NY Times Sunday Book Review - My items of interest

To be honest, I’m usually disappointed with the fiction that the NYT book review decides to cover. It seems to always be dominated by overtly commercial swill. Unfortunately this is a reflection of what people are interested in (look at the best seller list, for christ sake). The essays are my favorite part, but this week a few of their fiction reviews were actually good.

This went immediately on my ‘To Read’ list.

‘Real World’ - Natsuo Kirino
“In Natsuo Kirino’s novel, a juvenile killer on the run in Tokyo murders without conscience — and only in retrospect attempts to invent a philosophy to explain his crime.”
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Weekend Excursion

Some pictures from my trip to Callaway Gardens yesterday. It’s an amazing place to take pictures.

Passion Vine

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Happy birthday America!

I know it’s one day late, but last night was a long one.

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See more pictures after the flip
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‘Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol’

From The Times online:

“Ten years ago I could never have imagined I’d be doing this,” says Greg Pal, 33, a former software executive, as he squints into the late afternoon Californian sun. “I mean, this is essentially agriculture, right? But the people I talk to – especially the ones coming out of business school – this is the one hot area everyone wants to get into.”

He means bugs. To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil.

Unbelievably, this is not science fiction. Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the tank of the giant Lexus SUV next to us. Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a month before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls “renewable petroleum”. After that, he grins, “it’s a brave new world”.

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‘Japanese consortium disguises solar cells as leaves’

This is badass. From engadget

Read the story here.

Sunday Reflections

I’ve loved books since I was young. The AR program really caught on while I was in elementary school, and my reading level made me privy to the coveted back room of the school library. Inside, I pored over a solitary cart of high school level books. I was amazed at the complexity of them compared to the swill that passed for juvenile reading material. I was instantly hooked. Books by Agatha Christie, Jules Verne, and Daniel Defoe opened up the floodgates of my imagination. I don’t know that I’ll ever be as captivated by anything for the rest of my life as much as I was with Robinson Crusoe and They Came to Baghdad.

Although I consider myself fairly well-read for my age (as well as being a product of the horrendous public school system), I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of the world’s great literature. Standard literary fare in my high school consisted of drug store Westerns and and a scant few pieces of literature that are actually worthwhile - Othello, Beowulf, and possibly a few others. So I’ve largely been left to my own devices when it comes to exploring literature. I still read a fair amount of new books, but I’m really concentrating on the classics. I bought Great American Short Stories, one of Barnes & Noble’s classics series, and I’ve loved sampling what American literature has to offer. So far, Hawthorne and O. Henry have been my favorites, and I rushed out to pick up more of their work. There’s nothing better than delving into an author’s work who you’ve never before read. My to-read list keeps getting longer and longer, as my bookcase is getting more and more crowded. It’s awesome.

Old & New

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Old & New Too

Stairway to Nowhere

I was walking downtown towards the coffeeshop this morning and passed this building with the front door propped open. The only thing through the doorway was this stairwell. Curious.

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Stairway to Nowhere

THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD IGNORE CELEBRITIES

They’re retarded, narcissistic and annoying.

Sharon Stone On Chinese Earthquake: “I Thought, Is That Karma?”

Quotable Quote

“Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it…”

-From The Quiet American by Graham Greene, page 29