(dramatic pause for general disbelief and snickering at my expense)

This will be a long term project but I have already outline the broad strokes of the plot and jotted down a very rough draft of the first two chapters. Now some might think (at least those of you who read my blog) “How on gods green/blue earth can he write a book when the blog is all but dead ?” And I would agree with that, I have not updated or written anything here, not because I didn’t want to. But because I didn’t see the point. I usually just wrote what I had done recently and such, and there seemed little point in doing that.

Now that I have a project to comment on, I think it might be different.

My head is always thinking “what if this and that” when it comes to just about everything to personal experience and historical events. How things might have turned out… and I have decided to try and put that to use when writing my book. Rather than using this energy, if you will, to think out what would have happened if I said this rather than that.. what if Stalin had a pet ferret would he still be a communist or would he still be looking for his keys and socks ? Who knows…

I currently have about 7-8 pages of notes, ideas and random gibberish written down so I think this is something I can do. And on my way home from work I had another idea that I think would be good story. So while I outline and generally fiddle about with the book I have also decided to write a short story. Flexing my vocabulary a bit before diving in to the deep end as it where.

So there it is, a published aspiration from me, will wonders never cease.

But talk, and writing about such things, is cheap… if not followed up by action. So much like those who post picture of their bodies to motivate themselves to continue to workout. I will give myself a deadline when it comes to the short story. Which will be mid-May… that is to say the 20th at the latest… whatever I have or have not written by then will be published here. So that you few readers can comment, mock, ridicule or praise my writing and storytelling prowess …

Before I started doing so I didn’t think I’d be such a long list. But I surprised myself. However the idiom says “the clothes make the man” perhaps one can in the same manner judge my mind, brain, intellect or personality by the books I have currently loaded up on ? feel free to speculate and comment. I will not be offended.

• Dresden files by Jim Butcher (all 10 books, read)
• Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher (read)
• Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (read)
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark (not read yet)
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (read and recommended)
• When SysAdmins Ruled the World by Cory Doctorow (short story, read, recommended)
• Nightside series by Simon R. Green (all books to date, read, somewhat recommended)
• The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan (started not completed, recommended so far)
• The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (read, classic, recommended)
• CCNA Official Exam Certification Library (CCNA Exam 640-802) (not read, on todo list)
• Crito by Plato (not read but on todo list)
• Grey Walker by Kat Richardson (not started on)
• The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (not read)
• Burnout: the mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 by Stephanie Osborn (not started on)
• A Dark Matter by Peter Straub (currently reading – not recommended so far)
• Wireless by Charles Stross (read, recommended)
• The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross (read, somewhat recommended)
• Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (started on, so far recommended)
• Halting State by Charles Stross (read, recommended)
• The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross (read, recommended)
• Accelerando by Charles Stross (read, somewhat recommended)
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Lionel Giles trans. (read)
• Nightlife by Rob Thurman (read, recommended)
• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Jonathan Star trans. (on todo list)
• Candide by Voltaire (not read, on todo list)
• Starfish by Peter Watts (not read)
• Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (read, recommended)
• My Man jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (read, recommended)

Well for me this book starts off nice enough – an author due to events beyond his control gets a flashback to his part past. Then the backdrop gets painted as we are introduced to the gallery of characters. And in due course the protagonist of the story. All well and good.

The problem is that there is a mixture of names used for each character; I have no other way of explaining it. I have no trouble with nicknames being used in literary works. And by itself it would be no great failing of the story, what my primary issue is, and the reason I think that I will lose interest in this book is: story progression…

There is a mixture of flashbacks, dreams and retelling of stories as the “in book author” has been retold of others since he was the outsider. All these elements are intertwined and on top of this there is a need to describe things in detail; to great a detail and unnecessarily so. It takes the focus of the story.

Now some details must be described, some atmosphere must be built up in any good story. but several pages to describe how to get to a destination and subsequent details to describe it and the characters opinions, feelings and misgivings about it tends to put me off. It may be my attention span not having the length required for this particular book.

But I have read books which I have enjoyed which I think can disprove that it is my attention span who is at fault here. It is far more likely that my impatience with the story emanates from my “not liking it”-ness, personal taste, preference, call it what you will.

Whatever you call it, IT seems to make me dread picking up my Kindle to read this. However stubborn as I am in these matters I will read through this book, and if I by then should have come to a different opinion I will do another write-up as a mea culpa.

