Sunday Morning Book Thread - 08-13-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: Iris)

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

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

PIC NOTE

Not much to say other than this is a cake made to look like a library. It's almost a shame to eat it. Thanks to 'ette Iris for sending it in!

FROM THE NONFICTION PILE--Physics of the Future

I've spent the past several weeks discussing series of fictional stories. Let's switch over to nonfiction for a bit. In a way, this is just putting into practice that C.S. Lewis quote posted on the wall of a used bookstore in Arkansas:

"It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between."

I've been reading new (well, new to me, at least) books, so in preparation for today's little commentary, I went back and read an old book: Physics of the Future: How Science will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 by physicist and futurist Michio Kaku. It's what I would classify as a "popular science" book written for people who know little about science, but are interested in learning more. There are no complex equations or formulas involved. Mostly, Kaku is just extrapolating future applications of technology from how it existed in 2010-2011, when the book was written. Seeing as we are now over a decade into the future of the book, it's interesting to see which, if any, of Kaku's predictions are starting to come true.

Each chapter covers a different area of science, such as the future of computers, of medicine, of nanotechnology, of energy, and so on. Within each chapter, he breaks down the future outlook of each area into three phases: the near future (up through 2030), the mid-future (2030-2070), and the distant future, which in this case means only up to the year 2100.

In his chapter on computers, for example, he mentions that Moore's Law, which dictates the increase in computing power over time will begin to slow down around 2030, as there are physical limitations to how small current fabrication techniques can manufacture transistors, the primary component of integrated circuits. Once the transistors reach atomic scales, quantum mechanical effects take over, causing a number of issues as electrons start leaking all over the place. If you've been paying attention to Pixy's daily Tech Threads, he's mentioned that engineers are beginning to fabricate 2-nanometer scale circuits. Note that this only about 20 times bigger than a hydrogen atom. So we may be closing in on the end of Moore's Law as we know it in the next few years. Other technologies, such as quantum computing, or optical computing, or even holographic computing, will need to be developed in order to make significant leaps in computing power in the future.

Kaku has gone all in on global warming, even as far back as 2010, so he does spend some time discussing how it's a problem that needs to be addressed with new technologies. However, he is at least realistic enough to admit that any proposed solutions, such as blocking out the sun with nanoparticles, might lead to unpleasant unintended consequences, so great care should be used in distributing this technology to "save the planet." Kaku, a physicist, is pretty gung-ho on the future of fusion power and believes we will eventually make it work. There have been recent articles about the National Ignition Facility's attempts to generate fusion power using laser beams. Apparently there have been a couple of instances where more energy was released than was required to start the fusion cycle, if only for a very brief instant.

Michio Kaku is very optimistic about the future and believes humanity will make it to the year 2100 more or less intact, though maybe enhanced by genetic, nanotech, or computational factors. In the end, once all of humanity's main problems are solved, we will crave wisdom more than anything. He says that "wisdom comes from reasoned and informed democratic debate from opposing sides" (350) As we see today, that state of society no longer exists in America, so the prediction that we will become a more reasoned, rational and wise society with technological advances has not yet proven true. If anything, the global elites are hell-bent on taking us backward to a nineteenth- or early twentieth-century standard of living.

Physics of the Future is a thought-provoking look at the state of the technology in the world today, especially when you can see how some of it is already starting to come true, both good and bad.

Kaku, M. (2011). Physics of the future: How science will shape human destiny in our daily lives by the year 2100. Doubleday.

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(HT: Peter Zah)

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MORON WRITERS GROUP!

OrangeEnt is willing to set up an AoSHQ Writers' Group! Anyone interested in participating can drop him a line at maildrop62 -at- proton -dot- me.

He's not quite sure how this will be set up, but I'm sure y'all can work out the details. I've only participated in writers' groups during graduate school a few years ago. I will admit they did help. It's always nice to have a different perspective read one's writing. If nothing else, they can help you find the stupid mistakes that we all tend to gloss over in our own writing projects.

BOOKS BY MORONS

Moron Author Blaine McCants has a series out now that may be of interest to some of you...

[W]hen Covid hit, and I found myself bored and retired and housebound, I finally wrote a trilogy firmly in the H. Beam Piper Paratime tradition. The first volume [The Hands that Rock the Triggers - PS] is now out, on Kindle Unlimited. I have pasted a link below. Tolstoy it ain't, or even Goncharov, but I think it's competently crafted. The other two volumes in the trilogy are A Switch in Times and The Scum also Rises.
The Hand that Rocks the Triggers

Comment: This sounds like a fun series. It's an alternate history story where George III choked to death in 1767, meaning the next couple of hundred years played out very differently in America. Blaine McCants has had a very colorful career in the intelligence community, which no doubt influences the stories in surprising ways.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I am reading The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell, which is a novel set in India at the time of the Great Mutiny and told from the POV of the British residents living in an isolated outpost in Northern India. I'm not far into it so haven't yet formed an opinion, but Farrell is very good at invoking the desolation and boredom in these colonial outposts. And the heat - all these Brits sweltering in their uniforms, frock coats and long dresses. And no deodorant or AC.
Posted by: Donna&&&&&&V at August 06, 2023 09:18 AM (HabA/)

Comment: From what I can tell by reading other stories involving British colonialism, the British were very keen on bringing their "Britishness" with them to their colonies. They were also keen on bringing the latest fashions from Britain with them. Yes, it was no doubt horrible, but if the natives saw Britishness and were impressed by it, then the colonists considered that a good thing. It wasn't entirely a bad thing, either, as the famous story involving General Napier demonstrates. He helped put a stop to the ugly practice of suttee in India, where widows were expected to throw themselves on the funeral pyre of their dead husbands.

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"Best of all, the [Kwajalein] locals were used to things being blown up and were perhaps more accepting of a group of unproven twentysomethings and a dot-com millionaire appearing on the scene with a big metal tube full of liquid explosives and crossed fingers." -- When the Heavens Went On Sale by Ashlee Vance
The book begins with SpaceX's string of failures before its successful launch of the Falcon 1 in 2008. But it isn't about Elon Musk, it's about the small players who fill in the gap left by Musk when he decided to focus on heavy rocketry and human space flight. Small companies like Planet Labs, Rocket Lab, Astra, and Firefly are fighting against the trends of decades-old zero-defects culture and the elephantine bulk of regulations, codes, and procedures that grew every time something went wrong.
There's a big chunk on Pete Worden, the Air Force general and general gadfly who refashioned NASA Ames into Silicon Valley scientific hotspot.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 06, 2023 09:16 AM (i4tOF)

Comment: The commercialization of space exploration is a massive game changer for the human race, even though NASA and other government entities don't like it. Too bad, so sad. Musk's efforts remind me of a character from Stephen Baxtern's Manifold series, named Reid Malenfant. Malenfant also used his considerable talents to open up space travel and exploration because he, too, saw humanities future among the stars. Malenfant then goes on extraordinary adventures to the ends of time and space.

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I just finished Radio's Greatest of All Time: Rush Limbaugh, transcripts from his show and testimonials compiled by his wife and his brother David. It made me sad because I miss Rush, but I was struck by what a kind, generous person he was. I remembered a lot of the segments, even ones from decades ago, which is also a testament to the MahaRushie.
Posted by: Norrin Radd at August 06, 2023 10:30 AM (PD6x0)

Comment: There's no question that Rush Limbaugh was a transformative personality. He was highly charismatic and a gifted communicator, able to distill complicated politics into terms that anyone could understand. And yes, he was a very generous man as well. I believe he was humbled by the tremendous opportunities he had received, so he felt obligated to "pay it forward" through numerous charities and gifts to those less fortunate. We shall never see his like again.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (914 Moron-recommended books so far!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

Gideon's Corpse by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- Gideon Crew must stop a nuclear weapon from detonating in ten days. Or millions of Americans will die.

Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 by Michio Kaku -- Dr. Kaku attempts to project current technology (2011) well into the future. Now that we are decade past the time when it was written, it's interesting to see what predictions, if any, are starting to come true or have already materialized.

The Lost Island by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- Apparently taking inspiration from the movie National Treasure, Gideon Crew must steal a page from Ireland's greatest national treasure, The Book of Kells, and discovers a hidden treasure map that takes him to the Mosquito Coast, where he finds a revelation that may change human history.

Beyond the Ice Limit by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- Gideon Crew must dive two miles beneath the Antarctic Ocean to destroy the meteorite discovered in The Ice Limit. It's a bit surreal reading this in light of the recent undersea disaster of OceanGate.

The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- Gideon Crew must travel to the remotest region of Egypt to discover an artifact that threatens to alter the course of human destiny.

The Changing Land by Roger Zelazny -- Exactly what it says on the cover. Weirdness galore. A mad god's dream.

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

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

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 08-06-23 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Cake!

Posted by: lin-duh at August 13, 2023 09:00 AM (UUBmN)

2 Aloha!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:00 AM (i4tOF)

3 I do not read this week.

Posted by: rhennigantx at August 13, 2023 09:00 AM (BRHaw)

4 Not sure about Kaku. I've only seen a couple of his vids.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:01 AM (Angsy)

5 Sweet victory, Lin-Duh!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:02 AM (i4tOF)

6 Finished reading "Moggies in Space" (published by Raconteur Press out of Texas) - very fun read.

Now reading a couple of more books published in John Van Stry's "Valens Heritage" series, written by Peter Gerard under licence to write in this universe. Titles are "Best Laid Plans" and "Par Excellence". I'm about half way through "Best Laid Plans". There are spicy sections (adult) so if that's not your thing, this isn't for you.

First impression: Team good has members that are too good (not in a moral or ethical way) but capabilities. Team bad loses quickly and easily in multiple iterations so far, and seems to just keep coming back with another weak plan. I'm worried that this author has a "Mary Sue" problem, but I'm willing to keep reading to see if that sorts itself out over time, and I will report on this in next week's book thread.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at August 13, 2023 09:02 AM (qPw5n)

7 I really do not like overly constructed cakes. I'd feel like a saboteur. Give me plain cakes -- especially the moist deliciousness at the bottom.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:03 AM (p/isN)

8 I just acquired an old copy of "Boxen: the Imaginary World of Young C.S. Lewis", edited by Walter Hooper.

Lewis's proto-Narnia featured frog dandies and top-hatted geese.

I used to want to go to my reward with a trip to Narnia, but now I am 100% Team Boxen, at least for a jaunt.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:03 AM (i4tOF)

9 Tolle Lege
Finished Patrick O'Brian 100 Days this morning ending the Napoleonic wars
Started Russian Campaign of 1812, Memoirs of a Russian Artilleryman by Alexander Mikaberize and Peter Phillips

Why wouldn't I?
https://tinyurl.com/z5zh949w

Posted by: Skip at August 13, 2023 09:04 AM (MOY79)

10 I have started at least four books this week, unable to get interested in any of them.

I got Big Bad Love (short stories) by Larry Brown from the library. Short stories are good bedtime reading; I don't have to worry about trying to remember the previous night's content.

Every story was drunk man, bad relationships, and misery. I abandoned it.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 13, 2023 09:07 AM (OX9vb)

11 I read Glenn Beck's latest book, Dark Future. Beck discusses the Great Narrative which is behind the World Economic Forum's Great Reset. The purpose of the Great Narrative is to formulate a completely new way of thinking about virtually every part of life, all within the context of a new technology-rich industrial revolution. Topics such as the fifteen-minute city, artificial intelligence, and central bank digital currencies among others are discussed. As with all of his books, it is well-researched and heavily footnoted back to primary sources.

Posted by: Zoltan at August 13, 2023 09:08 AM (2EGBR)

12 You should probably take Michio Kaku with a grain of salt. I recently came across a video by astrophysicist Angela Collier which was less than impressed with Dr. Kaku: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBBnfu8N_J0&t=125s

Posted by: three-humped camel at August 13, 2023 09:08 AM (G2N96)

13 Boy, The New York Times really had a reputation as being the pinnacle of journalism. It's mentioned in two widely different books: one that I finished last week and one that I am reading now.

