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Sunday Morning Book Thread - 3-16-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
PIC NOTE
This is one of several "Community Living Libraries" situated about town, provided courtesy of our local Rotary Club. As with most of these, it's intended as a communal book-swap location. I left a few books here, though I had to cram them in, as these don't hold very many books and it was already quite full. This particular Community Living Library is right next to one of the more popular walking trails. PRINCIPLES FOR HEALTHY BOOK READING
Comment: I read this last year along with several other Michael Crichton novels. I thought it was pretty decent. I'll second Thomas Paine's recommendation if you like this type of speculative fiction. The "monster" is horrific in the extreme, though I think the possibility of anything like this being created is fairly remote. But it's a Crichton novel, so there's always an edge of plausibility. What if?
Modern science has made it possible for smart technology to create biological factories for building nanoparticles. But, do these experiments really control the processes? Michael Crichton's novel Prey shows just how a runaway experiment might occur. Jack Foreman is a stay at home dad, since his whistleblowing led to losing his software job. His wife Julia, however, is a high level executive at a biotech firm. She has been acting strangely lately, and people around her are experiencing bizarre medical symptoms. When things start getting out of hand, her firm asks Jack to come in and help. What he finds is that a predator software he wrote has been used in the creation of nano robots for military purposes, but the robots are evolving on their own, out of the control of the program. The novel explores the hazardous nature of creating autonomous organisms that can manufacture themselves. The theme is similar to the Frankenstein story, where the creator cannot control the creation. The novel was written in 2002, yet still seems relevant today, with the same moral and ethical issues regarding experiments in creating viruses and organisms. Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 09, 2025 09:16 AM (sDg1U)
Comment: Mark Steyn likes to say that demographics is destiny. We know China--along with many other countries--is going to experience a demographic implosion in the next few decades. Will the Chinese be able to recover and conquer the world as planned?
I read Tom Cotton's Seven Things You Can't Say About China this week. The sad and scary part is that there is nothing that is not pretty well known in this book, but when you put it all together like this it is absolutely clear that the Chinese plan to become the world's only super-power. We can submit, or be destroyed. The wheels have been in motion for a long time, and are accelerating. They say understanding you have a problem is the first step. The next step is to take action. This book helps on the first part, but I'm afraid that there are enough complicit and compromised in our corporate, political, and military leadership that we are incapable of that second step. Posted by: Candidus at March 09, 2025 09:55 AM (wJj/H)
(Huggy Squirrel has been raiding the Community Living Library.)
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Good morning horde!
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at March 16, 2025 08:57 AM (ExV1e)
2
Too early?
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at March 16, 2025 08:57 AM (L1omb)
3
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 09:00 AM (fwDg9)
4
Morning, all! Thanks to the Perfessor for the thread despite the storm.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:01 AM (omVj0)
5
Yay book thread! Storms have passed through here as well, but our swampy forests have limited their capacity to do harm.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:02 AM (ZOv7s)
6
(1/2) Among the books I've read the last few weeks was Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades by Oakley Hall. Published in 1998, this is a mystery novel in which Ambrose Bierce (the rather famous ascerbic reporter of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries) solves a series of four murdered women. The narrator is a "cub" reporter under the tutelage of Bierce. The novel was a moderately interesting recount of like in 1880s San Francisco; however, the solution of the mystery was rather unsatisfying for me. Harkening to Sherlock Holmes, Bierce goes to an opium den, smokes 12 pipes of opium, bangs a Chinese whore, and cogitates his way to a solution. I felt that the author didn't play completely fair with the reader: among the scattered clues, Hall omits the most critical (that's what Bierce figures out while smoking opium). Rating = 3.0/5. My reaction was "meh."
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:03 AM (pJWtt)
7
Morning, Perfessor.
Howdy, Horde.
Here's hoping nobody has to run for a basement. Been there & done that & it ain't fun.
Howdy, Horde.
Here's hoping nobody has to run for a basement. Been there & done that & it ain't fun.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:04 AM (q3u5l)
8
I dunno. Holmes seemed quite socially adept when necessary. He just didn't deem it necessary for his work, at least not often. He moved among the lowest classes, though often in disguise, and had clients among the aristocracy as well. Yes, he could be a little abrupt with them sometimes, but he was working, not dallying.
The current fad for painting him as an Asperger's patient or as socially awkward is not what Doyle intended or wrote.
The current fad for painting him as an Asperger's patient or as socially awkward is not what Doyle intended or wrote.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:05 AM (omVj0)
9
For a more complete review of Tom Cotton's book, this morning Powerline links to a WFB review https://shorturl.at/ZU43Y .
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:06 AM (WqmIe)
10
Still reading Susanna Rabow-Edling's The First Russian Revolution the Decembrest Revolt of 1825
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 09:06 AM (fwDg9)
11
I got as close as I ever want to get to a tornado Friday night. It touched down in my neighborhood.
I'd always heard that a tornado sounds like a freight train. After Friday night, I know *exactly* what that means.
Fortunately, my house is unscathed, except for a loss of power. Roof, gutters, and siding all still look good.
I'd always heard that a tornado sounds like a freight train. After Friday night, I know *exactly* what that means.
Fortunately, my house is unscathed, except for a loss of power. Roof, gutters, and siding all still look good.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
12
(2/2) Of course, if you mention Ambrose Bierce, he's probably now best remembered for his "Devil's Dictionary" - a collection of sardonic, cynical definitions of words.
The edition to get, is The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary edited by Ernest J. Hopkins. Published in 1967, this version includes an additional 851 words to Bierce's 1000 words included in the book published in 1911. Hopkins culled the old San Francisco newspapers and discovered that Bierce had actually started his project in 1875. Hopkins speculates that Bierce couldn't access old newspaper files because he was now in the East, and San Francisco was still recovering from the 1906 earthquake.
Highly recommended if you're a Bierce complete-ist, collect dictionaries, or a student of word usage.
The edition to get, is The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary edited by Ernest J. Hopkins. Published in 1967, this version includes an additional 851 words to Bierce's 1000 words included in the book published in 1911. Hopkins culled the old San Francisco newspapers and discovered that Bierce had actually started his project in 1875. Hopkins speculates that Bierce couldn't access old newspaper files because he was now in the East, and San Francisco was still recovering from the 1906 earthquake.
Highly recommended if you're a Bierce complete-ist, collect dictionaries, or a student of word usage.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (pJWtt)
13
I just finished Hemingway's posthumous memoir of his time in Paris in the 1920s, A Moveable Feast. It's colorful, and his portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald as a young man (as Hemingway was himself) is beautifully drawn. It's a series of small sketches, not a full-blown memoir and certainly not a novel.
He makes writing spare sentences look easy.
He makes writing spare sentences look easy.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (omVj0)
14
7
Here's hoping nobody has to run for a basement. Been there & done that & it ain't fun.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:04 AM (q3u5l)
----
Basement? What's a basement?
Here's hoping nobody has to run for a basement. Been there & done that & it ain't fun.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:04 AM (q3u5l)
----
Basement? What's a basement?
Posted by: Ciampino - No basements in flood zones at March 16, 2025 09:08 AM (KjLnc)
15
Gee, that "mini portajohn" look would be so appealing to have scattered throughout an area.
Gee, that "mini portajohn" look would be so appealing to have scattered throughout an area.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 16, 2025 09:08 AM (xG4kz)
16
As I always like to say, "You know, there's a song about that."
https://tinyurl.com/TornadoTimeInTexas
https://tinyurl.com/TornadoTimeInTexas
Posted by: Don in SoCo at March 16, 2025 09:09 AM (O5Fkf)
17
I dunno. Holmes seemed quite socially adept when necessary. He just didn't deem it necessary for his work, at least not often. He moved among the lowest classes, though often in disguise, and had clients among the aristocracy as well. Yes, he could be a little abrupt with them sometimes, but he was working, not dallying.
The current fad for painting him as an Asperger's patient or as socially awkward is not what Doyle intended or wrote.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:05 AM (omVj0)
---
Fair point. To Holmes, I think he saw people more as useful entities to aid him in his work and was thus able to manipulate them as needed. Though he does have a few close friends whom he treats as such.
Poirot seemed more like a social gadfly who genuinely enjoyed the company of others.
The current fad for painting him as an Asperger's patient or as socially awkward is not what Doyle intended or wrote.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:05 AM (omVj0)
---
Fair point. To Holmes, I think he saw people more as useful entities to aid him in his work and was thus able to manipulate them as needed. Though he does have a few close friends whom he treats as such.
Poirot seemed more like a social gadfly who genuinely enjoyed the company of others.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:09 AM (7fElN)
18
That embedded video about Agatha Christie is almost completely incorrect. Nobody gives a damn about Christie's settings or characters. Nobody gives a damn about her "contemporary attitudes."
Christie's secret was that she analyzed how mystery stories of her time worked. The "puzzle mystery" -- sometimes called the "fair play mystery" because the reader got all the clues the detective did and had a chance to solve the case before they got to the revelation at the end.
Christie looked at the genre and identified all the unspoken implicit rules that authors and readers understood even if they couldn't articulate them. And then she built a brilliant career on systematically breaking those rules.
Who can't be the killer? The narrator can't be. One of the victims can't be. All the suspects can't be. The detective can't be. A chance-met stranger can't be. You get the idea -- and she used all of those in her stories.
She realized that mystery stories were a game between author and reader, and turned them into a meta-game.
Christie's secret was that she analyzed how mystery stories of her time worked. The "puzzle mystery" -- sometimes called the "fair play mystery" because the reader got all the clues the detective did and had a chance to solve the case before they got to the revelation at the end.
Christie looked at the genre and identified all the unspoken implicit rules that authors and readers understood even if they couldn't articulate them. And then she built a brilliant career on systematically breaking those rules.
Who can't be the killer? The narrator can't be. One of the victims can't be. All the suspects can't be. The detective can't be. A chance-met stranger can't be. You get the idea -- and she used all of those in her stories.
She realized that mystery stories were a game between author and reader, and turned them into a meta-game.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:09 AM (78a2H)
19
I liked Prey and thought Crichton was one of the best scientists around - he actually practiced the scientific method, instead of the herd consensus approach currently masquerading as science. Crichton has a catastrophic global warming takedown that is one of the best I've read, but I can't seem to find it.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:09 AM (WqmIe)
20
I got as close as I ever want to get to a tornado Friday night. It touched down in my neighborhood.
I'd always heard that a tornado sounds like a freight train. After Friday night, I know *exactly* what that means.
Fortunately, my house is unscathed, except for a loss of power. Roof, gutters, and siding all still look good.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
That's good news. Last year, I watched one form right over my house, but it didn't touch down until it was a couple of miles away.
I'd always heard that a tornado sounds like a freight train. After Friday night, I know *exactly* what that means.
Fortunately, my house is unscathed, except for a loss of power. Roof, gutters, and siding all still look good.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
That's good news. Last year, I watched one form right over my house, but it didn't touch down until it was a couple of miles away.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:10 AM (jkxhO)
21
Uncle Clarence was sittin' in the outhouse, now he's sittin' in the yard.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at March 16, 2025 09:10 AM (O5Fkf)
22
Crichton has a catastrophic global warming takedown that is one of the best I've read, but I can't seem to find it.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:09 AM (WqmIe)
---
State of Fear -- recommended!
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:09 AM (WqmIe)
---
State of Fear -- recommended!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:11 AM (7fElN)
23
I read Tom Cotton's Seven Things You Can't Say About China this week. The sad and scary part is that there is nothing that is not pretty well known in this book, but when you put it all together like this it is absolutely clear that the Chinese plan to become the world's only super-power. We can submit, or be destroyed. The wheels have been in motion for a long time, and are accelerating.
---
The danger of books of this sort is that they often distort the strengths of the country in question to the point where resistance seems futile. China has many strengths but also massive weaknesses that are hidden from view.
Foremost among them is the impending population crash. China used to be a patient country, but the clock is ticking.
There is also the problem of governance. China is always one rebellion away from civil war. China's traditional system of rule values loyalty over competence, and this has been exacerbated under Communism. We are shown big ships, shiny aircraft but what intelligence animates them? People quote Sun Tzu, but his teachings are obviously not applied in China because they hid all sorts of things from themselves. (cont)
---
The danger of books of this sort is that they often distort the strengths of the country in question to the point where resistance seems futile. China has many strengths but also massive weaknesses that are hidden from view.
Foremost among them is the impending population crash. China used to be a patient country, but the clock is ticking.
There is also the problem of governance. China is always one rebellion away from civil war. China's traditional system of rule values loyalty over competence, and this has been exacerbated under Communism. We are shown big ships, shiny aircraft but what intelligence animates them? People quote Sun Tzu, but his teachings are obviously not applied in China because they hid all sorts of things from themselves. (cont)
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:11 AM (ZOv7s)
24
The next book from my library pile is Hunter S Thompson's collection of short pieces focusing on society and politics in the Eighties, Geneatino of Swine. I hadn't realized when I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (during the actual Eighties) what a rabid lefty, or at least Democrat, he was.
There's the occasional funny line. He tells one of his Dem contacts, "I've warned you about using that crack. One day they will lock you in a cage, and your children will visit you on Sundays and poke sharp sticks at you through the bars." And he will rattle off a list of outrageous things he has done, like having his friend Maria tattooed on her back, and conclude, "We are, after all, professionals."
Somehow I think I will move on to something else.
There's the occasional funny line. He tells one of his Dem contacts, "I've warned you about using that crack. One day they will lock you in a cage, and your children will visit you on Sundays and poke sharp sticks at you through the bars." And he will rattle off a list of outrageous things he has done, like having his friend Maria tattooed on her back, and conclude, "We are, after all, professionals."
Somehow I think I will move on to something else.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:12 AM (omVj0)
25
Miss Linda brought me one of the later Narnia books, the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and I'm charmed already.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:12 AM (omVj0)
26
For a more complete review of Tom Cotton's book, this morning Powerline links to a WFB review
I found the review a bit perplexing. The author says Cotton's book punches above its weight, but that sounds to me like he's criticizing it for being a lightweight book about a heavyweight subject. He also criticizes Cotton for not being sufficiently negative about the outcome of a war between China and the US, yet praises Cotton's perspicacity in assembling the topics of the book. IDK.
Either way, I intend to read it.
I found the review a bit perplexing. The author says Cotton's book punches above its weight, but that sounds to me like he's criticizing it for being a lightweight book about a heavyweight subject. He also criticizes Cotton for not being sufficiently negative about the outcome of a war between China and the US, yet praises Cotton's perspicacity in assembling the topics of the book. IDK.
Either way, I intend to read it.
Posted by: Archimedes at March 16, 2025 09:13 AM (xCA6C)
27
Highly recommended if you're a Bierce complete-ist, collect dictionaries, or a student of word usage.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
_____________
I love Bierce. Killed at Resaca is probably my favorite short story of his.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
_____________
I love Bierce. Killed at Resaca is probably my favorite short story of his.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at March 16, 2025 09:13 AM (Dm8we)
28
Crichton has a catastrophic global warming takedown that is one of the best I've read, but I can't seem to find it.
Posted by: Candidus
It is titled State of Fear
Posted by: Candidus
It is titled State of Fear
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:13 AM (jkxhO)
29
I'd always heard that a tornado sounds like a freight train. After Friday night, I know *exactly* what that means.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
---
My wife and were watching some weather documentary about a tornado and one of the survivors was a good ole boy who said "I heard they sound like a train, but I didn't hear no 'woo woo!'"
Years ago at a kids' leadership camp on a military, we watched a funnel cloud go overhead. Everyone was like "what in the world is that...ooooh!" It touched down a few miles west of us. Very cool.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
---
My wife and were watching some weather documentary about a tornado and one of the survivors was a good ole boy who said "I heard they sound like a train, but I didn't hear no 'woo woo!'"
Years ago at a kids' leadership camp on a military, we watched a funnel cloud go overhead. Everyone was like "what in the world is that...ooooh!" It touched down a few miles west of us. Very cool.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:14 AM (ZOv7s)
30
I will be perfectly happy if I live my life without finding out what a tornado sounds like.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:15 AM (78a2H)
31
I don't get it. I've been publishing books about the Chinese threat for 20 years, and Cotton gets all the press?
Posted by: Gordon Chang at March 16, 2025 09:17 AM (xCA6C)
32
So this week I've been reading two books, one SF and one fantasy. The SF book is _The Murderbot Diaries_ by Martha Wells, which is better than I thought it would be, and the fantasy is _Lord of a Shattered Land_ by Howard Jones, which is not as awesome as I had hoped.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:17 AM (78a2H)
33
Somehow I think I will move on to something else.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:12 AM (omVj0)
---
Thompson peaked in the early 70s, and was never that good. He stood out at the time because he was more crass than anyone at the time, which is sort of like being the first film to show male frontal nudity. Okay, you did it, others can and will, but is it really necessary?
Other than his vile personal behavior to his family, perhaps the most pathetic element of his life came when he was palling around with the likes of John Kerry, the ne plus ultra of establishment stuff suits he damned so loudly in his youth.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:12 AM (omVj0)
---
Thompson peaked in the early 70s, and was never that good. He stood out at the time because he was more crass than anyone at the time, which is sort of like being the first film to show male frontal nudity. Okay, you did it, others can and will, but is it really necessary?
Other than his vile personal behavior to his family, perhaps the most pathetic element of his life came when he was palling around with the likes of John Kerry, the ne plus ultra of establishment stuff suits he damned so loudly in his youth.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:17 AM (ZOv7s)
34
Been a while since this town was hit (feel like I'm jinxing myself here); sucker came down about six or eight blocks from Casa Some Guy, tore up a number of shops and houses and killed power in a few areas. Walking through the underpass was amusing that week -- half a block of absolutely pitch blackness unless you were carrying a flashlight, which I did after the first evening I had to walk home from work after dark.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:18 AM (q3u5l)
35
Fortunately, my house is unscathed, except for a loss of power. Roof, gutters, and siding all still look good.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
------
Thank goodness!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
------
Thank goodness!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 16, 2025 09:18 AM (kpS4V)
36
Fortunately, my house is unscathed, except for a loss of power. Roof, gutters, and siding all still look good.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
Power is overrated !
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
Power is overrated !
Posted by: runner at March 16, 2025 09:20 AM (g47mK)
37
March can be a bit rough.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at March 16, 2025 09:20 AM (O5Fkf)
38
Good Sunday morning, horde!
I finished The Ice Limit, by Preston and Child. What an adventure! It started pretty slow, in my opinion, but once they got the meteor and started the project, it was non-stop tense action. And so, so cold...
I finished The Ice Limit, by Preston and Child. What an adventure! It started pretty slow, in my opinion, but once they got the meteor and started the project, it was non-stop tense action. And so, so cold...
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 09:21 AM (OX9vb)
39
To get an idea of how far genetic manipulation has gotten out of control, a good point of reference is the novel Next by Michael Crichton. Crichton was a medical doctor, and relied on his extensive knowledge to tell this nightmarish tale. This book is written as a pastiche of several interrelated stories. Both the techniques and the characters involved are examples of just how debased an advanced society can be.
Genetic manipulations of animals, the corporate ownership of peoples' genes, selling human eggs and sperm, and hiring bounty hunters and international gangs to advance corporate goals are all here, and are based on actual events. One of the primary stories here is of a man who has a strong genetic resistance to cancer, and the medical group who has won the right to his cells in court. They also assert that they have the right to his descendants' cells as well, and by any means they choose.
In an age with incredible medical and genetic advances, and a legal system that has not been able to keep up, it is not only a warning of the brave new world that we face, but that even as we have evolved our scientific abilities, human nature has not changed at all.
Genetic manipulations of animals, the corporate ownership of peoples' genes, selling human eggs and sperm, and hiring bounty hunters and international gangs to advance corporate goals are all here, and are based on actual events. One of the primary stories here is of a man who has a strong genetic resistance to cancer, and the medical group who has won the right to his cells in court. They also assert that they have the right to his descendants' cells as well, and by any means they choose.
In an age with incredible medical and genetic advances, and a legal system that has not been able to keep up, it is not only a warning of the brave new world that we face, but that even as we have evolved our scientific abilities, human nature has not changed at all.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:21 AM (jkxhO)
Posted by: Joseph Stalin at March 16, 2025 09:21 AM (xCA6C)
41
Booken morgen horden.
I hope everyone is safe
I hope everyone is safe
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:22 AM (rT96s)
42
(cont) The solution to China is simply to rebuild American society, and that is currently underway. Decline is a choice, and while on our back foot on the moment, America possess key advantages over China, such as a tradition of open debate, a warrior culture of valor, and faith. All have been under attack, and those attacks have failed. The momentum is now with the other side.
I'm sure you're all expecting the inevitable book plug, and I won't disappoint you, but I should point out that the primary reason I wrote Walls of Men when I did was to educate my military colleagues about China's capabilities but also its weaknesses. Americans are optimistic; Chinese are fatalistic. They are said to be meticulous planners and brilliant strategists, but if that's so, how was the most populous and wealthy country in the world subdued by a relative handful of Europeans with steamships and smokeless powder?
I'm sure you're all expecting the inevitable book plug, and I won't disappoint you, but I should point out that the primary reason I wrote Walls of Men when I did was to educate my military colleagues about China's capabilities but also its weaknesses. Americans are optimistic; Chinese are fatalistic. They are said to be meticulous planners and brilliant strategists, but if that's so, how was the most populous and wealthy country in the world subdued by a relative handful of Europeans with steamships and smokeless powder?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:22 AM (ZOv7s)
43
Not much reading this week, just Rainbow Rowell's "Slow Dance", about a couple parting and reconnecting over the years. Everybody but them knows they are destined to be together, but circumstances and their own issues interfere.
I liked it.
