44.1 - Catch Snow On My Tongue

Hey there Internet Land, let me tell you the story of my day.

I woke up this morning, came to my PC and hit up FaceBook (as I usually do) and was hit by a torrent of status updates about the fact that it was snowing in Bathurst. I've not seen snow that I can remember, and so I rushed to my backyard to catch a glimpse. I was hit, however, by a blizzard of green!

Given that I've lived here for almost seven full years, and I've not once seen snow, I was kind of ticked off. Also, given that it's freaking Spring I am amazed that it was snowing in the first place.

So I sat at my PC, dejected, talking to my friend Trevor (who lives in Canada, and thus sees snow all the time) when, all of a sudden...WHITE! FALLING FROM THE SKY!! So I rushed outside and looked up - the wet coldness clung to my face! So I opened my mouth, stuck out my tongue, and caught some on there.

It sounds small, but it's something I've always wanted to do, and it was really cool to experience it.

The only things that would have made it better would have been if my friends were there, or if the snow was settling (then I could have made a snow angel!)

Anyway, Internet Friends, thanks for sharing this with me ^_^

Catchya later

6.1 Watching Cosplay Complex

Ahoy-hoy Internet-Land! So this afternoon I completed the anime series Cosplay Complex, a three part anime (four if you include the 'special episode') focussing on the training session of the cosplay club at East Oizumi College, Japan. The series really offers very little in terms of what anybody could call a cohesive story; the "focus" of the series seems to be the various situations that the girls get themselves into whilst training to better their cosplay abilities.

The training sequences however, seem to be used simply as an excuse to show the girls in a variety of skimpy outfits (admittedly all pulled from various anime/game series), and for quite a bit of yuri fan-service to be pumped out (pun totally intended) to keep the predominantly male audience salivating. Why, then, did I keep watching so intently? Well, Internet-Land, I must confess that I found myself completely engrossed in attempting to determine the characters that the cosplayers were attempting to emulate - a feat made quite difficult by the fact that none of the characters ever change their hair.

Over-all I'd probably recommend giving Cosplay Complex a miss, unless you fall into one of the two categories:

a. You're really into cosplaying, are looking for some good ideas
b. You're a horny male in your teenage years, or early twenties, and you're only able to get off by watching surreal, soft-core henai.

Final Rating: 2/5 (it was uplifed by the 'weird factor', and the fact that they showed me what each of the cosplay attempts were meant to be in the final "special" episode.)

For those of you wondering about the finer details of the series (which I will be providing for everything I watch) it was brought to us by Wonder Farm (the same company responsible for Hand Maid May), and was brought out all at once on the 25th of May, 2002.

Death By Cheesecake

Tonight's challenge, whether I choose to accept it or not, is to finish this post without having to run to the bathroom to throw up. Not from a lack of delicious, mind you, but instead the exact opposite. I am, if you will, suffering from what shall now forever be known as delicious overload.

Tonight I decided to tackle the first item in List 24: 100 Foods Recipes To Make - the Nutella Black & White Cheesecake. I decided that the first recipe I would make had to be a cheesecake because, after all, cheesecake was the impetus for the hundred hundreds challenge. So I went through the cheesecake recipes on food.com, and discovered that one can (supposedly) combine the cheesecake (something already delicious) with Nutella (possibly the most delicious spread on the face of the planet...)

So, the cooking process itself wasn't nearly as scary as I thought - although there is a heck of a lot of cleaning up to do (tomorrow, though, as I'm about to fall victim to a dairy coma) - and the most annoying thing was the fact that my beaters lowest setting was still not slow enough to stop mixture from flying onto my walls. And my friend Andy was around to give me some assistance, and to show me some of the basics of cooking, such as how to fold cream into a mixture, so big thanks to him.

So, how did the recipe turn out? Well, it was delicious. So. Very. Delicious. Very rich, too. The only comment I'd make is that the recipe calls for 1 hours chilling time, which (given that the Nutella mixture is basically just ganache) I would probably increase to more like 24 hours to get a really good firm going on, as when I took it out it was still very runny in the Nutella portions (the remnants are in the fridge, so I'll update this tomorrow with how it looks after more chilling time...)

