TELL US WHAT YOU ARE READING

[Antony]

Well, I have a habit of buying books from bookshops, and once I bought the books, I don't read them.

I just re-discovered Collins Digital SLR Handbook (Amazon.co.uk link) by John Freeman in my bookshelf yesterday and I've been reading it.

This book covers the DSLR systems in an easy to understand language, tips and many suggestions on many situations, as well as the post-production processes.

This is a great handbook that I think DSLR beginners would receive great benefit. It is also a good reference.

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[James]

I just finished: Eastern Orthodox Christianity by Daniel Clendenin. I found it pretty boring but plowed my way through it anyway. LOL

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[Antony]

Sometimes, you got to be patient to get a book you want (not referring to Harry Potter books).

I ordered Stephen Kochan's Programming in Objective-C 2.0 (2nd Edition) on Amazon on 6 June 2008. Back then, I knew the book was not published yet, and was scheduled to be published in late October.

Today I received an email from Amazon that requires my approval for the delay. The new estimated arrival date is late January 2009.

One thing about Amazon is that they don't have Amazon Australia Store. Which means all Australians will have to pay international shipping cost. Sometimes the international shipping cost is higher than the item itself (in a few online shops). Still, in a number of situations, ordering a book from Amazon (USA) is still faster and cheaper than getting one from local bookshops.

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[richard mitnick]

For many years, starting in about 1978, I studied Western Theology. On my own. In 1978, there was no Amazon. I started with one volume, the E.A. Speiser "Genesis" commentary in the Anchor Bible Series. From that book, using the footnotes, I went forward up through all of Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, the Second Temple period, the Jewish and Christian mystics, and some Islamic mysticism. I also went backward via archaeological studies 2500 years to Sumer.

Needless to say, I found that I needed some books that were put of print.


I never worked in a library, I built my own library.

In 1978, if one needed an out of print book, one found one's way to book dealers. I had got up a list of book dealers in New York, Chicago, San Fransisco, egad, you name it. If one did not have what I needed, I would be referred to another, and add another string to my bow. Fortunately, I live near New York City, so I had a whole bunch of great used book stores. I would cruise them on rainy Sundays while on visits to my daughter at N.Y.U., and, then, also after she graduated.

There were two books for which I used a bookfinder and I paid US$100.00 for each: Martin Noth's "Exodus- A Commentary" in the Westminster Bible Series; and Gershom Scholem's "Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition", On this last book, I KNOW that there were forty five fresh copies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. They were planning to re-print the book and wanted the fresh copies to shoot their galleys. I would gladly have paid them, made a contribution, but they would not help me. Sad.

Anyway, today, with Amazon, I could have these and many other out of print books for a pittance and in one week.

>>RSM

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[James]

Wow, Richard. I'm impressed.

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[richard mitnick]

Don't be impressed.

I was on a quest. I am Jewish, I attended a Conservative synagogue every Sabbath for years. I finally became disenchanted with the biblical account. I saw a ballet based upon the figure of Astarte, I read a National Geographic account of the Phoenicians, I said, something does not add up.

So I started my quest for a biblical truth. It was a joy. it cost me close to US$10,000.00 in books, I "met" a great bunch of people via telephone as I searched out my books.

I became infatuated with the mystics, and the heretics, especially of the High Middle Ages.

My quest ended when I found the "Grund" theology of Meister Eckhart. This was what I had been seeking. A theology which I could embrace for myself. Eckhart was Catholic and I am Jewish. No matter. One can easily take advantage of Christian thinking without being Christian. One simply replaces the figure of Jesus Christ with that of God ( which is what most Christians believe any way). In the Grund theology, Eckhart preached the unification of the individual's soul with the sould of-in my case-God. This is not different from Christianity's "dying to Christ", or Judaism's "bittul-ha-yesh", self abegnation of the soul, or the end result of the Sufi quest of "stations and states".

So, today, I am still Jewish, my house is kosher, but I am not very commonly in attendance at synagogue services. I still belong to my synagogue and remain a paid up full fledged member. But, as far as literally owning a concept of the deity, I believe very strongly that most Jews and most Christians have not got a clue.

If one wants to see the face of God before oneself, every day, one must be open and ready. Long into my quest, but also long before I found Eckhart, I had the religious experience, the encounter , which I believe is necessary for anything like dying to Christ, or bittul-ha-yesh. I was on my bike (21 speeds, not a motorcycle) on a wonderful Spring day, by myself, in the country. I sensed the Schechinah of God (that aspect of God which in Judaism is seen as accompanying the Jewish people) just off my shoulder and up a bit overhead. A perfect peace came. The whole thing lasted about twenty or thirty seconds. But it changed my life.

I believe that one has no idea about God unless one has such an experience, that anyone who is ready will have it, one way or another.

But, I also believe that this will never come to most people, and so we need synagogues, churches, mosques, etc., because they do satisfy a need or series of needs.

