Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Contact
Ace:aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com Recent Entries
Mid-Morning Art Thread
The Morning Report — 12/10/24 Daily Tech News 10 December 2024 Monday Overnight Open Thread (12/9/24) - Doof Christmas Catastrophe Cafe Quick Hits Ditzy Democrat Propagandist Alisyn (That Name!) Camerota Out at CNN The Bulwark: Now That Hispanics Are Not Voting for the Democrat Party, the True Conservative (TM) Position Is To Deport Their Unapprovedly-Diverse Asses CNN and Fake Jake Tapper Lose Again in Defamation Case Calls for "Black Vigilantes" to Even the Score and (Get This) Riots After the Daniel Penny Verdict Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Daily Tech News 2 June 2024 |
Main
| 1954...2024: The Left Wants The Good Old Days Of Segregation! »
June 02, 2024
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 06-02-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(for a limited time only, now with extra syrup!) So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning? PIC NOTE I attended a demo of a product we may be considering switching to in the near future. This picture was attached to a question on a quiz during the demo. I liked the picture, so I simply swiped it. It's clear the vendor was just using a stock photo from the interwebs. They were demonstrating how media content can be attached to questions/assessments in their product. SUMMER BOOK STUDY
Anyway, it is going to be an excellent spiritual experience with my men's group. We always have a good time and enjoy our fellowship together. I always walk away with deep thoughts... And yes, there is an equivalent Ten Women of the Bible for the 'Ettes. The women's group in my church studied this book this past spring. It seems only fair that the men catch up to them. SUPERNATURAL HORROR V. COSMIC HORROR Cosmic horror, for the uninitiated, refers to a genre of horror fiction popularized by H.P. Lovecraft and several of his contemporaries, such as Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, August Derleth, and Clark Ashton Smith. It's characterized by a complete lack of hope in a universe that cares not a whit for humanity as a whole and certainly has no concern for any individual human being. We are ants to be stepped on if the greater powers that walk among the stars deign to notice us at all--and we usually pray they do not! Attempting to gain knowledge of the true state of being drives one to madness because there are things man was not meant to know. Even gazing upon certain entities can render one irrevocably insane--or dead. Most of the stories are quite cynical about our status in the greater scheme of things. The protagonists may become pawns in a cosmic game, the rules of which are completely inscrutable and unknowable. If the protagonist survives the encounter, most likely he's forever altered by the experience and can never interact with "normal" humans in any meaningful way. And no one is going to step in and rescue the protagonist at the last moment. Supernatural horror, by contrast, can be quite personal, recognizing the individual has a key role to play in the story instead of being a simple bystander or tool of cosmic entities. Like cosmic horror, supernatural horror stories tend to involve otherwise ordinary people who are caught up in events that are beyond their understanding. However, as the protagonist goes through the story, he or she will start to comprehend the rules of the story as it progresses, which usually doesn't happen in cosmic horror. The mystery behind the supernatural events will be revealed in time as the heroes gather more information about the entity (or entities) against which they struggle, thus giving them clues about how to defeat it. One element that supernatural horror has that cosmic horror does not is that there are forces of supernatural GOOD that may be working on behalf of the heroes. This is characteristic of all of the Dean Koontz novels I've read so far--all of them clearly had supernatural heavenly agents working behind the scenes to help the main protagonist, though they may not reveal themselves until the final conflict. It does result in a sort of "deus ex machina" solution to the story, but if it's done right, the reader won't care because we WANT to see a divine intervention at that point. As with cosmic horror, the protagonist is changed by the experience, but often for the better as they now know that the spiritual realm is REAL and that they matter in the grand scheme of things. There are lots of other horror flavors out there, of course (e.g., psychological horror, body horror, etc.), but these two were on my mind recently because I've been reading Dean Koontz and we've talked about William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land. MORON RECOMMENDATIONS Picked up the new Stephen King collection, YOU LIKE IT DARKER. Uneven, imho, like most of his collections but there's some pretty good stuff in it and since he's working at short length here there's no room for him to go off into multi-page political rants. I think by now he's incapable of leaving them out completely, but they're kept to a minimum here. If you like King's shorter work, it's worth a look. Comment: I have a theory that some authors are better at one form of writing than others. Some authors are great at writing short stories, but aren't so great at longer novels. Others excel at writing novels, but don't always write short stories very well. Stephen King may be able to do both equally well, though I've not read much of his longer fiction. I have enjoyed some of his short stories, though. As for pages falling out, I have noticed that this is a problem with books that are "published on demand" sometimes. Pages will simply fall out because of the inferior binding process that was used to produce the book. Not all books on demand are like that, but I have bought enough of them to note a distinct pattern. I read The Indoctrinated Brain: How to Successfully Fend Off the Global Attack on Your Mental Freedom by Michael Nehls. Nehls is a German M. D. and a molecular geneticist specializing in immunology. This wasn't an easy book to read for this non-scientist, 78-year old who isn't as sharp as he once was; but I found this book to be fascinating. Comment: As we've seen in recent years, there are large numbers of people that seem to be easily swayed to accept a collective mindset. We've even adopted a term for these