Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
Jim, that's a "work day" not a "vacation day"! :)Tell me about stone dust. Does it pack down well? We have a side driveway area where they put blue stone but weeds are growing up through the stones. I'm wondering if stone dust might fill in among the blue stone. I know it's heavy stuff but does it blow around like dust?
I once bought a heavy bag of some sort of leveling sand/stone which we needed to put under a cement slab under which the dirt had washed away. The bag was very heavy. So I guess that CR-8 shoveling you have to do will take a lot of muscle.
Thanks, Nina.It's my kind of fun, Joy. Stone dust is dusty & wouldn't work for what you want to do. Weeds will grow in it, too. Unless you concrete it or put down an herbicide, they'll grow in most anything. I spray my lane a few times a year to keep the grass & weeds off it. The horses keep it down on the stone dust.
The stone is about 20 minutes out. Yay!
Thanks, Jim. Is there an herbicide which isn't harmful to pets? I'm always afraid of that.
I used Round Up to kill all & 2-4-D Luv Esther to kill broad leaf plants, Joy. I use it around the place all the time including spot spraying weeds in the horse field. I've heard it's poisonous to animals, but never had a problem. I think they avoid it unless they can't. A lot of poisons are like that.
Thanks for the info, Jim. We have cracks in our blacktop through which weeds grow. Looks awful. A herbicide is cheaper than new blacktop. Of course we should be repairing the cracks but somehow we never get to it.
Busy, hard, but successful & gorgeous day. Got 23 tons of gravel & spread a few tons, got the septic pumped, but the big project was 25 tons of stone dust (I-Sand). I patched up the shed floors & gateways with about 10 tons, spread another few between the back gate & the barn, then piled another 10 tons or so for future use. It got up to 62 & sunny with a good breeze. I finished up the sand about 6pm, then went for a ride with Marg on our ponies. Actually, she rode Speedy. Rascal lamed himself the other day when he dumped her & galloped over rocks or something. At least we're guessing he has a stone bruise.
Anyway, great day. Lily was with me most of the time helping out. Right now, she's looking at me from under my bed. I think she wants to do something. I wish I had her energy. I'm tuckered.
Can't believe you're tuckered when after all you were on vacation. Wow what a day. Good feeling when it's over though.
Jim, congratulations on getting all your work done. Now have a good rest. Do you ever rest? :)
I sat around spinning most of the winter, Joy. It's nice to get big projects like this done where the results are so obvious & pretty.I got leg #3 done for my crocheted pony last night & started on the 4th. I'd recorded "Evil Dead II" & watched that while Marg played her horse game on FB. She doesn't like the Evil Dead movies. Hard to believe.
;-)
I found the following "Evil Dead" movies at IMDb:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1288558/?...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/?...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2533936/?...
How can you stand all that evil? :)
I got the gravel all done. Only used about half the 23 tons on the barn, so I have a good stock pile. Had a good lunch & took an hour's nap. Now out to tackle the settling around the septic tank. I put a load of dirt there yesterday & raked it out this morning. Looks like I need another.The tractors & my truck all need their oil changed, grease & fluids checked, too. Plenty to keep me busy.
Lily was funny this morning. I closed the gate to the north field. Until I put all the stone dust in there yesterday, she could squeeze under that gate. We found out that's no longer possible. She sat at it looking forlorn until I drove the tractor over & we went 100 yards further up the fence line where there is a jump. She popped over it & was happy to join me again. If she'd gone into the yard, she could have jumped through the yard gate, too.
She's sweet, but isn't getting any awards for intelligence. Sheesh!
They're remaking "Evil Dead", but it's the original trilogy by Sam Ramii starring Bruce Campbell that I love, Joy. The first is this one:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/?...
