theschnauzers

I think if you go back a chapter or two and look at the timeline of what was going on in the different places that fateful Sunday you could piece together which Lou has died. Given who was trying to call Drew, and who the connections would be with, I think it becomes apparent. The real question is whio did it, how they did it, and just how angry our friend from AOI is going to be about the security breakdown whereever it was. Am I getting warm, Jack?

Well, I'm getting a little worried about the four punks. Although its' a fortuitous sign that the collies are staying for an extended visit.

It's a good first step as to Cray and Jack, but there's a lot of stuff each of them is keeping surpressed, and it'll be interesting to see if either Jack or Cray learn the full extent to which Cray's mom and step-father were sent a clear message a few years back. Lou worries me, and I wonder if Spence knows how much he may be put at risk being in Lou's company, whether in Manhattan or Las Vegas. Lou's itinerary worries me. I wish Mario had been told by somehow how risky it is for anyone to be around Lou, Junior. Maybe Greg will get around to that the next time he gets out of L.A.; my spidey-sense is tingling.

I suspect part of the problem is that no one knew Chapter 5 had been posted; it was never announced.

Spike was being "wicked smart" in how he handled Lou. And someone must have briefed Spence since he made sure Lou, Jr., was aware of his parental role for his brother. I have to wonder if Lou, Jr., isn't thinking with his little brain in thinking he can get Spence up to New York for a whole weekend notwithstanding. It will be interesting to see what Spike is dreaming up for marketing the new club, since Lou's call sort of interrupted him. Anyhow I really enjoyed this chapter, Jack.

What the last two chapters showed is that in at least some ways, Lou. Junior, is an idiot who thinks too often with the wrong brain. And who is even likely to ever report Davey's disappearance? I doubt the Russian mobsters will call the NYPD and I doubt there is a student missing from Columbia U.

I haven't commented in a few chapters, but I do like the way this story is evolving. Cray has had to mature emotionally more quickly than he might have expected, but you know, maybe he really had outgrown Michael and really did need a kick in the pants to move on. And it's not like Cray hasn't been a good influence on Spike in the past. Right now, they're good for each other and the age difference is the least important factor in that relationship, Now I think Bob has sort of realized that in this chapter, but it may be Drew who'll get that on point sooner (especially as Spike will be working for him in the new nightclub operation; and it wouldn't surprise me at all if Cray comes up with some ideas (as he's also in the targeted demographic and is now part of it, actually.) Oleg certainly has a fast brain stem, doesn;t he. I hope he's careful; he doesn't need to be treated like Jack Bauer by the bad guys.

I certainly expected something with Spike's moving day; and Cray is a smart man, he read Spike's mind, even before Spike realized it. Spence made an assumption with his little brain rather than his big brainl I'm not sure that Cray, with his prior knowledge about the nature of the escort business would have given Spence the time of day as far as what Spence was looking for. Spence needs a little growing up. He thinks he has his life under control, but I'm not so sure. Something tells me Kevin is going to figure out how Spence is actually earning money soon enough.

I thought I'd post something in this thread in case a reader of Storm Front hassn't heard the news. This Sunday, December 13th, marks the conclusion of the story when Ty posts the final chapter of the Storm Front saga at the StormNation site. Some of the characters will appear in a sequel, Tempest Fore, but from what Ty's said, for Storm and the Pack, this final chapter is it.

I've read some science articles recently that suggest Dan's theory about recording brain patterns would include the electrical patterns that make up memories may not be far off in reality. They've used CAT scans to show how and where the brain recorded something and then show that the brain had recorded that information through electical activity patterns. Combine that with some of the recent theories on what the space/time dimension is and how one cpuld be moved along it, and the device used in the Do Over stories becomes more and more plausible. As to the story itself, there's one thread of plot (involving the Chinese) that was sort of left hanging out there somewhere. Given how the North Koreans, and then the Iranians, became influenced in nuclear research and development in part due to the Chinese over the years, (not to mention the Indians and the Pakistanis, and the threat of al Queda with their access to money) it's not a hard stretch to see a more contemporary set of villains trying to tinker with the past to change the present using their own version of the Do Over technology.

