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^^ Just read excerpts of his books and thinking...Marc Faber, socal's idol, views him as a god among thinkers...
Depressing stuff...We are in for some vicious shite...It all starts when you go to the ATM and no money can be issued...Your checks can't be cashed...All plastic cards are useless...
There is no more money...
A Place Called Freedom
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Book by Ken Follett
3.8/5 A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett ? Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
3.8/5 https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors...called-freedom
7/10 https://teakdoor.com/3417797-post1826.html
I really like Ken Follett. He has written duds but this isn't one of them. I want to take my time but I turn the pages so fast it appears as if I'm completely riveted. 7/10 might be too low as a drama set in the 18th century is not my usual cup of tea.
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part way thru -its fantastic but makes me a little sad cos he did what I wish I had done - and nostalgia for a time past when surfing was not sport but a lifestyle. And brilliantly written - he's a staff writer for the New Yorker and this book won a Pulitzer prize
Surfing only looks like a sport. To devotees, it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a mental and physical study, a passionate way of life. William Finnegan first started surfing as a young boy in California and Hawaii. Barbarian Days is his immersive memoir of a life spent travelling the world chasing waves through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa, Peru and beyond. Finnegan describes the edgy yet enduring brotherhood forged among the swell of the surf; and recalling his own apprenticeship to the world's most famous and challenging waves, he considers the intense relationship formed between man, board and water. Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, a social history, an extraordinary exploration of one man's gradual mastering of an exacting and little-understood art. It is a memoir of dangerous obsession and enchantment.
Read this book about the French Secret Service during the 50's and early 60's in their assassination team " The Red Hand" by Joachim Joesten.
The French Government denied its existence.
Seems like it's come back to France this colonial past,nothing's changed then.
A Burglar's Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh
this was readable , nothing majorly memorable
Semper Cool - One Marine's Fond memries of vietnam - Barry FixlerQuote:
Studying architecture the way a burglar would, Geoff Manaugh takes readers through walls, down elevator shafts, into panic rooms, and out across the rooftops of an unsuspecting city.
At the core of A Burglar’s Guide to the City is an unexpected and thrilling insight: how any building transforms when seen through the eyes of someone hoping to break into it.
Encompassing nearly 2,000 years of heists and break-ins, the book draws on the expertise of reformed bank robbers, FBI Special Agents, private security consultants, the L.A.P.D. Air Support Division, and architects past and present.
Whether picking locks or climbing the walls of high-rise apartments, finding gaps in a museum’s surveillance routine or discussing home invasions in ancient Rome, A Burglar’s Guide to the City ensures readers will never enter a bank again without imagining how to loot the vault or walk down the street without planning the perfect getaway.
a good read - was involved in some of the major engagements around the DMZ
No Cunning Plan - Sir Tony RobinsonQuote:
Many Vietnam veterans look back in anger on their wartime experiences, but Fixler, who endured one of the bloodiest battles of the war, isn’t one of them. The gruesome 77 days he spent defending an isolated hilltop near the border with North Vietnam forms the core of this nostalgic memoir. Growing up in a predominately middle-class Jewish neighborhood, Fixler was dazzled by his father’s stories of WWII and volunteered for Vietnam to earn his respect. As a teen, Fixler got into his fair share of trouble and that cockiness seeps into these pages. Arrival at the Marine Corps’ Parris Island boot camp is compared to “being thrown into a Nazi concentration camp.” He celebrates his sexual escapades and never sugarcoats the nasty business of war; he’d do “everything again in heartbeat.” Yet as wistful as he is about the “discipline” and “camaraderie” of the Corps, he’s unrelenting in his scorn for the soldiers who return in psychological pieces, suggesting that soldiers should just get used to killing. Nowhere near the league of We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, Fixler is nonetheless an intriguing, rare bird: a man who survived “hell in the raw” without a trace of trauma–or remorse.
what can I say - he may be known best for his turnipfixation , but all in all a good book about his life -
Quote:
Sir Tony Robinson is a much-loved actor, presenter and author with a stellar career lasting over fifty years. Now, in his long-awaited autobiography, he reveals how the boy from South Woodford went from child stardom in the first stage production of Oliver!, a pint-sized pickpocket desperately bleaching his incipient moustache, to comedy icon Baldrick, the loyal servant and turnip aficionado in Blackadder.
