February 28, 2020

At the Sunrise Café...

BE826095-4811-4F97-9131-4D064C4DBD6A_1_201_a

... you can talk all night.

163 comments:

Drago said...

Good News!

"Professor" Biden finally admits he was never arrested trying to visit Mandela in South Africa!

The Bad News?

The "Professor" stuff......

Mark said...

Cogley: Rights, sir, human rights! The Bible. The Code of Hammurabi, and of Justinian. The Magna Carta. The Constitution of the United States. The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies. The Statutes of Alpha III.

Gentlemen - these documents all speak of rights. Rights of the accused to a trial by his peers, to be represented by counsel. The rights of cross-examination. But most importantly, the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him - a right to which my client's been denied. . . .

My client has the right to face his accuser. And if you do not grant him that right, you have brought us down to the level of the machine. Indeed, you have elevated that machine above us. I ask that my motion be granted. And more than that, gentlemen, in the name of a humanity fading in the shadow of the machine, I demand it. I demand it!

Mark said...

Remind me to go to Sears tomorrow.

It's closing forever. Maybe can get some good sales.

But I've found that usually the prices in going out of business sales are higher than in a regular sale.

Mark said...

One thing they never explained was why they needed someone in "the pod" during an ion storm, and what the pod person was supposed to do, and why it should need to be jettisoned if conditions worsened.

Mark said...

They also don't explain how during Kirk's fight with Finney, each suddenly looks like an entirely different person. Not even close. Although I probably didn't notice it the first time I saw the episode.

narciso said...

Star fleet seems to be a very dysfunctional institution, captain merrick commodore decker, among some of the people in their employ.

narciso said...

interesting

Mark said...

Captain Garth, John Gill, Will Riker . . .

Darkisland said...

YAAAAY! A Book-a-Fe

One my favorite Paul Newman last movies was "Nobody's Fool" with Melanie Griffith, Bruce Willis and Jessica Tandy.

He was also in Empire Falls, a 4 part miniseries with Helen Hunt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Dennis Farina. I liked it pretty well too.

Both were from books by Richard Russo. Amazon recommended his "Straight Man" a month or two back, I downloaded the sample, liked it enough to get started but then got sidetracked by 2 Erdman books and Spearhead. I picked it up again and finished it last night.

It is kind of a book about nothing, but as Seinfeld showed, shows and books about nothing can be pretty good all on their own. Basically it is about a college professor and his trials and tribulations over a semester. Not much plot, certainly nothing exciting happens.

That sounds pretty bad, I guess but it also describes Nobody's Fool and Empire Falls. I liked the book, it was a very pleasant read.

Last night I got back to "The Tragedy of Liberation" by Frank DiKotter. I had started it a couple months ago then got sidetracked. It is volume 1 of a trilogy of China under Mao. I think Ann may have talked about it here. It is pretty gruesome but very interesting so far (ab 90 pages in)

So what's everyone else reading?

What recommendations do you have? To read or to avoid.

John Henry

Mark said...

Non-justiciable, separation of powers.

Enforce your own subpoenas, Congress.

stevew said...

Given his track record Obama should throw his support to Bernie to improve the odds that someone else wins the nomination.

Day whatever and I've still not contracted the dreaded coronavirus; hope I've not now jinxed myself!

iowan2 said...

President Trump received yet another favorable judicial ruling today. Reaffirming separation of powers, and executive privilege. A reasonable person would conclude Schiff and his conspirators would be forced to lay off the whole investigation for the sake of creating bad PR. President Trump is amassing quite a library of favorable legal rulings to run ads mocking the flailing Schiff and company. Democrats in general, too inept to achieve their goals.

Mark said...

There are some classics that I want to read. But I typically don't have the patience for long books anymore. Collections of short stories work well though.

But I've been meaning to read some Austen - I've gotten about 20 pages into Emma. I also want to some day read Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Josephbleau said...

"The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies." Posh, don't you know history, man? Martian freedoms derive from the Martian council of Adam Selene and Professor Bernardo de la Paz, which convened after the revolution deposed the Warden.

Andrew said...

As I mentioned in the cafe last night, I've been watching the Court TV documentary on OJ Simpson's trial. It's the 25th anniversary (can you believe it?). The documentary shows a lot of clips from inside the courtroom. My main takeaway so far has been the dominance of the defense attorneys, and the incompetence of the prosecutors. I can understand now why OJ got off. I feel sympathy for the police who did the best they could under difficult circumstances, but the defense effectively challenged their credibility. I can now understand why a juror would have reasonable doubt.

Something else occurred to me since last night. Johnnie Cochran is a very Trumpian figure. He commands the room, even when he's in the background. He provokes the prosecutors into making mistakes, responding emotionally, and overreacting to his remarks. (Both Clark and Darden come across as children when Cochran offends them.) He has the judge, the prosecutors, and the witnesses eating out of his hand. It's fascinating to watch. You can tell that he knows how effective his style is, and that his adversaries are not in his league. I never cared for him much, but I have to give him some begrudging respect after watching him do his thing.

narciso said...

how about this i know i pilgrim is a tall order to match

traditionalguy said...

At last. A warm pic. We like the warm ones without a frozen lake showing how cold it really gets.

Trump was loved in the Palmetto State tonight as much as he was in India last week. The South Carolina coast has the native palmetto palm trees while the gulf coast of Florida only has transplanted ones. That's because the northwest to southeast winter storms dip down into Texas and south Alabama but swing back north over Georgia, thus missing Carolina's coast.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Prayers for Harlan never mattered much to him, but he seemed to know they would always mean a lot to his kin.

Milwaukie guy said...

Great pic! Spring arrives on Sunday. Another winter in the bank.

I'm reading two slim volumes right now: Michael Lind's The New Class War and sort of a self-help book, Light Infantry Tactics for Small Teams.

purplepenquin said...

