Now Reading in the Old Year

[Sir Stewart]

Just started this. His pop culture-saturated thought process is close enough to my own that I find myself (perhaps unfairly) cutting him no slack. I think I'm reading this like an editor would, and finding a lot to nitpick about. Like: Saying Cal Ripkin, Jr. looks "impossibly young" in his rookie card just seems lazy to me. Someone said "impossibly young" once, and it was brilliant. It's theirs (whoever it was). No one else should use it.

I'm trying to be less critical though. The book is highly readable.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Just started this. His pop culture-saturated thought process is close enough to my own that I find myself (perhaps unfairly) cutting him no slack. I think I'm reading this like an editor would, and finding a lot to nitpick about. Like: Saying Cal Ripkin, Jr. looks "impossibly young" in his rookie card just seems lazy to me. Someone said "impossibly young" once, and it was brilliant. It's theirs (whoever it was). No one else should use it.

I'm trying to be less critical though. The book is highly readable.

 

I can't STAND pop books about popular culture (love research-based academic critiques, but not aggregate "people these days + Pew Research info" ones). But I read them - I'll probably request this book of yours at the library soon - and watch my blood-pressure raise uncontrollably. A year or two ago I read "Hello, I'm Special," and it made me so angry that when I found out an ex had listed it on Facebook has her favorite book I sent her a five paragraph message asking her if she was incredibly sarcastic or dumb as a post. Never wrote back, oddly enough...

 

[Sir Stewart]

I know what you mean - it's like reading someone's masturbation.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I know what you mean - it's like reading someone's masturbation.

 

If you want some really good stuff in this vein, check out anything Henry Jenkins has written. He used to head the Media Blah Blah Blah department at MIT, and his most recent book on media convergence is amazing. It is academic but still very accessible (narrative form, doesn't needlessly quantify crap like emotions).

 

Henry Jenkins' list of publications. His blog is pretty awesome, too.

[gogo]

I had to click through to his resume, because I was really hoping that his department at MIT was actually called "Media Blah Blah Blah".

[Guest Speed Racer]

I had to click through to his resume, because I was really hoping that his department at MIT was actually called "Media Blah Blah Blah".

 

Throughout the course of my interest in his work, I swear the department name changed three or four times, and I just got sick of looking.

[M. (hristine]

Krakauer on The Daily Show Wednesday, September 30.

 

Krakauer's book has reminded me yet again how effective is the Machiavellian mind. The Soviets were bled dry fighting in Afghanistan. The United States was intimate in that process, but still walked into bin Laden's blade and continue to hemorrhage at an alarming rate.

[Good Old Neon]

Krakauer on The Daily Show Wednesday, September 30.

 

Krakauer's book has reminded me yet again how effective is the Machiavellian mind. The Soviets were bled dry fighting in Afghanistan. The United States was intimate in that process, but still walked into bin Laden's blade and continue to hemorrhage at an alarming rate.

Yep.

 

Prior to 9/11, Bin Laden had been trying to find a way in which to bait the US into engaging Afghanistan, and until that point, had been unsuccessful. 9/11 changed all that, and he got what he wanted, a bonafide invasion – and better still, a half committed invasion at that.

 

Last night, 60 Minutes ran a segment on the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. McChrystal – he comes across as a competent, sincere, thoroughly decent man totally committed to taking the steps he feels are necessary to correct our mistakes – unfortunately, he appears to suffer from an ailment common amongst top military brass, a tragic case of fatal optimism. Though I watched the piece, I couldn’t focus all that well, under attack as I was by our precocious 3 year old, but what I did hear had to do with switching strategies from being aggressive and bomb happy, to focusing on winning the hearts and minds of the people – which, if I’m not mistaken, is usually the last strategy undertaken prior to “admitting” (though, of course, we’d never actually admit as much) defeat.

 

Had Bush committed more troops to the war in Afghanistan, and focused more attention on winning that war, rather than devoting our military to our adventure in Iraq, we might, might have had a chance. However, if Afghanistan has proven anything, it is that it is, to date, entirely ungovernable and/or unconquerable.

 

I’ve just started the chapter in which Pat and his brother Kevin are (finally) entering Ranger training. What a tragic story. What a tragic loss.

[Moss]

[M. (hristine]

Yep.

However, if Afghanistan has proven anything, it is that it is, to date, entirely ungovernable and/or unconquerable.

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.

 

Our military leaders need to reread Sun Tzu.

 

 

I’ve just started the chapter in which Pat and his brother Kevin are (finally) entering Ranger training. What a tragic story. What a tragic loss.

Multiply Tillman's story by 753,399. Though I reckon some of the dead were bad people.

[The High Heat]

Krakauer on The Daily Show Wednesday, September 30.

 

Krakauer's book has reminded me yet again how effective is the Machiavellian mind. The Soviets were bled dry fighting in Afghanistan. The United States was intimate in that process, but still walked into bin Laden's blade and continue to hemorrhage at an alarming rate.

 

I'll be finishing this book today.

 

Does the Daily Show posts their interviews on their web site after they are aired?

[M. (hristine]

I'll be finishing this book today.

