Monday, April 17, 2006

I've been on a bit of a reading tear this year, so figured I'd document that too:

Currently reading "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale" which is philosophical essays about one of the best shows of the last decade. It's part of a Popular Culture and Philosophy series that also includes the Simpsons' "D'oh of Homer". It's not especially deep, but is a nice shallow survey that reminds me of some of the terms and authors that are fun to play with (Manichaean, anyone?).

Finished Genius, a biography of Richard Feynman. Feynman was a leader on the Manhattan Project, and developed much of the framework used to describe and explore quantum mechanics (or at least did through the middle of the century - I don't know enough to know if it's been surpassed). And he was a scientific snob of a mad professor. Great reading for anyone interested.

Read Ilium and Olympos by Dan Simmons (of Hyperion fame) - I can't recommend it highly enough. The number of different ideas and worlds he can blend into his books is amazing. If you start Ilium, btw, make sure you have Olympos - they're basically a single 1200-page book.

The Bible Jesus Read, about the Old Testament. It's good to get some context and perspective on the Old Testament if you want to read it because their literary traditions are so alien. And Yancey's always a pretty engaging writer, even with material this dry.

Hmm I can't think of anything else besides starting to read through my complete Far Side 2-volume collection. That will be many fun hours. I suppose I spent a good bit of time using my Netflix subscription to watch Season 1 of Veronica Mars, all of Freaks & Geeks (great show!), and a bunch o movies. Still, it feels like there was more. If the other ones come to mind, I'll post them.
posted by Unknown 3:28 PM | 1 comments