A Stitch in Haste

Galt's Trench?

Kip — 2007-09-02T20:09+00:00

I've been asked by two separate readers now whether I saw the Wired story suggesting that a new shooter game for the Xbox 360, Bioshock, is inspired by Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged and whether I have played the game or intend to.

The answers are "yes," "no" and "yes," respectively.

This trailer does not strike me as particularly Randian:

But this review does:

The fictional creator of the Bioshock city ("Rapture") is named Andrew Ryan — a little anagrammatic fun there? The main character's helper, who guides him by radio, is named "Atlas."

But if the underwater "Galt's Gulch" was a failure (which it clearly was), then how pro-Rand can it be?

More:

He's a man of bottomless ambition who built a city under the sea, obsessed with the idea of what makes a man, what differentiates a man from a slave. He's the Randian hero, a man who holds his own creative vision above all else, and he's [Crime and Punishment's] Rodion Raskolnikov's exceptional person, someone who can be excused for committing crimes to achieve a noble goal, or at least with noble intentions — and he knows it. His vision, Rapture, is clearly a colossal failure. The driving force behind the game is your quest to discover why this man's alluring vision of an artistic utopia failed so completely and why you've stumbled upon it.

Sound's more like Krugmanesque socialized medicine than Galt's Gulch.

I will buy the game after my upcoming vacation, not out of any Randian obsession but simply because first-person shooters are the only Xbox game I ever play, and new releases are few and far between.

So I will report back once I figure out just how Randian this game really is.

Anyone who has already played the game, feel free to weigh in.

"Netflix Recommendation Algorithm" Quote of the Day

Kip — 2007-03-24T14:03+00:00

"Because you enjoyed The Fountainhead, we believe you'll enjoy The Gay Divorcee."

Discuss. Pun, sarcasm, innuendo and double entendre are all highly encouraged! (As is more analytical, "What the heck was Netflix thinking?" commentary.)

FUN FACT: "The Gay Divorcee" was adapted from the play "The Gay Divorce." The newly appointed censors at the Hays Office (which also gave us the current Sidebar Sidetrack), insisted on the title change. But keep in mind that "gay" had nothing to do with "homosexual" back in the 1930s.

---

If you'd like to add me to your Netflix Friends list, click here.

---

Inside the Vault: Visual DNA

Kip — 2007-03-16T13:03+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

A fun test to take:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

You're supposed to add little explanatory blurbs to each picture explaining why you selected it. But ~~that's too psychoanalytical for me~~ I don't have time.

Notice how many of my selections are on the "least picked" end of the spectrum. Yet more evidence that I'm ~~doomed to a life of solitude~~ an intriguing individual.

(Via a fun blog to read.)

---

My hiatus should end tomorrow. But a storm's brewing, so maybe not. Think there are any gay bars at the Raleigh-Durham airport, in case my connecting flight gets canceled?

Inside the Vault: I Don't Feel Like Dancin'

Kip — 2007-03-11T15:03+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

To review: I had invited readers to select one album from among five that the iTunes Music Store had suggested I might like based on recent purchases.

The results were decisive: Ta-Dah, by Scissor Sisters, garnered a clear majority of the votes cast.

That gave me some pause, to be sure. I had barely heard of Scissor Sisters, really just from a Saturday Night Live episode that I slept through. And any group whose members have names like "Ana Matronic" (get it?) and "BabyDaddy" (any relation to Puff?) would, ceteris paribus, not rank high on my "need to check out" list.

On the other hand, becoming a Scissor Sisters fan might score me some serious points with the cool kids, such as Dustin, Jeremiah, Billy, brief boy and mak.

So, true to my word, I downloaded the album and listened to every song twice. And I am now ready to offer my review:

What the heck were you people thinking?!?
As the first song, "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'," began to play, my first thought was that I had ordered a Bee Gees album by mistake. The falsetto of lead singer Jake Shears is headache-inducing. Elton John played piano in the song — apparently with his feet. The track sounds like Ben Folds sucking helium (or played on 78 rather than 45). Even the video looks like a deleted scene from Saturday Night Fever, complete with cheesy video game sound effects.

Most of the album is more of the same. I liked two songs: "Land of a Thousand Words" and "Paul McCartney" — both get Four Stars (a track must earn three or more stars to survive my Smart Playlists). No Five Stars; "Intermission" earned One Star (an accomplishment in and of itself; I rarely give One Star); "She's My Man," "I Can't Decide," "Kiss You Off" and "Ooh" all scratched out Two Stars; the remaining songs all earned a (Gentleman's) Three Stars.

