2013-04-11 10:45:00
I'm a geek through and through, no secrets there. I read scifi, I read fantasy, I read manga and I read western comics. And of course plenty of other things :)
When it comes to comics I've had superhero comics on the back burner for a long time. In my late teens I used to follow Spiderman, which was at the time of the controversial Clone Saga arc and the aftermath involving Ben Reilley and Judas Traveler. I quit reading those right before 2000 though and since then I've focused on other things. Last year I set my teeth into a few short Marvel arcs that really had my interest (Iron Man: Extremis, Old man Logan and Wolverine: origin which is not to be confused with Origins). But outside of those story arcs, none of the series looked interesting enough to follow actively.
I've recently ran into a little extra cash (a lovely thank-you for helping out someone with her computer), so I decided to poke around the Comixology shop some more. I considered getting the collected Marvel Civil War books, but decided against it. As before, none of the Marvel series look nice enough to continue reading. Some more digging around turned my eye towards DC's The new 52, the 2011 full reboot of all their story lines. A lot of the things we knew about Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and the DC continuity got wiped and 52 series were restarted at issue #1.
Trying out a few of the previews, I've decided that I want to start following two of DCs series: Batwoman and Catwoman. The artwork looks great, the characters are completely new to me and the story lines so far are intruiging.
kilala.nl tags: geeky, reading,
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2012-06-12 12:09:00
In the summer of 2008 I discovered the Bommel radio play.
Thanks to the wonderful fansite De Bommel Schatkamer, I discovered that a total of 562 episodes of the radio play were made and aired in 2007-2010. 75 stories, spread across 15-minute episodes makes for a lot of listening material! Both the voice acting and the effects and storytelling are excellently done, so it's a pleasure to hear these stories on my daily commute!
Of course, 562 episodes are a big deal to download by hand, so I wrote a script to pull them from the server one by one. Huzzah for OS X and shell scripting! The script got a little more intricate because the MP3 files are never directly linked, but instead are stored behind a load balancer. So a link like this http://audio.omroep.nl/nps/mp3/bommel/001.mp3 would actually load a tiny HTML page with a meta-refresh to a dynamically created link behind a load balancer (including a session ID for randomization).
The actual code is of course more intricate, but here's the meta:
while ($NUM -lt 563)
do
FILE=$(curl http://audio.omroep.nl/nps/mp3/bommel/$NUM.mp3 | strip-to-actual-link)
curl -o $NUM.mp3 $FILE
[[ $? -gt 0 ]] && (echo "Something went wrong"; exit 1)
NUM++; sleep 60
done
That script ran most of the night, while I slept. And now I've got a bit over eight gigs of MP3 radio plays :)
EDIT:
It turns out that the ID3 tags of the podcast episodes are rather messy. There are variations of the artist, the album title and the track numbers are all mucked up. In order to fix them it's easiest to use yet another script, this time with a tool such as ID3tool. This will allow you to set a number of tag details from the command line. Sadly, it appears to only set ID3v1, not v2. I'll need to verify how well that works with iTunes. It also appears to fail in updating the track number on anything after file 256.mp3.
EDIT2:
Even better! ID3Lib works with ID3v2 tags and is also a command line tool. I found that tip here.
NUM=1; mkdir import
cat BommelTitleFiles.txt | awk -F# '{print $2" "$1}' | while read FILE TITLE
do
id3convert --strip $FILE
id3tag -a"NPS" -A"Hoorspel Bommel" -c"(C) NPS" -y2007 -t$NUM -T493 -s "$TITLE" -g"Radio play" $FILE
mv $FILE import/$NUM.mp3
let NUM=$NUM+1
done
EDIT3:
It turns out that there are both duplicate files, messed up title tags and missing files if you only go by xxx.mp3. Apparently there's a wad of xxxa.mp3 files thrown in there as well. In order to fix the broken titles and to grab only the required files, here's BommelTitleFiles.txt. Each line of this file is a title-file combination, so you can download only those files needed and apply the right title as well.
Also, it turns out that most of the files have the "is part of a set" ID3 checkbox set. I found it's better to simply strip all tags using id3convert --strip $FILE, which will clear everything.
kilala.nl tags: awesome, reading, geeky,
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2010-11-03 19:37:00
Just a small blip to let you know I'm still alive and that I'm enjoying the hell out of an old web comic which I've recently discovered: Lovelace and Babbage. As the title suggests the main characters of the comic are historic figures and the supposed grand parents of modern computing: Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage. Obviously, in reality they never fought crime, nor built robotic women (to fetch drinks), nor fought street musicians with mathematical formulae. But I don't care, because I really enjoy it all :)
Besides, it surely helps that the comic's author also adds a lot of post script with information and little tidbits about the actual Babbage and Lovelace :)
EDIT:
Hahahahaha! This is fscking priceless! Lovelace and Babbage build a model of the economy, which confirms that over-stimulus leads to hyperinflation :) *KABOOM!* Hilarious :)
kilala.nl tags: comics, reading, geeky, steampunk,
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2010-08-03 21:50:00
Today I learned that Inception is very similar to a 2002 Don Rosa Scrooge McDuck story called The dream of a lifetime (more info at INDUCKS).
Reading the story page by page it really is spectacularly funny. I love Don Rosa :)
EDIT:
Today I learned something else as well! From the same Reddit thread:
"Don Rosa writes about the story behind this in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: Companion, where he says that this is the only time he's accepted a plot from a fan. (I found the quote from a Norwegian Duck universe forum.)
However, a few months after writing it, he saw a movie (The Cell) with the same basic plot, and feared that the fan had taken the idea from the movie, so it's not clear-cut that The Dream of a Lifetime inspired Inception, they could for example both have been inspired by a different movie."
And while we're on the subject... Here's an Ian McKellan (Gandalf, Magneto, etc, etc) impersonator reciting the Ducktales theme. Convincing? Yes. Hilarious? YES!
(Woo... Hoo!)
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2010-06-10 07:18:00
It's a commonly known fact that I'm a big fan of Haruki Murakami's writings. Recently I've read another two of his books.
What I talk about when I talk about running is a collection of personal memmoirs, written down while Murakami was preparing for the New York Marathon. Aside from delving into his running regime, the book is also a retrospective on his early writing career. It was very nice to get a behind-the-scenes look on his first two books. Obviously What I talk about was not as surreal as his other books ^_^
Dance dance dance is the final book of four dealing with the lives of The Writer and The Rat. I loved it, though it did not blow me away as much as Wild sheep chase did. It was fun, it was surreal, it was thought-provoking and it provided closure. But it was no WSC. Even Pinball 1973 made me cry at the end, but DDD didn't. It was a good book though and I'm happy with how the story ends.
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2010-03-29 20:35:00
You only think you know comics history! The epic - and insane - story of comic books, manga and graphic novels, told as a comic, in the inimitable, irreverent and award-winning Action Philosophers style, begins here!
