Zoe just loves this video.
Occasionally she'll just walk around the house singing "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. Dumbledore!"
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I love my new job...
I just started a new job a couple of weeks ago. It's in this group called "future plans". It's a small group on a really large program that has a lot of influence on the program. Basically, we are the people who do a lot of analysis and determine the direction that the program needs to take in the future. It is very math/science intensive with a lot of independent research going on. In many ways it is a dream job for a math geek like me. I don't even mind the hour long commute to Denver I'm so excited to go to work.
Here's what sealed the deal for me:
Earlier this week, my team lead and I were in his office talking about a new problem we were working on. In jest, he started to write down an equation which he said would solve all of our problems. I then added my own parts to the equation. We went back and forth for a couple of minutes and ended up with a triple integral involving politics, time, and money as the key variables in our equation. I know that this probably sounds like it would be hell for most people, but that's the point. Since I've started my professional career I've never felt comfortable enough to make a math joke like that. In fact, the one time I did try it before, I distinctly remember the querulous look that my friend made and I never tried it again. It hasn't been since I was president of the math club in college that I've been able to do jokes with math.
Here's what sealed the deal for me:
Earlier this week, my team lead and I were in his office talking about a new problem we were working on. In jest, he started to write down an equation which he said would solve all of our problems. I then added my own parts to the equation. We went back and forth for a couple of minutes and ended up with a triple integral involving politics, time, and money as the key variables in our equation. I know that this probably sounds like it would be hell for most people, but that's the point. Since I've started my professional career I've never felt comfortable enough to make a math joke like that. In fact, the one time I did try it before, I distinctly remember the querulous look that my friend made and I never tried it again. It hasn't been since I was president of the math club in college that I've been able to do jokes with math.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
More Books
Again, it's been a while. Really quick rundown of the books I've read lately...
Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
Kick butt pirate adventure in a world completely enclosed in a huge balloon. Very cool, I liked it and will pick up the others in this series when they come out.
Lisey's Story by Stephen King
Got this book for Christmas. I tried getting into it a couple of times, but it just couldn't hold my interest. Had to put it down once I got to page 50.
The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
Something that I'm learning as I get older is that I really like John Steinbeck's books. If you had told me that in 7th grade when I was forced to read The Pearl, I would have laughed in your face. Such a good story in this book...I will have to go out and find more of his books.
The Blonde by Duane Swierczynki
Read the book in one night, kind of appropriate since most of the book occurs over the course of a couple of days. I just couldn't put it down until I got to the end. I think I might have a new favorite author.
Currently Reading:
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (2nd reading)
I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi (audiobook)
Analytical Mechanics of Space Systems by Hanspeter Schaub and John L. Junkins (for school)
Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
Kick butt pirate adventure in a world completely enclosed in a huge balloon. Very cool, I liked it and will pick up the others in this series when they come out.
Lisey's Story by Stephen King
Got this book for Christmas. I tried getting into it a couple of times, but it just couldn't hold my interest. Had to put it down once I got to page 50.
The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
Something that I'm learning as I get older is that I really like John Steinbeck's books. If you had told me that in 7th grade when I was forced to read The Pearl, I would have laughed in your face. Such a good story in this book...I will have to go out and find more of his books.
The Blonde by Duane Swierczynki
Read the book in one night, kind of appropriate since most of the book occurs over the course of a couple of days. I just couldn't put it down until I got to the end. I think I might have a new favorite author.
Currently Reading:
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (2nd reading)
I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi (audiobook)
Analytical Mechanics of Space Systems by Hanspeter Schaub and John L. Junkins (for school)
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Book Reviews for November
It's been a while, and I've read a couple of books since the last time I posted. Here are my quick reviews:
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
This was one of the Hugo nominees for this past year. Synopsis...human civilization has gone a long way towards populating the galaxy, thus far no other intelligent species has been found...up until now. The latest colonization attempt is reaching a world which is populated by bat-people similar in size to human. The world is very similar technologically to the Earth in the 1920's.
