You gotta keep those neurons in shape & firing, you know. Hence the reading. Reading is good for your brains, so maybe you should...read more? Here is what's on my book shelves. I'll comment on them slowly, as I go along, but it will take quite a while to get them all done.
COOK BOOKS IN BOTTOM AND ANYTHING NOT COMMENTED ON IS STILL TO BE READ.
There is only one true Dalai Lama, and he is not hand-picked by the comunist government because he's a child whom they can brainwash and groom into becoming just another propaganda piece for opression and dictatorship, under the guise of "doing good" for everybody.
The CCP has never been interested in doing good for everybody. Only for themselves. The guy you see here...is the real thing. And the only one. Tenzin Gyatso (Born Lhamo Dhondup).
Made a movie of it? Not yet? They will. Just wait and see.
The cover on the book alone, is enough that you just...simply..."have to have it". Awesome cover. Awesome title. I can't wait to spend time with it. Just the book and me, alone on a dark and scary night.
But if it turns out to be just another hallelujah piece of religious propaganda, it'll be in the fireplace faster than you can count to any single digit number.
I have not read it yet, but I will be on it when I find the time to do so. Needless to say I "have a few items" on my shelves that require my attention in the future. In the ASAP future.
Because Trump and Hitler share a lot of traits and I want to know what goes on in the heads of sick motherfuckers like them.
Because if you want to beat the enemy, you have to "get inside their heads".
Now I'm older - to say the least - and more mature and knowledgeable. Now I have what you need to tackle the "heavy stuff" and I have always admired Salman for his courage and for standing up for what he believes in (in a peaceful manner, contrary to "the other guys").
If you don't care for design and architechture, I guess this book ain't gonna do much for you. But if you do...this is a trip to Nibbana. It'll certainly get you tripping out.
For the same reason I got the Trump-Hitler book: I want to understand what goes on the heads of sick motherfuckers like them.
What is it that sinks humanity so deep that we feel the need to kill and mame anyone who doesn't fit our own mould?
There's gotta be something that just snapped in their so-called brain, and that something is what I am trying to indentify, so I can protect myself (and others) against it.
Timothy Taylor's "Stanley Park" (below), "Flash in a pan" (further below) and this one - the Belly of Paris - by Emile Zola was his top pick. I can't wait to clear time on my schedule for this one. It's supposedly about the entire industry, seen from inside the bowels of it all.
A wonderful, heart warming, life confirming piece of real life about a woman who loses her mother to cancner and sees her own world come crumbling down as a result of her mothers death.
"I need to find a way to deal with all of this"...and so she goes hiking, nearly the entire Pacific Crest Trail, and it's...wild!
According to the UN, more people have died in the name of religion, in the name of whatever "god" you chose to believe in, than all diseases combined, ever, on planet earth.
Don't bring your religious psycho-babble to me, or you are going to get my version of it right back in your face, and you are not going to like my take on religion. Don't read this book if you can't handle the truth.
Let me burst your bubble once and for all:
The entire thing about "creation"...it's all bullshit.
You and I and any other animal of the "human" species, share 93% of our DNA with the chimps. Anyone with a brain would accept what's scientifically proven...and move on.
But...if you don't believe me, you are welcome to read this one and see how it's all tied together. Or you can of course chose to live in denial and ignorance. You wouldn't be the only one.
Should you choose to read it, though, it might just bring you a little bit closer to "The Pearly Gates"...of wisdom.
People used to believe that the world is flat. We got over that one. Now we're just wating for "creation" to become a myth, the fantasy it really is.
Final note: It's worth noting, that this is not just a bok about "the great apes we are". That part of it is actually a fairly small one. It's a scientitic manifest about all species within the flora and fauna spectrum. "Gorilla boy" and "Baboon babe" just hits you harder for obvious reasons. 550-some pages, or so. My second read of 2026. First printed nearly 200 years ago.
I like that "quiet rebellion" type he often played (though sometimes more rebellion that quiet). Not entirely dissimilar to, say James Dean in "East of Eden".
I think types like his are often misunderstood/misinterpreted because people jump to conclusion without knowing the facts. That's also known as prejudism.
Without bringing the Air India bombing, the gang wars and the assassinations of various "scum" - deservedly or not - into the conversation, let me make it absolutely clear: I love Ujjal because of what he did for all British Columbians, as opposed to various special interest groups, both as Premier and in other high positions he held. Positions you only get if you have integrity.
