Heinlein Readers Discussion Group
Thursday 04/05/2007 9:00 P.M. EDT
Time Enough For Love
Here Begin The Postings
From: “Tim Morgan”
Date: 12 Mar 2007 10:51:46 -0700
Subject HEINLEIN READERS GROUP MEETING: Time Enough for Love, April 5th HEINLEIN READERS GROUP MEETING SCHEDULED WHEN: April 5, 2007, 9:00 PM EDT WHERE: The usual AIM chatroom TOPIC: Time Enough For Love
Following on our discussion of The Number of the Beast and the World as Myth, the next Heinlein Readers Group meeting will be devoted to discussion of the book Time Enough For Love. One of Heinlein’s longest works, this book is the capstone of the Future History series. It revived the Lazarus Long character, yet it’s about a lot more than just his adventures. First, because it weaves together many other stories that LL is relating, sort of like the flashbacks on the TV show Lost: they’re related stories, tell us something about why the characters are the way they are now, but they’re also interested in their own right. But Heinlein used LL’s unique perspective on life to make observations about it (exactly what the Howards wanted from him: his wisdom). Topics that the book addresses include the significance and meaning of life, self-awareness, love, and relationships. *Does* age bring wisdom? LL is a litmus test. Did the Howards get what they wanted/needed in saving him? As usual in Heinlein, there are many minor themes woven in as well, such as observations on the nature and business of government.
Heinlein combined many influences in creating this book. One is Vincent McHugh’s Caleb Catlum’s America—hugely popular when it was published in 1936, but now largely forgotten and hard to come by. To quote Bill Patterson: “There are some passages in the Archivist’s remarks that are almost taken verbatim from the author’s introduction to CCA — a redheaded (and polymorphous perverse as taught by his grandfather, does any of this ring bells) immortal who had led his families in a flight from persecution.” I hope that someone who has read Caleb Catlum’s America can join the discussion to fill us in on it.
Please join us,
Tim Morgan, for The Heinlein Society
From: “JaneE!”
Date: 3 Apr 2007 15:18:46 -0700
Subject Re: HEINLEIN READERS GROUP MEETING: Time Enough for Love, April 5th
Tim Morgan wrote:
> HEINLEIN READERS GROUP MEETING SCHEDULED
> WHEN: April 5, 2007, 9:00 PM EDT
> WHERE: The usual AIM chatroom
> TOPIC: Time Enough For Love
> Following on our discussion of The Number of the Beast and the World
> as Myth, the next Heinlein Readers Group meeting will be devoted to
> discussion of the book Time Enough For Love. One of Heinlein’s
> longest works, this book is the capstone of the Future History
> series. It revived the Lazarus Long character, yet it’s about a lot
> more than just his adventures. First, because it weaves together many
> other stories that LL is relating, sort of like the flashbacks on the
> TV show Lost: they’re related stories, tell us something about why the
> characters are the way they are now, but they’re also interested in
> their own right. But Heinlein used LL’s unique perspective on life to
> make observations about it (exactly what the Howards wanted from him:
> his wisdom). Topics that the book addresses include the significance
> and meaning of life, self-awareness, love, and relationships. *Does*
> age bring wisdom? LL is a litmus test. Did the Howards get what they
> wanted/needed in saving him? As usual in Heinlein, there are many
> minor themes woven in as well, such as observations on the nature and
> business of government.
> Heinlein combined many influences in creating this book. One is
> Vincent McHugh’s Caleb Catlum’s America—hugely popular when it was
> published in 1936, but now largely forgotten and hard to come by. To
> quote Bill Patterson: “There are some passages in the Archivist’s
> remarks that are almost taken verbatim from the author’s introduction
> to CCA — a redheaded (and polymorphous perverse as taught by his
> grandfather, does any of this ring bells) immortal who had led his
> families in a flight from persecution.” I hope that someone who has
> read Caleb Catlum’s America can join the discussion to fill us in on
> it.
> Please join us,
> Tim Morgan, for The Heinlein Society
Just bringing this up top for everyone to remind you that this Thursday is the day. See you there.
JaneE!
From: TheBookman Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 04:59:20 -0500
Subject Re: HEINLEIN READERS GROUP MEETING: Time Enough for Love, April 5th On 3 Apr 2007 15:18:46 -0700, JaneE! wrote:
> Tim Morgan wrote:
>> HEINLEIN READERS GROUP MEETING SCHEDULED
>> WHEN: April 5, 2007, 9:00 PM EDT
>> WHERE: The usual AIM chatroom
>> TOPIC: Time Enough For Love
>> Following on our discussion of The Number of the Beast and the World
>> as Myth, the next Heinlein Readers Group meeting will be devoted to
>> discussion of the book Time Enough For Love. One of Heinlein’s
>> longest works, this book is the capstone of the Future History
>> series. It revived the Lazarus Long character, yet it’s about a lot
>> more than just his adventures. First, because it weaves together many
>> other stories that LL is relating, sort of like the flashbacks on the
>> TV show Lost: they’re related stories, tell us something about why the
>> characters are the way they are now, but they’re also interested in
>> their own right. But Heinlein used LL’s unique perspective on life to
>> make observations about it (exactly what the Howards wanted from him:
>> his wisdom). Topics that the book addresses include the significance
>> and meaning of life, self-awareness, love, and relationships. *Does*
>> age bring wisdom? LL is a litmus test. Did the Howards get what they
>> wanted/needed in saving him? As usual in Heinlein, there are many
>> minor themes woven in as well, such as observations on the nature and
>> business of government.
>> Heinlein combined many influences in creating this book. One is
>> Vincent McHugh’s Caleb Catlum’s America—hugely popular when it was
>> published in 1936, but now largely forgotten and hard to come by. To
>> quote Bill Patterson: “There are some passages in the Archivist’s
>> remarks that are almost taken verbatim from the author’s introduction
>> to CCA — a redheaded (and polymorphous perverse as taught by his
>> grandfather, does any of this ring bells) immortal who had led his
>> families in a flight from persecution.” I hope that someone who has
>> read Caleb Catlum’s America can join the discussion to fill us in on
>> it.
>> Please join us,
>> Tim Morgan, for The Heinlein Society
> Just bringing this up top for everyone to remind you that this
> Thursday is the day. See you there.
And I _may_ even be able to infest this one. Someone keep an eye peeled, ’cause I’ll need an invite, I think.
Rtb
From: “David Wright Sr.”
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 22:30:19 +0000
Subject Re: HEINLEIN READERS GROUP MEETING: Time Enough for Love, April 5th Seeing as how there haven’t been many responses, I would suggest that you might want to check out previous discussions to get some ideas. https://www.heinleinsociety.org/readersgroup/AIM_10-12-2000.html https://www.heinleinsociety.org/readersgroup/AIM_10-14-2000.html David Wright Sr.
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Here Begins The Discussion Log
You have just entered room “heinleinreadersgroup.”
aggirlj has entered the room.
aggirlj: Hi David
DavidWrightSr: Hi there. I was wondering if anyone was going to show.
Bookman99R has entered the room.
DavidWrightSr: Good you made it. Click on File and Create shortcut and it will place a link to the room without having to have invite.
DavidWrightSr: That’s if you are not on a MAC.O:-)
Bookman99R: this version of AIM doesn’t have that option, that i can find
DavidWrightSr: Ok, the other alternative is to have your name in your buddy list and invite yourself to a chat and when it asks for the room type in ‘heinleinreadersgroup’
Bookman99R: AIM -= abortion of an instant messanger
DavidWrightSr: What version are you using?
aggirlj: Hi Rusty
Bookman99R: 6.0.28.1
Bookman99R: hello, Ms. Silver
aggirlj: Tim should be around soon.
aggirlj: Jane
aggirlj: Thank you
aggirlj: I just invited Pam
DavidWrightSr: Welcome extro,……….. whoever.
Bookman99R: ok, Jane. sorry
: Hi! This is my first time ever in any chat, so please bear with me if I goof!
morganuci has entered the room.
aggirlj: It’s okay, love that you are gentlemanly
Bookman99R: lol
Bookman99R: well, sorta
aggirlj: Hi Tim
Bookman99R: hi, tim
morganuci: Hi everyone!
DavidWrightSr: No problemo. I’m David. aggirlj is Jane Silver and bookman99 is Rusty. morgani… is our moderator Time Morgan
aggirlj: I am almost finished with TEFL
: I’m Shirley. (“Extro” is OK too.)
aggirlj: At the last part where he’s in Kansas City
Bookman99R: Shirley you can’t be serious 😉
aggirlj: 😀
DavidWrightSr: Rusty you can download version 9.5.3 from our website. go to readers group and look for the link\
Bookman99R: really? i must invite him over for coffee
Bookman99R: 9.5.3? yikes
georule1861 has entered the room.
IrishBet has entered the room.
georule1861: hello
aggirlj: Hey Geo. I’ve almost finished TEFL
aggirlj: Hi Pam
IrishBet: hi, all
georule1861: Is that your first time, JanE?
SedaGave has entered the room.
aggirlj: Yep. Really liking it.
aggirlj: He’
aggirlj: s
georule1861: There are days when it is my absolute favorite.
aggirlj: in KC right now with his Grandfather
georule1861: Well, that’s less favorite part there.
georule1861: Tho it has its moments.
aggirlj: little sad?
georule1861: Little kinky.
Bookman99R: lol
aggirlj: Ohhhhhh
georule1861: Tho his grandpa the train guy?
georule1861: Really his first father in law.
georule1861: /me wonders if he just gave away the store there.
georule1861: Well, I won’t say his first wife’s name.
georule1861: And I’
georule1861: And I’m convinced there’s a pretty well hidden Vietnam commentary in that section, btw.
aggirlj: we’re just before WWI
IrishBet: really, Geo? In what way?
Bookman99R: comments as to “pacifists”, for one thing
georule1861: Well, I think I’ll save it for the official convo.
georule1861: Not so much that.
georule1861: More duty.
Bookman99R: same thing, to me
georule1861: Remember, Lazarus KNEW that WWI was a humungous waste of time
georule1861: And went anyway.
aggirlj: Or just the first installment
NuclearWasteUSN has entered the room.
georule1861: No El Presidente tonight?
aggirlj: I’ll call him.
NuclearWasteUSN: Hello all,
georule1861: In the mean time, I’ll refresh ye old Scotch.
aggirlj: Hi Nuke
IrishBet: Howdy, Nuke
georule1861: Anyone want to hear a tidbit from the archives I ran across last night?
SedaGave: Hi, Nuke
aggirlj: He’s gonna be on soon.
IrishBet: Sure, Geo.
aggirlj: ga
IrishBet: I love dirt
Bookman99R: sure, geo
NuclearWasteUSN: Hello! Not staying tonight, turning the computer over to my mother, who may or may not type.
NuclearWasteUSN: All, Mum, Mum, all
Bookman99R: hi, mum
aggirlj: Hi Mum
IrishBet: Howdy, Mum. Welcome
SedaGave: Hi, Mum!
DavidWrightSr: Welcome Nuke’s Mum
aggirlj: Hey Seda, you snuck in.
SedaGave: I did, hehe
DavidWrightSr: David’s online
georule1861: The whole “Trouble with Tribbles” thing with David Gerrold?
SedaGave: I have two versions of AIM, apparently…one wasn’t working, been fussing with the computer
IrishBet: Yea, Geo?
AGplusone has entered the room.
Bookman99R: pigs is pigs, right?
georule1861: Not nearly so cheerful in the letters that went back and forth at the time.
aggirlj: Hi David
AGplusone: Hi, All. Nice turnout for early.
IrishBet: Oh, really? and Gerrold makes it sound so good-ole-boyish
IrishBet: Hi, David.
SedaGave: *waves*
georule1861: He does indeed.
DavidWrightSr: Hi David the Younger
georule1861: But Ginny was seriously pissed about his attitude at times.
AGplusone: I got to reading that old 2000 log and forgot how good we used to be about pre-meeting postings.
AGplusone: Whose attitude, Geo?
georule1861: David Gerrold
AGplusone: Ah.
georule1861: Re “Trouble with Tribbles”
IrishBet: Janie, you know about the Star Trek episode?
aggirlj: Yah!
morganuci has left the room.
IrishBet: 🙂
aggirlj: But not the history
Bookman99R: trivia, bring me trivia!
IrishBet: It’s based directly on “flatcats” from RAH’s Rolling Stones.
georule1861: I was just telling a story out of school, David, waiting for the meeting to start.
AGplusone: stories out of school are fun
aggirlj: Yet to read that.
toxdoc1947 has entered the room.
IrishBet: “Flatcats”, ad flat bundles of fur that soothe humans and reproduce when they eat. Sound familiar?
IrishBet: Fltcats ARE
AGplusone: Flatcats are small Martian creatures that buzz comfortingly when you stroke them. If you feed them above a certain level, they reproduce, and reproduce, and reproduce … ad infinitum.
IrishBet: (stupid keyboard)
georule1861: Right now I have 3000 pages of 1972 I’m looking at.
toxdoc1947: hi all
IrishBet: Howdy, Tox
georule1861: The amount of minutia involved in managing “Heinlein Inc” just is stunning.
SedaGave: sounds pretty tribblish to me 😉
georule1861: Ginny deserved multiple medals for dealing with all that.
IrishBet: 😀
toxdoc1947: lol
aggirlj: Puts me in mind of Woody Allen Sleeper when he’s incognito as the robot and the ball
AGplusone: Castor and Pollux, the twins, in Rolling Stones, get one, It reproduces like crazy. They have to freeze the ship to stop the population explosion. Just like the Tribbles.
georule1861: Page after page of “Polish edition of Citizen of the Galaxy” and “Holland edition of Stranger in a Strange Land” etc
aggirlj: or the sphere
DavidWrightSr: The Atlanta Radio Theater is giving performances of All You Zombies on the 28 & 29th of april. They asked permission to use my timeline as a handout.
jilyd has entered the room.
