Bill Maher tells some truths. See the video on onegoodmove.
Thanks to Pharyngula for the link.
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Song of the Day: Young Folks – Peter Bjorn and John & Victoria Bergsman
I thought I’d written about the Swedish group, The Concretes, here on the Soapbox before. But it seems not. I’ve been into the group for a few years now. For several reasons, one of which was the vocals of Victoria Bergsman. I say was, because it seems she has left the group. Not all doom and gloom though, as she has a new solo project called Taken by Trees, plus The Concretes have a new album out and Victoria Bergsman is featured on the wonderful Peter Bjorn and John track called Young Folks.
Victoria Bergsman (Click picture for larger view)
BTW: The Taken by Trees album, Open Field, is excellent. She really does have a wonderful voice.
Sea front stroll
I posted earlier about getting sun burnt in San Francisco. I was curious how far it was from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge. Using Google Maps to get directions it seems it is 5.9 miles. See picture below. More pictures of the route here and here.
Click picture for larger view. Route is blue line, sort of. The actual walk hugged the coast more at North Beach and Fort Mason
Mr Deity is back
Well almost. A short announcement episode has been published. See the iTMS feed.
Brrr….
About 15 minutes out from landing in Belfast last night, on the way back from San Francisco via London Heathrow, the pilot comes on the intercom to say we’d be landing soon and that the weather was sunny but that the wind was from the north, As a result it would feel colder than it has been recently. Boy he was right. When I got out of the plane it was bloomin’ freezing. Spending a week in the nice San Francisco climate probably had a lot to do with it, but boy it felt cold. Got home and fired up the central heating. Then slept for 12 hours 🙂
More Sony Reader content…
Yeah. Fictionwise have added the Sony Reader as an option for the multiformat content they carry. So that means like Analog and Asimov’s Science Fiction are now available for the device. Excellent news.
New Web Gallery
I’ve just started using the new .Mac Web Gallery functionality. I’ll be using this for my extended picture hosting from now on. Also linked from the side bar in the right.
Batten down the hatches again…
Should be another interesting week for weather watchers. I like weather (just in case no-ones noticed!) Another storm coming in from the Atlantic. Should be be a bit windy from Tuesday to Thursday. See the Atlantic pressure charts below for Tuesday to Thursday for the reasons why.
Click pictures for larger views
Harry Potter and the pots of cash
According to the BBC the 7th and last Harry Potter book sold 11 Million copies in 24 hours. Gosh! I have to admit that I’ve never read any of them. Not for any particular reason, I just never got round to it. Way to much other stuff to read over the last 10 years. Maybe I’ll have to read them all now the series is complete. Might actually be better to read them now as I won’t have to wait for the author to complete the series. That used to scroll my nerd big time when I was a lad 🙂 I can remember nearly going spare waiting for Julian May to complete the Pliocene Exile and Galactic Milieu series.
What happens if she gets hit by a bus!? 😉
Thankfully she didn’t (and not just so she could complete the books).
It seems that Bloomsbury and J.K. Rowling have not authorised electronic copies of the Potter books for eInk devices like the Sony Reader. This is a mistake in my opinion. Although given the sales of the series I’m not sure mistake is the term to use! In any event if I do decide to read the books then I’ll have to get cheap paperback copies so I’ve actually bought the books and maybe look for electronic copies for the Reader from alternative sources…
The question is. Are they worth reading?
UPDATE: The Loading Ready Run crew attend a Victoria HP7 launch event.
God is not Great – Christopher Hitchens
I finished God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens last week. It’s the most recent of the string of popular anti-religion books that have been published over the last year (Sam Harris, Dan Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Victor Stenger and others have trampled the grass on this path recently). many people think that Richard Dawkins is a bit strident in his anti-religions views. I don’t, for the record. BTW, why does it seem that none of the people who have responded to Dawkins’ latest book, with arguments that he is too strident or hasn’t studied some obscure theological text, that they haven’t actually read his book for comprehension (or at all)?
Anyway. If you thought Dawkins was strident you’ll either love or blanch completely at Hitchens’ latest book. This is a real polemic. Wide ranging as well. Dawkins focused on Christianity to a large extent. Hitchens covers Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and others. Hitchens has a writting style and background that will appeal to a more literary audience than Dawkins et al. As such it is a welcome new addition to the anti-religion canon. A good synopsis of the book is given in a lecture by Hitchens presented by the Seattle Town Hall Center for Civic Life and University Book Store.
BTW: This was the first book I read on an eInk device. A Sony Reader.