Reading - MAR > DEC 2020

Kept up with tracking, but not publishing out into the ether, what I've read this year. Last time was in February, apparently. Wild ride in 2020, many distractions. Not to mention moving back overseas and related complications. Regardless, something like a book a week, give or take. On average. Plus comics. And OCD surfing of the internets. Lot of fiction this year, apparently. Coping mechanism for the stresses of the 'real' world? Possibly. Reread a bunch of Crichton this summer. Reminded me of my dad, who I got the 'reading habit' from - and who got it from his mom - and who used to read all the Crichton, Clancy and Griffin he could get his hands on. A handful of biographies, some financial literacy, some positive psych. We'll see if in 2021 I can post up more often, maybe monthly. Onwards.

Gladiator by Philip Wylie

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman

Anno Dracula: Dracula Cha Cha Cha by Kim Newman

Helltown by Dennis O'Neil

Richard Dragon: Dragon's Fists by Jim Dennis (Dennis O'Neil and James R. Berry) 

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks

The Stranger by Harlan Corben

Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman

Peace Talks (Dresden Files Book 16) by Jim Butcher

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks  

Rising Sun by Michael Crichton

The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino

Travels by Michael Crichton

Congo by Michael Crichton

Timeline by Michael Crichton

A Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife: On the Other Side Known Commonly as The Little Book by Daniel Quinn and Tom Whalen

Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman

The Mystery of the Iron Samson: The Life and Training of Strongman Alexander Zass by Yuri Shapshnikoff (Author), A. Drapkin (Author), Logan Christopher (Editor), Professor "Stone" Paul (Translator)

A Feast Unknown (Secrets of the Nine #1 - Wold Newton Parallel Universe) Book 1 of 3: Secrets of the Nine by Philip Jose Farmer 

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson

Resurrected Destiny (The Last Witness Book 1) by Gerald Welch

Ballistic Kiss: A Sandman Slim Novel by Richard Kadrey

Playing with FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early): How Far Would You Go for Financial Freedom by Scott Riecken

The Holy by Daniel Quinn

Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined by Drew Carey 

Battle Ground: The Dresden Files 17 by Jim Butcher 

8 Mins: An Anthology of the Last Eight Minutes of Earth by Victor Dandridge 

After Dachau by Daniel Quinn

The Sentinel: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child & Andrew Child 

Levon's Home by Chuck Dixon

Art in the Blood (A Sherlock Holmes Adventure, Book 1) by Bonnie MacBird 

Unquiet Spirits: Whisky, Ghosts, Murder (A Sherlock Holmes Adventure, Book 2) by Bonnie MacBird

Uncaged: My Life as a Champion MMA Fighter by Frank Shamrock 

Shamrock: The World's Most Dangerous Man by Jonathan Snowden 

The Devil’s Due (A Sherlock Holmes Adventure, Book 3) by Bonnie MacBird

The Size of Your Dreams: A Novel that Transforms Lives by Dave Mason and Chana Mason

The Cash Machine: A Tale of Passion, Persistence, and Financial Independence by Dave Mason and Chana Mason

The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver 

The Motion of the Body Through Space by Lionel Shriver

--

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1 & 2 by Kousuke Oono

Savage Wolverine Vol. 1: Kill Island by Frank Cho

Second Coming: Volume One by Mark Russell, Richard Pace, Leonard Kirk, Andy Troy

Skybourne by Frank Cho, Marcio Menyz

Black Hammer Volume 4: Age of Doom Part Two by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Dave Stewart

Green Arrow: War of the Clans by Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino

Secret Volume by Jonathan Hickman, Ryan Bodenheim, Michael Garland 

Punisher: Soviet by Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows, Paolo Rivera

Wonder Twins Vol. 1: Activate! by Mark Russell , Stephen Byrne 

Captain America: White by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale 

Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1 (of 6): Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley & Nathan Fairbairn 

The Complete Jon Sable Freelance Volume 1 by Mike Grell

Absolute Planetary V1 by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday

Green Lantern: Legacy by Minh Le & Andie Tong

Doomsday Clock: The Complete Collection Paperback by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank 

Jacked by Eric Kripke & John Higgins 

Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale by Zack Whedon, Joss Whedon, Chris Samnee 

Batman: Three Jokers by Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok 

#TheStruggle

Continued ハーフ (Hāfu) Domination.

Miss Japan 2016: Half-Indian elephant trainer crowned - CNN.com: "Born to an Indian father and a Japanese mother in Tokyo, the 22-year-old's big win came just a year after Ariana Miyamoto, a half-black, half Japanese woman, won the title of Miss Universe Japan 2015."

Old Japanese people are the cutest.

