What are you reading?

[^Rhino!]

I just finished reading "Two Tankers Down" by Robert Frump. a highly respected and nationally recognized maritime journalist. It's the story of the oil tankers SS Fort Mercer and SS Pendleton, and their sinking in a gale on the night of Feb. 18, 1952. This occurred in a full gale in near-blizzard conditions off the east coast near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both tankers coincidentally sank on the same night.
It's also the story of Bernie Webber, a young lifeboat coxwain with the United States Coast Guard who led a four man crew out of Chatham harbor that night in a 36-foot lifeboat. Braving seas with waves up to 60 feet tall, Webber and the men aboard CG36500 saved 32 lives that night, getting them aboard in 40-foot seas and returning them to dry land. Webber represented the finest traditions of the Coast Guard and its unofficial but auspicious motto, " you Have to go out; you don't have to come back".
Webber and the four men on his crew would receive the Coast Guard Medal For Valor for their action. They also will be remembered for achieving the intent of the official Coast Guard Motto, Semper Paratus(Always Ready)!

[Elliot]

Wow.
I have always felt high respect and admiration for Search-&-Rescue crews of all stripes. This, perhaps because... one of the first novels I ever read (as a young teen) was about the crash of a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter in a Norwegian snowstorm and the eventual rescue of the crew.

At the trucking firm, we had a retired Coast Guard diver who suffered serious arthritis type ailments, and he had a pretty good idea why; "Too many swims in ice-cold arctic waters".

Recently, I have read two "coast guard" related books.

"Blind Man's Bluff" by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew, "The untold story of American submarine espionage" (1998) during the Cold War with the USSR. Search-and-rescue was not unusual in that sport – though search was far more common than rescue.

And...
"The Blockade; Runners and Raiders" by Time-Life Books (1983) – one in a series on the US Civil War. The battle of the Merrimac and the Monitor is on the cover, yes.

Both books are now available to the next reader.

[^Rhino!]

Eliot, I too have huge respect for the Coast Guard and the miracles that these brave nen ad women accomplish. A recent television reality series called 'Coast Guard:Alaska' appeared o the Weather Channel and was thrilling. It chronicled the lives, training, interactions, and rescues performed by the Coast Guard working out of Kodiak, Alaska, During one episode, the viewers got to meet the station commander, a Captain that flew a C-130 out of the station, as well as handling the administrative details and acting as a public affairs officer for the station. The man was humble, well spoken, and did his job to the best of his ability. He inspired confidence in th men and women in his command. During this episode, he flew the C-130 to a point north of the Arctic Circle to drop a much needed part to the crew of a Coasr Guard icebreaker so that it could complete its mission.
During the return trip, he casually told the interviewer that they had just set a record for the longest rescue flight ever completed by fixed win aircraft out of his station. He called it "just another day at the office". The man would have been a fine example of the competence exhibited by the Coast Guard for a public relations campaign. If I were 40 years younger, after seeing this series, I might have enlisted in the Coast Guard.
That's not all the service does. Besides the boating safety inspections they perform on commercial vessels, they act as guards at US Customs port facilities, serve as maritime law enforcement on the high seas ,and tend, install, and repair lighthouses and buoys for navigation. All of these functions are performed efficiently, with a minimum of fuss and in a timely manner. Bravo for the Coast Guard!

[DVD Burner]

Only because I just posted it when the internets wouldn't let me.

[DVD Burner]

RED!

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/two-a ... ence-28819

[DVD Burner]

I read everything that comes at me.

Well Almost.

Ask anyone.

[DVD Burner]

Ask

Anyone

Who

I

Am.

[DVD Burner]

[Krokodyle]

I'm re-reading "Neuromancer", by William Gibson.

I had forgotten this book entirely. And it's amazing just how flippin' influential (and downright lifted from) this book was/is.

[Elorrum]

The Klondike Gold Rush by Tappan Adney.

[some seeing eye]

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei

[Montanarchist]

The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberley


A nice used copy.
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DCh ... EBA&adurl=

[Elorrum]

Klondike Stampede, notes on human nature unchanging. I flashed on any Reno Walmart at the end of August. Still there is willingness to help.

“One who has never undertaken to gather all that a man will need for a space of ten or twelve months, so that he shall not have to call on any one else for material assistance, has any idea of the time required. The most important item on the list is good advice-plenty of it. One does not fully comprehend the helplessness of average mankind until he meets some of these men on the streets. Scores of men would never have gotten one inch to the northward of the town of Victoria without the help of others. Two men in three virtually are carried along by the odd man. They are without practical experience; it is pitiful to see them groping like the blind, trying to do this thing or that, having no notion of what it is to plan and to have the ends fit like a dovetail”

Excerpt From
The Klondike Stampede
Tappan Adney. (Dispatches 1897)

[Canoe]

Klondike Stampede, notes on human nature unchanging. I flashed on any Reno Walmart at the end of August. Still there is willingness to help.

“...They are without practical experience; it is pitiful to see them groping like the blind, trying to do this thing or that, having no notion of what it is to plan and to have the ends fit like a dovetail”

Excerpt From
The Klondike Stampede
Tappan Adney. (Dispatches 1897)

Sounds interesting!
Of course we've all seen it with various people who show up on the playa. Some haven't a clue. (Well, actually, we've seen that on eplaya too...) Some are fine or O.K. enough for a walk-in-the-park year, but others get tromped out by some wind (although "some" is 20 mph, 45 mph, or 90 mph, or a dry microburst or heatburst 100+ mph), or that rare rain. Still curious to see the results if there's a Condition Alpha.
And there's

... we had a "snowpocalypse" a couple of weeks ago,... Sure was a wake up, for many people. ... Most were new immigrants from urban areas, who moved "to the country", for a myriad of reasons. But, are lulled into false confidence, by "city life". Many had no tools or skills to deal with issues. ...

