1 Haven't had a computer available for days - and I'm the 1st one here?!

2 I just started Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy At Guadalcanal.

Hornfischer is an excellent, very accessible historian, and this book seems to be as good as his last one: Last Stand of The Tin Can Sailors.

3 The thing about the "democracy died here tonight" fellow that bugs me is- is he wearing make-up? There was no one who didn't look like an unwashed clown they could have interviewed?

4

I love the picture! LOL.

And the content below it is pretty good, too.

5 Downloaded (at exorbitant cost of $10) and am now re-reading Shogun. I swear this electronic copy has more in it than the paperback I have. 

6 Splitting my time this weekend between Ed Klein's "Amateur" and Andrew Klavan's "Crazy Dangerous" so you can naturally assume I am having fun. Klein's book is loaded with "it's worse than I thought" moments. I keep looking up, wanting to say to someone, "Listen to this!" but the cats are supremely uninterested.

7 I have a Tumblr blog but can't use the url because Tumblr urls are banned. Why? Just curious.

8 Not exactly a book, but I just finished reading the New Yorker's special science fiction issue.

Overall: meh.

Notable for having what I guess is Ray Bradbury's last publication. Also an essay by Margaret ("I don't write science fiction") Atwood about how she was totally a science fiction fan all along. And an essay by Ursula K. LeGuin about how hard it was to be a female science fiction writer and how she was selling stories to Playboy for big bucks, which kind of undermines her point.

Notably absent: anything by American science fiction writers under seventy years old.

9 Love that picture, and I would love to laugh in red hat guy's face.

But you do realize that now everyone will go off topic early.

10 Best thing about Weepy Cheese Boy, even lefty Jon Stewart mocked him.

11 I'm reading The Story of The Constitution of the United States. A 1906 history book by a cat named Rossiter Johnson. I've had it for a while (used book sale) and finally decided to check it out. It's interesting. Dry, but with great turn of the century language.

12 It's gonna' be interesting, if there's actual violence in Philly with, er, "rambunctious youth" being "frisky" with GOP poll watchers. 

13 Weepy Cheese Boy


Get a grip, Sport.

14 Poor Cheese Boy. His mom should put him to bed, give him some hot chocolate, and read him to sleep with Road to Serfdom.

15 Read and really enjoyed The Last Mage Guardian. Still slowly reading Righteous Indignation.

16 Anyone on Twitter right now? Dana and Chris Loesch just had the full "TSA experience".

17 I need some suggestions.  I like to read pallet cleansers on the order of authors like Terry Pratchett "Guards, Guards", Peter David "Sir Apropos of Nothing" and Robert Rankin "The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse". Any one have any other authors along those same lines?

18 My township library has a summer reading program for adults.  Prizes are handed out by pages read.

So, I'm gonna be hitting the fluff until the end of July. During the winter reading program I got all gummed up in Ben-Hur[/] (I found a hapax logomenon in it!) and almost didn't make the quota...

I do have Brave New World, Breitbart's book, and Jonah Goldberg's latest in the queue.  And I've got four books left in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory series to weave in amongst the Jennifer Crusie and murder-solving cats.

19 I'm reading The Story of The Constitution of the United States. A 1906 history book by a cat named Rossiter Johnson


I was surprised that Guttenberg didn't have that. I checked Amazon and of course someone has reissued it and copyrighted it over again.

$8 for the Kindle edition.

20 "We all had a lot invested in this." Yeah, you worked so hard to make sure you would have access to other people's money, and now it's not looking so hot (or as hot as it did before, anyway). Obviously, it's a shock that people who work hard for their money will work hard to keep you from getting it. Who knew?

21 "1. Early exit polls showed John Kerry leading George Bush by a substantial margin. 2. But when the votes were counted, Bush came out ahead. 3. The only possible explanation for this disparity is votor fraud by Republicans." Some voters are evil bastards who think it's funny to screw with the person taking the survey by making shit up?

22 Reading Paul Johnson's Intellectuals now. He should have just titled it Assholes. If you think that the Occupy jerkwads are mooching pricks, you'll be surprised at how benign they are in comparison to progressive icons like Marx Shelley and Rousseau. No wonder leftists hate Johnson.

23

Sorry.

24 Heather, pick up any of P.G. Wodehouse' "Jeeves" series. Funny, in a way that things aren't considered funny anymore. If you like one of them, you'll have dozens to devour. Light, comedy of manners, very British, but more "Benny Hill" than "Upstairs Downstairs".

25

OT.....per the sidebar story......Scott Walker is smart enough NOT to have employed any weasels like Steve Schmidt in his campaign or the governer's office. 

 

In historical news from Illinois, there was a governer named Walker, Dan Walker, in the 1970's. His bit was he walked the length of the state during his campaign as a pr stunt.  He won the election.  Once he left office, can you guess which prison he ended up in?  Oh and yeah he was a Dem.

26 Just finished Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg", his story of tracking down a German hacker who invaded U. S. military computers in the '80s seeking secrets. Read it more to reminisce on life at Berkeley and LBL, where I had been myself about seven years earlier. Working to finish reading Rove's "Courage and Consequence" before taking up Mark Levin's two books.

27 Posted by: Vic at June 10, 2012 11:20 AM (YdQQY)

Great book. I think I'll dig my copy out of...somewhere...and reread it.

By the way, Tai Pan is also excellent (if you haven't read it already).

28 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at June 10, 2012 11:35 AM (5TFvk)

Go Bears!

29 WTF happened that ACE had to disable commenting? It wasn't b/c I was talking abt my Johnson, I hope.

30 And, yes, the video of weepy, red-hatted cheese boy warms the cockles of my crabbed and selfish conservative heart. If (s)he had any self-awareness, (s)he would die of shame.