I'll post some pictures of the finished product below, as well as a link to the recipe that I followed, but for one final word I shall give the honour to my best friend Alydd (the person who I mentioned in my very first post, the one for whom I was initially cooking the cheesecake)...Of this cheesecake he says "It was fantabulous!"

Indeed it was, Alydd...Indeed it was....

 How To Make This Cheesecake

The Finished Product

The Slice I Ate

List 24: 100 Food Recipes To Make

I don't have much to say about this list right now - I just finished my slice of the richest cheesecake I have ever tasted and I don't know how much longer I can hold out for...

I shall update with something that makes sense later :P

1. Nutella Black & White Cheesecake

Why 0.(9) Is Equal To One

Hey there Internet-World, today marks a kind of special day for me, as it is (or will be, when I press that "Publish Post" button) the day when I achieve the first of my ten-thousand goals!

The goal I'm kicking in the pants today is from List 40: 100 Mathematical Theories To Learn, and comes to you thanks to a set of rather...um...heated discussions I have with friends about the fact that 0.(9), which denotes 0.9 repeated (0.9 with an infinite number of 9's following...) is in fact equal/equivalent to 1.

Typically, when I assert the fact that, yes, 0.999999... = 1, I am met with various cries of "Get the heck out of here" or "No...No it isn't...", mixed (of course) with varying levels of obscenity. However occasionally I am faced with a different type of opposition - instead of decrying the fact itself, they respond along the lines of "Oh yes, that - of course it is, and here is the proof as to why..."

What they then proceed to thrust into my face is, in fact, not a proof of this fact at all. Well, rather, some of them do offer me a proof, but the mathematics behind it is flawed. So, if you don't believe that 0.(9) = 1, or if you think that using the "1/3 = 0.(3)" method is the best way to quash resistance to this fact, then read on, and be informed!

0.(9) is a number that is expressible as what is called a Geometric Series - this basically means that we can take 0.9999... and split it up into a series of numbers where successive terms have a common ratio between them. In the case of 0.(9) the common ratio is a power of 1/10 - example:

9*(1/10) = 9/10

(9/10)*(1/10) = 9/100

(9/100)*(1/10) = 9/1000

0.9999... = 9/10 + 9/100 + 9/1000 + 9/10000 + ...

Now, even though this sum is infinite (that is, if you tried to add it together, you'd be going forever because there are always new terms to add) there is a mathematical nicety in the fact that if the terms of the sum are approaching zero (which ours are) then the sum is finite (I will offer a proof of this later.)

The sum of such a series is given by:

S = (a)/(1 - r)

Where S is the sum of the series

Where a is the initial term of the series

Where r is the common ratio

So we have:

a = 9/10 = 0.9

r = 1/10 = 0.1

Which all lead us to...

0.9999... = 0.9 + 0.09 + 0.009 + 0.0009

               = a/(1 - r)

               = 0.9/(1 - 0.1)

               = 0.9/0.9

0.9999... = 1

So, there you have it - a pretty simple proof to what is, to most people, quite an astonishing fact. What follows now is just the proof of convergence I promised earlier (that is, the proof that the sum of a series is, in fact, equal to a/(1 - r))

So, if you're not interested in reading that (and you've made it this far...) then I say to you the following: congratulations for making it through the post; thank you for sharing my first achievement with me; and later days Internet-Crowd!!

---

PROOF OF CONVERGENCE

The sum of a geometric series can be written as the sum of a geometric progression of the form:

SUM[k=0, inf] ar^k = a + ar + ar^2 + ar^3 + ar^4 + ...