Bookman99R: hi, dee
IrishBet: DavidW, how great!
jilyd: Good evening all.
aggirlj: Hi Dee.
georule1861: In fact, some of it was TEFL related.
jilyd: Good to see everybody. I have been away too long.
georule1861: Tho mostly just progress reports from Ginny to Lurton.
aggirlj: BTW, has anyone else seen the Enterprise commercial where the licence plate is RAH 730 and made the connection.
DavidWrightSr: My wife and I are going and just possibly might meet with Amy Baxter and her husband if they can make it.
aggirlj: license
georule1861: If you see Amy and Louis please give them Deb and my love.
DavidWrightSr: They live in Atlanta now.
AGplusone: Well, Tim back, yet?
DavidWrightSr: I will do so Geo.. BTW, do you pronounce that ‘JO’ or “GEE-O’?O:-)
aggirlj: No, I invited him though.
Bookman99R: anyone here have a problem with reading typosylvanian?
georule1861: G. O. works for pronunciation.
DavidWrightSr: That’s bugged me for years. Thanks.
Ron0859 has entered the room.
aggirlj: Tim’s offline now.
morganuci has entered the room.
aggirlj: Hey, wb
DavidWrightSr: AFK
Ron0859: Greetings all! don’t stop talking on my account
aggirlj: We haven’t started yet.
AGplusone: wb, Tim. Ready for you to start.
georule1861: jilyd?
georule1861: DEE?
Bookman99R: Shhh! Ron’s here, stop tllking
georule1861: IS THAT YOU?!
aggirlj: k’rect
Ron0859: then good timing on my part
jilyd: Yess, Dee, Geo. Or Dee2, as you and Deb know me.
morganuci: OK, here’s a kick-off question: What’s the meaning of the pawn shop song, and how/why is it a key to understanding Lazarus?
georule1861: Hotdog!
aggirlj: I’m all ears.
georule1861: Well.
Bookman99R: it’s a modification of “the born loser”, for one thing
Bookman99R: suitably bowdlerized
georule1861: It speaks to both the repression of his early days and the fact that he’s overcome it
georule1861: Sexual repression tha tis.
Bookman99R: possibly that he sees himself as a “born loser”?
morganuci: Does he see himself that way?
georule1861: I don’t believe that.
aggirlj: I am not sure of that.
SedaGave: I don’t think so
AGplusone: ‘born loser’ or ‘artful dodger’?
aggirlj: That more likely
georule1861: Now there you go.
toxdoc1947: more indifferent to amassing property I think
Bookman99R: or identifies with him, anyway
SedaGave: He’s quite self-reliant and looks for that quality in others
AGplusone: The song used to amuse my dad. He had it on an old 78, and used to sing versions and other verses of it.
morganuci: It was “Pittsburg, Pennsylvania”, right?
AGplusone: It was a song I felt rung of memories of the Depression to him.
georule1861: It’s interesting how much bawdy music plays a role in TEFL.
AGplusone: Yeah, the version on the 78
georule1861: That’s just the start
georule1861: Its importance is laced thru the book
AGplusone: I think the Johnnie Mercer rendition
georule1861: In fact, I make a point of finding the lyrics to most of those.
morganuci: Where else does it come up?
georule1861: Tho some I knew before.
aggirlj: Might it be some kind of charkra?
georule1861: Who was that for, Tim?
SedaGave: Early, when he’s beeing rejuvenated and starting to feel better, he starts humming it
Bookman99R: didn’t see lyrics for it via google
morganuci: Anyone. I meant, where else does bawdy music play a role in the book?
georule1861: Are you kidding?
georule1861: The Dora story.
aggirlj: Lil
georule1861: Barnacle Bill the Sailor
Bookman99R: bawdy songs wee The Dora’s “nursery rhymes”
georule1861: Both Doras
morganuci: OK. Why?
aggirlj: There’s quite a bawdy one a friend used to sing full voice about Lil and that is a reference I believe as well.
SedaGave: It means he’s feeling well, the board’s green, he says
georule1861: He’s trying to shock too. Of course he is.
georule1861: Words are words.
georule1861: Sex is natural.
georule1861: Get the hell over it already
morganuci: How do you shock a computer?
georule1861: Well, you don’t. But the author knows its not just the computer.
IrishBet: She was sentient, Tim. That implies feelings
toxdoc1947: agreed
Bookman99R: OTOH, if sex is ‘natural’, nothing tabooo, then don’t bawdies lose their power?
georule1861: This is part of the value of For Us, The Living.
morganuci: I agree about the feelings (once we presuppose sentient computers), but that doesn’t make them shockable. Shock depends on being brought up with human mores and human feelings.
georule1861: And the ’41 speech.
georule1861: And Stranger.
georule1861: It’s all one piece.
AGplusone: “hocking your overcoat” meant divesting … how does that fit?
Bookman99R: not divesting, though, is it?
morganuci: If it’s a depression era song, doesn’t it refer to having to sell your stuff to get by?
Bookman99R: sicne the coat is “always in hock”, it means that he’s in constant need of small loans
AGplusone: well, you can always put the ticket away and redeem it up to a certain time
AGplusone: for a fee
Bookman99R: exactly
aggirlj: Rent it?
Bookman99R: where divesting is selling off, IIRC
AGplusone: but overcoats are things you really don’t have to have, if you keep moving when it’s cold
AGplusone: And the good deals you buy in a pawn shop are unredeemed merchandise
georule1861: Yes, there is an element of “wild geese” to that song too
georule1861: Which is also a huge theme in the novel
AGplusone: that neither the broker nor the owner expects to see redeemed
DavidWrightSr: Sam Roberts/Richards pawned his overcoat in Starman Jones.
OceanSprite31 has entered the room.
AGplusone: yep, just as he tried to pawn Max’s uncle’s manuals
morganuci: Go on about the wild geese them, Geo.
OceanSprite31: Hello all
Bookman99R: hi
aggirlj: Hi
morganuci: Hey
georule1861: Well, “moving on”
toxdoc1947: he tried to sell the manuals back to the guild – or get a “finders fee”
SedaGave: Hi, Ocean
georule1861: What David said about not needing the overcoat
morganuci: Yes, definitely moving on.
georule1861: “don’t argue with the weather”
AGplusone: yes, effectively the same thing, ToxDoc …
georule1861: You do what you need to do when you need to do it, with a minimum of regret.
georule1861: Because when necessity calls the tune, there is no need to apologize for anything to anyone.
georule1861: It is what it is.
toxdoc1947: must be my “detail” node acting up
AGplusone: David Lamb, for example, does a minimum to achieve his ends, and never expects to pay or receive full value, too.
morganuci: Well, since you brought up David Lamb, and that was one of my topic areas…
DavidWrightSr: How does Lamb’s experiences tie-in with ‘wild geese’. Seemed to me as if he wanted exactly the opposite.
georule1861: David didn’t want to be on the south end of that north bound mule.
aggirlj: We’re on the other book, right?
Bookman99R: Lamb doesn’t “do the minimum”, precisely – rather, he develops the easiest way to manage it
georule1861: That was David’s necessity.
AGplusone: Lamb might be viewed as a mercenary … no commitment, just do the minimum to get by easily.
