Post: #1

'Dropped Names' by Frank Langella. This book is just delicious; it’s a collection of sixty six vignettes about the same number of people, mostly actors and producers, Mr. Langella has met in his career. It’s a kind of reflected memoir where Langella tells funny, dramatic and touching experiences he has had with them and how those episodes influenced his acting, his perception of life and his character. If this were a book written by a European actor and were about the lives and eccentricities of the European elite (royals, actors, businessmen, etc.), it wouldn’t work, it would be snobbish and dull. However, this is not the case since Mr. Langella addresses every episode with a candid interest, an artist’s appreciation and a natural American curiosity. Be sure to buy the Hardback edition which is beautifully edited in a very soft and aromatic paper and to have your favorite coffee or red wine when reading it.


'How to Create a Mind' by Ray Kurzweil. This is what I call A BOOK. The author develops the physical, mathematical and biological principles of the process of human thought in a clear yet informed way a novice can understand. From page one you realized that the guy knows what he’s talking about and how he commands every corner and angle of his theory. Of particular interest is how Kurzweil explains the way a mathematical concept known as ‘Markov chains’ is the basic principle on which human thought operates, and so this principle along with the dramatic achievements in the amount of data computers can operate and storage these days can bring in a very short period of time the first real ‘intelligent’ machine in Human History -A real intelligent machine, not just a machine which just operates the commands it’s given.


'Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness' by Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna and Ralph Abraham. Have you ever felt that what you perceived as ‘reality’ is not complete? Do you think that there are other planes or stages of the ‘reality’ that we don’t see, but once in a while for particular reasons or in specific circumstances a person is able to reach them? Do you want to make a further, systematic approach of those other stages of reality? Have you ever been under the influence and seen another ‘dimensions’? Do you feel there is a continuum that enables the living creatures of a species? Do you honestly and truly believe that the use of psychedelic substances like mushrooms allow to see those stages? Well, if so, this book is for you. The authors develop the subjects listed above and some others related in a series of trialogues, and try to systematize these complicated topics. At first, I bought this book because I read an article regarded to one of the authors (McKenna) who was a very respected mathematician who developed several works regarding the mathematics of chaos and morphogenetic fields, so I expected to find some mathematical principles about the ‘stages’ we don’t see. Although I was disappointed at first for not finding a single equation in it, I finished enjoying the book by the seriousness and depth shown in every page.


'Uggie, My Story' as barked to Wendy Holden. Yes, I paid $15 for this book and I am proud of that. This book is pure fun. It tells the story of Uggie, the scene-stealer Parson Jack Russell dog, who plays in the Oscar Award winning French silent movie ‘The Artist’. Wendy Holden, the hired biographer, makes a great job humanizing this little dog and telling his life from a dog’s perspective of things. The book begins from the days of Uggie’s troubled puppyhood, the way he was dumped in a dog shelter, and how he was then rescued by Colombian-American dog trainer Omar von Muller who developed all his acting and performing skills until he was hired to perform in a French low-budget film to be shot in some iconic sites of Hollywood. Such movie, starred by French actors Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo became an instant sensation bringing fame and status to the whole cast… Including the dog. If you want to have some good laughs in these lazy summer afternoons read this book.