I recall Selene and the Professor overthrowing the Warden on the moon, not Mars.

Who was the first person to walk on the moon? This blog may be crossing divergent timelines.

Inga said...

Magnificent! The best yet.

Mea Sententia said...

This is a lovely sunrise photo. The colors, the framing. Beautiful.

narciso said...

Yes that doesnt right, maybe in his sort of sequel the cat who could walk through walls, there is so much good science fiction waiting to be adapted.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Ultimately it wasn't the Catholicism as I had always suspected: It was the greatness of my unheralded father and all I learned but didn't implement or teach friendly.

Inga said...

“But I've been meaning to read some Austen - I've gotten about 20 pages into Emma.”

Austen is wonderful reading! I’ve read Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion. I’m going to see if I can find some free Austen books I haven’t read yet online.

Tommy Duncan said...

From the Farmer's Almanac:

When is the First Day of Spring?

Spring begins with the vernal equinox, which always occurs on March 19, 20, or 21.

Year Spring Equinox (Northern Hemisphere)
2020 Thursday, March 19, at 11:50 P.M. EDT
2021 Saturday, March 20, at 5:37 A.M. EDT
2022 Sunday, March 20, at 11:33 A.M. EDT
2023 Monday, March 20, at 5:24 P.M. EDT

What Does the Equinox Mean?

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night”—aequus (equal) and nox (night).

On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world.

BlackjohnX said...

If you enjoy historical naval fiction, I'd recommend the following authors, all available on Amazon: Brian Withecombe, Philip K Allen, Dewey Lambdin, David Donachie, Andrew Wareham.

stephen cooper said...

Austen is such a good writer that sometimes when I read her novels I read a chapter, then read the chapter again before going on to the next chapter.

narciso said...

I think stranger in a strange land, most concerns mars, i have to check the chronology.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Now although I could, oh boy could I, and oh boy could I ever now, I won't.

God Bless Trump. What a leader of men, the rarest of talents.

You all know about that book.

You know.

Duh. It's got like the Carnegie oh oh ohhh Dale Carnetuie... Makind sales today. Think of that

I don'nt say I understand more than others, biut we know understanding is for Christians. Am I right??

Why not Catholic "I hate making money" compared to other better ways to scientifically steal money others made because they are bad anti-science people like trump in cards.

Chuck said...

Here's some good ole 'Muricans, putting the "low" in "low information citizenry...

So Garth Brooks does a concert in Detroit, and dons a #20 Lions' jersey with "Sanders" on the back. And the alt-right/Tea Party/Trump base geniuses on social media immediately attacked Brooks on the basis that he was supporting Bernie Sanders '20.

I am not making this up.

John henry said...

Thanks Narciso,

I just downloaded book one of the series. Rather, the sample. Looks interesting.

Odd pricing, though. Book 1 is $8.99. Book 2 is $1.99. Book 3 is $14.99. 1&2 are both almost 500 pages. Book 3 is 432 pages.

John Henry

Chuck said...

Althouse, I know that you like diagramming sentences. Here's one for you. I'm not quite sure how you diagram "dementia."

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1233547193895645184

narciso said...

and this one is a modern clancy, warning crichton level annotation

pacwest said...

That is a much better framed picture than your usual.

narciso said...

The first one was ok, the second has a small series of interesting redactions,

Bay Area Guy said...

I hope Althouse riffs on the DC Circuit opinion on the McGahn subpoena.

Narr said...

I took my own advice and am rereading VN's Bend Sinister. I had forgotten what a funny writer he could be, and the world described--for all his protests of purest aestheticism at all times--resonates today.

If you like historical fiction in detective form, I commend (again) the late Philip Kerr's (gone too soon!) Bernie Gunther series; he was no slouch in sci- or spec-fi either--The Second Angel, Esau, A Philosophical Investigation, and Prayer (that's four titles) are worth tasting.

Meterological winter is early Dec through early March, IIUC, not entirely coincident with the sun.

Narr
Red sky in morning!

narciso said...

Second angel was interesting a heinleinesque mystery, in a dystopian age.

MadisonMan said...

They also don't explain how during Kirk's fight with Finney, each suddenly looks like an entirely different person.

They also don't explain why that huge wrench is just lying around in engineering.

Narayanan said...

Collusion : Israel !?

Convincing analysis.
Unfolds before Super Tuesday

http://carolineglick.com/israeli-sovereignty-and-the-fate-of-the-trump-plan/

narciso said...

His last work wasnt as good as his penultimate one.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

@Mark

I got a Kenmore grill from my Sears when they were closing at a great price. My neighbor got the floor model grill for 90% off!

Kathryn51 said...

Today, I finally decided that Trump will win again in 2020.

I didn't vote for him, doesn't matter in Pinko Commie Washington State, and still don't know if I will in November.

But shirttail in-law called my super-active Republican hubby tonight. Was confused regarding the upcoming primary ballot (Mar 10). He is "Boeing union" retiree/life-long Democrat. We rarely talk politics. He didn't vote for Trump in 2016 (like me- he wrote in a name), but in 2020 - HE IS ALL IN FOR Trump. Hates the political hits. Hates the fact that "his" party didn't try to work with the President.

I was shocked.

Trump will win. Dems are toast.

John henry said...

I think I mentioned that ther is a free Kindle edition of Trollope's complete works that I always have With me on both phone & tablet. I can pretty much dip into it at random and read for an hour or three.

I also have the complete works of Joseph Conrad on phone & tablet. I'm a bit more selective with him. I love him when he is writing about ships and the sea (including the Congo river) but I find him rather dull when he comes ashore. Unless he is between voyages.

When he is at sea, nobody is better. One of the most perfect pieces of writing I've ever read is "Youth" a fictionalized of One of Conrad's first voyages as mate.