That's the advertisement for Comic book comics as I read it in Comixology's Comics iPhone app. Having read a few installments of Action Philosophers (an illustrated and light-hearted look at the world's history of philosophy) I knew this could only end well! Combine comics, learning and learning about comics into one format and you can definitely sign me up! At 79 cents each it's a bargain. :)
Four chapters from the books are available as preview. I've learnt plenty already! For example, I never knew that: Popeye + pulp scifi + The Shadow + Scarlet Pimpernel + Zorro = Superman! Did you?
EDIT:
Nor did I know that the 1960's Batman TV series was -intentionally- camp. The overacting, the seriousness, the overdone BAM! ZOOM! POW! images: all by design in order to -be- camp. Huh! Live and learn! :)
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2009-12-07 21:27:00
Going back to Murakami's A wild sheep chase it's still as good as the first time, though obviously most of the surprise-factor has worn off. I still love his writing, the surreality of the story and the sense of loss that's conveyed. I still tear up at the final paragraph.
I walked along the river to its mouth. I sat down on the last fifty yards of beach, and I cried. I never cried so much in my life.
Because sheep is actually the third book in a trilogy I really wanted to read the first two as well. Both books were never published in english outside Japan, which is why I recently ordered the first book from Japan. The second book however is very, very rare and fetches insane prices on the web. So (and I'm not proud to admit this) I bootlegged it.
Pinball, 1973 is available as a PDF from various sources. Using the awesome and free CreateBooklet PDF plugin for OS X I printed it for easy reading on the train.
Here's two quotes from Pinball that struck me.
I could go on like this forever, but would I ever find a place that was meant for me? Like, for example, where? After lengthy consideration, the only place I could think of was the cockpit of a two-seater Kamikaze torpedo-plane. Of all the dumb ideas. In the first place, all the torpedo-planes were scrapped thirty years ago.
==================
Dreamily she closed her eyes and pressed against the Rat. From his shoulder on down, the Rat felt the supple weight of her body. An odd sensation, that weight. This being that could love a man, bear children, grow old and die; to think one whole existence was in this weight.
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2009-11-19 16:25:00
Today, just by accident, I happened to stumble upon the 1994 classic The Unix haters handbook (PDF). At the time the book gathered criticism and outright vitriol from orphaned TOPS, ITS and Vax folks who'd been forced to switch to the much hated Unix platform. It makes for a great read in many senses:
1. It's funny.
2. It's a great history lesson.
3. Some (if not many) of the points raised are still valid today.
With regards to #3: I've lived through many of the frustrating situations described by contributors, but I have to admit that I'd completely forgotten about them. Thus the book is also a good reminder to experienced Unix admins about what their junior / rookie counterparts still have to live through today.
Some quotes that I liked:
“Two of the most famous products of Berkeley are LSD and Unix. I don’t think that is a coincidence.”
===========
Then there's the story of the poor student who happened to have a file called "-r" in his home directory. As he wanted to remove all his non directory files (I presume) he typed:
% rm *
... And yes, it does remove everything except the beloved "-r" file... Luckily our backup system was fairly good.
Some Unix victims turn this filename-as-switch bug into a 'feature' by keeping a file named "-i" in their directories. Type "rm *" and the shell will expand this to "rm -i filenamelist" which will, presumably, ask for confirmation before deleting each file. Not a bad solution, that, as long as you don't mind putting a file named "-i" in every directory. Perhaps we should modify the mkdir command so that the "-i" file gets created automatically. Then we could modify the ls command not to show it.
==========
Playing with Unix error messages:
$ "How would you rate Dan Quayle's incompetence?
Unmatched ".
$ If I had a ( for every $ the Congress spent, what would I have?
Too many ('s.
$ sleep with me
bad character
$ man: why did you get a divorce?
man:: Too many arguments.
$ ^What is saccharine?
Bad substitute.
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2009-08-07 22:22:00
Recently my father bought me the His dark materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman. Things started off real well with Northern lights and I got hooked into a fantasy series for the first time in a long while. It's pretty good and I'm looking forward to moving on to the second book.
In the meantime I've watched the movie based on the first book, The golden compass and I must admit that I didn't care for it too much. It had the same effect on me that Stardust did, which funnily enough is from the same year. I liked the portrayal of the world as it's part of the story and I loved seeing certain parts of the book in motion (Panserbjorne are awesome), but overall it felt like it was lacking something. It was rushed and a lot of important stuff was ignored or rushed through. Now I know what Marli feels like with her Harry Potter movies :)
kilala.nl tags: reading, movies,
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2009-07-06 07:23:00
My sister and her boyfriend got me A wild sheep chase, by Haruki Murakami. It's entirely too good for my own good as it makes me want to play hooky from work, to read the book cover-to-cover in some darkened coffee bar.
EDIT:
So I never played hooky, but I -am- almost through the book. In the mean time, here's a few choice quotes.
I skipped the thirty-one years between 1938 and 1965 and jumped to the section entitled "Junitaki Today". Of course, the book's "today" being 1970, it was hardly today's "today". Still, writing the history of one town obviously imposed the necessity of bringing it up to a "today". And even if such a today soon ceases to be today, no one can deny that it is in fact a today. For if a today ceased to be today, history could not exist as history.
Unconsciously, I brought a cigarette to my lips, but before lighting up I remembered the gasoline fumes and returned it to the pack. So I sucked on a lemon drop instead. The result: the uncommon taste of lemon gasoline."
"C'mere, Kipper", said the chauffeur, picking up the cat. The cat got frightened, bit the chauffeur's thumb, then farted. (A sort of "you had to be there" moment)
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2009-03-07 12:34:00
As I'm now bored stiff I decided to dig an unread book from the pile. So I picked one of Tom Clancy's NetForce books (the Hidden Agendas one). Computers, hackers, crime and cyberstuff, that ought to be good, right?
Wrong. I threw that thing aside after the first chapter because it's written like one of those dime romance novels from Bouquet or Harlequin. Only this one's for men instead of women.
In 'silat' you didn't merely defeat an enemy, you destroyed him. [...] Toni leaped at him [and while blocking] his right thigh slid between Toni's legs and pressed against her pubis. His concentration on protecting himself just kind of...evaporated. He'd blocked the punch, but now he just stood there. He didn't follow up. He was very much aware of the warmth of her crotch astraddle his thigh, even through two sets of sweat pants. "Damn! Sorry, I drew a blank."
Indeed. If this is what modern action novels are supposed to be like, count me out.
EDIT:
Ah! The first line of the Wiki page actually cleared up a lot for me. It's only Clancy's name on the cover since he thought of the premise. The actual writing's done by someone completely different. And here I was imagining the Splinter Cell's ninjas and guardsmen hugging each other under the showers.
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2009-01-30 21:03:00
Recently we've been devouring books again :)
On a whim I bought Marli the first book from the Twilight series of fantasy books. It seems that these high school love/drama + vampires stories are all the rage these days and are being touted as "the new Harry Potter". Marli certainly seems to like them, as we bought her the remaining three books immediately after finishing the first ^_^
I put this order of books to good use by getting something for myself as well.
