I'm a big fan of the magicians Penn & Teller and really enjoyed Penn's previous book about religion, life, and magic. When I heard he had a sequel filled with more juicy stories and philosophy called Everyday is an Atheist Holiday , it went right to the top of my reading list. I found this installment just as funny and thought-provoking as the first, and I was grateful for the chance to hear more about Penn's family and how he manages the craziness of his own personal life with respect to his devotion to his children, their upbringing, and their morality. I applaud his openness and willing to share, teach, and make fun of himself. Below are some of the synopses and tidbits that were memorable for me amongst the many stories he told. Hates "exception proves the rule" Joy the world song: not joy in the world No joy in holiday songs Not much joy in new testament, just in afterlife Where is joy in this life Atheists have joy every day of the year Sometimes a sheet is not just a ghost James randy modern Houdini Learn how to lie to reveal the truth fetish balls for Halloween Made his own ghost costume, looked like kkk Loves kids dearly Canadian thanksgiving Equal opportunity offensiveness Making fun of racists profanity usage Name in vein Celebrity apprentice Hawthorne effect Dancing with the stars Doesn't care about trump Nov 9, 1909: everything in the world is enough Can be polite and honest at same time Just cuz want to believe something doesn't mean should Religious view is more scary than atheist Pierce Morgan radio show 1909 when his mom born Life is time Desire for something impossible doesn't make it possible Death is nothing, not afraid of nothing But afraid of time passing and not enjoying kids like now Everything in world is enough Defy jails of world to hold son What Houdini said Being happy with his own success so doesn't need son to do anything for him Kevin/hugh jackman/Houdini movie Thanksgiving No religious overtones, just enjoying life Magician stands lazily naked on stage Purpose of art is to do that Poet does this too He and teller only ones to do full frontal naked in show Telephone conversation with gottfried New years days: gyms, whorehouses, mornings with prostitutes Gives gifts to kids and presents Art is life Drones are death Sports: everyone has a plan until u get hit Magic trick during his brain surgery Loves baths Best to say when his mom died on new years day: I'm sorry for your loss He doesnt drink or make resolutions or work on new years or watch sports Celebrates new years day by remembering mom Mlk day separation of church and state I have a dream speech has no religious references in it Bible sets a low bar for compassion King Chooses to include instead of exclude Magic word Christian created by politicians to get elected Thinks Obama really atheist Thinks Mlk a hero Groundhog day No such thing as magical thinking Don't have to worry about what to wish or hope for, just what to work for Magic is intellectual art form Teller was teacher and very determined Penn was juggler, clown training No one in show biz works as hard in life as someone with a real job in one day Did roadshows with teller when started Show is same every night Groundhog day: try to do perfect each time The art is groundhog day Sick days Blackmail against him Worked with lawyers and FBI Didn't want to care but did care If ever blackmailed go straight to FBI Just have to take sick days sometimes Go with sickness, go through it April fools day penn and teller get killed movie They don't do practical jokes Teaches scientist to tell dirty joke at Ted conference Happy birthday Central planning doesn't work He's libertarian Disney wouldn't allow plaque that said no god or dog gone backwards Chiquita banana Wednesday Ash Wednesday Puts Chiquita banana sticker on forehead to show love of life Have a nice Easter Book of Mormon best play, says written by atheist Deepest insult is just truth/identity of target Easter is hollow chocolate rabbit Gospel Christian magic Hitch and tommy Song poems by everyday people pure expressions of passion Legacy after life less important, eventually all forgotten, but during life feels like will remember forever Focus on this life Fathers day cards Will never be able to send and receive fathers day cards at same time He got married late, one kid ivf, other natural Graduation day Got himself voted for every category of yearbook by convincing class Arte The who Passion and art Ron Jeremy Celebrity apprentice Blue man group What art can mean Fourth of July Joseph Campbell, plot abstraction, hero "things happen" Transformation Production Object in impossible location Restoration Animation Trips to India, china, Egypt Cultural differences America only country founded on ideas, not cultural heritage Worries we're losing sight of the ideas and becoming just a sports team My son's morality does not come from gd Gay marriage Right and wrong are separate from authority Son chooses moral actions from inside and from young age Morality above religion Thanks Crying with happiness
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I've had the pleasure recently to discover and rediscover a set of apps that have renewed my joy of computing. Below is a hodgepodge of command line tools, frameworks, web apps, and devices that I've been learning and playing with, and I've found that getting to know them well has been super useful and made me more productive. None of these apps is big news; I just have now had the chance to really explore, learn, and appreciate them. I don't claim credit for finding a lot of these myself; a good friend and colleague recommended a bunch of the ones below to me, especially around vim, tmux, mosh, and zsh.
To help me dig deeper into Objectivism, a good friend recommend Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand by Leonard Peikoff, so that was next up on my reading list. I enjoyed how it systematically built up a hierarchy of concepts and applied them to many areas of life. I found a lot of the material reinforced stuff I saw before in The Virtue of Selfishness and Philosophy: Who Needs It. This book, by contrast, was not written by Ayn Rand herself but by her "best student and chosen heir." It's based off his lectures on the subject. I'm finding that a lot of this philosophy resonates with my own recent experiences and outlook on life -- focus on productiveness, self-esteem, and reality and existence as primary over consciousness. I feel like I suffered from many of the "faults" and irrationalities as described in these texts, and I think I'm slowly starting to recover. It's fascinating to me when a book causes me to question so many "everyday" verbal expressions and mindsets that seem so "popular" or "natural" but which in fact are not reality-based and don't stand their ground upon careful analysis. I've also been struggling to understand why I never encountered philosophy or ethics in the way it's structured in Objectivist texts in any of my education. 1 reality
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