This is Nallah's own story about her life, from growing up in a refugee camp to becoming one of the best Middle East correspondents this world has ever seen.
Wherever you are now, Nallah; Thank you...for evverything!
From before it was even on your mind, to the point where it catches your attention and starts becoming an idea. From just a blob of water and flour, to something you might actually profit from.
Ideas, people, money, locations, markets, etc. This loaf might just grab you by the..."boules" and make you understand, that there is an entire world out there that you know nothing about. And guess what? Your loss!
Gorgeous story about a guy who's a little "off-beat"/"outside the box"/"atypical". He's writing a symphony for the whales.
I absolutely recommend you either watch it or read it.
German soldier on the front lines, marries a german girl he's never seen or met, just so he can get a few days of leave from the hells of war.
Once the "honeymoon" is over, it's back to just trying to stay alive...at any cost, just trying to make it back with limbs and mind intact.
Unless you have actualy been in a situation like that (which most of us never have), lived it, breathed it, smelled it, eaten it...we will never be able to understand the horrors. But this one might just scratch the surface (of understanding) for you.
Here is my take on it:
Weird, psychedelic shit that makes absolutely no sense, unless you yourself are as completely fucked up on drugs and stone-shit high as the author was (common assumption) when he wrote it.
Never finished the book and no, it's not about people having lunch in the nude...I think (?)
Leonard, I think you may have changed my life. You most definitely made me appreciate poetry, literature and music. You made me comprehend the immense power of words, if you use the right ones in the right combination. I'm one immigrant who picked up on the power and importance of language and made my adopted language my only language and never looked back, since.
I owe it all to you, Leonard. So whereever you are now...I can't wait to hear your take on it.
Canada's funny man (one of them) with a collection of comments and interpretations on real life funny stories. Some just a page or two. Others three or four pages, so "take a pill" every night when you go to sleep and wake up with a smile on your face next morning. I often laughed so hard that tears were rolling down my cheeks.
Forget everything you have ever seen in a movie or been told by Hollywood. This is your in-depth explanation of why it was the way it was, at the time it happend.
Then it will slowly - very slowly - start dawning on you than this man was simply a legend. Up until the point he hung himself in a Paris hotel room. Then he became an Angel.
We all knew the legend. But not many knew the man behind the legend.
If you have never read a book before in your life, start with this one. It's short enough it won't exhaust you. But it will hook you...on reading.
To the rest of us/you: A classic. A gem. Beautiful, gorgeous and short. Simple story: Old man's been "out of luck" long enough that others are laughing at him. But then...
It's not the story itself. It's the emotions in the book and the pages "drippng of wet paint".
There's a reason books become classics! When you read this book, you wish you were Jonathan. Also funny to learn how the story actually came to be.
One of my favourite reads, ever:
Dad (UBC professor) squats in Stanley Park. Son in the food/restaurant biz, has a nack for "creative dishes".
Anthony Bourdain (see above) hailed it as "one of his favourites". I'm with you, Anthony. If you have ever gone to a nice restaurant, you want to read this one.
I wanted to read this one because I wanted to learn more. I wanted to educate myself and see things from "the other side". Ok, I already "see things from the other side" but you can always learn more.
Love the quote: "REconciliation will never happen, because there was no conciliation in the first place".
You can't "fix a house" that never existed, can you?
Lambo might even "fit in" in Brooklyn?
Nice story about, well...Brooklyn, being a family there, growing up there and the "trials and trivialities" you will inevitably come across in a place like "crook-lyn".
It's not an easy neigbourhood, but you still have nice people, real families and love that climbs over and across every obstacle.
Captured by the Taliban, Melissa was "their guest"...in a hole in the ground (literally!) for 28 days. You eat there, you shit there, you sleep there, you piss there. You probably belive you'll die there, at some point. Imagine what that does to your psyche, your state of mind. Barely room to move and barely any fresh air. Never outside.
This one obviously written from one perspective, but Melissa doesn't deny that she, on occasion, can understand "the other side", too and for that, you have to give her immense kudos!!
If you only read one of the books here, this one should definitely be on your shortlist.
Stubborn, uneducated owners who won't listen to advice and who "know it all" despite multiple bankrupcies, driving the next one right into the ground at record speed. It's sadly comical and funny at the same time, but absolutely true and typical. A first-person look at the bowels of the industry.
