Agent Palmer

Of all things Geek. I am…

The Real Frank Zappa Book is Worth Your Time, No Matter Who You Are

The Real Frank Zappa Book is Worth Your Time No Matter Who You Are Book Review

There are biographies and autobiographies that are about what a person did and how they achieved their particular brand of expertise, success, or celebrity, and then there are the ones that are about who that person really is.

The Real Frank Zappa Book is one such autobiography. You read this book and you don’t understand all of the important dates or instances of this or that which led to the Frank Zappa you know, but you do understand who he is. This isn’t as much of a history book as it is a philosophy book, it’s Frank’s philosophy, and he doesn’t pull any punches.

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“100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet” is a Comprehensive and Contemplative Reading Experience for Everyone

Agent Palmer Reviews 100 Things Weve Lost to the Internet by Pamela Paul

Are there really 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet? Yes, there are. And not only has Pamela Paul listed them for us in her book but she’s defined how some of these things were not only formative but even perhaps aspirational to previous generations!

This book is a list book, a gigantic listicle if you will. It is also a history book, a philosophy book, a book full of questions and theories, and a definitive generation divider.

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Space Race chronicled in “Moon Shot” nothing short of an ambitious tale

Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon

Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon is a lovingly written history of America’s journey from the ground to the Moon. It’s written by two of the original Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton and two of the most respected aerospace journalists of the Apollo era Jay Barbree and Howard Benedict.

As an all-encompassing book of the golden-era of NASA – Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, plus what was happening in Russia, and at times in the halls of the U.S. Congress – this is as complete a telling of the race for the Moon as you will get in one single volume.

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If you enjoy Context and Details: Dylan Goes Electric is the book for you

Dylan Goes Electric is the book you are looking for if you enjoy context and details

“On the evening of July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan took the stage at Newport Folk Festival, backed by an electric band, and roared into his new rock hit, Like a Rolling Stone. The audience of committed folk purists and political activists who had hailed him as their acoustic prophet reacted with a mix of shock, booing, and scattered cheers.

It was the shot heard round the world—Dylan’s declaration of musical independence, the end of the folk revival, and the birth of rock as the voice of a generation—and one of the defining moments in twentieth-century music.”

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Even in LEGO form, the ISS is an engineering marvel

Even in LEGO form, the ISS is an engineering marvel

I recently sat down and built the LEGO Ideas International Space Station (ISS). Like the Saturn V and Lunar Lander before it, the release of this set coincided with an anniversary.

Released in 2020, the set marks 20 years since the station helped start a continuous human presence in space. LEGO pays another wonderful tribute to the station that orbits Earth 16 times a day and is the work of five different space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).

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