Sanity… is for the Weak

Alice came to a fork in the road. “Which road do I take?” she asked.
“Where do you want to go?” responded the Cheshire cat.
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Working till tomorrow morning on this glorious Saturday.

F***

Audio/Visual Update, Gaming, Anime, BooksApril 26, 2009 10:46 pm

Audio / Visual Update ‘09 - III

Audio/Visual Update

Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
~~+Quincy Jones: Big Band Bossa Nova~~
~~+Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix~~
+Café Tel Aviv - Middle East Chillout

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Mama Mia! The Movie~~
~~+Journey to the Center of the Earth~~
~~+The Good, The Bad, The Weird~~
~~+A History of Violence~~
+Paprika

Animania:
+イヴの時間
 ~~+ToraDora (とらドラ)~~
~~+To Aru Majutsu no Index (とある魔術の禁書目録)~~
~~+Rideback~~
+K-On! (けいおん!)
+Eden of the East (東のエデン)
+Strike Witches (ストライクウィッチーズ) DVD

Movies to Catch - ‘09:
~~+Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (崖の上のポニョ)~~
~~+Slumdog Millionaire~~
+Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
+Full Battle Rattle
+Reclaiming the Blade
+Watchmen
+Terminator: Salvation
+Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
+2012
+Star Trek
+Up
+Angels and Demons
+Fanboys
+Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
+Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
+Fast and Furious
+G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

WTF, Hollywood? WTF?
+Astroboy
+Dragonball: The Movie

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+Zombie Strippers
+Jack Brooks - Monster Slayer

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 33
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 249
+会長はメイド様! - Volume 6
+ソード・ワールドRPG 2.0 (SW2.0)

Dead Tree
+Homework for Grown-ups: Everything you learnt at school… and promptly forgot
~~+Dragon Warriors RPG 2008~~
+The Book of War

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

Sword World 2.0
Or, ソード・ワールドRPG 2.0 (SW2.0) as it is known in the original Japanese, is one of the pioneer Japanese languange role-playing-game systems. And it happens to be just one of the things I specifically went to Tokyo earlier this year for:

This should take me a while to translate to a point where it’s actually playable, but hey, what’s another hobby?

Interestingly enough, I had quite a bit of a hard time looking for the books, because the first time I saw the book, it was printed in a large filo format, rather than the current handy three-part paperback. I had looked for the large hard-cover all over Akihabara, and was about to give up when Great Cthulhu showed the way, literally. Simply put, I was looking at the RPG section, which contained oddly enough, Japanese language editions of GURPS, D&D and the Call of Cthlhu RPGs to no avail, when suddenly stack of books collapsed and dropped the Call of Cthulhu rulebook onto a small paperback stack. And when I picked up the dropped book what did I see? Sword World 2.0. Ha!

Audio/Visual Update, Anime, BooksFebruary 17, 2009 11:04 am

Audio / Visual Update ‘09 - II

Audio/Visual Update

Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
~~+Quincy Jones: Big Band Bossa Nova~~
+Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Mama Mia! The Movie~~
~~+Journey to the Center of the Earth~~
+The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Animania:
+イヴの時間
 +ToraDora (とらドラ)
+To Aru Majutsu no Index (とある魔術の禁書目録)
+Rideback

WTF, Hollywood? WTF?
+Astroboy
+Dragonball: The Movie

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+Zombie Strippers
+Jack Brooks - Monster Slayer

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 31
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 241
+会長はメイド様! - Volume 6

Dead Tree
+Homework for Grown-ups: Everything you learnt at school… and promptly forgot
+Dragon Warriors RPG 2008

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

Slumdog Millionaire
We caught Slumdog last night, and we totally loved it. No fancy flashy CGI, no top-billing superstars, just a ripping good yarn done with tight and unusual camera angles. At it’s heart, the movie is a highly improbably story of coincidences that leads to a (mostly) fairy-tale ending that as Anthony puts it, “surprisingly low on angst”. The big tickler was that the producers threw in the tradition of the classic Bollywood movie song-and-dance routine right at the very end, when the credits rolled.

