5.31.2005

Reading List

My excuse for not writing? I've been reading! Yeah, that's the ticket. Seriously, back at the beginning of the year there was a meme/resolution going around about trying to read 50 books in a calendar year. I like to read but I'd been slacking a bit, so I figured, "hey, I can try that. And I can blog about each book as I finish it!" Well, that little plan didn't work out. So here it is, almost June, and I'm finally sitting down to try to list off the books I've read this year. This will definitely not be a complete list.

First off from Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin (Master & Commander) series, I think I started #7 around the first of the year and I'm about to hit #13, so that's The Surgeon's Mate, The Ionian Mission, Treason's Harbor, The Far Side of the World (from which the movie based its plot), The Reverse of the Medal and The Letter of Marque. All wonderful books and well worth the read.

Keeping on the historical bent, I seem to recall that my mother lent A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss to me over the holidays. I may have read that one over the holiday break just before the new year, but I'll count it anyway, damnit. I might as well since I've since read Liss' The Coffee Trader since then.

Also on a historical note, I read Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom. Good stuff and a good start to a new Cornwall series. Cornwall has also brought us the Sharpe series, the Grail trilogy and a number of other great period pieces.

Finally, one for (from) Shakespeare's Sister: I picked up George MacDonald Fraser's first Flashman book. What fun! A true rip-snorter in every sense of the word. Don't pick it up if you offend easily, by the way. Old Flashy is a rogue, and not in the "boyishly good looking and charming" way. No, he's a rogue in the "rape his father's lover and leave his men to die in Afghanistan but still come out a hero" way.

Speaking of Shakes, she recommended The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Greene which I picked up at the Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue in NYC when Mrs. P and I went up for the Westminster show. I had it read by the time we got back to Birmingham. Thanks for the reco, SS!

As a payback, I recommended Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which I read just after the new year. Wonderful book, and still one of the best I've read so far this year. I also recommended The Plot Against America by Philip Roth as the best book to throw at the wall in frustration for looking so tantalizing but evenutally falling flat.

Someone else in Shakes' book fans recommended The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. OK, this is the best book I've read this year. Perhaps this century. I've passed this one to so many people, I'm not sure who has my copy anymore.

My only re-read this year has been Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Jake read it for the first time late last year and was blown away, so I decided to delve back into it. The last time I read it, I was in high school and while I found I hadn't necessarily missed the point the first time, it definitely resonated more strongly this time. Something about the times we live in, eh?

Speaking of resonating in today's times, I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't read Ray Bradbury's classic masterpiece Farenheit 451 until this past weekend (me, a lover of sci-fi!). I pleased to say it was every bit as good as I thought it would be. And a hell of a lot scarier.

A good segue to my normal stomping grounds, sci-fi and fantasy. About once a month I pick up another of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I think he writes about one a month, so we're even there. So far this year, I've gotten through Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids, Guards, Guards! and Small Gods - all much fun. One that was fun, but a bit sloggy was Eragon, wunderkind Christopher Paolini's first book. I enjoyed the story, but it was obviously written by a 15 year old. A smart one, one with a good chance at being a great storyteller, but a young man who needs a few more years on him.

Continuing in the fantasy vein (heh heh), my sister loaned her copy of Robin McKinley's vampirepunk tale Sunshine to me. She also lent Michael Chabon's The Final Solution which, though it's set during WWII and concerns a German Jew, is not at all what you might think. I've been longing to read Chabon's work (especially Kavalier and Clay) so it's nice to start with a tidbit like this. An apertif, if you will. Sorry, feeling all uppity.

OK, I think I'm starting to wind down now. I've only finished a couple of non-fiction books so far, though I'm in the middle of a few. I received Thomas Cahill's The Gift of the Jews as a Chri- I mean, Festivus present. I'd like to read it again with a Bible at hand. Argh, I know I've wrapped up another non-fiction, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. EDIT: I just remembered the other non-fiction, though it's more of a work related book: Refactoring by Martin Fowler. Whew, that was going to bug the crap out of me.

