Running out of Explicitives

Yes, it's true. I've completely wasted a day of work by starting the wrong essay. Tomorrow, on Monday, I apparently have not one, but two essays due to class. What's even more fun, is that I knew about one of them, started it earlier, and only just now found that I started the wrong one. Yep, so now it's back to scratch with an essay that subject that I started earlier, couldn't get anywhere with, and now I have to get a grand total of 1200 words on a building. On top of that, I have to type up another 1200 words for the same class for a second essay, the subject of which I need to come up with really quickly. I think that one will go over a little better, but it's frustrating.

Now, back to drudgery.

Four Weeks / Sara Wheeler

Inbetween moods at the moment. For the semester, I've had a three day weekend the entire time, which is nice. Yesterday was the four week mark. Four weeks. I can't believe how fast time has gone, and that my time here is almost over. Man. In that time, I have a trip to Cork, Greece and hopefully Stonehenge, as well as a report due this monday and a 20 page paper on the nature of science fiction in the UK to do. Too much to do.

Has ANYONE heard of a singer named Sara Wheeler, or have any of her music? She played at my school during my freshman year, and I really enjoyed listening to her music. I picked up her CD Moonlight Dancers, which is now linked in my mind to New Mexico, because I listened to that CD so much while I was down there. Unfortunently, I haven't been able to find any of her other albums in stores, although I do know of a place on the internet where I can get a couple, which I might do when I return home, or over the summer.

Her music style is folk, but she really doesn't sound like anyone else, and when I listen to her music, it really cheers me up a bit. Unfortunently, when my iPod crapped out again, I lost all of her music for the time being, and the only song that I've been able to listen to is Dreaming (Which is an outstanding song)

Her website: http://sarawheeler.com/

Returning to Camp

I just got an e-mail from my boss, Jon, and he asked me to return as a Village Director again for the upcoming summer. Huge relief on my part. Not only do I have a job for the summer, but it's a job that I absolutely love. I've ranted about it before, but it's a place where I really think that I can make a difference in people's lives, which is something that I've really ingrained in myself somehow.
Last summer was a huge challenge, and a worthwhile one. My dad had told me that management was the toughest job in the world, and I really saw that he was right. It was tough, and it took me a little while to get used to, but it was worth it. I did have some trouble spots throughout, but hopefully I'll learn from my mistakes and get around that.
I've also got a lot of friends there, some of the best in the world. Man, I'm getting chills just thinking about returning, and what will hopefully be an awesome time again this summer. Although, a couple of good friends won't be coming back, which is a shame, but understandable.
I can't wait.

RIP - Stanislaw Lem

An author of one of my favourite books, Solaris, has died at the age of 84. Stanislaw Lem was a Polish Science Fiction author, and penned several novels, which have sold more than 27 million copies, according to the SciFi Wire. His best known work was Solaris, which explored the human consiousness, taking place on a space station orbiting a star called Solaris, which may or may not be sentient. It's an amazing book and amazing movie, although I can't speak for the earlier Russian movie.

Greece

Alrighty, Greece has been fully booked. I've got my flights and rooms for the four days that I'll be staying there. w00t!
About time too - I need to get out of here for a couple days.

Now, I really need to buckle down and start working on things.

Oxford X 3

Went to Oxford for the third, and probably last time while I'm here. And, guess what?

I met Philip Pullman. Talked to him and shook his hand. He seems like a nice guy, just very distant.

I was up for a Literary Festival that the Sunday Times had put on in Oxford. Brian Aldiss, who wrote the short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long, one of my favourites, joined him, along with another two people who's names I forget, to talk about Science in Science Fiction. Interesting talk, although the questions weren't the greatest. I got signitures from the both of them.
After the excitement of waiting to see them on the stage, I was a little disapointed with them in person. They were both pleasant, but I guess I was just another fan. Not that I was really anticipating anything different.

Went to the Eagle and Child again, talked with a gentleman from Germany, where we talked about cars and the English Language. That was good. He spoke excellent English, and was there to brush up on it a bit.

Train ride home was uneventful, and I fell asleep. When I returned, I went to STA, and booked a flight to Greece. The way that the flights worked out, I was able to stop over in Munich for a short time. Now, to book a Hostel.

I'm an Idiot

I just realised that one of the postcards that I sent out didn't have an address on it. Crap.

