BobHarris.com - Odds and ends

Books! Actual books!

"A rollicking ride of intellectual discovery and emotional growth... his comic timing never fails"

-- The Wall Street Journal

"Pulls you in like a good sports story"

-- The New York Times Book Review

"Endearingly frank... jubilant... lighthearted and fast-paced"

-- New York Newsday

"A surprisingly touching memoir"

-- Entertainment Weekly

"Snappy and informative"

-- Associated Press

"Effortlessly funny and informative... tender, human, and very wise... A must for anyone who loves Jeopardy!, or has ever seen it, or is breathing."

-- Joss Whedon, creator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"I haven't seen Jeopardy! since I was a kid, and yet I was charmed and amused by Bob Harris's fascinating and surprisingly suspenseful book. Through sheer force of personality, he takes this brainy TV show and makes it funny and easy to relate to."

-- Ira Glass, creator and host, This American Life

"A surprisingly intimate, entertaining book."

-- Orson Scott Card, 4-time Hugo Award winner, author of Ender's Game

"Funny, enlightening -- and just might help you win a million bucks on Jeopardy!"

-- A. J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All

"A masterful job of describing the feel of Jeopardy! in the heat of battle... I knew Bob was a great guy and a fantastic Jeopardy! player. Now I've found that he's also a wonderful writer. I think I'm starting to hate him."

-- Brad Rutter, top money-winner in Jeopardy! history

Books I'm Getting

Who Hates Whom:
Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts,
and Various Things Blowing Up —
A Woefully Incomplete Guide™

“Revelatory... Harris's sly wit and infectious curiosity make understanding world chaos fascinating... witty, horrific, and necessary.”

— Boston Globe

"Brave... irreverent... charges into the thick of the globe's myriad simmering wars... hilariously relaxed."

— New York Observer

"Only Bob could make a user’s guide to our increasingly hostile world this absorbing, this breezy, and—ultimately—this hopeful.”

— Ken Jennings, author of Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs

“Fascinating, enlightening, and surprisingly: NOT TOTALLY DEPRESSING. A gimlet-eyed look at the world we endure that’s also suitable for enjoying with a gimlet.”

— John Hodgman, author of The Areas of My Expertise
and correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

"All three [presidential] candidates should read all three of these [recommended] books, but McCain gets first crack at Bob Harris's "Who Hates Whom“... a lighthearted overview of the insurrections and civil wars in the world today."

— Steven Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought, in the New York Times Book Review

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Sunday, 14 November 2004

Thanks to all for bearing with us while we get the bugs worked out on the site. There are trade-offs between how features are enabled for some users and site performance for everybody.

Turns out a clock made in the middle of the night by a guy who only speaks one language (English) almost fluently (although I can butcher the hell out of a half-dozen others) does, indeed, have a couple of minor errors: The Thai "eleven" does seem to be the word written out, although I consulted about a half-dozen sources and that was the only version I could find. When I was actually in Thailand, I usually saw what we (customarily but inaccurately) call "Arabic" numerals, the ones you and I are familiar with. Any Thai numerals which crossed my field of view would have blended into the amazing curvy coolness of Thai script in general. Also, no one has pointed it out, but I labeled the crossed seven as "English" when it's actually used more frequently by people on the European continent. There may be other mistakes. Hell, it might go to thirteen. So, until I make clock 2.0 or something, buyer beware.

I still think it's pretty cool. We'll also have vigorously-made shirts and bumper stickers and, I dunno, lozenges and hand cream soon enough.

I can't sign any of the items, as they're made by CafePress.com. Thanks for asking. Flattering.

The "screaming" meme from last week is still in my head. Thinking. Processing your feedback and stuff I heard from friends. Trying to figure out what to do, just like everyone.

Spent a large chunk of yesterday talking with the L.A. Zoo's pudumeister, the guy who actually feeds and cares for seven of the little guys. So there's more to share shortly on the pudu front, for ungulate fans.

More later. Got work to do. Thanks, everybody. Glad you're enjoying (or, in some cases, getting richly pissed off by) the site. (Insert Mr. Burns voice.) Excellent...

PS -- one last thing re the clock: the Cherkoee "four" was never actually used by Cherokees; from what I've read, Sequoyah's invented syllabary was adopted by the council, with the exception of his numerical system. I chose it a) because I had a surprisingly difficult time finding definitive numerical systems from the Americas, and this one (and Mayan) I could at least verify to my own satisfaction, and b) because it looks cool. So there. Full disclosure. Naked pictures would be the next level.

Don't make me. The consequences would be too grave.