It was conceived & directed by Ramii. It was his first move, starred his school chum, Bruce Campbell, & had a tiny budget. The trailer, "In The Woods", shows the evil flying through a marsh. This was done with Ramii in a boat filming while Bruce pushed near their home town in MI. The movie was mostly filmed in a cabin in TN. Ash (Bruce Campbell) is more of a wimp & it's not as funny, but excellent considering.
"Evil Dead II" was a remake by the same pair in 1987 & much better, but still a grade B horror with a very humorous slant. Much of it was filmed in a very hot gym in a Carolina school. This is the one I just watched.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/?...
In 1992, the pair made a sequel called "Army of Darkness". It's my favorite, but I like the S Mart, not the apocalyptic ending best, as it originally showed in the theaters & on the VHS tapes. It's very tongue-in-cheek with some of the best Bruce Campbell lines ever.
Campbell discusses how they were all made in his book If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. Excellent read.
They are remaking Evil Dead this year. It was one this one of your links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1288558/?...
I'm not holding out a lot of hope, but will watch it. The older ones are a cult classic & still very popular with a lot of us. There's even a live, amateur production called "Evil Dead, the Musical" which is done around the country. I've seen one version & it's hilarious - a spoof on a spoof.
"My Name is Bruce" is another movie made off the first. Basically, there is a horror terrifying a town & one of the Evil Dead fans kidnaps Bruce Campbell figuring he can deal with it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489235/?...
It's pretty funny, too.
Jim wrote: "I got the gravel all done. Only used about half the 23 tons on the barn, so I have a good stock pile. Had a good lunch & took an hour's nap. Now out to tackle the settling around the septic tank. I..."Jim, it looks like you're getting a lot accomplished. You even helped sweet Lily. :)
Here's a quote about sleep which you might appreciate:
=================================================
"...in that second I knew that of all pleasures -- a drink of cold water when you are thirsty,
liquor when you are not, sex, a cigarette after many days without one --
there is none of them can compare with sleep."
"Sleep is best. ..."
-character, Conrad, in This Immortal by Roger Zelazny, pp. 162-3
===================================================
I remember that line very well, Joy. Zelazny has a lot of memorable ones. That one is near the end of the book, after Conrad & Hassan escape from the place of the burning rocks, one of the places where the fates said he might die.
Jim wrote: "They're remaking "Evil Dead", but it's the original trilogy by Sam Ramii starring Bruce Campbell that I love, Joy. The first is this one: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/?... "Jim, I see that I can stream that 1981 movie from Netflix. I'll try it.
The Evil Dead (1981)
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The...
I also see that I can stream Evil Dead 2 (1987) via Amazon Prime.
http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Dead-2-Cam...
I'll give them a try, just out of curiosity, even though I'm not a fan of horror.
Jim wrote: "I remember that line very well, Joy. Zelazny has a lot of memorable ones. That one is near the end of the book, after Conrad & Hassan escape from the place of the burning rocks, one of the places..."Jim, I knew you'd remember that quote! LOL
Here's how I happened to come across it today, even before I had read your Message #3713 about your taking a nap:
=============================================
Earlier today, I had been organizing my handwritten notes. On the page with my notes from _The Immortal_, I had written the page # (p.162) and the word "sleep", but had neglected to copy the quote.
So I started writing an email to you to ask if you were familiar with that quote about sleep. (I hate to miss a good quote.) While I was writing to you, I decided to attach my .txt file containing all my sleep quotes. When I went to attach my file, I saw that the Zelazny quote was already there!!! Obviously, I had typed it into my digital collection instead of hand-writing it.
So then I posted the quote above and deleted the email to you. :)
===============================================
True story! :)
I don't think the 'Evil Dead' trilogy will be to your taste at all, Joy. Jackie would probably love them, though.
Jim wrote: "I don't think the 'Evil Dead' trilogy will be to your taste at all, Joy. ..."You're probably right, Jim. Bit the idea of the cabin is appealing. :)
In Twain's autobiography, he mentions the scary folktale known as "The Golden Arm". Evidently it's a famous folktale. See Wiki's explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold...