Also, what happens when you mix House and Monty Python? This: http://youtube.com/watch?v=TCMzS6l5JoY&search=house%2C%20MD

Muslim Culture

Something's been bothering me lately, and it's not my roommate. It's the attitude that seems to be growing more and more, or maybe I'm just noticing it more, towards the Middle East. We're at war with Iraq, or something. It's a vastly different culture, with a entirely different mentality and set of cultural values.
What's been bothering me is two things:

1. It's an uncivilized society. They're unchristian, don't have electricity and are generally barbarians because they're blowing themselves to bits.
2. They're a people who have no self regard for human life and who don't regard life as sacred or special.

Both attitudes are completely wrong. Completely.
In my opinion, civilisation is not governed by the type of religion, amount of electrical power, running water, governmental structure, language or things like that. Culture is what people accomplish together, whether it's a cohesive society with it's own set of beliefs. Is the middle east uncivilised? Hardly. They've got one of the oldest religions in the world, with a very concrete belief system that's almost uniform throughout the country.
Yes, there's violence. But before you go too far, think back a couple hundred years. A number of bloody civil wars/battles/conflicts were fought in England over two branches of the Christian faith. There's still some conflict over it. How's that any better?

Secondly, there is a regard for human life. Unfortunently, there's not much of a story in that for the major news networks. People know that there's always depressing news on televisions or news papers. But instead of taking the news for what it is and believing that that's the entire story, get up and actually talk to someone in the region, ask about the good things. As for Islam, all that we're seeing are extremists.

EXTREMISTS. By the very definition:

ex·trem·ist ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-strmst)n.
One who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm, especially in politics.
ex·tremism n. ex·tremist adj.

Resorts to measures beyond the norm. That means that they're not common place, otherwise they would be the norm. That means that there's a more moderate side to the equation. It's a pity that no one pays attention to that little fact.

I just talked to a friend in Paris over the past week. He said that the streets weren't burning, that the violence isn't as reported. I believe him over CNN.

Hugo Nominations

From SciFi.com:

Hugo Nominees Announced
The nominations for this year's Hugo awards and the John W. Campbell award for Best New Writer have been announced. The awards will be given out at L.A.con IV, the 64th World Science Fiction Convention, which is being held in Anaheim, Calif. from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27, 2006. A complete list of nominees follows.

Novel: Accelerando by Charles Stross, A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin, Learning the World by Ken MacLeod, Old Man's War by John Scalzi, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
My pick: Accelerando by Charles Stross. Great novel.

Novella: "Burn" by James Patrick Kelly, "Identity Theft" by Robert J. Sawyer, "Inside Job" by Connie Willis, "The Little Goddess" by Ian McDonald, "Magic for Beginners" by Kelly Link
Hm... Not sure here. Probably Inside Job.

Novelette: "The Calorie Man" by Paolo Bacigalupi, "I, Robot" by Cory Doctorow, "The King of Where-I-Go" by Howard Waldrop, "TelePresence" by Michael A. Burstein, "Two Hearts" by Peter S. Beagle
Haven't read any of these.

Short Story: "The Clockwork Atom Bomb" by Dominic Green, "Down Memory Lane" by Mike Resnick, "Seventy-Five Years" by Michael A. Burstein, "Singing My Sister Down" by Margo Lanagan, "Tk'tk'tk" by David D. Levine
Haven't read any of these.

Related Book: Science Fiction Quotations by Gary Westfahl, The SEX Column and Other Misprints by David Langford, Soundings: Reviews 1992-1996 by Gary K. Wolfe, Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop by Kate Wilhelm, Transformations: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970 by Mike Ashley
Probably Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More.

Dramatic Presentation: Long Form: Batman Begins, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Serenity, Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
SERENITY!

Dramatic Presentation: Short Form: Battlestar Galactica "Pegasus," Doctor Who "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances," Doctor Who "Dalek," Doctor Who "Father's Day," "Jack-Jack Attack," "Lucas Back in Anger," "Prix Victor Hugo Awards Ceremony"
Batlestar Galactica: Pegasus.

Culture rant coming soon.

House, MD

I don't think that I've had the oppertunity to rant about this show yet. While here in London, I've had access to something that I really haven't before: Television. A couple of stations here play a number of shows that I've been interested in, a couple that I'd heard of and a couple that I've never thought about before. House, MD, is one of these shows.

