This is a very British tale by a very British author, an acquired taste, I believe. You must appreciate understatement and dry wit to find it engaging, and you also must be able to bulldoze past a mind-numbing batch of … Continue reading
I recently attended a “pitch” conference for a week at a charming seaside town on the coast of California. Morro Bay is a fishing village and a tourist trap, stereotypically picturesque and aggressively insular, but like all such small towns, … Continue reading
* as well as they should. Some time ago I posted a rant about things that don’t work, at least not as they should (http://billadamsphd.net/2017/04/24/ten-things-that-dont-work/). Those things included cell phones, ice-dispensers, gift cards, and others. Here’s a list of a … Continue reading
Is Ebonics a language? It was popularized as a distinct language spoken by some American African-Americans in the 1980’s and 90’s, yet another note in the culture war symphony. It’s interesting, and ironically humorous that linguist John McWhorter refers to … Continue reading
I usually have good luck with Man-Booker Prize-winners, but not this time. The Vegetarian is a story of a woman who goes insane. At the current time, medical science does not, for the most part, understand insanity, its causes or cures. … Continue reading
This monster book is actually an easy read because the concepts are not difficult. It is a history of the scientific revolution, which took place in Europe in the decades around 1600. The so-called revolution was a change in world-view … Continue reading
Recently I was looking for some books and as usual, I first tried to shop at bookstores in my community. Did it work out? No. I scored only one for seven and bought the rest online. I admit I am … Continue reading
Questions the Internet Can’t Answer: Binary Code People, especially students, seem to think that any question has an answer on the internet. This is not so. Quite often I’ve had what seems like a simple question that had no suitable … Continue reading
I don’t normally do movie reviews on this site, but this film was related to a question I had about a particular genre of writing, the horror genre. I rented Get Out, (2017), nominally a horror film. Normally I wouldn’t, … Continue reading
Fifteen international world-travelers attend a gala party in the presidential palace of a South American country to hear a famous American opera singer perform. The palace is stormed by armed terrorists who hold the party-goers hostage while they negotiate with … Continue reading