Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
My latest book…
My latest book…, originally uploaded by Squidly.
“The Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1984, forced the immediate evacuation of more than 116,000 people from that part of the Ukraine, which was subsequently declared unfit for human habitation. Fifteen years and more than 350,000 evacuations later, photographer Polidori (Havana) returned to shoot vacant apartment blocks, highways, classrooms, and dachas being reclaimed by the forest, and the frightening control rooms themselves. As Polidori writes: “Does any generation have the right to risk the safety of so many future generations?… I felt personally compelled to confront and witness this ongoing tragedy that no ritual can heal.” The result is 190 color photos that give this 15″ x 11″ book a deeply haunting quality. ”
Interesting, but many of the photos are similar to each other. Not as good as it could be.
Esquire Magazine Sucks
Take it from me, stay well away from Esquire magazine. Don’t be lured by the dirt cheap ($8 a year) subscription price. I don’t care how much you love articles about designer socks or $150 cologne. I don’t care if you go ga-ga for staunchly left-wing columnists who slip in anti-Bush jabs in every column – from movie reviews to the stinking table of contents – eventually you’ll get sick of the shtick and decide to let your subscription lapse.
And they WON’T LET YOU.
I’ve sent in 4 cancellation notices, and the idiots at Hearst publishing KEEP BILLING YOU.
You can’t cancel online. Try it, it doesn’t work. And good luck with the phone number listed on the website. Good. Luck.
Esquire = Worse than AOL.
What I did during my summer vacation…
It was a fun-filled week and a half…
- Saw War of the Worlds (6 stars out of 10)
- Saw Batman Begins (8.5 stars out of 10)
- Shaved my beard off.
- Read a book (Shooter.)
- Ate at a Mexican restaurant.
- Went scuba diving, twice.
- Ate at a “Michigan” restaurant.
- Watched fireworks.
- Visited my Alma Mater.
- Took over 700 photos.
- Ate BBQ (several times.)
- Drank Beer.
- Got up early.
- Stayed up late.
- Slept in.
- Drove over 13 hours (round trip.)
Now back to work.
Currently Reading
I’m currently reading “The Lost” by Jack Ketchum.
I became interested in Ketchum thanks to a small blurb by Stephen King in the back-page column of Entertainment Weekly. 112 pages in and it’s low on “terror and suspense” and high on character development. It’s a 400 page book so we’ll see how this goes.
“Unfit” out of stock?
Last weekend I was in a couple of area bookstores (Borders, Barne and Noble) and I noticed that they weren’t carrying the runaway best seller, “Unfit for Command”. BN didn’t have it, and Borders had this note up:
It’s Amazon’s #1 book, and they reportedly have it, but there’s at least a week’s wait before shipment.
I don’t think the rumors of bookstores hiding copies in the back are true…someone must be buying the thing if it’s on everyone’s best seller list.
Nit-Pickery
The Nit-Picker’s guide to the Lord of the Rings. Link courtesy of Bribo.
Reading Material
I finished “The Hunt for Bin Laden” last weekend. It was a good book…I learned a lot about the Afghanistan conflict that I didn’t really know before. I knew that special ops forces took the lead in the war, but I didn’t know that they essentially won the damn thing – with about 100 men.
The conventional Generals like Tommy Franks and Eric Shinseki constantly had to have their arms twisted by Donald Rumsfeld to prevent a massive influx of regular army troops. I now have no doubt that many lives were saved (both American and Afghani civilian) by this visionary strategy.
Next up on my reading list is a book I’ve been meaning to get to for some time: Odd Girl Out. Diane read it and liked it, and it looks interesting so I’ll give it a go. Thankfully, it’ll be a few years before Lauren begins to experience any of this ‘culture of aggression’. (Bad girls! Bad!)
Quite a departure from what I’ve been reading lately!