31 22 - Paul Johnson is like an historical version of Ann Coulter, without ever having dated Bill Maher. Tip for all you young hipsters out there: Don't annoy Paul Johnson, you won't like him when he's angry... which I think is pretty much always. And I'm starting to think he's never going to die.

32 The picture that accompanies this post makes me angry.

33 Eight bucks on Kindle? I think I paid 2 bucks for the dead tree version. It's got shelving numbers on the binding, and looks to be a heavy duty school version. The pages are in pristine condition, especially considering it was printed back when Betty White was just a teenager.

34 Finished Invisible Republic by Greil Marcus about Bob Dylan's basement tapes, which he did with The Band in the late sixties after his motorcycle accident.  Although I'm sure Marcus is a lefty dipshit, Dylan resisted being pigeon holed by the lefty assholes who always tried to co-opt him, and the work is a pretty good cultural explication of the recordings (the complete ones that can be found online at some sites for free download; not the abridged version in mono that the Clodumbia robber barons released; in their defense releasing all of them would've been fucking ignorant but some of the choices they made were puzzling to say the least).


Continue to make progress in "The Great Upheaval".  BurtTC was absolutely correct in that the narration does an extremely good job (better than Schama upon whom he draws and credit imo) on communicating the absolute savagery of the French Revolution where it seems a lot of people just lost their fucking sense of right and wrong in hideous displays of mob action.  Speaking of savagery, the battle for Ismail between the Rooskis and Turks was incomprehensibly brutal.  Potemkin knew it would be nearly mpossible until Catherine sent Suvorov to deal with the strategy which he seemed to relish.  Also interesting how the French Revolution offended Catherine so much she reversed course on liberalizing policies in Russia and ended up producing a situation where things percolated for a fucking century before the commies took full advantage of them.

35 By the way, Tai Pan is also excellent (if you haven't read it already).

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at June 10, 2012 11:37 AM (nEUpB)

Yeah, I have that one in hardback. In fact, I have all of his Asia series. My copy of Nobel House though is paperback and falling apart so I may get that for the Kindle as well.

36 Just finished Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg

I read this years ago. Tremendously fascinating book. I believe they did a Nova episode on this, too.

37 I'm reading a collection of essays by Joseph Epstein, called "In a Cardboard Belt." I love his style, he's got a couple other books out there working picking up: "Envy" and "Friendship." He's written for just about every publication that's ever... eh, published, over the years. The reason I bring him up is he's sparked my interest in reading some of the classics I've so far skipped (which is most of them). The essay I'm on right now is about Marcel Proust, and frankly, he's convincing me NOT to read Proust (although he considers him one of the greatest). Another intriguing french dude is Paul Valery, and I think I'm going to dig into some of his stuff. Not the poetry, but his collected journals. Anyway, that's where I'm headed, book-wise these days.

38 I read and thoroughly enjoyed Sabrina Chase's novel The Long Way Home; I now anxiously await the release of her second book in the series.  I enjoyed Hugh Howey's Wool series but not so much with Molly Fyde.

39 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at June 10, 2012 11:38 AM (nEUpB) Did you see the their women's softball team, seeded #1, crashed and burned in the college World Seties this past week? Neither did I.

40 "The Cuckoo's Egg" is a neat book, although it does provide some insight into the staggering ignorance and insularity of modern Leftists. Stoll was a typical Bay Area hippie, and at one point he discovers that the hacker he's tracking was trying to get access to systems at the US air base at Ramstein in Germany. Stoll has no idea why the US would have an air base in Germany.

In 1989.

And his sister was in the armed forces (Navy, I think) at the time.

41 Posted by: Vic at June 10, 2012 11:43 AM (YdQQY)

I was disappointed in Noble House. It was good, but seemed to be a bit...small...compared to his earlier stuff.

What did you think of King Rat?

42 Ray Bradbury was one of the great writers of the last century.  I had a paperback copy of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" for over forty years that I got when I was 12 or 13 years old and finally gave to the book sale at the library (along with about 40 more bags of books, it's a sickness) just before I moved back to my hometown not quite two years ago.  I hope it's made some other little kid dream and think and be scared but not too scared to finish it.  It's a terrific book and now I need to find another copy, but maybe not a new one.  Maybe one that's been around for a while.  Maybe it will just find me.

43

"I feel like a little kid whose parents have just had a big fight. I just want it to stop and for everything be back to normal, the wey it was before."

 

*Exactly* how I feel. This is my digital family and, while I know things have to change, I don't want to lose that.

 

As to books, I'm nearly 50% done with reading Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess to my kids. The circus troupe has met "The Boyz" so all is good in Eldest Kidlet's world. I'm over 80% done with Dicken's Our Mutual Friend and hopeful of finishing this week, depending on the amount of HQ or Twitter drama that occurs.  Started Breitbart's Righteous Indignation and for the life of me can't figure out why, from the samples, I thought I'd like Mamet's book better.  I'm not getting through very fast, but that's partially due to Twitter taking up as many hours as a part-time job.

44 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at June 10, 2012 11:45 AM (DRG6e)

If they don't play in lingerie I am not interested.

Actually, my wife has been gloating all week. Her college beat Cal in rugby7s and then went on to win the National Championship.

45 The essay I'm on right now is about Marcel Proust, and frankly, he's convincing me NOT to read Proust (although he considers him one of the greatest).



Proust is one of the greatest but a lot of readers would find him boring and I wouldn't criticize them for saying so.

