Sunday Morning Book Thread - 09-03-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: Nemo)

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...(I just couldn't wait until Christmas...)

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

Today's pic is courtesy of Nemo, who recently took a trip to Ireland and visited the library at Trinity College, which has been featured here before.

Earlier this month, my wife and I were visiting Ireland. During our stay in Dublin, we visited Trinity College, to see the Book of Kells. One of the places on the tour was the Long Room - the principal library of the College. A photo is attached. As you can see, the shelves are mostly empty because the Long Room is being restored after several centuries, a process that is expected to take several years.
Another change was that four of the busts of the more obscure personages in the library have been replaced by four busts of women. The women were selected by a vote of the College's faculty and students, who selected Lady Ada Lovelace, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Rosalind Franklin, and Lady Gregory. I've attached a photo of the bust of Lady Ada Lovelace - as a retired computer programmer, I honor her. Each bust was made in a different medium; the one of Ada Lovelace was 3D printed - aptly, I think.

Here is the photo of the bust of Ada Lovelace:

PLOT TWISTS

The video below recently showed up in my YouTube feed:

Brandon makes some good points with respect to introducing plot twists into a story. There are bad ways and good ways of making it happen. Of course, the challenge in talking about plot twists is how do you talk about them without spoiling stories?

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Yes, this is a repeat from last week, but there's a very good reason for that. The Moron Horde is full of surprises:

That pic in the Sunday Morning Book Thread today blew my eyeballs away, the one captioned "Closed On Sundays For Cart Racing". I personally know 3 out of the 4 people in it. The girl sitting on the cart looks kinda familiar but I don't think I know her.
Jim Reardon (Simpsons, Pixar) and Nancy Kruse (Simpsons, Disney, Pixar?) are pushing the carts and it looks like Nate Kanfir on the left cart. I haven't seen Nate since the early 90s. I haven't seen Jim or Nancy since about 2001. I can't correctly date this pic because of jumps in time and location since the mid 80s through 2001.
If you found this pic already captioned out there on the innertubes somewhere, that's bizarre because Jim & Nancy are fairly well off now and I think they'd kinda freak out a bit if their pics just started showing up out of nowhere. If one of them or a close friend of theirs sent you the pic, no biggie.
Please let 'the James Madison' see this email too. Being a moviegigue he's prolly heard of Jim and Nancy, both of them being directors and whatnot.
What? The content?! Oh, um, brilliant!
Thanks for your patience! Happy Reading!
Sarge Morton

This was just a random meme that I found on the interwebz, so I have no way to give proper attribution.

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BOOKS BY MORONS

Moron Author Troy Riser has another short story published in an anthology:

I recently had another short story published entitled "Comes A Pale Bride", in The Monsters Next Door horror anthology, available on Amazon and--according to the publisher--wherever else fine books are sold; e.g., Barnes and Noble, etc.
On an even more exciting note, my 'Pale Bride' story has been nominated for the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award for best horror fiction in the long fiction category. It's a pretty big deal and I'm still processing it.
You would love this anthology, Perfessor. The publisher hired a comics artist to give each of the stories a comics cover in the style of those old schlocky EC horror comics, complete with advertisements on the next page for items like "Radioactive Candy!" and "A Box of Live Bats!" It's a hoot, just a fun book all around.
Thanks,
Troy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the last anthology that published a Troy Riser story, The Devil You Know Better so I am looking forward to reading another of his stories in this anthology.

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Long time Moron PabloD informed me that his wife has a new book coming out:

Since I'm a long-term commenter, I don't feel any shame about promoting my wife's first book to the rest of the Horde.
It's called Junk Love, by Abilene Potts (her pen name). I have not read it yet, mostly because I told her very early into this project that it's HER book, not mine, and I tend to take over anything with which I become involved. It's a novel about relationships, faith, and sacrificial love, and it has Christian themes in it. As there are no machine gun fights or pirates, the projected audience is women (teen and up).
Anybody who wants more info can go to abilenepotts.com. There you'll find a blog with animated excerpts from the book. I've included a link below for a free 15-page sample. If you like what you read, my wife is seeking advance readers who can leave (hopefully positive) reviews on Amazon before the final release. To that end, she's willing to send the complete e-book for FREE to any Horde members who contact her at abilenepotts -at- gmail -dot- com. Her projected full release date on Amazon is October (fingers crossed), but the free e-book can be sent immediately.
Thanks in advance,
PabloD
Sample link:
Get your FREE copy of Junk Love (Sample) (bookfunnel.com)

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Finally, we have a new book coming out from long-time AoSHQ lurker Randy Brown:

Longtime lurking moron here with a new book to share with you and the other morons. I"ve been here since the beginning, before Breitbart was reading the comments and Dave in Texas posted pics every Sunday of pointy elbows. I'm a once-in-a-blue-moon commenter but this is by far my favorite place on the Interwebs.
Anyway, I have a new book coming out. It's titled First and really is my first professionally published book. I self-published three others -- Sunset, Sundown, and Sunrise -- on Amazon in the 2010s. First will be released on October 10th and is available everywhere for preorder in paperback or eBook. Here's the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/First-Randy-Brown/dp/B0CG2YN4BY. I'm biased but I think the cover turned out pretty kickass.
First is about Lewis, a new astronaut for a company called SpaceFirst. They race against a rival company to be the first to send an astronaut to another star system and bring them home safely. Each SpaceFirst astronaut is supplemented by a personalized AI which assists in controlling ship functions, including navigation and life support. Lewis and his fellow astronauts test the new technology within the Solar System and achieve initial success before tragedy strikes. Eventually, the program restarts and Lewis is picked to be the first to travel to Proxima Centauri, over four light years away. Once there, his ship and AI are disabled in a catastrophic accident and he finds himself alone with no way to return home. That's when the real fun starts.
I think AoS readers will enjoy the woke-free story and thank you for running the Sunday Book Thread. Those were big shoes to fill after OregonMuse and you've done a great job.
Thanks!
Randy Brown

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I've been reading a real oddity: Salammbo, by Gustave Flaubert, the guy who wrote Madame Bovary. After examining the lives and infidelities of the French upper middle class -- and getting dragged into court for it -- he decided to write a sword-and-sandal novel set in ancient Carthage. He got very into the research, pestering scholars and archaeologists, even taking a trip to Tunisia (in the 1850s, when that wasn't an easy thing to do).
I like it a lot. Others may find it slow, with too much description, but it fits my guiding principle for fiction: that's what it would be like. I can believe I'm reading about people in Carthage.
And the world is far more fantastic and interesting than 99 percent of the politically-correct Extruded Fantasy Product on the bookstore shelves.
It's based on a real event: the revolt of mercenaries after the First Punic War. In real life, of course, it was because the Carthaginians tried to stiff their hired soldiers and the mercs thought that Carthage was ripe for looting. In the novel it's driven by the doomed romance between the mercenary leader Matho and the Carthaginian maiden Salammbo.
Recommended. I may even look at Bovary again.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 27, 2023 09:13 AM (QZxDR)

Comment: Trimegistus makes an excellent point that REAL history is fascinating and full of interesting details that rivel even the most creative fantasists. Of course, the best fantasists often draw upon historical knowledge and events in order to craft their stories. There really aren't too many original stories under the sun, although there are infinite ways in which to share them.

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Currently reading The Rival Queens by Nancy Goldstone. History of the battle between Catherine de'Medici and her daughter Marguerite de Valois. Makes me glad I'm a peasant.
Posted by: Mpfs at August 27, 2023 09:19 AM (G5ty7)

Comment: I'm including this recommendation because it's an excellent companion to Trimegistus' recomendation. Again, this is a fascinating story about power and rivaly among the complex web of Renaissance politics.

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This week I read most of the first issue of Savage Realms, an e-zine I bought off Amazon. It's an anthology of Sword and Sorcery themed short stories. Basically, an attempt at a pulp revival. The first issue is an obvious homage to Robert E Howard in general, and Conan the Barbarian in particular.
So far, I'm enjoying it. Fun stories, easy to read in one sitting. And while the first three stories each featured the Barbarian archetype as the main hero, the main character isn't actually Conan, so there is enough variety in personality and style that it doesn't feel repetitive.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 27, 2023 09:27 AM (Lhaco)

Comment: I think it's cool that there's still a market for "pulp" fiction, even if it's delivered in electronic format these days. There are quite a few Savage Realms issues available.

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Currently re-reading The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan. His theme is the history of the later Roman Republic in the century or so prior to the Triumvirates, when the Republics went through a series of crises that undermined its peaceful government of consent by both the patricians and plebians, and paved the way for dictatorial government. Duncan claims he is not making a specific allegorical comparison between that period of history and our current era in the USA. (The book was published in 2018.) The reader is free to draw their own conclusions, and shudder. It's still an excellent work of period history in its own right, and one will learn a great deal about how the republic worked, or was supposed to work, before it was perverted by too much blood and gold.
Posted by: exdem13 at August 27, 2023 12:04 PM (W+kMI)

Comment: The turbulent period we are experiencing now in American history is not a new concept. Empires always crumble and fall over time, as they are hollowed out by those who crave power over serving the needs of the subjects. Then another empire will rise from the ashes, only to go through the same process all over again. I never expected that I would be living during the fall of the American Empire, but here we are.

I recently finished reading Margaret Coit's 1950 biography John C. Calhoun: American Portrait. If anybody's only exposure to Sen. Calhoun is through Ken Burns' pozzed "documentary" or a public skrewl education, they really need to seek out this book. Before the Marxists completed their long march through academia, Calhoun was widely regarded by both Northern and Southern historians as the greatest political philosopher America ever produced. Coit does a great job humanizing a larger-than-life historical figure without going down the post-modernist deconstruction path a lot of modern authors do.
Afterwards I read Calhoun's A Disquisition on Government. It's a warning of the dangers of pure democracy and the threat posed by a powerful central government that disregards states' rights, along with a blueprint for a system that protects states' rights and individual liberty. When he says that a limitless democracy is every bit the absolutist tyranny that a monarchy or dictatorship is, you'd think he was looking into a crystal ball and seeing current year. Also, we don't use the word "disquisition" nearly enough these days.
Thank you for the weekly book thread,
Prince Ludwig the Deplorable

Comment: Since I work in a university library, I decided to see if we had a copy of Calhoun's A Disquisition on Government readily available around here. Sadly, it was not immediately available. However, another campus within our system does have a copy of it, so I put in a request to have it sent to my local campus. University libraries are awesome!

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (953 Moron-recommended books so far!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

The Scorpion's Tail by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- No scorpions appear to have been harmed in the making of this book. Not even sure why it's called that.

Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison -- It's a very good anthology of stories by New Wave science fiction authors such as Poul Anderson, Philip José Farmer, Damon Knight, Roger Zelazny, and many, many more. In this edition, there is additional front matter by Michael Moorcock and Harlan Ellison, along with the original introductions by Isaac Asimov and Harlan Ellison. Each story has an introduction by Ellison, providing amusing details about the author, as well as an afterword by the author, explaining details about the story.

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 - 08-27-23 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

(The only monster Huggy Squirrel worries about is the neighbor's cat!)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at September 03, 2023 09:00 AM (MOY79)

2 Must be hard to dust those top shelves in that library.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:00 AM (Angsy)

3 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. My was even more eclectic than usual.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 09:01 AM (7EjX1)

4 Anything I can say about those idiotic 'these pants' has already come to the Horde mind.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

5 Books, Gromit!

Posted by: Wallace and Gromit at September 03, 2023 09:03 AM (PiwSw)

6 Morning, Book Folken! That Savage Realms e-zine: Are they still going, and does anybody know if they are looking for submissions? I have a few fantasy stories (I call my sub-sub-genre "hardboiled fantasy," i.e., magic works but people still have to earn a living).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 09:04 AM (omVj0)

7 Here is the photo of the bust of Ada Lovelace:

Yes it is, but that's not important right now.
-- Lt. Frank Drebin

Posted by: Tonypete at September 03, 2023 09:04 AM (+5YjI)

8 From a suggestion from Frontpage Mag, reading a compilation Barack Obama's True Legaxy by Jamie Glazov but many contributes.

Posted by: Skip at September 03, 2023 09:05 AM (MOY79)

9 Junk Love actually looks interesting and nothing at all like I would normally read. On it.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:06 AM (43xH1)

10 Good morning literary morons. Day 2 of vacation. Khets are driving our house sitter mad. I'm in a Best Western in the West Virginia part of Maryland. Had a delicious streak last night. Sushi for dinner tonight on the Eastern shore.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:07 AM (u5q7j)

11 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.

Some sad news for any Hordelings in the southern NH / northeastern MA area: Avenue Victor Hugo Books in Lee NH is closing at the end of October. They'll still be online, but the owner says he's just too old to keep the physical store running. Everything right now is 20% off, and there will be deeper discounts in October.

I was there on Friday, am going back again in a couple of weeks and will return in October for a final trawl.

https://tinyurl.com/394wnnsf

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 09:07 AM (AW0uW)

12 It was a good week for periodicals. First, Backwoodsman magazine arrived. All those articles with nostalgia and practical information. Then the latest Muzzleloader magazine was in the mailbox with so much history and beautiful photos and art. I savor both of these slowly over several weeks.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 09:08 AM (7EjX1)

13 LenNeal --

From the last thread, here is a link to that Walther I mentioned.
https://tinyurl.com/4mmj2yjd

Posted by: Doof at September 03, 2023 09:08 AM (BiuMW)

14 Not until more than halfway through "Marco Polo, If You Can" do we learn why Blackford Oakes of the CIA was flying a U-2 plane that crashed, leaving him locked up in the Lubyanka. The operation stems from a spy hunt that kept him busy in Berlin. (A drunken Kruschev had let slip to Eisenhower that he has access to the minutes of National Security Council meetings.)

Not that I'm complaining. OK, one gripe -- as is his wont, William F. Buckley Jr. sprinkles $50 words throughout the story. I don't want to take the time to look them up; I'd rather keep reading the book.

I'm also reading Batman reprints courtesy of the library system. One book, "The Batman Archives: Volume One," has the earliest Batman stories. He didn't have a cave or gadgets then. And he's driving a bright red roadster.

Posted by: Willow Geek at September 03, 2023 09:08 AM (p/isN)

15 I as bore easily reading I now do the Cliff Claven Notes.

Can be read in a bar over a beer.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 09:08 AM (BRHaw)

16 The Pants guy needs a shave.

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:08 AM (T4tVD)

17 In other news, I have finished the audio book of David McCullough's John Adams. I'd been listening in the car whenever I had a long drive, and it was a great adventure. I have the physical book and don't think I'll ever listen to the audio version again, so if anyone wants it, let me know and I'll pop it in the mail.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 09:09 AM (AW0uW)

18 Must be hard to dust those top shelves in that library.

It reminds me of the scene in The Mummy when Rachel Weisz demolishes the library by tipping over the first bookshelf in a line of dominoes.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:10 AM (I/Qkd)

19 Oh, I am updating the website with pdfs of work as I get to it, today is the text/compilation of The Picture Story, that is rather an arcane piece.

Also, 'How To Make A Successful Movie', the tiny little paperback exploring a seeming pattern evident in historical image stories. It doesn't make much sense without the other two 'books' so next week I'll have up the third book, and the bibliography of The Picture Story.

I'm already moving on to the next project and don't have time to 'market' stuff I've already done so I'll just toss it up on the website.

leneal.com

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:10 AM (43xH1)

20 I guess when they built the library in the top pic, they were expecting customers with LONG Heads.

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:12 AM (T4tVD)

21 From the last thread, here is a link to that Walther I mentioned.
https://tinyurl.com/4mmj2yjd
Posted by: Doof'

Thanks, that looks sweet, with a not-insane price.

Yeah, I like that. I knew about the Chiappa but yes/no/maybe...
This looks cool!
Thanks again.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:12 AM (43xH1)

22 One book, "The Batman Archives: Volume One," has the earliest Batman stories. He didn't have a cave or gadgets then. And he's driving a bright red roadster.

In the 1943 Batman serial from Columbia Pictures, the Caped Crusader drove an ordinary 2-door sedan. Cute and charming, to look back on.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 09:13 AM (AW0uW)

23 I have on audible 4 in rotation currently

Caiphus Cain Book 2 (Warhammer 40K)

In the first book, he continuously tells us how his efforts to stay safe turn into events of legendary heroism. It is a mixture of luck, self-effacing lies, and imposter syndrome. He is not fierce like other Warhammer character, but evades disaster like a wily tunnel rat.

He lies twice, telling the reader he is a coward, and playing the hero to his troops. Of course "coming clean" would do much more harm than good. He is a terrific officer in an organization filled with terrible officers.

I made the meme with an intelligence bell-curve. The idiot and the genius say Cain is a hero, and the midwit says he is a coward.

I might get around to painting a model of him, with a smug lopsided grin EG Baron Munchausen.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at September 03, 2023 09:13 AM (ybIRR)

24 Our homeschool co-op always has a summer read for students and parents, and this year it was Grit, by Angela Duckworth. It's about success and tenacity, with loads of data on how high-achievers in a wide range if disciplines succeed. It has changed my view on innate ability vs. training and perseverance.

Also made me question some of my own life choices - world class expertise often requires a life-long fanatical devotion to one niche. Personally I become obsessed with something, really improve, and then get bored and move on to something else. Maybe when I break 29 I'll finally figure it out.

Posted by: Candidus at September 03, 2023 09:13 AM (oFLDw)

25 Morning.

In honor I f the shit show that is this year's Burning Man I highly recommend Brian Doherty's 2004 book, This Is Burning Man. It's a wonderful read that goes into the background of the event and the people who founded it as well as detailing what was originally a free wheeling arts festival run by weirdos and attended by genuinely creative outsider-y types.

There are quite a few used paperback copies that can be found on Amazon for five to seven bucks plus free shipping.

Posted by: Robert at September 03, 2023 09:14 AM (6g2Jq)

26 I guess when they built the library in the top pic, they were expecting customers with LONG Heads.

We are legion!

Posted by: Cone Heads at September 03, 2023 09:14 AM (I/Qkd)

27 I think one of the difficulties in getting into someone like Calhoun's writing is that whatever abstract ideas or observations he has about rights and liberties, there's the inescapable paradox of having a massive slave population.

A good overview of the political situation in 1860 can be found in Bruce Catton's The Coming Fury, which goes into considerable detail on exactly what the "Fireaters" expected in terms of the Democrat Platform.

Does anyone know if Calhoun outlines a plan to reconcile this contradiction?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:14 AM (llXky)

28 As others here have done, I read You Will Own Nothing: Your War With A New Financial Order And How To Fight Back by Carol Roth. This serves as a companion book to Glenn Beck's Dark Future. Roth concentrates on the economic policies of the World Economic Forum that are geared to prevent ownership and wealth accumulation by those not already in the global elite. For me, the most disturbing policy is the buying up of farmland and water rights by elites, large corporations, and hedge and investment funds. Also disturbing is their plan to trade water as a commodity like corn or soy beans.

