Our Reality Is Purely Coincidental…

Book 5: Canada & Other Matters of Opinion

February 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Book Title: Canada & Other Matters of Opinion
Author: Rex Murphy
Published: 2009
Pages: 329
Category: Non-Fiction: Canadian politics, nonfiction: politics

It took me quite a while to get through this fifth book in my attempt at 52 this year.  I even read another book entirely between the first & second thirds of reading this one.

Rex Murphy is a Canadian institution, he writes a weekly column in the Globe & Mail, commentates on CBC, and I actually had the pleasure of hearing him speak live when he was in Victoria a couple of years ago. He is an incredible orator, and has an amazing way with words.

His worldview however, is different than mine in many ways, not that this is a bad thing in selecting reading material, but I am trying very hard in my life right now to let go of any cynicism in my current situation and look for the best. So Murphy’s overwhelming cynicism at the state of the world (or at least, how I perceived it in this book) was hard to take.

Here’s one example of what I mea:

“It’s been well known for decades now that Vancouver is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and further that it has resolved every major social and political problem known to man or metropolis. The Downtown Eastside, old-timers will recall, was cleaned up decades ago, and is now a most splendid housing-estate cum park, with a mix of citizens of every income and colour and culture – a true model to the world.” (pg 163, Great News Out of Vancouver – September 29, 2007)

Sure he’s making a point. Vancouver has its own share of problems, like any other large city. I appreciate sarcasm. But 329 pages of it is a lot for me to take all at once. Murphy’s weekly columns are enough cynicism and sarcasm for me…a book of them is a bit too much.

For in the words of Conan O’Brien…

“All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism- it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

But enough of what I’m trying to do with my life, and the words of late night talk show hosts that I didn’t ever really watch until they were close to leaving. Back to the book.

Pieces of it I truly enjoyed, and I always enjoy well-written prose, and this book is full of it. The book itself was a collection of segments written over the past 5-6 years, with some commentary added upon editing for publication. I enjoyed reading Murphy’s commentary on events that I don’t have distinct memories of – as I was developing my social consciousness and news-reading habits over the period of time these articles were written. So events that are hazy in my mind have suddenly been brought back into the realm of news, discussion, and opinion. That I did enjoy. I also really enjoyed this segment:

“Would there have been a Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series without Bram Stoker? No. However far from his Dracula the campy reruns may be, the persistence of the vampire story, and the fable’s elemental features – blood-parched undead, fearful only of sunlight, garlic and the crucifix… – owe everything to Stoker’s renewal of the legend.” (pg112 – Sanity Takes a Holiday, Dec 11, 2004)

It’s an excellent segue to my next book…I’ll admit to which book it is when I write the review.

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Blast From The Past

February 1, 2010 · 2 Comments

I’ve just figured out how to import posts from other sites, so I’ve updated this blog with a bunch of posts from my First Year Adventures, in the UK. I had the amazing opportunity to live in a Castle and travel all over for my first year of University, and I kept a travel blog filled with pictures, and hilarious (at least I thought so at the time) anecdotes.

Feel free to peruse, most of the entries are tagged ‘2005′, ‘2006′, ‘herstmonceux’ or ‘travel’. But before you judge, you should know some things about First-Year-Uni-Pippa.

  • She was a fan of completely random capitalization/non-capitalization
  • She was an enthusiastic photographer, and liked using the different colour settings maybe a little too much
  • She really really wanted people to send her mail
  • She really thought the ducks were her friends
  • She went on exchange mainly to pretend she went to school at Hogwarts
  • She made some of the best friends in the world
  • She had the time of her life
  • She documented a lot of it.

Have fun.

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Gorgeous.

