| Another book down - loads yet to go. |
[26 Mar 2009|10:05pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 relieved |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Stevie Wonder (in my head) |
] |
Finished Saintly Advice. I liked the other saint book better because the biographies were more detailed, but something I especially liked about this book was that it had sample prayers you could say, which was really helpful in multiple ways. Firstly, it gave me an idea of what I could say because I've never done this before and I was feeling weird. I kept thinking I was going all D&D calling down something (LOL! there is superstitious...writing on the wall...) *or* I kept switching from talking to a saint to praying to God. So the inclusion of sample words was great. Best, it really reaffirmed the idea that Catholics don't pray to saints, but rather ask them for their prayers. So there's a lot of petitioning for them to intercede on behalf of my uncle's liver, or to ask God or ask Jesus for an end to the war, or asking them to add their prayers to mine to keep storm damage minimal, etc. Which meant, the fact I was ending my saintly petition with "in God's name I pray" shouldn't feel weird at all.
For my own notes:
Arthritis - St. James the Greater. (Greater=the first James)
Bachelors - St. Casimir of Poland
Cancer - St. Peregrine Laziosi
Head Injuries - St. John Licci
Heat Patients - St. John of God
Nervous Diseases - St. Bartholomew the Apostle
Sick Animals - St. Nicholas of Tolentino
Travelers - St. Brendan the Navigator
Tutors and Teachers - St. John Baptist de La Salle
Unborn Children - St. Gerard Majella
I'm not enjoying the 101 Most Influential People Who Never Existed as much as I expected. I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe the writing style is too flippant (trying too hard to be funny), but there are a few very funny comments about raging philosophers that I did appreciate. Maybe it's because I've read so much about many of the people they selected that the minibiographies aren't as interesting as they would be if they were unknown to me. Or maybe I disagree with what they are saying or maybe I don't feel like there's enough explanation of why they picked the people they picked. I'm not that far into it, so maybe I'll get more attached. At least it's easy to read! Each person only gets about two pages, so I can do a couple people a day.
|
|
| Excerpts from Zero |
[23 Mar 2009|07:47pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
amused |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Heroes |
] |
I found my book... here's the parts I marked. The opening chapter had a wonderful passage.
Zero is powerful because it is infinity's twin. They are equal and opposite, yin and yang. They are equally paradoxical and troubling. The biggest questions in science and religion are about nothingness and eternity, the void and the infinite, zero and infinity. The clashes over zero were the battles that shook the foundations of philosophy, of science, of mathematics, and of religion. Underneath every revolution lay a zero -- and an infinity.
Zero was at the heart of the battle between East and West. Zero as at the center of the struggle between religion and science. Zero became the language of nature and the most important tool in mathematics. And the most profound problems in physics -- the dark core of a black hole and the brilliant flash of the big bang -- are struggles to defeat zero.
Oddly enough, this book straddled the lines between many of the books I've read lately - combining physics, math, and philosophy. That was kind of cool. I'm reading the books in a good order as it seems, because the books I read earlier helped with this one. I'm glad I read the String Theory book before this one! I understood what they were talking about with string theory in this book, even if I don't actually understand string theory itself. Also, I was reading the works cited section and was stunned to see several books I had read! Yay for me!
Something else in Zero stood out for me. Zero-point Energy! I never made the connection from StarGate until now. I knew about the particles appearing and disappearing in the void. One of the paragraphs referenced them as tiny Cheshire cats. :) This paragraph I wanted to save... According to the equations of quantum mechanics, more power than is stored in all the coal mines, oil fields, and nuclear weapons in the world is sitting in the space inside your toaster. I thought Toaster would like that one.
Finally, Pascal's wager on Christianity is pretty cool - regardless of your actual religious beliefs the math is fun. Imagine there is a 50/50 chance that God exists. If he does, you go to heaven for eternity (infinite), if not you fade to nothingness (zero). So the expected value of being a Christian is
1/2 chance fading into nothing or 1/2 x 0 = 0
1/2 chance going to heaven or 1/2 x infinity = infinity
So the value of believing in God/being Christian is infinite!
