1 Glen Ford?

2 The Fry book sounds fascinating. I have always been a fan of mythology and Greek history.

3 done nooded

4 Dagnabbit CN, you're too fast....

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

6 Mary has a beehive for a hat.

It certainly created a buzz.

7 Seems to me that library's got a lot more places to lounge around smoking a cig than it has books.

8 Anyway, I'm actually enjoying the Ray Stannard Baker book, although it did not in any way reflect his own life. He described how in early 1900s the President was "chosen" in general stores and discussions in small communities, not by the cities. We were better for that.

9 g'mornin', book-ish 'rons

10 Who dis is Glenn Ford.

11 That photo of the older lady reading is interesting. It's not often someone decides to wear a bee hive skep for a hat.

12 Tolle Lege Almost done ( probably before this thread is downstairs)Combat Engineer and would recommend it to any military junkie. Stated many times my FiL was a combat engineer and D-Day vet in the 149ECB. Sadly know little of his WWII experience and while not in any of units mentioned at least have more understanding of preparation and training he went through.  Had a good reading time with two tablets using 1 for ebook and new for topography map following the very detailed text. Have done this before on Battle of the Bulge reading, you can literally go to a place and see at least today what they saw using street views.

13 Nice Lieberry!
Those pants....those are not my kind of pants.
The Who Dis is Sirhan Sirhan on his lunch break at the Ambassador Hotel.

14 I have more Norton anthologies on the way. The links during the week which described fine literature being replaced by woke crap scared me into it. We seem to be on the verge of cultural revolution. I hope Fry's offering helps stall that movement. What is more part of our bedrock  than the greek classics?

15 Who dis is Glenn Ford. 

16 What is more part of our bedrock than the greek classics? Posted by: CN at April 18, 2021 09:09 AM (ONvIw)

By Jove, I think you've got it!

17 Glen Ford.
I'm going to recommend the Byron York book and have my husband buy it.  He's got over $100 in Amazon gift cards he hasn't used.  Hate Amazon but may as well use of the gift cards.

18 All these books on censorship and how to fight wokeness are a year late.

The avalanche has started.  It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

19 Commissar Hrothgar - ISWYDT. 

lol

20 This week I read the first in the Lord Peter Winsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers - "Whose Body?"  I read it years ago but didn't remember much about it, so when Kindle offered it free, I took advantage.  Can never get enough Wimsey.

Then I moved on to a book that Rev had finished, by John Sandford.  It's his latest in the Virgil Flowers series, called Bloody Genius.  Can never get enough of Virgil either.  There's another Flowers fan here at ace, but I can't recall her nic.

21 Is Mr. Ford aware he's reading an unabridged dictionary?

22 I'm here. Good Morning.
I used to have a phone that looked just like the ice age stockbroker's.

23 Ahem, let me see if I can use that lieberrry:

Bonjour Madamoiselle - je voudrais un livre avec du frommage, s'il vous plait...

24 Wimsey not Winsey, you dolt.

25 Pep - if you read that, you don't need to read anything else. The dictionary has all the words in it that another book would use anyway. 

26 Posted by: grammie winger at April 18, 2021 09:12 AM (45fpk)

I read and liked Virgil F, but I have too many books in the stack now. Maybe I will try and get back to him, Well written books as I recall!

27 I read Dead Heat by  Joel C. Rosenberg. This fast-paced political thriller is the fifth and final volume in The Last Jihad series. As usual with this series, there is much Bible prophecy and end times revelations woven into the story line. A nice little twist at the end.

On the Kindle I read Wrath by D. R. Roquemore. This is a very good YA dystopian novel told from a Christian perspective. This is the first of a trilogy; the other two being Wrath: Left Behind and Wrath: The Millennium.

28 I love the intersecting vaults in the ceiling of the library.  It always looks like it would be a nightmare to get something like that right.

29 No reading lately.  Just seem disinterested.

30 24 You've found me out. I'm older than dirt. I knew everything on that list and had used or seen all of them.  I don't think preening and buffing my nails is called for. 

Posted by: Winston GOPe not one dime, not one vote at April 17, 2021 10:14 PM (8s6Nt)

Willowed: at your age, perhaps some pruning?

31 Mary has a beehive for a hat. 
It certainly created a buzz.


*****

Looks like Opie's Aunt Bee. 

32 I'm still bouncing around the Osprey books on Chinese military history.  It's a great way to do research - read a bit here, a bit there, cross-referencing stuff.

I've already read all of the books once, but going back I'm able to pick out things I missed on the first pass.  One thing that really comes out is how un-military the Chinese are.  No soldier ethos at all. 

It's a stark contrast between both India and Japan (and Europe) which had dedicated warrior castes for who martial skill was an honored tradition.  We're told the Chi-Coms have totally transformed the military culture, but Indian media report that in the latest Himalayan confrontation - where the Indian Army was finally allowed to fight back - the Chinese ran screaming and crying in terror.  Maybe propaganda, but China's response was uncharacteristically quiet.  No claims of "Brave Heroes Killing In Heaps" or anything like that.  Maybe it took them by surprise as well.

33 Actually, I don't remember exactly which F. Paul Wilson book I was talking about, but it may have been his ICE series. ICE refers to intrusive cosmic entities that are constantly meddling in human affairs--essentially trolling the human race by throwing in random factors that defy reality. The first book, Panacea, is about a cure-all that is controlled by a secret cabal of Gaea worshipers (for the greater good, believe or not). The God Gene continues by introducing us to a monkey/lemur hybrid that is dangerously intelligent. The series concludes with The Void Protocol, where scientists accidentally created super-powered humans by exploiting a strange substance that simply appeared on Earth during WWII. Naturally, the Nazis were all over this stuff. Good reading, interesting characters. Only tangentially related to the Adversary Cycle.

34 Looks like Opie's Aunt Bee.

Oh, bee-HIVE!

35 Not technically books, but I did watch both the BBC adaptations of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People.

Good stories, Alec Guinness is superb (all the cast is, but he carries the show) and I have to say the contrast between England in 1979 and 1982 is striking.  Thatcher really turned the place around.

36 One book series that's been on my mind lately is Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series. It's strangely apt for today's world. My basic reaction to dealing with the pandemic is to adapt a "stainless steel rat" mentality. I do the basic minimum interactions with the world around me, but otherwise keep to myself, living in the wainscotting of society, so to speak.

37 I keep speaking of this book like a broken record (I won't anymore) It's by a Christian and  a Doctor of Clinical Psychology. The book is called "What the Bible says about managing stress" and it is a biblically based and psychologically astute book with practical suggestion-only 103 pages-34 short chapters.

38 Finished Straight Man and enjoyed it quite a bit for good light reading in the spirit of Lucky Jim in terms of mocking academia.  Didn't generate much book group discussion because , as I said, light reading.
Now the group is on to Grendel by John Gardner.  I read that a long time ago and don't remember much of it except it was typical Gardner in terms of being good but always falling short of how good I wanted it to be.  Anyone else have a similar or different reaction to his work?

39 29No reading lately. Just seem disinterested.

Posted by:rhennigantxat April 18, 2021 09:16 AM (yrol0)

I'm disinterested for the most part but Adventures in Contentment caught by eye because of the MSU connection, and the fact that I've become more interested in growing things that I previously ignored (vegetables). Monty Don has more to do with that than anyone else besides today's creepy politics, but David Grayson's book is hitting the right notes about contentment and disconnecting it from current society and our city focus.

40 In response to Shadeout Mapes
This is the entirety of my high school French.
Maitre corbeau sur on arbre perche, tenait on son bec un fromage.

41 Anyone else have a similar or different reaction to his work?

Posted by:Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbittat April 18, 2021 09:22 AM (y7DUB)

One of the best last lines in all of literature.

42 I'm now back to reading Lovecraftian fiction with Black Wings of Cthulhu 6. I really enjoy this series. S.T. Joshi is very good about commissioning or finding quality Lovecraftian stories that are genuinely unsettling. It's not for everyone, but if horror is your thing, then I highly recommend the Black Wings of Cthulhu series. Once I finish that, I'll move back to my stack of Clifford D. Simak short fiction stories. Also HIGHLY recommended. Arguably the greatest science fiction author of all time.

43 I've become more interested in growing things that I previously ignored (vegetables). Monty Don has more to do with that than anyone else besides today's creepy politics, but David Grayson's book is hitting the right notes about contentment and disconnecting it from current society and our city focus.

Posted by: CN at April 18, 2021 09:22 AM (ONvIw)
---
For a couple of weeks I let my news consumption tick upwards but I found it was harshing my mellow so I cut back.  Yesterday I *finally* repaired the baseboards downstairs and we're taking bids on some carpet/floor replacement.  I'm attacking the yard with renewed zeal and picking up my archery hobby.  Feeling better and losing weight.

44 I've already read all of the books once, but going back I'm able to pick out things I missed on the first pass. One thing that really comes out is how un-military the Chinese are. No soldier ethos at all.

Perhaps there's a parallel to Jewish society, pre-Holocaust.  Both cultures emphasized literacy, and viewed the military as a profession for lower types (obviously this is painting with a very broad brush).

45 I'm continuing with Ben-Hur and the Stephen Fry mythology book. The Fry book continues to be informal/humorous while still providing a ton of information. I'm reading "Heroes" at the moment then will go on to "Mythos" dealing with the Greek gods. By that time the new book on Troy should be out.

Ben-Hur continues to be far, far more than I expected. As I said last week, Wallace is not just telling a story, he is introducing the reader to a world and culture. The best word I can think of to describe it is 'immersive'. Thoroughly enjoyable.

46 Vive les livres!

I need to read "Roman Imperium 1959"

Vert

47 It's worth remembering that China's army has an almost unbroken record of failure against outside enemies. They're really good at killing Chinese citizens, though.

48 Just a lady silently reading a book. https://youtu.be/RsvjrQcoOd0

49 I have more Norton anthologies on the way. The links during the week which described fine literature being replaced by woke crap scared me into it. We seem to be on the verge of cultural revolution. I hope Fry's offering helps stall that movement. What is more part of our bedrock than the greek classics?

Posted by: CN at April 18, 2021 09:09 AM (ONvIw)

It's not all doom and gloom. I think we may actually see a cultural revival of sorts. More and more great literature will be entering the public domain as copyrights expire (unless the laws are changed again), which means more opportunities to access quality literature from the earlier 20th century. Also, I've noticed a bit of a trend in that some folks are attempting to keep authors' works alive for longer by reprinting their stories after they are gone. Open Road Media seems to be a part of this trend because I find a lot of stuff there that's being reprinted that might otherwise have disappeared.

50 Now the group is on to Grendel by John Gardner.  I

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 18, 2021 09:22 AM (y7DUB)
---
Speaking of Grendel, I'm moving ahead with Battle Officer Wolf's sequel.  Not a lot of writing because I have 50 years to fill up.  That's a lot of room for plot, so mostly I'm blocking out characters and figuring out what I want to do.  In practice this involves a lot of talking to myself while walking around and jotting down random notes.  Still, it's starting to take shape.  I even have the title figured out:  Battle Officer Wolf:  The DRAGON Incident.

