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Sunday Morning Book Thread - 09-17-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
(HT: Scuba Dude)
PIC NOTE
Today's pic was inspired by Scuba Dude, who sent me a link to the video below. By a strange "coincidence" this same video popped up in my YouTube feed on the same day. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I do wonder if Google is mining my emails for content...(SPOILER: I know Google is doing exactly that, which is why I *don't* use Gmail for anything of real substance). This particular room is for the rare books and music at the British Library. The British Library is analogous to the United States Library of Congress in that all works published in the UK are required to submit a copy to the British Library for archival purposes. I suppose it also helps preserve the cultural heritage of the British people, but the culture has changed significantly just in the past few decades thanks to their immigration policies.Ever since I saw that comment, I've been reflecting on the discussions and conversations I've seen not only in printed form, but also in the real world. I attended a "Faculty Reception" event earlier this week, where the faculty are invited to mingle, enjoy some light refreshments, and engage in idle chit-chat with various groups and organizations on campus. My group was responsible for manning our own table. As I watched the attendees mingle, it occurred to me just how much of their talk was "conversation" and not "dialogue." I'm one of those people that just isn't very good at small talk. The Chancellor stopped by our table and I literally didn't know what to say to him to engage him in conversation. I much prefer conversations of substance, where I'm engaging with other people to explore their ideas and topics of interest to us both. It's why I tend to thrive in conversations with faculty that have some point to them. When it comes to reading, I do prefer interactions between characters that move the plot forward to some resolution. This is why I've really been enjoying Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. There is very little idle banter between characters. You get enough so that the characters' personalities are made visible to the reader, but it doesn't detract from the overall narrative. There are a lot of characters, so Williams has to use some way to distinguish each character through their speech. Almost all of them have at least one important point in their dialogue that advances the plot. Some, of course, have critical information that needs to be revealed to other characters. And some never get the chance to do so, as they are cut down before their important revelation is shared with the reader, adding to the tension of the conflict. Williams is *really* good with his use of dialogue and conversation, which is one reason why he's one of my all-time favorite authors.
The "know-it-all because I've published a book" guy in my real-life writing group would probably think Tolkien has too much talk in his trilogy. He does not quite understand the difference between dialogue and conversation in fiction. Conversation is banter or nominal chit-chat; dialogue moves the story forward and shows character (though the banter can do that too). He admits my dialogue is something he wishes he could do, though. Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 10, 2023 09:21 AM (omVj0)
(HT: CharlieBrown'sDildo)
The "Wilder Bunch" saga continues with Novel 8, Domesticated Terrorists. When his Jan 6 client is railroaded in a DC court, Sam Lapidos dumps the practice of law in favor of his long dormant interest in exploring nature. His maiden trek into the woods miscarries when an assassin tries to kill him. His friends rally to his defense. His communist attackers develop internal conflicts, as incompetence, confusion and dissension rile their ranks. What happens next is known only to the author and his readers. Available in eBook or paperback at Amazon.com, or in paperback on the VWAMBooks store. PLUS: There is a 20% discount at VWAM Books for ACE people, good for all Max Cossack novels and all Ammo Grrrll collections as well. Just enter ACEDISCOUNT (one word, all CAPS) at checkout.
Comment: I'm not a football fan at all (either pro or college), but since it is college football season, why not feature a recommendation for a book on the sordid inner workings of collegiate football programs? The flagship campus of the university where I work had a bit of a scandal a few years ago about the ridiculous salary and competition package the new head coach was receiving compared to other employees on campus (millions of dollars). But the argument is that a football team keeps the alumni happy and donating. I've also seen a few cheating scandals surrounding athletic teams to ensure that star players don't lose their scholarships.
People from or who hate the University of Michigan should check out Three and Out by John U. Bacon. Bacon is a total Wolverine homer, but his book reveals a great deal about the inner workings of college football's richest program. It is not a flattering picture. It is ostensibly about Rich Rodriguez's troubled tenure, but given ongoing drama both there and elsewhere, it is worth reading. One of the key differences between Henning and Bacon is that Henning wrote from a position of independence - he was a veteran writer and free to speak his mind. Bacon is still active and dependent upon the University for access, so he regularly pulls his punches. Indeed, it is well known that there is a Blue Wall surrounding Michigan's oldest university and local sportswriters simply sit on stories that are unfavorable until others break them. These books are instructive in that while they demonstrate bias, it is known bias, which is very different from the current practice of lying about being even-handed. Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 10, 2023 09:22 AM (llXky)
Comment: The North American continent is home to a lot more weirdness than we might suspect. Authors such as Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child tap into that weirdness in many of their stories. H.P. Lovecraft is also famous for creating an eldritch and strange aura round ancient locations in New England, particularly in Massachusetts though the fictional towns of Dunwich, Innsmouth, and Arkham.
I have always loved the book: Weird America by Jim Brandon for nuggets like this (sticking with the New Mexico theme): COLUMBUS (2) (32 mi. S of Deming on S.R. 11.) The Tres Hermanas Hills are three neatly conical peaks sitting side by side just north of here along the west side of S.R. 11. There is an extensive cave network in the hills, parts of which are naturally self-luminescent from radium salts among the rocks. These caverns are said to have been important in pre-Columbian mysticism, Certain observers of the contemporary occult scene speculate this role may continue today, with the Tres Hermanas area being used as a shrine of sorts by cultists operating between Mexico and the United States. Posted by: Mister Ghost at September 10, 2023 09:20 AM (TGPs7)
Comment: I only have a couple of books by Lawrence Watt-Evans: The Misenchanted Sword and With a Single Spell. I don't remember much about either one, other than The Misenchanted Sword involves a warrior who is given a sword with a faulty enchantment. It can kill up to a certain number of people (99 or 100) before it runs out of juice. I may have to go back and reread them if NaCly Dog is giving them such high praise... More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (977 Moron-recommended books so far!)
Stone Unturned by Lawrence Watt-Evans is that book. It is the last novel published in the Legend of Ethshar fantasy world series. It had appealing characters, puzzles around different magic types, and a good plot. Which describes all of the best books in that series. I have a higher percentage of Lawrence Watt-Evans books in my library than even Terry Pratchett's Discworld. He does fantasy well, with a subtle light touch. Another series of his I like is Lords of Dus. He does well with science fiction, winning the Hugo, when that meant something, for Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers. He has other appealing SF stories. Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 10, 2023 10:08 AM (u82oZ)
- Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Book 1 - The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams -- Had to purchase a replacement copy as my cat Penny tore out one of the pages of my other copy.
- The Monsters Next Door edited by R.J. Carter -- Contains a short story by Moron Author Troy Riser. It also pokes fun at comic books through its artwork and faux advertising. For a mere $0.10 you can purchase a Hobo-in-a-Box! "When your street is getting over-runned by homeless people and you need someone to speak their language and run them off to the next street down the block."
WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:
- Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Book 2 - Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams -- The heroes are scattered to the four winds as they seek a means of stopping the seemingly omnipotent Storm King.
- Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Book 3 - To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams -- The conclusion to one of the best epic fantasy series of all time. Seriously.
- The Monsters Next Door edited by R.J. Carter -- Short horror stories, featuring one by Moron Author Troy Riser. The artwork and tongue-in-cheek comic book-style advertising are great!
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at September 17, 2023 09:00 AM (fwDg9)
2
I've been reading some nice stuff at A Literary Horde. Really good stuff.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 09:00 AM (Angsy)
3
hiya
Posted by: JT at September 17, 2023 09:01 AM (T4tVD)
4
Still working on Barack Obama's True Legacy by Jamie Glazov editor.
Been lots of reviews around but promise I will also try and make one. It is a very important book
Been lots of reviews around but promise I will also try and make one. It is a very important book
Posted by: Skip at September 17, 2023 09:02 AM (fwDg9)
5
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.
Posted by: JTB at September 17, 2023 09:04 AM (7EjX1)
6
This week I read Five Years After by William R. Forstchen. This is the latest in the One Second After series about a dystopian U. S. after an EMP attack. In this book the fledgling civilian government must survive a military coup and an outbreak of the plaque. A good thriller.
Posted by: Zoltan at September 17, 2023 09:04 AM (7EvEN)
7
I wrapped up my visit to Gotham City with a Chuck Dixon graphic novel, "The Chalice." Sad to say, it was bland, and the art was ugly. I wonder whether DC stuck Dixon with the artist over ideological differences or because the editors thought the story didn't warrant anyone better. A shame, because this is the plot:
Bruce Wayne receives custody of an ancient cup that may be the Holy Grail. His family has had this duty for centuries. The usual suspects, particularly an adversary of the Batman's who has lived for centuries, try to snatch it.
However, this was less a Bat-adventure than it was a series of guest appearances. Bruce does very little, either as the Grail custodian or the Batman. He finds a solution, but it's not particularly imaginative. Glad I hadn't bought this.
Bruce Wayne receives custody of an ancient cup that may be the Holy Grail. His family has had this duty for centuries. The usual suspects, particularly an adversary of the Batman's who has lived for centuries, try to snatch it.
However, this was less a Bat-adventure than it was a series of guest appearances. Bruce does very little, either as the Grail custodian or the Batman. He finds a solution, but it's not particularly imaginative. Glad I hadn't bought this.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 17, 2023 09:05 AM (p/isN)
8
Finished "Ghosts of Malta", reading "Knights of Malta" now. Both are anthologies of about 10 short stories each around the theme in the title, put out by Raconteur Press. I recently purchased a bunch of the anthologies I didn't have from this small publisher, as the previous ones I'd picked up were entertaining.
Apparently the plan for 2024 is: "24 in '24" so I may be reporting on anthologies from them for a while.
Speaking of which, they have put out a request for authors. As good as the ones are that they have now, they're going to need more. See Lawdog's blog (thelawdogfiles.com) for more.
Apparently the plan for 2024 is: "24 in '24" so I may be reporting on anthologies from them for a while.
Speaking of which, they have put out a request for authors. As good as the ones are that they have now, they're going to need more. See Lawdog's blog (thelawdogfiles.com) for more.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 17, 2023 09:06 AM (qPw5n)
9
Looks like the Pants guy got his money's worth.
Posted by: JT at September 17, 2023 09:06 AM (T4tVD)
10
Just finished "Handsome Johnny: The Life and Death of Johnny Rosselli: Gentleman Gangster, Hollywood Producer, CIA Assassin"
Lesson learned: Government has always been corrupt at all levels. There is a reason Prohibition lasted for 13 years as everyone enjoyed the black market, especially govt hacks that were payed off. Funny, how Ukraine is furthering this...
Onto "Atlas Shrugged". I know, why haven't I read this before...
Lesson learned: Government has always been corrupt at all levels. There is a reason Prohibition lasted for 13 years as everyone enjoyed the black market, especially govt hacks that were payed off. Funny, how Ukraine is furthering this...
Onto "Atlas Shrugged". I know, why haven't I read this before...
Posted by: Danimal28 at September 17, 2023 09:08 AM (ryUqI)
11
no reading this week
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 17, 2023 09:08 AM (BRHaw)
12
In the middle of William Alan Webb's latest in the Last Brigade series, "Standing Among the Tombstones". Great stuff, and hopefully will provide some closure to at least one major story arc (since it is book 3 in a trilogy). One nit: Webb could really, really use a copy editor. Lots of missing and misspelled words and at least one cut and paste oopsie.
Still, a ripping good read.
Still, a ripping good read.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at September 17, 2023 09:09 AM (PiwSw)
13
As it happens, I visited the Library of Congress in DC a couple of weeks ago. The tour was mostly of the gorgeous Jefferson Building (the original one). The other two are bland WPA and postwar structures, but the Jefferson is 1897 beaux-arts neoclassical/baroque turned past 11. It looks like a cross between the Morgan Library and Grand Central Station.
Hardly any books, though. The guide explained that there are half a dozen giant book repositories out in Northern Virginia full of dense-pack shelving, and that's where the actual books are kept. The library buildings in DC proper hold function spaces, offices, the Copyright bureau, various "centers" and some special collections.
Worth a visit, if only to see what a proud and optimistic nation builds as public buildings.
Hardly any books, though. The guide explained that there are half a dozen giant book repositories out in Northern Virginia full of dense-pack shelving, and that's where the actual books are kept. The library buildings in DC proper hold function spaces, offices, the Copyright bureau, various "centers" and some special collections.
Worth a visit, if only to see what a proud and optimistic nation builds as public buildings.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:09 AM (QZxDR)
14
Apparently the plan for 2024 is: "24 in '24" so I may be reporting on anthologies from them for a while.
Speaking of which, they have put out a request for authors. As good as the ones are that they have now, they're going to need more. See Lawdog's blog (thelawdogfiles.com) for more.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 17, 2023 09:06 AM (qPw5n)
Vmom put me on to that site. I have a story I'm planning to submit for this month, but I'm waiting for a last look by someone first.
Speaking of which, they have put out a request for authors. As good as the ones are that they have now, they're going to need more. See Lawdog's blog (thelawdogfiles.com) for more.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 17, 2023 09:06 AM (qPw5n)
Vmom put me on to that site. I have a story I'm planning to submit for this month, but I'm waiting for a last look by someone first.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 09:09 AM (Angsy)
15
If anyone wants my copy of "Handsome Johnny" let me know. 651.324.7623.
Posted by: Danimal28 at September 17, 2023 09:09 AM (ryUqI)
16
Those pants are fine. I would wear them to barbeque under the overpass.
Posted by: A homeless guy at September 17, 2023 09:10 AM (vFG9F)
17
> World's Oldest Pants
I was thinking that Otzi the Iceman wore pants, but after checking I guess they were really more like fur leggings, not Pants As We Know Them.
Re: Odysseus
It's possible that he and his boyz went on a long wine, opium, mushroom, and lotus bender, then he was afraid to go home and Face the Old Lady for 20 years or so.
I was thinking that Otzi the Iceman wore pants, but after checking I guess they were really more like fur leggings, not Pants As We Know Them.
Re: Odysseus
It's possible that he and his boyz went on a long wine, opium, mushroom, and lotus bender, then he was afraid to go home and Face the Old Lady for 20 years or so.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:10 AM (Y6AXb)
18
> Looks like the Pants guy got his money's worth.
Yeah, you didn't need to buy an extra pair of pants with a suit back in those days. They made stuff to last.
Yeah, you didn't need to buy an extra pair of pants with a suit back in those days. They made stuff to last.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:11 AM (Y6AXb)
19
Good Sunday morning, horde!
This week, I read Zone One by Colson Whitehead. It's a dystopian zombie novel, and the prose is superb.
Unfortunately, it lacks plot. I spent days wallowing in the great writing, wondering where it was going, only to find at the end that it really was going nowhere. It was a misuse of the author's talent.
***Spoiler alert***
The zombies breach the wall, and all is lost. The end.
This week, I read Zone One by Colson Whitehead. It's a dystopian zombie novel, and the prose is superb.
Unfortunately, it lacks plot. I spent days wallowing in the great writing, wondering where it was going, only to find at the end that it really was going nowhere. It was a misuse of the author's talent.
***Spoiler alert***
The zombies breach the wall, and all is lost. The end.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 17, 2023 09:12 AM (OX9vb)
20
I should do something for the Lawdog Press just to do it. Right now I'm more or less ghostwriting a book for someone about the February earthquake in Turkey. It was supposed to be an 'editing' thing but it's experiencing mission creep. A good share of the issue is that English is not anyone's first language, and a lot of the people involved speak little English, or no English at all. I explained that the location this piece is about is almost completely unknown to Westerners and should probably feature some geographic and historical information which, like most people who've lived in places their whole lives, nobody could do in any efficient way so I ended up doing it.
'The History Of Southern Turkey, In Two Pages Or Less!'
'The History Of Southern Turkey, In Two Pages Or Less!'
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:12 AM (43xH1)
21
Worth a visit, if only to see what a proud and optimistic nation builds as public buildings.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:09 AM (QZxDR)
That's why our current government buildings don't look like that anymore.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:09 AM (QZxDR)
That's why our current government buildings don't look like that anymore.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 09:12 AM (Angsy)
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 09:14 AM (l4B/J)
23
I've been working through Pournelle's Codominium series again... right now I'm getting to the one he wrote with S.M. Stirling (or, as I call him, S&M Stirling). Considering skipping that one, as Stirling's inevitable sadistic sex scenes don't appeal to me at all. Plus, you read one of them, you've read them all. Boring.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:14 AM (Y6AXb)
24
Thanks Perf.
My favorite two book Odyssey sci-fi mash up: Ilium/Olympos by Dan Simmons.
Best dirt biking book ever written:
MONKEY BUTT: Tall Tales, Bench Racing, And the Inside Story of 30 Years In the Sports by Rick Sieman.
It’s all about the author f’n things up and making mole hills into mountains.
Good luck finding Monkey Butt for under $$$.
My favorite two book Odyssey sci-fi mash up: Ilium/Olympos by Dan Simmons.
Best dirt biking book ever written:
MONKEY BUTT: Tall Tales, Bench Racing, And the Inside Story of 30 Years In the Sports by Rick Sieman.
It’s all about the author f’n things up and making mole hills into mountains.
Good luck finding Monkey Butt for under $$$.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 09:15 AM (Ab1+v)
25
'The History Of Southern Turkey, In Two Pages Or Less!'
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:12 AM (43xH1)
I read that. Definitely not written by a native English speaker/writer.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:12 AM (43xH1)
I read that. Definitely not written by a native English speaker/writer.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 09:15 AM (Angsy)
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 09:16 AM (l4B/J)
27
As it happens, I visited the Library of Congress in DC a couple of weeks ago. The tour was mostly of the gorgeous Jefferson Building (the original one). The other two are bland WPA and postwar structures, but the Jefferson is 1897 beaux-arts neoclassical/baroque turned past 11. It looks like a cross between the Morgan Library and Grand Central Station.
Hardly any books, though. The guide explained that there are half a dozen giant book repositories out in Northern Virginia full of dense-pack shelving, and that's where the actual books are kept. The library buildings in DC proper hold function spaces, offices, the Copyright bureau, various "centers" and some special collections.
So you're saying the Jefferson Building is a coffee table, and the few books they have are Obama's "autobio", and Madonna's nudie picture book?
Hardly any books, though. The guide explained that there are half a dozen giant book repositories out in Northern Virginia full of dense-pack shelving, and that's where the actual books are kept. The library buildings in DC proper hold function spaces, offices, the Copyright bureau, various "centers" and some special collections.
So you're saying the Jefferson Building is a coffee table, and the few books they have are Obama's "autobio", and Madonna's nudie picture book?
Posted by: Archimedes at September 17, 2023 09:16 AM (I/Qkd)
28
You rang?
Posted by: J.R.R. Trollkien at September 17, 2023 09:16 AM (Y6AXb)
29
"I'm one of those people that just isn't very good at small talk. The Chancellor stopped by our table and I literally didn't know what to say to him to engage him in conversation."
Perfessor, I'm surprised to hear this.
"How about those Indians?" or "How's your ass for rats?" are sure kickoff questions for a lively conversation.
No need to thank me - I'm a giver.
Perfessor, I'm surprised to hear this.
"How about those Indians?" or "How's your ass for rats?" are sure kickoff questions for a lively conversation.
No need to thank me - I'm a giver.
Posted by: Tonypete at September 17, 2023 09:16 AM (J47y1)
30
My favorite two book Odyssey sci-fi mash up: Ilium/Olympos by Dan Simmons.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 09:15 AM (Ab1+v)
---
Tad Williams takes a crack at the Iliad in his Otherland series. The battle of Troy is one of the virtual worlds the heroes travel to in their journeys.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 09:15 AM (Ab1+v)
---
Tad Williams takes a crack at the Iliad in his Otherland series. The battle of Troy is one of the virtual worlds the heroes travel to in their journeys.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 17, 2023 09:17 AM (BpYfr)
31
> The guide explained that there are half a dozen giant book repositories
Stay away from those. Just trust me on this.
Stay away from those. Just trust me on this.
Posted by: JFK at September 17, 2023 09:17 AM (Y6AXb)
32
After Muldoon mentioned the Solid Muldoon the other day I went off and discovered Kipling's short story "The Solid Muldoon". It was kind of hard to follow, as you can see from this passage that I had to spend a few minutes digesting:
"I’m ould now. Me hide’s wore off in patches; sinthry-go has disconceited me, an’ I’m married tu. But I’ve had my day—I’ve had my day, an’ nothin’ can take away the taste av that! Oh, my time past, whin I put me fut through ivry livin’ wan av the Tin Commandmints betune Revelly and Lights Out, blew the froth off a pewter, wiped me moustache wid the back av me hand, an’ slept on ut all as quiet as a little child!"
"I’m ould now. Me hide’s wore off in patches; sinthry-go has disconceited me, an’ I’m married tu. But I’ve had my day—I’ve had my day, an’ nothin’ can take away the taste av that! Oh, my time past, whin I put me fut through ivry livin’ wan av the Tin Commandmints betune Revelly and Lights Out, blew the froth off a pewter, wiped me moustache wid the back av me hand, an’ slept on ut all as quiet as a little child!"
Posted by: A homeless guy at September 17, 2023 09:18 AM (vFG9F)
33
I hate to admit it but my e-readers are coming in handy. I have cataract surgery coming up this fall (hopefully soon) and it's getting harder to read average size print. The Paperwhite and a Kindle Fire let me adjust the print size and brightness level. Fortunately, I have a LOT of excellent books on them; LOTR (obligatory mention), the Matt Helm series, classic literature and poetry, etc. that I got when they went on sale for a one or two bucks.