Yesh it has been a while to say the least…

Many things has happened since last, I can´t even remember the last entry (and I am too lazy to look it up)

a short list: I have started exercising, same job, new appartment, same city…

and yes.. that´s it… I make no promises on when the next update will be, but I figure I´ll start posting results and training session details here.. for public scorn

However I suspect I have a new love / hate relationship coming my way. I recently ordered the international version of Amazon’s Kindle2. I read up on the subject, while I have my reservations on closed systems/standards such as the Kindle e-book format the practicallity of it  seemed to outweigh my concerns. I have the same concerns over the iPod  / iTunes lock-in, but practicallity and ease of use is unmatched by any other solution and untill someone does it better or at least comes near it, I will consider it a necessary evil in my everyday digital life.

What I discovered before ordering it:

*Magazine / Newspaper subscriptions will not include pictures
*Will not be able to subscibe to blogs

What I suspected before ordering it:
*would not allow web browsing, such as Wikipedia and WikiTravel

What I discovered after ordering it:

It does not come with a country specific power adapter plug, US only. (adapter is OK, but need a plug converter, see comments)

Now I can live without pictures in my newspapers, and even magazines even though as they say “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It is a trade off, I subscibed to “The International Herald Tribune” paper edition, and even when I chose the “bundle 3 editions together” option  for delivery it was expensive. So for 19.90USD a pictureless edition is not a deal breaker for me.

Magazines are in my view more visual than newspapers… Pictures can be more essential here. However I do not read to many of them and even if I did The “no color images” would probably be a big a let down as the utter lack of them.

Browsing Wikipedia and WikiTravel however would be very practical, and it was a big dissapointment to learn that this would not be available on the international editions of the Kindle. But still being a gadget geek, I went ahead and ordered it.

But today I read on several tech-news sites that the Kindle will ship with US power adapters and international buyers/users will have to buy their own US-to-whatever adapter.

Dear Amazon

You are now pushing your luck, you strip away functionality that has made the Kindle the equivalent a killer application on the US e-book market, You make no effort to mention the limitations on pictureless newspaper and magazine subscriptions, in a byline you mention that there is no surfing available.

The only killer function left is the Whispernet delivery system that eliminates the need to connect it to a computer to deliver books and newspaper issues. But frankly that only gives you so much wiggle room to play with, and you have exceeded that by a mile in this case.

I understand the reason behind the no-picture issue it is probably the same as the no-browsing issue; data transfer fees from AT&T’s international roaming partners. Pictures requires more bandwith and thus incurs a higher distribution cost. Why not give us the option, a cheap text only edition and a slightly higher “full content” version ?

I will still buy your Kindle, but it is a far less superior product than it could have been, than it actually has the capability of being.  And this will leave at least this customer with a sour taste in his mouth that could have been avioded.

I hope that these features available to your US customers will be available to us international users as well.
We have after all been patiently awaited the arrival of the Kindle and watched with envy to those who could use it at it’s full potential.

Don’t keep us in the dark still, now that we actually can buy it. And please start shipping it with the appropriate poweradapters quickly.

Signed

An already less-than happy customer.

On a side note:

Now why do I still buy this, the Kindle does not ship internationally before the 21.Oct. ?
Because other e-book readers lacks these features as well, and they do not have to potential to enable them at a later date. The Kindle has these features available on a hardware level, they just need to be made available as a service. So I’m crossing my fingers.

In the past few days I have rediscovered my joy of reading books, and actually enjoying listening to music again.

By this I mean more than just listening to random tracks on my iPhone, but also paying attention to the music and alle the details in the artists work. I have been so used to just having music on in the background or listening to it on the bus to and from work, without actually listening. If this makes any sense to you, well done give yourself a pat on the back…

Current rediscoveries: Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls, Tegan & Sara and Mazzy Star

Recommended listening from these fine artists:

Ani Difranco – Cradle and All and the album “Live at Babeville”

Indigo Girls – Become You, Yield and their cover of Mrs. Robinson

Current new discoveries:

Sia -

Now they say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but that is what I did with this album.

