicts of the Horde! (Yes, yes, we all are, admit it, we're here on Christmas Day reading "Perfessor" Squirrel's book thread. Where ELSE would we be?)

John Van Stry is running a Christmas book sale until December 27, 11 PM Pacific:
https://tinyurl.com/2ykectb6

If you're curious what his "Portals of Infinity" series, or his two Valens' series under his alternate pen name are like, now's the time to grab the first two books in those for 99 cents each.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 25, 2022 08:59 AM (nRMeC)

2 Hot Coffee!!!...reading a book by a fire...epic!!!

Posted by: Qmark at December 25, 2022 09:01 AM (ttO/Q)

3 Merry Christmas
And Tolle Lege

Halfway through Camp of the Saints
Few thoughts, dated a bit and 1 million Indians wouldn't hardly be a drop in the bucket. Texas is as big as France and they have way more illegals. But will keep going to see how it ends

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

4 I do miss lap cat Cinnamon

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 09:04 AM (xhxe8)

5 Thank you Dr. Luke for writing those words under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Rev read Luke 2 last night after present opening. We've found that the wee ones pay more attention after than before.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 25, 2022 09:04 AM (45fpk)

6 Merry Christmas to all! And thank you "Perfessor" Squirrel for keeping the fine old Yuletide tradition of the Book Thread going!

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at December 25, 2022 09:05 AM (DoysP)

7 Merry Christmas, everyone.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 25, 2022 09:06 AM (3ZEGq)

8 Morning, Buchen Horden! I've finished Stephen King's 2022 epic novel, Fairy Tale. Except for a couple of
one-line comments reflecting his lib politics, the story is just that, a good story -- perfect for anyone who has a faithful dog, German shepherd or not, or just likes to read about one. Not in the classic storytelling level of his 11/22/63, but grand all the same.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:06 AM (KAKDL)

9 I am always the first one up in the house, even on Christmas.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 25, 2022 09:07 AM (3ZEGq)

10 Good Sunday morning, horde! Merry Christmas!

"It says a lot about Jordan's character in that he was so focused on finishing his series that even while he was dying he worked constantly to provide Sanderson and Harriet McDougal (Jordan's widow and editor) with enough notes and outlines for Sanderson to finish the job."

It is amazing to me that one writer can finish another's work. That is all.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 09:07 AM (OX9vb)

11 Read any Good Book lately?



Christmas blessings to y'all. I'm gonna go lurk over here by the tree, with the cat in my lap.

Posted by: mindful webworker - God bless us every one at December 25, 2022 09:07 AM (EWcii)

12 I gave daughter "Learn to Speak Siswati for Beginners" for her upcoming trip to Swaziland. I gave son "The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz."

Posted by: grammie winger at December 25, 2022 09:07 AM (45fpk)

13 Merry Christmas, gang.

Between books at the moment, but expect that to change some time in the next couple of hours.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 25, 2022 09:08 AM (a/4+U)

14 (Yes, yes, we all are, admit it, we're here on Christmas Day reading "Perfessor" Squirrel's book thread. Where ELSE would we be?)

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 25, 2022 08:59 AM (nRMeC)

Considering it's only 6a and everyone's still asleep, where else indeed.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 25, 2022 09:08 AM (Angsy)

15 I took a short break from "Poker & Pop Culture" to reread the original run of The New Teen Titans from the 1980s with an eye toward deciding what to do with it. Fifteen issues in, I've decided that I like the art and the plotting but not the dialog. So I'll probably keep it.

For a Christmas present, I received "Me, the Mob, and the Music," the story of Tommy James of Shondells fame. He was controlled for years by Morris Levy, a recording executive and associate of the Genovese family who screwed James out of millions. I'm a buff for organized crime tales. I flipped through the book, and it seems to be a quick read. I'll try to get to it in the coming year.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

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

16 one fleeting thought about Camp of the Saints...where's a good German U-boat when you need one...???

Posted by: Qmark at December 25, 2022 09:08 AM (ttO/Q)

17 The book I got for Christmas was Radio's Greatest of All Time.

Posted by: Fisty, Frosty's brother from Kansas City at December 25, 2022 09:08 AM (OzeNi)

18 Merry Christmas, Horde! This is the first year in at least a decade where I didn't ask for any books for Christmas. I have so many piled up from previous years, as well as random Amazon purchases, that it seemed silly to ask for more. I know, that's nearly blasphemous around here, but I really do want to work my way through my growing piles of books both physical and digital.
For those of you who did ask for some, I hope Santa came through.

Posted by: PabloD at December 25, 2022 09:08 AM (AI0SL)

19 Nice presentation this morning, Perfessor. Thank you!

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

20 Merry Christmas, Horde!

Thank you for all of your kind words about the Sunday Morning Book Thread. I look at it as a team effort. You inspire me to provide content, as well as give me content that I can use.

Go Team Moron Horde!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:09 AM (BpYfr)

21 Thursday finished Dennis Prager's Rational Bible Deuteronomy
I do think picking up lots of points he makes in his explanations of verses. Lots more than just reading the verses alone.

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 09:11 AM (xhxe8)

22 I think the Royal Family should vermifuge the scintillationibus Markles.

Posted by: fd at December 25, 2022 09:11 AM (iayUP)

23 Merry Christmas to all authorized personnel. That is all.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 25, 2022 09:11 AM (iS/bK)

24 Oh, and Merry Christmas!

After King, I'm rereading Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars, an edition with, it says, Heinlein's original and preferred ending. I recall that the ending I read years ago was remarkably unsatisfying and didn't fit with the rest of the tale, so I'm hopeful about this one.

Also at the library this week, I picked up a 1942 Perry Mason, The Case of the Careless Kitten; The Seascape Tattoo a new story of magic by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes; and The Cuckoo's Calling, the first of the Strike series by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling). The hell of it is, the latter 2 are long books and I probably won't get to them before I have to go back to work!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:12 AM (KAKDL)

25 The Son is born.

Posted by: sven at December 25, 2022 09:12 AM (Lzpvj)

26 This week I read "Six Years" by Harlan Coben, and "The Moth Catcher" by Ann Cleeves, a Vera Stanhope novel. Harlan Coben always draws me right in.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 25, 2022 09:12 AM (45fpk)

27 Is dated as said since writing South Africa went the way of Rhodesia

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 09:12 AM (xhxe8)

28 hiya

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 09:12 AM (T4tVD)

29 I gave son "The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz."

Posted by: grammie winger


That is a good book. He also wrote Thunderstruck, which is about Dr Crippen trying to escape across the Atlantic, while a new invention, wireless, is being used to track him down.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 25, 2022 09:13 AM (3ZEGq)

30 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:13 AM (Zz0t1)

31 Merry Christmas Book Horde !

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 09:13 AM (T4tVD)

32 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!


Jesus is the reason for the season. Too many in this world have forgotten.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:14 AM (Zz0t1)

33 Growing piles physical and digital -- man, roger that. If I didn't buy another book in any format I'd still have enough on hand to last me until I get planted.

Doesn't seem to stop me from browsing the Kindle store, although lately I'm not looking through the daily deals as often and have gone two weeks at a time without checking the sale listings from Open Road or BookBub. Recently went two weeks without buying an ebook. Not sure if that means I'm getting well or getting sick...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 25, 2022 09:14 AM (a/4+U)

34 "The Moth Catcher" by Ann Cleeves, a Vera Stanhope novel.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 25, 2022 09:12 AM (45fpk)

Vera Stanhope, oh how I love her........father's money.

Posted by: Dan Backslide at December 25, 2022 09:14 AM (Angsy)

35 Good morning and Merry Christmas everyone.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 09:14 AM (qoGsy)

36 Family book club selection this week was Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie. This is the first Agatha Christie I've ever read, believe it or not. Great story--Christie really works up a complex crime.

My bedtime reading is The Soccer War by Books by Ryszard Kapuściński. It's an account of his reporting from Africa in the 1960s during multiple rebellions and fights for independence. I really don't know a lot of that history, so it's interesting to me.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 09:15 AM (OX9vb)

37 took a short break from "Poker & Pop Culture" to reread the original run of The New Teen Titans from the 1980s with an eye toward deciding what to do with it. Fifteen issues in, I've decided that I like the art and the plotting but not the dialog. So I'll probably keep it. . . .

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022


***
Is that the period where Dick Grayson leaves Batman to become Nightwing? I remember reading one story in which, mostly as Grayson and in civilian clothes, he probes into the reason someone he knew appeared to kill herself. In one reflective moment he refers to himself, tongue-in-cheek, as "the teenage Ellery Queen." I always thought that was apt. He learned from the guy who was Sherlock Holmes in a cape and mask, after all.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:15 AM (KAKDL)

38 Merry Christmas!

Thanks to a saved search on eBay, I was able to buy a 1927 book on a favorite artist- the painter and woodcarver Josef Bachlechner, who worked in the early 20th century.

I used prints of his Nativity pieces, which were available for CIY creches, for my outdoor creche. Here's an example:
https://tinyurl.com/23wz5bmh

The book itself is in German and in Fraktur (black letter script) but I will at least translate the little poems, using Google.

Off to Mass.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at December 25, 2022 09:15 AM (wE246)

39 Merry Christmas and Happy Haunukkah Horde!

Thank you Perfessor for another well done book thread.

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at December 25, 2022 09:16 AM (UcAQV)

40 Yay book thread! Merry Christmas!

Last week I finished Joseph Conrad's Nostromo. It was not what I expected, but I liked it.

I think the issue is managing expectations. This seems like a book of intrigue and suspense, but it's not - at least not in the conventional sense. What would normally be the heart of the story - the political intrigue in the fictional Costaguana - is really just part of the setting for a series of character portraits.

To enjoy the book, one has to realize that the "plot" isn't the plot, it's the scenery. The story is how people stuck in a specific timeline react to it. Very subtle, and not for everyone, but I'm glad I got through it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:16 AM (llXky)

41 Was Mary really a good role model? She was a mother while still a yeenybopper

Posted by: Paul at December 25, 2022 09:17 AM (n4n7o)

42 Turkey is out of the fridge, warming to room temp. Will unwrap it and inject it soon, let it rest a bit, the into the Big Easy she goes for 10 minutes a pound.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:17 AM (Zz0t1)

43 Merry Christmas everyone! My present is a stone dead battery in the car and no one to hook up the trickle charge for me, lol. I know a lot of you guys won't get above zero so keep warm. May God Bless.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 09:17 AM (9X/y4)

44 Posted by: Paul at December 25, 2022 09:17 AM (n4n7o)


You DICK!!!!

Posted by: Jeff Spicoli at December 25, 2022 09:17 AM (Zz0t1)

45 I mentioned yesterday that my MIL gives me odd gifts. She gave me a brand new copy of "To Kill A Mockingbird". And a BB gun. Well, no, not really. She did give me the book though, which I read some 29 years ago and really is not that high up on my list, considering the stacks of books already right in front of me.

Posted by: fd at December 25, 2022 09:18 AM (iayUP)

46 Merry Christmas, Sponge! I was just warmin' the seat for you.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 25, 2022 09:18 AM (nRMeC)

47 Gotta admit, I never heard of a "yeenybopper." Sounds almost like an anti-Semitic slur.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:19 AM (KAKDL)

48 Out of curiosity, Professor, you always mention 'what you're reading this week.' Do you read multiple books at the same time or do you finish one before starting another?

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:20 AM (Zz0t1)

49 Sorry, "Perfessor."

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:20 AM (Zz0t1)

50 That is a good book. He also wrote Thunderstruck, which is about Dr Crippen trying to escape across the Atlantic, while a new invention, wireless, is being used to track him down.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 25, 2022 09:13 AM (3ZEGq)

Wait- Larson has a new book out? Must read. All his stuff is so good. Just finished the one about the Lusitania.

Had my maternal grandfather not survived "Isaac's Storm"- the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, I would not be here today.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at December 25, 2022 09:21 AM (wE246)

51 Merry Christmas, Sponge! I was just warmin' the seat for you.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 25, 2022 09:18 AM (nRMeC)



All good. Tis the season of giving, so enjoy the lofty perch!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:21 AM (Zz0t1)

52 Was Mary really a good role model? She was a mother while still a yeenybopper
Posted by: Paul at December 25, 2022 09:17 AM (n4n7o)
---
I pity this man. His soul is so broken and twisted that he feels the need to come onto a non-political thread on Christmas Day and talk smack about Mary, the mother of our Lord and Savior.

Weep for his Salvation...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:21 AM (BpYfr)

53 Unfortunately, there is an enormous, glaring hole in his analysis, due of course to Rev. Wright's membership in the Church of England: "What about the Eucharist, Rev?"
---
The issue is larger than that, which is that the Church of England doesn't seem to have any fixed beliefs.

A few months ago, several prominent bishops (and bishop emeriti) converted to Catholicism and one of the reasons they gave was that the changes in C of E doctrine ruined any claim to being part of the apostolic tradition.

