Davis had at no time expressed any particular gratitude, but the fact of the rescue had given him a kind of lien upon his rescuer. Having rescued him, Jack was obliged to provide for him: this seemed to be tacitly admitted by all hands and even Jack felt that there was some obscure justice in the claim. He regretted it, however: Davis was no seaman, although he had spent his whole life afloat, a dull-witted, clumsy fellow, very strong and very dangerous when vexed or drunk, easily vexed and easily intoxicated; and he either volunteered for Jack's various ships or managed to get transferred to them, his other captains being happy to see the last of a troublesome, ignorant, untameable man.

(Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:46 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Hey, look, David Drake is doing a children's book!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If Team Rocket put as much effort into picking stable stocks as they do in making schemes, they'd be much richer and less bruised.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:54 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Star Wars was around a lot longer than we thought. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:23 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Robert A. Heinlein (introduction by John Scalzi): Project Moonbase and Others (Subterranean Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59606-186-6; cover and interior art by Bob Eggleton).

Review found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 05:28 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Marinate some ribs, slap them on the grill, sit back with a gin and tonic...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:08 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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...ever happened to Tom Clancy? I mean, there are books "co-written" by him. Which I suspect means they slap his name on the cover, he gets some money for the act, but the writing is done by others.

Long spell of writer's block? I mean its summer...and there ain't no Clancy to read. Hasn't been for years!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:44 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Need advice but find the ramblings of a Jedi Master too straightforward? Ask Kosh!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:30 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Too hot to post anything of startling originality!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:03 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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XKCD nails it. Again.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:05 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'm finally getting over the summer cold.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 05:04 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I recently acquired a somewhat battered set of the famous Harvard Five-Foot Bookshelf. Supposedly you can get through it all in fifteen minutes a day. Well, I'm not sure how long that will stretch, but it looks like I've got another ongoing reading project coming into play!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 05:02 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Well, too bad I'm not female...but if you are, and need an excuse to drink more coffee!

Of course, once you're done reading all the caveats, etc., you may shrug your shoulders and ignore the article and just drink coffee as usual. Or not. Maybe "balance" is all we need.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 04:49 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The place I live ranked number five in the top ten best places to live (in America's small cities) according to Money????

Are we talking the same town here? Maybe they just go by tax burden...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 04:45 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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C.L. Moore; Northwest of Earth: The Complete Northwest Smith (Planet Stories/Paizo Publishing; 2008; ISBN 978-1-60125-081-0; cover by Sean Glenn).

Review here (no, I haven't given up my "day job").

Made up of: Introduction: Teaching the World to Dream (C.J. Cherryh); Shambleau; Black Thirst; Scarlet Dream; Dust of Gods; Julhi; Nymph of Darkness (with Forrest J. Ackerman); The Cold Gray God; Yvala; Lost Paradise; The Tree of Life; Quest of the Starstone (with Henry Kuttner); Werewoman; Song in a Minor Key.

Part of the 2008 Year in Shorts.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:29 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It's nice this time of year when it is clear. The sun is done, it is starting to cool off. You can sit outside with a cool beverage and watch the bats. The stars start to pop out. Speed on to Spica. Arc on to Arcturus. If you know the sky fairly well, you can start to pick out constellations: spot two of the stars in the Big Dipper, and you can make the rest of the stars "pop" into existence.

Look there, in the east. It's the full Moon. To the left (well, to the right if you are "upside down" from my perspective) is Jupiter at its brightest. Even a relatively modest pair of binoculars would be handy right now. You could pick out what of the four largest moons are visible around Jupiter and see features on the Moon (although any phase other than full is best, as the craters show up better when the sun is not overhead!).

Check out the satellite tracking sites like Heavens Above. Check out when the ISS will be visible from your location: I caught it the other night and it was spectacular. As it moves through your sky it'll change in brightness and maybe even color. Keep checking when it'll be visible when the shuttle is up...there's nothing quite like seeing the two of them flying in formation or how much brighter the "dot" is when they are docked.

Yep, it's a beautiful night tonight.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Yes, I've been delving into classical literature and history of late!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Τιμή σ' εκεινους όπου στην ζωή των
ώρισαν να φυλάγουν Θερμοπύλες.
Πότε από το χρέος μη κινούντες΄
δίκαιοι κ' ίσοι,σ'ολες των τες πράξεις,
αλλά με λύπη κιόλας κ' ευσπλαχνία,
γενναίοι οσάκις είναι πλούσιοι κι όταν
είναι πτωχοί, πάλ' εις μικρόν γενναίοι,
πάλι συντρέχοντες, όσο μπορούνε΄
πάντοτε την αλήθεια ομιλούντες,
πλην χωρίς μίσος για τους ψευδωμένους.

(C.P. Cavafy, Thermopylae) more...

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When boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient free men
In Greece and in Rome where bravely stood
300 men and 3 men

(Thomas Osborne Davis, A Nation Once Again)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:52 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The review can now be viewed here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:26 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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