I liked it.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 16, 2025 09:23 AM (kpS4V)
44
...The current fad for painting him as an Asperger's patient or as socially awkward is not what Doyle intended or wrote.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:05 AM (omVj0)
I agree. There's a couple of multi-volume annotated versions of Doyle's Holmes stories. Sadly they're all out of print, except (I think) the trade-paperback series published by Gasogene Press.
The forerunner was, William Baring-Gould's Annotated Sherlock Holmes first published in 2 volumes in 1967 by Clarkson Potter. (They reissued an ominbus single volume in a slip-case, later).
Then, there's The Oxford Sherlock Holmes published in 1993 by Oxford University Press in 9 volumes. There's some useful notes.
Leslie Klinger had his The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes published by Norton in 2005 (2 volumes: short stores), and 2006 (1 vol: novels).
Klinger worked with Steve Doyle over at Gasogene Press and they re-issued 10 volumes (including the Apocrypha) around 2009.
In case you can't tell, I'm a huge SH nerd.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:05 AM (omVj0)
I agree. There's a couple of multi-volume annotated versions of Doyle's Holmes stories. Sadly they're all out of print, except (I think) the trade-paperback series published by Gasogene Press.
The forerunner was, William Baring-Gould's Annotated Sherlock Holmes first published in 2 volumes in 1967 by Clarkson Potter. (They reissued an ominbus single volume in a slip-case, later).
Then, there's The Oxford Sherlock Holmes published in 1993 by Oxford University Press in 9 volumes. There's some useful notes.
Leslie Klinger had his The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes published by Norton in 2005 (2 volumes: short stores), and 2006 (1 vol: novels).
Klinger worked with Steve Doyle over at Gasogene Press and they re-issued 10 volumes (including the Apocrypha) around 2009.
In case you can't tell, I'm a huge SH nerd.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:23 AM (pJWtt)
45
Since we've mentioned all the bad weather, and we've mentioned Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary (a delight that nobody should miss), I have to recommend that everyone check out his definition of 'weather' and make sure to read the verse that concludes it. True then and it seems even truer today.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (q3u5l)
46
Wells's "Murderbot" is a fun sci-fi thriller (I've seen it described as Space Opera but it isn't). The narrator, a robot who privately calls itself Murderbot, is an interesting character. I think Wells very cleverly came up with an action hero main character who can appeal to all of the socially awkward self-diagnosed "autists" among SF fans. Murderbot is also a sexless machine, so ticks off some boxes for the Pronoun People.
If this sounds like I'm dissing the book, I'm not. I think Wells made some very clever choices which got her book positive reviews and praise -- and thus sales -- by "gaming the system" of current SF fandom and reviewing exactly as Agatha Christie did for mystery readers a century ago. The story itself is fun and exciting, and I'm not surprised it got picked up for a streaming TV show. (The fact that Murderbot has biological components and a human face makes me think Wells also thought about how to make her book appealing to film makers.)
If this sounds like I'm dissing the book, I'm not. I think Wells made some very clever choices which got her book positive reviews and praise -- and thus sales -- by "gaming the system" of current SF fandom and reviewing exactly as Agatha Christie did for mystery readers a century ago. The story itself is fun and exciting, and I'm not surprised it got picked up for a streaming TV show. (The fact that Murderbot has biological components and a human face makes me think Wells also thought about how to make her book appealing to film makers.)
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (78a2H)
47
Good morning!
Posted by: Ides Of gp at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (3l52y)
48
I finished The Ice Limit, by Preston and Child. What an adventure! It started pretty slow, in my opinion, but once they got the meteor and started the project, it was non-stop tense action. And so, so cold...
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs
I stumbled across that one several years ago, and was hooked. Thirty or so books later, I am still reading Preston and Child novels.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs
I stumbled across that one several years ago, and was hooked. Thirty or so books later, I am still reading Preston and Child novels.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (jkxhO)
49
Today I'm starting my annual Easter read, "Death on a Friday Afternoon," by the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.
It is Father Neuhaus' profound reflections on the last 7 "words" (phrases) of Christ, uttered on the Cross. I first read it in 2002 and it was instrumental in turning me from a Christian In Name Only to a fairly devout Catholic.
The book is not overtly Catholic dogma, it's more just about what people have thought about Christ's utterances while He was suffering. I cannot recommend more highly:
https://tinyurl.com/Fr-Neuhaus-DoaFA
It is Father Neuhaus' profound reflections on the last 7 "words" (phrases) of Christ, uttered on the Cross. I first read it in 2002 and it was instrumental in turning me from a Christian In Name Only to a fairly devout Catholic.
The book is not overtly Catholic dogma, it's more just about what people have thought about Christ's utterances while He was suffering. I cannot recommend more highly:
https://tinyurl.com/Fr-Neuhaus-DoaFA
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (/RHNq)
50
No reading this week other than blog posts and news sites.
Much time taken by travel to Lake County, Ind., for oldest son's wedding.
Now a short vacation in Chicago, and then travel back home.
I brought a book of Wodehouse short stories, but I doubt that I'll crack it on this trip.
Much time taken by travel to Lake County, Ind., for oldest son's wedding.
Now a short vacation in Chicago, and then travel back home.
I brought a book of Wodehouse short stories, but I doubt that I'll crack it on this trip.
Posted by: Weak Geek is elated at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (/dnrY)
51
Had to be 20 - 30 years ago a tornado hit here, just causing damage east of here, leaped over my immediate area but hit back down west of here. Destroyed 1 house completely killing the whole family.
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (fwDg9)
52
Oh, and yeah it's like a freight train, but I mostly slept through it.
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 09:25 AM (fwDg9)
53
Highly recommended if you're a Bierce complete-ist, collect dictionaries, or a student of word usage.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
_____________
I love Bierce. Killed at Resaca is probably my favorite short story of his.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at March 16, 2025 09:13 AM (Dm8we)
Bierce's experiences in the American Civil War definitely affected his world-view. He apparently became something of a nihilist, and viewed death as a release from meaningless suffering.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
_____________
I love Bierce. Killed at Resaca is probably my favorite short story of his.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at March 16, 2025 09:13 AM (Dm8we)
Bierce's experiences in the American Civil War definitely affected his world-view. He apparently became something of a nihilist, and viewed death as a release from meaningless suffering.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:26 AM (pJWtt)
54
I read Napoleon: A Life, but Andrew Roberts. There are probably thousands of bios of Nappy B, and I obviously haven't read all of them, so I can't say this one was better or worse than the others, but what I can say is that it got the job done. It was interesting throughout, and I now have a reasonable foundation about his life and motivations. For $7 on Kindle, that's a deal.
Posted by: Archimedes at March 16, 2025 09:28 AM (xCA6C)
55
I stumbled across that one several years ago, and was hooked. Thirty or so books later, I am still reading Preston and Child novels.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (jkxhO)
----
Thanks to your recommendations, I, too, have read most of their books.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (jkxhO)
----
Thanks to your recommendations, I, too, have read most of their books.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:29 AM (7fElN)
56
Bierce's experiences in the American Civil War definitely affected his world-view. He apparently became something of a nihilist, and viewed death as a release from meaningless suffering.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
__________
Definitely a nihilist. Yet he still did ghost stories. Very strange.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
__________
Definitely a nihilist. Yet he still did ghost stories. Very strange.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at March 16, 2025 09:29 AM (Dm8we)
57
Today I'm starting my annual Easter read, "Death on a Friday Afternoon," by the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.
...
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (/RHNq)
This book pops-up like a bad penny. Unfortunately, Fr. Neuhaus promulgated heresy in this book (Hell is empty - everybody, including Satan and the demons go to Heaven). I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AT ALL!!!
Read Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Jesus Cries from the Cross instead. This is a paperback collation of several of his short books about the Crucifixion of Christ.
Sorry to toss a grenade and run, but we've got to go to Mass.
...
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 09:24 AM (/RHNq)
This book pops-up like a bad penny. Unfortunately, Fr. Neuhaus promulgated heresy in this book (Hell is empty - everybody, including Satan and the demons go to Heaven). I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AT ALL!!!
Read Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Jesus Cries from the Cross instead. This is a paperback collation of several of his short books about the Crucifixion of Christ.
Sorry to toss a grenade and run, but we've got to go to Mass.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:30 AM (pJWtt)
58
Fortunately, my house is unscathed, except for a loss of power. Roof, gutters, and siding all still look good.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
Wow
Scary
Glad you're safe
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:07 AM (7fElN)
Wow
Scary
Glad you're safe
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:30 AM (rT96s)
59
Not much reading this week, but for some reason decided to revisit the Robert Wise film of Crichton's Andromeda Strain. That flick still holds up quite nicely.
Never got around to State of Fear, but Prey is a lot of fun. A Crichton curiosity that I haven't looked at in a couple of decades is his non-fiction book on computers called Electronic Life (around '81 or '82 IIRC) -- his comments on operating systems and storage capacity are naturally way out of date, but it seemed to me that his attitude toward the bloody machines was a healthy one.
Never got around to State of Fear, but Prey is a lot of fun. A Crichton curiosity that I haven't looked at in a couple of decades is his non-fiction book on computers called Electronic Life (around '81 or '82 IIRC) -- his comments on operating systems and storage capacity are naturally way out of date, but it seemed to me that his attitude toward the bloody machines was a healthy one.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:31 AM (q3u5l)
60
Perfessor, I'm glad to hear you're doing alright after the storms. I think that same tornado missed my place by about half a mile. Didn't even have hail damage to my car. Tornadoes are peculiar things.
Posted by: Dr. T at March 16, 2025 09:31 AM (jGGMD)
61
I read The Complete Sherlock Holmes cover to cover when I was 12 and loved it. Had that book for decades and reread it often until giving it away to an avid reader about 15 years ago. I hope she found it as engaging as I did.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 09:32 AM (/RHNq)
62
I read some Fanon last nite for the first time. More people should have paid attention to what this guy wrote in 1961. He lays out his whole case, with FULL candor, for the Thrid World invasion of the West. It's pointedly antiwhite, explicitly rooted in envy (rather than in resentment or retribution as one might think,) and inevitably violent. He wanted our stuff, our women, and our lives.
Posted by: Ides Of gp at March 16, 2025 09:32 AM (3l52y)
63
In reading, still working through Bulfinch's Mythology. The editor is sometimes useful, often annoying. The sneering condescension about Christianity I could do without.
I'm thinking about getting the Ignatius Study Bible (when the reprint comes out) because I'd like to see how it handles Genesis Chapter 6. My NABRE kind of punts on the topic of giants, following the Protestant line of downplaying the spirit world. Douay-Rheims, on the other hand, uses the example of Sons of God mating with women as a cautionary tale about the danger of marrying out of desire and lust. It also suggests that the giants were real, given the variability of early humans, but that their savagery and cruelty was more significant than their size.
I'm thinking about getting the Ignatius Study Bible (when the reprint comes out) because I'd like to see how it handles Genesis Chapter 6. My NABRE kind of punts on the topic of giants, following the Protestant line of downplaying the spirit world. Douay-Rheims, on the other hand, uses the example of Sons of God mating with women as a cautionary tale about the danger of marrying out of desire and lust. It also suggests that the giants were real, given the variability of early humans, but that their savagery and cruelty was more significant than their size.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:33 AM (ZOv7s)
64
I returned my first attempt at a Preston & Child book, Relic, unfinished the other day. 1/3rd of te way in and still wasn't interesting to me.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:34 AM (rT96s)
65
Posted by: Archimedes at March 16, 2025 09:28 AM (xCA6C)
my last bio I read was Leonardo DaVinci by Walter Isaacson. I don't think it was his intention but I came away with less acceptance of the current conventional wisdom about DaVinci and his genius.
Very readable though.
my last bio I read was Leonardo DaVinci by Walter Isaacson. I don't think it was his intention but I came away with less acceptance of the current conventional wisdom about DaVinci and his genius.
Very readable though.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 09:35 AM (VofaG)
66
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
I have that! Do you want me to check the commentary and report back?
I have that! Do you want me to check the commentary and report back?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:35 AM (rT96s)
67
Really neuhaus was that wrong no wonder obama quoted him probably wrongly
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 09:36 AM (dJR17)
68
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. And prayers for those in the storm's path.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 09:37 AM (yTvNw)
69
I returned my first attempt at a Preston & Child book, Relic, unfinished the other day. 1/3rd of the way in and still wasn't interesting to me.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport
I have to admit that Relic and the sequel Reliquary are my least favorite of their books. You might try The Ice Limit or Still Life with Crows instead.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport
I have to admit that Relic and the sequel Reliquary are my least favorite of their books. You might try The Ice Limit or Still Life with Crows instead.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:39 AM (jkxhO)
70
Perfesser Squirrel, glad you're okay. I can't imagine how frightening something like that is.
Chricton's State of Fear is well done and extremely well researched. Written in 2004, he never fell for the hoax.
One of his best is Dragon Teeth about dinosaur bone hunters in the Wild West. Based on a true story of two rivals. Seems he always had an interest in dinosaurs.
Chricton's State of Fear is well done and extremely well researched. Written in 2004, he never fell for the hoax.
One of his best is Dragon Teeth about dinosaur bone hunters in the Wild West. Based on a true story of two rivals. Seems he always had an interest in dinosaurs.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 09:39 AM (t/2Uw)
71
Chritie had contemporary references to her time not to ours the atmstrong case in orient express was clearly lindbergh with a twist for instance
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 09:40 AM (dJR17)
72
This book pops-up like a bad penny. Unfortunately, Fr. Neuhaus promulgated heresy in this book (Hell is empty - everybody, including Satan and the demons go to Heaven). I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AT ALL!!!
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:30 AM (pJWtt)
---
The late George Cardinal Pell wrote that as a result of his incarceration, he was forced to admit that his earlier flirtation with universal salvation was not only wrong, but badly wrong and likely put a great many souls at risk.
He said that soft-pedaling the reality of hell was a huge mistake for the Church, and largely the result of wanting to appear "nice." It didn't work, and needed to stop.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:30 AM (pJWtt)
---
The late George Cardinal Pell wrote that as a result of his incarceration, he was forced to admit that his earlier flirtation with universal salvation was not only wrong, but badly wrong and likely put a great many souls at risk.
He said that soft-pedaling the reality of hell was a huge mistake for the Church, and largely the result of wanting to appear "nice." It didn't work, and needed to stop.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:41 AM (ZOv7s)
73
Howard Andrew Jones's _Lord of a Shattered Land_ is kind of like "What if Conan was Hannibal with a dash of Moses?" It's about "Hanuvar" whose city Volanus was wiped out by the Dervan Empire, and now he's sneaking around Dervan territory recovering the surviving enslaved Volanians.
It was apparently written as a series of short stories and novellas, which means the episodes are punchy and there's little wasted space. Hanuvar's tough and resourceful, the Dervans are all decadent and villainous (except for one honorable general), and there is some satisfyingly weird sorcery along with the swordplay.
I have two teensy complaints: first, at times the historical parallels get too obvious, making immersion hard (I had this trouble with Song of Ice and Fire, too). If Jones had been either subtler or gone full alternate-history and written about actual Hannibal adventuring in the actual Roman Mediterranean after Zama, I think it would be better.
I'm also a little uncomfortable about all the "powerful warrior women" in the book. I know the demographics of the fantasy readership and I know Jones probably knows it too, but I just can't buy elite warrior swordswomen.
It was apparently written as a series of short stories and novellas, which means the episodes are punchy and there's little wasted space. Hanuvar's tough and resourceful, the Dervans are all decadent and villainous (except for one honorable general), and there is some satisfyingly weird sorcery along with the swordplay.
I have two teensy complaints: first, at times the historical parallels get too obvious, making immersion hard (I had this trouble with Song of Ice and Fire, too). If Jones had been either subtler or gone full alternate-history and written about actual Hannibal adventuring in the actual Roman Mediterranean after Zama, I think it would be better.
I'm also a little uncomfortable about all the "powerful warrior women" in the book. I know the demographics of the fantasy readership and I know Jones probably knows it too, but I just can't buy elite warrior swordswomen.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:41 AM (78a2H)
74
I went on a bit of a book-buying spree this week. First up, I pre-ordered "The Atlantean" Volume 2. Okay, technically I pledged to its crowd-funding campaign over at fundmycomic-dot-com, but this the third book for from this creative team, and I have every confidence that this is as good as a pre-order.
Basically, Robert E Howards first story about Kull (the precursor to Conan the Barbarian) has fallen into the public domain, and two guys have decided to start their own little comic series to act as a sequel to that story ("The Shadow Kingdom"). Which is nice, because REH himself never bothered to follow up on some plot threads he dropped in that story...Anyways, these guys do a black-and-white graphic novel, basically their own version of the old Savage Sword of Conan comic that ran for two decades.
Basically, Robert E Howards first story about Kull (the precursor to Conan the Barbarian) has fallen into the public domain, and two guys have decided to start their own little comic series to act as a sequel to that story ("The Shadow Kingdom"). Which is nice, because REH himself never bothered to follow up on some plot threads he dropped in that story...Anyways, these guys do a black-and-white graphic novel, basically their own version of the old Savage Sword of Conan comic that ran for two decades.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 09:41 AM (Lhaco)
75
I finished reading too Many Magicians by Randall Garrett, part of his magic driven mystery series based around Lord Darcy, investigator for the Angevin Empire.
The Angevin empire, and the Plantagenet royal family are locked into an occult struggle with the Polish empire, both of whom are military and economic powerhouses, and equally matched in magical ability in a world where the rules of magic were discovered and used.
The death of a double agent in Cherbourg, and the murder of a master sorcerer and a hotel night clerk brings Lord Darcy to London as part of a search for traitors, Polish spies, black magic and Polish refugees in a sorcerers' convention. Lord Darcy who has no Talent for the arts relies on his deductive logic, and the help of his friend, the forensic sorcerer Sean Lochlainn.
It is more of a spy novel than the series' usual detective format, but it follows the idea that a mystery has to follow rules to be interesting, and magic has to follow rules to be meaningful.
The Angevin empire, and the Plantagenet royal family are locked into an occult struggle with the Polish empire, both of whom are military and economic powerhouses, and equally matched in magical ability in a world where the rules of magic were discovered and used.
The death of a double agent in Cherbourg, and the murder of a master sorcerer and a hotel night clerk brings Lord Darcy to London as part of a search for traitors, Polish spies, black magic and Polish refugees in a sorcerers' convention. Lord Darcy who has no Talent for the arts relies on his deductive logic, and the help of his friend, the forensic sorcerer Sean Lochlainn.
It is more of a spy novel than the series' usual detective format, but it follows the idea that a mystery has to follow rules to be interesting, and magic has to follow rules to be meaningful.
Posted by: Kindltot at March 16, 2025 09:41 AM (D7oie)
76
A strong earthquake also sounds like a train roaring through the station at full speed; The Sylmar earthquake in 1971 jolted my neighborhood awake one early morning, and that's what I thought it sounded like. (I had spent the previous summer doing Europe and the British Isles, traveling mostly by train.)
This week, I am reading Barbara Hambly's "Patriot Hearts" - she does fantasy, mostly - but has a sideline in historical fiction and period mystery. "Hearts" is an interwoven novel about four women - Dolley Madison, Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and Sally Hemings, and the lives they lived, kind of in the shadow of their husbands/men. It's good for several reasons - and frustrating for some. It hops from year to year, and from woman to woman; just when I got interested on the story of one - hop to another woman, and start all over again, with their wider families and friends. (A LOT of duplicate names, too - lots of Toms, Patsys, Pollys, Abbys!) The one rather jolting thing was the reminder of how very uncertain life was for them. Dolley and Martha both lost husbands and Tom Jefferson had lost a wife to sickness, and all of them had lost children and babies to common sicknesses.
This week, I am reading Barbara Hambly's "Patriot Hearts" - she does fantasy, mostly - but has a sideline in historical fiction and period mystery. "Hearts" is an interwoven novel about four women - Dolley Madison, Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and Sally Hemings, and the lives they lived, kind of in the shadow of their husbands/men. It's good for several reasons - and frustrating for some. It hops from year to year, and from woman to woman; just when I got interested on the story of one - hop to another woman, and start all over again, with their wider families and friends. (A LOT of duplicate names, too - lots of Toms, Patsys, Pollys, Abbys!) The one rather jolting thing was the reminder of how very uncertain life was for them. Dolley and Martha both lost husbands and Tom Jefferson had lost a wife to sickness, and all of them had lost children and babies to common sicknesses.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at March 16, 2025 09:42 AM (Ew3fm)
77
The danger of books of this sort is that they often distort the strengths of the country in question to the point where resistance seems futile. China has many strengths but also massive weaknesses that are hidden from view.
Foremost among them is the impending population crash. China used to be a patient country, but the clock is ticking.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
I agree that in the long term China has significant problems, and quite frankly I am surprised they did not take Taiwan during Lady McBiden's mad rule. I think Xi is much more ambitious than even his most serious detractors believe, and we need to worry more about the short term than long.
My single biggest concern is that China has completely penetrated all of our networks and electronics and that someday soon they will just turn off ...everything.
Foremost among them is the impending population crash. China used to be a patient country, but the clock is ticking.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
I agree that in the long term China has significant problems, and quite frankly I am surprised they did not take Taiwan during Lady McBiden's mad rule. I think Xi is much more ambitious than even his most serious detractors believe, and we need to worry more about the short term than long.
