Time again for the staff of this here site to fill you in on their perusing of the written word.
Swiss Servator
Having plugged Anderson Gentry’s Nova Roma, I want to give a little equal time to a Glibs author – find out where our favorite adopted term, “Cunte”, came from. See that you go here.
Speaking of Nova Roma, it prompted me to go back and re-read Colleen McCullough’s “Caesar” – 5th book in her ‘Masters of Rome’ series. I wanted to see the fictionalized version of the historical events that led to the end of the Roman Republic. McCullough follows the historical record fairly straight-on (what exists from then) – afterword, she does fill you in as to where she took liberties or filled in a gap. Overall, it is a very good imagining of the Gallic War and the aftermath in Rome. If you like Roman history, give the whole series a whirl.
SugarFree
Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker (1911)
I finally read this after being a fan of the 1988 film version by Ken Russell. (Which one of the most batshit movies made in a coherent and well-acted way: Jesus on the cross having his arm gnawed on by a giant snake; Amanda Donohue spraying hallucinogenic venom in people’s faces, Peter Capaldi eating earthworms, Hugh Grant.)
The Lair of the White Worm is on a few lists of the worst books ever written. It is nowhere near that bad but I see the essential core of the problem. It’s two short novels that have really very little to do with each other welded into one narrative quite clumsily. One is the story of the White Worm, a huge and ancient intelligent snake thousands of years old that has the ability to take on human form and the other is about An Evil Rich Lord trying to make a beautiful farm girl fall in love with him with Mesmerism, a battle of wills that kills her and drives him mad in the end.
Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare (2020)
As close to as I have ever found to a slasher movie in book form. As a fan of the slasher film, I’m not sure why it was even published–just take it straight to the screen. Killer clowns, dumb teens, cornfields, it’s really all there in the title.
What am I reading?
On Unknown Shores – the story of a bastard trapped halfway around the world because of his own recklessness. Oh, and dragon worshippers try to kill him.
Silver Lotus – The story of a bastard serving as an air-recon flyer and general troubleshooter for a recently unified pair of kingdoms at the outbreak of an external war.
What am I listening to?
The Joy of Ancient History – a bastardized collection of individual lectures about egypt, greece, and rome.
What am I writing?
On Unknown Shores – A tale of exploration and adventure by a merchant/sailor/explorer in unknown lands.
Silver Lotus – A tale of exploration and adventure by a young man and a flying beast in the mysterious contentental heart. Okay, they’re also trying to avoid a war. That doesn’t go so well.
Vampire (working title) – A guy contracts vampirism and gets stuck in the quarantine zone of a zombie outbreak. Told as an epistilatory tale using a framing device purporting to be online videos posted by said vampire.*
*no actual video content.
**yet
you have any idea how difficult good video content is to make?
I’ll stick with text. Much easier.
Taking videos of vampires is supposedly problematic.
The important question: Do your vampires sparkle?
Fuck no.
Charles on his first experience with sunlight post-transformation:
I do.
Just make bad content in a low-cut top. Seems to work pretty well on Twitch.
How To Paint Your Car
Haynes Repair Manual For Chevrolet and GM Pickups 1988 thru 1998
I bought my wife a ’74 MGB, so I’ve been perusing the requisite Haynes manual for that.
Nice!
I highly recommend a factory repair manual.
It saved me a lot of WTF on the Spitfire.
I actually have that one as well (from the previous owner) but I started with the Haynes.
Cool!
How original is it? Smog shit on it?
Dracul – a book (co-) written by Dacre Stoker, great-great-great-great-etc-nephew of Bram Stoker.
Have you ever read the original Dracula by Stoker? I’ve never been into horror/suspense, but it was legitimately spooky at parts. I really enjoyed it and plan on re-reading it.
I read that and the original ‘Frankenstein’ when I was about 8. Some day I might revisit them.
I tried – twice – but no luck. Dracul kind of drags here ‘n’ there but does have some freaky imagery.
Pandora, by Anne Rice
Marius’ First creation, if you know who he is,
That chick had a really nice box.
Phrasing!
Clown in a Cornfield
From the creators of Snakes on a Plane?
I do wonder if that was on purpose, like how most original movies on SyFy have their elevator pitches as the title. “A tornado with sharks in it… We’ll call it Sharknado!”
The fact that Tara Reid did not win an Oscar or at least a Kid’s Choice award for her performance in Sharknado is an injustice.
I tried to read the “Breaker of Empires” trilogy, getting through Valiant Dust & Restless Lightning, but I stopped caring after the second book.