Conversely,
1/2 chance of fading into nothing or 1/2 x 0 = 0
1/2 chance of going to hell or 1/2 x -infinity= -infinity (as bad as you can get!)
Even if there is only a 1/1000 chance the results are the same because *any* number times 0 is 0 and any number times infinity is infinity!
|
|
| I'm falling behind in my logging... |
[22 Mar 2009|02:30pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 sleepy |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
crap |
] |
I have to remember to write this stuff down immediately after I finish because I'm forgetting which books I have finished. :(
I just finished Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife.
Here's a review of it, since I couldn't do it justice:
http://archive.salon.com/books/review/2000/03/03/seife/index.html
I have a few pages marked to share, but I am too lazy at this moment to get the book out of my bedroom...
Before that I read a collection of Flash comics (graphic novels?) given to me by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) magnet5 for Christmas. Showcase Presents The Flash - Volume One, spanning 1949-1961. I don't think it was every issue, but a good representation (http://www.amazon.com/Showcase-Presents-Flash-Vol-1/dp/1401213278). I was intimidated at first because the book was *huge* and almost 400 pages, but it went really quickly. I basically read one comic book a day. I have to say, I appreciate Ookla the Mok's Gorilla City song waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more now that I know who Grodd and Solovar are. The first several comics were a bit repetitive, but things got moving after that. I did an impression of "every Flash story ever written" for John based on the first five or six stories that was a bit insulting toward Barry's girlfriend Iris but it made Monkeys giggle. If I remembered any of it, I'd post it. It's probably a good thing I don't remember, but at least it made Monkeys laugh a lot, so I was proud.
I also finished a book of saints called This Saint's For You which despite an odd title was wonderful. It had minibiographies of 300 Patron Saints, arranged alphabetically by patronage - as in accountants, airships, bakers, cancer, dogs, etc. Some saints pull double duty, so it wasn't 300 people, but if a saint was used multiple times (like St. Anne or St. Nicolas) the repeated saint's biography was not just a repeat but more of a continuation that shows how their life connected to whatever they were the patron of. (I need a Patron Saint of Good Grammar...) Found here at: http://www.amazon.com/This-Saints-You-Heavenly-Allies/dp/1594741840
I'm currently reading Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next, a book on Catholic traditions, another book on saints called Saintly Advice, and The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived.
EDIT - should have read my last post before posting this. I finished the Philosopher/Movie book mentioned in that post as well as Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul found here: http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Philosophy-Knight-Blackwell-Culture/dp/0470270306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237752599&sr=1-1
|
|
| The Areas of My Expertise (Hodgman) |
[19 Jan 2009|09:27pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
cheerful |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Daily Show |
] |
I finished Areas of My Expertise (Hodgman) and Barenaked Ladies Public Stunts/Private Stories (Myers) this week. Just in time for the billion new books I ordered from Amazon with my Christmas money - woot!
I really don't know what to say about Areas of my Expertise. It truly was written in exactly the same style as his bits on the Daily Show. It took a while for me to read because while I was giggling an awful lot *and* amazed by how inventively silly he can be, I also was frequently frustrated by exactly the same inventiveness and writing style that so amused me. I had to take it in small doses. Plus, it's an "almanac" so there isn't really a plot to hook you (like a novel) or even a structure to the story (like a biography or textbook following some kind of timeline). The paperback book cover is brilliant, you even have to read the spine. There's a picture of a Cyberman in there (labeled as something else, of course) and at least seven references to Jonathan Coulton. I am now prone to yelling out "DID YOU KNOW?!?!?" very loudly after I tell a lie. (Yes, I lie often. But not at all convincingly or effectively and over trivial matters, so it's not a big deal. DID YOU KNOW THAT?!?!?) Anyway, I do recommend the book. If only so that when I talk about squirrels and hobo nickels and shriek DID YOU KNOW someone else will know what I'm talking about.