And the cherry on top of all that is this passage:

And this is how I see the East. I have seen its secret places and have looked into its very soul; but now I see it always from a small boat, a high outline of mountains, blue and afar in the morning; like faint mist at noon; a jagged wall of purple at sunset. I have the feel of the oar in my hand, the vision of a scorching blue sea in my eyes. And I see a bay, a wide bay, smooth as glass and polished like ice, shimmering in the dark. A red light burns far off upon the gloom of the land, and the night is soft and warm. We drag at the oars with aching arms, and suddenly a puff of wind, a puff faint and tepid and laden with strange odors of blossoms, of aromatic wood, comes out of the still night—the first sigh of the East on my face. That I can never forget. It was impalpable and enslaving, like a charm, like a whispered promise of mysterious delight.

I'll bet I've read that book 200 times since I discovered it in the 70s. It's not long. More a long short story than a short novel.

But perfect in every way.

John Henry

Sprezzatura said...

How about taking this sunrise pic project on the road?

None of the so-called finalist images, or any images that will ever be taken in Madtown, can get beyond so-so.

Mountains and/or fjords and such are needed to exceed it. Sticking some dead looking trees in frame doesn’t do it. Flatness sux.

IMHO.

narciso said...

on that note

Guildofcannonballs said...

Over the years looking back, that ******** Biden/Ryan debate always sticks out.

Man oh man.

narciso said...

I read nostromo after history of costaguana and i found it dry

John henry said...

I already have the sample of ghost fleet in my pile to read.

It might have been you that recommended it but I don't remember.

John Henry

Sprezzatura said...

BTW, I figured the best car option for taking the project on the road.

Since it seems that Meadehouse refuses to get a 911 4, which would be perfect, how about an all wheel drive BMW 2 convertible?

Even irrationally cheap law profs could swing that.

Guildofcannonballs said...

How smart will I be?

Iffin' that new book from China, not the used one from Colorado Springs for 1/5th of the China book, though no prime deal, hence...

John henry said...

Nostromo takes place ashore. I generally find Conrad dry when he is not writing about the sea.

John Henry

Temujin said...

I like to go from fiction to non-fiction and back and forth between the two. Recently finished Virgil Wander by Leif Enger. Fiction about a small town in northern Minnesota and the characters who inhabit that world. I love Enger's writing. This book reminded me of Richard Russo stories. About nothing in particular, but focusing on the people in a town and their peculiarities. And the land. His books always delve into the nature around the people. This was a good, but not great book. Not as good as his others (his previous two books were outstanding.) But...he's such a good wordsmith I love reading his works.

I went from that into Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder. Heavy non-fiction about Eastern and Central Europe that Hitler and Stalin trampled all over before and during WWII. And the 14 million people they took out in that part of the world. Nothing like a history of national socialism vs international socialism and how they go about their business. I'm early into the book and it's pretty riveting. Harrowing. And it happened not that long ago.

narciso said...

I thought so, its interesting theh took the names of the ships in both alien films from there.

Ken B said...

“ I’ve read Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion. I’m going to see if I can find some free Austen books I haven’t read yet online.”

Inga, I applaud you reading Austen. But this is pretty funny.

Ken B said...

Re Sears.
Sears used to be Amazon, 100 plus years ago. I was at a church built in the 1920s from a Sears Roebuck mail order church kit. I kid you not.

John henry said...

Inga,

Try Amazon. The often have free editions of public domain books formatted for kindle.

Gutenberg.org also probaly has them for free. I find the e book formatting not as friendly as amazon. Not bad, just not as good.

Librivox.org probably has free audiobook of austen. Ive listened to a lot of trollope, london and others on librivox.

John Henry

gilbar said...

Josephbleau said...
"The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies." Posh, don't you know history, man? Martian freedoms derive from the Martian council of Adam Selene and Professor Bernardo de la Paz, which convened after the revolution deposed the Warden.


1st of all; i want to point out, that i'm NOT Agreeing with Lilac Loon (mauve merganser?)
I'm just saying that Adam and Hazel (et al) were on Luna
AND, AS WE ALL KNOW
Martian ideas of liberty go all the way back to the Martian Elder Race, and sharing water;
it is NOT like WE'D be able to come up with things they already hadn't

gilbar said...

okay, it Does SOUND like i'm agreeing with PP

Guildofcannonballs said...

cuntfuck is my definition.

wild chicken said...

Henry i downloaded the Trollope complete and read it all. For a year or so I was living in mid 18th england, in my head.

I liked what he wrote about bright young people overthinking marriage, and kinda stalling out. Just do it, he says.

He was a good soul.

Mark said...

Before I can really dive into Emma, I first need to get used to Austen's writing style. Starting out, I'm finding I need to read and reread sentences and paragraphs.

Ken B said...

Free kindle versions of public domain books are getting scarcer on Amazon it seems (but even if they cannot be found quite a bunch for about a buck can be had). My suggestion is try several searches, as for some unfathomable reason the Amazon search doesn’t always return the free books without a bit of prodding.
Some have audible versions for very cheap, l8ke 99 cents. Search the kindle pop up menus for classics to get these deals.

Mark said...

I've seen the trailer for the new Emma movie. Didn't care for it. A review I saw is probably accurate in calling it a "screwball comedy."

It has its humorous elements, to be sure, but that's over the top.

The BBC Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller version was excellent.

narciso said...

cavills entirely wrong

mockturtle said...

Currently reading Cloud of Sparrows, a Japanese novel set in the very late Edo Period.

narciso said...

And clueless is the best non canon adaptation

Mark said...

Google books has a lot of public domain texts for download.

Narr said...

Snyder is good; one of my favorite modern historians is the late John Lukacs; his "The Last European War," "The War Hitler Won," and others are thought-provoking works.

