I am fascinated by knots. I do knot know if it is the underlying math, the beauty in the geometry or their usefulness. While browsing our collection o...moreI am fascinated by knots. I do knot know if it is the underlying math, the beauty in the geometry or their usefulness. While browsing our collection of knot books I came across Decorative Knot Craft by Kim Sang Lang. One knot in particular jumped out at me, the Dragonfly Knot. My girlfriend, Anne, and I were going to be celebrating our second anniversary and I more often than knot make things for her on special occasions. I thought I would be able to incorporate that knot into another gift.
The book clearly illustrated the numerous steps with color photos. The use of multiple colored ropes in the photos helped a lot in figuring out which of the seemingly hundreds of strands (only two in reality) went where.
The head of the dragonfly called for a lotus knot, which I found difficult but still doable. Once I had it finished I decided the head was all wrong so I consulted The complete book of decorative knots, by Geoffrey Budworth to see if I could come up with something more aesthetically pleasing to me. Sadly, despite the nice illustrations, I fell short when trying to tie the Earth knot (or maybe it was the Saturn knot). I returned to the lotus knot and with a few slight modifications I was quite pleased with my end result.
The first line, "I opened my eyes to see the rat taking a piss in my coffee mug", sets the tone for this entire book. The humorously disturbing images...moreThe first line, "I opened my eyes to see the rat taking a piss in my coffee mug", sets the tone for this entire book. The humorously disturbing images contained within are not for children or those with weak constitutions.
That is in fact the basis of the story. Our Constitution has become weak and America is full of perverse degenerates. The heroin addicted Chief of Staff forces unlucky Private Investigator Mike McGill to search for the other Constitution, a secret document with 23 invisible amendments and bound in the skin of an extraterrestrial. The infrasonic sound generated by opening it forces your eyes to read it. To hear it read aloud would cause all listeners to revert to a 1950′s morality. Unfortunately, Nixon traded the book for favors from a woman in San Francisco and it has been lost since. McGill and his new assistant, Trixie, cross the country looking for the book and meeting previous owners, most of whom belong to sexual, criminal or surreal subcultures.
While not incredibly deep the book does have its thought provoking moments. If anyone with a computer can find vast amounts of information about these "deviants" how far away from the mainstream are they really? If the power exists to reset the country’s moral compass back to what the founding fathers had secretly intended, should it be used?
This is a must read for fans of Ellis’ prolific comic book output. If you like Chuck Palahniuk or Isaac Adams you should give this one a go. Just be prepared to laugh and be disturbed in equal amounts. --Todd
You are surrounded by space on all sides and immersed in time 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But, do you really understand it? Is it really 4-dimensio...moreYou are surrounded by space on all sides and immersed in time 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But, do you really understand it? Is it really 4-dimensional or merely our perception of an 11-dimensional reality? Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists, thinks that he knows and he explains it all to you. Using super-strings and M-theory, Greene tries to close the gap between quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Granted that probably is not very interesting for most people, but with wit and humor he is able to translate the mathematics and physics of the universe into analogies which are accessible by the layperson. --Todd
Have you ever wondered what happens to a body that is donated to science? Maybe it is better if you never have because the answer is as varied as it i...moreHave you ever wondered what happens to a body that is donated to science? Maybe it is better if you never have because the answer is as varied as it is surprising.
This is no doubt a difficult topic to deal with but in Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers, Mary Roach respectfully explains the many uses for human remains all the while bringing a sense of humor to it. Uses ranging from educating students in anatomy classes, to crash test dummies, to army ballistic testing, as well as some even less palatable, are covered. As gruesome as some of the uses are, research does save lives. For each cadaver used in airbag testing there are 147 lives saved. --Todd
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