Damn my subjective tastes and preferences, which seem destined to condemn me to outcast status when it comes to the "gay subculture." Oh well, at least I tried...

---

To go off on a tangent: I never feel like dancin'. Never. I simply don't dance. You can fill me full of beer and spike the last one with a hit of ecstacy and still not get me on the dance floor. And there's a reason. But that's another blogpost.

Inside the Vault: Four Answers and a Lie

Kip — 2007-03-10T14:03+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

To review:

The idea is to list five things about yourself. Four of them are true, one is a lie. Can you guess which one of the following statements about me is false?

So, which is the lie?

1. I incessantly talk to myself.

True. I grew up in a remote rural neighborhood where not only were there no kids my age, but also few kids period. And both my parents worked, and there was no instant messaging or anything like that to stay in touch with schoolmates, so I became a somewhat reclusive latch-key kid and got so bored that at some point I just started talking to myself. Not to an imaginary friend, but more like to a documentary camera. I just never shook the habit. Which is perhaps why blogging seems so natural to me.

2. I once fell out of a moving car.

True. I was about seven, riding in the front seat (kids did that back then) and as my mother was slowly negotiating a S-curve she hit a bump while my hand must have been on the door handle. I don't recall actually ejecting from the car, but I distinctly remember rolling head-over-heels to the curb. No serious injuries, but I was kept in the hospital overnight for observation (my only inpatient experience, incidentally).

3. The one candidate for president I ever wholeheartedly supported was a Democrat.

True. Notice I said "wholeheartedly supported" and not "voted for." That was because I was only 16 at the time, and I absolutely adored, as an optimistic 16-year old moderate might, Ohio Senator — and national hero — John Glenn, who was (briefly) a candidate for the 1984 Democratic nomination. I was no fan of Ronald Reagan, and Glenn seemed to have the best chance to defeat his re-election bid. In my current regeneration, I would also say that, if there ever was a national politician who indeed strove to be a "dedicated public servant," and was not a moral defective, it was Glenn. On the other hand, as Judge Judy would say: I wasn't fully cooked back then.

4. I get hopelessly seasick.

This is the lie. I've even gone sailing — in a race no less! It was a weekly event that a fraternity brother was a team member on. The teams could be either four or five members, so I tagged along once as a fifth wheel. The captain was very good at translating sailing terminology into English. For example, "When I say pull that rope, pull that rope!" (Not to mention, "When I say duck, you better damn well duck!") I also love taking ferry rides as quasi-scenic tours (e.g., from San Francisco to Sausalito). And I always treat friends visiting New York for the first time to a ride on the Circle Line. As for the lack of "maritime destinations," my next vacation, in less than a month, is to Barcelona (no sailing though). Want to come with me?

5. I share a certain fetish with (at least) two bloggers on my blogroll.

True. And that's all I'm saying on the subject. But if you're on my blogroll and you've mentioned a fetish, maybe now you have something to think about...

About 40% of you guessed correctly. Congratulations.

Inside the Vault: The Queen v. The King

Kip — 2007-03-04T12:03+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

I was mildly giddy to learn that Helen Mirren won the Academy Award for Best Actress in The Queen.

Not because I was particularly entranced by The Queen, although I did enjoy it very much. Rather, I rooted for Mirren because she was also a star in my absolute most favorite movie ever: Excalibur. She plays the main antagonist: the necromancer, Morgana of Cornwall — Arthur's half-sister, Merlin's arch-enemy, underminer of the harmony of Camelot and all-around bitch.

Here is one of Mirren's major scenes, which is also one of my favorites. Long before there was Anakin and Obi-Wan, there was Morgana and Merlin:

FUN FACT: At the time that Excalibur was being developed and cast, Helen Mirren and Nicol Williamson, who played Merlin, were quite open about the fact that they loathed each other. Each insisted that they would not accept their respective parts if the other did. The movie's producer-director, John Boorman, reminded them both that their characters were enemies too, and that it might be an interesting theatrical experience for enemies to be playing enemies. They both concurred and accepted their parts.

---

Someday I'll tell you my second favorite movie. Here's a quote — no Googling and no spoilers in the comments please:

They who think me hostile, obstinate or misanthropic — how unjust they are to me. For they do not know the secret reason I appear that way.

I can relate to that.

