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Smiley

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Everything posted by Smiley

  1. Please join us for our next Readers' Corner discussion at 8:30 PM (EST) on December 16th [1:30 AM (GMT) December 17th for those in other time zones] for a discussion of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" and his short story "The Tell Tale Heart". During our last meeting, those of us familiar with Poe's works indicated that Hammett's story "The Glass That Laughed" reminded us of the former's story "The Tell-Tale Heart". During the discussion it became the it became obvious that about half of our members were unfamiliar with Poe, or at least not well versed in the body of his prose and poetry. One reader asked if Poe were not the writer of that poem about a crow. After we scraped Koach off the ceiling, we explained that the poem, one of the most well known in American literature, is called "The Raven". We will devote our next chat to looking at Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" as a possible early model for last weeks Hammett story, and to examining "The Raven" as a window into the psyche of the inventor of the detective story as well as a pioneer author of gothic horror tales. I think you will enjoy reading both the story and the poem (neither is so long as to be a burden), and the discussion should be fun. There are numerous web sites devoted to Poe's works--several associated with educational or literary research organizations and/or to organizations devoted to preserving the authors history and works. You can easily find both the story and the poem with a simple google search looking for the work by its title. I recommend you use the texts published on the PoeStories.com. They have some obsolete words annotated with definitions or explanations of the understood classical meanings of the symbols. The story is available online at: https://poestories.com/read/telltaleheart The poem is avaialbe at: https://poestories.com/read/raven As usual we will meet in the #readers_corner chatroom on Koach.com: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all there.
  2. Please join us for our next Readers' Corner discussion at 8:30 PM (EST) on December 9th --1:30 AM (GMT) December 10th for those in other time zones -- for a discussion of "The Glass That Laughed" by Dashiell Hammett. The late Mr. Hammett was, and remains, one of the most well known and most respected mystery and crime story writers of all time. He gave us Sam Spade and the Maltese Falcon, as well as the Thin Man series of detective stories/films. This offering was originally published in the 1920's in an obscure pulp magazine, True Police Stories. It is provided for us on line by Electric Lit. I think you will enjoy it. The story is available online at: https://electricliterature.com/a-new-story-by-the-master-of-hardboiled-detective-fiction-1ff845e9479a As usual we will meet in the #readers_corner chatroom. Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all there.
  3. Happy Thanksgiving Readers. Please note that there will be no Readers' Corner Meeting on the 25th of November, too many of our regulars involved in holiday related family affairs over the long weekend to have a quorum. Please join us for our next Readers' Corner discussion at 8:30 PM (EST) on December 2nd --1:30 AM (GMT) December 3rd for those in other time zones -- for a discussion of "Trouble: The Changeling and the Phooka" by Dave Freer. The story is a work of historical fiction from the the time period immediately following the Irish Rebellion of 1798. War between the Irish and what they consider the English invaders date from King Henry II's invasion in support of his Norman relatives who had appropriated much of taken control of much of the country in the early 12th century. The Rebellion of 1798, inspired to some extent by the success of the American and French Revolutions, ended for all practical purposes in the fall of that year with the English enjoying three crushing victories. Minor guerilla groups continued the fight for several years thereafter. Edmund the protagonist, son of an Irish baronet executed for his role in the rebellion or possibly a changeling with royal fey blood, must covertly travel across English occupied territory to meet with other surviving rebels. He is aided in his travels by the ancient spirits inhabiting Ireland, the phooka being an Irish equivalent of the Norse Loki. The story has ample humor and, while including a few rather fantastic situations, makes for an entertaining and interesting read. The story is available from the Baen Books website in the free reads section. It can be read online or downloaded in various e- book formats from http://www.baen.com/readonline/index/read/sku/9781625794987 (from the free stories 2016 index page select chapter 4 on the link matrix in the left frame, or alternately click next and from the index click on the story by name) Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner Again enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday as will I. I hope to see you all on December 2nd for what I believe will be a lively and entertaining discussion.
  4. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EST) on November 18th, 2017 [0130 A.M. (GMT), November 19th], for a discussion of "The Anatomy of Todd Melkin" by Catherine Malcynsky. A half century or more ago, when many of us were still in school, we may have been exposed to Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem, Miniver Cheevy. "Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, grew lean as he assailed the seasons", and it would seem from this weeks story suffered from a similar ailment, and fate. The tale is an interesting work from a young aurhor just recently graduated from Boston College. It was published in the most recent edition of Carve Magazine, the source of many of our best stories. I hope you like it. The story is available at: https://www.carvezine.com/story/2017-fall-malcynsky Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all. This will probably be our last meeting of the month, I don't anticipate a meeting on Thanksgiving weekend.
  5. Smiley

