Bibliophilia: The Man with the Iron Heart by Harry Turtledove

The Man with the Iron Heart – Harry Turtledove

I’ve heard about his stuff for years, his alternate history, and decided to try a one off story, rather than one that was part of a larger series. And I really didn’t dig it. The premise is based on a fact – at the end of WW2, there was a half hearted attempt by the Nazis to organize a guerrilla resistance to the Allied occupation. It never really came to much. Despite the fact that there were still die-hard holdouts, by and large, the Germans had been well and truly crushed. The story here is that Heydrich wasn’t assassinated in Czechoslovakia in 1942, and ended up being the leader of this movement, the Werewolves as they were called.

I think my big problem with it was that it tried way too hard to transpose events of today, ie Iraq, to the situation in post WW2 Germany. It came off as hollow and contrived to me. That and I had trouble buying into the idea that people back on the homefront in the USA organized to oppose the continued occupation in Germany. I know, alternate history, it requires a suspension of disbelief, but it just didn’t feel believable to me.

I finished it, and I will give some of his other stuff a shot one day, but this one I didn’t find that satisfying.

S.o.t.D. - Katy Song – Red House Painters

Katy Song – Red House Painters

I listened to this song a lot after a woman named Katy broke my heart. Probably an unhealthy amount. Lyrics summed it up perfectly. Red House Painters will likely be dismissed by uncultured philistines as dour and depressing, but their stuff is achingly beautiful to my mind. And of course, on the awesome 4AD label. 

Bibliophilia: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Good Omens – Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman

Seems to have been more of a Pratchett effort, than a Gaiman effort. Lazy description: the Omen as filtered through Monty Python maybe? Very enjoyable.

S.o.t.D. - Night Sky – Rameses B

Night Sky – Rameses B

Just insanely good.

Kayak Build pt. 8

Fibreglassing and epoxying.

The worst part of this whole process, but has to be done.

Fiberglass laid across the kayak.

I was on epoxy and hardener mixing detail, and Hank was in charge of smearing it on. With his many years of boat repair experience, he knew what he was doing.

As much as it’s a gooey, gluey, goopy mess, the transformation is remarkable.

First coat on.

Applying the second coat.

Waiting to see if it needs a third coat.

After applying a third coat.

If I may be so immodest....wow, that looks hot. That honey colour is something else. The transformation from dull white to that is spectacular.

Go here for part 9 of the build.

S.o.t.D. - Nacreous Cabrio – Mango

Nacreous Cabrio – Mango

Oh my.......heaven knows I like the funky, groovy beats, but I think this may be one of the best exemplars I’ve ever heard. Dance party in my living room!

S.o.t.D. - Altes Kamuffel – Paul Kalkbrenner

Altes Kamuffel – Paul Kalkbrenner

Cooker.

S.o.t.D. - Behind The Scenes - Moodorama

Behind The Scenes - Moodorama

Sit back, relax, have a cup of chai and a smoke, enjoy.

Kayak Build pt. 7

Sanding.

Unpleasantly dusty, but ultimately gratifying removing blemishes to get a smooth, faired boat.

Here you can see the fact that despite the planks being planed to the same thickness and our most careful efforts, you can see how they’re out a smidgeon. A fraction of a millimeter in many cases, but still... One plank shows some residual saw marks too.

This shows the transformation as planks are sanded. 

And more sanded. Not entirely done at this stage, but getting close.

Hank using a plane to knock off some of the high spots prior to sanding.

What the boat looks like sanded.

What I looked like after sanding.

 The boat after coating all the blemishes (damaged cove edges, improperly joined edges, etc.) with a slurry of sawdust and epoxy. After smearing it in and on, more sanding!

The last 4 pics also show the unshaped outer stern stem.

 A friend lent me this Ridgid sander, which unlike the Bosch one I used at first, had a dust collection bag and and was just plain easier to use. Easier to hold, less vibrations, etc. Maybe a bit slower to use, but I liked it.

