One book that changed your life: Stephen King, IT
To be fair, my life was changing at the time due to growing up, but I associate Stephen King's IT with changing life. More specifically it's remembered as (but may not be) the first book I read that was so long or that contained any kind of complicated moral themes. I read it before all of the books "kids" are supposed to read, like Lord Of The Rings or even The Hobbit. It was also the first book where I realised the book could be better than the movie, or that such a concept even existed.
One book you’ve read more than once: Earth, David Brin
Stephen King's IT was the first book I remember reading twice, but David Brin's Earth is the first book where I deliberately read it twice, even though I remembered it's contents. Usually I read a book twice because I've forgotten almost everything about it except that I've read it (most of Asimov falls into this category).
One book you would want on a desert island
"How to brew beer from coconut husks and sand"
I can't think of any single book I could choose as the last book I'd ever read that would remain good enough to not become fire-starter. Any book I could think of would just remind me of what I'd left behind and become seriously depressing, or, I fear it would become the basis of a new religion on my desert island and I'd never forgive myself.
One book that made you laugh: A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
I remember plenty of books being funny, but the last book I actually remember laughing out loud to was a Bill Bryson. I can't say for sure it was A Walk In The Woods but it might have been. All his books have had me laughing out loud on the train, even though in his writtings he attempts to collect every "-ist" ever invented.
One book that made you cry: The Rescuers (Disney movie childs picture book version)
One of my many childhood memories involves turning to the last page of this book, and seeing an image of Madame Medusa desperately holding onto a pole in the middle of the ocean screaming and crying while the heros of the book float away in a boat, leaving her to die. It's probably the first time I remember thinking about how horrible and lonely it would be to die. Maybe this should have been the book that changed my life.
One book you wish you had written: Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
Not only for the obvious financial gain, but also for the smug feeling that such a NERDY book became such a pulpy Hollywood movie. I don't consider myself a writer and simply can't imagine writing a novel, even in jest. Ask me what album I wish I'd been involved in...
One book you wish had never been written: None
Even the worst books have spawned excellent books through their existence alone.
One book you are currently reading: The Jesus Incident, Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
I read this because I looked at the back and it said nothing about it being part of an epic multi-novel series. That was the only reason. Apart from Dune and the fact I figured that due to award-sheep-theory, Frank's other books were probably better.
Dune is better. And Jesus is the first of three books. And it's the sequel to a short story. Frigging sci-fi.
One book you have been meaning to read
... thousands of them, that I can never remember when I'm at the library. See first comment about goldfishes and memory.
Tag five people
Call me the anti-meme, but, no...
OK FINE!
I tag: damien, craiga, lazyluddite, purplexity and just to see what happens... jonathancoulton.
Anyone buying a house factors stamp duty into the total cost of the house. A $300k house is really $330k when you add all the extra. Anyone who buys a $300k house is buying a $330k house.
If you take away stamp duty, they'll still buy that $330k house because that's what they can afford. The money will instead go to the previous owner instead of the government. The bank will have less paperwork to fill out.
Anyone who thinks that cutting stamp duty will instantly cut all house prices by X% is out of their mind.
Unless I completely misunderstand the way people think, cutting stamp duty will not cut house prices, it'll just take money away from the government.
The real issue here is that the government has a surplus. The surplus is there because they're not spending money, not because they're taking too much.
In the same paper the Police are complaining they often have to close up shop because they don't have enough cops to man the station, that schools have a $1b repair bill and that a typical wait in hospital is around three to five hours.
Join the dots.
"It is not socially responsible to make premises smoke-free and then ignore where patrons go to smoke, and the effects of their behaviour on other people," the ruling said.
I'd have thought that if a venue was smoke free, only people who don't smoke should go there? Maybe everyone is missing the point of these bans?
Is it socially irresponsible to ban [violence/abusive behavour/under 18s] from a venue and then ignore where such patrons go?
But Port Phillip Council, which rejected the original application for the bar, said the ruling would create more certainty over the impact of the smoking ban."Bar owners now need to take into account that smokers will need somewhere on-site to smoke," said Port Phillip's city development director, Geoff Oulton.
"If they can't accommodate them, maybe it's not an appropriate site for a bar.
VCAT is directly linking smoking and drinking, presuming that one cannot exist without the other. That's exactly the link that is trying to be broken by the ban on smoking in pubs.
The problem for the bar in question was that because the bar did not provide somewhere for patrons to smoke, it was thought they would all head out to the footpath and smoke there.
Maybe the venue should provide heroin injecting rooms too, just in case?
I'll admit that I've certainly noticed a lot more smokers on the footpaths lately, particularly at lunchtime and while walking from the station. It seems every third person has a cigarette smoking up the place. It's bugging the crap out of me.
I'm not sure what can be done about it though.