Currently reading....

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BBP - 12-2-2007 at 22:49

That sounds like some nice book that you have to be American to enjoy to the fullest...

Right now I'm reading something on the islam for college.

punknaynowned - 13-2-2007 at 08:56

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
That sounds like some nice book that you have to be American to enjoy to the fullest...

Right now I'm reading something on the islam for college.

what do you mean? LOL He's a lot easier to read than Burroughs! and a lot more fun!!
try this:
two 'mine engineers', Webb and Veikko, explosives experts are out on 'a job', somewhere northern New Mexico, 1890's. One American, the other from Finland.

Quote:

Mostly with Veikko you had your choice of two topics, techniques of detonation or Veikko's distant country and its beleaguered constitution, Webb never having seen him raise a glass, for example, that wasn't dedicated to the fall of the Russian Tsar and his evil viceroy General Bobrikoff. But sometimes Veikko went on and got philosophical. He'd never seen much difference between the Tsar's regime and American capitalism. To struggle against one, he figured, was to struggle against the other. Sort of this world-wide outlook. "Was a little worse for us, maybe, coming to USA after hearing so much about 'land of the free.'" Thinking he'd escaped something, only to find life out here just as mean and cold, same wealth without conscience, same poor people in misery, army and police free as wolves to commit cruelties on behalf of the bosses, bosses ready to do anything to protect what they had stolen. The main difference he could see was that the Russian aristocracy, after centuries of believing in nothing but its own entitlement, had grown weak . . . "But American aristocracy is not even a century old . . . strong from efforts it took to acquire its wealth, more of a challenge. Good enemy."
"You think they're too strong for the workers?"
At which Veikko's eyes would grow pale and illuminated from within, his voice issuing from an abundant and unkempt beard . . . "We are their strength, without us they are impotent, we are they," and so forth.
. . .
Webb and Veikko got into the usual argument about whether to blast the 'sucker now or wait til a train came. "You know how owners are," Veikko said, "lazy sons of bitches can't be bothered to saddle up, they take trains wherever they go. We blow train, maybe get a couple of them with it."
"I ain't about to sit out here all day waitin for some train that likely won't be runnin anyhow, it bein a three-day holiday." . . .
"Your mother fucks reindeer."

Quote:

Webb's trajectory toward the communion of toil which had claimed his life had begun right out in the middle of Cripple Creek, blooming in those days like a flower of poisonous delight among its spoil heaps, cribs, parlor houses and gambling saloons. It was a time in Cripple and Victor, Leadville and Creede, when men were finding their way to the unblastable seams of their own secret natures, learning the true names of desire, which spoken, so they dreamed, would open the way through the mountains to all that had been denied them. In the broken and soon-enough-interrupted dreams close to dawn in particular, Webb would find himself standing at some divide, facing west into a great flow of promise, something like wind, something like light, free of the damaged hopes and pestilent smoke east of here -- sacrificial smoke, maybe, but not ascending to Heaven, only high enough to be breathed in, to sicken and cut short countless lives, to change the color of the daylight and deny to walkers of the night the stars they remembered from younger times. He would wake to the day and its dread. The trail back to that high place and the luminous promise did not run by way of Cripple, though Cripple would have to serve, hopes corroded to fragments -- overnight whiskey, daughters of slaves, rigged poker games, the ladies who work on the line.

on second thought, maybe it's an old man's book. Maybe I'm feeling old, wanting to feel young again. :crying:

damn this post is huge. hope you don't mind.

btw, speaking of differences and divisions, what is that, 'the islam for college'?

BBP - 13-2-2007 at 20:24

Quote:

Webb and Veikko got into the usual argument about whether to blast the 'sucker now or wait til a train came. "You know how owners are," Veikko said, "lazy sons of bitches can't be bothered to saddle up, they take trains wherever they go. We blow train, maybe get a couple of them with it."
"I ain't about to sit out here all day waitin for some train that likely won't be runnin anyhow, it bein a three-day holiday." . . .
"Your mother fucks reindeer."

And what's so funny about "Your mother fucks reindeer"?

It's OK if you make long posts... just remember there'll be fewer people to read it...