The main character isn’t particularly likeable, nor does it feel like he is in any real danger at any moment. I suppose his background – wealthy prince in another empire’s space navy – doesn’t draw much empathy from me. That, and a bodyguard, plus the “future” seems on par, minus space flight, with ours when it comes to ground battles. The space battles are a little better though.
The Proviso by some obscure author named Moriah Jovan. Never too late to explore the workings of the feminine mind, should have done this long ago.
Thanks! I have questions for you, but I don’t want to spoil anything with them.
“Skip the Line” by James Altucher.
I’m reading Las Vegas, Nevada, and airline restrictions as they keep getting updated as I prep for an 18 month delayed trip to Vegas.
ROAD TRIP!
The Best of Jerry Pournelle. He had quite the mind.
The Revelations Cycle series. I’m through book 3 now. Space mercenaries – what’s not to like?
July and August reading, since I was on the road for the July edition of this post.
Finished:
“Retief and the Pangalactic Pageant of Pulchritude” by Keith Laumer
“Peace, Love & Liberty” edited by Tom G. Palmer
“Why Liberty: Your Life, Your Choices, Your Future” edited by Tom G. Palmer
Currently reading:
“Tom Swift and His Ultrasonic Cycloplane”
I’ve only read one Tom Swift book. I found the writing style… sparce. Like a book with the details not fleshed out. The characters were half-dimensional, and the writing pretty bad.
Is that one different?
No. They’re formulaic.
I found the first series kind of fun despite the deficiencies in writing. The second series, which this one is a part of, is not as good or as fun. There is an attempt at a story arc across all the books involving some aliens that I think could have been interesting but really isn’t all that interesting.
That’s really the trick with good fiction writing. Give enough detail to create a picture in someone’s mind but not so much it bogs the story down as you want the reader to want to turn the next page to find out what happens next.
Having just finished a true-crime account of a nightmarish crime committed by gang members, I’m now reading A Confederacy of Dunces, which I’ve never read because I’ve been reading exclusively nonfiction for decades. I was badgered into reading it by family. It’s amusing enough.
Loved it. No spoilers, but toward the end there is an “army” which is totally glib-worthy.
It’s the only non-Douglas Adams book that has caused me to laugh out loud. It was very much involved in my choice to leave Florida for NOLA. I would put it up there with the best of Bukowski and Brautigan. Ignatius Reilly is my hero.
Might I suggest some Pratchett to lighten the mood?
–Jingo
I’ve always been told it was nonsensical and unfunny. Maybe I should examine the opiners on that.
I read it in my 20s and loved it. Recently read it again and it doesn’t hold up for me.
I only got a little bit into it before I flamed out. I think the humour is simply not to everyone’s taste, and I found I could never get to that state of suspension of disbelief that (for me at least) is always necessary to truly immerse into a fictional account.
Since the last “What are We Reading?”, I have finished the Game of Thrones books, as well as Haidt’s “Coddling of the American Mind” and Malice’s “Dear Reader” and “The New Right”.
Do you hate Martin now?
“Do you hate Martin now?”
No, simply because I have read far far worse. I did have multiple flashbacks to South Park while reading them though. “Weiner, weiner, weiner.”
I read the second book a long time ago, couldn’t keep track of who was who.
After I saw the first season I read them in order and really liked them. (having faces from the show really helped me follow)
I was looking forward to a new one.
Then the show went to shit, and I lost interest.
The show went to shit when they passed the last book.
The people who hate Martin are the ones who anticipated “The Wind of Winter” for years before they realized he had bailed on the series.
At this point I’m just waiting for the inevitable Author Existence Failure.
I just want to know, where do whores go?
Probably the opposite of where they come.
Currently working on “The Death of Stalin”
Finished Anarchist Handbook and am currently reading Lysaner Spooner, I think I might be radicalizing myself.
Also just finished Target Rich Environment by Larry Corriea. Really enjoyable collection of short stories.
Still doing The Daily Stoic and sprinkling in Seneca’s letters and Meditations, these have really helped me stay sane through the world losing its mind.
Be careful about radicalizing yourself. You might go blind or grow some hair on your palms.
That’s just an old wive’s tale!
Right…right?
Let’s just say I had to shave a little in order to learn Braille.
Listened to Target Rich Environment in the car. Was laughing out loud at several scenes.
I just finished reading Savage Continent, which I think someone here recommended. It’s a history of Europe in the period just before and after the end of WW2.
Currently reading The Smear by Sharyl Atkisson.
This is fun,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHCoQm9mZY
I guess Red Bull does give you wings,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PstCRJlUDBU
My nads crawled up inside me watching the first part of the bmx video (second one in).
