Tag: books
A Stolen Life [ A Memoir ] ( book ) … Jaycee Dugard
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Jaycee Dugard was abducted at 11 years old. She lived with her abductors, a pedophile and his wife, for 18 years, but she wasn’t held captive all that time. That’s the problem with her story. She was a victim in June of 1991 when Phillip Garrido zapped her with his stun gun, put her in his car, imprisoned her in his home and started using her as his personal sex slave, but by the time Jaycee, now living under the secret identity of Allissa; a 29-year-old mother of two; was discovered by the police and reunited with her real family, she’d become willing participant. That she attributes to being “conditioned” as she tries to play the victim role to the end, but she’s full of shit. She had countless chances to flee; at one point, she strolls thru a crowded shopping mall without Phillip; but chose not to.
Her story is nonetheless an intriguing one. Her style of writing is sometimes childish and redundant, especially at the beginning, but the personal journals she was thoughtful enough to write over the years, which she apparently saved, help her do a fine job of revisiting the past. That is assuming all the details she includes; the rape scenes, which are the most interesting parts, are surprisingly graphic; are true. This is just one side of a long story. My only major complaints are the Reflection bits, which take the reader from a factual account of the past to a present-day psychological analysis in a jolt, and the fact that it should’ve ended at the Discovery And Reunion chapter; the ending of which is genuinely poignant. The rest could’ve and should’ve been summed down to a short epilogue.
my rating : 3 of 5
2011
Sesame Street : The Count reading Snoring Beauty
sesamestreet.org
Religion is a smart way to control stupid people …
It’s true. If you’re given a world of stupid people to rule over, a smart way to keep them under control is to create something akin to religion. They may not care enough about spending time in jail. Even the thought of being put to death wouldn’t stop some people from breaking your rules. But if they think they’ll be, say, tortured forever, they’ll probably think twice.
People can’t really torture people forever though. The torturers will get tired, their machines will malfunction, the torturees will eventually die or something else will happen to end it. Even if it never ended, the rule breaker would have to get caught first. So you have to create a “God” who knows everything and has the power to do anything. That way there’s no escaping.
But don’t just make God a punisher. You don’t want people simply living out of fear. So tell them that, while being bad will result in eternal bad for them, being good will result in eternal good. If they follow all “His” rules, they’ll be rewarded to an eternity in the best place imaginable; a place of happiness and bliss, where their dead loved ones will be waiting for them.
Smart people will demand proof for such a place, but don’t worry about them because they don’t exist in your world. Your people will believe anything you say because it comes from “God”. If they want to end their lives to get to God quicker, tell them suicide is a sin. You can’t have them offing themselves. You need them there to work for you and keep the population going.
If them having sex for other reasons goes against current social norms, tell them God says no sex before marriage and homosexuality is a sin. Are you a sexist male? Tell them women came from men. Are you a white racist? Tell them black slavery is fine. Put it all in a book, kick back and give yourself a pat on the back for making your job as ruler a lot easier.
The Greatest Show On Earth [ The Evidence For Evolution ] ( book ) … Richard Dawkins
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Richard Dawkins is probably smarter than you, so if you think you were created by a God and prefer truth over ignorance when it comes to your beliefs, you should read this book. What he presents is an alternative and much more realistic theory, one he prematurely refers to as a “fact”, about how humans came into existence. It was a matter of evolution, he insists, inspired by the mind of Charles Darwin, before going on to explain, in clear and interesting detail, how he came to that conclusion.
It’s a convincing argument indeed, one that requires not a hint of faith, but you’ll need to confirm all of his references and perhaps take a trip to the human fossil display of your local museum to fully subscribe to what he’s saying. I don’t, at least not yet, but as far as educated guesses go, I can certainly say, especially after reading this book, that, unlike the bullshit found in The Bible and the fantastical texts of other religions, evolution is a logical theory that comes with plenty of supporting evidence.
my rating : 4 of 5
2009
Full Dark No Stars ( book ) … Stephen King
The title is only half true. The stories of this Stephen King collection are indeed dark in nature; the set is bookended by tales of bloody spousal murder; but there are stars. It’s just that they’re normal people. They’re people who kill and harm other people, yes, but the author does his best to justify their actions by providing a method to their madness. Are his justifications successful? Not usually. There’s only one story in which I think the protagonist is justified and that’s the rape victim who seeks revenge on her Big Driver attacker. But their sides of the story are told. That’s the point.
It’s unfortunate those stories aren’t presented in a more interesting manner. The underlying concepts spark real suspense in the build-up, even the ridiculous Fair Extension, but the way Stephen King drones on and on in meticulous descriptions and backstory is more than enough to kill it. He’s an excellent writer when it comes to using words to tell a story, yes; possibly one of the best; but these stories lack anything interesting beyond that. There’s nothing clever or witty about them. No artistic depth. They’re just told. That might’ve been okay if the process weren’t so redundant.
