OMWC
One of my “reading words” is “chrestomathy.” I have no idea how to pronounce it, and I keep forgetting to look it up. At least I know what it means, a selection of passages from an author to aid in understanding a language. So between reading “help wanted” ads, writing 75 different versions of my resume, and finishing up a couple paid articles, I grabbed the two volumes of HL Mencken’s eponymous Chrestomathies off our shelves for some comfort. And they really are quite soothing if you are a cantankerous and cynical person, as I am. In this case, the chrestomathy is designed to teach the language of criticism and invective, with a sharp turn toward literary and social insight. Besides his considerable wit, Mencken had a wonderful ear for the sound of language.
It is not by accident that there has never been a book on Socialism which was also a work of art. Papa Marx’s Das Kapital at once comes to mind. It is as wholly devoid of graces as The Origin of Species or Science and Health; one simply cannot conceive a reasonable man reading it without aversion; it is as revolting as a barrel organ.
-from “Jack London”
He is a man who has lied and dissembled, and a man who has crawled. He knows the taste of boot-polish. He has suffered kicks in the tonneau of his pantaloons. He has taken orders from his superiors in knavery and he has wooed and flattered his inferiors in sense. His public life is an endless series of evasions and false pretenses. He is willing to embrace any issue, no matter how idiotic, that will get him votes,and he is willing to sacrifice any principle, however sound, that will lose them for him. I do not describe the democratic politician at his inordinate worst; I describe him as he is encountered in the full sunshine of normalcy
-from “Notes on Democracy”
SugarFree
I was all over the place this month, reeling drunkenly from short story to short story, genre to genre, the only novel of note was a re-read of Fight Club, which I’ve done every couple of years since it was published in 1996. It is very, very close to being a perfect novel: black as night, funny and angry, well-written and bold. The novel has been overshadowed by the movie adaption, but the movie is all straight from the book, even lifting large chunks of dialogue directly, but neither diminishes the other. Both should be studied as how to adapt a piece of fiction for the screen, namely, if there’s a good reason to adapt it, maybe don’t throw out all the parts that made the work worth adapting in the first place. [casts Swiss’ patented narrowed-gaze at Altered Carbon, Less Than Zero, World War Z, Starship Troopers, Wanted, ad infinitum]
jesse.in.mb
My will to read has been blunted by two months of legal documents, application forms and fixing the sub-literate internal and outward-facing forms, paperwork and notices of my workplace. Perhaps I’ll finish the novel I’ve been 2/3 of the way through for four months on my flight to New Jersey today, but I’ll probably just watch a shitty movie on the in-light entertainment system instead.
mexican sharpshooter
I am afraid the only thing I read of consequence in the last month is my company’s compliance policy with GDPR, the SOP related to it, and the proposed rewrite I drew up and sent to the lawyers for approval.
JW
This week JW is reading palms…with his dick. Drop by JW’s Boutique Palmistry shop and find out the intimate details of your future by giving JW a handy.*
*Lubricant will be provided gratis by jesse.in.mb, apparently this shit has an expiration date.
SP
I’m continuing to work my way through Jon Talton’s David Mapstone series in eBooks borrowed from the Maricopa County Library District. I’m on High Country Nocturne. I’m still enjoying them, but the emotional drama with the protagonist’s personal relationships has started wearing on me. I don’t do emotional drama in my own relationships, and I generally don’t want to deal with it in my escapist reading, either.
However, what I’m mostly concentrating on currently are books on Alzheimer’s, dementia, memory loss, cognitive decline, and how to be an effective caregiver to people undergoing the process. I’m not necessarily fooling myself that we’ll be able to reverse it, but we might be able to slow the progression. Maybe.
The neuroscience is always fascinating to me, but right now I am really reading to understand more of what my mother-in-law is experiencing and learn new ways to cope with the exhaustion and sadness I am encountering as we enfold her into our home and daily life. We didn’t expect it to be easy, but I’m not sure I fully understood how draining it is emotionally to witness her struggle all day every day.
If I find any of the books particularly helpful or insightful, I’ll write a standalone post on the topic in August.
“if there’s a good reason to adapt it, maybe don’t throw out all the parts that made the work worth adapting in the first place”
Amen, brother.
Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik. Started last month, when I said Age of Sail + RAF + Fucking Dragons + Globetrotting continues to be great. Still true, but getting to the point where the metaplot is in danger of taking over each books individual plot like what happened to Jim Butcher. Still, Recommended
The Feud by Dean King. History of the Hatfield and McCoy. Told by a journalist and not a historian, which is usually not my cup of tea for history, but not necessarily bad. But it just made me feel depressed. I moved away from Appalachia on purpose and for a reason. Back to the book – its a long string of “these things happened” but with no broad sense of lessons or take away. I learned a lot of trivia but not much more. Not Recommendation – but maybe I can’t consider it with a clear eye. YMMV.
Double Star by Heinlein. Kind of weird that Mandatory Mary Sue character is only off-stage here. The protagonist is very, very strange for Heinlein. BUT, it was a good book. Lots of fun, as it should be as a juvenile, but with an underlying heft there if you look for it. Fun to see Heinlein writing the vernacular “hey” that has fallen out of usage. Not his best, but far from the worst sci-fi I’ve ever read. Wish I had a better gut feel for how radical (or not) the politics of Mandatory Mary Sue were at the time. No weird sex stuff. Bonus points for having a title that sounds like a super attack in a Super Robot anime (DOuuubLAaaa STaaaaaaaaaaa!!!). Recommended.
Glided Cage by Vic James. Fuck, I need to figure out a better way to screen YA. Not Completed.
Paradise Lost by John Milton. I’m too fucking dyslexic to read this. Not completed.
Aftershocks: The Palladium Wars by Marko Kloos. Things happen. Unrelated characters do uninteresting things. Even the power-armor is boring. Extruded Space Opera Product. Like a glass of 99 degree water on a warm summer day. The literary equivalent of canned green beans. Like watching a baseball game with your wife’s friend’s husband. I purchased it for $2 and took advantage of the “Great Read” refund. Not Recommended.