My single biggest concern is that China has completely penetrated all of our networks and electronics and that someday soon they will just turn off ...everything.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
78
I've not read anyone here reading Stephen Hunter books . Admittedly they are more directed toward men but he is a very easy read . They really screwed up his best book,Point of Impact, when they made a movie. They called it Shooter.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (VofaG)
79
I have that! Do you want me to check the commentary and report back?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:35 AM (rT96s)
---
I appreciate the offer, but I'm thinking it would be nice to have in general. My Douay-Rheims was a gift, and it's so nice I dread handling it. The Ignatius looks like it is built for serious work and I need to get more serious about reading Scripture.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:35 AM (rT96s)
---
I appreciate the offer, but I'm thinking it would be nice to have in general. My Douay-Rheims was a gift, and it's so nice I dread handling it. The Ignatius looks like it is built for serious work and I need to get more serious about reading Scripture.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (ZOv7s)
80
my last bio I read was Leonardo DaVinci by Walter Isaacson. I don't think it was his intention but I came away with less acceptance of the current conventional wisdom about DaVinci and his genius.
Your comment got me to thinking about how many bios there are of these famous men, and what new things were left to say about them that previous bios hadn't already covered. In my case, the book I read was published in 2014, and when I looked for newer Nappy B bios on Amazon there were many. Is there really anything new to say? Do their "hot takes" really provide any new insight? Beats me, but it seems unlikely.
Your comment got me to thinking about how many bios there are of these famous men, and what new things were left to say about them that previous bios hadn't already covered. In my case, the book I read was published in 2014, and when I looked for newer Nappy B bios on Amazon there were many. Is there really anything new to say? Do their "hot takes" really provide any new insight? Beats me, but it seems unlikely.
Posted by: Archimedes at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (xCA6C)
81
If you like dogs, or like to read about dogs, (or have dogs that like to read), I recommend Dean Koontz's "WATCHERS".
Posted by: boynsea at March 16, 2025 09:46 AM (n6wI5)
82
I like that video in the post about healthy book reading. The guy hits many points I have come to use. Above all, he says reading should never be a chore. It should be "filled with joy and excitement". Those words have been guiding my reading choices for many years and it makes a difference. It also allows me to avoid the ephemeral, matters that don't apply to my life, and socially popular ever changing trends and concentrate on what is meaningful for me. The benefits are immense.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 09:46 AM (yTvNw)
83
Bishop Robert Barron is also of the "Dare we hope that all are saved" camp.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 16, 2025 09:47 AM (ZmEVT)
84
More book buying: earlier in the week, a publisher called Flesk had a sale on their website; now ended, alas. They put a steep discount on certain books, supposedly ones that had dinged covers. (Don't know for sure, I haven't received the books yet). I bought three books from the sale, a soft-cover art book featuring Frank Cho, a hardcover of the art of Terry and Rachael Dodson, and a massive (400 page!) art book from Mark Schultz. The company also publishes a book of Arthur Adams art, but that book wasn't on sale, and a hardcover of it would have cost as much as the other three combined. The deals were that good...
Anyways, now I just wait for the books to arrive.
Anyways, now I just wait for the books to arrive.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 09:47 AM (Lhaco)
85
Too Many Magicians also has a TON of easter eggs for SF and mystery fans. There's the fat and immobile Marquis de London who does all his investigating through his aide Lord Bontriomphe. There's the magician Sir James Zwinge. Neat stuff. It's a good fantasy, a good locked-room mystery, and a good whodunit.
All of Randall Garrett's "Lord Darcy" stories are great.
All of Randall Garrett's "Lord Darcy" stories are great.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:47 AM (78a2H)
86
Bierce's experiences in the American Civil War definitely affected his world-view. He apparently became something of a nihilist, and viewed death as a release from meaningless suffering.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:26 AM (pJWtt)
He also did not like Mark Twain, since he considered him to be far more successful than his talents merited and a deserter to boot.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 09:26 AM (pJWtt)
He also did not like Mark Twain, since he considered him to be far more successful than his talents merited and a deserter to boot.
Posted by: Kindltot at March 16, 2025 09:48 AM (D7oie)
87
Think I've mentioned it before, but one of my favorite Crichtons was an early thriller he wrote under the John Lange pseudonym. The book is called Binary. The plot involves a planned nerve gas attack during a political convention; the agent who has to stop it finds that his personnel files and psych profiles have been accessed by the man planning the attack, so his approaches to problems have been factored into the attack plans. He has to outsmart the attacker, but to do that he also has to outsmart himself. Nice little thriller. They did a movie of the week from it in the 70s, called Pursuit with Ben Gazzara and E. G. Marshall.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:48 AM (q3u5l)
88
Good morning Horde. Thanks Perfessor! Prayers up for your area.
Posted by: TRex at March 16, 2025 09:49 AM (IQ6Gq)
89
My single biggest concern is that China has completely penetrated all of our networks and electronics and that someday soon they will just turn off ...everything.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
---
Our networks are so chaotic that even we can't keep up with them.
China is somewhat paralyzed with indecision because American politics are completely unpredictable. They therefore have no idea what the response will be. Trump understands this, and plays it up. He's picking fights with everyone and then making up with everyone.
Biden was even worse, because he was supposed to have been bought off, but then talked as if the old bilateral defense treaty with Taiwan was still in effect (it isn't).
As a certified military planner (tm) there is a point where there are so many variables that it impossible to generate branch plans. You basically go in and hope for the best, but that's not how the Chinese function.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
---
Our networks are so chaotic that even we can't keep up with them.
China is somewhat paralyzed with indecision because American politics are completely unpredictable. They therefore have no idea what the response will be. Trump understands this, and plays it up. He's picking fights with everyone and then making up with everyone.
Biden was even worse, because he was supposed to have been bought off, but then talked as if the old bilateral defense treaty with Taiwan was still in effect (it isn't).
As a certified military planner (tm) there is a point where there are so many variables that it impossible to generate branch plans. You basically go in and hope for the best, but that's not how the Chinese function.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:49 AM (ZOv7s)
90
Your comment got me to thinking about how many bios there are of these famous men, and what new things were left to say about them that previous bios hadn't already covered. In my case, the book I read was published in 2014, and when I looked for newer Nappy B bios on Amazon there were many. Is there really anything new to say? Do their "hot takes" really provide any new insight? Beats me, but it seems unlikely.
I think what usually happens is that the author views a subject through the prism of current political thinking, which can have its uses, but also carries tremendous risks.
I think what usually happens is that the author views a subject through the prism of current political thinking, which can have its uses, but also carries tremendous risks.
Posted by: Archimedes at March 16, 2025 09:49 AM (xCA6C)
91
I has to stop reading it, as I found it too depressing, but 2034: A Novel of the Next World War discusses the possibilities of asymmetric network warfare in detail. https://shorturl.at/jCRpL
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (WqmIe)
92
Archimedes heard the author is good but never read that one
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (fwDg9)
93
I read The Complete Sherlock Holmes cover to cover when I was 12 and loved it. Had that book for decades and reread it often until giving it away to an avid reader about 15 years ago. I hope she found it as engaging as I did.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025
***
I've read that Fred Dannay, half of the writing team of "Ellery Queen," discovered Holmes one summer when he was laid up with a broken leg (arm? not sure), and it changed his life completely. He was about thirteen . . . the same age I was when I discovered *his* work. Truly the "golden age" of any genre is about ages eleven to fourteen.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025
***
I've read that Fred Dannay, half of the writing team of "Ellery Queen," discovered Holmes one summer when he was laid up with a broken leg (arm? not sure), and it changed his life completely. He was about thirteen . . . the same age I was when I discovered *his* work. Truly the "golden age" of any genre is about ages eleven to fourteen.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (omVj0)
94
I think most of Trump's domestic and foreign policy can be understood very easily as a desperate race to get American manufacturing supply chains on this side of the Pacific, stabilize American finances, and get Europe rearmed and Russia pacified before China starts World War III. I think he sees 2030 as China's deadline and is trying to get everything done by 2028.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (78a2H)
95
I can't help but chuckle; the same storm system that caused so much trouble to the Perfessor (and I imagine a few others of you) just dumped a foot or so of snow on my area, forcing me to spend yesterday morning snowboarding. A distraction from reading, but a fun distraction...
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 09:51 AM (Lhaco)
96
Truly the "golden age" of any genre is about ages eleven to fourteen.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (omVj0)
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Huh. I think you may be right. I started reading fantasy and science fiction at that age and it's shaped my reading habits for nearly 40 years now...
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (omVj0)
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Huh. I think you may be right. I started reading fantasy and science fiction at that age and it's shaped my reading habits for nearly 40 years now...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 09:51 AM (7fElN)
97
What would be the point if everyone goes to heaven
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 09:53 AM (dJR17)
98
I think he sees 2030 as China's deadline and is trying to get everything done by 2028.
Why 2030? Declining demographics?
Why 2030? Declining demographics?
Posted by: Archimedes at March 16, 2025 09:53 AM (xCA6C)
99
Miss Linda brought me one of the later Narnia books, the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and I'm charmed already.
=====================
Although it's a little "young", the recent movie version of the same story is kind of a blast. The CGI mouse is as good as it gets.
=====================
Although it's a little "young", the recent movie version of the same story is kind of a blast. The CGI mouse is as good as it gets.
Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at March 16, 2025 09:54 AM (lPeS+)
100
I'm finishing the second to last book (Trading Alliances) of Doug Boulter's 10 book series (The Yrden Chronicles) on a trading family 500 or so years in the future. Which I have recommended in the past. And that series has a prequel in Courtesan with another series Not With a Whimper which occurs 15 or so years after Courtesan.
the second-to-last book I managed to miss; I read the last book (A Dangerous Species) first.
His Not With A Whimper is a four volume look at the destruction of Earth in a massive war from four different perspectives: Producers, Destroyers, Survivors, Preservors.
I find his relationships realistic-ish if a bit repetitive and his depiction of Earth's climate (destroyed by globall vorming) and ozone layer (destroyed by rocket launches) silly. And his expectation that humanity will forego war for 450 years absurd. But despite all these, they provide an alternate (Canadian) sci-fi look at the future. Thinking about it, they seem to me to be a very Hollywood-like view of what would happen.
the second-to-last book I managed to miss; I read the last book (A Dangerous Species) first.
His Not With A Whimper is a four volume look at the destruction of Earth in a massive war from four different perspectives: Producers, Destroyers, Survivors, Preservors.
I find his relationships realistic-ish if a bit repetitive and his depiction of Earth's climate (destroyed by globall vorming) and ozone layer (destroyed by rocket launches) silly. And his expectation that humanity will forego war for 450 years absurd. But despite all these, they provide an alternate (Canadian) sci-fi look at the future. Thinking about it, they seem to me to be a very Hollywood-like view of what would happen.
Posted by: yara at March 16, 2025 09:54 AM (FrFKl)
101
I think most of Trump's domestic and foreign policy can be understood very easily as a desperate race to get American manufacturing supply chains on this side of the Pacific, stabilize American finances, and get Europe rearmed and Russia pacified before China starts World War III. I think he sees 2030 as China's deadline and is trying to get everything done by 2028.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (78a2H)
---
Perhaps the most important thing going on right now is Hegseth's overhaul of the Pentagon. The US possesses massive military and naval resources, but has lacked the brainpower to use it effectively. Hegseth decimating the flag officer ranks and pushing innovation is a game-changer. There are officers who have fiendishly wicked minds about how to totally flip the table, but they were held down by diversity clerks and yes-men.
Oh, and Trump just pulled India about of the BRICS, so China now as a new flank to worry about. Trump's push to end the Ukraine war and build a rapprochement with Russia also has Xi worried.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (78a2H)
---
Perhaps the most important thing going on right now is Hegseth's overhaul of the Pentagon. The US possesses massive military and naval resources, but has lacked the brainpower to use it effectively. Hegseth decimating the flag officer ranks and pushing innovation is a game-changer. There are officers who have fiendishly wicked minds about how to totally flip the table, but they were held down by diversity clerks and yes-men.
Oh, and Trump just pulled India about of the BRICS, so China now as a new flank to worry about. Trump's push to end the Ukraine war and build a rapprochement with Russia also has Xi worried.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 09:55 AM (ZOv7s)
102
64 I returned my first attempt at a Preston & Child book, Relic, unfinished the other day. 1/3rd of te way in and still wasn't interesting to me.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:34 AM (rT96s)
I attempted that one about a year ago. It didn't interest me, either.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 09:34 AM (rT96s)
I attempted that one about a year ago. It didn't interest me, either.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 09:55 AM (OX9vb)
103
Same here. I was at the right age to enjoy a resurgence of interest in the fantasy and SF classics and also dig into the new authors.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 16, 2025 09:56 AM (kpS4V)
104
Truly the "golden age" of any genre is about ages eleven to fourteen.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (omVj0)
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Huh. I think you may be right. I started reading fantasy and science fiction at that age and it's shaped my reading habits for nearly 40 years now...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025
***
In my case Holmes was there (actually about a year earlier), Ian Fleming, Rex Stout and Ellery Queen, and on TV, Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Trek. I was not as big an SF fan for quite a few years; I discovered Heinlein when I was about nineteen, so I bent the rule a bit. But I was prepared for it by ST and by various SF movies and SF elements in the U.N.C.L.E. series.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:50 AM (omVj0)
---
Huh. I think you may be right. I started reading fantasy and science fiction at that age and it's shaped my reading habits for nearly 40 years now...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025
***
In my case Holmes was there (actually about a year earlier), Ian Fleming, Rex Stout and Ellery Queen, and on TV, Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Trek. I was not as big an SF fan for quite a few years; I discovered Heinlein when I was about nineteen, so I bent the rule a bit. But I was prepared for it by ST and by various SF movies and SF elements in the U.N.C.L.E. series.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 09:57 AM (omVj0)
105
I can't remember who said "The golden age of science fiction is twelve." But that guy was right.
I discovered Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bester, Bradbury and a bunch of others when I was 12 and 13, and sf was nearly all I read for pleasure for at least a decade. More fun than a human being should be allowed to have. Still think it probably did a number on my attention span; LONG books got harder to read after a decade of commercial sf (largely 40-60K words for a novel in them days).
I discovered Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bester, Bradbury and a bunch of others when I was 12 and 13, and sf was nearly all I read for pleasure for at least a decade. More fun than a human being should be allowed to have. Still think it probably did a number on my attention span; LONG books got harder to read after a decade of commercial sf (largely 40-60K words for a novel in them days).
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 09:58 AM (q3u5l)
106
I've found Poe's short stories to be a great introduction to exciting reading. Especially for boys. The Telltale Heart is also an excellent example of the unreliable narrator in action.
Posted by: Miami_grandpa at March 16, 2025 09:58 AM (jYfql)
107
Posted by: Archimedes at March 16, 2025 09:49 AM (xCA6C)
Or new information comes to light which as you indicate is rare. For instance only relatively recently discovered. The best defense of DaVinci is they created it in tandem.
DaVinci copied his Vitruvian Man from someone else. His friend and Vitruvius expert , Giacomo Andrea. He perfected it but didn't create it.
Or new information comes to light which as you indicate is rare. For instance only relatively recently discovered. The best defense of DaVinci is they created it in tandem.
DaVinci copied his Vitruvian Man from someone else. His friend and Vitruvius expert , Giacomo Andrea. He perfected it but didn't create it.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 09:59 AM (VofaG)
108
Finished Jayne Ann Krentz's third book in her paranormal Lost Nights Files trilogy. It was okay but not up to some of her earlier books. I've become enamored of her writing as Jayne Castle. Books are paranormal but with a Sci Fi bent.
Next up is Christine Feehan's newest Dark Hope.
Sometimes one just likes to read and not have to think too much.
After 900 pages of Sanderson I needed a break.
Next up is Christine Feehan's newest Dark Hope.
Sometimes one just likes to read and not have to think too much.
After 900 pages of Sanderson I needed a break.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 09:59 AM (t/2Uw)
109
32 So this week I've been reading two books, one SF and one fantasy. The SF book is _The Murderbot Diaries_ by Martha Wells, which is better than I thought it would be, and the fantasy is _Lord of a Shattered Land_ by Howard Jones, which is not as awesome as I had hoped.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:17 AM (78a2H)
That's a little bit dis-spiriting. "Lord of a Shattered Land" is on my watch-out-to-buy list. Jones got on my radar for editing some great anthologies of Harold Lamb's "Cossack" books. That gave him quite a bit of good-will in my book...
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 09:17 AM (78a2H)
That's a little bit dis-spiriting. "Lord of a Shattered Land" is on my watch-out-to-buy list. Jones got on my radar for editing some great anthologies of Harold Lamb's "Cossack" books. That gave him quite a bit of good-will in my book...
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 09:59 AM (Lhaco)
110
If you have Walls of Men you already know this, but the fall of the Ch'ing Empire was triggered by its response to rebellions. In order to maintain power. China was divided into regional commands. When the rebellions broke out in 1911, it was impossible to contain them locally, so the Empire turned to a general it had deposed and asked him to fix things. He said "Sure, but I need full command of all forces." He got it, and overthrew the Empire.
Invading Taiwan means you need a joint commander with sweeping authority over all of the assets. You cannot have siloed chains of command where each component operates independently. Doing that immediately creates a threat to the regime.
There is also the problem that an amphibious invasion is the most complex operation there is, and China has never done one. This is like doing D-Day without two years of learning and preparation.
Invading Taiwan means you need a joint commander with sweeping authority over all of the assets. You cannot have siloed chains of command where each component operates independently. Doing that immediately creates a threat to the regime.
There is also the problem that an amphibious invasion is the most complex operation there is, and China has never done one. This is like doing D-Day without two years of learning and preparation.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:00 AM (ZOv7s)
111
You might try The Ice Limit or Still Life with Crows instead.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:39 AM (jkxhO)
Thanks, I will!
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 09:39 AM (jkxhO)
Thanks, I will!
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 10:00 AM (rT96s)
112
Archimedes: precisely. 2030 has been cited as the point at which China's population crash will really start to bite. More than half the population will be over 40 and the number of people entering the workforce each year will be smaller than the year before.
Now, personally, I think it would be a catastrophe for China if they do start a war. When you have a shrinking pool of young people the last thing you want is to get any of them killed. Plus there's the unfortunate truth that for the last 500 years the Chinese army has only managed to be victorious over unarmed Chinese civilians.
When I look at their soldiers I see big hats and white gloves.
Now, personally, I think it would be a catastrophe for China if they do start a war. When you have a shrinking pool of young people the last thing you want is to get any of them killed. Plus there's the unfortunate truth that for the last 500 years the Chinese army has only managed to be victorious over unarmed Chinese civilians.
When I look at their soldiers I see big hats and white gloves.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:00 AM (78a2H)
113
I read Mickey 7 last year. Decent read, nothing to write home or a SMBT review about.
I saw Mickey 17 last weekend. Absolute utter garbage. Minimal relationship to the book, buried under that Korean Commie director's woke garbage and Mark Ruffalo's inner moron 'performance' of a conservative fascist preacher, fed all of his line by his wife. Really, just absolutely atrocious.
Though Robert Pattinson did a good job in a dual role.
I saw Mickey 17 last weekend. Absolute utter garbage. Minimal relationship to the book, buried under that Korean Commie director's woke garbage and Mark Ruffalo's inner moron 'performance' of a conservative fascist preacher, fed all of his line by his wife. Really, just absolutely atrocious.
Though Robert Pattinson did a good job in a dual role.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 10:01 AM (WqmIe)
114
One of his best is Dragon Teeth about dinosaur bone hunters in the Wild West. Based on a true story of two rivals. Seems he always had an interest in dinosaurs.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 09:39 AM (t/2Uw)
I do, too--rocks, dinosaurs, fossils...I read and enjoyed Dragon Teeth, and the bibliography in that one led me to some other good, non-fiction reads. Also led me to another Douglas Preston book, Tyrannosaur Canyon.
Come to think of, I'm seeing a pattern with the few Preston books I've read--they all involve something very, very big and unusual, and billionaires who want those things.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 09:39 AM (t/2Uw)
I do, too--rocks, dinosaurs, fossils...I read and enjoyed Dragon Teeth, and the bibliography in that one led me to some other good, non-fiction reads. Also led me to another Douglas Preston book, Tyrannosaur Canyon.
Come to think of, I'm seeing a pattern with the few Preston books I've read--they all involve something very, very big and unusual, and billionaires who want those things.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 10:01 AM (OX9vb)
115
23 I read Tom Cotton's Seven Things You Can't Say About China this week. The sad and scary part is that there is nothing that is not pretty well known in this book, but when you put it all together like this it is absolutely clear that the Chinese plan to become the world's only super-power. We can submit, or be destroyed. The wheels have been in motion for a long time, and are accelerating.
---
The danger of books of this sort is that they often distort the strengths of the country in question to the point where resistance seems futile. China has many strengths but also massive weaknesses that are hidden from view.
Foremost among them is the impending population crash. China used to be a patient country, but the clock is ticking.
There is also the problem of governance. China is always one rebellion away from civil war. China's traditional system of rule values loyalty over competence, and this has been ….
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
China also can’t feed itself without outside help.
---
The danger of books of this sort is that they often distort the strengths of the country in question to the point where resistance seems futile. China has many strengths but also massive weaknesses that are hidden from view.
Foremost among them is the impending population crash. China used to be a patient country, but the clock is ticking.
There is also the problem of governance. China is always one rebellion away from civil war. China's traditional system of rule values loyalty over competence, and this has been ….
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
China also can’t feed itself without outside help.
Posted by: BuddyPC at March 16, 2025 10:02 AM (uncTf)
116
I can't remember who said "The golden age of science fiction is twelve." But that guy was right.
I discovered Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bester, Bradbury and a bunch of others when I was 12 and 13, and sf was nearly all I read for pleasure for at least a decade. More fun than a human being should be allowed to have. Still think it probably did a number on my attention span; LONG books got harder to read after a decade of commercial sf (largely 40-60K words for a novel in them days).
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025
***
That's who I was referencing, though I can't remember who said it either. Maybe it was John W. Campbell of Astounding magazine fame; maybe it was Harlan Ellison or Arthur C. Clarke.