The cover art and title made me buy this album, and it was good, very good.. I took a chance with iTunes Music Store’s recommendations and bought it without even “previewing” it on Spotify. The title of the album was:

Sia - Some people have REAL problems (album art)

It just looked so whimsical and fun that I had to buy it, and the lyrics are quite amusing. Some make little or no sense. But you get the feeling that it was supposed to be like that, and you just enjoy the song (particularly “Academia“) and with an album title like this, how could I resist.

Her vocals are very dominant on most of the tracks with all the instruments playing second fiddle so to speak. Pardon the deadbeat joke there, it was to obvious to leave out. I recommend this album without any reservations. However if whimsical and lighthearted music is not something you generally enjoy you might reconsider.

Other discoveries:

Erin McKeown -

The entire album “We Will Become Like Birds” but especially the song Aspera. And from the album Grand I recommend   Slung-lo and The Taste of You. Now if you really want to stalk me, my last.fm profile will show you what I have listened to recently.

On a completely different matter, if you are like me and are using last.fm and Spotify, you might want to take a look at this:

Last.fm Spotify Search – Script that adds a wee green note icon next to tracks, albums and artists on Last.fm’s website. To use, install Greasemonkey then add the script. You can then click the note icon to search in Spotify. I find this one really useful, it saves on typing and binds Last.fm and Spotify together nicely (Full article here.)

There are similar “plugins” for those who use Safari as well, I will update with details when I find that link (or I might end up writing my own how-to)

Since I’ve put a fair few Spotify links in this article I will also put some Spotify invites here (on a first come first serve basis), if you try them and they don’t work, odds are someone beat you to it. The invites listen below:

1. c27E3jifiZp4ff4S this one is used, and without even leaving a comment of thanks…..

2. jN72Nkby7cBXTNnb

3. PmHi5PVuxtYZeXUd

It has been a good afternoon and evening… now I am left with a feeling of bliss and remorse. Blissful for the company kept, and the conversations had, and remorseful for them having ended.

But as someone once said, all things must come to an end, even days such as this…

I should be writing a long and frustrating post about the vaccination scare tactics of some people. This is something I could have achieved today if not for the fact that I got up at a ghastly hour, and shall instead of doing the aforementioned things be sensible and go to bed.

But I do recommend listening to Stephen Fry, even if he in the beginning seems to recount the early days of the Apple vs. MS and IBM days… he moves on to far more interesting subjects.

Stand-up comedy has always been around, but now it is almost all that there is. Gone are the days of Monty Python, Jeeves and Wooster, Only Fools and Horses.

Monty Python are for the most part known for The Flying Circus, Live at the Hollywood Bowl and The Parrot skit, it was unconventional and utterly silly, this made it watchable time and time again, they didn’t just rely one one-liners and social stereotypes(apart from salespersons being sly), nor did they aim to primarily make fun of any particular politicians (although governments and their silly grants are illustrated in the silly walk skit, is another story) it was a multitude of silliness through out.

The stand-up comedy of today falls into a few categories, social commentary, political musings, and stereotype humour, there are limits to how many times you can watch it and still find it funny. And at some point you will find it less funny (I do anyway) not necessarily because you have seen the show or act before, but simply because it you have reached a saturation level when it comes to that kind of comedy.

There are of course some legend’s in the stand up comedy business though, such as Bill Hicks, Robin Williams, Eddie Izzard and Dennis Leary Bill Hicks is mainly a legend because of his pro-drugs and anti Bush Sr. but he did many shows in which the material was much the same. The others are manly so because they did it before it reached todays popularity level, and that no subject was to absurd or controversial.

The stand-up comedy of today manly deals with the inadequacies of unpopular politicians or stereotypes (rednecks, hillbillies, arabs, mexicans) Some of these acts are more successful due to their format such as Jeff Dunham and his ventriloquism. But others such as Russell Peters who’s entire show (almost) deals with indian stereotypes and behavior. This is not only a cheap type of comedy, self-deprecating. And I say this because when you only comment on, in Russell Peters case, your own social groups quirks you lack sincerity. And although comedy is supposed to be fun, it also needs a level of sincerity to have an effect. If not, it needs to be utterly silly on a level that so far only Monty Python has managed to reach.

The sincerity can best be illustrated with shows like Jon Steward’s A daily show. Where news meets comedy, his comments are meant to be funny, and in doing so he either illustrates how silly a political argument is, or it underlines the gravity of a story. There is something to be said about newsbroadcasters in the United States when some of the better news programs are produced and broadcast on the comedy channel.

