tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post5773610304752772626..comments2024-03-29T04:38:14.302-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Truth (?) in FictionLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-78261477408332292222011-11-02T12:43:34.140-04:002011-11-02T12:43:34.140-04:00Thanks, James, for the comment, and for the correc...Thanks, James, for the comment, and for the corrections. I bloop fairly often, so any bloopers made here are not my first.<br /><br />I will watch and listen closely for space explosions in the future, but I will also continue to happily refer to magazines as clips.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-1070360768043733652011-11-02T12:28:41.333-04:002011-11-02T12:28:41.333-04:00Well, the biggest blooper is one you made. You ca...Well, the biggest blooper is one you made. You called a magazine a "clip". A clip is not the same thing as a magazine, and the two words are not interchangeable. A clip is what loads ammunition into a magazine. Calling a magazine a clip should be reserved for cheap novels and B movies. Anyone who knows much at all about guns knows the difference.<br /><br />You can see the difference here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF21sihEgOU<br /><br />And while you don't pull cartridges from a corpse (Unless the poor fellow choked to death trying to swallow a few, you absolutely do load bullets into a gun. Just because the entire thing is called a cartridge means nothing. Part of that cartridge is the bullet, and you load that part along with everything else. It's not only correct saying you load bullets into a gun, in fifty of spending time with experts, and being one myself, I can't remember anyone ever saying they loaded cartridges into a weapon.<br /><br />Like "whom", the word cartridges is used by writers, and by the slightly constipated. Real weapons experts seldom, if ever, use it outside of writing.<br /> <br />They just say "bullets", "rounds", "ammunition", or specify the type being loaded.<br /><br />As for fireballs in space, of course you can often see one. It takes very little oxygen to sustain a fireball, and any spaceship or space station that supports human life also has enough oxygen within to make a very nice fireball. It would burn out quickly, but there would be one.<br /><br />You might even hear the explosion over the ship's radio, which is the justification often used in movies. <br /><br />And many chemicals, explosives, and materials burn very, very well without an outside oxygen source. Coincidentally, gunpowder, particularly in a cartridge, is one of them. One of the silliest scenes I've ever watched in a movie was about the crew of a spaceship wanted to fire a gun in a vacuum, so they pumped oxygen into the area to make the gun fire. That's nonsense.<br /><br />A gun fires very well in a vacuum because the gunpowder has more than enough internal oxygen, so doesn't need an outside source. This is also how and why you can fire a gun under water.<br /><br />The venerable old 1911 is one of those strong enough to withstand the pressure, and still has enough power to kill out to about eighteen inches.James A. Ritchiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12255392562231170003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-80127828265021395332011-10-31T15:28:30.055-04:002011-10-31T15:28:30.055-04:00Thanks! I took notes!Thanks! I took notes!Jeff Bakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-2058952980771891112011-10-30T14:44:23.054-04:002011-10-30T14:44:23.054-04:00Will do, R.T. Thanks for the kind words.Will do, R.T. Thanks for the kind words.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-79566585971608025302011-10-30T14:29:04.833-04:002011-10-30T14:29:04.833-04:00Good one, John. I sometimes collect lists because ...Good one, John. I sometimes collect lists because they may provide story ideas later.<br />Let us know when your AHMM story is coming out.R.T. Lawtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15523486296396710227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-54953075890719526722011-10-29T22:21:34.802-04:002011-10-29T22:21:34.802-04:00I will definitely check out the movie (but not the...I will definitely check out the movie (but not the trailer!!). Many thanks.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-19293723141960664282011-10-29T21:58:47.669-04:002011-10-29T21:58:47.669-04:00P.S. I recommend not watching the movie preview/tr...P.S. I recommend <i>not</i> watching the movie preview/trailer for <i>In Time</i>… it gives too much away.