Just Chillin': November 2011

15 November 2011

Putting Things in Perspective

Just putting things in perspective....some words from Bill Gates to members of the Harvard community:

"I hope you will reflect on what you’ve done with your talent and energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you work to address the world’s deepest inequities, on how well you treat people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity."

I might add: ....and not just how well you treat people a world away, but also within your immediate environment. Hehe!

Referenced from a Businesweek article online about 'idolizing' Bill Gates instead of Steve Jobs, a good read: http://www.businessweek.com/management/idolize-bill-gates-not-steve-jobs-11012011.html

07 November 2011

Skip This Book

Have you ever bought or read a certain sci-fi/thriller/suspense book and wished you hadn't done either? That it was just hype and that it didn't live up to it? Well, I just recently did and hope others would steer clear of this book -- The Passage by Justin Cronin. You can perhaps borrow it, but I wouldn't recommend buying it.

The story seemed too long or prolonged. It read like one long, winding and somewhat badly edited movie with no clear direction.

I can't believe I actually finished reading it. Lol. The first part seemed okay. However, I was expecting an ending, like a loose ends tied ending. But didn't get it. Why? 'Cause turns out the book is the first of a trilogy.

And then I find out eventually that the author collaborated with Ridley Scott, and that it's the first novel out of a supposed trilogy. No wonder then. It was deliberately written with the possibility of having it made into a movie/s. Talk about hype and commercialization.

You can bet am not gonna bother with the sequels. And I say this right after I finished reading it and put down the book, and without having known at the time that it's the first of a trilogy or that it's a collaboration with Ridley Scott.

Oh well.

02 November 2011

Good Read

That's the cover of the non-fiction novel Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. It's the author's personal account of a tragic climb by a few groups of climbers to the summit of Everest on May 10, 1996, where, by the end, at least 8 people died. And the author was one of the survivors.

my shot of the outside of Mandala Book Shop

I bought the book at the Mandala Book Shop in Pokhara in Nepal prior to our trek, but only got to read it about two months later. This version is the British publication of the non-fiction, by the publishing house MacMillan. There's a newer version printed in the U.S., with more photos.

I just finished reading the book last night. And man, what a read. Had a hard time putting the book down. Some passages also are kind of creepy --