For a long time there were negotiations between Rome and Canterbury about some sort of reunion (the Orthodox Church was also a party). But with the wholesale embrace of woke theology (including re-baptism for trans individuals), any possibility of reconciliation is gone.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:22 AM (llXky)

54 Merry Christmas!

on track, Lord willing, to finish the bible in a year with fr. mike, for the second time. i highly recommend it. it is about 30 minutes a day. you don't need to have a bible, you can read and listen along on youtube, you can read and listen along using a bible and the podcast, you can listen using the podcast. it's great during a commute or sitting quietly. The program is for Catholics and non Catholics, it's for believers and non believers. fr. mike gives a brief commentary at the end of each reading which is insightful and at times humourous. the bible is a great book! i plan on reading it all over again next year!

Posted by: phoenixgirl at December 25, 2022 09:22 AM (CqHIp)

55 I mentioned yesterday that my MIL gives me odd gifts. She gave me a brand new copy of "To Kill A Mockingbird". And a BB gun. Well, no, not really. She did give me the book though, which I read some 29 years ago and really is not that high up on my list, considering the stacks of books already right in front of me.
Posted by: fd at December 25, 2022


***
The thing that almost no reviewers or commenters about TKaM touch on is that it is full of gentle and sometimes laugh-out-loud humor, especially in Scout's narration of her clashes with her brother, with Dill, and with her teacher on the first day of school. Without it the book would be a lot duller, and might have turned into a Humorless Thudding Tract about racism.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:22 AM (KAKDL)

56
Merry Christmas All!!!

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 09:23 AM (KLPy8)

57 Was Mary really a good role model? She was a mother while still a yeenybopper

Posted by: Paul at December 25, 2022 09:17 AM (n4n7o)
---
She submitted herself to God's will without hesitation.

Whom to you serve, and why?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:24 AM (llXky)

58 Out of curiosity, Professor, you always mention 'what you're reading this week.' Do you read multiple books at the same time or do you finish one before starting another?
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:20 AM (Zz0t1)
---
That's a good question for a topic!

Sometimes it's both...This past week I was pacing my main book read (A Memory of Light) by also reading "The Demolished Man". Sometimes I can read short books in sequence, like the books I'm reading now (Portals of Infinity series on my Kindle app).

So I can do both.

One of the techniques I've seen for becoming a better reader is to read multiple books at once because it gives your brain a rest between topics.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:24 AM (BpYfr)

59 I like to listen to music and books when I'm at work, but my cheap little bluetooth speaker crapped out on me. Mr. April gave me a Bose speaker for Christmas, bless him.

Will try it out later today while I do the cooking, listening to the fifth installment of the Cormoran Strike series. I haven't read any of these in dead tree format yet. I started the series in audio on the way to the TX MoMe, and I like the reader, so I kept going with that format.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 09:24 AM (OX9vb)

60 Merry Christmas all.
Hope your day is full of good cheer.
I read the third book in Norah Roberts Dragon Heart Legacy , The Choice.
I've given up on her romance novels but usually like her magical, fantasy ones but I think she has finally run out of ideas. It was like she didn't have enough words for a third book so she would just have characters repeat what just happened in the story to multiple other characters. And lots and lots of background noise that contributed nothing to advancing the story. Found myself just fast forwarding.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 25, 2022 09:24 AM (Y+l9t)

61 ---
I pity this man. His soul is so broken and twisted that he feels the need to come onto a non-political thread on Christmas Day and talk smack about Mary, the mother of our Lord and Savior.

Weep for his Salvation...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:21 AM (BpYfr)




I pray for his soul, even though he has denounced the existence of it.

For he to come here on this holiest of days and trashed the faith of millions around the world shows what a little, disturbed and troubled person he is.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:25 AM (Zz0t1)

62 Leave normal people alone, Paul.

He's a mental defective, so he won't.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 25, 2022 09:26 AM (i0Kzs)

63 Jesus is the reason for the season. Too many in this world have forgotten.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden

So many have not even realized it in the first place.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 09:26 AM (OX9vb)

64 For a long time there were negotiations between Rome and Canterbury about some sort of reunion (the Orthodox Church was also a party). But with the wholesale embrace of woke theology (including re-baptism for trans individuals), any possibility of reconciliation is gone.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:22 AM (llXky)
----
I'm guessing King Charles III, as head of the Anglican Church, is not on board with reconciliation. Of course, with Pope Frankie's attitudes to Christianity, it may just be a matter of time before they *do* reconcile, but not in a way that would be in line with original Catholic doctrine...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:26 AM (BpYfr)

65 Good morning and Merry Christmas fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great, maybe blessed, week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 09:26 AM (7EjX1)

66 Thats why vasquez gomes made costaguana more abouf the narrator snd his walter mitty esque trek through south american history

A shame about the Church of England but without them you dont hsve the Puritans

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 25, 2022 09:27 AM (PXvVL)

67 Merry Christmas, beloved Horde family!

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 09:28 AM (yUjc0)

68
So many have not even realized it in the first place.
Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 09:26 AM (OX9vb)



Your point is valid.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:28 AM (Zz0t1)

69 Writing news: The edit of Walls of Men is at last complete. I have reformatted it, and it's running roughly 350 pages at this point.

I need to rebuild the index (which didn't transfer, alas) and finish the maps. At that point I'll submit for a proof copy and we'll see what it looks like. With the maps and index, total page count will likely approach 370.

And yes, I did remember to dedicate it to Oregon Muse.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:28 AM (llXky)

70 I think the second pants guy isn't a guy.....

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 09:28 AM (T4tVD)

71 Well, it's not technically a grown-up book, and it's not very long, but my absolute favorite Christmas book is "The Littlest Angel" written by Charles Tazewell and illustrated by Paul Micich.

ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES - search high and low for that exact book, because the illustrations are gorgeous.

I always get choked up at the end when God picks the littlest angel's gift, because it is filled with the simple childhood treasures that His son will no doubt see in his early years on Earth.

Seriously - go find it; you will love it.

Merry Christmas, Horde, and love from our family to all of you and yours.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas at December 25, 2022 09:29 AM (MxiAA)

72 I think the second pants guy isn't a guy.....

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 09:28 AM (T4tVD)

I get this weird feeling that the third one isn't either, JT.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 25, 2022 09:29 AM (Angsy)

73
One of the techniques I've seen for becoming a better reader is to read multiple books at once because it gives your brain a rest between topics.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:24 AM (BpYfr)



Interesting concept.

I feel like I should start reading a LOT more, more than just here and a few internet sites.

Maybe I'll take back the nook my daughter took and see if I can use that. Lighting kinda sucks around here and the need for glasses annoys me. It might be time to tell the TV to take a hike again.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:29 AM (Zz0t1)

74 Hi JT
I like those grinch pants. I'd wear them.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 25, 2022 09:30 AM (Y+l9t)

75 The book itself is in German and in Fraktur (black letter script) but I will at least translate the little poems, using Google.

Off to Mass.
Posted by: sal:

Sal - if you have a further interest in (Pennsylvania German) Fraktur, more available works are Bucks County Fraktur edited by Cory Amsler and The Pennsylvania German Fraktur of The Free Library of Philadelphia - both published by The Pennsylvania German Society. Great reference works.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 09:30 AM (qoGsy)

76 Charles doesnt believe in much of anything so pope che (ht captain hate) should get along fine. We saw a glimpse of this in the preacher at the jackdaw meghans wedding

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 25, 2022 09:30 AM (PXvVL)

77 Merry Christmas, beloved Horde family!
Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 09:28 AM (yUjc0)



*fistbump*


https://youtu.be/fPPCPqDINEk

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:31 AM (Zz0t1)

78 The thing that almost no reviewers or commenters about TKaM touch on is that it is full of gentle and sometimes laugh-out-loud humor, especially in Scout's narration of her clashes with her brother, with Dill, and with her teacher on the first day of school. Without it the book would be a lot duller, and might have turned into a Humorless Thudding Tract about racism.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:22 AM (KAKDL)
---
Social commentary used to be peppered with humanizing elements, reminding us of our shared existence. Even bigots could have clever turns of phrase or make a trenchant point.

But that takes talent and practice, which is hard. It's much easier to just parrot the Party line.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:32 AM (llXky)

79 Lookit Tonypete, underlining the book titles all proper like.

April never learned to code, so she can't do that.

Merry Christmas, Tonypete!

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 09:32 AM (OX9vb)

80
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
-- Luke 2:19

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 25, 2022 09:32 AM (pNxlR)

81 Wholley Kau!!!

Due to A Christmas Miracle(!) my life has arranged itself so that I can actually use Perfesser Squirrel 3 Words in a real life sentence:

"Due to overeating Christmas Eve Tamales and over drinking Christmas beer, I was soon overcome by crapulence, which I cured by drinking a Japanese ancient-style medicine/liqueur, and soon my sense of Christmas scintillationibus had been restored."

Kind of a run-on, however....Mission Accomplished!

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 09:32 AM (KLPy8)

82 I also enjoyed "The Splendid and the Vile" very much and even re-read it. "Thunderstruck" isn't that new; it's from 2006 but it's a good read. "Isaac's Storm" is excellent, but very sad. Probably timely in the sense that much of the death is Galveston was due to lousy advice from an "expert." Until "Splendid" Larson's most popular book was "Death in the White City," which is about the 1893 Chicago Word's Fair and a serial killer who plied his trade in the same place and time. The stuff about the fair is fascinating; the serial killer stuff is very creepy.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at December 25, 2022 09:33 AM (fTtFy)

83 @24 --

Wolfus, TCOT Careless Kitten is a good one. I lent away one copy but like it so much that I bought a replacement.

Enjoy it!

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 09:33 AM (Om/di)

84 Happy Birthday, Jesus.

Merry Christmas, Horde.

Posted by: creeper at December 25, 2022 09:33 AM (cTCuP)

85 I've not heard of "sufganiyots" before. From The Perfessor's description, they sound like sopaipillas from New Mexico or beignets minus the powdered sugar, if you filled them with jelly.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:33 AM (KAKDL)

86 Social commentary used to be peppered with humanizing elements, reminding us of our shared existence. Even bigots could have clever turns of phrase or make a trenchant point.

But that takes talent and practice, which is hard. It's much easier to just parrot the Party line.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022


***
Once upon a time, authors knew to sugar-coat the pill -- wrap the message in an entertaining story. They don't seem to do that any more.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:34 AM (KAKDL)

87 I've not heard of "sufganiyots" before. From The Perfessor's description, they sound like sopaipillas from New Mexico or beignets minus the powdered sugar, if you filled them with jelly.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:33 AM (KAKDL)
---
Whatever they are, all three sound delicious!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:35 AM (BpYfr)

88 Merry Christmas to you too April! I hope you are having a great day.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 09:35 AM (qoGsy)

89 Marys choice was increasingly brave as a youth in a conquered land that had not received revelation in 400 years since malachi where speaking of anything lrss that the state faith invited sanction

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 25, 2022 09:35 AM (PXvVL)

90 Merry Christmas Horde!

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. --John 1:14

Posted by: screaming in digital at December 25, 2022 09:36 AM (pkAcY)

91 Merry Christmas, Booklings!

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 25, 2022 09:36 AM (KXZcO)

92 "Due to overeating Christmas Eve Tamales and over drinking Christmas beer, I was soon overcome by crapulence, which I cured by drinking a Japanese ancient-style medicine/liqueur, and soon my sense of Christmas scintillationibus had been restored."


I did have the Eve tamales, but not much beer. The overindulgence experienced at Twin Peaks after a short run of gift shopping the day before left me a little green.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:37 AM (Zz0t1)

93 AUUUUGH!!!

Screwed up-

"Due to overeating Christmas Eve Tamales and over drinking Christmas beer, I was soon overcome by crapulence, which I cured by drinking a Japanese ancient-style medicine/liqueur containing vermifuge powers, and soon my sense of Christmas scintillationibus had been restored."

FIFM.

*sigh*

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 09:37 AM (KLPy8)

94
Wolfus, TCOT Careless Kitten is a good one. I lent away one copy but like it so much that I bought a replacement.

Enjoy it!
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022


***
I've never been much of a Perry Mason fan, at least not back in my early detectival-reading days when I was very much an Ellery Queen-John Dickson Carr fan (and I still am). In recent years I've found that Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, who I once put in the second rank as far as brilliant plotting and super-clever solutions, have charms as well.

I may very well appreciate Erle Stanley Gardner more now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:37 AM (KAKDL)

95 Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

Read a couple funny Seattle mysteries by Cherie Priest, more known for her steampunk Clockwork Century series and for urban horror. I liked them (can't remember the titles). She said in the outro of one that she needed a break from all the deep dank darkness.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 25, 2022 09:38 AM (Dc2NZ)

96 Hi JT
I like those grinch pants. I'd wear them.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)

Pics ?