I figure that the dragon in the poem will in the distant future be a AI-powered war machine in dormant state that was inadvertently re-activated by salvagers.  Wolf, who by then will be CEO of GEAT Corporation, will rally his old commando team for one last try at glory.

Building up to that is the hard part.

51 Hate Amazon but may as well use of the gift cards.
---

most of the gc will go towards the author & publisher so that's good

52 I've been slogging through Edge of Crisis: War and Trade in the Spanish Atlantic, 1789-1809, by Barbara Stein.  It's really an academic textbook, with an unending stream of minutiae about the economic policies of people involved in Mexico and it's surrounding as the Spanish empire slowly collapsed.  I can't say it's a fascinating read, but it has moments.  Also, the author likes using unnecessarily fancy words which I have now added to my vocabulary because I like saying them: conspectus and imbricate are two.

53 Reading The Naked Socialist and taking notes

54 I'm about a third of the way through "Sweet Silver Blues," the first of the Garrett, P.I. fantasy series. When I bought it, it was the only book in the series. Why oh why did I wait so long to start this?
I should have spent less time reading mediocre X-Men titles and more time with prose. Oh well, better late than never.
Garrett has been hired to find a woman to whom one of his buddies left his fortune. To do so, he'll have to return to a war-torn land where he spent five years. He's only now beginning the trip. Other associates of the deceased are pursuing him, and a third party might be involved.
The book moves at a fast clip. Chapters are only four pages at maximum.
But now I have a First World problem. I have a serious case of series addiction. Now that I know there are more adventures of Garrett, I want to buy them. However, I have a huge TBR list and maybe two decades left to live. Plus heirs who won't care about my books. Should I add to my already-overloaded shelves?
I found practically the entire series yesterday in a used-book store -- and in a first for me, left empty-handed. 
This is a situation for which I think the library will be no help. What to do, what to do. ...
Hey, is anybody else having the type in the posts shrink on them? I start the Morning Report, for example, and the type size is readable. I click for More -- in a new tab, as More doesn't expand the post the way it used to do -- and the type in the new tab is dinky. I also would like to get the serif type back.

55 Rereading Lewis's Abolition of Man.  Like many of his other works, it is strikingly descriptive of today's world. 

56 Are some of the comments very light, kind of faded. Please tell me it's not my eyes.

57 The server is back up? The long national nightmare is almost over?

58 Re: It Pays To Increase Your Word Power

Military Intelligence - a limerick

In a regimental cavalry troop
The sergeant major always got the scoop
Inside information
Sans confirmation
The grapevine provides non-com poop!

59 I'm getting back to some whittling and other types of wood carving. Spent some time reading up on the techniques and hand tools used for carving: chip carving, low relief, simple whittling projects and the like. Such a relaxing topic to read about and perform. There are a  lot of good videos on YouTube about the hobby as well.

60 Hi there book people.
Rereading Forstchen's "One Second After".  Will then reread Ringo's "The Last Centurion".  Just in that mood.

61 Hate Amazon but may as well use of the gift cards.
---

most of the gc will go towards the author & publisher so that's good
---- That reminds me--I won a $10 gift certificate by taking a survey recently. I know Amazon is a tool of the devil, but that's about the only place I spend money online (and not that much), so I suppose I could get a few more books out of the deal...

62 It's worth remembering that China's army has an almost unbroken record of failure against outside enemies. They're really good at killing Chinese citizens, though.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 18, 2021 09:28 AM (QZxDR)
---
Yes, and the traditional Chinese strategy of having more bodies to throw at a problem is gone. 

There's also the problem of it being run by Communists.  They still use commissars, who are wonderful at screwing things up.  Dual command is a surefire way to lose.

63

For a couple of weeks I let my news consumption tick upwards but I found it was harshing my mellow so I cut back. Yesterday I *finally* repaired the baseboards downstairs and we're taking bids on some carpet/floor replacement. I'm attacking the yard with renewed zeal and picking up my archery hobby. Feeling better and losing weight.

Posted by:Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloydat April 18, 2021 09:25 AM (llXky)

This sounds great! After a 1230 dinner with kid #1 and family, I'll be back in the yard prepping for some deer proof vegetables and come potato container "gardens".  Also plan on starting work on a knitting gift for a bride to be.  We lived in NYC briefly, and I can understand Ray Stannard Baker's (Baker Hall) view that the city leaves you focused on "news" as if every thing applies to you personally, and that consumption and acquisition is king. I started thinking about my life in an MSU co-op back in the 70s and that I was pretty damn content with next to nothing, and ignoring a lot the news to focus on other things.  The last time I picked up a bow was in summer camp, but it's a hobby that could come in useful. Well done!

64 Lately I've been reading a biography of Roy Chapman Andrews, the explorer who found the incredible fossil beds in Mongolia in the 1920s. The guy's a real pulp adventure hero, except that all his stuff actually happened. Interestingly, though his greatest discoveries were in dinosaur paleontology, he wasn't really much of a paleontologist himself. He was more interested in bagging live specimens. But he took some paleontologists along on his first Mongolia expedition and they struck the jackpot.
Ah, for the days when raising funds for your research meant going to dinner at J.P. Morgan's house and pitching the idea over cigars and port after dessert.
The book's called Dragon Hunter, by Charles Gallenkamp. Not to be confused with the other bio of Andrews called Roy Chapman Andrews, Dragon Hunter, by Fitzhugh Green. Apparently if you write about the guy, you have to use the phrase "dragon hunter" because it's so damned cool.  Now I want to hunt up some of RCA's own accounts of his journeys.

65 War between India and China would be an epic bloodbath. Endless millions of bullet sponges to throw at the lines. 

66 Also, I've noticed a bit of a trend in that some folks are attempting to keep authors' works alive for longer by reprinting their stories after they are gone. Open Road Media seems to be a part of this trend because I find a lot of stuff there that's being reprinted that might otherwise have disappeared.

New York Review of Books might be mostly made up of lib shitheads but they have a publishing entity that does a good job of keeping lesser known but well crafted and insightful books of fiction in front of the public eye.

67 Thanks to whoever recommended C.J. Box's "Dark Sky". Fun and fast-paced read about a Wyoming Fish and Game warden who reluctantly serves as a guide to a young Silicon Valley tech billionaire who wants to experience "hunting culture". The social media platform he developed to "facilitate dialog" had unintentional consequences and now there's a target on his back. Of course the mayhem ensues while their party is in the mountains and a storm front is moving in.

68 It's not a book, so I hope I am not violating any rules (maybe the 100 comment rule), but this article is really important.
https://www.deconstructingconventional.com/post/18-reason-i-won-t-be-getting-a-covid-vaccine

69 12 Said I would have Combat Engineer finished by thread end. Couple other things, my FiL's company was mostly made of Pennsylvanians, some West Virginians as have a company roster. He was wounded ( bayonet, never heard how or if the attacker lived) shortly after D-day. He had to fight to return to his unit as often reading other places men were switched to other units often. And found out reading elsewhere Combat Engineers were not eligible for a Combat Badge though as read here were often used as infantry. 

70 "...he wasn't really much of a paleontologist himself. He was more interested in bagging live specimens."
 
Of dinosaurs?  That would have been cool!

71 I have a subscription to Garden and Gun a magazine that features the southern states lifestyle. It has in depth interviews of personalities, entrepreneurs, and influential people from the south that are well done and beat out all of the msm media types. Written for intelligent adults and the photography is stellar. Well worth the subscription and having a large magazine with heavy paper and matte finish pages is so rare and welcome these days.

72 The last time I picked up a bow was in summer camp, but it's a hobby that could come in useful.

Posted by: CN at April 18, 2021 09:34 AM (ONvIw)
---
Hah, pretty much the same.  I bought a used bow a few years ago and some small ones for the kids.  All were neglected for years.

I've got the standard targets and went online to look up the old Camp Archer Association scoring rules (I saved my awards, you see).

So now I'm able to compete against my 13-year-old self!  I'm losing badly.

Still, it's a cheap way to shoot as much as I want without worrying about running out of ammo.

73 There's also the problem of it being run by Communists. They still use commissars, who are wonderful at screwing things up. Dual command is a surefire way to lose. Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 18, 2021 09:34 AM (llXky)

Let's not be too hasty with generalizations, comrade!

74 Are some of the comments very light, kind of faded. Please tell me it's not my eyes.

Copying the name line of a comment, with they greyish text color for the date, time and hash, retains that for the text that follows.  There's probably a way to override that but I haven't bothered to figure it out.

75

Open Road Media seems to be a part of this trend because I find a lot of stuff there that's being reprinted that might otherwise have disappeared.

Posted by:Lord Squirrelat April 18, 2021 09:29 AM (hQrcu)

The big word here is "disappeared", sadly a lot of work is being actively disappeared, so it's good that someone is noticing. I also noted that the best sellers at places like thrift books are 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World and  works by the Inklings. So that is good news.

I have many books but there are notable gaps so I'll buy a few anthologies to fill some voids.

76 The counter-factual history series belongs on The History Channel ("Hitler's T-Rex Panzers!").

77 It's worth remembering that China's army has an almost unbroken record of failure against outside enemies. 

That is why they are destroying the US military from within. The pentagon is now referring to conservative special forces troops as "radicalized like al-qaida and ISIS" after that NBC expose. Won't be long before SF is a bunch ofSJW social experimenters. 

78 Waiting for a book ordered on ebay. Will Durant's 'Caeser and Christ', it supposed to get here on Wednesday but tracking info has it sitting somewhere in NJ for three days.

79 I enjoy the references to matters of culture and politics but I can't abide the political aspects anymore. They are too damned irritating. I try to stay somewhat informed but have cut way back on the news. Even though our area has a couple of excellent talk radio hosts. I can't listen any more. All it does is send my blood pressure sky high. I'm better off reading.                                          

80 Won't be long before SF is a bunch of SJW social experimenters. Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at April 18, 2021 09:40 AM (0UNjH)

They started with the flag ranks and successfully worked their way down!

81 I'm better off reading.

This is almost universally true.

82 War between India and China would be an epic bloodbath. Endless millions of bullet sponges to throw at the lines. 

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at April 18, 2021 09:35 AM (0UNjH)
---
Not necessarily.  China has reduced the size of its army considerably, no doubt in part because the One Child Policy has left them short of potential conscripts.

China hasn't conducted combat operations since the early 80s when they "won" a border skirmish with Vietnam (by throwing more bodies at it).

India, on the other hand, has been running continuous combat ops in Kashmir, and China's vaunted wins in border disputes was really India's government backing down.  Modi refused to back down and their counterattack in June embarrassed and humiliated the Chi-Coms.  Chinese armies have a long and ignoble history of running away.  I don't know if China has as much staying power as people think.