I believe there was mention in Chapter 3(?) that Spencer's parents were killed, and that Spencer ended up with custody as his brother's guardian as he was of legal majority at that point. I don't think there's much mystery about it. And Drew is being very clever with that job that Spike can fill. Making a "hot" spot in competition with "the Twins" ought to be interesting. I'm expecting more interaction between Spike and Cray....as my feeling is that they'll be the connectors of this story before its over with.

Actually Jack, I had intended a different meaning than what you took from my earlier comment, but that's OK. Both of them are in similar situations right now, and how they'lll likely get something from each other in dealing with their similar circumstances. What that something is could be anything.

Another great piece of the set-up, as I don't think we're quite done laying the groundwork for the story. Looks like to me that Spike and Cray are in very similar circumstances being dumped on little notice by their ex-es and having to rebuild their lives. Maybe there's more to this big bro - little bro thing they have than we had thought.

I've tried twice to post my thoughts on this chapter, and both times Windows Vista seems to cause Firefox to freeze up. (This problem only showed up a couple of weeks ago when Microsoft issued a massive 17-part security bulletin, so I'm pretty sure it's them.) Anyhow, I enjoyed this start, andI'm curious to see how the background events (the recession in LV, which took one of the worst hits from the collapse of the mortgage market and the mega-banks); I can see how that can introduce all sorts of conflicts in the story that would be unexpected. (Not that LA would be any better off which tells me you might have fuel for another Splash novel as well.) It will be interesting as well to see how Cray meets the added challenges created by Michael. (I hope Michael finds his new plans backfire a little, no make that a lot.) I have a feeling Spile is going to be in a better position to help Cray deal with the relationship challenge more than Drew and Bob. But that's just speculation on my part, and I'm usually off-base, so I'll shut up now. (All those typos fixed-- that's what happens when I type after 3 am.)

There are a few more that should be added to the list. Some of these involve characters and relationships that started in hi: Dan Hanratty's work-in-progress, Beloved. It's posted on his site hosted here at GA. (It's unrelated to his earlier triology.) Reclaiming Alex is almost finished, Billy the Kid has implied there's only a few chapters left, but his pace is not as frequent as the earlier chapters. Fraternity Memoirs, even though it won't be finished, is still worth a read. CRVboy os hosting several writers with stories that have a college setting including Jeff Allen, JW Smith, BndgDawg, Jess Mercer, Tim Mead, Jack Scribe's Splash series, his Vegas series, and his other series set in Chicago and Washington posted both here and at CRVboy, and the Foley-Mashburh series by Brew Drinker.

You do realize that the same man wrote three of those final episodes --Ronald D. Moore! Clearly the finales Moore wrote for both TNG and DS9 contribute technique to the BSG finale. (Flashbacks/flashforwards from TNG, the mysticism and conclusion of an epice tale in DS9.) I liked the finale a lot. Well, maybe "liked" is too mild a word. I loved it, I thought it was brilliantly done all the way around, and I can't wait to get my hands on the extended version which we'll get in the DVD set whenever NBCU decides to let us have it. I know there's been criticism of the Coda, but not from me. One of the points of the series has been the ethical/moral questions that have already started in terms of how humanity is going to deal with both "articifical life" and "artifical intelligence." And that didn't bother me at all. Nor the dialog (Head-Six reading the lead paragraph of the magazine article about the discovery of what presumably were Hera's skeletal remains. There's much current theory thaat supports RDMs use of the "Eve" theory with Hera, including a study publsihed after he had written the finale that at one point within that time period based on DNA analysis, the population of homo sapiens had actually gone as low as 2,000 people before things turned around and humaity began to multipy. We got many answers, although there are some we didn't get especially with respect to Kara and some aspects of how "Watchtower" played into everything. (Bear McCreary hasn't posted his blog for "Daybreak" yet, and I'm betting he may give us some insights about "Watchtower" than Moore hasn't. And reading Bear's blog has been one of the side joys that has come with BSG. His explanations of how the music informs the scenes (and which music he chooses to use) has been a weekly treat that I'll miss as much as the show itself.

