Sunday Morning Book Thread - 09-08-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

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

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

Congratulations to pookysgirl and her family! We have another addition to the Moron Horde!

Happy Birthday to Hadrian the Seventh!

PIC NOTE

My cat Allie has recently become very attached to me, following me around the house, rubbing up against me, and so forth. It only took her two full years to reach this point. In the picture above, she is curled up on top of the bookshelves that sit behind my office chair in my home office. She looks happy and content. Underneath her, on the top shelf, are F. Paul Wilson's novels from his Secret History of the World series, which are arranged in roughly chronological order. Most of them are from his Repairman Jack series, but there is also crossover with his Adversary Cycle.

I liked this picture so much, I now use it for the wallpaper background on my smart phone.

READING BOOKS PICKED BY OTHERS

The BookTuber above took on a self-imposed challenge by reading books selected for him by his Patreons. Every month, he chose one book at random from their recommendations and then read and reviewed the book. Although he enjoyed the challenge, he admits that he did not like all of the books that were selected, so sometimes it was a chore to finish each book. He was very pleasantly surprised by other selections, however, which made the challenge worth it.

I'm not sure if I could ever do that, though I might try something similar for 2025. Perhaps I should try to read/review a Moron Recommendation each month. I won't do it at random, though, as I know there are books out there that will *not* like, but I could expand my horizons and try something outside my usual comfort zone. After all, it's thanks to you guys that I embraced Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child as well as Dean Koontz.

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POETRY READING FROM MALCOLM GUITE

This YouTube video showed up in my queue recently. I know Malcolm Guite has been recommended around here more than once, so I thought I'd give it a watch. I was very pleasantly entertained. His premise is that there are many untold stories within the Arthurian legend, especially about his childhood years. How did Arthur and Merlin actually meet? What was the first magic Merlin shared with Arthur? Guite tells a great story about how the future King of the Britons first met Merlin, and the lesson that was imparted to the young squire on that day.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ORANGEENT!

OrangeEnt announced last weekend that a story of his was accepted by a magazine for publication.

Here are the details:

Well, I finally "sold" a story. An internet magazine, Frontier Tales, accepted it for publication on their website. Writers get no money, but can purchase the print magazine at a reduced price and resell on their own. Not the most optimal outcome, but getting a publishing credit is the first hurdle for a new writer to cross. They sell a print anthology on Amazon. To get into the collection, you have to be voted the top story of the issue. Readers can vote at www.FrontierTales.com. You'll need to provide an e-mail to vote. I would appreciate, if anyone's interested, to go and vote for my story. It's "The Waystation Incident," by Aitch Enfield in the September issue.
I suppose next I'll need to make an author's page. Any ideas for free hosting?

I'm not suggesting that the Moron Horde go to FrontierTales.com and vote for "The Waystation Incident" like it's the only candidate for office in a Philadelphia precinct, but I would not be surprised if it happened.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

In his novel Down to a Sunless Sea, David Poyer shows us the black, deadly world of cave diving. Commercial diver Tiller Galloway goes to Florida to help line up a dive shop for sale that was owned by his recently deceased friend, Bud Kusczk. What Tiller finds is that Bud seemed to make a lot of money from his shop, Tiller knows it wasn't from training divers, and Bud seemed to make regular solo trips into a certain cave system. Suddenly, Bud's death seems a lot more suspicious.
Diving in a cave adds a massive complication to an already complex activity. The only light is what the diver brings, and one carries a limited supply of their life support with them. Every move and breath must be measured. You cannot race to the surface if your air runs out; you die. If you get stuck, you die.
Poyer has obviously spent time in underwater caves, as he perfectly describes the claustrophobic, utterly dark and inherently deadly waters that lie beneath the Florida landmass. Divers' bodies are recovered each year from her caves, and those that regularly enter these passages are a select few. Making this the backdrop for a mystery makes the cave a menacing, sinister accomplice.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 01, 2024 09:25 AM (mzB36)

Comment: Cave diving is one of those activities that sounds interesting in theory, but is terrifying in practice. Nope. Just nope. It's so easy to get turned around down there and lose your way. If you get stuck, that's it. You aren't coming back up again.

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Now that Dracula has been brought up, there's an opportunity to plug my favorite crossover novel, Sherlock Holmes: A Betrayal in Blood, by Mark A. Latham! Don't miss this one:
Holmes is presented with a singular problem: Why would the eminent Dr. Abraham Van Helsing and his respectable friends pursue and murder an eccentric Balkan gentleman and then put about a crazy story about said gentleman being some kind of blood-sucking ghoul?! Holmes and Watson investigate ... and every detail tracks perfectly with Stoker's book, but we're on Planet Holmes, where once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth ....
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at September 01, 2024 09:43 AM (wwf+q)

Comment: Dracula--along with Victor Frankenstein--is one of those timeless public-domain characters that has shown up just about everywhere. I can buy into a Sherlock Holmes/Dracula cross-over if only because they were both active in late-Victorian London. Kim Newman's Anno Dracula combines Dracula with elements from Sherlock Holmes, and throws in Jack the Ripper for good measure. Holmes himself is mentioned a few times, but we never see him directly. We do see his brother Mycroft Holmes at the Diogenes Club.

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The Unmothers by Leslie J.Anderson is a slow-burn horror set in rural horse country. After suffering the double blow of her husband's death and a miscarriage, reporter Carolyn Marshall is sent by her news team to cover a softball story assignment: travel to the little town of Raeford to see what's behind the claim that a horse gave birth to a human child.
It's obviously a hoax, but something is definitely going on and there are undercurrents of fear and violence. And there are strange folkways that aren't explained, like leaving bowls of milk and sugar on the tombstones at the church graveyard, to appease...what?
"...the weird silence, the slippery memory, the careful and selective turning away."
Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 01, 2024 09:49 AM (kpS4V)

Comment: Go far enough off the beaten path into the country, you may encounter all manner of strange customs and rituals that have no apparent purpose...But perhaps there is something lurking in those woods and down in those hollers that requires appeasing...Here, the bowls of milk and sugar hint at the possibility of encountering faerie creatures, who seem to enjoy these little gifts.

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

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WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

Kim Newman has a couple of Anno Dracula books that I needed to add to my collection:

Anno Dracula: One Thousand Monsters -- We go to the Far East, where the vampires are just a wee bit different than the conventional nosferatu that originated in Eastern Europe.

Anno Dracula 1999: Daikaiju -- A vampire agent of the famed Diogenes Club has to fight her way to the top of a building taken over by monsters. A bit like Die Hard if John McClane was a sword-wielding badass taking on yakuza mobsters who embraced the dark side of life...

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.

Time's Tapestry Book 4 - Weaver by Stephen Baxter

In the final volume of this series, we find out the end result of the ripples in time that have been implanted by the Weaver. What if the Nazis had successfully launched Operation Sea Lion and conquered the south-east corner of England? We follow the lives of several characters as they struggle to set right what once went wrong, Quantum Leap-style. All they have is fragments of lost prophecies to guide them and the knowledge that they were implanted deep in the past.

Time travel stories are among the most difficult to write well, because of the paradoxes that seem to follow in their wake. Stable time loops are one way to avoid many of those paradoxes, essentially creating a self-contained universe. However, that's not quite the case here, though I thought it might be. Definitely an interesting examination of how simple changes in the time stream could have catastrophic effects many centuries into the future.

Anno Dracula - Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman

The operating premise behind Newman's Anno Dracula series is that Dracula was a real creature that succeeded in taking over England in the late Victorian era. The story as told by Bram Stoker was a fictionalized version of real people and real events. Dracula was eventually thrown down from his perch behind the English throne and he was eventually destroyed for good in the 1950s. In the meantime, he spread vampirism around the world, bringing vampires out into the light of day, so to speak (they are still vulnerable to daylight unless they are *old* vampires). Vampires work and live among the "warm" (i.e., us), occasionally turning us, but mostly living off the blood of animals and willing donors.

Thanks to a couple of you Morons, I was inspired to finally getting around to reading this entry in the Anno Dracula series, and I ordered the remaining books as well. Newman plays fast and loose with historical and fictional characters, blending them together to build a unique world of monsters and myths. Not all vampires are evil blood-suckers--just most of them. In other words, transitioning to vampire status doesn't entirely remove our humanity. There are plenty of evil monsters, however, including the Prince of Darkness himself, Lord Dracul.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 09-01-24 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

Medusa's Web by Tim Powers

I'm really not quite sure how to describe the plot in this book. It involves some sort of ancient conspiracy that is trying to obtain a special artifact that allows the viewer to travel psychically across time and space, backwards and forwards and inside out. The main characters Scott and his sister Madeline are caught up in events from their own past haunting them as they begin to unravel the truth about who they are.

The way that Powers describes the so-called "spiders"--mysterious glyphs that trap the viewer in splintered fragments of time--reminds me of the Elder Scrolls from the game franchise of the same name. Those artifacts also pierce the barriers of time and space, eventually causing the reader to become blind over time. Most people also go mad.

The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

This is the third entry in The Long Earth saga. In the previous two books, the characters explored far out into the parallel Earths joined together like pearls on a necklace, but separated by a thin wall that can be penetrated by "Step" technology that allows the user to go from one variation of Earth to the next. Now, we get to see that Mars is also part of a continuum of parallel worlds, but not in the same sequence as Earth. Like one string that is entangled with another, touching only at certain points.

It's a strange series as we see all sorts of weirdness evolved across millions of parallel variations of Earth and Mars. And then we get to see the PERPENDICULAR worlds in a later novel...

(Huggy Squirrel dreams of patenting the first ever pimp-hat polishing machine.)

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. The Children of the Night approve this message. Can't you hear their sweet music?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 08:59 AM (fwDg9)

2 I did not read.

Posted by: rhennigantx at September 08, 2024 08:59 AM (gbOdA)

3 Thanks for posting the info, Perfessor. Won't have much time for the thread today, maybe the last hour.

Posted by: Jimmy D at September 08, 2024 08:59 AM (0eaVi)

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

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 09:01 AM (zudum)

5 Good morning morons

Allie sleeps with her eyes open.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 08, 2024 09:02 AM (RIvkX)

6 Finally a little pushback against the woke DEI movie industry.

The trailer for the LOTR reboot looks based.

https://tinyurl.com/afeze97p

Posted by: Malcolm Tent at September 08, 2024 09:02 AM (kR6py)

7 When I started Count of Monte Cristo it was enjoyable but I was still distracted by analyzing why I liked it. (Can't take the systems analyst out of the boy, I guess.) Then after about 150 pages that went away and I got caught up in the story. The pace of reading is still slow but I am enthralled with the story. Dumas managed to bring the reader into the world of the characters. It is so much richer than any of the movies portrayed. For the first time in ages I'm fighting to read just one more page or chapter, something I did as a youth, and that is adding to the appeal. I should be done with the book in a few weeks which works out since I'll start my re-read of LOTR (obligatory mention) later this autumn.

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 09:02 AM (zudum)

8 Morning, Book Folken!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:02 AM (omVj0)

9 I only read AoS comments anymore!

Posted by: jayhawkone at September 08, 2024 09:03 AM (9rPx3)

10 A mostly day off wife and myself went to Bramble used book store. Grabbed a 950 page biography of Churchill by Martin Gilbert and all but leaving saw The Murderers of Katyn
Vladimir Abarinov
Hard cover 384pgs
And I thought I was done with the Bolsheviks,
starting that first

Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 09:04 AM (fwDg9)

11 Allie is plotting revenge on the person taking a picture of her.

Posted by: dantesed at September 08, 2024 09:05 AM (Oy/m2)

12 Yes i read medusas web after declare and it was still a poser he also did a vampyre tale as well

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:06 AM (PXvVL)

13 Mazel tov orangeEnt

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 08, 2024 09:06 AM (RIvkX)

14 Help me along the graves

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:08 AM (PXvVL)

15 I've started on my copy of the Marvel Epic collection of Master of Kung Fu volume 2. I bought it because I've always read how great the artwork of Paul Gulacy was. Except for a couple of pages, I've yet to see it. That's because these are stories from the '70s, and I began reading comics in the 1990s. I'll never know what it was like before books like MOKF blazed new trails.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:08 AM (p/isN)

16 I am going to try and mention what form the book is, ie E, hard, or paperback and page count. I think it matters some, as length can scare people off, and form as ease of reading or acquiring.

Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 09:09 AM (fwDg9)

17 Perfessor, Allie looks much like my late Chekov, if he'd been a shorthair. He had a little more black.

I'm currently about 3/4 through Gerald Kersh's The Secret Masters (1953 ), one of the books Just Some Guy sent me. It's billed as a thriller, yet it's more in the Somerset Maugham "Ashenden" mold than it is James Bond. The pace is not lightning-fast, but it's not slow either.

It's actually kind of timely. The "secret masters" of the title are a group called the Sciocrats. The narrator and his chatty fellow hero find that they have a plan to reduce the population of Earth, catastrophically, and leave the remnants to be ruled by themselves. Technically it's science fiction, as their plan requires a technology (making atom bombs out of a non-radioactive element) we don't know about. The Sciocrats could be prototypes for Thrush!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:09 AM (omVj0)

18 Guardian kitties are essential! Some even insist on positioning themselves on your chest while you attempt to read. "Just pretend I'm not here!"

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:09 AM (kpS4V)

19 Oh for --

Subtract 10 years from when the post says I started reading comics. Tiny phone keys, big fingers.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (p/isN)

20 Got to get to Mass but wanted to put this here.

One of my favorite Substacks now has a Bookshop, where you can list all your favorite books for others to see.
Theirs is https://bookshop.org/shop/tradition-sanity-list,
just as an example.

I thought the idea was neat but may be old news to readers here.

Mr. S has begun the Maisie Dobbs mystery series and is enjoying them.

Posted by: sal at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (bx3Km)

21 On my errands yesterday, I spotted a sign in a strip shopping center -- "Used Book Store." I think I remember that place being there years ago. It was raining, or I'd have stopped to check it out. I will soon. Astonishing; I thought I knew all the very few used book stores in town.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (omVj0)

22 After all, it's thanks to you guys that I embraced Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child as well as Dean Koontz.

I just finished reading Preston's The Monster of Florence. I never knew the Italians threatened to throw him in jail because he dared propose a different suspect for the Florentine murders than the 'satanic circle' theory the police proposed.

