OT: The Good Book: What are you reading right now?

Intangir

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Aug 14, 2008
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Decided to re-read one of my geopolitical faves, 'Qui mène le monde?' (who rules the world?), and bask in old boy Noam Chomsky's glory.

And for those wondering, yes, we're intimate enough by now (in my head) for me to affectionately refer to him as familiarly as ''old boy''. I've read almost everything he's ever written and he's bailed my ass out so many times in cégep and university, from sociology to economy not forgetting history, psychology, even programming, that somehow linking whatever work I'm doing to some topic he touched on has become something like second nature, even if my subject doesn't outwardly matches the onus of his books.

I swear, if there was ever an old-school turn-based RPG (the best type IMO if the story and narration are done right) made about my life as a university student (the chances of which are low, admittedly), the action-selection menu would look a bit like this.

Fight
Defend
->Cite Chomsky (and watch high grades magically appear)
Items (mostly weed)

Jokes notwithstanding, that book is da bomb and really exemplifies the current paradigm shift from nationalized power, the old righteous pyramid scheme, to a more exploded, transnational regime based on a revised Bentham's panopticon and the continued crushing of the middle class across the world by a privatized, privileged elite.
 
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habamillions

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Jul 9, 2009
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Reading the Harry Bosch books. When im finished want to check out the "bosch" series. Heard it was decent. The michael connelly book i like the best is " the poet" though.
 
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Runner77

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I saw this post by Per in another thread and thought it would be appropriate it to reprise here:

I enjoy re-watching stuff too, even re-reading books. I have probably read Rendezvous with Rama at least 3 times, it is one of the best Sci Fi books ever written, it's easy and fast to read and it leaves you with that special Sci Fi feeling, that Sci Fi together with philosophy can bring, the sense of wonder and what our place in the universe is and what it will be in the future.

Does anyone have any additional feedback about this book?
 

Pompeius Magnus

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May 18, 2014
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I saw this post by Per in another thread and thought it would be appropriate it to reprise here:



Does anyone have any additional feedback about this book?
Science-fiction was a big teenage passion of mine and I've read a fair amount of it in my day but for whatever reason I always had problems with Arthur C. Clark :laugh: . It's weird because the 60s/70s humanist stuff is totally my jam and I never had any issues with his contemporaries ( Asimov, Bradbury, Lem, etc.). I might have to give it another try one of these day.
 
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Chili

Time passes when you're not looking
Jun 10, 2004
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Finished Monty Python Speaks by David Morgan. A book for Python fans. It was their 50th anniversary last year. Quotes from 5 of the 6 main cast and others closely involved.

Reading JFK: The Classic Biography by Ted Sorensen who helped write many of JFK`s speeches.
 

ourobouros

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Sep 29, 2009
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I read Doomsday Book by Connie Willis a few months ago... a novel that deal with the effect of time-travel and epidemic transmission of influenza. I recommend!

On the same "timely" epidemic subject I also read Station Eleven, which I found easy to read but lacking great ideas and characters. A friend recommended this to me but sometime I think I read too much SF and found that often with those SF novel that have mainstream success I seem harder to impress.

I read maybe around 1 or 2 novels a months.... My biggest crush over the last few months was Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (the french translation... my english is not good enough for classics!)
 
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Electricity

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Aug 22, 2016
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It is a bit surprising that this thread and the movie one have not gone ballistic, at least much higher than usual.

I have read articles by Hari when he wrote for the Huffington Post and I recall the scandal. regardless of the plagiarism he's a talented writer in his own right, Do you like the book?

I used to read the shoestring books when I did most of my travels, Camera Obscura sounds really interesting. Do you recommend it?

Oh geez, lol I don't know anything about his plagiarism scandals.
This book is pretty on point when it comes to the causes of anxiety/depression, and I'm just now getting into his remedies. I'll let you know how they work lol.

The Atlas Obscura book is amazing. Couldn't recommend it more, but I'm a wandering spirit with an affinity for maps and new places/peoples. You get bite-sized morsels of the more exotic/esoteric locations on this planet, and it would be a great travel companion if it weren't so heavy and thick. But it's probably better as a travel-the-world-from-your-home pasttime.
 
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Electricity

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Aug 22, 2016
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Decided to re-read one of my geopolitical faves, 'Qui mène le monde?' (who rules the world?), and bask in old boy Noam Chomsky's glory.

And for those wondering, yes, we're intimate enough by now (in my head) for me to affectionately refer to him as familiarly as ''old boy''. I've read almost everything he's ever written and he's bailed my ass out so many times in cégep and university, from sociology to economy not forgetting history, psychology, even programming, that somehow linking whatever work I'm doing to some topic he touched on has become something like second nature, even if my subject doesn't outwardly matches the onus of his books.

I swear, if there was ever an old-school turn-based RPG (the best type IMO if the story and narration are done right) made about my life as a university student (the chances of which are low, admittedly), the action-selection menu would look a bit like this.