Narr
And that's just WWII

Ken B said...

Does the group that owns the Spectator USA also own pjm edit now? Suddenly link after link to Spec.

narciso said...

But hes gone full orange man mad.

If you get through all those there is leigh bardugos ravka series which is picaresque russian magical realiam

Guildofcannonballs said...

decency ought never be confined within an era

narciso said...

Grishaverse which is in too parts,

Guildofcannonballs said...

Fuck it, decency is decent, and fuck you if you don't agree.

Wanna be American and fight?

Drago said...

You know, I really expected to hear from self-described Super-Star Lawyer LLR-lefty and Sudden-Onset-Socialist Chuck after the Federal Appeals Court earlier today took a blowtorch to Chuckies marxist Lawfare-driven "obstruction of congress" sham-peachment ploy.

But like all of Chuck's previous lies, we'll just assume Chuck is too embarrassed to address his latest low-information-guy failure.

William said...

I'm reading the Chernow bio of Grant on kindle. I like kindle for the subway, gym, doctor's offices. You don't have to fumble around with reading glasses. At home, I like the satisfaction of turning pages and seeing how much progress I'm making.....I'm 32% through the Chernow book. It's very readable. Grant was a much better general than his reputation. He had the bad luck to be a northerner. Most of the best books about the Civil War were written by southerners. The Civil War never much inspired the imagination of northern historians and novelists the way it did with southerners....You just have to tell a good tale. You don't have to be accurate or right. The southerners were better story tellers.

William said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Guildofcannonballs said...

Irregardless what Americans like the former, although not in name, Big Big Buwaya, represents, the, America shall always as a measurement beacon if nothing else, stand tall beaconlly-shining.

Good luck our brother, our many eons of well-wishing shine upon you and yours forever.

gilbar said...

I finally finished Captain Sam Grant, the 1st volume of Bruce Catton's US Grant bio

things:
Who was one of Hiram (Ulysses (Sam)) Grant's childhood friends?
...John Brown (YES; THAT John Brown)
What did Sam Grant do, to win his Brevet Captaincy?
...He broke into a church (while under fire), and took a Howitzer up into the Belfry
....Yes, BY HAND (well, him and is 5 man team)
.....That's Right, they CARRIED, a mother fucking Howitzer up a flight of stairs
......It turns out, that a Belfry makes an EXCELLENT artillery position
WHO was Jesse (Ulysses' dad) Grant's friend/cohort/etc back in Ohio?
..Some guy named Morris, that had an junior partner named Salmon P. Chase
... YES, THAT Salmon P. Chase

Turns out, that Jesse was, not just filthy rich; he was a prominent abolitionist, and high up in political levels of the Whigs/Republicans
Also, the 'harness shop' where Ulysses worked as a "clerk"; was, in actuality, a part of Jesse Grant's tannery empire; that spanned THREE STATES
Ohio
Kentucky
Illinois
with sales offices in Wisconsin (Prairie du Chein) and Iowa (Dubuque)

How LONG did Ulysses work there? One year (1860). What would have happened, if there hadn't been a war? Since Ulysses' brother Simpson, was dying of TB; and his dad was retiring... Ulysses would have taken over; THE LARGEST LEATHER WORKS IN THE MIDWEST

Ulysses, and his family, were scarcely the sad sack losers that most books make them out to be

Narr said...

I got bogged down at Vicksburg with Chernow. He's a meticulous historian but I don't think he understands the ACW(ABAWS) that well, militarily.

It's too late now for me to get into a North v South war-lit discussion. Maybe another time.

Narr
Catton was as good as Foote

William said...

I'm a few episodes into Sandition on Amazon. It's based on an unfinished novel by Jane Austen so the chances for nudity and gore are slim. So far, though, it's pretty good....Special effects aren't just for scifi movies. They can re-create period backgrounds with credibility.....Jane Austen has had remarkable luck with the film and television adaptations of her novels. Hardy too. Thackeray and Trollope not so much. Some Dickens adaptations were pretty good but never as good as the books.

purplepenquin said...

What's really weird is googling-up "The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies" took me to this page, which notes that there was an idea for a script in Enterprise that had Mars using comets to attack Earth with. In other words, they were gonna "throw rocks at 'em"...which (spoiler alert!) is a big part of Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Really wish they would make a movie of that Heinlein story. Rumor has it Tom Cruise owns the rights, and he is holding on to them outta spite rather than a desire to see it get made.

gilbar said...

William, you should read Catton; he'll make you appreciate the Army of the Potomac
At least, he made me do it; which i'd NEVER thought would EVER happen
(being, as i am, a TOTAL Army of the Tennessee fanatic)

His book Grant Goes South, is All about how the Army of the Tennessee DESTROYED every thing in their way
Fort Henry
Fort Donnelson
Shiloh
Vicksburg
Chattanooga

But, his "Mister Lincoln's Army Trilogy is All about Bravery of the men in the Army of the Potomac, as well as the ABSOLUTE incompetence of their generals

Fredericksburg.... YIKES!

FullMoon said...

My main takeaway so far has been the dominance of the defense attorneys, and the incompetence of the prosecutors. I can understand now why OJ got off.

I watched most of it live. The jurors could have seen a video of OJ doing the deed and he still would have got off. The cops were fans of OJ's and did nothing except ask for autographs when called to his mansion when he smacked his wife around.

Reasonable doubt is the jurors lie to themselves so they can sleep at night.

Big Mike said...

Got a new joke tonight. Why does a Southern man like it when his girlfriend dresses in a leather skirt and a leather bustier?

Cause she smells like a brand new pickup truck.

purplepenquin said...

and gilbar, we are in agreement here. But on this night of commenting, you might feel a slight sting in admitting that. That's pride fuckin' with you. Fuck pride! Pride only hurts, it never helps. You fight through that shit. 'Cause a year from now, when you kicking back and re-reading that book, you gonna say to yourself, "Purple Penquin was right"

FullMoon said...

