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Friday Night Vodka-Buzz. Ask me anything. (Original Post) Aristus Dec 2019 OP
Who is the best James Bond? RockRaven Dec 2019 #1
My favorite is Daniel Craig. Aristus Dec 2019 #4
All of the Bonds had their own good points, even Roger Moore. brush Dec 2019 #26
State Bird of Pennsylvania Botany Dec 2019 #2
The Ruffled Grouse. Aristus Dec 2019 #5
Got a bottle of JW Blue GP6971 Dec 2019 #3
$$$! Aristus Dec 2019 #6
It's Excellent!! GP6971 Dec 2019 #9
What is the purpose of the Infield Fly Rule? The Velveteen Ocelot Dec 2019 #7
To prevent the fielding team from deliberately dropping an easy pop-fly Aristus Dec 2019 #8
Ok. I knew that, but... Sophiegirl Dec 2019 #15
Okay. You got me. Aristus Dec 2019 #16
Every day, in every way.... Sophiegirl Dec 2019 #17
The Nationals. Aristus Dec 2019 #18
I humbly accept Sophiegirl Dec 2019 #19
I didn't Google it. Aristus Dec 2019 #20
I won! Sophiegirl Dec 2019 #21
Cool! Aristus Dec 2019 #22
When is Tu Bish Vat this year? mucifer Dec 2019 #10
It was January 21st of this year. Aristus Dec 2019 #11
Do you truly love us all? California_Republic Dec 2019 #12
Yes. Aristus Dec 2019 #13
Nice. California_Republic Dec 2019 #14
Champagne tonight my dear Aristus kimbutgar Dec 2019 #23
I almost hate to say it, but Saudi Arabia. Aristus Dec 2019 #24
Wow was a beautiful description ! kimbutgar Dec 2019 #25
Thank you for the 'A'. Aristus Dec 2019 #27

Aristus

(66,075 posts)
4. My favorite is Daniel Craig.
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 12:17 AM
Dec 2019

I have a bit of a man-crush on him...

I know conventional wisdom says Connery is the best. But a read-through of the novels might suggest that Craig and Timothy Dalton came closest to Ian Fleming's character.

brush

(53,467 posts)
26. All of the Bonds had their own good points, even Roger Moore.
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 12:23 PM
Dec 2019

I wasn't sold on Craig at first but he won me over with his performances. I rate him and Connery as the top two Bonds, with Brosnan a close third.

GP6971

(31,013 posts)
9. It's Excellent!!
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 12:30 AM
Dec 2019

But I wouldn't buy it....too much $$$. Never had it before...have had JW Gold and Silver on Korean Airlines which are also very good.

Two shots and then it gets locked away.

For a question...never understood MLB's Rule Five Draft.

Aristus

(66,075 posts)
8. To prevent the fielding team from deliberately dropping an easy pop-fly
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 12:23 AM
Dec 2019

forcing the runners to advance into a possible double or triple-play.

Sophiegirl

(2,338 posts)
17. Every day, in every way....
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 01:20 AM
Dec 2019

Learning is fun.

The tools of ignorance is a nickname for the catcher’s equipment.

Yes.....I am a baseball geek!

<——who won the World Series this year???

Sophiegirl

(2,338 posts)
21. I won!
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 01:29 AM
Dec 2019

I actually won a contest and got a 1956 Washington Senators pennant as the prize for that answer. It’s the coolest Nationals memorabilia I own.

Aristus

(66,075 posts)
13. Yes.
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 12:57 AM
Dec 2019

I used to be the fabled 'angry young man'. I took pride in it. I hated more than I loved.

I had to give it up. It hurt too much.

Love is better...

kimbutgar

(20,871 posts)
23. Champagne tonight my dear Aristus
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 01:54 AM
Dec 2019

What was the most awesome place you have ever been?

Mine was Venice, IT. I’m so sad about the flooding.

Aristus

(66,075 posts)
24. I almost hate to say it, but Saudi Arabia.
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 02:11 AM
Dec 2019

I was deployed to the Gulf in February, 1991, not long before the ground war started. We tank crewman who had been stationed in Germany were used to training in an environment much different from the Saudi desert. So we had a five-day training exercise out in the hinterlands prior to the planned move to the front afterward.

Of course, the ground war ended so quickly, after only four days, that it was over by the time we returned from our training exercise. So we literally dodged a bullet through not being sent to the front.

Anyway, I got to know our piece of Saudi Arabia very well. The desert has a haunting, awe-inspiring beauty, both day and night. Night especially is when the desert comes alive, in every sense of the term.

The full moon on the Saudi desert is in the top-five of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

At the end of a training day, we parked the tanks in a clock formation, with one each at 12, 3, 6, and 9. And one crewman from each tank would stay awake on guard while the others slept. And an additional tanker would walk the perimeter of the clock formation until relieved. The wild dogs came out of the desert and sniffed at us curiously, but were perfectly harmless. There was something so primal about being so far from any man-made thing. The silence was almost overwhelming. The cold breeze (it gets cold at night in the desert!...) made the only sound. If it wasn't for my tank crewmates, it would have been the loneliest feeling ever.

Once, while driving our tanks in a wedge-shaped attack formation, we came upon a herd of camels. Four sixty-eight ton monsters coming at them at top speed didn't even faze them. The looked our way, chewed their cud casually, and then ambled slowly out of the way.

Not long after, we were met with the improbable sight of a nice, green field of grass sprouting up out of the sandy aridity of the desert. Being tankers, we dismissed the oddity of the sight, and drove right over it.

We happened upon a tiny, poor village way out in the boondocks. How they made their living is unknown to me. But the population was large enough to require their own mosque, which was made of tin siding.

Obviously, I could write a book. Not having served in combat, though, would make such a book less readable to anyone who picked it up hoping for a Gulf War memoir...



kimbutgar

(20,871 posts)
25. Wow was a beautiful description !
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 12:16 PM
Dec 2019

I really visualized what you wrote. As a teacher I would give you an “A” for what you wrote. I always try to tell my students to write from your heart. You did that very succinctly.

Thanks for sharing.

Aristus

(66,075 posts)
27. Thank you for the 'A'.
Sat Dec 28, 2019, 12:27 PM
Dec 2019

I myself would probably have given it a 'B'. The composition is a little disjointed, but I wrote it in a hurry in order to post the reply to your question.

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