Modern doorstop novels put me off for sure. Since I borrow most of my reading from local libraries, three weeks is just not enough time for me to finish such a tome, what with work, commuting, grocery runs, commenting here (!), and other Life Issues. Once I've retired, perhaps that can change a bit and I'll try one of these Brandon Sanderson epics all of you have been praising.
I discovered Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bester, Bradbury and a bunch of others when I was 12 and 13, and sf was nearly all I read for pleasure for at least a decade. More fun than a human being should be allowed to have. Still think it probably did a number on my attention span; LONG books got harder to read after a decade of commercial sf (largely 40-60K words for a novel in them days).
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025
***
That's who I was referencing, though I can't remember who said it either. Maybe it was John W. Campbell of Astounding magazine fame; maybe it was Harlan Ellison or Arthur C. Clarke.
Modern doorstop novels put me off for sure. Since I borrow most of my reading from local libraries, three weeks is just not enough time for me to finish such a tome, what with work, commuting, grocery runs, commenting here (!), and other Life Issues. Once I've retired, perhaps that can change a bit and I'll try one of these Brandon Sanderson epics all of you have been praising.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:02 AM (omVj0)
117
I've been reading Malcolm Guite's "The Word in the Wilderness". He regards Lent and Easter as a journey with Christ's last days on Earth and what we learn from them. He has chosen poetry as the way to bring these lessons to life. Arranged as a devotional, each poem, by many poets, and his commentary are inspiring and bring an understanding of the pains and triumph of Christ's journey. I wish religion (and faith) had been explained in such a way when I was young. Instead of Lent being just a mechanical exercise of giving up 'something' and no meat on Friday, the lessons of His path would have been a foundation for a fuller, more meaningful faith.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 10:02 AM (yTvNw)
118
The latest holmes iterations are the wurst
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:03 AM (dJR17)
119
A book on the subject of the near future that's pretty good and very prescient is The Profession by Steven Pressfield.
He had drones controlling the battlefield which may just be logic rather than any great prediction.
He had drones controlling the battlefield which may just be logic rather than any great prediction.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:03 AM (VofaG)
120
Castle: I hope I didn't damn Jones's book with faint praise. It's fun and well-written and I certainly recommend it. Very Howardesque.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:03 AM (78a2H)
121
AH Lloyd, I checked the ignatius press website for the study bible, here's the latest:
"Pre-Orders are now open for the 2nd Printing which is expected to arrive by May. For more info on our Bibles, visit IPStudyBible.com"
"Pre-Orders are now open for the 2nd Printing which is expected to arrive by May. For more info on our Bibles, visit IPStudyBible.com"
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 10:03 AM (rT96s)
122
In his book Close To Death, Anthony Horowitz has a character criticize classic lorcked room murder mystery, John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man, in part because it relies on an unexpected snowfall to make the murder impossible. He recommends two better impossible murders mysteries, The Honjin Murders by Seisi Yokomizo and The Murder In the Crooked House by Soji Shimada. I read and quite liked The Honjin Murders but, surprise!, the impossibility relies on an unexpected snowfall. One thing in the book I did like is that the traditional Japanese instrument the koto permeates every aspect of the book. (Here is a koto. https://shorturl.at/uQJSm ) I've just begun The Murder In the Crooked House (also set during a snowfall). The book, about a traditional Japanese family in Japan, begins by referencing a weird ass temple/palace in France built by an eccentric Frenchman. I was surprised to learn such a place actually exists.
https://shorturl.at/7SPdf
https://shorturl.at/7SPdf
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 10:04 AM (L/fGl)
123
The latest holmes iterations are the wurst
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025
***
"Those who loves sausage and laws should never watch either being made"
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025
***
"Those who loves sausage and laws should never watch either being made"
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:04 AM (omVj0)
124
Dash, interesting that we read a lot of the same stuff. ❤️
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (t/2Uw)
125
Once I've retired, perhaps that can change a bit and I'll try one of these Brandon Sanderson epics all of you have been praising.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:02 AM (omVj0)
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Sanderson does have some "short" novels clocking in at 300-400 pages or so. They are breezy, easy reads. The Reckoners series explores the idea of superpowered humans who are all sadistically crazy from power (With Great Power Comes Great Insanity). His Secret Projects books are stand-alone novels that are interesting explorations of his Cosmere (except for one that's about multi-dimensional travel).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:02 AM (omVj0)
---
Sanderson does have some "short" novels clocking in at 300-400 pages or so. They are breezy, easy reads. The Reckoners series explores the idea of superpowered humans who are all sadistically crazy from power (With Great Power Comes Great Insanity). His Secret Projects books are stand-alone novels that are interesting explorations of his Cosmere (except for one that's about multi-dimensional travel).
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (7fElN)
126
I am in the process of writing a 4 part children’s book series. I have about 1/2 of the final book to go to finish the series. Any advise on editing, art work, and publishing?
Posted by: Scott at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (crMos)
127
The latest holmes iterations are the wurst
Posted by: Miguel cervantes
Did someone mention CBS' Watson?
Posted by: Miguel cervantes
Did someone mention CBS' Watson?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 10:06 AM (L/fGl)
128
Plus there's the unfortunate truth that for the last 500 years the Chinese army has only managed to be victorious over unarmed Chinese civilians.
When I look at their soldiers I see big hats and white gloves.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:00 AM (78a2H)
---
Obviously you haven't read my book. The Ch'ing Dynasty brought China to its greatest territorial extent ever by combining Han infantry and artillery with Manchu horse archers.
Smokeless powder and steam beat that combination quite handily, and China adapted. Contra popular accounts, the Nationalists put up a very strong defense to the Japanese. In April 1938, the Nationalists jack-hammered the Japanense at Taierchwang, not only driving them back but capturing scores of badly needed weapons and equipment.
Korea was no picnic, either.
The problem is that PLA has been idle since 1979 (and got its ass kicked then as well). Other than fist fights in the Himalayas (which India claims they won bigly), they have no operational experience.
When I look at their soldiers I see big hats and white gloves.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:00 AM (78a2H)
---
Obviously you haven't read my book. The Ch'ing Dynasty brought China to its greatest territorial extent ever by combining Han infantry and artillery with Manchu horse archers.
Smokeless powder and steam beat that combination quite handily, and China adapted. Contra popular accounts, the Nationalists put up a very strong defense to the Japanese. In April 1938, the Nationalists jack-hammered the Japanense at Taierchwang, not only driving them back but capturing scores of badly needed weapons and equipment.
Korea was no picnic, either.
The problem is that PLA has been idle since 1979 (and got its ass kicked then as well). Other than fist fights in the Himalayas (which India claims they won bigly), they have no operational experience.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:07 AM (ZOv7s)
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:07 AM (gQPpC)
130
I am in the process of writing a 4 part children’s book series. I have about 1/2 of the final book to go to finish the series. Any advise on editing, art work, and publishing?
Posted by: Scott at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (crMos)
No advice but just wanted to say this is where the potential for big writing bucks is imo.
hope success finds you.
Posted by: Scott at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (crMos)
No advice but just wanted to say this is where the potential for big writing bucks is imo.
hope success finds you.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:07 AM (VofaG)
131
In his book Close To Death, Anthony Horowitz has a character criticize classic locked room murder mystery, John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man, in part because it relies on an unexpected snowfall to make the murder impossible. He recommends two better impossible murders mysteries, The Honjin Murders by Seisi Yokomizo and The Murder In the Crooked House by Soji Shimada. . . .
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025
***
To be fair -- and this was Carr's intention, I'm sure -- the murderer did not *intend* to make the crime look impossible, and therefore was not *relying* on a sudden snowfall.
I should look for more of the Japanese mysteries. Apparently they are big fans of the impossible crime and the grand puzzle a la Queen, Carr, and Christie.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025
***
To be fair -- and this was Carr's intention, I'm sure -- the murderer did not *intend* to make the crime look impossible, and therefore was not *relying* on a sudden snowfall.
I should look for more of the Japanese mysteries. Apparently they are big fans of the impossible crime and the grand puzzle a la Queen, Carr, and Christie.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:08 AM (omVj0)
132
I have The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, editing by William S. Baring-Gould, a two volume boxed set. It has to have been nearly a decade since last I read stories from it.
I have The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, editing by William S. Baring-Gould, a two volume boxed set. It has to have been nearly a decade since last I read stories from it.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 16, 2025 10:08 AM (xG4kz)
133
Prey?
Oh yeah out of control von Neuman machines and the dreaded gray goo.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:07 AM (gQPpC)
V ger
Oh yeah out of control von Neuman machines and the dreaded gray goo.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:07 AM (gQPpC)
V ger
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:09 AM (VofaG)
134
About 5 years ago I reread all those books I read in high school. On the Beach, F 451, 1984, and Brave New World.
I think that at that time (the CV19 year) each book made me more and more wary of the expert, the technocrat, and the bureaucrat.
From F 451 I learned that just trying to find out about CV19 was wrong. You could not know something if that something was determined to be to wrong thing to know.
From Brave New World I learned about how modern medicine (and society) had to have their mantras and religious routines. Take the Shot, Social Distancing, and Wear the Mask became a professions of faith.
From 1984 I learned that the news of Today and the news of Yesterday do not have to exactly match. Such as when we knew there was a virus research lab (hell even Bhussein told them they needed to shut down), we knew the lab was in Wuhan, and we knew there was new respiratory syndrome. From those 3 or 4 KNOWN FACTS many assumed the Chinese has screwed up. But no, the news now reported it came from the Wet Animal Markets.
I think that at that time (the CV19 year) each book made me more and more wary of the expert, the technocrat, and the bureaucrat.
From F 451 I learned that just trying to find out about CV19 was wrong. You could not know something if that something was determined to be to wrong thing to know.
From Brave New World I learned about how modern medicine (and society) had to have their mantras and religious routines. Take the Shot, Social Distancing, and Wear the Mask became a professions of faith.
From 1984 I learned that the news of Today and the news of Yesterday do not have to exactly match. Such as when we knew there was a virus research lab (hell even Bhussein told them they needed to shut down), we knew the lab was in Wuhan, and we knew there was new respiratory syndrome. From those 3 or 4 KNOWN FACTS many assumed the Chinese has screwed up. But no, the news now reported it came from the Wet Animal Markets.
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 16, 2025 10:09 AM (gbOdA)
135
Well that plus the bbcs version the hero cant be more twisted than thd villain
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:09 AM (dJR17)
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:09 AM (gQPpC)
137
Wolfus, try Sanderson's Mistborn Series. They are way more accessible, meaning shorter, and you get plunged right into the story. Three books in the first and 3 in the second set . The dialog in the Wax and Wayne books , the second set,is fabulous. It is kind of like a Sci Fi Western.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:10 AM (t/2Uw)
138
V'GER, please pattern the Democrats.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:10 AM (gQPpC)
139
China also can’t feed itself without outside help.
Posted by: BuddyPC at March 16, 2025 10:02 AM (uncTf)
---
Edward Luttwak stresses this. One would not even have to blockade China, the shipping would flee the area as soon as shots are fired. China has overland rail networks, but they are not adequate to take up the slack. If they don't win in a knockout, famine and rebellion will be the result, and they know it.
It think the plan was for the US to become a nation of addicts and dependent on China for everything and they would just sort of walk in. That's now off the table.
Posted by: BuddyPC at March 16, 2025 10:02 AM (uncTf)
---
Edward Luttwak stresses this. One would not even have to blockade China, the shipping would flee the area as soon as shots are fired. China has overland rail networks, but they are not adequate to take up the slack. If they don't win in a knockout, famine and rebellion will be the result, and they know it.
It think the plan was for the US to become a nation of addicts and dependent on China for everything and they would just sort of walk in. That's now off the table.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:10 AM (ZOv7s)
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 16, 2025 10:11 AM (RIvkX)
141
Well that plus the bbcs version the hero cant be more twisted than thd villain
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:09 AM (dJR17)
know how I know you don't look at porn?
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:09 AM (dJR17)
know how I know you don't look at porn?
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:11 AM (VofaG)
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:11 AM (gQPpC)
143
Yes a black version of house. Doyle took joseph bells technique and applied it to criminology
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (dJR17)
144
The latest holmes iterations are the wurst
Posted by: Miguel cervantes
*
Did someone mention CBS' Watson?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025
***
The one set in modern day, with Jonny Lee Miller as an Asperger-ish Holmes and Lucy Liu as his therapist and minder? I'm always glad to watch Lucy in anything, and as I recall the mysteries were fairly well done and ingenious. But drawing Holmes like that, as well as Cumberbatch's interpretation of him as a near-sociopath, does not go well with me. Calling the character something else, as in House, would be all right, but actually naming him "Sherlock Holmes" is unfair.
Posted by: Miguel cervantes
*
Did someone mention CBS' Watson?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025
***
The one set in modern day, with Jonny Lee Miller as an Asperger-ish Holmes and Lucy Liu as his therapist and minder? I'm always glad to watch Lucy in anything, and as I recall the mysteries were fairly well done and ingenious. But drawing Holmes like that, as well as Cumberbatch's interpretation of him as a near-sociopath, does not go well with me. Calling the character something else, as in House, would be all right, but actually naming him "Sherlock Holmes" is unfair.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (omVj0)
145
Let me just explain my beef with "warrior women" in fiction. I understand the desire to have them -- when 75 percent of your readers are women, it's sound marketing, plus if you can get a Frazetta-style chainmail bikini cover you can rope in the other 25 percent.
But they always go for warrior women swinging swords. Which is crazy. Dr. Mrs. T. is a champion fencer and she hates going up against teenage boys because they don't have the skill to avoid hurting their opponents. Now imagine if they were _trying_ to cause damage!
I could buy women horse archers. I could buy a woman as a strategic genius commander (like Caterina Sforza). I could buy a woman gunslinger -- and why HASN'T anybody created an iconic fast-drawing gal in the Old West?
What I can't swallow is women being better than men at hitting other people with a heavy piece of metal. And I resent fantasy writers taking refuge in the "you believe in dragons, why not swordswomen?" bullshit excuse.
But they always go for warrior women swinging swords. Which is crazy. Dr. Mrs. T. is a champion fencer and she hates going up against teenage boys because they don't have the skill to avoid hurting their opponents. Now imagine if they were _trying_ to cause damage!
I could buy women horse archers. I could buy a woman as a strategic genius commander (like Caterina Sforza). I could buy a woman gunslinger -- and why HASN'T anybody created an iconic fast-drawing gal in the Old West?
What I can't swallow is women being better than men at hitting other people with a heavy piece of metal. And I resent fantasy writers taking refuge in the "you believe in dragons, why not swordswomen?" bullshit excuse.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)
146
"Pre-Orders are now open for the 2nd Printing which is expected to arrive by May. For more info on our Bibles, visit IPStudyBible.com"
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 10:03 AM (rT96s)
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Thanks. That tells me to wait a bit. I've got more reading to do to keep me busy. Heck, I might get back to Graham Greene for a bit.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 16, 2025 10:03 AM (rT96s)
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Thanks. That tells me to wait a bit. I've got more reading to do to keep me busy. Heck, I might get back to Graham Greene for a bit.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (ZOv7s)
147
Yes that was literally impossible it looked cool
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (dJR17)
148
I am in a very strange place in my reading. After really enjoying the Levi Yoder series by M.A. Rothman, I looked around for something else by him. It had an odd description: A LitRPG novel. What’s that?
Apparently it’s a novel in which Role Playing Game rules apply. So the first step is to get the protagonist into a situation to make that plausible. I liked the book, despite being a little weirded out by the genre rules, but it was only the first book of a series that does not exist yet, so I looked around for something else that people said was good.
So now I’m reading Dungeon Crawler Carl. I’m not sure whether I will do any more of this sort of reading, except the Rothman books when they come out, but I think I will get through this series.
Apparently it’s a novel in which Role Playing Game rules apply. So the first step is to get the protagonist into a situation to make that plausible. I liked the book, despite being a little weirded out by the genre rules, but it was only the first book of a series that does not exist yet, so I looked around for something else that people said was good.
So now I’m reading Dungeon Crawler Carl. I’m not sure whether I will do any more of this sort of reading, except the Rothman books when they come out, but I think I will get through this series.
Posted by: Splunge at March 16, 2025 10:13 AM (ju/6W)
149
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (omVj0)
Lucy Liu was at her cutest in Lucky Number Slevin.
Lucy Liu was at her cutest in Lucky Number Slevin.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:13 AM (VofaG)
150
know how I know you don't look at porn?
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:11 AM (VofaG)
heh!
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:11 AM (VofaG)
heh!
Posted by: BignJames at March 16, 2025 10:13 AM (Yj6Os)
151
In my more pessimistic and paranoid moments, I think about China regarding Covid 19 as a dry run. Then I think about Heinlein's Sixth Column, only reversed with the invaders using an engineered plague against the American population. Then I think about having read somewhere that a send-us-a-dna-sample for ancestry tracing outfit (23 and Me, or something like that?) was using Chinese labs for the work, and that the company is closing up shop, and then I wonder if maybe the Chinese have all the genetic data they need for the next nifty bio-weapon that will attack only non-Chinese people.
Then I think I've probably read way too much sf. Hope so, anyway.
Then I think I've probably read way too much sf. Hope so, anyway.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 10:14 AM (q3u5l)
152
I've read Bierce's supernatural/fantasy fiction. It's good. Moxon's Master was ahead of its time.
I'm currently reading The Neverending Story. I'm a bit past the halfway mark. I'm going to finish it; it's a child's book I somehow missed when I was one. I've never seen the movie. I'm finding it ... not very enjoyable.
I'm currently reading The Neverending Story. I'm a bit past the halfway mark. I'm going to finish it; it's a child's book I somehow missed when I was one. I've never seen the movie. I'm finding it ... not very enjoyable.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at March 16, 2025 10:14 AM (g00SI)
153
Philip K. Dick's missed opportunity -Do Androids Dream of Electric Pr0n?
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:15 AM (gQPpC)
154
Seems he always had an interest in dinosaurs.
-
When my girls were little, I got them a poster book of dinosaurs with googly eyes and a poem in the Ten LittleIndians, Native American, First Peoples style. I saw it on Amazon and ordered it for my dinosaur crazy grandson.
-
When my girls were little, I got them a poster book of dinosaurs with googly eyes and a poem in the Ten Little
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 10:16 AM (L/fGl)
155
Leslie Klinger had his The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes published by Norton in 2005 (2 volumes: short stores), and 2006 (1 vol: novels).
Klinger worked with Steve Doyle over at Gasogene Press and they re-issued 10 volumes (including the Apocrypha) around 2009.
In case you can't tell, I'm a huge SH nerd.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
Over the years, I have accumulated nice copies of all of the unabridged Sherlock Holmes books, as I am a big fan as well. What do the annotated versions add?
Klinger worked with Steve Doyle over at Gasogene Press and they re-issued 10 volumes (including the Apocrypha) around 2009.
In case you can't tell, I'm a huge SH nerd.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
Over the years, I have accumulated nice copies of all of the unabridged Sherlock Holmes books, as I am a big fan as well. What do the annotated versions add?
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:16 AM (jkxhO)
156
I still say China released Covid to stop the protests in Hong Kong. They didn't care if it opened a Pandora's box.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:16 AM (VofaG)
157
Does joe abercrombie have a sforza type character
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:16 AM (dJR17)
158
When I look at their soldiers I see big hats and white gloves.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:00 AM (78a2H)
====
Yesterday I saw current video from Xongqing that showed a propaganda barrier that said, "Have Three Children So The State Won't Have to Care For You When You Are Old!"
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:00 AM (78a2H)
====
Yesterday I saw current video from Xongqing that showed a propaganda barrier that said, "Have Three Children So The State Won't Have to Care For You When You Are Old!"
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 16, 2025 10:16 AM (RIvkX)
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 16, 2025 10:17 AM (gQPpC)
160
Scott @126, go to the group blog, Mad Genius Club - it's run by a set of writers and artists, to include Sarah Hoyt, Dave Freer, Cedar Sanderson and others - all about writing, editing, choosing covers, and marketing. I would set yourself up at Ingram-Spark for printing and distribution, once you are ready to publish. Do not, whatever you do, pay stacks of money to the predatory publishers out there. Ingram-Spark is the basic printing and distribution service that you need. They do not charge for the initial upload of cover and text files (only for revisions after 2-3 months have passed) and a yearly fee for inclusion in the Ingram catalog, plus printing and shipping for the copies of the book that you order for your own direct sales.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at March 16, 2025 10:17 AM (Ew3fm)
161
I could buy women horse archers. I could buy a woman as a strategic genius commander (like Caterina Sforza). I could buy a woman gunslinger -- and why HASN'T anybody created an iconic fast-drawing gal in the Old West?
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)
---
See, I can't buy women horse archers because they lack the strength to draw a heavy enough bow to do anything. Maybe female crossbowwomen?
It is part of the fantasy for women to imagine themselves as strong as men and doing male things, and it's obviously silly, but society went along to the point of putting women in the infantry and aboard warships.
It's funny how we ignore how badly that failed.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)
---
See, I can't buy women horse archers because they lack the strength to draw a heavy enough bow to do anything. Maybe female crossbowwomen?
It is part of the fantasy for women to imagine themselves as strong as men and doing male things, and it's obviously silly, but society went along to the point of putting women in the infantry and aboard warships.
It's funny how we ignore how badly that failed.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)
162
I'm currently reading The Neverending Story. I'm a bit past the halfway mark. I'm going to finish it; it's a child's book I somehow missed when I was one. I've never seen the movie. I'm finding it ... not very enjoyable.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at March 16, 2025 10:14 AM (g00SI)
never had the time to read The Neverending Story.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at March 16, 2025 10:14 AM (g00SI)
never had the time to read The Neverending Story.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:17 AM (VofaG)
163
Guy ritchies holmes was someone closer but it was largely downy
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:18 AM (dJR17)
164
Caterina's approach to hostage negotiation: "Fine, kill my kids. I'll just have more!"