I haven't read the entire Wiki page yet, but it seems intriguing.
He also mentions a story called "A Trying Situation". At the following webpage there's a mention of both stories: http://specialcollections.vassar.edu/...
It says that “A Trying Situation” was from Twain's A Tramp Abroad.
PS-"A Tramp Abroad" can be read free online here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=drw-...
ADDENDUM-4/7/13: Better yet for reading Mark Twain's works online, SEE THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE:
http://futureboy.us/twain/
PS-I found a website where Mark Twain's speeches can be read:http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3188/3...
(Scroll to the top of the page to see the list.)
ADDENDUM-4/7/13: Better yet for reading Mark Twain's works online, SEE THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE:
http://futureboy.us/twain/
Joy, you probably would like Campbell's autobiography which I mentioned in #3714.I'll try to read those bits by Twain later. I need to get to bills & other stuff now.
We discussed pruning Weigela bushes & I said that I pruned mine after they bloomed in the early summer. Well, I just cut them back some more yesterday. Not a hard pruning like I do right after they bloom, but just a foot to 2 feet. I didn't last year & they were so heavy with blossoms that they flattened out. Hopefully this pruning will let them flower & retain their shape.
Everything I can see online tells me not to ever cut them back more than 1/3 their length. I cut them back by quite a bit more & they seem to love it. I wonder if they wouldn't grow as much if I didn't cut them back hard. They had canes over 7' tall & I cut the bush back to less than 3' last spring. I took pictures last year here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
I added dates & years to show how much & fast they've grown.
Jim wrote: "Joy, you probably would like Campbell's autobiography which I mentioned in #3714. ..."Thanks, Jim. I've put the book on my GR keep-in-mind shelf.
It reminds me of a great book I read by William Goldman, the Hollywood screenwriter who wrote "The Princess Bride". It's not an easy profession because it's filled with all kinds of frustrations and set-backs. The book is: Adventures in the Screen Trade. VERY interesting and told in an engaging manner.
Jim wrote: "...We discussed pruning Weigela bushes & I said that I pruned mine after they bloomed in the early summer. ..."Jim, we are way behind in our bush-pruning here! Our evergreens should have been cut back last fall but we never got to it. At this point, I'm planning to get them cut whenever possible even though the timing may be wrong. I hope the bushes won't be harmed by our poor timing. It's the same with our sand plums and forsythia. Pruning is something we never seem to get to. It's a shame.
ADDENDUM TO MY MESSAGE #3721 ABOVE:ADDENDUM-4/7/13: Better yet for reading Mark Twain's works online, SEE THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE:
http://futureboy.us/twain/
"Life on the MIssissippi," was one of my favorite Mark Twain's. Another really good book is about his and his wife's time in Rome. I can't remember the title but I'll try to track it down.
Nina wrote: ""Life on the MIssissippi," was one of my favorite Mark Twain's. ..."Nina, here it is (online free)! ---->
http://futureboy.us/twain/miss/
I'll have to be sure to read it online.
The forsythias should start to bloom any time now, a definite sign of spring. I should go out & harrow the fields, but I should also pull down the Purple Martin houses & evict the sparrows & possibly a starling or two. I should also visit JR & his wife down the road. They're both well up in their 80's & have a lot of Purple Martin houses. I might just get lazy & skip the harrowing. There's still a fair amount of hay in the fields which just balls up anyway & I'm tired. It's been a busy weekend.
Jim, what's harrowing? I'm a city girl, you know. :)
There are a couple of kinds of harrowing. The kind I do is more properly chain dragging since it's on a pasture. It's a tined chain drag, 8' wide that gouges the ground lightly, breaks up manure & knocks the top off torn up sod & dirt so that the rain will flatten it out.
The other kind is more like a disc & usually done to plowed fields. There are also the old spring horse drawn harrows & other combinations.
