Afraid? Me? Well .. Hmm .. Yeah ..

Hello Everyone,

   How is the week going on? Mine is good thanks to Christmas, Boxing day, New Year and all. Well ... My apologies too, for I am becoming more and more lazy in posting / blogging / commenting / carrying out my daily routine. 

   Were you afraid anytime? Had insecurities? Hmmm.. yeah, I do have them even now. I am afraid of the unknown. Sometimes about being left alone by my friends (for whatever the reason), afraid of failing and afraid of being ridiculed. 

    Few moments ago *read .. before starting this post* I was reading the GUNS OF NAVORINE by MacLean, Alistiar. The book is of genre World War II fiction. *I shall do a review of the book and give out more details from it later*. For now, I am impressed by the book and intend to complete it yet enjoy every reading the book.

Here is a small excerpt from the book:

--x--

 "Now I know you _are_ new to this game, Andy." He smiled again. "Maybe you think I was laughing and singing all the way up that cliff? Maybe you think I wasn't scared?" He lit a cigarette and gazed at Stevens through a cloud of drifting smoke. "Well, I wasn't. 'Scared' isn't the word--I was bloody well terrified. So was Andrea here. We know too much not to be scared."

      "Andrea!" Stevens laughed, then cried out as the movement triggered off a crepitant agony in his boneshattered leg. For a moment Mallory thought he had lost consciousness, but almost at once he spoke again, his voice husky with pain. "Andrea!" he whispered. "Scared! I don't believe it!"

      "Andrea _was_ afraid." The big Greek's voice was very gentle. "Andrea _is_ afraid. Andrea is always afraid. That is why I have lived so long." He stared down at his great hands. "And why so many have died. They were not so afraid as L They were not afraid of everything a man could be afraid of, there was always something they forgot to fear, to guard against. But Andrea was afraid of everything--and he forgot nothing. It is as simple as that."

  He looked across at Stevens and smiled.
      "There are no brave men and cowardly men in the world,my son. There are only brave men. To be born, to live, to die--that takes courage enough in itself, and more than enough. We are all brave men and we are all afraid, and what the world calls a brave man, he, too, is brave and afraid like all the rest of us. Only he is brave for five minutes longer. Or sometimes ten minutes, or twenty minutes--or the time it takes a man sick and bleeding and afraid to climb a cliff."

--x--

So what do you think? It is wrong to be afraid? The books says guarding against all physical dangers is how you survive @war field. But what about insecurities of the heart? of the mind? Is there a way out?

with warm regards

Abhishek Boinapalli

Secondary Characters

Hello Everyone,

I am posting for the A - Z blogfest today. I already posted for the letter L here. Now I am gonna post for the missing letter K. J also will be covered soon. For the letter K, I choose the book black bawk down because there are no books in my shelf whose title begins with letter K. My goodness!! You got any suggestions for such books?? 

             Well, Black Hawk Down, is a military mission of the US, gone wrong, in Somali    a. Lots of bloodshed, lots of suffering. Please don't read this if you are weak at heart. People who can take gore, also must be warned. This is not about some fiction, this is a true story of patriots being slayed in cold blood of battle. Ha !! enough of my trials to frighten you all!!

Here is the excerpt:

--x--

       At the hangar in Mogadishu, the men had watched the dead soldier being dragged through the streets. They crowded into the back room and watched it replay on the screen. No one said a word. Some of the men turned away. The pilots wanted to mow them down, just mow them all down, land, and recover the body. But the commanders said no. There was a big crowd around the body. It would be a massacre.


      Sgt. First Class John Macejunas was getting ready to go back out. The blond Commando had gone out into the fight three or four times the day and night before. When the rescue convoy couldn't reach Durant's crash site, Macejunas had led a small squad to the site on foot, scouring the area for his friends. Now he was dressed as a civilian, a journalist. He was going back out into the city to look for his brothers, alive or dead. The Rangers who saw him were in awe of the man's courage and cool.

