One of the reasons why I spent the latter part of last week knocking slices of buttered toast off tables of different heights, or spent a half hour walking around the house blindfolded in order to test my echolocation abilities, is a book called The Velocity of Honey by Jay Ingram, which devles into the science behind everyday events.
Although the phenomena that Jay explores may seem trivial - why sweet wrappers make so much noise in the cinema, for instance - the explanations are fascinating and reveal the beauty, elegance and sheer complexity that underlies the boring and the mundane.
Today I bought Al Jazeera - How Arab TV News Challenged the World by Hugh Miles. Al Jazeera has completely altered the landscape of world news media because it promotes an Arab agenda in the same way that Fox and CNN promote an American or western agenda. I've read a couple of articles that breeze through its history but I'm looking forward to reading a more comprehensive account.
