Answer the question!

What kind of jobs can you get with a human osteology/museology degree?

First I must specify that, while I am indeed specializing in them, I will not have a degree on human osteology, or even really on museology, per se. My degree is on archaeology and that‘s what my diploma will sa-- no wait, no it won‘t. Will it? The bugger if I know, at least it will say B.A. of humanities and M.A. of philosophy. I assume archaeology is mentioned in there somewhere.

But I digress… It’s kind of difficult to list all the possible job opportunities. Partially because you never know where you might end up with the help of your degree and your specialties. The likeliest option is that I will end up at a low-paying job completely unrelated to my education, or I will end up a jobless bum living off of social security, barely avoiding going homeless. But, let’s pretend for a second those are not my likeliest options.

I will start with museology as it’s somewhat easier. Wikipedia defines museology as “the diachronic study of museums and how they have established and developed in their role as an educational mechanism under social and political pressures”. I like to define it as “study of museum things”. We learn basics of conservation, learn to critically analyze exhibitions, practical things, laws/regulations, things that wikipedia mentioned, and so on. With training in museology, I can score a job at, surprise, surprise, a museum, or some other job that utilizes same expertise. Simple enough, eh? Although, researcher is always an option here, much like with every academic field out there.

Human osteology is a slightly more difficult things to explain. Or maybe it isn’t, we’ll see. I study human osteology in an archaeological context. It could be said that I should use either the term physical anthropology or biological anthropology, but the terminology is different depending on where you live, so I don’t usually bother with those - especially when they tend to be more connected to evolution than my research has so far been. With this training, I can mainly score academic jobs: Researcher, lecturer etc. If I were to specialize in the forensic aspect of it, then I could well work at a coroner’s office, if we are talking US here. In my country, medical examiners usually hog the legal cases all to themselves - which makes sense. In fact, I can’t even specialize in human osteology all that well in my country. You can only imagine how crappy my job prospects in this particular field look like. I could rant about things related to this a lot. But I won't.

As an archaeologist in general, I might be able to get a position at the Finnish National Board of Antiquities (a government institute responsible for museums etc, has a field work department for archaeology and does a lot of excavations annually) (I have actually worked for them already), as an archaeological excavator or an expert of sorts for FNBA or a private company, or as a researcher and a lecturer at a university. Those are the main ones that come to mind, you never know though. A job at a nice big museum could be quite nice, I’m crossing my fingers for that one. I like the indoors.

If you could have made any great archaeological discovery, what would it have been?

Let’s see, let’s see…which discovery would have brought me the most money? Yeah, I’d like to make money. I’m boring like that. Tomb of Tutankhamen was certainly a gold mine back in the day, I gather, I bet you could make a fortune with just the book deals you could squeeze out of that one. Plus the regulations on documentation and the laws on what you could keep were far more shoddy back then than they are today - I could have totally snatched some valuable brooch for my private collection and it would have been all fine and dandy. Although, the whole lung fungus thing would cramp my style. I’d likely be as stupid as the rest of the excavators and not know better than to enter a tomb that’s gone undisturbed for thousands of years, without letting it breathe first. Then I would die and my book deal money and my little brooches would all go to the five kids I had because it’s 1920’s and I’m a woman and my fictional husband wanted to bonk me or something.

...I realize I've failed to mention that I also find Tutankhamen's tomb to be a fairly interesting site. Or it would be if you were getting to it before everyone and their grandmother has written about it.

Books and Pirates

Hello, guys… It’s been a long time…

I’ve just started my classes at the university last week. For some reason, I’m more eager to work on my post when I don’t have a lot of time to do it. On vacation being lazy was a full-time job but now that I have a schedule, I want to fulfil it with a lot of activities and things. Probably it doesn’t make any sense… but well, I was doing some organic chemistry homework when I felt the necessity of catching up with the blog… So you’ll probably see me more around here…

Ok, let’s see… Books… books are good; I think that’s a good start… right? Well, It’s quite difficult to say which are my favourites books, so I’m going to enumerate some books that bring up to mind when I heard those words and … yeah, as you may notice my entry are always very consistent. Also I’m going to avoid things the HP books (by the way Prisoner of Azkaban it’s my favourite, It was the last one when I started reading those and also because It’s the first Remus/Sirius appearance), the Sherlock Holmes stories and the LOTR ones because those probably on each of our bookshelf (or magic wardrobes).

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ  José Saramago

Saramago gives a complete new vision to the story of the son of god in this book; he made a really intrepid decision by re-telling Jesus Christ’s story but giving him human qualities, as doubt, confusion, passion, angst… In this story, he is not perfect, he doesn’t understand his father’s plan, and he doesn’t know the reason or the function of his existence through the eyes of god.

Also the writer “humanizes” other characters as for example Joseph, who in the bible is almost totally neglected. In this book he is more than a simple carpenter, he’s a character full of guilt and regret. He’s tormented by the idea that his son is also the son of god, and the complexity of that idea.

Despite of being an atheist, I’ve always liked religion related books; maybe this is not the best example (but I also really enjoyed reading the bible, the perfect activity for a Saturday night XD), considering that it’s full of ‘blasphemy’ and the Catholic Church referred to it as “anti-religious” but sincerely I think that it’s very respectful of christianism.  I feel like, by showing (what the author think are) Jesus thoughts, he criticism about certain interpretation given to the canonical gospels, the author is charging against the church not the faith.

Sailors/ Pirates books

Treasure Island  Robert Louis Stevenson

We are talking about the book that created the cheesy idealized Hollywood pirate, it’s impossible not to love it. Well, I don’t think there’s anything I can’t say about that it wasn’t said before. I just remember reading this while I was in primaria and being astonished, I think I never cheer for a character as much as I cheer for the poor Jim Hawkins (not ever for our beloved Harry Potter). The funny thing is that I always felt really nostalgic about the times before the planes were invented, when travelling by sea was the only way, even when I’m reading realistic pirate/sailors story with the hunger, the scurvy and the abuse of power.

By the way, I’m clearly on the Pirate side of the conflict…

Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe

Well another classic and probably my favourite book of all time (It’s a tie with Moby Dick). My love for this book is as bright and strong as the first time I read it, that’s why I can’t avoid seeing it with the eyes of an infant.  It’s a wonderful story adventure with pirates, capsizes, cannibals… It’s a story of friendship and love, about the strength of human relationships. I can’t describe the joy that invades me every time I read it.

  Moby Dick Herman Melville

I can’t probably a profound analysis of Moby Dick, because I didn’t read it in the original language, my English is not as good as it needs to be to comprehend some things on it and I don’t have great knowledge on literary theory( As I understand, Is your Don Quijote de la Mancha). So I’m going to talk about my experience and how I feel about the book. The first time I read it I was on primaria and for me it wasn’t more than the amazing story of a crazy man chasing a monstrous whale and his unstoppable desire of revenge. I remember thinking that Queequeg was one of the most awesome character ever written, I still think that, but in a different way, not just because he’s a badass XD.

While my bond with Robinson Crusoe is based on passion and a deep feeling of nostalgia, with Moby Dick is different, is fuelled by the seeking of knowledge and meaning. It’s a book that every time a read it astonishes me in a different way. It’s like sailing through a new region, comprehending a bit more the religious references after reading the bible, noticing the relationship between the characters, discovering new historical reference, contemplating the various philosophical dilemmas… even getting amused by the biological description of the white whale. It’s like an infinite book, I don’t know if someday I’m going fully discover it, but I think I’ll always enjoy exploring without a map.

  On Stranger Tides  Tim Powers

This a great pirate story, in the typical way… young man who for diverse reasons ends up under the command of greedy pirate who wants to discover the fountain of youth, meanwhile he has to save the love of his life… It involves voodoo magic, zombies, ghost, savages and even the mighty BlackBeard, in fact, is the book in which is based the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but I choose not to talk about it. It’s an amazing book, very well written with a bunch of enjoyable characters and situations. But for me, it has a much more important meaning that goes beyond the book itself. This was the book that inspired The Secret of Monkey Island, one of the first games I love, an old-school point-n-click adventure games… one of the best memories of my childhood full of old LucasFilms/LucasArts games… And I think that’s enough to put it on this entry (at least for me).

So, yeah, Pirates! (Like in the Sega Genesis’ jewel)

  Demian Herman Hesse

This is the book that every adolescent should read. It’s about a boy breaking into the world and destroying every structure he knew in the way. It’s full of beautiful symbolism and it’s a really interesting introduction to Gnosticism. I don’t know the disturbed adolescent version of myself love it… and he used to criticize everything, so… that’s something. Also I recommend Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund and almost every novel by Hesse, even if you don’t like you surely found it interesting. But well, who am I to recommend classics, assuming that you didn’t read it already.

  No habrá mas penas ni olvido  Osvaldo Soriano

Translated as Funny Dirty Little War (an absurdly bad translation, even if you consider that the original title it’s a quote from a classic tango by Carlos Gardel) is an amazing reflection of the political and social life in the Argentina during the sixties and the seventies. Juan Domingo Perón is indubitably it’s the most important figure in my country modern history. When he abandoned the country or after he died, he left a very strong not defined movement without a leader, and that’s why sectors from the extreme left and the extreme right tried to hold the flag of peronism, because it was a really personal movement, it doesn’t have any manifest or doctrine. So this novel shows the absurd of the fight between both sectors for who is the most peronist. The book is settled in an small town so every member of those sector know each other, also it happens during a dictatorship so all of this violent fight goes on while the government is carrying a bloody witch hunt against ‘the guerrilla’, in which a lot of  innocent people die for being suspicious. Really, it’s hard to describe this story if you don’t know anything about our society or our history. I’m just going to say that Soriano is brilliant, he told the darkest events in a humorous but respectful way and always full of criticism, he was an amazing journalist.

  Triste, Solitario y Final (Sad, Lonely and Final) Osvaldo Soriano

This is novel you can relate more, its story about nostalgia. Soriano puts himself in a novel with Philip Marlowe (from the Raymond Chandler novels) to investigate why Lauren y Hardy doesn’t work on Hollywood any more. It’s a reflection of the profound love the author has to the books and movies he enjoyed while he was growing up, all presented with the deep acid humour he always had. The dialogs between the journalist who growth in the argentinean arrabal and the tough yanqui detective are priceless.

Well, I had to leave some books out of this entry because It was getting too long, well it’s too long. Also, I avoid any science fiction piece for the same reason, maybe someday I’ll write about Foundation, Dune or Hitchhiker’s… I don’t know.

So, Best Wishes and DFTBA!

Lucas

See you in some time!

Hello!
My competitive exams are starting in 5 weeks, and I have a looot of work coming, since, well, it's not about being good but better than the rest of the students, as I previously explained in the post about the French school system.
I'm going to be away for at least two months (5 weeks of revisions and 3 weeks of written exams), and I wanted to say goodbye (but I will survive) (hopefully) (and come back afterwards).
If I find some time, I'll write my article about gills and geology, as requested, because it is fascinating and I'll be delighted to explain what you asked, but I cannot guarantee that I will manage to do it in time.
Anyway, good luck to you all, see you in some time, and, of course, DFTBA!

Books wot I read innit

Hi everybody,  Hi Dr Nick


I'm still here, and less ill than when I last posted.
So books.

I was never really a big reader so finding something thought provoking and worth writing about is going to be a challenge to me. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a good book but in recent years, I've come to rely on my instant gratification such as film and tv. Please don't shoot me. This is why all of my favorite books are aimed at "tweenagers" and YA.

The Harry Potter series

My favorite one

It's incredible the amount of people whom I speak to that say "Harry Potter changed my life". I would never go as far to say that, but it has been a book series which I've grown up along side and which I have enjoyed very much. The reason I think Harry Potter has been so successful throughout the world is that at the end of the day, it's a true fight between good and evil. It's about fierce friendship and honest love, ideals which although of utmost importance many books, over or under exaggerate and warp.

Before I die

This has to be one of my all time favorite books. This is the book, which if someone asked me which   book I would recommend to read, it would be this one. It's one of those really thought provoking books you find very rarely. It's embarrassing to admit, that the only reason I bought this book to begin with is that it was buy one get one free on Waterstones and I bought it alongside twilight. 

Before I die follows Tessa a teenager fighting a losing battle with cancer and the way in which she comes to terms with it. The reason I believe this book had such an impact on me, is that rather than being about some saint like teenager, being an inspiration to those with a terminal illness by doing all sorts of wonderful things, she does what she wants to. Tessa isn't selfish, but rather wants to use the opportunity to try it all (and I mean it all). She's honest and frank about her situation and doesn't gloss over what she's going through. The way in which the book ends was rather unexpected for me. I urge you all to read this book!

Tracy Beaker, and other Jacqueline Wilson books


Jacqueline Wilson was probably the most influential author of my childhood. Her books aimed at young girls are brutally honest, and quite often not with a happy story line. I always used to struggle with books which had beautiful, clever and funny young girls pottering about doing meaningless lovely things like in the majority of books written for the pre-teen age range. Jacqueline Wilson writes for and about real girls. Not for those with perfect lives, but for ordinary lives.

It's quite difficult for me to pick my favorite one of her books, but when it came down to it, I picked Tracy Beaker. This is probably one of her best known books as it has had a 5 series show, 3 series spin-off and a tv-film based upon it, here in the UK. It focuses on a girl Tracy, who lives her life in a care home called "the dumping ground". She suffers from all sorts of anger issues, and wants nothing more for her mum to come and rescue her. She makes up all sorts of fantasys mostly focusing around her mum being a famous Hollywood actress. The story follows her through many adventures during her life in care and her journey out of it.

Not only was Tracy Beaker a very well written and thought provoking book, it was particularly great for young girls like myself whom had no experience of understanding of a life in care. Although many criticize Jacqueline Wilson of over simplifying the situation, I think she did a great job and was very informative without making it to complex for children to understand.

When I'm grown-up and have my own children, I would hope that they too will read Jacqueline Wilson's books.

On a side note,
As I have been absent from the blog for a few weeks, I shall be trawling through everyone's posts to see if I've missed anything important. Apologies if I have!
I'm starting Easter holidays at the end of this week, so I'll be on here a lot :)
DFTBA
Ali :)

5 shelves, 5 books

My bookshelf is arranged approximately by genre, so I thought a nice way to get a good variety of genres would be to pick my favourite from each shelf.

