Get Your Nerd On: The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier

     I read about Canon from the book section in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. My interest was captured because it was reviewed as a well written and trendy science compendium. It sounded like this could be the next Freakonomics, an economics book that I surprisingly loved so much that it taught me how to appreciate numbers. So, I quickly searched for an excerpt of Angier's book and I am liking what I am reading so far. She seems to have a grasp of turn icky subjects like science into something fresh and practical. I can't give a definitive verdict until I read the book but I will leave two excerpts for you to judge.

   On being misunderstood as a science nerd: 

    

As youth flowers into maturity, the barrier between nerd and herd grows taller and thicker and begins to sprout thorns. Soon it seems nearly unbreachable. When my hairstylist told me he was planning to visit Puerto Rico, where I'd been the previous summer, and I recommended that he visit the Arecibo radio telescope on the northwestern side of the island, he looked at me as though I'd suggested he stop by a manufacturer of laundry detergent. "Why on earth would I want to do that?" he asked.

"Because it's one of the biggest telescopes in the world, it's open to the public, and it's beautiful and fascinating and looks like a giant mirrored candy dish from the 1960s lodged in the side of a cliff?" I said.

"Huh," he said, taking a rather large snip of hair from my bangs.

"Because it has a great science museum to go with it, and you'll learn a lot about the cosmos?"

"I'm not one of those techie types, you know," he said. Snip snip snip snip snip.

"Because it was featured in the movie Contact, with Jodie Foster?" I groped frantically.

The steel piranhas could not be stilled. "I've never been a big Jodie Foster fan," he said. "But I'll take it under advisement."

"Hi, honey!" my husband said when I got home. "Where did you put your hair?"

  The Importance of Science:
 

A fair question to interject here is: Need we do anything at all? Does it matter if the great majority of people know little or nothing about science or the scientific mindset? If the average Joe or Sophie doesn't know the name of the closest star (the sun), or whether tomatoes have genes (they do), or why your hand can't go through a tabletop (because the electrons in each repel each other), what difference does it make? Let the specialists specialize. A heart surgeon knows how to repair an artery, a biologist knows how to run a gel, a jet pilot knows how to illuminate the fasten seat belt sign at the exact moment you've decided to get up and go to the bathroom. Why can't the rest of us clip our coupons and calories in peace?

The arguments for greater scientific awareness and a more comfortable relationship with scientific reasoning are legion, and many have been flogged so often they're beginning to wheeze. A favorite thesis has it that people should know more about science because many of the vital issues of the day have a scientific component: think global warming, alternative energy, embryonic stem cell research, missile defense, the tragic limitations of the dry cleaning industry. Hence, a more scientifically sophisticated citizenry would be expected to cast comparatively wiser votes for Socratically wise politicians. They would demand that their elected representatives know the differences between a blastocyst, a fetus, and an orthodontist, and that one is a five-day-old, hollow ball of cells from which coveted stem cells can be extracted and theoretically inveigled to grow into the body tissue or organ of choice; the next is a developing prenate that has implanted in the mother's uterus; and the third is never covered by your company's dental plan. . . .

Book Website: The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier

   Release: Coming Soon

Was I Punked? : Punk Marketing by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons

         When I first read the title "Punk Marketing", I was expecting a marketing book about Punk Music and Culture. It was a letdown when I read the introduction because it was actually a marketing text book dressed with a flashy Rage Against Machine type cover and buzz words. So, I was expecting principles I have already read in college.  I moved onto the succeeding chapters and it was almost the same readings that kept me awake the whole night. The difference was that examples and pictures were much hipper and spunkier.

    So, was I Punked? Definitely not entirely, I give kudos to the authors for writing a book that practices what its preaches. As the Laermer and Simmons define Punk Marketing as 

    a new form of marketing that rejects the status quo and recognizes the shift in power from corporations to consumers

            In the case of the book, the authors shift in power from authors to readers. They created a marketing book that speaks consumer language by being up to date with its presentation i.e the flaming head. Moreover, the pages are sprinkled with practical wisdom that leaves the reading feeling that the book was made with him in mind. The author didn't write the book for dummies. An example is a side note on Communication Etiquette. Below are some points from its list of Communication 101: How to Stay Popular in an Age of Zero Talking.