I still prefer to hold a book and don't like my reading to depend on electricity or Amazon's whims about ownership. But it's helpful at the moment.
I still prefer to hold a book and don't like my reading to depend on electricity or Amazon's whims about ownership. But it's helpful at the moment.
Posted by: JTB at September 17, 2023 09:20 AM (7EjX1)
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:20 AM (Y6AXb)
35
17 > World's Oldest Pants
I was thinking that Otzi the Iceman wore pants, but after checking I guess they were really more like fur leggings, not Pants As We Know Them.
Re: Odysseus
It's possible that he and his boyz went on a long wine, opium, mushroom, and lotus bender, then he was afraid to go home and Face the Old Lady for 20 years or so.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:10 AM (Y6AXb)
There is a translation of the Bible that has Adam making a pair of breeches when he eats from the Tree of Knowledge.
I was thinking that Otzi the Iceman wore pants, but after checking I guess they were really more like fur leggings, not Pants As We Know Them.
Re: Odysseus
It's possible that he and his boyz went on a long wine, opium, mushroom, and lotus bender, then he was afraid to go home and Face the Old Lady for 20 years or so.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:10 AM (Y6AXb)
There is a translation of the Bible that has Adam making a pair of breeches when he eats from the Tree of Knowledge.
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 17, 2023 09:21 AM (BRHaw)
36
This week's recommendation is Chrysalis by Lincoln Child. In this his newest installment, Dr Jeremy Logan is called to the secretive compound of Chrysalis, the leading virtual reality firm in the world. They are preparing for the rollout of their latest offering, a step change in the VR experience. Unfortunately, a couple of their board members, who were using advance prototypes of the new product are dead under unusual circumstances. Is it a product flaw, sabotage? In this latest adventure, Child has a firm grip on the pros and cons of technology, as well as the addictive dependence they inspire. The book opens with several vignettes to start the ball rolling, which whet ones appetite for where this story is going. Overall, it is an interesting and timely probe into the world of high tech, virtual reality, and corporate espionage.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 17, 2023 09:22 AM (IvfEj)
37
Oops, off free range sock.
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:22 AM (vFG9F)
38
Books read this week:
'Memories Of The War', Nicolai Nikolin.
It's available as a pdf online but I don't remember where I got it. I was going to peruse a little of it but ended up spending an entire afternoon reading the entire thing all at once. Red Army around Leningrad in 1941.
A big pile of essays on the site for the now-defunct journal 'Azure: Ideas For The Jewish Nation'; 1996-2012. If you want insight into what's going on in Israel now, it's a terrific source.
What else.
'Encyclopedia Of Vampire Mythology', Theresa Bane. Loads of fun! It's an easy, fun read, just pick it up and read about cultures all over the world and their various kinds of vampires. Highly recommended!
'Memories Of The War', Nicolai Nikolin.
It's available as a pdf online but I don't remember where I got it. I was going to peruse a little of it but ended up spending an entire afternoon reading the entire thing all at once. Red Army around Leningrad in 1941.
A big pile of essays on the site for the now-defunct journal 'Azure: Ideas For The Jewish Nation'; 1996-2012. If you want insight into what's going on in Israel now, it's a terrific source.
What else.
'Encyclopedia Of Vampire Mythology', Theresa Bane. Loads of fun! It's an easy, fun read, just pick it up and read about cultures all over the world and their various kinds of vampires. Highly recommended!
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:23 AM (43xH1)
39
> But it's helpful at the moment.
Yeah, my 29-year-old eyes also appreciate it. Haven't had the cataract surgery yet, but I'm sure it's coming. Every one of my older relatives needed it.
The Kindle is also great for carrying reading material on trips. Yeah, you can squeeze a book or two into your suitcase, but the Kindle lets you carry a whole library with you, and get even more if you run out.
It's nice if every day of your trip turns out rainy.
Yeah, my 29-year-old eyes also appreciate it. Haven't had the cataract surgery yet, but I'm sure it's coming. Every one of my older relatives needed it.
The Kindle is also great for carrying reading material on trips. Yeah, you can squeeze a book or two into your suitcase, but the Kindle lets you carry a whole library with you, and get even more if you run out.
It's nice if every day of your trip turns out rainy.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:23 AM (Y6AXb)
40
On our drive down we listened to a great Book
Will Wilder and the relic of Perilous falls
Will Wilder is a mischievous, headstrong 12-year-old with an otherworldly gift - he alone can see the nefarious creatures encroaching on Perilous Falls. For nearly a century, a sacred relic has protected his hometown from the raging waters surrounding it. But when Will "borrows" the relic for his own purposes, he accidentally unleashes an ancient evil.
Great for Families and kids, Battling Demons with the power of God and the relic’s of Saints such a breath of fresh air no SJW crap
Will Wilder and the relic of Perilous falls
Will Wilder is a mischievous, headstrong 12-year-old with an otherworldly gift - he alone can see the nefarious creatures encroaching on Perilous Falls. For nearly a century, a sacred relic has protected his hometown from the raging waters surrounding it. But when Will "borrows" the relic for his own purposes, he accidentally unleashes an ancient evil.
Great for Families and kids, Battling Demons with the power of God and the relic’s of Saints such a breath of fresh air no SJW crap
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at September 17, 2023 09:23 AM (2v4qT)
41
I read that. Definitely not written by a native English speaker/writer.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
This is the first time I've ever done 'interviews' as a source, like a journalist. It's a PIA. People are just all over the place. Some amazing stories but it's just a tangle of impressions and impulsive subject selections. Not helped by everyone involved being traumatized to varying degrees.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
This is the first time I've ever done 'interviews' as a source, like a journalist. It's a PIA. People are just all over the place. Some amazing stories but it's just a tangle of impressions and impulsive subject selections. Not helped by everyone involved being traumatized to varying degrees.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:26 AM (43xH1)
42
Yay, book thread! My "to read" pile just keeps growing and I'm having to push myself to finish FMF's mammoth biography.
I should be clear - it's not dull, just dense. Quite amusing at times, but it is massive. Our hero is in New York in 1927 and somehow the catalog of everyone he met or spoke to is vitally important. All of which is to say, the author needed an editor. Too much detail, too much name-dropping but I can't stop now. The guy has only 12 years left to live.
I should be clear - it's not dull, just dense. Quite amusing at times, but it is massive. Our hero is in New York in 1927 and somehow the catalog of everyone he met or spoke to is vitally important. All of which is to say, the author needed an editor. Too much detail, too much name-dropping but I can't stop now. The guy has only 12 years left to live.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 09:26 AM (llXky)
43
"Okay, I think I figured all of that out except "sinthry-go".
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia"
Stumped me too. Century (a)go?
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia"
Stumped me too. Century (a)go?
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:27 AM (vFG9F)
44
Now in Canadian public domain: Children of Yesterday: The Twenty Fourth Infantry Division in World War II by Jan Valtin.
Download at archive.org and prosperosisle.org
Download at archive.org and prosperosisle.org
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 09:27 AM (Tag4Y)
45
Greetings from Tilburg, The Netherlands!!!
Thanks for the h/t Perfessor 🙂
Have done no reading this trip, I have instead been doing a travel log on Facebook about my trip. I try to tell all that happened and my feelings on what I was experiencing. Only up to day 3 and I have been here 6. LOL
I did do a picture dump of my visit to Mont Saint-Michel and the D-Day beaches for those more inclined to pictures
Thanks for the h/t Perfessor 🙂
Have done no reading this trip, I have instead been doing a travel log on Facebook about my trip. I try to tell all that happened and my feelings on what I was experiencing. Only up to day 3 and I have been here 6. LOL
I did do a picture dump of my visit to Mont Saint-Michel and the D-Day beaches for those more inclined to pictures
Posted by: Scuba_Dude at September 17, 2023 09:28 AM (0viR1)
46
Thank you, Perfessor, for another fascinating Book Thread. Alas, no reading this past week (or last week).
Posted by: KatieFloyd at September 17, 2023 09:29 AM (02h+a)
47
Oh, I also read Junk Love, the book written by PabloD's wife. It was outside of my usual genres, but a good read, and I'll be working up my review for it this week.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 17, 2023 09:29 AM (OX9vb)
48
Doing some poking around about hoaxes in light of the Peruvian alien mummies led me to the P.T. Barnum Solid Muldoon hoax of the 1870s. I then ran across this amusing little short story by Rudyard Kipling titled The Solid Muldoon.
https://is.gd/vL5QEG
A group of soldiers shooting the bull and engaging in one upmanship culminates in Corporal Mulvaney, a brawling, womanizing hard-drinking reprobate tells the gripping tae os his fisticuffs with a ghost. Bit of a tough read ddue to Kipling trying to capture the Irish accent, but pretty quick and light read once you get the hang of it.
This link reviews the tale of the Cardiff Giant or Solid Muldoon hoax.
https://tinyurl.com/muldoon-solid
https://is.gd/vL5QEG
A group of soldiers shooting the bull and engaging in one upmanship culminates in Corporal Mulvaney, a brawling, womanizing hard-drinking reprobate tells the gripping tae os his fisticuffs with a ghost. Bit of a tough read ddue to Kipling trying to capture the Irish accent, but pretty quick and light read once you get the hang of it.
This link reviews the tale of the Cardiff Giant or Solid Muldoon hoax.
https://tinyurl.com/muldoon-solid
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 09:29 AM (l4B/J)
49
> Stumped me too. Century (a)go?
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:27 AM (vFG9F)
Cheated and did a web-search. Apparently "sentry-go", i.e. pulling sentry duty.
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:27 AM (vFG9F)
Cheated and did a web-search. Apparently "sentry-go", i.e. pulling sentry duty.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023 09:29 AM (Y6AXb)
50
If you are a fan of the Wilder Bunch books by Max Cossack, by all means, get his latest, Domesticated Terrorists. I read it while suffering through eight days in DC-swamp-adjacent northern Virginia and it helped keep me sane.
Posted by: FIIGMO at September 17, 2023 09:30 AM (5Xtai)
51
An FYI to all the Audiobook readers musicfab now has the ability to download your hard drive in case they decide to edit your books for content.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at September 17, 2023 09:30 AM (2v4qT)
52
Heh Muldoon see #32. I made that same journey.
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:31 AM (vFG9F)
53
Also picked up at Salvation Army, another weighty tome by the arch-pulp expert Joseph R. Rosenberger, author of the 'Death Merchant' series.
'C.O.B.R.A.: The Heroin Connection'; if it's anything like all his other stuff it should be a delightfully trashy and violent ride through the mind of a guy who probably should have been committed to a halfway house for the mentally ill. I'm looking forward to it!
'C.O.B.R.A.: The Heroin Connection'; if it's anything like all his other stuff it should be a delightfully trashy and violent ride through the mind of a guy who probably should have been committed to a halfway house for the mentally ill. I'm looking forward to it!
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:31 AM (43xH1)
54
In this book the fledgling civilian government must survive a military coup and an outbreak of the plaque.
Crest toothpaste
In this book the fledgling civilian government must survive a military coup and an outbreak of the plaque.
Crest toothpaste
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 17, 2023 09:33 AM (63Dwl)
55
I had cataract surgery about 20 years ago. It's so wonderful to not have to grab my glasses first thing in the morning.
The only drawback -- and it's minor -- stems from the way I wanted the lenses set. I have to take off my glasses to read.
The only drawback -- and it's minor -- stems from the way I wanted the lenses set. I have to take off my glasses to read.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 17, 2023 09:33 AM (p/isN)
56
Holy crap! There are yuge blocks of words in this post.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at September 17, 2023 09:34 AM (KVGVf)
57
There is a lot of Kipling I've never read. I suppose I should fix that.
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:35 AM (vFG9F)
58
I finished Salammbo, and I'm convinced Flaubert was writing it to be made into an opera. It's got several chapters which are perfect opera set-piece scenes. Those are interspersed with some great "look at my research!" chapters worthy of Jules Verne, which of course could be skipped for an opera.
I looked it up: both Mussorsky and Rachmaninoff started trying to write operas based on the book as soon as it came out, but neither finished them. It did finally make it to the stage in 1890.
You hear of modern comics and graphic novels being written as, essentially, pitches for Netflix or AppleTV series. I think Flaubert was doing the same. Does anybody know how much the author of an opera would make back in those days? Was it the ticket to Hollywood?
I looked it up: both Mussorsky and Rachmaninoff started trying to write operas based on the book as soon as it came out, but neither finished them. It did finally make it to the stage in 1890.
You hear of modern comics and graphic novels being written as, essentially, pitches for Netflix or AppleTV series. I think Flaubert was doing the same. Does anybody know how much the author of an opera would make back in those days? Was it the ticket to Hollywood?
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:36 AM (QZxDR)
59
I tried reading Jordan's New Spring but stopped about 1000 words in. Get on with it! I read the whole series twice when it first came out but will never go back.
I have an Ellery Queen novel and McCulloch's Adams on request from Queens Library.
Still chewing on White's The Great Controversy. She was a 7th Day Adventist founder.
I have an Ellery Queen novel and McCulloch's Adams on request from Queens Library.
Still chewing on White's The Great Controversy. She was a 7th Day Adventist founder.
Posted by: Jamaica NYC at September 17, 2023 09:36 AM (Eeb9P)
60
"Perfessor" Squirrel
Thank you for posting my recommendation.
The Misenchanted Sword is the first book in the series, and has the vigor of that. The spell on the sword must kill 99 people, the the sword wielder gets killed, and the sword goes to the next person, who must kill 98 people, and so on.
With a Single Spell is a good story as well. It is a puzzle piece on how to survive a magical world with one low level spell.
Some of the middle stores in the series are really young adult in nature. But the ones he wrote for adults, like the Unwelcome Warlord, are better.
To me most of his protagonists have a Nevil Shute feel, which is high praise from me. Not a lot of evil, bad, unappealing protagonists in his books.
Thank you for posting my recommendation.
The Misenchanted Sword is the first book in the series, and has the vigor of that. The spell on the sword must kill 99 people, the the sword wielder gets killed, and the sword goes to the next person, who must kill 98 people, and so on.
With a Single Spell is a good story as well. It is a puzzle piece on how to survive a magical world with one low level spell.
Some of the middle stores in the series are really young adult in nature. But the ones he wrote for adults, like the Unwelcome Warlord, are better.
To me most of his protagonists have a Nevil Shute feel, which is high praise from me. Not a lot of evil, bad, unappealing protagonists in his books.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:37 AM (u82oZ)
61
Booken morgen horden!
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 17, 2023 09:37 AM (vHIgi)
62
Booken morgen horden!
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion
Hiya !
Didja find your keys ?
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion
Hiya !
Didja find your keys ?
Posted by: JT at September 17, 2023 09:39 AM (T4tVD)
63
"Perfessor" Squirrel
Here are two sure-fire conversation starters with the head of a university.
1) How are we doing as a university with overhead rates and monies? BTW, overhead is most likely what pays your postion.
2) Has charitable giving to the University (or State funds) been increasing with inflation?
Here are two sure-fire conversation starters with the head of a university.
1) How are we doing as a university with overhead rates and monies? BTW, overhead is most likely what pays your postion.
2) Has charitable giving to the University (or State funds) been increasing with inflation?
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:41 AM (u82oZ)
64
Good Morning!
Let's smile & be happy & strike fear into the heart of killjoy leftists everywhere.
Let's smile & be happy & strike fear into the heart of killjoy leftists everywhere.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:41 AM (u82oZ)
65
The only drawback -- and it's minor -- stems from the way I wanted the lenses set. I have to take off my glasses to read.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 17, 2023 09:33 AM (p/isN)
I had cataract surgery when I was about 35. Up until then, I had 20/20 vision, so I was a bit of a baby about needing glasses. The way the lens was set, I did end up needing glasses, and have never felt that I have good vision in any range.
However, in recent years, my non-cataract eye started requiring a stronger prescription than the replacement lens eye. Go figure.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 17, 2023 09:33 AM (p/isN)
I had cataract surgery when I was about 35. Up until then, I had 20/20 vision, so I was a bit of a baby about needing glasses. The way the lens was set, I did end up needing glasses, and have never felt that I have good vision in any range.
However, in recent years, my non-cataract eye started requiring a stronger prescription than the replacement lens eye. Go figure.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 17, 2023 09:43 AM (OX9vb)
66
Ah I see a homeless guy fell down the same rabbit hoe as I did.
When I put my foot through every living one of the Ten Commandments between Reveille and Lights Out...
sinthry-go has disconceited me
I wondered if this might be some type of age-related ailment along the lines of lumbago...
When I put my foot through every living one of the Ten Commandments between Reveille and Lights Out...
sinthry-go has disconceited me
I wondered if this might be some type of age-related ailment along the lines of lumbago...
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 09:43 AM (l4B/J)
67
After reading several stories by Lord Dunsany and noting the techniques that make them different and effective, I went back to some original Conan stories to read in the same way. Had a bit of a surprise. Howard was a master of description to establish the scene and, especially, the mood of the situation. And he does it so that the reader is hardly aware of it. The reader is just absorbed into the scene. And there was more. There is a pacing and rhythm in his prose that intensifies the action. It's subtle but becomes more obvious (at least to me) if read aloud.
I've been reading Conan stories since the mid-60s. I can't believe it took so long for me to notice these qualities. Perhaps reading so many other masters of fantasy writing like George MacDonald, Lovecraft, Tolkien (of course), Dunsany, etc. has improved my appreciation of these things.
I've been reading Conan stories since the mid-60s. I can't believe it took so long for me to notice these qualities. Perhaps reading so many other masters of fantasy writing like George MacDonald, Lovecraft, Tolkien (of course), Dunsany, etc. has improved my appreciation of these things.
Posted by: JTB at September 17, 2023 09:43 AM (7EjX1)
68
I just wandered over to Max Cossack's site and started reading his essay "Why I write novels".
This stands out to me, and I need to copy pasta it into my phone:
"Doing any worthwhile thing well becomes an act of resistance, or as I prefer, of insistence and persistence."
This stands out to me, and I need to copy pasta it into my phone:
"Doing any worthwhile thing well becomes an act of resistance, or as I prefer, of insistence and persistence."
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 17, 2023 09:44 AM (vHIgi)
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 09:44 AM (QzZeQ)
70
Just finished a biography of Lord Horatio Nelson by John Southey. One of those $.99 Amazon deals.
A bit hagiographic but deals in a straightforward fashion with his very public affair with Lady Emma Hamilton while remaining a lifelong friend with her husband, the much older Lord Hamilton.
Nelson’s was apparently as distinguished an administrator as he was a tactician, strategist and fearless combatant. His devotion to duty and rather a narrow conception of proper behavior in that regard is a real contrast to what at the time must have been a scandalous private life.
A bit hagiographic but deals in a straightforward fashion with his very public affair with Lady Emma Hamilton while remaining a lifelong friend with her husband, the much older Lord Hamilton.
Nelson’s was apparently as distinguished an administrator as he was a tactician, strategist and fearless combatant. His devotion to duty and rather a narrow conception of proper behavior in that regard is a real contrast to what at the time must have been a scandalous private life.
Posted by: Pete Bog at September 17, 2023 09:45 AM (uZXhP)
71
Here are two sure-fire conversation starters with the head of a university.
1) How are we doing as a university with overhead rates and monies? BTW, overhead is most likely what pays your postion.
2) Has charitable giving to the University (or State funds) been increasing with inflation?
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:41 AM (u82oZ)
----
Financially, we are doing a lot better than most universities. We've hired quite a few new faculty recently, and have experienced a minor surge in enrollment. We're a STEM institution (90%+ of students are in STEM majors), so we have a little bit of cushion that a more traditional liberal arts school does not.
1) How are we doing as a university with overhead rates and monies? BTW, overhead is most likely what pays your postion.
2) Has charitable giving to the University (or State funds) been increasing with inflation?
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:41 AM (u82oZ)
----
Financially, we are doing a lot better than most universities. We've hired quite a few new faculty recently, and have experienced a minor surge in enrollment. We're a STEM institution (90%+ of students are in STEM majors), so we have a little bit of cushion that a more traditional liberal arts school does not.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 17, 2023 09:45 AM (BpYfr)
72
"Apparently "sentry-go", i.e. pulling sentry duty.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia"
That sort of makes sense.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia"
That sort of makes sense.
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:47 AM (vFG9F)
73
Read two Diskworld books I had not read previously, a rare occurrence for books in my library.
Both Wyrd Sisters and Moving Pictures were amusing, but not at the high level of Going Postal or Guards! Guards!.
Both Wyrd Sisters and Moving Pictures were amusing, but not at the high level of Going Postal or Guards! Guards!.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:48 AM (u82oZ)
74
Had cataract surgery two months ago on the eye that didn't have it done years back. I'm corrected to about 20/22 now for both eyes and can once again drive safely at night with no more halos - yea!! I only need my readers rarely now for real close in work.
Starting from a base of about 20/200 when I was in 6th grade, it feels like a miracle.
Starting from a base of about 20/200 when I was in 6th grade, it feels like a miracle.
Posted by: Tonypete at September 17, 2023 09:48 AM (J47y1)
75
Salty - the book you described about the enchanted (cursed?) sword sounds like it was inspired by a road trip with kids singing "99 bottles of beer."
99 people to stab in the guts;
99 people to stab!
Cut one down, swing it around;
98 people to stab in the guts!
99 people to stab in the guts;
99 people to stab!
