Happy New Year!

    Chinese New Year, that is.  This is the Year of the Horse.

    The two years that I took Mandarin Chinese at the local community college, we always took a "field trip" to the nearby Chinese Cultural Center to soak up the festivities and celebrate this most important Chinese holiday period.  We were required to purchase or ask about something, but of course we had to use only Mandarin, and were graded (leniently) by our Chinese professor.

    It was fun times.  Most of the Mandarin vocabulary (and Chinese characters) have receded into my long-term memory cells.  But the culture we absorbed as a by-product of learning the language will stay with me forever.

Perspective

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “For example, you recall Aristotle’s view – that, if anything, we allow the people too much say in government, that too much democracy is a weakness.”

    “But Aristotle was a Greek.”

    “Even Greeks can say something worthwhile.  Now and then, anyway.”

    “So you agree with him?” Maaherbal asked.

    “Of course not.  He was a Greek.”

    (from The Father,  by Chris Craig)

    9*/10.  The full review is here.

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RIP - Pete Seeger

    Folksinger, Songwriter, Activist, Peace Patriot.  It's not just a matter of us missing you.  You are irreplaceable.

Science Monday

     Oh, us scientists.  Such a wacky sense of humor we have.

Reading Is Fun

    For the record, we will have highs in the low 80's here in Phoenix for the next couple of days.  Eat your heart out.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Ibrahim gathered his top team at the rotunda to announce their sponsor’s visit.  He tried to sound enthusiastic about it.  He tried to make out that it had been his idea.  He asked people to be available to do show-and-tells, if needed, and promised tea and coffee and cakes and a buffet lunch afterward in the museum, then reminded them all subtly that this man was paying their wages.  He suggested they make an event of it.  In short, he did everything he could to spin it into a good thing.  When he was done, he invited questions.  No one said a word.  They were archaeologists; they detested sponsors.

    (from The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Pillows

    Really.  For the record, I sleep with three pillows.  Two under my head, one as a "hug" pillow.  With a fourth on the floor as a "spare".

Demotivational Thursday

    I can sooooo relate to this.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Mom.

    A mancer like me.

    Dad always said she was a special woman.  I tried not to think about it, but it was hard not to.  Ceinwyn Dale said the Mancy drove you insane if you didn’t use it right – one of the few things Ceinwyn Dale told the total truth about – and suddenly my screwed up life wasn’t the blame of one cowardly screw-up parent but partly the product of fate or chance or an asshole universe that likes to play with people and God and dice and strings and crap.

    (from The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady,  by Richard Raley)

    9*/10.  The full review is here.

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Science Tuesday!

    True dat.  It's all about one's perspective.

How not to end a book

    Note to all authors - established, aspiring, self-published, gonna-be-the-next-Stephanie-Meyer, whatever.  As a reader, I do not do well with cliffhangers, previews, to-be-continued, teasers, and the-next-chapters-are-in-the-next book type endings.

    As a reader, I expect a complete story.  Yes, it may be part of a series.  Yes, the protagonist(s) may carry over into the next book.  Yes, the story may be just part of "the bigger story".  But I expect closure of the immediate plotline, with more, if not all of the loose ends tied up.

    It's like watching a series like CSI, Bones, or Cold Case on TV.  There may be a season-long personal-interest story involving the show's characters running in the background.  But you still get a complete story every week.

RIP - The Professor

    Russell Johnson (b. 11/10/24), an actor best known for his portrayal of The Professor on the 60's sitcom Gilligan's Island passed away this week. His passing means only the two young female castaways, Mary Ann and Ginger remain.

    Gilligan's Island only ran for three seasons.  It's ratings were #17, #19, and >#30, respectively.  The humor was slapstick, and not groundbreaking at all, but it made people, including me, laugh.  As such, it seems to be in perpetual syndication.

   RIP, The Professor.  I can't say you inspired me to become a chemist, but  I can say I always looked forward to your ingenious-but-ultimately-ineffective inventions on the show.

Why scientists will never rule the world

   Trust me.  I'm a scientist.  This flowchart is entirely accurate.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Well, then, for those who meet us, you’ll be my younger sister.  My very young and very headstrong little sister,”  he added, growing more confident with what he felt was the only obvious solution.

    “Brother.”  She sniffed, her chin raised to indicate her disdain for his idea.  “I’m your brother.  I’m not going to play some helpless and useless female delicacy to your chest-thumping hero.  I’m perfectly capable of boorish behavior.  I can scratch and spit and swear with the worst of them.  I can pass as a member of the masculine idiocy.  No insult to yourself, of course.”

