SMF

Reading up (researching) on how to properly use a milrad scope reticle for long range shooting.

I might add, in the interim before I started the current book I read Order to Kill, a Vince Flynn/Mitch Rapp novel written by Kyle Mills. Excellent writing skills. Following Mr. Flynn's untimely death, Mr. Mills signed up to finish the last Flynn novel and follow it with two more. Order to Kill was as good as I had hoped, and was the final book he was contracted to write for Flynn's estate. Maybe he'll write some more, I hope.

In addition to getting off to a slow start on The Signal Man by Charles Dickens I've also started very slowly reading The Whistler by John Grisham. Key word being slow. I'll regain my enthusiasm for reading in due time.

Patrol a WWI novel by Philip MacDonald. This was made into a movie in 1934, The Lost Patrol, directed by John Ford. A few years later it was the inspiration for Sahara a WWII movie starring Humphrey Bogart.

The lost patrol was an excellent movie! It's on Netflix.

I'm currently still trying to keep up with my periodicals and training myself on a mil' rad' reticle (new strokes for old folks) along with competition and everything else I do. No time for much else.

My plan is to read the book before watching the movie. I'm only a few pages in, and I already know I'm going to enjoy reading it. One of the main reasons I'm enjoying it so much is the authenticity of the language the characters use. This was written around a hundred years ago, when our language was pretty much colloquial in most respects, not to mention local and regional accents. Nowadays everybody seems to avoid territorial slang and colloquialism. When I was a really small lad, I loved nothing more than sitting quietly in the living room or outside on the front porch of my grandparent's home and listen in amazement at the older generations' use of speech and phrases that never make it into written literature, unless the author wishes to put forth the effort. Of course it's all gone now, never to return. That makes me sad.

Now that the book's finished, I'll plan to watch the movie in the next few days.

Today I watched the movie The Lost Patrol. For an 83 year old movie it wasn't as disappointing as I had feared. It follows the book about 80%. Only a couple of scenes are not found in the book, and the ending of the movie is more positive than the book. Thank you Mr. John Ford, Director. Now that I'm finished with that little project, I'm starved for something with a lot more action and adventure (adrenalin).

Only a couple of scenes are not found in the book

A decade or so ago, I came to the conclusion that a watching a film after having read 'the book' was always a big letdown and so I stopped. I have never seen a book movie since.

And on the subject of books, Im moving through Meades 'the plagiarist in the kitchen' .....its no wonder i'm such a fatty

clive

The only other time I've happily done the movie/book project was Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLaine. Long before I ever knew the book or the author I have always loved the movie with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, not to mention a dozen others. I've seen the movie several times. I've read almost all of MacLaine's books and probably should consider starting to re-read some of them now that time has passed and memory has faded. Back to the point, I held off reading the book Eagles for quite a while, but eventually did just that. Of course there are a few variations, but my affection for the story and the characters in both media is deep and abiding.

My bedside table:


Bedside reading by chrism229, on Flickr

Wow Chris! That's a lot of words to contemplate. I can't imagine myself working my way through such scholarly and intellectually challenging works. I know you enjoy reading such treasures and it makes you happy. In my case, for 35 years my work and my livelihood required constant reading, researching, studying, (and lots and lots of tedious writing). Now that I am not required to do that stuff any more, it makes me happy to read much lighter material with little or no literary significance, other than leisure and pleasure. Here's an example of what my stack would have looked like in the past.

My bedside table:

thats some stack.....'you can't read this book' is an eye catcher

I am re-reading Red to Black, the first book in the Finn trilogy by Alex Dryden. Excellent spy novels, some of the best I've ever read.

Gary, I'm just curious as a Washingtonian: Why are you reading the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) in Oklahoma? If you're a lawyer dealing with legal matters in Washington, I would expect the Revised Code of Washington (RCW: the actual laws) to be of more direct interest.

There are a few miles between Washington and Oklahoma, however.

- Murray

Murray, I made sure to say it was only an example of what my stacks would have looked like in the past. I got this example from google images.
(P.S.: Nowadays, all of this stuff is available online, for a nominal king's ransom monthly subscription fee of course.)

Testimony by Robbie Robertson of The Band. He's a good writer who lived the transformational years of rock'n'roll.

Tunnel In The Sky. One of the classic Heinlein "boy's books". It made me love Heinlein.

Hi Bruce, welcome to the SMF! I may have read that book when I was a kid. I think I might want to read it now, after looking at a couple of reviews.

The Litigators by John Grisham. Nice send-up of mass tort attorneys.

Most Grisham books are "check your brain at the door" types, but they make me feel better about being an attorney.