Fight
Defend
->Cite Chomsky (and watch high grades magically appear)
Items (mostly weed)

Jokes notwithstanding, that book is da bomb and really exemplifies the current paradigm shift from nationalized power, the old righteous pyramid scheme, to a more exploded, transnational regime based on a revised Bentham's panopticon and the continued crushing of the middle class across the world by a privatized, privileged elite.

As an American after Muhammed Ali has moved on, I would say that Chomsky is probably the greatest(yeah it's a broad term lol) living countryman I can think of.
I'm still stupefied at how ignored he is.
 

Per Sjoblom

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Jan 3, 2018
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As an American after Muhammed Ali has moved on, I would say that Chomsky is probably the greatest(yeah it's a broad term lol) living countryman I can think of.
I'm still stupefied at how ignored he is.


There is a really nice local non profit movie theater in Portland called the Hollywood Theater (after the area)
I am a member (it's not expensive) and they show everything from 70 mm really high quality movies to
B and C movies just for the comic of a bad movie like Plan 9 of Outer Space (Ed Woods). It's a great place and they have food so you can have a burger or a pizza with wine or beer (perfect for an intellectual date). They showed a 70 mm Ali documentary it might have been The Rumble in the Jungle and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Given the political climate it is hard to see Chomsky being celebrated by his countrymen.

Hollywood Theatre
 
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Electricity

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Aug 22, 2016
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There is a really nice local non profit movie theater in Portland called the Hollywood Theater (after the area)
I am a member (it's not expensive) and they show everything from 70 mm really high quality movies to
B and C movies just for the comic of a bad movie like Plan 9 of Outer Space (Ed Woods). It's a great place and they have food so you can have a burger or a pizza with wine or beer (perfect for an intellectual date). They showed a 70 mm Ali documentary it might have been The Rumble in the Jungle and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Given the political climate it is hard to see Chomsky being celebrated by his countrymen.

Hollywood Theatre

I know the movie and have been a longtime fan of the champ. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky, his hometown, and I drug my wife to his funeral procession here, four years ago. We watched his motorcade go past us at the intersection of 9th St. and Muhammad Ali Blvd. and she cried on our walk home, having seen all the people of all different walks of life coming together and chanting his name in the streets. It was special.

I also know of that theater. When I worked in Portland for a couple of weeks I went to go see the Dark Crystal there, but it was sold out. I was pretty bummed. Went to a grocery and farmer's market nearby and enjoyed the neighborhood. IIRC there's a Voodoo Donuts nearby. Like I said, Portland's my kind of town. :)
 
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Electricity

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Aug 22, 2016
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Not to derail the thread, but another thing I took from Portland is my love for Secret Aardvark hot sauce.
I had it at some diner with an awesome corned beef hash that I saw on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, and I've had it in my fridge ever since. Had some with my lunch today actually.
 
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Runner77

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Are you guys getting more reading done in the past month and a half or so?
 
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Per Sjoblom

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I know the movie and have been a longtime fan of the champ. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky, his hometown, and I drug my wife to his funeral procession here, four years ago. We watched his motorcade go past us at the intersection of 9th St. and Muhammad Ali Blvd. and she cried on our walk home, having seen all the people of all different walks of life coming together and chanting his name in the streets. It was special.

I also know of that theater. When I worked in Portland for a couple of weeks I went to go see the Dark Crystal there, but it was sold out. I was pretty bummed. Went to a grocery and farmer's market nearby and enjoyed the neighborhood. IIRC there's a Voodoo Donuts nearby. Like I said, Portland's my kind of town. :)

I've only had Voodoo Donuts once, all other times there have been so many people waiting in lines. It's like that funky ice cream place called Salt & Straw. I have been there a couple of times and the line is like a third of the block in the summer (if you buy pints you can go in direct but if you want to have a waffle or a cup where you can really choose from all the flavors then you will be in a line. They have regular type of ice cream but also some very interesting ones like Pear and Gorgonzola or this one:

Bone Marrow & Smoked Cherries

First churned September 2011
This flavor marks the first time we consulted our own city’s wealth of resources to create amazing ice cream. Michael Madigan of the culinary incubator KitchenCru, in giving Tyler one of his three only jars of smoked cherries in the world, offered up the missing piece—smokiness—which married the savory marrow and sweet cream. Incidentally, he also suggested spiking our Strawberry Honey Balsamic ice cream with black pepper. The incorporation of bone marrow into cream helped Tyler determine the best way to emulsify fats, which paved the way for other fat-based flavors such as Arbequina Olive Oil.

Both were very good.



Handmade, Curiously Delicious Ice Cream | Salt & Straw
 
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Per Sjoblom

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Jan 3, 2018
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Not to derail the thread, but another thing I took from Portland is my love for Secret Aardvark hot sauce.
I had it at some diner with an awesome corned beef hash that I saw on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, and I've had it in my fridge ever since. Had some with my lunch today actually.

