September 2012 Media Thread

post by RobertLumley · 2012-09-04T18:46:50.440Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 84 comments

Contents

84 comments

This is the monthly thread for posting media of various types that you've found that you enjoy. I find that exposure to LW ideas makes me less likely to enjoy some entertainment media that is otherwise quite popular, and finding media recommended by LWers is a good way to mitigate this. Post what you're reading, listening to, watching, and your opinion of it. Post recommendations to blogs. Post whatever media you feel like discussing! To see previous recommendations, check out the older threads.

Rules:

 

84 comments

Comments sorted by top scores.

comment by RobertLumley · 2012-09-04T18:45:16.226Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Non Fiction Books Thread

Replies from: djcb, palladias, Vaniver, lukeprog
comment by djcb · 2012-09-05T19:44:43.105Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain

A book on introverts in a world where extroversion is the norm, how introverts can better deal with that world, and how extroverts should make better use of the special qualities that introverts possess.

Sadly, the book is typical example of the Malcolm Gladwell school of writing, with a mix of some research, wide extrapolations and the author's ideas all mixed up. And descriptions of how the researchers look -- really?!

I actually think the book /has/ a point, and I think some of the 'findings' make sense; but perhaps a magazine article would be enough for this?

Replies from: Richard_Kennaway, Emile
comment by Richard_Kennaway · 2012-09-06T10:04:26.970Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Sadly, the book is typical example of the Malcolm Gladwell school of writing, with a mix of some research, wide extrapolations and the author's ideas all mixed up.

To me, that amounts to "not worth reading".

I actually think the book /has/ a point, and I some of the 'findings' make sense; but perhaps a magazine article would enough for this?

Every book of this sort has a point, and some of its findings will always "make sense". That's just part of the same marketing template, as is the "Catchy Title: Subtitle From Which You Can Extrapolate The Entire Contents Before Opening The Book" title.

It's the title that's the giveaway. It will put off people who don't like the message from picking the book up at all, thus planting a positive bias into the reviews and word of mouth. It also primes every favourably disposed reader with the message, making its arguments to that end "make sense".

Replies from: djcb
comment by djcb · 2012-09-07T09:45:28.849Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Indeed these books seem to be engineered for effect (Gladwell is an absolute master at that). Slightly 'unexpected' conclusions that go well with the readers' cherished beliefs, and optimized for short attention spans.

comment by Emile · 2012-09-06T08:01:07.182Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Sadly, the book is typical example of the Malcolm Gladwell school of writing, with a mix of some research, wide extrapolations and the author's ideas all mixed up.

I agree that's an unfortunate tendancy; I'm currently reading Nassim Taleb's "Fooled by Randomness" and it has a bit of the same problem.

Replies from: djcb
comment by djcb · 2012-09-07T09:39:31.085Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I wouldn't say Taleb is part of the MGSoW though. Taleb has some good points, the biggest obstacle I have with enjoying his books is the author's pretentiousness.

comment by palladias · 2012-09-04T20:53:22.519Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I enjoyed Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages. I liked it best for being a tour through the way linguists and cogsci people refined their methodologies (or how much data it took to force them to), more than as a study of cutting edge conclusions.

comment by Vaniver · 2012-09-04T20:43:37.730Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Social Perception and Social Reality: Why Accuracy Dominates Bias and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy looks like it might be interesting, but I haven't read it yet. (The basic premise is that an unbiased look at the psychological literature confirms that stereotypes are generally accurate and biases generally weak and fleeting.)

comment by lukeprog · 2012-10-06T07:18:18.109Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Via Davis Kingsley I was introduced to An Elementary Approach to Thinking Under Uncertainty, a little textbook that does a pretty good job of helping students apply the cogsci of rationality to their everyday lives, stuffed full with examples and exercises (which could be a gold mine for CFAR, honestly).

