Foundation And Earth

 Reviews  1 Response »
Apr 152009
 

Isaac Asimov - Foundation and Earth

Isaac Asimov - Foundation and Earth

Issac Asimov
1982

Foundation and Earth picks up almost immediately after the events of Foundation’s Edge: Foundation councilman Golan Trevize, historian Janov Perolat and their new companion Bliss, head off in search of Earth, a mythical planet where it is suggested that human life originated. They hop from planet to planet, mostly hostile, in search for clues to the location of the planet that most people think does not even exists. That’s really the plot. Eventually, they end up on Earth and we learn what happened to it many millennia before.

This is one of the books that Asimov wrote in exchange for a dump truck full of money, and somehow it feels like he phoned it in. It wasn’t a terrible book by any extent, but at the same point, it didn’t feel like he was trying to add mystery and intrigue to the book. It felt very much like straight line the characters went in to reach Earth.

Also, I think that some time in the 1980s Issac Asimov must learned about sex, because he wrote about it quite a bit in this book. Asimov is good at many things, but should not be writing about sex. It just doesn’t fit his style, or the tone of the previous books in this series.

If you don’t feel like reading 500 pages, here is a re-creation of the book, in under 100 words:

Planet X: No, we don’t know where Earth is, but we do know about Planet A.
Foundationers: Well, let’s go to Planet A.
Planet A: No, we don’t know about Earth, but have you heard about Planets B and C?
Foundationers: Let’s try Planet B.
Planet B: GRRR! WOOF! (it was full of feral dogs)
Foundationers: Eek! Let’s go to Planet C.
Foundationers: (on planet C) hey look, there’s a carving that has the coordinates of 50 worlds. Let’s go to the first one!
Planet D: Let’s have sex! I don’t know what you’re asking us about.
Foundationers: Let’s go look at that star, it’s close to here.
Foundationers: Hey, look it’s Earth. Let’s ask that person over there what’s going on.
Earthman: Welcome to Earth. How may I help you?

Obviously, other stuff happened on the planets they visited, but it mostly felt like filler.

My verdict: Stop with the original trilogy and then read the robot books. I’m going to read the prequels, but only because we already own them.

 Posted by Shannon Patterson at 12:20 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Tweenbot

 Internet Discoveries & Bandwagons  No Responses »
Apr 132009
 

tweenbot How cute are the tweenbots?

Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

 Posted by Shannon Patterson at 1:39 pm

Shan’s Lenten Challenge Roundup, Next Challenge

 Life  1 Response »
Apr 132009
 

Attempting to look less like a fat sarcastic Star Trek fan

Attempting to look less like a fat sarcastic Star Trek fan

So, over Lent, I challenged myself to give up restaurant and variety store food, and overall, I think it went fairly well. I failed to completely abstain, but I drastically decreased the consumption of these types of food to next to nothing. It had gotten especially bad at work where I would go get food that was more expensive and worse for me instead of eating the healthier food that I had made and brought. There were some things that I regret, like that day I decided that the Bulk Barn didn’t count as a variety store, but all in all it was a positive experience. I am going to continue in this abstention by continuing to avoid variety stores (including the Bulk Barn), and limiting restaurant food to once every two weeks.

I have decided that the 6-week challenge is a great idea, and for my next six week challenge, I will not eat food at my computer or while in my car.

This one’s going to be hard. I sit at a computer most of my waking day, either at home or at work. I don’t watch TV, I watch stuff on my computer, and being, a web developer, it’s really hard to do my job without the internets, and when I’m focused on something else, it’s really easy to get into the habit of non-stop sitting and snacking. Exceptions to this rule include only liquids.

Six weeks from yesterday is May 24. I will fill you all in on the latest challenge at that time, and maybe a mid-way progress report.

Homer: I’m looking for something loose and billowy, something comfortable for my first day of work.
Salesman: Work, huh? Let me guess. Computer programmer, computer magazine columnist, something with computers?
Homer: Well, I use a computer.
Salesman: Yeah, what’s the connection? Must be the non-stop sitting and snacking.

Will post about Easter later in the week.

 Posted by Shannon Patterson at 9:42 am

Better Off Ted, Magic Hotness Juice

 Uncategorized  1 Response »
Apr 092009
 

Better Off Ted - best new comedy I've seen in a long time

Better Off Ted - best new comedy I've seen in a long time

I love Better Off Ted. I know there’s only been four episodes, and it’s sometimes hard to judge a show off the first four episodes, but I think this show is incredible.

