Reading ‘n Surfing August 5th

Books

Been a bit full on with the books this week…

 

Fantasy / Escape:  Terry Pratchett’s ‘Witches’ series.  Featuring the dour Granny Weatherwax, and her deputy sidekick in Headology, Nanny Ogg.  The girls have taken on the dreaded terror that shouldn’t be named… aka: Elves.  They’ve also done over the Phantom of the Opera, and established a new King on the Lancre Throne.  They’ve been busy.  Haven’t read this series for a few years now, and it’s interesting to see how Terry developed these characters over the series.  By the time he got to Maskerade he was really hitting his straps with the Witches series, and the Guards series at the same time.  A mate points out that Pratchett fans are just a step away from being train spotters, but I like good writing, with humour and a bit of thought behind it.  Trains just can’t compete. 

Study:  The Vikings – Written by a native, Johannes Bronsted in 1960, and translated into English it pretty much covers everything you ever wanted to know about Vikings.  But basically it comes down to large men in boats either Trading or Raiding.  Did they change Europe much?  Not really, but Europe changed them.  Stone houses, better food, Christianity (eventually), and in some cases, the Europeans even convinced them to stop killing them, and kill each other instead.  Would I have liked to have been a Viking?  No.  Spending up to a week in an open boat on freezing oceans, surrounded by ice floes, killer whales and other viking marauders is not my idea of a fun time.  Plus trying to go to the toilet over the side of a rolling ship, with 30 of your mates watching you and offering some pointed tips at your expense isn’t worth thinking about…

Motivational:  It’s All Too Much – house full of crap, feel like giving up?  Don’t Panic!  Peter Walsh will rescue you.  As we over-consume ourselves numb, buying ‘stuff’ by the bin load, our homes are being packed to the rafters with our possessions. Pete is paid to visit suburban homes and re-organise the ‘stuff’ and slap the owners up the side of the head with a large fish for buying so much shit in the first place. 

So far it he basically helps you to identify what you need, then organise it in such a way so that you aren’t constantly tripping over it.  Note: Scrapbooking appears to be something of clean freaks worst nightmare. 

Ebook:  The Pirates Dilemma – not a bad read so far.  You are allowed to download the book for free from the site, or be an idiot like me and pay the man $5 US (hey, it’s still a bargain).  An interesting perspective on the history of changes via technology and those who rip it off for, a) profit, or b) just to keep up with the Joneses.  Pirates are a fairly progressive group of folk… apparently.  Very much like the Vikings I suppose. 

Internet Sites I’ve been hitting:

Frugal Dad – lots of good tips here, for those of us with families and tight budgets.

Zen Habits – like the site, some great advice for simpler living.

Moolamoney – investment advice.  I’m none the wiser, but hanging in there and learning a little.  It’s about time I got a little bit interested in money management. 

Craig Harper – visiting this site is akin to having my own fitness / motivator / guru.  Well worth the read this week, as most of his posts were hitting the nail right on the head.  He’d be a bastard to live with I reckon! 

Geoff Thomson – went through Geoff’s site last week, downloaded the video about the bouncer, and signed up for his free Ebook, The Art of Not Fighting.  Not a bad read.  But he’s sending me a stack of email, and I’m worried about the “I’ve found God” trend that his writing appears to be full of lately.    

ABC Radio National – catching up on some of my favourite shows as podcasts.