Anno Dracula - never, never, never again! I read the first book because I collect books (fact and fiction) about Jack the Ripper, but Anno utterly disgusted me.

And with apologies to wrewife, I tried reading Betrayal in Blood. I couldn't make it past the free kindle sample. Just left me cold,

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (Q0kLU)

23 I gave up on the The Rise of the Greeks by Michael Grant. Too many places not on the many maps, no setting events in an overview, and a lot of conjecture.

I wanted to find out more about Greek colonization, but I must find another book for that.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 08, 2024 09:12 AM (u82oZ)

24 The Long Earth saga sounds bonkers. Just read a short story about a time jumper (was it by Niven? It's all a blur) and temporal hopping will eff with your mind. There's always a worse timeline than your own -- sometimes much worse.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:13 AM (kpS4V)

25 I was reading an old paul erdman potboilers he was the harold robbins of finance who got nabbed by the swiss for revealing their deal with the nazis

Almost every character is a thomas crown type financier in this case a professor who discovers a plot between latin american finance minister against the Fed and some stock characters from thr 70s are involved carlos and abu nidal

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:13 AM (PXvVL)

26 I second San Fran's mazal tov to OrangeEnt! Hey, OE, if you write SF stories, please pay attention to Raconteur Press, who have to date released no fewer than 35 themed anthologies, with themes bouncing off the walls -- and they pay! Keep an eye on their website for future invitations for submissions.

And dear Perfesser, now that you have survived "Medusa's Web" (I loved it, especially for its different kind of happy ending), you can take on "The Anubis Gates" ... if you dare. That book just might be the wildest historical hayride ever attempted. Tim Powers has made alternate history his own in a way no one else can even approach. Thank you for the Book Thread, my favorite outlet for This Sort of Thing.

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at September 08, 2024 09:14 AM (wwf+q)

27 Is Allie lying on the dishtowels, because that is a very cat thing to do...

Congrats, OrangeEnt! and many more.

For Belloc fans- Os Justi Press has a new edition of The Path to Rome that is very nice. The reproduction of the sketches is very sharp and the typeface is lovely.

Posted by: sal at September 08, 2024 09:14 AM (bx3Km)

28 Blogger.com is still free (aka blogspot)

Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 08, 2024 09:14 AM (MpVUb)

29 Just read a short story about a time jumper (was it by Niven? It's all a blur) and temporal hopping will eff with your mind. There's always a worse timeline than your own -- sometimes much worse.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024

***
"All the Myriad Ways"?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:15 AM (omVj0)

30 I finally reached the front of the queue at the library and got to read Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance. A poignant story of escape from a poor, highly dysfunctional family through hard work and perseverance became a candidate for Vice President of the United States.

Posted by: Zoltan at September 08, 2024 09:15 AM (bcrtw)

31 I'm slowly making my way through a pile of books I picked up over the last couple of weeks. As I said above, I finished The Monster of Florence; now I am reading Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane about the murder of servant girl Jane Clouson, an almost-forgotten crime now, but one which caught the attention of most of England in the late 1870s.

And I'm making my way through The Last Kaiser, a 2000 bio of Wilhelm II. Interesting, but it's hard to keep track of all the major and minor players.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:16 AM (Q0kLU)

32 Speaking of, saw a 70's tv movie about a doppelgänger Earth (starring Zephram Cochran!) located on the opposite side of our sun. The theory of parallel development even covered the Terrans speaking America English and driving Chevy land whales! 😆

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:16 AM (kpS4V)

33 What did you dislike about anno dracula

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:17 AM (PXvVL)

34 And with apologies to wrewife, I tried reading Betrayal in Blood. I couldn't make it past the free kindle sample. Just left me cold,
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM
****
Heck, you never have to apologize for that. If we all liked the same books, the hold queues at the public library would last forever!

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at September 08, 2024 09:17 AM (wwf+q)

35 This week's reading is book two of the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny, The Guns of Avalon.

Corwin, after failing in book one to prevent his brother from being crowned in Amber, has escaped Eric's dungeon and is plotting his next move. Having spent many years on the shadow world of Earth, Corwin knows of gunpowder, but also that it does not ignite in Amber. He does, however, know of one substance that will, and an idea of how to procure it.

Corwin must return to his old haunt of Avalon and travel through multiple shadow worlds to make the necessary preparations, and gather the needed troops before his return. He will also need to elude his brothers as he marches on Amber.

This series has a clever story line, and and was quite original for its time. The play of a modern thinking character behaving and conversing in a medieval type of world is very creative.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:18 AM (OJIRt)

36 And dear Perfesser, now that you have survived "Medusa's Web" (I loved it, especially for its different kind of happy ending), you can take on "The Anubis Gates" ... if you dare. That book just might be the wildest historical hayride ever attempted. Tim Powers has made alternate history his own in a way no one else can even approach. Thank you for the Book Thread, my favorite outlet for This Sort of Thing.
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at September 08, 2024 09:14 AM (wwf+q)
---
I have read The Anubis Gates and yes, it's a wild ride of a time-travel story. Good example of the "bootstrap paradox."

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 08, 2024 09:18 AM (BpYfr)

37 "This YouTube video showed up in my queue recently. I know Malcolm Guite has been recommended around here more than once, so I thought I'd give it a watch. I was very pleasantly entertained. "

Perfessor (and others),

Malcolm Guite's YT channel is a delight. It is worth your time to watch his other videos and ones where he is a guest on other channels. He can bring insight even into well known literature and does so with joy and passion. (He is also a dedicated pipe smoker which adds to my appeal.) The man is a treasure and a worthy descendant to Chesterton, Tolkien and CS Lewis. The poetic Arthuriad he is working on, supposed to be out starting late next year by Rabbit Room Press, should be wonderful. His books about liturgy are also excellent. I on the way to owning everything he has published and NEVER miss his new videos on YT.

Yes. I am a fan.

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 09:19 AM (zudum)

38 Man, I was really looking forward to settling in with Erik Larson's "The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War", then I began reading the introduction:

"I was well into my research on the saga of Fort Sumter and the advent of the American Civil War when the events of January 6, 2021, took place. As I watched the Capitol assault unfold on camera, I had the eerie feeling that the present and past had merged. I was appalled by the attack, but also riveted."

How can I trust Larson's discernment?

I read and (mostly) enjoyed his overly detailed compendium of personalities, and the historical background leading up to Fort Sumter was interesting, but in the back of my mind there always lurked his bullshit take on what was basically a bunch of rowdy seniors being velvet roped to the gallows.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:19 AM (kpS4V)

39 Hey, OE, if you write SF stories, please pay attention to Raconteur Press, who have to date released no fewer than 35 themed anthologies, with themes bouncing off the walls -- and they pay! Keep an eye on their website for future invitations for submissions. . . .

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at September 08, 2024

***
OrangeEnt told me about Raconteur, I think. I have a "Wyrd West" story out to them now. Their closing date for that anthology just passed, and they say their contracts (acceptances) will go out around 9/21.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:20 AM (omVj0)

40 Divers' bodies are recovered each year from her caves, and those that regularly enter these passages are a select few.

Are we still talking about Madonna?

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:20 AM (eDfFs)

41 There was kim newman offering that was set in the 60d with too many british specific references like jason kingi

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:20 AM (PXvVL)

42 Speaking of, saw a 70's tv movie about a doppelgänger Earth (starring Zephram Cochran!) located on the opposite side of our sun. The theory of parallel development even covered the Terrans speaking America English and driving Chevy land whales! 😆
Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:16 AM (kpS4V)
===
I've seen that. It had a very Land of the Giants look and feel.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 08, 2024 09:20 AM (RIvkX)

43 Eris, do you recall the movie title?

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 08, 2024 09:21 AM (RIvkX)

44 Good Sunday morning, horde.

Congrats to pookysgirl! And happy birthday, Hadrian!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 09:21 AM (OX9vb)

45 And as far as my own writing. . .it's coming along very slowly. As I mentioned a few weeks back, I simply don't seem to have a lot of interest in this particular story, and I'm not sure why. I think part of it is because of the era in which it is set (1922 is too modern for my taste), partly because the relationship between the narrator and heroine is very different from the first two books (can't say why; that's the twist) and, partly, because I feel like a fraud.

Or more to the point, I feel like I am play-acting at being a writer. I suppose that's because I don't write every day (one big source of my problems), but I haven't been able to shake the feeling that I am just pretending to be a writer and am not really one.

Do any of you other self-published Morons ever get that feeling, or is it just me?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:22 AM (Q0kLU)

46 While we're on the subject of Kim Newman, let me recommend his "Diogenes Club" series, which is different from the Anno Dracula series, except that some of the same characters are in both.

Basically the Diogenes Club is England's secret paranormal investigations bureau -- their BPRD or MHI. There's one book of stories set in the early 20th century, and a second in the Swinging London era. I probably got only a fraction of the British literary and pop-culture references.

As is mandatory for British writers, he has to bag on Thatcher every now and then, because lefties have no eternal truths, only eternal grudges.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:22 AM (78a2H)

47 Speaking of, saw a 70's tv movie about a doppelgänger Earth (starring Zephram Cochran!) located on the opposite side of our sun. The theory of parallel development even covered the Terrans speaking America English and driving Chevy land whales! 😆
Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024

***
I recall a British theatrical movie of about the same time, or a little earlier, with the same concept. I *think* it was called Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:23 AM (omVj0)

48 What did you dislike about anno dracula

It's been years, but I recall a feces-eating scene that made me throw the book at the wall.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:23 AM (Q0kLU)

49 How can I trust Larson's discernment?

I read and (mostly) enjoyed his overly detailed compendium of personalities, and the historical background leading up to Fort Sumter was interesting, but in the back of my mind there always lurked his bullshit take on what was basically a bunch of rowdy seniors being velvet roped to the gallows.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:19 AM (kpS4V)

Same here. Didn't even finish it, I was so put off.
A huge disappointment.

Posted by: sal at September 08, 2024 09:23 AM (bx3Km)

50 Thats the one i wss referring to

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:23 AM (PXvVL)

51 I went for pure reading pleasure and satisfaction in rereading some of Matt Hughes tales of the Archonate. His series of stories, set in the far future and the dying earth, remind many of Vance. Matthew Hughes, IMHO, is the best Canadian science fiction writer. But I like his stories better than Vance.

The Archonate tales sparkle with wit, keen observations of the human condition, good plotting, and strong characterizations.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 08, 2024 09:24 AM (u82oZ)

52 The movie about the counter-Earth is called Doppelganger, or (for its American release) Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. It was made by Gerry Anderson, of Thunderbirds and Space: 1999 fame, which explains why the model work is so good and the story so by-the-numbers.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:25 AM (78a2H)

53 I recall a British theatrical movie of about the same time, or a little earlier, with the same concept. I *think* it was called Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024

***
It was 1969, British (Gerry Anderson), and had Roy Thinnes of The Invaders as the star. So I guess not the same movie as Eris mentioned.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:25 AM (omVj0)

54 Ok thats gratuitous

Larson was looking in an altverse where the delta house storm the capital and hang norma desmond

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:25 AM (PXvVL)

55 The guy who taught me diving while I was stationed in Florida was a rescue cave diver.

Pretty much every single lesson included a never ever ever ever attempt cave diving!!!!!!!!1111! warning.

He said even rescuers get turned around sometimes and wind up dying trying to rescue others.

The biggest surprise were his stories of people diving in caves who had no idea how much air would be required for a dive. Plenty of guys would dive to reach some cave, take pictures all smiling, but at that moment they were around dead because they didn't have enough air to get back,

and water +solid rock make for poor breathing.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:25 AM (eDfFs)

56 Divers' bodies are recovered each year from her caves, and those that regularly enter these passages are a select few.

I can't remember the title, but I read a book a while ago about the dangers of diving on the Andrea Doria wreck and how even world-class divers have died down there.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:26 AM (Q0kLU)

57 That movie with Glenn Corbett was "The Stranger", and it was clearly the pilot for a series that never took off.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:27 AM (kpS4V)

58 I liked the apocalypse now version of dracula if coppola had done it in the 70s

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:27 AM (PXvVL)

59 Diving is a sport for detail-obsessed cowards. Brave divers don't live long.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:27 AM (78a2H)

60 Speaking of, saw a 70's tv movie about a doppelgänger Earth (starring Zephram Cochran!) located on the opposite side of our sun. The theory of parallel development even covered the Terrans speaking America English and driving Chevy land whales! 😆
Posted by: All Hail Eris

I believe that there is still a working theory that our solar system math doesn't quite work out; that there must be another celestial body somewhere. Directly opposite the sun would be an ideal place to have an invisible planet of the correct mass.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:28 AM (OJIRt)

61 I read Template: A Novel of the Archonate, one of Matthew Hughes best novels. It is part identity crisis, part detective story, and part cultural examination. Lots of fun.

I also read The Spiral Labyrinth: Tales of Henghis Hapthorn, which is the culminating tale of Hengus Hapthorn, Old Earth's foremost free-lance discriminator and committed empiricist. He has been on quite a journey over the Archonate series, and this ends very satisfactorily.

I highly recommend the entire Archonate series.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 08, 2024 09:28 AM (u82oZ)

62 around = already

...I...I have no idea how that could happen..

Tnx, AC?

Stupid fingers?

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:29 AM (eDfFs)

63 Marvel Comics in the 1970s had Counter-Earth, a planet built on the opposite side of the sun. Now I wonder who had the idea first.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:29 AM (p/isN)

64 Finished the latest Orphan X novel, "Lone Wolf" by Gregg Hurwitz. Very scary look at what AI may be used for in the future. The book left open a path to the next novel, "Nemesis" which comes out in February. I've already pre ordered it. Love Orphan X. The man knows his weapons and vodka.

Posted by: Tuna at September 08, 2024 09:30 AM (oaGWv)

65 Perfesser Squirrel, definitely don't do that guy's challenge... If you dangle bait like that for the Horde, they'll just recommend all the vilest garbage they can come up with.

I'd start with "Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea," Chelsea Handler's autobiography.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 09:30 AM (0FoWg)

66 Thomas Paine

Alas, the polar solar observer satellites would have found it. Nothing in the same orbit opposite earth.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 08, 2024 09:30 AM (u82oZ)

67 ...It was made by Gerry Anderson, of Thunderbirds and Space: 1999 fame, which explains why the model work is so good and the story so by-the-numbers.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:25 AM (78a2H)
==

No love for UFO?!

