195 replies to this topic

[blueline]

Because I'm a dirty Irishman I have to use an electric razor. My skin is too sensitive

[warmerdm22]

AustinSJ, on 14 October 2011 - 09:50 PM, said:

Art? I use a blade, a brush, and soap. I use a DE razor because it gives a close shave with no irritation and because it's cheap. A pack of blades is about $2. How much is pack of mach 3s? $40? It's just a better way.

This.  I switched a couple years ago from the Mach 5 or whatever the latest thing was.  Up front cost was about 75 bucks for shave brush, DE razor and shave soap.  In the last two years I've spent maybe $10 on additional razors, and $10 on more shave soap, and that's it.  You get a better shave, after a week or so of getting used to it.  It's cheaper.  And it hurts less.   No brainer.

[markot]

THIS BOOK DISCUSSION IS AMAZING!

What kind of de razors? Those old timey barber shop ones or those big gilletey style ones >.>?

[warmerdm22]

markot, on 17 October 2011 - 10:37 PM, said:

THIS BOOK DISCUSSION IS AMAZING!

What kind of de razors? Those old timey barber shop ones or those big gilletey style ones >.>?

[AustinSJ]

Yeah, my initial investment was about $75. You'll make that up in savings many times over. I use a Merkur HD 34C razor, I think it sells for about $45. It has a short handle which I prefer but Merkur also makes the longer ones.

It took me about a week to get comfortable shaving with it because you have to unlearn some bad habits the multi-blade razors let you get away with but I'm pretty quick with it now. Definitely worth a try.

[AustinSJ]

I'm reading this now:

[markot]

Id rather read the worst book ever.  THE TORAH! Burn.

[Lopez]

I'm reading To Die in Mexico right now. It's about the drug war and how it has basically ruined Mexico. It's really good.

[BIGBISCUIT]

That looks good G lopes

[Lopez]

Finished. I recommend To Die in Mexico and The Cult of Pharmacology. Two great books about the drug war and America's relationship with drugs.

[Reptoid]

I just finished the latest issue of Love and Rockets New Stories. For those unfamiliar, Love and Rockets is an independent comic book series by the Hernandez brothers Gilbert and Jaime which started in the 80s.

It's probably one of the greatest singular achievements in comics in the last thirty years. Staggering in its depth of character and its intelligence.

A lot is made of The Walking Dead being the best currently ongoing creator-owned series, but when the Hernandez Brothers decided to bring back their comic series, it's really no contest IMHO.

This latest issue particularly, which would ostensibly conclude Jaime's character's 20 plus year storyarc, is a tour de force and probably his best story.

[CayceG]

I'm about to start "The Yom Kippur War" by Abraham Rabinovich.

And for Christmas I'm getting Kissinger's "Diplomacy" and John Lewis Gaddis' "The Cold War: A New History."
After that, I very well may get his biography of George F. Kennan.

I'm excited to read Diplomacy and Kennan's biography.

[kaberle]

I just finished The Rule of Empires. Interesting read and the comparisons drawn between the various empires and the tools they used to maintain them was fasicnating. The condlusion was an argument why the modern empire has had to warp into what the US displays as the modern world will not stand hard-power empires. Bonus points for including the Emerald City and showing Bremer and the CPAs incompetence.

[brucoe]

I know Haruki Murakami has been mentioned a few times, but I do want to throw in a plug for what I think is probably a book a lot of people will miss of his, but definitely should not. It's called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and it's basically his memoirs of when he started running (which coincided with the beginning of his writing career, and became a big part of why he believes he writes the way he does). If you've ever thought about writing before, or are writing, or just happen to wonder about the very nature of creativity, the book is freaking amazing. And so easy to get through as well.

I had read all of his fiction, but my good friend finished her dissertation for her Ph.d the other day and flew in from Germany to defend it, but even though she was about to add "Dr." to her name, the only thing she really wanted to talk to me about was that book. So I picked it up and read it. So glad I did.

[SFLUFAN]

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945

[blueline]

SFLUFAN, on 14 December 2011 - 05:33 PM, said:

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945

Is it worth anything to someone who's read at least a bit about WWII before

[-Chris]

I started 'Maggie Cassidy' by Jack Kerouac today.

[BIGBISCUIT]

-Chris, on 18 December 2011 - 11:08 PM, said:

I started 'Maggie Cassidy' by Jack Kerouac today.

I tried to read On the Road when I was in high school. I think I was too young. I didn't care for it much. Maybe you had to be there.

[kaberle]

Finished David Crockett the Lion of the West now working on The Ghosts of Cannae.