I wound up harrowing the fields. Thought I was going to get drenched, but no luck. It got me damp, but quit too soon. Marg was grocery shopping & said it rained pretty good down in Frankfort. We're 500' higher, up on Dry Ridge, though. Well named, darn it. I wouldn't have minded getting wet if it packed down the stone I put down & popped the grass up. It got up to 70 today, I think. Gorgeous.
Joy, You are a good sleuth so here's a clue. I know I read the book based on Mark Twain and his wife in Rome and I am almost certain the title was, "Mark and Livie," and I can't remember if it was a biography or autobiography. I can't find it at Amazon or Barnes and N. or on Google. Maybe you can come up with it.
Nina, could it have been part of The Innocents Abroad? He stopped by Rome during that trip. That's part of A Tramp Abroad that Joy linked to in #3721. It has both Tom Sawyer Abroad & The Innocents Abroad, a rather weird mix; a fiction, then fact book.
Wow, Jim, 70 degrees! Ah!The longer days and milder temperatures have given me such a lift! It's amazing.
Thanks for explaining "harrowing". I don't know how you keep up with all the work you have to do!
Nina wrote: "Joy, You are a good sleuth so here's a clue. I know I read the book based on Mark Twain and his wife in Rome and I am almost certain the title was, "Mark and Livie," and I can't remember if it was ..."Nina, I haven't found much about the "Mark and Livie" book but I did find the following pages which mention his wife, Livie, and more about Twain (pics included). Perhaps they may be of interest to you:
===================================================
"One day, he [Mark Twain] cut himself while shaving, and vigorously delivered himself of a string of strong language. His Wife Livie, who had heard all this many, many times, decided to give him a taste of his own medicine; to let him know what he sounded like.
She calmly and dispassionately repeated his tirade to his face, word for scandalous word. When she was done, he said: "My dear, you have the words, but you haven't got the tune."
FROM: http://www.theloiterer.org/ashton/New...
LOL - HE WAS SUCH A WIT! :)
======================================================
See pics of Twain's house in Hartford, CT at the following link. Also a pic with the caption: "Sam, Livie, and their 3 daughters enjoy the porch":
http://www.theloiterer.org/ashton/New...
Excerpt:
==================================================
"Most people think of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain as living in Missouri, but he built and lived in this home [in Hartford, CT] from 1874-1891. He chose to move to Hartford because it was the location of his publishing company. The house is the place where many of Twain's major works were written, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In 1891, after a large investment went bad, the Clemens family moved to Europe. In his later life Sam Clemens lived in Redding, CT where he died in 1910."
======================================================
I don't keep up with it all, Joy. Some stuff just doesn't get done or takes years to get around to. I try to get all the flower gardens weeded & mulched, but it rarely happens. I get about half done every year. It took me 6 years to get the stone around the big barn. That's life.
Jim wrote: "Nina, could it have been part of The Innocents Abroad? He stopped by Rome during that trip. That's part of A Tramp Abroad that Joy linked to in #3721. It has both Tom Sawyer Abroad & The Innocents Abroad..."Jim, I don't think that A Tramp Abroad is part of The Innocents Abroad. Wiki says:
================================================
"The book [A Tramp Abroad] is the third of Mark Twain's five travel books and is often thought to be an unofficial sequel to the first one, The Innocents Abroad."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tramp_...
================================================
Ah, you're right. I misread the title page of that book you linked.
Good Twain quote, Joy. And no, the book I am referring to was not part of another book. It was a separate one. Strange that I can't find it. I might try Albris(used and rare books) as I used to find books from them that I couldn't find elsewhere. I did visit both Mark Twain's residences; one in Hannibal and the other in Hartford. I loved seeing the fence that Tom painted and the cave in Hannibal as I was then a child who had just read, "Tom Sawyer."
