Posted in
Books on 04/07/2008
Posted in
Books on 19/03/2008
There’s something bugging me. When I started subscribing to Audible three months ago, I noticed that my search field for books greatly diminishes when I’m logged in. For instance, when I do a search for Neil Gaiman on Audible without signing in, I get a good size of his past works including Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, “M” is for Magic, and Fragile Things. Oh Fragile Things - this is what started it all. I logged into my account thinking I could buy the audio which was one of his great compilations of short stories (sort of like Smoke and Mirrors) and … and … the book just disappears! Is Fragile Things channeling David Blaine?! It sucks even more that this book is read by Neil Gaiman himself and I can’t download it!
I emailed Audible.com and this is the answer I got:
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Posted in
Books on 10/03/2008
I tried to make it a habit to post my monthly audiobook download. So far I’ve recommended three titles (Stephen Colbert’s I Am America and So Can You, Bob Newhart’s I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This, and the dramatization of Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls) in this blog and I by far have accumulated two more credits in the last two months, including this March.
The problem dear reader is that I’ve come to realize that there are some books that are well represented in audio whilst other should be read under the leisure of coffee and a rocking chair (or something that simulates the sensory experience of the latter endeavor). I have not mustered the guts to download, say, the audio version of Shadowdivers as it spans more than ten hours worth of audio and I’ll probably be burnt out long before my iPod battery runs out. But then again I could be wrong.
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Congratulations to Yapi for her winning entry to RJ Ledesma’s book launch contest! She wins a free copy of RJ’s new book, ‘Lies My Yaya Should Have Told Me.’ Since Yapi is currently in China I received the prize on her behalf and will figure out a way to get it to her.
If I don’t follow what my yaya says, her evil twin will come and kill me. And when I don’t listen, she will hide, then re-emerge with an evil look on her face, and say, “Sabi ng kapatid ko may masamang bata daw dito.” [winning entry]
Eli, Yapi’s sister has written a little something about Yaya Remy because of this recent win:
Yaya Remy came to us when Yapi was four years old. She was primarily assigned to take care of Yapi, and like all children of a certain age, Yapi took to her like the proverbial moth to a flame. You may even say that Yaya Remy was one of the most influential people in Yapi’s early childhood development. Hence. If you know my sister, that statement could be very significant to understanding her.
Yaya Remy was heavily into showbiz and she poured all her frustrations on the two girls. An avid Eat Bulaga fan, she once entered Yapi into Little Miss Philippines lip-synching “Somewhere Out There” (yes, beneath the pale moon light). Yes. Yapi the Goth was once a candidate for Little Miss Philippines. I’m sure there are less horrifying things in the world. [read the rest of the story here]
I was having another one of those chats with RJ Ledesma so he could give me a free copy of his new book. He was promoting his new book which will officially be launched in February 7 2008 at 6:00 PM National Bookstore at Rockwell with special guest readings by Tim Tayag, Mo Twister, Giselle Sanchez, Jojo Alejar and Gary Lising.
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Comedy has always fascinated me as a difficult to execute art. It’s hard to be funny, and I guess comedy is one of those things which you classify under tautological virtues (like humility for instance - the moment you say that you’re humble, you’re missing the point). So listening to people who are naturally funny tends to be a deconstructive experience for me as I try to figure out why so and so Joe entertains me, whereas if someone else said the exact same thing, it wouldn’t even spark a smirk.
So I just finished listening to Bob Newhart’s ‘I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This’, a semi-autobiography of the guy best known for his self-titled sitcom ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ back in the day.
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Sweeney Todd, the “Demon Barber” is a fictional serial killer of Jack the Ripper legend. I managed to find the audio book on Audible. The selection is a good listen as it isn’t really an audio book but a full radio drama of BBC “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe” depth. The book is available for about USD $13.00.
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So I started Christmas shopping last week.
It’s a misnomer that geeks seems to always want gadgets, peripherals for their computers. If someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I’d make it convenient for him or her to choose from the following gift ideas. Note that I have attached a PayPal button below in case you feel generous 
Yay! PayPal Donate a Gift:
Read on for some great gift ideas for your geeky friends and maybe even for me
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I have always argued that Neil Gaiman is more than just a writer. He’s a story teller. There are some writers, who, when you listen to them speak, sound as if they are speaking in prose. The sentences they construct are uttered with a cadence that makes you stop to listen to every word as he effortlessly highlights his point with stops, intonation and the perfect choice of words.
Mr. Gaiman tells how Philippine literature is rich in realism, yet not so in unrealism as, according to him, we have the richest culture in the world. He didn’t say one of the richest. He said we are the richest. Don’t you wonder?
P.S. Perhaps you’ve already heard about it, but during the 2007 Ad Congress, Neil Gaiman served as pastor to two bronze award winners. The tale is recounted here for the guy and here for the girl. Neil writes about it here. Sadly, I was not able to make it to the ad congress, but I did catch him at Fully Booked, where he recounted the tale.
That night, Microsoft hosted a small dinner in New York for a group of journalists, a prelude to its launch of Windows XP the next day. I have lots of experience talking to Bill Gates and do not break into tears when he yells, “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard!” so the Microsoft PR team seated me next to the chairman.
I brought along my new iPod. At the end of the meal, just as the other guests at the table were pushing away their chairs, I pulled out the iPod and put it in front of Gates.
“Have you seen this yet?” I asked.
Gates went into a zone that recalls those science fiction films where a space alien, confronted with a novel object, creates some sort of force tunnel between him and the object, allowing him to suck directly into his brain all possible information about it. Gates’ fingers, racing at Nascar speed, played over the scroll wheel and pushed every button combination, while his eyes stared fixedly at the screen. I could almost hear the giant sucking sound. Finally, after he had absorbed every nuance of the device, he handed it back to me.
“It looks like a great product,” he said. [excerpt from WIRED]
I was looking for another great book to read. Adel Gabot swooped by the desk I was working on a few days ago and flashed Steven Levy’s The Perfect Thing across the room.
“Great book!” he said. “Makes for a good podcast.” Thanks for the recommendation, Adel.
The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness talks about the iPod phenomenon - what does it take to turn a piece of hardware into an icon? As a consumer who is very discerning .. well, let’s just say it as it is - vain about his taste in technology, I’m particularly fascinated with how tech zealots and tech curmudgeons are born into this world. It is icons of tech pop culture such as the iPod that fuels these kinds of people. The book is available at Fully Booked BHS for around P550.00. I tried looking for this title in PowerBooks Greenbelt beforehand but was sadly out.
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