Well written, well researched and covering a poorly understood, but vitally important culture The Arabs: A History should be required reading for pretty much everyone. Three or four events that I knew well from European history are covered and that's basically everything I knew about the first 2/3 of the book. The last 3rd I was more familiar with, but there was still a ton I learned about recent history thanks to this book.
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From last night:

After watching this, I'm not sure if we've won or lost.

I mean, by most measures the careers of just Banksy and Shepard Fairey alone are enough to signal that street art has "made it," so at some level we've definitely won. Anyone who was searching for legitimacy from the art world has found it. The question then becomes, what do we lose to gain legitimacy? That's what I walked away wrestling with after seeing Exit Through the Gift Shop.
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I rode 30 miles on Saturday, then spent the afternoon reading (and smoking a cigar.) Yesterday I ran the James Joyce Ramble. The question is, when did I find time to do this?

The answer is a mystery wrapped inside a burrito stuffed inside a shoebox.

That, and I don't sleep.

Made by Mondaine.