It wasn't all plain sailing though. Along the way he was bullied by Steve Marriott, failed to impress Liza Minnelli and was pushed into a stinking London dock by John Wayne. He also entertained us with Maid Marion and Her Merry Men (which he wrote and starred in) and coped manfully when locked naked outside a theatre in Lincoln during the live tour of comedy series Who Dares Wins. He presented Time Team for twenty years, watching countless gardens ruthlessly dug up in the name of archaeology, and risked life and limb filming The Worst Jobs in History.
It's on the Meter- One Taxi, Three Mates and 43,000 Miles of Misadventures around the World - Paul Archer and Johno Ellison
quite an easy ready about 3 blokes who drove around the world in a london taxi cab
Quote:
When three friends - Paul, Johno and Leigh - clicked 'buy' on an iconic London cab, little did they know what they were letting themselves in for. Leaving the Big Smoke in their taxi bound for Sydney, the lads began a 43,000-mile trip that would take them off the beaten track to some of the most dangerous and deadly places on earth. By the time they arrived home, they would manage against all the odds to circumnavigate the globe and break two world records. From altercations with the Iranian secret police to narrowly escaping the Taliban, the trio's adventure is filled with hair-raising escapades. Feel the fear, revel in the fun and meet some of the hundred passengers the taxi picked up along the way, as the authors take you on their action-packed journey.
And Then All Hell Broke Loose Two Decades in the Middle East - Richard Engel
this was a good bok and well written with some good insights into the middle eastern conflicts that I have not come across anywhere else
I Love Female Orgasm: An Extraordinary Orgasm Guide - Dorian Solot and Marshall MillerQuote:
A major New York Times bestseller by NBC’s Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel—this riveting story of the Middle East revolutions, the Arab Spring, war, and terrorism seen close up “should be required reading” (Booklist, starred review).
In 1997, young Richard Engel, working freelance for Arab news sources, got a call that a busload of Italian tourists was massacred at a Cairo museum. This is his first view of the carnage these years would pile on. Over two decades he has been under fire, blown out of hotel beds, and taken hostage. He has watched Mubarak and Morsi in Egypt arrested and condemned, reported from Jerusalem, been through the Lebanese war, covered the shooting match in Iraq and the Libyan rebels who toppled Gaddafi, reported from Syria as Al-Qaeda stepped in, and was kidnapped in the Syrian cross currents of fighting. Engel takes the reader into Afghanistan with the Taliban and to Iraq with ISIS. In the page-turning And Then All Hell Broke Loose, he shares his “quick-paced...thrilling adventure story” (Associated Press).
there has to be stuff I don't know , so onwards and expand the knowledge - this is an easy read - just turn the sound off when you are on the plane
Quote:
Whether you’re celebrating your thousandth female orgasm, searching for your first, or cheering on your girlfriend or wife, women and men across the country agree: I Love Female Orgasm!I Love Female Orgasm is crammed with everything you want to know about the big O, including: How to have an orgasm during intercourse-and why most women don’t Directions on finding your way to the G-spot Detailed advice on how to have your first orgasm Advice for better oral sex
"The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham. Very interesting read.
Excellent book. Read it years ago. Will read it again.
Reading some Harlen Coben books. Light reading who dunnit stuff.
Just finished Tell No One. Started Six Years.
French Chivalry by Sidney Painter published by Cornell
Burma Boy anovel by Biyi Bandele a West African soldier in my Dad's unit
Franz Marc
Botschaften an den Prinzen Jussuf
isnbn 3-492=10601-3 a priceless collections of his work , wiill sell to pay for my pitti, cost 80 baht!
Actually my second time around as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norton
I picked up "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins, yesterday in Bangkok for the plane journey back. Couldn't put it down and read the first 200 pages before going to bed.
I found it on the internet this afternoon:
http://1.droppdf.com/files/B9Euh/the...la-hawkins.pdf
Then I found a review from the Guardian, so I don't have to explain it all...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...s-review-novel
Different, fast paced and I found quite enjoyable.
^ The movie is still being screened in U.K cinemas
^ Thanks...I checked and it is free on-line @ https://fmovies.se/
I downloaded and watched it this evening.
There is always a problem with watching a film straight after you have read the book. Your imagination pictures the scenes and the people differently. However, I have got used to that over the years and didn't let it interfere (too much) when watching. Not bad considering the change of locality and the difficulty of conjuring the thoughts of an alcoholic on film rather than in a book...at least without breaking the 'rules'.