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 08, 2024 09:30 AM (RIvkX)

68 Last week I finished L. Sprague de Camp's Great Cities of the Ancient World, and as usual with his stuff, I learned new things. Clearly he had fun writing it. He mentions his visits over a number of decades to the sites of many of the ancient cities; there is at least one B & W photo of the ruins or the modern location, or both.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:31 AM (omVj0)

69 And thd screenplay for the first scenes in anno drscula

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:31 AM (PXvVL)

70 On my errands yesterday, I spotted a sign in a strip shopping center -- "Used Book Store." I think I remember that place being there years ago. It was raining, or I'd have stopped to check it out. I will soon. Astonishing; I thought I knew all the very few used book stores in town.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (omVj0)
---
You should have gone in and carried a bottle of rye with you. Never know when you'll run into a hot book chick and an afternoon to kill.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 09:31 AM (llXky)

71 Do any of you other self-published Morons ever get that feeling, or is it just me?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:22 AM (Q0kLU)

MP4,

~~Fear~~ Self-Doubt is the Mind Killer.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:32 AM (eDfFs)

72 I liked the apocalypse now version of dracula if coppola had done it in the 70s
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:27 AM (PXvVL)
-----
It took me a while to realize that's what it was, but then it made the whole section of the book that much more entertaining...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 08, 2024 09:32 AM (BpYfr)

73 Partly as a counter to all the infuriating news, and supposed journalists, that bombard us, I dip into so-called children's books for the writing and the illustrations. Wind in the Willows, the Brambly Hedge stories, and others are regulars.

This week it was "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" by Charlie Mackesy. The writing is entirely positive and can be profound in it's simplicity. His illustrations are rather simple, sometimes almost scribbles, but he conveys so much emotion in these simple lines. (Eric Sloane does the same in some of his pen and ink illustrations.) A few reviewers slammed it as just a collection of adages. These people have the imagination and appreciation of life as a used bandage.

Highly recommended if you want a lovely, positive book.

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 09:32 AM (zudum)

74 Zounds that could cause dane brammage

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:32 AM (PXvVL)

75 I do in fact love U.F.O., and it's kind of sad that nobody has tried a big-budget reboot of it. Set it in the far-future year of 2024, when the secret war against alien invaders is being waged using an eccentric tycoon's private space launch project as a cover story. It has to be secret because alien operatives already have implanted mind-control chips in various political leaders -- the tell is that their speech is confused and nonsensical.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:33 AM (78a2H)

76 I believe that there is still a working theory that our solar system math doesn't quite work out; that there must be another celestial body somewhere. Directly opposite the sun would be an ideal place to have an invisible planet of the correct mass.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024

***
Why wouldn't there need to be duplicates of all the planets? That would lift the ranking of our Sun -- eighteen planets (yes, I count Pluto, so sue me) instead of nine. Of course some of the giant stars out there could have a hundred planets.

Or does the theory say there should be only one more, a total of ten, for some reason?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:34 AM (omVj0)

77 good morning Perfessor, Horde

The Zoomer trend of hanging out in libraries is promising. They're reading books and discussing them. And they're having fun in real life.

Posted by: callsign claymore at September 08, 2024 09:34 AM (1y9Ku)

78 I'd start with "Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea," Chelsea Handler's autobiography.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice
---
Stacey Abrams' bodice-rippers

Posted by: screaming in digital at September 08, 2024 09:35 AM (iZbyp)

79 There's actually a whole series of books out there involving Sherlock Holmes confronting supernatural phenomena.

I don't know if Latham wrote the others, or if it's an anthology. I never read them, because it seemed to cut against the spirit of the actual canon, but I could be mistaken.

Posted by: Dr. T at September 08, 2024 09:35 AM (lHPJf)

80 I think if it came down to reading Chelsea Handler's autobiography or eating a 5lb sack of light bulbs, I'd just take Door #3 and shoot myself.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 09:35 AM (0FoWg)

81 Not a lot of time to read this week, so still plowing thru "This Perfect Day".

Fun read.

Ira Levin is always a pleasure to read. Very crisp, very clear writer, with great discipline.

For those of you who wish to learn to write fiction, or anything else, his books are pretty much a master class.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:35 AM (eDfFs)

82 Yay book thread!

Finished Vladimir Nabokov's Mary. It was his first novel, but was only published in English after he became famous. It's very short, but not a quick read. Lots and lots of description, minute detail for what was a pretty straightforward story about how a Russian emigre in Weimar Berlin decides to leave the past behind and get on with his life.

I'm now digging into Ernst Junger's Storm of Steel, and it's quite interesting.

Just like Saipan, I find stories of people getting shot, stabbed, blown up and such oddly comforting. My mother (and later my wife) can't understand how I can read this stuff at bedtime and have a deep, contented sleep, but there you are.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 09:35 AM (llXky)

83 The bit in the post about leaving the bookstore is so appropriate. With the most sincere resolutions, I'm always drawn back for more books. Used bookstores are the most dangerous to my resolve.

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 09:36 AM (zudum)

84 From observations of exoplanets we're coming to realize that planetary formation seems to be very chaotic: lots of protoplanets form, then most of them get weeded out through collisions or gravity slingshots. This suggests there must be a _lot_ of planet-sized objects in interstellar space.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:36 AM (78a2H)

85 Do any of you other self-published Morons ever get that feeling, or is it just me?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:22 AM (Q0kLU)

All the time.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 08, 2024 09:36 AM (q3u5l)

86 The Children of the Night approve this message. Can't you hear their sweet music?

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention? The official music of the ONT, beloved by all?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at September 08, 2024 09:37 AM (a3Q+t)

87 I do in fact love U.F.O., and it's kind of sad that nobody has tried a big-budget reboot of it. Set it in the far-future year of 2024, when the secret war against alien invaders is being waged using an eccentric tycoon's private space launch project as a cover story. It has to be secret because alien operatives already have implanted mind-control chips in various political leaders -- the tell is that their speech is confused and nonsensical.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:33 AM (78a2H)
---
Purple-haired chicks in miniskirts running the lunar station would be very current day, if you think about it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 09:37 AM (llXky)

88 A few years back, the library in Jackson, WY had a Blind Date shelf. The books were wrapped in brown paper, so one had no idea what the book was.

I enjoyed a couple of good reads that way. One I especially liked was The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt. It's a western, and Eli and Charlie sisters have been tasked with traveling west to assassinate a man. Charlie's not especially willing, but a job is a job, and he's kind of obligated to go with his brother, so adventures ensue.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 09:37 AM (OX9vb)

89 You should have gone in and carried a bottle of rye with you. Never know when you'll run into a hot book chick and an afternoon to kill.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024

***
And I was wearing one of my fedoras, too!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:37 AM (omVj0)

90 Where does elon live again

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:37 AM (PXvVL)

91 This week's trash read: In Ruth Ware's "One Perfect Couple", a post-doc research scientist whose contract hasn't been renewed is cajoled by her aspiring actor boyfriend to participate in a new reality show. They're whisked off to a tiny desert island in the Indian Ocean, where they and other couples are supposed to frolic and fight for the cameras. But a massive storm tears through the region and they are left with no power, no comms, and dwindling supplies. It turns into Lord if the Flies for pretty people.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:38 AM (kpS4V)

92 The guy who taught me diving while I was stationed in Florida was a rescue cave diver.

Pretty much every single lesson included a never ever ever ever attempt cave diving!!!!!!!!1111! warning.

He said even rescuers get turned around sometimes and wind up dying trying to rescue others.

The biggest surprise were his stories of people diving in caves who had no idea how much air would be required for a dive.
Posted by: naturalfake

My instructor was one of those guys who was called to retrieve bodies in caves. He was intense because of it. By the time I was certified in basic, I was probably qualified as Rescue. One of my first lessons; he wrapped my gear and weights around a tank, threw it into the pool, let it sink, and then told me, "go down there and get your gear on, properly, and don't come up until it is correct".

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:38 AM (OJIRt)

93 A shoutout to David Poyer, one of the best current authors of naval themed books today.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 08, 2024 09:38 AM (a1415)

94 I believe that there is still a working theory that our solar system math doesn't quite work out; that there must be another celestial body somewhere. Directly opposite the sun would be an ideal place to have an invisible planet of the correct mass.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:28 AM (OJIRt)

If I'm not mistaken, scientists have determined either that the existence of such a planet would have disturbed our own orbit, or that it would have fallen out of orbit itself. Something to do with Lagrangian motion, I think.

Posted by: Dr. T at September 08, 2024 09:39 AM (lHPJf)

95 Congrats, Orange ENT. I will go read and vote.

Also, Wolfus, I read Ant Farm. Good story, and I hope to see more.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 09:40 AM (OX9vb)

96 At long last, I finished reading "Swords of the Steppes" the fourth and final anthology of Harold Lamb's Cossack-themed pulp stories. There were some good stories in this collection. But there was also a lot of stuff that was hard to get through. Being the last book in the collection, this is where all the 'miscellaneous' stories ended up: all the one-shots with lead characters who were too bland or boring to warrant a second appearance. The collection included a long stretch (maybe a dozen) of single-chapter stories. Oftentimes, I'd finish a story, put down the book (e-reader), and then not feel the need/urge to pick it up again for days, weeks, or even months....

Interestingly, this was the only of the four collections to include 'contemporary' stories. There were a few stories that took place in World War II, which was somewhat contemporary when written (Harold Lamb wrote from the 20's to the 60's), and are far more modern than the 1600-1850 range that most of the stories took place. And while those stories felt oddly times (The Cossack homeland of Ukraine being invaded) the character (and old horseman) felt way out of place in world of trucks, tanks, planes and such...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 08, 2024 09:40 AM (Lhaco)

97 90 Where does elon live again

Rent free in our heads.

Posted by: Leftists everywhere at September 08, 2024 09:40 AM (dg+HA)

98 Professor, the Bing homepage has a pic of Stockholm public library.

Posted by: dantesed at September 08, 2024 09:41 AM (Oy/m2)

99 Im reminded of greg coxs take on the eugenics wars where they were happening in plain sight in the 70s through the 90s

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:41 AM (PXvVL)

100 Now I'm imagining an "The Invaders" / "UFO" crossover. A guy on a one-man campaign against what he knows to be an alien invasion is recruited by a secret alien defense organization and realizes that he hasn't been alone all this time.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:41 AM (p/isN)

101 Village Idiot's Apprentice

Top o ta mornin to ya, gov'nor.

I am hearing you are going to extreme measures today to lose weight. For when walking in not enough.

Hope it is a good day and good procedure for you.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 08, 2024 09:41 AM (u82oZ)

102 Stacey Abrams' bodice-rippers
Posted by: screaming in digital at September 08, 2024 09:35 AM (iZbyp)

The torrid 'Moby Dick II: Dick Harder' is a shocking and transgressive tale of forbidden romance off the coast of Georgia, where the stern but sensual skipper of a deep sea fishing vessel learns that his hatred of white whales is surpassed only by his passion for black ones.

Pre-order today. This erotic tour de force will make your gorge rise.

Posted by: Stacy's Agent at September 08, 2024 09:42 AM (0FoWg)

103 I do in fact love U.F.O., and it's kind of sad that nobody has tried a big-budget reboot of it.

"The only thing they got right about the 1980s was purple hair and minivans."
-- Mike B.

(RIP Mike. I miss you buddy.)

Posted by: Oddbob at September 08, 2024 09:43 AM (/y8xj)

104 Gary 7 is part of the investigating team

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:43 AM (PXvVL)

105 Have a great day, everyone.

May your books entertain and illuminate.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 08, 2024 09:43 AM (u82oZ)

106 Do any of you other self-published Morons ever get that feeling, or is it just me?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:22 AM (Q0kLU)
---
Early on, yes, but that was subsumed by the stronger need to finish an actual book. Now that've I checked that box and found modest success (at least by my own reckoning), writing is a bit different.

I mean, every book reaches a point where I'm sick of the project and just want to get it done and the last few weeks are a painful grind. Then I take a break, and find something else.

I suppose part of my current mood is that writing has been rendered impossible by the Irish Twins rampaging through my house 24/7. With preschool underway, they are getting close to following a consistent schedule, and so writing seems very attractive to me at the moment. Separation making the heart grow fonder and all that.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 09:43 AM (llXky)

107 Do any of you other self-published Morons ever get that feeling, or is it just me?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024

***
I'm not self-published yet, but I've known that self-doubt. With all its drawbacks, which only became visible in 2016 and afterward with the Clinton and Obama lovers surfacing like submarines, my writing group was invaluable training. You produce because everyone else is, and you want to contribute; you do a kind of self-editing as you go, because you know if you let sloppy plotting or stilted dialogue get by you, someone else will call you on it.

A group might not be a bad thing for you, MPPPP, at least to get you over the hump.

In the meantime, as others have suggested, put this one aside if it's boring you, and write something else. An earlier adventure of Theda & Co., set prior to the current one, maybe.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:43 AM (omVj0)

108 Why wouldn't there need to be duplicates of all the planets? That would lift the ranking of our Sun -- eighteen planets (yes, I count Pluto, so sue me) instead of nine. Of course some of the giant stars out there could have a hundred planets.

Or does the theory say there should be only one more, a total of ten, for some reason?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

The idea is that there should be a slightly higher total mass in the solar system, corresponding to one more planet. I think this is why everyone was searching for what became Pluto.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:44 AM (OJIRt)

109 I just finished reading Preston's The Monster of Florence. I never knew the Italians threatened to throw him in jail because he dared propose a different suspect for the Florentine murders than the 'satanic circle' theory the police proposed.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (Q0kLU)

Oh, I read that a few years ago, and never made the connection that he was of the Preston/Child duo. I've never read any of those, so it didn't click that that's who he is.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 09:44 AM (OX9vb)

110 Weak Geek: If I remember, during the final season of _The Invaders_ that's sort of what happened. David Vincent did run into a group of sympathetic sorts in government who were aware of the invasion. Though apparently the loss of the paranoia element made the show less popular so it got canceled.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:44 AM (78a2H)

111 Read a bunch of Ira Levin this week -- had forgotten just how much fun he is. Blackstone Publishing is in the process of reprinting all his books and they'll be doing some of the plays starting in early 2025.

