OT: 2000th, Flyboys, What're ya readin'?

[java]

Hmmmm. Just ran congrats to CIVILIAN for reaching 100 posts and realized I was at 1999. This makes 2K posts on a melancholy "Get ready to go back to work" day. It’s foggy with a light drizzle coming down in DFW. Java just had his annual physical – needs a mental to be fully certified - and needs to schedule follow-up appointments to check up on the nickel and dime minor glitches that come with age.



Just finishing up <b>Flyboys</b> an unexpected gift from Allen and it’s hard dealing with the emotion it elicits. I love all peoples and have a particular fondness for Far-Eastern civilizations and Japan in particular. Even having grown up with a Japanese-American as a best friend and realizing one dream by living in Japan, I am still baffled at the dichotomy of how such an ancient civilized nation could commit such barbarism as happened some 60 years ago.



<b>Flyboys</b> is laid out in a fairly direct manner and does not overtly take sides (except to denigrate the bastardized Spirit Warrior code). It briefly traces the Japanese and American histories from before Commodore Perry’s forceful opening of Japan to world trade through the aftermath of WWII. It traces the national mentalities and the acts that led us down the path to inevitable conflict. But what is more it reduces the invasion of Iwo Jima, the attacks on Chichi Jima, and the firebombing and nuclear strikes against the Japanese homeland to a personal level.



<b>Flyboys</b> gets pretty in-your-face graphic at times. It brings the horror of The Rape of Nanking, actions of Unit 731, the Japanese treatment of Allied prisoners of war, the results of Curtis LeMay’s firebombing campaign against the Japanese homeland, and our treatment of American Indians and the Philippine rebels after the Spanish American War together in one work to try and explain the thinking of both sides at that time. It humanizes the conflict on a one-to-one level when you read how our aviators who landed on Chichi Jima fared and how their Japanese captors struggled to obey orders they found in conflict with their beliefs.



The cover defines <b>Flyboys</b> as a true story of courage but it's up to the reader to decide the definition of true courage - whether it be duty bound to carry out orders and survive or speaking out against the unspeakable orders and horror of war. <b>Flyboys</b> is a thought-provoking historical narrative that will open your eyes. I highly recommend it.



Any way didn’t mean to ramble. Really meant to admit to having abused you all to the tune of 2,000 far-ranging and oft bizarre scribblings, to just say thanks to Allen for this compelling read, and finally to ask:



What is today’s sophisticated Forumite reading and what do you plan to peruse next?



j

[Civilian]

Great revue I'll be looking for that one in the future,

I am currently reading LOTR The Two Towers. I started with the Hobbit and am reading the whole series straight thru as this my first time. If you liked the movies than I highly suggest reading the books! I can't believe I have not read them before now(i'm 33), as I enjoyed RPG's and such growing up.
Anyway it's a story about a little Hobbit who-Who am I kidding if you don't know about the story I am sure you can find it out in about 10 seconds elsewhere<img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

_____________________________________
&quot;You may find the Shadow of the Wood at your own door next: it is wayward, and sensless, and has no love for men.&quot; LOTR TTT bookIII Ch.10

[AllenETreat]

Java :

The Black Mass : the FBI, the Irish mob &amp; a devil's deal by Dick Lehr &amp; Gerard O'Neill

Coupled with Suzanne Marshall's -

Violence in the Black patch ( of Kentucky &amp;
Tennesse )

Downfall &amp; Eagle against the sun are headed your way! By the time ya' finish all these books, you'll have a PhD ( Piled high &amp; Deep) in WWII Pacific theater history!

AET

&quot;All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.&quot; Edmund Burke ( 1729-1797 )

Edited by - AllenETreat on 3/3/2004 2:44:30 PM

[Luvbug]

I'm re-reading a series of books I originally read in my early teens (some two decades ago). The series is a collection of 10 books written by Roger Zelazny that together make up &quot;The Amber Chronicles.&quot; I'm about 800 pages into the 1,200+ pages of the trade paperback tome.