83 Other book I've been reading lately is a James Thurber anthology. That man could write. His comedy is still as fresh and funny now as it was when he was writing. One line actually made me crack up laughing out loud for a minute or two. How many other humorists from the mid-20th century are still remembered?

84 My initial glowing report on "Axiom's End" has been tempered by further reading. There is a small but stiff helping of Bush Derangement Syndrome, which seems positively retro (it's set in 2007), shame about the bloodthirsty nature of humanity (especially European and American predation), and anthropogenic planet pillaging. Is mankind ready for first contact?, blah blah blah. Plus a hint of fanfic-y girl-on-alien action to come (as it were). Not that there's anything wrong with that!

https://tinyurl.com/2hbs75ta

https://tinyurl.com/hteh7nr4

There are enough good elements to make it a worthwhile read, so I don't regret the time spent, but I'm not sure I'll read the sequel.

85 dantesed hope you enjoy it, though read the books of the series I have maybe 20 years ago still remember enjoyed them.

86 Now I find myself wondering if Chinese money's behind the recent push about "anti-Asian racism" in America. Setting the stage to denounce any criticism of China as hate speech, perhaps? 

87 Still wandering through Diana Galbadon's Outlander series, each volume of which is about the size of a brick in paperback. Sheesh, I thought I took a long time to tell a story. Had some work this week, formatting a manuscript for a client who wants to publish his doctoral thesis as a paperback book. If I make enough from that project, I think I will have the den floor and ceiling re-done. I should take pictures of the garden, for the Saturday thread - about half the plants in the garden which I thought killed in the Great Texas Freeze this last February are putting out green shoots and leaves. 

88 Those pants are fine. I would take them off to do Nanoo Nanoo with Mindy.

89 Another difference between China and India is the stability of the respective governments.  A lot of people look at China's social credit system, intrusive control and think:  "Wow, that's some seriously strong internal security.  That regime is invincible."

Er, no, it's really really weak why is why they need to take such extreme measures to keep control.  India doesn't need all that crap people its people generally like their country and their government.  A serious shock to China's economy or political system could collapse the whole thing.  India has far greater resilience.

90 All it does is send my blood pressure sky high. I'm better off reading.                                          

Posted by: JTB at April 18, 2021 09:43 AM (7EjX1)

Yes!

I don't even listen to Chris Plante anymore, and when the radio got turned on (by "remote" accident), Levin was screeching away, and I turned it off. This, even though I believe Levin is the most accomp0lished and studious commentator out there!

91 Now I find myself wondering if Chinese money's behind the recent push about "anti-Asian racism" in America. Setting the stage to denounce any criticism of China as hate speech, perhaps? 

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 18, 2021 09:47 AM (QZxDR)
---
This is known.

92

Good stories, Alec Guinness is superb (all the cast is, but he carries the show) and I have to say the contrast between England in 1979 and 1982 is striking. Thatcher really turned the place around.

Posted by:Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloydat April 18, 2021 09:20 AM (llXky)

And she was hated for it. She was despised by the cognoscenti and all  o of the elite, "right thinking" people.

Kind of like Trump, really.

93 How many other humorists from the mid-20th century are still remembered?

*****

Ogden Nash

94 Steven Fry's Mythos series sounds interesting. A couple of scifi writers come to mind that used Greek mythology as part of their stories is Roger Zelazny in This Immortal, and the two book series Illium/Olympos by Dan Simmons.

95 Waiting for a book ordered on ebay. Will Durant's 'Caeser and Christ', it supposed to get here on Wednesday but tracking info has it sitting somewhere in NJ for three days.

Posted by: dantesed at April 18, 2021 09:41 AM (88xKn)

Wow I looked that up on Amazon.  Spendy.

96 Now I find myself wondering if Chinese money's behind the recent push about "anti-Asian racism" in America. Setting the stage to denounce any criticism of China as hate speech, perhaps? Posted by: Trimegistus at April 18, 2021 09:47 AM (QZxDR)


Come on, socialists and tyrants never think about, plan, or perform pre-emptive actions, unlike our conservative leaders!

97 stupid lines again

98 @83 --
I remember Lewis Grizzard, although I've not read many of his books. I remember laughing hard at this bit:

"The Georgia General Assembly, which often resembles recess at the playschool ..."

Oh, and Patrick McManus, who reduced me to quivering laughter more than once.

Maybe I should revisit them.

99

Still, it's a cheap way to shoot as much as I want without worrying about running out of ammo.

Posted by:Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloydat April 18, 2021 09:39 AM (llXky)

Exactly. And it's quiet too, so might come in handy.

I went to camp at Stony Lake Y camp and it was a popular choice. I favored riding and water sports.

100

And she was hated for it. She was despised by the cognoscenti and all  o of the elite, "right thinking" people.

Kind of like Trump, really.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at April 18, 2021 09:49 AM (OhSSl)
---
What's interesting is how the change impacts the show.  The 1979 production features drab cars, drab restaurants, dimly lit streets - all the locations are clearly run down.

By 1982, London is bright and active, with sleek glass storefronts with gold door handles and one of Smiley's old chums is selling counterfeit artwork at obscene prices - which you can only do in a society where people are getting stupid rich.  All the cars are nicer - not just for the characters, but parked on the street.  The clothes, everything.

Three years.  Amazing.

101

And she was hated for it. She was despised by the cognoscenti and all  o of the elite, "right thinking" people.

Kind of like Trump, really.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at April 18, 2021 09:49 AM (OhSSl)

I tell you I'm learning new words each day on this blog. Thanks, OM.

102 Now that ownership of Kashmir isn't a disputed matter India doesn't have that distraction to interfere with dealing with the ChiComs.  I don't think the Pakistani have much fondness for the yellow horde either.

103 grammy I picked up around 5 volumes at Goodwill as said 20 years ago. Price isn't the big issue, each is 700 pages+ 

104 Seems Three Gorges Dam held up last year.  Isn't rain season coming soon there?

105 Brit comics writers, particularly Warren Ellis, made no secret of their disgust for Thatcher.

Because I enjoyed their stories, I wrote off the slant with this viewpoint: I'd rather have them writing fiction than writing policy.

Now? As I have dropped current mainstream comics, I don't know how blatant they were in insulting Trump.

106 Past 100, so I'll just leave this here for your amusement and amazement.  It seems that Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot may be about to resign because she was caught cheating on her wife with another woman in a hotel paid for with city funds.  Yeah, that's why she should resign.  The other woman has a boyfriend who asked Lightfoot to get him out of a legal jam involving firearms possession.  Apparently the woman (?) who is Lightfoot's wife beat her up for cheating (one assumes).

https://tinyurl.com/928fpxkv

107 Now that ownership of Kashmir isn't a disputed matter India doesn't have that distraction to interfere with dealing with the ChiComs.

What did I miss?

108 I just ordered The Myth of White Fragility from Books-a-Million. Anything that's not amazon. We'll see how they turn out, probably the same. We need to step our game.

109 Good stories, Alec Guinness is superb (all the cast is, but he carries the show) and I have to say the contrast between England in 1979 and 1982 is striking. Thatcher really turned the place around.

Posted by:Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloydat April 18, 2021 09:20 AM (llXky)

 

And she was hated for it. She was despised by the cognoscenti and all  fo of the elite, "right thinking" people.

Kind of like Trump, really.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at April 18, 2021 09:49 AM (OhSSl)

When I was in the UK years ago, I read a remarkably favorable article on Thatcher. She was despised for many reasons, but one because she was a member of the middle class who studied hard in the apartment over the family grocery store so she could get the grades to be admitted to Cambridge. The elite were presumed (only by themselves) to achieve effortlessly.  

But the elite also sneered at her because she majored in chemistry at Cambridge. Not the classics, not languages, not political theory or philosophy, but chemistry. Years later she was touring the V&A Museum workrooms to see the preservation efforts. She commented that the workers were using the wrong glue. Cue the elitist eyerolling and snickers.  Several months later, there was a newspaper article saying that certain V&A artifacts had been damaged because the workers....used the wrong glue.

110

Mythos: (Ancient Greek Mythology Book for Adults, Modern Telling of Classical Greek Myths

I bought this last week based upon the recommendation and discovered that there are, or soon will be, two sequels, Heroes about the mortal or demigod mythical Greek heroes and Troy, to be released next month, about the Trojan War.  
Milton famously wrote in his introduction to Paradise Lost that he wrote to explain the ways of God to man.  I think that the myths of the ancients were created to explain the ways of man to man.  For example, Hera so hated Hercules that she sent poisonous snakes to kill the new born infant in his cradle (but, he being Hercules, he killed the snakes instead).  She hated him because he was conceived by Zeus' infidelity, a fact for which Hercules was in no way responsible.  Hera's hatred may have been irrational but it was certainly human.
Incidentally, I'm reading Mary Renault's book about Greek mythological hero Theseus, The King Must Die.  I read it in high school and loved it.  This time I'm understanding much more of it but still loving it.
My recent interest in ancient Greece has been engendered by my playing the XBox game Assassin's Creed: Odessey.  Shut up.

111 I'm enjoying Combat Engineer.  It's several steps above the 'typical' second hand story of my father/grandfather in his war(s) book.  And don't misunderstand, I really like this genre, ease of self publishing is making lots of great history easily and cheaply available. Book thread is above average already this week, too many new books to check out!

112 Maybe I should revisit them.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 18, 2021 09:52 AM (9fp9m)

Dave Barry done anything recently?

113 Hera so hated Hercules that she sent poisonous snakes to kill the new born infant in his cradle (but, he being Hercules, he killed the snakes instead). She hated him because he was conceived by Zeus' infidelity, a fact for which Hercules was in no way responsible. Hera's hatred may have been irrational but it was certainly human.

Quite a rational response, if you ask me.  She couldn't take on the big guy himself, so she opted to attack someone he loved, hurting him indirectly. 

114

mayor Lori Lightfoot may be about to resign because she was caught cheating on her wife with another woman in a hotel paid for with city funds

Beetlejuice Does Chicago

115 based on somebody a couple of weeks ago, i got copies (real books!) of Nevil Shute's Slide Rule and Trustee from the Toolroom.  Well, I'm still waiting for TftT, which "was sitting somewhere in NJ for threenine days."
SR was a fascinating story of the growth of the British aviation industry "between the wars" as seen by one of the participants.  i've thought of writing my own story of the software "revolution", though i was only a lowly peon in the process.  SR is written the way i'd like to write mine.
along those lines, Page Smith wrote a history of the US starting with a two volume set, A New Age Now Begins, which, if i wrote history is the way i'd write it.  

116 I like that the "Who Dis" pic has a werewolf howling right outside the window.

117 I didn't get much reading done this week, but I did listen to a pretty good audio book: Unforgettable, by Eric James Stone. (I probably saw it or the author recommended here, but I don't remember for sure). Anyway, the story is about a guy that nobody can remember after not seeing him for one minute. So he becomes a spy for the CIA, stealing "dangerous" technology from bad guys. It is all explained satisfactorily enough through quantum theory. In fact, the only part I had trouble believing was the CIA being the good guys.

