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This Week in Books, December 3, 2017
'Tis the season of gift giving, so I am going to mix this up a little bit, and cover a series of coffee table books.

But first, wife is getting into the season and asked me the other day, "What is your favorite Christmas story?"

Being me, and as quick as a cat knocks over your favorite coffee mug, I replied (George) Washington crossing the Delaware (River). The good news is that extra piece of coal goes towards the next BBQ.

If you read anything written by David Hackett Fischer:

Washington's Crossing
Oxford Press, 2004

Paul Revere's Ride is fantastic, and I am about two-thirds of the way through Albion's Seed and pleasantly surprised by its easy reading about what some would consider a very dry subject. Mr. Fischer is just a fantastic writer and a dedicated researcher, a rare combination.

But for the coffee table:

The Book of Five Rings
Miyamoto Musashi
translated by William Scott Wilson
Shambhala, 2012

This book was recommended to me by a friend I respect; he took an old file, forged it into a blade, and hilted it with a deer antler. Scabbard is hand made from tanned deer hide. Gift to my wife, which I adore both of them for. Let me categorize this as a philosophy book where the topic is martial arts. Miyamoto was a very successful samurai who lived in the 1600s and after retiring, chronicled his thoughts. A person should be into both subjects to really get the most out of Miyamoto's work.

Page 34: (concerning use of the sword)

Use of the Feet: In the carriage of the feet, you should float your toenails a little and step strongly with your heels. In the use of the feet, you should walk as usual, whether the case calls for large, small, quick, or slow strides. Feet that seem to fly, float, or be immobile are, all three, undesirable.
There is something important in this Way called the Yin-Yang Foot, and it is considered essential. The Yin-Yang Foot means never moving just one foot. With Yin-Yang, you step right and left, right and left, whether striking, pulling back, or parrying a blow. I repeat: you should never step with just one foot. You should investigate this thoroughly.

Before you go, "Hey Kansas, swords are Florida Man stories." Consider an improvised sword in self defense, such as a billiard cue. At any rate, it is interesting to be privy to the thoughts of a master.

Next:

Samuel Johnson's Insults
Edited by Jack Lynch
Walker Books, 2004

For the most part, a collection of insults during the age of Samuel Johnson, born in 1709, a professional commentator in England. Some words are recognizable, some I wish still were. Mr. Lynch does discreet yet effective work on the etymology of selected words.

Page 58

Nidget [corrupted from nithing or niding. The opprobrious term with which the man was anciently branded who refused to come to the royal standard in times of exigency.] A coward, a dastard.

There was one true English word of greater force than them all, now out of all use; it signifieth no more than abject, baseminded, false-hearted, coward, or nidget. Camden.

The word actually comes from an idiot. In the sixteenth century, speakers detached the n from an and moved it to the beginning of the next word, so an idiot became a nidiot and then a nidget

Rounding out, this Thoughts of Masters in their Trade:

The Lawdog Files
'D. Lawdog'
Castalia House, 2017

This is a collection of yarns by a LEO in the Texas Panhandle. Being in the region, I get the sense of humor and had an absolutely great time reading this book, even the tough recollections. Some stories had me chuckling so loud the kids stopped over to ask me what was so funny. Other stories, well they are real. Lawdog has a very soft and fluid way of writing and the pages seemed to turn themselves; in fact I had to pace myself to not finish the book in one setting.

Page 83

Mesquites have very long thorns, and they grow very low to the ground and very close together. In addition, mesquite thickets are the favored lairs of ticks, no-see-ums, wheel bugs, tarantulas, fire ants, red ants, spiders, and pasty-faced men with chainsaws. Not to mention cactus, jumping-getcha, devil's claw, and other antisocial plants also like thickets.

The wind doesn't ever seem to get into the mesquite thickets, but the humidity does. And the heat. And here's our critter, in his black no-dye tissue-thin batik cotton drawstring drawers and his politically correct black hemp guayabera shirt and his black cordura sandals.

Anyhoo, Bubba and I sat there juggling a can of Deep Woods Off for about twenty minutes before hearing this blood-curdling yodel, and we saw Todd the Revolutionary, black bandanna pulled up bandit-style over his lower face, burst forth from the mesquite in a buzzing gray cloud and sprint for the open driver's door of the Mustang, ululating every step of the way.

We watched him cover the hundred or so feet at a dead sprint, and then Bubba casually reached over and pushed the door closed, causing Young Toddy to ricochet off the closed door and into the dust, much to the delight of the mosquitos.

I waved the car keys at him. I supposed I needed to read the Anarchist Handbook because this was apparently a gross violation of the rules of the game. All five foot, six inches, 130 pounds of halitosis and macrobiotic methane jumped to his feet, struck a bee-yoo-ti-ful tai chi stance, and proclaimed, "It took six LAPD pigs to take me to jail. I'm not afraid of you!"

*snort*

He went to jail.

The book is a great read, like watching a fantastic knuckleball pitcher having the game of his life.

Part I: The Second World Wars With Victor Davis Hanson
The Hoover Institute

My next purchase.


This Week in Emergency Preparedness

Take a commercial break today, or right now, and go make sure your water pipe valves close, are closed, and open back up. Add it to the Daylight Savings Day house-check of smoke detectors and battery check of electronic safes and such, especially if you have water that is tough on the plumbing. I shit you not, water out here from a drippy faucet will make a stalactite. Those working valves have saved my ass many a time.

For those of you who get cold, vehicles should be winterized at this point. Wiper fluid filled, emergency kit has a blanket, battery inspected and terminals cleaned, de-icer and scraper, all that good stuff. Anyone know of something to drink that has a very low freezing point which I can throw in the car? Other than schnapps. Which I absolutely do not have in the car next to the jumper cables.

Links to books are in the book title and go to Amazon. Title link also goes to Amazon, but to re-usable heat pads. After use, throw them in a pot of boiling water to re-charge them, very handy.
Posted by: swksvolFF 2017-12-03
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