Saturday, November 15, 2008
In Bruges
One of the worst pieces of shit I have ever seen. An absolute waste of time. Filled with gratuitous violence and foul language. The only redeeming value was the environment of Bruges. Ugh!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Cuban music
Cecilia Valdes / estudio critico por Raimundo Lazo. (1979). Villaverde, Cirilo, 1812-1894. Mexico: Porrua. [SP FIC Villaverde]
Cecilia Valdés is both a novel by the Cuban Cirilo Villaverde (1812–1894), and a zarzuela based on the novel. It is a work of importance for its quality, and its revelation of the interaction of classes and races in Cuba.
Cited in the liner notes of Cachao: Master Sessions.
[INT 0026] CD CUBA 789.2 CACHAO
Cecilia Valdés is both a novel by the Cuban Cirilo Villaverde (1812–1894), and a zarzuela based on the novel. It is a work of importance for its quality, and its revelation of the interaction of classes and races in Cuba.
Cited in the liner notes of Cachao: Master Sessions.
[INT 0026] CD CUBA 789.2 CACHAO
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
April 4, 1968
April 4, 1968 : Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death and how it changed America (2008)
Dyson, Michael Eric. New York: Basic Civitas Books.
323.092 D
Dyson, Michael Eric. New York: Basic Civitas Books.
323.092 D
Monday, November 3, 2008
3 movies at the weekend
Saw three films over the weekend. Bridge Too Far (1977) was good, but gloomy; Dolemite (film by Rudy Ray Moore) was campy, and, in the end, awful; Junebug was disappointing.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Aggressively funny
Smile when you're lying : confessions of a rogue travel writer. (2007). Chuck Thompson. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2007.
910.4 T
Kirkus Reviews
An aggressively funny account of the world from an acerbic, energetic professional traveler who tells it like he sees it and has no reservations about sharing his stockpile of outrageous (mis)adventures and advice.Thompson spent one year at the helm of Travelocity magazine before being let go, an experience that has clearly left a bitter taste in his mouth. Reacting against the glossy optimism of mainstream travel writing, he reveals the underbelly of the tourism industry, offering unabashed reports on his rollicking and sometimes gross experiences in the 35 countries he has visited. His honesty about the lack of authenticity in the travel business is refreshing, and some of the first- and secondhand accounts make for the same sort of transfixing spectacle as a car crash. Instead of merely focusing on the shockingly bad, he imbues his writing with a satisfying blend of self-deprecating humor and no-nonsense intelligence, underscored by suggestions for readers such as "Stop Feeling So Entitled" and "Hang Up on Morons." Thompson has little tolerance for the superficial, or for marking off checklists of supposed requisites for visitors—he devotes a chapter to explaining why Chinatown, in any city, should be avoided. At his best, this Thompson will remind readers of Hunter S.—provocative and thoroughly engaging, with a manic liveliness. Though the book is hampered by a scattershot structure, Thompson has a talent for viewing both the pedestrian and the extreme with a twisted understanding and sense of humor.A fierce, frank skewering of the travel business and media.
910.4 T
Kirkus Reviews
An aggressively funny account of the world from an acerbic, energetic professional traveler who tells it like he sees it and has no reservations about sharing his stockpile of outrageous (mis)adventures and advice.Thompson spent one year at the helm of Travelocity magazine before being let go, an experience that has clearly left a bitter taste in his mouth. Reacting against the glossy optimism of mainstream travel writing, he reveals the underbelly of the tourism industry, offering unabashed reports on his rollicking and sometimes gross experiences in the 35 countries he has visited. His honesty about the lack of authenticity in the travel business is refreshing, and some of the first- and secondhand accounts make for the same sort of transfixing spectacle as a car crash. Instead of merely focusing on the shockingly bad, he imbues his writing with a satisfying blend of self-deprecating humor and no-nonsense intelligence, underscored by suggestions for readers such as "Stop Feeling So Entitled" and "Hang Up on Morons." Thompson has little tolerance for the superficial, or for marking off checklists of supposed requisites for visitors—he devotes a chapter to explaining why Chinatown, in any city, should be avoided. At his best, this Thompson will remind readers of Hunter S.—provocative and thoroughly engaging, with a manic liveliness. Though the book is hampered by a scattershot structure, Thompson has a talent for viewing both the pedestrian and the extreme with a twisted understanding and sense of humor.A fierce, frank skewering of the travel business and media.