Go here for part 8 of the build - fiberglassing and epoxying.

S.o.t.D. - Everything’s Gone Green – New Order

Everything’s Gone Green – New Order

First video of theirs I ever saw. I had already been listening to them for years, but had never even seen a picture of them. Not even a photo of Joy Division.

S.o.t.D. – Anklad – Jonas Kopp

Anklad – Jonas Kopp

Completely off the hook!

S.o.t.D. - Frank Zaffa (Lascelles Mix) – Garsaaidi

Frank Zaffa (Lascelles Mix) – Garsaaidi

Classic. A track you could mix into almost any set and it would work. 

Bibliophilia: The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker

The Gift of Fear – Gavin DeBecker

One of those books I have read repeatedly and bought repeatedly, both to give as gifts and because I lend it to people and they lend it to someone, and they lend it to someone, etc., so, I never see it back. Which I’m totally okay with.

Anyone who is a woman, has a women they care about in their lives - a mother, a sister, a wife, a girlfriend, a daughter, a niece, a female friend - in other words, all of us - should read this book.

DeBecker is a world recognized expert on violence. He’s been a consultant to the FBI, the Secret Service, corporations, public figures, etc. to give them advice on preventing assassinations, attacks, kidnappings, etc. Anyone who might be a target of random or targeted violence, either financially, ideologically, religiously motivated, or just by a demented nutjob.

He opened my eyes to a lot of things. Violence is usually always very predictable. There are always warning signs. The nut who kills a bunch of co workers isn’t the nice guy that everyone likes and cracks jokes and buys rounds of drinks for everyone on Friday evening, who suddenly goes off the deep end. The one who does, fits a recognizable pattern of behaviour, and all the signs are there.

A dog doesn’t go from a happy, bouncy, tail wagging, squealing with delight dog to suddenly turning into a snarling, flesh ripping, vicious attack dog. A cat lets you know it’s upset. There are always warning signs. And if you know what to look for, and choose to look for them, humans also give off warning signs.

That’s the other thing he talks about – how humans have an amazing propensity to ignore those warning signs. We have instinct and intuition, and people do everything in their power to ignore it. They dismiss it as silly, unscientific, paranoid. It’s nothing of the kind. He gives the example of a woman waiting for an elevator, the door opens, the man in there gives her the worst vibes imaginable, but rather than make this guy feel bad by not getting in the elevator, someone she will likely never see again, she would rather get in a locked, sound proof chamber with someone who her every instinct is telling her not to go near. Listen to that instinct. His insights into men who can’t let go, who can’t or won’t take no for an answer is counter-intuitively spot on. He had a quote that blew me away. “Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.” Yikes.

He states that everyone has intuition, but we all need to hone it to a fine point. I ALWAYS trust my intuition. People I’ve sensed were going to be trouble always turned out to be. Listen to that little voice in the back of your head.

He also talks a lot about how to truly protect your children, and it really has nothing to do with the sort of hyped up nonsense the TV media would have you believe you need to protect your kids from. Like I said, if you have a daughter or niece, you owe it to yourself to read it. The warning signs he cites of men who will abuse (and sadly, often kill as well) and how to react to men who can’t or won’t let go are really edifying as well.

I highly recommend this book. I’ve told some cops I know to read it and they’ve come back to thank me, telling me that it was indeed a very worthwhile read. I figure that’s as good an endorsement as there is.

Kayak Build pt. 6

The hull planking is completed.

We built up one side until it overlapped the centerline. Then with some sail maker pins we placed a string over the centerline and marked the center. Used a dozuki saw to cut away most of the excess wood, and then used a chisel and plane to make a perfectly straight line of wood.

Now closing in the other side could begin. Painstaking work to make sure everything fit the way it should.

Piece by piece it came together.

A quick and dirty composite picture of the last piece of wood to go in. Took me an hour of exacting shaping, removing a sliver at a time to get a precise fit.

Closed. What had been a woodworking project, was now finally a definitive object.

Go here for part 7 of the build.