What are you reading currently?

[BTs_FahQ2]

Three Kingdoms

I first came across the historical/ forklorical/ fictional story on some old nintendo games that went by the title "Romance of the 3 kingdoms" by Koei. Then after working with chinese for the last 7 years and coming to the realization that it was based on more fact then fiction I became intrigued and ordered the 4 book set.

Basically the books follow the war to unite China across it's three huge waring families after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It entails the stories of thousands of generals and characters who are all historically based and had pivitol roles in the long ordeal. The folklore parts include abnormal powers and things like that come along with historical legends.

I would compare this so far to Greek works like the Iliad and the Odyssey. Not a read for who doesn't like epics or the sometimes confusion of translated texts.

I also recently finished:
Why Do Men Have Nipples
A quick tongue and cheeck book i finished during the long horrid hours of jury duty. It's basically a good read that scientifically answers many of the common questions and myths to somewhat medical questions like: why do farts ignite, why do women grow beards, How do people in wheelchairs engage in sexual intercourse and Do microwaves cause cancer?"
Packed with a lot of funny ass questions and answers that would make you pretty good at a dinner party or something...

[Mr. Pink]

Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner

Just about finished with this one. Cadillac Desert relates to the reader the relatively short history of the western United States, and the key role that water development has played in turning a place unsuited for human settlement into an ever-growing oasis of cities and malled-out suburbs. Water development includes things like irrigation farming, aquifer maintenance, aqueducts--but most of all, dams.

The first half of the book is organized in more-or-less chronological order, from the times of exploration and Manifest Destiny in the 1840s (when frontiersmen realized irrigation was the only chance at making the land reasonably fertile), into the New Deal periods of the 1930s (when the first major projects were built), and up through the 1960s (when things started falling apart). At this point, the book becomes less history textbook and more investigative journalism as it delves into some almost unconscionable scandals that have taken place since the 1960s. As the few good damsites become occupied, lies, political manipulation, misreporting of feasability and cost, risk of dam failure and misappropriation of taxpayer money become necessary (and commonplace) to continue to justify many of the frivolous projects that the Bureau of Reclamation nevertheless continues to push with a very real religious conviction (most employees in the Bureau are Mormons, who feel it is their divine duty to build water projects). Interspaced among all of these events are biographies of some very interesting characters, as well as one very interesting chapter about water development in Los Angeles.

The book becomes slow at times, but is captivating at others. Although there, Mr. Resiner succesfully keeps any prophecies of widespread water shortage and doom for the masses to a minimum. Overall, Cadillac Desert a very interesting exposé of the history of water development in the west, and perhaps what it to come. Highly suggested read for anyone living in the West.

Next up on my list is Gravity's Rainbow by Tom Pynchon.

...and Dianetics, by L. Ron Hubbard. 

[juggler]

The Art of War by Sun Tzu - great book had some excellent storries and metaphors that relate not only to war but also to everyday life.   Having written these 13 chapters in 5th century B.C. im fascinated at how it survived to this day.  Just as a warning for you, i was recently at a boarders and another version of the art of war caught my eye.  If you want to get the full effect of the book dont buy the versions with selected quotes, by the whole thing.  I suggest James Clavells edition which is just an add on of Lionel Giles first translation.

[BTs_FahQ2]

Yeah, great book juggler. Now go out and watch an 80's movie called Wallstreet. They reference the book a lot on how to be a stock trader and a cut throat business person with Sun Tzu's tactics. That movie actually popularized the book a lot which I figure has lasted to this day. Outside of military academies, nobody has to really read it.

If you also read the "Three Kingdoms" book I posted a few posts before, he is also a significant player within the book as a master student/strategist/leader.

[BTs_FahQ2]

Oh not sure if anyone mentioned this book:

Fast Food Nation

Damn good book with great insight to the fast food industry. If you like fast food, reader beware, you may not shove another burger into your face again.

[Ein]

Oh not sure if anyone mentioned this book:

Fast Food Nation

Damn good book with great insight to the fast food industry. If you like fast food, reader beware, you may not shove another burger into your face again.

Yes damn good book but it had me going vegan for about a month after reading it. The man who lost his arm... terrible story but good book.

[KoS PY.nq.ict]

One Hand Clapping by Anthony Burgess

and

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

[Mr. Lothario]

     I finished Time Storm, now I'm on to "The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction", an anthology of thirteen science fiction stories in the mystery genre, corresponding to the thirteen types of mystery stories: hard-boiled detective, psychic detective, spy story, analytical detective, whodunit, why-done-it, how-done-it, inverted, locked room, cipher, police procedural, trial, and punishment. I bought it a while back and my eyes fell on it recently, so it's its turn.