46 The other book I finally finished is a classic taproot text of woo-woo crackpottery: "The Morning of the Magicians" by Pauwels and Bergier. Everything Eric Von Daniken knew about ancient astronauts was ripped off from that book. Everything Robert Anton Wilson used in his Illuminatus! series was ripped off from that book. And I have a sneaking suspicion Stan Lee read it before creating the X-Men.

Interestingly, Pauwels went on to become a leading French conservative journalist and swapped proto-New Age woo thinking for renewed Catholicism.

47 What did you think of King Rat?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at June 10, 2012 11:47 AM (nEUpB)

I didn't like King Rat.  That is the only one of his books I didn't like. I liked Nobel House and I also have the made for TV movie with Pierce Brosnan.

48 Posted by: Captain Hate at June 10, 2012 11:50 AM (2IfTa)

Boring? Sometimes (er...maybe often), but there is the occasional flash of brilliance that makes up for it.

As long as people give the classics a shot, they have the right to say that Proust is boring or Dickens is long-winded or Dostoyevsky is impenetrable.

It's the willful ignorance that makes me nuts.

49 Notably absent: anything by American science fiction writers under seventy years old.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 10, 2012 11:22 AM (aYbcG)

 

I've been noticing that the "classic" SF authors are getting up in age. Is there a new crop I'm just missing?  I have Sabrina Chase's new book, and am looking forward to it based on her fantasies I've read, but who, if anyone, is carrying on the genre?

50 Posted by: Vic at June 10, 2012 11:51 AM (YdQQY)

I liked the descriptions of the POW camp, and the cruelty of the Japanese, but there weren't any true protagonists, so it remained an interesting but not engaging book for me.

John Blackthorne, the pilot, on the other hand, had me hooked from the first page. He is still one of my favorite characters in modern literature.

51 Sabrina, ugh...forgive my familiarity, I should say Ms. Chase, if you're here today, are we going to get sequels to Last Mage? Please?!

52 You know who's a big rightie? Mystery writer P. D. James! "Children of Men" is really an allegory about Jesus and  salvation, and her last one, The Private Patient, one of the characters goes on and on about government regulation, freedom, etc. (o/w it's kind of boring).  So Children of Men was very, very good, much better than the movie.

53 What did you think of King Rat?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at June 10, 2012 11:47 AM

King Rat was, IMO, the best of Clavell's books. He hadn't yet hit on the formula he used for the Shogun/Tai-Pan/Noble House stuff. It was an honest bit of story-telling and was, blessedly not of a length to rival Ace's postings when he gets worked up about a subject.

YMMV, of course.

I scored big-time from among the freebies at the local Book Barn this week, and will chime in next week after I've done some reading.

54 ABC news has a story up on the Erikson swatting incident.

http://tinyurl.com/7mb8s7r

They're calling it a "prank". 

55 I'm reading "The Hangman's Daughter" By Oliver Potzsch.   It was free with Amazon Prime.  It's pretty good, so far.

56 John Blackthorne, the pilot, on the other hand, had me hooked from the first page. He is still one of my favorite characters in modern literature.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at June 10, 2012 11:57 AM (nEUpB)

Yep, I agree.

57

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at June 10, 2012 11:58 AM (LoTJ2)

 

Seconded. I'm curious if Christopher  Taylor is going to right a sequal to Old Habits. They've both created well thought out worlds with interesting secondary characters as well as main characters.        

58 Posted by: Polliwog, Teahada hobbit at June 10, 2012 11:54 AM (CQ1cz)

Why would you care that San Francisco authors are getting old?

59 Proust is one of the greatest but a lot of readers would find him boring and I wouldn't criticize them for saying so.

Several years ago, back when my kids were young enough to be excited by Christmas, my daughter said she needed a book to read for Christmas Eve. Previously, she had read (and enjoyed) Kafka's The Trial so I figured she was ready for the big stuff.

So I gave her Remembrances of Things Past.

She has never let me forget it.

60 CITY OF FORTUNE by Roger Crowley....about the rise of Venice as a nation, yes a nation...if you think our current Chicago-bred regime is ethics challenged, try reading about these guys...Venice finances the Fourth Crusade that....proceeds to veer just slightly off mission by....attacking and demolishing ONLY Christian cities.
Crowley is an extraordinarily gifted researcher and writer who truly can make history come alive. 

61 Posted by: MrScribbler at June 10, 2012 12:02 PM (MQc8e)

Well, you are wrong, and probably a RINO.

62 Posted by: OregonMuse at June 10, 2012 12:05 PM (B8Xw2)

A box of madeleines would have been better.

63 I've enjoyed Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories so far.  I have the most recent one but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

64 I haven't been here all weekend can someone tell me wtf happened here ? I see a 50000 word rant by ace and a reference to having a fucking registration method. Who pissed him off ?

65 Thanks to whoever recommended the Iron Druid Chronicles. Fun reads, and I finally had something to offer up to my teen/tween nephews and nieces before they had read it. Got two of the nevvies researching mythology, as well.

66 Just finished An Instance of the Fingerpost. It's my new favorite book ever. I also highly recommend The Pleasure of my Company. It's my other favorite book ever. I have way too many favorite books ever.

67 They're calling it a "prank".

--------------------

Well, of course they are.

68 @22 Illtempered.  "Intellectuals" is indeed a hoot.  Try Paul Johnson's "Modern Times."  No bs on this one.

69

I am just completing a remarkable book called Heart of the Country by Greg Matthews.

I suppose you could call it the great American western by an Australian, but unlike anything you've read before.

It was out some time ago and I missed it then.