January 27, 2010 · Leave a Comment

A few people on Twitter just posted a link to this utterly gorgeous time lapse photography video of Vancouver. Thought I’d share. (watch in HD if you can)

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Book 4: Just a Geek

January 25, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Book Title: Just a Geek
Author: Wil Wheaton
Published: 2004
Pages: 224
Category: Non-Fiction: biography/autobiography

I had intended to be reviewing Canada and Other Matters of Opinion by Rex Murphy for my fourth book of the year, but while I was still partway through it, I came home from work one day to find a notice on my door that a package was waiting for me at the post office.

Inside that package was the Wil Wheaton’s Just a Geek that I had ordered from Amazon in early December 2009. They kept pushing back my shipping date, and I rushed to the Post Office to finally get the book I’d been waiting for.

And they couldn’t find it. She searched on the shelf it should have been on, the shelves around that one, the file for letters, around the large boxes, and then stopped to help the person in line behind me. And then she kept looking for it. Took my phone number, and promised to find it. She apparently remembered writing down my crazy first name.

I left, and (haha) bought my long awaited iPhone, at which point it promptly began ringing! She had found my package! So after such a long tumultuous process, I finally had in my possession Just a Geek. It was begging to be read, and so I abandoned Canada and Other Matters of Opinion and began to read Just a Geek I’ll return to Murphy’s book for next week – I was for the most part, enjoying it.

Now, I know my readership for this blog is mostly nerds, as most of my friends would put themselves in that category, but in case anyone is unsure, knowledge of Wil Wheaton is a clear indicator on the nerd-barometre. An indicator that I was sorely lacking until little less than a year ago. While I have distinct memories of watching Star Trek: The Next Generation as a child, they mostly consist of Captain Picard, “Earl Grey, Hot.”, and the guy from reading rainbow.  I don’t remember Wesley Crusher, and I certainly didn’t remember the actor who played him. Then I joined twitter.

And when I joined twitter, I started noticing a username being retweeted by several of the people I follow. The username? @wilw. The stuff I saw seemed cool, but I still didn’t really understand the magnitude of geekery involved. And then I went to Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, and he was there. My friend Cat told me to go up to him and give him her “complete and utter adoration & affection” or something along those lines, but I was too blinded by the stars of Battlestar Galactica to wait in a giant line to see some guy who I hadn’t really heard of.

When I got home, I decided to see what all the fuss was about. I started finding him everywhere. An episode of Leverage. Season 3 of The Guild. The Big Bang Theory. This guy was basically the king of the nerds.
So this book that Wil Wheaton’s awesome nerd cred going for it. As well as an extensive use of witty footnotes.* But it was also a really touching series of blog posts and memories about a guy trying to grow up and move through some tough times in life. Something I’m really glad I read at this point in time. In the book Wil talks about being sort of stuck in a rut, trying to move forward, but unsure of with what. The subtitle of the book is “Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise” and that is entirely accurate.

I needed to read this book at this point in my life. And I know that sounds dramatic and lofty, but I feel as if I’m in a similar circumstance, drifting a bit after my undergraduate degree, looking for what I’m supposed to do in life, and missing out on important things because of things I think I should be doing – or that other people think I should be doing.  Struggling to become a writer, and write well.  The voice of self-doubt muttering in the dark places of my mind.

This book will be appreciated by any self-proclaimed nerd, anyone with a love of good nonfiction or autobiography, and fans of well written humour. I would definitely recommend it.** I look forward to reading Wil’s other books. I know my phrasing is a little bit awkward, as I work to get back into writing regularly, but I will definitely look to this book for something akin to inspiration.

I’m going to Emerald City Comic Con again this year. And so is Wil Wheaton. I look forward to actually knowing who he is this time, and getting my long awaited copy of his book autographed.

*    *     *

Wil Wheaton’s blog can be found here. And always remember Wheaton’s law: Don’t Be A Dick.

Next Book: Canada & Other Matters of Opinion by Rex Murphy

*I love footnotes, I find them irresistible. Endnotes though? Hate them.
**And it will definitely up your nerd cred.

