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Grand unified books thread

Started by Syt, March 16, 2009, 01:52:42 AM

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Habbaku

That's one of the reasons I liked the Coens's version so much: they stuck to the book very, very tightly, with only minor variations (usually around adding more dark comedy or weird characters). One notable change that leaped out to me was the hanging of the Indian.
The medievals were only too right in taking nolo episcopari as the best reason a man could give to others for making him a bishop. Give me a king whose chief interest in life is stamps, railways, or race-horses; and who has the power to sack his Vizier (or whatever you care to call him) if he does not like the cut of his trousers.

Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so as to refer to people.

-J. R. R. Tolkien

11B4V

"there's a long tradition of insulting people we disagree with here, and I'll be damned if I listen to your entreaties otherwise."-OVB

"Obviously not a Berkut-commanded armored column.  They're not all brewing."- CdM

"We've reached one of our phase lines after the firefight and it smells bad—meaning it's a little bit suspicious... Could be an amb—".

Admiral Yi

Was the Indian sheriff in the movie?  I'm sure he wasn't in the corn dodger shoot up.

Savonarola

I finished the book from the exhibit "Star Wars and the Power of Costuming."  It covered the first three movies; you could see how things changed as they moved from the shoe-string budget of Star Wars to the much more lavish productions of Empire and Jedi.  For instance the only way to distress clothing in Star Wars was to abuse it; while by Empire they could simply air-brush mud or wear onto clothing.

My favorite anecdote from Star Wars was after putting on his costume, Alec Guinness rolled around on the ground to make it look not only worn (it had been previously distressed), but dirty as well.

From Empire I learned that the Hoth clothes weren't all that warm; but the Norwegian extras in the film were a hardy bunch and never complained.

For Jedi; in order to make Leia's slave-dancer costume form fitted the costume designer (a man) got a wax bra and explained to Carrie Fisher (and her friend Penny Marshall, who was visiting with her) that she needed to hold it to her chest.  In explaining how to do it the designer used a cupping motion, and he said he got quite a look from both Penny and Carrie.  Fortunately Carrie was game for it; unfortunately she lost a massive amount of weight between costume fitting and shooting; so the top never fit right.

George Lucas's dictate was that costumes had to be seen but not to be noticed; so there's nothing outlandish as there was in Flash Gordon serials, but the costumes are still memorable.  I had never given much thought to the costuming before seeing the exhibition; so I was surprised at how much thought went into each costume.
In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock

The Minsky Moment

Quote from: Savonarola on August 14, 2019, 12:50:15 PM
I had run across a reference to this book when going through an online course about ancient Greece; and finally got around to reading it (I forget the name of the course, but it was great.  The professor got a number of students up on stage and put them in a phalanx. 

Sounds like Donald Kagan
The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.
--Joan Robinson


Savonarola

Quote from: Admiral Yi on September 23, 2019, 04:22:48 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on September 23, 2019, 03:55:39 PM
Sounds like Donald Kagan

Not Victor Hanson?

The instructor talked about knowing Hanson, so it couldn't have been him.  It might have been Kagan; I think it was a Yale course.
In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock

Valmy

Yeah that is Kagan's Open Course at Yale. I enjoyed it.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Syt

I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Razgovory

The Poetic Edda is really weird.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

The Brain

Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Razgovory

Quote from: The Brain on October 02, 2019, 01:26:56 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 02, 2019, 01:24:20 PM
The Poetic Edda is really weird.

What do you find weird about it?

Stories that don't go anywhere, and the rape.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

11B4V

#3927
Picked up a fascinating book so far. Logistics in the Falklands War.

About halfway through and it's a fascinating read.
"there's a long tradition of insulting people we disagree with here, and I'll be damned if I listen to your entreaties otherwise."-OVB

"Obviously not a Berkut-commanded armored column.  They're not all brewing."- CdM

"We've reached one of our phase lines after the firefight and it smells bad—meaning it's a little bit suspicious... Could be an amb—".

Oexmelin

Quote from: The Brain on July 27, 2019, 06:49:09 PM
Quote from: Oexmelin on July 27, 2019, 05:06:47 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 25, 2019, 01:58:16 PM
Written by Eric Schnakenbourg.

And today, I just found out we will be presenting on the same panel at a conference next year...

Say hi from me. :)

Met him today. A personable fellow.
Que le grand cric me croque !

The Brain

Quote from: Oexmelin on October 18, 2019, 10:15:02 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 27, 2019, 06:49:09 PM
Quote from: Oexmelin on July 27, 2019, 05:06:47 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 25, 2019, 01:58:16 PM
Written by Eric Schnakenbourg.

And today, I just found out we will be presenting on the same panel at a conference next year...

Say hi from me. :)

Met him today. A personable fellow.

Nice. :)
Women want me. Men want to be with me.