Robert Khuu Presents

Boardgame: Settlers of Catan

After some trying and doing, I finally got the chance to play Settlers of Catan. I know, I know. It’s an old game and everybody and their brother has been playing it for years. I just haven’t been around a circle of friends that had/played the game until recently. Hit the jump for my thoughts. More »

Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo

I recently started listening to more Randy Newman. You know who he is, right? He co-wrote “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” for Toy Story. I was never a big fan until I heard this song:

I loves me the political satire!

Unassigned Reading

On the topic of books, I’ve recently started reading Iain M. Banks‘ much acclaimed “Culture” series of books. None of the books are related in terms of plot, but all take place in the same massive universe. The Culture is a pan-humanoid post-singularity socialist utopian intergalactic civilization. It’s sort of a serious version of Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As it is with most science fiction, the books provide ample social commentary about the context they’re written. For example, “Consider Phlebas” was written during the 80’s at the height of the Cold War and the story involves a long-standing war between the socialist Culture and the religion and competition driven Idarian civilization.

I’m about two books in and am thoroughly enjoying the stories. It’s a bit slower paced than, say, William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy, but the pacing isn’t really an issue. Most of the books are written from the viewpoint of Culture-based characters, thus, concepts that are normal for us (like rank and hierarchy) are completely foreign to them. I really like this aspect of the books. It’s social commentary of our value system done from the perspective of a completely detached 3rd party.

On top of the social commentary, Banks does a really good job on the actual writing of the book. There are some plot twists and some of them appear very obvious. The great thing about Banks is that he creates such a flexible enough universe so that the plot twists can easily go in any number of directions. He creates a very complex story in a very complex universe, but he writes in a very straightforward manner.The reader is very rarely left confused.

I just started the third book in the series. So far, so good.

Can’t I lie down and worship?

Amazon recently recommended that I buy Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” based on my past purchases. I wonder where it found the connection? The only book that might result in this suggestion is Alan Greenspan’s “The Age of Turbulence” and I bought that book a few months ago. The rest of my purchases tend to center around science fiction, video games, and the occasional liberal hippie sociology book.

I’ve actually considered reading “Atlas Shrugged,” but my main complaint is that it’s a really long read. I’m mostly satisfied with reading about Rand’s viewpoint on Wikipedia in addition to listening to true believers gush over Rand’s greatness. Needless to say, but I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what that viewpoint entails. I mostly reject the broader implications of the Randist philosophy, but I like what it says on the micro level. On the other hand, my view is definitely incomplete. I probably won’t have the full picture until I’ve actually read “Atlas Shrugged” in addition to the rest of her bibliography, but every time I set my mind to reading her book I always encounter the same old problem: it’s so long.

In any event, given my liberal quasi-socialist tendencies, I find it amusing that Amazon suggests I read an author that tends to run counter to my philosophical leanings. It’s a little like asking me to read and enjoy Ann Coulter.

Revisionist history?

FDR is known for three things: World War II, being a polio victim, and, for better or worse, vastly expanding the American Federal Government. Apparently, though, he also caused the Great Depression:

“When (President Franklin) Roosevelt did this, he put our country into a Great Depression … [h]e tried to borrow and spend, he tried to use the Keynesian approach, and our country ended up in a Great Depression. That’s just history.”

– Steve Austria, US Representative for Ohio’s 7th District. Source: Dispatch Politics.

There’s really only one problem with that statement. Can you guess? Yes, that’s right. As the article states, most historians mark the beginning of the Great Depression at or after October 29, 1929 (colloquially known as Black Tuesday). FDR, on the other hand, was elected President in 1933. He was the president that came after the Great Depression, remember? Either Rep. Austria doesn’t know American history or he’s trying to be an asshat.