C James

Thanks! It's coming along well, I think. Having my internet access be so temperamental has at least left me extra time for writing, and I'm using it.

Sorry for being gone! Fall is a hectic time for me, and I've had internet trouble which has kept me largely offline (GA, and every other site, keeps hanging due to packet loss.) I have, however, been writing! "Circumnavigation" now has 10 chapters already in beta, and about 10 more in my working file, and I'm forging ahead with it. I needed to get to chapter 10 as some plot issues might have needed changes to the begining, and it's a darn good thing I waited to post; they did! I hope to start posting it very soon.

The Jatos can, theoretically, be mounted downnwards to give some vertical lift. They can also be mounted facing forwards for breaking. This has been tried, once... for Operation Credible Sport. A crash ended that operation, but they built three prototypes. It also shows that the C-130 airframe can handle a lot of Jatos. :-) Heat wouldn't the the issue; structural stress would.

It was seven JATO's per side for The Scar's takeoff from La Palma, for a total of fourteen. They put out a thrust of over 1000lbs each, so that's 14,000 pounds of thrust for the jury-rigged 14. Is that marginal for takeoff? Yes, but my best guess is that it's feasible for a lightly-laden C-130. I based that on a quick, back-of-the-envelope analysis of takeoff thrust from the props. The problem is, those engines are rated in horsepower, so you have conversion issues with the props, etc. I came up with a rough estimate of 5000 pounds per engine, then cut it by 1/4 because I know a C-130 can do a three-engine takeoff. That put it in the ballpark at 14k pounds of thrust, so i went with fourteen JATOS. Of course, i might have blown the horesepower-to-thrust conversion, but I hope not.

Ahh, French cooking! Hrmm??? Well, would the culprit be from France by any chance? Just remember one of my favorite Frank Zappa quotes. "There is no Hell. There is only France." Circumnavigation is doing well. I've been on a bit of a writing binge, and the novel is now past its halfway point, and I intend to start sending chapters out for beta this weekend. Sorry for the delay, but when the must hits, i tend to follow, so i concentrated on getting draft text down rather than on prepping the early chapters. And did Tequila play a role? Who knows?

The Crazy goat one, I'm afraid to say, is clearly a result of tequila. The commercial one, LoL! Ah, and as far as fainting goats go; they are real. Tennessee Fainting Goats literally "faint" when startled or scared. It's actually an involuntary spasm, a little like a seizure. This is not an optical predator-avoidance strategy.

Sorry for being gone so long!! I've had internet connection trouble, plus home repairs to do, and life just got too hectic. I hope my internet trouble is fixed. Okay, I'll give a fast update here and then go through the forum later today. The novel "Jake" (for Premium) is complete and in editing. The novel Circumnavigation (for my site) is well underway. A bad internet connection has not kkept me from writing. However, I needed to get to around chapter 14 to settle a small time reference early on. The good news is, I'm past that point. The bad news is I still have to get this into beta and editing. I'll update on progress, but hopefully this one will begin soon. Sorry for being gone. CJ

Howdy, ya big toothy feline! I hate to tell you this, but for some reason, that I simply cannot fathom, forum readers don't seem to accept the emote easily. CJ