I recently read Novik’s fairy-tale style novels, Uprooted and Spinning Silver, and they were both pretty good.
I really, really enjoyed Uprooted. Spinning Silver is on the TODO list.
I just read Aftershocks too – thought it was an okay opening to at least a trilogy.
I think it’s free for Prime members right now.
I’m re-reading my older works, trying to get ideas percolating for future ones.
I’m also writing “On Unknown Shores”, trying to get Dug back home from Beyond the Edge of the Map.
Speaking of, what are the problems with trying to use a natural crystal in a laser device? (The first functional laser used a synthetic ruby)
Nature is imperfect?
And synthetic can be made to the exact required specs, at will, so are almost certainly cheaper than real.
Well, the thought was that the ruby was stolen anyway, so the price tag didn’t matter to the guy building the laser.
But the main story seed is about wanting to destroy a half-finished fifty year old project which was a vacuum tube controled giant robot that never got used for supervillainy. I’m bebating between it still needing to be plugged in, or the power supply being the really valuable thing the new villains want to get out of it.
How about the technology of the power source is the valuable thing. 50 years ago some genius came up with some brilliant technology, was killed by the bad guy after building the robot and the tech was lost until now…?
The only way I can re-read anything is if it’s something I remember reading in K12 days and can’t remember it too much. I’ve re-read plenty of those old classics over the past few years.
I’m looking for details or unexploited plot threads I can pick up and work with. Plus, it helps me keep consistant in the continunity.
I sometimes do that with video games. Right now I’m replaying Piranha Byte’s Risen 3. I love that game, it’s all sorts of fucked up in a good way.
Man, I wish I had time to replay some bigger games/RPGs. I did finally make my way through Kingdom Come: Deliverance after 1.5 years.
I heartily recommend being unmarried and childless.
Actually it’s more of a “This book looks too good, I’d rather read that” then anything else. The girlfriend is quite happy to let me play games while she knits and/or paints.
“The girlfriend is quite happy to let me play games while she knits and/or paints.”
Same here, my wife is typically working on some project or watching her novelas in the evening, so I game when I’m not working.
I have almost five grand in PC parts picked out for my Christmas gift to myself. And a mug from the Glibs shop, if I can afford it.
“have almost five grand in PC parts picked out for my Christmas gift”
I have a little over $1500 sitting in my Amazon cart right now for a new CPU and motherboard. So then I’ll need new RAM and I’m thinking about a new case. So maybe around 2K should do me. I just got a new monitor and my power supply and GPU are almost new. If I go with a new case and add liquid cooling I’ll probably go over 2K.
I’m looking at Aorus’s AIO 2080ti. I don’t want to dive into full liquid with this build.
What monitor are you using? This is what I have in my cart.
My PC is still chugging away five years after the initial build. GPU was upgraded once, but the rest is all original.
$1500 sitting in my Amazon cart right now for a new CPU and motherboard
Jesus. That’s either an industrial CPU or the $900 Aorus board.
“What monitor are you using? ”
The Alienware 34″ curved 3440×1440 IPS 120hz Gsync. It’s a beautiful monitor. I might upgrade to a 2080ti later on, but for now my 1080ti will do.
$1500 sitting in my Amazon cart right now for a new CPU and motherboard
Jesus. That’s either an industrial CPU or the $900 Aorus board.
It’s a 10 core i9 X series CPU and the board is an ASUS Rampage VI extreme.
I never finished that one, but I think I’ll go back and play it again, it’s a good game.
My favorite thing about KCD was getting good enough with bows to one arrow in the face kill enemies.
It took a while before the combat clicked with me, but once it did, I really enjoyed it. The creative director being fairly libertarian is a nice bonus too.
“The creative director being fairly libertarian is a nice bonus too.”
I remember some snowflakes throwing a hissy because there were no black people in the game and the guy just said ‘It’s 14th century Europe, there weren’t any black people around there back then’.
Not only that, but they also were whining because there were no female warriors running around.
Pretty much that. He quoted actual historical examples of the time. He also posts pictures of himself shooting guns frequently and rips on the EU while promoting gun ownership. And he’s been villianized for being a global warming skeptic.
“Pretty much that. He quoted actual historical examples of the time.”
He said when they started development that it was going to be based on historical accuracy and no fiction elements. But of course, the revisionists ain’t having any part of someone being honest and creating what they want.
I love that game. I really, really like that when you start off you’re just some schmuck from the sticks, and you struggle to survive against a hobo with a stick. Eventually, after a lot of hard work and practice, you become borderline competent with a weapon. Kind of like how it works in real life.
That seems a little unbelievable. Is there a game set in fifteenth century Bohemia in which I shovel shit till I die of pox?
“I love that game. I really, really like that when you start off you’re just some schmuck from the sticks, and you struggle to survive against a hobo with a stick.”
Gothic style, I love that also.
“That seems a little unbelievable. Is there a game set in fifteenth century Bohemia in which I shovel shit till I die of pox?”
And you were still going to make it until the potato blight came.
“I love that game. I really, really like that when you start off you’re just some schmuck from the sticks, and you struggle to survive against a hobo with a stick. Eventually, after a lot of hard work and practice, you become borderline competent with a weapon. Kind of like how it works in real life.”
Same. Rarely have I felt so accomplished then when I could buy a nice sword and great armor, and be able to take on 2! enemies at once.
“Same. Rarely have I felt so accomplished then when I could buy a nice sword and great armor, and be able to take on 2! enemies at once.”
The first Gothic game will always be my favorite. I remember starting out with shoddy rags, no shoes and
a stick I picked up on the beach. Everything could kill me, even a chicken and every town I walked into some thug would beat me up, steal all my stuff, and insult me. I had to scrounge anything I could find just to buy some meatbug stew to survive. Then one day a troll killed some guard by a town gate and I got a crossbow off his corpse. A few weeks later I walked into a castle, killed everyone in the place and looted it of everything valuable, and just walked out untouched. That was epic stuff.
