Read in 2023

A lot of good reading this year. Not nearly as much as I'd like to do, but that's the breaks. First on the Moon by Rod Pyle was probably my favorite read this year as I've always been intrigued by the Apollo era. W don't seem to do things like that as a country anymore, there's too much political infighting, and that's significant, considering the Apollo era wasn't exactly quiescent, politics-wise.

1066 and all That, by W.C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman. 116 pages.

Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell. 259 pages.

Citizen Soldiers, by Stephen Ambrose. 476 pages.

Dad Jokes: The Good. The Bad. The Terrible, by Jimmy Niro. 154 pages.

Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway, by Dave Barry. 181 pages.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid: The Deep End, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.

First on the Moon, by Rod Pyle. 196 pages.

Garner Files, The; by James Garner and Jon Winokur; 288 pages.

In Such Good Company, by Carol Burnett. 301 pages.

Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchett. 295 pages.

Kerplunk! by Patrick F. McManus. 227 pages.

Making Money, by Terry Pratchett. 393 pages.

Man Who Invented Christmas, The; by Les Standiford. 337 pages.

MAUS I: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman. 159 pages.

MAUS II: And Here My Troubles Began, by Art Spiegelman. 139 pages.

Monk's Hood, by Ellis Peters. 210 pages.

My Life and Hard Times, by James Thurber. 115 pages.

Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz, 368 pages.

Seven Crystal Balls, The; and Prisoners of the Sun, The; by Herge. 124 pages.

Thud! by Terry Pratchett, 379 pages.

Who Could that Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket. 258 pages.

Winston Churchill, an Informal Study of Greatness, by Robert Lewis Taylor. 433 pages.

Ze Page Total: 6,079.

Third Time, With Charm

Started the third bathroom remodel today. Well, not really started it, but that old cabinet had to go so I could start stripping the linoleum so I can pour on the floor leveler, and it made sense to temporarily install the new sink until I can get the floor stripped out.

Yes, I have to fix the drywall behind the sink. But one of the valves is a bit leaky, and hooking it up to the sink stopped the flow. Not exactly thrilled with having to take the sink out again, but it'll all work out in the end, and there's a bit more room in the bathroom now because that's where I was storing the pedestal sink.

Way too Late at the Movies: A Christmas Story Christmas

I'll admit when I saw the previews last year, I had my doubts.

I mean sure, they could do a sequel or some kind of follow-up to A Christmas Story. In fact, they'd already done that twice. Both times, just not all that good.

But there were glimmers of hope: A lot of the actors from the original film were coming back for A Christmas Story Christmas. That could be good. And there were hints that even Scut Farkas was coming back, once again to torment poor little Ralphie Parker.

Saw the film for the first time tonight, and it's better than I hoped it would be.

As tone perfect as the first film was in showing Christmas through the eyes of a kid, this follow-up shows us Christmas through the rose-colored eyes of an adult suddenly having to create a perfect Christmas at a very imperfect time. A grown Ralphie navigates the same kind of world his old man had to navigate, but has to navigate it on his own as he never really considered what his old man was up to in life. In the original film, we don't know what the old man did for a living -- we don't even know his name.

Lives have moved on, some for the better, some for the same. No one's a real success, they're just ordinary people living those ordinary lives that their kids don't know about because all that really matters is that Christmas is coming and the expectation of presents is there.

Ralphie still daydreams, the Bumpus hounds still stink up the place, and there are bullies to be dealt with; faceless bullies the parents don't even really know.

It's a great film. As a friend said, it's not a standalone film, and probably not for anyone who's just a casual viewer of the original. It's a companion piece, filled with enough in-jokes a true fan is likely only those who'll consider it worthy.

Garage Update

When we finished the siding project on the house last fall, I had some siding left over. I didn't want to get rid of it, nor was I all that excited to keep it, since that meant storing this really long awkward stuff somewhere on the property. Luckily, I found a place to keep it in the garage.

Then we had the garage mishap, and needed some siding.