Can't seem to find anything by Matthews currently--does anyone know if he is still writing?

70 Posted by: Polliwog, Teahada hobbit at June 10, 2012 12:04 PM (CQ1cz)


Oh, yes.....more please, Christopher!!!

71 I know I always laugh at the though have having police pull up to my house because somebody called saying I've shot someone.

72

Love, love, love "Shogun."  It's possibly my second-favorite novel, after "Gone With The Wind."  Sometimes I read "Shogun" for the political story, sometimes for the love story, and sometimes I just read it.  My paperback is falling apart so I got the Kindle version too.

 

Since someone said last week that the plan to save Kennedy makes things worse, I am keeping on with "11/22/63."  Still on "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" and apparently will be forever as I am, per Kindle, only 15% through.  But at least the plot has picked up a bit since Hitler has taken power.

 

I read something last week about the movie "Kings Row" and so I got the book from the library.  It's one of those that is so old the pages smell funny and it's been rebound entirely, but it's supposed to be quite racy for it's time, a precursor to "Peyton Place," perhaps.

 

And someone last week said something about "Fifty Shades of Gray."  I got that from the library although I put another book on top of it at the checkout scanner.  I've only read the first chapter and the writing is awe-inspiringly bad.  Apparently whoever edited doesn't speak English, and neither does the author, not well anyway.  What the author does speak is fluent cliche, to put it mildly.

73 I see. All Democrat fruits wear lipstick.

74 48 - Joseph Epstein claims Henry James belongs up there with Proust, along with Freud (?) and a few others, and puts James Joyce along with a few others at a step below. Everything I've ever read of James' work, I've been able to immerse myself into his worlds. I'm wondering if it might be an American thing, and I don't dismiss the notion that I could find someone like Proust to be brilliant, and still not be interested in anything he has to say.

75 i've been reading rand's early works....my favorite so far is "second career" it was about a hollywood starlet who was named the most brilliant actress of all time.....she made oodles of money and was the toast of the town....then in steps a man... informs her that she is only in her position by luck,...she disagrees and he makes her a bet....if she had to start over right then she'd never make it as a star....and that he could make a star out of a no named extra.....it puts hollywood in perspective....not that any of the horde didn't already know this....just nice to see it in writing from the 30's

76 Fifty Shades of Gray is nothing more than scrubbed up Twilight fan-fiction.



What I do find interesting about it overall is that I think it's a sort of reaction to women getting sick of beta males, both in fiction and IRL. Seems like someone else mentioned this on the site awhile back, too.

77 dagny's been looking to discuss that fifty shades of grey book with other moronettes tammy.

78 Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at June 10, 2012 12:18 PM (LoTJ2)

My wife said that the first sex scene is great soft-core, but that it gets predictable after that.

79 When did people start misspelling "gray" so regularly?

80 Posted by: buzzion at June 10, 2012 12:12 PM (GULKT)

Just wait until you are awakened at 3:00am and don't know who is banging on the door, so you go to the door armed with your tactical shotgun.

The laugh riot that ensues is a real killer.

81

meekrob, it's actually the name of the dom in this book and I should have spelled it "Fifty Shades of Grey."  The man's name is "Christian Grey" so it's not a reference to the color.

82 My excuse is too much Skyrim where a group of character there go by the name of "Greybeards"

83 Given the circumstances of the past several days on this blog and the twitter post of our dear Ace, I can certainly agree with his methods and suspending comments. Ace, you are a treasure to the blogesphere and I for one am not worthy to be even considered a part of the moron hoard. That being said, I humbly thank you for allowing me to participate in democracy through your insights and ruminations. I have contacted my representatives in Congress and will continue to pray for your safety and the safety of those you hold dear. Thank you. Ch Lion.

84 Everything I've ever read of James' work, I've been able to immerse myself into his worlds. I'm wondering if it might be an American thing, and I don't dismiss the notion that I could find someone like Proust to be brilliant, and still not be interested in anything he has to say.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 10, 2012 12:15 PM (2pG7H)

It's funny because latter day James, like The Golden Bowl, is what I'd use to describe Proust to somebody else, even though it's different in its own way.  I doubt that my French would ever be up to the task but one of these days I'd like to read Proust untranslated.

85 Ah, gotcha.  The book sounds like nothing that would interest me.

Still, it seems like a lot of people spell the color wrong.

86 They're calling it a "prank".

Yeah, but keep in mind that this is the group that refers to Weepy Cheese Boy as a "blue collar voter".

87 I'm all discombobulated.  Am I in the right place? 

88 This has nothing to do with anything, but does anyone know why in the first Shrek movie, Robin Hood is French?

89 Still, it seems like a lot of people spell the color wrong.

Posted by: meekrob at June 10, 2012 12:25 PM (x2CNJ)

 

Well its not really a misspelling.  Its just not the common spelling in the US. 

90 64 I haven't been here all weekend can someone tell me wtf happened here ? I see a 50000 word rant by ace and a reference to having a fucking registration method. Who pissed him off ?

Posted by: Mr Pink at June 10, 2012 12:09 PM (uUFF

Same old story -- someone thought he was channeling the Founding Fathers when the truth he'd just been guzzling Sam Adams.

91 That picture will haunt my dreams

92 Anything and everything by John Connelly-- love his "Charlie Parker" series-- he gives Crais and his "Elvis" a run for their money-- i'd like to see a dust-up between Louis, Angel and Joe Pike-- would be wild...

93 "Gray" just looks wrong to me. But then I've read too much Brit and medievally stuff.

94 >>What did you think of King Rat?

My favorite part was when the ate the dog.

