RICHARD
I was rooting around inside my shed and found a book my father sent me some time ago The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Steven King. I’d not read it before. The book is the revised 2003 edition and in the preface King favorably compares the The Dark Tower series of eight books to The Lord of the Rings and other epic series that actually have merit. Mr. King, if you have to tell people how great your work is, it isn’t. It’s difficult for the reader of a book to understand WTF is going on when the friggin’ protagonist of the story doesn’t know WTF going on. What a waste of time and attention.
Another of my father’s cast-offs was Prelude to Foundation by Issac Asimov. This one I had read before but it had been a long time and I couldn’t remember the entire plot so I thought I’d give it a refresh. As I went along I recalled what I’d thought before: Young Harri Seldon was an asshole. I can only imagine that Asimov did this deliberately to humanize the later godlike figure but it was actually unpleasant to follow Seldon make bad insulting decisions one after another.
My Hugo award nominee-reading friend started Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree so I did too. Subsequent research made me aware of a literary genre I’d not heard of before: “Cozy”. “Cozy” fiction is like smooth jazz. Nothing surprising or disturbing happens, in particular sex and violence are kept off-stage, and happy nice people resolve their happy nice difficulties in a happy nice ways. Legends & Lattes isn’t Science Fiction in fact it’s hardly anything because hardly anything happens in the cozy story. This is a Hugo award nominee? Oh how the mighty have fallen.
At this point I was beginning to revise my opinion of the 1933 Berlin Book Burning. I decided to refresh my palate and started Nova Roma 2: Quaestu pro Nova Terra by Anderson Gentry. I mentioned the first book of this series in a previous WAWR. The first book was burdened with world building so was a little light on plot. The second book has no such problem and oozes with juicy events. Gentry has a vast store of U.S. history to draw on to keep his fiction factual and his character building skills are top-notch. Some of the references are so good they must have been added specifically for the Glibs.
I also indulged in a quick re-read of The Atrocity Archives, the first and one of the best books of Charles Stross’ “Laundry Files” series. The postscript mentions another similar book that Stross was advised not to read while he was working on “The Atrocity Archives” lest he become contaminated, “Declare” by Tim Powers. It’s 608 pages and I started it yesterday. It’s written as a series of flash backs/flash forwards, which I don’t like, and 100 pages in the book is still building the protagonist’s character but he just walked into a meeting with the UK Prime Minister so I expect the plot will commence shortly.
Tundra
I have been reading a little more lately, while managing to neglect my HAM test
Rankin snuck a new book out in his Rebus series. A Heart Full of Headstones This wasn’t a great book. It had its moments and the premise is good: Rebus is finally going before a jury, even though he is an old man by now. The reason is perfect, but I won’t spoil it. If you’ve stuck with the series you should probably read it, but I think this is the end. Or at least probably should be. Rankin teed up a couple of potential spin-offs, but no way are the characters remotely close to Rebus.
I just finished The Mousetrap Murders, the latest book by a dude named Abraham Lopez. I somehow stumbled upon this guy on TwiX and followed him for awhile before I read his first book, Going Gone. TMM is about a dude who gets nailed for a murder and his family who tries to find the truth. Everything points toward him, plenty of forensics, etc. But his family keeps digging. And discovers a serial killer with big ideas. The book flies right along and the development and unraveling of the plot is terrific. You should read both his books.
By the time this publishes, I should be done with Coogan’s Trade. Thanks to my pal Zwak for the recco, this book is terrific. I am a sucker for classic crime novels and I’m shocked I’ve never read Higgins. I will be making up for that shortly.
Now back to my radio books or MikeS is gonna bitch at me!
Animal
Trying to focus more on writing than reading, but I’m working my way through Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man again. As
far as fiction, I just finished another read of James Blish’s Cities in Flight series.
Fourscore
Stampede, by Brian Castner. An easy reading, fun book for those that have an interest in Alaska and the history of the Klondike Gold Rush. Unbelievable hardships and few rewards. Many died along the way and not many got rich. While it seems so long ago, 1898, my dad was 5 years old at the time. Fortunately none of my grandparents tried their luck. I have visited Dawson City, the ultimate destination of those with the fever.
Spies on the Mekong- CIA clandestine operations in Loas By Ken Conboy. We tend not to think that the US could be tied up with nefarious plots and we’re always the good guys. Reading “Spies on the Mekong” was a real eye opener. In the early ’50s as the French ran into problems in Southeast Asia the US decided we had to make a play.
Laos became a hotbed of political intrigue, the CIA became involved while the American public was kept in the dark. It seemed so far away and trivial. Author Ken Conboy outlines the roles of the CIA, USAID and other agencies that were spying on everyone in the region. The flow of money with no accountability, to buy anyone that seemed to have any power. The creation of Air America to provide a cover for spy activities. Recruiting Hmong tribesmen into fighting units when necessary.
Although the names of the Laotian/Thia players tend to be difficult to keep separate, the many clandestine spying tricks used is interesting. Now with computers the data collection takes on a whole different turn, AI will be available to all parties.
We can rest assured Africa and South America are places where the CIA and any/all other intel agencies, from all the international players, are heavily involved. Seems like there are no good guys, no libertarians that want to leave people alone.
The Hyperbole
I got nothing, Still working through the Hardman and Hump series. I don’t think I actually finished a book this month, but at least I didn’t first either, so that’s nice.