I finally got the siding replaced yesterday. I thought at first that I had only one damaged piece to deal with, but when I looked at the others, I found that there were three that had damage. Two I could have used in a pinch, but since I had undamaged siding to use, I just threw the broken stuff away.

I ended up putting it on the house twice, as the first time when I tried to bridge the last gap and noticed I had things on a little crooked. So I started over and on the second time got things in place properly.

We still have some painting to do, and a lot of stuff shuffling inside in order to get my car in there, but we're a lot closer than we were just a few days ago.

The Audacity . . .

Fan fiction is one thing.

Writing fan fiction based on a highly-popular intellectual property is another thing.

Continually harassing -- and then suing -- the holders of said IP when they don't respond to your requests to "collaborate" and have official sanction of your fanfiction, well, that can only be said to be Demetrious Polychron.

Who is this dude? Well, I don't really know. His self-assuredness knows no bounds, however, as he wrote what he calls a "pitch-perfect" sequel to JRR Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings.

And yes, everything about the lawsuit, the attempts to get attention from Amazon (producers of a Lord of the Rings-based TV series I haven't seen) and the Tolkein estate, and his lawsuit arguing Amazon was impinging on his copyright is all true. Read about it here.

Mr. Polychron has posted(!) some of his work in The Fellowship of the King online here. And while my own writing isn't anything to brag about, his certainly isn't either. If this is pitch-perfect, then Tolkein's tone is really insipid. Which it is not. This guy's deluding himself on the quality of his writing to be sure.

Most fan fiction is of this ilk and variety.

What came of the lawsuit, well, per the BBC:

On Thursday Judge Steven V Wilson called the lawsuit "frivolous and unreasonably filed" and granted the permanent injunction, preventing him from selling his book and any other planned sequels, of which there were six.

The court also awarded lawyer's fees totalling $134,000 (£106,000) to the Tolkien Estate and Amazon in connection with Polychron's lawsuit.

The estate's UK solicitor, Steven Maier of Maier Blackburn, said: "This is an important success for the Tolkien Estate, which will not permit unauthorised authors and publishers to monetise JRR Tolkien's much-loved works in this way.

"This case involved a serious infringement of The Lord of the Rings copyright, undertaken on a commercial basis, and the estate hopes that the award of a permanent injunction and attorneys' fees will be sufficient to dissuade others who may have similar intentions."

Tolkein's work doesn't enter the public domain until at least the mid 2040s. By then I'll be dead, of course. Mr. Polychron's writing will be dead long before that. Going to the author's publication website, fractalbooks.com, is already telling.

Let Us all Unite!

Just read this on the final page of Stephen Ambrose's "Citizen Soldiers," and for what it's worth I think it's accurate:

"In general, in assessing the motivation of the [World War II] GIs, there is agreement that patriotism or any other form of idealism had little if anything to do with [being able to do what they did]. The GIs fought because they had to. What held them together was not country and flag, but unit cohesion. It has been my experience through four decades of interviewing ex-GIs, that such generalizations are true enough.

And yet there is something more. Although the GIs were and are embarrassed to talk or write about the cause they fought for, in marked contrast to their great-grandfathers who fought in the Civil War, they were the children of democracy and did more to help spread democracy around the world than any other generation in history.

At the core, the American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So they fought, and won, and we all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful."

[Pulls out soapbox.] In our political world, the "unit cohesion" that exists generally doesn't care about the difference between right and wrong, but only about having power. We're much closer to George Orwell's future of "imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever" than these GIs would care to have us be.

GRADUATION

Lexi's graduation was this past Saturday, with a bachelor's degree in something from Idaho State University. I say "something" because they've tinkered with degrees a bit since I went to school and I don't quite understand what they all mean anymore.

This is what I got when I texted her the question:

"It's called Bachelor of Applied Science with my focuses in Computer Aided Drafting Design and Technology and Organizational Learning and Performance."

They've come a long way from when I got a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Anyway, a nice ceremony.

And she's getting married in February. And moving to South Dakota. Life is moving a great deal for her this year, and so far, that life is good.