95 Hi all, I'm reading some history right now; the Shakespeare riots, about some riots over two rival actors in new York in the nineteenth century. What I really want to know on the book thread is if any morons read Patrick rothfuss's blog. He had a post where he talks about politics recently ( he lives in wisconsin) and I'm afraid to read it in case he says something that makes it impossible for me to enjoy the last book in his trilogy. I'm certain he's not conservative, but i don't know if he's on the level of crybaby in the vid. So, anyone read it and can give me the cliffs notes?

96 Not trying to be pedantic, but G-R-A-Y is the correct spelling.
gray¹    [grey] Show IPA adjective, gray·er, gray·est, noun, verb adjective 1. of a color between white and black; having a neutral hue. 2. dark, dismal, or gloomy: gray skies. 3. dull, dreary, or monotonous. 4. having gray hair; gray-headed. 5. pertaining to old age; mature.

97 Mornin' all!  It's still morning where I am, anyway!

I watched the video of the sniveling dude over and over on election night, in between scoping out the prog sites and reveling in their tears. 

Sundays on Twitter can be boring, but there could be some fun on Twitter today.  #Obama2012 tweeted asking for interns and saying they could win lunch with Obama and Axelrod as the incentive. 

98 I finished "Dies the Fire". what a strange book.  I guess there is a series, but..

One day, electricity just stops.  And guns don't fire.  No explanation is ever given for any of this.  The story revolves around two factions, a group of wiccans who thrive because of their homesteading skills, and a group of warriors led by a former marine, who thrive because of their tactical skills.  Of course the two groups cross paths and go on to secure their section of Oregon from the evil warlords setting up shop.

The worst part of the book is the heavy emphasis on wicca doctrine. Just moonbatty.  The author clearly has much practicing knowledge of such things.
I skipped through most of the nonsense. 

That said, the rest of it is really compelling and realistic as to what would happen in a grid down situation, and what skills are beneficial.  The lack of guns requires a lot of creativity in making and using alternate weapons, crossbows, long bows, trebuchets, lances. 

Lots of interaction with cannibals and such. These parts are pretty icky.

Its really a fascinating read, kind of like staring at a 30 car pile up with massive injuries. Strange but compelling.

99 Posted by: Trimegistus at June 10, 2012 11:50 AM

Thanks for the recommendation! I love all of that ufo/ ancient alien/ paranormal bull, and I've never heard of this one. I will definitely try and locate it.

/shibumi looks around, hoping that no one notices that not only does she read this stuff, but right now "Ancient Aliens" is on her tv.

100

Speaking of voter fraud, apparently the corrupt boxing judges in LV cheated Pacquiao last night, probably b/c of his fag marriage comments.

 

I'd have the rematch outside the US.

101 One day, electricity just stops. And guns don't fire. No explanation is ever given for any of this.



It is loosely tied in with the events that moved Nantucket back in time.  That is hinted at in Dies The Fire but becomes ore apparent in subsequent books.


BTW, the series bogs down somewhat with the second and third (final book).  But then again, all of his are like that.

102 Oh and the Wicca stuff is just a continuation of his preference for  "shock" characters.

103

98 I finished "Dies the Fire". what a strange book. I guess there is a series, but..

One day, electricity just stops. And guns don't fire. No explanation is ever given for any of this. The story revolves around two factions, a group of wiccans who thrive because of their homesteading skills, and a group of warriors led by a former marine, who thrive because of their tactical skills. Of course the two groups cross paths and go on to secure their section of Oregon from the evil warlords setting up shop.

 

At least that first part sounds like the plan behind the new series "Revolution" on NBC.  It J.J. Abrams so either expect cancelled or to get wildly out of control, but the commercials definitely seem to indicate that almost all technology is defunct and swords and crossbows are the preferred weapons of choice. 

104 #100, when I heard how Pac had lost and saw the comments last night about people thinking he'd bested his opponent in all but 1 round, that was my very first thought. 

105 It is loosely tied in with the events that moved Nantucket back in time. That is hinted at in Dies The Fire but becomes ore apparent in subsequent books.
______
The only hint I recollect is that aliens are sending a message.  Do I have to read the next two or will you share? I don't care much about spoiling the plot.  I just can't read the wiccan crap, in spite of the otherwise interesting story. One and done for me.

106 At least that first part sounds like the plan behind the new series "Revolution"on NBC. It J.J. Abrams so either expect cancelled or to get wildly out of control, but the commercials definitely seem to indicate that almost all technology is defunct and swords and crossbows are the preferred weapons of choice.

Posted by: buzzion at June 10, 2012 12:43 PM (GULKT)

I saw that trailer when I was reading the book, and that's what I thought.  The weaponry and tactics really are interesting in the book, so much so that when I was at the gun shop, I started looking and compound bows, crossbows and long bows.  I'm rather curious and wonder how you get into archery.  It seems like a lot of fun and a great skill to have. 

I don't think I could handle a crossbow. They're really heavy.

107 Sorry about the misspelling...ironically, I am one who uses "grey" exclusively!


And CBD, yea, I suppose the first scene is okay. There are far better out there...   

108 Apparently the same thing that caused Nantucket to be moved back to the 14th century caused the rest of the modern day world to lose high energy physics.


The main theory expressed in Island In The Sea of Time was alien space bats.


You just have to take all that with a grain or two dozen of salt. BTW, the main character in that series is a black lesbian coast guard captain.  More shock stuff.

