tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post6122500254752790367..comments2024-03-28T14:07:21.692-07:00Comments on Diary of a Fat Slob: 6 foot 11Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-10270960839735555772021-11-13T05:55:59.369-08:002021-11-13T05:55:59.369-08:00Seconding everything you've said about B. Trav...Seconding everything you've said about B. Traven. I've not read all of his work, but four or five, and The Death Ship and Treasure... are both excellentCaptain Hampocketsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-51294107208050613782021-11-13T03:07:43.584-08:002021-11-13T03:07:43.584-08:00I know nothing of Hammett v McCarthy, but *anyone*...I know nothing of Hammett v McCarthy, but *anyone* who was v McCarthy goes up in my estimation. Details invited, if you're feeling chatty, but if not rest assured I'll look into it eventually.<br /><br />Much as I like him, B Traven's books are a mixed bag. He never wrote one I didn't like, but many or most can be a little brittle and stale in parts.<br /><br /><i>By far</i> his Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-20552410429208643512021-11-12T14:37:07.421-08:002021-11-12T14:37:07.421-08:00B Traven. I've not read him, although his name...B Traven. I've not read him, although his name (or pseudonym) has come up from time to time over the years. He's there, then he isn't, like a fist when you open your hand. He has a face and a name, then just a smile, then that fades too. Now I'm embarrassed that I know my guy's middle name. Hammett took on Joe McCarthy and did hard time for it, which finally broke his health johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-39964727797663743362021-11-12T13:38:17.018-08:002021-11-12T13:38:17.018-08:00I've just placed a hold on The Continental Op,...I've just placed a hold on The Continental Op, at the library. Ain't modern technology a marvel.<br /><br />I spent a year or so gobbling up pulp novels some time back, definitely including some Hammett, but Continental Op isn't familiar to me.<br /><br />For many years my favorite author has been B Traven, but my last few Traven re-reads were maybe too soon, or too many re-reads. Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-12887621096382900952021-11-12T12:19:01.194-08:002021-11-12T12:19:01.194-08:00You'd never know it from a few small looks at ...You'd never know it from a few small looks at my writing, but my favorite writer is Dashiell Hammett. I supposed I've read other authors to completion, but I reread Hammett about every ten years. A simple declarative sentence is easy to read and difficult to write, which might be why Hammett stopped writing fiction 30 years before he died. To be fair, he didn't know it was 30 years johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-76755146021851942932021-11-12T05:35:20.542-08:002021-11-12T05:35:20.542-08:00Made me LOL, sir.
I never took a class, but I...Made me LOL, sir. <br /><br />I never took a class, but I've never written anything, ever, that wouldn't be better with pruning shears. Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-86027568947832038192021-11-12T05:33:07.744-08:002021-11-12T05:33:07.744-08:00Such dedication to honesty is appreciated. You sti...Such dedication to honesty is appreciated. You still have warm thoughts toward that girl, and happy memories keep us alive.<br /><br />I've never known a person as rich as a Haley girl would be. In my very limited experience with even "successful" people, if they made the money they're 100% monstrous in their day-to-day lives — but their offspring have a reasonable chance of notDoug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-63072132614735021372021-11-12T05:17:07.797-08:002021-11-12T05:17:07.797-08:00. . . and thank you, Doug for the kind words about.... . . and thank you, Doug for the kind words about my comments. You could have said, "Sounds like you have a big dick" and it wouldn't have made me feel happier. I think my writing is a little showy and wandering. So did my journalism advisor in college. He said something like, "John, when I ask for 200 words and you give me 800, that's not a bonus for me. It's a pain johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-91104484251060880942021-11-12T05:08:53.005-08:002021-11-12T05:08:53.005-08:00It's a big country, but I wouldn't want to...It's a big country, but I wouldn't want to coup d'état it. <br /><br />Just in case somebody recognizes the last name of the "girls", I should make it clear that both of them, and their parents, were decent, egalitarian people. There was a lot of la-de-da in that church, but you wouldn't guess from these folks behavior that they had dough. (Is Almond Roca made from doughjohnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-58562418854112630942021-11-11T16:07:26.198-08:002021-11-11T16:07:26.198-08:00Man, I do love your stories. Tell me more. :)