 

$1,290 Later . . .

 So, $1,290 later, the garage is back in action.

Good news in the following categories:

1. We no longer have to have someone sleeping in the kitchen with a baseball bat in case someone tried to break in or steal something.

2. The garage door components were undamaged, so the door functions just fine without having to spend additional money to fix.

3. I'm rearranging things in the garage in a vain attempt to make things better.

The corner by the door is turning into a tool/recycling center area. I've moved some shelves in for some of Isaac's tools and folderol, and the camp chairs and other long-ish items are going to be moved out to the shed.

The more I poke at this stuff, the more I really realize we do need a shop in a desperate way, becasue SO MUCH OF THIS STUFF COULD GO INTO A SHOP and we'd have work areas as well.

I still have to replace the siding on the front of the house and do some painting or some kind of weatherproofing on the new wood. Not looking forward to that, but it's gotta be done.

The Best Part: Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchett

"I am their lord," said Lord Hong. "They will die at my bidding, if necessary."

Cohen gave him a big, dangerous grin. "When do we start?" he said.

"Return to your . . . band," said Lord Hong. "And then I think we shall start . . . shortly." He glared at Truckle, who was unfolding his bit of paper. The barbarian's lips moved awkwardly and he ran a horny finger across the page.

"Misbegotten . . . wretch, so you are," he said.

"My word," said Mr. Saveloy, who'd created the look-up table.

Situation: Mr. Saveloy, a school teacher, joins a band of ancient barbarians led by Ghengiz Cohen to "civilize" the group so they can infiltrate an empire in Terry Pratchett's "Interesting Times." Part of that civilization education includes tempering the band's language, particularly their curses. Proof that even in apocalyptic times, a good technical writer can find useful employment.

Way Too Late at the Movies: Without A Clue

The premise is clever: What if Dr. Watson is the brains, and Sherlock Holmes is only there as a handsome, well-spoken front?

Thus we get 1988's Without A Clue, with a game Michael Caine and Sherlock and Ben Kingsley as Dr. Watson. I watched it yesterday and liked it, though it's not one I need to see again.

The plot is this: Watson has grown sick of having to hide in Holmes' limelight, particularly as the hack actor he found to play him is really getting on his nerves. He confesses the fact to the publisher of the Strand magazine, which has been printing the stories and is the mainstay of Watson's income -- and things fall apart. No Sherlock, no stories and no money.

So Sherlock comes back for one more case, involving his foe Moriarty (whose real name, anagrammed, is Arty Morty, Sherlock haplessly figures out as he tries to plumb the depths of the case when Watson ends up missing, presumed dead).

This, for me, is where the story falls apart. Moriarty was no intellectual slouch. He'd have at least suspected that Holmes was not the brains of the operations, and more than likely would have figured it out and denounced him. Yet he behaves as if he's ignorant of the ruse. Maybe the ordinary criminal might have been, but Moriarty? Not likely.

Anyway, the film is good for a few laughs and Caine is as game as always to dive into the part. There's not a slouch actor in the bunch.

Funk is Setting In

"C'mon, Dad, speed it up. We're barely outrunning that black cloud that follows you around."

~Louise Belcher

So I'm trying to hold it all together, but it's been a trying week.

Started off Monday being accused by my, I don't know how to describe it, schizophrenic supervisor of starting an argument, all because she couldn't be bothered to scroll a few times in an email.

A drill on Wednesday. I thought I could get out of drills by working from home, but no, that's not going to happen. And it was the longest drill we have ever had -- just over three hours long. I have no idea why it went so long. Well, there was some tension and arguing.

The funk is setting in.

Then I was hoping to have a relaxing weekend -- then Isaac accidentally drove the truck into the garage and pushed part of the garage door entry off kilter. I'm glad the door was open so it wasn't damaged, but we have the wall to fix. I can't fix it, but I've got a guy coming on Sunday to at least take a look. So I'm in this holding pattern hell with that hanging over my head. I volunteered to sleep on the kitchen floor to allay fears someone would try to sneak into the garage -- the door won't go down because of the broken wall -- and the back door to the house doesn't lock. I also got the dogs, because I always get the dogs. It was a really lousy night's sleep, not that I get great sleep anyway.

We also think it's wise to have someone stay at home at all times due to security, and today that meant me because everyone else got to go to a camp staff party while I sat here with the dogs, one of which pooped in my lap because she refuses to go outside in the really cold weather.

The funk is setting in.

The funk is setting in. I'm so tired.

Way too Late at the Movies: The Bob's Burgers Movie

I feel bad I didn't like 2022's The Bob's Burgers Movie.

No spoilers, first of all, so you're not worried about that.

It's a murder mystery, with plucky Louise, Tina, and Gene on the prowl to find out who really killed Cotton Candy Andy at Wonder Wharf six years before this story.

I liked the joke of the prizes at the wharf being the only witnesses to the crime.

But the rest of the movie, well . . .

They made it a musical, first of all. And while Bob's Burgers in general does a lot of fun things with music, in this case it's a miss, with Grover Fischoeder's song being almost incomprehensible in the falsetto voice the actor used.

And I know they unpersoned the voice of Jimmy Pesto due to the voice actor's politics, but not to give Jimmy a single line in the movie was, well. stupid. What an opening for him, so see a gigantic hole and plume of water suddenly erupt out of the street in front of Bob's restaurant. Sure, Bob has the typical stress of having to make a payment to the bank on his restaurant equipment, but is the stress really there is Jimmy Pesto isn't there to razz him about the situation?

I was worried when they announced a movie that what was going to happen is that they'd take a script more fit for one of their episodes and stretch it out into a movie, and that's what they did. I mean, they could have taken a better episode, like The Belchies, for that treatment, but we got a Bart and Lisa solve the crime thing instead.

I still feel for Bob, though, as he's staring through the window at the hole, literally watching his business go down the drain. That part spoke to me. And seeing Lin and Gene's fascination with buttons was also pretty funny. But as whole, while the story worked, it just felt drawn out. And the musical numbers were mediocre at best.

SINNER, Part 2

First, I'm not letting this bug me.

But from a communication and technical writing perspective, it's interesting.

They won't show me the content they consider to be spam. Yet they offer me opportunity (rare for Facebook) to defend it.

There are a few things wrong with this approach:

1. I don't know whether they object to a comment on someone else's post, a comment I made on a post of my own, or an entire post. I can't see anything missing. I didn't go far back in my own stuff because about 99% of my content is throwaway, but still.

2. They won't show me the content, but they want me to defend it. They want to know if they misunderstood something, or if it was a joke, or whatever. They're making me guess at the content, so the best I can do is guess at the reasons why I think their removal of it is in error.

3.  They don't really give a timeline on how long their review will take, who's doing the review, etc.

I know they're a private company and can do whatever they want. Still, it's an odd situation for a company that makes money off me and other users in ways that'd make my head spin if I knew.

Which makes me wonder if some of the snark I posted on a paid customer's (or customers') posts is the root of it all. That's the only thing that comes to mind. I was potentially hurting someone's cash flow, and that is worse than spamming.I do recall posting links to this video on sponsored ads promoting the same grift under a different name. That could be it.

SINNER

I'm spamming, I guess.

I mean, I might be. Where they won't tell me what content it was I was spamming people with, I can't really say. I post a lot, and about 99% of it is jokey stuff. I mean, I would have suspected this post, but there it is still there on my feed, plain as day.

Interestingly, when I requested a review, "it was a joke" was one of the options I could select. But since they wouldn't tell me which post it was, it might not have been a joke. But it probably was.

And yes, there's plenty of much more objectionable stuff on Facebook, but it's still there, where they won't even tell me which of the seven deadly sins I committed. It's a weird place, man. Because they don't tolerate spam, unless they're being paid for it; then they have a relatively robust tolerance of the stuff.

It's not Facebook jail, I guess. At least not yet. We'll see.