The Nature of Things by Lucretius
Trust Me, I’m Lying by Ryan Holliday
Infidel by Ayann Hirsi Ali – This one is kind of interesting just because of the reaction it provoked from the feminist Left. The fact that they hate her so much shows what their values really are.
Saw her on Fox news this morning, didn’t know who she was, never heard of her foundation.
/shelter life
Thanks for the shout-out, Swissy and Ghostpatzer!
I am not reading nor writing, but I’m cogitating a huge twist on Cinderella.
Evil stepdaughter? robots?
evil step-robots?
Told from the POV of the stepmother, who sacrificed a certain magical position to marry her bratty stepdaughter’s father.
POV? Sounds interesting…
Point of view, LOL, nothing to do with penises or vaginas.
This one’s a slow-burn romance, too.
Do the daughters still cut off their own toes?
No, but they do get resentful that the stepdaughter, who has behavior issues, is getting all their mom’s attention and the house/family revolves around the stepdaughter, so then they start acting out too.
Hey Yusef, I played my 1st game of disc golf today. Don’t know how I did compared to others but seems way easier than normal golf. Still enjoyable and would be even better playing with others.
Snow, Glass, Apples by Gaiman does a similar thing with Snow White.
Googled, but … incest, rape, necrophilia is not quite where I am going. LOL
And you call yourself a Glib.
Boring!
I know. No Mexican ass sex.
Like the back of a volkswagon?
Been on a bit of a Brandon Sanderson kick lately, read a bunch of his novellas and enjoyed their retro sci-fi and fantasy vibe. Sixth of the Dusk in particular left me wanting more. Reading Elantris now.
Also read the first two Hard Case novels by Dan Simmons. Hard boiled detective stuff, probably not for everybody but I enjoyed them, the second in particular.
Also read The Fifth Heart by Simmons, an odd take on Sherlock Holmes, with Henry James (sort of) filling the role of Watson. It’s set in the early 1890’s with lots of real-life famous people as secondary characters. One of the conceits is that Holmes believes he may be a fictional character, and discusses this with other characters. Typical Simmons, but didn’t really lead to anything very interesting, unfortunately. The book also occasionally breaks the fourth wall with the author/narrator speaking directly the reader, and that was also just distracting without adding much. I enjoyed it overall, but often found myself wishing it was just a Sherlock novel, or just a historical novel, and not something trying to be both.
I like Sanderson. The Stormlight series is very good.
Finally reading the Man in the High Castle and enjoying it.
I also really enjoyed (for the most part) the TV show. But, apart from the alternate world structure and the names of the characters, they’re two pretty different animals.
I liked the TV show up until the last season. When they made the black Communists the heroes, I bailed.
I kept watching, but yeah, that pissed me off. Yay, we got rid of the fascists! Now the communists will be in charge… oh fuck.
The first two seasons were great, it started losing its way in the third, and the fourth went completely off the rails.
The fourth season was,IMO, the weakest. They dropped characters which I assume was budget and/or availability but it detracted. Especially losing the Japanese trade minister.
Just can’t seem to get the reading habit back. Finally, after 5 months, my appetite is back and I’ve gained back the lost weight. I keep telling myself I’ll have more time when the weather gets cold. I have about 8-10 books waiting.
It’s been a rough month for reading. Quite a few life changes.
Still managed another in the Ian Rutledge series. I think I only have a couple left.
Also been reading the Anarchist Handbook.
Finished Alistair Reynolds’s Revenger trilogy with Bone Silence. I didn’t particularly care for it. Pirates in space, borderline (?) steam punk, quasi-Victorian writing style. Not really my thing. Competently done, I’m sure others might enjoy it very much. Revenger, Shadow Captain, Bone Silence.
A.E. Van Vogt’s The Weapon Shops of Isher. “The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.” It’s been decades since I last read this. 50s SF, likely to be enjoyed by many here.
It’s not ‘high fiction’ but not quite pulp.
History repeats first as tragedy then as farce. Reading this, 1968 was a tragedy. 2021 is a farce. Mark Kurlansky’s 1968. Engaging, well worth reading. I was a sophomore/junior in high school in 68. The resonances between then and now are very strong. His biases are never too far below the surface but his reporting is well done. Highly recommended.
Charles Stross, Dead Lies Dreaming. Book 10 of 11 (plus some novellas; 11 not yet released). Well done, worth reading if you’ve kept up with the Laundry Files series.
Some scattered re-reading of books in Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series. Violent, fun, God, Satan, Hell, violence, intrigue.
Christopher Moore’s Piney Cove books, plus Island of the Sequined Love Nun, which sets some of the groundwork for The Stupidest Angel. I had forgotten the dark threads woven through these. Nonetheless, fun stuff.