I had several parts of the BNL book marked to share, but lost track of them. ( More babbling about the BNL book )
I have started on The Philosopher at the End of the Universe (Philosophy Explained Through Science Fiction Films). This should be a good book. How can it not with this rationale behind the book - "The critic who thinks Total Recall, for example, is a bad film just because of its gratuitous violence, is a philosophical moron - he wouldn't recognize a complex philosophical point if he was pissing on it."
|
|
| I forget |
[28 Dec 2008|04:07pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 hungry |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Abney Park |
] |
I had been keeping a log of books I'd read, but that has gone by the wayside. I was trying to do some minor reflection or at least summarize/list favorite quotes. Now I would have settled for just titles. Alas. So no time to think or look up the correct titles - I'm writing this before I forget it.
Twilight, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, ??. Of course, with the Twilight books others have written much funnier and snarkier things than I could have, so it's okay I let too much time pass before writing about them. I am glad I read them. I get the jokes more and feel a part of the sensation. Parts of them I actually liked (the sparkles, the baseball game, the wolves) and have fond memories of. I was very annoyed with Bella - but part of that may have been because of a review I'd read *before* reading the books that influenced my interpretation. My favorite was the forth book because it was so different from the others and because at least a decision had been made and she wasn't whining any more. I loved the movie, too. It was horrible and cheesy but fun. The actors (especially Jasper and Alice) were adorable.
I read some Doctor Who comic books Monkeys gave me for Christmas. He's evil and only got the first three (because that's all that was available), so I'm in a pickle waiting for the next issue so I can see how they end. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.
I read Hiding in the Mirror by Lawrence Kraus. He's my favorite physics author, but string theory is a very challenging topic for me, so I struggled with this book. The main thing I got from it is that the theory seems to be confusing physicists as much as it is confusing me except they like math. I feel slightly better about it now. I couldn't carry on an intelligent string theory conversation, but I do know more of the vocabulary and history behind it. Plus, if it really is a big old jumble that some devoutly believe in and others do not with neither group actually understanding it and no one being able to prove anything then I'm fine with my level of understanding. I can read more books on it or let it go. This book wasn't as fun as the other books I've read by Kraus BUT this topic seems much more controversial and intangible so that's probably why.
I know I've read other books. Honestly, what's the point of reading them if I forget them right away?
Right now I'm reading a Hodgeman book. It's just like listening to him on the Daily Show. This is a small doses book. Five minutes of massive giggling, and then I have to stop. Oddly enough, if I go beyond five minutes I get frustrated or annoyed.
|
|
| swiped some quizzes |
[09 Oct 2008|10:04pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
sleepy |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Daily Show |
] |
Your result for The Where in America Do You Belong Test... West Coast
Think we should instate a monkey-ocracy? Want to establish a community dedicated to eating only hair? Then you probably belong on the West Coast! The West Coast has a lot in common with the East Coast. It's just a little bit kookier. Take The Where in America Do You Belong Test at HelloQuizzy
School Smart
You're more of a 'school smarts' kind of person. You are best with the theoretical things, and your intelligence is both natural and learned - a blend of personal, experiential knowledge and book learnin'.
40% theoretical intelligence
0% learned intelligence
|
|
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
|
|
|
| When We Left Earth |
[22 Jun 2008|08:25pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
sad |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
When We Left Earth |
] |
The finale is tonight. They are talking about Challenger right now. I guess it's the Kennedy assassination of my generation in that we all know where we where when it happened. It was so incredibly sad. I felt like I was in shock. A lot of us did, I know. It felt like we were all walking around in a haze, and it was surreal in that no matter what room you went in there was a television with images of the explosion or of the astronauts training or people talking about what happened.