Which we will write, then as 

lim[n->inf] (SUM[k=0,n] ar^k)

If we look, first at:

SUM[k=0,n] ar^k = a + ar + ar^2 + .. + ar^n

If we multiply both sides by (1 - r) we obtain:

(1 - r)(SUM[k=0,n] ar^k) = (1 - r)(a + ar + ar^2 + ... + ar^n)

(1 - r)(SUM[k=0,n] ar^k) = a - ar + ar - ar^2 + ar^2 + ... - ar^n + ar^n - ar^(n+1)

(1 - r)(SUM[k=0,n] ar^k) = a - ar^(n+1)

Dividing both sides by (1 - r) now:

SUM[k = 0, n] ar^k = (a - ar^(n + 1))/(1 - r)

Substituting that back into our original equation we get:

lim[n->inf] (SUM[k=0,n] ar^k) = lim[n->inf] (a - ar^(n + 1))/(1 - r)

We can separate the fraction to become:

lim[n->inf] (a/(1 - r) - ar^(n + 1)/(1 - r))

We can then use the fact that lim[n->inf] a - b = lim[n->inf] a - lim[n->inf] b to obtain:

lim[n->inf] (a/(1-r) - lim[n->inf] ar^(n + 1)/(1 - r)

Now, we are restricting the problem domain here to values of 'r' that are strictly less than 1 (if you remember, in our example, r = 0.1, which is less than 1)

When r < 1, and as n approaches infinity, r approaches zero, thus

lim[n->inf] ar^(n + 1)/(1 - r) = a*0/(1 - r) = 0

Which gives us:

lim[n->inf] a/(1 - r) - 0 = lim[n->inf] a/(1 - r)

And because there are no terms of n in this, it is easily calculated to be:

a/(1 - r)

So, we have just proven that:

a + ar + ar^2 + ar^3 + ar^4 + ... = a / (1 - r)

in case you didn't believe me blindly, in which case - good for you! And congratulations on making it to the true end of my very first accomplished post!

List 40: 100 Mathematical Theories To Learn

I really love maths. Maths maths maths. I would pick it from the highest trees and bake it into a maths pie if I could. Alas, maths is slightly less physical than that - and anyway, everyone knows that the only science that tastes any good in a pie is Chemistry.

Not really much to say about this list, other than the fact that I'm really really into maths (duh), and that I wanted to share my love for it with the world, and hopefully teach you some nifty things along the way. I'm positing this list out of sequence because I have just finished typing up my very first accomplishment ever (well, OHH accomplishments anyway) and it is the first addition to this list.

This list is, then, also the first I'm posting where the contents aren't predetermined, and are added as I achieve them...

1. The Proof That 0.(9) Is Equal To 1

List 06: 100 Anime Series To Watch

Hola Internet-Land! Today's list was possibly the easiest one to write so far (and yes, I am well aware that it is only the sixth list I've written, but...shush...that's what...), mainly because I have a lot of friends with a lot of anime between them...In fact, the most difficult thing about this list was leaving some space open for others to make suggestions!

So, I really don't think I have a lot to prattle on about here...other than the fact that I'm going to be very very very busy watching all of these series all the way through! Oh yeah! And please, continue to add suggestions for me - one of the great things about anime is the fact that sometimes there are fantastic titles that are almost entirely unheard of...

Without further ado, my internet friends, the list of 100 anime series to view!