Mr. Takahashi, 93 years old.

"Do you ever remember being sick?

No, I do not...

I can't help but notice that you're smoking.  How long have you been smoking?

I've been smoking since I was 25.

And Mr. Takahashi is not alone, his neighbor goes through a pack and a half a day..."

True Story. #TheStruggleIsReal

Japan Gets It.

Well? Have you?

"...it's - going - down."

Japan Wins Hard. Amazon Japan Is Selling A Build-Your-Own Mech Starter Kit: "You know how it is when you're browsing Amazon - books, games, Blu-rays, even your groceries, the occasional giant mech. Wait, what? The Kuratasu Starter kit lets you build a four-wheeled mech that is almost 4 metres tall, and fully piloted by a human. Think of it almost like the world's most ridiculous car. Speaking of ridiculous, it's available for the low low price of ¥ 120,000,000 - that's just over a million dollars worth of mech. But shipping for only 350 yen? BARGAIN."

Sorry, vegans: Eating meat and cooking food is how humans got their big brains - The Washington Post 

  

Always frame your discussions.

Today's soundtrack.

Here's to keeping things weird in 2015.

"Don't let the darkness get to you. Either inhabit and enjoy it, or turn up the lights and wait for dawn, because it won't be too far away." - Warren Ellis

The Bells The Bells | MORNING, COMPUTER: "Years feel like they get tired and grim.  January 1 feels like a clean slate and a fresh start, as if we’ve been released from prison with all the charges wiped from the record.  This, we say, will be a better year.  We’re climbing the walls on December 31, wondering if this horrible fucking year will ever end, waiting for the bells to dispel its ghostly miasma. New Year’s is a story we tell ourselves, of course.  It’s absolute bullshit.  We all know it.  But it’s a good story, so we keep on telling it.  Every year, on and on.  And who’s to say that, one golden year, it might not come true? It’s a terrible thing to do to ourselves.  How long do you have to tell a story before it somehow, alchemically, comes true?  Just because we’ve been wanting it, all of us, for so long?  Who knows?  This might yet be the year."

North Korea/Sony Story Shows How Eagerly U.S. Media Still Regurgitate Government Claims - The Intercept: "It’s tempting to say that the U.S. media should have learned by now not to uncritically disseminate government claims, particularly when those claims can serve as a pretext for U.S. aggression. But to say that, at this point, almost gives them too little credit. It assumes that they want to improve, but just haven’t yet come to understand what they’re doing wrong. But that’s deeply implausible. At this point - eleven years after the run-up to the Iraq War and 50 years after the Gulf of Tonkin fraud - any minimally sentient American knows full well that their government lies frequently. Any journalist understands full well that assuming government claims to be true, with no evidence, is the primary means by which U.S. media outlets become tools of government propaganda. U.S. journalists don’t engage in this behavior because they haven’t yet realized this. To the contrary, they engage in this behavior precisely because they do realize this: because that is what they aspire to be. If you know how journalistically corrupt it is for large media outlets to uncritically disseminate evidence-free official claims, they know it, too. Calling on them to stop doing that wrongly assumes that they seek to comport with their ostensible mission of serving as watchdogs over power. That’s their brand, not their aspiration or function."

   

YES.  Kung Fu Monkey: LIBRARIANS #105 "Apple of Discord" Answer post: "The Library-verse is one where multiple magical realms overlap with a secret pulp history of the world.  There is not one conspiracy, or secret organization, or secret struggle. All of them are happening. All of them are true, and probably not exactly the version you've read about. We retain the right to remix pulp culture."

  

  

Stephen Amell Releases Trailer For Dudes Being Dudes in Wine Country - Bleeding Cool : "One of the things Stephen Amell did after Arrow took off was to open a winery with his friend Andrew Harding called Nocking Point. Now Amell and Harding are doing a new webseries called Dudes Being Dudes In Wine Country. And they have released a trailer for the series that launched in March. If nothing else it looks like these two are having fun and in the series we may learn about making wine."

Life Lessons From Highly Successful People - Business Insider: "...both Marcus Aurelius, an emperor, and Epictetus, a slave, both subscribed to the idea of stoicism. You can't predict pleasure or pain. You can only strive for knowledge and giving and fairness and health each day."

 

Guy Who Attacked Female Worker Is a 'Hulking Brute.' Oh Wait, He's a Cop? Nevermind. - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "...the stark differences between the two make clear the incredible double standard of reporting on the public's misdeeds vs. reporting on police misdeeds. Many in the media possess an overriding presumption that everything the police do must be justified—even when police actions would be considered horrifying if carried out by anyone not wearing a badge."

 feministhalloween: kateordie: ... - APE IN A CAPE: