Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-24-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(HT: CBD)

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

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

NOTE: We had Christmas services at church last night, so I'll be around all morning...

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
-- Luke 2:8-14 (NIV)

PIC NOTE

CBD sent me a link to this article about a Christmas Tree made out of books at St. Pancras station in the UK. The station houses Hatchards, the UK's oldest bookshop. I would not mind spending time tucked away in a little cubicle to read a book while waiting for my train.

READING THE CLASSICS

In the video below, the presenter acknowledges that he received a sub-par education from the Louisiana education system. He laments this fact and is determined to correct this by reading the 50-volume Harvard Classics series. I know we give Harvard a lot of grief these days because of how they have debased the value of the education they offer now. However, at one time they DID offer a high-quality education grounded on the classics from Western Civilization. The Harvard Classics series is an attempt to preserve and pass on this wisdom to future generations. Kudos to this YouTuber for rising to the challenge of educating himself this way. More people (including myself) should probably follow his example.

The "classics" are classic for a reason. They capture the timeless qualities of the human experience. I admit that I have not read these books, though I am well aware how they have influenced authors and popular culture that came after them. The best authors of today have read the classics and have used these books as inspiration for their own tales, continuing the long tradition of using literature to entertain the reader, but also to give them lessons on what it means to be truly human.

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FEATURED MORON REVIEW: The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

OrangeEnt sent me the following review of MP4's book:

Here it is, a review of MP4's The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of. I've posted this review on Amazon, where I bought the book: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, a look inside early Hollywood through the eyes of makeup man, Toby Swanson.
The story is told from Toby's POV. Toby is the makeup artist - and confidant - for silent film star Theda Bara. Her best known film, Cleopatra, is set to begin filming. At a publicity event, a body falls out of a fake coffin. Who is it? We delve into the world of Hollywood behind the scenes of cover ups, catty "friendships,"" wacko cults, and the sordid world of those willing to do anything to become a "star." Toby and Theda set out to solve that mystery, and fall into another, when a "friend" of Theda's suddenly dies in a crash in one of Miss Bara's automobiles. Was she alone, or with someone? Accident, or murder? Suspicion falls on the silent star because the two had a loud argument in front of friends just hours before.
Toby and Theda follow clues to the mysteries, being both helped and hindered by connections in the studios, and those who resent her. It's a quick, breezy read, with plenty of page turning excitement. If you love old Hollywood, mysteries, and snappy dialog, you'll enjoy this book. A Siskel and Ebert thumbs up.

I will second OrangeEnt's recommendation. I found it to be a very entertaining read, as MP4 draws you into the life and times of early Hollywood studios. Things were a lot different back then, though some things will probably never change...

DEPLORABLE BOOKS

To me, "Deplorable Books" can have one of the following connotations:

The content of the books is deplorable in some way. Badly written or offensive subject matter.

The author of the books is a truly deplorable person. Either in their behavior or their character or both.

The author is a "Deplorable" in the same way we are "Morons." He or she has embraced the word and made it their own.

Fellow part-time COB "movigique" has a new book coming out early next year (Jan 7) with an offer for early reviewers:

Hi, Perfesser!
Book 2 (Foul Brood) is coming out January 7th! I didn't quite hit my review quota the first time so, same deal: Free ARCs to anyone willing to leave a review. Hardbacks to those who want them.
They can fill out the form at dsblake.com, email me i--at--dsblake.com, or
just leave contact info in the thread with foul brood in there so I can find it. (If possible, I'll jump on the thread, but I'm usually asleep.)
Obviously this is super-late for tomorrow but super-early for the Christmas Eve thread, so maybe you can get it in there.
+++++
Jake Ambler's had a tough couple of years. So he's grateful to be on Alvum among the peaceful and almost mystical Trigonans, a race of hyper-intelligent hive-minds uncannily like Earth bees.
Their technology mysterious, they produce a honey that excites emotion, beautiful music, and are at work construction a Neurofield that will unify the whole planet.
Their only downside? The kill Myrmidons, the giant antlike creatures that live under the earth, on sight. And when the Myrmidons strike back, Jake finds himself sucked into a holy war like no other.
Adding to the mix is the invasion of Space Station XEE by The Lost Girls, a mercenary band of privateers, and the alluring Doctor Lazar.
Who is spurring the Myrmidons on? What treasures does Alvum hold that the evil head of New Helena's agency wants to get hold of it? Can Jake have a normal date with a girl?

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I will miss the book thread today, but if you need a Christmas themed book for elementary ages, the kids loved Hank the Cowdog: The Wounded Buzzard on Christmas Eve.
Lessons on generosity and kindness gently and humorously taught. Plus, it features Wallace and Junior.
I've always regretted that my first two were too old for that series. My son, especially, would have loved them.
Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at December 17, 2023 08:38 AM (KB0Aa)

Comment: I enjoy sharing recommendations for children's books, especially those that spread a positive message. Too many children's books these days are all about promoting ***THE MESSAGE.*** And even if your kids may be too old for these books, someday THEIR children will be just the right age where you can read these books to them in your best grandparent voice.

+++++

I enjoy these collections of letters from writers I enjoy. I also have the two volume set of letters for CS Lewis as well as similar collections for HP Lovecraft and EB White. Then there is Chickens, Gin, and a Maine Friendship: The Correspondence of E. B. White and Edmund Ware Smith which is insightful and hilarious. I really enjoy these glimpses into the lives and thoughts of these authors. They offer insights into the development of the books I so admire and there is a lot of humor in the correspondence between friends.
For my taste they are definitely worth the time.
Posted by: JTB at December 17, 2023 09:41 AM (7EjX1)

Comment: Last week I included a book about Tolkien's own correspondence. It's not surprising at all that someone would post a comment like this, as we have a wide variety of readers here at AoSHQ. It can be fun to witness the playful banter between two old friends who are clearly dear to each other.

+++++

I would like to recommend Silk Unspun by fellow moron author, D.S. Blake ["moviegique" - PS]. He was kind enough to send me a review copy, but it is now available through Amazon.
Jake Ambler, after finishing his sentence on Mars, has decided he does not want to return to Earth. So he joins the ICF, an "exopreneur" company that is trying to come to a trade agreement with a newly discovered world. The main sentient lifeform are arachnids and the females hold the power and the males are pawns. Jake finds himself sympathetic to the males and a hero of their rebellion. But is he a pawn of his company as well as of the female arachnids?
Jake is an interesting character and, since "Silk Unspun" is the first of a series, I look forward to his next adventure on another "bug" planet. Building a world and a culture based on insects and arachnids is tricky, especially with respect to communication. How can two very different biological entities communicate? How are non-verbal emotional states expressed? Mr. Blake's solutions to these problems are rather creative and his world is logically consistent within itself.
Recommend.
Posted by: March Hare at December 17, 2023 09:47 AM (WOU9P)

Comment: Book Two will be released in January, so now would be an excellent time to get caught up with the series over the Christmas holiday season. First contact situations have a long pedigree among science fiction authors. Sometimes it can lead to grave and tragic misunderstandings, such as can be found in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.

+++++

It's been mentioned several times, but I can't recommend Paul Kengor's The Devil and Karl Marx highly enough. Read it in conjunction with Fr. Robert Spitzer's examination of the Deadly Sins (particularly the sin of pride) in his book, Christ versus Satan in Our Daily Lives.
After reading both books, I finally realized that Communism is, besides being a failed economic model, spiritually evil. Communists are spiritually invested in collectivism --- 150 years of demonstrable failure is meaningless. That's why utilitarian arguments against Communism don't work.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 17, 2023 11:54 AM (pJWtt)

Comment:

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

Riverworld Book 5 - Gods of Riverworld by Philip José Farmer

Book 4 (The Magic Labyrinth) was originally intended to be the final book in the series, but Farmer included a potential sequel hook at the end of Book 4. He then exploits it fully in Book 5, Gods of Riverworld, by pitting the survivors of Book 4, who have finally made it to the Tower of the Ethicals at the north pole of the Riverworld, against a mysterious entity that killed their benefactor. Now Richard Francis Burton and his diverse companions must explore the Tower, unravel its mysteries, and gain control of unfathomable power over the lives and deaths of the remaining 18 billion inhabitants of Riverworld, as well as twice that many souls.

It gets kind of weird as the power they now command goes to their heads and they begin resurrecting anyone and everyone who interests them. For instance, it's discovered that Jack the Ripper was actually three men working in concert to protect a royal secret of Victorian England. The three men and two of their victims are resurrected and given another chance to change their ways, with the end goal of achieving a higher ethical state that would allow their souls to "Go On" to the next plane of existence. A former slave from the American colonies resurrects all of his fellows that he knew, just so he could establish himself as their king thanks to his powers. They eventually cast him out of his own heavenly domain.

The ending is a bit ambiguous, but I think that's by design as it's now clear that some humans have achieved an "ethical" state where they are able to become true masters of their own fate. I would not consider Farmer to be the "best" science fiction writer out there, but it's very, very clear that his ideas have influenced and shaped many authors within the genre to some degree or another. So in that respect he is hugely influential on the genre as a whole. Worth reading if you want to know the origins of more modern science fiction.

Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker

Midnight at the Well of Souls is the first book in Jack L. Chalker's Well World series. Like Farmer's Riverworld, the Well World is a planet that serves a definite purpose for sentient beings. It was created by a race of super-powerful beings that are able to shape reality like clay. Human society--several centuries in the future--is presented as one of homogeneity. Humans are now grown in vats instead of being born through natural procreation. There's a uniformity to humanity that has led to stagnation in our advancement. Though there are throwbacks like Nathan Brazil, who lives on the fringes of society. He's one of the few humans who knows how to read. He even frequents libraries, which are now archaic buildings used by a small handful of scholars. Humanity prefers to access knowledge through portable devices that are ubiquitous throughout the galaxy. In fact, it's a rather prescient look at today's society in many ways.

The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari

This is a retelling of the classic biblical tale where God and the Devil make a wager for the fate of the world based on free will. Here, a rather weary God (who has gone through this numerous times and nearly always won) agrees to a wager with Lucifer that if Lucifer wins this time, God will erase the world He had made in favor of one that will be designed according to Lucifer's wishes. The Devil will be allowed to tempt Joby away from God, just as he did to the original Job. It's up to Joby to remember the noble, chivalric ideals that influenced his childhood in order to prevail against the wily Devil. And God will be unable to intervene under any circumstances. Will the Devil win this time? Has he finally outwitted the Lord and Master of all Creation? (SPOILER: No, probably not, but let's enjoy the journey...)

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 12-17-23 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

(Huggy Squirrel's nuts grew three sizes that day!)

Disclaimer: No Morons were harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Many Deplorables were sacrificed on the winter solstice so that you might be entertained.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at December 24, 2023 09:00 AM (fwDg9)

2 I have one long book left to read. Sarah Hoyt's "Darkship Thieves." Want to see what her writing is like. Trying to see if mine's any good.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 09:02 AM (Angsy)

3 2/3 way through Will Henry's I, Tom Horn
Just need time to finish it

Posted by: Skip at December 24, 2023 09:02 AM (fwDg9)

4 Merry merry booky booky Christmas to all!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 09:02 AM (IX0pp)

5 I finished up the second Space Cowboys Anthology from Raconteur Press (some very good short stories in there) and have now moved on to their first "Space Marines" anthology. Jim Curtis' story "The Dance" involves the use of ballroom-dance steps as a form of physical rehab to regain the ability to walk properly. Now imagine that in mech battle armor.

I'm working my way through Raconteur Press' published anthologies, though I may have to light the afterburners on that effort, as in 2024, they plan to publish at least 24 more anthologies.

They're asking for more authors to submit stories for their 24-in-'24 anthology effort. See the Open Submission call here: thelawdogfiles.com/raconteur-press

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 24, 2023 09:03 AM (qPw5n)

6 So much for my intent for 2024 to read only books that I own -- and I own a lot, having gone on a buying rampage this year. You can do that with a mortgage paid off.

But ...

I've already ordered a library book just because of the back cover blurb, which I saw on coverbrowser.com. I'll withhold details until I start the book.

In the meantime ...

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 09:05 AM (p/isN)

7 Merry Christmas dear morons and thank you perfesser.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 24, 2023 09:06 AM (RIvkX)

8
I'm reading "Put a Lid on It" by Donald Westlake of Dortmunder fame. The main character, Francis Meehan, isn't Dortmunder but could be. Same as Dortmunder, Meehan organizes big-money thefts.

He's facing hard federal time when he gets an offer: steal evidence implicating POTUS in criminal activity, and he'll get out of jail free. The evidence is held by a rich contributor to the Other Side. Election Day is in a few weeks.

However, somebody in the group that tapped Meehan can't keep a secret.

This is classic humorous Westlake. The story speeds right along, with mostly short chapters. I'm in the middle of the book, and Meehan is just now starting to assemble his string of confederates. I have a feeling that the heist won't come off.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 09:06 AM (p/isN)

9 Good morning and Merry Christmas eve to all my fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. Mine was entirely peaceful and pleasant.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:07 AM (7EjX1)

10 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.

OrangeEnt's review is better than I deserve, but I am glad he enjoyed the book. I feel a bit embarrassed about having a featured review, though, since there are many, many Moron authors who are much better than I am.

Hatchard's! I've been there on the few occasions that I have been to London, though the store I go to is not at St Pancras, but a hop, skip and jump from Savile Row and Fortnum and Mason's.