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

97 Merry Christmas Eris !

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

98 Merry Christmas, Booklings!
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc.

Now I'm a ling ?

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 09:39 AM (T4tVD)

99
Pics ?
Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 09:38 AM (T4tVD)



Here and we thought she activated your cam and was giving us an update on your styles.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:39 AM (Zz0t1)

100 @37 --

Wolfus, that is so, but Richard Grayson didn't become Nightwing until the third year or so. This run has some of the most famous NTT stories, among them "The Judas Contract" and "Who Is Donna Troy?", in which Grayson really shows his detective skills.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 09:39 AM (Om/di)

101 I've not heard of "sufganiyots" before. From The Perfessor's description, they sound like sopaipillas from New Mexico or beignets minus the powdered sugar, if you filled them with jelly.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022
---
Whatever they are, all three sound delicious!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022


***
Sopaipillas and beignets are at core the same thing: light puffy pastry-like biscuits which are hollow. In NM people put honey on and in them and eat that to kill the burning from hot green chiles. In N'Awlins they come with confectioner's sugar, and if you breathe on them the wrong way you get powder all over your clothes or those of your date. (Ask me how I know.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:40 AM (KAKDL)

102 *fistbump*


https://youtu.be/fPPCPqDINEk
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:31 AM (Zz0t1)


Love that one! I offer this in return. I'll say 22% chance you've never heard it.
https://youtu.be/y30jjHw0ecw

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 09:41 AM (yUjc0)

103 I'm guessing King Charles III, as head of the Anglican Church, is not on board with reconciliation. Of course, with Pope Frankie's attitudes to Christianity, it may just be a matter of time before they *do* reconcile, but not in a way that would be in line with original Catholic doctrine...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:26 AM (BpYfr)
---
Francis was not the pope many Catholics wanted, but he was the pope we needed. He has done more to expose the pedophile network within the Church than any Benedict-type reformer could. At the same time, he does hew very strongly to doctrine in certain areas.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:41 AM (llXky)

104 Wolfus, that is so, but Richard Grayson didn't become Nightwing until the third year or so. This run has some of the most famous NTT stories, among them "The Judas Contract" and "Who Is Donna Troy?", in which Grayson really shows his detective skills.
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022


***
"Who Is Donna Troy?" must be the one I'm thinking of. Does it have the line about the teenage Ellery Queen?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:42 AM (KAKDL)

105 Merry Christmas amd Happy Hannukah to everyone.

I think my favorite characters in the WOT series were Mat and Ninaeve. Especially when Mat became the tactical combat savant. I loved how those two characters became more trusting of each other over the development and progression of the series.

Posted by: BifBewalski's Phone at December 25, 2022 09:42 AM (3CCua)

106 A bit more on Christmas Day itself:

December 25th is the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the greatest Christian holy day after Easter. “Christ Mass” is the Eucharistic feast celebrating the birth of Christ, the Incarnation of Second Person of the Holy Trinity in the womb of the Virgin Mary, who came to suffer and die on a cross to save us from our sins. Three Masses are celebrated at Christmas: Midnight Mass, or “The Angel’s Mass”; Mass at Dawn, or “The Shepherd’s Mass; and Mass during the Day, or “The King’s Mass.” The octave of Christmas lasts from December 25th until January 1st, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. In the current Roman Catholic calendar the Christmas season continues until the feast of Jesus’ baptism on the Sunday following Epiphany; on the ancient liturgical calendar Christmastide continues until Candlemas, or the Presentation of Jesus on February 2nd.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 09:43 AM (qoGsy)

107 Currently reading the Battkeship Leviathan series by Craig Martelle.

Link goes to goodreads and is sfw.
https://is.gd/9V0ZhC

Posted by: BifBewalski's Phone at December 25, 2022 09:45 AM (3CCua)

108 I could go for a few tamales but I have to walk.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 09:45 AM (9X/y4)

109
Love that one! I offer this in return. I'll say 22% chance you've never heard it.
https://youtu.be/y30jjHw0ecw
Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 09:41 AM (yUjc0)



New on on me. Well done, sir.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:45 AM (Zz0t1)

110 . . . on the ancient liturgical calendar Christmastide continues until Candlemas, or the Presentation of Jesus on February 2nd.
Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022


***
"If Candlemas be fair and clear
There be twa winters in the year."

And that is the true "bleak midwinter," not in December. Winter really begins (the shortest day) on 12/21 or thereabouts, and does not end until March 21. Feb. 2 is the midpoint, where no doubt it's obvious that the days are getting longer again. Our ancestors knew this.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:46 AM (KAKDL)

111 *one.

Fingers no workie this morning.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:46 AM (Zz0t1)

112 My reading this week has been, by design, pleasant and creative. Some was Christmas related: Tolkien, Chesterton, Schweizer, Dickens, and William Gilmore Simms. Some, like Haggard and Robert Howard, was just plain, good writing. It made for a thoroughly nice week and the weather encouraged it. Too cold and windy to go outside, and a good time to ensconce myself in a comfortable chair with good coffee and pipefuls of my favorite tobaccos.

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 09:48 AM (7EjX1)

113 I forgot to place my order for all the books until it was too late for delivery by Christmas. I like to put an eclectic selection in a big basket, and everyone gets to root through and pick one that appeals to them.

Then I get to take home the ones no one chose.

But, looks like that's not happening this year. Oops.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 09:49 AM (OX9vb)

114 Oh, and Smash is about to start book #14 or 15 in the Bubba and the Daed Woman series.

I'm biased but i thinknher Sea of Dreams series is better than her Bubba series.

No names, please. Just look for those two titles.

Posted by: BifBewalski's Phone at December 25, 2022 09:50 AM (3CCua)

115 I went with Miss Linda to her church's 6:30 mass last night. We dressed up, as we usually do. Since it was cold, we saw more people in coats and jackets, so I couldn't tell if they were wearing good clothes underneath. When I've gone in warm weather, while I wear slacks and a dress shirt and shoes, I see so many in t-shirts and sloppy clothes. I wouldn't be surprised if some people wear track suits to church now.

There's no rule against being comfortable. But couldn't they show some respect for the rest of us, and at least put on a shirt with a collar?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:50 AM (KAKDL)

116 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
-- Luke 2:19
Posted by: Krebs
-------

I have often thought of that passage. Impossible to imagine the impact of the angel Gabriel appearing before you.

Zechariah, of course, had the same experience, and doubted. How very human to doubt. Gabriel, gently really, but firmly, set Zechariah straight.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 25, 2022 09:52 AM (KXZcO)

117 Too cold and windy to go outside, and a good time to ensconce myself in a comfortable chair with good coffee and pipefuls of my favorite tobaccos.
Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022


***
Hear, hear! Sir Walter Aromatic or Regular for the win! Though I'll do the occasional English, and I like Virginia leaf, burley is my favorite.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:52 AM (KAKDL)

118 I always get choked up at the end when God picks the littlest angel's gift, because it is filled with the simple childhood treasures that His son will no doubt see in his early years on Earth.
=====

Because I could easily read aloud, I was always picked to do storytime. I absolutely refused to read that one aloud (The Little Match Girl is another) and challenged any of us volunteer doofuses to do it. Nobody could without tears and choking up.

Posted by: mustbequantumThe at December 25, 2022 09:53 AM (MIKMs)

119 @104 --

I'll let you know next week. Not going into the garage right now.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 09:53 AM (Om/di)

120 @104 --

I'll let you know next week. Not going into the garage right now.
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022


***
I'll be glad to hear. As I recall it was in a scene where Dick is sitting at a diner or cafeteria, reflecting on what he's learned or not learned so far.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:56 AM (KAKDL)

121 Another thanks to whoever suggested the Betsy and Tacy books for my niece's daughter. Hope she likes them.
Found this morning there is a Betsy-Tacy Society where the author Maud Heart Lovelace lived.

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 09:56 AM (xhxe8)

122 I have often thought of that passage. Impossible to imagine the impact of the angel Gabriel appearing before you.

Zechariah, of course, had the same experience, and doubted. How very human to doubt. Gabriel, gently really, but firmly, set Zechariah straight.
Posted by: Mike Hammer

As a child I assumed angels were all soft and cuddly, happy and gentle. It wasn't until I was an adult and started to read more carefully and deeply that it was no accident that oft times the first words out of an angel's mouth was "Be not afraid!"

I have to admit, an appearance sure would put the freak on you.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 09:57 AM (qoGsy)

123 >>> 17
==
Posted by: Fisty, Frosty's brother from Kansas City at December 25, 2022 09:08 AM (OzeNi)

You must be one of them Kansas City faggots.

Posted by: Taggart at December 25, 2022 09:57 AM (llON8)

124 There's no rule against being comfortable. But couldn't they show some respect for the rest of us, and at least put on a shirt with a collar?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:50 AM (KAKDL)

It's like going in the summer and seeing girls in short shorts and tanks and guys in cut offs, tees, and flip flops.

I never go out in public in short pants, maybe to the gas station or mailbox, but not out shopping. Always long pants and shirt.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 25, 2022 09:58 AM (Angsy)

125 The only new word I learned from Pliny this week is "morphews", as in "black morphews", a skin condition, perhaps from leprosy.

Posted by: fd at December 25, 2022 09:58 AM (iayUP)

126
Now I'm a ling ?
Posted by: JT
--------
Only for this morning. It is, after all, a step up from Booklet.

Finally got around to starting 'Master and Commander'. Still working on 'Japan at War', Cook. The latter is a real eye-opener for those who have never read first-hand accounts by Japanese of their wartime experiences.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 25, 2022 09:58 AM (KXZcO)

127
There's no rule against being comfortable. But couldn't they show some respect for the rest of us, and at least put on a shirt with a collar?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:50 AM (KAKDL)
---
Living in a college town, there are certain allowances for students. There's also the whole "come as you are" thing.

But Christmas definitely causes people to dress up. Basically, Mass yesterday looked the way it used to all the time 15 years ago.

We went to the 4 pm Children's Mass, and the children's choir was great. Sweet little voices and then they just belted out the high notes without a concern in the world for pitch or intonation! Everyone was smiling and happy, great to see all the families and friends greeting one another and all that in white-out conditions with sub-zero wind chills.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 09:58 AM (llXky)

128 As a child I assumed angels were all soft and cuddly, happy and gentle. It wasn't until I was an adult and started to read more carefully and deeply that it was no accident that oft times the first words out of an angel's mouth was "Be not afraid!"

I have to admit, an appearance sure would put the freak on you.
Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022


***
They might have been awesome (in the old meaning of that word, or "awful" ditto), rather fierce-looking beings. Or they could have been gentle-looking, and the very fact of their appearing out of nowhere would have inspired fear all by itself.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:59 AM (KAKDL)

129 I absolutely refused to read that one aloud (The Little Match Girl is another) . . .
Posted by: mustbequantum

I was fooled into reading TLMG to one of the kids years ago. I hadn't ever come across it before.

What an unexpected ending - for me at least. Still can't reread it.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 10:00 AM (qoGsy)

130 Merry Christmas, all! Felt kind of like a kid this morning: woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep.

So I did a little programming on my recipe site that features a new recipe every Sunday. Added an archive for past Sundays. Link in nic.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 25, 2022 10:00 AM (EXyHK)

131 Recommend Psalm 2. Read the King James to get the full effect.

Posted by: Queequeg the Harpooner at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (9X60i)

132 The stories that get me misty-eyed are things like The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford, and various scenes in Watership Down by Richard Adams. I've reread the latter many times. The first, only 1-2 times.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (KAKDL)

133 New on on me. Well done, sir.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 09:45 AM (Zz0t1)


Happy to share! Quite the ear worm, eh?

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (yUjc0)

134 Merry Leftist Asshole Day!

Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (Vwz3I)

135 I was fooled into reading TLMG to one of the kids years ago. I hadn't ever come across it before.
=====

You should have heard my rants at the 2nd grade teachers who read it to their classes. Nobody slept at my house for weeks. I like Hogfather's response to that one.

Posted by: mustbequantumThe at December 25, 2022 10:02 AM (MIKMs)

136
One of the techniques I've seen for becoming a better reader is to read multiple books at once because it gives your brain a rest between topics.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 09:24 AM (BpYfr)
---
Some of the stuff I read demands utter and complete attention. Nostromo, for instance. To finish it, I had to drop all other reading because of its detail and intensity.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 10:02 AM (llXky)

137 67 Merry Christmas, beloved Horde family!
Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 09:28 AM (yUjc0)


Christmas hugs to you from Mr. and Emmie Bassman!