The title comes from the main character, Dr. Greggory House, a brilliant doctor who figures out a number of puzzling illnesses. While brilliant, he's also fairly antisocial, sarcastic and abrasive. He browbeats and lies to patients to get them to do something when he isn't avoiding them altogether. He's also addicted to the painkilled Vicodin because of a leg problem caused by a infraction, which forces him to walk with a limp and a cane, sometimes used to whack people with. Despite his misqualities, House tends to do the right thing. He lies to get patients to do what's right and despite avoiding patients, he does everything in his power (Including lying and blackmailing doctors) to get them better.
House is joined by a young but very bright team that assists him. Foreman, a black doctor who doesn't like House much, Chase, from Australia and Cameron, the only woman on the team, and who's been attracted to House in the past. One of House's favorite things to do is to pick on them and mess with their heads. Other members of the main cast include Cuddy, the hospital administrator, and Wilson, House's only real friend. There's also been a recurring subplot with a character named Stacy, a lawyer who worked for the hospital, and the woman who House could never work it out with, despite their mutual feelings.
I was attracted to House's personality. I love sarcastic humour, and House does it brilliantly. A couple of quotes:

Dr. Wilson: That smugness of yours really is an attractive quality.
Dr. Gregory House: Thank you. It was either that or get my hair highlighted. Smugness is easier to maintain.

Dr. Gregory House: I am the doctor who's trying to save your son's life. You're the mother who's letting him die. Clarification- it's a beautiful thing.

Dr. Gregory House: I suppose "minimally at best" is your stiff upper lip British way of saying "No chance in hell"?
Dr. Robert Chase: Actually, I'm Australian.
Dr. Gregory House: You put the Queen on your money. You're British.

Dr. Lisa Cuddy: [approaching with two young-looking female interns] Dr. House!
Dr. Gregory House: Time for Girl Scout cookies already?
Dr. Wilson: Get me some Thin Mints.

Dr. Gregory House: [to the team after shutting blinds to avoid seeing Stacy Warner] What? Mommy and Daddy are having a little fight. It doesn't mean we stop loving you. Now, go outside and play. Get Daddy some smokes and an arterial blood gas test.

Dr. Gregory House: You're a wuss. Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me... Hey, Wilson! Guess what Foreman just did!

Dr. Wilson: Did you know your phone is dead? Do you ever recharge the batteries?
Dr. Gregory House: They recharge? I just keep buying new phones.

And so on. IMDB has a lot more if you really want to see more. It's the one show that I refuse to miss. I'll be getting the first season when I return home. Can't wait to either.

Nostalgia

Whee. I'm tired. I got up late again, which I didn't intend to do, and while waiting for my laundry to go, I turned on the television and watched a short thing on rocks in the UK. I've been meaning to head over to Dover for a day or so to see some real rocks again. It was enough to finally get me over to Victoria Station to look up train tickets for the place. About £22, which is a little more than I expected, but not too bad. I also picked up a thing for bus tickets, which might prove to be cheaper. After that, I wandered around the area a bit, and ended up going in circles. Walked by Buckingham Palace, Green Park (which I liked more) and around a number of back streets. I don't know how I went in a giant loop, I just did.
When I returned to the FSU to do some work, I wrote up a power point presentation on the Grand Canyon, for a class later this week at the Charter School. The geography teacher that I've been helping out, Mr. Henderson, learned that I hiked part of it and I found myself assigned to do a presentation, which I'm excited to do.
But in writing it, I went over all my old photographs of the place. I really miss the place, the South West. The geology department went out on a trip this past week (I think) to Texas for driving around looking at rocks, and I really wish that I could be out there, because the past two trips, to New Mexico and Nevada/Arizona/Utah were some of the best experiences in my life, not to mention the most beautiful. I really like London, but it just doesn't have some of the things out there. But I digress. Maybe next year.
Still looking at Ireland and Greece, but I need to hear back from people about other travel plans. You know who you are.