Is this some Sugarfree content that I’m not privy to?
Been reading through another handful of Monster Hunter International books by Correia. Will probably start Atlas Shrugged in the next week or so at work. Plan on picking up more 40k ebooks when I start traveling with the reserves again at the end of the month.
Big backlog of manga and crowdfunded comics and bandes dessinee compilations stacked up too – not getting a week away from work in the mountains messes with my habits.
The Monster Hunter International books that John Ringo wrote were fun too.
I’ll look those up eventually. On the list.
We’ll have to agree to disagree. I found Ringo’s protagonist a wildly unlikeable Marty Stu.
That concert was silly.
Just picked up McCullough’s “John Adams.”. I get the feeling this Federalist anti – Jeffersonian would fall in the “hard right extremist” category today even with his “alien and sedition” views.
I’ve read several, well, a few, of McCullough’s books. Seems like political in-fighting-party hatred has been around a long time. Strangely Jefferson-Adams made up in their later years and had the courtesy of dying on the their same favorite day.
“Jefferson still survives…”
That one act really ruined his whole view on what he was creating. Power corrupts and all that.
That book for me was really a love story between Abagail and him.
As far as good podcasts and discussions I was impressed to see Adam Carolla interviewed Dallas “The Chosen” Jenkins a couple weeks ago as well as the guy behind the Sound of Freedom movie (name escapes me) this past week. Should be at the top of his YouTube page.
Continuing the discussion from the old thread – If you’ve not done mini painting before, my one piece of advice is to not get discouraged if your first efforts do not match what you have in your head. It’s all about practice, and the early efforts will fall short while you build up your skills.
If you have done other types of mini painting before, well, you’d alreayd know that.
Totally ready to disappoint myself after watching tons of pro yt videos. Initial goal is to get them playable – ie 2000 pts in 3 colors. I’ll focus on tweaking for details after that ;p
Have you picked a color scheme?
Think I mentioned it briefly before…but using a “nautical” theme, I’m thinking blue for the lower legs, haze grey for the upper legs/body – and red for the left arm (a revenge vow for the loss of the chapterhouse and planet) – then normal Astartes codex colors for helmets/knees/etc. Need to order a set of trident stickers for unit stuff.
Found a really nice blue shade of pearl blue from Mission Model Plus paints, but they don’t seem to be traditional acrylics (and haze grey), so I’ll do a few tests on units I don’t plan to use in my primary army. Hopefully good enough for a base coat before I start adding tweaks and washes.
I think you had mentioned, but I’d forgotten.
I really want to see what you make.
Speaking of mini’s, watched Phil Tippet’s “Mad God” “movie” last night. Not very plot driven, but extremely well-made – over a 30+ yr period. Pretty dedicated.
I have the new blu-ray release of the Czech Pied Piper from Vinegar Syndrome as well – more stop motion – may watch that over the upcoming long weekend.
Everything I’ve seen of the guy in interviews kind of rubs me the wrong way. I just found out his dad is Jerry B. “The Left Behind book series” Jenkins, so that probably explains it. Didn’t like the books or the authors.
He’s really high speed/motivated (over-caffeinated?) in clips I’ve seen of him before, but the product is pretty solid and consistent, so I’ve got no complaints.
I forget much of what I read last month except for a first person report from a former officer on his experiences during the Algerian war, “My Battle of Algiers” by Ted Morgan. The author had dual French and US citizenship and received his French draft notice after completing college in the US. He returned to France and was swept up into the war. He started in a colonial infantry regiment and my chance was redirected into a PSYOP campaign. I found the book interesting because the author waited until 2005 to write it and so had time to research connecting incidents and collect his thoughts through the lens of time.
An interesting perspective on that conflict, fictional wise, is Jean Larteguy’s “The Centurions” He wrote about Indochina and Algiers from the soldiers perspective. If you haven’t checked him out, I highly recommend it, https://www.amazon.com/Centurions-Jean-Larteguy/dp/0143107445/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YKBQ2BX7GGLI&keywords=the+centurions+jean+larteguy&qid=1696188950&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sprefix=the+centurians%2Caps%2C283&sr=1-1
Also, if you can dig up a copy, English author Robert Irwin’s The Mystery of Algiers is an interesting look at that conflict, using viewpoints unfamiliar to us here in the states
https://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Algiers-Robert-Irwin/dp/0670818224/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1CZFI6JOXQSM8&keywords=the+mystery+of+algiers&qid=1696189377&s=books&sprefix=the+mystery+of+algiers%2Cstripbooks%2C407&sr=1-1
A trip to Greeneland for me: Grahame Greene’s England Made Me, So far it is interesting, but not too tight, a kind of loose interplay between a near-do-well brother and his… lucky? striving? sister, who takes him out of his half-failing attempts at being a bit of a financial bullshitter, for lack of a better term. From what I gather, there is something to do with pre-WWII industrialization in Sweden, but I am not sure how that plays out. A central facet of Greene’s works is the main characters not being who the represent themselves as, so I will be interesting how that comes up.
By the way, as far as Janes Addiction being a “live band”, yeah, no. I saw them in ’89, and they sucked. Blown out of the water by the opening acts, Mary’s Danish and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
I less than three Mary’s Danish.
Saw TtWS around that time. Liked them before they went Adult Comtemporary.