Highly recommended ~ watch it and you’ll see that the hype is really worth the content.

Audio/Visual Update, Anime, BooksJanuary 15, 2009 7:09 pm

Audio / Visual Update ‘09 - I

Audio/Visual Update

Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
+Quincy Jones: Big Band Bossa Nova

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Mama Mia! The Movie~~
~~+Journey to the Center of the Earth~~

Animania:
+イヴの時間
 +ToraDora (とらドラ)
+To Aru Majutsu no Index (とある魔術の禁書目録)

Movies to Catch - ‘09:
~~+Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (崖の上のポニョ)~~
+Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
+Full Battle Rattle
+Reclaiming the Blade
+Watchmen
+Terminator: Salvation
+Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
+2012
+Star Trek
+Up
+Angels and Demons

WTF, Hollywood? WTF?
+Astroboy
+Dragonball: The Movie

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+Zombie Strippers
+Jack Brooks - Monster Slayer

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 29
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 238
+会長はメイド様!

Dead Tree
+Homework for Grown-ups: Everything you learnt at school… and promptly forgot

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

New Year, New Beginnings.

On with the show!

I’m really enjoying my new headphones! That aside, I think we kicked off the new year with a great choice of movie, Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (崖の上のポニョ). Studio Ghibli usually delivers good work, and watching the movie made me miss our trip to the Studio Ghibli Museum.

It was funny to hear Joe Augustin on Power 98 yesterday ranting on about how the theme song got stuck in his head after watching it, and how he’s going to inflict the same on everyone else by playing the song on national radio. The theme song didn’t affect me so much as the musical score; in particular the scene when Ponyo was running atop the waves to Sosuke was reminded me very much of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.

Random Rumblings, Gaming, Technology, Swordsmanship, BooksDecember 17, 2008 10:10 pm

What’s in My Bag?

Yes, I was bored.

+Jack Spade Canvas Day Bag
+Jack Spade Boar Skin Wallet
+Sony Ericsson W850i
+Victorionox Card Case
+Quetin i lambë eldaiva: A Quenya Course
+Chinese Knock-off Swiss Card
+SAF SOG EOD Powerlock
+Ridolfo Capo Ferro’s Gran Simulacro dell’arte e dell’uso della scherma
+Steve Jackson’s GEV micro game
+Eye Drops
+Spare Pens
+Moleskine
+House and Office Keys
+Current Read: Homework for Grown-ups: Everything you learnt at school… and promptly forgot
+PSP in pouch with remote and headset

Audio/Visual Update, Random Rumblings, Humor, Anime, BooksNovember 2, 2008 8:54 am

Audio / Visual Update ‘08 - VIII

Audio/Visual Update

Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
~~+The Sex, the City, the Music: Shanghai~~
~~+Monkey Majik: 空はまるで~~
~~+Queen: Greatest Hits~~
~~+The Rolling Stones: Rolled Gold~~
~~+Metal Gear Solid 20th Anniversary~~
~~+Best of Creedence Clearwater Revival~~
+Wipeout Pure Original Soundtrack

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Heroes Season 2~~
~~+My Neighbor Totoro~~
~~+Appleseed: Ex Machina~~
~~+Band of Brothers~~
~~+The Machine Girl~~
~~+You Don’t Mess With The Zohan~~ ~~Missed this~~

Animania:
~~+Freedom~~
~~+Hayate no Gotoku~~ dropped
~~+Clannad~~
~~+Rental Magica~~ dropped
~~+Bamboo Blade~~
~~+Toshokan Sensou (図書館戦争)~~
~~+Birdy the Mighty: Decode~~
~~+Macross Frontier~~
+イヴの時間
 +乃木坂春香の秘密
 ~~+Mahō Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora (魔法遣いに大切なこと)~~
+ToraDora (とらドラ)
+To Aru Majutsu no Index (とある魔術の禁書目録)
+Nodame Cantabile (のだめカンタービレ巴里編)
+Kemeko Deluxe! (ケメコデラックス!)