I know of that sauce, when you run out let me know and I can buy some for you. Unlike most hot sauces it is in a squeeze bottle, they also have a large one half a gallon size. :)
 
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JJ68

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Oct 5, 2017
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Just finished book 9 of the Skullduggery Pleasant series and am now re-reading the biography of Gord Downie "the never ending present" while I await the 10th book to arrive in the mail.
 
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Pompeius Magnus

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May 18, 2014
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Are you guys getting more reading done in the past month and a half or so?
I'd say I got a solid 1.5 hour of reading on average every day last month, which is a lot more than I usually get with job/family and whatnot. I'm going back to work starting tomorrow though so I'll be lucky to get half an hour of uninterrupted reading time for a while :laugh:
 

Fixxer

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Jul 28, 2016
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I don't have it, but I watched 2 french interviews about it (one with the Author, his dad, Michel Roy, interviewed by JiC). Other one is Francois Allaire interview by Dave Morisette and Louis Jean. Lots of things I didn't know about Roy. Great insights!
51GsiO2BZRL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

His dad is going to be 78 this summer he said.
95896562_654332185414145_7093037067986272256_n.png
 

Runner77

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I'd say I got a solid 1.5 hour of reading on average every day last month, which is a lot more than I usually get with job/family and whatnot. I'm going back to work starting tomorrow though so I'll be lucky to get half an hour of uninterrupted reading time for a while :laugh:

That is amazing. I wish I could build a routine like that.
 
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MasterD

Giggidy Giggidy Goo
Jul 1, 2004
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I'm currently reading Principles by Ray Dalio and Lies My Doctor Told Me by Dr Ken Berry.

Both very interesting so far. Wish Dr Berry gave his references when he cites studies, though, but I've seen his YouTube videos and know he's very authentic and honest.
 

Intangir

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Aug 14, 2008
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Montreal, QC
Read three entire books about it to finish off the whole ''Chomsky come back to me'' nostalgia that crept up on me without my knowing, and am now reading a historical-fiction/fictive-autobiography named ''Memoirs of Hadrian'', about the roman emperor of the same name.

It's overall really good so far, and I like that the author, in trying to think and write through Hadrian's perspective, did her proper homework and studied the time period, a lot. The on-point yet subdued details about certain aspects of roman life, the philosophical meanderings and historical events related by Hadrian speak of a real mastery of the historical subject that manages to both illustrate and subsume the essence of the emperor's reign and struggles in that period perfectly.
 

Electricity

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Aug 22, 2016
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Louisville via St. P
Are you guys getting more reading done in the past month and a half or so?

I'm not really. I read in spurts, off and on and usually more than one book at a time. But I've been playing more video games lol.

I used to do a thing where I'd paint a quick watercolor after every book I read, depicting a scene I found memorable. They were pretty funny. But I was reading too fast to keep up so I quit. I should try again.
 

Electricity

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Aug 22, 2016
829
671
Louisville via St. P
I've only had Voodoo Donuts once, all other times there have been so many people waiting in lines. It's like that funky ice cream place called Salt & Straw. I have been there a couple of times and the line is like a third of the block in the summer (if you buy pints you can go in direct but if you want to have a waffle or a cup where you can really choose from all the flavors then you will be in a line. They have regular type of ice cream but also some very interesting ones like Pear and Gorgonzola or this one:

Bone Marrow & Smoked Cherries

First churned September 2011
This flavor marks the first time we consulted our own city’s wealth of resources to create amazing ice cream. Michael Madigan of the culinary incubator KitchenCru, in giving Tyler one of his three only jars of smoked cherries in the world, offered up the missing piece—smokiness—which married the savory marrow and sweet cream. Incidentally, he also suggested spiking our Strawberry Honey Balsamic ice cream with black pepper. The incorporation of bone marrow into cream helped Tyler determine the best way to emulsify fats, which paved the way for other fat-based flavors such as Arbequina Olive Oil.

Both were very good.



Handmade, Curiously Delicious Ice Cream | Salt & Straw

I never went there but it sounds amazing. I bet it's fantastic, but I get turned off when my pretentious-meter starts buzzing. It's a delicate balance lol.

I stood in line at Pine State Biscuits for 20 minutes to eat a chicken biscuit. Very good, but not worth the buzzing.
 
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Electricity

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Aug 22, 2016
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Louisville via St. P
I'm currently reading Principles by Ray Dalio and Lies My Doctor Told Me by Dr Ken Berry.

Both very interesting so far. Wish Dr Berry gave his references when he cites studies, though, but I've seen his YouTube videos and know he's very authentic and honest.
I read a book a long time ago called Lies My Teacher Told Me. I wonder if they're related.
 

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