For college I'm taking a class on the islam: a basic introduction to the faith from an "academic" viewpoint (= non-believing). It's a pretty interesting class, I'm learning lots of Arabic (like Al-qaida). Also it's strengthening me in my atheist conviction. We have a decent teacher too, except yesterday the internet connection failed and he had to lecture without Power Point, which got him very confused.

punknaynowned - 14-2-2007 at 08:42

Quote:

And what's so funny about "Your mother fucks reindeer"?

ouch!
it seems that Veikko is so frustrated with Webb because he won't go along with him to blow up a bridge and the train along with it potentially holding the corporate bosses (!!!!!) that he tries to insult him by insulting his mother . . .
it's a variation on a fairly common insult: to insult someone deeply you would attack their mother verbally and to insult someone's mother you say something about her supposedly . . . bad choices. It's funny because it's a wildly improbable thing first of all, and reindeer are found in places like Finland or Alaska, Siberia but not the lower 48 states at all. It's also funny because insulting someone's mother is either a reaction coming from a deeply felt place -- like "I'm hurt badly by what you say and so I want you to hurt badly too", or in cases where people are more used to each other's 'pressure points' it can also be almost endearing.
For example, it's so obvious to me that jpfunk actually likes or feels a kind of kinship with Isaac and that's exactly why he gives him such a hard time -- like a little brother he never had . . . Jpfunk probably feels like he's 'toughening little Isaac up' --he even told Isaac, 'I love you you big dummy' once and Isaac was so pissed off he couldn't even acknowledge it. Isaac doesn't see it that way, tho and jpfunk would probably never admit it.

I hope I haven't been overly wordy or seemed pretensious or any of that, Bonny. To be real honest, I don't know what you know and you don't know what I know and I have no idea how you see any of this. It is merely my simple hope that exposing people to stuff, whatever it is, will get them to see a little more of the wide world that is out there. That's all. :roll:

Quote:

It's OK if you make long posts... just remember there'll be fewer people to read it...

Up with literacy!, I say.

Quote:

For college I'm taking a class on the islam: a basic introduction to the faith from an "academic" viewpoint (= non-believing). It's a pretty interesting class, I'm learning lots of Arabic (like Al-qaida). Also it's strengthening me in my atheist conviction. We have a decent teacher too, except yesterday the internet connection failed and he had to lecture without Power Point, which got him very confused.

wish more folks could take a class on what other people believe in, so long as it's a reasonably accurate portrayal -- and I'm sure your class is a lot better than what the average American 'learns' on the slime from the tvset

oh! and happy Valentine's day!

[Edited on 14-2-2007 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 31-3-2007 at 21:08

Emile Zola - Germinal
In French, so wish me luck...

punknaynowned - 2-4-2007 at 05:07

I would LOVE to read Zola or Hugo, Balzac or Dumas in French. Omigod! Jealous Iam.

BBP - 2-4-2007 at 10:51

Easy solution: learn French. French is not such a difficult language, except for listening.

DED - 2-4-2007 at 13:45

I'm now rereading my dutch detecive books of Havank
(Hans van Kampen)
Keyperson is chief inspector Charles C.M. Carlier and most stories play in France. A lot of them in the Provence

BBP - 15-5-2007 at 14:02

Just got a lot of books from my birthday, some Ionesco and Gogol... Just finished a story collection by Emile Zola.

Now I'm reading for college: the bible. I've cleverly disguised my bible as The Real Frank Zappa Book so that I can read it without creepy people sitting next to me and talking to me on the train.

BBP - 8-8-2007 at 12:37

Read through the bible, passed the test. Now I've started finally on Germinal.

punknaynowned - 22-8-2007 at 19:02

this summer I've been reading sea stories:
Midshipman Hornblower
Mutiny On The Bounty (half-through)
Heart of Darkness (background in the Norton edition)

dunno why really. It's been ten years or more since I read fiction regularly. Just feel like it I guess.

[Edited on 22-8-2007 by punknaynowned]

BBP - 22-8-2007 at 19:06

Have only heard of the middle one...
How are they Punky?

punknaynowned - 22-8-2007 at 19:25

the hornblower is the first of a series, there are ten in all

heart of darkness = that giant sinking sound of decay we smell every time someone mentions 'progress'

how are u?
got to see zpz in tulsa last week. It was great!
then they're coming to Kansas City in November!
hooray!!

won't be going to europe this fall

DED - 22-8-2007 at 20:59

that are always nice stories about the sea, the tall ships, slavery (dutch slaves in Algery) and not to forget the merchand ships fighting in the second WW.
These types of books are famous (sorry were) in Holland

punknaynowned - 23-8-2007 at 03:55

I read many sea stories as a kid.
found the real world navy not as enjoyable
strange weather on the sea

of course, the Dutch made world sailing famous and then the spainiards took the helm and then the brits and then the yanks and then the pirates

I remember that one!

hope your well

DED - 16-10-2007 at 10:04

Are any of these books you read translations of Dutch work?
Me myself are now reading some childish Detectives, I read when I was Young.