Bombshell

I got back from the Charter School today and found an e-mail from my boss, Jon. As some of you know, I work at a residencial summer camp in Vermont, going on 7 years (hopefully). While I've been there, I've seen literally hundreds of kids go through there, having a great time, and the kids that you really remember are the ones that come back year after year. Not because their parents force them to, to get them out of the house, but because they leave Abnaki with a smile on their face when they leave.
The e-mail that I got told me that one of the campers that has been returning for at least 4-5 years now has passed away, Nate Ketcham. The Ketcham family is well know to the camp, because they've sent all their kids there, who've turned out good or not so good, but Nate was a great camper. He was one of my first when I was starting out, in the Tamakwa village, was a leader in the cabin with other kids, and maintained an extremely high level of energy throughout the one, two, three or even four weeks that he'd stay at camp. He was twelve years old.
I don't really know what else to so, or how this happened. He will be greatly missed, not because he was a great camper, but because he was a great kid, with a very bright future.

Excerpt from the Black Book

While I've been here, I've been doing quite a bit of writing about London and travelling here. Mostly small observations, tips and places to see and visit here, sometimes as a reminder, but also something to pass on to if I know that someone will be visiting London. There's a lot that I wished that I knew about the city. Because it's an English speaking country, the culture shock has been very low. So, things that I've learned, and observations and thoughts that I've had along the way. Paraphrased and added to a little bit:

"It's worth it to visit locations other than the postcard scenes, ie, off the beaten path of the tourists. Museums and historical sites are well worth visiting, some more than once, but each one has a commom denominator - a large mass of other tourists, with cameras, loud children and no desire to really see anything else. This takes away from the various sites, in my opinion. Not all tourists are like this, but there's a good amount of them.
Some of the more interesting and intreging places are the ethnically concentrated areas around this city. South Hall and Brick Lane are two of these places, where there is a strong population of Sheiks from India and Muslims from Pakistan, respectively. These streets/neighborhoods are rich in culture that at first seems contrary to the traditional 'English' view from everyone. These places contain outstanding resturaunts, among other things. They usually have a very interesting history, with the current group being the lastest in a string of other ethnic groups that have inhabited the area.
It's facinating to see street signs in Hundi or Farci, and to hear those words in the air.
How interesting it is to be the odd one out. "
Last Entry, 14-3-05.

Grr... Arg...

My iPod has stopped working again. Over the last week, it's been giving me problems, the hardrive has been buzzing, it's been freezing and whenever I pug it into a computer, it stops almost everything from running. And more importantly, when I listen to music, it skips songs, only plays half of them or something similar to that.
I turned it into a Apple Store to run some tests, where they'll replace it if they need to. It's not too far from where I go to school, so it's an easy pickup. The biggest problem is that all of my music is back at home, and I have almost nothing to listen to. That's the most frustrating.

Walking

I've been having an odd sort of day today. Class was boring, and I was extremely tired as that the neighbors were very loud - they must have had a gathering or something. I ended up catching a couple hours sleep in the living room, then back to my own bed, where at four in the morning, I could still hear people talking. I think I told them to shut it, and went to sleep.
Class was boring, as I mentioned, and I handed in my essay on politics and economics during the early 18th century. Went out, picked up a book, Long Way Round, by actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, about a trip that they took around the world on motorcycles, through Europe, Asia and North America. It's extremely good thus far. Went to the flat, had a small lunch, then set out walking with my book, intending to go to a small park to read for a while.
Since I've been here, I've found that walking is a good activity to do. I've spent several hours at a time picking a random direction and seeing what's down which street. While doing so, I've found some very good streets to walk down that are nice, English and quiet. My favorite walk is between my flat and the FSU campus. It's all back streets, along Rugby Street and to Greater Ormond Street to Queen Square, then over to Greater Russell Street. It's about ten minutes, and in my opinion, more interesting than Theobold's Road, which has quite a bit of traffic.
While walking along it today, I came across a small bookshop - the smallest in London- according to the owner. We talked for a little while. He was interested that I was a history and geology student, and I bought a book from him, which he gave me at a discount, being a student. It's probably the best bookshop that I've ever seen.
From there, I went to Queen's Square, which has some benches and an enclosed grassy area with a statue of Queen Victoria (I think). I was attacked by an excited Black Lab with a large, half deflated ball in her mouth. The owner let me throw it for her a couple times, and I petted the dog (Ozzy) before leaving. It's been a while since I've been near a dog, and it makes me miss Buck and Fionna a little.

Goodbye and Good Riddence

Pulled this in from BBC:

Milosevic found dead in his cell

He was found in his cell this morning, dead for a couple of hours. The cause of death is not clear, but he has been suffering from some health problems recently, and had a request to go to Russia for treatment.
Personally, I'm kind of glad that he's dead. Unfortunently, that means that he can't be brought to justice to stand for his crimes. The victims of the nearly 200,000 people who he killed, and their families will not have the closure that they might have otherwise have.