    Who is the boss ?

    looks like a good way to amputate your trigger finger on recoil
  6. But you needed a 486 to run it
  7. Smiley

    Brunch

    what's the frothy drink, A milk shske, a tall cappuchino, s fancy umbrella drink?
  8. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EST) on November 11th, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), November 5th], for a discussion of "The Bowmen" by Arthur Machen. World War I ended at the eleventh hour the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 with a cease fire. Germany had agreed to allied terms at a peace conference that same morning at five A.M. with the cessation of hostilities scheduled for six hours later. President Woodrow Wilson declared a national holiday, Armistice Day, to honor those who had served in that war. The holiday was renamed "Veterans Day" in 1954 to include veterans of WW II, the Korean War, and subsequent conflicts involving U.S. Military Forces. Unlike the Memorial Day Holiday in May which honors those American military members killed in combat, Veterans Day honors all those who served. This week's story is tells an imaginative tale of the British defense of a salient in the allied lines (although not specified in the story, it is likely that the defense of the salient during the German counterattack early in the Somme Campaign in the late Autumn of 1916 was the action described.) It provides a possible way that an hard pressed and greatly outnumbered force of tommies held against the Hun. The story is available at: https://americanliterature.com/author/arthur-machen/short-story/the-bowmen Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner Happy Veterans Day, thanks to all who have served, and I hope to see you all at our discussion.
  9. CONDOLENCES, AND MANY MANY MORE
  10. Smiley

    NZ LAMB

    i am sure that they will have eaten it by then,
  11. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EDST) on November 4th, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), November 5th], for a discussion of "The Drone King" by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is an early work of Vonnegut, apparently written before he began writing novels, and until appearing in a recent on edition of The Atlantic unpubished. The editors of The Atlantic describe its discovery as as follows: "While reading through Kurt Vonnegut’s papers in the Lilly Library, at Indiana University, as they worked on the first comprehensive edition of his short fiction, Vonnegut’s friend Dan Wakefield and Jerome Klinkowitz, a scholar of Vonnegut’s work, came across five previously unpublished stories. Klinkowitz dates “The Drone King,” one of those five, to the early 1950s, when Vonnegut hadn’t yet written a novel and was only beginning to publish short fiction. The story is an entertaining one and shows Vonnegut's typical understated humor. Although originally in the early 1950's it would not seem out of date were it written today. I am sure you will enjoy it. The story is available from The Atlantic archives at: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/kurt-vonnegut-the-drone-king/537870/ As usual our meeting will be in the #readers_corner chat room: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all at our discussion on the 4th. Don't forget to bring a friend.
  12. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EDST) on October 21st, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), October 22th], for a discussion of "incident on the Tenth Floor" by Jeff Brown. The story is vintage, dating from the 1960's, but it very easily could have been written yesterday. It is one of the tales offered in the archives of the Saturday Evening Post as one of its "classic stories." The story deals with a young man attempting to find a suitable job to support himself and his new young wife after spending several years exploring his unproductive artistic urges as an unemployed actor and an unpublished author. It is available on line at: an http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/10/03/post-fiction/classic-fiction/incident-tenth-floor-jeff-brown.html As usual our meeting will be in the #readers_corner chat room: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I think you will enjoy the story, and I know you will enjoy our discussion of its merits. Don't forget to bring a friend.
  13. Smiley