My guitar teacher looked a lot like Christa McAuliffe - I mean a lot like her. Every day after school I had to run to the chorus room to pick up my guitar before catching a ride home. That day was already surreal but ending it with seeing her sitting and weeping on her piano bench with reruns of the shuttle exploding airing on her room's tv and already so strongly associating her with McAuliffe made a particularly strong impact on me and to this day that image that flares up in my brain at random moments. Right now, watching the explosion again and hearing the crowd's response the whole day is coming back to me. But most especially, that one moment with that one women sitting on a piano bench so lost in sorrow she didn't realize someone else was in the room.
They slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.
|
|
| Radioactive Boy Scout |
[06 Jun 2008|11:16pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
sleepy |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Chris Crocker |
] |
I should post this to my main account madladyred so I can use the icon with my hydrogen atom tattoo.
I recently finished The Radioactive Boy Scout and not only enjoyed it more than I expected but I also learned quite a bit about nuclear reactors and radioactive elements. I really shouldn't try to write about it now as the book is in my bedroom and I'm too lazy to fetch it. I have some pages marked of excerpts I wanted to share. Now you're just going to have the read the whole book.
It's about a teenager, David Hahn, who managed to beg, borrow, steal, and create radioactive elements and possibly a breeder reactor in a shed in his backyard thanks to a gift for chemistry, a disregard for safety, inattentive adults, a desire to have some control in his life, and the motivation of earning a Boy Scout Merit badge. In the process the book also goes into stories about elements, nuclear reactors, radioactivity, etc.
I was struck by the differences in a 1960's era fun experiments with chemistry type book and the watered down, danger free, nearly science free modern era version. The 1960's book gave instructions on how to make mustard gas! I haven't seen the original boy scout manual versus today's manual but I've heard that's been safteyfied to the same degree.
I was also fascinated by the story about radium clocks and radium paint and the turn of the century enthusiasm for radium. Well, fascinated and horrified and saddened by the heartbreaking consequences of the radium health pills people ingested and the poor factory workers who, already doomed from painting clock faces, liked to paint their teeth and fingernails to surprise their friends and family in the dark.
David's story was fascinating, too. I really feel for the guy. And I'm mad at him, too, because I think he could have done amazingly productive things if he'd put his mind to it. It seems like a big waste. I love chemistry - I wish I were stupid and smart enough to be able to do the stuff he did. The fact he isn't in a lab somewhere pushing the edges of known science is shameful. Grrrrr at grownups for not recognizing and molding and grrrr at him for being so singleminded. I don't want to say too much in case anyone does want to read the book - I want you to have the same excitement I did following his story and finding out how the events unraveled. So with that thought in mind I guess I'll end here and go to bed.
Still, here are some additional links to supplement the story.
The Harpers Magazine article that prompted the book.
Wikipedia article on David Hahn
|
|
| League of Extraordinary Gentlemen |
[11 May 2008|08:48pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 sick |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
PBS |
] |
As Magnet had been feeding me Wodehouse books he decided to also share the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier because there is a short story in there called "What Ho - Gods of the Abyss" written in the style of Wodehouse featuring Jeeves and Bertie going up against Chtulu.
I struggled at first because it's a bit more graphic than the stuff I usually read. And by graphic I don't mean pictures... But I forced myself to continue and am glad I did because overall it was worth the read. I hadn't read any of the other stories, I only knew the movie and of course the real life people. (Okay well, Captain Nemo and Emma Peel aren't "real" so I guess I mean in their original states.)
I should write more but I don't feel good so this is just to log it before I forget. Actually, I feel awful. :(
Currently reading The Radioactive Boyscout (chapter 2) in the bedroom, Krauss's Hiding in the Mirror (chapter 3) in the living room, and The Elegant Universe (chapter 3) at work.
|
|
| Finished Joy in the Morning (Jeeves) |
[09 Apr 2008|07:11pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
what ho |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
America's Next Top Model |
] |
Magnet leant me three new Wodehouse books and I just finished my first Jeeves novel. I'm going to have to check my parent's DVD collection to see if they have the Hugh Laurie version of this one - I'm curious if I will have a different appreciation of the shows if I've read the book.
