AAR…

Posted on by February 18, 2018

Well, back from the Life, the Universe and Everything writer’s conference and wanted to give a quick AAR.

If you’re an aspiring writer, or a fiction writer, it’s WELL worth it, IMHO!

Almost 200 panels, covering the gamut of writing, film making, comics, gaming, pretty much anything and genre you’ll be interested in. I pretty much stuck with the SciFi track(s), and still had to make some hard choices, about two that came up at the same time.

Overall, on my personal scorecard, I’d say I’m doing stuff ‘right’ about 60% of the time, based on what I heard these last three days. But I do have to admit, there were a couple of panels that I kinda felt like Obi, sitting there with my head cocked, going “Whuf?”

Not going to get into specifics, but both panels had the presenters splitting, with half saying, “Oh, do this!” and the other half going, “Oh, no, that is so passe.” And then the fight was on…LOL

It was fun too, with the sidebars, and side conversations that people were in. Lee Modesitt and I were chatting about flying in the Navy, and I noticed that a younger guy with frantically scribbling things down, and glancing up at us. I looked at him, and he said, “I’m gonna use this!”… Sigh…

And MANY thanks go to “Mongo” and his wife for chauffeuring us around, and the excellent food they provided, including for the ‘not birthday party’ Saturday night! 🙂

Our crowd was joined by a number of other friends, and it really made the conference a lot of fun, if a ‘bit’ tiring. Sleep was a luxury for some of us, but others did sneak off for naps or shopping. I’m not going to try to list everyone, because I know for damn sure I’d leave at least a few folks out…

If you’re a new writer, or an experienced writer, I’d highly recommend this conference! It’s cheap, and the hotel rates are reasonable, plus you can write it off as a tax deduction!

Conventional ‘wisdom’…

Posted on by February 17, 2018

This one came over the transom via the mil-email net…

-I read that 4,153,237 people got married last year. Not to cause any trouble, but shouldn’t that be an even number?

-I find it ironic that the colours red, white, and blue stand for freedom until they are flashing behind you.

-When wearing a bikini, women reveal 90% of their body. Men are so polite they only look at the covered parts.

-Relationships are a lot like algebra. Have you ever looked at your X and wondered Y?

-America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won’t cross the street to vote.

-You know that tingly little feeling you get when you love someone? That’s your common sense leaving your body.

-Did you know that dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?

-My therapist says I have a preoccupation with vengeance. We’ll see about that.

-I think my neighbour is stalking me as she’s been Googling my name on her computer. I saw it through my telescope last night.

-Money talks… but all mine ever says is goodbye.

-You’re not fat, you’re just easier to see.

-If you think nobody cares whether you’re alive, try missing a couple of payments.

-I always wondered what the job application is like at Hooters. Do they just give you a bra and say “Here, fill this out?”

-I can’t understand why women are OK that JC Penny has an older women’s clothing line named ‘Sag Harbor’.

-My therapist said that my narcissism causes me to misread social situations. I’m pretty sure she was hitting on me.

-My 60 year kindergarten reunion is coming up soon and I’m worried about the 175 pounds I’ve gained since then.

-Denny’s has a slogan “If it’s your birthday, the meal is on us”. If you’re in Denny’s and it’s your birthday, your life sucks!

-The pharmacist asked me my birth date again today. I’m pretty sure she’s going to get me something.

-The location of your mailbox shows you how far away from your house you can go in a robe before you start looking like a mental patient.

-I think it’s pretty cool how Chinese people made a language entirely out of tattoos.

-Money can’t buy happiness, but it keeps the kids in touch!

-There are a lot of drunk people about to drive home, so drive as fast as you can. It’s harder for drunk people to hit you.

-I owe the government $3400 in taxes. So I sent them two hammers and a toilet seat.

What???

Posted on by February 16, 2018

Nothing like getting thrown under the bus by ‘friends’… Sigh…

There I was minding my own business, going to sneak in the back  and listen to Larry Correia give a panel. Or so I thought…

Lawdog , Peter, and I got hijacked by Larry to BE the panelists, and join him at the presenters’ table. Nothing like getting up totally cold, and talking for an hour about self-publishing, the state of the market and the industry, and how we got to where we are to about 80 aspiring authors. Now you have to understand, all four of us go way back to Internet gun forums before the turn of the century, so it was fun to ‘blame’ Larry for all of us now being authors.

Some of the more ‘interesting’ comments came later in the day/evening from folks that had been in the panel about how well we’d done, but one guy accused us of ‘cheating’, because we had a built in fan base from the gun forums…

I may have smiled and said something to the effect of “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” Which got me a smile and an eye roll. 🙂

Last day is tomorrow, and hopefully I can play catchup with some of the other panelists that I have questions for…

I r larning tings…

Posted on by February 15, 2018

Day 1 of Life, the Universe and Everything conference was a beehive of activity.  One thing is for damn sure…

I need to clone myself at least twice to make all the panels I wanted to hear. Roughly 75 different panels today, in 14 different tracks… Sigh…

I ‘only’ triple scheduled myself twice…

I’ll say again it is truly worth the time and money to attend. It’s not a fan conference, but a conference for writers and associated craft types, with presentations by professionals in the fields. I am amazed at the depth and breadth of knowledge on some of the panels.