In the first book, the Nero Wolfe mystery "Before Midnight," Archie thinks that Judgment Day won't begin until the Times has a reporter on the scene. In the other book, the first in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." series (subtitled "The Thousand Coffins Affair"), Solo gets a ride from a recalcitrant Parisian cabbie by claiming to be the Times' top European correspondent.

I miss the days when I believed the Times was worthy of that rep. However, I still believe that of its copy editors; NYT headlines are worthy of study.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:09 AM (p/isN)

14 Ack! Drop the &t=125s from the URL above; that just happens to be where I stopped to copy and paste the URL.

Posted by: three-humped camel at August 13, 2023 09:09 AM (G2N96)

15 I'm re-reading "Monster Hunter: Vendetta", it's book 2 in the MHI series. It's light fluffy reading which is all I'm up to reading these days. I need an escape since reality is un bearable these days.

Posted by: lin-duh at August 13, 2023 09:10 AM (UUBmN)

16 MORON WRITERS GROUP!

OrangeEnt is willing to set up an AoSHQ Writers' Group! Anyone interested in participating can drop him a line at maildrop62 -at- proton -dot- me.

Thanks for the plug, Perfessor. There's a few interested already.

I'd just like your real name, AoS nic and your preferred e-mail. Also, if you want to be a reader/editor/idea person and what genres you like and don't like; if you want to write, the genre you work in.

Of course, you can always do both!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:11 AM (Angsy)

17 Books!!

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 09:11 AM (llON8)

18 I think the pants guy is trying to tell us sumpin'

Posted by: JT at August 13, 2023 09:12 AM (T4tVD)

19 Thank you, Perfessor, for yet another outstanding Book Thread!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at August 13, 2023 09:12 AM (PiwSw)

20 Thanks Perfesser !

Posted by: JT at August 13, 2023 09:13 AM (T4tVD)

21 Michio Kaku really is nothing more than a theoretical futurist clothed in string theory garb. He became famous after multiple appearances on Art Bell’s show.

Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 09:13 AM (RtCev)

22 Morning, all! OrangeEnt, I'll write to you today or tomorrow about joining up with the writers' group. Thanks for taking the lead on this!

I finished On, Off, the 1960s-set serial killer in Connecticut novel by Colleen McCullough. I have this sneaking suspicion that I'd read it before and had completely forgotten. Not, I guess, a high recommendation, but it was a good read with interesting characters and a strong surprise at the end.

Current book: Paperback Jack by Loren D. Estleman, featuring a pulp writer who, when he returns from WWII, finds the ficiton landscape has changed. Paperback originals are the thing. And he's there for the beginning of it. Yes, there's crime involved. LDE is always worth reading, and sometimes even studying. There is a paragraph in his The Hours of the Virgin that could have come out of Chandler, yet is quite original. I'll see if I can tye it in here.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:16 AM (omVj0)

23 How does someone become a futurist? Is there a certification course?

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:16 AM (p/isN)

24 I read a little book this week "This Is My Body" by Bishop Barron.

Excellent little book. My opinion of him went up several quantum. He said (not in the book) "Dare we hope that all are saved?" implying that Universal Salvation is real. Yeah. And when he interviewed Shia La Beouf, he didn't seem to understand his (Shia's) love for the Traditional Latin Mass.

Anyway. Great little book explaining the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at August 13, 2023 09:17 AM (jgJfd)

25 Still working through Ford Madox Ford's biography and I've reached 1924, where despite a messy personal life and a self-destructive streak a mile wide, our hero is about to re-emerge as the preeminent man of letters in the English language. He's working on Parade's End and has created a new magazine, "the transatlantic review' (not capitalizing things was very modern back then). He's hanging out the Paris literary set, knows everyone from Hardy to Hemingway, and it's remarkable how famous he was and how obscure he is today.

I'm also reading Joseph Conrad at bedtime, which is appropriate, since they collaborated several times.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 13, 2023 09:17 AM (llXky)

26 How does someone become a futurist? Is there a certification course?

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:16 AM (p/isN)

There's a test to get past.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:18 AM (Angsy)

27 I reread a tweener dystopian novel series by Susan Pfeffer that started with "Life As We Knew it". The tale begins as (Bad Science Alert!) the moon is knocked into a closer orbit by an asteroid strike, and the resultant tsunamis and volcanic activity wreak havoc on the climate and humanity.

I give Pfeffer props for not sugarcoating the (ashy) fallout.

Yeah, I read trash.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:19 AM (i4tOF)

28 Future Shock by Alvin Toffler is great example of futurism.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 13, 2023 09:20 AM (JvZF+)

29 Yay, book thread!

I just finished re-reading H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Shadow Out of Time." Great stuff. A professor's mind gets time-napped back to the Triassic era by a species of aliens called The Great Race, while in his own body one of them goes about doing mysterious research. Eventually he is restored, with his memories wiped . . . except that they start coming back and he figures out what happened.

It's kind of a "cozy Lovecraft" story, as the main character is never in any real danger and even his timenapping mostly consists of him writing a history of the modern era for his captors and having nice chats with other captive minds from other ages.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 13, 2023 09:20 AM (QZxDR)

30 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 09:21 AM (7EjX1)

31 "Lovecraft Cozy" is a genre whose time has come.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:22 AM (i4tOF)

32 Just started reading “Across the Ussuri Kray: Travels in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains” by Vladimir K. Arsenyev. (Translated)

Russia’s most famous Tsarist era officer-explorer-writer. Wrote Dersu Uzala. He survived the first period of Stalinization by dying of a heart attack 1930.

Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 09:22 AM (fVruI)

33 This week's book is The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child. Professor Jeremy Logan is an enigmalogist, one who studies the unexplainable. He is asked to come to his old employer, a scientific think tank in Newport Rhode Island that occupies a huge old mansion. Several of the staff have had severe mental breaks, and there is a fear that one of the facility's experiments has gone awry. During his investigation, Logan stumbles upon a room without doors or windows that is not referenced in the original blueprints. Inside the room is a sound wave generator of unknown purpose. Perhaps the experimental results weren't an accident after all? Child's Jeremy Logan stories are explorations of psychological and mental phenomena and tackle interesting theories. Like his books cowritten with Douglas Preston, there is good character development and engaging stories that make for an enjoyable read.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 09:24 AM (gr1T9)

34 Excellent little book. My opinion of him went up several quantum. He said (not in the book) "Dare we hope that all are saved?" implying that Universal Salvation is real. Yeah.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at August 13, 2023 09:17 AM (jgJfd)
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The late George Cardinal Pell wrote in First Things that he was one of those who also flirted with the concept of universal salvation but has since realized it's a form of heresy. People need to understand that judgement is real, which includes the possibility of eternal damnation. He said the Church's attempt to put a happy face on everything was a mistake.

I've noticed this turn in our diocese. The diocesan magazine has gotten away from recipes and relationships and now covers spiritual warfare and refreshers on theology.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 13, 2023 09:25 AM (llXky)

35 Got it, Black Orchid.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:25 AM (Angsy)

36 "Lovecraft Cozy" is a genre whose time has come.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023

***
I hope it will not be like the mystery cozies I've read. The two I've read have been rather dull. One features a research librarian in a small Southern town, and his Maine Coon cat Diesel and the librarian's family. I'd rather he made some snarky comments about the cat, e.g., "Diesel headed off to my office, no doubt to hop on my computer and wedge fur into my hard drive."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:25 AM (omVj0)

37 @33 --

If the room had no doors or windows, how did the guy discover what's inside? Break a wall?

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:27 AM (p/isN)

38 This week's book is The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child. Professor Jeremy Logan is an enigmalogist, one who studies the unexplainable. He is asked to come to his old employer, a scientific think tank in Newport Rhode Island that occupies a huge old mansion. Several of the staff have had severe mental breaks, and there is a fear that one of the facility's experiments has gone awry. During his investigation, Logan stumbles upon a room without doors or windows that is not referenced in the original blueprints. Inside the room is a sound wave generator of unknown purpose. Perhaps the experimental results weren't an accident after all? Child's Jeremy Logan stories are explorations of psychological and mental phenomena and tackle interesting theories. Like his books cowritten with Douglas Preston, there is good character development and engaging stories that make for an enjoyable read.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 09:24 AM (gr1T9)
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A big old mansion in Rhode Island were folks are experiencing unexplained mental breaks?

No connection with H.P. Lovecraft, I'm sure...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 09:27 AM (BpYfr)

39 I reread a tweener dystopian novel series by Susan Pfeffer that started with "Life As We Knew it". The tale begins as (Bad Science Alert!) the moon is knocked into a closer orbit by an asteroid strike, and the resultant tsunamis and volcanic activity wreak havoc on the climate and humanity.

I give Pfeffer props for not sugarcoating the (ashy) fallout.

Yeah, I read trash.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:19 AM (i4tOF)
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It could be worse. The nuclear waste storage site on the moon could spontaneously explode, throwing the moon out of earth orbit and into a shadowy realm inhabited by Brian Blessed and David Prowse in regrettable cameos.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 13, 2023 09:27 AM (llXky)

40 "Lovecraft Cozy" is a genre whose time has come.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:22 AM (i4tOF)
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You read it snuggled up with your Cthulhu plushies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 13, 2023 09:28 AM (llXky)

41 Space: $19.95!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:29 AM (i4tOF)

42 @33 (again) --

I assume that the setting of the story in Lovecraft territory is no coincidence.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:30 AM (p/isN)

43 . So we may be closing in on the end of Moore's Law as we know it in the next few years.

Part of the problem is that states like California put in place laws that dictate caps in computer power consumption. Operating systems are coming with settings that automatically dial back CPU speed and capabilities for the purpose of "preventing Climate Change".

based on the comments, "Physics of the Future" doesn't take into account the willful destruction of Science, the deliberate criminalizing of innovation, killing whole industries before they can mature so that new engineers will into enter into worthless fields (like wind/solar or LLM/AI).. and worse off, an education system where graduates can't perform skilled trades or keep a factory running.

Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 13, 2023 09:30 AM (p8A+W)

44 If the room had no doors or windows, how did the guy discover what's inside? Break a wall?
Posted by: Weak Geek

It was discovered during a renovation of one wing, but I don't want to give too much away.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 09:31 AM (gr1T9)

45 Kaku told us in 1996 we were ten years from flying cars.

He can F off until I get my flying car.

Posted by: Reforger at August 13, 2023 09:32 AM (B705c)

46 People need to understand that judgement is real, which includes the possibility of eternal damnation. He said the Church's attempt to put a happy face on everything was a mistake.

If I had an hour to convert a man to Christianity, I'd spend the first 55 minutes convincing him he is a sinner.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at August 13, 2023 09:32 AM (JJV20)

47 based on the comments, "Physics of the Future" doesn't take into account the willful destruction of Science, the deliberate criminalizing of innovation, killing whole industries before they can mature so that new engineers will into enter into worthless fields (like wind/solar or LLM/AI).. and worse off, an education system where graduates can't perform skilled trades or keep a factory running.
Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 13, 2023 09:30 AM (p8A+W)
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It was written before those diabolical plans became fully apparent. I'm sure they were in the works, just not as visible as they are today. Kaku seems naively optimistic about the future of humanity, not taking into account the human tendency to acquire and hold onto power at the expense of society or technology.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 09:33 AM (BpYfr)

48 Limbaugh dying when he did almost seems like fate. He passed away nearly exactly at the same time as the country he loved so much. Like an old couple going days apart, as they often do.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 13, 2023 09:33 AM (0FoWg)

49 >>> 43
==
Part of the problem is that states like California put in place laws that dictate caps in computer power consumption. Operating systems are coming with settings that automatically dial back CPU speed and capabilities for the purpose of "preventing Climate Change".

based on the comments, "Physics of the Future" doesn't take into account the willful destruction of Science, the deliberate criminalizing of innovation, killing whole industries before they can mature so that new engineers will into enter into worthless fields (like wind/solar or LLM/AI).. and worse off, an education system where graduates can't perform skilled trades or keep a factory running.
Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 13, 2023 09:30 AM (p8A+W)

but, but, but, these are the people who Love SCIENCE! and Trust The EXPERTS!!!