It's good escapism fantasy stuff. I find it interesting to note the style of the writer as it changed during the 15 or so years it took for him to complete the series.

I read so much stuff during the day of a decidedly non-escapist nature, it's kinda nice to immerse myself in an old cherished favorite.

[Luvbug]

Sorry, I meant to congratulate you, sir java.

Here's to another 2,000 posts!

Cheers!

[rorschach]

O Caffeinated Cowboy:

Just finished &quot;Pattern Recognition&quot; by Gibson (pretty good, interesting detective-type story with the internet and new marketing)

Ready to start &quot;Quicksilver&quot; by Neal Stephenson

(BTW Cryptonomicon by Stephenson is also a good WW2 piece of fiction.)

-Rorschach :][: <a href= http://www.scarysharp.com>HOS</a>

[fredswartz]

I have been corresponding with Allen over a knife trade and have known him (over the web and through the forum) for several years. He has a heart of gold and is really an honest and decent person although he may come across as kind of salty on the forum. He likes to give gifts and Flyboys is another perfect example. This guy is all heart.

[dialex]

You know, that's funny. I have recently received some books from the same Allen Treat (what a predestinated name, BTW) <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> and I am currently trying to find time to read them. Still at the &quot;Slash and Thrust&quot;. Time seems to be shorter and shorter, unfortunately <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

<a href="http://users.pcnet.ro/dialex"><font color=blue>(my page)</font></a>

[Sword and Shield]

Java! What is this 2K you speak of? Certainly we have that Y2K stuff taken care of?

Congrats! I'm right behind you. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

At the moment, I just finished rereading LOTR:ROTK, along with Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. If you like WW2 history, it's a great read! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

The Man's Prayer- I am a man. But I can change. If I have to. I guess...

[vampyrewolf]

*looks around*

Everyone is catching up!

Congrats Java, whats the celebratory spydie this time?

Re-reading the Terry Brooks series, currently on book 4 of about 11-12, about another 100 pages in this one.

<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/spyderco/spyder5.gif"><br>Mei Fides, Mei Victus<br>Coffee Before Conciousness<br> Vampyrewolf@yahoo.com

[dynaryder]

For non-fiction,I'd recommend The Fielding Guide to the World's Most Dangerous Places,by Robert Young Pelton. Lots of really good info about the world's hot spots and why there's trouble there.

For fiction,if you guys are reading Tolkien,I'd recommend the Garrett series by Glen Cook(Cold Copper Tears,Red Iron Nights,etc). They're detective novels set in a fantasy universe. Think Phillip Marlow meets Dungeons &amp; Dragons. Very good reads,from both the fantasy and detective standpoints.

[silverback]

Congrats on the 11111010000th post!

I have recently finished &quot;Kiln People&quot; by David Brin and &quot;Golden Fool&quot; by Robin Hobb.
My current read is &quot;Misspent Youth&quot; by Peter F. Hamilton.

I get the impression that a lot of forumites like SF and Fantasy.<img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>
Anyone into Comics, too?
My favorites are Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai and Hellboy by Mike Mignola.
Hopefully the upcoming Hellboy movie will be better than Daredevil, which was a piece of #*%&amp;!

Take care!

Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week. -George Bernard Shaw

[CKE]

Congrats java!!! Celebrate with Spydies and Caffine, thats my suggestion!!!
Lately I have been reading Tom Brown Jr. books. Finished 2 already and working on a 3rd.

"everything else is just a jeep"

[AllenETreat]

Well, even though not material to this thread, I just scored a discontinued lime green SE Jester.

fredswartz/Jerry : If you've been where I've been, &quot;salty&quot; is putting me mildly!

So who wants to be a wiseguy anyway?

AET

"All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke ( 1729-1797 )

[ADS]

Congratulations on the 2000 posts!

I just started reading the Da Cinci Code by Dan Brown and I just purcahsed &quot;Carving Caricature Figures from Scratch&quot;. The latter is an instructional book, but that still counts as something I plan to peruse!

