climate, photos, miscellany
Edited by Dwight Hamilton, Inside Canadian Intelligence: Exposing the New Realities of Espionage and International Terrorism is an interesting read, though I would say that there are some important counterarguments to the main ideological positions adopted by the various authors. The book describes Canada’s various present and historical intelligence services, including the intelligence branch of [...]
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The sterling reputation of Sherlock Holmes as a detective is legitimately based upon a combination of a keen ability to reason from observation coupled with a high level of personal energy. Holmes is not above waiting for hours in the dark to catch his culprit, disguising himself for long spans of time in uncomfortable ways, [...]
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Unable to help myself, I have added two volumes to my substantial assortment of unread and partially read books. I got the biography of Graham Chapman, of Monty Python fame: A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI. Intrigued by an ongoing series of discussions on iTunes University, I also got a book on ‘mindfulness’ as a means [...]
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I read The Hound of the Baskervilles as a bit of post-GRE brain decompression. Most of the books I am reading at the moment are related to my doctoral research proposal and are thus rather heavy. Also, because Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel is out of copyright, I was able to read it for free on [...]
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I was first exposed to Sarah Vowell through her entertaining contributions to This American Life and The Daily Show. In addition to being rather charming, she comes across as expressive and very nerdy. Those qualities are also evident in her short and engaging book on Puritan settlers in North America in the 17th century. Vowell [...]
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I should not be buying books. I have much to do, far too many things to read already, and a new emphasis on avoiding bulky material possessions. Still, when I saw Sarah Vowell‘s The Wordy Shipmates for $4.75 in hardcover, and remembered how charming she in on This American Life, I could not resist.
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Lawrence Martin’s 275-page account of the political life of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is useful reading for those who want to more fully understand how Canadian politics reached the arrangement it is now in, as well as those who wish to speculate more effectively about what the years ahead will involve. While Martin’s account [...]
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One of the more entertaining segments in Douglas Adams’ extremely entertaining book Last Chance to See concerns Straun Sutherland, an Australian doctor who counselled Adams on the dangers associated with venomous wildlife in the region Adams was visiting. While definitely entertaining overall, Sutherland’s autobiography could have used more aggressive editing, particularly when it comes to [...]
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Robertson Davies’ The Rebel Angels is a novel about a beautiful young gypsy graduate student who has two middle aged professors fall in love with her, but decides to marry a rich young banker. There is also a somewhat perverse ex-monk who kills a third middle-aged professor, also somewhat perverse. Intermixed is a lot of [...]
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“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” -George Orwell
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