Friday, March 14, 2008
Sometimes I hate my job and I don't think that I'm very good at it. Thankfully, these moments are rare, but they do happen and one happened last night. I was trying to explain some grammar thing, and I didn't do a very good job so the students were frustrated, and I was frustrated and everyone was frustrated. I will try to explain it better next week. I also had this idea, which might just work. I can publish the three ESL books I am working on Lulu.com which incidently is very cheap, and then use the revenue from those books to set up my own publishing company, and I can publish whatever I want. Print on demand is great because that means I can publish a book and maybe no one ever buys it, so my risk is much smaller than it would be if I went the vanity press way. I think the ESL market is profitable and the books I am working on could make a fair chunk of change. I don't want to be rich, but I do want a steady stream of income so I can be independent. In other news, Ola's grandmother has gone batty. I don't know if I ever explained this on the blog, but she gave us some land. She promised this as a wedding gift, but it a couple of years to get it. The reason is that Ola's mother has a sister. And this sister apparently wants most of Ola's grandmother's land (she has three properties) to herself. But Ola's dad pressured the grandmother (I had given up the idea of having it after a year) and finally, she gave us the land. Ola's aunt was furious. Ola's dad had the idea to go to Ujazd (where our land is located) and say that he lived at one of the properties of Ola's grandmother. He explained this to the grandmother and then he went with her and Ola (because she had to pay taxes on our property) yesterday to Ujazd. They get to the office, Ola pays our taxes, and her dad is in the middle of registering and the grandmother says no-I disagree, because I'm giving this land to Julia, Ola's cousin and the daughter of her aunt. But if she had a problem with it, she should have just said so and not driven an hour with Ola's dad and not said anything. So Ola's dad was mad, and is going to throw Ola's grandmother out of his house and send her stuff to Ola's aunt's. (She lives there rent free). Complicated, but refreshing to know even the most normal of families have their problems.
Labels: mi vida
Movies: Trekkies I can't find a link to embed, but if you go to quick silver screen it's there. I can't believe I hadn't watched this before. While some people certainly go overboard, it does seem to be a positive influence on their lives. Trekkies 2 more of the same. Horizon: An Experiment to Save the World
It's all about cold fusion, the dream of free, limitless and pollutionless power. It doesn't appear to work, but the fact that you can use sound to produce light is fascinating. Horizon: Archimedes Secret also on quick silver screen. Turns out that Archimedes knew about calculus thousands of years before it was invented. Again, proving that science doesn't always march bravely into the future, Horizon: Bye, Bye Planet Pluto' an interesting look into astronomy and what makes a planet a planet, also on quick silver screen. Chimps are people too, on quick silver screen a humour take on our similarities. Not really scientific, the best quote is Chimps aren't people, people are chimps. How to Live to 101. This shows alot of the science behind the Byen Vidnasa. I first heard about this in a National Geographic Article about three years ago.
The Ape That Took Over the World. Also on Quick Silver Screen. I learned something, which happens sometimes. I didn't know that Apes used to be the most common mammal on the planet. They still are, but just us. There used to be all kinds of apes, all around the world, when the world was covered in forests. But there was massive climate change and the forests died, and we survived.
It's all about cold fusion, the dream of free, limitless and pollutionless power. It doesn't appear to work, but the fact that you can use sound to produce light is fascinating. Horizon: Archimedes Secret also on quick silver screen. Turns out that Archimedes knew about calculus thousands of years before it was invented. Again, proving that science doesn't always march bravely into the future, Horizon: Bye, Bye Planet Pluto' an interesting look into astronomy and what makes a planet a planet, also on quick silver screen. Chimps are people too, on quick silver screen a humour take on our similarities. Not really scientific, the best quote is Chimps aren't people, people are chimps. How to Live to 101. This shows alot of the science behind the Byen Vidnasa. I first heard about this in a National Geographic Article about three years ago.
The Ape That Took Over the World. Also on Quick Silver Screen. I learned something, which happens sometimes. I didn't know that Apes used to be the most common mammal on the planet. They still are, but just us. There used to be all kinds of apes, all around the world, when the world was covered in forests. But there was massive climate change and the forests died, and we survived.