“I really, really like that when you start off you’re just some schmuck from the sticks, and you struggle to survive against a hobo with a stick.”
If you guys like games like that, I’d also recommend Outward, same theme but with survival elements along with the RPG, it’s very difficult early on, you’ll die and lose all your stuff a lot.
Snow Crash here. It’s not at all what I expected. Still not sure how much I like it, but haven’t put it down yet. Haven’t got back to it for a few days though, just too damn tired from work to stay awake reading.
I picked up Gibson’s The Difference Engine again. I can’t remember why I put it down last year, so I started over. The meat of the novel is fun, but the bizarre framing narrative puts me off.
I’ve never read any of his stuff. I keep promising myself that the next novel I read will be A Deepness in the Sky since I loved A Fire Upon the Deep, and it’s on my bookshelf, has been there for years, but I keep forgetting and so now I just started Snow Crash.
Really fun book. On my “may re-read someday” list.
Snow Crash? It’s got some great words and phrases I have to steal. Bimbo Box being my favorite so far. Burbclave isn’t bad either.
The only 2 books I can remember putting down after reading half or more is The Dark Tower VI: Wolves of the Calla, can’t remember why, and The Handmaid’s Tale, can’t remember why either.
I tried reading that years ago and just couldn’t get into it. Maybe I’ll try again someday.
The neuroscience is always fascinating to me, but right now I am really reading to understand more of what my mother-in-law is experiencing and learn new ways to cope with the exhaustion and sadness I am encountering as we enfold her into our home and daily life. We didn’t expect it to be easy, but I’m not sure I fully understood how draining it is emotionally to witness her struggle all day every day.
Best wishes. There is lots of Alzheimer’s on my mom’s side of the family. It’s a shitty disease.
I finished “Space Cadet” by Heinlein. It’s OK. Not his best juvenile.
I just started “Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages”. I’m going in with a little bit of skepticism but we’ll see what I think. I’m certain if HM sees this, he’ll have an opinion (NO SPOILERS!).
I just finished reading Wikipedia’s new article on The Onion’s portrayal of Joe Biden. Huh, I didn’t know the real Joe Biden liked Corvettes.
Sounds like a bad book. I can’t imagine a 13 year old Japanese girl yelling that as the camera pans in a circle around her best friend/giant robot winds up to throw a photon-emitting hay maker at giant space squid.
“Fisherman’s Daughter 6”
My mom keeps telling me that Less Than Zero is a good movie that I should watch. The again, she’s never read the book so maybe it works as a standalone film and not an adaptation.
Anyway, between working through Petroleum workbooks for college, I just finished The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: the War Nobody Knew, which was an interesting look at a forgotten brief war in the interwar period. Currently working my way through Touching The Void by Joe Simpson, and planning to either hit up Anathem or The Adventures of Dunsterforce next.
You should watch Less Than Zero, but because it’s hilariously awful.
Ok, this may be a very dumb question, but I know next to nothing about Less than Zero other than it’s a drug movie. My only point of comparison is Requiem for a Dream. Where does it sit compared to that?
Imagine The Lost Weekend meets Douglas Sirk melodrama, and you’re approaching Less Than Zero.
There is no good reason to watch Less Than Zero
I would not watch that movie even if it were projected on Rachael Price’s naked back while I did her doggie style.
What about Rachel Maddow?
From behind she does resemble a teenage boy…
From in front she resembles a teenage boy. Hard pass.
Other than maybe “Class” (Jacqueline Bisset in ’83? This was an eminently wankable film for this young fella, and the thought is inspiring a stiff one) and Weekend At Bernie’s I don’t think Andrew McCarthy has made anything that remotely holds up.
Heaven Help Us is pretty good.
Sure there is – it’s tremendously funny, though not intentionally so.
If you’re interested in the inter-war Far East, Haslam’s “The Soviet Union and the Threat from the East” was fascinating. The Soviets start out post-Revolution determined to practice a whole new kind of socialist diplomacy… but by WWII their policy and methods are indistinguishable from those of the Czarists.
That does look good. I’ve been looking into something about the Soviet-Japanese border clashes around Nomonhan and that area in the run-up to WWII. Gotta chug through my book backlog first, unfortunately.
I’m reading through UCS’s Tarnished Sterling series. I’ve really enjoyed it!
His new book is next on the list once I finish the series.
No audiobook right now. I finished Histories by Herodotus at the beginning of the month and started 1776 by David McCullough, but I needed a break from audiobooks.
“Histories” was an interesting read. The bit about Egyptian mortuary workers having sex with corpses was…. odd.
I don’t remember that part
, but after a while I was sort of numb to all of the horrible things various cultures did to corpses.
I think some of the “feeding a man his own son without telling him” stuff was quite horrifying.
Trashy, I just finished off 1776. Well worth the read, isn’t it?
Prior to going away, I finished Cthulhu Armageddon by CT Phipps. Fun read.
Currently I’m reading Beyond the Edge of the Map. *nods at UCS*
After that it’s probably going to be some Clark Ashton Smith.
I have Nightshade Books’ collected works of Clark Ashton Smith. I read it all in one shot. It became a bit of a slog but despite that, it was worth it.
Midway through Howling Dark, the second novel in a Christpher Ruocchio’s Sun Eater series.
Liking it. The series is pretty dark, and Howling Dark so far has a definite horror flavor to it which is unusual in a space opera. The protagonist is just vain and impulsive enough to be nicely flawed. The setting is a very Romanish galactice empire at war with an alien race, with Our Hero bumbling around trying to open a diplomatic channel (and leaving a trail of bodies, as one does when seeking peace). Interesting “fringe”societies that dabble, and more than dabble, in genetic modification (the horror element) and artificial intelligence (also played for horror, some), including at least one god-like AI.
And its smart. There are some real, if cynical, insights and discussions. Recommended.
