While back home I was fortunate enough to get a new Kindle from the parents (Thanks again!) and as such have been really able to get a lot of reading done. On the train, between classes or just in bed for the past few weeks I have been going through books that I have been wanting to read for a long time. The first was Band of Brothers; something that I had always wanted to read since watching the HBO miniseries.

Having read about E company I really wanted to find out more about the boys on the opposite side of the world, so I went through With the Old Breed, a book that deals with the much harsher Pacific theatre. It really is a stark contrast between the German and Japanese, and I highly recommend reading both of these books even if you have seen either of the HBO miniseries events. After finishing With the Old Breed, I have begun watching HBO’s The Pacific. It is good viewing and at the very least a good reminder of what some of our countries best had to go through during WWII.

After reading so much about killing and the horrors of war, I have decided to go back and revisit 3 books that I read while in college, The Myst trilogy. I suppose these 3 may not be for everyone, but having enjoyed the pc games I always enjoyed these 3 quick novels and it has been nice going through them again. The 3 are available as a set for $10, so I figured why not.

A few months ago I ran across The Jalopy Journal. I added it to my Google Reader and am always happy to see their updates.  

Tons of great pictures, and even better articles for anyone into cars. I really enjoy the vintage photos, but really appreciate the great writing and research they goes into each article.

Click the above pics for their respective articles; just a few of my favorites. Add it to your bookmarks! Enjoy 

The other day I spend a hour or so at a decently popular cafe downtown, Cafe Bibliotic Hello. I spent the time finishing up a book I picked up while back in Chicago, The Devil in the White City. I had heard good things about the book, but failed to ever pick it up since I am more of a sci-fi reader. I am, however, very glad I picked this one up. It is easily one of the most engrossing reads I have ever had. I found myself reading it on the train, at home for a few hours before bed, and I ended up finishing it faster than I think I have ever finished a book of its size. I highly recommend it, to just about anyone, especially to Chicagoans. The way Larson ties the story of a serial killer and the Chicago World’s Fair together just keeps you glued to the pages.

Before getting into The Devil in the White City, I finally finished up both Ubik and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the latter (the inpiration for Blade Runner) being somewhat hard to get through. It’s funny, I recalled in an interview with Ridley Scott in an issue of Wired that he also stated he had trouble getting through P.K.Dick’s bleak view of the future. Being a huge fan of the film, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the read, but soon realized that it might as well be a completely different story altogether. Check out the wiki page for the book, for a detailed plot outline if your interested. Not my favorite work of Dick’s but I am glad that I read it; it gives a great background for the film and develops it’s characters a great deal more (as would be expected). Ubik, on the other hand, was great and I look forward to the upcoming film adaption of this.

So what next? At the same time I picked up The Devil in the White City, I also picked up a book I have been wanting to read for quite a long time; Steven Hawking‘s “A Brief History of Time“. As it so happens, he just released a bit more accessible version, “A Briefer History of Time“. I’ve only just started so I have little to say, but the way it is written really helps you understand amazingly complex ideas, such as string theory…and even time travel. I’ll chime in when I’m done.

I picked up the new Doriten a few days ago, and there were a few interesting cars, like this ’69 Beetle. According to the article its a ’69 body on a ’69 chassis, has 7cm rear overfenders that house 11j wide wheels with 265/50-15″ tires. You can check out the owner’s blog, here.

This Honda Regreat, just cuz the pic rocks!

And for the past few months, towards the back of the issues they have been running a cool 4 page article “No name heros”. It’d very few words with tons of cool street shots from “unkown” locatoions……kickass

Check out the new issue of Wrecked:

Over the weekend, on a whim, I picked up the Blu-Ray for A Scanner Darkly.

I did this for two reasons: 1)it is based on the novel by the same name written by Phillip K. Dick who’s other works to film include Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, and Paycheck. All films I enjoy. 2) The visual style of the film looked interesting, the film was shot with normal methods, but then in a process that took 18months to complete, the entire film was given a rotoscoping treatment to give the look of animation. Here is an example of a before and after:

I ended up enjoying the film so much, I went out and bought the book. I read that the book is far better than the film, so we shall see. While I was looking around the store, I ran across Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. I have always heard that this book was WAY better than the film and that the vision painted by the character Tyler is expanded on much more. Fight Club is easily one of my favorite movies, so I decided to grab the book as well. I just started reading it, and within the 1st few chapters I would say 75% of the quotes from the movie are already used. It’s getting good!