 

Does the Daily Show posts their interviews on their web site after they are aired?

The website archives entire shows.

[isadorah]

starting this tonight:

[mpolak21]

Just started this. His pop culture-saturated thought process is close enough to my own that I find myself (perhaps unfairly) cutting him no slack. I think I'm reading this like an editor would, and finding a lot to nitpick about. Like: Saying Cal Ripkin, Jr. looks "impossibly young" in his rookie card just seems lazy to me. Someone said "impossibly young" once, and it was brilliant. It's theirs (whoever it was). No one else should use it.

I'm trying to be less critical though. The book is highly readable.

 

A pretty good book exists in there, but his focus is a little off. The stuff about his childhood is great, the stuff about his stint on the AMC show and his attempts to settle some scores really isn't that interesting. And his writing style can be a little distracting, still it is a pretty enjoyable read, and I've always liked his stuff on the AV club.

 

--Mike

[The High Heat]

The website archives entire shows.

Thank you for the info and the condolences, which are always appreciated.

 

I finished Krakauer's book a few hours ago. While friendly fire deaths occur frequently in war I am disappointed the Bush administration used an implied and misleading version of Tillman's death as a method to gain support for the war, mainly because the support they were ultimately seeking was re-elction in 2004, not the defeat of terrorists. This was alot different than staging a second flag-raising in Iwo Jima to strum up cash to supply the troops in WWII. The persistant cover-ups and lack of any real discipline to all involved in Tillman's death is about as low as we can get, short of starting up a war in Iraq under false pretenses while guilty terrorists are not targeted in full by our resources. I am most displeased by the trigger-man, Alders. While I do not wish for anyone who served their country to be lifelong dysfunctional by their tragic actions in a battle, I am a little angered that Alders seemingly (according to the book) lacks remorse. Just because he was following his his leader's actions doesn't mean he did not in fact end Pat Tillman's life when Tillman was less than 150 feet from him and his US uniform still visible in the twilight. It's fine if he does not let a mistake own him, but he should own the mistake. He was jacked up from the Taliban assault, went trigger-happy and fucked-up royally. People can understand that, especially since many of these soldiers have little or no battle experience. Playing victim because he received a demotion after killing a fellow Ranger is disgraceful. He should have had at least a dis-honorable discharge, if not been subject to prosecution for reckless disregard for human life.

 

I'm not sure what an answer is for the mess the US has created in the Middle East. Pulling out saves coalition lives now but also opens the door for mayhem in those areas and maybe beyond. We will not win from the inside. The terrain is impossible and it's like fighting the national military and several gangs at the same time. Perhaps it would be easier to contain terrorists and the Taliban if we pulled out and monitored every slighest movement. Cutting off Pakistan from further monetary aid seems to be appropriate, as does burning down as many of the opium farms in Afghanistan as we can. The flip side is what happens to the citizens of Afghanistan, especially the women and children, who will most certainly be targets of rape and brutality (Of course, this is happening already.). It seems the only way to have a chance to succeed in the Afghanistan campaign if we were to continue fighting would be to saturate both Afghanistan and (at least western) Pakistan with ground and air troops in all-out-bring-the-world-to-hell blitzkrieg. A total assault may have worked at the beginning of this war if we hadn't wasted an incredible amount of resources illegally in Iraq, but now it would be beyond insane.

 

I praise Pat Tillman's mother, Dannie, for being relentless in her pursuit of truth from the government - and the fact she challenged the govenment directly, not through reporters and lawyers. The courage it takes to handle losing a child is monumental. I know. I've been seeing my sister do it everday for just over a year now. For Dannie to take on the government while managing her grief is a courage I can't even fathom. From his mother, I can clearly understand from where Pat Tillman gained his dignity. A whole truth may never come to light, but she eventually got damn near all of it. The embarassment she caused the Bush administration and the Army was what they earned, and she spoon-fed it to them until they were no longer defensible to her mission. Dannie wanted truth and justice, and so did Pat. That's why they fought. The end was tragic but their fight was dignified; and no matter the circumstances, the convictions of the Tillmans and Pat's death embody the pride of warriors and the honesty of poets. They honor the American spirit and we are all blessed by their magnanimity.

[Good Old Neon]

Thank you for the info and the condolences, which are always appreciated.

 

I finished Krakauer's book a few hours ago. While friendly fire deaths occur frequently in war I am disappointed the Bush administration used an implied and misleading version of Tillman's death as a method to gain support for the war, mainly because the support they were ultimately seeking was re-elction in 2004, not the defeat of terrorists. This was alot different than staging a second flag-raising in Iwo Jima to strum up cash to supply the troops in WWII. The persistant cover-ups and lack of any real discipline to all involved in Tillman's death is about as low as we can get, short of starting up a war in Iraq under false pretenses while guilty terrorists are not targeted in full by our resources. I am most displeased by the trigger-man, Alders. While I do not wish for anyone who served their country to be lifelong dysfunctional by their tragic actions in a battle, I am a little angered that Alders seemingly (according to the book) lacks remorse. Just because he was following his his leader's actions doesn't mean he did not in fact end Pat Tillman's life when Tillman was less than 150 feet from him and his US uniform still visible in the twilight. It's fine if he does not let a mistake own him, but he should own the mistake. He was jacked up from the Taliban assault, went trigger-happy and fucked-up royally. People can understand that, especially since many of these soldiers have little or no battle experience. Playing victim because he received a demotion after killing a fellow Ranger is disgraceful. He should have had at least a dis-honorable discharge, if not been subject to prosecution for reckless disregard for human life.