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 09:33 AM (llON8)

50 Space: $19.95!

I laughed.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:33 AM (p/isN)

51 If the room had no doors or windows, how did the guy discover what's inside? Break a wall?

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:27 AM (p/isN)

The fourth one?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:33 AM (Angsy)

52 Currently reading a new thriller titled-

"Whale Fall" by Daniel Krause

It concerns a young diver who gets entangled with a giant squid then swallowed by a Sperm Whale. Supposedly, the story is based around what is scientifically known about the Sperm Whale and Giant Squid. Which is a great idea.

A-a-anywho, it's not a Pinocchio or Jonah style swallowing (not even a Jonah Goldberg-style swallowing, which would be horrifying indeed!). And seems mostly realistic.

I have some gripes with the writing. F'rinstance, the dude loves to transmute adjectives or nouns into verbs, ex: "the cold water rawing his back". And he's trying to mimic Stephen King's writing style so, the politics start squeaking out around the seams after a while. And while I don't mind "micro chapters" as they can be effective if not used too much. This guy uses them way too much. However-

Once you get past the backstory and build-up portions, the novel turns into a lean, mean survival story that is interesting and fun.

I'm a bit over halfway through and so far "Whale Fall" has been good summer/beach read.

It will probably be a huge bestseller and made into a movie.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at August 13, 2023 09:34 AM (QzZeQ)

53 OTOH, the "Rational Optimist" in chapter 10, paints a picture on how some countries within Africa are getting out of the hole that the Curse of Africa brings.

Its predicated on a model where the government is so sclerotic and so heavy with corruption and regulation that tribal customs take over and while the flourishing is local, the people can make progress in a system that effectively acts to end it.

Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 13, 2023 09:34 AM (p8A+W)

54 I wonder just how many books it would take to contain the information required to build and maintain even say, 1950s industry and tech.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 09:35 AM (llON8)

55 It's been a week for 'inconsequential' reading.

It started when the latest issue of Woodcarving Illustrated arrived. Plenty of fun projects to think about.

After Wolfus brought up the Man From UNCLE novels by David McDaniel from the mid-60s, I got curious. I remember liking them at the time. I started with "The Monster Wheel Affair". Turns out I'm enjoying it more now almost 60 years later. It reminds me of the early Clive Cussler books with a touch of Matt Helm. I suspect I'll get the rest of McDaniel's UNCLE novels as i find them. This has been a delightful surprise.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 09:38 AM (7EjX1)

56 "Whale Fall: The Stacey Abrams Story."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:38 AM (Angsy)

57 >>> 56 "Whale Fall: The Stacey Abrams Story."
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:38 AM (Angsy)

Starring Brian Dennehy as the Whale.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 09:39 AM (llON8)

58 Found it. From Loren D. Estleman's The Hours of the Virgin, as private eye Amos Walker, coming down with the flu, eyes the furnishings in his home, including some books left him by a deceased friend and mentor:

"The antique clock said tick and then Russia fell and apartheid went out of favor and CD's replaced LP's and Carl Perkins died and eleven guys with medals of valor got the sack for using the F word to a female staffer and then the clock said tock. It needed winding, so did I. The rest of the world was running on quartz."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:39 AM (omVj0)

59 How dare you dunk on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Genius futurists. So what if "Space:1999" sucked? It was watchable. Boring, plodding, and badly-acted but watchable.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 13, 2023 09:40 AM (JvZF+)

60 I don't think flying cars would be great.

Look at your typical medium-sized city. Now imagine all those autos in the air, with any collision likely to end in a plummet to death.

The traffic would be horrendous.

No, thank you.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:40 AM (p/isN)

61 >>> 60 I don't think flying cars would be great.

Look at your typical medium-sized city. Now imagine all those autos in the air, with any collision likely to end in a plummet to death.

The traffic would be horrendous.

No, thank you.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:40 AM (p/isN)

As I've said before... screw flying cars, I want a Mr. Fusion!

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 09:41 AM (llON8)

62 The rest of the world was running on quartz."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:39 AM (omVj0)

Hic! I run on fifths.

Posted by: Hillary at August 13, 2023 09:41 AM (Angsy)

63 That cake is wonderful. But I have a problem with cakes that are too pretty to eat. They should look nice but not induce guilt when I take a knife to them.

Maybe take some good photos of it. Then dig in.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 09:41 AM (7EjX1)

64 {OrangeEnt is willing to set up an AoSHQ Writers' Group! Anyone interested in participating can drop him a line at maildrop62 -at- proton -dot- me.

He's not quite sure how this will be set up, but I'm sure y'all can work out the details.}

Discord. AOSWG Server + Individual channels by genre. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 13, 2023 09:42 AM (9yUzE)

65 { So what if "Space:1999" sucked? It was watchable. Boring, plodding, and badly-acted but watchable.}

The eagles were the best spaceships of all time.
Production design in season 1... chef's kiss.

The writing... painful.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 13, 2023 09:43 AM (9yUzE)

66 Your synopsis of Kaku makes me want to reread A Canticle for Liebowitz. Currently reading Larry McMurtry's Anything for Billy. It's a depiction of Billy Bone, aka Billy the Kid. Entertaining consideration of Billy as mostly a brash but mostly hormone driven stupid teenager. Found the book in my father's Louis L'Amour collection.

Posted by: Sock Monkey * Ungovernable at August 13, 2023 09:43 AM (tjmGT)

67 San Fran, we were dunking on the dubious science of a moon blasted into rogue planet status, traveling through space.

I watched a bunch of episodes on YouTube and they hold up well.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 09:44 AM (i4tOF)

68 36 "Lovecraft Cozy" is a genre whose time has come.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023

***
I hope it will not be like the mystery cozies I've read. The two I've read have been rather dull. One features a research librarian in a small Southern town, and his Maine Coon cat Diesel and the librarian's family. ....
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:25 AM
****
Yeah, that's Miranda James' series. I read one of them because of its fun title -- 12 Angry Librarians -- and was most disappointed. Cutesy fantasy of a perfect career in a perfect small town, surrounded by a loving extended family and a fantasy cat less convincing than the telepathic space cats in the Honor Harrington series. The mystery was almost an afterthought. After reading it, I felt a fierce urge to listen to the Velvet Underground as a corrective. You're right about cozy mystery in general, beast brother....

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at August 13, 2023 09:45 AM (SPNTN)

69 This week was the Wisconsin State Fair. (They have the planet's best cream puffs.) In honor of it I reread Charlie Berens' "The Midwest Survivor's Guide" which is fricking hilarious. The time spent with a book and laughter is never wasted.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 09:45 AM (7EjX1)

70 Kaku sounds a bit like his fellow Japanese-American Francis Fukuyama. They both have the cloistered, blindly optimistic self assurance of the academic and managerial classes. It led both to make grandiose assumptions that fly in the face of all common sense because that simply doesn't exist in their world.

Fukuyama's thesis is, of course, already blown to bits. Which I knew it would be, even as a young teen. Anyone who's lived outside an ivory tower for more than one minute could see it was fatuous nonsense for the consumption of bien pensant midwits. The people ace calls the laptop class.

So too will Kaku's. The world of 2050 will have noticeably regressed in terms of technology and intellectual achievement. By 2100, we'll be lucky if half the planet's remaining populations aren't heaping up the ruins of our cities to fashion crude dwellings on top of them.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 13, 2023 09:45 AM (0FoWg)

71 That cake is wonderful. But I have a problem with cakes that are too pretty to eat. They should look nice but not induce guilt when I take a knife to them.

Maybe take some good photos of it. Then dig in.
Posted by: JTB

I've eaten some pretty intricate looking cakes in my day - no guilt. Would totally eat that library. Probably pretend to be some sort of book devouring monster while I did it.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 13, 2023 09:45 AM (ftFVW)

72 I am trying to read from the Dragon Award finalists list before the last day to vote
I already have a choice for Fantasy

https://www.dragoncon.org/awards/
2023-dragon-award-ballot/

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 13, 2023 09:46 AM (vHIgi)

73
Discord. AOSWG Server + Individual channels by genre. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 13, 2023 09:42 AM (9yUzE)

moviegique said something about that to me late in the thread last week or the week before. I don't think he recommended it. I know nothing about discord. One thing I want to avoid is posting stuff that can be considered "published," to keep a story viable to sell as a first rights deal.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:47 AM (Angsy)

74 Brian Greene, Sean Carroll, Michio Kaku are string theory pitch-show gleaners. Thirty years publishing popular science books hoping to drive public sentiment and secure more research funding.

They all seem trapped in a scientific notation “elegance” loop. Not trapped. Enthralled. Enthralled by the pure beauty of their “maths.”

If it’s elegant in form, it must be correct.

Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 09:47 AM (Brvs+)

75 I would eat that cake without compunction.

I hope it's a spice cake.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 13, 2023 09:47 AM (OX9vb)

76 After Wolfus brought up the Man From UNCLE novels by David McDaniel from the mid-60s, I got curious. I remember liking them at the time. I started with "The Monster Wheel Affair". Turns out I'm enjoying it more now almost 60 years later. It reminds me of the early Clive Cussler books with a touch of Matt Helm. I suspect I'll get the rest of McDaniel's UNCLE novels as i find them. This has been a delightful surprise.
Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023

***
JTB, I'm very pleased to hear that. McDaniel was a clever writer, and if he had not died relatively young might well have developed even more. Monster Wheel really has the world-spanning adventure flavor of U.N.C.L.E. at its best, a world-sized threat, in other words. And in this, his third novel in the series, he finally got right the relationship and the importance of the two leads, Solo and Illya. In his first two he emphasized Illya's competence and intelligence almost to the point where you wondered why Solo was the chief agent instead of the Russian!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:47 AM (omVj0)

77 so heavy with corruption and regulation that tribal customs take over

My first thought was Rwanda.

Posted by: Sock Monkey * Ungovernable at August 13, 2023 09:49 AM (tjmGT)

78 I've been listening to Tolkien's books on audio while at work.
Finished The Hobbit, now on Two Towers

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 13, 2023 09:49 AM (vHIgi)

79 They all seem trapped in a scientific notation “elegance” loop. Not trapped. Enthralled. Enthralled by the pure beauty of their “maths.”

If it’s elegant in form, it must be correct.
Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 09:47 AM (Brvs+)
---
Roger Penrose has some choice words about string theory. He says it's not physics at all, just maths. While the math may solve certain problems with quantum gravity, it has yet to be properly tested and observed in the real world, as far as I know. Dimensions too small to ever see? Then they might as well not exist...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 09:50 AM (BpYfr)

80 I wonder just how many books it would take to contain the information required to build and maintain even say, 1950s industry and tech.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 09:35 AM (llON

I've been collecting such books for a long time. The answer is lots. Much of said tech is long forgotten now and the books getting rarer and rarer. I have a couple of gaps in some series and to fill it will cost me hundreds for a worn out copy.

Posted by: Reforger at August 13, 2023 09:50 AM (B705c)

81 Another Estleman line that could have been written by Chandler:

"She was pushing twenty but not hard enough to dent it."

My favorite short character description by Chandler himself:

"The receptionist seemed friendly but uncertain, like a new kitten in a house where they don't care much about kittens."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:52 AM (omVj0)

82 "Space: 1999" was among my favorite shows during high school. Watched the show, bought the bubble gum cards, bought the book about the show, tried to draw Alpha as seen from above.

Our local station didn't pick up the second season, so I never saw it.

Flash forward umpty-um decades to where I found the series on Hulu. Now I can see those episodes -- but I'll restart at the beginning.