IrishBet: Janie, “the man too lazy to fail”
aggirlj: nevermind
morganuci: Back in 2000, David S, you said that you didn’t get the secret marriage part of the story. What do you think about it today?
georule1861: You could make a case for David Lamb as Zebadiah –either Zebadiah– that didn’t have his crisis.
AGplusone: “get”?
AGplusone: Thought it was a clever evasion in 2000. Still do. Not honorable, unless you look at the Draconian consequences.
morganuci: The context then was about honor, midshipmen weren’t supposed to lie, they were supposed to turn in people who violated the honor code, etc.
morganuci: And Ginny’s explanation was that it was really about another midshipman, but with some autobiographical elements.
morganuci: Do we still believe that, or is it pretty much autobiographical? And if so
georule1861: That seems correct.
Bookman99R: so, Lamb was pragmatic enough to simulate honor
morganuci: what’s RAH saying about himself?
AGplusone: Yes, the “Lamb” prototype was one of the two Delos named members of his class. Big secret everyone covered up until years later, after he retired.
Bookman99R: that the rules & indoctrination that were a part of himself were essentially silly, when viewed objectively?
DavidWrightSr: He was a ‘rational anarchist’ 😎
Bookman99R: there’s backstory on that which i don’t have
AGplusone: Except there’s the point he made in his letter to Campbell, that the honor system was intended to become a substitute for the profit motive in USNA grads.
Bookman99R: well, it seems clear that the indoctrination “took”, in RAH’s case
georule1861: Heinlein was about concepts not rules. Natural law, as he defined it.
morganuci: Does LL, when telling about David Lamb, approve or disapprove of Lamb? Which are we, the readers, supposed to do? Is Lamb a beloved wolf in sheep’s clothing?
OceanSprite31: make points in honor rather than dollars in profit?
georule1861: He’s not a wolf in sheeps clothing.
AGplusone: Backstory, briefly, there was a member of the class of ’29 who did get a girl pregnant, and with collusion of father concealed it, they got married after graduation, went to England, and came back for a child “adopted” over there.
OceanSprite31: I believe we were left very much to draw our own conclusions
georule1861: He’s a guy who didn’t have his crisis.
georule1861: Didn’t have to make a huge choice at some point.
georule1861: Was able to keep gaming the system successfully.
georule1861: He was never pushed to his full potential.
OceanSprite31: I read the tale with a very ‘neutral’ voice from LL concenring the tale
georule1861: But that doesn’t make him a bad guy.
georule1861: If he’s more talented than everyone around him.
Bookman99R: the “too lazy to fail” story is clearly a parable, the basic message being that working hard, in and of itself, is no virtue
OceanSprite31: I can agree there, Rusty
Bookman99R: ty, David
OceanSprite31: and Geo
AGplusone: maybe not, but it doesn’t make him a guy you’d go on combat patrol willingly with either, does it?
georule1861: I think its another example of subverting traditional morals.
OceanSprite31: hmm
Bookman99R: depends
georule1861: That the “Protestant work ethic” is horsefeathers objectively.
OceanSprite31: I dunno….give me a Guy like Lamb, who thinks his skin is precious, and we might come back better
AGplusone: Yes, but “depends” isn’t what you want to have to choose from, Rusty.
toxdoc1947: I’d go on patrol with him – he has his priorities right
AGplusone: Fly with him on your wing, eh?
morganuci: Would he pick saving himself over saving his platoon?
georule1861: Tho at some level I don’t agree.
georule1861: At some level I want to force someone with that much talent to their potential.
Bookman99R: so long as I knew what he was about, i believe I could tolerate it
aggirlj: Okay, it’s all coming back to me. This is what I aspire to. However, haven’t quite found it or how to do it.
georule1861: And so does RAH in some other books/stories.
OceanSprite31: saving self over platoon might lead to more work than needed to keep cozy life
AGplusone: I’d put him on point and keep him there where I could watch him.
toxdoc1947 has left the room.
OceanSprite31: Good idea David
AGplusone: For a long time …
OceanSprite31: but you make that genius work for you that way
Bookman99R: not to mention that Lamb would work _hard_ at protecting his own precious skin – which means keeping as many others around him alive
AGplusone: Then maybe I’d let him walk slack.
morganuci: Is Lamb honorable when it counts, but lets it slide where it doesn’t really matter? Or just always out for #1?
georule1861: One wonders how much unmotivated genius is in the world.
AGplusone: slack = guy right behind the point
georule1861: I don’t think we know, Tim.
georule1861: That’s part of the problem with David Lamb.
OceanSprite31: Thans for explaining, David…had forgotten that term
Bookman99R: agreed, geo
jilyd: Lamb seems very trutworthy to me in one way.
georule1861: He never had to look “oh sh*t, what now?” in th eye.
morganuci: What’s the point of a parable if it doesn’t teach us a message?
jilyd: You can expect consistent rational self-interest out of him.
AGplusone: makes us think?
Bookman99R: not to mention that we are not discussing Lamb himself, but rather, Lamb as LL tells about him
georule1861: Well, there’s an interesting point.
georule1861: Presumably the real Lamb had his own rationalizations.
morganuci: Yes, that’s true—this is LL’s view. Would he have liked to be in Lamb’s position? I think he always wanted to keep moving, to see how far the tree would hold out?
AGplusone: Exactly. There was a decoration Lamb was awarded, maybe a DFC, but we don’t know for what.
Bookman99R: depends on what you mean by “oh, shit”, geo
AGplusone: That’s why Lamb made Admiral when he retired ahead of his class.
Bookman99R: do you mean a Kobyashi Maru moment?
SedaGave: lol
jilyd: Lamb (as Lazarus tell him, thanks rusty) is another verion of the Starship troopers story about the apple pie.
AGplusone: Something like that.
georule1861: What I mean by oh shit is the kind of crisis that Zebadiah had to face in “–If This Goes On” where he’s standing over the body of a snitch next to his best friend and his lover.
Bookman99R: LL implied that DL kept his head in a crisis
georule1861: That kind of “oh shit”
AGplusone: That Zebbie. Okay, I understand you know, Geo.
Bookman99R: been too long since I’ve read that
AGplusone: now, not “know”
Bookman99R: effort vs results, right Dee?
jilyd: Yes.
AGplusone: Zeb in ITGO is a lot like David Lamb. Least resistence kinda guy. Like Smitty, going along, to “keep an eye on his investment” in Red Planet.
Bookman99R: and our society is loaded with praise for effort, irrespective of results
aggirlj: I think that most people who would like to find the road of least reisistence are disciplined to a great degree.
AGplusone: Contrast them with John Ezra Dalrymple, who got to be a hero because he didn’t think things through in advance.
AGplusone: And also got to be dead and radioactive.
jilyd: well lots of effort leaidng to poor results is a normal part of the early stages of the learning process, but in the end, the effort alone does not cretge value.
aggirlj: Clever at least in finding that road and being low key.
Bookman99R: but effort, in and of itself, is in no way sacred
jilyd: Jane, my granddady used to say that i you want to findthe easy way to do something you give it to a lazy man to do.
morganuci: Clearly, Lamb didn’t want to be radioactive! And didn’t particular want to be a hero (not clear if John Ezra did, or just fell into it).