The Dark Forest, book two of the Three-Body Problem series. Every time I think it’s descending into cliché sci-fi tropes or weird romantic mawkishness that I can only attribute to being a Chinese novel, the author comes through and buttons it up.
Death’s End was far and away my favorite of the trilogy. It’s basically a narrative in reverse.
After seeing a synopsis of this on wiki – I may need to pick up the trilogy, but I’m waiting to see what’s been “lost in translation” so to speak given the era – although it does predate Xi’s real power grab. The movies are CGI trash from what I’ve heard.
There’s a Netflix adaptation from the the guys who perfected Game of Thrones, so… the trailers look compelling, hitting on all the the nerve points, god help us all.
The entire trilogy kicks arse. Highly recommend.
The bureaucrat who hastily dooms earth and eventually much of universe so he has time to sing later, is a hell of a parody.
I was thinking yesterday about the last fiction I read. I honestly can’t remember. That is not a positive thing, but a distinct reality. I really should. I read and write constantly, but with a current or historical bent.
Today is Dad’s bday celebration. As he is constantly joking about it w my nephews, and cuz none of the guys in my family care for presents, we’re repaying him with a one wrapped nicely at a nice family dinner out.
Tomorrow I’ve got group and one-on-one outpatient. Tuesday I see my leg doc to get my work release. Should be just fine. Work should start in about two weeks. Wed is more outpatient including their psychiatrist. Sleeping meds and other refills are needed. Ev and sleep do not find each other. This active lil boy’s energy don’t chill.
Question along that front: I was raised to be polite, but not overly so. I’ve long called people 2+ generations older than me sir/maam. (Fuck the pronoun ‘confusion’ these days. Not my problem.) I’m 36. I could easily pass for 25 and likely could be a younger college kid. I’m thinking I kind of should stop saying it, barring the legit elderly or at work/etc. I’m a (young) middle-age man. I’m on the brink (?) of kinda-sorta being considered an adult. No one knows about my work/med status.
Obvious reality: Uh. You’re an adult and be one. Many steps towards independence, but each one is important. Should be a good week along that path.
I’ve got one article for y’all 90% written. That will be accomplished soon.
Crazy Lady is trying to get back in my life. W/O meeting nor talking, she came to the realization on her own that it is not time. (I left out the sad truth that it likely never will be. She doesn’t need poking.)
Hope all y’all are kicking ass like you know best.
I’m neither particularly active nor energetic, but sleep doesn’t come easy for me either. The best solution I’ve ever found was the 5:1 THC:CBD tincture I used to get in NV, but since I’m now in Texas, where the chances of weed ever being legalized are slimmer than being struck by lightning during a shark attack while winning the Mega Millions jackpot, I’ve been making due with OTC diphenhydramine (because yay Alzheimer’s) and booze. I’m going to try these D9 THC/CBD/CBN gummies, which are legal nationwide, but the dosage is lower, and the price per mg of THC about 3x higher than what I was paying in NV. Life’s a compromise, I guess.
I’m the same age. I don’t think I look one day younger than I am, but I’ve been told as recently as last week that I do. I guess strangers aren’t looking at those white hairs in the sea of black as closely as I do. At any rate, I don’t think sir/ma’am ever becomes inappropriate, necessarily. Context-dependent, I suppose. If you know an older person socially and there’s no rank or status involved, their name is probably more appropriate than any honorific, with the possible exception of father in law, f you have one (and depending on how formal the relationship is). Different regional linguistic conventions as well. Up north where I grew up, teachers and oldsters were Mr. or Mrs. Lastname, and sir/ma’am was more often a reference to a customer or patron of a business establishment. The rules are different in the south. Also, no matter how long I live here, I will never say ya’ll.
You just did. Get used to it.
The 4 yo son of a nice couple living nearby…I address him as sir. He has taken quite a shine to me for that and because of my gun collection. I address everyone as ma’am or sir. It is just a basic level of respect around here. That is until they show that they do not deserve it.
I ran into an old geezer in the grocery store the other day. He asked my name. He remembered me from high school. I did not remember him until I looked the wizened old dude up online. Yeah, I do remember him. He was 2 years behind me. I guess clean living *snort chuckle* pays off.
Dammit!
“Sir” and “ma’am” are for strangers only here. It’s jarring to see TV shows as late as the seventies where the kids call their dad “sir”. Or even more recent where the boss is called “sir”. I’ve never called a boss “sir” in my life.
I did in the army
Ha I suppose that would be an exception.
After 5 years active duty, Im always sir/ma’am, particularly when my current employer has HQ in Georgia.
I did retail in college. Army right after that. Sir/Ma’am is default for pretty much anyone whose name I don’t know.
It’s either Dad or Grandpa, everyone else, including little kids call me by name (or maybe worse, I don’t hear very well.) I am not offended. In a commercial setting I get a sir on occasion when they are looking for a tip.
At this point I’m happy to be called anything. Other drivers may have a special name for me.
Mr/Mrs when I was a kid up until about high school. After the army, calling one of the professors or even instructors by their first name seemed jarring, particularly in emails. Sir/Ma’am is pretty much non existent, unlike in southern locales. Related: service culture is atrocious.
I finished RFK, Jr’s “The Real Anthony Fauci”. There is some Mengele level shit in there, and not just about Fauci. There is some description of Bill Gates and his Mengele level shit (testing vaccines which sterilized folks in Africa).
I read Thomas Sowell’s “Social Justice Fallacies”. It’s short. It’s not bad.
I started Luke Mercaldo’s “Allied Rifle Contracts in America”. It covers rifles made in America for the Allies during the First World War. I’m on the first section on the Mosin-Nagant.
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Steven King. I’d not read it before. The book is the revised 2003 edition and in the preface King favorably compares the The Dark Tower series of eight books to The Lord of the Rings and other epic series that actually have merit.
I actually liked parts of the Dark Tower series. King is full of himself, but sometimes he can write decent stuff. There were parts of the series that were dumb, like say the ending. I read both the original edition of “The Gunslinger” and his revised edition. He should never have revised it, the original made more sense.
As far as King’s Dork Tower* goes, I basically remember nothing of it, except the main character had to jerk off with his wrong hand? or something.
*I do know it is supposed to be loosely based on Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came, but, girlfriend, please. Sullying that great work with a mere comparison to this pap is hubris incarnate.
The leftists here are or will engage in all of the horrors we have seen leftists engage in before. Their singular goal and mindset guarantees that. They are as predictable as the sunrise. This government has strayed so far out of their lane that I do not consider them legitimate any longer. Where our government was intended to govern with consent they now govern with the fist. We had a deal and they are not keeping their end of that deal. Given the way I was raised and educated it is a difficult thing to face and say out loud but there it is.
Yeah, I really liked books 2 and 3.
I tapped out when book 4 went into some tedious backstory that bored me and never went back.
Re-reading Known Space stories… finished Flatlander, in the middle of World of Ptaavs. Just the reading equivalent of a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate… old favorites re-reading purely for fun and to ignore the idiocy of the world.
Y’know, I never thought about it like this.
That’s an interesting perspective.
See also the BLM “trained Marxists”. I wonder who scammed more per capita.
Kabocha is roasted. I still have steaks and chops to grill.
I’ve not read any books lately. Well, except for Friday night chapters.
I read Andromeda Strain over the weekend, and I have to ask… is the movie worth watching? Is the miniseries really that bad? And is there an ELI5 re: what made the organism so different from terrestrial biology? No enzymes? Chemical reactions partitioned off by the hexagonal cell shape? Or is it just Crichton hocus-pocus?
(Dad says he watched the movie as a kid and it freaked him out.)
I don’t even want to dig into the odd man hypothesis… other than to say it sounds like another term for the gaybees… but wouldn’t you want to equip everyone with a key to avert the nuclear cleansing of your facility, given that you’re concerned about pathogens that kill humans, and presumably nobody who’s infected to the degree that requires cleansing the labs would be able to avert the cleansing, and if someone is able to avert it, that militates against needing to cleanse… do you see the problem here?
The communications impasse was another plot device that made no sense. A bunch of people are said to have wondered about reactions they didn’t get to clearly important, world-altering messages sent to Wildfire. The facility isn’t meant to be hermetically sealed, only the levels within it. And it’s only an accident involving a printer that leads to the misunderstandings that ultimately resolve in favor of (spoiler alert) humans. NOBODY thought to question WHY they weren’t receiving input from this ridiculously well-funded secret facility headed by a guy that ordered a town in Arizona to be nuked?
Filling plot holes was never his strong suit.
Probably the most realistic depiction of government bureaucracy ever put to page, tbh.
The original movie is excellent. Haven’t watched the remake.
Agree – the movie is pretty good and, I think, close to the book.
Didn’t watch the miniseries. Was going to but it was more an adaption as I understand things and a product of its time. The movie is 1970 and so fits into the disaster movies of that period where shit happens and humans can’t control it. The miniseries tends to blame, loosely, the MIC.
From my recollection, lack of DNA, proteins and amino acids, but what made it actually function as a 100% efficient energy-to-matter converter was left to Crichton hocus-pocus.
Happy Sunday Glibs! Been awhile since I posted anything. Hope everyone is well. I retired as of today. I didn’t anticipate how much work it would be to retire, so I haven’t read any books of note. I guess I will have time to catch up on some good book reading…
In the meantime, we adopted a retirement puppy since our previous dog passed. This dog (Remy) was a rescue and determination of actual breed was not apparent (definitely not a lab mix, as described, more likely she is a Pointer or some such), I tell people who ask what breed, that she is “A Mexican” since she was originally from somewhere around Oaxaca.
This dog is admittedly cute which is a good thing, since she was truly feral. No training whatsoever and the most stubborn dog we have ever owned, probably the smartest too. House training was fun, even with a crate. Being used as a chew toy has really challenged the immune system and made me realize, I need to increase my collagen intake.
Other obedience training has been slow. The biggest problem being there is no way to wear this dog out. We are hiking about 60 miles per week, which is way more and at a faster pace than previous. Even with that distance this dog is not phased. Leash training has been an adventure similar to water skiing on land. She loves to roll in some of the most disgusting shit. I’ve had poison oak 3 times. Off leash is a whole new adventure but allows her to run, which takes off her edges. What also takes off the edge off this dog is getting stung by a yellow jacket and going into near anaphylactic shock. Good thing we got her into a shower, while cramming Benadryl down her throat. Probably need to carry an Epi pen or something.
I remember it being much easier 25 years ago. Good thing I don’t have much to do other than plan and do hikes. Alltrails is my friend! Depending on location Hard/Moderate hikes do vary regionally.