This book flips back and forth between two points of view: those of the colonists and those of the bat-people. I actually wish that MacLeod stuck with the story from the bat-people's point of view...to me, at least, this part kept me more interested than on the colony ship. I think what turned me off to the colony ship was that the people on this ship were so different from humans today that I couldn't relate to them...I actually felt closer to the bat-people. Maybe that was what MacLeod was trying to do all along. The ending was a little weak, I was waiting for more stuff to happen and then the book just ended with a convenient resolution. I was kind of disappointed because I was really getting into the story at that point.
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
John Scalzi is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Again, Scalzi doesn't delve in any deep concepts/messages, he just writes a really good story with plenty of action and comedy to keep you turning the pages. The book starts off with a chapter-long fart joke assassination of an alien diplomat. In order to prevent the alien race from destroying humanity, which they easily can, a low-level state department official, Harry Creek, who has just the right qualifications (i.e. ex-cop, special forces experience, computer-wiz, etc.) has to track down a genetically modified sheep called the Android's Dream and provide it to the alien race. The only problem is that somebody is killing off all of these sheep and now have their sights set on Harry. I'm afraid of revealing any of the plot twists, so I can't say anymore about the book. Just pick it up, you won't regret it.
My only regret is that I bought this book right away and then found out that Scalzi is offering some signed versions of the book at some of his preferred retailers. I think I will still buy the signed version anyway and give my current version to the library. The great news is that Tor has asked for a sequel to this book...I can't wait to see it!
Encounter with Tiber by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes
Yes, that Buzz Aldrin. I was actually surprised with the quality of the book. Of course, reading all the technical parts about space travel from an expert was quite exciting for me, considering that I'm getting my Master's in Space Systems. Synopsis...an alien species far more advanced than humans sends a signal to earth with a map to a location on the moon that leads to a library of information from the aliens. The book is divided into a number of parts, some parts deal with trying to get to the library, other parts deal with information obtained from the library (in particular, the telling of some stories from the aliens...this is the part that I enjoyed the most).
It's a pretty good book, which surprised me. I say that because I'm always skeptical of picking up books that are written by more than one author. There's something deep inside me that says, if one person couldn't write it (especially if he isn't an author) it can't be that good. I'm glad to be proven wrong here.
The only thing that I found as a real weakness in this book is one of my major pet peeves when I read novels...a really smart character all of a sudden having such a lack of knowledge in a particular area that another character has to explain it to him, when really the author is just trying to explain the concept to the reader. It really annoys me when an author does this. I don't care if the author has to make a descriptive paragraph or two in order to explain this to the reader...it's science fiction, it's a given that there are going to be some things that a reader doesn't understand. The part that I detest is taking a person so out of character that it is laughable that they don't know the information being explained to them. It doesn't fit in the story, especially when the person has be touted as being uber-smart and is a real distraction for me.
Next Book:
Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
(By the way, this book has some real kick-butt cover art. It will definitely be picked up by those people who do judge a book by it's cover.)
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
This was one of the Hugo nominees for this past year. Synopsis...human civilization has gone a long way towards populating the galaxy, thus far no other intelligent species has been found...up until now. The latest colonization attempt is reaching a world which is populated by bat-people similar in size to human. The world is very similar technologically to the Earth in the 1920's.
This book flips back and forth between two points of view: those of the colonists and those of the bat-people. I actually wish that MacLeod stuck with the story from the bat-people's point of view...to me, at least, this part kept me more interested than on the colony ship. I think what turned me off to the colony ship was that the people on this ship were so different from humans today that I couldn't relate to them...I actually felt closer to the bat-people. Maybe that was what MacLeod was trying to do all along. The ending was a little weak, I was waiting for more stuff to happen and then the book just ended with a convenient resolution. I was kind of disappointed because I was really getting into the story at that point.
