The Reality Machine

So, I recently purchased a copy of The Reality Machine by Cliff Burns. It's a signed copy that I got from AbeBooks. If you don't know what that is, you haven't lived. Anyway, the girlfriend is on another one of her travels to a faraway land...called Tipton I think. So, I have time to just relax and read with the cat and a beer.


This book is actually a collection of short stories from Burns. They vary in length from a few paragraphs to a dozen or more pages. It's hard to classify his work. I imagine it could fall into horror, SF, psychological thriller or even poetry for some works. A few of the stories in it are not for the squeamish. All of them are interesting. Burns is an interesting author in many regards though. He seems to have a dislike for the publishing industry. This is apparently why he posts some of his major works online for free. He even has a podcast for the first part of his book available for download. Find out more about Cliff Burns at Beautiful Desolation.

Other than that, I have been reading Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. I haven't gotten very far yet but the story is very intriguing. I feel like I could draw parallels between the Overlords and the secret society ruling the world. Maybe Clarke felt that way, don't know. I've also got a book, Banana, that serves as my brief book. I read it in ten minute intervals throughout the day. Waiting for something to cook, waiting for the girlfriend to get ready, that kind of thing. Then I still have my Michael Oren book on the US and Middle East throughout history. It's a bit dry and I can only read a chapter or two at a time. I've also been perusing my Polish history selection, reading up on Casimir and Jagiello. Then there is the Louis L'Amour book. It's a memoir of sorts, Education of a Wandering Man. It's really interesting to see his views on education, best received in the real world, not in a school.

And last but not least for my reading list, the GRE study guide! I can't wait to be done with that ordeal. I realized that most of the classes I had taken in college the first time would have counted toward an MA had I been a grad student. I don't know what that means, but I am really excited to get back to studying the real information. Not words like circumlocution. I want to do research and write a book, but no one will fund me, and working where I work now is not a gold mine. If anyone has ideas, hook me up.

Sickened

I don't understand people, never will.

Article on an assault in Pisgat Ze'ev

Jaffa

Today's city that I would like to visit, Jaffa. This one is easier to explain, I read City of Oranges, and it made the city sound amazing. Then I looked into it a little more, and a little more, and soon I really just wanted to visit this city. It definitely makes the top ten places.

One of the reasons is the history of the place. It's been around since at least 7000 B.C.E. That's just as far as we have some sort of record for. That's also about as far back as we have records for in general. So, this city has seen a lot. And history has left its mark on the city.

The city grew in such a way that would make a city-planner's head spin. It developed a street system based on its needs. The housing developed slowly over time. Unlike cities that sprang up in the last hundred or so years which have nice straight, wide boulevards. The architecture is beautiful and it all looks out on the Mediterranean. The clock tower at right was built in 1902 (extremely recent for this city) in honor of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

This city used to be the site of extreme cultural diversity. It also used to be almost completely at peace with itself. This all changed with the formation of the Zionist movement. Just to cut everyone off, I am not anti-Zionist. The point is, this city lived with a diverse community and neighbors got along with one another be they Jew, Muslim, Christian, pagan or whatever. They would buy coffee and spices from one another. Politics wouldn't play into where one bought bread.

So, like Sofia, I want to get a close up of a city that lost something most struggle to find. Peace amongst its people. The diversity still exists in some of the architecture and the sea is still beautiful, and I would love to see this city the way it was seventy years ago, two hundred years ago, five thousand years ago. But I would settle for today.

Sofia

Just a quick thought...

The city I would most like to visit at some point in my lifetime is Sofia. The source of my desire is unknown even to myself, other than the fact that the city looks absolutely gorgeous. It is the capital of Bulgaria and is one of the oldest cities in Europe, dating back roughly 7000 years.

The history that is encompassed in the architecture alone is awe-inspiring. The cultural mixture looks like it would be perfect for a sight-seer. You have everything all in one convenient spot. For example the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world. Walk around a little more and you'll find the Church of St. George. This is considered the oldest building in Sofia, dating to around 400 A.D.

I think that Sofia would be a wonderful place to visit, even if most college students/graduates that I talk to don't even know it exists. The city set up and diversity would make it an extraordinary destination, despite the reputation Bulgaria has for being a violent stronghold for gangsters.

