Reading anything?

[Vik]

Listened to the audiobook of 'Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity', by David Lynch. It was very interesting.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

Budnick's and Baron's "Ticket Masters: the rise of the concert industry and how the public got scalped."

Despite the subtitle, it is a fairly even handed look at how electronic ticketing came to be, as they point out, if you want to know why tickets are so high, everybody's hands are dirty. Even the audience. For if the audience did not pay such high prices for tickets, the tickets might not be so high.

Anyway, the authors do a couple of things right. They seemingly talked to anybody who might have some knowledge on the subject. According to the directory of names in the book, that is over 200 people. They also let the people talk, without interjecting their opnions in there. Which is hard to do.

But, probably the best thing about the book is that the authors cover the early history of electronic ticketing, which dates back to the '60's, or the time that computers really started becoming available to the public.

Also Roger Ekirch's "Birthright: the true story that inspired 'kidnapped.'"

And about four or five other fiction books on the most notorious legal case of the 1st half of the 18th century. Besides the legal and literary history, the book also covers the military, political, religious, and social history of that time in Ireland and in what is now Pennsylvania, where the plaintiff wound up after being kidnapped.

As for the results of the case, while the actual case was fairly rapidly settled, the appeal process just dragged on and on to both the plaintiff and defendant were deceased.

[InformationGeek]

Batman #1-6 by: Scott Snyder

Beware the court of owls, that watches all the time,
Ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime.
They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed,
speak not a whispered word of them
or they'll send the talon for your head.

A discovery of a body one day and a message that Bruce Wayne is marked for death brings to light that an old nursery rhyme may actually be true.  A Court of Owls may exist and they want Bruce dead.  Batman doesn't believe they exist, but what comes next may make a believer out of him.

There are no words to properly describe how incredible this current run on Batman is.  Scott Snyder, writer of American Vampire and Swamp Thing, is just knocking it out of the park with one of the best runs  to date.  Probably one of the most mysterious and scariest stories I ever seen told about Batman.  If you are a fan, you must be reading this.

[Mofo Rising]

As always, I'm reading something like 10-12 books concurrently, but the one that has really got me at the moment is Truman by David McCullough.

It's a great book, McCullough is fantastic writer who really brings alive any subject he puts his mind to. The first couple hundred pages were a bit dull (it's a long book), since it focuses on Truman's early life; he was a regular farmer for the first three decades of his life. However, now that I have gotten to the point where he gets to the Senate and starts heading the Truman Commission the book has become fascinating.

I just got through the chapter wherein he was nominated to the Vice Presidency of the not-long-for-this-world FDR. It's a sad and befuddling chapter involving some of the worst instances of political insiderism and people being horrible to each other.

But it is very compelling stuff. A lot of writers manage to make American history boring, McCullough is not one of those. History, real history, is alive and meaningful for anybody who wants to understand the world. I'm really enjoying this book.

[Trevor]

I just bought a copy of Let Freedom Ring by Sean Hannity. *Ducks flying shoes* 

[InformationGeek]

The Mind at Work by: Mike Ross

It's a book I've been assigned to read in one of my classes.  Only read the introduction so far, so I can't say much about it.

[Vik]

'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu

[Vik]

'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu

which was really good.
Started reading 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values' by Robert M. Pirsig this morning.

[InformationGeek]

Batgirl #1-6 by Gail Simone



The first complete story arc to Barbara Gordon's return as Batgirl, after recovering from the gunshot  wound in The Killing Joke (In the new 52 DC universe, she wasn't paralyze).  Barbara is back in action, but still quite rusty  since it has been years since she has been a superhero.  However, she's going to have to get back  into the game quick to face off against The Mirror, a killer going after survivors of near death experiences, and Gretel, a hair coloring changing woman who hypnotizing men with the number 338.

How does this series work?  Well, it's rather average to say the least.  The writing is fine, but suffers from an overabudence of internal monologue and a rush conclusion with the second villian.  The art is fine, but has issues with some of the movement of the characters and sometimes the artist forgets or draws poorly one of the eyes on a person (coloring was good though).  On the plus side, there is a ton of set up and ground work being laid down for future issues, with plenty of interesting mysteries being developed.  The story gets better goes on, so prehaps it is better to skip to issue 7 or issue 5.

Regardless, it is a fun, but nothing special first story arc for Babs first outing in quite a while.  It's better to buy cheap instead of paying full price for these comics or when the first trade comes out.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

"Marvel's 70th Anniversary Collection"

A full day of lessons--art, economics, geography, history, science, sociology--in one collection.

Art
30s-60s. 4 decades of artwork which remained basically the same.
70s-mid 80s. minor changes in the artwork.
late 80s. major changes in the artwork.
90s-00s. major changes in the artwork every decade.

Economics
1939 to 1960 or 1961. 10 cents per comic book.
1962. price increase of 2 cents, which price continued to at least 1967.
1975. by . . . the price had doubled to more than a quarter.
1979. by . . . the price had gone up another 15 cents to 40 cents. It'd remain the same price for the next year.
1981. by . . . the price had gone up to 50 cents.
1987. by . . . the price was now 75 cents.
A price increase of 750% in almost 50 years or more than 15% per year.

Geography
Unlike Batman or Superman, the Marvel Superhero Universe clearly takes place in New York City, as you get the following New York City landmarks in some of the comic books.

Broadway, Brooklyn, Central Park, Columbia University, Coney Island, the East River, 5th Avenue, Gracie Mansion, the Lower East Side, Manhattan, Roiker's Island, Rockerfeller Center,Washington Square, etc.

History
Some 20 years after the "hot" war with the Nutzis ended, we were still at war. It may have been a "cold" war, bt we were now at war with the Commies.

Science
Almost 100 years later, we still do not know what struck Siberia, early in the last century, but unlike in 1963, we know it was not a meteorite, for no meteorite fragments were found in the area. Unlike other areas we know where a meteorite has struck.

Sociology
The science of human progress.

We have become a less violent society, or, at least, a society less tolerant of violence. For, as pointed out by the editors, today's readers would not condone the violence seen in the early Submariner comic books.

Whereas, most of the early superheros were white heterosexual males, today, we are not only seeing more female superheroes, but Asian, black, Hispanic, and Native American superheroes. And superheroes that are lesbian, gay, and bisexual.

We have gotten past our hatreds. If in the '40's, the Germans were the bad guys, by 1980, at least, a German could be a good guy. Nightcrawler.

Next time: the problems

[indianasmith]

As always, I'm reading something like 10-12 books concurrently, but the one that has really got me at the moment is Truman by David McCullough.

It's a great book, McCullough is fantastic writer who really brings alive any subject he puts his mind to. The first couple hundred pages were a bit dull (it's a long book), since it focuses on Truman's early life; he was a regular farmer for the first three decades of his life. However, now that I have gotten to the point where he gets to the Senate and starts heading the Truman Commission the book has become fascinating.

I just got through the chapter wherein he was nominated to the Vice Presidency of the not-long-for-this-world FDR. It's a sad and befuddling chapter involving some of the worst instances of political insiderism and people being horrible to each other.

But it is very compelling stuff. A lot of writers manage to make American history boring, McCullough is not one of those. History, real history, is alive and meaningful for anybody who wants to understand the world. I'm really enjoying this book.

I'm actually re-reading this one right now - I first read it shortly after it came out.  I just got to the part where Truman is suddenly elevated to the Presidency.  It's odd, since I am a lifelong Republican, but Harry S Truman is, to me, one of the most admirable men in the history of American politics.  He had courage, character, and a lot of good old common sense.  America was blessed with the right man at the right time.

[AndyC]

Just finished a fun thriller called Red Moon, By David S. Michaels and Daniel Brenton. An international lunar mission in 2019 visits the landing site of the Soviet Luna 15 probe that launched three days before Apollo 11. Instead of the unmanned probe, they find a Soviet lander with evidence of a human pilot. As the characters get to the bottom of the mystery, the story alternates between three main settings - the moon and Moscow in 2019, and the Soviet Union in the late 1960s. Of course, there are people who don't want the mystery solved.

What I especially liked about the book is the authors' research into the Soviet lunar program, and the way fictional events and characters were woven into real events, with Soviet secrecy accounting for their absence from history. And they use a couple of popular "lost cosmonaut" legends as part of the basis for the story. The part in 2019 Moscow has sort of a Dan Brown feel to it, as one of the protagonists digs into the history and finds himself in danger, while the crew on the moon are dealing with the revelation that at least one of them is under secret orders from some very powerful and mysterious people.

Just a real page-turner all around.

[Mofo Rising]

As always, I'm reading something like 10-12 books concurrently, but the one that has really got me at the moment is Truman by David McCullough.

It's a great book, McCullough is fantastic writer who really brings alive any subject he puts his mind to. The first couple hundred pages were a bit dull (it's a long book), since it focuses on Truman's early life; he was a regular farmer for the first three decades of his life. However, now that I have gotten to the point where he gets to the Senate and starts heading the Truman Commission the book has become fascinating.

I just got through the chapter wherein he was nominated to the Vice Presidency of the not-long-for-this-world FDR. It's a sad and befuddling chapter involving some of the worst instances of political insiderism and people being horrible to each other.

But it is very compelling stuff. A lot of writers manage to make American history boring, McCullough is not one of those. History, real history, is alive and meaningful for anybody who wants to understand the world. I'm really enjoying this book.

I'm actually re-reading this one right now - I first read it shortly after it came out.  I just got to the part where Truman is suddenly elevated to the Presidency.  It's odd, since I am a lifelong Republican, but Harry S Truman is, to me, one of the most admirable men in the history of American politics.  He had courage, character, and a lot of good old common sense.  America was blessed with the right man at the right time.

Truman's story is really weird. For all intents and purposes, he is the very model of a straight-shooting middle American. And yet every entry into his path to power was paved by the worst of insider politics. Somehow this eminently competent man became the go-to guy when the country needed him most. And then he became the only man to utilize the atomic bomb in wartime, a decision we're still reeling from.

It's almost Shakespearean. I respect and admire Truman, but man alive, being Truman must have been horrible.

"You've got to be a good man, because there's way too many of the bad ones."

[indianasmith]

Truman commented later on that he "never lost a night's sleep" over his decision to use the bomb.  I don't know if that is true or not, but he wasn't noted for his falsehoods.  We were in a war where over 50 million had already died, and they brought him a way to end it.  It was a horrible way.  But war is horrible.  So he used it.  It couldn't have been easy, but I'm glad he did.  Because one of the American boys preparing to storm ashore on the beaches of Japan that fall was my Dad.  He was supposed to hit the beach with the second wave - and they were told that their survival rate would be about 1 out of 132.  I'm just glad it never came to that.

[alandhopewell]

     Just finished this....



     Enjoyable, although I'm a Koontz fan no matter what.