Inside the Vault: Four Truths and a Lie

Kip — 2007-03-03T14:03+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

I always insist that I'm not one for memes, but every so often I read one that is intriguing.

In this case, it's a fun quiz that I first saw at Southern Expressions and then actorschmactor:

The idea is to list five things about yourself. Four of them are true, one is a lie. Can you guess which one of the following statements about me [is] false?

I'm going to add a twist: a statement after each option that is either a hint or a curve ball. Half-truths inside straw men wrapped in red herrings — I'm practically a politician!

So, which is the lie?

1. I incessantly talk to myself.
--Maybe that "Torch Song Trilogy" quote in the left sidebar has a deeper meaning to me.

2. I once fell out of a moving car.
--Doesn't everyone?

3. The one candidate for president I ever wholeheartedly supported was a Democrat.
--Not a trick option: I did once wholeheartedly support a presidential candidate, but was he a Democrat?

4. I get hopelessly seasick.
--Note that none of my recent vacation destinations are "maritime" in nature.

5. I share a certain fetish with (at least) two bloggers on my blogroll.
--I didn't say "sexual fetish" and I didn't say "gay bloggers." That's a mighty wide net. Or perhaps I'm just too uptight to admit that I share a certain sexual fetish with (at least) two gay bloggers on my blogroll.

The correct answer will be posted next weekend.

NOTE: It's possible that a few long-time readers may know with absolute certainty that a particular choice is or is not correct. If so, please don't comment about it — just vote in the poll.

Inside the Vault: Show Tunes!

Kip — 2007-02-19T13:02+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

Gays and show tunes. Is there a more ubiquitous stereotype?

We gays love our show tunes. We would rather listen to a classic show tune than a current radio hit.‡ Even the most ~~effeminate~~ restrained gay male will punch you in the face if you confuse the terms "soundtrack" and "cast recording."

Or so the preconception (prejudice?) goes.

Me — not so much. When I hear the term "show tunes" I am far more likely to think of John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and Miklós Rózsa than Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers or Frederick Loewe

Still, I go to shows, and sometimes I even buy the ~~soundtrack~~ original cast recording. And in a few cases I own the ~~original cast recording~~ soundtrack, via a video or DVD of the movie version.

Here's the totality of my library of musicals — it's not much. I include my favorite song from each.

Camelot
--Guenevere

Fiddler on the Roof
--Do You Love Me?

Les Miserables
--On My Own

Man of La Mancha
--To Each His Dulcinea

Oliver! (DVD)
--Who Will Buy?

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
--Blame Canada

The Lion King
--Be Prepared

The Phantom of the Opera
--The Music of the Night

The Sound of Music (DVD)
--The Lonely Goatherd

Titanic: The Musical
--Lady's Maid

West Side Story (DVD)
--America

Wicked
--Defying Gravity

And that's it. Is my collection so pathetic that I lose my Gay Card?

(Inspired by completely unrelated blogposts from Marginal Revolution and Matterdays.)

EPILOGUE #1: I had written this post and then filed it away for the weekend. When I revisited it, I realized that these songs can, with one exception, be grouped into three distinct categories --

1. The gulf between "the law" and "justice." (Guenevere, Be Prepared, Blame Canada, Defying Gravity ... and a runner-up: Javert's Suicide.)

2. The lonely (and futile?) quest for true love. (On My Own, Do You Love Me?, To Each His Dulcinea, The Music of the Night.)

3. Capitalism and the American Dream. (Who Will Buy?, Lady's Maid, America ... and a runner-up: If I Were a Rich Man.)

("The Lonely Goatherd" is definitely NOTA — it's just a fun song.)

Psychoanalyze away...

EPILOGUE #2: Well if you insist, yes I will name my number one most favoritest show tune ever:

Maybe I am gay after all.

Besides the market-based theme of "Who Will Buy? is the purity of Oliver's joy at the scene swirling beneath him. Young and innocent, high above and enjoying it all, oblivious to all the Bill Sykes of the world eager to do him harm. I haven't felt that way in a long time.

(Runner up is "To Each His Dulcinea.")

For Discussion: What are your favorite show tunes?

---

‡Unless of course it's Scissor Sisters. Some stereotypes are less false than others, it seems.

Inside the Vault: Faith, Hope and ...