Got a feeling I read his last book, Son of Rosemary, too quickly -- the ending seems at first glance like a total botch, but Levin was too much of a pro for that and some of the final dialogue suggests there was a lot more there than met this kid's too-hasty eye.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 08, 2024 09:44 AM (q3u5l)

112 MP4 - ayup. But only on days ending in 'Why?'

Posted by: goatexchange at September 08, 2024 09:45 AM (RSCrA)

113 What is it with cheap bastid publishers not including maps? Nonfiction as well as fiction! My "Amber Chronicles" doorstop didn't bother to include maps (shame on you, Eos Publishing!) so I had to googulate some from the Interwang.

At least it got me to dig up my copy of "The Writer's Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands" by Huw Lewis-Jones. No Amber, but lots of cool stuff.

"I wisely started with a map and made the story fit." -- J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:45 AM (kpS4V)

114 Ace dropped a fantasy book recommendation this week, as a testosterone booster for soyboys. I put it into my Barnes cart, haven't gotten up to free shipping yet. Anyone read Chronicles of Amber?

Posted by: Candidus at September 08, 2024 09:45 AM (FGsxa)

115 "Dick Harder" is the skipper's name in case you haven't figured that out.

Posted by: Just a tease at September 08, 2024 09:45 AM (dg+HA)

116
Partly as a counter to all the infuriating news, and supposed journalists, that bombard us, I dip into so-called children's books ..

This week it was "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" by Charlie Mackesy. The writing is entirely positive and can be profound in its simplicity. His illustrations are rather simple, sometimes almost scribbles, but he conveys so much emotion in these simple lines....A few reviewers slammed it as just a collection of adages. These people have the imagination and appreciation of life as a used bandage....

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 09:32 AM (zudum)

You recommended this book last year?..a couple of years ago?.

I any event, I was looking for some children's books for a gift at the time so I looked it over.

Eh, this really struck me as a "children's book" written for adults or, rather the adults reading it to their children. Nothing wrong but the story and illustrations in particular are aimed at the wrong age group. I would've been bored silly as a child with it.

If anyone wants to buy it for a child, I recommend giving it a looks first. If for yourself, carry on!

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:46 AM (eDfFs)

117 Also, Wolfus, I read Ant Farm. Good story, and I hope to see more.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024

***
Thank you! I like to think of it as a kind of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits story, or the sort of tale Campbell might have run in Unknown Worlds in the Forties.

Nobody has left any reviews of the book yet, though it's highly rated. If you get the chance, please do leave a short review.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:47 AM (omVj0)

118 I've been reading the Cossack books of Harlod Lamb on my old Barns and Noble e-reader, and it feels appropriate that as I finish those books, I retire that e-reader. It's a Nook Simple Touch, and it has been deemed obsolete by B&N. The software is too old and it won't connect to the store anymore, so the only way to add new books to it is to side-load them from a computer. It's sad to see a 'book' go obsolete, but I suppose I sort of understand...

Anyways, I bought a new Nook Glowlight 4, which will be an improvement. (self-illuminating, some page-turning buttons on the side so I don't have to tap the screen) I'll be setting up the new device soon. I also have a Kindle Paperwhite, but I like having a non-Amazon devise as an option. Both to keep Amazon from having too much of a monopoly, and because the Nooks epub files, which I get a lot of via Humble Bundle e-book sales.

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 08, 2024 09:47 AM (Lhaco)

119 How can I trust Larson's discernment?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:19 AM (kpS4V)
---
There are red flags in various topics that tell you the author is an idiot. Guernica is a famous one for the Spanish Civil War, there are some work WW II tropes as well, and now J6 has materialized to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Even taking the event super-seriously, how was it supposed to work? A bunch of unarmed pensioners were going to topple the US government while 20,000 National Guardsmen were munching on MREs?

It's not the politics of the thing, it's the logistics, and one can't take military/political history seriously if that is ignored.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 09:47 AM (llXky)

120 "Now that Dracula has been brought up, there's an opportunity to plug my favorite crossover novel, Sherlock Holmes: A Betrayal in Blood, by Mark A. Latham! Don't miss this one:"

After the mention last book thread, I have a copy arriving this week. Of course the local library doesn't have it. Much as I enjoy the original stories, some of the cross over books have been enjoyable. This one sounds like fun reading.

While looking at ordering the book I came across mention of another Holmes take-off: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Cat by Patricia Srigley. Holmes finds a kitten to fill the void after Watson moves away with his new wife. Much of the story is from the cat's POV. Reminds me of the Chet and Bernie series. Just started it but it looks to be a fun, casual read.

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 09:48 AM (zudum)

121 Weak Geek: If I remember, during the final season of _The Invaders_ that's sort of what happened. David Vincent did run into a group of sympathetic sorts in government who were aware of the invasion. Though apparently the loss of the paranoia element made the show less popular so it got canceled.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024

***
MeTV runs them early on Sunday mornings, and I've seen a few. Vincent had a steady ally played by, I want to say Dan O'Herlihy, but that's not right.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:49 AM (omVj0)

122 @110 --

I have "The Invaders" on DVD, but I haven't gotten into the second season. Still finishing "The Magician" -- and that, too, goes slowly because I have so much to read.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:49 AM (p/isN)

123 What is it with cheap bastid publishers not including maps? Nonfiction as well as fiction! My "Amber Chronicles" doorstop didn't bother to include maps (shame on you, Eos Publishing!) so I had to googulate some from the Interwang.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:45 AM (kpS4V)
---
I'm not sure if there is a canonical map of Amber and its surroundings. All of the images I found looked quite a bit different from each other.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 08, 2024 09:50 AM (BpYfr)

124 I watched The Invaders on late-night UHF broadcast TV as a teenager, so I'm sure I didn't see the episodes in any kind of series order, and there were a lot of ads for waterbeds.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:52 AM (78a2H)

125 Wouldn't a map of Amber look like a Venn diagram?

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:53 AM (p/isN)

126 Even taking the event super-seriously, how was it supposed to work? A bunch of unarmed pensioners were going to topple the US government while 20,000 National Guardsmen were munching on MREs?

It's not the politics of the thing, it's the logistics, and one can't take military/political history seriously if that is ignored.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
-----
Thank you for this view point! I never thought about it this way before but I will now.

Posted by: lin-duh at September 08, 2024 09:53 AM (VCgbV)

127 Kent smith they say

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:53 AM (PXvVL)

128 Anyone read Chronicles of Amber?
Posted by: Candidus

I am reading them now. Review of book two is up around post number 36.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:54 AM (OJIRt)

129 What is it with cheap bastid publishers not including maps? Nonfiction as well as fiction! My "Amber Chronicles" doorstop didn't bother to include maps (shame on you, Eos Publishing!) so I had to googulate some from the Interwang.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:45 AM (kpS4V)
---
Both my history books come with maps which reviewers have either praised or damned.

Some years ago I bought a reprint of Churchill's The River War which of course had no map. I found one online, printed it to size and pasted it inside the back cover.

Made the book a lot more understandable and enjoyable.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 09:54 AM (llXky)

130 " Corwin knows of gunpowder, but also that it does not ignite in Amber. He does, however, know of one substance that will, and an idea of how to procure it."

You see, right there, is something that would make me drop the book in frustration. Because any constraint that would prevent gunpowder from working would probably also prevent life from working. It is a sort of stupid magic, seems to me.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 08, 2024 09:55 AM (Bijxa)

131 Lots of good reading as normal.
I like to break up subjects as eventually I will tire of history only.(even if mixing up ancient, aviation, naval, Churchill, Teddy R, Durant & more)

I try to borrow just released non-fiction audio books as they're added to my libraries system. Found some good titles this way, but also lots of clunkers. (Which I've finally learned to stop & immediately return.)

Last week's surprise find: Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer.
A detailed book all about parasites. Very thorough on organism types from tiny on up, behaviors, strategies and also a few movie examples. I did not expect to become as engaged as I did with this book. (Pt 2 to follow)

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 08, 2024 09:55 AM (L1omb)

132 Speaking of children's books -

There's a Museum of Printing in my town, so I go over there occasionally to see what's new or buy some new things they've made from their different presses.

They have a book for sale called The World's Smallest Letterpress Shop, which is about, as the title says, a woman who has a tiny letterpress shop. One night she can't finish a job, so the ghost of Gutenberg appears and completes the job for her.

https://tinyurl.com/2r4z3wp8

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:56 AM (Q0kLU)

133 I think J6 has become kind of a psychological crutch for conformist lefties who aren't idiots. They're smart enough to know that the Democrats are corrupt, wokeness is a pernicious cult, and "progressivism" is a trainwreck -- but they're too cowardly and conformist to go against the tide, and too status-conscious to associate with the "wrong people." So they blow J6 up into this huge Fort Sumter/March on Rome/Worst Thing Ever event to justify themselves.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:56 AM (78a2H)

134 The Long Earth saga sounds bonkers. Just read a short story about a time jumper (was it by Niven? It's all a blur) and temporal hopping will eff with your mind. There's always a worse timeline than your own -- sometimes much worse.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 08, 2024 09:13 AM (kpS4V)

My favorite alternate world books (better than Piper's Paratime) were by Michael Kurland.
Perchance is a "man who knew too much" sort of story, where a young shoemaker's apprentice is chosen for "mentalist" treatments by a shadowy government agency that is trying to crack the secret of an amnesiac young woman who can escape locked rooms in her asylum and is found wandering miles away, and discovers the multiverse. and her actual identity
The Whenabouts of Burr is the story of the special investigator of the President and his old friend an Insurance investigator trying to find out why the US Constitution is now signed also by Aaron Burr, with no clues except a gold coin with the head of Aaron Burr with the legend Imp. Mexico, and stumble onto the paraverse

Posted by: Kindltot at September 08, 2024 09:56 AM (D7oie)

135 Regarding the picture mocking the idea of having 'enough books to last a lifetime,' I have enough comics to read for the next year, but still feel the urge to browse the proposed comics of Kickstarter.

First was a set of three cowboy comics staring a guy named 'Tex.' I've bought books from this publisher before, so I know what to expect. Great art, but the stories can be hit or miss. Still, three hardcovers for 60-some dollars is a decent deal (compared to what I sometimes buy). It was an easy purchase to make.

Also on the site I found a comic called 'Clovis.' It stars a Native American girl living during the ice age. That should be right up my alley....but the art looks terrible (or at least not-to-my-tastes) and the preview pages imply a sappy tone to the book. Alas, I can't in good conscience buy a book I'm so confidant I wouldn't like.

Lastly, I saw a 'Tigress' collection, which looks like un-apologetic exploitation/schlock inspired by the jungle-girls of the golden age of pulp. That also could be right up my alley, or it could be crap. There's not enough preview art on the website to determine which. I'm still deciding whether it's worth the money...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 08, 2024 09:56 AM (Lhaco)

136 Greetings Book People. And thank you, Professor, for another Book Thread. I look forward to it each week.

I finished Loren Estelman’s Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula. It was….okay. Easy to read, had a Young Adult feel to it - not that there’s anything wrong with that, I’ve read some great YA books over the years. The ending left me flat. Oh well…

I’ve begun The World Is Too Small: The Life and Times of Mother Cabrini. I know next to nothing about her, so it should be interesting.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at September 08, 2024 09:57 AM (lEs6Y)

137 Sinister forces are at work, seekers, and we are in the last dark days of the old republic.

Out mowing with the big rig on the far margins of the property, I saw large print on art paper and dismounted to find the dust cover of a hardcover Taylor Caldwell "A Pillar of Iron" lodged up against the fence. It's hard to imagine who in my neighborhood read it, but now I'm wondering who, owning a copy, would discard that dust cover. Book review?

It's about Cicero -- and War & Peace is about Russia.

However, I still do not believe that autumn begins Sept 1.
That's for those who hunt deer with buckshot.

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at September 08, 2024 09:58 AM (zdLoL)

138 Last week's surprise find: Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer.
A detailed book all about parasites. Very thorough on organism types from tiny on up, behaviors, strategies and also a few movie examples. I did not expect to become as engaged as I did with this book. (Pt 2 to follow)
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 08, 2024 09:55 AM (L1omb)

One of my faves in non-fiction. I found it in the 90s, IIRC.

Totally, fascinating and a great read.

Nature is a stone-cold psycho killer bitch!

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:58 AM (eDfFs)

139 Anyway, I must run and try to at least finish the scene I've been struggling with (not that I don't know where it's going; I am just having trouble writing).

Thanks for the advice and kind thoughts. Hope you all have a lovely weekend and will see you Tuesday.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:59 AM (Q0kLU)

140 I recall a British theatrical movie of about the same time, or a little earlier, with the same concept. I *think* it was called Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:23 AM (omVj0)

I am pretty sure that two planets sharing the same orbit is not stable in the long term, nor would the opposite always be invisible, Our orbit is an ellipse, so Earth moves faster when in perigee, and slower when in apogee. Result? One ought to be able to see the doppleganger, albeit close to the Sun, twice a year.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 08, 2024 10:00 AM (GuRu/)

141 Once you read Parasite Rex you will never lack for cocktail party conversation again. However, after the first few cool parasite anecdotes, you may lack for conversation _partners_.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:01 AM (78a2H)

142 I'm up to page 422 of "The Life of Lenin" (1964) by Louis Fischer. Ironically, it's taking a lifetime to get through this book. I have about a dozen books waiting to be read on my night table.

One of the BD pups, who managed to read about 300 pages of the book, is impressed by my persistence.

Anyhoo, I told you all of this to bring you this quote from page 379. It seems relevant to our times:

Given the unreliability of the peasants, Lenin concluded that the proletariat, working near the centers of capitalist industrial and political power, "expresses the real interest of the overwhelming majority of the toilers under capitalism," and could, "even when it constitutes a minority of the population," overthrow the bourgeoisie and then attract the support of "semi-proletarians and petty-bourgeois" peasants who do not yet understand "the purposes and the inevitability" of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

והמבין יבין

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:02 AM (SRx3B)

143 Once you read Parasite Rex you will never lack for cocktail party conversation again. However, after the first few cool parasite anecdotes, you may lack for conversation _partners_.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:01 AM (78a2H)
----
Until you try the shrimp cocktail that has gone bad...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 08, 2024 10:02 AM (BpYfr)

144 Thank you for this view point! I never thought about it this way before but I will now.
Posted by: lin-duh at September 08, 2024 09:53 AM (VCgbV)
---
At this stage of life, I no longer argue about ideas or concepts/motivations so much as actual implementation of the thing under discussion.