Cut one down, swing it around;
98 people to stab in the guts!
Posted by: PabloD at September 17, 2023 09:48 AM (ckV60)
76
Heh Muldoon see #32. I made that same journey.
Posted by: fd
*******
Yeah. You and I are posting at cross purposes. I didn't realize you had a homeless guy's sock on.
I read the story out loud to the talented and lovely Missus Muldoon, doing my best to capture the dialect and accents. She quite enjoyed it.
Posted by: fd
*******
Yeah. You and I are posting at cross purposes. I didn't realize you had a homeless guy's sock on.
I read the story out loud to the talented and lovely Missus Muldoon, doing my best to capture the dialect and accents. She quite enjoyed it.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 09:49 AM (l4B/J)
77
Downloaded a pdf of an article by M. D. Waite for the American Society of Arms Collectors about .22 rimfire and subcaliber conversion units. There is a .22 conversion for the 1911 I've never even heard of.
It seems when the Greatest Pistol Ever (TM) was designed, the last machining chips hadn't cooled off when someone said, "This is FANTASTIC! Now how do I get it to shoot cheap .22 ammo?!"
https://tinyurl.com/ysfkkhwu
It seems when the Greatest Pistol Ever (TM) was designed, the last machining chips hadn't cooled off when someone said, "This is FANTASTIC! Now how do I get it to shoot cheap .22 ammo?!"
https://tinyurl.com/ysfkkhwu
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:49 AM (43xH1)
78
I notice that lately I've been reading books written before 1990 almost exclusively. It almost seems as though there's a line in that year, when the rot began to set in.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:49 AM (QZxDR)
79
I finished Salammbo, and I'm convinced Flaubert was writing it to be made into an opera.
That was the opera in Citizen Kane.
https://archive.ph/IQDfQ
I finished Salammbo, and I'm convinced Flaubert was writing it to be made into an opera.
That was the opera in Citizen Kane.
https://archive.ph/IQDfQ
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 17, 2023 09:50 AM (63Dwl)
80
Guy I know from work popped around last night and we shot the shit for a while. We got to talking books and I lent him 1984, The Mote In God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer, none of which he'd read yet. Steered the topic to books to get him to STFU about aliens and the Da Vinci Code, both of which he puts great stock in.
I'm currently working through Birth of the Modern, by Paul Johnson. Very good read.
I'm currently working through Birth of the Modern, by Paul Johnson. Very good read.
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 09:51 AM (v27SO)
81
Currently reading World War I, by SLA Marshall.
Very interesting take on the start of the war. Plenty of villains, and no heroes in Foreign Offices. He does name names, and some will surprise.
His claim is that the mobilization of Russia was the event that made World War I inevitable.
Very interesting take on the start of the war. Plenty of villains, and no heroes in Foreign Offices. He does name names, and some will surprise.
His claim is that the mobilization of Russia was the event that made World War I inevitable.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:51 AM (u82oZ)
82
Dash My Lace Wigs - my wife sends her thanks.
I told her I wasn't going to read any drafts of her book; her job was to finish it and hand me a printed copy, which she has now done. Guess I know which book I'll be reading next!
I told her I wasn't going to read any drafts of her book; her job was to finish it and hand me a printed copy, which she has now done. Guess I know which book I'll be reading next!
Posted by: PabloD at September 17, 2023 09:53 AM (ckV60)
83
PabloD
Never heard that song on a bus trip, but could be a source.
FWIW, I get urgent requests to not sing if I sing on the bus.
Never heard that song on a bus trip, but could be a source.
FWIW, I get urgent requests to not sing if I sing on the bus.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:53 AM (u82oZ)
84
His claim is that the mobilization of Russia was the event that made World War I inevitable.
Posted by: NaCly Dog'
WWI was inevitable. It just happened to be Russia mobilizing that caused it to occur at that specific point in time.
That's my opinion anyway.
Posted by: NaCly Dog'
WWI was inevitable. It just happened to be Russia mobilizing that caused it to occur at that specific point in time.
That's my opinion anyway.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 09:53 AM (43xH1)
85
A book recommendation: "The Fall of the Dynasties", by Edmond Taylor. Published in 1963, "Fall" examines the situation in Europe prior to WWI, and why it led to war and the destruction of four great autocracies - those of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, and Turkey. This territory has been covered many times before, in books like Robert Massie's "Dreadnought" or Margaret MacMillan's "The War That Ended Peace", but Taylor, unlike these other authors, looks not so much at grand historical trends, but on the people who man the dynasties; and fixes the coming of the war and their downfall on the lethargy and corruption of the "elites" who had wormed their way to the top. The lessons for our own time are stark. Highly recommended!
The dead-tree editions are long out of print, but an e-copy can be downloaded from amazon for a buck.
The dead-tree editions are long out of print, but an e-copy can be downloaded from amazon for a buck.
Posted by: Nemo at September 17, 2023 09:54 AM (S6ArX)
86
I enjoy reading Ammo Grrrl over at Powerline. Max Cossack is her husband. I need to give him a read. Thanks.
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at September 17, 2023 09:55 AM (d9Cw3)
87
Why are there still Marxists? Why are they even allowed in polite society, let alone given influence and authority?
Seriously: the Soviet Union fell in 1989, but more than 50 years later the West is still plagued with Marxists. It's as if there was still an active and respected Fascist movement in 1995.
Once upon a time I would have blamed the KGB funding subversives in the West -- for jollies look up the history of terror groups in Europe and see which ones basically shut down as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed. But half a century has passed! All the old Soviet-funded traitors have died of old age by now. Where do they keep coming from?
How do we get rid of them? It's all very well to talk of helicopter rides, but there's a long road to the heliport before that can happen. Figuring out the source and choking it off would be a start.
Seriously: the Soviet Union fell in 1989, but more than 50 years later the West is still plagued with Marxists. It's as if there was still an active and respected Fascist movement in 1995.
Once upon a time I would have blamed the KGB funding subversives in the West -- for jollies look up the history of terror groups in Europe and see which ones basically shut down as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed. But half a century has passed! All the old Soviet-funded traitors have died of old age by now. Where do they keep coming from?
How do we get rid of them? It's all very well to talk of helicopter rides, but there's a long road to the heliport before that can happen. Figuring out the source and choking it off would be a start.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:55 AM (QZxDR)
88
"Perfessor" Squirrel
Yes. Your university is the glittering star of the State University system. NIH and especially NSF have great overhead rates.
Chem Jeff, of AoSHQ infamy, is now a tenured member of a lesser university on the other side of the state from you.
Yes. Your university is the glittering star of the State University system. NIH and especially NSF have great overhead rates.
Chem Jeff, of AoSHQ infamy, is now a tenured member of a lesser university on the other side of the state from you.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:57 AM (u82oZ)
89
I notice that lately I've been reading books written before 1990 almost exclusively. It almost seems as though there's a line in that year, when the rot began to set in.
Posted by: Trimegistus
That applies to much more than books. Music, television, and appliances to name a few.
Posted by: Trimegistus
That applies to much more than books. Music, television, and appliances to name a few.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 17, 2023 09:58 AM (IvfEj)
90
"I read the story out loud to the talented and lovely Missus Muldoon, doing my best to capture the dialect and accents. She quite enjoyed it.
Posted by: Muldoon"
I would not attempt that but would love to hear you do it.
Posted by: Muldoon"
I would not attempt that but would love to hear you do it.
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 09:58 AM (vFG9F)
91
Barbara Tuchman
"No nation has ever produced a military history of such verbal nobility as the British. Retreat or advance, win or lose, blunder or bravery, murderous folly or unyielding resolution, all emerge alike clothed in dignity and touched with glory.
Every engagement is gallant, every battle a decisive action. There is no shrinking from superlatives: every campaign produces a general or generalship hailed as the most brilliant of the war. Everyone is splendid: soldiers are staunch, commanders are cool, the fighting magnificent.
Whatever the fiasco, aplomb is unbroken. Mistakes, failures, stupidities or other causes of disaster mysteriously vanish.
Disasters are recorded with care and pride and become transmuted into things of beauty. Official histories record every move in monumental and infinite detail but the details serve to obscure. Why Singapore fell or how the Sittang happened remains shrouded.
Other nations attempt but never quite achieve the same self-esteem. It was not by might but by the power of her self___ that Britain in her century dominated the world. That this was irrecoverable (and that no successor would inherit it) was not yet clear
"No nation has ever produced a military history of such verbal nobility as the British. Retreat or advance, win or lose, blunder or bravery, murderous folly or unyielding resolution, all emerge alike clothed in dignity and touched with glory.
Every engagement is gallant, every battle a decisive action. There is no shrinking from superlatives: every campaign produces a general or generalship hailed as the most brilliant of the war. Everyone is splendid: soldiers are staunch, commanders are cool, the fighting magnificent.
Whatever the fiasco, aplomb is unbroken. Mistakes, failures, stupidities or other causes of disaster mysteriously vanish.
Disasters are recorded with care and pride and become transmuted into things of beauty. Official histories record every move in monumental and infinite detail but the details serve to obscure. Why Singapore fell or how the Sittang happened remains shrouded.
Other nations attempt but never quite achieve the same self-esteem. It was not by might but by the power of her self___ that Britain in her century dominated the world. That this was irrecoverable (and that no successor would inherit it) was not yet clear
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 09:58 AM (Bukd2)
92
Trimegistus
It would be a war against stupid, uninformed people. Marxism has an appeal to them, because otherwise they are powerless and ignored. So they will defend their religion (faith beyond Reason) with your life.
It would be a war against stupid, uninformed people. Marxism has an appeal to them, because otherwise they are powerless and ignored. So they will defend their religion (faith beyond Reason) with your life.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 09:59 AM (u82oZ)
93
Posted by: Nemo at September 17, 2023 09:54 AM (S6ArX)
*Referencing Simon Montefiore's The Romanovs to stay on topic. It's very good, read it.*
With respect to Mr. Taylor, Nicholas and Alexandra-- and their dynasty-- were on their way out anyway, one way or another. WWI certainly didn't help them but the system was sclerotic, incredibly corrupt and top-heavy. Nicholas thought God wanted him to be in charge and was largely controlled by his wife-- and his wife was a half-crazy shut in who ran all of her life choices past Rasputin.
*Referencing Simon Montefiore's The Romanovs to stay on topic. It's very good, read it.*
With respect to Mr. Taylor, Nicholas and Alexandra-- and their dynasty-- were on their way out anyway, one way or another. WWI certainly didn't help them but the system was sclerotic, incredibly corrupt and top-heavy. Nicholas thought God wanted him to be in charge and was largely controlled by his wife-- and his wife was a half-crazy shut in who ran all of her life choices past Rasputin.
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:00 AM (v27SO)
94
Off topic
Singapore F1
1. Sainz (Ferrari)
2. Norris (Mclaren)
3. Hamilton (Mercedes)
Red Bull's 15 straight wins streak is snapped.
Verstappen's 10 straight wins streak is snapped.
On Topic
Singapore F1
1. Sainz (Ferrari)
2. Norris (Mclaren)
3. Hamilton (Mercedes)
Red Bull's 15 straight wins streak is snapped.
Verstappen's 10 straight wins streak is snapped.
On Topic
Posted by: Lost In Space at September 17, 2023 10:01 AM (AHJdW)
95
33 . . . I have cataract surgery coming up this fall (hopefully soon) . . .
Posted by: JTB at September 17, 2023 09:20 AM (7EjX1)
JTB, good luck with your surgery. PLEASE find the best surgeon possible. My surgery last year left me with vertical double vision that left me unable to drive on the highway and barely able to read. Had to find a better surgeon to replace the lens. Unfortunately, had to medically retire because of the driving issue. Everyone else I know had great results. Mostly fixed now.
I also chose near a near vision lens rather than a far vision. There's a lifestyle checklist to help see whether a near, intermediate, or far vision lens is best.
Posted by: JTB at September 17, 2023 09:20 AM (7EjX1)
JTB, good luck with your surgery. PLEASE find the best surgeon possible. My surgery last year left me with vertical double vision that left me unable to drive on the highway and barely able to read. Had to find a better surgeon to replace the lens. Unfortunately, had to medically retire because of the driving issue. Everyone else I know had great results. Mostly fixed now.
I also chose near a near vision lens rather than a far vision. There's a lifestyle checklist to help see whether a near, intermediate, or far vision lens is best.
Posted by: Elinor, who usually looks lurkily at September 17, 2023 10:01 AM (kF2jL)
96
I'm one of those people that just isn't very good at small talk. The Chancellor stopped by our table and I literally didn't know what to say to him to engage him in conversation.
The key to small talk is to think of it as not small. Think of it as a very subtle police interrogation. For 99% of people, their favorite (and often only) subject is themselves. Ask open-ended questions about them (Chancellor, how did you get your start in academics?) and then, and this is key, LISTEN to the answer, dont; be thinking of the next thing you are going to say. You will then either find a point in common with something that happened in your life and you can tell that amusing anecdote, or their answer will lead to your next question.
The key to small talk is to think of it as not small. Think of it as a very subtle police interrogation. For 99% of people, their favorite (and often only) subject is themselves. Ask open-ended questions about them (Chancellor, how did you get your start in academics?) and then, and this is key, LISTEN to the answer, dont; be thinking of the next thing you are going to say. You will then either find a point in common with something that happened in your life and you can tell that amusing anecdote, or their answer will lead to your next question.
Posted by: Candidus at September 17, 2023 10:01 AM (oFLDw)
97
I often think there's no getting rid of them at all, no matter what we do. The source may not so much be Marx's lunacy as simple childish envy -- why should that guy have more than me, and why doesn't somebody fix things so we all have the same? -- and the ever present bunch of goons who want the power to be able to make that happen. If Marx hadn't written it up, somebody else would have, and chances are somebody always will even if the memory and name of Marx could be expunged.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:02 AM (a/4+U)
98
How do we get rid of them? It's all very well to talk of helicopter rides, but there's a long road to the heliport before that can happen. Figuring out the source and choking it off would be a start.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:55 AM (QZxDR)
---
Because it isn't actually a theory of economics, it is a religion. It posits that it is possible to create a paradise on earth independent of God.
I think it's a Jewish heresy, a weird secular take on "heal the world."
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:55 AM (QZxDR)
---
Because it isn't actually a theory of economics, it is a religion. It posits that it is possible to create a paradise on earth independent of God.
I think it's a Jewish heresy, a weird secular take on "heal the world."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:02 AM (llXky)
99
A motorcycle rally just went by. About 100 Harleys and such. That's the sound of freedom. They are not going to give it up so easily.
Not much from Pliny this week. I'm at the section on brass. At one time it was considered ostentatious. Brazen, even.
Not much from Pliny this week. I'm at the section on brass. At one time it was considered ostentatious. Brazen, even.
Posted by: fd at September 17, 2023 10:03 AM (vFG9F)
100
Off topic
Singapore F1
1. Sainz (Ferrari)
2. Norris (Mclaren)
3. Hamilton (Mercedes)
Red Bull's 15 straight wins streak is snapped.
Verstappen's 10 straight wins streak is snapped.
On Topic
Posted by: Lost In Space
So much for recording it to watch when it is not the middle of the night.
Singapore F1
1. Sainz (Ferrari)
2. Norris (Mclaren)
3. Hamilton (Mercedes)
Red Bull's 15 straight wins streak is snapped.
Verstappen's 10 straight wins streak is snapped.
On Topic
Posted by: Lost In Space
So much for recording it to watch when it is not the middle of the night.
Posted by: Pete Bog at September 17, 2023 10:03 AM (uZXhP)
101
I finished Bone VOyage, a Journey in Forensic Antrhopology by Stanely Rhine. It is a discussion of Forensic Anthropology as it is practiced for Medical Examiners and Sheriff departments. The MEs are generally brought in for unattended, mysterious, accidental or suspicious deaths. The Forensic Anthropologists are brought in when the body is decomposed, burned or "scattered"
He talks about reassembling bones, determining from charts probably heights, weights, and ages, determines sex and looks for "defects" that could indicate cause of death, and help with investigations. He talks about working on accidents, murders and actual archeological finds, in Bernilillo county NM, and elsewhere.
There was another book about the subject called Bones, this one is more about the process, and the problems of investigating bodies that had been through plane accidents, fires, buried in shallow graves, or left in ditches for the scavengers. Also dealing with local law enforcement, and the excited local reporters.
He talks about reassembling bones, determining from charts probably heights, weights, and ages, determines sex and looks for "defects" that could indicate cause of death, and help with investigations. He talks about working on accidents, murders and actual archeological finds, in Bernilillo county NM, and elsewhere.
There was another book about the subject called Bones, this one is more about the process, and the problems of investigating bodies that had been through plane accidents, fires, buried in shallow graves, or left in ditches for the scavengers. Also dealing with local law enforcement, and the excited local reporters.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 17, 2023 10:03 AM (xhaym)
102
The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth
outweighs the world.
Alekandr Solzhenitsyn
outweighs the world.
Alekandr Solzhenitsyn
Posted by: Bitter Clinger at September 17, 2023 10:03 AM (Zjx55)
103
Why are there still Marxists?'
My 2 cents: 'Marxism' is just an avenue for the expression of a desire for subsuming into some great Power: self-annihilation and/or self-extinguishing; absorption into some Greater Thing. It satisfies a number of impulses, like cosmic isolation, a desire for Power, fear of Death, a bunch of other things. The impulse has always been around and will never go away. 'Marxism' is just a modern term for one type of it.
It can be called 'Thanatos' but that's not really adequate, as it's not a desire for Death exactly but a desire for Power and some form of immortality by absorption into something vast and powerful. 'Marxism' remains because it's just one expression of this impulse that's always been around and always will be.
See: Anna Geifman, 'Death Orders'.
My 2 cents: 'Marxism' is just an avenue for the expression of a desire for subsuming into some great Power: self-annihilation and/or self-extinguishing; absorption into some Greater Thing. It satisfies a number of impulses, like cosmic isolation, a desire for Power, fear of Death, a bunch of other things. The impulse has always been around and will never go away. 'Marxism' is just a modern term for one type of it.
It can be called 'Thanatos' but that's not really adequate, as it's not a desire for Death exactly but a desire for Power and some form of immortality by absorption into something vast and powerful. 'Marxism' remains because it's just one expression of this impulse that's always been around and always will be.
See: Anna Geifman, 'Death Orders'.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:04 AM (43xH1)
104
All the old Soviet-funded traitors have died of old age by now. Where do they keep coming from?
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:55 AM (QZxDR)
They keep recruiting more in the universities.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:55 AM (QZxDR)
They keep recruiting more in the universities.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 17, 2023 10:05 AM (OX9vb)
105
I would not attempt that but would love to hear you do it.
Posted by: fd
********
Yeah. No.
It sounded like a mash-up of Braveheart, the Lucky Charms leprechaun and Colonel Klink. I think my wife's amusement came more from my accent mangling than from the story itself.
My brain has this weird thing where trying to do accents or thinking in a foreign language I default to my high school German classes. That was often amusing when I tried to come up with the right Spanish word when speaking to a Hispanic family.
Posted by: fd
********
Yeah. No.
It sounded like a mash-up of Braveheart, the Lucky Charms leprechaun and Colonel Klink. I think my wife's amusement came more from my accent mangling than from the story itself.
My brain has this weird thing where trying to do accents or thinking in a foreign language I default to my high school German classes. That was often amusing when I tried to come up with the right Spanish word when speaking to a Hispanic family.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 10:05 AM (l4B/J)
106
I often think there's no getting rid of them at all, no matter what we do. The source may not so much be Marx's lunacy as simple childish envy -- why should that guy have more than me, and why doesn't somebody fix things so we all have the same? -- and the ever present bunch of goons who want the power to be able to make that happen. If Marx hadn't written it up, somebody else would have, and chances are somebody always will even if the memory and name of Marx could be expunged.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:02 AM (a/4+U)
---
All heresies are built on attempting to turn sins into virtues. Marxism is built on envy, but also incorporates pride, an assertion that Man does not need God to build paradise.
The current Woke version adds a strong infusion of lust and gluttony to the mix.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:02 AM (a/4+U)
---
All heresies are built on attempting to turn sins into virtues. Marxism is built on envy, but also incorporates pride, an assertion that Man does not need God to build paradise.
The current Woke version adds a strong infusion of lust and gluttony to the mix.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:05 AM (llXky)
107
and his wife was a half-crazy shut in who ran all of her life choices past Rasputin.'
Alexandra was nuts.
Alexandra was nuts.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:06 AM (43xH1)
108
If Marx hadn't written it up, somebody else would have, and chances are somebody always will even if the memory and name of Marx could be expunged.
Posted by: Just Some Guy
Marx didn't invent it, greed has been around forever. Besides, Rousseau wrote the same type of treatise a century earlier.
Posted by: Just Some Guy
Marx didn't invent it, greed has been around forever. Besides, Rousseau wrote the same type of treatise a century earlier.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 17, 2023 10:06 AM (IvfEj)
109
Good advice on Robert Howard and his style! Time to break out some of the oldies.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at September 17, 2023 10:07 AM (c7Cz0)
110
And, I CANNOT recommend Anna Geifman's books highly enough!!! They are absolutely terrific. Buy them all.
Don't mention my name though, she didn't like the conclusions I drew from her research...
Don't mention my name though, she didn't like the conclusions I drew from her research...
Posted by: You didn't hear it from me at September 17, 2023 10:08 AM (43xH1)
111
Thanks Nemo. Just checked out a copy of The Fall of the Dynasties.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 10:09 AM (UGS7U)
112
I'm not sure that I buy the conversation/dialogue divide but whatever, if it's useful to you.