Kip — 2007-02-17T14:02+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

It's the time of the year when I make my regular charitable donations. So I want to take a moment to try to persuade you to adopt my subjective tastes and preferences as your own:

Lambda Legal: The heroes who brought us Lawrence v. Texas. While they haven't been as successful recently, suffering a frustrating and befuddling same-sex marriage defeat in New York and then again in Washington State, these "activist" attorneys also fight on many other fronts, including immigration rights, gay-straight alliances in schools, workplace discrimination, custody and visitation rights, and of course HIV-related legal issues. They are strictly non-partisan and apolitical; they prefer the courthouse over the state house — an important consideration for a gay libertarian like me.

Point Foundation: As someone who is arguably "overeducated," is it any wonder that the Point Foundation is far and away my favorite charity? It gives scholarships not to gay students in general, but specifically to those who have be disowned by their families or have otherwise suffered challenges above and beyond merely "being gay." Whenever I get depressed about the state of the world, I read about the Point Scholars and I'm not so depressed anymore.

ASPCA: No dollar amount could ever fully repay the debt I owe these wonderful people for bringing Diamond into my life.

NEW ENTRY: Matt Hill Comer is a young yet amazingly high-profile gay activist in North Carolina who is participating in the Soulforce Equality Ride, in which young people visit colleges that have a reputation for being less-than-welcoming to gays (e.g., Bob Jones University, Brigham Young). Their goal is simple: to introduce themselves to students (who are often the victims of sheltered lives and anti-gay indoctrination) and demonstrate that gays are not "freaks" and have no "agenda" beyond equal treatment and basic human dignity. There are many Soulforce riders; I happen to be sponsoring Comer. Find a rider who especially impresses you and sponsor him or her.

And thanks as always to my ~~greedy~~ Swiss bank employer for matching, dollar for dollar, charitable donations by employees.

For Discussion: Where do your charitable dollars and hours go?

Inside the Vault TARDIS: Doctor Who's Who

Kip — 2007-02-03T15:02+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

Larry reminds me that it's time for a Doctor Who update.

The second season (or "series," as they say in Britain) was recently released, and while Christopher Eccleston deserves thanks and praise for successfully resuscitating the hibernating Time Lord, and while all tastes and preference are subjective, one simply cannot deny that David Tennant rocks!

Kip's favorite Doctors, in order:

1. David Tennant
2. Tom Baker
3. Peter Davison
4. Christopher Eccleston
5. William Hartnell
6. Jon Pertwee
7. Patrick Troughton
8. Sylvester McCoy
9. Colin Baker

Not Rated: Paul McGann, Richard Hurndall, Peter Cushing.

---

Diamond, meanwhile, was all giddy over the return of K-9 (a/k/a "the shooty dog-thing"):

---

Meanwhile:

TV shows like Doctor Who are expected to be available for download later this year after the BBC Trust gave initial approval to the BBC's on-demand plans.

Under the proposals, viewers will be able to watch popular programmes online or download them to a home computer up to a week after they are broadcast.
...
Full approval of the on-demand plans will follow a two month consultation. After that, the BBC will be able to launch its long-awaited iPlayer, a computer application which allows audiences to watch or download any programme from the last seven days.

You now have no excuse: Netflix, SciFi, Amazon or the BBC "iPlayer" ("iWho"?). So just watch it already!

---

They're sold out!

The Doctor Who Tardis USB Hub boasts four ports in which to plug your various gizmos. Simply plug in and you’re away. But here’s the good bit: every time you connect or disconnect a device, the blue light on the top of the Tardis flashes and that unmistakable de-materialisation ‘vworp, vworp’ sound starts sawing away at your lugholes. Thankfully it doesn’t actually vanish into the time vortex, so you can enjoy the classic grating din again and again by plugging in more devices or pressing the demo button.

Eh, it was an obsolete Type 40 model anyway.

---

LATE ADDITION: Courtesy of Boing Boing —

Inside the Vault: "You're Smarter Than iTunes" Poll of the Day

Kip — 2007-01-28T14:01+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

I recently bought the following albums in one fell swoop from the iTunes Music Store:

Asia: The Definitive Collection

Carbon Leaf: Indian Summer

Daniel Powter: Daniel Powter

Eurythmics: Ultimate Collection

Five for Fighting: Two Lights

Pilot Speed: Into the West

Quietdrive: When All That's Left is You

Zack Hexum: The Story So Far...

iTunes made some "Recommendations Based on My Cart," none of which are familiar to me. So I'll leave it up to you. Whichever one wins the poll, I'll buy — no questions asked.

You can also cast a write-in vote in the comments.