This one is peddling back and forth between Denmark and Norway on the boats between there, and I know virtually every location the Norwegian author mentions, so this one is very easy to "connect with".
No scandals, no murders, no sex, no violence. Just a really nice life story that proves it doesn't have to be flashy and sensational to grab and hold your attention.
Beauty are in all the little things that surrounds us.
I just loved this book, because it was both funny, dramatic and intriguing. It goes something like this:
You can't trust those fucking nazi Germans in WW2. Everybody knows that.
But what the dumbass Krauts don't know, is that the baker is smarter than they are. A lot smarter.
After you killed her "sensei", you should be very careful what you eat now, 'cause she's got a bone to pick with you. And you know that baguette you bring Der Fuhrer? Well, if Der Fuhrer gets crap, you are in trouble, right?
Let the games begin. The life-or-death games. You win, you stay alive. You loose, you die.
Theo was supposedly one of the big ones. Theo retired. Theo needed money. Theo probably wanted a little more spotlight. Theo wrote a book...about his own life (mentioning a few others').
To me, it just confirmed everything that's rotten in hockey, and sure, years later, some girl was gang-raped by six players on the junior national team, and guess what? They were all acquitted, of course. Don't read this one unless you are a brainwashed hockey fan.
Billed as a debut novel, I would say it's more of a collection of short stories. Some really wonderful and others (like the London one) so boring I never got through that particular story. If Thailand is on the menu, who the hell wants to hear about phenomenally boring London?
But a good, solid "first kick at the can" (whether or not you like London). Really well written. I'm looking forward to his follow-up.
A wonderful Norwegian story about a family father who get's tired of the rat race ("people disgust me") and decides to disassociate from society, up on the local Oslo mountain. But becoming a hermit is not always as easy as it sounds. Or is it?
It think it hits so hard because "here's a guy who does what we're all dreaming of but don't have the courage to do, ourselves".
The book is a gorgeous epic about girl's quest for the truth, for knowledge, for answers.
Two of them were...not really that interesting, but the Japanese "way of the samurai" was fascinating in that it made me realize how much, say, the old British shit like "the knights of the round table" really had in common with old Samurai.
We think we have "come so far" but we really just re-invented the wheel, pending how you look at it and how you interpret the "progress" (regress?). One thing is for sure, though: We are a lot better than killing each other now, than we were back then. Progress or regress?
848 pages, with limited time to spare, so it took me a while to get through this one, but it opened up a whole new world to me, in spectacular fashion.
Based on ancient scriptures and the Viking's own oral tradition, this one will blow your mind, and it's not for the faint at heart or the sensitive personality. It's got everything in there, and it's real and true. Historically documented.
Sex, violence, gore, revenge, politics, bribery, blood...lots of blood...farming, legislative assemblies, more violence and on and on it goes. They knew how to party, the Vikings, and party hard.
It's a classic, a short read and if you have never picked up a book before, this is one of those you want to shart with.
It's about government surveilance of its citizens and it's gonna get under your skin. That's how it becomes a classic.
But his beautiful soul cast a dark shadow that got him in the end.
But thank you, Tony, for a a thrilling joy ride and I hope are at peace and found happiness, wherever you are now.
My man Farley!
My absoolutely favourite Canadian writer and anything he wrote I'd gobble up like a kid will pick up a candy, even if it's been on the floor.
It's hard to explain but I just love his style of story telling and often his stories are full of adventure, whether from the Arctic North or the Vikings brought it with them over on the boat to L'Anseau Meadows in Newfoundland.
The good stuff, any time you like. You just do a little bit at a time, as things start to ripen around you and before you can spell to "four seasons" in calendar style as opposed to Vivaldi style, you are well stocked up on everything you need.
It's a wonderful hobby to get into, that brings so much joy and satisfaction.
Put a little money and some effort into making good ones. A few kicks at the can and you will amaze yourself and everybody around you.
When you "fall off the horse" (and you will), get back on!
Silicone moulds are your answer. With silicone lids with a slit for that real wood stick. No more cheap and useless plastic shit.
Do it right or don't do it at all.
Dr. Oetker in the oven - or any of the hundreds of ther industrial garbage products known as IES (Industrial edible substances)? I wouldn't even feed them to my dog.
Just give me a small one - even a baby size...but give me high quality!!