What I hate in reading fiction or watching movies as regards conversation dialogue is:
1) The Info Dump - where the author either doesn't have the skill or the patience to dramatize what he/she really really really wants to tell us. So, they just spew it on the page with some lame-ass dialogue.
2) Characters talking about something which they both either know or should know - a species of info dump.
Ex:
A: Hey, B, I guess that big ole scar on your face is why they call you "The Scarred Detective".
B: You know, A. i never thought about it that way. Remember, when that big ole alligator rose outta the swamp and gave me this scar. I was sure scared!
A: Me too. Still, I guess that big ole alligator that scarred you, would be pissed off to know it's that scar that made you the famous "The Scarred Detective!"
B: Hahaha. I guess you're right about that, A. I guess that's why they call me the Scarred Detective!
A: Hahahah.
B:Hahaha.
Like so.
I'm not sure that I buy the conversation/dialogue divide but whatever, if it's useful to you.
What I hate in reading fiction or watching movies as regards conversation dialogue is:
1) The Info Dump - where the author either doesn't have the skill or the patience to dramatize what he/she really really really wants to tell us. So, they just spew it on the page with some lame-ass dialogue.
2) Characters talking about something which they both either know or should know - a species of info dump.
Ex:
A: Hey, B, I guess that big ole scar on your face is why they call you "The Scarred Detective".
B: You know, A. i never thought about it that way. Remember, when that big ole alligator rose outta the swamp and gave me this scar. I was sure scared!
A: Me too. Still, I guess that big ole alligator that scarred you, would be pissed off to know it's that scar that made you the famous "The Scarred Detective!"
B: Hahaha. I guess you're right about that, A. I guess that's why they call me the Scarred Detective!
A: Hahahah.
B:Hahaha.
Like so.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 10:10 AM (QzZeQ)
113
My grandmother lived down the street from S.L.A. Marshall at one point. She said he was really obnoxious.
His scholarship has some issues and he was very much a creature of his time, but he does write well.
His scholarship has some issues and he was very much a creature of his time, but he does write well.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:10 AM (llXky)
114
Tuchman's Guns of August puts a lot of weight on the importance of mobilization schedules to the military leadership. Basically, nobody wanted to be the last one to mobilize, and as soon as one country looked like they were starting to mobilize, their potential opponents felt like they had to do so or risk destruction. The modern equivalent, I guess, would be a mass missile launch.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 10:11 AM (QZxDR)
115
I only have a minute because kind of in transit but wanted to report that I read Karin Slaughter's newest Will Trent mystery After That Night and it is a terrific book. Her characters are so real you feel like you know them. There is a scene in the book where the group is getting ready for an undercover op and you can feel the tension. I couldn't wait to see it unfold.
Highly recommended but definitely start with the first book, Tryptych.
Highly recommended but definitely start with the first book, Tryptych.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 17, 2023 10:11 AM (n/3Pf)
116
My grandmother lived down the street from S.L.A. Marshall at one point. She said he was really obnoxious.'
Uhhh... how obnoxious does one have to be, for someone several doors down from you, not even right next door, to consider you 'obnoxious'?
Uhhh... how obnoxious does one have to be, for someone several doors down from you, not even right next door, to consider you 'obnoxious'?
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:12 AM (43xH1)
117
And that alternative titles for the Odyssey is hilarious.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 17, 2023 10:12 AM (n/3Pf)
118
Yeah. No.
It sounded like a mash-up of Braveheart, the Lucky Charms leprechaun and Colonel Klink. I think my wife's amusement came more from my accent mangling than from the story itself.
My brain has this weird thing where trying to do accents or thinking in a foreign language I default to my high school German classes. That was often amusing when I tried to come up with the right Spanish word when speaking to a Hispanic family.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 10:05 AM (l4B/J)
If I try speaking in an accent long enough, I usually default to a pirate accent.
Arrrrr!
It sounded like a mash-up of Braveheart, the Lucky Charms leprechaun and Colonel Klink. I think my wife's amusement came more from my accent mangling than from the story itself.
My brain has this weird thing where trying to do accents or thinking in a foreign language I default to my high school German classes. That was often amusing when I tried to come up with the right Spanish word when speaking to a Hispanic family.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 10:05 AM (l4B/J)
If I try speaking in an accent long enough, I usually default to a pirate accent.
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 10:12 AM (QzZeQ)
119
I'm not sure that I buy the conversation/dialogue divide but whatever, if it's useful to you.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 10:10 AM (QzZeQ)
---
I think Evelyn Waugh uses dialogue brilliantly to showcase personalities and move the plot. He isn't that big on physical description, but his use of voice helps you imagine the kind of person who would say various things.
He does use narration as well, but it is almost always pointed.
One of the most poignant aspects of the Sword of Honour trilogy is when he's about to close a chapter and then adds "Meanwhile, thousands of doomed souls rolled along railroad lines heading east and west."
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 10:10 AM (QzZeQ)
---
I think Evelyn Waugh uses dialogue brilliantly to showcase personalities and move the plot. He isn't that big on physical description, but his use of voice helps you imagine the kind of person who would say various things.
He does use narration as well, but it is almost always pointed.
One of the most poignant aspects of the Sword of Honour trilogy is when he's about to close a chapter and then adds "Meanwhile, thousands of doomed souls rolled along railroad lines heading east and west."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:13 AM (llXky)
120
"I'm one of those people that just isn't very good at small talk. The Chancellor stopped by our table and I literally didn't know what to say to him to engage him in conversation."
You are in academe, figure five topics in your area and bring them up when talking with administration.
They might surprise you and have an opinion, or they might never speak to you again hoping to never have to show their ignorance ever.
"I have been considering Jorge Luis Borges' attitude on Magical Realism versus Terry Pratchett's. Borges seems to believe that people have a knob of mystical appreciation when the magical appears in a mundane life, and Pratchett seems to think people treat the magical like they do when they discover a hedgehog in their cistern. What is your feelings on that?"
You are in academe, figure five topics in your area and bring them up when talking with administration.
They might surprise you and have an opinion, or they might never speak to you again hoping to never have to show their ignorance ever.
"I have been considering Jorge Luis Borges' attitude on Magical Realism versus Terry Pratchett's. Borges seems to believe that people have a knob of mystical appreciation when the magical appears in a mundane life, and Pratchett seems to think people treat the magical like they do when they discover a hedgehog in their cistern. What is your feelings on that?"
Posted by: Kindltot at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (xhaym)
121
Interesting story on zero hedge: In a quest to be more "inclusive," a Canadian school board in Mississauga, Ontario has decided to purge its library of all books published before the year 2008.
Canadians are in the vanguard of erasing history. How long until they start piling them up and torching them?
Canadians are in the vanguard of erasing history. How long until they start piling them up and torching them?
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (IvfEj)
122
The Info Dump - where the author either doesn't have the skill or the patience to dramatize what he/she really really really wants to tell us. So, they just spew it on the page with some lame-ass dialogue.'
Guilty... kind of. In the Sci-Fi book I did a couple of 'info dumps' BUT! in my own defense the book was designed as a pastiche of/tribute to 1950s-60s sci-fi paperbacks, and those writers did that stuff all the time! So it was appropriate for the project... or that's what I tell myself.
Guilty... kind of. In the Sci-Fi book I did a couple of 'info dumps' BUT! in my own defense the book was designed as a pastiche of/tribute to 1950s-60s sci-fi paperbacks, and those writers did that stuff all the time! So it was appropriate for the project... or that's what I tell myself.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (43xH1)
123
Marx didn't invent it, greed has been around forever. Besides, Rousseau wrote the same type of treatise a century earlier.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 17, 2023 10:06 AM (IvfEj)
Rousseau, IMO, is Patient Zero for the modern incarnation of this BS.
Read his "A Discourse on Inequality". Not because it's good-- It isn't, it's asinine-- But because it's an illuminating look into the mentality of people like this. He was also a massive piece of shit IRL (I know, shocking).
Another one is State and Revolution by Lenin. Again, don't read it because it's good, read it to understand what these people think and how. It's interesting that even in 1917 Lenin was already walking back the 'worker's paradise with free everything' schtick, saying "Well of course the collective leadership will have to collect rent on public housing at least at first, but once the the government has withered away due to no longer being needed, then housing will be free!"
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 17, 2023 10:06 AM (IvfEj)
Rousseau, IMO, is Patient Zero for the modern incarnation of this BS.
Read his "A Discourse on Inequality". Not because it's good-- It isn't, it's asinine-- But because it's an illuminating look into the mentality of people like this. He was also a massive piece of shit IRL (I know, shocking).
Another one is State and Revolution by Lenin. Again, don't read it because it's good, read it to understand what these people think and how. It's interesting that even in 1917 Lenin was already walking back the 'worker's paradise with free everything' schtick, saying "Well of course the collective leadership will have to collect rent on public housing at least at first, but once the the government has withered away due to no longer being needed, then housing will be free!"
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (v27SO)
124
Uhhh... how obnoxious does one have to be, for someone several doors down from you, not even right next door, to consider you 'obnoxious'?
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:12 AM (43xH1)
---
Very much a "Hey you kids! Knock that off! I'm writing!" kind of guy.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:12 AM (43xH1)
---
Very much a "Hey you kids! Knock that off! I'm writing!" kind of guy.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (llXky)
125
If I try speaking in an accent long enough, I usually default to a pirate accent.
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake
*********
Achtung Hoooooogan! You can take me Lucky Charms, but ye cannae take mah frrrrrreedom!
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake
*********
Achtung Hoooooogan! You can take me Lucky Charms, but ye cannae take mah frrrrrreedom!
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 10:15 AM (l4B/J)
126
I’m on vacation right now, so got a bit more reading done. (Yes, I do travel to exotic locales and then sit on the porch with a book. It adds an entirely new dimension to reading. Mind you, this particular exotic locale is west Michigan.)
I finally finished The Collected Poems of Robert Service which was fascinating and occasionally even fun poetry. It was interesting seeing the Great War sneak up on him.
Yet it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting
So much as just finding the gold.
I finally finished The Collected Poems of Robert Service which was fascinating and occasionally even fun poetry. It was interesting seeing the Great War sneak up on him.
Yet it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting
So much as just finding the gold.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 10:16 AM (olroh)
127
95 ... ''JTB, good luck with your surgery. PLEASE find the best surgeon possible"
Thanks Elinor. Oh yes, we checked that out five ways from Sunday. It helped that my regular optometrist, who I've used for years, recommended this surgeon I'll use. She said this surgeon is the one she would use herself and he did the cataract surgery on her mother.
Thanks Elinor. Oh yes, we checked that out five ways from Sunday. It helped that my regular optometrist, who I've used for years, recommended this surgeon I'll use. She said this surgeon is the one she would use herself and he did the cataract surgery on her mother.
Posted by: JTB at September 17, 2023 10:16 AM (7EjX1)
128
Interesting story on zero hedge: In a quest to be more "inclusive," a Canadian school board in Mississauga, Ontario has decided to purge its library of all books published before the year 2008.
What makes 2008 the magical dividing line?
Interesting story on zero hedge: In a quest to be more "inclusive," a Canadian school board in Mississauga, Ontario has decided to purge its library of all books published before the year 2008.
What makes 2008 the magical dividing line?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 17, 2023 10:17 AM (63Dwl)
129
I took a year off reading in the current century after I grajitated, and read virtually all of Kipling, which I'd never had time to do as a literature student. His transliterations drive you crazy, until they don't, and then you speak Kipling to everyone for a while. He's probably the best captor of accents and vernacular in English, and I pity the fool trying to learn a language by reading these. Ye'll nivver gih ee roit, laddie.
University president chit-chat? One morning about 1971 I left my shared house about a mile from campus to be a good student. It was considerably colder than I'd planned on, so I stuck out my thumb. A plain-jane '62 Chev pulled over at once.
It was the president of the university. I was tongue-tied by the sudden panic that I was about to get demerits or something for hitch-hiking. Ace dude; first administrator I'd met who was not a pompous stuffed shirt. Naturally, he died young.
University president chit-chat? One morning about 1971 I left my shared house about a mile from campus to be a good student. It was considerably colder than I'd planned on, so I stuck out my thumb. A plain-jane '62 Chev pulled over at once.
It was the president of the university. I was tongue-tied by the sudden panic that I was about to get demerits or something for hitch-hiking. Ace dude; first administrator I'd met who was not a pompous stuffed shirt. Naturally, he died young.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at September 17, 2023 10:18 AM (4PZHB)
130
File under guilty pleasure. I'm reading Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz, an authorized James Bond novel. Set immediately after Goldfinger, Bond becomes involved in a SMERSH plot to assassinate a British race car driver which leads to another plot to sabotage the US space program. It's definitely set in 1957 as every time they have a spare moment they smoke and Bond rents a motel room in Maryland for the princely sum of $8. And Bond is up to his old tricks as he turns a lesbian in the first chapter only to have that lesbian, who he had dumped, seduce a female race driver out from under him after he saves her from some bizarre ritualistic sacrifice. Perhaps a bit formulaic, it is a fast moving and hair raising Bond style spy adventure.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:18 AM (FVME7)
131
I finished reading the first omnibus of the Witchblade comic book series. Great art. (Very 90's, but very cool). Infuriating writing. The creative team has a very poor grasp of pacing and story structure. They constantly try to string the story along, heightening the tension, heightening the mystery, moving from cliffhanger to cliffhanger....without ever seeming to resolve any of the story-points along the way. There's never a satisfying denouement or moment of closure, or even a moment of reflection on what has gone before. It's a pity, because the art makes me really want to like the book...
....Well, I will be re-reading it for the art. Maybe the story will flow better during re-reads...
....Well, I will be re-reading it for the art. Maybe the story will flow better during re-reads...
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 17, 2023 10:18 AM (Lhaco)
132
Another one is State and Revolution by Lenin. Again, don't read it because it's good, read it to understand what these people think and how. It's interesting that even in 1917 Lenin was already walking back the 'worker's paradise with free everything' schtick, saying "Well of course the collective leadership will have to collect rent on public housing at least at first, but once the the government has withered away due to no longer being needed, then housing will be free!"
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (v27SO)
---
And then you have the Anarchists who want the state destroyed first, replaced with collectives.
It is a heresy that immediately fractured into sub-heresies, all of them contested with fanatical devotion to the cause.
In Radical Son, David Horowitz wrote about how his parents refused all outward trappings of Judaism, but they and their cohorts recreated the Synagogue as the Party Committee headquarters, where they did readings of Marx and then discoursed on its applicability to their lives. The kids were sent to study Marx at summer camp.
I highly recommend it.
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (v27SO)
---
And then you have the Anarchists who want the state destroyed first, replaced with collectives.
It is a heresy that immediately fractured into sub-heresies, all of them contested with fanatical devotion to the cause.
In Radical Son, David Horowitz wrote about how his parents refused all outward trappings of Judaism, but they and their cohorts recreated the Synagogue as the Party Committee headquarters, where they did readings of Marx and then discoursed on its applicability to their lives. The kids were sent to study Marx at summer camp.
I highly recommend it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:19 AM (llXky)
133
Recently read "Synchronicity" by Jung and pretty disappointed. Wanted to (and still want to) read more Jung due to his exploration of "archetypes" and mythology, which I find to be a deep and immensely compelling body of literature and thought --though only having scratched the surface.
The erudition of Jung is amazing, really impossible for a contemporary person to fathom (conversant in Greek, Latin, basically all the classical philosophers, Greek literature, Roman history, the medieval theologians and philosophers, as well as deep byways into the gnostics, mystics, alchemists and astrologists, with a good deal of Chinese philosophy and mysticism as well).
But, as to his main theme is mainly lengthy throat clearing before he gets to the subject matter, and then when he gets to his main point, there is way too much detailed description of "experiments" (e.g. in ESP and looking for meaningful patterns in astrology charts) that could be summarized in a quarter the length without losing anything.
But the man was a giant of classical learning, immensely serious of purpose, insightful and open to exploring our relationship to the cosmos. So there's that.
The erudition of Jung is amazing, really impossible for a contemporary person to fathom (conversant in Greek, Latin, basically all the classical philosophers, Greek literature, Roman history, the medieval theologians and philosophers, as well as deep byways into the gnostics, mystics, alchemists and astrologists, with a good deal of Chinese philosophy and mysticism as well).
But, as to his main theme is mainly lengthy throat clearing before he gets to the subject matter, and then when he gets to his main point, there is way too much detailed description of "experiments" (e.g. in ESP and looking for meaningful patterns in astrology charts) that could be summarized in a quarter the length without losing anything.
But the man was a giant of classical learning, immensely serious of purpose, insightful and open to exploring our relationship to the cosmos. So there's that.
Posted by: Zek at September 17, 2023 10:19 AM (lcQJG)
134
What makes 2008 the magical dividing line?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot
*******
BHO
That was the year that the oceans began to recedde.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot
*******
BHO
That was the year that the oceans began to recedde.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 10:19 AM (l4B/J)
135
If memory serves, Paul Johnson's book Intellectuals had a nice demolition job on Rousseau (and a number of others). I think Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn's Leftism Revisited covered a lot of that ground as well.
Marx may not have come up with anything new, but he seems to have gotten a lot of the credit for it. And you know, I can't help thinking he'd like that...
Marx may not have come up with anything new, but he seems to have gotten a lot of the credit for it. And you know, I can't help thinking he'd like that...
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:20 AM (a/4+U)
136
Lenin's old lady, Nadezhda Krupskaya, was one of the biggest book burners of all time. She was basically the Head Librarian of the Soviet Union and a total, fruitloop fanatic. Nobody ever talks about her insane censorship regime and efforts at erasing all history she deemed inessential to the Communist Cause.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:21 AM (43xH1)
137
BHO
That was the year that the oceans began to recedde.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 10:19 AM (l4B/J)
Doesn't that cutoff year remove both of Obama's totally real and definitely not made up memoirs from consideration?
That was the year that the oceans began to recedde.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 10:19 AM (l4B/J)
Doesn't that cutoff year remove both of Obama's totally real and definitely not made up memoirs from consideration?
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:21 AM (v27SO)
138
What makes 2008 the magical dividing line?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr.
The ascension of our Lord and Savior to the Oval Office probably.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr.
The ascension of our Lord and Savior to the Oval Office probably.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:21 AM (FVME7)
139
Best dirt biking book ever written:
MONKEY BUTT: Tall Tales, Bench Racing, And the Inside Story of 30 Years In the Sports by Rick Sieman.
It’s all about the author f’n things up and making mole hills into mountains.
Good luck finding Monkey Butt for under $$$.
Posted by: 13times
----
I'll have to look for that, if only to find out how a dirt bike rider winds up with Monkey Butt. I didn't have that knowledge after years of dirt bike riding. All that taught me about is knee braces and surgery. :-) I discovered Monkey Butt when I got a big Sport Tourer, and decided that 500 miles was a short day.
---
33 ... Fortunately, I have a LOT of excellent books on them; LOTR (obligatory mention), the Matt Helm series,...
---
Where did you find the Matt Helm series in ebook format? I'll probably still keep my 3 feet of shelf space of paperback Hamilton (because I'm putting the probability of real serious SHTF at 15% and rising), but the tablet is really convenient.
Best dirt biking book ever written:
MONKEY BUTT: Tall Tales, Bench Racing, And the Inside Story of 30 Years In the Sports by Rick Sieman.
It’s all about the author f’n things up and making mole hills into mountains.
Good luck finding Monkey Butt for under $$$.
Posted by: 13times
----
I'll have to look for that, if only to find out how a dirt bike rider winds up with Monkey Butt. I didn't have that knowledge after years of dirt bike riding. All that taught me about is knee braces and surgery. :-) I discovered Monkey Butt when I got a big Sport Tourer, and decided that 500 miles was a short day.
---
33 ... Fortunately, I have a LOT of excellent books on them; LOTR (obligatory mention), the Matt Helm series,...
---
Where did you find the Matt Helm series in ebook format? I'll probably still keep my 3 feet of shelf space of paperback Hamilton (because I'm putting the probability of real serious SHTF at 15% and rising), but the tablet is really convenient.
Posted by: buddhaha at September 17, 2023 10:22 AM (1C/IB)
140
Marx may not have come up with anything new, but he seems to have gotten a lot of the credit for it. And you know, I can't help thinking he'd like that...
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:20 AM (a/4+U)
---
What was new was the industrial revolution, and the lack of any guidance in traditional policy circles. Something had to be done to mitigate the pollution and dislocation it created.
Another factor was the decline in traditional faith, spurred on by liberal Protestants trying to "scientifically" analyze the scriptures to determine their true meaning. Marx tapped into both streams of thought.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:20 AM (a/4+U)
---
What was new was the industrial revolution, and the lack of any guidance in traditional policy circles. Something had to be done to mitigate the pollution and dislocation it created.
Another factor was the decline in traditional faith, spurred on by liberal Protestants trying to "scientifically" analyze the scriptures to determine their true meaning. Marx tapped into both streams of thought.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:22 AM (llXky)
141
Downloaded a pdf of an article by M. D. Waite for the American Society of Arms Collectors about .22 rimfire and subcaliber conversion units.
Neat stuff! Worth reposting on the gun thread this evening.
Neat stuff! Worth reposting on the gun thread this evening.
Posted by: Oddbob at September 17, 2023 10:22 AM (nfrXX)
142
Rousseau, IMO, is Patient Zero for the modern incarnation of this BS.