118 Since this is a book thread that I rarely visit,  Margaret Thatcher's two autobiographies are some of the best political biographies out there.  One covers her early life and her career before becoming Prime Minister.  The other covers her PM career.  
If you then read Statecraft, you have a pretty good grasp on both British politics of the era and how the deepstate tries to subvert reforms to the system. 

119 I'm reading Mary Renault's book about Greek mythological hero Theseus, The King Must Die.  I read it in high school and loved it.  This time I'm understanding much more of it but still loving it.
My recent interest in ancient Greece has been engendered by my playing the XBox game Assassin's Creed: Odessey.  Shut up.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

I love that and The Bull from the Sea. I also love Fire From Heaven. Never cared for The Persian Boy and could barely get through Funeral Games. Maybe I shoukd try again.

120 Now that ownership of Kashmir isn't a disputed matter India doesn't have that distraction to interfere with dealing with the ChiComs. 
What did I miss?

A joint ceasefire agreement in 2019?  All done under the stability that Gaylord was unable to realize but MEAN TWEETS somehow didn't fuck it up.

121 I used to love Dave Barry's columns, particularly the year in review. It always made me realize just how much had happened in the year.
I missed that last year because I rarely read the paper anymore.
This news junkie quit cold turkey. I didn't even know until yesterday that Prince Philip had died.

122

Apparently the woman (?) who is Lightfoot's wife beat her up for cheating (one assumes).

https://tinyurl.com/928fpxkv

Posted by:pepat April 18, 2021 10:03 AM (v16oJ)

So you're saying that domestic abuse is why Lori Lightfoot looks like some kind of failed Beetlejuice cosplay?

123 Modi refused to back down and their counterattack in June embarrassed and humiliated the Chi-Coms.  Chinese armies have a long and ignoble history of running away.  I don't know if China has as much staying power as people think. Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 18, 2021 09:45 AM (llXky)
Concur. China has a real issue with projecting any physical strength past it's own borders as all their neighbors hate and fear them which makes their opponent fight all that much harder when necessary.
Now if we could just do something about their Fifth Columns.

124 https://tinyurl.com/928fpxkv

That's one of the better pictures of Lightfoot.  She doesn't have that googly-eyed hyperthyroid stare.

125

117I didn't get much reading done this week, but I did listen to a pretty good audio book:

Posted by IY Daddio at April 18, 2021 10:12 AM (RJscS)

That counts! Listening to audiobooks counts as reading!

126 Thanks for the Book Thread, OM!  And to all who made recommendations.  

127

So you're saying that domestic abuse is why Lori Lightfoot looks like some kind of failed Beetlejuice cosplay?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at April 18, 2021 10:15 AM (OhSSl)

You seen her "wife"? She could prolly whip my ass.

128 I have now finished Roy Thomas' run of writing the comic book adaptation of Conan the Barbarian.  I'm a little worried that the writers who come after him won't be quite as good...But finding out will have to wait for a little while.  I have to take occasional breaks from reading Conan, or else his adventures start to feel a little too repetitive...
Maybe I'll read a real book in the mean time.  I have 'The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood' by Howard Pyle waiting on my shelf.  Also some John Carter of Mars, some Warhammer 40K novels, some Drizzt ebooks...Or I could re-read some Garrett P.I. books that were mentioned last week!

129 A joint ceasefire agreement in 2019? All done under the stability that Gaylord was unable to realize but MEAN TWEETS somehow didn't fuck it up. Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 18, 2021 10:14 AM (y7DUB)

You must admit, if Owebama hadn't done all the necessary groundwork for world peace during his eight years in office, none of Trump's feeble initiatives would have come close to being successful!

BRB, I have to go throw up after writing that!

130

The other woman has a boyfriend who asked Lightfoot to get him out of a legal jam involving firearms possession. 

https://tinyurl.com/928fpxkv

Posted by:pep at April 18, 2021 10:03 AM (v16oJ)

You mean there's corrupt politics in the city of Chicago? The devil you say!

131

She was despised by the cognoscenti

I'm enjoying the PBS three part biography of Hemmingway (whom I like) but am rather put off by all the foreign cognoscenti telling us how great he was.  Apparently, an American writer can be great only if the Europeans tell us so.  

132 That is why they are destroying the US military from within. The pentagon is now referring to conservative special forces troops as "radicalized like al-qaida and ISIS" after that NBC expose. Won't be long before SF is a bunch ofSJW social experimenters. 

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at April 18, 2021 09:40 AM (0UNjH)
---
A couple of factors are going to limit the wokeness.  The first is that we've reached the point where the internal contradictions can't be papered over.  DoD is doing a service-wide study on racial disparity in UCMJ violations.  At the same time, you have Gillibrand demanding a higher conviction rate for allegations of sexual assault.  You can't have both and the losing side won't take it well.

Also, and this is a factor most people don't yet know about, the military changed its retirement rules a few years ago.  You know earn retirement dollars on day one and get bonuses for longevity, but there's no magic cutoff.  In olden days, you'd have guys with 10, 15 years in who held on to "get their 20 in."  Now there's no need to do that.  It's never been easier for disgruntled troops to just opt out.

133 Now there's no need to do that. It's never been easier for disgruntled troops to just opt out. Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 18, 2021 10:24 AM (llXky)


Now about that pesky draft thing...

134 You must admit, if Owebama hadn't done all the necessary groundwork for world peace during his eight years in office, none of Trump's feeble initiatives would have come close to being successful!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at April 18, 2021 10:23 AM (hOUT3)
---
I know your intent was satire, but this is actually a true statement.  Obama finally put the leftist vision of the passive, declining US guided by moral preening and transparent greed into total practice and the world shuddered.

Having seen the alternative, many countries decided Trump was their best chance to lock in stability.  The US was finally an honest broker and the world got to see what an America that isn't interested in endless wars could accomplish.  That toothpaste isn't going back into the tube.

135

In re Nincompoopiana:
 
If you're anxious for to shine in the high aesthetic line as a man of culture rare,
You must get up all the germs of the transcendental terms, and plant them ev'rywhere.
You must lie upon the daisies and discourse in novel phrases of your complicated state of mind,
The meaning doesn't matter if it's only idle chatter of a transcendental kind.

And ev'ry one will say,
As you walk your mystic way,
"If this young man expresses himself in terms too deep for me,
Why, what a very singularly deep young man this deep young man must be!"

- Gilbert and Sullivan, Patience

136 All these books on censorship and how to fight wokeness are a year late.
The avalanche has started.  It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 18, 2021 09:12 AM (llXky)

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately, and I think we've entered a very dangerous era where for the first(?) time in America, Voting has become completely unmoored from reality for a large part of the population.

Normally, with a President like Trump you'd get complaining, etc from the Dims but in the end a lot of them would vote for him simply because of the great economy, overall world peace and military victories with drawdown, vastly improving unemployment and salary raises, improving race relations.  All great stuff and worthy of a 2nd term.

Yet, 40-50% (who knows cuz of voter fraud) of the voters chose to throw it all away on the complete and evil fantasies of "white supremacy" "e-e-e-evil capitalism", "white fragility","critical race theory",etc, etc.  -

based on nothing relevant to their day to day lives.  Just...time to burn everything the hell down.  And that includes the colluding Republicans - time to turn the US into a violent garbage pit cuz we'll still be floating on top.

The evil damage to race relations alone will take decades to undo.

Anywho, gods of the copybook headings and all that are coming and after administering voluminous nut kicks and cunt punts for the ladies, but of course, will drag everyone back to reality later rather than sooner.  Hopefully, before we become a third world, poverty stricken, inflation crippled Chinese satrapy forever.

We'll see.  But, yeah, as long as the Dims/progs/commies live in fantasyland, it's too late to correct this with votes.

137 ‘It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it,” wrote G. K. Chesterton.
Off limits to humor:  BLM, Antifa, White Supremacy, Joe, Commielala, COVID.
All piss poor religions!

138 I hope I'm not out of line here on the book thread, but for those who missed the early morning thread, Backwards Boy came on for a bit to let us know that  B'Gal passed away yesterday.

139 That toothpaste isn't going back into the tube. Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 18, 2021 10:28 AM (llXky)

So in a very real sense both of us are right!

140
Thank you for letting us know, grammie. Prayers for the repose of her soul and His comfort for B'Boy.

141 I finished Nomadland this week. I gave it a three star review. I always enjoy biographies of regular people and she follows these folks over several years. And I give her points for buying a van, trying stealth camping, working at Amazon and the sugar beet harvest. But her Leftist blinders do her in. She sees the people as victims of the evil capatalist society. She can't see when they make bad choices. Every single one on the economic slide is divorced. It is so predictable and she never comments on it. The main subject once has a choice between two jobs at a casino. She goes with cocktail waitress over dealer. Years later, she learns about jobs for dealers. She could have had a skill that she could do as she aged. 
When she it the "white privilege" part, it cracked me up. She's upset that there aren't more homeless blacks living in vans?  She mentions times when she deals with cops and is let go with a warning. She chalks it up to being white rather than from being a woman.  
But the worst is economic. She likes to chalk eveything up to the Great Recession. Yet she seems to celebrate when the copper smelter is shut down for environmental reasons. She never mentions that allowing unrestricted immigraion affects housing. Or that restrictive laws prevent more housing construction. It's reporting with blinders on, which we get a lot these days. 
I enjoyed the book when she stayed on topic. I didn't care much for her attempts to drag the 1930s into everything. I did the audio book but you could skip through the annoying parts. I wish someone could look at the same people through a different lens. 

142 Now the group is on to Grendel by John Gardner.  I read that a long time ago and don't remember much of it except it was typical Gardner in terms of being good but always falling short of how good I wanted it to be.  Anyone else have a similar or different reaction to his work?

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 18, 2021 09:22 AM (y7DUB)

Yes, you pretty much nailed my reactions to reading Gardner.

I always loved the idea of his novels and the writing was good and some passages brilliant, but in the end I always felt more or less "meh" at the end.

I'm going to attribute that to needing a good editor who would've kept him on point for the promises made yet always somehow unkept by his novels.

It's been years though since I read Gardner.  Perhaps my opinion would change.

143 So in a very real sense both of us are right!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar at April 18, 2021 10:30 AM (hOUT3)
---
Yes, and what makes it even funnier is that the admin and their media flacks have to keep pretending that the world was in anarchy and that peace is finally returning.  Foreigners don't play that game, which is why the Chi-Coms hectored our diplomats and Kim won't return phone calls.

If it wasn't so dangerous it would a laugh riot as these stuff shirts get spit on around the globe.

144 Posted by:Commissar Hrothgarat April 18, 2021 10:23 AM (hOUT3)


In addition to his other amazing skills, it turns out Barry the Lightworker is also a world-class emetic.  Thanks Obama!