1. Cosplay Complex
2. Sailor Moon
3. Cardcaptor Sakura
4. Lucky Star
5. Pugyuru
6. Air
7. Bakemonogatari
8. Chaos Head
9. D.N.Angel
10. Afro Samurai
11. Angel Beats
12. Angelic Layer
13. Astro Boy
14. Black Lagoon
15. Blood+
16. Bokurano
17. Boogiepop Phantom
18. Chobits
19. Chrono Crusade
20. Cosplay Complex
21. Darker Than BLACK
22. DearS
23. Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z
24. Descendants Of Darkness
25. Devil May Cry
26. Disgaea
27. Dual
28. EF - A Tale Of Melodies
29. Elfen Lied
30. Ergo Proxy
31. FateStay Night
32. Final Fantasy Unlimited
33. Fruits Basket
34. Furi Kuri
35. Gakuen Heaven
36. GreenGreen
37. .hack//SIGN
38. Halo Legends
39. Hayate No Gotoku
40. He Is My Master
41. I My Me! Strawberry Eggs
42. Innocent Venus
43. Inukami
44. Kamen No Maid Guy
45. Kanokon
46. Kashimashi - Girl Meets Girl
47. Kurau Phantom Memory
48. Loveless
49. Master Of Epic - The Animation Age
50. Melody Of Oblivion
51. Mirage Of Blaze
52. Mnemosyne
53. Mouse
54. Mushishi
55. Narutaru
56. Ninja Nonsense
57. Noein
58. Onegai Teacher
59. Onegai Twins
60. Paranoia Agent
61. Pita Ten
62. Platonic Chain
63. Psychic Academy
64. Ragnarok
65. Renkin San-Kyuu Magical Pokaan
66. Samurai Pizza Cats
67. Sasami - Magical Girls' Club
68. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
69. Serial Experiments Lain
70. Shadow Skill
71. Shakugan No Shana
72. Shingetsutan Tsukihime
73. Sora No Otoshimono
74. Soul Link
75. Spice And Wolf
76. Street Fighter II V
77. Suki Na Mono Wa Suki Dakara Shoganai
78. Tayutama - Kiss On My Deity
79. Tonjou Tenge
80. Texhnolyze
81. This Ugly Yet Beautiful World
82. Tsubasa Chronicle
83. Xenosaga
84. Yami No Matsuei
85. Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na - Crescent Love
86. Zombie Loan
87. Bubblegum Crysis Tokyo 2040
88. Elemental Gelade
89. Gurren Lagann
90. Hanoukyou Maids 
91. Death Note [Recommended By Stylez]
92. Trinity Blood [Recommended By Apterous Angel]
93. Code Geass [Recommended By Andrew]
94. Puny Puny Poemi [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
95. Read Or Die [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
96. Detective Conan [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
97. Master Keaton [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
98. Gunsmith Cats [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
99. Ouran High School Host Club [Recommended By Enceladus]
100. Cowboy Bebob [Recommended By Alydd]

List 05: 100 Great Artworks To View

Hey everyone! So here I am with another list - this time about the wonderful world of ART!! In creating this list, I had a couple of prerequisite pieces that I obviously had to see - I mean, can you imagine making a list such as this and not adding something like The Starry Night, The Venus de Milo, or The Mona Lisa?! I mean, my cousin has seen The Mona Lisa, and has told me that it is somewhat overrated, but still - it's The Freaking Mona Lisa. To compile this list without some of these pieces would be a crime against culture.

One observation that I did make whilst searching for ways to beef up the list is that there are a lot of religious pieces out there, and it seems that every person on the face of the planet with an opinion about which artworks I view believes that my life is incomplete until I've born witness to them. One of the most ludicrous additions to said lists was a seemingly incessant demand for me to head to Texas to see The Rothko Chapel. Now, I'm not saying that all modern art is high-wankery (a term I highly endorse), but for someone to list it alongside The Sistine Chapel on a list of 20 of the most important artworks one could see in one's lifetime is just...well...I can't find words to express what that makes me feel, but I'm sure it has something to do with being pretentious...

Anyway, here is my list - if you have any other suggestions then please add them! I am loving how many suggestions I'm getting from you guys!!