comment by Eneasz · 2012-09-27T17:45:09.806Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Recently had someone ask for a good SF novel that features/heavily uses quantum mechanics. I couldn't think of any that doesn't rely on a Copenhagen Interpretation mechanic (even Greg Egan's Quarantine is based off Copenhagen). Any suggestions?

comment by RobertLumley · 2012-09-04T18:45:31.277Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Fiction Books Thread

Replies from: pragmatist, shminux, shminux, gwern, Anatoly_Vorobey, DataPacRat, Kawoomba, NancyLebovitz
comment by pragmatist · 2012-09-08T18:43:30.717Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

This is probably old hat to a lot of people here, but I recently discovered Ted Chiang and he is fantastic. Genuinely mind-expanding fiction, in the vein of Borges. A couple of specific recommendations, with links to electronic versions, although you should really just buy this book:

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate - The best time travel story ever!

Exhalation

comment by shminux · 2012-09-04T20:18:57.758Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Just finished The Name of the Wind. Lots of great passages, but not enough sweetness and too much bitterness for my taste in fantasy. The retelling of the story by a dispirited hero is an unfortunate format, as we already know that he does not really win in the end.

Hopefully the sequel is better, if I am to believe an Amazon reviewer that "most of the book is about Kvothe having sex and learning how to fight and having sex with people who train him to fight or fight with him."

Replies from: JoshuaZ, iDante
comment by JoshuaZ · 2012-09-05T03:17:42.276Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Yeah, the second book has some pretty downer aspects. There's one bit which may particularly interest LW people in that it can be considered n zrgncube sbe jung n ernyyl znyvpvbhf benpyr NV zvtug qb.

Replies from: NexH, tgb
comment by NexH · 2012-09-05T10:37:06.207Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

V nyfb sbhaq n irel fgebat fvzvynevgl jvgu n znyvpvbhf naq gehgushy Obkrq NV jura ernqvat gur rkcynangvba bs Onfg. Gur nanybtl vf abg cresrpg, ohg vg jnf irel vagrerfgvat naq cnffviryl nevfvat.

comment by tgb · 2012-09-06T14:21:42.980Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I find that gur Pgurnu vf fb nofheqyl cbjreshy gung V pna'g uryc ohg srry gung gur fgbel vf nyernql bire. Gurl'er cynlvat jvgu n tbq urer, naq guvf vfa'g fbzr Terrx tbq shyy bs uhzna sbyyvrf; vg'f n gehyl nyvra, znyribyrag, naq bzavfpvrag orvat. Nsgre gung, jung pna cbffvoyl unccra? Gur Cngevpx Ebgushff jvyy unir gb onpxgenpx gb znxr gur fgbel zrnavatshy; vagebqhpr fbzr bgure cbjre gung gur Pgurnu pnaabg cerqvpg, be tvir vg uvqqra zbgvirf bgure guna cher znyribyrapr.

Replies from: JoshuaZ
comment by JoshuaZ · 2012-09-06T15:11:03.009Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Jr qba'g xabj npghnyyl xabj ubj cbjreshy Pgurnu vf. Jr whfg xabj jung pregnva tebhcf guvax bs vg. Vg znl ghea bhg gung vgf novyvgl gb znavchyngr vf zber yvzvgrq guna crbcyr guvax. Tvira gung gur erfcbafr bsgra hfrq vf gb xvyy nalbar jub unf nal pbagnpg jvgu vg ng nyy, gur ahzore bs npghny grfgrq riragf sbe vgf orunivbe znl or fznyy.

comment by iDante · 2012-09-05T00:12:19.929Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I liked both. We don't know that he doesn't win in the end, we just know that he's at a low point in his life in the present (waiting to die). Hopefully the third book will involve this present story more. Rothfuss could end it on a really strong note if Kvothe gains back some of his former awesome.

Replies from: gwern
comment by gwern · 2012-09-05T01:36:39.461Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I would be pretty shocked if he didn't; there's no way The Ending will be Kvothe saying "and then I fled the city with my savings, came here, and opened an inn" as he turns away to wash some mugs.

