Chris James

Christopher was one of my favorite characters on the M*A*S*H series. He was the contrast, the eternal straight man, at least in the beginning of the series. I still miss that show.

The most despised piece of clothing must be the Christmas sweater. Gaudy, garish...thank goodness I don't own one. Most people despise them...and it seems dogs do as well. https://www.yahoo.com/style/dog-mauls-family-try-dress-194908090.html

I have very eclectic taste in pop music which generally does not include church choirs, but this one is different. I love the music of Toto, it brings back memories. This is the most unusual arrangement of Africa I have ever heard....and they do it so well. Boost your volume at the beginning to catch the nuances of sound....amazing. More info at angelcitychorale.org.

Thank you for sharing this bi_janus....I had never heard of her before. We are all familiar with the Schindler story through the movie Schindler's List. But after watching that I felt there had to be more, he could not be the only one who felt compassion for the oppression of the Jews. The good that was done had been overshadowed in the years following the war by the stories of the many who supported the Nazi systematic exterminations. Millions were lost and only thousands saved by the kindness of strangers. We must never forget...ever.

Got their Christmas album in my disk player right now. I am always appalled by the horrid music foisted on us as we go shopping, even in the food market. But what I never seem to hear is the sweet sound of Libera which would be so much nicer. The distribution of their recordings must be small in the U.S.

I am still looking forward to the newest chapters of this story, Douglas has me hooked. We are now in what I see as the middle stages of learning about these main characters and the minor ones surrounding them. This is the part where readers had best be aware of the minutiae of details presented since I foresee this information becoming important to coming events. I think we are in for a good long story here, and I love it.

​I just accessed the Iomfats site by going to Google and typing in Iomfats...no problem here. Maybe there is a block on your Wi-Fi to censor certain sites...how criminal.

​How many of these end of the world as we know it stories are there? Graeme's theme may not be new in a literary sense but the gay angle gives us much to think about. Could I? That is a very difficult question to answer. Enjoyed the story once again, Graeme. I don't think Stephen Hawking is an alarmist, he just works with a set of facts many of us cannot decipher. In many ways Hawking is telling us we must seek out a new planet if we are to survive and from what I see in our fractured society there is little thought to doing so. I am glad he has cast this failed planet scenario a thousand years off....at least I won't have to worry about it.

​We are still in the early stages of this story, but I am enjoying what I have seen so far. Douglas is bringing together the pieces of his puzzle at a slow consistent pace which leaves me to believe we will have quite a lot of story to read by the time he is done. Well done, sir, a very enjoyable tale...score one for the history buffs on AD.

​I see what you did there, how sneaky. A joke about engineers that is really a lawyer joke. Still, quite funny.

​Trump has said he loves ignorant people...well, they all voted for him. With several days of interviews posted online, the answer most Trump supporters gave for their vote follow the absurd Make America Great Again line. When asked just when America stopped being great you can see the line goes back to the first Obama election. In time this electorate will see that Obama was not responsible for the gridlock in Washington, that came from a Republican Congress. And now that the Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress I don't expect things to get any better. They plan to kill the Affordable Care Act which will impact the ignorant first, but they probably don't see that coming. Welfare programs of all stripes will end up on the chopping block. The nice thing about that is that churches will be forced to support the needy instead of spending their money on lawyers to try and kill gay rights. I imagine the first six months for the new crew at the White House will be messy since it seems they had little preplanning for a transition. With our new president having the attention span of the average 3rd grader I wonder how much they will accomplish of this huge list of changes Trump bragged about making. But then if you look at the list of people he has lined up to run his administration it will be a wonder if anything works. The list is filled with misfits and clowns...I mean, Sarah Palin...oh please, not her again. Not to mention that while this new president is supposed to be focused on running the country instead of his mouth, Trump will be facing courtroom drama for bilking thousands with his university scam. In fact this whole presidency feels like a scam, and the mostly white male voters were too ignorant to see that. Perhaps we can go back to the idea of outsourcing our government to India. For a few billion a month we could get a fully staffed government, and lots of free curry. ​Just had to add this snippit I saw online: The Secret Service has denied that the code name for Trump will be Pussy Grabber.

​How very simple it is to tell time in our modern age, you only have to look at your watch. The story Mihangel tells is about a place in history where the desire to know the measure of time was far from simple, and yet the creative forces of the human mind came up with an answer. ​The very nature of this story lends itself to a scholarly revelation of just what it took to mark time in the ancient world. Without a doubt the Greek and Egyptian science of mathematics made this all possible. Yes, as Mihangel so aptly warns, the story does pull the reader into a classroom of thought on mathematical formulas and usage, but he is forgiven as it drives the story to places unknown. I always learn something from Mihangel's work and this is no exception. It drove me to spend the time researching the development of the clock, adding to the knowledge this fine author has given us. This ancient clock he describes was only useful when certain parameters were known and it was fragile enough to require a fixed position that didn't move. But the need to tell time evolved to mechanical devices throughout the world, mostly due to the need for sailors to calculate longitude and latitude. ​So look at that small watch on your wrist and marvel at the eons of time it took to develop something so simple. Thanks, Mihangel, well done.