Man, I really miss Glibfit as part of Sundays….maybe we should consider a redux of some sort in the future. Anyway, I would tell ya’ll to get out there for a hike but I am doing enough for us all…
Stay Lean.
Nice. Our recently (1 year?) adopted little savage is also from Mexico, Guadalajara to be exact. We were told Schnauzer, but it turns out she is a Super Mutt (technical term). And I get you about the exercize needed. Dog park, every day for us. I am now one of those dudes, and I am making friends with the dogs new friends! Haven’t really tried leash training yet.
Remy is about 1 yr old. 40 pounds of lean muscle. She is a very social dog and we have taken her to dogs parks which she enjoys. She has ruined a couple of retrievers by distracting them so much that they stop retrieving, which bewilders their owners…
She is also not very food oriented, which makes treat training not a thing. Leach training by changing directions just makes her ornery. She will just stop in her tracks and not move. Weird trick, is if you move your fingers in a wagging motion she snaps out of it. Advanced training techniques are a requirement.
On the bright side, we don’t have to worry about her “counter surfing” since we watched her effortlessly jump onto a counter. She is like a cat.
Working my way through David Fideler’s “Breakfast with Seneca” (Ron, this one might be if interest to you). Fideler makes an easy, almost conversational exposition of Seneca’s ideas. Well worth the time to read and think on.
Finished Lawrence Krauss’s “Quantum Man” about Richard Feynman’s life and career in science. Good read with insights on what made Feynman such a brilliant physicist.
Halfway through W.E. B. Griffin’s Brotherhood of War series. It’s a reread, but – and this is an observation, not a complaint – there’s damned little contemorary fiction out there that’s worth reading (or maybe that’s just me being an old fud).
If general fiction is anything like recent sci-fi, it’s been woked up to a point where it’s unreadable.
Prolly have to wait for society to swing back to something more normal. There may or may not be a period of unpleasantness in the middle.
Not a PKD fan, then, I take it.
Dickheads unite!
Still plodding my through…well studying my way through Documents of Revolution. It is deceptively thin – about 1″ of 8″X11″ pages – because the ty pe is minuscule. I had to get a fresnel lighted reading lens to read it.
I’m about 100 pages into “Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”, by Giles Milton.
In keeping with the theme, I’m reading it (and most things now) while wearing an eyepatch.
Nothing exciting – just growing a cataract in my right lens and so my brain hurts when it tries to blend that with a good image. Trying this to see if it eases the process. So far it’s working.
Yar.
Can you have that treated?
My wife, 2 kids and I have all had cataract surgery. I didn’t notice any improvement, the others threw away their glasses.
Doc said aye, but not yet. Evidently you’re generally supposed to wait until it’s further along than mine is. So we’re trying a few tricks like this to mitigate the irritating parts.
Yar.
Cataract surgery isn’t anything terrible. Mrs. MYB had both eyes done over the past two weeks. The worst part was wearing an eyeshield for a week to make sure that nothing disturbed the cornea and gave it a chance to fuse. you have to wait about five or six weeks to get glasses (if they’re needed – see below), but after that it’s fine.
I need to visit this place.
https://www.uranusgeneralstore.com/uranus-apparel/make-uranus-great-again-hat-navy/
I’m-a pick up that Elon book.
Also, as far as work goes, I’m disappointed to report:
https://giphy.com/gifs/star-wars-harrison-ford-lfGKdK1yKPja
I’ve been quite busy and not inclined to read any of the substantive books in my backlog, so I read Jean Shepherd’s In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, a few chapters of which served as the basis for the 1983 movie A Christmas Story. Light, humorous, generally well-written, except that the penultimate chapter could have used an editor with a battle ax.
He did such a great job narrating that movie
That was on TCM the other night. 👅 🇺🇸 ❄️
God, I love the penultimate scene in that; Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant with all the workers singing “farah rah rah rah, ra rah rah rah!”
After 18,593 rounds fired (not counting Sean and GF) the slide stop on the Shadow 2 finally broke.
I am a real CZ shooter now! And as a real CZ shooter, I had a spare already bought and in the range bag.
I still haven’t cracked a slide stop. I do have one in the spares kit though…I been told…
Lately I’ve been mostly shooting with my carry gun. Weird for me.
The slide was locking back on “Load and make ready.” Fortunately it didn’t cause any issues when actually shooting. When I tried pulling it out to clean the gun for the match on Wed, the external parts came out and I had to drive the main pin out with a punch.
I went to the range today with my neighbor. He doesn’t have a lot of experience but is a great guy and takes the whole thing very seriously. Not one time was I worried about getting shot lol! He’s actually pretty good.
I only brought my carry pistol and it reminded me I need to practice more. Fucking short barrels…
“Not one time was I worried about getting shot”
Um, yay?
I hate indoor ranges. And people I don’t know that well.
I broke down and joined a private shooting club. Even on weekends there is always an open lane, usually a dozen. I don’t feel like a bunch of yahoos are going to come in and start blasting, and there are so many different lengths to shoot at: Indoor .22, 25, 50, 100 and 200 yard ranges, a place to shoot skeet, and also an archery range. Totally worth the 200 a year.
That’s really cheap. My brother belongs to an outdoor place in Minne that’s like that.
If I’m willing to drive there are plenty of outdoor spaces, but I do like the conveniences of a range.
It’s about a 1/2 hour drive for me. So, not bad at all.
