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snoangel
Jul 17, 2009, 3:22 PM
Post #101 of 137
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wonderwoman wrote: jt512 wrote: Have you seen the film Food, Inc.? Jay It's definitely on my to do list to see it. I did see King Corn: http://www.kingcorn.net/ I saw that documentary after reading Fast Food Nation, Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. I guess I have an appetite for reading about food! I love all those "food" books too.
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wonderwoman
Jul 17, 2009, 3:27 PM
Post #102 of 137
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snoangel wrote: wonderwoman wrote: jt512 wrote: Have you seen the film Food, Inc.? Jay It's definitely on my to do list to see it. I did see King Corn: http://www.kingcorn.net/ I saw that documentary after reading Fast Food Nation, Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. I guess I have an appetite for reading about food! I love all those "food" books too. Oooohh! Then let me know if there are any more that you can recommend! I'm starting school in the Fall and soon my reading list will likely be decided for me.
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bill413
Jul 17, 2009, 4:59 PM
Post #103 of 137
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hafilax wrote: A friend was trying to work with his minimal French and said to someone: 'Je suis etudiant, suce mois' (I am a student, suck me) he meant 'Je suis etudiant depuis six mois.' Are you sure he didn't mean the first one?
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granite_grrl
Jul 17, 2009, 5:10 PM
Post #104 of 137
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clausti wrote: hafilax wrote: granite_grrl wrote: hafilax wrote: Right now I'm working on my French. I need to be bilingual in 3 weeks for when I meet my GF's francophone friends and family. They're still going to laugh at you. It's just what they do. And when they've decided that their bad English is better than your bad French they'll take pity and talk to you in English anyway. The extent of their English is "Aye, ow har you?" so I'm on my own with this one. It's the slang and idioms I'm going to have the hardest time with. I've been listening to lots of music from Quebec. Malajube, Les Cowboys Fringants, Les Colocs, Jean Leloup, Les Trios Accords, Damien Robitaille... but I guess that's another thread. repete, si vous plait? dunno if that's all spelled right, but it means, can you repeat that please? 's a good one. "pouvez-vous parler plus lentement?" is also very handy.
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camhead
Jul 18, 2009, 12:11 AM
Post #105 of 137
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Back to books all you frog-lovers! I just started Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." Has anyone read it yet? I'm pretty psyched.
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bill413
Jul 18, 2009, 12:13 AM
Post #106 of 137
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camhead wrote: Back to books all you frog-lovers! I just started Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." Has anyone read it yet? I'm pretty psyched. You're a climber - and you are psyched about the world being flat?!?!?!?
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camhead
Jul 18, 2009, 12:27 AM
Post #107 of 137
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bill413 wrote: camhead wrote: Back to books all you frog-lovers! I just started Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." Has anyone read it yet? I'm pretty psyched. You're a climber - and you are psyched about the world being flat?!?!?!? better than my wife being flat. ZING! BAM! BOO YA!
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bill413
Jul 18, 2009, 1:23 AM
Post #108 of 137
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camhead wrote: bill413 wrote: camhead wrote: Back to books all you frog-lovers! I just started Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." Has anyone read it yet? I'm pretty psyched. You're a climber - and you are psyched about the world being flat?!?!?!? better than my wife being flat. ZING! BAM! BOO YA! Score.
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imnotclever
Jul 20, 2009, 8:24 PM
Post #109 of 137
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wonderwoman wrote: imnotclever wrote: on dingus's recommendation I picked up A soldier of the great war from the library. I absolutely loved that book! I will have to hang dog this one. I've made it a couple hundred pages or so and have to return it. I don't see that I'll have enough time to finish in the next few weeks. But a book that has sparked my interest, that I had forgotten about: The Satanic Versus. I figure I'll have to try that next.
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uhoh
Jul 20, 2009, 9:12 PM
Post #110 of 137
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zeke_sf wrote: uhoh wrote: Going After Cacciato - Tim O'Brien I know it's an old thread, but it's a good thread too. I really like The Things they Carried much better, but O'Brien ain't bad at all. In rereading Going After Cacciato, I think I also enjoyed The Things They Carried a bit more. I like GAC because I feel as though it reminds me of my life and the world around me, even if I can't think of any parallels off the top of my head. The Things They Carried, however, featured the story that eventually interested me in O'Brien's writing - How to Tell a True War Story.
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atg200
Jul 20, 2009, 9:20 PM
Post #111 of 137
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camhead wrote: Back to books all you frog-lovers! I just started Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." Has anyone read it yet? I'm pretty psyched. I read it, but wasn't very impressed. I've got really jaded about outsourcing after getting stuck with some really shitty code from offshore developers.
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camhead
Jul 20, 2009, 9:22 PM
Post #112 of 137
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atg200 wrote: camhead wrote: Back to books all you frog-lovers! I just started Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." Has anyone read it yet? I'm pretty psyched. I read it, but wasn't very impressed. I've got really jaded about outsourcing after getting stuck with some really shitty code from offshore developers. Yeah, I'm about 200 pages in right now, and it is pretty one-sided so far. A lot of "isn't this great?" I read "Freakanomics" really quickly yesterday; it is just fun.
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snoangel
Jul 21, 2009, 3:46 PM
Post #113 of 137
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wonderwoman wrote: snoangel wrote: wonderwoman wrote: jt512 wrote: Have you seen the film Food, Inc.? Jay It's definitely on my to do list to see it. I did see King Corn: http://www.kingcorn.net/ I saw that documentary after reading Fast Food Nation, Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. I guess I have an appetite for reading about food! I love all those "food" books too. Oooohh! Then let me know if there are any more that you can recommend! I'm starting school in the Fall and soon my reading list will likely be decided for me. I have heard that "The End of Food" by Paul Roberts and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver are good. If you read them, let me know what you think.