I continue to be amazed at how complicated he can make the story and how ditzy (looney? flighty? vacuous? foppy?) the characters can be. Were there really rich old men "what what whating" around the British countryside? Were there scads of emptyheaded but well dressed youth traipsing around the streets of London accidently getting engaged to whomever they bumped into? There must have been some serious "what hoing" going on for the books to be that popular.
Anyway, I found a cute review site of Wodehouse books at Mini-Reviews of the Jeeves because I agree with the author of those reviews, Wodehouse's titles are useless. Regardless, I prefer other's reviews to my own which is why I'm continuing to use this journal instead of my book which I finally found then promptly lost again.
My favorite lines:
"But he loves, Uncle Percy"
"Has he got an Uncle Percy?"
I saw that unless proper steps were taken, we should be getting muddled.
'When I say he loves, Uncle Percy," I explained, 'I don't mean he loves, verb transitive, Uncle Percy, accusative. I mean he loves, comma, Uncle Percy, exclamation mark.'
Regarding women - "And it's no good trying to make them see reason, because they talk so damn quick."
OH - and an even cooler review of this particular book with quotes and stuff
Wodehouse a week
|
|
| reading log |
[09 Jan 2008|06:48pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 done |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Law & Order Criminal Intent |
] |
Finished The Amber Spyglass yesterday.
I knew going into it that he was anti-Christian Church (especially Catholicism) and anti-Christian God and that it was written as a response to Narnia and in an effort to reach children. I got emails about it from a few very Christian friends and immediately went to Snopes because sometimes people can be a bit zealous and overreact without actually checking if what they are emailling has been fact-checked by anyone. So I was a little concerned after reading Snopes that I would be focusing on disagreeing with him and looking for dogma and being closed minded. But you really didn't have to look very hard once you got to the Subtle Knife it was explicit! Still, I liked most of the story and if I had kids I would be okay with them reading the series as teens because I think an untested belief is like an untested sword. Not that I want to go whacking people around with either my beliefs or my swords! I have friends of various beliefs and love the fact that I can hang out with my friends and know they accept and love me the same as I accept and love them regardless of dogma. :)
So anyway, since I STILL haven't found my book where I'm logging the books I've read I'm posting here until I can find it. Though maybe I should give up an buy a new one.
cut for spoilers?
( Liked: )
( Disliked: )
|
|
| keeping track of books read :) |
[05 Jan 2008|11:59am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 confused |
] |
Jan 1 Coroline by Neil Gaiman
Jan 1-Jan 3 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Jan 3 - Jan 4 The Subtle Knife
Loved Coroline!! Even with the button eyes which I didn't understand. Can't wait for the movie and am so glad Jas forced it on me. I loved that the parents may have been a bit distracted sometimes but they did still love her and did share moments with her and that the little girl came to understand and appreciate her parents and the challenges in life a little better. It was really sweet. So while there was a lot of grown ups not having time and not listening and not even getting her name right (which is probably very true and how kids feel pretty often) there was still love and they weren't power hungry selfish evil.
Unlike most of the grown-ups in the Golden Compass/Subtle Knife :(
There seemed to be three kinds of grown ups:1) power hungry that would happily kill children if it got them to their obsessive ego-driven ends, 2) those that do love the heroine (at least her if not all children) and who are nice to her and will die at some point in the story even when it wasn't really neceesary and it was overly contrived way to get there, and 3) fringe characters who were there to sell you a boat or open a door. I'm used to books where grown-ups don't understand children and certainly used to books with children as the heroes and fixing things without any grown up intervention what so ever. I grew up on those. But these two books were beyond that.
And Lyra has the same control Ms Coulter has over people. She must because everyone she's encountered says they love her despite herself. So it's bad in Ms C but good in Lyra. I don't understand that either.