First off I got the final chapter to the Locas stories by Jaime Hernandez (part of the Love and rockets comic series that started in the eighties), called Ghost of Hoppers. I still need to get a bunch of the chapters that come before it, but I don't mind :) GoH certainly is dark and at times surreal, but I love it anyway. The artwork has a rather particular style (which I described earlier) and I love the chara design of leading lady Maggie ("rubenesque", one could say). My heart was also aflutter after the final eight panels of the book, which -finally- give happy closure to the saga.
I also ordered on of the many omnibuses with stories by H.P. Lovecraft. I'd been meaning to get some of his books for a long time and in the past years I've read a whole bunch of them as ebooks, but finally I got some in print as well. Seriously, this stuff may have been written before 1930, but it still amazes me how it's chill-inducing even with broad daylight! Riveting and scary, even in the middle of a crowded room!
kilala.nl tags: reading, comics,
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2008-11-22 20:56:00
Last week I borrowed a book from Dymphie that I'd heard about sometime last year. I'd been meaning to read it ever since. How Starbucks saved my life, by Michael Gates Gill.
Despite initial impressions this is not a book about some stockbroker or sysadmin that lives off of Starbucks' coffee exclusively. It's not about people who need coffee to get through their days unscathed. Nope...
To sum it all up, Mr Gill used to be a big shot exec in the New York marketing world. After a few bad choices in life and a few nasty turns in his luck he finds himself destitute and alone in the world. Now job, no clients, no wife and his kids moved away as well. Despite his upper class upbringing and his snobbish life so far, Mr Gill accepted a position at Starbucks after his sixtieth birthday. Getting by on low wages, doing menial jobs and serving people Mr Gill found more satisfaction than he'd ever had in his exec job.
Despite the rather bad dutch translation I sped through the book in about five hours. It really isn't that big of a read and it's nicely paced.
The reason why I wanted to read this book in the first place is that I've always had something stuck in the back of my head: things can always go wrong. It's very unlikely to happen, but there's always the off chance that something happens that prevents me from working in IT ever again. I dunno; maybe I develop a Linux allergy. ^_^; I've always told myself that, should it ever come so far, I'd never balk at menial jobs. I'd go flip burgers, work at a super market and in the evenings I'd clean offices. Sure, I wouldn't be able to do hard physical labour, but cleaning and cooking is definitely not below me.
An interview with Mr Gill is available on YouTube.
kilala.nl tags: reading, coffee, money,
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2008-10-19 20:11:00
When growing up as kids we had a number of books that we really, -really- loved. A number of these were finnish books by Mauri Kunnas (Wikipedia) and at least two of them were works of Richard Scarry.
Both authors created illustrated story books featuring anthropomorphic animals which are heavy on the drawings. Actually, most of each page is filled with artwork with just a bit of text. Both Scarry and Kunnas also have a knack for filling each page with small, hidden jokes. All in all, this stuff is great for kids!
Things is, I still love these books! Now I could always use Dana as an excuse to buy these books (No no, it's for my daughter! ^_^;), but why would I? So far we've gathered Kunnas' reworkings of the finnish epic Kalevala, of King Arthur's story and of Santa Claus' factories. We only recently bought a Scarry book, which is actually an omnibus of three of his books.
*glee* I just love these books!
kilala.nl tags: reading, baby, childhood,
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2008-08-17 13:59:00
Since I left school I've been tearing through a pile of books. Taking the train to work every day has given me the chance to enjoy myself again and to educate myself on non-school-non-work things. Here's a quick list.
Oscar Wilde's The picture of Dorian Gray was a great read. I love the story and miraculously the way the text's written is still very legible these days. Oddly, the first page of the book is horrible and has sentences that run on for seven lines. After that first page everything's perfect through :) If you'd like to read the book, you can download it for free at Project Gutenberg.
Bill Bryson's A short history of nearly everything started out great, but got slower about halfway. I still need to finish it.
I read through the whole eight books of the Marmelade Boy manga. I'm so glad that Yoshizumi-san decided to give the series a happy ending. I loved the romantic, teenage drama ^_^
Verhoeven and Busnel's Vaderschap voor beginners (Parenting for beginners) is a dreary book. The information in the book is quite valuable, but the way it's presented makes it very dry. I had to skim through the book and pick out choice samples to read. It makes a nice addition to other, more pleasant books but that's about it.
Henk Hanssen's Baby management voor mannen (Baby management for men) however is an -awesome- book! The way it's written irks me (manager's lingo and acting like the baby is a product), but the information and the way it's presented is invaluable. I tore through this book in five hours and learnt boatloads! :)
kilala.nl tags: reading, manga,
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2008-07-23 10:25:00
For my birthday, my sister got me one of the awesomest books I've read in the past few years: A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. It'd been on my wishlist for quite a while now thanks to the folks at Ars and now it's finally mine :D
If you've ever been even remotely interested in physics, astronomy, chemistry, the earth, the human race or our weird scientists, then this is the book for you! Bill takes a lighthearted look at how -everything- came into existance. How did the universe form? What -is- the universe? What is gravity? How does it work? Why does it work? And the best part is that all of this is done in a rather humorous fashion. Bill not only focuses on the science itself, but also on the scientists themselves who can be -really- odd at times.
Aside from reading the book for the entertainment value I actually learn a lot as well. For example, there's the fact that atoms and such really aren't solid objects and that thus solidity itself (of objects) is merely an illusion. To quote the book:
When two objects come together in the real world - billiard balls are most often used for illustration - they don't actually strike each other. 'Rather,' as Timothy Ferris explains, 'the negatively charged fields of the two balls repel each other ... [W]ere it not for their electrical charges they could, like galaxies, pass right through each other unscathed.' when you sit in a chair, you are not actually sitting there, but levitating above it at a height of one angstrom (a hundred millionth of a centimetre), your electrons and its electrons implacably opposed to any closer intimacy.
kilala.nl tags: reading, geeky,
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2008-07-14 17:35:00
For about two years now we've owned a wonderful laster printer, made by Lexmark. It's really great and has served us well so far. About a third of the stuff printed pertains to work, school work and such, while the rest is spent on Marli's biggest hobby: fan fiction. So far, we've gone through about 22.000 pages.
o_O Ouch...
Seeing how Marli will probably not stop reading fan fiction any time soon, I'm thinking of saving both us and the environment a lot of hassle. I'm thinking of purchasing an eBook reader for Marli. By now the Hanlin V3 (made in China by Jinke) is starting to look pretty good. I could buy it locally for E299, or import it from China for E239 which is quite a difference.
That's still a pretty steep price, but when compared to other eBook readers it's actually not that bad. The dutch Iliad is fscking expensive at around E500 :(
Of course, the biggest question would be if Marli would even like using the device. Would it be easy enough for her to put new books and chapters on? Would she like reading from electronic paper? (Remember, these aren't LCD screens!) Would she get used to the buttons and such? It's a shame that there isn't a shop in the Netherlands where we could try a few different models out in person.
Maybe later... Maybe later...
kilala.nl tags: other tech, reading,
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2008-06-22 11:47:00
During my stints as a midnight taxi service for Marli, I sometimes run into interesting radio shows. The oddest stuff comes up on the radion after midnight, you know?