Read his "A Discourse on Inequality". Not because it's good-- It isn't, it's asinine-- But because it's an illuminating look into the mentality of people like this.
Posted by: Vanya
I agree. Also The Social Contract. People seem to forget what a wonderful expression of his theories was displayed in the French revolution. Thousands dead because of their birth status or for not obsequiously obeying the CPS.
Read his "A Discourse on Inequality". Not because it's good-- It isn't, it's asinine-- But because it's an illuminating look into the mentality of people like this.
Posted by: Vanya
I agree. Also The Social Contract. People seem to forget what a wonderful expression of his theories was displayed in the French revolution. Thousands dead because of their birth status or for not obsequiously obeying the CPS.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 17, 2023 10:23 AM (IvfEj)
143
Thanks for the Book Thread Perfesser !
Posted by: JT at September 17, 2023 10:23 AM (T4tVD)
144
Thomas Sowell touches on Marxism in several of his books.
The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy has probably the best one book explanation.
The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy has probably the best one book explanation.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 10:24 AM (u82oZ)
145
If memory serves, Paul Johnson's book Intellectuals had a nice demolition job on Rousseau (and a number of others). I think Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn's Leftism Revisited covered a lot of that ground as well.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:20 AM (a/4+U)
I'm getting Intellectuals after I finish Birth of the Modern. I don't care that I already have a backlog, it's jumping the line. His writing and insight are at the point where I absolutely cannot wait to see him vivisect Rousseau.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:20 AM (a/4+U)
I'm getting Intellectuals after I finish Birth of the Modern. I don't care that I already have a backlog, it's jumping the line. His writing and insight are at the point where I absolutely cannot wait to see him vivisect Rousseau.
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:24 AM (v27SO)
146
In Radical Son, David Horowitz
-
One of my all time favorite books but written before 2008 so . . .
-
One of my all time favorite books but written before 2008 so . . .
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:24 AM (FVME7)
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 17, 2023 10:24 AM (OX9vb)
148
The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy has probably the best one book explanation.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 10:24 AM (u82oZ)
---
Yes, and I've coined the term "yard sign Calvinists" to describe its modern incarnation. You know the types - they put "Hate Has No Home Here" signs in their yards and that proves that they are better than everyone who doesn't have one.
"No Mow May" was another event, and some of the participating yards have yet to fully recover. Next year's crop of weeds should be outstanding. Hope it was worth it.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 10:24 AM (u82oZ)
---
Yes, and I've coined the term "yard sign Calvinists" to describe its modern incarnation. You know the types - they put "Hate Has No Home Here" signs in their yards and that proves that they are better than everyone who doesn't have one.
"No Mow May" was another event, and some of the participating yards have yet to fully recover. Next year's crop of weeds should be outstanding. Hope it was worth it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:26 AM (llXky)
149
when I tried to come up with the right Spanish word when speaking to a Hispanic family.
Speak Spanish with a German accent, and you'll be mistaken for Portuguese, or maybe Puerto Rican (the upperest crust there speak a Cath-tilian with a guttural crunch, very Visigothic).
Speak Spanish with a German accent, and you'll be mistaken for Portuguese, or maybe Puerto Rican (the upperest crust there speak a Cath-tilian with a guttural crunch, very Visigothic).
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at September 17, 2023 10:26 AM (4PZHB)
150
During my last trip to the big city, I picked up "Tiny Homes on the Move." A coffee-table book featuring custom-built camper-vans and such. But, also, some 60 pages of ships! The ships are what I bought it for. References, for if I ever start drawing again.
Lotta cool pictures. Nice for paging through while watching a movie or waiting through commercials on a tv show...
Lotta cool pictures. Nice for paging through while watching a movie or waiting through commercials on a tv show...
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 17, 2023 10:26 AM (Lhaco)
151
Okay, I think I figured all of that out except "sinthry-go".
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023
***
Morning, book folk! I'm back from the grocery, pleased to see that the Perfessor quoted me from last week, and just in time to guess that "sinthry-go" = "sentry-go," i.e., assigned sentry duty. "It was near 0300 and I was on sentry-go outside the ramparts . . ."
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 17, 2023
***
Morning, book folk! I'm back from the grocery, pleased to see that the Perfessor quoted me from last week, and just in time to guess that "sinthry-go" = "sentry-go," i.e., assigned sentry duty. "It was near 0300 and I was on sentry-go outside the ramparts . . ."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 10:26 AM (omVj0)
152
Speaking of the USSR, I referenced the 'Soviet Fashion Show' Wendy's commercial from 1985 at work, and not even one person knew what I was talking about! Too young. So, how is it possible, when nobody at my job has any memory of the Soviet Union at all, for this 'Russia Russia Russia Evil' stuff to work, when a large part of the population has no memory or knowledge of the Cold War at all?
How is that possible?
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)
153
Just Some Guy
Paul Johnson's book Intellectuals is a great read. Demolishes the intellectual idiots that are still paraded as wise.
Paul Johnson's book Intellectuals is a great read. Demolishes the intellectual idiots that are still paraded as wise.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (u82oZ)
154
"No Mow May" was another event, and some of the participating yards have yet to fully recover. Next year's crop of weeds should be outstanding. Hope it was worth it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:26 AM (llXky)
I am very confused. What is the object of not mowing your lawn?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:26 AM (llXky)
I am very confused. What is the object of not mowing your lawn?
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (v27SO)
155
"No Mow May" was another event, and some of the participating yards have yet to fully recover. Next year's crop of weeds should be outstanding. Hope it was worth it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd'
I enthusiastically participated because I hate my City Council and don't care about my neighbors' property values.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd'
I enthusiastically participated because I hate my City Council and don't care about my neighbors' property values.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:28 AM (43xH1)
156
With a Single Spell is a good story as well. It is a puzzle piece on how to survive a magical world with one low level spell.
Some of the middle stores in the series are really young adult in nature. But the ones he wrote for adults, like the Unwelcome Warlord, are better.
To me most of his protagonists have a Nevil Shute feel, which is high praise from me. Not a lot of evil, bad, unappealing protagonists in his books.
Posted by: NaCly Dog
----------
Ditto, Watt Evans wrote an interesting series that does a better job than a lot of more heralded authors in world building and appealing characters. Muddling through is a common thread and thinking your way through the mess that his prime characters show.
Hope you are well in the Land of Oz NaCly.
Some of the middle stores in the series are really young adult in nature. But the ones he wrote for adults, like the Unwelcome Warlord, are better.
To me most of his protagonists have a Nevil Shute feel, which is high praise from me. Not a lot of evil, bad, unappealing protagonists in his books.
Posted by: NaCly Dog
----------
Ditto, Watt Evans wrote an interesting series that does a better job than a lot of more heralded authors in world building and appealing characters. Muddling through is a common thread and thinking your way through the mess that his prime characters show.
Hope you are well in the Land of Oz NaCly.
Posted by: whig at September 17, 2023 10:28 AM (5jVrT)
157
I also read another history/cookbook by Vrest Orton, The American Cider Book, from 1973. A fascinating overview of the adoption and disappearance of cider in the American diet. And even more than in his 1951 Cooking with Wholegrains he is very opinionated, seeing the decline of cider as analogous to the decline of civilization.
One of the most outlandish, and to me shocking, habits of the times we live in is that of swilling down drinks from upright bottles. No civilized person guzzles from a bottle if a glass or mug is available. For American advertisers to condone and actually promote such a habit is a good comment on these times when manners have been abandoned and social customs of gentlemen and ladies decried.
One of the most outlandish, and to me shocking, habits of the times we live in is that of swilling down drinks from upright bottles. No civilized person guzzles from a bottle if a glass or mug is available. For American advertisers to condone and actually promote such a habit is a good comment on these times when manners have been abandoned and social customs of gentlemen and ladies decried.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (olroh)
158
Speaking of the USSR, I referenced the 'Soviet Fashion Show' Wendy's commercial from 1985 at work, and not even one person knew what I was talking about! Too young. So, how is it possible, when nobody at my job has any memory of the Soviet Union at all, for this 'Russia Russia Russia Evil' stuff to work, when a large part of the population has no memory or knowledge of the Cold War at all?
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)
---
Russia has been recast in a xenophobic frame. That is why the spasm of hate included cancellation of Russian composers and artists, as well as athletes.
The Neocons now want to dismantle Russia as a nation-state, so its people must be demonized.
During the Cold War, people were encouraged to study Russia, and learn Russian. Now all of it is forbidden because they're "orcs" or something.
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)
---
Russia has been recast in a xenophobic frame. That is why the spasm of hate included cancellation of Russian composers and artists, as well as athletes.
The Neocons now want to dismantle Russia as a nation-state, so its people must be demonized.
During the Cold War, people were encouraged to study Russia, and learn Russian. Now all of it is forbidden because they're "orcs" or something.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (llXky)
159
Didja find your keys ?
Posted by: JT at September 17, 2023 09:39 AM (T4tVD)
It was a credit card I lost, but I did find it! In desperation I called the Wawa I went to yesterday, despite not using the card there (I paid cash for coffee) and they had it in their safe!
Praise God for honest people!
And thanks for anyone who sent a little prayer to help me.
Posted by: JT at September 17, 2023 09:39 AM (T4tVD)
It was a credit card I lost, but I did find it! In desperation I called the Wawa I went to yesterday, despite not using the card there (I paid cash for coffee) and they had it in their safe!
Praise God for honest people!
And thanks for anyone who sent a little prayer to help me.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (vHIgi)
160
for this 'Russia Russia Russia Evil' stuff to work, when a large part of the population has no memory or knowledge of the Cold War at all?
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal
-------
Because today's elites are literally know nothings other than the current narrative. Those that do know such things keep their mouths firmly shut because knowledge is a dangerous thing in a room full of zealots.
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal
-------
Because today's elites are literally know nothings other than the current narrative. Those that do know such things keep their mouths firmly shut because knowledge is a dangerous thing in a room full of zealots.
Posted by: whig at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (5jVrT)
161
"the fledgling civilian government must survive a military coup and an outbreak of the plaque. A good thriller.
Posted by: Zoltan at September 17, 2023 09:04 AM (7EvEN)"
Where's NGU, when you need him?
Posted by: Zoltan at September 17, 2023 09:04 AM (7EvEN)"
Where's NGU, when you need him?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (mjUwN)
162
If I try speaking in an accent long enough, I usually default to a pirate accent.
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake
Didja see the San Francisco Bay area's latest problem is piracy because why not?
https://tinyurl.com/4yjx7r6d
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake
Didja see the San Francisco Bay area's latest problem is piracy because why not?
https://tinyurl.com/4yjx7r6d
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:31 AM (FVME7)
163
I am very confused. What is the object of not mowing your lawn?
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (v27SO)
---
It is supposed to help bee populations recover and also is more in tune with nature, etc. It is against city regulations, but if you put a sign up saying you're doing it because you're such a good person, no action was taken.
What it did in practice was ruin otherwise carefully-maintained lawns. Weeds overran the grass, which was 18" high in places, and mosquitoes and ticks proliferated. Put simply, there is a reason why grass should be kept short.
When June started, the mowing resumed but time didn't stand still, so people's yards were overrun with quackgrass or bare patches of dirt where the grass died. Naturally, yard maintainers had to come out and use lots of gas-guzzling equipment to repair the damage. But the people who did that love the earth more than you.
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (v27SO)
---
It is supposed to help bee populations recover and also is more in tune with nature, etc. It is against city regulations, but if you put a sign up saying you're doing it because you're such a good person, no action was taken.
What it did in practice was ruin otherwise carefully-maintained lawns. Weeds overran the grass, which was 18" high in places, and mosquitoes and ticks proliferated. Put simply, there is a reason why grass should be kept short.
When June started, the mowing resumed but time didn't stand still, so people's yards were overrun with quackgrass or bare patches of dirt where the grass died. Naturally, yard maintainers had to come out and use lots of gas-guzzling equipment to repair the damage. But the people who did that love the earth more than you.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:32 AM (llXky)
164
“No Mow May” was another event, and some of the participating yards have yet to fully recover. Next year’s crop of weeds should be outstanding.
Where I am in Texas May is the last month I need to mow my lawn. And if it weren’t for weeds I’d hardly have a lawn to begin with!
Where I am in Texas May is the last month I need to mow my lawn. And if it weren’t for weeds I’d hardly have a lawn to begin with!
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 10:33 AM (olroh)
165
Hadn't heard about No Mow May -- looked it up and it sounds nuts. If I skipped mowing for too long, I'd have a hard time finding the front or back doors. I doubt I'm unique on that, so I gotta wonder what the bleepity-bleep is wrong with some of these people.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:33 AM (a/4+U)
166
Thanks for the scintillating conversation!
May you all be wiser and happier from reading your books.
Have a great day, everyone.
May you all be wiser and happier from reading your books.
Have a great day, everyone.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 17, 2023 10:33 AM (u82oZ)
167
Anyway, with the current project as Orange ent commented, 'obviously not written by a native English speaker/writer', there actually is a technique to editing a piece from a language into English... with the purpose of making it simpler to translate into another, unrelated language. I've done this several times with Serbian to a range of other languages. One memorable project, I was informed my 'English' version was subsequently going to be translated into Italian, German, Swedish, and French.
So there is some thought to put into something like that. The Latin languages are easy but the German actually not as much, and Swedish is different. So word selection was important. It ended up not being a very 'good' English translation but worked very well to re-translate and ultimately it was considered a great success.
So there is some thought to put into something like that. The Latin languages are easy but the German actually not as much, and Swedish is different. So word selection was important. It ended up not being a very 'good' English translation but worked very well to re-translate and ultimately it was considered a great success.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:34 AM (43xH1)
168
One of the most outlandish, and to me shocking, habits of the times we live in is that of swilling down drinks from upright bottles. No civilized person guzzles from a bottle if a glass or mug is available. For American advertisers to condone and actually promote such a habit is a good comment on these times when manners have been abandoned and social customs of gentlemen and ladies decried.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair'
Holy Hell, what a crank!
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair'
Holy Hell, what a crank!
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:35 AM (43xH1)
169
Still rummaging through boxes. I have been trying to decide which books will go on the One bookcase I have space for. I used to have four.
Found a copy of "Treasure Island" with illustrations by N C Wyeth I had purchased for my boys 20+ years ago. Started reading it out loud to myself. It's making me cry, remembering the last time I read it out loud.
It's a keeper.
Found a copy of "Treasure Island" with illustrations by N C Wyeth I had purchased for my boys 20+ years ago. Started reading it out loud to myself. It's making me cry, remembering the last time I read it out loud.
It's a keeper.
Posted by: nurse ratched, otter 841 superfan at September 17, 2023 10:35 AM (IUmF8)
170
And thanks for anyone who sent a little prayer to help me.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 17, 2023 10:29 A
You're welcome !
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 17, 2023 10:29 A
You're welcome !
Posted by: JT at September 17, 2023 10:35 AM (T4tVD)
171
Because today's elites are literally know nothings other than the current narrative. Those that do know such things keep their mouths firmly shut because knowledge is a dangerous thing in a room full of zealots.
Posted by: whig at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (5jVrT)
---
Yes, and every policy decision is now a holy crusade, not simply one choice out of many. Actual thought, understanding cause and effect, these concepts no longer exist. Once the Oracle speaks, all who oppose the Holy Word must be destroyed.
Weird to see how many "conservatives" buy into this nonsense.
Posted by: whig at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (5jVrT)
---
Yes, and every policy decision is now a holy crusade, not simply one choice out of many. Actual thought, understanding cause and effect, these concepts no longer exist. Once the Oracle speaks, all who oppose the Holy Word must be destroyed.
Weird to see how many "conservatives" buy into this nonsense.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:36 AM (llXky)
172
Re talking to VIPs,
My Fair Lady channelling Pygmalion mentions safe topics--the weather, state of health, and other such inane topics. Slightly bolder would be if you mention something that they did that was good.
"Such as I really thought the increase in library stipends for the academic departments was a fine thing."
For the most part, functionaries, including presidents, generals, members of Congress, actors, etc. like to be remembered and praised if it is genuinely expressed.
My Fair Lady channelling Pygmalion mentions safe topics--the weather, state of health, and other such inane topics. Slightly bolder would be if you mention something that they did that was good.
"Such as I really thought the increase in library stipends for the academic departments was a fine thing."
For the most part, functionaries, including presidents, generals, members of Congress, actors, etc. like to be remembered and praised if it is genuinely expressed.
Posted by: whig at September 17, 2023 10:36 AM (5jVrT)
173
Speaking of the USSR, I referenced the 'Soviet Fashion Show' Wendy's commercial from 1985 at work, and not even one person knew what I was talking about! Too young. So, how is it possible, when nobody at my job has any memory of the Soviet Union at all, for this 'Russia Russia Russia Evil' stuff to work, when a large part of the population has no memory or knowledge of the Cold War at all?
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal
When I was young and naive, I saw the destruction wrought by the Carter administration and thought, "Well, that's the end of liberal wienie-ism because everybody can see what happens."
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal
When I was young and naive, I saw the destruction wrought by the Carter administration and thought, "Well, that's the end of liberal wienie-ism because everybody can see what happens."
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:36 AM (FVME7)
174
If I try speaking in an accent long enough, I usually default to a pirate accent.
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake
Didja see the San Francisco Bay area's latest problem is piracy because why not?
https://tinyurl.com/4yjx7r6d
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:31 AM (FVME7)
Arrrrrrr, ye scurvy dog!
Me prospects for gold an' future employment ha'e increased for meself!
Arrrrr!
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake
Didja see the San Francisco Bay area's latest problem is piracy because why not?
https://tinyurl.com/4yjx7r6d
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:31 AM (FVME7)
Arrrrrrr, ye scurvy dog!
Me prospects for gold an' future employment ha'e increased for meself!
Arrrrr!
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 10:37 AM (QzZeQ)
175
Holy Hell, what a crank!
He was from Vermont. My understanding is that “crank” is a viable profession there.
Fun book, though.
He was from Vermont. My understanding is that “crank” is a viable profession there.
Fun book, though.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 10:38 AM (olroh)
176
Holy Hell, what a crank!
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:35 AM (43xH1)
---
That is the way I was brought up, and the policy in my house. No one drinks from the bottle. Drinks are decanted first, because we're civilized people. At a campsite, things are different, but in the home, you pour it out.
And use a coaster.
Holy Hell, what a crank!
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:35 AM (43xH1)
---
That is the way I was brought up, and the policy in my house. No one drinks from the bottle. Drinks are decanted first, because we're civilized people. At a campsite, things are different, but in the home, you pour it out.
And use a coaster.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:38 AM (llXky)
177
127 Posted by: JTB at September 17, 2023 10:16 AM (7EjX1)
I am so grateful that I was able to get my vision fixed. Went through several months of heavy depression when I could barely read or drive. Now I keep my nose in physical books and my Kindle and online.
Also go out and look at the moon and stars every clear night. Don't take it for granted anymore.
I am so grateful that I was able to get my vision fixed. Went through several months of heavy depression when I could barely read or drive. Now I keep my nose in physical books and my Kindle and online.
Also go out and look at the moon and stars every clear night. Don't take it for granted anymore.
Posted by: Elinor, who usually looks lurkily at September 17, 2023 10:38 AM (kF2jL)
178
Made actual progress on The Mirror and the Light, must be a sign that summer is winding down. By this time next week I may be starting a new book.
Posted by: who knew at September 17, 2023 10:38 AM (4I7VG)
179
You hear of modern comics and graphic novels being written as, essentially, pitches for Netflix or AppleTV series. I think Flaubert was doing the same. Does anybody know how much the author of an opera would make back in those days? Was it the ticket to Hollywood?
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:36 AM (QZxDR)
I think I read that "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was also written as/immediately adapted into a stage-play as well. (which might explain why the first three-ish chapters all took place in the same room) I think that must have been fairly common back in the day.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 17, 2023 09:36 AM (QZxDR)
I think I read that "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was also written as/immediately adapted into a stage-play as well. (which might explain why the first three-ish chapters all took place in the same room) I think that must have been fairly common back in the day.
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 17, 2023 10:38 AM (Lhaco)
180
Re: The Wendy's Soviet Fashion Show commercial, The Kid had never seen it! Making me feel bad for being a parental failure so I had her watch it.
Now she comments 'Vedy Niiiceee!' all the time so maybe it wasn't a good idea.
Now she comments 'Vedy Niiiceee!' all the time so maybe it wasn't a good idea.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:38 AM (43xH1)
181
I've been reading the first two Hap & Leonard crime stories by Joe R. Lansdale. I can't believe I've never run across these stories before; the first novel Savage Season, appeared in 1990, and the second, Mucho Mojo, in '94. Season introduces Hap, who is white and straight, and Leonard, who is black and gay, plus their EAst Texas town near Tyler. It also features a vicious villain who actually had me tensed up when he appeared, despite my knowledge that Hap and Leonard have appeared in a dozen novels since that first one and were going to survive.
Mojo has a good mystery with a surprise solution, and then a second one on top of that.
Mojo has a good mystery with a surprise solution, and then a second one on top of that.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 10:39 AM (omVj0)
182
You can also kick Thomas Paine's Rights of Man as well.
There were a lot of books at the end of the 1700's and the early 1800's about how we should be brave and end the tyrannies of the world by being less human and being more like each other by being perfect. Condorcet, Godwin, Paine, Fourier are the ones I can think of, but it was one of those things you did as a Romantic or a reformer.