As far as reading, I haven't been tackling anything new and haven't been writing at all, since I've been sick, coughing, wheezing and such since Friday. I've got a pinched nerve, too. Don't feel like doing much of anything.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 09:07 AM (Q0kLU)

11 St Pancreas? Oh, never mind.

Posted by: Emily Litella at December 24, 2023 09:08 AM (SYTee)

12 Working my way through Grudem's Systematic Theology. It is very clearly written, and he does a great job of listing and debating POVs contrary to his exegesis. It's free on archive.org; I'd link it but tinyurl is down right now.

I also have his big fat book about what Christians ought to do about politics, but I need to finish ST first.

Posted by: gp at December 24, 2023 09:08 AM (MvF+J)

13 Willowed non-book but amusing and we discuss philosophy here too:

Wilma is cartoon Alice Kramden.
Betty is cartoon Trixie Norton.
Posted by: Ignoramus
-------
SCTV Philosophers At Work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIC0a7gvI70
1:48 minutes

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 24, 2023 09:09 AM (2yu8s)

14 Been reading the Bulldog Drummond series. It ran from 1920 to 1969 under various authors. The stories by the original author up to 37 are the best.

http://tinyurl.com/bulldog-drummond

Essentially a precursor to Bind in the same way that the Jimmie Dale character was the gentleman crime fighter precursor to Batman.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:10 AM (X0I7i)

15 Another fan of MP4's "The Stuff That Dreams are made of" book. All his Theda Bara books have been excellent and fun reads. And I have left five star reviews of each of them on Amazon. They deserve it. I will get any others that MP4 produces.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (7EjX1)

16 Finally finishing up "Freemasons for Dummies." I profess to have been totally ignorant and misled until I got hold of this book.

So which of you Morons are Freemasons?

I'm not even bothering to ask which of your Morons are dummies.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (ch/kO)

17 Happy Christmas to all.

This isn't a really merry time for my family this year. My dad is in the hospital, and he likely has only days left. I went to see him yesterday but didn't stay the night, because I wanted to be back home with my family.

Guilt, guilt.

Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (p/isN)

18 Ah yes the 15 originals are 99 cents for the collection at the link provided.

You have to love a character that despite being heeled enough to be a Gentleman misses walking across no-man's land to scout out German positions.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:12 AM (X0I7i)

19 Also started Racism, Revenge and Ruin by Scott McKay

Posted by: Skip at December 24, 2023 09:13 AM (fwDg9)

20 hiya

Posted by: JT at December 24, 2023 09:13 AM (T4tVD)

21 I've always loved Epictits, myself.

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 24, 2023 09:13 AM (2yu8s)

22 In an interview, Frank Zappa once compared his "Thing-Fish" album to Tolkien:

FZ: Well, you know it's like Tolkien.

Interviewer: (horrified) Like Tolkien??

FZ: Yeah, to invent a whole language. Thing-Fish's dialogue doesn't grow on trees. Nobody of any species really talks that way.

Interviewer: Yeah

FZ: It's not as good as Tolkien, but...

Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:14 AM (vFG9F)

23 16 Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (ch/kO)

Freemasons in the family, I am not one given my travels.

Family came over in 1680 37 years prior to it being made a formal thing across the pond, the organizations followed here shortly after their founding in Jolly Ole.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:14 AM (X0I7i)

24 Good Sunday morning, horde. Sunday morning.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Sharon, I know you--you're not up yet,

but I am reading The Narrow Road Between Desires (Patrick Rothfuss). It's been years since I read the first two books of Kingkiller Chronicles, so I didn't remember the character Bast.

This is a fast read--I am halfway through, and started late last night. Bast is fae (fairy), and he has an interesting enterprise set up where he trades favors, objects, and advice with the neighborhood children. Of course, these things always have strings attached, and obligations. Weird, but interesting.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 24, 2023 09:15 AM (OX9vb)

25 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:16 AM (Zz0t1)

26 17 Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (p/isN)

You have duties to the living as well as the dying, the math is hard. I had to leave my mothers' death bed to get the wife back to base to go to work three states away. She died the morning we arrived back at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.

I am sorry for your impending loss, and wish you the best holiday you can have in the circumstances.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:16 AM (X0I7i)

27 Morning, booknerds.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:16 AM (Zz0t1)

28 A little humor:
I have never in my life tried to pronounce an "L" so hard as when I asked the Home Depot guy where I could get some "caulk".

Posted by: Ciampino - It's like looking for dates at Kroger at December 24, 2023 09:16 AM (qfLjt)

29 Thanks for reminding me of "The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of." I had it on my wish list and now it's mine!

I also enjoyed the first Theda Bara mystery.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at December 24, 2023 09:16 AM (FEVMW)

30 You meant Bond right, unless you were thinking of something else

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 24, 2023 09:18 AM (PXvVL)

31 And I have left five star reviews of each of them on Amazon. They deserve it. I will get any others that MP4 produces.
Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (7EjX1)

Sarah Hoyt says you basically have to give a five star review or Amazon buries the book. My five star review is real, but how many good books are lost because the reader gives a four star?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 09:19 AM (Angsy)

32 The correspondences between Walker Percy and Shelby Foote are also wonderful.

http://tinyurl.com/393ukv74

Posted by: Ordinary American at December 24, 2023 09:20 AM (Nn+WE)

33 30 Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 24, 2023 09:18 AM (PXvVL)

Freudian slip I am certain....Gina Gershon sure was cute once upon a time.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:20 AM (X0I7i)

34 Good morning!
Reading the Ender's Game series, had only ever read the first book. Enjoying it so far.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 24, 2023 09:21 AM (izj35)

35 "So which of you Morons are Freemasons?"

I'm not, but Mrs fd painted a large mural for the Lodge right up the road so I've been in there. Lots of old stuff and symbols. This particular lodge has been there for a very long time, at least in terms of US history. The members are active citizens in the community, and they smoke a mean pork butt.

Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:21 AM (vFG9F)

36 Yay book thread!

It's Vigil Mass Mania around here - vigil Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent Yesterday, Vigil Mass for Christmas today.

Quite the workout for the pastoral team.

I'm surging through the final volume of Lord of the Rings and am at the point where I have difficulty putting it down. How can this be? How can I still feel my heart accelerate as the tension builds even knowing the exact words that will be used to resolve it?!

The spiritual aspect - which I tried to track with notes and failed - is still very apparent to me, with all the blessings, references to the Valar, etc. really standing out.

I'm also taking a deeper look at his descriptions of battle and military service. His portrayal of the collapse of general collapse of Gondor's morale (offset by the Knights of Dol Amroth retaining their discipline and spirit) is clearly informed by first-hand experience.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:21 AM (llXky)

37 Where did we get the idea that angels have wings?

I envision the Christmas story as one guy approaching the shepherds in the dark, frightening them. And then when a whole host pops out of the darkness ...

Well.

Nowhere in the Gospels are winged beings mentioned.

So I restate the question.

Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (p/isN)

38 The correspondences between Walker Percy and Shelby Foote are also wonderful.
--------
Does a fiddle play mournful music in the background?

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (2yu8s)

39 It was Xenomorph Week in the Dungeon of Discord. Finished up the anthology "Aliens: Bug Hunt" (thumbs up as treadmill fodder to keep you motivated) and will soon start my Big Bug Omnibus (Out of the shadows, Sea of Sorrows, and River of Pain). "Out of the Shadows" was good enough that it is now considered Official Canon.

Any of these short stories would have made good films. With all the decent source material out there, why do they keep extruding turds?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (+RQPJ)

40 My giveaway for The Sharp Kid ended yesterday.

Congrats on those who won.

Speaking of positive reviews...they'd be great from you Morons on those of mine you've already bought and enjoyed.

Please...?

Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (GBKbO)

41 >>A little humor:
I have never in my life tried to pronounce an "L" so hard as when I asked the Home Depot guy where I could get some "caulk".

"Well, first you have to run for Congress. . . "

Posted by: Lizzy at December 24, 2023 09:23 AM (izj35)

42 Got my dad a WFB book, and a book by Noa Tishby about Israeli history. Got Vanessa a bunch of (12) Charles Santore and Eric Carle books, because I am proud to say I have a little three year old who loves books more than anything.

One was a boxed set of the four Eric Carle "Bear books," since bears are her favorite thing right now. It comes with an audio CD version of them, bizarrely read by Gwyneth Paltrow, of all people.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 09:23 AM (0FoWg)

43 I'm not sure that came out right.

Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:23 AM (vFG9F)

44 In before the Tolkien crazies.

Dammit!

Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 24, 2023 09:23 AM (9v1kn)

45 38 The correspondences between Walker Percy and Shelby Foote are also wonderful.
--------
Does a fiddle play mournful music in the background?
Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (2yu8s)
-------

Does Walker call Shelby "My Dearest Eulabelle"?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:24 AM (+RQPJ)

46 I'm not, but Mrs fd painted a large mural for the Lodge right up the road so I've been in there. Lots of old stuff and symbols. This particular lodge has been there for a very long time, at least in terms of US history. The members are active citizens in the community, and they smoke a mean pork butt.

Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:21 AM (vFG9F)
---
I am reliably informed that Jewish Freemasonry is actually a thing, a fact which probably provides nightmare fuel for a bunch of people.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:24 AM (llXky)

47
Speaking of positive reviews...they'd be great from you Morons on those of mine you've already bought and enjoyed.

Please...?
Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (GBKbO)

Who are you?

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:24 AM (Zz0t1)

48 It was, mostly, a Christmas themed week of reading for me. First was JRR Tolkien's (obligatory mention) "Father Christmas Letters". When his children were young back in the 1920s, Tolkien wrote and illustrated a letter each year from Father Christmas. The envelopes even included his drawing of a stamp. I consider these 'letters' to be some of Tolkien's most creative work. They are clearly a work of love for his children. My only regret is I don't have any small kids to share them with. The collection of the letters was published about 20 years ago in a very nice hardcover edition. As our great nieces and nephews come along, they all get a copy to share with their parents.

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

49 I am sorry for your impending loss, and wish you the best holiday you can have in the circumstances.
Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:16 AM (X0I7i)

Nicely put, and there's not much more that can be said about that. I wish you the same, Weak Geek.

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

50 Hmmm, Perfessor, how about a post on the politics and or needs of highly rated book reviews?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 09:25 AM (Angsy)

51 37 Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (p/isN)

Probably the fusion and integration of pagan symbology on the faith's frontiers.

Winged celestials are part of Greek/Roman cosmology in the form of Hermes/Mercury and Cupid with some Pegasus worked in.

Modern humans embraced the silly because when you understand that God's agents' main introduction is "Be Not Afraid" and their calling card is if ordered the murder of enemy babies it is a grim faith.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:25 AM (X0I7i)

52 Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (7EjX1)

I'm hoping to have the new one, Ten Thousand Midnights out by summer of next year. I've just had some personal problems keeping me from settling down with pen and paper and doing what needs to be done.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 09:25 AM (Q0kLU)

53 The Jewluminatti are real!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:26 AM (+RQPJ)

54
Any of these short stories would have made good films. With all the decent source material out there, why do they keep extruding turds?
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (+RQPJ)

Because the writers aren't in with the in crowd. Hollywood, pay an OUTSIDER for new IDEAS?!!?

Surely you jest.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:26 AM (Zz0t1)

55 47 Who are you?
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:24 AM (Zz0t1)

=====

Someone who shares a wedding anniversary date with some birthday.

Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:26 AM (GBKbO)

56 Wilma is cartoon Alice Kramden.
Betty is cartoon Trixie Norton.
Posted by: Ignoramus
-------
Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 24, 2023 09:09 AM (2yu8s)

I thought it was common knowledge the Flintstones was a Honeymooners rip off.
Anyway.
Still diving into A Distant Mirror. By Barbara Tuchman. Why my facination with the 14th century these days I don't know. What started out as Christmas gift idea 5 or 6 years ago has developed into a whole bookshelf on Medieval History.
Going to take a break from it soon as I have two books under the tree to read and review. Going to go after those fast. No ADHD distractions will....

SQUIRRELL!!!!!

Posted by: Reforger at December 24, 2023 09:27 AM (pyb5y)

57 This isn't a really merry time for my family this year. My dad is in the hospital, and he likely has only days left. I went to see him yesterday but didn't stay the night, because I wanted to be back home with my family.

Guilt, guilt.
Posted by: Weak Geek

Don't do that to yourself. I had a similar experience with my 20 year old niece. I was to be her bone marrow donor. She passed while I was called out of town and it couldn't be avoided.

Prayers for your family.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 24, 2023 09:27 AM (x7plP)

58 Where did we get the idea that angels have wings?

Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (p/isN)
---
They're on the Ark of the Covenant. Two of them. Everyone knew what they were. It's sort of like why the Bible doesn't describe what goats, sheep and fish look like: everyone reading it presumably knows what they are.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (llXky)

59
=====

Someone who shares a wedding anniversary date with some birthday.

Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:26 AM (GBKbO)

Well now, that changes EVERYTHING.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (Zz0t1)

60 I envision the Christmas story as one guy approaching the shepherds in the dark, frightening them. And then when a whole host pops out of the darkness ...

Well.

Nowhere in the Gospels are winged beings mentioned.

So I restate the question.
Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (p/isN)
---
That's exactly how my pastor described the encounter between the shepherd and the angel. He just popped out of the darkness next to them, and then there was a tremendous flash of divine light, illuminating a host of angels singing praises to God in the Highest. No wonder the shepherds were freaked out.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (BpYfr)

61 Is it possible that the Flintstones is set in the far far future instead of the past? That would explain the Christmas episode.

Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (vFG9F)

62 Its interesting that there are no organized religions, cults, churches, or temples in LotR other than to Sauron. Except maybe the elves reverence to Elbereth.

Posted by: davidt at December 24, 2023 09:29 AM (SYTee)

63 Nowhere in the Gospels are winged beings mentioned.

So I restate the question.
Posted by: Weak Geek

Exodus 25:20

Posted by: Tonypete at December 24, 2023 09:30 AM (x7plP)

64 It could be the Second Stone age. When they had the Stone Age, they didn't know there was going to be another. They thought it was going to be the Stone Age to end all Stone Ages.

Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:30 AM (vFG9F)

65 Read McMann and Duck, from last week. It's hard to describe what I liked about it w/o spoilers. So I won't. But I liked it. A lot. A mystery story with mysterious protagonists. I kept thinking I should look at Maps to see if the town really exists, but never did.

Read Lobo 3 by John Deacon. He seemed to want to finish his series. A lot happened w/o what appeared to me to be his usual build-up.

Also finished Sgt Mom's Fateful Lightning. It was hard for me to read, in part because, knowing the historical context (the Civil War/AKA The War Between the States and the threads she had to pull together from Sunset and Steel Rails, I knew that the story wasn't going to be sweetness and light. Which I don't seek out much these days.

And re-read Sunset and Steel Rails, cause I like the story and the characters. And am in the process of re-reading the Quivera Trail, cause I couldn't remember what happened to that side of the Becker-Vining family.

Posted by: yara at December 24, 2023 09:31 AM (xr64u)

66 This isn't a really merry time for my family this year. My dad is in the hospital, and he likely has only days left. I went to see him yesterday but didn't stay the night, because I wanted to be back home with my family.

Guilt, guilt.
Posted by: Weak Geek

I'm sure your father wouldn't want to be the source of your misery keeping you away from the rest of your family during the holiday.

I went to see my dad yesterday and found he was lapsing back into not eating or drinking and lying in bed. I told him he needed to get up, eat and drink to get energy or he would wind up back in the hospital again. Then I told him he'd miss out on seeing his grandkids on Christmas (my daughter is his fav for some reason). I was told he got up after I left, so hopefully he took it to heart. We'll see if he and his wife show up tomorrow, I guess.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:31 AM (Zz0t1)

67 Probably the fusion and integration of pagan symbology on the faith's frontiers.

Winged celestials are part of Greek/Roman cosmology in the form of Hermes/Mercury and Cupid with some Pegasus worked in.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:25 AM (X0I7i)
---
The pagan gods are rebel angels, which is why they recur around the world. They aren't "borrowed," they're describing the same things from different points of view.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:31 AM (llXky)

68 Oops, gotta go. Back later for the fantastic book thread.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 09:32 AM (Angsy)

69 Just pulled my copy of "The Father Christmas Letters" from the shelf. It's been an age since last I read them.

Heck, I may reread "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" just for the Father Christmas bit. I love it when the spirit of Aslan is on the move through frozen Narnia.

I wonder what was happening in Archenland and Calormen during the big freeze?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:32 AM (+RQPJ)

70 Is it possible that the Flintstones is set in the far far future instead of the past? That would explain the Christmas episode.
Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (vFG9F)

That might explain The Great Gazoo. Or, they simply jumped the shark.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:33 AM (Zz0t1)

71 Oh. And I'm still reading The Urth of the New Sun.

I mean, it's good, but I'm just not dedicating the time to actually read it.

Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:33 AM (GBKbO)

72 That's exactly how my pastor described the encounter between the shepherd and the angel. He just popped out of the darkness next to them, and then there was a tremendous flash of divine light, illuminating a host of angels singing praises to God in the Highest. No wonder the shepherds were freaked out.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (BpYfr)
---
Angels in glory are legitmately terrifying. That's why they always have to calm down whoever they are talking to.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:33 AM (llXky)

73 Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (GBKbO)

Speaking of authors who are better than I am. . .

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 09:34 AM (Q0kLU)

74 Any comments on Peter James "Detective Grace" series?

humor:
I've spent the whole day reading a book. It was bound to happen.

Posted by: Ciampino - Reading is a novel idea at December 24, 2023 09:34 AM (qfLjt)

75 61 Is it possible that the Flintstones is set in the far far future instead of the past? That would explain the Christmas episode.
Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (vFG9F)
----

And The Great Gazoo.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:34 AM (+RQPJ)

76 I think the New Year Resolution will be to stop letting myself get distracted by favorite old sf stories, and actually finish Bleak House by the end of January. It could happen... May even get back to doing some writing too; several things need finishing.

As for 2023, it can't get its worthless backside out the door soon enough and I hope the door hits it repeatedly as it passes through. Seems like every week there's been something to bring to mind one of the best lines Tarantino (I think) has come up with: Those acts of God really stick it in and break it off, don't they?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 24, 2023 09:34 AM (a/4+U)

77 Merry Christmas book thread-ians.

I've been reading a series of space opera set in what is called The Four Horsemen Universe. Around 70 books, some with 40-50 short stories, by various authors, most are well written, some need polishing by the author, but over all, indie authors, cutting out the publishing house so it's a win. Current book is # 13 in the guild wars set (https://is.gd/XOoU5Q , link goes to goodreads). The author HAS to be a Moron or Moron adjacent. He uses an alien race of rockhopper penguins that are gangsters and he refers to them as Big Penguin a few times.

If you like space opera as mental chewing gum to relax with, this entire universe is quite well put together with inter-locking characters and plot lines.

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 24, 2023 09:35 AM (3CCua)

78 Sponge beat me to it.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:35 AM (+RQPJ)

79 62 Posted by: davidt at December 24, 2023 09:29 AM (SYTee)

JRRT had interesting thoughts on the presence of religion in ME. Essentially faith is largely a private matter in execution as the eventual English deal had been made to put down the religious wars Tolkien a Catholic was likely also wanting to teach moral lessons without alienating any sector of British youth.

Pligrimages to the Palantir of Elostirion come to mind.

I think the point was that to the decent faith is not a reason to fight.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:35 AM (X0I7i)

80 "So which of you Morons are Freemasons?"

I'm not, but Mrs fd painted a large mural for the Lodge right up the road so I've been in there. Lots of old stuff and symbols. This particular lodge has been there for a very long time, at least in terms of US history. The members are active citizens in the community, and they smoke a mean pork butt.
Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:21 AM (vFG9F)
-

Perfectly in line with what's described in the book. Note the author is a very loyal Mason and does not write about anything he's not supposed to mention.

Regarding Jewish masons, for the most part true Freemasonry accepts members of all faiths who believe in a universal creator. That would leave out a tonna JINOs - but not every last one of them.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:35 AM (ch/kO)

81 73 Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (GBKbO)

Speaking of authors who are better than I am. . .
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 09:34 AM (Q0kLU)

====

Nonsense!

Just the other day I received this review: "Boring and poorly written
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2023
Just a slog to get through"

It hurt my heart.

Posted by: TJM's phone at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (GBKbO)

82 Sponge beat me to it.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:35 AM (+RQPJ)

*exudes Cheshire Cat grin*

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (Zz0t1)

83 Finished Six Armies in Normandy: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris; June 6 - Aug. 5, 1944 by John Keegan

A telling of the US, UK, Canadian, Polish, French, and German armies up to the fall of Paris.

It is strong in the planning for the invasion, pedestrian in the telling of the campaign once ashore, but had a surprise in the epilog.

The smaller NATO armies faced off against the much larger Russian forces in the 70's and 80's. The German defense of France in Normandy '44 was extensively studied. NATO militaries were looking at how the outnumbered Germans, without air cover, pounded by massive amounts of artillery and pummeled by heavy bombers dropping tons of explosives, managed to hold up the allies. The German defense was used as a template to thwart the Soviet Red Army.

An interesting tidbit of history I did not know.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (u82oZ)

84 Speaking of classics… I just finished Gulliver’s Travels last night. I first read it long ago and didn’t get it. He seemed to go on and on about things that don’t appear to be either satire or even necessary for the story that connects the satire.

I still don’t get it, but I don’t get it less. I suspect that some of the interminable parts are parodies of other literature that people enjoyed at the time. There is one seemingly impenetrable paragraph about sailing, for example, that may be a joke at the expense of a proto Hornblower sailing text.

But interminable parody remains interminable, sadly.

On the plus side, he seems to really dislike the human race.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (olroh)

85 Another Christmas themed book, which has become a holiday tradition, is William Gilmore Simms' "The Golden Christmas". It's a novel written in 1852 about Charleston, SC in the holiday season. It's fiction but is historically accurate as to the people and customs of the area. Simms was hugely popular in his day, deservedly. His writing is engaging and can capture poignant moments as well as wonderful humor. This is the kind of book I want to come back to for sheer pleasure and entertainment. Simms' other writings are all worth the time, including the best biography of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, I've read.

Simms' reputation suffered after the War of Northern Aggression, being a Southern writer, but he is being recognized more in recent years by people who read for pleasure, although there is still the usual woke bitching from imbeciles.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (7EjX1)

86 I did not read this week.

Merry Christmas

Posted by: rhennigantx at December 24, 2023 09:37 AM (lwOKI)

87 Its interesting that there are no organized religions, cults, churches, or temples in LotR other than to Sauron. Except maybe the elves reverence to Elbereth.

Posted by: davidt at December 24, 2023 09:29 AM (SYTee)
---
Part of that is that Tolkien's frame is the priest-king, so without a king, the priesthood is no more. The king's hands bring healing, which is how the true king shall be known. Aragorn's coronation therefore restores the ancient religion of Numenor.

Gondor also features overt religious acts, such as grace before meals and at one point a soldier shouts "Valar protect us!" during battle.

Rohan follows Anglo-Saxon practices in the funeral for Theoden. So it's there, Tolkien just doesn't describe it in detail.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:38 AM (llXky)

88 Hmm, Flintstones are post apocalyptic

Posted by: Skip at December 24, 2023 09:38 AM (fwDg9)

89 67 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:31 AM (llXky)

Perhaps, as a matter of ethically detached viewing of the historic spread of the Christian faith I will continue to use "borrowed" one of the stages of mass conversion of cultures back when we were ACTUALLY missionary in bent was the cross-pollination of incarnations of divinity.

There is ample proof of the borrowing across faiths between Asatru and Christianity.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:38 AM (X0I7i)

90 Naa, dinosaurs

Posted by: Skip at December 24, 2023 09:39 AM (fwDg9)

91 After the recommendation for "Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded" I got a copy from the library. Just a few chapters in but so far it is engaging and very well written. I'm looking forward to finishing it.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:39 AM (7EjX1)

92 My five star review is real, but how many good books are lost because the reader gives a four star?
Posted by: OrangeEnt

When finding a new author or book, i'll reverse sort by reviews, and then sort that by price. Generally about 20 pages in from no reviews and one star, the indie authors begin showing up at $0.99. I'll run up those authors to the $5.99 price range. It's how I find new space opera genre and that four horsemen universe i posted about at 77.

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 24, 2023 09:39 AM (3CCua)

93
On the plus side, he seems to really dislike the human race.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (olroh)

We're constantly proving there's really not all the much to like, honestly.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:39 AM (Zz0t1)

94 Where did we get the idea that angels have wings?

Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (p/isN)
---
They're on the Ark of the Covenant. Two of them. Everyone knew what they were. It's sort of like why the Bible doesn't describe what goats, sheep and fish look like: everyone reading it presumably knows what they are.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (llXky)
-

Know your Bible. See Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1 for explicit references of angels with wings.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:39 AM (ch/kO)

95 TJM's phone

I really liked your book on the Battle of Lake Erie in the 1812 War.

Maybe watch critics die in Vincent Price's Theater of Blood will make you feel better.

Critics are usually inadequate Leftists, that try and stop better people. If they were good, they would write their own stories.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 24, 2023 09:40 AM (u82oZ)

96 88 Posted by: Skip at December 24, 2023 09:38 AM (fwDg9)

It is fallout in the 3000s?

Eh maybe, it would be an interesting thing and perhaps sadly may get to be a non-literary one to figure out how many "modern inventions" as a mechanism get saved or redone as low tech solutions in the event of a OOPS taking away electricity.

You could write a book on the reinvention of new technologies to meet modern purposes.

The dumb waiter comes to mind.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:40 AM (X0I7i)

97 You know what? Screw Santa. He works one freakin day a year, and spends the rest of the year being judgmental. He's a Liberal. Prove me wrong.

Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 09:41 AM (dIske)

98 https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Angel~s-Wings

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:41 AM (X0I7i)

99 Speaking of classics… I just finished Gulliver’s Travels last night. I first read it long ago and didn’t get it.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (olroh)
-

Obviously you don't possess a Lilliputian mind.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:42 AM (ch/kO)

100 Critics are usually inadequate Leftists, that try and stop better people. If they were good, they would write their own stories.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 24, 2023 09:40 AM (u82oZ)

Well, you can kiss my butt!!!

Posted by: Gene Shalit at December 24, 2023 09:43 AM (Zz0t1)

101 97 Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 09:41 AM (dIske)

Eh he works 363 days a year as a CEO, has one day as a shipper, and gets to sleep one day a year.

Santa is a conservative, he does not demand people give them their neighbors' house for the gifts.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:43 AM (X0I7i)

102 41

"Well, first you have to run for Congress. . . "

Posted by: Lizzy at December 24, 2023 09:23 AM (izj35)
----
So you have to be in Congress in order to have a congress?