So there's some stuff in these books I do really like (the deamons, of course). But a lot that I don't such as the idea that she's destined to kill destiny - that seems like an oxymoron to me - and all of the someone showing up exactly when they need to is annoying. I believe in coincidences and chaos theory and lots of that stuff but it happens so much that a window just happens to open to exactly where they needed it to or a person arrives exactly when they are needed. That's called Deus ex Machina, right? Althought for him I supposed it's Dust ex Machina. You can't have it both ways. There can't be no God and no destiny as well has having Dust and prophecy. You are just taking one systen and replacing it with the exact same system using different names :(
|
|
| TaleBones - haha, it's a pun! |
[28 Dec 2007|05:58pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
sick |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
HGTV |
] |
magnet5 lent me a copy of Issue 35 Summer 2007 of TaleBones so I took a break from the Know-It-All to read the collection of short stories. Poems okay, drawings okay. He wanted me to read it because of "Sweep Me To My Revenge" as he knows I like Shakespeare and because I enjoyed the Shakespeare history book he lent me last year. (Though I've forgotten the title.)
“Wolf Song” by William F. Nolan
“Landing Day” by Michael Canfield
“Two” by Jack Skillingstead
“Sweep Me To My Revenge” by Darrell Schweitzer
“Mildred's Garden” by James C. Glass
“The Old Husband's Tale” by Patricia Russo
“Death Comes But Twice” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“A Little Animal Throb” by Andrew Tisbert
“Iron Ties” by Hayden Trenholm
So it was a horror magazine? If I write about my opinions it may give away secrets...not that anyone reads this. So attempting to be spoiler free but enough to remind me about what I read when I look back on this.
Wolf Song - didn't like much! Despite it being Nolan. Not sure what about it. Predicted the ending. I liked that I recognized some of the words from a Dresdon book, though.
Landing Day - didn't like this much, either. The main character wasn't likable. I have problems when I don't like someone in the story. Maybe that's why I didn't like Wolf Song. Also, I don't like depressing. Not normally anyway. This was not The Sparrow! Sad for the membranes. Liked April :)
Two I've forgotten this one. Less than 24 hours and I can't remember a thing about this story. Oh, but I looked it up and I actually did like this one. It amused me.
Sweep was great!! I thought the writing on this one better than the others, I thought the story very clever. I told Magnet that I could believe the premise. Plus, there was a quirky sense of humor to it (love his brother the physics professor). I had flashes of Jasper Fforde. And it was ironic and not scary. More Twilight Zone where you have the world to yourself but you broke your glasses and can't read all those books.
Mildred's Garden was my favorite! I love Mildred! I love her garden! I don't want to tick either of them off. And I hope I never abandon my parents and I ought to visit old folks homes more often. And I will not forget to water my plants ever again.
Old Husband - loved this story. At first I thought I would not like it and forced myself to keep reading. Considering it was only three pages my emotional turn around was quick! I went from not liking the husband to feeling such pity for him. I hope he becomes an apple.
Death Comes But Twice admired her mimicking of the older writing style, she did will. Predicted the ending. All the stories in TaleBones seemed like they were trying to set up one thing and then jump out to yell "wheee! look, we turned it around!" when they didn't. So it felt like I was reading the same story over and over again. Except Mildred, Sweep, and Old Husband. But I did like this one.
Animal Throb Okay, so it was good but I didn't like it. The writing style was great, it felt foggy. I don't know if I got this one. I have an opinion on what happened but wonder if anyone else got the same idea. Plus, depressing.