I suppose the stress of the Napoleonic wars made a case for how things as they had been were terrible, and the dislocation in societies by the industrial revolution made possible by "natural science and understanding" projected the idea that the world was reducible to elements to be made better
There were a lot of books at the end of the 1700's and the early 1800's about how we should be brave and end the tyrannies of the world by being less human and being more like each other by being perfect. Condorcet, Godwin, Paine, Fourier are the ones I can think of, but it was one of those things you did as a Romantic or a reformer.
I suppose the stress of the Napoleonic wars made a case for how things as they had been were terrible, and the dislocation in societies by the industrial revolution made possible by "natural science and understanding" projected the idea that the world was reducible to elements to be made better
Posted by: Kindltot at September 17, 2023 10:39 AM (xhaym)
183
When I was young and naive, I saw the destruction wrought by the Carter administration and thought, "Well, that's the end of liberal wienie-ism because everybody can see what happens."
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:36 AM (FVME7)
---
Even liberals turned on Carter because he was so inept. What's amazing to me is how people are literally courting nuclear war because all the smart people assure them it's okay.
That's why I can't follow the news. It's insane.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:36 AM (FVME7)
---
Even liberals turned on Carter because he was so inept. What's amazing to me is how people are literally courting nuclear war because all the smart people assure them it's okay.
That's why I can't follow the news. It's insane.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:39 AM (llXky)
Posted by: m at September 17, 2023 10:40 AM (Dz9Qm)
185
Russian leadership - boyars - top tier nomenklatura are irredentists, have always been irredentists and will remain so far into the future.
They want their empire back.
They want their empire back.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 10:40 AM (OnhBr)
186
Sept 19 is National Talk Like a Pirate Day!
It coincides with a Tummy Rub Tuesday, so I will have to be extra creative.
It coincides with a Tummy Rub Tuesday, so I will have to be extra creative.
Posted by: nurse ratched, otter 841 superfan at September 17, 2023 10:42 AM (IUmF8)
187
Russian leadership - boyars - top tier nomenklatura are irredentists, have always been irredentists and will remain so far into the future.
I thought the boyars were all chefs.
Especially, the D ranked ones.
I thought the boyars were all chefs.
Especially, the D ranked ones.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 10:43 AM (QzZeQ)
188
Russian leadership - boyars - top tier nomenklatura are irredentists, have always been irredentists and will remain so far into the future.
They want their empire back.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 10:40 AM (OnhBr)
---
Liberal think tanks are actually holding conferences discussing how many statelets Russia should be carved into, and how the US will exploit their resources.
All borders in Eastern Europe are temporary. I don't see why this particular set (drawn by STALIN of all people!) are now Holy Writ.
They want their empire back.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 10:40 AM (OnhBr)
---
Liberal think tanks are actually holding conferences discussing how many statelets Russia should be carved into, and how the US will exploit their resources.
All borders in Eastern Europe are temporary. I don't see why this particular set (drawn by STALIN of all people!) are now Holy Writ.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:43 AM (llXky)
189
The first three Hap & Leonard books were adapted for television. The first set, devoted to Savage Season, was the best but they're all fun. James Purefoy and Michael Kenneth Williams were great in the leads, and the villains in Savage Season were just perfectly cast.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 10:43 AM (a/4+U)
190
Now she comments 'Vedy Niiiceee!' all the time so maybe it wasn't a good idea.
Posted by: LenNeal
LOL
Posted by: LenNeal
LOL
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 17, 2023 10:44 AM (sz2SP)
191
Sept 19 is National Talk Like a Pirate Day!
It coincides with a Tummy Rub Tuesday, so I will have to be extra creative.
Posted by: nurse ratched, otter 841 superfan'
Is that like walking and chewing gum at the same time? If it is, I'm out.
It coincides with a Tummy Rub Tuesday, so I will have to be extra creative.
Posted by: nurse ratched, otter 841 superfan'
Is that like walking and chewing gum at the same time? If it is, I'm out.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:44 AM (43xH1)
192
Yes, and every policy decision is now a holy crusade, not simply one choice out of many. Actual thought, understanding cause and effect, these concepts no longer exist. Once the Oracle speaks, all who oppose the Holy Word must be destroyed.
Weird to see how many "conservatives" buy into this nonsense.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
----------
Too many so called conservatives are actually Trotskyites with a will for power via 'principles'.
But I am of the right but not a conservative and I view the GOP as a vehicle for policy--not an end in itself. The end is a just and prosperous society, not just individuals.
Weird to see how many "conservatives" buy into this nonsense.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
----------
Too many so called conservatives are actually Trotskyites with a will for power via 'principles'.
But I am of the right but not a conservative and I view the GOP as a vehicle for policy--not an end in itself. The end is a just and prosperous society, not just individuals.
Posted by: whig at September 17, 2023 10:44 AM (5jVrT)
193
And use a coaster.
While it ranks very low on my “kids these days”-ometer, the complete lack of understanding today about what a coaster is and how you use them is a little weird to me. It seems as though you can’t get any simpler or more self-evident than that.
While it ranks very low on my “kids these days”-ometer, the complete lack of understanding today about what a coaster is and how you use them is a little weird to me. It seems as though you can’t get any simpler or more self-evident than that.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 10:44 AM (olroh)
194
Well, time to go. Thanks again, Perfesser!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:44 AM (llXky)
195
Another point about Joe Lansdale's work, and one which I like, is that he rarely indulges in "said-isms." You know the thing, the habit some writers have of finding a new synonym for "said" as often as possible: "stated," "enunciated," "announced," "laughed," "nodded." "Said" by itself is practically invisible to the reader. Plus it is impossible for a human being who needs to breathe air to laugh a sentence; and you can't nod a sentence. Okay, I like the occasional "murmured" or "growled," and "shouted" and "roared" are useful, but stuffing a thesaurus into your story is not necessary.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 10:45 AM (omVj0)
196
How is that possible?
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)
Because what people are taught to hate is not the callous bureaucratic inefficiency, murderous social policies, impoverishing economics, violation of property rights, civil rights, laws, legal rights and psychological torture that was the daily grind of the Soviet Citizen. They are taught to hate the godless commies that will invade us and take away our nice things, and any violation of our civil and property rights is justified in the face of such a threat.
This is exactly the message against the murderous Huns that my grandfathers were fed in 1918
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (43xH1)
Because what people are taught to hate is not the callous bureaucratic inefficiency, murderous social policies, impoverishing economics, violation of property rights, civil rights, laws, legal rights and psychological torture that was the daily grind of the Soviet Citizen. They are taught to hate the godless commies that will invade us and take away our nice things, and any violation of our civil and property rights is justified in the face of such a threat.
This is exactly the message against the murderous Huns that my grandfathers were fed in 1918
Posted by: Kindltot at September 17, 2023 10:46 AM (xhaym)
197
Doesn’t change the fact that the Russians are fossilized irredentists.
The Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth predate Keivian Rus.
The Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth predate Keivian Rus.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 10:47 AM (OnhBr)
198
I think I read that "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was also written as/immediately adapted into a stage-play as well. (which might explain why the first three-ish chapters all took place in the same room) I think that must have been fairly common back in the day.
Posted by: Castle Guy'
'Uncle Tom's Cabin', while an international smash bestseller, was even more successful as a stage play and ran for decades in road shows. In the Silent Era up to about 1920 it was filmed probably ten times a year with different casts.
Posted by: Castle Guy'
'Uncle Tom's Cabin', while an international smash bestseller, was even more successful as a stage play and ran for decades in road shows. In the Silent Era up to about 1920 it was filmed probably ten times a year with different casts.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:47 AM (43xH1)
199
I am not free. I never was, but now I know it; that makes it different.— Philip K. Dick (The Electric Ant)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 10:48 AM (olroh)
200
Okay, I like the occasional "murmured" or "growled," and "shouted" and "roared" are useful, but stuffing a thesaurus into your story is not necessary.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere'
One of my few ironclad rules of writing I got from, I believe, an editor of 'The New Yorker'? Source? He said (!) 'There is no reason or excuse to use anything but 'said'.
So I use that almost exclusively.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere'
One of my few ironclad rules of writing I got from, I believe, an editor of 'The New Yorker'? Source? He said (!) 'There is no reason or excuse to use anything but 'said'.
So I use that almost exclusively.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:50 AM (43xH1)
201
Russia has been recast in a xenophobic frame. That is why the spasm of hate included cancellation of Russian composers and artists, as well as athletes.
The Neocons now want to dismantle Russia as a nation-state, so its people must be demonized.
During the Cold War, people were encouraged to study Russia, and learn Russian. Now all of it is forbidden because they're "orcs" or something.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (llXky)
This is how the Wilson Administration pushed WWI and this is how Roosevelt pushed against the Japanese in the lead up to WWII.
The Cold ware was the same, from Korea to the Soviets in Afghanistan
Menken wrote extensively about this during WWI, about (I misquote) German waiters being hounded by the self appointed guardians of our nation
A lot of it was directed by the theories of Edward Bernays by the way.
The Neocons now want to dismantle Russia as a nation-state, so its people must be demonized.
During the Cold War, people were encouraged to study Russia, and learn Russian. Now all of it is forbidden because they're "orcs" or something.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:29 AM (llXky)
This is how the Wilson Administration pushed WWI and this is how Roosevelt pushed against the Japanese in the lead up to WWII.
The Cold ware was the same, from Korea to the Soviets in Afghanistan
Menken wrote extensively about this during WWI, about (I misquote) German waiters being hounded by the self appointed guardians of our nation
A lot of it was directed by the theories of Edward Bernays by the way.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 17, 2023 10:50 AM (xhaym)
202
>>> 163 I am very confused. What is the object of not mowing your lawn?
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (v27SO)
---
It is supposed to help bee populations recover and also is more in tune with nature, etc. It is against city regulations, but if you put a sign up saying you're doing it because you're such a good person, no action was taken.
What it did in practice was ruin otherwise carefully-maintained lawns. Weeds overran the grass, which was 18" high in places, and mosquitoes and ticks proliferated. Put simply, there is a reason why grass should be kept short.
When June started, the mowing resumed but time didn't stand still, so people's yards were overrun with quackgrass or bare patches of dirt where the grass died. Naturally, yard maintainers had to come out and use lots of gas-guzzling equipment to repair the damage. But the people who did that love the earth more than you.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:32 AM (llXky)
Maybe instead they should have grazed some sheep on all that grass.
Posted by: Vanya at September 17, 2023 10:27 AM (v27SO)
---
It is supposed to help bee populations recover and also is more in tune with nature, etc. It is against city regulations, but if you put a sign up saying you're doing it because you're such a good person, no action was taken.
What it did in practice was ruin otherwise carefully-maintained lawns. Weeds overran the grass, which was 18" high in places, and mosquitoes and ticks proliferated. Put simply, there is a reason why grass should be kept short.
When June started, the mowing resumed but time didn't stand still, so people's yards were overrun with quackgrass or bare patches of dirt where the grass died. Naturally, yard maintainers had to come out and use lots of gas-guzzling equipment to repair the damage. But the people who did that love the earth more than you.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 17, 2023 10:32 AM (llXky)
Maybe instead they should have grazed some sheep on all that grass.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 17, 2023 10:50 AM (llON8)
203
Exceptions to the 'said' rule are 'shouted', 'screamed', 'yelled', that kind of thing and 'whispered' etc.
'Said' is anything uttered in the normal range of talking.
'Said' is anything uttered in the normal range of talking.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:51 AM (43xH1)
204
'He nourished orchids and raised hamsters....'
- J. Buffett
- J. Buffett
Posted by: Eromero at September 17, 2023 10:52 AM (z3WCn)
205
The Info Dump - where the author either doesn't have the skill or the patience to dramatize what he/she really really really wants to tell us. So, they just spew it on the page with some lame-ass dialogue.'
Guilty... kind of. In the Sci-Fi book I did a couple of 'info dumps' BUT! in my own defense the book was designed as a pastiche of/tribute to 1950s-60s sci-fi paperbacks, and those writers did that stuff all the time! So it was appropriate for the project... or that's what I tell myself.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (43xH1)
The newby writer's fear: do I info dump in my dialogue? I've had various people read some of my stuff. One person said they liked my story, but the dialogue seemed forced. Don't know what that means, and I never got an explanation for that comment.
Conversation/dialogue: good dialogue should be like a conversation, shouldn't it? Conversation has starts and stops and crosstalking, why shouldn't dialogue too? I've done it like that and nobody's disliked it.
Guilty... kind of. In the Sci-Fi book I did a couple of 'info dumps' BUT! in my own defense the book was designed as a pastiche of/tribute to 1950s-60s sci-fi paperbacks, and those writers did that stuff all the time! So it was appropriate for the project... or that's what I tell myself.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:14 AM (43xH1)
The newby writer's fear: do I info dump in my dialogue? I've had various people read some of my stuff. One person said they liked my story, but the dialogue seemed forced. Don't know what that means, and I never got an explanation for that comment.
Conversation/dialogue: good dialogue should be like a conversation, shouldn't it? Conversation has starts and stops and crosstalking, why shouldn't dialogue too? I've done it like that and nobody's disliked it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 10:52 AM (Angsy)
206
Conversation/dialogue: good dialogue should be like a conversation, shouldn't it? Conversation has starts and stops and crosstalking, why shouldn't dialogue too? I've done it like that and nobody's disliked it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
Yeah, I try to write dialogue as a typical conversation, with misunderstandings, missed cues, dead spots, the usual. Nobody calls it 'brilliant erudition' but nobody complains either, so...
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
Yeah, I try to write dialogue as a typical conversation, with misunderstandings, missed cues, dead spots, the usual. Nobody calls it 'brilliant erudition' but nobody complains either, so...
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:54 AM (43xH1)
207
One of my few ironclad rules of writing I got from, I believe, an editor of 'The New Yorker'? Source? He said (!) 'There is no reason or excuse to use anything but 'said'.
So I use that almost exclusively.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023
***
Dean Koontz in his 1980s How to Write a Bestseller advised almost the same thing. He said he made exceptions for shouted and whispered and one or two other verbs, but "said" was his standard. My real-life writing people keep saying I should use some other verbs. I keep repeating the above advice from someone who ought to know.
Naturally you would vary the appearance of "said," mix it in with physical motion tags ("He lit a cigarette"). But it's a standard for a good reason.
So I use that almost exclusively.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023
***
Dean Koontz in his 1980s How to Write a Bestseller advised almost the same thing. He said he made exceptions for shouted and whispered and one or two other verbs, but "said" was his standard. My real-life writing people keep saying I should use some other verbs. I keep repeating the above advice from someone who ought to know.
Naturally you would vary the appearance of "said," mix it in with physical motion tags ("He lit a cigarette"). But it's a standard for a good reason.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 10:55 AM (omVj0)
208
I've had a shortage of books to read lately, so I've been pulling out and rereading some of my stash. I just reread "The Executioner's Song" by Norman Mailer. A hefty tome that clocks in at over 1000 pages. It follows the post-prison life of Gary Gilmore, imprisoned for much of his life, who was released in '76 and within a few short months, committed two horrific murders of a convenience store clerk, and a motel manager. After being convicted and sentenced to death, the book follows his steadfast refusal to any constitutional appeals and the fight he undertook to have the state of Utah carry out his sentence by gunshot. I'm not a particular fan of Mailer's writing style, but the book, or rather the story, is both sad and intriguing. Gilmore got his wish, and was executed by firing squad in Jan. 1977. His famous last words, "let's do it," were the inspiration for Nike's "just do it," according to one of their marketing people.
Posted by: Lady in Black at September 17, 2023 10:55 AM (mupln)
209
Books, however, are different from movies, where there is that Time element and you need to get points across in a minimalist way. Dialogue in books can be a little rambling and it seems more natural.
Dialogue in movies is to propel the story forward, and there should not be a bunch of wasted words. Books, there is Time to spare, mostly.
Dialogue in movies is to propel the story forward, and there should not be a bunch of wasted words. Books, there is Time to spare, mostly.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:56 AM (43xH1)
210
Conversation has starts and stops and crosstalking, why shouldn't dialogue too?
David Mamet is a big proponent of this, to the point of being very funnily satirized in an old Second City skit, Glass Mamet.
David Mamet is a big proponent of this, to the point of being very funnily satirized in an old Second City skit, Glass Mamet.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 10:56 AM (olroh)
211
Maybe instead they should have grazed some sheep on all that grass.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket'
I want a goat because goats are cool. But nooooo....
Posted by: Helena Handbasket'
I want a goat because goats are cool. But nooooo....
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:58 AM (43xH1)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:58 AM (FVME7)
213
130 File under guilty pleasure. I'm reading Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz, an authorized James Bond novel. Set immediately after Goldfinger, Bond becomes involved in a SMERSH plot to assassinate a British race car driver which leads to another plot to sabotage the US space program. It's definitely set in 1957 as every time they have a spare moment they smoke and Bond rents a motel room in Maryland for the princely sum of $8. And Bond is up to his old tricks as he turns a lesbian in the first chapter only to have that lesbian, who he had dumped, seduce a female race driver out from under him after he saves her from some bizarre ritualistic sacrifice. Perhaps a bit formulaic, it is a fast moving and hair raising Bond style spy adventure.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:18 AM (FVME7)
Speaking of Bond, have you heard/seen/read the excerpt from the new Bond book that's been floating around the internet? Bond infiltrates the villain's inner circle and is shocked by the lack of diversity! And you can pretty much guess how things go from there...
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 10:18 AM (FVME7)
Speaking of Bond, have you heard/seen/read the excerpt from the new Bond book that's been floating around the internet? Bond infiltrates the villain's inner circle and is shocked by the lack of diversity! And you can pretty much guess how things go from there...
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 17, 2023 10:59 AM (Lhaco)
214
If I recall Gary Gilmore embraced some variant of Buddhism or reincarnation and wanted to get that particular life over with so he could move to the next one.
?
?
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:59 AM (43xH1)
215
The use of ‘said’ makes sense. I never consciously note the use of it. So… everything else just acts as a speed bump.
Posted by: 13times at September 17, 2023 11:00 AM (OnhBr)
216
Got to end of Barack Obama's True Legacy
Will have to work on a book review
Will have to work on a book review
Posted by: Skip at September 17, 2023 11:01 AM (fwDg9)
217
David Mamet is a big proponent of this, to the point of being very funnily satirized in an old Second City skit, Glass Mamet.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair'
Didn't Robert Altman do that in his movies? I kind of recall a lot of 'hubbub' in his dialogue scenes...
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair'
Didn't Robert Altman do that in his movies? I kind of recall a lot of 'hubbub' in his dialogue scenes...
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:01 AM (43xH1)
218
186 Sept 19 is National Talk Like a Pirate Day!
It coincides with a Tummy Rub Tuesday, so I will have to be extra creative.
Posted by: nurse ratched
Haha, so much potential.
It coincides with a Tummy Rub Tuesday, so I will have to be extra creative.
Posted by: nurse ratched
Haha, so much potential.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 17, 2023 11:02 AM (OX9vb)
219
LenNeal, you are correct. He was a firm believer in reincarnation and the afterlife. It was his family's lore, according to his mother, that his father was the illegitimate son of Harry Houdini. Gilmore's grandmother was a fairly well known at the time vaudeville performer and spiritualist and traveled in the same circles as Houdini.
Posted by: Lady in Black at September 17, 2023 11:02 AM (mupln)
220
Now reading Don Camillo of La Bassa, another collection of stories by Giovanni Guareschi about the village in the Po Valley, its hulking parish priest Don Camillo and equally imposing Communist mayor Peppone.
The books of English translations published in the 50s and 60s only had about half of Guareschi's tales. Now the remainder are appearing in a new translation edited by Piers Dudgeon. Now charming, now amusing, now grim, these short stories have the flavor of a region in the throes of the postwar transformation but still retaining the eternal character of the locals with their squabbles and rivalries leavened by working together on occasion for the common good.
Now reading Don Camillo of La Bassa, another collection of stories by Giovanni Guareschi about the village in the Po Valley, its hulking parish priest Don Camillo and equally imposing Communist mayor Peppone.
The books of English translations published in the 50s and 60s only had about half of Guareschi's tales. Now the remainder are appearing in a new translation edited by Piers Dudgeon. Now charming, now amusing, now grim, these short stories have the flavor of a region in the throes of the postwar transformation but still retaining the eternal character of the locals with their squabbles and rivalries leavened by working together on occasion for the common good.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 17, 2023 11:02 AM (Xp0T7)
221
Altman did it in his movies, but you'll find it perfectly done in the 1951 THE THING.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 11:03 AM (a/4+U)
222
Lew Wallace had some careers (officer, governor of New Mexico, ambassador to the Ottomans) and did all right with Ben-Hur, but didn't really hit it big until the travelling shows of the play, that had to move on a private train because of the claimed 40 tons of special-effects stage equipment, including treadmills to allow horses running in place on stage.
Filmed several times to good effect, but it would still make a hell of an opera.
Filmed several times to good effect, but it would still make a hell of an opera.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at September 17, 2023 11:03 AM (4PZHB)
223
Dialogue in movies is to propel the story forward, and there should not be a bunch of wasted words. Books, there is Time to spare, mostly.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023
***
Short stories don't have a lot of room either.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023
***
Short stories don't have a lot of room either.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:04 AM (omVj0)
224
His famous last words, "let's do it," were the inspiration for Nike's "just do it," according to one of their marketing people.
Posted by: Lady in Black at September 17, 2023 10:55 AM (mupln)
__________
Nike is a big enough bunch of assholes to make this claim plausible.
His famous last words, "let's do it," were the inspiration for Nike's "just do it," according to one of their marketing people.
Posted by: Lady in Black at September 17, 2023 10:55 AM (mupln)
__________
Nike is a big enough bunch of assholes to make this claim plausible.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 17, 2023 11:05 AM (Xp0T7)
225
Altman did it in his movies, but you'll find it perfectly done in the 1951 THE THING.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023
***
Howard Hawks, from what I've heard, had a major hand in directing that -- and he's known for rapid-fire dialogue in his movies.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023
***
Howard Hawks, from what I've heard, had a major hand in directing that -- and he's known for rapid-fire dialogue in his movies.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:05 AM (omVj0)
226
95...I also chose near a near vision lens rather than a far vision. There's a lifestyle checklist to help see whether a near, intermediate, or far vision lens is best.
Posted by: Elinor
-------
If (big if) you do not require cylindrical (astigmatism) correction, there is an IOL available which eliminates presbyopia. It allows the eye to focus throughout the normal range. Unfortunately, not cheap. Only some opthalmolgists offer this, because it is much trickier than standard cataract surgery.
Posted by: Elinor
-------
If (big if) you do not require cylindrical (astigmatism) correction, there is an IOL available which eliminates presbyopia. It allows the eye to focus throughout the normal range. Unfortunately, not cheap. Only some opthalmolgists offer this, because it is much trickier than standard cataract surgery.
Posted by: buddhaha at September 17, 2023 11:05 AM (1C/IB)
227
Had to do it, just couldn't stop myself, went and bought the 25th anniversary, 4-volume set of R.A. Salvatore's Legend of Dr'izzt compilation.
May God have mercy on my soul.....
-SLV
May God have mercy on my soul.....
-SLV
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at September 17, 2023 11:08 AM (e/Osv)
228
Last week I read "The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England" by Brandon Sanderson. It's a story about a man who wakes up in a place he knows nothing about, including who he is and how he got there. The guidebook he brought with him exploded when he landed and isn't much help, except for a lot of advertising for travel to other dimensions and explanation of a few rules. The locals speak modernish English, though their world is primitive and inhabited by invisible spirits, and the God they worship is downright hostile toward them.
It's the second book in the Secret Projects following "Tress of the Emerald Sea" which I also enjoyed. I'm looking forward to the next book.
It's the second book in the Secret Projects following "Tress of the Emerald Sea" which I also enjoyed. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Posted by: huerfano at September 17, 2023 11:09 AM (7zEAH)
229
"Does no one remember Tom Swifties?" he interjected quizzically.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at September 17, 2023 11:10 AM (4PZHB)
230
Speaking of Bond, have you heard/seen/read the excerpt from the new Bond book that's been floating around the internet? Bond infiltrates the villain's inner circle and is shocked by the lack of diversity! And you can pretty much guess how things go from there...
Posted by: Castle Guy'
Haven't read that, but I might, it sounds hilarious in a not very funny kind of way.
Posted by: Castle Guy'
Haven't read that, but I might, it sounds hilarious in a not very funny kind of way.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:10 AM (43xH1)
231
"Does no one remember Tom Swifties?" he interjected quizzically.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver'
"Yes," he said.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver'
"Yes," he said.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:11 AM (43xH1)
232
227 Had to do it, just couldn't stop myself, went and bought the 25th anniversary, 4-volume set of R.A. Salvatore's Legend of Dr'izzt compilation.
May God have mercy on my soul.....
-SLV
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at September 17, 2023 11:08 AM (e/Osv)
You're not fully alone. I have a whole bunch of Dr'izzt novels in epub format thanks to a Humble Bundle a few years ago.
If nothing else, it is refreshing to see an evil society being portrayed as evil. That seems to be verboten in D&D and fantasy in general, these days.
May God have mercy on my soul.....
-SLV
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at September 17, 2023 11:08 AM (e/Osv)
You're not fully alone. I have a whole bunch of Dr'izzt novels in epub format thanks to a Humble Bundle a few years ago.
If nothing else, it is refreshing to see an evil society being portrayed as evil. That seems to be verboten in D&D and fantasy in general, these days.
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 17, 2023 11:11 AM (Lhaco)
233
the fledgling civilian government must survive a military coup and an outbreak of the plaque. A good thriller.
Posted by: Zoltan at September 17, 2023 09:04 AM (7EvEN)
Sounds like a Hell of an opportunity for pranks with Roundup.
Posted by: Zoltan at September 17, 2023 09:04 AM (7EvEN)
Sounds like a Hell of an opportunity for pranks with Roundup.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 17, 2023 11:12 AM (mjUwN)
234
Reference fail! The Roundup pranks are in reference to "No Mow May", of course.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 17, 2023 11:13 AM (mjUwN)
235
It never happened!
White House Alters Biden Transcript Where He Referred to Black and Hispanic Workers as "Workers Without High School Diplomas"
White House Alters Biden Transcript Where He Referred to Black and Hispanic Workers as "Workers Without High School Diplomas"
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 11:14 AM (FVME7)
236
being portrayed as evil.'
I know a couple of people talked it up here when it came out but it didn't seem to take, but 'Puss In Boots: The Last Wish' has some terrific Evil in it. That movie is great. The Kid insisted on it and I didn't expect much, but Man, it's a really good movie! So much fun stuff, funny, and that Wolf scared the shit out of me.
Jack Horner's backstory is awesome, where he's just... Bad!
I know a couple of people talked it up here when it came out but it didn't seem to take, but 'Puss In Boots: The Last Wish' has some terrific Evil in it. That movie is great. The Kid insisted on it and I didn't expect much, but Man, it's a really good movie! So much fun stuff, funny, and that Wolf scared the shit out of me.
Jack Horner's backstory is awesome, where he's just... Bad!
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:14 AM (43xH1)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 11:16 AM (FVME7)
238
Not much reading this week -- revisited Bester's The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination and was happy to find I could still enjoy them. The last few years I've not found old favorites to be as much fun as they used to be.
Will probably reread some of Don Robertson's books over the next few weeks and get to a couple of his that I haven't read yet. Robertson was terrific (and why there's no Library of America set of his work is beyond me); I've said before that if I could write something a thousandth as good as his novel Mystical Union I would die a happy man.
Will probably reread some of Don Robertson's books over the next few weeks and get to a couple of his that I haven't read yet. Robertson was terrific (and why there's no Library of America set of his work is beyond me); I've said before that if I could write something a thousandth as good as his novel Mystical Union I would die a happy man.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 11:17 AM (a/4+U)
239
I've been rereading the Preston-Childs books per Perfessor's recommend, and a comment in Brimstone
(publication date August 3, 2004) gave me pause:
SA Pendergast is reading a 1960's newspaper to a friend, who is exhausted by all the war of the preceding decades. Pendergast (paraphrased due to an old and rusty memory) tells the friend, "the preceding century employed physics as a weapon, the present century will use biology, and it will be the end of mankind." I thought it rather prescient and sad in its truth.
(publication date August 3, 2004) gave me pause:
SA Pendergast is reading a 1960's newspaper to a friend, who is exhausted by all the war of the preceding decades. Pendergast (paraphrased due to an old and rusty memory) tells the friend, "the preceding century employed physics as a weapon, the present century will use biology, and it will be the end of mankind." I thought it rather prescient and sad in its truth.
Posted by: Moki at September 17, 2023 11:19 AM (JrN/x)
Posted by: The American Dental Floss Association at September 17, 2023 11:20 AM (NBVIP)
241
California Gov. Newsom Officially Calls for Constitutional Convention to Repeal Second Amendment
-
Gun oil > hair gel
-
Gun oil > hair gel
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 11:20 AM (FVME7)
242
226. If (big if) you do not require cylindrical (astigmatism) correction, there is an IOL available which eliminates presbyopia. It allows the eye to focus throughout the normal range.
Posted by: buddhaha at September 17, 2023 11:05 AM (1C/IB)
----
If they are able to make that work reliably, I think a lot of people would be willing to pay extra.
I have had to wear corrective lenses for over 50 years, so glasses feel normal to me. Take them off last thing before bed, put on first thing after I wake up.
Posted by: buddhaha at September 17, 2023 11:05 AM (1C/IB)
----
If they are able to make that work reliably, I think a lot of people would be willing to pay extra.
I have had to wear corrective lenses for over 50 years, so glasses feel normal to me. Take them off last thing before bed, put on first thing after I wake up.
Posted by: Elinor, who usually looks lurkily at September 17, 2023 11:21 AM (kF2jL)
243
+++
I have had to wear corrective lenses for over 50 years, so glasses feel normal to me. Take them off last thing before bed, put on first thing after I wake up.
+++
Likewise, but gas permeable contacts.
I have had to wear corrective lenses for over 50 years, so glasses feel normal to me. Take them off last thing before bed, put on first thing after I wake up.
+++
Likewise, but gas permeable contacts.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 17, 2023 11:23 AM (NBVIP)
Posted by: Muldoon at September 17, 2023 11:23 AM (l4B/J)
245
Short stories don't have a lot of room either.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere'
One of the features of the vampire book(s) I kind-of work on for fun is the main character is an actual, pagan-type monster and most of 'her' dialogue consists of profanities. I asked The Kid what to do with the character, if I should lighten it up a little and The Kid was adamant: 'NO! She's a vampire! Make her a monster!'
The Kid HATES the Twilight-type stuff so it wasn't unexpected feedback but man, she was insistent. Also, The Kid doesn't read those books.
They're inappropriate for probably anybody ever.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere'
One of the features of the vampire book(s) I kind-of work on for fun is the main character is an actual, pagan-type monster and most of 'her' dialogue consists of profanities. I asked The Kid what to do with the character, if I should lighten it up a little and The Kid was adamant: 'NO! She's a vampire! Make her a monster!'
The Kid HATES the Twilight-type stuff so it wasn't unexpected feedback but man, she was insistent. Also, The Kid doesn't read those books.
They're inappropriate for probably anybody ever.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:24 AM (43xH1)
246
I enjoyed The Stars My Destination for its own sake, but also found the list of businesses he assumed would still be around in the future humorous.
There was a Sears-Roebuck, a Gillette, young Sidney Kodak who would one day be Kodak of Kodak, a Houbigant, Buick of Buick, and R. H. Macy XVI, head of the powerful Saks-Gimbel clan.
RCA also made an appearance.
There was a Sears-Roebuck, a Gillette, young Sidney Kodak who would one day be Kodak of Kodak, a Houbigant, Buick of Buick, and R. H. Macy XVI, head of the powerful Saks-Gimbel clan.
RCA also made an appearance.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 11:24 AM (olroh)
247
Alternative title for The Odyssey
Careful, Kid, you'll put an eye out!
Posted by: Muldoon'
Thread Winner!
Careful, Kid, you'll put an eye out!
Posted by: Muldoon'
Thread Winner!
Posted by: Ouch! Said the Cyclops at September 17, 2023 11:25 AM (43xH1)
248
Morning Hordemates!
Posted by: Diogenes at September 17, 2023 11:26 AM (uSHSS)
249
I think Bester had Montgomery Ward in that list too. Got a chuckle from all that (though not necessarily one of amusement).
**Shuffles off to reread "Ozymandias."**
**Shuffles off to reread "Ozymandias."**
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 11:28 AM (a/4+U)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 11:28 AM (olroh)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 11:30 AM (olroh)
252
One of the biggest challenges of writing 'horror' (re: the vampire book) is communicating fear. It's HARD! You can't just say, the character is afraid, it doesn't work. It's a real technique to build it up, it's really difficult.
I decided the 'key', at least for me, is to make it something unexpected. The character thinks one thing is happening, but in fact it's something else and they don't realize it until it's too late to do anything about it.
I decided the 'key', at least for me, is to make it something unexpected. The character thinks one thing is happening, but in fact it's something else and they don't realize it until it's too late to do anything about it.
Posted by: Ouch! Said the Cyclops at September 17, 2023 11:30 AM (43xH1)
253
If they are able to make that work reliably, I think a lot of people would be willing to pay extra.
I have had to wear corrective lenses for over 50 years, so glasses feel normal to me. Take them off last thing before bed, put on first thing after I wake up.
Posted by: Elinor, who usually looks lurkily at September 17, 2023 11:21 AM (kF2jL)
I had cataract surgery done a few years ago. I was pretty much a life-long wearer of glasses and/or soft contacts from childhood, because extremely short sighted. In my consult with the surgeon, he explained that there were fixed-focus insert lenses, pseudo-adaptive lenses, and adaptive lenses. Fixed-focus was free under Alberta's gummint health insurance. The others cost more. "Adaptive" lenses were designed to link up to the eye's iris muscles, so that they would change focus just like one's own real lenses do. "Pseudo-adaptive" were designed so that when one looks downward, they focus closer. So you could both read, and drive. In theory. Surgeon said, "Stick with the fixed focus. It's a proven technology, and you will be surprised at how little you will need reading glasses." He was 100% right.
I have had to wear corrective lenses for over 50 years, so glasses feel normal to me. Take them off last thing before bed, put on first thing after I wake up.
Posted by: Elinor, who usually looks lurkily at September 17, 2023 11:21 AM (kF2jL)
I had cataract surgery done a few years ago. I was pretty much a life-long wearer of glasses and/or soft contacts from childhood, because extremely short sighted. In my consult with the surgeon, he explained that there were fixed-focus insert lenses, pseudo-adaptive lenses, and adaptive lenses. Fixed-focus was free under Alberta's gummint health insurance. The others cost more. "Adaptive" lenses were designed to link up to the eye's iris muscles, so that they would change focus just like one's own real lenses do. "Pseudo-adaptive" were designed so that when one looks downward, they focus closer. So you could both read, and drive. In theory. Surgeon said, "Stick with the fixed focus. It's a proven technology, and you will be surprised at how little you will need reading glasses." He was 100% right.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 17, 2023 11:31 AM (mjUwN)
254
Brian Stelter
@brianstelter
Journalists have to find ways to be louder than the liars.
-
There ought to be a Tom Swifty in there somewhere. Maybe "I think that lying is bad," Brian said dishonestly.
@brianstelter
Journalists have to find ways to be louder than the liars.
-
There ought to be a Tom Swifty in there somewhere. Maybe "I think that lying is bad," Brian said dishonestly.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 11:31 AM (FVME7)
255
Again, re; horror/fear description, simply declaring something is 'scary' doesn't work.
You can't say, "The monster was horrifying!" Well, WHY is it horrifying, to whom is it horrifying, is there some other circumstance where it wouldn't be horrifying at all?
I was surprised, it takes a lot of thought.
You can't say, "The monster was horrifying!" Well, WHY is it horrifying, to whom is it horrifying, is there some other circumstance where it wouldn't be horrifying at all?
I was surprised, it takes a lot of thought.
Posted by: Ouch! Said the Cyclops at September 17, 2023 11:33 AM (43xH1)
256
"I like modern painting," said Tom abstractly.
Posted by: Had to go look some up at September 17, 2023 11:34 AM (43xH1)
257
Okay, I like the occasional "murmured" or "growled," and "shouted" and "roared" are useful, but stuffing a thesaurus into your story is not necessary.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere'
One of my few ironclad rules of writing I got from, I believe, an editor of 'The New Yorker'? Source? He said (!) 'There is no reason or excuse to use anything but 'said'.
So I use that almost exclusively.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:50 AM (43xH1)
That's understandable, but one thing that irritates me is seeing the same word repeatedly throughout one page. That's why I try to use other words than "said."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere'
One of my few ironclad rules of writing I got from, I believe, an editor of 'The New Yorker'? Source? He said (!) 'There is no reason or excuse to use anything but 'said'.
So I use that almost exclusively.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 10:50 AM (43xH1)
That's understandable, but one thing that irritates me is seeing the same word repeatedly throughout one page. That's why I try to use other words than "said."
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 11:35 AM (Angsy)
258
"It's a unit of electric current," said Tom amply.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:36 AM (43xH1)
259
That's understandable, but one thing that irritates me is seeing the same word repeatedly throughout one page. That's why I try to use other words than "said."
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
My solution is to leave it out and do exchanges between two people without the 'saids'. Do the 'saids' at first to establish who is who, then do a 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 just in quotes.
"Yo," he said.
"Heh," She said.
"Yo."
"Heh"
"Yo!"
"Heh!"
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
My solution is to leave it out and do exchanges between two people without the 'saids'. Do the 'saids' at first to establish who is who, then do a 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 just in quotes.
"Yo," he said.
"Heh," She said.
"Yo."
"Heh"
"Yo!"
"Heh!"
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:38 AM (43xH1)
260
That's understandable, but one thing that irritates me is seeing the same word repeatedly throughout one page. That's why I try to use other words than "said."
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023
***
I think the repetition of "said" gets annoying when it ends up in roughly the same place in multiple lines. For instance:
"You're kidding me," I said.
"Nope. God's truth," Arthur said.
Instead:
I gaped. "You're kidding me!"
"Nope." Arthur grinned. "God's truth."
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023
***
I think the repetition of "said" gets annoying when it ends up in roughly the same place in multiple lines. For instance:
"You're kidding me," I said.
"Nope. God's truth," Arthur said.
Instead:
I gaped. "You're kidding me!"
"Nope." Arthur grinned. "God's truth."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:39 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 17, 2023 11:39 AM (mjUwN)
262
You can't say, "The monster was horrifying!" Well, WHY is it horrifying, to whom is it horrifying, is there some other circumstance where it wouldn't be horrifying at all?
I was surprised, it takes a lot of thought.
Posted by: Ouch! Said the Cyclops
You know nothing of my work!
I was surprised, it takes a lot of thought.
Posted by: Ouch! Said the Cyclops
You know nothing of my work!
Posted by: HP Lovecraft at September 17, 2023 11:39 AM (IG4Id)
263
Fear: if you search through the Bible for appearances of angels almost without exception comes the immediate admonition to "Be not afraid" or "Fear not." Remember how Linus told us the story from Luke chapter two that when the angels appeared near Bethlehem the shepherds were "sore afraid."
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 17, 2023 11:40 AM (NBVIP)
264
"Said" becomes almost invisible fairly quickly. You can avoid a lot of it if your dialogue makes it clear who's speaking from one paragraph to the next without a he-said-she-said to identify the speaker. But the word "said" sort of fades into the background and is far less noticeable than the use of a load of substitutes for it.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 11:40 AM (a/4+U)
Posted by: HP Lovecraft at September 17, 2023 11:41 AM (IG4Id)
266
California Gov. Newsom Officially Calls for Constitutional Convention to Repeal Second Amendment
-
Gun oil > hair gel
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 11:20 AM (FVME7)
I start with the assumption each high level politician is the face of a cabal. Which means Gavin is firing shots from the sidelines (so far), for whichever group is heading up the gun grabbing faction. It seems bold enough that, if it does gain traction, it means he's in.
And then pushing Biden/Hairyass aside will be easy, because money will start going that way. I suspect there are plenty of these people who really are NOT committed to WWIII as the means of getting where they're going, and realize the Ukraine disaster is losing them way more than they thought it would.
-
Gun oil > hair gel
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at September 17, 2023 11:20 AM (FVME7)
I start with the assumption each high level politician is the face of a cabal. Which means Gavin is firing shots from the sidelines (so far), for whichever group is heading up the gun grabbing faction. It seems bold enough that, if it does gain traction, it means he's in.
And then pushing Biden/Hairyass aside will be easy, because money will start going that way. I suspect there are plenty of these people who really are NOT committed to WWIII as the means of getting where they're going, and realize the Ukraine disaster is losing them way more than they thought it would.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 17, 2023 11:41 AM (5CZIq)
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:41 AM (43xH1)
268
'There is no reason to use anything but 'said,' the editor New Yorkered predictably.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at September 17, 2023 11:42 AM (4PZHB)
269
"Yo," he said.
"Heh," She said.
"Yo."
"Heh"
"Yo!"
"Heh!"
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023
***
I do that, and get "I don't know who's speaking!" from my writing group people. Well, folk, if there are only two people in the scene, and Person A addresses Person B *by name* in the dialog, and then someone else speaks, it's pretty obvious that this speaker is Person B. No need for a tag. Of course you don't want the back-and-forth to go on too long without an action tag where we're shown that one of the speakers gets up from his chair or lights his pipe or whatever. But I'm coming to believe you can do just fine with fewer tags.
"Yo," he said.
"Heh," She said.
"Yo."
"Heh"
"Yo!"
"Heh!"
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023
***
I do that, and get "I don't know who's speaking!" from my writing group people. Well, folk, if there are only two people in the scene, and Person A addresses Person B *by name* in the dialog, and then someone else speaks, it's pretty obvious that this speaker is Person B. No need for a tag. Of course you don't want the back-and-forth to go on too long without an action tag where we're shown that one of the speakers gets up from his chair or lights his pipe or whatever. But I'm coming to believe you can do just fine with fewer tags.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:43 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: Hey! I'm walkin' heah at September 17, 2023 11:44 AM (43xH1)
271
You can't say, "The monster was horrifying!" Well, WHY is it horrifying, to whom is it horrifying, is there some other circumstance where it wouldn't be horrifying at all?
I was surprised, it takes a lot of thought.
Posted by: Ouch! Said the Cyclops
You know nothing of my work!
Posted by: HP Lovecraft at September 17, 2023 11:39 AM (IG4Id)
Ha! Man, are you right about your work, HP!