I've found that one of the easiest ways to destroy an argument is to agree with it and say: "Okay, so how will that actually work?"

It's a very useful tool in looking at history, because time and distance matter. Also actual events. A present thing that pisses me off is people saying Russia was never defeated and that Hitler was a lunatic for invading the USSR in 1941. Well, yes, he was a lunatic, but he also remembered Russia handing over Poland to Germany in 1918.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:03 AM (llXky)

145 116 Hi naturalfake,
As far as "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse", I agree. Adults will enjoy it more than kids. Kids might like the animals. I got a copy for our nephew and family to read to his toddler. Don't know what the three year old thought but his parents really liked it. I think books with bright color illustrations and simple stories, like the Brambly Hedge series or Peter Rabbit would have more kid appeal.

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)

146 Once you read Parasite Rex you will never lack for cocktail party conversation again. However, after the first few cool parasite anecdotes, you may lack for conversation _partners_.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:01 AM (78a2H)

Tell me you're a nerd without telling me you're a nerd.

And yes, I've had a few of these moments myself. Esp, when I had first read "Parasite Rex" and my brain was stuffed full of all kinds of parasitey weirdness.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 10:03 AM (eDfFs)

147 Fred Saberhagen did "The Holmes-Dracula Files" sometime in the late 70s. Dracula was the main character, IIRC, and he and Holmes had to team up on something. Not bad, although I didn't find his depiction of Holmes particularly authentic.

Far and away the best Holmes pastiche I've ever read was "The Giant Rat of Sumatra", by Richard Boyer. (Also late 70s). Dead-on perfect re-creation of Arthur Conan Doyle's narrative voice, with an intriguing story to boot.

Posted by: Disillusionist at September 08, 2024 10:03 AM (+5Dz8)

148 As I understand it, the Lagrange 3 point ("counter-Earth") is semi-stable but not permanently stable. You can put a satellite or a space station there and keep it in place with minimal effort, but -- as you point out -- the elliptical nature of orbits means Earth would start to catch up to it. I think what happens then is a "horseshoe orbit" in which it gets closer and closer to Earth until Earth's gravity slows it, dropping it into a lower orbit which lets it move away, until eventually it catches up on the other side, at which point Earth's gravity speeds it up again into a _higher_ orbit which makes it slow down and move back again.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:04 AM (78a2H)

149 Because any constraint that would prevent gunpowder from working would probably also prevent life from working. It is a sort of stupid magic, seems to me.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

I think it was Zelazny's tweak to make a very powerful group of people resort to using swords. Something that was noticeably lacking in Star Wars. Why wouldn't Jedi just blast each other?

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 10:04 AM (OJIRt)

150 Parasite Rex pt2.

PROs:
Very coherent and 100% on topic.
Lots of non repetitive info on types, strategies and defenses.
A rare post 2016 nonfiction library book that does not drag Trump into the narrative.
CONs:
It's about parasites.
It's about parasites.
The audio book is not fully indexed.
(Chapter only breaks is ok for fiction, but really should have descriptive indexed headings for anything else - this is still a huge issue on most audio books)

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 08, 2024 10:05 AM (L1omb)

151 The idea is that there should be a slightly higher total mass in the solar system, corresponding to one more planet. I think this is why everyone was searching for what became Pluto.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:44 AM (OJIRt)

Right, because the orbits of Uranus and Neptune were thought to be slightly irregular, and that only the gravitational pull of another large planet could account for it.

However, I recall reading that in the 90s, some researchers discovered the orbits had been miscalculated, and that there were no irregularities in fact.

Posted by: Dr. T at September 08, 2024 10:06 AM (lHPJf)

152 Inspector pre ordered the final (5th) book in the Stormlight Archives as an anniversary present for me.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 08, 2024 10:06 AM (phT8I)

153 Kent smith they say
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024

***
That's it!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 10:07 AM (omVj0)

154 CONs:
It's about parasites.
It's about parasites.
The audio book is not fully indexed.
(Chapter only breaks is ok for fiction, but really should have descriptive indexed headings for anything else - this is still a huge issue on most audio books)
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 08, 2024 10:05 AM (L1omb)

I object to your post. Parasites run the country!

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 10:08 AM (2NXcZ)

155 Happy Birthday to Hadrian the Seventh!

What about Sefton? It's his birthday too!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 08, 2024 10:09 AM (d9fT1)

156 On a related topic, the Kickstarter for Sanderson's Cosmere TTRPG has wrapped up. Roshar is the first world that is being published, delivery expected a year from now, and Scadrial ( Mistborn) is scheduled for the year after that.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 08, 2024 10:09 AM (phT8I)

157 The only book I read this past week was a collection of old pulp stories called "Heroes of Atlantis and Lemuria," which was kind of disappointing. Good writers -- Manly Wade Wellman and Leigh Brackett, among others -- but definitely "lesser" works from both. Wellman was writing a series about the last survivor of Atlantis having sword-and-sorcery adventures, but gave it up when Robert E. Howard started doing his Kull stories. Frankly, I think he was right.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:09 AM (78a2H)

158 15 I've started on my copy of the Marvel Epic collection of Master of Kung Fu volume 2. I bought it because I've always read how great the artwork of Paul Gulacy was. Except for a couple of pages, I've yet to see it. That's because these are stories from the '70s, and I began reading comics in the 1990s. I'll never know what it was like before books like MOKF blazed new trails.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:08 AM (p/isN)

I also came from the 90's, and have likewise have problems appreciating the art that came before. Anyways, I think the monthly-grind made it hard for Gulancy to really shine. In what I've read from him (MoKF 38-50 from Omnibus 2) it's very hit or miss. He does some occasional wonderful splash pages, but is unexceptional on most pages. Although upon looking back, things sometimes feel more moody/kung-fu-y than a standard superhero book...

Anyways, since I finished Omnibus 2, I ordered Omnibus 1 (at near-full-price. Ouch.) and....oooh, those first issues are rough. I'm really having to force myself to get through them. Fortunately, I have many other books to jump back-and-forth between issues.

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 08, 2024 10:09 AM (Lhaco)

159 I think J6 has become kind of a psychological crutch for conformist lefties who aren't idiots. They're smart enough to know that the Democrats are corrupt, wokeness is a pernicious cult, and "progressivism" is a trainwreck -- but they're too cowardly and conformist to go against the tide, and too status-conscious to associate with the "wrong people." So they blow J6 up into this huge Fort Sumter/March on Rome/Worst Thing Ever event to justify themselves.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 09:56 AM (78a2H)
---
When you can't make a case for your policies or candidate on the merits, you have to resort to claiming the other side is literally Hitler or whatever to justify your support.

Looking at the UK, I was reminded of Orwell, but not in the way people think. Orwell wrote about the wartime mentality in part because it was more "real" in England, where bombs were falling and the classical individual liberties were not sustainable. The nationalization of health care was a function of needing ever possible hospital bed for casualties and the provision of 'free' care was also an outgrowth of that.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:09 AM (llXky)

160 Jumping in here to express an unpopular opinion. I loved Zelazny back in the day so reread the recommendation's here that some of you have made. I found the books boring filled with descriptions of moving from place to place with little action and not enough interactions between characters. The five books are short and could have been combined. I didn't proceed beyond the first 5 because I have bettr books to read.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 08, 2024 10:10 AM (t/2Uw)

161 64...Love Orphan X. The man knows his weapons and vodka.
Posted by: Tuna at September 08, 2024 09:30 AM (oaGWv)

I plowed through the first three of those last week! I'm reading some other things now, but will pick up the next one soon. I was never enchanted with vodka, but his descriptions make me want to try a few. For research. Yeah.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 10:11 AM (OX9vb)

162 19 Oh for --

Subtract 10 years from when the post says I started reading comics. Tiny phone keys, big fingers.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (p/isN)

Heh. Oh, well, I am legitimately a 90's comic kid. That was a wild time...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 08, 2024 10:11 AM (Lhaco)

163 Like dan silva where he went all crazy and had marjorie greene shoot gabriel allon some of lustbaders recent offerings after bourne

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:12 AM (PXvVL)

164 Do any of you other self-published Morons ever get that feeling, or is it just me?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:22 AM (Q0kLU)

If I may, I will give you some advice (If I mayn't stop reading)

Playing means you are having fun. It means you are still doing things to improve your skills and refine what you do and you are still having a blast no matter how frustrating it is.
Playing is the immediate reward and it gives you fun every time. There is a payoff in the end, but that is for later, when you get it right enough
If your project is not going well, part of the game is to either make it go faster or make it go better. Hard tasks are satisfying (mostly)

so the first thing is to have fun, and have fun creating. Your readers will pick up on the fun

I would tell you this if your hobby was cutting firewood, or tatting, by the way.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 08, 2024 10:12 AM (D7oie)

165 Anyway, I must run and try to at least finish the scene I've been struggling with (not that I don't know where it's going; I am just having trouble writing).

Thanks for the advice and kind thoughts. Hope you all have a lovely weekend and will see you Tuesday.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024

***
Good luck to you, MP4.

When I'm stuck in a scene and don't know how to tell it, I usually find that I am trying to be too complex and "writerly" in my prose. If I make my wording simpler, then I often find I can move forward with it. YMMV.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 10:12 AM (omVj0)

166 JTB,

I think books with bright color illustrations and simple stories, like the Brambly Hedge series or Peter Rabbit would have more kid appeal.
Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)

I agree.

Oh, and as our local LOTR Mandarin, you may find this fascinating or horrifying.

Amazon's "We Haz Rangz" is going to feature Tom Bombadil in upcoming episodes.

I'm sure they're going to just botch the whole thing by getting their wokey fingerprints smeared all over him, but-

the fascinating thing is that almost all previous LOTR movies, etc steered away from him because he's such a difficult character to convey properly. Good ole Tom seems to be a character that should never leave the safe confines of your imagination.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 10:13 AM (eDfFs)

167 I'm about 40% of the way through Alan Moorehead's "Desert War" (recommended on a book thread about a month ago). In-person view of the desert war in North Africa. Right now I'm in early 1942. Fascinating perspective on the edge of combat, and wow did those correspondents take chances.

Posted by: Disillusionist at September 08, 2024 10:13 AM (+5Dz8)

168 We were camping in Florida and had some cave divers camping next to us. They told us stories of having to taketh tanks off their backs to travel through some caves, and how some are totally black. Also told us it's not for everyone and no one should really do it.

Posted by: Megthered at September 08, 2024 10:14 AM (XR9vR)

169 The Amber books were definitely Zelazny's biggest sellers, but I don't think they're anywhere near his best work. For me that would be _Jack of Shadows_, tied with _Lord of Light_; with _Creatures of Light and Darkness_, _Doorways in the Sand_, and _This Immortal_ close behind.

And I defy anyone to show that the second Amber series, the ones about Merlin, were anything but a cash grab on Zelazny's part.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:14 AM (78a2H)

170 That amazon series like galactica 1980 we dont soeak of

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:15 AM (PXvVL)

171 Got to head out in a bit for Aldi to pickup provisions for the week. If I leave soon, I can be back before the thread winds up. Carry on.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 10:15 AM (omVj0)

172 I liked the apocalypse now version of dracula if coppola had done it in the 70s
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 09:27 AM (PXvVL)

That would be a description of Monster Hunters International by Larry Correia.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 08, 2024 10:15 AM (D7oie)

173 Looking over the Perfesser's picks is interesting because I find all of my focus is on older stuff, like Nabokov. I think it's a function of a "memento mori" mentality and that with only a finite amount of time left, I need to tackle the classics, which are also quite good. I hear people quote Chesterton and Belloc or mention Graham Greene and I think "I need to read that before I hit Volume XXI of some sci-fi series.

And then there's also St. Augustine and company.

Someone upthead mentioned Gilbert's one-volume biography of Churchill and I happen to have a copy sitting before me, picked up at an estate sale, so that's also on deck.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:16 AM (llXky)

174 Why wouldn't Jedi just blast each other?
Posted by: Thomas Paine

It just isn't done.

Just kidding, that bothers me, too. Always wanted Obi Wan to pull out a blaster and go all Indiana Jones on some Sith Lord.

Posted by: She Hobbit (out and about in Middle Earth) at September 08, 2024 10:16 AM (ftFVW)

175 I was waiting for a couple of books from my library queue so grabbed a couple that were available to fill in. Ended up reading a couple of Otherworld short story books from Kelley Armstrong that I had never read. Got thrown back into her werewolf books featuring Elena and Clay that were made into a TV series called Bitten. I really liked these books and the stories turned out be pretty lengthy adding substantially to this universe she created.
Highly recommended if you like paranormal romance.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 08, 2024 10:16 AM (t/2Uw)

176 I am reading them now. Review of book two is up around post number 36.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:54 AM (OJIRt)

Thanks Thomas. I searched for 'Ace' to see if anyone was discussing this. Might have been better to search for 'Amber'. More coffee!

Posted by: Candidus at September 08, 2024 10:16 AM (FGsxa)

177 Given the unreliability of the peasants ... who do not yet understand "the purposes and the inevitability" of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

-------

Contempt for the Russian peasant by the urban classes was a hinge point in world history. As you noted, the peasants in their crude populism were still far too intelligent to cast their lot with the insane Bolsheviks, so Lenin threw them out of his coalition and later punished them mercilessly for their impudence.

In the meantime, the SRs - the largest and by far strongest socialist faction in Russia - split up, with the large bulk of them crossing the line to support the Provisional Government and *fight alongside the hated Whites.*

The problem was that the Whites, even in their direst circumstances, refused to soil their aristocratic dignity by making common cause with filthy peasants and their huge reservoir of manpower, and their formidable geographical advantages. Instead, they purged them.