Iron Ties Argh with the depressing. I did like it, but I wanted a happy ending. Iron, silver. I want to know why Victor had that iron stake. It was good but not good enough,
( The list of stories and synopsis )
|
|
| finished my second wodehouse |
[01 Dec 2007|04:33pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 contemplative |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Virgin Radio UK |
] |
Because I'm too lazy to write a good synopsis for ( Luck of the Bodkins )
Mine would be more like some rich upperclass twit boards an oceanliner to American chasing after his fiancee to try to win her back and finds himself in a mess of trouble (too much Dukes of Hazzard as a child). Between his mooching but good-intentioned friend, a kibitzing steward with notions above his station, and a host of spoiled Hollywood elite so absorbed in their own worlds they don't realize the affect they are having on his, each reconciliation with his love is negated almost as soon as they finish hugging. But true love wins all and in the end, not only is his and Gertrude's love requited it provides the path to marriage for two other couples, the bad guy gets gotten, and the steward finally gets it right.
While I preferred Leave it to Psmith, I continue to be impressed with how long Wodehouse can maintain the miscommunications and fumbles without the story getting boring and repetitive. I admit to every page thinking "oh for God's sake just TELL HER what really happened" and "Were men and women really like that?!?! They couldn't be that dumb, we'd be extinct by now!" over the complications and holes the characters kept digging themselves into but I still thought it brilliantly summed up at the end. What's the MST3K line at the end of Catalina Capers - "better put on some eye protection there are a whole lot of lose ends flapping around". But Professor Plum tied them all up into shiny bows. I even stopped hating Peasewhatshisface at the end.
|
|
| Saturday Night Movie Club |
[12 Nov 2007|10:33am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 busy |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Matlock!!! |
] |
I thought I should use this account more.
I had periodically used this for book reviews, I thought I would use this for talking about our Saturday Night Movie Club. (Formerly Tuesday Night Movie club until I started teaching on Wednesday nights.)
Of course, I say this at a time when I'm supposed to be working so I don't have time to actually write about last Saturday... I'm clever like that :)
So you'll have to wait to hear about The Sarah Jane Adventures, Plan 9 From Outerspace, and Ed Wood.
(oh, and in rereading some of my other posts - still haven't found that book to log in my books. End of Science was really interesting and I vaguely like the author more than when I started. The Groucho Letters were brilliant, also Leave it to Psmith by PD Wodehouse and something else that I've forgotten so it must not have left much of an impression on me.)
|
|
| books |
[28 Jul 2007|01:15pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
home decorating show |
] |
So I found the copy of HP & the Sorcerer's Stone that I had lost earlier this year. I had planned on rereading the 6 books before the seventh but lost book one just four chapters from finishing and gave up on my plans. I regretted that when I was reading book seven and wondering how many references I was missing... But at least this one was found and finished. Maybe I'll carry out my plans anyway and just read them all.
Now if only I can find the book where I log the books I've read. I have read several since losing it so I'm afraid when I do find it i'll have forgotten what I've read.
Finished The End of Science - must log that. I read something else small in the interim between starting a book of letters by Groucho Marx. Hopefully it will come to me, but if not it must not have been too important.
Now, I have dishes and laundry and vacuuming to do :)
|
|
| Fashion |
[26 Jul 2007|09:58pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
curious |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Nova Science Now |
] |
Watched an interesting show on Haute Couture (not even trying to spell that right) on PBS tonight. I am stunned to discover that I really love fashion shows. I'm not a fashionable girl by any means. I never wear makeup and barely brush my hair! Clotheswise I tend to just throw anything on.
Yet I adore that Project Runway show and seeing what goes into designing a dress. I love Next Top Model to see them in their fancy or strange outfits. And I absolutely adore the crazy runway shows.
Anyway, I would love to get to try on one of those outfits.
So I'm getting to watch Nova Science Now. I'm a fan of the astro physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson from Slacker Astronomy and an appearance of the Daily Show. He talked about it on the Daily Show as being like Nova for people with short attention spans. I hope it's good. I want to like it. Guess I should stop typing and actually watch it.
