Mini-Book Review: A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Yikes! This is waaay overdue (sorry about that) The Mini-Book Expo concept is simple, yet I managed to blow Rule # 4:

Blog it.

* Post something about the book within a month of getting it

So, without further ado, here’s my mini review!

Title: A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Author: Mohammed Hanif
Publisher: Random House (Canada)

Quick Takes

Pre-read thoughts: This might be interesting. A newsy event (death of Pakistan’s leader) related as a mystery. And other reviews seem to think it mildly amusing. Who knows, I may learn something.

Part-way through: This is one weird-ass book.  There’s not enough of a distinction, so maybe the humour is subtle. Yeah, that’s it. Or ironic satire…hmm, but wait, it’s based on reality so maybe there’s something here. I mean, our main character (the son of a disgraced (or not) famous general) is variably infatuated with a military academy room-mate who’s gone AWOL.

Then there’s this crow. A cursed crow. A crow carrying a curse against the dictator of the country!

Basically, there’s a lot of motivation in a lot of characters built up by this point. But the pace of the plot development was slow! I could have ridden a Pakistani Pachyderm faster than this book developed. Or maybe that was deliberate — an invisible homage to the slower pace of life in Pakistan.

But I’m still engaged, that’s a good thing.

The End: Ok. It’s over. Not a bad read. I learned a bit more about Pakistan. I learned more about the events surrounding the death of General Zia. I learned that I could read a book that wasn’t a fast-paced Tom Clancey action adventure, and still pull some enjoyment from it.

My Take: Frankly, not my cup of tea. It was an interesting read, especially over the summer, but not my normal fare. I found myself wanting to skip ahead as the plot unfolded; yet hesitant to do so as there was the promise of brilliance here. Meh, it didn’t happen.

From the ‘so simple why didn’t I think of it’ category

A friend of mine pointed me to this brilliant post (via iPhone Central)

The concept is simple; Scan the front and back of all your barcoded membership cards, and carry them around in your iPhone.

To test it out I went to the local hardware store and asked the girl
behind the counter if she could scan the barcode from my phone. The
first look I got was pure amazement. To her the physical card was
transformed into a picture on a shiny device. On top of that the
barcode was scanned successfully. The result; a slightly confused girl
and a happy me.

My take: I’m going to try this on my library card and see if this works on my Palm Pilot T|X.

Ya Harrrrr! Tomorrow be the day….

Avast! Get yer eyepatch ready and your Piratitude on! September 19th is the International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Ya Harrrr! Annually, worldwide, workplaces resound to the swash and buckle of wanna-be pirates.

Why? Why Not?

Sometimes you just need to be a Pirate for a day…Arrrrrrr!

Technorati Tags: Pirate, Talk like a Pirate, Avast!, Workplace

A test of Hello working with Blogger

This photo is a shot of Edmonton’s City Hall and the Court House, in the foreground. The shot was uploaded using Hello ->

Interesting, it seemed to drop my footer info from the post template.

Do Bloggers deserve the rights of Journalists?

There’s an interesting piece in today’s New York Times – an opinion
piece – that discusses the Blogger’s right/privilege to maintain the
privacy of their sources. In the US it’s called the First Amendment
right. In Canada:

Freedom of the Press is enshrined in Section 2 of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982), part of the Canadian
Constitution, which states that everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press
and other media of communication
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/index.html.

But, since Blogging has such a low Ëœbarrier to entry’ – Bloggers
don’t have to attend Journalism school, cut their teeth in the boonies
working on weekly papers, work weekends and graveyards covering the
newsroom, learning the craft, understanding why a story leads (or
doesn’t) – a blogger may have little experience with (or care about)
the other side of the coin, the Journalist’s responsibility to
objectivity and truth.

Journalists know that there are many sides to a story, and objective
journalists attempt to present all sides fairly, without colour or
prejudice. Journalists report on the facts. Can we say the same about
bloggers? What about Blogs hosted by a biased PR or Marketing company –
do they get the Journalist’s Privilege the same as a News Blogger?
Interesting questions that time will answer.

[Sources: Micro Persuasion Blog | Canadian Connections: Canada and Press Freedom | New York Times (subscription required) ]