Three Worlds Gone Mad: The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven gets back to what RYP does best: storytelling. The book documents Robert Young Pelton’s journeys to three different war-zones (Sierra Leone, Chechnya, and Bougainville) and his attempts to understand the place and its people. Like in DP, Pelton manages to explain the places better than any history text. Where else are you able to see from the eyes of pirate hunting mercs, American ex-CIA jihadists, and hermit rebel leaders? Unconstrained from the limits of a journalism, Pelton shows us firsthand a world outside of our own – a glimpse into war-torn regions of the world – and the ordinary people who inhabit them.
I highly recommend this book to and fans of RYP and, for those who have never read his works, this is a good place to start.
Around 11PM tonight I heard a bunch of yelling and screaming out my window. At first I thought nothing of it – there’s always a bunch of drunk kids around here at night having a good time – but it was persistent, so eventually I peeked through my blinds. Across the street, there were perhaps 10 people kicking and stopping on one guy curled up on the ground. I grabbed my camera and started shooting video of it. In about 30 seconds, a car pulled up, two people got out and scared the small gang away. After the video stops I called 911, but they had already had it reported. The cops and medics arrived about a minute later and I went over and showed them what I captured. They were all rather adamant about confiscating my camera for evidence, but I suggested they find someone else with video of the event and confiscate his camera. One of them took it over to where another cop had detained one guy, but that turned out to be uneventful, as they let him go. After about half an hour of standing around, a cop suggested I go with one of them down to the station where they could download the video (they weren’t up to me just emailing it to them). So, I hopped into the car of Officer Brian Chissus (badge #220) and off we went to the evidence room of the police station. I had to walk him through how to download the video (funny how I know the police’s own computer system better than the police themselves). Then he gave me a ride back to my apartment (they don’t make the back seats of those cars very comfortable).
It was interesting to see the inside of the station. It was also the first time I was able to get a close up look at the laptops they all have in their cars. Everything ran Windows XP.
Anyway, I’m going to bed now. I’ll upload the video I shot tommorrow.
Edit: Video here: http://files.pig-monkey.com/video/rr-fight.avi
Update:
Reported: Oct 10 2006 10:54PM
Offense: ASSAULT-FELONY
Case #: 06B43705
(V1) and (V2) assaulted by a group at the above location.
Arrested: QUINTON, KEITH EDWARD Age: 0 (DOB: Jun 23 1982 )
Arrested: PINNER, MICHELLE NICOLE Age: 0 (DOB: Oct 1 1988 )
Reported: Oct 10 2006 10:55PM
Offense: WARRANT - LOCAL
Case #: 06B43713
(A1) had three warrants for his arrest.
Arrested: QUINTON, KEITH EDWARD Age: 24 (DOB: Jun 23 1982 )
Tonight I went to a $2 showing of A Scanner Darkly, a very good film. Though there are some significant changes, I don’t think fans of the novel will be disappointed. The general feel of the book is there, and the main plot and characters remain intact. On the downside, they didn’t really get across the whole Fred/Bob disconnect idea very well, and their representation of the scramble suits weren’t exactly what I had in mind – but, hell, the whole book is pretty hard to transfer to film. It stands as a good film on its own, and should please any who would have an interest in seeing it. Certainly superior to thelastfew Hollywood interpretations of Philip K. Dick’s work.
I picked up the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin at one of those library book sales a few years ago for something like $1. It’s been sitting on my bookshelf, neglected, ever since – though I kept telling myself I’d read it one day. Finally, I have.
I enjoyed the book a good deal. Though I can’t say I agree with all of Franklin’s politics or his racist leanings, I did enjoy the writing style and the insight into the times. It’s impressive how varied a man he was, seemingly every institution and employment being touched by him at some point. (And the book only goes to 30 years before his death.) I wouldn’t use the book as a mold to shape my life to, which was the book’s intention, but it’s still a good read.
TAD has released the second generation of their Stealth Hoodie Tactical Soft Shell. The big change seems to be in their new “rhino” fabric. Other than that, some small changes in the hood design, and new cuffs, the jacket doesn’t look to be much different from the first generation, which I’ve owned in ME Green for about 9 months now. I’ve been meaning to write a review of it, but, until I do, suffice it to say that I love it and was worth the money.
Classes started up again last Wednesday. It’s depressing, after all the experiences of the past 3 months to, once again, be forced to place my learning aside and sit in classrooms for months upon months, under the guide of “education”. We’ll see how long I last.
The Fairhaven Folktales of Dirty Dan Harris by Michael Sean Sullivan is a fun little bit of local history. It concerns the life and times of “Dirty” Danial Harris, the sailor and whiskey smuggler who founded the town of Fairhaven in the 1800s. Dirty Dan had a reputation as quite the story teller in his time, this book being the recounting of his tales that were orally passed down after his death.
It was staring up at the sky one day at the NVC that I decided to learn what the clouds meant. So, upon return, I picked up a copy of Basic Essentials Weather Forecasting by Michael Hodgson. The book serves as a short introduction to the topic of amateur weather forecasting, a chapter of it devoted to the science of clouds. The subject, I think, is not for me – a lot of it went over my head (too many big words like cumulonimbus) – but I did manage to take a good deal from the book. I’d recommend it for anyone who spends a deal of time in the outdoors, as the ability to predict stormy weather is a useful one.