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wonderwoman
Jul 21, 2009, 4:12 PM
Post #114 of 137
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snoangel wrote: wonderwoman wrote: snoangel wrote: wonderwoman wrote: jt512 wrote: Have you seen the film Food, Inc.? Jay It's definitely on my to do list to see it. I did see King Corn: http://www.kingcorn.net/ I saw that documentary after reading Fast Food Nation, Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. I guess I have an appetite for reading about food! I love all those "food" books too. Oooohh! Then let me know if there are any more that you can recommend! I'm starting school in the Fall and soon my reading list will likely be decided for me. I have heard that "The End of Food" by Paul Roberts and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver are good. If you read them, let me know what you think. I did read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I like Kingsolver's writing and thought her book was practical. She had recipes and suggested menu's according to season. I'll have to check out that other book. Another book that I saw recently was 'Food Matters' by Mark Bittman. He's the one who wrote the 'How to Cook Everything' books. I saw him interviewed on the Colbert Report and have to check this out! http://www.markbittman.com/books/food-matters Also, I want to read Skinny Bitch: http://www.skinnybitch.net/index.php Although the title doesn't indicate it, I have heard that it goes into detail about the impact of factory farming, food processing, and has practical food tips. And wouldn't it be to be seen walking around with my nose in a 'Skinny Bitch' book?
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hafilax
Jul 21, 2009, 6:20 PM
Post #115 of 137
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I enjoyed An apple a day by Joe Schwartz. It's basically a summary of the current consensus in food science.
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thomasribiere
Jul 21, 2009, 6:23 PM
Post #116 of 137
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Just finished Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman, in American. Interesting suspense. Re-reading Amerika, by Franz Kafka, in French. A bit "heavy' to read, but it's like a modern version of the Candide from Voltaire : the story of a German migrant teenager in the USA, who is a victim of mean persons.
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slablizard
Jul 21, 2009, 6:39 PM
Post #117 of 137
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"confessions of an economic hit man" J. Perkins. "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars," Perkins writes. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carré, except it's a true story. Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led. --Alex Roslin
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jt512
Jul 21, 2009, 8:09 PM
Post #118 of 137
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Posts: 21904
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slablizard wrote: "confessions of an economic hit man" J. Perkins. "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars," Perkins writes. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carré, except it's a true story. Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led. --Alex Roslin
Oddly enough, I'm currently reading a John Le Carré book about an economic hit man. Jay
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Toast_in_the_Machine
Jul 22, 2009, 3:26 AM
Post #119 of 137
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wonderwoman wrote: snoangel wrote: wonderwoman wrote: jt512 wrote: Have you seen the film Food, Inc.? Jay It's definitely on my to do list to see it. I did see King Corn: http://www.kingcorn.net/ I saw that documentary after reading Fast Food Nation, Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. I guess I have an appetite for reading about food! I love all those "food" books too. Oooohh! Then let me know if there are any more that you can recommend! I'm starting school in the Fall and soon my reading list will likely be decided for me. May I recommend "Near a Thousand Tables"
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mnottingham
Jul 22, 2009, 6:01 PM
Post #120 of 137
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I'm very picky about my fiction, but two great post-apocalypse themed books : World War Z, and The Road. Highly recommend the non fiction book Salt. The history of salt is fascinating (seriously). We take salt for granted and try to eliminate it from our diets, but in the past salt was expensive and difficult to acquire. The quest for salt shaped history in dramatic ways. For example, with sufficient supply of salt, one may preserve fish or meats. With preserved fish and meat, one may feed an army. With a well-fed army, one may conquer and colonize other nations. The same author wrote another book called Cod, in which the quest for cod fishing gounds changed the history of Europe and North America.
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kevin_c
Jul 23, 2009, 4:43 AM
Post #121 of 137
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Registered: Jul 23, 2009
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I just got my hands on The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, and I can't wait to start on it. Many of you guys will know Guillermo as being the director to the Hellboy movies and Pan's Labyrinth. His imagination for the movies is elaborate, and I just wonder would it translate into a book about vampires.
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snoangel
Jul 23, 2009, 7:15 PM
Post #122 of 137
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kevin_c wrote: I just got my hands on The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, and I can't wait to start on it. Many of you guys will know Guillermo as being the director to the Hellboy movies and Pan's Labyrinth. His imagination for the movies is elaborate, and I just wonder would it translate into a book about vampires. I've heard good things about it. Let us know.
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abe_ascends
Jul 23, 2009, 9:52 PM
Post #123 of 137
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Posts: 367
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I am currently reading "Boomsday" by Christopher Buckley, whom some of you may know from the book/movie, "Thank You For Smoking." This book skewers politics and the media while discussing what may be the next political and economic "brouhaha"-- the social security crisis (not enough workers to support the aging boomer population)-- in a quirky and off-beat style. It is an engaging read, sharp, and extremely funny.
(This post was edited by abe_ascends on Jul 23, 2009, 9:53 PM)
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karmiclimber
Jul 24, 2009, 12:26 AM
Post #124 of 137
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I just finished White Fang by Jack London and 1894 by George Orwell. Now I'm working on Fountainhead by Ayn Rand...so far its fantastic.
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bill413
Jul 24, 2009, 12:41 AM
Post #125 of 137
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karmiclimber wrote: I just finished White Fang by Jack London and 1894 by George Orwell. Now I'm working on Fountainhead by Ayn Rand...so far its fantastic. You ought to look for the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 commercial on the web....it plays off the book.
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