July 2nd, 2009
Isaac Asimov - The Robots Of Dawn
Isaac Asimov, 1983
The Robots Of Dawn is the third book of Asimov’s Robots books, and features the human & robot crime-solving tag-team of Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw. Baley is an Earthman, and Olivaw a humanoid robot not physically discernible from a human being, one of two humanoid robots in existence. The book opens with the other humanoid robot, Jander, dead (or at least as dead as a robot can be as they never technically live).
Baley is brought to the planet Aurora to solve the crime, which has been pinned on expert roboticist and Jander’s maker, Han Fastolfe. An investigation ensues, and as Baley follows the clues, Asimov weaves hints of the Foundation series into the plotline, as well as a slightly annoying romantic subplot. Baley has a tenuous grasp of Auroran society, as humans on the outer worlds live for centuries on large estates with small populations, as opposed to the largely underground cities of Earth, with their large populations with short lifespans. Most of this book focuses on the culture of Aurora, which I found much more delightful than the actual plot which was formulaic and very linear.
As Baley stumbles from clue to clue, he inexplicably solves the case and eventually returns to Earth a hero of his people.
I found Asimov’s weaving the Foundation series into the book annoying. Other than that, this book was quite good. His inclusion of sex wasn’t annoying as it was in the other books he wrote in the 80s, as it was actually part of the plot, and it doesn’t exactly follow the quality = 1 / (length * year of publication) formula I had devised earlier, but I’m still not in love with the idea that every book of Asimov’s should happen in the same universe. Failing that, Asimov should have been much less overt in having all his later work pointing inclusion in the Foundation universe and timeline. True fans could have picked up on much more subtle hints and felt like it was an inside joke they were sharing with Asimov, rather than having it thrust upon them.
I would recommend this book but only after you have read the first two Robots books, The Caves Of Steel and The Naked Sun.
Posted in Reviews | No Comments »
July 1st, 2009
Monday on Q, CBC Radio’s wonderful music/arts show, Jian interviewed an author about the robot revolution, a musician, and then a woman who had been tasked with hunting down the history of the butter tart, a truly Canadian desert. They talked about the supposed history of the tart, where to find the best one, and what the ingredients should be (butter, brown sugar, syrup, raisins). It wouldn’t be surprising to members of my family that butter tarts brought back memories of my Grandma.
Butter tarts remind me like no inanimate object of my Grandma. She was the master. Grandma didn’t make a few butter tarts at a time, she made a few dozen. They were stored in the freezer in white margarine tubs, and they were full of sugary deliciousness. I’m sure each butter tart was about a thousand calories, but no family gathering was complete until there was a plate of butter tarts. I remember a few times being allowed to help with the making of Grandma’s butter tarts. She made her own pastry, and did not have a recipe to follow, except the one in her head. She would look into the batter from yards away and tell me it needed more corn syrup, or it didn’t have quite enough butter. It was crazy magic, and it was wonderful (my Mom can do the same thing). Because she would make these tarts dozens at a time, the act of making the tarts would take a full afternoon. Time spent waiting for the tarts to finish was often spent playing Mexican Rummy, a game that doesn’t even closely resemble the game rules I found on the Internets.
My Grandma passed away during the summer of my first year of university. From then on, we have never had butter tarts at a family gathering. The first year, we had butter tart squares but it was the end of the butter tart era. I am glad that I have these simply delicious, buttery awesome items with which to remember my Grandma. I think it’s cool that there is one thing in the world that will always remind me of her. There are other items in the world that remind me of other people, but I don’t think the connection is as strong as with my Grandma and butter tarts. Also, store bought butter tarts suck.
Happy Canada Day everybody.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
June 27th, 2009
Lovely local strawberries!
I think I’ve mentioned before that Alan and I are having a smoothie bar at our wedding reception in March. We love smoothies, and a large number of our friends don’t drink alcohol, so we thought this would be a nice treat for them, as well as a way to personalize our reception. If we bought all the produce and ingredients for the smoothies retail, this would be a costly measure, so we’re going to try and pick as much of the fruit as possible ourselves. My parents have a couple of huge freezers where we can store the fruit, and we live in the fruit belt of Ontario.
Strawberries are the first Ontario fruit of the season, and they are lovely. Mom called the other night and had picked some berries for the reception, and I was starting to feel like a big slacker. Since we moved to Hamilton, Alan and I haven’t really found any of the local fruit farms or farmer’s markets, and so I hit the internet to find a good you-pick in the area. I called around, and picked the place that was nicest to me over the phone. The farm I picked was Josmar Acres and they were lovely! They were well-organized and friendly, and the strawberries! They are so great! I was able to pick a flat of berries in a very short time.
It was a lovely morning. I left home around 8 am, and was home before 10:30. The farm was about half an hour away on the back roads, and I got to smell fresh-cut hay and see pretty farm land. When I got home, I washed and froze the berries on cookie trays and then transferred them to freezer bags. It only took a few hours, and maybe next weekend there will still be some berries to do up some more.
I remember strawberry picking in my childhood feeling like a chore. I’m not sure why any more.
Posted in Life, Projects | 1 Comment »
June 26th, 2009
It’s hard to think of where I’d be if it weren’t for the teachers who have inspired me throughout my life. I have countless relatives and friends who are educators, and I’ve always wondered what exactly it is inside them that pushes them into a life dedicated to passing on their knowledge to others. I know that there’s bad teachers who are just in it for the perks of teaching, but they are few and far between. A good teacher — the right teacher — changes lives. I know this from experience. Sometimes it’s just a little affirmation, someone telling you that you are indeed good at this. Sometimes it’s simply being there for a kid through a tough time. It’s more than a job, and I think it’s also more than a career, it’s a way of life. There are simply some people out there who have to teach.
My mom is a teacher, and she retired from teaching this week. I know that she will continue teaching in so many different ways; it’s something that’s inside you and it doesn’t just go away. Anyways, Mom and Dad are going globetrotting this summer to mark her retirement. They’re going to Japan, then New Zeland, and then Australia, all before October. She taught at the same school for decades, and I know how much of herself she’s put into her students. I know how much I’ve learned from her, how much I’m still learning from her. She’s even going to help me with another quilt.
I want to write a lovely, beautiful piece about how great I think teachers are, but I’m finding that I’m at a loss for words. Anyways, just be sure to appreciate the teachers in your life. You wouldn’t be who you were without them.
Posted in Life | No Comments »
June 26th, 2009
Posted in Pop Culture | 1 Comment »
