So, What Are You Reading?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Ted Heiks, Jul 27, 2013.

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  1. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Books I found interesting recently:

    Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation by Rita Brause

    How to Survive Your Vita by Rowena Murphy

    Professional Doctorates by Ingrid Lunt and Lucy Thorne

    Achieving your Professional Doctorate by Nancy-Jane Smith

    Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to go to Grad School by Adam Ruben


    I have no idea why.
     
  2. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

    First Stupid Question: Somewhere further upthread, I was posting about my having just finished reading KL (AND MAYBE EVEN FURTHERMORE READING Killing Kennedy and Killing Jesus). Weel, you said you really didn't like the book because it just wasn't that good. What did you mean by that?


    Yes. I have read it Killing Lincoln. Yes, it seemed quite "nonacademic" to me. I know it is not supposed to be that way, but the words that O"Reilly used was just not appealing to me. Maybe it is academic snobbery. Some of his facts are wrong. For me, April 1965 blows it away. Just my opinion. :)


    Second Stupid Question: Some time ago, I was asking about your thesis and dissertation titles. I had thought that the thesis was about the Slave Narratives of North Carolina and the dissertation was about the Slave Narratives of Texas. And you said to both, "Well, yes, tangentially, to both." And then you gave more specific explanations to both.[/QUOTE]

    Yes, to both. My thesis is over the North Carolina Federal Writers Project. My main question I wanted to ask was, "Did writers of the NC FWP influence the products (Slave Narratives, State Guides, Life in America series) that were coming out of the project?". The answer was yes and no and I went into how the attitudes of the writers, the way they grew up and what point of their life they were during their time in the project did influence what came out in the publications. The Slave Narratives in North Carolina were briefly touched upon in chapter 3 ( The Role of African American Writers, the title of my thesis was, " A New Deal For Writers: The Role of the Writers of The North Carolina Federal Writers Project. My dissertation is over the Texas Federal Writers Project. The Slave Narratives are one of the chapters I am dealing with (actually chapter 4..LOL). My thesis statement is, The Texas FWP main goal was to increase employment and by coincidence, helped to further culture along the way ( ok, this is in laymen's terms...LOL) The title is the Lone Star on Relief: The Story of the Texas Federal Writers Project. The dissertation is a history of the Texas FWP.
     
  3. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member


    Stryper is a metal band from California. They were part of the "Glam" (some folks called it Hair Metal)metal scene. During the early to mid 80's, the metal movement had two distinct parts, thrash and glam. Glam was Motley Crue, Dokken, Ratt, Stryper, Warrant as well as others. The Thrash was Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, as well as others. Stryper has sold over 11 million albums and are still at it ( I am going to see them June 19 in Houston.) Stryper is a band of Christians who sang about religion and threw bibles in the audience (they still do) and that was their "schtick" as it were. Jimmy Swaggart stated they were "wolves in sheep clothing" and just really ripped into them on his television show. What is funny is that the lead singer and drummer ( brothers) first were turned onto religion by Swaggart and his television show.
     
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Jimmy Swaggart had no business slagging any musicians. His cousins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley wouldn't have approved. And before Ted asks who they are - they have both had careers as popular musicians. As I see it, Jerry Lee is a helluva piano pounder in fine whorehouse tradition, but he's just as flawed and miserable as his cousin Jimmy - in a different direction, perhaps. Google "Jerry Lee Lewis + racist" - you'll see what I mean. And there's that business about marrying his 13-year-old cousin, too...

    Anyway - as Tireman likely knows and maybe Ted might not - the three cousins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart and Mickey Gilley, were known as the "three piano pickers" of Ferriday Louisiana, where they grew up. As teenagers, they snuck out to hear and learn piano on the other side of the tracks, in places of ill repute - because that's where all the good stuff was, musically-speaking. I have a hunch maybe Jimmy Swaggart might have gone back once in a while for non-musical reasons. :smile:

    Johann
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2014
  5. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I don't care that he once married his teenage cousin. I would actually care if he'd married my teenage cousin.
     
  6. Petedude

    Petedude New Member

    Lately, I'm finding that I accumulate eBooks like other people accumulate paper books. Thus, a tendency to have wayyy too many books going at once:
    -- Freakonomics
    -- Sweet Thursday (Steinbeck)
    -- The Moral Hazard of Lime Daiquiris (Lewis)
    -- Leading IT: (Still) The Toughest Job in the World (Lewis)
    -- Crucial Conversations (Patterson, Kerry, et al)
    and various technical IT tomes or business reads

    As a professed Steinbeck fan, I'm a little disappointed in "Sweet Thursday". I understand wanting to write a "slice of life" book after writing numerous more linearly plotted novels, but it's a bit much on the disjointed side. And even though I got the Round Table references, I had a similar reaction to "Tortilla Flat".
     
  7. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
     
  8. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Drift by Rachel Maddow.
     
  9. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    What a great series. I've read all of it, and all his other stuff too.
     
  10. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst
     
  11. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    okay .....
     
  12. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Well, yeah, KL was non-academic. But, sometimes, maybe even most of the time, the popular work is a better read than the academic work. The only incorrect fact that I found was where BOR says that Congressman (later General) Dan Sickles shot his mistress' husband. He did not. What he shot was his wife's new boyfriend, who was also the grandson of Francis Scott Key.
     
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I really enjoyed that! Also the followup - SuperFreakonomics.

    Now there's "Think Like a Freak." I'll get to it!

    The authors have a website...Books...Blogs...Podcasts... e-Books! It's a whole "Freakin' Industry!" :smile:

    Johann
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 2, 2014
  14. JWC

    JWC New Member

    America's Other Party: A Brief History of the Prohibition Party by C.L. Gammon
     
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I thought for a second that maybe it had something to do with the late singer, Rick James. :smile:

    Do you remember his "Superfreak?"

    "She's a very kinky girl
    The kind you don't take home to mother
    She will never let your spirits down
    Once you get her off the street, ow girl..."


    The book had nothing to do with Rick James, of course -- but I wasn't disappointed - great book.

    I enjoyed Rick James's music very much -- but he was a very troubled and dangerous man, found guilty of severe harm to others. Drugs had a lot to do with that, I'm sure.

    And for Ted, only if he wants it :smile: -- there's a page on Rick James here:

    Rick James - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Johann
     
  16. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Not to hijack the thread, but as Chris Rock noted, there was a time when the debate over funk was between Rick James and Prince. Prince won. (But I still have the album Street Songs with "Super Freak" and "Give it to Me Baby." Awesome stuff.
     
  17. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    The first two books were good. I just picked up The Last Colony at the library tonight.
     
  18. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    After The Last Colony he wrote Zoe's Tale, which is the same story from her perspective. You might be tempted to skip it as being redundant, but it's amazing how different they are and how cool that actually turns out to be.
     
  19. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    [/QUOTE]

    Ha! I wasn't expecting to see a Stryper reference in this thread. I was a HUGE Stryper fan back in the 80's (caught one of their bibles at a concert in Nashville, had the t-shirts, patch on my jean jacket. This was back when I had hair of ANY length, let along long hair.. I even got an autograph from Oz Fox). I guess I'm one of the aforementioned swines, as I'm an atheist bible-catcher. Go figure. :wall:

    Anywho, I bought their album of cover songs last year and it was great! I didn't realize that they had a new album out - I'll have to check it out. Tim Gaines is one of my favorite bassists. I hope he's still with the band (I know he checks out from time to time).
     
  20. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

    Ha! I wasn't expecting to see a Stryper reference in this thread. I was a HUGE Stryper fan back in the 80's (caught one of their bibles at a concert in Nashville, had the t-shirts, patch on my jean jacket. This was back when I had hair of ANY length, let along long hair.. I even got an autograph from Oz Fox). I guess I'm one of the aforementioned swines, as I'm an atheist bible-catcher. Go figure. :wall:


    Anywho, I bought their album of cover songs last year and it was great! I didn't realize that they had a new album out - I'll have to check it out. Tim Gaines is one of my favorite bassists. I hope he's still with the band (I know he checks out from time to time).[/QUOTE]



    Yes, he is still with the band. Yes, they have a new CD out ( No More Hell To Pay). Yes, they are on tour as we speak ( I am going June 19 in Houston). Yes, it is doing well ( by metal standards today..over 30K sold). No, they will not tour at all next year. They will be working at on the new CD next year.
     

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