I’m on book 2 of the X-Men Age of Apocalypse collection, another one that I read some books but didn’t have a regular place or money to buy them when they came out.
If you haven’t yet read it, I really enjoyed The Asgardian Wars, an X-Men/New Mutants/Thor storyline wherein Thor was missing (this was right before Beta-Ray Bill) so Loki ensorcelled Storm and schemed to make her the new Thunder Goddess.
As a fan of historical fiction, based on Swissy’s post I ordered the first book of Colleen McCullough’s ‘Masters of Rome’ series. If I like it I’ll spring for the rest of them.
I liked Harry Sidebotton’s “Warrior of Rome” series.
#metoo
Dan Carlin’s Death Throes of the Republic is one of my favorites to listen too. Covers from the Gracchus brothers to the assassination of Julius Caesar and the rise of Agustus.
LONG, but very interesting and entertaining.
I just finished “The Storm before the Calm” by George Friedman, and am trying to get my thoughts together to write a review of it.
I Just started “A Peace to End All Peace,” as recommended by KK.
I also just got back into “The Dune Encyclopedia,” which was referenced on this site yesterday morning, and I found a pdf copy of it (link is in the morning links for Thursday, August 26, 2021). I think my Dad had a copy of this, but I can’t find it. My GF might have a copy of it too, but if so, it’s among her books that are still in boxes at her dad’s house. Hopefully we can find it someday. I remember reading some of the entries back in the day. I’d like to have a physical copy of this, but as noted yesterday, it’s out of print and pretty dear.
Also, working my way through “Enough Already” by Scott Horton, although it just continues to make me more upset about current events, so maybe I’ll lay off that for a while.
Huh. I had no idea. I’d just send you mine if someone hadn’t borrowed and never returned it.
I saw one on Ebay that had a Garfield bookplate inside the front cover that said: “This Book Guarded by Attack Cat: Property of SF”
Oh, shit! Garfield was my boy!
I don’t have time to read books.
Too many rabbit holes to investigate.
Last night for instance . . . .
Raised bed gardening ==> cinder block raised beds ==> mulching to make your own garden soil ==> bagging systems for Ariens zero-turn lawnmowers ==> brain-churning sleepless night.
Thanks for that folks.
😉
I call them my wiki trips, I will wonder about, say, orbital mechanics, do a bit of googling, and end up reading about Albatross courtship rituals an hour later.
Of all things, a book called Readings for Liberal Education (5th ed., 1967), edited by Locke, Gibson and Arms, a book which was meant to be targeted to first-year University or college students. Found this in one of the estate sales I’ve been going to, a large-ish collection of books from a librarian. Her kids were there, and described her as “Google before Google existed.” Okay then.
It’s . . . interesting. Unabashedly U.S.-centric in scope, and with a certain amount of barely-submerged angstiness about what a liberal education is or should be in This Modern World (American version). Times have certainly changed, and most of what’s in the book would probably be cancelled nowadays. This volume also contains “Introduction to Literature,” which is a very substantial addition and was also published as a separate volume (content’s identical, I bought both books). This Introduction is sort of a cut-down Norton’s Anthology from the same time period.
I’ve also been reading a User’s/Service Manual for a Simpson 452 Oscilloscope (first brought to market in 1978), the manual for which I finally found a complete copy of after four years of searching. Yay schematic diagrams and parts list at last. Now I can do a decent job of rebuilding the silly thing.
Like most people here, I haven’t had enough time for reading plus all the other stuff I’m doing or supposed to be doing. At least I’m not bored.
Read Lair of the White Worm as the last in a three-novel-omnibus “Stoker’s Lost Novels”. The other two were The Jewel of Seven Stars and The Lady of the Shroud. There is a good reason why everyone knows Stoker for Dracula, and not for his other work.
Jewel of Seven Stars is interesting in that the original ending (everyone is capital-F fucked, the end) was so harsh, the publisher replaced it with a happy-ever-after ending in later editions (the new ending may or may not have been written by Stoker). The original ending is better, it is much more in keeping with the tone of the book. It’s still not a really good book.
The Lady of the Shroud starts out like maybe a vampire book, but quickly turns into a badly-written “boy’s adventure” piece where the hero get the money, the hot chick, saves his adoptive homeland, achieves unqualified success in all matters.
Jewel of Seven Stars
While it has been filmed a few times, the 1980 The Awakening starring Charlton Heston is a fun, schlocky take. And uses the original ending.
And, of course, Hammer’s Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb, which, while fun in the Hammer way, must be considered a bit of failure in that they didn’t get Valerie Leon to do a nude scene.