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
John Scalzi is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Again, Scalzi doesn't delve in any deep concepts/messages, he just writes a really good story with plenty of action and comedy to keep you turning the pages. The book starts off with a chapter-long fart joke assassination of an alien diplomat. In order to prevent the alien race from destroying humanity, which they easily can, a low-level state department official, Harry Creek, who has just the right qualifications (i.e. ex-cop, special forces experience, computer-wiz, etc.) has to track down a genetically modified sheep called the Android's Dream and provide it to the alien race. The only problem is that somebody is killing off all of these sheep and now have their sights set on Harry. I'm afraid of revealing any of the plot twists, so I can't say anymore about the book. Just pick it up, you won't regret it.
My only regret is that I bought this book right away and then found out that Scalzi is offering some signed versions of the book at some of his preferred retailers. I think I will still buy the signed version anyway and give my current version to the library. The great news is that Tor has asked for a sequel to this book...I can't wait to see it!
Encounter with Tiber by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes
Yes, that Buzz Aldrin. I was actually surprised with the quality of the book. Of course, reading all the technical parts about space travel from an expert was quite exciting for me, considering that I'm getting my Master's in Space Systems. Synopsis...an alien species far more advanced than humans sends a signal to earth with a map to a location on the moon that leads to a library of information from the aliens. The book is divided into a number of parts, some parts deal with trying to get to the library, other parts deal with information obtained from the library (in particular, the telling of some stories from the aliens...this is the part that I enjoyed the most).
It's a pretty good book, which surprised me. I say that because I'm always skeptical of picking up books that are written by more than one author. There's something deep inside me that says, if one person couldn't write it (especially if he isn't an author) it can't be that good. I'm glad to be proven wrong here.
The only thing that I found as a real weakness in this book is one of my major pet peeves when I read novels...a really smart character all of a sudden having such a lack of knowledge in a particular area that another character has to explain it to him, when really the author is just trying to explain the concept to the reader. It really annoys me when an author does this. I don't care if the author has to make a descriptive paragraph or two in order to explain this to the reader...it's science fiction, it's a given that there are going to be some things that a reader doesn't understand. The part that I detest is taking a person so out of character that it is laughable that they don't know the information being explained to them. It doesn't fit in the story, especially when the person has be touted as being uber-smart and is a real distraction for me.
Next Book:
Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
(By the way, this book has some real kick-butt cover art. It will definitely be picked up by those people who do judge a book by it's cover.)
Friday, October 27, 2006
Book Review: Cell by Stephen King
When I read Cell, it reminded me very much about another end-of-the world Stephen King novel, The Stand. Don't get me wrong, they are very different books...however I couldn't stop comparing the two as I read them. So I guess this review will end up being a compare/constrast review.The Stand:
- Population killed off by a biological agent which has become known as Captain Tripps Disease
- Very long novel. Complete and Uncut Version comes in at 1,152 pages.
- Follows the viewpoints of a number of characters on both sides of the battle which ensues.
- Character flaws lead to conflicts later in the novel.
Cell:
- Population turned into zombies by a pulse whenever a cellphone is used.
- Shorter novel, only 350 pages.
- Follows the viewpoints of one main character.
- It seems like none of the main characters can make any mistakes at all.
You can probably tell that I definitely preferred The Stand. Here's why:
- The kill-off scenario is much more realistic. I think that it is a lot more plausible for the world to be affected by some biological agent than by some pulse which turns into zombies. It makes for a much more disturbing book if you have "this might really happen" in the back of your head while you're reading. While there is a bunch of mysticism in The Stand which definitely takes it out of reality, it still makes for a much better read than Cell.
- The length of The Stand allows for much more character development. There are probably a lot of people out there who thought The Stand was much too long, I'm definitely not one of them. I really felt that I knew the characters and it affected me a lot more when some of them died. I had no such connection with the characters in Cell.