 

--x--

Do you know any characters, secondary characters to be precise, who show iron will in the direst of the circumstances? How much importance must be given to them in the story? I mean while you are writing the story!!

with warm regards

AllMyPosts

Excerpt from Lone Survivor

Hello Everyone,

  

       For the A - Z blogfest, today I intend to post a excerpt from the novel Lone Survivor. This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history as per goodreads.com

I know, I know, I didn't post any excerpt for the letters J and K. I will do it soon. I am just trying to read the right book. I found Lone Survivor today and am reading it right now too!!!

--x--

    So while I'm on the subject I'll explain how a farm boy from the backwoods of East Texas came to be made a petty officer first class and a team leader in the U.S. Navy SEALs.

     The short explanation is probably talent, but I don't  have any more of that than the next guy. In fact, my natural born assets are very average. I'm  pretty big, which was an accident of birth. I'm  pretty strong, because a lot of other people took a lot of trouble training me, and I'm  unbelievably determined, because when you're as naturally un-gifted as I am, you have to keep driving forward, right?

       I'll outwork anyone. I'll just go on and on until t    he dust clears. Then I'm  usually the only one left standing. As an athlete, I'm not very fast, but I'm  kind of sharp. I know where to be, I'm  good at anticipating things, and I guess that's  why I was a halfway decent sportsman.

     Give me a golf ball and I can hit that sucker a country mile. That's  because golf is a game that requires practice, practice, and more practice. That's  my brand of doggedness. I can do that. I play to a reasonable handicap, although I wasn't  born a Ben Hogan or anything

--x--

     I am not naturally gifted at anything other than making a glutton of myself. I gotta work with all my heart for accomplishment even the smallest of achievements. Statements like this, keep ringing in my head for quite sometime and try to keep me motivated. What keeps you motivated?? When you know, that there is someone who is out flanking you and out smarting you, what ever you are doing??

with warm regards

AllMyPosts

Quotes from Inside Delta Force -- for A - Z blogfest

Hello Everyone,


   I already posted a excerpt from novel ICE STATION for the letter I in A - Z blog challenge. Yet, I am interested in sharing some quotes from one more interesting book I read. This time, it is called Inside Delta Force.


   Inside Delta Force, is non-fiction and explains quite a few things about how life is Inside Delta Force. How Delta Force is created and all such. Well, if you didn't hear about Delta Force, check them out here, they are the elite soldiers of USA.

The wonderful quotes are:


--x--
"The Guy Who Walked His Feet Off in Delta Force Selection."


"Remember that guy who came into the RV on the back of a motorcycle?"


"No, Parks, I quit smoking. It got too expensive supporting my habit and people like you,"


The Secret Service is the best-dressed and most well-groomed group of people you have ever seen.




If you don't know which person in a crowd is the American president, just pick out the seedy-looking man in the middle of a cluster of great looking folks.




A combat plan is an animal in a constant state of metamorphosis and is under continual revision right up until the first shot is fired--at which time it usually ceases to have relevance


"train the way you fight."


The surest way to identify a Delta Force Assault Team member is by that telltale callus on his firing hand. They all have one.
--x--


Which quote did you like the most?? What is your favorite military based quote??? I think I will add some more quotes after re-reading the book "Inside Delta Force"


with warm regards
AllMyPosts

Lots of Military Stuff for A - Z blog challenge

Hello Everyone,

For the A - Z blogfest, I am gonna post excerpt from ICE STATION by Matthew Reilly. Well, Matthew Reilly is one of my favorite authors. His books are usually super fast paced and contain lot of destruction built on military themes!! Sounds fun right?? Welcome to the party!!!

Here is a small excerpt, telling about erasers!!

--x--

"What are erasers?" Sarah asked.

"What? Oh," Schofield said. He only just remembered that Sarah wasn't a soldier. He took a deep breath. "Eraser is the term used to describe an explosive device that is planted in a battlefield by a covert incursionary force for use in the event that their mission fails. Most of the time, an eraser is set off by a delay switch, which is just an ordinary timer."