TBT…

Posted on by February 12, 2018

Many moons ago, we spent a ‘lot’ of time on the road, doing various things for the Navy…

This was our theme song.

All I’m gonna say it was an ‘interesting’ time…

I’m off to LTUE, a writing conference in Utah. I’m trying to improve as a writer, and this is one of the premier conferences for that. So light commenting and posting through the weekend.

Posted in TBT

All I can say…

Posted on by February 12, 2018

Is WOW!!!

You can see the makeup of the US Olympic Snowboarding Team, HERE.

Red Gerard and Chloe Kim, two 17 year old ‘phenoms’ have won two of the first three Gold Medals for the US at the Winter Olympics. Apparently they both started at around 4 years old…

Simply amazing, and congratulations to both of them! Their joie de virve, and the comradeship with not only their teammates, but their competitors is a pleasure to see. I find it interesting to see that both of them have strong families supporting them, and making no bones about their pride in their children’s accomplishments.

And OBTW, the third Gold Medal was also won by a snow border, the ‘old lady’ at 27, Jamie Anderson!  Link, HERE.

 

Interesting…

Posted on by February 12, 2018

And sure to inflame the lefties/gun grabbers…

After successfully navigating the publishing process, Yehuda Remer knew his venture into firearms related children’s book wasn’t done with his first publication Safety On and its companion coloring book.

Saw this over at the Guns.com, HERE.

And HERE is the post from last year, on his publication of Safety On, which is available from Amazon, HERE.

This is the blurb-

I grew up in an environment where guns were only seen in movies and TV, and the only people allowed to actually use a gun were police officers. The thought of an individual citizen actually owning a firearm for protection never occurred to me until I got married. People would constantly ask me after I purchased my first gun, “How can you buy a gun? You have two children in the house! Aren’t you afraid of accidents?” Those questions were answered with two simple question of my own. 

“Where do you suggest I teach my children about gun culture in America? Should I leave that to the media and Hollywood?” 

There was no response.

This book is meant not as an in-depth breakdown of guns or living with guns, but as an introduction to the world of firearms for children. Its goal is to plant the seeds of safe gun ownership into the minds of young patriots who will one day be responsible gun owners like the parents who teach them. It is up to the moms and dads of this country who exercise their 2nd Amendment rights to instill a deep respect for firearms. This book serves as the tool to open a dialogue between you and your child about keeping their “Safety On.”

He’s also got a second book out, The ABC’s of Guns, HERE.

Frankly, I think this is a great idea, as it starts kids much earlier than Eddie Eagle, and starts them on the road to responsible gun handling and later gun ownership.

AT&T is intermittent again…

Posted on by February 11, 2018

Can’t stay connected long enough to get a post up. Go check out the Firearms.com blog. Appears that Browning is stopping production of the Hi Power… Sigh…

Or read the folks on the sidebar.

Posted from my iPhone.

Military issues…

Posted on by February 10, 2018

This was brought to my attention by one of my readers (thanks Tim)…

The U.S. Army will soon launch a redesign of Basic Combat Training intended to build more discipline after many commanders complained that new soldiers often show up to their first units with a sloppy appearance and undisciplined attitudes.

Apparently, there is a significant set of issues with discipline, showing up on time, and ‘entitlement’…  Full article, HERE at Military.com.

And the Navy is hurting, deferred maintenance, OPTEMPO that is beating ships and crews into the ground, less than 50% of strike/fighter aircraft are flyable, etc…

Total ship count is less than three hundred, and is currently 36 short of ‘minimum’ requirements…

In the past 18 months, there have been multiple congressional budget continuing resolutions. One was the longest in history; another was the fourth-longest. During those 18 months, the Navy has operated for just five months with an enacted budget, and the rest has been under continuing resolutions.

All that means is that they are STILL under the sequestration budget, which was finally cleared with the latest budget, but we are already 5 months into 2018, so there are five MORE months of deferred maintenance across the force…

Full article is HERE, notice that ADM Richardson says we really need 350 ships to break even on ‘required’ commitments… Sigh…

It’s going to be a long road to get the US military back where it needs to be, it can’t be fixed in 3-4 years, it will take 10-15 years, at best…

Food…

Posted on by February 9, 2018

I don’t normally eat pizza…

But homemade, deep dish Chicago pizza is worth a try…

Probably 1200 calories a slice, but it was good. Pizza coma in three, two, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz