Tag / Trevor Noah

by admin

2020: The Year In Books

As we wrap up 2020, a year where I should have been setting records due to the pandemic and stay at home orders, I managed to read only 23 books, a decrease of 5 books over last year.  Of those 23, 8 were non-fiction and, of the 15 novels, only 2 were tied to a TV show.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer and 15 were e-books.  I read just over 7,800 pages, my seventh highest total of all time.

For the first time in years, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I have read before. The 11 authors that I read for the first this year were:

  • Ken Harrelson
  • Jeff Snook
  • Liz Phair
  • Megan Abbott
  • Greer Hendricks
  • Sarah Pekkanen
  • Cameron Esposito
  • Rich Lindberg
  • Sara Schaefer
  • Alex Trebek
  • Trevor Noah

Tom Perotta, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Karin Slaughter were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2020.

6 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1933.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  My vacation to Hawaii in February and being off in December certainly helped pad its totals a tad bit. Continue reading →

by admin

Book 21 (of 52) – Born A Crime

Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood – Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah, born in 1984 to a black mother and a white father in South Africa, was literally born a crime. His memoir tells the tale of growing up under apartheid, never fitting in because he was neither black nor white, and surviving the violence of the political system in South Africa and in his home.

Born A Crime was not exactly the book I thought it would be.  I figured it would start with Noah’s childhood in South Africa, but eventually move on to his comedy career, which led him to being named the host of The Daily Show in 2015.  Instead, the book is focused completely on his childhood and young adult years in South Africa, with the only mention of his burgeoning career coming when he has to pay the hospital bills after his mother was shot by his step-father.

I didn’t have much understanding of the ins and outs of apartheid coming in to this.  Noah paints a picture of a complex system that was more involved than what I was taught (granted, all I was taught was the apartheid was bad), keeping the ruling class in power by playing the different African tribes against each other.  It was a near miracle for Noah to have even been born, let alone to have thrived and become an international star.

 

by admin

Fitbit III: Week 39

What can you say about a so-so week that was impressive in no way whatsoever?  The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, where I failed to surpass 4000 steps.  Things got better on Monday, falling just shy of 7000 steps.  Tuesday suffered from a small drop-off but was still above goal.  Wednesday saw another small decrease, falling closer to my daily goal.  Things picked up on Thursday thanks to a post-work dinner to celebrate my birthday.  Friday was the best day of the week, approaching 9000 steps, thanks to another post-work dinner to celebrate my birthday.  Saturday was back down near 7000 steps thanks to a trip to see Trevor Noah with Val.

Total steps: 48,362

Daily average: 6908.9

by admin

Book 20 (of 52) – The Daily Show: An Oral History

The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History – Chris Smith

On December 17, 1998, Craig Kilbon signed off from The Daily Show for the last time.  The following January, a new host, looking to bounce back after a failed late night talk show earlier in his career, took over.  16 years later, Jon Stewart said goodbye, changing the face of the show, and late night television, forever.  For this history of Stewart’s time with the show, Chris Smith interviews Stewart, the correspondents, writers, producers, and guests that turned a late night spoof in to an Emmy-award winning juggernaut that is the longest running program in Comedy Central’s history.

The history of the show covers all of the big news stories of the 21st century, from the disputed presidential election in 2000, to the 9/11 attacks, to the election of Barack Obama in 2008 and the rise of Donald Trump as a serious(?) candidate in 2015.  Smith gets stories from all of the contributors over the years, minus, of course, Kilborn.

I was a fan of the show when it first premiered with Kilborn.  When Stewart took over, I was just out of college and had lost track of the show, but eventually came back to it for the last few years.  The spirit of the show lives on, with John Oliver and Samantha Bee doing similar shows on a weekly basis and, of course, Trevor Noah continuing the flagship.