Replies from: shminux
comment by shminux · 2012-09-05T01:48:20.848Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

We have a prediction!

Replies from: gwern
comment by shminux · 2012-09-25T20:42:27.190Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Started 50 Shades of Grey. So far it reads like Twilight, only Bella is 21 and Edward is a tycoon.

Replies from: MugaSofer, MixedNuts
comment by MugaSofer · 2012-09-27T12:25:37.189Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

IIRC, 50 shades started life as Twilight fanfic.

Replies from: shminux
comment by shminux · 2012-09-27T14:40:22.838Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Ah, thanks, should have checked Wikipedia first. It explains a lot.

Replies from: MugaSofer, shminux
comment by MugaSofer · 2012-09-28T07:54:07.455Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Says a lot about your literary criticism skills, though.

Replies from: shminux
comment by shminux · 2012-09-28T14:49:31.158Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Not sure what this cheap shot was for.

Replies from: pragmatist
comment by pragmatist · 2012-09-28T15:10:50.553Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I read it as a compliment. MugaSofer is impressed by the fact that you made an assessment of the similarity between the two novels that is borne out by facts of which you were unaware. It would be like someone listening to a piece of music they haven't heard before and saying "Sounds like Debussy", and it turns out it was Debussy.

Replies from: MugaSofer
comment by MugaSofer · 2012-09-30T13:38:03.029Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I meant it as a compliment, yes. Sorry if I was unclear :-(

comment by shminux · 2012-09-28T04:43:42.851Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Finished... A rather unexpected ending for me, even in retrospect. Hope they make a movie out of it.

comment by MixedNuts · 2012-09-25T21:10:26.312Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I don't think Meyer is portraying abstinence wrong in Twilight.

Replies from: shminux
comment by shminux · 2012-09-25T21:29:00.809Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

What do you mean?

Replies from: MixedNuts
comment by MixedNuts · 2012-09-25T21:59:02.141Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey have many similarities. However, they differ in their treatment of sexuality. The sexual attitude Meyer wants her characters to follow - that is, the attitude the male lead promotes and the female lead complies to - is one whose principles Meyer knows, that is widespread, discussed, and endorsed in a culture Meyer is part of, and that she wishes to portray realistically yet positively. This is because she hopes Twilight will make this sexual behavior - abstinence - more appealing, rather than the reverse. James has no such goal in Fifty Shades, and thus no such need to portray her characters' sexual behavior, morality, or culture in any way but the one she believes will attract readers.

Replies from: shminux
comment by shminux · 2012-09-25T22:14:29.719Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

The sexual attitude Meyer wants her characters to follow - that is, the attitude the male lead promotes and the female lead complies to

That was not at all my reading of it. An ordinary 17-year old girl manages to stand up to her 90-year old (though looking 17) first boyfriend who is much stronger, smarter, richer and more attractive, effectively bending him to her will. Quite unbelievable, actually. As I mentioned before, Bella is the only real magical character in the whole story.

comment by gwern · 2012-09-04T23:01:24.077Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I forgot to post in the August thread, so I'll do it here. I read Fallout: Equestria over a few days, and it was actually really good. (Way better than the current rationalist MLP fic.)

Replies from: Vaniver, Alicorn
comment by Vaniver · 2012-09-05T08:24:13.596Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

My opinion, as posted earlier:

It is a very well written work, but as befits Fallout, it is grimdark.

There were many parts which seemed like they wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable without strong familiarity with the Fallout universe. They cross it with MLP very well- some of the combinations are eh, but several of them make perfect sense, and are very tragic.

comment by Alicorn · 2012-09-04T23:04:50.214Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I'm not enjoying it as much as I thought I might. It seems basically competent, but the writing doesn't propel me along. (The rationalist MLP fic does so propel.)