In a way, they are the precedent for the GOP establishment. They can comfort themselves in their future immigration in the knowledge that *they* never said pussy.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:18 AM (0FoWg)

178 Congratulations, OrangeEnt!

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at September 08, 2024 10:19 AM (hsWtj)

179 I think it was Zelazny's tweak to make a very powerful group of people resort to using swords. Something that was noticeably lacking in Star Wars. Why wouldn't Jedi just blast each other?
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 10:04 AM (OJIRt)

Well, sure that was the reason for it, but the notion that some force could prevent gunpowder from working, while permitting all other chemistry, and life is chemistry, to carry on unimpeded is just plain silly. Some sort of cultural or mental block the made it impossible for the Amber-ites to even conceive of the notion of gunpowder would be an easier sell.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 08, 2024 10:19 AM (GuRu/)

180 Future immiseration, dammit I HATE YOU CUCUMBER!!!

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:19 AM (0FoWg)

181 I'm sure they're going to just botch the whole thing by getting their wokey fingerprints smeared all over him, but-

the fascinating thing is that almost all previous LOTR movies, etc steered away from him because he's such a difficult character to convey properly. Good ole Tom seems to be a character that should never leave the safe confines of your imagination.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 10:13 AM (eDfFs)
---
That series is best understood as people trying to recycle Peter Jackson's film while using names drawn from the index of The Silmarillion.

I've started a feature at Bleeding Fool that's an explainer on what the books actually say. First up is the orcs. We'll see if it has any traction.

Before that I did a series of columns on how The Acolyte was a brilliant subversion of conventional films and everything in it was satire. I couldn't sustain that after the last episode though.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:20 AM (llXky)

182 Speaking of books, Amazon tried to sabotage Jack Posobiec's newest book on the Trump assassination attempt. LOL:

https://tinyurl.com/53bafx48

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:20 AM (SRx3B)

183 OK, I didn't realize how old Parasite Rex was!
Audiobook was dated 2018, it does explain why Trump wasn't dragged in when mention of ivermiticin pinged my radar!
There is no politics in the book, another big PRO.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 08, 2024 10:20 AM (L1omb)

184 Someone upthead mentioned Gilbert's one-volume biography of Churchill and I happen to have a copy sitting before me, picked up at an estate sale, so that's also on deck.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

I do too, and also halfway through Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts. I grab pretty much any book on Churchill I run across.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 10:20 AM (OJIRt)

185 I believe that there is still a working theory that our solar system math doesn't quite work out; that there must be another celestial body somewhere. Directly opposite the sun would be an ideal place to have an invisible planet of the correct mass.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 09:28 AM (OJIRt)

that was a controversy about the orbit of Mercury not matching Newton and Keppler's calculations and a few other anomalies that supposedly were mostly resolved by Einsteinian physics. There are some things that are more intense in deeper gravity.
Mostly.
If you really like hard science and gravity Steven Baxter is your man, he will introduce you to concepts like "frame dragging" which is what you experience in close orbits to neutron stars.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 08, 2024 10:21 AM (D7oie)

186 Nobody has left any reviews of the book yet, though it's highly rated. If you get the chance, please do leave a short review.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:47 AM (omVj0)

I'll work on that this week. I do like to leave reviews for the Moron authors I read. Been busy, but it's on my agenda.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 10:21 AM (OX9vb)

187 They told us stories of having to taketh tanks off their backs to travel through some caves, and how some are totally black.

Posted by: Megthered at September 08, 2024 10:14 AM (XR9vR)

Nope. Nope! NOPE!

I'm sure it is fascinating, but as someone who has a tough time in MRI machines, the idea of cave diving is absolutely insane.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 08, 2024 10:21 AM (d9fT1)

188 Lately whenever I visit a used bookstore I get sad. All those books -- but apparently nobody wants them. If they don't sell, they'll be dumped in the recycling bin. How much of our civilization is getting thrown down the memory hole?

Oh, sure, we've got ebooks -- which Amazon can "edit" and "correct" without the author even knowing. But who passes along ebooks to their grandchildren? My great-nieces are reading the Oz books which belonged to their great-grandmother. My great-grandchildren (if I have any) won't be looking at my ebooks. The format will be obsolete by then.

All this is making me into a book-hoarder. I have to actively dislike a book to get rid of it, and even then I try to pass it along to friends. Donating to the library is no help -- they only want last month's bestsellers.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:22 AM (78a2H)

189 Happy birthday Hadrian!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 08, 2024 10:22 AM (Ydd86)

190 The problem was that the Whites, even in their direst circumstances, refused to soil their aristocratic dignity by making common cause with filthy peasants and their huge reservoir of manpower, and their formidable geographical advantages. Instead, they purged them.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:18 AM (0FoWg)
-

I know someone that as a you bright child, back in the 50's in the US, learned fluent Russian from an old White Russian who didn't speak a word of English.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:24 AM (SRx3B)

191 The problem was that the Whites, even in their direst circumstances, refused to soil their aristocratic dignity by making common cause with filthy peasants and their huge reservoir of manpower, and their formidable geographical advantages. Instead, they purged them.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:18 AM (0FoWg)
---
Another factor was the subjugation of the Orthodox Church to the Russian state. Unlike in other countries, the Church did not prove an effective rallying point against Bolshevism because it was compromised. The peasants felt very little loyalty to their churches and often joined in their destruction.

This contrasts with Spain and elsewhere where religion became a rallying point.

In fact, the Bolsheviks very cleverly sidelined much of the Orthodox leadership by allowing them to elect a Patriarch of Moscow, something the Romanovs had refused to do since Peter the Great, since they feared a rival source of power.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:24 AM (llXky)

192 Much like absolute friends was almost a satire of le carre the stool pidgon was the most left wing candidate

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:24 AM (PXvVL)

193 The problem was that the Whites, even in their direst circumstances, refused to soil their aristocratic dignity by making common cause with filthy peasants and their huge reservoir of manpower, and their formidable geographical advantages. Instead, they purged them.

In a way, they are the precedent for the GOP establishment. They can comfort themselves in their future immigration in the knowledge that *they* never said pussy.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

That is a very good point. I have read many Russian revolution books, and I am always struck by how nearly a century of misery and global problems could have been avoided if the whites had been halfway decent to the peasants, and coordinated with each other, another fatal flaw.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 10:27 AM (OJIRt)

194 Another factor was the subjugation of the Orthodox Church to the Russian state. Unlike in other countries, the Church did not prove an effective rallying point against Bolshevism because it was compromised. The peasants felt very little loyalty to their churches and often joined in their destruction.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:24 AM (llXky)
-

There are parallels here to Eastern European and Russian Jews who abandoned their faith - even more so for those under Czarist Russian rule.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:27 AM (SRx3B)

195 Lately whenever I visit a used bookstore I get sad. All those books -- but apparently nobody wants them. If they don't sell, they'll be dumped in the recycling bin. How much of our civilization is getting thrown down the memory hole?

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:22 AM (78a2H)
---
Not me. Most of what I see on sale would be best used as bonfire fuel. Shelves full of Danielle Steele, Stephen King and the like, very little of substance. In July I stopped in a used book store I'd seen but never visited and struggled to find a single book that interested me.

It was all books my mom likes to read - paperbacks you go through once and toss in the trash.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:28 AM (llXky)

196 180 million dollars is an expensive satire though

They could have done their silly costume drama but woulf they have gotten that much coin for it?

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:28 AM (PXvVL)

197 That is a very good point. I have read many Russian revolution books, and I am always struck by how nearly a century of misery and global problems could have been avoided if the whites had been halfway decent to the peasants, and coordinated with each other, another fatal flaw.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 10:27 AM (OJIRt)
-

If only the Whites would've dropped the Czar shtick.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:28 AM (SRx3B)

198
@TheBabylonBee
'Never Has America Faced A Greater Threat Than Donald Trump,' Says Guy Who Started Two Wars And Shot A Dude In The Face

Posted by: Divide by Zero at September 08, 2024 10:29 AM (RKVpM)

199 My to read list - unhumans by jack posobiec

Also thinking of reading mountains on fire by jason cordova but it's in john ringo's black tide universe and I haven't read that

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 08, 2024 10:29 AM (Ydd86)

200 Those links dont work lloyd

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:29 AM (PXvVL)

201 There are parallels here to Eastern European and Russian Jews who abandoned their faith - even more so for those under Czarist Russian rule.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:27 AM (SRx3B)
---
David Horowitz's Radical Son is an excellent study of this, and how his parents shifted their faith from God to the Party. Upon arriving in the US, they re-created Jewish ghettos, but centered them on the Party headquarters rather than a synagogue. A great book, required reading.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:30 AM (llXky)

202 Well, sure that was the reason for it, but the notion that some force could prevent gunpowder from working, while permitting all other chemistry, and life is chemistry, to carry on unimpeded is just plain silly.

I have this quote stuck in my head from probably 45 years ago from The Tonight Show where Carson is talking with someone about sketch comedy and Carson says "[ If ] You buy the premise, [ then ] you buy the bit." That's all science fiction and fantasy in a nutshell.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 08, 2024 10:30 AM (/y8xj)

203 I just got biography on Churchill, have wanted something like that a long time. That's the charm of used book stores. You never know what you can find you hadn't expected.

Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 10:30 AM (fwDg9)

204 166 ... "Amazon's "We Haz Rangz" is going to feature Tom Bombadil in upcoming episodes.

I'm sure they're going to just botch the whole thing by getting their wokey fingerprints smeared all over him, but-"

Oh Lord, it will be a fashionably woke disaster like the rest of the show (from what I've heard). A woke LOTR is a contradiction in terms. Although disappointed, I can understand leaving Tom out of the films as he isn't needed for the action as opposed to the mystery of Middle-Earth. I always found the character intriguing and he added depth to the world of LOTR.

The mind boggles, and rebels, at what perversions these brain dead cretins will do with Tom and Goldberry.

Posted by: JTB at September 08, 2024 10:31 AM (zudum)

205 157 The only book I read this past week was a collection of old pulp stories called "Heroes of Atlantis and Lemuria," which was kind of disappointing. Good writers -- Manly Wade Wellman and Leigh Brackett, among others -- but definitely "lesser" works from both. Wellman was writing a series about the last survivor of Atlantis having sword-and-sorcery adventures, but gave it up when Robert E. Howard started doing his Kull stories. Frankly, I think he was right.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:09 AM (78a2H)

I really need to brush up on my Lemuria lore. I know what Atlantis is about reflexively. Yet, even after having read said Kull comics, when I hear 'Lumaria' I still have to pause and think about what its actually referring to. Do any in the horde know (off the top of their heads) where that legend started?

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 08, 2024 10:32 AM (Lhaco)

206 Those links dont work lloyd
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:29 AM (PXvVL)
---
Weird, it looks fine on the URL box.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:32 AM (llXky)

207 My to read list - unhumans by jack posobiec

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 08, 2024 10:29 AM (Ydd86)
-

One of the books on my night table awaiting my reading attention.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:32 AM (SRx3B)

208 If only the Whites would've dropped the Czar shtick.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:28 AM (SRx3B)

But they all dreamed of the return of Ivan The Terrible. They were too set in their ways....

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 08, 2024 10:32 AM (d9fT1)

209 Amazon will find the one black actor in Hollywood who CAN'T sing and cast him as Tom Bombadil.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:33 AM (78a2H)

210 Good morning Hordemates.
And congratulations OrangeEnt. You have a vote here.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 08, 2024 10:33 AM (W/lyH)

211 At the end of the first Amber book, Corwin vows that guns will fire in Amber. That really had me pumped.

Comes the second book, "The Guns of Avalon," and gun combat is almost an afterthought.

But a different development will draw me to the third book ... someday.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 08, 2024 10:33 AM (p/isN)

212 I think the site is adding something.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at www.ahlloyd.com at September 08, 2024 10:33 AM (llXky)

213 Good morning! My daughter’s virtual classroom, from our hybrid homeschool model we are trying this year, is launching a book club. My dyslexic daughter, who I had to BEG to read before, wants to join! I am thrilled. They are reading The Giver, which has some dark themes, but she is 13 and I think it gives her to a chance to stretch her brain a little. Because she is autistic, her thinking is very literal, so this will be an interesting challenge.

Posted by: Piper at September 08, 2024 10:34 AM (pZEOD)

214 Churchill & Theodore Roosevelt are fully equipped sub genres in my library. Even more so because both have extensive authorship. Listening to Naval War of 1812 currently, picked up Marlborough: His Life & Times(81 hrs on audio) when on a deep sale.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at September 08, 2024 10:34 AM (L1omb)

215 They told us stories of having to taketh tanks off their backs to travel through some caves, and how some are totally black.

Posted by: Megthered at September 08, 2024 10:14 AM (XR9vR)

Nope. Nope! NOPE!

I'm sure it is fascinating, but as someone who has a tough time in MRI machines, the idea of cave diving is absolutely insane.
Posted by: CharlieBrown's Dildo

I have done a few cave dives, but the dive is more like a dare than an adventure. There isn't much to see. I do dive shipwrecks, which are interesting and I also get to research the history of the vessel and the circumstances of the sinking when I can find information.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 10:34 AM (OJIRt)

216 Weird, it looks fine on the URL box.

No, you need to include the "http://" part. Otherwise Minx 0.8 beta doesn't recognize it as a URL and prepends a default that is always wrong. Hover over your own nic and see it.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 08, 2024 10:35 AM (/y8xj)

217 But they all dreamed of the return of Ivan The Terrible. They were too set in their ways....
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 08, 2024 10:32 AM (d9fT1)
-

And the congeniality runner-up award goes to..

Comrade Josef Stalin!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:35 AM (SRx3B)

218 Lemuria is supposed to be in the indian ocean near r'lyeh
Whereas atlantis is the med around santorini

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:35 AM (PXvVL)

219 The library here used to have a LOT of fiction, old and new; I used to think that when I hit retirement, I'd be able to practically live there wallowing in all the stuff I'd never gotten around to reading. A while back they decided to weed out almost anything that hadn't circulated in 3? 5? years. The fiction shelves don't have much to interest me now; I'm afraid to look at what they did to the non-fiction sections.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 08, 2024 10:36 AM (q3u5l)

220 197 That is a very good point. I have read many Russian revolution books, and I am always struck by how nearly a century of misery and global problems could have been avoided if the whites had been halfway decent to the peasants, and coordinated with each other, another fatal flaw.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 08, 2024 10:27 AM (OJIRt)

I've always thought that the biggest problem was the Kadets, the David Frenchs of 20th Century Russia. Always focused on the evils of the Czar, while the Left SRs and the Communists were blundering up behind them with a 2x4.

