Archive for March, 2012
We live in a post-era era
That gets my vote for the phrase of the day — Douglas Coupland knows how to turn a phrase, and he’s also an astute observer of culture. Coupland is the author of such books as Generation X, Microserfs, and jPod. (I saw him read one time, and got his autograph.) In his review of ‘Gods […]
If you’re sensitive to small amounts of toxins
[I don’t usually update my blog posts much later, but this time I had to. Everything I said below is true, but there is a large caveat. I must point out that air purifiers that produce ozone are controversial. The Canadian and US departments of health suggest that you don’t use them at all. If […]
The blog I read the most
Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has had a blog for five years. I’m not sure exactly how long I’ve been reading it, but I’ve definitely read every post for a number of months. He’s often very funny in the blog, even funnier than in the comic strip. But he also often thinks […]
The Way Back
{5/5} “Kindness… That can kill you here.” The Way Back, released in 2010 It’s 1940 and in the Soviet Union political prisoners are sent to Siberia. Janusz, who is Polish, is sent there because after his wife was tortured she accused him of being a spy. The prisoners are made to cut down trees and […]
Moonwalking With Einstein
{4.5/5} “Our ability to find humor in the world, to make connections between previously unconnected notions, to create new ideas, to share in a common culture: All these essentially human acts depend on memory.” Moonwalking With Einstein by Josh Foer, published in 2011 The subtitle of this book is: The Art and Science of Remembering […]
A Single Man
{4/5} “If there’s going to be a world where there’s no time for sentiment, then that’s a world I don’t want to live in.” A Single Man, released in 2009 George’s partner of 16 years, Jim, has died and he’s been drifting through life ever since. We follow George through his interactions with various people […]
Collecting autographs
There are two types of science fiction conventions, media and literary. Typically they’re separate, and I’ve been to several of each. In the good old days (10 to 20 years ago) at the media conventions (at the time they were called Star Trek conventions) you could get an autograph from your favourite science fiction TV […]
What to do if you’re talking with a creationist
Has this happened to you? Someone is telling you about creationism and you’re pretty sure they’re wrong but you’re not sure exactly what to say. Here’s a YouTube video I came across that will help. Top Ten Creationist Arguments And here’s a great blog on evolution and creationism. It keeps you up to date on […]
Music part 3: classical
I learned a lot about classical music from music courses when I was in university. One course took place over a month in Vienna, where we went to concerts virtually every evening. I’ve recently renewed my interest in classical music, listening to music I haven’t listened to in years and also picking up some music […]
A plethora of music lists
Here’s a web site that has a lot of music lists. They have lists for all styles of music — rock, blues, jazz, fusion, country, folk, and classical. They have lists by album, song, and artist. If you’re interested in learning more about a particular style of music, you could start here. They also have […]