JONNYQUEST

Well here I go again. Holy mackerel. Taking note of another milestone. 30 years ago today, I started college. I had completed all my high school graduation reguirements by the end of the first semester of my senior year. So I started college early. My college was on the quarter system so I got January and February off before going. I missed out on a lot by not finishing my senior year and I wouldn't recommend what I did to anyone. But I did it and so, before graduating officially from high school, I pushed for and got a conditional admission to college. Three months later, I was on probation. See, for me college worked the exact opposite than high school. Maybe it's like that for everyone. But in all the years since, I haven't heard anyone live through their college days like I did and actually

TANKOBITE

I've got a log update about the books and the idea, but for some reason it hasn't worked. I'm going to try putting it in two parts and we'll see if that does it. First off, thanks to all who posted some suggestions for my reading list, I'll second any one of those; especially [i]The Killer Angels[/i] which [i]was[/i] what Joss said got him started on the idea of [i]Firefly[/i]. The book is probably my favorite work of Civil War fiction; it centers on soldiers from both sides of the battle of Gettysburg, namely General John Buford, James Longstreet, Robert E. Lee, and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Each perspective is different, from Buford's quiet professionalism and distaste for the political muck ups that have hindered the Union Army; to Longstreet's conflict between defending his home from a foreign invasion and having to fight against his friends (Notably U.S. Grant) on the other side; to Chamberlain, a professor of rhetoric who was granted a leave of absence to study in Europe, but instead enlisted in the army. Some have criticized the book because there are a lot of speeches in it, and I'll grant that there are, but they are damned fine ones. This is an excerpt of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's speech to a group of mutineers; this particular text was the version used in the movie based on it, so some of it might be a little changed, but this is it. [quote]Many of us volunteered to fight for the Union. Some came mainly because we were bored at home and this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many came because it was the right thing to do... ...This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you'll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we're here for something new. This hasn't happened much in the history of the world. We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow, no man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here you can build a home. But it's not the land. There's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value, you and me. What we're fighting for, in the end, is each other. Sorry. Didn't mean to preach.[/quote] I'll also recommend any of the [i]Sharpe[/i] series by Bernard Cornwell. The series centers around the exploits of a British Rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars (first books were written about the Peninsula Campaign specifically), but really it is a shadowing of the Duke of Wellington's campaigns. They're well done, full of action, they can be a little repetitive, but are still excellent. Keep in mind that what you're really reading is Wellington's exploits from an individual soldier's point of view. Anyway, back to my book list. Looking back over it, I realized that I overlooked some books that did intend to read for the project. Here are three more, which I'll suggest, but may be harder to find ( I haven't actually seen the third one anywhere, just heard of it). [i]Good-Bye to All That[/i]:Another classic anti-war memoir, written by a British World War I veteran and friend of the famous poet Siegfried Sassoon. He describes in detail life in the trenches, trench warfare, and the battle of Loos. [i]The Highland Brigade in the Crimea[/i]: This book is actually a collection of letters home written by LTC Anthony Sterling who served with Sir Colin Campbell (see my profile quote) in the Crimean War. I'm excited about this one, should be interesting to see a war from an officer's point of view (until now, all other books I've suggested or read have been written by private soldiers). [i]Tickled to Death to Go: The Memoirs of a Cavalryman in World War I[/i]: A bit of a self-explanatory title here, but the author was involved in the First World War from the first shots an Mons. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find it however, because I've only heard of it recently