Replies from: gwern, quanticle
comment by gwern · 2012-09-04T23:08:47.557Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Mm, I would've said the exact opposite. Admittedly the first 100 pages or so are slow. (IIRC, quanticle said something similar after reading it per my recommendation. He liked it a lot.)

comment by quanticle · 2012-09-05T02:30:28.607Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

As gwern states in a sibling post, once Littlepip starts assembling her party, the story starts proceeding along nicely. If you've gotten past the introduction of the first two party members, and you still think it's slow, then I'd suggest skipping it.

comment by Anatoly_Vorobey · 2012-09-05T10:13:48.825Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I continue re-reading Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series of nautical historical novels set during the Napoleonic wars in early 19th century. These are probably the best historical novels ever written, and I see them as one of the great achievements of 20th century literature.

I read three of these last month, finishing with The Far Side of the World. Every page brings delight, and instills a fuller, richer sense of life than almost any other book I've read in years.

Replies from: mantis
comment by mantis · 2012-09-28T00:01:27.779Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I have not yet read any of the novels in that series, but I did see Peter Weir's film of The Far Side of the World during its theatrical run. If you've seen it, would you say it was a good adaptation of the novel?

Replies from: Anatoly_Vorobey
comment by Anatoly_Vorobey · 2012-09-29T09:51:52.766Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

It was a good movie, but it wasn't really an adaptation of the novel. It combined several scenes from two different novels in the series, and out of necessity imposed by the format, it wove them into a very straightforward plot with far less complex characters than in the books. I enjoyed the movie, but I enjoyed the books far far more.

Replies from: mantis
comment by mantis · 2012-10-01T20:31:22.616Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Thanks! I'll have to get hold of the first book and see how I like it -- unless there's a better place to begin reading the series? Does the publication order match the internal chronology?

Replies from: Anatoly_Vorobey
comment by Anatoly_Vorobey · 2012-10-02T08:29:33.888Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Yeah, the order is the same. The novels typically include enough background, so you can start at something other than the first one if you particularly want to, but there's no good reason to do that.

comment by DataPacRat · 2012-09-04T23:44:32.870Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Recommendation: the novel 'Spur', by Phil Geusz

Our protagonist has accepted being cursed into the shape of a horse, taking the place of a wealthy man in exchange for luxuries and lots of monthly cash. The wealthy man dies - and to his horror, our hero finds he is still a horse. Events escalate, secrets are revealed, personal growth happens. While not exactly dedicated to Bayesianism or even just rationality, the climax involves the expression of a sentiment familiar to any reader of HPMoR who's gotten to the bits about dementors, and seems to express it quite well in terms readers more familiar with fantasy than science-fiction can appreciate, which could form a stepping-stone to dealing with the idea of existential risks in the real world.

Discovered through this review. Available through Lulu or Amazon for $15, or as a PDF or HTML ebook for $6.

Replies from: dbaupp
comment by dbaupp · 2012-09-05T06:59:40.575Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

(I think you missed copying the title of the story!)

comment by Kawoomba · 2012-09-06T21:47:47.791Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Vilcabamba, by Harry Turtledove, link goes to the free to read short story. Similar scenario to The War of the Worlds, excluding the deus ex machina ending.

Replies from: NancyLebovitz, MixedNuts
comment by NancyLebovitz · 2012-09-09T03:55:28.030Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

If you want something more sophisticated on the subject, try William Tenn's "The Liberation of Earth".

comment by MixedNuts · 2012-09-07T16:06:05.708Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Review:

Ugh, heaps of exposition in a vague point of view ladled at the beginning and throughout. This is far below Turtledove's usual style. It's also pretty heavy-handed. (Why do two characters stop pondering a diplomacy problem to say "My, the main themes of this story are colonization and doomed resistance!"?)

Stories of occupation, colonization, and life after defeat are always interesting and we need more of those. This story shows cultural assimilation really well. (The star above the left shoulder!)

On the one hand, I really like that the empire plot is done with aliens, who usually prefer mass murder to conquest. On the other hand, I can't see what this adds; the Krolps are just humans in funny suits. Possibly it's to make invasion of the US plausible. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with soft SF.

