Author: David

Over-educated Curmudgeon, Bit-Bucket Tuner and Budding Brewmeister.
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America’s Third World County… Again

America’s Third World County “got” (afflicted with) its very own McDonald’s a couple of years ago. We learned very quickly to avoid it.

Yes, I edited out the name of the town. The good folks there don’t deserve the association.

Of course, maybe the sign’s referring to a new McDonald’s brand of something like this, instead…

Wouldn’t that qualify as an “anus wrap”? But of that’s what the sign was referring to, then it’s a bad buy. The “wraps” in the Depends box are only about $0.50 each…

OTOH, if they were taking about “anus wraps” for folks to send to Washington D.C. for use on congresscritters, that’d be remarkably inexpensive… and very, very fast selling items:

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Just Easily Annoyed, I Guess…

I read the latest Safehold novel by David Weber last night. About 700 pages that really needed a good editor to sit the author down and say, “No.”

*heh*

Oh, don’t get me wrong. It’s still an interesting story, and a pretty good read, but with some judicious editing, I imagine it could have been told just as well in 400-500 pages. And the roadblocks to enjoyment Weber–and his editors–throw up are completely unnecessary, IMO. Imagine a cast of thousands to keep track of. Well, it’s not quite that bad, but there are 22 pages of dramatis personae in the back of the book.

And then there are the, urm, less than useful plot threads. Take for example the one where a central (as in “hub”) character travels thousands of miles clandestinely to “enemy central” to… do weather reports. *sigh* Wasted those pages’ reading. Or the constant rehashing of the same social arguments over and over and over to the point where a reader could, I imagine, say, “Oh, THAT again,” close his eyes and “read” the next few pages by memory.

Then there are the infelicitous word choices that ANY literate editor should have caught. One of the ones that makes me grind my teeth EVERY TIME WEBER USES IT (and he’s done it in other books published by other publishers, so I have to imagine a widespread illiteracy among editors *sigh*) is the phrase, “Lords temporal and secular” to refer to a gathering of religious and secular leaders. *argghhh!!!* “Temporal” in such a context MEANS “secular” so what he’s saying is “Lords secular and secular,” and he and his editors apparently just don’t have a clue, because this is at least fourth different book (released by two different publishers) that includes the phrase–sometimes more than once in a book. There are other baffling word choices (“I do not think that word means what you think it means,” as Inigo Montoya famously said), and those also mar the narrative.

Speaking of “marring the narrative,” remember that “cast of thousands”? They all have names like, Zhaspahr Clyntain (Jasper Clinton), Ahnzelyk Phonda (Angelique Fonda), Zhon Pawl (John Paul–predictably enough a naval officer; could as easily have been “Zhon Pawl Zhones” *heh*)–and those are the easy ones to decipher. Weber might as well just say, “Stop Reading NOW and Decode This Name So You Can Keep My Cast of Thousands Straight” every single timea new character is introduced–about 2-3 times per scene, at least, it seems. *feh* Why are only personal (and sometimes place) names treated this way, whileall the rest of the narrative is in ordinary English? Heck, why didn’t Weber just write the whole series in Old English? It’s wouldn’t be that much more cumbersome to decode.

Irritating.

But, despite these flaws that approach being major issues, I still read the thing for the story, because it’s pretty interesting*. And I’ll likely buy the next book in this series, despite the fact that every one’s at least a wee tad cliff-hanger-ish (like the Honor Harrington books have become), and it irritates me to wait a year or so for the next installment, when twice as much story could be told in half the pages, were judicious editing to enter the fray. (Just tell the frickin story!)

Next time, I’ll probably buy it in two formats: hardcopy and ebook, but only if I can get the ebook in a format I can at least convert to html. Why? Well, one of the good things about an html ebook is that if I run across a term I’m unfamiliar with (frankly a rare occurrence in my normal reading experience but pretty common in this series with all the sailing terminology), I can just right-click on the term and choose the appropriate search for enlightenment. I like that. Or sometimes it’s a “Hmm, this sounds familiar. Let’s see what a review of Jan Sobieski turns up… ” or some other such gem.

Then there’s the Biggie with me and html ebooks: when I find poor editing, I have a tendency to correct the errors in my copy. 😉 Thus, for example, Weber’s “Lords temporal and secular,” referring to a gathering of religious and government leaders would, in my copy, be corrected to, “Lords sacred and secular.” *heh*

*pretty interesting: The whole series hangs on a moderately stale plot device, very nearly a “deus ex machina”/superman thing, but remains interesting nevertheless. Oh, all the characters are from Central Casting in the David Weber political/religious/military multiverse stable, so that’s notsomuch the appeal, either. The intricate political/military/church plots, counterplots and *WTF?!?* plots are all pretty much standard Weber as well. So what, apart from the really, really interesting exploration of archaic naval technology, strategy and tactics (which are very interesting, BTW) makes the Safehold series interesting enough to get me to keep on buying the books when our local library won’t?

Maybe it’s because, with all the flaws, all the “central casting–of thousands!” *heh* and moderately-to-oh-so-predictable plot wists and slow, slow pace, Weber still manages to sell the people and events as at least plausible enough to suspend disbelief… for at least 400 of the 700 pages. 🙂

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“Burning a Koran is a waste of toilet paper”

But not to fear, as it’s not good toilet paper.

But do notice something (even those doctrinally illiterate Muslims who may stumble across this):

What’s shown in the picture is NOT a Koran. It’s a translation, which, according to the word of the founder of the hate cult, means IT IS NOT A KORAN. One could wipe with or burn or flush (or, somehow, all three :-)) such translations all day long, 365 days of the year and never once wipe with or burn or flush a Koran.

