homer's read lists june 09

june 09 blog pt 2 june ventilations

June is upon us or nearly gone actually. Where’d the month go? Well lest Juno vent her ire on me, as in the ‘aenid’, here’s another paltry offering.

It’s mostly a bit of everything and to those intending to marry, there’s no wedding theme songs here, but a bit of good music from a couple of cds.

A group of cardinals have put out their latest album. Their pope or prime cardinal is called ryan adams. I liked his old homily er old song called ‘my sweet cordillera’ or is that ‘my sweet carolina’?. well am goin' to cordillera in my mind.

Bruce Springsteen is still working on a dream, good song that – onya bruce.

And now the books: not a lot there – an odd mixture in fact.

David Cromwell chronicles the reminiscences of an old spy, and that’s about the only book i enjoyed in this set.

Hunter S. rambles and one is better served with Kerouac or even Steinbeck.

The Wolf girl demands liberty, and reveals a few shenanigans in the so called 'democratic' American society – nothing new there but certainly worth reading.

There’s a book about Socrates’ six questions. I am still working out the question to the answer “blowin’ in the wind” (vide douglas adams), so i’ll pass on this.

Am travelling north again soon. Have to earn my keep.

First we take Brisbane, then we take Eastern Queensland.

June 09 blog pt 1 may you have reading ideas
The shelves are bare this merry month of may. So it’s very lean pickings for good reads.

I picked up what i could.

There are some ideas in Steven Pinker’s book "Stuff of Thought". Pinker himself is not afraid of bringing up ‘dangerous’ ideas. Dangerous ideas in the sense, not of being harmful but rather, of statements that challenge prevailing thought. He encourages the exploration of relevant ideas: those that exclude lies, propaganda, conspiracy theories and misplaced technology. Read Pinker. You’ll know what i mean.

Peter Watson’s book 'IDEAS' are a summary of thinking from ancient times to the time of freud.Watson tells ideas from prehistory to the present day, beginning with how the earliest ideas might have originated. All the obvious areas are tackled the Ancient Greeks, Christianity, astrology, the soul and self and beliefs, Islam & the Crusades, the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, the age of discovery, Shakespeare, the Romantic period, Darwin, to Freud right up to the the internet. Watson looks at the development of simple ideas, language, family and writes about philosophers, artists, scientists, inventors, poets, historians etal, and how their ideas have shaped our lives and thinking.

I then looked into some old american folk music. Sadly there is no more of this music these days.

The Wisdom of the Elders: Sacred Native Stories About Nature by David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson speaks to the necessity of respecting, honoring and retaining the wisdom found among indigenous people around the world who have gained the ancient wisdom of respecting and caring for the Earth in environmentally wise ways. The important message found in this book is that recognizing Nature's sacred balance and keeping its equilibrium, maintains ecological sustainability and supports our survival.
They could easily have doubled the size of their book had they gone to the philippine cordilleras for some sage igorot advice.

A bit of sci-fiction is LeGuin’s ‘left hand of darkness’ which is about 99% fiction and 1% science. It is a popular book but somehow i felt short-changed.

There's also some easy listening music, and a recent 'discovery' fromthe author of 'the three musketeers'. Or you can try Pynchon's penchant for Joyce-like literature in a book about linemen.

The rest of the pile are just props.
oh but remember to revisit stories from king arthur's court.