The end keeps within the theme, but I find it unsatisfying, as if he tried to write a tragedy arc in a style that calls for suspense or something along those lines.

Overall, nice plot, not too well handled.

comment by NancyLebovitz · 2012-09-05T00:07:42.143Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I'm not sure how they'd count on a rationalism-o-meter, but I've enjoyed Kadrey's Sandman Slim novels tremendously.

Premise: a man is taken alive into Hell, and put to fighting in the arena. Every injury makes an invulnerable scar. He escapes to LA to get revenge on his fellow magicians who sent him to Hell and killed his girlfriend.

As might be predicted, he has a wiseass sense of humor.

Violence, confrontations, metaphysics, and snark-- if that's what you want, there are four medium-large novels worth of it. The first three are one story arc, and the fourth is a complete story.

comment by RobertLumley · 2012-09-04T18:46:40.263Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Meta Thread

comment by RobertLumley · 2012-09-04T18:46:07.368Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Movies and Television Thread

Replies from: palladias, shminux, badger
comment by palladias · 2012-09-04T19:38:53.081Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I really liked the premise of Awake (starring Jason Isaacs, who you may know better as Lucius Malfoy). A detective is in a car accident that kills either his wife or his son. After he wakes up after the accident, he doesn't have a subjective experience of sleeping. His world has bifurcated into two parallel worlds: one in which his wife is alive and one in which his son is. The two different psychologists he's been assigned to in the different worlds have different strategies for convincing him the other world is a delusion.

Replies from: gwern
comment by gwern · 2012-09-04T22:58:51.715Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

That sounds like a cool premise, but how is the actual movie?

Replies from: palladias
comment by palladias · 2012-09-04T23:35:10.240Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

It's a cancelled tv series, and it's variable. The crimes he solves as a detective are boring, but his interaction with the two shrinks was interesting the whole way through and I found some of their proposed experiments very inventive. The solution isn't great, but the approach to problem solving was. And Isaacs is great.

Replies from: Alicorn
comment by Alicorn · 2012-09-04T23:38:01.077Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Why can't people make TV shows about cool characters and premises without attaching them to annoying procedurals?

Replies from: Alejandro1, drethelin, FiftyTwo
comment by Alejandro1 · 2012-09-05T00:50:48.621Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Excellent question; I have dropped both "Alcatraz" and "Person of Interest" after a couple of episodes because of this problem.

Three hypothesis: a) The procedural formula is easier to pull off successfully with limited writing talent. b) Having a handful of permanent characters and the rest be one-offs is cheaper in terms of casting than a complex plot with many, layered recurring characters. c) We are atypical, and most people prefer the comforting, predictable procedural formula. (In particular, it allows for tuning in and out of a show missing episodes here and there with no great loss.)

comment by drethelin · 2012-09-05T17:31:06.898Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

To be fair, using information from alternate worlds is an interesting spin on procedural, if you do it right.

comment by FiftyTwo · 2012-09-05T13:13:43.670Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Independent of Alejandro1's good suggestions I have a thought about the pacing and lastability of premises for TV shows.

I suspect it would be very difficult for an exploration of just that premise to be stretched out into a full length tv series and would likely be more suited to a standalone novel or movie. Similar for a lot of other tv show premises that are attached to more generic shows.* If the main characters devoted their sole attention to resolving the premise it would be implausible for them not to resolve it within a few episodes, meaning they can't play with it anymore or have to resolve some of the interesting ambiguity of it.

Other examples of the top of my head would be Life on Mars, Tru Calling, contrast to say Primer where the premise is the entirety of the plot, but its over much quicker.

Why they want shows that last a long time rather than one shots probably comes down to the economics of the television industry, which I don't know much about.

Replies from: Alicorn
comment by Alicorn · 2012-09-05T17:09:26.817Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

There should be more miniserieses anyway. (Tru Calling's on my to-watch list; would you recommend it?)