145
Dinosaurs of WWII - or How Nazi Disgust for Godzilla Almost Wrecked the Axis Alliance. 

146 I reread the Temeraire series recently. It's alternate history what-if dragons were used as air support in the Napoleonic Wars. It's really well-done in a lot of ways; the author's conception of how the Brits and French would have translated their naval combat techniques into aerial combat is well-thought-out, and the dragons are good characters who are not just big scaly humans - their mindset is genuinely different. The first book starts with a Brit captain capturing a dragon egg from a French transport. The egg is about to hatch, so the dragon must be harnessed, and he ends up taking a liking to the captain, Will Laurence, instead of the middy who lost the draw (the navy sees service in the aerial corps as distasteful). Laurence is initially dismayed, but his relationship with Temeraire (the dragon) slowly grows as he comes to appreciate him. By the end of the ninth book, Temeraire and Laurence have been around the world - China, Africa, Australia, South America, Japan, and basically all of Europe - and fought Napoleon in many engagements.

The books do get a little woke-ish at times, like Tecumseh is the president of the US, and there's a scene where another aviator is suddenly revealed as a homer sexual, but it's not enough to bother me. 

147
 I didn't care much for her attempts to drag the 1930s into everything. 

Leftists have minds frozen in the '30s, where capitalists are all Mister Mister in spats and top hat, not the cool CEO in jeans and turtleneck.

148 for those who missed the early morning thread, Backwards Boy came on for a bit to let us know that  B'Gal passed away yesterday.
May Backwards Boy and his Family be blessed with Peace and Strength at this terrible time.

149 138 I hope I'm not out of line here on the book thread, but for those who missed the early morning thread, Backwards Boy came on for a bit to let us know that  B'Gal passed away yesterday.



oh no, he must be devastated. I will pray for him, and her repose.
thanks for passing that on, grammie

150 Currently reading The Yom Kippur War by Abraham Rabinovich. It's a good read that highlights the failures of Israeli intelligence and the hubris of the IDF General Staff. They had tons of pre-war intelligence indicating an attack, yet didn't mobilize until it was almost too late.

151 My prayers go out to Backwards Boy and his family. I hope the Lord gives him peace. 

152 Leftists have minds frozen in the '30s, where capitalists are all Mister Mister in spats and top hat, not the cool CEO in jeans and turtleneck.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 18, 2021 10:36 AM (mht8P)
---
It's a nostalgia for a time when you could pretend Communism might work and one could go to Spain to fight actual fascists.  (None of them would have gone, but it's a fantasy.)

It's interesting that when they did a survey of British writers on Spain, almost all of them picked the Republic, even though they would have been shot if they went there (Orwell narrowly escaped).

Waugh endorsed Franco, but only because the Republic was killing clergy.  He said "I think they both stink, but the Republic is odious in an entirely inexcusable way" or something like that.

There.  That's our Waugh mention for this week.  Thread is official.

153 My heart just sank for Backwards Boy

154 And with that, I'm off to Mass.  I'll see you all next week.

155 I'm also a fan of Mary Renault's The King Must Die.  Listening now to an audiobook, "Circe," by Madeline Miller, based on the character from the Odyssey.  So far, it's pretty good.

156 @87
Diana Gabaldon is a perfect example of what they tell new writers when they are pitching their story to publishers: you don't want to tell them about the story, you want to get them to open your story.
She says that she had to be very vague about what the story was about when she pitched Outlander, because basically it's about time-travel, and at that time no one was buying time-travel.

157
I am finishing "A Devil of a Whipping - The Battle of Cowpens", by Lawrence E. Babits. It is a very thorough retelling of the battle that almost swamps under the wealth of data before the battle gets a chance to commence. Once the fighting breaks through, however, that attention to detail makes the work enjoyable to read. I cannot emphasize how thoroughly Babits went to acquire information for this book, much of which he gleaned from pension records of those who fought in it. Daniel Morgan made shrewd decisions about how to use his resources at hand - Continental troops, state troops and militias, and his cavalry - to give Banastre Tarleton's light infantry and horse a good thrashing which ultimately led to Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown nine months later. 

158 Apparently the woman (?) who is Lightfoot's wife beat her up for cheating (one assumes).
Generally speaking, it does seem to happen with a greater frequency than popularly believed, but specifically, nothing has been confirmed through official channels ...

159 My heart just sank for Backwards Boy

Posted by:Skip

Yes, prayers for BB.  He was so devoted.  My heart is breaking.

160 naturalfake,
Thanks for that response.  I'm anxious to dig into Grendel and see how I react.  I tried reading October Light a few years ago but it just became too much of a slog unable to hold my interst.

161 grammie -  Is there something we can do?  electronic food basket of sorts?

162 Re: Mayor Beetlejuice.....who would willingly sleep with that walking horror story? 

163 Captain Hate: "typical Gardner in terms of being good but always falling short of how good I wanted it to be"  I reread a bunch of Gardner (Mickelssons's Ghost, Nickel Mountain, October Light) and I think that's a fair take on him.  But I don't think it applies to Grendel. A great book all around but the best part is the chapter where Grendel goes to visit the dragon. I still quote from that on occassion and I first read it in 1975 as a freshman in college.

164 Oooooh, the Temeraire books!  I read a few of those a while back.  It was the Dragonriders of Pern mixed with Richard Sharpe/Horatio Hornblower. Only, not quite as good.  I dropped the series after a few volumes.  The woke was obvious, the main character too Mary Sue, and the worldbuilding was just bad.  The author seemed less interested in exploring a world full of dragons than she was with having her main characters bring modern-day morals and attitudes into that world...

165

Leftists have minds frozen in the '30s, where capitalists are all Mister Mister in spats and top hat, not the cool CEO in jeans and turtleneck.


Along the same lines, Hollywood leftists -- that is to say, practically everyone there -- cannot let go of the Red scare and blacklisting of some fellow hacks in arms seventy or so years ago. The next purge is just around the corner, donchano? 

166 I believe Victimology is the cause of our current cultural downfall which in part is caused from moving away from being a Christian country..  
Taking a break this week from any heavy reading and have been re-reading all my Calvin and Hobbes books.  

167 That's some pretty good staying power, Who Knew.  I'll dig in shortly.  Thanks.

168 "You [ ]now earn retirement dollars on day one and get bonuses for longevity, but there's no magic cutoff. In olden days, you'd have guys with 10, 15 years in who held on to "get their 20 in." Now there's no need to do that." -- Wow.  Though I was just in the reserves, I got out in 2000 with 12 good years service.  It was a variety of factors, including the abysmally slow promotion rate (took me 8 years to make CPT (03) despite being in an 03 billet (JAG) for 2 years -- I even wrote a letter to Dianne Feinstein about this (she being my senator) and her office replied with, that's the way it is.  A year after I got out, the Army backdated my rank a year.  Maybe if you hadn't kept me a lieutenant for 8 fvcking years....  Also, in my reserve division JAG office, I was the only officer below the deputy CDR (supposed to have 4 or 5) and NO support staff.  I was doing JAG work on my own time during the week.  It got ridiculous.  I should've stayed Signal Corps, but that promotion would've taken even longer.

169 I reread the Temeraire series recently. It's alternate history what-if dragons were used as air support in the Napoleonic Wars. It's really well-done in a lot of ways; the author's conception of how the Brits and French would have translated their naval combat techniques into aerial combat is well-thought-out, and the dragons are good characters who are not just big scaly humans - their mindset is genuinely different.  --  Mrs Peel
=====
I agree that the series was very well done.  Not to take anything away from the series, but kinda CS Forester lite.
Whoever is tracking or collecting suitable and enjoyable novels for bright HS/MS readers, I would highly recommend.
(Darnitall, I keep forgetting to include the captcha.)

170 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 18, 2021 10:52 AM (pKKMW)
And they have never accepted that it wasn't a scare. It was real. 

171 @109
It's funny, because Duchess Kate is probably the glue that is holding the awful British Royal family together, and there are still articles I read yesterday that couldn't help but mention that her mother was an air hostess (stewardess)
What's funny is that this would be a point of honor in America--that you came from the working class, but not so much for the snobby elites in Britain.

172 86 Now I find myself wondering if Chinese money's behind the recent push about "anti-Asian racism" in America. Setting the stage to denounce any criticism of China as hate speech, perhaps? 
Trimegestus, since CRT views Asians as extra white, I have no doubt that it's ChiCom money that prompted this sudden concern for anti-spam violence.
Fuck those hypocrites.

173 In reference to the above comments, is there something we can do for B Boy? I know we're mostly anonymous here, but I would be willing to donate if that would be possible. 

174 Sleepin' on Sunday.  Lying in your bed.  Nothing can top it or even come close.  Chicken necks, what the heck, why should I get out of bed for that?

175 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 18, 2021 10:46 AM (pKKMW)
That Morgan got the militia to reform and hold was pretty amazing, until you consider the river at their backs was in flood and they didn't have much avenue to retreat. It's the Broad River btw.

176

Waugh endorsed Franco, but only because the Republic was killing clergy. He said "I think they both stink, but the Republic is odious in an entirely inexcusable way" or something like that.

Posted by:Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloydat April 18, 2021 10:41 AM (llXky)

Like what Harry Truman said about some Central American dictator (Salozar?) "He may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch."

177 Another vote for Temeraire being a fun series - at least the first few books. The author's other books are pretty bleh

178 @166
It doesn't help matters that the churches are happily MIA during the current "crisis."  With a few notable exceptions, like little Harvest Rock Church, who took their case to the Supreme Court.
One of the few who feared not. 

179 Too many people feel the world is out of control and that they must do what they can to be in control. Play video games. Cut off their dicks. Become mask Karen's.  Riot against history.   Cancel people who say things like maybe they ought to learn to cope. 

180

166I believe Victimology is the cause of our current cultural downfall which in part is caused from moving away from being a Christian country..

Posted by:Sebastian Melmothat April 18, 2021 10:52 AM (2DOZq)

'Wokeism' is a Christian heresy.

181 Another Brit writer with a realistic view of Spain was Robert Graves. He lived for many years in the Balearic Islands and wrote some stories about the awful times the locals had under the Communists. I don't know much about Graves's politics, now that I think about it. He certainly wasn't a Christian like Waugh -- he pretty much made "neo-paganism" respectable by himself. But I don't think he was a Lefty, either.

182 Franco didn't plan on a coup.  If he did he wouldn't have been in North Africa. He believed it necessary to save his country.  He was proven correct. 

183 Who dis: Glenn Ford??

184 OK, that was odd.  When I got to the bottom of the thread, I found there was already text in the comments box.  It was a somewhat lengthy comment on books of military history, and how they are laid out.  I was half-tempted just to post it, and see if anyone recognized it.