Still haven't got to it. Glitz can't mask boredom.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:52 AM (p/isN)

83 Sadly haven't had a lot of time for reading lately. Did finally crack open my Christmas present to myself from last year: Jim Henson's Labyrinth - The Ultimate Visual History. It includes fun narrative details of the production, Brian Froud sketches, paintings, photographs, and these fun replicas of Henson's notes in places, permanently attached by a side or corner on the pages of the book. It may seem silly, but the illusion of having those personal notes makes my heart smile.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 13, 2023 09:52 AM (ftFVW)

84 I wonder just how many books it would take to contain the information required to build and maintain even say, 1950s industry and tech.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket

I had a depressing conversation a few months back with a friend. Look at the world in the late 1960s. We went to the moon, built the 747 and the Concorde. Since then? We have made computers into phones that people cant navigate without, built social media that corrupts the mind, and developed hundreds of TV channels full of garbage. If we had a physical collapse that took down electronics, we would be hard pressed to survive, much less rebuild society with pencil, paper, and slide rules.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 09:53 AM (gr1T9)

85 My version of Wolfus's Killer Kittens from Outer Space are still behaving, in other words, they are still sleeping. One on my lap, the other on my shoulder. Makes it tough to get a coffee refill.

Posted by: Sock Monkey * Ungovernable at August 13, 2023 09:54 AM (tjmGT)

86 Next on my Dragon to read is
A House with Good Bones (Horror)
The Icarus Plot (SF

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 13, 2023 09:54 AM (vHIgi)

87 As for the cake, it looks much like the high school library set in the first three years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My desk is a library table just like that one, a table my father brought home in 1959-60 and assembled (it's three pieces, a top slab and two slabs that act as legs). I really need a green-shaded lamp like that.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 09:55 AM (omVj0)

88 Gotta go somewhere, back later to my favorite thread!

(looks around for MisHum)

One of, one of my favorite threads, I mean.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 09:55 AM (Angsy)

89 Speaking of space and books, I’m about 1/2 way through “Failure Is Not an Option” by Gene Kranz.
I have found it fascinating for the history, technology, and management aspects. Good bit of humor thrown in as well.

Posted by: db at August 13, 2023 09:56 AM (wu87C)

90 8 ... "I just acquired an old copy of "Boxen: the Imaginary World of Young C.S. Lewis", edited by Walter Hooper."

Eris, Thanks for mentioning the Boxen book, which I hadn't heard of. Just ordered a used copy. If it is good as you say (and I hope) I will probably order a second one for our 4 year old grand nephew and, eventually, his baby brother.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 09:56 AM (7EjX1)

91 Greetings All, Thanks Perfessor! Great job, as always.

Been reading (very carefully, as it is a signed copy loaner from a friend) "Across the Mekong", Charles O. Davis' account as an Air America pilot working in Laos in the '60s. Really good stuff.

One of the great things about this thread is not just the book recommendations, but the topics to explore as well. Thanks to all!

Posted by: goatexchange at August 13, 2023 09:57 AM (APPN8)

92 I wonder just how many books it would take to contain the information required to build and maintain even say, 1950s industry and tech.

A fun thought experiment! Now take it up a level.
Scriptures say that the antediluvians lived for as long as nine-hundred years. Think back to what life was like a few hundred years ago, now think what amazing things have been developed. Add to it, that conservative estimates of the population before the flood were about six billion. Also factor in that they had far fewer genetic mutations so in every way they were superior to people living in the past century. Imagine giving Edison, Einstein, Newton, Michelangelo centuries in their craft what they would have made.

Now you are Noah, and God tells you his plan. You sort of like the technology, medicines, energy, etc. you have. When rebuilding civilization, what information do you bring with you and in what form is it in. Because you have to be able to recover it after everything is wiped off the face the earth and you only have what is on the ark.

Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 13, 2023 09:57 AM (p8A+W)

93 I have most of the David McDaniel U.N.C.L.E. books -- still unread. (To be fair, I got them just two years ago.)

One exception is "The Monster Wheel Affair." The prologue is cinematic.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 09:59 AM (p/isN)

94 {San Fran, we were dunking on the dubious science of a moon blasted into rogue planet status, traveling through space.}

In my imagination, I have "rebooted" Space:1999 beginning with the premise that rather than abandoning lunar exploration in 1972, the United States pushed forward, establishing a permanent lunar base where advanced research was conducted.

One project involved accessing a ribbon of tachyon energy called 'The Conduit' that flowed through all parts of the universe at superluminal speed. The scientists succeed in accessing the Conduit, but the moon gets pulled into it and is trapped on a journey through the universe, exitingat points where the Conduit is shallow which occurs when it passed through star systems.

If I were to do it as a TV series, I would use 1999 era technology as props... bulky laptops running Windows 95 for example.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 13, 2023 10:01 AM (9yUzE)

95 79 They all seem trapped in a scientific notation “elegance” loop. Not trapped. Enthralled. Enthralled by the pure beauty of their “maths.”

If it’s elegant in form, it must be correct.
Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 09:47 AM (Brvs+)
---
Roger Penrose has some choice words about string theory. He says it's not physics at all, just maths. While the math may solve certain problems with quantum gravity, it has yet to be properly tested and observed in the real world, as far as I know. Dimensions too small to ever see? Then they might as well not exist...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 09:50 AM
****
While you're into the topic, allow me to recommend "Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray," by Sabine Hossenfelder. She travels the world talking with her fellow physicists about that and similiar problems, and presents it to us nonscientists in understandable terms. It's an excellent corrective to the sort of thing my late mother used to call "Gee Whiz Science," the exaggerated sexy stuff designed to blow the reader's mind and sell books, without much concern about whether or not the actual research was going anywhere.

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at August 13, 2023 10:02 AM (SPNTN)

96 93 I have most of the David McDaniel U.N.C.L.E. books -- still unread. (To be fair, I got them just two years ago.)

One exception is "The Monster Wheel Affair." The prologue is cinematic.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023

***
That novel in particular would have made a very good movie. If there ever is another period-piece U.N.C.L.E. film with Henry Cavill, say, Monster Wheel would be a fantastic choice for the story.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:02 AM (omVj0)

97 I finished Preston & Child's "Beyond the Ice Limit." I've noticed that they tend to favor some sort of climactic duel in the Gideon Crew stories. Beyond the Ice Limit features dueling deep submersible vehicles (DSVs). Titanium spheres ramming each other 2 miles beneath the Antarctic Ocean.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 10:02 AM (BpYfr)

98 76 ... "McDaniel was a clever writer, and if he had not died relatively young might well have developed even more. Monster Wheel really has the world-spanning adventure flavor of U.N.C.L.E. at its best"

Wolfus, I also have The Rainbow Affair coming this week. Also discovered a sci-fi book he wrote, The Arsenal Out of Time. That should arrive in a week or two.

I think I mentioned last week, our local used book store never has the UNCLE books on the shelf. Apparently they sell as fast as they arrive. Probably to older guys like me.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 10:02 AM (7EjX1)

99 Dimensions too small to ever see? Then they might as well not exist...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 09:50 AM (BpYfr)

The vibrating string loop is supposedly far smaller than an atom. We’re in Jeff Vandermeer “annihilation” territory now. How do we inspect things 10*something power smaller than an atom.

Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 10:03 AM (bU8LG)

100 . . . In my imagination, I have "rebooted" Space:1999 beginning with the premise that rather than abandoning lunar exploration in 1972, the United States pushed forward, establishing a permanent lunar base where advanced research was conducted.

One project involved accessing a ribbon of tachyon energy called 'The Conduit' that flowed through all parts of the universe at superluminal speed. The scientists succeed in accessing the Conduit, but the moon gets pulled into it and is trapped on a journey through the universe, exiting at points where the Conduit is shallow which occurs when it passed through star systems. . . .

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 13, 2023

***
A grand idea!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:04 AM (omVj0)

101 Dilithium crystals > exploding nuclear waste on the Moon

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 13, 2023 10:04 AM (JvZF+)

102 While you're into the topic, allow me to recommend "Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray," by Sabine Hossenfelder. She travels the world talking with her fellow physicists about that and similiar problems, and presents it to us nonscientists in understandable terms. It's an excellent corrective to the sort of thing my late mother used to call "Gee Whiz Science," the exaggerated sexy stuff designed to blow the reader's mind and sell books, without much concern about whether or not the actual research was going anywhere.
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at August 13, 2023 10:02 AM (SPNTN)
---
She another one of those that seems to be pretty good when she stays in her main lane, but tends to fall for the "conventional wisdom" when she strays outside of it. She's also all in on climate change.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 10:04 AM (BpYfr)

103 I had a depressing conversation a few months back with a friend. Look at the world in the late 1960s. We went to the moon, built the 747 and the Concorde. Since then?

We haven't done anything, people like Musk have made it possible to send and receive dick picks anywhere on the planet.

Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 13, 2023 10:04 AM (p8A+W)

104 Now you are Noah, and God tells you his plan. You sort of like the technology, medicines, energy, etc. you have. When rebuilding civilization, what information do you bring with you and in what form is it in. Because you have to be able to recover it after everything is wiped off the face the earth and you only have what is on the ark.
Posted by: Reuben Hick

Knowledge is only the cornerstone. It also requires a skilled craftsman class. Again, I have this desire to reread Miller's A Canticle for Liebowitz.

Posted by: Sock Monkey * Ungovernable at August 13, 2023 10:06 AM (tjmGT)

105 The vibrating string loop is supposedly far smaller than an atom. We’re in Jeff Vandermeer “annihilation” territory now. How do we inspect things 10*something power smaller than an atom.
Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 10:03 AM (bU8LG)
---
The Planck limit is far, far too small for us to ever fully comprehend (on the order of 10^-34 units), which is why it's a problem for physics. Unless it can be observed and tested, it really is NOT physics (or science). It's a thought experiment.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 13, 2023 10:06 AM (BpYfr)

106 {I had a depressing conversation a few months back with a friend. Look at the world in the late 1960s. We went to the moon, built the 747 and the Concorde. Since then?}

We argue about whether a man in a dress is a woman.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 13, 2023 10:06 AM (9yUzE)

107 Dilithium crystals > exploding nuclear waste on the Moon
Posted by: San Franpsycho

Plus they can always be recharged by shooting them with phasers.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 13, 2023 10:07 AM (ftFVW)

108 @98 --

Blame me. I picked up about half a dozen on one bookstore visit.

I visited that (OOT) bookstore only yesterday. Only one U.N.C.L.E. book, "Monster Wheel."

I wonder why the shop didn't have more.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 10:08 AM (p/isN)

109 I have to reverse the 'new book/ old book' quote or else I'll never read another new book.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 13, 2023 10:08 AM (phT8I)

110 And most of the libraries have long since discarded most of those 50s-and-60s tech books because they're so outdated. You could probably find scanned pdfs of a number of them, but...well... grid and all that.

I'm not as up on history as I ought to be, but sometimes I wonder how much collapse and Dark Ages days have been deliberately self-inflicted as the impending mess seems to be.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023 10:09 AM (a/4+U)

111 Speaking of rebooting: The Green Hornet with some character features that would lend it plausibility. Britt Reid was a soldier (of fortune?) in SE Asia, and ended up befriending the martial arts expert who would be known as Kato. Perhaps he saved Kato's life and vice versa, and they form a bond.

Reid is not the publisher of the newspaper as in the TV series. That would leave him no time to be a crime fighter. Instead he poses as a wastrel playboy who rarely gets out of bed before noon. Instead of his secretary knowing his identity, it's his sister, who runs the newspaper. This would make it much less likely that the people who know he is the Hornet would turn on him. The DA knows his identity, yes, but DAs can be turned out of office; perhaps it should be a high police official like Commissioner Gordon. The rest could follow the TV/radio series. Whaddaya think?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:09 AM (omVj0)

112 Thanks werewife. Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray," by Sabine Hossenfelder.

I’m gettin’ that book.

It took me years to finally understand that the whole scientific industry is thrall to elegance. I will NEVER understand the quantum realm, but I FULLY understand the former.

Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 10:10 AM (aOzEQ)

113 I just read the children's book "Paddle-to-the-Sea" byHolling C. Holling -- fun! An Indian boy carves a little man in a boat (stop it) and sets the canoe in Lake Nipigong, whence it travels through the Great Lakes and eventually to the sea.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 10:11 AM (i4tOF)

114 Wolfus, I also have The Rainbow Affair coming this week. Also discovered a sci-fi book he wrote, The Arsenal Out of Time. That should arrive in a week or two.

I think I mentioned last week, our local used book store never has the UNCLE books on the shelf. Apparently they sell as fast as they arrive. Probably to older guys like me.
Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023

***
I think I have, but haven't yet read, Arsenal. It should be interesting to compare to his MfU work. Rainbow has been described as not really having a plot -- a la Raiders of the Lost Ark. I don't think you will care; it's a fun romp anyway.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:12 AM (omVj0)

115 Good morning all.

I had a successful week of reading, meaning I was up til all hours with a book almost every night.
I read The Judas Goat, another Parker book in the Spenser series. I am back to reading in order. This book finds Spenser traveling around Europe looking for terrorists who killed a man's family and left the man severely injured. Spenser's employer is extremely wealthy and has nothing left to live for and wants these terrorists found. The irony is that it was just a random bombing and he was not targeted.
You don't usually see a private detective going after terrorists and the story fully introduces Hawk who is a fascinating character, sort of the bad guy with a good heart.
This was the best one so far.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023 10:12 AM (t/2Uw)

116 {I just read the children's book "Paddle-to-the-Sea" byHolling C. Holling -- fun! An Indian boy carves a little man in a boat (stop it) and sets the canoe in Lake Nipigong, whence it travels through the Great Lakes and eventually to the sea. }

Used to be required reading in Michigan when I was a li'l chile. Betting it's been replaced with "Heather has two mommies in a throuple with a trans-identifying non-binary."

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 13, 2023 10:13 AM (9yUzE)

117 I finished Preston & Child's "Beyond the Ice Limit." I've noticed that they tend to favor some sort of climactic duel in the Gideon Crew stories. Beyond the Ice Limit features dueling deep submersible vehicles (DSVs). Titanium spheres ramming each other 2 miles beneath the Antarctic Ocean.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

I am a huge fan of Preston and Child, but the Gideon Crew stories are the exception. For some reason, I don't really like them. They seem more formulaic to me.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 10:13 AM (gr1T9)

118 I just read the children's book "Paddle-to-the-Sea" byHolling C. Holling -- fun! An Indian boy carves a little man in a boat (stop it) and sets the canoe in Lake Nipigong, whence it travels through the Great Lakes and eventually to the sea.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

I didn't say ANYTHING !

Posted by: JT at August 13, 2023 10:15 AM (T4tVD)

119 I had a depressing conversation a few months back with a friend. Look at the world in the late 1960s. We went to the moon, built the 747 and the Concorde. Since then? We have made computers into phones that people cant navigate without, built social media that corrupts the mind, and developed hundreds of TV channels full of garbage. If we had a physical collapse that took down electronics, we would be hard pressed to survive, much less rebuild society with pencil, paper, and slide rules.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 09:53 AM (gr1T9)

To me the lesson is that abandoning Solid State was a colossal blunder.

This sounds absurd on its face, but what other conclusion can we draw?

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 13, 2023 10:15 AM (6ugsT)

120 And most of the libraries have long since discarded most of those 50s-and-60s tech books because they're so outdated. You could probably find scanned pdfs of a number of them, but...well... grid and all that.

Years ago some Moron here recommended getting the Popular Mechanics DIY Projects Encyclopedia in 12 volumes (I have first edition 1955).

I now know how to make a paddle boat using WW2 aircraft drop tanks and a bicycle.

Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 13, 2023 10:15 AM (p8A+W)

121 Eris, Thanks for mentioning the Boxen book, which I hadn't heard of. Just ordered a used copy. If it is good as you say (and I hope) I will probably order a second one for our 4 year old grand nephew and, eventually, his baby brother.
Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 09:56 AM (7EjX1
----

I'd say it's interesting rather than good. A window into young Lewis's childhood and as a precursor to Narnia.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 10:16 AM (i4tOF)

122 {I just read the children's book "Paddle-to-the-Sea" byHolling C. Holling -- fun! An Indian boy carves a little man in a boat (stop it) and sets the canoe in Lake Nipigong, whence it travels through the Great Lakes and eventually to the sea. }

Used to be required reading in Michigan when I was a li'l chile. Betting it's been replaced with "Heather has two mommies in a throuple with a trans-identifying non-binary."
Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo

In grade school, we watched Paddle at least once per year. I think that was one of the few movies the school owned.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 10:17 AM (xpeB6)

123 . . . You don't usually see a private detective going after terrorists and the story fully introduces Hawk who is a fascinating character, sort of the bad guy with a good heart.
This was the best one so far.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023

***
Hawk is Parker's externalized form of the dark side of Spenser's personality, the boxer and roughhouser who must occasionally kill as part of his work. Susan is the externalized form of the good side of Spenser, his thoughtfulness, education, and empathy. This, in the same fashion as McCoy and Spock represent two different sides of Capt. Kirk, allows Parker literally to show us these facets of Spenser.

Plus, you know, Hawk is cool.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:18 AM (omVj0)

124 78 ... "I've been listening to Tolkien's books on audio while at work.
Finished The Hobbit, now on Two Towers"

vmom,

Who is the narrator? I have the BBC dramatic version but prefer the Andy Serkis version.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 10:20 AM (7EjX1)

125 Yes, thanks for the recommendation!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 13, 2023 10:20 AM (i4tOF)

126 The Spenser for Hire series had its ups and downs, but Avery Brooks was absolutely perfect casting for Hawk.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023 10:20 AM (a/4+U)

127 To me the lesson is that abandoning Solid State was a colossal blunder.

This sounds absurd on its face, but what other conclusion can we draw?
Posted by: Thesokorus

My conclusion at the time was that instead of pursuing near impossible goals, our society chose to focus on making life easier (read: too easy), and replacing critical thought with obedience.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 10:21 AM (xpeB6)

128 I also read Ilona Andrews second Kate Daniels book in the Wilmington series Magic Claims. This is a husband and wife writing team with chapters narrated by either Kate, a powerful magic user or Curran, a Lion-were known as the Beast Lord.
The masculin and feminine perfectly represented by the two authors and you can feel their relationship in the way the characters work with each other.
Sigh. What can I say? I love this type of book. Romance, Advernture, Magic, the good guys win....

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023 10:22 AM (t/2Uw)

129 I saw Little Man in the Boat open up for..

I'll quit now.

Posted by: Reforger at August 13, 2023 10:22 AM (B705c)

130 Finished 'Escape Orbit' this last week. Excellent! Gimme the next one, stat!!!

Certainly we progressed from the late 40's to the late 60's-early 70's. Then things began to slip. Other venerable thinkers have noted that in the late 60's and early 70's came the rise of the Permanent Bureaucracies. Bureaucracies do not like progress, they like a steady state: This arrangement is easy to regulate. What bureaucracies really hate is a guy who can break through their carefully constructed cage...

Posted by: Brewingfrog at August 13, 2023 10:24 AM (aJmA5)

131 Bureaucracies do not like progress, they like a steady state: This arrangement is easy to regulate. What bureaucracies really hate is a guy who can break through their carefully constructed cage...
Posted by: Brewingfrog

Total coincidence, I watched Patton last night.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 13, 2023 10:27 AM (xpeB6)

132 McDaniel's novels in the U.N.C.L.E. series are the best, but some of the others are worth reading. Copenhagen Affair by John Oram has some interesting scenes that are not lighthearted at all, and features an unusual setting, that of Denmark. Peter Leslie's novels, Nos. 7, 9, 16, and 23, have some good moments in which he strives to show how the organization, the Command, would really work and what procedures it would follow. No. 16 has a fascinating exploration of the then-new (196

idea of holograms.

Nos. 11 and 12 are rather campy and to be avoided. No. 14, Cross of Gold Affair, is a hyperdrive adventure on all accounts.

A late one, The Thinking Machine Affair, reads as though it were written by a not-very-clever teenager and should also be ignored.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:29 AM (omVj0)

133 So Michio Kaku is a Meshuggah fan.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at August 13, 2023 10:30 AM (jKUtf)

134 I seem to remember reading somewhere that the original premise of The Green Hornet was that he pretended to be a gangster, "moving in" on real gangs and taking them down, but really on the side of law all the time. (Kind of like a nicer version of Whitey Bulger.)

The TV show just made him Batman with a different car and a MUCH cooler sidekick.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 13, 2023 10:33 AM (QZxDR)

135 114 ... " Rainbow has been described as not really having a plot -- a la Raiders of the Lost Ark. I don't think you will care; it's a fun romp anyway."

Wolfus,

Absolutely no problem. I have a good number of 'fun romp' books.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 10:33 AM (7EjX1)

136 Paddle to the Sea and the French film The Red Balloon(?) short films were school staples.

Posted by: 13times at August 13, 2023 10:34 AM (/Bbf2)

137 The Spenser for Hire series had its ups and downs, but Avery Brooks was absolutely perfect casting for Hawk.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023

***
Yes. Reading the novels, you'd think, "How can *any* actor make that character believable?" Brooks did it.

Robert Urich was a good Spenser, Barbara Stock a fine Susan, and Carolyn McCormick when they brought her in made a great Rita Fiore. I still picture these same actors when I reread the novels. Quirk the police captain is described in much different terms by Parker, but Richard Jaeckel is vastly better than you might expect.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:34 AM (omVj0)

138 I seem to remember reading somewhere that the original premise of The Green Hornet was that he pretended to be a gangster, "moving in" on real gangs and taking them down, but really on the side of law all the time. (Kind of like a nicer version of Whitey Bulger.)

The TV show just made him Batman with a different car and a MUCH cooler sidekick.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 13, 2023

***
No, the TV series followed the "wanted criminal" notion too; the opening narration says so, and the stories followed that. And the producers played it unlike Batman, straight, no camp (and that theme song is one of the true greats!). Otherwise your last sentence is quite correct.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:36 AM (omVj0)

139 I still want a big-budget relaunch of "U.F.O." I am amazed nobody hasn't done that yet.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 13, 2023 10:37 AM (QZxDR)

140 Off to church.
Tried to read Erin Morgenstern's (Night Circus) second novel and gave it up about a third of the way through.
The elements that made Night Circus so delightful do not translate to the big screen.
'Starless Sea' is like being trapped in a never ending computer game but with great graphics. Flat characters,
slow plot, touches of woke - I am disappoint.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at August 13, 2023 10:39 AM (hAfUZ)

141 I never saw the Spenser TV series but I thought the Jesse Stone casting was absolutely perfect. Aren't some of the police characters the same in both series? Both series take place in Massachusetts in or around Boston.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023 10:43 AM (t/2Uw)

142 Zelazny was one that I read, but did not really get the appeal. He creates the world, gives it a certain amount of building. Then populates it with soulless characters.

I guess that is a problem with a lot of hard sci-fi I have read: great world building, sometimes even enough to captivate on it's own, but characters that do not hook you in and can sometimes seem like space aliens. The odd thing is, back in the day the hard sci-fi genre seemed to take that as a badge of honor.

Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop at August 13, 2023 10:46 AM (zZu0s)

143 never saw the Spenser TV series but I thought the Jesse Stone casting was absolutely perfect. Aren't some of the police characters the same in both series? Both series take place in Massachusetts in or around Boston.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023 10:43 AM (t/2Uw)

We were watching some Jessie Stone last night. They are very well made shows IMO

Posted by: Rufus T Firefly at August 13, 2023 10:48 AM (gqKkr)

144 If memory serves, the Spenser series characters Quirk and Belson have both made appearances in the Jesse Stone novels. Been a while since I read 'em so I could be delusional there.

I think you can see the Spensers on Freevee or at tubitv.com, and they may include the pilot film as well (believe it was based on one of the novels, Promised Land, and it's well worth a look).