I bet next Thanksgiving was a little awkward.
I bet next Thanksgiving was a little awkward.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:18 AM (78a2H)
165
What I can't swallow is women being better than men at hitting other people with a heavy piece of metal. And I resent fantasy writers taking refuge in the "you believe in dragons, why not swordswomen?" bullshit excuse.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025
***
In my own fantasy, I've completely eschewed dragons. I once spent too much time with the fans of Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern," and I realized I had nothing new to say about the creatures.
Yes, a woman archer, given a bow she could actually draw once she had built up the necessary strength, and who had practiced to build strength and accuracy, would be very interesting.
Fiction, unlike real life, is supposed to make sense. If you have a race of females who are *shown to be* as strong as equivalent males, fine. See Buffy vs. the inhumanly strong vampires. But to ask us to assume that an average, slightly built woman, even trained, can handle a heavy sword as well as a large, trained man? Unh-uh.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025
***
In my own fantasy, I've completely eschewed dragons. I once spent too much time with the fans of Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern," and I realized I had nothing new to say about the creatures.
Yes, a woman archer, given a bow she could actually draw once she had built up the necessary strength, and who had practiced to build strength and accuracy, would be very interesting.
Fiction, unlike real life, is supposed to make sense. If you have a race of females who are *shown to be* as strong as equivalent males, fine. See Buffy vs. the inhumanly strong vampires. But to ask us to assume that an average, slightly built woman, even trained, can handle a heavy sword as well as a large, trained man? Unh-uh.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:18 AM (omVj0)
166
Wolfus, try Sanderson's Mistborn Series. They are way more accessible, meaning shorter, and you get plunged right into the story. Three books in the first and 3 in the second set . The dialog in the Wax and Wayne books , the second set,is fabulous. It is kind of like a Sci Fi Western.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)
"Elantris" is also a good place to start Sanderson.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)
"Elantris" is also a good place to start Sanderson.
Posted by: Tuna at March 16, 2025 10:19 AM (lJ0H4)
167
Edward Luttwak stresses this. One would not even have to blockade China, the shipping would flee the area as soon as shots are fired. China has overland rail networks, but they are not adequate to take up the slack. If they don't win in a knockout, famine and rebellion will be the result, and they know it.
It think the plan was for the US to become a nation of addicts and dependent on China for everything and they would just sort of walk in. That's now off the table.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
China has, by far, the longest supply chain in the world. What they do have, or had, was the cheapest labor rate. That is no longer the case, and if the US pulls back from being the world's navy, China is sunk. Of course, if the US pulls back, Europe is screwed as well.
It think the plan was for the US to become a nation of addicts and dependent on China for everything and they would just sort of walk in. That's now off the table.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
China has, by far, the longest supply chain in the world. What they do have, or had, was the cheapest labor rate. That is no longer the case, and if the US pulls back from being the world's navy, China is sunk. Of course, if the US pulls back, Europe is screwed as well.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:19 AM (jkxhO)
168
The kind of reserve and distance that rathbone and other classic takes had is non existent
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:19 AM (dJR17)
169
I read a bit further on my re-read Peter Watson's "The Great Divide." It would have been timely if I had read the part about natural disasters affecting culture (the US has most of the world's tornados!) but, alas, the part I read this week covered drugs instead.
To sum up the book; the New World has like 10 times the number of psycho-active plants than the Old World, and they use them a whole lot more as well. The shamanism of ancient nomadic-hunter-civilizations loved narcotics, as they fit right in with the vision quests and spirit-flights, and all the other things we assume we know about said culture. (We think they're the ones that did cave paintings and such) In the Old World, nomadic hunting cultures mostly died out, replaced with agriculturalists and pastoralists, with domesticated crops and animals. In the new cultures, sitting in a cave and hallucinating isn't as practical, so alcohol (a 'mild,' 'social,' and somewhat-easily regulate-able substance) became the dominant 'drug.' But in the New World, with fewer things to domesticate, the old ways persisted, and hallucinogens maintained far greater prominence...
To sum up the book; the New World has like 10 times the number of psycho-active plants than the Old World, and they use them a whole lot more as well. The shamanism of ancient nomadic-hunter-civilizations loved narcotics, as they fit right in with the vision quests and spirit-flights, and all the other things we assume we know about said culture. (We think they're the ones that did cave paintings and such) In the Old World, nomadic hunting cultures mostly died out, replaced with agriculturalists and pastoralists, with domesticated crops and animals. In the new cultures, sitting in a cave and hallucinating isn't as practical, so alcohol (a 'mild,' 'social,' and somewhat-easily regulate-able substance) became the dominant 'drug.' But in the New World, with fewer things to domesticate, the old ways persisted, and hallucinogens maintained far greater prominence...
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 10:20 AM (Lhaco)
170
Let me just explain my beef with "warrior women" in fiction. I understand the desire to have them -- when 75 percent of your readers are women, it's sound marketing, plus if you can get a Frazetta-style chainmail bikini cover you can rope
+++
I think this is an incorrect take. Being a throughly heterosexual woman, I want my heroes to be big strapping manly men. The female hero needs to be smart, clever, and a full partner in the adventure. Both use their individual traits to make the successful outcome work. This is what makes a book attractive to female readers.
+++
I think this is an incorrect take. Being a throughly heterosexual woman, I want my heroes to be big strapping manly men. The female hero needs to be smart, clever, and a full partner in the adventure. Both use their individual traits to make the successful outcome work. This is what makes a book attractive to female readers.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:20 AM (t/2Uw)
171
124 Dash, interesting that we read a lot of the same stuff. ❤️
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (t/2Uw)
We must have spent our 12-14-year-old years reading mysteries and suspense!
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (t/2Uw)
We must have spent our 12-14-year-old years reading mysteries and suspense!
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 10:20 AM (OX9vb)
172
Now the interaction ahem between the borgias and caterina that might have ended up on cinemax
Is that what you mean
Is that what you mean
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:21 AM (dJR17)
173
"Elantris" is also a good place to start Sanderson.
Posted by: Tuna at March 16, 2025 10:19 AM (lJ0H4)
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Eh. I didn't like that one and never finished it.
Mistborn is good, though.
Posted by: Tuna at March 16, 2025 10:19 AM (lJ0H4)
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Eh. I didn't like that one and never finished it.
Mistborn is good, though.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 10:21 AM (7fElN)
174
Over the years, I have accumulated nice copies of all of the unabridged Sherlock Holmes books, as I am a big fan as well. What do the annotated versions add?
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025
***
I'm guessing notes on terminology and social conventions that have changed or vanished since Doyle's time -- for example, what was a "growler" and how was it different from a hansom cab? And perhaps explaining references in the stories to real world events.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025
***
I'm guessing notes on terminology and social conventions that have changed or vanished since Doyle's time -- for example, what was a "growler" and how was it different from a hansom cab? And perhaps explaining references in the stories to real world events.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:21 AM (omVj0)
175
Castle: that's really interesting. I never thought about what parts of the world had psychoactives.
I wonder if it's simply due to humans having longer to develop tolerance/immunity to the chemicals in Old World plants and mushrooms?
I wonder if it's simply due to humans having longer to develop tolerance/immunity to the chemicals in Old World plants and mushrooms?
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:22 AM (78a2H)
176
They were high functioning sociopathd but they had ill machia as their scribe
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:22 AM (dJR17)
177
A funny thing about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie ( which was great ) is that Caspian ( Ben Barnes ) has a completely different accent than he had in the previous movie, Prince Caspian.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (PiwSw)
178
The borgias as depraved as all out
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (dJR17)
179
Caterina's approach to hostage negotiation: "Fine, kill my kids. I'll just have more!"
I bet next Thanksgiving was a little awkward.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:18 AM (78a2H)
---
During the Siege of the Alcazar, the son of the garrison commander was captured by the reds and they placed a call into the fortress, saying they would kill the boy if he didn't surrender immediately. To prove that they had him, and put him on the line, and the commander said that he loved him, and that he had to die like man, a true son of Spain. The Reds were completely at a loss.
Eventually they did kill him, but the fortress held until it was relieved. Once the Red fell back, the garrison paraded and the commander of the relief asked for his report. The garrison commander replied "No activity of note." They had real men back then.
I bet next Thanksgiving was a little awkward.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:18 AM (78a2H)
---
During the Siege of the Alcazar, the son of the garrison commander was captured by the reds and they placed a call into the fortress, saying they would kill the boy if he didn't surrender immediately. To prove that they had him, and put him on the line, and the commander said that he loved him, and that he had to die like man, a true son of Spain. The Reds were completely at a loss.
Eventually they did kill him, but the fortress held until it was relieved. Once the Red fell back, the garrison paraded and the commander of the relief asked for his report. The garrison commander replied "No activity of note." They had real men back then.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (ZOv7s)
180
Must bow out now. Happy Sunday, Morons!
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (78a2H)
181
I had to stop reading Insty this AM.
No, not because Driscoll was on another Beatles bender.
They're doing a retrospective "5 years ago this week in Covid."
Holy shit, I'd forgotten how evil everyone in power were/are.
No one has been punished.
I have to stop reading because the rising anger.
No, not because Driscoll was on another Beatles bender.
They're doing a retrospective "5 years ago this week in Covid."
Holy shit, I'd forgotten how evil everyone in power were/are.
No one has been punished.
I have to stop reading because the rising anger.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (01a+N)
182
m in the process of writing a 4 part children’s book series. I have about 1/2 of the final book to go to finish the series. Any advise on editing, art work, and publishing?
Posted by: Scott at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (crMos)
Maybe OrangeEnt is not here this morning but you might join the AoS/SMBT Writer's group. I've temporarily put the subscription email in my nic.
I think in general the writers in that group are DIY - self-publish, AI artwork, and friend-editing.
Posted by: Scott at March 16, 2025 10:05 AM (crMos)
Maybe OrangeEnt is not here this morning but you might join the AoS/SMBT Writer's group. I've temporarily put the subscription email in my nic.
I think in general the writers in that group are DIY - self-publish, AI artwork, and friend-editing.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (WqmIe)
183
I think this is an incorrect take. Being a throughly heterosexual woman, I want my heroes to be big strapping manly men. The female hero needs to be smart, clever, and a full partner in the adventure. Both use their individual traits to make the successful outcome work. This is what makes a book attractive to female readers.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:20 AM (t/2Uw)
Strapping manly men with long, blond hair, right?
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:20 AM (t/2Uw)
Strapping manly men with long, blond hair, right?
Posted by: Fabio at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (PiwSw)
184
177 A funny thing about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie ( which was great ) is that Caspian ( Ben Barnes ) has a completely different accent than he had in the previous movie, Prince Caspian.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (PiwSw
Maybe they changed one or more of his genders? Or his ethnicity?
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (PiwSw
Maybe they changed one or more of his genders? Or his ethnicity?
Posted by: Eromero at March 16, 2025 10:26 AM (DXbAa)
185
Started the John Barnes "Timeline Wars" series. Almost finished book two: "Washington's Dirigible." Fun, alternate history reads. Not very accurate, but fun. Book one was "Patton's Spaceship."
Posted by: mot at March 16, 2025 10:26 AM (fIPNY)
186
I've temporarily put the subscription email in my nic.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (WqmIe)
Actually I guess I didn't. Trying again.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (WqmIe)
Actually I guess I didn't. Trying again.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 10:26 AM (WqmIe)
187
No one has been punished.
I have to stop reading because the rising anger.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (01a+N)
---
Relax. They will receive their reward in good time.
I have to stop reading because the rising anger.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (01a+N)
---
Relax. They will receive their reward in good time.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:26 AM (ZOv7s)
188
Fabio is a bit too girly for me.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor is okay though.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor is okay though.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:28 AM (t/2Uw)
189
I find book illustrations can add so much to my enjoyment of reading. Gustav Dore, NC Wyeth, Ernest Shephard, Beatrx Potter, and Jill Barklem (the Brambly Hedge books) come immediately to mind. Pete Beard has a YT channel dedicated to book illustrators over the centuries and he does a great job of it. If such things interest you, they are worth a look.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 10:29 AM (yTvNw)
190
" I want my heroes to be big strapping manly men."
Do you want the men to be big, their straps big, or the strapping they're giving you to be big?
Do you want the men to be big, their straps big, or the strapping they're giving you to be big?
Posted by: SFGoth at March 16, 2025 10:29 AM (KAi1n)
191
A funny thing about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie ( which was great ) is that Caspian ( Ben Barnes ) has a completely different accent than he had in the previous movie, Prince Caspian.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes
I understand that some disagreement with the family trust prevented more of the Narnia stories from being filmed with the same team, which is a shame, as they did a good job with the ones they filmed.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes
I understand that some disagreement with the family trust prevented more of the Narnia stories from being filmed with the same team, which is a shame, as they did a good job with the ones they filmed.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:29 AM (jkxhO)
192
https://brownstone.org/articles/
covid-response-at-five-years-introduction/
12 articles on the CV19. These are saddening, disgusting, angering, and downright depressing.
Well worth the time if you have the mental and emotional strength.
covid-response-at-five-years-introduction/
12 articles on the CV19. These are saddening, disgusting, angering, and downright depressing.
Well worth the time if you have the mental and emotional strength.
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 16, 2025 10:30 AM (gbOdA)
193
Crichton has a catastrophic global warming takedown that is one of the best I've read, but I can't seem to find it.
Posted by: Candidus
That's "State of Fear", I do believe.
Posted by: Candidus
That's "State of Fear", I do believe.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:30 AM (/RHNq)
194
189 I find book illustrations can add so much to my enjoyment of reading. Gustav Dore, NC Wyeth, Ernest Shephard, Beatrx Potter, and Jill Barklem (the Brambly Hedge books) come immediately to mind. Pete Beard has a YT channel dedicated to book illustrators over the centuries and he does a great job of it. If such things interest you, they are worth a look.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 10:29 AM (yTvNw)
John Tenniel.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 10:29 AM (yTvNw)
John Tenniel.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 16, 2025 10:30 AM (PiwSw)
195
I understand that some disagreement with the family trust prevented more of the Narnia stories from being filmed with the same team, which is a shame, as they did a good job with the ones they filmed.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:29 AM (jkxhO)
---
The Silver Chair and The Magician's Nephew could have been amazing movies...
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:29 AM (jkxhO)
---
The Silver Chair and The Magician's Nephew could have been amazing movies...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 10:31 AM (7fElN)
196
During the Siege of the Alcazar, the son of the garrison commander was captured by the reds and they placed a call into the fortress, saying they would kill the boy if he didn't surrender immediately. To prove that they had him, and put him on the line, and the commander said that he loved him, and that he had to die like man, a true son of Spain. The Reds were completely at a loss.
Eventually they did kill him, but the fortress held until it was relieved. Once the Red fell back, the garrison paraded and the commander of the relief asked for his report. The garrison commander replied "No activity of note." They had real men back then.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025
***
In one of my Spanish textbooks in HS, we had a piece for translation, "El Alcazar No Se Rinde!" A more ringing sound to a declaration of defiance would be hard to come by. ("Molon labe!" would be a close second.)
Eventually they did kill him, but the fortress held until it was relieved. Once the Red fell back, the garrison paraded and the commander of the relief asked for his report. The garrison commander replied "No activity of note." They had real men back then.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025
***
In one of my Spanish textbooks in HS, we had a piece for translation, "El Alcazar No Se Rinde!" A more ringing sound to a declaration of defiance would be hard to come by. ("Molon labe!" would be a close second.)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:32 AM (omVj0)
197
Moar Winning
NBC News poll: 44% say the country is headed in the right direction under Trump—up from 27% in November.
That’s the highest number since 2012. It hasn’t hit 44%+ since 2004.
NBC News poll: 44% say the country is headed in the right direction under Trump—up from 27% in November.
That’s the highest number since 2012. It hasn’t hit 44%+ since 2004.
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 16, 2025 10:32 AM (gbOdA)
198
The Silver Chair and The Magician's Nephew could have been amazing movies...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
The Magician's Nephew has long been my favorite.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
The Magician's Nephew has long been my favorite.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:32 AM (jkxhO)
199
" I want my heroes to be big strapping manly men."
Do you want the men to be big, their straps big, or the strapping they're giving you to be big?
Posted by: SFGoth at March 16, 2025
***
Yes, yes, and yes!
Do you want the men to be big, their straps big, or the strapping they're giving you to be big?
Posted by: SFGoth at March 16, 2025
***
Yes, yes, and yes!
Posted by: Pete Buttigieg at March 16, 2025 10:33 AM (omVj0)
200
Tapping out for the day, thanks Perfessor and the best sub-horde in the Spadesosphere.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 10:34 AM (WqmIe)
201
Elementary is the Holmes TV series with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. It is some of the best TV I have seen. I don't try and relate it to the books. The mysteries are interesting. They way they got solved unique. But JLM as Sherlock is so immersed in the character you forget he's an actor.
The writers have to be fans because they are able to complete the story in an episode although parts get carried into other episodes. The dialog when Sherlock talks about addiction are so real, you have to wonder....
The writers have to be fans because they are able to complete the story in an episode although parts get carried into other episodes. The dialog when Sherlock talks about addiction are so real, you have to wonder....
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 10:35 AM (t/2Uw)
202
I find book illustrations can add so much to my enjoyment of reading. Gustav Dore, NC Wyeth, Ernest Shephard, Beatrx Potter, and Jill Barklem (the Brambly Hedge books) come immediately to mind. Pete Beard has a YT channel dedicated to book illustrators over the centuries and he does a great job of it. If such things interest you, they are worth a look.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025
***
The names "Cruikshank" for Dickens' works and "Sidney Paget "for the magazine illustrations of Sherlock Holmes come to mind.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025
***
The names "Cruikshank" for Dickens' works and "Sidney Paget "for the magazine illustrations of Sherlock Holmes come to mind.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:36 AM (omVj0)
203
I love Bierce. Killed at Resaca is probably my favorite short story of his.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba
I quite liked his A Horseman In the Sky. Hell of a twist at the end.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba
I quite liked his A Horseman In the Sky. Hell of a twist at the end.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 10:36 AM (L/fGl)
204
Well he dated angelina jolie (back when he pretended to be american)
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:37 AM (dJR17)
205
Elementary is the Holmes TV series with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. It is some of the best TV I have seen. I don't try and relate it to the books. The mysteries are interesting. They way they got solved unique. But JLM as Sherlock is so immersed in the character you forget he's an actor.
The writers have to be fans because they are able to complete the story in an episode although parts get carried into other episodes. The dialog when Sherlock talks about addiction are so real, you have to wonder....
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025
***
If they had just called the characters something else, even using a pun like "House" for "Holmes" and "Wilson" for "Watson," I'd probably have loved it.
The writers have to be fans because they are able to complete the story in an episode although parts get carried into other episodes. The dialog when Sherlock talks about addiction are so real, you have to wonder....
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025
***
If they had just called the characters something else, even using a pun like "House" for "Holmes" and "Wilson" for "Watson," I'd probably have loved it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:37 AM (omVj0)
206
145 Let me just explain my beef with "warrior women" in fiction. I understand the desire to have them -- when 75 percent of your readers are women, it's sound marketing, plus if you can get a Frazetta-style chainmail bikini cover you can rope in the other 25 percent.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)
Gotta throw in some magic into the mix. A patron goddess or something. The better versions of comic-book Red Sonja use that, giving her Scathach's blessing...
In my head, I've got an opening scene (just not a story to go with it) of a warrior woman in an armorer's workshop, trying on her newly-made ceremonial chainmail bikini, with the blacksmith trying not to look (his wife is also present for the fitting) and muttering about how much time he wasted making military-grade chainmail for such an impractical set of 'armor.'
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)
Gotta throw in some magic into the mix. A patron goddess or something. The better versions of comic-book Red Sonja use that, giving her Scathach's blessing...
In my head, I've got an opening scene (just not a story to go with it) of a warrior woman in an armorer's workshop, trying on her newly-made ceremonial chainmail bikini, with the blacksmith trying not to look (his wife is also present for the fitting) and muttering about how much time he wasted making military-grade chainmail for such an impractical set of 'armor.'
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 10:38 AM (Lhaco)
207
Finished M. John Harrison’s three book cycle of short sci-fi novels dubbed the Kefahuchi Tract. The Kefahuchi is a raw, celestial singularity, that draws inquiry of intelligent alien and human beings to it. None can figure out what it is or why it’s there; they dash their civilizational brilliance against it and pretty much fail.
But that description doesn’t really highlight the main theme of the books.
But that description doesn’t really highlight the main theme of the books.
Posted by: 13times at March 16, 2025 10:38 AM (f1Amm)
208
This book pops-up like a bad penny. Unfortunately, Fr. Neuhaus promulgated heresy in this book (Hell is empty - everybody, including Satan and the demons go to Heaven). I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AT ALL!!!
Read Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Jesus Cries from the Cross instead. This is a paperback collation of several of his short books about the Crucifixion of Christ.
Sorry to toss a grenade and run, but we've got to go to Mass.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer
With respect, I've read the book at least 15 times and can say definitively that your assertion is false. He does not promulgate heresy, merely states that we may "hope" that Hell is empty, and even pray that this is so, since with God all things are possible. Neuhaus did not say he believed Hell was in fact empty, nor did he say a thing about Satan or demons receiving forgiveness. Further, he states quite correctly that we should worry about our own salvation and not about God's plan for anyone else.
Again, despite RBC's comment, the book is an excellent read, very profound, and not at all heretical.
Read Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Jesus Cries from the Cross instead. This is a paperback collation of several of his short books about the Crucifixion of Christ.