185 Dang....the very first answer by CN.....

186 184 Happened to me too yesterday. Pixy says it's a bug. I think it's a secret message passing system 😜

187 I finished "The Guns of August," which made me sad and infuriated.  Infuriated above all with the Germans and Austrians, who were so set on expansion and war that anything could have set WWI off - the assassination of the Grand Duke was only an excuse to do what they had been planning on doing for years.  But also angry at the missteps and blindness of the others involved - the military and political leaders in England, France and Russia.   How anybody who reads history can continue to trust "the enlightened elite" is beyond me.  The elites have f'ed things up throughout the ages.  And the ordinary people have suffered the most.  Think of how disorienting it must have been to be a Belgian in September of 1914.  In July, your country was peaceful and neutral and beautiful and you were going about your normal life.  In September, the country is in ruins, the library at Louvain has been burned, and the Germans are shooting civilians at random for the crime of not peacefully submitting to German rule. Good job, experts!

188 The Fry book sounds like it would be a good read. Certainly, the Greeks treated their gods with a good deal of humor and irreverence - for example, just look at Homer's description in the "Iliad" of Hera's seduction of Zeus in order to distract him from events on the ground; there, both immortals appear to be quite human, even comically so.

Along these lines, I strongly recommend the "Book of Greek Myths" by  Ingri and Edgar d'Aulaire. This, and their companion volume, the "Book of Norse Myths", are written for children, but can be enjoyed by grownups too. The illustrations are gorgeous, the text is exciting and well told. Some stories are edited slightly to get a 'G' rating (for example, Zeus "marries" the various mortal women with whom he dallies), but otherwise the stories are told straightforwardly. Now that the SJW vandals have seized control of our educational system, do yourself and your children a service and read these wonderful books to them. Their cries of "More! More!" will be your precious reward.

189 Don't tell Uncle Joe about the pneumatic tube gap we have with the Russians.  Just don't.

190 It doesn't help matters that the churches are happily MIA during the current "crisis."  With a few notable exceptions, like little Harvest Rock Church, who took their case to the Supreme Court. 
One of the few who feared not.

Their one chance to be relevant again and they bow to the state.

191 Past 100, so I'll just leave this here for your amusement and amazement.  It seems that Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot may be about to resign because she was caught cheating on her wife with another woman in a hotel paid for with city funds.  Yeah, that's why she should resign.  The other woman has a boyfriend who asked Lightfoot to get him out of a legal jam involving firearms possession.  Apparently the woman (?) who is Lightfoot's wife beat her up for cheating (one assumes). 

https://tinyurl.com/928fpxkv


The Chicago way ? Nice. It's wither jail or resign in IL.

192 Who dis: Glenn Ford?? =====
My first impression, and I know nothing about movies and their actors, was George Hamilton.  Don't know why, but that was my first take.

193

192Who dis: Glenn Ford?? =====
My first impression, and I know nothing about movies and their actors, was George Hamilton. Don't know why, but that was my first take.

Posted by: mustbequantum at April 18, 2021 11:06 AM (MIKMs)

It's Glenn.

194 190 It doesn't help matters that the churches are happily MIA during the current "crisis."  With a few notable exceptions, like little Harvest Rock Church, who took their case to the Supreme Court. 
One of the few who feared not. 

Their one chance to be relevant again and they bow to the state.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 18, 2021 11:04 AM (y7DUB)

THIS!

195 194. Their charitable arms get a lot of money from the state.

196 I remember reading Edith Hamilton's book on Greek mythology when I was about 13 or so.  The Greek gods certainly are a fascinating bunch - glamorous, fickle,  horny, and scheming.  I've started "Persian Fire" by Tom Holland and am finding the ancient Spartans considerably less appealing.   Sparta was basically a grim police state, devoted to war, subjugating and eliminating the untermenschen and stamping out individuality.  As Holland writes of the ancients, the more you learn about them the more alien they become. 

197 Re: Mayor Beetlejuice.....who would willingly sleep with that walking horror story?  Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 18, 2021 10:50 AM (jvt6t)
There is someone for every one.....even a horror show like The Groot.
The horror, the horror.

198 In keeping with the 2021 theme, I read Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book." It's supernatural episodes in the life of Nobody "Bod" Owens, the sole survivor of a family assassinated by a secret society. He's adopted by a couple of ghosts and grows up in a graveyard full of spirits.

The story won awards including the Carnegie Medal, Newbury Medal and a Hugo. Despite that, it's good, not great.

First, the book begins with the murder of infant Bod's parents and sister, which is decidedly grim. Second, Gaiman wrote it as connected episodes, an homage to The Jungle Book,  but left out emotional continuity. For example, Bod has no real friends: dead children don't age and living children are bullies or arrogant. Scarlett, a real child, enters and exits his life in Chapter 2 with no further mention until she returns in Chapter 7. Authorial Voice asserts Bod "had remembered Scarlett, had missed her for years after she after she went away...." (230) If Gaiman mentioned her in between, as he mentioned things that played into the climax, Scarlett misunderstanding and turning on Bod would have meant something. 
Second, the illustrations be Dave McKean truly stink. He's obviously a talented artist; only talent could produce such misshapen people. At one point, I was trying to figure out who a bespectacled old woman was; then I realized it was supposed to be Bod's imposing vampire guardian.
Despite that, I enjoyed the Sleer, a multi-headed creature that faithfully guards an ancient treasure in a barrow-mound that predates the Romans. It's gotten lonely waiting for its master's return and even asks if Bod will be its master. If Gaiman ever wrote The Sleer Book, I'd read it.

199 Why would Lightfoot resign?  When was the last time a mayor/governor (who wasn't Gop) resigned over a political scandal?  Look at the Old Dominion (heh).  Gov. What-me-blackface? is still there.

200 Currently reading bankrupting physics by a German college professor, Alexander Unzicker. He goes through the three dozen or so reasons why modern physics theories are absolutely ridiculous. He doesn't reach the conclusion that the entire exercise should be scrapped and then we should go back to the very beginning of be rising and try to come up with something that actually describes the universe instead of being mostly fantasy based theories that cannot be quantified or falsified. I do reach that conclusion.

201 Even if Mayor Lightfingers does decide to resign (and right now I'm betting she blames all her problems on White Supremacists and digs in), so what? 
Her deputy mayor, doubtless another Chicago party hack, will take over and nothing will change. And then at the next election the voters will put another Chicago party hack in office and nothing will change.
Even allowing for their dead people and fake ballots, it's still a mystery to me how Democrats inspire such loyalty. What black resident of Detroit, or Baltimore, or Chicago, wouldn't jump at the chance for a better city government? But they just keep pulling that same lever.

202 Visiting mom a few weeks ago I found my 1st edition "Monster Manual".  : - >

203 Love is Love.

204 time to walk le chien

he puts the poop in nincompoopia

205 What's funny is that this would be a point of honor in America--that you came from the working class, but not so much for the snobby elites in Britain.
=====
Are you talking about me?  - Maggie Thatcher

206 I think there's a crisis in believers, amongst the clergy.
It seems pretty clear that most of the modern-day clergy don't buy into the idea that they will stand in judgment for their sins.

207 As to my current reading, I'm about halfway through Lucky Jim and finding it funnier than I did the first time around. Just downloaded Middlemarch to my kindle, not sure what to expect with that.

208 @201
There's a theme emerging; the clergy now behaves as though they don't believe they are answerable to God, and the politicians behave as though they don't believe they are answerable to the voters.
Not many years ago, Cuomo, Lightfoot, etc would have resigned. Now they don't, because they are assured re-election, and couldn't care less how the voters feel. 

209 May God comfort BB in this terrible time.

210 SFGoth I wish that would happen to me, I know I didn't throw them out but no idea where they ever went.

211 *sigh* Reading the same things I was last week. Almost finished with 'Death in the Garden', Ironside. While it is a Brit mystery novel, the writing and plot development are so superb, that I'm inclined to deem it more Novel than Mystery. It is worth noting that the author's pen name is Elizabeth Ironside, but she is actually Lady Catherine Manning, wife of the British ambassador to the U.S., 2003-2007.  I'll quote Wiki here in reference to him:  "He authored the so-called " Manning Memo ", that summarized the details of a meeting between American president George W. Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003". 
Still working on Lyons biography of David Sarnoff, and have taken up the daunting task of the second volume of the History of the  Bell System, which covers roughly, the onset of WWII to the mid-70's.

212

It's gotten lonely waiting for its master's return and even asks if Bod will be its master. If Gaiman ever wrote The Sleer Book, I'd read it.

That could be fun.  A few years as Sleer's mortal master with access to whatever fantastic treasures are guarded by the beast, then the immortal master returns.

213 Why would Lightfoot resign? 



Because monthly lootings, carjackings, unchained chaos is bad for business.
-Da Mob

214 Oh, wow.  Poor BBoy.  Condolences.  Terrible news.

215 What black resident of Detroit, or Baltimore, or Chicago, wouldn't jump at the chance for a better city government? But they just keep pulling that same lever. Posted by: Trimegistus at April 18, 2021 11:20 AM (QZxDR)
Maybe they like things the way they are.....you know, keeping it real blah blah blah. Change is hard work. 1st of Da Month and another check, direct deposit and EBT ain't so bad when it's phree.
Like the Waffle House shuffle writ large. You want a left uppercut with those hash browns? Sure!

216 afternoon delight

217

"conservative women are particularly blissful: 40% say they are very happy. That makes them slightly happier than conservative men and significantly happier than liberal women. The unhappiest are liberal men; only a fifth consider themselves very happy"

Damn conservatives are stealing our happiness! Also, how dare you gender assume us!
https://bit.ly/3eiOI6m

218 Scattered, smothered, covered, punched, slapped, pummeled, and socked....

219 1st of Da Month and another check, direct deposit and EBT ain't so bad when it's phree. 



My friend, they don't bother with that  pittance anymore.  PPP loans is the name of the game now.  In the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Not For Profits, LLCs you name it.  

220

What black resident of Detroit, or Baltimore, or Chicago, wouldn't jump at the chance for a better city government? But they just keep pulling that same lever.  --
Maybe they like things the way they are.....you know, keeping it real blah blah blah.

After what I saw in the 2020 elections, I 100% believe black people have been trying to vote themselves out of their situation for decades, but the democrats won't allow them to leave the plantation, same as Democrats in the decades prior.

I'd imagine we as a nation got a slight glimpse of what the Democrats have been doing in these cities in order to maintain the slavery of blacks.

221 They got more money than you, brah.

222 I keep speaking of this book like a broken record (I won't anymore) It's by a Christian and  a Doctor of Clinical Psychology. The book is called "What the Bible says about managing stress" and it is a biblically based and psychologically astute book with practical suggestion-only 103 pages-34 short chapters.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 18, 2021 09:21 AM (7hF2c)

I've gotten pretty good at NOT telling people how to practice their faith, but whenever the subject comes up, in the context of mental health, it's generally possible to reflect back to the person how their faith is compatible with various therapeutic approaches to mental health.  