109 8 Not exactly a book, but I just finished reading the New Yorker's special science fiction issue. ======== Some of the books I have always loved to travel with, because short stories are sometimes the perfect remedy for shorter flights, or stints on the beach, are the sci-fi compilation or anthologies, like: Nebula Awards Showcase (YEAR) The Year's Best Science Fiction: ( # ) Annual Collection Year's Best SF ( # ) Writers of the Future Volume ( # ) Now, I've moved them all to my Kindle. I always have them on hand if I get bored, or need a break from a particular novel(s) I am reading atm. Fun stuff.

110 Trimegistus: "Notably absent: anything by American science fiction writers under seventy years old."

Could have been worse.  They might have given John Scalzi space.

111 I am reluctant to discuss weepy cheese boy because he is so rhetorically proximate to a wussy, pencil-necked geek. 

112 What I really want to know on the book thread is if any morons read Patrick rothfuss's blog. He had a post where he talks about politics recently ( he lives in wisconsin) and I'm afraid to read it in case he says something that makes it impossible for me to enjoy the last book in his trilogy. I'm certain he's not conservative, but i don't know if he's on the level of crybaby in the vid. So, anyone read it and can give me the cliffs notes?

Posted by: Elizabethe from elsewhere at June 10, 2012 12:34 PM (hEDg5)

Yeah.  Here are the Cliff Notes.  If you like him as an author and don't want to ruin that for yourself, don't read his blogpost where he repeats every single lib Dem talking point, including the completely debunked ones, including the ones rated "Pants on Fire" lies from Politifact.  And especially don't read the part where he compares voting for Walker to voting for female genital mutilation.


http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/06/of-thee-i-sing/

113 I started looking and compound bows, crossbows and long bows. I'm rather curious and wonder how you get into archery. It seems like a lot of fun and a great skill to have.I don't think I could handle a crossbow. They're really heavy.

Posted by: Derak at June 10, 2012 12:51 PM (yJWBh)

 

Its not as if long bows and compound bows are going to be easy to use either though.  I don't handle them so yeah they might be lighter than crossbows but you're still going to need the strength to pull it back.  Most people I know that are into "archery" are actually into deer hunting, and well bow hunting season lasts a lot longer than gun season.

114 You just have to take all that with a grain or two dozen of salt. BTW, the main character in that series is a black lesbian coast guard captain. More shock stuff.

Posted by: Vic at June 10, 2012 12:53 PM (YdQQY)

Well then. Thanks for that.  Sounds like a barn-burner. Heh.

115 108 You just have to take all that with a grain or two dozen of salt. BTW, the main character in that series is a black lesbian coast guard captain. More shock stuff. Was she 1/32nd Cherokee?

116 Weepy Cheese Boy has been at the capitol building in Madison for about 13 months now and has invested his whole life  essence into the daily  noon drum circles.  He has nowhere else to go and nothing else to live for. 

117 29 WTF happened that ACE had to disable commenting? It wasn't b/c I was talking abt my Johnson, I hope. Posted by: Darth Rove at June 10, 2012 11:38 AM (ED8o6) ======== there's a "Bush" joke in there somewhere, but I ain't touching it

118 In the last fortnight I have read two science fiction/space opera novels I liked:

1) Knox's Irregulars: set on the Planet Of The Calvinists the story casts white Christian dudes as heroes. What's with that? Reformed Christian good guys wage a guerrilla campaign against nazi islamofascist atheist commies. The book reads sort of like David Drake possessed by the spirit of John Bunyan. Happily, I like both those authors. (If you're allergic to Christianity, you'll like other books better.) Four+ stars.

2) The Long Way Home: the universe here is sort of like Firefly with a heroine who's a test pilot displaced in time like Buck Rogers. She's on the run from the evil corporation who nuked NASA & Houston, as well as the Fleet. Oh, and there's a war going on like in Ender's Game, too. Five stars.

119 check check testing 1 2 3
so Ace threw another moody, then took a nap, changed his nappies and got over his tantrum?

120 Most people I know that are into "archery" are actually into deer hunting, and well bow hunting season lasts a lot longer than gun season.

Posted by: buzzion at June 10, 2012 12:56 PM (GULKT)

Yeah the only guy I know into "archery" is a bow hunter-elk.  

My two little next door neighbor boys have an archery set, along with a nearly life size standing deer target that gets pieced together like big legos.   One day my little black lab took off, roaring across their back yard, and attacked the deer while they were shooting.  Blew the target to pieces.  Funniest thing I've seen in a while.  Poor little dog was traumatized for the rest of the day, we laughed so hard.

121 Speaking of Wicca stuff, has anyone read A Discovery of Witches?


Yea, it's a vampire thing, but I did like it.

I was disappointed after a the opening made me think it was going to be more of a mystery of sorts and it ended up bening just a romance, but I did like most of the characters.

There is also a slightly annoying undercurrent of what I am taking to be support for gay marriage ( much angst over the vampire and witch not being allowed to marry, and constant banging over the head about the inalienable right to marry whomever one pleases)  The main character's aunt is gay and she and her partner figure in to the story a bit, so if that bothers you, you won't like it, but that sort of thing doesn't bother me and there is nothing graphic at all in the book......from a sex or violence standpoint, which I found refreshing!  The author has a popular wine blog, and has made the vampire an oenophile.

I thought the actual writing was better than the usual dreck I've been  reading the last few years. Definitely a chick book, though!

122

Reading Paul Johnson's Intellectuals now. He should have just titled it Assholes. If you think that the Occupy jerkwads are mooching pricks, you'll be surprised at how benign they are in comparison to progressive icons like Marx Shelley and Rousseau. No wonder leftists hate Johnson. <>>>

 

That's exactly what I got out of that book.  Detestable, perverse and sociopathic.  Every single one of them.

 

And apparently, most of them had the personal hygeine of a hobo.