Top Shelf: Classics

Classic books have a reputation for being stuffy and kinda crap, but I've always found them to be really well written. Which is probably why they're classics. By far my favourite on this shelf is Dumas' The Three Musketeers, which reads like the pulpiest, most rip-roaring swashbuckling swordfighting adventure ever. It's originally in fairly old French, so I'm not sure how much of that is down to a more modern translation (maybe Tangerine can fill me in here?) but it's seriously good.

Second Shelf: Sci-fi (and Tolkien)

Tolkien gets a free pass here, obviously. The book on this shelf which changed my life, though, is Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson), which along with Neuromancer is credited with inventing Cyberpunk. The book is, once again, a totally badass adventure full of motorbikes and katanas and mob bosses and megacorporations and of course, that old staple of SF, Sumerian mythology. It also introduced me to my favourite creative writing gimmick of using the present tense, for which I'm eternally grateful.

Third Shelf: Classics (The other kind)

I'm a bit of an Ancient History nut, evidently. This shelf needs two favourites - an ancient and modern one. As far as ancient writing goes, The Odyssey is it. It's a series of brilliant tales of cunning and adventure and myth (seeing a pattern here...). As for modern takes on history, I thoroughly recommend Rubicon and Persian Fire, both by Tom Holland, which are narrative history (think Crash Course) about Julius Caesar and the Persian Wars respectively. Entertaining, and actually factually accurate, though he takes a little license here and there.

Fourth Shelf: Fantasy

I wanted to pick Good Omens for this one, but I lent it to a friend and is therefore technically not on my shelf. So I guess this prize goes to The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. It's an awesome take on the Generic Fantasy Adventure™, but I have to warn you that the third book isn't out yet, and if you read the first two you will join me in actual physical agony over the wait for the third.

Bottom Shelf: French books, Popular Science, Movies and Video games(!?)

I'm not sure how available his books are outside of Australia, but Dr. Karl Kruszelniki writes these amazing books of misconceptions interesting facts, all explained really nicely. If you ever see them anywhere, pick them up. Honourable mention to Psychonauts, for being a better-written video game than many of the books I've read. Again, if you get the chance, play it.

And that's my bookshelf. I was about to make an offer to lend you anything you liked that you see, but that's probably not all that practical.

OR IS IT.

No. No it isn't.

Books, Glorious Books.

Phew, it looks like it's been a busy few weeks for everybody! I caught The Hunger Games movie yesterday cause I couldn't wait any longer to watch it and it turned out to be more than I expected it to be! It really wasn't that bad for a book-to-movie adaptation. There were some things I would have changed about it, but it didn't turn out to be as bad as some of the Harry Potter movies *coughmoviesixcough*. I'm not as attached to the books as I am to HP, so I guess I was less critical, but still! Did any of you watch it? How'd you like it?

Now, to the books! I'm going to skip on the usuals like Harry Potter, LOTR or the Hunger Games cause they're pretty much staple on almost everyone's lists. I'm even going to skip over John Green books because that's a given, but not really high on the list. So here are some of my favourite go-to books !

Tuesday's With Morrie - Mitch Albom.

It's a non-fiction account of how the author came to have a new relationship with his favourite lecturer from university as the former was dying from an illness. Morrie, the teacher, basically imparted a lot of his life knowledge to Mitch through these Tuesday visits that they had over the span of a few months. The reason I really love the book is because the topics that they talk about are things that are important in everyone's life and it teaches people how to not sweat the small stuff when there are bigger fish to fry. It's a simple read, but very thought provoking. I tend to go back to it every now and then and it says different things to me as my own perspective of life changes with age.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon

The book is about a 15 year old guy with some form of Autism who is a mathematical savant of sorts. He finds his neighbour's dog dead, and then attempts to investigate what happens which ends up revealing much more than her bargained for about his own life and his relationship with his parents. It's both a very humourous and emotional storyline, but written in a light-heearted

first person narrative style. It reminds me a fair bit of An Abundance of Katherines what with the math in the novel. It was one of the first books where I encountered Autism, and it really intrigued me even though it was a work of fiction and isn't an accurate representation of the syndrome. But it would lead me towards reading more about the subject, something I still do have an interest in. Besides, how can you not love any book with an upside down poodle on the cover?

Matilda - Roald Dahl.

This should be every nerd's favourite kid's book. It's all about embracing the power of intelligence! For those that don't know what the book is about, it's basically this extremely gi

fted little girl called Matilda whose family pretty much ignores her and doesn't see how special she is. When she starts school, she meets Miss Honey who notices Matilda's potential and tries to get everyone around her to help Matilda embrace what she can do in life. And then there's

something in there about telekinetic powers. It's just a really beautifully written book that carries Roald Dahl's signature humourous style all the way through. It's still a book I enjoy reading even now because it's so empowering and gives me hope that there's always a way out of the rut that you're stuck in.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan (same guy as Will Grayson, Will Grayson!) and Rachel Cohn.

