Adventures in Aarhus

This is a blog to capture the adventures of Ken, Leysia, Max and Lilja while spending their first sabbatical in Aarhus, Denmark.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Definition of Jerk

Two guys redefined the word jerk for me today when I saw this story of how they vandalized Stonehenge. I hope they both contract severe intestinal disorders that cause them pain and suffering for the remainder of their lives. Jerks.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Matter: Resolved

I just finished reading Iain M. Banks's new novel, Matter.

I completely enjoyed it, except for the ending, which was too abrupt. Banks may have been attempting to pay tribute to Niven and Pournelle's novel, Planetfall, which was a story that ends exactly at its climax. (Banks cheats by sneaking in a dénouement in an epilogue that appears after the book's appendix.) Regardless, his great story had more than a few loose ends to clean up before I would have considered it truly finished.

But, besides that quibble, it was awesome!

What's next? Book one of Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, called Gardens of the Moon.

Shiny!

For some reason, I really love the design of this watch!

Shiny, pretty bauble! I want!

Ken

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Cloverfield

I watched Cloverfield tonight, in a dark room, by myself: very satisfying!

If you haven't seen it, rent it and enjoy!

Ken


Monday, May 05, 2008

Four bad arguments against Evolution

If you ever find yourself cornered by a creationist attempting to foist one (or more) of their flawed arguments against evolution, you can point said creationist to PZ Meyer's excellent article that trashes four of their most common “attacks”:

Four bad arguments against Evolution

It's amazing to see the level of willful arrogant ignorance that is possessed by creationists, when the means are available for anyone to acquire a layman's level of knowledge in evolution and the underlying scientific method. The fact that people choose to remain ignorant (and be proud of that fact) is what eventually leads to school districts viewing harmless substitute teachers—who also happen to be amateur magicians— as wizards practicing witchcraft.

Alas, the 21st century was suppose to be an Age of Reason and Science but instead we find ourselves surrounded by barbarians.

Well, we can hope; perhaps some scientist will discover how quantum entanglement (or some other mechanism) can be used to open gates across vast distances of space. We can then open a gate to some far off (I'm thinking millions of light years), uninhabited planet and hustle all the barbarians through it (perhaps by telling them that its a time portal back to the Garden of Eden) and once the last one is through, close the gate and get on with our lives.

Ken

Official Laughingstock of the World: Florida

Florida is now the official laughingstock of the world.

One of its school districts recently fired a substitute teacher for performing a magic trick.

Reason for dismissal? Wizardry!

That's right, he's being fired for practicing the male form of witchcraft. Maybe they should burn him at the stake?

Unbelievable. Remind me again, do we live in the 21st century or the 14th?

Ken