Posted by: Emmie at December 25, 2022 10:03 AM (Emce2)

138 Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.
Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022


***
There was a short piece, tongue firmly in cheek, in a December Analog years ago. It carried the concept to its logical conclusion: that Santa can move faster than light!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 10:03 AM (KAKDL)

139 Merry Leftist Asshole Day!

Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (Vwz3I)
---
I do find the scientization of Santa Claus seriously annoying, so this doesn't bother me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 10:04 AM (llXky)

140 Neil deGrasse Tyson… he must visit 25,000 homes per second.

Government experts say it happens, Neil. They track it at NORAD. Are you denying the science?

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 25, 2022 10:04 AM (EXyHK)

141 Someone mentioned Agatha Christie upstairs, so I'm going to mention something not strictly book related.
Because the "mystery" does something screwy that I haven't seen before and wonder if it's previously shown up in the mystery literature.

The "mystery" is "Glass Onion" streaming on Netflix, which continues the adventures of the world's greatest detective, Benoit Blanc(sp?)for the movie "Knives Out".

The story basically surrounds the origin controversy of Facebook between Zuckerberg and a Black woman as the Winklevoss guys. The "mystery" itself is obvious and simple to anyone with a shoe size IQ even so it's a bit of a cheat without the huge 30 minute backstory/info dump crammed right into the middle of the movie. "GO" like "KO" seems to exist only to further the woke narrative with lots of woke stereotypes. Without the HUGE info dump, this would be a 5 minute "mystery'.

Now, to the screwy part, the reason the world's greatest detective is having trouble solving the murder is because it's so simple and stupid and the murderer is so simple and stupid that he can't see it clearly.
(con't)

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 10:07 AM (KLPy8)

142 Merry Leftist Asshole Day!

Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (Vwz3I)



Forever putting the ass in DeGrasse.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:08 AM (Zz0t1)

143 My observations on angels:

I don't think they have wings. Nothing in the Bible indicates that. The "heavenly host" that surprised the shepherds could have walked up on them.

Angels are God's messengers. Jacob dreamed of them using a ladder or stairway, and the traffic was continuous.

As for their looks, possibly they were scary.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 10:08 AM (Om/di)

144 There's no rule against being comfortable. But couldn't they show some respect for the rest of us, and at least put on a shirt with a collar?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 09:50 AM (KAKDL)


Respectfully disagree. Jesus loves those of us who dress casually at church equally as much as those who get more dressed up.

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:09 AM (yUjc0)

145 (con't)

In other words, the world's greatest detective is so brilliant, that it's difficult for him to parse out the shenanigans of a stupid person.

The mystery was too stupid for him to solve.

How any of you ever read anything like that?

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 10:09 AM (KLPy8)

146 "Neil deGrasse Tyson… he must visit 25,000 homes per second."

pffft

Posted by: Fed Ex Driver at December 25, 2022 10:10 AM (SYTee)

147 There was a short piece, tongue firmly in cheek, in a December Analog years ago. It carried the concept to its logical conclusion: that Santa can move faster than light!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 10:03 AM (KAKDL)
---
In Diary of An American Exorcist, MSgr Stephen Rossetti remarks that spirits live outside of time and space. They therefore know the past and future, but the evil ones lie about everything by default, so trying to figure out their lies is a pointless exercise.

Many an exorcism has failed because the priest let himself get sidetracked (Rossetti admits to this).

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

148
145 (con't)

In other words, the world's greatest detective is so brilliant, that it's difficult for him to parse out the shenanigans of a stupid person.

The mystery was too stupid for him to solve.

How any of you ever read anything like that?
Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 10:09 AM (KLPy



This, too, is the story of Joe Biden.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:10 AM (Zz0t1)

149 Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (Vwz3I)


Does he do similar math on election tabulations??

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:11 AM (yUjc0)

150 This, too, is the story of Joe Biden.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden

*snort

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 10:11 AM (OX9vb)

151 Went to Mass last night with my parents and brother. I got two of the Everyman's Library poetry books (third one will arrive this week). I just started "El caballero de las botas azules" by Rosalia de Castro, which I haven't read since I was an undergrad. There's no English translation unless I finish my pet project from when I had more free time and less responsibility.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 25, 2022 10:11 AM (yKPAy)

152
Does he do similar math on election tabulations??
Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:11 AM (yUjc0)



Shut up, racist.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:12 AM (Zz0t1)

153 Christmas hugs to you from Mr. and Emmie Bassman!
Posted by: Emmie at December 25, 2022 10:03 AM (Emce2)


Good to see you around, Emmie! Thanks for the hugs - back at ya!!

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:12 AM (yUjc0)

154 Merry Christmas to all. The Demolished Man as well as The Stars My Destination (Tiger! Tiger!) by Alfred Bester are both great reads. Bester himself was a bit of a loon. Walter Koenigs character in Babylon Five was named in honor of him

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 25, 2022 10:13 AM (11zNb)

155
Forever putting the ass in DeGrasse.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden

___________

NDT: Making atheists look ridiculous.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 25, 2022 10:13 AM (MoZTd)

156 The "mystery" is "Glass Onion" streaming on Netflix, which continues the adventures of the world's greatest detective, Benoit Blanc(sp?)for the movie "Knives Out".
=====

Craig's 'southern' accent was so distracting I found it difficult to track. However, I did not think that it was a 'fair' mystery in that the elements were not available until the crazy mid-plot dump. Tried and failed to emulate Christie, et al, but failed.

Posted by: mustbequantumThe at December 25, 2022 10:13 AM (MIKMs)

157 145 (con't)
The mystery was too stupid for him to solve.
How any of you ever read anything like that?
Posted by: naturalfake

I have not read anything like that, but I think tv is full of it.

I can't think of a mystery I've read where I could figure it out right away, and the best ones are those where the solution is a surprise to me.

Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at December 25, 2022 10:13 AM (OX9vb)

158 Shut up, racist.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:12 AM (Zz0t1)


Judges would have also accepted you calling me a "denier"

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:13 AM (yUjc0)

159 There was a short piece, tongue firmly in cheek, in a December Analog years ago. It carried the concept to its logical conclusion: that Santa can move faster than light!
------------
Obviously!

And a good explanation to young kids if they question why there's a "Santa" on every street corner is telling the kid, "Well, he's fast enough to deliver all those presents on Christmas Eve/Christmas so he's fast enough to go from street corner to street corner."

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:14 AM (Vwz3I)

160 117 ... "Hear, hear! Sir Walter Aromatic or Regular for the win! Though I'll do the occasional English, and I like Virginia leaf, burley is my favorite."

Hi Wolfus,

My top three favorites lately have been Stokkebye 31 Optimum, C and D Autumn Evening, and Mac Baren Scottish Mixture. They are so reliable, I only buy them in bulk. All are flavorful and cool smoking.

Don't want to derail the book thread but pleasant pipe smoking is a big part of my reading enjoyment.

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 10:14 AM (7EjX1)

161 Merry Christmas to all. The Demolished Man as well as The Stars My Destination (Tiger! Tiger!) by Alfred Bester are both great reads. Bester himself was a bit of a loon. Walter Koenigs character in Babylon Five was named in honor of him
Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 25, 2022 10:13 AM (11zNb)
---
A lot of elements of the Psi Corps in Babylon 5 were taken from "The Demolished Man," including Alfred Bester's name (Koenig's performance was incredible--One of the best villains you love to hate).

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 10:15 AM (BpYfr)

162 #141 --

We watched the first "Columbo" episode -- not the pilot -- last week. He made a similar comment: The first Killing was nicely planned; the second was sloppy.

And a few factual errors aside, I enjoyed "Glass Onion." (Wouldn't it have been funny if they had kept their masks on throughout the film?)

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 10:15 AM (Om/di)

163
Merry Christmas, Hordians.

Her Majesty and I are both sick, so by mutual decision Christmas here at Schloss Hadrian has been put off by a week.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 25, 2022 10:16 AM (MoZTd)

164 Merry Christmas, Hordians.

Her Majesty and I are both sick, so by mutual decision Christmas here at Schloss Hadrian has been put off by a week.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 25, 2022 10:16 AM (MoZTd)

Who do you think you are, the IRS?

Get Well soon and Merry Christmas.

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 25, 2022 10:17 AM (4I/2K)

165 Ah, Tyson.

Where would we be without THE SCIENCE protecting us from the deadly onslaught of fun?

When I was younger, dumber, and left-leaning, I liked people like Tyson -- these days if he staggered up to me after crawling across the Mojave, I'd offer him a peanut butter sandwich instead of water. Even if it was Christmas.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 25, 2022 10:17 AM (a/4+U)

166 NBC is showing a good Christmas Carols show right now -- even has religious readings.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:18 AM (Vwz3I)

167 Merry Leftist Asshole Day!

Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes

---

Oh Kneel,
Not everyone celebrates Christmas you useless killjoy.

Posted by: Darth Randall at December 25, 2022 10:19 AM (2emnC)

168 Her Majesty and I are both sick, so by mutual decision Christmas here at Schloss Hadrian has been put off by a week.
----------------
That sounds quite Orthodox!

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:19 AM (Vwz3I)

169 NBC is showing a good Christmas Carols show right now -- even has religious readings.

Listening to Mark Steyn’s “Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols” right now. Similar, but no video. (link in nic)

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 25, 2022 10:20 AM (EXyHK)

170 Sorry to hear about the sicknesses, H7. Hope you feel better soon!

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:20 AM (yUjc0)

171 I finished The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles, and while he is a wonderful writer, I was mildly disappointed with the book, especially compared to his best one, A Gentleman In Moscow.

I think it's worth a read, especially for the interesting way he structured the book. And...I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not been comparing it to his other work.

Is that fair?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 25, 2022 10:20 AM (XIJ/X)

172 Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.

Posted by: andycanuck

Does he do similar math on election tabulations??
Posted by: Doof

Now do 'what is a woman?' Neil.

Well, I'm waiting. . .

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 10:20 AM (qoGsy)

173 Merry Christmas everyone!! 🎅

Posted by: Scuba_Dude at December 25, 2022 10:21 AM (fe7in)

174 A lot of elements of the Psi Corps in Babylon 5 were taken from "The Demolished Man," including Alfred Bester's name (Koenig's performance was incredible--One of the best villains you love to hate).
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 10:15

Alongside elements from LOTR. I liked it a lot.

"The Stars My Destination" was one of my favorite books that I got at a secondhand shop.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 25, 2022 10:23 AM (yKPAy)

175 It's Christmas and I will refrain from calling DeGrasse a communist asshole.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 25, 2022 10:23 AM (XGZoL)

176 As some may know, my wife is Russian, so she mostly knows WWII from that POV. Need a shortish good book, not Churchill...maybe Ambrose? Any suggestions?

Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 10:23 AM (AwYPR)

177 I think it's worth a read, especially for the interesting way he structured the book. And...I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not been comparing it to his other work.

Is that fair?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 25, 2022 10:20 AM (XIJ/X)


Sure it's fair -- I read where he does the same thing to your food threads. Haha!!

Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:24 AM (yUjc0)

178
Judges would have also accepted you calling me a "denier"
Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022 10:13 AM (yUjc0)



That would've been the case had I been more on my game this morning.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:24 AM (Zz0t1)

179 A lot of elements of the Psi Corps in Babylon 5 were taken from "The Demolished Man," including Alfred Bester's name (Koenig's performance was incredible--One of the best villains you love to hate).
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022

---

Interesting to know, I havent read the book. Babylon 5 was excellent and Koenig really shined in a slimey, malevolent way.

Posted by: Darth Randall at December 25, 2022 10:24 AM (2emnC)

180 Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.
Posted by: andycanuck

He seems to not get (or not want to admit) Santa and presents are NOT the reason for today.

Merry *CHRISTmas* to all!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 25, 2022 10:25 AM (2cykb)

181 WE WISH YOU A MERRY BOOKMAS
WE WISH YOU A MERRY BOOKMAS
WE WISH YOU A MERRY BOOKMAS
AND A HAPPY NEW READ!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 25, 2022 10:25 AM (Kd4bG)

182
Is that fair?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 25, 2022 10:20 AM (XIJ/X)



You're only as good as your last fuckup.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:25 AM (Zz0t1)

183 I'm not sure this is allowed here. This girl can afford only a half a pair of pants. I guess a pant.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TliE9rTrzXg

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 25, 2022 10:26 AM (FVME7)

184 Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.
Posted by: andycanuck


Easy peasey. Santa's sleigh is a TARDIS, Neil, you blithering lugnut. It's science!

Posted by: mindful webworker - God bless us every one at December 25, 2022 10:26 AM (EWcii)

185
He seems to not get (or not want to admit) Santa and presents are NOT the reason for today.

Merry *CHRISTmas* to all!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 25, 2022 10:25 AM (2cykb)



"Hey. You just piss off there, buddy."

- - WalMart and Amazon

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:26 AM (Zz0t1)

186 I hope you and Her Majesty feel better soon, Hadrian the Seventh. And a Merry Christmas to you and yours, whenever you celebrate it.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 25, 2022 10:26 AM (yKPAy)

187 You're only as good as your last fuckup.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 25, 2022 10:25 AM (Zz0t1)


Preach!