1. The Madonna Of Chancellor Rolin - Jan van Eyck
2. The Burial Of St. Lucy - Caravaggio
3. Aristotle With A Bust Of Homer - Rembrandt
4. Mont Sainte-Victoire From Les Lauves - Paul Cezanne
5. Moses - Michelangelo
6. The Adoration Of The Magi - Leonardo da Vinci
7. The School Of Athens - Raphael
8. Nympheas - Claude Monet
9. One: Number 31 - Jackson Pollock
10. Funerary Mask Of Tutankhamun
11. Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo
12. The Scream - Edvard Much
13. The Starry Night - Vincent van Gogh
14. Guernica - Pablo Picasso
15. Las Meninas - Velazquez
16. The Dance II - Henry Matisse
17. The Elgin Marbles
18. Danae - Titan
19. The Mona Lisa - Leonardo DaVinci
20. Aphrodite of Milos (The Venus de Milo) - Alexandros Of Antioch (Potentially)
21. Nighthawks - Edward Hopper
22. Improvisation 30 (Cannons) - Wassily Kandinsky
23. Painting With Green Center - Wassily Kandinsky
24. Nude Under Pine Tree - Pablo Picasso
25. L'Homme Qui Marche I - Albert Giacometti
26. The Old Guitarist - Pablo Picasso
27. The Child's Bath - Mary Cassatt
28. Jacques And Berthe Lipchitz - Amedeo Modigliani
29. Day Of The Gods - Paul Gauguin
30. Greyed Rainbow - Jackson Pollock
31. Tanktotem No. 1 - David Smith
32. Bathers By A River - Henri Matisse
33. In The Circus Fernando: The Ringmaster - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
34. Portrait Of Balzac - Auguste Rodin
35. The Red Armchair - Pablo Picasso
36. Seated Woman - Pablo Picasso
37. UNESCO Reclining Figure - Henry Moore
38. America Windows - Marc Chagall
39. A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatta - Georges Seurat
40. The Thinker - Auguste Rodin
41. David - Michelangelo
42. The Gates Of Hell - Auguste Rodin
43. The Death Of The Virgin - Caravaggio
44. Three Black Cats - Maud Lewis
45. The Brooklyn Bridge - Joseph Stella
46. Dempsey And Firpo - George Dellows
47. Meditative Rose - Salvador Dali
48. Tournee du Chat Noir - Steinlen
49. Nudge Descending A Staircase - Marcel Duchamp
50. The Angelus - Jean-Francois Millet
51. Washington Crossing The Delaware - Leutze
52. Orange And Yellow - Mark Rothko
53. Christina's World - Andrew Wyeth
54. Irises - Vincent van Gogh
55. The Peaceable Kingdom - Edward Hicks
56. The Horse Fair - Rosa Bonheur
57. Femme - Pablo Picasso
58. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose - John Singer Sargent
59. Human Proportions (Vitruvian Man) - Leonardo da Vinci
60. Soft Watch At The Moment Of Explosion - Salvador Dali
61. The Persistence Of Memory - Salvador Dali
62. Sunflowers - Vincent van Gogh
63. Three Musicians - Pablo Picasso
64. The Lady Of Shalott - Waterhouse
65. Three Flags - Jasper Johns
66. View Of Toledo - El Greco
67. Blue Nude - Pablo Picasso
68. Cafe Terrace At Night - Vincent van Gogh
69. Master Bedroom - Andrew Wyeth
70. The Young Martyr - Paul Delaroche
71. Figure Five In Gold - Charles Demuth
72. Campbell's Soup Cans - Andy Warhol
73. Blue Poles - Jackson Pollock [Recommended By A Tall Dark Stranger]
74. Summer At Carcoar - Brett Whitely [Recommended By Hopstar72]
75. Self Portrait In The Studio - Brett Whitely [Recommended By Hopstar72]
76. Possessed - Albert Tucker [Recommended By Hopstar72]
77. The Ecstasy Of Cecilia - Mark Ryden [Recommended By Hopstar72]
78. Waldspirale - Friedensreich Hundertwasser [Recommended By Hopstar72]
79. Nerang River Pool - William Robinson [Recommended By Hopstar72]
80. Painting 1946 - Francis Bacon [Recommended By Hopstar72]
81. First Letter Of St. Paul IV - Peter Gardiner [Recommended By Hopstar72]
82. Solarization - Man Ray [Recommended By Hopstar72]
83. Madonna - Edvard Munch [Recommended By Hopstar72]

List 04: 100 Comic Books/Graphic Novels/Manga/Webcomics To Read

Rounding out my segment of reading themed lists is possibly my favourite of the printed media - comics. When some people hear you say comic books, all they think of is small weekly four panel strips that appear in the newspaper on Sundays, and that are targeted at children or the asinine. There is, however, so much more to this medium than that - for one thing you have to know whether you're talking about a weekly strip, a monthly publication, a graphic novel, a Japanese manga, a webcomic...the list goes on...

