Big Pickles

At least, I try.

I've read two of Malcolm Gladwell's books, and I loved them. They are fun to read, and they make you think. I was just telling Dan about him this weekend, and yet, I was at a loss to explain what these books are actually about. "He just has some good ideas..." was about all I could muster.

Then I read something like this and it makes me wonder if I've been had. In fact, it brings back memories of another book that was fun to read and made me think.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

My loathing for that book is now the stuff of legend, but in 2002 my exuberance towards it and subsequent disillusionment with it awoke in me a skepticism that I've tried to cultivate ever since. John T. Reed was the one that opened my eyes, as he demonstrated that while Kiyosaki may be fun to read and while he may make you think, in the end you can't really say what his books are about, either.

I still say Gladwell is the better writer--and also, his books don't have the added danger of inspiring you to blow your meager savings on more books, seminars, and shady real estate shemes. But it's good to be reminded that for all my skepticism (some would say cynicism) I'm still not above getting swept away by the occasional siren song.

Labels: books

[WARNING] This post is probably PG-13 or so. Proceed at your own risk.

This is an excerpt from a review of the movie from a man's perspective. I don't know who wrote it or where it's from, but if I ever track it down I will give proper attribution.

Ultimately this film and the books, I suspect, are the work of a person who understands the most narcissistic fantasies of young women. This story isn't about love. It's about a fantasy that every woman has to be so special that she is chosen by the impossibly gorgeous, horrifically powerful yet timid and gentle man of her dreams. In this case, all the aforementioned criteria are fulfilled by his being a "vegetarian vampire."

I'm not picking on girls here--the equivalent of this for guys is two chicks at the same time. Every guy wants to be so strong and handsome and smooth that two gorgeous women that every other guy wants are so attracted to him that they forgo their inhibitions and take him at the same time.

Labels: books, movies

You know the trick you used to read comic books in class, where you prop up a textbook and hide the comic behind it?

Yeah, I've never done that either. But I've seen it on TV.

Anyway, this is the work version of that.

Labels: books

When I was a little kid and my mom would take us to the library each week, I had a system. There were several books, or collections of books that I would look for every time.

It was the same at my school library. There was this huge picture book about astronomy, I think it was called The Universe, and if it was in, you grabbed it and checked it out. No questions asked. Having that book checked out in your name was like a status symbol in elementary school. If it was checked out (and it usually was) then you headed for this book about drilling to the center of the earth, and if it was out then you made your way to the thumb print drawing books, this funny sports cartoon book, and so on.

While this hierarchy of desirable books was dictated by what was cool at school, at the public library I was on my own, and free to indulge in books that would have subjected me to ridicule among my school friends. One of my favorite collections was the Creative Activities Program series. I always loved non-fiction as a kid, especially "how-to" books. It's probably why I learned my knots so well in scouts. These books showed you how to do things like build a submarine out of cardboard boxes, complete with working torpedo launchers.

Each week I would check out a different volume--Making, Creating, Fooling, even Sewing. But I never got to read Volume 2: Playing. I imagined it was the best one, too. I mean come on, Playing. I would dash to the shelf every time, but it was never there. I guess some other kid must have lost it or something.

The other series I would always look for was this collection of spy books. They were illustrated in this awesome 70s style that you only see on Sesame Street anymore and they were chock full of useful information. The red ones were called Spy Guides and included Secret Messages, Disguise & Makeup, and Tracking & Trailing. The blue ones were called Detective Guides and included Catching Crooks, Clues & Suspects, and Fakes & Forgeries. I haven't been able to find these anywhere, but it looks like they might have been republished as single volumes: one for spies and one for detectives.

A customer review at Amazon says it best. These books are like The Art of War for eight year olds.

Labels: books

There's an article about Junie B. Jones books in the New York Times. Apparently, some parents object to Junie's grammar, afraid their kids are going to start talking like her if they read too many of these books.

I don't buy it. The arguments I thought of as I read the first few paragraphs show up on the second page: Mark Twain and Shakespeare. I think exposure to non-standard English, in either direction, can only be educational.

Labels: books, language

About a year ago we had some sales people come into our office and give a presentation on this cool electronic whiteboard that would let you save whatever you wrote to a computer.

This was attractive to us because the financial planners use whiteboards a lot in their presentations, and this would allow the client to take home a copy of all the diagrams and notes and stuff. And it would be useful for other things in the office, too. I won't get into all of it.

Anyway, when I first encountered this website, I thought it would be a demonstration of this kind of technology.

Boy, was I wrong.

Labels: books, internet

You know how sometimes you're walking along, or driving to work or whatever, and you think to yourself, "Hey, I wonder what Art Garfunkel was reading in August of 1991?" And you just had to be content not to know, because even in this information age there are still some crucial bits of knowledge that lie just beyond our grasp?

Well, not anymore. Thanks to the Garfunkel Library, you can finally be at ease, secure in the knowledge that while Paul Simon was promoting his latest album with another free concert in Central Park, Art was reading Oscar Hijuelos' The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.

Fascinating.

Labels: books, music

In his seminal tome entitled The Areas of My Expertise, humor writer, Daily Show correspondent, and embodiment of the Windows PC John Hodgman catalogs 700 hobos (800 in the paperback edition).

Then he recorded a song where he recites all of their names.

And then creative fans drew pictures of them.

EDIT: Goodness gracious! The audiobook is now being offered for free on iTunes!

Via Boing Boing.

Labels: audio, books, humor