“Black Like Me” (John Howard Griffin)
Back in 1961 the author disguises as a black man and experiences all the prejudices in the south.
I must read this book
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Category Archives: Books
Audible
I used to subscribe to Audible. So I was going to start subscribing again, but after checking their pricing I realized that it now costs twice as much as before. I have a feeling that media content like music, audiobooks and films need to be cheaper, not more expensive. Case in point. I have bought more music the last couple of month from allofmp3, than I have from any source in five years. Why? Because when an album of music costs around $2, it’s so cheap that it doesn’t matter if you happen to choose a really crappy album. Compared to buying an expensive CD, where everything has to be a well planned decision. You just don’t take a change to buy an album that you know contains a good song. With cheap music you don’t even think about it. Same thing with doing backup of your music. If an album costs $2, you just buy it again if you lose it. I already bought several albums that I own, but just can’t find. It’s a pity that Audible is going down that same route. At least they have a semi-good DRM, where you keep a kind of digital library where you can find and download books you bought.
Audible.com
I’ve been a happy customer of audible.com for almost three years now, but today I cancelled my subscription. When trying to buy a book on my monthly subscription, six out of ten books that I looked at could not be purchased in my region. So they now divide up the world, just like they did with DVDs. I’m guessing that because of the number of iPods, it’s becoming big business to sell audiobooks. So now they have to control the customer more. How fucking stupid. Sure, the book companies here in Sweden want to put their 40% on the price, but I’m not willing to pay that. So I will use the simplest way of getting audio books, I’ll use Usenet instead. No restriction, no sticker.
The kid stays in the picture!
The Kid Stays in the Picture is a book by Robert Evans and his experiences in Hollywood producing some of the greatest movies of all time.
You have probably heard of the film Godfather. The book is nice to hear (I listened on my iPod) and the author is the narrator which gives it another dimension. But remember, if your going to listen to the book instead of reading it, download a higher quality version of it at audible.com. He has a Whisky voice so it’s hard to hear what he is saying otherwise.
The book takes you through his whole life, from childhood to his semi old age. It gives a good glimpse into the insane world of Hollywood and is fun to read. In the later part of the book some old unfinished business shines through, with the author being angry at some actors. Unfortunately it makes the book seem sometimes to have been written to get back at them, which can be fun for us readers, but it makes one wonder how much of it is the truth.
Of five stars available, I would give this book ***
The book takes you through his whole life, from childhood to his semi old age. It gives a good glimpse into the insane world of Hollywood and is fun to read. In the later part of the book some old unfinished business shines through, with the author being angry at some actors. Unfortunately it makes the book seem sometimes to have been written to get back at them, which can be fun for us readers, but it makes one wonder how much of it is the truth.
Of five stars available, I would give this book ***
Audible.com audio books
If you have an iPod (and you should!) your not using it to it’s fullest potential. You need Audible.
you can download audio books directly from www.audible.com and they are opened in iTunes so you can download it to your iPod. Now I can listen to books when working. I have given up stressing in traffic jams, I just listen to a good book, and actually don’t mind waiting anymore. A book that’s lets say 8 hours takes up less then 80mb so you can fit a lot of books in your iPod. It took a while to get used to listen to books, but when you get used to it, it’s great! I have a premium account so I get two books a month. The selection is huge and most of the books have great narration. Sometimes it’s the author that reads it, which usually gives it an extra dimension to it. Recommended.
And if you sign up, don’t forget to use “jacken” as referrer so I get some extra book credits, it’s for my education you see.
And if you sign up, don’t forget to use “jacken” as referrer so I get some extra book credits, it’s for my education you see.
Entering the culinary underbelly
A friend of mine recommended a book to me. It’s called Kitchen Confidential. It’s about the author, Anthony Bourdain and his adventures in cooking. Great book. And nicely written. It’s always fun to read a book where the writer really cares about something, may it be food or anything else. Passion is cool.
If you read some of the earlier stuff you probably come to the conclusion that I am a total virgin when it comes to food. Most of my food intake is at the local McDonalds.
I read the book that the former bass player of the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman wrote. He said that eating was just a distraction from more important stuff in life. I agreed with him at the time, I have always thought that having to eat takes away valuable time from, for me, more importent stuff. This does not mean that I don’t enjoy good food, it just means that I don’t think that its such a big deal. But after reading his book I must say that I feel like really learning to cook, and to try out some of the more exotic dishes there is. If people can get so exited about food there must be something to it. So I hear-by svear to learn how to cook. I will buy the Global Chef Knife that he recommends. I promise to try to get good ingredients. I’ll buy some cook books and I promise to read them. Stay tuned for my first try. Maybe I should get a stomach pump just in case?
I read the book that the former bass player of the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman wrote. He said that eating was just a distraction from more important stuff in life. I agreed with him at the time, I have always thought that having to eat takes away valuable time from, for me, more importent stuff. This does not mean that I don’t enjoy good food, it just means that I don’t think that its such a big deal. But after reading his book I must say that I feel like really learning to cook, and to try out some of the more exotic dishes there is. If people can get so exited about food there must be something to it. So I hear-by svear to learn how to cook. I will buy the Global Chef Knife that he recommends. I promise to try to get good ingredients. I’ll buy some cook books and I promise to read them. Stay tuned for my first try. Maybe I should get a stomach pump just in case?