Re-reading the omnibus edition of the first three books of The Dragonriders of Pern
(and you really needn't bother with the rest.) They're still fun, but the idea of having a giant telepathically-linked dragon that would be your friend forever and could fly you around and set stuff that annoyed you on fire was a lot more attractive when I was in middle school and grappling with teen angst. Not that I'd turn one down now, but as an adult, all you can think of are the damned vet bills, which must be ginormous. And it probably horks up hairballs the size of VW Beetles.Incidentally, the panhandler that walked up to my car in the grocery store parking lot today and asked "Ma'am, ma'am! I'm sorry to trouble you, but do you gots a gas can?" made me think "Uh, no. And I didn't have one three weeks ago when you asked me if I had one in the Target parking lot, and I offered to go in and buy you one, but you said you'd rather have the cash and not take up my time, remember?" Three weeks is an awfully long time to be out of gas.
Perfectly cromulent convertible weather here in Indy, BTW, which is a good thing for all those folks zipping around in the single-seater convertibles on the west side of town this month.( I think they're lost, though, 'cause they just keep going in circles.)
horks up hairballs the size of VW Beetles.
ReplyDeleteThat one's going in the quotes drawer. ROTFL
LOL on the hairballs, AND the convertibles! :-)
ReplyDeleteNot that I'd turn one down now, but as an adult, all you can think of are the damned vet bills, which must be ginormous. And it probably horks up hairballs the size of VW Beetles.
ReplyDeleteWhile the problems you cite are valid, there are more immediate problems inherent in dragon ownership....
And the author died last year...
ReplyDeleteMore than a few years ago I commuted by bus between NJ and NY [one reason to move to CO]. Every few weeks the same older gent would walk up at the NY bus terminal and ask for money as he'd left his ticket and money at home. Of course, he'd turn down the offer of a ticket. We had worse in the subways. OldeForce
Good call on the Chili Dogs...Hebrew National is the only brand of hot dog I will voluntarily eat. I figure the whole 'kosher' thing should keep most of the lips and butt's out of the mix...
ReplyDeleteDragonFlight/DragonQuest are OK.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is Menolly. DragonSong, DragonSinger, the White Dragon. And Nerilka's Story - I have a copy signed by Ms. McCaffrey.
I think I even liked Mark of Merlin and Stitch in Snow better than DragonQuest.
Um, and I enjoyed the way the dragons are re-invented in V.M.R. Theory, Robert Frezza. (The "Vampire Master Race" theory is the followup to the space opera/comedy McLendon's Syndrome).
ReplyDeleteNot to be too nit picky but they didn't have hair. And it was ash from calcium carbide they were hawking up, not something that smells very good when it come out of my acetylene miners lamp and rather corrosive. I think the javelina problem we have down here would be solved pretty quick though.
ReplyDeleteMa'am, I know I said I'd stay away from all but gun-nerd posts, but it seems I just can't help m'self when it comes to SF.
ReplyDeleteI read "The Ship who Sang" when I was a little kid, and I don't think that gal has written anything nearly as good since then.
Blame John Philip Sousa for this comment. Every time I cue up "The Fairest of the Fair", I think of Our Tam. My recording was done by the Royal Artillery Band, conducted by Keith Brion. It has the bluster, it has the pensive thoughtfulness, the sly humor, the occasional girlishness, but at the end, in the last repeat of the trio, it has a throbbing stringendo drum part which says "Dammit, you sonsabitches, this is Serious Business!"
Three weeks is an awfully long time to be out of gas.
ReplyDeleteAnd six months is a long time to be stranded in the same truck stop in Kansas City, after the company you drive for goes bankrupt. The first time I listened to his story. The second time I told him I was busy. The third time I called him on it, whereupon he quickly made tracks for the other side of the highway. I haven't been in there in a couple of years, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was still using the same story.
fast, I mind the time I was having ignition problems with my Yamaha two-stroke. A very nice guy riding an ancient Honda Dream stopped by and gave me a push start. My bike started and ran for a bit. Then it quit again. The same guy came back a bit later, going the other direction. I hopefully looked at him, but he just looked at me sadly, shook his head, and proceeded. He was right to do so.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Dragonsdawn, and pretty much everything up until her son got on board.The original trilogy were the best though.
ReplyDeleteBoth the first trilogy and the Harper Hall trilogy are books I go back to every now and then when I just want to veg out and remember what it was like when I was an angsty teenager myself. Wore out my mom's paperback copies years ago, but they were among the first I snagged for my Nook a while back.
ReplyDeleteBurning hairballs.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I dunno if it's inflation or what, but I recall a time when panhandlers asked for, y'know, change. I had one ask me for 5 bucks the other month!
ReplyDeleteYah, once her son got involved he killed it. Pissed me off. She shouldn't have put her name on it. If he wanted to write the stories that was fine, but really?
ReplyDeleteI do have to agree, the original trilogy and the Harper Halls books are the best by far, but I liked most of the rest of the original set too.
I always liked the Hebrew National hot dog commercial. Uncle Sam always looked so sad when the voice-over said "We answer to a higher authority..."
ReplyDeleteKosher chili?
ReplyDeleteMan, that takes me back to long, lonely summer days spent at the base library. Heh. Read through every one of the Pern books, before working my way through Robert E. Howard (SOLOMON KANE!!!), Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and the everpresent multiple trips through the musings of J.R.R. Tolkien. McAffery was good, but I got bored with all the "kids, cats, and telepaths" series.
ReplyDeleteAs for panhandlers, if they come up asking for cash for ____, I'll usually offer to pick up some ____ for them. Never had one yet take me up on the offer. They just want the cash for booze or drugs.
Long long ago when I was a college freshman I fell for the "stranded traveler" scam, for $10. A week later the same guy tried the same line on me. Enlightenment can hit your brain a whole week after it hits your wallet.
ReplyDeleteA good life lesson that was, even at the rather high price.
In Baltimore, the Sun newspaper once ran a great article on several well known, hard working professional beggars around town - with their pictures. The paper reported about a month later on the same folk, with the finding that the publicity got them more money from the public. Go figure.
Nathan's are even better...
ReplyDelete