Well, we're about a year out from Katrina, covered a bit here before. You already know I follow the hurricane news anyway, so you know I've seen this, the suggestion that (as of this writing) Ernesto will be bearing right down on the gulf coast. It's too soon of course to pick a state, let alone a city as a target, so here is the updating forecast track. There's even a fair bit of uncertainty as to whether the system will stay strong into the gulf, but if it does, the water there is warm and it's a good bet to explosively intensify as Katrina did.
That's the future; let's not forget the past. The Wiki has a good page, of course. NPR will be running stories all week, as will the news channels I'm sure. The Discovery Channel will be running a special on Sunday, and I've heard good things about (but can't see) the Spike Lee documentary on HBO.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Stevis's Library of Shame
I decided to look about the house, and figure out which books I've started and not finished. Cripes, I found eight. This is ridiculous and I will now post the list in the hopes that public shame will get me to finish them.
I don't read like I did as a kid...sure I'm busy. And my life challenges my brain more than the K-12 system ever did, so I don't need as much of the intellectual stimulation a book provides. And I have more and cooler electronics, and those distract me. But I've got to make time, if I wish to continue to call myself a smart person, instead of just a smartass.
So here they are, in the rough order I might attack them. I will, however, listen to your suggestions on the subject.
Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson.
I have of course read Snow Crash, and liked it. I started Cryptonomicon right after..and I like it, but I've put 500 pages behind me, and I'm still pretty much in the middle. The bookmark in this is my boarding pass from Christmas.
Collapse, Jared Diamond
Guns, Germs, and Steel is of course now the classic "this is how the world got this way" book for geeks. So this examination of why some societies completely vanish while others thrive was a clear purchase for me...I've only read the intro though.
Baseball Between the Numbers, the Baseball Prospectus folk (Jonah Keri, editor).
This is a bunch of analytical essays on baseball. I've read some of these. Because of the shorter format, I've tried this as a bathroom book, but they're a little too long and a little too full of numbers and charts to be good for that purpose.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes
The definitive history of the Manhattan Project, I had about 100 pages down on this and then that copy was ruined by a curry spill. Probably need to start from the beginning here. Perhaps I should move this up the list--as a physicist, I show know more of the intricacies of this. I will have to follow up with Rhodes's Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, but that's another giant tome...
Heat Wave, Eric Klineberg
Mostly finished, but I was reading this back in Chicago. It's a sociological examination of the killer Chicago heat wave in the summer of 1995, which I lived through with no AC in the 5th floor of a brick building in Holland, MI. We got a lot of research done that summer because the physics building had good AC. Probably need to skim some of the earlier chapters to be sure I have a gist of the thesis.
Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally
Started once, but would probably go from the beginning. Not an appropriate make-out book.
Bringing Down the House, Ben Mezrich
The story of the MIT blackjack team that engaged in elaborate card-counting operations to make money in Vegas. I've read excerpts, but have not done more than flip through this copy.
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, Douglass Wallop
You may know it better as Damn Yankees. I picked it up at the SABR Bob Davids Chapter annual fundraising raffle. Only read the first chapter so far.
OK...if any of those links don't make sense, let me know--I may have copied something to the wrong place.
I don't read like I did as a kid...sure I'm busy. And my life challenges my brain more than the K-12 system ever did, so I don't need as much of the intellectual stimulation a book provides. And I have more and cooler electronics, and those distract me. But I've got to make time, if I wish to continue to call myself a smart person, instead of just a smartass.
So here they are, in the rough order I might attack them. I will, however, listen to your suggestions on the subject.
Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson.
I have of course read Snow Crash, and liked it. I started Cryptonomicon right after..and I like it, but I've put 500 pages behind me, and I'm still pretty much in the middle. The bookmark in this is my boarding pass from Christmas.
Collapse, Jared Diamond
Guns, Germs, and Steel is of course now the classic "this is how the world got this way" book for geeks. So this examination of why some societies completely vanish while others thrive was a clear purchase for me...I've only read the intro though.
Baseball Between the Numbers, the Baseball Prospectus folk (Jonah Keri, editor).
This is a bunch of analytical essays on baseball. I've read some of these. Because of the shorter format, I've tried this as a bathroom book, but they're a little too long and a little too full of numbers and charts to be good for that purpose.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes
The definitive history of the Manhattan Project, I had about 100 pages down on this and then that copy was ruined by a curry spill. Probably need to start from the beginning here. Perhaps I should move this up the list--as a physicist, I show know more of the intricacies of this. I will have to follow up with Rhodes's Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, but that's another giant tome...
Heat Wave, Eric Klineberg
Mostly finished, but I was reading this back in Chicago. It's a sociological examination of the killer Chicago heat wave in the summer of 1995, which I lived through with no AC in the 5th floor of a brick building in Holland, MI. We got a lot of research done that summer because the physics building had good AC. Probably need to skim some of the earlier chapters to be sure I have a gist of the thesis.
Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally
Started once, but would probably go from the beginning. Not an appropriate make-out book.
Bringing Down the House, Ben Mezrich
The story of the MIT blackjack team that engaged in elaborate card-counting operations to make money in Vegas. I've read excerpts, but have not done more than flip through this copy.
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, Douglass Wallop
You may know it better as Damn Yankees. I picked it up at the SABR Bob Davids Chapter annual fundraising raffle. Only read the first chapter so far.
OK...if any of those links don't make sense, let me know--I may have copied something to the wrong place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)