And Selleck was perfectly cast as Stone.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023 10:48 AM (a/4+U)

145 I came across a reference to a mystery concerning the artist Edward Hopper entitled Killing Icarus by Paul Kemprecos so I thought I'd give it a shot. So far, it has little to do with Hopper although it is set in a small Massachusetts town where he lived, Truro. The story concerns a contemporary attempt to recreate a famous historical glider flight. Meanwhile, just after WWII, a mysterious and apparently malevolent figure smuggles himself and some mysterious cargo into a barn very near the glider launch location. Numerous characters are artists or involved in the art world. One is preparing to take a tour of Hooper lications around Truro. The book is well written although, so far, little mystery and little Hopper.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 10:48 AM (FVME7)

146 I never saw the Spenser TV series but I thought the Jesse Stone casting was absolutely perfect. Aren't some of the police characters the same in both series? Both series take place in Massachusetts in or around Boston.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023

***
The amazing thing is that Parker describes Jesse as being about thirty when the book series begins, and yet Tom Selleck, much older, is absolutely perfect in the role. Yes, the two series take place in the same universe; several of the characters appear in both, like criminal Gino Fish. His third major crime protagonist, PI Sonya "Sunny" Randall, even meets and has an affair with Jesse in one book; and in another, Sunny sees a therapist . . . Susan Silverman.

I always wondered if Parker had a manuscript in his safe, to be released after his death, where Spenser, Hawk, Sunny, and Jesse all meet. But I guess not, or it would have appeared by now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 10:49 AM (omVj0)

147 I now know how to make a paddle boat using WW2 aircraft drop tanks and a bicycle.

--------

Damn. I put my last WWII drop tanks in the recycle bin two weeks ago.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 13, 2023 10:54 AM (bQKgA)

148 think you can see the Spensers on Freevee or at tubitv.com, and they may include the pilot film as well (believe it was based on one of the novels, Promised Land, and it's well worth a look).

And Selleck was perfectly cast as Stone.
Posted by: Just Some Guy
I will look for it. I discovered Freevee via Prime and don't mind the commercials because they are very short. Watching a series called Almost Paradise which features a legendary Ex DEA agent who has "retired" to an island in the Philippines. It is pretty cool.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023 10:56 AM (t/2Uw)

149 Currently beta-reading some coming sci-fi. (And reading/re-reading book #2 in my own series.)

|| It will probably be a huge bestseller and made into a movie.

There's an animated short called "Whale Fall" that made the rounds here a few months ago but not based on anything AFACT.

Posted by: moviegique at August 13, 2023 10:58 AM (lpWi1)

150
I've been reading William Freehling's The Road to Disunion: Secessionists Triumphant. We tend nowadays to say the South was the South and leave it at that, but Freehling says there were many Souths, all with different attitudes to not just slavery but also class.

By 1860, the Border South (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri) was well on the way to de facto abolition, largely by selling slaves to the Lower South, but also by manumission; Maryland had many more free blacks than slaves and talks were underway providing for post-nati emancipation. Western Virginia was largely slave-free and the yeomanry of the region in bitter conflict with Eastern slaveholders over representation to the state legislature.

Much of the South was largely indifferent to the idea of secession, which was passed by a fire-eating minority scared of a Lincoln presidency setting up a southern Republican party through patronage (and there were plenty of ambitious Southerners willing to take those posts). This would lead to abolition not externally imposed but internally fomented.

A difficult read, but a fascinating one. Worth the effort.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 13, 2023 11:00 AM (MoZTd)

151 For me, Zelazny seemed strongest at shorter length. Stories like "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth," "This Moment of the Storm," and "The Graveyard Heart" are Zelazny working at the top of his game (ymmv) and the characters in those stories are not at all soulless. Of the novels, my pick would be not the Amber books or even Lord of Light but Isle of the Dead. Again, ymmv.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023 11:00 AM (a/4+U)

152 Come to think of it, the partnership/bond between Britt "Green Hornet" Reid and Kato could be further cemented and made more plausible if they have sworn some kind of oath together. Didn't the Batman: The Animated Series get into Bruce Wayne's exposure to some kind of Eastern mysticism that informed the way he trained for his work as Batman? And one of the live-action movies with Christian Bale showed us that too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:01 AM (omVj0)

153 || The odd thing is, back in the day the hard sci-fi genre seemed to take that as a badge of honor.

The Red Letter Media guys shorthand a lot of movie characters as "Action Man" and similar things.

In a lot of the "Golden Age" sci-fi there's definitely a "Science Man"...a square-jawed...well, like The Professor on "Gilligan's Island" or Cal from "This Island Earth".

Posted by: moviegique at August 13, 2023 11:01 AM (lpWi1)

154 For me, Zelazny seemed strongest at shorter length. Stories like "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth," "This Moment of the Storm," and "The Graveyard Heart" are Zelazny working at the top of his game (ymmv) and the characters in those stories are not at all soulless. Of the novels, my pick would be not the Amber books or even Lord of Light but Isle of the Dead. Again, ymmv.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023

***
Also good is his novelette from Analog, "Home Is the Hangman." Zelazny seemed to have a strong respect for the conventions of the crime/mystery/adventure story, at least some of the time.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:02 AM (omVj0)

155 Amazon finally approved my reviews for AH Lloyd's books, Long Live Death and Walls Of Men. 5 stars for LLD, 4 for WOM. The 4 star rating isn't really exactly fair, but I explained why in the review.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:03 AM (43xH1)

156 There's an animated short called "Whale Fall" that made the rounds here a few months ago but not based on anything AFACT.

Posted by: moviegique at August 13, 2023 10:58 AM (lpWi1)

I mentioned The Stacey Abrams story upthread....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:04 AM (Angsy)

157 I don't remember much about the Zelazny books except I must have loved the Amber series because I named my first dog Corwin, the second Amber's butterscotch girl. They were yellow labs and raised 4 litters of puppies bearing the Amber kennel name before I had to spay her,

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023 11:05 AM (t/2Uw)

158 Good morning all. Have a favor to ask. This week there was a comment on one of the threads re a book on Hiroshimo and Nagasaki based on Japanese records. I neglected to screenshot the comment or write down the title/author. If anyone could please remind me what it is, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Posted by: Grateful at August 13, 2023 11:05 AM (xQcF4)

159 Raiders of the Lost Ark had a plot. It’s just that nothing Indy did actually changed anything.

Posted by: db at August 13, 2023 11:05 AM (wu87C)

160 Also, that Sci-Fi book I keep rambling on about is as finished as it's going to get, and I went ahead and uploaded the whole thing onto a rebooted website in pdf format, sized about A5 so it can be read on a tablet.

'Let Us Now Be Famous Men' can be seen in its entirety by clicking the title link. Anyone having an interest can look it over if they want:

http://leneal.com

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:06 AM (43xH1)

161 Come to think of it, the partnership/bond between Britt "Green Hornet" Reid and Kato could be further cemented and made more plausible if they have sworn some kind of oath together. Didn't the Batman: The Animated Series get into Bruce Wayne's exposure to some kind of Eastern mysticism that informed the way he trained for his work as Batman? And one of the live-action movies with Christian Bale showed us that too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:01 AM (omVj0)

Aw crap, Wolfus! Now they'll reboot the Hornet and Kato as lovers.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:07 AM (Angsy)

162 Morning Hordemates.
I've just finished the first of a series The Gathering Clouds by Wareham. The story centers on a young man flying Hurricanes for the RAF. Wareham may be the British answer to WEB Griffin. Good story so far.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 13, 2023 11:07 AM (hv9bm)

163 Sum of them pineapples are upside down on those pants...you know what that means, right?

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 13, 2023 11:08 AM (ynpvh)

164 I just finished reading The Final Encyclopedia by Gordon Dickson. It's a thick tome, but I had not trouble turning pages. One problem, though, the climax is when the protagonist and the antagonist meet and both describe how they're destined to win and then the battle is joined and then...the book just sort of stops.

Who won?

Posted by: Cybersmythe at August 13, 2023 11:08 AM (iZEhM)

165
If anyone could please remind me what it is, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Posted by: Grateful at August 13, 2023 11:05 AM (xQcF4)

I didn't see the comment, but Downfall bu Richard Frank leans heavily on Japanese diplomatic traffic to show that they weren't willing at the time to surrender on any terms acceptable to the Allies.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 13, 2023 11:09 AM (MoZTd)

166 Aw crap, Wolfus! Now they'll reboot the Hornet and Kato as lovers.

I'd tell you not to give the dimdumbs any ideas, but they probably thought of that some time ago...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023 11:09 AM (a/4+U)

167 Raiders of the Lost Ark had a plot. It’s just that nothing Indy did actually changed anything.
Posted by: db

You know, like Trump.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 11:10 AM (FVME7)

168 'Let Us Now Be Famous Men' can be seen in its entirety by clicking the title link. Anyone having an interest can look it over if they want:

http://leneal.com

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:06 AM (43xH1)

I'll check it out later.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:11 AM (Angsy)

169 About the only physical books that I buy these days are art books, and I just picked up a really nice one: Worlds Beyond Time, Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s, edited by Adam Rowe.

Lots of the book covers from those days are remarkable, really great stuff. The artists seemed to feel very unconstrained in what they drew (as long as it reflected the story).

Nowadays, sci-fi art seems very bland and forgettable. All the stuff I see in the various "Cheap on Kindle today" newsletters I get are either some gigantic spaceship flying over a planet, or someone (usually female of course) in body armor, guns at the ready. It's all really dull.

In the 70's they knew how to spark the imagination.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 13, 2023 11:12 AM (CHHv1)

170 Aw crap, Wolfus! Now they'll reboot the Hornet and Kato as lovers.
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Well, hornets do have stingers in their tails.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 11:12 AM (FVME7)

171 Raiders of the Lost Ark had a plot. It’s just that nothing Indy did actually changed anything.
Posted by: db at August 13, 2023

***
That's what I mean. If Indy had done nothing, the Nazis still would have seized the Ark, still would have opened it, still would have been destroyed. Isn't that one definition of a plot -- that what the protagonist does (even if he fails on some level) must have an effect on the outcome?

McDaniel's Rainbow Affair is sort of like that too. As with Raiders, the adventure is so entertaining you don't realize it, or don't care.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:13 AM (omVj0)

172 Zelazny was one that I read, but did not really get the appeal. He creates the world, gives it a certain amount of building. Then populates it with soulless characters.
I guess that is a problem with a lot of hard sci-fi I have read: great world building, sometimes even enough to captivate on it's own, but characters that do not hook you in and can sometimes seem like space aliens. The odd thing is, back in the day the hard sci-fi genre seemed to take that as a badge of honor.
Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop'

I tend to go overboard on characterization and this last one is no exception. I put the 'world-building' in the background, and tried to mention just enough about it to evoke imagery, and leave it at that. It's just 'there' without a lot of exposition.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:15 AM (43xH1)

173 I received two crowd-funded books this week or so. And I may be receiving two more before the month closes out! (These things always seem to arrive in bunches) Ordering crowd-funded books is a little weird: you put down your money, and then a year or two later a book arrives in the mail. Sometimes without warning, sometimes with an email to precede it. In any case, it's like a surprise gift from yourself!

...Alas, it's been a busy week, and a busy weekend, and I haven't had time to start reading either of them...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 13, 2023 11:15 AM (Lhaco)

174 I'll check it out later.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

Sure! The website is deliberately plain. There will be more added later but I try to keep websites as simple as possible.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:16 AM (43xH1)

175 Nah. With Indy out of the picture there is still a good story about Nazis searching for, finding, and being melted like a chocolate bunny under a heat lamp.

Posted by: db at August 13, 2023 11:16 AM (wu87C)

176 A "Solomon Kane" pastiche novel popped up on my Amazon recommendations. "Death's Head Tavern" by Nancy Collins. Given how little Solomon Kane material I have (as opposed to the piles of Conan the Barbarian stories) I may end up getting the book.