[JHanna]

Currently reading &quot;Turning The Mind Into An Ally&quot; by Sakyong Mipham. Congrats on the 2000th post - I guess I've got a way to go yet to be considered a veteran poster.

[samosaurus]

Hey Java! C<img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>NGRATS on reaching your 2K dude! <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0><img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0><img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Sam

"have scars will travel.."

[Shards of Narsil]

You know, I always suspected that the <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> forum had heavy history/science-fi/fantasy readers <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Terry Pratchett for me. Been re-reading LOTR too on the side. I usually reread the classics: Frank Herbert's Dune, Terry Brooks's Shannarra books, Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy, Stephan Donaldson's Illearth War, e.t.c.

Shards

P.S: Congrats on the 2K post java!

[dialex]

BTW Java, congratulations on your 2000 post. Keep em rollin' <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

<a href="http://users.pcnet.ro/dialex"><font color=blue>(my page)</font></a>

[Shiden]

Congratulations, Java.
I only ready books for my study <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

Shiden


<IMG SRC="http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/avatar.php?userid=126202&dateline=1073689062" ALT="Lux et Libertas">

[JBE]

I'm almost finished with John Grisham's &quot;The Bleachers&quot; and then will start on &quot;The Last Juror&quot;.......Oh, and congrats on the 2000th.

[voxnaes]

Charles Bukowski...

[AllenETreat]

Footnote :

Forgot the congrats on 2,000 posts ( you reached a &quot;millenium&quot;! )

Am awaiting Corn sugar &amp; blood by Rick Porello

Check out his website :

www.americanmafia.com

He's a Cleveland cop BTW!

AET

Let me win your hearts & minds, or I'll burn your damn huts down!

[sven]

Java: congrats on the big 2K! may your posts be great and your spyders be many. take care my caffinated brother


sven

steel is unforgiving... sharp steel even more so

[Sir cuts a lot]

Lord of the Rings. Just finished The Hobbit. Eventually I plan on reading all of Tolkien's books.

BTW, congrats on the 2K posts.

Edited by - Sir cuts a lot on 3/4/2004 9:26:31 PM

[AllenETreat]

A final note on why I obtained &quot;Flyboys&quot;
from Our New Haven book co-operative
( free books ; a leftover of New Haven's radical 60's culture )

I saw Jim Lehrer on the old McNeil/Lehrer
News hour on our CPTV ( Ct Pvblic Tele-Vision ) review the book and had as a guest
the authour ( name eludes me at the moment ;
he was a &quot;flyboy&quot; if I recall ). I find &quot;in your face&quot; journalism, to myself ( being opinionated ) to tell it &quot;like it is&quot; ( or &quot;was&quot;, in this case ) ommiting NOTHING.

If it offends, well, war IS offensive ( and vulgar ) and often gets VERY personal.

In the case of &quot;The Black mass&quot; Dick Lehr &amp; O'Neill don't paint the traditional picture of the FBI ( nor the Ronald Kessler version either ) The book tells of how the handling of informants ( &quot;Whitey&quot; Bulger &amp; Steve &quot;the rifleman&quot; Flemmi ( a Korean War vet ; that's where &quot;the rifleman&quot; came from )) and how the &quot;relationship&quot; between informant &amp; handler gets blurred, the truth hidden, and how &quot;human engineering&quot; lead to this failure.

The book is &quot;personal&quot; in a way to me : This happened just north ( of CT ) in the South end of Boston, Massachuesetts. And, you Texan forum-ites may recall the murder of Jai Alai fronton magnate Roger Wheeler in the early 80's ( it happened in your backyard! ) by John Martorano ( this really didn't come out until the 90's with the collapse of agent John Connolly's facade and the indictment &amp; capture of Flemmi ( Bulger recieved a &quot;tip&quot;, no doubt from Connolly ) and fled, it is believed, the U.S.

www.fbi.gov/toplist/bulger_html

Or something like that ; the FBI's website
has him listed as &quot;top ten&quot; on their &quot;most wanted&quot; list. Take one look at his RICO crime sheet and you'll see what the FBI in Boston at the time allowed to happen ( supposedly to bring down the North end Angiulo crime family ) It's staggering.