Why, hello there!
I’ve been revisiting books I wrote almost a decade ago – now that I’m not a full-time slob, I can flesh out the story better, proofread without haste, and generally get the books where I wished they had been all that time.
I’ve started with “Of Ghosts & Gunpowder” aka Horror America.
In the future I plan to publish these under my real name. But no rush.
This is comforting.
Woke soldier says she’ll shoot Americans who disobey her if martial law is declared.
“If you’re at my house, shooting me and mine, what do you think is going on at your house?”
only a matter of time.
“Yo, sweetcheeks. This is America. We shoot back.”
That’s the kind of idiot that watched the The Handmaid’s Tale and thought it was a documentary.
Your oath is to the Constitution, fuckface.
I know there are probably enough useful idiots that think that way in the service to be dangerous but I still hold out hope that a measurable number of Soldiers will walk away from and/or frag the officer giving these highly illegal orders. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking on my part.
But the, ‘go along to get along,’ runs deep in the human psyche and it has lead to unspeakable horrors.
Started Girl Genius: the Second Journey of Agatha Heterodyne vol 6 but stopped because I didn’t like it. I really liked the first 18 books in this series, so I’m going to try nad get caught up on sleep and try again.
Started this, and am liking it so far.
Question, has anyone read the books that the TV series The Magicians was based on, and if so, are they any good? I watched the first season of htat show and can see how it might have potential.
I found The Magicians to be a lot of missed opportunities. The first book is pretty good, but at a certain point, it just became a bit too solipsistic.
And the magical world is clearly Narnia, but he had to change a lot because Disney owns the copyright currently.
DAMN!! Talk about a nut-punch.
Just wait for the reboot with the race-swapped kids that end up in 1940’s England for no particular reason.
Well yeah it’s Narnia.
Since the show established that the reason everyone wanted to get back to that magical world was the air was 0.3% opium I was curious as to what else the author might have done that couldn’t get put on the Tee Vee.
I wasn’t a big fan. The protagonist is a whiny git, and the whining just. never. stops. There are a lot off ‘rabbit out of a hat’ moments, attempting to be ‘dues ex machina.’
I liked the TV series a bit better
Concur. Gave up after the first book, dIsliked all the characters. The only thing I really liked in both the show and the book was that magic was really hard to do: physically challenging to contort your body into the necessary poses, and mentally challenging because successful spellcasting required accounting for a raft of environmental interactions. That much, at least, is more satisfying than waggling a twig a shouting “bimbo bango!”
There was also the point that magic came from pain, and no one who could do magic was well adjusted in the least.
I read the books. The characters are a bit older than in the show, and much more unlikable. I really enjoyed the show, as did the girlfriend.
C’mon, man. That’s not the approved question.
Biden to reporters: “They gave me a list here, the first person I was instructed to call on”
Many vets got brain cancer?
Scott Horton blames the burn pits.
Not sure if there is any validity to this.
It sounds feasible.
Huh.
Gulf War syndrome at any rate.
First question. Who instructed you?
…and that is how you get taken off one list and put on another.
“You know… the guy.”
consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
Totally legal for a governor to unilaterally require masks every public place, but totally not legal for a governor to ban subordinate governments from imposing mask mandates.
I wonder who put this judge on the bench.
Yeah, if this was a mandate imposed by him it’d be no problem. This is fucking bullshit, people can wear them if they want. They aren’t forbidden.
It seems that the fact checkers at NPR got the story wrong too. Did DeSantis ban masks, or did he ban mandates? I thought it was the latter.
Governor Curly. Woo Woo Woop!
In court this week, lawyers for the parents say DeSantis’ order violates a constitutional requirement that districts operate schools that are safe and secure. The state maintains parents have the ultimate authority to decide what’s best for their kids. The judge’s ruling allows school districts to require masks.
Noting that the coronavirus — and particularly the delta variant — is highly contagious and sometimes fatal to children, Cooper urged people to take a step back, “We will not solve any issue if we can’t sit down and work together and take positions recognizing what’s going on is not some recent imposition or some attack on the country.”
That’s some mighty fine judging there, Lou.
Also, ignore this cunte judge and anyone that tries to make you wear a bacteria incubator on your face.
It’s not an attack on the country, he’s arguing against something people for the most part aren’t arguing. It is an attack on personal self-ownership and parental authority by the state. And it is a recent imposition.This judge is a shithead.
Some other things that are sometimes fatal to children:
Crossing the street
Riding in a car
Swimming
Influenza
Walking on my lawn.