And off course my new knowledge book

punknaynowned - 17-10-2007 at 10:31

no, those weren't. They are all English.
but one of my favorite books of the last few years was Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen of Johann Huizinga.
marvelous book
not fiction
history is my first true love

BBP - 17-10-2007 at 14:11

There's a funny pun going around on the name of that novel... I've thought of reading it just because of that.

(For the Dutch-speakers here: in the category of things that aren't what they sound like: herfsttijloos is niet iemand die Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen van Johan Huizinga heeft uitgeleend en niet teruggekregen.)

aquagoat - 18-10-2007 at 14:21

currently reading Brett Easton Ellis' American psycho, quite a special book, I can't stop reading it.

BBP - 19-10-2007 at 09:07

Ha! I couldn't continue reading it... Are you reading it in English? I found the first few pages pretty hard to get through, and somehow I never felt like continuing.

aquagoat - 19-10-2007 at 14:50

I read it in french, but it's true the first pages are a bit difficult to understand, my girlfriend had difficulties reading it in the beginning too. But after a while you get used to it and it becomes very captivating, you should try again, bb.

BBP - 20-10-2007 at 10:28

Maybe... I'm still stuck on Germinal in French. My French has definitely slipped downhill a lot.
And I'm still reading Junky because I can never remember where I put it. :freak:

BBP - 3-11-2007 at 16:29

Currently I'm reading something I got for free at the book fair: I could choose a book for free, out of a pile of works that you normally wouldn't touch. But this one's entertaining.

It's The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide by Douglas and Graham Walker, the leaders of the World RPS Society.

aquagoat - 5-11-2007 at 16:02

hum, that sounds quite interesting, considering the title. I never thought such a book could exist. :shocked:

BBP - 14-11-2007 at 21:30

It's... well... it begins with a large chapter on how RPS is much better than flipping coins... Now I've reached the chapter "How To Meet Girls With RPS". This book has to be the most absurd I've read in a long time.

Speaking of RPS: In Fort Boyard they play it sometimes against the tigerheads. Then they have 4 cards, a rock, paper, scissor and pit. What does the pit do?

At the book fair I bought a 2-in-1 book with Frankenstein and Dracula.
Now I'm reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which turns out to be a great read. I'm halfway already.

DED - 18-11-2007 at 18:05

I do not like the genre.
When reading is a pastime it will always be detectives or thrillers
othwerwise it will be management books (preferably about Knowledge Management)

Badchild - 13-3-2008 at 12:28

I'm currently reading Gravity's Rainbow by T. Pynchon. It's a tough read i must say. I just ot my National Geographic so now that's my daily reading for the next couple of days...Great article on animal intelligence.

Quote:

Speaking of RPS: In Fort Boyard they play it sometimes against the tigerheads. Then they have 4 cards, a rock, paper, scissor and pit. What does the pit do?

You mean they make an English version of Fort Boyard? It's just a few km from here. My kids love that show. However, it used to be better before it became just tv people competing. Before, the teams kept the money :freak:

.

Really nice to be here BBP.

punknaynowned - 13-3-2008 at 14:11

I haven't finished Pynchon's latest, Against The Day yet.
I've been on page 637 out of 1085, for some months now.

BBP - 13-3-2008 at 17:20

Quote:

Originally posted by Badchild
I'm currently reading Gravity's Rainbow by T. Pynchon. It's a tough read i must say. I just ot my National Geographic so now that's my daily reading for the next couple of days...Great article on animal intelligence.

Quote:

Speaking of RPS: In Fort Boyard they play it sometimes against the tigerheads. Then they have 4 cards, a rock, paper, scissor and pit. What does the pit do?

.

Really nice to be here BBP.

Let's see... there was a Dutch FB, a Belgian FB, a Russian, Bulgarian/Serbian/Turkish, US, UK, German, Holland vs Belgium, Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Denmark... The format's been sold to 65 countries.

For me it doesn't matter much whether the competitors are famous Frenchies or not. I think i've seen only one I knew this far. It's just that they used to rehearse so they knew what they were supposed to do in every chamber, and with the celebs they don't.

But to stay on topic: I'm reading a play by Gogol.

scallopino - 14-3-2008 at 09:15

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
It's... well... it begins with a large chapter on how RPS is much better than flipping coins... Now I've reached the chapter "How To Meet Girls With RPS". This book has to be the most absurd I've read in a long time.