This would be my favourite YA novel pick. I love it because it's got to do so much with music and how central it can be to someone's life, an all night adventure and just a lot of typical young adult musings. I actually fell in love with the movie before I even got to the book, which may have biased my opinion a fair bit. But I believe the book and the movie are two distinctly different gems that are hard to compare. The story line is just really engaging and it gives you a lot of ponder about and personally, for me to relate to. I think it captures the feeling of invincibility of youth really well, all while knowing that there's more to life ahead and it's only just the beginning.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

This is a novel with so many different themes that are so important for us to dwell on in life. From racial injustice to stereotyping, gender roles, principles and compassion, the themes are still so prevalent and applicable in society even with such a different setting from what the book is. The characters are neither perfect nor idealist, but flawed and realistic, yet such great role models. I think the world would be a much better place if everyone read this book and really internalized what it stands for. This book has thought me so much about standing for your own principles, even when everything points in the other direction. It's just a great book with a great storyline.

So there you go! Five of my favourite books that I would recommend everyone to read!

Till next time, read on!

Books Du Jour

Hello! After a spell of the lazies and the flu, I return! Well, I still seem to have a flu of sorts but I digress. You will not be seeing an animated movies themed entry from me, I’m going to let that go and just say that animated movies were a big inspiration for me art-wise and I continue to appreciate the work of a variety of animators, such as Glenn Keane (The Beast of Beauty and The Beast, Marahute the golden eagle from Rescuers Down Under, Tangled etc). I think Keane is solely responsible for the way I often choose to draw eagles and eagle-like birds...

Now, on to favorite books. I find it difficult to list rather lone talk about them. Truth be told, it has been a long time since I’ve last read passionately, gulping down fictional worlds like it was sustenance. Still I have managed to find few books to feel passionate about even as an adult.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Ever since I saw the humorously written back cover for this book circulating on Tumblr, I had wanted to get my hands on it. I was already concocting clever plans to acquire it (yes, it takes clever plans when you live in a country whose native language is not English and in a city where book stores do not have the largest of selections, especially for literature that is in English -- basically, thank god for Internet). Yet I managed to get less enthusiastic about it, plenty of time passed and it slipped to the back of my mind. Until last summer, when I went to visit Helsinki in order to attend the first Finnish nerdfighter gathering. Towards the end of the meeting, few of us decided to go to a nearby bookstore. And, naturally, unlike our local book stores, this one was large and had a decent selection of literature and comics. After an hour or so of hungrily going through rows and rows of shelves, I spotted this book. There it was, all pretty and fun-looking. I was ridiculously happy, and surprised, to see the book in the shelf selections. I immediately snatched it from the shelf - didn’t even have to think twice about buying it.

The book is not really an autobiography, but rather a collection of essays about Tina Fey’s life from childhood to life after creating 30 Rock and having her first child. This is a choice she made because according to her, her life hasn’t been interesting enough to include all of it. As silly as it may sound, but I have occasionally thought about what it would be like to write an autobiography and those are the exact thoughts that lingered in my mind. I find it very clever that she chose to get around it by writing in an essay-like form. The book is very entertaining and I can’t say how many times I laughed out loud reading it. She bites into her own faults and the society in a rather admirable manner while still being amusing and entertaining. This was the first book in years that has gotten me so hooked I couldn’t put it down. I struggled to pace myself, wanting to save the book for later (for a 5-hour train ride back home to be precise). After finishing it, I yearned for more, feeling sad the fun reading experience was already over. I have never been one to read autobiographies and the like in the past, but more and more I find that ones by comedic people you are interested in are worth a read. This book has me considering reading Stephen Fry’s book The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography.

We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch

A book about the Rwandan genocide, focusing on different cultural and political factors leading to the genocide as well as what happened to victims and murderers after the genocide. Many of you likely remember John Green recommending this book, I believe it was even the first nerdfighter book club book. I, too, found out about this particular piece from John Green’s video. I found the topic to be interesting, so after a while of pondering, I ordered it online.

It is an excellent book, though while reading it, you have to remember that it is written by a journalist who looks at the events from a certain view point, who will focus on different things than a researcher and an academic would, and express it in a different manner. You have to be aware of the fact that the author is likely to have certain goals in his writing and that he is likely to try to get certain feelings out of the reader and so on. Regardless of all this, I was able to use it as a supporting piece for a presentation I held on the Rwandan genocide a couple of years back.

My presentation was mainly based on Jared Diamond’s piece, Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed, which dwelled into the environmental and geographical factors involved in causing, in Rwanda’s case, the genocide to occur. The view presented in Collapse can be viewed as rather environmentally deterministic, but even Diamond himself admits that he is only observing what happened from one point of view and that there is indeed much more to it than geography and difficulties related to the environment. I think Gourevitch hence provides a nice counter-balance to Collapse, as it focuses heavily on the politics and the people, leaving the factors related to nature far less prominent.

The Egyptian (Sinuhe egyptiläinen) by Mika Waltari

This books is one of the Finnish classics, much like Moby Dick is an English classic. It is set in ancient Egypt, mostly during the rule of Pharaoh Akhenaten, 18th dynasty. The main character, Sinuhe, is a doctor who ends up going through a lot in his life, from losing everything he owns to becoming a royal surgeon and seeing the kingdom sink into chaos as its turning from polytheism to monotheism etc.

What I remember really struck me in this book was how well it was written. The language alone is rather beautiful at times, though I read it in Finnish so I don’t know if the translation manages to convey it. When you read this piece you really can’t believe it was written in 1940’s by a Finnish man who had never even been to Egypt. He manages to be historically surprisingly accurate, even though this is a fictional story. The story includes actual historical events, figures and even mannerisms. The author doesn’t seem to judge the slavery and the variety of other cultural features that would have been considered normal to that time period, instead he truly manages to step into the shoes of a doctor living in 18th Dynasty ancient Egypt. It’s simply amazing.


So, as I’ve lately managed to awaken my urge to read once again, I have plenty of books in my to-read pile at the moment. In fact, I’ve even graciously placed them right next to my bed in case I manage to tear my eyes off the internet for few minutes. Some of those books might end up becoming my favorites, who knows. I actually hope so, I would love to have more books I can honestly list as my favorites.

Some of the books I'm currently reading: Heat Wave by Richard Castle, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, O: The Presidential Novel by Anonymous

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Well, just wanted to say that, because March 17th is truly a special day to me.
(I'm 19 today! Yay!)
So, happy St Patrick's Day everyone!

A Bibliophile's Favorite Books

Hi everyone! I have a confession to make, I cannot decide what my favorite books are. I am a book collector in training as it were. One of my goals in life is to have a personal library. :)

I've been trying to come up with a good list, but I have loved so many books I've read that it is really hard, so I'm going to try my best. As with my taste in music, my favorite books often shift to match what I have recently read, or just what I remember of what I've read in the past. I'm a huge fan of Fantasy/Sci-fi, having read mostly fantasy books, but I do like fiction in general. I will list a few books/series that I like a lot, but there are others I either forgot or did not want to make a list that is way too long.

Disclaimer, I have a fairly high tolerance for annoying writing and characters if I like the story. I do have my limits though.

These are in no particular order.

1. The Fault in Our Stars: This one almost doesn't need mentioning, but The Fault in Our Stars is an amazing book. I love it. Right now, this is easily one of my favorite books, if not my favorite book of the current moment. I have already said plenty about this book in my review of the book (link here: http://dmmaster42.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/the-fault-in-our-stars-by-john-green-spoiler-free-review/), so I'm going to move on, but if you haven't read The Fault in Our Stars then you should. You won't regret it.






2. Harry Potter: I'm most definitely a Potterhead. Ever since third grade when I started reading them I have loved them. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the last movie without crying, but that's another story.

3. Hamlet: Perhaps the greatest piece of literature ever written, at least in my opinion. I might be biased. I love Shakespeare's plays, well most of them. A Midsummer Night's Dream is another of my favorites.









4. The Chronicles of Narnia: I don't remember them two well, but I remember I loved several of them and they were a major influence early in my life to continue reading fantasy books, so I can't leave them off this list. It was not until much later that I realized that the series is the story of the Bible only with a lot more talking animals.

5. Dragonlance: Chronicles Trilogy, Second Generation and Dragonlance: Chronicles Volume 4: Dragons of the Summer Flame/ Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman: The Dragonlance books, especially the ones written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman I have always thought were really good. The Dragonlance: Chronicles was one of the first fantasy series that I read, after the first couple of Harry Potter books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (which I read when I was way too young for it and did not like the writing style *ducks the flying produce*; I should reread them, I just have not had the chance yet), and The Chronicles of Narnia. I had just gotten into Dungeons and Dragons about a year previously in sixth grade, and the series read like a D&D campaign story. I loved the story, the world and the most of all the characters. One of the characters, Raistlin the mage, is still easily one of my favorite characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. If you haven't read the series, I highly recommend it. The series is more than worth the read just for the character Raistlin, and he's just one character of many.


5.5. Dragonlance: Legends: Speaking of Raistlin, he and his twin brother Caramon have their own trilogy, Dragonlance: Legends. Written by the same two authors as Chronicles, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, it is a wonderful story that adds to both the brothers' character and relationships with each other and others around them. This series is just as good as, if not better than, the original Chronicles, but you really have to read Chronicles first to make sense of Legends, so read them both Chronicles first and Legends, and then you can go from there. You won't regret it. If you like antiheroes who have a sarcastic and witty sense of humor, then you will love Raistlin.




