Angels and Demons

Today, the artwork for Google is based on the large Hadron Collider. Now I have no idea what this thing does yet it sounds impressive. I read in paper today that we should not be messing around with this thing anyway. After I read Angels and Demons, I found the name CERN everywhere and prior to that book, I had never even heard of CERN. Now I like my cocoon yet what these guys do is pretty out there stuff. What I can gather is that they are trying to create a universe under the Alps. I think this is probably not the best place for such a thing, yet I really am clueless about creating universes and such. I am reassured by Steven Hawking's comment that it is vital for the survival of humanity. I know we are in danger with global warming and the day after tomorrow world, yet that is quite far fetched from what I understood. I may have been a bit too quick there, I am already feeling a sense of doom falling on me, I just read that they are making Angels and Demons into a movie now.

Photoshop Disasters

Somewhere, somehow, someplace, I came across the website Photoshop distasters. Having dabbled in the crop photo and red eye reduction features in photoshop I have found myself an expert in photo touchups with photoshop. I have been proven wrong. There is a whole bunch of things out there that I can do. Here are 3 of photos from this week I found interesting.

No matter how photogenic I am I will never look as good as the red, yellow, and purple clothed girls.

I am confused, two bodies, how many legs?

Great! A book that can teach me to make freakish photos with photoshop.

The day

If there was ever a case for why we shouldn't mess around with DNA and genetic modifications it is well put in the classic science fiction novel the Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. On a recommendation from a well read person, I went to the library to get the book to read. Luckily there were numerous copies and the wait was short. I started to read it and found that it was hard to put down. I found myself engrossed in the story and I quickly realised why it is a classic. It has inspired me to find some other books, in a similar style and era, that I liked when I was child to refresh those memories. I do recommend this book just for the sake of having said that you have read it, yet you will be surprised to find that it is a good story too.

Karma Seatra

I somehow got subscribed to Borders' (bookstore) email advertising for new books each month, must have been one of those afterwork zombie moments. As I was going through it I was pretty surprised and impressed with the cleverness of the title when I checked and found this in it.

Kama SEAtra is a comical exposé of the raunchy sex lives of marine creatures. From desire and deception, lust and fetish, pleasure and pain - it's all happening beneath the waves, according to this new book about the marine world. The author Sherre Marris takes a different approach, by humanising the marine life, she is engaging and writes about marine creatures in a way we can relate. It's wacky, wonderful and occasionally weird; KamaSEAtra gives you a whole perspective on what goes on under the sea.

Anyway it had nice pictures attached so I thought I might share them with you.

Strange Days

No this post will not be about the Doors song or the movie. More about an interesting 12 hours. Last night I was suffering from insomnia, once again, and I couldn't sleep. I thought that the bed was too hard and it was keeping me awake. I am currently using an air mattress, waiting for the credit card to go down a bit before making the plunge to real furniture. Eventually I fell asleep and when I woke up in the morning I found that the bed had deflated. I recall that some of my last thoughts were taking some air out of the mattress to make it a bit softer, and I wonder did I do this while I was sleeping.

Well I prepared to go to work and arrive in the lift and the last person in is someone I am currently working with. With a formal work related greeting asking me if I had seen a report, I then listened for 10 minutes as I was told how to proceed with my tasks, his way (he was offering advice while later that day my boss liked what I had done). Now this is not a bad thing per se, just that I realised that I wasn't aloud to talk through this lecture.

Then I went to boil water for my coffee and then had a similar conversation with my boss, on a different topic. I was starting to become irritated as I wanted to sit down and drink my coffee. I had been at work for about 20 minutes and yet to taste the much wanted coffee. I WAS LONGING FOR MY COFFEE. I was starting to think about going postal.

All's well, that ends well. Finally, I got to sit down and enjoy my coffee. And today, much inspired by a quote I read recently I am going to look for the book A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man. I had heard about James Joyce while drinking at Sheridan's in HCMC and had been curious about what his writing would be like and I am eagerly anticpating reading some of this tonight. Also I will see if I can find a book called Blink.

The last kingdom

Lately I have been without a TV which is a blessing and a curse. The curse bit being that I just can’t lie around and watch TV or play video games. However, not having a TV allows me to read. At the present rate it seems to be about 2 books in 7 days. For me I have doubled the amount of books I have read in about a month.

One author my father recommended is Bernard Cornwell. He is a historical writer who fabricates stories around historical events. The first book I read was in the Saxon Stories – The Lords of the North. I was hooked, engrossed in the story and before I knew it, it was over. I felt an affiliation with Utred, as he tried to regain what was lost in the first book.

After reading that book, I quickly secured the two previous books in the series from my father’s library and devoured them. Now I am waiting to find the latest book which apparently has just been released in the UK.

In the meantime I have moved onto the books about the hundred year war between England and France. These books are older, yet just as good. I am determined to find out whether Thomas, will recover the Holy Grail and complete other tasks set of him.