One of the more awesome things I've found is the Bommel radio play, which takes me back years and years and is of great nostalgic value to me. You see, my father has always loved the Tom Puss and Oliver B. Bumble ("Olivier B. Bommel" in dutch) stories, written by Marten Toonder. Hence, as a kid I came into frequent contact with Bumble novels and artwork.
While the first Puss & Bumble stories may've been targeted at kids, later episodes were written for adults. These stories usually contain some message of morale, or a hidden social commentary and are quite pleasant to read. I love the way dialogue is worded and how most of the stories exude a leisurely atmosphere.
And now, through the magic of teh Intarwebs and Podcasting I can listen to all of the 100+ radio play episodes, for free :) Now that I'm no longer required to study during my trainrides to work, I can relax with this stuff ^_^
kilala.nl tags: awesome, reading,
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2008-01-28 13:32:00
Well, it's official: I'm a greedy, shameless bastard ^_^;
In light of the upcoming move to our school's new building, everyone's doing a major cleanup of their offices. For the past few weeks, folks have been putting out piles of crap in the hallways, with notes like Free! or Take me home!. Most of the stuff wasn't very interesting, until I came to school today.
In our section of the building, a pile of about 300 maths books had appeared! They were all old prints of the books used to teach math in high school. A bit outdated, by surely still useful. I managed to compile one complete set of books for the Moderne Wiskunde method, books used in years 1 through 5.
Of course, I do feel like an egocentric ass for taking a complete set of books. I'm trying to tell my conscience that it was a good thing to do, because we don't have the money to outright buy these books. But then again, the same goes for a lot of my classmates. Oh well...
Books! /o/ *spends three hours just browsing through them*
kilala.nl tags: school, reading, maths,
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2007-11-18 23:25:00
Yeah, that's right: me. Me, the fifteen year old, scrawny kid with big-ass glasses and an unkempt mullet-alike. ^_^ And judging by the waterdye effect on the shirt, that's my Dr Dre, "skull with hemp" shirt ^_^;
The Kijk op leerlingen course on children's identity development is awesome. Our first assignment was to look back on our own childhood and the various developments we went through. My biggest conclusion: I never granted myself the time or the opportunity to simply screw around. Ever since my sixteenth (in the final year of high school) it's all been about work, work, work.
Luckily things are changing little by little these days.
Let me say though that I'm enjoying the crap out of the book for this course. Identiteitsontwikkeling en leerlingbegeleiding by van de Wal, de Mooij and de Wilde is the shit. Seriously. The title, which translates as Identity development and student counseling may sound dreary or even patronising, but it doesn't do the book justice.
Even for me (who's still young considering most of my classmates) this book provides great insights into what it's like to be a kid these days. You'd think I still remember, but no...
@ Menno: I'm quite sure you'll enjoy this book as well, given your broad interests in psychology and personal relationships.
kilala.nl tags: school, reading, family, writing,
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2007-11-08 15:52:00
A long while back I first wrote about Girl Genius. I'd immediately fallen in love with the steampunk comic (which can be read online over here).
I wanted to support Mr. Foglio's work by buying some of his work in print. That'd also give me a chance to read Girl Genius offline ^_^ Because things are a bit tight these days, I opted for the $10 omnibus edition that gathers volumes 1 through 3 in one book.
I won't go into the story deeply, simply because I've already spoken about it earlier. The series is a steampunt adventure, with loads of action, comedy and a little drama thrown in for good measure. The artistic style of Mr. Foglio will not be up everyone's alley, but I'd suggest to try and ignore that and focus on the story instead.
The book itself looks pretty good. It isn't shabby and doesn't fall into pieces like other, cheap comic books. The print quality is very crisp. The only downside is that the whole book's in black and white, with the original colour pages being printed a tad too dark.
All in all, the book's definitely worth its money!
kilala.nl tags: comics, reading,
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2007-10-31 20:22:00
This year's second semester will start in about a week. In preparation for my new courses I've been ordering books left and right. Luckily I already own the most expensive book on the list, so I won't have to get that one.
On the pile on the left you see:
* Identity development and student counseling
* Maths for students between 12 and 16
* Teaching effectively: learning maths
* A pamphlet entitled Don't touch me!
The last two items weren't on the official book list, but I decided to get them anyway. Learning maths because it will make a nice addition to my current library. Don't touch me! because I am very curious how one would handle a situation where kids are harassed by others.
This leaves two syllabi that I should buy at school. After that I'm all set.
kilala.nl tags: school, studying, reading, teaching,
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2007-09-16 09:41:00
You know, I'd swear I'd written about V for Vendetta before. I bought and devoured the comic book a few months ago. I loved it, though I have to admit that it wasn't the easiest read ever. I saw very strong ties with 1984, likening the storyline to what could've happened to Brittain if folks like Winston had stood up for themselves.
Last Friday we bought a few more DVDs and I finally picked up V for Vendetta as well. It's been a long time in coming, with my brother nagging me about it :D
Before I comment on anything related to the screenplay, let me say that it was a stroke of genius casting to get John Hurt to play the role of Adam Sutler. John Hurt of course played Winston in the movie rendition of 1984, giving a striking portrayal of one of Oceania's oppressed citizens. Imagine my surprise to see one of Big Brother's oppressed assuming the character of his own Big Brother! In a further stroke of irony, that cannot have been anything but intended, both Winston's and Adam's final, climactic scenes share many similarities. I'd almost expected Adam to cry out: Do it to her! Do it to Julia! Don't do it to me!.
Which actually refreshes my mind some more! Was it in 1984 that there was a first mention of that final inch that they will never be able to take? Or was it in V and am I imagining things?
Now... The screenplay adaption of V contained many dissimilarities when compared to the comic book. Many of these changes were functional and an almost entirely new story was forged. I enjoyed this new story quite a lot and think that the author(s) did a great job. The only thing that vexes me is the humanization of the character V towards the end. V was always intended to be the personification of an idea. Breaking that down, if only a little, to fit in the oh-so-required love scene detracts from the original story.
All in all, V for Vendetta is a great book and was made into a great movie! It gives one food for thought, as do other, similar books. Knowing that stories like these can still be written and heard gives one a little hope for humanity. Knowing that there are still people out there, smart enough to be critical of their government and to propagate said ideas.
Then again, it may all be a ruse by them to lull us into a false sense of security, or of empowerment. ;)
kilala.nl tags: movies, reading, comics,
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2007-09-11 19:33:00
How is it possible for one book to be both highly educational and (IMNSHO) absolutely craptacular at the same time? Case in point: Lesgeven en zelfstandig leren by Geerlings and Van Der Veen.
This course book covers basic didactics of teaching at the high school level. It covers all kinds of interesting subjects and I feel that there's a lot for me to learn.
Unfortunately the book's laced with three things that irk me.
1. To me it seems that the authors often skim over stuff that could be very interesting. Instead of taking an analytical, or academic approach, they fill chapters with examples and stories. There's nothing wrong with examples, but neither is there with pure psychology.