6. R.A. Salvatore's books about Drizzt Do'Urden and Artemis Entreri: These books were the high school version of the Dragonlance books in middle school. I read them fervently and I still am reading Salvatore's books about Drizzt. Yes I know there is a stigma about that character, but I don't care. I love the character and the stories. They are epic, not in the sense that Lord of the Rings are epic, but they feel epic especially the description of battle sequences. Salvatore does a really good job working with the world as well.




7. I have mixed feelings about the Sword of Truth series. I loved the first book, Wizard's First Rule. I loved the second and third books too, though Terry Goodkind's writing style is annoyingly repetitive at times and he obviously has a major crush on the main female character Kahlan, but I have heard the series is good until about book nine to twelve. That many books is a lot so it's not that surprising, but I intend to at least try to finish the series at some point now that I have started it. Zedd the old wizard totally makes up for everything.






8. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook: One of the funniest books tearing apart classic books, plays and poems I have ever read. It takes apart tons of classics from The Odyssey to Hamlet to Wuthering Heights. Definitely worth it for any classic lit fans. You'll get all the jokes.

9. Eragon: Yes I know the story is basically Star Wars with dragons, but I still love it, and the first book rekindled my love of writing so I owe a debt of gratitude to it and Christopher Paolini.

10. The Great Gatsby: When I originally read it, I hated it. I thought it was a pointless book and I couldn't wait to stop having to go through the torture of having to be taught about it in school. I was young and was convinced I had better things to do, so sue me. I recognize I was wrong about the book, it's a beautifully written book, really the prose is like poetry, and it is a truly American classic. I mean that it is a tale that describes the quintessential American life, at least in the 1920s but it still has value in today's society.





11. Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy: The story is a bit sub-par, but the really great thing about this book is the philosophy within it. It really is a history of philosophy summarizing many different philosophers' points of view and thoughts. The book covers everything from the Pre-Socratics to 19th and 20th century philosophers. For those who are interested in philosophy and want a general overview of the major philosophers, this is the book to look up.






12. Anything written by this man: Carl Sagan. Seriously. Anything. The guy is brilliant and will blow your mind into the next century. In fact, don't stop at the books he wrote. He's got a TV series called Cosmos too and other works as well. Watch, listen to, and read everything he did. You won't regret it. He's one of the best and most poetic scientists of the 20th century. His works are utterly brilliant.




13. Same with this guy: Joseph Campbell. He was a scholar in comparative religion. He writes a lot about the relations of myths, religions, and the power of spirituality as it all affects our daily life. Amazing stuff. I highly recommend all of his works. He also has several video documentary works as well. All great stuff. Check it out.







Oh goodie, as I'm writing this post, the St. Patrick's Day celebratory obnoxiously loud fireworks have begun a few hours early, and likely will continue for the rest of tonight and tomorrow. Huzzah for drunk people! :)

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!

Books are awesome and smell wonderful

First off I must apologise for my absence. Uni and life got to me D:

However, I return for this fortnights theme of books. I am deeply in love with books and find it impossible to pick out my favourites! I honestly do. I can list ones I like but to choose between those and pick favourites is beyond me!

So I shall list some of the ones I like instead.

* Blind Beauty ~ K.M. Peyton
This is a story about a stubborn and unruly girl who forms a bond with an ugly and unloved horse. It follows their journey together and I just find it touching. It isn't a book which sparks you to have deep thoughts or any of that. You can just read it and enjoy it and I like that. Sometimes I just want a simple story which is effectively told. I first read this when I was a lot younger but i still re-read it today.






* Blue Man Falling ~ Frank Barnard

This is about two RAF pilots in WW2. I am deeply interested in WW2 and WW1 so this book leapt out to me, especially as I have a deep love for the RAF as well. It manages to show how war brought out the best and worst in people. It also manages to show how brave and selfless these pilots were and illustrates just what they were up against and had to face day to day.






* The Cry of the Icemark~ Stuart Hill
I am deeply in love with this book. It is about a girl who although young has to take charge of her Fathers country of the Icemark when he is killed in battle. The country faces invasion and she has to think of ways in which to keep her home and people safe. I just love it. It shows how sometimes a new person is needed for new ideas and new plans to save the day. The characters in this book are lovable and you want to read more and more of their adventures together. However, although there are more books in this series I wouldn't recommend them. They follow Thirrins (the main character of this book) children and the stories just don't grab me at all. But this first book is a definite must read.








I think I shall leave it as three books. As you can see I don't just stick to one genre so I have so many books I could tell you about. I have also just added The Hunger Games and A Game of Thrones to my book collection and I can't wait to read them when I have time. I want to read the Hunger Games before I watch the film :)

I hope everyone is well!

Sci Fi!