The best parts of the Big Driver and 1922 stories; the rape and murder that should be their ending peaks; come closer to the beginning. After that, the plots just ramble along in boring epilogue. A Good Marriage gets the structure right, but the peak is unrealistic given everything that came before it. The normal caring protagonist, like the one in Big Driver, suddenly becomes as vicious as the man she’s up against. In this case though, it’s not a matter of retaliation, so her motive doesn’t make much sense. Not that it matters in the end. By that point, you’re just happy it’s all over.
my rating : 1 of 5
2010
Alex And Me ( book ) … Irene Pepperberg
Alex was a parrot; perhaps the most intelligent parrot to ever live; thanks to years of extensive training at the hands of his owner; scientist and animal cognition professor Irene Pepperberg. She, along with her team of researchers, taught the bird not only to talk but also to understand language and numerical concepts up to about the level of a five-year-old human, which opened doors to new study in the field. In a nutshell, what Alex showed the world is that “bird brain” isn’t such a disparaging term after all.
This book; a memoir; covers the thirty years Irene spent working with Alex without bogging readers down in scientific explanations. The learning experiments she conducted are covered in simple terms and, aside from a few irrelevant details regarding her career struggles, pages fly along fairly interestingly. What’s amazing if true, of course, are the little, often humorous, anecdotes of Alex and his intellectual antics; accounts of him doing things popular science says birds simply shouldn’t be able to do.
my rating : 3 of 5
2008
a dream I had about being in an elementary school reading class
I was a student in the very nice classroom of a very nice African, perhaps Nigerian, teacher. We, us students and the teacher, had just found-out the upcoming college-style exam would include questions about readings he said wouldn’t be on it; a test that seemed to be days away. It meant we’d have to go back and review the readings, but we weren’t really upset about it; at-least I wasn’t and none of my classmates seemed to be. But the teacher’s smiley reaction to the news suggested he was a little embarrassed about his mistake.
What makes the dream special is that it was a lucid dream in the sense that I knew or had some idea that I was dreaming. I remember thinking how it would be funny if I jokingly asked if I could have the audiobook version of the new books he’d just assigned us to read. So I raised my hand, by making myself raise my hand; anticipating the fact that this dream teacher I didn’t have any conscious control over would answer me. And after a few seconds, he did. “Yes, Marcel,” I think he said. And when I asked my question, the whole class laughed.
2012 March 20
audio review : History ( album ) … Michael Jackson
Presented amidst a promotional campaign comparable to the second coming of Christ with movie theater trailers and 32-foot statues, Michael Jackson’s History album hits the world of popular music like nothing before it. It’s the most important album by the most important song artist, the presentation seems to suggest, and you just have to hear it.
With that, it should be the happiest of times for The King Of Pop, but there’s a dark cloud overhead and a bitter tone to most of these songs. “Stop pressuring me,” he Screams on his long-awaited duet with Janet Jackson, “Stop fucking with me!” The siblings take turns firing back at the slanderous news media, though it’s Michael who’s been under attack.
Biased journalists have partaken in what seems like a worldwide conspiracy to ruin his name, especially since he’s been publically accused and investigated, but not actually charged, with molesting one of his Neverland boy friends. It’s a case that was eventually settled out of court for a lot of dough. That convinces a lot of people that he’s guilty.
Some people are smarter than that. We wonder what kind of parent whose kid was sexually abused pursues cash over justice. So we nod our heads as he sings about people who’ll do “anything” for Money; the best part of the album is the last chorus section of this song; or Tabloid Junkies who believe “everything” they read in a magazine or see on the TV screen.
There’s even a song about Tom Sneddon; the prosecutor responsible for trying to put him in prison. “You know he really tried to take me down by surprise”, Jackson ponders in the angry and strained vocal style he’s taken on over the years. It’s a stark contrast to the tender crooning he does on Childhood or the ballad about the ghost girl he refers to as Little Susie.
The album would be better without the cover songs; Come Together by The Beatles and Smile by Nat King Cole, which, on a Michael Jackson album, amount to mere filler. He also repeats the Dangerous blunder of featuring rappers, though The Notorious BIG, who’s surprisingly allowed to refer to Michael Jackson as “my nigga”, provides a remarkable verse.
Even on that song, Mike is in defense mode, paranoid about people being out to “get” him. I commend him for addressing the scandal that would’ve been the elephant in the room if this were an album of romantic love songs, but the amount of time he spends on it takes away from the History concept, which is supposed to be about his legacy as a whole.
The message of the title song, which samples historic audio bits like Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech, is to live your life to the fullest and be the best you can be. It’s advice Michael Jackson certainly has the credentials to give, but he’s doing a lot of polishing to keep his crown from tarnishing and that’s starting to affect the quality of his music.
Most of these songs are good, but none of them are great. Some of the songs on his previous album are great. That makes History a disappointment after Dangerous like Bad was after Thriller. It’s unusual to be disappointed by good albums, but Michael Jackson has set unusually high standards for himself. I guess that just comes with being The King.
my rating : 4 of 5
1995
Though this album is promoted and presented as a double album; Michael Jackson’s most popular songs from the Past and new songs from the Present; my review is limited to the new songs.
The Magazine ( song ) … Too Short ( featuring Chase Hattan )
2012
Tabloid Junkie ( song ) … Michael Jackson
1995
video review : Creepshow
Stephen King is in this show. He plays a retard; an appropriate metaphor considering he also wrote the screenplay. It’s a comic book anthology of five relatively short stories that are supposed to be scary or at least spine-tingling creepy, but come across as just plain bad.
Forget the horrible acting and laughable visual effects. The plots themselves, created by King at his hackiest, yes, but directed by the same George Romero who brought us the classic Night Of The Living Dead, are about as stupid as it gets. Attend this one at your own risk.
my rating : 1 of 5
1982