Interesting. Never heard of Ruocchio, but I’ve put the first one on my wish list.
I just finished it, really enjoyed it.
Such a long story arc and so many things going on, but I never felt lost. I reread the first one so I could catch up and they work together very well.
Only complaint was I knew I was reaching the end and I didn’t want it to be over.
I like how he even admits to being overly dramatic, always good for a laugh.
I’m reading the same thing as Brett.
Me too.
I got onto a kick of re-reading my old favorites. Because most of my old favorites are huge books I have read a whole bunch of pages.
Shogun 803
Hawaii 937
Tai-Pan a mere 590
Noble House 1206
The Source 1088
and I’m on page 610 (about 2/3) of Centennial.
Over 5000 pages in a bit over a month.
“Over 5000 pages in a bit over a month.”
Always amazing when hearing a glib has actually stayed that sober for a month.
How bout 28 years
You should celebrate!
Maybe not with a drink though.
I once quit drinking for a day. OK, maybe it wasn’t an ENTIRE day. JK, I take breaks from drinking all of the time, just not for 28 years.
Man. Replace Hawaii with The Far Pavilions and you’ve got my junior year. I went on a major colonial tear during high school.
Half an hour till I leave this job forever. Then it’s sweet, sweet
vacationback to work on Monday.Sweet, sweet vocation.
Congrats on both
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIjEauGiRLo
Last book I read was Ken Follett’s A Column of Fire. Set in the Elizabethan era with a strong focus on the Catholic/Protestant religious conflict, It has a stronger focus on real historical events and figures than the previous Kingsbridge novels. It’s similar in a way to the Three Musketeers novels, where the fictional main characters are the driving actors behind the scenes of many of the pivotal events of the period. I think these books are great for putting historical events you’re probably already familiar with in a wider context.
Also, just started Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It’s pretty good so far. Haven’t seen the film, but maybe I’ll watch it after finishing the book.
No wonder SugarFree and I are so simpatico.
This, you confess to????
You’re probably the Zodiac killer.
I finished “A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea”. Very depressing. The majority was about his time in NK working crappy jobs, being treated poorly and starving most of the time. Very little at the end about his escape. If have to say I don’t recommend; maybe skim thru it to see what a hellhole NK is.
Currently reading “One Last Gasp: A WWII Horror Thriller”. Enjoying it so far. Good detail about the weapons of war. Haven’t gotten to the real “horror” part yet.
I read “Nothing to Envy” by Barbara Demerick, about 7 or 8 North Koreans who lived through the famine in the 90’s and all eventually escaped NK by 2004. It was a horrible and disturbing place then, and it hasn’t changed, unfortunately.
Just watched the first episode of The Boys. Highly recommended, definitely not for kids.
The Sharpe books, in order. I’ve just finished Sharpe’s Siege.
The Bible (NKJV), still. I sort of skimmed Psalms because I always cringe when I read lyrics or poetry embedded in prose. Proverbs is pretty interesting, though, because I’m a sucker for aphorisms.
Django documentation, error logs, and a hell of a lot of Stack Overflow. I’m making a website for a friend’s drum tutoring sideline as a favor and as a way of figuring out how I’d do this sort of thing for some money on the side. Design, code, and hosting, the whole shebang. I’m also learning a lot about cloud hosting, particularly the part where I butt heads with Centos and regret not just using Ubuntu.
The Sharpe books sound like the infantry version of the Aubrey/Maturin series.
I’m curious about your experience with this. I’m in the planning stages of a Django-Postgres site for some homebrew analytics on some data at work, but even if I get the time and physical resources to do this project, it’s gonna be all me (and one other attorney) on the design and coding side.
Basically, I’m looking for something that gets the hell out of the way and lets me get my info on the site in the format I want without having to do a zillion things first.
Nice. My experience with Django is this. If you don’t want a lot of custom: it works really well with Mary a thought. If you do want custom behavior it still works well but you do need to put the effort to understand the design philosophy they had so that your custom code meshes in well.
That’s exactly what I want to hear. We’re pitching a 3 month push to get this site up and running, so it would be 99% default to start. However, it’s nice to have the flexibility to customize once I have the chance to learn it, and as the department makes their preferences known.
I should state that I’ve exclusively used it to build REST APIs so I’m more familiar with it as an ORM and then Django Rest Framework.
I’m about 1/3 of the way through Fall, or Dodge in Hell.
It’s much more like Stephenson’s other works than Reamde, so if you’re not a big Stephenson fan I’d say avoid it even if you liked Reamde.
Side note: Fall and Reamde take place in the Cryptonomicon/Baroque Cycle universe. I don’t remember if this was mentioned in Reamde or if it’s being retconned in in Fall.
Ooooh. New Stephenson.
I enjoyed Reamde. I started the Baroque Cycle, but I set it down when I got busy with other things in life. I’d have to start over at this point.
I recently finished Zero History and wasn’t completely impressed by the book.
For (ahem) “non-fiction”, I have been reading and re-reading my interlocked set of policies for managing my hospital’s relationships with physicians. There are five such policies (empoloyment, independent contractor, clinically integrated network, management services, and two distinct kinds of affiliation/acquisition) running around 40 pages each, that need to be aligned and updated.
Oh, and each has a set of contract templates, probably 20 in all, maybe more, that also need to be aligned and updated.
Whole forests are being clear-cut to print the redlined comparisons.
Deadline: July 31.
Ah, ah, I almost forgot… I’m also going to need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday, too. We, uhhh, lost some people this week and we sorta need to play catch-up. Mmmmmkay? Thaaaaaanks.
This project is all mine. The combination of nuance and precision means I really can’t have anyone else mucking around in these documents, not even my excellent Associate GC.
And, yes, I will be in the office this weekend.
I actually prefer the office on the weekends. No clients and no phone calls.
That’s why I like working late a few days per week. Even on the east coast, things start winding down around 4pm and I can actually get work done.
Outsource this work to some non-native English speaking contractors if you want to make it all fun..
Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
So the first cask strength scotch I ever bough was Glenfarclas 105 and I remember linking it. Bought another bottle this year and either my tastes or the whisky changed, but it is not as good as i remember. but works in a highball with 1 part whisky and 3 parts sparkling water
a highball with 1 part whisky and 3 parts sparkling water
*gasps, makes sign to avert the evil eye*
To be fair, I always put a splash of water in my single malt. For cask strength, I tend to put a little more, probably bringing the proof back down to regular strength and thus defeating the purpose of cask strength. The one exception has been the Del Bac (a local Tucson Scotch distiller) limited run that I recently got. Aged in cognac casks, its smoooooth.
I usually put a splash in cask strength. I tried this one with a splash and with two and still did not like it. So I though eh it’s summer, the temps are in the 30s…
the temps are in the 30s
*checks, furnace, turns up thermostat*
If it was a distiller’s edition, then it will be different.
Audioreading The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.
Five chapters from the end, and, so far, “adventures” have been few and far between.
Off to the mountains again, titposting will be sporadic/absent. This should tide you over.
http://archive.li/jReky
Somehow, Q and mountains seem like a natural pairing.
Only if he’s going to the Grand Tetons.
He could stop by Meeteetse on the way.
And go for breakfast.
“She’s got huge…tracts of land!”
Oops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPX-mW4l1rU
“Life in the Far West” by George Ruxton. Supposed to be autobiographical but sure could fool me. Late 1840s mountain men and the hardships of life plus dealing with adversarial Indians on a frequent basis. At times seems to be a little exaggerated but war stories told by the participants may be a little less than accurate. Interesting to me.
I don’t knowingly read fiction and I don’t keep a book after I’ve read it unless its reference materials. This one will go off to a friend in VA that has similar interests.
Wokeltarians of the world unite!
The debate over Donald Trump’s “go back” tweets regarding four minority Democratic members of Congress has centered on the unmistakably bigoted words that he wrote, but has missed the deeper point. The fundamental nature of the Middle American Revolution the president is leading is mired in white-identity politics and closely tracks the blueprint of a little-known writer, Sam Francis, who espoused disturbing racially tinged views….
The GOP establishment has long embraced the idea of America as universal magnet, based on lofty ideas that resonate with people from all races and backgrounds. Nationalists mostly reject that concept. To them, America is the product of a time, place and people. They can’t talk about their views for long before fretting about third-world immigrant rapists and yammering about cosmopolitans. Nationality—not liberty—is at the core of their philosophy.
“A concerted and long-term attack against the civilization of white, European and North American man has been launched,” Francis said at a 1994 conference sponsored by a group that’s focused on racial issues. “The war against white civilization…invokes liberal ideals as its justification and as its goal, but the likely reality is that the victory of the racial revolution will end merely in the domination or destruction of the white race and its civilization by the non-white peoples.”
The president doesn’t describe his views with precision, but his tweets tap into low-road sentiment. It doesn’t take many discussions with hard-core MAGA folks to end up hearing about “Mexican invaders” or “black crime.” That appears to be by design. “Instead of invoking a suicidal liberalism and regurgitating the very universalism that has subverted our identity and our sense of solidarity, what we as whites must do is reassert our identity and our solidarity, and we must do so in explicitly racial terms through the articulation of a racial consciousness as whites,” he suggested. Isn’t that what Trumpism is at least partially about?…
Today’s Trump movement is about many other issues, of course, but it’s easy to hear Francis’ echoes in its fixation on culture-war folderol, such as African-American flag kneelers, culturally subversive tech companies and drag-queen reading hours.
The president and his supporters can’t be held accountable for the words of a deceased columnist, even though it’s worth examining the worldview of one of this movement’s visionaries. But the “cancer is spreading,” as Jonathan V. Last argued recently in The Bulwark. That’s not only because an impulsive president pops off racially charged comments, but because his whole nationalist enterprise desperately needs chemotherapy.
Sigh. Identity politics is always dumb.
I’ve heard some try to separate cultural vs. racial identity, but I’m not sure that it wouldn’t devolve into racial identity politics. And the end of that road is ugly.
I’m not sure that it wouldn’t devolve into racial identity politics
Especially since one side is fully committed to racial identity politics, and the other side has some fringe elements that are pushing the same way.
the unmistakably bigoted words that he wrote
Umm, no. They were nationalist, but not racist or sexist.
culture-war folderol, such as African-American flag kneelers, culturally subversive tech companies and drag-queen reading hours.
I’m sure you scoffed at and scorned Kapaernik and that soccer chick’s antics, and the drag queen reading hours, right? Isn’t that the appropriate response to “culture war folderol”? The objection to the tech companies isn’t that they are “culturally subversive”, but that they are systematically marginalizing people who don’t recite the Woke Catechism of the Day.
It doesn’t take many discussions with hard-core MAGA folks to end up hearing about “Mexican invaders” or “black crime.”
I don’t hang with “MAGA folks”, so I couldn’t say for sure, but while “Mexican invaders” sounds plausible, I don’t recall “black crime” really showing up in their list of concerns.
The GOP establishment has long embraced the idea of America as universal magnet, based on lofty ideas that resonate with people from all races and backgrounds. Nationalists mostly reject that concept.
To the contrary, I think American nationalists, being proud of their nation, are quite comfortable with America as a universal magnet, etc. They want to keep it that way, which is why they opposed attempts to undermine and destroy what they see as unique and valuable about America. There is certainly a strain of racialism on the fringes, but I think that’s where it is – on the fringes.
To them, America is the product of a time, place and people.
Isn’t it? Or did it spring full-grown from the brow of Zeus?
Note this at the end:
Nice admission that the core assertions of racism in his article are, in fact, fringe, and not mainstream, as he would like you to believe.
run your link through archive.is if you don’t want to give page views.
