The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: Doc on February 11, 2007, 04:28:28 pm
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So I've been on this non-fictional but humourous reading trip lately. It started off with 'History's Worst Decisions and the people who made them', then I moved onto 'Teacup in a Storm' which is about exploring and in the last week I've polished off 'the Book of General Ignorance' and 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' (which would probably be required reading for this board if I wasn't pretty sure most of you have already read it).
So anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for other books along this vein? The topic doesn't matter much to me; I just like learning new stuff. Although I do find the planning for an outrageous scenario books quite enjoyable ('How to survive a ***** uprising' is some good honest fun).
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Once again, I pretend that one blanked-out word is another and that you're talking about a ##### uprising. Like a wedgie. "How to Survive a Wedgie".
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I haven't read Eats, Shoots and Leaves but I did read most of Lapsing into a Comma and The Elephants of Style back when they were part of a free website and I found them entertaining. Examples (http://www.theslot.com/sharp.html).
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'the Book of General Ignorance' and 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'
I concur with Doc, these are good stuff.
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The go-to author for books about English and its misuse is Richard Lederer, whose books coached me through an extremely smarty-##### adolescence.
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The Areas of My Expertise, by John Hodgman
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The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester is about the creation of the OED, and the many submissions writting by an institutionalized and deeply disturbed guy. It's got some suprisingly interesting stuff in it.
From Achilles Heel to Zeus's Shield by Dale Coery Dibbley is also an interesting look at words with origins in mythology.
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From Achilles Heel to Zeus's Shield by Dale Coery Dibbley is also an interesting look at words with origins in mythology.
That sounds really cool. I'm all about the word mentor.
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The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester is about the creation of the OED, and the many submissions writting by an institutionalized and deeply disturbed guy. It's got some suprisingly interesting stuff in it.
I'll second this one. It was both surprisingly informative and poignant.
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Its off on a different tangent, but I think unlearning tripe and fables (or at least recognizing such) is as important as learning New Things - Lies My Teacher Told Me (http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/156584100X/sr=1-1/qid=1171319914/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1981774-2204915?ie=UTF8&s=books) and Lies Across America (http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Across-America-Historic-Sites/dp/0684870673)" are great episodic reads (great for the 'can). Equally, Eat, Drink and Be Merry (http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Drink-Be-Merry-Americas/dp/B0002NQ2CU/sr=1-2/qid=1171319829/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-1981774-2204915?ie=UTF8&s=books) and The Demon-Haunted World (http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Haunted-World-Science-Candle-Dark/dp/0345409469/sr=1-1/qid=1171319734/ref=sr_1_1/102-1981774-2204915?ie=UTF8&s=books) are nice for shaking off the cobwebs of media-induced anxiety and popular culture confusion, respectively.
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Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of History
and
Legends, lies, and Cherished myths of American history.
I enjoyed both heartily when I was 14 and openly enjoyed feeling smarter than everyone around me.
You'd better believe I used those books to make people feel dumb.
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Since the The Areas of My Expertise was mentioned, how about America - A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction.
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Its off on a different tangent, but I think unlearning tripe and fables (or at least recognizing such) is as important as learning New Things - Lies My Teacher Told Me (http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/156584100X/sr=1-1/qid=1171319914/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1981774-2204915?ie=UTF8&s=books) and Lies Across America (http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Across-America-Historic-Sites/dp/0684870673)" are great episodic reads (great for the 'can).
Seconding Lies Across America, although I will issue one warning: it will make you really disgusted with Confederate revisionist history. At least, it made me that way. (I am 100% down with the South as a geographical area, but honest to God, the efforts over the years to redefine the Civil War in ways that allowed for the preservation of brutal ignorance and racism sicken me.)
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Yeah, I grew up in Oklahoma and they always tried to teach us that the Civil War was caused by, like, five things that I can't remember right now. Something like: Economy (south, agr. North, industrial), States Rights (to own slaves), and really that is all I remember. But I put something to the effect of those things were caused by slavery and that is still the root of all of the issues and blahblahblah. Anyways, I got like a C or D on it, in AP US Hist in high school. I wrote essentially the same paper in college and I got an a (also in Oklahoma). This isn't really going anywhere, but either my teacher was a bitch, high school just wanted you to repeat what you told them, or there was hell of a conspiracy put together by some redneck assholes at my school board/city/state/(whatever it is that decides these things such as curriculum). Plus, my high school essay was probably done over like 3 weeks of research while my college paper was without a doubt done in a night, probably over night.
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Kind of late, but you might enjoy Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson or Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos.
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Schott's Almanac will get you caught up with most of the knowledge in the world.
A Brief History of Economic Genius will teach the history of economics in a humorous and easy way.
The Intellectual Devotional is one page lessons on topics in history, science, philosophy, music, and religion. This book has led to me hyper-wikipediaing 500 different topics.
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Speaking of wikipedia, did you hear that a "a tenured professor of theology (http://slashdot.org/articles/07/03/01/1313251.shtml?tid=95)" at a private university in the eastern United States" who claimed to teach both undergraduate and graduate theology, and also claimed a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (B.A.), Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.), Doctorate of Philosophy in Theology (Ph.D.), Doctorate in Canon Law (JCD).'
...and then, not being content with being an administrator on Wikipedia, the dumbass accepted a job offer from Wikia, where they realized that he was a lying sack of shit.
The "professor" ended up to be a 24-year old college dropout from Kentucky.
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And hen he said he did it because he was concerned that he would get stalked, and so he invented this backstory to throw people off. Odd he didn't say he was a plumber from Des Moines.
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What does being from Kentucky have to do with it?
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What does being from Kentucky have to do with it?
It just adds to the yokel patheticness of pretending to be a hotshot player in academia.
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Um, I'm trying not to take offense at that...
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I'm glad I used Des Moines in my example.
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Um, I'm trying not to take offense at that...
I am pretty sure you are joking, but it does get grading after a while, does it not?
I mean, I doubt Oklahomans or Kentuckians are really that much dumber than people on the coasts, at least on average.
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I mean, I doubt Oklahomans or Kentuckians are really that much dumber than people on the coasts, at least on average.
Everybody is pretty stupid in their own way. If you can't find a bunch of idiots within 100 yards of where you are sitting, you aren't trying hard enough. There might even be one using your chair as we speak.
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I guess you are a glass half empty guy.
You know, some people see the glass half empty, some see it half full, but I just wonder who is drinking my beer.
Also, I don't have a chair. I have a couch and a bed. I think we found idiot number 1.
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I guess you are a glass half empty guy.
You know, some people see the glass half empty, some see it half full, but I just wonder who is drinking my beer.
Also, I don't have a chair. I have a couch and a bed. I think we found idiot number 1.
No chair?? Fuck you. (http://achewood.com/index.php?date=01072005)
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Actually, I just burned my chair last Friday when I was drunk and having a fire during a fuck you Friday apartment kegger. I found it outside the dumpster, so no big loss.
I do have some folding chairs, but I certainly don't use them.
Edit: I just realized that I am too classy to not sit on cheap ass chairs at a desk/ they generally just suck anyways, but I am classy enough to burn a chair and also to take furniture from the trash. Maybe Oklahomans really are different.
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How do you smoke 50 cigs in 9 innings? Thats almost a smoke per out.
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oooh, a fuck-you-Friday drinking fest? That would be hella awesome, but I'm on call.
I guess I should be grateful that I'm on call, and savor it like a sweet memory. Since I got Written Up for taking a medevac, I only do like 4 EMS shifts a month now. It's pathetic. :(
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What does being from Kentucky have to do with it?
The smartest dude on this board is from Kentucky.