AGplusone: Does anyone know where “shines the name” comes from?
jilyd: Obviously implicit inthat was an intelligent lazy man with a reason to actually complete the task.
Bookman99R: remember, DL was dedicated to being lazy – he worked _hard_ at it
aggirlj: I always find the easy way if I can. I am lazy too.
toxdoc1947 has entered the room.
Bookman99R: aswide from the Roger Young song, david?
SedaGave: Yes, Rodger Young ballad
AGplusone: Yes, aside from that and Starship Troopers.
Bookman99R: dunno
AGplusone: Bancroft Hall, at the Naval Academy. The names on copper plaques. Kept shinning. All the KIAs or others who died on duty.
jilyd: Yes, isn’t it form the actual WWII -era “Ballad of Roger Young”? Or am I completely misremembering?
AGplusone: You see them every day, coming and going into classes. Every time you pass.
toxdoc1947 has left the room.
morganuci: New topic?
OceanSprite31 has left the room.
AGplusone: Never been there. Found this out from writings of another Naval Academy grad. The one just elected Senator from Virginia. James Webb.
georule1861: Can we have a minor digression?
morganuci: Sure!
georule1861: I’d like to know if Webb gets points for having his aid carrying his gun?
DavidWrightSr: But Rodger Young was in the Army. Would the writer of the ballad used a Navy source?
georule1861: Or loses points for having HIS AIDE carry the gun?
georule1861: From Heinleiners, that is.
AGplusone: confluence I suspect David
morganuci: Loses 🙂
Bookman99R: push
georule1861: I mean, I can lay my hand on a loaded (Tho not chambered) gun without getting out of this chair!
DavidWrightSr: Yeah, I would suspect all the services had their ‘shining names’ memorials
AGplusone: Gains, so the next time W makes an inappropriate comment he doesn’t just pull it out and shoot W
georule1861: Heh.
georule1861: That’s a point.
georule1861: Sort of like counting backwards from 100.
AGplusone: that’s the thought
Bookman99R: does the aide carry it as a regular thing?
georule1861: If you have to ask the aide for your gun you might calm down enough to not use it.
toxdoc1947 has entered the room.
georule1861: Okay, end of digression. Carry on, McDuff.
Bookman99R: LL would probably say loses, thugh
AGplusone: LL might use his knife, not vibroblade, but messy
SedaGave: LL would have several weapons they wouldn’t find
Bookman99R: exactly
georule1861: LL wouldn’t kill him and then feel superior knowing that he could have.
AGplusone: Next question, Tim?
morganuci: “Sheffield had decided, centuries back, that the saddest thing about ephemerals was that their little lives rarely held time enough for love.”
morganuci: Does the title mean that we don’t live long enough to experience the kind of relationship LL had with Dora?
georule1861: Yes.
georule1861: You want the longer answer?
aggirlj: ga
morganuci: If you’ve got one 🙂
DavidWrightSr: I disagree,because I think Dora had that kind of relationship with him.
georule1861: Well, more days than not, I’ll nominate –with Ginny, btw– “The Tale of the Adopted Daughter” as my very favorite Heinlein.
georule1861: Because both of them gave their all.
Bookman99R: true, but was that because she was raised by two older people who could teach her about love, instead of conflicting social norms?
DavidWrightSr: And what counted was the ‘eternal now’
georule1861: I don’t know that if I was Lazarus I could have resisted the temptation.
AGplusone: Hard to be detached when you’re on the same track. Dying of old age too. They both may have been, but Dora knew all along he’d outlive her. Some of that may have influenced her attitude of acceptance.
georule1861: To take her to to Secundus against her will and extend her life.
georule1861: And what does THAT mean about how he felt about the terrible trick pulled on him>
georule1861: ?
GreedyCapitalist has entered the room.
AGplusone: As he promised to do with Maureen before he took the round in the trenches.
morganuci: Good point about Dora. But in the ~1100 years since, LL hadn’t experienced the same thing again, presumably leading to his loss of interest in living.
georule1861: And I think that was part of Dora’s thinking.
georule1861: I think she wanted to be his great love.
Bookman99R: how much of the root question involves weeding out false values for ‘love’?
georule1861: And saw that as the way to do it.
AGplusone: “Greedy Capitalist”? — from the People Republic of Massachuetts?
morganuci: Are there parallels to RAH’s life? The 3rd marriage was the love-of-his-life one.
AGplusone: or at least the “charm” Tim
georule1861: Is there evidence that Dora was LL’s third?
georule1861: Or what are you saying?
AGplusone: I think he’s referring to Ginny
Bookman99R: ll+Dora = RAH+VH?
morganuci: I didn’t mean it that literally, sorry I wasn’t clear. I just meant, you go through some number of relationships before you find the big one.
morganuci: which happened to be 3 in RAH’s case, and some number (probably >> 3) for LL.
georule1861: Oh.
Bookman99R: it’s a good question, though
georule1861: I’m a little misty on this subject right now.
aggirlj: Gawd, you too.
Bookman99R: how many people really find “perfect love”?
morganuci: Exactly! If we had thousands of years, we’d have a better shot at it.
AGplusone: Elinor was a first mistake–she didn’t want to be married on second thought, I suppose. LesLyn got sick. Ginny lasted
georule1861: Two nights ago I read Ginny’s letters to her dead husband 4 weeks and 8 weeks after he passed.
Bookman99R: LL & Dora, RAH & Ginny
georule1861: He loved Leslyn. Ginny knew it.
AGplusone: And he probably loved Elinore at the time of marriage until she made it plain she was dumping him
Bookman99R: you’re on turf where I can’t discuss, Geo
georule1861: “Time Enough for Love” is about the fact that love is not a zero sum game.
morganuci: GA
georule1861: Well, it just isn’t. If you have the time you can have infinite loves.
AGplusone: [Geo: Bill mentioned Elinore Curry by name in a post recently on AFH]
georule1861: I do wonder how Ginny might have felt about that. I don’t think she would have totally agreed.
Bookman99R: how much of RAH’s first 2 marriages is available to the general public?
georule1861: She identified much more with Dora, clearly.
aggirlj: What’s that saying about loving the one you’re with?
Bookman99R: Stephen Stills
georule1861: That’s not saying you can’t, or there’s anything wrong with it.
georule1861: Tho if you’re “settling” that’s not necessarily a good thing.
georule1861: In the “the girls all get prettier at closing time” sense.
Ron0859: “practice makes perfect”?
georule1861: Oh, Bill did?
georule1861: Okay.
georule1861: Deb and I found Elinore’s entry on the 1930 census.
AGplusone: yeah, I wouldn’t have used her name otherwise.
georule1861: Her Dad was a train main.
morganuci: Man?
georule1861: And her grandfather was a Big Man in Kansas.
georule1861: Okay. “Trainman” then
georule1861: She’s on the 1930 census as “Elinore Heinlein”
georule1861: But she was living with her parents.
AGplusone: LNC found the court records of the divorce for Bill.
