“Well written and easy to read.” would summarize the book.

This book concisely references a number of studies showing the accuracy of instant judgements. Ever thought that you were awful for dismissing people with a glance? Well, this book shows that you may be right after all.

That is a relief :-)

Oryx and Crake is very thought provoking. Read it after reading ‘Short history of progress’ and the impact of the novel is felt keenly.

Simply put, the novel is about a future (very probable future in my opinion) where society is organized explicitly into classes with the rich having access to genetic manupulation, etc. to become even better and richer.

The book is sickening because it ties together many of the vices of us humans. And in the end, these vices prove to almost destroy us.

If nothing else, I hope this book will make you realize how precarious our situation in this world really is.

An excellent read. This book provides a very quick overview of the problems our society is facing now. He looks at past civilizations, the problems they faced and the reasons they faded away into non-existence. He then tries to show how those things are applicable to us at this time.

The great thing about the book is that it is small. At only about 130 or so pages, it should be a quick read. However, there are a few problems. First is the sheer number of endnotes in the book. Almost 1/3 of the book is devoted to the endnotes. I don’t mind some to provide reference materials, but 40 pages worth? That’s too much.

The second problem is more serious. The book lacks detail. He mentions many things, but they’re all covered at the most generic and basic level. Maybe this was his goal – to provide something easy for everyone to read. However, this topic is too important to just get surface treatment. Luckly, Jared Diamond has written a more detailed book on the topic. I have picked it up and have started to read:

“Collapse :how societies choose to fail or succeed”

I’ll write about it once I’m done.

This album is the opposite. The elements of Jazz that make Jazz fun has been sucked out of this album. She is generally accompanied by routine string playing. Her voice is poppy and not at all filled with her usual energy.

Don’t buy this album. Get some of her other works.

Wow! A fantastic album. We see her skills on the piano and the voice. This is one of the most fun jazz albums I’ve listened to.

If you’re a Diana Krall fan, then make sure you get this. If not, then get this and you may very well become one.

That’s when the journey begins. How do you change the ratios to get your desired results? How does the bread change if you knead it before adding the salt or after? How do you get your results consistently? These are all good questions that the beginner bakers asks, and luckly there are a number of fantastic books on the topic.

This book is a fantastic book for the beginner baker. It talks about the bread baking process in detail without getting mired in all the technicial jargon. Luckly, it does mention some of the chemistry and biology so the interested reader can look further. Also, there’s a ton of fantastic pictures that you can use to motivate yourself.

This book is not the ultimate reference book on everything to do with baking. It’s biggest weakness is for the intermediate baker who wants to start really experimenting. For example, baking with sourdough gets very little treatment. (And rightfully so since this book is about getting you started. Sourdough baking deserves a whole book for itself!)

I would urge beginners to get this book to really see and understand how manipulating 4 simple ingredients can have pretty large consequences. As you progress, there are other books waiting for you.

James Ehnes is upto the task. Bach doesn’t need the performer to interpret and embellish the performance. For the Goldberg Variations, there’s a reason why Glenn Gould’s performance was ground breaking. He played it precisely the way it’s written without adding excessive phrasing. James Ehnes’s does a similarly spectacular job with the Sonatas and Partitas.

His performance is precise and without ornementation. Many who have grown listening to Perlman or Menuhuin performances will not like Ehnes. His phrasing is precise, and his tone quality clear. His double stopping technique is masterful.

I have enjoyed his performance of this piece immensely. My all time favourite performer of this set is Mintz, but Ehnes’s performance comes up there. Who knows? Maybe in a few years, I’ll like this better. But with Bach, there is always room for more!

I was very pleasently impressed. I love his writing – the way he plays with
the words, his use of mythology to further his references, his characters,
his tackling of the great questions. His ability to weave a story is
extraordinairy and sets him uniquely apart from his contemporaries. He is a
master at his craft and one fantastic story teller.

This book is about music, love and life. Three themes intertwined with an
‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ like love story. He also cleverly brings in the
history of current events and pop-music. But what really makes this book
great is his skill at creating a rich story with fantastic characters who face
the many struggles that we all face.

Some people accuse this book of having unbelievable characters. They’re
right, but it is their lack of imagination and understanding of Rusdie’s
style that makes them see this as a flaw. His characters are magical but
he is still able show us how human they are. Magical realism plays an
important role but like Marquez it is to make a point – to use it as a back
drop to better illustrate our own world.

I enjoyed reading this book tremendously. It has a fantasic story, written by
a master. We can’t really ask for anything more.

A really funny movie with some great acting and story. Only if we had more comedies like this, instead of the ‘comedy’ we get now from Hollywood.


The movie is about a man who has heard that he’ll be fired and how he gets out of it. An entertaining watch.

Prepared to be somewhat lost if you went into this movie knowing nothing about the plot, or director (like I did). But after a bit, you’ll start to really enjoy the movie.

The movie is a charecter piece exploring the motivation behind living and working. It’s about the thin line that connects one to the rest and what can happen to snap that line.

With the excellent acting and directing, it’s definitly worth watching.