A miltiary fiction geek out

Ok, this one is going to be for the hardcore military fiction and science fiction readers out there.

1. Hornblower, Aubrey, both, or neither
   
   
2. What was the "real" last book of the Aubrey Maturin series?
• Blue at the Mizzen (the canonical last book)
  
• The Commodore (Jack becomes an Admiral, and again the story wanders off after)
  
• The Far Side of the World (Jack and Steven lose their way for some time after this)
  
• The Fortune of War (the natural ending point of the first major story arc)
  


3. How about the "real" last Hornblower book
• The Happy Return (technically the first book published)
• Flying Colours (the second book published, but many consider it the natural end)
• Lord Hornblower (the war ends with Napoleons defeat at Waterloo)
• Hornblower in the West Indies (the canonical last novel; really a series of novelas)
  
  
4. The better Homage to either Hornblower or Aubrey (not necessarily the best books)
   
• David Drakes RCN series
• David Feintuchs Seafort Series
• David Webers Honor Harrington series
• LM Bujolds Miles Vorkosigan series (does it even really count?)
  
• Other (there are dozens)
  


5. Ioan Griffud and Jamie Bamber, or Russel Crowe and Paul Bettany?
   
   
6. Screw that poncy navy crap: Sharpe or Flashman
   
   
7. The "real" last book in the Sharpes series
   
• Sharpes Honour: The original end of the series, and Sharpes last true exploits as a fighting soldier in command of soldiers
  
• Sharpes Honour, AND the tacked on prequels don't count
• Sharpes revenge: Sharpe and Harper are out of the army, in the peace of 1814, and Sharps life is ruined... again
  
• Sharpes Devil: Sharpe investigating Napoleons death on St. Helena (no seriously), and the canonical last book
  
  
8. What's with all this British Crap: Ken McCoy, Craig Lowell, John Clark, Bob Lee Swagger, Mitch Rapp, Mack Bolan ( I HAVE to include him) or Mike Harmon
   
   
9. Screw all that earthbound war crap... besides, they're called crunchies for a reason : Hammers Slammers or Bolo (pre-sentience)
   
   
10. They don't crunch when they've got powered combat armor, or the equivalent (genetically engineered supersoldier, or born again badass etc...) . "Shines the Name, Roger Young": Juan Rico, Mike O'Neal, Karl Sten, or Jane Sagan
    

Note: I don't know of and haven't read, any good revolutionary war or civil war series (excepting various alternate history novels); so I didn't include any soldiery from those conflicts (unless you count Flashman - and I don't) . I'm sure there are some, but I haven't read any. Go ahead and suggest away if you do know of some. Also, I've read the "destroyer" series, but not many other series about WW2 naval combat; so again, suggest away.

Bonus points if you get all the references without looking them up.

I've only included one character in the list above that isn't a major character in a well known series of at least three books; and that's because the single book in question is so influential as to be a cornerstone of the entire mythos of military fiction and science fiction.

I specifically left out several really great characters (I'm lookin at you Mad Mike) because they are side characters, or are not characters in a series (at least not yet. Larry Correia's got one thats going to be a classic once he gets the next two novels published. If you can get your hands on a copy of Monster Hunter International, you should. If not, it's going to be reprinted by Baen in 2009).

Oh and remember, explain your choices.

Knowing my readers, this oughta be fun... Kinda like a knife fight in a phone booth...

... Especially considering at least five of the authors noted above read this page on occasion, as do a couple of other authors who have collaborated with folks on that list (and I'm not tellin. If they chose to make themselves known, s'be't) ...

Truth in Comedy

Here's a direct link so you can share easier: A Message from Hilary Clinton

An Interesting Perspective from John Waters

"We need to make books cool again. If you go home with someone, and they don't have any books... DON'T FUCK'EM"

Sounds like a good idea to me.

I should note, I LOVE John Waters. He has a hell of a sense of humor, he' amazingly intelligent... he's wrong about almost everything political, and a fair bit of moral; but he's right about a lot of everything else. He's always had a hell of an insight into human behavior.

My Day Approximated

Scribus Interuptus

So, I've written a TON of stuff lately... and finished almsot none of it.

For some reason I've got a BUNCH of ideas going through the brain, and either they aren't flowing out to the fingers; or they aren't coming out in a way I'm satisfied with.

In particular, there's one VERY BIG thing that I really want to write. The concept and points of it are kind of sitting there taking up all my mental room; and it won't come out until it's fully formed, but it's also crowding everything else out.

Sorry for the scarcity of content around here lately, I'm just in one of those occaisonal slumps.

Irritating.

One of the reasons I love Craig Ferguson

It's long, but watch the whole thing:

A few random things about ME

Even as fat as I have become, I can still touch my toes, then put my palms flat on the ground. When I didn't have the big'ol gut, I could do the backs of my wrists.

I collect guns, knives, swords, books, flashlights, tools, old computers, and watches. I used to collect coffee mugs, t-shirts, and walking sticks as well.

I have had arthritis in several joints since my early 20s, as the result of multiple severe injuries that have never healed properly.

I have approximately 20/50 vision, and have since I was 13 (I plan on getting laser surgery eventually). I can watch TV, watch movies, and drive without my glasses; though I generally prefer not to because I squint a lot otherwise.

I hate hats; but I wear them because they are both necessary, and practical. I have a half dozen ball caps, and a stockmans hat; which is quite useful actually.

Although I have more (not much, but a bit), the only pieces of jewelry I generally wear, are my wedding ring, and a watch. I don't like extraneous objects on my hands or wrists.

I also don't like my shirt cuffs on my hands or wrists; and I prefer to have my sleeves pushed up or rolled up.

These are long enforced habit from working around things that can snatch up, or light on fire, loose fabric, or loose jewelry.

I TRULY HATE loose threads; and to this day carry a zippo lighter with me, half for just the usefulness of a flame, but half just to handle loose threads.

I was a boy scout. In fact I had completed all my prerequisites and service project for eagle scout; but I left scouting because I had a religious fanatic for a scoutmaster, who made my life hell, because at the time I refused to attend church. I still regret doing that.

I have never lived in one house or apartment for more than three years in a row; and only once for more than three years total (I lived there twice, for three years each time, and three years in between).

I once lived in the house that Matthew McConaughey lived in while he was filming "Rein of Fire" in Ireland (Bray, co. Wicklow). I was the next tenant after him.

The first place I ever lived in Ireland was a 600 year old farmstead turned pub and boarding house, that had once belonged to my family (400 years ago). This was entirely by coincidence, and I only found out about it after doing a great deal of research on the area.

I lived in a geodesic dome for a year.

I'm allergic to onions; but my favorite cuisines are Italian, Mexican, and Thai (all heavy on the onions if for some reason you are not familiar).

The first actual book (not a picture book or the like) I can clearly remember reading is "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court"; but it was a "childrens classics" version. After that I read some other classics in their full and unabridged versions; but the first contemporary "adult" novel I read was Steven Kings "The Stand", when I was seven.

I met my best friend in the line to get into school, on the first day of second grade. He has been my best friend ever since. Although I now live 2700 miles away from where we grew up, he lives about 15 minutes away from me.

Some Favorites:

My favorite food is definitely pizza; though there is about a 50 way tie for second place.

My favorite color is Red; though I actually prefer black (which is technically an absence of color).

My favorite song is "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King; and has been since I first heard it, in 1982.

My favorite poem is "Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening" by Robert Frost; and has been since I first heard it, also in 1982.

I lied; I actually have TWO favorite songs, and I honestly cannot pick between them. My OTHER favorite song is a neo-celtic folks song; "Wanderlust" by the band "Wyld Nept".

My favorite movie is, without question, "The Princess Bride". I saw it in theaters, and I've loved it ever since. NO other movie is even close; though again, there is about a 50 way tie for second place.

My favorite book... Gods man I don't think I can... There are so many, in so many different genres. I can tell you the book I've read the most is "Pawn of Prophecy" by David Eddings; which I read at least once a year, from when I first read it in 1986, until about 2000. I believe I've re-read the entire series once or twice since then.

I should note: I made a habit of re-reading every book in a series, whenever a new book would come out; so I've re-read every book in the Belgariad, the Mallorean, the Elenium, the Tamuli, The Wheel of Time, Mercedes Lackeys Urban Fantasy series (there are several connected ones), the Mitch Rapp series, the Jack Ryan series, The Corps, Badge of Honor, Brotherhood of Wars, and a bunch of other series; all at least ten times.

My favorite soft drink is actually iced tea with sugar and lemon; but I drink more water, and diet mountain dew; because I'm worried about diabetes (family history). Coffee is my favorite hot beverage, but tea, hot cider, and drinking chocolate, are not far behind.

My favorite coffee mug is 20oz, and made of alternating strips of curly maple, and padauk. Yes, the wood.

My favorite alcoholic beverage is a brown or red ale of some kind; with a strong but not too sweet malt, and medium bitterness.

My favorite hard alcohol is Irish whisky; but my favorite mixed drink is a simple double vodka tonic, tall, with double lime. I find it crisp and refreshing.

Don't ask me to name a bottle, or a vintage; but my favorite wine variety is probably a semillon or sauvignon blanc; or maybe a Pinot Grigio. I personally think that generally Washington and Oregon produce better examples than Bordeaux does (excepting the very best of them). I prefer my whites to be dry and crisp, but fruity; neither overly sweet, nor overly acidic.

I don't care for American chardonnays at all; given that they almost universally eschew any kind of delicacy in favor of massive tannin character (which for some reason vintners seem to believe makes them a "more sophisticated" wine). The French vintages are generally better in this regard; but you never know what way the australians, south africans, or chileans are going to swing. I find Australian and Chileans whites in general to be good, but not up to what I really want.

For reds, I like Pinot Noir (French, Italian, and Oregonian), and Syrah/Shiraz; but I'm not generally a big Cabernet Sauvignon fan, because I feel most vintners overoak their vintages. I generally prefer the shiraz of Australia (barossa valley wines like Penfolds and Wolf Blass especially), to most French Syrah vintages; but the French do better blends (usually with cab sauv - and I should say, I think the Australian blends are good too, just that the Burgundys are better).

My favorite ice cream is chocolate chip cookie dough; but it's not my favorite dessert.

My favorite dessert is creme brulee if it's absolutely perfect; but that's pretty hard to do, and bad creme brulee can be pretty bad. Otherwise I really love strawberry parfaits, apple crumbles and apple crisps, cheese cakes, anything to do with snickers bars or oreo cookies, blondies, brownies, and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

I'm not really a big cake fan (except for tres leches cake, which I love), because I don't much like most frosting; or really anything that's mostly sugar. I don't like fudge at all for example; or cotton candy, or rock candy.

My favorite place in the entire world, is the Winaukee peninsula, Moultonborough, New Hampshire; on lake Winnepesaukee. I spent summers (and the occasional, very harsh, winter even) there growing up.

A few random things about my family

I have a bunch of stuff that I both want to write, and don't want to write; because I'm EXTREMELY aggravated, irritated, perhaps even pissed off.

So, instead, I'm just going to do the blog equivalent of randomly blurting things out.

I look just like my dad, only taller. I'm 6'2", but my father is only 5'6", and my mother is only 5'3". My brother is 5'9", and looks just like my maternal grandfather.

I've got very thick, very wavy, dark reddish brown hair on my head and chest; but my beard, moustache (in fact everything below my sideburns and the back of my neck, including my body hair) grow in quite red. My father has nearly black, very thick and curly hair; my mother has very straight, fine, strawberry blonde hair; I seem to have split the difference.

Funnily enough, the men on my mother side tend to go thin but not bald; on my fathers they go grey or white, but don't lose their hair. My brother started thinning when he was about 17, but my hair is actually getting thicker as I get older.

I am related to Herman Melville, Robert Emmet, and Feach MacHugh O'Byrne (the Byrne clan is huge, so a lot of the folks who spell their names that way are at least distantly related. My family goes back directly lineally).

I'm officially Christopher Byrne the fourth. We were all raised in the catholic church, and as was historically the custom; we all took middle names at confirmation, rather than being given them at birth. The feast day for the saint whose name I took at confirmation is the day after my birthday in the eastern church. The feast day of the saint my father took as his name, is the day BEFORE his birthday.

My father is a convicted felon, and has spent approximately half my life in prison. Because he and I share the same name, and have at times shared the same city and county of residence, there has sometimes been ID confusion. Up until recently, most computer systems only entered suffixes up to the third, and often ignored suffixes completely. As a result, I have recieved bills that were his; had tax liens been placed on me that were his; and been arrested on his arrest warrants (among other difficulties).

My father is also a highly decorated viet nam vet; and a master stonemason, with a masters degree in construction management. Currently, he is the general manager of, and partner in, a highly successful architectural, landscape, interior, and artistic stonework company.

As far as I know, he is no longer a criminal; having finally realized that the is too old for that kind of crap anymore. Otherwise though, he hasn't changed his basic personality at all. He's mellowed some, but he's still the rough guy he's always been.

Neither my mother, nor my father, have ever, as an adult, had a "normal" office or corporate job. They have both always either worked for themselves, or been a part of an entrepreneurial enterprise... to varying degrees of success.

My paternal grandfather was a railway engineman for the Irish national railroad Iarnrod Eireann, and his wife worked the Irish postal service. When they moved to America in the mid 60s, they both worked for the post office.

My maternal grandfather was eventually a lawyer, and a politician; but he worked his way through high school, then college (Brandeis), graduate school (masters in education from Boston University), and finally law school (juris doctorate from Suffolk university).

First he worked in a drug store, and a hardware store; then he was in the Army and served in the Korean war (he received a purple heart and a bronze star, but would never under any circumstances talk about the war). When he got back, he was a night road crew supervisor on the first expressway through the center of Boston, then he became a parole enforcement officer (again, working nights, checking up on convicts parole and probation compliance), then once he got his masters he became a high school teacher.

All this was while he was going through school, and supporting a growing family (thankfully, he had the GI bill money to help with his education). By the time he passed the bar in 1963, he had 7 kids, and the 8th was on the way.

His older sister was similarly accomplished. She eventually earned a doctorate in history, and a doctorate in middle eastern languages. She worked for the CIA, where she met her husband (who also had multiple doctorates in history and political science); and then they both worked in the state department, unsurprisingly in the middle east in both cases. After they retired, they became college professors at U. Mass Amherst; her husband retiring as dean of his department.

My maternal grandfathers mother was born in either 1894 or 1896 (there are a couple documents which disagree) and had been married before WW1. All of the rest is assembled from only semi-reliable sources; because she would rarely talk about it, and there are few records.

We believe she had a family of four children in Ireland, that had all died in the great flu epidemic while her husband was fighting in the war. After her first husband died in the Irish war for independence, she moved to Boston in 1923 or 1924 where she met her second husband, and started another family; having two children (my grandfather, and his sister). She lived until 1998, two years after my grandfather died.

Oh and random odd fact: my grandfather knew Leonard Nimoy growing up (most people don't know he's from Boston); though my grandfather was from Charlestown, and Nimoy was I believe from Jamaica Plain.

My maternal grandmother was a novice in a catholic order (yes, she was becoming a nun) when she met my grandfather. She had one kid per year from the year after they were married, until my youngest uncle David (he was 13 when I was born. They had 9 kids, but one died at birth). After David went to grade school, my grandmother went to work as a secretary at John Hancock in Boston. She retired after 20 years in 1987, the senior secretary in the region, to the most senior VP in the region (that used to be kind of a big deal. Things don't exactly work that way any more).

Both my parents are 1 of 8 siblings (and oddly, three of my four grandparents are or were 1 of 14); and I have over 50 first cousins, and over 100 second cousins.

Both sets of my grandparents were married 42 years, before both of my grandfathers died (both my grandmothers are still alive, at 73 and 78 respectively). My mother married twice, and divorced twice. My father married 4 times, and divorced three times. Every one of my aunts and uncles who has been married, has been divorced or separated at least once. Including my mother and father, seven of them have been divorced at least twice.

I have no recollection of ever meeting my paternal grandfather. My father, and his father, hated each other passionately. When my father was 14, his father kicked him out of the house, and he lived on the street for two years until he could lie his way into the army. He was not a U.S. citizen at the time, and earned his citizenship through his service; eventually serving a total of 9 years (through most of Viet Nam) before receiving a medical discharge. After returning from the war, he would not be in the same room with his father until I was born, and then rarely afterwards.

My parents split when I was 18 months old, and I didn't see anyone from that side of the family except my father from then, until I was 2o. In fact, I didn't see my father from my fifth birthday, until Christmas when I was 20. To be fair, more than half that time he was in prison; and while my maternal grandfather was alive he did his level best to make sure we didn't have contact. My father contacted me a few months after my grandfather passed on.

Next up, a few random things about me.

An Actual Conversation in My House

Mel: Honey, is there a new NCIS on tonight?
Chris: I don't know
Mel: You don't?
Chris: Hon, I don't know when ANYTHING is on. We have a TiVo for that.

Gaaaack irritating day at work

So, all day I've been dealing with an example of truly staggering incompetence, which is going to negatively effect every project I do for the rest of the year.

Separately, I've also been dealing with an extreme example of unprofessional and irritating behavior.

Late in the day I started in on the TVTropes.org website to drown my irritation in pop culture minutae. Warning, that site is about the biggest time suck on the 'net; and that's saying something.

No other writing today; my brain is sucked down the trope trivia whirlpool.

Il Notte Italiano

So 'twas an overall Italian night at the house tonight.

Dinner was tortellini al formaggi con prosciutto; tossed in a salsa fresca of olive oil, balsamico di modena, garlic, cracked back pepper, basil and an aged parmagiano reggiano; served with Pellegrino, and a Peroni(a perfect complement to the sharp and salty aged cheese and meat) .

For entertainment we watched "The Italian Job" (the Michael Caine original of course); and I finished off the night with an espresso (Mel had fallen asleep on the couch, as she normally does).

Funnily enough, none of this Italian theme was intentional; it just sort of worked out that way.

Va Bene.

Critter Pics

For your Sunday afternoon.

Kimber's attachment to the RockBand box.



Springer found the most dog-proof location in the house.



Evidently Kimber has no problem with Jayne's presence, as long as he's not chasing her.



And my personal favorite, the vicious beast being loved up by the girls. Oh, and he is that big.


Mel