Next trip

Starting to think about another trip out of London, and this time, England. So far, I've been really wanting to visit Italy, as well as Greece. Leaning towards visiting Athens, because Greek history has been a longtime facination for me.

Any thoughts on where I should go?

Everybody's Going to the Moon - Finally!

NASA recently released their 2006 Stratigic Plan, outlining their goals for the next couple of years. If some of the things that they're planning pan out, it's going to be very exciting.
In the table of contents, the following items are presented:

1. Fly the Shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement, not later than 2010.
2. Complete the International Space Station in a manner consistent with NASA’s International Partner commitments and the needs of human exploration.
3. Develop a balanced overall program of science, exploration, and aeronautics consistent with the redirection of the human spaceflight program to focus on exploration.
4. Bring a new Crew Exploration Vehicle into service as soon as possible after Shuttle retirement.
5. Encourage the pursuit of appropriate partnerships with the emerging commercial space sector.
6. Establish a lunar return program having the maximum possible utility for later missions to Mars and other destinations.

The full plan is online here: NASA Stratigic Plan (PDF)

Further looking around NASA's website, reveals that they've got a new type of lander that they're working on, much, much more advanced than the original Apollo ships, because of new technologies and whatnot. The site mentions that the lander will be able to take 4 people to the moon, and mentions that there's the posibility that the moon and ISS (International Space Station) will be used for missions to the planet Mars. They also mention a minimum of two missions per year. When this will happen, I don't know, and I really hope that this will happen. More on that here.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

The line comes from an English nursery rhyme that is about a terrorist plot to blow up the English Parliment during some troubled times in England, involving religion and a plot to overthrow the government.
Very appropriate, that it's being used as the tagline for the movie V for Vendetta, which is coming out the 17th of March. I've been seeing ads for it everywhere, not surprisingly, because it takes place in a London where Nazism took hold after WWII (I believe that the Allies lost) and revolves around a terrorist/freedom fighter called V (Hugo Weaving aka Elrond, aka Agent Smith) and a girl (Evey Hammond, played by Natalie Portman) who gets caught up in it all. I wasn't really looking forwards to it earlier, but I've been getting more and more interested in the project as time goes, and with the various interesting trailers that have been coming out.

The movie was supposed to come out on November 5th, but the studio, Warner Brothers, stated that they didn't have enough time to finish it, while other people speculated that it might be because of the then-recent terrorist bombings in the London Tube. In any case, there's been quite a bit of press about it here. It's gained a lot of press when Natalie Portman shaved her head for the filming, something that she was apparently thrilled to do.
I'm afraid that I'm not familar with the graphic novel, and it's not likely anything that I'll be picking up, although I might get the novelization in the next couple days to see what it's about.

It's going to resonate very much, I suspect, especially in this day and age about the role of governments and people, a very timeless type of story. A couple lines stood out when I watched the trailers:

Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. There is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

And,

People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.

Both very true statements. I am going to guess that this was influenced slightly by 1984. In any case, I'm really looking forwards to it now, despite anything that I might have said earlier. I remember being skeptical of it when production first started, but I've changed my mind.

And, the original poem:

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent to blow up the King and the Parliament. Three score barrels of powder below, Poor old England to overthrow: By God's providence he was catch'd With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! Hip hip hoorah! A penny loaf to feed the Pope. A farthing o' cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down. A faggot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar. Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head. Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead. Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah!"

How the hell?

How on Earth does Weird Al say the following in about 30 seconds?

Would you look at all that stuff ...
They've got allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters
Trash compactors, juice extractor, shower rods and water meters
Walkie-talkies, copper wires, safety goggles, radial tires
BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers
Picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters
Paint removers, window louvres, masking tape and plastic gutters
Kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables
Hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles
Pesticides for fumigation, high-performance lubrication
Metal roofing, water proofing, multi-purpose insulation
Air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors
Tire gauges, hamster cages, thermostats and bug deflectors
Trailer hitch demagnetizers, automatic circumcisers
Tennis rackets, angle brackets, Duracells and Energizers
Soffit panels, circuit breakers, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers
Calculators, generators, matching salt and pepper shakers
All from the song Hardware Store.

How is that possible?