AGplusone: We all try to help Bill finish that biography!
georule1861: Heh.
georule1861: Yes, we do.
morganuci: Maybe the title means that you’re unlikely to find that kind of love, so you should count yourself lucky if you do.
georule1861: No, it doesn’t.
georule1861: Don’t make me come over there!
georule1861: j/k
morganuci: OK, more about Dora. Would LL have felt differently about her had she been a Howard?
aggirlj: Nope
georule1861: No, but that’s the amazing thing.
georule1861: He’d been canalized for a long time to only make babies with Howards.
AGplusone: “differently” how?
toxdoc1947: probably more distant – howards didn’t seem to be all that close
toxdoc1947: over the long haul anyway
georule1861: I don’t know that we really understand how much LL went against his “programming” to make a bunch of babies with a non-Howard.
georule1861: That wasn’t a lightly taken decision.
morganuci: Maybe she’d have just been another marriage, not THE marriage. Howards go into it knowing they’re going to divorce eventually.
AGplusone: Note how Maureen feels about Stong and t’other guy, the fellow who liked to rent motels whose motel she was on the way when she fell in front of the 18-wheeler.
Bookman99R: I think that you are overstating the caswe some, Geo
georule1861: I’m listening!
georule1861: and sharpening the knife, but go ahead!
georule1861: 😉
Bookman99R: the only real motivator I recall seeing applied to LL was “not a Howard, no money”
aggirlj: Yabbut, he never worried that much about money.
AGplusone: And he certainly didn’t need money when he married Dora, did he?
georule1861: Maybe in 1930’s.
georule1861: Later he knew better.
SedaGave: LL explains that he did enter it as a little-cost-to-himself proposition…what’s 60 years, to him? But he felt differently, later, he fell more deeply in love than he ever had, I’d say
AGplusone: Hocking the overcoat again?
georule1861: I think it would be hard to argue that by the time he married Dora he didn’t have a pretty good idea of what he was and what it meant.
Bookman99R: if it were the kind of indoctrination you are alluding to, it would have been more overt, and less discussed
Bookman99R: true, Geo – but then he got Will Roger’ed
AGplusone: Woody was always ready to head back to Mars or Venus, or “down Mexico way”
Bookman99R: “it sin’t what you don’t know that gets ya, it’s what you do know, that just ain’t so!”
georule1861: Maybe he would have given her one because he wanted to mak her happy.
georule1861: The evidence is he gave her a passle.
AGplusone: except when he got trapped by Love, for Dora, for the Howard Family, for Maureen.
georule1861: Because it made him happy.
Bookman99R: that may be the key to the song
toxdoc1947: ahhh – he’d had a recent rejuvenation
Bookman99R: everything, to LL, was fleeting
AGplusone: What’s the quote in the edited version of Stranger, definition of “love”?
Bookman99R: friends, family, nations
AGplusone: “Love is when their happiness is more important than your own” or some such?
morganuci: That’s right
georule1861: It’s in TEFL too.
georule1861: More or less.
georule1861: First 1/3
Bookman99R: Long, at the time of TEFL, had no particular purpose in life
aggirlj: Bred
aggirlj: Bored, I mean
georule1861: Well.
Bookman99R: beyond bored
AGplusone: That’s why he became an “art critic” … nothin’ else to do.
georule1861: If I were to point at the importance of the Dora story.
georule1861: I’d say it lies in the phrase “that’s when I stopped wanting to live forever”
Bookman99R: Dora gave him a purpose, a Purpose in life
SedaGave: *nods*
morganuci: Right! And so not finding another such relationship in 1100 years was making him give up on life.
Bookman99R: when Dora died, he was bereft of Purose
toxdoc1947: he was celibate for a century or so I seem to remember
toxdoc1947: something about “friction of two membranes rubbibg”
Bookman99R: and had to spend his time on filler purposes
AGplusone: What was his purpose? Write a fiction for Dora in which she has a happier life?
aggirlj: What happier, I think she was very happy.
AGplusone: Only because he became “Bill” and went with her to Happy Valley.
Bookman99R: Note that the ultimate cure for his listlessness was his Tertius family
jilyd: Me, too, Jane. Seems maybe the long-lifer has the harder role in such a mismatched union.
AGplusone: And bring his not-so-virgin mother to her rightful place of Assumption in Heaven.
JJ Brannon has entered the room.
aggirlj: Hi JJ
IrishBet: {{JJ}}
JJ Brannon: ‘Allo! ‘Allo!
morganuci: Hi JJ!
aggirlj: {PBS had a very funny show by that title}
JJ Brannon: I’d be late to my own funeral, I would.
AGplusone: Saving her from the Church of the Great Inseminator …
Bookman99R:
AGplusone: as well.
jilyd: My husband says if I am ontime to mine, better check the box.
JJ Brannon: [As I should after all this practice…]
morganuci: Was Dora a “Chinese obligation”? At what point does it change?
Bookman99R: fair odds that I’ll miss my funeral
SedaGave: Initially, I’d say
georule1861: She started that way.
aggirlj: Define, please Tim.
Bookman99R: I don’t think that there’s a point where it changes, Tim
Bookman99R: more a gradual thing
SedaGave: Like a stray cat
aggirlj: Because he saved her life?
morganuci: A Chinese obligation is supposedly that if you save someone’s life, then you’re responsible for them thereafter.
SedaGave: ahh
georule1861: If my wife stepped in front of a truck tomorrow I’d stay here for the cats, and pretty much thats it.
Bookman99R: didn’t LL say that _Dora_ tought _him_ how to love?
JJ Brannon: Didn’t Hilda Corners-Burroughs-Long describe Lazarus wanting to be a guest at his own?
AGplusone: Well, in that case, Geo, don’t let her keep any dates with a guy in a motel. 🙂
georule1861: Heh.
georule1861: He’d step in front of the truck, David.
georule1861: That’s what the police report would say.
IrishBet: When I die, I’m sure I’ll have a big funeral
jilyd: I think she referred to his need for center stage as a desire to be the bride at every weddign and the corpse at every funeral.
georule1861: And I’d have multiple witnesses I was in public somewhere else far away.
IrishBet: Curiosity seekers coming to see if
georule1861: 😉
IrishBet: I am really dead or just trying
IrishBet: to make trouble
aggirlj: {ba dumb dumb!}
IrishBet: ee cummings
AGplusone: Wasn’t it Rufo who wanted to give the oration at his own at the end of the funeral?
aggirlj: {that was the burlesque drummer}
Bookman99R: no, he sang
georule1861: I wan’t to be executor so I can give away my second best bed.
Bookman99R: an aria, or something
SedaGave: lol
morganuci: I guess what I meant was, at the time they got married, he implies that he saw it as a small time commitment (from his perspective), implying he wasn’t doing it out of wild love at that time.
Bookman99R: see my comment above, Tim
georule1861: Well.
georule1861: He loved her by one definiton.
aggirlj: He was possibly doing for the fun of it!
georule1861: Which is “More concerned for her happiness than his.”
Bookman99R: he said that Dora taught him how to love
georule1861: But I think he didn’t really expect that his happiness was going to suffer much.
georule1861: The cost was low, and Dora was a fun dish.
morganuci: which implies he didn’t know how to love when they married.
Bookman99R: by his assessment at the end, yes.