Sorry to toss a grenade and run, but we've got to go to Mass.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer
With respect, I've read the book at least 15 times and can say definitively that your assertion is false. He does not promulgate heresy, merely states that we may "hope" that Hell is empty, and even pray that this is so, since with God all things are possible. Neuhaus did not say he believed Hell was in fact empty, nor did he say a thing about Satan or demons receiving forgiveness. Further, he states quite correctly that we should worry about our own salvation and not about God's plan for anyone else.
Again, despite RBC's comment, the book is an excellent read, very profound, and not at all heretical.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:39 AM (/RHNq)
209
If they had just called the characters something else, even using a pun like "House" for "Holmes" and "Wilson" for "Watson," I'd probably have loved it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:37 AM (omVj0)
---
Hmm. You may be on to something there. I always thought that switching the location from London to New York was a bit odd. It worked OK, but I think you lose a lot of the quintessential "Britishness" of the original stories. Giving the main characters different names, but Americanized backstories might have made the show work a bit better.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:37 AM (omVj0)
---
Hmm. You may be on to something there. I always thought that switching the location from London to New York was a bit odd. It worked OK, but I think you lose a lot of the quintessential "Britishness" of the original stories. Giving the main characters different names, but Americanized backstories might have made the show work a bit better.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 10:40 AM (7fElN)
210
I have the complete Holmes series on DVD done by Jeremy Brett with the BBC. Probably the closest adaptations to the books, and worth watching over and over.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:40 AM (jkxhO)
211
Good morning!
Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.
Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 16, 2025 10:40 AM (u82oZ)
212
Pete Buttigieg
Somewhere yesterday I saw a picture of him strapped into his man boobs feeding apparatus with one of their kids feeding there.
What a ridiculous jackass that creature is.
Pete Buttigieg
Somewhere yesterday I saw a picture of him strapped into his man boobs feeding apparatus with one of their kids feeding there.
What a ridiculous jackass that creature is.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 16, 2025 10:40 AM (xG4kz)
213
In my head, I've got an opening scene (just not a story to go with it) of a warrior woman in an armorer's workshop, trying on her newly-made ceremonial chainmail bikini, with the blacksmith trying not to look (his wife is also present for the fitting) and muttering about how much time he wasted making military-grade chainmail for such an impractical set of 'armor.'
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 10:38 AM (Lhaco)
I will trot out my D&D joke, once again, and suggest that a chain mail bikini is a bit pinchy at tender bits when worn next to the skin, and that it is essential when using chain mail, to wear underneath it a "gambethong"
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 10:38 AM (Lhaco)
I will trot out my D&D joke, once again, and suggest that a chain mail bikini is a bit pinchy at tender bits when worn next to the skin, and that it is essential when using chain mail, to wear underneath it a "gambethong"
Posted by: Kindltot at March 16, 2025 10:42 AM (D7oie)
214
Strapping manly men with long, blond hair, right?
Posted by: Fabio at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (PiwSw)
Sure! Or brown, or black, or even none at all if the character is strapping and manly enough. And we like them to badass, but still kind to women. Protective, yet respectful.
Posted by: Fabio at March 16, 2025 10:24 AM (PiwSw)
Sure! Or brown, or black, or even none at all if the character is strapping and manly enough. And we like them to badass, but still kind to women. Protective, yet respectful.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 10:44 AM (OX9vb)
215
CBS "News" the other day said the unexpected rise in sea level was caused by global warming. We're here at about 4,200 feet so I'm not worried.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 10:46 AM (L/fGl)
216
Thanks. That tells me to wait a bit. I've got more reading to do to keep me busy. Heck, I might get back to Graham Greene for a bit.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
I ordered and paid for my Ignatius Study Bible months before it came out and promptly forgot I had done so. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when it shipped on its publication date, and I have been enjoying working my way through it for the last 4 weeks. I suggest ordering now and not waiting, as the second printing will undoubtedly sell out even quicker than the first.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
I ordered and paid for my Ignatius Study Bible months before it came out and promptly forgot I had done so. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when it shipped on its publication date, and I have been enjoying working my way through it for the last 4 weeks. I suggest ordering now and not waiting, as the second printing will undoubtedly sell out even quicker than the first.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:46 AM (/RHNq)
217
There is an unofficial subgroup on YT referred to as 'book tube'. This is where you find such unimportant matters like 'Hey, I just got fifty books' or 'how I read 1,000 books a year', and so forth. Sorry, no interest. There are wonderful videos on YT that expand understanding of literature and I enjoy those. But simple acquisition and promoting a faster approach to reading, like it's a contest, leaves me cold. Yes, I am a curmudgeon who cares nothing about what is popular and trendy.
I regard reading as a very personal matter, not a contest measured against others. Discussing how and why certain books appeal is valuable. Enthusiasm is fun. That's why we are on this thread. The rest is social media claptrap that distracts from the benefits of good books.
I regard reading as a very personal matter, not a contest measured against others. Discussing how and why certain books appeal is valuable. Enthusiasm is fun. That's why we are on this thread. The rest is social media claptrap that distracts from the benefits of good books.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 10:47 AM (yTvNw)
218
My last comment on Neuhaus' boom is that it's a good idea to actually read the book before accusing someone of heresy.
Off to read it again.
Off to read it again.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:47 AM (/RHNq)
219
Time for Mass. Thanks again, Perfesser!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:48 AM (ZOv7s)
220
Still slogging through the massive book The Dictators by Richard Overy.
It is a close look at the culture that gave rise to Hitler and Stalin. Others could have been in charge, but were nudged aside, or killed, by Hitler and Stalin. They killed supporters to open up the lane for their leadership.
Hillary is our closest example, but American society in toto prevented her ascension by choosing Trump. Kamala was too weak to kill for power. The inner party of the Deep State were not. But they missed.
Lots of insight in this book, especially on why Hitler. 1924 was the critical year for both Hitler and Stalin.
It is a close look at the culture that gave rise to Hitler and Stalin. Others could have been in charge, but were nudged aside, or killed, by Hitler and Stalin. They killed supporters to open up the lane for their leadership.
Hillary is our closest example, but American society in toto prevented her ascension by choosing Trump. Kamala was too weak to kill for power. The inner party of the Deep State were not. But they missed.
Lots of insight in this book, especially on why Hitler. 1924 was the critical year for both Hitler and Stalin.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 16, 2025 10:48 AM (u82oZ)
221
175 Castle: that's really interesting. I never thought about what parts of the world had psychoactives.
I wonder if it's simply due to humans having longer to develop tolerance/immunity to the chemicals in Old World plants and mushrooms?
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:22 AM (78a2H)
Per the book, the New World just has more drug-capable plants, the same way the Old World had more domesticable animals. But, yeah, this part of the book really stuck with me after my first read, because no other history I've heard/watched/read dealt with this, or wondered how it affected culture-at-large...
...Although "The Great Divide" does draw on earlier books, and freely cites said books, I've just never read them...
I wonder if it's simply due to humans having longer to develop tolerance/immunity to the chemicals in Old World plants and mushrooms?
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 16, 2025 10:22 AM (78a2H)
Per the book, the New World just has more drug-capable plants, the same way the Old World had more domesticable animals. But, yeah, this part of the book really stuck with me after my first read, because no other history I've heard/watched/read dealt with this, or wondered how it affected culture-at-large...
...Although "The Great Divide" does draw on earlier books, and freely cites said books, I've just never read them...
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 10:50 AM (Lhaco)
222
No book reading for the past couple of weeks.
Thank you for the Book Thread, Perfessor. Hope all of you living in the path of the storms come through it all unscathed.
Thank you for the Book Thread, Perfessor. Hope all of you living in the path of the storms come through it all unscathed.
Posted by: KatieFloyd at March 16, 2025 10:50 AM (HWcam)
223
Probably with hitler the esser wing with rohm was predominant with trotsky one suspects he might have done the same thing to stalin if he had his opportunity
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:51 AM (dJR17)
224
210 I have the complete Holmes series on DVD done by Jeremy Brett with the BBC. Probably the closest adaptations to the books, and worth watching over and over.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:40 AM (jkxhO)
I do as well, and he will always be my mental image of Sherlock. One thing I’ve noticed that is quite sad; when you watch them in order you can see Jeremy Brett getting less and less well towards the end. The one episode that was primarily Mycroft, “the Mazarin Diamond” I believe, was written that way because Brett was simply too ill to take part when it was being shot.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025 10:40 AM (jkxhO)
I do as well, and he will always be my mental image of Sherlock. One thing I’ve noticed that is quite sad; when you watch them in order you can see Jeremy Brett getting less and less well towards the end. The one episode that was primarily Mycroft, “the Mazarin Diamond” I believe, was written that way because Brett was simply too ill to take part when it was being shot.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 10:51 AM (T+ixL)
225
If lenin hadnt been shot the purges might have come later
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:51 AM (dJR17)
226
Stalkn wanted socialism in Russiafirsr trotsky wanted universal revolution
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:53 AM (dJR17)
227
Actually, not my last comment. Here is a great article/video by Catholic apologist Trent Horn titled:
The Real Problem With Hoping Hell Is Empty:
https://tinyurl.com/Horn-on-Universalism
And, again, I assert very strongly that Neuhaus did not endorse the universality heresy in Death on a Friday Afternoon. He merely discussed the existence of it.
The Real Problem With Hoping Hell Is Empty:
https://tinyurl.com/Horn-on-Universalism
And, again, I assert very strongly that Neuhaus did not endorse the universality heresy in Death on a Friday Afternoon. He merely discussed the existence of it.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:53 AM (/RHNq)
228
Elementary is the Holmes TV series with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. It is some of the best TV I have seen. I don't try and relate it to the books. The mysteries are interesting. They way they got solved unique. But JLM as Sherlock is so immersed in the character you forget he's an actor.
The series was quite good, although I have not viewed the last one or two seasons. One season focused on his brother Mycroft's travails; the next one brought his father into the storyline.
It is interesting how the film and video adaptations treat Watson. He spans the range from being an amiable and stolid dunce,to someone clever enough to begin taking on deductive tasks only Holmes could do earlier in the progression. That being the case, I much prefer the written works where he is just Watson, a traditionally capable man who took up with an eccentric man whose focus on solving problems could be intense and exhausting.
Elementary is the Holmes TV series with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. It is some of the best TV I have seen. I don't try and relate it to the books. The mysteries are interesting. They way they got solved unique. But JLM as Sherlock is so immersed in the character you forget he's an actor.
The series was quite good, although I have not viewed the last one or two seasons. One season focused on his brother Mycroft's travails; the next one brought his father into the storyline.
It is interesting how the film and video adaptations treat Watson. He spans the range from being an amiable and stolid dunce,to someone clever enough to begin taking on deductive tasks only Holmes could do earlier in the progression. That being the case, I much prefer the written works where he is just Watson, a traditionally capable man who took up with an eccentric man whose focus on solving problems could be intense and exhausting.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 16, 2025 10:54 AM (xG4kz)
229
Any morons in West Philadelphia who know where Sophie's Cheesesteak truck is parked today, please shout! Thank you.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 16, 2025 10:54 AM (RIvkX)
230
Lenin started wacking opponents straight away the day he took over
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 10:54 AM (fwDg9)
231
It is a close look at the culture that gave rise to Hitler and Stalin. Others could have been in charge, but were nudged aside, or killed, by Hitler and Stalin. They killed supporters to open up the lane for their leadership.”
Trotsky was by far a much more charismatic leader, as well as having a much better grasp of military strategy and leadership. It was primarily Trotsky who organized the army to defeat the whites in their civil war.
But Stalin was a far more efficient and ruthless killer, and Trotsky greatly underestimated him.
Trotsky was by far a much more charismatic leader, as well as having a much better grasp of military strategy and leadership. It was primarily Trotsky who organized the army to defeat the whites in their civil war.
But Stalin was a far more efficient and ruthless killer, and Trotsky greatly underestimated him.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 10:54 AM (T+ixL)
232
God is capable of everything but the likelihood that hell is empty is dubious now the preachers goal was salvation and impressed upon him the me need for that
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:55 AM (dJR17)
233
I'm reading "Speak, Memory", a memoir originally produced as a series of essays by Vladimir Nabakov and then collected into book form. One interesting fact about Nabokov is that he inherited a large estate from his uncle at age 16 in 1916 and after it was expropriated by the new Bolshevik tyranny in 1927, he never again owned a house. He lived in rentals or, in the last years df his life, a hotel.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at March 16, 2025 10:55 AM (vkMfW)
234
Started a 1000 page doorstop of a book, "The Birth of the Modern 1813-1830" and it's a great social history of the times. Paul Johnson is an excellent writer and keeps things speeding along like one of those new-fangled steamboats. I'm not quite a 1/4 of the way in and it feels like the fastest 230 pages I've ever read.
Posted by: who knew at March 16, 2025 10:56 AM (+ViXu)
235
Jenin Younes@JeninYounesEsq
A miracle has happened. The NY Times ran an oped acknowledging not only that the covid virus likely originated in a lab, but that government officials and scientists conspired to keep the substantiating evidence secret. The lab leak theory was censored on social media because of "pressure from the administration ... we shouldn't have done it."
-
Add that to the long list of things you shouldn't have done.
P.S. About that whole independent media thing . . .
A miracle has happened. The NY Times ran an oped acknowledging not only that the covid virus likely originated in a lab, but that government officials and scientists conspired to keep the substantiating evidence secret. The lab leak theory was censored on social media because of "pressure from the administration ... we shouldn't have done it."
-
Add that to the long list of things you shouldn't have done.
P.S. About that whole independent media thing . . .
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 10:56 AM (L/fGl)
236
Well he was a doctor in the army medicsl corps as such he was more than just a sidekick
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:56 AM (dJR17)
Posted by: Huck Follywood at March 16, 2025 10:56 AM (vkMfW)
238
Just checked, have both volumes of Barrington's 1967 annotated Sherlock Holmes on a shelf in the living room. Thought they had paper covers, but no.
Couple of other Holmes collection somewhere in the house.
Couple of other Holmes collection somewhere in the house.
Posted by: From about That Time at March 16, 2025 10:56 AM (n4GiU)
239
I appreciate the offer, but I'm thinking it would be nice to have in general. My Douay-Rheims was a gift, and it's so nice I dread handling it. The Ignatius looks like it is built for serious work and I need to get more serious about reading Scripture.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
I would really like to pick up a good quality copy of the Douay-Rheims Bible. Which one do you have?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
I would really like to pick up a good quality copy of the Douay-Rheims Bible. Which one do you have?
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:57 AM (/RHNq)
240
So freemans take might be a little closer in some respects
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 10:57 AM (dJR17)
241
Trying to outrun a tornado in down out of the Texas Hill Country was hugely entertaining, for certain values of entertaining. But we ducked that one. Took a roof out of town when it past.
Posted by: Richard McEnroe at March 16, 2025 10:58 AM (0dseF)
242
That being the case, I much prefer the written works where he is just Watson, a traditionally capable man who took up with an eccentric man whose focus on solving problems could be intense and exhausting.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 16, 2025 10:54 AM (xG4kz)“
Yes. Watson is there to give the audience someone to identify and empathize with, as Doyle knew Holmes was far too eccentric and unique.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 16, 2025 10:54 AM (xG4kz)“
Yes. Watson is there to give the audience someone to identify and empathize with, as Doyle knew Holmes was far too eccentric and unique.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 10:58 AM (T+ixL)
243
If Hell isn't empty, where did all the congresscritters come from?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 10:58 AM (L/fGl)
244
Speaking of ridiculousness, a SC jury awarded a family of a girl murdered over a decade ago 700 million dollars against a hotel that she wasn't registered at and wasn't the location of the murder. She had snuck away from home to go on Spring Break and crashed with friends at the hotel. She was abducted near the beach off premises.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 10:59 AM (VofaG)
245
My single biggest concern is that China has completely penetrated all of our networks and electronics and that someday soon they will just turn off ...everything.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
Having had my HP printer bricked this past week and listening to peers who've lost access to various home devices, I think the solution is to decouple and make the previous system obsolete.
TikTok will be replaced. The question is whether it will be Chinese or Western.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
Having had my HP printer bricked this past week and listening to peers who've lost access to various home devices, I think the solution is to decouple and make the previous system obsolete.
TikTok will be replaced. The question is whether it will be Chinese or Western.
Posted by: NaughtyPine at March 16, 2025 10:59 AM (eRgQ3)
246
Reading and enjoying an old Tom Clancy, "Without Remorse" (Do NOTAM see the movie). Different, as it plays out in the civilian world. Plenty of action, some weapons detail plus twists. Recommended.
Wild weather over 72 hours: high winds and rain, temps in 60s, and today it's snowing. Has Professor Moriarty taken control?
Wild weather over 72 hours: high winds and rain, temps in 60s, and today it's snowing. Has Professor Moriarty taken control?
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 10:59 AM (AQ5h9)
247
#238. Baring-Gould, not Barrington.
Posted by: From about That Time at March 16, 2025 11:00 AM (n4GiU)
248
Doyle csught the car and then didnt know what to do with it hence moriarty
Some have surmised the latter was some kind of irish revolutionary instead of a mere mercenary
Some have surmised the latter was some kind of irish revolutionary instead of a mere mercenary
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 11:02 AM (dJR17)
249
Wolfus and Shadout Mapes,
Good further examples of wonderful illustrators. Thanks for adding them. What is nice is not all effective illustrators are in the past. Last year I came across a couple of childrens' books, "Into the Woods For a Basket of Soup" and "How the Fox Got His Socks". They are charming stories wonderfully illustrated by Rebekah Keener. I met the lady and she is a delight as well as an effective artist. Nice to know that such creativity still exists and isn't confined to previous centuries.
Good further examples of wonderful illustrators. Thanks for adding them. What is nice is not all effective illustrators are in the past. Last year I came across a couple of childrens' books, "Into the Woods For a Basket of Soup" and "How the Fox Got His Socks". They are charming stories wonderfully illustrated by Rebekah Keener. I met the lady and she is a delight as well as an effective artist. Nice to know that such creativity still exists and isn't confined to previous centuries.
Posted by: JTB at March 16, 2025 11:03 AM (yTvNw)
250
Ooooh, just got a notification in my e-mail: for anyone who likes fantasy and e-readers; Humble Bundle has a sale on Dragonlance novels! 26 novels for like 20 bucks. Even though I have a lot of e-books already on my digital shelves, I may have to pick this one up.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 11:03 AM (Lhaco)
251
There was one last John Ringo book in the house. So I read it.
Von Neumann's War was written by John Ringo with Travis S. Taylor. This is about aliens want to take over the solar system and convert all metal into more von Neumann machines. Humanity is in the way.
I can clearly see the small parts of the book written by John Ringo, They crackle with mil-spec energy, heroism, and good plotting. It is a pleasure to read that. He does get two minor plot points wrong, on the US Navy. The distance from Greenland is very understated, and USN submarines go to the D &S Piers at Norfolk Naval Base, not to Portsmouth.
Travis is not as good, throwing in a Hooters Restaurant, with a smart astrophysicist waitress, and lots of other convoluted stuff. However, no sadism, sex, or unbelievable winning, so this is an improvement over Tiger by the Tail (With Ryan Sear), which is going back to the library as a donation.
The gang of characters win in the end, with only parts of America surviving the onslaught. The only real villains are the von Neumann machines, which is a nice change of pace.
Von Neumann's War was written by John Ringo with Travis S. Taylor. This is about aliens want to take over the solar system and convert all metal into more von Neumann machines. Humanity is in the way.
I can clearly see the small parts of the book written by John Ringo, They crackle with mil-spec energy, heroism, and good plotting. It is a pleasure to read that. He does get two minor plot points wrong, on the US Navy. The distance from Greenland is very understated, and USN submarines go to the D &S Piers at Norfolk Naval Base, not to Portsmouth.
Travis is not as good, throwing in a Hooters Restaurant, with a smart astrophysicist waitress, and lots of other convoluted stuff. However, no sadism, sex, or unbelievable winning, so this is an improvement over Tiger by the Tail (With Ryan Sear), which is going back to the library as a donation.
The gang of characters win in the end, with only parts of America surviving the onslaught. The only real villains are the von Neumann machines, which is a nice change of pace.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 16, 2025 11:03 AM (u82oZ)
252
Prayers for people affected by the storm. We dodged a bullet here.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at March 16, 2025 11:04 AM (n4iOo)
253
Elantris" is also a good place to start Sanderson.
Posted by: Tuna at March 16, 2025 10:19 AM (lJ0H4)
---
Eh. I didn't like that one and never finished it.
Mistborn is good, though.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
LOL. We're just opposite. I loved Elantris but could never finish the Mistborn series.
Posted by: Tuna at March 16, 2025 10:19 AM (lJ0H4)
---
Eh. I didn't like that one and never finished it.
Mistborn is good, though.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
LOL. We're just opposite. I loved Elantris but could never finish the Mistborn series.
Posted by: Tuna at March 16, 2025 11:06 AM (lJ0H4)
254
The NY Times ran an oped acknowledging not only that the covid virus likely originated in a lab, but that government officials and scientists conspired to keep the substantiating evidence secret.
Oh, sure, bury your confession on the OpEd page, the sneaky way of "coming clean".
Until you do a full front page story headlined in huge type --
WE LIED ABOUT COVID19 AND HERE ARE
OUR ACCESSORIES WHO LIED, TOO
-- with names and pictures of the guilty parties, you will not even have begun to clear your name.
The NY Times ran an oped acknowledging not only that the covid virus likely originated in a lab, but that government officials and scientists conspired to keep the substantiating evidence secret.
Oh, sure, bury your confession on the OpEd page, the sneaky way of "coming clean".
Until you do a full front page story headlined in huge type --
WE LIED ABOUT COVID19 AND HERE ARE
OUR ACCESSORIES WHO LIED, TOO
-- with names and pictures of the guilty parties, you will not even have begun to clear your name.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 16, 2025 11:06 AM (xG4kz)
255
In another corner of the living room, I got A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes, seems to be from 1955.