[(SiX)Sheixhundt]

Myths of Light- Joseph Campbell

Comparison/Contrast of eastern Mythology against Occidental mythology (western).
The fundamental difference being, that The Eastern metaphors for The Eternal internalize god, and internalize salvation, and internalize creation. God is All, we are part of the All, therefore we are god. (little g). salvation comes from mastery of the self, and sublimations of all desire and fear. The world came forth from these tendencies of the soul, and migration to the light must include the overcoming of these tendencies which brought forth the material world. God was (unconscious) then started becoming conscious (a fractal with a simple starting equation of +1 or perpetual forward movement..under this premise...in time everyting, literally all possiblilities will eventually be realized )...Once conscious, he became afraid...afraid of its (our) own lonliness, and from this a desire to recognize something other than self and be recognized..therefore the self split to make a companion..ie Light/Dark..and in that both sides came from the ONE, they are both part of the ONE. Good/Evil, light/dark, all dichotomies are ultimately self contained (yin yang & the circle that contains them both). The ONE splits into the many to recognize itself (out of fear of being alone for eternity-see old testament yahweh creating, and declaring himself master of all, creating man to worship him), and this is a DESIRE..That desire then multiplies into creating all of everything...which includes us.

Then in our infancy, the world and all phenomena appear to be separate, which leads to more desire and fear, and we create Gods and Demons to account for examples of Good/evil, light/dark experiences, and explain the world of phenominality and in this we create an Creator/Created dichotomy; we begin to feel separate from our creator, as opposed to a physcal COMPONENT of that GOD, which creates fear of separation and desire for return to unity...but as we examine the universe, and religion, and science, we begin to realize that that there IS an underlying UNity...But we are conditioned to have gods and demons. Eastern thought teaches us to recognize these all as projections of the lonely FIRST self, and we begin to sublimate the fears of these projections, to realize them as just that...projections of the self.The Tibetan Book of the dead, urges man to face the demons and love them for thir terrible ferocious appearance...at that, they will submit, and let you pass...you hace recognized the reflection in the miror so to speak. Then We begin to recognize the unity of our matter, and existence, projections, fears, desires, ..everyting...it all begins to recoalesce into a personal "Unity Theory". Upon sublimation of the emotions that create the feeling of Dichotomy, between you/me, light dark, good evil...fear and desire begin to leave...and the world of phenomenon is now seen as the world of our created/creating self..therefore everything we see, is US.

Since we are god, we are eternal and immortal (the witness, or spirit, not the body) hence no longer fear death. Since we no longer fear death and recognize our immortality, we realizse that we contain EVERYTHING in the universe and have no want of anything, since nothing is external now...we are freed from desire...

It is my sincerest belief, that now as i re-read the bible..This is the true intent of the red text. (Jesus spoken words) When read that way, the bible become almost buddhist in nature..

I have horrified friends and family alike, by declaring a formal rejection all of the bible NOT written as quotations of Jesus. (the rest, like understanding the old testament, or the validity of alternate intuitive religions, explanations of God stories, miracles, the multitude of taught paths to God, i ask for forgiveness for my non understanding, and ask that someday I can tell fact from fiction, fact from myth...as it stands now, i have neither the tools nor the wisdom to decide what is true in those anceint words..so i say...forgive me for not understanding, and since i dont want to be mislead...Ill suspend the need to examine what i cant grasp) But i ask to keep faith in the principle of +1 and that in time, regardless of my wayward wandering, as long as i do not REJECT (ie i commit to receiving +1)... i will return Home.

 If you read just that red text, an amazingly different book will emerge. One more eastern than western by a far shot. No separation from God, no original sin keeping us from heaven, no punishment (that is unless you reject the search for god)..only forgiveness, grace, and a warm welcome into the Kingdom (ie internal PEACE), and a promise of that same immortality promised by the far east..We are GOD.

Jesus said it..and was crucified for it..Has to be a valid message in that, even if the rest is a mythology.

THAT alone was the message, and our ONLY task..was to help lesssen the suffering of others, so that everyone would find some comfort on their way to the realization, that its all ok,we live forever, this happens forever, and there is no way to do it wrong....  A river cannot one day simply reject the direction of its flow..it just flows.

...No judgement of others, no incitement to hate or murder or control, no dogma..just a request from the eternal 'whatever'..to give me a little faith, that there is more to it all, that the dirt and the blood, and the screaming is really more a GAME, than an ENDGAME...hence freedom..freedom to live forever thru the frequency field of time, and once you realise that, you are no longer led away from evil as a fear prospect, but a practical one.

I think.