TANKOBITE

It was the length that was preventing me from posting this. Anyway, previous post is my final books for the reading list. Now to the idea and the reason behind all these books, a bit of explanation is needed. My father is a historian, specializing in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Because of this, I’ve grown up a little Bonapartist and with a few revolutionary sympathies (only classical, not a Marxist). About a year and a half ago I read Victor Hugo’s [i]Les Misérables[/i] and was extremely taken by his account of the failed 1832 revolution (A Bonapartist one). Later I began to listen to Austrian Military marches and my favorite song was the [i]Radetzky March[/i]. I began to do research in it, because it is named after an old Field Marshal who refuses to stand down in the 1848 Revolutions and because of his stand saves the Austrian Empire. I became so interested in this, that during my final year of high school I took two creative writing classes and wrote a short(!) based on the actions of Field Marshal Radetzky in a sci-fi setting (sci-fi because a lot of military sci-fi is historical incidents set in space; a lot of Zulu, and David Drake did a story based on the Nika Riots) from the Austrian point of view because I’m extremely impressed by the old man; outnumbered and outgunned he saved the Austrian Empire against orders of the Emperor-my kind of guy. However, there is a short section in the story told from the point of view of what would be one of the French revolutionaries. I really enjoyed that part of the writing and since I’ve started listening to my Jacobite music, my music of the French and American Revolutions, and my Civil War music, I’ve started going a little closer to the side of the rebels and revolutionaries. So, to the point, I’ve been thinking that what I’d really like to see is some military sci-fi based on the French Revolution, the Jacobite Rebellions, or the American Civil War… I’ve thought about it a bit, and I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that perhaps I should give it a shot. However, I recently became a Firefly Fan and I joined this site recently looking to see if someone had beaten me to it. Unfortunately (I don’t consider myself a good writer) I haven’t been able to find any, so it looks like I’ll have to give it a shot. Movie SPOILER ahead. Here’s the concept (very skin and bones and just added the Firefly universe’s spin to it): at the end of the movie the Miranda news breaks; now we know that the Alliance won the war at a cost and we can assume many of the former independents don’t care to fight again, but kids who would have been more then eleven or twelve at the time of the surrender are now old enough to legal enlist in the military today. Most of the childhood they can remember was hating the Alliance and if they were anything like me during the war they were probably playing army as Browncoats versus invisible Purple-Bellies (Kids don’t seem to like playing bad guys; I never remember fighting anyone pretending to be Germans, though that’s possibly because they’d have to die a helluva a lot more then we Yanks), so is it too hard to believe that with the help of a few fiery orators, the Miranda news, that the youth of the rim might at least attempt an uprising (see July 1832 revolution, or the last part of [i]Les Misérables[/i], the students rising). Specifically (and the point behind all the first person narrations of war and the human psychological response books) I think it’d be interesting to see this story told from one of the volunteers. Originally this was inspired [i]Day By Day Armageddon[/i] a zombie story told through a journal, hence the “Day by Day” part. (If you haven’t heard of it, the first half of the book is available free online from the author’s website

DUN

was just passing through seems we still have a spammer in the chatroom (wont say what im thinking)Anyhow the last couple of weeks got a new car,tis nice, and now the company putting us on a 3 day week,lots of unrest and bitchin going on trying to rise above it and keep my reaver at bay,which aint easy.Anyway i know it aint good manners too post a blog so soon after the last one but i gotta get this off my chest.I usually keep in the shadows when im reading other fanfics,dont read many as im trying too write my own(which is surely a non-starter for now)and this is a part of the last blog,since i found that i could get the fics on my phone its been a godsend,taken me away from the crud in work for awhile .i also have to apologize too all who do write fanfics for not posting comments;reading one at the moment which is brilliant and the member is no more ,shame.

HOBBLEIT

Another good lesson this week. My instructor got me to drive to Shotton without him giving me instructions and i managed to do it. My left turn at Thornley Crossings was perfect as my approach to a set of traffic lights. Then I had to do reverse parking. The first time I did this I was terrible but today I was great. I did five and apart from almost hitting the kerb once (I managed to correct it) and going a little too fast I did them perfect. I do soemtimes have a problem with remembering which way to turn the wheel sometimes but since i'm going so slow I can correct easily. I like reverse parking, you only ever have to do one turn of the wheel at a time, nit half turns and then feed it through so you don't go too far. It's easier than reversing round a corner. TTFN Jennifer -x-

NINAC

Hullo again, (thinks - am I doing this in the right place? oh, hooey, whatever..) Just wanted to let any/everyone know they can see and hear the band's new bits and bobs at our spankin website www.carnelianband.co.uk Lovely stuff.. Still can't stop the signal. Nina X

THEJACKAL

...THE MAN THEY CALL JAYNE. man, it's another one of those things you think of at some point (ex: when you are watching firefly) and you say... crap! Jaynes looking kinda ruggedly-handsome... and then thoughts ensue... and then im like Jayne is awesome and strangely sexy... and then he goes and does something like in "heart of gold" and is asking the captain if he "Can I start gettin' sexed already?" and then it's like never mind... so i guess what im trying to say is ADAM BALDWIN=YES, JAYNE COBB=NO!

NVALROE11

Hey I was just trying to find anyone who is in Spokane who is a Browncoat. Cause I feel lonely.