Typical HP Lovecraft story + 50 pages of build up to the final confrontation with a "OMG! The monster was so horrible I can't even describe it.
To even stare Coughdroputhulia is to go mad!!!
He looked something like a Tootsie-Roll crossed with Poodle! Madness!!!!
I was surprised, it takes a lot of thought.
Posted by: Ouch! Said the Cyclops
You know nothing of my work!
Posted by: HP Lovecraft at September 17, 2023 11:39 AM (IG4Id)
Ha! Man, are you right about your work, HP!
Typical HP Lovecraft story + 50 pages of build up to the final confrontation with a "OMG! The monster was so horrible I can't even describe it.
To even stare Coughdroputhulia is to go mad!!!
He looked something like a Tootsie-Roll crossed with Poodle! Madness!!!!
Posted by: naturalfake at September 17, 2023 11:45 AM (QzZeQ)
272
The library/den at the new house is coming together, I got a club chair, a reading table and a lamp.
Now I just need to find the boxes with all of the books.
Now I just need to find the boxes with all of the books.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 17, 2023 11:46 AM (XV/Pl)
273
I was reading Strabo, re: Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder... what a raging dick that guy was. I mean, really - one of history's greatest walking dongs.
But it got me thinking. I might take a whack at writing something. But not a book. Because the life and times QSC (I), from it's historical setting in the waning days of the Republic (waning because of asswipes like him), to the part where he pulled off the biggest cash heist in world history in the most treacherous manner possible, to the apocalyptic degringolade at Arausio caused by his o'erweening patrician arrogance, to his ignominious downfall and exile... that would make one of hell of an epic blockbuster movie.
But it got me thinking. I might take a whack at writing something. But not a book. Because the life and times QSC (I), from it's historical setting in the waning days of the Republic (waning because of asswipes like him), to the part where he pulled off the biggest cash heist in world history in the most treacherous manner possible, to the apocalyptic degringolade at Arausio caused by his o'erweening patrician arrogance, to his ignominious downfall and exile... that would make one of hell of an epic blockbuster movie.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 17, 2023 11:47 AM (0FoWg)
274
"I don't know who's speaking!" from my writing group people.'
Also understandable, it's a trick to keep the characters straight. Part of the solution is to have actually noticeably different grammar and expressions for each character, which I kind-of do; the other is to interject actions between the dialogue as you point out:
"Yes."
Claire IX straightened her dress.
"I believe that to be true."
Who else would be talking? If someone can't figure THAT out maybe they need simpler books or shouldn't be reading at all.
Also understandable, it's a trick to keep the characters straight. Part of the solution is to have actually noticeably different grammar and expressions for each character, which I kind-of do; the other is to interject actions between the dialogue as you point out:
"Yes."
Claire IX straightened her dress.
"I believe that to be true."
Who else would be talking? If someone can't figure THAT out maybe they need simpler books or shouldn't be reading at all.
Posted by: Hey! I'm walkin' heah at September 17, 2023 11:47 AM (43xH1)
275
Ha! Man, are you right about your work, HP!
Typical HP Lovecraft story + 50 pages of build up to the final confrontation with a "OMG! The monster was so horrible I can't even describe it.
To even stare Coughdroputhulia is to go mad!!!
He looked something like a Tootsie-Roll crossed with Poodle! Madness!!!!
Posted by: naturalfake'
I subscribe right now to crowdfund this parody.
Typical HP Lovecraft story + 50 pages of build up to the final confrontation with a "OMG! The monster was so horrible I can't even describe it.
To even stare Coughdroputhulia is to go mad!!!
He looked something like a Tootsie-Roll crossed with Poodle! Madness!!!!
Posted by: naturalfake'
I subscribe right now to crowdfund this parody.
Posted by: Hey! I'm walkin' heah at September 17, 2023 11:48 AM (43xH1)
276
My solution is to leave it out and do exchanges between two people without the 'saids'. Do the 'saids' at first to establish who is who, then do a 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 just in quotes.
"Yo," he said.
"Heh," She said.
"Yo."
"Heh"
"Yo!"
"Heh!"
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:38 AM (43xH1)
I do that too. Another irritant is writing a few paragraphs and seeing I used the same word or character name two or three paras later. I go back and change it.
"Yo," he said.
"Heh," She said.
"Yo."
"Heh"
"Yo!"
"Heh!"
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 11:38 AM (43xH1)
I do that too. Another irritant is writing a few paragraphs and seeing I used the same word or character name two or three paras later. I go back and change it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 11:49 AM (Angsy)
277
I think the repetition of "said" gets annoying when it ends up in roughly the same place in multiple lines. For instance:
"You're kidding me," I said.
"Nope. God's truth," Arthur said.
Instead:
I gaped. "You're kidding me!"
"Nope." Arthur grinned. "God's truth."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:39 AM (omVj0)
Yes, that's part of it. It annoys me to find stuff in my writing. Or you have a bunch of paras the same number of lines....
"You're kidding me," I said.
"Nope. God's truth," Arthur said.
Instead:
I gaped. "You're kidding me!"
"Nope." Arthur grinned. "God's truth."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:39 AM (omVj0)
Yes, that's part of it. It annoys me to find stuff in my writing. Or you have a bunch of paras the same number of lines....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 11:51 AM (Angsy)
278
197
'The Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth predate Keivian Rus.'
From when are you dating the settlement of both?
Isn't the Kievan Rus from the time of the Vikings?
I thought Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth was a late middle ages development.
'The Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth predate Keivian Rus.'
From when are you dating the settlement of both?
Isn't the Kievan Rus from the time of the Vikings?
I thought Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth was a late middle ages development.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at September 17, 2023 11:51 AM (roH4R)
279
I do that too. Another irritant is writing a few paragraphs and seeing I used the same word or character name two or three paras later. I go back and change it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
Yeah it's a Thing I do it all the time. It's why I do the Lulu print thing with a hard copy, then open up the highlighter and post-it tabs and go to town on it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt'
Yeah it's a Thing I do it all the time. It's why I do the Lulu print thing with a hard copy, then open up the highlighter and post-it tabs and go to town on it.
Posted by: Hey! I'm walkin' heah at September 17, 2023 11:53 AM (43xH1)
280
I do that, and get "I don't know who's speaking!" from my writing group people. Well, folk, if there are only two people in the scene, and Person A addresses Person B *by name* in the dialog, and then someone else speaks, it's pretty obvious that this speaker is Person B. No need for a tag. Of course you don't want the back-and-forth to go on too long without an action tag where we're shown that one of the speakers gets up from his chair or lights his pipe or whatever. But I'm coming to believe you can do just fine with fewer tags.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:43 AM (omVj0)
I am trying that more often. I'm at the antepenultimate chapter/scene of my western novel. I need to go back to the beginning and double check the early part to make sure I haven't changed the style too much.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:43 AM (omVj0)
I am trying that more often. I'm at the antepenultimate chapter/scene of my western novel. I need to go back to the beginning and double check the early part to make sure I haven't changed the style too much.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 11:55 AM (Angsy)
281
>>>It seems when the Greatest Pistol Ever (TM) was designed, the last machining chips hadn't cooled off when someone said, "This is FANTASTIC! Now how do I get it to shoot cheap .22 ammo?!"
>Hah! My former friend is doing the same thing with his $400 Yeti cooler. That thing will never see anything more valuable than a 30 pak of Bud Light. Did I mention 'former?' His new girlfriend loves Bud Light!
>Hah! My former friend is doing the same thing with his $400 Yeti cooler. That thing will never see anything more valuable than a 30 pak of Bud Light. Did I mention 'former?' His new girlfriend loves Bud Light!
Posted by: Dr. Bone at September 17, 2023 11:55 AM (KVGVf)
282
I had to put aside "The Fourth Turning", too intense, so I went back to James Michener, this time " Hawaii".
Very pleasant reading.
Very pleasant reading.
Posted by: gourmand du jour at September 17, 2023 11:56 AM (MeG8a)
283
"The Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth predate Keivian Rus," she said becomingly.
"From when are you dating the settlement of both?" he retorted.
"Isn't the Kievan Rus from the time of the Vikings?"
She responded nervously, "I thought Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth was a late Middle Ages development."
Then later, after perfunctory maintenance sex, they both agreed to paint the bedroom ceiling a slightly lighter blue than they had discussed six months earlier.
"From when are you dating the settlement of both?" he retorted.
"Isn't the Kievan Rus from the time of the Vikings?"
She responded nervously, "I thought Lithuanian-Polish commonwealth was a late Middle Ages development."
Then later, after perfunctory maintenance sex, they both agreed to paint the bedroom ceiling a slightly lighter blue than they had discussed six months earlier.
Posted by: Realism! at September 17, 2023 11:57 AM (43xH1)
284
Yeah it's a Thing I do it all the time. It's why I do the Lulu print thing with a hard copy, then open up the highlighter and post-it tabs and go to town on it.
Posted by: Hey! I'm walkin' heah at September 17, 2023
***
I do a search in Word for each appearance of "-ly," to try and eliminate adverbs; also for a "So" starting a sentence, or a "But" -- a lot of those can come out. In first draft I have a tendency to begin sentences that way. Or with "I" in a first-person story.
Yeah it's a Thing I do it all the time. It's why I do the Lulu print thing with a hard copy, then open up the highlighter and post-it tabs and go to town on it.
Posted by: Hey! I'm walkin' heah at September 17, 2023
***
I do a search in Word for each appearance of "-ly," to try and eliminate adverbs; also for a "So" starting a sentence, or a "But" -- a lot of those can come out. In first draft I have a tendency to begin sentences that way. Or with "I" in a first-person story.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:58 AM (omVj0)
285
I do that, and get "I don't know who's speaking!" from my writing group people.
Remember that they’re examining the writing specifically to find problems, and so are coming at the work from a completely different perspective than a reader.
It doesn’t mean I ignore them, but I take that altered perspective into consideration the next morning when I go to apply any changes.
Remember that they’re examining the writing specifically to find problems, and so are coming at the work from a completely different perspective than a reader.
It doesn’t mean I ignore them, but I take that altered perspective into consideration the next morning when I go to apply any changes.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 17, 2023 11:59 AM (olroh)
286
"(SPOILER: I know Google is doing exactly that..."
Now, if I could just get Apple from listening in on my conversation on my iphone I would somehow feel safer and freer.
Now, if I could just get Apple from listening in on my conversation on my iphone I would somehow feel safer and freer.
Posted by: sidney at September 17, 2023 11:59 AM (Uy/WF)
Posted by: Dyspeptic Curmudgeon at September 17, 2023 12:00 PM (glUj6)
288
Ha! "Antepenultimate." Where else but the book thread!
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 17, 2023 12:00 PM (NBVIP)
289
WE HAZ A NOOD
Posted by: Skip at September 17, 2023 12:01 PM (fwDg9)
290
disestablishmentarianism
Posted by: Because I always have to win at September 17, 2023 12:01 PM (43xH1)
291
Time to go do a few things in the so-called real world.
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.
Have a good one, gang.
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.
Have a good one, gang.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 17, 2023 12:01 PM (a/4+U)
292
I do a search in Word for each appearance of "-ly," to try and eliminate adverbs; also for a "So" starting a sentence, or a "But" -- a lot of those can come out. In first draft I have a tendency to begin sentences that way. Or with "I" in a first-person story.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:58 AM (omVj0)
I'm not so adverse to using adverbs. But, I know some people willingly take them out, ruthlessly.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 11:58 AM (omVj0)
I'm not so adverse to using adverbs. But, I know some people willingly take them out, ruthlessly.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 12:02 PM (Angsy)
293
Yes, that's part of it. It annoys me to find stuff in my writing. Or you have a bunch of paras the same number of lines....
Posted by: OrangeEnt
----------
As an aside, I have occasionally noted in recent years that when holding a particular book, or page within a book, at a slight distance, a regular discernable physical pattern of the layout appears. No doubt this is a product of automated type-setting, and yet the sentence/paragraph structure must play a part also.
Yes, that's part of it. It annoys me to find stuff in my writing. Or you have a bunch of paras the same number of lines....
Posted by: OrangeEnt
----------
As an aside, I have occasionally noted in recent years that when holding a particular book, or page within a book, at a slight distance, a regular discernable physical pattern of the layout appears. No doubt this is a product of automated type-setting, and yet the sentence/paragraph structure must play a part also.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 17, 2023 12:02 PM (g59Yt)
294
Ha! "Antepenultimate." Where else but the book thread!
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 17, 2023
***
"All those big words on that Ace blog. Fuggit!"
( -- modern reader used to tweets and memes)
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 17, 2023
***
"All those big words on that Ace blog. Fuggit!"
( -- modern reader used to tweets and memes)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 12:02 PM (omVj0)
295
272 Now I just need to find the boxes with all of the books.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 17, 2023 11:46 AM (XV/Pl)
****
I moved (downsized) over a year ago and got rid of old rickety shelves with the intention of buying new ones.
I am still rummaging through box after box to find the particular book I want.
Problem is that I start reading instead of shopping for shelves!
Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 17, 2023 11:46 AM (XV/Pl)
****
I moved (downsized) over a year ago and got rid of old rickety shelves with the intention of buying new ones.
I am still rummaging through box after box to find the particular book I want.
Problem is that I start reading instead of shopping for shelves!
Posted by: Elinor, who usually looks lurkily at September 17, 2023 12:04 PM (kF2jL)
296
I'm not so adverse to using adverbs. But, I know some people willingly take them out, ruthlessly.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023
!!! Good point!
Sometimes you need them. But if your verb or your dialog, can indicate how the action is taken or how the character is speaking you don't need the adverb.
Next week on the Literary Horde, we can discuss commas and semicolons!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023
!!! Good point!
Sometimes you need them. But if your verb or your dialog, can indicate how the action is taken or how the character is speaking you don't need the adverb.
Next week on the Literary Horde, we can discuss commas and semicolons!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 17, 2023 12:04 PM (omVj0)
297
Thanks for the tips on dialogue, folks. I've been wanting to start writing again. This gives me a nudge in that direction.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Not Exactly Streets Ahead at September 17, 2023 12:04 PM (T/Lqj)
298
Is the phrase "perfunctory maintenance sex" redundant?
Posted by: Not that there's anything wrong with that at September 17, 2023 12:05 PM (NBVIP)
299
Is the phrase "perfunctory maintenance sex" redundant?
Posted by: Not that there's anything wrong with that'
Do you want to argue about the shade of blue again?
Posted by: Not that there's anything wrong with that'
Do you want to argue about the shade of blue again?
Posted by: Really? at September 17, 2023 12:07 PM (43xH1)
300
Next week on the Literary Horde, we can discuss commas and semicolons!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
We'll handle this.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
We'll handle this.
Posted by: Strunk & White at September 17, 2023 12:07 PM (IG4Id)
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 12:08 PM (43xH1)
302
Thanks for the tips on dialogue, folks. I've been wanting to start writing again. This gives me a nudge in that direction.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Not Exactly Streets Ahead at September 17, 2023 12:04 PM (T/Lqj)
A Literary Horde is here for you....
maildrop62@proton.me
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Not Exactly Streets Ahead at September 17, 2023 12:04 PM (T/Lqj)
A Literary Horde is here for you....
maildrop62@proton.me
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 12:09 PM (Angsy)
303
"They love their colons."
Posted by: Something Chris Plante frequently says at September 17, 2023 12:10 PM (NBVIP)
304
Nood texans
Posted by: weft cut-loop at September 17, 2023 12:11 PM (IG4Id)
305
Il-y-as un nood.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 17, 2023 12:11 PM (CnLzB)
306
Saddest part of Sunday morning. The end of the Book Thread. Thanks, Perfessor.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 17, 2023 12:14 PM (Angsy)
307
Reading Ian Fleming’s From Russia With Love, b/c someone on here said it’s the best Bond novel. Interesting that he had Smersh as an arm of Soviet intelligence, then Hollywood went and changed that b/c they’re Hollywood. I wonder how they would do the movie now w/ the need for explosions and special effects. The ‘60s movie as I remember it was more underdone.
Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at September 17, 2023 12:33 PM (4HMzz)
308
I tend to read the Collected Works, in order, of certain authors...Just finished book 35 of Lee Childs "Jack Reacher" stories.
Most were pretty good, around book 22 it became obvious that reading them in order was better than risking a "spoiler" or three. BUT...the last couple of books he began to pass the baton to his younger brother, shared billing, and "Reacher" began to be a bit of a "Reach". The last one, "No Plan B", proved that Child's plan B of not just shelving his series, but instead "Gifting It" to his brother was a disservice to the characters, and to the Fans. IT SUX. It wasn't "Child-ish", it was childish...as if written by high schooler... with no grasp of the subject, the characters, the terrain, or the industries/agencies it pretends to describe, nor even the basic American Idiom/vernacular. (Dudes Brit english should have been caught by the editors, and culled) He attempted Shark jumps at least a half-dozen times, dropped unformed characters into mid scene, with no logical means of getting there. Lost "Suspension of Disbelief" by page 10.
Next book is due to be released next month...I am 1st on the list to get it when the local library does. "Sunk Cost" motive.
Most were pretty good, around book 22 it became obvious that reading them in order was better than risking a "spoiler" or three. BUT...the last couple of books he began to pass the baton to his younger brother, shared billing, and "Reacher" began to be a bit of a "Reach". The last one, "No Plan B", proved that Child's plan B of not just shelving his series, but instead "Gifting It" to his brother was a disservice to the characters, and to the Fans. IT SUX. It wasn't "Child-ish", it was childish...as if written by high schooler... with no grasp of the subject, the characters, the terrain, or the industries/agencies it pretends to describe, nor even the basic American Idiom/vernacular. (Dudes Brit english should have been caught by the editors, and culled) He attempted Shark jumps at least a half-dozen times, dropped unformed characters into mid scene, with no logical means of getting there. Lost "Suspension of Disbelief" by page 10.
Next book is due to be released next month...I am 1st on the list to get it when the local library does. "Sunk Cost" motive.
Posted by: birddog at September 17, 2023 12:42 PM (1E8/t)
309
I enjoyed this book thread a great deal.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Posted by: LenNeal at September 17, 2023 12:49 PM (43xH1)
310
'Nuther thang with the Reacher stories... the women keep getting smaller, and skinnier. The Dude is 6'6"/260lbs, early females were 5'9" and taller, shapely, but athletic. By the end books they are down to 4'10" and skinny/bony...Tiny.
I guess "Childlike" is what Child likes.
While I will admit I find diminutive to be delightful...I am no where near as BIG as Reacher, but still find myself worried about potential "Breakage" when evaluating partners.
I guess "Childlike" is what Child likes.
While I will admit I find diminutive to be delightful...I am no where near as BIG as Reacher, but still find myself worried about potential "Breakage" when evaluating partners.
Posted by: birddog at September 17, 2023 12:57 PM (1E8/t)
311
Just keeping up my end of the conversation - In full pedant mode, I intone:
In writing, book titles should be italicized or underlined.
Since I cannot keep straight which BB system is being used on which sites, I've given up trying use the correct formatting. Is it HTML, is it phpBB, is is some other bastardized creation? I've simply reverted to the pre-computer dark ages typewriter (Google it) convention. Pay attention, morons, and follow it.
Book titles should be preceded by an underline, and followed by an underline, i.e. " _Soldier, Ask Not_" .
Which, incidentally, is on the pile for rereading after 40 or so years.
In writing, book titles should be italicized or underlined.
Since I cannot keep straight which BB system is being used on which sites, I've given up trying use the correct formatting. Is it HTML, is it phpBB, is is some other bastardized creation? I've simply reverted to the pre-computer dark ages typewriter (Google it) convention. Pay attention, morons, and follow it.
Book titles should be preceded by an underline, and followed by an underline, i.e. " _Soldier, Ask Not_" .
Which, incidentally, is on the pile for rereading after 40 or so years.
Posted by: buddhaha at September 17, 2023 01:29 PM (YeCQS)
312
It's the second book in the Secret Projects following "Tress of the Emerald Sea" which I also enjoyed. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Posted by: huerfano
I enjoyed Frugal Wizard but I absolutely LOVE Tress
Posted by: huerfano
I enjoyed Frugal Wizard but I absolutely LOVE Tress
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 17, 2023 02:51 PM (vHIgi)
313
Testing to see if I'm blocked. Writer's group has been helpful.
Posted by: Aewl at September 17, 2023 05:30 PM (O/6ZJ)
314
David Weber's "Hell's Gate". Two civilizations exploring multiverses through portals. One has magic, one has science. They meet. It's not good.
Posted by: Jon at September 18, 2023 12:21 PM (H4mKV)
315
If you'd actually like a job position within the regulation industry,
get the most effective paralegal coaching by
making use of at a high quality legal assistant
college at a technical institute close to you.
get the most effective paralegal coaching by
making use of at a high quality legal assistant
college at a technical institute close to you.
Posted by: Terrell at September 18, 2023 03:52 PM (gTVhp)
316
The current British immigration laws state that the husbands and wives of European nationals living in the
UL with working rights are usually allowed to gain permanent residency so lengthy as they've lived
collectively for 2 years.
UL with working rights are usually allowed to gain permanent residency so lengthy as they've lived
collectively for 2 years.
Posted by: crut.ch at September 19, 2023 11:59 AM (fo0fH)
317
It is really is crucial document translation from a single country’s expressions to
another. What’s Authorized translation accurately?
another. What’s Authorized translation accurately?
Posted by: Valencia at September 21, 2023 06:43 AM (C35VH)
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