The elites want to cut the world's population drastically. Part of their plan is to do it through higher water and food prices and drastic cuts to food production. Their trial run a few years ago in Sri Lanka was a great success when their policies led to a country becoming an importer of food rather than an exporter. Widespread starvation led to riots and the collapse of the government.

Posted by: Zoltan at September 03, 2023 09:14 AM (3qIfi)

29 For LUNBFM I designed a handgun, based on the BR1982 blaster, I don't know if I shared it

https://tinyurl.com/3am84c73

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:15 AM (43xH1)

30 The 2024 Old Farmer's Almanac came out. Getting it on the first day is an annul tradition. People sneer at the weather predictions but from what I've seen over the years, they are no worse than the 'scientific' long range guess work from the media. Plus, there are always unusual articles and bits of information. This issue has a piece on the history and social significance of pancakes which was quite interesting along with a recipe for blueberry pancakes. (Blueberry pancakes are one of the proofs that God loves us and wants us to be happy.) Then there was an item about Lammas Day, August 1. The name derives from Old English meaning "loaf mass". I wonder if that is where Tolkien (obligatory mention) got the name for the Elves' lembas bread.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 09:15 AM (7EjX1)

31 "In the 1943 Batman serial from Columbia Pictures, the Caped Crusader drove an ordinary 2-door sedan. Cute and charming, to look back on.'

Is that the one that Rifftrax did?

https://youtu.be/X6ymBFTgoSw?si=Mp1MBH5HD9HpKzqs

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:16 AM (u5q7j)

32 Good Morning again.
That library picture is interesting because I was there many years ago and I am sure the place was almost empty. Going to see if I have a picture with the books on the shelf. Pretty sure the trip was pre phone camera so not sure I have one.
I do remember being ushered into a room one at a time where the Book of Kells was displayed.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 09:16 AM (t/2Uw)

33 Morning.

In honor I f the shit show that is this year's Burning Man I highly recommend Brian Doherty's 2004 book, This Is Burning Man. It's a wonderful read that goes into the background of the event and the people who founded it as well as detailing what was originally a free wheeling arts festival run by weirdos and attended by genuinely creative outsider-y types.

There are quite a few used paperback copies that can be found on Amazon for five to seven bucks plus free shipping.
Posted by: Robert

American money ?

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:16 AM (T4tVD)

34 I'm about halfway through Max Sanders' discourse on Parade's End, and I'm starting to get bored with it. I've read the series twice, and while I now know much more about its background, having the biographer explain it to me over 82 pages is a bit much, so I'm starting to skim through it.

Looking forward to finishing this behemoth, which is so dense that I can barely get through five or six pages in one go. Very interesting, but dense.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:18 AM (llXky)

35 As others here have done, I read You Will Own Nothing: Your War With A New Financial Order And How To Fight Back by Carol Roth.

I couldn't read that. JJs links already engender enough despair in me.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 09:19 AM (AW0uW)

36 the projected audience is women

One genre that is published by the truckload and gets no notice here is romance novels. I realized this yesterday when I was in a secondhand bookstore in another town and didn't find any of my targets. But it was filled with romances.

I've never read one, so I have nothing to say about them.

Just tossing this into the mix.

Posted by: Willow Geek at September 03, 2023 09:19 AM (p/isN)

37 Does anyone know if Calhoun outlines a plan to reconcile this contradiction?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Roary Calhoun ?

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:19 AM (T4tVD)

38 I couldn't read that. JJs links already engender enough despair in me.

Allow me to give you a ray of hope. Britain may not be irretrievably lost. Well, labor is, of course. Imagine being so clueless as to oppose enforcing the law.

https://tinyurl.com/mr2zkf7d

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:20 AM (I/Qkd)

39 Does anyone know if Calhoun outlines a plan to reconcile this contradiction?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Roary Calhoun ?

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:19 AM (T4tVD)

Haystack.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:21 AM (Angsy)

40 The Book of Kells features as a major plot point in The Lost Island by Preston & Child. Gideon Crew is hired to steal it while it's being displayed in New York City.

Turns out, the folks who hired him only need ONE PAGE from the book...which turns out to have significant historical value above and beyond the entire Book of Kells itself.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 09:22 AM (BpYfr)

41 American money ?
Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:16 AM (T4tVD)

Um...pretty sure. I could always message one and see if he'll accept belly button lint.

Posted by: Robert at September 03, 2023 09:23 AM (5OS8S)

42 > Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison

The successor volume, Again Dangerous Visions, is also quite good as I recall.

Sadly, Ellison sat on the final volume for something like 30 years. It was never published in his lifetime, and hasn't come out posthumously as far as I know.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 03, 2023 09:23 AM (Y6AXb)

43 Nemo just had to mention the Book of Kells in his description about the library photo. Damn! Now I have to find the book I have about it. The Book of Kells is a fascinating object historically and artistically.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 09:23 AM (7EjX1)

44 I couldn't read that. JJs links already engender enough despair in me.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 09:19 AM (AW0uW)
---
The world is crazy enough without reading about all the ways it could get worse.

The other thing to keep in mind is that elites of every era always overestimate their genius and underestimate the fragility of their power.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:23 AM (llXky)

45 The next project is more of an obligation: someone very close to me had their only child, their son, killed in the 02/2023 earthquake in Turkey/Syria. The son was not even 10 years old, and his father is calling in every chip he can to memorialize his son, and that includes me and whatever writing skills I can muster. I hid from it to do 'Let Us Now Be...' because it was too fresh, but now I have to do it.
It's a dance act as the actual location is not strictly 'Islamic' but a mishmash of every kind of belief anyone can imagine. The cemetery where his son is buried has multiple sections: Muslim, Jewish, Greek, Catholic, Orthodox, and a bunch of others. So this next 'project' isn't fictional fun it's something that is going to require every trick I have.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:23 AM (43xH1)

46 Good Sunday morning, horde!

That was a lot of content. Good stuff, Perfessor!

The Storm Before the Storm is on audio--I think I'll try that this week. Depends on the reader.

And Salammbo is .99 on kindle, so I'll try that one soon, too.

I've been having a hard time finding anything that interests me lately--I start a book, abandon it within a couple of chapters, repeat. These are outside of my normal reading genres, so may be just what the librarian ordered.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 09:24 AM (OX9vb)

47 Last week I mentioned that I am highlighting and notating my books when a passage catches my attention. Some of the items I use are Bic Brite Liners which are bright but don't bleed through the paper, Book Darts (note to self to order more), acid free index cards as bookmarks, and a good notebook to write down the many random thoughts that the reading brings to mind. I'm finding that doing this helps me remember the passages and leads to interesting trails of thought and associations. Definitely worth the small effort it takes.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 09:24 AM (7EjX1)

48 I picked up EG White's The Great Controversy from a street corner free newspaper thingy. I didn't know it was written by a 7th Day Adventist founder. I like the historical aspect of it.

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at September 03, 2023 09:24 AM (Eeb9P)

49 and we have a population of serfs, meaning illegals the ones that led to the social wars, that were bookended by the ones against jugurtha, and mithridates,

so who could throw first stone, the northern shipping companies, the british cotton warehouses, or the southern plantations,

Posted by: no 6 at September 03, 2023 09:24 AM (PXvVL)

50 Allow me to give you a ray of hope. Britain may not be irretrievably lost. Well, labor is, of course. Imagine being so clueless as to oppose enforcing the law.

https://tinyurl.com/mr2zkf7d

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:20 AM (I/Qkd)

Yeah, well the bungling - or is it sabotage - by the current gov't seems to be insuring Labour wins in the next election.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:24 AM (Angsy)

51 One genre that is published by the truckload and gets no notice here is romance novels. I realized this yesterday when I was in a secondhand bookstore in another town and didn't find any of my targets. But it was filled with romances.

I've never read one, so I have nothing to say about them.

Just tossing this into the mix.
Posted by: Willow Geek at September 03, 2023 09:19 AM (p/isN)
---
That's a fair point. It's not a genre that's in my wheelhouse, so I have difficulty using that genre as a point for discussion. I'd definitely be interested to hear from the Horde about great romance stories.

My own knowledge is limited mostly to the classical medieval romances, which are very different from the modern romance novel.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 09:25 AM (BpYfr)

52 Does anyone know if Calhoun outlines a plan to reconcile this contradiction?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Roary Calhoun ?

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:19 AM (T4tVD)

Haystack.
Posted by: OrangeEnt

At least it wasn't Cornpop Calhoun.

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:25 AM (T4tVD)

53 One genre that is published by the truckload and gets no notice here is romance novels. I realized this yesterday when I was in a secondhand bookstore in another town and didn't find any of my targets. But it was filled with romances.
I've never read one, so I have nothing to say about them.
Just tossing this into the mix.
Posted by: Willow Geek'

You are missing out, you should read some. Some are junk but they are female version of the male series books, like the character-driven Assassin-type novels that sell into the hundreds of millions. Romance and 'Trash' Fiction are the true best-sellers of books.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:26 AM (43xH1)

54 38 I couldn't read that. JJs links already engender enough despair in me.

Allow me to give you a ray of hope. Britain may not be irretrievably lost. Well, labor is, of course. Imagine being so clueless as to oppose enforcing the law.

https://tinyurl.com/mr2zkf7d
Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:20 AM (I/Qkd)

I read a great story in a town of about 30k that the shop owners are outing the thieves on facebook and the like. I guess the leader was approached by the local constabulary and the conversation ended with the shop own telling the copper to sod off.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 09:27 AM (BRHaw)

55 Tim Burton was the only one to get the Batmobile done right. But I would love to see a 32-foot-long art deco Bruce Tim version.

I like every version except one (even the matte black Dodge Charger was good) and I like having scenes that show it as unstoppable power.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at September 03, 2023 09:27 AM (ybIRR)

56 Re: Dangerous Visions

The executor of Harlan's estate, J. Michael Straczynski (sp? the guy behind Babylon 5) is working on getting Ellison's books back in print. The original DV should be reissued by Blackstone in February, if memory serves, with Again DV to follow several months later. He's gone over The Last DV material as well and that one should come from Blackstone, again if memory serves, late 2024 or early 2025.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 09:27 AM (a/4+U)

57 One genre that is published by the truckload and gets no notice here is romance novels. I realized this yesterday when I was in a secondhand bookstore in another town and didn't find any of my targets. But it was filled with romances.

I think two factors may be in play.

1) Most people don't want to fess up to reading the things. They're pretty much the definition of a guilty pleasure.

2) It could be that channels like Hallmark are poaching the romance novel audience, as I imagine there's a lot of overlap.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:28 AM (I/Qkd)

58 Thanks to all the readers who recommend the good books they have read. I recently read "Felonious Monk" and "The Magpie Murders" and they were both very entertaining. I have found the horde book list to be very helpful in suggesting books to request from inter-library loan because our own library in my little hometown is pitifully short on stock in the stacks.

Posted by: huerfano at September 03, 2023 09:28 AM (7zEAH)

59 going further back, the greeks had slaves as well, in the time of their glorious republic, I think jim crow did a fait accompli as much as slavery,

Posted by: no 6 at September 03, 2023 09:28 AM (PXvVL)

60 I have the Fagles translations of The Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid which are my favorite versions. All have extensive intros by Bernard Knox which are worth reading. Turns out Knox is an interesting man. Born in England, became American, and for his service with the OSS during WW II was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Croix de Guerre. In 1945 he was pinned down in an ancient monastery filled with books. He swore if he survived he would learn what was in those tomes. He was serious and became one of the most important Humanities expert in the 20th century. His intros remind me of CS Lewis' "Preface to Paradise Lost" in how well he provides context and techniques in a way that makes the literature better appreciated. It's not just style, Knox brings real world experience to such an academic function. I guess the job agreed with him as he lived to be 95 years old.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 09:28 AM (7EjX1)

61 That's a fair point. It's not a genre that's in my wheelhouse, so I have difficulty using that genre as a point for discussion. I'd definitely be interested to hear from the Horde about great romance stories.

My own knowledge is limited mostly to the classical medieval romances, which are very different from the modern romance novel.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 09:25 AM (BpYfr)
---
Back in the day, my mother would go through two or three of those a week and I'd then sell them to the used book store to get sci-fi or fantasy books. I glanced through them, and it was (as one would expect) very formulaic.

The story really is on the cover, and they seem designed to be comforting and predictable, a hand-held soap opera, as it were.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:28 AM (llXky)

62 Ha! I've done a series of short stories of... erotic content, and showed them to a colleague who looked over a few and declared, "Well. You've invented a new genre: Romantic Fiction For Tough Guys!"

I have a short story that encapsulates that ethos, I'll post it up on the website, it will explain.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:29 AM (43xH1)

63 The story really is on the cover, and they seem designed to be comforting and predictable, a hand-held soap opera, as it were.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd'

They sell billions.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:29 AM (43xH1)

64 it was (as one would expect) very formulaic.

The story really is on the cover, and they seem designed to be comforting and predictable, a hand-held soap opera, as it were.

*shifty eyes*

Posted by: Hallmark Channel at September 03, 2023 09:30 AM (I/Qkd)

65 20 I guess when they built the library in the top pic, they were expecting customers with LONG Heads.
Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:12 AM (T4tVD)

*nods knowingly

Posted by: Giorgio Tsoukalos at September 03, 2023 09:30 AM (OX9vb)

66 Morning hoarde. Been too stressed to really sit down and read this week. Had two managers quit this week. So now I must fill the shoes of VP, Purchasing Manager, Maintnence Manager, Inventory Manager, and Receiving.

Ima quit and just sit around and read for a month or two.

I can't do that. Too many people depending on me for so they can feed their kids. I gotta make this work and find a few good people to go to work for us.

I probably ought to get out there and get some shit done.

No weekends for me for a while.

Posted by: Reforger at September 03, 2023 09:32 AM (B705c)

67 > He's gone over The Last DV material as well and that one should come from Blackstone, again if memory serves, late 2024 or early 2025.

Good news. Thanks.

A lot of people have been waiting for that one for a lot of years.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 03, 2023 09:33 AM (Y6AXb)

68 And again, I very much thank everyone who took the time to actually read the Sci-Fi piece 'Let Us Now Be Famous Men', the positive feedback is genuinely appreciated, and one of you caught a misspelling I missed.

Thank You.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:33 AM (43xH1)

69 Not meant as a criticism, Prof.

I do wonder whether the editors and proofreaders of romances dread coming to work and how much turnover those publishing houses have.

I'm reminded of the father of two acquaintances of mine from high school. He was an author. Wrote a few detective novels then moved into romances. Word was he was successful at it.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 03, 2023 09:33 AM (p/isN)

70 Lousy Batmobiles:

1) Schumacher neon dildo

(NEW!) 2) Standard convertable Plymouth with whitewall tires

Posted by: BourbonChicken at September 03, 2023 09:33 AM (ybIRR)

71 Morning hoarde. Been too stressed to really sit down and read this week. Had two managers quit this week. So now I must fill the shoes of VP, Purchasing Manager, Maintnence Manager, Inventory Manager, and Receiving.

But, that's FIVE people !

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:34 AM (T4tVD)

72 This week I read Robert Parker's 7th book in the Spenser series Early Autumn. It is very different from the others I've read so far in that it is not really a detective novel. Parker continues to delve into Spenser's psyche through his relationship with a 15 year old boy whom he rescues from a toxic feud between the boy's mother and father. He been hired by the mother to retrieve the boy from the father who has hidden him and fuses to return him.
He finds the boy and decides neither parent really care about the skinny, sad kid who is just a pawn in his parents in name only game.
His decision to not return the kid causes some problems with his significant other Susan Silverman and makes him a target so eventually the book becomes a detective story and things get resolved in an interesting way.
I really liked it but keep wishing for a real mystery book like the Galbraith books.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 09:34 AM (t/2Uw)

73 He's gone over The Last DV material as well and that one should come from Blackstone, again if memory serves, late 2024 or early 2025.

Good news. Thanks.

A lot of people have been waiting for that one for a lot of years.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 03, 2023 09:33 AM (Y6AXb)
---
It'll be interesting to see if they can pull it off. The first Dangerous Visions was about pushing the boundaries of the taboos that were existent at that time. What taboos are left in society? The Leftists have already normalized a great deal of things that would have been unthinkable back in the 1960s.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 09:35 AM (BpYfr)

74 But, that's FIVE people !

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:34 AM (T4tVD)

But the beauty is, one salary!

Posted by: The Owners at September 03, 2023 09:35 AM (Angsy)

75 I do wonder whether the editors and proofreaders of romances dread coming to work and how much turnover those publishing houses have.
I'm reminded of the father of two acquaintances of mine from high school. He was an author. Wrote a few detective novels then moved into romances. Word was he was successful at it.
Posted by: Weak Geek'

The 'authors' of those books treat it as a job, and get up in the morning and go to work like I go to the supermarket and sell food. It bothers nobody in those publishing houses.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:35 AM (43xH1)

76 Oh, good Gawd -- I just noticed that I hadn't changed the semi-sock I pulled on last night to wrap up the music thread.

Did anybody else notice?

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 03, 2023 09:37 AM (p/isN)

77 The 'authors' of those books treat it as a job, and get up in the morning and go to work like I go to the supermarket and sell food. It bothers nobody in those publishing houses.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:35 AM (43xH1)

Wonder how much cut and paste goes on in those books?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:37 AM (Angsy)

78 Hey book freaks.

Well, I ended up enjoying James Rollins' looming apocalypse fantasy novel "The Starless Crown" and will continue the Moonfall series with "The Cradle of Ice". It's not deathless prose but I like the characters and worldbuilding. But one could cut about a quarter of the book and it would make for a tighter story.

Not to be confused with "Moonfall":

https://tinyurl.com/msd8eex2

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 03, 2023 09:37 AM (ynMLt)

79 But, that's FIVE people !

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:34 AM (T4tVD)

But the beauty is, one salary!
Posted by: The Owners

No WONDER they quit !

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:38 AM (T4tVD)

80 Once again, slugging my way through Dante's Inferno.

I'm using Robert and Jean Hollander's translation primarily as support for the 100 Days of Dante videos produced by Baylor University. I need both types of material in order for my little pea brain to grasp the work.

Posted by: Tonypete at September 03, 2023 09:38 AM (+5YjI)

81 I didn't watch the full video (time is precious on the book thread!), but I've noticed a lot of very incompetent writing of late, as if the writers either aren't sure how to end a story or know the ending they want, but can't quite figure out how to get there.

I think this comes down to writing what you know, either through living it or reading the classics. If you think of film as literature, the founding generation of Hollywood (1930s) by definition started out doing other things, and the studio heads were largely starting from scratch, making it up as they went along. The next generation (1950s) built on that, formalizing and expanding it, and then the third generation (1970s) imitated it and added some new glosses.