​Now we can sigh in our discontent as Donald Trump becomes our president. Yes, he is my president as well, much as I despise the bastard. It will take him some time due to his inexperience to learn the job, but he will have others telling him how it works, much as they had to do for G.W. Bush. Trump's advisors will be of the Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie variety. ​The bigger mess is that the GOP has retained control of the Congress. Although Trump is a Republican it remains to be seen how much of his agenda will find support in Congress, but some things are certain: Black Lives no longer matter, LGBTQ rights will be put down, and Jesus will be driving the bus. I expect a bumpy ride ahead.

​I can see that Graeme is in no hurry to bring us to any conclusions on this story...I like that. ​What we have so far is a catalog of the issues new parents face when dealing with small children, especially those who have been traumatized by events in their young lives. He is handling this with such care and insight. I am not sure I would be able to see all the problems that might arise with the characters in this story but I am sure Graeme will address them at some point. Well done, kudos to the author.

​Thanks, guys. My first job at 15 years old was as a pool boy, picking up trash and cleaning the locker rooms. I had been on a swim team for four years by that point and could outswim everyone on the lifeguard staff, but you had to be 16 to get the lifesaving certification. Bummer of a summer.

​I agree with Cole, it is the imagination that makes these themed compilations so wonderful. No two stories are alike and that gives the readers a great variety to absorb. Glad to have been a part of this year's Halloween bash. My thanks to the Dude and John for the assembly, it all looks good.

​A sweet and very emotional story about a very special boy. Children like this should be the rule and not the exception. His parents must be very proud.

​This first chapter is intense...nothing to smile about here. But Graeme has set the stage for very human and emotional story. I look forward to the next installment.

​Several international organizations have traced the information flow from Wikileaks to the Russian State, specifically the GRU, their intelligence services. Although Wikileaks purports to be a journalistic endeavor so far they have done little to remain true to that initial statement of purpose. The hacking of the Democratic National Committee, and John Podesta emails, all trace back to this same source. It would not be untrue to state that the Russian government is attempting to interfere with the American elections. The GRU spies have been actively seeking hacked information and feeding it to Wikileaks and the founder Julian Assange. As an entity on the internet there may be little any government can do, although private internet companies can block the Wikileaks source, and may do so with the right amount of pressure. Mr. Assange could certainly be charged with espionage, and may already have been by a grand jury meeting in secret. That would be nice. These Cold War tactics by the Russians will only come back to bite them in the ass in years to come. They are sliding away from the democratic approach to government they once touted and are once again becoming a totalitarian force guided by Vladimir Putin. If sources were to publish the intimate details of Putin's financial dealings it would be interesting to see if Wikileaks would post them. At this point Wikileaks is beginning to look like part of the Russian propaganda machine.

Yes...Killer. A sad yet funny film that plays with the emotions and uncovers the mindset of young teenagers. Oh the stupid things we believed back then. There is little dialogue which is just fine since the images tell the tale. Thanks, Dude.

​"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..." Tipping my hat to Robert Frost in this story. In every life there is always the path not taken and I wanted to show just what might be missed in the ordinary life of my character. ​This short story was never meant to be anything greater. My contribution to the AD tenth anniversary celebration. I just wanted to open a door to that other side and give the readers a glimpse of what might be. That means there will be no sequel, sorry Lugnutz. ​My thanks to all of you for reading the story.

Creative, unlike boring American commercials.

​I could never be in favor of a poll on any issue of human rights. The fact that the Australian government even considered such a poll on gay marriage is shameful, but now it has been tossed out. Of course if they return the issue to the elected officials it seems that any such law will contain the same poisonous amendments that we see here in U.S. state law. Granting exceptions for religion and businesses still divides the people and squashes human rights. I guess no cake for gay weddings will be on the Aussie agenda. ​I don't think any sane gay person wants a church wedding, although there are some denominations that approve and hold them. But playing the Jesus card in refusing services to men who want to marry men and women who marry women only stigmatizes religion further. When did religious belief become the excuse for trumping civil rights? It probably won't stop with cake. Stores may refuse to sell underwear to gay couples, or garages refuse to make oil changes to a gay man's car. When this happens I would support the right of a gay plumber to refuse to fix a church's sewer line and let them drown in their own shite. If the members of a church refuse service based upon sincere religious belief then I doubt if they will have any gay church members. Ignorance of Christian principals and the teachings of Jesus makes hypocrites of them all. Yes, let them drown in their own excrement.

​Beautiful people of the gay sports world. Style and grace, they both have it. The tandem diving was flawless. Thanks for sharing, Dude.

​Today Trump comes out and says that Hillary has been cheating on Bill all these years. Won't be surprised if tomorrow he says she's been having lesbian affairs. Barring proof of such outrageous behavior I think Hillary would ignore the comments, but what will Bill do? ​A hundred years or more ago Bill would have met Trump in a secluded location with pistols at dawn. Bill is from Arkansas, he probably knows his guns. Trump claims he carries a weapon but if he did I imagine we would have read about an accidental discharge where he shot himself in the foot. Too bad we have become a civilized nation, no more duels...except in court. ​But Bill could hire teams of lawyers....someone huge, only the best kind of people... and sue for liable which would cost him millions. Boy would I love to be on that jury. A duel would be cheaper. But let's wait for Wednesday when Wikileaks is supposed to drop the bomb on Hillary that will supposedly terminate her ambitions. I am not holding my breath. I am waiting for the proof that Julian Assange and Trump's stooges have been in cahoots with Putin to disrupt the DNC and mangle our election. That would make Trump a traitor, and treasonous citizens often get hanged. I would pay to see that.