SedaGave: Yes, she seemed to teach him more than anyone
georule1861: I don’t think we should think of even the beginning of that relationship as LL wasn’t getting his rocks off/needs satisfeid.
georule1861: I think he was.
jilyd has left the room.
georule1861: The amazing thing to him was how much it grew from there.
georule1861: This was not a man without experience.
georule1861: He’d been thru the early years of a lustful/happy marriage before.
georule1861: Several times.
Bookman99R: yes, but love is not an easy concept
jilyd has entered the room.
aggirlj: wb
Bookman99R: wb, Dee
georule1861: Isn’t it?
jilyd: Thanks Jane.
georule1861: What’s not so easy about it is how to get it to last.
IrishBet: Not to a cynic, Geo
IrishBet: He was pretty cynical by then
SedaGave: The memory of Dora still tended to make him momentarily morbid, centuries later, even
georule1861: A cynic can recognize the effect of chemicals and enjoy them at the same time.
aggirlj: lol
IrishBet: Sex is pretty easy to enjoy. A cynic would not expect to tie up his emotions
toxdoc1947: i bet RAH would have gotten around to rescuing her as he did maureen
toxdoc1947: in another book perhaps
georule1861: Whoa, that’s a thought.
Bookman99R: Geo, when “everybody knows” about love, odds are that the answers are pretty scarcs
georule1861: Rescuing Dora might do violence to her wishes.
georule1861: I don’t know that Maureen ever make a conscience decision to die.
georule1861: Dora did.
georule1861: Clearly.
SedaGave: LL wouldn’t go back, that chapter was closed
Bookman99R: hard to do, anyway, since she was closely attended in her final days
toxdoc1947: LL wasn’t too happy when he got “rescued” in the beginning of the book – how many times did he hit the suicide button? three?
aggirlj: I gotta say, I like LL better in this than the last book.
SedaGave: four
morganuci: You mean, NotB?
georule1861: Well, that’s another question to get to tonight.
aggirlj: Yes.
georule1861: Clearly TEFL is on the early Future History charts.
georule1861: As “Da Capo”
AGplusone: I think you’re right, ToxD
georule1861: While writing it, to what degree if at all did he have some visibility of “World as Myth” to come?
georule1861: Or was that all later?
georule1861: No one who “rescued” LL at the beginning of TEFL had ever met him.
Bookman99R: might have been a forerunner
georule1861: They had no real emotional ties or obligations.
georule1861: Ira is pretty clear about that.
morganuci: He at least left himself openings. Given how far ahead he had the basic outline of the future history, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had the idea for WaM in 73
AGplusone: I don’t think he really got aboard the WaM until Number and then only partly. I think he decided to do it after he got the letters that followed Number and Expanded Universe.
Bookman99R: well, it was a novel theme
AGplusone: And after Franklin gave him something to shoot at …
JJ Brannon: No, World as Myth has its roots in Elsewhen.
DavidWrightSr: There are hints to WAM in ‘Elsewhen’ or least I read them that way.
JJ Brannon: That makes two of us. :>)
AGplusone: with Cabell as an example, you could say it might have been in the back of his mind, more or less, always.
Bookman99R: the flip side of it is “Zombies”, not so?
georule1861: I wouldn’t say so.
georule1861: Zombies to me has always been “look ma!”
Ron0859 has left the room.
morganuci: “look ma”?
Bookman99R:Zomies was a look at the Meaning of Life, in the tragic sense
georule1861: Or maybe more accurately “Damon Knight call your office. . . the old man can write finely crafted shorts to blow your f’in mind too.”
georule1861: Well, I’m a bit of a heretic on Zombies, I admit it.
georule1861: I think it’s less about the storytelling than the technique.
georule1861: And the RAH I love is about the storytelling.
AGplusone: Cabell, to explain, decided to tie all his novels, some 20 or 30 or so, together well into writing them. He had to go back and reedit a few.
Bookman99R: if there is no more to the universe that chance and coincidence that brought us all here, with oblivion to follow, then the human experience is a tragedy
aggirlj: [This is news?]
georule1861: L’chaim! to the Tragedy!
georule1861: /me crushes glass under heel.
Bookman99R: and all we can hope to do is strive for the courage in the face of defeat that ARH mentioned
Bookman99R: what is new, jane?
aggirlj: [being cynical and snide]
Bookman99R: is there anything new under the sun?
georule1861: Very little.
georule1861: I think it’s time to prod Tim for a new Question.
morganuci: Great! Here it comes:
morganuci: A lot of the stories contained in TEFL set up unusual relationships, then ask, usually explictly, “Is this relationship acceptable?”
georule1861: Hmm!
morganuci: Each one pushes the envelope a little farther, to make the reader think. Is the Dora relationship another semi-incest situation, since LL raised her?
aggirlj: Yes there are challenges
georule1861: Door into Summer!
georule1861: Y’know, RAH doesn’t seem to believe in evil.
toxdoc1947: why semi-incest – he goes all the way with maureen, laz, and lor
georule1861: The real evil sob like a jeffrey dahlmer
Bookman99R: yes, it’s another look at incest
aggirlj: i am reluctant to admit that sometimes I divest (to use a term) myself of the challenge. Not in my family!
georule1861: The real evil characters in Heinlein are cartoons.
georule1861: He doesn’t emotionally believe in evil sh*ts.
georule1861: And I’m not sure I agree with him there.
toxdoc1947: he wasn’t fond of slace-holders
toxdoc1947: *slave
Bookman99R: I don’t think i agree with you, Geo
toxdoc1947: spaced at least one
AGplusone: If he has evil, it’s soft-peddled, like Dixon.
georule1861: Which part, Bookman?
Bookman99R: I think that RAH just wasn’t much interested in understanding evil
AGplusone: [Been rereading To Sail]
georule1861: Well, there are some evil pedophiliac sobs in the world.
AGplusone: I think he understood it pretty well, just didn’t want to write about the Beasts.
toxdoc1947: true
georule1861: Maybe that was it, David.
Bookman99R: I will say that a lot of what is passed off as “evil”, he wouldn’t agree with
georule1861: He wasn’t exactly a naive man.
georule1861: He’d been a sailor, after all.
georule1861: He’d “been around the world”
AGplusone: Imagine him writing a story from the standpoint POV of Mrs. Keithley: how much like Johann S.B. Smith would she turn out to be?
georule1861: Mrs. Keithley was loud in my brain just now.
AGplusone: Inter sese
aggirlj: Okay, references I cannot understand.
JJ Brannon: I think he was ambivalent about evil.
georule1861: Gulf, Jane.
aggirlj: Thank you.
jilyd: Mrs. Keithlye–the eivil witch in Gulf, Jane.
aggirlj: One on the list.
Bookman99R: and what of the rapist/muderer in SST?
aggirlj: That is very long.
AGplusone: Or Mrs. Grew in Podkayne … just a mercenary like David Lamb. Or Sam Roberts or Richards if he hadn’t had the luck to get off earth.
jilyd: Maybe Rah understood evil plenty but had not desire to cultivate “understanding.” I dount he would have agreed witht hthe sentiment that to know all is to forgive all.
Bookman99R: a side effect of his Naval officer’s training?