But by the 1990s, the snake was starting to eat its tail until we're now seeing writing by people who likely have never seen a film made before the 80s. They're basically painting by numbers because they've never had to innovate.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:39 AM (llXky)

82 From the last thread, here is a link to that Walther I mentioned.
Posted by: Doof

Please post a short (or not so short) review in the gub thread.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 09:39 AM (nfrXX)

83 I held out for a while about making a living writing and finally, belatedly, recognized that for me, myself, I am flatly too eccentric and well, crazy to deal with it, and read a statement: "If nobody ever sees your work, you have nobody to blame but yourself."

So I write from personal compulsion; if you're any good, you will too. It's a rare intersection of person that can connect the compulsion with commerce.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:39 AM (43xH1)

84 E. Gordon Gee, president of West Virginia University, is following the Sheriff Bart playbook by stripping away $45 million worth of programs — including the entire world languages program — as he overspent the budget and must trim just under 4% of the school’s $1.2 billion budget.

“As students and faculty prepared for the start of the new academic year this month, the president of West Virginia University, Gordon Gee, made a startling announcement: he’s eliminating 169 faculty jobs, about 16% of the full-time professors, and dropping 32 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including all of its foreign language programs.”

PS The are 4 to 1 ADMINS VS Teachers at WVU.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 09:40 AM (BRHaw)

85 Wonder how much cut and paste goes on in those books?
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

Quite a bit! And, it's not actually due to laziness from the authors, it's from expectation from

The Audience.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:40 AM (43xH1)

86 Wonder how much cut and paste goes on in those books?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:37 AM (Angsy)
---
Just wait until AI is able to produce those books on demand...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 09:40 AM (BpYfr)

87 From the last thread, here is a link to that Walther I mentioned.
Posted by: Doof
Please post a short (or not so short) review in the gub thread.
Posted by: Oddbob'

It's a COLT!

(Foaming at mouth and lining up to buy it)

Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:42 AM (43xH1)

88 The 'authors' of those books treat it as a job, and get up in the morning and go to work like I go to the supermarket and sell food. It bothers nobody in those publishing houses.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:35 AM (43xH1)
---
Yep. There's long been something of a division in the writing community between those who fancy themselves "serious authors" and those just trying to make a buck through sheer volume.

The thing is, even the serious people needed to put food on the table, so they also turned out fairly unremarkable stuff that is generally forgotten.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:42 AM (llXky)

89 I have boxes of Romance novels. I'm the guy who will take any and all books when a relative or close friend passes. Keep them safe until a new home is found.

NOBODY has ever expressed interest in the Romance stuff.

I read them as a kid because I would chew through books faster than shit and my mom had them laying around everywhere. I would also chew through The NEA magazine, Golf Digest, TV guide and Omni. Popular mechanics was far and away my favorite magazine.
Read the local rag newspaper cover to cover every day too.

Posted by: Reforger at September 03, 2023 09:42 AM (B705c)

90 are missing out, you should read some. Some are junk but they are female version of the male series books, like the character-driven Assassin-type novels that sell into the hundreds of millions. Romance and 'Trash' Fiction are the true best-sellers of books.
Posted by: LenNeal

This is very true. I read a lot of this and yes, a lot is throwaway junk, but there are some really good writers who get tagged as Romance writers and therefore completely ignored by male readers.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 09:42 AM (t/2Uw)

91 Bored men make great films.
Great films make thrilled men.
Thrilled men make trite films.
Trite films make bored men.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at September 03, 2023 09:43 AM (ybIRR)

92 “As students and faculty prepared for the start of the new academic year this month, the president of West Virginia University, Gordon Gee, made a startling announcement: he’s eliminating 169 faculty jobs, about 16% of the full-time professors, and dropping 32 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including all of its foreign language programs.”

PS The are 4 to 1 ADMINS VS Teachers at WVU.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 09:40 AM (BRHaw)

But not cutting gay, women, of color, other deviant "studies" I've read somewhere. Just the stuff that matters.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:44 AM (Angsy)

93 Bored men make great films.
Great films make thrilled men.
Thrilled men make trite films.
Trite films make bored men.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at September 03, 2023 09:43 AM (ybIRR)
---
Heh, I saw a Slavic take on the Strong Men meme:

Hard Times Make Strong Men
Strong Men Make Hard Times

Alternating images of Ivan the Terrible, Stalin, huts being burned.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:45 AM (llXky)

94 Wonder how much cut and paste goes on in those books?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:37 AM (Angsy)
Just wait until AI is able to produce those books on demand...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel'

i'm debating that. There are, in my opinion, patterns in successful work having to do with figure relations, but whether AI is fast enough to stay ahead of that is open to debate. Rote houses can publish formulaic novels and that's fine, but people change evident mis-en-scene at the drop of a hat. In 'How To Make A Successful Movie' I quote Yogi Berra: 'If people don't want to come to the ballpark, nobody can stop them'.

I think there are simply too many variables and I got into that in the third book, not yet up. Mostly because I can't find it! I put it on LULU to print proofs and now can't find the complete pdf. It's here somewhere.

Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:45 AM (43xH1)

95 I have found the horde book list to be very helpful in suggesting books to request from inter-library loan because our own library in my little hometown is pitifully short on stock in the stacks.
Posted by: huerfano at September 03, 2023 09:28 AM (7zEAH)

Same here, huerfano. I'm also a small town dweller, and I work at home, so rarely go to the city. Inter-library loan is a great feature!

Posted by: Giorgio Tsoukalos at September 03, 2023 09:46 AM (OX9vb)

96 Busy week without a lot of time to read, but I did run across this article:
https://www.statecraft.pub/p/saving-twenty-million-lives
Very interesting stuff about Bush's anti-AIDS initiative in Africa, which worked spectacularly well -- which is why you never heard about it when it was happening 20 years ago.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 03, 2023 09:46 AM (QZxDR)

97 I read Dangerous Visions when it first came out (my freshman year in college) and was blown away by most of it. Ditto Again DV. But the story that sticks most in my memory from the original isn't one of the let's-shatter-some-taboos-here pieces -- it's Robert Silverberg's terrific entry, "Flies," which didn't seem like an unpublishable piece at all. Reading DV today, and thinking about the kind of work that was showing up at the time in Galaxy, If, and F&SF, I'm thinking a number of stories in the book probably could have been published in some of the magazines. Ditto, ADV. I don't expect a lot of this-couldn't-appear-anywhere-else from The Last DV, but there's sure to be some pretty good work in it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 09:47 AM (a/4+U)

98 Booken morgen horden!

vdoggeh & me both relaxing at home

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 09:47 AM (vHIgi)

99 But not cutting gay, women, of color, other deviant "studies" I've read somewhere. Just the stuff that matters.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:44 AM (Angsy)
---
College is a finishing school for neurotic women with wealthy parents.

A lot of universities will be shutting down in the next few years as all that wealth is wiped out. Also, the student population pool is shrinking. Sad.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:47 AM (llXky)

100 As y'all probably know, I'm a big fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

Well, Season 2 of Amazon's version has started up (first three episodes, I think).

I've been amusing myself by watching them being torn to shreds by Disparu and Shad of Shadiversity.

The people who have "adapted" these books clearly have NO love for the source material and take every opportunity to shit all over Jordan's masterwork.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 09:47 AM (BpYfr)

101 “As students and faculty prepared for the start of the new academic year this month, the president of West Virginia University, Gordon Gee, made a startling announcement: he’s eliminating 169 faculty jobs, about 16% of the full-time professors, and dropping 32 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including all of its foreign language programs.”

PS The are 4 to 1 ADMINS VS Teachers at WVU.

He could probably drop that to 2 to 1 if he just got rid of all of the racial grievance apparatus. He won't, of course.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:48 AM (I/Qkd)

102 This week I read Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child, of Preston and Child fame. A group of scientists are in an Arctic base in the far north of Alaska. The group's trip is funded by a TV network that wants a show about glacial retreat, and when the scientists stumble upon a strange prehistoric creature frozen in the ice, the network sends a director and crew to film the thawing on live TV. Unfortunately for them, some creatures can be frozen and rethawed. And, this particular beast enjoys hunting people. The base had been closed several years earlier by the military after a top secret "incident", and a military skeleton crew is on hand for security, but cannot prevent the unfolding disaster. Dr Jeremy Logan comes in as an expert on enigmas to aid the scientists in determining how to try and stop the thing. The portrayal of the director and crew is accurate enough to almost make one want to pull for the creature. Yet again, real scientific theory is presented in novel form by Child, which is a recurring theme of Jeremy Logan books. This is one of the earlier books in the series, and Logan is less defined and more mysterious. It is an interesting story, reminiscent of The Thing.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 03, 2023 09:49 AM (n3MkI)

103 I'm about to begin reading Michael Chricton's State of Fear.

I read it when it first came out and want to see how it compares to the current madness.

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:49 AM (T4tVD)

104 Thanks for THE Book Thread Perfesser !

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 09:50 AM (T4tVD)

105 I quote Yogi Berra: 'If people don't want to come to the ballpark, nobody can stop them'.

That man was either autistic or absolutely brilliant. You just don't come up with that many memorable sayings without being one or the other.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:50 AM (I/Qkd)

106 So I write from personal compulsion; if you're any good, you will too. It's a rare intersection of person that can connect the compulsion with commerce.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:39 AM (43xH1)

What if you don't feel a compulsion, but just think you can do it because of the crap you see on the bookstore shelves and what the Enemy Press pimps?

"Hack" writers get published, good or not, because they know how to play the game, even if they're not good writers?

So, am I starting to write because I'm bored with retirement, or do I have some skill? Only someone else can tell me that.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:50 AM (Angsy)

107 "But not cutting gay, women, of color, other deviant "studies" I've read somewhere. Just the stuff that matters."

And not cutting administrative jobs. First rule of bureaucracy, cut essential services first. That way, you have leverage to demand more money.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:50 AM (WuI5S)

108 But the beauty is, one salary!
Posted by: The Owners at September 03, 2023 09:35 AM (Angsy)

Negotiations are ongoing. I do quite okay pay wise but after this there will be either a huge rate increase or huge christmas bonus.
We are still recovering from Covid BS.

I think the President needs to be on suicide watch.
I'm kind of having fun. Learning more and more of the dying art of the Foundryman every day.

Posted by: Reforger at September 03, 2023 09:50 AM (B705c)

109
He could probably drop that to 2 to 1 if he just got rid of all of the racial grievance apparatus. He won't, of course.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:48 AM (I/Qkd)
---
The tail wags the dog these days. The last office to close will be the diversity/sex police, which will be paid for by the athletic dept.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:51 AM (llXky)

110 *off ancient alien theorist sock

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 09:51 AM (OX9vb)

111 "Hack" writers get published, good or not, because they know how to play the game, even if they're not good writers?

*shifty eyes*

Posted by: Robert Ludlum at September 03, 2023 09:51 AM (I/Qkd)

112 I quote Yogi Berra: 'If people don't want to come to the ballpark, nobody can stop them'.

That man was either autistic or absolutely brilliant. You just don't come up with that many memorable sayings without being one or the other.
Posted by: Archimedes

My uncle was a teammate of Yogi's for a few years. According to Unk, Y. was a bit of both.

Posted by: Tonypete at September 03, 2023 09:51 AM (+5YjI)

113 And not cutting administrative jobs. First rule of bureaucracy, cut essential services first. That way, you have leverage to demand more money.

Yup. Police and firefighters are always the first to go.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 09:52 AM (I/Qkd)

114 The 'Sweet Spot' of fiction writing seems to combine the formulaic patterns of generic fiction with artistry; when that happens, like JAWS, it can knock the top off the potential success.
If you watch 'Schindler's List' with the concept of a superhero with a sidekick battling a supervillain and his minions, it's there.

Look for character/figure patterns over 'genre' and you kinda can't go wrong.

Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:52 AM (43xH1)

115 Wonder how much cut and paste goes on in those books?

Romance author seems like a prime candidate for being displaced by AI. Authors' names are all pseudonyms anyway and publishers can hire some retired grandma to appear at book conventions.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 09:53 AM (nfrXX)

116 "Queen. ... QUEEN! You mean the fellow who writes all those whodunits?

"Oh, my dear, I thought you said he was an AUTHOR!"

-- "Ellery Queen" TV series, "The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance," with guest stars Eve Arden and Betty White

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (p/isN)

117 Speaking of 'Schindler's List', one girlfriend's dad, infamous for being unable to stay awake in movies, got dragged to that film and then promptly fell asleep and snored.

His wife: "Bob! Bob! Goddamit, WAKE UP!"

Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (43xH1)

118 I really liked it but keep wishing for a real mystery book like the Galbraith books.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 09:34 AM (t/2Uw)

The new Robert Galbraith book, "The Running Grave," comes out on the 26th.

Posted by: Wethal at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (NufIr)

119 JTB, our Latin teacher in high school was a Bernard Knox fan. Third year the task was to translate the Iliad, but after we finished a chapter, he would read the Knox translation to us to show how it was supposed to be done. Knox was brilliant, but I didn't know his back story, as I likely tuned that bit out when i was a snotty 15 year old. Thank you for giving the man his due!

Posted by: Moki at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (JrN/x)

120 "One genre that is published by the truckload and gets no notice here is romance novels. I realized this yesterday when I was in a secondhand bookstore in another town and didn't find any of my targets. But it was filled with romances."

When I worked in a public library in the late 60s and early 70s, romance novels, particularly the sub-genre known as "bodice-rippers," were very popular among the grandmotherly set. There'd be waiting lists for each new one by a popular writer-sometimes the library would buy multiple copies due to the strong but short-term demand. Once the new books had circulated through the rather large group of fans, they'd then languish unloved on the shelves until they were culled. So far as I could tell from the blurbs on the cover I sometimes read as I was checking them in, or out, or shelving the darned things, they were very formulaic-they reminded me very much of Raymond Chandler's observation about the detective story:
"The average detective story is probably no worse than the average novel, but you never see the average novel. It doesn’t get published. The average—or only slightly above average—detective story does."

Posted by: Pope John 20th at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (cYrkj)

121 Thanks for another great Book Thread, Perfesser!

I don't always get a chance to read the comments in real time so I try to catch them later in the day.

This is a special place, and it is heartwarming to gather with so many fellow book lovers. I appreciate the advice and recommendations!

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (Idycf)

122 PabloD I don't think amazon allows advance reviews anymore?
Goodreads does though
I will email your wife
BTW I went to her website. She is gorgeous!
You married up, dude!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (vHIgi)

123 My nonfiction reading this week is "Labyrinth of Ice" by Buddy Levy, about the Greely polar expedition. I'd say "I'll-fated", but don't 95% of polar jaunts end in madness and cannibalism? It's just assumed.

Anyway, it was 1881 and this was part of the International Polar Year, a global effort to gather data on the Arctic. Greely set up the northernmost in a chain of research stations, Conger Staton, on Ellesmere Island.

Good to know if you're outfitting for a polar expedition: Muktuk (whale skin and blubber) is a good source of vitamins C and D. C and D.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (ynMLt)

124 So I write from personal compulsion; if you're any good, you will too. It's a rare intersection of person that can connect the compulsion with commerce.

Yup. I long ago gave up on the idea that I could make any serious money at it. But the stories won't stop coming to me demanding to be told.

Just this morning, an idea popped into my head out of nowhere; What if Japan and California switched places? Just one night, boom, Japan is sitting off the Nevada coast and California is on the other side of the Pacific? What would the repercussions be? How would people's lives be affected?

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (WuI5S)

125 The 'Sweet Spot' of fiction writing seems to combine the formulaic patterns of generic fiction with artistry; when that happens, like JAWS, it can knock the top off the potential success.
If you watch 'Schindler's List' with the concept of a superhero with a sidekick battling a supervillain and his minions, it's there.

Look for character/figure patterns over 'genre' and you kinda can't go wrong.

Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:52 AM (43xH1)
---
That's not just literary conventions, though, it's human nature. One of the hallmarks of today's bad writing is that people simply don't act in the ways the writers make them.

So plot twists feel random or contrived rather than organic and surprising.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (llXky)

126 Dangerous Visions is good, but Again Dangerous Visions is considerably less so. Far too many experiments with groovy typography, too many stories by some guy who got high with Harlan once, and too many "how are we going to freak the squares now?" stories.

This suggests to me that the real reason Last Dangerous Visions never appeared is that Ellison knew it was full of junk stories but couldn't admit it.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 03, 2023 09:56 AM (QZxDR)

127 What if you don't feel a compulsion, but just think you can do it because of the crap you see on the bookstore shelves and what the Enemy Press pimps?
"Hack" writers get published, good or not, because they know how to play the game, even if they're not good writers?
So, am I starting to write because I'm bored with retirement, or do I have some skill? Only someone else can tell me that.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

Well, if you're a True Writer, you will always believe, in your innermost heart, that everything you have every written is utter garbage and anyone who likes it is a fool.

Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:56 AM (43xH1)

128 87 From the last thread, here is a link to that Walther I mentioned.
Posted by: Doof
Please post a short (or not so short) review in the gub thread.
Posted by: Oddbob'

It's a COLT!

(Foaming at mouth and lining up to buy it)
Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:42 AM (43xH1)

The new guideline at ATF claim that wanting to sell a gun requires an FFL and that every guns in your collection now must be noted to the ATF. So the guns you bought that supposedly are NOT on a listed now are on THE LIST.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 09:56 AM (BRHaw)

129 I began to read If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe by Jason Pargin last night. Pretty funny.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 09:56 AM (FVME7)

130 I really liked it but keep wishing for a real mystery book like the Galbraith books.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 09:34 AM (t/2Uw)

Sharon, have you read anything from Tana French? The Dublin Murder squad might be right up your alley. Starts with "In the Woods."

One thing I like about this series is that it's not chronological, so you really could pick one up out of publishing order and you aren't missing anything. Each of the books features a different member of the team. You'll notice some of the same characters across books, but they will each be prominent in one book, and minor in another.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 09:57 AM (OX9vb)

131 Just this morning, an idea popped into my head out of nowhere; What if Japan and California switched places? Just one night, boom, Japan is sitting off the Nevada coast and California is on the other side of the Pacific? What would the repercussions be? How would people's lives be affected?

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (WuI5S)

I saw a documentary about when Cali was owned by the Japs after they won WWII.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 09:57 AM (BRHaw)

132 This is a special place, and it is heartwarming to gather with so many fellow book lovers. I appreciate the advice and recommendations!

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at September 03, 2023 09:54 AM (Idycf)

One should always go back later in the day to see what comments get posted after the thread "ends" with the next post.

Back later.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:58 AM (Angsy)

133 Romance and Horror are two sides of the same genre - books that want to make you experience a certain emotional journey.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 09:58 AM (vHIgi)

134 Whoops!

The study I did about character patterns is only somewhat useful and then to what might be called 'studios' as it stretches over 5,000 years of Picture Stories. It's a median, an average, and cannot predict the relative success or failure of any specific piece in an isolated moment in Time.