Speaking of RPS: In Fort Boyard they play it sometimes against the tigerheads. Then they have 4 cards, a rock, paper, scissor and pit. What does the pit do?

At the book fair I bought a 2-in-1 book with Frankenstein and Dracula.
Now I'm reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which turns out to be a great read. I'm halfway already.

I think Frankenstein is one of the most beautiful books ever written, in a lot of ways. The descriptions of the scenery around Geneva and the other places...the lakes, the forests, the mountains, the ice, are really breathtaking.

It's also probably the most depressing thing i've ever read. It is as utterly and continuously bleak as you can get.

I got the film a few weeks after I read it, given its reputation as one of the great movies. I thought it was an absolute travesty. It took all the great things about the novel out and Hollywoodized it. I don't know what i would think if i hadn't read it first.

scallopino - 14-3-2008 at 09:20

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
I haven't finished Pynchon's latest, Against The Day yet.
I've been on page 637 out of 1085, for some months now.

Punky, here's a tip for when you have lots of pages but can't get motivated to get to the end: Just turn the pages without reading them. You'll find that you'll just fly through it! You can even try humming a tune to yourself while you do it!

BBP - 14-3-2008 at 12:33

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino

I think Frankenstein is one of the most beautiful books ever written, in a lot of ways. The descriptions of the scenery around Geneva and the other places...the lakes, the forests, the mountains, the ice, are really breathtaking.

It's also probably the most depressing thing i've ever read. It is as utterly and continuously bleak as you can get.

I got the film a few weeks after I read it, given its reputation as one of the great movies. I thought it was an absolute travesty. It took all the great things about the novel out and Hollywoodized it. I don't know what i would think if i hadn't read it first.

It's a great book indeed... I'm reluctant to watch any more book films. I read Dracula a few months ago and loved it, with strong, friendly characters, one of them Dutch speaking ungrammatical at occasions. Now that I've seen Coppola's monstrosity he even dared to attach Stoker's name to, I'm upset about what Hollywood does to the images a reader may form. Not to mention about character change.

punknaynowned - 14-3-2008 at 18:03

this is exactly my biggest problem with film in general. Hollywood makes a bigger dime by spoon-feeding it to such an extreme, the way they do. Reading IS an active activity, it stimulates imagination in so many ways in addition to the mainly visual. And with so many faster and faster images in the way they do them, strips character away for one, but shuts out the possibility of getting to think on one's own except for 'how they gonna get out of this'. Documentaries are much more interesting to me,. for a long time now. I can enjoy a well-displayed shot and so on, but without the layers that a book can convey and trusting the audience to put it together, or go off on your own, much is lost in film-making as a story telling medium.

[Edited on 14-3-08 by punknaynowned]

scallopino - 15-3-2008 at 08:09

I agree Punk. One thing about reading is that everybody "reads" something different; they create the text in a sense based on their own experiences and they have their own images which reflect people and places they've seen. Movies take all this away by forcing on you a particular reading of something and you have no choice but to see what they want you to see.

I can only watch a certain kind of documentary. I can't watch history documentaries because of the re-enactments, which rivals tag graffiti as the lamest thing in the world. The best documentaries have no narration and let the subject and story speak for itself and let the audience form their own conclusions.

BBP - 15-3-2008 at 09:33

Ugh! History documentaries!

Back in the day I studied history, I had a lovely teacher Maarten Prak who explained us what's the problem with history documentaries: lack of footage. It's why the main Dutch history programme only deals with the 20th century.
In his lecture, just prior to showing a highly dopey commentary, he explained to us:
"In a historical documentary, there are three ways of making a story more exciting.
The first is reenacting certain events in clothes of the time.
The second is geting an expert to talk about it.
The third is getting an expert in the field to tell about it. (imitates expert) "I am now on the field where in 1600 a battle was fought. It is likely that this tree (hugs blackboard post) was the witness of this event..."

I'm very fond of nature documentaries. Though Richard Attenborough nowadays makes me laugh (too much Shivers playing), I'm very fond of his work. And Iain Stewart's recent Earth series is absolutely gorgeous.

There are cases in which the book is worse than the film. Other than some Dutch work, Silence of the Lambs is the first one that springs to mind. And in case of Clockwork Orange, there is a tie.

scallopino - 18-3-2008 at 07:36

I think you might mean David Attenborough! I really admire him as a film maker and as a person. But I can't stand the "Extreme Nature" documentaries, which attempt to link animals with stuff teenagers are interested in: like BMX. They're aimed at people who don't usually like documentaries. And they pretty much say that these "Extreme Animals" would definitely go skateboarding given half a chance.