     (from The Color of Fate,  by Leilani Dawn)

    7*/10.  The full review is here.

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TGI(A)F

    Both an inspiration, and an Awww moment.

2015 Fashion

    I'm not much of a "hat guy", but you might talk me into wearing that helmet.

Stupid People

    Yeah.  They nailed me with this one.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “I have compared good and evil enough today, my dear,” he said quietly.  “I can see too much of both sides, and the cost of each.  I should very much prefer to be able to speak with you of something pleasanter, or at least less full of pitfalls and failures, and mistakes that we see too late to help.”

    Her face filled with concern.  “I’m sorry.  I should prefer something more agreeable as well.  I have spent the day trying to raise money for the clinic, mostly from people who have far more than they need, and are still desperate for something further.  So many women of high fashion dress not to please the man they love, but to spite the women they fear.”

    (from Execution Dock by Anne Perry)

  8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Bananas!

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “You live for a chance to die as if it was a goal, as if there was nothing to live for.  You don’t value your life at all.  But the Great Spirits gave it to us not for the sake of throwing it away.  This gift is priceless, to be cherished.  But your people?  They see fit to kill a man like you, a man courageous, honorable, and very well trained.  Why would someone want to waste such a life?  Why would the gods, any gods, ask for the blood of their own creations?  It doesn’t make any sense.

    (from At Road’s End,  by Zoe Saadia)

    8*/10.  The full review is here.

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Diet Water

    If I could swim in a pool of it, the flab would just wash away.

Bunny Suicide

    I procrastinated until New Year's Day to go to Barnes & Noble to get calendars (wall & desktop) for my office at work.

    Needless to say, the selection was picked-overly slim.  Cutesy-wutesy pics of puppies and flowers, of sunsets and trains, of Justin Bieber and Jackie Evancho.  No Dilbert.  No Far Side.

    I was about to despair when I espied one called Bunny Suicides.  And suddenly my search was ended.

Baby, it's cold outside

    I lie.  That "Polar Vortex" may be pounding half the United States, but it isn't even close to touching Arizona.  We're having 70's for highs; mid-40's for lows.  We might get a trace of rain later in the week, and our highs might dip into the high-60's.  But that's as bad as it's gonna get.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “The world is made up out of four elements, right?  Earth, air, fire, water.  Scientific types’ll try and kid you into believing there’s a whole load of other elements, with funny-sounding Latin names all ending in –um.  You don’t want to take any notice of that.  There are only four elements, and everything else is just a mixture of them.  Your lot have known that ever since the Dark Ages, but clearly you weren’t paying attention in school or something.”

    (from Earth, Air, Fire and Custard by Tom Holt)

  7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Saturday Pun Day

    Genius.  Sheer genius.

Happy Berchtoldstag!

    Well, I'm a day late on wishing this (Berchtoldstag is celebrated on 02 January), mostly cuz I didn't open my 2014 wall calendar ("Bunny Suicides") until today.

    My calendar tells me Berchtoldstag is a Swiss holiday.  The Wikipedia entry for it tells me how they celebrate (including dressing up, as seen above), but not why.  But I have friends in Switzerland, and I'm hoping they will enlighten me.  Stay tuned.

Andromeda

    A way-kewl composite photo that a FB friend shared the other day.  Basically, it simulates what the Andromeda Galaxy would look like from earth, if it was visibly brighter.  I am fascinated by it because it gives me, a non-astronomer, a sense of perspective as to its size.

    I'd be tempted to say the image would be getting smaller and smaller because the universe is expanding, so Andromeda's getting further and further away.  But IIRC, it and the Milky Way are on a collision course.  And that when this happens, Andromeda swallows us, not the other way around.  So don't be surprised if you look up one night, and there it is, growing bigger and brighter even as you watch.  (JK)

    Of course, I wouldn't worry too much about impending head-on crash.  It's not going to happen for another 3.75 billion years.

15-Cent Hamburgers

    How old am I?  I'm so old, I remember 15-cent hamburgers at one of these joints.

   Yes, the 15-cent hamburgers at Carrols were  wretchedly small, on a plain bun, and without cheese.  IIRC you added your toppings yourself.  Our local Carrols was about 2 blocks from our High School, and was the first "food" place you ran into when walking home from school in that direction.  So guess who was their target audience?