You are welcome back anytime.
And you two are welcome here.
If you’re particularly cautios, bring the P7/1911/any other single-stack gun. In fact, there is a BUG match at the end of October…
Warriors of God by Andrzej Sapkowski (the guy who wrote the Witcher series)
Listening to The Great Hunt – watching the Wheel of Time on Amazon got me back into it. As always, the book is better.
today I learned
***
“‘The Hunt for Red October,’ his first novel, had been bought for a lowly $5,000 by the Naval Institute Press. When Reagan pronounced it ‘the perfect yarn’ in 1984, Clancy, then a Maryland insurance agent, was propelled into a hugely successful writing career,” said The Guardian.
***
I haven’t read much paper these past few months. Last one was Khruschev Remembers back in June. It’s really good. These days I read mostly news: MSN, Fox, and NPR.
There is a great anti-communist comedy by an Italian author. The series is called The Little World of Don Camillo.
The only Clancy I’ve read is The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising (also played the game). I also read Red Phoenix and played Harpoon both from RSR coauthor Larry Bond.
Clancy’s first two books were good. (HRO and RSR) After that he slid into macho fantasy and then into selling his name and somebody else doing the heavy lifting.
Refresh ate my comment. Third through The Memory Police. I like it so far. My attempt at restarting regular reading has fizzled. Working late has left little time for other things.
spin that news, NPR
***
the Army is struggling to fill its ranks. Last year it was 15,000 soldiers short. This year is better but still short by some 10,000. Two big reasons it hasn’t met recruitment targets? The Army is in a war for talent with a strong economy offering good jobs and benefits. And the pandemic kept recruiters out of high schools — prime locations for finding future soldiers.
***
Conspicuously absent: the catastrophic defeat in Afghanistan, the possibility of a shooting war with Russia, and a Commander-in-Chief who clearly doesn’t give a shit about the troops. Also, the massive infestation of political correctness in the military.
***
“I told them, I was like, hold all of my opioids, like hold all of my narcotics and stuff. Like I want to be coherent when I meet him,” Vargas-Andrews recalled as he awaited a visit from Biden. “They held all my pain meds.”
Vargas-Andrews said he was told that the president would be at the hospital to meet him in “about an hour.”
“Well, one hour goes by. Nothing. Two hours go by. Nothing,” he said, noting that he continued to hold off on taking his medication. “Three hours go by, and it’s like four hours at this point. My mom’s furious. She’s like, ‘What the f—? Where is this guy?’”
Soon after, Vargas-Andrews said Secret Service officers began arriving at the hospital, and he became confused about who the president was.
“I had no idea who the president was. I didn’t think it was Trump. I didn’t think it was Biden. My brain couldn’t make the connection,” he said.
Upon learning from his mother that the president was Biden, Vargas-Andrews said he leaned back and said, “Oh my f—ing God.”
“Two minutes later, he walks in with Jill Biden and their little entourage of people and like a photographer,” he recalled. “Right away, I remember him coming up to me trying to shake my hand, shake my right hand, and I look at him, and I’m like, ‘I don’t have an arm.’ My left arm is in this big a– cast with this giant orange f—ing foam block around it. I’m completely immobile. All I can do is move my head.”
***
Yes, Biden tried to shake the hand of an amputee. What a putz.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/marine-survived-afghanistan-explosion-describes-awkward-encounter-biden-losing-arm-leg
I mean, at least the amputee was actually there.
The Army had a couple recruiting booths at the Virginia State Fair. I don’t recall seeing multiple booths in previous years.
I’ve been John Sandford’s “Prey” series, and finished “Extreme Prey”, which features criminals who are political “extremists”. Except I agreed with the underlying views of this presumably unintentional parody of what liberals think the views of non-Democrats.
The lead politician was obviously supposed to be an alt version of Hillary Clinton, except she was portrayed as a moderate with common sense. Which is an oxymoron when talking about virtually all Democratic politicians.
I’m pretty sure John’s not writing his novels these days. His older stuff, he makes some pretty explicit sympathetic noises for libertarians from time to time.
Extreme Prey is pretty deep into the series, and it is witty as hell. If he’s farming it out at that book, he’s found someone talented who gets his style.
About the only prominent libertarian element I’ve noticed in his series is the importance of anyone, including private citizens, being well armed. He’s not noticeably woke — plenty of non-PC assholes cracking wise.
*shamefaced glance towards huge pile of books on the intake shelf, including four Brandon Sanderson novels and my updated amateur radio guidebook*
I finished my first read of Monte Cook’s Cypher System TTRPG handbook. I’ve been trying to talk a few of my D&D buddies to try a system that’s less of a bloated, crusty mess than 5e. Cypher might be the one. It’s very simple, fast, and flexible, with the players doing 100% of the dice rolling in the open. It can also be used in any genre.
Related, I’ve been listening to a modern horror podcast called The Magnus Archive, which has a Cypher-based module coming out next year. It’s pretty good stuff.
Neither Predator Nor Prey is a fun libertarian novel. I bought it at a gas station in Wyoming. The premise is Wyoming is the last free state after a tyrannical bureaucracy overruns and disarms the rest of the country. Amazon’s blurb is:
***
In a time of great economic downturn, the United States Senate, in thrall to an evil leftist president, ratifies the United Nations Global Gun Ban Treaty. Congress pass implementing legislation and an aggressive enforcement effort is launched.