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Book 3 – Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

January 14, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Book Title: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Author: John Perkins
Published: 2004
Pages: 277
Category: Non-Fiction: politics, non-fiction: business
Review:

In high school my friends and I used to get together and play Risk – evenings that lasted well into early morning, the game only stopped for trips to Safeway to buy candy or to make coffee. This book immediately made me think of those late night empire-building sessions, but the difference with this situation is that Perkins’ experience was literal, his job was to further the economic empire of the United States.

As a student of Political Science, and someone with an interest in the Politics of Development and as an activist who’s worked on projects throughout high school and university, through organizations such as Engineers Without Borders, I’ve always assumed some of the things written in this book. Things like the presence of a corportocracy, a conspiracy to encourage debt, a disregard of the interests of regular people in developing countries in favour of big business. I’ve read articles, I’ve written essays, on the rise of neo-liberalism and the damaging effects of the Structural Adjustment Programs. This book though, as a work of non-fiction, written by a man who took part in it all was a shock.

To read this book though, was basically a vindication of everything I’ve suspected, or everything the people in my university classes have “known” about corporations, without actually proving it. It is not even really about proof, its about the fact that everyone “knows” these things but nobody truly listens to the consequences, or writes about it with such experience and clarity. Perkins was an economist in the 1970s, was an economic hit man – working to advance the aims of the US government and the World Bank/IMF through explicit means of empire building – just not traditional means of empire building.

In his training, Perkins was instructed that

“the primary objectives of my work…was to justify huge international loans that would funnel money back to….US companies…[and] I would work to bankrupt the countries that received those loans…so that they would be forever beholden to their creditors.”

The book itself is an incredible account of the things done in the name of profit, and the pursuit of empire. I do not want to make the claim that this book is eye opening, because for me that is not the right description. I would say this book is heart-breakingly honest, and I respect Perkins for writing it – though it took him a long time to do so. I definitely recommend this book – whether you find yourself normally interested in this sort of genre or not. This book reveals truths of our world, and as world citizens, it is the type of book we should be reading.

Next Book: Canada and Other Matters of Opinion by Rex Murphy.

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ferry ride

January 11, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Dusk on the water. Winter 2010.

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I’ve missed this city.

January 9, 2010 · 9 Comments

Vancouver This Summer – The night of lightning, fireworks, and an orange sky.

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Book 2: What Is Stephen Harper Reading?

January 7, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Book Title: What Is Stephen Harper Reading?
Author: Yann Martel
Published: 2009
Pages: 228
Category: Non-Fiction: Canadian politics, Non-Fiction: Epistolary
Review:


I mentioned this book to one of my favourite little old ladies who comes into work, we always chat – she grew up very near the Castle that I went to for first year University and whenever she’s been in the bank in the last 2 years we’ve chatted about England, about Politics, about anything really. She and I were talking about her husband, who’s memory is failing, and how she’s discovered that reading aloud to him from books that he remembers from years ago has become a great pastime for the two of them – something they can do together without worrying that he’ll forget where they left off the last time. I mentioned ‘What is Stephen Harper Reading?’ to her, and she told me that Martel had been a student of her son’s at Trent University. It’s simply incredible how small our world can be sometimes.

Now, if you haven’t read Martel’s 2001 novel, ‘Life of Pi,’ I suggest you go and do so immediately.
Now that you’ve read ‘Life of Pi’ I can continue with my review of  Martel’s incredibly different work – this nonfiction, canadian, political, epistolary novel. I don’t know how to better categorize it. How does one categorize a book of letters about books that have all been sent by a Canadian Author to the current Canadian Prime Minister?  Because that’s exactly what Martel has done in this book. He started sending Prime Minister Harper books in April 2007, chosen all for specific reasons, to help with understanding, or governing, or culture. Martel picks a book every two weeks, writes a letter and sends it off to Harper, at the following address:

The Right Honorable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A OA2

In this book Martel has published all of his letters, and compiled a book of recommended readings for a prime minister of Canada. The project is still ongoing and current books & letters can be found at http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/ it is also available in French. I’ve placed a link to his project in my links list on the right hand side of this page as well.

