Books and Movies – Page 35

Monday musings + the sort of dilemma nobody could really mind having, even though I have it and I still find it awkward

Published October 6, 2014 1:15 am by Claire

Gads, it was 80 degrees yesterday. Eighty in October in the Great NorthWET. There are entire summers when we don’t see 80. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this warm this late in this corner of the world.

Not due to global warming. But oh man, what an amazing season it’s been!

Supposed to be “only” in the 70s for the rest of this week. Oh, poor us.

—–

With construction catastrophes keeping the house in chaos, I’ve been trying to de-clutter to help deal with the fact that every time I organize stuff in one area, it immediately has to be moved back out because … oh, the roof falls in or somesuch.

So I’m whipping myself into a crusade to de-stuff.

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Earworms x 2

Published October 1, 2014 5:54 am by Claire

Joel isn’t the only one who sometimes wakes up with “interesting” songs looping through his head. This morning there’s this one: (Lyrics & backstory) But! The good news is I got rid of it! The bad news is I got rid of “Daddy Wouldn’t Buy me a Bow Wow” by filling my brain with “I Love a Cop.” You’re in luck, though. The only available YouTube performances of that one are too screechingly awful to link to, so the link is lyrics only. Song’s actually kinda cute. It’s just the idea of the thing … All in all, I’m beginning…

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More from Vin: The Testament of James

Published September 24, 2014 6:27 am by Claire

Okay, with me deadlining, let’s let Vin Suprynowicz continue to carry some weight around here. (Seriously, it’s good to see him back so strong after a few quiet years.) As Bear pointed out in comments yesterday, Vin’s got a new novel coming out soon and is running excerpts on his blog. Here’s the first excerpt. Two others are already up. Look in the archives under “books.” It’s very cool so far. Kind of a DaVinci Code vibe around a biblical mystery and a seller of rare books. I love that stuff.

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Adventures in pre-hermitting

Published September 16, 2014 9:43 am by Claire

First thing: Thank you for all the good words and scary stories after Friday’s out-of-the-blue tree fall. MamaLiberty’s tale of random mystery destruction definitely takes the prize, though Karen’s lightning-from-nowhere story also reminds me of Mother Nature’s notorious temper.

One reader, C, even made an extra little contribution to the roof fund. Its timing was lovely (“Take that, damned tree!”), and the fact that it came from somebody I know has very little to spare made it even more appreciated.

—–

I’m now looking at November 1 as the most likely date to commence a serious year of hermitude.

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Atlas Shrugged III: A guest review and commentary

Published September 15, 2014 6:57 am by Claire

The following review of AS-III + commentary on our own times is by faithful reader (and even more faithful Outlaw) Mac the Knife: —– I went and saw Atlas Shrugged – Who Is John Galt today. Thought you might like a few observations about the movie. I thought it was probably the best of the three. While they stray from the book in places they capture the essence of what Ayn Rand was saying. Kristoffer Polaha plays John Galt and he does a very good job. Probably not the image most people would expect John Galt to look like, but…

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Thursday links

Published September 4, 2014 7:11 am by Claire

“Work’s for Squares.” The (unsurprising?) decline of labor-force participation. But on the good side of that subject … Wally Conger reviews my How to Kill the Job Culture despite the fact that it’s been out of print for several years. Hm. If I can find those old files or get somebody to OCR the book for me, maybe a Kindle edition is in order? Ken at Popehat says yes, there is more to that incident of the teacher arrested over his SF novels. Ken also opens with the best description of media-cop relations I’ve ever read. (H/T jed in comments)…

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Tuesday links

Published September 2, 2014 9:52 am by Claire

Tam? Tam, where have you gone? Your blog was one of the stones on which the gunblogosphere was built. Doctors getting fed up with their profession. No surprise. Not really news. But an interesting perspective from a physician. “Who owns your children?” Bayou Renaissance Man asks after last week’s case of a family subjected to an international manhunt for disagreeing with their son’s doctors. What do you know about MaidSafe? Is this the future of communications privacy? (H/T PB in comments) Teacher arrested over school shootings — that he wrote about in novels. David Codrea notes that we don’t know…

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Unschooling in the wild

Published August 17, 2014 6:30 pm by Claire

A.G. dropped this fantastic unschooling article into comments. I’m bringing it forward because this is fabulous, fun, and encouraging. Well-written, too. The fact that it’s running in Outside magazine is even better. Non-political ‘zine; lots of open-minded readers who might get wild new ideas. The article is excerpted from the upcoming Home Grown: Adventures in Parenting off the Beaten Path, Unschooling, and Reconnecting with the Natural World by Ben Hewitt, father of two untrammeled boys. The book looks like an absolute must-read for freedomista parents — and heck, even freedomista non-parents.

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JPFO autographed book auctions

Published August 7, 2014 5:24 pm by Claire

JPFO is now auctioning off autographed books by Larry Correia and Michael Z. Williamson. The authors kindly donated a limited number of their novels. So go get ’em before they’re gone. Aaron Zelman’s Battle of Athens commemorative shotgun is still up for bids for the next four days, too.

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Tuesday links

Published July 15, 2014 7:04 am by Claire

Honesty is the best policy will screw up your life. When what you’re being honest about is firearms. Powerfully sad article from Nicki Kenyon at JPFO. The above is also an example of what can happen when you entrust government with your rights. So is this. Activist, denied “shall-issue” carry permit, needs help fighting back. (H/T MWD) Target security officer spots shoplifter. Takes standard action. Turns out shoplifter is a cop. Guess who gets fired? Carjacker forces way into vehicle with gun. Intended victim grabs it and shoots him. (This is also a case of another carjacker flummoxed by a…

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