Just Finished: The Elegant Universe

Great book, but not as convincing as I had hoped. (Loved the Nova series, though Five stars to that.)

 

 

 

On page 278, Green says "Of course, the after-the-fact agreement was only marginally convincing. When you know the answer you want, it is all too easy to figure out a way of getting it." That's the way I feel about this book's arguments in general. Too many times scientists were faced with insurmountable theoretical problems that were easily fixed, for example, by adding dimensions to the framework. Dimensions, I might add, that can't be seen, can't be proved, can't be expiramentally confirmed, but (wonder of wonders!) completely validate all this theory we couldn't make work before!

 

I wish I was a scientist, so I could evaluate this book's arguments as a scientist. But until I am, I must remain unconvinced.

 

The Rochester Reader

Relaunch: Coming Soon

The Rochester Reader will be relaunched soon, with a renewed dedication to regular publishing.

Sorry, eveyone. Work is killing me.

Now Reading: Twilight

I just love Bella Swan. She's dreamy. And that Edward Cullen, he makes my loins ache. But nothing can compare to that man-beast Jacob. Also, Anna Kendrick is kinda cute.

One of the preceeding statements was true. Enjoy the day, everybody.

Spring is in the Air...

"It was nice standing out in the darkness, in the damp grass, with spring coming on and a feeling in my heart of imminent disaster."

-Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon (A good book, but a great movie.)

Pardon the Interruption

Still here. Like I had been saying, the busy season is definitely upon us at work. Most days I get home and just want to go to bed. The alarm starts and it is time to make the doughnuts again. As it turns out, even reading a short story every week was an ambitous goal.

I finished Warren Ellis' Planetary (again). I started a review, but I am waiting to post it until it is finished. In the meantime, I am (slowly) finishing Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. And I recently picked up a new book called Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt. It was in the science fiction section, and it is billed as "a comedy of transdimensional tomfoolery" but I have a feeling that categorization is not entirely accurate.

Keep reading, people, and I will return to a more regular schedule soon enough.

rr

Chess, Revisited

So I picked up Yasser Seirawan's book on Chess Tactics, and I just can't get into it. I'm trying to wrap my head around X-Rays and Windmills, but man, I'm just not getting it. Forks and Pins, sure, no problem. Discovered Attacks and Skewers, okay, sure, in theory. But X-Rays? I don't get it.

So I think I'm going to stick with Planetary tonight.  I'm 25/27 of the way to the end, so with a little luck, I may finish it tonight. Sure, it's not the first time I've read it. But it is the first time I've read it lately. And it is pretty satisfying to see Elijah Snow stick it to Randall Dowling. More of that later though, when I can do a proper review.

+++++

"And so it was that I studied with the world's greatest detective for five years, until he finally died of old age. To his disgust, I never got rid of the accent in his lifetime. It took another ten years of walking across the world to do that. But I never lost my love of the secrets. And I don't think I ever will."

Elijah Snow
Planetary by Warren Ellis

+++++

That's it for tonight. Now go read something already!
rr

Thunderblizzard 2011

Hello, fellow readers.

Thunderblizzard 2011 really set my blogging back. I'm still reading Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card and Warren Ellis' Planetary (regular Volume 4, or Absolute Volume 2, take your pick). I'm also still reading The Stand by Uncle Stevie - man I miss his Entertainment Weekly column - but haven't picked it up this month yet. Which is OK, since I'm ahead of my pace.

I meant to write something while I was snowbound, but chose to indulge in (the demon) television instead, watching episodes of Invasion (episode 9) and Battlestar Galactica ("Scar") instead. I was going to watch Sherlock from the BBC, but my copy of the dvd seems to be all screwey. I suppose I could have read one of Doyle's originals instead, but I was dozing and fell asleep early anyway.

Watch this space for new posts. I may write something as early as tonight. The worst case scenario is that I post something new this weekend.

Now go read something today already...