I enjoyed reading this article today by Fidel Castro where he challenges claims made by American Presidential nominee John McCain that he was tortured by Cubans in Vietnam. One of the things I admire about Fidel is his ability to communicate history and to explain political matters. We can all only hope to be this erudite and passionate when in our 80’s.
I was having coffee with TPN host Nick Bruse this morning before he and his partner leave tomorrow to travel around South America for six months (anyone want to take over the Cleantech Show on TPN? Ping me). We were talking about the application of nanotechnology to building a cleaner world and I asked Nick if he’d every read K. Eric Drexler’s classic “Engines Of Creation”. He said he hadn’t and told me I should post my library up online. It got me thinking…
As I’m once again packing up my book collection into boxes, I thought it was a good time to make a database of the books I’ve got. Bronwen pointed me to this online tool called Shelfari which is pretty bloody good. You enter the title or author of the book and it searches a database and presents you with some options. You click on the “Add To My Bookshelf” button and search for the next book. You can share your collection with others and they have blog widgets, etc. Very nicely done!
When I was about 19 I met a self-made millionaire called Peter Daniels. He gave me this piece of advice: “Spend 10% of your income on your brain for the rest of your life.” Astoundingly simple but how many of us do that? Do you get that message drilled into you from the media, the government, the education system, the church? It’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received.
Tonight, as I peruse through my library, I have such fond memories of so many of these titles. I could probably tell you what lesson I learned from each one. Every book I’ve kept holds a special place in my library and in my life.
If you are what you read, then the below widget contains my brain. I am just starting to add them – check back over the next week to see my entire library.
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It’s been a while since we’ve launched a new show on TPN so I’m excited to announce The Biography Show starts today! David Markham and I have enjoyed some great feedback from the audience of our Napoleon 101 podcast, so we’re doing another series together. The idea behind The Biography Show is to examine the lives of some of history’s most influential people. We kick off the series with a 90 minute talk about the life of Alexander III of Macedon, otherwise known as Alexander “The Great”.
After the International Napoleonic Society conference that’s being held in Corsica in July, I intend on spending a few days in Paris (July 12 – 15). If anyone out there has recommendations on affordable accommodation, please let me know. 🙂
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Should the USA swap their current foreign policy training film, “Apocalypse Now”, for an earlier Coppola film, “The Godfather Part II”?
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