Movies to Catch - ‘08:
~~+Sweeney Todd~~
~~+The Spiderwick Chronicles~~
~~+Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone~~
~~+Iron Man~~
~~+The Dark Knight~~
~~+Cloverfield~~ ~~Missed this~~
~~+Jumper~~
~~+Hancock~~ ~~missed this~~
+Get Smart missed this
~~+Charlie Wilson’s War~~
+Bangkok Dangerous
~~+Speed Racer~~
+The Love Guru missed this
~~+Wanted~~ ~~missed this~~
~~+Indiana Jones and The Temple of the Crystal Skull~~
~~+Forbidden Kingdom~~
~~+Doomsday~~
~~+27 Dresses~~
~~+Juno~~
~~+The Bucket List~~
~~+Hellboy II: The Golden Army~~
~~+Kung Fu Panda~~ ~~missed this~~ Kris World!
~~+The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor~~
~~+Wall-E~~
+Star Wars: The Clone Wars missed this
+007: Quantum of Solace
~~+Tropic Thunder~~
+The Spirit
+Death Race missed this
+Punisher: War Zone
+Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
+Full Battle Rattle

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
~~+Oneechanbara~~
+Zombie Strippers
+Jack Brooks - Monster Slayer

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 28
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 231
~~+死がふたりを分かつまで~~ ~~Chapter 15~~ dropped
~~+おばあちゃんはアイドル~~

Dead Tree
~~+Freakonomics~~
~~+Conquistador~~
~~+Why We Want You To Be Rich~~
+Party of One: The loner’s Manifesto
~~+Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition~~
~~+Traveller: Core Rulebook~~
+Homework for Grown-ups: Everything you learnt at school… and promptly forgot

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

Avenue Q
We caught Avenue Q on friday, and found it highly entertaining. Despite the initial distraction of having to watch both the muppets and their players at the same time, it sort of faded into the background as the show went on. A fun-filled, raunchy and very politically-incorrect romp, it is definitely not something you can bring young kids to, if nothing else but the… err… “You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You’re Makin’ Love)” scene.

And just like the Sesame Street that it was inspired by, I got to learn something new: Schadenfreude - Joy at the misfortune of others.

Probably explains my mean streak, and why I laugh when I see little kids fall flat on their faces when playing at escalators.

Loudly.

While pointing at them.

Audio/Visual Update, Travel, Gaming, Books, Project S.K.Y.September 6, 2008 10:07 pm

Chillin’

Listening to:
JNR Dials Deep

Current Read:
Traveller

Mood:
Hot and irritable

Audio/Visual Update, Random Rumblings, Anime, BooksAugust 21, 2008 5:08 pm

Audio / Visual Update ‘08 - VI

Audio/Visual Update

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Heroes Season 2~~
~~+My Neighbor Totoro~~
~~+Appleseed: Ex Machina~~
~~+Band of Brothers~~
~~+The Machine Girl~~

Animania:
~~+Freedom~~
~~+Hayate no Gotoku~~ dropped
~~+Clannad~~
~~+Rental Magica~~ dropped
~~+Bamboo Blade~~
~~+Toshokan Sensou (図書館戦争)~~
+Birdy the Mighty: Decode
+イヴの時間
 +乃木坂春香の秘密

Movies to Catch - ‘08:
~~+Sweeney Todd~~
~~+The Spiderwick Chronicles~~
~~+Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone~~
~~+Iron Man~~
~~+The Dark Knight~~
~~+Cloverfield~~ ~~Missed this~~
~~+Jumper~~
+Hancock missed this
+Get Smart missed this
~~+Charlie Wilson’s War~~
+Bangkok Dangerous
~~+Speed Racer~~
+The Love Guru
+Wanted missed this
~~+Indiana Jones and The Temple of the Crystal Skull~~
~~+Forbidden Kingdom~~
~~+Doomsday~~
~~+27 Dresses~~
~~+Juno~~
~~+The Bucket List~~
~~+Hellboy II: The Golden Army~~
+You Don’t Mess With The Zohan Missed this
+Kung Fu Panda missed this
~~+The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor~~
+Wall-E
+Star Wars: The Clone Wars
+007: Quantum of Solace
+Tropic Thunder
+The Spirit
+Death Race
+Punisher: War Zone
+Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
+Full Battle Rattle