West Palm Beach Poll of the Day (Closed)

Kip — 2007-01-16T14:01+00:00

Five guys, five different drinks, one gay.

Reinforce, or smash, the stereotype:

UPDATE: The correct answer was, of course, "Amstel Light." What were the rest of you thinking? ;-)

Forty

Kip — 2006-11-16T12:11+00:00

I wish I had a deep philosophical essay to share with you about turning forty. But I don't.

At first I thought maybe I'd chronicle where I was — geographically, professionally and emotionally — at other milestone ages, such as 18, 21 aqnd 30. But I think that would have bored you.

The one thing that keeps going around and around in my head is that all the incredible positives in my life — finances, dog, blog, location, family, health, etc. — are offset not by negatives, but by zeroes — no boyfriend, no real clique, no prospects for further advancement in my job, no real adventures other than my travels. This remarkably comfortable life I lead — is basically it.

And what scares my is that none of that scares me. Sometimes I think that it should.

When I read other people's blogs — especially the personal blogs and double-especially the gay personal blogs — stuff actually happens to them: they move, they get new jobs, they write dissertations, they come out of the closet, they have broken bones, they have broken hearts. Exciting stuff like that.

While I sit back, give my dog a belly rub and watch my bank account and my blog readership grow.

One of the great rules of Wall Street is the old saying, "You can eat well, or you can sleep well, but not both." Except me — I do both pretty well. But I do both alone. Oh well...

And again, I don't feel depressed about this — I feel befuddled that I don't feel depressed about this. It's like I felt twenty years ago: "I think I'm supposed to have started liking girls by now..." Instead, it's "I think I'm supposed to have had a mid-life crisis by now."

Do the bigots have a reparative therapy for that? ;-)

---

Did I say that I sleep alone? Never mind.

(Comments are closed for this post.)

Inside the Vault: Birthday Week

Kip — 2006-11-11T19:11+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

I should have pointed this out earlier, but starting yesterday I'm engaged in a weeklong celebration of my fortieth birthday this coming Thursday.

Last night a friend and I saw Wicked and drank into the night and ~~recuperated~~ brunched into the morning. Hence the absence of posting.

This Wednesday I'll be at Foxwoods (alone, alas — care to join me?) for three days. So the light blogging will continue until next weekend.

Enjoy your week everyone — I certainly will!

P.S. Sunday is also Diamond's fifth birthday!

On My New-Found Appreciation for Irish Dirt

Kip — 2006-10-29T03:10+00:00

In this post, I shared with you one of my two favorite Irish drinking songs (yes, I have favorite Irish drinking songs, and I'm not even Irish), "Staten Island," and suggested that maybe, someday, I would post the lyrics to my other favorite, "The Streets of New York" (also called "Uncle Benji").

Well, today is not that day.

But I will share two verses with you:

I sold up for the old farmyard
For what it was worth,
And into my bag
Stuck a handful of earth.

Then I boarded a train,
And I caught me a plane,
And I found myself back
In the U.S. again.

Well, I think I have discovered a new underlying meaning to those lyrics:

Two Irishmen have set up a business selling dirt to nostalgic Irish Americans who want a handful of "the mother country" on their graves.

Pat Burke, 27, and Alan Jenkins, 65, have just shipped their first $1 million load of "official" Irish soil to New York -- at $15 per 340 gram bag -- and confidently expect it will be followed by many more.

"The demand has been absolutely phenomenal," Burke, an agricultural scientist from County Tipperary, said on Friday.

So it seems that, when our storyteller says he "stuck a handful of earth" into his bag, it was for his eventual funeral, since he knew that he would never be returning to Ireland. Suddenly that verse has a far more powerful meaning. Go figure.

(Via Market Power.)

---

One of my favorite bloggers, Larry the Love Lemming, recently sold up his old farmyard for what it was worth. Somehow I doubt he took any dirt with him. Read about his new adventures in ~~The Big City~~ Portland, Maine.

Open Thread: Which Game to Buy?

Kip — 2006-10-26T16:10+00:00

Having achieved all I'm likely to in "LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy," it is time for another Xbox 360 game.

We Xbox, you decide:

F.E.A.R.:

I tried the demo and the game reminds me an awful lot of "Condemned: Criminal Origins," which was interesting but very slow with a completely unresolved ending. Should I give this FPS sub-genre a second chance?