"OK, wait a minute. Slow down," Sarah said.

Schofield sighed, slowed down. "Small crack units like these French guys we met tonight usually find themselves fighting in places where they're not supposed to be, right? Like there would probably be an international incident if it could be proved that French troops were in a U.S. research station trying to kill everybody, right?"

"Yeah...."

"Well, there's no guarantee that these crack units are gonna succeed in getting what they came for, is there," Schofield said. "I mean, hey, they might come up against a team of tough hombres like us and wind up dead."

Schofield grabbed a parka off a hook on the wall and began to put it on.

He said, "Anyway, these days, nearly all elite teams—the French Parachute Regiment, the SAS, the Navy SEALs— nearly all of them carry contingency plans just in case they fail in their missions. We call those contingency plans 'erasers' because that's exactly what they're designed to do: erase that whole team's existence. Make it look like that team was never there. Sometimes they're called cyanide pills, because if any of the enemy are caught, the eraser will ultimately act as their suicide pill."

"So, you're talking about explosives," Sarah said.

"I'm talking about special explosives," Schofield said. "Most of the time erasers are either chlorine-based explosives or high-temperature liquid detonators. They're designed to wipe off faces, vaporize bodies, destroy uniforms and dog tags. They're designed to make it look like you were never there.

--x--

You loved it??? Here is one more from the master!!

--x--

The two nitrogen charges on the bridge went off.

Supercooled liquid nitrogen blasted out in every direction on C-deck, splattering every SAS commando on the surrounding catwalk.

The results were horrifying.

Nitrogen charges are like no other grenade—for the simple fact that they do not have to penetrate the skin of their victims in order to kill them.

The theory behind their effectiveness is based on the special qualities of water—water is the only naturally occurring substance on earth that expands when it is cooled. When a human body is hit by a burst of supercooled liquid nitrogen, that body becomes very cold, very fast. Blood cells freeze instantly, and being made up of approximately 70% water, they begin to expand rapidly. The result: total body hemorrhage.
And when every single blood cell in a human body explodes it makes for a horrifying sight.

--x--

        Truth / Fiction, whatever it is, I am very very happy about the works of Matthew Reilly whether it is ScareCrow series / Jack West Jr. series. I just love them. What about you?? Who is your favorite military fiction author?? and Why???

with warm regards

AllMyPosts

The Attitude?? Inter - Service Rivalry??

Hello Everyone,

      Hope everyone is enjoying the "A - Z blog challenge" on my blog. Well, today, I am supposed to post a excerpt from a book whose title starts with H. My goodness, there is a lot to choose from, including my favorite Harry Potter Series, Hound of Baskerville... Well, I choose Hell Island by Matthew Reilly. Remember to come back, in the latter part of the day. Well, I have a surprise post on Harry Potter tonight.

          A typical military fiction, where in, teams from the SEALS, Marines, Delta Force & Rangers are sent to check why all communications with aging super carrier parked at Hell Island, the USS Nimitz, CVN-68 are cut off. In reality , the USS Nimitz,  is the testing ground for an elite force of Super-Soldier, as the Airborne and SEAL teams are quickly slaughtered. The marines (10 in all)  under the command of ScareCrow, manage to destroy a force of 500 Super-Soldiers, the delta team and the DAPRA scientists in order to survive. This book, in short is filled with action, drama, adventure and lot of destruction.

--x--

  A voice came through Schofield’s earpiece. ‘All team leaders, this is Delta Six. We’re going for the eastern end of the island and we’ll work our way back to the boat. Your DZ is the flight deck: Airborne, the bow; SEALs, aft; Marines, midsection.’

Just like we were told in the briefing, Schofield thought.

This was typical of Delta. They were born show-ponies. Great soldiers, sure, but glory-seekers all. No matter who they were working with—even today, alongside three of the best special forces units in the world—they always assumed they were in charge.