Make it on the grill. Make it crunchy. And the dog cheese you find everywhere? Throw it out. Use a gorgonzola, globs of blue-cheese, and come up with something new and exciting...or count me out.
Knives! Love them. Addicted to them. Sharp ones. Really sharp ones. I love that element of fear and danger (to people who don't know what to do with a sharp knife or how to treat it).
I could do without the recipes in this book, but they don't take away from the fact that this is your knife bible!
Education is key and there's a lot of it in here. Absolutely anything you want to know about any type of knife is in here. And pssst! Don't tell anyone...but it's $ 5.00 in the $ store. Shop smart!
Little stories to go with a lot of really good, solid Canadian food from the land and from the sea. All three of them.
Ok, include what you can "pick out of the sky", too.
Build a house on a shitty foundation and it will crumble pretty soon and you will be exposed and a lousy construction worker.
But a beautiful book, very tastefully done and "surprise, surprise"; I like the photography within. A lot.
Any good book has/give you beautiful visuals, whether mental or physical.
You scream ice cream
Everybody scream ice cream
Kids scream ice cream
Adults scream ice cream
Ice cream screamt everywhere by everyone
Especially on a hot summer day
Sorbets, parfaits, gelatos, name your style
Everybody's screaming creaming
Fruity ones
Creamy ones
Boozy ones
You can even put your nuts in when screaming
Everybody scream ice cream
You know, when you are sitting there drooling on the pages like you did when you were 16 back in Dinkyville and you were flipping through the pages of the Playboy magazine you had gotten your hands on without your parents knowing it? Well, this was the same feeling.
It was absolutely wonderful. A total turn on.
"The essence of the leaf"...the essence...would nessescitate a a whole leaf in it's natural state, right?
I know; according to some Brits, I "turned to Satanism" when I picked becoming a hard-core, triple x coffee-holic over staying with my Taiwanese (FREE TAIWAN!) Oolongs that had shared top spot on my preferred beverage consumption list up until that point.
I love tea...but the photo on the sleeve could have been better chosen in this otherwise gorgeous book.
"Are you talking about your food or your Dad", I asked.
You know when you get those eyes...ya, those eyes...and not a word is being said, except for...the eyes?
Well, for a moment I thought she was going to blow chunks, hurl, barf, puke on her creme brulee.
"My creme brulee, Dad. My creme brulee".
But hey, it tastes good, right?
If you actually like this garbage, this book will certainly salivate your glands.
It has always blown my mind, not just with confitures, but with almost anything in food; we keep buying and eating the same boring and toxic industrial garbage, referred to as IES ("industrial edible substances" - not even food. An edible substance) all the time. Why? Don't you deserve better?
Become a foodie. Open your mind to a whole new galaxy of enjoyment and pleasure, flavour and textures. Make it yourself and you will get a phenomenal amount of pleasure, enjoyment, fulfillment and happiness out of it. Plus you will live longer.
If you are 19 and you are trying to get laid tonight, other than a few other items such as flowers, etc, what do you buy her?
Chocolate, of course. It's not a secret any longer. Hasn't been so for a few thousand years, since some Mayan or Inca dude figured out that if he did "this and that" to this little weird bean...he could potentially get laid tonight, somewhere down there in the Aztec empire.
Chocolate is an aphrodisiac. No two ways about it. Chocolate (good food in general) thrills her taste buds. Flowers thrills her nostrils and her cornea. Now you tell her the right words (in the right way and tone of voice). Then you gently touch her (in the right way and manner) and you got all five senses coverd. You got her!...But you it all starts with chocolate.
It's very..."gouts".
"Sehr gut" as they say in German.
Who knows, maybe the book is even publish by Gutenberg? Let me check that one out.
Anyway! Get creative with your cookies, dam it!
It's like the confitures just three picture above. Get out of the "toxic sludge" frame of mind. Make them yourself. Happiness is worth your time.
The strawberries, I mean. (Buy the book for her and she'll kick your ass because she thinks you expect her to cook for you. Learn to cook your friggin' self!!!).
Strawberries, a chocolate dip, a champagne...and then you make her a bubble bath.
She's gonna yank you into the tub with her before you get the chance to pop that pimple on your forehead.
I'll take the Thai girl. She's hot and spicy. The Greek is a little too greasy for me and I can only handle so many olives and so much feta. Or lamb. But not every friggin' meal.
Italy? Forget it! They think they invented the hot water. More olive oil (and semolina)? No thank you.