Posted by: Ciampino - Come Together at December 24, 2023 09:43 AM (qfLjt)

103 I still don’t get it, but I don’t get it less. I suspect that some of the interminable parts are parodies of other literature that people enjoyed at the time. There is one seemingly impenetrable paragraph about sailing, for example, that may be a joke at the expense of a proto Hornblower sailing text.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (olroh)
---
Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey is a satire of Ann Radcliffe's work. Alexandre Dumas at one point during his Three Musketeers books describes a castle as looking like something from Ann Radcliffe.

Authors picking on each other is quite old.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:43 AM (llXky)

104 Reading "Grant" by Ron Chernow. Those 19 century phrasings and terms...

Merry Christmas!!

Posted by: Danimal28 at December 24, 2023 09:43 AM (ryUqI)

105
Obviously you don't possess a Lilliputian mind.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:42 AM (ch/kO)

We'll never make it.....

Posted by: Glum at December 24, 2023 09:43 AM (Zz0t1)

106 Finished the Davide Eddings books. Gone to the W E. Griffin military books.

Posted by: vic at December 24, 2023 09:44 AM (A5THL)

107
Authors picking on each other is quite old.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:43 AM (llXky)

Early inventors of the East Coast / West Coast rap battles.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:44 AM (Zz0t1)

108 Regarding Jewish masons, for the most part true Freemasonry accepts members of all faiths who believe in a universal creator. That would leave out a tonna JINOs - but not every last one of them.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:35 AM (ch/kO)
-

Made myself curious:

https://freemasonry.org.il/en/

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:44 AM (ch/kO)

109 They aren't "borrowed," they're describing the same things from different points of view.

Yes, I think it was Chesterton (might have been Lewis) who described the merging of parts of the pagan worldview as sifting through the dreck to find the truths behind them. God is written into our hearts, and it is only through centuries and millennia of satan and hubris that we cover that up with pagan dross.

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
— G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 24, 2023 09:44 AM (olroh)

110 My current treadmill read is Heinlein's Cold War classic "The Puppet Masters". The chilly paranoia is off the charts.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:44 AM (+RQPJ)

111 The cherubim in Exodus are described as having wings and the whatever they are in Ezekiel have wings, but I don't think that means all angels have wings. See the three folks (described as men) that showed up to talk to Abraham in Gen 18. One of them was probably a pre-incarnate Christ, but the other two, probably angels.

I suspect it was a way for early artists to differentiate between men and angels and besides, like AHL (@5

and TonyPete (@63) said.

Posted by: yara at December 24, 2023 09:45 AM (xr64u)

112 You know what? Screw Santa. He works one freakin day a year, and spends the rest of the year being judgmental. He's a Liberal. Prove me wrong.
Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 09:41 AM (dIske)

Does he demand you pay for all his shit?

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 24, 2023 09:45 AM (Zz0t1)

113 My current treadmill read is Heinlein's Cold War classic "The Puppet Masters". The chilly paranoia is off the charts.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Teenaged Bif looked askance at people with humps for a looong time after reading that.

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 24, 2023 09:46 AM (3CCua)

114 Know your Bible. See Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1 for explicit references of angels with wings.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:39 AM (ch/kO)
---
My formerly God-hating kid returned to the faith and is currently in possession of my Bible, crippling my scripture citation ability.

But I knew another Moron would have my back.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:46 AM (llXky)

115
Teenaged Bif looked askance at people with humps for a looong time after reading that.
Posted by: BifBewalski at December 24, 2023 09:46 AM (3CCua)

Well, I.......uh......with that.....you.......yeah......

Posted by: John Fetterman at December 24, 2023 09:47 AM (Zz0t1)

116 I happened to see the two videos Perfessor included in the post about reading the classics and they are good and, frankly, encouraging. There are several YT channels dealing with classic literature and they are popular considering they don't involve cultural memes or try to entice with mostly naked women.

I have a few volumes of the Harvard Classics picked up over the years and they are good introductions to the subjects. If they were written today I wouldn't trust anything from Harvard but over a century ago when the Harvard Classic was produced is another matter.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:47 AM (7EjX1)

117 When I was being recruited by a high-ranking Freemason, he explained that I could reach a certain degree (17th if memory serves), but then I'd have to convert or I couldn't go further.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 09:47 AM (0FoWg)

118 Another fan of MP4's "The Stuff That Dreams are made of" book. All his Theda Bara books have been excellent and fun reads. And I have left five star reviews of each of them on Amazon. They deserve it. I will get any others that MP4 produces.
Posted by: JTB

I also just read "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" and highly recommend. It was a perfect companion on my flights to and from Fangorn Forest a couple weeks ago. I had been holding onto it for a time when I could just devote a few hours to reading. That was a good thing, too, since it would have been very frustrating to put it down during the typically short reading windows I have in my day. As with "The Director's Cut," I was left wanting to get to know Toby and Theda even more, in a good way.

Posted by: She Hobbit at December 24, 2023 09:48 AM (ftFVW)

119 Perfessor persuaded me to start the Riverworld series a few weeks ago. First 2 books flowed quickly and had a serendipitous encounter with Richard Burton when the next history read was 'Explorers of the Nile'.

Book 3 had me wanting Twain to stumble upon James Fenimore Cooper. I'd have been happy if Cooper slapped Twain silly while telling him to man up. (I'm not enjoying Farmer's representation of Mr Clemens obviously)

I do intend to finish the series but, first world problem is way too many good books readily available. Using Audible plus the entire Riverworld series is available, and the history selection is hugely expanded since I last used the service.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at December 24, 2023 09:48 AM (G7gvJ)

120 The Puppet Masters was the book that addicted me to sf -- found that one and for close to a decade read almost nothing but science fiction/fantasy for pleasure. That sucker still holds up too.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 24, 2023 09:49 AM (a/4+U)

121 The cherubim in Exodus are described as having wings and the whatever they are in Ezekiel have wings, but I don't think that means all angels have wings. See the three folks (described as men) that showed up to talk to Abraham in Gen 18. One of them was probably a pre-incarnate Christ, but the other two, probably angels.

Posted by: yara at December 24, 2023 09:45 AM (xr64u)
---
There are nine orders of angels, and they look different. My wife has a book written by an Orthodox mystic on the topic that's on my tertiary reading list.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:49 AM (llXky)

122 New Standard Achievement Test (SAT) question:

Mary identifies as They/Them.
Molly identifies as They/Them.

Tommy asks Mikey where Mary and Molly are. Mary had gone to Walmart. Molly had gone to Costco.

Mikey responds Them went to Walmart and Them went to Costco. Tommy clarifies the information for:

a. one minute
b. five minutes
c. 10 minutes
d. Tommy is still trying to confirm whom went where and it will likely come to blows.

Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 09:50 AM (dIske)

123 My recommendation this week is another book by Michael Crichton, Airframe. The story revolves around a near tragic plane crash and the investigation that surrounds it. Like he did in State of Fear, Crichton creates a novel based on the politics and machinations of real life, this time focusing on the FAA and a fictional aircraft manufacturer trying to keep their product from being blacklisted. Norton Aircraft is trying to certify their newest model, and a crash landing of one of their planes is complicating things. The novel moves back and forth between the crash investigation and the interaction of the Norton team and government regulators. This is another work of fiction that is filled with factual representations of how our government and business work. If you want an entertaining look into how the world of commercial aviation works, it is hard to beat this story.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 09:51 AM (Mg5r0)

124 Teenaged Bif looked askance at people with humps for a looong time after reading that.
Posted by: BifBewalski

What hump?

Posted by: Igor at December 24, 2023 09:51 AM (SYTee)

125 84 Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at December 24, 2023 09:36 AM (olroh)

Swift was a tad misanthropic but he mostly detested regulatory power.

He was a Whig politically and Tory socially, you also cannot look past his Anglo-Irish parentage. A lot of the jibes in GT cannot be understood until you look upon the idiocies in the burgeoning forming "United Kingdom." GT touches on the folly of minor religious difference, has some precision literary F-bombs to regulation and taxation, and offers up the posit that given it is made up of men tiny and great invariably there likely is no "good government."

It is also important to remember he was a contemporary in spirit if not time largely to Adam Smith, Malthus, and Locke.

These were great men capable of dissection analytics without a desire to destroy what they gazed upon.

Were it only that the current academics were so.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:51 AM (X0I7i)

126 I like the squirrel with the Grinch book. One benefit of the season is it gives me a chance to practice my low notes singing the Grinch song from the Chuck Jones cartoon.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:52 AM (7EjX1)

127 You know what? Screw Santa. He works one freakin day a year, and spends the rest of the year being judgmental. He's a Liberal. Prove me wrong.

Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 09:41 AM (dIske)
---
St. Nicholas is a busy guy. He's not just doing the Christmas thing, on his feast day (Dec. 5) he wanders around Austria and upper Germany doing the Krampusnacht thing.

Also, punches out heretics at Church councils.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:52 AM (llXky)

128 There are nine orders of angels, and they look different. My wife has a book written by an Orthodox mystic on the topic that's on my tertiary reading list.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:49 AM (llXky)
---
Each order of angels is more bizarre-looking than the next. The lower-order ones are closer to humanity and tend to look the most human. The higher-order ones are very strange indeed, as you get closer to God.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 09:52 AM (BpYfr)

129 But I knew another Moron would have my back.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:46 AM (llXky)
-

I was just... winging it.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:53 AM (ch/kO)

130 Still picking my way through "The Napoleonic Wars: an Illustrated History 1792-1815". For an overview it's very dense, but so am I, so it's slow going.

Nappy often gets short shrift (Heeyyyyyoooo!) regarding his reforms. After gaining possession of Cairo, he set about improving Egypt. He set up hospitals and post offices, established the first printing press there, de-mucked neglected canals, enforced sanitary regulations, launched higher education, and began the study of Egyptian archeology.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 09:53 AM (+RQPJ)

131 Speaking of dictionaries, I made a point of buying a used one from the pre-PC, pre-Woke 1970s.

Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at December 24, 2023 09:53 AM (e/ZXF)

132 Speaking of classics I am rereading/listening to the Dresden Files. Currently at book 12.
Also started read The Olympian Affair, book 2 in Butcher's Cinder Spires series.
Read the new hot fantasy Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Reads like YA fantasy romance with excessively graphic and cringey sex.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 09:54 AM (IX0pp)

133 128 Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 09:52 AM (BpYfr)

Inversely proportional to the nature of the power needed by God to do His work.

Always funny when people act like the Cthulhu mythos and imagery are anything new.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:54 AM (X0I7i)

134 When I was being recruited by a high-ranking Freemason, he explained that I could reach a certain degree (17th if memory serves), but then I'd have to convert or I couldn't go further.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 09:47 AM (0FoWg)
-

That's all extra credit anyway. Yeh, Templar Knights Are Us - NOT!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 09:55 AM (ch/kO)

135 Each order of angels is more bizarre-looking than the next. The lower-order ones are closer to humanity and tend to look the most human. The higher-order ones are very strange indeed, as you get closer to God.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 09:52 AM (BpYfr)
---
Yup, and you can kind of tease out which order the demon/pagan god was before rebellion by the artistic depiction.

BTW, Tolkien knew all of this, and one of the best ways to understand the spirit world is to use Middle Earth as a reference.

The Valar are the Divine Council.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:55 AM (llXky)

136 My wife has a book written by an Orthodox mystic on the topic that's on my tertiary reading list.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Title/author?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 09:55 AM (IX0pp)

137 So some of us see seraphim and cherubim as interchangeable with angels.

Given that angels are messengers, I don't agree.

The others seem more like the attack force.

I should read the Bible more thoroughly.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 09:56 AM (p/isN)

138 52 ... "I'm hoping to have the new one, Ten Thousand Midnights out by summer of next year. "

Good morning, MP4,
I'll look forward to the new Theda Bara book. Please let us know when its release is imminent.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:56 AM (7EjX1)

139 I like the squirrel with the Grinch book. One benefit of the season is it gives me a chance to practice my low notes singing the Grinch song from the Chuck Jones cartoon.
Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 09:52 AM (7EjX1)

Sung by the late Thurl Ravenscroft, who was also the original voice of Tony the Tiger.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 09:56 AM (Q0kLU)

140 Sung by the late Thurl Ravenscroft, who was also the original voice of Tony the Tiger.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 09:56 AM (Q0kLU)
----
He's GRRREAT!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 09:57 AM (BpYfr)

141 137 Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 09:56 AM (p/isN)

The ecology of the celestial has always mattered to me less than the lessons therein.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 09:57 AM (X0I7i)

142 When I was being recruited by a high-ranking Freemason, he explained that I could reach a certain degree (17th if memory serves), but then I'd have to convert or I couldn't go further.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 09:47 AM (0FoWg)
---
Convert to what?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:58 AM (llXky)

143 132 Speaking of classics I am rereading/listening to the Dresden Files. Currently at book 12.
Also started read The Olympian Affair, book 2 in Butcher's Cinder Spires series.
Read the new hot fantasy Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Reads like YA fantasy romance with excessively graphic and cringey sex.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 09:54 AM

____________________

Nice, I devoured the Jim Butcher offerings. Always fun. If you're looking for something that ranks right up there with Tolkien (and I think is much better)...Stephen Erikson (Book of the Fallen series). It's a lot of novels...and his style is a bit different from most writers. He describes absolutely everything well. It starts with "Gardens of the Moon". Once you get rolling in the series, you won't put it down.

Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 09:59 AM (dIske)

144 One gets the notion the nazis were struck down by angels in raiders

Also a recent book suggests there was an expedition for the Ark that happened around 1908 but it happened not in egypt but jerusalem

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 24, 2023 09:59 AM (PXvVL)

145 Nice, I devoured the Jim Butcher offerings. Always fun. If you're looking for something that ranks right up there with Tolkien (and I think is much better)...Stephen Erikson (Book of the Fallen series). It's a lot of novels...and his style is a bit different from most writers. He describes absolutely everything well. It starts with "Gardens of the Moon". Once you get rolling in the series, you won't put it down.
Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 09:59 AM (dIske)
---
The Malazan Books of the Fallen is on my list for 2024...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 10:00 AM (BpYfr)

146 Title/author?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 09:55 AM (IX0pp)
---
The Holy Angels by Mother Alexandra.

My wife enjoyed it, and frequently corrects me on angelic lore as a result. That's partly why I didn't dig into it yet - if I have a question, I just ask her!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:01 AM (llXky)

147 The WSJ just had a piece praising the military fiction by successful author Jack Carr, a real Navy Seal. Level of detail like Tom Clancy. One book, The Terminal List, became a movie, which I didn't much like. Anybody here recommend the novels?

Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at December 24, 2023 10:01 AM (NRuLG)

148 Interviewer: "Are we missing something when we start calling the works of writers like Norman Mailer and William Styron "classics" --before we can even know such a thing yet?"

Foote: "I maintain that you can know -- and Mailer and Styron are not classics, any more than Truman Capote was. I remember when Capote and Styron and Mailer, and possibly Jones, were considered the big men. And they're not. Walker Percy came along and left them in the dust. He just came out of nowhere, went right past them."

Posted by: Ordinary American at December 24, 2023 10:02 AM (Nn+WE)

149 The Malazan Books of the Fallen is on my list for 2024...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 10:00 AM (BpYfr)

___________________

Sweet!!! Warning....not for the feint of heart. But the characters come off the page.

Posted by: Orson at December 24, 2023 10:02 AM (dIske)

150 Sung by the late Thurl Ravenscroft, who was also the original voice of Tony the Tiger.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 09:56 AM (Q0kLU)
---
He did a ton of voice work in Hollywood for obvious reasons. In the movie version of "South Pacific," he was dubbed as Stewpot's singing voice.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:02 AM (llXky)

151 Well, I need to take some more naprosyn to fight this pinched nerve. I am really feeling every one of my years today.

I probably won't be on tomorrow night, so let me thank you all for:

1. Kind words about my writing. Being a chronic depressive, I print out the compliments and keep them in a box for the sad days.

2. Letting me vent my deep-rooted cynicism with only the occasional pushback.

3. Having met some of you IRL and the pleasure it's given me, and -

4. For AoS, the Head Ewok and all of you who've kept me out of the true suicidal depths.

Merry Christmas, one and all.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 10:03 AM (Q0kLU)

152 Re: regretting that one's children "missed" reading the Hank the Cowdog series:
Dude, I recently began reading that series, it's delightful ... and I just turned 63. So the vocabulary isn't a challenge -- that makes it smoother and faster to read. The wonderful thing about soi-disant "children's literature" is that, unlike much of the adult variety, anyone can enjoy it. And Hank the Cowdog is available free for your tablet/phone via the Hoopla library app!

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 24, 2023 10:03 AM (SPNTN)

153 142 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:58 AM (llXky)

Eh theories abound, some accuse them of being a Cathar or Gnostic front group.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:04 AM (X0I7i)

154 Merry Christmas to all! May you find interesting books to carry through to the New Year in your stocking and under your tree!

Posted by: March Hare at December 24, 2023 10:04 AM (WOU9P)

155 Is it possible that the Flintstones is set in the far far future instead of the past? That would explain the Christmas episode.
Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 09:28 AM (vFG9F)

So when the Jetsons visited Bedrock, they were the ones from the past!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 10:04 AM (Angsy)

156 139 ... "Sung by the late Thurl Ravenscroft, who was also the original voice of Tony the Tiger."

Yep. I love his voice. Although when the cartoon first came out I didn't think I would be able to hit those low notes. It's fun to be able to make Darth Vader sound like a tenor.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 10:05 AM (7EjX1)

157 147 Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at December 24, 2023 10:01 AM (NRuLG)

A lot like Clancy the films and books are separate things.

I suggest everyone here read "Without Remorse" I also suggest that no one here watch the Amazon flick unless it is to ponder how A became B.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:05 AM (X0I7i)

158 Merry Christmas, one and all.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 24, 2023 10:03 AM (Q0kLU)

Merry Christmas, MP4.

Posted by: dantesed at December 24, 2023 10:06 AM (88xKn)

159 148,

Maybe I missed something farther back in the thread, but have you got a source handy for that interview with Shelby Foote?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 24, 2023 10:06 AM (a/4+U)

160 ---
Convert to what?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 09:58 AM (llXky

Some form of Christianity, as I understand it. I think about anything would work. Not even sure if it has to be an organized Church. I didn't entertain the notion, because I don't intend to convert, and I don't want to be a half-member of a club, so I never followed up much.

I think the guy was a Rosicrucian, maybe. Not sure how different their thing is than other masons.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:06 AM (0FoWg)

161 So when the Jetsons visited Bedrock, they were the ones from the past!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 10:04 AM (Angsy)
-

Theory:

https://youtu.be/DsJhBn0I9U4

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 10:06 AM (ch/kO)

162 Merry Christmas everyone!
This week I finished Startide Rising by David Brin.
While it's the second book in the series, I believe David wrote it first.
It has everything, you want in a hard sci-fi novel: Aliens(and I mean ALIENS); Dr Frankenstein; talking dolphins and a billion year old mystery that just might be the end of mankind's story.

Posted by: p0indexterous at December 24, 2023 10:07 AM (QBwMV)

163 Have to run a few errands. BBL for the rest of the comments.

Posted by: JTB at December 24, 2023 10:07 AM (7EjX1)

164 I think the guy was a Rosicrucian
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:06 AM (0FoWg)
-

Gesundheit!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 10:07 AM (ch/kO)

165 The ecology of the celestial has always mattered to me less than the lessons therein.

sven, I concur; I just like to flesh out the Bible stories. For example, did bazaars exist then? There are references to bankers; did people go to banks?

Bible stories are akin to plays, only a handful of people are brought onto the stage.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 10:08 AM (p/isN)

166 Merry Christmas Perfesser and all my fellow Bookies !

Posted by: JT at December 24, 2023 10:09 AM (T4tVD)

167 The correspondences between Walker Percy and Shelby Foote are also wonderful.

http://tinyurl.com/393ukv74
Posted by: Ordinary American at December 24, 2023 09:20 AM
====
... I assume.

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 24, 2023 10:09 AM (2yu8s)

168 Some form of Christianity, as I understand it. I think about anything would work. Not even sure if it has to be an organized Church. I didn't entertain the notion, because I don't intend to convert, and I don't want to be a half-member of a club, so I never followed up much.

I think the guy was a Rosicrucian, maybe. Not sure how different their thing is than other masons.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:06 AM (0FoWg)
---
My experience of Freemasonry is probably typical - I figured it was a social networking/mutual aid group with some rituals and secret handshakes. And I think that's most what was is in the US.

But in Continental Europe it seemed to have a more stridently Anti-Catholic/pro-socialist bent. Almost every single Spanish Republican leader in the 30s was a high-ranking Freemason.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)

169 I am in the midst of my annual reading of Stone's Fall by Iain Pears. People seem to love it or hate and I am in the former camp. I reviewed it here last year, it is a story within a story within a story and is one that can be read over and over.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:12 AM (Mg5r0)

170 The weird thing with that guy is he didn't like me when I was a kid. Didn't like his kid hanging out with me, said I'd never amount to shit, that kinda stuff. At some point, by the time I turned 20, something changed. He decided he liked me. Used his mason connections (he was a bigwig) to help me with a few things. He recruited me for his temple. I didn't bite, but he was not resentful about it. Very cool guy. Very interesting guy, too.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:14 AM (0FoWg)

171 144 ... Also a recent book suggests there was an expedition for the Ark that happened around 1908 but it happened not in egypt but jerusalem
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 24, 2023 09:59 AM

Archaeologists in Israel think that they've found the likeliest spot for the Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark). It's possibly buried behind a certain point in the subterranean halls within the Temple Mount; the spot is labeled clearly in 3 languages, and I saw it myself (and prayed for a bit) on the underground Temple Mount tour in 2010 (if you ever visit Israel, don't miss it). Some years before, they were planning a dig to find it ... and the Arabs of Jerusalem rioted fit to beat the band, so the project was halted. Fortunately, the Israeli Dept. of Antiquities drew the line there, and ignored the Arab demands to turn the tunnels over to them. Arabs like tunnels, don't they? :-p

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 24, 2023 10:14 AM (SPNTN)

172 p0indexterous

Startide Rising is great, especially the ending.

But I liked Uplift War/ even more. Fiben is a fantastic hero.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 24, 2023 10:15 AM (u82oZ)

173

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 24, 2023 10:15 AM (u82oZ)

174 Off to the Barrel.

Been a while.

Ugh.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 24, 2023 10:15 AM (u82oZ)

175 Why does hans bring heavy armaments to a simple robbery

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 24, 2023 10:16 AM (PXvVL)

176 Miguel cervantes

What is his real escape plan?

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 24, 2023 10:17 AM (u82oZ)

177 165 Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 10:08 AM (p/isN)

I am a history guy, one hubris of the field is people pretend that the world that existed prior to the historic record must have been demonstrably "different." It is of course different in technology, organization, and method but I am betting largely the same in desires and morals and immortalities. There were markets where people would trade I'd wager my life on it.

People were taxed whether it is by a system we can recognize, and there were people who wanted to live in crowds and people who wanted to be as far from the crowd as possible.

It is fascinating that "bankers" are mentioned in the old testament the purpose and expected yield of the banks was probably very different.

What were the rates?

By the time of the parable of the talents in the NT you can argue that God was an investment advisor.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:17 AM (X0I7i)

178 Does anyone know much about Noa Tishby? I saw one interview, she mouthed the right words, for the most part. Plus she's hot. So I bought her Israel book for the old man. I hope it doesn't suck.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:18 AM (0FoWg)

179 I just like to flesh out the Bible stories. For example, did bazaars exist then? There are references to bankers; did people go to banks?

Being interested in the history of commerce, I have delved into the history of banking. Money lenders in antiquity didn't have banks; they were wealthy people that would loan money for a share if the profit, normally out of their homes. Fernand Braudel did a book series on the history of commerce that seems to be the definitive work on the subject. I have the set, but lately i have been needing the escape that is in fiction.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:18 AM (Mg5r0)

180 / [ i ]

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 24, 2023 10:19 AM (2yu8s)

181 168 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)

Eh EUtopia has always taken the notion of "freedom" to be more about "from material want and fear of privation" rather than "liberty to be an individual."

The damage the French revolutionary model did over there cannot be overstated.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:19 AM (X0I7i)

182 The book I’m reading this morning is Holy Bible King James Version. It belonged to Pappy Eromero and has his notations in the margins. I have other Bibles but this is my favorite.

Posted by: Eromero at December 24, 2023 10:20 AM (DXbAa)

183 but I am betting largely the same in desires and morals and immortalities. There were markets where people would trade I'd wager my life on it.
-----
There were even grand experiments in representative government that succeeded wildly before foundering on the rocks of corrupt imperialism. These things always rhyme.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:21 AM (0FoWg)

184 179 Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:18 AM (Mg5r0)

You overload on historical reading from time to time, it is why I have a lot of pulps alongside a lot of history.

I find the "agents" of the wealthy who were in essence kind of loan sharks to be interesting.

You have to wonder what role pre-history the wealthy played in the spread of actual economic living amongst the still tribal.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:21 AM (X0I7i)

185 The book I’m reading this morning is Holy Bible King James Version.

Posted by: Eromero at December 24, 2023 10:20 AM (DXbAa)

Good enough for Jesus, good enough for me.

Posted by: BignJames at December 24, 2023 10:22 AM (AwYPR)

186 Nomonhan, 1939 by Stuart Goldman.
It's a very, very good book. It's most interesting, to me, in its in-depth description of all the diplomatic machinations going on at the same time. The battle is described yeah, but his treatment of the world situation and all the plotting, spying, and cynicism is what makes it exceptional.
And it's extremely well written. It's one of those rare books that makes me envious of the author! It's so succinct and well laid out and paced a certain part of me hates Mr. Goldman.
"Wow this guy is a terrific writer. He's WAY better than me and better than I'll ever be. F*ck him!"
Very very highly recommended. I got it as a library discard at Salvation Army for two bucks.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:23 AM (43xH1)

187 As far back as the Republic, Rome had crude banking systems... Carthage and other Phoenician outposts had better ones, out of necessity. Not so sure about the Greek city states, though.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:23 AM (0FoWg)

188 "Naa, dinosaurs
Posted by: Skip"

Mid 21st century genetics experiments gone awry.

Posted by: fd at December 24, 2023 10:23 AM (vFG9F)

189 But in Continental Europe it seemed to have a more stridently Anti-Catholic/pro-socialist bent. Almost every single Spanish Republican leader in the 30s was a high-ranking Freemason.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)
-

The major European masons are not recognized as such by the long-standing Freemason lodges in the rest of the world for multiple reasons.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 10:24 AM (ch/kO)

190 Some years before, they were planning a dig to find it ... and the Arabs of Jerusalem rioted fit to beat the band, so the project was halted. Fortunately, the Israeli Dept. of Antiquities drew the line there, and ignored the Arab demands to turn the tunnels over to them. Arabs like tunnels, don't they? :-p

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 24, 2023 10:14 AM (SPNTN)
---
The Ethiopians claim to have it. And no, you can't see it.