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+Oneechanbara
+Zombie Strippers
+Jack Brooks - Monster Slayer

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 25
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 222
+死がふたりを分かつまで Chapter 15
~~+おばあちゃんはアイドル~~

Dead Tree
~~+Freakonomics~~
~~+Conquistador~~
~~+Why We Want You To Be Rich~~
+Party of One: The loner’s Manifesto
+Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor
I meant to post this together with the writeup on The Machine Girl, but totally forgot. Well, we caught this third installment of the Mummy franchise, and it was a let-down, after the antics of Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones. I’m not that rabid a fan-boy to piss on the movie simply because Rachel Weisz is not on the cast list this time (in fact I thought that Maria Bello filled her role rather admirably), but despite the exotic locations and exciting action sequences, it still fell flat on the plot. It just simply didn’t feel… epic.

Anyway:
One star for the hilarious pissing contest between father and son when comparing guns.
One star for the adorably cute Yetis.
Half star for the huge undead vs terracotta warriors battle scene.

Total 2.5 / 5 stars

Audio/Visual Update, Random Rumblings, Anime, BooksJuly 25, 2008 9:47 am

Audio / Visual Update ‘08 - V

Audio/Visual Update

Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
~~+The Sex, the City, the Music: Shanghai~~
~~+Monkey Majik: 空はまるで~~
~~+Queen: Greatest Hits~~
~~+The Rolling Stones: Rolled Gold~~
+Metal Gear Solid 20th Anniversary

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Heroes Season 2~~
~~+My Neighbor Totoro~~
~~+Appleseed: Ex Machina~~
+Band of Brothers

Animania:
+Freedom
~~+Hayate no Gotoku~~ dropped
~~+Clannad~~
~~+Rental Magica~~ dropped
~~+Bamboo Blade~~
~~+Toshokan Sensou (図書館戦争)~~
+Birdy the Mighty: Decode

Movies to Catch - ‘08:
~~+Sweeney Todd~~
~~+The Spiderwick Chronicles~~
~~+Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone~~
~~+Iron Man~~
~~+The Dark Knight~~
~~+Cloverfield~~ ~~Missed this~~
~~+Jumper~~
+Wall-E
+Hancock
+Get Smart missed this
~~+Charlie Wilson’s War~~
+Bangkok Dangerous
~~+Speed Racer~~
+The Love Guru
+Wanted
~~+Indiana Jones and The Temple of the Crystal Skull~~
~~+Forbidden Kingdom~~
~~+Doomsday~~
~~+27 Dresses~~
~~+Juno~~
~~+The Bucket List~~
~~+Hellboy II: The Golden Army~~
+You Don’t Mess With The Zohan Missed this
+Star Wars: The Clone Wars
+007: Quantum of Solace
+Kung Fu Panda missed this

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+The Machine Girl
+Oneechanbara
+Zombie Strippers

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 25
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 220
+死がふたりを分かつまで Chapter 15
~~+おばあちゃんはアイドル~~

Dead Tree
~~+Freakonomics~~
~~+Conquistador~~
+Why We Want You To Be Rich
+Party of One: The loner’s Manifesto
+Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

The Dark Knight
One word:

Wow.

Audio/Visual Update, Random Rumblings, Anime, BooksMay 2, 2008 8:33 am

Audio/Visual Update ‘08 - III

Audio/Visual Update

Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
~~+The Sex, the City, the Music: Shanghai~~
~~+Monkey Majik: 空はまるで~~
~~+Queen: Greatest Hits~~

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Heroes Season 2~~
~~+My Neighbor Totoro~~
~~+Appleseed: Ex Machina~~

Animania:
+Freedom
+Hayate no Gotoku
~~+Clannad~~
+Rental Magica
~~+Bamboo Blade~~
+Toshokan Sensou (図書館戦争)