Remember when assimilation was kind of a requirement? I knew lots of immigrants and children of immigrants growing up. They were proud of the transition to “full-American”. They didn’t walk around bitching about America, how much the place sucks, and the mean people while wearing the goofy headdress of the old-country.
When exactly did this change? Was it the 90’s? early 00’s? It’s just disheartening to see people shout about how much their new home sucked when they deliberatly came here.
And they deliberately came here because they lacked the skills to make it in the Third World.
Damn welfare state.
Send them back. The ingratitude has eliminated any welcome that might have been extended had they been more polite.
They must know that is the visceral reaction most Americans will have to their antics. Just stirring up tribalism? Can’t help themselves? Know nothing will change and rubbing it in our faces? I really don’t get it.
I don’t either.
^^ If you divide yourself by *insert immutable characteristic*, don’t be surprised when others do as well.
Most people don’t, only the “activists” who get press. We’ve mostly lived in immigrant communities over the past 12 years, and they were hard-working, their kids were bilingual (even if the parents never got comfortable with English), and lots of American flags on front lawns.
This is fair. Most of the foreign people in my area have citizenship or are working on it, are bilingual, and hardworking.
That’s largely my experience with immigrants, although I don’t hang out with immigrants who aren’t working (and this live in the kinds of neighborhoods people with decent jobs live in).
I suspect relatively few actual immigrants have much truck with the activists (and vice versa). And why should they? The activists are engaged in a project which has very little to do with immigrants, who are merely a convenient prop for the Lefty project of “fundamentally transforming” America into something, well, un-American.
“When exactly did this change? ”
When Democrat machines took over most major cities.
Because if there’s one thing you can guarantee from Democrats, it’s increases in taxation (in all it’s forms). That’s the basis of most of the bitching – and the novices fall for the trope that the GOP is responsible for all that extra cost. I can take you to suburban areas loaded with immigrants and you don’t get any of this bitching and moaning because they can live a comfortable life with minimal inconveniences and can save a few dollars every week.
People choose to live in Democrat shitholes because they think the urban lifestyle fits them and after they settle in they see the nickel and dimeing bullshit city government and city life imposes on them everyday and they immediately blame others instead of admitting they made a choice that didn’t suit them.
But that’s the way most malcontents are: they make a decision that in retrospect didn’t work out and rather than admit their mistake and change course they blame everybody else.
But when, time-wise, did this happen? It was post-Vietnam, wasn’t it? Or earlier/later?
It seemed to spread from east to west over a couple generations.
My great-grandparents would always speak English to their children, although they were never terribly fluent in the language. They did this because they wanted their children to speak English because that’s what American children speak, not Italian. My grandfather barely understands Italian for that reason despite having had two native speakers of it for parents. Yeah, they ate a lot of polenta and macaroni, the old man made grappa like the men of his family had for generations, but there was never any question in their minds that they were Americans who left the old country for very good reasons.
I think that one nuance that gets lost sometimes is that assimilation doesn’t matter until it does. An American suburb with 40,000 Sudanese isn’t a problem until it starts voting for Sudanese political solutions and starts bringing Sudanese cultural issues into the American suburb. Notice that Koreans aren’t treated with the same skepticism as North Africans and Central Americans, despite the fact that Koreans tend to cluster together in certain areas of the city, too.
Also, this is an excellent point:
I’m sure you scoffed at and scorned Kapaernik and that soccer chick’s antics, and the drag queen reading hours, right? Isn’t that the appropriate response to “culture war folderol”? The objection to the tech companies isn’t that they are “culturally subversive”, but that they are systematically marginalizing people who don’t recite the Woke Catechism of the Day.
Culture wars aren’t one-sided affairs…..unless you’re firmly on one side of them and can heap criticism on the other side for “its fixation on culture-war folderol, such as African-American flag kneelers, culturally subversive tech companies and drag-queen reading hours”. IOW, according to this guy there’s no legitimate reason not to cheer the flag kneelers and drag queen story hours. It’s all just so much “culture-war folderol”. Sorry, I don’t want some freak reading hanging around my kid. I will absolutely defend his right to be a drag queen and he should be free to do whatever freakish shit he wants on his own time. He does not have an inalienable right to read to grade school kids while dressed up like Divine.
unmistakably bigoted
So was it last week when some guy accosted a black woman abusing a grocery store express lane, until he was revealed to be Cuban and she’d told him to go back home.
Why don’t you: go fuck yourselves.
It doesn’t take many discussions with hard-core MAGA folks to end up hearing about “Mexican invaders” or “black crime.”
For a certain definition of “many.” And if you don’t hear those phrases, you obviously haven’t been talking to a hard-core MAGA person. SCIENCE!
This is such a timely, pressing topic that the picture accompanying it depicts….something that happened two years ago.
I wasn’t familiar with the author so I looked up his organization, the R Street Institute. It sounds like a JV Niskanen-wannabe outfit.
In process: Stephen Hicks’ Exploring Postmodernism – personal opinion; people who swallow this philosophy range from deluded to batshit crazy
The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday and David Hanselman. Taking this as recommended, a day at a time, though it’s a struggle not to delve into the whole thing.
Finished: McCullough’s 1776 (see above) and the first four books in David Drake’s RCN series.
Did you listen to Thadeuss Russell’s defense of post modernism with Michael Malice? I’d be curious to see what you think.
Leon, I just got back online. I’ll listen to it over the weekend and get back to you.
Patriot Games
The Silmarillion (month 124)
‘The Silmarillion’ That book ensured I would never become a Tolkien fanboy. I think I got about 50 pages in before giving up.
Man, I loved The Silmarillion. Read it once in 5 days inHigh School (I was/am a nerd)
I tried to read the Silmarillion, but it repeated itself.
Quite literally, the copy I’d bought had two copies of the same chunk of a hundred or so pages and missing a different chunk of a hundred or so pages.
It’s barely readable. I just want to finish it at some point.
There were some chapters that were excellent reading, but then there was this one chapter that kept stopping me. I looked at it more closely and literally nothing happened in it. It was just a geographical description for dozens of pages.