Replies from: FiftyTwo
comment by FiftyTwo · 2012-09-10T10:15:41.629Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I watched a few episodes and found it enjoyable but not enthralling. Each episode was good in a self contained way but didn't get far enough in to see if they resolved the longer term threads well.

Tempted to rewatch it myself now.

Replies from: Kindly
comment by Kindly · 2012-09-10T12:48:42.562Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

That's pretty much what I would say. The second season had more of an arc, but it doesn't get resolved.

comment by shminux · 2012-09-04T20:40:35.707Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

A Clockwork Orange: are an accidental error during therapy (the choice of music) and a poor post-release follow-up supposed to be taken as some kind of a morality message?

Replies from: MixedNuts
comment by MixedNuts · 2012-09-07T14:17:17.559Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I don't want to be too hard on Burgess here, because he is a little better at being fair to both sides than some of his counterparts. But let's face it: the only reason there even are two sides is because he made his anti-violence conditioning also remove ability to enjoy classical music. Which in terms of subtlety, is only one step above "as a side effect, using science gives you an overwhelming urge to drown kittens".

Our very own Yvain, Against dystopias, pt 1

comment by badger · 2012-09-16T14:27:26.142Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

The Imposter) is a recent documentary about a French man who convinces a Texas family he is their missing teen. Great case study in rationalization, hypothesis-privileging, and psychopathy. The question of what actually happened to Nicholas, the missing teen, looks like a good place to practice the use of Bayes.

comment by RobertLumley · 2012-09-04T18:45:54.501Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Music Thread

Replies from: oliverbeatson, Multiheaded, APMason, a_sandwich
comment by oliverbeatson · 2012-09-04T23:54:32.868Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Regina Spektor, I've been discovering her stuff over the last few months and I've reached the point where I know roughly all of it. As I think is expected in this thread, all I can really offer here is possibility that blog-reading choices vaguely correlate with musical preferences. Her lyrics are pretty non-inane, especially upon repeated listening. Her variance of musical style is pleasing to me, makes it fun to play and listen to. Nothing especially Less Wrong-y, but I might be forgetting something. Though I don't think I know any composer at all who's (consistently) Less Wrong-y. She has a wild imagination and has written songs about being robots. She's one of those artists whose discography is a tapestry of varied and wonderful worlds that I can never really appreciate unless I'm in the process of listening to it, always a process of both rediscovery and familiarity. (She often writes in the first-person as non-Regina people, from fiction, the bible, or anonymous people; more than half of her songs are probably from the perspective of a different person). There are also lots of moments in her various songs that strike me in the right way, that capture some complex emotion I had never put into words, which gives her songs a sense of salience and intelligence. Some especially enjoyable songs: Us very uplifting, makes you think; Call Them Brothers the man singing is her husband, I like the eeriness; The Party, uplifting, pretty; All the Rowboats, she makes cute noises, quite fast. Back of a Truck, from her unusually jazzy first album.

Disclosure: I play and especially like piano so appear to be skewed towards liking such artists.

Replies from: Bill_McGrath, occlude
comment by Bill_McGrath · 2012-09-06T09:34:54.147Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I quite like Regina Spektor! I was first introduced to her as being "like the Dresden Dolls without the vitriol" - not a totally accurate description but not far off. The Dresden Dolls are good fun, and some of Amanda Palmer's solo work has some great moments.

comment by occlude · 2012-09-05T14:34:45.154Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

You're not alone. I also find her music strangely compelling.

comment by Multiheaded · 2012-09-06T20:28:06.101Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I have never been into classical music (my impression having been that it all sounds same-y, with the exception of Wagner, who is totally BOSS). But today I stumbled upon Shostakovich's 8th Symphony (1943) and a commentary to it by a French scholar of music. So sublime and stirring! Look at some videos or pictures of the Battle of Stalingrad while listening.

Recommended related reading: Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor, and A Writer at War by Vasily Grossman, with Beevor's excellent translation. I've read both - damn good, with an uncommon understanding of Russia and what the War meant and still means for us. As a Russian patriot (well... of a sort), I must say that Beevor deserves a medal from our government, not its slander.