Movies to Catch - ‘08:
~~+Sweeney Todd~~
~~+The Spiderwick Chronicles~~
~~+Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone~~
~~+Iron Man~~
+The Dark Knight
+Cloverfield Missed this
~~+Jumper~~
+Wall-E
+Hancock
+Get Smart
+Charlie Wilson’s War
+Bangkok Dangerous
+Speed Racer
+The Love Guru
+Wanted
+Indiana Jones and The Temple of the Crystal Skull
~~+Forbidden Kingdom~~
+Doomsday

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+The Machine Girl
+Oneechanbara
+Zombie Strippers

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 21
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 211
+死がふたりを分かつまで Chapter 13
+おばあちゃんはアイドル Vol 3

Dead Tree
~~+Freakonomics~~
~~+Conquistador~~
+Why We Want You To Be Rich

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

Iron Man
Iron Man was a total blast! From the soundtrack to the F/X to the comic scenes to the fast and furious fights, in a totally awesome romp through the Superhero genre. The only thing that jarred came at the end, after the credits rolled ~ why, oh why, did they cast Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury?!? Then again, this probably means that this vision of the Marvel Universe will probably be cast on the Ultimates couch… but why did he mention the “Avenger Initiative”? Will that mean we’ll be seeing a Thor and Captain America movie sometime soon, seeing as Hulk is coming up next?

Audio/Visual Update, Random Rumblings, Humor, BooksApril 18, 2008 3:09 pm

スミレ１６歳！！

スミレ１６歳！！ , or Sumire 16 sai!! is a rather… quirky manga to come out of Japan recently.

In a nutshell, it’s about the daily life of Sumire, a sixteen year old high school girl… except that she’s actually a life-size puppet, controlled by a guy in black clothes.

What’s even weirder is that they even made a live-action TV drama out of it.

Like, WTF man?!?

The first chapter may be read online here.

:Links:
Wikipedia Entry
Shonen Magazine
TV Drama

Audio/Visual Update, Random Rumblings, Anime, Swordsmanship, BooksApril 11, 2008 10:58 am

Audio/Visual Update ‘08 - II

Been a while since I did this

Audio/Visual Update

Audio:Slave
In the B&O:
~~+The Sex, the City, the Music: Shanghai~~
~~+Monkey Majik: 空はまるで~~
+Queen: Greatest Hits

Visual:Slave
In the DVD:
~~+Heroes Season 2~~
~~+My Neighbor Totoro~~
~~+Appleseed: Ex Machina~~

In the PSP:
+Freedom
+Hayate no Gotoku
~~+Clannad~~
+Rental Magica
~~+Bamboo Blade~~

Movies to Catch - ‘08:
~~+Sweeney Todd~~
~~+The Spiderwick Chronicles~~
~~+Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone~~
+Iron Man
+The Dark Knight
+Cloverfield
+Jumper
+Wall-E
+Hancock
+Get Smart
+Charlie Wilson’s War
+Bangkok Dangerous
+Speed Racer
+The Love Guru
+Wanted
+Indiana Jones and The Temple of the Crystal Skull
+Forbidden Kingdom
+Doomsday

Movies soooo bad, it’s gotta be gooood
+The Machine Girl
+Oneechanbara
+Zombie Strippers

Current Reads
RAWs
+謎の彼女Ｘ - Chapter 21
+魔法先生ネギま! - Chapter 210
+死がふたりを分かつまで Chapter 12

Dead Tree
~~+Freakonomics~~
+Why We Want You To Be Rich

Online
+Questionable Content
+Real Life
+The Order of the Stick
+Turn Signals on a Land Raider

Other Stuff

Finally went back to training after a 1-month hiatus due to increased workload, and it seems like my conditioning has slipped by quite a bit. This is worrying, as we’re due to head up north to Helsinki in June for training at the mother school ~ looks like additional training is in order. That aside, due to the change in syllabus, and me missing most of the classes last month, I had to skip the current evaluations ~ I don’t really mind, as I think I’m now at a comfortable position of the learning curve, trying to get the basics down perfect before moving on to the advanced stuff. That said, kudos to the rest of the students who worked very hard and were promoted, you guys deserved it!

Random Rumblings, BooksMarch 29, 2008 8:53 pm

Woohoo!

*Ding!*

I….. I can actually read stuff like this and actually understand what’s going on!