You didn’t want a verbose textual description of Middle Earth at a time when no other books are set?
To be fair, I’d read through The Hobbit and The Rings Trilogy. A prequel documentary about a fantasy world? No thanks.
To be fair, JRR never actually published the book, which were just his notes.
It wasn’t meant as a dig, in any event. I’m sure there are plenty of people who wanted that background. Just like there are people who learn Klingon or Dothraki or whatever. I have no problem with that, but it’s not something I’d want to do.
It’s definitely a weird one. Half of it you can tell were notes, while there are parts that feel like almost finished stories similar to The Hobbit. I recommend The Children of Hurin. It takes the best of the Silmarillion and gives you an actual story. Also Tolkien’s darkest work by far.
All of his stuff was pulpy, but I remember in college getting a JIm Thompson novel from the library. After that, I read all they had of him.
It’s not surprising to me that King was a huge fan of his, since they both have/had the ability to write page turning books. Even when I’m not fond of the story, either one of them can keep your interest. (Or mine, at least)
Oops. Meant as a new post.
Children of Hurin sounds interesting.
Charles Murray’s Apollo
A page and a half at a time as I have to put it down and question what I’ve been doing with my life.
OT: Anybody near St George, Utah. Kid#1 bought a car in CA and is now broken down just south of St George. Anyone know of a SAAB mechanic in the area?
Possibly
Dang, that sucks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the nearest one isn’t in Las Vegas.
Can’t help with those problems but…
Here is what should be done in St. George
Hmmm. Unfortunately I don’t know if there will be any SAAB specific mechanics in St George. It’s not a big place.
There might not be a SAAB mechanic. But there may be SOB mechanic.
be a*
I don’t know them, so I can’t vouch, but he might try these guys.
Thanks, I’ll pass it on.
Buy now, Saab later, as my uncle used to say
“This Storm,” by James Ellroy. I’m a big Ellroy fan and while it is probably not his best (although I will re-read to confirm) it is pretty damn Ellroy, so it’s enjoyable.
“Devil in the White City,” by Erik Larson. I really enjoyed this one.
Devil in the White City was a terrific read
Listened to Planetside because my library had an electronic copy. Enjoyed it. Good sci-fi grumpy old soldier character, drinking, fighting, and occasionally thinking his way through an investigation,
Reading Iron Gray Sea – yet another Taylor Anderson Destroyermen book. I must like them, I keep reading them.
I don’t know much
But I know this
Shit is fucked up
I used to think the internet was the greatest invention of my lifetime. Then I realized that it’s a lot like giving chimpanzees megaphones. Only the screeching noises aren’t as intelligible as your average chimpanzee.
The subject of this post is somewhat poignant for me, since I’ve just returned from the Lower Rainland™ to partake of a Cousins’ Day reunion, and had the opportunity to talk to a niece about my mother’s young life. Mom was an art student at OCA (the Ontario College of Art, now known as OCAD University) from the late 1940s through the early 1950s. My niece was profoundly puzzled as to why Mom went there — “What job could you possibly be preparing for at that place?” The idea that a woman from that time (and even many men) would study art for its own sake was utterly alien to my niece. According to her, education was solely about prepping for employment and was something to flee from at the earliest available opportunity. It’s also something you can’t do for yourself. Reading a book to better yourself or better understand the world around you? Preposterous!
**HEAVY SIGH** What a downer.
After months of having an upended life and moving back to my old province (ALBERTA RULEZ!), I’m actually looking forward to reading again. The new digs are surprisingly peaceful considering how close they are to everything I want/need. First on my absurdly long list is Chris Wickham’s The Inheritance of Rome, which I’ve been meaning to get to for years. There’s also more books on electronics that I’m dipping into as need arises.
But now I need a good, comfortable and ergonomic chair to read in — I’m finding as I get older that sitting in chairs is starting to make a real difference to how I feel by the end of the day. Anybody got a favourite chair they sit in when they read?
Yes
The wall too close to the knee would drive me insane.
‘Cepting for the gold, it has the knee-compressing quality of the bathroom of the hotel room in Bordeaux that we stayed in for a couple of days back in September 2017. Yeesh.
Where’s the sink?
Don’t you see the bowl filled with water in the center?
*shoves Gustave’s head into the toilet bowl and flushes*
In fact, I do. With an ottoman. We got it nearly 20 years ago dirt cheap from some store that was going out of business – not even a furniture store. No idea who made it, or anything. Damn comfortable, though.
Please rate this comment’s helpfulness on a scale of one to five stars.
Does anyone here work?
We work at nothing all day.
TCB
My baby takes the morning train
He works from nine till five and then
Married 4 times, longest was 18 months. RUN AWAY!
I’m so with you, bro. This is my 3rd, and I hope the last. I mean I hope it lasts forever this time and our 10 years have so far just gotten better with age, unlike the first 2 disasters. But if anything ever happens to her and I, I’d never get married again, ever.
Someone is a Manchest United Football fan club member
https://youtu.be/UyIrXH-ITw4
LOL, funny, those Eurofags.
*Manchester damn phone.
Scotty doesn’t know…
I typically have to do ‘hit and run’ style posting during work hours. Not to be confused with TOS. I mean I have to post a few things quickly and then get back to work so I can quit sooner and drink beer. Especially important on Friday.
#notme
I’m on vacation for 10 days, and get to stay in a House, rather than motel Hell, maybe I’ll read a book……
You’re on vacation and you’re going to read a book? WTF? What a good waste of precious time to have sex in strange places and drink way too much.
Not so much a vacation, just waiting till the next project to start, plenty of time beer and the sex will have to wait
For the articles?
He serfs Xhamster for the articles, he’s a total gentleman you know?
Skips straight to the comments?
“That’s my sister and I’ve been having threesomes with her and my aunt, and one time my mum…”
Yeah, never read the comments, never.