I've started to compile here my list of comics (mostly graphic novels and magna) that I want to finish however, given that Bathurst (the place I currently live) has no comic book store (well, not anymore - it had one, but it closed down *sadface*) I'm relying on suggestions for now. One thing that will help boost this list, however, is a trip to Kinokuniya in Sydney - that place is the best book shop I HAVE EVER LAID EYES ON!

Anyway, enough of my prattling for now - I'll save that for when I actually complete an item - here is a list! Please make suggestions, I love hearing what others think, and appreciating what you guys like!

1. Hollow Fields
2. Sabre Marionette J
3. No Need For Tenchi
4. Death Note
5. Ouran High School Host Club
6. Doctor Who - The Forgotten
7. Johnny The Homicidal Maniac
8. Squee
9. The Sandman [Recommended By Siobhan]
10. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe
11. Ranma 1/2
12. Fate/Stay Night [Recommended By Roo]
13. Great Teacher Onizuka [Recommended By Roo]
14. Bottle Fairy [Recommended By Roo]
15. Read Or Die [Recommended By Roo]
16. Powers [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
17. Watchmen [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
18. Umbrella Academy [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
19. Fables [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
20. Calvin & Hobbes [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
21. Strangers In Paradise [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
22. Usagi Yojimbo [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
23. Hellblazer [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
24. Stormwatch [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
25. Authority [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
26. Invincible [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
27. League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
28. Bone [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
29. Love & Rockets [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
30. Suicide Squad [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
31. Transmetropolitan [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
32. Planetary [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
33. Popcorn Picnic (Webcomic)
34. Shortpacked (Webcomic)
35. Patches (Webcomic)
36. Kick-Ass
37. Runaways
38. Akiko
39. The Books Of Magic
40. Fanboy
41. Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind
42. 8 Bit Theatre (Webcomic) [Recommended By Alydd]
43. How I Killed Your Master (Webcomic) [Recommended By Alydd]
44. Comissioned Comic (Webcomic) [Recommended By Alydd]
45. Red String (Webcomic) [Recommended By Alydd]
46. From Hell [Recommended By Noni] 
47. Dragon Ball [Recommended By Jarrod] 
48. V For Vendetta [Recommended By Jarrod]
49. Sin City [Recommended By Jarrod]
50. 300 [Recommended By Jarrod]
51. DM Of The Rings (Webcomic) [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie] 
52. Books Of Magic [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
53. Global Frequency [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
54. Narbonic (Webcomic) [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
55. Scenes From A Multiverse [Recommended By Sarcastic Cookie]
56. Maus: A Survivor's Tale [Recommended By Hopstar72]

List 03: 100 Non-Fiction Books To Read

When people ask the question "Have you ready any good books lately?" it almost always carries the unspoken implication that the "good books" in query are pieces of prose fiction. I've never really understood this stance - the sort of stand-offish way people approach a book about something not rife with escapism and subtext, as though suggesting that a text on the culture of the ancient Minoans, or a work on the beautiful mathematical patterns around us is to be abhorred.

In fact, whilst looking for some important and interesting non-fiction work suggestion I stumbled across the following quote: "...many of the books you'll read during your college career -- and possibly in the rest of your life -- probably won't be novels. Instead, they'll be non-fiction: textbooks, manuals, histories, academic studies, and so on....Here, finding out what happens -- as quickly and easily as possible -- is your main goal. So unless you're stuck in prison with nothing else to do, NEVER read a non-fiction book from beginning to end."

This list, then, sets out to improve my palette by consuming 100 non-fiction books, whether they be biographical, scientific, historical, or anything in between - these works are here not only to entertain, but also to educate. Hopefully, by the end of this list, I've learned a great deal, and I've inspired some of you guys to read some of the books on here as well (if you already haven't!)