This seems like fake news to me. I am 75% sure it is a smear by other contestants
........

"U.S.—In a televised interview, Bernie Sanders has praised slave owners for their free housing program offered to all slaves working the plantations.

"Of course, the slavery was bad, but the slaves were housed, for free I might add, for their entire employment," Sanders said in an interview with 60 Minutes. "So it's unfair to criticize the whole thing. Also, the slaveowners were pretty impressive guys. The plantations were very clean, very nice buildings. I actually honeymooned at one in Virginia back in 1845, and it was an eye-opener for me as to how much propaganda has been used to malign slaveowners and their healthcare, housing, and literacy programs."

At publishing time, sources had also confirmed that Bernie Sanders had defended hell itself, saying the place of eternal torment has "gotten a bad rap" and "isn't such a bad place."

gilbar said...

PP said ...
Really wish they would make a movie of that Heinlein story.


I just want someone, to make a 96 minute movie of the FIRST Chapter of Starship Troopers
That should be enough 'star wars' for ANYONE
And have the final line of the movie be: Dizzy Flores died on the way up

Big Mike said...

But I've been meaning to read some Austen.

A classic Austen movie on TV the other day. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” I had something else I wanted to watch, but I’m sure it was a true classic of the genre. 😉

FullMoon said...

"In 1886, Minnesota railway station agent Richard W. Sears bought a shipment of watches that a local jeweler refused to sign for. He established a side business selling the watches to other station agents. Sears quit his railway job a few months later and established the R.W. Sears Watch Company in Minneapolis.

He moved the business to Chicago the following year. An ad he had placed in a Chicago newspaper brought watchmaker Alvah C. Roebuck into the business, and by 1893 the successful partnership officially became Sears, Roebuck and Company."

gilbar said...

PP i know you're right, i just don't want to say it
I'd be willing to bet (if there was anyway to prove it) that i've read more heinlein than anybody else here
I've got Every book, he'd ever published; and i've read them ALL at least six times
AT LEAST Six times

gilbar said...

the last one i re-read, was Between Planets; last month

gilbar said...

Double Star!
Now, THAT'S A GOOD ONE! It's no Magic INC, but what the Hell is?

narciso said...

Yes that sounded familiar to me, i havent read man, parts of cat,

John henry said...

I limit e Chernow and have read several of his bios. Liked them all.

Read the sample of grant and liked it pretty well. Decided to read grant's memoirs instead.

Excellent book, very well written.

My granddaughter and her friends had a whatsapp video call with lin miranda, who adapted chernows hamilton to the stage.

Rousted him out of bed at 8 on a sunday morning. Very charmig fellow in spite of that.

John Henry

Big Mike said...

@FullMoon, “The Babylon Bee” is a satirical web site.

Still, you have to admit that it’s a lot more believable than some of the BS that Sanders does try to push.

wildswan said...

Inga
there's an unfinished work by Austen called Sanditon. I liked it but it was an unbelievable wrench when the book stopped even though I knew it would happen. She also wrote a History of England when she was fifteen or so.

"HENRY the 5th

THIS Prince after he succeeded to the throne grew quite reformed and amiable, forsaking all his disipated companions, and never thrashing Sir William again. During his reign, Lord Cobham was burnt alive, but I forget what for. His Majesty then turned his thoughts to France, where he went and fought the famous Battle of Agincourt. He afterwards married the King's daughter Catherine, a very agreable woman by Shakespear's account. In spite of all this however he died, and was succeeded by his son Henry."

Guildofcannonballs said...

Graceless lady, was graceless slave, written,

but that don;t neab bit ybkwaa paid?

Guildofcannonballs said...

Thank you so much for allowing me into this world where the only greatness is eo ipso and Betamax3000 relatively sgt.

purplepenquin said...

I just want someone, to make a 96 minute movie of the FIRST Chapter of Starship Troopers

I'd watch that for sure, but don't tease me with just the first chapter - have Amazon or Netflix make a limited-run series based on the whole book. I wanna see their basic training, especially when they first get the suits.

You ever hear the tale of how the movie "Starship Troopers" actually got made? Supposedly dude was shopping around a script about Space Marines fighting aliens that looked like bugs...everyone kept telling him it sounded like the Heinlein book, which he had never heard of before then. So he got bought the rights to the story and made a few changes to his script using passages from the book.

It's also been said that Paul Verhoeven didn't even read the actual book itself...love a lot of his other stuff (Flesh&Blood was one of my favorites as a youngster) but I have a hard time forgiving him for this one.

gilbar said...

Decided to read grant's memoirs instead.
Excellent book, very well written.


It's my favorite of the civil war;
i like that he calls the war (something like) The Rebellion Against the United States

It's Perfect, it sums it up Completely, and seems like Everyone (ANYONE!) would agree;
yet it Offends EVERYONE! so, you KNOW it's right

Drago said...

LLR-lefty and BernieBro Chuck (from earlier today): "I want you to picture me backing you into a corner, screaming in your face, and repeatedly jabbing my fist into your sternum for emphasis."

LOL

I think Chuck inadvertantly exposed his version of bizarro foreplay.

gilbar said...

You ever hear the tale of how the movie "Starship Troopers" actually got made?

My old co-worker used to always quote (someone), saying:
Based on a screenplay, written by someone that read the back cover, of Heinlein's Starship Troopers

narciso said...

The problem with adapting that first chapter is its mostly interior dialogue.

Sebastian said...

