The Medusa Fora

Barack Obama The Audacity Of Hope

Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnett, Noel Kingsbury

(with the following reference books handy)
Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide by Edmund C. Snodgrass, Lucie L. Snodgrass
(and)
Green Roofs: Ecological Design And Construction by Earth Pledge Foundation (this one has examples... like, did anybody know that the roof of Schipol airport in Amsterdam is covered in plants?)

(trying to learn more so as to be able to sell the idea to American developers and builders... in Germany, apparently, 1 in 10 roofs is a green roof, providing better control of heat gain/loss to buildings, CO2 etc. exchange, and a habitat for numerous animal species... LA is so far from this because builders/developers here put cost above everything)

Pogue Mahone, kiss my arse

the godfather

Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion"

Very entertaining

philipchevron wrote:Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion"

Very entertaining

It's in my Amazon basket and I never quite get around to ordering it

Currently reading A Scholar of Magics by Caroline Stevermer. I almost never read fantasy, but Caroline is the friend of a friend, and the first in the series was great fun.

Reading Mastery II: Storybook 1

by Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner

This is the book which GWB was reading, along with a bunch of schoolkids, when he was informed that "America is under attack, Sir" on 9/11/01. Famously the story was "The Pet Goat" (not "My Pet Goat" as widely reported. I can't imagine what took him so long - I read it through in a few moments.

the fellowship of the ring

cleese encounters

Just finished The Innocent Man by John Grisham - his first work of non-fiction, really excellent and a kick in the balls for the American legal system.

philipchevron wrote:Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion"

Very entertaining

How do you like it? There are incredibly funny passages such as the Teapot and “divine knob-twiddler” argument, including a description of the Old Testament Christian God which I won’t repeat here for fear of offending our MacRua. Later on there are more scientific bits, an evolutionary theory of the cosmos, which I find fascinating and largely incomprehensible. He is best at attacking fundamentalists (but then that’s an easy target), and on the influence of religion on children. And I love him ranting against the undeserved respect religion requires, expecting us all to tip-toe around reverentially around any weird lunacy anyone’s belief might throw up.

Great collection of quotes too. As for Northern Ireland: “Yes, but are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?”

Brian Viner: Ali, Lillee, Pele and Me

Christine wrote:

philipchevron wrote:Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion"

Very entertaining

How do you like it? There are incredibly funny passages such as the Teapot and “divine knob-twiddler” argument, including a description of the Old Testament Christian God which I won’t repeat here for fear of offending our MacRua. Later on there are more scientific bits, an evolutionary theory of the cosmos, which I find fascinating and largely incomprehensible. He is best at attacking fundamentalists (but then that’s an easy target), and on the influence of religion on children. And I love him ranting against the undeserved respect religion requires, expecting us all to tip-toe around reverentially around any weird lunacy anyone’s belief might throw up.

Great collection of quotes too. As for Northern Ireland: “Yes, but are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?”

Yes, my own view corresponds closely with yours. It's an entertainment, however deeply felt and what makes it work is that Dawkins is every bit as unreasonable and evangelical as the God-botherers he lampoons. He makes no secret of the fact that he wants "converts" to Atheism (or perhaps Pantheism) with this book, which is nevertheless doomed to be read only by the Choir. But he's right, this stuff needs to be out there in the public square and the main reason it isn't is that people who do not worship Imaginary Friends would really rather not get into fruitless arguments with those who do. I like his statistic that there are more Atheists in America than Jews!

the stand

Niall wrote:the stand

king is often unfairly slated as the 'horror guy' when his best stuff revolves around psychological fears and terrors, rather than monsters and beasties.

i've read a lot of his stuff, and he truly is a fantastic story teller. 'the stand' is my personal favorite, and even at a whopping 1400-some pages, i keep coming back to it for another read-through.

are you reading/have you read the more recently released extended version, in its original form?