123 I'm rather curious and wonder how you get into archery. It seems like a lot of fun and a great skill to have.>>

A fun way to start in archery is bow fishing. The compound bows have a lighter draw (30lbs vs 60 for deer) and a cheap one will do the trick Also if you have carp in your area the targets are plentiful so less boring than deer hunting.

124 "That's exactly what I got out of that book. Detestable, perverse and sociopathic. Every single one of them." And apparently, most of them had the personal hygeine of a hobo. Posted by: Empire of Jeff at June 10, 2012 01:03 PM (JDIKC) Yeah? That would be a step up for Cheryl Crow.

125 Coincidently ran into Reince Priebus at the airport a few days ago. Told him thanks to him I was bathing in the sweet, sweet tears of Democrats in Wisconsin. Very impressive guy. I made a couple of other moron horde references and he picked right up on them. There's no way he's not aware of the HQ. Also, Ace please give your local law enforcement (plus county/sheriff ) a heads up re: your vulnerability being "swatted". Thx for all you do Ace and cobloggers

126 Posted by: Buzzsaw at June 10, 2012 01:04 PM (tf9Ne)


Bow fishing? how do you retrieve your arrows? 

127 76 Fifty Shades of Gray is nothing more than scrubbed up Twilight fan-fiction. What I do find interesting about it overall is that I think it's a sort of reaction to women getting sick of beta males, both in fiction and IRL. Seems like someone else mentioned this on the site awhile back, too. ------ Someone told me this book is being devoured by a lot of "older" women, for some reason. Like that is the book's major consumer, atm. But, I never looked into it. So, your take is interesting.

128 125 Coincidently ran into Reince Priebus at the airport a few days ago. Told him thanks to him I was bathing in the sweet, sweet tears of Democrats in Wisconsin. Very impressive guy. I made a couple of other moron horde references and he picked right up on them. There's no way he's not aware of the HQ. Also, Ace please give your local law enforcement (plus county/sheriff ) a heads up re: your vulnerability being "swatted". Thx for all you do Ace and cobloggers

Posted by: Fartist at June 10, 2012 01:08 PM (LRBRg)

 

Did you get down on your knee and pledge your loyalty to the Star Khan?

129 Posted by: mama winger at June 10, 2012 12:55 PM (P6QsQ) Yes, that was the one I saw and didn't read. I suspected it would be something like that, but I hoped that maybe it wouldn't. Now I won't be tempted. Thank you mama winger for the book report.

130 126 Posted by: Buzzsaw at June 10, 2012 01:04 PM (tf9Ne)


Bow fishing? how do you retrieve your arrows?

Posted by: Derak at June 10, 2012 01:09 PM (yJWBh)

 

I'm guessing that they have a fishing line you can attach to the arrow, or some other string that is thin enough to not affect the arrow's trajectory.

131 I lurk here all the time, but you never appreciate what you had 'til it might be gone.  Glad comments are back.

I'm reading an oldie, but goodie... P.J. O'Rourke's Holidays in Hell.  25 years later and he's still dead on.

I'm also reading Grimm's Fairy Tales... good and dark and un-Disneyfied... just the way I like my evil stepmothers.

132 This week I read One Second After by William R. Forstchen. It's a real page-turner about a small town in the mountains of North Carolina trying to come together to survive an EMP attack on the U. S.  I also read The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen, which I think every American should read. The book details the principles of freedom which the Founding Fathers used to establish this great country. The book serves as a wake up call to show us how far we have strayed from these principles.

133 Just found that "A Discovery of Witches" is the Kindle deal of the day at amazon:  $2.99 if anyone is curious.

134 >>>Ms. Chase, if you're here today, are we going to get sequels to Last Mage? Please?!

>>Seconded. I'm curious if ChristopherTaylor is going to right a sequal to Old Habits. They've both created well thought out worlds with interesting secondary characters as well as main characters.

Yes!!!!

I wanna go back to both of those worlds.

135 Never read the book( don't know why) But "King Rat" the movie is great. One of the best about WWII and Japanese prison camps. Unflinching look at various degrees of honor and trying to do the right thing vs scrambling to the top of the crap heap no matter what in the harshest possible conditions. "The Sea and Poison" by Shusaku Endo is an emotionally tough read about the Japanese "medical" experiments on prisoners of war but a truly great book. He may be my favorite Japanese author and generally has great translations of his book. Endo is a bit of a rarity in Japan in that he's a Christian. And his writing is informed by but not dominated by his faith. He's an artist first and it makes all the difference. "Silence" is probably his most famous. About a Portuguese missionary in Japan when practicing Christianity could get you killed. "Scandal" is a comedy and my favorite book of his. Great story, great writing, surprisingly deep. This guy should've won the Nobel prize for literature instead of Oe.

136

I have an old Shakespeare 67# Recurve that I haven't shot in years but I was driving into town just a few days ago and someone had targets set up in a field.

 

Sure enough, a local competitive archery club has sprung up. I've been looking into Olympic Recurve bows which are pretty effing sweet but also not cheap.

 

I used to be a good shot, I'd like to get back into it.

137 Posted by: buzzion at June 10, 2012 01:12 PM (GULKT)

Makes sense. I'm on a river (that is just about at flood stage at the moment) that feeds into a huge lake.  We don't have those flying asian carp, but I'll bet you can shoot small mouth bass-  fish and game said you can take any size, any time.
The rest of the fish- cutthroat, rainbow, mackinaw, kokanee, not so much.