Posted by: Candidus at September 08, 2024 10:37 AM (FGsxa)

221 Lemuria actually started as a scientific theory. There are lemurs in Madagascar, and there are lemurs in India, but there are no lemurs in the lands between. Some 19th century biologists postulated that maybe once there was a land bridge between the two regions, which he called "Lemuria."

This was before continental drift and the age of the Earth were well understood, so obviously that land must have sunk, since it's not around any more.

And then MADAME BLAVATSKY took the concept, moved Lemuria to the Pacific, and populated it with three-eyed asexual giants. From there, it entered the mainstream of fantasy lore, as a newer and hipper variation on Atlantis.

Mu was originally just James Churchward's cool new name for Atlantis, but it also got moved to the Pacific by later writers.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:38 AM (78a2H)

222 Good morning, Sharon! I was waiting for you to arrive. I started People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I was listening to it on audio, at first, because that's what was available first.

I abandoned the audio version because the attempt at Slavic accents was annoying me. But kindle had it for 2.99, and I am interested enough now to pay a small amount for it, so I stayed up half the night reading. It is a fascinating story so far.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 10:38 AM (OX9vb)

223 I finished "The Last Gentleman" by Walker Percy. I enjoyed it. Very interesting. But the ending was abrupt. I thought that I had another 100 pages or so, but no. The Kindle version just ended and then had "bonus" material on a sequel.

The ending left a lot of loose threads hanging.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at September 08, 2024 10:38 AM (+H2BX)

224 If only the Whites would've dropped the Czar shtick.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:28 AM (SRx3B)
---
The czars were historically very popular with the peasants, and there were often rebellions to let the czar know things were wrong. I recall a book about it, Rebels in the Name of the Czar I think it was called.

Americans have a great disdain for monarchy, and they project it where it doesn't belong. Our stupid insistence on breaking up the Habsburg Empire, destroying Germany's empire, etc. brought ruin to the Continent.

Monarchs provide a rallying point, continuity and can symbolize national unity. Austria-Hungary was a very liberal state, relatively speaking, with dozens of recognized languages, devolved politics, regional legislatures all united in a "free trade" zone. There is a reason why Jews flourished in Vienna.

What came after? Bitter hatreds, dictatorships, fascism and communism. What Russia needed was a charismatic Romanov pretender. Could have been a game changer because he could have rallied the peasants.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at www.ahlloyd.com at September 08, 2024 10:39 AM (llXky)

225 I wouldn't call it the long awaited "Great American Novel."

Posted by: no one of any consequence at September 08, 2024 10:40 AM (+H2BX)

226 Also nicholas was a stupid czar if alexander 3rd was still in charge

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:40 AM (PXvVL)

227 166 ... "Amazon's "We Haz Rangz" is going to feature Tom Bombadil in upcoming episodes.

I'm sure they're going to just botch the whole thing by getting their wokey fingerprints smeared all over him, but-"

Once nice thing about not subscribing to any of the streaming services is that none of these garbage shows (Rings of Power, Acolyte, etc.) even appear on my feed. But I do keep tabs on them via youtube reviews and mockery, which is probably more entertaining than the shows, anywyas...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 08, 2024 10:42 AM (Lhaco)

228 No, you need to include the "http://" part. Otherwise Minx 0.8 beta doesn't recognize it as a URL and prepends a default that is always wrong. Hover over your own nic and see it.
Posted by: Oddbob at September 08, 2024 10:35 AM (/y8xj)
---
Ah, that's the ticket. Brave saves stuff even if they are wrong. I used to paste the URL out of my bookmarks at the start of each session.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 08, 2024 10:42 AM (llXky)

229 Americans have a great disdain for monarchy, and they project it where it doesn't belong. Our stupid insistence on breaking up the Habsburg Empire, destroying Germany's empire, etc. brought ruin to the Continent.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at www.ahlloyd.com at September 08, 2024 10:39 AM (llXky)
-

I partially disagree. It was how it was broken up. But empires are what started WWI. They no longer deserved a place on the map of the New World.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 08, 2024 10:42 AM (SRx3B)

230 If the germans hadnt sent lenin over our had the royal guard shot him on sight

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:42 AM (PXvVL)

231 Like the mexicans let fidel the granma sail from mexico city

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:43 AM (PXvVL)

232 Also nicholas was a stupid czar if alexander 3rd was still in charge
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:40 AM (PXvVL)

Hell if his younger brother had been Czar, the whole thing might have gone very differently. Neither was very intelligent. But Nicholas was a huge douchebag, to boot.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:43 AM (0FoWg)

233 Morning. Reading Long Live Death right now.
It has sent me in many a research project so far and I'm only 120 pages in.
So one question I am so far that seems unanswerable from internet search AI stupid.. whatever.
What was the first fighter plane with the guns mounted IN the wings? Not on the wings.
It's driving me nuts.

Posted by: Reforger at September 08, 2024 10:44 AM (xcIvR)

234 Unfortunately the Romanovs were all far too cement-headed. Imagine what one of the clever Romanovs like Alexander II could have done in 1917.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 10:44 AM (78a2H)

235 Got it

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:44 AM (PXvVL)

236 After all my reading of Russia, Czar to post Soviet
I am surprised Russian Czars didn't see the writing on the wall and change their system before it was forced. Obviously the Bolsheviks were infinitely worse than the Czars ever were collectively. The population got suckered by the Bolsheviks and paid a very high price.

Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 10:46 AM (fwDg9)

237 Duke nicolayivich

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:46 AM (PXvVL)

238 I dunno, for some reason I'm Russia Russia Russia all the time, and somebody said I should read The Idiot by Dostoevsky.

I got a little more than halfway through and now I have to start over. I finally figured out how to read this thing.

Part of the difficulty is, there are about forty characters, and they all have at least three interchangeable names. "Nikolai Ardalionovich", "Ivolgin", and "Kolya" are all the same person. So now I'm going to keep paper and pencil handy so as to write all the characters down when they are introduced.

It's not like a modern novel. There are no peripheral roles, no bit actors. There is no wasted movement. Everything fits together like a clock for about 700 pages of closely-printed prose.

Is it worth it? I wouldn't recommend it as an entertainment experience. As a tragedy, it makes Sophocles look like so much gang graffiti.

Posted by: Tom Perry at September 08, 2024 10:47 AM (MX0bI)

239 This was a bad week for reading although I did finish Washington Irving's Salmagundis. Amusing but not that's about all. I would only recommend them for their historical interest. Soon, I'll embark on his History of New York, which the introduction assures me is funny.

Posted by: who knew at September 08, 2024 10:47 AM (+ViXu)

240 The population got suckered by the Bolsheviks and paid a very high price.
Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 10:46 AM (fwDg9)

It's hard to even say they got suckered. Bolsheviks never had broad based support. They were the most ruthless player in a game of pure chaos, though. I forget what historian said that the Bolsheviks found power lying in the street, and picked it up. That's a bit simplistic, but there's an element of truth to it.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:49 AM (0FoWg)

241 Good morning, fellow Bookistas!

In a sad note, Internet Archive lost their appeal in court via-a-vis several deep pocket publishers regarding fair use and lending practices. Many books that are no longer available through normal library channels and/or are no longer published will not be available to the average nerds, like yours truly, who seeks them out.

IA was my source for many short stories that were used as the basis for movies in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, especially Westerns and sf. (Hubs loves Westerns from that era, so I had a lot to choose from.) Modern movies don’t seem to list as “based on…” in the credits. Perhaps that’s why they are so repetitive.

Posted by: March Hare at September 08, 2024 10:51 AM (jfX+U)

242 I know the Bolsheviks had only minor support but grabbed the country by force and held it a century

Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 10:54 AM (fwDg9)

243 LOL, nvmd. That was Lenin himself who said that.

Duuuuh.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:54 AM (0FoWg)

244 The srs killed the most able ministers like stolypin

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 10:54 AM (PXvVL)

245 242 I know the Bolsheviks had only minor support but grabbed the country by force and held it a century
Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 10:54 AM (fwDg9)

Sorta like Garland and Wray

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 10:54 AM (2NXcZ)

246 I have a new reason to give up reading a book. It's when the protagonist has to do something mind-numbingly stupid to move the story to the next scene.
I don't expect a lot from a supernatural cozy mystery, but when the heroine, having discovered the secret passage that is letting the suspected murderer terrorize the rich widow, and then doesn't bother to tell the handsome police detective or the soon-to-be victim about it, just so she can obviously be captured by the villain, I quit.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at September 08, 2024 10:55 AM (oQ02i)

247 Howdy, y'all. This is the day the Lord has made. Wasn't that nice of Him‽

Allie is a very pretty cat.

I haven't been able to get back in the habit of reading books in quite a while. Spend so much time reading on the web (especially a certain smart military blog) and watching youvids. Last book I read was Tyler Zed's autobiographical Trailer Park Parable, which was a quick read. Looking at picking up JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. Ought to look for something less contemporary, I suppose.

Meanwhile, it's the Book Thread, for which thinqueueveddymooch, Perfesser S.

Posted by: mindful webworker - going to be gone at September 08, 2024 10:56 AM (QpBiE)

248 My big reason for quitting books is when an author says something that is definitely untrue. Even small things. If I, as the reader, knows something you, the expert, said is demonstrably false, then you're a liar or an incompetent.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 08, 2024 10:57 AM (0FoWg)

249 Kinda thought Internet Archive was almost begging to be nailed when they took off all the usage restrictions during the Covid lunacy.

Publishers can view libraries in one of two ways, it seems to me: 1 - readers may discover an author in the library and go on to buy his books, or 2 - libraries allow readers to avoid shelling out the $$$ that should rightfully go to the publishers. Most publishers would probably lean toward #2, and especially in the case of something like the Internet Archive.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 08, 2024 11:00 AM (q3u5l)

250 I will cut older writers a bit of slack for factual errors, but not anyone writing post-Internet. You can do the research without leaving your desk now! There's really no excuse.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 11:00 AM (78a2H)

251 That was solzhenitsyns point

Reed got the whole point wrong with kornilov only pipss and mcmeekin have really corrected

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 11:00 AM (PXvVL)

252 Although he blamed the okrana

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 11:01 AM (PXvVL)

253 Pipes if memory served

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 11:02 AM (PXvVL)

254 The Russian Revolution is something everyone (ESPECIALLY lefties) who wants a "revolution" here should learn about. Just like the French revolution (and so many more), the moderate and reasonable people who genuinely wanted to correct abuses and make the country better got shoved aside and often murdered by gangsters and psychopaths.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 08, 2024 11:05 AM (78a2H)

255 Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 11:00 AM (PXvVL)

Any chance of getting you to note who you are responding to, as well as use capitalization and punctuation?

I think you're probably making good points, but it's hard to tell for sure.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 08, 2024 11:09 AM (phT8I)

256 Dash, I'm glad you like it. Regardless of how truthful the book is, it is a fascinating story and extremely well written. I really liked how she transitioned between the time periods and gave us full fledged characters in each section.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 08, 2024 11:09 AM (t/2Uw)

257 Complicating the ways publishers would look at libraries, though, is the fact that some books aren't going to sell very many copies except to libraries and the publishers know that. If memory serves Doubleday used to have subscription plans for packages of mystery, science fiction, and westerns, and a lot of public libraries signed on for them; some of those titles were books I never saw in bookshops, but they made it to library shelves and the publishers got some money out of the deal.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 08, 2024 11:09 AM (q3u5l)

258 I wonder my mother discounting Harris's Marxism is exactly she or the other Marxists not having murdered many yet.

Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 11:09 AM (fwDg9)

259 I love the idea of the blind date bookshelf

Posted by: who knew at September 08, 2024 11:12 AM (+ViXu)

260 258 I wonder my mother discounting Harris's Marxism is exactly she or the other Marxists not having murdered many yet.
Posted by: Skip at September 08, 2024 11:09 AM (fwDg9)

It will be too late when they do. Harris did mention "reducing the population" and importing more migrants. How does that work without executions?

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 11:13 AM (2NXcZ)

261 Mazel tov orangeEnt
Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 08, 2024 09:06 AM (RIvkX)

Thanks!

I second San Fran's mazal tov to OrangeEnt! Hey, OE, if you write SF stories, please pay attention to Raconteur Press, who have to date released no fewer than 35 themed anthologies, with themes bouncing off the walls -- and they pay! Keep an eye on their website for future invitations for submissions.

Thanks, werewife. I've submitted to Raconteur before, but no soap. I sorta have a connection to Cedar Sanderson, so maybe I'll ask her what I need to do. I usually write 30s era and western shorts. I have an SF novella and novel complete, but not ready for pub.

Congrats, OrangeEnt! and many more.

Posted by: sal at September 08, 2024 09:14 AM (bx3Km)

Thanks, Sal.

28 Blogger.com is still free (aka blogspot)
Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 08, 2024 09:14 AM (MpVUb)

My last blogger blog was swamped by Chinese bots. Besides, you're subject to German law, so, no.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 08, 2024 11:14 AM (0eaVi)

262 The czar had a few good ministers many were killed

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 08, 2024 11:18 AM (PXvVL)

263 Or more to the point, I feel like I am play-acting at being a writer. I suppose that's because I don't write every day (one big source of my problems), but I haven't been able to shake the feeling that I am just pretending to be a writer and am not really one.

Do any of you other self-published Morons ever get that feeling, or is it just me?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at September 08, 2024 09:22 AM (Q0kLU)

Not published, but yeah. I've stopped writing for a while to focus on editing what I've done already. If you don't publish, what's the use of continuing to write? Now that I've gotten the story online, I'm energized to start writing again. I have a few ideas, but I want to work on getting something else edited and try to sell. I don't have money to go through self-publishing at this point.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 08, 2024 11:19 AM (0eaVi)

264 So pookys had a what gender exactly?

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at September 08, 2024 11:20 AM (GTCVo)

265 "Cave diving is one of those activities that sounds interesting in theory, but is terrifying in practice. Nope. Just nope. "

I won't even watch other people do it.

Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 11:21 AM (AwYPR)

266 264 So pookys had a what gender exactly?

Posted by: Cannibal Bob

Bouncing baby boy.

