Captain Blood
Rathbone, you scoundrel . . . What is a girl, more or less?
Rewriting
Thriller giant Jeffrey Archer is putting out a new edition of Kane & Abel, one of his earlier thrillers. Not content to just approve the new cover, he did something few authors are brave enough (or have the pull) to attempt: he revised the book.
I don't mean change a few words here or there. He supposedly added 27,000 new words . . . though allegedly he also cut enough that the book's actually a little shorter. (I've never heard of an author subtracting words on a rewrite, so take that with a grain of salt.)
Me, as soon as I'm done with a book, I'm done. I'd prefer not to come face to face with any part of my past . . .
Thriller giant Jeffrey Archer is putting out a new edition of Kane & Abel, one of his earlier thrillers. Not content to just approve the new cover, he did something few authors are brave enough (or have the pull) to attempt: he revised the book.
I don't mean change a few words here or there. He supposedly added 27,000 new words . . . though allegedly he also cut enough that the book's actually a little shorter. (I've never heard of an author subtracting words on a rewrite, so take that with a grain of salt.)
Me, as soon as I'm done with a book, I'm done. I'd prefer not to come face to face with any part of my past . . .
Authors' friends
So I'm reading this book and I get to the part where the hero parties with some of his friends, which of course I recognize as being a kind of set piece wherein the writer gives some props to his real friends.
The purpose being to tell other writers that his friends are cooler than their friends.
Heh. Beef could outdrink them all. And that's before he got the chainsaw out . . .
So I'm reading this book and I get to the part where the hero parties with some of his friends, which of course I recognize as being a kind of set piece wherein the writer gives some props to his real friends.
The purpose being to tell other writers that his friends are cooler than their friends.
Heh. Beef could outdrink them all. And that's before he got the chainsaw out . . .
Gotta love Cowboy Pilots
So I get on the plane Sunday night and we're about to pull away from the gate when the pilot comes out and grabs the microphone.
"Wanna thank y'all for flyin' with us. I'll be your lounge singer tonight . . . No, no, I'm flying the airplane, ain't I?"
Ten minutes later we're zipping on the taxiway to the runway, going so fast the wings are flapping. Suddenly he slams on the brakes.
"Just making sure you believe me when I say put your seat belts on."
We got to CA forty minutes early. God bless 'im.
So I get on the plane Sunday night and we're about to pull away from the gate when the pilot comes out and grabs the microphone.
"Wanna thank y'all for flyin' with us. I'll be your lounge singer tonight . . . No, no, I'm flying the airplane, ain't I?"
Ten minutes later we're zipping on the taxiway to the runway, going so fast the wings are flapping. Suddenly he slams on the brakes.
"Just making sure you believe me when I say put your seat belts on."
We got to CA forty minutes early. God bless 'im.
North Korea
More and more, this looks like the best possible solution to North Korea: Target and nuke the leadership. Destroy all nuclear facilities. Obliterate strategic missile launching sites.
A dozen B-2 sorties. Thirty minutes over Pyongyang. At most.
Sure, we end up owning North Korea. But given all the bankrupt companies we've been taking over lately, why not nationalize a bankrupt country?
SEOUL, South Korea (June 18) - North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.
More and more, this looks like the best possible solution to North Korea: Target and nuke the leadership. Destroy all nuclear facilities. Obliterate strategic missile launching sites.
A dozen B-2 sorties. Thirty minutes over Pyongyang. At most.
Sure, we end up owning North Korea. But given all the bankrupt companies we've been taking over lately, why not nationalize a bankrupt country?
MI6
I ran into Dogboy in the bar the other night.
"Hey," I said. "How was that MI6 thing?"
Dog Boy frowned, then ordered a beer.
"So?" I asked. "How was it?"
"I don't know what MI6 is," he said. "Is it a new car?"
"Come on, you told me you were going. How many C's did you meet? Was the real James Bond there?"
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."
He shook his head and walked away. I'd have believed him, except that a decidedly English accent had slipped into his voice. I followed him over to the pool table.
"So seriously, you're not going to tell me?" I asked.
"So seriously, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"What I'd really like to know is, how did you get an invitation, and I didn't?"
Dogboy rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Eightball?" he asked.
