Anybody know any good places, books, etc., to quickly and effectively learn more about this language and how to use it (for both scripting and general programming)?

I usually learnt languages by myself and sometimes with books if I had time, but often got demotivated because the book was usually too "standard" or confusing and too time-consuming. The kind of sources I'm interested in is more about direct and clear practicality without too much annoying jargon and such to get in the way.

And another thing: please don't let it contain a program called "Hello world!" or something like that, 'cause I might grab my monitor and-- well... do something bad with it <--- that without the happy face? :P