You're agreeing with one of my posts? Okay, who is this really, and what you you done with Graeme? Graeme, I'm shocked! Don't you know that Cheddar is supposed to be a tasteless block of yellow salt? Actually, I like Cheddar, sharp Cheddar, that's from you guessed it, Cheddar, in the UK. I tried it there years ago, and what a difference! For some reason, there's little difference in price for imported cheese in my area, so that's what I get. I love European cheeses, and due to the price being not all that much different, that's what I get. Smoked Provalone from Italy is another favorite of mine. One thing I like to do (and did in Italy a few months ago) is do some of my own meals, because I like grocery shopping overseas. The cheese selections in northern Italy are the best I've found anywhere. Oh, and here's on you'll love; Outback Steakhouse, an American chain, that specializes in what they call Australian food. It bears about as much resmblance to Australian food as the "American" breakfast I had in Hong Kong a few years ago (Egg rolls, pickled eggs, and tofu.) does to American. I'm not sure I agree with you on Italian Pizza. The ones I had there were baked open-hearth in fires, but they were very thin crust that went crispy, which I didn't like at all (this was in rural Tuscanny, in several Trattoria). In Naples, I liked the crust a little better, but found the toppings, as you say, very lacking. For example, just tomato sauce, a little cheese, and that was it. Now, over in the Venetio, near Venice, I did have a decent one, lots of toppings, but that's the only one I can remember that was good, and that was ten years ago. So, my advice is, if you're visiting Italy, you'll probably be dissapointed in the Pizza. Better, IMHO, to try other local fare, such as Calzones and regional dishes. In Rome, you get a fair selection of Italian regional restaurants, and in Italy there is a huge variation by region, especially north to south. My own preference is Tuscan; they use more meat in the north of Italy than the south, and Tuscan cooking does wonderful things with cured ham for flavoring. I also learned to stay the heck out of "Tuscan" resturuants in the US; those were a big dissapointment to me. Another Italian regional fare not to be missed; Aostan, from the Valle De Aosta, up where Italy, France, and Switzerland meet in the Alps. It's a mix of norther Italian, German and French. But like anywhere, avoid the tourist areas (for example, I love Venice and stayed five days there last year, but my advice for eating there: don't!) and ask locals. The Chinese food on your Chinese-language menus is, I'm guessing, very much akin to what I had in China. Mainly, I found it a lot plainer that what Chinese food in the US or Europe. One area where I heartily endorse the regional food; Argentina. Best beef ever, period, especially when marinated and done on a rack over an open fire, as many restuants there do. Another must-try; Empanadas. They are superb there. Korea... Hrmm. Mixed opinions from me there. I liked the Dim Sum, and Kimche. The barbecued ribs, in kind of a teriaki sauce, were good too. They also do Ginsing everything, some of which is very good. The one thing I remember most there; the soft drink cans. The openings are on the bottom, not the top. So, you end up drinking from what is likley to be the cleaner end (not the dusty one). Turkey: Coffee! Turkish coffee. Italy has my favorite coffee, but Turkish Coffee packs a wallop. It's kind of like drinking mud, and is an acquired taste, but I loved it. Russia... I was only there for a few days so don't have much of an opinion, but... If they offer Stroganoff, avoid it. They do not do it well. Vodka... Try it. They have many grades, and some of their prime is very good. Some of their standard brands are enough to make your eyes water when you do a shot. And while I'm at it, Estonia... Try the Lieb (spelling?) If you like really, really thick and dark black bread, you'll love it. It's my favorite. (one thing in America; the breads here, even the "premium" or "specialty" types, are usually darn near tasteless. Prime sourdough being the only good exception that comes to mind offhand)). I'm going to stop now because, darn it, I've gone and made myself hungry, and I don;'t have anything good to eat in the house.

Lol, it wasn't Mexican food that made me ill. I know that much, mainly because I hadn't had any! The Mexican food in AZ, BTW, is a mixed bag; it's sure as heck better than you'll find in, say, the Pacific Northwest, and the Pacific Northwest has better Mexican than you'll find in the UK. (yep, they have it there, and it is horrible! In the UK, try Indian, not Mexican!). In my area (Northern Arizona) you get some places where I suggest never eating, like Sedona (Beware; tourist food is never good!) or other tourist meccas. In the mountain towns I suggest avoiding Mexican, as it's never that good up here IMHO. Lower down, such as the Verde valley (Except Sedona) they have some good Mexican places (and a few bad ones) but in the high country, not so much. What we do have up here are a few decent Barbecue places, but that's all I'd recommend within a hundred miles in any direction. Most of the rest is what I call diner food, yuck. In the southern half of the state, as long as you're not in a tourist or retirement area and avoid all chains, you can find some decent mexican food. Better than in Mexico, which isn't really saying a lot... Having eaten Chinese food in China, Thai in Thailand, Indian in India, etc, I'm of the opinion that this is the rule rather than the exception; if you want to eat "Ethnic" food, don't do it in the country its from of you may well be dissapointed. Two particular don'ts: Pizza in Italy and Tappas in Portugal. Horrible compared to the overseas versions, IMHO. On the other hand, French food in France is pretty good, and German food in some parts of Germany, superb. But, for really good Mexican food, IMHO there's only one place to go: New Mexico. Ask around when you get there, and avoid the tourist places and chains, and you'll get a real treat.

ROFL! Goat-milking! Well, as for the hiatus; it ended up lasting about 24 hours, and then resuming for another 24 yesterday; I had a wonderful case of food poisoning, and if y'all aren't nice, I'll share the details. However, the long hiatus (Hiatuses?) are now over. I'm back to work on Circumnavigation. The prologue and chapter one are drafted, but I want to get chapter two completed before I send anything out for beta... hopefully today, but more likley tomorrow. Anyway, I did want to let y'all know that the hiatus (Hiatuses?) are over, and I'm working on Circumnavigation again.

Happy Birthday, Meeko!

I have been remiss on my duties, and had missed the anniversary! However, better late than never, so a belated Happy Anniversary for the Mother of All Cliffhangers, LiS 26!

