In my continuing quest to read a lot of Philip K. Dick's work, I have gone back to look at his classic Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which I read years ago after watching the movie that was based on it, Blade Runner.  [Click the image to read it free on-line.]  I remember that, unlike in the movie, Deckard was married and that there was a strong religious component.  It was the first work by Dick (as best I know) that was turned into a movie and Ridley Scott took plenty of literary license with it, but I think for the better.

I have long enjoyed reading Philip K. Dick's short stories, especially since so many have been made into movies, even if they suffer from from a false perspective (see Paycheck).  So, I have recently seen references to his book, The Man in the High Castle and decided to pick up the new collection out at Amazon.  I may not read all the books in this collection, but I'd like to give many of them a try.  I have already jumped into this book and have learned that it may be a movie shortly, so I'll look forward to that as well.  The short stories that have been turned into movies are creating quite an impressive list - Minority Report, Total Recall, Imposter, Through a Scanner Darkly, Paycheck, The Adjustment Bureau come to mind right away.  And, of course, the real classic is the movie Blade Runner, based on his book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.  I haven't read that in a long time, but it is in this collection, so maybe I get to it again soon.

I have enjoyed reading Jeffrey Tucker's commentaries at the Mises site.  I share his fascination with the modern world around us, and his regret that so many take the amazing fruits of capitalism for granted.  I also enjoy his many videos and find his wit to be perfectly suited to our times.  I do wonder, though, what a "book" is these days as compared to my youth.  This book is a collection of his essays from the Mises site, with some retooling.  It is interesting and fun to read and the "chapters" are short.  But, is it a "book?"  Maybe we need a new name for a tome like this.  [Gutfeld's "book" is the same - a collection of short essays, although I don't think he had published them elsewhere in the meantime.]  Anyway, I smile when I read passages like this:  "I fully predict that the next generation will never see another coffee ground, never have to deal with grungy wet filters, any more than people who eat bacon today have to watch pigs being rounded up and slaughtered."  It is, indeed, a "Jetson's" world.

I have just returned from a trip to the Washington, D.C. area, where I was able to go to the 150th Re-enactment of the Battle of Manassas, which opened up the Civil War.  [Well, not true, but it was the first big battle.]  Upon returning I grabbed this book from my collection and started to read it.  I know I got it many years ago (it has a 1977 print date on it), but I don't think I actually read it then.  Anyway, once opened, I can't put it down.  It is very well-written (and researched).  Great comments out at Amazon, which I hope to add to when I'm done with it.

I have been taking many on-line classes at the Mises Institute.  In the summer of 2010 I took a short course titled, "Economics of Private Legal and Defense Services."  Basically, it was about how a modern society can exist (and thrive) without the state.  Fascinating stuff.  In one of the chats, I wondered about whether some elements of this kind of state-less society was exhibited in any science fiction.  I was recalling John Brunner's Shockwave Rider at the time.  The hero is, essentially, trying to escape the state.  So, I dusted it off and am re-reading this "classic."

I have been an occasional viewer of Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld.  But, it's on late at night.  I had resisted recording it as I knew I would get sucked in and start watching it all the time.  Well, that has now happened.  I have left instructions that if I become comatose, that everybody should leave the plug in and play Red Eye, Glenn Beck's show and all the sci fi movies/shows that I have, in an endless loop.  I don't know if that will help, but it seems like it's worth a try.  I have since decided to replace Glenn Beck on my list with Judge Napolitano and John Stossel. 

As the summer of 2010 comes to a close, and my work load increases, I expect to be able to keep up with Gutfeld's newly published book of essays, that range from a couple of short paragraphs to a couple of pages.  His take on reporters that do "homeless" stories is exactly what everybody knows, but nobody says.  And, how could you disagree with him that Doonesbury is a "sack of poop?"  His words, not mine.  I would have used "pouch."

I have started Hayek's classic at least twice.  But, somewhere a few chapters into it, I have gotten bogged down, set the book aside, and then not come back to it.  Yet, it enjoys a great reputation.  During the summer of 2010, the Mises Institute offered an on-line class covering this book, so I signed on.  As I near the end of this course, I see why it is so hard to read - Hayek is not exactly a scintillating writer.  I want to look up the Readers Digest condensed version to see how it reads.  I think I may decide that Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom is the better choice.  By the way, the image is hyperlinked to Amazon's newer edition, while the image is of the older edition that I own.

As part of the treatment for my thyroid cancer, I had to spend a couple of days in the hospital.  I had to ingest some radioactive iodine to kill off the remaining thyroid cells in my system, following surgery to remove the thyroid.  So, I took in a worn copy of Atlas Shrugged, which I have twice started, but never finished.  Hopefully, the third time is a charm.  [I couldn't take anything with me that I couldn't leave behind, because of my radioactive state, hence the old, worn copy.]

Well, I got up to page 150, so only abut 15% through the book, before I was set free.  I enjoyed this first section much more than in the past.  The whole "feel good" mumbo jumbo of the status quo characters is spot on.  And, yet, Rand doesn't have other characters verbally confront this attitude, but she shows it in their actions.  What a great way to illustrate this contrast.

I was able to follow a pretty good regimen at home, reading some in the morning, but only for a while.  At page 275, I had to set aside this effort, as other tasks consumed my time during the summer of 2010.  So, I'll have to get back to this later . . .

This new book by Thomas Ratz is a collection of postcards that the author has collected over the last 30 years, while working at the El Tovar, located on the rim of the Grand Canyon.  I was able to get a copy and meet Ratz when he was doing a book signing at a local bookstore.  We chatted about some of the postcards he brought along, which are in the book.  Fascinating stuff, although I wish he had been able to do some of them in color.  I learned that the Kolb brothers took photos to be used for individual postcards by early visitors to the canyon.  [2009]

A fascinating look at the history of mathematics, with nice details and context for what Dunham calls the "great theorems."  I read this in 1990 and have just picked it up to read again in late 2009.

The earlier theorems are most memorable to me, partly because I think I can better relate to their elegance.  I have much more difficultly wrapping my mind around the whole idea of Cantor's infinite vs. finite "infinites."  So it goes.