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Doctor Strange Trailer
Aug. 26th, 2015 12:09 amI know it is not due for a further year yet but this remake with Benedict Cumberbatch sounds pretty amazing.
Aug. 26th, 2015
Arthur C. Clarke "Fountains Of Paradise" (Gollancz)
A brilliant but slightly obsessed engineer wants to build a space elevator using a new carbon-tube filament. The main problem is that the only suitable spot on the whole globe is on top of a sacred mountain on the island of Taprobane, and the Buddhist monks in the temple on the mountain top are unwilling to let it happen. In a sense there are two interlocking stories in this novel.
The first is the development of a "Space Elevator", a structure which reaches from ground level to beyond our atmosphere, enabling mankind to escape Earth's gravity at pennies per pound instead of millions of dollars.
The second concept is a familiar one given a fresh treatment here, in which a distant race has sent an artificial-intelligence probe, whose mission is to initiate First Contact with other intelligent races in the galaxy. The conversations between the people of Earth and this first voyager from a distant sun are worth the price of admission alone. Throw in the setting, which is an island very much like Clarke's beloved adopted home of Sri Lanka, and you have a very engaging and thought-provoking story by a legendary writer of science-fiction.
Hard SF, but with characters that are at least more than cardboard cutouts, and with the focus on social and financial snags rather than on the pure engineering.
A very enjoyable read!
A brilliant but slightly obsessed engineer wants to build a space elevator using a new carbon-tube filament. The main problem is that the only suitable spot on the whole globe is on top of a sacred mountain on the island of Taprobane, and the Buddhist monks in the temple on the mountain top are unwilling to let it happen. In a sense there are two interlocking stories in this novel.
The first is the development of a "Space Elevator", a structure which reaches from ground level to beyond our atmosphere, enabling mankind to escape Earth's gravity at pennies per pound instead of millions of dollars.
The second concept is a familiar one given a fresh treatment here, in which a distant race has sent an artificial-intelligence probe, whose mission is to initiate First Contact with other intelligent races in the galaxy. The conversations between the people of Earth and this first voyager from a distant sun are worth the price of admission alone. Throw in the setting, which is an island very much like Clarke's beloved adopted home of Sri Lanka, and you have a very engaging and thought-provoking story by a legendary writer of science-fiction.
Hard SF, but with characters that are at least more than cardboard cutouts, and with the focus on social and financial snags rather than on the pure engineering.
A very enjoyable read!
Not Going Out
Aug. 26th, 2015 09:47 amHaving the day off, staying at home, watching Charmed a bit later, then some reading and maybe listening to some music. No peripatetic journeys for me today!
I have read a few more chapters form the O.U. Psychology book,reaching the section on phenomenological and Gestalt psychology, a chapter from the Pre-Raphaelites art book , and caught up with a couple of episodes of Eggheads.
Just had an email from the company i did the aborted visit for yesterday saying that i would get half of the fee associated with the job. I suppose it is better than nothing , and whilst it is their policy, i still feel it is something they should have been aware of before releasing the job on their website.
So, despite the dull milkiness of the weather outside, I have plenty to keep me occupied, and hence, there will be no torpidity from me.
I have read a few more chapters form the O.U. Psychology book,reaching the section on phenomenological and Gestalt psychology, a chapter from the Pre-Raphaelites art book , and caught up with a couple of episodes of Eggheads.
Just had an email from the company i did the aborted visit for yesterday saying that i would get half of the fee associated with the job. I suppose it is better than nothing , and whilst it is their policy, i still feel it is something they should have been aware of before releasing the job on their website.
So, despite the dull milkiness of the weather outside, I have plenty to keep me occupied, and hence, there will be no torpidity from me.
Birthday Greetings
Aug. 26th, 2015 10:33 amHappy birthday to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
du_secondaire. May you have a great day!
du_secondaire. May you have a great day!Some jazzy tunes for the selection today.
Claudette Soares - Feitinha Pro Poeta
Tubby Hayes - Down In The Village
Kenny Rankin - In The Name Of Love
Ricardo Marrero And The Group - Babalonia
Enjoy
Claudette Soares - Feitinha Pro Poeta
Tubby Hayes - Down In The Village
Kenny Rankin - In The Name Of Love
Ricardo Marrero And The Group - Babalonia
Enjoy
The Real Claimants
Aug. 26th, 2015 11:12 amThis is what real claimants had to say about the false leaflets put out by the DWP -
Some Real Case Studies to Help Us to Understand Benefit Sanctions
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/heather-rolfe/benefits-case-studies_b_8030206.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
One claimant mirrored my situation when the bastards at the JC sent me , or tried to send me to, that stupid bike work placement -
"She was then offered skills training in areas in which she had no interest. Facing sanctions for declining training, she returned to her former part-time job, continued to claim benefits and was sanctioned for overpayment of benefit"
This sorry lot of a government have no idea .. they all live in their high castles of ineptitude compounded by a supercilious non-caring demeanor.
Some Real Case Studies to Help Us to Understand Benefit Sanctions
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/heather-rolfe/benefits-case-studies_b_8030206.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
One claimant mirrored my situation when the bastards at the JC sent me , or tried to send me to, that stupid bike work placement -
"She was then offered skills training in areas in which she had no interest. Facing sanctions for declining training, she returned to her former part-time job, continued to claim benefits and was sanctioned for overpayment of benefit"
This sorry lot of a government have no idea .. they all live in their high castles of ineptitude compounded by a supercilious non-caring demeanor.
The following CD's -
Kurt Weill - The Threepenny Opera, RIAS Berlin Sinfoniette
Franz Liszt - Piano Sonata in B , Nikolai Demidenko (piano)
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana , Berlin Phil. / Seiji Ozawa
Alan Hovhaness- Elibris (from the "Visions" CD)
All classical today.
Kurt Weill - The Threepenny Opera, RIAS Berlin Sinfoniette
Franz Liszt - Piano Sonata in B , Nikolai Demidenko (piano)
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana , Berlin Phil. / Seiji Ozawa
Alan Hovhaness- Elibris (from the "Visions" CD)
All classical today.
More Alan Hovhaness
Aug. 26th, 2015 07:23 pmMore beautiful music from Alan Hovhaness.
The Prayer Of St. Gregory
Performed by Gerard Schwarz & Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Elibris, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra of London
conducted by David Amos
Enjoy
The Prayer Of St. Gregory
Performed by Gerard Schwarz & Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Elibris, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra of London
conducted by David Amos
Enjoy
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