It's a card-counting method, and I tried to make that clear in the short book. You're not going to win them all.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:58 AM (43xH1)

135 I can check on my library's website what books they have on order. So many books. Fiction, non fiction, children's books, travel, cooking , books in foreign languages. Classic books now available as ebooks. Libraries have to buy them all.
Sometimes I get the feeling that publishers sell books in lots. If you want to buy the newest popular book, you also have to take a bunch of other stuff.
I used to go to my local library and browse and maybe find an author I'd never read before. Now I do almost everything on line and use my inter library to borrow the books I want.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 09:59 AM (t/2Uw)

136 "Too many 'how are we going to freak the squares now?' stories."

And how much lefty college student and old-enough-to-know-better behavior and opinion has its origin in that impulse to shock the rubes in flyover country?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 10:00 AM (a/4+U)

137 Romance and Horror are two sides of the same genre - books that want to make you experience a certain emotional journey.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 09:58 AM (vHIgi)
---
They do both have roots in the "gothic" genre, so it stands to reason that they may have similarities today. Indeed, how many authors have combined them into a single-best selling series (*cough* Twilight *cough*)?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 10:00 AM (BpYfr)

138 Thanks Dash.
I'll check her out.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:01 AM (t/2Uw)

139 Libraries have to buy them all.

***

Libraries buy books that are, or perceived to be, in demand.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 10:01 AM (vHIgi)

140 The founders looked at the French Revolution and shuddered.

They wanted nothing to do with "Mobocracy."

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at September 03, 2023 10:02 AM (8fpTj)

141 I'm about to begin reading Michael Chricton's State of Fear.

I read it when it first came out and want to see how it compares to the current madness.
Posted by: JT

It is remarkably prescient, and a good read.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 03, 2023 10:02 AM (n3MkI)

142 Reading DV today, and thinking about the kind of work that was showing up at the time in Galaxy, If, and F&SF, I'm thinking a number of stories in the book probably could have been published in some of the magazines. Ditto, ADV. I don't expect a lot of this-couldn't-appear-anywhere-else from The Last DV, but there's sure to be some pretty good work in it.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023

***
I think there is a Larry Niven story in there, and he was never one for New Wave styles -- he was always a storyteller. But Ellison didn't let that stop him from including LN.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 10:02 AM (omVj0)

143 vmom - hey, how do you know I "married up"? Maybe in real life I'm a stunningly handsome actor / model / fitness icon.

Never mind; there are people on this blog who have seen me in real life. You're 100% correct; I married up big-time.

Posted by: PabloD at September 03, 2023 10:02 AM (uc0d+)

144
So, am I starting to write because I'm bored with retirement, or do I have some skill? Only someone else can tell me that.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 09:50 AM (Angsy)

I think it's a bit of all of it. We have life experiences that lend authenticity to a work. And since we are retired, we have the time to rearrange those experiences into an entertaining tome that someone else will pick up, read and think, "That was pretty good, I hope they write another book."

Maybe we make money, maybe not. But if we don't write, we know for certain it won't happen. Put those words down, and see what happens!

Posted by: Moki at September 03, 2023 10:02 AM (JrN/x)

145 The new guideline at ATF claim that wanting to sell a gun requires an FFL and that every guns in your collection now must be noted to the ATF.

I haven't followed this closely because I foolishly assumed that it wouldn't make it through the senate. Maybe y'all can bring me up to speed this evening.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 10:03 AM (nfrXX)

146 @117 --

Mom never saw the end of any of the NBC Saturday night movies. Zonked out before 10 p.m.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 03, 2023 10:03 AM (p/isN)

147 So plot twists feel random or contrived rather than organic and surprising.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd'

I HATE the movie 'Schindler's List' as it distorted what I felt to be the actual message. In fact, Oskar Schindler was a womanizing party animal who did filthy deals with the Nazi Regime so he could have a lifestyle he could not achieve in a competitive, Capitalist economy. He NEEDED his Jews to run his 'company' even under the Nazi system! He kept them alive to benefit himself, and in his utter self-absorption saved their lives.
It's a truly bizarre story in which a terrible, incompetent 'Good Time Charlie' who cheated on his wife and neglected his children and was generally a gigantic POS saved people through no actual intent of his own.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:03 AM (43xH1)

148 Wait, you said "guideline." I thought there was an actual bill.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 10:04 AM (nfrXX)

149 I think there is a Larry Niven story in there, and he was never one for New Wave styles -- he was always a storyteller. But Ellison didn't let that stop him from including LN.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 10:02 AM (omVj0)
---
There are a few stories in there that would not even be progressive for that era. They are just good stories by themselves.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 10:05 AM (BpYfr)

150 "Hack" writers get published, good or not, because they know how to play the game, even if they're not good writers?

*shifty eyes*
Posted by: Robert Ludlum

In my younger days, I read a shit load of Ludlum. They seem a bit trite today.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 10:05 AM (FVME7)

151 36 The Romance genre is indeed large. I am currently reading quite a few of them, having recently read and enjoyed Vince Flynn's series. The romance portion of the book is simply an enhancement of a good story, preferably suspense or mystery, and the work must contain good character development and plot. Nora Roberts is a long time favorite. A fellow Hordian recommended Jayne Ann Krentz, also a good and prolific writer.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at September 03, 2023 10:05 AM (Idycf)

152 "The Pants guy needs a shave.
Posted by: JT"

With a weedwhacker. WTH is that, a Hairy Christmas?

Posted by: fd at September 03, 2023 10:06 AM (vFG9F)

153 A Jew saved by Oskar ran into him on a Berlin street after the war, of course accompanied by some floozy not his wife. The Jew, thanked Oskar for saving his life. Oskar didn't even remember him, and bummed money off him so he could continue his 'date'!

I would have ended that story with a couple of Jews at Oskar's grave and commenting on God's sense of humor, at manipulating terrible people into doing good things.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:06 AM (43xH1)

154 I am waiting for the new Karin Slaughter book in the Will Trent series. My library is telling me it's in transit. The characters in this series are fascinating. Her stand alone novels are way too bloody for me but the Will Trent books which start with Tryptych are fabulous detective stories.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:06 AM (t/2Uw)

155 Pope John 20th! Good to see you here so early!

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 03, 2023 10:07 AM (p/isN)

156 One of the hallmarks of today's bad writing is that people simply don't act in the ways the writers make them.

So plot twists feel random or contrived rather than organic and surprising.

Which is why there has never been, and never will be, a good novel sympathetic to the Marxist perspective.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 10:07 AM (I/Qkd)

157 The Niven story in DV is one of those that I think could probably have been published in the magazines of the time. "The Jigsaw Man" was the title if I remember right, and it was a delightfully unsettling piece even without the new wave trappings -- set in a society where the organ banks are supplied by disassembling executed criminals, so more and more crimes were punished with death. Good story.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 10:07 AM (a/4+U)

158 I was talking to some students about publishing a while ago and I told them: "Fiction publishing is Romance novels, with a few literary fiction, mysteries, and fantasy/sf squeezed in."

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 03, 2023 10:07 AM (QZxDR)

159 It's a truly bizarre story in which a terrible, incompetent 'Good Time Charlie' who cheated on his wife and neglected his children and was generally a gigantic POS saved people through no actual intent of his own.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:03 AM (43xH1)
---
God doesn't always choose the pure or holy to do His will.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:07 AM (llXky)

160 3,001 538 438 2,025

First number total children in Lahina Schools
Second re-enrolled in other schools
Third in state remote learning programs
Fourth MISSING

https://tinyurl.com/zc2fhxrs

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 10:08 AM (BRHaw)

161 Just this morning, an idea popped into my head out of nowhere; What if Japan and California switched places? Just one night, boom, Japan is sitting off the Nevada coast and California is on the other side of the Pacific? What would the repercussions be? How would people's lives be affected?

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (WuI5S)

That reminds me of a book that came out several years ago ago (don't remember name or author): one day, a house shows up in the middle of an empty field. The field is a modern-day piece of land, but the house and its people inside are from the 1880s.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 10:08 AM (AW0uW)

162 This week I read Robert Parker's 7th book in the Spenser series Early Autumn. It is very different from the others I've read so far in that it is not really a detective novel. Parker continues to delve into Spenser's psyche through his relationship with a 15 year old boy whom he rescues from a toxic feud between the boy's mother and father. . . .

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023

***
After his second novel, I think, Parker decided he was not a strong puzzle plotter and decided to focus on Spenser's Journeys. His work as a detective leads him into byways and connections with people, and those become the focus of the stories. There's a crime element in each, and Spenser discovers stuff about it and resolves it. But each novel is more about Spenser and Susan, and Hawk, and their interconnections.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 10:09 AM (omVj0)

163 It's a truly bizarre story in which a terrible, incompetent 'Good Time Charlie' who cheated on his wife and neglected his children and was generally a gigantic POS saved people through no actual intent of his own.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:03 AM (43xH1)
---
God doesn't always choose the pure or holy to do His will.

You think?

Posted by: Salieri at September 03, 2023 10:09 AM (I/Qkd)

164 I'm about to begin reading Michael Chricton's State of Fear.

I read it when it first came out and want to see how it compares to the current madness.
Posted by: JT

It is remarkably prescient, and a good read.
Posted by: Thomas Paine

Dittos

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:09 AM (t/2Uw)

165 Romance and Horror are two sides of the same genre - books that want to make you experience a certain emotional journey.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion'

This is absolutely true. Both are a kind of 'rescue' pattern. In Horror a woman is rescued from a monster, like Saint George and The Dragon rescuing The Princess; in the Romance, the woman is the focal POV and makes a 'choice': see, TITANIC.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:09 AM (43xH1)

166 145 The new guideline at ATF claim that wanting to sell a gun requires an FFL and that every guns in your collection now must be noted to the ATF.

I haven't followed this closely because I foolishly assumed that it wouldn't make it through the senate. Maybe y'all can bring me up to speed this evening.
Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 10:03 AM (nfrXX)

It is in the Cornyn Patty Peppermint Murray Bill. PASSED Already

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 10:10 AM (BRHaw)

167 Romance and Horror are two sides of the same genre - books that want to make you experience a certain emotional journey.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion

Somebody, maybe David Horowitz, wrote that the way to win elections is with hope and fear. Pretty much the same thing.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 10:10 AM (FVME7)

168 Which is why there has never been, and never will be, a good novel sympathetic to the Marxist perspective.
Posted by: Archimedes'

This sounds like a challenge!

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:10 AM (43xH1)

169 Well, if you're a True Writer, you will always believe, in your innermost heart, that everything you have every written is utter garbage and anyone who likes it is a fool.

I'm not a "true writer," whatever that may mean, but by howdy, you've described my attitude to a T.

Anyway, a lovely day out and the Harley calls. Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 10:11 AM (AW0uW)

170 God doesn't always choose the pure or holy to do His will.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:07 AM (llXky)

Converse:
The good and holy dont always to G Ds will.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 10:11 AM (BRHaw)

171 The Niven story in DV is one of those that I think could probably have been published in the magazines of the time. "The Jigsaw Man" was the title if I remember right, and it was a delightfully unsettling piece even without the new wave trappings -- set in a society where the organ banks are supplied by disassembling executed criminals, so more and more crimes were punished with death. Good story.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023

***
Yes, that's it -- part of his grand "Known Space" cycle, from the organ banks and ARM period on Earth, before mankind meets the Kzinti aliens in war.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 10:11 AM (omVj0)

172 168 Which is why there has never been, and never will be, a good novel sympathetic to the Marxist perspective.
Posted by: Archimedes'

You never heard of the NYT or WaPo huh??

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 10:12 AM (BRHaw)

173 California and Japan switching places seems like a great idea. We get lower crime and access to better sushi. North Korea gets to nuke California without the hassle of perfecting the ICBM. Win-win.

Posted by: PabloD at September 03, 2023 10:12 AM (uc0d+)

174 First number total children in Lahina Schools

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 10:08 AM (BRHaw)
---
The Catholic school there has been re-established at a new site and while not all students are able to attend, the school reports that all children and their families have been contacted and are alive.

The church itself and the rectory were not damaged by the wildfires. One might call that miraculous.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)

175 145 The new guideline at ATF claim that wanting to sell a gun requires an FFL and that every guns in your collection now must be noted to the ATF.

I haven't followed this closely because I foolishly assumed that it wouldn't make it through the senate. Maybe y'all can bring me up to speed this evening.
Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 10:03 AM (nfrXX)

It didn't make it through the Senate.

Biden is doing a workaround by doing through an ATF regulation that he couldn't get legislatively.

Posted by: Wethal at September 03, 2023 10:12 AM (NufIr)

176 After his second novel, I think, Parker decided he was not a strong puzzle plotter and decided to focus on Spenser's Journeys. His work as a detective leads him into byways and connections with people, and those become the focus of the stories. There's a crime element in each, and Spenser discovers stuff about it and resolves it. But each novel is more about Spenser and Susan, and Hawk, and their interconnections.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

This is an excellent analysis and I was thinking about your previous comments about Parker's books as I was reading it. Because I tempered my expectations I think I enjoyed the book more. On the other hand, it made me wish for a more meaty story line. Might put him aside for awhile.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:13 AM (t/2Uw)

177 My favorite Oskar Schindler story is when the survivors invited and flew his widow to Israel to accept a Major Award on behalf of their improbable savior, and at her acceptance speech the widow went on an infuriated rant about what a great big piece of shit he was, while all these miraculously saved Jews fidgeted in their seats.

HAHA! So much potential, WASTED for a sanctimonious cryfest.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:13 AM (43xH1)

178 Breaking my usual habit of reading junk and fluff, I read a book last week of substance, insight and things of importance. I can't remember the name of it.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:13 AM (45fpk)

179 Two roads diverged and I - I took the one with a Starbucks drive-thru and that has made all the difference.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 03, 2023 10:13 AM (NBVIP)

180 I'm about to begin reading Michael Chricton's State of Fear.

I read it when it first came out and want to see how it compares to the current madness.
Posted by: JT

Alive and well.

Kyle Becker
@kylenabecker
"Nobody can deny the impact of climate crisis. Nobody intelligent can deny the impact of a climate crisis anymore."

Joe Biden turns his visit to Florida into a lecture on climate change.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 10:14 AM (FVME7)

181 I think it was somewhat of a biography. At least based on true events.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:14 AM (45fpk)

182 Breaking my usual habit of reading junk and fluff, I read a book last week of substance, insight and things of importance. I can't remember the name of it.
Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here'

I LIKE this one!

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:14 AM (43xH1)

183 MP4 --

The one about the house & people apparently from the 1880s showing up in the middle of an empty field sounds a lot like the setup for Bob Leman's story "Window," which is a delightful little bone-chiller.

It was adapted for television with Bill Pullman and they actually did a nice job on it; should be on YouTube.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 10:15 AM (a/4+U)

184 "That reminds me of a book that came out several years ago ago (don't remember name or author): one day, a house shows up in the middle of an empty field. The field is a modern-day piece of land, but the house and its people inside are from the 1880s."

A few years back, IIRC, there was a Reddit thread speculating on whether a single US Marine Expeditionary Unit could defeat the entire Roman Army. I think a book might have come of it.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 10:15 AM (WuI5S)

185
Which is why there has never been, and never will be, a good novel sympathetic to the Marxist perspective.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 10:07 AM (I/Qkd)
---
I'm not sure about that. Lots of lefties wrote books, some quite good, so it depends on how you define it. I mean, a book taking on the abuses of capitalism could be seen as Marxist, or moralistic, etc.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:15 AM (llXky)

186 What if Japan and California switched places? J
Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (WuI5S)

Whoa...intercontinental Freaky Friday! Fascinating!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 10:15 AM (OX9vb)

187 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history. For the HS kid I'm thinking adventure, exploration type stuff (e.g. Westward expansion, Lewis & Clark etc.) as opposed to military. Or maybe sports or aviation history. For the college aged one maybe more European or ancient, philosophy or religious type history (obviously a big field). He liked A Gentle Madness by N. Basbaens

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 10:15 AM (991eG)

188 Which is why there has never been, and never will be, a good novel sympathetic to the Marxist perspective.
Posted by: Archimedes

Although I must say that Emile Zola's books, notably Germinal, are quite good. Zola was a socialist and wrote about the misery of the working class in France in the nineteenth century. His multi-page scene setting was epic.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 03, 2023 10:17 AM (n3MkI)

189 I mean, a book taking on the abuses of capitalism could be seen as Marxist, or moralistic, etc.

Like Upton Sinclair did; where he had to make up most of the "abuses of capitalism." He was a big POS.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 10:17 AM (WuI5S)

190 The one about the house & people apparently from the 1880s showing up in the middle of an empty field sounds a lot like the setup for Bob Leman's story "Window," which is a delightful little bone-chiller.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 10:15 AM (a/4+U)
---
Who knew wandering Amish could be so terrifying?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:18 AM (llXky)

191 Speaking of Bill Pullman, he DID DO a movie in which he appears with Bill Paxton!

'Brain Dead', 1990!

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:18 AM (43xH1)

192 Aha! "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson!

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:19 AM (45fpk)

193 Like Upton Sinclair did; where he had to make up most of the "abuses of capitalism." He was a big POS.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 10:17 AM (WuI5S)
---
Right, but a novel by definition involves fiction.

I'm just saying that I don't think the contention is true. There are lots of douchebags who turn out to be decent authors, which is often infuriating to their readers.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:19 AM (llXky)

194 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history. For the HS kid I'm thinking adventure, exploration type stuff (e.g. Westward expansion, Lewis & Clark etc.) as opposed to military. Or maybe sports or aviation history. For the college aged one maybe more European or ancient, philosophy or religious type history (obviously a big field). He liked A Gentle Madness by N. Basbaens
Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023

***
Muldoon, when I was in HS I read many of Alistair Maclean's thrillers like Guns of Navarone and When Eight Bells Toll. They're clean and fast-moving, with plenty of turns and twists in the plots. Or his first novel, H.M.S. Ulysses, about the crew of a British cruiser on a Murmansk convoy. Lots of action and drama.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 10:19 AM (omVj0)

195 182 Breaking my usual habit of reading junk and fluff, I read a book last week of substance, insight and things of importance. I can't remember the name of it.
Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here

********

HA!
Based on that comment you most definitely DO belong here.

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 10:20 AM (991eG)

196 Japan would be far less tolerant of illegal immigration than California. California would become a Chinese vassal state in about twelve minutes. LA with the climate of Tokyo would be interesting.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 10:21 AM (WuI5S)

197 Muldoon - "God Is My Copilot" by General Robert Scott

Posted by: fd at September 03, 2023 10:21 AM (vFG9F)

198 >>> 124
==
Just this morning, an idea popped into my head out of nowhere; What if Japan and California switched places? Just one night, boom, Japan is sitting off the Nevada coast and California is on the other side of the Pacific? What would the repercussions be? How would people's lives be affected?

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (WuI5S)

When did you imagine this happening, present-day or some time in the past?