2. The book feels outdated and like it was written by cuddly-fluffy psychologists. The kind who want to pamper kids and feel that they should be let free to explore their youth and possibilities. *cue Care Bear song* Seriously, I'm all for letting kids discover what they can and can't do, but I believe that in the end kids also need structure and hierarchy. Besides, the original print was written in the eighties D:
3. Their writing is atrocious at times. At the beginning of chapter five there's a sentence that runs for a full -ten- lines! It runs a hundred and thirty words in length! What the fsck were they thinking?
And then there's pure genius like this:
In reality, assessing the beginning situation [of a student] is done based on 'experience'. This is a conglomerate of pedagogic-didactical knowledge and intuition.
/me shakes head
/me goes back to studying
kilala.nl tags: school, annoying, reading,
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2007-08-29 06:49:00
About two months ago I bought this big stack of books, right? Well, I've been reading through most of them and now I loved you Dalek is on the top of the pile. Or more accurately: it's been in my night stand for over three weeks now, only having read the first sixty pages.
It's a shame, but Mr. Griffiths writing fails to captivate me. At times he tries too hard to be funny and at others the story's just a bit dreary. Sure, the book has its moments! But so far it hasn't stuck on me. Shame really. Maybe this is one of those books where you have the read the first hundred pages, before you get stuck in.
For now I'm giving up on this book.
Instead I'll read Sergei Lukyanenko's The nightwatch. This books had me by the throat by page 2. My brilliant sister and B-i-L managed to find it for my birthday and I'm ever so happy they did! ^_^
kilala.nl tags: reading, doctor who,
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2007-08-11 22:07:00
It's been on my mind for a few weeks now: I want to re-read all the Van nul tot nu comics I used to read as a kid.
Van nul tot nu (From zero 'till now) is a series of comics from the early eighties that was originally published in Donald Duck magazine. These comics were originally lauded for making our national history accessible to young kids.
Starting around 500BC, the first part of the bound series takes us to approximately 1648. The stone age, the middle ages, the various Christian struggles and wars, the war with Spain, everything gets covered in a manner that's not above the average grade schooler. For such a small and mostly wet country we sure have a tempestuous past!
I have to admit that I have forgotten most of my history lessons, so reading through these books is a pleasant way of refreshing all the stuff I've forgotten.
kilala.nl tags: childhood, reading,
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2007-07-18 06:49:00
Most men never give their libido much thought, let alone about their hormones.They have no clue to what extent these two important parts of your person define yourself. Author (and doctor) Ivan Wolffers has found all of this out, because he had to. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer back in 2003 and was immediately given hormone treatment. Among these was chemical castration, since the male hormone testosteron plays a crucial role in prostate cancer. For about one and a half years, Ivan went through life as an emotional wreck, with mood swings and depression. His body changed (no body hair, sensitive breasts) and his libido was all gone.
I cannot imagine what it would be like, to live like that. My libido has a slow sinus rhythm, so at least I know how frustrating it is to have low periods for weeks on end. But all of that comes and goes! I'm not stuck like that for over a year! And being stuck like that Ivan was forced to ask himself: is it better to live, than it is to survive?
Weekly diaries. Heimwee naar de lust (Longing for lust) describes years two through five of his cancer. Just like its predecessor Walvis spelen (covers the first year) it's a book written week-by-week. This results in chapters that, on average, last about two pages. Each week Ivan tells you what's on his mind. How's his treatment going? How's his work going? What is his body up to? How are things with his wife and family? Sometimes a chapter is just brought on by something that's sparked Ivan's poetic mind. It makes for easy reading, knowing that you can quickly snap off another chapter or two.
Writing style. Ivan's style changes from time to time. Most of the weeks his writing's very easy on the brain, with short sentences and a friendly tone. Other weeks he becomes rather loquacious with sentences running over thirty words. In general though, it's a very easy book to read through, putting aside the subject that may make you think a few times :)
Cancer. Luckily the book isn't just about Ivan and his cancer, else it would've been a rather depressing and short book. Ivan's goal was never to teach the reader something, he just wants to write about his frustration to get rid of it. Which is why he tells us all about his travels (he goes around the world -a-lot-), about his newly born grand child, about his Iranian urologist, about his wife's work for asylum seekers and so on.
I'm very happy to have bought this book and I've never sped through a book this quickly. I actually intended to finish it last night (reading about 200 pages in one day), but unfortunately I fell asleep on the couch ^_^ Since I haven't finished the book just yet I'm still to learn what Ivan decides to do: take his medicins or take his libido. In his situation, I think I'd go for the second option...
To finish up, here's a few quotes. I've translated them into english to my best ability, but unfortunately I'm not much of a writer. Hence, some of the oomph to the writing's gotten lost.
Week 23 2004. It never gets easier, even when you've been together for thirty-three years. We used to fight because my hormones were so reliable, but these days it's because they've left me altogether. Us men are fools with, yet soulless husks without our testosteron. [...] Despite all of the unrest they create, hormones are the wood in the hearth of a long standing relationship. I'm sad that I had to make that discovery.
Week 31 2005. Will I be reasonable, prolonging my life a few years to survive longer than [my father] did? Despite of the crying, the hot flushes and a body devoid of male hormones that provides me no pleasure. Or shall we keep things short yet powerful, fucking as much as we can, and saying my farewells in time like a young hero grown too old, now being called to the gods by an unavoidable destiny?
kilala.nl tags: reading, life,
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2007-07-14 19:32:00
*makes notch in table* Scratch another book from my reading list! ^_^
Today I finished Maggie the mechanic by Jaime Hernandez. MtM contains the first set of Maggie and Hopey stories every created by the Hernandez brothers, with stories ranging from one to over fifty pages. While the subject matter differs, you could class these comics among other underground works like Ghostworld or Robert Crumb's stuff.
It takes a while to get stuck in the book. The first few stories are a bit slow, but once I hit the first long story things got good! Mechanics takes Maggie and her colleagues to far and distant places where they end up fixing a crashed space ship in the middle of a dinosaur-filled jungle. If that doesn't sound like Cadillacs and Dinosaurs I don't know what does! Since the story line appealed to me Jaime also persuaded me to invest more interest in the characters. With time I feel myself starting to care for Maggie, Hope en Rena.
After Mechanics, Jaime takes us back and forth between farfetched sci-fi arcs and down-to-earth plots back in California. Like last time, let's dig into a few of the characteristics of the book.
Artwork. Jaime's character designs may not be attractive to everyone. While I'm not made about all of the designs, I do enjoy the fifties/sixties advertisement look of some of the characters. I'm well impressed by Jaime's consequent drawing as, in my eyes, there's no real progression in quality over the years: the drawings are great from the get-go! Since everything's done in black and white and Jaime does not make use of any rastering tools, shadows and inking are -very- important. I'm glad to say that both are spot on! Some panels are just damn impressive.
Big women. I was originally brought to Love and rockets by an article in Big is beautiful magazine. Said article discussed comic artists who'd specialised in drawing big or strong women in a positive fashion. And indeed, Jaime does not shun larger women in both leading or supporting roles! Rena Tetanon (at one time the world chamion of women's wrestling) plays a rather important role and a few years into the narrative Maggie also takes a turn for the Rubenesque. It's great to read a book where large women (or men for that matter) are not simply portrayed as slow or dimwitted overeaters.