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 13, 2023 11:17 AM (Lhaco)

177 I read AOSHQ this week, does that count? 😬

Posted by: Question Authority bumper sticker at August 13, 2023 11:17 AM (Rbu5d)

178 Aw crap, Wolfus! Now they'll reboot the Hornet and Kato as lovers.

I'd tell you not to give the dimdumbs any ideas, but they probably thought of that some time ago...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023

***
Yeah, probably. That, or what they did in that stupid-sounding movie a few years ago, the Hornet being a hapless doofus (Seth Rogen as a pulp hero?) and the Asian guy all-competent.

The oath I had in mind for them to swear would be something about fighting evil and protecting the innocent. One of the nice things about the GH TV series was there were no super-villains like the Penguin or the Joker. But there'd be nothing wrong with having a shadowy, Thrush-like faction popping up from time to time to give them a solid antagonist. And that oath could have involved a promise to fight that group wherever it appeared.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:18 AM (omVj0)

179 I didn't see the comment, but Downfall bu Richard Frank leans heavily on Japanese diplomatic traffic to show that they weren't willing at the time to surrender on any terms acceptable to the Allies.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 13, 2023 11:09 AM (MoZTd)

No, no, that's not true!! Vox Day knows, he knows that the Japanese were already negotiating a surrender before the bombs were dropped. Only a mid-wit, half-wit, no-wit would believe the propaganda that Truman saved millions of lives. Trust Vox Day! He's so much smarter than you, he says so himself!!!!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:18 AM (Angsy)

180 For reading, at the moment I'm reading the history of the development and production of the Bofors Gun, Chinn. All his stuff is online for 'free' and whenever I want some technical stuff to read with a bunch of obscure backstory, I pull anything of his up.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:18 AM (43xH1)

181 Perfessor,

Thanks for another wonderful book thread. Signing off sooner than usual since we are meeting some friends for lunch.

Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023 11:19 AM (7EjX1)

182 . . . One problem, though, the climax is when the protagonist and the antagonist meet and both describe how they're destined to win and then the battle is joined and then...the book just sort of stops.

Who won?
Posted by: Cybersmythe at August 13, 2023

***
I don't know about the Elmore Leonard novel, but the film version of Valdez Is Coming ends like that too. Disturbing.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:21 AM (omVj0)

183 Only a mid-wit, half-wit, no-wit would believe the propaganda that Truman saved millions of lives. Trust Vox Day! He's so much smarter than you, he says so himself!!!!
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

I read that book and other materials. A powerful faction in the Japanese military was ready, willing and able to self-immolate themselves and everyone else rather than surrender.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:21 AM (43xH1)

184 Sure! The website is deliberately plain. There will be more added later but I try to keep websites as simple as possible.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:16 AM (43xH1)

No problem, I downloaded it for later.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:23 AM (Angsy)

185 I finished rereading The Sun Also Rises and understood much more than I did in high school. It's much more anti-Jewish than I remembered. (I didn't know any Jews in high school although it later turned out several of the people I knew were Jews.). The villain, if there is one (they're all pretty bad) is a villain because he is a well off Jew who refuses to give up on a brief affair with an alcoholic nymphomaniac because he still believes in love and honor. The alcoholic nympho, on the other hand, is just fine because she's a nihilistic hedonist, like the other cool kids. There's also bullfighting, the sport of the sadist.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 11:25 AM (FVME7)

186 I seem to recall a comment I think in Paul Fussell's Thank God for the Atom Bomb -- something to the effect that a number of Japanese grade school classrooms had closets well stocked with bamboo spears for the kids to use against the invaders. Maybe there were some advocating surrender, but it's a good thing the troops didn't have to find out the hard way.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023 11:26 AM (a/4+U)

187 Sam Rolfe (the creator of Man From U.N.C.L.E. as we know it) originally intended Thrush the shadowy supra-nation to be a fallback villain, that if they were having trouble deciding why that week's villain was doing His Big Evil Plan, they could simply say, he's doing it for Thrush. But Thrush developed as the series went along; we got some details on how the organization worked, who the villain of the week reported to, etc.

Keeping it shadowy and mysterious despite the concrete details is the way to go. I can imagine the Green Hornet and Kato occasionally struggling against their old adversary, its machinations the reason they decided to work together as crimefighters.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:26 AM (omVj0)

188 LenNeal I really dig your book so far. It's cool!

Idk why but I am getting Alfred Bester vibes and that is excellent.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 13, 2023 11:27 AM (6ugsT)

189 OrangeEnt, I frequently read Vox Day myself. Sometimes I think a lot of his attitude is a big put-on, that he deliberately takes the opposing view of whatever everybody else thinks just to be difficult.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:28 AM (omVj0)

190 I read that book and other materials. A powerful faction in the Japanese military was ready, willing and able to self-immolate themselves and everyone else rather than surrender.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:21 AM (43xH1)

VD links to some story that supposedly was published after the war saying elements of the Japanese government had signalled to the Allies they would accept unconditional surrender terms but no punishment for Hirohito. Same terms as agreed to in the end, but it was kept silent so we could drop the bombs and not let the Soviets enter the Pacific War and partition Japan. The bombs were unnecessary, but we nasty Americans dropped them anyway....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:30 AM (Angsy)

191 Keeping it shadowy and mysterious despite the concrete details is the way to go. I can imagine the Green Hornet and Kato occasionally struggling against their old adversary, its machinations the reason they decided to work together as crimefighters.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:26 AM (omVj0)

Maybe it would explain why Kato went to Paris and ended up working for Clouseau.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 13, 2023 11:31 AM (S6gqv)

192 Good Morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear into the heart of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Up late playing Hearts of Iron IV. I am trying to see if Germany can not go to war until 1945 or later, and build a Plan Z Navy. A peaceful, exporting, infrastructure building Germany. We shall see if the AI allows it.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at August 13, 2023 11:34 AM (u82oZ)

193 LenNeal I really dig your book so far. It's cool!

Idk why but I am getting Alfred Bester vibes and that is excellent.
Posted by: Thesokorus'

That was quick! Thank you, I very much appreciate it.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:35 AM (43xH1)

194 || That's what I mean. If Indy had done nothing, the Nazis still would have seized the Ark, still would have opened it, still would have been destroyed. Isn't that one definition of a plot -- that what the protagonist does (even if he fails on some level) must have an effect on the outcome? ||

Must it? Like, can the hero's internal journey be sufficient?

My protagonist, Jake, (Book 1: Silk Unspun, coming in October!) is constantly "doing things", but since he's on an alien world with its own social/biological/political workings, he completely misunderstands the effect they might have.

Hell, in the end, as the author, =I'm= not even sure about the size of the role he plays. But since the story is about that particular journey, I think that's sufficient. (Questions raised can always be answered in another book, set at a later time when the problems solved in the first book lead to...future problems.)

Posted by: moviegique at August 13, 2023 11:36 AM (lpWi1)

195 Damn. I put my last WWII drop tanks in the recycle bin two weeks ago.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 13, 2023 10:54 AM (bQKgA)

I put mine in the trash. You put them in the recycle bin?

Gay.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 13, 2023 11:37 AM (G3QnF)

196 I'm just finishing listening to an Audible version of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, as narrated by Stephen Fry. There's 14 minutes left in His Final Bow.
The book has been very enjoyable.
Question for the Sherlockians. How many people did Holmes allow to get away?

Posted by: That Northernlurker what lurkd at August 13, 2023 11:37 AM (aCNZ6)

197 Oops. Much as I hate to bug out, I got chores to do that I always seem to put off until Sunday. OrangeEnt, I look forward to the writing group!

Perfessor, a most excellent thread again this morning. (I've noticed that among all the cobs' regular threads, at least the ones I see, your Book Thread seems to collect actual written kudos more often. Wonder why that is?)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:38 AM (omVj0)

198 The bombs were unnecessary, but we nasty Americans dropped them anyway....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:30 AM (Angsy)

I'm not saying we did, but if someone unveiled some credible evidence of it, I wouldn't be shocked.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 13, 2023 11:40 AM (G3QnF)

199 Have a great day, everyone. May you be revived by the beauty of high summer.

Chores are approaching fast. My punishment for playing computer games. I can get away with it if it was books, since my wife was a librarian. But not games.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at August 13, 2023 11:40 AM (u82oZ)

200 OrangeEnt, I frequently read Vox Day myself. Sometimes I think a lot of his attitude is a big put-on, that he deliberately takes the opposing view of whatever everybody else thinks just to be difficult.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:28 AM (omVj0)

I catch him on the links Wombat has on the Other McCain. I sort of get the feeling he is a jerk, though. Not wrong, but he dismisses people as stupid if they have an opposing view.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:40 AM (Angsy)

201 elements of the Japanese government had signalled to the Allies they would accept unconditional surrender terms but no punishment for Hirohito.'

That is also true. As in everything, Japan was a welter of sometimes literally warring factions, so some in charge wanted that, but didn't have enough clout to make it happen. Best guess is that it was the *combination* of the Bomb and the Soviets that did the trick. I inter-library loaned a big book of Japanese WWII propaganda art and man, is that an eye-opener.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:40 AM (43xH1)

202 Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 13, 2023 11:42 AM (a/4+U)

203 || I tend to go overboard on characterization and this last one is no exception. I put the 'world-building' in the background, and tried to mention just enough about it to evoke imagery, and leave it at that. It's just 'there' without a lot of exposition.||

It's hard, though, right? Especially as the world gets more and more foreign.

Book 1 in my series takes place on a planet of advanced spider creatures, and if you don't get some idea of, e.g., the matriarchy, the disproportionate number of males to females, how reproduction is managed (which is kind of the core concept of the series), the plot makes no sense.

Book 2 involves bee hives. It's less plot heavy (spiders plot more than bees, what can I say?) so I didn't need as much exposition/world-building. But there has to be some or there's zero chance of the reader understanding the motivations of the alien characters.

Posted by: moviegique at August 13, 2023 11:42 AM (lpWi1)

204 I loved the Green Hornet as a kid, should watch a few episodes again

Posted by: Skip at August 13, 2023 11:44 AM (MOY79)

205 With those Do-It-Yourself books and magazines, especially from the 1950s, it's always hilarious and frustrating when some project involves some totally now-unobtanium and casually says something like, 'You can easily find X (the control flap off a B-17 bomber or some other thing!) at your local surplus store or scrapyard!'

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:45 AM (43xH1)

206 The bombs were unnecessary, but we nasty Americans dropped them anyway....
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Because Christian racism.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 11:45 AM (FVME7)

207 That was quick! Thank you, I very much appreciate it.
Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:35 AM (43xH1)

Just so far! Haven't read a lot, it might start to suck. Idk. But it sure hasn't yet.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 13, 2023 11:45 AM (6ugsT)

208 With this book, it originally started as a take-off on PKD's short stories from the 1950s-1960s, so an integral part is describing every female character's breasts.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:47 AM (43xH1)

209 your Book Thread seems to collect actual written kudos more often. Wonder why that is?)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:38 AM (omVj0)

He pays better?
(shrugs)

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:48 AM (Angsy)

210 moviegique: Where can I find more info about your books?

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 13, 2023 11:49 AM (QZxDR)

211 'You can easily find X (the control flap off a B-17 bomber or some other thing!) at your local surplus store or scrapyard!'

-
When I was a kid, they sold surplus gas masks with the filters cut off so the hose just hung down like an elephant's trunk.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 11:49 AM (FVME7)

212 But there has to be some or there's zero chance of the reader understanding the motivations of the alien characters.
Posted by: moviegique'

That, right there, is the real reason I 'dissed' AH Lloyd's book, Walls Of Men: much of the Chinese history described is SO foreign and obscure, the motivations so abstruse, I actually used a science fiction analogy in my review. It was completely unfair to knock a star off for that, but it did keep the book from being 'perfect'. It's unfair and I know it, but it was a huge problem for me and I elected to be honest.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:51 AM (43xH1)

213 Still not done with Solzhenitzen but the end is in sight. Today is the first day in a long time with no plans in sight, so maybe I'll finish it up today. Finished Dostoyevsky and moved on to the third and final Hilary Mantel book "The Mirror and the Light", another big fat book but just as good as the first two (so far).