Having said that it was a pity in some ways as I have travelled those routes into London and imagined the Victorian houses with long gardens backing onto the railway....and the long stops at the same places, waiting for other trains to pass. I also remember the ex hiding her bottle of wine in her handbag and me with those cans of G&T's, which the book made me feel guilty and with which the film simply loses touch. In short the book brought back memories and pictures of my past and the film failed in that association and all that goes with it.
A couple or three bits in the book that makes it a little less confusing than watching the film. Either that or I missed them when going for a refill...
Three non-fiction titles right now and a few fiction novels that I alternate between.
"Life" by Keith Richards is really excellent and gets into his influences, explanations about playing musical instruments and writing songs and lots of stuff about other bands.
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer is another good one by a favorite writer. Pat Tillerman was interesting even before he became famous.
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam is good too. I've always wanted to know more about the Korean war and this gets in depth. Douglas MacArther really screwed up.
The Squad - Yoni Bashan
this book is about the NSW anti gang squad in the last few years - mainly targeting middle eastern families - interesting about their links to clubs , police , bikie gangs etc
Ghetto Cops - Bruce Henderson
stories about policing black areas in LA during the 70's and 80's - ok , but not that good
Chaos Monkeys - Antonio Garcia Martinez
a recounting of his time at goldman sachs , then a startup in silicon valley and then his 2 years at facebook - like another book about the tech industry in the US - Disrupted - Dan Lyons - a good insight into the ways of these companies who are really just about advertising and selling more and more stuff people do not need
a good read on the power of big data is a motherboard article
The Data That Turned the World Upside Down | Motherboard
City of Thorns Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp by Ben RawlenceQuote:
Kosinski and his team tirelessly refined their models. In 2012, Kosinski proved that on the basis of an average of 68 Facebook “likes” by a user, it was possible to predict their skin color (with 95 percent accuracy), their sexual orientation (88 percent accuracy), and their affiliation to the Democratic or Republican party (85 percent). But it didn’t stop there. Intelligence, religious affiliation, as well as alcohol, cigarette and drug use, could all be determined. From the data it was even possible to deduce whether someone's parents were divorced.
The strength of their modeling was illustrated by how well it could predict a subject’s answers. Kosinski continued to work on the models incessantly: before long, he was able to evaluate a person better than the average work colleague, merely on the basis of ten Facebook “likes.” Seventy “likes” were enough to outdo what a person’s friends knew, 150 what their parents knew, and 300 “likes” what their partner knew. More “likes” could even surpass what a person thought they knew about themselves. On the day that Kosinski published these findings, he received two phone calls. The threat of a lawsuit and a job offer. Both from Facebook.
this is a good book detailing well how the horn of africa is producing so many refugees and what they are up against living in the camps in kenya - it is not just somali refugees as there are many from sudan and ethiopia and previously from uganda and rawanda
I also have his book Radio Congo - Ben Rawlence to read about his reporting in the north east of the congo
All the Ways We Kill and Die - Brian Castner
this book is about the ordinace disposal pesonnel in the US military and how they are now being targeted by the bomb makers - though I had to skip a fair bit when it got too jingoistic america america - but worth the read
At home Re reading: 1984 by George Orwell
At Library: Nemesis by Isaac Asimov
:cmn:just info brother just now iam streaming movies online on :sorry1:showtv21.com , and it is free, this is a great advantage to us all
My System (German: Mein System) - a book on chess theory written by Aron Nimzowitsch.
I have taken up chess again so that I can keep my brain in tiptop condition and not allow it to vegetate.
Nathaniel's Nutmeg about Spice Islands
nathaniel-s-nutmeg - Giles Milton
'A magnificent piece of popular history.' Independent on Sunday.
On Christmas Day, 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a most secret and dangerous mission.
He had to persuade the head-hunting islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe.
The welcome he received infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to seize control of the world’s nutmeg supply.
For five years, Courthope and his half-starved band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater. His heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth.
Drawn from original letters, journals and personal diaries, Nathaniel's Nutmeg sheds light on an extraordinary and little-episode in world history. To buy the book click here (UK) and here (USA).
Reviews
‘Giles Milton's research is impeccable and his narrative reads in part like a modern-day Robert Louis Stevenson novel.’ Martin Booth, The Times.
'This book is a magnificent piece of popular history. It is an English story, but its heroism is universal. This is a book to read, reread, then, aside from the X-rated penultimate chapter, read again to your children.' Nicholas Fearn, The Independent on Sunday.