Why smart people do dumb things
Blunder: why smart people make bad decisions. (2008). Zachary Shore. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008
153.83 S
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Shore (Breeding Bin Ladens ), a professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, explains why smart people do dumb things in this glib guidebook that is more pop psychology than serious inquiry. According to the author, people blunder because they fall into “inflexible mind-sets formed from faulty reasoning”—or “cognition traps.” Using examples drawn from history, wars, medicine, business and literature, Shore identifies seven common cognition traps such as “causefusion” (“confusing the causes of complex events”), “flatview” (black and white thinking) and “static cling” (an inability to accept change). Shore cites examples of various actors (individuals, corporations and even nations) stumbling into one trap or another with unfortunate results (e.g., a person will compound a blunder through different kinds of faulty reasoning). Shore points to “America’s Iraq debacle” as a kind of perfect storm where “all of the cognition traps... combined to sabotage America’s success.” But Shore remains optimistic that society can learn to avoid cognition traps and inevitable blunders by following his prescription of cultivating mental flexibility, empathy, imagination, contrarianism and an open mind. Despite the clever wordplay, neat categories and accessible examples, Shore mostly recycles common sense in a fancy package.
We all make bad decisions. It's part of being human. The resulting mistakes can be valuable, the story goes, because we learn from them. But do we? Historian Zachary Shore says no, not always, and he has a long list of examples to prove his point. From colonialism to globalization, from gender wars to civil wars, or any circumstance for which our best solutions backfire, Shore demonstrates how rigid thinking can subtly lead us to undermine ourselves. In the process, he identifies seven "cognition traps" to avoid. But he also emphasizes how understanding these seven simple cognition traps can help us all make wiser judgments in our daily lives. For anyone whose best-laid plans have been foiled by faulty thinking, Blunder shines the penetrating spotlight of history on decision making and the patterns of thought that can lead us all astray.
153.83 S
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Shore (Breeding Bin Ladens ), a professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, explains why smart people do dumb things in this glib guidebook that is more pop psychology than serious inquiry. According to the author, people blunder because they fall into “inflexible mind-sets formed from faulty reasoning”—or “cognition traps.” Using examples drawn from history, wars, medicine, business and literature, Shore identifies seven common cognition traps such as “causefusion” (“confusing the causes of complex events”), “flatview” (black and white thinking) and “static cling” (an inability to accept change). Shore cites examples of various actors (individuals, corporations and even nations) stumbling into one trap or another with unfortunate results (e.g., a person will compound a blunder through different kinds of faulty reasoning). Shore points to “America’s Iraq debacle” as a kind of perfect storm where “all of the cognition traps... combined to sabotage America’s success.” But Shore remains optimistic that society can learn to avoid cognition traps and inevitable blunders by following his prescription of cultivating mental flexibility, empathy, imagination, contrarianism and an open mind. Despite the clever wordplay, neat categories and accessible examples, Shore mostly recycles common sense in a fancy package.
We all make bad decisions. It's part of being human. The resulting mistakes can be valuable, the story goes, because we learn from them. But do we? Historian Zachary Shore says no, not always, and he has a long list of examples to prove his point. From colonialism to globalization, from gender wars to civil wars, or any circumstance for which our best solutions backfire, Shore demonstrates how rigid thinking can subtly lead us to undermine ourselves. In the process, he identifies seven "cognition traps" to avoid. But he also emphasizes how understanding these seven simple cognition traps can help us all make wiser judgments in our daily lives. For anyone whose best-laid plans have been foiled by faulty thinking, Blunder shines the penetrating spotlight of history on decision making and the patterns of thought that can lead us all astray.
Roads to Quoz
William Least-Heat Moon's new book is Roads to Quoz. I'll get to it, soon. I still remember how much I enjoyed Blue Highways (1982).
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