"Eightball," I said, realizing that somethings in life are better left unexplored.
I ran into Dogboy in the bar the other night.
"Hey," I said. "How was that MI6 thing?"
Dog Boy frowned, then ordered a beer.
"So?" I asked. "How was it?"
"I don't know what MI6 is," he said. "Is it a new car?"
"Come on, you told me you were going. How many C's did you meet? Was the real James Bond there?"
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."
He shook his head and walked away. I'd have believed him, except that a decidedly English accent had slipped into his voice. I followed him over to the pool table.
"So seriously, you're not going to tell me?" I asked.
"So seriously, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"What I'd really like to know is, how did you get an invitation, and I didn't?"
Dogboy rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Eightball?" he asked.
"Eightball," I said, realizing that somethings in life are better left unexplored.
Iran
The most incredible thing about Iran isn't the crackdown following the stolen election, but that so many people didn't see either event coming.
But it shouldn't have come as a surprise. People don't want to admit that live in a dictatorship, or that they have limited rights, or even that their leaders are evil, until the batons hit them over the head. And many not even then.
When the truth can no longer be denied, first there is despair, then hope, then new action. Even overnight, some Iranians have been talking of the future.
For my friends who helped on the Dreamland book - our prayers and wishes are with you.
The most incredible thing about Iran isn't the crackdown following the stolen election, but that so many people didn't see either event coming.
But it shouldn't have come as a surprise. People don't want to admit that live in a dictatorship, or that they have limited rights, or even that their leaders are evil, until the batons hit them over the head. And many not even then.
When the truth can no longer be denied, first there is despair, then hope, then new action. Even overnight, some Iranians have been talking of the future.
For my friends who helped on the Dreamland book - our prayers and wishes are with you.
The latest from Iran
The despots stand (more) revealed . . . but honestly, what did you expect?
Tehran, June 13, IRNA — Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Saturday that the voter turnout of over 80 percent and the 24 million votes cast in favor of the president calls for real celebration.
In an important message, issued after the 10th Presidential Elections on June 12, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the enemies are creating provocations out of ill-wish in order not to let the Iranian nation be joyful and happy about the election results.
The despots stand (more) revealed . . . but honestly, what did you expect?
What the big deal about pitots is
I'm getting tired of reading news stories that don't explain all this:
The reason the errors in the speed input matter in the crash of AF 447 is this:
Airplanes have to go a certain speed to stay in the air; anything slower, and they stall. That speed is determined by a range of factors, and varies depending on many of those same factors (weight and altitude, say).
You also have the possibility of a high speed stall (or buffeting forces that literally tear you apart) on the other end of the spectrum, by going too fast.
Generally, those two speeds are fairly far apart -- say, too slow is 120 knots and too fast is eighty or eighty-five percent of the speed of sound. But as conditions change, they get closer and closer together. As it happens, one critical place those conditions change is at high altitude. All of this varies according to the design of the aircraft (and its weight, the temperature of the air, etc.).
There is a point at which the difference between too slow and too fast is extremely narrow. Pilots call this "coffin corner." At some theoretical point, there is literally nothing the pilot can do to prevent a stall.
And let me mention that stalling at high altitude and (relatively) high speed - though not absolutely and necessarily fatal - is not very pretty. Even in good weather.
The theory that's being advanced behind the scenes in AF 447 is that the crew and plane found themselves in a coffin corner, and that something subsequently occurred to make them lose control of the aircraft.
That's why the fuss about the pitot tubes, which record the aircraft's speed. Getting the wrong speed first makes it impossible to use the automatic pilot, and then adds considerably to the pilot's difficulty level. (There are backup methods for judging your speed, which would surely have been used or at least tried in this case.)
There's a lot more to the theories, but frankly most of it is simply speculation. Until there's more information, not even the most educated guess can tell us what happened. We don't know for a fact that they were in that sort of flight condition, let alone why and how they got there, or what happened next.
One thing does seem unlikely at this point - given what we know about the weather and the maintenance messages that came from the aircraft right before it disappeared make it unlikely that a bomb went off. Unlikely, though admittedly not 100 percent impossible.