The Arabs have serious issues with archeology. In the name of preventing "idolatry," they seem to have destroyed every old stone in Mecca, which conveniently prevents any critical examination of Mohammed's purported life.

Similarly, while the Koran has problematic passages (including mystery words, which is strange in such a relatively modern work written in a living language), a thorough book burning solved the problem of textual criticism between variations.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:25 AM (llXky)

191 Perfesser thanks for including the Bible in the post.
Being a cradle, then lapsed Catholic, I never much read it.
Trying later as an adult was confusing, honestly - how much am I reading from it vs reading into it.
But recently I started listening to The Whole Counsel of God - basically a recording of a class on of the priests/biblical scholar holds on the Bible. The class had just restarted into Genesis a month or so ago.
I like it. Very contextual.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 10:25 AM (IX0pp)

192 Being interested in the history of commerce, I have delved into the history of banking. Money lenders in antiquity didn't have banks; they were wealthy people that would loan money for a share if the profit, normally out of their homes.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:18 AM (Mg5r0)
----
Then they started money-lending out of the temples. As I recall, Jesus Christ took exception to that...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 10:25 AM (BpYfr)

193 LOL -- I'm reading the book page in my local fishwrap. "Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground" by Dylan Jones tells of the band playing at a suburban New Jersey high school in 1965, with parents and kids recoiling in horror at Lou Reed singing "Heroin".

I would love to have been there in the gym.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 10:26 AM (+RQPJ)

194 You overload on historical reading from time to time, it is why I have a lot of pulps alongside a lot of history.

Posted by: sven

Yes, 80 percent of my books are about history, but the current state of the world drives me to spend my time trying to mentally escape in the other 20 percent.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:26 AM (Mg5r0)

195 186 Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:23 AM (43xH1)

It is an excellent treatment of the Battle of Khalkin-Gol.

You can make a serious argument that battle's strategic implications altered the course of the Pacific War and the European one.

If it piqued your curiosity I'd suggest reading up on the post-Meiji restoration Imperial Japanese expansionism focusing on the Russo-Japanese war phase.

Japan learned a lot of the wrong lessons from WW1 betwixt their two dances with the bear.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:27 AM (X0I7i)

196 Then they started money-lending out of the temples. As I recall, Jesus Christ took exception to that...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 10:25 AM (BpYfr)

Temple of Juno Moneta. Lended moneta. Money.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 10:28 AM (Angsy)

197
A lot like Clancy the films and books are separate things.

I suggest everyone here read "Without Remorse" I also suggest that no one here watch the Amazon flick unless it is to ponder how A became B.
Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:05 AM (X0I7i)

Ah, you are so right, and the "Without Remorse" Amazon movie is a perfect example of crap made from a good novel.I'll pick up a Jack Carr book.

Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at December 24, 2023 10:28 AM (vIvCx)

198 Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:11 AM (p/isN)

Prayers for your dad and your whole famiky.
Hugs as well.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 10:29 AM (IX0pp)

199 A very merry Christmas to you, MP4!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 10:30 AM (+RQPJ)

200
Japan learned a lot of the wrong lessons from WW1 betwixt their two dances with the bear.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:27 AM (X0I7i)
---
Japan did a serious heel turn in the 1920s. They went from supporting Chinese economic development and political stability to preying on it.

And of course, they shifted from strictly adhering to Western methods and rules of war to embracing Bushido-on-crack, which really didn't work out well for them.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:30 AM (llXky)

201 The Roman model of banking was very private. Wealthy families with huge holdings in far flung places. Since they had money everywhere, they'd just issue notes when needed. "Sertorious here wants some money for starting a fish farm. Here it is. Have the owner in Smyrna talk to my factor in Smyrna. Secure the deed, pay the remainder to an account as startup loans, in exchange for Sertorius' clientage.

Be it done,
Biggus Dickus, wealthy Equestrian."

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 24, 2023 10:31 AM (0FoWg)

202 Tying two themes together, the Templars were an early form of bankers. Crusaders would deposit gold in their home country, and take with them a scrip in order to withdraw funds once they arrived at the Holy Land from another Templar facility, thus eluding robbery eh route.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:31 AM (Mg5r0)

203 I suppose I should mention Wall of Men: A Military History of China & etc. because in order to give context to China's attempt at modernization, I take a close look at Japan's experience, albeit from the military perspective.

I was kind of surprised at how little I could find on the First Sino-Japanese War. Most of the footnoted entries in modern works trailed back to Heroic Japan, a contemporaneous (but wildly biased) work.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:34 AM (llXky)

204 Weak Geek,

My husband died the first week of January, so last year I was where you are now. He had dementia. Sometimes he recognized people, more often he didn't, including me. Then he developed covid, and visiting wasn't even possible.

But what I could do is call him. So I did. I was told he always recognized my voice. I told him things I might not have, at his bedside--how great his kids were, what a terrific father he had been, how we would all treasure his memory.

Worth a try. Might even be less tiring for him.

Posted by: Wenda at December 24, 2023 10:34 AM (17/Kb)

205 Somewhere in my piles of files I have four big pdfs of all the photographs a US Army engineer took during the Intervention in Siberia, with a bunch of the Japanese forces. Harbin, railroads, all that. His son? Grandson? Put them on a website years ago in anticipation of a book that never happened then the site vanished. Apparently they're still technically unpublished. Hundreds of photos, utterly unique.
I snagged them and I've never seen any of them anywhere else.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:35 AM (43xH1)

206 Good morning Hordemates and Merry Christmas Eve!

Posted by: Diogenes at December 24, 2023 10:36 AM (W/lyH)

207 Then they started money-lending out of the temples.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 10:25 AM (BpYfr)
-

Money changers. There were also sales of sacrificial animals, mostly doves and pigeons.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 10:37 AM (ch/kO)

208 Upon the recommendation of a now-forgotten Moron, I picked up Peter Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire.

Having slogged my way through Gibbon, I found this book quite informative and easy to read, while providing lots of new insights. For example, while the rise of Sasanian Persia put a huge strain on the Empire, it was really the combination of Persia, the Huns, and the concomitant push of Goths and other Germanic tribes that finally overstretched the empire and made it impossible to sustain with its economic base. This was particularly true after the Vandals left Spain and took over North Africa, the breadbasket and tax base of the Empire. The Vandals were only successful, though, because the Huns attacked, drawing off what would have been the necessary resources to oust them.

The Romans could have handled one or two of them, but three proved to be impossible. Heather also dismisses the impact of Christianity as a cause, contrary to Gibbon, pointing out that the Eastern Roman Empire (Constantinople) was, if anything, even more Christian, but it survived for another millennium.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 24, 2023 10:38 AM (CsUN+)

209 Re: regretting that one's children "missed" reading the Hank the Cowdog series:
Dude, I recently began reading that series, it's delightful ... and I just turned 63.

Many of them are available in audio format read by the author. We ran through a bunch of them during road trips when the kids were little and I probably enjoyed them at least as much as they did.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 24, 2023 10:40 AM (sNc8Y)

210 200 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:30 AM (llXky)

Probably the pendulamatic moral swing in reply to the loss of power by the ex-shoguns.

Also I think the observed by Japanese officer combination of the morale sapped Tsarist units they faced in battle coupled with the observed mutinies by the French on the western front probably convinced the officer class that the western model was irretrievably broken. It would be a treasure trove to be able to read the private thoughts of middle management Military Officers from 1904-1924.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:41 AM (X0I7i)

211 Somewhere in my piles of files I have four big pdfs of all the photographs a US Army engineer took during the Intervention in Siberia, with a bunch of the Japanese forces. Harbin, railroads, all that. His son? Grandson? Put them on a website years ago in anticipation of a book that never happened then the site vanished. Apparently they're still technically unpublished. Hundreds of photos, utterly unique.
I snagged them and I've never seen any of them anywhere else.
Posted by: LenNeal

I picked up a copy of The Polar Bear Expedition a while back, but haven't read it yet. There was a large expedition of US, British, and Japanese troops into Russia during the Russian civil war, on the side of the Whites, which is a fascinating piece of forgotten history

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:41 AM (Mg5r0)

212 I am te-reading "Praying with the Christian mystics" it features two saints,, St John Of The Cross and St . Theresa of Avila and two " regular" folks.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 24, 2023 10:41 AM (pcryA)

213 This Goldman book is so fascinating to me for the global context he supplies. Tactical/strategic books are fine but I already knew the basics of the battle, it's his work on global context that makes it special.
I'm very impressed.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:42 AM (43xH1)

214 Chalker was another inspired by Forbidden Planet.

"Oh my beautiful Markovians." - Dr. Morbius.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 24, 2023 10:42 AM (+E+1g)

215 There's a church in Ethiopia which claims to have the ark locked away. They're not letting anybody in to confirm or disprove this.

If there's any doubt about whether an artifact is the genuine ark, I think the best thing would be to take it to Washington, D.C., pop the lid, and see what happens.

Posted by: PabloD at December 24, 2023 10:42 AM (fhor+)

216 204 Posted by: Wenda at December 24, 2023 10:34 AM (17/Kb)

Sorry for your loss, dementia is a cruel bastard of a disease.

Your kindness was meritous.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:42 AM (X0I7i)

217 192 ...
Then they started money-lending out of the temples. As I recall, Jesus Christ took exception to that...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 24, 2023 10:25 AM
****
No, not money-lending, money-changing. Which was necessary because most currency of the time bore the images of gods, thus could not be kept in the Temple treasury or used for holy purposes. The Temple was not used as a mint or a bank.

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at December 24, 2023 10:43 AM (SPNTN)

218 Tying two themes together, the Templars were an early form of bankers. Crusaders would deposit gold in their home country, and take with them a scrip in order to withdraw funds once they arrived at the Holy Land from another Templar facility, thus eluding robbery eh route.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:31 AM (Mg5r0)
---
It wasn't just the Holy Land, though. The Templars had castles across Europe to recruit and train, forming essentially a franchise. So if you were in Spain and wanted to pay someone in England, go to the local Temple make your deposit and get your slip.

It was essentially a paramilitary international network with assets that equaled that of a major dynasty.

And unlike the Hospitallers, it had no other function once the Crusades ceased. I found The Real History Behind the Templars by Sharan Newman to be a good, informative read.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:43 AM (llXky)

219 211 Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:41 AM (Mg5r0)

The mad dash of the Czechs trying to get home is a good topic to read on. They make cameos in lots of weird places like "saving Lenin from Reilly's coup." They were in the end the most highly valued unit of the early days of the revolution.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:44 AM (X0I7i)

220 Well the worse officer were promoted by thr control faction

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 24, 2023 10:44 AM (PXvVL)

221 Graham hancock has followed the path to ethiopia

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 24, 2023 10:45 AM (PXvVL)

222 The Polar Bears division was a National Guard unit sent to Murmansk and Archangel.

"The Ignorant Armies" by SLA Marshall documents this little known theater of the Great War. One time stumbled across a website on the Polar Bears that had a few photos.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 24, 2023 10:45 AM (+E+1g)

223 Probably the pendulamatic moral swing in reply to the loss of power by the ex-shoguns.

Also I think the observed by Japanese officer combination of the morale sapped Tsarist units they faced in battle coupled with the observed mutinies by the French on the western front probably convinced the officer class that the western model was irretrievably broken. It would be a treasure trove to be able to read the private thoughts of middle management Military Officers from 1904-1924.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:41 AM (X0I7i)
---
Samurai were initially banned from the officer ranks, but I suspect after a generation, they wheedled their way back in and tried to re-establish the old code.

The army that fought in 1894-5 through 1906 would have been led by middle-class conscripts, and they treated prisoners with dignity, earning international praise for their care of the Chinese who (it was said) ate better in prison camps than in their own barracks.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:47 AM (llXky)

224 222 Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:41 AM (Mg5r0)

They had Browning Auto-5 trench guns....

probably the wrong choice given the Siberian environ.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 10:48 AM (X0I7i)

225 The Ignorant Armies is a good one about the Archangel business, it was the first idea I ever had that something might have gone on there. The Siberian intervention is even more obscure still.
(I'm on a mobile and have never mastered pulling quotes on this device, sorry)
There is a book/report by an English officer in Siberia with some lame title like With The Old Breed or something, I read it on Gutenberg. It's quite good but hard to find. It includes a sequence in which he describes a sunrise over Lake Baikal that's so lyrical and evocative it made me hate the author's guts.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:48 AM (43xH1)

226 Is there a difference between cherubim and angels. Re the Exodus 25:20 comment.

Posted by: From about That Time at December 24, 2023 10:48 AM (4780s)

227 Comment: I enjoy sharing recommendations for children's books, especially those that spread a positive message. Too many children's books these days are all about promoting ***THE MESSAGE.***

The morons here assembled are probably familiar with the concept of board books. These are fairly indestructible books that are designed for babies' little hands, and to get them accustomed to the practice of reading. They are generally cute, simply and colorfully illustrated, and most of all, designed with the mentality of a 2 or 3 year old in mind.
The other day I saw a board book titled: "Anti-Racist Baby".

http://tinyurl.com/4w7sdddv

Posted by: kallisto at December 24, 2023 10:49 AM (XGW17)

228
Back from my white supremacists meeting. It was nice to return to the den of rigid clericalism and unyielding doctrine.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 24, 2023 10:51 AM (MoZTd)

229 The other day I saw a board book titled: "Anti-Racist Baby".

Posted by: kallisto at December 24, 2023 10:49 AM (XGW17)
---
The other day I was explaining to my kids how global warming (now climate change) is like a doomsday cult where the promised day never gets here and they keep throwing out new dates. They wondered how it can keep going and I pointed out that there are always new young people who don't know the history and are ripe for brain-washing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:52 AM (llXky)

230 My kids and grandkids loved the board books by Sandra Boynton. Highly recommended.

I'd be kinda surprised if any kid, having listened to mommy read Anti-Racist Baby, hollered "Again!" at the end of the book.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 24, 2023 10:53 AM (a/4+U)

231 There was a large expedition of US, British, and Japanese troops into Russia during the Russian civil war, on the side of the Whites, which is a fascinating piece of forgotten history
Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 10:41 AM (Mg5r0)

First example of our failure to help "our side" win?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 10:53 AM (Angsy)

232 I was a little weirded out to find the Catholic Church in Belgrade to be sponsored by The Military Order of The Knights Of Malta!
Shares an address with the Maltese Embassy.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:53 AM (43xH1)

233 Back from my white supremacists meeting. It was nice to return to the den of rigid clericalism and unyielding doctrine.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 24, 2023 10:51 AM (MoZTd)
---
It's darkly amusing that we live in a country where the Catholic Church once exercise an effective veto over Hollywood film content but now "Christian Nationalism" is a super-serious threat.