    They relied heavily on teenage employees, who of course had to wear a Carrols uniform and a stupid-looking paper hat.  But you'd best not laugh at them openly, or they'd spit in your milkshake while making it.

    Wikipedia says the chain was eventually bought out by Burger King, who in turn sold the name to a Finnish group, who in turn just recently relegated the name to oblivion.  Thus, another small bit of Americana is buried without a trace.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “It’s worth a shot, right?”

    Selaris sighed.  “I suppose so.”

    “I do not recommend the use of alternative medicine or homeopathic remedies, even in extreme circumstances,” the hologram said, and this time the haughtiness was unmistakable.  “If proper medical techniques haven (sic) proven ineffective, the-“

    “Shut up or I’ll slap your brain inside a sanitation mech,” Thomas growled.  “Let’s give it a try.”

    (from The Spider and The Fly),  by C.E. Stalbaum)

    9*/10.  The full review is here.

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French Fries and Ketchup

    ... and the two kinds of people are the ones eating the fries the wrong way (top) and the ones eating them the right way (bottom).

    Listen, I'll admit it - when I was 5 or 6 years old, I'd slobber the ketchup on the fries willy-nilly.  But you'd always end up with half the fries being soaked in the stuff, and half the fries with no ketchup at all.

    The bottom way is the only way to east ketchup-&-fries.  You control the dipping, so you get the right amount of condiment every time.  Jeez, anyone with OCD can tell you that.

Henry Purcell - Twelve Overtures

    Name a composer of Baroque Classical Music?  Sure, that's easy.  Bach, Pachelbel, Handel, Vivaldi.  But how about an English composer of Baroque Classical Music?  That's a bit tougher.  I can think of only one.  Henry Purcell.

    The title says it all - 12 Overtures written by Purcell in his prolific, but all too brief career.  He died at 35 or 36 years old  (1659-1695).  The tracks are performed by the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, which was an offshoot of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and existed from 1968 until 1999, when it disbanded for lack of funding.  They put out a sh*tload of albums in their lifetime, including this one (MHS 4524, Musical Heritage Society), in 1980.  You can read all about them in Wikipedia.

- Tracks - (favorites in pink)

01. King Arthur - Overture : Act 1
02. King Arthur - Second Music
03. Dido and Aeneas -Overture
04. The Married Beau - Overture
05. Bonduca - Overture
06. The Fairy Queen - Sonata - Act IV

07. Timon of Athens - Overture to the Masque
08. The Rival Sisters - Overture
09. Abdelazer - Overture
10. The Old Bachelor - Overture
11. Distressed Innocence - Overture
12. The Indian Queen - Trumpet Overture

    I think I picked this LP up for free from the local used record shop as part of their "buy one of our rock-&-roll LP's, get one of these classical LP's that nobody wants for free" deals.  The disc was in average shape, with a bunch of scratches throughout both sides, and a positively nasty forward-skip in Track 06.

    It cleaned up fairly well.  You can still hear "hollow thuds" where a couple of the major scratches were.  And of course, there's nothing to do about the skip.

    I'm a sucker for Baroque music of any kind, so I naturally like this whole album.  Purcell was big into trumpet fanfares, and although most of these were written for plays by Purcell's contemporaries, nowadays they'd fit perfectly in some 1950's "Knights in Shining Armor" black-&-white action movies.

    All in all, a nice pick-up, although if you're not into Baroque, you may be yawning by Track 2.  A bunch of these are posted on YouTube, including the best of the bunch - The Fairy Queen.

E-Card Saturday

    I know several people who use this "shortcut".

Friday Night Awww

Kliban

    I put Kliban (and Kliban's Cats) in the same cartoon category as Zippy The Pinhead and XKCD.  I only "get" the comic about 10% of the time, and I have this vague feeling that the ones that I do understand are the least-funny of the offerings.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Why would I want I warrior pursuing me?”

    “And why not?” he asked innocently.

    “My father says the fennedi want nothing more from a woman than a marriage of the seventh degree.  My father’s a smith, a skilled craftsman.  I shouldn’t have to settle for a seventh-degree, should I?”

    “Not at all,” Finn hastily assured her, wondering what a seventh-degree marriage was.

    (from Finn Mac Cool by Morgan Llywelyn)

    10*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Worth a repeat

    I used this last year, but it's definitely worth a re-post.

Science Sunday

    Newton's First Law of Motion, IIRC.  Pretty smart, that guy Newton.

Amish Christmas Lights

    Indeed.  Totally enlightening.

Friday Night Awww

    All three of our dogz would totally agree with this.