That's the copyright date for the Introduction by Adrian Conan-Doyle.
Pretty sure I got another big collection, with those place marker ribbons, somewhere.
That's the copyright date for the Introduction by Adrian Conan-Doyle.
Pretty sure I got another big collection, with those place marker ribbons, somewhere.
Posted by: From about That Time at March 16, 2025 11:06 AM (n4GiU)
256
osted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 10:54 AM (T+ixL)
Trotsky also voluntarily kept a lower profile as he thought being Jewish would hurt the movement.
Trotsky also voluntarily kept a lower profile as he thought being Jewish would hurt the movement.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:06 AM (VofaG)
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 11:07 AM (fwDg9)
258
Somewhere yesterday I saw a picture of him strapped into his man boobs feeding apparatus with one of their kids feeding there.
What a ridiculous jackass that creature is.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM)
That image is so insane it makes me violently ill.
What a ridiculous jackass that creature is.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM)
That image is so insane it makes me violently ill.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 11:07 AM (/RHNq)
259
Sure! Or brown, or black, or even none at all if the character is strapping and manly enough. And we like them to badass, but still kind to women. Protective, yet respectful.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 10:44 AM (OX9vb)
You sure we aren't related?
Sure! Or brown, or black, or even none at all if the character is strapping and manly enough. And we like them to badass, but still kind to women. Protective, yet respectful.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 10:44 AM (OX9vb)
You sure we aren't related?
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 11:10 AM (t/2Uw)
260
Im seen this version of moriarty in some accounts like donald thomas
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 11:11 AM (dJR17)
261
Trump playing Call of Duty for real.
Photos Capture Trump And Team Watching Airstrikes On Terror Group
https://shorturl.at/0cLDW
Can we get some more Cheetos up in here?
Photos Capture Trump And Team Watching Airstrikes On Terror Group
https://shorturl.at/0cLDW
Can we get some more Cheetos up in here?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:11 AM (L/fGl)
262
Finally finished 'Blacklisted by History', M. Stanton Evans.
I've been recommending this for a while. It's quite an undertaking as it is rife with documentation, but well worth the effort. It's as if Democrats have used their campaign against McCarthy as a cookbook: Ignore/suppress the potentially damaging (for them) charges, and launch a coordinated ad hominem attack against the accuser.
The dangerous political corruption within the government is/was startling
I've been recommending this for a while. It's quite an undertaking as it is rife with documentation, but well worth the effort. It's as if Democrats have used their campaign against McCarthy as a cookbook: Ignore/suppress the potentially damaging (for them) charges, and launch a coordinated ad hominem attack against the accuser.
The dangerous political corruption within the government is/was startling
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:12 AM (XeU6L)
263
Perfessor, you have mail. A library photo for next week.
Posted by: BifBewalski at March 16, 2025 11:12 AM (MsrgL)
264
All this talk of Sherlock Holmes (eventually) reminded me that I actually picked up a collection a few years ago. A leather-back book (not a true hardcover, but more than just a paper cover) from Word Cloud Classics. Never got around to reading it, though.
I also have a "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle from the same publisher. That's another that I've been meaning to read, but haven't. And I think its higher on my list than Sherlock.
I also have a "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle from the same publisher. That's another that I've been meaning to read, but haven't. And I think its higher on my list than Sherlock.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 11:14 AM (Lhaco)
265
Perfessor, you have mail. A library photo for next week.
Posted by: BifBewalski at March 16, 2025 11:12 AM (MsrgL)
---
Heh. That's awesome!
Posted by: BifBewalski at March 16, 2025 11:12 AM (MsrgL)
---
Heh. That's awesome!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 11:14 AM (7fElN)
266
I also have a "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle from the same publisher. That's another that I've been meaning to read, but haven't. And I think its higher on my list than Sherlock.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 11:14 AM (Lhaco)
---
That one is also on my list. I picked up a copy at a public library book sale.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 16, 2025 11:14 AM (Lhaco)
---
That one is also on my list. I picked up a copy at a public library book sale.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 11:15 AM (7fElN)
267
This place, sets you off on the oddest hunts.
Didn't find the Holmes volume I thought I had, but did find another collection by Castle Books, 1981, The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, 17 Short Stories and a complete novel, from The Strand Magazine, with all 356 original illustrations by Sidney Paget.
And right next to it was A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics. I'm going to gift that to my "almost 4" year old grand daughter whose father has been reading graphic novels with her for a year or so.
Didn't find the Holmes volume I thought I had, but did find another collection by Castle Books, 1981, The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, 17 Short Stories and a complete novel, from The Strand Magazine, with all 356 original illustrations by Sidney Paget.
And right next to it was A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics. I'm going to gift that to my "almost 4" year old grand daughter whose father has been reading graphic novels with her for a year or so.
Posted by: From about That Time at March 16, 2025 11:16 AM (n4GiU)
268
Here, those roadside libraries are 'Little Free Libraries'. My problem is that when I stop by one to shed a couple of books that I know that I will not re-read, I end up picking up one or two more. I've got to stop perusing the titles. Same with Goodwill, etc. I tell myself, 'Just drop the books off...do not look at the shelves! Never works.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:16 AM (XeU6L)
269
Watson is there so the author can lay out the case and how Holmes is going about solving it. He acts as a sounding board but allows the reader to follow along. The minute detail that Holmes is using to solve the case would be invisible unless Holmes was constantly describing everything which would get boring.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 11:17 AM (t/2Uw)
270
Yes. Watson is there to give the audience someone to identify and empathize with, as Doyle knew Holmes was far too eccentric and unique.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025
***
Poe had done the same with his Auguste Dupin stories -- but his narrator is, I think, nameless and has no real personality. He is only there for Dupin to explain things to for the reader's benefit.
Watson was indeed a capable, courageous fellow, of average or perhaps a bit higher intelligence; he was a doctor, and even then that took some smarts. Holmes was simply of another level altogether.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025
***
Poe had done the same with his Auguste Dupin stories -- but his narrator is, I think, nameless and has no real personality. He is only there for Dupin to explain things to for the reader's benefit.
Watson was indeed a capable, courageous fellow, of average or perhaps a bit higher intelligence; he was a doctor, and even then that took some smarts. Holmes was simply of another level altogether.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:17 AM (omVj0)
271
Speaking of lying liars who lie . . .
Revealed: UK's MI6 Was Convinced COVID Leaked From Wuhan Institute of Virology Since March 2020
Revealed: UK's MI6 Was Convinced COVID Leaked From Wuhan Institute of Virology Since March 2020
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:18 AM (L/fGl)
272
I have the Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Best comic strip. Not great Lit, but funny and sometimes thought-provoking.
A sample: https://tinyurl.com/bdc4dxew
A sample: https://tinyurl.com/bdc4dxew
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:18 AM (uPDHF)
273
Mike, did you have rain, lightning, and thunder last night in your AO? Hit here about 0300. There was one bright flash, and a boom ten seconds later, so I figure a strike about 2 miles away.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 16, 2025 11:20 AM (MqtqS)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:20 AM (L/fGl)
275
Watson was indeed a capable, courageous fellow, of average or perhaps a bit higher intelligence; he was a doctor, and even then that took some smarts. Holmes was simply of another level altogether.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:17 AM (omVj0)
----
Strange that the British films made Watson appear to be such a tumbler.
Watson was indeed a capable, courageous fellow, of average or perhaps a bit higher intelligence; he was a doctor, and even then that took some smarts. Holmes was simply of another level altogether.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:17 AM (omVj0)
----
Strange that the British films made Watson appear to be such a tumbler.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:21 AM (uPDHF)
276
JM at 272:
That linked Calvin & Hobbes is one of my all-time favorites from the strip. A classic. Thanks.
That linked Calvin & Hobbes is one of my all-time favorites from the strip. A classic. Thanks.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 11:22 AM (q3u5l)
277
Birth of the Modern is a great book, as is it's sequel. It shows how only one Industrial Revolution happened, and why.
John Barnes "Timeline Wars" series is fun. Lots of good stuff, but one bit of technology is very powerful. Like Arthur C Clarke Magic powerful.
John Barnes "Timeline Wars" series is fun. Lots of good stuff, but one bit of technology is very powerful. Like Arthur C Clarke Magic powerful.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 16, 2025 11:23 AM (u82oZ)
278
"Perfessor" Squirrel
Glad you are safe. Hope power returns soon.
Appreciate another in a long string of excellent book threads. You do good work.
Glad you are safe. Hope power returns soon.
Appreciate another in a long string of excellent book threads. You do good work.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 16, 2025 11:23 AM (u82oZ)
279
I have the Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Best comic strip. Not great Lit, but funny and sometimes thought-provoking.
A sample: https://tinyurl.com/bdc4dxew
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:18 AM (uPDHF)
That's where I first learned the word Spelunking.
A sample: https://tinyurl.com/bdc4dxew
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:18 AM (uPDHF)
That's where I first learned the word Spelunking.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:23 AM (VofaG)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:24 AM (L/fGl)
281
JM at 272:
That linked Calvin & Hobbes is one of my all-time favorites from the strip. A classic. Thanks.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 11:22 AM (q3u5l)
----
Does a modern audience even know what "Sears" and Kmart" are any more?
That linked Calvin & Hobbes is one of my all-time favorites from the strip. A classic. Thanks.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 11:22 AM (q3u5l)
----
Does a modern audience even know what "Sears" and Kmart" are any more?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 11:24 AM (7fElN)
282
Have a great weeks in books, everyone. Chores. Alas.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 16, 2025 11:25 AM (u82oZ)
283
Michelle Obama’s New Podcast Flops
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I assume it's entitled "Listen, Fool!"
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:24 AM (L/fGl)
I thought it was called 'Never Proud to be American"
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I assume it's entitled "Listen, Fool!"
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:24 AM (L/fGl)
I thought it was called 'Never Proud to be American"
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:25 AM (VofaG)
284
Watson was indeed a capable, courageous fellow, of average or perhaps a bit higher intelligence; he was a doctor, and even then that took some smarts. Holmes was simply of another level altogether.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:17 AM (omVj0)
----
Strange that the British films made Watson appear to be such a tumbler.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025
***
The Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movies? Done that way, I expect, to heighten the dramatic difference between Holmes's intellect and most people's. Still, it is annoying.
There's also the matter that Watson's life experience in the military and as a doctor was of a different world entirely from Holmes's. Holmes's knowledge of the criminal world was essential to his work; but it was all new stuff to Watson (and the entranced reader). He can be forgiven for sometimes not understanding what was going on.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:17 AM (omVj0)
----
Strange that the British films made Watson appear to be such a tumbler.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025
***
The Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movies? Done that way, I expect, to heighten the dramatic difference between Holmes's intellect and most people's. Still, it is annoying.
There's also the matter that Watson's life experience in the military and as a doctor was of a different world entirely from Holmes's. Holmes's knowledge of the criminal world was essential to his work; but it was all new stuff to Watson (and the entranced reader). He can be forgiven for sometimes not understanding what was going on.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:26 AM (omVj0)
285
Perfessor, the modern audience probably doesn't know what Sears or KMart were. What was Harlan Ellison's line? For them, nostalgia is this morning's breakfast.
Before long we'll say Shakespeare and someone will say, "Who?" We may be close to that point already.
Before long we'll say Shakespeare and someone will say, "Who?" We may be close to that point already.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (q3u5l)
286
Good morning Hordemates.
Posted by: Diogenes at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (W/lyH)
287
245 My single biggest concern is that China has completely penetrated all of our networks and electronics and that someday soon they will just turn off ...everything.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
----
Yes! As if the Chinese didn't have enough intelligence on us, the Biden administration let the Chinese slowly fly across the country and many sensitive areas. Biden was such a tool for the CCP.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
----
Yes! As if the Chinese didn't have enough intelligence on us, the Biden administration let the Chinese slowly fly across the country and many sensitive areas. Biden was such a tool for the CCP.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (aqa7Z)
288
There's also the matter that Watson's life experience in the military and as a doctor was of a different world entirely from Holmes's. Holmes's knowledge of the criminal world was essential to his work; but it was all new stuff to Watson (and the entranced reader). He can be forgiven for sometimes not understanding what was going on.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:26 AM (omVj0)
---
Watson brings in knowledge and experience that were outside of Holmes' usual frame of reference. Watson points out that Holmes could be astoundingly ignorant of basic facts sometimes.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:26 AM (omVj0)
---
Watson brings in knowledge and experience that were outside of Holmes' usual frame of reference. Watson points out that Holmes could be astoundingly ignorant of basic facts sometimes.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (7fElN)
289
My oldest son was a reader from the time he was 3 yrs old. He read everything he could lay his hands on. My younger son started reading just as early but read Calvin and Hobbes. I even asked the pediatrician if I should worry that he read comics almost exclusively and she said as long as he's reading. He has the entire collection. They only thing he requested when I sold my house. He now has a 3 yr old of his own. Can't wait to see what he thinks of his dad's favorite books.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (t/2Uw)
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:29 AM (aqa7Z)
291
History for the Left only starts yesterday. Unless it serves their purpose to lie about actual history.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:29 AM (VofaG)
292
One of the nice things about the Robert Downey Holmes movies was that Watson wasn't a dimbulb.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 11:29 AM (q3u5l)
293
Oooh, the storm has arrived to southeastern Ohio. Wind and rain are whipping out there. And it's time to make the dog food. Better go light the burners before I lose power.
Later, horde!
Later, horde!
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 16, 2025 11:30 AM (OX9vb)
294
Mike, did you have rain, lightning, and thunder last night in your AO? Hit here about 0300. There was one bright flash, and a boom ten seconds later, so I figure a strike about 2 miles away.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon
------
Yup. Wind, rain, some lightening and thunder. Around here we get a little nervous about such lately. I've not been outside, but I don't think anything damaging occured. Was a bit worse down in GA, I think.
When my highly compromised hearing isn't 'aided', I don't hear most of such. For instance, the night of The Storm, I slept through it. Walked out the next day to find half the large trees in the neighborhood down, roads blocked, etc., etc. I missed it all. Probably a good thing that I am above flood level, even that flood.
You guys having a good time? I should have conned you both into stopping by to work on the Olds project.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon
------
Yup. Wind, rain, some lightening and thunder. Around here we get a little nervous about such lately. I've not been outside, but I don't think anything damaging occured. Was a bit worse down in GA, I think.
When my highly compromised hearing isn't 'aided', I don't hear most of such. For instance, the night of The Storm, I slept through it. Walked out the next day to find half the large trees in the neighborhood down, roads blocked, etc., etc. I missed it all. Probably a good thing that I am above flood level, even that flood.
You guys having a good time? I should have conned you both into stopping by to work on the Olds project.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (XeU6L)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (L/fGl)
296
osted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (t/2Uw)
3 years old? that's awesome.
I started at 5 and Archie and Richie Rich comics were my go too.
3 years old? that's awesome.
I started at 5 and Archie and Richie Rich comics were my go too.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:32 AM (VofaG)
297
Speaking of lying liars who lie . . .
Revealed: UK's MI6 Was Convinced COVID Leaked From Wuhan Institute of Virology Since March 2020
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:18 AM (L/fGl)
Next you'll be telling me the CIA was convinced as early as sometime in 2011 that the Wuhan lab leaded Covid.
Revealed: UK's MI6 Was Convinced COVID Leaked From Wuhan Institute of Virology Since March 2020
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:18 AM (L/fGl)
Next you'll be telling me the CIA was convinced as early as sometime in 2011 that the Wuhan lab leaded Covid.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:33 AM (/WHsm)
298
Holmes was a drug addict and Watson was there to save him from himself when needed.
Coke was legal back then.
Coke was legal back then.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)
Posted by: The cows at March 16, 2025 11:35 AM (XeU6L)
300
My single biggest concern is that China has completely penetrated all of our networks and electronics and that someday soon they will just turn off ...everything.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
Yes! As if the Chinese didn't have enough intelligence on us, the Biden administration let the Chinese slowly fly across the country and many sensitive areas. Biden was such a tool for the CCP.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (aqa7Z)
Why, you'd almost think the problem isn't Chi Nah, but the idiots who run this country.
Almost.
Posted by: Candidus at March 16, 2025 09:44 AM (WqmIe)
Yes! As if the Chinese didn't have enough intelligence on us, the Biden administration let the Chinese slowly fly across the country and many sensitive areas. Biden was such a tool for the CCP.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:28 AM (aqa7Z)
Why, you'd almost think the problem isn't Chi Nah, but the idiots who run this country.
Almost.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:35 AM (/WHsm)
301
Overwhelming Majority of Americans Believe the Tipping Culture Is Out of Control
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+1
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (L/fGl)
Who did that poll, and do they have a tip jar?
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+1
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (L/fGl)
Who did that poll, and do they have a tip jar?
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:36 AM (/WHsm)
302
Wimbledon just happened to have a huge pandemic insurance policy when no other tournaments did. I think the British elite knew what was coming because of its connections to Hong Kong and knew the CCPO was going to release a virus to stop the protests.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:37 AM (VofaG)
303
Watson brings in knowledge and experience that were outside of Holmes' usual frame of reference. Watson points out that Holmes could be astoundingly ignorant of basic facts sometimes.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025
***
True. In the first novel, Watson lists an outline of Holmes's areas of knowledge, and mentions that SH has no idea of astronomy. Holmes retorts something like, "I have no need to know whether the Earth goes around the Sun. If the Sun went around the Earth, it would make no difference to myself or my work."
I've always suspected that the Queen cousins took that comment and built an entire story around it, "The Lamp of God," in which the motion of the Earth around the Sun *is* crucial to Ellery's solution of the mystery.
In a much different milieu, Archie Goodwin tells us that Nero Wolfe does not know where the NYC morgue is located. "Twenty years as a practicing private detective in New York, and he had no idea where the morgue was."
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 16, 2025
***
True. In the first novel, Watson lists an outline of Holmes's areas of knowledge, and mentions that SH has no idea of astronomy. Holmes retorts something like, "I have no need to know whether the Earth goes around the Sun. If the Sun went around the Earth, it would make no difference to myself or my work."
I've always suspected that the Queen cousins took that comment and built an entire story around it, "The Lamp of God," in which the motion of the Earth around the Sun *is* crucial to Ellery's solution of the mystery.
In a much different milieu, Archie Goodwin tells us that Nero Wolfe does not know where the NYC morgue is located. "Twenty years as a practicing private detective in New York, and he had no idea where the morgue was."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:37 AM (omVj0)
304
BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:35 AM (/WHsm)
301 Overwhelming Majority of Americans Believe the Tipping Culture Is Out of Control
+1
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (L/fGl)
Who did that poll, and do they have a tip jar?
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:36 AM (/WHsm)
I thought they talking about cows.
301 Overwhelming Majority of Americans Believe the Tipping Culture Is Out of Control
+1
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (L/fGl)
Who did that poll, and do they have a tip jar?
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:36 AM (/WHsm)
I thought they talking about cows.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 11:38 AM (T+ixL)
305
299 Overwhelming Majority of Americans Believe the Tipping Culture Is Out of Control
I agree with this. People drink too much nowadays, they should stop tippling so much.
What? Oh.
Never mind.
I agree with this. People drink too much nowadays, they should stop tippling so much.
What? Oh.
Never mind.
Posted by: Emily Litella at March 16, 2025 11:38 AM (PiwSw)
306
You guys having a good time? I should have conned you both into stopping by to work on the Olds project.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (XeU6L)
Attempted to do some logging yesterday. Winched one section of fallen oak up a slope to the parking area, and sawed off a 2-foot hunk of it - too heavy to lift. And the darned Chinesium chain saw came with chain that was sharpened wrong, so it cut a curve, not a straight kerf. Get too deep into the log, and it all gets into a bind.
Did manage to clear some smaller downed trees from a little cat road going down to the dam on the pond, where the bulk of the fallen oak lies. That will make it a little easier for a trackhoe operator to get down there.
I was super tired last night.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:31 AM (XeU6L)
Attempted to do some logging yesterday. Winched one section of fallen oak up a slope to the parking area, and sawed off a 2-foot hunk of it - too heavy to lift. And the darned Chinesium chain saw came with chain that was sharpened wrong, so it cut a curve, not a straight kerf. Get too deep into the log, and it all gets into a bind.
Did manage to clear some smaller downed trees from a little cat road going down to the dam on the pond, where the bulk of the fallen oak lies. That will make it a little easier for a trackhoe operator to get down there.
I was super tired last night.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 16, 2025 11:39 AM (MqtqS)
307
Risking blowing the margins, another Calvin & Hobbs.
We could be here all day.
https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/01/25
We could be here all day.
https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/01/25
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:39 AM (XeU6L)
308
One of the nice things about the Robert Downey Holmes movies was that Watson wasn't a dimbulb.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025
***
And they cast young men in both roles. We tend to think of them as mature men, thanks to Rathbone/Bruce and Jeremy Brett and his Watsons. But Watson when he met Holmes was just back from Afghanistan. He'd have been pretty young then.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025
***
And they cast young men in both roles. We tend to think of them as mature men, thanks to Rathbone/Bruce and Jeremy Brett and his Watsons. But Watson when he met Holmes was just back from Afghanistan. He'd have been pretty young then.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:40 AM (omVj0)
309
Had to change my pants. What'd I miss?
Posted by: WaitingForMartel at March 16, 2025 11:40 AM (xYzw1)
310
the tipping screen that comes on prior to payment at some of the non waiter food joints is ridiculous and out of control.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:40 AM (VofaG)
311
I had a GF. Her take on Calvin, "He's such a brat!" Needless to say, we didn’t last three months.
Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 16, 2025 11:41 AM (/Utfn)
312
Holmes was a drug addict and Watson was there to save him from himself when needed.