On the differencing perceptions of words as sarcasm, humor, irony and whatnot. The printed word without more often does not convey these things, and often will be misconstrued unless one can convey the sense of them. One of the wonders of the internet age is the smilely, which helps conveys the way words are typed. Just sayin'.

So Rory and his boss are just a tad bit vindictive. (and I'm sure that will turn out to be an understatement.) A fast start, indeed. Jack, I'm one of those who normally take my time commenting. I'm not sure that I'm inclined to repeat myself after every chapter. What about the "Domes and Teapots"/"Other Avenues" guys? Its been three years, and so much material to work with from both Chicago and D.C. Just sayin'

Was that the devilish cliffhanger? Have to wait and see where this is going.

Make sure you also play the enhanced version of each webisode. Jane Eperson, who co-wrote these webisodes is doing the commentary. And Sci Fi is airing a preview on January 11th at 11pm etc., "Twn Things You Need to Know about BSG." They've also gotten a updated version of the 8 minute summary of the series so far (you know, the one with the rapid-fire narration).

Dan, let me send Thanksgiving greetings back at ya. (And my recuperating mini schnauzer would, as well, if she could type!)

Don't ask me why, but when I read the publicity for the new season of Big Brother U.S., which starts airing on Sunday, I thought of Kyle in reading about Steven, who is a gay rodeo cowboy competitor from Texas who is in the BB10 cast. He's featured in a couple of the CBS commercials, and he speaks in a west Texas drawl...and admits he hasn't spent any time around minorities. Whether Steven looks like Kyle is a question only Dan can answer.

I guess that since I was the one who asked about when we'd see the remaining chapters of LDI back in October? November? I ought to provide my depreciated $.02 worth. At the point where Chapter 26 left us all hanging, I had absolutely no firm idea where Dan was going to take it, so this resoultion is as good as any others I might have expected. I'm n9ot saying that it's not good, it's just I could concieve of all sorts of potential directions at that point. The Gulag wasn't really one of them, though. Is it the END-end? With Dan who knows. For me, it was the characters of Davey and Brian and Brandon and Trevor and Sean and Todd that were the heart of the series. I'll agree with those who think you've left a back door open if you choose. But if this is the END, then it's been one heck of a ride, and I've enjoyed every minutes of reading it. What more can I say?

Given the less understood use of "government contractors," as the instigators and agents of the bad guys (invoking Halleburton and Blackwater in the vein of Jericho's Jennings and Rail and Ravenwood) I'm not quite ready to directly lay this at the feet of the Sinclair uncle. From the last few paragraphs of the chapter, I get the impression that Uncle Sinclair might have initiated it at some level, but it seems other parties are afoot, since having this chain of events be solely the work of the uncle is too simple. I suspect that as each layer gets unpeeled, we'll see yet another manifestation of it ultimately being the uncle, but in the meantime we're going to see all sorts of intermediaries.

So far, CNN and the New York Post seem to be handling the circumstances with care and relying on NYPD sources, thanksfully. It appears there were over-the-counter sleeping pills near the bed. He was found by his housekeeper who called EMS who were there in a matter of minutes. And the housekeeper apparently had gone into the bedroom to gwt Heath up so he could go to an appointment. So it's sounding like if it was an overdose it was accidential, or it could be something else such as an allergic reaction, or something totally unrelated to an kind of medication. Heath has had a string of popular, successful, or critically acclaimed movies. If I understood rightly, he has other movies that are is post-production or awaiting release in addition to The Dark Knight. I only got around to seeing Brokeback Mountain on DVD at Christmas (other things have been going on for the past couple of years for me, and I finally was in the mood to watch it. it really is tragic, and his talent will be missed.