How’s that for self-taught language lessons?!?

Audio/Visual Update, Random Rumblings, BooksMarch 11, 2008 10:11 pm

Current Read

Currently Reading:
Freakonomics

Listening to:
Monkey Majik: 空はまるで

Mood:
Laid Back

Random Rumblings, BooksFebruary 21, 2008 1:58 pm

Dead Tree p0rn

Oh my.

I’ll confess: I’m a wannabe Bibliomancer. I’ve always wanted a library in the home, but space always seems to be an issue. But this creative idea of combining the staircase and bookshelf seems is simply genius.

I *want*!

:Links:
+Apartment Therapy
+Gizmodo
+Biong Biong

BooksFebruary 5, 2008 9:53 am

Current Read

Have been trying to get my grubby lil’ hands on a copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys ever since I saw a copy over at Anthony’s.

I think the preface from the book pretty much says all about why this book is a must-have:

I Didn’t Have This Book When I Was a Boy

In this age of video games and cell phones, there must still be a place for knots, tree houses, and stories of incredible courage. The one thing that we always say about childhood is that we seemed to have more time back then. This book will help you recapture those Sunday afternoons and long summers—because they’re still long if you know how to look at them.

Boyhood is all about curiosity, and men and boys can enjoy stories of Scott of the Antarctic and Joe Simpson in Touching the Void as much as they can raid a shed for the bits to make an electromagnet, or grow a crystal, build a go-cart, and learn how to find north in the dark. You’ll find famous battles in these pages, insects and dinosaurs—as well as essential Shakespeare quotes, how to cut flint heads for a bow and arrow, and instructions on making the best paper airplane in the world.

How do latitude and longitude work? How do you make secret ink, or send the cipher that Julius Caesar used with his generals? You’ll find the answers inside. It was written by two men who would have given away the cat to get this book when they were young. It wasn’t a particularly nice cat. Why did we write it now? Because these things are important still and we wished we knew them better. There are few things as satisfying as tying a decent bowline knot when someone needs a loop, or simply knowing what happened at Gettysburg and the Alamo. The tales must be told and retold, or the memories slowly die.

The stories of courage can be read as simple adventures—or perhaps as inspiration, examples of extraordinary acts by ordinary people. Since we wrote them, it’s been a great deal harder to hop about and curse when one of us stubs a toe. If you read Douglas Bader’s chapter, you’ll see why. They’re not just cracking stories, they’re part of a culture, a part we really don’t want to see vanish.

Is it old-fashioned? Well, that depends. Men and boys today are the same as they always were, and interested in the same things. They may conquer different worlds when they grow up, but they’ll still want these stories for themselves and for their sons. We hope in years to come that this will be a book to dig out of the attic and give to a couple of kids staring at a pile of wood and wondering what to do with it.

When you’re a man, you realize that everything changes, but when you’re a boy, you know different. The camp you make today will be there forever. You want to learn coin tricks and how to play poker because you never know when the skills will come in handy. You want to be self-sufficient and find your way by the stars. Perhaps for those who come after us, you want to reach them. Well, why not? Why not?

- Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden

Perhaps, I’m getting nostalgic for my childhood now that I’m officially middle-aged, or maybe I’m secretly wishing for a child so that I can share these things and see the wonder and enjoyment reflected in his eyes, I’ll never know ~ but I do know that I enjoy reading these things, so there.

But in the meantime, I managed to find something similar from an earlier time: Athletic Sports and Recreations for Boys, circa 1861 by one Rev. J. G. Wood.

Containing everything from Sailing, to Horse riding, to fencing with smallswords and broadswords, to archery and many others, it is certainly a fascinating read, now preserved online by Google Books.

Random Rumblings, BooksJanuary 8, 2008 11:21 am

Current Read

Il Principe (The Prince), by Niccolò Machiavelli.

Yes, I am well on my way to Evil Overlordship:

“… men ought either be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, but of more serious ones they cannot; therefor the injury that is to be done to a man ought be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”
- Machiavelli (1469 - 1527)

There is a *special* place in hell reserved for me, I’ll bet.