Rai...Man, I do love your stories. Tell me more. :)<br /><br />Raising you in the church and then leaving the choice up to you. Sounds so damned *civilized*. In my family you're damn well supposed to be a Christian for life.<br /><br />Reminds me, I ought to write about the church I grew up in. There's a story there, for sure ...Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-81743523750630927612021-11-11T12:16:12.114-08:002021-11-11T12:16:12.114-08:00I left my church with little regret when I was abo...I left my church with little regret when I was about 16. My folks asked me to attend until I was a teenager, then make my own decision about how I spent my Sunday mornings. Of course I had no idea I'd won the parent lottery: I thought that's the way all families operated.<br /><br />My church population had included a fair number of well-to-do families from the North End. I think that'johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-76758905704100950112021-11-11T03:20:15.551-08:002021-11-11T03:20:15.551-08:00The Haley Girls sounds like it could be a good nov...<i>The Haley Girls</i> sounds like it could be a good novel if you wrote it. Or maybe a good porno.<br /><br />Our church had a balcony, but services has such low attendance, nobody ever went up there, except me, exploring. No makeout sessions though, so I await your book.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-46062799219995033982021-11-11T03:15:55.645-08:002021-11-11T03:15:55.645-08:00It was a long time ago, and I didn't date her ...It was a long time ago, and I didn't date her for long. I think I was about 15, and, in retrospect, I think she managed to dump me without my noticing. If there was game to be had, the Haley girls had it -- not me. Odd, but Tacoma is such a small town that I've not mentioned this incident to anybody. Not everybody knows the Haley girls but everybody knows their confectionary products. Andjohnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-40220256106199855322021-11-10T17:17:45.824-08:002021-11-10T17:17:45.824-08:00I'm glad your life is relatively pain free, si...I'm glad your life is relatively pain free, sir. <br /><br />You dated a Haley girl! I've never even seen a Haley girl, but I'm impressed. You must've had game, as the kids say these days.<br /><br />Man, I want a Mountain Bar right now.<br /><br />This is off-topic, I suppose, but I've never understood why Brown and Haley isn't world famous. Couple of years back I sprang Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-72044661146624291612021-11-10T04:23:43.131-08:002021-11-10T04:23:43.131-08:00There was a rendering plant within a mile of the p...There was a rendering plant within a mile of the paper mill, and the Asarco copper smelter upwind of both, so that all three combined to blow the essence of Tacoma across the Fife plain through which ran first, Highway 99, then I-5, both of which were major north-south routes between Canada and Tijuana, if that's your idea of a good time. The Tacoma Chamber of Commerce had a higher suicide johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-80133500559475789982021-11-10T03:05:46.613-08:002021-11-10T03:05:46.613-08:00Prime Dylan, to be sure.
"The aroma of Tacom...Prime Dylan, to be sure.<br /><br />"The aroma of Tacoma," we called it. It was the paper mill, I think, but eventually the EPA made them install stack-scrubbers, and last time I was there, Tacoma smelled great. Home of Brown & Haley, which I'm no longer allowed.<br /><br />I've lost about two inches myself, with no surgeries yet. How's your back now? Did the surgeries Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-87932019428492462792021-11-09T13:32:45.234-08:002021-11-09T13:32:45.234-08:00I know this is a piece about flirting, not being 6...I know this is a piece about flirting, not being 6'11", but one of the distressing things about the human body going to hell as it gets old is the deterioration of the skeletal system. I've had three back surgeries in the last 10 years, and I've lost something over four inches in height. I was a pretty short guy to start with, so, embarrassingly, tall, young women are frequently johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.com