[thychi]

SFLUFAN, on 14 December 2011 - 05:33 PM, said:

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945

Bought! Thanks, this was exactly the kind of thing I was looking to read before school begins raping my life again

[SFLUFAN]

blueline, on 18 December 2011 - 09:39 PM, said:

Is it worth anything to someone who's read at least a bit about WWII before

Absolutely.  It's the best single-volume work on WWII ever produced.

[RileyLewis]

I'm going to go buy that WWII book.

[SFLUFAN]

kaberle, on 25 December 2011 - 01:00 AM, said:

Finished David Crockett the Lion of the West now working on The Ghosts of Cannae.

The Ghosts of Cannae was one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I've had in years!

[Kal-El814]

I'm so poorly read when it comes to classic literature and philosophy that it's humiliating.  If anyone has any suggestions there, I'd love it.  I'm reading the Essential Dialogues of Plato right now because I needed to do something about it and it was $4 on my nook.

SFLUFAN, on 03 January 2012 - 07:37 PM, said:

Absolutely.  It's the best single-volume work on WWII ever produced.

Any thoughts on The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich?  A buddy of mine is a big WWII buff and he keeps hounding me to read it.

[-Chris]

Kal-El814, on 24 January 2012 - 11:19 AM, said:

I'm so poorly read when it comes to classic literature and philosophy that it's humiliating.  If anyone has any suggestions there, I'd love it.  I'm reading the Essential Dialogues of Plato right now because I needed to do something about it and it was $4 on my nook.

With pleasure!

The Republic (Plato)
On Liberty (Mill)
Utilitarianism (Mill)
Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle)
Meditations on First Philosophy (Descartes)
Philosophical Investigations (Wittgenstein)
Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals (Kant)
Leviathan (Hobbes)


Enjoy!

[Kal-El814]

Heart.  Thank you.

[-Chris]

Kal-El814, on 24 January 2012 - 11:41 AM, said:

Heart.  Thank you.

The best part is that everything I listed (besides Wittgenstein) is in the public domain (and readily translated)!

[BIGBISCUIT]

Kal-El814, on 24 January 2012 - 11:41 AM, said:

Heart.  Thank you.

You do not need to read all that bullshit. This will suffice I assure you.

http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/0385425333

[-Chris]

BIGBISCUIT, on 24 January 2012 - 11:45 AM, said:

You do not need to read all that bullshit. This will suffice I assure you.

http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/0385425333

Some people like to actually read/understand works, not be filled with cocktail party trivia and a vapid understanding for the sake of merely appearing knowledgable.

[Kal-El814]

-Chris, on 24 January 2012 - 11:52 AM, said:

Some people like to actually read/understand works, not be filled with cocktail party trivia and a vapid understanding for the sake of merely appearing knowledgable.

I aspire to both.  

[BIGBISCUIT]

-Chris, on 24 January 2012 - 11:52 AM, said:

Some people like to actually read/understand works, not be filled with cocktail party trivia and a vapid understanding for the sake of merely appearing knowledgable.

Silence young fool. Kal is a working adult. I am trying to save him some time with the best introduction to western philosophy. Do not take an elitist tone with me. If he wants to then read the primary sources, he can then do so but I doubt he will bother.

[SFLUFAN]

Kal-El814, on 24 January 2012 - 11:19 AM, said:

Any thoughts on The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich?  A buddy of mine is a big WWII buff and he keeps hounding me to read it.

There's a very good reason why it's considered the seminal work on tracing the rise of the Nazis.  Read it now.

[kaberle]

Currently working on God is Not One. Considering I'm in two theory classes for my major this quarter reading for fun has become a bit of a challenge, so I should be working on it for awhile.

[GoldenTongue]

Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Utterly fascinating. Not sure how much of what the book discusses may be common knowledge among psychologists, behavioralists, and the like, but the discussion of how the mind processes information, and the empirical evidence offered in support, is incredible.

(null)

[Tao]

brucoe, on 13 December 2011 - 08:58 AM, said:

I know Haruki Murakami has been mentioned a few times, but I do want to throw in a plug for what I think is probably a book a lot of people will miss of his, but definitely should not. It's called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and it's basically his memoirs of when he started running (which coincided with the beginning of his writing career, and became a big part of why he believes he writes the way he does). If you've ever thought about writing before, or are writing, or just happen to wonder about the very nature of creativity, the book is freaking amazing. And so easy to get through as well. I had read all of his fiction, but my good friend finished her dissertation for her Ph.d the other day and flew in from Germany to defend it, but even though she was about to add "Dr." to her name, the only thing she really wanted to talk to me about was that book. So I picked it up and read it. So glad I did.

Yeah, I want to check that one out. Currently working my way through 1Q84, albeit at a snail's pace with my work schedule. Hoping to finish it by, like, the end of the year.