The Godfather:

This reminds me of "Hitman: Blood Money," which totally sucked. It also seems that "The Godfather" is mostly an "open-world" game rather than the linear progression that I prefer. Still, it is The Godfather (albeit without Al Pacino), so how can I refuse?

Cast your vote in the comments, along with any reviews of other games you'd like to share.

Inside the Vault: Beer Day!

Kip — 2006-10-21T11:10+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

In recognition of my attendance at Brewtopia, I am declaring today "Beer Day" here at A Stitch in Haste:

This is just a sample — beer glasses and steins are ubiquitous in my apartment...

...as is beer.

Actually these are the beers I don't drink. I was briefly subscribed to a "beer of the month club," but all they kept sending me were pale ales, porters and — blech — oatmeal stouts. Beer is water, barley (malt), hops and yeast. No more, no less.

I especially enjoy mocking people who think they're sophisticated by drinking wheat beer. Utter nonsense. Wheat beer (Weißbier) in Germany is generally like malt liquor in America: the cheap stuff, the crap that only kids and the homeless drink.

In any case, if any of these look appealing, then come on over and help yourself.

You of course know what I like:

But I'm out of Pilsner, so I have to turn to my emergency backup beer:

Other favorites are Heineken, Peroni, Spaten, MGD (but only when I'm playing blackjack in Vegas) and, of course, Guinness (but only draught).

More beer posting later.

For Discussion: What are your favorite brands of beer?

Inside the Vault: This Month's Xbox 360 Game

Kip — 2006-09-16T11:09+00:00

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

---

This is wrong on so many levels:

Still, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is getting pretty rave reviews, so I'll give it a whirl. It should be a good, ~~light-sabered~~ light-hearted change from the awesome intensity of Prey.

What games are you folks playing these days?

Inside the Vault: Book Meme

Kip — 2006-08-20T17:08+00:00

I'm not at all a big fan of "blog memes." But in response to several calls for "less world, more Kip," I'm starting a sporadic string of weekend posts that I'll call "Inside the Vault" (i.e., the vault of my life).

One meme that is circulating right now caught my eye, so I'll partake: "The Book Meme" --

One Book That Changed My Life:

All good libertarians are supposed to say Atlas Shrugged. But the truth is that it was one of the last Rand books I read; I absorbed her non-fiction first.

Then I thought I'd be really clever and answer Cosmos by Carl Sagan, but then saw that Rammage of Atlas Blogged beat me to it. Still, it's the best answer — Sagan made the macro- and micro-cosmic metaphysical orderings of the universe comprehensible. Which in turn made it pretty much impossible not to be an atheist. So yes, a "Big Bang" on my junior high school brain.

A book I have read more than once:

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Gene was the first fictional character I could almost totally relate to. But don't worry, you can climb a tree with me without fear.

One book I would want on a desert island:

How to Get Off a Desert Island for Dummies. Okay, this one's hard. Maybe The Boomer Bible by R.F. Laird. Because it has more pages than you can shake a pointy stick at, and it would remind me just how silly modern culture can sometimes be, hence I wouldn't miss it all that much.

One book that made me laugh:

Nothing's Sacred, by Lewis Black. Self-explanatory.

One book that made me cry:

Cry to Heaven, by Anne Rice. No pun intended. To be betrayed is one thing; to be betrayed by the one person in the world who isn't supposed to betray you is another thing entirely.

One book I wish I had written:

Anything by James Clavell, but especially Tai-Pan. Clavell is like Rand without the speeches — great plot and character development in some of the most exotic settings at the most "culture clash" periods of history, with clear-cut, but not super-human, protagonists and antagonists.

One book you wish had never been written:

This one's easy: The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. That piece of gobbledygook wasn't "fiction," it was fantasy. And yet it remains a rallying cry for recruiting foolish youngsters into the lethal fraud of socialism to this day.

One book I am currently reading:

Gotham, by Mike Wallace and Edwin G. Burrows. Of course, I've been "reading" it (I'm making air quotes with my fingers right now) for well over a year. Meanwhile, as you can see in the sidebar, I'm about to start Young Patriots by Charles Cerami, about the pre- and post-constitutional relationship between James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

One book I have been meaning to read:

The Power Broker, by Robert A. Caro. It's just plain embarrassing that I haven't read this yet. Before there was Kelo v. New London, there was Robert Moses. And apparently we have learned nothing from his reign of terror.

Someone to be tagged for this meme:

Anyone reading this: If you have a blog, then go for it. If not, then feel free to answer one or more questions in the comments.