Tassie Dave’s Comments (group member since Mar 27, 2011)

Tassie Dave’s comments from the The Sword and Laser group.

Did it need to be resolved? Life and feelings are messy. They don't always get resolved.

Yes it is icky. An older man falling for a much younger woman isn't unusual. It isn't stated exactly how old Dan is, but there are enough clues to figure he is at least around 50. Kirby is 26.

Kirby, most likely, sees Dan as a mentor/father figure.

Dan himself internalises that what he is feeling towards Kirby is wrong. He even tries to justify it to a work colleague as feeling paternal towards Kirby. While at the same time knowing that his feelings are stronger.

Most men in that situation would do the right thing and not let it get past that point. But Dan does overreach and kisses her and gets rebuffed.

That should have been the point in which Kirby let him down gently and reminded him of the age difference and power dynamics, instead of telling him "I can't right now"

The same when he is shot and confesses to liking the kiss, she says "if you want to kiss me again ....."

For a desperate, lonely man, that makes him think "So you're telling me there's a chance?"

In real life Dan would, eventually, come to his senses. If he has any close male friends, then this is the time for them to have the 'man to man' talk about what is appropriate.

Not the work colleague, who's solution is to "f*** her and get it out of your system"

You would hope that Kirby would let Dan down gently and he'd move on with his life and find a more age appropriate love interest.

We did read Aussie books. I can remember reading "I can Jump Puddles" and "My Brilliant Career" at school. There may have been more.

I do think it is important to have a diverse selection of books. A great book is a great book where ever it is written.

I remember hating Shakespeare at High School.

Especially painful having to translate what was, supposedly, English.

We did the classics (at the time) for school kids in the 70s.

The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, The Grapes of Wrath, Brave New World, The Diary of Anne Frank

All great books and mind altering.

But for me the books that had the biggest impact at school weren't fiction I read in English studies, they were the books I was reading for Science, History and Social Studies.

Being raised as a young Earth christian, getting a proper education about the "actual" world's history and science was a real eye opener and quickly led me down a path to becoming a critical thinker, sceptic and atheist.

It is why I am passionate about the separation of church and state in education. Children need to be taught facts and how to think critically.

Nicholas Eames has already answered the question of which part of a band they represent.

https://www.goodreads.com/questions/1...
The main five who make up Saga are loosely based on the players in a 'classic' rock band. Gabe is the charismatic lead singer, Ganelon the highly-skilled 'axe-man' (lead guitar), Matrick as the drummer (he wields a pair of knives, after all) and Moog as the zany keyboard player.

Which leaves, of course, Clay Cooper, as the quiet, often-overlooked bass player without whom the whole band would fall apart.

Tamahome wrote: "hmm I think that's a 4 letter word]"

5 letter word 😉

"I want to Thank you"

Clyde wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "... Being 61, only exacerbates the problem 😉"

Come now. Harden up young whippersnapper. 😌"

Working with a 68 yo & a 78 yo certainly makes me feel young.

Except that the 78 yo is way fitter than me 😕

When you get up at 3:00 AM for work, falling asleep watching TV is a common occurrence.

No matter how good the TV show/movie is.

I have to re-watch many shows.

Being 61, only exacerbates the problem 😉

I'm not a grandpa either. Yet still have grandpa naps.

🤔 😕 😉

AndrewP wrote: "Not sure I'm in the mood for a horror, seriel killer book at this time of year."

I didn't think January held any special place in America's heart 😕

It's is the middle of winter. Which means it's the perfect time to be inside reading.

Watched "The Creator" on Disney+. I'd give it a 6/10. It was ok, nothing special.

Trike wrote: "this gets zero from me. No matter its other sins, a movie should never be boring. It should certainly not put me to sleep at 7:15."

So it gets 0 stars because you're old and had a grandpa nap 🤔

😜

Amazon tells me I bought it in 2014. I can't remember reading it.🤔

At least I could download it for free.

Lauren is our 2nd South African born author. Along with J.R.R.Tolkien. She is the 1st South African citizen we have read.

She is only the 6th to be born in the Southern Hemisphere. Along with 2 Aussies, a Kiwi and an Ecuadorian.

I didn't find your post of an older picture of Rebel as fat shaming.

I assumed you like her as a comedic actor. Which I do to. Even though she made the joke about being "the best singer in Tasmania, with teeth." in "Pitch Perfect". 😉

I only posted a more recent picture as she has been having a few major life changing events in the past few years. Losing weight, coming out, finding a new partner, having a baby (through surrogacy) and generally becoming a more happy Rebel.

My favourite Rebel role was in "Jojo Rabbit". A movie I can't recommend highly enough.

I don't know whether she'd be a good fit for Murderbot. But it would be fun to see her try.

Mr. Incredible

Rebel has lost almost 40kg (80 lb) since that photo.

Trike wrote: "I’ve mostly pictured Murderbot as female-leaning."

Alexander Skarsgård (The one in the middle) 😉

Nice graph Mark. 😎

I like these visualisations of the data. I have thought about doing some as well, but maintaining them would become a chore after a while.

Phil wrote: "I think only 17% pre-1980 is too low for my tastes and I guess that it does just come down to taste."

As a 61 yo brought up on the classics I would like the group to read more older works as well, but I can understand the group wanting to read newer works.

It makes me feel ancient realising that the newer works I was reading in the early 70s are now considered old 🤔

Another problem with reading older works is that they are dominated by male writers. The group does like to read a diverse gender mix.

All Book Picks:
Male 56.57%
Female 42.86&
Non Binary 0.57%

Newer picks are dominated by women:
Books published 2020+
Male: 17.64%
Female: 82.35%

Books Published 2010+
Male: 42.52
Female: 56.32
Non Binary: 1.14%

2005 is the point at which the numbers of male/female authors is even. (For all books published +2005)

Everything older is male dominated. Everything newer is female dominated.

By 20 years old, I mean at the time we read the book.

For example: Ender's Game was read by the group in 2007 and was published in 1985.

This is a 22 year old book for the purposes of my stats. Not a 38 years old, as it is now.

Phil wrote: "I would put "old" at the 1950's and older (2.29%)"

Because of the way I do the stats (age of book at the time we read it) there are more than 2.29% of books from pre-1960

Pre-1960 = 11 Books (6.32%)
Pre-1970 = 21 Books (12.07%)
Pre-1980 = 30 Books (17.24%)

BTW I do maintain a 'Statistics' page on the S&L Wiki. All sorts of juicy stats to nerd over. 😉

https://swordandlaser.fandom.com/wiki...

We do have a good balance of old and new.

Out of the 174 Books picked:
32.75% were > 20 years old (at the time we read them)

35.06% were < 2 years old.

We have read:
57 Books > 20 years old
39 Books > 30 years old
24 Books > 40 years old
14 Books > 50 years old
4 Books > 60 years old
2 Books > 70 years old
1 Book 200 years old.

If you're going to have Jane's Addiction, then you have to have some Nine Inch Nails for the full NIИJA experience.

NIИ - We're in this together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Bfv...

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I started reading the Hugo Award-winning classic Science-Fiction novel


Way Station by Clifford D. Simak"

Great book I read that last year and gave it 4 Stars.

It would make a great Book Pick for S&L