BBP - 18-3-2008 at 23:04

Quote:

Originally posted by scallopino

Quote:

Originally posted by punknaynowned
I haven't finished Pynchon's latest, Against The Day yet.
I've been on page 637 out of 1085, for some months now.

Heh heh heh! I've done that a lot, indeed! Sometimes it just takes a while for me to get concentrated.

Today I finished my Gogol-collection, with the gorgeous play "The Gamblers". It's been a great read... but I feel a little empty now...

BBP - 18-3-2008 at 23:11

:pissed:

You're right! I'm so stupid! Richard is an actor.
There's been a lot of heat recently about Attenborough's documentaries: not about the content, but because parts which were hinting on or dealing with evolution were deleted by the highly catholic channel (EO) that was showing them.

It's spawned a lot of spin-offs. I myself made an EO-approved comic version of 2001, A Space Odyssey. It's very short.

punknaynowned - 19-3-2008 at 05:57

EO-approved, ? who's that?
and care to share yer adaptation for viewing?
(:

scallopino - 19-3-2008 at 09:57

Quote:

Originally posted by BBP
:pissed:

I would like to see that! I wish people like the EO would stop trying to prevent the spread of information. The more I think about it, the more upset I get. I think David is very much unreligious himself and has spoken out about creationists getting involved with science. It's one of the reasons I like him.

BBP - 19-3-2008 at 13:26

Well Punky:
EO is the Evangelische Omroep, known for its religious outings in shows (and UGLY hosts). They cut segments regarding evolution out of Attenborough documentaries.

And I'll share you the comic, but I have to remake and ink before I can scan it.

Gosh, it's been long since I last published a comic... There's The Middle-Aged Twos I made when I was 15 (and a Primus-head)... and I just discovered I took it off-line...

polydigm - 16-9-2008 at 23:34

I'm reading Kathy Reich's latest called Devil Bones. Yes, I know, nothing very edifying.

BBP - 17-9-2008 at 08:25

I'm still, STILL getting through Dostoevski's Devils. And for college I'm reading books by Grier and Caldwell on music editions.

Badchild - 10-11-2008 at 14:03

I'm reading this....

Not too bad...tends to ramble.

almost finished these three as well

Nice trilogy....

[Edited on 10-11-2008 by Badchild]

BBP - 12-11-2008 at 00:03

DED - 11-1-2009 at 22:02

The family reunion
a play by T.S. Eliot

I am at the end and must say still looking for the missing piece.
One of the lines says : I think I stay till after the funeral. But I haven't read that someone has died ????

BBP - 12-1-2009 at 15:39

Yeah I had that too once... a particularly boring book by Marga Minco... the main character died and I didn't even notice.

I've just finished Lolita and am now onto De Pianoman, which was a free book, based on the Pianoman who was found two years ago.

BBP - 16-1-2009 at 21:37

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.

scallopino - 17-1-2009 at 12:50

I read that a month ago I think Bonny for the first time. I was surprised at how concise it is...I mean, I knew most of the things that happen in it from the various movies. But when I read it, it seemed like all the famous bits were so SHORT! They would be only one or two pages long! There was nothing more in the book than what i'd seen in the animation and movie, which is really unusual.

BBP - 17-1-2009 at 12:58

A lot more, I think... the Gryphon, chess game, Humpty Dumpty, Mock Turtle, Lobster Dance and stuff was all left out of the Disney one. Along with the Father William verse, which I adore. I noticed how well the verses have been translated into Dutch.

MTF - 17-1-2009 at 22:22

I'm reading The Science of Leonardo, by Fritjof Capra.

Leonardo was around 100 years after the Great Plague and 100 years before Copernicus. This was when modern science was taking its first baby steps; and Leonardo was the one taking them.

Pretty cool guy: he was doing things that most people of the time could barely even imagine.

BBP - 17-2-2009 at 15:34

"The man who mistook his wife for a hat" by Oliver Sachs. It's so good!

scallopino - 19-2-2009 at 03:49

I'd never heard of Sachs before this. His books sound fascinating. Not to mention the visual hilarity conjured up by a man mistaking his wife for a hat.