Paul Mirengoff, of all people, has a good post on Powerline citing Fareed Zakaria, of all people, in WaPo taking down Bernie's just-wanna-be-Denmark propaganda. Even regular Dems see through the BS, though it may be too late for them.

gilbar said...

a huge advantage (The HUGE advantage) of being a night shift mainframe computer operator, back in the '80's and '90's was that; IF everything went smooth. you'd have 4 or 5 hours a night, for reading (chopped up into 5-10 minute segments)

Once you got to doing backups, they'd be one hour segments (once you learned to mount tapes, while reading)

gilbar said...

narciso said
The problem with adapting that first chapter is its mostly interior dialogue.

that's the problem with ALL of heinlein
BUT
I don't think it would be a problem, you'd just have to have a voice over, THE WHOLE TIME. Since the whole book (like, EVERY Heinlein book;) is a flashback, i don't see why a voice over wouldn't work (at least, for me)

gilbar said...

and, every movie would end with Johnny Rico (or which ever); sitting at a desk, dictating into a mic

narciso said...

The second chapter was loosely adapted

Yes they turned into beverly hills nazis in south anerica yech.

gilbar said...

Where as, I'm sure John Henry can tell us WHERE they're supposed to be

purplepenquin said...

I'd be willing to bet (if there was anyway to prove it) that i've read more heinlein than anybody else here

Heh. I might give you a run for the money on that one. Last one I re-read was "Friday" - which I'd also love to see a movie of. Pretty sure it would hold up well even now-a-days.

Actually, now that I am thinking about it, "Farnham's Freehold" and "Door into Summer" are the only tales that might not be as acceptable in this day&age...at least not without some tweaking. Pretty sure everything else he's written could be adapted to the screen without any problems of the stories being out-of-date.


Do you recall when Boy's Life did a comic version of Between Planets? That was what first introduced me to the Grandmaster of Science Fiction, and it's been a wonderful journey ever since.

gadfly said...

A survey on Corona Beer found that:

*38% of beer-drinking Americans would not buy Corona under any circumstances now.

*Among those who said they usually drink Corona, only 4% said they would stop drinking Corona, but 14% said they wouldn't order Corona in a public venue.

*16% of beer drinking Americans were confused about whether Corona beer is related to the coronavirus.

"There is no question that Corona beer is suffering because of the coronavirus. Could one imagine walking into a bar and saying "Hey, can I have a Corona?" or "Pass me A Corona," said Ronn Torossian, Founder and CEO of 5WPR. "While the brand has claimed that consumers understand there's no linkage between the virus and the beer company, this is a disaster for the Corona brand. After all, what brand wants to be linked to a virus which is killing people worldwide?"

This history from Campbell, NY is pertinent:

The history of the Campbell, NY cheese facility dates back to 1899 when Guiseppe Pollio and his son, Albert, came to the United States from their native town, Sorrento, Italy. Guiseppe used the skills he learned in Italy to make ricotta and mozzarella according to the open-fire method. As the business grew, more of the family immigrated to America. After a while they set up a cheese plant in Millerton, PA. and in 1922 and the group purchased a cheese factory in Thurston, NY. In 1937 the Pollio group built a cheese factory on the Main Street site along the Erie Railroad Tracks and relocated to Campbell from Thurston. Subsequently Pollio Cheese prospered selling Italian cheeses.

Unfortuntely, the traditional pronunciation of the founder’s name sounded the same as the polio epidemic which had appeared each summer in the early 1900’s, in at least one part of the U.S., with the most serious occurring in the 1940s and 1950s. The company was becoming somewhat Americanized and it was thought that this polio epidemic might be giving a bad image for a cheese factory to be named that, so the name of the company was changed to Polly-O with the smiling parrot as its trademark.

Guildofcannonballs said...

He was so brilliant I hated myself for being not-so-brilliant.

This happened, and ought, if Reagan were in charge in 1972. Reagan was in charge of these things for a time, you know, when, not even but especially in California were things humanity's ideals thought, anti-Buckley and hence stupidly until Buckley proved Buckley right in January of 1981.

You boys keep talkin' Buckley or not, his disposition isn't as that that would consider worthy any likeness similer.

purplepenquin said...

Thinking about that comic adaptation of "Between Planets" led me to finding this.

Forgot how much different it is from the book (or since I read the comic first - how different the book is?) and am pretty sure haven't re-read this version since it was first published....takes me right back to my grade school days.

narciso said...

I did not know that.

Nichevo said...

Fuck pride! Pride only hurts, it never helps.


PP, I don't think that gilbar losing his LA privileges is going to make you feel better about your end of the deal. And I do mean, your end.

Original Mike said...

"… and why [the pod] should need to be jettisoned if conditions worsened."

I've never been able to make any sense of that.

Milwaukie guy said...

Meteorological Spring is March–May. Real weather geeks don't let a Sun-based calendar get in the way of serious recordkeeping.

Roughcoat said...

"Profane Men" by Rex Miller: absolutely the best novel about the Vietnam War.

I Callahan said...

Here's some good ole 'Muricans, putting the "low" in "low information citizenry...

Does it make you feel good to say stuff like this? Does it get you turgid?

My God, you are such an insufferable asshole.

Bay Area Guy said...

I saw a Tom Steyer ad tonight lambasting Bloomy for his "racist" stop & frisk policies. Pretty harsh.

The first negative Mini-Mike ad I'd seen. When billionaires attack!

Big Mike said...

Decided to read grant's memoirs instead.
Excellent book, very well written.


Grant’s editor was Mark Twain.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Heinlein's Red Planet was the warm-up for Stranger In A Strange Land written many years later. You can see the introduction of many of the Martian concepts, though of course as a "Juvenile" novel written for boys, there wasn't any of the weird sex or cannibalism.

In general I think the Red Planet setting was also used in Space Cadet, though only in general info mentions by the characters, as the main adventure sequence was on Venus in that one.

He also wrote a Martian society in the Hugo Winning Double Star.