‘Roger that, Delta leader,’ came the SEAL leader’s voice.

‘Copy, Delta Six,’ came the Airborne response.

Schofield didn’t reply.

The Delta leader said, ‘Marine Six? Scarecrow? You copy?’

       Schofield sighed. ‘I was at the mission briefing, too, Delta Six. And last I noticed, I don’t have any short-term memory problems. I know the mission plan.’

     ‘Cut the attitude, Scarecrow,’ the Delta leader said. His name was Hugh Gordon, so naturally his call-sign was ‘Flash’. ‘We’re all on the same team here.’

     ‘What? Your team?’ Schofield said. ‘How about this: how about you don’t break radio silence until you’ve got something important to say. Scarecrow, out.’

       It was more important than that. Even a frequency-hopping encrypted radio signal could be caught these days, so if you transmitted, you had to assume someone was listening.

      Worse, the new French-made Signet-5 radio-wave decoder—sold by the French to Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria and other fine upstanding global citizens—was specifically designed to seek out and locate the American AN/PRC-119 tactical radio when it was broadcasting, the very radio their four teams were using today. No-one had yet thought to ask the French why they had built a locater whose only use was to pinpoint American tactical radios.

--x--

     Well, Is it really typical of the Delta Force guys? I mean are they glory seekers?? Who is not?? I am a glory seeker myself too!!! How do you find books of Matthew Reilly? Who else are good military fiction writers as per you? Please do let me know. I am big fan of military fiction myself.

Get ready for a surprise second post, on Harry Potter today.

with warm regards

AllMyPosts

Name your Dragon

Hello Everyone,

      Everyone of us have heard a lot about dragons and riders (from Eragon) and a lot of myths developed around dragons from the potent and auspicious Chinese dragons to the evil European dragons. 

        The book Eragon can be classified as fantasy with the central theme being dragon riders who are trying to establish peace between various races including Humans, Urgals, Kulls, Elves, Dwarfs, ... When, Eragon finds a dragon for himself, better say, a dragon chooses Eragon as a rider he faces a strange problem of naming it. Here is a excerpt from the novel, explaining the situation.

--x--

       "I don't want him to go, that's all," he said helplessly. The dragon watched impassively, listening and learning. Eragon mumbled a few choice curses and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the dragon thoughtfully. "You need a name. I heard some interesting ones today; perhaps you'll like one." He mentally ran through the list Brom had given him until he found two names that struck him as heroic, noble, and pleasing to the ear. "What do you think of Vanilor or his successor, Eridor? Both were great dragons."

No, said the dragon. It sounded amused with his efforts. Eragon.

"That's my name; you can't have it," he said, rubbing his chin. "Well, if you don't like those, there are others." He continued through the list, but the dragon rejected every one he proposed. It seemed to be laughing at something Eragon did not understand, but he ignored it and kept suggesting names. "There was Ingothold, he slew the ..." A revelation stopped him. That's the problem! I've been choosing male names. You are a she!

Yes. The dragon folded her wings smugly. 

Now that he knew what to look for, he came up with half a dozen names. He toyed with Mireel, but that did not fit -- after all, it was the name of a brown dragon. Opheila and Lenora were also discarded. He was about to give up when he remembered the last name Brom had muttered. Eragon liked it, but would the dragon?

He asked.

"Are you Saphira?" She looked at him with intelligent eyes. Deep in his mind he felt her satisfaction.

Yes.

--x--

Well, Saphira is a cool name for the lady dragon. If you found a dragon, how do you think it would be? What are you gonna name it as?? 

My dragon would be fierce like the American Dragon and its name would be "Wild Child" What would yours be like?? Don't forget to grab a copy of the book here

with warm regards

AllMyPosts

Humor in Uniform

Hello Everyone,

        I couldn't keep up to the challenge of A - Z blog challenge. Well, My apologies. I am gonna make good for it soon. For the blog challenge, I am posting excerpts from books. The title of book is so chosen that it coincides with the letter of the day. So this excerpt is from Dauntless of Lost Fleet Series for letter D.