Replies from: djcb
comment by djcb · 2012-09-18T19:19:04.137Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Ah, thanks to your recommendation I picked up Beevor's Stalingrad, and I really liked the book. The writer tries hard to be balanced and correct (with a lot of sources from different sides); yet the story never ceases to captivate the reader, and never loses the overall view of the horrors of the battle.

comment by APMason · 2012-09-09T03:16:45.421Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Bob Dylan's new album ("Tempest") is perfect. At the time of posting, you can listen to it free on the itunes store. I suggest you do so.

On another note, I'm currently listening to all the Miles Davis studio recordings and assembling my own best-of list. It'll probably be complete by next month, and I'll be happy to share the playlist with anyone who's interested.

comment by a_sandwich · 2012-09-05T14:48:10.345Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I’m excited about two things in September.

  1. Animal Collective’s “Centipede Hz.” Years of sampling all kinds of indie rock have left me with only a handful of bands I still check on, and this act is one of them. I haven’t heard the record yet (waiting for my vinyl copy) but have passed the time lolling at this: The new album may not cohere like MPP, but we need to accept the possibility of a record so excellent we don’t understand it yet

  2. T-ara’s Sexy Love. My favorite Kpop band. This guy talks about them better than I can. I don’t like it as much as their last two singles, Day by Day and Lovey Dovey but I hope it does well in the charts. They have been having a rough time lately.

Replies from: a_sandwich
comment by a_sandwich · 2012-09-05T14:49:32.160Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

This is clearly the first time I've tried to use HTML. Sorry.

Replies from: gwern
comment by gwern · 2012-09-05T15:15:24.768Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

It's not HTML, it's Markdown. See the 'Show help' button on every comment form.

comment by RobertLumley · 2012-09-04T18:45:45.421Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Other Media Thread

Replies from: cousin_it, lukeprog, Rain, ShardPhoenix, Risto_Saarelma
comment by cousin_it · 2012-09-07T14:04:44.940Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

The webcomic Prequel, which started as a fan mspaintadventure, is becoming better. The last few updates are great.

comment by lukeprog · 2012-09-05T04:35:39.445Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I've found that I like platformers with very hard but short levels (so you don't lose a ton of progress when you die, and can thus die hundreds of times trying to beat a single level without getting too frustrated). Recently: League of Evil (the sequel isn't as good, unfortunately) and Super Meat Boy.

Replies from: curiousepic, None, Rain, tgb
comment by curiousepic · 2012-09-05T17:49:52.303Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Don't go anywhere near Spelunky.

comment by [deleted] · 2012-09-08T18:50:09.109Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

This is probably significantly simpler than any of the other suggestions or even the games you were playing, but instantly thought of Hello Worlds!, which I personally enjoyed playing through.

comment by Rain · 2012-09-19T00:40:53.683Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Super Hexagon warps my perspective, though it's not a traditional platformer. In my first 30 minutes of playing, I managed 26 seconds.

comment by tgb · 2012-09-06T14:09:39.461Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

VVVVVV might be your cup of tea; it certainly was mine. Fantastic music too.

comment by Rain · 2012-09-19T00:44:39.779Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Super Hexagon (iOS) warps my perspective. In my first 30 minutes of playing, I managed 26 seconds.

comment by ShardPhoenix · 2012-09-05T02:07:35.076Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

If you liked any of the previous Counter-Strike games, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a good (albeit conservative) update, and also quite cheap on Steam.

comment by Risto_Saarelma · 2012-09-07T11:07:58.273Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I've been playing The Binding of Isaac by Edmund McMillen of Super Meat Boy fame a lot lately. The gameplay is a mix of Smash TV style twin stick arena shooter and the multi-room dungeons from the original Legend of Zelda. The content is randomized, games are quick and you will die a lot. There is also a surprising amount of depth from the various random item drops that change your character. The story is a cheerful mix of deranged biblical occultism and (often literal) dead baby humor.