Most people seem to appreciate it, because there appears to be an assumption these two approaches are expected to clash, and almost always, they don't.  

223 PSA
The History Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained Kindle Edition
is $2 
Might be a good way to spend slow shipping credits.

224 But they just keep pulling that same lever.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 18, 2021 11:20 AM (QZxDR)

But do they? I think the 2020 election showed us just how badly Democrats have been stacking the deck in their favor in their domains. It's possible that entire generations of minorities in the cities have been pulling the lever for R, but the machinery spits out D. Every time.

225 @220
Bush v Gore goofed up the usual plan.
Before 2000, the dems would get a federal judge to declare inner-city precincts had to remain open after voting hours, because (ahem) there were long, long lines of inner-city residents lined up to vote, still.  Then, they'd see how many votes were needed to win, and come in with the appropriate extra ballots.
Bush v Gore pointed out that the laws on the books had to be complied with, and state Governors and judges couldn't deviate from them, according to the US Constitution
So, now we have the new cheating, much more sophisticated than the old.

226 You know how that horrible Trump incited the January 6 riot?  Well . . .

Maxine Waters is marching in Brooklyn Center tonight and told people to take to the streets if Chauvin is acquitted 

https://bit.ly/3uTJZyq

227 >>> 84 My initial glowing report on "Axiom's End" has been tempered by further reading. There is a small but stiff helping of Bush Derangement Syndrome, which seems positively retro (it's set in 2007), shame about the bloodthirsty nature of humanity (especially European and American predation), and anthropogenic planet pillaging. Is mankind ready for first contact?, blah blah blah. Plus a hint of fanfic-y girl-on-alien action to come (as it were) Not that there's anything wrong with that! https://tinyurl.com/2hbs75ta https://tinyurl.com/hteh7nr4 There are enough good elements to make it a worthwhile read, so I don't regret the time spent, but I'm not sure I'll read the sequel. Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 18, 2021 09:46 AM (Dc2NZ) *sigh* Now they all think Earth girls are easy.

228 Might be a good way to spend slow shipping credits.

Posted by: Reverend Chanequa Moron-Robbie Deonkay Smith III at April 18, 2021 11:37 AM (OeAlt)

Going to be taking a little trip next week, and always take my Kindle with me.  Never pick the damn thing up though.  I have my laptop with me, and it's too easy to get lost in that.  The Kindle almost never gets used.  I still prefer dead tree versions of everything, and it's about more than just convenience or ease of use.  

229 He won't be acquited. His best chance is a hung jury.

230 I think he spoke latin and he was referring to me. Something about a cretin.

231 You know how that horrible Trump incited the January 6 riot?  Well . . .

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 18, 2021 11:41 AM (VVEnO)

Why, it's almost as if these people don't mean a damn thing they say.

Almost.

232 My grandfather used to call me little nincompoop and I ended up calling him big nimp because I thought he was saying nimpcompoop. 

233 I think there's a crisis in believers, amongst the clergy.
It seems pretty clear that most of the modern-day clergy don't buy into the idea that they will stand in judgment for their sins.

Posted by: artemis 

Expanding (a little) on this subject, is ..."What's going on with Pope Francis and the Catholic Church?"

I'm not Catholic, but Shibumi is. She suggests reading "Windswept House" by Malachi Martin. Prior to his death, Martin indicated about 80-90 per cent of the book was "true", only some names had been changed.  She is presently immersed in the arcania of the inner politics of the EU and the Vatican in the book.

234 Visiting mom a few weeks ago I found my 1st edition "Monster Manual". : - >

Posted by: SFGoth at April 18, 2021 11:21 AM (KAi1n)

That's always a fun read! I somehow ended up with two copies. One with the Jeff Easley cover art and a slightly earlier edition with cover art by David C. Sutherland III. The contents are the same, though.

235 "Even allowing for their dead people and fake ballots, it's still a mystery to me how Democrats inspire such loyalty. What black resident of Detroit, or Baltimore, or Chicago, wouldn't jump at the chance for a better city government? But they just keep pulling that same lever."

What made me realize that the people of Cook County are incorrigible was the re-election of John Stroger as chairman of the Cook County Board (a powerful position with lots of patronage jobs) in 2006. At the time, Stroger had had a severe stroke and was lying in a coma, and nearly flatlined, at Rush Presbyterian St Luke's Medical Center. (The public hospital named after Stroger is literally across the street from RPSLMC, but for some reason he wasn't taken there - go figure.) His opponent in the election was Forrest Claypool, someone I knew slightly. He was a reasonable man and, more to the point, one who actually had a functioning brain; however, he also bore the mark of Cain - i.e., he was white. The good people of Cook County preferred a black man who was literally brain dead to a reasonable, experienced, conscious white. At that point, I gave up.

So yes, they will continue to pull that lever. As for the reason why, I leave to others. In charity, I like to think that it's due to political corruption - that is, someone is pulling the lever for them.

The question of corruption raises an interesting point. The election returns from black precincts defy any notion of normal distribution; but these are not questioned by anyone, anywhere. In other words, it's assumed by the elite that *blacks aren't normal*. If this isn't what Dubya called "the soft bigotry of low expectations", tell me what is!

236 Good morning! 

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere. 

237 Skip, I know how you feel.
Somewhere in this house is my copy of "First Lensman." Prompted by tvtropes, I wanted to reread one scene. Couldn't find the book. Even looked behind the front layer of shelved books.
I enjoyed it so much that I'm sure I didn't dispose of it.
This is going to bug me, because I just picked up a copy of "Galactic Patrol."

238

It's possible that entire generations of minorities in the cities have been pulling the lever for R, but the machinery spits out D. Every time.

Posted by: Lord Squirrel at April 18, 2021 11:41 AM (hQrcu)

Or perhaps more likely, just haven't been going to the polls (is there any demographic that would have MORE cause to not trust or support government?), and have had the ballot harvesting monsters filling in boxes and boxes and boxes of ballots for decades.  So everyone assumes there's always 80-110% turnout in these areas, when who knows, maybe it's more like 15-25%.  

239 I recommend The Boys in The Boat, the story of how the underdog 1936 University of Washington rowing team beat the elite teams and went on to row against the Germans in the Olympics.  

240 I love my south of the border landscapers. Good people, they cost a bit more but I am completely happy. Pretty sure they are legal.

Just saying.

241 AW - Wouldn't that be militant Insurrection? What many are being held for from the Jan 6 rally?

242

But do they? I think the 2020 election showed us just how badly Democrats have been stacking the deck in their favor in their domains. It's possible that entire generations of minorities in the cities have been pulling the lever for R, but the machinery spits out D. Every time.

Posted by: Lord Squirrel 

Probably not, but we will never know for sure, and it's likely any political "dissent" is stamped out in it's nascent form.  People were and have been actively discouraged from voting "R" in major cities for years. The recount by the Green Party in Detroit in 2016 was stopped because it was starting to show all the fraud in voting there.

243 I sometimes love the monster manuals more than actually playing the game.
 
I especially enjoy the worldbuilding in the GURPS manuals.

244 Posted by: Sheryl at April 18, 2021 11:47 AM (BQcS0)
I enjoyed "Boys in the Boat" very much.

245 Other book I've been reading lately is a James Thurber anthology. That man could write. His comedy is still as fresh and funny now as it was when he was writing. One line actually made me crack up laughing out loud for a minute or two. How many other humorists from the mid-20th century are still remembered?

Another humorist who can do that to me is S.J. Perelman.  'Acres and Pains' is an account of his attempts to live a country life on a farm in Pennsylvania. Or, as he put it "A farm is an irregular patch of nettles bounded by short-term notes, containing a fool and his wife who didn't know enough to stay in the city." He also wrote a series of essays called "Cloudland Revisited" where he goes back and reads books or watches silent movies he thought were terrific when he was young.  They're all terrible. It's a bit like a written version of MST3K.

246 Just home from Mass. Last week we went with Mom to her parish and the priest greeted me outside and chatted a bit and was very welcoming. We met mom at our local parish this morning. Masks still mandatory and as we went to sit next to mom, the Karen, guardian of the pews, says you can't sit there. My wife hissed through her mask "I can't sit with my mother- in-law"? The karen moved to hassle someone else.  

247 I can hardly wait for the new redistricting.

248 Stop it, stop it, stop it.

Elon Musk will rule the world, get over it.

Pretty smart guy.
Practicing.

249 I have HBP, so I shouldn't even read the paper, but alas  I read an Associated News piece in my local paper about Biden's "growing popularity" with our military. That was bad enough. But then it uses a couple of examples of how Trump, "while quick to praise the military  in public.....often mocked them in private." WTF??
It also dredges up Trump insulting "a Gold Star family"--remember the Khans?
I loathe the media.

250 I can't tell if Gringo is being ironic or not.

251 How many other humorists from the mid-20th century are still remembered?
----------
Another humorist who can do that to me is S.J. Perelman.  

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at April 18, 2021 11:51 AM (4mrU3)

H. Allen Smith is a personal favorite of mine.  Wrote the Rhubarb book, about a cat who owned a baseball team.  And a number of anthologies that are a hoot.  

More recent (still alive, still current) writer who is more droll than humorous is Joseph Epstein.  I don't think it's possible for him to write a single word that is out of place.  

252
@Breaking911  33m

NEW: Mississippi, Texas see lowest COVID cases in one year over a month after lifting their mask mandates


And Oregon wants to make masks permanent....

253 The Kindle almost never gets used. I still prefer dead tree versions of everything, and it's about more than just convenience or ease of use.  
Posted by: BurtTC at April 18, 2021 11:42 AM (XhUIh)
-
Yeah, I'm the same way. I have had a terrible time moving to ebooks, although I'll admit that it's nice to have a few on the phone for those times when I get unexpectedly delayed somewhere. 

254 How many other humorists from the mid-20th century are still remembered?

Robert Benchley still makes me larf out loud.  He lived in the top hat, pinstripes, and spats era and his particular irritations - train travel, theatre audiences, trying to read the newspaper at the beach, etc. - are of an era long past, but human nature is sure the same.

255 The Dem machine in many of these cities has been in place since the late 19th century.  It's so entrenched it will be difficult to dislodge.  Some of the blame must go to the short-sighted Republicans of the time.  They were content to let the Dems appeal to the immigrants in the urban areas - they were focused on the rural, native-born population of the North.  That worked as long as the country remained predominately rural - the Dems figured out before the GOP that the cities would come to dominate the political landscape.

256 Ironic is a sometimes hard word to define. Give her a go, but please keep it short.

257 can't tell if Gringo is being ironic or not.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 18, 2021 11:54 AM (QZxDR)

Unfunny Troll

258 that actually describes the universe instead of being mostly fantasy based theories that cannot be quantified or falsified. I do reach that conclusion.

Posted by: Sharkman 

How dare he!