    Glorious Insults

    Unfortunately I know many people who resemble those remarks :\
  14. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EDST) on October 14th, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), October 15th], for a discussion of Crack by Myles McDonough. The story is the winning entry in the 2016 Saturday Evening Post Short Story Contest. The story was published, by the magazine in its January/February 2017 edition. It deserves its selection as best story submission. The story is available on-line at: http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2016/12/22/in-the-magazine/fiction-in-the-magazine/crack.html As usual our meeting will be in the #readers_corner chat room: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all for the chat. Remember that everyone is welcome to participate in the weekly chat so don't be bashful--bring a friend.
  15. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EDST) on October 4th, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), October 5th], for a discussion of Dei Britanicci A Prologue to Witchy Eye by D. J. Butler. Witchy Eye is the first in a series of alternate history novels set in primitive Appalachia. The story is not an introductory chapter to the book; it stands by itself and has a very satisfactory conclusion with no need to read the books in the series for a resolution of the issue, According to Goodreads: "D.J. Butler (Dave) is a novelist living in the Rocky Mountain west. His training is in law, and he worked as a securities lawyer at a major international firm and inhouse at two multinational semiconductor manufacturers before taking up writing fiction. He is a lover of language and languages, a guitarist and self-recorder, and a serious reader. He is married to a powerful and clever novelist and together they have three devious children." He writes juveniles under the name Dave Butler and adult fiction as D.J. Butler. The story is available on-line at: http://www.baen.com/readonline/index/read/sku/9781625795953 (The url takes you to the "title page" of an anthology. Click the Next icon then click on the story from the table of contents.) As usual our meeting will be in the #readers_corner chat room: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all for the chat. Don't forget we are in need of additional readers interested in chatting about interesting stories, or in interesting chatters who like to read.
  16. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EDST) on September 23rd, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), September 24th], for a discussion of Spill by Eric Cipriani. The story is from the Winter 2017 on-line edition of Carve Magazine. According to the author's profile provided by by Carve, "Eric Cipriani’s work has previously appeared or is forthcoming in Barely South Review, Booth, Fiction Southeast, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and currently lives and works in West Virginia." This story has the feel of reality, and the various news items mentioned in the tale are all current and factual. The ecology of West Virginia is indeed the disaster depicted in the story. The other elements of the story: conspiracy theory, distrust of government, and the problems of dealing with aging parents are all parts of the American psyche. I am not sure that you will enjoy the story, but I do believe you will appreciate it and that it will hold your interest. The story is available on-line at: https://www.carvezine.com/story/2017-winter-cipriani As usual our meeting will be in the #readers_corner chat room: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all for the chat. Don't forget to bring a friend.
  17. Smiley

    Got Milk?

    In the USA most milk comes from cows, but in some places it comes from other animals. In California, for instance, it comes from almonds.
  18. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EDST) on September 16th, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), September 17th], for a discussion of Fools Fire by Tim Pratt. The story is from the November, 2016 on-line edition of Nightmare Magazine. Tim Pratt is a prolific author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy. A number of his novels are available through Amazon. He also offers a monthly story to subscribers to his 'Patreon' account. (Patreon is an on-line funding vehicle for aspiring artists, authors, musicians, and entrepreneurs.) This story in a bit of fantasy mixed with a bit of horror. It features a married couple driving to a romantic weekend designed to repair their strained relationship. I think you will enjoy it. The story is available on-line at: http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/fools-fire/ As usual our meeting will be in the #readers_corner chat room: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all for the chat. Don't forget to bring a friend.
  19. I always thought that port and left both had four letters and starboard and right had more than four letters. But then I had to remember which one was green and which was red, neither of which had four letters But I do not that all cave explorers know that cave stalagmites and stalagtites are like ants in your pants,. the tites go down when the mites go up. but I do know it's red right return (all of which have Rs) but so does port and starboard and even right
  20. Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EDST) on September 9th, 2017 [00:30 A.M. (GMT), September 10th], for a discussion of Whippoorwill by J. K. Fox. The story is an offering of the Saturday Evening Post and is a kind of late life "bromance" story (guy meets guy, guy hates guy, guy eventually decides to become friends with guy.) It's a sentimental tale which offers no sex, violence, political opinions, fairies, witchcraft, or spaceships whatsoever. It is almost an "On Walden Pond" type story. According to the mini-biography accompanying the story, "J.K. Fox divides her time between Scotland and San Juan Island in Washington State. She holds an MA in English literature and an MS in journalism with a professional background of conservation communications and teaching. She writes about a range of topics from outdoor recreation to travel and has a passion for the Pacific Northwest." Apropos Whippoorwills, here is the first part of a bluegrass song called "When It's Time for the Whippoorwills to Sing: "Oh the stars and the silver moon is shining All around is the sweetness of the spring But I’m sad and in loneliness I’m pining For the one I know I’ll never see again How I long for the day when I shall see her If it be where the angels sweetly sing She is mine and the thought of her grows sweeter When it’s time for the whippoorwill to sing" The reference to the song will make more sense when you have read the story. The story is available online at: http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2016/11/04/post-fiction/contemporary-fiction-art-entertainment/whippoorwill.html As usual our meeting will be in the #readers_corner chat room: Webchat: http://koach.com/cha...=readers_corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I hope to see you all for the chat. Koach has once again extended his offer of a bounty of 100 chat points to anyone bringing a new member.
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