Posted by: who knew at August 13, 2023 11:51 AM (4I7VG)

214 The US never "accepted" any Japanese terms - the Japanese agreed to surrender unconditionally, and then when MacArthur was place in charge of the Occupation, he personally decided that the country would be much easier to control if Hirohito was left in place, so he (MacArthur) insisted on it. I was somewhat surprised to find out that during the occupation period, almost all of the Japanese referred to MacArthur as simply "Shogun".

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 13, 2023 11:52 AM (S6gqv)

215 I inter-library loaned a big book of Japanese WWII propaganda art and man, is that an eye-opener.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:40 AM (43xH1)

I might be interested in that, what's the title? I've seen ours and the German's, but never Japanese propaganda.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:52 AM (Angsy)

216 Back from a longish constitutional with the exciting and delightful Mrs naturalfake.

Lessee what's upstairs.

Posted by: naturalfake at August 13, 2023 11:53 AM (QzZeQ)

217 When I was a kid, they sold surplus gas masks with the filters cut off so the hose just hung down like an elephant's trunk.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 11:49 AM (FVME7)

There were several bongs made out of them in my hood growing up.

Posted by: Reforger at August 13, 2023 11:56 AM (B705c)

218 I might be interested in that, what's the title? I've seen ours and the German's, but never Japanese propaganda.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

I'll have to look it back up, I had to order it from the State University Library System under its Japanese title. Also, there are only maybe 50? copies in the US at all, so it's essentially unavailable for purchase. I scanned a bunch of the artwork and have a file of it at home.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:57 AM (43xH1)

219 Because Christian racism.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at August 13, 2023 11:45 AM (FVME7)

Funny thing I learned, the Japanese officer leading the air attack on Pearl Harbor became a Christian evangelist after the war.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 11:57 AM (Angsy)

220 I read AOSHQ this week, does that count? 😬
Posted by: Question Authority bumper sticker at August 13, 2023 11:17 AM (Rbu5d)

I mostly look at the pictures.
(Mannix's Man Killas)

Posted by: Diogenes at August 13, 2023 11:58 AM (hv9bm)

221 Physics is so completely detached from reality these days that it amounts to nothing but useless fantasy.

It can't explain WHY or HOW anything works the way it does, but it does measure some small bits of reality sometimes.

"The Laws of Physics* required that the Universe created itself spontaneously out.of nothing."

-- Lawrence Krauss, Physicist, Fabulist, Arrogant Atheist Asshole.

*Which are, of course, merely human intellectual constructs, not actual "things".

Posted by: Sharkman at August 13, 2023 11:59 AM (MdEsl)

222

Anyone have any idea what trashy paper bag cover the King Harv ad was taken from?

Posted by: Dr Nick Riviera at August 13, 2023 11:59 AM (dCgTi)

223 When your country is deeply indebted and it borrows more money to vacuum stuff out of the sky, you know that country is finished.

Posted by: I don't know how to say this so I'll just say this at August 13, 2023 11:59 AM (pHPwR)

224 NOOD FOR SALE

Posted by: Skip at August 13, 2023 12:01 PM (MOY79)

225 The US never "accepted" any Japanese terms - the Japanese agreed to surrender unconditionally....

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 13, 2023 11:52 AM (S6gqv)

I know that, but VD was claiming the faction going through a third party already agreed to Unconditional Surrender, but we blocked it to drop the bombs.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 12:01 PM (Angsy)

226 Japanese propaganda art from WWII is rare as all get out. As much as could be collected was, the US archived it as Top Secret for decades, and due to the nature of Japanese society, when the Japanese authorities told everyone to destroy their propaganda materials they did as they were told. The biggest collection was held in the US in total secrecy until very recently, then was returned to Japan, where some of it was displayed briefly and then it all got buried again. The book I borrowed was printed in a very brief window of time, and it's unlikely any major display will ever occur again.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 12:02 PM (43xH1)

227 Came back, fort a short time to recommend The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj by Anne de Courcy.

She points out that The United Kingdom ruled hundreds of millions people in India with only 1,200 men in the Imperial Civil Service. Truly top men, at the peak of a meritocracy. Who had only Indian woman consorts. Meanwhile, in the UK, countless young ladies, suddenly bereft of eligible bachelors, found themselves facing an uncertain future. And the pressure to marry was very high. Alternatives were dire.

So eligible and ambitious women traveled to India to get married. If not to the top, the ICS leaders, then those merchants and British Army men that were available.

Rich with drama and color, The Fishing Fleet is a sumptuous, utterly compelling real-life saga of adventure, romance, and heartbreak in the heyday of the British Empire. Some of this was copied from the Amazon listing.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at August 13, 2023 12:03 PM (u82oZ)

228 Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 11:57 AM (43xH1)

Ok, thanks. I wonder if you can post some of it without copyright issues?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 12:03 PM (Angsy)

229 Ok, thanks. I wonder if you can post some of it without copyright issues?
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

Yeah, I don't see why not. I'll dig it up and put it on my blogger site for a while.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 12:04 PM (43xH1)

230 >>> 189 OrangeEnt, I frequently read Vox Day myself. Sometimes I think a lot of his attitude is a big put-on, that he deliberately takes the opposing view of whatever everybody else thinks just to be difficult.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 13, 2023 11:28 AM (omVj0)

Sometimes I think it's straight-up trolling, such as where he spouts leftist / commie talking points. iirc about Japan he claimed the big reason they surrendered was that Stalin was going to attack and appropriate some of their territory, which makes me think he's a little too fond of current OMG Russia-Russia-Russia as an opponent to the WEF / Clown World.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 12:05 PM (llON8)

231 Yeah, I don't see why not. I'll dig it up and put it on my blogger site for a while.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 12:04 PM (43xH1)

Of course I don't know Japanese, but if they used roman letters for some of it, I can try translating it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 12:06 PM (Angsy)

232 Looks like the saddest part of Sunday morning has arrived. The end of the Book Thread. Thanks, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 12:07 PM (Angsy)

233 Part 1, Ch 6, Zach and Ike - fine dialoguing

Zach: The Boss set up, watching the community from a distance.
Ike: Like a big cop operation.
Zach: He had guys on roofs with binoculars.
Ike: He had the Sanctuary bugged.
Zach: No, he didn't!
Ike: He could've!
Zach: No, he couldn't. He couldn't get inside!
Ike: Oh, yeah.
Zach: He found out about the Annual Meeting.
He was planning an assault.
Ike: Like, like an army. He had a helicopter that was going to drop bombs.
Zach: You're making that up.
Ike: No, man, they tol' me.

Zach: It was bad.
Ike: We were bad.

Posted by: mindful webworker - invulnerable, a word I learned in Superman comics at August 13, 2023 12:08 PM (3T6PD)

234 Sometimes I think it's straight-up trolling, such as where he spouts leftist / commie talking points. iirc about Japan he claimed the big reason they surrendered was that Stalin was going to attack and appropriate some of their territory, which makes me think he's a little too fond of current OMG Russia-Russia-Russia as an opponent to the WEF / Clown World.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 13, 2023 12:05 PM (llON

I get that feeling too. Though, I do think he's right about the conditions in Ukraine. I don't think we're winning.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 12:08 PM (Angsy)

235 My opinion re: Japan's surrender, which is irrelevant of course, is that it was all about the Emperor. As the living embodiment of Japan Itself, the Bomb promised to annihilate his physical existence; the Soviets promised to annihilate his meaning through Communism. Between those two threats even the hardliners had little choice but to cut a deal with the least-worst opponent. They lucked out with MacArthur, for sure.

My meaningless take. It's not an argument, it's just my personal conclusion.

Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 12:09 PM (43xH1)

236 Thank you, Perfessor, for another excellent Book Thread.

Another week without enough time for reading as much as I'd like. I'm still on my Sherlock Holmes kick, reading the second story in Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection - The Story of the Bald-Headed Man.

I had not given much thought about Holmes letting the perpetrator go. I'd read a few Holmes stories many years ago and then watched the Mystery! series on PBS. (In my mind Jeremy Brett will always be the best Holmes). Now that I'm reading the Complete Series, I'll have to keep better track of who was turned over to the Law and who wasn't...

Hope you all have a great week filled with many good books.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at August 13, 2023 12:11 PM (61X0v)

237 I had not given much thought about Holmes letting the perpetrator go.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at August 13, 2023 12:11 PM (61X0v)

Offhand, I know a few of the perps died, he let John Ryder flee, and Irene Adler escaped. Can't offhand think of any others.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 12:15 PM (Angsy)

238 210 moviegique: Where can I find more info about your books?
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 13, 2023 11:49 AM (QZxDR)

There'll be stuff at dsblake.com about it, and I'll be making announcements over the next few months, e-book, print book, audiobook, etc.

Thanks for asking!

Also, I'm still looking at putting up a forum for writers at kingdomrpg.com. (I don't want to do it at dsblake.com because I don't want it to be about me.) So, hopefully we'll (AOSHQ authors and others) have launch parties and fun things like that.

Posted by: moviegique at August 13, 2023 12:25 PM (lpWi1)

239 Also, I'm still looking at putting up a forum for writers at kingdomrpg.com. (I don't want to do it at dsblake.com because I don't want it to be about me.) So, hopefully we'll (AOSHQ authors and others) have launch parties and fun things like that.

Posted by: moviegique at August 13, 2023 12:25 PM (lpWi1)

With a connection to the writer's group?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 13, 2023 12:38 PM (Angsy)

240 Who is the narrator? I have the BBC dramatic version but prefer the Andy Serkis version.
Posted by: JTB at August 13, 2023

Andy Serkis for the Hobbit. Wonderful.
But there's a yuge line at the lib for the Andy Serkis e audiobook, and they physical audio of the Rob Inglis ones right there. He is also excellent, though he predates the movies and has his own interpretations of the characters.
Really enjoying them

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 13, 2023 12:58 PM (vHIgi)

241 Japanese propaganda art from WWII is rare as all get out. As much as could be collected was, the US archived it as Top Secret for decades, and due to the nature of Japanese society, when the Japanese authorities told everyone to destroy their propaganda materials they did as they were told. The biggest collection was held in the US in total secrecy until very recently, then was returned to Japan, where some of it was displayed briefly and then it all got buried again. The book I borrowed was printed in a very brief window of time, and it's unlikely any major display will ever occur again.
Posted by: LenNeal at August 13, 2023 12:02 PM (43xH1)

My mother was an Army nurse in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines during WWII. One of her war momentos was a weird hard-bound picture album of the Japanese occupation done by the Japanese - how wonderful it was and how grateful the people were.

It looked like a high school yearbook. One of my mother's friends knew Japanese, and translated it - there were typed paper captions pasted under all the Japanese text.

When Mom died in 1997, and Dad sold the house....he threw it out.

Posted by: Wethal at August 13, 2023 01:34 PM (NufIr)

242 Wethal, are you new here? If so, welcome to the bookie nest.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 01:57 PM (p/isN)

243 Wethal, are you new here? If so, welcome to the bookie nest.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 13, 2023 01:57 PM (p/isN)

No, just an occasional commenter.

But thank you for the welcome.

Posted by: Wethal at August 13, 2023 01:58 PM (NufIr)

244 I know this is very late but I am reading LenNeal's book and really really liking it.
Hope you see this. Thank you!

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 13, 2023 03:07 PM (t/2Uw)

245 I'm reading 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' for the first time. It was written about 1900 by a foreign-born Countess named Orczy (Hungarian, I think), about a brave Englishman rescuing French aristocrats condemned to the guillotine during the French Revolution. Her central character is Marguerite San Juste, a French woman whose loyalties are divided between the Revolution and saving her brother, who is likely to be condemned. I'm not much a one for fiction, but it's quite good. Some of the social descriptions get a bit too long-winded, but there's enough action to keep things moving, and some real surprises along the way.

Posted by: Bob F at August 13, 2023 04:32 PM (qOzBI)

246 || With a connection to the writer's group?

Yeah!

Posted by: moviegique at August 14, 2023 11:21 AM (lpWi1)

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