There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: LOOK NOW, PAY LATER. – Edward .R Murrow – October 15, 1958

So if comedy is to be left to the ever so popular stand-up comedians of today, comedy will no longer serve any other purpose that to for a fraction of a second, at the punch line, to get a short laughter. Although some would argue that this is the purpose of comedy, I would argue otherwise. Comedy is a tool which can be used to inform, teach and educate either trough increasing our understanding of a subject. Jeeves and Wooster does not appear to fall into this particular type of comedy, but it will at some point increase your vocabulary and learn how to get out of engagements, persistent aunts and relatives.

Even though the series I’ve mentioned does not comment or enlighten us about the world and it’s events. They are classics with substance and where produced in a time when televised news-reporting adhered to higher standards than today. And as such there was not much need for comedy to do more than entertain us. In todays fast paced around the clock new reporting where news outlets compete in who can scare you the most, who can hold the suspense and get to to stay tuned during the commercial break.

Comedy should, and has taken on a new task, to entertain us with news. Not all news needs to be of a grave nature, but even then comedy should comment, report and enlighten us on the issues that seems lost, or perhaps even ignored by other more serious news casters, comedians should and must take their role. Simply because comedians can get away with commenting on more controversial issues, hold unpopular opinions (either unpopular to a majority of society or governments) simply because it’s comedy and since it’s in it’s nature not to be taken seriously. Satire has often been the tool of individuals to combat dictators, ne’er-do-well kings, an oppressive majority and similar. Because if those people/persons or majority took them seriously and punished them in any way they would only give them more credibility. This is the power of comedy and it is an untapped source by and large.

Then you have Monty Python which cannot be defined other than their name itself but even if you don’t think their style of comedy is funny and/or hilarious I believe that you will agree to that they at the time and still are one of a kind. No one has done what they did. That is to utterly surprise us with silliness, because nothing like what they did had ever been done. And in a world as surreal as ours that is truly a feat. Sure skits have been around, but the complexity and combinations with cheap animations, silly effects such as banging coconut shells to simulate the sounds of a horse. They where, and still are unique, sadly so because I would like nothing more than someone attempting what they did, to surprise us to the same extent, with utter silliness.

Christians for Truth, an independent religious group, had asked the city council to cancel the “Pink Christmas,” [...]

source: The Associated Press also seen at Verdens Gang

the Christians for Truth sounds a bit redundant doesn’t it , considering that one of the ten commandments is “thou shalt not lie” [1] So are christians who are not a member considered to be frivolous when it comes to this particular commandment, to such an extent that some of them (christians) felt they needed an organization to make a stand against it. If so what’s next “Christians against killing” well maybe not, one never knows when the next crusade will happen and it would be a bit stupid then to be a member of a group that was in direct conflict with the actions of a crusade.

Now on to the obvious commentary; the transvestites put on what can be readily described as a nativity play, the event was sponsored by the city council of Amsterdam (someone in that council deserves a thank you card), with the not so insignificant amount of 15,000 euro. This of course made it even more controversial. the Christians for Truth demanded that the city council withdrew the support.

What I don’t get is that there are so many fractions of christianity, and they all seem to be quite tolerable when it comes to other fractions. Even those who used to be a bit controversial themselves, such as the mormons which at one point allowed men to have more than one wife (as of 1890 this was no longer accepted). But there are others, and they are for the most part tolerated by other fractions. However as soon as persons from the gay side of life starts doing something remotely religious it does have a tendency to get mentioned in the press, and some organization will comment on how it is perverting their religion. Now if it was their religion as in implying ownership of it, I think there might be some other religious groups out there who might want to make a note of that. Because they are not saying that it is perverting their fractions interpretation of the religion. No, they usually just mention christianity as a singular identity, as in the christian way of life or other such phrases, usually also mentioning core family values and tradition.  

There is no singular christian identity, there are a multitude of them, and like it or not, some christians are gay, and if there is to be a singular christian identity, these will be included in it. (This was not the exact point I was going to make, but to be honest, there racket here at my parents house makes it difficult to concentrate)

I will simply conclude that the christians for truth and other organizations should let things like this pass them by uncommented and unless it causes them harm directly, tolerate it. There is room enough for everyone in this world (at least for now)

Notes:

[1] Actually it is “[...]Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbour.”