But it is - to the groomers.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:54 AM (llXky)

234 Sven,

Thanks. Rugged times, sometimes.

Posted by: Wenda at December 24, 2023 10:56 AM (17/Kb)

235 I was a little weirded out to find the Catholic Church in Belgrade to be sponsored by The Military Order of The Knights Of Malta!
Shares an address with the Maltese Embassy.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:53 AM (43xH1)
---
A sovereign order, no less, though Francis has tried to bring them to heel. They run a substantial hospital and ambulance network in Europe. I think they still provide the medical corps for the Italian Army.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:56 AM (llXky)

236 Back from my white supremacists meeting. It was nice to return to the den of rigid clericalism and unyielding doctrine.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

Heading to the wishy washy pale reflection of that later

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 10:57 AM (IX0pp)

237 With The Die Hards In Siberia, John Ward.
Gutenberg still has it.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 10:58 AM (43xH1)

238 First example of our failure to help "our side" win?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 10:53 AM (Angsy)
---
One of the advantages of conscript armies is that the folks back home get angry when they take losses for no reason and the war they were drafted to fight is over.

Strong bias against mission creep.

The danger of a large AVF is that it's a constant temptation to futz around with, and so long as losses are light, casualties can be written off as "training accidents."

Happily, word is getting out and recruiting is falling off a cliff. Some of the most grotesque propaganda I've ever seen is the attempt to explain this without giving the true reasons. "It's the great job market! The economy is booming!" Yup, that's it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 10:59 AM (llXky)

239 You just had to post Chalker. Now I'm going to have to (re-) buy those books!!!

Not a big deal, got a new kindle recently and looking to fill it with stuff that may or may not be in one of the garage boxes....

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at December 24, 2023 11:00 AM (e/Osv)

240 Is there a difference between cherubim and angels. Re the Exodus 25:20 comment.
Posted by: From about That Time at December 24, 2023 10:48 AM (4780s)
They would seem to be representative of the cherubs first mentioned in Genesis 3:24.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 24, 2023 11:01 AM (ch/kO)

241 From the greatest book ever written;

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Posted by: Marcus T at December 24, 2023 11:02 AM (Iaicw)

242 This past week I've been reading _African Game Trails_ by Theodore Roosevelt. I've never hunted, so the long passages about stalking game and TR's opinions on various rifles are a bit of a drag, but the anecdotes of camp life, the people he encounters, and his digressions on various topics are very entertaining. There's a whole appendix devoted to the library he brought along on the expedition -- a sixty-pound chest of books bound in pigskin. Because you can't go out into the African bush shooting animals without a library.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 24, 2023 11:03 AM (78a2H)

243 There are other, older Catholic churches in former Austro Hungary in annexed areas, like formerly Germanic Semlin/Zemun and Banat, but I've seen few people attend them except tourists and descendants of former occupants trying to find their roots or whatever.

I get the impression they're more like State sponsored museums. I've never met a real live Catholic there except for the above categories.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 11:04 AM (43xH1)

244 Well, the saddest part of Sunday morning has arrived again. The end of the Book Thread. Thanks, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 11:06 AM (Angsy)

245 "The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned."

Isaiah 9:2

Posted by: Marcus T at December 24, 2023 11:07 AM (Iaicw)

246 Now off to get some presents at CVS!

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 24, 2023 11:07 AM (78a2H)

247
It was also nice to get to go to Confession, which is 30 minutes before every Mass and runs practically to Communion. There are much bigger parishes that have it for 30 minutes a week.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 24, 2023 11:08 AM (MoZTd)

248 Now off to get some presents at CVS!

Cigarettes and Cheetos are always appreciated.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 24, 2023 11:08 AM (sNc8Y)

249 * clearing nic link *

Posted by: Oddbob at December 24, 2023 11:09 AM (sNc8Y)

250 Suppose I should go deal with the so-called real world.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

And Merry Christmas to the Horde. Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 24, 2023 11:09 AM (a/4+U)

251 @sentdefender Dec 23

Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea has practically Collapsed as France, Spain, and Italy have all announced their Withdrawal from the U.S. Command Structure for the Operation,

with the Three Nations stating they will only conduct further Maritime Operations under the Command of NATO and/or the European Union and not the United States.

Posted by: Braenyard saying Merry Christmas Eve to all at December 24, 2023 11:10 AM (Ui1jv)

252 I don't remember which one of you recommended Mongol Moon a month or so back, but it worked. I bought it, read it, and mostly enjoyed it. Some reviews crap on the book for making the third act too short and way too convenient. And that is true. Still, my biggest problem with this book is the lack of a sequel after 4 years.

Posted by: BB at December 24, 2023 11:10 AM (JcfRA)

253 Merry Christmas, Morons. Don't let this ship of fools steer you off course.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 24, 2023 11:10 AM (9v1kn)

254 Which reminds me, I've been meaning to drop into the Mongolian Embassy in BG for a while, just to see if they have souvenirs or anything. It's not on Embassy Row it's in a storefront in an obscure neighborhood, in between a convenience store and a coffee shop.

Posted by: LenNeal at December 24, 2023 11:11 AM (43xH1)

255 "For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS3vpAWW2Zc

(best Christmas music ever)

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 24, 2023 11:12 AM (S6gqv)

256 with the Three Nations stating they will only conduct further Maritime Operations under the Command of NATO and/or the European Union and not the United States.
Posted by: Braenyard saying Merry Christmas Eve to all at December 24, 2023 11:10 AM

NATO. Which is basically run by the....US. yeah, they ain't gonna do nothin in other words.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 11:13 AM (Angsy)

257

Is there a difference between cherubim and angels. Re the Exodus 25:20 comment.
Posted by: From about That Time

________

Hierarchy of angels

Highest orders: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones

Middle orders: Dominions, Virtues, Powers

Lowest orders: Principalities, Archangels, Angels

So angels are your E-1s and get assigned to looking after losers like me.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 24, 2023 11:13 AM (MoZTd)

258 251 Posted by: Braenyard saying Merry Christmas Eve to all at December 24, 2023 11:10 AM (Ui1jv)

Prestige restored folks.

Posted by: sven at December 24, 2023 11:13 AM (X0I7i)

259 We had our Christmas gifts exchange early this year, to accommodate KTY's work schedule, and among other goodies I got three books!
2 religious and one "how to spot a liar" lol.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:14 AM (IX0pp)

260 I get the feeling that those who demand that we "Follow the Science!!!" never read A. Solzhenitsyn's "First Circle".

Posted by: mrp at December 24, 2023 11:16 AM (rj6Yv)

261 I have begun to read a book about the Taiping rebellion, Autumn In the Heavenly Kingdom by Stephen Platt. In a forward, the author explains his approach to explaining the war.

"It is about the deliberate choices from which one can never turn back, the acts that, once committed, can never be undone, and the relentless erosion of options in a time of crisis—until nothing else remains but to push forward into the cataclysm, in hopes of somehow finding peace on the other side."

Sounds like the future of the US.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 24, 2023 11:16 AM (FVME7)

262 Finished At Dawn We Slept. Personally, I could have done without the details of the post-attack investigations, but I suppose they are a necessary part of the story. Started Small Town Talk about the 60s music scene in Woodstock NY. It caught my eye at a bookstore in Portland Maine because Small Town Talk is one of my favorite songs. When I saw what it was about (and that it was, in fact, named after the song) I had to pick it up. No that my TBR pile is over full but it's been was a year and a half since I was in Maine.

Posted by: who knew at December 24, 2023 11:17 AM (4I7VG)

263 The other day I was explaining to my kids how global warming (now climate change) is like a doomsday cult w

I was pleasantly surprised when our former pastor delivered a blistering sermon stressing exactly this point. He was a pretty bland guy, his homilies were generally anodyne. But he understood the bullshit of the climate change agenda and made no bones about it.

Posted by: kallisto at December 24, 2023 11:18 AM (XGW17)

264 Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea has practically Collapsed as France, Spain, and Italy have all announced their Withdrawal from the U.S. Command Structure for the Operation,

with the Three Nations stating they will only conduct further Maritime Operations under the Command of NATO and/or the European Union and not the United States.
Posted by: Braenyard saying Merry Christmas Eve to all at December 24, 2023 11:10 AM (Ui1jv)

That’s the thanks we get for conducting the real war for oil in Libya for them. Leftists betray each other all the time .

Posted by: Drive by at December 24, 2023 11:18 AM (MNhXM)

265 Just finished book 4 in the Cast in Time series. By Ed Nelson. These are a fun read beginning with The Baron.
Highly recommend.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 24, 2023 11:18 AM (W/lyH)

266 CVS stopped selling cigarettes many years ago.

Posted by: mrp at December 24, 2023 11:19 AM (rj6Yv)

267 > Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea has practically Collapsed...
___________

How does that saying go again; "Go woke... go something..."

The so-called US command structure is about as coherent as Kamala Harris discussing the metaverse. I don't blame the Europeans at all. Their particular interests were not what the US was interested in protecting. It was, to be frank, a US dick waving op performed by transgenders.

IOW... total failure.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 24, 2023 11:19 AM (Q4IgG)

268 So angels are your E-1s and get assigned to looking after losers like me.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

one of the practices I started this year is I've been praying the childhood Angel of God prayer daily, as well as the prayer to St Michael Archangel.

Not that anyone is asking but here's my quick daily lineup of memorized prayers:
Pater Noster
Ave Maria
Gloria
Actiones Nostras
Angele Dei
Sancte Michael Archangele

Anything else I need a cheat sheet

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:20 AM (IX0pp)

269 I have Teddy's "African Game Trails" (vols I and II).

Appendix F: Pigskin Library

Wow. Some heavy material here, plus some contemporary fun authors like Twain and Harte.

I don't usually take Euripides and Milton along on a long flight. Typically it's spin rack crap with lurid covers.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 11:21 AM (+RQPJ)

270
Finished At Dawn We Slept. Personally, I could have done without the details of the post-attack investigations, but I suppose they are a necessary part of the story.

__________

I got a lot out of that part, so opinions may differ. What's both human and sad is that Prange doesn't have heroes and villains. Everyone, Japanese and American, is portrayed as a fine officer. But their blindness and limitations doom them.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 24, 2023 11:21 AM (MoZTd)

271 Last week "McMann and Duck" were spotlighted in the Deplorable Books section.

http://tinyurl.com/3br8m6h2

The story is about a down-on-his-luck PI in a small Texas town in 1951. It's a good mystery, with a surprising Things Are Not As They Seem ending. I greatly enjoyed it.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 24, 2023 11:22 AM (yWvc2)

272 don't usually take Euripides and Milton along on a long flight. Typically it's spin rack crap with lurid covers.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 24, 2023 11:21 AM (+RQPJ)

The first book I bought at an airport shop to read on a plane was Stephen Hunter’s Dirty White Boys. Never heard of him before and became a fan.

Posted by: Drive by at December 24, 2023 11:23 AM (MNhXM)

273 We are planning to go on some long plane rides in a couple of months
My plan is to bring some audiobooks along

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:25 AM (IX0pp)

274 My sister just sent word -- Dad is now on comfort care.

I so wanted him to last into the new year.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 11:26 AM (R0U+5)

275 {{{{{weak geek}}}}}}

May the good Lord ease his passing.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:28 AM (IX0pp)

276 IOW... total failure.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 24, 2023 11:19 AM (Q4IgG)

What!!??
You mean other nations aren't anxious to side with the Losers of Afghanistan?

Posted by: Diogenes at December 24, 2023 11:28 AM (W/lyH)

277 Graham hancock has followed the path to ethiopia
Posted by: Miguel cervantes

Hancock is pure f'in' nuts but highly amusing. He was a frequent guest on Art Bell.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 24, 2023 11:29 AM (FVME7)

278
In Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History, and finished by others after Prange's death, the judgements are sharper and more critical. Kimmel and Short were likely over-promoted. Claude Bloch, commander of the 14th Naval District, treated his important job like a pre-retirement sinecure.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 24, 2023 11:29 AM (MoZTd)

279 Weak Geek,

Did you see my comment earlier?