Posted by: Alec Baldwin at December 25, 2022 10:27 AM (yUjc0)

188 In other words, the world's greatest detective is so brilliant, that it's difficult for him to parse out the shenanigans of a stupid person.

The mystery was too stupid for him to solve.

How any of you ever read anything like that?
Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022


***
In other words, what I call a "flabby" mystery. It's like watching a Christmas tree fall over. Its fall may cause a momentary sensation, especially among children; but adults want something more in the way of a thunderbolt.

Part of the essence of the mystery is that the innocents are fooled, temporarily, by the one guilty. It's not fair to have the one innocent fooled by the multiple guilty.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 10:28 AM (KAKDL)

189 Happy Birthday Jesus.

Posted by: Infidel at December 25, 2022 10:29 AM (ZEa+g)

190 Easy peasey. Santa's sleigh is a TARDIS, Neil, you blithering lugnut. It's science!
--------------
And, obviously, is bigger on the inside than it is from the outside.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:29 AM (Vwz3I)

191 Merry Christmas to all.

Posted by: That NLurker it comes in pints? at December 25, 2022 10:29 AM (eGTCV)

192 Babylon 5 was excellent and Koenig really shined in a slimey, malevolent way.

Posted by: Darth Randall at December 25, 2022 10:24 AM (2emnC)


He really did. I still get chills when I watch Andreas Katsulas (as G'kar) when he makes his "We will be FREE" speech.

Also, the dynamic and interaction between him and Peter Jurasik (as Londo Mollari) was absolutely brilliant for the entire five seasons. The elevator scene: "I hear you!"

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 25, 2022 10:30 AM (nRMeC)

193 BignJames thinking, all of or theater operations?

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 10:30 AM (xhxe8)

194 To: Wolfus

From: Weak Geek

New Teen Titans No. 38, "Who Is Donna Troy?"

Story page 12: Robin mentions his "reputation as the teenage Ellery Queen."

Happy Christmas!

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 10:30 AM (Om/di)

195 Happy Birthday, Jesus.
----------
At my church's Children's Mass, they get the kids to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:31 AM (Vwz3I)

196 BignJames thinking, all of or theater operations?

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 10:30 AM (xhxe

All

Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 10:31 AM (AwYPR)

197 The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester --

***

Fantastic book
I need to find a copy to re read
Along with Reefs of Space by Frederick Pohl

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 25, 2022 10:31 AM (Kd4bG)

198 As I start my annual re-reading of LOTR (57th if I did the math right), I'm assembling some books to use as a break from Tolkien. Some poetry, the complete Calvin and Hobbes, some Donald Hamilton westerns, and some books about artists and drawing. No politics or social/cultural crap or anything that gets me pissed off. The little bit I need to stay current I get here on Ace.

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 10:31 AM (7EjX1)

199 {181} MERRY BOOKMAS ... AND A HAPPY NEW READ!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 25, 2022 10:25 AM (Kd4bG)


Perfect Vmom, perfect!

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 25, 2022 10:32 AM (nRMeC)

200
"Hey. You just piss off there, buddy."

- - WalMart and Amazon
Posted by: Sponge

heh...
I greet them with Merry Christmas also...

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 25, 2022 10:33 AM (2cykb)

201 134 Merry Leftist Asshole Day!

Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson · 15h
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.
Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:01 AM (Vwz3I

The imagery on the "NORAD tracks Santa" (https:\\noradsanta.org) page has Santa's sleigh spewing gifts like they were chaff

Posted by: Daystrom Institute D-9 Computer at December 25, 2022 10:34 AM (0kjWS)

202 125 ... fd,

Could you, or anyone else, suggest a good copy of Pliny's Natural History?

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 10:35 AM (7EjX1)

203 Had my maternal grandfather not survived "Isaac's Storm"- the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, I would not be here today.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at December 25, 2022 09:21 AM (wE246)

It is amazing how many people had to survive, and breed, for each of us to be here.

We are impossible, yet here we are.

My 'DEEP THOUGHT' for the day.

Posted by: Javems at December 25, 2022 10:35 AM (AmoqO)

204 This is what Ace is working on this week as his apartment with no furniture and just 'levels' and shelves didn't work out:

https://twitter.com/TansuYegen/status/
1606678119917780996

https://tinyurl.com/yszjdk92

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:35 AM (Vwz3I)

205 Someone used this phrase up above-

"Leave Normal People Alone!"

I think this would be a brilliant rallying cry going forward, as it-

directly calls out the bullying of the woke/leftards and clearly and concisely sets the dividing line between the perverse, economy-wrecking, life-hating, children-abusing, racist, violent left and, well...

Normal People.

Use "Leave Normal People alone" (or variations upon it) whenever p[ossible going forward.

Let's make this a thing.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 10:35 AM (KLPy8)

206 I also question Tyson's math. If Santa is delivering gifts all night he has 24 hours (86,400 seconds). There are 2.2 billion Christians, and we will assume a household size of 3.14 people, for a nice round 700 million households to visit. This means Santa need only visit 8 households per second. Super-genius Scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson was off by a factor of 3000.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 25, 2022 10:35 AM (QZxDR)

207 Merry Christmas to The Horde.

Y'all be safe now.

Going to get some coffee.

Posted by: dissent555 at December 25, 2022 10:36 AM (aoFfE)

208 I'd be willing to bet Santa doesn't respect restricted airspace either. H8er!

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 10:37 AM (qoGsy)

209 New Teen Titans No. 38, "Who Is Donna Troy?"

Story page 12: Robin mentions his "reputation as the teenage Ellery Queen."

Happy Christmas!
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022


***
Thanks! I had been away from comics for many years at that point, but a friend of mine (the guy who introduced me to Star Trek) suggested I read that story. As I recall, I was impressed, the way I was with the Phoenix Saga in X-Men.

The line stuck in my memory because 95 out of 100 scripters would have gone with "teenage Sherlock Holmes."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 10:37 AM (KAKDL)

210 Santa's sleigh spewing gifts like they were chaff
-----------------
Defence against RSMs. [Reindeer Seeking Missiles]

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:37 AM (Vwz3I)

211 "Sadly, there are those who would see all of this torn down and destroyed in favor of "Mother Earth.""

Those that worship the creation and not the creator are given over to their abnormal lusts.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at December 25, 2022 10:37 AM (I9VC/)

212 Merry Christmas to all. Finished "Napoleon and His Marshalls" by A.G. Macdonell. Could not recommend more highly, fantastic overview of Napoleon's military career and full of fantastic character sketches of a wildly disparate group of generals. On of my favorite passages describes the death of Marshall Brune (who was pulled form his carriage and kicked to death by a mob of Frenchman) as follows: "
“the poor ex-patron of literature, Jacobin printer, and doggerel poet, had a military record of almost unrivaled ineptitude, but the manner of his death was not justified by that. Even his poetry was no excuse for such a deed”

Posted by: who knew at December 25, 2022 10:37 AM (4I7VG)

213 Morning Hordemates. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
I just completed The Revision by Steven Smith. Not bad. You have to allow for some invention but overall a good post-apocalyptic read.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 25, 2022 10:38 AM (anj39)

214 On the warpath.

Native Americans Call For “Avatar 2” Boycott

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 25, 2022 10:38 AM (FVME7)

215 Keep in mind that the poem refers to "a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer."

Less wind resistance makes for faster travel.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 10:39 AM (Om/di)

216 Merry Christmas, everyone!

Posted by: Methos at December 25, 2022 10:39 AM (kOpft)

217 When I was a child, I would get a gift or two from "Santa."

Funny how similar his handwriting is to my mother's.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at December 25, 2022 10:39 AM (I9VC/)

218 I did within the year read Rise and Fall of the Third Reich but really mostly on rise and little on fall and quick glance of middle.

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 10:42 AM (xhxe8)

219 Matt’s Idea Shop @MattsIdeaShop · 16h Replying to @neiltyson
Ur mom visits 25,000 homes per minute

@Matthew Betley @MatthewBetley · 12h Replying to
@MattsIdeaShop and @neiltyson
The BEST Christmas comeback today… 🤣🎄🤣🎅🤣🎁

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:42 AM (Vwz3I)

220 It is amazing how many people had to survive, and breed, for each of us to be here.

We are impossible, yet here we are.

My 'DEEP THOUGHT' for the day.
Posted by: Javems at December 25, 2022 10:35 AM (AmoqO)

It's wiki so...https://tinyurl.com/3nuh5w26





Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 10:42 AM (AwYPR)

221 Had hot chocolate and apple pie

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 10:42 AM (xhxe8)

222 Happy Kwanzza to all the nature-worshiping perverts in the WEF.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at December 25, 2022 10:42 AM (I9VC/)

223 Santa's sleigh spewing gifts like they were chaff
-----------------
Defence against RSMs. [Reindeer Seeking Missiles]
Posted by: andycanuck

30.06 or .308?

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 25, 2022 10:43 AM (3CCua)

224 Psciticene Phelbotomist playing with one of his new toy bells!

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at December 25, 2022 10:44 AM (dgOAm)

225 Fr Matthew P. Schneider, LC @FrMatthewLC · 12h
Santa is actually St. Nicholas. We know saints have had the power of bilocation. Once, we have bilocation, there is nothing to stop trilocation, quadlocation or billion-location. So Santa can simultaneously deliver many presents.
twitter.com/neiltyson/stat...

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:44 AM (Vwz3I)

226 I did within the year read Rise and Fall of the Third Reich but really mostly on rise and little on fall and quick glance of middle.

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 10:42 AM (xhxe

I've read some Shirer....meh.

Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 10:45 AM (AwYPR)

227 Psciticene Phelbotomist playing with one of his new toy bells!

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at December 25, 2022 10:44 AM (dgOAm)

You think he's a Phelbotomist? Yeah, I guess he's not a top.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 25, 2022 10:45 AM (Angsy)

228 "Santa" kept providing gifts long after my sister and I knew what was going on. They were usually unwrapped, but I remember one year when two boxes were covered with quilts. The boxes contained microwave ovens.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 10:46 AM (Om/di)

229 30.06 or .308?
Posted by: BifBewalski

Whatever it takes.
- Jack Butler

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 10:46 AM (qoGsy)

230 I'd be willing to bet Santa doesn't respect restricted airspace either. H8er!
----
Oh hell, I'd bet he's laying back with a beer and the Mrs. already.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 10:46 AM (9X/y4)

231 I gave Paisley a bag of marrow bones for Christmas. She loves it.

Posted by: That NLurker it comes in pints? at December 25, 2022 10:47 AM (eGTCV)

232 John Dennis @RealJohnDennis · 12h Replying to @neiltyson
Thanks, assh0le.

Ron Bassilian @Ron4California · 11h Replying to @neiltyson
Neil apparently hasn’t heard of quantum superposition.

Jeff Cox @JeffCoxCNBCcom · 11h Replying to @neiltyson
And....???

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 10:48 AM (Vwz3I)

233 San Francisco Businesses Demand Tax Refund Over Drugs, Crime, and Homelessness Crisis

-
Geez. City government goes all Lord of the Flies and right away everybody is all pissed off!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 25, 2022 10:49 AM (FVME7)

234 And now off to church, followed by some traveling.

Enjoy the day, everybody!

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 10:49 AM (Om/di)

235 JTB, Mac Baren's Scottish Mixture is on my list to try.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 10:49 AM (KAKDL)

236
Merry Christmas to all. Christmas Day is interesting for gnomonists, as it is one of four zeros per tropical year of the Equation of Time.

Today the true sun equals the mean sun, meaning you can set your clock by the sun today without correction.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 10:49 AM (Mzdiz)

237 Eight households per second is total doable as long as Santa doesn't stop to eat all the cookies.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 25, 2022 10:51 AM (Qzn2/)

238 Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 10:35 AM (7EjX1)

I think there only two translations. One was Elizabethan, and one was Victorian.

Maybe somebody has tuned them up recently, but when I read parts of it those were the only two I knew about.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 25, 2022 10:52 AM (XIJ/X)

239 Today the true sun equals the mean sun, meaning you can set your clock by the sun today without correction.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 10:49 AM (Mzdiz)

So you need a sun dial?...or a sextant?

Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 10:52 AM (AwYPR)

240 My dad would remind us from time to time that he was happy to get an orange for Christmas. He was really good at making things real.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 10:52 AM (9X/y4)

241 Not mentioned in awhile, but a fantastic collection if you can find them is Cavendish History of the Second World War periodicals. I have most, many bought as a teenager first run. They are articles written by those who were there. All told its over a million words I take it.

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 10:53 AM (xhxe8)

242 My dad would remind us from time to time that he was happy to get an orange for Christmas. He was really good at making things real.
Posted by: dartist

that brings back memories!

