07 May 2013

Notes - on Seven Days in May / intro 172 words in Pouch 17 / kindness, empathy, understanding


         0952 hours. I can rarely shake the book titled Seven Days in May on this date.

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Seven Days In May

4.07 of 5 stars
4.07  ·  rating details  ·  466 ratings  ·  42 reviews

"Gentleman Jim" Scott was a brilliant magnetic general. Like a lot of people, he believed the President was ruining the country. Unlike anyone else, he had the power to do something about it, something unprecedented and terrifying. Colonel "Jiggs" Casey was the marine who accidentally stumbled onto the plot. At first he refused to believe it; then he risked his life and career to inform the President. Jordan Lyman was President of the United States. By the time he was finally able to convince himself of the appalling truth, he had only seven days left to stop a brilliant, seemingly irresistible military plot to seize control of the government of the United States.

Seven Days in May is a political thriller novel written by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II and published in 1962. It was made into a motion picture in 1964, with a screenplay by Rod Serling, directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.

The story is said to have been influenced by the right-wing anti-Communist political activities of General Edwin A. Walker after he resigned from the military. The author, Knebel, got the idea for the book after interviewing then-Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay.

From Goodreads
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         You couldn't resist posting this on your FB page for obvious reasons.

         I need to remind myself of these matters.

         And everyone else too? - Amorella

         The concept is important today. It is not difficult for me to imagine the United States in a coup not much different than that in the Soviet Union some few short years ago. What would happen after a coup might be far worse for the country than the coup itself, i.e. another civil war. This is depressing to think on, Amorella. I love this country and I love the world too. It's a complicated relationship.

         Post. - Amorella


         Mid-afternoon and you had a late lunch at Panera/Chipotle and dessert at Graeter's; this is after a morning of work in the yard, which is now all mowed and trimmed. Carol mowed the southwest side hill and dug up weeds since the ground is still soft from yesterday's rains. It is supposed to rain today and tomorrow and the rest of the week but so far it is a partly cloudy pleasant May afternoon in southwest Ohio.

         1557 hours. It has been a busy day and I'll have to do some raking but the weather looked like it would rain most any minute this morning and there was no way I was going to take the time to bag grass remains. We are at Kroger's on Tylersville and will stop off at home with bananas and fresh bread for the freezer. I have not thought about Pouch 17 at all so I need to review Pouch 16. -- Okay, that was a delightful little tidbit about Justin and Hartolite dressed in sexual innuendo. (1604)

          Pouch 15 sets on Friendly and Blake and Pouch 14 focuses on Pyl and Yermey. Now is time to move on up the road. - Amorella

         Where are we going, Amorella?

         How about to the Moon and back? - Amorella

         Why? We've been to the Moon. Why not Mars?

         This is not a joy trip, orndorff. Friendly, Yermey and Hartolite want to show these earthlings some tricks of the trade so to speak; and they don't want Ship to feel left out. In some ways, especially emotionally, Ship is as a family pet, which has been trained to be a special helper, somewhat akin to a seeing-eye dog. - Amorella

         I did not see this coming at all. I like this concept; Ship is as a seeing-eye dog, a super loyal personal helper and protector. When one considers what Ship has to do, traveling from point A to point B through space, the analogy really makes sense. (1620)

         You stopped home with groceries and are now at the far north end of Pine Hill Lakes Park. Let's begin this segment with Friendly giving some explanation. - Amorella

         1652 hours. Is this an explanation about their species or about Ship?

         A little of both. Context is always important. - Amorella

         Stop with "by his size". You have two hundred and some words. Let's tweak this a bit then post when you return home. - Amorella

         2053 hours. We had cereal, fruit and cottage cheese for supper then watched an older "This Old House" and last night's "Castle".

         You rewrote the first part of Pouch 17. Go ahead, drop it in and post. - Amorella

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Diplomatic Pouch 17 (introduction)

            Dusk, the same day. Friendly sits in a chair at the dark walnut round table. The others quickly adjust to a seat. With approximately sixty degrees from the center of one chair to the next Friendly looks to her immediate left and sees Blake, and in the chair beyond Blake sits Yermey. Sitting to Friendly's immediate right is Justin with Hartolite sitting beyond Justin. To Yermey's left and Hartolite's right sits Pyl who is somewhat facing Friendly.
            "Where's Ship?" asked Friendly, and Yermey pulled what looked like a small translucent toy marble from his right trouser pocket and placed it near the center of the table.
            Blake and the others watched as the white as paper round piece of marble-like substance lifted slightly and adjusted to the exact table center equidistance from the surrounding people. It rose to the average height of both humanoid species and took the shape of a circular bulb-shaped translucent screen one-half the circumferences of the sizes of these six humanoid's heads so as not to offend anyone.

172 words
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         It flows better than the original draft and it has about forty less words. The intro may still need further tweaking. What is Ship going to do to demonstrate his prowess?

         The point is not to show power, which was demonstrated by the fact that Ship arrived safely from another part of the galaxy, at least that is the thinking of Friendly and company. What Friendly wants to demonstrate is Ship's safety features so that the earthlings feel more comfortable being on board. This demonstration is to be analogous to a demonstration of a seeing-eye dog helping/protecting its owner in public/private situations, city traffic, on the bus or in airport terminal as well as in normal home living. - Amorella

         What do I need to learn for this?

         Nothing really, I'll write and after it is completed, you either accept it or we fix the work until it is acceptable to you. I context you are reading this as a human being. If you understand it then others can understand it. Doug reinforces this point and so do others who may be reading it online. This is set up, in context, as a real life situation, aliens need to be understood by human beings, so it is better that human beings create the story for better understanding of two similar species. - Amorella

         If this is the case, why the three other segments: The Dead, Brothers, and Grandma?

         Both species live and die. Both species enjoy relationships, and both species have genetic and family histories. One does not have to begin with a manual or by showing power. Kindness, empathy and understanding lead the way, don't you think? - Amorella

         I would like to think so. If there were/are real alien humanoid species out there I would hope kindness, empathy and understanding would be in the handshake, if you will.

         Of course you do. You get the credit for the books, boy, not me. You want realistic fiction and I am helping make it as realistic as well as reasonable. Otherwise, what is the point? All for tonight. - Post. - Amorella


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