- The different viewpoints approach in The Stand definitely led to me having a closer connection with the characters. I also liked how Mr. King showed that the people on the "evil" side of the conflict weren't pure evil. Cell was very one sided in this regard. I know, I know, zombies aren't supposed to think so how are we supposed to see their point of view. But think of what might have come if we did see the zombie point of view. If he had explored that path, it might have made for a very interesting book indeed.
- Finally, the thing that really bugged me about Cell was that it seemed that none of the main characters could make any mistakes...at all. The teenagers were too smart and centered, the adults were too reasonable, even the cat did what cat's are supposed to do. It really got to me after a while, especially the uber-awesome teenagers. While The Stand had it's fair number of characters that didn't have their flaws (Tom Cullen comes immediately to mind) there were a number who had there flaws. This made them more believable in my eyes.
I'm not saying that Cell is a terrible book. The first couple of chapters really had me on the edge of my seat. I even had to force myself to stop reading during the last couple of chapters so that I wouldn't stay up all night finishing the book. These qualities in themselves definitely put the book in the "decent" to "good" categories. However, after a couple of days of digesting the book and comparing it to The Stand, it really doesn't hold it's own when the two books are put side by side. I really consider The Stand to be one of King's masterworks that will stay with me for a long time while Cell is another one of his books which I've read and will soon forget.
Next Books:
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
Gotta Love Colorado Weather
We had a blizzard yesterday. I think we ended up getting somewhere close to 14" of snow. The wind caused a lot of drifting snow which made it much higher in some places. I probably should have taken some pictures after shoveling the driveway...that really would have shown how high the snow had gotten. Below are some pics that we took at 9:00 AM. It continued snowing for the rest of the day and we had substantially more snow by the time it was all over.
Now, here are some pics from 9:00 PM today...
It got up to about 60 degrees today and the sun was shining all day. In just 36 hours the weather went from "you can't see 15 feet in front of you...only go outside if you dare" to "beautiful fall day...I should put on some shorts and enjoy the weather". I'm not sure if I will ever get used to the weather around here.
Now, here are some pics from 9:00 PM today...
It got up to about 60 degrees today and the sun was shining all day. In just 36 hours the weather went from "you can't see 15 feet in front of you...only go outside if you dare" to "beautiful fall day...I should put on some shorts and enjoy the weather". I'm not sure if I will ever get used to the weather around here.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Local Politics
Last week I listened to a debate between Jay Fawcett and Doug Lamborn who are running for the US House of Representatives 5th District in Colorado. In case you don't know, the 5th district is considered a republican stronghold which includes such organizations as Focus on the Family. I was quite surprised to hear that the Democrat, Jay Fawcett, is actually in a close race with Doug Lamborn. I think the reason is quite clear if you listen to the debate: Fawcett-Lamborn Debate.
I don't think that I have ever heard a debate where one of the candidates absolutely destroys the other candidate before. This is worse than the first John Kerry vs. George W. Bush debate during the last presidential election. While President Bush came off looking angry and uncomfortable at times, he at least addressed all of the issues and rebutted when he got the chance. Lamborn just stood there and refused to answer point blank questions about how he would do his job. Even mediocre politicians have some kind of answer when asked about what they would do, even if their whole answer is an avoidance of an actual answer (Bill Clinton is the King of this). While I don't agree with all of Fawcett's viewpoints, he has definitely gained my vote. I would much rather have a strong leader representing me in the House than the guy who answers a question with "Next question, please".
I don't think that I have ever heard a debate where one of the candidates absolutely destroys the other candidate before. This is worse than the first John Kerry vs. George W. Bush debate during the last presidential election. While President Bush came off looking angry and uncomfortable at times, he at least addressed all of the issues and rebutted when he got the chance. Lamborn just stood there and refused to answer point blank questions about how he would do his job. Even mediocre politicians have some kind of answer when asked about what they would do, even if their whole answer is an avoidance of an actual answer (Bill Clinton is the King of this). While I don't agree with all of Fawcett's viewpoints, he has definitely gained my vote. I would much rather have a strong leader representing me in the House than the guy who answers a question with "Next question, please".