I am very close with my Rabbi, but I rarely see him.

Wow, I do run on...

>>RSM

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[James]

Well... I'm still impressed, Richard. Granted... we are on different spiritual paths but still, we can appreciate one another's journey. I wish you well.

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[richard mitnick]

Well, Dude, I told you my story, my quest, my journey; if I may be so bold, please tell me yours.

>>RSM

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[Antony]

Some of you many know that I recently acquired my first DSLR camera - Sony DSLR α350. Naturally, I spent time on it, so there's my latest book: The Complete Guide to Sony's Alpha 300 and 350 Digital SLR Cameras by Gary Friedman.

Although I am only half-way through the book, it is a very well written book with easy to understand language.

Here's one thing interesting about this said book: the price. It is available for US$110.45 (colour printed + postage), US$31.97 (black and white print + postage), or US$19.98 (download version). And I bought the digital version. (to Don: Antony is poor)

BTW, you can find photos of beautiful Boston by Gary Friedman.

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[richard mitnick]

Thanks, Antony.

I, for one, have finally gotten over the early hurdles of Alex Ross' "The Rest Is Noise", Ross' declaration, statement, if you will, about what is good in 20th century music. Needless to say, while I do find the Beatles in the index, I do not find Hendrix, Crosby- Stills-Nash, or Electric Light Orchestra.

One might ask Ross, who died and made you king? But the same can be said for Harold Bloom and his "Western Canon" of literature.

Take it or leave it. I need to take it, and read it, as twentieth century serious music, Classical and now Jazz, is one of my passions.

Ross, 40, is the music critic of The New Yorker. He is the preeminent music critic in the US today, a mantle once held by Alan Rich. Mr. Ross was at times at The New York Times, The New Republic, The London Review of Books. He has been writing for the New Yorker since 1993 and joined the staff in 1996. Along with the book, he has a blog, http://www.therestisnoise.com/. So, Alex knows his S@#T.
But, still....

Mr. Rich is an octogenarian, most recently (1992-2008) at L.A. Weekly, a free paper owned by the Village Voice. Rich held the critic's chair at different times at the New York Times, The New York Herald Tribune, Newsweek. Music critics all over the US are being tossed out by publishers. They are starting blogs. Mr. Rich's blog is http://www.soiveheard.com. I spend so much time here because Alan is worth it. Also, I am on his distribution list. Long story. Even today, he is at some concert somewhere almost every night. His writing in his blog is sharp as a tack.

If anyone has any serious interest in serious music, I recommend both of these critics.

I must say to all who read this thread, I am gratified that it has not died. At first, I thought is was a gonner, not at all like the Weather thread I started. But, I see that there are minds out there, beyond computerland. We are, first, thinkers. Computers, after all, invent nothing, emulate everything. So, thanks for the posts, keep'em coming, don't be afraid to talk.

Maybe it's cooking, aliens, weaving, who cares? Express yourself. Geeze, I just related my whole religious quest.

>>RSM
New Jersey Weather: a nice dry chilly blanket, soon to be dampened.

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[James]

Right now I'm reading "Holy Unexpected: My New Life As a Jew" by Robin Chotzinoff.

From Booklist: Chotzinoff was born a Jew in a nonobservant--no, an atheist--family whose credo (imagine a sarcastic shrug) was, "Religion--who needs it?" Apparently, the award-winning Denver columnist did, and here is her engaging, enjoyable account of the transformation involved. At 40, Chotzinoff found in a happy marriage the path to a higher power and embraced Judaism. After a hippie-ish life of drugs and booze--interviewing Frank Zappa along the way and playing keyboards with some Denver bands--she sought stability and married a carpenter, "bought a house, grew tomatoes." The birth of a daughter, a divorce, and a second marriage followed, and she finally found a congregation in the Yellow Pages. In the wake of a four-hour service that left her butt numb but her brain alert, she became engrossed in the concept of the Jewish New Year and the paradox that no two Jews agree on how to conduct the 10-day interval until Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. However, "I was sitting among my own people for a change." Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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[richard mitnick]

James.

Nice account. Some folks are lucky enough to find what they want, and this is true in all faiths.

Another tale from a Jewish milieu is "Holy Days", by Lis Harris (1985, Macmillan Publishing, New York).

This book first appeared in The New Yorker Magazine in serial installments. Ms Harris describes her time of insertion into a Hasidic community. It is a long time since I read this book; but I do remember that i read it almost non-stop.

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[Antony]

The new books I bought two weeks ago,



I read most parts of Scott Kelby's Digital Photography books (vol I and II). Not yet started the iPhone programming book.

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[James]

Scott Kelby's books are good. I've read them both. I "think" if memory servers, that you can find videos of him giving instructions online (but I could be wrong). *sigh*

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[iJohnE]

Just finished reading "The Complete Idiots Guide to Windows XP" and "Windows Vista for Dummies"... and am looking for a book about 64-bit OSes.

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