WE ARE ALL SERFS, AND I AM KING SERF
A half our and counting until quittin’ time.
our? Wait, you’re British? Oh, nevermind, you didn’t say ‘alf an our and time for pints’.
I’m waiting till 1pm, about 12 minutes,
Fuck it, brb
Arizona beer, Moonjuice galactic IPA, not bad at all,
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QmRECpoqpjGLHX227
I just popped a Breckenridge Brewery Agave Wheat. Not my fav, but sure hits the spot right now.
It’s terribly boring, so I multitask.
Not me, these days.
While the responses to my question above were amusing, I really am serious — anyone here use a “special” chair for their reading? The places where I used to read (couch etc.) are starting to be uncomfortable for longish sessions as I get older.
Oh, how the Hell did the above get placed here?
Hey SP! What’s with the weird placement of my (supposedly) brand-new comment?
Man Tries Sitting In Anti-Manspreading Chair, Immediately Crushes His Balls from Tim Pool.
When I’m in a meeting with all women and it’s not around a table, I mean open office, and this happens a lot, I make sure I do that, on purpose. Even if I would prefer to sit in a different position, I do manspread position on purpose. I’m seriously not kidding.
One of these years I’ll find a chair that is actually comfortable.
I used to work with a woman who wore pretty short skirts/dresses to work. Nothing offensive about that since she was a fairly attractive lady. But when we were in meetings, she would sit with her legs crossed and she would constantly tug at her skirt to pull it down. It was the most annoying shit, I would keep thinking ‘stop that already! Just don’t worry or uncross you damn legs!’.
Well sure, we all have to do our part to enact the patriarchy.
Wait, I thought the patriarchy was so firmly entrenched that there has to be a constant struggle against it? Sometimes I’m not sure which multiverse I woke up in today.
How else will we crush their struggle? They are immune to facts and reason .
^true dat^
Love, from Florida Woman!
Joe Abercrombie The Last Argument of Kings ***½ Solid finish to a good trilogy will look for the stand alones.
John Dickson Carr The Hollow Man **½ Hopefully it was just horrible E-book formatting, It was hard to tell who was talking to whom or was happening at times, I can’t imagine that Carr is as well regarded and wrote like that, I’ll spend more on a decent e-book next time.
Robert McCarrol Beyind the Edge of the Map *** despite the incorrect usage of the word ‘bespoke’ a good adventure tale.
Stuart MacBride Now We are Dead **** Spin off of the Logan McRae series featuring everyone’s favorite cranky, crude, lovable lesbian detective inspector Steel
.
Adrian McKinty The Chain ***½ NYT bestseller. Kidnapping themed thriller, probably soon to be a major motion picture. I’ve been reading McKinty’s books since 2003’s Dead I May Well Be (a much better book) so I’m happy for him that with his latest he has hit the big time. Lets hope success doesn’t ruin him and he doesn’t go all Stuart Woods on us and spend the next twenty years writing crappy formulaic novels.
It’s not my fault you’re working off the 1066 dictionary.
Dictionaries are soo yesterday. They should be banned so we can rely on the left to redefine words on the fly, every 5 minutes or so. It’s the only way to social justice and saving the planet.
Since the subject is reading, I was just thinking of all the stuff I’ve read. One of my favs of all time authors is Gary Jennings. If you like historical fiction. Journeyer which is the life story of Marco Polo is my favorite of his, but there are many, Inca, Aztec, really great stuff and his writing style, in my opinion, is the best. He passed away some time ago, shame, but I think I’ve read everything the guy ever wrote.
Rabbit, Skunk and the Scary Rock
https://www.amazon.com/Rabbit-Skunk-Scary-Carla-Stevens/dp/0590001116/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Rabbit%2C+Skunk+and+the+Scary+Rock&qid=1564172806&s=gateway&sr=8-1
(spoiler alert) It was Woodchuck!
I’m reading ‘Here are my hours’ papers and grieving over the labour costs.
I’m in the middle of a ton of different books, working my way (ponderously) through all of them.
The Upanashads – May be humanity’s oldest spiritual text, an absolute classic of poetic wisdom. “The Truth is One, the sages know it by many names.” A collection of Hindu stories and hymns of praise, with wonderful introductory material on each Upanashad. I have the Eknath Easwaran translation.
How To Read a Book – Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren’s classic that I hate admitting I’ve never read, so time to close that gap.
The Trivium – Sister Miriam Joseph. Related to the one right above this, the introduction notes that it was inspired by Adler. I’ve stopped and started this a number of times and it’s entirely my fault. This is what an Enlightenment education was before that got taken over and destroyed by Progressives. Along with the “Quadrivium” it is the true liberal arts education that brought the Western world to its greatest heights.
The Hero With a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell’s classic work on the “monomyth.” I’m a little ways into it and it’s not easy, but the payoff is well worth it. Campbell influenced George Lucas, and many, many other modern storytellers.
The Red Book (Liber Novus) – Carl Jung’s epic work of paintings and notes that was kept private by his heirs for decades after his death and only recently published (2008). I was feeling self-indulgent and bought the giant ($170!!) edition, which supposedly captures the color and intensity of the images he painted from his ‘waking dreams’ that explored the subconscious in a way that the paperback can’t. This is another heavy, heavy read, but the little I’ve gotten through is fascinating.
I’m in the middle of a ton of different books,
I can’t do that. I’m a serial monogamist with books – only one at a time.
Ever since I got eReaders, I’m constantly tempted to be working through several books at once. Plays havoc with my ability to focus.
Ooooo. I’d love to look at the Carl Jung book. I was associated with a bunch of Jungians in a previous life.
Alistair MacLean Where Eagles Dare ****, You’ve seen the movie it’s pretty much that, In fact believe this was the first time he wrote the screenplay first and then turned it into a novel.
Stuart MacBride All That’s Dead *** Stu may have flogged this horse one to many time, still very well written put the characters and stories are starting to feel forced and a bit repetitve.
Various authors Happy Birthday Cards ***** Just ton and tons of birthday cards from my many, many friends and admirers.