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 03, 2023 10:21 AM (llON8)

199 I mean, George Orwell was a Man of the Left, even fought with a Marxist (Anarchist) militia in Spain.

Does he count? He was critical of Stalinism, but I don't think he ever abandoned his Marxist worldview.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (llXky)

200 Muldoon, when I was in HS I read many of Alistair Maclean's thrillers like Guns of Navarone and When Eight Bells Toll. They're clean and fast-moving, with plenty of turns and twists in the plots. Or his first novel, H.M.S. Ulysses, about the crew of a British cruiser on a Murmansk convoy. Lots of action and drama.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere'

I read a pile of those and they're quick, thrilling reads.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (43xH1)

201 I'm just saying that I don't think the contention is true. There are lots of douchebags who turn out to be decent authors, which is often infuriating to their readers.

I sometimes ponder that my failures as an author can be attributed to being a basically nice guy and not alcoholic.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (WuI5S)

202 #23 - Ciaphas Cain! Love the guy. I think of him as Flashman for the 41st Millennium.

Last June I finished - finally! - my translation of Rafael Abella's "Daily Life During the [Spanish] Civil War," two volumes, one for the Franco side and one for the Republican side. Husband thinks we should submit it to the U of Wisconsin Press, which has a big line in Spanish Civil War books. He also thinks I should write an introduction, but I can't think of anything to say except "Bought this years ago in Madrid. Then one day my youngest son asked me to translate it, so I did."

Currently reading Alistair Horne's "To Lose a Battle" from 1969, referring to the French in the spring of 1940. In addition to the usual ditherings and backstabbings among the politicos, two of them had mistresses wielding power - Reynaud's mistress was a Countess and a Fascist sympathizer who hated the English, and I forget which side Daladier's mistress took, but she hated the Countess. Told this story to my daughter who said, "That is SO French."

Posted by: Annalucia at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (S6ArX)

203 Muldoon - it's hard to beat "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose (L&C expedition). I'd also recommend "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing (Shackleton expedition). Both of those books take you right along on the journey.

Posted by: PabloD at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (uc0d+)

204 Does he count? He was critical of Stalinism, but I don't think he ever abandoned his Marxist worldview.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd'

He did not.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:23 AM (43xH1)

205 Citing surveys conducted by the Cengage Group and College Pulse, the collaborative report states that a mere 41% of recent graduates believe that their college degree effectively signals to employers that they possess the much-needed skills. Current students are also adding their voices to the chorus of concern, with a paltry 14% expressing satisfaction with the assistance provided by their campus career centers.

A 14% satisfaction taco truck would be burned to the ground the day that number got around at a construction site.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 10:23 AM (BRHaw)

206 I started Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky this week based on recommendations here. I could not get into it. The main character was uninspiring and Spiders as the uplifted species did not seem like something I could relate to.
Should I have started with another series of his or is this his style? I didn't get very far which is unusual for me but I just didn't care once he started describing the spider stuff.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:23 AM (t/2Uw)

207 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history.
Posted by: Muldoon

The Path Between the Seas
Wings of Eagles
Paths Without Glory
Knights of the Sea

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 03, 2023 10:24 AM (n3MkI)

208 203 Muldoon - it's hard to beat "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose (L&C expedition). I'd also recommend "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing (Shackleton expedition). Both of those books take you right along on the journey.
Posted by: PabloD at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (uc0d+)

Undaunted is GREAT.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 03, 2023 10:24 AM (BRHaw)

209 Who knew wandering Amish could be so terrifying?

There's a time travel story waiting to be written. An Amish community gets time-shifted to the 20h century, Eric Flint style, and... they fit right in.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 10:24 AM (nfrXX)

210 Someone maybe last week commented on the Landmark Series, the original ones, for young readers.
You can't go wrong with those. Buy all of them you can and it's hard to beat a library of them for young readers.

Also, the Junior Classics. They're not terribly expensive by books standards off online sources. For young readers the combination is impossible to beat.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:25 AM (43xH1)

211 Last June I finished - finally! - my translation of Rafael Abella's "Daily Life During the [Spanish] Civil War," two volumes, one for the Franco side and one for the Republican side. Husband thinks we should submit it to the U of Wisconsin Press, which has a big line in Spanish Civil War books. He also thinks I should write an introduction, but I can't think of anything to say except "Bought this years ago in Madrid. Then one day my youngest son asked me to translate it, so I did."

Posted by: Annalucia at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (S6ArX)
---
Congratulations! I believe Stanley G. Payne is part of the faculty in Madison, so that would explain its focus on Spain.

I'd be happy to "blurb" it if you like.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:26 AM (llXky)

212 A 14% satisfaction taco truck would be burned to the ground the day that number got around at a construction site.
Posted by: rhennigantx'

And the proprietors killed.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:26 AM (43xH1)

213 God is my Co-Pilot is the personal narrative of a man who has had one of the outstanding careers in American aviation. After Pearl Harbor, when he was marked too old for combat flying at 34, Colonel Robert L. Scott, Jr. refused to abandon his dream of a "mission against Tokyo." He did not ever fly against Tokyo, but over the Burma Road, and in enemy-occupied China he compiled a brilliant record as group commander of General Chennault's fighter forces--the dedicated veterans of the American Volunteer Group in China.

Posted by: fd at September 03, 2023 10:26 AM (vFG9F)

214 Posted by: Annalucia at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (S6ArX)
Congratulations! I believe Stanley G. Payne is part of the faculty in Madison, so that would explain its focus on Spain.
I'd be happy to "blurb" it if you like.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd'

Lost me at UWM, which is a fucking Shit. Hole. That torments me daily in WI.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)

215 I'd be happy to "blurb" it if you like.

Why, thank you, but then you'd have to read the whole thing :-) which is nearly 600 pages.

Husband has done the final proofread and I am now doing the ABSOLUTELY final proofread - still catching typos and finding places where the wording could have been a little neater. Stay tuned ...

Posted by: Annalucia at September 03, 2023 10:28 AM (S6ArX)

216 Lost me at UWM, which is a fucking Shit. Hole. That torments me daily in WI.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)

Daughter graduated from UW-Madison and came back relatively sane. Rare, but possible.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:28 AM (45fpk)

217 >>God is my Co-Pilot is the personal narrative of a man who has had one of the outstanding careers in American aviation. After Pearl Harbor, when he was marked too old for combat flying at 34, Colonel Robert L. Scott, Jr. refused to abandon his dream of a "mission against Tokyo."

Man, I read that book when I was a kid.

Posted by: mrp at September 03, 2023 10:29 AM (rj6Yv)

218 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history.
Posted by: Muldoon

***
If you can find them, and if your grandkids are at all interested in aviation, Ernest K. Gann's novels are worth a look: The High and the Mighty for instance. Or Dick Francis, the former jockey who became a bestselling crime author, and who often writes about flying planes: His 1960s novel Flying Finish is fantastic.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 10:29 AM (omVj0)

219 Lost me at UWM, which is a fucking Shit. Hole. That torments me daily in WI.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)
---
That's shame, because Payne is an excellent researcher and a major source of my work on the Spanish Civil War. He's written extensively on revolution. Definitely someone to check out if you are into that sort of thing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:30 AM (llXky)

220 I hate the University Of Wisconsin system, but I hate Madison with a fire that dwarfs the intensity of the Peshtigo Inferno.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:30 AM (43xH1)

221 If Cali and Japan switched places, most Californians would head back to NA because the eastern Pacific has real weather.

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at September 03, 2023 10:31 AM (Eeb9P)

222 I followed Randy Brown's (First) link onto his website and I like this tip he put there:

to identify every time I use the word “was" in a sentence and replace it with action words

https://www.seerandywrite.com/
blog-1/and-she-was

Some nice writing on that site.

Posted by: m at September 03, 2023 10:31 AM (LodBx)

223 a fire that dwarfs the intensity of the Peshtigo Inferno.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:30 AM (43xH1)

Love going through Peshtigo.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:31 AM (45fpk)

224 Why, thank you, but then you'd have to read the whole thing :-) which is nearly 600 pages.

Posted by: Annalucia at September 03, 2023 10:28 AM (S6ArX)
---
I am kind of into the topic, you know.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:32 AM (llXky)

225 >>I am waiting for the new Karin Slaughter book in the Will Trent series. My library is telling me it's in transit. The characters in this series are fascinating. Her stand alone novels are way too bloody for me but the Will Trent books which start with Tryptych are fabulous detective stories.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:06 AM

I like those books as well. And you are right, her standalone books are gory. I read them anyway.

Posted by: huerfano at September 03, 2023 10:32 AM (7zEAH)

226 I hate the University Of Wisconsin system, but I hate Madison with a fire that dwarfs the intensity of the Peshtigo Inferno.

There's a story here, right? You should write it.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 10:32 AM (nfrXX)

227 Muldoon, scratch Wings if Eagles, I meant Clash of Wings, the story of WWII aviation by Walter Boyne. He also wrote Clash of Titans about the war at sea. Very good books, both.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 03, 2023 10:33 AM (n3MkI)

228 That's a shame, because Payne is an excellent researcher and a major source of my work on the Spanish Civil War.'

Does he live and work in Madison? Because if he does, he can eat shit. I'm not even half-kidding. Madison is the Berkeley of Ann Arbor and anyone living and working there is a piece of shit.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:33 AM (43xH1)

229 Not satisfied with the campus career center? Mid-80s I went through a program for aspiring computer geeks -- nearly all of its grads found work. The placement office had binders of ads from companies looking to hire. That was it. There was one morning session late in the program devoted to getting a job later. The program's honcho said, basically, that if you interview and don't get hired the thing to bear in mind is that they want someone for the job -- they just don't want YOU for the job. If you haven't found work in six months, stop by the office and we'll help you figure out what you're doing wrong.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 10:33 AM (a/4+U)

230 He was critical of Stalinism, but I don't think he ever abandoned his Marxist worldview.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (llXky)

He didn't, but was also intellectually honest enough to recognize the budding totalitarianism in socialism.

That's probably why his writing continues to resonate; he was critical from within.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 10:33 AM (lQONO)

231 God doesn't always choose the pure or holy to do His will.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

I've wondered about this regarding the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history and the one which gave Lincoln enough credibility to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which, eventually, freed the slaves. If, as almost happened, Lee had crushed McClellan yet again, it might well have led to a Confederate victory in the war and the continuation of slavery. If McClellan had crushed Lee, the war might have ended with a Union victory but the continuation of slavery. It was only with a bloody draw and the continuation of the war that slavery ended. But if God had a hand in ending slavery, then was it His hand that filled the Bloody Lane, the Cornfield, and Burnside Bridge with bodies?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 10:34 AM (FVME7)

232 Love going through Peshtigo.
Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here'

Yes, it's a nice meadow now!

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:34 AM (43xH1)

233 I guess the Michener multi-generational sagas like Centennial would be a consideration.

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 10:34 AM (991eG)

234 I'm off to the art museum, folk! Enjoy the Book Thread the Perfessor has made for us. I'll come back later and check on the comments.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 10:35 AM (omVj0)

235 I think "Force 10 From Navarone" was a better book than "Guns", but "The Guns of Navarone" (film) was far superior to the "Force 10" crapfest.

Posted by: mrp at September 03, 2023 10:35 AM (rj6Yv)

236 What a day: earlier this week I had five books delivered in one day. Two crowd-funded pledges (placed at least a year ago) and an ebay order from just a week ago. And purely by chance they all arrived at once!

Way too much to read in one day, obviously. But I think I'm set for a while. And will be hard pressed to justify buying anything else to add to the pile...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 03, 2023 10:36 AM (92RsY)

237 Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:33 AM (43xH1)

[with apologies to Colonel Kilgore]

"That smell...that jingoist smell...it smells of ignorance."

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 10:36 AM (lQONO)

238 They sell billions.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:29 AM (43xH1)

Enough to keep Stacey Abrams' belly button from having even the slightest acquaintance with her backbone.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 03, 2023 10:36 AM (Pc367)

239 He didn't, but was also intellectually honest enough to recognize the budding totalitarianism in socialism.
That's probably why his writing continues to resonate; he was critical from within.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo'

It's why I'm finding that Azure journal that predictably failed in 2012 so fascinating. They couldn't figure out why their Socialism went so wrong any more than Anna Giefman could, treating it as a matter of degree rather than type.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:37 AM (43xH1)

240 The 14% taco truck would get no business if it sucked. Some sites have senoritas that bring home cooked meals that go for 15$ a pop. The books about this era have not been written.

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at September 03, 2023 10:37 AM (Eeb9P)

241 I guess the Michener multi-generational sagas like Centennial would be a consideration.
Posted by: Muldoon

I read several of them in high school and enjoyed them.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 03, 2023 10:39 AM (n3MkI)

242 Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:23 AM (t/2Uw)

Sharon we frequently like the same stuff so you might like
The Will of the Many by James Islington

Absolutely loved it

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 10:39 AM (vHIgi)

243 202 I finished - finally! - my translation of Rafael Abella's "Daily Life During the [Spanish] Civil War," two volumes, one for the Franco side and one for the Republican side.
Posted by: Annalucia at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM (S6ArX)

Very cool.

211 I'd be happy to "blurb" it if you like.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:26 AM (llXky)

Very generous!

Posted by: m at September 03, 2023 10:39 AM (LodBx)

244 Does he live and work in Madison? Because if he does, he can eat shit. I'm not even half-kidding. Madison is the Berkeley of Ann Arbor and anyone living and working there is a piece of shit.
Posted by: LenNeal'

If he has a viable choice? Yeah, but for real I HATE Madison. I won't even drive through it because the Beltline blows and it's a criminal shitstain. I genuinely hate Madison. For any number of reasons.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:39 AM (43xH1)

245 They couldn't figure out why their Socialism went so wrong any more than Anna Giefman could, treating it as a matter of degree rather than type.

"It'll work this time because we're smarter than everyone who's ever tried it before."

-- Every Leftist, Ever

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 10:39 AM (nfrXX)

246 to identify every time I use the word “was" in a sentence and replace it with action words

********

He was like an elephant with three left feet.

He cavorted like an elephant with three left feet.

That works.

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 10:41 AM (991eG)

247 But if God had a hand in ending slavery, then was it His hand that filled the Bloody Lane, the Cornfield, and Burnside Bridge with bodies?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 10:34 AM (FVME7)
---
No. That was the work of men.

God turned this evil to a greater good, one that otherwise might not have been achieved.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 10:41 AM (llXky)

248 Dittos
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)

Oh.

Dittos.

Posted by: JT at September 03, 2023 10:41 AM (T4tVD)

249 I can't go to Madison. I can't drive through it or walk in it. Once I was in the college bookstore there and I had to escape. There is a strong demonic presence there. It presses in on me. This may sound over the top, I know.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:43 AM (45fpk)

250 Please bring back the weekly Word Power

Posted by: Khiri at September 03, 2023 10:43 AM (g3Ko/)

251 Hey, cool, one of my comments made the main post!

Anyways, after last week's thread I finished off the first issue of "Savage Realms." The final story did expand beyond the genre of Rober E Howard homages... Anyways, as soon as I go home (I was reading in the park) I e-bought the second and third issues.

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 03, 2023 10:43 AM (92RsY)

252 I recommended "Meeting With Japan" by Fosco Maraini (Viking Press) last week. I think I'll give it another re-read.

Posted by: mrp at September 03, 2023 10:43 AM (rj6Yv)

253 Sharon we frequently like the same stuff so you might like
The Will of the Many by James Islington

Absolutely loved it
Posted by: vmom

Thanks she says furiously writing it down so she doesn't forget as soon as the thread is over.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:44 AM (t/2Uw)

254 >>Muldoon - it's hard to beat "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose (L&C expedition). I'd also recommend "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing (Shackleton expedition). Both of those books take you right along on the journey.

Posted by: PabloD at September 03, 2023 10:22 AM

Lansing's book inspired me to read another book about Shackleton and the Endurance expedition by Caroline Alexander which includes some of Frank Hurley's original photographs of the expedition. That book led me to another book by Alexander about the Bounty mutiny. I love when that happens.

Posted by: huerfano at September 03, 2023 10:44 AM (7zEAH)

255 I have Ellison's A, DV sitting on a shelf, been dragging it around since college.
Should maybe give it another look.

Posted by: From about that Time at September 03, 2023 10:46 AM (4780s)

256 For the Azure journal that so predictably failed, I did not know Ben-Gurion, almost instantly on declaring a Jewish State, laid down the law with the varied terror cells and not only integrated them but actively killed off a bunch.

I'm like Holy Shit. Most of what is sold as Israeli History is sugar coated.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:46 AM (43xH1)

257 Just this morning, an idea popped into my head out of nowhere; What if Japan and California switched places? Just one night, boom, Japan is sitting off the Nevada coast and California is on the other side of the Pacific? What would the repercussions be? How would people's lives be affected?

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 09:55 AM (WuI5S)

Better looking women, for sure!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 10:46 AM (Angsy)

258 Knights of the Sea

On a September day in 1813, as citizens watched from the rocky shore of Pemaquid, Maine, two of the last and bravest military sailing commanders engaged in a battle that would change the course of the War of 1812. Knights of the sea is the true story of the Boxer vs Enterprise sea battle.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (n3MkI)

259 I am thinking every Marxist really doesn't care if their shot at it works or not as long as their stint they are on top

Posted by: Skip at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (MOY79)

260 I mean, George Orwell was a Man of the Left, even fought with a Marxist (Anarchist) militia in Spain.

Does he count? He was critical of Stalinism, but I don't think he ever abandoned his Marxist worldview.

Orwell is a puzzle. Most people who read his stuff and don't know better assume he's anti-Communist, until they find out otherwise. While socialism almost inexorably leads to communism, it's not exactly the same thing. How he could have the insights he did and still be a socialist is kind of baffling.

In any case, I don't think his stuff is Marxist.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (I/Qkd)

261 187 ... Muldoon,

Your grandsons might like the actual journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Also, "Give Your Heart to the Hawks" by Win Blevins about the early mountain men.
The Townsends and Son site has a good number of books by 18th century explorers that deal with both the discoveries as well as the difficulties and means of travel, procuring food and supplies, and the cultures of the areas. They are mostly east of the Mississippi.

For ancient history, what about Herodotus, Tacitus, or Julius Caesar's Commentaries? Learning to take them with a grain, or a lot, of salt could be educational in itself.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (7EjX1)

262 Off to BasedCon on Friday!

Anyone want anything?

Book #1 in my series ("Silk Unspun") should be out next month. Book #2 ("Foul Brood") is at the final edit phase. Book #3 (???) is in rough draft.

Phew!

Sometimes I wonder how "based" or "politically incorrect" I really am. I'm certainly not =trying= to be. But if you aren't thoroughly blue-pilled, you can't really help it, can you?

Anyway, I'm writing fun sci-fi about humans dealing with sentient insects, and ruthlessly removing anything relevant. As much as possible, anyway. (I'd probably give myself 3 Roddenberries on a scale of 1 to 10.)