Nina wrote: "... I did visit both Mark Twain's residences; one in Hannibal and the other in Hartford. ,.."Nina, what a great experience! I've often thought of traveling to Hartford, CT, to see Mark Twain's home there, but up to now I haven't done it. My sister has a daughter near Hartford. I should make a visit with my sister. We love to travel together.
Right now my sister is in Paris. If I weren't afraid of flying, I would have gone with her. It's amazing to receive emails from France every day when my sister writes to me. A few days ago she was touring the French Riviera and Monaco. She says that her iPad is great for keeping in touch while traveling.
I still can't believe what an amazing world we live in!
Joy, I have a granddaughter who lives in Africa and another granddaughter, her cousin, who lives in Vietnam and I think it is wonderful to be able to communticate with them, not daily but frequently. And they often post messages to me on Facebook. It is an amazing world.
Nina wrote: "Joy, I have a granddaughter who lives in Africa and another granddaughter, her cousin, who lives in Vietnam and I think it is wonderful to be able to communticate with them, not daily but frequentl..."Nina, what a pleasure it must be to hear from your granddaughters!
Yes, Facebook does keep people in touch without requiring formal messages. It's kind of like "hit and run" communication. LOL Just short messages or comments. On Facebook I hear from friends and relatives whom I never would hear from otherwise.
Our communication abilities nowadays are not only amazing but they're almost miraculous! LOL Especially when you add the picture to the voice so that you can SEE the person you're talking to! :)
Joy, Barb and I feel the same awe and wonder at modern communications technology, when we get on Skype and see Rebekah (and often Tony, too) in real time on the other side of the earth as we talk to each other!
Werner wrote: "Joy, Barb and I feel the same awe and wonder at modern communications technology, when we get on Skype and see Rebekah (and often Tony, too) in real time on the other side of the earth as we talk t..."Werner, modern communication methods are the stuff of science fiction!
BTW, I finally learned a succinct way of distinguishing SF from fantasy:
=================================================
Science fiction deals with things that might possibly happen.
Fantasy deals with things that never could happen.
=================================================
I know you know this but the above definitions are the most concise ones I could find.
Good definition of fantasy and science fiction.
Nina wrote: "Good definition of fantasy and science fiction."Yes, I thought so too, Nina. I boiled it down from a comment by Robert J. Sawyer, a Science Fiction Writer.
Hugo Award winner
Nebula Award winner
John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner
I found his definition at:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...
Another way of distinguishing them is to say that SF deals with speculative elements that it explains naturalistically, while fantasy/supernatural fiction speculates about things that it explains supernaturally. (So, for instance, they might both use time travel as a plot device; but the SF writer will explain it by the use of a time machine, the operations of quantum physics, etc., while in the other genre it will simply be achieved by magic. :-) )
Werner, those are good examples. Thanks for clarifying.
Creatures of Light and Darkness has the Egyptian pantheon as keepers of space stations. They really do have human bodies & the heads of animals, but that's a cosmetic decision on their part. For all their scientific prowess, some of them possess abilities for which they have no explanation or ability to reproduce mechanically. It's ever so much more fun when books defy such glib explanations.;-)
Jim wrote: "Creatures of Light and Darkness has the Egyptian pantheon as keepers of space stations. They really do have human bodies & the heads of animals, but that's a cosmetic decision on their part. For ..."Jim, so would you call _Creatures of Light and Darkness_ SF or Fantasy? And why?
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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The run-in area of the horse barn & Speedy's shed both need some stone dust, plus a few other areas. Since a load is 20 tons, I'll have a fair amount left over, but I just pile it behind Marg's bus. Still, lots of shoveling to do tomorrow.
I'm going to put the CR-8 around the big barn. It doesn't have gutters so years of water running off the roof have eroded the ground away around it. It's kind of ugly & a pain to mow or even weedeat around since we've just tossed big rocks there. Also, termites got into the posts of that barn & they all have poured concrete piers that now have sharp edges sticking out about ankle high. Not a problem for a human, but horses are stupid & I don't want one of them hitting it.