Hello everyone!
Today is book day! Yay! Truly one of the only things I've always loved and always will.

So... My favorite books are huge classics, so I think that you must have already read them; if you haven't... they are worth a look, definitely.

Brave new world, by Huxley, Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury) and Orwell's 1984 (aka Big Brother is watching you ^^) are really difficult to read, because you just want to scream in horror and close the book, and you are grateful, page by page, not to be in such a civilization. The hardest part though is seeing how the world you are in could so easily turn into one of those universe. And it is a terrifying experience, but definitely worth your time; it will probably make you think (even) more.

For those of you who do not like Sci Fi a lot, or who do not have a lot of time, ... I would recommend short stories:
-Asimov's wrote about robots, (and if I'm not putting any title, it is because I don't think the same anthologies were published in French and English, but if you go to any good library, you will find some) (if you have any choice, I would recommend those featuring Dr. Susan Calvin) (I, robot; Robot dreams...).
-Bradbury's Martian Chronicles are a marvel, a jewel... Poetry and humor, I just loved them (but I'm a huge Bradbury fan).
-Lafferty, maybe not so known, is just totally insane, and I love what he writes. It is quite... weird, but Does anyone else has something further to add ? is great, funny... (You will probably hate him or love him). And anything else I could add would spoil it, so... try to read some, and tell me what you think (short stories, will only take a couple of minutes to read anyway, so if you do not like, you won't have lost a lot of time).


For those who, on the opposite, have a lot of time on their hands, try Orson Scott Card's works. Ender's game is amazing, the psychology of the students and "teachers" in that universe is truly fascinating, and it is one of the rare adult books where kids won't feature as stupid/immature. (And if you like it, you have 5 other books coming, either featuring Ender or one of his companions, you'll see). It can be quite violent some times though, and harsh.
If you're more a fantasy person, you can try Alvin's Chronicles (I loved the first book, the next ones not so much).
(OH MY! I was doing some research for the English names of the books in that article and I just found out that he had published a sequel to the Shadows stories (part of the Ender cycle) and I am just soooooooo excited!!!!! I'll have to wait till this summer to read it though. Sad, sad, sad, sad. Well, back to the point.)


There is an anthology I would have loved to tell you about, but it only exists in French, apparently, so it would be useless for a lot of you; I'm going to stop here.


Well... Have a nice day, tell me if you know/liked/loved/hated these books, and don't forget to be awesome and read a lot!

Rewatching Disney

Bi-weekly themes are a wonderful idea. Despite my best intentions life seems get in the way of posting every week. This means to say: Sorry for my absence. However, it has been great catching up with all the posts I’ve missed.

First of all, I have an admission to make: I am not a big fan of animated movies.

I don’t mind watching one every once in a while, but I do not seek them out, look forward to them or fall in love with them.

Contrary to this I love rewatching old Disney movies and I do so frequently with my friends.

These are my Top 5 observations:

The jungle book is short!

Honestly, it is only 75 minutes long. How did I ever perceive it as a movie that could fill a whole evening? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my evenings ended around 8 o’clock when this movie was a way of filling evenings…

Vultures = The Beatles

I would have never made this association on my own but a friend of mine pointed out that the Beatles were supposed to voice the vultures, but politely declined the offer. However, the vultures still resemble them. Once you know this tid bit of trivia, it’s easy to guess who is supposed to be who. Have a try:

 

Sidenote: I cannot really blame the Beatles for pulling out of this. The vultures are not really prime roles, are they?

Pets rock!

It doesn’t matter which movie or which character: I love them all.

Aladdin is the best movie to emphasize this point. Imagine this movie without Abu, Jago and the tiger. Poor carpet would have to do an awful lot of comic relief. These characters make these movies! Of course, the “pets” are not the main characters, they only set a plotline in motion here and there and they mostly exist for the sake of comic relief.

Still, they add the color, the layers and the heart. I would not want to watch Aladdin without Abu.

Er hat Sau gesagt! - Man nennt mich Warzenschweeeeeeiiiiiin!

I don’t know the English translation of this fantastic line. Do you remember the scene in Lion King where Simon and Zazu are trapped in the skeleton and Pumba frees them after somebody made him very angry by calling him “pig”? Pumba’s roar to assert that he is indeed not a “pig” but a “wart hog” makes my day every time I think of it.

What does Scar’s parade of hyenas remind me of?

It was seriously creepy watching this scene in 3D. I had obviously not made the connection as a child but now it was all too obvious, painfully so. Urgh! Don’t want to think about it.

Also: Mogli is a brat, Baghira is the hero of the Jungle Book, I have a bunch of problems with Arielle and Aladdin (movie) is so much fun.

Post scriptum: Can somebody explain to me what is so funny about the German version of “Be a man” from Mulan? I saw that the German language recording got a huge amount of notes on tumblr and everybody seemed to find it very funny…