Go figure...

On one of the other sites I play around on, I started two new groups. The first deals with Latin America. The group welcomes those who study the history, sociology, politics, literature or anything else about the region. It has two members. The site in particular is populated by people who like to think they are better and more educated than everyone else. Still, these people don't care about Latin America. That depresses me a little bit. This region is very intrinsically linked to the United States. All Americans should be more informed about our southern neighbors (or for that matter be able to name any of the countries other than Mexico or Cuba.) A lot of people think it's trendy and cool to go to a nice western European country and then be "cultured" when they come back. At the same time they don't even know the capital of Brazil. It's not Rio de Janeiro by the way, thanks for playing.

The other group I started deals with Eastern Europe and the Balkans. There are interesting stories in these regions. Most of them are much more interesting than Franco-Germanic history. Let's face it, the history of Western Europe goes like this...

Collapse of Roman Empire, Franks united under Charlemagne, Charlemagne dies, France and Germany are doomed to squabble for the rest of time. The End. Oh right, and the rest of Europe tries to stay out of their way, Britain goes so far as to take everything else in the world before becoming involved in European affairs.

Sure, they built neat buildings and painting some decent stuff too, but the people of the Balkans have amazing buildings as well. The region is more multicultural than most people know. Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, these differences have caused some terrible atrocities. In a lot of areas though exist stories of great humanity. The Jews in Bulgaria during World War Two for example, read Beyond Hitler's Grasp, were saved by their government.

These two regions are rich in history and humanity, and amazing foods. I might continue to post on this topic for a while as it really aggravates me that no one cares unless it involves us in a major way. Like with Kosovo, or migrant workers, or the coffee we drink and how hoity-toity we can get about it.

**deep breath**

Hurray for Midwest Brewers

The results are in for the Great American Beer Festival. Midwest brewers did fairly well all in all. Results. The Midwest Micro Brews website is a gem, but it reminds me that Iowa is lagging behind in the microbrews. The ones we have are great, but compared to Wisconsin or Michigan we are lacking. Still, we can draw on our neighbors to enjoy a variety of beers as this website shows. And they are award winning. Congratulations to all of the brewers.

In other news, soccer fans rejoice! The qualifiers are taking off for the 2010 World Cup. Tomorrow the US squares off against Trinidad & Tobago. Some of my personal favorites include Ecuador and Guatemala. High hopes, high hopes. Sadly, none of these games will be on ESPN. Why? Because ESPN is a mean, hateful organization that doesn't want me to have fun. Or they want to cover the MLB Playoffs, or the NFL regular season, or the fan-base won't get excited until the actual World Cup starts up... in two years...

See, it's not hard to write a post that is completely devoid of all Obamanation and McPain comments.

P.S. This sight rocks Brothers Brick. And how!

Independent and Proud

When I read other people's blog posts, I remember why I am an independent. Stereotypes abound on either side of the aisle about the other. Democrats view all Republicans as either Bible-thumping morons or wealthy white people clinging to their riches. Republicans view Democrats as either lazy bums who want government handouts or completely immoral degenerates who are bringing America down.

The truth is, if you go to either extreme, you can find crazies. No kidding. Extreme liberals are just as crazy as extreme conservatives. When candidates vie for those people it makes it difficult to agree with them. I like to think I'm not a crazy liberal wackjob, or a psycho conservative nut. But then I can't vote for either Obama or McCain. Depending on who you listen to, one side is always loopy.

So, I stand free of political ties. I will vote for who I want this fall. I will vote for the one man I believe can lead us out of this mess and make the world love us again. I will vote for the one man America can trust. I will vote for Tom Brokaw. He's good enough for me.

Stay tuned...

I am now gainfully employed. Hurray, yah, woo... Not that exciting really. The company seems interesting and the people are great, but I haven't had much luck training. And, lo and behold, data analyst is not equivalent to historian. Huh. A coworker did show me an interesting new website. New to me of course. Given my love of science fiction this website is great. It has an archive of old time radio, including original broadcasts of several amazing stories. Bradbury makes an exceptionally good listen with the creepy kid actors. The website is... Calfkiller. Strange name, great archive. It even has the original Shadow series!