Great idea here.  Shoot M-16s, GAUs, and S&W combat specials (.38) while in the USAF. Military has since gone to .45s for the greater stopping power, but so long as it is cleaned as needed the old .38s were pretty sturdy weapons. Reverse true with M-16s, which we said "were made by Mattel" because of all the plastic parts. The GAUs were basically M-15s with metal telescoping stocks, designed for K-9 troops or folks getting in and out of vehicles a lot. As a security police officer I used GAUs a lot. With the metal stock, they could in emergencies used as a club, especially in situations where there was risk of the slugs going thru walls and hitting people not involved in various situations. The 16s had great stopping and penetration power for the most part, but our 16s jammed up on a regular basis while out on the firing line, even when recently cleaned. For a while we officers were allowed to carry both S&W and either 16s/GAUs when on duty, the rifle for when we were in support of security for nuclear weapons and warbirds, the .38s when working the law enforcement side of the house.

Also fired 40mm weapons and m60 machine guns enough to be able to use one if needed, but not enough to be really familiar with them. Except to say the old m60s were big enough and heavy enough that only really strong people (mostly guys) could actually carry them around and shoot them at the same time, mostly as a suppression weapon as you can't aim at all well under those circumstances. If I was to shoot one, i'd want to be flat on the ground behind it, on the side away from the brass eject 'chute.' 40 mike mikes on the other hand are pretty light, are usually mounted underneath a M16 (well, they were in the USAF at the time I was in). Easy to fire, but you can't really aim it real well.

Main problem with most weapons as used in fiction is that the majority of them really need to be kept clean. Some of the old Soviet AKs could keep on shooting even under grungy conditions, which is why, even while they are a relatively old design, there are so many of them, as well as knock offs of the design, out there and in use...plus they could use many types of ammo as well. Made them a big favorite of insurgent / guerilla forces all over the world.

Used to make all sorts of wine, back when we had a bigger house with half basement. Used a five gallon glass carboy (big glass bottle with narrow neck) and a device called a stop cock that let's air out but not in to ferment the wine before bottling. Used old wine and glass soda bottles and kept the bottles in the cool cellar while they aged. Lots of fruit and veggie wines for the most part. Dandelion wine, rice wine, cranberry wine (used to buy lots of bags of cranberry after Christmas was over!) apple wine, watermelon wine... The cranberry and watermelon wines turned out the best. Check amazon for books on home wine making, as well as supplies like stop cocks, wine yeast, and so on.

Nope. Naomi mentioned above as one of the authors / series that JB likes, and transciber was not sure of series name. Just trying to clarify the reference, as I recently started reading those books.

Heh. Shecky mentioning Diamond DAve Roth and all the short jokes reminds me of a joke we used to tell back the first time Roth was with Van Halen. My roommates and I used to call him Mr. Five-and-Dime. When asked why, we would explain it was because Dave never had any one night stands. He had five and ten minute stands instead...

Well, it was funny at the time....

I think Cen means Guide Dog as in Seeing Eye Dog. Am I right, Cen?

I've been far more involved with wine making than beer, so hope y'all don't mind a bit of wine making notes added to the beer and ale! First, it's the time of year to look for the last of the watermelon crop. If the melon(s) are a bit soft, still ok for making watermelon wine. Second, right after Christmas/New Years the cranberries usually go on sale - and cranberry wine is great!

It seems to me that in this book Harry is starting to really THINK about what he's doing, about the situation(s) he gets into, and looking/planning more than a few minutes into the future. I expect he'll still rush off half - cocked into bad situations, but perhaps not as often. Eventually, if he continues learning and thinking, he'll have the knowledge, skill sets and experience to truly be able to use the vast amounts of power he seemingly can tap in a far more effective and efficient manner.

There were parts of this book that made me cringe, like Murphy's reactions to Harry's telling her about locating Areside's gang. I can understand WHY she has changed, and suspect this is going to be a fairly major continuing character thread for a while. I just hate seeing the character turning into a less likable, less ... Well, noble isn't quite the word I want, more like she was willing to try to see the good in even not-so-good folks. More able to see shades of gray in life, in people, and not mostly in terms of black and white, you're either good or evil, once you'vevbeen turnedvto evil there is no turning back...hope this makes some sense, I know I'm not being as clear as I'd like.

Yeah, there are ghosts / spirits I wish Harry would have encountered, but you can't have everything. As far as folks reacting to finding out Harry is still alive, well, that just makes the wait for the next book that much more...excruciating! Perhaps not the best book in the series, but even the not-best of such a grat series is still pretty damn good. And there were some really great moments in this book, too. I especially enjoyed 'meeting' the reaper / angel of death that was guarding Father Forthill - or rather, guarding his soul. Seeing the growth and maturity Mortimer has experienced was a pleasant surprise, as well as meeting Sir Stuart and the fact Uriel was able to 'heal' him and more or less take him into his service. The Mollyprise was an imaginative detail I would never have expected. And the whole scene of Harry's 'rebirth' and the three way argument / discussion between him, Mab and Deathreach was fantastic.

Yeah, I really liked the book and yep, it's due for a re-read after I go back and read the st of the series again so I can see more of the places where various plot and character threads are intertwining and weaving such a sumptuous story...

Yep. Rust's business blog makes fascinating reading, and she keeps up to date on what is going on in publishing. Especially helpful if you are a writer who might be interested in epublishing...