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 25, 2022 10:54 AM (3CCua)

243 240 My dad would remind us from time to time that he was happy to get an orange for Christmas. He was really good at making things real.
Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 10:52 AM (9X/y4)

----------

A whole orange? Pfft.

One year I got an olive and I was grateful for it.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 25, 2022 10:55 AM (Qzn2/)

244 Daughter: I'm making grits.

*looks at what she's doing*

Me: No self-respectin' Southerner uses instant grits.*

*What movie?

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 25, 2022 10:56 AM (ju2Fy)

245 Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 10:53 AM (xhxe

Muldoon has been kind enough to give us a glimpse of his father's diary of the Italian campaign of WWII. It is absolutely fascinating, and well worth begging him to resume giving us snippets of it!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 25, 2022 10:56 AM (XIJ/X)

246 Me: No self-respectin' Southerner uses instant grits.*

---------

Are your grits MAGIC grits?

Posted by: Vinny Gambini at December 25, 2022 10:56 AM (Qzn2/)

247 "One year I got an olive and I was grateful for it."
Sheer luxury. One year I had to share the olive pit with three hungry siblings and the dog. And we were thankful!

Posted by: PabloD at December 25, 2022 10:57 AM (AI0SL)

248 My dad would remind us from time to time that he was happy to get an orange for Christmas. He was really good at making things real.
Posted by: dartist

My Mom would put an orange and some unshelled nuts in our stockings "To remind us all of our humble beginnings."

Posted by: Tonypete at December 25, 2022 10:57 AM (qoGsy)

249 Merry Christmas, Hord. Just finished (finally) David Webber's Safehold series. Quite the slog, but I guess it was worth it. Ten densely written volumes about the trials & tribulations of humanities last surviving population on a planet many light years distant from a destroyed Earth. Only complaint is the spelling of names. they are mostly phonetically correct for the most part but take some time sussing out. If you like multivolume fantasy-scifi series this might be your ticket

Posted by: Semilitterate at December 25, 2022 10:58 AM (KJ29+)

250 >> So you need a sun dial?...or a sextant?

Yes. Imagine you had a sundial (properly aligned and well constructed for accuracy). At high noon today in your location, meaning the sun was right over you meridian, it would be almost exactly 12:00PM local time (the zero occurred early this morning, by noon it will be only 7 secs behind).

You'd still have to adjust for your longitude to get standard time zone time.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 10:58 AM (Mzdiz)

251 Me: No self-respectin' Southerner uses instant grits.*

---------
Are your grits MAGIC grits?
Posted by: Vinny Gambini at December 25, 2022


***
George Carlin:
"Remember the first time you had ham and eggs in the South? 'What's that white stuff down there?'
'Hell, them's grits!'
'They're *movin'*, man. . . .' "

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 10:58 AM (KAKDL)

252 Posted by: Vinny Gambini

Please proceed to window to collect your winnings.

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 25, 2022 10:59 AM (ju2Fy)

253 Just popping in to say Merry Christmas to the horde!

Posted by: donna&&&&&&v at December 25, 2022 11:01 AM (HabA/)

254 There's no rule against being comfortable. But couldn't they show some respect for the rest of us, and at least put on a shirt with a collar?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022
*
Respectfully disagree. Jesus loves those of us who dress casually at church equally as much as those who get more dressed up.
Posted by: Doof at December 25, 2022


***
Well, sure. I was talking about the respect you ought to show your fellows when you go to church, or anyplace in public for that matter. Clean up and shave at least, and wear something better than a T-shirt and thong sandals.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 11:01 AM (KAKDL)

255 Just dropped in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing(5pTK/) at December 25, 2022 11:04 AM (5pTK/)

256 Show of hands on whether George will finish "A Song of Ice and Fire"?

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 25, 2022 11:05 AM (AuTCi)

257 There's no rule against being comfortable. But couldn't they show some respect for the rest of us, and at least put on a shirt with a collar?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

First we had to wear pants, now shirts, next tuxedos.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 25, 2022 11:06 AM (FVME7)

258 CBD yes enjoy them as well, wonder if there isn't a interview worthy of that diary

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 11:07 AM (xhxe8)

259 Today the true sun equals the mean sun

Can't imagine why. He's got nothing to do but roll around heaven all day.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at December 25, 2022 11:07 AM (jYCXf)

260 My grandfather worked as a janitor for the local high school. While he was there, they changed the big stage curtains in the auditorium. Grandad took the old ones home. Fast forward several decades. Grandma still had thoSe old moth eaten curtains and gave them to me. I cut off any really bad fabric, squared up what was left and had it dry cleaned.
Eventually, that beautiful antique, maroon velvet became two "Santa Bags". Each with a drawstring. On Christmas morning the kids would each open a Santa bag to find the presents from Santa. Nothing inside the bag was wrapped in paper.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at December 25, 2022 11:08 AM (Wy1BU)

261 He really did. I still get chills when I watch Andreas Katsulas (as G'kar) when he makes his "We will be FREE" speech.

Also, the dynamic and interaction between him and Peter Jurasik (as Londo Mollari) was absolutely brilliant for the entire five seasons. The elevator scene: "I hear you!"
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at

---

Yeah those two played so well opposite one another. Makes me weep thinking of the upcoming re-boot/re-imagining.

As for Tyson, you would think a astrophysicist might go into a talk about relativity and time dilation, but nooooooo!

Posted by: Darth Randall at December 25, 2022 11:08 AM (2emnC)

262 Got caught up long enough to wish everyone a wonderful day.
Off to my son's house for Hannukah/Christmas dinner and presents with my grandson.
Peace.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 25, 2022 11:09 AM (Y+l9t)

263 My maternal grandmother once got a rock in her stocking just so it wouldn't be empty. Her poor childhood explains why she lavished gifts on us grandkids.

Another Christmas, I was so upset that a friend would get nothing -- his family was Seventh-Day Adventist -- that I told Mom that all I wanted was two cans of green beans, which I didn't like.

Come Christmas Day, I happily got multiple gifts -- but in my stocking were rwo cans of green beans.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 25, 2022 11:10 AM (Om/di)

264 Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer
The Dutch people pay tribute to their World War II liberators by lighting candles on Christmas Eve at all the war graves. At the 🇨🇦 Canadian cemetery in Groesbeek, thanks to hundreds of volunteers, a candle has been lit at each of the 2619 graves, and will stay burning tomorrow.

https://tinyurl.com/2xuv4pwk

[Even for those "Known Unto God" only.]

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 11:10 AM (Vwz3I)

265 You'd still have to adjust for your longitude to get standard time zone time.
Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 10:58 AM (Mzdiz)
-------
For God's sake, why do you think I went to the trouble to invent an accurate clock?

Posted by: Zombie John Harrison at December 25, 2022 11:11 AM (AuTCi)

266 Show of hands on whether George will finish "A Song of Ice and Fire"?
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 25, 2022 11:05 AM (AuTCi)

----

Zero chance he finishes. He's moved on to other stuff that he is more interested in.

Posted by: Darth Randall at December 25, 2022 11:12 AM (2emnC)

267 Speaking of fiction, FedEx tracking went from “out on truck for delivery by end of day” yesterday, to “shipping label received” today. How does that work, NDT?

Posted by: Higher Ed at December 25, 2022 11:12 AM (q4owK)

268 Merry Christmas!!!

Posted by: Dr. T at December 25, 2022 11:13 AM (jGGMD)

269 Merry Christmas and Happy Haunukkah Horde, and particularly, those of a Bookist bent!

Got two books, both of which had been recommended HERE: Alone on Guadalcanal, and Sword and Scimitar. Thank you!

Still plowing through Lawrence's Revolt in the Dessert. And tonight, I shall plow through Duck and the dessert. I love holiday food puns.

Posted by: goatexchange at December 25, 2022 11:14 AM (APPN8)

270 Merry Christmas to all !

Posted by: Tuna at December 25, 2022 11:14 AM (gLRfa)

271 Glory to God in the Highest, and Peace to people of good will.

A Savior is born this day in the City of David.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at December 25, 2022 11:14 AM (I9VC/)

272 Show of hands on whether George will finish "A Song of Ice and Fire"?
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 25, 2022 11:05 AM (AuTCi)
----

Zero chance he finishes. He's moved on to other stuff that he is more interested in.
Posted by: Darth Randall at December 25, 2022 11:12 AM (2emnC)


Eh, the publisher will just hire an unattributed ghostwriter, probably using GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRM's notes.

Too much money still laying on the table.

Lots of previously popular writers have done the same.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 11:15 AM (KLPy8)

273 Oh man! I just found the perfect gift for CBD:

Su-VGun
amzn.com/gp/product/B08C7YL8NL


I'll have to remember this if there's a food thread.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 25, 2022 11:15 AM (0fVbu)

274 Merry Christmas Donna of the Ampersands !

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 11:16 AM (T4tVD)

275 >> Posted by: Zombie John Harrison

Here's to you, John Harrison, greatest horologist of all time.

Harrison claimed about 250 years ago, he could make a pendulum clock that was accurate to within 1s over 100 days. They laughed and mocked him at the time, thinking he had lost his mind.

Well, a few years ago, his last design was finally realized in the form of "Clock B". There's quite a story there.

Well, after an extensive test run at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, Clock B kept time to 5/8 s in 100 days, just like Harrison claimed.

With that, John Harrison was vindicated. Clock B is the most accurate pendulum clock, swinging in free air ever built.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 11:17 AM (Mzdiz)

276 >>> Daughter: I'm making grits.

*looks at what she's doing*

Me: No self-respectin' Southerner uses instant grits.*

*What movie?

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 25, 2022 10:56 AM (ju2Fy)


What is a grit anyways?

Posted by: Vinny at December 25, 2022 11:19 AM (0fVbu)

277 My grandfather worked as a janitor for the local high school. While he was there, they changed the big stage curtains in the auditorium. Grandad took the old ones home. Fast forward several decades. Grandma still had thoSe old moth eaten curtains and gave them to me. I cut off any really bad fabric, squared up what was left and had it dry cleaned.
Eventually, that beautiful antique, maroon velvet became two "Santa Bags". Each with a drawstring. On Christmas morning the kids would each open a Santa bag to find the presents from Santa. Nothing inside the bag was wrapped in paper.
Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench)

NICE !

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 11:19 AM (T4tVD)

278 Merry Christmas, JT!

Posted by: donna&&&&&&v at December 25, 2022 11:19 AM (HabA/)

279
In constructing Clock B, they used modern materials and methods, realizing Harrison's design principles as best they could.

They only question is if Clock B could've been realized in Harrison's day. Probably not, but it would've been close. The expense would've been astronomical.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 11:20 AM (Mzdiz)

280 Merry Christmas, JT!
Posted by: donna&&&&&&v

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 11:20 AM (T4tVD)

281 Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 11:15 AM (KLPy
-------
That's pretty much my take.

Re: B5
JMS recounted being near the set when filming the elevator scene and hearing Andreas laughing hysterically and counldn.t figure out what was going on (even though he'd written it). It was Andreas' idea that G'Kar would find the situation intolerably funny. An example of an actor taking something well-wrtten and taking it to another level.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 25, 2022 11:21 AM (AuTCi)

282 What is a grit anyways?

Posted by: Vinny at December 25, 2022 11:19 AM (0fVbu)

L'il piece of hominy.

Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 11:21 AM (AwYPR)

283 Mimosa's are ready. Trump Champagne, Grand Marnier and OJ garnished with a strawberry. Put a glass under your USB port if interested.

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 25, 2022 11:23 AM (ju2Fy)

284 Merry Christmas! Coffee at church!

Posted by: Eromero at December 25, 2022 11:23 AM (DXbAa)

285 L'il piece of hominy.

---------

We could all use a little peace and harmony.

Posted by: Vinny Gambini at December 25, 2022 11:23 AM (Qzn2/)

286 A female is here with gifts! Specifically Miss Linda. I wonder what she hath brought. Or wrought, for that matter.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 11:24 AM (KAKDL)

287 A female is here with gifts! Specifically Miss Linda. I wonder what she hath brought. Or wrought, for that matter.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 11:24 AM (KAKDL)
---
Tell her the Horde says, "Merry Christmas!"

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 11:25 AM (BpYfr)

288 Mimosa's are ready. Trump Champagne, Grand Marnier and OJ garnished with a strawberry. Put a glass under your USB port if interested.
Posted by: olddog in mo


Waits patiently . . .

Posted by: Infidel at December 25, 2022 11:25 AM (ZEa+g)

289 238 ... "I think there only two translations. One was Elizabethan, and one was Victorian."

CBD,
Thanks. The version I just got, the Kindle edition from Delphi, use the 1855 translation. If there is a complete modern translation, I haven't found it. This is the kind of book I would prefer to take off the shelf and read parts. I'll get by with the ebook version and Delphi does a good job with their editions.

There is a 'selections' version by Penguin and apparently uses some newer translations but that leaves me at the discretion of the editor. For 1.99 I'll stick with the Delphi.

