Hmphf

I don't know why I still have this. I'm not updating it, but worse, I'm bookmarking lots of stuff with the vague and sure to be unfulfilled intention of posting it here. Time to stop that.

Best Books

I've recorded every book I've read* since December 2003. I used to do book reviews on here regularly, but have since stopped that for one reason or another. Still, I feel like I should tell you, my mythical reader, what's worth reading. So, by year, here are the books I've read that have been good. Note here the definition of "good" is "books you should consider reading even if you normally don't read books like that."

2004
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Beyond Fear by Bruce Schneier

2005
An Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon (Americans only)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Hyperion by Dan Simmons

2006
America's Game by Michael MacCambridge (Americans only)
The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The American Revolution: A History by Gordon Wood
Dune by Frank Herbert

2007
The Price of Admission by Daniel Golden
Americanism by David Gelernter

2008
1491 by Charles Mann
The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (I violated my "don't read a series until it's done" rule for this book, and I don't hugely regret it)

These are far from the only books I read those years, but they're the only ones I can say really are good.

Holy Day of Obligation Preview

NOTE: GUESSES ONLY. NO SPOILERS. I WOULD NOT DO THAT TO YOU.

I've been far more absent from TNTM than I've planned lately, but wanted to get this up tonight.

And Harry remembered his first nightmarish trip into the forest, the first time he had ever encountered the thing that was Voldemort, and how he had faced him, and how he and Dumbledore had discussed fighting a losing battle not long thereafter. It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated. . . .

And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over. He could not let anybody else stand [for him ...] There was no waking from his nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died[.]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, p.644-45 (US hardback first printing). Slightly over two years ago, I read those words, and something quite specific came to mind. I posted about it then, without explicitly making the connection clear, lest it be considered spoiler-ish. Now, on the eve of Deathly Hallows, I feel no such compunction.

What would you do / if you were asked to give up your dreams for freedom?
What would you do / if asked to make the ultimate sacrifice?
Would you think about all them people / who gave up everything they had?
Would you think about all them war vets / and would you start to feel bad?
Freedom isn't free / it costs folks like you and me
And if you don't all chip in / we'll never pay that bill
[...]
'Cause the only reason you're here / is 'cause folks died for you in the past
So maybe now it's your turn / to die kicking some ass

PREDICTIONS:
R.A.B. is Regulus Alphard Black.

The remaining Horcruxes are (1) Voldemort's remaining soul, (2) the locket, (3) the cup, (4) Nagini, and (5) the Marauder's Map.

We will return to the Room of Requirement. Snape's old Potions book is in there. So is a Horcrux, likely the brain of the Marauder's Map, which has some connection to Rowena Ravenclaw.

Voldemort will die.

Harry will "go on to the next great adventure" (i.e., die).

Snape will betray Harry to Voldemort, and Voldemort to Harry. While I'd like to see Harry kill him, Voldemort will.

Arthur Weasley will become Minister of Magic, though possibly not until the epilogue/last chapter.

Which is a good thing, because Mrs. Weasley will die. So will at least 2 Weasley children.

If Harry dies, Ron and Hermione will live. If I'm wrong and Harry lives, either Ron or Hermione will die.

Madam Sprout will die, likely in a battle at Hogwarts. This way Neville can be Herbology professor.

Peter Pettigrew will fail to deliver up Harry to Voldemort, and will die for it.

The Hepzibah Smith who owned the cup and the locket will prove to be kin to Zacharias Smith and his haughty father mentioned in HBP.

Really out on a limb: Regulus Black is still alive, and was the huge blond death eater who kept missing all the non-death eaters with jinxes in the battle at the end of HBP.

Aberforth Dumbledore is the bartender at the Hog's Head. Aside from JKR's wink and a nudge w/r/t RAB = Regulus Black in the LeakyMug interview when HBP came out, this is the common projection in which I place the most faith.

I think John Granger is probably right when he posted that Hagrid was the one character JKR planned to kill, then decided to save.

See also here for some of my predictions (name "tojgow"). I particularly stand by Malfoy gets to live because he's an idiot.

Ollivander will show up. The theory that he's been helping house elves get wands, and we'll see the house elves of Hogwarts defend the school is an interesting one, but not one I personally subscribe to.

Harry is NOT the Heir of Gryffindor. I can't remember if JKR has officially debunked this or not, but it certainly doesn't seem as popular as it did a few years ago.

Something will happen w/r/t the Dursleys, but I haven't figured out what exactly, nor do I know what Dudley is most scared of.

In all probability, I have overestimated the number of people to die.

Finally, a sure bet: after only sleeping from about 2:15 to 6:35 last night, I will be very tired when I finally go to bed tonight after finishing the book. I will likely write up spoilerrific material, but WILL NOT post them on here. I'll grab some webspace elsewhere, put them up there, and post a link here.

It's Been A Long Time

Too long, my friends, too long. So long that I feel a bit like I'm placing blog graffiti (blograffiti?) on Tom's work. But I found too cool a music service to stay silent about: last.fm.

Here's how it works: you download a couple of things, blah blah blah, and then it monitors your iTunes choices. After a sample of a few hundred songs, it finds other people with the same music taste as you, lets you make album cover collages, look at how each album you own is rated track-for-track by others, and other fun stuff.

I came upon last.fm via Slashdot, which reported on some analysis of all the online music programs. Last.fm is "by far" the best, they say. Plus, it has plug-ins for different players and alternative OSes like Linux.

Anyway, I will end this post by trying some embedded something or another, which will display my music faves for the week (I just played my iTunes top-rated songs all in-a-row this week, so this isn't indicative of my current listening habits). Here's hoping it works:

Hyde Park Restaurant Renaissance?

I haven't seen Hyde Park in a few months, but I ran across this post by Daniel Drezner indicating that culinary changes are at hand. Not that a Potbelly isn't a renaissance of its own.