***
Hard to find book — none at Thriftbooks, $25 with shipping at Amazon. Amazon pricing a bit rich for my tastes.
Science update:
ASTRONOMERS CALL FOR MORE DISCO BALLS AT SCIENTIFIC FACILITIES
Interesting related story linked in the article.:
NASA Put a Big Disco Ball in Space 40 Years Ago, and It’s Still There
I loved Declare. I should reread.
Did Taylor Swift break the site?
Get your booster, motherfucker.
She’s ruining the NFL so I figure she might have the power to fuck with us, too.
BY BOOSTER MEAN HOT BEEF INJECTION
I feel shame – still not done with The Forgotten Man. I’ve gotten through big chunks the couple times we went to the beach but haven’t found time to get into it otherwise. It’s good, just a little dry at times.
I’ll do better.
Thanks for supplying the source for those quotes the other day.
My pleasure.
Fahrenheit 451 is a classic, if you’ve not read it. Snowcrash is worth your time, too.
Count Zero is a sequel to Neuromancer; I’d read that first if you haven’t. That one might seem cliché if only because it’s the source of many “cyberpunk” clichés.
I actually read all 3 books. I couldn’t place Fahrenheit 451.*hangs head in shame.* I recognized William Gibson’s work but couldn’t place the source. I also thought someone took a page from Gibson. When I saw it was from Snow Crash I laughed m
The Mechanical Hound always stuck with me, for some reason. I haven’t read Fahrenheit 451 in forever.
Christmas comes early in NYC, all that red in the stands.
I still think Kelce and Taylor Swift is a publicity stunt. Now that our bread prices are going up, they’re going to have to work harder on our circuses.
More billions for Ukraine? U.S. $33 trillion in debt and the handful of pols trying to put the brakes on are “hard right extremists?”. Screw those stories. What America wants to know is who is porking Taylor this month.
Was the Jest’s coach on Jersey Shore?
Epic typo.
LOL everyone in the stands shaking their heads.
It’s gonna be a long season for Jets fans.
Eh, looks.like it might be a game. Mahomes seems off.
It’s closer than I expected.
#metoo
He’s jealous of Kelce. Wants some of that Swift magic.
Off stage, I’m not sure how much magic there is.
He’s been off all year.
Btw, Tacoma FD had a Tony Danza cameo this week. 👍
Is that the current episode? I was flipping around and caught it the other day.
Good stuff. Very, very silly and overdone at times. But yeah I need to catch up. I was disappointed the Filipino guy was replaced but the new guy is good too.
Yup, current episode.
Totally spot-on riffing on the “hint of flavor” water craze.
Epic.
I miss boxing.
I was watching some of the new-to-me “bare knuckle boxing” leagues recently. Those guys are scary. Like, cross to the other side of the street scary.
The 80’s were not all bad either. Aaron Pryor vs. Alexis Arguello. Cincy’s own Pryor threw 150 punches in the 15th. Epic and underrated boxer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHwFHoLDKKs
I can’t imagine getting hit by either of those guys.
Dayum.
There were scenes in the early Rocky movies taken from that fight (along with the Ali-Frasier wars). Foreman trying to hold on to the ropes with one glove while throwing haymakers with the other… and completely forgetting about defense while standing in front of another slugger.
He got smarter when he came back.
I was just listening to Carolla interviewing Jim Lampley and talking about Chavez v. Taylor.
I should look that one up.
On the subject of boxing, it’s one of the top reasons I found the entire “scandal” over concussions ridiculous. Did people or athletes really need to be told that getting hit in the head repeatedly was bad? They had never seen an old boxer try to talk? The NFL could hide that?
It was utter nonsense to me.
The sports media has always been slightly uncomfortable with contact sports, and football is king of the contact sports outside boxing. There was always a smarmy element to it that looked down on the American public’s love for violent games. The type that push soccer as some real sport and beautiful game (offense to soccer fans intended).
That was their chance to go all-in on the sport and its fans. And a lot of fans, the sorts that are prone to things like white guilt and other ridiculous ideas were highly suspectable to it
It is entirely possible to like soccer without all that stupid baggage.
Don’t let some idiots ruin enjoyable stuff*.
*This translates to a zillion aspects of current year America.
Did the NFL owners contractually obligate themselves to have the stupid BLM slogans on the field or are they still there for some other reason?
They negotiated with the NFLPA. They’d endorse social justice bullshit and wink wink nod nod they’d stop kneeling while releasing a statement that they were wrong to try and prevent it in the first place.
Good Lord. When does the agreement expire?
The NFL promised to spend $250 million over 10 years. So, no time soon.
Ho-lee shit!
They are still there because to remove them would be super Nazi racist.
Justin Trudeau nods in agreement.
I was totally stunned by the big reveal in “Prelude to Foundation.” Others may have seen it coming but, since I didn’t, still a memorable reading moment for me.
Ditto for “Cardinal of the Kremlin” (building on the Clancy comments above). One of the better of his novels I think.
Somehow C&K was one of the very last ones I read….not sure why, it dropped off the list, but finally reading it put a lot of character pieces in place.
That Kelce Pfizer shill and the Taylor Night Football is making me root hard for the Jets. I do like Robert Salah, he was a solid defensive coach for the Niners.
#ditto
That bitch is ruining the televised game.
