Mark A. Rayner's Blog: Mark A. Rayner's Goodreads Blog, page 67

The Safety Word Is "Kaisershaft"

Mistress Plenty O’Taunt was the four-time winner of Dominatrix of the Year, given at the annual “Dommie” ceremony held the day after the Nobel Prizes. (Though only Sven Spankenborg sat on both the Nobel and Dommie committees.) Though known primarily … Continue reading →

Ask General Kang: Do you have infographics on your home world?

Do we? I have entire legion of hipster über-baboons devoted to cranking out these things on an hourly basis, clogging Neecknaw’s Datasphere with pretty misinformation. Before I recruited them for the Symbol Legion of Zoom, I found the über-baboons were … Continue reading →

The Phrase Freak: Moving Forward

This piece of hackery is most often heard in business settings, but I’m afraid it has even crept into the hallowed halls of academe, where one is as likely to hear Latin freakery such as sui generis. It tends to … Continue reading →

Ask General Kang: What musical instrument should I learn?

I think it depends a bit on where your talents lie. For example, can you carry a tune? Then maybe a kazoo. Or even a harmonica if you’ve got some talent. If you have less musical aptitude, perhaps you should … Continue reading →

Ender’s Game

This is a fun and page-turning read about eugenics, institutionalized child abuse, and interstellar genocide. Humanity is at war with a distance race of aliens (called “Buggers”) and for some reason, the adults are unable to discover the best way … Continue reading →

Ask General Kang: I can’t stop playing Civilization V. Can you help?

Hmm. Do you have access to an intergalactic armada and enough firepower to conquer another world? If so, then I think I can help you, but I’ll need to borrow them first. If not, then you’re screwed. Everybody knows that … Continue reading →

The Stranger (The Outsider)

I read this originally in French class, sometime during my high school career. (Where I was a music nerd, and a hard-core nerd, long before that was remotely cool.) Most of this famous existential work was read aloud in class, … Continue reading →

Ask General Kang: Is it technically cannibalism if all you eat is a pinkie?

First of all, check the finger carefully. If it’s not a pinkie from the same species, then you’re probably okay. I was once really freaked out by Colonel (now Major) Bonzo and his wife had me over for a “special” … Continue reading →

The Catcher in the Rye

In 1950, J.D. Salinger was hired by the New York City Tourist Bureau to write a jazzy and young novel about the city that never sleeps, in hopes of increasing general awareness about the city, and why it was such … Continue reading →

The Levels of Drinking Consciousness: A Unified Theory

My friends and I have developed a systematic description of alcohol’s effect on human consciousness quite tirelessly over the years, beginning sometime in 1987, right up until the point when we realized it was killing us. Basically, the idea is … Continue reading →