As mentioned in the Harold Bloom thread, would anyone be into doing a book club? If so, how should we set it up? Is there anything I should set up within the page to facilitate it or are we fine with the basic post/comment/tag system we have now? Anyone have any suggestions for a good first book?

or

An essay on the wooden stake in the heart of all things good and pure about art and culture.

or

Why I hate that stupid bullshit you love so much.

(really, it gets better after the jump)

Madconomist has a pretty lengthy advice article explaining at length why American youths should think twice about the current education/career system in place and it’s a really thought provoking read. Certainly, there’s plenty to disagree with and perhaps more than a few radical ideas and recommendations, but there’s also some really good stuff. Advice on keeping your head above water in potentially turbulent times, on higher education, and learning skills and crafts, and on bettering yourself as a person — not to improve the ego, but to make yourself more capable of shifting and adjusting with the times. Very much worth the read, regardless of whether or not you have the time.

Quite Possibly, The Most Unorthodox Piece Of Advice Ever Given To The American Youths.

A Huge Award nominated short story by Neil Gaiman

I don’t know if you’ve all seen this site yet, but for all the bibliophiles, check it out:

GoodReads

Think of it as last.fm…for books. Sign up and then drive yourself crazy trying to remember every book you’ve ever read. I’ve always had trouble trying to keep track of all the book on my to-read list, and this will do it for me.

They’re running a Radiohead-esq “Pay What You Want” campaign. So go get a $1 subscription for a year and get tons of free music and stuff to read.

The Douglass Adams quote (originally said in response to a fan’s inquiry about a type of computer in the Hitchhiker’s Guide trilogy) used in the middle of the article says it all. The author’s main point is that by continually giving definition to the Harry Potter world outside of the books, Rowling is removing, bit by bit, the things that make the books so much fun. What’s left for us when there’s no mystery left? And I couldn’t agree more. She must be stopped.

That’s probably the stupidest headline I’ve ever written. But it’s true. So says Rowling herself. Apparently he “had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwal.” Ok, then.

So great.

Nothing requires any physical labor! And then there’s the seeming obsession with candy and the ability to conjure up just about any kind of food… Hell, Neville lost weight as he got more poweful. It makes no sense!

We have some witty people here. What are some of the greats that have stuck in your head? I’m particularly fond of:

“I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.” -Winston Churchill

“I took a test in Existentialism. I left all the answers blank and got 100.” -Woody Allen

“When you have a fat friend there are no see-saws. Only catapults.” -Demetri Martin

I’m making myself a book list.

I haven’t read much in the way of sci-fi. What are your favorite classic sci-fi novels? I’m already planning on reading 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Stranger in a Strange Land, and a few others. I’ve already read most Vonnegut and Hitchiker’s Guide. I’m big on dystopian societies.

Go.

Stephen King does what I’ve yet to see really be done: an honest and loving appraisal of the series as a whole. I love that King totally gets it. He thought about the series. He’s read them many times. He knows that it’s more the sum of it’s yearly battle with Voldemort; that it’s more than who lives and who dies. If you’ve been looking for a reason to finally pick up these books and find out what all the hub bub is about, King might peke your interest.

It’s been awhile (but not that long) since I’ve sat down to read a book. Over the weekend, I spent a good amount of time with my head in some literature and as always (as if it surprised me) I enjoyed it. I dove a bit deeper into Player Piano, a much more intriguing setting and plot of Vonnegut’s than my last venture, Breakfast of Champions. I also polished off the first 4 tales of Salinger’s Nine Stories. And then I went to Barnes and Noble to see what new stuff was out there…

OF B&N IN DEPTFORD
STEALING TWEETER’S INTERNET

YESSSSSSSS

Please… please… DO NOT post on here any of the Harry Potter spoilers that have been floating around. You’ll get banned from the site immediately, but that’s beside the point. Just please don’t do it.

If just not being an asshole wasn’t enough incentive, an excerpt from a conversation with Gosia (who knows or can find out where any of you live):

i am not normally a violent person, but under these circumstances…

Can’t wait till this Friday night to get your Harry Potter fix? The book has apparently been posted on several torrent sites and can be downloaded. I’ll probably download it just so I can read it at work or on a screen. I know it’s unusually, but I oftentimes prefer to read on a screen then I do hunched over a book.

Just awesome.

and what was it?

We all know their politics, but their biased bullshit has become so common placed, it’s hard to get enraged by them anymore. Leave it to Rupert, though, to give me a whole new reason to hate and despise that network with every fabric of my being:

James Rosen’s shamefully disrespectful obituary of Kurt Vonnegut. Watch and cringe.

noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com

That’s what a lot of influential bloggers are saying anyhow. I vehemently disagree, but it’s fun to browse through regardless.

For one hour, as an experient, the greatest living violinist, Joshua Bell, played some of the greatest known pieces of classical music, (Chaconne, Ave Maria) on one of the most perfectly built instruments in history (a Stratevarious) for an hour in a DC subway.

And no one cared.

Easily one of the most depressing articles I’ve ever read. It’s cultural genocide and there is no hope.