So, the next time you hear an al taqiyya -practicing Muslim or some Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind frothing at the mouth about some infidel “desecrating” Mohamed’s Textbook for Terrorists, ask yourself (or them, if they’re within shoutin’ distance) if it’s a real Koran or just a translation they’re frothing at the mouth about.

Whatever you do, I highly recommend reading a translation of the Koran. The old adage about knowing one’s enemy applies. Here’s an online version to read. You may feel a need to scrub your brain after doing so, perhaps an almost irresistible urge to poke your eyes out… but it’s still useful to discover just what an evil piece of work Mohamed was and the powerful, powerful influence he still exerts today, since Islam teaches that Mohamed’s words are ultimate truth and to be followed, his life emulated in all areas of Muslim life.

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Compare and Contrast

A thought experiment: Based on past behavior, compare and contrast the likely chattering class response to the following hypothetical put forth by Jerry Pournelle:

Query: if I put in an application to the National Endowment for the Arts for $#!& Mohammed in which I will lower an Arabic Koran into a plastic ice chest of camel excrement, will that be counted as creative art and displayed in the National Art Museum?

Now, compare and contrast the chattering class’ likely response to what?

To anything–ANYTHING–an American, no the “chattering class” isn’t American; it’s anti-American–might respond with.

Any responses, class?

*heh*

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About That Time of Year, Again

Well, I’m just about to break out my fermentation containers again. I have enough materials on hand to make almost 30 gallons of beer, and need only to get some additional stuff to make some sparkling apple cider for the Thanksgiving/Christmas seasons.

Speaking of which… a simple not-quite-recipe (you’ll have to read between the lines, that is, have some brewing knowledge to get this one) for a simple, inexpensive sparkling apple cider:

Enough frozen apple juice (can have vitamin C but no other preservatives!) to make about 4 gallons of juice.
About 4 cups of sugar
Some wine yeast–preferably “champagne” yeast, but almost any WINE yeast will do

You get the picture. After fermentation for at least a week, you can rack the resultant cider and continue to ferment for another month or so. If you have a hydrometer to measure alcoholic content, you can use that to determine your preferred level. Bottle in bottles designed to hold high-pressure carbonation, like those used for any sparkling wine or juice (will need bottle caps and a bottle capper or sparkling wine corks and wires OR just use some handy-dandy Grolsch swingtop bottles like I do) with anywhere from 1/2 teaspoon to a teaspoon of sugar per bottle to “charge” the bottles, depending on the size of the bottle. 1/2 teaspoon for a typical 12oz beer bottle, 3/4 for a 16oz and a teaspoon for a typical sparkling wine bottle.

Each 4 gallons will allow you to bottle almost 40 12oz bottles of the sparkling goodness. Anchor Steam bottles are particularly attractive for this use, if sparkling wine bottles or Grolsch swingtops aren’t available. I’ve also used some nice green Stella Artois bottles for sparkling hard cider, as well.

Let ’em carbonate in the bottle for a week or two, then store ’em in a cool place (I’m thinking our garage will be cool enough by then)

Most excellent imbibery!

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Is Too

I saw a post recently on FB where the author was a tad exercised by arguments by Islamic liars that Islam is a “race”. The post’s author was arguing, essentially, “Not!” I trumped his argument with,

“Islam is TOO a race… to hell.”

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Never Forget

I’d like to see an electronic billboard playing this 24x7x365(.25) on a jumbo screen across the street from the site of the proposed Jihadist’s Cordoba House Victory Mosque in NYC:

Heck, I’d like to see it playing, along with an appropriate semi-permanent text message*, beside it on all sides of the proposed Jihadist’s Cordoba House Victory Mosque.

*For example, something like this:

Text could be varied by season. For example, during the Islamic new year, which celebrates Mohamed’s hijra (establishment of his warlord power in Medina), it could read,

“Happy Butcher of Medina Celebration, Pigdog Jihadists” or other epigram appropriate to the season that celebrates Mohamed’s massacre of 900 Banu Qurayzah Jewish men, the plundering of their goods, and the rape and enslavement of their women and children.

Update:

“A cult is any group uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members. The group forms an elitist totalitarian society. The group founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable, has charismatic and narcissistic behavior issues. The group believes ‘the end justifies the means’ in order to solicit funds and recruit people. The group wealth does not benefit its members or society. Islam and their Allah is not a religion but no more than a cult political organization used to control their members to achieve worldwide conquest.”–John Tydlaska Jr. via Facebook.

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Just An Honest Question

First, a little background of a personal nature. Long time readers of this lil space in the interwebs know that we lost two family members last year, Son&Heir’s “Boys”–his two dogs–went to their heavenly reward. We’ve not gotten another dog since, though I was sorely tempted earlier this week when some clients offered me a sweet American Pit Bull pup (almost a year old, but still very much a puppy). Nice dog, just didn’t know how I’d get him past my Wonder Woman. *heh*

Were I to have accepted their offer, I think I would have named the dog “Mohamed” (and called him simply “Mo” or “Ham”–maybe even “MoHam” or… “Ed” *heh*) and published pictures of him here with his pedigree… direct descent from the prophet of that hate cult, Islam, though the breed has obviously been much, MUCH improved since the generation of that pig-dog, The Butcher of Medina.

So, the question: since I have no dog to publish pictures of under the name “Mohamed” are there any readers of this space willing to take up the torch for me?

🙂