    1. Get a vibrating phone. Leave noise pollution to construction sites and traffic jams.

  2. If you're asked a question, put everything down! Give undivided attention.

  3. When you discover someone is not listening to you, bust them. Shake your head. The more we tolerate poor communication behavior, the more people will continue.
 

        Refreshing ain't it to hear more than you can sell more through to this or that? Right? I recommend the book to people who don't want a diploma but an education. Ciao

Book Website: Punk Marketing

 
Price: Php 959.00

   Release: Available Now!

Bitter Truths II: More Horseradish by Lemony Snicket

    I couldn't help it but I wanted to add this hilarious excerpt from the introduction of Lemony Snicket's Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid. It is a little story on a girl who is looking for the wise man. Enjoy!

         O, great wise man," she said, " I have been wondering so many things. Is life more than sitting at home doing the same thing over and over? Wise man, is life more than watching one's relatives do unpleasant things, or more than the grim tasks one must perform at school and at work? Is life more than being entertained by literature, wise man, or more than traveling from one place to another, suffering from poor emotional health and pondering the people one loves? And what about those who lead a life of mystery? And the mysteries of life? And, wise man, what about the overall feeling of doom that one cannot ever escape no matter what one does, and miscellaneous things that I have neglected to mention in specific?

     But the man was already shaking his head. "You have it all wrong," he said. I'm not a wise man - I'm a wide man." 

Author: Lemony Snicket

Book Website: A Series of Unfortunate Events

 
Price: Php 469.00

   Release: Available Now!

The Bitter Truth: Horseradish Bitters You Can’t Avoid by Lemony Snicket

    It is a pity that I haven't written a full post on the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket. It is because the twist and turns of the books are so unexplainably witty that I can't find the right angle to wrap it up. Thus, I am glad that I was able to put that off through writing about Snicket's new book entitled "Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid", a collection of quotes from the author. If you have read his books, you know that Snicket has an unconventional style of getting his point across. His thoughts are written in humorously winding sentences that always end in absurd but true statements. You always expect the punchline but are never prepared for what he actually has to say.

   With this in mind, Bitter Truth is an unadulterated version of Snicket's series for kids. It's A Series of Unfortunate of Events sans the story. You are left with pure absurdity that like sour candy leaves you grinning and wanting more. While some quotes are just plain quirky, there are also little gems that surprisingly true and tend to linger after reading to point that you might actually quote some of them in a conversation. Then, you realize the Snicket isn't real and is just a pseudonym of author Daniel Handler and you have just been fooled by a kid's book. Hmmm… Not bad for a fictional author….

Below are some snippets from the book:

      An American writer of my acquaintance titled one of his book "You Can't Go Home Again" but he was not necessarily talking to you. 

   It is one of life's bitterest truths that bedtime so often arrives just when things are really getting interesting.

      The way sadness works is one of the strangest riddles of the world.

    There are many difficult things in this world to hide, but a secret is not one of them.

        Sometimes words are not enough.

        There are more and I am tempted to post an excerpt from the introduction on the next post. Cheers! 

Author: Lemony Snicket

Book Website: A Series of Unfortunate Events

 
Price: Php 469.00

   Release: Available Now!

How To Be A Good Parent: Buy Your Kids Their Books and Pencils for School and Win a DVD and TV for Them Too!

National Bookstore's Back to School Promo 

Prizes and surprises await National Book Store shoppers with the Back to
School SurPRIZES promo.

Just look for the stickers in participating products to get the chance
to win exciting freebies and discounts.

For every P300.00 purchase, inclusive of any of the participating
products, a customer is entitled to a P5.00 discount coupon and a raffle
coupon. There are over 5 million worth of prizes to be given away in the
raffle, including over 90 sets of TV and DVD players, and 65 P500.00 NBS
gift certificates. Winners will be drawn per branch.

Hurry to your favorite NBS branch today to avail of the best bargains for
school. Promo runs from May 11 to June 30, 2007 only. PER DTI-NCR Permit
No. 1524. Series of 2007

A History of Violence: Attila The Gathering of The Storm

        Today is election day for senators and congressmen in the Philippines which means that is a holiday too. Thus, I have finally come around to reading the books with so-so looking covers. I admit I am a real cover racist.

I think I would have read Attila sooner than later if it was completely covered in blood with a cowhide texture or at least the spears were covered in blood.

Anyhoo, I am jumping on board the book now and enthused with the prologue as it writes

       For Scripture warns us that man is born to sorrow as the sparks fly upward. And exceptional men are born to exeptional sorrow.

     These lines really got me warmed up for the ride but this historical reimagining of the Viking Attila The Hun's battle against Rome is still growing on me. It is because I am currently on sedate mode now. I can't take the violence and the testosterone charged descriptions seriously. However, if you like the movie 300, I think Attila's name Scourge of God gives you a fairly accurate description of what you are getting into. It will be anything but pretty.

      Below is a little more from the prologue..

       Attila's return from the haunted wilderness, and the blood darkned day on which he made himself king…..To turn upon the Empire of Rome, that hated Empire which had tormented his boyhood, destroyed his youth, and humiliated his people during the long years of his exile. To make all ready for his long-meditated and apocalyptic vengance. 

           Awwww.. Ain't that sweet?

Author: William Napier , a pseudoynm of Christopher Hart

Book Website: Attila The Gathering of The Storm (Book 2 of 3)

Price: Php 700 (Will check)

   Release: Available Now

Treasures at The Megamall Sale: The Coma by Alex Garland

          I rarely have the patience to scavenge the discount bin of bookstores. It is just one of those things I don't have the knack for. However, last Sunday, my "book" senses started tingling when I passed by the Sale sign of National Bookstore and under it was the alluring cover of Alex Garland's  The Coma. The book called me even more with the irresistible price of 65 Pesos (It was originaly 565 Pesos. I discovered it when I ripped the 65 pesos price tag off. ).

    Garland's The Coma is about a man recovering from a coma because he was beaten up by street thugs and how he tries to piece his life together. The rhythm of Garland's words capture the floating feeling of the protagonist Carl as tries to grip the life he has lost. The author evokes this sense of lost by making the narrative impress a feeling like cupping fine sand through one's hands. The memories of Carl like sand simply seem to slip out of his head.

    These emotions are further imprinted into one's mind through the 40 woodprints by Alex's father, Nicholas. As you will see below, the black and white prints amplify the eerie state that the book communicates and are definitely a good incentive to get lost into the author's surreal world.   

Author: Various, Featured: Alex Garland

Book Website: The Coma

 
Price: Php 65 @ Sale

   Release: Available Now!

Catholics in Politics by Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo

       In a state of uber-nerdiness, I purchased a copy of 20 Speeches That Moved a Nation by Anvil Press. I even topped it by buying the CD version of it but my nerdiness is not my reason for featuring this book. I am writing about this collection of speeches because of Senator Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo's work called Catholic in Politics which was orated on Sept 7, 1957. It may be old but the speech is still apt because of the upcoming elections. Moreover, I was deeply inspired by his speech because I had never met a person so confidently unapologetic about his religion and beliefs. Soc writes about his being a Catholic with such finesse and charm that you don't feel that he is trying to persuade but rather is just speaking the obvious truth and you must just be a dummy not to believe him.  This is why it is no wonder his nickname "Soc" is short for the the great Greek Philosopher Socrates. Below are some notable excerpts from speech that  tend to linger in my head up today.

       

      We are all Catholics, and we are all citizens. So far, we have not experienced the slightest difficulty in being both. In fact, knowing our Catholic faith as we do, it seems obvious to us that the better Catholics we are, the better citizens we shall be 

     Catholics, they tell us ought to not meddle in politics… Here we are, living in a country 80% of whose population are Catholic….In other words, out of every  ten Filipinos, only two can engage in politics; …. When two of out every ten Filipinos enter politics, that is citizenship; when the other eight Filipinos enter politics, that is meddling.

    On people with no strict moral compass or beliefs…

       He can criticize without being open to criticism. He can take pot shots at everybody without being shot at. He has nothing to defend, and so he can attack everything else…. Naked himself, he can afford to find fault with everybody else's clothes.

     There are more sound bites from Soc but I will see if I can post more in the following days.

Author: Various, Featured: Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo

Book Website: 20 Speeches That Moved A Nation

 
Price: Php 150.00

   Release: Available Now!

New Word of The Day: Mc Refugee

   McRefugees - Homeless people who have decided to make McDonalds their home. They find it more affordable and homier than sleeping in some cheap bar.  They have originated in Japan and are spreading throughout Asia thanks to the new 24/hr lifestyle. They bite if awaken and should be treated with McCare.

     Hmmm…  It seems that McDonald's has succeeded too much in making their fastfood a second home. I am glad that this term was finally coined because I now know how to call some of my friends.