One segment tonight relates to Kryptos
|
|
| The End of Science |
[05 Jul 2007|07:55pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
annoyed |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
the office |
] |
magnet5 brought a book over for me to read and I am really enjoying it though I find the author rather antagonistic toward his interviewees. Or maybe it's just me. Or maybe after reading a book with no discernable agenda it's frustrating to have an author seem to force his views not only on the reader but on the people he's interviewing in the book. Or maybe he's just smarter than me - LOL. Here's a link to an interview with the author talking about his book... and here's a link to a pretty in depth book review. Basically he has interviewed a bunch of famous scientists from various fields concerning the idea that science has reached the end of discovery and now all that is left is filling in the details on the theories. Or that's my extremely simplified version of it.
It's depressing! I don't want to think that we're in the golden age of science and it's all downhill from here. That lack of funding and lack of interest (details are not as exciting as discovery, the best and the brightest will change professions) will follow and Science will come to an end, replaced by something else - maybe Religion, maybe Humanities.
So far I've read the end of philosophy, the end of physics, and the end of cosmology. I'm in the middle of the end of evolutionary biology - and I'm stunned that this is my favorite chapter! I would have thought physics or cosmology based on most of my other science books. Then again, maybe that's exactly why I'm enjoying it. I'm not as attached to the scientists in this field so I'm not as angered by his writing style. And, he actually seemed to like Gould though he seemed to think he, like everyone else, is wrong somehow. Soon he will be interviewing Noam Chomsky - he BETTER be nice. I love him.
You know, I do think he is antagonistic and derogatory and his descriptions not always flattering. I don't like shows or books with mean people. And I was glad to see the book reviewer above seems to agree with me. So there.
Then again, very often books that make me mad are the books I learn the most from. Maybe not from the author but from my reactions. And perhaps it makes me participate more actively with the content.
Is it okay to take a borrowed book on a road trip?
|
|
| privacy |
[30 Jun 2007|07:55pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
contemplative |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
mythbusters |
] |
Well, I guess I could store private thoughts over here whenever I'm tempted to rant in my other journal but don't want people to know about it and can't figure out how to work the "lock entry" features.
I have lost my little book where I log in the books I've read and now I'm not even sure I can remember what I've read for when I find it. I certainly don't remember the dates anymore. So until I find it, I'm writing about it here and will paste it into the journal later. Some time in the past month or two I read three Dresden books and the Beatles Off the Record book. I have no idea the page numbers on the Dresdens as they are electronic format.
Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher
"Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things -- and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a -- well, whatever."
( probably spoilers or something )
Beatles Off the Record
Keith Badman, 496 pages
Loved this book! It's just a collection of interviews, transcripts from television shows or press conferences during tours, beatles comments in newspapers, Apple press releases, etc. and stuff said during unguarded moments. Of course by the Beatles and George Martin but also their wives, their friends, their employees, other celebrities or writers. It's organized by year and within each year by month and by day so it's like taking a journey through time. you can see their ideas grow and change and develop. I already knew about the pressure cooker life, but I think this revealed more. It's so strange because you can see they are just people, just trying their best. My response to some of the other books has been near disillusionment. Like I was almost sorry I'd read them because my heroes weren't totally heroic. It's possible to know too much. So once that veil was lifted, might as well keep reading more - right? I'm glad I did because this book showed me it's not always gonna be that reaction. So what If I can see they are just people? That they aren't all knowing! That their writing wasn't inspired. They were still cheeky and funny. And they screwed up a lot; they got screwed over a lot. They contradicted themselves a lot, too. This was one of the best Beatles books I've read. It had short and long passages, so you could read for as long or as little as you wanted. And as it really was just their words and nothing by the author except the author's note at the beginning, so it didn't have an agenda or a viewpoint. (Not that I detected. I suppose it could have by controlling what quotes you included, but it seemed well rounded.) Surprisingly there wasn't too much overlap from the Beatles Songs and he even had some info not included in that book! I think I understand Bagism more, but I think they didn't go about it the way I would have. Meanwhile my dislike of Paul and my respect for George continues to grow. I posted my favorite of George's quotes on MLR.
I'm thinking the next Beatles book I'll tackle is George's I Me Mine.
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