Truth is, IMO, stranger than ANY fiction!

AET

Let me win your hearts & minds, or I'll burn your damn huts down!

[Rob]

Congratulations from me too!

Right now I am reading &quot;Before France and Germany. The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World&quot; by Patrick J. Geary. Yes, I know - the more serious stuff :-) For some really good entertainment I am really fond of the Discworld-series from Terry Pratchett.

Greetings, Robert

[disorder]

well this is a review, being an avid reader, this will be my next.

nowadays i'm reading - in several times of the day/week and different places:

Elemire Zolla -Il dio dell'ebbrezza (the God of drunkenness - (a
beefy book with accurate mix of essays on dope/drugs/alterated state of mind -during all human story and ages-and the antropological/social/religious use and abuse. a must.

Charles Bukowsky - poetry (one of the best writer in 900)

Louis Ferdinand Celine - Journey at the end of the night (as above)

James Ellroy - American Tabloid (who else could describe the innocence and the rotten of a country in such a deep and romantic and cinic way )

Noam Chomsky - selected writings (well,this is really a sharp mind , that dismantle a lot of media-age mechanisms. a bible)


my best regards

[Civilian]

Just picked up &quot;Flyboys&quot; at Costco on your recomendation.
Anybody enjoy Marcinko? I've read them all the first 2(Rogue Warrior, Red Cell) Were GREAT, after that it kinda get's silly and Sillier as the series goes along.

But he is a cool guy, here is My daughter and I with him:

[Al]

Hi Java m8

Congrats on the 2k post!

I must check out this Flyboys book.

You like flying books? Then read Bob Mason's Chickenhawk, the best book I've ever read and it's a real life account.

Whatever you do dinnae sneak a peek at the ending because you just won't believe what happens...

[AllenETreat]

Al to Al :

Chickenhawk was damn good reading! I should do a recap!

AET

Let me win your hearts & minds, or I'll burn your damn huts down!

[voxnaes]

Damn...Wish I was as smart as you guys... You sure know a lot, ehhhh....

[Al]

Al to Al,

Great to know you've read it, I've read many war books and Chickenhawk stands out a mile, this book needs to be made into a movie.

Vox!

Ye've got to read Chickenhawk and by the time you finish it you'll most probably be able to fly a Huey...whop,whop,whop, hey I'd give all my Spydies (except my Police models) to hitch a ride in one of these birds.

[java]

WOW! Leave for a week and look at all the good recommendations!

The &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Da Vinci Code&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt; was an etymologist’s delight with all the word history and a heretical thought provoker from a Christian, read Catholic, point of view. Good read. Also hitting LOTR between reads and classes. I’ll have to check out The &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Amber Chronicles&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Cryptonomicon&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;. Fast-roped from Hueys during SAR missions with the Army (trust my life with Army Huey drivers before my Air Force kin any day) so sounds like &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Chickenhawk&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt; needs to be inked in as well. Anyone read Umberto Eco's &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Focault's Pendulum&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;?? Sounds right for Disorder or anyone who's into reading a dictionary along with your &quot;leisure read&quot;.

Sorry to blaspheme but my 2K knives will be a set of Al Mar Ospreys. Imy wallets otherwise empty and I’m Spydied out for the moment (unless there is a free ranging Blue G10 Native out there). Couldn’t have done 2,000 posts without all you folks out there. Its been fun and I would have solved the 2K issue much earlier if some resplendently robed SATC staffer, whose initials shall remain unspoken but look like S &amp; S, hadn’t hit me with one too many Java Special cocktails!! <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> Hope to be posting fer a wee bit longer.

Y’all keep on posting on and keep the books open often. Never stop reading; never stop learning.....

j


&quot;&lt;i&gt;Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.&lt;/i&gt;&quot; - Grouch Marx (who else???<img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>}