Characters. Most of the main characters have well-developed back stories, glimpses of which are shared through flashbacks and such. The lovers' relationship between Maggie and Hopey is taken through twists and turns, delving nicely into subjects as infatuation, love, jealousy, rage and grief. I was very pleased that Jaime saw fit to throw in rather random characters as well! While horned millionaires, Mexican pro-wrestlers and odd demons and robots may detract from realism, they certainly do add colour!
80's culture. Through Jaime's pen we are allowed to relive part of the 80's in California. Sure, a lot of it comes filtered through caricatural glasses, but still. Seeing love and sci-fi stories interspersed with professional wrestling, the punk-rock scene and Latin-American culture was a joy to me.
Seriously... The Love and rockets stories aren't for everyone. Some will be turned off by the artwork and some will definitely be turned off by the story telling itself. Me, I'm quite pleased having bought the book and believe it to be a worthy addition to my book shelves :)
kilala.nl tags: reading, comics,
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2007-07-12 08:14:00
I haven't quite finished reading The witches of Chiswick yet, but nonetheless I thought of recommending it to you guys. The book really is that good, that I'd plug it before even reading the ending. It may not have me all excited, bouncing up and down in my seat, but I do indeed have a hard time putting it down each time I have to ^_^
I guess it's down to Rankin's experience (with about thirty books to his name), but he's one of the few authors who seems to get time travelling right without much of a problem. At no point in time (haha) was I thinking to myself such things as Aw this is crap! That's not how it would work!. So that's cool :) Let's touch upon a few of the other recurring themes in the book...
Steampunk. In this book's reality the Victorian age knew high technology. Tesla and Babbage and their likes were even more of a genius than we know them to be, supplying their world with wireless electricity, computers, automatons and all manner of interesting weaponry. It all seems to fall right into place in the book, although I feel that some small technological advances should've been left. Automatons, zeppelins and space craft? I can totally see that. But hover-cars? Even though there are extremely rare in the book I still feel that Robert'd been better off leaving them out.
Cameo appearances. I love these! Travelling through time, Will meets up with a lot of famous Brit's, fictional or not. It's not far-fetched for Will to stomp the Brentford streets with Sherlock Holmes, to have breakfast with Oscar Wilde, only to end up in a courtroom with a certain blushing ms. Poppins. All of these cameos are played exceptionally well!
Comedy. The object of the book seems to bring amazement and laughter. It succeeds pretty damn well on both accounts. Humour can be a hit-or-miss affair and I'd say Rankin has a success ratio of about 95%. Most of the word play is executed quite well, with only a minimal amount of groaners*.
All of that put together spells: pretty damn good book!
Let's finish up with a quote, shall we? Near the final chapters of the book Will is fighting an automaton sent by the witches. Compare it to the agents from The matrix, but clockwork and without the suits and shades, but with black eyes and the murderous disposition.
'I have been programmed to destroy you,' said the evil automaton. 'And I have been programmed with the entire Dimac manual. And also those of Karate, Ninjitsu, Kung Fu and Baritso'.
Will spun once more upon his heel and kicked it once more in the face, and the black-eyed monster once more repositioned his jaw.
'And macrame,' it added.
'That's not a martial art,' said Will.
'It's a hobby,' the thing replied. 'I will knit a plant pot holder from your beard, as soon as I have torn your head from your shoulders.'
* Groaner: things that make you go "aww man" *shakes head*...
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2007-07-09 09:02:00
When I'm not busy doing my best to ignore the world I actually enjoy digging a bit deeper into the scary stuff that's going on around us. Reading gathered news posts from here and there it does once more become clear that George Orwell wasn't far off. A lot of the horrors he described about communist countries decades ago are now becoming apparent in our oh-so-free western world.
If you have the time for some nice conspiracy theories, start your digging at:
* 1984 Comic. Combines a comic book rendition of 1984 with news gathered from around the Internet.
* Thought Criminal. Gathers news on the government, the military and the snoops.
* Students for an Orwellian Society. More gathered news.
And this is just something cool I found as well: Post Secret. People who have a secret create an artsy postcard about it and send it in to be posted on the web. There's some really touching stuff in there.
EDIT:
I've had that INGSOC logo as a background on my laptop for ages and last Saturday was the first time someone knew what it was. Naturally it was Robert who's rather well versed in english lit. We shared the Shiranai booth at Chibi Con and he noticed the background while I was switching slide shows.
kilala.nl tags: life, reading,
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2007-07-01 16:02:00
Ever since February I've been steadily adding books to my wish list. The list's grown rather large and it was about time we did something about that! Which is why I've asked people to use the list for my birthday should they desire to grace me with pressies (yay pressies!) ^_^
So anyway... This afternoon, Marli and I paid our local, huge-ass bookstore a visit. And this is the first time in months (years?) that I've bought fiction or normal books! We left with exactly zero books about Apple, computers or work. :)
Here's my reading list for the next few weeks.
Robert Rankin - The witches of Chiswick.
Science-fiction. Involves time travel, victorian England, witches, a global conspiracy and steam punk science. Niels recommended me this book in February and my mom and her husband sent me the book from Finland :)
Charles Schultz - Peanuts 1950 - 1954.
Ever since I was young I've enjoyed the Peanuts comics as they are simple, friendly and funny. My mother had two books from the later years lying around the house because (I've been told) they used those books for English class in high school. This book covers the first four years of the comic and it's obvious that Schultz was still getting a feel for the cast. It's also funny to see how some of the faces remind me of Calvin, from Calvin and Hobbes.
Ivan Wolffers - Heimwee naar de lust.
This books title can be roughly translated as Longing for lust. In 2002 Ivan learns that he has prostate cancer. Initially he's absolutely sure that he'll do anything to just keep on living. However, after a few months of hormone treatment he realized that he was no longer the virile man that he had known, but that he'd changed into a soft, hairless eunuch. Ivan was posed with a very hairy conundrum: is it more important to live, than to survive? I've been wanting to read this book for a long while. Originally to see what it would be like to be in such a situation and these days because my libido hasn't been what it used to be.
Oscar Wilde - The picture of Dorian Gray.
A timeless classic. I saw the movie on TCM one day and now I really want to read the book. So here it is ^_^
Nick Griffiths - Dalek I loved you, a memoir.
Nick Griffiths has had a long standing love affair with the Doctor Who stories. He grew up as a wee lad, cowering behind his dad's chair (because the sofa was up against the wall), amazed by his hero The Doctor. In his memoirs, Nick describes how Doctor Who has been a part of his life, all of his life. As a youngster in school, as a young professional writing for the Radio Times and these days... still writing for the Radio Times.
Jaime Hernandez - Maggie the mechanic
I'd only ever seen one drawing from the Hernandez brothers' series Love and rockets before and that made me kind of curious. Like their colleague R. Crumb (who's work I love, even if he comes off as a sexist and racist dick) they have no qualms portraying strong women. Let's see what all of this is about... So far it reminds me of the other, angry, seventies underground comics I've read. Hmm :/
kilala.nl tags: reading,
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2007-06-11 23:12:00
The past few weeks I've purchased the first volumes for a number of manga series that I haven't had experience with so far. I'd heard about each series from rumours and had gotten curious since the basic premise of each series seems like it's right up my alley. Having read all three first volumes I thought I'd give'm a little review.