Long ago I was invited to go winter camping with a small group. I wasn't involved in the planning, just grab my gear and go. Get to the trail-head, load up and cross-country ski in. Only with the drive north, increased altitude and a cold snap, the temperature is now -35 C (-31 F). Once we're in to the camp site, I found out that I was the only one who had ever been winter camping (survival training). And half had never been camping. One of them seemed like they'd never even walked through a city park. I was the only one who knew how to build & light a wood fire - none had ever even used a fireplace!!! That first night, camping on one of their Aunt's property, no way the tents and their gear was going to cut it. I didn't even have them setup. The one broke into his Aunt's cottage, where a fire in the ox-sized fireplace saved the day. Everyone stayed alive, uninjured, fed and warm enough, although they'd have been warmer if they'd believed everything I said - or noticed how warm I was. I can't remember if we hit -40 or -45 that week (yes they stayed!).

[Savannah]

Just finished "Unprotected: A Memoir" by Billy Porter, that fabulous man (singer, actor, playwright, director) who showed up at the 2019 Academy Awards in a tuxedo gown.

I really knew nothing about it him other than he was obviously a Big Deal, doing Lots of Stuff (I hadn't seen him in anything yet) but it's such a great read that before I was halfway through it, I sent a copy to my aunt and a good friend. That's not something I usually do, unless it's Christmas!

I will take a lesson from his confidence, bravery and perseverance. This is a person who believes in himself. He's anxious like anyone else; he falters sometimes. You can't identify with someone who never falls down. But he never gives up.

[Elorrum]

Just finished "Unprotected: A Memoir" by Billy Porter, that fabulous man (singer, actor, playwright, director)…

I will take a lesson from his confidence, bravery and perseverance. This is a person who believes in himself. He's anxious like anyone else; he falters sometimes. You can't identify with someone who never falls down. But he never gives up.

Thanks, I read the first chapter and have a digital library hold. Looking forward to it. The absolute self possession is evident, to exist and grow in the face of a society that is telling him to not exist, or to exist differently.

[AntiM]

I have not been able sustain reading to get through a book for a couple years now. Been picking away at fluff and graphic novels on a kindle, struggled through a couple hardbacks, and am now listening to the Dresden Files in MyLarry's Audible library. Not great literature, but I'm enjoying the ride.

[Elorrum]

I read much less than I used to, and miss that immersion a great deal. I got bifocals and that sort of stopped reading in bed. With my head sideways the glasses don’t really work. I need a better arrangement. Without glasses, big letters on a kindle make page turning constant.

I always have an audiobook in progress. I like being told stories I guess, it’s company. Listening to Bill Bryson’s book about Shakespeare today.

[Canoe]

Not reading - yet. I want to get a copy of Wisdom Sits In Places, Keith H. Basso, University of New Mexico Press.
Sounds interesting.
https://unmpress.com/books/wisdom-sits- ... 0826317247
I thought it was Navajo families that each got their own anthropologist.

[lara845312]

I am reading right now is slang words and my favorite slang is "Oum"

[some seeing eye]

How the War in Ukraine Might End

In recent years, a small group of scholars has focussed on war-termination theory. They see reason to fear the possible outcomes in Ukraine.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annal ... -might-end

[Elorrum]

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-revi ... apitalism/
Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World
by Malcolm Harris

Revisionist look at Stanford, eugenics, a ranking system for human hierarchy, big tech capitalism… leading to Ellison, Musk et al. Dramatic, but compelling, and I’m thinking it maybe illustrates tangentially a co-opted burner scene attitude back story as well.

[Elorrum]

https://books.google.com/books/about/Th ... &q&f=false
The Great Escape by Saket Soni
Indian migrant workers paid to be functionally imprisoned and trafficked to rebuild the gulf coast.

[Jingo]

"Underground" by Murakami.
History of infamous sarin gas attack in Tokyo subway.

[lucky420]

I’ve been reading BM blogs, posts, soc media.
I’ve been reading BLM logs/reports
I’ve look here and there and everywhere
Dying to read
Because I feel the need
TO KNOW WHERE THE MOTHERFUCKIN MOOP MAP IS
AND IF THE PLAYA PASSED INSPECTION LAST FALL
Hey if you see it, give me a call

[Lonesomebri]

This isn't my beautiful poem...
May’s Poem by Jim Daniels, working class author and poet.

“I want to write a poem
about something beautiful,”
I tell May, the cook.
I stand against the open kitchen door
Getting stoned.

“That shit make you stupid.”
May wrinkles her forehead
In waves of disapproval.

“I don’t need to be smart
to work here.”
The grease sticks to my skin
A slimy reminder
Of what my future holds.

“I thought you was gonna be
a writer. What about that
beautiful poem?”

I take a long hit
And pinch out the joint.
“You’ll end up no good
like my boy Gerald.”

“May, I’m gonna make you
a beautiful poem,” I say
and I turn and grab her
and hug her to me
pick her up
and twirl her in circles
our sweaty uniforms sticking
together, her large breasts
heaving in my face
as she laughs and laughs
and the waitresses all come back
and the dishwasher who never smiles
makes a noise that could be
half a laugh.

But she is heavy
and I have to put her down.
The manager stands there:
“Play time’s over. Break’s over.”
Everyone walks away
goes back to work.

This isn’t my beautiful poem, I know.
My poem would have no manager
no end to breaks.
My poem would have made her lighter.
My poem would have never put her down.

[Elorrum]

Doing some searches on commodified burning man projects.
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction ... /alex-grey