More Audiobooks: Arthur C. Clarke

Now I am listening to some short stories by Arthur C. Clarke, read by the author. I have never read anything by him before, and I am impressed! I usually don't like Science Fiction, because I think it is too contrived, specially the pseudo-scientific explanations on how future technology works, and the way some stories try to explain paranormal events with made-up science (think of the microorganisms inside people that generate the "Force" in "Star Wars: Episode I"). In Clarke's tales, at least so far, no attempt is made in either way: he doesn't make up explanations for technology and phenomena that he couldn't possible explain, nor does he attempt to frame paranormal events in made-up science, he prefers to leave them in the realm of mysticism. In fact, that's what I like the most so far in his short stories - there is a pervasive mystical aspect to them, be in the Tibetan Monks that try to rush the Apocalypse by using a computer to "calculate" all true names of God, or in the Super-Computer that creates a new Universe ("Let There Be Light!") while trying to calculate the answer to the Big Bang, just as our Universe dies "of entropy". So although science and mysticism are featured in his stories, they are kept separated, each playing its part in grand scheme of things.

Edit (March 1st, 2006) - I had previously attributed these stories to Isaac Asimov, due to some unexplained brain fart. Now I give credit to the correct author.

NYC

 Ines came to meet me here in New York and we went to spend the Saturday in the City. First stop was the Empire State building. The day was windy with perfectly clear skies, and afforded spectacular views of the City. Unfortunately, it also meant that it was extremely cold, specially up on the Empire State, so it was hard to just stand around and enjoy the views. But we managed. Afterwards, we went to see the skating ring at the Rockefeller Center, then had lunch on Chinatown at a little, very packed place called New Wonton (tip: don't get the soups with noodles, it's a waste when the wontons are so good). Later we went to the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art), where we discovered, for the first time, reasonable prices for cultural attractions/events in the US - $10 for students. Plus, they are recommended fees, so if we wanted, we could have paid less (no, I paid full price!). We were in the Met only a little over one hour, and didn't see much. But I did see the Egyptian collection, which was cool, and the installation for the Temple of Dendur (see picture in Photo Album), which was awesome! They reconstructed this little Egyptian temple in a large, beautiful room, with Egyptian ornaments spread around in a sensible manner. It was very impressive. 

Podcasts, Audiobooks and "Coraline"

After the recent discovery of GOOD podcasts, I have fallen in love all over again with my iPod. I had played with them before a few months back, right before Apple introduced them to its music store, but they were only mildly amusing and not worth the trouble. A few weeks back, though, I listened on my iPod to a lecture series on Poetry given by Jorge Luis Borges at Harvard, and it left me hungering for more. I wanted more philosophy, more literature, more history. It is hard these days to have the time to sit down and enjoy a good short story or magazine article. I used to devour them, but these days I only make time for headlines and short newspaper articles. No more philosophy, anthropology, archeology, or all these things that I also enjoy reading about. Thus I set out to find other audiobooks like the Borges lectures.

My first find was the Stanford iTunes sites, where I discovered the podcast of the "Philosophy Talk", the radio show that "questions everything, except your intelligence" (they are good with slogans - on their website: "cogito, ergo blog"). Although they are short and usually superficial, they have provided a good Philosophy fix for me. I later found the Nature podcast, produced by the journal, and with excellent content about all the other science - biology, geology, astronomy, even some anthropology and paleontology. It is definitely my favorite thus far. I will look for more like it when I have more time.

I am also having a good time listening to my Audiobooks, which have make the 3 hours commute to the Nevis Lab in NY a very pleasant trip.

I am currently "reading" Coraline (not a misspelling), by Neil Gaiman (the author of "American Gods" and "Sandman"), and it is a surprisingly good book. Surprising because its subtitle is "A Fairy Tale", and it seems to be children's book. The problem is, I still don't know if this is children's book or not. On one hand, the story is centered around the adventures of a little girl, and told in a manner that would appeal to little girls. This is specially effective in the audio version, because the author narrates the book as if he was reading a bedtime story to hildren, including silly names and funny noises. On the other hand, Neil Gaiman uses the exact same style present in his Sandman comics, a twisted yet easy plot, with obscure yet rich and vaguely familiar mythology, and a subtle horror or nightmare hidden in childish things. This is a very "Neil Gaiman" book, with a feel much closer to Sandman than American Gods. To me it shows the skill that Neil Gaiman has of creating stories that aren't simply about magical things, but told from a magical point of view - in this case, from a little girl's point of view.

But if you plan to start listening to Audiobooks, or would just like to read some Neil Gaiman, I highly recommend "Anansi Boys". It is the story of the sons of Anansi, an African God that emigrated to the United States, and that has just died. It is a very funny book, and a departure from the usual Neil Gaiman style. It reads a little like a Douglas Adams novel, although it is about magic and mythology rather than science fiction.

Brownzilian's Carnaval, 2006

Last night was the Brownzilians' Carnival Party. It was early for Carnival (not until the end of February), but better early than never. The party was at the Graduate Student Lounge at Brown, organized by Daniel, Yeung and Sérgio (new Brownzilian, he is a Professor at Brown). There wasn't enough people to fill the room but there were definitely enough people for a fun party. Surprisingly, there were more Americans (at least non-Brazilians) than Brazilians. Strong Portuguese presence, most notably Catarina, a new Portuguese Grad student, with whom I danced since Ines was hiding in a conversation about String Theory and Portuguese Poetry most of the night.

The excellent music was provided by none other than me. I connected my laptop to the lounge's gigantic TV and stereo. I started and maximized iTunes, connected an external mouse and hid the laptop, so people couldn't spill beer on it. The idea was to have an interface to let people select songs during the party - you just used the mouse to select the song you wanted played next on the TV, and the music was routed to the stereo system, which was very loud. The whole system was pretty cool, too bad I didn't think of taking a picture of it. And needless to say, I had a great selection of songs to satisfy to everyone's tastes, from Samba to Salsa!

Click on the picture above or here for the pictures. (Pictures taken by Artur)

Chinese New Year, 2006

Ines and I went to Boston for Dim Sum this past Sunday, and we had a very pleasant surprise - apparently The Chinese New Year's celebration in Chinatown was this weekend!
We first saw that the streets in Chinatown were blocked, and littered with lettuce and vegetables (like what you see after some farmer's market). On the way to the restaurant saw several groups of people dressed in martial arts clothes, carrying weapons like swords and spears (I don't know if they were real), and flags. While eating, a group came in, and they had a Chinese Dragon that walked and danced between the tables. That's when we realized that this must be the Chinese New Year.
The best was when we left the restaurant, and were stopped by a group of people that started blocking the street with their staffs and opening a large circle. The a Couple of Chinese Dragons come in and start dancing, while some people play the drums in the back of small truck. After a little while, an "altar" made of boxes was set up in front of a grocery store, and the grocer brought out some fruit and lettuce, then a bucket with live lobsters, and another with live fish. The Dragons then made a show of accepting the "sacrifices" and eating them, to the intensifying sound of drums. The person at the head would stick out a hand and pick up the vegetables, smashing them and tossing them all over, and then pick up the lobster and fish and wave them as if the dragon was shaking them with their mouths. It was neat. But then the grocer started throwing fireworks, small clusters of little bombs, that would jump and blow up all over the place - this lasted some 5 min, and was not that neat. After watching this, we went to some Chinese stores, where we bought a ton of frozen Dim Sum and a sugar cane, which we just ate last night.
The whole day was pretty cool!