Looking at my daughters with lecherous intent.
sometimes fatal to children
I believe there are less than five children (meaning, under 18) who have died of COVID. The other 300-odd all had significant comorbidities. COVID is way down on the list of cause of death for people under 18.
The judge is fool.
We were talking yesterday about masking, schools, etc. and somebody mentioned that there is a big RSV outbreak underway in the schools. I asked why they thought that might be happening. They said “Because kids immune systems are weakened after last year with all the isolation and masking.” And then went straight back to bitching that masks aren’t required in some schools. They literally could not make the connection between two adjacent sentences that they said themselves: Masks weaken children’s immune systems* and RSV is RAGING because kids have weakened immune systems.
*I doubt this, myself, because masks don’t do much of anything. But they think masks work, masks weaken children’s immune systems, , and masks should be mandatory.
The judge in this case is in Leon County (FSU / FAMU, so lefty central), square in the middle of the First District.
The same First District Court of Appeal that, back in June, concluded that Alachua County’s (University of FL, also lefty central) mask mandate, allegedly intended to fight COVID, was “presumptively unconstitutional” under a Florida Supreme Court precedent that took a broad view of the Florida Constitution’s guarantee of personal privacy.
I wonder how they’ll react to a rogue Circuit Court judge giving them the middle finger on the precedent they just set.
Heading for Disney world in 3 days! 3 more days! I’ll have more vacation days in a row than I’ve ever had.
I’m going to be a pack mule while I’m there… but god damn it, I’m going to be a drunk happy one!
Hurricanes, COVID, Florida… nothing will stop us! It’s going to princesses and roaming dry humping tupes all day long! I’ve even got my crocs spit shined!
I’ve never really done this type of vacation. With the covid restrictions it’s going to be interesting. Any Disney world Glib suggestions?
We’re going to be staying a a few different resorts while there. I’ve heard the round the world walk at EPICOT is awesome. I plan on having a specialty drink at each country. I’ll crawl back to my room if I have to!
My two favorite rides are still the haunted house and the pirate ride. If you tire of Disney, there are a million mini golf places out front. And Universal is also great. Sadly the big wacky haunted house that was in between Disney and Universal (Skull Kindom I believe) is no longer there.
We’ve got 5 different parks planned out. A couple of open days before and after. Planing on resting up the first couple. Last couple is probably going to be NASA / Cocoa Beach.
I’m thinking about checking out some waterfront property near Cocoa beach too.
NASA / Cocoa Beach.
We did that once, it was fun.
One thing I’d suggest to help pass the time in the parks is to encourage the young’uns to be on the lookout for Hidden Mickeys. They’re all over the place (buy and read the book in secret, or check out some websites dedicated to them, and astound the kids with how observant you are).
Other random tips from a 20+ year annual passholder:
The hotels near the Magic Kingdom all have pavilions to observe the fireworks, with the music piped in.
Drinking around Lake Buena Vista (a cocktail at all three hotels) beats trying to drink around the lake at EPCOT. One involves some monorail rides, the other a lengthy walk in the heat.
The films at China and Canada are nice breaks to get some shade and air conditioning. Ditto for Tutto Italia if you want a snack.
The beer cart in front of Germany has better beer, lower prices, and a shorter line than the beer stall in the pavilion.
Best attraction in Animal Kingdom is Kilimanjaro Safaris. Go early, or late in the day. Midday heat makes the animals scarce and/or lethargic.
KSC is pretty cool and worth a visit. Cocoa is a nice beach, too. I’d go the SUV route, if rental prices aren’t insane.
Thank you for the advice! As usual, you’re all awesome.
Go EARLY!!!! If there are more than a handful of people in line, about an hour before posted opening time, they’ll throw open the gates. Not everything in the park will be open yet, but I got to enjoy multiple rides on several things that, later in the day, had wait times of around 45 minutes. The EPCOT Norway pavilion has the coldest ride in the whole park; great for hot days. The kosher food is a ripoff. The Moroccan restaurant was very good. Mexico, the ride and market inside the Aztec pyramid, provides a welcome respite to the powerful sun. China was pure CCP propaganda but there were a couple of troupes of acrobats who put on a fantastic show.
Did you get to sacrifice children to Tlaloc?
That costs extra.
Well, of course it does. I’ts Disney. Everything costs extra.
LOL… I remember when the rides were all ticket based. I don’t want to waste an E ticket on Space Mountain, are you sure you’re not gonna get sick?
https://yesterland.com/
better: https://yesterland.com/eticket.html
I stayed at one of the on-site hotels with the wife and youngish son a few years ago. Walking distance to the park. We went to the park very early and very late and didn’t encounter much at all in the way of lines at rides. During the late hours people are tired, into fireworks and such, hungry, etc. During the middle of the day we did some swimming and other stuff.
