Man On Wire

Wow, I can see why this was nominated for an Oscar in 2008. Beautiful film, and capturing the Mission-Impossible-like caper was done extremely well.

Donburiya

Pretty inexpensive, fast, and good Japanese food. A little hard to get to, given that it's in between two subway stops. But worth a visit: there's a little cluster of Japanese groceries/delis/restaurants here.

The Man Who Killed His Brother

Good plane-ride fare, although I read this mostly in the airport. Typical Donaldson intensity; worth reading if you like intense mysteries.

The Prisoner

Well, this post is really about Patrick McGoohan, who created and starred in The Prisoner. He passed away last week, which was sad. Cult classic that is a must-watch!

Niko's

We ventured up to the Upper West Side for a few hours and had dinner at this Greek restaurant. Really good food, and a lot of it, with a nice ambiance and at pretty reasonable prices. Definitely worth going to!

The Wire: Season 5

We finished watching the final season of HBO's fantastic series "The Wire". Outstanding storytelling, incisive social commentary, depressing morality play: it has it all. I used to think that Battlestar Galactica was the best TV I've ever seen, but The Wire is better. If you read my blog, you must watch this series!

The Man Who Tried to Get Away

I quickly read this mystery novel by one of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy authors, Stephen R. Donaldson. He's best known for his books about Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. I like his writing, although it's intensely psychological and deals with extremely screwed-up protagonists: but protagonists who find their strengths in their faults.

Nudge

This book, about how choices should be "architected" because of how people behave like humans and not economic engines, is interesting. Too bad too much of the book is devoted to justifying the authors' philosophy (which they call "libertarian paternalism"). Otherwise, it's a decent book in the constellation of books that talk about the intersection of psychology and economics.

The Essential Difference

This book by Simon Baron-Cohen (yes, he is the brother of Sasha Baron-Cohen!) talks about a lot of research that examines the differences between men and women. Simplistically, he characterizes men as (on average) better at systemizing, and women as better at empathy. Highly believable, and he quotes a lot of relevant research. Interesting...

Body Language

This book was an interesting read, and I wish I had read it earlier in my life. Oh well! It tells you how to interpret/understand your own body's and other people's bodies' signals.

First, Break All The Rules

This book is a fascinating compilation of the lessons learned by Gallup when they interviewed great managers. If I were to characterize the lessons implied by its 12 employee concerns, they are: treat everyone as individuals.

Read the book if you're a manager. It's extremely good.

The Lucifer Effect

The Lucifer Effect is a compelling story about The Stanford Prison Experiment, as well as how its conclusions relate to what happened at Abu Gharib. Scary stuff.

Watch the clip of Zimbardo's interview with Stephen Colbert. Entertaining, if sort of beside the point of the book.