Some of the books Martel has chosen I have read, others I have heard of, and still others I have now added to my list of books to read in the future. I think that so far this has been a wonderfully crafted & thought-provoking project and I look forward to see what other works Martel chooses to send to Harper on a biweekly basis.

Next Book: Confessions of An Economic Hit Man by John Perkins

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Book 1: Geektastic

January 6, 2010 · 2 Comments

Book Title: Geektastic – Stories From The Nerd Herd
Editors: Holly Black & Cecil Castellucci
Published: 2009
Pages: 403
Category: Fiction – Young Adult

Review:

I admit to a love of YA (Young Adult Fiction). I loved it when I was a teenager, and I loved it through University, when it was easier to read along with textbooks and assignments – a familiar escape. But most importantly I love well done YA. Adults who love to read Young Adult fiction do so because it doesn’t talk down to its audience; accepting teenagers as whole people, with thoughts, ideas, and opinions about the world is an important part of ensuring that they grow into people with these same qualities. Their opinions and ideas and ideals matter, and good YA will speak to that – which is why it still applies to me, and why I still read it, even though I am quickly running out of ‘acceptable’ reasons to do so.
Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci, Geektastic is a collection of nerdy stories by excellent Young Adult Fiction authors. From John Green to David Levithan, Libba Brey, Scott Westerfeld to M.T. Anderson and Cassie Claire, this is an anthology that truly speaks to nerds of all ages.
All of these authors are known mostly for writing novels, but these short stories show how good they are at exploring characters in just a short time. Ranging from the story of the Klingon who falls in love with the Jedi (Black & Castellucci), to an education in nerd-dom (Lynn), Quiz-Bowl dramatics (Levithan), Geektastic speaks to all sorts of geeks & nerds.
I really loved this book, and thought it was a wonderful book to start 2010 with. So many of these authors have truly outed themselves as geeks of the highest order – from describing perfectly the awkwardness of meeting someone ‘IRL’ for the first time, when previously you’ve only known them online, to the joy of introducing someone to the glory of Lord of the Rings or Star Trek, among other epics.
I would recommend this book to any lover of YA fiction, anyone who was ever a self-proclaimed geek or nerd, or anyone who is looking to find a new author to explore. I know I’ve finished this book with a few new authors in mind to find next time I’m in the library or at a bookshop.

Next Book: What Is Stephen Harper Reading? by Yann Martel

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The Saga Continues

October 18, 2009 · 1 Comment

Some updates regarding my last post – As I should have know before I posted, I have learned that the internet adage,  ‘Never Feed The Trolls’, is in fact a very important piece of advice to follow when attempting to convince others on the internet of your ideas.
I sincerely doubt that my last post had any effects on those who’s ideas I addressed, but I had to do it for my own personal satisfaction, because of my love of debating, and because I knew a lot of people who found the article disturbing, but were unable to put into words how or why.

I am not going to link to those over at The Spearhead again, because I do not want them to benefit from the extra traffic, nor do I want to give them the opportunity to quote me out of context (and suggest that I take some Midol) again. We differ fundamentally on both the importance and status of women in general, as well as on the primary purpose of Science Fiction. While they see Science Fiction as a boys-only club, I see it as a worthwhile and important medium for exploring all the difficult and confusing aspects of the human condition.

I will however link to two other articles that attempt to do the same thing I have in regards to the outrageous claims of this ‘Online Magazine’, Crimitism points out that Doctor Who was never really ’straight’ and that Russell T. Davies’ renewal of the series did not make it any gayer than it already was (and links to my last post as a good point per point rebuttal of the article in question), as well as pointing out that their debating style is nonexistent.

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As far as Blog Wars go, this has been quite entertaining, while not necessarily fruitful…

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