259 The troll is desperate for any attention, even if it means talking with itself.

260 Aaaaand... new thread??

261 Not yet.  Any minute now. 

262 Rereading the trilogy by Ryk E. Spoor of his Arenaverse.
Great fun.  Rollicking SF space opera with more than a touch of Doc E.E. Smith.  
Finished the starting novel Grand Central Arena, with the plucky Earthlings vs everybody in the Universe.  It is a slow start, but picks up the pace soon.   The plot thickens in Spheres of Influence, as the Earthlings continue to struggle in a group of challenges. 
Starting Challenges of the Deep, with the existence of Earth and all the inhabitants under a grave threat from some angry xenophobes. 

I want to edit some scenes in the series, to make it scan a tad more plausible, but it is a throwback to the Lensman series and has a sense of wonder about it.    It is comfort reading that even early teens will enjoy, except for some of the politics. 

263 That could be fun.  A few years as Sleer's mortal master with access to whatever fantastic treasures are guarded by the beast, then the immortal master returns.

Posted by: Reverend Chanequa Moron-Robbie Deonkay Smith III at April 18, 2021 11:27 AM (OeAlt)

Unfortunately (spoilers) Gaiman used the Sleer as a trap by having Bod tell it that the villain is its new master. The villain offhandedly agrees, thinking he can command  it. The Sleer, of course, is pleased as punch to protect its master forever. To wit, and in all caps, the way it talks throughout the book: "THE SLEER WILL HOLD HIM IN ITS COILS FOREVER AND NEVER LET HIM ENDURE THE DANGERS OF THE WORLD." 

264 NOOD>>>

265 NOOD

266  I've started "Persian Fire" by Tom Holland and am finding the ancient Spartans considerably less appealing.   Sparta was basically a grim police state, devoted to war, subjugating and eliminating the untermenschen and stamping out individuality.  As Holland writes of the ancients, the more you learn about them the more alien they become. 

Posted by: Donna&&&&&&V at April 18, 2021 11:14 AM (HabA/)

Holland isn't above employing tired cliches, but he's a damn fine writer, full of vivid descriptions-- and he writes at 100mph it seems.

I'm finishing up Rubicon write now. I read Dominion last year, and I'm going for Shadow of the Sword (about Islam) next.

267 Can't say I've ever been interested in reading fantasy sci-fi.

268 Ironic. Synonym for Persian.

269
She suggests reading "Windswept House" by Malachi Martin. Prior to his death, Martin indicated about 80-90 per cent of the book was "true", only some names had been changed.  She is presently immersed in the arcania of the inner politics of the EU and the Vatican in the book.
Posted by: Bozo Conservative....Living on the prison planet at April 18, 2021 11:45 AM (tjZg/)

On the odd occasion I've attended weekday Mass at Queen of Angels in Dickinson, TX, called St. Michael the Archangel in Danbury in the novel.

270 It won't be much longer until gringo is telling everyone how much he loves Volkswagens. 

271 Can't say I've ever been interested in reading fantasy sci-fi.

Posted by: SMH at April 18, 2021 12:01 PM (FsVxE)

Same here. 

But it seems we're a minority.

272 Heh, Joe. I'm used to being in the minority.

273 And Oregon wants to make masks permanent....

Posted by:Tamiat April 18, 2021 11:55 AM (cF8AT)

Libs are malignant. And per Devin Nunez the donks are trying to purge Republicans from the Navy. The oligarchs want to turn the military loose on Americans. 

274 And Oregon wants to make masks permanent.... *** Called it. These tyrants never, ever willingly give up power.

275 Can't say I've ever been interested in reading fantasy sci-fi
-
The Discworld series is a very good one, but I don't think it really qualifies. It's something different because it tells really fun stories but doesn't take itself seriously.
The ones with the witches are my favorites because they're mostly just old women who do unpleasant jobs other people refuse to do for their families and neighbors, and they use the "witch" title to their advantage. 

276 I can't remember if it was Perelman or not, but I recall reading a hilarious description of the trials and tribulations of a Model T owner.    It was a major project just to start the thing up and shift gears and you had to serve as your own mechanic.  Just about everything we now take for granted - from windshield wipers, to spare tires, had to be purchased separately.   The author wrote of the massive feeling of accomplishment a Model T owner had just arriving at their destination without running out of gas or blowing a tire.  

277 Can't say I've ever been interested in reading fantasy sci-fi.

Posted by: SMH at April 18, 2021 12:01 PM (FsVxE)

Same here. 

But it seems we're a minority.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 18, 2021 12:03 PM (HrMC1)

I don't like SciFi but Armor is one of my favorite books. 

278 Yeah, there's a reason you can buy show-quality restoration Model Ts for under $20k

279 If libs purge the military of "Republicans", they'll have to resort to the draft.  But again, you would have the problem of too many "conservatives" hidden among the troops.  
Wonder if young conservatives would start burning draft cards and rioting.  They are, after all, the new counterculture.

280  I hope I'm not out of line here on the book thread, but for those who missed the early morning thread, Backwards Boy came on for a bit to let us know that  B'Gal passed away yesterday. 
Posted by: grammie winger at April 18, 2021 10:29 AM (45fpk)

Oh, damn! My condolences to B'Boy and his family.

281 Nood sci-fi fantasy 

282 Apparently the woman (?) who is Lightfoot's wife beat her up for cheating (one assumes).  Generally speaking, it does seem to happen with a greater frequency than popularly believed, but specifically, nothing has been confirmed through official channels ... Posted by: Adriane the Critic ... at April 18, 2021 10:47 AM (okV1R)

We need to Horde-source a Variety headline for this story.

283 Donna&&&&&&V:: I believe you're thinking of "Farewell My Lovely" by E. B. White

284 "Now I want to hunt up some of RCA's own accounts of his journeys." 

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 18, 2021 09:35 AM (QZxDR)

Roy Chapman Andrews published a ton of stuff about his expeditions and natural history, and a fair amount of it is available from Gutenberg, Archive dot org, or on Kindle for very cheap or free.  Some of the used hard copies, on the other hand, can be quite pricy.

Weak Geek-at least the first 8-10 Garretts were reprinted in book club editions of two or three book collections with titles like The Garrett Files, Garrett P.I., Garrett Investigates, Garrett On The Case, etc.  You can find used copies sometimes in Half Price Books or from online used book stores, so that might be an alternative source for you.  The second book in the Garrett series, Bitter Gold Hearts, is-IMHO-better than the first.  The rest of the series varies a bit as if he was tiring of it as time passed, with the better books generally being the earlier ones.  Cook's last Garrett book (the 15th) was published about 7 years ago, so he might have abandoned the series; he has two other book series going-the Black Company and the Instrumentalities of the Night-which are quite different from the Garrett books.

285 Since this is still the Book Thread, I bought a book yesterday. It's "Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an American Legend." In the Sheriff's own words with David Thomas Roberts. Bought the autographed copy from Joe himself, and shook his hand. He said, "read it, it's all true."

286

We need to Horde-source a Variety headline for this story.

Posted by:Alberta Oil Peonat April 18, 2021 12:16 PM (mzC7

Clit Wits Hits Nix Pricks ehhhhh can't get it

287

"conservative women are particularly blissful: 40% say they are very happy. That makes them slightly happier than conservative men and significantly happier than liberal women. The unhappiest are liberal men; only a fifth consider themselves very happy"
Damn conservatives are stealing our happiness! Also, how dare you gender assume us!

https://bit.ly/3eiOI6m

Posted by:Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 18, 2021 11:32 AM (VVEnO)

See, I would've thunk that the unhappiest people of all would be liberal women, but no, looks like I'm wrong. Dang.

288 Posted by: Who Knew at April 18, 2021 12:20 PM (SfO/T)
Yes, that's it.
I am not a sci-fi fan either, Star Trek TOS being the exception.

289 See, I would've thunk that the unhappiest people of all would be liberal women, but no, looks like I'm wrong. Dang. --
They have to deal with liberal men, the most worthless meatbags.

290 Just now making it through yesterday's posts. In the chess post, the board is set up wrong in the book cover art.

291 Backwoods Boy came on for a bit to let us know that  B'Gal passed away yesterday. -----
I'm always at a loss as to what to say. I've often wished that I could somehow take on some of the pain, grief, and loss that people suffer. My prayers are with B'boy.

292 Bought the autographed copy from Joe himself, and shook his hand. He said, "read it, it's all true."

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

If I were his marketing guy, I would suggest him selling autographed pink underwear, which is what he issued to his jail occupants, sans autograph.

293 If I were his marketing guy, I would suggest him selling autographed pink underwear, which is what he issued to his jail occupants, sans autograph.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 18, 2021 12:55 PM (DMQdU)

Heh. That would be a hoot.

294 Can't say I've ever been interested in reading fantasy sci-fi.

Posted by:SMHat April 18, 2021 12:01 PM (FsVxE)

Same here.

But it seems we're a minority.

Posted by:JoeF.at April 18, 2021 12:03 PM (HrMC1)

I don't like SciFi but Armor is one of my favorite books.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 18, 2021 12:07 PM (2DOZq)

The fact that all types of readers are welcome to share their own interests and books here is what makes the AoSHQ Book Thread such an awesome place to hang out! I'm all in for the fantasy/sci fi, but I respect anyone who picks up a book to read, regardless of genre. I don't judge.

295 Lawdawg --

I did a bit of "research" -- i.e., read the list on Wikipedia -- once I started SSBlues. I saw the compilation volumes. 

The bookstore has the series in its original novels, which is how I'd want them.

I recently read a Robert Ludlum novel in a compilation volume, and that turkey is just too thick for comfortable reading.

Today's Who Dis made me think of that book. Look at the size of the book Ford is posing with. I agree, it looks like a dictionary. 

296 Since no one else has pointed this out: 'The Betrothed' "has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language" (Wikipedia). The author was Alessandro Manzoni, and it was first published in Italian in 1827, heavily revised until 1842. Your 1853 volume is an English translation. Somehow Italian 19th-century novels have never caught on in English, as Russian and French and even Portuguese ones have. (Seriously: try Machado de Assis, a Brazilian, and Eca de Queiroz, a European Portuguese.) Maybe the other ones aren't very good. 'The Betrothed' is the only 19th-century Italian novel I've ever heard of.

297 Weevil, I was going to say "The Leopard" but that was firmly 20th Century.  Ooops.

298 A.H. Lloyd, magnífico bastardo, ¡leí tu libro!

299 Weak Geek; no worries, I just thought the compilation vols might be a cheaper way for you to get the books-I only bought them to loan out, mostly to my son, so that I would still have my originals if the loan-outs were lost although when I reread them I don't mind the larger volumes.  I can understand your desire to have all in a single format; over the years I bought a few of Stuart Kaminsky's Toby Peters mysteries in pb because the hardbacks were sometimes hard to find in the days before internet book searches, but later replaced the pbs with hbs so I had all in hardback.

300 'Dawg: thanks for the tip about Andrews! I didn't check Gutenberg because he lived into the Fifties and had kids so I figured his books were still in copyright.