BTW, a "new" Heinlein novel is due out this year, apparently a first-take on the material that became Number of the Beast before it got all weird.

Mark said...

Sanditon is good and it has its Austenian elements, but it is definitely something that she would be shocked at. Andrew Davies has taken it into the 21st century with some strong sexual content, including a sex scene on the floor.

The ending is good and not what you normally get in TV or film.

Jon Ericson said...

Good setup at 10:04, Full Moon.

narciso said...

and now for something

Mark said...

Watching an episode of Insight on YouTube. It started out with a breaking newscast, with the anchor solemnly announcing, "It has now been confirmed. God has died."

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Here is a bevy of former Sears stores. How have the mighty fallen!

Guildofcannonballs said...

Per the man:

And the sun, don't shine, anymore.

And the rains, fall down,

On my door.

And it makes no difference;

Guildofcannonballs said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP7r12Rg490

Guildofcannonballs said...

It has been the honor of my life to be in any conceivable vicinity of rhhardin.

I can't thank all involved enough.

Each and every single last entity including God almighty.

narciso said...

Speilberg has given up on directing the next indiana jones fil.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

He gave up on directing the last Indiana Jones film.

effinayright said...

"Red sky at morning, sailors take warning".

Yet there are no storms in America's Northeast or in the Maritimes.

effinayright said...

Guildofcannonballs said...
It has been the honor of my life to be in any conceivable vicinity of rhhardin.
***************

What brought on this spasm of estupitude??

Achilles said...

"After college, in 1963, Sanders lived and worked for a number of months in an Israeli kibbutz known as Kibbutz Sha’ar Ha’amakim (KSH), which was co-founded by Aharon Cohen, an Arabist who was a harsh critic of Israeli policy and was arrested for spying for the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The founders of KSH referred to Joseph Stalin as the “Sun of the Nations,” and a red flag was flown at outdoor events held at the kibbutz. Sanders stayed at KSH as a guest of the Zionist-Marxist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair (HH), which pledged its allegiance to the Soviet Union; some left-wing groups described HH as Leninist and even Stalinist. HH made it plain that its cooperation with Zionists was a temporary expedient designed to help pave the way for a socialist revolution; that it viewed Israel’s independence as a transitional phase in the development of a bi-national socialist state which would ultimately end Israel’s existence as a Jewish entity."


Democrats definitely need to nominate this guy.

Tina Trent said...

Free downloads of Trollope and Dickens. A lifetime of good reading. Downloads also let you find the second-rate books that lack that kick-up to universality but for that reason tell you a lot about a different time and place. Look at the most popular books of any year. Start with Looking Backward. Third most popular book of the 1800s after Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben Hur.

For modern try Connie Willis. Doomsday Book is about travel back to the Black Plague. Fitting for now, and moving. Willis understands the world before Reformation, when Christ was present in everything. Unrent cloth. Yet it's also about time travel. Blackout/All Clear are also time travel -- to World War II. Great stuff.

Kai Akker said...

It will be a great step when we expel this plague-germ Sanders from the body politic and choose health again. We are in the clean-up stage of ending the leftist dystopia, bit by bit, along with much of the rest of the globe. The Democratic Party will have to be reformed from the bottom up, or fade out as a newer group takes over. The insane budget deficits that even Trump fears to tackle could prompt an entirely new party, younger and fiscally intelligent, into Congressional control one day in the next half-dozen House elections, I think. Voters awaken.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Drago said...
"LLR-lefty and BernieBro Chuck (from earlier today): "I want you to picture me backing you into a corner, screaming in your face, and repeatedly jabbing my fist into your sternum for emphasis."

LOL

I think Chuck inadvertantly exposed his version of bizarro foreplay."

Am I the only one picturing gallons of spittle flying?

tim maguire said...

Chuck said...the alt-right/Tea Party/Trump base geniuses on social media immediately attacked Brooks on the basis that he was supporting Bernie Sanders '20.

All 20 or so million of them? Or 5 of them and then you ran for the internet to pretend that those 5 speak for the other 19,999,995?

rhhardin said...

Weekend entertainment films
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disaster_films#Epidemics_and_pandemics
K/T radio derb

stevew said...

From the first reading of Stranger in a Strange Land I have hated the word "grok". I get the concept (grok it!) and like the idea of having a single word to describe it, just have always hated the actual word. I don't know why. Irrational in that way some things are. I especially hate when people use it in live conversation; strikes me as an insider's affectation.

Sky began to lighten at ~5:30am today. Birds are chirping, it sounds like spring. It's been a record mild winter in these parts, could it be over? We had four consecutive Nor'easters in March 2018, can't see that happening again, not this year.

“A modern-day successor to tomes such as The Hunt for Red October from the late Tom Clancy.”

That's how USA Today describes 'Ghost Fleet' in a, positive, review. I may misunderstand the word 'tome' because I never think of Red October that way.

John henry said...

My consulting practice is built around teaching factory workers to be lazy.

As Lazarus Long said "All progress is made by a lazy man* looking for an easier way."

*I change man to person because many of my clients and trainees are women and I want them to be lazy too.

For those not familiar with the Heinlein ouvre, Lazarus Long is a recurring character in his books.

The quote comes from the story" the man who was too lazy to fail" which appears in "Time Enough for Love"

Www.changeover.com/lazy.html to learn how I apply the lessons from the story.

John Henry

alanc709 said...

"Josephbleau said...
"The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies." Posh, don't you know history, man? Martian freedoms derive from the Martian council of Adam Selene and Professor Bernardo de la Paz, which convened after the revolution deposed the Warden."

Wrong orb, those were on Luna, from "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein.

John henry said...

Tina,

Back in the 80s I got enamored with Jack London and read everything I could found by him including some fairly obscure books like Tales of the Fish Patrol", Cruise of the Snark and John Barleycorn.