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (lpWi1)

263 Sharon we frequently like the same stuff so you might like
The Will of the Many by James Islington
Absolutely loved it
Posted by: vmom
Thanks she says furiously writing it down so she doesn't forget as soon as the thread is over.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)

Posted by: Don't forget! Grammie Winger (not really, it's LenNeal) at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (43xH1)

264 Better looking women, for sure!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 10:46 AM (Angsy)

And a better education system.

Posted by: mrp at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (rj6Yv)

265 Well, if you're a True Writer, you will always believe, in your innermost heart, that everything you have every written is utter garbage and anyone who likes it is a fool.

Posted by: Colt Forum Contributors at September 03, 2023 09:56 AM (43xH1)

Check mark written.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 10:48 AM (Angsy)

266 OK, I'm off to make a breakfast sammich and do whatever else I end up doing today. Thanks for the interest in my wife's book.

Posted by: PabloD at September 03, 2023 10:49 AM (uc0d+)

267 I can't go to Madison. I can't drive through it or walk in it. Once I was in the college bookstore there and I had to escape. There is a strong demonic presence there. It presses in on me. This may sound over the top, I know.
Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here'

Normally I gently mock this kind of thing but I can't stand even driving through Madison.

Posted by: Don't forget! Grammie Winger (not really, it's LenNeal) at September 03, 2023 10:49 AM (43xH1)

268 I did not know Ben-Gurion, almost instantly on declaring a Jewish State, laid down the law with the varied terror cells and not only integrated them but actively killed off a bunch.

I'm like Holy Shit. Most of what is sold as Israeli History is sugar coated.||

Pretty sure I saw a movie that covered that very topic at the L.A. Israeli Film Festival. Don't know about the accuracy but beating themselves up over their past is hardly foreign to Israelis.

(Interestingly, the LAIFF isn't happening this year--after 35 consecutive years--and I'm wondering if it's over completely.)

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 10:50 AM (lpWi1)

269 That reminds me of a book that came out several years ago ago (don't remember name or author): one day, a house shows up in the middle of an empty field. The field is a modern-day piece of land, but the house and its people inside are from the 1880s.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 10:08 AM (AW0uW)

The oldest story I know about that is a short story that Murray Leinster wrote, called The Runaway Skyscraper, in 1919 for Argosy magazine

Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 10:50 AM (xhaym)

270 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history.
Posted by: Muldoon

Muldoon, deadly serious here:

Allen Eckert: esp Frontiersmen and the one on Tecumseh.

Philip Hopkirk: books about the British playing the Great Game.

George Macdonald Fraser's Quartered Safe Out Here. Dude wrote the Flashman books.

Caesar's Gallic Wars.

Suetonius Lives of The Caesars

Posted by: Thesokorus at September 03, 2023 10:51 AM (uVG+G)

271 Fucking NPR reported this morning that "There is no evidence of direct payments to Joe Biden." Yeah, who hasn't had a Chinese oligarch send your grandkid a few million? Shit happens.

Maybe hostess Ayesha Twitface should read up on how they finally got Al Capone. Hint: it wasn't because they found a big bag of money on his doorstep, with a tag on it that read "Criminal Proceeds"!

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at September 03, 2023 10:51 AM (8Ta2Y)

272 >>> 249 I can't go to Madison. I can't drive through it or walk in it. Once I was in the college bookstore there and I had to escape. There is a strong demonic presence there. It presses in on me. This may sound over the top, I know.
Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:43 AM (45fpk)

It might have sounded over the top a few years ago... now I'd say don't go anywhere near Dee Cee.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 03, 2023 10:52 AM (llON8)

273 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history.
Posted by: Muldoon

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, a Pulitzer winning novel about Gettysburg.

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, a Pulitzer winning novel.loosely based on the career of Huey Long. Most consider it a novel about politics (and it does have a political setting), I see it more as a modern Divine Comedy exploring the nature of good and evil.

I, Claudius by Robert Graves, a novel about the end of the Roman Rspublic and the beginning of the Empire.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 10:53 AM (FVME7)

274 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history.
Posted by: Muldoon
...

George Macdonald Fraser's Quartered Safe Out Here. Dude wrote the Flashman books.

I'd expand that to anything by GMF. Also, 2 Years Before the Mast.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 10:53 AM (I/Qkd)

275 I'm reading Alan Dean Foster's memoir 'They Should Have Shot You'. Sounds like a great guy and a lucky one. I guess he was in the right time and right place, in addition to being productive.

Ah to have been at UCLA in 1972....

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, buy ammo, food, water at September 03, 2023 10:53 AM (xcxpd)

276 There is a strong demonic presence there. It presses in on me. This may sound over the top, I know.
Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:43 AM (45fpk)

I believe you
Is it the city or the college that feels that way?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 10:54 AM (vHIgi)

277 The Bee is a treasure.

https://tinyurl.com/4wxyd99m

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 10:56 AM (I/Qkd)

278 Is it the city or the college that feels that way?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 03, 2023 10:54 AM (vHIgi)

I'm leaning college as that is where I spent the majority of my time.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 10:56 AM (45fpk)

279 LenNeal your hash made me laugh as I am intending to rent the G43x today to check it out vs my G48.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:56 AM (t/2Uw)

280 With the Jewish Thing, Orthodox Christianity has absolute Law that the individual person is a discrete Soul that is separate and will always exist as soon as conceived. Much Jewish Belief is founded on Mystical Union that is at the very least vague about what happens to the individual Soul on departure from the physical body, and branches seek an Eastern view of a cessation of individual existence. Einstein was a believer in this and called himself a Jew, stating in writing he did not believe in any 'afterlife' and that anyone believing in a discrete, comprehensible God was 'infantile'.
My own daughter, the product of a 'mixed marriage', leans to the Eastern view and it bothers me, very much. I can't force her to believe anything, nobody can do that. The trip to Japan was enlightening as she walked right into a Shinto Shrine and was totally at home with a loss of individuality.

Posted by: Don't forget! Grammie Winger (not really, it's LenNeal) at September 03, 2023 10:57 AM (43xH1)

281 Ada Lovelace, a totally different person than Linda Lovelace.

Posted by: exdem13 at September 03, 2023 10:57 AM (W+kMI)

282 Yeah, my college-aged grandson is more widely read than I am. He just devours books including classic literature, and philosophy. His reading has ranged from works of the Enlightenment philosophy to Egyptian mythology.

I think he made one mistake; he read Descartes before The Horus.

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 10:59 AM (991eG)

283 Much Jewish Belief is founded on Mystical Union that is at the very least vague about what happens to the individual Soul on departure from the physical body, and branches seek an Eastern view of a cessation of individual existence. Einstein was a believer in this and called himself a Jew, stating in writing he did not believe in any 'afterlife' and that anyone believing in a discrete, comprehensible God was 'infantile'.

Huh, I did not know either of those things (loss of self, Einstein).

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 10:59 AM (I/Qkd)

284 Bee is a treasure.

https://tinyurl.com/4wxyd99m
Posted by: Archimedes
😂

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 11:00 AM (t/2Uw)

285 Morning, Book Folken! That Savage Realms e-zine: Are they still going, and does anybody know if they are looking for submissions? I have a few fantasy stories (I call my sub-sub-genre "hardboiled fantasy," i.e., magic works but people still have to earn a living).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 03, 2023 09:04 AM (omVj0)

If no one else has answered yet: at the end of the first issue of Savage Realms there was indeed a call for submissions, as well as brief discussion of the terms and conditions. I don't recall them at the moment, but, assuming they're still going, I'm sure they have a website that details their requirements.

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 03, 2023 11:01 AM (92RsY)

286 Muldoon, I have suggested in the past "The Lockley Files" which is a series of interviews done with Oregon Pioneers in the 1920s by Fred Lockley who was a reporter with the Oregon Journal in Salem. They were compiled for files that were kept in archive at the U of O. They go from talking about the trip, to setting up landclaims and mining gold, and the indian wars.
There are also the books by Ralph Friedman about Oregon, which were more researched.
Caxton Press out of Idaho does a lot of Western History, and they do a good job of editing.

There is one by Scott McArthur called The Enemy Never Came with Caxton Press, and it is a good retelling of the Civil War Experience in Oregon.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 11:02 AM (xhaym)

287 "There is no evidence of direct payments to Joe Biden."

-
NewsBusters
@newsbusters
MSNBC: GOP 'Could Never Fathom' How 'Decent and Civil' Biden Is

-
I wonder if this isn't a change of tactis from Bidenomics is miraculously wonderful to Biden is wonderful. The economy is in shambles and people can't help but notice. Biden is decent is also unmitigated nonsense but it's not in your face like the economy so is more susceptible to lying.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 11:03 AM (FVME7)

288 Lots of good suggestions y'all. Thanks from me and the Missus. She has some researching to do before buying Christmas presents.

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 11:03 AM (991eG)

289 In the 1943 Batman serial from Columbia Pictures, the Caped Crusader drove an ordinary 2-door sedan. Cute and charming, to look back on.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 03, 2023 09:13 AM (AW0uW)

Thanks to RiffTrax, I've watched a lot of the "Batman vs The Wizard" serial. And I'm starting on the "Captain Marvel vs the Scorpion" serial. the RiffTrax writers are just nerdy enough to make them really fun.

"Shut up, Robin! Jeeze, a Death in the Family can't come soon enough!"

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 03, 2023 11:03 AM (92RsY)

290 Thanks she says furiously writing it down so she doesn't forget as soon as the thread is over.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 10:44 AM (t/2Uw)

Do you (as I do) have multiple lists of book titles lying around the house, tucked into drawers and cubbyholes and nightstands and used as bookmarks in other books?

Mr. Dmlw! just laughs at me. And gathers them up, rubber-bands them together, and places carefully in the top desk drawer.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:03 AM (OX9vb)

291 “everyone seriously engaged in science becomes convinced that the laws of nature manifest a spirit which is vastly superior to man, and before which we, with our modest strength, must humbly bow.”

Einstein. Regardless, he, like many Jewish branches, equate Nature with God or G-d. There may or may not be a motivating spirit, but the evidence is in nature and science-ey natural things. Nothing Einstein believed was based in personal faith in any unknown. Orthodox Christianity declares, straight up, that God declared Himself knowable and graspable by the human mind. Period, the end. So it's a conundrum with the Jewish array of beliefs.

Posted by: Don't forget! Grammie Winger (not really, it's LenNeal) at September 03, 2023 11:03 AM (43xH1)

292 Do you (as I do) have multiple lists of book titles lying around the house, tucked into drawers and cubbyholes and nightstands and used as bookmarks in other books?

You mean there are people who don't?

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 11:04 AM (45fpk)

293 Better looking women, for sure!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 10:46 AM (Angsy)

*self-loathing average white girl kicks dirt

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:05 AM (OX9vb)

294 "I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature."

-Einstein

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:05 AM (43xH1)

295 For the HS kid I'm thinking adventure, exploration type stuff (e.g. Westward expansion, Lewis & Clark etc.) as opposed to military. Or maybe sports or aviation history. For the college aged one maybe more European or ancient, philosophy or religious type history (obviously a big field). He liked A Gentle Madness by N. Basbaens
Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 10:15 AM (991eG)

"Klondike", by Pierre Berton. About the gold rush of that name.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 03, 2023 11:06 AM (a51b3)

296 Yeah, Fuck You, Einstein.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:06 AM (43xH1)

297 Another awesome Book Thread. Thank you Perfessor.

Not as much reading as I would like as I returned to work this weeks. And, to be honest, too much internet time looking at the same depressing news over and over hoping the next link will make me feel better. It usually doesn't.

I'm still working my way through the Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection. I'd guess I'm about 2/3 into it. Honestly, I'm getting a bit of Sherlock fatigue and am weighing the value of getting it off my reading list vs coming back to it at a later date and perhaps enjoying it more.

Last week I enjoyed a podcast, Pints with Aquinas, that spent nearly 2.5 hrs coving Tolkien. It was mostly from a Catholic perspective and was very interesting. Now I feel like I have to dig out my Lord of the Rings books. If anyone is interested, the YouTube video it can be found at https://pintswithaquinas.com.

Happy Reading to you all!

Posted by: KatieFloyd at September 03, 2023 11:07 AM (5B8p4)

298 "Beyond Civilization" by Keith(?) Chandler talks about the four civilization mindsets: Occidental, Indic, Sinic and Amerind, and their views on things like individual vs. groups.

Like, with a western mindset, we're very pro-individuality but also pro-law and anti-chaos. The Chinese ideal has balance of law/chaos and individual/group. The East Indian favor chaos and are anti-individual (Nirvana). And the poor Amerinds are anti-everything (order is bad but chaos is also bad).

I'm mangling it a bit but it's interesting. Jews would probably be somewhere between the Occidental and the Indic just due to geography.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:07 AM (lpWi1)

299 "I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures,

I cannot conceive of a God who does not.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 11:07 AM (45fpk)

300 Orwell is a puzzle. Most people who read his stuff and don't know better assume he's anti-Communist, until they find out otherwise. While socialism almost inexorably leads to communism, it's not exactly the same thing. How he could have the insights he did and still be a socialist is kind of baffling.

In any case, I don't think his stuff is Marxist.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (I/Qkd)
---
Marxism comes in many flavors. As I get older, I cease to see it as an economic theory and more of a religion, because it has all the trappings of a faith and if you push a Marxist hard enough on the economic consequences of it's policies, they will inevitably say "it's about social justice" or "it's the right thing to do."

Orwell was a Marxist, but a soft one. The POUM militia he joined was hated because it was heretical - i.e. not Stalinist.

Orwell skewered Stalinism, but could not abandon the Marxist worldview.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:08 AM (llXky)

301 Much Jewish Belief is founded on Mystical Union that is at the very least vague about what happens to the individual Soul on departure from the physical body, and branches seek an Eastern view of a cessation of individual existence.

Posted by: Don't forget! Grammie Winger (not really, it's LenNeal) at September 03, 2023 10:57 AM (43xH1)

Not really.

Olam Haba is where the soul goes if it isn't destroyed for being irreparably wicked.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 11:09 AM (lQONO)

302 || *self-loathing average white girl kicks dirt

I'm not sure what's happened when people are saying that California girls aren't good-looking, tbh.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:09 AM (lpWi1)

303 Yeah, my college-aged grandson is more widely read than I am. He just devours books including classic literature, and philosophy. His reading has ranged from works of the Enlightenment philosophy to Egyptian mythology.

I think he made one mistake; he read Descartes before The Horus.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 10:59 AM (991eG)

If so, I'll add a recc for early Roberto Callasso and R A Lafferty.

Froude's Caesar is quite good but requires some knowledge of who Froude was and what hebwas trying to do.

Callasso is pretty out there tbh. Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony is a real tour de force of erudition.

Lafferty's Fall of Rome is brilliant.

Both are not "mainstream" and will shake ones worldview.

William Thomas Walsh was a great Catholic historian of Spain. His books on Isabella and Philip II give the other side.

Kantorowicz Frederick II HRE is the masterpiece on the subject. Very very high level stuff.

Posted by: Thesokorus at September 03, 2023 11:10 AM (uVG+G)

304 53 One genre that is published by the truckload and gets no notice here is romance novels. I realized this yesterday when I was in a secondhand bookstore in another town and didn't find any of my targets. But it was filled with romances.
I've never read one, so I have nothing to say about them.
Just tossing this into the mix.
Posted by: Willow Geek'

You are missing out, you should read some. Some are junk but they are female version of the male series books, like the character-driven Assassin-type novels that sell into the hundreds of millions. Romance and 'Trash' Fiction are the true best-sellers of books.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 09:26 AM (43xH1)

There was a short span of time where I got suckered into buying multiple books that were romances disguised as steampunk and/or fantasy adventures. One book almost got me to rage-quit, but then something finally happened (right after the heroine met her third potential love interest).

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 03, 2023 11:11 AM (92RsY)

305 287 "I wonder if this isn't a change of tactis from Bidenomics is miraculously wonderful to Biden is wonderful."

I doubt it's gonna work, since Biden simply exudes "evil asshole".

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at September 03, 2023 11:11 AM (8Ta2Y)

306 Sorry, the Lockley books start with Conversations with Pioneer Women, and there is Conversations with Pioneer Men that has gone through a number of titles

If your kids like more general world history, I can suggest Carlo Cipolla's Guns Sails and Empires, which is much more general and discusses history through the lens of innovation instead of warfare and colonialism. Cipolla uses the development of iron and steel technologies to show how cultures change or refuse to accept change

Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 11:11 AM (xhaym)

307 For the HS kid I'm thinking adventure, exploration type stuff (e.g. Westward expansion, Lewis & Clark etc.) as opposed to military. Or maybe sports or aviation history. For the college aged one maybe more European or ancient, philosophy or religious type history (obviously a big field). He liked A Gentle Madness by N. Basbaens
Posted by: Muldoon'

The hardcover books by National Geographic are excellent, you can get them for under $100 for the entire set, or, actually, pre-WWII NatGeos! those are amazing.

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

308 Will Durant mentions that the Jews had neither Heaven nor Hell until the Zoroastrians showed up. (Zoroastrianism is dualistic, with a good god and a bad one.)

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:11 AM (lpWi1)

309 Depending on their tolerance for his writing style (I understand he isn't for everyone), I think mort of Melville is worth reading. Moby Dick is his best known work by far, but Typee, Omoo, and White Jacket, are all highly enjoyable. I can take or leave Billy Budd.

They are available in some very nice compendia.
https://tinyurl.com/dvb87b6n
https://tinyurl.com/35phbvwf

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 11:12 AM (I/Qkd)

310 Not really.
Olam Haba is where the soul goes if it isn't destroyed for being irreparably wicked.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo'

Shockingly, there is much debate and discourse!

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:12 AM (43xH1)

311 I'm not afraid to say it:

Einstein was a bad guy and should have stayed in his lane.

Posted by: Thesokorus at September 03, 2023 11:12 AM (uVG+G)

312 16.4 +/- 3

Posted by: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? at September 03, 2023 11:13 AM (991eG)

313 Morning Hordemates.
Thems is some ugly pants!

Posted by: Diogenes at September 03, 2023 11:14 AM (hv9bm)

314 Yesterday I was driving through the area where American University is located and there were a lot of students out and about. Saw a group of girls. They were either wearing very tiny clothes with all their fatty rolls showing or overdressed for the very warm weather in baggy pants and raggy tshirts.. Not one looked like they'd bothered to take a shower.
I thought, so that's why....

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 11:14 AM (t/2Uw)

315 Will Durant mentions that the Jews had neither Heaven nor Hell until the Zoroastrians showed up. (Zoroastrianism is dualistic, with a good god and a bad one.)

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:11 AM (lpWi1)
---
Haven't read him, sounds like he's of the "religion evolved from animism to paganism to monotheism" school.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:15 AM (llXky)

316 (I'd probably give myself 3 Roddenberries on a scale of 1 to 10.)