Once again, until the list is full, please continue to leave suggestions for me in the comments section - it's all part of making the ten thousand...

1. More Information Than You Require - John Hodgman
2. Guns, Germs, And Steel - Jared Diamond
3. An Anthropologist On Mars - Oliver Sacks
4. A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
5. The Paradox Of Choice - Barry Schwartz
6. The Art Of War - Sun Tzu
7. Bulfinch's Mythology - Thomas Bulfinch
8. On The Origin Of Species - Charles Darwin
9. Godel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
10. How To Survive A Robot Uprising - Daniel Wilson
11. The Abolition Of Man - C.S. Lewis
12. The Republic - Plato
13. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
14. The Principia - Isaac Newton
15. A Brief History Of Time - Stephen Hawking
16. The Interpretation Of Dreams - Sigmund Freud
17. Critique Of Pure Reason - Immanuel Kant
18. Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel
19. Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
20. Handbook To Life In Ancient Rome - Lesley & Roy Adkins
21. Book Of Lost Books - Stuart Kelly
22. Eats, Shoots And Leaves - Lynne Truss
23. Never Hit A Jellyfish With A Spade - Guy Browning
24. Don't Swallow Your Gum - Aaron Carroll & Rachel Vreeman
25. The Fabric Of The Cosmos - Brian Greene
26. What To Eat - Marion Nestle
27. How To Lie With Statistics - Darrell Huff & Irving Geis
28. Why Evolution Is True - Jerry Coyne
29. Consider The Lobster - David Foster Wallace
30. Zen Yoga - Aaron Hoopes
31. Eat Smart - Aaron Hoopes
32. The Periodic Table - Primo Levi
33. The Know It All - A.J. Jacobs
34. The Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan
35. Lies My Teacher Told Me - James Loewen
36. In Defense Of Food - Michael Pollan
37. A Distant Mirror - Barbara Tuchman
38. The Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson
39. Elizabeth: The Struggle For The Throne - David Starkey
40. Last Chance To See - Douglas Adams & Carwardine
41. This Is Your Brain On Music -  Daniel J. Levitin [Recommended By Sam]
42. Unweaving The Rainbow - Richard Dawkins [Recommended By Sam]
43. The Black Swan - Nassim Taleb [Recommended By Scrummitch]
44. On Liberty - John Stuart Mill [Recommended By Alexander Bowler]
45. Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt [Recommended By Belinda Frew]
46. Shakespeare - Bill Bryson [Recommended By Noni] 
47. The Weather Makers - Tim Flannery [Recommended By Noni]
48. Bubbles, Botox, & Bumbreath - Dr Karl Kruszelnicki [Recommended By Noni]
49. Modernity & Self-Identity - Anthony Giddens [Recommended By Hopstar72]
50. Deviance, Conformity, & Control - Sharyn Roach Anleu [Recommended By Hopstar72]
51. Stigma - Erving Goffman [Recommended By Hopstar72]
52. Reflexive Modernisation - Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens, & Scott Lash [Recommended By Hopstar72]
53. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins [Recommended By A Tall Dark Stranger]

List 02: 100 Fiction Books To Read

I love reading - I believe that literature is one of the most important aspects of a culture, and a generation should be, in part at least, definable by the literary works it produced. As I started to enter the working world, however, I found myself reading less and less. This is something that I really want to counteract - I'm legitimately upset with myself that I could possibly let my love of a good novel slip away...Well, I'm not going to let it go on any longer - I'm going to go back to the days when I could power through my reading list for the MS Readathon, and still be going strong.

Included in this list are titles that are considered "must reads" in terms of classic and modern fiction, some things so nice I want to read them again, as well as some entries that I've had my eye on for some time, but just "haven't gotten around to picking up".

The list below is, as of yet, incomplete and I am more than willing to accept any suggestions for additions. Just add them in the comments section below and (after a bit of research on the book) I will put them in the list!

1. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
2. The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
3. Doctor Who And The Tomb Of The Cybermen - Gerry Davis
4. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
5. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
6. The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
7. The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe - Douglas Adams
8. Life, The Universe, And Everything - Douglas Adams
9. So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish - Douglas Adams
10. Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
11. The Illiad - Homer
12. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
13. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
14. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Caroll
15. Through The Looking Glass - Lewis Caroll
16. Wonderland Revisited And The Games Alice Played There - Keith Sheppard
17. Foundation - Isaac Asimov
18. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
19. Ulysses - James Joyce
20. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Seth Grahame-Smith
21. The Book Of Atrus - Rand Miller
22. The Book Of Ti'ana - Rand Miller
23. The Book Of D'ni - Rand Miller
24. Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters - Ben H. Millers
25. Mr Darcy, Vampyre - Amanda Grange
26. The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
27. Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis
28. The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
29. The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis
30. The Horse And His Boy - C.S. Lewis
31. The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
32. The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis
33. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
34. Sophie's World - Josteine Gaarder
35. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
36. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
37. A Spell For Chameleon - Piers Anthony
38. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
39. The Broom Of The System - David Foster Wallace
40. Parallelities - Alan Dean Foster
41. Soulless - Gail Carriger
42. Changeless - Gail Carriger
43. Blameless - Gail Carriger
44. Captain Nemo: The Fantastic History Of A Dark Genius - Kevin J. Anderson
45. Storm Front - Jim Butcher
46. Breathers: A Zombie's Lament - S.G. Browne
47. I Love You, Beth Cooper - Larry Doyle
48. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams
49. The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul - Douglas Adams
50. Who's Afraid Of Beowulf? - Tom Holt
51. Super-Folks - Robert Mayer
52. Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter - A.E. Moorat
53. TimeRiders - Alex Scarrow
54. Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw
55. Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman
56. The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman
57. The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman
58. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
59. The Divine Comedy - Dante
60. The Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Grahame
61. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep - Phillip K. Dick
62. The God Of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
63. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat - Oliver Sacks
64. The Importance Of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
65. Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce
66. Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
67. Mort - Terry Pratchett
68. Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
69. Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett
70. Sir Apropos Of Nothing - Peter David
71. The Toyminator - Robert Rankin
72. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse - Robert Rankin
73. Practical Demonkeeping - Christopher Moore
74. Coyote Blue - Christopher Moore
75. Bloodsucking Fiends - Christopher Moore
76. Island Of The Sequined Love Nun - Christopher Moore
77. The Lust Lizard Of Melancholy Cove - Christopher Moore
78. Syrup - Maxx Barry
79. Jennifer Government - Maxx Barry
80. The Colour Out Of Space - H. P. Lovecraft [Recommended By Necromancy Black]
81. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman [Recommended By Necromancy Black]
82. Neuromancer - William Gibson [Recommended By Necromancy Black]
83. Jesus Incident - Frank Herbert [Recommended By Necromancy Black]
84. House Of Leaves - Danielewski [Recommended By Rozencrab]
85. War Of The Flowers - Tad Williams [Recommended By Andy]
86. The Name Of The Wind - Patrick Rothfuss [Recommended By Andy]
87. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch [Recommended By Andy]
88. Legend and Waylander - David Gemmell [Recommended By Andy]
89. Future Eden [Recommended By Sam]
90. And Another Thing - Eoin Colfer [Recommended By Siobhan]
91. Eragon - Chris Paolini [Recommended By A Tall Dark Stranger]
92. Eldest - Chris Paolini [Recommended By A Tall Dark Stranger]
93. Brisingr - Chris Paolini [Recommended By A Tall Dark Stranger]
94. The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton [Recommended By Alydd]
95. The Neutronium Alchemist - Peter F. Hamilton [Recommended By Alydd]
96. The Naked God - Peter F. Hamilton [Recommended By Alydd]
97. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby [Recommended By Noni]
98. Macbeth - William Shakespeare [Recommended By Noni]
99. Animal Farm - George Orwell [Recommended By Jarrod]
100. Something From The Nightside - Simon R Green [Recommended By Paul]