Coke was legal back then.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025
***
My first encounter with the written SH stories was in a Whitman edition of the first short stories. As a adult, I was amused that, while they left most of the tales unedited, Whitman did cut out a reference to Holmes's cocaine use in "The Five Orange Pips."
Coke was legal back then.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025
***
My first encounter with the written SH stories was in a Whitman edition of the first short stories. As a adult, I was amused that, while they left most of the tales unedited, Whitman did cut out a reference to Holmes's cocaine use in "The Five Orange Pips."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:42 AM (omVj0)
313
I thought they talking about cows.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 11:38 AM (T+ixL)
As haughty as cows have become these days, I think they should be tipped more.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 11:38 AM (T+ixL)
As haughty as cows have become these days, I think they should be tipped more.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:42 AM (kZPKR)
314
Well, it's finally happened.
Federal Judge Appoints Himself President
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From the Bee, It’s No Joke Department.
Federal Judge Appoints Himself President
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From the Bee, It’s No Joke Department.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:42 AM (L/fGl)
315
Bubba Clinton gave the Chicoms all of our ballistic missle secrets. I'm sure it's been carte Blanche on obtaining all of our other national security secrets.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at March 16, 2025 11:44 AM (g8Ew8)
316
Well, I must be off to see to chores. It'll require boosting Stirling the big black cat from my lap, but even he must make sacrifices sometime. Good day, everybody!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 11:44 AM (omVj0)
317
the tipping screen that comes on prior to payment at some of the non waiter food joints is ridiculous and out of control.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:40 AM (VofaG)
There's a coffee place I stop at about once a week. I go through the drive-through, and there's always a nice looking young woman at the window. I figure if I give them an extra dollar, one of them might have sex with me one of these days.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:40 AM (VofaG)
There's a coffee place I stop at about once a week. I go through the drive-through, and there's always a nice looking young woman at the window. I figure if I give them an extra dollar, one of them might have sex with me one of these days.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:44 AM (kZPKR)
318
Doyle csught the car and then didnt know what to do with it hence moriarty
Some have surmised the latter was some kind of irish revolutionary instead of a mere mercenary
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 11:02 AM (dJR17)
Micheal Kurland's Holmes pastiche cast Moriarty as a mathematics and physics professor who was operating as a consulting criminal mastermind to fund his astrological research into gravity as deduced from planetary orbits
Some have surmised the latter was some kind of irish revolutionary instead of a mere mercenary
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 16, 2025 11:02 AM (dJR17)
Micheal Kurland's Holmes pastiche cast Moriarty as a mathematics and physics professor who was operating as a consulting criminal mastermind to fund his astrological research into gravity as deduced from planetary orbits
Posted by: Kindltot at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (D7oie)
319
Did manage to clear some smaller downed trees from a little cat road going down to the dam on the pond, where the bulk of the fallen oak lies. That will make it a little easier for a trackhoe operator to get down there.
--------
An odd thing about this is that firewood is plentiful. For anyone to offer it for sale is almost laughable.
Did manage to clear some smaller downed trees from a little cat road going down to the dam on the pond, where the bulk of the fallen oak lies. That will make it a little easier for a trackhoe operator to get down there.
--------
An odd thing about this is that firewood is plentiful. For anyone to offer it for sale is almost laughable.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (XeU6L)
320
Bubba Clinton gave the Chicoms all of our ballistic missle secrets. I'm sure it's been carte Blanche on obtaining all of our other national security secrets.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at March 16, 2025 11:44 AM (g8Ew
You can't make, virtually any of our advanced weapons systems, from missiles to tanks to plans to ships, without parts from Chi Nah.
The Chinese didn't do that.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at March 16, 2025 11:44 AM (g8Ew
You can't make, virtually any of our advanced weapons systems, from missiles to tanks to plans to ships, without parts from Chi Nah.
The Chinese didn't do that.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:46 AM (kZPKR)
321
Can't recall for sure, but I think my first Holmes was "The Speckled Band" in a grade-school textbook. Either that or one of the Classics Illustrated comics -- think they did some issues from a few of the Holmes stories. Delightful stuff. Don't recall the Whitman volume -- must have missed that one.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 11:47 AM (q3u5l)
322
Day 987 of reading The Count of Monte Cristo
I'm beginning to think this was a pay-per-word affair. And it may be a revenge tale.
I'm beginning to think this was a pay-per-word affair. And it may be a revenge tale.
Posted by: weft cut-loop at March 16, 2025 11:48 AM (mlg/3)
323
I think Nigel Bruce was made to be a bumbler because the producers thought the series would be more popular if it had a comic element. It may have been what audiences in the 40’s liked, but I don’t like it.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 16, 2025 11:48 AM (T+ixL)
324
You can't argue with science.
POLITICS · MAR 14, 2025 · 65
Disturbing: If You Remove The 'O' In 'Obama' And Replace The 'B' With An 'S' And The 'M' With A 'T' And Add An 'N' At The End, It Spells 'Satan'
We knew Barack Obama was the worst, but THIS disturbing new revelation just proves it.
POLITICS · MAR 14, 2025 · 65
Disturbing: If You Remove The 'O' In 'Obama' And Replace The 'B' With An 'S' And The 'M' With A 'T' And Add An 'N' At The End, It Spells 'Satan'
We knew Barack Obama was the worst, but THIS disturbing new revelation just proves it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:48 AM (L/fGl)
325
Hold it...is that Dolly Parton on the front of that library?
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:50 AM (XeU6L)
326
Well, the non-book-thread world beckons, darn it.
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.
Have a good one, gang.
Avoid the bad weather if possible.
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.
Have a good one, gang.
Avoid the bad weather if possible.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 16, 2025 11:50 AM (q3u5l)
327
During the Siege of the Alcazar, the son of the garrison commander was captured by the reds and they placed a call into the fortress, saying they would kill the boy if he didn't surrender immediately. To prove that they had him, and put him on the line, and the commander said that he loved him, and that he had to die like man, a true son of Spain. The Reds were completely at a loss.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (ZOv7s)
Colonel Jose Moscardo. He was a soccer coach, quite a good one and IIRC would have been coach of the Spanish Olympic Soccer team in the '36 Olympics if the Civil War had not broken out. He went on to coach several Spanish Olympic teams in the 1950's. His office in the Alcazar is preserved as it was during the seige. The phone on which he received the call from the Rojos and said goodbye to his son used to be in that office covered by a glass box, but I've heard the present day leftist Spanish governments have removed it as it was an object of veneration and pilgrammage by Spanish rightists.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 16, 2025 10:23 AM (ZOv7s)
Colonel Jose Moscardo. He was a soccer coach, quite a good one and IIRC would have been coach of the Spanish Olympic Soccer team in the '36 Olympics if the Civil War had not broken out. He went on to coach several Spanish Olympic teams in the 1950's. His office in the Alcazar is preserved as it was during the seige. The phone on which he received the call from the Rojos and said goodbye to his son used to be in that office covered by a glass box, but I've heard the present day leftist Spanish governments have removed it as it was an object of veneration and pilgrammage by Spanish rightists.
Posted by: The Osprey at March 16, 2025 11:51 AM (MqtqS)
Posted by: the cows at March 16, 2025 11:51 AM (D7oie)
329
Here's hoping nobody has to run for a basement. Been there & done that & it ain't fun.
If you're visiting the Alamo, the basement is the safest place.
If you're visiting the Alamo, the basement is the safest place.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 16, 2025 11:51 AM (CHHv1)
330
Disturbing: If You Remove The 'O' In 'Obama' And Replace The 'B' With An 'S' And The 'M' With A 'T' And Add An 'N' At The End, It Spells 'Satan'
We knew Barack Obama was the worst, but THIS disturbing new revelation just proves it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:48 AM (L/fGl)
I see that you've read Calypso Louie's book. 🙂
We knew Barack Obama was the worst, but THIS disturbing new revelation just proves it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:48 AM (L/fGl)
I see that you've read Calypso Louie's book. 🙂
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at March 16, 2025 11:52 AM (g8Ew8)
331
Elon Musk, always thinking.
TECH · MAR 13, 2025 · 74
Teslas Updated With Self-Defense Mode Where They Transform Into Anthropomorphic Battle Robots
TECH · MAR 13, 2025 · 74
Teslas Updated With Self-Defense Mode Where They Transform Into Anthropomorphic Battle Robots
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:52 AM (L/fGl)
332
> My single biggest concern is that China has completely penetrated all of our networks and electronics and that someday soon they will just turn off ...everything.
Posted by: Candidus
----------
It's as if the Chinese overthrew the US years ago without firing a shot. Politicians, lobbyists, business titans all compromised.
Posted by: Candidus
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It's as if the Chinese overthrew the US years ago without firing a shot. Politicians, lobbyists, business titans all compromised.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 16, 2025 11:53 AM (Q4IgG)
333
You can't argue with science.
POLITICS · MAR 14, 2025 · 65
Disturbing: If You Remove The 'O' In 'Obama' And Replace The 'B' With An 'S' And The 'M' With A 'T' And Add An 'N' At The End, It Spells 'Satan'
We knew Barack Obama was the worst, but THIS disturbing new revelation just proves it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:48 AM (L/fGl)
Ooh, that's scary. Now do that hockey player who was born on October 22, 1974 in Topolcany, Czechoslovakia.
POLITICS · MAR 14, 2025 · 65
Disturbing: If You Remove The 'O' In 'Obama' And Replace The 'B' With An 'S' And The 'M' With A 'T' And Add An 'N' At The End, It Spells 'Satan'
We knew Barack Obama was the worst, but THIS disturbing new revelation just proves it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at March 16, 2025 11:48 AM (L/fGl)
Ooh, that's scary. Now do that hockey player who was born on October 22, 1974 in Topolcany, Czechoslovakia.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:54 AM (kvTlp)
334
An odd thing about this is that firewood is plentiful. For anyone to offer it for sale is almost laughable.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (XeU6L)
Where are you at? It is more than 300/cord for seasoned firewood
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (XeU6L)
Where are you at? It is more than 300/cord for seasoned firewood
Posted by: Kindltot at March 16, 2025 11:55 AM (D7oie)
335
Holmes was a drug addict and Watson was there to save him from himself when needed.
Coke was legal back then.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)
This is interesting because in the TV series, Watson, a doctor who has quit the profession, is hired by Holme's father to be his sober companion. Her job to keep him from doing drugs which almost destroyed him.
Moriarty is changed in a way that is totally out of the box and I found pretty fascinating.
Coke was legal back then.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 16, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)
This is interesting because in the TV series, Watson, a doctor who has quit the profession, is hired by Holme's father to be his sober companion. Her job to keep him from doing drugs which almost destroyed him.
Moriarty is changed in a way that is totally out of the box and I found pretty fascinating.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 11:55 AM (t/2Uw)
336
Yeah. They said "heavy rain." It was a torrential downpour, just sheets of rain whipping everything unmercifully, then marble sized hail and high winds.
Damage to my home is minimal. Power is down in a lot of places, but not mine. My problems are trivial. My roof seems ok.
BUT, hearing that we'd have a good rain, I went ahead and did some pre-rain gardening. My grass seed is all washed away. I suppose the bottom of my lawn will be extremely verdant this year, but the rest will need to be reseeded. My peach tree is damaged, but should be ok. My day lilies are totally wrecked. Luckily I didn't plant any other flowers yet.
I'm not happy though
Damage to my home is minimal. Power is down in a lot of places, but not mine. My problems are trivial. My roof seems ok.
BUT, hearing that we'd have a good rain, I went ahead and did some pre-rain gardening. My grass seed is all washed away. I suppose the bottom of my lawn will be extremely verdant this year, but the rest will need to be reseeded. My peach tree is damaged, but should be ok. My day lilies are totally wrecked. Luckily I didn't plant any other flowers yet.
I'm not happy though
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at March 16, 2025 11:55 AM (BI5O2)
337
An odd thing about this is that firewood is plentiful. For anyone to offer it for sale is almost laughable.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (XeU6L)
The oak wood is very wet, and very heavy. One thing I see around here is large lots covered by piles of partly cut-up trees. I assume these are staging areas for cleared deadfall, that will eventually be made into timber and/or firewood. It will take a tractor with a picker, or a track hoe to get down to the pond to drag out this dead tree, and a large chainsaw with plenty of horsepower to cut it up.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (XeU6L)
The oak wood is very wet, and very heavy. One thing I see around here is large lots covered by piles of partly cut-up trees. I assume these are staging areas for cleared deadfall, that will eventually be made into timber and/or firewood. It will take a tractor with a picker, or a track hoe to get down to the pond to drag out this dead tree, and a large chainsaw with plenty of horsepower to cut it up.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 16, 2025 11:55 AM (MqtqS)
338
Hold it...is that Dolly Parton on the front of that library?
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:50 AM (XeU6L)
It was the first thing I noticed. But then, I'm a heterosexual male.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:50 AM (XeU6L)
It was the first thing I noticed. But then, I'm a heterosexual male.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 16, 2025 11:56 AM (6BONu)
339
I started reading The Scramble For Africa. First section describes Livingstone's last days and the strange journey of his body back to England. Africa was mysterious in 1876.
On another note, just watched the 2010 version of Don't Be Afraid of The Dark on Pluto, with Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes. The funniest part was the wrought iron gate of the mansion with the initials "FJB".
On another note, just watched the 2010 version of Don't Be Afraid of The Dark on Pluto, with Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes. The funniest part was the wrought iron gate of the mansion with the initials "FJB".
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at March 16, 2025 11:59 AM (ufFY8)
340
Where are you at? It is more than 300/cord for seasoned firewood
Posted by: Kindltot
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W. NC. Yeah, not 'seasoned' yet, but it will be by next heating season.
AOP - Traveling N. and slightly W. there are huge debris sites up toward TN. Some probably 5 acres.
Where are you at? It is more than 300/cord for seasoned firewood
Posted by: Kindltot
------
W. NC. Yeah, not 'seasoned' yet, but it will be by next heating season.
AOP - Traveling N. and slightly W. there are huge debris sites up toward TN. Some probably 5 acres.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 12:00 PM (XeU6L)
341
WE HAZ A NOOD
Posted by: Skip i at March 16, 2025 12:01 PM (fwDg9)
342
No storms here yet but expected this afternoon. Nothing like what you all have been experiencing but did cause the cancellation of range day.
Sad...
Sad...
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 12:02 PM (t/2Uw)
343
323 Tom Servo, I have read it was Nigel Bruce himself that decided to play Watson as a comedic relief. Basically everyone in England has read SH or seen the plays where Watson was a serious character. Bruce wanted to play something different which worked with Rathborn's characterization of Holmes. Decision elevated both actors in the series as Bruce got noticed and Rathborn did too.
If you can dig it up, Michael Caine as Holmes and Ben Kingsley as Watson turn the Rathborn and Bruce formula on its head. Without a Clue movie.
If you can dig it up, Michael Caine as Holmes and Ben Kingsley as Watson turn the Rathborn and Bruce formula on its head. Without a Clue movie.
Posted by: whig's phone at March 16, 2025 12:02 PM (ctrM5)
344
337 An odd thing about this is that firewood is plentiful. For anyone to offer it for sale is almost laughable.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (XeU6L)
Yeah, that's what I heard when I first came out here in late October after the hurricane. I know a few people both up here on the mountain in Saluda and in Hendersonville who were without power for quite a while and there were intermittent outages for a while due to trees falling and slides caused by the hurricane that continued to happen for a while. So I thought people would want the wood for fireplaces but I was told there was more than enough.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 11:45 AM (XeU6L)
Yeah, that's what I heard when I first came out here in late October after the hurricane. I know a few people both up here on the mountain in Saluda and in Hendersonville who were without power for quite a while and there were intermittent outages for a while due to trees falling and slides caused by the hurricane that continued to happen for a while. So I thought people would want the wood for fireplaces but I was told there was more than enough.
Posted by: The Osprey at March 16, 2025 12:03 PM (MqtqS)
345
AOP - Traveling N. and slightly W. there are huge debris sites up toward TN. Some probably 5 acres.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 12:00 PM (XeU6L)
Mike, AOP and I travelled through that area at night so we didn't see those wood debris sites but there is a pretty big one on the 176 between Saluda and Hendersonville.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 12:00 PM (XeU6L)
Mike, AOP and I travelled through that area at night so we didn't see those wood debris sites but there is a pretty big one on the 176 between Saluda and Hendersonville.
Posted by: The Osprey at March 16, 2025 12:05 PM (MqtqS)
346
Dolly Parton has a program where she sends free books to kids. Have sen a few and they are very wholesome.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 16, 2025 12:05 PM (t/2Uw)
347
Mike, AOP and I travelled through that area at night so we didn't see those wood debris sites but there is a pretty big one on the 176 between Saluda and Hendersonville.
Posted by: The Osprey
------
While it's primarily tree damage (thousands and thousands), there is property debris that must be disposed of.
It's worse up towards Erwin, TN. Scenes like this (and worse) are common:
http://tiny.cc/vckd001
Posted by: The Osprey
------
While it's primarily tree damage (thousands and thousands), there is property debris that must be disposed of.
It's worse up towards Erwin, TN. Scenes like this (and worse) are common:
http://tiny.cc/vckd001
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 16, 2025 12:22 PM (XeU6L)
348
I always know when Huggy Squirrel has been around the Community Living Library because there's always a little stash of nuts that fall out when you open the door.
Posted by: Rev Wishbone at March 16, 2025 12:27 PM (fY84s)
349
Still plodding thru Titus Groan (about 75% or so thru), still not sure what I think. The characters are just weird, and there's really not much actual plot by my usual standards, but there are occasional moments of beautiful prose that truly are a pleasure. Nor sure if or when I'll continue with the series, but its been an interesting experience, even if the story hasn't been altogether interesting at times.
Also been listening to To Honor You Call Us, by H. Paul Honsinger, on Audible. Sci-fi, not sure I'd call it great, but the dialogue is so over-the-top dramatic its hilarious fun. Only complaint is the voice actor pitches some of his characters so low its very hard to hear while driving.
Also been listening to To Honor You Call Us, by H. Paul Honsinger, on Audible. Sci-fi, not sure I'd call it great, but the dialogue is so over-the-top dramatic its hilarious fun. Only complaint is the voice actor pitches some of his characters so low its very hard to hear while driving.
Posted by: tintex at March 16, 2025 02:44 PM (R7yRq)
350
Over the years, I have accumulated nice copies of all of the unabridged Sherlock Holmes books, as I am a big fan as well. What do the annotated versions add?
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025
***
I'm guessing notes on terminology and social conventions that have changed or vanished since Doyle's time -- for example, what was a "growler" and how was it different from a hansom cab? And perhaps explaining references in the stories to real world events.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:21 AM (omVj0)
Sorry for the late answer, got back from Mass and running errands afterwards.
One of the things that the various Annotated Holmes do is play the literary game in which Holmes and Watson were real people and resolve the various issues of conflict in internal logic within the various stories because Doyle just wrote stories as they occurred to him. Famously, Watson's wound that he suffered at Maiwand seems to move around his body.
The Oxford series doesn't do this, but has some interesting historical notes.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 16, 2025
***
I'm guessing notes on terminology and social conventions that have changed or vanished since Doyle's time -- for example, what was a "growler" and how was it different from a hansom cab? And perhaps explaining references in the stories to real world events.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 16, 2025 10:21 AM (omVj0)
Sorry for the late answer, got back from Mass and running errands afterwards.
One of the things that the various Annotated Holmes do is play the literary game in which Holmes and Watson were real people and resolve the various issues of conflict in internal logic within the various stories because Doyle just wrote stories as they occurred to him. Famously, Watson's wound that he suffered at Maiwand seems to move around his body.
The Oxford series doesn't do this, but has some interesting historical notes.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 02:48 PM (pJWtt)
351
My last comment on Neuhaus' boom is that it's a good idea to actually read the book before accusing someone of heresy.
Off to read it again.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:47 AM (/RHNq)
I have read Fr. Neuhaus' book and stand by my verdict that it promulgates heresy, particularly in Chapter 2. Neuhaus wrote that he disagreed with St. Augustine about the permanence of Hell. Also, Fr. Neuhaus stated that he was influenced by Urs von Balthasar's writings.
I think von Balthasar got influenced by Origen's writings. Origen seems to have taught Universal Salvation; certainly his students did after Origen's death. The Error of Origenism was condemned (too lazy to look up) around 500 AD.
Other parts of Fr. Neuman's book are fine. Unfortunately, he under-sells the dangers of Hell. This is a big red-flag.
We are required to pray for everyone's salvation, but need to accept that if they live a life completely separated from God and His commandments, the outlook for their souls in not good. God is perfectly Merciful, but he is also perfectly Just.
Ven. Arbp. Fulton Sheen stated that Mercy give the innocent their due, while Justice gives the guilty their due.
Off to read it again.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 16, 2025 10:47 AM (/RHNq)
I have read Fr. Neuhaus' book and stand by my verdict that it promulgates heresy, particularly in Chapter 2. Neuhaus wrote that he disagreed with St. Augustine about the permanence of Hell. Also, Fr. Neuhaus stated that he was influenced by Urs von Balthasar's writings.
I think von Balthasar got influenced by Origen's writings. Origen seems to have taught Universal Salvation; certainly his students did after Origen's death. The Error of Origenism was condemned (too lazy to look up) around 500 AD.
Other parts of Fr. Neuman's book are fine. Unfortunately, he under-sells the dangers of Hell. This is a big red-flag.
We are required to pray for everyone's salvation, but need to accept that if they live a life completely separated from God and His commandments, the outlook for their souls in not good. God is perfectly Merciful, but he is also perfectly Just.
Ven. Arbp. Fulton Sheen stated that Mercy give the innocent their due, while Justice gives the guilty their due.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at March 16, 2025 03:03 PM (pJWtt)
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