AGplusone: That was Dillinger, Rusty. And Dillinger was a hero to Kansas and Missouri while they were chasing him, before the Lady in Red fingered him for the Feds.
Bookman99R: the other guy may be the enemy, and you’ll have to kill him, but that doesn’t make him evil, perhaps?
morganuci: Kip brings up that exact saying in Have Space Suit, as I remember (“to know all…”) saying he doesn’t agree with it.
AGplusone has left the room.
Bookman99R: Dillinger?
AGplusone has entered the room.
Bookman99R: if you’re are talking about RL influences on RAH, Jesse James is _much_ more liekly
aggirlj: wb
georule1861: This is the man who in Glory Road talked about squeamishness re “little brown sisters”
AGplusone: t’anks, whomever that was. Too many windows on my screen. Hit the wrong close button.
georule1861: Jesse James?
JJ Brannon: Consider Between Planets and the agent who interrogates David [?] the protagonist.
georule1861: Dont’ get me started on Missouri influences on Heinlein!
georule1861: You’ll regret it.
Bookman99R: yes, Jesse Jmes
georule1861: And we won’t finish this discussion re TEFL
AGplusone: The SBI agent.
jilyd: I think REAy knew very well the difference between a foe and a villain.
AGplusone: Had a horse himself like Lazy.
Bookman99R: REAy?
aggirlj: Dee, as in those ‘traders’ that were really dumb that Dora and LL had to kill.
AGplusone: That’s what he tells Don.
georule1861: Deb see’s RAH quite alot like Don.
AGplusone: But I bet it wouldn’t have stopped him from torturing the horse.
georule1861: A city kid who plays at ranch/farming.
georule1861: But doesn’t mean he doesn’t love it
georule1861: Just idealized it abit.
Bookman99R: I’m out for a bit – got an errand to run
Bookman99R: later
aggirlj: Glad you could make iut.
morganuci: Bye!
aggirlj: it
jilyd: Yes, Jane, they were evil. Not “honorable enemies” at all.
SedaGave: bye, Bookman!
georule1861: The agent in Between Planets might get my nomination for realizstic SOB enemy in Heinlein.
georule1861: Because he follows the RAH rule of “no man is a villain in his own mind”
georule1861: While still being quite clearly one evil sob.
SedaGave: Headmaster in Red Planet? I forget his name…
georule1861: Not a bad nomination.
georule1861: But a little more cartoonish.
AGplusone: The one who is the reserve officer, and has his call-up orders, Seda?
AGplusone: He’s different than the SBI agent who interrogates Don in Chicago, who tells Don, Dr. Jefferson died of heart failure.
georule1861: Every death is heart failure.
georule1861: One of the more chilling lines in Heinlein.
AGplusone: So Don realizes.
georule1861: I should add, Between Planets was my first RAH.
SedaGave: Oh, I was thinking of Red Planet….
georule1861: So, y’know. . .
AGplusone: Mr. Howe.
SedaGave: ah, yes!
SedaGave: ty
georule1861: My wife, when really annoyed, will write “MYLBLAT!”
jilyd: Folds, I must say goodnoght. enjoyed.
georule1861: Dee, it was beautiful to see you!
aggirlj: Oh, yeah, nice to ‘see’ you Dee.
georule1861: “May you die gloriously!”
SedaGave: bye, Dee!
AGplusone: The SBI agent tells Don if he doesn’t talk they’ll have to fly Lazy the pony in to torture him until Don talks.
jilyd: Give Deb my love.
georule1861: will do
jilyd: Seda Gave, sorry I did not get to :meet” you more thoroughly.
AGplusone: See you, Sir Isaac.
jilyd: G’nite.
SedaGave: Next time, Dee 🙂
jilyd has left the room.
georule1861: So, okay, “MYLBLAT!” means?
AGplusone: Well, we’ve hit two hours quickly. Wanna try three tonight, Tim?
georule1861: Wrong book, I know.
AGplusone: Something Pixel says?
aggirlj: I’m starting to nod.
morganuci: I can go another hour, if everyone’s interested. Perhaps a break?
georule1861: May Your Life Be Long And Tedious!
SedaGave: lol
AGplusone: Still sounds like something Pixel would say.
Bookman99R: bye
georule1861: Heh.
aggirlj: bye
georule1861: Don says it, and Sir Isaac tsks at him.
toxdoc1947: time for me to wind down – really enjoyed it everybody!
JJ Brannon: That’s pretty evil what he does to Don yet Heinlein makes him human, not a cardboard cut-out.
toxdoc1947 has left the room.
SedaGave: Bye, toxdoc!
georule1861: Don says it to the Mrs. Grundy character on the ship to Circum Terra
aggirlj: I’ve got to go. Do we have any suggestions for next meet?
SedaGave: TEFL part deux?
AGplusone: We didn’t get, really, to Da Capo.
aggirlj: That’ll work, I’m almost done.
SedaGave: it’s a big book
georule1861: It is a big book.
morganuci: Nothing’s planned yet. We can continue with TEFL. I agree, there’s lots more to discuss.
georule1861: I didn’t even get to Vietnam.
AGplusone: Maybe some pre-meeting posts?
JJ Brannon: Time Enough for Discussion!
aggirlj: Sounds good.
morganuci: I was out of town for the last ~1.5 weeks, so I didn’t have a chance this time.
AGplusone: You didn’t miss much, Geo, except the cooked dog.
SedaGave: And I’m half way thru Caleb Catlum’s America…
georule1861: Heh.
aggirlj: Why don’t you start it David? Some questions that maybe I could answer.
georule1861: We should do that as a subject sometime.
georule1861: Try to bring in multi volumes.
IrishBet: Cooked dog?
aggirlj: [We’r bro and sister for those of you who don’t know]
georule1861: Trooper, Glory Road, Moon, TEFL.
AGplusone: On TEFL questions … okay, I’ll do a little something I haven’t come up with before. Expect something a little farther out than usual. Help if everyone posted something. We can answer each others questions.
georule1861: Look at the whole picture rather than the microcosms.
morganuci: OK
georule1861: Re the charge of “militarism”
aggirlj: Okay, then, it was neat. Bye for now.
georule1861: ta
AGplusone: everyone knows how to find AFH?
SedaGave: Bye!
JJ Brannon: Wait! CCA is still in print???
georule1861 has left the room.
aggirlj has left the room.
AGplusone: I’ll put the question in the same thread.
morganuci: OK, then. Good night all!
AGplusone: find it on abebooks if not, JJ.
SedaGave: I bought mine used….a nice copy, tho….retired from Univ of Minnesota
: I enjoyed everyone’s company. Thanks!
SedaGave: Bye, all who are leaving!
SedaGave: I got mine at biblio
AGplusone: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&y=0&tn =Caleb+Catlum&x=0
JJ Brannon: Thanks! Night all!
AGplusone: Got a full log, anyone?
JJ Brannon has left the room.
DavidWrightSr: Got it
AGplusone: okay, I’ll jump off now then
DavidWrightSr: Night David!
AGplusone: Night all.
AGplusone has left the room.
morganuci has left the room.
IrishBet has left the room.
SedaGave: /exit
SedaGave: oop
SedaGave has left the room.
DavidWrightSr: Night all.
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