BBP - 19-2-2009 at 16:31

That's because he's called Sacks. Sorry, my bad.
I heard of him through a cartoon of Dutch artist Gummbah, with a messy, slightly pornographic and rude sense of humour (among his steady themes are: sex with smurfs, homosexuality, strap-on dildos and people wearing flippers) and overly ugly main characters. He made a riddle: "What book is this?" and the picture was a man hitting a woman, saying: "There, that'll teach you, you filthy hat!"

scallopino - 20-2-2009 at 04:50

BBP - 20-2-2009 at 12:07

It's a great book and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, though Sacks occasionally gets scientifical and then I lose him.

punknaynowned - 23-2-2009 at 01:10

surprise random new!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs3sNigcdoE&feature=chann...
pt 1 of 2
from this weekend
(:

BBP - 23-2-2009 at 09:54

Nice! Thank you Punky!

BBP - 16-3-2009 at 21:24

Latest addition to my dictionary collection: Dinkum Aussie Dictionary.

I didn't know that Living Daylights was Australian... James Bond is a man of the world!

scallopino - 19-3-2009 at 12:24

The only phrase i know of it's used in is "You scared the living daylights outta me!", if someone jumps out at you or whatever.

[Edited on 19-3-2009 by scallopino]

BBP - 19-3-2009 at 18:04

Yeah, that! I like that line! Other lines I find particularly entertaining are:
Better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick
Brass razoo
Bung on a blue
Camp as a row of tents
Cocky on the biscuit tin
Didn't come down in the last shower
Face like a stopped clock
Happy as a bastard on Father's day
If it was raining palaces I'd be hit by the dunny door
Talk under wet cement with a mouthful of marbles
Who's robbing this coach?
You don't have to be dead to be stiff.

scallopino - 20-3-2009 at 07:02

A few of those are classics and used very regularly. If you complain about something that has just happened to you, someone might say "yeah well, it's better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick". If you try and lie to someone and they know it, they might say "I didn't come down in the last shower", or alternatively, "do you think I was born yesterday?". I've never really understood that last shower one. If someone is very talkative and loud you'd say they could talk under six feet of wet cement with a mouthful of marbles.

Also, if you make some outlandish request, someone might say "What do you think this is? Bush week?" That's another one i've never understood. And if someone says to you, "How are you?" you could say "Fit as a fiddle".

I bet Poly would have more of them.

[Edited on 20-3-2009 by scallopino]

BBP - 20-3-2009 at 11:35

Yeah where's Poly anyway?

Fit as a fiddle? Hmmm...

punknaynowned - 20-3-2009 at 13:09

a fiddle makes you happy, ergo>>>

I grew up in a world full of those bonny. Living in so many places with different traditions and dialects there are so many of those. By the time I could think for myself I wanted to make up my own.
a couple that come quickly to mind

You make a better door than a window = Get out of the way

Where did you grow up? In a barn? = either Shut the door, or Zip up your pants or something like that

Eatin grass with the ducks = I have no money

Off like a prom dress = In a hurry

Don't get your undies in a wedge or Don't tie your titties in knots = Relax

He's on crack! = I could never do that

I'll come back when I remember more

BBP - 21-7-2009 at 16:23

Reading 2 very different books right now.
One is The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh & Henry Lincoln. It's the conspiracy theory book that inspired the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, and Gabriel Knight 3: Blood Of The Sacred, Blood Of The Damned. It's very interesting pseudo-science.

And I'm reading Samuel Becket's Worstward Ho. No, I don't understand it very much either, but it's very nice all the same.

scallopino - 23-7-2009 at 06:53

I've read a similar thing that was called (I think) 'Sacred Virgin and the Holy Whore' that alleges amongst other things that Jesus was female.

BBP - 23-7-2009 at 14:35

Yeah, it's by Anthony Harris.
That sure sounds like fun! I'll see if my library carries it (which is probably a pretty big if).

scallopino - 28-7-2009 at 13:56

It was my grandfather's copy that I read. I don't know where he got it from, but after I read it I googled it and it hardly comes up anywhere on the net. It must be really obscure. I was thinking "Man, this book is so controversial, it must be really famous!" but no, almost not at all.

BBP - 20-9-2009 at 15:07

I'm reading Gogol's Taras Bulba. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Bulba
I never realized that Darkwing Duck was so... clever in its references...

BBP - 11-11-2009 at 21:19

Just finished up on Macbeth today.

You know Shakespeare is so much better when you don't get it funnelled down your throat... (recalls the 2000 Merchant of Venice in Olivier Theatre in London... 3.5 hours, miserable acoustics making it impossible to understand a word...)

Calvin - 22-11-2009 at 07:22

I've just read The Smartest Guys in The Room and The Informant! Both really good.

