Archive for the ‘My thoughts’ Category
Over 60 billion habitable worlds in our galaxy
That’s a new estimate from astronomers, who have calculated that 40% of red dwarf stars (the most common type of star in our galaxy) “have a so-called ‘super-Earth’ planet orbiting in a habitable zone that would allow water to flow on the surface.” More details here… Billions of habitable worlds in Milky Way And that’s […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Music part 2: popular
I used to sing in an all-male a cappella quartet. So that’s one type of music that I like — the Nylons and the Essentials, as well as the Flying Pickets, the House Jacks, the Alley Cats, and the Bobs. I like songs where I can understand the lyrics — otherwise what’s the point of […]
Music part 1: soundtracks
What kind of music do I like? I’ll divide my list into three categories: soundtracks, popular, and classical. A few months ago I started using iTunes. I’ve copied all of my CDs onto my computer, and bought a few new albums. I’ve also bought some single songs from iTunes — most songs are $0.99 and […]
Science fiction & fantasy TV shows
Here are the science fiction and fantasy shows I’ve watched every episode of (or in the case of Futurama, almost every episode). I’ve rated each season separately and then calculated an average rating in the last column. As always, I’m not rating shows based on how groundbreaking or influential they are — merely on my […]
My rating scheme
I rate movies (and TV shows and books) on how much the story grabs me — on this particular occasion. I’m not rating movies based on their influence on the history of cinema or anything like that. It can have great special effects, great music, great actors, but if it doesn’t have a great story […]
TV Shows
When I watch a TV show I tend to watch every episode in order. If you watch them on DVD you don’t waste time on commercials and you don’t have to wait months for the resolution to cliffhangers. I try to wait until the series is done but I am watching a few current series. […]