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 10:47 AM (lpWi1)

Hmm, what could that entail? Writing poor lyrics to someone else's music to claim half credit? Fool around on your wife? Put your girlfriend in your tv show? That's three, isn't it? What are the other seven....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:16 AM (Angsy)

317
I'm not sure what's happened when people are saying that California girls aren't good-looking, tbh.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:09 AM (lpWi1)
---
Body positivity. That's what happened.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:16 AM (llXky)

318 I did not know Ben-Gurion, almost instantly on declaring a Jewish State, laid down the law with the varied terror cells and not only integrated them but actively killed off a bunch.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 10:46 AM (43xH1)
-

Remember the Altalena!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 03, 2023 11:16 AM (adINt)

319 I would not even care about Jewish Shit had I not accidentally married into a Ukrainian Jewish family and had a child I love dearly, and now have to deal with a 'mixed marriage'.

I should have known something was up when 1) on our very first date we went to the Art Institute of Chicago for an exhibition of Orthodox Ikons and purchased, and gave, her the monograph which she characterized as 'pretty', and 2) on buying our own house she started a garden and instantly installed a terra cotta Buddha statue.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:16 AM (43xH1)

320 I've been amusing myself by watching them being torn to shreds by Disparu and Shad of Shadiversity.

The people who have "adapted" these books clearly have NO love for the source material and take every opportunity to shit all over Jordan's masterwork.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 03, 2023 09:47 AM (BpYfr)

Disparu is a treasure! And Shad....I was surprised to learn that I had been following Shad on an art site long before he started his YouTube channel. Small world...

And since I mention crowdfunded books so often, Shad's comic is one book that I'm waiting on...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 03, 2023 11:17 AM (92RsY)

321 Orwell was a Marxist, but a soft one. The POUM militia he joined was hated because it was heretical - i.e. not Stalinist.
Orwell skewered Stalinism, but could not abandon the Marxist worldview.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:08 AM (llXky)

Concur. I remember reading where he said in his hi skool days during the end of the Great War that it was cool to be a Bolshevik and he and his friends even put out a short lived skool newspaper or some such extolling it’s virtues. Some people never evolve beyond their hi skool years.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at September 03, 2023 11:18 AM (R/m4+)

322 on buying our own house she started a garden and instantly installed a terra cotta Buddha statue.

Did you smear the head with chia seeds?

Posted by: Oddbob at September 03, 2023 11:18 AM (nfrXX)

323 So someone recognized people in the pic eh?
I have some trepidation that one day I'll recognize a Mannix girl. That could be good or bad.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 03, 2023 11:19 AM (hv9bm)

324 As far as romances go, it is not *usually* my cup of tea. Just not the kind of reader cookies I prefer. The exception to this is Georgette Heyer, so those of you who are curious and want a gentle introduction she has all kinds of options to sample: mysteries set in post-WWII England, Regency romances (her most famous genre) and a few historicals all over the map timewise. I recommend her to newbie writers all the time because even if they aren't going to be writing romances they WILL need to write characters and Georgette Heyer is the master of characterization. Two lines and you know the person's personality, quirks, and have a good notion of what they will do next. They are *real*, even if they only appear once in the book!

The other thing is promotion. Romance writers, due to the volume they write, are always at the forefront of what works and what doesn't as far as advertising and other techniques. Some non-romance writers go to their conferences just for the promotion panels, they are that good.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at September 03, 2023 11:19 AM (7rP4D)

325 Orwell was a Marxist, but a soft one.

Yeah, that never works.

Posted by: Mensheviks at September 03, 2023 11:19 AM (I/Qkd)

326 The Jewish Ex-Wife is smoking, crazy hot by the way. I'd post pictures but really, she's nutty hot. Blonde, green-eyed, ugh.

She's happily esconced in a townhouse with the boyfriend, and as soon as she could The Kid bailed and came to live with the insane Orthodox Christian Dad. I try to do the best I can.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:19 AM (43xH1)

327 Late to the party, but a quick report. As normal lots of good book reading, most audio while commuting.

Best read of the week: The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge. from Thurs.ONT.

Thanks WeirdDave !, Perfessor & all the cobs.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 03, 2023 11:19 AM (pbuig)

328 Perfessor,

Thanks for another wonderful book thread. I look forward to it every week.

Posted by: JTB at September 03, 2023 11:20 AM (7EjX1)

329 Another good history book, Imperial Twilight by Stephen R. Platt. It is about the Opium War. Though little known, the war was instrumental in ending China's last golden age and is a general metaphor for the west's engagement with China. The English demanded that China allow importation of opium by British merchants.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 11:22 AM (FVME7)

330 My own attendance on the blog has been spotty, but haven't seen Christopher R. Taylor of late. Others have noticed, as well. Has anyone been in touch with him?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:22 AM (OX9vb)

331 Haven't read him, sounds like he's of the "religion evolved from animism to paganism to monotheism" school.||

Will Durant (with his wife Ariel) wrote The Story of Civilization (11 volumes) and The Story of Philosophy (a rather short work). I think he mostly reported on what was believed by historians of the day.

So when he says "Zoroastrians introduced heaven/hell to the West" I take it at face value, not as commentary on religion "evolving". YMMV.

|| Hmm, what could that entail? Writing poor lyrics to someone else's music to claim half credit? Fool around on your wife? Put your girlfriend in your tv show? That's three, isn't it? What are the other seven....

Good lord, no! lol I'm at 0 Roddenberries personally.

But "Star Trek" is like 9 out of 10 for "social relevance". It's why it can be so very cringe.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:22 AM (lpWi1)

332 || Body positivity. That's what happened.

It don't make ME positive 'bout bodies!

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:23 AM (lpWi1)

333 Good lord, no! lol I'm at 0 Roddenberries '

Is this a unit of measurement?

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:23 AM (43xH1)

334 annalucia, the Blurb should be who Abella was, what this book is about, and why the reader should buy it - hidden among the explanation of why you worked so hard to translate it.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 11:24 AM (xhaym)

335 My own attendance on the blog has been spotty, but haven't seen Christopher R. Taylor of late. Others have noticed, as well. Has anyone been in touch with him?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:22 AM (OX9vb)

I've noticed his absence too, but don't have any contact info. I hope he's okay. I always enjoy his comments.

Posted by: grammie winger - I don't belong here at September 03, 2023 11:25 AM (45fpk)

336 Sabrina Chase, I think it was you and Anne Cleeland who turned me on to Georgette Heyer. I read a number of them . I think one called The Toll House was the first. I like them a lot but there are so many books I like, I think I quit after the first couple.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 11:25 AM (t/2Uw)

337 With the Jewish Thing, Orthodox Christianity has absolute Law that the individual person is a discrete Soul that is separate and will always exist as soon as conceived. Much Jewish Belief is founded on Mystical Union that is at the very least vague about what happens to the individual Soul on departure from the physical body, and branches seek an Eastern view of a cessation of individual existence. Einstein was a believer in this and called himself a Jew, stating in writing he did not believe in any 'afterlife' and that anyone believing in a discrete, comprehensible God was 'infantile'.

But, is that belief sprung from post Temple times? Clearly in the NT, Lazarus' sisters believed in post death resurrection.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:25 AM (Angsy)

338 LenNeal--

When I was editing my books and removing things that had snuck in that I felt weren't organic but more me venting (terrible idea, IMO) I realized that I was the anti-Roddenberry.

He wanted to make "Star Trek" socially relevant and, while I cannot help it to some degree, I really try to avoid that, so I imagined a "Roddenberry Scale" from (0-10) and gave myself a 3.

But then OrangeEnt pointed out Roddenberry's PERSONAL behavior and, yeah, I'm a zero there.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:26 AM (lpWi1)

339 Concur. I remember reading where he said in his hi skool days during the end of the Great War that it was cool to be a Bolshevik and he and his friends even put out a short lived skool newspaper or some such extolling it’s virtues. Some people never evolve beyond their hi skool years.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at September 03, 2023 11:18 AM (R/m4+)
---
Evelyn Waugh was one of the very few British writers that didn't declare fealty to Red Spain. Just about every other one did.

I think Marxists can be good writers, but the problem is more of the modern "Woke" belief system, that isn't Marxist so much as pure demonic.

Don't get me wrong, Marxism is also demonic, but there are distinct differences. Marxism is built on envy while Woke is built on lust.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:26 AM (llXky)

340 The oldest story I know about that is a short story that Murray Leinster wrote, called The Runaway Skyscraper, in 1919 for Argosy magazine
Posted by: Kindltot'

If I were my house, I'd run away from me. I'm a terrible owner.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:26 AM (43xH1)

341 I, too, have missed Mr. Taylor. Sudden departures are worrisome.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:27 AM (lpWi1)

342 284 Bee is a treasure.

https://tinyurl.com/4wxyd99m
Posted by: Archimedes
😂
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 11:00 AM (t/2Uw)

; )

Posted by: m at September 03, 2023 11:27 AM (Dz9Qm)

343 My own attendance on the blog has been spotty, but haven't seen Christopher R. Taylor of late. Others have noticed, as well. Has anyone been in touch with him?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:22 AM (OX9vb)

I have talked to him. He said he managed to ban himself by accident, but he has so much to do he was taking the opportunity to get caught up.
I was hoping he would show up to the PNW MoMee, but he didn't make it.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 11:27 AM (xhaym)

344 But, is that belief sprung from post Temple times? Clearly in the NT, Lazarus' sisters believed in post death resurrection.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

Oh, that's a weird business and I dealt with it in the 3rd book that's not up on the website yet. I wrote it and gave it to the Serbian Diocese and it's translated into Serbian but nobody there cares as it's accepted practice and nobody cares about Serbian Orthodox Christian Theology.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:28 AM (43xH1)

345 Thanks for the thread Perfessor and all you wonderful people who helped me out of my morning moodiness.
❤️

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 03, 2023 11:29 AM (t/2Uw)

346 Better looking women, for sure!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 10:46 AM (Angsy)

*self-loathing average white girl kicks dirt

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:05 AM (OX9vb)

Heh. Of course I meant the purple hair, tattooed, pierced, fat women who think they're "10s."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:29 AM (Angsy)

347
I have talked to him. He said he managed to ban himself by accident, but he has so much to do he was taking the opportunity to get caught up.
I was hoping he would show up to the PNW MoMee, but he didn't make it.
Posted by: Kindltot'

Lesbian pron or it didn't happen.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:29 AM (43xH1)

348 Ada Lovelace, a totally different person than Linda Lovelace.
Posted by: exdem13 at September 03, 2023 10:57 AM (W+kMI)

Ada Lovelace wore wool socks on her wedding night.

And if they'd been invented then, curlers.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:30 AM (2iAbS)

349 Missus Muldoon has a small request for reading recommendations of good books for young adult grandkids (HS junior, college junior) boys, with interest in history.
Posted by: Muldoon

Have her checkout (see what I did there) the Library of America. Loa dot org
Got pointed to it just yesterday. Looks like a great book place.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 03, 2023 11:30 AM (hv9bm)

350 327 Late to the party, but a quick report. As normal lots of good book reading, most audio while commuting.

Best read of the week: The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge. from Thurs.ONT.

Thanks WeirdDave !, Perfessor & all the cobs.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 03, 2023 11:19 AM (pbuig)

It's been updated!

https://tylervigen.com/
the-mystery-of-the-bloomfield-bridge

Posted by: m at September 03, 2023 11:32 AM (Dz9Qm)

351 But, is that belief sprung from post Temple times? Clearly in the NT, Lazarus' sisters believed in post death resurrection.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:25 AM (Angsy)
---
There are prayers for the dead in 2 Maccabees, and 1 Enoch has a guided tour of heaven and hell. It was the second most popular scripture in Qumran (the most popular being Jubilees).

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:32 AM (llXky)

352 This week I came to reading a series in a way I usually don't.

I watch anime for roughly half an hour to an hour before I go to bed, because storylines are simple and usually not that engaging, and easy to relax and go to sleep. However-

I started watching "Chainsaw Man" and was really gripped by it. Good writing, good characters, good plotting with twists, lots of unexpected humor.

Basically, CM is about a 16 year old, Denji, who has lived in extreme poverty ever since his father committed suicide. He makes a contract with the puppy-like chainsaw devil to help him kill devils so he can make money. This is a world where devils based around human fear arise.
Denji is betrayed by his yakuza boss and murdered, just before he dies the chainsaw devil makes a contract with Denji that he will become Denji's heart if Kenji promises to live out his(Denji's) dreams.
Because of that Denji becomes the Chainsaw Man and goes to work for the gov't killing devils.

It's more complicated than that and engrossing. It takes about 5 episodes (after they meet the Infinity Devil)before the table is set and things really get interesting.

Anyway, I decided I couldn't wait and
(cont)

Posted by: naturalfake at September 03, 2023 11:32 AM (QzZeQ)

353 Yeah, that never works.
Posted by: Mensheviks'

We'll persuade them! It's just our messaging!

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:32 AM (43xH1)

354 I don't know about curlers, but wool socks can be...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/457819118377276368/

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:33 AM (lpWi1)

355 The porn stache seems to be quite popular among the twenty something crowd.

(observation from a college coffee shop on a Sunday morning)

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at September 03, 2023 11:33 AM (lWKSt)

356 (cont)

decided to read the manga.

It's very well written and for a manga consistent and logical in carrying the world to it's farthest extreme.

I don't want to oversell it cuz it is a manga

But, if it sounds like something you'll like. You definitely will.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 03, 2023 11:34 AM (QzZeQ)

357 One of the things about Calhoun and the condemnation of "pure democracy," is that the will of the people is like so many other things, a good thing when not manipulated and corrupted by the rich and powerful.

Without getting too far into it, I think the sin of the South is that their elites were just as corrupt as ours are now, and were willing to overlook the harm they were doing, not just to black people, but also lower classes of whites.

Their way of life was evil, it just was. And it had to end. Doesn't mean the alternative proposed by the North was pure and perfect, of course it wasn't, but theirs had to end.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:34 AM (2iAbS)

358 tbh, I'll take manga over Western comic books, by-and-large.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:35 AM (lpWi1)

359 There are prayers for the dead in 2 Maccabees, and 1 Enoch has a guided tour of heaven and hell. It was the second most popular scripture in Qumran (the most popular being Jubilees).
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd'

Here, we encounter a massive discussion of whether the Old Deal was superceded or supplanted by the New Deal. The terms matter. It's more of a 'lean' than a doctrine but I've found in the remote Balkans the New Deal is paramount. The Orthodox Churches are autocephalous, not united. I'm Serbian Orthodox, not Russian, which I find kinda authoritarian.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:35 AM (43xH1)

360 Thanks, kindletot. I had just emailed him through his website before I saw your reply. Glad he's all right.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:35 AM (OX9vb)

361 Remember when depleted uranium munitions were bad?

U.S. Preparing to Send First Set of Depleted Uranium Rounds to Ukraine

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 11:36 AM (FVME7)

362 *"Klondike", by Pierre Berton.*

What would you do?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 03, 2023 11:36 AM (NBVIP)

363 || the will of the people is like so many other things, a good thing when not manipulated and corrupted by the rich and powerful ||

[citation needed]

(Honestly, a thick topic for the end of the book thread, but the "will of the people" is a mixed bag, at best.)

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:36 AM (lpWi1)

364 The Book Thread Obligatory Mention Index is defined as the numerical (arithmetic) difference in comment number between the first mention of Star Trek and the first mention of LOTR. Expressed mathematically as:

BTOMI = (y^TREK) - (x^LOTR)

Today's OMI is 232.

LOTR at comment 30 beats Star Trek at 262 by 232 comments

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 11:36 AM (991eG)

365 I have some trepidation that one day I'll recognize a Mannix girl. That could be good or bad.
Posted by: Diogenes a
====
The mannix girls you might recognize are all in their xx's now.

Posted by: From about that Time at September 03, 2023 11:37 AM (4780s)

366 Remember the Altalena!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 03, 2023 11:16 AM (adINt)

That was a mess.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 11:37 AM (lQONO)

367 Oh!

Chainsaw Man anime is streaming on several venues and easy to find should you wish.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 03, 2023 11:37 AM (QzZeQ)

368 Remember when depleted uranium munitions were bad?

U.S. Preparing to Send First Set of Depleted Uranium Rounds to Ukraine
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 11:36 AM (FVME7)

But we're the good guys.

Sure.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:37 AM (2iAbS)

369 I don't know about curlers, but wool socks can be...

$108 for socks?

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 11:37 AM (I/Qkd)

370 Marvel Reshuffles Entire Disney Plus TV Schedule: “Ironheart”, “Daredevil: Born Again”, And “Wonder Man” Placed On Indefinite Hiatus

-
Wonder Man?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 03, 2023 11:38 AM (FVME7)

371 My oh my! How times have changed!

I was in Ireland for the first time in 1976 visiting family. I went to Trinity to see the Book of Kells and at that time it was still in the Long Room. No admission fee, no wait, no nothing. Just walk on in.

When I got to the Long Room, it was just me and the security guard. Not another soul. We both took a gander at the Book, and had a very nice chat (the Irish weakness after booze...chatting FOREVER).

Since then, I've been back to see the Book a few times, but it just isn't the same. Stand in a huge line, pay admission fee, and see the Book for like 10 seconds. Not anymore.

Posted by: RobertM at September 03, 2023 11:38 AM (+/lOf)

372 Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 11:27 AM (xhaym)

Tell him to contact me and I will get it sorted out.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 11:40 AM (lQONO)

373 The Book Thread Obligatory Mention Index is defined as the numerical (arithmetic) difference in comment number between the first mention of Star Trek and the first mention of LOTR. Expressed mathematically as:

BTOMI = (y^TREK) - (x^LOTR)

Today's OMI is 232.

LOTR at comment 30 beats Star Trek at 262 by 232 comments

Posted by: Muldoon

HAHAHAHAH!

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:40 AM (43xH1)

374 Their way of life was evil, it just was. And it had to end. Doesn't mean the alternative proposed by the North was pure and perfect, of course it wasn't, but theirs had to end.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:34 AM (2iAbS)
---
Yes, it's like admiring Karl Barth's theology and then realizing that not only did he keep a mistress in the family home, he wrote a theological defense of his adultery.

Every Calhoun admirer I've met (admittedly a small, but very vocal bunch), handwaves the slavery issue away, but you can't. You can't discourse of liberty and preserving rights while keeping a large population in perpetual slavery.

It's too much of a disconnect.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:41 AM (llXky)

375 (Honestly, a thick topic for the end of the book thread, but the "will of the people" is a mixed bag, at best.)
Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:36 AM (lpWi1)

It is. But at its best, it is a dialogue that is had between the elected and the electors. It is constrained by the documents that do MOST of their constraining on the elected, so when "the will of the people" oversteps itself, the system brings it back. Whereas, when the elites and the elected believe the will of the people means nothing, other than something to be manipulated and outright ignored, we get today.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:41 AM (2iAbS)

376 But then OrangeEnt pointed out Roddenberry's PERSONAL behavior and, yeah, I'm a zero there.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:26 AM (lpWi1)

All in fun, though!