      The following is a excerpt, of how humor can sometimes get things straight without using force. Captain Geary has to organize his ships to fight a battle in space. The battle ships have forgotten the disciplined manner of fighting and are believing that it is more important to face the enemy instead of following battle formations. Captain Geary, who is accustomed to old way of fighting is getting ready for the fight. Here is the excerpt:

--x--

      He pondered taking something for the headache growing between his eyes while he watched the errant ships somewhat sheepishly alter their courses. Except for Audacious, which kept edging in toward Resolution in an apparent attempt to bull the other ship aside so that Audacious could lay claim to what looked like a leading position 

      “Audacious, did you copy my last?” He waited a minute to see if Audacious would respond, but the warship kept sidling in toward Resolution. Fine. Let’s see if a little humor will defuse this without my having to relieve another commanding officer. “Audacious, be advised that if you are attempting to mate with Resolution, you might try buying her a few drinks first.”

Cartoon Laughing Face

       Off to one side, Geary heard Captain Desjani almost choke on her coffee. He heard no reply from Audacious, but the warship finally angled away and back toward its assigned station. A moment later, Resolution called in. “Alliance battle cruiser Resolution wishes to report that her virtue remains intact.”

        This time Desjani laughed, as did Geary. Good. That’s the sort of thing that indicates morale is okay. For the moment, at least.

--x--

You know any such situations from other books?? If yes, please do let me know. I somehow love them a lot. 

Don't forget to grab a copy of the Dauntless from here 

with warm regards

AllMyPosts

Boiling Frogs??? Are We???

           Hello Everyone, I picked up my copy of  Winners Stand Alone by Paulo Coelho the other day. I love Paulo for his work Alchemist and now one more book, on the price to be paid for dreams!! I haven't completed the same yet, but loved it a lot. Here is a small excerpt from the book, a conversation between a millionaire and a street hawker (young, beautiful and appealing) whom the millionaire would like to kill!!

--x--

“Do you know anything about frogs?”
“Frogs?”
“Yes, various biological studies have shown that if a frog is placed in a container along with water from its own pond, it will remain there,utterly still, while the water is slowly heated up. The frog doesn’t react to the gradual increase in temperature, to the changes in its environment, and when the water reaches the boiling point, the frog dies, fat and happy.
“On the other hand, if a frog is thrown into a container full of already boiling water, it will jump straight out again, scalded, but alive!”
Olivia doesn’t quite see what this has to do with the destruction of the world. Igor goes on:
“I was like that boiled frog. I didn’t notice the changes. I thought everything was fine, that the bad things would just go away, that it was just a matter of time. I was ready to die because I lost the most important thing in my life, but, instead of reacting, I sat there bobbing apathetically about in water that was getting hotter by the minute.”

--x--

       I just dunno anything about the research and frogs, but Wikipedia says, a part of this is true. I wanna ask a question, are we also like the frogs? 

                We have dreams, we want something to come true, we understand the gap between our dreams and reality and still strive to achieve the dreams. But slowly, without our knowledge, in our daily lives and in the race for survival, are small changes overlooked? If the changes are gradual enough, do we loose focus on our goals and get completely involved with present life till one fine day, we understand, that we lost our chances, we can't run behind our dreams anymore and all we are left with is "unaccomplished goals"

        Simple example, you are athletic by physique and intend to build a six pack body to reach the next stage. But you are software programmer with moderate pay and heavy work, always sitting in office, working in some or the other project and attending god dammed meetings, and though you know you are loosing your fitness, nothing can be done! Slowly Slowly you turn into pot belly... 

So just have a thought about the same, prioritize your dreams and keep going!!

Don't  forget to grab a copy of Winners Stand Alone here.

with warm regards

AllMyPosts