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-82066751403363556602011-10-29T21:57:20.140-04:002011-10-29T21:57:20.140-04:00Leigh, I guess when the director already has the c...Leigh, I guess when the director already has the cameras set up on the road, he doesn't want the actors running off into the trees or a side street just to get away from the pursuers. Whoever said plots have to be logical . . . ?John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-15218242320264416632011-10-29T21:42:57.258-04:002011-10-29T21:42:57.258-04:00Funny, this evening I saw the SF film In Time (whi...Funny, this evening I saw the SF film <i>In Time</i> (which I recommend) and sure enough, several times people ran down the middle of the road. One guy even managed to get himself killed doing the middle-of-the-road thing.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89276627377766731172011-10-29T20:59:32.950-04:002011-10-29T20:59:32.950-04:00Hey gang -- I've been on a 300-mile-round-trip...Hey gang -- I've been on a 300-mile-round-trip booksigning today and have been out of touch--just got home. I resisted the temptation to take my iPad along.<br /><br />Thanks for all the observations, and for coming up with some things I wish I'd thought of, for my list. <br /><br />Liz, I sit bolt upright in bed only when I get a great story idea.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-66207471494735761312011-10-29T11:54:02.230-04:002011-10-29T11:54:02.230-04:00Great list. A friend of mine was lucky enough to ...Great list. A friend of mine was lucky enough to see the proposed cover for one of his books in time to have it changed. It showed a close up of a gun being fired and the cartridge flying out of the barrel. The whole cartridge.<br /><br />Another favorite of mine was an author who talked about a state senator flying to his office in Washington DC. No, a state senator works in the state capital. <br /><br />And by the way, during the Salem Witch Trials at least one accused witch (who refused to confess) was killed by being placed under a board which was then loaded down with rocks. His last words were "more weight."Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-10992704682867667202011-10-29T10:07:35.434-04:002011-10-29T10:07:35.434-04:00Good list and can we add detectives and PI's w...Good list and can we add detectives and PI's who operate solely on alcohol and cigarettes?Janice Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07041319513734123806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-25440759480785761962011-10-29T09:50:31.226-04:002011-10-29T09:50:31.226-04:00Great list, John. I'd add that in real gunfigh...Great list, John. I'd add that in real gunfights, the shots don't invariably hit all the bad guys and fail to hit the good guy. About witches: they were hanged in England and the US, but my guess is they were burned in Spain, thanks to your friendly neighborhood watch, the Inquisition. Oh, and most people don't sit bolt upright in bed when they wake up from a bad dream.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-53231161157345162442011-10-29T09:35:36.355-04:002011-10-29T09:35:36.355-04:00I LOVE THE LISTS, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE.I LOVE THE LISTS, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE.Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-17843933322249710552011-10-29T09:11:33.025-04:002011-10-29T09:11:33.025-04:00You swatted several of my pet nits. I'd add th...You swatted several of my pet nits. I'd add that most firearms shoot slugs (except shotguns) and most revolvers don't have 'safeties' as such (not counting a hidden piece of steel called a transfer bar).<br /><br />Also, as Neil can likely confirm, French aren't rude, they don't spontaneously burst into accordion music, and waiters don't appreciate being called <i>garçon</i> (hey, boy!). However, lunch restaurants do serve French fries called <i>pommes frites</i>.<br /><br />Just as we have constables, traffic officers, beat patrols, and deputies, a gendarme is a particular kind of police officer, but if you want to colloquially refer to 'the cops', you can say <i>les flics</i> ('lay fleeks')Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-6285198450224240992011-10-29T08:52:37.789-04:002011-10-29T08:52:37.789-04:00John, I find I must take isue with #8 of your obse...John, I find I must take isue with #8 of your observations. Frankly, you're way off base with that one! Periodically, my characters, whom I've taken the greatest care to create, might exclaim, "How dare you!" Is that so very unnatural? Wait...sorry; I'm going to have to cut this short; been having some abdominal cramping of late.<br /><br />I loved this article, John; it really had me laughing. Bad guys never run down the middle of the street--they're really uncooperative that way!David Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13005457506363262838noreply@blogger.com