Bring an umbrella, it’s been raining almost every day this summer.
Where are you staying?
In the park for 8 days. Then… No idea.
We’ve been doing some heavy training for long distances with the double stroller. So we’re good on water and endurance and the kids are fairly used to longer hikes without A/C. It’s been quite a to do and we haven’t even gotten there yet. Also, we have some disposable ponchos ordered.
Definitely a lot of people in the ‘go early’ category. Planning on heading back to the hotel around 1430 for a 2-3 hour nap and back out after it after 5pm.
Meal packages aren’t a thing right now. Nor are fast passes. Mother in-law will be able to get us a handicap pass.
Figuring on ordering a lot of Amazon prime food/snacks to our hotel room.
Not a lot of planning currently around the run to the Atlantic. NOt sure if we want to rent an SUV or take a shuttle. Leaning pretty hard on the SUV.
I’m a bit excited because I have yet to put my toes in the Atlantic. This’ll be my first ever visit to anything on the East Coast.
Going early is definitely a good idea. The ponchos are a great idea, they help a lot and don’t weigh you down.
Buy a bunch of $1.29 rain ponchos to take with you. The ones there, as everything else, is very pricey. But they will let you bring your own snacks and sandwiches in so I suggest you do that for at least one meal.
Have fun! I have a party of about 18 going for my birthday in November. This year the Magic Kingdom is 50, and so am I! Hopefully things are still open then, a lot can happen in a few months.
That sounds like a blast. I hope they get rid of a bunch of these restrictions they have by then. We would’ve threaded the needle perfectly if not for this delta bullshit.
I know it may be me being a spoilsport, but I have always hated theme parks. They are even worse if they have costumed characters, they make me uncomfortable, I avoid sports mascots as well.
All the good photos have been pulled already. Give Etsy credit for that I suppose.
Retail Therapy.
Should be fun to tinker with.
Nobody is going to look at the pretty picture . . .
I looked! My knowledge of stringin’ instruments is limited.
Purty!
I saw it! I looked at cigar box guitars on eBay once. Then I remembered I have the musical skills of a mollusk. I do love cigar box guitars though, and that is a nice one!
What is That? a Koto?
3-string cigar box guitar with a resonator (dobro)
Are you going to get a moonshine jug and a violin bow for your saw?
Americans At Mercy Of Taliban Just Glad We Don’t Have A President Who Posts Mean Tweets Anymore
At publishing time, Americans currently under attack by terrorists in Kabul said they are just glad that our military leaders are focusing on critical race theory and gender equality as well.
A dirk between the ribs.
Strawberry practically sprinted from the briefing room yesterday when someone asked that very question.
Boosters
Last week: after 8 months
Yesterday: after 6 months
Today: after 5 months
Tomorrow…
Tomorrow…
Permanent IV drip of the vaccine?
LOL, GTFO.
Biden says U.S. health officials are considering Covid booster shots at 5 months, moving up timeline of third shot
No, but thanks for offering.
We won’t be safe until every single person in the country is forced to walk around with an IV of vaccine fluid.
Tomorrow: daily injections after watching mandatory two-minute-long youtube update from the Administration.
And still not a word about the studies showing massively better protection from natural infection.
Fuck off, losers.
got links?
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/having-sars-cov-2-once-confers-much-greater-immunity-vaccine-no-infection-parties
Thanks!
Huh, so the basic principles of virology & immunology still apply. Whodathunkit.
This is a result of living in a science-based society where the vast majority do not actually understand science. Even technically minded people don’t know the intricacies of other disciplines, so the population in general is tragically susceptible to authorities who can claim the mantle of science to justify their actions.
This whole situation has belied the claim that we left superstition behind when we became a technical society. It’s not a new claim to point out that the technocracy is always at risk of becoming a priesthood, but the last year and a half has clearly demonstrated the possibility.
https://twitter.com/MartinKulldorff/status/1430660291579105284
Good, I was wondering when Kulldorff would weigh in on this.
Scrolled the replies. (I know, I know.)
My God, there’s a lot of irretrievably stupid people out there.
Yes, there are…
Uhhhh… something infection fatality rate… something… something… 0.15%
It’s telling that so many react to a scientific study as if it was attacking their faith.
I haven’t been reading, but I have been watching a woman on YouTube that digs around the banks of the Thames at low tide and digs up old crap. Then she cleans the crap and researches it. Apparently there are literal fucktons of clay pipes in the Thames.
Mudlarks are still around?
