BobHarris.com - Last night I tried to invade Latin America and failed

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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Last night I tried to invade Latin America and failed

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Friday, 15 July 2005

Back in Los Angeles after a 28-hour return trip, courtesy Err Canada. I really thought they were going to break the 31-hour record from the outbound leg, especially after being notified in the Heathrow departures lounge that my first leg would be delayed by over seven hours.

Much to tell and post and doubtful there's gonna be anywhere near enough time.

Even saw a nude beach in Germany.

Somehow this was something I never expected to see.

Too bad it's a few decades too late. You see, it's extremely difficult to invade other countries or oppress people in the nude.

Seriously. That's a scientific fact.

Last night, after a shower, I decided to make a commando run and seize a mineral-rich swath of Honduras. Didn't get past the lady across the hall.

Try it sometime. You'll be surprised.

Maybe instead of jailing Judy Miller and (with a spot of luck) the entire White House staff, including the cleaning people, Patrick Fitzgerald should make them all strip down to their skivvies.

Then again, that might be yet another crime against humanity. Hmm.

UPDATE and mea culpa on nude Nazis: Alert reader Michael points to the early 20th-century German nacktkulture movement. Apparently while a lot of Nazis frowned on this sort of thing, some adherents of the perfect Aryan myth thought parading around with your Reifenstahl hanging out was perfectly OK.

Still. Yesterday at the gym, I tried to take the northern border region of Guatemala. I didn't get past the rowing machines before people were giving me funny looks. I really do think you need to be wearing clothes for this sort of thing.