So, have I missed any? It seems like I've forgotten one or two - only one sci-fi!?! - and I know I've blanked on a non-fiction (WWII, maybe? EDIT: Nope, found it). But that's pretty close to complete, a lot closer than I thought it would be. I apologize for not keeping more current and actually writing more than one or two lines per book. I'll try to be better about it in the future. Speaking of which, my nightstand (and thus, future) current holds:



  • The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian. I hope Aubrey gets his commission back. :)

  • Royal Flash by George MacDonald Fraser. The second in the series and hopefully as rollicking as the first. Did I just type out rollicking? Ick.

  • Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss. A sequel to A Conspiracy of Paper. Sooooo looking forward to this one.

  • Red Gold by Alan Furst. I must admit, I got on a Furst kick and blasted through all of his books but this one. Furst's problem is that each of his novels start to sound the same. They're good, but they're too similar to read back to back. I had to stop reading this one about a third of the way in and wait for my brain to tamp the others down.

  • Collected Stories by Saul Bellow. Mr. Bellow died recently and I'd found that I'd never read any of his work. With all the high praise eulogies bring, I felt compelled to pick up something. I've read the first couple of stories and I'm not disappointed. Though I do get a bit depressed. Maybe it's because I was reading them during an all-night charity fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

  • The Psychology of Computer Programming by Gerald Weinberg. Quite interesing study written back in 1971 (the year I was born - ha!). While the anecdotes are dated (and at times sexist - oh, for shame!), the thinking and conclusions still hold up pretty well. I'm reading the silver anniversary reprinting and Weinberg came back and put in commentary after each chapter discussing how he thought it had held up.

  • Professional Software Development by Steve McConnell. Another career-improvement type book.

  • Code Complete by Steve McConnell. Yet another. Really quite good, though. If you're a developer and haven't read it, you owe it to your career to pick it up.

  • Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. This book came highly recommended from some of the smartest people I know, so it's gotta be good, right? I'm still waiting for it to get really good....

  • The Revenge of the Sith by Michael Stover. Saw the film. Enjoyed it. Had its flaws.

  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Jake and Sean are on Bryson kicks and are trying to lure me into the web. I go willingly.

  • Tokyo Cancelled by Rana Dasgupta. Sometimes as I wander through the bookstore, a book shouts at me from the shelf: "READ ME!!" This is good, because I frequently get completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of books in today's megastores. This is one of those. Mrs. P and I were in B&N yesterday and Dasgupta's rookie effort just about jumped off the shelf and into my fists. After I read 451, I started this one and have been itching the whole time I've been writing this post to stop and pick it back up again. It's in my lap. Taunting me.


That's it, I'm going to go read.

Oh. And by the way, that's 26. Plus 12 in the stack. Wow, I've gone and impressed myself.

The End

5.21.2005

Not so fast, my friend

Days after the Broadcast Flag was axed, new draft legislation floated up from the bowels of Capitol Hill. The EFF has set up a convenient page which allows you to easily contact your Congressperson here. Go do your civic duty by annoying your representative.

5.20.2005

5.17.2005

Here they come - at the Speed of Sound

Save the date:

Coldplay
9/16 Birmingham, AL
Verizon Wireless Music Center

Someone asked me a few weeks ago which five bands I'd want to see live. My first response was, "Can I have already seen them?" Yep. The number 1-3 were Rush, U2 and Coldplay. We saw Rush (again) last summer on their 30th anniversary tour. U2 is playing Atlanta in October (or November?), but they sold out that show in the presale. Sorry, but I'm not joining U2.com for $40/year just to have the opportunity to get show tix. We saw Coldplay here in January '03 and were astounded. If they're coming your way - GO! (just don't take our tickets...)

5.16.2005

Jek In Love


Jek In Love 2
Originally uploaded by piercingwit.
Two of the guys here at the office were jokin' about old Porkins' death in Star Wars (IV: A New Hope - the first one, er, the fourth one - uh, the ... nevermind. If you're reading my blog, you know what I'm talking about). Jim told Dave about the age-old (in Internet years) argument about whether Porkins' death was noble or whether he "was just so fat he had to be greased up and stuffed into his xwing, and he flew around with a bucket of kentucky fried in his lap, which is why he wouldnt punch out when he got hit; he didnt want to lose that chicken." So inspired, Dave whipped this up.

5.06.2005

Score one for the good guys!

Boing Boing: V-TV DAY: WE WON THE BROADCAST FLAG FIGHT!