Now, keep in mind that I'm a huge fan of shoujo manga, so most of these titles were originally targeted at girls or young women. It's like with chick flicks: the drama and romance just attracts me ^_^;
Kamichama Karin (Little Goddess Karin) is the latest story by Koge-Dondo, of Digi Charat fame. Her stories usually involve overly cute girls in frilly dresses getting up to insane antics. In Digi's case that worked out wonderfully, but I'm not so convinced about Karin.
In her latest series Koge-Dondo follows Karin, a twelve year old orphan, living with her grumpy aunt, wallowing in her misery. So obviously this series is an attempt to take things rather seriously. Over the course of the first volume Karin makes friends, loses her cat and finds out that she can channel the powers of a Goddess. Sounds like a good starting point for any other manga, right? The drawings are rather good (although sometimes a little "busy"), as we've grown accustomed from Koge-Dondo.
So what kept me from really enjoying this title? The dialogue. I don't know if it's that Tokyopop dropped the ball in the translation or that this is the original writing, but the kids just don't talk like kids. They talk like semi-grownups and throw horrible slang words in that have no place in the conversations. Thanks to the dialogue the whole story becomes a bit hard to believe.
Maybe that the story and writing improves over the following parts, but I don't think I'll be trying it any further.
I had a hard time imagining a manga that was inspired and/or co-written by Courtney Love. You'll know her: rock artist, sometimes druggy, sometimes beautiful, widow of Kurt Cobain. So yea...
So imagine my pleasant surprise when I find Princess Ai to be a story that's rather captivating and that left me wanting for more! I would love to know how Ai adjusts to life on earth, after escaping from her own home planet. I would love to know how her fragile relationship with that guitar player plays out. And I would love to see more of that awesome fashion design!
I love the art work and personally, I think the pacing of the story is great. By the book. We have a slow piece, you get the wind up, here's the exciting climax and then there's the conclusion. Etc. Some parts of the writing are a little unimaginative (what with Ai being named after her country Ai Land, for example), but those moments occur only sparingly.
I'll definitely be getting the rest of this series.
OMG! Loveless has got it all! ^_^
A gripping fantasy story line. A look on magical combat that one not often encounters. Stunning artwork. Tension. Suspense. A sense of mystery. Sensuality. And dare I say it? shounen ai *glee!*
It's series like these that make me wish I had a bishi build like my brother Mistoffelees, who's graced with a slender figure and mysterious looks :D If I were just a few years younger I'd be cosplaying the hell out of characters like Soubi Agatsuma.
Without giving away too much of the story, here's a very short point-wise summary of the setting.
* A world filled with a race of humans who take neko (cat) like properties before they lose their innocence; think "ears" and "tail". The world overall looks just like ours: ordinary people, jobs, schools, clothes, etc.
* This world knows a system of magic purely based on words. Hence the repeated message on the power of words. Now that I think of it: the current Doctor Who season also has an episode on this subject.
* This magic can be used in combat, by stringing either words or eloquent sentences together. In combat participants are paired, one being the fighter unit (deals damage) and the other being the sacrifice (takes damage). It really borders on an SM relationship sometimes.
* The main character is a young boy whose brother was recently murdered. His brother's fighter unit seeks him out to become his servant. The recurring theme in this case is: can one be ordered to really, honestly love someone?
Anywho... Out of these three series, Loveless has to be my favourite. Between the graphical style, the subject matter and the sensual tension it really is a great read!
kilala.nl tags: reading, manga,
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2007-05-20 13:10:00
If asked, I think that a lot of people would assume that my favourite stories take place in futuristic, science-fiction settings. Being an IT geek I would fit the stereotypical image of the Star Trek nerd, the Star Wars lover, or even the Babylon 5 buff. While some of the futuristic stories do hold a charm on me (Firefly and Space: above and beyond most notably), most of these settings usually don't fascinate me that much.
I do love a good science-fiction story, but I'd rather that it's set in an anachronistical fashion. Stories that take the thirties and the forties and add a big dose of absurd and fantastic science are big turn-on for me. The same goes for even earlier settings, going back to the nineteenth century.
I am not quite sure why these stories enthrall me so, but I think it has something to do with the approach they have to science. In settings like Star Trek science is something clinical, something that's absolutely precise, while in stories like The prestige or Space: above and beyond science is messy, clunky and it makes a lot of noise ^_^
If any of you are curious about seeing death rays and giant robots clanking through the forties, or about magic and demons walking among normal men, may I suggest the following titles?
Sky Captain, featuring the maniacal Dr Totenkopf who attempts to destroy the earth with giant robots and a Dooms Day Device (tm).
The rocketeer, in which a stunt pilot gets to fight Nazis using a jetpack.
The shadow, who has the ability to cloud man's eyes in order to fight crime.
Crimson skies, a video game set in a world quite similar to that of Sky Captain.
H.P. Lovecraft's works, just about any of them. Awesome horror stories about demons older than time and the evil that is in the heart of man.
Cast a deadly spell, in which a private eye investigates a case that leads to C'tulhu.
The prestige, illusionism meets weird science.
kilala.nl tags: movies, reading,
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2007-04-21 15:24:00
While browsing through all of the pages at Steampunk Workshop I stumbled on a link to a supposedly rather good steampunk-themed webcomic called Girl Genius. Always interested in comics revolving around that theme I read a few pages and immediately recognized the hand of Phil Foglio. I was first introduced to Phil's work through various cards from the Magic: the Gathering game and then through his comics for Inquest magazine.
Now, I -love- the Girl Genius story, which combines Victorian Europe, with aliens, science fiction and Indiana Jones-styled adventures. I've put the published books on my wishlist, definitely wanting the ability to read them in print, instead of on my screen.
There's just one thing that has always irked me about Mr. Foglio's style: one minute he draws sultry, gorgeous women, and the other they looks as crude as some of Illiad's earlier works. It's something that I find hard to reconcile...
But still, I can heartily recommend his comics! Go have a read, if you have nothing else to do ;)
kilala.nl tags: comics, reading,
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2007-03-06 17:19:00
Oh how exciting! A mystery shows up at my doorstep!
Today I received a parcel in the mail: an anonymous, brown paper wrapping, with dutch stamps and no discernible sender. The only marking on the enveloppe that can hint to its origins is a piece of text in the top-left corner: Blog Fullfillment Ltd.
Hmm... Fulfillment, eh? That could be anything! It could be someone nice, helping me with one of the wishes or problems I've expressed on my blog. Or it could be someone whom I've heartily pissed off, trying to get back at me. And since it's no chore to find out my home address *cough*WHOIS*cough* it really could be either!
So here's the facts:
* A quick Google shows no listing for "Blog Fullfillment Ltd" (note the incorrect spelling of the word fulfillment), nor when the second word's spelled correctly.
* The stamps show that the parcel was sent from somewhere in the Netherlands, on the third of march.
* The shape of the parcel doesn't let anything on, but it does bend a bit.