Watching an NFL game this century sux. There is left nothing left to ruin…watching without the sound helps, not watching is better… //long time fan…
That smile he has? It’s the smile of an empty, vacuous human being who will do anything for a paycheck.
Seriously, how many frigging times can they show her or talk about her? And I actually dig some of her music, but come on.
Yup Bro, anyone plugging for that bullshit, especially that dude, is shameless. Fuck his cop stache as well. He looks like a small town motorcycle cop.
I know one song by her. They’re talking about her every other play. Enough already.
It’s another lame psy-op.
At least bring in a hottie, assholes.
Zero here. But I’m obviously well past the age that marketers give a shit about. And I agree this is a marketing ploy.
Heh, the wife and I remember the one year that marketing cared about GenX, it was around 2007.
I may have crossexamined that guy.
ZOMG, he was a high school QB and now he’s a position player! Unheard of.
*Edelman and other college QBs give the side-eye*
I pop the hood on the car today and a. fucking. rat. comes scrambling out of the thermal pad on the inside of the hood.
Just looking for nesting materiel? Have I been driving around with a rat in my engine compartment?
Surely the insurance company won’t blame me for cleansing it with fire.
Since you brought them up earlier.
Shoot the little fucker.
Jebus, those are two headhunters, taking five to land one.
I think that’s the point at which I’d sell the car to one of those outfits that will come and pick it up. Right now. Because I’m never getting in that car ever again. 😳
Come on.
It could be worse.
::crosses Florida off list of places in which to set foot::
C’mon, show a little backbone, will ya?
My wife is tending towards your position.
I’ve been trying to explain that we can’t really seal the entire engine compartment.
*clears throat*
I didn’t expect them to be dancing around like a bunch of Kansas City faggots!
The ref was standing and looking right at the LT with hands full of jersey there and did nothing while Mahomes was given 10 seconds to decide what to do.
Why would anyone think the NFL is fixed in anyway….
Then Mahomes gets to be bailed out after throwing into triple coverage by a hold on a DL…
A “hold”. That was some bullshit.
I guess it’s a fool’s errand to build your team around defense at this point. They aren’t going to let you succeed for 60 minutes against their golden boys.
I would say something but I have nothing to say,
Cheers!
Today I learned that Teddy Roosevelt was homeschooled. Also:
***
His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal’s head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the “Roosevelt Museum of Natural History”. Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled “The Natural History of Insects”.
***
And if you thought crabs were bad….He was hiding 5 lobster tails in pants and a snapper in shirt, police in the Keys say Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-
Happy Monday! ☕😃
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ABzh6hTYpb8
🎶🎶
Kick some ass, y’all.
Good morning all! Welcome to October.
Today we’ve got some Dead Can Dance
Rakim
Mesmerism>
With one of my favorite album covers 😉
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/mack-trucks-reaches-tentative-deal-with-uaw-to-avoid-strike/ar-AA1hy6KZ#image=1
Increased prices for everyone!
Morning, Glibs.
Good morning, U, Sean, and Beau!
First business day of the month, and I have to cover a few of Reliable Co-worker’s gotta-do’s again, so that should keep me…occupied. At least I was able to get a head start on month end last week.
I need to get what is intuitively in my mind across to coworkers. It’s a user access schema, so it’s not so simple.
Good luck! I’ve found that things that come naturally to me are often the hardest for me to explain to others.
Thankfully, I spent a chunk of friday making them a spreadsheet.
Perfect! 😃
Oh, yeah – I’ve been reading a novel that was a gift from a friend – The Golden Land by Di Morrissey, in which a young Australian wife and mother inherits a Burmese artifact and becomes involved with an Aussie group advocating for freedom and democracy in Burma. Apparently the inheritance and/or advocacy are going to have significant consequences for her life. Not the most well-written novel I’ve ever read, but lots of interesting information about Burma (AKA Myanmar.) My ex-sister-in-law is originally from Burma (but now living in Paris,) hence my interest.
Today is “stabilize everything so I can go incommunicado for most of a week” day.
Not incommunicado from us, I hope!
I’ll be at USPSA Handgun Nationals. It will be difficult to Glib and make sure nothing that isn’t supposed to get shot, gets shot simultaneously.
I’ll probably be able to catch up on the previous day’s comments in the evening between getting out of the shower and falling unconscious from exhaustion.
Mornin’ all and y’all, don’t want to exclude anyone.
Summer is back for a day or two. Neighbor kiddos came yesterday and wrestled big pumpkins off the garden. I told the little ones that they had to carry their own pumpkins but I saw the Moms doing the heavy lifting. Pumpkins in the 40 lb range.
Today I shall attempt to get my sleep cycle back on track. It is also my 5th day without alcohol. Yay me. Here’s something that made me sigh with weary resignation:
***
Forty-six Republican senators (all but three) sent a letter to Schumer demanding he reverse the change, writing, “The world watches us on that floor and we must protect the sanctity of that place at all costs.”
***
Oh, brother. Someone tell these dolts that most Americans can’t even name the senators who represent them. No one is watching these fools, much less cares about what they wear. Whatever else you want to call the senate chamber, there’s nothing sanctified about it.
A confession: I voted for Obama in 2008, which means I voted for Biden as VP. I’m not sure which of them I regret voting for more. As an act of penance, I registered as a Republican in Florida a few months ago. For the previous 20 years, I had been an independent.