Wow, this is truly amazing:

This morning, the DC Circuit of the US Court of Appeals struck down the loathsome Broadcast Flag, ruling that the FCC does not have the jurisdiction to regulate what people do with TV shows after they've received them.


5.05.2005

Disappointment to My Parents Meme

Man, I'm slacking. Pam tagged me with the latest meme last week and I just missed it. She caught it from Shakes, who makes a point I agree with:
...I don’t know who wrote it originally, and I don’t know why they “couldn’t” be these things. I’d prefer to be saying, “If I were a doctor…” etc., since I could have been one...
I've always been of the opinion that anyone could do pretty much anything they set their mind to, so I concur that a more "optimistic" statement would be "If I were an X, I'd do Y." However, looked at another way one might say the difference between "could be" and "were " is this: "Could be" denotes that wishful thinking - what if I could be anything I wanted? "Were" denotes what would have most likely happened had one followed that course in life,

e.g.
If I could be a professional athlete, I'd play short stop for the Braves.
If I were a professional athlete, I'd be an Olympic luger. (I was actually told by an Olympian when I was an early teen that I had the perfect body structure for it: medium hieght and skinny)

So the "could be" is the dream while the "were" is the missed (or not yet explored) opportunity. In the spirit of the original meme, I'll answer the "could be" side. Maybe another meme will start down the "were" (or "will be?") path.

If I could be a Scientist
I'd be a field paleontologist. Just like a lot of kids, dinosaurs always fascinated me. I'd love to be able to go out on digs, solving the puzzles of the fossils, adding knowledge to the world.

If I could be a Musician
A rocker, definitely. I was in a number of crappy garage bands in high school and college, but I never had the drive to actually do it for a living. If I could, I'd be hanging with Bono, Chris Martin, and Geddy Lee, playing gigs all over the world and helping Bob Geldof with Band Aid 20.

If I could be a Doctor
Mrs. P is a nurse in a GP's office, so I know a little about what this is like. And I definitely wouldn't be a GP. I'd much rather be on the research end of things - this overlaps with the Scientist answer above, I suppose. I'd like to imagine I'd end up at someplace like the CDC rather than a corporate R&D lab.

If I could be a Painter
Interesting. Hard to say - painting minis has been a geek hobby of mine for a long time, so I already am a painter by avocation. It would be fun to be able to do it for a living - it's quite a niche market, tho.

If I could be an Innkeeper
Easy. A little resort hotel on the Florida panhandle. My long-term goal is to retire down there, rent out a catamaran to the touristas, ogle bikini-clad women and be a dirty old man in general. Mrs. P fully supports this goal. I think.

And finally, I think the only thing I've disappointed my parents on has been not finishing college. One of these days....

So, tagging up: 1031, you're it. Rook, you too.

Oh, and Pam, let me know when you come into town. We should meet up and have a brew.

The Seven Gummie Sins: Pride


The Seven Gummie Sins: Pride
Originally uploaded by Wiedmaier.
Wiedmaier has a set of gummie bears enacting the seven deadly sins on the world's latest coolest website, Flickr. This is Pride, my personal favorite. I love how the bear's head is turned up and away from the viewer. Go check out the rest here.

5.02.2005

Tuscaloosa News On Rep. Allen

The Tuscaloosa (AL) News ran an editorial on 4/22 regarding the introduction of Gerald "don't wanna read about no fags" Allen's bill into committee:

Allen says the legislation is not about hate but is a response to concerns of citizens about cultural preservation and government spending.

The motivation, however, is quite obvious -- and not just to the gays who complained about it at the committee meeting on Wednesday. It treats homosexuality as a contagious sin, spread by casual contact -- a concept that belongs in the Dark Ages.

Allen has tried to make his legislation more palatable by excluding college libraries, allowing for some of Shakespeare’s plays to be read in K-12 classes and letting college theater groups perform Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

...

Committee Chairwoman Yvonne Kennedy, D-Mobile, who is black, ably articulated [the lack of principle behind the bill] when she closed the meeting:

“I am one who has been discriminated against," she said, “and I will not be part of anything that fosters discrimination."


Ouch. Great framing by Rep. Kennedy. Replace "homosexual" with "black" and see what kind of outrage it would spark.

You can read the entire editorial here, though it requires registration (or a BugMeNot link!!)