 

I'm not sure what an answer is for the mess the US has created in the Middle East. Pulling out saves coalition lives now but also opens the door for mayhem in those areas and maybe beyond. We will not win from the inside. The terrain is impossible and it's like fighting the national military and several gangs at the same time. Perhaps it would be easier to contain terrorists and the Taliban if we pulled out and monitored every slighest movement. Cutting off Pakistan from further monetary aid seems to be appropriate, as does burning down as many of the opium farms in Afghanistan as we can. The flip side is what happens to the citizens of Afghanistan, especially the women and children, who will most certainly be targets of rape and brutality (Of course, this is happening already.). It seems the only way to have a chance to succeed in the Afghanistan campaign if we were to continue fighting would be to saturate both Afghanistan and (at least western) Pakistan with ground and air troops in all-out-bring-the-world-to-hell blitzkrieg. A total assault may have worked at the beginning of this war if we hadn't wasted an incredible amount of resources illegally in Iraq, but now it would be beyond insane.

 

I praise Pat Tillman's mother, Dannie, for being relentless in her pursuit of truth from the government - and the fact she challenged the govenment directly, not through reporters and lawyers. The courage it takes to handle losing a child is monumental. I know. I've been seeing my sister do it everday for just over a year now. For Dannie to take on the government while managing her grief is a courage I can't even fathom. From his mother, I can clearly understand from where Pat Tillman gained his dignity. A whole truth may never come to light, but she eventually got damn near all of it. The embarassment she caused the Bush administration and the Army was what they earned, and she spoon-fed it to them until they were no longer defensible to her mission. Dannie wanted truth and justice, and so did Pat. That's why they fought. The end was tragic but their fight was dignified; and no matter the circumstances, the convictions of the Tillmans and Pat's death embody the pride of warriors and the honesty of poets. They honor the American spirit and we are all blessed by their magnanimity.

 

Wow - that choked me up. Well said.

[bleedorange]

 

My daughter's favorite books of the moment.

[Moss]

 

Really enjoying this so far.

[The High Heat]

Wow - that choked me up. Well said.

Thank you.

 

 

 

As per usual, after reading an incredible book, I'm having a hard time finding a follow-up read to match it.

[uncool2pillow]

 

Really enjoying this so far.

Really great! I enjoyed the movie as well. The endings are completely different.

[Good Old Neon]

Thank you.

 

 

 

As per usual, after reading an incredible book, I'm having a hard time finding a follow-up read to match it.

 

 

You’re welcome.

 

Have you read any of Krakauer’s other books? Into Thin Air? Into the Wild?

 

Dave Cullen's Columbine is also excellent – probably the best non-fiction book I’ve read this year.

 

Edit: Or, with a nod towards Halloween, if you’re in the mood for a good old fashioned ghost story, I highly recommend Sarah Waters’, The Little Stranger.

[uncool2pillow]

Dave Cullen's Columbine is also excellent – probably the best non-fiction book I’ve read this year.

Yep.

[The High Heat]

You’re welcome.

 

Have you read any of Krakauer’s other books? Into Thin Air? Into the Wild?

 

Dave Cullen's Columbine is also excellent – probably the best non-fiction book I’ve read this year.

 

Edit: Or, with a nod towards Halloween, if you’re in the mood for a good old fashioned ghost story, I highly recommend Sarah Waters’, The Little Stranger.

Yes sir, I have read the two other Krakauer books you mentioned and Columbine. Never read the Waters book, perhaps I'll see if the local bookstores have it. Thanks.

 

I've been trying out different books at B&N, including a Columbine-related novel by Wally Lamb (The title escapes me at the moment.). Having read the account of the tragedy only a couple months ago I figured this might be a good time to read it while the details are still fresh in my mind. Has anyone here read it/recommend it?

 

Of course, I may just go with a complete change of pace and read Craig Ferguson's new autobiography, America On Purpose. Craig is such a damn hoot and he writes very well, too.

[la*]

I've been trying out different books at B&N, including a Columbine-related novel by Wally Lamb (The title escapes me at the moment.). Having read the account of the tragedy only a couple months ago I figured this might be a good time to read it while the details are still fresh in my mind. Has anyone here read it/recommend it?

 

 

The Lamb book is The Hour I First Believed, and I read it a few months before I read Columbine. I would recommend it, with slight reservations (it has a subplot that didn't work for me).

 

I read this recently and really liked it:

 

 

And I'm currently in the middle of this one and enjoying it:

[The High Heat]

The Lamb book is The Hour I First Believed, and I read it a few months before I read Columbine. I would recommend it, with slight reservations (it has a subplot that didn't work for me).

Thank you. I hadn't been awake very long when I posted, but I remembered it not long after. I'll look into your recommendations. Thanks again.