Spain? Ok, on weekends. No problem. I like a little "Spanish".
But really, really nice books, tho
Back in the days when my favourite was a Chilean Cabernet that my BC liquor store doesn't carry any longer.
"Ok, if I can't get the one I like, I'll just stop drinking wine alltogther, then". So I did and it's been water ever since (and coffee). It's Viking stubborness: "Can't get the girl I want, I don't want anyone at all. Period!".
But it's really quite a gorgeous, informative book, if you like a glass of wine and want to explore the world through wine.
But jokes aside, it's been the best 20 years (so far) of my life...and by the way, I'm no longer a Scandinavian guy. I'm all Canadian by now, and nothing else! It's just my DNA that takes me back to those old, loveable Vikings.
But it's a gorgeous book though, if you prefer to eat all the greens and veggies, spices and herbs that keeps the animals alive.
From a Viking point of view; if the animals are going to die anyway, one way or the other, why not eat them? Animals have been eating animals throughout six million years of evolution, so far. And for me? It's all about a balanced diet. But yes, a gorgeous book.
The good food, the good wine, the good cheeses, the good bread, etc. How do you make that, your way? What's the process and how do you define quality? And how do you quantify it? Can you upscale it or is that exactly where we're going wrong? Upscaling kills quality?
In short, people "in the know" share their knowledge, their passion, their tips. If you are a "comitted foodie" at any level, you want to read this one.
But don't worry. They're not going to kill the men, rape the woman and burn your villages...this time around.
It's much worse:
They're going to make better products than you. All your kimchi and all your other pickle-dickle fungi stuff? Outdated! Pasee! Klichee! Out with the old - in with the new! Your wife might like her new Viking in the kitchen.
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK
- you might actually learn something-
Reading this book could potentially hurt your ego and make you admit that you did not know everything, contrary to what you previously thought. You might have to admit that you are not nearly as smart as you like to believe.
Fuck Italian, too!
Fuck Greek!
And fuck Mexican, now we're at it.
Fuck German, Spanish & Portuguese!
Fuck them all, because you can get that shit anytime you like.
But have you ever heard of a Nordic cook book?
Exactly! Now you have.
You just have to free your mind (tall request, eh).
See the blue NOMA book, second from bottom.
The only bible you want.
The only bible that leaves you with a good taste in your mouth.
The only bible that people don't kill each other over.
The only bible healthy for both body and mind.
The only bible that makes sense.
The only bible that's easy to follow.
The only bible that bring people together.
The only bible that doesn't give a fuck what religion you are...if any.
The only bible...well, rooting for...all colours of the rainbow.
The only bible that doesn't discriminate.
The only bible that's not homophobic.
The only bible you can proudly display anywhere.
The only bible that makes everybody happy.
The only bible that's not overpriced propaganda.
The only bible you can drape in the rainbow flag and feel good about.
The only bible that goes well with bread and wine...or a cold beer.
The only bible that's good for all of humanity.
This is my kind of bible.
The bread machine, the e-reader, the fax machine...all dead and gone. Whatever the trend, real books will prevail. Forever!
When you get tired of shitty recipes on the internet - recipes that don't work and have never been tested...when you get tired of crap...you will come back to real books. And in this case, the photography will awe you.
Well, in this case, "shit" is whatever you can scavenge from the bottom of the forest when you are a hungry regugee without any food.
Now fast forward two decades and that same refugee (togher with a few likeminded) is running what has officially been crowned 'best restaurant in the world"...for multiple years in a row. And by now, customers book spots months in advance and pay huge prices...to "eat shit", scavenged from the forest, the ocean and the fields.
Meet NOMA, the restaurant in Copenhagen, and the regugee co-owner who started it all. And by the way, NOMA is a Scandinavian abbreviation of NOrdisk MAd (nordisk mad), which means Nordic Food. Free your mind...or stay home.
This is not your "Lindt Chocolate" or any other brand that likes to portray themselves as high class and quality and better than the crowd, an avant-gardist, a forerunner or anything thing else.
Compared to this stuff, all those previously mentioned ones are pathetic amateurs. They are the McDonald's of chocolate.
This is art. It's mind-blowing landscapes, rivers, oceans, sceneries, natural phenomena as you have never seen them before. Guaranteed! All sculpted in chocolate. And it's simply....Orgasmic!!!
good collection
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