Yeah, the Great Bird was more of the Great Bird Droppings.... i.e. Lincoln Enterprises.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:41 AM (Angsy)

377 He said he managed to ban himself by accident

*******

At times I have been tempted to do the same...

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 11:41 AM (991eG)

378 Thank you for the book thread Perfessor and to all who share their thoughts here. Not a big reader myself, but really enjoy the discussion and book recommendations.

Posted by: Rufus T Firefly at September 03, 2023 11:42 AM (rtIvC)

379 $108 for socks?
Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 11:37 AM (I/Qkd)

That's what it takes to make wool socks look halfway secksy, and it would take a lot more than that to make Ada Lovelace so.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:44 AM (2iAbS)

380 Remember the Altalena!
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 03, 2023 11:16 AM (adINt)
That was a mess.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo'

I've read some early OSS papers with input from the formation of the IDF referencing the Roman-era Zealots and the risk this strain posed, and not willing to risk it again. There were invoked the 2nd Temple, some blame, and an absolute dedication to the 3rd Temple, where the nascent IDF flatly wasn't going to fuck around with any more extremists with their high-minded bullshit and killed them off. I admit, personally, I would have done exactly the same thing and I'm not just saying that.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:45 AM (43xH1)

381 Thanks, Perf and contributors. Had the library site on tab and made some requests.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 03, 2023 11:45 AM (ynMLt)

382 Tell him to contact me and I will get it sorted out.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 11:40 AM (lQONO)

I will forward that.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 11:45 AM (xhaym)

383 $108 for socks?||

Archimedes, if you saw that picture and looked at the price of the socks, our interests may be too divergent for communication.

BurtTC -- I subscribe to Machiavelli's view that "the people" is just a phrase like "divine right", used by rulers to justify why they should rule.

|| All in fun, though!

Well, he seemed to be having fun, at times.

Posted by: moviegique at September 03, 2023 11:45 AM (lpWi1)

384 At times I have been tempted to do the same...
Posted by: Muldoon'

Limerick to prove it?

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:46 AM (43xH1)

385 At mass we had a substitute priest and he was awesome. He talked about Fr. Thomas Merten and his writings- has anyone here read him?

Posted by: LASue at September 03, 2023 11:46 AM (Ed8Zd)

386 30 The 2024 Old Farmer's Almanac came out. Getting it on the first day is an annul tradition. People sneer at the weather predictions but from what I've seen over the years, they are no worse than the 'scientific' long range guess work from the media. Plus, there are always unusual articles and bits of information. This issue has a piece on the history and social significance of pancakes which was quite interesting along with a recipe for blueberry pancakes. (Blueberry pancakes are one of the proofs that God loves us and wants us to be happy.) Then there was an item about Lammas Day, August 1. The name derives from Old English meaning "loaf mass". I wonder if that is where Tolkien (obligatory mention) got the name for the Elves' lembas bread.

I saw a copy and was surprised that there was nothing on next year’s total solar eclipse (April

on the front cover. Maybe inside the book…

Every year since fourth grade (I blame both my middle sister and my fourth grade teacher for this one) I get a World Almanac and Book of Facts.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 03, 2023 11:47 AM (f0XAF)

387 Every year since fourth grade (I blame both my middle sister and my fourth grade teacher for this one) I get a World Almanac and Book of Facts.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33'

That's actually kind of cool.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:48 AM (43xH1)

388 Suppose I should consider doing some real life type stuff.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 03, 2023 11:49 AM (a/4+U)

389 Archimedes, if you saw that picture and looked at the price of the socks, our interests may be too divergent for communication.

Well, I was thinking of her without the socks. If you choose to focus on hosiery, that's your business.

Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 11:49 AM (I/Qkd)

390 At times I have been tempted to do the same...

Posted by: Muldoon at September 03, 2023 11:41 AM (991eG)

No one can beat Ace at his own game!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:49 AM (Angsy)

391 I just wanted to let all lovers of Audiobooks MusicFab made a program where you can download your library of Audiobooks. I know I am worried that they will edit my Audiobooks for content

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at September 03, 2023 11:50 AM (dKiJG)

392 At mass we had a substitute priest and he was awesome. He talked about Fr. Thomas Merten and his writings- has anyone here read him?
Posted by: LASue at September 03, 2023 11:46 AM (Ed8Zd)

For what it's worth, I just started reading James Douglass' "JFK and the Unspeakable." In the preface, Douglass relies heavily on his readings of Merton, having met Merton when he was a young theology student. He gets the term "Unspeakable" from Merton's writings.

I've only ever read OF Merton, not having read him, but those who have sometimes describe his work as transformative, and many Catholics believe he should be marked for Sainthood.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:50 AM (2iAbS)

393 Oh anyway about writing, I did get three pages of 8.5x11 writing done this morning and sent to the recipient for checking if it's acceptable, I tend to write in intense sessions of focus then have a sort of confusion and collapse. This was pretty good this morning.

I really do Thank You for the people on the Book Thread.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:50 AM (43xH1)

394 Audible Library
you can download your library using MusicFab forgot to put that in their

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at September 03, 2023 11:51 AM (dKiJG)

395 $108 for socks?
Posted by: Archimedes at September 03, 2023 11:37 AM (I/Qkd)

*schedules trip to Hobby Lobby to find knitting books and supplies

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:53 AM (OX9vb)

396 It is. But at its best, it is a dialogue that is had between the elected and the electors. It is constrained by the documents that do MOST of their constraining on the elected, so when "the will of the people" oversteps itself, the system brings it back. Whereas, when the elites and the elected believe the will of the people means nothing, other than something to be manipulated and outright ignored, we get today.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:41 AM (2iAbS)
---
There's also the importance of faith, which lots of philosophies of government leave out.

You could argue that our system is fine, but the loss of faith renders any system unable to function. If cleverness is valued more than courage, if slick lies are more admirable than truth, it's over, no matter whether it's a monarchy or republic.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (llXky)

397 Getting to be that time. Thanks again, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (llXky)

398 I really do Thank You for the people on the Book Thread.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:50 AM (43xH1)

You are going to participate in the writer's group, aren't you?

(raises eyebrow)

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (Angsy)

399 *schedules trip to Hobby Lobby to find knitting books and supplies
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!'

Men have the weirdest fetishes. Tanlines to me are bizarre but I have met a lot of men who just lose it over tanlines.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (43xH1)

400 You are going to participate in the writer's group, aren't you?

(raises eyebrow)
Posted by: OrangeEnt'

Well, yeah, I guess.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:56 AM (43xH1)

401 Men have the weirdest fetishes. Tanlines to me are bizarre but I have met a lot of men who just lose it over tanlines.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (43xH1)

Only a harlot would tan naked!!!!!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:57 AM (Angsy)

402 There's also the importance of faith, which lots of philosophies of government leave out.

You could argue that our system is fine, but the loss of faith renders any system unable to function. If cleverness is valued more than courage, if slick lies are more admirable than truth, it's over, no matter whether it's a monarchy or republic.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (llXky)

Which is manifested in capitalism (yeah yeah, I know), which many on the so-called right seem to worship. It should be obvious to anyone, a purely "capitalist" approach to economics is capable of being corrupted, and of becoming evil as well.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:57 AM (2iAbS)

403 Which is manifested in capitalism (yeah yeah, I know), which many on the so-called right seem to worship. It should be obvious to anyone, a purely "capitalist" approach to economics is capable of being corrupted, and of becoming evil as well.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:57 AM (2iAbS)

I swear, it seems that no matter where you turn, everybody and everything in this world is corrupt!!!

Er....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 11:59 AM (Angsy)

404 It should be obvious to anyone, a purely "capitalist" approach to economics is capable of being corrupted, and of becoming evil as well.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:57 AM (2iAbS)

A pure market economy is by definition transparent, so any corruption must be agreed upon by both buyer and seller.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 11:59 AM (lQONO)

405 Men have the weirdest fetishes. Tanlines to me are bizarre but I have met a lot of men who just lose it over tanlines.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (43xH1)

Who knows where such things come from, really, but I would assume a tanline fetish has many mothers.

No doubt for many boys in their formative years seeing women/girls in skimpier and skimpier swimwear, and/or first exposures to Playboy type nudes.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 12:00 PM (2iAbS)

406 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at September 03, 2023 12:01 PM (MOY79)

407 In the Gospels and in the Book of Acts, there are several references to the fact that the party of the Pharisees (analagous to modern Orthodox) believed in resurrection and the afterlife, while the Sadducees believed in nothing at all for men after this life (analagous to modern Reform movement) And then there were the Hellenists, whom both groups disliked.

I think it's worth pointing out that Jesus did not criticize the Pharisees for what they believed; he criticized the huge gap between what they said they believed, and how they acted.

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 03, 2023 12:01 PM (i9ffA)

408 Since historical novels were mentioned, I tried to think of some I thought were good:

1) The Persian Boy, by Mary Renault (Alexander the Great)

2) Lincoln, and Julian the Apostate, both by Gore Vidal. I realize full well that Vidal was a total and complete azalea in every way, so I'm embarrassed to admit I enjoyed these. Vidal was often accused of being "middlebrow," but it didn't bother me.

3) The Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian. There's a LOT of stuff in there about life during the late Georgian era-- banking; the legal system; medicine.

4) The Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters. Disclaimer: I only read 2 of them. There are a LOT more. I think she's a fine medievalist.

Posted by: mnw at September 03, 2023 12:01 PM (NLIak)

409 Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 11:57 AM (2iAbS)

A pure market economy is by definition transparent, so any corruption must be agreed upon by both buyer and seller.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 03, 2023 11:59 AM (lQONO)

And then we get the "invisible hand" of today's market economy, where so much of it is concealed, not to mention of course, controlled by government in ways that neither buyer nor seller can overcome, even if they want to.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 03, 2023 12:03 PM (2iAbS)

410 The saddest part of Sunday morning, the end of the Book Thread. Thanks, Perfessor.

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

411 There is one by Scott McArthur called The Enemy Never Came with Caxton Press, and it is a good retelling of the Civil War Experience in Oregon.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 03, 2023 11:02 AM (xhaym)

There are book and movie titles that are instantly attractive to me. I don’t understand the why of it.

The Enemy Never Came.
Letter Never Sent.

Posted by: 13times at September 03, 2023 12:06 PM (LH1UD)

412 We topped 400 comments in just the past hour??!!

Yay! This is like the old days.

I'll have a lot more to read after church.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 03, 2023 12:07 PM (+8E3N)

413 Holy Hell! I have to work tonight and stock the beverage and charcoal department.

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 12:08 PM (43xH1)

414 The Enemy Never Came.
Letter Never Sent.
Posted by: 13times'

'You Know What I Mean!'

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 12:09 PM (43xH1)

415 "Agent Sonya" by Ben Macintyre

Only one more book left of his to read.

"The Caesars" by Lars Brownsworth

and just to get a rise from you folks...

"Family Values" by RFK Jr. (bio of his extended family, from the eyes of boy up to 196

Posted by: Levin at September 03, 2023 12:21 PM (kk8TL)

416 This thread is nood-kaput but I just got here. Working it from bottom to top.

Posted by: 13times at September 03, 2023 12:25 PM (RFoC2)

417 Out of non-fiction of immediate interest, I finally have tackled the Moron-recommended 'The Great Christ Comet'. This is not a page-turner, but rather, an academic study of the star of Bethlehem, a great deal of it having to do with astronomy, but laced with Biblical history. It is not a proselytizing text, but rather an interesting historical and astrological study.
Goodreads review: https://tinyurl.com/25fk6cxx

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 03, 2023 12:26 PM (48u4S)

418 This thread is nood-kaput but I just got here. Working it from bottom to top.

Posted by: 13times at September 03, 2023 12:25 PM (RFoC2)

I've seen comments from hours after the thread officially ends.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 12:28 PM (Angsy)

419 The saddest part of Sunday morning, the end of the Book Thread. Thanks, Perfessor.
Posted by: OrangeEnt
------

It's like saying goodbye to the stacks...wait...I may have made a pun.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 03, 2023 12:29 PM (48u4S)

420 You guys and gals warning about Madison are giving me cause for concern. See, my mission is to visit all 50 state capitols. (I have 36, included in the total are Juneau and Honolulu.). I’ve yet to visit Madison.

Sounds like I should visit, see the capitol, take the tour, then run like hell.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 03, 2023 12:33 PM (f0XAF)

421 It's like saying goodbye to the stacks...wait...I may have made a pun.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 03, 2023 12:29 PM (48u4S)

Sea! There is still good content late!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 03, 2023 12:37 PM (Angsy)

422 The Enemy Never Came.
Letter Never Sent.
Posted by: 13times'

'You Know What I Mean!'

Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 12:09 PM

And its sequel, You Know What You Did.

Posted by: huerfano at September 03, 2023 12:39 PM (7zEAH)

423 mnw - Interesting recommendations. Thanks!

Posted by: Levin at September 03, 2023 12:46 PM (kk8TL)

424 Weak Geek; thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately most Sunday mornings I'm otherwise occupied and by the time I've read the comments to the end any pertinent remarks I might have had were already made by 2 or 3 others.

As for original remarks, the books I've written are unlikely to draw any interest here (sample titles, "A Railroad Ran Through it; The Law and History of Railroad Right-of-Way Acquisition and Abandonment" and "Riparian and Littoral Rights") as are the ones I'm presently reading-for example, "The Military Revolution Debate" and "The Plague of Models."

BTW, did you continue reading Glen Cook's Garrett fantasies? As I recall, you thought the first one or two to be pretty meh, and, IMHO anyway, they were the best of the series by quite a bit.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at September 03, 2023 12:54 PM (cYrkj)

425 “Your grandsons might like the actual journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition“

How do I properly express this next bit? Seems I can’t do it.

There’s only one way to ‘first read’ Lewis and Clark and it begins with the first journal entry and ends with last.

The journals offer a raw and context-free narrative into the vast unknown - especially after the expedition leave the Mandan village. The French guides’ working knowledge sucks. Strange faces appear out of the mist of the river. Sometimes those faces are literally unwashed and hostile. Names are meaningless. Places are unimaginably wild. Elk and deer stare unblinking at the travelers; they’ve no natural fear of humans. And then shit gets weird. Massive fossils rise out of the prairie. Murderous dwarves inhabit a hill. Indians are spooky, if not murderous. …

Posted by: 13times at September 03, 2023 01:02 PM (60nWs)

426 Still reading through the "Ghosts of Malta" anthology. I'm not quite to the end, though getting close.

The story that's had the most emotional impact so far is "Breathe Free" by Nicki Kenyon. It details the story of a little girl who grew up in the low (but honest) class and how through effort she makes good, but what she endured from her past echos in the present in her motives and her choices in the present. Her honesty has her squaring off against corruption in the present day. The author does an exceptional job of showing how that exacts a cost on her and those around her, and... I'd say more, but spoilers.

It's a VERY good story, and I'm probably going to go back and re-read it once I've finished the last story in the anthology.

This is the first of four Malta anthologies (all published/available now) offered by Raconteur Press. This group may have started small, but has gained legs and is picking up speed quickly.

They've put out a call for new authors to submit stories too, if any of you here are interested. See: thelawdogfiles.com

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 03, 2023 01:12 PM (qPw5n)

427 BurtTC- Thank you! I looked up the book you mentioned and it's definitely going on my future reading list. Here's an interesting tidbit from Wik about it (which sounds like Trump's battles with the State Dept. and others who thrive on war):

"The book highlights the Bay of Pigs Invasion as the Central Intelligence Agency's attempt to entrap Kennedy into a full-scale US invasion of Cuba. Citing Daniel Schorr's conclusion that "In effect, President Kennedy was the target of a CIA covert operation that collapsed when the invasion collapsed", the book argues that the result of this operation was Kennedy's avowed intention "to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds." The forced resignation of CIA Director Allen Dulles and several deputies served notice that this statement might be followed through. The book describes Kennedy's conflict with the military, including over the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and a back-channel to Fidel Castro in September 1963, via William Attwood, aimed at normalising relations".

Posted by: LASue at September 03, 2023 01:16 PM (Ed8Zd)

428 405 Men have the weirdest fetishes. Tanlines to me are bizarre but I have met a lot of men who just lose it over tanlines.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 03, 2023 11:55 AM (43xH1)

(Peruses recently acquired images of his very first crush, no tanlines involved though)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 03, 2023 01:33 PM (f0XAF)

429 Re-reading the 4 part "March" series by David Weber/John Ringo. Great collaboration between the two fo all you military sci-fi buffs.

Books in Series:
March Upcountry
March to the Sea
March to the Stars
We Few

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at September 03, 2023 02:02 PM (e/Osv)

430 @316 --

4. Allegedly firing an actress because she wouldn't put out for him.

5. Stripping the guest star actresses (through costume design) while allowing actors to stay covered up.

6. Using your TV show to promote a trinket you're selling on the side.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 03, 2023 02:25 PM (p/isN)

431 *self-loathing average white girl kicks dirt
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 03, 2023 11:05 AM

OrangeEnt doesn't speak for all of us!

Posted by: Cybersmythe at September 03, 2023 04:48 PM (iZEhM)

432 Currently, I’m catching up on my Clive Cussler addiction. Spartan Gold features the husband-wife team, the Fargos, and involves finding a WW2 German mini-sun in a Maryland swamp, Napoleon’s Lost Cellar, and a murderous Eastern European collector who will stop at nothing. Crescent Dawn finds Dirk Pitt and his NUMA crew exploring the underwater discovery of a Roman galley, an exploding British naval ship in 1916, bombings in modern day Turkish and Egyptian mosques, and a discovery that could change Christianity. One is an audiobook and the other is on my Kindle, both available for free on the Libby app through my local library.The stories are fun and exciting to read and I’m learning a lot of history.

Posted by: Annie Rose at September 03, 2023 08:37 PM (NzF2S)

433 I'm making $90 an hour working from home. I never imagined that it was honest to goodness yet my closest companion is earning 16,000 US dollars a month by working on the connection, that was truly astounding for me, she prescribed for me to attempt it simply. Everybody must try this job now by just using this website... www.Salary49.com

Posted by: www.Payathome7.com at September 04, 2023 03:25 AM (kL+wN)

434 Just read the latest (Book 37!) in the "Bob's Saucer Repair" sage, by Jerry Boyd. Shit's getting real, folks, and Bob may become the de facto Emperor of Earth (if he's not careful). I truly love this series because it focuses on good people trying desperately to be good and do good. A great read in a time that makes me feel like I'm living in a dystopian SF movie -- somewhere between Soylent Green and Mad Max. Not great literature, start with #1, "Bob's Saucer Repair," and read through them. Not for those with literary pretensions, just pleasure seekers.

Posted by: Doc at September 04, 2023 06:06 AM (Io/Ba)

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