I had never even heard of "Burning Daylight" until a few years ago when I ran across an audiobook of it at librivox.org.

Best thing by far that he ever wrote. First half is in the yukon where Elam Harnish (nicknamed Burning Daylight) makes a huge pile of money in gold.

Second half he takes his fortune to San Francisco and gets involved in real estate. It just now occurs to me that as a developer he is almost Trumpian.

Eventually he gets married and they end up living a simple happy life in Glen Ellyn (?)

It was londons mots commercially successful book and one of his last. I'll bet nobody here has even heard of it.

Far and away my favorite of all his books. I've read it several times, listened a couple more.

John Henry

Tina Trent said...

Next on my list! Thanks John Henry.

Sometimes it helps with these obscure but once famous books to read a little about them and the author. This is true of Looking Backward. But when you think of it being one of the most influential books of the 19th century, it’s fascinating. It anticipates Amazon, for one thing. And fascination with pneumatic tubes was huge at the time, and we don’t remember that now.

Tina Trent said...

Glen Ellen, by the way, is the place where many of the utopian colonies got started. It was an important place culturally in the 19th Century.

The Ruskinites took over a huge hospital and set out to improve prostate surgery there. A big problem with few solutions at the time. Surgery was horrible.

My Russia/Europe expert friend has been recommending Bloodlands for years. He says it’s the one book you need to read to understand the region.

etbass said...

"Burning Daylight"

Free in Kindle on Amazon.

John henry said...

Tina,

I'm old enough to remember pneumatic tubes from the 50s.the big dept store in glens falls ny didnt trust clerks with money. No cash registers on the floor. They would put your money in a carrier, send it off somewhere and a bit later your change and receipts would come back.

It is still a great technology, walmart uses it to connect cash registers to the office. My bank uses it in the drive through lanes. I've been in plants where it is used to send samples from the line to quality.

I remember Bellamy's book though not well.

Another book of a similar nature is col Houses (of woodrow wilson fame) phillip Dru, Administrator. Rather scary. Even scarier than wilson himself.

John Henry

tim in vermont said...

"From the first reading of Stranger in a Strange Land I have hated the word 'grok’."

‘Grok' is often used in the place of “understand” where “understand” is the better word choice. ‘Grok’ is something that the characters in that novel could do, being fictional, but those of us in the real world first understand something, then after a time maybe come to accept it viscerally. Maybe there have been a few geniuses in the history of mankind who could understand and accept all of the ramifications of an idea on first hearing it, but I doubt even that.

tim in vermont said...

‘Grok’ is about complete mastery and integration of the subconscious to the conscious mind. Nobody has that.

tim in vermont said...

Spock is a fictional groker.

Rick.T. said...


"Burning Daylight"

Free in Kindle on Amazon.

——————-+

Went to get it and discovered you can get a complete set of his novels including that one for 99 cents.

Mark said...

fascination with pneumatic tubes was huge at the time, and we don’t remember that now.

They're coming back. By the year 3000, pneumatic tubes will be a people-moving transit option to get people from one side of the city to the other.

Michael K said...

Back in the 80s I got enamored with Jack London and read everything I could found by him including some fairly obscure books like Tales of the Fish Patrol", Cruise of the Snark and John Barleycorn.

We had friends from England visit back about 2008. We took them through what I thought of as "real California," like the central valley and the wine country. We went to Jack London's estate, now a state park, and they had never heard of him. I bought some of his books for them and we hiked down to the :"Wolf's Lair," his house that burned down before he could move in.

In 2015, they entertained us in their home before we took the ferry to Belgium and Waterloo.

BUMBLE BEE said...

The sky is burning, I believe that my soul is on fire...

BUMBLE BEE said...

Barry Sanders' #20 jersey is like the Ambassador bridge in Detroit. The other Barry, (Gordy), is also completely Detroit. I call False Flag, Chuck. You are perverse, in your hatred, but it will shorten your life.

Narr said...

Glory Road (either Catton's or Heinlein's) could make a good movie.

See you this afternoon.

Narr
History Day, hooray!

gilbar said...

Narr said...
Glory Road (either Catton's or Heinlein's) could make a good movie.


Couldn't agree More... Unless, it was a synthesis of the two books.
Easy Gordon finds himself on Little Big Top, with Rufo and Star!

Marc in Eugene said...

Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands is indeed an excellent work although I know there have been academic critics. (Unfortunately, how many of us layfolk are going to pick up other four and five hundred page volumes on the same topics?) Managed to finish his The Reconstruction of Nations at the beginning of the year (on the development of 'nation' in Poland/Lithuania/Belarus/Ukraine etc etc) but it meanders, digresses, detours, retraces, reverses, diverges in such labyrinthine ways that it was a hard struggle. Some of that is down to the foreignness of the subject matter (particularly the languages!), some to its inherent complexity, some of it, I think, to Snyder himself. And of course he is sure that the ascendancy of Mr Trump and 'Trumpism' is somehow (I haven't read those works) an advance toward totalitarianism.

In Lent, I read mostly the same books each year but began James O'Donnell's The Ruins of the Roman Empire last week and have sailed from Venice (on the way to Jaffa, puerto da la Tierra Santa) with Francisco Guerrero in his adventure to the Holy Land. We're four days on Zante, modern Zakynthos.

Christy said...

I first started reading Glory Road by the pool when I was a very devout 13 year old Southern Baptist girl. Reading that initial description of Star devastated me and broke my heart, such had been my devotion to Heinlein. Couldn't read further. By 16 I'd finished, it became a favorite, I'd read all I could about Cyrano, and later named a pair of finches Star and Scar.

Christy said...

In case anyone is still around, Tim Minear wrote a screenplay for The Moon... about 15 years ago. Maybe with all his intervening success he'll be able to dust it off and sell it.