Now, now, Your Froggyness, let's be reasonable here... You have long displayed your skills at declaring cliffhangers, so therefor, I think we can say conclusively, you are now in an ideal position to deal with them preemptively, should any occur. Besides, we all know that I never use cliffhangers, so therefor, if there are any, it stands to reason they were added during beta, right? :ranger: Questionable?? Has the Frog been adding cliffies again?? I always suspected that he's a cliff-chirping-frog, so that fits! What? Take over GA? Would I even think of such a thing? Ummm, when the site name changes to Goats 'R Us, it'll be just a coincidence, honest! Well, there isn't an Eric in Jake... But... there might possibly be one in Circumnavigation. Ahh, but, you are most often depicted with horns...

Tequila? I'll be there shortly!

Krista for Queen of Cliffhangers! That has such a nice ring to it, I think.

HaPPY Birthday, Steve!!! You've been through so much, so many trials, in recent months. I hope your Birthday is a good one, because you sure deserve it.

Okay, some major news on the writing front. Yesterday, I completed the writing phase of "Jake", the new novel for Premium. There is still much work to do, especially for my team (Many of who haven't seen any of it yet), but the writing is done. Guess what that means? Well, I'm going on hiatus, to relax and recover, before I resume writing "Circumnavigation", which is a serial for my site. How long will this long, long hiatus last? I'm not sure, because I have to go out this afternoon and don't know how long I'll be out. At worst, I'll be back late tonight, so, worst case, the long writing hiatus between Jake and Circumnavigation will be over sometime before midnight tonight. Unlike "Jake", where I decided to write it in it's entirety before posting any (or even letting my team see it) Circumnavigation will be posted as a serial, and I will be sending the first couple of chapters into Beta this weekend, I hope. Anyway, Sorry for the long gap between Changing Lanes and Circumnavigation; I'd hoped it would be far shorter than it has been. Now, for some big team news! The team has a new member! Our very first Frog! MikeL has joined as a beta reader, and he's also now in charge of the cliffhanger-avoidance committee, so he's taken on the responsibility of ensuring that the chapters are cliffhanger-free (So, if anyone sees what they think might be a cliffhanger, that's MikeL's department, not mine!) Welcome aboard, Your Amphibiousness! CJ

This calls for a round of editor-teasing!

Eric, Shhhh! I get a great deal of free booze this way! I have indeed been busy (including things other than drinking) but... Things are getting better. In fact, I have a couple of announcements to make in another thread (I'll call it "News". How original!)

I should probably keep my big mouth shut... but... Could somebody please explain to me WHY a Harvy Milk Day is not one of the dumbest ideas ever? This, folks, it a tailor-made issue for the right to bash us over the head with; we're pressing for something irrational, something that also involves kids. Can't anybody see why that's a political disaster in the making? Let's be clear on the actual history: how did Harvey Milk die? Hint: his sexuality didn't have anything to do with it. He was assassinated, along with the mayor (who was the prime target) by a political enemy of Milk's; fellow supervisor Dan White. I've never seen any evidence that Milk's sexuality was a factor. (which kind of makes the whole "he died for the cause" thing preposterous). Framing "Harvey Milk Day" as an ode to someone who "died for gay rights" is irrational in the extreme, and hands out opponents a wonderful weapon to use against us. Edit to add: This certainly does not mean I agree with the homophobic types who are also against this bill. Just because one side is wrong does not make another side right. I have a deep and abiding dislike of the whole "commemorative day" movement, for any subject. It long ago reach absurdity, with awareness month for this, history week for that, and commemorative days for everything and everyone. However, if a commemorative day for a gay man is a good idea, why on earth not Matthew Shepard?

This is one of my favorites of Graeme's short stories. Graeme has a unique gift; he always gives us unexpected twists. This story did that, and much more. One thing it IMHO did; it highlighted the absurdity of current marriage laws. Thank you, Graeme, for a very entertaining story, one that is thought-provoking on many levels. CJ

Very thought provoking. He managed to break the cycle, and get a well-deserved little payback.

Very evocative, especially the ending. My read of it was that Brain was, in effect, trapped in the museum; he'd become just as much a fixture there as the statues. Their demise allowed him a new start. I also very much liked the "riding into the sunset".

I know, sorry!! I've had a lot of stuff do deal with offline; work, car repairs, house repairs, etc. Jake is in Beta, and I have to add a few scenes, otherwise it's done. Cirumnavigation, the next serial for the public site, has just a couple of chapters at the moment, but I'll start on it full-time as soon as Jake is done (Sunday, at the latest). BTW, you'll see "Jake" chapters very shortly, and "Circumnativation" ones soon. CJ