The show is about life at Veridian Dynamics, a completely immoral research and development company. The main characters are Ted, the head of R&D, Veronica, his boss, Lem and Phil, two of the research scientists, and Linda, the head tester.

Veronica is played by Portia de Rossi, who I absolutely loved in Arrested Development, and who does an incredible job as the immoral and insensitive boss. In one episode, she has Ted’s eight year old daughter fire people for her.

Lem and Phil are comedy gold. In the first episode, Phil was cryogenically frozen, and then accidentally thawed out too soon. The side effect of this was that Phil would emit high pitched screeching noises at random intervals. The company, via Veronica, said this was most likely due to an old football injury.

Phil acts as the show’s narrator and he plays the straight man who ties all the stories together. The only thing I don’t really like is that the only reason Linda’s character seems to exist is to create a love triangle between herself, Ted and Veronica, and I don’t like that very cliche plot device.

I loved the last episode. The company installed new motion sensors to open doors, turn on lights and water fountains, etc. Essentially, to run anything electronic. The only problem is that the sensors didn’t see black people. The company’s solution to this was to hire white people to accompany them places, turning things on for them, with hilarious results. Also, the phrase ‘penisly speaking’ was used.

If you’re not tuning in to Better Off Ted, I think you should totally check it out. Or download it. It is a smart comedy, and I think it has a lot of potential. Portia de Rossi is incredible, and Lem and Phil have a great antagonistic chemistry.

I’m not the type of person who laughs out loud at anything, but when I watch this show at work on my lunch breaks, my coworkers are constantly wondering what’s so funny. I’m not sure if I like this show more than 30 Rock, but it’s definitely in the same league.

I know that his name is Brian Austin Green, but he will always be 90210 guy to me.

I know that his name is Brian Austin Green, but he will always be 90210 guy to me.

In other TV news, I’m a little sad that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be without Derek Reese from now on. I guess the magic hotness juice doesn’t protect your from bullets to the head ten minutes into an episode.

The Magic Hotness Juice reference comes from a conversation I had with Courtney about how pretty of a man 90210 guy has become, shortly before his death episode. Essentially, it was something along these lines:
Me: Man 90210 guy sure is pretty
Court: Yes. I wonder what he drank to turn him so hot.
Me: And I wonder where I can get some. We should totally market that. Magic hotness juice.

Then we spent a while discussing exactly what ingredients should be in the magic hotness juice, and it was decided that booze should certainly be involved, but that’s as far as we got.

Also, I’m concerned that Terminator is going to start sucking now that Riley, Jessie, Derek and Charley are all dead, and Sarah is in jail, leaving Cameron and EmoBoy John Connor all alone in a world that’s trying to destroy them with John Henry stuck in the basement playing with Legos and wondering why humans don’t have more ball and socket joints.

Here’s hoping there’s some Terminator ass kicking this week. I’ve missed that stuff a bit lately. Also, I hope Ellison grows a pair and realizes that Shirley Manson is a bad guy with a wonderful accent and crazy green eyes.

 Posted by Shannon Patterson at 11:18 pm

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

 Recipes  2 Responses »
Apr 072009
 

Because I work far away, and don’t make the time during the week to prepare a lunch daily, I have taken to cooking and purchasing in bulk for work. The company I work for has about 15 employees, and space in the fridge isn’t a problem.

Sunday I tried out a new recipe for my lunches. It didn’t take long to prepare, it froze well, and tasted great when I reheated it. Also, it wasn’t dry, which is a big problem with a lot of the reheated chicken dishes I make for work.

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup prepared dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp dried parsley

Directions:

  1. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and place in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, basil, paprika, and parsley. Mix well. Pour over the chicken, and marinade for at least an hour.
  3. Bake in an oven (350 F) for 30 minutes. Turn chicken pieces over and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

The chicken was delicious when it came out of the oven, and it tasted great for lunch today. I usually heat up about 1/2 of a chicken breast with 2-3 cups of frozen veggies at lunch. Because I made this for my lunches, I cut the chicken pieces into 1/2 – 3/4 inch strips. It makes it easier to freeze later, and I find it cooks a little faster because of that.

 Posted by Shannon Patterson at 8:22 pm  Tagged with: , ,
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