Book Reviews for October
I had to stop reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It's a great book and I was thoroughly enjoying it. The only problem is that school work was getting in the way and it was taking way too long to get through the book. I suggest saving off the book until you have the time to read a 1,000+ page book.
The next book that I read was Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. It was the Hugo Award winner for this year and I wanted to see how it stacked up against Old Man's War (which was nominated for the Hugo as well). While I thought that this was good sci-fi, I really didn't enjoy it as much as OMW. I don't know, I guess I'm much more of a military sci-fi dweeb and can't get as much into the hard sci-fi that is found in Spin. It's a very good book and is definitely worth the read. I just enjoyed OMW much more. In fact, I re-read OMW just to make sure I could do a really fresh comparison between the two. In my eyes OMW still wins.
After that, I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Wifey recomended it so I decided to give it a try. For some reason, this book seemed very similar to a lot of other coming of age books that I've read in the past. The only difference was that it was set in Afghanistan. There's something that I now call The Sixth Sense Effect. Here's how it goes: After watching The Sixth Sense you come to expect that M. Night Shyamalan's movies will have a huge plot twist somewhere near the end of the movie. As a result, any more M. Night Shyamalan movies that you watch will not surprise you if and when the plot twist occurs. You're expecting it and it's not going to surprise you when it happens. I found that to be the case when I watched The Village. I have a feeling that more people would have enjoyed the movie a lot more if they didn't know that it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The Kite Runner suffers from The Sixth Sense Effect since I've read coming of age books before and I know that some huge revelation would be coming. I guessed what the plot twist would be within the first couple of chapters and the rest of the book was a slog once I knew what was going to happen. It's a well written book, but I don't think that it deserves all the hoopla that has surrounded it.
Next Book: Cell by Stephen King
The next book that I read was Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. It was the Hugo Award winner for this year and I wanted to see how it stacked up against Old Man's War (which was nominated for the Hugo as well). While I thought that this was good sci-fi, I really didn't enjoy it as much as OMW. I don't know, I guess I'm much more of a military sci-fi dweeb and can't get as much into the hard sci-fi that is found in Spin. It's a very good book and is definitely worth the read. I just enjoyed OMW much more. In fact, I re-read OMW just to make sure I could do a really fresh comparison between the two. In my eyes OMW still wins.
After that, I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Wifey recomended it so I decided to give it a try. For some reason, this book seemed very similar to a lot of other coming of age books that I've read in the past. The only difference was that it was set in Afghanistan. There's something that I now call The Sixth Sense Effect. Here's how it goes: After watching The Sixth Sense you come to expect that M. Night Shyamalan's movies will have a huge plot twist somewhere near the end of the movie. As a result, any more M. Night Shyamalan movies that you watch will not surprise you if and when the plot twist occurs. You're expecting it and it's not going to surprise you when it happens. I found that to be the case when I watched The Village. I have a feeling that more people would have enjoyed the movie a lot more if they didn't know that it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The Kite Runner suffers from The Sixth Sense Effect since I've read coming of age books before and I know that some huge revelation would be coming. I guessed what the plot twist would be within the first couple of chapters and the rest of the book was a slog once I knew what was going to happen. It's a well written book, but I don't think that it deserves all the hoopla that has surrounded it.
Next Book: Cell by Stephen King
Oh no, not the knees again
I've taken about a 3 week hiatus from running. Unfortunately after the Nielson Challenge, I started pushing myself to run faster during my training runs. As a result, my left knee started hurting again (a recurring injury that I've had since highschool) and I backed off to only running once a week for a couple of weeks. Even then, my knee was still hurting, so I stopped running completely to see if that would help. I haven't felt any twinges in a couple of weeks, so it may be time to start slow jogs again. Back to building that aerobic base...
Monday, October 02, 2006
Obligatory Kid Pics
I just realized that I haven't yet posted any pictures of the kids. What blog is complete without the inevitable kid pictures. Here are some of my favorite of the most recent pictures...
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