I'm getting tired of reading news stories that don't explain all this:
The reason the errors in the speed input matter in the crash of AF 447 is this:
Airplanes have to go a certain speed to stay in the air; anything slower, and they stall. That speed is determined by a range of factors, and varies depending on many of those same factors (weight and altitude, say).
You also have the possibility of a high speed stall (or buffeting forces that literally tear you apart) on the other end of the spectrum, by going too fast.
Generally, those two speeds are fairly far apart -- say, too slow is 120 knots and too fast is eighty or eighty-five percent of the speed of sound. But as conditions change, they get closer and closer together. As it happens, one critical place those conditions change is at high altitude. All of this varies according to the design of the aircraft (and its weight, the temperature of the air, etc.).
There is a point at which the difference between too slow and too fast is extremely narrow. Pilots call this "coffin corner." At some theoretical point, there is literally nothing the pilot can do to prevent a stall.
And let me mention that stalling at high altitude and (relatively) high speed - though not absolutely and necessarily fatal - is not very pretty. Even in good weather.
The theory that's being advanced behind the scenes in AF 447 is that the crew and plane found themselves in a coffin corner, and that something subsequently occurred to make them lose control of the aircraft.
That's why the fuss about the pitot tubes, which record the aircraft's speed. Getting the wrong speed first makes it impossible to use the automatic pilot, and then adds considerably to the pilot's difficulty level. (There are backup methods for judging your speed, which would surely have been used or at least tried in this case.)
There's a lot more to the theories, but frankly most of it is simply speculation. Until there's more information, not even the most educated guess can tell us what happened. We don't know for a fact that they were in that sort of flight condition, let alone why and how they got there, or what happened next.
One thing does seem unlikely at this point - given what we know about the weather and the maintenance messages that came from the aircraft right before it disappeared make it unlikely that a bomb went off. Unlikely, though admittedly not 100 percent impossible.
This explains it . . .
Just got this email. I've been wondering why I'm not rich. Don't bother calling today - I'm hunting for the right ATM . . .
Just got this email. I've been wondering why I'm not rich. Don't bother calling today - I'm hunting for the right ATM . . .
Dear Beneficiary,
It is obvious that you have not received your fund which is to the tune of $6.8million. Due to past corrupt Government Officials who almost held the fund to themselves for their selfish reason and some individuals who have taken advantage of it all in an attempt to swindle your money which has led to so many losses from your end and unnecessary delay in the receipt of your fund.
The National Central Bureau of Interpol enhanced by the United Nations and Federal Bureau of Investigation have successfully passed a mandate to the current president of Nigeria his Excellency President Umaru Yar'Adua to boost the exercise of clearing all foreign debts owed to you and other individuals and organizations who have been found not to have receive their Contract Sum, Lottery/Gambling, Inheritance and the likes.
You have the option of receiving your fund by either check or ATM card.
. . .
Phone call
I hadn't heard from Dogboy lately, so when the caller ID flashed his name, I grabbed the phone, even though it was well past midnight - the time he usually calls for bail money.
Dogboy: Hey, how's it going.
Me: What jail are you in now?
DB: I'm not in jail, dude. That was last week.
Me: So what's up?
DB: I'm wondering if you want to share a hotel room in London for the MI6 thing.
Me: Huh?
DB: The bash. I'm a little tight this month -
Me: Wait a second - you're invited to the MI6 anniversary celebration?
DB: Well, yeah.
Me: You got invited and I didn't.
DB: Oh . . . (silence) . . . Hey, listen, I'm sorry for bothering you.
(the line went dead)
I hadn't heard from Dogboy lately, so when the caller ID flashed his name, I grabbed the phone, even though it was well past midnight - the time he usually calls for bail money.
Dogboy: Hey, how's it going.
Me: What jail are you in now?
DB: I'm not in jail, dude. That was last week.
Me: So what's up?
DB: I'm wondering if you want to share a hotel room in London for the MI6 thing.
Me: Huh?
DB: The bash. I'm a little tight this month -
Me: Wait a second - you're invited to the MI6 anniversary celebration?
DB: Well, yeah.
Me: You got invited and I didn't.
DB: Oh . . . (silence) . . . Hey, listen, I'm sorry for bothering you.
(the line went dead)
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