BBP - 13-1-2010 at 09:04

Audio book of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It's very odd to read a book of which you know the story by heart already. But I'm loving it!

BBP - 18-9-2010 at 13:43

I finally finished Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers. Starting up took a little long though I loved it from the first chapter, but I read the second half of near 650 pages in the time space of three days. Amazing book.

DED - 11-11-2010 at 21:28

I am "reading",more looking, in a book bbp gave to me.
Pictures of my town of birth and youth in the 19th century. Most pictures are between 1890 and 1910.
So beautiful.

BBP - 21-2-2011 at 17:19

A leg to stand on - Oliver Sacks. Wow... I wish I had read that when I was in the hospital! If ever you have a friend who loses functioning of a limb and you want to give him a present, consider this book!

It deals with the neurological issues the author suffered when he tore a tendon and a nerve in his left leg. Among them: He lost all perception of that leg, like it wasn't his. It's a very common, but little described, occurrence with people who injure themselves in such manner. And indeed I had issues like that: it just can't be your leg lying up there in a cast, all swollen. So it was very consoling to know it's normal. Your mind does play tricks with you at such times.

polydigm - 22-2-2011 at 04:00

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

... I didn't know that Living Daylights was Australian... James Bond is a man of the world!

I realise this is an old post, but George Lazenby was an Australian.

BBP - 22-2-2011 at 13:08

^I knew that. I continue to think he's a total asshole.

polydigm - 23-2-2011 at 12:46

Quote: Originally posted by BBP

^I knew that. I continue to think he's a total asshole.

Why's that? Personally, I don't know anything about him other than the fact he's an Aussie and he once played James Bond.

BBP - 23-2-2011 at 13:55

He's very arrogant. It really shows in the movie itself, but even in interviews he continues to think he's the Bee's Knees. Arrogance is a highly unattractive trait. See how I got off Dweezil.

Of course the only other thing I've seen Lazenby in is 4 Dogs Playing Poker. That movie can be very well described with that internet joke: http://thechive.com/2010/04/13/creative-writing-assignment-g.... There are some bits where one of the authors tries to get "insightful into the characters" (very badly developed characters, 30 minutes in you probably won't have remembered their names), and another writer includes the word Fuck as many times as he can.

polydigm - 9-3-2011 at 21:48

"The Rest is Just Noise" by Alex Ross, about the music of the 20th century. Not theoretical but critical. What I mean is he's telling the story of 20th century music as opposed to it being a book about how to write music. It's a very engaging book. Wow, a lot of artists and composers around the end of the 19th into the start of the 20th century were such a depressing bunch.

BBP - 1-6-2011 at 11:20

polydigm - 1-6-2011 at 23:03

Don't get it. Mind you, never heard of Bay Ganyo.

BBP - 1-11-2011 at 19:50

Currently reading Witches of Eastwick by John Updike. Not sure what to make of it. I don't read too many American authors and John Updike isn't going to change that.

BBP - 29-1-2012 at 12:18

Reading Boccacio's Decameron. Will take a while.
What a book!

polydigm - 31-1-2012 at 00:38

So Bonny, I'd forgotten about that. Are you ever going to tell me who Bay Ganyo is?

BBP - 31-1-2012 at 14:24

Bay Ganyo is the lead character of the series of stories by the same name, written by Aleko Konstantinov. He's a rose-oil merchant and travels Europe, where his totally a-social, ignorant and egotistic behaviour raises everybody's eyebrows.
Bay Ganyo is a cult hero in Bulgaria. The four tales I read about him, make me hungry for more, but unfortunately finding a translation is hard. Of course the entire text is on-line, but in Bulgarian only.

polydigm - 1-2-2012 at 00:24

Thanks Bonny. I have to say I more than half got the joke when I first read it, but the fact that it was someone's name, rather just any Bulgarian, I thought I might be missing some subtlety, but it turns out not.

KAPTKIRK - 11-5-2012 at 03:04

I'm close to the end of Bonfire of the Vanities and it's amazing how we repeat the same mistakes every 15-30 years or so.Especially the money markets of Wall St.! Banks are never too big to fail,IMHO and this as Chase is losing 2 billion on the same investitures that got us in trouble 4 yrs. ago! Basically betting investers money on futures that aren't there.Only projected futures! It makes me want to scream!!! At least bet it on a horse that can finish! The CEO's excuse? Well it worked before....why they outta through away the keys,with that one, :forumsmiley243:

I tell ya!!