Apparently https://www.youtube.com/user/driftwoodnic
SQUEAL!!! Link please? Muckraking is cool.
See above ^^
I love the longer-form (20+ minutes) Youtubers with an educational bent. It’s like the exact opposite of Tik Tok.
It depends on how long I can listen to them. Different presenters have different irritation thresholds. (I don’t mean that in a negative way. Listening to anyone for too long will eventually lead to irritation)
‘Ey, Blinken.
House Republicans have filed articles of impeachment for State Department Secretary Antony Blinken Friday in the aftermath of 13 U.S. service member deaths in Kabul, Afghanistan. …
The filed articles of impeachment follow five House Republicans demanding someone from Biden’s administration to immediately resign or be fired. That includes Reps. Mary Miller (IL), Mike Johnson (LA), Don Bacon (NE), Chris Stewart (UT), and Jackie Walorski (ID).
The demand for Blinken to be held accountable comes in the wake of U.S. officials handing over a list of names of Americans, green card holders, and Afghan allies to the Taliban terrorists, Politico reported Thursday.
When men fail as entirely as you have…
Taliban Buys Hunter Biden Painting For Presidential Palace
In Response To Afghanistan Disaster, Pelosi Begins Impeachment Proceedings Against President Trump
Did they pay with pallets of cash that was left behind?
Here’s one for the Bee agent who lurks here: ISIS Mutation Results in Deadly New ‘K’ Variant
The Taliban is pretty savvy about American politics, media, etc.
I would not be a bit surprised if they do buy one of his paintings, just to yank our chain.
Only so they could destroy it. I’m guessing Hunter’s “art” would be considered un-Islamic by the Taliban.
Could be, but it doesn’t show Big Mo (PBUH). Doesn’t show much of anything. But I am not wise in the ways of fundamentalist Islamonutters.
what else are they going to do with the pallets of cash
Been going through Straight Man by Richard Russo.
Satiric tale of the earnestly, feverishly, politically correct in the clown world that is academia.
That’s a great one. Duck a day!
Holy crap – aurora KPI of the charts right now https://www.youtube.com/user/driftwoodnic
Clear night in Lapland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZphPhNVlYug
Yup, this seems right.
Especially because the ratchet never even gets used…
I’m on the 3rd book of Brent Weeks Lightbringer series. I not sure how original it is, but his “rules” for “magic users” is new for me. Certain people have the ability to split the light prism into solid form. Different coloors have different properties. Lots of intricate storytelling in this.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2.75 books. Intricate puts it mildly, the ideas effervesce, the subplots proliferate, it all seems to be heading to a grand denouement. Then there’s the las 1/4 or so of book 3. Sigh
You’ll likely see it coming.
Oh no! Sounds like what happened in his first series.
Oh, dear, so he’s done it before. I guess I figured rightly when I swore I’d never read anything else by him. Heavy sigh.
Mask report from the make-me state. Post office, lots of people, all masked but me, but there is a sign saying masks are REQUIRED. Nobody looked at me funny or said anything.
Walmart, probably 70/30 masked/unmasked.
Missouri has barely 51% vaccination rate and they can’t get it any higher thru media disasterpr0n or incentives. I don’t know if masks are an “I am unvaccinated” statement now or if they’re wearing masks after having been vaccinated, or if people really are spooked about the delta variant.
I don’t think mask-wearing correlates to vax status. If there is a correlation, its probably to rule-following/susceptibility to media-driven panic.
Which may, in turn, mean that the Unclean are less likely to wear masks.
What am I reading? Well, I just read an e-mail from our CEO announcing that since the Pfizer COVID19 shot “has been given FULL APPROVAL BY THE FDA,” [emphasis from the original] employees who haven’t gotten one of the shots will have to wear masks on-site except in private offices, get their temps taken & documented every morning, and continue social distancing. And supervisors in all offices have to make sure all these steps are being taken.
Now, I got the J&J shot voluntarily for my own personal reasons. But guess who’s been the recipient of employees’ shot documentation (for COVID pay and other purposes,) heretofore kept (mostly) confidential, and guess who’s probably going to have to take the temps (again) in her building? I’ve already had one supervisor ask for the list of her employees who’ve gotten the shots, and no one has told me I’m allowed to give out that info. The CEO hasn’t yet responded to the supervisor’s message I forwarded to him with a request for him to advise me how to proceed.
I feel like crying.
Malicious compliance. Make the process be the punishment for those instituting the plan.
That just sucks.
I will say that all the insurance/health plans pushed by HR departments in years past skirt dangerously close to HIPAA privacy laws. This whole shot record thing goes right over the line. I am surprised there have not been any lawsuits yet over the topic.