With information delivered via various mechanisms all fighting for our attention now, it’s no surprise that reading has become our least favourite waste of time. According to a just released Associated Press-Ipsos poll, one in four adults in the United States didn’t read any books in the past year. Well, that probably explains George Bush.… Read More: Who’s got time to read anymore? »
An interesting anecdote in “Dare to change: An alternative vision for Singapore” by Chee Soon Juan.I discuss what I have learned of Singaporean values with a local journalist. “What is the ‘national interest’?” I ask. “Peace, happiness, you know. That sort of thing.” “How do you find it?” “Shopping,” she reveals, lighting another Winston. “I… Read More: Happy shopping! »
Just so you know, there will be a Banned Books Week from September 23-30. Observed since 1982, this annual event celebrates the freedom to choose or express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular. Hence, it stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all… Read More: Celebrate the freedom to read »
The Best War Ever is about a war that was devised in fantasy and lost in delusion. It highlights the futility of lying to oneself and others in matters of life and death. And it offers lessons to the current generation so that, at least in our time, this never happens again. In this book,… Read More: Lies, damned lies, and the mess in Iraq »
So, the Manila city council has passed a resolution banning “The Da Vinci Code” in all cinemas in the city because the movie “is undoubtedly offensive and contrary to established religious beliefs which cannot take precedence over the right of the persons involved in the film to freedom of expression.” In a phone interview with… Read More: The Da Vinci choked »
I was reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and it suddenly dawned on me that the choice of Christian Bale as Batman in Batman Begins was, to put it in Ellis’ term, “premeditated”. In the chapter titled “Nell’s” (page 206, Vintage Contemporaries, paperback), there is a paragraph that goes: “Daisy! And Patrick, you devil!”… Read More: Probably how “Batman Begins” began »