Posted by: Tuna at September 08, 2024 11:22 AM (oaGWv)

267 At BasedCon this AM!

The Based Book Sale ends Wednesday!

https://basedbooksale.substack.com/p/coming-soon

Pricing goes up for next year's BasedCon...soon.

https://basedcon.com/Register

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at September 08, 2024 11:23 AM (q1TPc)

268 5 "Cave diving is one of those activities that sounds interesting in theory, but is terrifying in practice. Nope. Just nope. "

I won't even watch other people do it.

Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 11:21 AM (AwYPR)

Did a lot of scuba diving. Once went through a long tunnel once at 100 feet down. You could see the opening at the end far off. It was not fun.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at September 08, 2024 11:26 AM (GTCVo)

269 || Or more to the point, I feel like I am play-acting at being a writer. ||

True of just about anything, no?

Validation is nice, but we all have to start by pretending.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at September 08, 2024 11:26 AM (q1TPc)

270 Mindfulwebworker
,
Please do pick up JD Vance's book. It sucks you in very early and is a very good read. I finished it feeling very hopeful. If this young man gets into office, and has eight years as head honcho, we could turn this ship around.

Posted by: nurse ratched at September 08, 2024 11:26 AM (pypbb)

271 Bouncing baby boy.

Posted by: Tuna at September 08, 2024 11:22 AM (oaGWv)

Excellent! I never understood why they have to bounce them though.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at September 08, 2024 11:27 AM (GTCVo)

272 Excellent! I never understood why they have to bounce them though.

Test for proper inflation.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 08, 2024 11:28 AM (/y8xj)

273 272 Excellent! I never understood why they have to bounce them though.

Test for proper inflation.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 08, 2024 11:28 AM (/y8xj)

lol. Heidi says they just bounce the boys and then made a snide crack about my head....

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at September 08, 2024 11:29 AM (GTCVo)

274 Sister-in-law who read Vance's book said that it clarified for her a lot of what she saw in her job (nurse) at a Kentucky hospital.

Posted by: Nazdar at September 08, 2024 11:31 AM (9XWKq)

275 Congrats, Orange ENT. I will go read and vote.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at September 08, 2024 09:40 AM (OX9vb)

I'll just say thanks to everyone here. I'm way too far behind to read all before the thread's over. But, I will.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 08, 2024 11:31 AM (0eaVi)

276 Now that Dracula has been brought up, there's an opportunity to plug my favorite crossover novel, Sherlock Holmes: A Betrayal in Blood, by Mark A. Latham! Don't miss this one:

-
I bought this based upon this recommendation and am enjoying it. Another Dracula book I enjoyed was Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. The premise is that Jonathan Harker et al. failed to kill the Count and vampirism has become widespread, even fashionable, in late Victorian England. The only problem is that Jack the Ripper is going around murdering vampire prostitutes. This is a good horror novel and, in addition, it is filled with late Victorian Easter eggs in the form of numerous Victorian characters from history and literature but you'll have to read the book to find them. Either that or look at these lists.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Dracula

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 11:32 AM (L/fGl)

277 "Cave diving is one of those activities that sounds interesting in theory, but is terrifying in practice. Nope. Just nope. "

I won't even watch other people do it.
Posted by: BignJames

The wing suit videos Ace posts in the Cafe threads scare the hell out of me.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 11:34 AM (L/fGl)

278 A group might not be a bad thing for you, MPPPP, at least to get you over the hump.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 08, 2024 09:43 AM (omVj0)

koff, koff

You're a member of ALH, MP4.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 08, 2024 11:35 AM (0eaVi)

279 Have proceeded through the "Lonesome Dove" books in chronological order, and am now into 'Streets of Laredo.' The interesting thing has been the evolution of McMurtry as a writer, in that he wrote 'Lonesome Dove' first, then years later wrote '..Laredo' and then years after that wrote 'Dead Man's Walk' and 'Comanche Moon.'

In the 2010 edition of 'Lonesome Dove' he writes a forward which states: "I write a sentence, and work from there." He goes on to explain that he wrote the first sentence of the book, and the whole saga expanded out of that sentence. At the time of the writing, he was at his peak. The writing is crisp, dry, and witty. None of the subsequent books come close in terms of the quality of prose; 'Laredo' is horribly bogged down with description and internal thoughts of characters, which in 'Dove' were quickly and cleanly dealt with. As noted before, 'Walk' and 'Moon' suffer from too little exposition, he wrote The Sentence, and then sort of quit: The stories read like an outline.

Anyway, light fluff after this lumbering and ponderous tale is done...

Posted by: Brewingfrog at September 08, 2024 11:35 AM (NFNGM)

280 “ Mr. S has begun the Maisie Dobbs mystery series and is enjoying them.
Posted by: sal at September 08, 2024 09:11 AM (bx3Km)”

I love the Maisie Dobbs series and need to catch up on them. I’ve been to a couple of readings by the author, Jacqueline Winspear, as well; a delightful woman!

While not a Maisie Dobbs mystery, “The Care and Management of Lies” is one of my favorites. It is about a young farming couple in Britain and their circle during WWI. The novel is quite poignant, depicting the effects of the War on the common population and the efforts people made to keep up the morale of those in the trenches and those at home.

Posted by: March Hare at September 08, 2024 11:35 AM (jfX+U)

281 The Russian Revolution is something everyone (ESPECIALLY lefties) who wants a "revolution" here should learn about.

-
The left can't be bothered to learn because they know it all. You know, like Mrs. Wrecks.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 11:38 AM (L/fGl)

282 The left can't be bothered to learn because they know it all. You know, like Mrs. Wrecks.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 11:38 AM (L/fGl)

Maybe you can treat madame to some movies that show the consequences but toss in some romance?

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 11:43 AM (2NXcZ)

283 I have a tattered and torn American flag on my deck. It flies until America rises anew from
this shallow grave. Then I will hoist a new one.

Posted by: Eromero at September 08, 2024 11:45 AM (LHPAg)

284 Well, off to face annoying realities...

OrangeEnt -- congrats.

Wolfus -- glad you're enjoying the Kersh.

Perfessor, thanks for the thread -- always a pleasure.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 08, 2024 11:47 AM (q3u5l)

285 Churchill & Theodore Roosevelt are fully equipped sub genres in my library.

-
Orange Man Bad reminds me of Churchill. Both were full of ideas, some good, some bad, some very good, some very bad but both are great men.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 11:48 AM (L/fGl)

286 Reading a Chrichton book. State of Fear. He handles the global warming fear scam and the eco-terrorists well in the book. Nice read.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at September 08, 2024 11:48 AM (GTCVo)

287 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 11:38 AM (L/fGl)

Maybe you can treat madame to some movies that show the consequences but toss in some romance?

I recommend Somewhere in the East. I think it sums up what's in store for us if we treat it as benign.

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 11:50 AM (2NXcZ)

288 286 Reading a Chrichton book. State of Fear. He handles the global warming fear scam and the eco-terrorists well in the book. Nice read.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob at September 08, 2024 11:48 AM (GTCVo
The left tried to ruin him for writing that book.

Posted by: Eromero at September 08, 2024 11:50 AM (LHPAg)

289 I was at Books A Million recently and picked up Special Edition Jaws hardcover.

It's got a blue embossed hardcover with blood red end pages, quite a striking edition.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 08, 2024 11:51 AM (XV/Pl)

290 Orange Man Bad reminds me of Churchill. Both were full of ideas, some good, some bad, some very good, some very bad but both are great men.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 11:48 AM (L/fGl)

Yes, except for wanting to be a politician. I don't think Trump thought about it too seriously until the "fundamental transformation (into a communist sewer) of America" was underway.

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 11:52 AM (2NXcZ)

291 True of just about anything, no?

Validation is nice, but we all have to start by pretending.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at September 08, 2024 11:26 AM (q1TPc)

Thank you! I sorta hate the term "serial killer," and every time I strangle a hooker with her pantyhose, I find myself wondering... am I just a poser?

I mean, my methods are not very original, neither are my characters. It's hard not to look at a Dahmer and think "now there's a REAL one."

But I'm not gay, so.....

Posted by: BurtTC at September 08, 2024 11:53 AM (5/hOD)

292 Dick Cheney is only 5'8"?

Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 11:53 AM (AwYPR)

293 Bouncing baby boy.

Posted by: Tuna at September 08, 2024 11:22 AM (oaGWv)

Excellent! I never understood why they have to bounce them though.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

Well, it's better than the doctor missing the catch, and the baby hits the wall... as Don Rickles described the birth of Phyllis Diller.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at September 08, 2024 11:53 AM (VNX3d)

294 Maybe you can treat madame to some movies that show the consequences but toss in some romance?

I recommend Somewhere in the East. I think it sums up what's in store for us if we treat it as benign.
Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 11:50 AM (2NXcZ)

I have the film "The Lives Of Others" around here somewhere, set in East Germany.

Everyone says it's a great film, but knowing the premise, I've resisted watching. Seems so dark and ugly, but then, that's where we're heading.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 08, 2024 11:57 AM (5/hOD)

295 292 Dick Cheney is only 5'8"?
Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 11:53 AM (AwYPR)

He's a giant!!

Posted by: Robert Reich at September 08, 2024 11:57 AM (PiwSw)

296 Everyone says it's a great film, but knowing the premise, I've resisted watching. Seems so dark and ugly, but then, that's where we're heading.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 08, 2024 11:57 AM (5/hOD)

Lives of Others is a rose garden compared to Somewhere in the East. Lives of Others was established communist totalitarianism, Somewhere in the East shows you how the sausage is made.

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 11:59 AM (2NXcZ)

297 Dick Cheney is only 5'8"?
Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 11:53 AM (AwYPR)

He's a giant!!
Posted by: Robert Reich at September 08, 2024 11:57 AM (PiwSw)

They gave HIM banana crates to stand on and pillows to sit on!

Posted by: Cummala Hairyass at September 08, 2024 12:00 PM (5/hOD)

298 Nood.

Posted by: Nazdar at September 08, 2024 12:01 PM (9XWKq)

299 Dick Cheney is only 5'8"?
Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 11:53 AM (AwYPR)

He's a giant!!
Posted by: Robert Reich at September 08, 2024 11:57 AM (PiwSw)

He was my political hero as SecDef...now, he's just an old putz.

Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 12:01 PM (AwYPR)

300 Everyone says it's a great film, but knowing the premise, I've resisted watching. Seems so dark and ugly, but then, that's where we're heading.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 08, 2024 11:57 AM (5/hOD)

Lives of Others is a rose garden compared to Somewhere in the East. Lives of Others was established communist totalitarianism, Somewhere in the East shows you how the sausage is made.
Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 11:59 AM (2NXcZ)

Sounds fun! I'll have to look out for it.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 08, 2024 12:01 PM (5/hOD)

301 See what happens when you're stuck doing something when the BT posts!

Just around comment 200 and the thread ends!!!

Thanks, Norrin and Diogenes.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 08, 2024 12:02 PM (0eaVi)

302
Sounds fun! I'll have to look out for it.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 08, 2024 12:01 PM (5/hOD)

It's not, but for those who need a movie to understand where we're heading, it's good and recent.

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 12:05 PM (2NXcZ)

303 Ace dropped a fantasy book recommendation this week, as a testosterone booster for soyboys.

-
Speaking of soy boys, David Hogg has some advice for the Donks.

David Hogg
@davidhogg111
I hope I’m wrong but if we lose in November I think the main reason why will be the number of young men of all races that are no longer Democrats. There’s been a taboo about talking about this because we understandably are hesitant to make men a main point of conversation (given we have been for thousands of years) but we have a real problem to deal with. At this point with 60 days to go there isn’t much we can do to recover it other than turning out more young woman and trying to slow the departure of young men. I think a lot of this is caused by Covid and the epidemic of male loneliness in this country and the ensuing commodification through social media of misogyny. Long-term, we have a lot of work to do to provide positive examples of what actual masculinity looks like that is not defined by putting down women or other people, but by lifting others up and being a true leader.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 08, 2024 12:06 PM (L/fGl)

304 Hogg is such a dogmatic shitheel.

Posted by: DC Elites at September 08, 2024 12:08 PM (2NXcZ)

305 One of the books on my night table awaiting my reading attention.
Posted by: Biden's Dog

Just started it - chapter 1 is quite gripping

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 08, 2024 12:08 PM (W4Tb9)

306 "we have a lot of work to do to provide positive examples of what actual masculinity looks like that is not defined by putting down women or other people, but by lifting others up and being a true leader."

who "we"?

Posted by: BignJames at September 08, 2024 12:10 PM (AwYPR)

307 10 A mostly day off wife and myself went to Bramble used book store

--

Were the cats around?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 08, 2024 12:11 PM (W4Tb9)

308 Just caught up. Thanks again, Perfessor for posting my info, and thanks for the thread.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 08, 2024 12:15 PM (0eaVi)

309 Ira Levin is always a pleasure to read. Very crisp, very clear writer, with great discipline.

For those of you who wish to learn to write fiction, or anything else, his books are pretty much a master class.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 08, 2024 09:35 AM (eDfFs)

Just finished "A Kiss Before Dying". The '54? movie was very good, and I haven't seen the more recent re-make but the novel is terrific. He does some things you have to go back and re-notice.
A great story-teller.

Posted by: sal at September 08, 2024 12:34 PM (bx3Km)

310 Just stumbled across this silly little bit:

It's International Literacy Day! (0:37)
Prager
https://youtu.be/ICKhtLqK7E0

Posted by: mindful webworker - International? at September 08, 2024 12:40 PM (Ngg9+)

311 The best Arthurian story I've read is Bernard Cornwell's trilogy starting with "The Winter King". Cornwell's retelling uses the few facts known about Arthur and builds a fictional story that couples the Roman withdrawal from Britain with the Saxon invasion. It builds plausible relationships between Arthur, Guinevere, Galahad, and the rest, all told from the view point of Arthur's trusted war lord.

I've just finished the second reading and I highly recommend it!

Posted by: Yawrate at September 08, 2024 05:38 PM (9hnKm)

312 Well, they've already tried to kill him, what more can they do? Kidnap his family, get a better assassin, disappear him?
Posted by: Megthered at September 08, 2024 10:38 PM (XR9vR)

car bombs, IEDs, drone strikes, misplaced MANPADS, blown dams,

Posted by: Kindltot at September 08, 2024 11:02 PM (D7oie)

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