BBP - 5-7-2012 at 14:19

I'm on a Hesse-trip, just finished Demian and am onto Narziss und Goldmund, and find it hard to put down. No wonder Kafka was a fan of his!

punknaynowned - 9-7-2012 at 16:58

I really like Herman Hesse. My favorite was Magister Ludi. But I feel like I've talked to Bonny about this.
When I was a teenager I read the Foundation trilogy of Isaac Asimov. A future world where 'pychohistorians' can statistically predict the future of humanity, within probabilities. They've developed it into a science and worked out how to steer humanity in the 'right' direction, with constant support. If only. The idealism of such a notion meshes in pretty ways with the glass bead game of Magister Ludi. So in a way it makes sense I would like that. Also read Hesse when I needed beautiful ideas to get me through the day. It worked!

BBP - 9-7-2012 at 18:39

Am reading that one now.

Really!

polydigm - 11-7-2012 at 02:53

I had a brief Hesse period sometime in my twenties. I read Steppenwolf and was very much inspired by it, then I read Knulp and that was a bit ordinary and then I tried to read The Glass Bead Game but I found it a bit laboured and got bored. Personally, Steppenwolf was enough for me.

BBP - 11-7-2012 at 11:11

Ah, so no Demian for you then? I'm impressed by his psycho-analystic building of his lead characters. Good characters are important to me, the biggest flaw of Lord Of The Rings is the underdeveloped Frodo.
But he's a bit Jungian, which does annoy me slightly.

It's a lot harder to get into the Glass Bead Game than into Demian, Narziss und Goldmund or even Steppenwolf, that's for sure. But I'll get there, currently Knecht has found a friend in the monastery.

punknaynowned - 11-7-2012 at 15:56

in the version I had there are a few short stories at the end, purportedly written by Knecht when he was young that show his interests at that age. Whether they are early stories of Hesse lumped in or crafted specifically for this book - they add more to the character at that age. One seems like Demian, another,the young Gautama - they could easily work as early drafts of those books. Anyway, it's one of those books of just a few that inspired me and also made me feel less alone in this world. The knowledge that there were people out there who wanted to look at complex things in clearer if abstract ways was liberating.

BBP - 11-8-2012 at 13:07

Just finished reading the play Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Nice!

BBP - 14-9-2012 at 21:15

Last night I finished reading The Three Musketeers. It's interesting how it relates to the two films I've seen: it still has a decent amount in common with the 1948 TM with Gene Kelly as d'Artagnan, and barely anything with the 1993 one with Chris O'Donnell.

[Edited on 14-9-12 by BBP]

BBP - 27-9-2012 at 10:22

Finished my fifth Hesse: The Prodigy. :crying:

BBP - 4-11-2013 at 16:26

Hasse Simonsdochter put me on a Thea Beckman-trip again, been re-reading some of her novels. I just finished her historical novel Geef me de ruimte! which takes place in France during the 100 Years War. One chapter is devoted to Amiens during the Plague. Though Beckman does tone down violence a bit, the sections about the Plague and about the attempted betrayal of Jean II are nauseating, to say the least.

BBP - 19-1-2014 at 18:38

Let's see... on Thursday I got through Murakami's latest in one day (and the only reason I had the confidence to buy a 20 dollar book by an unknown author was that there were at least two people on the FZ forum saying how good he was in the book topic).

And I just finished the second book of Beckman's trilogy on the 100 Year War: Triomf van de verschroeide aarde. Deals with, among others, revolution in Paris and the sieges of Rennes and Reims.

Batchain - 7-7-2014 at 09:26

Thinking about "favorite authors" I recently dusted off two books by the "longshoreman/dockworker/migrant/migrant worker, Social Philosopher, Eric Hoffer! He has an astonishing background who went through six years of blindness (ages 6 through 12
) with an unexplained, slightly gradual, return of eyesight during which time he developed an insatiable craving for the written word while learning to read.
He was prodded by a faithful correspondent finally to write a book, far from anything he had intended. His first, and in my opinion, *best* books were his first two: "The True Believer (Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements)" and "The Ordeal of Change." By chance I picked them up at age 16 and Mr. Hoffer became an idol of mine and that's remained unchanged to this very day.
No, I have never had any so-called "heroes" at all, only people I admire by which I use the term "idol", just as I consider Frank Zappa an "idol". No one deserves the stature of "hero" as we are all largely full of holes and emptiness with those obvious exceptions who are unexplainably gifted with an unusual *substance*. Some are well-known, others are personal, but they all share in possessing *substance*.

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