Labels: best free online documentaries
Books: This is the promised review of the stories in the Extreme Science Ficition book. Anomalies by Gregory Benford. There is a mistake in the universe and it has to fix itself. Like we are living in the matrix or something. Left me cold. '...And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon', by Paul Di Filippo. Better, kind of an extended joke, so I can't tell you much about it. 'Cruxifiction Variations' by Lawrence Person. An interesting examination of parrallel universes. Like if you're Christian and you live in a universe where Christ wasn't the son of God. 'The Pacific Mystery' by Stephen Baxter. This is about a world where the Pacific is uncrossable and so, Nazi Germany won the Second World War. Kind of bla. 'Flowers from Alice' by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross. I don't know how two guys can write a story together, but I don't have to know. It's an interesting exploration of what it would be like to be post human. I think they go in too much of a technoligcal direction, but still curious. 'Merlin's Gun', by Alastair Reynolds. A space opera. Interesting. 'Death in the Promised Land' by Pat Cadigan. About Virtual Reality. I think virtual reality is the 3-d of our generation. In the fifties people thought all of our movies by now would be 3-d, and now we think we will have holidecks. 'The Long Chase' by Geoffrey A. Landis. This is a great idea. Someone sends their personality into space in a nano-machine and this machine is chased throughout time by another machine. 'Waterworld' by Stephen L. Gillett and Jerry Oltion. This is an interesting story about the practical difficulties of space exploration. 'Hoop-of-Benzene' by Robert Reed. This is probably the third best story in this anthology about cultural differences, and mans inhumanity to this time, aliens. 'The New Humans' by B. Vallance. An interesting exploration of transhumanism, circa 1920. 'The Creator' by Clifford D. Simak. Some scientists in the twenties come up with some mumbo jumbo and meet god who happens to be a violent scientific Demiurge. 'The Girl had Guts' by Theodore Sturgeon. This is probably the inspiration for the Alien movie series, and happens to be much more disgusting. 'The Region Between' by Harlan Ellison. I have to say, that this is probably the best story I have ever read. Ever. And I went to university and studied English lit. There's interesting character development and the format, the layout of the text is brillant. 'The Days of Solomon Gursky' by Ian MacDonald. Also a space opera. It drags. 'Wang's Carpets' by Greg Egan, I know I keep saying this, but it is another good exploration of the ways different life forms may evolve. 'Undone' by James Patrick Kelly. This is the second best story in the book and it uses layout in a similar way to 'The Region Between', but I think the story is by far less compelling. 'Judgement Engine' by Greg Bear. About a person who gets resurrection to judge his descendents at the end of the universe. 'Stuffing' by Jerry Oltion. Another joke story, about a world where people have stopped eating.
talk to the Snail by Stephen Clarke. I don't know why I picked up this book as it is about the French and the amusing things they do. It's funny, and I realize that I could write something like that someday about Poland. I also read 'Zanna's Bedside Manner' by Josh Skinner. I know he has alot of problems with it, but there's a good mood to it.
talk to the Snail by Stephen Clarke. I don't know why I picked up this book as it is about the French and the amusing things they do. It's funny, and I realize that I could write something like that someday about Poland. I also read 'Zanna's Bedside Manner' by Josh Skinner. I know he has alot of problems with it, but there's a good mood to it.
Labels: books
The Curtain Fig
The Curtain Fig Tree is one of the largest trees in Tropical North Queensland, Australia, and one of the best known attractions on the Atherton Tableland. It is located just out of Yungaburra.
The Curtain Fig Tree is from the strangler fig species Ficus virens. Normally these parasitic figs germinate on top of another tree and try to make roots into the ground. Once this important step is done, the fig will grow vigorously, finally kill the hosting tree and then grow on independently. In this case the hosting tree tilted towards the next one, the fig also grows around that one. Its curtain of aerial roots drop 15 metres (49 feet) to the ground.
Labels: curtain fig, famous trees
Hockey Update
I think this week I will start with hockey, because, they're back! The Ottawa Senators have finally recovered the form that they started the season with. It started with Brian Murray replacing John Paddock. The second thing, was the public humilation of Ray Emery. It was the starting goalie dilema between Emery and Gerber, plus the attrocious behaviour of Emery that eroded morale of Gerber, a hard-working, loyal player, and the other players. The turn around started in Phoenix, where they beat Phoenix 4-2. Not a resounding victory, as Phoenix is one of the worst teams in the league. But this is a turn around from their lost to Los Angeles, the worst team in the league. Then they went on to win 4-1 against Boston, who they would be playing in the first round of the playoffs if they started tomorrow. Then last night they played Montreal and won 3-0. This is a big win because they regained the division lead, and are second in the conference. Plus Gerber outplayed Corey Price, who will probably be the rookie of the year. This means that in the playoffs they have the ability to beat any team in the East. One great thing about the chaos in the east, is that it is almost like the situation in the West and everyone says that the west is so much more competitive. I can hardly wait for the playoffs to start.
Labels: Hockey Update