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 11:27 AM (7EjX1)

290 A female is here with gifts! Specifically Miss Linda. I wonder what she hath brought. Or wrought, for that matter.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

or caught...(mebbe she's been fishing ...)

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 11:27 AM (T4tVD)

291 After being in juries in serious cases it kind of shocked me how close My Cousin Vinny is to real court. Attorneys just throwing stuff out there hoping it'll stick. Arguing back and forth. The one thing you don't see is how often the jury is sent out to their room to just wait. Lots of waiting.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 25, 2022 11:28 AM (0fVbu)

292 Santa brought me "Visions of Space: Artists Journey Through the Cosmos" by David A. Hardy.

Thanks for the recommendation, SheHobbit! It's just what I love.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 25, 2022 11:28 AM (uyTfq)

293 Hiya Heidi ! (I know you're in here )

Merry Christmas to you and the Artist Formerly Known as Da Cannibal !

Posted by: JT at December 25, 2022 11:28 AM (T4tVD)

294 OT:

The most adorable kittens you will see all day:

https://youtu.be/jnk15Wf6xMU

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 11:29 AM (BpYfr)

295 Dang, I'm late. It's a shame that reincarnation was read out of Christianity, as it is all over Judaism from way back, but generally kept within the more esoteric tradition.

And I have just discovered that Talbot Mundy, of all people, could write the heck out of a contemporary comedy when he needed a break from high adventure in the mysterious East.

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 25, 2022 11:29 AM (SPNTN)

296 Merry Christmas, Horde, from a long-time lurker. I love you guys. Right now I’m reading “The Divine Theocracy” by George Peters, a 2000-page argument for the literal Second Coming of Christ, against a bevy of theologians modern and otherwise. Given the current state of things, I hope He is coming very soon. He will know how to deal w/ McConnell, Romney and their ilk!

Posted by: Norrin Radd at December 25, 2022 11:30 AM (5/hsK)

297 The Dutch people pay tribute to their World War II liberators
----
Awsome, I understand the French do too, very respectable.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 11:31 AM (9X/y4)

298 The expense would have been astronomical.

The EXPENSE, I say the EXPENSE...
would have been ASTRO-
NOMICAL. And this, on Christmas. God bless us.

"By God, Harrison, I'll see you righted."
--the high point of George III's entire reign.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at December 25, 2022 11:32 AM (jYCXf)

299
The animation for "The Polar Express" movie is both wooden and nightmarish.

It is easy to understand why the sequel, "The Bipolar Express", never was made into a movie.

That is all.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 25, 2022 11:32 AM (pNxlR)

300 >>> Re: B5
JMS recounted being near the set when filming the elevator scene and hearing Andreas laughing hysterically and counldn.t figure out what was going on (even though he'd written it). It was Andreas' idea that G'Kar would find the situation intolerably funny. An example of an actor taking something well-wrtten and taking it to another level.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 25, 2022 11:21 AM (AuTCi)


The acting was top-notch. A lot of the show was hokey as scify kind of has to be. But the acting was as good as I've seen in any tv show over my lifetime. And not Kirk-ish overdramatic acting either. Just good broad character development driven by superb actors.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 25, 2022 11:33 AM (0fVbu)

301 What is a grit anyways?

Posted by: Vinny at December 25, 2022 11:19 AM (0fVbu)

L'il piece of hominy.
Posted by: BignJames


Corn soaked in lye.

Posted by: rickb223 Gone Galt at December 25, 2022 11:33 AM (OJOUk)

302 Waits patiently . . .
Posted by: Infidel
---------------

Sorry. Got distracted. On its way.

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 25, 2022 11:33 AM (ju2Fy)

303 After being in juries in serious cases it kind of shocked me how close My Cousin Vinny is to real court.…
Posted by: banana Dream


Real Lawyer Reacts to My Cousin Vinny (The Most Accurate Legal Comedy?)
https://youtu.be/a1I7QBCHqng

Sometimes I just cue the movie up to the court scenes. And not just for Mona Lisa Vito.

Posted by: mindful webworker - God bless us every one at December 25, 2022 11:34 AM (EWcii)

304 Merry Christmas all y'all!

Posted by: Weasel at December 25, 2022 11:35 AM (WoIMU)

305 Corn soaked in lye.
Posted by: rickb223 Gone Galt at December 25, 2022 11:33 AM (OJOUk)

...he said, caustically.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 25, 2022 11:35 AM (tkR6S)

306 After being in juries in serious cases it kind of shocked me how close My Cousin Vinny is to real court

----------

I don't know any trial lawyer who has seen that movie who doesn't love it. I had a partner who swore that one day he would use Vinny's opening statement in a real trial.

"Everything that guy just said is bullshit."

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 25, 2022 11:35 AM (Qzn2/)

307 Fvck, my car won't lock it's so cold. Not good around here, it won't start anyway ,fvck it.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 11:37 AM (9X/y4)

308 Saw Polar Express once, agree

Posted by: Skip at December 25, 2022 11:38 AM (xhxe8)

309 >>> The animation for "The Polar Express" movie is both wooden and nightmarish.

It is easy to understand why the sequel, "The Bipolar Express", never was made into a movie.

That is all.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 25, 2022 11:32 AM (pNxlR)


The movie was creepy. The book is nice, in a secular replacement for a religious celebration sort of way.

Down in the Gatlinburg/Pigeonforge area you can take a train ride up and into the hills where they serve hot chocolate and do a live reading of the book. At the destination, the lights of the train start flickering and they stop the lights go completely out, you hear bells and suddenly the lights are on and Santa is on board handing the kids gifts.

Everyone is supposed to dress in pajamas. It's all fun for very little kids. Their eyes light up. If you have little kids and live in the Appalachians I'd suggest it.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 25, 2022 11:39 AM (0fVbu)

310 The animation for "The Polar Express" movie is both wooden and nightmarish.

----------

The movie left me cold, pun fully intended.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 25, 2022 11:39 AM (Qzn2/)

311 The "mystery" is "Glass Onion" streaming on Netflix, which continues the adventures of the world's greatest detective, Benoit Blanc(sp?)for the movie "Knives Out".

-
I quite liked it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 25, 2022 11:40 AM (FVME7)

312 Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 25, 2022 11:29 AM (BpYfr)
-------
Very cute. I get that this is an Assassin's Creed thing, but why are they after two 18th C. French artillerists?

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 25, 2022 11:40 AM (AuTCi)

313 Everyone is supposed to dress in pajamas

Last minute shopping at the supermarket yesterday saw a couple in matching jammies. Very cute.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at December 25, 2022 11:41 AM (dgOAm)

314 Corn soaked in lye.
Posted by: rickb223 Gone Galt

...he said, caustically.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon


Golf clap.

Posted by: rickb223 Gone Galt at December 25, 2022 11:42 AM (OJOUk)

315 261 As for Tyson, you would think a astrophysicist might go into a talk about relativity and time dilation, but nooooooo!

i'm much more interested in pickle dillation

Posted by: anachronda at December 25, 2022 11:43 AM (qp8Hp)

316 I can't say what they are because stupid Amazon dropped the ball on delivery and he still hasn't received them, but I got Joe Mannix two sets of books, one of them antique, for Hanukkah.

It's not a book, but since I'm always mournful watching Western Civ go by the boards, Lady YD got me a fancy commemorative plate with gold inlays and a photo/illustration collage celebrating "One Thousand Years of Human Endeavour."

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 25, 2022 11:43 AM (oINRc)

317 banana Dream @ 309

During most of December, the Miami commuter railway runs an hour-long Polar Express simulation for kids, with all the interior details ... but there's no way to deliver Arctic weather. I suppose they turn the AC way, way up....

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 25, 2022 11:43 AM (SPNTN)

318 Thank you olddog!

Posted by: Infidel at December 25, 2022 11:43 AM (ZEa+g)

319 >>> Fvck, my car won't lock it's so cold. Not good around here, it won't start anyway ,fvck it.
Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 11:37 AM (9X/y4)


I used to have a little battery-powered pocket heater that had a pin that would stick out about an inch. It was made so you could insert it into the car's keyhole. It helped a few times. But if your locks were frozen you generally also had a quarter inch of ice on the rest of the car and that was covered by a foot of snow. Even though it's a bit cold here now I'm truly happy I don't ever have to deal with that again.

I still have my big midwest snow brush/ice breaker&scraper. I watch some poor fool with his credit card scraping his windshield and then he sees me whip that sucker out.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 25, 2022 11:44 AM (0fVbu)

320 The version I just got, the Kindle edition from Delphi, use the 1855 translation. If there is a complete modern translation, I haven't found it.

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 11:27 AM (7EjX1)

I think you are correct. I checked whether my favorite translator (Robert Fagles) had done it, but no such luck. It's immensely long, so my bet is that most people are content with the two translations already out there.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 25, 2022 11:44 AM (XIJ/X)

321 Polar Express says you...

Hate that movie says i. Its creepy and ugly and there is waaaay too much Tom Hanks.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at December 25, 2022 11:46 AM (Wy1BU)

322 I re-read Clarence Thomas's autobiography, My Grandfather's Son last week. Choked me up as much as the first time I read it in 2008.

As they say, Only in America.

Posted by: polynikes at December 25, 2022 11:46 AM (TIiR1)

323 I saw an ad for that Glass Onion thing, and that gay dude from the Bond movies does the most cartoonishly bad Southern accent of all time... He sounds like Colonel Sanders catching Monkeypox from Foghorn Leghorn.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 25, 2022 11:46 AM (oINRc)

324 272 Eh, the publisher will just hire an unattributed ghostwriter, probably using GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRM's notes.

i bet frank herbert's son is available

Posted by: anachronda at December 25, 2022 11:46 AM (qp8Hp)

325 315 261 As for Tyson, you would think a astrophysicist might go into a talk about relativity and time dilation, but nooooooo!

The only song I can think of on the subject of relativity and time dilation was written by an astrophysicist. Of course.
(" '39," recorded by Queen, in case you didn't know.)

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 25, 2022 11:47 AM (SPNTN)

326 I am rereading Carol O'Connell's Mallory books. You have to employ a certain amount of suspension of belief because Mallory wouldn't last five seconds in a real police force. But O'Connell keeps Mallory's imagined world consistent to its internal logic.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at December 25, 2022 11:47 AM (z7W9M)

327 Fvck, my car won't lock it's so cold. Not good around here, it won't start anyway ,fvck it.
Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 11:37 AM (9X/y4)


I used to have a little battery-powered pocket heater that had a pin that would stick out about an inch. It was made so you could insert it into the car's keyhole. It helped a few times. But if your locks were frozen you generally also had a quarter inch of ice on the rest of the car and that was covered by a foot of snow. Even though it's a bit cold here now I'm truly happy I don't ever have to deal with that again.

I still have my big midwest snow brush/ice breaker&scraper. I watch some poor fool with his credit card scraping his windshield and then he sees me whip that sucker out.
Posted by: banana Dream


Boiling water. Gets the ice off toot sweet.


All kidding aside, I have a KBar ice scraper. I've used it maybe 3 times in five years.

Posted by: rickb223 Gone Galt at December 25, 2022 11:48 AM (OJOUk)

328 Brian May >>>>> NDGT

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at December 25, 2022 11:49 AM (AuTCi)

329 my car won't lock it's so cold. Not good around here, it won't start anyway
------------------
I couldn't shut the door closed to my nephew's car after having had been dining for an hour or more on Friday night until I really, really slammed it shut.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 11:50 AM (Vwz3I)

330 Only got one book this year, which may be a record for me. It's a bio of H.G. Wells, which I'm looking forward to. I hope the biographer can strike a balance between "he was a brilliant writer and the first futurist" and "he was a horndog and a jerk and a Marxist apologist."

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 25, 2022 11:50 AM (QZxDR)

331 I still have my big midwest snow brush/ice breaker&scraper. I watch some poor fool with his credit card scraping his windshield and then he sees me whip that sucker out.
----
Not as cold as a lot of morons here but it still sucks. I use the long brush but it still isn't what I'd call fun.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 11:51 AM (9X/y4)

332 Fvck, my car won't lock it's so cold. Not good around here, it won't start anyway ,fvck it.
Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 11:37 AM (9X/y4

I always had a few mini canisters of the door lock de-thawing spray when I lived in the Hudson Valley.