* The wrapping had split open on one side and I could make out what seemed to be books.
Books you say? Could this be related to my blog post about expanding my reading list? Opening the parcel gave me three novels by Tom Holt.
Now... This gives me three probable suspects.
* It's most likely that Niels decided to offload some of his older pockets onto me. He commented in said thread and actually mentions Holt's name. Niels is also in the habit of giving friends loads of his older books.
* Willow is also a frequent reader of my blog and she's also an English major with the same sense of humour as mine. However, given her background as a translator I doubt that she'd make the fuLLfillment mistake.
* The least likely suspect is Faragon. She's a semi-regular reader and upon visiting Holt's website I immediately recognized a character she also has up on her website. Apparently she's been reading Tom's books as well. However, since we're more acquaintances than friends I don't find it likely that she'll simply send some books my way :)
Whoever it was: thanks a million ^_^ You've brightened my day with a surprise and a little mystery.
kilala.nl tags: reading, awesome, holy shit,
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2007-02-18 13:16:00
Digging around Wikipedia, following link by link by link I've come across some other (comic) books that I really need to add to my To Read list.
* The collected works of H.P. Lovecraft. Duh! I've read some of his works and repeatedly find myself amazed at the man's skill of conveying horror and fear.
* The most notable works of J. Verne, specifically 20.000 leagues... and Around the world.
* The League of extraordinary gentlemen. The comics are reportedly much better than the movie was (even though I actually enjoyed that one).
* The five fists of science, another steam punk comic book.
* I've been told repeatedly to give V for Vendetta a try. Both the comic and the film.
* Necronauts.
Boy... That's going to keep me busy for a long while!
kilala.nl tags: reading, comics,
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2007-02-06 23:31:00
Back in November I'd gotten interest in old science fiction. I'd started reading "The purple cloud" (the world's first -real- science fiction novel from 1901) through the miracle that is Project Gutenberg, a group of volunteers dedicated to creating ebooks of as many works as possible.
These ebooks are free as in freedom, though also free as in beer, meaning that in most cases you can take each book freely and use it in almost any way you want! These guys have gathered over 20.000 books whose copyright has expired and have put them to plain ASCII for everyone to read.
Reading through their philosophy and history I have to say that this is a true hackers' attempt at improving the world! My respect for the producers and proofers involved with PG is boundless and it encourages me to join in the effort. Unfrotunately I'm quite tied for resources this year, but soon I hope to find enough time to commit to proofing a few pages each week.
Seriously, project Gutenberg deserves our support and our respect! Now go and leaf through their catalogue! There's hundreds of timeless classics waiting for you to be discovered! Just now I've already found ten that I'll save to disk to read over the next few weeks.
I think that finally I'll start reading books and literature again. It's been too long! :)
kilala.nl tags: reading, internet,
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2006-11-27 22:24:00
This evening has been wonderful. Simply wonderful. :)
Up to half a year ago I had only two recollections of the Doctor Who TV series, both from my youngest years as a child. When I was about six years old I once watched an episode of the series with my mother and I was scared shitless :3 This is what I remembered from that one day:
1) The doctor is a fellow with bushy hair, a red coat and an uber-long scarf.
2) Slimy, green, scary creatures that eat your soul! OMG ONOZ!
And tonight, while watching BBC Four's Science Fiction Britannia, I was ever so pleased to see the exact same episode that I had remembered!
The episode in question was Ark in space, which tells the story of a great space station built to restore mankind after the earth's destruction. A strict selection was made from all of humanity and all other flora and fauna of the earth, in order to rebuild what once was.
Unfortunately there's a big, green problem called the Wirrn, a wasp like race that births it larvae inside mammals. Humans, in this case. A those larvae are what scared the crap out of me as a kid. Slimy, green monsters that infect you with a simple touch.
Funny to see that the monsters I was afraid of back then were made of green bubble wrap :D
Also, while on the subject of British science fiction, I will most definitely need to read and/or watch the following books and stories:
* "The purple cloud" (1901). Free eBook.
* "The world, the flesh and the devil". Hollywood version of Purple Cloud, at IMDB.
* "Deluge" (1927). A review.
* "The day of the Triffids" (1951). Wikipedia entry.
* "Death of grass" (1956). Wikipedia entry.
* "The drowned world" (196?). A review.
* "Threads" (1973). IMDB entry.
* "28 days later" (2002). Official website.
The concept behind "The purple cloud" sounds awesome to me: only one man has survived a world wide cataclysm that has wiped out all of humanity. Driven insane by loneliness he proceeds to burn every city he travels through to the ground, to wipe out any memory of humankind.
"Death of grass" seems compelling insofar that the author and I see eye to eye on one thing. On humankind he has said: "We really are a bad lot". When things get tough, humans will only look out for their own well-being. Something that also makes J.G. Ballard's "The drowned world" seem very interesting: the hero actually seeks out his own destruction by moving into the heart of the catastrophy.
All very good stuff. Now I just have to find the time to read it all :)
EDIT:
One of the authors featured on "The Martians and us" this evening actually made a _very_ good point. Writing science fiction about the destruction of our earth has gotten a lot harder these days. Why? Because there are already five or six processes hard at work doing so! If you want to write about the end of the world you'll either have to solve these problems, ignore them, or include them in your story.
kilala.nl tags: doctor who, tv, childhood, reading,
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2006-02-20 22:20:00
Phew! What a relief! I received a letter from Imagine Publishing yesterday telling me that their company has acquired the publishing rights for GamesTM, meaning that the mag is indeed not dead at all. Also, they inform me that they'll honor my subscription which is a good thing! I'm happy!
Not much time for a real update now, I'm sorry. Need to run now.
Oh, before I run: if anyone out there feels like playing a few rounds of Mario Kart:DS online I'm game! My friend code is 021540-378158. Just drop me an e-mail, or an IM to give me your friend code and we'll set up a time and date.
kilala.nl tags: games, reading,
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2006-01-30 14:20:00
Aw fuck! It appears that GamesTM is going under :( I've had a running subscription on that magazine for over two years now and have loved every issue. GamesTM is a gaming magazine aimed at the adult demographic, meaning in-depth articles, interviews and reviews. And a huge monthly section dedicated to retro gaming. I've always loved how the magazine is definitely not targeted at the typical fifteen year olds, and how it is less... less... Well, how it is not like Edge magazine.
Unfortunately this month's issue never landed on my door mat and naturally I wanted to contact the mag about this. Strange enough their site seems to be down and all the info I've found on Google points towards bankruptcy for their publishing house. OH NOES!
More info to be found: Here, here and here. This one seems to have some positive news though, from the editor of GamesTM himself.
Guess I'll pick up my copy from the news stands for now.
kilala.nl tags: games, reading,
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2004-11-11 19:51:00
I've added a little review page for books on the topic of NIS+, since that's something I'm currently very into at the office.
kilala.nl tags: writing, reading, work, sysadmin,
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All content, with exception of "borrowed" blogpost images, or unless otherwise indicated, is copyright of Thomas Sluyter. The character Kilala the cat-demon is copyright of Rumiko Takahashi and used here without permission.