‘To write a book which makes the reader, after finishing it, sit in a trance, lost in his passionate desire to pack a suitcase and go, somehow, to the fabulous place - that, in the end, is something one would give a sack of nutmegs for.’ Philip Hensher, The Spectator.
‘Milton spins a fascinating tale of swashbuckling adventure, courage and cruelty, as nations and entrepreneurs fought for a piece of the nutmeg action.’ Time Magazine.
The Gateless Gate
The Gateless Gate (Mandarin: 無門關 Wúménguān; Japanese: 無門関 Mumonkan), more accurately translated as The Gateless Barrier, is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Huikai (無門慧開; Japanese: Mumon Ekai; 1183–1260). Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen. A classic edition includes a 49th case composed by Anwan (pen name for Cheng Ch'ing-Chih) in 1246. Wu-liang Tsung-shou also supplemented the volume with a verse of four stanzas composed in 1230 about the three checkpoints of Zen master Huanglong. These three checkpoints of Huanglong should not be confused with Doushuai's Three Checkpoints found in Case 47.
Along with the Blue Cliff Record and the oral tradition of Hakuin Ekaku, The Gateless Gate is a central work much used in Rinzai School practice. Five of the koans in the work concern the sayings and doings of Zhaozhou; four concern Ummon.
The common theme of the koans of the Wumen Guan and of Wumen's comments is the inquiry and introspection of dualistic conceptualization. Each koan epitomizes one or more of the polarities of consciousness that act like an obstacle or wall to the insight. The student is challenged to transcend the polarity that the koan represents and demonstrate or show that transcendence to the Zen teacher.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Digby Fantona
Great pick,
Dp you play with yourself though?
Cormac McCarthy, The Road...(Apologies if mentioned before)
This book had been lying around for months...Alongside a couple of others...I wasn't in the "reading mode," so they all sat there until I re-read Catcher In The Rye...
Funny, I thought I'd read The Road already, but soon realized that that wasn't so...I suppose Kerouac's, On The Road was one of the reasons...
Be prepared for a dismal mood if you decide to start this gem...But it is a powerful book...And well worth reading...For some reason, probably because of the mood, it reminded me of Crime and Punishment...
It was written in 2006, McCarthy's tenth novel, and is regarded his "signature piece"...
"Cormac McCarthy’s tenth novel, The Road, is his most harrowing yet deeply personal work. Some unnamed catastrophe has scourged the world to a burnt-out cinder, inhabited by the last remnants of mankind and a very few surviving dogs and fungi. The sky is perpetually shrouded by dust and toxic particulates; the seasons are merely varied intensities of cold and dampness. Bands of cannibals roam the roads and inhabit what few dwellings remain intact in the woods."
He travels "south" with his young son...Just the two of them...With what possible future?...
It won the Pulitzer Prize...
Better read it in sunny weather because the mood will get you immediately...
Wilbur Smith - When the Lion Feeds
Re-reading the Courtney series again.
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Quote:
When the Lion Feeds is a gripping saga beginning with the introduction of twin brothers in Natal in the 1870s. Sean and Garrick Courtney are as close as two brothers can be and as different at the same time. Bonded from birth, their lives intertwine. Sean is the dominant brother—his father's favourite, and Garrick is mostly content to follow in his shadow. It is this dynamic that orchestrates the hunting accident that leaves Garrick without a leg and Sean responsible. With considerable guilt, Sean is easily manipulated, and Garrick uses this to his advantage regularly. Sean becomes his protector, his confidante, his get-out-of-work-free card, and his safety net until war changes everything.
When they are separated by assignments in battle, Garrick is left without his brother's helping hand for the first time and inadvertently rises to the occasion. When set upon and greatly outnumbered by Zulu tribesman, Garrick stumbles, jamming his arm through the door locks just as the Zulus are breaking in. The pain from the resulting compound fractures is so severe that Garrick goes into shock and does not remove his arm as the Zulus continue to try breaking in; thus, he saves many lives, making Garry a hero. This event changes the course of his life.
Etc....
I am able to play with myself, left hand against right. I split my brain into two distinct parts and come up with some very surprising results.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2020FissionQuote:
Originally Posted by Digby Fantona
Great pick,
Dp you play with yourself though?
I am presently attempting to learn Makruk with a view to beating some motorsai riders. I am fed up with beating Germans at western chess in shopping malls and, because of Brexit, knowing I will have no further communication with European foreigners I must find alternatives.