The LIST of magical ILLUSIONS performed by a man claiming to be the ILLUSTRIOUS Professor Phillippe, as reproduced by the FANTASTICAL illusioner and historian RICKY JAY in his volume Extraordinary Exhibitions which, while in fact originating in 1858, seems very much like a LIST or PIECE of HUMOR as written by the TREMENDOUS John Hodgeman in his MASTERPIECE of HILARITY, The Areas of My Expertise:
1. The Rivington Pike Filtration Trick
Or a Magical Illustration of how Dirty Water may be made Clean.
2. The Borough Bank Trick!
Or how to Extract Money from Vanity, or cause it to come through closed doors at will.
3. The Magical Municipal Election
or how to find the right man in the right position.
4. The Universal Happiness Trick
Of how to make Everyone contented, all things pleasant, and good fortune to be the lot of all.
5. Ladies' Secrets Discovered
Yes, & Gentlemen's Also.
My co-blogger recently suggested I start keeping a reading list, in case anyone else in this nutty world has tastes similar to mine and could benefit from my trials. I shudder to imagine, but love the sound of my own voice, so here goes:
Peace Like a River, Enger. Yes. Since it was recommended by the same person who recommended Piano Tuner (see below), I was not optimistic, but was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this book a great deal. The fact that Enger mis-uses "whomever" is a bothersome but not disqualifying defect (I blame the editor, anyway).
The Piano Tuner, Mason. No. I made it fifteen pages into this. I would have stopped after the first sentence had it not come highly recommended. Mason seems to be working so very hard to weave a rich tapestry of words, when he needs to just tell the story already. Almost everything about the writing annoyed me, from the "As you know" exposition to the exhausting and distracting "that's enough plot for now; let's count the buttons on this guy's coat" fits of description.
Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein. Yes, with reservations (classic). I re-read this after telling a co-worker that he couldn't consider himself literate without having read it. I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it through, but the writing was mechanically just fine, and the reactionary politics and sexism struck me as more naïve than offensive.
Altered Carbon, Morgan. Yes, with reservations. My two-word review of this is "Cyberpunk Heinlein". Recommended by a co-worker who recoginzed that the writing would annoy me in spots (it did, especially the Heinleinian sexism), but believed the balance would be positive. I didn't hate it, so I guess he was right. I don't seem to be reading any more of the Takeshi Kovacs novels, though.
"Apart from the Eucharist and liturgies in Coptic, the most sacred symbol in the Coptic Church is the cross, including a tattooed cross on the right wrist. Originally the tattoo was an identification mark so that Coptic children would not be mistaken for Muslims in times of upheaval. In modern times the cross has become a powerful mark of Christian identity in Egypt."
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, v. 1 p. 163
Merlin's thoughts on mindfulness are particularly well-timed for me.
If the reading posts keep getting later in the month, perhaps I will lap myself and be on time again.
Surviving the Applewhites, Tolan (Y)
This was nominated by the teen book group that I moderate. Juvenile delinquent is sent to be schooled with an arty commune of a family, hilarity ensues. Not really my thing. Two stars.
The know-it-all: one man's humble quest to become the smartest person in the world, Jacobs
Not just a book about the quest of reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, but about becoming a dad and appreciating his dad, knowing more about his thirst for knowledge, and much humor and many strange facts along the way. The facts aren't as strange as Sixpence House, but not many are. Fun read. Three stars.
Inside Job, Willis
Because we're all anxiously waiting for her next book (more time travel and the Blitz- woo!), here's a novella bound as a book. Fun story. Three stars.
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley, Walker (Y)
I'm not surprised that it won a medal for the best informational book for youth of the year. Well written and well illustrated story of the invention, missions, sinking and eventual recovery of an early submarine. Since steam power would have been too loud, the whole thing was powered by several men on a handcrank! Four stars.
Shelf Life, Walford
Premise: products from around the world with names that seem funny to (British) English speakers. Added bonus in the US: the excellent frisson of going from an unfamiliar product with a slightly rude (in English) name to an extremely familiar product with a slightly rude name that you need to think about for a while because it is so familiar. Super nerd bonus: the post-script about having to get legal clearance from all of the brand owners. Three stars.
The Witch's Boy, Gruber (Y)
I love the style and language and the story kept me going quickly through the many pages. I read it as a book for teens, but many of the issues of parenthood, childhood, finding your way, etc seem more suited for us oldsters. But maybe that's the way with all fairy tales. Positive portrayals of witches and worshippers of a female divine, which may preclude it from being booktalked at a religious school... Four stars.
Released test questions and sample tests for some WASL subjects.
I learned that there is a Humanitarian Device Exemption to FDA regulations, and that sometimes twins' blood supply can get all mixed up before they are born, but now science may be able to help, thanks to the HDE!
The world is a wide, strange, and wonderful place.
Dagoba recalls chocolate bars containing lead (!!), perhaps indicating production problems in swamp-planet-based factories.
More peripheral brain dump: crocheted hyperbolic models, How to Draw a Radish.
I'm reading Accelerando right now, and our hero keeps much of his memory and less-used brain functions in computer storage rather than in his noggin. I keep it on little scraps of paper, my thumb drive, and my blog. Yet again it is proven that I am not writing for others, but for myself. Even so, I was unable to find that one appliance store web site that I saw that one time, or that place that sold exotic soap...
So here are some things that have been living on a scrap of paper, with (I hope) links and more info to be added later. This set came from a back issue of Fortean Times.
9/11 Commission final report
1967, USS Liberty, off the Egyptian coast
The Air Loom Gang, Mike Jay
Sac Nar Man, coconut-oil tattoo
British Library's National Sound Archive
A brief article out of Charlotte about a scheduled appearance by W this Thursday got caught in my news watch, though it doesn't contain the key word. It's the second bit of evidence I've gotten in the last few days that details about his scheduled whereabouts are being treated with great sensitivity, even in the US. No idea if that's just SOP, or if they're being extra cagey lately.