Two great books.

One advantage of spending so much time on a plane recently is that I had the opportunity to finish a couple of books. One I started before my trip, the other on it. Both books were awesome and I highly recommend them. If you want to borrow either one, let me know.

The first book was written by Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame. It's called Sahara and it details his travels across the Sahara desert while filming for a BBC documentary. I'd never thought of Palin as a great author until I read his book Himalaya, which chronicles his journey through the Himalayan Range.

Both books are fantastic to read and it really feels as if you're there on the trip. He takes you through the Strait of Gibralter, the great cities of Morocco, down through Mali and to the ancient city of Timbuktu, then up through Niger, Libya, Algeria and home. I didn't want this book to end, but it did so I had start the next one.

The second book I read on the trip was called Why Do Men Have Nipples? As the authors put it, they attempt to answer all of the questions you could ever want to ask a doctor...after a few martinis.

It was a very light read and was really funny. If you want to know why men have nipples, read the book, but some of the more interesting things I came across were:
- Urinating on a jellyfish sting has no effect on the sting and can actually make things worse.
- Cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis.
- There is no evidence that eating chocolate causes acne, nor is there evidence that eating sugar makes kids hyperactive.
- Bathing in tomato juice will not help if you've been sprayed by a skunk. (Apparently this will only make you smell like a tomato that's been sprayed by a skunk.)
- Eating poppy seeds can cause you to test positive for heroin.
- You can not get a cold because the weather is cold or wet, or because you slept with the window open, got a chill, stayed out too long in the rain, etc. They're caused by viruses and only viruses.

And finally,
- The average person passes gas roughly 14 times per day. And sorry ladies, but you do it just as often as us men.

They're both great, so check them out.