Try calling him.

Posted by: Wenda at December 24, 2023 11:30 AM (17/Kb)

280 I'm listening to Andrea Vernon and The Corporation for Ultrahuman Protection by Alexander C Kane. I'd call it Scifi humor. It makes me chuckle.

Posted by: That Northernlurker embracing the suckd at December 24, 2023 11:35 AM (miT2W)

281 We are planning to go on some long plane rides in a couple of months
My plan is to bring some audiobooks along
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:25 AM (IX0pp)

stop over in Hong Kong, or Japan?

My kid has been to Japan, so has the wife. Wasn't able to go to the RP with them a couple of years ago.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 11:37 AM (Angsy)

282
Oh geez, just saw my first trannie in real life. Black wig, makeup, black lipstick, manly yet a little feminine (if that's possible) voice with a name-tag with a woman's name on it. He apologized to my wife that he didn't have time to do his nails this morning. All I could thing of is 'freak' and let me out of here.

I guess Lowe's is going DEI and he/she earns them some points.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at December 24, 2023 11:38 AM (enJYY)

283 Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 11:26 AM (R0U+5)

Sent you an e-mail.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 11:40 AM (Angsy)

284 I want to thank whoever recommended “Brambly Hedge” and Alan Pinkwater. I gave them to my sister’s grandkids for Christmas, we celebrated it yesterday, and I think they’ll enjoy them. I got “The Hoboken Chicken Emergency”. I read it first and it’s funny.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at December 24, 2023 11:40 AM (5VXJH)

285 OrangeEnt actually visiting hubby's folks in NZ
Ironically trying to go from there to the Philippines is more expensive then from US, so that trip will have to be another year.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:40 AM (IX0pp)

286 Weak geek -

May you & your family be Blessed with Peace and Strength …

Posted by: Adriane the Critic . . . at December 24, 2023 11:40 AM (4Winp)

287 Last night finished my annual read of Dickens 'A Christmas Carol'. As always, I extracted a little more from it, as I do each year. My copy is actually a contained in a collection of Dickens Christmae tales. 'A Christmas Carol' has overshadowed the others, but they are out there, 'The Chimes', 'The Cricket on the Hearth', 'The Haunted Man' , and 'The Christmas Tree'.

Also, watched the Alastair Sim movie, which, as we all agree is the definitive film version. (Ha!)

It is kind of interesting to see which parts of the book are excerpted from the screen play.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 24, 2023 11:41 AM (XeU6L)

288 How does that saying go again; "Go woke... go something..."

The so-called US command structure is about as coherent as Kamala Harris discussing the metaverse. I don't blame the Europeans at all. Their particular interests were not what the US was interested in protecting. It was, to be frank, a US dick waving op performed by transgenders.

-
There was an anti-Vietnam protest song in the '60s called Waist Deep In the Big Muddy which analogizes a true incident in which six Marine Corps recruits were drown when their DI marched them into a creek. It contains the repeated lyric "And the big fool said to push on." I guess our allies didn't want to push on.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 24, 2023 11:42 AM (FVME7)

289 OrangeEnt actually visiting hubby's folks in NZ
Ironically trying to go from there to the Philippines is more expensive then from US, so that trip will have to be another year.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:40 AM (IX0pp)

Hey, if you want to get in some target shooting, look for NZFrank on the gun thread. He gots stuff....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 11:43 AM (Angsy)

290 What!!??
You mean other nations aren't anxious to side with the Losers of Afghanistan?

Posted by: Diogenes at December 24, 2023 11:28 AM (W/lyH)
---
"So here's the plan, your ships will be the pickets while ours hang back."

Posted by: Admiral Holdo at December 24, 2023 11:43 AM (llXky)

291 289 hmmmm

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:43 AM (IX0pp)

292 I guess Lowe's is going DEI and he/she earns them some points.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at December 24, 2023 11:38 AM (enJYY)
---
They can only hire people who apply.

I see quite a few because it's a liberal college town and I'm torn between revulsion and deep sympathy.

Revulsion because I know some of the men are just doing it to use the Ladies' Room.

Sympathy because the women are obviously hurting.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 11:45 AM (llXky)

293 282
Oh geez, just saw my first trannie in real life. Black wig, makeup, black lipstick, manly yet a little feminine (if that's possible) voice with a name-tag with a woman's name on it.

***

You've led a sheltered life

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:47 AM (IX0pp)

294 Merry Christmas morons, time to get dressed and face the day. Dreading the Packer game based on how they've been playing but looking forward to family at my Aunts for Christmas Eve. And at 68, I'm somewhat surprised and quite happy to still have Aunts and Uncles to visit.

Posted by: who knew at December 24, 2023 11:48 AM (4I7VG)

295 I get the feeling that those who demand that we "Follow the Science!!!" never read A. Solzhenitsyn's "First Circle".
Posted by: mrp
-------

Nor have I...
[jots down title]
Just checked...it appears that 'First Circle' is a censored/abridged version, the full version being, 'In The First Circle'

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 24, 2023 11:49 AM (XeU6L)

296 In Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History, and finished by others after Prange's death, the judgements are sharper and more critical. Kimmel and Short were likely over-promoted. Claude Bloch, commander of the 14th Naval District, treated his important job like a pre-retirement sinecure.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 24, 2023 11:29 AM (MoZTd)
---
Yet we didn't even open an inquiry after Afghanistan - just handed out medals and declared everything went peachy.

And they wonder why no one wants to volunteer.

I have to wonder about the self-loathing that our senior officers have to be contending with. Are they even capable of self-reflection? Looking at Milley's body language, he knew he was flailing, and the way he would look away and carry his frame in a defensive posture showed at least an unconscious awareness that all the medals and stars on his shoulder meant nothing. He was a flam-flam man telling obvious lies.

Later, he would go back to his office and see the latest recruiting failures, and status reports show most units red.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 11:52 AM (llXky)

297 You mean other nations aren't anxious to side with the Losers of Afghanistan?
Posted by: Diogenes
--------------
@JakeSullivan46’s team at White House has (been) running much of the coalition building directly with minimal Us Navy or MARAD involvement… and it’s a total mess!

https://is.gd/hn0CjT

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 24, 2023 11:53 AM (ju2Fy)

298 @JakeSullivan46’s team at White House has (been) running much of the coalition building directly with minimal Us Navy or MARAD involvement… and it’s a total mess!

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 24, 2023 11:53 AM (ju2Fy)
---
We're going to lose a carrier to the Arabs. Didn't see that one coming.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 11:54 AM (llXky)

299 I have to wonder about the self-loathing that our senior officers have to be contending with.

--

A Roman General would have fallen on his sword.
Old ways are best ways sometimes

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:55 AM (zfiQI)

300 A Roman General would have fallen on his sword.
Old ways are best ways sometimes

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at December 24, 2023 11:55 AM (zfiQI)
---
Obligatory reference to Rush doing Tom Lantos: "Meeester Livingstone, I will point out to you that ADMIRAL BOORDA, killed himself for far less."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 11:56 AM (llXky)

301 Wow, looks like everyone packed up. Merry Christmas, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 11:58 AM (llXky)

302 Is it possible that the Flintstones is set in the far far future instead of the past?

It was long ago and far, far away.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 24, 2023 11:58 AM (FVME7)

303 Purchased Silk Unspun by d.s.blake, it was well written and I found it to be a page turner.

Can't wait for Foul Brood.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 24, 2023 11:58 AM (lmDzU)

304 Wow, looks like everyone packed up. Merry Christmas, Perfesser!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 24, 2023 11:58 AM (llXky)

I did ?

Posted by: JT at December 24, 2023 11:59 AM (T4tVD)

305 Hope the Perfesser has a most excellent Christmas!

And of course the rest of the Horde as well.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 24, 2023 11:59 AM (lmDzU)

306 He was a flam-flam man telling obvious lies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Milley's medals and jacket fashioned after Ike's were just what a Third-world tin-pot general wears.
He was and is disgusting.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 24, 2023 12:03 PM (lmDzU)

307 I'm currently reading Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings, part of the British Library's Tales of the Weird series. Short stories dating from late 19th century to the early almost middish 20th century. Really good stuff.

Posted by: I've been reading older stuff to avoid the woke. at December 24, 2023 12:04 PM (pjs7m)

308 Milley's medals and jacket fashioned after Ike's were just what a Third-world tin-pot general wears.
He was and is disgusting.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 24, 2023 12:03 PM (lmDzU)

IF...Trump wins, he needs to recall Milley to active service and court-martial his ass.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 24, 2023 12:06 PM (Angsy)

309 A little humor:
I have never in my life tried to pronounce an "L" so hard as when I asked the Home Depot guy where I could get some "caulk".
Posted by: Ciampino - It's like looking for dates at Kroger at December 24, 2023 09:16 AM (qfLjt)

Pro tip: always ask for "caulking compound".

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 24, 2023 12:11 PM (tkR6S)

310 Christmas Hauntings, part of the British Library's Tales of the Weird series. Short stories dating from late 19th century to the early almost middish 20th century. Really good stuff.
Posted by: I've been reading...
---

"There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of the
Christmases long, long ago"

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 24, 2023 12:11 PM (XeU6L)

311 I wonder what Christmases of '41-'45 were like?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 24, 2023 12:15 PM (XeU6L)

312 231 a fascinating piece of forgotten history.

Free at archive.org
http://tinyurl.com/4v33fwfk

America's Siberian Adventure 1918-1920 by William Sidney Graves and Newton D. Baker

Posted by: 13times at December 24, 2023 12:25 PM (f57y6)

313 My sister just sent word -- Dad is now on comfort care.

I so wanted him to last into the new year.
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 24, 2023 11:26 AM (R0U+5)

My thoughts are with you in this troubling time, Weak Geek.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 24, 2023 01:07 PM (tkR6S)

314 Nor have I...
[jots down title]
Just checked...it appears that 'First Circle' is a censored/abridged version, the full version being, 'In The First Circle'
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 24, 2023 11:49 AM (XeU6L)

Solzhenitsyn revised and extended his oeuvre after arriving in the US during his exile. Many of the titles were changed and translations had to meet his approval. My reading of the "First Circle" was in the late '70s and only the non-authorized translations were available.

Posted by: mrp at December 24, 2023 01:17 PM (rj6Yv)

315 It bothers me that my version of the King James has “cherubims”. I think “cherubim” is plural and “cherub” is singular.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at December 24, 2023 01:38 PM (5VXJH)

316 A children’s Christmas story that’s a bit different is The Star of Melvin. I don’t know how we got a copy, but it’s a short, sweet story that became an annual tradition when my children were little. It can be a bit hard to find as old as it is. Abe books is an excellent source.

Posted by: Advo at December 24, 2023 02:06 PM (VHN21)

317 Prayers up, Weak Geek, for strength and comfort for you and your family.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at December 24, 2023 02:17 PM (F8AqN)

318 Merry Christmas everyone. Have to get cracking on prepping the smorgasbord.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 24, 2023 02:27 PM (7TzHu)

319 I've been going through a graphic novel streak over normal books lately. I just finished "Pluto", an adult and dark take on the world of Astro Boy (AKA The Mighty Atom). Uneven but worth it. Weird to Osamu Tezuka's cartoon-like work be done in a realistic style. They even got Atom/Astro-Boy's weird hair. Dr. Tenma: still one of the best villains in any series I've read.

I also re-read Ted Naifeh's "Courtney Crumrin" series, which at first seem like another "kid wizard" series a la Harry Potter but done with a more realistic and mature hand. Magic has a price, and people are always people.

And to all, a Merry Christmas!

Posted by: ZilWerks at December 24, 2023 02:29 PM (day4e)

320 Luke chapter 2 should only, always, and ever be read in the King James Version.

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at December 24, 2023 03:15 PM (TOe+Q)

321 37 Where did we get the idea that angels have wings?

I envision the Christmas story as one guy approaching the shepherds in the dark, frightening them. And then when a whole host pops out of the darkness ...

Well.

Nowhere in the Gospels are winged beings mentioned.

So I restate the question.
Posted by: Weak Geek apologizes for crashing the thread at December 24, 2023 09:22 AM (p/isN)

Western Medieval art is pragmatic. Angels have no bodies, they are pure spirit, so, no wings, but they do travel from us to God and back, so according to the artists, wings.

There is a lovely Gospel illumination of the ascension of Jesus, showing the Apostles and Mary looking up and two feet poking out of a cloud above them. Like I said, pragmatic.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at December 24, 2023 03:26 PM (sRfrW)

322 320 Luke chapter 2 should only, always, and ever be read in the King James Version.
Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at December 24, 2023 03:15 PM (TOe+Q)

The Greek and Latin versions are pretty darned good, too.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at December 24, 2023 03:27 PM (sRfrW)

323 Very very late to the thread, but the most recent installment of "Robert Galbraith"/JK Rowling's Cormoran Strike detective novels, Running Grave, is the best yet, stunningly good. I'm in awe.

The first time through, I was so afraid for Robin that I did not properly assimilate everything, so I'm on a second run.

Don't want to spoil anything, but a cult is involved.

Posted by: Splunge at December 24, 2023 07:17 PM (CJkBc)

324 We're a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.

Your web site offered us with valuable information to work on.
You've done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.

Posted by: Inspirational vision at December 26, 2023 02:43 PM (gyjKY)

325 Admiring the time and effort you put into your website and detailed information you provide.
It's good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn't the same old rehashed material.
Great read! I've saved your site and I'm including your RSS feeds
to my Google account.

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