Posted by: polynikes at December 25, 2022 11:52 AM (TIiR1)

333 Fella I worked with once said if his door locks were frozen on his car he would squeeze a it of wd40 in and give it a minute. He said it worked every time. I never tried it so cannot confirm.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at December 25, 2022 11:53 AM (Wy1BU)

334 Well, sure. I was talking about the respect you ought to show your fellows when you go to church, or anyplace in public for that matter. Clean up and shave at least, and wear something better than a T-shirt and thong sandals.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 25, 2022 11:01 AM (KAKDL)

*Jesus looks down at his feet and feels shame*

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at December 25, 2022 11:54 AM (BdMk6)

335 Last 2 houses I've bought had a garage...which I used as a ...garage.

Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 11:55 AM (AwYPR)

336 Fella I worked with once said if his door locks were frozen on his car he would squeeze a it of wd40 in and give it a minute. He said it worked every time. I never tried it so cannot confirm.
----
Thanks, I'll try it and report back.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 11:55 AM (9X/y4)

337
Article on Harrison's Clock B:

https://tinyurl.com/2htztxqv

I call it Harrison's, and it is, but it's official name is the Burgess Clock B, after the guy who did most of the work on it.

Harrison gets the last laugh, too bad he isn't around to enjoy it.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 11:55 AM (Mzdiz)

338 Sorry, had to take a break for brunch and mimosas.

What did I miss?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 11:55 AM (llXky)

339 *Jesus looks down at his feet and feels shame*

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at December 25, 2022 11:54 AM (BdMk6)
---
I think the issue is that people could take time to dress better, but choose not to.

I used to wear a suit and tie, but now I will content myself with a dress shirt and pants. I draw the line at shorts - unless it's an outdoor Mass.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 11:57 AM (llXky)

340 Alcohol thaws frozen locks. Not booze, for which there are better uses, but methanol or strong rubbing alcohol work fine. Dispensed from a squirt bottle.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 25, 2022 11:57 AM (tkR6S)

341 Watching episode of King of the Hill when Jimmy Carter made an appearance. Mike Judge and the writers didn't hold back making fun of him.

Judge is an American treasure.

Posted by: polynikes at December 25, 2022 11:58 AM (TIiR1)

342 ... but why are they after two 18th C. French artillerists?
------------
Not that they are accurate uniforms for either but I think French Guards [Gardes Francaises] are meant and not artillerists or they're just idiots!

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 11:58 AM (Vwz3I)

343 As for Tyson, you would think a astrophysicist might go into a talk about relativity and time dilation, but nooooooo!

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 25, 2022 11:47 AM (SPNTN)
---
That's because he wasn't using it as a teaching moment, but to piss people off. That's what really motivates him.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 11:59 AM (llXky)

344 Alcohol thaws frozen locks. Not booze, for which there are better uses, but methanol or strong rubbing alcohol work fine. Dispensed from a squirt bottle.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 25, 2022 11:57 AM (tkR6S)
---
I remember this from the Dark Ages before keyfobs.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 25, 2022 12:00 PM (llXky)

345 323 I saw an ad for that Glass Onion thing, and that gay dude from the Bond movies does the most cartoonishly bad Southern accent of all time... He sounds like Colonel Sanders catching Monkeypox from Foghorn Leghorn.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 25, 2022 11:46 AM (oINRc)


Well...they more or less indicate that Benoit Blanc(sp?) is teh ghey at the beginning.

They don't make a big deal about it. But, it just indicates how determined Ryan Johnson is to cram woke tropes/stereotypes/etc into every little nook and cranny of "Glass Onion".

For the record, I didn't hate it. It was okay for what it was - a lazy mystery with some good acting. Logically, it was obvious who the murderer was early on and doubt never surfaced in my mind about that.

But, Agatha Christie, Ryan Johnson ain't.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 25, 2022 12:02 PM (KLPy8)

346 Going to Christmas meal at my friend's in-laws house. I warned them I didn't shower this morning because no water heater. They were okay with it. 😀

Posted by: polynikes at December 25, 2022 12:02 PM (TIiR1)

347 I call it Harrison's, and it is, but it's official name is the Burgess Clock B, after the guy who did most of the work on it.

Harrison gets the last laugh, too bad he isn't around to enjoy it.
Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 11:55 AM (Mzdiz)

That article is mighty light on any details of the design, and how it differs from conventional pendulum clocks.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 25, 2022 12:02 PM (tkR6S)

348 The stockings have been emptied, the gifts unwrapped, and now we're in the lull before the serious cooking starts.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 25, 2022 12:03 PM (QZxDR)

349 I noticed a few years ago my crew cab pu has only 1 key lock....cheap bastids.

Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 12:03 PM (AwYPR)

350 I am a lonely noodist

Posted by: MAxIE at December 25, 2022 12:04 PM (twxj3)

351 When I was a kid my family had the same Christmas Eve traditions of dad reading us the nativity story in Luke and then we each got to open one present. We would also go to Mr. C’s on Christmas Eve, a wonderful Italian restaurant in north Omaha that sadly is no more.

Posted by: Norrin Radd at December 25, 2022 12:05 PM (5/hsK)

352 Merry Christmas, Blessed Horde.

Just starting NT Wright's "The Resurrection of the Son of God", which is volume 3 in his lengthy Christian Origins and the Question of God series.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 25, 2022 12:05 PM (y+By8)

353 I noticed a few years ago my crew cab pu has only 1 key lock....cheap bastids.
Posted by: BignJames at December 25, 2022 12:03 PM (AwYPR)

That was the norm for many, many years. And it was often the case that the only key lock was on the passenger side, because there were laws in many areas forbidding you to exit the car on the traffic side when parallel parked.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 25, 2022 12:05 PM (tkR6S)

354 >> That article is mighty light on any details of the design, and how it differs from conventional pendulum clocks.

Try this:
https://tinyurl.com/2gag4axu
and
https://tinyurl.com/2qfqxe6v

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 12:07 PM (Mzdiz)

355 >>> I call it Harrison's, and it is, but it's official name is the Burgess Clock B, after the guy who did most of the work on it.

Harrison gets the last laugh, too bad he isn't around to enjoy it.
Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 11:55 AM (Mzdiz)

That article is mighty light on any details of the design, and how it differs from conventional pendulum clocks.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 25, 2022 12:02 PM (tkR6S)


I do notice that almost all of the elements have very little mass and inertia except for those few that mass and inertia are an integral component of their function.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 25, 2022 12:08 PM (0fVbu)

356
Harrison realized that greater accuracy required throwing away a lot of the conventional wisdom about clock design, and doing things the establishment horologists thought was crazy.

He was right. Even well into the 20th century, they thought the design was just nuts.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at December 25, 2022 12:09 PM (Mzdiz)

357 340 ... "Alcohol thaws frozen locks. Not booze, for which there are better uses, but methanol or strong rubbing alcohol work fine. Dispensed from a squirt bottle."

Growing up in New England, every house had a squeeze bottle of rubbing alcohol. Unless a garage was available, it was sure to be needed. Worked every time.

Posted by: JTB at December 25, 2022 12:09 PM (7EjX1)

358 Weak Geek

When Tommy James's book came out, I caught an interview he did promoting it. It sounded like a heck of a ride, to say the least I should see if it's at my library.

Currently reading Never Surrender by General William Boykin. On deck is I'm Your Huckleberry, Val Kilmer's memoir and something that caught me eye by David Grossman titled, A Horse Walks Into a Bar..

Posted by: Joe Kidd at December 25, 2022 12:12 PM (RMN7W)

359 frozone car door locks...zippo, heat the key till it hurts yer fingers, then insert i to truck door lock. count to ten and turn the key. repeat until key turns freely. spray wd40 so it don't freeze ip again.

used to carry a mini-torch (butane) to heat up the series 200 locks on all the radar maintenance bay doors. damne things would freeze and we couldn't turn the radar off for maintenance checks.

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 25, 2022 12:12 PM (3CCua)

360 *Jesus looks down at his feet and feels shame*
Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at December 25, 2022 11:54 AM (BdMk6)

it was considered common courtesy in those days to wash your feet before you entered someone's home. Jesus undoubtedly followed those social rules. Jewish law contained rules about hygiene. Just because they didn't have our modern conveniences doesn't mean they slobbed around.

Posted by: donna&&&&&&v at December 25, 2022 12:20 PM (HabA/)

361 When the mini-butane torch first came out, we thought our winter problems were over -- but then HQ wanted "logo stripes" on all the vehicles, and maintenance would report managers if their pretty plastic got all heat-bubbled. First to admit, me and the boys may have scorched a few.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at December 25, 2022 12:22 PM (jYCXf)

362 It seems the sun did it but I sprayed some WD in the lock anyway. No rubbing alcohol in the house unless I drank it.

Posted by: dartist at December 25, 2022 12:24 PM (9X/y4)

363 nood

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at December 25, 2022 12:32 PM (Vwz3I)

364 I decided to highlight this recommendation because it spawned a lot of similar recommendations for books on infrastructure in the modern world. We truly live in amazing times. Our roads, our energy, our communications, all of it relies on an incredibly complex web of infrastructure.

Speaking of which, a YouTuber named Grady Hillhouse ("Practical Engineering") has a book out called Engineering in Plain Sight It's kind of an omnibus overview of infrastructure for laymen. I bought a copy, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at December 25, 2022 12:53 PM (iZEhM)

365 I was looking for an author to begin reading in series, decided to go back and start Ludlum's "Bourne" series, as I had only read the 1st three of the now looooong saga, and had read those when they 1st came out. My GAWD, they were AWFUL! It's as if he was getting paid by the word, and repetitively, repeated, over and over, the entire internal mental 'agonies' of the protagonists 4 part schizophrenia, but also had EVERY other character spending hundreds of words at a time...many many times....obsessing about it as well. I ordered the 4th volume from the library to see if perhaps the author that took over from Ludlum "might" be better, I'll give him a 1 book chance before I abandon the series.
When I mentioned it to the Librarian, she suggested I give Jack Carr a try...I'd never heard of him, don't watch TV much at all, certainly no streaming channels, had no clue about an amazon series. Finished the 1st book, "Terminal List" at around 2am this morning. Will have her order the rest of them for me on Monday.

Posted by: birddog at December 25, 2022 01:27 PM (uAI4S)

366 Further...I'm not a Christian, but...I do KNOW that god exists, and ask for help and forgiveness daily. While doing so as I dropped off to sleep this morning it came upon me that though I had read the bible several times(as I have ALL major tomes of nearly every religion) it had been decades since the last time and that perhaps it was due a revisit. While nursing my 1st cuppa upon rising, I found and dusted off a copy from one of my shelves, it's now on the bedside table an will receive attention until completed, whether that is a in many 'forced' nibbles, or an enthusiastic feast will have to be determined.
(I may have to go looking for a larger volume...the one I immediately found is a 32mo/pocket edition, and the print is tiny. I know somewhere around here is a very LARGE, antique, Illuminated, Family Bible, from the late 1700's early 1800's

Posted by: birddog at December 25, 2022 01:43 PM (uAI4S)

367 That one might prove too fragile, in which case I'll find another larger format version, they are readily had at any thrift store or estate sale.

Posted by: birddog at December 25, 2022 01:45 PM (uAI4S)

368 Haven't been able to read the entire thread, but two other good reads about priests are the "Complete Father Brown" mysteries by the great G. K Chesterton and ""The World, the Flesh and Father Smith" by Bruce Marshall who was a Scottish writer.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 25, 2022 02:51 PM (fhCLs)

369 I am making $90 an hour working from home. I never imagined that it was honest to goodness yet my closest companion is earning $16,000 a month by working on a laptop, that was truly astounding for me, she prescribed for me to attempt it simply.
Here's what I've been doing.. www.Payathome7.com

Posted by: Tom at December 25, 2022 03:59 PM (qACTo)

370 thank you for the link to Readers Suggestions -- I've borrowed 2 from my online library, joined Kindle Unlimited to get 3 others, and bought 5 more on Kindle. Sooooo many good ones. Especially appreciate that so many Morons are sci fi fans. I love sci fi, but tend to pick really bad ones on my own, so a recommendation is very valuable.

Posted by: Delilah at December 25, 2022 04:19 PM (FK1Jm)

371 I have been reading The Light of Faith: Compendium of Theology by St. Thomas Aquinas in the Sophia Institute edition. Originally planned to be divided into 3 Sections: Faith, Hope and Charity; the Angelic Doctor died before completing the book (he got a start on the section Hope).

If you want to read St. Thomas Aquinas' explanation of God, the Trinity, Jesus, Sin, Purgatory and Salvation this book has it. The language is a bit of a slog, but worth the effort.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 25, 2022 04:43 PM (pJWtt)

372 Whеn I initially commеnted I appear to have clicked on the -Νotify me
when new comments аre added- checkbox and from now on eveгy time a comment іs addeɗ I get four еmails with the same comment.
Thеre has to be a way you are able to remove me from that service?
Thanks a lot!

Posted by: gigabit at December 25, 2022 11:36 PM (E33gM)

373
Making money online is more than $15k just by doing simple work from home. I received $18376 last month. It's an easy and simple job to do and its earnings are much better than regular office jobs and even a little child can do this and earn money. Everybody must try this job by just use the info on this page..... www.worksful.com

Posted by: Brianna Tucker at December 26, 2022 02:06 AM (nuz8s)

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