138 Makes sense. I'm on a river (that is just about at flood stage at the moment) that feeds into a huge lake. We don't have those flying asian carp, but I'll bet you can shoot small mouth bass- fish and game said you can take any size, any time.
The rest of the fish- cutthroat, rainbow, mackinaw, kokanee, not so much.

Posted by: Derak at June 10, 2012 01:17 PM (yJWBh)

 

Probably always best to check with your local game warden about what's allowed concerning bowfishing.   Since you know its not like catching the wrong fish and just throwing it back in the water after you remove the hook.

139 I have an old Shakespeare 67# Recurve that I haven't shot in yearsbut I was driving into town just a few days ago and someone had targets set up in a field.

Posted by: ErikW at June 10, 2012 01:17 PM (EYRuM)

Duh. "Recurve", not longbow.  Forgot the proper term.  They seem rather elegant.

140 Since you know its not like catching the wrong fish and just throwing it back in the water after you remove the hook.

Posted by: buzzion at June 10, 2012 01:20 PM (GULKT)

Yeah. That.   Arrows are kinda for keeps.  "oops" probably wouldn't be a defense.

141 New non-book thread up.

142 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

143 I'm still enjoying "Perilous Fight" - it's about the naval parts of The War of 1812. Here's an story from Dartmoor Prison where Americans captured off privateers were kept. ---------------- A group of Americans were poking some fun at the imperturbable turnkey of prison number 7 when a French prisoner, who had been taken in an American privateer, decided to join in the fun and, striking a comical pose, began razzing the jailer - "Jean Bull, Jean Bull, rote beef, rote beef, pomme de terre - God tam" - whereupon the Englishman calmly raised his fist and knocked the Frenchman down, to tumultuous cheers from the Americans. The jailer explained he "could take a joke from a Yankee, because they were cousins loik," but was not going to put up with it from "a frog eating Frenchman."

144 Noticed a few comments on that "Dies the Fire" and the Nantucket thing. There's a nice series starting with "1632" about a West Virginia town that gets zapped back to middle Europe (what is not Germany) in ... 1632. The middle of the 30 years war. They start exporting dangerous ideas like liberty. Also, superior firepower. (imagine how much guns and ammo are in the typical WV town...)

145 Shorter 'Rats: "Hey! Election fraud is our specialty.... if it existed outside the Repukelicans."

146  Second the 1632 recommendation.

147 That pic is really disturbing

148 Darn you, Comrade, I thought I was gonna get out if this week's thread unscathed....  

149 Just Finished The Harbinger, by Johnathan Cahn.  Stunning, absolutely stunning.  He shows the prophecies re the destruction of  Ancient Israel and the U.S.  An obscure verse in Isaiah 9-10 details what would happen on 9-11 and after.  Everything is footnoted.  A must read to understand why 9-11 happened, the fall of Lehman and our financial worlds and what's coming if we don't turn back to G-d as a nation.

150

Air travel and motel living between 23 May and 9 June let me read James Tooley's The Beautiful Tree (markets in education services in poor countries), Vassily Grossman's The Road ,(short stories and essays by the author of Life and Fate), browse Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow (behavioral economics; you are less than perfectly rational, therefore (?!) you will improve your lot if you surrender control over your life to people who are at least as  irrational as you and power mad as well. Right), reread Ruth Downie's Medicus (a detective mystery in Roman Britain) to see if it came out the same way it did when I read it the first time, and get half-way through Jim Powell's FDR's Folly.  Next up after that: Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Apricot Jam and Other Stories. 

151 The set up of Prometheus reminded me of Ryk Spoor's _Boundary_ so I went to Baen and purchased both Boundary and Threshold. I've read the first, but not the second. Spoor's book and the movie both start out with scientists on earth discovering proof of alien civilizations. And that is about where the similarities end, except for the portrayal of scientists as somewhat naive creatures. I kept wanting the people in the movie to come to the obvious conclusion of what to *do* about it, like at the end of Boundary, but instead, Pollyanna Shaw just goes onward, wanting to *know*. The big "whoooosh" sound sort of wrecked the end of the movie for me. So... looking forward to the books, and to finding out what happens in Threshold.

152 Re: Dies the Fire - "At least that first part sounds like the plan behind the new series "Revolution"on NBC. It J.J. Abrams so either expect cancelled or to get wildly out of control, but the commercials definitely seem to indicate that almost all technology is defunct and swords and crossbows are the preferred weapons of choice." I expect that "Revolution" won't go into widespread death from starvation and epidemic disease and how the good-guys look after themselves first, or just how much work is involved in growing food and killing all the people who are starving and trying to take it from you.

153 "I need some suggestions. I like to read pallet cleansers on the order of authors like Terry Pratchett "Guards, Guards", Peter David "Sir Apropos of Nothing" and Robert Rankin "The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse". Any one have any other authors along those same lines?"

Jay
Try A. Lee Martinez. His comic novels typically involve ordinary people caught up in supernatural situations. Among his latest, which I read and liked are Monster, Divine Misfortune, & Chasing the Moon.

154

My wife has been reading the Shades of Grey series. 

Note 1:  She started book 1, immediately told me how bad the writing was, and a short time later asked me to buy books two and three.

Note 2:  Buy this book for your wife. 

 

155

Re: the crybaby in the video

ROFLMAO!  His mascara ran. What a mess.

I have a newsflash for the little pussy;  democracy took a big hit when B. Hussein took office.  We are taking our country back. Just wait until November. HeÂ’ll be a sobbing wreck after Romney wins.

All of the union violence  hatespeech, and fringe-dwelling extremists, couldnÂ’t stop democracy in Wisconsin. 

156 Link check

157 again... sorry but the link and my name isn't working... last time.