people: NPCs (which stands for "Non-Player Characters"). This refers to a term from role-playing games where characters under the control of the Game Master can only do what the Game Master commands while the player characters have their own individuality. The NPC meme has gained a pretty strong following because of how easy it is to spot them once you know what to look for. These people will spout any government propaganda they are told to say, even if they are ordered to contradict themselves the next day. I'm not sure if this is a recommendation or an anti-recommendation, but last week's thread featured the following exchange: This year it is a copy of People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. Two different people gave me copies of this book think___ I would enjoy it and after putting it off for quite a while decided to try it. That book is false and the author is politely put full of shit. Wow LenNeal, way to give away the ending. I was already suspicious of the Arabs hiding Jews from the Nazis but was interested in how the War comes to affect daily life, first slowly and then all at once. As a Jew, trying to understand how they allowed themselves to be herded like sheep onto those trains was difficult. Until I started reading books that opened my eyes to how cruel and evil humans can be. Comment: I looked up this book on Amazon and checked out the 1-star reviews, as I often find them very revealing, especially when it comes to books that may be controversial in some way. The very first 1-star review gives an excellent breakdown of the problems within this book, including the forced diversity perspective found in postmodernism applied to 15th-century characters. More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!) WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK: After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary. Dragonlance - Defenders of Magic Vol. 2 - The Medusa Plague by Mary Kirchoff Several years have passed since the last book. Guerrand has been assigned as the High Defender of Bastion, the keep that was created to prevent mages from accessing the Lost Citadel. Unfortunately, he now has a mortal enemy who was once his dear friend. Lyim, whose arm was magically deformed in the previous book, has been seeking a cure for his malady and his only hope is to find a way into Bastion, where he might be able to replicate the circumstances that caused his deformity and thereby gain a cure. Guerrand, in his role as High Defender, absolutely refuses to grant access. So Lyim concocts a particularly brutal means of luring Guerrand out from his fortress. In some ways this is a book that shows just how petty evil can be and the lengths people will go to in order to achieve their selfish goals. Star Wars - The Bounty Hunter Wars Book 2 - Slave Ship by K. W. Jeter Honestly, I am not quite sure what the plot is in this series of books. It mostly seems to be a character study of Boba Fett, demonstrating just how badass he is in the Star Wars universe. He goes from one tough situation to another and shows how crazy prepared he is, no matter the circumstances. He toys with his fellow bounty hunters, though he doesn't see it that way, of course. It seems kind of ridiculous that bounty hunters really play that much of a role in the Empire, so I have a hard time buying into the underlying premises. It's not badly written, though, so I am able to gain some entertainment out of the series. Star Trek: The Original Series #15 - Corona by Greg Bear This is a very short Star Trek novel, clocking in at only 192 pages. That's barely enough time to set up the main plot, which involves sentient protostars taking over a remote Vulcan scientific research colony. Naturally, the Enterprise is sent in to investigate. By the way, did you know Captain Kirk has an implant that allows him to receive coded Starfleet messages directly into his brain when he's sitting in his captain's chair on the bridge? I didn't either until this novel! Part of the plot involves the potential creation of a new universe--at the expense of our own, of course. Which is interesting because that was also the plot of Star Trek #13 - The Wounded Sky and Star Trek #43 - The Three Minute Universe. I suspect there are more Star Trek novels (in all sub-franchises) that also have a similar plot... Forever Odd by Dean Koontz This is the second book in Koontz' Odd Thomas series. Odd must track down the man who presumably kidnapped Odd's childhood friend. Because this is Odd Thomas, you can bet something unholy and supernatural is really the culprit. He must use all of his wits and gifts to defeat an exceptionally cunning enemy. PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 05-26-24 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!) Disclaimer: No Morons were harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Elvis has NOT left the building--repeat--Elvis has NOT left the building... | Recent Comments
SMOD:
"President-elect Donald Trump is arriving at the Wh ..."
J.J. Sefton: "367 Hence my moniker for her "Titty Caca" - her d& ..." pudinhead: "There's all you need to know. Promoting it as some ..." [/b][/s][/u][/i]muldoon: "The picture's coming clearer. Posted by: naturalf ..." Boron Cobbie - women are taught to need marriage without needing to be wives: " And also a lot of these sightings are actually U ..." JackStraw: "LOL. Trump is trolling Trudeau hard this morning. ..." m: "160 My folks were somewhat interesting.... their p ..." Sponge - F*ck Cancer: "[i] Auto-cucumber. Posted by: I used to have a d ..." I used to have a different nic: "[i]You misspelled 'all leftists everywhere.' Post ..." pudinhead: "You guys gotta get me out of here! There's this gu ..." NR Pax: "388 [i]388 Even muzzie dick is bigger than yours.[ ..." J.J. Sefton: "384 Yo, AOC, a jury voted Penny not guilty. Is tha ..." Recent Entries
Mid-Morning Art Thread
The Morning Report — 12/10/24 Daily Tech News 10 December 2024 Monday Overnight Open Thread (12/9/24) - Doof Christmas Catastrophe Cafe Quick Hits Ditzy Democrat Propagandist Alisyn (That Name!) Camerota Out at CNN The Bulwark: Now That Hispanics Are Not Voting for the Democrat Party, the True Conservative (TM) Position Is To Deport Their Unapprovedly-Diverse Asses CNN and Fake Jake Tapper Lose Again in Defamation Case Calls for "Black Vigilantes" to Even the Score and (Get This) Riots After the Daniel Penny Verdict Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |