This Week’s Re-Review – Thomas Boyd: Lost Author of the ‘Lost Generation”

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I write a weekly book review for the Daily News of Galveston County. (It is not the biggest daily newspaper in Texas, but it is the oldest.) I have been doing this for nearly a dozen years, and am reprinting some of the older reviews here. Books I feel are still worthwhile. Do you remember Thomas Boyd? Unless you have read Through the Wheat or study mid-twentieth century American literature, the answer is likely no. Yet Brian Bruce wrote a first-rate biography of Boyd.

Why? Who knows? My theory is it was a graduate thesis. It is a fascinating book, though.

Seawriter

Subject limits book’s appeal to masses

By Mark Lardas
The Daily News

Published October 22, 2006

“Thomas Boyd: Lost Author of the ‘Lost Generation,’” … Continue reading →

Fiscal Insanity – Republican Leadership

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How are fiscal matters shaping up under the new renaissance Republican leadership? More like fecal matters.

The following chart is busy and some explanation is in order.

Spending

Top Pane

Tax receipts. This is private property God Blesses we the people through our hard work, ingenuity, risk taking, and industriousness that we empower an extra Constitutional central government to confiscate from us for our own good thanks to the enlightened votes of 51% of our nation. The confiscations peak in April and October and thus is volatile data in the bar graph so I’ve taken what little individual liberty I’ve left to smooth the … Continue reading →

Anyone Want to Buy a Headquarters?

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http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/home-page-news-and-views/why-is-the-episcopal-church-near-collapse.aspx#PJ2OcUub0CpRC7Oi.01

It seems the wave of the future is not more but less. Not full but empty. Not fiscally sound but in debt.

How much can you change an institution before it loses its reason for being? When is change needed and when is it important to stand firm?

In the article it stated that there are twice as many Mormons as this type of Episcopalian. That shocked me. Also the ability to accept the most basic of Christian doctrine. If crossing boundaries is the goal why should anyone stay.

Fitzgerald in Drydock

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Photos have just been released showing the patching:

Note the work that would have gone into scribing and cutting the I-beams. Presumably, the beams or a proxy were scribed underwater, then the beams were cut above water and finally welded in place below.

The article mentions that the hull is warped. Perhaps, we may be writing it off rather than repairing.

Unnamed Wednesday 9pm Eastern Time Conference Call

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It’s that time of the week again, when we connect for another town hall meeting in the Village of the Darned.

I am posting early to solicit a volunteer or two to speak on interesting subjects.

If the software tells you that you’re the only caller, don’t you believe it! Press on with the access code and you’ll probably find us in there!

US: 515-604-9908

Access Code: [see chat in “BDB Chat” tab above]

Key Roles

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I find it fascinating how what person in a film or an organization holds it all together. It is often not the top billed star but a supporting role makes the good great. I remember the old question asked of the conductor, “What is the hardest part to play in the orchestra? Second fiddle.

Here is just a start to get the conversation going.

Get Smart (TV)  Edward Platte, the chief

Star Wars  Alec Guinness, Obi Wan Kenobi

Andy Griffith Show  Don Knotts, Barney Fife (my brother said this)

Star Trek  James Doohan, Scottie

Secretaries in almost any organization.

 

 

… Continue reading →

An Arm and a Leg — Small Bills, Please

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Just quickly, here is a grisly thought experiment.

How many legs is a life worth?  “It’s a categorical difference — you cannot convert between the sacred value of lives and mere injury,” I hear you say.  But that’s where you would be wrong.

Imagine a long line of people waiting upon your decision.  Every person will have a leg amputated until you say, “Kill this one,” and then the bloodletting will cease.  How long a line can you condemn to mutilation?  if it is a single person, then choosing amputation over death is clearly a demonstration of your mercy. If two people, perhaps they can agree that they would both prefer to be amputees over one of them having to live with the knowledge that their leg cost … Continue reading →

Time For Some Soul Music

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Our esteemed patron and sponsor posted about the power of images over words recently. Like many of his posts it operates on many levels. He is our Robin Masters to our wanna be Magnum.

In order to stir hearts and change direction when many oppose you, it is necessary to conjure with powerful juju or magic those things that fire the soul and make the human heart beat anew.

It seems America is seeking out like allies , those worthy with fight in them to move with us. We repel the weasels of Europe, but talk to the yeomen and people of honor.   We want the Brits who embody 1940, the Poles who fought against all odds, the Danes who still embody the longboats seeking the horizon.  Yes, … Continue reading →

This Week’s Re-Review – Ship of Ghosts

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I write a weekly book review for the Daily News of Galveston County. (It is not the biggest daily newspaper in Texas, but it is the oldest.) I have been doing this for nearly a dozen years, and am reprinting some of the older reviews here. Books I feel are still worthwhile. Ship of Ghosts certainly qualifies. It was Hornfischer’s second book (after Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors) and in my opinion, still his best. It may be due to my own fascination with the cruiser Houston (my own book on the Houston – The Cruiser Houston – appears this year on November 6, 2017), but rather I think it is due to Hornfischer’s excellent writing.

‘Ghosts’ a retelling of Houston‘s battle

By Mark Lardas
The Daily News

Published … Continue reading →